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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9166-h.zip b/9166-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a7cd34 --- /dev/null +++ b/9166-h.zip diff --git a/9166-h/9166-h.htm b/9166-h/9166-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d805cf --- /dev/null +++ b/9166-h/9166-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5619 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Three Cities Trilogy: Paris vol 3, by Emile Zola +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.contents {text-indent: -3%; + margin-left: 5% } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 4em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 3, by Emile Zola + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 3 + +Author: Emile Zola + +Translator: Ernest A. Vizetelly + +Posting Date: April 13, 2014 [EBook #9166] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> + THE THREE CITIES<br /> +</h1> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t2"> + PARIS<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> + BY<br /> +<br /> + EMILE ZOLA<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> + TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h2> + BOOK III<br /> +</h2> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +I +</h3> + +<h3> +THE RIVALS +</h3> + +<p> +ON the Wednesday preceding the mid-Lent Thursday, a great charity bazaar +was held at the Duvillard mansion, for the benefit of the Asylum of the +Invalids of Labour. The ground-floor reception rooms, three spacious +Louis Seize <i>salons</i>, whose windows overlooked the bare and solemn +courtyard, were given up to the swarm of purchasers, five thousand +admission cards having been distributed among all sections of Parisian +society. And the opening of the bombarded mansion in this wise to +thousands of visitors was regarded as quite an event, a real +manifestation, although some people whispered that the Rue +Godot-de-Mauroy and the adjacent streets were guarded by quite an army of +police agents. +</p> + +<p> +The idea of the bazaar had come from Duvillard himself, and at his +bidding his wife had resigned herself to all this worry for the benefit +of the enterprise over which she presided with such distinguished +nonchalance. On the previous day the "Globe" newspaper, inspired by its +director Fonsegue, who was also the general manager of the asylum, had +published a very fine article, announcing the bazaar, and pointing out +how noble, and touching, and generous was the initiative of the Baroness, +who still gave her time, her money, and even her home to charity, in +spite of the abominable crime which had almost reduced that home to +ashes. Was not this the magnanimous answer of the spheres above to the +hateful passions of the spheres below? And was it not also a peremptory +answer to those who accused the capitalists of doing nothing for the +wage-earners, the disabled and broken-down sons of toil? +</p> + +<p> +The drawing-room doors were to be opened at two o'clock, and would only +close at seven, so that there would be five full hours for the sales. And +at noon, when nothing was as yet ready downstairs, when workmen and women +were still decorating the stalls, and sorting the goods amidst a final +scramble, there was, as usual, a little friendly <i>dejeuner</i>, to which a +few guests had been invited, in the private rooms on the first floor. +However, a scarcely expected incident had given a finishing touch to the +general excitement of the house: that very morning Sagnier had resumed +his campaign of denunciation in the matter of the African Railway Lines. +In a virulent article in the "Voix du Peuple," he had inquired if it were +the intention of the authorities to beguile the public much longer with +the story of that bomb and that Anarchist whom the police did not arrest. +And this time, while undertaking to publish the names of the thirty-two +corrupt senators and deputies in a very early issue, he had boldly named +Minister Barroux as one who had pocketed a sum of 200,000 francs. Mege +would therefore certainly revive his interpellation, which might become +dangerous, now that Paris had been thrown into such a distracted state by +terror of the Anarchists. At the same time it was said that Vignon and +his party had resolved to turn circumstances to account, with the object +of overthrowing the ministry. Thus a redoubtable crisis was inevitably at +hand. Fortunately, the Chamber did not meet that Wednesday; in fact, it +had adjourned until the Friday, with the view of making mid-Lent a +holiday. And so forty-eight hours were left one to prepare for the +onslaught. +</p> + +<p> +Eve, that morning, seemed more gentle and languid than ever, rather pale +too, with an expression of sorrowful anxiety in the depths of her +beautiful eyes. She set it all down to the very great fatigue which the +preparations for the bazaar had entailed on her. But the truth was that +Gerard de Quinsac, after shunning any further assignation, had for five +days past avoided her in an embarrassed way. Still she was convinced that +she would see him that morning, and so she had again ventured to wear the +white silk gown which made her look so much younger than she really was. +At the same time, beautiful as she had remained, with her delicate skin, +superb figure and noble and charming countenance, her six and forty years +were asserting themselves in her blotchy complexion and the little +creases which were appearing about her lips, eyelids and temples. +</p> + +<p> +Camille, for her part, though her position as daughter of the house made +it certain that she would attract much custom as a saleswoman, had +obstinately persisted in wearing one of her usual dresses, a dark +"carmelite" gown, an old woman's frock, as she herself called it with a +cutting laugh. However, her long and wicked-looking face beamed with some +secret delight; such an expression of wit and intelligence wreathing her +thin lips and shining in her big eyes that one lost sight of her +deformity and thought her almost pretty. +</p> + +<p> +Eve experienced a first deception in the little blue and silver +sitting-room, where, accompanied by her daughter, she awaited the arrival +of her guests. General de Bozonnet, whom Gerard was to have brought with +him, came in alone, explaining that Madame de Quinsac had felt rather +poorly that morning, and that Gerard, like a good and dutiful son, had +wished to remain with her. Still he would come to the bazaar directly +after <i>dejeuner</i>. While the Baroness listened to the General, striving to +hide her disappointment and her fear that she would now be unable to +obtain any explanation from Gerard that day, Camille looked at her with +eager, devouring eyes. And a certain covert instinct of the misfortune +threatening her must at that moment have come to Eve, for in her turn she +glanced at her daughter and turned pale as if with anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +Then Princess Rosemonde de Harn swept in like a whirlwind. She also was +to be one of the saleswomen at the stall chosen by the Baroness, who +liked her for her very turbulence, the sudden gaiety which she generally +brought with her. Gowned in fire-hued satin (red shot with yellow), +looking very eccentric with her curly hair and thin boyish figure, she +laughed and talked of an accident by which her carriage had almost been +cut in halves. Then, as Baron Duvillard and Hyacinthe came in from their +rooms, late as usual, she took possession of the young man and scolded +him, for on the previous evening she had vainly waited for him till ten +o'clock in the expectation that he would keep his promise to escort her +to a tavern at Montmartre, where some horrible things were said to occur. +Hyacinthe, looking very bored, quietly replied that he had been detained +at a seance given by some adepts in the New Magic, in the course of which +the soul of St. Theresa had descended from heaven to recite a love +sonnet. +</p> + +<p> +However, Fonsegue was now coming in with his wife, a tall, thin, silent +and generally insignificant woman, whom he seldom took about with him. On +this occasion he had been obliged to bring her, as she was one of the +lady-patronesses of the asylum, and he himself was coming to lunch with +the Duvillards in his capacity as general manager. To the superficial +observer he looked quite as gay as usual; but he blinked nervously, and +his first glance was a questioning one in the direction of Duvillard, as +if he wished to know how the latter bore the fresh thrust directed at him +by Sagnier. And when he saw the banker looking perfectly composed, as +superb, as rubicund as usual, and chatting in a bantering way with +Rosemonde, he also put on an easy air, like a gamester who had never lost +but had always known how to compel good luck, even in hours of treachery. +And by way of showing his unconstraint of mind he at once addressed the +Baroness on managerial matters: "Have you now succeeded in seeing M. +l'Abbe Froment for the affair of that old man Laveuve, whom he so warmly +recommended to us? All the formalities have been gone through, you know, +and he can be brought to us at once, as we have had a bed vacant for +three days past." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I know," replied Eve; "but I can't imagine what has become of Abbe +Froment, for he hasn't given us a sign of life for a month past. However, +I made up my mind to write to him yesterday, and beg him to come to the +bazaar to-day. In this manner I shall be able to acquaint him with the +good news myself." +</p> + +<p> +"It was to leave you the pleasure of doing so," said Fonsegue, "that I +refrained from sending him any official communication. He's a charming +priest, is he not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! charming, we are very fond of him." +</p> + +<p> +However, Duvillard now intervened to say that they need not wait for +Duthil, as he had received a telegram from him stating that he was +detained by sudden business. At this Fonsegue's anxiety returned, and he +once more questioned the Baron with his eyes. Duvillard smiled, however, +and reassured him in an undertone: "It's nothing serious. Merely a +commission for me, about which he'll only be able to bring me an answer +by-and-by." Then, taking Fonsegue on one side, he added: "By the way, +don't forget to insert the paragraph I told you of." +</p> + +<p> +"What paragraph? Oh! yes, the one about that <i>soiree</i> at which Silviane +recited a piece of verse. Well, I wanted to speak to you about it. It +worries me a little, on account of the excessive praise it contains." +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard, but a moment before so full of serenity, with his lofty, +conquering, disdainful mien, now suddenly became pale and agitated. "But +I absolutely want it to be inserted, my dear fellow! You would place me +in the greatest embarrassment if it were not to appear, for I promised +Silviane that it should." +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke his lips trembled, and a scared look came into his eyes, +plainly revealing his dismay. +</p> + +<p> +"All right, all right," said Fonsegue, secretly amused, and well pleased +at this complicity. "As it's so serious the paragraph shall go in, I +promise you." +</p> + +<p> +The whole company was now present, since neither Gerard nor Duthil was to +be expected. So they went into the dining-room amidst a final noise of +hammering in the sale-rooms below. The meal proved somewhat of a +scramble, and was on three occasions disturbed by female attendants, who +came to explain difficulties and ask for orders. Doors were constantly +slamming, and the very walls seemed to shake with the unusual bustle +which filled the house. And feverish as they all were in the dining-room, +they talked in desultory, haphazard fashion on all sorts of subjects, +passing from a ball given at the Ministry of the Interior on the previous +night, to the popular mid-Lent festival which would take place on the +morrow, and ever reverting to the bazaar, the prices that had been given +for the goods which would be on sale, the prices at which they might be +sold, and the probable figure of the full receipts, all this being +interspersed with strange anecdotes, witticisms and bursts of laughter. +On the General mentioning magistrate Amadieu, Eve declared that she no +longer dared to invite him to <i>dejeuner</i>, knowing how busy he was at the +Palace of Justice. Still, she certainly hoped that he would come to the +bazaar and contribute something. Then Fonsegue amused himself with +teasing Princess Rosemonde about her fire-hued gown, in which, said he, +she must already feel roasted by the flames of hell; a suggestion which +secretly delighted her, as Satanism had now become her momentary passion. +Meantime, Duvillard lavished the most gallant politeness on that silent +creature, Madame Fonsegue, while Hyacinthe, in order to astonish even the +Princess, explained in a few words how the New Magic could transform a +chaste young man into a real angel. And Camille, who seemed very happy +and very excited, from time to time darted a hot glance at her mother, +whose anxiety and sadness increased as she found the other more and more +aggressive, and apparently resolved upon open and merciless warfare. +</p> + +<p> +At last, just as the dessert was coming to an end, the Baroness heard her +daughter exclaim in a piercing, defiant voice: "Oh! don't talk to me of +the old ladies who still seem to be playing with dolls, and paint +themselves, and dress as if they were about to be confirmed! All such +ogresses ought to retire from the scene! I hold them in horror!" +</p> + +<p> +At this, Eve nervously rose from her seat, and exclaimed apologetically: +"You must forgive me for hurrying you like this. But I'm afraid that we +shan't have time to drink our coffee in peace." +</p> + +<p> +The coffee was served in the little blue and silver sitting-room, where +bloomed some lovely yellow roses, testifying to the Baroness's keen +passion for flowers, which made the house an abode of perpetual spring. +Duvillard and Fonsegue, however, carrying their cups of steaming coffee +with them, at once went into the former's private room to smoke a cigar +there and chat in freedom. As the door remained wide open, one could +hear their gruff voices more or less distinctly. Meantime, General de +Bozonnet, delighted to find in Madame Fonsegue a serious, submissive +person, who listened without interrupting, began to tell her a very long +story of an officer's wife who had followed her husband through every +battle of the war of 1870. Then Hyacinthe, who took no +coffee—contemptuously declaring it to be a beverage only fit for +door-keepers—managed to rid himself of Rosemonde, who was sipping some +kummel, in order to come and whisper to his sister: "I say, it was very +stupid ofyou to taunt mamma in the way you did just now. I don't care +a rap about it myself. But it ends by being noticed, and, I warn you +candidly, it shows ill breeding." +</p> + +<p> +Camille gazed at him fixedly with her black eyes. "Pray don't <i>you</i> +meddle with my affairs," said she. +</p> + +<p> +At this he felt frightened, scented a storm, and decided to take +Rosemonde into the adjoining red drawing-room in order to show her a +picture which his father had just purchased. And the General, on being +called by him, likewise conducted Madame Fonsegue thither. +</p> + +<p> +The mother and daughter then suddenly found themselves alone and face to +face. Eve was leaning on a pier-table, as if overcome; and indeed, the +least sorrow bore her down, so weak at heart she was, ever ready to weep +in her naive and perfect egotism. Why was it that her daughter thus hated +her, and did her utmost to disturb that last happy spell of love in which +her heart lingered? She looked at Camille, grieved rather than irritated; +and the unfortunate idea came to her of making a remark about her dress +at the very moment when the girl was on the point of following the others +into the larger drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +"It's quite wrong of you, my dear," said she, "to persist in dressing +like an old woman. It doesn't improve you a bit." +</p> + +<p> +As Eve spoke, her soft eyes, those of a courted and worshipped handsome +woman, clearly expressed the compassion she felt for that ugly, deformed +girl, whom she had never been able to regard as a daughter. Was it +possible that she, with her sovereign beauty, that beauty which she +herself had ever adored and nursed, making it her one care, her one +religion—was it possible that she had given birth to such a graceless +creature, with a dark, goatish profile, one shoulder higher than the +other, and a pair of endless arms such as hunchbacks often have? All her +grief and all her shame at having had such a child became apparent in the +quivering of her voice. +</p> + +<p> +Camille, however, had stopped short, as if struck in the face with a +whip. Then she came back to her mother and the horrible explanation began +with these simple words spoken in an undertone: "You consider that I +dress badly? Well, you ought to have paid some attention to me, have seen +that my gowns suited your taste, and have taught me your secret of +looking beautiful!" +</p> + +<p> +Eve, with her dislike of all painful feeling, all quarrelling and bitter +words, was already regretting her attack. So she sought to make a +retreat, particularly as time was flying and they would soon be expected +downstairs: "Come, be quiet, and don't show your bad temper when all +those people can hear us. I have loved you—" +</p> + +<p> +But with a quiet yet terrible laugh Camille interrupted her. "You've +loved me! Oh! my poor mamma, what a comical thing to say! Have you ever +loved <i>anybody</i>? You want others to love <i>you</i>, but that's another +matter. As for your child, any child, do you even know how it ought to be +loved? You have always neglected me, thrust me on one side, deeming me so +ugly, so unworthy of you! And besides, you have not had days and nights +enough to love yourself! Oh! don't deny it, my poor mamma; but even now +you're looking at me as if I were some loathsome monster that's in your +way." +</p> + +<p> +From that moment the abominable scene was bound to continue to the end. +With their teeth set, their faces close together, the two women went on +speaking in feverish whispers. +</p> + +<p> +"Be quiet, Camille, I tell you! I will not allow such language!" +</p> + +<p> +"But I won't be quiet when you do all you can to wound me. If it's wrong +of me to dress like an old woman, perhaps another is rather ridiculous in +dressing like a girl, like a bride." +</p> + +<p> +"Like a bride? I don't understand you." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! yes, you do. However, I would have you know that everybody doesn't +find me so ugly as you try to make them believe." +</p> + +<p> +"If you look amiss, it is because you don't dress properly; that is all I +said." +</p> + +<p> +"I dress as I please, and no doubt I do so well enough, since I'm loved +as I am." +</p> + +<p> +"What, really! Does someone love you? Well, let him inform us of it and +marry you." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes—certainly, certainly! It will be a good riddance, won't it? And +you'll have the pleasure of seeing me as a bride!" +</p> + +<p> +Their voices were rising in spite of their efforts to restrain them. +However, Camille paused and drew breath before hissing out the words: +"Gerard is coming here to ask for my hand in a day or two." +</p> + +<p> +Eve, livid, with wildly staring eyes, did not seem to understand. +"Gerard? why do you tell me that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, because it's Gerard who loves me and who is going to marry me! You +drive me to extremities; you're for ever repeating that I'm ugly; you +treat me like a monster whom nobody will ever care for. So I'm forced to +defend myself and tell you the truth in order to prove to you that +everybody is not of your opinion." +</p> + +<p> +Silence fell; the frightful thing which had risen between them seemed to +have arrested the quarrel. But there was neither mother nor daughter left +there. They were simply two suffering, defiant rivals. Eve in her turn +drew a long breath and glanced anxiously towards the adjoining room to +ascertain if anyone were coming in or listening to them. And then in a +tone of resolution she made answer: +</p> + +<p> +"You cannot marry Gerard." +</p> + +<p> +"Pray, why not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because I won't have it; because it's impossible." +</p> + +<p> +"That isn't a reason; give me a reason." +</p> + +<p> +"The reason is that the marriage is impossible that is all." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, I'll tell you the reason since you force me to it. The reason is +that Gerard is your lover! But what does that matter, since I know it and +am willing to take him all the same?" +</p> + +<p> +And to this retort Camille's flaming eyes added the words: "And it is +particularly on that account that I want him." All the long torture born +of her infirmities, all her rage at having always seen her mother +beautiful, courted and adored, was now stirring her and seeking vengeance +in cruel triumph. At last then she was snatching from her rival the lover +of whom she had so long been jealous! +</p> + +<p> +"You wretched girl!" stammered Eve, wounded in the heart and almost +sinking to the floor. "You don't know what you say or what you make me +suffer." +</p> + +<p> +However, she again had to pause, draw herself erect and smile; for +Rosemonde hastened in from the adjoining room with the news that she was +wanted downstairs. The doors were about to be opened, and it was +necessary she should be at her stall. Yes, Eve answered, she would be +down in another moment. Still, even as she spoke she leant more heavily +on the pier-table behind her in order that she might not fall. +</p> + +<p> +Hyacinthe had drawn near to his sister: "You know," said he, "it's simply +idiotic to quarrel like that. You would do much better to come +downstairs." +</p> + +<p> +But Camille harshly dismissed him: "Just <i>you</i> go off, and take the +others with you. It's quite as well that they shouldn't be about our +ears." +</p> + +<p> +Hyacinthe glanced at his mother, like one who knew the truth and +considered the whole affair ridiculous. And then, vexed at seeing her so +deficient in energy in dealing with that little pest, his sister, he +shrugged his shoulders, and leaving them to their folly, conducted the +others away. One could hear Rosemonde laughing as she went off below, +while the General began to tell Madame Fonsegue another story as they +descended the stairs together. However, at the moment when the mother and +daughter at last fancied themselves alone once more, other voices reached +their ears, those of Duvillard and Fonsegue, who were still near at hand. +The Baron from his room might well overhear the dispute. +</p> + +<p> +Eve felt that she ought to have gone off. But she had lacked the strength +to do so; it had been a sheer impossibility for her after those words +which had smote her like a buffet amidst her distress at the thought of +losing her lover. +</p> + +<p> +"Gerard cannot marry you," she said; "he does not love you." +</p> + +<p> +"He does." +</p> + +<p> +"You fancy it because he has good-naturedly shown some kindness to you, +on seeing others pay you such little attention. But he does not love +you." +</p> + +<p> +"He does. He loves me first because I'm not such a fool as many others +are, and particularly because I'm young." +</p> + +<p> +This was a fresh wound for the Baroness; one inflicted with mocking +cruelty in which rang out all the daughter's triumphant delight at seeing +her mother's beauty at last ripening and waning. "Ah! my poor mamma, you +no longer know what it is to be young. If I'm not beautiful, at all +events I'm young; my eyes are clear and my lips are fresh. And my hair's +so long too, and I've so much of it that it would suffice to gown me if I +chose. You see, one's never ugly when one's young. Whereas, my poor +mamma, everything is ended when one gets old. It's all very well for a +woman to have been beautiful, and to strive to keep so, but in reality +there's only ruin left, and shame and disgust." +</p> + +<p> +She spoke these words in such a sharp, ferocious voice that each of them +entered her mother's heart like a knife. Tears rose to the eyes of the +wretched woman, again stricken in her bleeding wound. Ah! it was true, +she remained without weapons against youth. And all her anguish came from +the consciousness that she was growing old, from the feeling that love +was departing from her now, that like a fruit she had ripened and fallen +from the tree. +</p> + +<p> +"But Gerard's mother will never let him marry you," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"He will prevail on her; that's his concern. I've a dowry of two +millions, and two millions can settle many things." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you now want to libel him, and say that he's marrying you for your +money?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, indeed! Gerard's a very nice and honest fellow. He loves me and he's +marrying me for myself. But, after all, he isn't rich; he still has no +assured position, although he's thirty-six; and there may well be some +advantage in a wife who brings you wealth as well as happiness. For, you +hear, mamma, it's happiness I'm bringing him, real happiness, love that's +shared and is certain of the future." +</p> + +<p> +Once again their faces drew close together. The hateful scene, +interrupted by sounds around them, postponed, and then resumed, was +dragging on, becoming a perfect drama full of murderous violence, +although they never shouted, but still spoke on in low and gasping +voices. Neither gave way to the other, though at every moment they were +liable to some surprise; for not only were all the doors open, so that +the servants might come in, but the Baron's voice still rang out gaily, +close at hand. +</p> + +<p> +"He loves you, he loves you"—continued Eve. "That's what you say. But +<i>he</i> never told you so." +</p> + +<p> +"He has told me so twenty times; he repeats it every time that we are +alone together!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, just as one says it to a little girl by way of amusing her. But he +has never told you that he meant to marry you." +</p> + +<p> +"He told it me the last time he came. And it's settled. I'm simply +waiting for him to get his mother's consent and make his formal offer." +</p> + +<p> +"You lie, you lie, you wretched girl! You simply want to make me suffer, +and you lie, you lie!" +</p> + +<p> +Eve's grief at last burst forth in that cry of protest. She no longer +knew that she was a mother, and was speaking to her daughter. The woman, +the <i>amorosa</i>, alone remained in her, outraged and exasperated by a +rival. And with a sob she confessed the truth: "It is I he loves! Only +the last time I spoke to him, he swore to me—you hear me?—he swore upon +his honour that he did not love you, and that he would never marry you!" +</p> + +<p> +A faint, sharp laugh came from Camille. Then, with an air of derisive +compassion, she replied: "Ah! my poor mamma, you really make me sorry for +you! What a child you are! Yes, really, you are the child, not I. What! +you who ought to have so much experience, you still allow yourself to be +duped by a man's protests! That one really has no malice; and, indeed, +that's why he swears whatever you want him to swear, just to please and +quiet you, for at heart he's a bit of a coward." +</p> + +<p> +"You lie, you lie!" +</p> + +<p> +"But just think matters over. If he no longer comes here, if he didn't +come to <i>dejeuner</i> this morning, it is simply because he's had enough of +you. He has left you for good; just have the courage to realise it. Of +course he's still polite and amiable, because he's a well-bred man, and +doesn't know how to break off. The fact is that he takes pity on you." +</p> + +<p> +"You lie, you lie!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, question him then. Have a frank explanation with him. Ask him his +intentions in a friendly way. And then show some good nature yourself, +and realise that if you care for him you ought to give him me at once in +his own interest. Give him back his liberty, and you will soon see that +I'm the one he loves." +</p> + +<p> +"You lie, you lie! You wretched child, you only want to torture and kill +me!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, in her fury and distress, Eve remembered that she was the mother, +and that it was for her to chastise that unworthy daughter. There was no +stick near her, but from a basket of the yellow roses, whose powerful +scent intoxicated both of them, she plucked a handful of blooms, with +long and spiny stalks, and smote Camille across the face. A drop of blood +appeared on the girl's left temple, near her eyelid. +</p> + +<p> +But she sprang forward, flushed and maddened by this correction, with her +hand raised and ready to strike back. "Take care, mother! I swear I'd +beat you like a gipsy! And now just put this into your head: I mean to +marry Gerard, and I will; and I'll take him from you, even if I have to +raise a scandal, should you refuse to give him to me with good grace." +</p> + +<p> +Eve, after her one act of angry vigour, had sunk into an armchair, +overcome, distracted. And all the horror of quarrels, which sprang from +her egotistical desire to be happy, caressed, flattered and adored, was +returning to her. But Camille, still threatening, still unsatiated, +showed her heart as it really was, her stern, black, unforgiving heart, +intoxicated with cruelty. There came a moment of supreme silence, while +Duvillard's gay voice again rang out in the adjoining room. +</p> + +<p> +The mother was gently weeping, when Hyacinthe, coming upstairs at a run, +swept into the little <i>salon</i>. He looked at the two women, and made a +gesture of indulgent contempt. "Ah! you're no doubt satisfied now! But +what did I tell you? It would have been much better for you to have come +downstairs at once! Everybody is asking for you. It's all idiotic. I've +come to fetch you." +</p> + +<p> +Eve and Camille would not yet have followed him, perhaps, if Duvillard +and Fonsegue had not at that moment come out of the former's room. Having +finished their cigars they also spoke of going downstairs. And Eve had to +rise and smile and show dry eyes, while Camille, standing before a +looking-glass, arranged her hair, and stanched the little drop of blood +that had gathered on her temple. +</p> + +<p> +There was already quite a number of people below, in the three huge +saloons adorned with tapestry and plants. The stalls had been draped with +red silk, which set a gay, bright glow around the goods. And no ordinary +bazaar could have put forth such a show, for there was something of +everything among the articles of a thousand different kinds, from +sketches by recognised masters, and the autographs of famous writers, +down to socks and slippers and combs. The haphazard way in which things +were laid out was in itself an attraction; and, in addition, there was a +buffet, where the whitest of beautiful hands poured out champagne, and +two lotteries, one for an organ and another for a pony-drawn village +cart, the tickets for which were sold by a bevy of charming girls, who +had scattered through the throng. As Duvillard had expected, however, the +great success of the bazaar lay in the delightful little shiver which the +beautiful ladies experienced as they passed through the entrance where +the bomb had exploded. The rougher repairing work was finished, the walls +and ceilings had been doctored, in part re-constructed. However, the +painters had not yet come, and here and there the whiter stone and +plaster work showed like fresh scars left by all the terrible gashes. It +was with mingled anxiety and rapture that pretty heads emerged from the +carriages which, arriving in a continuous stream, made the flagstones of +the court re-echo. And in the three saloons, beside the stalls, there was +no end to the lively chatter: "Ah! my dear, did you see all those marks? +How frightful, how frightful! The whole house was almost blown up. And to +think it might begin again while we are here! One really needs some +courage to come, but then, that asylum is such a deserving institution, +and money is badly wanted to build a new wing. And besides, those +monsters will see that we are not frightened, whatever they do." +</p> + +<p> +When the Baroness at last came down to her stall with Camille she found +the saleswomen feverishly at work already under the direction of Princess +Rosemonde, who on occasions of this kind evinced the greatest cunning and +rapacity, robbing the customers in the most impudent fashion. "Ah! here +you are," she exclaimed. "Beware of a number of higglers who have come to +secure bargains. I know them! They watch for their opportunities, turn +everything topsy-turvy and wait for us to lose our heads and forget +prices, so as to pay even less than they would in a real shop. But I'll +get good prices from them, you shall see!" +</p> + +<p> +At this, Eve, who for her own part was a most incapable saleswoman, had +to laugh with the others. And in a gentle voice she made a pretence of +addressing certain recommendations to Camille, who listened with a +smiling and most submissive air. In point of fact the wretched mother was +sinking with emotion, particularly at the thought that she would have to +remain there till seven o'clock, and suffer in secret before all those +people, without possibility of relief. And thus it was almost like a +respite when she suddenly perceived Abbe Froment sitting and waiting for +her on a settee, covered with red velvet, near her stall. Her legs were +failing her, so she took a place beside him. +</p> + +<p> +"You received my letter then, Monsieur l'Abbe. I am glad that you have +come, for I have some good news to give you, and wished to leave you the +pleasure of imparting it to your <i>protege</i>, that man Laveuve, whom you so +warmly recommended to me. Every formality has now been fulfilled, and you +can bring him to the asylum to-morrow." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre gazed at her in stupefaction. "Laveuve? Why, he is dead!" +</p> + +<p> +In her turn she became astonished. "What, dead! But you never informed me +of it! If I told you of all the trouble that has been taken, of all that +had to be undone and done again, and the discussions and the papers and +the writing! Are you quite sure that he is dead?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! yes, he is dead. He has been dead a month." +</p> + +<p> +"Dead a month! Well, we could not know; you yourself gave us no sign of +life. Ah! <i>mon Dieu</i>! what a worry that he should be dead. We shall now +be obliged to undo everything again!" +</p> + +<p> +"He is dead, madame. It is true that I ought to have informed you of it. +But that doesn't alter the fact—he is dead." +</p> + +<p> +Dead! that word which kept on returning, the thought too, that for a +month past she had been busying herself for a corpse, quite froze her, +brought her to the very depths of despair, like an omen of the cold death +into which she herself must soon descend, in the shroud of her last +passion. And, meantime, Pierre, despite himself, smiled bitterly at the +atrocious irony of it all. Ah! that lame and halting Charity, which +proffers help when men are dead! +</p> + +<p> +The priest still lingered on the settee when the Baroness rose. She had +seen magistrate Amadieu hurriedly enter like one who just wished to show +himself, purchase some trifle, and then return to the Palace of Justice. +However, he was also perceived by little Massot, the "Globe" reporter, +who was prowling round the stalls, and who at once bore down upon him, +eager for information. And he hemmed him in and forthwith interviewed him +respecting the affair of that mechanician Salvat, who was accused of +having deposited the bomb at the entrance of the house. Was this simply +an invention of the police, as some newspapers pretended? Or was it +really correct? And if so, would Salvat soon be arrested? In self-defence +Amadieu answered correctly enough that the affair did not as yet concern +him, and would only come within his attributions, if Salvat should be +arrested and the investigation placed in his hands. At the same time, +however, the magistrate's pompous and affectedly shrewd manner suggested +that he already knew everything to the smallest details, and that, had he +chosen, he could have promised some great events for the morrow. A circle +of ladies had gathered round him as he spoke, quite a number of pretty +women feverish with curiosity, who jostled one another in their eagerness +to hear that brigand tale which sent a little shiver coursing under their +skins. However, Amadieu managed to slip off after paying Rosemonde twenty +francs for a cigarette case, which was perhaps worth thirty sous. +</p> + +<p> +Massot, on recognising Pierre, came up to shake hands with him. "Don't +you agree with me, Monsieur l'Abbe, that Salvat must be a long way off by +now if he's got good legs? Ah! the police will always make me laugh!" +</p> + +<p> +However, Rosemonde brought Hyacinthe up to the journalist. "Monsieur +Massot," said she, "you who go everywhere, I want you to be judge. That +Chamber of Horrors at Montmartre, that tavern where Legras sings the +'Flowers of the Streets'—" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! a delightful spot, madame," interrupted Massot, "I wouldn't take +even a gendarme there." +</p> + +<p> +"No, don't jest, Monsieur Massot, I'm talking seriously. Isn't it quite +allowable for a respectable woman to go there when she's accompanied by a +gentleman?" And, without allowing the journalist time to answer her, she +turned towards Hyacinthe: "There! you see that Monsieur Massot doesn't +say no! You've got to take me there this evening, it's sworn, it's +sworn." +</p> + +<p> +Then she darted away to sell a packet of pins to an old lady, while the +young man contented himself with remarking, in the voice of one who has +no illusions left: "She's quite idiotic with her Chamber of Horrors!" +</p> + +<p> +Massot philosophically shrugged his shoulders. It was only natural that a +woman should want to amuse herself. And when Hyacinthe had gone off, +passing with perverse contempt beside the lovely girls who were selling +lottery tickets, the journalist ventured to murmur: "All the same, it +would do that youngster good if a woman were to take him in hand." +</p> + +<p> +Then, again addressing Pierre, he resumed: "Why, here comes Duthil! What +did Sagnier mean this morning by saying that Duthil would sleep at Mazas +to-night?" +</p> + +<p> +In a great hurry apparently, and all smiles, Duthil was cutting his way +through the crowd in order to join Duvillard and Fonsegue, who still +stood talking near the Baroness's stall. And he waved his hand to them in +a victorious way, to imply that he had succeeded in the delicate mission +entrusted to him. This was nothing less than a bold manoeuvre to hasten +Silviane's admission to the Comedie Francaise. The idea had occurred to +her of making the Baron give a dinner at the Cafe Anglais in order that +she might meet at it an influential critic, who, according to her +statements, would compel the authorities to throw the doors wide open for +her as soon as he should know her. However, it did not seem easy to +secure the critic's presence, as he was noted for his sternness and +grumbling disposition. And, indeed, after a first repulse, Duthil had for +three days past been obliged to exert all his powers of diplomacy, and +bring even the remotest influence into play. But he was radiant now, for +he had conquered. +</p> + +<p> +"It's for this evening, my dear Baron, at half-past seven," he exclaimed. +"Ah! dash it all, I've had more trouble than I should have had to secure +a concession vote!" Then he laughed with the pretty impudence of a man of +pleasure, whom political conscientiousness did not trouble. And, indeed, +his allusion to the fresh denunciations of the "Voix du Peuple" hugely +amused him. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't jest," muttered Fonsegue, who for his part wished to amuse himself +by frightening the young deputy. "Things are going very badly!" +</p> + +<p> +Duthil turned pale, and a vision of the police and Mazas rose before his +eyes. In this wise sheer funk came over him from time to time. However, +with his lack of all moral sense, he soon felt reassured and began to +laugh. "Bah!" he retorted gaily, winking towards Duvillard, "the +governor's there to pilot the barque!" +</p> + +<p> +The Baron, who was extremely pleased, had pressed his hands, thanked him, +and called him an obliging fellow. And now turning towards Fonsegue, he +exclaimed: "I say, you must make one of us this evening. Oh! it's +necessary. I want something imposing round Silviane. Duthil will +represent the Chamber, you journalism, and I finance—" But he suddenly +paused on seeing Gerard, who, with a somewhat grave expression, was +leisurely picking his way through the sea of skirts. "Gerard, my friend," +said the Baron, after beckoning to him, "I want you to do me a service." +And forthwith he told him what was in question; how the influential +critic had been prevailed upon to attend a dinner which would decide +Silviane's future; and how it was the duty of all her friends to rally +round her. +</p> + +<p> +"But I can't," the young man answered in embarrassment. "I have to dine +at home with my mother, who was rather poorly this morning." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! a sensible woman like your mother will readily understand that there +are matters of exceptional importance. Go home and excuse yourself. Tell +her some story, tell her that a friend's happiness is in question." And +as Gerard began to weaken, Duvillard added: "The fact is, that I really +want you, my dear fellow; I must have a society man. Society, you know, +is a great force in theatrical matters; and if Silviane has society with +her, her triumph is certain." +</p> + +<p> +Gerard promised, and then chatted for a moment with his uncle, General de +Bozonnet, who was quite enlivened by that throng of women, among whom he +had been carried hither and thither like an old rudderless ship. After +acknowledging the amiability with which Madame Fonsegue had listened to +his stories, by purchasing an autograph of Monseigneur Martha from her +for a hundred francs, he had quite lost himself amid the bevy of girls +who had passed him on, one to another. And now, on his return from them, +he had his hands full of lottery tickets: "Ah! my fine fellow," said he, +"I don't advise you to venture among all those young persons. You would +have to part with your last copper. But, just look! there's Mademoiselle +Camille beckoning to you!" +</p> + +<p> +Camille, indeed, from the moment she had perceived Gerard, had been +smiling at him and awaiting his approach. And when their glances met he +was obliged to go to her, although, at the same moment, he felt that +Eve's despairing and entreating eyes were fixed upon him. The girl, who +fully realised that her mother was watching her, at once made a marked +display of amiability, profiting by the license which charitable fervour +authorised, to slip a variety of little articles into the young man's +pockets, and then place others in his hands, which she pressed within her +own, showing the while all the sparkle of youth, indulging in fresh, +merry laughter, which fairly tortured her rival. +</p> + +<p> +So extreme was Eve's suffering, that she wished to intervene and part +them. But it so chanced that Pierre barred her way, for he wished to +submit an idea to her before leaving the bazaar. "Madame," said he, +"since that man Laveuve is dead, and you have taken so much trouble with +regard to the bed which you now have vacant, will you be so good as to +keep it vacant until I have seen our venerable friend, Abbe Rose? I am to +see him this evening, and he knows so many cases of want, and would be so +glad to relieve one of them, and bring you some poor <i>protege</i> of his." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, certainly," stammered the Baroness, "I shall be very happy,—I will +wait a little, as you desire,—of course, of course, Monsieur l'Abbe." +</p> + +<p> +She was trembling all over; she no longer knew what she was saying; and, +unable to conquer her passion, she turned aside from the priest, unaware +even that he was still there, when Gerard, yielding to the dolorous +entreaty of her eyes, at last managed to escape from Camille and join +her. +</p> + +<p> +"What a stranger you are becoming, my friend!" she said aloud, with a +forced smile. "One never sees you now." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I have been poorly," he replied, in his amiable way. "Yes, I assure +you I have been ailing a little." +</p> + +<p> +He, ailing! She looked at him with maternal anxiety, quite upset. And, +indeed, however proud and lofty his figure, his handsome regular face did +seem to her paler than usual. It was as if the nobility of the facade +had, in some degree, ceased to hide the irreparable dilapidation within. +And given his real good nature, it must be true that he +suffered—suffered by reason of his useless, wasted life, by reason of +all the money he cost his impoverished mother, and of the needs that were +at last driving him to marry that wealthy deformed girl, whom at first he +had simply pitied. And so weak did he seem to Eve, so like a piece of +wreckage tossed hither and thither by a tempest, that, at the risk of +being overheard by the throng, she let her heart flow forth in a low but +ardent, entreating murmur: "If you suffer, ah! what sufferings are +mine!—Gerard, we must see one another, I will have it so." +</p> + +<p> +"No, I beg you, let us wait," he stammered in embarrassment. +</p> + +<p> +"It must be, Gerard; Camille has told me your plans. You cannot refuse to +see me. I insist on it." +</p> + +<p> +He made yet another attempt to escape the cruel explanation. "But it's +impossible at the usual place," he answered, quivering. "The address is +known." +</p> + +<p> +"Then to-morrow, at four o'clock, at that little restaurant in the Bois +where we have met before." +</p> + +<p> +He had to promise, and they parted. Camille had just turned her head and +was looking at them. Moreover, quite a number of women had besieged the +stall; and the Baroness began to attend to them with the air of a ripe +and nonchalant goddess, while Gerard rejoined Duvillard, Fonsegue and +Duthil, who were quite excited at the prospect of their dinner that +evening. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre had heard a part of the conversation between Gerard and the +Baroness. He knew what skeletons the house concealed, what physiological +and moral torture and wretchedness lay beneath all the dazzling wealth +and power. There was here an envenomed, bleeding sore, ever spreading, a +cancer eating into father, mother, daughter and son, who one and all had +thrown social bonds aside. However, the priest made his way out of the +<i>salons</i>, half stifling amidst the throng of lady-purchasers who were +making quite a triumph of the bazaar. And yonder, in the depths of the +gloom, he could picture Salvat still running and running on; while the +corpse of Laveuve seemed to him like a buffet of atrocious irony dealt to +noisy and delusive charity. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +II +</h3> + +<h3> +SPIRIT AND FLESH +</h3> + +<p> +How delightful was the quietude of the little ground-floor overlooking a +strip of garden in the Rue Cortot, where good Abbe Rose resided! +Hereabouts there was not even a rumble of wheels, or an echo of the +panting breath of Paris, which one heard on the other side of the height +of Montmartre. The deep silence and sleepy peacefulness were suggestive +of some distant provincial town. +</p> + +<p> +Seven o'clock had struck, the dusk had gathered slowly, and Pierre was in +the humble dining-room, waiting for the <i>femme-de-menage</i> to place the +soup upon the table. Abbe Rose, anxious at having seen so little of him +for a month past, had written, asking him to come to dinner, in order +that they might have a quiet chat concerning their affairs. From time to +time Pierre still gave his friend money for charitable purposes; in fact, +ever since the days of the asylum in the Rue de Charonne, they had had +accounts together, which they periodically liquidated. So that evening +after dinner they were to talk of it all, and see if they could not do +even more than they had hitherto done. The good old priest was quite +radiant at the thought of the peaceful evening which he was about to +spend in attending to the affairs of his beloved poor; for therein lay +his only amusement, the sole pleasure to which he persistently and +passionately returned, in spite of all the worries that his inconsiderate +charity had already so often brought him. +</p> + +<p> +Glad to be able to procure his friend this pleasure, Pierre, on his side, +grew calmer, and found relief and momentary repose in sharing the other's +simple repast and yielding to all the kindliness around him, far from his +usual worries. He remembered the vacant bed at the Asylum, which Baroness +Duvillard had promised to keep in reserve until he should have asked Abbe +Rose if he knew of any case of destitution particularly worthy of +interest; and so before sitting down to table he spoke of the matter. +</p> + +<p> +"Destitution worthy of interest!" replied Abbe Rose, "ah! my dear child, +every case is worthy of interest. And when it's a question of old toilers +without work the only trouble is that of selection, the anguish of +choosing one and leaving so many others in distress." Nevertheless, +painful though his scruples were, he strove to think and come to some +decision. "I know the case which will suit you," he said at last. "It's +certainly one of the greatest suffering and wretchedness; and, so humble +a one, too—an old carpenter of seventy-five, who has been living on +public charity during the eight or ten years that he has been unable to +find work. I don't know his name, everybody calls him 'the big Old'un.' +There are times when he does not come to my Saturday distributions for +weeks together. We shall have to look for him at once. I think that he +sleeps at the Night Refuge in the Rue d'Orsel when lack of room there +doesn't force him to spend the night crouching behind some palings. Shall +we go down the Rue d'Orsel this evening?" +</p> + +<p> +Abbe Rose's eyes beamed brightly as he spoke, for this proposal of his +signified a great debauch, the tasting of forbidden fruit. He had been +reproached so often and so roughly with his visits to those who had +fallen to the deepest want and misery, that in spite of his overflowing, +apostolic compassion, he now scarcely dared to go near them. However, he +continued: "Is it agreed, my child? Only this once? Besides, it is our +only means of finding the big Old'un. You won't have to stop with me +later than eleven. And I should so like to show you all that! You will +see what terrible sufferings there are! And perhaps we may be fortunate +enough to relieve some poor creature or other." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre smiled at the juvenile ardour displayed by this old man with snowy +hair. "It's agreed, my dear Abbe," he responded, "I shall be very pleased +to spend my whole evening with you, for I feel it will do me good to +follow you once more on one of those rambles which used to fill our +hearts with grief and joy." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the servant brought in the soup; however, just as the two +priests were taking their seats a discreet ring was heard, and when Abbe +Rose learnt that the visitor was a neighbour, Madame Mathis, who had come +for an answer, he gave orders that she should be shown in. +</p> + +<p> +"This poor woman," he explained to Pierre, "needed an advance of ten +francs to get a mattress out of pawn; and I didn't have the money by me +at the time. But I've since procured it. She lives in the house, you +know, in silent poverty, on so small an income that it hardly keeps her +in bread." +</p> + +<p> +"But hasn't she a big son of twenty?" asked Pierre, suddenly remembering +the young man he had seen at Salvat's. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes. Her parents, I believe, were rich people in the provinces. +I've been told that she married a music master, who gave her lessons, at +Nantes; and who ran away with her and brought her to Paris, where he +died. It was quite a doleful love-story. By selling the furniture and +realising every little thing she possessed, she scraped together an +income of about two thousand francs a year, with which she was able to +send her son to college and live decently herself. But a fresh blow fell +on her: she lost the greater part of her little fortune, which was +invested in doubtful securities. So now her income amounts at the utmost +to eight hundred francs; two hundred of which she has to expend in rent. +For all her other wants she has to be content with fifty francs a month. +About eighteen months ago her son left her so as not to be a burden on +her, and he is trying to earn his living somewhere, but without success, +I believe." +</p> + +<p> +Madame Mathis, a short, dark woman, with a sad, gentle, retiring face, +came in. Invariably clad in the same black gown, she showed all the +anxious timidity of a poor creature whom the storms of life perpetually +assailed. When Abbe Rose had handed her the ten francs discreetly wrapped +in paper, she blushed and thanked him, promising to pay him back as soon +as she received her month's money, for she was not a beggar and did not +wish to encroach on the share of those who starved. +</p> + +<p> +"And your son, Victor, has he found any employment?" asked the old +priest. +</p> + +<p> +She hesitated, ignorant as she was of what her son might be doing, for +now she did not see him for weeks together. And finally, she contented +herself with answering: "He has a good heart, he is very fond of me. It +is a great misfortune that we should have been ruined before he could +enter the Ecole Normale. It was impossible for him to prepare for the +examination. But at the Lycee he was such a diligent and intelligent +pupil!" +</p> + +<p> +"You lost your husband when your son was ten years old, did you not?" +said Abbe Rose. +</p> + +<p> +At this she blushed again, thinking that her husband's story was known to +the two priests. "Yes, my poor husband never had any luck," she said. +"His difficulties embittered and excited his mind, and he died in prison. +He was sent there through a disturbance at a public meeting, when he had +the misfortune to wound a police officer. He had also fought at the time +of the Commune. And yet he was a very gentle man and extremely fond of +me." +</p> + +<p> +Tears had risen to her eyes; and Abbe Rose, much touched, dismissed her: +"Well, let us hope that your son will give you satisfaction, and be able +to repay you for all you have done for him." +</p> + +<p> +With a gesture of infinite sorrow, Madame Mathis discreetly withdrew. She +was quite ignorant of her son's doings, but fate had pursued her so +relentlessly that she ever trembled. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think that the poor woman has much to expect from her son," said +Pierre, when she had gone. "I only saw him once, but the gleam in his +eyes was as harsh and trenchant as that of a knife." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think so?" the old priest exclaimed, with his kindly <i>naivete</i>. +"Well, he seemed to me very polite, perhaps a trifle eager to enjoy life; +but then, all the young folks are impatient nowadays. Come, let us sit +down to table, for the soup will be cold." +</p> + +<p> +Almost at the same hour, on the other side of Paris, night had in like +fashion slowly fallen in the drawing-room of the Countess de Quinsac, on +the dismal, silent ground-floor of an old mansion in the Rue St. +Dominique. The Countess was there, alone with her faithful friend, the +Marquis de Morigny, she on one side, and he on the other side of the +chimney-piece, where the last embers of the wood fire were dying out. The +servant had not yet brought the lamp, and the Countess refrained from +ringing, finding some relief from her anxiety in the falling darkness, +which hid from view all the unconfessed thoughts that she was afraid of +showing on her weary face. And it was only now, before that dim hearth, +and in that black room, where never a sound of wheels disturbed the +silence of the slumberous past, that she dared to speak. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, my friend," she said, "I am not satisfied with Gerard's health. You +will see him yourself, for he promised to come home early and dine with +me. Oh! I'm well aware that he looks big and strong; but to know him +properly one must have nursed and watched him as I have done! What +trouble I had to rear him! In reality he is at the mercy of any petty +ailment. His slightest complaint becomes serious illness. And the life he +leads does not conduce to good health." +</p> + +<p> +She paused and sighed, hesitating to carry her confession further. +</p> + +<p> +"He leads the life he can," slowly responded the Marquis de Morigny, of +whose delicate profile, and lofty yet loving bearing, little could be +seen in the gloom. "As he was unable to endure military life, and as even +the fatigues of diplomacy frighten you, what would you have him do? He +can only live apart pending the final collapse, while this abominable +Republic is dragging France to the grave." +</p> + +<p> +"No doubt, my friend. And yet it is just that idle life which frightens +me. He is losing in it all that was good and healthy in him. I don't +refer merely to the <i>liaisons</i> which we have had to tolerate. The last +one, which I found so much difficulty in countenancing at the outset, so +contrary did it seem to all my ideas and beliefs, has since seemed to me +to exercise almost a good influence. Only he is now entering his +thirty-sixth year, and can he continue living in this fashion without +object or duties? If he is ailing it is perhaps precisely because he does +nothing, holds no position, and serves no purpose." Her voice again +quavered. "And then, my friend, since you force me to tell you +everything, I must own that I am not in good health myself. I have had +several fainting fits of late, and have consulted a doctor. The truth is, +that I may go off at any moment." +</p> + +<p> +With a quiver, Morigny leant forward in the still deepening gloom, and +wished to take hold of her hands. "You! what, am I to lose you, my last +affection!" he faltered, "I who have seen the old world I belong to +crumble away, I who only live in the hope that you at all events will +still be here to close my eyes!" +</p> + +<p> +But she begged him not to increase her grief: "No, no, don't take my +hands, don't kiss them! Remain there in the shade, where I can scarcely +see you. . . . We have loved one another so long without aught to cause +shame or regret; and that will prove our strength—our divine +strength—till we reach the grave. . . . And if you were to touch me, if +I were to feel you too near me I could not finish, for I have not done so +yet." +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he had relapsed into silence and immobility, she continued: +"If I were to die to-morrow, Gerard would not even find here the little +fortune which he still fancies is in my hands. The dear child has often +cost me large sums of money without apparently being conscious of it. I +ought to have been more severe, more prudent. But what would you have? +Ruin is at hand. I have always been too weak a mother. And do you now +understand in what anguish I live? I ever have the thought that if I die +Gerard will not even possess enough to live on, for he is incapable of +effecting the miracle which I renew each day, in order to keep the house +up on a decent footing. . . . Ah! I know him, so supine, so sickly, in +spite of his proud bearing, unable to do anything, even conduct himself. +And so what will become of him; will he not fall into the most dire +distress?" +</p> + +<p> +Then her tears flowed freely, her heart opened and bled, for she foresaw +what must happen after her death: the collapse of her race and of a whole +world in the person of that big child. And the Marquis, still motionless +but distracted, feeling that he had no title to offer his own fortune, +suddenly understood her, foresaw in what disgrace this fresh disaster +would culminate. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! my poor friend!" he said at last in a voice trembling with revolt +and grief. "So you have agreed to that marriage—yes, that abominable +marriage with that woman's daughter! Yet you swore it should never be! +You would rather witness the collapse of everything, you said. And now +you are consenting, I can feel it!" +</p> + +<p> +She still wept on in that black, silent drawing-room before the +chimney-piece where the fire had died out. Did not Gerard's marriage to +Camille mean a happy ending for herself, a certainty of leaving her son +wealthy, loved, and seated at the banquet of life? However, a last +feeling of rebellion arose within her. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no," she exclaimed, "I don't consent, I swear to you that I don't +consent as yet. I am fighting with my whole strength, waging an incessant +battle, the torture of which you cannot imagine." +</p> + +<p> +Then, in all sincerity, she foresaw the likelihood of defeat. "If I +should some day give way, my friend, at all events believe that I feel, +as fully as you do, how abominable such a marriage must be. It will be +the end of our race and our honour!" +</p> + +<p> +This cry profoundly stirred the Marquis, and he was unable to add a word. +Haughty and uncompromising Catholic and Royalist that he was, he, on his +side also, expected nothing but the supreme collapse. Yet how +heartrending was the thought that this noble woman, so dearly and so +purely loved, would prove one of the most mournful victims of the +catastrophe! And in the shrouding gloom he found courage to kneel before +her, take her hand, and kiss it. +</p> + +<p> +Just as the servant was at last bringing a lighted lamp Gerard made his +appearance. The past-century charm of the old Louis XVI. drawing-room, +with its pale woodwork, again became apparent in the soft light. In order +that his mother might not be over-saddened by his failure to dine with +her that evening the young man had put on an air of brisk gaiety; and +when he had explained that some friends were waiting for him, she at once +released him from his promise, happy as she felt at seeing him so merry. +</p> + +<p> +"Go, go, my dear boy," said she, "but mind you do not tire yourself too +much. . . . I am going to keep Morigny; and the General and Larombiere +are coming at nine o'clock. So be easy, I shall have someone with me to +keep me from fretting and feeling lonely." +</p> + +<p> +In this wise Gerard after sitting down for a moment and chatting with the +Marquis was able to slip away, dress, and betake himself to the Cafe +Anglais. +</p> + +<p> +When he reached it women in fur cloaks were already climbing the stairs, +fashionable and merry parties were filling the private rooms, the +electric lights shone brilliantly, and the walls were already vibrating +with the stir of pleasure and debauchery. In the room which Baron +Duvillard had engaged the young man found an extraordinary display, the +most superb flowers, and a profusion of plate and crystal as for a royal +gala. The pomp with which the six covers were laid called forth a smile; +while the bill of fare and the wine list promised marvels, all the rarest +and most expensive things that could be selected. +</p> + +<p> +"It's stylish, isn't it?" exclaimed Silviane, who was already there with +Duvillard, Fonsegue and Duthil. "I just wanted to make your influential +critic open his eyes a little! When one treats a journalist to such a +dinner as this, he has got to be amiable, hasn't he?" +</p> + +<p> +In her desire to conquer, it had occurred to the young woman to array +herself in the most amazing fashion. Her gown of yellow satin, covered +with old Alencon lace, was cut low at the neck; and she had put on all +her diamonds, a necklace, a diadem, shoulder-knots, bracelets and rings. +With her candid, girlish face, she looked like some Virgin in a missal, a +Queen-Virgin, laden with the offerings of all Christendom. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, well, you look so pretty," said Gerard, who sometimes jested with +her, "that I think it will do all the same." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah!" she replied with equanimity. "You consider me a <i>bourgeoise</i>, I +see. Your opinion is that a simple little dinner and a modest gown would +have shown better taste. But ah! my dear fellow, you don't know the way +to get round men!" +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard signified his approval, for he was delighted to be able to show +her in all her glory, adorned like an idol. Fonsegue, for his part, +talked of diamonds, saying that they were now doubtful investments, as +the day when they would become articles of current manufacture was fast +approaching, thanks to the electrical furnace and other inventions. +Meantime Duthil, with an air of ecstasy and the dainty gestures of a +lady's maid, hovered around the young woman, either smoothing a +rebellious bow or arranging some fold of her lace. +</p> + +<p> +"But I say," resumed Silviane, "your critic seems to be an ill-bred man, +for he's keeping us waiting." +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, the critic arrived a quarter of an hour late, and while +apologising, he expressed his regret that he should be obliged to leave +at half-past nine, for he was absolutely compelled to put in an +appearance at a little theatre in the Rue Pigalle. He was a big fellow of +fifty with broad shoulders and a full, bearded face. His most +disagreeable characteristic was the narrow dogmatic pedantry which he had +acquired at the Ecole Normale, and had never since been able to shake +off. All his herculean efforts to be sceptical and frivolous, and the +twenty years he had spent in Paris mingling with every section of +society, had failed to rid him of it. <i>Magister</i> he was, and <i>magister</i> +he remained, even in his most strenuous flights of imagination and +audacity. From the moment of his arrival he tried to show himself +enraptured with Silviane. Naturally enough, he already knew her by sight, +and had even criticised her on one occasion in five or six contemptuous +lines. However, the sight of her there, in full beauty, clad like a +queen, and presented by four influential protectors, filled him with +emotion; and he was struck with the idea that nothing would be more +Parisian and less pedantic than to assert she had some talent and give +her his support. +</p> + +<p> +They had seated themselves at table, and the repast proved a magnificent +one, the service ever prompt and assiduous, an attendant being allotted +to each diner. While the flowers scattered their perfumes through the +room, and the plate and crystal glittered on the snowy cloth, an +abundance of delicious and unexpected dishes were handed round—a +sturgeon from Russia, prohibited game, truffles as big as eggs, and +hothouse vegetables and fruit as full of flavour as if they had been +naturally matured. It was money flung out of window, simply for the +pleasure of wasting more than other people, and eating what they could +not procure. The influential critic, though he displayed the ease of a +man accustomed to every sort of festivity, really felt astonished at it +all, and became servile, promising his support, and pledging himself far +more than he really wished to. Moreover, he showed himself very gay, +found some witty remarks to repeat, and even some rather ribald jests. +But when the champagne appeared after the roast and the grand burgundies, +his over-excitement brought him back perforce to his real nature. The +conversation had now turned on Corneille's "Polyeucte" and the part of +"Pauline," in which Silviane wished to make her <i>debut</i> at the Comedie +Francaise. This extraordinary caprice, which had quite revolted the +influential critic a week previously, now seemed to him simply a bold +enterprise in which the young woman might even prove victorious if she +consented to listen to his advice. And, once started, he delivered quite +a lecture on the past, asserting that no actress had ever yet understood +it properly, for at the outset Pauline was simply a well-meaning little +creature of the middle classes, and the beauty of her conversion at the +finish arose from the working of a miracle, a stroke of heavenly grace +which endowed her with something divine. This was not the opinion of +Silviane, who from the first lines regarded Pauline as the ideal heroine +of some symbolical legend. However, as the critic talked on and on, she +had to feign approval; and he was delighted at finding her so beautiful +and docile beneath his ferule. At last, as ten o'clock was striking, he +rose and tore out of the hot and reeking room in order to do his work. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! my dears," cried Silviane, "he's a nice bore is that critic of +yours! What a fool he is with his idea of Pauline being a little +<i>bourgeoise</i>! I would have given him a fine dressing if it weren't for +the fact that I have some need of him. Ah! no, it's too idiotic! Pour me +out a glass of champagne. I want something to set me right after all +that!" +</p> + +<p> +The <i>fete</i> then took quite an intimate turn between the four men who +remained and that bare-armed, bare-breasted girl, covered with diamonds; +while from the neighbouring passages and rooms came bursts of laughter +and sounds of kissing, all the stir and mirth of the debauchery now +filling the house. And beneath the windows torrents of vehicles and +pedestrians streamed along the Boulevards where reigned the wild fever of +pleasure and harlotry. +</p> + +<p> +"No, don't open it, or I shall catch cold!" resumed Silviane, addressing +Fonsegue as he stepped towards the window. "Are you so very warm, then? +I'm just comfortable. . . . But, Duvillard, my good fellow, please order +some more champagne. It's wonderful what a thirst your critic has given +me!" +</p> + +<p> +Amidst the blinding glare of the lamps and the perfume of the flowers and +wines, one almost stifled in the room. And Silviane was seized with an +irresistible desire for a spree, a desire to tipple and amuse herself in +some vulgar fashion, as in her bygone days. A few glasses of champagne +brought her to full pitch, and she showed the boldest and giddiest +gaiety. The others, who had never before seen her so lively, began on +their own side to feel amused. As Fonsegue was obliged to go to his +office she embraced him "like a daughter," as she expressed it. However, +on remaining alone with the others she indulged in great freedom of +speech, which became more and more marked as her intoxication increased. +And to the class of men with whom she consorted her great attraction, as +she was well aware, lay in the circumstance that with her virginal +countenance and her air of ideal purity was coupled the most monstrous +perversity ever displayed by any shameless woman. Despite her innocent +blue eyes and lily-like candour, she would give rein, particularly when +she was drunk, to the most diabolical of fancies. +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard let her drink on, but she guessed his thoughts, like she +guessed those of the others, and simply smiled while concocting +impossible stories and descanting fantastically in the language of the +gutter. And seeing her there in her dazzling gown fit for a queenly +virgin, and hearing her pour forth the vilest words, they thought her +most wonderfully droll. However, when she had drunk as much champagne as +she cared for and was half crazy, a novel idea suddenly occurred to her. +</p> + +<p> +"I say, my children," she exclaimed, "we are surely not going to stop +here. It's so precious slow! You shall take me to the Chamber of +Horrors—eh? just to finish the evening. I want to hear Legras sing 'La +Chemise,' that song which all Paris is running to hear him sing." +</p> + +<p> +But Duvillard indignantly rebelled: "Oh! no," said he; "most certainly +not. It's a vile song and I'll never take you to such an abominable +place." +</p> + +<p> +But she did not appear to hear him. She had already staggered to her feet +and was arranging her hair before a looking-glass. "I used to live at +Montmartre," she said, "and it'll amuse me to go back there. And, +besides, I want to know if this Legras is a Legras that I knew, oh! ever +so long ago! Come, up you get, and let us be off!" +</p> + +<p> +"But, my dear girl," pleaded Duvillard, "we can't take you into that den +dressed as you are! Just fancy your entering that place in a low-necked +gown and covered with diamonds! Why everyone would jeer at us! Come, +Gerard, just tell her to be a little reasonable." +</p> + +<p> +Gerard, equally offended by the idea of such a freak, was quite willing +to intervene. But she closed his mouth with her gloved hand and repeated +with the gay obstinacy of intoxication: "Pooh, it will be all the more +amusing if they do jeer at us! Come, let us be off, let us be off, +quick!" +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Duthil, who had been listening with a smile and the air of a +man of pleasure whom nothing astonishes or displeases, gallantly took her +part. "But, my dear Baron, everybody goes to the Chamber of Horrors," +said he. "Why, I myself have taken the noblest ladies there, and +precisely to hear that song of Legras, which is no worse than anything +else." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! you hear what Duthil says!" cried Silviane. "He's a deputy, he is, +and he wouldn't go there if he thought it would compromise his +honorability!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Duvillard still struggled on in despair at the idea of +exhibiting himself with her in such a scandalous place, she became all +the merrier: "Well, my dear fellow, please yourself. I don't need you. +You and Gerard can go home if you like. But I'm going to Montmartre with +Duthil. You'll take charge of me, won't you, Duthil, eh?" +</p> + +<p> +Still, the Baron was in no wise disposed to let the evening finish in +that fashion. The mere idea of it gave him a shock, and he had to resign +himself to the girl's stubborn caprice. The only consolation he could +think of was to secure Gerard's presence, for the young man, with some +lingering sense of decorum, still obstinately refused to make one of the +party. So the Baron took his hands and detained him, repeating in urgent +tones that he begged him to come as an essential mark of friendship. And +at last the wife's lover and daughter's suitor had to give way to the man +who was the former's husband and the latter's father. +</p> + +<p> +Silviane was immensely amused by it all, and, indiscreetly thee-ing and +thou-ing Gerard, suggested that he at least owed the Baron some little +compliance with his wishes. +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard pretended not to hear her. He was listening to Duthil, who told +him that there was a sort of box in a corner of the Chamber of Horrors, +in which one could in some measure conceal oneself. And then, as +Silviane's carriage—a large closed landau, whose coachman, a sturdy, +handsome fellow, sat waiting impassively on his box—was down below, they +started off. +</p> + +<p> +The Chamber of Horrors was installed in premises on the Boulevard de +Rochechouart, formerly occupied by a cafe whose proprietor had become +bankrupt.* It was a suffocating place, narrow, irregular, with all sorts +of twists, turns, and secluded nooks, and a low and smoky ceiling. And +nothing could have been more rudimentary than its decorations. The walls +had simply been placarded with posters of violent hues, some of the +crudest character, showing the barest of female figures. Behind a piano +at one end there was a little platform reached by a curtained doorway. +For the rest, one simply found a number of bare wooden forms set +alongside the veriest pot-house tables, on which the glasses containing +various beverages left round and sticky marks. There was no luxury, no +artistic feature, no cleanliness even. Globeless gas burners flared +freely, heating a dense mist compounded of tobacco smoke and human +breath. Perspiring, apoplectical faces could be perceived through this +veil, and an acrid odour increased the intoxication of the assembly, +which excited itself with louder and louder shouts at each fresh song. It +had been sufficient for an enterprising fellow to set up these boards, +bring out Legras, accompanied by two or three girls, make him sing his +frantic and abominable songs, and in two or three evenings overwhelming +success had come, all Paris being enticed and flocking to the place, +which for ten years or so had failed to pay as a mere cafe, where by way +of amusement petty cits had been simply allowed their daily games at +dominoes. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * Those who know Paris will identify the site selected by M. Zola + as that where 'Colonel' Lisbonne of the Commune installed his + den the 'Bagne' some years ago. Nevertheless, such places as the + 'Chamber of Horrors' now abound in the neighbourhood of + Montmartre, and it must be admitted that whilst they are + frequented by certain classes of Frenchmen they owe much of + their success in a pecuniary sense to the patronage of + foreigners. Among the latter, Englishmen are particularly + conspicuous.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +And the change had been caused by the passion for filth, the irresistible +attraction exercised by all that brought opprobrium and disgust. The +Paris of enjoyment, the <i>bourgeoisie</i> which held all wealth and power, +which would relinquish naught of either, though it was surfeited and +gradually wearying of both, simply hastened to the place in order that +obscenity and insult might be flung in its face. Hypnotised, as it were, +while staggering to its fall, it felt a need of being spat upon. And what +a frightful symptom there lay in it all: those condemned ones rushing +upon dirt of their own accord, voluntarily hastening their own +decomposition by that unquenchable thirst for the vile, which attracted +men, reputed to be grave and upright, and lovely women of the most +perfect grace and luxury, to all the beastliness of that low den! +</p> + +<p> +At one of the tables nearest the stage sat little Princess Rosemonde de +Harn, with wild eyes and quivering nostrils, delighted as she felt at now +being able to satisfy her curiosity regarding the depths of Paris life. +Young Hyacinthe had resigned himself to the task of bringing her, and, +correctly buttoned up in his long frock-coat, he was indulgent enough to +refrain from any marked expression of boredom. At a neighbouring table +they had found a shadowy Spaniard of their acquaintance, a so-called +Bourse jobber, Bergaz, who had been introduced to the Princess by Janzen, +and usually attended her entertainments. They virtually knew nothing +about him, not even if he really earned at the Bourse all the money which +he sometimes spent so lavishly, and which enabled him to dress with +affected elegance. His slim, lofty figure was not without a certain air +of distinction, but his red lips spoke of strong passions and his bright +eyes were those of a beast of prey. That evening he had two young fellows +with him, one Rossi, a short, swarthy Italian, who had come to Paris as a +painter's model, and had soon glided into the lazy life of certain +disreputable callings, and the other, Sanfaute, a born Parisian +blackguard, a pale, beardless, vicious and impudent stripling of La +Chapelle, whose long curly hair fell down upon either side of his bony +cheeks. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! pray now!" feverishly said Rosemonde to Bergaz; "as you seem to know +all these horrid people, just show me some of the celebrities. Aren't +there some thieves and murderers among them?" +</p> + +<p> +He laughed shrilly, and in a bantering way replied: "But you know these +people well enough, madame. That pretty, pink, delicate-looking woman +over yonder is an American lady, the wife of a consul, whom, I believe, +you receive at your house. That other on the right, that tall brunette +who shows such queenly dignity, is a Countess, whose carriage passes +yours every day in the Bois. And the thin one yonder, whose eyes glitter +like those of a she-wolf, is the particular friend of a high official, +who is well known for his reputation of austerity." +</p> + +<p> +But she stopped him, in vexation: "I know, I know. But the others, those +of the lower classes, those whom one comes to see." +</p> + +<p> +Then she went on asking questions, and seeking for terrifying and +mysterious countenances. At last, two men seated in a corner ended by +attracting her attention; one of them a very young fellow with a pale, +pinched face, and the other an ageless individual who, besides being +buttoned up to his neck in an old coat, had pulled his cap so low over +his eyes, that one saw little of his face beyond the beard which fringed +it. Before these two stood a couple of mugs of beer, which they drank +slowly and in silence. +</p> + +<p> +"You are making a great mistake, my dear," said Hyacinthe with a frank +laugh, "if you are looking for brigands in disguise. That poor fellow +with the pale face, who surely doesn't have food to eat every day, was my +schoolfellow at Condorcet!" +</p> + +<p> +Bergaz expressed his amazement. "What! you knew Mathis at Condorcet! +After all, though, you're right, he received a college education. Ah! and +so you knew him. A very remarkable young man he is, though want is +throttling him. But, I say, the other one, his companion, you don't know +him?" +</p> + +<p> +Hyacinthe, after looking at the man with the cap-hidden face, was already +shaking his head, when Bergaz suddenly gave him a nudge as a signal to +keep quiet, and by way of explanation he muttered: "Hush! Here's +Raphanel. I've been distrusting him for some time past. Whenever he +appears anywhere, the police is not far off." +</p> + +<p> +Raphanel was another of the vague, mysterious Anarchists whom Janzen had +presented to the Princess by way of satisfying her momentary passion for +revolutionism. This one, though he was a fat, gay, little man, with a +doll-like face and childish nose, which almost disappeared between his +puffy cheeks, had the reputation of being a thorough desperado; and at +public meetings he certainly shouted for fire and murder with all his +lungs. Still, although he had already been compromised in various +affairs, he had invariably managed to save his own bacon, whilst his +companions were kept under lock and key; and this they were now beginning +to think somewhat singular. +</p> + +<p> +He at once shook hands with the Princess in a jovial way, took a seat +near her without being invited, and forthwith denounced the dirty +<i>bourgeoisie</i> which came to wallow in places of ill fame. Rosemonde was +delighted, and encouraged him, but others near by began to get angry, and +Bergaz examined him with his piercing eyes, like a man of energy who +acts, and lets others talk. Now and then, too, he exchanged quick glances +of intelligence with his silent lieutenants, Sanfaute and Rossi, who +plainly belonged to him, both body and soul. They were the ones who found +their profit in Anarchy, practising it to its logical conclusions, +whether in crime or in vice. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, pending the arrival of Legras with his "Flowers of the +Pavement," two female vocalists had followed one another on the stage, +the first fat and the second thin, one chirruping some silly love songs +with an under-current of dirt, and the other shouting the coarsest of +refrains, in a most violent, fighting voice. She had just finished amidst +a storm of bravos, when the assembly, stirred to merriment and eager for +a laugh, suddenly exploded once more. Silviane was entering the little +box at one end of the hall. When she appeared erect in the full light, +with bare arms and shoulders, looking like a planet in her gown of yellow +satin and her blazing diamonds, there arose a formidable uproar, shouts, +jeers, hisses, laughing and growling, mingled with ferocious applause. +And the scandal increased, and the vilest expressions flew about as soon +as Duvillard, Gerard and Duthil also showed themselves, looking very +serious and dignified with their white ties and spreading shirt fronts. +</p> + +<p> +"We told you so!" muttered Duvillard, who was much annoyed with the +affair, while Gerard tried to conceal himself in a dim corner. +</p> + +<p> +She, however, smiling and enchanted, faced the public, accepting the +storm with the candid bearing of a foolish virgin, much as one inhales +the vivifying air of the open when it bears down upon one in a squall. +And, indeed, she herself had sprung from the sphere before her, its +atmosphere was her native air. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, what of it?" she said replying to the Baron who wanted her to sit +down. "They are merry. It's very nice. Oh! I'm really amusing myself!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, yes, it's very nice," declared Duthil, who in like fashion set +himself at his ease. "Silviane is right, people naturally like a laugh +now and then!" +</p> + +<p> +Amidst the uproar, which did not cease, little Princess Rosemonde rose +enthusiastically to get a better view. "Why, it's your father who's with +that woman Silviane," she said to Hyacinthe. "Just look at them! Well, he +certainly has plenty of bounce to show himself here with her!" +</p> + +<p> +Hyacinthe, however, refused to look. It didn't interest him, his father +was an idiot, only a child would lose his head over a girl in that +fashion. And with his contempt for woman the young man became positively +insulting. +</p> + +<p> +"You try my nerves, my dear fellow," said Rosemonde as she sat down. "You +are the child with your silly ideas about us. And as for your father, he +does quite right to love that girl. I find her very pretty indeed, quite +adorable!" +</p> + +<p> +Then all at once the uproar ceased, those who had risen resumed their +seats, and the only sound was that of the feverish throb which coursed +through the assembly. Legras had just appeared on the platform. He was a +pale sturdy fellow with a round and carefully shaven face, stern eyes, +and the powerful jaws of a man who compels the adoration of women by +terrorising them. He was not deficient in talent, he sang true, and his +ringing voice was one of extraordinary penetration and pathetic power. +And his <i>repertoire</i>, his "Flowers of the Pavement," completed the +explanation of his success; for all the foulness and suffering of the +lower spheres, the whole abominable sore of the social hell created by +the rich, shrieked aloud in these songs in words of filth and fire and +blood. +</p> + +<p> +A prelude was played on the piano, and Legras standing there in his +velvet jacket sang "La Chemise," the horrible song which brought all +Paris to hear him. All the lust and vice that crowd the streets of the +great city appeared with their filth and their poison; and amid the +picture of Woman stripped, degraded, ill-treated, dragged through the +mire and cast into a cesspool, there rang out the crime of the +<i>bourgeoisie</i>. But the scorching insult of it all was less in the words +themselves than in the manner in which Legras cast them in the faces of +the rich, the happy, the beautiful ladies who came to listen to him. +Under the low ceiling, amidst the smoke from the pipes, in the blinding +glare of the gas, he sent his lines flying through the assembly like +expectorations, projected by a whirlwind of furious contempt. And when he +had finished there came delirium; the beautiful ladies did not even think +of wiping away the many affronts they had received, but applauded +frantically. The whole assembly stamped and shouted, and wallowed, +distracted, in its ignominy. +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo! bravo!" the little Princess repeated in her shrill voice. "It's +astonishing, astonishing, prodigious!" +</p> + +<p> +And Silviane, whose intoxication seemed to have increased since she had +been there, in the depths of that fiery furnace, made herself +particularly conspicuous by the manner in which she clapped her hands and +shouted: "It's he, it's my Legras! I really must kiss him, he's pleased +me so much!" +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard, now fairly exasperated, wished to take her off by force. But +she clung to the hand-rest of the box, and shouted yet more loudly, +though without any show of temper. It became necessary to parley with +her. Yes, she was willing to go off and let them drive her home; but, +first of all, she must embrace Legras, who was an old friend of hers. "Go +and wait for me in the carriage!" she said, "I will be with you in a +moment." +</p> + +<p> +Just as the assembly was at last becoming calmer, Rosemonde perceived +that the box was emptying; and her own curiosity being satisfied, she +thought of prevailing on Hyacinthe to see her home. He, who had listened +to Legras in a languid way without even applauding, was now talking of +Norway with Bergaz, who pretended that he had travelled in the North. Oh! +the fiords! oh! the ice-bound lakes! oh! the pure lily-white, chaste +coldness of the eternal winter! It was only amid such surroundings, said +Hyacinthe, that he could understand woman and love, like a kiss of the +very snow itself. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we go off there to-morrow?" exclaimed the Princess with her +vivacious effrontery. "I'll shut up my house and slip the key under the +door." +</p> + +<p> +Then she added that she was jesting, of course. But Bergaz knew her to be +quite capable of such a freak; and at the idea that she might shut up her +little mansion and perhaps leave it unprotected he exchanged a quick +glance with Sanfaute and Rossi, who still smiled in silence. Ah! what an +opportunity for a fine stroke! What an opportunity to get back some of +the wealth of the community appropriated by the blackguard <i>bourgeoisie</i>! +</p> + +<p> +Meantime Raphanel, after applauding Legras, was looking all round the +place with his little grey, sharp eyes. And at last young Mathis and his +companion, the ill-clad individual, of whose face only a scrap of beard +could be seen, attracted his attention. They had neither laughed nor +applauded; they seemed to be simply a couple of tired fellows who were +resting, and in whose opinion one is best hidden in the midst of a crowd. +</p> + +<p> +All at once, though, Raphanel turned towards Bergaz: "That's surely +little Mathis over yonder. But who's that with him?" +</p> + +<p> +Bergaz made an evasive gesture; he did not know. Still, he no longer took +his eyes from Raphanel. And he saw the other feign indifference at what +followed, and finish his beer and take his leave, with the jesting remark +that he had an appointment with a lady at a neighbouring omnibus office. +No sooner had he gone than Bergaz rose, sprang over some of the forms and +jostled people in order to reach little Mathis, into whose ear he +whispered a few words. And the young man at once left his table, taking +his companion and pushing him outside through an occasional exit. It was +all so rapidly accomplished that none of the general public paid +attention to the flight. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" said the Princess to Bergaz, when he had quietly resumed +his seat between Rossi and Sanfaute. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! nothing, I merely wished to shake hands with Mathis as he was going +off." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Rosemonde announced that she meant to do the same. +Nevertheless, she lingered a moment longer and again spoke of Norway on +perceiving that nothing could impassion Hyacinthe except the idea of the +eternal snow, the intense, purifying cold of the polar regions. In his +poem on the "End of Woman," a composition of some thirty lines, which he +hoped he should never finish, he thought of introducing a forest of +frozen pines by way of final scene. Now the Princess had risen and was +gaily reverting to her jest, declaring that she meant to take him home to +drink a cup of tea and arrange their trip to the Pole, when an +involuntary exclamation fell from Bergaz, who, while listening, had kept +his eyes on the doorway. +</p> + +<p> +"Mondesir! I was sure of it!" +</p> + +<p> +There had appeared at the entrance a short, sinewy, broad-backed little +man, about whose round face, bumpy forehead, and snub nose there was +considerable military roughness. One might have thought him a +non-commissioned officer in civilian attire. He gazed over the whole +room, and seemed at once dismayed and disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +Bergaz, however, wishing to account for his exclamation, resumed in an +easy way: "Ah! I said there was a smell of the police about the place! +You see that fellow—he's a detective, a very clever one, named Mondesir, +who had some trouble when he was in the army. Just look at him, sniffing +like a dog that has lost scent! Well, well, my brave fellow, if you've +been told of any game you may look and look for it, the bird's flown +already!" +</p> + +<p> +Once outside, when Rosemonde had prevailed on Hyacinthe to see her home, +they hastened to get into the brougham, which was waiting for them, for +near at hand they perceived Silviane's landau, with the majestic coachman +motionless on his box, while Duvillard, Gerard, and Duthil still stood +waiting on the curbstone. They had been there for nearly twenty minutes +already, in the semi-darkness of that outer boulevard, where all the +vices of the poor districts of Paris were on the prowl. They had been +jostled by drunkards; and shadowy women brushed against them as they went +by whispering beneath the oaths and blows of bullies. And there were +couples seeking the darkness under the trees, and lingering on the +benches there; while all around were low taverns and dirty lodging-houses +and places of ill-fame. All the human degradation which till break of day +swarms in the black mud of this part of Paris, enveloped the three men, +giving them the horrors, and yet neither the Baron nor Gerard nor Duthil +was willing to go off. Each hoped that he would tire out the others, and +take Silviane home when she should at last appear. +</p> + +<p> +But after a time the Baron grew impatient, and said to the coachman: +"Jules, go and see why madame doesn't come." +</p> + +<p> +"But the horses, Monsieur le Baron?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! they will be all right, we are here." +</p> + +<p> +A fine drizzle had begun to fall; and the wait went on again as if it +would never finish. But an unexpected meeting gave them momentary +occupation. A shadowy form, something which seemed to be a thin, +black-skirted woman, brushed against them. And all of a sudden they were +surprised to find it was a priest. +</p> + +<p> +"What, is it you, Monsieur l'Abbe Froment?" exclaimed Gerard. "At this +time of night? And in this part of Paris?" +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Pierre, without venturing either to express his own +astonishment at finding them there themselves, or to ask them what they +were doing, explained that he had been belated through accompanying Abbe +Rose on a visit to a night refuge. Ah! to think of all the frightful want +which at last drifted to those pestilential dormitories where the stench +had almost made him faint! To think of all the weariness and despair +which there sank into the slumber of utter prostration, like that of +beasts falling to the ground to sleep off the abominations of life! No +name could be given to the promiscuity; poverty and suffering were there +in heaps, children and men, young and old, beggars in sordid rags, beside +the shameful poor in threadbare frock-coats, all the waifs and strays of +the daily shipwrecks of Paris life, all the laziness and vice, and +ill-luck and injustice which the torrent rolls on, and throws off like +scum. Some slept on, quite annihilated, with the faces of corpses. +Others, lying on their backs with mouths agape, snored loudly as if still +venting the plaint of their sorry life. And others tossed restlessly, +still struggling in their slumber against fatigue and cold and hunger, +which pursued them like nightmares of monstrous shape. And from all those +human beings, stretched there like wounded after a battle, from all that +ambulance of life reeking with a stench of rottenness and death, there +ascended a nausea born of revolt, the vengeance-prompting thought of all +the happy chambers where, at that same hour, the wealthy loved or rested +in fine linen and costly lace.* +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * Even the oldest Paris night refuges, which are the outcome + of private philanthropy—L'Oeuvre de l'Hospitalite de Nuit—have + only been in existence some fourteen or fifteen years. + Before that time, and from the period of the great Revolution + forward, there was absolutely no place, either refuge, asylum, + or workhouse, in the whole of that great city of wealth and + pleasure, where the houseless poor could crave a night's + shelter. The various royalist, imperialist and republican + governments and municipalities of modern France have often + been described as 'paternal,' but no governments and + municipalities in the whole civilised world have done less for + the very poor. The official Poor Relief Board—L'Assistance + Publique—has for fifty years been a by-word, a mockery and a + sham, in spite of its large revenue. And this neglect of the + very poor has been an important factor in every French + revolution. Each of these—even that of 1870—had its purely + economic side, though many superficial historians are content + to ascribe economic causes to the one Revolution of 1789, and + to pass them by in all other instances.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +In vain had Pierre and Abbe Rose passed all the poor wretches in review +while seeking the big Old'un, the former carpenter, so as to rescue him +from the cesspool of misery, and send him to the Asylum on the very +morrow. He had presented himself at the refuge that evening, but there +was no room left, for, horrible to say, even the shelter of that hell +could only be granted to early comers. And so he must now be leaning +against a wall, or lying behind some palings. This had greatly distressed +poor Abbe Rose and Pierre, but it was impossible for them to search every +dark, suspicious corner; and so the former had returned to the Rue +Cortot, while the latter was seeking a cab to convey him back to Neuilly. +</p> + +<p> +The fine drizzling rain was still falling and becoming almost icy, when +Silviane's coachman, Jules, at last reappeared and interrupted the +priest, who was telling the Baron and the others how his visit to the +refuge still made him shudder. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Jules—and madame?" asked Duvillard, quite anxious at seeing the +coachman return alone. +</p> + +<p> +Impassive and respectful, with no other sign of irony than a slight +involuntary twist of the lips, Jules answered: "Madame sends word that +she is not going home; and she places her carriage at the gentlemen's +disposal if they will allow me to drive them home." +</p> + +<p> +This was the last straw, and the Baron flew into a passion. To have +allowed her to drag him to that vile den, to have waited there hopefully +so long, and to be treated in this fashion for the sake of a Legras! No, +no, he, the Baron, had had enough of it, and she should pay dearly for +her abominable conduct! Then he stopped a passing cab and pushed Gerard +inside it saying, "You can set me down at my door." +</p> + +<p> +"But she's left us the carriage!" shouted Duthil, who was already +consoled, and inwardly laughed at the termination of it all. "Come here, +there's plenty of room for three. No? you prefer the cab? Well, just as +you like, you know." +</p> + +<p> +For his part he gaily climbed into the landau and drove off lounging on +the cushions, while the Baron, in the jolting old cab, vented his rage +without a word of interruption from Gerard, whose face was hidden by the +darkness. To think of it! that she, whom he had overwhelmed with gifts, +who had already cost him two millions of francs, should in this fashion +insult him, the master who could dispose both of fortunes and of men! +Well, she had chosen to do it, and he was delivered! Then Duvillard drew +a long breath like a man released from the galleys. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Pierre watched the two vehicles go off; and then took his +own way under the trees, so as to shelter himself from the rain until a +vacant cab should pass. Full of distress and battling thoughts he had +begun to feel icy cold. The whole monstrous night of Paris, all the +debauchery and woe that sobbed around him made him shiver. Phantom-like +women who, when young, had led lives of infamy in wealth, and who now, +old and faded, led lives of infamy in poverty, were still and ever +wandering past him in search of bread, when suddenly a shadowy form +grazed him, and a voice murmured in his ear: "Warn your brother, the +police are on Salvat's track, he may be arrested at any moment." +</p> + +<p> +The shadowy figure was already going its way, and as a gas ray fell upon +it, Pierre thought that he recognised the pale, pinched face of Victor +Mathis. And at the same time, yonder in Abbe Rose's peaceful dining-room, +he fancied he could again see the gentle face of Madame Mathis, so sad +and so resigned, living on solely by the force of the last trembling hope +which she had unhappily set in her son. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +III +</h3> + +<h3> +PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT +</h3> + +<p> +ALREADY at eight o'clock on that holiday-making mid-Lent Thursday, when +all the offices of the Home Department were empty, Monferrand, the +Minister, sat alone in his private room. A single usher guarded his door, +and in the first ante-chamber there were only a couple of messengers. +</p> + +<p> +The Minister had experienced, on awaking, the most unpleasant of +emotions. The "Voix du Peuple," which on the previous day had revived the +African Railway scandal, by accusing Barroux of having pocketed 20,000 +francs, had that morning published its long-promised list of the +bribe-taking senators and deputies. And at the head of this list +Monferrand had found his own name set down against a sum of 80,000 +francs, while Fonsegue was credited with 50,000. Then a fifth of the +latter amount was said to have been Duthil's share, and Chaigneux had +contented himself with the beggarly sum of 3,000 francs—the lowest price +paid for any one vote, the cost of each of the others ranging from 5 to +20,000. +</p> + +<p> +It must be said that there was no anger in Monferrand's emotion. Only he +had never thought that Sagnier would carry his passion for uproar and +scandal so far as to publish this list—a page which was said to have +been torn from a memorandum book belonging to Duvillard's agent, Hunter, +and which was covered with incomprehensible hieroglyphics that ought to +have been discussed and explained, if, indeed, the real truth was to be +arrived at. Personally, Monferrand felt quite at ease, for he had written +nothing, signed nothing, and knew that one could always extricate oneself +from a mess by showing some audacity, and never confessing. Nevertheless, +what a commotion it would all cause in the parliamentary duck-pond. He at +once realised the inevitable consequences, the ministry overthrown and +swept away by this fresh whirlwind of denunciation and tittle-tattle. +Mege would renew his interpellation on the morrow, and Vignon and his +friends would at once lay siege to the posts they coveted. And he, +Monferrand, could picture himself driven out of that ministerial sanctum +where, for eight months past, he had been taking his ease, not with any +foolish vainglory, but with the pleasure of feeling that he was in his +proper place as a born ruler, who believed he could tame and lead the +multitude. +</p> + +<p> +Having thrown the newspapers aside with a disdainful gesture, he rose and +stretched himself, growling the while like a plagued lion. And then he +began to walk up and down the spacious room, which showed all the faded +official luxury of mahogany furniture and green damask hangings. Stepping +to and fro, with his hands behind his back, he no longer wore his usual +fatherly, good-natured air. He appeared as he really was, a born +wrestler, short, but broad shouldered, with sensual mouth, fleshy nose +and stern eyes, that all proclaimed him to be unscrupulous, of iron will +and fit for the greatest tasks. Still, in this case, in what direction +lay his best course? Must he let himself be dragged down with Barroux? +Perhaps his personal position was not absolutely compromised? And yet how +could he part company from the others, swim ashore, and save himself +while they were being drowned? It was a grave problem, and with his +frantic desire to retain power, he made desperate endeavours to devise +some suitable manoeuvre. +</p> + +<p> +But he could think of nothing, and began to swear at the virtuous fits of +that silly Republic, which, in his opinion, rendered all government +impossible. To think of such foolish fiddle-faddle stopping a man of his +acumen and strength! How on earth can one govern men if one is denied the +use of money, that sovereign means of sway? And he laughed bitterly; for +the idea of an idyllic country where all great enterprises would be +carried out in an absolutely honest manner seemed to him the height of +absurdity. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, unable as he was to come to a determination, it +occurred to him to confer with Baron Duvillard, whom he had long known, +and whom he regretted not having seen sooner so as to urge him to +purchase Sagnier's silence. At first he thought of sending the Baron a +brief note by a messenger; but he disliked committing anything to paper, +for the veriest scrap of writing may prove dangerous; so he preferred to +employ the telephone which had been installed for his private use near +his writing-table. +</p> + +<p> +"It is Baron Duvillard who is speaking to me? . . . Quite so. It's I, the +Minister, Monsieur Monferrand. I shall be much obliged if you will come +to see me at once. . . . Quite so, quite so, I will wait for you." +</p> + +<p> +Then again he walked to and fro and meditated. That fellow Duvillard was +as clever a man as himself, and might be able to give him an idea. And he +was still laboriously trying to devise some scheme, when the usher +entered saying that Monsieur Gascogne, the Chief of the Detective Police, +particularly wished to speak to him. Monferrand's first thought was that +the Prefecture of Police desired to know his views respecting the steps +which ought to be taken to ensure public order that day; for two mid-Lent +processions—one of the Washerwomen and the other of the Students—were +to march through Paris, whose streets would certainly be crowded. +</p> + +<p> +"Show Monsieur Gascogne in," he said. +</p> + +<p> +A tall, slim, dark man, looking like an artisan in his Sunday best, then +stepped into the ministerial sanctum. Fully acquainted with the +under-currents of Paris life, this Chief of the Detective Force had a +cold dispassionate nature and a clear and methodical mind. +Professionalism slightly spoilt him, however: he would have possessed +more intelligence if he had not credited himself with so much. +</p> + +<p> +He began by apologising for his superior the Prefect, who would certainly +have called in person had he not been suffering from indisposition. +However, it was perhaps best that he, Gascogne, should acquaint Monsieur +le Ministre with the grave affair which brought him, for he knew every +detail of it. Then he revealed what the grave affair was. +</p> + +<p> +"I believe, Monsieur le Ministre, that we at last hold the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." +</p> + +<p> +At this, Monferrand, who had been listening impatiently, became quite +impassioned. The fruitless searches of the police, the attacks and the +jeers of the newspapers, were a source of daily worry to him. "Ah!—Well, +so much the better for you Monsieur Gascogne," he replied with brutal +frankness. "You would have ended by losing your post. The man is +arrested?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not yet, Monsieur le Ministre; but he cannot escape, and it is merely an +affair of a few hours." +</p> + +<p> +Then the Chief of the Detective Force told the whole story: how Detective +Mondesir, on being warned by a secret agent that the Anarchist Salvat was +in a tavern at Montmartre, had reached it just as the bird had flown; +then how chance had again set him in presence of Salvat at a hundred +paces or so from the tavern, the rascal having foolishly loitered there +to watch the establishment; and afterwards how Salvat had been stealthily +shadowed in the hope that they might catch him in his hiding-place with +his accomplices. And, in this wise, he had been tracked to the +Porte-Maillot, where, realising, no doubt, that he was pursued, he had +suddenly bolted into the Bois de Boulogne. It was there that he had been +hiding since two o'clock in the morning in the drizzle which had not +ceased to fall. They had waited for daylight in order to organise a +<i>battue</i> and hunt him down like some animal, whose weariness must +necessarily ensure capture. And so, from one moment to another, he would +be caught. +</p> + +<p> +"I know the great interest you take in the arrest, Monsieur le Ministre," +added Gascogne, "and it occurred to me to ask your orders. Detective +Mondesir is over there, directing the hunt. He regrets that he did not +apprehend the man on the Boulevard de Rochechouart; but, all the same, +the idea of following him was a capital one, and one can only reproach +Mondesir with having forgotten the Bois de Boulogne in his calculations." +</p> + +<p> +Salvat arrested! That fellow Salvat whose name had filled the newspapers +for three weeks past. This was a most fortunate stroke which would be +talked of far and wide! In the depths of Monferrand's fixed eyes one +could divine a world of thoughts and a sudden determination to turn this +incident which chance had brought him to his own personal advantage. In +his own mind a link was already forming between this arrest and that +African Railways interpellation which was likely to overthrow the +ministry on the morrow. The first outlines of a scheme already rose +before him. Was it not his good star that had sent him what he had been +seeking—a means of fishing himself out of the troubled waters of the +approaching crisis? +</p> + +<p> +"But tell me, Monsieur Gascogne," said he, "are you quite sure that this +man Salvat committed the crime?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! perfectly sure, Monsieur le Ministre. He'll confess everything in +the cab before he reaches the Prefecture." +</p> + +<p> +Monferrand again walked to and fro with a pensive air, and ideas came to +him as he spoke on in a slow, meditative fashion. "My orders! well, my +orders, they are, first, that you must act with the very greatest +prudence. Yes, don't gather a mob of promenaders together. Try to arrange +things so that the arrest may pass unperceived—and if you secure a +confession keep it to yourself, don't communicate it to the newspapers. +Yes, I particularly recommend that point to you, don't take the +newspapers into your confidence at all—and finally, come and tell me +everything, and observe secrecy, absolute secrecy, with everybody else." +</p> + +<p> +Gascogne bowed and would have withdrawn, but Monferrand detained him to +say that not a day passed without his friend Monsieur Lehmann, the Public +Prosecutor, receiving letters from Anarchists who threatened to blow him +up with his family; in such wise that, although he was by no means a +coward, he wished his house to be guarded by plain-clothes officers. A +similar watch was already kept upon the house where investigating +magistrate Amadieu resided. And if the latter's life was precious, that +of Public Prosecutor Lehmann was equally so, for he was one of those +political magistrates, one of those shrewd talented Israelites, who make +their way in very honest fashion by invariably taking the part of the +Government in office. +</p> + +<p> +Then Gascogne in his turn remarked: "There is also the Barthes affair, +Monsieur le Ministre—we are still waiting. Are we to arrest Barthes at +that little house at Neuilly?" +</p> + +<p> +One of those chances which sometimes come to the help of detectives and +make people think the latter to be men of genius had revealed to him the +circumstance that Barthes had found a refuge with Abbe Pierre Froment. +Ever since the Anarchist terror had thrown Paris into dismay a warrant +had been out against the old man, not for any precise offence, but simply +because he was a suspicious character and might, therefore, have had some +intercourse with the Revolutionists. However, it had been repugnant to +Gascogne to arrest him at the house of a priest whom the whole district +venerated as a saint; and the Minister, whom he had consulted on the +point, had warmly approved of his reserve, since a member of the clergy +was in question, and had undertaken to settle the affair himself. +</p> + +<p> +"No, Monsieur Gascogne," he now replied, "don't move in the matter. You +know what my feelings are, that we ought to have the priests with us and +not against us—I have had a letter written to Abbe Froment in order that +he may call here this morning, as I shall have no other visitors. I will +speak to him myself, and you may take it that the affair no longer +concerns you." +</p> + +<p> +Then he was about to dismiss him when the usher came back saying that the +President of the Council was in the ante-room.* +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * The title of President of the Council is given to the French + prime minister.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +"Barroux!—Ah! dash it, then, Monsieur Gascogne, you had better go out +this way. It is as well that nobody should meet you, as I wish you to +keep silent respecting Salvat's arrest. It's fully understood, is it not? +I alone am to know everything; and you will communicate with me here +direct, by the telephone, if any serious incident should arise." +</p> + +<p> +The Chief of the Detective Police had scarcely gone off, by way of an +adjoining <i>salon</i>, when the usher reopened the door communicating with +the ante-room: "Monsieur le President du Conseil." +</p> + +<p> +With a nicely adjusted show of deference and cordiality, Monferrand +stepped forward, his hands outstretched: "Ah! my dear President, why did +you put yourself out to come here? I would have called on you if I had +known that you wished to see me." +</p> + +<p> +But with an impatient gesture Barroux brushed aside all question of +etiquette. "No, no! I was taking my usual stroll in the Champs Elysees, +and the worries of the situation impressed me so keenly that I preferred +to come here at once. You yourself must realise that we can't put up with +what is taking place. And pending to-morrow morning's council, when we +shall have to arrange a plan of defence, I felt that there was good +reason for us to talk things over." +</p> + +<p> +He took an armchair, and Monferrand on his side rolled another forward so +as to seat himself with his back to the light. Whilst Barroux, the elder +of the pair by ten years, blanched and solemn, with a handsome face, +snowy whiskers, clean-shaven chin and upper-lip, retained all the dignity +of power, the bearing of a Conventionnel of romantic views, who sought to +magnify the simple loyalty of a rather foolish but good-hearted +<i>bourgeois</i> nature into something great; the other, beneath his heavy +common countenance and feigned frankness and simplicity, concealed +unknown depths, the unfathomable soul of a shrewd enjoyer and despot who +was alike pitiless and unscrupulous in attaining his ends. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Barroux drew breath, for in reality he was greatly moved, +his blood rising to his head, and his heart beating with indignation and +anger at the thought of all the vulgar insults which the "Voix du Peuple" +had poured upon him again that morning. "Come, my dear colleague," said +he, "one must stop that scandalous campaign. Moreover, you can realise +what awaits us at the Chamber to-morrow. Now that the famous list has +been published we shall have every malcontent up in arms. Vignon is +bestirring himself already—" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! you have news of Vignon?" exclaimed Monferrand, becoming very +attentive. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, as I passed his door just now, I saw a string of cabs waiting +there. All his creatures have been on the move since yesterday, and at +least twenty persons have told me that the band is already dividing the +spoils. For, as you must know, the fierce and ingenuous Mege is again +going to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for others. Briefly, we are +dead, and the others claim that they are going to bury us in mud before +they fight over our leavings." With his arm outstretched Barroux made a +theatrical gesture, and his voice resounded as if he were in the tribune. +Nevertheless, his emotion was real, tears even were coming to his eyes. +"To think that I who have given my whole life to the Republic, I who +founded it, who saved it, should be covered with insults in this fashion, +and obliged to defend myself against abominable charges! To say that I +abused my trust! That I sold myself and took 200,000 francs from that man +Hunter, simply to slip them into my pocket! Well, certainly there <i>was</i> a +question of 200,000 francs between us. But how and under what +circumstances? They were doubtless the same as in your case, with regard +to the 80,000 francs that he is said to have handed you—" +</p> + +<p> +But Monferrand interrupted his colleague in a clear trenchant voice: "He +never handed me a centime." +</p> + +<p> +The other looked at him in astonishment, but could only see his big, +rough head, whose features were steeped in shadow: "Ah! But I thought you +had business relations with him, and knew him particularly well." +</p> + +<p> +"No, I simply knew Hunter as everyone knew him. I was not even aware that +he was Baron Duvillard's agent in the African Railways matter; and there +was never any question of that affair between us." +</p> + +<p> +This was so improbable, so contrary to everything Barroux knew of the +business, that for a moment he felt quite scared. Then he waved his hand +as if to say that others might as well look after their own affairs, and +reverted to himself. "Oh! as for me," he said, "Hunter called on me more +than ten times, and made me quite sick with his talk of the African +Railways. It was at the time when the Chamber was asked to authorise the +issue of lottery stock.* And, by the way, my dear fellow, I was then here +at the Home Department, while you had just taken that of Public Works. I +can remember sitting at that very writing-table, while Hunter was in the +same armchair that I now occupy. That day he wanted to consult me about +the employment of the large sum which Duvillard's house proposed to spend +in advertising; and on seeing what big amounts were set down against the +Royalist journals, I became quite angry, for I realised with perfect +accuracy that this money would simply be used to wage war against the +Republic. And so, yielding to Hunter's entreaties, I also drew up a list +allotting 200,000 francs among the friendly Republican newspapers, which +were paid through me, I admit it. And that's the whole story."** +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * This kind of stock is common enough in France. A part of it is + extinguished annually at a public "drawing," when all such + shares or bonds that are drawn become entitled to redemption + at "par," a percentage of them also securing prizes of various + amounts. City of Paris Bonds issued on this system are very + popular among French people with small savings; but, on the + other hand, many ventures, whose lottery stock has been + authorised by the Legislature, have come to grief and ruined + investors.—Trans. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + ** All who are acquainted with recent French history will be + aware that Barroux' narrative is simply a passage from the + life of the late M. Floquet, slightly modified to suit the + requirements of M. Zola's story.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +Then he sprang to his feet and struck his chest, whilst his voice again +rose: "Well, I've had more than enough of all that calumny and falsehood! +And I shall simply tell the Chamber my story to-morrow. It will be my +only defence. An honest man does not fear the truth!" +</p> + +<p> +But Monferrand, in his turn, had sprung up with a cry which was a +complete confession of his principles: "It's ridiculous, one never +confesses; you surely won't do such a thing!" +</p> + +<p> +"I shall," retorted Barroux with superb obstinacy. "And we shall see if +the Chamber won't absolve me by acclamation." +</p> + +<p> +"No, you will fall beneath an explosion of hisses, and drag all of us +down with you." +</p> + +<p> +"What does it matter? We shall fall with dignity, like honest men!" +</p> + +<p> +Monferrand made a gesture of furious anger, and then suddenly became +calm. Amidst all the anxious confusion in which he had been struggling +since daybreak, a gleam now dawned upon him. The vague ideas suggested by +Salvat's approaching arrest took shape, and expanded into an audacious +scheme. Why should he prevent the fall of that big ninny Barroux? The +only thing of importance was that he, Monferrand, should not fall with +him, or at any rate that he should rise again. So he protested no +further, but merely mumbled a few words, in which his rebellious feeling +seemingly died out. And at last, putting on his good-natured air once +more, he said: "Well, after all you are perhaps right. One must be brave. +Besides, you are our head, my dear President, and we will follow you." +</p> + +<p> +They had now again sat down face to face, and their conversation +continued till they came to a cordial agreement respecting the course +which the Government should adopt in view of the inevitable +interpellation on the morrow. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, Baron Duvillard was on his way to the ministry. He had scarcely +slept that night. When on the return from Montmartre Gerard had set him +down at his door in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, he had at once gone to bed, +like a man who is determined to compel sleep, so that he may forget his +worries and recover self-control. But slumber would not come; for hours +and hours he vainly sought it. The manner in which he had been insulted +by that creature Silviane was so monstrous! To think that she, whom he +had enriched, whose every desire he had contented, should have cast such +mud at him, the master, who flattered himself that he held Paris and the +Republic in his hands, since he bought up and controlled consciences just +as others might make corners in wool or leather for the purposes of +Bourse speculation. And the dim consciousness that Silviane was the +avenging sore, the cancer preying on him who preyed on others, completed +his exasperation. In vain did he try to drive away his haunting thoughts, +remember his business affairs, his appointments for the morrow, his +millions which were working in every quarter of the world, the financial +omnipotence which placed the fate of nations in his grasp. Ever, and in +spite of all, Silviane rose up before him, splashing him with mud. In +despair he tried to fix his mind on a great enterprise which he had been +planning for months past, a Trans-Saharan railway, a colossal venture +which would set millions of money at work, and revolutionise the trade of +the world. And yet Silviane appeared once more, and smacked him on both +cheeks with her dainty little hand, which she had dipped in the gutter. +It was only towards daybreak that he at last dozed off, while vowing in a +fury that he would never see her again, that he would spurn her, and +order her away, even should she come and drag herself at his feet. +</p> + +<p> +However, when he awoke at seven, still tired and aching, his first +thought was for her, and he almost yielded to a fit of weakness. The idea +came to him to ascertain if she had returned home, and if so make his +peace. But he jumped out of bed, and after his ablutions he recovered all +his bravery. She was a wretch, and he this time thought himself for ever +cured of his passion. To tell the truth, he forgot it as soon as he +opened the morning newspapers. The publication of the list of +bribe-takers in the "Voix du Peuple" quite upset him, for he had hitherto +thought it unlikely that Sagnier held any such list. However, he judged +the document at a glance, at once separating the few truths it contained +from a mass of foolishness and falsehood. And this time also he did not +consider himself personally in danger. There was only one thing that he +really feared: the arrest of his intermediary, Hunter, whose trial might +have drawn him into the affair. As matters stood, and as he did not cease +to repeat with a calm and smiling air, he had merely done what every +banking-house does when it issues stock, that is, pay the press for +advertisements and puffery, employ brokers, and reward services +discreetly rendered to the enterprise. It was all a business matter, and +for him that expression summed up everything. Moreover, he played the +game of life bravely, and spoke with indignant contempt of a banker who, +distracted and driven to extremities by blackmailing, had imagined that +he would bring a recent scandal to an end by killing himself: a pitiful +tragedy, from all the mire and blood of which the scandal had sprouted +afresh with the most luxuriant and indestructible vegetation. No, no! +suicide was not the course to follow: a man ought to remain erect, and +struggle on to his very last copper, and the very end of his energy. +</p> + +<p> +At about nine o'clock a ringing brought Duvillard to the telephone +installed in his private room. And then his folly took possession of him +once more: it must be Silviane who wished to speak to him. She often +amused herself by thus disturbing him amidst his greatest cares. No doubt +she had just returned home, realising that she had carried things too far +on the previous evening and desiring to be forgiven. However, when he +found that the call was from Monferrand, who wished him to go to the +ministry, he shivered slightly, like a man saved from the abyss beside +which he is travelling. And forthwith he called for his hat and stick, +desirous as he was of walking and reflecting in the open air. And again +he became absorbed in the intricacies of the scandalous business which +was about to stir all Paris and the legislature. Kill himself! ah, no, +that would be foolish and cowardly. A gust of terror might be sweeping +past; nevertheless, for his part he felt quite firm, superior to events, +and resolved to defend himself without relinquishing aught of his power. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he entered the ante-rooms of the ministry he realised that the +gust of terror was becoming a tempest. The publication of the terrible +list in the "Voix du Peuple" had chilled the guilty ones to the heart; +and, pale and distracted, feeling the ground give way beneath them, they +had come to take counsel of Monferrand, who, they hoped, might save them. +The first whom Duvillard perceived was Duthil, looking extremely +feverish, biting his moustaches, and constantly making grimaces in his +efforts to force a smile. The banker scolded him for coming, saying that +it was a great mistake to have done so, particularly with such a scared +face. The deputy, however, his spirits already cheered by these rough +words, began to defend himself, declaring that he had not even read +Sagnier's article, and had simply come to recommend a lady friend to the +Minister. Thereupon the Baron undertook this business for him and sent +him away with the wish that he might spend a merry mid-Lent. However, the +one who most roused Duvillard's pity was Chaigneux, whose figure swayed +about as if bent by the weight of his long equine head, and who looked so +shabby and untidy that one might have taken him for an old pauper. On +recognising the banker he darted forward, and bowed to him with +obsequious eagerness. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! Monsieur le Baron," said he, "how wicked some men must be! They are +killing me, I shall die of it all; and what will become of my wife, what +will become of my three daughters, who have none but me to help them?" +</p> + +<p> +The whole of his woeful story lay in that lament. A victim of politics, +he had been foolish enough to quit Arras and his business there as a +solicitor, in order to seek triumph in Paris with his wife and daughters, +whose menial he had then become—a menial dismayed by the constant +rebuffs and failures which his mediocrity brought upon him. An honest +deputy! ah, good heavens! yes, he would have liked to be one; but was he +not perpetually "hard-up," ever in search of a hundred-franc note, and +thus, perforce, a deputy for sale? And withal he led such a pitiable +life, so badgered by the women folk about him, that to satisfy their +demands he would have picked up money no matter where or how. +</p> + +<p> +"Just fancy, Monsieur le Baron, I have at last found a husband for my +eldest girl. It is the first bit of luck that I have ever had; there will +only be three women left on my hands if it comes off. But you can imagine +what a disastrous impression such an article as that of this morning must +create in the young man's family. So I have come to see the Minister to +beg him to give my future son-in-law a prefectoral secretaryship. I have +already promised him the post, and if I can secure it things may yet be +arranged." +</p> + +<p> +He looked so terribly shabby and spoke in such a doleful voice that it +occurred to Duvillard to do one of those good actions on which he +ventured at times when they were likely to prove remunerative +investments. It is, indeed, an excellent plan to give a crust of bread to +some poor devil whom one can turn, if necessary, into a valet or an +accomplice. So the banker dismissed Chaigneux, undertaking to do his +business for him in the same way as he had undertaken to do Duthil's. And +he added that he would be pleased to see him on the morrow, and have a +chat with him, as he might be able to help him in the matter of his +daughter's marriage. +</p> + +<p> +At this Chaigneux, scenting a loan, collapsed into the most lavish +thanks. "Ah! Monsieur le Baron, my life will not be long enough to enable +me to repay such a debt of gratitude." +</p> + +<p> +As Duvillard turned round he was surprised to see Abbe Froment waiting in +a corner of the ante-room. Surely that one could not belong to the batch +of <i>suspects</i>, although by the manner in which he was pretending to read +a newspaper it seemed as if he were trying to hide some keen anxiety. At +last the Baron stepped forward, shook hands, and spoke to him cordially. +And Pierre thereupon related that he had received a letter requesting him +to call on the Minister that day. Why, he could not tell; in fact, he was +greatly surprised, he said, putting on a smile in order to conceal his +disquietude. He had been waiting a long time already, and hoped that he +would not be forgotten on that bench. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the usher appeared, and hastened up to the banker. "The +Minister," said he, "was at that moment engaged with the President of the +Council; but he had orders to admit the Baron as soon as the President +withdrew." Almost immediately afterwards Barroux came out, and as +Duvillard was about to enter he recognised and detained him. And he spoke +of the denunciations very bitterly, like one indignant with all the +slander. Would not he, Duvillard, should occasion require it, testify +that he, Barroux, had never taken a centime for himself? Then, forgetting +that he was speaking to a banker, and that he was Minister of Finances, +he proceeded to express all his disgust of money. Ah! what poisonous, +murky, and defiling waters were those in which money-making went on! +However, he repeated that he would chastise his insulters, and that a +statement of the truth would suffice for the purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard listened and looked at him. And all at once the thought of +Silviane came back, and took possession of the Baron, without any attempt +on his part to drive it away. He reflected that if Barroux had chosen to +give him a helping hand when he had asked for it, Silviane would now have +been at the Comedie Francaise, in which case the deplorable affair of the +previous night would not have occurred; for he was beginning to regard +himself as guilty in the matter; if he had only contented Silviane's whim +she would never have dismissed him in so vile a fashion. +</p> + +<p> +"You know, I owe you a grudge," he said, interrupting Barroux. +</p> + +<p> +The other looked at him in astonishment. "And why, pray?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, because you never helped me in the matter of that friend of mine +who wishes to make her <i>debut</i> in 'Polyeucte.'" +</p> + +<p> +Barroux smiled, and with amiable condescension replied: "Ah! yes, +Silviane d'Aulnay! But, my dear sir, it was Taboureau who put spokes in +the wheel. The Fine Arts are his department, and the question was +entirely one for him. And I could do nothing; for that very worthy and +honest gentleman, who came to us from a provincial faculty, was full of +scruples. For my own part I'm an old Parisian, I can understand anything, +and I should have been delighted to please you." +</p> + +<p> +At this fresh resistance offered to his passion Duvillard once more +became excited, eager to obtain that which was denied him. "Taboureau, +Taboureau!" said he, "he's a nice deadweight for you to load yourself +with! Honest! isn't everybody honest? Come, my dear Minister, there's +still time, get Silviane admitted, it will bring you good luck for +to-morrow." +</p> + +<p> +This time Barroux burst into a frank laugh: "No, no, I can't cast +Taboureau adrift at this moment—people would make too much sport of +it—a ministry wrecked or saved by a Silviane question!" +</p> + +<p> +Then he offered his hand before going off. The Baron pressed it, and for +a moment retained it in his own, whilst saying very gravely and with a +somewhat pale face: "You do wrong to laugh, my dear Minister. Governments +have fallen or set themselves erect again through smaller matters than +that. And should you fall to-morrow I trust that you will never have +occasion to regret it." +</p> + +<p> +Wounded to the heart by the other's jesting air, exasperated by the idea +that there was something he could not achieve, Duvillard watched Barroux +as he withdrew. Most certainly the Baron did not desire a reconciliation +with Silviane, but he vowed that he would overturn everything if +necessary in order to send her a signed engagement for the Comedie, and +this simply by way of vengeance, as a slap, so to say,—yes, a slap which +would make her tingle! That moment spent with Barroux had been a decisive +one. +</p> + +<p> +However, whilst still following Barroux with his eyes, Duvillard was +surprised to see Fonsegue arrive and manoeuvre in such a way as to escape +the Prime Minister's notice. He succeeded in doing so, and then entered +the ante-room with an appearance of dismay about the whole of his little +figure, which was, as a rule, so sprightly. It was the gust of terror, +still blowing, that had brought him thither. +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't you see your friend Barroux?" the Baron asked him, somewhat +puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +"Barroux? No!" +</p> + +<p> +This quiet lie was equivalent to a confession of everything. Fonsegue was +so intimate with Barroux that he thee'd and thou'd him, and for ten years +had been supporting him in his newspaper, having precisely the same +views, the same political religion. But with a smash-up threatening, he +doubtless realised, thanks to his wonderfully keen scent, that he must +change his friendships if he did not wish to remain under the ruins +himself. If he had, for long years, shown so much prudence and diplomatic +virtue in order to firmly establish the most dignified and respected of +Parisian newspapers, it was not for the purpose of letting that newspaper +be compromised by some foolish blunder on the part of an honest man. +</p> + +<p> +"I thought you were on bad terms with Monferrand," resumed Duvillard. +"What have you come here for?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! my dear Baron, the director of a leading newspaper is never on bad +terms with anybody. He's at the country's service." +</p> + +<p> +In spite of his emotion, Duvillard could not help smiling. "You are +right," he responded. "Besides, Monferrand is really an able man, whom +one can support without fear." +</p> + +<p> +At this Fonsegue began to wonder whether his anguish of mind was visible. +He, who usually played the game of life so well, with his own hand under +thorough control, had been terrified by the article in the "Voix du +Peuple." For the first time in his career he had perpetrated a blunder, +and felt that he was at the mercy of some denunciation, for with +unpardonable imprudence he had written a very brief but compromising +note. He was not anxious concerning the 50,000 francs which Barroux had +handed him out of the 200,000 destined for the Republican press. But he +trembled lest another affair should be discovered, that of a sum of money +which he had received as a present. It was only on feeling the Baron's +keen glance upon him that he was able to recover some self-possession. +How silly it was to lose the knack of lying and to confess things simply +by one's demeanour! +</p> + +<p> +But the usher drew near and repeated that the Minister was now waiting +for the Baron; and Fonsegue went to sit down beside Abbe Froment, whom he +also was astonished to find there. Pierre repeated that he had received a +letter, but had no notion what the Minister might wish to say to him. And +the quiver of his hands again revealed how feverishly impatient he was to +know what it might be. However, he could only wait, since Monferrand was +still busy discussing such grave affairs. +</p> + +<p> +On seeing Duvillard enter, the Minister had stepped forward, offering his +hand. However much the blast of terror might shake others, he had +retained his calmness and good-natured smile. "What an affair, eh, my +dear Baron!" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"It's idiotic!" plainly declared the other, with a shrug of his +shoulders. Then he sat down in the armchair vacated by Barroux, while the +Minister installed himself in front of him. These two were made to +understand one another, and they indulged in the same despairing gestures +and furious complaints, declaring that government, like business, would +no longer be possible if men were required to show such virtue as they +did not possess. At all times, and under every <i>regime</i>, when a decision +of the Chambers had been required in connection with some great +enterprise, had not the natural and legitimate tactics been for one to do +what might be needful to secure that decision? It was absolutely +necessary that one should obtain influential and sympathetic support, in +a word, make sure of votes. Well, everything had to be paid for, men like +other things, some with fine words, others with favours or money, +presents made in a more or less disguised manner. And even admitting +that, in the present cases, one had gone rather far in the purchasing, +that some of the bartering had been conducted in an imprudent way, was it +wise to make such an uproar over it? Would not a strong government have +begun by stifling the scandal, from motives of patriotism, a mere sense +of cleanliness even? +</p> + +<p> +"Why, of course! You are right, a thousand times right!" exclaimed +Monferrand. "Ah! if I were the master you would see what a fine +first-class funeral I would give it all!" Then, as Duvillard looked at +him fixedly, struck by these last words, he added with his expressive +smile: "Unfortunately I'm not the master, and it was to talk to you of +the situation that I ventured to disturb you. Barroux, who was here just +now, seemed to me in a regrettable frame of mind." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I saw him, he has such singular ideas at times—" Then, breaking +off, the Baron added: "Do you know that Fonsegue is in the ante-room? As +he wishes to make his peace with you, why not send for him? He won't be +in the way, in fact, he's a man of good counsel, and the support of his +newspaper often suffices to give one the victory." +</p> + +<p> +"What, is Fonsegue there!" cried Monferrand. "Why, I don't ask better +than to shake hands with him. There were some old affairs between us that +don't concern anybody! But, good heavens! if you only knew what little +spite I harbour!" +</p> + +<p> +When the usher had admitted Fonsegue the reconciliation took place in the +simplest fashion. They had been great friends at college in their native +Correze, but had not spoken together for ten years past in consequence of +some abominable affair the particulars of which were not exactly known. +However, it becomes necessary to clear away all corpses when one wishes +to have the arena free for a fresh battle. +</p> + +<p> +"It's very good of you to come back the first," said Monferrand. "So it's +all over, you no longer bear me any grudge?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, indeed!" replied Fonsegue. "Why should people devour one another +when it would be to their interest to come to an understanding?" +</p> + +<p> +Then, without further explanations, they passed to the great affair, and +the conference began. And when Monferrand had announced Barroux' +determination to confess and explain his conduct, the others loudly +protested. That meant certain downfall, they would prevent him, he surely +would not be guilty of such folly. Forthwith they discussed every +imaginable plan by which the Ministry might be saved, for that must +certainly be Monferrand's sole desire. He himself with all eagerness +pretended to seek some means of extricating his colleagues and himself +from the mess in which they were. However, a faint smile, still played +around his lips, and at last as if vanquished he sought no further. +"There's no help for it," said he, "the ministry's down." +</p> + +<p> +The others exchanged glances, full of anxiety at the thought of another +Cabinet dealing with the African Railways affair. A Vignon Cabinet would +doubtless plume itself on behaving honestly. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, what shall we do?" +</p> + +<p> +But just then the telephone rang, and Monferrand rose to respond to the +summons: "Allow me." +</p> + +<p> +He listened for a moment and then spoke into the tube, nothing that he +said giving the others any inkling of the information which had reached +him. This had come from the Chief of the Detective Police, and was to the +effect that Salvat's whereabouts in the Bois de Boulogne had been +discovered, and that he would be hunted down with all speed. "Very good! +And don't forget my orders," replied Monferrand. +</p> + +<p> +Now that Salvat's arrest was certain, the Minister determined to follow +the plan which had gradually taken shape in his mind; and returning to +the middle of the room he slowly walked to and fro, while saying with his +wonted familiarity: "But what would you have, my friends? It would be +necessary for me to be the master. Ah! if I were the master! A Commission +of Inquiry, yes! that's the proper form for a first-class funeral to take +in a big affair like this, so full of nasty things. For my part, I should +confess nothing, and I should have a Commission appointed. And then you +would see the storm subside." +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard and Fonsegue began to laugh. The latter, however, thanks to his +intimate knowledge of Monferrand, almost guessed the truth. "Just +listen!" said he; "even if the ministry falls it doesn't necessarily +follow that you must be on the ground with it. Besides, a ministry can be +mended when there are good pieces of it left." +</p> + +<p> +Somewhat anxious at finding his thoughts guessed, Monferrand protested: +"No, no, my dear fellow, I don't play that game. We are jointly +responsible, we've got to keep together, dash it all!" +</p> + +<p> +"Keep together! Pooh! Not when simpletons purposely drown themselves! +And, besides, if we others have need of you, we have a right to save you +in spite of yourself! Isn't that so, my dear Baron?" +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Monferrand sat down, no longer protesting but waiting, +Duvillard, who was again thinking of his passion, full of anger at the +recollection of Barroux' refusal, rose in his turn, and exclaimed: "Why, +certainly! If the ministry's condemned let it fall! What good can you get +out of a ministry which includes such a man as Taboureau! There you have +an old, worn-out professor without any prestige, who comes to Paris from +Grenoble, and has never set foot in a theatre in his life! Yet the +control of the theatres is handed over to him, and naturally he's ever +doing the most stupid things!" +</p> + +<p> +Monferrand, who was well informed on the Silviane question, remained +grave, and for a moment amused himself by trying to excite the Baron. +"Taboureau," said he, "is a somewhat dull and old-fashioned University +man, but at the department of Public Instruction he's in his proper +element." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! don't talk like that, my dear fellow! You are more intelligent than +that, you are not going to defend Taboureau as Barroux did. It's quite +true that I should very much like to see Silviane at the Comedie. She's a +very good girl at heart, and she has an amazing lot of talent. Would you +stand in her way if you were in Taboureau's place?" +</p> + +<p> +"I? Good heavens, no! A pretty girl on the stage, why, it would please +everybody, I'm sure. Only it would be necessary to have a man of the same +views as were at the department of Instruction and Fine Arts." +</p> + +<p> +His sly smile had returned to his face. The securing of that girl's +<i>debut</i> was certainly not a high price to pay for all the influence of +Duvillard's millions. Monferrand therefore turned towards Fonsegue as if +to consult him. The other, who fully understood the importance of the +affair, was meditating in all seriousness: "A senator is the proper man +for Public Instruction," said he. "But I can think of none, none at all, +such as would be wanted. A man of broad mind, a real Parisian, and yet +one whose presence at the head of the University wouldn't cause too much +astonishment—there's perhaps Dauvergne—" +</p> + +<p> +"Dauvergne! Who's he?" exclaimed Monferrand in surprise. "Ah! yes, +Dauvergne the senator for Dijon—but he's altogether ignorant of +University matters, he hasn't the slightest qualification." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, as for that," resumed Fonsegue, "I'm trying to think. Dauvergne is +certainly a good-looking fellow, tall and fair and decorative. Besides, +he's immensely rich, has a most charming young wife—which does no harm, +on the contrary—and he gives real <i>fetes</i> at his place on the Boulevard +St. Germain." +</p> + +<p> +It was only with hesitation that Fonsegue himself had ventured to suggest +Dauvergne. But by degrees his selection appeared to him a real "find." +"Wait a bit! I recollect now that in his young days Dauvergne wrote a +comedy, a one act comedy in verse, and had it performed at Dijon. And +Dijon's a literary town, you know, so that piece of his sets a little +perfume of 'Belles-Lettres' around him. And then, too, he left Dijon +twenty years ago, and is a most determined Parisian, frequenting every +sphere of society. Dauvergne will do whatever one desires. He's the man +for us, I tell you." +</p> + +<p> +Duvillard thereupon declared that he knew him, and considered him a very +decent fellow. Besides, he or another, it mattered nothing! +</p> + +<p> +"Dauvergne, Dauvergne," repeated Monferrand. "<i>Mon Dieu</i>, yes! After all, +why not? He'll perhaps make a very good minister. Let us say Dauvergne." +Then suddenly bursting into a hearty laugh: "And so we are reconstructing +the Cabinet in order that that charming young woman may join the Comedie! +The Silviane cabinet—well, and what about the other departments?" +</p> + +<p> +He jested, well knowing that gaiety often hastens difficult solutions. +And, indeed, they merrily continued settling what should be done if the +ministry were defeated on the morrow. Although they had not plainly said +so the plan was to let Barroux sink, even help him to do so, and then +fish Monferrand out of the troubled waters. The latter engaged himself +with the two others, because he had need of them, the Baron on account of +his financial sovereignty, and the director of "Le Globe" on account of +the press campaign which he could carry on in his favour. And in the same +way the others, quite apart from the Silviane business, had need of +Monferrand, the strong-handed man of government, who undertook to bury +the African Railways scandal by bringing about a Commission of Inquiry, +all the strings of which would be pulled by himself. There was soon a +perfect understanding between the three men, for nothing draws people +more closely together than common interest, fear and need. Accordingly, +when Duvillard spoke of Duthil's business, the young lady whom he wished +to recommend, the Minister declared that it was settled. A very nice +fellow was Duthil, they needed a good many like him. And it was also +agreed that Chaigneux' future son-in-law should have his secretaryship. +Poor Chaigneux! He was so devoted, always ready to undertake any +commission, and his four women folk led him such a hard life! +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, it's understood." And Monferrand, Duvillard and Fonsegue +vigorously shook hands. +</p> + +<p> +However, when the first accompanied the others to the door, he noticed a +prelate, in a cassock of fine material, edged with violet, speaking to a +priest in the ante-room. Thereupon he, the Minister, hastened forward, +looking much distressed. "Ah! you were waiting, Monseigneur Martha! Come +in, come in quick!" +</p> + +<p> +But with perfect urbanity the Bishop refused. "No, no, Monsieur l'Abbe +Froment was here before me. Pray receive him first." +</p> + +<p> +Monferrand had to give way; he admitted the priest, and speedily dealt +with him. He who usually employed the most diplomatic reserve when he was +in presence of a member of the clergy plumply unfolded the Barthes +business. Pierre had experienced the keenest anguish during the two hours +that he had been waiting there, for he could only explain the letter he +had received by a surmise that the police had discovered his brother's +presence in his house. And so when he heard the Minister simply speak of +Barthes, and declare that the government would rather see him go into +exile than be obliged to imprison him once more, he remained for a moment +quite disconcerted. As the police had been able to discover the old +conspirator in the little house at Neuilly, how was it that they seemed +altogether ignorant of Guillaume's presence there? It was, however, the +usual gap in the genius of great detectives. +</p> + +<p> +"Pray what do you desire of me, Monsieur le Ministre?" said Pierre at +last; "I don't quite understand." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Monsieur l'Abbe, I leave all this to your sense of prudence. If +that man were still at your house in forty-eight hours from now, we +should be obliged to arrest him there, which would be a source of grief +to us, for we are aware that your residence is the abode of every virtue. +So advise him to leave France. If he does that we shall not trouble him." +</p> + +<p> +Then Monferrand hastily brought Pierre back to the ante-room; and, +smiling and bending low, he said: "Monseigneur, I am entirely at your +disposal. Come in, come in, I beg you." +</p> + +<p> +The prelate, who was gaily chatting with Duvillard and Fonsegue, shook +hands with them, and then with Pierre. In his desire to win all hearts, +he that morning displayed the most perfect graciousness. His bright, +black eyes were all smiles, the whole of his handsome face wore a +caressing expression, and he entered the ministerial sanctum leisurely +and gracefully, with an easy air of conquest. +</p> + +<p> +And now only Monferrand and Monseigneur Martha were left, talking on and +on in the deserted building. Some people had thought that the prelate +wished to become a deputy. But he played a far more useful and lofty part +in governing behind the scenes, in acting as the directing mind of the +Vatican's policy in France. Was not France still the Eldest Daughter of +the Church, the only great nation which might some day restore +omnipotence to the Papacy? For that reason he had accepted the Republic, +preached the duty of "rallying" to it, and inspired the new Catholic +group in the Chamber. And Monferrand, on his side, struck by the progress +of the New Spirit, that reaction of mysticism which flattered itself that +it would bury science, showed the prelate much amiability, like a +strong-handed man who, to ensure his own victory, utilised every force +that was offered him. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +IV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE MAN HUNT +</h3> + +<p> +ON the afternoon of that same day such a keen desire for space and the +open air came upon Guillaume, that Pierre consented to accompany him on a +long walk in the Bois de Boulogne. The priest, upon returning from his +interview with Monferrand, had informed his brother that the government +once more wished to get rid of Nicholas Barthes. However, they were so +perplexed as to how they should impart these tidings to the old man, that +they resolved to postpone the matter until the evening. During their walk +they might devise some means of breaking the news in a gentle way. As for +the walk, this seemed to offer no danger; to all appearance Guillaume was +in no wise threatened, so why should he continue hiding? Thus the +brothers sallied forth and entered the Bois by the Sablons gate, which +was the nearest to them. +</p> + +<p> +The last days of March had now come, and the trees were beginning to show +some greenery, so soft and light, however, that one might have thought it +was pale moss or delicate lace hanging between the stems and boughs. +Although the sky remained of an ashen grey, the rain, after falling +throughout the night and morning, had ceased; and exquisite freshness +pervaded that wood now awakening to life once more, with its foliage +dripping in the mild and peaceful atmosphere. The mid-Lent rejoicings had +apparently attracted the populace to the centre of Paris, for in the +avenues one found only the fashionable folks of select days, the people +of society who come thither when the multitude stops away. There were +carriages and gentlemen on horseback; beautiful aristocratic ladies who +had alighted from their broughams or landaus; and wet-nurses with +streaming ribbons, who carried infants wearing the most costly lace. Of +the middle-classes, however, one found only a few matrons living in the +neighbourhood, who sat here and there on the benches busy with embroidery +or watching their children play. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre and Guillaume followed the Allee de Longchamp as far as the road +going from Madrid to the lakes. Then they took their way under the trees, +alongside the little Longchamp rivulet. They wished to reach the lakes, +pass round them, and return home by way of the Maillot gate. But so +charming and peaceful was the deserted plantation through which they +passed, that they yielded to a desire to sit down and taste the delight +of resting amidst all the budding springtide around them. A fallen tree +served them as a bench, and it was possible for them to fancy themselves +far away from Paris, in the depths of some real forest. It was, too, of a +real forest that Guillaume began to think on thus emerging from his long, +voluntary imprisonment. Ah! for the space; and for the health-bringing +air which courses between that forest's branches, that forest of the +world which by right should be man's inalienable domain! However, the +name of Barthes, the perpetual prisoner, came back to Guillaume's lips, +and he sighed mournfully. The thought that there should be even a single +man whose liberty was thus ever assailed, sufficed to poison the pure +atmosphere he breathed. +</p> + +<p> +"What will you say to Barthes?" he asked his brother. "The poor fellow +must necessarily be warned. Exile is at any rate preferable to +imprisonment." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre sadly waved his hand. "Yes, of course, I must warn him. But what a +painful task it is!" +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume made no rejoinder, for at that very moment, in that remote, +deserted nook, where they could fancy themselves at the world's end, a +most extraordinary spectacle was presented to their view. Something or +rather someone leapt out of a thicket and bounded past them. It was +assuredly a man, but one who was so unrecognisable, so miry, so woeful +and so frightful, that he might have been taken for an animal, a boar +that hounds had tracked and forced from his retreat. On seeing the +rivulet, he hesitated for a moment, and then followed its course. But, +all at once, as a sound of footsteps and panting breath drew nearer, he +sprang into the water, which reached his thighs, bounded on to the +further bank, and vanished from sight behind a clump of pines. A moment +afterwards some keepers and policemen rushed by, skirting the rivulet, +and in their turn disappearing. It was a man hunt that had gone past, a +fierce, secret hunt with no display of scarlet or blast of horns athwart +the soft, sprouting foliage. +</p> + +<p> +"Some rascal or other," muttered Pierre. "Ah! the wretched fellow!" +</p> + +<p> +Guillaume made a gesture of discouragement. "Gendarmes and prison!" said +he. "They still constitute society's only schooling system!" +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the man was still running on, farther and farther away. +</p> + +<p> +When, on the previous night, Salvat had suddenly escaped from the +detectives by bounding into the Bois de Boulogne, it had occurred to him +to slip round to the Dauphine gate and there descend into the deep ditch* +of the city ramparts. He remembered days of enforced idleness which he +had spent there, in nooks where, for his own part, he had never met a +living soul. Nowhere, indeed, could one find more secret places of +retreat, hedged round by thicker bushes, or concealed from view by +loftier herbage. Some corners of the ditch, at certain angles of the +massive bastions, are favourite dens or nests for thieves and lovers. +Salvat, as he made his way through the thickest of the brambles, nettles +and ivy, was lucky enough to find a cavity full of dry leaves, in which +he buried himself to the chin. The rain had already drenched him, and +after slipping down the muddy slope, he had frequently been obliged to +grope his way upon all fours. So those dry leaves proved a boon such as +he had not dared to hope for. They dried him somewhat, serving as a +blanket in which he coiled himself after his wild race through the dank +darkness. The rain still fell, but he now only felt it on his head, and, +weary as he was, he gradually sank into deep slumber beneath the +continuous drizzle. When he opened his eyes again, the dawn was breaking, +and it was probably about six o'clock. During his sleep the rain had +ended by soaking the leaves, so that he was now immersed in a kind of +chilly bath. Still he remained in it, feeling that he was there sheltered +from the police, who must now surely be searching for him. None of those +bloodhounds would guess his presence in that hole, for his body was quite +buried, and briers almost completely hid his head. So he did not stir, +but watched the rise of the dawn. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * This ditch or dry moat is about 30 feet deep and 50 feet wide. + The counterscarp by which one may descend into it has an angle + of 45 degrees.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +When at eight o'clock some policemen and keepers came by, searching the +ditch, they did not perceive him. As he had anticipated, the hunt had +begun at the first glimmer of light. For a time his heart beat violently; +however, nobody else passed, nothing whatever stirred the grass. The only +sounds that reached him were faint ones from the Bois de Boulogne, the +ring of a bicyclist's bell, the thud of a horse's hoofs, the rumble of +carriage wheels. And time went by, nine o'clock came, and then ten +o'clock. Since the rain had ceased falling, Salvat had not suffered so +much from the cold, for he was wearing a thick overcoat which little +Mathis had given him. But, on the other hand, hunger was coming back; +there was a burning sensation in his stomach, and leaden hoops seemed to +be pressing against his ribs. He had eaten nothing for two days; he had +been starving already on the previous evening, when he had accepted a +glass of beer at that tavern at Montmartre. Nevertheless, his plan was to +remain in the ditch until nightfall, and then slip away in the direction +of the village of Boulogne, where he knew of a means of egress from the +wood. He was not caught yet, he repeated, he might still manage to +escape. Then he tried to get to sleep again, but failed, so painful had +his sufferings become. By the time it was eleven, everything swam before +his eyes. He once nearly fainted, and thought that he was going to die. +Then rage gradually mastered him, and, all at once, he sprang out of his +leafy hiding-place, desperately hungering for food, unable to remain +there any longer, and determined to find something to eat, even should it +cost him his liberty and life. It was then noon. +</p> + +<p> +On leaving the ditch he found the spreading lawns of the chateau of La +Muette before him. He crossed them at a run, like a madman, instinctively +going towards Boulogne, with the one idea that his only means of escape +lay in that direction. It seemed miraculous that nobody paid attention to +his helter-skelter flight. However, when he had reached the cover of some +trees he became conscious of his imprudence, and almost regretted the +sudden madness which had borne him along, eager for escape. Trembling +nervously, he bent low among some furze bushes, and waited for a few +minutes to ascertain if the police were behind him. Then with watchful +eye and ready ear, wonderful instinct and scent of danger, he slowly went +his way again. He hoped to pass between the upper lake and the Auteuil +race-course; but there were few trees in that part, and they formed a +broad avenue. He therefore had to exert all his skill in order to avoid +observation, availing himself of the slenderest stems, the smallest +bushes, as screens, and only venturing onward after a lengthy inspection +of his surroundings. Before long the sight of a guard in the distance +revived his fears and detained him, stretched on the ground behind some +brambles, for a full quarter of an hour. Then the approach first of a +cab, whose driver had lost his way, and afterwards of a strolling +pedestrian, in turn sufficed to stop him. He breathed once more, however, +when, after passing the Mortemart hillock, he was able to enter the +thickets lying between the two roads which lead to Boulogne and St. +Cloud. The coppices thereabouts were dense, and he merely had to follow +them, screened from view, in order to reach the outlet he knew of, which +was now near at hand. So he was surely saved. +</p> + +<p> +But all at once, at a distance of some five and thirty yards, he saw a +keeper, erect and motionless, barring his way. He turned slightly to the +left and there perceived another keeper, who also seemed to be awaiting +him. And there were more and more of them; at every fifty paces or so +stood a fresh one, the whole forming a <i>cordon</i>, the meshes as it were of +a huge net. The worst was that he must have been perceived, for a light +cry, like the clear call of an owl, rang out, and was repeated farther +and farther off. The hunters were at last on the right scent, prudence +had become superfluous, and it was only by flight that the quarry might +now hope to escape. Salvat understood this so well that he suddenly began +to run, leaping over all obstacles and darting between the trees, +careless whether he were seen or heard. A few bounds carried him across +the Avenue de St. Cloud into the plantations stretching to the Allee de +la Reine Marguerite. There the undergrowth was very dense; in the whole +Bois there are no more closely set thickets. In summer they become one +vast entanglement of verdure, amidst which, had it been the leafy season, +Salvat might well have managed to secrete himself. For a moment he did +find himself alone, and thereupon he halted to listen. He could neither +see nor hear the keepers now. Had they lost his track, then? Profound +quietude reigned under the fresh young foliage. But the light, owlish cry +arose once more, branches cracked, and he resumed his wild flight, +hurrying straight before him. Unluckily he found the Allee de la Reine +Marguerite guarded by policemen, so that he could not cross over, but had +to skirt it without quitting the thickets. And now his back was turned +towards Boulogne; he was retracing his steps towards Paris. However, a +last idea came to his bewildered mind: it was to run on in this wise as +far as the shady spots around Madrid, and then, by stealing from copse to +copse, attempt to reach the Seine. To proceed thither across the bare +expanse of the race-course and training ground was not for a moment to be +thought of. +</p> + +<p> +So Salvat still ran on and on. But on reaching the Allee de Longchamp he +found it guarded like the other roads, and therefore had to relinquish +his plan of escaping by way of Madrid and the river-bank. While he was +perforce making a bend alongside the Pre Catelan, he became aware that +the keepers, led by detectives, were drawing yet nearer to him, confining +his movements to a smaller and smaller area. And his race soon acquired +all the frenzy of despair. Haggard and breathless he leapt mounds, rushed +past multitudinous obstacles. He forced a passage through brambles, broke +down palings, thrice caught his feet in wire work which he had not seen, +and fell among nettles, yet picked himself up went on again, spurred by +the stinging of his hands and face. It was then Guillaume and Pierre saw +him pass, unrecognisable and frightful, taking to the muddy water of the +rivulet like a stag which seeks to set a last obstacle between itself and +the hounds. There came to him a wild idea of getting to the lake, and +swimming, unperceived, to the island in the centre of it. That, he madly +thought, would be a safe retreat, where he might burrow and hide himself +without possibility of discovery. And so he still ran on. But once again +the sight of some guards made him retrace his steps, and he was compelled +to go back and back in the direction of Paris, chased, forced towards the +very fortifications whence he had started that morning. It was now nearly +three in the afternoon. For more than two hours and a half he had been +running. +</p> + +<p> +At last he saw a soft, sandy ride for horsemen before him. He crossed it, +splashing through the mire left by the rain, and reached a little +pathway, a delightful lovers' lane, as shady in summer as any arbour. For +some time he was able to follow it, concealed from observation, and with +his hopes reviving. But it led him to one of those broad, straight +avenues where carriages and bicycles, the whole afternoon pageant of +society, swept past under the mild and cloudy sky. So he returned to the +thickets, fell once more upon the keepers, lost all notion of the +direction he took, and even all power of thought, becoming a mere thing +carried along and thrown hither and thither by the chances of the pursuit +which pressed more and more closely upon him. Star-like crossways +followed one upon other, and at last he came to a broad lawn, where the +full light dazzled him. And there he suddenly felt the hot, panting +breath of his pursuers close in the rear. Eager, hungry breath it was, +like that of hounds seeking to devour him. Shouts rang out, one hand +almost caught hold of him, there was a rush of heavy feet, a scramble to +seize him. But with a supreme effort he leapt upon a bank, crawled to its +summit, rose again, and once more found himself alone, still running on +amid the fresh and quiet greenery. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, this was the end. He almost fell flat upon the ground. His +aching feet could no longer carry him; blood was oozing from his ears, +and froth had come to his mouth. His heart beat with such violence that +it seemed likely to break his ribs. Water and perspiration streamed from +him, he was miry and haggard and tortured by hunger, conquered, in fact, +more by hunger than by fatigue. And through the mist which seemed to have +gathered before his wild eyes, he suddenly saw an open doorway, the +doorway of a coach-house in the rear of a kind of chalet, sequestered +among trees. Excepting a big white cat, which took to flight, there was +not a living creature in the place. Salvat plunged into it and rolled +over on a heap of straw, among some empty casks. He was scarcely hidden +there when he heard the chase sweep by, the detectives and the keepers +losing scent, passing the chalet and rushing in the direction of the +Paris ramparts. The noise of their heavy boots died away, and deep +silence fell, while the hunted man, who had carried both hands to his +heart to stay its beating, sank into the most complete prostration, with +big tears trickling from his closed eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst all this was going on, Pierre and Guillaume, after a brief rest, +had resumed their walk, reaching the lake and proceeding towards the +crossway of the Cascades, in order to return to Neuilly by the road +beyond the water. However, a shower fell, compelling them to take shelter +under the big leafless branches of a chestnut-tree. Then, as the rain +came down more heavily and they could perceive a kind of chalet, a little +cafe-restaurant amid a clump of trees, they hastened thither for better +protection. In a side road, which they passed on their way, they saw a +cab standing, its driver waiting there in philosophical fashion under the +falling shower. Pierre, moreover, noticed a young man stepping out +briskly in front of them, a young man resembling Gerard de Quinsac, who, +whilst walking in the Bois, had no doubt been overtaken by the rain, and +like themselves was seeking shelter in the chalet. However, on entering +the latter's public room, the priest saw no sign of the gentleman, and +concluded that he must have been mistaken. This public room, which had a +kind of glazed verandah overlooking the Bois, contained a few chairs and +tables, the latter with marble tops. On the first floor there were four +or five private rooms reached by a narrow passage. Though the doors were +open the place had as yet scarcely emerged from its winter's rest. There +was nobody about, and on all sides one found the dampness common to +establishments which, from lack of custom, are compelled to close from +November until March. In the rear were some stables, a coach-house, and +various mossy, picturesque outbuildings, which painters and gardeners +would now soon embellish for the gay pleasure parties which the fine +weather would bring. +</p> + +<p> +"I really think that they haven't opened for the season yet," said +Guillaume as he entered the silent house. +</p> + +<p> +"At all events they will let us stay here till the rain stops," answered +Pierre, seating himself at one of the little tables. +</p> + +<p> +However, a waiter suddenly made his appearance seemingly in a great +hurry. He had come down from the first floor, and eagerly rummaged a +cupboard for a few dry biscuits, which he laid upon a plate. At last he +condescended to serve the brothers two glasses of Chartreuse. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the private rooms upstairs Baroness Duvillard, who had driven +to the chalet in a cab, had been awaiting her lover Gerard for nearly +half an hour. It was there that, during the charity bazaar, they had +given each other an appointment. For them the chalet had precious +memories: two years previously, on discovering that secluded nest, which +was so deserted in the early, hesitating days of chilly spring, they had +met there under circumstances which they could not forget. And the +Baroness, in choosing the house for the supreme assignation of their +dying passion, had certainly not been influenced merely by a fear that +she might be spied upon elsewhere. She had, indeed, thought of the first +kisses that had been showered on her there, and would fain have revived +them even if they should now prove the last that Gerard would bestow on +her. +</p> + +<p> +But she would also have liked to see some sunlight playing over the +youthful foliage. The ashen sky and threatening rain saddened her. And +when she entered the private room she did not recognise it, so cold and +dim it seemed with its faded furniture. Winter had tarried there, with +all the dampness and mouldy smell peculiar to rooms which have long +remained closed. Then, too, some of the wall paper which had come away +from the plaster hung down in shreds, dead flies were scattered over the +parquetry flooring; and in order to open the shutters the waiter had to +engage in a perfect fight with their fastenings. However, when he had +lighted a little gas-stove, which at once flamed up and diffused some +warmth, the room became more cosy. +</p> + +<p> +Eve had seated herself on a chair, without raising the thick veil which +hid her face. Gowned, gloved, and bonneted in black, as if she were +already in mourning for her last passion, she showed naught of her own +person save her superb fair hair, which glittered like a helm of tawny +gold. She had ordered tea for two, and when the waiter brought it with a +little plateful of dry biscuits, left, no doubt, from the previous +season, he found her in the same place, still veiled and motionless, +absorbed, it seemed, in a gloomy reverie. If she had reached the cafe +half an hour before the appointed time it was because she desired some +leisure and opportunity to overcome her despair and compose herself. She +resolved that of all things she would not weep, that she would remain +dignified and speak calmly, like one who, whatever rights she might +possess, preferred to appeal to reason only. And she was well pleased +with the courage that she found within her. Whilst thinking of what she +should say to dissuade Gerard from a marriage which to her mind would +prove both a calamity and a blunder, she fancied herself very calm, +indeed almost resigned to whatsoever might happen. +</p> + +<p> +But all at once she started and began to tremble. Gerard was entering the +room. +</p> + +<p> +"What! are you here the first, my dear?" he exclaimed. "I thought that I +myself was ten minutes before the time! And you've ordered some tea and +are waiting for me!" +</p> + +<p> +He forced a smile as he spoke, striving to display the same delight at +seeing her as he had shown in the early golden days of their passion. But +at heart he was much embarrassed, and he shuddered at the thought of the +awful scene which he could foresee. +</p> + +<p> +She had at last risen and raised her veil. And looking at him she +stammered: "Yes, I found myself at liberty earlier than I expected. . . . +I feared some impediment might arise . . . and so I came." +</p> + +<p> +Then, seeing how handsome and how affectionate he still looked, she could +not restrain her passion. All her skilful arguments, all her fine +resolutions, were swept away. Her flesh irresistibly impelled her towards +him; she loved him, she would keep him, she would never surrender him to +another. And she wildly flung her arms around his neck. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! Gerard, Gerard! I suffer too cruelly; I cannot, I cannot bear it! +Tell me at once that you will not marry her, that you will never marry +her!" +</p> + +<p> +Her voice died away in a sob, tears started from her eyes. Ah! those +tears which she had sworn she would never shed! They gushed forth without +cessation, they streamed from her lovely eyes like a flood of the +bitterest grief. +</p> + +<p> +"My daughter, O God! What! you would marry my daughter! She, here, on +your neck where I am now! No, no, such torture is past endurance, it must +not be, I will not have it!" +</p> + +<p> +He shivered as he heard that cry of frantic jealousy raised by a mother +who now was but a woman, maddened by the thought of her rival's youth, +those five and twenty summers which she herself had left far behind. For +his part, on his way to the assignation, he had come to what he thought +the most sensible decision, resolving to break off the intercourse after +the fashion of a well-bred man, with all sorts of fine consolatory +speeches. But sternness was not in his nature. He was weak and +soft-hearted, and had never been able to withstand a woman's tears. +Nevertheless, he endeavoured to calm her, and in order to rid himself of +her embrace, he made her sit down upon the sofa. And there, beside her, +he replied: "Come, be reasonable, my dear. We came here to have a +friendly chat, did we not? I assure you that you are greatly exaggerating +matters." +</p> + +<p> +But she was determined to obtain a more positive answer from him. "No, +no!" she retorted, "I am suffering too dreadfully, I must know the truth +at once. Swear to me that you will never, never marry her!" +</p> + +<p> +He again endeavoured to avoid replying as she wished him to do. "Come, +come," he said, "you will do yourself harm by giving way to such grief as +this; you know that I love you dearly." +</p> + +<p> +"Then swear to me that you will never, never marry her." +</p> + +<p> +"But I tell you that I love you, that you are the only one I love." +</p> + +<p> +Then she again threw her arms around him, and kissed him passionately +upon the eyes. "Is it true?" she asked in a transport. "You love me, you +love no one else? Oh! tell me so again, and kiss me, and promise me that +you will never belong to her." +</p> + +<p> +Weak as he was he could not resist her ardent caresses and pressing +entreaties. There came a moment of supreme cowardice and passion; her +arms were around him and he forgot all but her, again and again repeating +that he loved none other, and would never, never marry her daughter. At +last he even sank so low as to pretend that he simply regarded that poor, +infirm creature with pity. His words of compassionate disdain for her +rival were like nectar to Eve, for they filled her with the blissful idea +that it was she herself who would ever remain beautiful in his eyes and +whom he would ever love. . . . +</p> + +<p> +At last silence fell between them, like an inevitable reaction after such +a tempest of despair and passion. It disturbed Gerard. "Won't you drink +some tea?" he asked. "It is almost cold already." +</p> + +<p> +She was not listening, however. To her the reaction had come in a +different form; and as though the inevitable explanation were only now +commencing, she began to speak in a sad and weary voice. "My dear Gerard, +you really cannot marry my daughter. In the first place it would be so +wrong, and then there is the question of your name, your position. +Forgive my frankness, but the fact is that everybody would say that you +had sold yourself—such a marriage would be a scandal for both your +family and mine." +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke she took hold of his hands, like a mother seeking to prevent +her big son from committing some terrible blunder. And he listened to +her, with bowed head and averted eyes. She now evinced no anger, no +jealous rage; all such feelings seemed to have departed with the rapture +of her passion. +</p> + +<p> +"Just think of what people would say," she continued. "I don't deceive +myself, I am fully aware that there is an abyss between your circle of +society and ours. It is all very well for us to be rich, but money simply +enlarges the gap. And it was all very fine for me to be converted, my +daughter is none the less 'the daughter of the Jewess,' as folks so often +say. Ah! my Gerard, I am so proud of you, that it would rend my heart to +see you lowered, degraded almost, by a marriage for money with a girl who +is deformed, who is unworthy of you and whom you could never love." +</p> + +<p> +He raised his eyes and looked at her entreatingly, anxious as he was to +be spared such painful talk. "But haven't I sworn to you, that you are +the only one I love?" he said. "Haven't I sworn that I would never marry +her! It's all over. Don't let us torture ourselves any longer." +</p> + +<p> +Their glances met and lingered on one another, instinct with all the +misery which they dared not express in words. Eve's face had suddenly +aged; her eyelids were red and swollen, and blotches marbled her +quivering cheeks, down which her tears again began to trickle. "My poor, +poor Gerard," said she, "how heavily I weigh on you. Oh! do not deny it! +I feel that I am an intolerable burden on your shoulders, an impediment +in your life, and that I shall bring irreparable disaster on you by my +obstinacy in wishing you to be mine alone." +</p> + +<p> +He tried to speak, but she silenced him. "No, no, all is over between us. +I am growing ugly, all is ended. And besides, I shut off the future from +you. I can be of no help to you, whereas you bestow all on me. And yet +the time has come for you to assure yourself a position. At your age you +can't continue living without any certainty of the morrow, without a home +and hearth of your own; and it would be cowardly and cruel of me to set +myself up as an obstacle, and prevent you from ending your life happily, +as I should do if I clung to you and dragged you down with me." +</p> + +<p> +Gazing at him through her tears she continued speaking in this fashion. +Like his mother she was well aware that he was weak and even sickly; and +she therefore dreamt of arranging a quiet life for him, a life of +tranquil happiness free from all fear of want. She loved him so fondly; +and possessed so much genuine kindness of heart that perhaps it might be +possible for her to rise even to renunciation and sacrifice. Moreover, +the very egotism born of her beauty suggested that it might be well for +her to think of retirement and not allow the autumn of her life to be +spoilt by torturing dramas. All this she said to him, treating him like a +child whose happiness she wished to ensure even at the price of her own; +and he, his eyes again lowered, listened without further protest, pleased +indeed to let her arrange a happy life for him. +</p> + +<p> +Examining the situation from every aspect, she at last began to +recapitulate the points in favour of that abominable marriage, the +thought of which had so intensely distressed her. "It is certain," she +said, "that Camille would bring you all that I should like you to have. +With her, I need hardly say it, would come plenty, affluence. And as for +the rest, well, I do not wish to excuse myself or you, but I could name +twenty households in which there have been worse things. Besides, I was +wrong when I said that money opened a gap between people. On the +contrary, it draws them nearer together, it secures forgiveness for every +fault; so nobody would dare to blame you, there would only be jealous +ones around you, dazzled by your good fortune." +</p> + +<p> +Gerard rose, apparently rebelling once more. "Surely," said he, "<i>you</i> +don't insist on my marrying your daughter?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! no indeed! But I am sensible, and I tell you what I ought to tell +you. You must think it all over." +</p> + +<p> +"I have done so already. It is you that I have loved, and that I love +still. What you say is impossible." +</p> + +<p> +She smiled divinely, rose, and again embraced him. "How good and kind you +are, my Gerard. Ah! if you only knew how I love you, how I shall always +love you, whatever happens." +</p> + +<p> +Then she again began to weep, and even he shed tears. Their good faith +was absolute; tender of heart as they were, they sought to delay the +painful wrenching and tried to hope for further happiness. But they were +conscious that the marriage was virtually an accomplished fact. Only +tears and words were left them, while life and destiny were marching on. +And if their emotion was so acute it was probably because they felt that +this was the last time they would meet as lovers. Still they strove to +retain the illusion that they were not exchanging their last farewell, +that their lips would some day meet again in a kiss of rapture. +</p> + +<p> +Eve removed her arms from the young man's neck, and they both gazed round +the room, at the sofa, the table, the four chairs, and the little hissing +gas-stove. The moist, hot atmosphere was becoming quite oppressive. +</p> + +<p> +"And so," said Gerard, "you won't drink a cup of tea?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, it's so horrid here," she answered, while arranging her hair in +front of the looking-glass. +</p> + +<p> +At that parting moment the mournfulness of this place, where she had +hoped to find such delightful memories, filled her with distress, which +was turning to positive anguish, when she suddenly heard an uproar of +gruff voices and heavy feet. People were hastening along the passage and +knocking at the doors. And, on darting to the window, she perceived a +number of policemen surrounding the chalet. At this the wildest ideas +assailed her. Had her daughter employed somebody to follow her? Did her +husband wish to divorce her so as to marry Silviane? The scandal would be +awful, and all her plans must crumble! She waited in dismay, white like a +ghost; while Gerard, also paling and quivering, begged her to be calm. At +last, when loud blows were dealt upon the door and a Commissary of Police +enjoined them to open it, they were obliged to do so. Ah! what a moment, +and what dismay and shame! +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, for more than an hour, Pierre and Guillaume had been waiting +for the rain to cease. Seated in a corner of the glazed verandah they +talked in undertones of Barthes' painful affair, and ultimately decided +to ask Theophile Morin to dine with them on the following evening, and +inform his old friend that he must again go into exile. +</p> + +<p> +"That is the best course," repeated Guillaume. "Morin is very fond of him +and will know how to break the news. I have no doubt too that he will go +with him as far as the frontier." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre sadly looked at the falling rain. "Ah! what a choice," said he, +"to be ever driven to a foreign land under penalty of being thrust into +prison. Poor fellow! how awful it is to have never known a moment of +happiness and gaiety in one's life, to have devoted one's whole existence +to the idea of liberty, and to see it scoffed at and expire with +oneself!" +</p> + +<p> +Then the priest paused, for he saw several policemen and keepers approach +the cafe and prowl round it. Having lost scent of the man they were +hunting, they had retraced their steps with the conviction no doubt that +he had sought refuge in the chalet. And in order that he might not again +escape them, they now took every precaution, exerted all their skill in +surrounding the place before venturing on a minute search. Covert fear +came upon Pierre and Guillaume when they noticed these proceedings. It +seemed to them that it must all be connected with the chase which they +had caught a glimpse of some time previously. Still, as they happened to +be in the chalet they might be called upon to give their names and +addresses. At this thought they glanced at one another, and almost made +up their minds to go off under the rain. But they realised that anything +like flight might only compromise them the more. So they waited; and all +at once there came a diversion, for two fresh customers entered the +establishment. +</p> + +<p> +A victoria with its hood and apron raised had just drawn up outside the +door. The first to alight from it was a young, well-dressed man with a +bored expression of face. He was followed by a young woman who was +laughing merrily, as if much amused by the persistence of the downpour. +By way of jesting, indeed, she expressed her regret that she had not come +to the Bois on her bicycle, whereupon her companion retorted that to +drive about in a deluge appeared to him the height of idiocy. +</p> + +<p> +"But we were bound to go somewhere, my dear fellow," she gaily answered. +"Why didn't you take me to see the maskers?" +</p> + +<p> +"The maskers, indeed! No, no, my dear. I prefer the Bois, and even the +bottom of the lake, to them." +</p> + +<p> +Then, as the couple entered the chalet, Pierre saw that the young woman +who made merry over the rain was little Princess Rosemonde, while her +companion, who regarded the mid-Lent festivities as horrible, and +bicycling as an utterly unaesthetic amusement, was handsome Hyacinthe +Duvillard. On the previous evening, while they were taking a cup of tea +together on their return from the Chamber of Horrors, the young man had +responded to the Princess's blandishments by declaring that the only form +of attachment he believed in was a mystic union of intellects and souls. +And as such a union could only be fittingly arrived at amidst the cold, +chaste snow, they had decided that they would start for Christiania on +the following Monday. Their chief regret was that by the time they +reached the fiords the worst part of the northern winter would be over. +</p> + +<p> +They sat down in the cafe and ordered some kummel, but there was none, +said the waiter, so they had to content themselves with common anisette. +Then Hyacinthe, who had been a schoolfellow of Guillaume's sons, +recognised both him and Pierre; and leaning towards Rosemonde told her in +a whisper who the elder brother was. +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon, with sudden enthusiasm, she sprang to her feet: "Guillaume +Froment, indeed! the great chemist!" And stepping forward with arm +outstretched, she continued: "Ah! monsieur, you must excuse me, but I +really must shake hands with you. I have so much admiration for you! You +have done such wonderful work in connection with explosives!" Then, +noticing the chemist's astonishment, she again burst into a laugh: "I am +the Princess de Harn, your brother Abbe Froment knows me, and I ought to +have asked him to introduce me. However, we have mutual friends, you and +I; for instance, Monsieur Janzen, a very distinguished man, as you are +aware. He was to have taken me to see you, for I am a modest disciple of +yours. Yes, I have given some attention to chemistry, oh! from pure zeal +for truth and in the hope of helping good causes, not otherwise. So you +will let me call on you—won't you?—directly I come back from +Christiania, where I am going with my young friend here, just to acquire +some experience of unknown emotions." +</p> + +<p> +In this way she rattled on, never allowing the others an opportunity to +say a word. And she mingled one thing with another; her cosmopolitan +tastes, which had thrown her into Anarchism and the society of shady +adventurers; her new passion for mysticism and symbolism; her belief that +the ideal must triumph over base materialism; her taste for aesthetic +verse; and her dream of some unimagined rapture when Hyacinthe should +kiss her with his frigid lips in a realm of eternal snow. +</p> + +<p> +All at once, however, she stopped short and again began to laugh. "Dear +me!" she exclaimed. "What are those policemen looking for here? Have they +come to arrest us? How amusing it would be!" +</p> + +<p> +Police Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir had just made up their +minds to search the cafe, as their men had hitherto failed to find Salvat +in any of the outbuildings. They were convinced that he was here. Dupot, +a thin, bald, short-sighted, spectacled little man, wore his usual +expression of boredom and weariness; but in reality he was very wide +awake and extremely courageous. He himself carried no weapons; but, as he +anticipated a most violent resistance, such as might be expected from a +trapped wolf, he advised Mondesir to have his revolver ready. From +considerations of hierarchical respect, however, the detective, who with +his snub nose and massive figure had much the appearance of a bull-dog, +was obliged to let his superior enter first. +</p> + +<p> +From behind his spectacles the Commissary of Police quickly scrutinized +the four customers whom he found in the cafe: the lady, the priest, and +the two other men. And passing them in a disdainful way, he at once made +for the stairs, intending to inspect the upper floor. Thereupon the +waiter, frightened by the sudden intrusion of the police, lost his head +and stammered: "But there's a lady and gentleman upstairs in one of the +private rooms." +</p> + +<p> +Dupot quietly pushed him aside. "A lady and gentleman, that's not what we +are looking for. . . . Come, make haste, open all the doors, you mustn't +leave a cupboard closed." +</p> + +<p> +Then climbing to the upper floor, he and Mondesir explored in turn every +apartment and corner till they at last reached the room where Eve and +Gerard were together. Here the waiter was unable to admit them, as the +door was bolted inside. "Open the door!" he called through the keyhole, +"it isn't you that they want!" +</p> + +<p> +At last the bolt was drawn back, and Dupot, without even venturing to +smile, allowed the trembling lady and gentleman to go downstairs, while +Mondesir, entering the room, looked under every article of furniture, and +even peeped into a little cupboard in order that no neglect might be +imputed to him. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, in the public room which they had to cross after descending the +stairs, Eve and Gerard experienced fresh emotion; for people whom they +knew were there, brought together by an extraordinary freak of chance. +Although Eve's face was hidden by a thick veil, her eyes met her son's +glance and she felt sure that he recognised her. What a fatality! He had +so long a tongue and told his sister everything! Then, as the Count, in +despair at such a scandal, hurried off with the Baroness to conduct her +through the pouring rain to her cab, they both distinctly heard little +Princess Rosemonde exclaim: "Why, that was Count de Quinsac! Who was the +lady, do you know?" And as Hyacinthe, greatly put out, returned no +answer, she insisted, saying: "Come, you must surely know her. Who was +she, eh?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! nobody. Some woman or other," he ended by replying. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, who had understood the truth, turned his eyes away to hide his +embarrassment. But all at once the scene changed. At the very moment when +Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir came downstairs again, after +vainly exploring the upper floor, a loud shout was raised outside, +followed by a noise of running and scrambling. Then Gascogne, the Chief +of the Detective Force, who had remained in the rear of the chalet, +continuing the search through the outbuildings, made his appearance, +pushing before him a bundle of rags and mud, which two policemen held on +either side. And this bundle was the man, the hunted man, who had just +been discovered in the coach-house, inside a staved cask, covered with +hay. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! what a whoop of victory there was after that run of two hours' +duration, that frantic chase which had left them all breathless and +footsore! It had been the most exciting, the most savage of all sports—a +man hunt! They had caught the man at last, and they pushed him, they +dragged him, they belaboured him with blows. And he, the man, what a +sorry prey he looked! A wreck, wan and dirty from having spent the night +in a hole full of leaves, still soaked to his waist from having rushed +through a stream, drenched too by the rain, bespattered with mire, his +coat and trousers in tatters, his cap a mere shred, his legs and hands +bleeding from his terrible rush through thickets bristling with brambles +and nettles. There no longer seemed anything human about his face; his +hair stuck to his moist temples, his bloodshot eyes protruded from their +sockets; fright, rage, and suffering were all blended on his wasted, +contracted face. Still it was he, the man, the quarry, and they gave him +another push, and he sank on one of the tables of the little cafe, still +held and shaken, however, by the rough hands of the policemen. +</p> + +<p> +Then Guillaume shuddered as if thunderstruck, and caught hold of Pierre's +hand. At this the priest, who was looking on, suddenly understood the +truth and also quivered. Salvat! the man was Salvat! It was Salvat whom +they had seen rushing through the wood like a wild boar forced by the +hounds. And it was Salvat who was there, now conquered and simply a +filthy bundle. Then once more there came to Pierre, amidst his anguish, a +vision of the errand girl lying yonder at the entrance of the Duvillard +mansion, the pretty fair-haired girl whom the bomb had ripped and killed! +</p> + +<p> +Dupot and Mondesir made haste to participate in Gascogne's triumph. To +tell the truth, however, the man had offered no resistance; it was like a +lamb that he had let the police lay hold of him. And since he had been in +the cafe, still roughly handled, he had simply cast a weary and mournful +glance around him. +</p> + +<p> +At last he spoke, and the first words uttered by his hoarse, gasping +voice were these: "I am hungry." +</p> + +<p> +He was sinking with hunger and weariness. This was the third day that he +had eaten nothing. +</p> + +<p> +"Give him some bread," said Commissary Dupot to the waiter. "He can eat +it while a cab is being fetched." +</p> + +<p> +A policeman went off to find a vehicle. The rain had suddenly ceased +falling, the clear ring of a bicyclist's bell was heard in the distance, +some carriages drove by, and under the pale sunrays life again came back +to the Bois. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, Salvat had fallen gluttonously upon the hunk of bread which had +been given him, and whilst he was devouring it with rapturous animal +satisfaction, he perceived the four customers seated around. He seemed +irritated by the sight of Hyacinthe and Rosemonde, whose faces expressed +the mingled anxiety and delight they felt at thus witnessing the arrest +of some bandit or other. But all at once his mournful, bloodshot eyes +wavered, for to his intense surprise he had recognised Pierre and +Guillaume. When he again looked at the latter it was with the submissive +affection of a grateful dog, and as if he were once more promising that +he would divulge nothing, whatever might happen. +</p> + +<p> +At last he again spoke, as if addressing himself like a man of courage, +both to Guillaume, from whom he had averted his eyes, and to others also, +his comrades who were not there: "It was silly of me to run," said he. "I +don't know why I did so. It's best that it should be all ended. I'm +ready." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +V +</h3> + +<h3> +THE GAME OF POLITICS +</h3> + +<p> +ON reading the newspapers on the following morning Pierre and Guillaume +were greatly surprised at not finding in them the sensational accounts of +Salvat's arrest which they had expected. All they could discover was a +brief paragraph in a column of general news, setting forth that some +policemen on duty in the Bois de Boulogne had there arrested an +Anarchist, who was believed to have played a part in certain recent +occurrences. On the other hand, the papers gave a deal of space to the +questions raised by Sagnier's fresh denunciations. There were innumerable +articles on the African Railways scandal, and the great debate which +might be expected at the Chamber of Deputies, should Mege, the Socialist +member, really renew his interpellation, as he had announced his +intention of doing. +</p> + +<p> +As Guillaume's wrist was now fast healing, and nothing seemed to threaten +him, he had already, on the previous evening, decided that he would +return to Montmartre. The police had passed him by without apparently +suspecting any responsibility on his part; and he was convinced that +Salvat would keep silent. Pierre, however, begged him to wait a little +longer, at any rate until the prisoner should have been interrogated by +the investigating magistrate, by which time they would be able to judge +the situation more clearly. Pierre, moreover, during his long stay at the +Home Department on the previous morning, had caught a glimpse of certain +things and overheard certain words which made him suspect some dim +connection between Salvat's crime and the parliamentary crisis; and he +therefore desired a settlement of the latter before Guillaume returned to +his wonted life. +</p> + +<p> +"Just listen," he said to his brother. "I am going to Morin's to ask him +to come and dine here this evening, for it is absolutely necessary that +Barthes should be warned of the fresh blow which is falling on him. And +then I think I shall go to the Chamber, as I want to know what takes +place there. After that, since you desire it, I will let you go back to +your own home." +</p> + +<p> +It was not more than half-past one when Pierre reached the +Palais-Bourbon. It had occurred to him that Fonsegue would be able to +secure him admittance to the meeting-hall, but in the vestibule he met +General de Bozonnet, who happened to possess a couple of tickets. A +friend of his, who was to have accompanied him, had, at the last moment, +been unable to come. So widespread was the curiosity concerning the +debate now near at hand, and so general were the predictions that it +would prove a most exciting one, that the demand for tickets had been +extremely keen during the last twenty-four hours. In fact Pierre would +never have been able to obtain admittance if the General had not +good-naturedly offered to take him in. As a matter of fact the old +warrior was well pleased to have somebody to chat with. He explained that +he had simply come there to kill time, just as he might have killed it at +a concert or a charity bazaar. However, like the ex-Legitimist and +Bonapartist that he was, he had really come for the pleasure of feasting +his eyes on the shameful spectacle of parliamentary ignominy. +</p> + +<p> +When the General and Pierre had climbed the stairs, they were able to +secure two front seats in one of the public galleries. Little Massot, who +was already there, and who knew them both, placed one of them on his +right and the other on his left. "I couldn't find a decent seat left in +the press gallery," said he, "but I managed to get this place, from which +I shall be able to see things properly. It will certainly be a big +sitting. Just look at the number of people there are on every side!" +</p> + +<p> +The narrow and badly arranged galleries were packed to overflowing. There +were men of every age and a great many women too in the confused, serried +mass of spectators, amidst which one only distinguished a multiplicity of +pale white faces. The real scene, however, was down below in the +meeting-hall, which was as yet empty, and with its rows of seats disposed +in semi-circular fashion looked like the auditorium of a theatre. Under +the cold light which fell from the glazed roofing appeared the solemn, +shiny tribune, whence members address the Chamber, whilst behind it, on a +higher level, and running right along the rear wall, was what is called +the Bureau, with its various tables and seats, including the presidential +armchair. The Bureau, like the tribune, was still unoccupied. The only +persons one saw there were a couple of attendants who were laying out new +pens and filling inkstands. +</p> + +<p> +"The women," said Massot with a laugh, after another glance at the +galleries, "come here just as they might come to a menagerie, that is, in +the secret hope of seeing wild beasts devour one another. But, by the +way, did you read the article in the 'Voix du Peuple' this morning? What +a wonderful fellow that Sagnier is. When nobody else can find any filth +left, he manages to discover some. He apparently thinks it necessary to +add something new every day, in order to send his sales up. And of course +it all disturbs the public, and it's thanks to him that so many people +have come here in the hope of witnessing some horrid scene." +</p> + +<p> +Then he laughed again, as he asked Pierre if he had read an unsigned +article in the "Globe," which in very dignified but perfidious language +had called upon Barroux to give the full and frank explanations which the +country had a right to demand in that matter of the African Railways. +This paper had hitherto vigorously supported the President of the +Council, but in the article in question the coldness which precedes a +rupture was very apparent. Pierre replied that the article had much +surprised him, for he had imagined that Fonsegue and Barroux were linked +together by identity of views and long-standing personal friendship. +</p> + +<p> +Massot was still laughing. "Quite so," said he. "And you may be sure that +the governor's heart bled when he wrote that article. It has been much +noticed, and it will do the government a deal of harm. But the governor, +you see, knows better than anybody else what line he ought to follow to +save both his own position and the paper's." +</p> + +<p> +Then he related what extraordinary confusion and emotion reigned among +the deputies in the lobbies through which he had strolled before coming +upstairs to secure a seat. After an adjournment of a couple of days the +Chamber found itself confronted by this terrible scandal, which was like +one of those conflagrations which, at the moment when they are supposed +to be dying out, suddenly flare up again and devour everything. The +various figures given in Sagnier's list, the two hundred thousand francs +paid to Barroux, the eighty thousand handed to Monferrand, the fifty +thousand allotted to Fonsegue, the ten thousand pocketed by Duthil, and +the three thousand secured by Chaigneux, with all the other amounts +distributed among So-and-so and So-and-so, formed the general subject of +conversation. And at the same time some most extraordinary stories were +current; there was no end of tittle-tattle in which fact and falsehood +were so inextricably mingled that everybody was at sea as to the real +truth. Whilst many deputies turned pale and trembled as beneath a blast +of terror, others passed by purple with excitement, bursting with +delight, laughing with exultation at the thought of coming victory. For, +in point of fact, beneath all the assumed indignation, all the calls for +parliamentary cleanliness and morality, there simply lay a question of +persons—the question of ascertaining whether the government would be +overthrown, and in that event of whom the new administration would +consist. Barroux no doubt appeared to be in a bad way; but with things in +such a muddle one was bound to allow a margin for the unexpected. From +what was generally said it seemed certain that Mege would be extremely +violent. Barroux would answer him, and the Minister's friends declared +that he was determined to speak out in the most decisive manner. As for +Monferrand he would probably address the Chamber after his colleague, but +Vignon's intentions were somewhat doubtful, as, in spite of his delight, +he made a pretence of remaining in the back, ground. He had been seen +going from one to another of his partisans, advising them to keep calm, +in order that they might retain the cold, keen <i>coup d'oeil</i> which in +warfare generally decides the victory. Briefly, such was the plotting and +intriguing that never had any witch's cauldron brimful of drugs and +nameless abominations been set to boil on a more hellish fire than that +of this parliamentary cook-shop. +</p> + +<p> +"Heaven only knows what they will end by serving us," said little Massot +by way of conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +General de Bozonnet for his part anticipated nothing but disaster. If +France had only possessed an army, said he, one might have swept away +that handful of bribe-taking parliamentarians who preyed upon the country +and rotted it. But there was no army left, there was merely an armed +nation, a very different thing. And thereupon, like a man of a past age +whom the present times distracted, he started on what had been his +favourite subject of complaint ever since he had been retired from the +service. +</p> + +<p> +"Here's an idea for an article if you want one," he said to Massot. +"Although France may have a million soldiers she hasn't got an army. I'll +give you some notes of mine, and you will be able to tell people the +truth." +</p> + +<p> +Warfare, he continued, ought to be purely and simply a caste occupation, +with commanders designated by divine right, leading mercenaries or +volunteers into action. By democratising warfare people had simply killed +it; a circumstance which he deeply regretted, like a born soldier who +regarded fighting as the only really noble occupation that life offered. +For, as soon as it became every man's duty to fight, none was willing to +do so; and thus compulsory military service—what was called "the nation +in arms"—would, at a more or less distant date, certainly bring about +the end of warfare. If France had not engaged in a European war since +1870 this was precisely due to the fact that everybody in France was +ready to fight. But rulers hesitated to throw a whole nation against +another nation, for the loss both in life and treasure would be +tremendous. And so the thought that all Europe was transformed into a +vast camp filled the General with anger and disgust. He sighed for the +old times when men fought for the pleasure of the thing, just as they +hunted; whereas nowadays people were convinced that they would +exterminate one another at the very first engagement. +</p> + +<p> +"But surely it wouldn't be an evil if war should disappear," Pierre +gently remarked. +</p> + +<p> +This somewhat angered the General. "Well, you'll have pretty nations if +people no longer fight," he answered, and then trying to show a practical +spirit, he added: "Never has the art of war cost more money than since +war itself has become an impossibility. The present-day defensive peace +is purely and simply ruining every country in Europe. One may be spared +defeat, but utter bankruptcy is certainly at the end of it all. And in +any case the profession of arms is done for. All faith in it is dying +out, and it will soon be forsaken, just as men have begun to forsake the +priesthood." +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon he made a gesture of mingled grief and anger, almost cursing +that parliament, that Republican legislature before him, as if he +considered it responsible for the future extinction of warfare. But +little Massot was wagging his head dubiously, for he regarded the subject +as rather too serious a one for him to write upon. And, all at once, in +order to turn the conversation into another channel, he exclaimed: "Ah! +there's Monseigneur Martha in the diplomatic gallery beside the Spanish +Ambassador. It's denied, you know, that he intends to come forward as a +candidate in Morbihan. He's far too shrewd to wish to be a deputy. He +already pulls the strings which set most of the Catholic deputies who +have 'rallied' to the Republican Government in motion." +</p> + +<p> +Pierre himself had just noticed Monseigneur Martha's smiling face. And, +somehow or other, however modest might be the prelate's demeanour, it +seemed to him that he really played an important part in what was going +on. He could hardly take his eyes from him. It was as if he expected that +he would suddenly order men hither and thither, and direct the whole +march of events. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah!" said Massot again. "Here comes Mege. It won't be long now before +the sitting begins." +</p> + +<p> +The hall, down below, was gradually filling. Deputies entered and +descended the narrow passages between the benches. Most of them remained +standing and chatting in a more or less excited way; but some seated +themselves and raised their grey, weary faces to the glazed roof. It was +a cloudy afternoon, and rain was doubtless threatening, for the light +became quite livid. If the hall was pompous it was also dismal with its +heavy columns, its cold allegorical statues, and its stretches of bare +marble and woodwork. The only brightness was that of the red velvet of +the benches and the gallery hand-rests. +</p> + +<p> +Every deputy of any consequence who entered was named by Massot to his +companions. Mege, on being stopped by another member of the little +Socialist group, began to fume and gesticulate. Then Vignon, detaching +himself from a group of friends and putting on an air of smiling +composure, descended the steps towards his seat. The occupants of the +galleries, however, gave most attention to the accused members, those +whose names figured in Sagnier's list. And these were interesting +studies. Some showed themselves quite sprightly, as if they were entirely +at their ease; but others had assumed a most grave and indignant +demeanour. Chaigneux staggered and hesitated as if beneath the weight of +some frightful act of injustice; whereas Duthil looked perfectly serene +save for an occasional twitch of his lips. The most admired, however, was +Fonsegue, who showed so candid a face, so open a glance, that his +colleagues as well as the spectators might well have declared him +innocent. Nobody indeed could have looked more like an honest man. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! there's none like the governor," muttered Massot with enthusiasm. +"But be attentive, for here come the ministers. One mustn't miss Barroux' +meeting with Fonsegue, after this morning's article." +</p> + +<p> +Chance willed it that as Barroux came along with his head erect, his face +pale, and his whole demeanour aggressive, he was obliged to pass Fonsegue +in order to reach the ministerial bench. In doing so he did not speak to +him, but he gazed at him fixedly like one who is conscious of defection, +of a cowardly stab in the back on the part of a traitor. Fonsegue seemed +quite at ease, and went on shaking hands with one and another of his +colleagues as if he were altogether unconscious of Barroux' glance. Nor +did he even appear to see Monferrand, who walked by in the rear of the +Prime Minister, wearing a placid good-natured air, as if he knew nothing +of what was impending, but was simply coming to some ordinary humdrum +sitting. However, when he reached his seat, he raised his eyes and smiled +at Monseigneur Martha, who gently nodded to him. Then well pleased to +think that things were going as he wished them to go, he began to rub his +hands, as he often did by way of expressing his satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +"Who is that grey-haired, mournful-looking gentleman on the ministerial +bench?" Pierre inquired of Massot. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, that's Taboureau, the Minister of Public Instruction, the excellent +gentleman who is said to have no prestige. One's always hearing of him, +and one never recognises him; he looks like an old, badly worn coin. Just +like Barroux he can't feel very well pleased with the governor this +afternoon, for to-day's 'Globe' contained an article pointing out his +thorough incapacity in everything concerning the fine arts. It was an +article in measured language, but all the more effective for that very +reason. It would surprise me if Taboureau should recover from it." +</p> + +<p> +Just then a low roll of drums announced the arrival of the President and +other officials of the Chamber. A door opened, and a little procession +passed by amidst an uproar of exclamations and hasty footsteps. Then, +standing at his table, the President rang his bell and declared the +sitting open. But few members remained silent, however, whilst one of the +secretaries, a dark, lanky young man with a harsh voice, read the minutes +of the previous sitting. When they had been adopted, various letters of +apology for non-attendance were read, and a short, unimportant bill was +passed without discussion. And then came the big affair, Mege's +interpellation, and at once the whole Chamber was in a flutter, while the +most passionate curiosity reigned in the galleries above. On the +Government consenting to the interpellation, the Chamber decided that the +debate should take place at once. And thereupon complete silence fell, +save that now and again a brief quiver sped by, in which one could detect +the various feelings, passions and appetites swaying the assembly. +</p> + +<p> +Mege began to speak with assumed moderation, carefully setting forth the +various points at issue. Tall and thin, gnarled and twisted like a +vine-stock, he rested his hands on the tribune as if to support his bent +figure, and his speech was often interrupted by the little dry cough +which came from the tuberculosis that was burning him. But his eyes +sparkled with passion behind his glasses, and little by little his voice +rose in piercing accents and he drew his lank figure erect and began to +gesticulate vehemently. He reminded the Chamber that some two months +previously, at the time of the first denunciations published by the "Voix +du Peuple," he had asked leave to interpellate the Government respecting +that deplorable affair of the African Railways; and he remarked, truly +enough, that if the Chamber had not yielded to certain considerations +which he did not wish to discuss, and had not adjourned his proposed +inquiries, full light would long since have been thrown on the whole +affair, in such wise that there would have been no revival, no increase +of the scandal, and no possible pretext for that abominable campaign of +denunciation which tortured and disgusted the country. However, it had at +last been understood that silence could be maintained no longer. It was +necessary that the two ministers who were so loudly accused of having +abused their trusts, should prove their innocence, throw full light upon +all they had done; apart from which the Chamber itself could not possibly +remain beneath the charge of wholesale venality. +</p> + +<p> +Then he recounted the whole history of the affair, beginning with the +grant of a concession for the African Lines to Baron Duvillard; and next +passing to the proposals for the issue of lottery stock, which proposals, +it was now said, had only been sanctioned by the Chamber after the most +shameful bargaining and buying of votes. At this point Mege became +extremely violent. Speaking of that mysterious individual Hunter, Baron +Duvillard's recruiter and go-between, he declared that the police had +allowed him to flee from France, much preferring to spend its time in +shadowing Socialist deputies. Then, hammering the tribune with his fist, +he summoned Barroux to give a categorical denial to the charges brought +against him, and to make it absolutely clear that he had never received a +single copper of the two hundred thousand francs specified in Hunter's +list. Forthwith certain members shouted to Mege that he ought to read the +whole list; but when he wished to do so others vociferated that it was +abominable, that such a mendacious and slanderous document ought not to +be accorded a place in the proceedings of the French legislature. Mege +went on still in frantic fashion, figuratively casting Sagnier into the +gutter, and protesting that there was nothing in common between himself +and such a base insulter. But at the same time he demanded that justice +and punishment should be meted out equally to one and all, and that if +indeed there were any bribe-takers among his colleagues, they should be +sent that very night to the prison of Mazas. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the President, erect at his table, rang and rang his bell +without managing to quell the uproar. He was like a pilot who finds the +tempest too strong for him. Among all the men with purple faces and +barking mouths who were gathered in front of him, the ushers alone +maintained imperturbable gravity. At intervals between the bursts of +shouting, Mege's voice could still be heard. By some sudden transition he +had come to the question of a Collectivist organisation of society such +as he dreamt of, and he contrasted it with the criminal capitalist +society of the present day, which alone, said he, could produce such +scandals. And yielding more and more to his apostolic fervour, declaring +that there could be no salvation apart from Collectivism, he shouted that +the day of triumph would soon dawn. He awaited it with a smile of +confidence. In his opinion, indeed, he merely had to overthrow that +ministry and perhaps another one, and then he himself would at last take +the reins of power in hand, like a reformer who would know how to pacify +the nation. As outside Socialists often declared, it was evident that the +blood of a dictator flowed in that sectarian's veins. His feverish, +stubborn rhetoric ended by exhausting his interrupters, who were +compelled to listen to him. When he at last decided to leave the tribune, +loud applause arose from a few benches on the left. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know," said Massot to the General, "I met Mege taking a walk with +his three little children in the Jardin des Plantes the other day. He +looked after them as carefully as an old nurse. I believe he's a very +worthy fellow at heart, and lives in a very modest way." +</p> + +<p> +But a quiver had now sped through the assembly. Barroux had quitted his +seat to ascend the tribune. He there drew himself erect, throwing his +head back after his usual fashion. There was a haughty, majestic, +slightly sorrowful expression on his handsome face, which would have been +perfect had his nose only been a little larger. He began to express his +sorrow and indignation in fine flowery language, which he punctuated with +theatrical gestures. His eloquence was that of a tribune of the romantic +school, and as one listened to him one could divine that in spite of all +his pomposity he was really a worthy, tender-hearted and somewhat foolish +man. That afternoon he was stirred by genuine emotion; his heart bled at +the thought of his disastrous destiny, he felt that a whole world was +crumbling with himself. Ah! what a cry of despair he stifled, the cry of +the man who is buffeted and thrown aside by the course of events on the +very day when he thinks that his civic devotion entitles him to triumph! +To have given himself and all he possessed to the cause of the Republic, +even in the dark days of the Second Empire; to have fought and struggled +and suffered persecution for that Republic's sake; to have established +that Republic amidst the battle of parties, after all the horrors of +national and civil war; and then, when the Republic at last triumphed and +became a living fact, secure from all attacks and intrigues, to suddenly +feel like a survival of some other age, to hear new comers speak a new +language, preach a new ideal, and behold the collapse of all he had +loved, all he had reverenced, all that had given him strength to fight +and conquer! The mighty artisans of the early hours were no more; it had +been meet that Gambetta should die. How bitter it all was for the last +lingering old ones to find themselves among the men of the new, +intelligent and shrewd generation, who gently smiled at them, deeming +their romanticism quite out of fashion! All crumbled since the ideal of +liberty collapsed, since liberty was no longer the one desideratum, the +very basis of the Republic whose existence had been so dearly purchased +after so long an effort! +</p> + +<p> +Erect and dignified Barroux made his confession. The Republic to him was +like the sacred ark of life; the very worst deeds became saintly if they +were employed to save her from peril. And in all simplicity he, told his +story, how he had found the great bulk of Baron Duvillard's money going +to the opposition newspapers as pretended payment for puffery and +advertising, whilst on the other hand the Republican organs received but +beggarly, trumpery amounts. He had been Minister of the Interior at the +time, and had therefore had charge of the press; so what would have been +said of him if he had not endeavoured to reestablish some equilibrium in +this distribution of funds in order that the adversaries of the +institutions of the country might not acquire a great increase of +strength by appropriating all the sinews of war? Hands had been stretched +out towards him on all sides, a score of newspapers, the most faithful, +the most meritorious, had claimed their legitimate share. And he had +ensured them that share by distributing among them the two hundred +thousand francs set down in the list against his name. Not a centime of +the money had gone into his own pocket, he would allow nobody to impugn +his personal honesty, on that point his word must suffice. At that moment +Barroux was really grand. All his emphatic pomposity disappeared; he +showed himself, as he really was—an honest man, quivering, his heart +bared, his conscience bleeding, in his bitter distress at having been +among those who had laboured and at now being denied reward. +</p> + +<p> +For, truth to tell, his words fell amidst icy silence. In his childish +simplicity he had anticipated an outburst of enthusiasm; a Republican +Chamber could but acclaim him for having saved the Republic; and now the +frigidity of one and all quite froze him. He suddenly felt that he was +all alone, done for, touched by the hand of death. Nevertheless, he +continued speaking amidst that terrible silence with the courage of one +who is committing suicide, and who, from his love of noble and eloquent +attitudes, is determined to die standing. He ended with a final +impressive gesture. However, as he came down from the tribune, the +general coldness seemed to increase, not a single member applauded. With +supreme clumsiness he had alluded to the secret scheming of Rome and the +clergy, whose one object, in his opinion, was to recover the predominant +position they had lost and restore monarchy in France at a more or less +distant date. +</p> + +<p> +"How silly of him! Ought a man ever to confess?" muttered Massot. "He's +done for, and the ministry too!" +</p> + +<p> +Then, amidst the general frigidity, Monferrand boldly ascended the +tribune stairs. The prevailing uneasiness was compounded of all the +secret fear which sincerity always causes, of all the distress of the +bribe-taking deputies who felt that they were rolling into an abyss, and +also of the embarrassment which the others felt at thought of the more or +less justifiable compromises of politics. Something like relief, +therefore, came when Monferrand started with the most emphatic denials, +protesting in the name of his outraged honour, and dealing blow after +blow on the tribune with one hand, while with the other he smote his +chest. Short and thick-set, with his face thrust forward, hiding his +shrewdness beneath an expression of indignant frankness, he was for a +moment really superb. He denied everything. He was not only ignorant of +what was meant by that sum of eighty thousand francs set down against his +name, but he defied the whole world to prove that he had even touched a +single copper of that money. He boiled over with indignation to such a +point that he did not simply deny bribe-taking on his own part, he denied +it on behalf of the whole assembly, of all present and past French +legislatures, as if, indeed, bribe-taking on the part of a representative +of the people was altogether too monstrous an idea, a crime that +surpassed possibility to such an extent that the mere notion of it was +absurd. And thereupon applause rang out; the Chamber, delivered from its +fears, thrilled by his words, acclaimed him. +</p> + +<p> +From the little Socialist group, however, some jeers arose, and voices +summoned Monferrand to explain himself on the subject of the African +Railways, reminding him that he had been at the head of the Public Works +Department at the time of the vote, and requiring of him that he should +state what he now meant to do, as Minister of the Interior, in order to +reassure the country. He juggled with this question, declaring that if +there were any guilty parties they would be punished, for he did not +require anybody to remind him of his duty. And then, all at once, with +incomparable maestria, he had recourse to the diversion which he had been +preparing since the previous day. His duty, said he, was a thing which he +never forgot; he discharged it like a faithful soldier of the nation hour +by hour, and with as much vigilance as prudence. He had been accused of +employing the police on he knew not what base spying work in such wise as +to allow the man Hunter to escape. Well, as for that much-slandered +police force, he would tell the Chamber on what work he had really +employed it the day before, and how zealously it had laboured for the +cause of law and order. In the Bois de Boulogne, on the previous +afternoon, it had arrested that terrible scoundrel, the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, that Anarchist mechanician Salvat, +who for six weeks past had so cunningly contrived to elude capture. The +scoundrel had made a full confession during the evening, and the law +would now take its course with all despatch. Public morality was at last +avenged, Paris might now emerge in safety from its long spell of terror, +Anarchism would be struck down, annihilated. And that was what he, +Monferrand, had done as a Minister for the honour and safety of his +country, whilst villains were vainly seeking to dishonour him by +inscribing his name on a list of infamy, the outcome of the very basest +political intrigues. +</p> + +<p> +The Chamber listened agape and quivering. This story of Salvat's arrest, +which none of the morning papers had reported; the present which +Monferrand seemed to be making them of that terrible Anarchist whom many +had already begun to regard as a myth; the whole <i>mise-en-scene</i> of the +Minister's speech transported the deputies as if they were suddenly +witnessing the finish of a long-interrupted drama. Stirred and flattered, +they prolonged their applause, while Monferrand went on celebrating his +act of energy, how he had saved society, how crime should be punished, +and how he himself would ever prove that he had a strong arm and could +answer for public order. He even won favour with the Conservatives and +Clericals on the Right by separating himself from Barroux, addressing a +few words of sympathy to those Catholics who had "rallied" to the +Republic, and appealing for concord among men of different beliefs in +order that they might fight the common enemy, that fierce, wild socialism +which talked of overthrowing everything! +</p> + +<p> +By the time Monferrand came down from the tribune, the trick was played, +he had virtually saved himself. Both the Right and Left of the Chamber* +applauded, drowning the protests of the few Socialists whose +vociferations only added to the triumphal tumult. Members eagerly +stretched out their hands to the Minister, who for a moment remained +standing there and smiling. But there was some anxiety in that smile of +his; his success was beginning to frighten him. Had he spoken too well, +and saved the entire Cabinet instead of merely saving himself? That would +mean the ruin of his plan. The Chamber ought not to vote under the effect +of that speech which had thrilled it so powerfully. Thus Monferrand, +though he still continued to smile, spent a few anxious moments in +waiting to see if anybody would rise to answer him. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + * Ever since the days of the Bourbon Restoration it has been + the practice in the French Chambers for the more conservative + members to seat themselves on the President's right, and for + the Radical ones to place themselves on his left. The central + seats of the semicircle in which the members' seats are + arranged in tiers are usually occupied by men of moderate views. + Generally speaking, such terms as Right Centre and Left Centre + are applied to groups of Moderates inclining in the first place + to Conservatism and in the latter to Radicalism. All this is of + course known to readers acquainted with French institutions, but + I give the explanation because others, after perusing French + news in some daily paper, have often asked me what was meant by + "a deputy of the Right," and so forth.—Trans. +</p> + +<p> +His success had been as great among the occupants of the galleries as +among the deputies themselves. Several ladies had been seen applauding, +and Monseigneur Martha had given unmistakable signs of the liveliest +satisfaction. "Ah, General!" said Massot to Bozonnet in a sneering way. +"Those are our fighting men of the present time. And he's a bold and +strong one, is Monferrand. Of course it is all what people style 'saving +one's bacon,' but none the less it's very clever work." +</p> + +<p> +Just then, however, Monferrand to his great satisfaction had seen Vignon +rise from his seat in response to the urging of his friends. And +thereupon all anxiety vanished from the Minister's smile, which became +one of malicious placidity. +</p> + +<p> +The very atmosphere of the Chamber seemed to change with Vignon in the +tribune. He was slim, with a fair and carefully tended beard, blue eyes +and all the suppleness of youth. He spoke, moreover, like a practical +man, in simple, straightforward language, which made the emptiness of the +other's declamatory style painfully conspicuous. His term of official +service as a prefect in the provinces had endowed him with keen insight; +and it was in an easy way that he propounded and unravelled the most +intricate questions. Active and courageous, confident in his own star, +too young and too shrewd to have compromised himself in anything so far, +he was steadily marching towards the future. He had already drawn up a +rather more advanced political programme than that of Barroux and +Monferrand, so that when opportunity offered there might be good reasons +for him to take their place. Moreover, he was quite capable of carrying +out his programme by attempting some of the long-promised reforms for +which the country was waiting. He had guessed that honesty, when it had +prudence and shrewdness as its allies, must some day secure an innings. +In a clear voice, and in a very quiet, deliberate way, he now said what +it was right to say on the subject under discussion, the things that +common sense dictated and that the Chamber itself secretly desired should +be said. He was certainly the first to rejoice over an arrest which would +reassure the country; but he failed to understand what connection there +could be between that arrest and the sad business that had been brought +before the Chamber. The two affairs were quite distinct and different, +and he begged his colleagues not to vote in the state of excitement in +which he saw them. Full light must be thrown on the African Railways +question, and this, one could not expect from the two incriminated +ministers. However, he was opposed to any suggestion of a committee of +inquiry. In his opinion the guilty parties, if such there were, ought to +be brought immediately before a court of law. And, like Barroux, he wound +up with a discreet allusion to the growing influence of the clergy, +declaring that he was against all unworthy compromises, and was equally +opposed to any state dictatorship and any revival of the ancient +theocratic spirit. +</p> + +<p> +Although there was but little applause when Vignon returned to his seat, +it was evident that the Chamber was again master of its emotions. And the +situation seemed so clear, and the overthrow of the ministry so certain, +that Mege, who had meant to reply to the others, wisely abstained from +doing so. Meantime people noticed the placid demeanour of Monferrand, who +had listened to Vignon with the utmost complacency, as if he were +rendering homage to an adversary's talent; whereas Barroux, ever since +the cold silence which had greeted his speech, had remained motionless in +his seat, bowed down and pale as a corpse. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, it's all over," resumed Massot, amidst the hubbub which arose as +the deputies prepared to vote; "the ministry's done for. Little Vignon +will go a long way, you know. People say that he dreams of the Elysee. At +all events everything points to him as our next prime minister." +</p> + +<p> +Then, as the journalist rose, intending to go off, the General detained +him: "Wait a moment, Monsieur Massot," said he. "How disgusting all that +parliamentary cooking is! You ought to point it out in an article, and +show people how the country is gradually being weakened and rotted to the +marrow by all such useless and degrading discussions. Why, a great battle +resulting in the loss of 50,000 men would exhaust us less than ten years +of this abominable parliamentary system. You must call on me some +morning. I will show you a scheme of military reform, in which I point +out the necessity of returning to the limited professional armies which +we used to have, for this present-day national army, as folks call it, +which is a semi-civilian affair and at best a mere herd of men, is like a +dead weight on us, and is bound to pull us down!" +</p> + +<p> +Pierre, for his part, had not spoken a word since the beginning of the +debate. He had listened to everything, at first influenced by the thought +of his brother's interests, and afterwards mastered by the feverishness +which gradually took possession of everybody present. He had become +convinced that there was nothing more for Guillaume to fear; but how +curiously did one event fit into another, and how loudly had Salvat's +arrest re-echoed in the Chamber! Looking down into the seething hall +below him, he had detected all the clash of rival passions and interests. +After watching the great struggle between Barroux, Monferrand and Vignon, +he had gazed upon the childish delight of that terrible Socialist Mege, +who was so pleased at having been able to stir up the depths of those +troubled waters, in which he always unwittingly angled for the benefit of +others. Then, too, Pierre had become interested in Fonsegue, who, knowing +what had been arranged between Monferrand, Duvillard and himself, evinced +perfect calmness and strove to reassure Duthil and Chaigneux, who, on +their side, were quite dismayed by the ministry's impending fall. Yet, +Pierre's eyes always came back to Monseigneur Martha. He had watched his +serene smiling face throughout the sitting, striving to detect his +impressions of the various incidents that had occurred, as if in his +opinion that dramatic parliamentary comedy had only been played as a step +towards the more or less distant triumph for which the prelate laboured. +And now, while awaiting the result of the vote, as Pierre turned towards +Massot and the General, he found that they were talking of nothing but +recruiting and tactics and the necessity of a bath of blood for the whole +of Europe. Ah! poor mankind, ever fighting and ever devouring one another +in parliaments as well as on battle-fields, when, thought Pierre, would +it decide to disarm once and for all, and live at peace according to the +laws of justice and reason! +</p> + +<p> +Then he again looked down into the hall, where the greatest confusion was +prevailing among the deputies with regard to the coming vote. There was +quite a rainfall of suggested "resolutions," from a very violent one +proposed by Mege, to another, which was merely severe, emanating from +Vignon. The ministry, however, would only accept the "Order of the day +pure and simple," a mere decision, that is, to pass to the next business, +as if Mege's interpellation had been unworthy of attention. And presently +the Government was defeated, Vignon's resolution being adopted by a +majority of twenty-five. Some portion of the Left had evidently joined +hands with the Right and the Socialist group. A prolonged hubbub followed +this result. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, so we are to have a Vignon Cabinet," said Massot, as he went off +with Pierre and the General. "All the same, though, Monferrand has saved +himself, and if I were in Vignon's place I should distrust him." +</p> + +<p> +That evening there was a very touching farewell scene at the little house +at Neuilly. When Pierre returned thither from the Chamber, saddened but +reassured with regard to the future, Guillaume at once made up his mind +to go home on the morrow. And as Nicholas Barthes was compelled to leave, +the little dwelling seemed on the point of relapsing into dreary quietude +once more. +</p> + +<p> +Theophile Morin, whom Pierre had informed of the painful alternative in +which Barthes was placed, duly came to dinner; but he did not have time +to speak to the old man before they all sat down to table at seven +o'clock. As usual Barthes had spent his day in marching, like a caged +lion, up and down the room in which he had accepted shelter after the +fashion of a big fearless child, who never worried with regard either to +his present circumstances or the troubles which the future might have in +store for him. His life had ever been one of unlimited hope, which +reality had ever shattered. Although all that he had loved, all that he +had hoped to secure by fifty years of imprisonment or exile,—liberty, +equality and a real brotherly republic,—had hitherto failed to come, +such as he had dreamt of them, he nevertheless retained the candid faith +of his youth, and was ever confident in the near future. He would smile +indulgently when new comers, men of violent ideas, derided him and called +him a poor old fellow. For his part, he could make neither head nor tail +of the many new sects. He simply felt indignant with their lack of human +feeling, and stubbornly adhered to his own idea of basing the world's +regeneration on the simple proposition that men were naturally good and +ought to be free and brotherly. +</p> + +<p> +That evening at dinner, feeling that he was with friends who cared for +him, Barthes proved extremely gay, and showed all his ingenuousness in +talking of his ideal, which would soon be realised, said he, in spite of +everything. He could tell a story well whenever he cared to chat, and on +that occasion he related some delightful anecdotes about the prisons +through which he had passed. He knew all the dungeons, Ste. Pelagie and +Mont St. Michel, Belle-Ile-en-Mer and Clairvaux, to say nothing of +temporary gaols and the evil-smelling hulks on board which political +prisoners are often confined. And he still laughed at certain +recollections, and related how in the direst circumstances he had always +been able to seek refuge in his conscience. The others listened to him +quite charmed by his conversation, but full of anguish at the thought +that this perpetual prisoner or exile must again rise and take his staff +to sally forth, driven from his native land once more. +</p> + +<p> +Pierre did not speak out until they were partaking of dessert. Then he +related how the Minister had written to him, and how in a brief interview +he had stated that Barthes must cross the frontier within forty-eight +hours if he did not wish to be arrested. Thereupon the old man gravely +rose, with his white fleece, his eagle beak and his bright eyes still +sparkling with the fire of youth. And he wished to go off at once. +"What!" said he, "you have known all this since yesterday, and have still +kept me here at the risk of my compromising you even more than I had done +already! You must forgive me, I did not think of the worry I might cause +you, I thought that everything would be satisfactorily arranged. I must +thank you both—yourself and Guillaume—for the few days of quietude that +you have procured to an old vagabond and madman like myself." +</p> + +<p> +Then, as they tried to prevail on him to remain until the following +morning, he would not listen to them. There would be a train for Brussels +about midnight, and he had ample time to take it. He refused to let Morin +accompany him. No, no, said he, Morin was not a rich man, and moreover he +had work to attend to. Why should he take him away from his duties, when +it was so easy, so simple, for him to go off alone? He was going back +into exile as into misery and grief which he had long known, like some +Wandering Jew of Liberty, ever driven onward through the world. +</p> + +<p> +When he took leave of the others at ten o'clock, in the little sleepy +street just outside the house, tears suddenly dimmed his eyes. "Ah! I'm +no longer a young man," he said; "it's all over this time. I shall never +come back again. My bones will rest in some corner over yonder." And yet, +after he had affectionately embraced Pierre and Guillaume, he drew +himself up like one who remained unconquered, and he raised a supreme cry +of hope. "But after all, who knows? Triumph may perhaps come to-morrow. +The future belongs to those who prepare it and wait for it!" +</p> + +<p> +Then he walked away, and long after he had disappeared his firm, sonorous +footsteps could be heard re-echoing in the quiet night. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 3, by +Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 9166-h.htm or 9166-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/6/9166/ + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 3 + +Author: Emile Zola + +Translator: Ernest A. Vizetelly + +Posting Date: April 13, 2014 [EBook #9166] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + THE THREE CITIES + + + + PARIS + + + + BY + + EMILE ZOLA + + + + TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY + + + + BOOK III + + + +I + +THE RIVALS + +ON the Wednesday preceding the mid-Lent Thursday, a great charity bazaar +was held at the Duvillard mansion, for the benefit of the Asylum of the +Invalids of Labour. The ground-floor reception rooms, three spacious +Louis Seize _salons_, whose windows overlooked the bare and solemn +courtyard, were given up to the swarm of purchasers, five thousand +admission cards having been distributed among all sections of Parisian +society. And the opening of the bombarded mansion in this wise to +thousands of visitors was regarded as quite an event, a real +manifestation, although some people whispered that the Rue +Godot-de-Mauroy and the adjacent streets were guarded by quite an army of +police agents. + +The idea of the bazaar had come from Duvillard himself, and at his +bidding his wife had resigned herself to all this worry for the benefit +of the enterprise over which she presided with such distinguished +nonchalance. On the previous day the "Globe" newspaper, inspired by its +director Fonsegue, who was also the general manager of the asylum, had +published a very fine article, announcing the bazaar, and pointing out +how noble, and touching, and generous was the initiative of the Baroness, +who still gave her time, her money, and even her home to charity, in +spite of the abominable crime which had almost reduced that home to +ashes. Was not this the magnanimous answer of the spheres above to the +hateful passions of the spheres below? And was it not also a peremptory +answer to those who accused the capitalists of doing nothing for the +wage-earners, the disabled and broken-down sons of toil? + +The drawing-room doors were to be opened at two o'clock, and would only +close at seven, so that there would be five full hours for the sales. And +at noon, when nothing was as yet ready downstairs, when workmen and women +were still decorating the stalls, and sorting the goods amidst a final +scramble, there was, as usual, a little friendly _dejeuner_, to which a +few guests had been invited, in the private rooms on the first floor. +However, a scarcely expected incident had given a finishing touch to the +general excitement of the house: that very morning Sagnier had resumed +his campaign of denunciation in the matter of the African Railway Lines. +In a virulent article in the "Voix du Peuple," he had inquired if it were +the intention of the authorities to beguile the public much longer with +the story of that bomb and that Anarchist whom the police did not arrest. +And this time, while undertaking to publish the names of the thirty-two +corrupt senators and deputies in a very early issue, he had boldly named +Minister Barroux as one who had pocketed a sum of 200,000 francs. Mege +would therefore certainly revive his interpellation, which might become +dangerous, now that Paris had been thrown into such a distracted state by +terror of the Anarchists. At the same time it was said that Vignon and +his party had resolved to turn circumstances to account, with the object +of overthrowing the ministry. Thus a redoubtable crisis was inevitably at +hand. Fortunately, the Chamber did not meet that Wednesday; in fact, it +had adjourned until the Friday, with the view of making mid-Lent a +holiday. And so forty-eight hours were left one to prepare for the +onslaught. + +Eve, that morning, seemed more gentle and languid than ever, rather pale +too, with an expression of sorrowful anxiety in the depths of her +beautiful eyes. She set it all down to the very great fatigue which the +preparations for the bazaar had entailed on her. But the truth was that +Gerard de Quinsac, after shunning any further assignation, had for five +days past avoided her in an embarrassed way. Still she was convinced that +she would see him that morning, and so she had again ventured to wear the +white silk gown which made her look so much younger than she really was. +At the same time, beautiful as she had remained, with her delicate skin, +superb figure and noble and charming countenance, her six and forty years +were asserting themselves in her blotchy complexion and the little +creases which were appearing about her lips, eyelids and temples. + +Camille, for her part, though her position as daughter of the house made +it certain that she would attract much custom as a saleswoman, had +obstinately persisted in wearing one of her usual dresses, a dark +"carmelite" gown, an old woman's frock, as she herself called it with a +cutting laugh. However, her long and wicked-looking face beamed with some +secret delight; such an expression of wit and intelligence wreathing her +thin lips and shining in her big eyes that one lost sight of her +deformity and thought her almost pretty. + +Eve experienced a first deception in the little blue and silver +sitting-room, where, accompanied by her daughter, she awaited the arrival +of her guests. General de Bozonnet, whom Gerard was to have brought with +him, came in alone, explaining that Madame de Quinsac had felt rather +poorly that morning, and that Gerard, like a good and dutiful son, had +wished to remain with her. Still he would come to the bazaar directly +after _dejeuner_. While the Baroness listened to the General, striving to +hide her disappointment and her fear that she would now be unable to +obtain any explanation from Gerard that day, Camille looked at her with +eager, devouring eyes. And a certain covert instinct of the misfortune +threatening her must at that moment have come to Eve, for in her turn she +glanced at her daughter and turned pale as if with anxiety. + +Then Princess Rosemonde de Harn swept in like a whirlwind. She also was +to be one of the saleswomen at the stall chosen by the Baroness, who +liked her for her very turbulence, the sudden gaiety which she generally +brought with her. Gowned in fire-hued satin (red shot with yellow), +looking very eccentric with her curly hair and thin boyish figure, she +laughed and talked of an accident by which her carriage had almost been +cut in halves. Then, as Baron Duvillard and Hyacinthe came in from their +rooms, late as usual, she took possession of the young man and scolded +him, for on the previous evening she had vainly waited for him till ten +o'clock in the expectation that he would keep his promise to escort her +to a tavern at Montmartre, where some horrible things were said to occur. +Hyacinthe, looking very bored, quietly replied that he had been detained +at a seance given by some adepts in the New Magic, in the course of which +the soul of St. Theresa had descended from heaven to recite a love +sonnet. + +However, Fonsegue was now coming in with his wife, a tall, thin, silent +and generally insignificant woman, whom he seldom took about with him. On +this occasion he had been obliged to bring her, as she was one of the +lady-patronesses of the asylum, and he himself was coming to lunch with +the Duvillards in his capacity as general manager. To the superficial +observer he looked quite as gay as usual; but he blinked nervously, and +his first glance was a questioning one in the direction of Duvillard, as +if he wished to know how the latter bore the fresh thrust directed at him +by Sagnier. And when he saw the banker looking perfectly composed, as +superb, as rubicund as usual, and chatting in a bantering way with +Rosemonde, he also put on an easy air, like a gamester who had never lost +but had always known how to compel good luck, even in hours of treachery. +And by way of showing his unconstraint of mind he at once addressed the +Baroness on managerial matters: "Have you now succeeded in seeing M. +l'Abbe Froment for the affair of that old man Laveuve, whom he so warmly +recommended to us? All the formalities have been gone through, you know, +and he can be brought to us at once, as we have had a bed vacant for +three days past." + +"Yes, I know," replied Eve; "but I can't imagine what has become of Abbe +Froment, for he hasn't given us a sign of life for a month past. However, +I made up my mind to write to him yesterday, and beg him to come to the +bazaar to-day. In this manner I shall be able to acquaint him with the +good news myself." + +"It was to leave you the pleasure of doing so," said Fonsegue, "that I +refrained from sending him any official communication. He's a charming +priest, is he not?" + +"Oh! charming, we are very fond of him." + +However, Duvillard now intervened to say that they need not wait for +Duthil, as he had received a telegram from him stating that he was +detained by sudden business. At this Fonsegue's anxiety returned, and he +once more questioned the Baron with his eyes. Duvillard smiled, however, +and reassured him in an undertone: "It's nothing serious. Merely a +commission for me, about which he'll only be able to bring me an answer +by-and-by." Then, taking Fonsegue on one side, he added: "By the way, +don't forget to insert the paragraph I told you of." + +"What paragraph? Oh! yes, the one about that _soiree_ at which Silviane +recited a piece of verse. Well, I wanted to speak to you about it. It +worries me a little, on account of the excessive praise it contains." + +Duvillard, but a moment before so full of serenity, with his lofty, +conquering, disdainful mien, now suddenly became pale and agitated. "But +I absolutely want it to be inserted, my dear fellow! You would place me +in the greatest embarrassment if it were not to appear, for I promised +Silviane that it should." + +As he spoke his lips trembled, and a scared look came into his eyes, +plainly revealing his dismay. + +"All right, all right," said Fonsegue, secretly amused, and well pleased +at this complicity. "As it's so serious the paragraph shall go in, I +promise you." + +The whole company was now present, since neither Gerard nor Duthil was to +be expected. So they went into the dining-room amidst a final noise of +hammering in the sale-rooms below. The meal proved somewhat of a +scramble, and was on three occasions disturbed by female attendants, who +came to explain difficulties and ask for orders. Doors were constantly +slamming, and the very walls seemed to shake with the unusual bustle +which filled the house. And feverish as they all were in the dining-room, +they talked in desultory, haphazard fashion on all sorts of subjects, +passing from a ball given at the Ministry of the Interior on the previous +night, to the popular mid-Lent festival which would take place on the +morrow, and ever reverting to the bazaar, the prices that had been given +for the goods which would be on sale, the prices at which they might be +sold, and the probable figure of the full receipts, all this being +interspersed with strange anecdotes, witticisms and bursts of laughter. +On the General mentioning magistrate Amadieu, Eve declared that she no +longer dared to invite him to _dejeuner_, knowing how busy he was at the +Palace of Justice. Still, she certainly hoped that he would come to the +bazaar and contribute something. Then Fonsegue amused himself with +teasing Princess Rosemonde about her fire-hued gown, in which, said he, +she must already feel roasted by the flames of hell; a suggestion which +secretly delighted her, as Satanism had now become her momentary passion. +Meantime, Duvillard lavished the most gallant politeness on that silent +creature, Madame Fonsegue, while Hyacinthe, in order to astonish even the +Princess, explained in a few words how the New Magic could transform a +chaste young man into a real angel. And Camille, who seemed very happy +and very excited, from time to time darted a hot glance at her mother, +whose anxiety and sadness increased as she found the other more and more +aggressive, and apparently resolved upon open and merciless warfare. + +At last, just as the dessert was coming to an end, the Baroness heard her +daughter exclaim in a piercing, defiant voice: "Oh! don't talk to me of +the old ladies who still seem to be playing with dolls, and paint +themselves, and dress as if they were about to be confirmed! All such +ogresses ought to retire from the scene! I hold them in horror!" + +At this, Eve nervously rose from her seat, and exclaimed apologetically: +"You must forgive me for hurrying you like this. But I'm afraid that we +shan't have time to drink our coffee in peace." + +The coffee was served in the little blue and silver sitting-room, where +bloomed some lovely yellow roses, testifying to the Baroness's keen +passion for flowers, which made the house an abode of perpetual spring. +Duvillard and Fonsegue, however, carrying their cups of steaming coffee +with them, at once went into the former's private room to smoke a cigar +there and chat in freedom. As the door remained wide open, one could +hear their gruff voices more or less distinctly. Meantime, General de +Bozonnet, delighted to find in Madame Fonsegue a serious, submissive +person, who listened without interrupting, began to tell her a very long +story of an officer's wife who had followed her husband through every +battle of the war of 1870. Then Hyacinthe, who took no +coffee--contemptuously declaring it to be a beverage only fit for +door-keepers--managed to rid himself of Rosemonde, who was sipping some +kummel, in order to come and whisper to his sister: "I say, it was very +stupid ofyou to taunt mamma in the way you did just now. I don't care +a rap about it myself. But it ends by being noticed, and, I warn you +candidly, it shows ill breeding." + +Camille gazed at him fixedly with her black eyes. "Pray don't _you_ +meddle with my affairs," said she. + +At this he felt frightened, scented a storm, and decided to take +Rosemonde into the adjoining red drawing-room in order to show her a +picture which his father had just purchased. And the General, on being +called by him, likewise conducted Madame Fonsegue thither. + +The mother and daughter then suddenly found themselves alone and face to +face. Eve was leaning on a pier-table, as if overcome; and indeed, the +least sorrow bore her down, so weak at heart she was, ever ready to weep +in her naive and perfect egotism. Why was it that her daughter thus hated +her, and did her utmost to disturb that last happy spell of love in which +her heart lingered? She looked at Camille, grieved rather than irritated; +and the unfortunate idea came to her of making a remark about her dress +at the very moment when the girl was on the point of following the others +into the larger drawing-room. + +"It's quite wrong of you, my dear," said she, "to persist in dressing +like an old woman. It doesn't improve you a bit." + +As Eve spoke, her soft eyes, those of a courted and worshipped handsome +woman, clearly expressed the compassion she felt for that ugly, deformed +girl, whom she had never been able to regard as a daughter. Was it +possible that she, with her sovereign beauty, that beauty which she +herself had ever adored and nursed, making it her one care, her one +religion--was it possible that she had given birth to such a graceless +creature, with a dark, goatish profile, one shoulder higher than the +other, and a pair of endless arms such as hunchbacks often have? All her +grief and all her shame at having had such a child became apparent in the +quivering of her voice. + +Camille, however, had stopped short, as if struck in the face with a +whip. Then she came back to her mother and the horrible explanation began +with these simple words spoken in an undertone: "You consider that I +dress badly? Well, you ought to have paid some attention to me, have seen +that my gowns suited your taste, and have taught me your secret of +looking beautiful!" + +Eve, with her dislike of all painful feeling, all quarrelling and bitter +words, was already regretting her attack. So she sought to make a +retreat, particularly as time was flying and they would soon be expected +downstairs: "Come, be quiet, and don't show your bad temper when all +those people can hear us. I have loved you--" + +But with a quiet yet terrible laugh Camille interrupted her. "You've +loved me! Oh! my poor mamma, what a comical thing to say! Have you ever +loved _anybody_? You want others to love _you_, but that's another +matter. As for your child, any child, do you even know how it ought to be +loved? You have always neglected me, thrust me on one side, deeming me so +ugly, so unworthy of you! And besides, you have not had days and nights +enough to love yourself! Oh! don't deny it, my poor mamma; but even now +you're looking at me as if I were some loathsome monster that's in your +way." + +From that moment the abominable scene was bound to continue to the end. +With their teeth set, their faces close together, the two women went on +speaking in feverish whispers. + +"Be quiet, Camille, I tell you! I will not allow such language!" + +"But I won't be quiet when you do all you can to wound me. If it's wrong +of me to dress like an old woman, perhaps another is rather ridiculous in +dressing like a girl, like a bride." + +"Like a bride? I don't understand you." + +"Oh! yes, you do. However, I would have you know that everybody doesn't +find me so ugly as you try to make them believe." + +"If you look amiss, it is because you don't dress properly; that is all I +said." + +"I dress as I please, and no doubt I do so well enough, since I'm loved +as I am." + +"What, really! Does someone love you? Well, let him inform us of it and +marry you." + +"Yes--certainly, certainly! It will be a good riddance, won't it? And +you'll have the pleasure of seeing me as a bride!" + +Their voices were rising in spite of their efforts to restrain them. +However, Camille paused and drew breath before hissing out the words: +"Gerard is coming here to ask for my hand in a day or two." + +Eve, livid, with wildly staring eyes, did not seem to understand. +"Gerard? why do you tell me that?" + +"Why, because it's Gerard who loves me and who is going to marry me! You +drive me to extremities; you're for ever repeating that I'm ugly; you +treat me like a monster whom nobody will ever care for. So I'm forced to +defend myself and tell you the truth in order to prove to you that +everybody is not of your opinion." + +Silence fell; the frightful thing which had risen between them seemed to +have arrested the quarrel. But there was neither mother nor daughter left +there. They were simply two suffering, defiant rivals. Eve in her turn +drew a long breath and glanced anxiously towards the adjoining room to +ascertain if anyone were coming in or listening to them. And then in a +tone of resolution she made answer: + +"You cannot marry Gerard." + +"Pray, why not?" + +"Because I won't have it; because it's impossible." + +"That isn't a reason; give me a reason." + +"The reason is that the marriage is impossible that is all." + +"No, no, I'll tell you the reason since you force me to it. The reason is +that Gerard is your lover! But what does that matter, since I know it and +am willing to take him all the same?" + +And to this retort Camille's flaming eyes added the words: "And it is +particularly on that account that I want him." All the long torture born +of her infirmities, all her rage at having always seen her mother +beautiful, courted and adored, was now stirring her and seeking vengeance +in cruel triumph. At last then she was snatching from her rival the lover +of whom she had so long been jealous! + +"You wretched girl!" stammered Eve, wounded in the heart and almost +sinking to the floor. "You don't know what you say or what you make me +suffer." + +However, she again had to pause, draw herself erect and smile; for +Rosemonde hastened in from the adjoining room with the news that she was +wanted downstairs. The doors were about to be opened, and it was +necessary she should be at her stall. Yes, Eve answered, she would be +down in another moment. Still, even as she spoke she leant more heavily +on the pier-table behind her in order that she might not fall. + +Hyacinthe had drawn near to his sister: "You know," said he, "it's simply +idiotic to quarrel like that. You would do much better to come +downstairs." + +But Camille harshly dismissed him: "Just _you_ go off, and take the +others with you. It's quite as well that they shouldn't be about our +ears." + +Hyacinthe glanced at his mother, like one who knew the truth and +considered the whole affair ridiculous. And then, vexed at seeing her so +deficient in energy in dealing with that little pest, his sister, he +shrugged his shoulders, and leaving them to their folly, conducted the +others away. One could hear Rosemonde laughing as she went off below, +while the General began to tell Madame Fonsegue another story as they +descended the stairs together. However, at the moment when the mother and +daughter at last fancied themselves alone once more, other voices reached +their ears, those of Duvillard and Fonsegue, who were still near at hand. +The Baron from his room might well overhear the dispute. + +Eve felt that she ought to have gone off. But she had lacked the strength +to do so; it had been a sheer impossibility for her after those words +which had smote her like a buffet amidst her distress at the thought of +losing her lover. + +"Gerard cannot marry you," she said; "he does not love you." + +"He does." + +"You fancy it because he has good-naturedly shown some kindness to you, +on seeing others pay you such little attention. But he does not love +you." + +"He does. He loves me first because I'm not such a fool as many others +are, and particularly because I'm young." + +This was a fresh wound for the Baroness; one inflicted with mocking +cruelty in which rang out all the daughter's triumphant delight at seeing +her mother's beauty at last ripening and waning. "Ah! my poor mamma, you +no longer know what it is to be young. If I'm not beautiful, at all +events I'm young; my eyes are clear and my lips are fresh. And my hair's +so long too, and I've so much of it that it would suffice to gown me if I +chose. You see, one's never ugly when one's young. Whereas, my poor +mamma, everything is ended when one gets old. It's all very well for a +woman to have been beautiful, and to strive to keep so, but in reality +there's only ruin left, and shame and disgust." + +She spoke these words in such a sharp, ferocious voice that each of them +entered her mother's heart like a knife. Tears rose to the eyes of the +wretched woman, again stricken in her bleeding wound. Ah! it was true, +she remained without weapons against youth. And all her anguish came from +the consciousness that she was growing old, from the feeling that love +was departing from her now, that like a fruit she had ripened and fallen +from the tree. + +"But Gerard's mother will never let him marry you," she said. + +"He will prevail on her; that's his concern. I've a dowry of two +millions, and two millions can settle many things." + +"Do you now want to libel him, and say that he's marrying you for your +money?" + +"No, indeed! Gerard's a very nice and honest fellow. He loves me and he's +marrying me for myself. But, after all, he isn't rich; he still has no +assured position, although he's thirty-six; and there may well be some +advantage in a wife who brings you wealth as well as happiness. For, you +hear, mamma, it's happiness I'm bringing him, real happiness, love that's +shared and is certain of the future." + +Once again their faces drew close together. The hateful scene, +interrupted by sounds around them, postponed, and then resumed, was +dragging on, becoming a perfect drama full of murderous violence, +although they never shouted, but still spoke on in low and gasping +voices. Neither gave way to the other, though at every moment they were +liable to some surprise; for not only were all the doors open, so that +the servants might come in, but the Baron's voice still rang out gaily, +close at hand. + +"He loves you, he loves you"--continued Eve. "That's what you say. But +_he_ never told you so." + +"He has told me so twenty times; he repeats it every time that we are +alone together!" + +"Yes, just as one says it to a little girl by way of amusing her. But he +has never told you that he meant to marry you." + +"He told it me the last time he came. And it's settled. I'm simply +waiting for him to get his mother's consent and make his formal offer." + +"You lie, you lie, you wretched girl! You simply want to make me suffer, +and you lie, you lie!" + +Eve's grief at last burst forth in that cry of protest. She no longer +knew that she was a mother, and was speaking to her daughter. The woman, +the _amorosa_, alone remained in her, outraged and exasperated by a +rival. And with a sob she confessed the truth: "It is I he loves! Only +the last time I spoke to him, he swore to me--you hear me?--he swore upon +his honour that he did not love you, and that he would never marry you!" + +A faint, sharp laugh came from Camille. Then, with an air of derisive +compassion, she replied: "Ah! my poor mamma, you really make me sorry for +you! What a child you are! Yes, really, you are the child, not I. What! +you who ought to have so much experience, you still allow yourself to be +duped by a man's protests! That one really has no malice; and, indeed, +that's why he swears whatever you want him to swear, just to please and +quiet you, for at heart he's a bit of a coward." + +"You lie, you lie!" + +"But just think matters over. If he no longer comes here, if he didn't +come to _dejeuner_ this morning, it is simply because he's had enough of +you. He has left you for good; just have the courage to realise it. Of +course he's still polite and amiable, because he's a well-bred man, and +doesn't know how to break off. The fact is that he takes pity on you." + +"You lie, you lie!" + +"Well, question him then. Have a frank explanation with him. Ask him his +intentions in a friendly way. And then show some good nature yourself, +and realise that if you care for him you ought to give him me at once in +his own interest. Give him back his liberty, and you will soon see that +I'm the one he loves." + +"You lie, you lie! You wretched child, you only want to torture and kill +me!" + +Then, in her fury and distress, Eve remembered that she was the mother, +and that it was for her to chastise that unworthy daughter. There was no +stick near her, but from a basket of the yellow roses, whose powerful +scent intoxicated both of them, she plucked a handful of blooms, with +long and spiny stalks, and smote Camille across the face. A drop of blood +appeared on the girl's left temple, near her eyelid. + +But she sprang forward, flushed and maddened by this correction, with her +hand raised and ready to strike back. "Take care, mother! I swear I'd +beat you like a gipsy! And now just put this into your head: I mean to +marry Gerard, and I will; and I'll take him from you, even if I have to +raise a scandal, should you refuse to give him to me with good grace." + +Eve, after her one act of angry vigour, had sunk into an armchair, +overcome, distracted. And all the horror of quarrels, which sprang from +her egotistical desire to be happy, caressed, flattered and adored, was +returning to her. But Camille, still threatening, still unsatiated, +showed her heart as it really was, her stern, black, unforgiving heart, +intoxicated with cruelty. There came a moment of supreme silence, while +Duvillard's gay voice again rang out in the adjoining room. + +The mother was gently weeping, when Hyacinthe, coming upstairs at a run, +swept into the little _salon_. He looked at the two women, and made a +gesture of indulgent contempt. "Ah! you're no doubt satisfied now! But +what did I tell you? It would have been much better for you to have come +downstairs at once! Everybody is asking for you. It's all idiotic. I've +come to fetch you." + +Eve and Camille would not yet have followed him, perhaps, if Duvillard +and Fonsegue had not at that moment come out of the former's room. Having +finished their cigars they also spoke of going downstairs. And Eve had to +rise and smile and show dry eyes, while Camille, standing before a +looking-glass, arranged her hair, and stanched the little drop of blood +that had gathered on her temple. + +There was already quite a number of people below, in the three huge +saloons adorned with tapestry and plants. The stalls had been draped with +red silk, which set a gay, bright glow around the goods. And no ordinary +bazaar could have put forth such a show, for there was something of +everything among the articles of a thousand different kinds, from +sketches by recognised masters, and the autographs of famous writers, +down to socks and slippers and combs. The haphazard way in which things +were laid out was in itself an attraction; and, in addition, there was a +buffet, where the whitest of beautiful hands poured out champagne, and +two lotteries, one for an organ and another for a pony-drawn village +cart, the tickets for which were sold by a bevy of charming girls, who +had scattered through the throng. As Duvillard had expected, however, the +great success of the bazaar lay in the delightful little shiver which the +beautiful ladies experienced as they passed through the entrance where +the bomb had exploded. The rougher repairing work was finished, the walls +and ceilings had been doctored, in part re-constructed. However, the +painters had not yet come, and here and there the whiter stone and +plaster work showed like fresh scars left by all the terrible gashes. It +was with mingled anxiety and rapture that pretty heads emerged from the +carriages which, arriving in a continuous stream, made the flagstones of +the court re-echo. And in the three saloons, beside the stalls, there was +no end to the lively chatter: "Ah! my dear, did you see all those marks? +How frightful, how frightful! The whole house was almost blown up. And to +think it might begin again while we are here! One really needs some +courage to come, but then, that asylum is such a deserving institution, +and money is badly wanted to build a new wing. And besides, those +monsters will see that we are not frightened, whatever they do." + +When the Baroness at last came down to her stall with Camille she found +the saleswomen feverishly at work already under the direction of Princess +Rosemonde, who on occasions of this kind evinced the greatest cunning and +rapacity, robbing the customers in the most impudent fashion. "Ah! here +you are," she exclaimed. "Beware of a number of higglers who have come to +secure bargains. I know them! They watch for their opportunities, turn +everything topsy-turvy and wait for us to lose our heads and forget +prices, so as to pay even less than they would in a real shop. But I'll +get good prices from them, you shall see!" + +At this, Eve, who for her own part was a most incapable saleswoman, had +to laugh with the others. And in a gentle voice she made a pretence of +addressing certain recommendations to Camille, who listened with a +smiling and most submissive air. In point of fact the wretched mother was +sinking with emotion, particularly at the thought that she would have to +remain there till seven o'clock, and suffer in secret before all those +people, without possibility of relief. And thus it was almost like a +respite when she suddenly perceived Abbe Froment sitting and waiting for +her on a settee, covered with red velvet, near her stall. Her legs were +failing her, so she took a place beside him. + +"You received my letter then, Monsieur l'Abbe. I am glad that you have +come, for I have some good news to give you, and wished to leave you the +pleasure of imparting it to your _protege_, that man Laveuve, whom you so +warmly recommended to me. Every formality has now been fulfilled, and you +can bring him to the asylum to-morrow." + +Pierre gazed at her in stupefaction. "Laveuve? Why, he is dead!" + +In her turn she became astonished. "What, dead! But you never informed me +of it! If I told you of all the trouble that has been taken, of all that +had to be undone and done again, and the discussions and the papers and +the writing! Are you quite sure that he is dead?" + +"Oh! yes, he is dead. He has been dead a month." + +"Dead a month! Well, we could not know; you yourself gave us no sign of +life. Ah! _mon Dieu_! what a worry that he should be dead. We shall now +be obliged to undo everything again!" + +"He is dead, madame. It is true that I ought to have informed you of it. +But that doesn't alter the fact--he is dead." + +Dead! that word which kept on returning, the thought too, that for a +month past she had been busying herself for a corpse, quite froze her, +brought her to the very depths of despair, like an omen of the cold death +into which she herself must soon descend, in the shroud of her last +passion. And, meantime, Pierre, despite himself, smiled bitterly at the +atrocious irony of it all. Ah! that lame and halting Charity, which +proffers help when men are dead! + +The priest still lingered on the settee when the Baroness rose. She had +seen magistrate Amadieu hurriedly enter like one who just wished to show +himself, purchase some trifle, and then return to the Palace of Justice. +However, he was also perceived by little Massot, the "Globe" reporter, +who was prowling round the stalls, and who at once bore down upon him, +eager for information. And he hemmed him in and forthwith interviewed him +respecting the affair of that mechanician Salvat, who was accused of +having deposited the bomb at the entrance of the house. Was this simply +an invention of the police, as some newspapers pretended? Or was it +really correct? And if so, would Salvat soon be arrested? In self-defence +Amadieu answered correctly enough that the affair did not as yet concern +him, and would only come within his attributions, if Salvat should be +arrested and the investigation placed in his hands. At the same time, +however, the magistrate's pompous and affectedly shrewd manner suggested +that he already knew everything to the smallest details, and that, had he +chosen, he could have promised some great events for the morrow. A circle +of ladies had gathered round him as he spoke, quite a number of pretty +women feverish with curiosity, who jostled one another in their eagerness +to hear that brigand tale which sent a little shiver coursing under their +skins. However, Amadieu managed to slip off after paying Rosemonde twenty +francs for a cigarette case, which was perhaps worth thirty sous. + +Massot, on recognising Pierre, came up to shake hands with him. "Don't +you agree with me, Monsieur l'Abbe, that Salvat must be a long way off by +now if he's got good legs? Ah! the police will always make me laugh!" + +However, Rosemonde brought Hyacinthe up to the journalist. "Monsieur +Massot," said she, "you who go everywhere, I want you to be judge. That +Chamber of Horrors at Montmartre, that tavern where Legras sings the +'Flowers of the Streets'--" + +"Oh! a delightful spot, madame," interrupted Massot, "I wouldn't take +even a gendarme there." + +"No, don't jest, Monsieur Massot, I'm talking seriously. Isn't it quite +allowable for a respectable woman to go there when she's accompanied by a +gentleman?" And, without allowing the journalist time to answer her, she +turned towards Hyacinthe: "There! you see that Monsieur Massot doesn't +say no! You've got to take me there this evening, it's sworn, it's +sworn." + +Then she darted away to sell a packet of pins to an old lady, while the +young man contented himself with remarking, in the voice of one who has +no illusions left: "She's quite idiotic with her Chamber of Horrors!" + +Massot philosophically shrugged his shoulders. It was only natural that a +woman should want to amuse herself. And when Hyacinthe had gone off, +passing with perverse contempt beside the lovely girls who were selling +lottery tickets, the journalist ventured to murmur: "All the same, it +would do that youngster good if a woman were to take him in hand." + +Then, again addressing Pierre, he resumed: "Why, here comes Duthil! What +did Sagnier mean this morning by saying that Duthil would sleep at Mazas +to-night?" + +In a great hurry apparently, and all smiles, Duthil was cutting his way +through the crowd in order to join Duvillard and Fonsegue, who still +stood talking near the Baroness's stall. And he waved his hand to them in +a victorious way, to imply that he had succeeded in the delicate mission +entrusted to him. This was nothing less than a bold manoeuvre to hasten +Silviane's admission to the Comedie Francaise. The idea had occurred to +her of making the Baron give a dinner at the Cafe Anglais in order that +she might meet at it an influential critic, who, according to her +statements, would compel the authorities to throw the doors wide open for +her as soon as he should know her. However, it did not seem easy to +secure the critic's presence, as he was noted for his sternness and +grumbling disposition. And, indeed, after a first repulse, Duthil had for +three days past been obliged to exert all his powers of diplomacy, and +bring even the remotest influence into play. But he was radiant now, for +he had conquered. + +"It's for this evening, my dear Baron, at half-past seven," he exclaimed. +"Ah! dash it all, I've had more trouble than I should have had to secure +a concession vote!" Then he laughed with the pretty impudence of a man of +pleasure, whom political conscientiousness did not trouble. And, indeed, +his allusion to the fresh denunciations of the "Voix du Peuple" hugely +amused him. + +"Don't jest," muttered Fonsegue, who for his part wished to amuse himself +by frightening the young deputy. "Things are going very badly!" + +Duthil turned pale, and a vision of the police and Mazas rose before his +eyes. In this wise sheer funk came over him from time to time. However, +with his lack of all moral sense, he soon felt reassured and began to +laugh. "Bah!" he retorted gaily, winking towards Duvillard, "the +governor's there to pilot the barque!" + +The Baron, who was extremely pleased, had pressed his hands, thanked him, +and called him an obliging fellow. And now turning towards Fonsegue, he +exclaimed: "I say, you must make one of us this evening. Oh! it's +necessary. I want something imposing round Silviane. Duthil will +represent the Chamber, you journalism, and I finance--" But he suddenly +paused on seeing Gerard, who, with a somewhat grave expression, was +leisurely picking his way through the sea of skirts. "Gerard, my friend," +said the Baron, after beckoning to him, "I want you to do me a service." +And forthwith he told him what was in question; how the influential +critic had been prevailed upon to attend a dinner which would decide +Silviane's future; and how it was the duty of all her friends to rally +round her. + +"But I can't," the young man answered in embarrassment. "I have to dine +at home with my mother, who was rather poorly this morning." + +"Oh! a sensible woman like your mother will readily understand that there +are matters of exceptional importance. Go home and excuse yourself. Tell +her some story, tell her that a friend's happiness is in question." And +as Gerard began to weaken, Duvillard added: "The fact is, that I really +want you, my dear fellow; I must have a society man. Society, you know, +is a great force in theatrical matters; and if Silviane has society with +her, her triumph is certain." + +Gerard promised, and then chatted for a moment with his uncle, General de +Bozonnet, who was quite enlivened by that throng of women, among whom he +had been carried hither and thither like an old rudderless ship. After +acknowledging the amiability with which Madame Fonsegue had listened to +his stories, by purchasing an autograph of Monseigneur Martha from her +for a hundred francs, he had quite lost himself amid the bevy of girls +who had passed him on, one to another. And now, on his return from them, +he had his hands full of lottery tickets: "Ah! my fine fellow," said he, +"I don't advise you to venture among all those young persons. You would +have to part with your last copper. But, just look! there's Mademoiselle +Camille beckoning to you!" + +Camille, indeed, from the moment she had perceived Gerard, had been +smiling at him and awaiting his approach. And when their glances met he +was obliged to go to her, although, at the same moment, he felt that +Eve's despairing and entreating eyes were fixed upon him. The girl, who +fully realised that her mother was watching her, at once made a marked +display of amiability, profiting by the license which charitable fervour +authorised, to slip a variety of little articles into the young man's +pockets, and then place others in his hands, which she pressed within her +own, showing the while all the sparkle of youth, indulging in fresh, +merry laughter, which fairly tortured her rival. + +So extreme was Eve's suffering, that she wished to intervene and part +them. But it so chanced that Pierre barred her way, for he wished to +submit an idea to her before leaving the bazaar. "Madame," said he, +"since that man Laveuve is dead, and you have taken so much trouble with +regard to the bed which you now have vacant, will you be so good as to +keep it vacant until I have seen our venerable friend, Abbe Rose? I am to +see him this evening, and he knows so many cases of want, and would be so +glad to relieve one of them, and bring you some poor _protege_ of his." + +"Yes, certainly," stammered the Baroness, "I shall be very happy,--I will +wait a little, as you desire,--of course, of course, Monsieur l'Abbe." + +She was trembling all over; she no longer knew what she was saying; and, +unable to conquer her passion, she turned aside from the priest, unaware +even that he was still there, when Gerard, yielding to the dolorous +entreaty of her eyes, at last managed to escape from Camille and join +her. + +"What a stranger you are becoming, my friend!" she said aloud, with a +forced smile. "One never sees you now." + +"Why, I have been poorly," he replied, in his amiable way. "Yes, I assure +you I have been ailing a little." + +He, ailing! She looked at him with maternal anxiety, quite upset. And, +indeed, however proud and lofty his figure, his handsome regular face did +seem to her paler than usual. It was as if the nobility of the facade +had, in some degree, ceased to hide the irreparable dilapidation within. +And given his real good nature, it must be true that he +suffered--suffered by reason of his useless, wasted life, by reason of +all the money he cost his impoverished mother, and of the needs that were +at last driving him to marry that wealthy deformed girl, whom at first he +had simply pitied. And so weak did he seem to Eve, so like a piece of +wreckage tossed hither and thither by a tempest, that, at the risk of +being overheard by the throng, she let her heart flow forth in a low but +ardent, entreating murmur: "If you suffer, ah! what sufferings are +mine!--Gerard, we must see one another, I will have it so." + +"No, I beg you, let us wait," he stammered in embarrassment. + +"It must be, Gerard; Camille has told me your plans. You cannot refuse to +see me. I insist on it." + +He made yet another attempt to escape the cruel explanation. "But it's +impossible at the usual place," he answered, quivering. "The address is +known." + +"Then to-morrow, at four o'clock, at that little restaurant in the Bois +where we have met before." + +He had to promise, and they parted. Camille had just turned her head and +was looking at them. Moreover, quite a number of women had besieged the +stall; and the Baroness began to attend to them with the air of a ripe +and nonchalant goddess, while Gerard rejoined Duvillard, Fonsegue and +Duthil, who were quite excited at the prospect of their dinner that +evening. + +Pierre had heard a part of the conversation between Gerard and the +Baroness. He knew what skeletons the house concealed, what physiological +and moral torture and wretchedness lay beneath all the dazzling wealth +and power. There was here an envenomed, bleeding sore, ever spreading, a +cancer eating into father, mother, daughter and son, who one and all had +thrown social bonds aside. However, the priest made his way out of the +_salons_, half stifling amidst the throng of lady-purchasers who were +making quite a triumph of the bazaar. And yonder, in the depths of the +gloom, he could picture Salvat still running and running on; while the +corpse of Laveuve seemed to him like a buffet of atrocious irony dealt to +noisy and delusive charity. + + + +II + +SPIRIT AND FLESH + +How delightful was the quietude of the little ground-floor overlooking a +strip of garden in the Rue Cortot, where good Abbe Rose resided! +Hereabouts there was not even a rumble of wheels, or an echo of the +panting breath of Paris, which one heard on the other side of the height +of Montmartre. The deep silence and sleepy peacefulness were suggestive +of some distant provincial town. + +Seven o'clock had struck, the dusk had gathered slowly, and Pierre was in +the humble dining-room, waiting for the _femme-de-menage_ to place the +soup upon the table. Abbe Rose, anxious at having seen so little of him +for a month past, had written, asking him to come to dinner, in order +that they might have a quiet chat concerning their affairs. From time to +time Pierre still gave his friend money for charitable purposes; in fact, +ever since the days of the asylum in the Rue de Charonne, they had had +accounts together, which they periodically liquidated. So that evening +after dinner they were to talk of it all, and see if they could not do +even more than they had hitherto done. The good old priest was quite +radiant at the thought of the peaceful evening which he was about to +spend in attending to the affairs of his beloved poor; for therein lay +his only amusement, the sole pleasure to which he persistently and +passionately returned, in spite of all the worries that his inconsiderate +charity had already so often brought him. + +Glad to be able to procure his friend this pleasure, Pierre, on his side, +grew calmer, and found relief and momentary repose in sharing the other's +simple repast and yielding to all the kindliness around him, far from his +usual worries. He remembered the vacant bed at the Asylum, which Baroness +Duvillard had promised to keep in reserve until he should have asked Abbe +Rose if he knew of any case of destitution particularly worthy of +interest; and so before sitting down to table he spoke of the matter. + +"Destitution worthy of interest!" replied Abbe Rose, "ah! my dear child, +every case is worthy of interest. And when it's a question of old toilers +without work the only trouble is that of selection, the anguish of +choosing one and leaving so many others in distress." Nevertheless, +painful though his scruples were, he strove to think and come to some +decision. "I know the case which will suit you," he said at last. "It's +certainly one of the greatest suffering and wretchedness; and, so humble +a one, too--an old carpenter of seventy-five, who has been living on +public charity during the eight or ten years that he has been unable to +find work. I don't know his name, everybody calls him 'the big Old'un.' +There are times when he does not come to my Saturday distributions for +weeks together. We shall have to look for him at once. I think that he +sleeps at the Night Refuge in the Rue d'Orsel when lack of room there +doesn't force him to spend the night crouching behind some palings. Shall +we go down the Rue d'Orsel this evening?" + +Abbe Rose's eyes beamed brightly as he spoke, for this proposal of his +signified a great debauch, the tasting of forbidden fruit. He had been +reproached so often and so roughly with his visits to those who had +fallen to the deepest want and misery, that in spite of his overflowing, +apostolic compassion, he now scarcely dared to go near them. However, he +continued: "Is it agreed, my child? Only this once? Besides, it is our +only means of finding the big Old'un. You won't have to stop with me +later than eleven. And I should so like to show you all that! You will +see what terrible sufferings there are! And perhaps we may be fortunate +enough to relieve some poor creature or other." + +Pierre smiled at the juvenile ardour displayed by this old man with snowy +hair. "It's agreed, my dear Abbe," he responded, "I shall be very pleased +to spend my whole evening with you, for I feel it will do me good to +follow you once more on one of those rambles which used to fill our +hearts with grief and joy." + +At this moment the servant brought in the soup; however, just as the two +priests were taking their seats a discreet ring was heard, and when Abbe +Rose learnt that the visitor was a neighbour, Madame Mathis, who had come +for an answer, he gave orders that she should be shown in. + +"This poor woman," he explained to Pierre, "needed an advance of ten +francs to get a mattress out of pawn; and I didn't have the money by me +at the time. But I've since procured it. She lives in the house, you +know, in silent poverty, on so small an income that it hardly keeps her +in bread." + +"But hasn't she a big son of twenty?" asked Pierre, suddenly remembering +the young man he had seen at Salvat's. + +"Yes, yes. Her parents, I believe, were rich people in the provinces. +I've been told that she married a music master, who gave her lessons, at +Nantes; and who ran away with her and brought her to Paris, where he +died. It was quite a doleful love-story. By selling the furniture and +realising every little thing she possessed, she scraped together an +income of about two thousand francs a year, with which she was able to +send her son to college and live decently herself. But a fresh blow fell +on her: she lost the greater part of her little fortune, which was +invested in doubtful securities. So now her income amounts at the utmost +to eight hundred francs; two hundred of which she has to expend in rent. +For all her other wants she has to be content with fifty francs a month. +About eighteen months ago her son left her so as not to be a burden on +her, and he is trying to earn his living somewhere, but without success, +I believe." + +Madame Mathis, a short, dark woman, with a sad, gentle, retiring face, +came in. Invariably clad in the same black gown, she showed all the +anxious timidity of a poor creature whom the storms of life perpetually +assailed. When Abbe Rose had handed her the ten francs discreetly wrapped +in paper, she blushed and thanked him, promising to pay him back as soon +as she received her month's money, for she was not a beggar and did not +wish to encroach on the share of those who starved. + +"And your son, Victor, has he found any employment?" asked the old +priest. + +She hesitated, ignorant as she was of what her son might be doing, for +now she did not see him for weeks together. And finally, she contented +herself with answering: "He has a good heart, he is very fond of me. It +is a great misfortune that we should have been ruined before he could +enter the Ecole Normale. It was impossible for him to prepare for the +examination. But at the Lycee he was such a diligent and intelligent +pupil!" + +"You lost your husband when your son was ten years old, did you not?" +said Abbe Rose. + +At this she blushed again, thinking that her husband's story was known to +the two priests. "Yes, my poor husband never had any luck," she said. +"His difficulties embittered and excited his mind, and he died in prison. +He was sent there through a disturbance at a public meeting, when he had +the misfortune to wound a police officer. He had also fought at the time +of the Commune. And yet he was a very gentle man and extremely fond of +me." + +Tears had risen to her eyes; and Abbe Rose, much touched, dismissed her: +"Well, let us hope that your son will give you satisfaction, and be able +to repay you for all you have done for him." + +With a gesture of infinite sorrow, Madame Mathis discreetly withdrew. She +was quite ignorant of her son's doings, but fate had pursued her so +relentlessly that she ever trembled. + +"I don't think that the poor woman has much to expect from her son," said +Pierre, when she had gone. "I only saw him once, but the gleam in his +eyes was as harsh and trenchant as that of a knife." + +"Do you think so?" the old priest exclaimed, with his kindly _naivete_. +"Well, he seemed to me very polite, perhaps a trifle eager to enjoy life; +but then, all the young folks are impatient nowadays. Come, let us sit +down to table, for the soup will be cold." + +Almost at the same hour, on the other side of Paris, night had in like +fashion slowly fallen in the drawing-room of the Countess de Quinsac, on +the dismal, silent ground-floor of an old mansion in the Rue St. +Dominique. The Countess was there, alone with her faithful friend, the +Marquis de Morigny, she on one side, and he on the other side of the +chimney-piece, where the last embers of the wood fire were dying out. The +servant had not yet brought the lamp, and the Countess refrained from +ringing, finding some relief from her anxiety in the falling darkness, +which hid from view all the unconfessed thoughts that she was afraid of +showing on her weary face. And it was only now, before that dim hearth, +and in that black room, where never a sound of wheels disturbed the +silence of the slumberous past, that she dared to speak. + +"Yes, my friend," she said, "I am not satisfied with Gerard's health. You +will see him yourself, for he promised to come home early and dine with +me. Oh! I'm well aware that he looks big and strong; but to know him +properly one must have nursed and watched him as I have done! What +trouble I had to rear him! In reality he is at the mercy of any petty +ailment. His slightest complaint becomes serious illness. And the life he +leads does not conduce to good health." + +She paused and sighed, hesitating to carry her confession further. + +"He leads the life he can," slowly responded the Marquis de Morigny, of +whose delicate profile, and lofty yet loving bearing, little could be +seen in the gloom. "As he was unable to endure military life, and as even +the fatigues of diplomacy frighten you, what would you have him do? He +can only live apart pending the final collapse, while this abominable +Republic is dragging France to the grave." + +"No doubt, my friend. And yet it is just that idle life which frightens +me. He is losing in it all that was good and healthy in him. I don't +refer merely to the _liaisons_ which we have had to tolerate. The last +one, which I found so much difficulty in countenancing at the outset, so +contrary did it seem to all my ideas and beliefs, has since seemed to me +to exercise almost a good influence. Only he is now entering his +thirty-sixth year, and can he continue living in this fashion without +object or duties? If he is ailing it is perhaps precisely because he does +nothing, holds no position, and serves no purpose." Her voice again +quavered. "And then, my friend, since you force me to tell you +everything, I must own that I am not in good health myself. I have had +several fainting fits of late, and have consulted a doctor. The truth is, +that I may go off at any moment." + +With a quiver, Morigny leant forward in the still deepening gloom, and +wished to take hold of her hands. "You! what, am I to lose you, my last +affection!" he faltered, "I who have seen the old world I belong to +crumble away, I who only live in the hope that you at all events will +still be here to close my eyes!" + +But she begged him not to increase her grief: "No, no, don't take my +hands, don't kiss them! Remain there in the shade, where I can scarcely +see you. . . . We have loved one another so long without aught to cause +shame or regret; and that will prove our strength--our divine +strength--till we reach the grave. . . . And if you were to touch me, if +I were to feel you too near me I could not finish, for I have not done so +yet." + +As soon as he had relapsed into silence and immobility, she continued: +"If I were to die to-morrow, Gerard would not even find here the little +fortune which he still fancies is in my hands. The dear child has often +cost me large sums of money without apparently being conscious of it. I +ought to have been more severe, more prudent. But what would you have? +Ruin is at hand. I have always been too weak a mother. And do you now +understand in what anguish I live? I ever have the thought that if I die +Gerard will not even possess enough to live on, for he is incapable of +effecting the miracle which I renew each day, in order to keep the house +up on a decent footing. . . . Ah! I know him, so supine, so sickly, in +spite of his proud bearing, unable to do anything, even conduct himself. +And so what will become of him; will he not fall into the most dire +distress?" + +Then her tears flowed freely, her heart opened and bled, for she foresaw +what must happen after her death: the collapse of her race and of a whole +world in the person of that big child. And the Marquis, still motionless +but distracted, feeling that he had no title to offer his own fortune, +suddenly understood her, foresaw in what disgrace this fresh disaster +would culminate. + +"Ah! my poor friend!" he said at last in a voice trembling with revolt +and grief. "So you have agreed to that marriage--yes, that abominable +marriage with that woman's daughter! Yet you swore it should never be! +You would rather witness the collapse of everything, you said. And now +you are consenting, I can feel it!" + +She still wept on in that black, silent drawing-room before the +chimney-piece where the fire had died out. Did not Gerard's marriage to +Camille mean a happy ending for herself, a certainty of leaving her son +wealthy, loved, and seated at the banquet of life? However, a last +feeling of rebellion arose within her. + +"No, no," she exclaimed, "I don't consent, I swear to you that I don't +consent as yet. I am fighting with my whole strength, waging an incessant +battle, the torture of which you cannot imagine." + +Then, in all sincerity, she foresaw the likelihood of defeat. "If I +should some day give way, my friend, at all events believe that I feel, +as fully as you do, how abominable such a marriage must be. It will be +the end of our race and our honour!" + +This cry profoundly stirred the Marquis, and he was unable to add a word. +Haughty and uncompromising Catholic and Royalist that he was, he, on his +side also, expected nothing but the supreme collapse. Yet how +heartrending was the thought that this noble woman, so dearly and so +purely loved, would prove one of the most mournful victims of the +catastrophe! And in the shrouding gloom he found courage to kneel before +her, take her hand, and kiss it. + +Just as the servant was at last bringing a lighted lamp Gerard made his +appearance. The past-century charm of the old Louis XVI. drawing-room, +with its pale woodwork, again became apparent in the soft light. In order +that his mother might not be over-saddened by his failure to dine with +her that evening the young man had put on an air of brisk gaiety; and +when he had explained that some friends were waiting for him, she at once +released him from his promise, happy as she felt at seeing him so merry. + +"Go, go, my dear boy," said she, "but mind you do not tire yourself too +much. . . . I am going to keep Morigny; and the General and Larombiere +are coming at nine o'clock. So be easy, I shall have someone with me to +keep me from fretting and feeling lonely." + +In this wise Gerard after sitting down for a moment and chatting with the +Marquis was able to slip away, dress, and betake himself to the Cafe +Anglais. + +When he reached it women in fur cloaks were already climbing the stairs, +fashionable and merry parties were filling the private rooms, the +electric lights shone brilliantly, and the walls were already vibrating +with the stir of pleasure and debauchery. In the room which Baron +Duvillard had engaged the young man found an extraordinary display, the +most superb flowers, and a profusion of plate and crystal as for a royal +gala. The pomp with which the six covers were laid called forth a smile; +while the bill of fare and the wine list promised marvels, all the rarest +and most expensive things that could be selected. + +"It's stylish, isn't it?" exclaimed Silviane, who was already there with +Duvillard, Fonsegue and Duthil. "I just wanted to make your influential +critic open his eyes a little! When one treats a journalist to such a +dinner as this, he has got to be amiable, hasn't he?" + +In her desire to conquer, it had occurred to the young woman to array +herself in the most amazing fashion. Her gown of yellow satin, covered +with old Alencon lace, was cut low at the neck; and she had put on all +her diamonds, a necklace, a diadem, shoulder-knots, bracelets and rings. +With her candid, girlish face, she looked like some Virgin in a missal, a +Queen-Virgin, laden with the offerings of all Christendom. + +"Well, well, you look so pretty," said Gerard, who sometimes jested with +her, "that I think it will do all the same." + +"Ah!" she replied with equanimity. "You consider me a _bourgeoise_, I +see. Your opinion is that a simple little dinner and a modest gown would +have shown better taste. But ah! my dear fellow, you don't know the way +to get round men!" + +Duvillard signified his approval, for he was delighted to be able to show +her in all her glory, adorned like an idol. Fonsegue, for his part, +talked of diamonds, saying that they were now doubtful investments, as +the day when they would become articles of current manufacture was fast +approaching, thanks to the electrical furnace and other inventions. +Meantime Duthil, with an air of ecstasy and the dainty gestures of a +lady's maid, hovered around the young woman, either smoothing a +rebellious bow or arranging some fold of her lace. + +"But I say," resumed Silviane, "your critic seems to be an ill-bred man, +for he's keeping us waiting." + +Indeed, the critic arrived a quarter of an hour late, and while +apologising, he expressed his regret that he should be obliged to leave +at half-past nine, for he was absolutely compelled to put in an +appearance at a little theatre in the Rue Pigalle. He was a big fellow of +fifty with broad shoulders and a full, bearded face. His most +disagreeable characteristic was the narrow dogmatic pedantry which he had +acquired at the Ecole Normale, and had never since been able to shake +off. All his herculean efforts to be sceptical and frivolous, and the +twenty years he had spent in Paris mingling with every section of +society, had failed to rid him of it. _Magister_ he was, and _magister_ +he remained, even in his most strenuous flights of imagination and +audacity. From the moment of his arrival he tried to show himself +enraptured with Silviane. Naturally enough, he already knew her by sight, +and had even criticised her on one occasion in five or six contemptuous +lines. However, the sight of her there, in full beauty, clad like a +queen, and presented by four influential protectors, filled him with +emotion; and he was struck with the idea that nothing would be more +Parisian and less pedantic than to assert she had some talent and give +her his support. + +They had seated themselves at table, and the repast proved a magnificent +one, the service ever prompt and assiduous, an attendant being allotted +to each diner. While the flowers scattered their perfumes through the +room, and the plate and crystal glittered on the snowy cloth, an +abundance of delicious and unexpected dishes were handed round--a +sturgeon from Russia, prohibited game, truffles as big as eggs, and +hothouse vegetables and fruit as full of flavour as if they had been +naturally matured. It was money flung out of window, simply for the +pleasure of wasting more than other people, and eating what they could +not procure. The influential critic, though he displayed the ease of a +man accustomed to every sort of festivity, really felt astonished at it +all, and became servile, promising his support, and pledging himself far +more than he really wished to. Moreover, he showed himself very gay, +found some witty remarks to repeat, and even some rather ribald jests. +But when the champagne appeared after the roast and the grand burgundies, +his over-excitement brought him back perforce to his real nature. The +conversation had now turned on Corneille's "Polyeucte" and the part of +"Pauline," in which Silviane wished to make her _debut_ at the Comedie +Francaise. This extraordinary caprice, which had quite revolted the +influential critic a week previously, now seemed to him simply a bold +enterprise in which the young woman might even prove victorious if she +consented to listen to his advice. And, once started, he delivered quite +a lecture on the past, asserting that no actress had ever yet understood +it properly, for at the outset Pauline was simply a well-meaning little +creature of the middle classes, and the beauty of her conversion at the +finish arose from the working of a miracle, a stroke of heavenly grace +which endowed her with something divine. This was not the opinion of +Silviane, who from the first lines regarded Pauline as the ideal heroine +of some symbolical legend. However, as the critic talked on and on, she +had to feign approval; and he was delighted at finding her so beautiful +and docile beneath his ferule. At last, as ten o'clock was striking, he +rose and tore out of the hot and reeking room in order to do his work. + +"Ah! my dears," cried Silviane, "he's a nice bore is that critic of +yours! What a fool he is with his idea of Pauline being a little +_bourgeoise_! I would have given him a fine dressing if it weren't for +the fact that I have some need of him. Ah! no, it's too idiotic! Pour me +out a glass of champagne. I want something to set me right after all +that!" + +The _fete_ then took quite an intimate turn between the four men who +remained and that bare-armed, bare-breasted girl, covered with diamonds; +while from the neighbouring passages and rooms came bursts of laughter +and sounds of kissing, all the stir and mirth of the debauchery now +filling the house. And beneath the windows torrents of vehicles and +pedestrians streamed along the Boulevards where reigned the wild fever of +pleasure and harlotry. + +"No, don't open it, or I shall catch cold!" resumed Silviane, addressing +Fonsegue as he stepped towards the window. "Are you so very warm, then? +I'm just comfortable. . . . But, Duvillard, my good fellow, please order +some more champagne. It's wonderful what a thirst your critic has given +me!" + +Amidst the blinding glare of the lamps and the perfume of the flowers and +wines, one almost stifled in the room. And Silviane was seized with an +irresistible desire for a spree, a desire to tipple and amuse herself in +some vulgar fashion, as in her bygone days. A few glasses of champagne +brought her to full pitch, and she showed the boldest and giddiest +gaiety. The others, who had never before seen her so lively, began on +their own side to feel amused. As Fonsegue was obliged to go to his +office she embraced him "like a daughter," as she expressed it. However, +on remaining alone with the others she indulged in great freedom of +speech, which became more and more marked as her intoxication increased. +And to the class of men with whom she consorted her great attraction, as +she was well aware, lay in the circumstance that with her virginal +countenance and her air of ideal purity was coupled the most monstrous +perversity ever displayed by any shameless woman. Despite her innocent +blue eyes and lily-like candour, she would give rein, particularly when +she was drunk, to the most diabolical of fancies. + +Duvillard let her drink on, but she guessed his thoughts, like she +guessed those of the others, and simply smiled while concocting +impossible stories and descanting fantastically in the language of the +gutter. And seeing her there in her dazzling gown fit for a queenly +virgin, and hearing her pour forth the vilest words, they thought her +most wonderfully droll. However, when she had drunk as much champagne as +she cared for and was half crazy, a novel idea suddenly occurred to her. + +"I say, my children," she exclaimed, "we are surely not going to stop +here. It's so precious slow! You shall take me to the Chamber of +Horrors--eh? just to finish the evening. I want to hear Legras sing 'La +Chemise,' that song which all Paris is running to hear him sing." + +But Duvillard indignantly rebelled: "Oh! no," said he; "most certainly +not. It's a vile song and I'll never take you to such an abominable +place." + +But she did not appear to hear him. She had already staggered to her feet +and was arranging her hair before a looking-glass. "I used to live at +Montmartre," she said, "and it'll amuse me to go back there. And, +besides, I want to know if this Legras is a Legras that I knew, oh! ever +so long ago! Come, up you get, and let us be off!" + +"But, my dear girl," pleaded Duvillard, "we can't take you into that den +dressed as you are! Just fancy your entering that place in a low-necked +gown and covered with diamonds! Why everyone would jeer at us! Come, +Gerard, just tell her to be a little reasonable." + +Gerard, equally offended by the idea of such a freak, was quite willing +to intervene. But she closed his mouth with her gloved hand and repeated +with the gay obstinacy of intoxication: "Pooh, it will be all the more +amusing if they do jeer at us! Come, let us be off, let us be off, +quick!" + +Thereupon Duthil, who had been listening with a smile and the air of a +man of pleasure whom nothing astonishes or displeases, gallantly took her +part. "But, my dear Baron, everybody goes to the Chamber of Horrors," +said he. "Why, I myself have taken the noblest ladies there, and +precisely to hear that song of Legras, which is no worse than anything +else." + +"Ah! you hear what Duthil says!" cried Silviane. "He's a deputy, he is, +and he wouldn't go there if he thought it would compromise his +honorability!" + +Then, as Duvillard still struggled on in despair at the idea of +exhibiting himself with her in such a scandalous place, she became all +the merrier: "Well, my dear fellow, please yourself. I don't need you. +You and Gerard can go home if you like. But I'm going to Montmartre with +Duthil. You'll take charge of me, won't you, Duthil, eh?" + +Still, the Baron was in no wise disposed to let the evening finish in +that fashion. The mere idea of it gave him a shock, and he had to resign +himself to the girl's stubborn caprice. The only consolation he could +think of was to secure Gerard's presence, for the young man, with some +lingering sense of decorum, still obstinately refused to make one of the +party. So the Baron took his hands and detained him, repeating in urgent +tones that he begged him to come as an essential mark of friendship. And +at last the wife's lover and daughter's suitor had to give way to the man +who was the former's husband and the latter's father. + +Silviane was immensely amused by it all, and, indiscreetly thee-ing and +thou-ing Gerard, suggested that he at least owed the Baron some little +compliance with his wishes. + +Duvillard pretended not to hear her. He was listening to Duthil, who told +him that there was a sort of box in a corner of the Chamber of Horrors, +in which one could in some measure conceal oneself. And then, as +Silviane's carriage--a large closed landau, whose coachman, a sturdy, +handsome fellow, sat waiting impassively on his box--was down below, they +started off. + +The Chamber of Horrors was installed in premises on the Boulevard de +Rochechouart, formerly occupied by a cafe whose proprietor had become +bankrupt.* It was a suffocating place, narrow, irregular, with all sorts +of twists, turns, and secluded nooks, and a low and smoky ceiling. And +nothing could have been more rudimentary than its decorations. The walls +had simply been placarded with posters of violent hues, some of the +crudest character, showing the barest of female figures. Behind a piano +at one end there was a little platform reached by a curtained doorway. +For the rest, one simply found a number of bare wooden forms set +alongside the veriest pot-house tables, on which the glasses containing +various beverages left round and sticky marks. There was no luxury, no +artistic feature, no cleanliness even. Globeless gas burners flared +freely, heating a dense mist compounded of tobacco smoke and human +breath. Perspiring, apoplectical faces could be perceived through this +veil, and an acrid odour increased the intoxication of the assembly, +which excited itself with louder and louder shouts at each fresh song. It +had been sufficient for an enterprising fellow to set up these boards, +bring out Legras, accompanied by two or three girls, make him sing his +frantic and abominable songs, and in two or three evenings overwhelming +success had come, all Paris being enticed and flocking to the place, +which for ten years or so had failed to pay as a mere cafe, where by way +of amusement petty cits had been simply allowed their daily games at +dominoes. + + * Those who know Paris will identify the site selected by M. Zola + as that where 'Colonel' Lisbonne of the Commune installed his + den the 'Bagne' some years ago. Nevertheless, such places as the + 'Chamber of Horrors' now abound in the neighbourhood of + Montmartre, and it must be admitted that whilst they are + frequented by certain classes of Frenchmen they owe much of + their success in a pecuniary sense to the patronage of + foreigners. Among the latter, Englishmen are particularly + conspicuous.--Trans. + +And the change had been caused by the passion for filth, the irresistible +attraction exercised by all that brought opprobrium and disgust. The +Paris of enjoyment, the _bourgeoisie_ which held all wealth and power, +which would relinquish naught of either, though it was surfeited and +gradually wearying of both, simply hastened to the place in order that +obscenity and insult might be flung in its face. Hypnotised, as it were, +while staggering to its fall, it felt a need of being spat upon. And what +a frightful symptom there lay in it all: those condemned ones rushing +upon dirt of their own accord, voluntarily hastening their own +decomposition by that unquenchable thirst for the vile, which attracted +men, reputed to be grave and upright, and lovely women of the most +perfect grace and luxury, to all the beastliness of that low den! + +At one of the tables nearest the stage sat little Princess Rosemonde de +Harn, with wild eyes and quivering nostrils, delighted as she felt at now +being able to satisfy her curiosity regarding the depths of Paris life. +Young Hyacinthe had resigned himself to the task of bringing her, and, +correctly buttoned up in his long frock-coat, he was indulgent enough to +refrain from any marked expression of boredom. At a neighbouring table +they had found a shadowy Spaniard of their acquaintance, a so-called +Bourse jobber, Bergaz, who had been introduced to the Princess by Janzen, +and usually attended her entertainments. They virtually knew nothing +about him, not even if he really earned at the Bourse all the money which +he sometimes spent so lavishly, and which enabled him to dress with +affected elegance. His slim, lofty figure was not without a certain air +of distinction, but his red lips spoke of strong passions and his bright +eyes were those of a beast of prey. That evening he had two young fellows +with him, one Rossi, a short, swarthy Italian, who had come to Paris as a +painter's model, and had soon glided into the lazy life of certain +disreputable callings, and the other, Sanfaute, a born Parisian +blackguard, a pale, beardless, vicious and impudent stripling of La +Chapelle, whose long curly hair fell down upon either side of his bony +cheeks. + +"Oh! pray now!" feverishly said Rosemonde to Bergaz; "as you seem to know +all these horrid people, just show me some of the celebrities. Aren't +there some thieves and murderers among them?" + +He laughed shrilly, and in a bantering way replied: "But you know these +people well enough, madame. That pretty, pink, delicate-looking woman +over yonder is an American lady, the wife of a consul, whom, I believe, +you receive at your house. That other on the right, that tall brunette +who shows such queenly dignity, is a Countess, whose carriage passes +yours every day in the Bois. And the thin one yonder, whose eyes glitter +like those of a she-wolf, is the particular friend of a high official, +who is well known for his reputation of austerity." + +But she stopped him, in vexation: "I know, I know. But the others, those +of the lower classes, those whom one comes to see." + +Then she went on asking questions, and seeking for terrifying and +mysterious countenances. At last, two men seated in a corner ended by +attracting her attention; one of them a very young fellow with a pale, +pinched face, and the other an ageless individual who, besides being +buttoned up to his neck in an old coat, had pulled his cap so low over +his eyes, that one saw little of his face beyond the beard which fringed +it. Before these two stood a couple of mugs of beer, which they drank +slowly and in silence. + +"You are making a great mistake, my dear," said Hyacinthe with a frank +laugh, "if you are looking for brigands in disguise. That poor fellow +with the pale face, who surely doesn't have food to eat every day, was my +schoolfellow at Condorcet!" + +Bergaz expressed his amazement. "What! you knew Mathis at Condorcet! +After all, though, you're right, he received a college education. Ah! and +so you knew him. A very remarkable young man he is, though want is +throttling him. But, I say, the other one, his companion, you don't know +him?" + +Hyacinthe, after looking at the man with the cap-hidden face, was already +shaking his head, when Bergaz suddenly gave him a nudge as a signal to +keep quiet, and by way of explanation he muttered: "Hush! Here's +Raphanel. I've been distrusting him for some time past. Whenever he +appears anywhere, the police is not far off." + +Raphanel was another of the vague, mysterious Anarchists whom Janzen had +presented to the Princess by way of satisfying her momentary passion for +revolutionism. This one, though he was a fat, gay, little man, with a +doll-like face and childish nose, which almost disappeared between his +puffy cheeks, had the reputation of being a thorough desperado; and at +public meetings he certainly shouted for fire and murder with all his +lungs. Still, although he had already been compromised in various +affairs, he had invariably managed to save his own bacon, whilst his +companions were kept under lock and key; and this they were now beginning +to think somewhat singular. + +He at once shook hands with the Princess in a jovial way, took a seat +near her without being invited, and forthwith denounced the dirty +_bourgeoisie_ which came to wallow in places of ill fame. Rosemonde was +delighted, and encouraged him, but others near by began to get angry, and +Bergaz examined him with his piercing eyes, like a man of energy who +acts, and lets others talk. Now and then, too, he exchanged quick glances +of intelligence with his silent lieutenants, Sanfaute and Rossi, who +plainly belonged to him, both body and soul. They were the ones who found +their profit in Anarchy, practising it to its logical conclusions, +whether in crime or in vice. + +Meantime, pending the arrival of Legras with his "Flowers of the +Pavement," two female vocalists had followed one another on the stage, +the first fat and the second thin, one chirruping some silly love songs +with an under-current of dirt, and the other shouting the coarsest of +refrains, in a most violent, fighting voice. She had just finished amidst +a storm of bravos, when the assembly, stirred to merriment and eager for +a laugh, suddenly exploded once more. Silviane was entering the little +box at one end of the hall. When she appeared erect in the full light, +with bare arms and shoulders, looking like a planet in her gown of yellow +satin and her blazing diamonds, there arose a formidable uproar, shouts, +jeers, hisses, laughing and growling, mingled with ferocious applause. +And the scandal increased, and the vilest expressions flew about as soon +as Duvillard, Gerard and Duthil also showed themselves, looking very +serious and dignified with their white ties and spreading shirt fronts. + +"We told you so!" muttered Duvillard, who was much annoyed with the +affair, while Gerard tried to conceal himself in a dim corner. + +She, however, smiling and enchanted, faced the public, accepting the +storm with the candid bearing of a foolish virgin, much as one inhales +the vivifying air of the open when it bears down upon one in a squall. +And, indeed, she herself had sprung from the sphere before her, its +atmosphere was her native air. + +"Well, what of it?" she said replying to the Baron who wanted her to sit +down. "They are merry. It's very nice. Oh! I'm really amusing myself!" + +"Why, yes, it's very nice," declared Duthil, who in like fashion set +himself at his ease. "Silviane is right, people naturally like a laugh +now and then!" + +Amidst the uproar, which did not cease, little Princess Rosemonde rose +enthusiastically to get a better view. "Why, it's your father who's with +that woman Silviane," she said to Hyacinthe. "Just look at them! Well, he +certainly has plenty of bounce to show himself here with her!" + +Hyacinthe, however, refused to look. It didn't interest him, his father +was an idiot, only a child would lose his head over a girl in that +fashion. And with his contempt for woman the young man became positively +insulting. + +"You try my nerves, my dear fellow," said Rosemonde as she sat down. "You +are the child with your silly ideas about us. And as for your father, he +does quite right to love that girl. I find her very pretty indeed, quite +adorable!" + +Then all at once the uproar ceased, those who had risen resumed their +seats, and the only sound was that of the feverish throb which coursed +through the assembly. Legras had just appeared on the platform. He was a +pale sturdy fellow with a round and carefully shaven face, stern eyes, +and the powerful jaws of a man who compels the adoration of women by +terrorising them. He was not deficient in talent, he sang true, and his +ringing voice was one of extraordinary penetration and pathetic power. +And his _repertoire_, his "Flowers of the Pavement," completed the +explanation of his success; for all the foulness and suffering of the +lower spheres, the whole abominable sore of the social hell created by +the rich, shrieked aloud in these songs in words of filth and fire and +blood. + +A prelude was played on the piano, and Legras standing there in his +velvet jacket sang "La Chemise," the horrible song which brought all +Paris to hear him. All the lust and vice that crowd the streets of the +great city appeared with their filth and their poison; and amid the +picture of Woman stripped, degraded, ill-treated, dragged through the +mire and cast into a cesspool, there rang out the crime of the +_bourgeoisie_. But the scorching insult of it all was less in the words +themselves than in the manner in which Legras cast them in the faces of +the rich, the happy, the beautiful ladies who came to listen to him. +Under the low ceiling, amidst the smoke from the pipes, in the blinding +glare of the gas, he sent his lines flying through the assembly like +expectorations, projected by a whirlwind of furious contempt. And when he +had finished there came delirium; the beautiful ladies did not even think +of wiping away the many affronts they had received, but applauded +frantically. The whole assembly stamped and shouted, and wallowed, +distracted, in its ignominy. + +"Bravo! bravo!" the little Princess repeated in her shrill voice. "It's +astonishing, astonishing, prodigious!" + +And Silviane, whose intoxication seemed to have increased since she had +been there, in the depths of that fiery furnace, made herself +particularly conspicuous by the manner in which she clapped her hands and +shouted: "It's he, it's my Legras! I really must kiss him, he's pleased +me so much!" + +Duvillard, now fairly exasperated, wished to take her off by force. But +she clung to the hand-rest of the box, and shouted yet more loudly, +though without any show of temper. It became necessary to parley with +her. Yes, she was willing to go off and let them drive her home; but, +first of all, she must embrace Legras, who was an old friend of hers. "Go +and wait for me in the carriage!" she said, "I will be with you in a +moment." + +Just as the assembly was at last becoming calmer, Rosemonde perceived +that the box was emptying; and her own curiosity being satisfied, she +thought of prevailing on Hyacinthe to see her home. He, who had listened +to Legras in a languid way without even applauding, was now talking of +Norway with Bergaz, who pretended that he had travelled in the North. Oh! +the fiords! oh! the ice-bound lakes! oh! the pure lily-white, chaste +coldness of the eternal winter! It was only amid such surroundings, said +Hyacinthe, that he could understand woman and love, like a kiss of the +very snow itself. + +"Shall we go off there to-morrow?" exclaimed the Princess with her +vivacious effrontery. "I'll shut up my house and slip the key under the +door." + +Then she added that she was jesting, of course. But Bergaz knew her to be +quite capable of such a freak; and at the idea that she might shut up her +little mansion and perhaps leave it unprotected he exchanged a quick +glance with Sanfaute and Rossi, who still smiled in silence. Ah! what an +opportunity for a fine stroke! What an opportunity to get back some of +the wealth of the community appropriated by the blackguard _bourgeoisie_! + +Meantime Raphanel, after applauding Legras, was looking all round the +place with his little grey, sharp eyes. And at last young Mathis and his +companion, the ill-clad individual, of whose face only a scrap of beard +could be seen, attracted his attention. They had neither laughed nor +applauded; they seemed to be simply a couple of tired fellows who were +resting, and in whose opinion one is best hidden in the midst of a crowd. + +All at once, though, Raphanel turned towards Bergaz: "That's surely +little Mathis over yonder. But who's that with him?" + +Bergaz made an evasive gesture; he did not know. Still, he no longer took +his eyes from Raphanel. And he saw the other feign indifference at what +followed, and finish his beer and take his leave, with the jesting remark +that he had an appointment with a lady at a neighbouring omnibus office. +No sooner had he gone than Bergaz rose, sprang over some of the forms and +jostled people in order to reach little Mathis, into whose ear he +whispered a few words. And the young man at once left his table, taking +his companion and pushing him outside through an occasional exit. It was +all so rapidly accomplished that none of the general public paid +attention to the flight. + +"What is it?" said the Princess to Bergaz, when he had quietly resumed +his seat between Rossi and Sanfaute. + +"Oh! nothing, I merely wished to shake hands with Mathis as he was going +off." + +Thereupon Rosemonde announced that she meant to do the same. +Nevertheless, she lingered a moment longer and again spoke of Norway on +perceiving that nothing could impassion Hyacinthe except the idea of the +eternal snow, the intense, purifying cold of the polar regions. In his +poem on the "End of Woman," a composition of some thirty lines, which he +hoped he should never finish, he thought of introducing a forest of +frozen pines by way of final scene. Now the Princess had risen and was +gaily reverting to her jest, declaring that she meant to take him home to +drink a cup of tea and arrange their trip to the Pole, when an +involuntary exclamation fell from Bergaz, who, while listening, had kept +his eyes on the doorway. + +"Mondesir! I was sure of it!" + +There had appeared at the entrance a short, sinewy, broad-backed little +man, about whose round face, bumpy forehead, and snub nose there was +considerable military roughness. One might have thought him a +non-commissioned officer in civilian attire. He gazed over the whole +room, and seemed at once dismayed and disappointed. + +Bergaz, however, wishing to account for his exclamation, resumed in an +easy way: "Ah! I said there was a smell of the police about the place! +You see that fellow--he's a detective, a very clever one, named Mondesir, +who had some trouble when he was in the army. Just look at him, sniffing +like a dog that has lost scent! Well, well, my brave fellow, if you've +been told of any game you may look and look for it, the bird's flown +already!" + +Once outside, when Rosemonde had prevailed on Hyacinthe to see her home, +they hastened to get into the brougham, which was waiting for them, for +near at hand they perceived Silviane's landau, with the majestic coachman +motionless on his box, while Duvillard, Gerard, and Duthil still stood +waiting on the curbstone. They had been there for nearly twenty minutes +already, in the semi-darkness of that outer boulevard, where all the +vices of the poor districts of Paris were on the prowl. They had been +jostled by drunkards; and shadowy women brushed against them as they went +by whispering beneath the oaths and blows of bullies. And there were +couples seeking the darkness under the trees, and lingering on the +benches there; while all around were low taverns and dirty lodging-houses +and places of ill-fame. All the human degradation which till break of day +swarms in the black mud of this part of Paris, enveloped the three men, +giving them the horrors, and yet neither the Baron nor Gerard nor Duthil +was willing to go off. Each hoped that he would tire out the others, and +take Silviane home when she should at last appear. + +But after a time the Baron grew impatient, and said to the coachman: +"Jules, go and see why madame doesn't come." + +"But the horses, Monsieur le Baron?" + +"Oh! they will be all right, we are here." + +A fine drizzle had begun to fall; and the wait went on again as if it +would never finish. But an unexpected meeting gave them momentary +occupation. A shadowy form, something which seemed to be a thin, +black-skirted woman, brushed against them. And all of a sudden they were +surprised to find it was a priest. + +"What, is it you, Monsieur l'Abbe Froment?" exclaimed Gerard. "At this +time of night? And in this part of Paris?" + +Thereupon Pierre, without venturing either to express his own +astonishment at finding them there themselves, or to ask them what they +were doing, explained that he had been belated through accompanying Abbe +Rose on a visit to a night refuge. Ah! to think of all the frightful want +which at last drifted to those pestilential dormitories where the stench +had almost made him faint! To think of all the weariness and despair +which there sank into the slumber of utter prostration, like that of +beasts falling to the ground to sleep off the abominations of life! No +name could be given to the promiscuity; poverty and suffering were there +in heaps, children and men, young and old, beggars in sordid rags, beside +the shameful poor in threadbare frock-coats, all the waifs and strays of +the daily shipwrecks of Paris life, all the laziness and vice, and +ill-luck and injustice which the torrent rolls on, and throws off like +scum. Some slept on, quite annihilated, with the faces of corpses. +Others, lying on their backs with mouths agape, snored loudly as if still +venting the plaint of their sorry life. And others tossed restlessly, +still struggling in their slumber against fatigue and cold and hunger, +which pursued them like nightmares of monstrous shape. And from all those +human beings, stretched there like wounded after a battle, from all that +ambulance of life reeking with a stench of rottenness and death, there +ascended a nausea born of revolt, the vengeance-prompting thought of all +the happy chambers where, at that same hour, the wealthy loved or rested +in fine linen and costly lace.* + + * Even the oldest Paris night refuges, which are the outcome + of private philanthropy--L'Oeuvre de l'Hospitalite de Nuit--have + only been in existence some fourteen or fifteen years. + Before that time, and from the period of the great Revolution + forward, there was absolutely no place, either refuge, asylum, + or workhouse, in the whole of that great city of wealth and + pleasure, where the houseless poor could crave a night's + shelter. The various royalist, imperialist and republican + governments and municipalities of modern France have often + been described as 'paternal,' but no governments and + municipalities in the whole civilised world have done less for + the very poor. The official Poor Relief Board--L'Assistance + Publique--has for fifty years been a by-word, a mockery and a + sham, in spite of its large revenue. And this neglect of the + very poor has been an important factor in every French + revolution. Each of these--even that of 1870--had its purely + economic side, though many superficial historians are content + to ascribe economic causes to the one Revolution of 1789, and + to pass them by in all other instances.--Trans. + +In vain had Pierre and Abbe Rose passed all the poor wretches in review +while seeking the big Old'un, the former carpenter, so as to rescue him +from the cesspool of misery, and send him to the Asylum on the very +morrow. He had presented himself at the refuge that evening, but there +was no room left, for, horrible to say, even the shelter of that hell +could only be granted to early comers. And so he must now be leaning +against a wall, or lying behind some palings. This had greatly distressed +poor Abbe Rose and Pierre, but it was impossible for them to search every +dark, suspicious corner; and so the former had returned to the Rue +Cortot, while the latter was seeking a cab to convey him back to Neuilly. + +The fine drizzling rain was still falling and becoming almost icy, when +Silviane's coachman, Jules, at last reappeared and interrupted the +priest, who was telling the Baron and the others how his visit to the +refuge still made him shudder. + +"Well, Jules--and madame?" asked Duvillard, quite anxious at seeing the +coachman return alone. + +Impassive and respectful, with no other sign of irony than a slight +involuntary twist of the lips, Jules answered: "Madame sends word that +she is not going home; and she places her carriage at the gentlemen's +disposal if they will allow me to drive them home." + +This was the last straw, and the Baron flew into a passion. To have +allowed her to drag him to that vile den, to have waited there hopefully +so long, and to be treated in this fashion for the sake of a Legras! No, +no, he, the Baron, had had enough of it, and she should pay dearly for +her abominable conduct! Then he stopped a passing cab and pushed Gerard +inside it saying, "You can set me down at my door." + +"But she's left us the carriage!" shouted Duthil, who was already +consoled, and inwardly laughed at the termination of it all. "Come here, +there's plenty of room for three. No? you prefer the cab? Well, just as +you like, you know." + +For his part he gaily climbed into the landau and drove off lounging on +the cushions, while the Baron, in the jolting old cab, vented his rage +without a word of interruption from Gerard, whose face was hidden by the +darkness. To think of it! that she, whom he had overwhelmed with gifts, +who had already cost him two millions of francs, should in this fashion +insult him, the master who could dispose both of fortunes and of men! +Well, she had chosen to do it, and he was delivered! Then Duvillard drew +a long breath like a man released from the galleys. + +For a moment Pierre watched the two vehicles go off; and then took his +own way under the trees, so as to shelter himself from the rain until a +vacant cab should pass. Full of distress and battling thoughts he had +begun to feel icy cold. The whole monstrous night of Paris, all the +debauchery and woe that sobbed around him made him shiver. Phantom-like +women who, when young, had led lives of infamy in wealth, and who now, +old and faded, led lives of infamy in poverty, were still and ever +wandering past him in search of bread, when suddenly a shadowy form +grazed him, and a voice murmured in his ear: "Warn your brother, the +police are on Salvat's track, he may be arrested at any moment." + +The shadowy figure was already going its way, and as a gas ray fell upon +it, Pierre thought that he recognised the pale, pinched face of Victor +Mathis. And at the same time, yonder in Abbe Rose's peaceful dining-room, +he fancied he could again see the gentle face of Madame Mathis, so sad +and so resigned, living on solely by the force of the last trembling hope +which she had unhappily set in her son. + + + +III + +PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT + +ALREADY at eight o'clock on that holiday-making mid-Lent Thursday, when +all the offices of the Home Department were empty, Monferrand, the +Minister, sat alone in his private room. A single usher guarded his door, +and in the first ante-chamber there were only a couple of messengers. + +The Minister had experienced, on awaking, the most unpleasant of +emotions. The "Voix du Peuple," which on the previous day had revived the +African Railway scandal, by accusing Barroux of having pocketed 20,000 +francs, had that morning published its long-promised list of the +bribe-taking senators and deputies. And at the head of this list +Monferrand had found his own name set down against a sum of 80,000 +francs, while Fonsegue was credited with 50,000. Then a fifth of the +latter amount was said to have been Duthil's share, and Chaigneux had +contented himself with the beggarly sum of 3,000 francs--the lowest price +paid for any one vote, the cost of each of the others ranging from 5 to +20,000. + +It must be said that there was no anger in Monferrand's emotion. Only he +had never thought that Sagnier would carry his passion for uproar and +scandal so far as to publish this list--a page which was said to have +been torn from a memorandum book belonging to Duvillard's agent, Hunter, +and which was covered with incomprehensible hieroglyphics that ought to +have been discussed and explained, if, indeed, the real truth was to be +arrived at. Personally, Monferrand felt quite at ease, for he had written +nothing, signed nothing, and knew that one could always extricate oneself +from a mess by showing some audacity, and never confessing. Nevertheless, +what a commotion it would all cause in the parliamentary duck-pond. He at +once realised the inevitable consequences, the ministry overthrown and +swept away by this fresh whirlwind of denunciation and tittle-tattle. +Mege would renew his interpellation on the morrow, and Vignon and his +friends would at once lay siege to the posts they coveted. And he, +Monferrand, could picture himself driven out of that ministerial sanctum +where, for eight months past, he had been taking his ease, not with any +foolish vainglory, but with the pleasure of feeling that he was in his +proper place as a born ruler, who believed he could tame and lead the +multitude. + +Having thrown the newspapers aside with a disdainful gesture, he rose and +stretched himself, growling the while like a plagued lion. And then he +began to walk up and down the spacious room, which showed all the faded +official luxury of mahogany furniture and green damask hangings. Stepping +to and fro, with his hands behind his back, he no longer wore his usual +fatherly, good-natured air. He appeared as he really was, a born +wrestler, short, but broad shouldered, with sensual mouth, fleshy nose +and stern eyes, that all proclaimed him to be unscrupulous, of iron will +and fit for the greatest tasks. Still, in this case, in what direction +lay his best course? Must he let himself be dragged down with Barroux? +Perhaps his personal position was not absolutely compromised? And yet how +could he part company from the others, swim ashore, and save himself +while they were being drowned? It was a grave problem, and with his +frantic desire to retain power, he made desperate endeavours to devise +some suitable manoeuvre. + +But he could think of nothing, and began to swear at the virtuous fits of +that silly Republic, which, in his opinion, rendered all government +impossible. To think of such foolish fiddle-faddle stopping a man of his +acumen and strength! How on earth can one govern men if one is denied the +use of money, that sovereign means of sway? And he laughed bitterly; for +the idea of an idyllic country where all great enterprises would be +carried out in an absolutely honest manner seemed to him the height of +absurdity. + +At last, however, unable as he was to come to a determination, it +occurred to him to confer with Baron Duvillard, whom he had long known, +and whom he regretted not having seen sooner so as to urge him to +purchase Sagnier's silence. At first he thought of sending the Baron a +brief note by a messenger; but he disliked committing anything to paper, +for the veriest scrap of writing may prove dangerous; so he preferred to +employ the telephone which had been installed for his private use near +his writing-table. + +"It is Baron Duvillard who is speaking to me? . . . Quite so. It's I, the +Minister, Monsieur Monferrand. I shall be much obliged if you will come +to see me at once. . . . Quite so, quite so, I will wait for you." + +Then again he walked to and fro and meditated. That fellow Duvillard was +as clever a man as himself, and might be able to give him an idea. And he +was still laboriously trying to devise some scheme, when the usher +entered saying that Monsieur Gascogne, the Chief of the Detective Police, +particularly wished to speak to him. Monferrand's first thought was that +the Prefecture of Police desired to know his views respecting the steps +which ought to be taken to ensure public order that day; for two mid-Lent +processions--one of the Washerwomen and the other of the Students--were +to march through Paris, whose streets would certainly be crowded. + +"Show Monsieur Gascogne in," he said. + +A tall, slim, dark man, looking like an artisan in his Sunday best, then +stepped into the ministerial sanctum. Fully acquainted with the +under-currents of Paris life, this Chief of the Detective Force had a +cold dispassionate nature and a clear and methodical mind. +Professionalism slightly spoilt him, however: he would have possessed +more intelligence if he had not credited himself with so much. + +He began by apologising for his superior the Prefect, who would certainly +have called in person had he not been suffering from indisposition. +However, it was perhaps best that he, Gascogne, should acquaint Monsieur +le Ministre with the grave affair which brought him, for he knew every +detail of it. Then he revealed what the grave affair was. + +"I believe, Monsieur le Ministre, that we at last hold the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." + +At this, Monferrand, who had been listening impatiently, became quite +impassioned. The fruitless searches of the police, the attacks and the +jeers of the newspapers, were a source of daily worry to him. "Ah!--Well, +so much the better for you Monsieur Gascogne," he replied with brutal +frankness. "You would have ended by losing your post. The man is +arrested?" + +"Not yet, Monsieur le Ministre; but he cannot escape, and it is merely an +affair of a few hours." + +Then the Chief of the Detective Force told the whole story: how Detective +Mondesir, on being warned by a secret agent that the Anarchist Salvat was +in a tavern at Montmartre, had reached it just as the bird had flown; +then how chance had again set him in presence of Salvat at a hundred +paces or so from the tavern, the rascal having foolishly loitered there +to watch the establishment; and afterwards how Salvat had been stealthily +shadowed in the hope that they might catch him in his hiding-place with +his accomplices. And, in this wise, he had been tracked to the +Porte-Maillot, where, realising, no doubt, that he was pursued, he had +suddenly bolted into the Bois de Boulogne. It was there that he had been +hiding since two o'clock in the morning in the drizzle which had not +ceased to fall. They had waited for daylight in order to organise a +_battue_ and hunt him down like some animal, whose weariness must +necessarily ensure capture. And so, from one moment to another, he would +be caught. + +"I know the great interest you take in the arrest, Monsieur le Ministre," +added Gascogne, "and it occurred to me to ask your orders. Detective +Mondesir is over there, directing the hunt. He regrets that he did not +apprehend the man on the Boulevard de Rochechouart; but, all the same, +the idea of following him was a capital one, and one can only reproach +Mondesir with having forgotten the Bois de Boulogne in his calculations." + +Salvat arrested! That fellow Salvat whose name had filled the newspapers +for three weeks past. This was a most fortunate stroke which would be +talked of far and wide! In the depths of Monferrand's fixed eyes one +could divine a world of thoughts and a sudden determination to turn this +incident which chance had brought him to his own personal advantage. In +his own mind a link was already forming between this arrest and that +African Railways interpellation which was likely to overthrow the +ministry on the morrow. The first outlines of a scheme already rose +before him. Was it not his good star that had sent him what he had been +seeking--a means of fishing himself out of the troubled waters of the +approaching crisis? + +"But tell me, Monsieur Gascogne," said he, "are you quite sure that this +man Salvat committed the crime?" + +"Oh! perfectly sure, Monsieur le Ministre. He'll confess everything in +the cab before he reaches the Prefecture." + +Monferrand again walked to and fro with a pensive air, and ideas came to +him as he spoke on in a slow, meditative fashion. "My orders! well, my +orders, they are, first, that you must act with the very greatest +prudence. Yes, don't gather a mob of promenaders together. Try to arrange +things so that the arrest may pass unperceived--and if you secure a +confession keep it to yourself, don't communicate it to the newspapers. +Yes, I particularly recommend that point to you, don't take the +newspapers into your confidence at all--and finally, come and tell me +everything, and observe secrecy, absolute secrecy, with everybody else." + +Gascogne bowed and would have withdrawn, but Monferrand detained him to +say that not a day passed without his friend Monsieur Lehmann, the Public +Prosecutor, receiving letters from Anarchists who threatened to blow him +up with his family; in such wise that, although he was by no means a +coward, he wished his house to be guarded by plain-clothes officers. A +similar watch was already kept upon the house where investigating +magistrate Amadieu resided. And if the latter's life was precious, that +of Public Prosecutor Lehmann was equally so, for he was one of those +political magistrates, one of those shrewd talented Israelites, who make +their way in very honest fashion by invariably taking the part of the +Government in office. + +Then Gascogne in his turn remarked: "There is also the Barthes affair, +Monsieur le Ministre--we are still waiting. Are we to arrest Barthes at +that little house at Neuilly?" + +One of those chances which sometimes come to the help of detectives and +make people think the latter to be men of genius had revealed to him the +circumstance that Barthes had found a refuge with Abbe Pierre Froment. +Ever since the Anarchist terror had thrown Paris into dismay a warrant +had been out against the old man, not for any precise offence, but simply +because he was a suspicious character and might, therefore, have had some +intercourse with the Revolutionists. However, it had been repugnant to +Gascogne to arrest him at the house of a priest whom the whole district +venerated as a saint; and the Minister, whom he had consulted on the +point, had warmly approved of his reserve, since a member of the clergy +was in question, and had undertaken to settle the affair himself. + +"No, Monsieur Gascogne," he now replied, "don't move in the matter. You +know what my feelings are, that we ought to have the priests with us and +not against us--I have had a letter written to Abbe Froment in order that +he may call here this morning, as I shall have no other visitors. I will +speak to him myself, and you may take it that the affair no longer +concerns you." + +Then he was about to dismiss him when the usher came back saying that the +President of the Council was in the ante-room.* + + * The title of President of the Council is given to the French + prime minister.--Trans. + +"Barroux!--Ah! dash it, then, Monsieur Gascogne, you had better go out +this way. It is as well that nobody should meet you, as I wish you to +keep silent respecting Salvat's arrest. It's fully understood, is it not? +I alone am to know everything; and you will communicate with me here +direct, by the telephone, if any serious incident should arise." + +The Chief of the Detective Police had scarcely gone off, by way of an +adjoining _salon_, when the usher reopened the door communicating with +the ante-room: "Monsieur le President du Conseil." + +With a nicely adjusted show of deference and cordiality, Monferrand +stepped forward, his hands outstretched: "Ah! my dear President, why did +you put yourself out to come here? I would have called on you if I had +known that you wished to see me." + +But with an impatient gesture Barroux brushed aside all question of +etiquette. "No, no! I was taking my usual stroll in the Champs Elysees, +and the worries of the situation impressed me so keenly that I preferred +to come here at once. You yourself must realise that we can't put up with +what is taking place. And pending to-morrow morning's council, when we +shall have to arrange a plan of defence, I felt that there was good +reason for us to talk things over." + +He took an armchair, and Monferrand on his side rolled another forward so +as to seat himself with his back to the light. Whilst Barroux, the elder +of the pair by ten years, blanched and solemn, with a handsome face, +snowy whiskers, clean-shaven chin and upper-lip, retained all the dignity +of power, the bearing of a Conventionnel of romantic views, who sought to +magnify the simple loyalty of a rather foolish but good-hearted +_bourgeois_ nature into something great; the other, beneath his heavy +common countenance and feigned frankness and simplicity, concealed +unknown depths, the unfathomable soul of a shrewd enjoyer and despot who +was alike pitiless and unscrupulous in attaining his ends. + +For a moment Barroux drew breath, for in reality he was greatly moved, +his blood rising to his head, and his heart beating with indignation and +anger at the thought of all the vulgar insults which the "Voix du Peuple" +had poured upon him again that morning. "Come, my dear colleague," said +he, "one must stop that scandalous campaign. Moreover, you can realise +what awaits us at the Chamber to-morrow. Now that the famous list has +been published we shall have every malcontent up in arms. Vignon is +bestirring himself already--" + +"Ah! you have news of Vignon?" exclaimed Monferrand, becoming very +attentive. + +"Well, as I passed his door just now, I saw a string of cabs waiting +there. All his creatures have been on the move since yesterday, and at +least twenty persons have told me that the band is already dividing the +spoils. For, as you must know, the fierce and ingenuous Mege is again +going to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for others. Briefly, we are +dead, and the others claim that they are going to bury us in mud before +they fight over our leavings." With his arm outstretched Barroux made a +theatrical gesture, and his voice resounded as if he were in the tribune. +Nevertheless, his emotion was real, tears even were coming to his eyes. +"To think that I who have given my whole life to the Republic, I who +founded it, who saved it, should be covered with insults in this fashion, +and obliged to defend myself against abominable charges! To say that I +abused my trust! That I sold myself and took 200,000 francs from that man +Hunter, simply to slip them into my pocket! Well, certainly there _was_ a +question of 200,000 francs between us. But how and under what +circumstances? They were doubtless the same as in your case, with regard +to the 80,000 francs that he is said to have handed you--" + +But Monferrand interrupted his colleague in a clear trenchant voice: "He +never handed me a centime." + +The other looked at him in astonishment, but could only see his big, +rough head, whose features were steeped in shadow: "Ah! But I thought you +had business relations with him, and knew him particularly well." + +"No, I simply knew Hunter as everyone knew him. I was not even aware that +he was Baron Duvillard's agent in the African Railways matter; and there +was never any question of that affair between us." + +This was so improbable, so contrary to everything Barroux knew of the +business, that for a moment he felt quite scared. Then he waved his hand +as if to say that others might as well look after their own affairs, and +reverted to himself. "Oh! as for me," he said, "Hunter called on me more +than ten times, and made me quite sick with his talk of the African +Railways. It was at the time when the Chamber was asked to authorise the +issue of lottery stock.* And, by the way, my dear fellow, I was then here +at the Home Department, while you had just taken that of Public Works. I +can remember sitting at that very writing-table, while Hunter was in the +same armchair that I now occupy. That day he wanted to consult me about +the employment of the large sum which Duvillard's house proposed to spend +in advertising; and on seeing what big amounts were set down against the +Royalist journals, I became quite angry, for I realised with perfect +accuracy that this money would simply be used to wage war against the +Republic. And so, yielding to Hunter's entreaties, I also drew up a list +allotting 200,000 francs among the friendly Republican newspapers, which +were paid through me, I admit it. And that's the whole story."** + + * This kind of stock is common enough in France. A part of it is + extinguished annually at a public "drawing," when all such + shares or bonds that are drawn become entitled to redemption + at "par," a percentage of them also securing prizes of various + amounts. City of Paris Bonds issued on this system are very + popular among French people with small savings; but, on the + other hand, many ventures, whose lottery stock has been + authorised by the Legislature, have come to grief and ruined + investors.--Trans. + + ** All who are acquainted with recent French history will be + aware that Barroux' narrative is simply a passage from the + life of the late M. Floquet, slightly modified to suit the + requirements of M. Zola's story.--Trans. + +Then he sprang to his feet and struck his chest, whilst his voice again +rose: "Well, I've had more than enough of all that calumny and falsehood! +And I shall simply tell the Chamber my story to-morrow. It will be my +only defence. An honest man does not fear the truth!" + +But Monferrand, in his turn, had sprung up with a cry which was a +complete confession of his principles: "It's ridiculous, one never +confesses; you surely won't do such a thing!" + +"I shall," retorted Barroux with superb obstinacy. "And we shall see if +the Chamber won't absolve me by acclamation." + +"No, you will fall beneath an explosion of hisses, and drag all of us +down with you." + +"What does it matter? We shall fall with dignity, like honest men!" + +Monferrand made a gesture of furious anger, and then suddenly became +calm. Amidst all the anxious confusion in which he had been struggling +since daybreak, a gleam now dawned upon him. The vague ideas suggested by +Salvat's approaching arrest took shape, and expanded into an audacious +scheme. Why should he prevent the fall of that big ninny Barroux? The +only thing of importance was that he, Monferrand, should not fall with +him, or at any rate that he should rise again. So he protested no +further, but merely mumbled a few words, in which his rebellious feeling +seemingly died out. And at last, putting on his good-natured air once +more, he said: "Well, after all you are perhaps right. One must be brave. +Besides, you are our head, my dear President, and we will follow you." + +They had now again sat down face to face, and their conversation +continued till they came to a cordial agreement respecting the course +which the Government should adopt in view of the inevitable +interpellation on the morrow. + +Meantime, Baron Duvillard was on his way to the ministry. He had scarcely +slept that night. When on the return from Montmartre Gerard had set him +down at his door in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, he had at once gone to bed, +like a man who is determined to compel sleep, so that he may forget his +worries and recover self-control. But slumber would not come; for hours +and hours he vainly sought it. The manner in which he had been insulted +by that creature Silviane was so monstrous! To think that she, whom he +had enriched, whose every desire he had contented, should have cast such +mud at him, the master, who flattered himself that he held Paris and the +Republic in his hands, since he bought up and controlled consciences just +as others might make corners in wool or leather for the purposes of +Bourse speculation. And the dim consciousness that Silviane was the +avenging sore, the cancer preying on him who preyed on others, completed +his exasperation. In vain did he try to drive away his haunting thoughts, +remember his business affairs, his appointments for the morrow, his +millions which were working in every quarter of the world, the financial +omnipotence which placed the fate of nations in his grasp. Ever, and in +spite of all, Silviane rose up before him, splashing him with mud. In +despair he tried to fix his mind on a great enterprise which he had been +planning for months past, a Trans-Saharan railway, a colossal venture +which would set millions of money at work, and revolutionise the trade of +the world. And yet Silviane appeared once more, and smacked him on both +cheeks with her dainty little hand, which she had dipped in the gutter. +It was only towards daybreak that he at last dozed off, while vowing in a +fury that he would never see her again, that he would spurn her, and +order her away, even should she come and drag herself at his feet. + +However, when he awoke at seven, still tired and aching, his first +thought was for her, and he almost yielded to a fit of weakness. The idea +came to him to ascertain if she had returned home, and if so make his +peace. But he jumped out of bed, and after his ablutions he recovered all +his bravery. She was a wretch, and he this time thought himself for ever +cured of his passion. To tell the truth, he forgot it as soon as he +opened the morning newspapers. The publication of the list of +bribe-takers in the "Voix du Peuple" quite upset him, for he had hitherto +thought it unlikely that Sagnier held any such list. However, he judged +the document at a glance, at once separating the few truths it contained +from a mass of foolishness and falsehood. And this time also he did not +consider himself personally in danger. There was only one thing that he +really feared: the arrest of his intermediary, Hunter, whose trial might +have drawn him into the affair. As matters stood, and as he did not cease +to repeat with a calm and smiling air, he had merely done what every +banking-house does when it issues stock, that is, pay the press for +advertisements and puffery, employ brokers, and reward services +discreetly rendered to the enterprise. It was all a business matter, and +for him that expression summed up everything. Moreover, he played the +game of life bravely, and spoke with indignant contempt of a banker who, +distracted and driven to extremities by blackmailing, had imagined that +he would bring a recent scandal to an end by killing himself: a pitiful +tragedy, from all the mire and blood of which the scandal had sprouted +afresh with the most luxuriant and indestructible vegetation. No, no! +suicide was not the course to follow: a man ought to remain erect, and +struggle on to his very last copper, and the very end of his energy. + +At about nine o'clock a ringing brought Duvillard to the telephone +installed in his private room. And then his folly took possession of him +once more: it must be Silviane who wished to speak to him. She often +amused herself by thus disturbing him amidst his greatest cares. No doubt +she had just returned home, realising that she had carried things too far +on the previous evening and desiring to be forgiven. However, when he +found that the call was from Monferrand, who wished him to go to the +ministry, he shivered slightly, like a man saved from the abyss beside +which he is travelling. And forthwith he called for his hat and stick, +desirous as he was of walking and reflecting in the open air. And again +he became absorbed in the intricacies of the scandalous business which +was about to stir all Paris and the legislature. Kill himself! ah, no, +that would be foolish and cowardly. A gust of terror might be sweeping +past; nevertheless, for his part he felt quite firm, superior to events, +and resolved to defend himself without relinquishing aught of his power. + +As soon as he entered the ante-rooms of the ministry he realised that the +gust of terror was becoming a tempest. The publication of the terrible +list in the "Voix du Peuple" had chilled the guilty ones to the heart; +and, pale and distracted, feeling the ground give way beneath them, they +had come to take counsel of Monferrand, who, they hoped, might save them. +The first whom Duvillard perceived was Duthil, looking extremely +feverish, biting his moustaches, and constantly making grimaces in his +efforts to force a smile. The banker scolded him for coming, saying that +it was a great mistake to have done so, particularly with such a scared +face. The deputy, however, his spirits already cheered by these rough +words, began to defend himself, declaring that he had not even read +Sagnier's article, and had simply come to recommend a lady friend to the +Minister. Thereupon the Baron undertook this business for him and sent +him away with the wish that he might spend a merry mid-Lent. However, the +one who most roused Duvillard's pity was Chaigneux, whose figure swayed +about as if bent by the weight of his long equine head, and who looked so +shabby and untidy that one might have taken him for an old pauper. On +recognising the banker he darted forward, and bowed to him with +obsequious eagerness. + +"Ah! Monsieur le Baron," said he, "how wicked some men must be! They are +killing me, I shall die of it all; and what will become of my wife, what +will become of my three daughters, who have none but me to help them?" + +The whole of his woeful story lay in that lament. A victim of politics, +he had been foolish enough to quit Arras and his business there as a +solicitor, in order to seek triumph in Paris with his wife and daughters, +whose menial he had then become--a menial dismayed by the constant +rebuffs and failures which his mediocrity brought upon him. An honest +deputy! ah, good heavens! yes, he would have liked to be one; but was he +not perpetually "hard-up," ever in search of a hundred-franc note, and +thus, perforce, a deputy for sale? And withal he led such a pitiable +life, so badgered by the women folk about him, that to satisfy their +demands he would have picked up money no matter where or how. + +"Just fancy, Monsieur le Baron, I have at last found a husband for my +eldest girl. It is the first bit of luck that I have ever had; there will +only be three women left on my hands if it comes off. But you can imagine +what a disastrous impression such an article as that of this morning must +create in the young man's family. So I have come to see the Minister to +beg him to give my future son-in-law a prefectoral secretaryship. I have +already promised him the post, and if I can secure it things may yet be +arranged." + +He looked so terribly shabby and spoke in such a doleful voice that it +occurred to Duvillard to do one of those good actions on which he +ventured at times when they were likely to prove remunerative +investments. It is, indeed, an excellent plan to give a crust of bread to +some poor devil whom one can turn, if necessary, into a valet or an +accomplice. So the banker dismissed Chaigneux, undertaking to do his +business for him in the same way as he had undertaken to do Duthil's. And +he added that he would be pleased to see him on the morrow, and have a +chat with him, as he might be able to help him in the matter of his +daughter's marriage. + +At this Chaigneux, scenting a loan, collapsed into the most lavish +thanks. "Ah! Monsieur le Baron, my life will not be long enough to enable +me to repay such a debt of gratitude." + +As Duvillard turned round he was surprised to see Abbe Froment waiting in +a corner of the ante-room. Surely that one could not belong to the batch +of _suspects_, although by the manner in which he was pretending to read +a newspaper it seemed as if he were trying to hide some keen anxiety. At +last the Baron stepped forward, shook hands, and spoke to him cordially. +And Pierre thereupon related that he had received a letter requesting him +to call on the Minister that day. Why, he could not tell; in fact, he was +greatly surprised, he said, putting on a smile in order to conceal his +disquietude. He had been waiting a long time already, and hoped that he +would not be forgotten on that bench. + +Just then the usher appeared, and hastened up to the banker. "The +Minister," said he, "was at that moment engaged with the President of the +Council; but he had orders to admit the Baron as soon as the President +withdrew." Almost immediately afterwards Barroux came out, and as +Duvillard was about to enter he recognised and detained him. And he spoke +of the denunciations very bitterly, like one indignant with all the +slander. Would not he, Duvillard, should occasion require it, testify +that he, Barroux, had never taken a centime for himself? Then, forgetting +that he was speaking to a banker, and that he was Minister of Finances, +he proceeded to express all his disgust of money. Ah! what poisonous, +murky, and defiling waters were those in which money-making went on! +However, he repeated that he would chastise his insulters, and that a +statement of the truth would suffice for the purpose. + +Duvillard listened and looked at him. And all at once the thought of +Silviane came back, and took possession of the Baron, without any attempt +on his part to drive it away. He reflected that if Barroux had chosen to +give him a helping hand when he had asked for it, Silviane would now have +been at the Comedie Francaise, in which case the deplorable affair of the +previous night would not have occurred; for he was beginning to regard +himself as guilty in the matter; if he had only contented Silviane's whim +she would never have dismissed him in so vile a fashion. + +"You know, I owe you a grudge," he said, interrupting Barroux. + +The other looked at him in astonishment. "And why, pray?" he asked. + +"Why, because you never helped me in the matter of that friend of mine +who wishes to make her _debut_ in 'Polyeucte.'" + +Barroux smiled, and with amiable condescension replied: "Ah! yes, +Silviane d'Aulnay! But, my dear sir, it was Taboureau who put spokes in +the wheel. The Fine Arts are his department, and the question was +entirely one for him. And I could do nothing; for that very worthy and +honest gentleman, who came to us from a provincial faculty, was full of +scruples. For my own part I'm an old Parisian, I can understand anything, +and I should have been delighted to please you." + +At this fresh resistance offered to his passion Duvillard once more +became excited, eager to obtain that which was denied him. "Taboureau, +Taboureau!" said he, "he's a nice deadweight for you to load yourself +with! Honest! isn't everybody honest? Come, my dear Minister, there's +still time, get Silviane admitted, it will bring you good luck for +to-morrow." + +This time Barroux burst into a frank laugh: "No, no, I can't cast +Taboureau adrift at this moment--people would make too much sport of +it--a ministry wrecked or saved by a Silviane question!" + +Then he offered his hand before going off. The Baron pressed it, and for +a moment retained it in his own, whilst saying very gravely and with a +somewhat pale face: "You do wrong to laugh, my dear Minister. Governments +have fallen or set themselves erect again through smaller matters than +that. And should you fall to-morrow I trust that you will never have +occasion to regret it." + +Wounded to the heart by the other's jesting air, exasperated by the idea +that there was something he could not achieve, Duvillard watched Barroux +as he withdrew. Most certainly the Baron did not desire a reconciliation +with Silviane, but he vowed that he would overturn everything if +necessary in order to send her a signed engagement for the Comedie, and +this simply by way of vengeance, as a slap, so to say,--yes, a slap which +would make her tingle! That moment spent with Barroux had been a decisive +one. + +However, whilst still following Barroux with his eyes, Duvillard was +surprised to see Fonsegue arrive and manoeuvre in such a way as to escape +the Prime Minister's notice. He succeeded in doing so, and then entered +the ante-room with an appearance of dismay about the whole of his little +figure, which was, as a rule, so sprightly. It was the gust of terror, +still blowing, that had brought him thither. + +"Didn't you see your friend Barroux?" the Baron asked him, somewhat +puzzled. + +"Barroux? No!" + +This quiet lie was equivalent to a confession of everything. Fonsegue was +so intimate with Barroux that he thee'd and thou'd him, and for ten years +had been supporting him in his newspaper, having precisely the same +views, the same political religion. But with a smash-up threatening, he +doubtless realised, thanks to his wonderfully keen scent, that he must +change his friendships if he did not wish to remain under the ruins +himself. If he had, for long years, shown so much prudence and diplomatic +virtue in order to firmly establish the most dignified and respected of +Parisian newspapers, it was not for the purpose of letting that newspaper +be compromised by some foolish blunder on the part of an honest man. + +"I thought you were on bad terms with Monferrand," resumed Duvillard. +"What have you come here for?" + +"Oh! my dear Baron, the director of a leading newspaper is never on bad +terms with anybody. He's at the country's service." + +In spite of his emotion, Duvillard could not help smiling. "You are +right," he responded. "Besides, Monferrand is really an able man, whom +one can support without fear." + +At this Fonsegue began to wonder whether his anguish of mind was visible. +He, who usually played the game of life so well, with his own hand under +thorough control, had been terrified by the article in the "Voix du +Peuple." For the first time in his career he had perpetrated a blunder, +and felt that he was at the mercy of some denunciation, for with +unpardonable imprudence he had written a very brief but compromising +note. He was not anxious concerning the 50,000 francs which Barroux had +handed him out of the 200,000 destined for the Republican press. But he +trembled lest another affair should be discovered, that of a sum of money +which he had received as a present. It was only on feeling the Baron's +keen glance upon him that he was able to recover some self-possession. +How silly it was to lose the knack of lying and to confess things simply +by one's demeanour! + +But the usher drew near and repeated that the Minister was now waiting +for the Baron; and Fonsegue went to sit down beside Abbe Froment, whom he +also was astonished to find there. Pierre repeated that he had received a +letter, but had no notion what the Minister might wish to say to him. And +the quiver of his hands again revealed how feverishly impatient he was to +know what it might be. However, he could only wait, since Monferrand was +still busy discussing such grave affairs. + +On seeing Duvillard enter, the Minister had stepped forward, offering his +hand. However much the blast of terror might shake others, he had +retained his calmness and good-natured smile. "What an affair, eh, my +dear Baron!" he exclaimed. + +"It's idiotic!" plainly declared the other, with a shrug of his +shoulders. Then he sat down in the armchair vacated by Barroux, while the +Minister installed himself in front of him. These two were made to +understand one another, and they indulged in the same despairing gestures +and furious complaints, declaring that government, like business, would +no longer be possible if men were required to show such virtue as they +did not possess. At all times, and under every _regime_, when a decision +of the Chambers had been required in connection with some great +enterprise, had not the natural and legitimate tactics been for one to do +what might be needful to secure that decision? It was absolutely +necessary that one should obtain influential and sympathetic support, in +a word, make sure of votes. Well, everything had to be paid for, men like +other things, some with fine words, others with favours or money, +presents made in a more or less disguised manner. And even admitting +that, in the present cases, one had gone rather far in the purchasing, +that some of the bartering had been conducted in an imprudent way, was it +wise to make such an uproar over it? Would not a strong government have +begun by stifling the scandal, from motives of patriotism, a mere sense +of cleanliness even? + +"Why, of course! You are right, a thousand times right!" exclaimed +Monferrand. "Ah! if I were the master you would see what a fine +first-class funeral I would give it all!" Then, as Duvillard looked at +him fixedly, struck by these last words, he added with his expressive +smile: "Unfortunately I'm not the master, and it was to talk to you of +the situation that I ventured to disturb you. Barroux, who was here just +now, seemed to me in a regrettable frame of mind." + +"Yes, I saw him, he has such singular ideas at times--" Then, breaking +off, the Baron added: "Do you know that Fonsegue is in the ante-room? As +he wishes to make his peace with you, why not send for him? He won't be +in the way, in fact, he's a man of good counsel, and the support of his +newspaper often suffices to give one the victory." + +"What, is Fonsegue there!" cried Monferrand. "Why, I don't ask better +than to shake hands with him. There were some old affairs between us that +don't concern anybody! But, good heavens! if you only knew what little +spite I harbour!" + +When the usher had admitted Fonsegue the reconciliation took place in the +simplest fashion. They had been great friends at college in their native +Correze, but had not spoken together for ten years past in consequence of +some abominable affair the particulars of which were not exactly known. +However, it becomes necessary to clear away all corpses when one wishes +to have the arena free for a fresh battle. + +"It's very good of you to come back the first," said Monferrand. "So it's +all over, you no longer bear me any grudge?" + +"No, indeed!" replied Fonsegue. "Why should people devour one another +when it would be to their interest to come to an understanding?" + +Then, without further explanations, they passed to the great affair, and +the conference began. And when Monferrand had announced Barroux' +determination to confess and explain his conduct, the others loudly +protested. That meant certain downfall, they would prevent him, he surely +would not be guilty of such folly. Forthwith they discussed every +imaginable plan by which the Ministry might be saved, for that must +certainly be Monferrand's sole desire. He himself with all eagerness +pretended to seek some means of extricating his colleagues and himself +from the mess in which they were. However, a faint smile, still played +around his lips, and at last as if vanquished he sought no further. +"There's no help for it," said he, "the ministry's down." + +The others exchanged glances, full of anxiety at the thought of another +Cabinet dealing with the African Railways affair. A Vignon Cabinet would +doubtless plume itself on behaving honestly. + +"Well, then, what shall we do?" + +But just then the telephone rang, and Monferrand rose to respond to the +summons: "Allow me." + +He listened for a moment and then spoke into the tube, nothing that he +said giving the others any inkling of the information which had reached +him. This had come from the Chief of the Detective Police, and was to the +effect that Salvat's whereabouts in the Bois de Boulogne had been +discovered, and that he would be hunted down with all speed. "Very good! +And don't forget my orders," replied Monferrand. + +Now that Salvat's arrest was certain, the Minister determined to follow +the plan which had gradually taken shape in his mind; and returning to +the middle of the room he slowly walked to and fro, while saying with his +wonted familiarity: "But what would you have, my friends? It would be +necessary for me to be the master. Ah! if I were the master! A Commission +of Inquiry, yes! that's the proper form for a first-class funeral to take +in a big affair like this, so full of nasty things. For my part, I should +confess nothing, and I should have a Commission appointed. And then you +would see the storm subside." + +Duvillard and Fonsegue began to laugh. The latter, however, thanks to his +intimate knowledge of Monferrand, almost guessed the truth. "Just +listen!" said he; "even if the ministry falls it doesn't necessarily +follow that you must be on the ground with it. Besides, a ministry can be +mended when there are good pieces of it left." + +Somewhat anxious at finding his thoughts guessed, Monferrand protested: +"No, no, my dear fellow, I don't play that game. We are jointly +responsible, we've got to keep together, dash it all!" + +"Keep together! Pooh! Not when simpletons purposely drown themselves! +And, besides, if we others have need of you, we have a right to save you +in spite of yourself! Isn't that so, my dear Baron?" + +Then, as Monferrand sat down, no longer protesting but waiting, +Duvillard, who was again thinking of his passion, full of anger at the +recollection of Barroux' refusal, rose in his turn, and exclaimed: "Why, +certainly! If the ministry's condemned let it fall! What good can you get +out of a ministry which includes such a man as Taboureau! There you have +an old, worn-out professor without any prestige, who comes to Paris from +Grenoble, and has never set foot in a theatre in his life! Yet the +control of the theatres is handed over to him, and naturally he's ever +doing the most stupid things!" + +Monferrand, who was well informed on the Silviane question, remained +grave, and for a moment amused himself by trying to excite the Baron. +"Taboureau," said he, "is a somewhat dull and old-fashioned University +man, but at the department of Public Instruction he's in his proper +element." + +"Oh! don't talk like that, my dear fellow! You are more intelligent than +that, you are not going to defend Taboureau as Barroux did. It's quite +true that I should very much like to see Silviane at the Comedie. She's a +very good girl at heart, and she has an amazing lot of talent. Would you +stand in her way if you were in Taboureau's place?" + +"I? Good heavens, no! A pretty girl on the stage, why, it would please +everybody, I'm sure. Only it would be necessary to have a man of the same +views as were at the department of Instruction and Fine Arts." + +His sly smile had returned to his face. The securing of that girl's +_debut_ was certainly not a high price to pay for all the influence of +Duvillard's millions. Monferrand therefore turned towards Fonsegue as if +to consult him. The other, who fully understood the importance of the +affair, was meditating in all seriousness: "A senator is the proper man +for Public Instruction," said he. "But I can think of none, none at all, +such as would be wanted. A man of broad mind, a real Parisian, and yet +one whose presence at the head of the University wouldn't cause too much +astonishment--there's perhaps Dauvergne--" + +"Dauvergne! Who's he?" exclaimed Monferrand in surprise. "Ah! yes, +Dauvergne the senator for Dijon--but he's altogether ignorant of +University matters, he hasn't the slightest qualification." + +"Well, as for that," resumed Fonsegue, "I'm trying to think. Dauvergne is +certainly a good-looking fellow, tall and fair and decorative. Besides, +he's immensely rich, has a most charming young wife--which does no harm, +on the contrary--and he gives real _fetes_ at his place on the Boulevard +St. Germain." + +It was only with hesitation that Fonsegue himself had ventured to suggest +Dauvergne. But by degrees his selection appeared to him a real "find." +"Wait a bit! I recollect now that in his young days Dauvergne wrote a +comedy, a one act comedy in verse, and had it performed at Dijon. And +Dijon's a literary town, you know, so that piece of his sets a little +perfume of 'Belles-Lettres' around him. And then, too, he left Dijon +twenty years ago, and is a most determined Parisian, frequenting every +sphere of society. Dauvergne will do whatever one desires. He's the man +for us, I tell you." + +Duvillard thereupon declared that he knew him, and considered him a very +decent fellow. Besides, he or another, it mattered nothing! + +"Dauvergne, Dauvergne," repeated Monferrand. "_Mon Dieu_, yes! After all, +why not? He'll perhaps make a very good minister. Let us say Dauvergne." +Then suddenly bursting into a hearty laugh: "And so we are reconstructing +the Cabinet in order that that charming young woman may join the Comedie! +The Silviane cabinet--well, and what about the other departments?" + +He jested, well knowing that gaiety often hastens difficult solutions. +And, indeed, they merrily continued settling what should be done if the +ministry were defeated on the morrow. Although they had not plainly said +so the plan was to let Barroux sink, even help him to do so, and then +fish Monferrand out of the troubled waters. The latter engaged himself +with the two others, because he had need of them, the Baron on account of +his financial sovereignty, and the director of "Le Globe" on account of +the press campaign which he could carry on in his favour. And in the same +way the others, quite apart from the Silviane business, had need of +Monferrand, the strong-handed man of government, who undertook to bury +the African Railways scandal by bringing about a Commission of Inquiry, +all the strings of which would be pulled by himself. There was soon a +perfect understanding between the three men, for nothing draws people +more closely together than common interest, fear and need. Accordingly, +when Duvillard spoke of Duthil's business, the young lady whom he wished +to recommend, the Minister declared that it was settled. A very nice +fellow was Duthil, they needed a good many like him. And it was also +agreed that Chaigneux' future son-in-law should have his secretaryship. +Poor Chaigneux! He was so devoted, always ready to undertake any +commission, and his four women folk led him such a hard life! + +"Well, then, it's understood." And Monferrand, Duvillard and Fonsegue +vigorously shook hands. + +However, when the first accompanied the others to the door, he noticed a +prelate, in a cassock of fine material, edged with violet, speaking to a +priest in the ante-room. Thereupon he, the Minister, hastened forward, +looking much distressed. "Ah! you were waiting, Monseigneur Martha! Come +in, come in quick!" + +But with perfect urbanity the Bishop refused. "No, no, Monsieur l'Abbe +Froment was here before me. Pray receive him first." + +Monferrand had to give way; he admitted the priest, and speedily dealt +with him. He who usually employed the most diplomatic reserve when he was +in presence of a member of the clergy plumply unfolded the Barthes +business. Pierre had experienced the keenest anguish during the two hours +that he had been waiting there, for he could only explain the letter he +had received by a surmise that the police had discovered his brother's +presence in his house. And so when he heard the Minister simply speak of +Barthes, and declare that the government would rather see him go into +exile than be obliged to imprison him once more, he remained for a moment +quite disconcerted. As the police had been able to discover the old +conspirator in the little house at Neuilly, how was it that they seemed +altogether ignorant of Guillaume's presence there? It was, however, the +usual gap in the genius of great detectives. + +"Pray what do you desire of me, Monsieur le Ministre?" said Pierre at +last; "I don't quite understand." + +"Why, Monsieur l'Abbe, I leave all this to your sense of prudence. If +that man were still at your house in forty-eight hours from now, we +should be obliged to arrest him there, which would be a source of grief +to us, for we are aware that your residence is the abode of every virtue. +So advise him to leave France. If he does that we shall not trouble him." + +Then Monferrand hastily brought Pierre back to the ante-room; and, +smiling and bending low, he said: "Monseigneur, I am entirely at your +disposal. Come in, come in, I beg you." + +The prelate, who was gaily chatting with Duvillard and Fonsegue, shook +hands with them, and then with Pierre. In his desire to win all hearts, +he that morning displayed the most perfect graciousness. His bright, +black eyes were all smiles, the whole of his handsome face wore a +caressing expression, and he entered the ministerial sanctum leisurely +and gracefully, with an easy air of conquest. + +And now only Monferrand and Monseigneur Martha were left, talking on and +on in the deserted building. Some people had thought that the prelate +wished to become a deputy. But he played a far more useful and lofty part +in governing behind the scenes, in acting as the directing mind of the +Vatican's policy in France. Was not France still the Eldest Daughter of +the Church, the only great nation which might some day restore +omnipotence to the Papacy? For that reason he had accepted the Republic, +preached the duty of "rallying" to it, and inspired the new Catholic +group in the Chamber. And Monferrand, on his side, struck by the progress +of the New Spirit, that reaction of mysticism which flattered itself that +it would bury science, showed the prelate much amiability, like a +strong-handed man who, to ensure his own victory, utilised every force +that was offered him. + + + +IV + +THE MAN HUNT + +ON the afternoon of that same day such a keen desire for space and the +open air came upon Guillaume, that Pierre consented to accompany him on a +long walk in the Bois de Boulogne. The priest, upon returning from his +interview with Monferrand, had informed his brother that the government +once more wished to get rid of Nicholas Barthes. However, they were so +perplexed as to how they should impart these tidings to the old man, that +they resolved to postpone the matter until the evening. During their walk +they might devise some means of breaking the news in a gentle way. As for +the walk, this seemed to offer no danger; to all appearance Guillaume was +in no wise threatened, so why should he continue hiding? Thus the +brothers sallied forth and entered the Bois by the Sablons gate, which +was the nearest to them. + +The last days of March had now come, and the trees were beginning to show +some greenery, so soft and light, however, that one might have thought it +was pale moss or delicate lace hanging between the stems and boughs. +Although the sky remained of an ashen grey, the rain, after falling +throughout the night and morning, had ceased; and exquisite freshness +pervaded that wood now awakening to life once more, with its foliage +dripping in the mild and peaceful atmosphere. The mid-Lent rejoicings had +apparently attracted the populace to the centre of Paris, for in the +avenues one found only the fashionable folks of select days, the people +of society who come thither when the multitude stops away. There were +carriages and gentlemen on horseback; beautiful aristocratic ladies who +had alighted from their broughams or landaus; and wet-nurses with +streaming ribbons, who carried infants wearing the most costly lace. Of +the middle-classes, however, one found only a few matrons living in the +neighbourhood, who sat here and there on the benches busy with embroidery +or watching their children play. + +Pierre and Guillaume followed the Allee de Longchamp as far as the road +going from Madrid to the lakes. Then they took their way under the trees, +alongside the little Longchamp rivulet. They wished to reach the lakes, +pass round them, and return home by way of the Maillot gate. But so +charming and peaceful was the deserted plantation through which they +passed, that they yielded to a desire to sit down and taste the delight +of resting amidst all the budding springtide around them. A fallen tree +served them as a bench, and it was possible for them to fancy themselves +far away from Paris, in the depths of some real forest. It was, too, of a +real forest that Guillaume began to think on thus emerging from his long, +voluntary imprisonment. Ah! for the space; and for the health-bringing +air which courses between that forest's branches, that forest of the +world which by right should be man's inalienable domain! However, the +name of Barthes, the perpetual prisoner, came back to Guillaume's lips, +and he sighed mournfully. The thought that there should be even a single +man whose liberty was thus ever assailed, sufficed to poison the pure +atmosphere he breathed. + +"What will you say to Barthes?" he asked his brother. "The poor fellow +must necessarily be warned. Exile is at any rate preferable to +imprisonment." + +Pierre sadly waved his hand. "Yes, of course, I must warn him. But what a +painful task it is!" + +Guillaume made no rejoinder, for at that very moment, in that remote, +deserted nook, where they could fancy themselves at the world's end, a +most extraordinary spectacle was presented to their view. Something or +rather someone leapt out of a thicket and bounded past them. It was +assuredly a man, but one who was so unrecognisable, so miry, so woeful +and so frightful, that he might have been taken for an animal, a boar +that hounds had tracked and forced from his retreat. On seeing the +rivulet, he hesitated for a moment, and then followed its course. But, +all at once, as a sound of footsteps and panting breath drew nearer, he +sprang into the water, which reached his thighs, bounded on to the +further bank, and vanished from sight behind a clump of pines. A moment +afterwards some keepers and policemen rushed by, skirting the rivulet, +and in their turn disappearing. It was a man hunt that had gone past, a +fierce, secret hunt with no display of scarlet or blast of horns athwart +the soft, sprouting foliage. + +"Some rascal or other," muttered Pierre. "Ah! the wretched fellow!" + +Guillaume made a gesture of discouragement. "Gendarmes and prison!" said +he. "They still constitute society's only schooling system!" + +Meantime the man was still running on, farther and farther away. + +When, on the previous night, Salvat had suddenly escaped from the +detectives by bounding into the Bois de Boulogne, it had occurred to him +to slip round to the Dauphine gate and there descend into the deep ditch* +of the city ramparts. He remembered days of enforced idleness which he +had spent there, in nooks where, for his own part, he had never met a +living soul. Nowhere, indeed, could one find more secret places of +retreat, hedged round by thicker bushes, or concealed from view by +loftier herbage. Some corners of the ditch, at certain angles of the +massive bastions, are favourite dens or nests for thieves and lovers. +Salvat, as he made his way through the thickest of the brambles, nettles +and ivy, was lucky enough to find a cavity full of dry leaves, in which +he buried himself to the chin. The rain had already drenched him, and +after slipping down the muddy slope, he had frequently been obliged to +grope his way upon all fours. So those dry leaves proved a boon such as +he had not dared to hope for. They dried him somewhat, serving as a +blanket in which he coiled himself after his wild race through the dank +darkness. The rain still fell, but he now only felt it on his head, and, +weary as he was, he gradually sank into deep slumber beneath the +continuous drizzle. When he opened his eyes again, the dawn was breaking, +and it was probably about six o'clock. During his sleep the rain had +ended by soaking the leaves, so that he was now immersed in a kind of +chilly bath. Still he remained in it, feeling that he was there sheltered +from the police, who must now surely be searching for him. None of those +bloodhounds would guess his presence in that hole, for his body was quite +buried, and briers almost completely hid his head. So he did not stir, +but watched the rise of the dawn. + + * This ditch or dry moat is about 30 feet deep and 50 feet wide. + The counterscarp by which one may descend into it has an angle + of 45 degrees.--Trans. + +When at eight o'clock some policemen and keepers came by, searching the +ditch, they did not perceive him. As he had anticipated, the hunt had +begun at the first glimmer of light. For a time his heart beat violently; +however, nobody else passed, nothing whatever stirred the grass. The only +sounds that reached him were faint ones from the Bois de Boulogne, the +ring of a bicyclist's bell, the thud of a horse's hoofs, the rumble of +carriage wheels. And time went by, nine o'clock came, and then ten +o'clock. Since the rain had ceased falling, Salvat had not suffered so +much from the cold, for he was wearing a thick overcoat which little +Mathis had given him. But, on the other hand, hunger was coming back; +there was a burning sensation in his stomach, and leaden hoops seemed to +be pressing against his ribs. He had eaten nothing for two days; he had +been starving already on the previous evening, when he had accepted a +glass of beer at that tavern at Montmartre. Nevertheless, his plan was to +remain in the ditch until nightfall, and then slip away in the direction +of the village of Boulogne, where he knew of a means of egress from the +wood. He was not caught yet, he repeated, he might still manage to +escape. Then he tried to get to sleep again, but failed, so painful had +his sufferings become. By the time it was eleven, everything swam before +his eyes. He once nearly fainted, and thought that he was going to die. +Then rage gradually mastered him, and, all at once, he sprang out of his +leafy hiding-place, desperately hungering for food, unable to remain +there any longer, and determined to find something to eat, even should it +cost him his liberty and life. It was then noon. + +On leaving the ditch he found the spreading lawns of the chateau of La +Muette before him. He crossed them at a run, like a madman, instinctively +going towards Boulogne, with the one idea that his only means of escape +lay in that direction. It seemed miraculous that nobody paid attention to +his helter-skelter flight. However, when he had reached the cover of some +trees he became conscious of his imprudence, and almost regretted the +sudden madness which had borne him along, eager for escape. Trembling +nervously, he bent low among some furze bushes, and waited for a few +minutes to ascertain if the police were behind him. Then with watchful +eye and ready ear, wonderful instinct and scent of danger, he slowly went +his way again. He hoped to pass between the upper lake and the Auteuil +race-course; but there were few trees in that part, and they formed a +broad avenue. He therefore had to exert all his skill in order to avoid +observation, availing himself of the slenderest stems, the smallest +bushes, as screens, and only venturing onward after a lengthy inspection +of his surroundings. Before long the sight of a guard in the distance +revived his fears and detained him, stretched on the ground behind some +brambles, for a full quarter of an hour. Then the approach first of a +cab, whose driver had lost his way, and afterwards of a strolling +pedestrian, in turn sufficed to stop him. He breathed once more, however, +when, after passing the Mortemart hillock, he was able to enter the +thickets lying between the two roads which lead to Boulogne and St. +Cloud. The coppices thereabouts were dense, and he merely had to follow +them, screened from view, in order to reach the outlet he knew of, which +was now near at hand. So he was surely saved. + +But all at once, at a distance of some five and thirty yards, he saw a +keeper, erect and motionless, barring his way. He turned slightly to the +left and there perceived another keeper, who also seemed to be awaiting +him. And there were more and more of them; at every fifty paces or so +stood a fresh one, the whole forming a _cordon_, the meshes as it were of +a huge net. The worst was that he must have been perceived, for a light +cry, like the clear call of an owl, rang out, and was repeated farther +and farther off. The hunters were at last on the right scent, prudence +had become superfluous, and it was only by flight that the quarry might +now hope to escape. Salvat understood this so well that he suddenly began +to run, leaping over all obstacles and darting between the trees, +careless whether he were seen or heard. A few bounds carried him across +the Avenue de St. Cloud into the plantations stretching to the Allee de +la Reine Marguerite. There the undergrowth was very dense; in the whole +Bois there are no more closely set thickets. In summer they become one +vast entanglement of verdure, amidst which, had it been the leafy season, +Salvat might well have managed to secrete himself. For a moment he did +find himself alone, and thereupon he halted to listen. He could neither +see nor hear the keepers now. Had they lost his track, then? Profound +quietude reigned under the fresh young foliage. But the light, owlish cry +arose once more, branches cracked, and he resumed his wild flight, +hurrying straight before him. Unluckily he found the Allee de la Reine +Marguerite guarded by policemen, so that he could not cross over, but had +to skirt it without quitting the thickets. And now his back was turned +towards Boulogne; he was retracing his steps towards Paris. However, a +last idea came to his bewildered mind: it was to run on in this wise as +far as the shady spots around Madrid, and then, by stealing from copse to +copse, attempt to reach the Seine. To proceed thither across the bare +expanse of the race-course and training ground was not for a moment to be +thought of. + +So Salvat still ran on and on. But on reaching the Allee de Longchamp he +found it guarded like the other roads, and therefore had to relinquish +his plan of escaping by way of Madrid and the river-bank. While he was +perforce making a bend alongside the Pre Catelan, he became aware that +the keepers, led by detectives, were drawing yet nearer to him, confining +his movements to a smaller and smaller area. And his race soon acquired +all the frenzy of despair. Haggard and breathless he leapt mounds, rushed +past multitudinous obstacles. He forced a passage through brambles, broke +down palings, thrice caught his feet in wire work which he had not seen, +and fell among nettles, yet picked himself up went on again, spurred by +the stinging of his hands and face. It was then Guillaume and Pierre saw +him pass, unrecognisable and frightful, taking to the muddy water of the +rivulet like a stag which seeks to set a last obstacle between itself and +the hounds. There came to him a wild idea of getting to the lake, and +swimming, unperceived, to the island in the centre of it. That, he madly +thought, would be a safe retreat, where he might burrow and hide himself +without possibility of discovery. And so he still ran on. But once again +the sight of some guards made him retrace his steps, and he was compelled +to go back and back in the direction of Paris, chased, forced towards the +very fortifications whence he had started that morning. It was now nearly +three in the afternoon. For more than two hours and a half he had been +running. + +At last he saw a soft, sandy ride for horsemen before him. He crossed it, +splashing through the mire left by the rain, and reached a little +pathway, a delightful lovers' lane, as shady in summer as any arbour. For +some time he was able to follow it, concealed from observation, and with +his hopes reviving. But it led him to one of those broad, straight +avenues where carriages and bicycles, the whole afternoon pageant of +society, swept past under the mild and cloudy sky. So he returned to the +thickets, fell once more upon the keepers, lost all notion of the +direction he took, and even all power of thought, becoming a mere thing +carried along and thrown hither and thither by the chances of the pursuit +which pressed more and more closely upon him. Star-like crossways +followed one upon other, and at last he came to a broad lawn, where the +full light dazzled him. And there he suddenly felt the hot, panting +breath of his pursuers close in the rear. Eager, hungry breath it was, +like that of hounds seeking to devour him. Shouts rang out, one hand +almost caught hold of him, there was a rush of heavy feet, a scramble to +seize him. But with a supreme effort he leapt upon a bank, crawled to its +summit, rose again, and once more found himself alone, still running on +amid the fresh and quiet greenery. + +Nevertheless, this was the end. He almost fell flat upon the ground. His +aching feet could no longer carry him; blood was oozing from his ears, +and froth had come to his mouth. His heart beat with such violence that +it seemed likely to break his ribs. Water and perspiration streamed from +him, he was miry and haggard and tortured by hunger, conquered, in fact, +more by hunger than by fatigue. And through the mist which seemed to have +gathered before his wild eyes, he suddenly saw an open doorway, the +doorway of a coach-house in the rear of a kind of chalet, sequestered +among trees. Excepting a big white cat, which took to flight, there was +not a living creature in the place. Salvat plunged into it and rolled +over on a heap of straw, among some empty casks. He was scarcely hidden +there when he heard the chase sweep by, the detectives and the keepers +losing scent, passing the chalet and rushing in the direction of the +Paris ramparts. The noise of their heavy boots died away, and deep +silence fell, while the hunted man, who had carried both hands to his +heart to stay its beating, sank into the most complete prostration, with +big tears trickling from his closed eyes. + +Whilst all this was going on, Pierre and Guillaume, after a brief rest, +had resumed their walk, reaching the lake and proceeding towards the +crossway of the Cascades, in order to return to Neuilly by the road +beyond the water. However, a shower fell, compelling them to take shelter +under the big leafless branches of a chestnut-tree. Then, as the rain +came down more heavily and they could perceive a kind of chalet, a little +cafe-restaurant amid a clump of trees, they hastened thither for better +protection. In a side road, which they passed on their way, they saw a +cab standing, its driver waiting there in philosophical fashion under the +falling shower. Pierre, moreover, noticed a young man stepping out +briskly in front of them, a young man resembling Gerard de Quinsac, who, +whilst walking in the Bois, had no doubt been overtaken by the rain, and +like themselves was seeking shelter in the chalet. However, on entering +the latter's public room, the priest saw no sign of the gentleman, and +concluded that he must have been mistaken. This public room, which had a +kind of glazed verandah overlooking the Bois, contained a few chairs and +tables, the latter with marble tops. On the first floor there were four +or five private rooms reached by a narrow passage. Though the doors were +open the place had as yet scarcely emerged from its winter's rest. There +was nobody about, and on all sides one found the dampness common to +establishments which, from lack of custom, are compelled to close from +November until March. In the rear were some stables, a coach-house, and +various mossy, picturesque outbuildings, which painters and gardeners +would now soon embellish for the gay pleasure parties which the fine +weather would bring. + +"I really think that they haven't opened for the season yet," said +Guillaume as he entered the silent house. + +"At all events they will let us stay here till the rain stops," answered +Pierre, seating himself at one of the little tables. + +However, a waiter suddenly made his appearance seemingly in a great +hurry. He had come down from the first floor, and eagerly rummaged a +cupboard for a few dry biscuits, which he laid upon a plate. At last he +condescended to serve the brothers two glasses of Chartreuse. + +In one of the private rooms upstairs Baroness Duvillard, who had driven +to the chalet in a cab, had been awaiting her lover Gerard for nearly +half an hour. It was there that, during the charity bazaar, they had +given each other an appointment. For them the chalet had precious +memories: two years previously, on discovering that secluded nest, which +was so deserted in the early, hesitating days of chilly spring, they had +met there under circumstances which they could not forget. And the +Baroness, in choosing the house for the supreme assignation of their +dying passion, had certainly not been influenced merely by a fear that +she might be spied upon elsewhere. She had, indeed, thought of the first +kisses that had been showered on her there, and would fain have revived +them even if they should now prove the last that Gerard would bestow on +her. + +But she would also have liked to see some sunlight playing over the +youthful foliage. The ashen sky and threatening rain saddened her. And +when she entered the private room she did not recognise it, so cold and +dim it seemed with its faded furniture. Winter had tarried there, with +all the dampness and mouldy smell peculiar to rooms which have long +remained closed. Then, too, some of the wall paper which had come away +from the plaster hung down in shreds, dead flies were scattered over the +parquetry flooring; and in order to open the shutters the waiter had to +engage in a perfect fight with their fastenings. However, when he had +lighted a little gas-stove, which at once flamed up and diffused some +warmth, the room became more cosy. + +Eve had seated herself on a chair, without raising the thick veil which +hid her face. Gowned, gloved, and bonneted in black, as if she were +already in mourning for her last passion, she showed naught of her own +person save her superb fair hair, which glittered like a helm of tawny +gold. She had ordered tea for two, and when the waiter brought it with a +little plateful of dry biscuits, left, no doubt, from the previous +season, he found her in the same place, still veiled and motionless, +absorbed, it seemed, in a gloomy reverie. If she had reached the cafe +half an hour before the appointed time it was because she desired some +leisure and opportunity to overcome her despair and compose herself. She +resolved that of all things she would not weep, that she would remain +dignified and speak calmly, like one who, whatever rights she might +possess, preferred to appeal to reason only. And she was well pleased +with the courage that she found within her. Whilst thinking of what she +should say to dissuade Gerard from a marriage which to her mind would +prove both a calamity and a blunder, she fancied herself very calm, +indeed almost resigned to whatsoever might happen. + +But all at once she started and began to tremble. Gerard was entering the +room. + +"What! are you here the first, my dear?" he exclaimed. "I thought that I +myself was ten minutes before the time! And you've ordered some tea and +are waiting for me!" + +He forced a smile as he spoke, striving to display the same delight at +seeing her as he had shown in the early golden days of their passion. But +at heart he was much embarrassed, and he shuddered at the thought of the +awful scene which he could foresee. + +She had at last risen and raised her veil. And looking at him she +stammered: "Yes, I found myself at liberty earlier than I expected. . . . +I feared some impediment might arise . . . and so I came." + +Then, seeing how handsome and how affectionate he still looked, she could +not restrain her passion. All her skilful arguments, all her fine +resolutions, were swept away. Her flesh irresistibly impelled her towards +him; she loved him, she would keep him, she would never surrender him to +another. And she wildly flung her arms around his neck. + +"Oh! Gerard, Gerard! I suffer too cruelly; I cannot, I cannot bear it! +Tell me at once that you will not marry her, that you will never marry +her!" + +Her voice died away in a sob, tears started from her eyes. Ah! those +tears which she had sworn she would never shed! They gushed forth without +cessation, they streamed from her lovely eyes like a flood of the +bitterest grief. + +"My daughter, O God! What! you would marry my daughter! She, here, on +your neck where I am now! No, no, such torture is past endurance, it must +not be, I will not have it!" + +He shivered as he heard that cry of frantic jealousy raised by a mother +who now was but a woman, maddened by the thought of her rival's youth, +those five and twenty summers which she herself had left far behind. For +his part, on his way to the assignation, he had come to what he thought +the most sensible decision, resolving to break off the intercourse after +the fashion of a well-bred man, with all sorts of fine consolatory +speeches. But sternness was not in his nature. He was weak and +soft-hearted, and had never been able to withstand a woman's tears. +Nevertheless, he endeavoured to calm her, and in order to rid himself of +her embrace, he made her sit down upon the sofa. And there, beside her, +he replied: "Come, be reasonable, my dear. We came here to have a +friendly chat, did we not? I assure you that you are greatly exaggerating +matters." + +But she was determined to obtain a more positive answer from him. "No, +no!" she retorted, "I am suffering too dreadfully, I must know the truth +at once. Swear to me that you will never, never marry her!" + +He again endeavoured to avoid replying as she wished him to do. "Come, +come," he said, "you will do yourself harm by giving way to such grief as +this; you know that I love you dearly." + +"Then swear to me that you will never, never marry her." + +"But I tell you that I love you, that you are the only one I love." + +Then she again threw her arms around him, and kissed him passionately +upon the eyes. "Is it true?" she asked in a transport. "You love me, you +love no one else? Oh! tell me so again, and kiss me, and promise me that +you will never belong to her." + +Weak as he was he could not resist her ardent caresses and pressing +entreaties. There came a moment of supreme cowardice and passion; her +arms were around him and he forgot all but her, again and again repeating +that he loved none other, and would never, never marry her daughter. At +last he even sank so low as to pretend that he simply regarded that poor, +infirm creature with pity. His words of compassionate disdain for her +rival were like nectar to Eve, for they filled her with the blissful idea +that it was she herself who would ever remain beautiful in his eyes and +whom he would ever love. . . . + +At last silence fell between them, like an inevitable reaction after such +a tempest of despair and passion. It disturbed Gerard. "Won't you drink +some tea?" he asked. "It is almost cold already." + +She was not listening, however. To her the reaction had come in a +different form; and as though the inevitable explanation were only now +commencing, she began to speak in a sad and weary voice. "My dear Gerard, +you really cannot marry my daughter. In the first place it would be so +wrong, and then there is the question of your name, your position. +Forgive my frankness, but the fact is that everybody would say that you +had sold yourself--such a marriage would be a scandal for both your +family and mine." + +As she spoke she took hold of his hands, like a mother seeking to prevent +her big son from committing some terrible blunder. And he listened to +her, with bowed head and averted eyes. She now evinced no anger, no +jealous rage; all such feelings seemed to have departed with the rapture +of her passion. + +"Just think of what people would say," she continued. "I don't deceive +myself, I am fully aware that there is an abyss between your circle of +society and ours. It is all very well for us to be rich, but money simply +enlarges the gap. And it was all very fine for me to be converted, my +daughter is none the less 'the daughter of the Jewess,' as folks so often +say. Ah! my Gerard, I am so proud of you, that it would rend my heart to +see you lowered, degraded almost, by a marriage for money with a girl who +is deformed, who is unworthy of you and whom you could never love." + +He raised his eyes and looked at her entreatingly, anxious as he was to +be spared such painful talk. "But haven't I sworn to you, that you are +the only one I love?" he said. "Haven't I sworn that I would never marry +her! It's all over. Don't let us torture ourselves any longer." + +Their glances met and lingered on one another, instinct with all the +misery which they dared not express in words. Eve's face had suddenly +aged; her eyelids were red and swollen, and blotches marbled her +quivering cheeks, down which her tears again began to trickle. "My poor, +poor Gerard," said she, "how heavily I weigh on you. Oh! do not deny it! +I feel that I am an intolerable burden on your shoulders, an impediment +in your life, and that I shall bring irreparable disaster on you by my +obstinacy in wishing you to be mine alone." + +He tried to speak, but she silenced him. "No, no, all is over between us. +I am growing ugly, all is ended. And besides, I shut off the future from +you. I can be of no help to you, whereas you bestow all on me. And yet +the time has come for you to assure yourself a position. At your age you +can't continue living without any certainty of the morrow, without a home +and hearth of your own; and it would be cowardly and cruel of me to set +myself up as an obstacle, and prevent you from ending your life happily, +as I should do if I clung to you and dragged you down with me." + +Gazing at him through her tears she continued speaking in this fashion. +Like his mother she was well aware that he was weak and even sickly; and +she therefore dreamt of arranging a quiet life for him, a life of +tranquil happiness free from all fear of want. She loved him so fondly; +and possessed so much genuine kindness of heart that perhaps it might be +possible for her to rise even to renunciation and sacrifice. Moreover, +the very egotism born of her beauty suggested that it might be well for +her to think of retirement and not allow the autumn of her life to be +spoilt by torturing dramas. All this she said to him, treating him like a +child whose happiness she wished to ensure even at the price of her own; +and he, his eyes again lowered, listened without further protest, pleased +indeed to let her arrange a happy life for him. + +Examining the situation from every aspect, she at last began to +recapitulate the points in favour of that abominable marriage, the +thought of which had so intensely distressed her. "It is certain," she +said, "that Camille would bring you all that I should like you to have. +With her, I need hardly say it, would come plenty, affluence. And as for +the rest, well, I do not wish to excuse myself or you, but I could name +twenty households in which there have been worse things. Besides, I was +wrong when I said that money opened a gap between people. On the +contrary, it draws them nearer together, it secures forgiveness for every +fault; so nobody would dare to blame you, there would only be jealous +ones around you, dazzled by your good fortune." + +Gerard rose, apparently rebelling once more. "Surely," said he, "_you_ +don't insist on my marrying your daughter?" + +"Ah! no indeed! But I am sensible, and I tell you what I ought to tell +you. You must think it all over." + +"I have done so already. It is you that I have loved, and that I love +still. What you say is impossible." + +She smiled divinely, rose, and again embraced him. "How good and kind you +are, my Gerard. Ah! if you only knew how I love you, how I shall always +love you, whatever happens." + +Then she again began to weep, and even he shed tears. Their good faith +was absolute; tender of heart as they were, they sought to delay the +painful wrenching and tried to hope for further happiness. But they were +conscious that the marriage was virtually an accomplished fact. Only +tears and words were left them, while life and destiny were marching on. +And if their emotion was so acute it was probably because they felt that +this was the last time they would meet as lovers. Still they strove to +retain the illusion that they were not exchanging their last farewell, +that their lips would some day meet again in a kiss of rapture. + +Eve removed her arms from the young man's neck, and they both gazed round +the room, at the sofa, the table, the four chairs, and the little hissing +gas-stove. The moist, hot atmosphere was becoming quite oppressive. + +"And so," said Gerard, "you won't drink a cup of tea?" + +"No, it's so horrid here," she answered, while arranging her hair in +front of the looking-glass. + +At that parting moment the mournfulness of this place, where she had +hoped to find such delightful memories, filled her with distress, which +was turning to positive anguish, when she suddenly heard an uproar of +gruff voices and heavy feet. People were hastening along the passage and +knocking at the doors. And, on darting to the window, she perceived a +number of policemen surrounding the chalet. At this the wildest ideas +assailed her. Had her daughter employed somebody to follow her? Did her +husband wish to divorce her so as to marry Silviane? The scandal would be +awful, and all her plans must crumble! She waited in dismay, white like a +ghost; while Gerard, also paling and quivering, begged her to be calm. At +last, when loud blows were dealt upon the door and a Commissary of Police +enjoined them to open it, they were obliged to do so. Ah! what a moment, +and what dismay and shame! + +Meantime, for more than an hour, Pierre and Guillaume had been waiting +for the rain to cease. Seated in a corner of the glazed verandah they +talked in undertones of Barthes' painful affair, and ultimately decided +to ask Theophile Morin to dine with them on the following evening, and +inform his old friend that he must again go into exile. + +"That is the best course," repeated Guillaume. "Morin is very fond of him +and will know how to break the news. I have no doubt too that he will go +with him as far as the frontier." + +Pierre sadly looked at the falling rain. "Ah! what a choice," said he, +"to be ever driven to a foreign land under penalty of being thrust into +prison. Poor fellow! how awful it is to have never known a moment of +happiness and gaiety in one's life, to have devoted one's whole existence +to the idea of liberty, and to see it scoffed at and expire with +oneself!" + +Then the priest paused, for he saw several policemen and keepers approach +the cafe and prowl round it. Having lost scent of the man they were +hunting, they had retraced their steps with the conviction no doubt that +he had sought refuge in the chalet. And in order that he might not again +escape them, they now took every precaution, exerted all their skill in +surrounding the place before venturing on a minute search. Covert fear +came upon Pierre and Guillaume when they noticed these proceedings. It +seemed to them that it must all be connected with the chase which they +had caught a glimpse of some time previously. Still, as they happened to +be in the chalet they might be called upon to give their names and +addresses. At this thought they glanced at one another, and almost made +up their minds to go off under the rain. But they realised that anything +like flight might only compromise them the more. So they waited; and all +at once there came a diversion, for two fresh customers entered the +establishment. + +A victoria with its hood and apron raised had just drawn up outside the +door. The first to alight from it was a young, well-dressed man with a +bored expression of face. He was followed by a young woman who was +laughing merrily, as if much amused by the persistence of the downpour. +By way of jesting, indeed, she expressed her regret that she had not come +to the Bois on her bicycle, whereupon her companion retorted that to +drive about in a deluge appeared to him the height of idiocy. + +"But we were bound to go somewhere, my dear fellow," she gaily answered. +"Why didn't you take me to see the maskers?" + +"The maskers, indeed! No, no, my dear. I prefer the Bois, and even the +bottom of the lake, to them." + +Then, as the couple entered the chalet, Pierre saw that the young woman +who made merry over the rain was little Princess Rosemonde, while her +companion, who regarded the mid-Lent festivities as horrible, and +bicycling as an utterly unaesthetic amusement, was handsome Hyacinthe +Duvillard. On the previous evening, while they were taking a cup of tea +together on their return from the Chamber of Horrors, the young man had +responded to the Princess's blandishments by declaring that the only form +of attachment he believed in was a mystic union of intellects and souls. +And as such a union could only be fittingly arrived at amidst the cold, +chaste snow, they had decided that they would start for Christiania on +the following Monday. Their chief regret was that by the time they +reached the fiords the worst part of the northern winter would be over. + +They sat down in the cafe and ordered some kummel, but there was none, +said the waiter, so they had to content themselves with common anisette. +Then Hyacinthe, who had been a schoolfellow of Guillaume's sons, +recognised both him and Pierre; and leaning towards Rosemonde told her in +a whisper who the elder brother was. + +Thereupon, with sudden enthusiasm, she sprang to her feet: "Guillaume +Froment, indeed! the great chemist!" And stepping forward with arm +outstretched, she continued: "Ah! monsieur, you must excuse me, but I +really must shake hands with you. I have so much admiration for you! You +have done such wonderful work in connection with explosives!" Then, +noticing the chemist's astonishment, she again burst into a laugh: "I am +the Princess de Harn, your brother Abbe Froment knows me, and I ought to +have asked him to introduce me. However, we have mutual friends, you and +I; for instance, Monsieur Janzen, a very distinguished man, as you are +aware. He was to have taken me to see you, for I am a modest disciple of +yours. Yes, I have given some attention to chemistry, oh! from pure zeal +for truth and in the hope of helping good causes, not otherwise. So you +will let me call on you--won't you?--directly I come back from +Christiania, where I am going with my young friend here, just to acquire +some experience of unknown emotions." + +In this way she rattled on, never allowing the others an opportunity to +say a word. And she mingled one thing with another; her cosmopolitan +tastes, which had thrown her into Anarchism and the society of shady +adventurers; her new passion for mysticism and symbolism; her belief that +the ideal must triumph over base materialism; her taste for aesthetic +verse; and her dream of some unimagined rapture when Hyacinthe should +kiss her with his frigid lips in a realm of eternal snow. + +All at once, however, she stopped short and again began to laugh. "Dear +me!" she exclaimed. "What are those policemen looking for here? Have they +come to arrest us? How amusing it would be!" + +Police Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir had just made up their +minds to search the cafe, as their men had hitherto failed to find Salvat +in any of the outbuildings. They were convinced that he was here. Dupot, +a thin, bald, short-sighted, spectacled little man, wore his usual +expression of boredom and weariness; but in reality he was very wide +awake and extremely courageous. He himself carried no weapons; but, as he +anticipated a most violent resistance, such as might be expected from a +trapped wolf, he advised Mondesir to have his revolver ready. From +considerations of hierarchical respect, however, the detective, who with +his snub nose and massive figure had much the appearance of a bull-dog, +was obliged to let his superior enter first. + +From behind his spectacles the Commissary of Police quickly scrutinized +the four customers whom he found in the cafe: the lady, the priest, and +the two other men. And passing them in a disdainful way, he at once made +for the stairs, intending to inspect the upper floor. Thereupon the +waiter, frightened by the sudden intrusion of the police, lost his head +and stammered: "But there's a lady and gentleman upstairs in one of the +private rooms." + +Dupot quietly pushed him aside. "A lady and gentleman, that's not what we +are looking for. . . . Come, make haste, open all the doors, you mustn't +leave a cupboard closed." + +Then climbing to the upper floor, he and Mondesir explored in turn every +apartment and corner till they at last reached the room where Eve and +Gerard were together. Here the waiter was unable to admit them, as the +door was bolted inside. "Open the door!" he called through the keyhole, +"it isn't you that they want!" + +At last the bolt was drawn back, and Dupot, without even venturing to +smile, allowed the trembling lady and gentleman to go downstairs, while +Mondesir, entering the room, looked under every article of furniture, and +even peeped into a little cupboard in order that no neglect might be +imputed to him. + +Meantime, in the public room which they had to cross after descending the +stairs, Eve and Gerard experienced fresh emotion; for people whom they +knew were there, brought together by an extraordinary freak of chance. +Although Eve's face was hidden by a thick veil, her eyes met her son's +glance and she felt sure that he recognised her. What a fatality! He had +so long a tongue and told his sister everything! Then, as the Count, in +despair at such a scandal, hurried off with the Baroness to conduct her +through the pouring rain to her cab, they both distinctly heard little +Princess Rosemonde exclaim: "Why, that was Count de Quinsac! Who was the +lady, do you know?" And as Hyacinthe, greatly put out, returned no +answer, she insisted, saying: "Come, you must surely know her. Who was +she, eh?" + +"Oh! nobody. Some woman or other," he ended by replying. + +Pierre, who had understood the truth, turned his eyes away to hide his +embarrassment. But all at once the scene changed. At the very moment when +Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir came downstairs again, after +vainly exploring the upper floor, a loud shout was raised outside, +followed by a noise of running and scrambling. Then Gascogne, the Chief +of the Detective Force, who had remained in the rear of the chalet, +continuing the search through the outbuildings, made his appearance, +pushing before him a bundle of rags and mud, which two policemen held on +either side. And this bundle was the man, the hunted man, who had just +been discovered in the coach-house, inside a staved cask, covered with +hay. + +Ah! what a whoop of victory there was after that run of two hours' +duration, that frantic chase which had left them all breathless and +footsore! It had been the most exciting, the most savage of all sports--a +man hunt! They had caught the man at last, and they pushed him, they +dragged him, they belaboured him with blows. And he, the man, what a +sorry prey he looked! A wreck, wan and dirty from having spent the night +in a hole full of leaves, still soaked to his waist from having rushed +through a stream, drenched too by the rain, bespattered with mire, his +coat and trousers in tatters, his cap a mere shred, his legs and hands +bleeding from his terrible rush through thickets bristling with brambles +and nettles. There no longer seemed anything human about his face; his +hair stuck to his moist temples, his bloodshot eyes protruded from their +sockets; fright, rage, and suffering were all blended on his wasted, +contracted face. Still it was he, the man, the quarry, and they gave him +another push, and he sank on one of the tables of the little cafe, still +held and shaken, however, by the rough hands of the policemen. + +Then Guillaume shuddered as if thunderstruck, and caught hold of Pierre's +hand. At this the priest, who was looking on, suddenly understood the +truth and also quivered. Salvat! the man was Salvat! It was Salvat whom +they had seen rushing through the wood like a wild boar forced by the +hounds. And it was Salvat who was there, now conquered and simply a +filthy bundle. Then once more there came to Pierre, amidst his anguish, a +vision of the errand girl lying yonder at the entrance of the Duvillard +mansion, the pretty fair-haired girl whom the bomb had ripped and killed! + +Dupot and Mondesir made haste to participate in Gascogne's triumph. To +tell the truth, however, the man had offered no resistance; it was like a +lamb that he had let the police lay hold of him. And since he had been in +the cafe, still roughly handled, he had simply cast a weary and mournful +glance around him. + +At last he spoke, and the first words uttered by his hoarse, gasping +voice were these: "I am hungry." + +He was sinking with hunger and weariness. This was the third day that he +had eaten nothing. + +"Give him some bread," said Commissary Dupot to the waiter. "He can eat +it while a cab is being fetched." + +A policeman went off to find a vehicle. The rain had suddenly ceased +falling, the clear ring of a bicyclist's bell was heard in the distance, +some carriages drove by, and under the pale sunrays life again came back +to the Bois. + +Meantime, Salvat had fallen gluttonously upon the hunk of bread which had +been given him, and whilst he was devouring it with rapturous animal +satisfaction, he perceived the four customers seated around. He seemed +irritated by the sight of Hyacinthe and Rosemonde, whose faces expressed +the mingled anxiety and delight they felt at thus witnessing the arrest +of some bandit or other. But all at once his mournful, bloodshot eyes +wavered, for to his intense surprise he had recognised Pierre and +Guillaume. When he again looked at the latter it was with the submissive +affection of a grateful dog, and as if he were once more promising that +he would divulge nothing, whatever might happen. + +At last he again spoke, as if addressing himself like a man of courage, +both to Guillaume, from whom he had averted his eyes, and to others also, +his comrades who were not there: "It was silly of me to run," said he. "I +don't know why I did so. It's best that it should be all ended. I'm +ready." + + + +V + +THE GAME OF POLITICS + +ON reading the newspapers on the following morning Pierre and Guillaume +were greatly surprised at not finding in them the sensational accounts of +Salvat's arrest which they had expected. All they could discover was a +brief paragraph in a column of general news, setting forth that some +policemen on duty in the Bois de Boulogne had there arrested an +Anarchist, who was believed to have played a part in certain recent +occurrences. On the other hand, the papers gave a deal of space to the +questions raised by Sagnier's fresh denunciations. There were innumerable +articles on the African Railways scandal, and the great debate which +might be expected at the Chamber of Deputies, should Mege, the Socialist +member, really renew his interpellation, as he had announced his +intention of doing. + +As Guillaume's wrist was now fast healing, and nothing seemed to threaten +him, he had already, on the previous evening, decided that he would +return to Montmartre. The police had passed him by without apparently +suspecting any responsibility on his part; and he was convinced that +Salvat would keep silent. Pierre, however, begged him to wait a little +longer, at any rate until the prisoner should have been interrogated by +the investigating magistrate, by which time they would be able to judge +the situation more clearly. Pierre, moreover, during his long stay at the +Home Department on the previous morning, had caught a glimpse of certain +things and overheard certain words which made him suspect some dim +connection between Salvat's crime and the parliamentary crisis; and he +therefore desired a settlement of the latter before Guillaume returned to +his wonted life. + +"Just listen," he said to his brother. "I am going to Morin's to ask him +to come and dine here this evening, for it is absolutely necessary that +Barthes should be warned of the fresh blow which is falling on him. And +then I think I shall go to the Chamber, as I want to know what takes +place there. After that, since you desire it, I will let you go back to +your own home." + +It was not more than half-past one when Pierre reached the +Palais-Bourbon. It had occurred to him that Fonsegue would be able to +secure him admittance to the meeting-hall, but in the vestibule he met +General de Bozonnet, who happened to possess a couple of tickets. A +friend of his, who was to have accompanied him, had, at the last moment, +been unable to come. So widespread was the curiosity concerning the +debate now near at hand, and so general were the predictions that it +would prove a most exciting one, that the demand for tickets had been +extremely keen during the last twenty-four hours. In fact Pierre would +never have been able to obtain admittance if the General had not +good-naturedly offered to take him in. As a matter of fact the old +warrior was well pleased to have somebody to chat with. He explained that +he had simply come there to kill time, just as he might have killed it at +a concert or a charity bazaar. However, like the ex-Legitimist and +Bonapartist that he was, he had really come for the pleasure of feasting +his eyes on the shameful spectacle of parliamentary ignominy. + +When the General and Pierre had climbed the stairs, they were able to +secure two front seats in one of the public galleries. Little Massot, who +was already there, and who knew them both, placed one of them on his +right and the other on his left. "I couldn't find a decent seat left in +the press gallery," said he, "but I managed to get this place, from which +I shall be able to see things properly. It will certainly be a big +sitting. Just look at the number of people there are on every side!" + +The narrow and badly arranged galleries were packed to overflowing. There +were men of every age and a great many women too in the confused, serried +mass of spectators, amidst which one only distinguished a multiplicity of +pale white faces. The real scene, however, was down below in the +meeting-hall, which was as yet empty, and with its rows of seats disposed +in semi-circular fashion looked like the auditorium of a theatre. Under +the cold light which fell from the glazed roofing appeared the solemn, +shiny tribune, whence members address the Chamber, whilst behind it, on a +higher level, and running right along the rear wall, was what is called +the Bureau, with its various tables and seats, including the presidential +armchair. The Bureau, like the tribune, was still unoccupied. The only +persons one saw there were a couple of attendants who were laying out new +pens and filling inkstands. + +"The women," said Massot with a laugh, after another glance at the +galleries, "come here just as they might come to a menagerie, that is, in +the secret hope of seeing wild beasts devour one another. But, by the +way, did you read the article in the 'Voix du Peuple' this morning? What +a wonderful fellow that Sagnier is. When nobody else can find any filth +left, he manages to discover some. He apparently thinks it necessary to +add something new every day, in order to send his sales up. And of course +it all disturbs the public, and it's thanks to him that so many people +have come here in the hope of witnessing some horrid scene." + +Then he laughed again, as he asked Pierre if he had read an unsigned +article in the "Globe," which in very dignified but perfidious language +had called upon Barroux to give the full and frank explanations which the +country had a right to demand in that matter of the African Railways. +This paper had hitherto vigorously supported the President of the +Council, but in the article in question the coldness which precedes a +rupture was very apparent. Pierre replied that the article had much +surprised him, for he had imagined that Fonsegue and Barroux were linked +together by identity of views and long-standing personal friendship. + +Massot was still laughing. "Quite so," said he. "And you may be sure that +the governor's heart bled when he wrote that article. It has been much +noticed, and it will do the government a deal of harm. But the governor, +you see, knows better than anybody else what line he ought to follow to +save both his own position and the paper's." + +Then he related what extraordinary confusion and emotion reigned among +the deputies in the lobbies through which he had strolled before coming +upstairs to secure a seat. After an adjournment of a couple of days the +Chamber found itself confronted by this terrible scandal, which was like +one of those conflagrations which, at the moment when they are supposed +to be dying out, suddenly flare up again and devour everything. The +various figures given in Sagnier's list, the two hundred thousand francs +paid to Barroux, the eighty thousand handed to Monferrand, the fifty +thousand allotted to Fonsegue, the ten thousand pocketed by Duthil, and +the three thousand secured by Chaigneux, with all the other amounts +distributed among So-and-so and So-and-so, formed the general subject of +conversation. And at the same time some most extraordinary stories were +current; there was no end of tittle-tattle in which fact and falsehood +were so inextricably mingled that everybody was at sea as to the real +truth. Whilst many deputies turned pale and trembled as beneath a blast +of terror, others passed by purple with excitement, bursting with +delight, laughing with exultation at the thought of coming victory. For, +in point of fact, beneath all the assumed indignation, all the calls for +parliamentary cleanliness and morality, there simply lay a question of +persons--the question of ascertaining whether the government would be +overthrown, and in that event of whom the new administration would +consist. Barroux no doubt appeared to be in a bad way; but with things in +such a muddle one was bound to allow a margin for the unexpected. From +what was generally said it seemed certain that Mege would be extremely +violent. Barroux would answer him, and the Minister's friends declared +that he was determined to speak out in the most decisive manner. As for +Monferrand he would probably address the Chamber after his colleague, but +Vignon's intentions were somewhat doubtful, as, in spite of his delight, +he made a pretence of remaining in the back, ground. He had been seen +going from one to another of his partisans, advising them to keep calm, +in order that they might retain the cold, keen _coup d'oeil_ which in +warfare generally decides the victory. Briefly, such was the plotting and +intriguing that never had any witch's cauldron brimful of drugs and +nameless abominations been set to boil on a more hellish fire than that +of this parliamentary cook-shop. + +"Heaven only knows what they will end by serving us," said little Massot +by way of conclusion. + +General de Bozonnet for his part anticipated nothing but disaster. If +France had only possessed an army, said he, one might have swept away +that handful of bribe-taking parliamentarians who preyed upon the country +and rotted it. But there was no army left, there was merely an armed +nation, a very different thing. And thereupon, like a man of a past age +whom the present times distracted, he started on what had been his +favourite subject of complaint ever since he had been retired from the +service. + +"Here's an idea for an article if you want one," he said to Massot. +"Although France may have a million soldiers she hasn't got an army. I'll +give you some notes of mine, and you will be able to tell people the +truth." + +Warfare, he continued, ought to be purely and simply a caste occupation, +with commanders designated by divine right, leading mercenaries or +volunteers into action. By democratising warfare people had simply killed +it; a circumstance which he deeply regretted, like a born soldier who +regarded fighting as the only really noble occupation that life offered. +For, as soon as it became every man's duty to fight, none was willing to +do so; and thus compulsory military service--what was called "the nation +in arms"--would, at a more or less distant date, certainly bring about +the end of warfare. If France had not engaged in a European war since +1870 this was precisely due to the fact that everybody in France was +ready to fight. But rulers hesitated to throw a whole nation against +another nation, for the loss both in life and treasure would be +tremendous. And so the thought that all Europe was transformed into a +vast camp filled the General with anger and disgust. He sighed for the +old times when men fought for the pleasure of the thing, just as they +hunted; whereas nowadays people were convinced that they would +exterminate one another at the very first engagement. + +"But surely it wouldn't be an evil if war should disappear," Pierre +gently remarked. + +This somewhat angered the General. "Well, you'll have pretty nations if +people no longer fight," he answered, and then trying to show a practical +spirit, he added: "Never has the art of war cost more money than since +war itself has become an impossibility. The present-day defensive peace +is purely and simply ruining every country in Europe. One may be spared +defeat, but utter bankruptcy is certainly at the end of it all. And in +any case the profession of arms is done for. All faith in it is dying +out, and it will soon be forsaken, just as men have begun to forsake the +priesthood." + +Thereupon he made a gesture of mingled grief and anger, almost cursing +that parliament, that Republican legislature before him, as if he +considered it responsible for the future extinction of warfare. But +little Massot was wagging his head dubiously, for he regarded the subject +as rather too serious a one for him to write upon. And, all at once, in +order to turn the conversation into another channel, he exclaimed: "Ah! +there's Monseigneur Martha in the diplomatic gallery beside the Spanish +Ambassador. It's denied, you know, that he intends to come forward as a +candidate in Morbihan. He's far too shrewd to wish to be a deputy. He +already pulls the strings which set most of the Catholic deputies who +have 'rallied' to the Republican Government in motion." + +Pierre himself had just noticed Monseigneur Martha's smiling face. And, +somehow or other, however modest might be the prelate's demeanour, it +seemed to him that he really played an important part in what was going +on. He could hardly take his eyes from him. It was as if he expected that +he would suddenly order men hither and thither, and direct the whole +march of events. + +"Ah!" said Massot again. "Here comes Mege. It won't be long now before +the sitting begins." + +The hall, down below, was gradually filling. Deputies entered and +descended the narrow passages between the benches. Most of them remained +standing and chatting in a more or less excited way; but some seated +themselves and raised their grey, weary faces to the glazed roof. It was +a cloudy afternoon, and rain was doubtless threatening, for the light +became quite livid. If the hall was pompous it was also dismal with its +heavy columns, its cold allegorical statues, and its stretches of bare +marble and woodwork. The only brightness was that of the red velvet of +the benches and the gallery hand-rests. + +Every deputy of any consequence who entered was named by Massot to his +companions. Mege, on being stopped by another member of the little +Socialist group, began to fume and gesticulate. Then Vignon, detaching +himself from a group of friends and putting on an air of smiling +composure, descended the steps towards his seat. The occupants of the +galleries, however, gave most attention to the accused members, those +whose names figured in Sagnier's list. And these were interesting +studies. Some showed themselves quite sprightly, as if they were entirely +at their ease; but others had assumed a most grave and indignant +demeanour. Chaigneux staggered and hesitated as if beneath the weight of +some frightful act of injustice; whereas Duthil looked perfectly serene +save for an occasional twitch of his lips. The most admired, however, was +Fonsegue, who showed so candid a face, so open a glance, that his +colleagues as well as the spectators might well have declared him +innocent. Nobody indeed could have looked more like an honest man. + +"Ah! there's none like the governor," muttered Massot with enthusiasm. +"But be attentive, for here come the ministers. One mustn't miss Barroux' +meeting with Fonsegue, after this morning's article." + +Chance willed it that as Barroux came along with his head erect, his face +pale, and his whole demeanour aggressive, he was obliged to pass Fonsegue +in order to reach the ministerial bench. In doing so he did not speak to +him, but he gazed at him fixedly like one who is conscious of defection, +of a cowardly stab in the back on the part of a traitor. Fonsegue seemed +quite at ease, and went on shaking hands with one and another of his +colleagues as if he were altogether unconscious of Barroux' glance. Nor +did he even appear to see Monferrand, who walked by in the rear of the +Prime Minister, wearing a placid good-natured air, as if he knew nothing +of what was impending, but was simply coming to some ordinary humdrum +sitting. However, when he reached his seat, he raised his eyes and smiled +at Monseigneur Martha, who gently nodded to him. Then well pleased to +think that things were going as he wished them to go, he began to rub his +hands, as he often did by way of expressing his satisfaction. + +"Who is that grey-haired, mournful-looking gentleman on the ministerial +bench?" Pierre inquired of Massot. + +"Why, that's Taboureau, the Minister of Public Instruction, the excellent +gentleman who is said to have no prestige. One's always hearing of him, +and one never recognises him; he looks like an old, badly worn coin. Just +like Barroux he can't feel very well pleased with the governor this +afternoon, for to-day's 'Globe' contained an article pointing out his +thorough incapacity in everything concerning the fine arts. It was an +article in measured language, but all the more effective for that very +reason. It would surprise me if Taboureau should recover from it." + +Just then a low roll of drums announced the arrival of the President and +other officials of the Chamber. A door opened, and a little procession +passed by amidst an uproar of exclamations and hasty footsteps. Then, +standing at his table, the President rang his bell and declared the +sitting open. But few members remained silent, however, whilst one of the +secretaries, a dark, lanky young man with a harsh voice, read the minutes +of the previous sitting. When they had been adopted, various letters of +apology for non-attendance were read, and a short, unimportant bill was +passed without discussion. And then came the big affair, Mege's +interpellation, and at once the whole Chamber was in a flutter, while the +most passionate curiosity reigned in the galleries above. On the +Government consenting to the interpellation, the Chamber decided that the +debate should take place at once. And thereupon complete silence fell, +save that now and again a brief quiver sped by, in which one could detect +the various feelings, passions and appetites swaying the assembly. + +Mege began to speak with assumed moderation, carefully setting forth the +various points at issue. Tall and thin, gnarled and twisted like a +vine-stock, he rested his hands on the tribune as if to support his bent +figure, and his speech was often interrupted by the little dry cough +which came from the tuberculosis that was burning him. But his eyes +sparkled with passion behind his glasses, and little by little his voice +rose in piercing accents and he drew his lank figure erect and began to +gesticulate vehemently. He reminded the Chamber that some two months +previously, at the time of the first denunciations published by the "Voix +du Peuple," he had asked leave to interpellate the Government respecting +that deplorable affair of the African Railways; and he remarked, truly +enough, that if the Chamber had not yielded to certain considerations +which he did not wish to discuss, and had not adjourned his proposed +inquiries, full light would long since have been thrown on the whole +affair, in such wise that there would have been no revival, no increase +of the scandal, and no possible pretext for that abominable campaign of +denunciation which tortured and disgusted the country. However, it had at +last been understood that silence could be maintained no longer. It was +necessary that the two ministers who were so loudly accused of having +abused their trusts, should prove their innocence, throw full light upon +all they had done; apart from which the Chamber itself could not possibly +remain beneath the charge of wholesale venality. + +Then he recounted the whole history of the affair, beginning with the +grant of a concession for the African Lines to Baron Duvillard; and next +passing to the proposals for the issue of lottery stock, which proposals, +it was now said, had only been sanctioned by the Chamber after the most +shameful bargaining and buying of votes. At this point Mege became +extremely violent. Speaking of that mysterious individual Hunter, Baron +Duvillard's recruiter and go-between, he declared that the police had +allowed him to flee from France, much preferring to spend its time in +shadowing Socialist deputies. Then, hammering the tribune with his fist, +he summoned Barroux to give a categorical denial to the charges brought +against him, and to make it absolutely clear that he had never received a +single copper of the two hundred thousand francs specified in Hunter's +list. Forthwith certain members shouted to Mege that he ought to read the +whole list; but when he wished to do so others vociferated that it was +abominable, that such a mendacious and slanderous document ought not to +be accorded a place in the proceedings of the French legislature. Mege +went on still in frantic fashion, figuratively casting Sagnier into the +gutter, and protesting that there was nothing in common between himself +and such a base insulter. But at the same time he demanded that justice +and punishment should be meted out equally to one and all, and that if +indeed there were any bribe-takers among his colleagues, they should be +sent that very night to the prison of Mazas. + +Meantime the President, erect at his table, rang and rang his bell +without managing to quell the uproar. He was like a pilot who finds the +tempest too strong for him. Among all the men with purple faces and +barking mouths who were gathered in front of him, the ushers alone +maintained imperturbable gravity. At intervals between the bursts of +shouting, Mege's voice could still be heard. By some sudden transition he +had come to the question of a Collectivist organisation of society such +as he dreamt of, and he contrasted it with the criminal capitalist +society of the present day, which alone, said he, could produce such +scandals. And yielding more and more to his apostolic fervour, declaring +that there could be no salvation apart from Collectivism, he shouted that +the day of triumph would soon dawn. He awaited it with a smile of +confidence. In his opinion, indeed, he merely had to overthrow that +ministry and perhaps another one, and then he himself would at last take +the reins of power in hand, like a reformer who would know how to pacify +the nation. As outside Socialists often declared, it was evident that the +blood of a dictator flowed in that sectarian's veins. His feverish, +stubborn rhetoric ended by exhausting his interrupters, who were +compelled to listen to him. When he at last decided to leave the tribune, +loud applause arose from a few benches on the left. + +"Do you know," said Massot to the General, "I met Mege taking a walk with +his three little children in the Jardin des Plantes the other day. He +looked after them as carefully as an old nurse. I believe he's a very +worthy fellow at heart, and lives in a very modest way." + +But a quiver had now sped through the assembly. Barroux had quitted his +seat to ascend the tribune. He there drew himself erect, throwing his +head back after his usual fashion. There was a haughty, majestic, +slightly sorrowful expression on his handsome face, which would have been +perfect had his nose only been a little larger. He began to express his +sorrow and indignation in fine flowery language, which he punctuated with +theatrical gestures. His eloquence was that of a tribune of the romantic +school, and as one listened to him one could divine that in spite of all +his pomposity he was really a worthy, tender-hearted and somewhat foolish +man. That afternoon he was stirred by genuine emotion; his heart bled at +the thought of his disastrous destiny, he felt that a whole world was +crumbling with himself. Ah! what a cry of despair he stifled, the cry of +the man who is buffeted and thrown aside by the course of events on the +very day when he thinks that his civic devotion entitles him to triumph! +To have given himself and all he possessed to the cause of the Republic, +even in the dark days of the Second Empire; to have fought and struggled +and suffered persecution for that Republic's sake; to have established +that Republic amidst the battle of parties, after all the horrors of +national and civil war; and then, when the Republic at last triumphed and +became a living fact, secure from all attacks and intrigues, to suddenly +feel like a survival of some other age, to hear new comers speak a new +language, preach a new ideal, and behold the collapse of all he had +loved, all he had reverenced, all that had given him strength to fight +and conquer! The mighty artisans of the early hours were no more; it had +been meet that Gambetta should die. How bitter it all was for the last +lingering old ones to find themselves among the men of the new, +intelligent and shrewd generation, who gently smiled at them, deeming +their romanticism quite out of fashion! All crumbled since the ideal of +liberty collapsed, since liberty was no longer the one desideratum, the +very basis of the Republic whose existence had been so dearly purchased +after so long an effort! + +Erect and dignified Barroux made his confession. The Republic to him was +like the sacred ark of life; the very worst deeds became saintly if they +were employed to save her from peril. And in all simplicity he, told his +story, how he had found the great bulk of Baron Duvillard's money going +to the opposition newspapers as pretended payment for puffery and +advertising, whilst on the other hand the Republican organs received but +beggarly, trumpery amounts. He had been Minister of the Interior at the +time, and had therefore had charge of the press; so what would have been +said of him if he had not endeavoured to reestablish some equilibrium in +this distribution of funds in order that the adversaries of the +institutions of the country might not acquire a great increase of +strength by appropriating all the sinews of war? Hands had been stretched +out towards him on all sides, a score of newspapers, the most faithful, +the most meritorious, had claimed their legitimate share. And he had +ensured them that share by distributing among them the two hundred +thousand francs set down in the list against his name. Not a centime of +the money had gone into his own pocket, he would allow nobody to impugn +his personal honesty, on that point his word must suffice. At that moment +Barroux was really grand. All his emphatic pomposity disappeared; he +showed himself, as he really was--an honest man, quivering, his heart +bared, his conscience bleeding, in his bitter distress at having been +among those who had laboured and at now being denied reward. + +For, truth to tell, his words fell amidst icy silence. In his childish +simplicity he had anticipated an outburst of enthusiasm; a Republican +Chamber could but acclaim him for having saved the Republic; and now the +frigidity of one and all quite froze him. He suddenly felt that he was +all alone, done for, touched by the hand of death. Nevertheless, he +continued speaking amidst that terrible silence with the courage of one +who is committing suicide, and who, from his love of noble and eloquent +attitudes, is determined to die standing. He ended with a final +impressive gesture. However, as he came down from the tribune, the +general coldness seemed to increase, not a single member applauded. With +supreme clumsiness he had alluded to the secret scheming of Rome and the +clergy, whose one object, in his opinion, was to recover the predominant +position they had lost and restore monarchy in France at a more or less +distant date. + +"How silly of him! Ought a man ever to confess?" muttered Massot. "He's +done for, and the ministry too!" + +Then, amidst the general frigidity, Monferrand boldly ascended the +tribune stairs. The prevailing uneasiness was compounded of all the +secret fear which sincerity always causes, of all the distress of the +bribe-taking deputies who felt that they were rolling into an abyss, and +also of the embarrassment which the others felt at thought of the more or +less justifiable compromises of politics. Something like relief, +therefore, came when Monferrand started with the most emphatic denials, +protesting in the name of his outraged honour, and dealing blow after +blow on the tribune with one hand, while with the other he smote his +chest. Short and thick-set, with his face thrust forward, hiding his +shrewdness beneath an expression of indignant frankness, he was for a +moment really superb. He denied everything. He was not only ignorant of +what was meant by that sum of eighty thousand francs set down against his +name, but he defied the whole world to prove that he had even touched a +single copper of that money. He boiled over with indignation to such a +point that he did not simply deny bribe-taking on his own part, he denied +it on behalf of the whole assembly, of all present and past French +legislatures, as if, indeed, bribe-taking on the part of a representative +of the people was altogether too monstrous an idea, a crime that +surpassed possibility to such an extent that the mere notion of it was +absurd. And thereupon applause rang out; the Chamber, delivered from its +fears, thrilled by his words, acclaimed him. + +From the little Socialist group, however, some jeers arose, and voices +summoned Monferrand to explain himself on the subject of the African +Railways, reminding him that he had been at the head of the Public Works +Department at the time of the vote, and requiring of him that he should +state what he now meant to do, as Minister of the Interior, in order to +reassure the country. He juggled with this question, declaring that if +there were any guilty parties they would be punished, for he did not +require anybody to remind him of his duty. And then, all at once, with +incomparable maestria, he had recourse to the diversion which he had been +preparing since the previous day. His duty, said he, was a thing which he +never forgot; he discharged it like a faithful soldier of the nation hour +by hour, and with as much vigilance as prudence. He had been accused of +employing the police on he knew not what base spying work in such wise as +to allow the man Hunter to escape. Well, as for that much-slandered +police force, he would tell the Chamber on what work he had really +employed it the day before, and how zealously it had laboured for the +cause of law and order. In the Bois de Boulogne, on the previous +afternoon, it had arrested that terrible scoundrel, the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, that Anarchist mechanician Salvat, +who for six weeks past had so cunningly contrived to elude capture. The +scoundrel had made a full confession during the evening, and the law +would now take its course with all despatch. Public morality was at last +avenged, Paris might now emerge in safety from its long spell of terror, +Anarchism would be struck down, annihilated. And that was what he, +Monferrand, had done as a Minister for the honour and safety of his +country, whilst villains were vainly seeking to dishonour him by +inscribing his name on a list of infamy, the outcome of the very basest +political intrigues. + +The Chamber listened agape and quivering. This story of Salvat's arrest, +which none of the morning papers had reported; the present which +Monferrand seemed to be making them of that terrible Anarchist whom many +had already begun to regard as a myth; the whole _mise-en-scene_ of the +Minister's speech transported the deputies as if they were suddenly +witnessing the finish of a long-interrupted drama. Stirred and flattered, +they prolonged their applause, while Monferrand went on celebrating his +act of energy, how he had saved society, how crime should be punished, +and how he himself would ever prove that he had a strong arm and could +answer for public order. He even won favour with the Conservatives and +Clericals on the Right by separating himself from Barroux, addressing a +few words of sympathy to those Catholics who had "rallied" to the +Republic, and appealing for concord among men of different beliefs in +order that they might fight the common enemy, that fierce, wild socialism +which talked of overthrowing everything! + +By the time Monferrand came down from the tribune, the trick was played, +he had virtually saved himself. Both the Right and Left of the Chamber* +applauded, drowning the protests of the few Socialists whose +vociferations only added to the triumphal tumult. Members eagerly +stretched out their hands to the Minister, who for a moment remained +standing there and smiling. But there was some anxiety in that smile of +his; his success was beginning to frighten him. Had he spoken too well, +and saved the entire Cabinet instead of merely saving himself? That would +mean the ruin of his plan. The Chamber ought not to vote under the effect +of that speech which had thrilled it so powerfully. Thus Monferrand, +though he still continued to smile, spent a few anxious moments in +waiting to see if anybody would rise to answer him. + + * Ever since the days of the Bourbon Restoration it has been + the practice in the French Chambers for the more conservative + members to seat themselves on the President's right, and for + the Radical ones to place themselves on his left. The central + seats of the semicircle in which the members' seats are + arranged in tiers are usually occupied by men of moderate views. + Generally speaking, such terms as Right Centre and Left Centre + are applied to groups of Moderates inclining in the first place + to Conservatism and in the latter to Radicalism. All this is of + course known to readers acquainted with French institutions, but + I give the explanation because others, after perusing French + news in some daily paper, have often asked me what was meant by + "a deputy of the Right," and so forth.--Trans. + +His success had been as great among the occupants of the galleries as +among the deputies themselves. Several ladies had been seen applauding, +and Monseigneur Martha had given unmistakable signs of the liveliest +satisfaction. "Ah, General!" said Massot to Bozonnet in a sneering way. +"Those are our fighting men of the present time. And he's a bold and +strong one, is Monferrand. Of course it is all what people style 'saving +one's bacon,' but none the less it's very clever work." + +Just then, however, Monferrand to his great satisfaction had seen Vignon +rise from his seat in response to the urging of his friends. And +thereupon all anxiety vanished from the Minister's smile, which became +one of malicious placidity. + +The very atmosphere of the Chamber seemed to change with Vignon in the +tribune. He was slim, with a fair and carefully tended beard, blue eyes +and all the suppleness of youth. He spoke, moreover, like a practical +man, in simple, straightforward language, which made the emptiness of the +other's declamatory style painfully conspicuous. His term of official +service as a prefect in the provinces had endowed him with keen insight; +and it was in an easy way that he propounded and unravelled the most +intricate questions. Active and courageous, confident in his own star, +too young and too shrewd to have compromised himself in anything so far, +he was steadily marching towards the future. He had already drawn up a +rather more advanced political programme than that of Barroux and +Monferrand, so that when opportunity offered there might be good reasons +for him to take their place. Moreover, he was quite capable of carrying +out his programme by attempting some of the long-promised reforms for +which the country was waiting. He had guessed that honesty, when it had +prudence and shrewdness as its allies, must some day secure an innings. +In a clear voice, and in a very quiet, deliberate way, he now said what +it was right to say on the subject under discussion, the things that +common sense dictated and that the Chamber itself secretly desired should +be said. He was certainly the first to rejoice over an arrest which would +reassure the country; but he failed to understand what connection there +could be between that arrest and the sad business that had been brought +before the Chamber. The two affairs were quite distinct and different, +and he begged his colleagues not to vote in the state of excitement in +which he saw them. Full light must be thrown on the African Railways +question, and this, one could not expect from the two incriminated +ministers. However, he was opposed to any suggestion of a committee of +inquiry. In his opinion the guilty parties, if such there were, ought to +be brought immediately before a court of law. And, like Barroux, he wound +up with a discreet allusion to the growing influence of the clergy, +declaring that he was against all unworthy compromises, and was equally +opposed to any state dictatorship and any revival of the ancient +theocratic spirit. + +Although there was but little applause when Vignon returned to his seat, +it was evident that the Chamber was again master of its emotions. And the +situation seemed so clear, and the overthrow of the ministry so certain, +that Mege, who had meant to reply to the others, wisely abstained from +doing so. Meantime people noticed the placid demeanour of Monferrand, who +had listened to Vignon with the utmost complacency, as if he were +rendering homage to an adversary's talent; whereas Barroux, ever since +the cold silence which had greeted his speech, had remained motionless in +his seat, bowed down and pale as a corpse. + +"Well, it's all over," resumed Massot, amidst the hubbub which arose as +the deputies prepared to vote; "the ministry's done for. Little Vignon +will go a long way, you know. People say that he dreams of the Elysee. At +all events everything points to him as our next prime minister." + +Then, as the journalist rose, intending to go off, the General detained +him: "Wait a moment, Monsieur Massot," said he. "How disgusting all that +parliamentary cooking is! You ought to point it out in an article, and +show people how the country is gradually being weakened and rotted to the +marrow by all such useless and degrading discussions. Why, a great battle +resulting in the loss of 50,000 men would exhaust us less than ten years +of this abominable parliamentary system. You must call on me some +morning. I will show you a scheme of military reform, in which I point +out the necessity of returning to the limited professional armies which +we used to have, for this present-day national army, as folks call it, +which is a semi-civilian affair and at best a mere herd of men, is like a +dead weight on us, and is bound to pull us down!" + +Pierre, for his part, had not spoken a word since the beginning of the +debate. He had listened to everything, at first influenced by the thought +of his brother's interests, and afterwards mastered by the feverishness +which gradually took possession of everybody present. He had become +convinced that there was nothing more for Guillaume to fear; but how +curiously did one event fit into another, and how loudly had Salvat's +arrest re-echoed in the Chamber! Looking down into the seething hall +below him, he had detected all the clash of rival passions and interests. +After watching the great struggle between Barroux, Monferrand and Vignon, +he had gazed upon the childish delight of that terrible Socialist Mege, +who was so pleased at having been able to stir up the depths of those +troubled waters, in which he always unwittingly angled for the benefit of +others. Then, too, Pierre had become interested in Fonsegue, who, knowing +what had been arranged between Monferrand, Duvillard and himself, evinced +perfect calmness and strove to reassure Duthil and Chaigneux, who, on +their side, were quite dismayed by the ministry's impending fall. Yet, +Pierre's eyes always came back to Monseigneur Martha. He had watched his +serene smiling face throughout the sitting, striving to detect his +impressions of the various incidents that had occurred, as if in his +opinion that dramatic parliamentary comedy had only been played as a step +towards the more or less distant triumph for which the prelate laboured. +And now, while awaiting the result of the vote, as Pierre turned towards +Massot and the General, he found that they were talking of nothing but +recruiting and tactics and the necessity of a bath of blood for the whole +of Europe. Ah! poor mankind, ever fighting and ever devouring one another +in parliaments as well as on battle-fields, when, thought Pierre, would +it decide to disarm once and for all, and live at peace according to the +laws of justice and reason! + +Then he again looked down into the hall, where the greatest confusion was +prevailing among the deputies with regard to the coming vote. There was +quite a rainfall of suggested "resolutions," from a very violent one +proposed by Mege, to another, which was merely severe, emanating from +Vignon. The ministry, however, would only accept the "Order of the day +pure and simple," a mere decision, that is, to pass to the next business, +as if Mege's interpellation had been unworthy of attention. And presently +the Government was defeated, Vignon's resolution being adopted by a +majority of twenty-five. Some portion of the Left had evidently joined +hands with the Right and the Socialist group. A prolonged hubbub followed +this result. + +"Well, so we are to have a Vignon Cabinet," said Massot, as he went off +with Pierre and the General. "All the same, though, Monferrand has saved +himself, and if I were in Vignon's place I should distrust him." + +That evening there was a very touching farewell scene at the little house +at Neuilly. When Pierre returned thither from the Chamber, saddened but +reassured with regard to the future, Guillaume at once made up his mind +to go home on the morrow. And as Nicholas Barthes was compelled to leave, +the little dwelling seemed on the point of relapsing into dreary quietude +once more. + +Theophile Morin, whom Pierre had informed of the painful alternative in +which Barthes was placed, duly came to dinner; but he did not have time +to speak to the old man before they all sat down to table at seven +o'clock. As usual Barthes had spent his day in marching, like a caged +lion, up and down the room in which he had accepted shelter after the +fashion of a big fearless child, who never worried with regard either to +his present circumstances or the troubles which the future might have in +store for him. His life had ever been one of unlimited hope, which +reality had ever shattered. Although all that he had loved, all that he +had hoped to secure by fifty years of imprisonment or exile,--liberty, +equality and a real brotherly republic,--had hitherto failed to come, +such as he had dreamt of them, he nevertheless retained the candid faith +of his youth, and was ever confident in the near future. He would smile +indulgently when new comers, men of violent ideas, derided him and called +him a poor old fellow. For his part, he could make neither head nor tail +of the many new sects. He simply felt indignant with their lack of human +feeling, and stubbornly adhered to his own idea of basing the world's +regeneration on the simple proposition that men were naturally good and +ought to be free and brotherly. + +That evening at dinner, feeling that he was with friends who cared for +him, Barthes proved extremely gay, and showed all his ingenuousness in +talking of his ideal, which would soon be realised, said he, in spite of +everything. He could tell a story well whenever he cared to chat, and on +that occasion he related some delightful anecdotes about the prisons +through which he had passed. He knew all the dungeons, Ste. Pelagie and +Mont St. Michel, Belle-Ile-en-Mer and Clairvaux, to say nothing of +temporary gaols and the evil-smelling hulks on board which political +prisoners are often confined. And he still laughed at certain +recollections, and related how in the direst circumstances he had always +been able to seek refuge in his conscience. The others listened to him +quite charmed by his conversation, but full of anguish at the thought +that this perpetual prisoner or exile must again rise and take his staff +to sally forth, driven from his native land once more. + +Pierre did not speak out until they were partaking of dessert. Then he +related how the Minister had written to him, and how in a brief interview +he had stated that Barthes must cross the frontier within forty-eight +hours if he did not wish to be arrested. Thereupon the old man gravely +rose, with his white fleece, his eagle beak and his bright eyes still +sparkling with the fire of youth. And he wished to go off at once. +"What!" said he, "you have known all this since yesterday, and have still +kept me here at the risk of my compromising you even more than I had done +already! You must forgive me, I did not think of the worry I might cause +you, I thought that everything would be satisfactorily arranged. I must +thank you both--yourself and Guillaume--for the few days of quietude that +you have procured to an old vagabond and madman like myself." + +Then, as they tried to prevail on him to remain until the following +morning, he would not listen to them. There would be a train for Brussels +about midnight, and he had ample time to take it. He refused to let Morin +accompany him. No, no, said he, Morin was not a rich man, and moreover he +had work to attend to. Why should he take him away from his duties, when +it was so easy, so simple, for him to go off alone? He was going back +into exile as into misery and grief which he had long known, like some +Wandering Jew of Liberty, ever driven onward through the world. + +When he took leave of the others at ten o'clock, in the little sleepy +street just outside the house, tears suddenly dimmed his eyes. "Ah! I'm +no longer a young man," he said; "it's all over this time. I shall never +come back again. My bones will rest in some corner over yonder." And yet, +after he had affectionately embraced Pierre and Guillaume, he drew +himself up like one who remained unconquered, and he raised a supreme cry +of hope. "But after all, who knows? Triumph may perhaps come to-morrow. +The future belongs to those who prepare it and wait for it!" + +Then he walked away, and long after he had disappeared his firm, sonorous +footsteps could be heard re-echoing in the quiet night. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, Vol. 3, by +Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES TRILOGY: PARIS VOL 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 9166.txt or 9166.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/6/9166/ + +Produced by Dagny, and David Widger. 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VIZETELLY + + + + BOOK III + + + +I + +THE RIVALS + +ON the Wednesday preceding the mid-Lent Thursday, a great charity bazaar +was held at the Duvillard mansion, for the benefit of the Asylum of the +Invalids of Labour. The ground-floor reception rooms, three spacious +Louis Seize /salons/, whose windows overlooked the bare and solemn +courtyard, were given up to the swarm of purchasers, five thousand +admission cards having been distributed among all sections of Parisian +society. And the opening of the bombarded mansion in this wise to +thousands of visitors was regarded as quite an event, a real +manifestation, although some people whispered that the Rue +Godot-de-Mauroy and the adjacent streets were guarded by quite an army of +police agents. + +The idea of the bazaar had come from Duvillard himself, and at his +bidding his wife had resigned herself to all this worry for the benefit +of the enterprise over which she presided with such distinguished +nonchalance. On the previous day the "Globe" newspaper, inspired by its +director Fonsegue, who was also the general manager of the asylum, had +published a very fine article, announcing the bazaar, and pointing out +how noble, and touching, and generous was the initiative of the Baroness, +who still gave her time, her money, and even her home to charity, in +spite of the abominable crime which had almost reduced that home to +ashes. Was not this the magnanimous answer of the spheres above to the +hateful passions of the spheres below? And was it not also a peremptory +answer to those who accused the capitalists of doing nothing for the +wage-earners, the disabled and broken-down sons of toil? + +The drawing-room doors were to be opened at two o'clock, and would only +close at seven, so that there would be five full hours for the sales. And +at noon, when nothing was as yet ready downstairs, when workmen and women +were still decorating the stalls, and sorting the goods amidst a final +scramble, there was, as usual, a little friendly /dejeuner/, to which a +few guests had been invited, in the private rooms on the first floor. +However, a scarcely expected incident had given a finishing touch to the +general excitement of the house: that very morning Sagnier had resumed +his campaign of denunciation in the matter of the African Railway Lines. +In a virulent article in the "Voix du Peuple," he had inquired if it were +the intention of the authorities to beguile the public much longer with +the story of that bomb and that Anarchist whom the police did not arrest. +And this time, while undertaking to publish the names of the thirty-two +corrupt senators and deputies in a very early issue, he had boldly named +Minister Barroux as one who had pocketed a sum of 200,000 francs. Mege +would therefore certainly revive his interpellation, which might become +dangerous, now that Paris had been thrown into such a distracted state by +terror of the Anarchists. At the same time it was said that Vignon and +his party had resolved to turn circumstances to account, with the object +of overthrowing the ministry. Thus a redoubtable crisis was inevitably at +hand. Fortunately, the Chamber did not meet that Wednesday; in fact, it +had adjourned until the Friday, with the view of making mid-Lent a +holiday. And so forty-eight hours were left one to prepare for the +onslaught. + +Eve, that morning, seemed more gentle and languid than ever, rather pale +too, with an expression of sorrowful anxiety in the depths of her +beautiful eyes. She set it all down to the very great fatigue which the +preparations for the bazaar had entailed on her. But the truth was that +Gerard de Quinsac, after shunning any further assignation, had for five +days past avoided her in an embarrassed way. Still she was convinced that +she would see him that morning, and so she had again ventured to wear the +white silk gown which made her look so much younger than she really was. +At the same time, beautiful as she had remained, with her delicate skin, +superb figure and noble and charming countenance, her six and forty years +were asserting themselves in her blotchy complexion and the little +creases which were appearing about her lips, eyelids and temples. + +Camille, for her part, though her position as daughter of the house made +it certain that she would attract much custom as a saleswoman, had +obstinately persisted in wearing one of her usual dresses, a dark +"carmelite" gown, an old woman's frock, as she herself called it with a +cutting laugh. However, her long and wicked-looking face beamed with some +secret delight; such an expression of wit and intelligence wreathing her +thin lips and shining in her big eyes that one lost sight of her +deformity and thought her almost pretty. + +Eve experienced a first deception in the little blue and silver +sitting-room, where, accompanied by her daughter, she awaited the arrival +of her guests. General de Bozonnet, whom Gerard was to have brought with +him, came in alone, explaining that Madame de Quinsac had felt rather +poorly that morning, and that Gerard, like a good and dutiful son, had +wished to remain with her. Still he would come to the bazaar directly +after /dejeuner/. While the Baroness listened to the General, striving to +hide her disappointment and her fear that she would now be unable to +obtain any explanation from Gerard that day, Camille looked at her with +eager, devouring eyes. And a certain covert instinct of the misfortune +threatening her must at that moment have come to Eve, for in her turn she +glanced at her daughter and turned pale as if with anxiety. + +Then Princess Rosemonde de Harn swept in like a whirlwind. She also was +to be one of the saleswomen at the stall chosen by the Baroness, who +liked her for her very turbulence, the sudden gaiety which she generally +brought with her. Gowned in fire-hued satin (red shot with yellow), +looking very eccentric with her curly hair and thin boyish figure, she +laughed and talked of an accident by which her carriage had almost been +cut in halves. Then, as Baron Duvillard and Hyacinthe came in from their +rooms, late as usual, she took possession of the young man and scolded +him, for on the previous evening she had vainly waited for him till ten +o'clock in the expectation that he would keep his promise to escort her +to a tavern at Montmartre, where some horrible things were said to occur. +Hyacinthe, looking very bored, quietly replied that he had been detained +at a seance given by some adepts in the New Magic, in the course of which +the soul of St. Theresa had descended from heaven to recite a love +sonnet. + +However, Fonsegue was now coming in with his wife, a tall, thin, silent +and generally insignificant woman, whom he seldom took about with him. On +this occasion he had been obliged to bring her, as she was one of the +lady-patronesses of the asylum, and he himself was coming to lunch with +the Duvillards in his capacity as general manager. To the superficial +observer he looked quite as gay as usual; but he blinked nervously, and +his first glance was a questioning one in the direction of Duvillard, as +if he wished to know how the latter bore the fresh thrust directed at him +by Sagnier. And when he saw the banker looking perfectly composed, as +superb, as rubicund as usual, and chatting in a bantering way with +Rosemonde, he also put on an easy air, like a gamester who had never lost +but had always known how to compel good luck, even in hours of treachery. +And by way of showing his unconstraint of mind he at once addressed the +Baroness on managerial matters: "Have you now succeeded in seeing M. +l'Abbe Froment for the affair of that old man Laveuve, whom he so warmly +recommended to us? All the formalities have been gone through, you know, +and he can be brought to us at once, as we have had a bed vacant for +three days past." + +"Yes, I know," replied Eve; "but I can't imagine what has become of Abbe +Froment, for he hasn't given us a sign of life for a month past. However, +I made up my mind to write to him yesterday, and beg him to come to the +bazaar to-day. In this manner I shall be able to acquaint him with the +good news myself." + +"It was to leave you the pleasure of doing so," said Fonsegue, "that I +refrained from sending him any official communication. He's a charming +priest, is he not?" + +"Oh! charming, we are very fond of him." + +However, Duvillard now intervened to say that they need not wait for +Duthil, as he had received a telegram from him stating that he was +detained by sudden business. At this Fonsegue's anxiety returned, and he +once more questioned the Baron with his eyes. Duvillard smiled, however, +and reassured him in an undertone: "It's nothing serious. Merely a +commission for me, about which he'll only be able to bring me an answer +by-and-by." Then, taking Fonsegue on one side, he added: "By the way, +don't forget to insert the paragraph I told you of." + +"What paragraph? Oh! yes, the one about that /soiree/ at which Silviane +recited a piece of verse. Well, I wanted to speak to you about it. It +worries me a little, on account of the excessive praise it contains." + +Duvillard, but a moment before so full of serenity, with his lofty, +conquering, disdainful mien, now suddenly became pale and agitated. "But +I absolutely want it to be inserted, my dear fellow! You would place me +in the greatest embarrassment if it were not to appear, for I promised +Silviane that it should." + +As he spoke his lips trembled, and a scared look came into his eyes, +plainly revealing his dismay. + +"All right, all right," said Fonsegue, secretly amused, and well pleased +at this complicity. "As it's so serious the paragraph shall go in, I +promise you." + +The whole company was now present, since neither Gerard nor Duthil was to +be expected. So they went into the dining-room amidst a final noise of +hammering in the sale-rooms below. The meal proved somewhat of a +scramble, and was on three occasions disturbed by female attendants, who +came to explain difficulties and ask for orders. Doors were constantly +slamming, and the very walls seemed to shake with the unusual bustle +which filled the house. And feverish as they all were in the dining-room, +they talked in desultory, haphazard fashion on all sorts of subjects, +passing from a ball given at the Ministry of the Interior on the previous +night, to the popular mid-Lent festival which would take place on the +morrow, and ever reverting to the bazaar, the prices that had been given +for the goods which would be on sale, the prices at which they might be +sold, and the probable figure of the full receipts, all this being +interspersed with strange anecdotes, witticisms and bursts of laughter. +On the General mentioning magistrate Amadieu, Eve declared that she no +longer dared to invite him to /dejeuner/, knowing how busy he was at the +Palace of Justice. Still, she certainly hoped that he would come to the +bazaar and contribute something. Then Fonsegue amused himself with +teasing Princess Rosemonde about her fire-hued gown, in which, said he, +she must already feel roasted by the flames of hell; a suggestion which +secretly delighted her, as Satanism had now become her momentary passion. +Meantime, Duvillard lavished the most gallant politeness on that silent +creature, Madame Fonsegue, while Hyacinthe, in order to astonish even the +Princess, explained in a few words how the New Magic could transform a +chaste young man into a real angel. And Camille, who seemed very happy +and very excited, from time to time darted a hot glance at her mother, +whose anxiety and sadness increased as she found the other more and more +aggressive, and apparently resolved upon open and merciless warfare. + +At last, just as the dessert was coming to an end, the Baroness heard her +daughter exclaim in a piercing, defiant voice: "Oh! don't talk to me of +the old ladies who still seem to be playing with dolls, and paint +themselves, and dress as if they were about to be confirmed! All such +ogresses ought to retire from the scene! I hold them in horror!" + +At this, Eve nervously rose from her seat, and exclaimed apologetically: +"You must forgive me for hurrying you like this. But I'm afraid that we +shan't have time to drink our coffee in peace." + +The coffee was served in the little blue and silver sitting-room, where +bloomed some lovely yellow roses, testifying to the Baroness's keen +passion for flowers, which made the house an abode of perpetual spring. +Duvillard and Fonsegue, however, carrying their cups of steaming coffee +with them, at once went into the former's private room to smoke a cigar +there and chat in freedom. As the door remained wide open, one could +hear their gruff voices more or less distinctly. Meantime, General de +Bozonnet, delighted to find in Madame Fonsegue a serious, submissive +person, who listened without interrupting, began to tell her a very long +story of an officer's wife who had followed her husband through every +battle of the war of 1870. Then Hyacinthe, who took no coffee-- +contemptuously declaring it to be a beverage only fit for door-keepers-- +managed to rid himself of Rosemonde, who was sipping some kummel, in +order to come and whisper to his sister: "I say, it was very stupid of +you to taunt mamma in the way you did just now. I don't care a rap about +it myself. But it ends by being noticed, and, I warn you candidly, it +shows ill breeding." + +Camille gazed at him fixedly with her black eyes. "Pray don't /you/ +meddle with my affairs," said she. + +At this he felt frightened, scented a storm, and decided to take +Rosemonde into the adjoining red drawing-room in order to show her a +picture which his father had just purchased. And the General, on being +called by him, likewise conducted Madame Fonsegue thither. + +The mother and daughter then suddenly found themselves alone and face to +face. Eve was leaning on a pier-table, as if overcome; and indeed, the +least sorrow bore her down, so weak at heart she was, ever ready to weep +in her naive and perfect egotism. Why was it that her daughter thus hated +her, and did her utmost to disturb that last happy spell of love in which +her heart lingered? She looked at Camille, grieved rather than irritated; +and the unfortunate idea came to her of making a remark about her dress +at the very moment when the girl was on the point of following the others +into the larger drawing-room. + +"It's quite wrong of you, my dear," said she, "to persist in dressing +like an old woman. It doesn't improve you a bit." + +As Eve spoke, her soft eyes, those of a courted and worshipped handsome +woman, clearly expressed the compassion she felt for that ugly, deformed +girl, whom she had never been able to regard as a daughter. Was it +possible that she, with her sovereign beauty, that beauty which she +herself had ever adored and nursed, making it her one care, her one +religion--was it possible that she had given birth to such a graceless +creature, with a dark, goatish profile, one shoulder higher than the +other, and a pair of endless arms such as hunchbacks often have? All her +grief and all her shame at having had such a child became apparent in the +quivering of her voice. + +Camille, however, had stopped short, as if struck in the face with a +whip. Then she came back to her mother and the horrible explanation began +with these simple words spoken in an undertone: "You consider that I +dress badly? Well, you ought to have paid some attention to me, have seen +that my gowns suited your taste, and have taught me your secret of +looking beautiful!" + +Eve, with her dislike of all painful feeling, all quarrelling and bitter +words, was already regretting her attack. So she sought to make a +retreat, particularly as time was flying and they would soon be expected +downstairs: "Come, be quiet, and don't show your bad temper when all +those people can hear us. I have loved you--" + +But with a quiet yet terrible laugh Camille interrupted her. "You've +loved me! Oh! my poor mamma, what a comical thing to say! Have you ever +loved /anybody/? You want others to love /you/, but that's another +matter. As for your child, any child, do you even know how it ought to be +loved? You have always neglected me, thrust me on one side, deeming me so +ugly, so unworthy of you! And besides, you have not had days and nights +enough to love yourself! Oh! don't deny it, my poor mamma; but even now +you're looking at me as if I were some loathsome monster that's in your +way." + +From that moment the abominable scene was bound to continue to the end. +With their teeth set, their faces close together, the two women went on +speaking in feverish whispers. + +"Be quiet, Camille, I tell you! I will not allow such language!" + +"But I won't be quiet when you do all you can to wound me. If it's wrong +of me to dress like an old woman, perhaps another is rather ridiculous in +dressing like a girl, like a bride." + +"Like a bride? I don't understand you." + +"Oh! yes, you do. However, I would have you know that everybody doesn't +find me so ugly as you try to make them believe." + +"If you look amiss, it is because you don't dress properly; that is all I +said." + +"I dress as I please, and no doubt I do so well enough, since I'm loved +as I am." + +"What, really! Does someone love you? Well, let him inform us of it and +marry you." + +"Yes--certainly, certainly! It will be a good riddance, won't it? And +you'll have the pleasure of seeing me as a bride!" + +Their voices were rising in spite of their efforts to restrain them. +However, Camille paused and drew breath before hissing out the words: +"Gerard is coming here to ask for my hand in a day or two." + +Eve, livid, with wildly staring eyes, did not seem to understand. +"Gerard? why do you tell me that?" + +"Why, because it's Gerard who loves me and who is going to marry me! You +drive me to extremities; you're for ever repeating that I'm ugly; you +treat me like a monster whom nobody will ever care for. So I'm forced to +defend myself and tell you the truth in order to prove to you that +everybody is not of your opinion." + +Silence fell; the frightful thing which had risen between them seemed to +have arrested the quarrel. But there was neither mother nor daughter left +there. They were simply two suffering, defiant rivals. Eve in her turn +drew a long breath and glanced anxiously towards the adjoining room to +ascertain if anyone were coming in or listening to them. And then in a +tone of resolution she made answer: + +"You cannot marry Gerard." + +"Pray, why not?" + +"Because I won't have it; because it's impossible." + +"That isn't a reason; give me a reason." + +"The reason is that the marriage is impossible that is all." + +"No, no, I'll tell you the reason since you force me to it. The reason is +that Gerard is your lover! But what does that matter, since I know it and +am willing to take him all the same?" + +And to this retort Camille's flaming eyes added the words: "And it is +particularly on that account that I want him." All the long torture born +of her infirmities, all her rage at having always seen her mother +beautiful, courted and adored, was now stirring her and seeking vengeance +in cruel triumph. At last then she was snatching from her rival the lover +of whom she had so long been jealous! + +"You wretched girl!" stammered Eve, wounded in the heart and almost +sinking to the floor. "You don't know what you say or what you make me +suffer." + +However, she again had to pause, draw herself erect and smile; for +Rosemonde hastened in from the adjoining room with the news that she was +wanted downstairs. The doors were about to be opened, and it was +necessary she should be at her stall. Yes, Eve answered, she would be +down in another moment. Still, even as she spoke she leant more heavily +on the pier-table behind her in order that she might not fall. + +Hyacinthe had drawn near to his sister: "You know," said he, "it's simply +idiotic to quarrel like that. You would do much better to come +downstairs." + +But Camille harshly dismissed him: "Just /you/ go off, and take the +others with you. It's quite as well that they shouldn't be about our +ears." + +Hyacinthe glanced at his mother, like one who knew the truth and +considered the whole affair ridiculous. And then, vexed at seeing her so +deficient in energy in dealing with that little pest, his sister, he +shrugged his shoulders, and leaving them to their folly, conducted the +others away. One could hear Rosemonde laughing as she went off below, +while the General began to tell Madame Fonsegue another story as they +descended the stairs together. However, at the moment when the mother and +daughter at last fancied themselves alone once more, other voices reached +their ears, those of Duvillard and Fonsegue, who were still near at hand. +The Baron from his room might well overhear the dispute. + +Eve felt that she ought to have gone off. But she had lacked the strength +to do so; it had been a sheer impossibility for her after those words +which had smote her like a buffet amidst her distress at the thought of +losing her lover. + +"Gerard cannot marry you," she said; "he does not love you." + +"He does." + +"You fancy it because he has good-naturedly shown some kindness to you, +on seeing others pay you such little attention. But he does not love +you." + +"He does. He loves me first because I'm not such a fool as many others +are, and particularly because I'm young." + +This was a fresh wound for the Baroness; one inflicted with mocking +cruelty in which rang out all the daughter's triumphant delight at seeing +her mother's beauty at last ripening and waning. "Ah! my poor mamma, you +no longer know what it is to be young. If I'm not beautiful, at all +events I'm young; my eyes are clear and my lips are fresh. And my hair's +so long too, and I've so much of it that it would suffice to gown me if I +chose. You see, one's never ugly when one's young. Whereas, my poor +mamma, everything is ended when one gets old. It's all very well for a +woman to have been beautiful, and to strive to keep so, but in reality +there's only ruin left, and shame and disgust." + +She spoke these words in such a sharp, ferocious voice that each of them +entered her mother's heart like a knife. Tears rose to the eyes of the +wretched woman, again stricken in her bleeding wound. Ah! it was true, +she remained without weapons against youth. And all her anguish came from +the consciousness that she was growing old, from the feeling that love +was departing from her now, that like a fruit she had ripened and fallen +from the tree. + +"But Gerard's mother will never let him marry you," she said. + +"He will prevail on her; that's his concern. I've a dowry of two +millions, and two millions can settle many things." + +"Do you now want to libel him, and say that he's marrying you for your +money?" + +"No, indeed! Gerard's a very nice and honest fellow. He loves me and he's +marrying me for myself. But, after all, he isn't rich; he still has no +assured position, although he's thirty-six; and there may well be some +advantage in a wife who brings you wealth as well as happiness. For, you +hear, mamma, it's happiness I'm bringing him, real happiness, love that's +shared and is certain of the future." + +Once again their faces drew close together. The hateful scene, +interrupted by sounds around them, postponed, and then resumed, was +dragging on, becoming a perfect drama full of murderous violence, +although they never shouted, but still spoke on in low and gasping +voices. Neither gave way to the other, though at every moment they were +liable to some surprise; for not only were all the doors open, so that +the servants might come in, but the Baron's voice still rang out gaily, +close at hand. + +"He loves you, he loves you"--continued Eve. "That's what you say. But +/he/ never told you so." + +"He has told me so twenty times; he repeats it every time that we are +alone together!" + +"Yes, just as one says it to a little girl by way of amusing her. But he +has never told you that he meant to marry you." + +"He told it me the last time he came. And it's settled. I'm simply +waiting for him to get his mother's consent and make his formal offer." + +"You lie, you lie, you wretched girl! You simply want to make me suffer, +and you lie, you lie!" + +Eve's grief at last burst forth in that cry of protest. She no longer +knew that she was a mother, and was speaking to her daughter. The woman, +the /amorosa/, alone remained in her, outraged and exasperated by a +rival. And with a sob she confessed the truth: "It is I he loves! Only +the last time I spoke to him, he swore to me--you hear me?--he swore upon +his honour that he did not love you, and that he would never marry you!" + +A faint, sharp laugh came from Camille. Then, with an air of derisive +compassion, she replied: "Ah! my poor mamma, you really make me sorry for +you! What a child you are! Yes, really, you are the child, not I. What! +you who ought to have so much experience, you still allow yourself to be +duped by a man's protests! That one really has no malice; and, indeed, +that's why he swears whatever you want him to swear, just to please and +quiet you, for at heart he's a bit of a coward." + +"You lie, you lie!" + +"But just think matters over. If he no longer comes here, if he didn't +come to /dejeuner/ this morning, it is simply because he's had enough of +you. He has left you for good; just have the courage to realise it. Of +course he's still polite and amiable, because he's a well-bred man, and +doesn't know how to break off. The fact is that he takes pity on you." + +"You lie, you lie!" + +"Well, question him then. Have a frank explanation with him. Ask him his +intentions in a friendly way. And then show some good nature yourself, +and realise that if you care for him you ought to give him me at once in +his own interest. Give him back his liberty, and you will soon see that +I'm the one he loves." + +"You lie, you lie! You wretched child, you only want to torture and kill +me!" + +Then, in her fury and distress, Eve remembered that she was the mother, +and that it was for her to chastise that unworthy daughter. There was no +stick near her, but from a basket of the yellow roses, whose powerful +scent intoxicated both of them, she plucked a handful of blooms, with +long and spiny stalks, and smote Camille across the face. A drop of blood +appeared on the girl's left temple, near her eyelid. + +But she sprang forward, flushed and maddened by this correction, with her +hand raised and ready to strike back. "Take care, mother! I swear I'd +beat you like a gipsy! And now just put this into your head: I mean to +marry Gerard, and I will; and I'll take him from you, even if I have to +raise a scandal, should you refuse to give him to me with good grace." + +Eve, after her one act of angry vigour, had sunk into an armchair, +overcome, distracted. And all the horror of quarrels, which sprang from +her egotistical desire to be happy, caressed, flattered and adored, was +returning to her. But Camille, still threatening, still unsatiated, +showed her heart as it really was, her stern, black, unforgiving heart, +intoxicated with cruelty. There came a moment of supreme silence, while +Duvillard's gay voice again rang out in the adjoining room. + +The mother was gently weeping, when Hyacinthe, coming upstairs at a run, +swept into the little /salon/. He looked at the two women, and made a +gesture of indulgent contempt. "Ah! you're no doubt satisfied now! But +what did I tell you? It would have been much better for you to have come +downstairs at once! Everybody is asking for you. It's all idiotic. I've +come to fetch you." + +Eve and Camille would not yet have followed him, perhaps, if Duvillard +and Fonsegue had not at that moment come out of the former's room. Having +finished their cigars they also spoke of going downstairs. And Eve had to +rise and smile and show dry eyes, while Camille, standing before a +looking-glass, arranged her hair, and stanched the little drop of blood +that had gathered on her temple. + +There was already quite a number of people below, in the three huge +saloons adorned with tapestry and plants. The stalls had been draped with +red silk, which set a gay, bright glow around the goods. And no ordinary +bazaar could have put forth such a show, for there was something of +everything among the articles of a thousand different kinds, from +sketches by recognised masters, and the autographs of famous writers, +down to socks and slippers and combs. The haphazard way in which things +were laid out was in itself an attraction; and, in addition, there was a +buffet, where the whitest of beautiful hands poured out champagne, and +two lotteries, one for an organ and another for a pony-drawn village +cart, the tickets for which were sold by a bevy of charming girls, who +had scattered through the throng. As Duvillard had expected, however, the +great success of the bazaar lay in the delightful little shiver which the +beautiful ladies experienced as they passed through the entrance where +the bomb had exploded. The rougher repairing work was finished, the walls +and ceilings had been doctored, in part re-constructed. However, the +painters had not yet come, and here and there the whiter stone and +plaster work showed like fresh scars left by all the terrible gashes. It +was with mingled anxiety and rapture that pretty heads emerged from the +carriages which, arriving in a continuous stream, made the flagstones of +the court re-echo. And in the three saloons, beside the stalls, there was +no end to the lively chatter: "Ah! my dear, did you see all those marks? +How frightful, how frightful! The whole house was almost blown up. And to +think it might begin again while we are here! One really needs some +courage to come, but then, that asylum is such a deserving institution, +and money is badly wanted to build a new wing. And besides, those +monsters will see that we are not frightened, whatever they do." + +When the Baroness at last came down to her stall with Camille she found +the saleswomen feverishly at work already under the direction of Princess +Rosemonde, who on occasions of this kind evinced the greatest cunning and +rapacity, robbing the customers in the most impudent fashion. "Ah! here +you are," she exclaimed. "Beware of a number of higglers who have come to +secure bargains. I know them! They watch for their opportunities, turn +everything topsy-turvy and wait for us to lose our heads and forget +prices, so as to pay even less than they would in a real shop. But I'll +get good prices from them, you shall see!" + +At this, Eve, who for her own part was a most incapable saleswoman, had +to laugh with the others. And in a gentle voice she made a pretence of +addressing certain recommendations to Camille, who listened with a +smiling and most submissive air. In point of fact the wretched mother was +sinking with emotion, particularly at the thought that she would have to +remain there till seven o'clock, and suffer in secret before all those +people, without possibility of relief. And thus it was almost like a +respite when she suddenly perceived Abbe Froment sitting and waiting for +her on a settee, covered with red velvet, near her stall. Her legs were +failing her, so she took a place beside him. + +"You received my letter then, Monsieur l'Abbe. I am glad that you have +come, for I have some good news to give you, and wished to leave you the +pleasure of imparting it to your /protege/, that man Laveuve, whom you so +warmly recommended to me. Every formality has now been fulfilled, and you +can bring him to the asylum to-morrow." + +Pierre gazed at her in stupefaction. "Laveuve? Why, he is dead!" + +In her turn she became astonished. "What, dead! But you never informed me +of it! If I told you of all the trouble that has been taken, of all that +had to be undone and done again, and the discussions and the papers and +the writing! Are you quite sure that he is dead?" + +"Oh! yes, he is dead. He has been dead a month." + +"Dead a month! Well, we could not know; you yourself gave us no sign of +life. Ah! /mon Dieu/! what a worry that he should be dead. We shall now +be obliged to undo everything again!" + +"He is dead, madame. It is true that I ought to have informed you of it. +But that doesn't alter the fact--he is dead." + +Dead! that word which kept on returning, the thought too, that for a +month past she had been busying herself for a corpse, quite froze her, +brought her to the very depths of despair, like an omen of the cold death +into which she herself must soon descend, in the shroud of her last +passion. And, meantime, Pierre, despite himself, smiled bitterly at the +atrocious irony of it all. Ah! that lame and halting Charity, which +proffers help when men are dead! + +The priest still lingered on the settee when the Baroness rose. She had +seen magistrate Amadieu hurriedly enter like one who just wished to show +himself, purchase some trifle, and then return to the Palace of Justice. +However, he was also perceived by little Massot, the "Globe" reporter, +who was prowling round the stalls, and who at once bore down upon him, +eager for information. And he hemmed him in and forthwith interviewed him +respecting the affair of that mechanician Salvat, who was accused of +having deposited the bomb at the entrance of the house. Was this simply +an invention of the police, as some newspapers pretended? Or was it +really correct? And if so, would Salvat soon be arrested? In self-defence +Amadieu answered correctly enough that the affair did not as yet concern +him, and would only come within his attributions, if Salvat should be +arrested and the investigation placed in his hands. At the same time, +however, the magistrate's pompous and affectedly shrewd manner suggested +that he already knew everything to the smallest details, and that, had he +chosen, he could have promised some great events for the morrow. A circle +of ladies had gathered round him as he spoke, quite a number of pretty +women feverish with curiosity, who jostled one another in their eagerness +to hear that brigand tale which sent a little shiver coursing under their +skins. However, Amadieu managed to slip off after paying Rosemonde twenty +francs for a cigarette case, which was perhaps worth thirty sous. + +Massot, on recognising Pierre, came up to shake hands with him. "Don't +you agree with me, Monsieur l'Abbe, that Salvat must be a long way off by +now if he's got good legs? Ah! the police will always make me laugh!" + +However, Rosemonde brought Hyacinthe up to the journalist. "Monsieur +Massot," said she, "you who go everywhere, I want you to be judge. That +Chamber of Horrors at Montmartre, that tavern where Legras sings the +'Flowers of the Streets'--" + +"Oh! a delightful spot, madame," interrupted Massot, "I wouldn't take +even a gendarme there." + +"No, don't jest, Monsieur Massot, I'm talking seriously. Isn't it quite +allowable for a respectable woman to go there when she's accompanied by a +gentleman?" And, without allowing the journalist time to answer her, she +turned towards Hyacinthe: "There! you see that Monsieur Massot doesn't +say no! You've got to take me there this evening, it's sworn, it's +sworn." + +Then she darted away to sell a packet of pins to an old lady, while the +young man contented himself with remarking, in the voice of one who has +no illusions left: "She's quite idiotic with her Chamber of Horrors!" + +Massot philosophically shrugged his shoulders. It was only natural that a +woman should want to amuse herself. And when Hyacinthe had gone off, +passing with perverse contempt beside the lovely girls who were selling +lottery tickets, the journalist ventured to murmur: "All the same, it +would do that youngster good if a woman were to take him in hand." + +Then, again addressing Pierre, he resumed: "Why, here comes Duthil! What +did Sagnier mean this morning by saying that Duthil would sleep at Mazas +to-night?" + +In a great hurry apparently, and all smiles, Duthil was cutting his way +through the crowd in order to join Duvillard and Fonsegue, who still +stood talking near the Baroness's stall. And he waved his hand to them in +a victorious way, to imply that he had succeeded in the delicate mission +entrusted to him. This was nothing less than a bold manoeuvre to hasten +Silviane's admission to the Comedie Francaise. The idea had occurred to +her of making the Baron give a dinner at the Cafe Anglais in order that +she might meet at it an influential critic, who, according to her +statements, would compel the authorities to throw the doors wide open for +her as soon as he should know her. However, it did not seem easy to +secure the critic's presence, as he was noted for his sternness and +grumbling disposition. And, indeed, after a first repulse, Duthil had for +three days past been obliged to exert all his powers of diplomacy, and +bring even the remotest influence into play. But he was radiant now, for +he had conquered. + +"It's for this evening, my dear Baron, at half-past seven," he exclaimed. +"Ah! dash it all, I've had more trouble than I should have had to secure +a concession vote!" Then he laughed with the pretty impudence of a man of +pleasure, whom political conscientiousness did not trouble. And, indeed, +his allusion to the fresh denunciations of the "Voix du Peuple" hugely +amused him. + +"Don't jest," muttered Fonsegue, who for his part wished to amuse himself +by frightening the young deputy. "Things are going very badly!" + +Duthil turned pale, and a vision of the police and Mazas rose before his +eyes. In this wise sheer funk came over him from time to time. However, +with his lack of all moral sense, he soon felt reassured and began to +laugh. "Bah!" he retorted gaily, winking towards Duvillard, "the +governor's there to pilot the barque!" + +The Baron, who was extremely pleased, had pressed his hands, thanked him, +and called him an obliging fellow. And now turning towards Fonsegue, he +exclaimed: "I say, you must make one of us this evening. Oh! it's +necessary. I want something imposing round Silviane. Duthil will +represent the Chamber, you journalism, and I finance--" But he suddenly +paused on seeing Gerard, who, with a somewhat grave expression, was +leisurely picking his way through the sea of skirts. "Gerard, my friend," +said the Baron, after beckoning to him, "I want you to do me a service." +And forthwith he told him what was in question; how the influential +critic had been prevailed upon to attend a dinner which would decide +Silviane's future; and how it was the duty of all her friends to rally +round her. + +"But I can't," the young man answered in embarrassment. "I have to dine +at home with my mother, who was rather poorly this morning." + +"Oh! a sensible woman like your mother will readily understand that there +are matters of exceptional importance. Go home and excuse yourself. Tell +her some story, tell her that a friend's happiness is in question." And +as Gerard began to weaken, Duvillard added: "The fact is, that I really +want you, my dear fellow; I must have a society man. Society, you know, +is a great force in theatrical matters; and if Silviane has society with +her, her triumph is certain." + +Gerard promised, and then chatted for a moment with his uncle, General de +Bozonnet, who was quite enlivened by that throng of women, among whom he +had been carried hither and thither like an old rudderless ship. After +acknowledging the amiability with which Madame Fonsegue had listened to +his stories, by purchasing an autograph of Monseigneur Martha from her +for a hundred francs, he had quite lost himself amid the bevy of girls +who had passed him on, one to another. And now, on his return from them, +he had his hands full of lottery tickets: "Ah! my fine fellow," said he, +"I don't advise you to venture among all those young persons. You would +have to part with your last copper. But, just look! there's Mademoiselle +Camille beckoning to you!" + +Camille, indeed, from the moment she had perceived Gerard, had been +smiling at him and awaiting his approach. And when their glances met he +was obliged to go to her, although, at the same moment, he felt that +Eve's despairing and entreating eyes were fixed upon him. The girl, who +fully realised that her mother was watching her, at once made a marked +display of amiability, profiting by the license which charitable fervour +authorised, to slip a variety of little articles into the young man's +pockets, and then place others in his hands, which she pressed within her +own, showing the while all the sparkle of youth, indulging in fresh, +merry laughter, which fairly tortured her rival. + +So extreme was Eve's suffering, that she wished to intervene and part +them. But it so chanced that Pierre barred her way, for he wished to +submit an idea to her before leaving the bazaar. "Madame," said he, +"since that man Laveuve is dead, and you have taken so much trouble with +regard to the bed which you now have vacant, will you be so good as to +keep it vacant until I have seen our venerable friend, Abbe Rose? I am to +see him this evening, and he knows so many cases of want, and would be so +glad to relieve one of them, and bring you some poor /protege/ of his." + +"Yes, certainly," stammered the Baroness, "I shall be very happy,--I will +wait a little, as you desire,--of course, of course, Monsieur l'Abbe." + +She was trembling all over; she no longer knew what she was saying; and, +unable to conquer her passion, she turned aside from the priest, unaware +even that he was still there, when Gerard, yielding to the dolorous +entreaty of her eyes, at last managed to escape from Camille and join +her. + +"What a stranger you are becoming, my friend!" she said aloud, with a +forced smile. "One never sees you now." + +"Why, I have been poorly," he replied, in his amiable way. "Yes, I assure +you I have been ailing a little." + +He, ailing! She looked at him with maternal anxiety, quite upset. And, +indeed, however proud and lofty his figure, his handsome regular face did +seem to her paler than usual. It was as if the nobility of the facade +had, in some degree, ceased to hide the irreparable dilapidation within. +And given his real good nature, it must be true that he +suffered--suffered by reason of his useless, wasted life, by reason of +all the money he cost his impoverished mother, and of the needs that were +at last driving him to marry that wealthy deformed girl, whom at first he +had simply pitied. And so weak did he seem to Eve, so like a piece of +wreckage tossed hither and thither by a tempest, that, at the risk of +being overheard by the throng, she let her heart flow forth in a low but +ardent, entreating murmur: "If you suffer, ah! what sufferings are +mine!--Gerard, we must see one another, I will have it so." + +"No, I beg you, let us wait," he stammered in embarrassment. + +"It must be, Gerard; Camille has told me your plans. You cannot refuse to +see me. I insist on it." + +He made yet another attempt to escape the cruel explanation. "But it's +impossible at the usual place," he answered, quivering. "The address is +known." + +"Then to-morrow, at four o'clock, at that little restaurant in the Bois +where we have met before." + +He had to promise, and they parted. Camille had just turned her head and +was looking at them. Moreover, quite a number of women had besieged the +stall; and the Baroness began to attend to them with the air of a ripe +and nonchalant goddess, while Gerard rejoined Duvillard, Fonsegue and +Duthil, who were quite excited at the prospect of their dinner that +evening. + +Pierre had heard a part of the conversation between Gerard and the +Baroness. He knew what skeletons the house concealed, what physiological +and moral torture and wretchedness lay beneath all the dazzling wealth +and power. There was here an envenomed, bleeding sore, ever spreading, a +cancer eating into father, mother, daughter and son, who one and all had +thrown social bonds aside. However, the priest made his way out of the +/salons/, half stifling amidst the throng of lady-purchasers who were +making quite a triumph of the bazaar. And yonder, in the depths of the +gloom, he could picture Salvat still running and running on; while the +corpse of Laveuve seemed to him like a buffet of atrocious irony dealt to +noisy and delusive charity. + + + +II + +SPIRIT AND FLESH + +How delightful was the quietude of the little ground-floor overlooking a +strip of garden in the Rue Cortot, where good Abbe Rose resided! +Hereabouts there was not even a rumble of wheels, or an echo of the +panting breath of Paris, which one heard on the other side of the height +of Montmartre. The deep silence and sleepy peacefulness were suggestive +of some distant provincial town. + +Seven o'clock had struck, the dusk had gathered slowly, and Pierre was in +the humble dining-room, waiting for the /femme-de-menage/ to place the +soup upon the table. Abbe Rose, anxious at having seen so little of him +for a month past, had written, asking him to come to dinner, in order +that they might have a quiet chat concerning their affairs. From time to +time Pierre still gave his friend money for charitable purposes; in fact, +ever since the days of the asylum in the Rue de Charonne, they had had +accounts together, which they periodically liquidated. So that evening +after dinner they were to talk of it all, and see if they could not do +even more than they had hitherto done. The good old priest was quite +radiant at the thought of the peaceful evening which he was about to +spend in attending to the affairs of his beloved poor; for therein lay +his only amusement, the sole pleasure to which he persistently and +passionately returned, in spite of all the worries that his inconsiderate +charity had already so often brought him. + +Glad to be able to procure his friend this pleasure, Pierre, on his side, +grew calmer, and found relief and momentary repose in sharing the other's +simple repast and yielding to all the kindliness around him, far from his +usual worries. He remembered the vacant bed at the Asylum, which Baroness +Duvillard had promised to keep in reserve until he should have asked Abbe +Rose if he knew of any case of destitution particularly worthy of +interest; and so before sitting down to table he spoke of the matter. + +"Destitution worthy of interest!" replied Abbe Rose, "ah! my dear child, +every case is worthy of interest. And when it's a question of old toilers +without work the only trouble is that of selection, the anguish of +choosing one and leaving so many others in distress." Nevertheless, +painful though his scruples were, he strove to think and come to some +decision. "I know the case which will suit you," he said at last. "It's +certainly one of the greatest suffering and wretchedness; and, so humble +a one, too--an old carpenter of seventy-five, who has been living on +public charity during the eight or ten years that he has been unable to +find work. I don't know his name, everybody calls him 'the big Old'un.' +There are times when he does not come to my Saturday distributions for +weeks together. We shall have to look for him at once. I think that he +sleeps at the Night Refuge in the Rue d'Orsel when lack of room there +doesn't force him to spend the night crouching behind some palings. Shall +we go down the Rue d'Orsel this evening?" + +Abbe Rose's eyes beamed brightly as he spoke, for this proposal of his +signified a great debauch, the tasting of forbidden fruit. He had been +reproached so often and so roughly with his visits to those who had +fallen to the deepest want and misery, that in spite of his overflowing, +apostolic compassion, he now scarcely dared to go near them. However, he +continued: "Is it agreed, my child? Only this once? Besides, it is our +only means of finding the big Old'un. You won't have to stop with me +later than eleven. And I should so like to show you all that! You will +see what terrible sufferings there are! And perhaps we may be fortunate +enough to relieve some poor creature or other." + +Pierre smiled at the juvenile ardour displayed by this old man with snowy +hair. "It's agreed, my dear Abbe," he responded, "I shall be very pleased +to spend my whole evening with you, for I feel it will do me good to +follow you once more on one of those rambles which used to fill our +hearts with grief and joy." + +At this moment the servant brought in the soup; however, just as the two +priests were taking their seats a discreet ring was heard, and when Abbe +Rose learnt that the visitor was a neighbour, Madame Mathis, who had come +for an answer, he gave orders that she should be shown in. + +"This poor woman," he explained to Pierre, "needed an advance of ten +francs to get a mattress out of pawn; and I didn't have the money by me +at the time. But I've since procured it. She lives in the house, you +know, in silent poverty, on so small an income that it hardly keeps her +in bread." + +"But hasn't she a big son of twenty?" asked Pierre, suddenly remembering +the young man he had seen at Salvat's. + +"Yes, yes. Her parents, I believe, were rich people in the provinces. +I've been told that she married a music master, who gave her lessons, at +Nantes; and who ran away with her and brought her to Paris, where he +died. It was quite a doleful love-story. By selling the furniture and +realising every little thing she possessed, she scraped together an +income of about two thousand francs a year, with which she was able to +send her son to college and live decently herself. But a fresh blow fell +on her: she lost the greater part of her little fortune, which was +invested in doubtful securities. So now her income amounts at the utmost +to eight hundred francs; two hundred of which she has to expend in rent. +For all her other wants she has to be content with fifty francs a month. +About eighteen months ago her son left her so as not to be a burden on +her, and he is trying to earn his living somewhere, but without success, +I believe." + +Madame Mathis, a short, dark woman, with a sad, gentle, retiring face, +came in. Invariably clad in the same black gown, she showed all the +anxious timidity of a poor creature whom the storms of life perpetually +assailed. When Abbe Rose had handed her the ten francs discreetly wrapped +in paper, she blushed and thanked him, promising to pay him back as soon +as she received her month's money, for she was not a beggar and did not +wish to encroach on the share of those who starved. + +"And your son, Victor, has he found any employment?" asked the old +priest. + +She hesitated, ignorant as she was of what her son might be doing, for +now she did not see him for weeks together. And finally, she contented +herself with answering: "He has a good heart, he is very fond of me. It +is a great misfortune that we should have been ruined before he could +enter the Ecole Normale. It was impossible for him to prepare for the +examination. But at the Lycee he was such a diligent and intelligent +pupil!" + +"You lost your husband when your son was ten years old, did you not?" +said Abbe Rose. + +At this she blushed again, thinking that her husband's story was known to +the two priests. "Yes, my poor husband never had any luck," she said. +"His difficulties embittered and excited his mind, and he died in prison. +He was sent there through a disturbance at a public meeting, when he had +the misfortune to wound a police officer. He had also fought at the time +of the Commune. And yet he was a very gentle man and extremely fond of +me." + +Tears had risen to her eyes; and Abbe Rose, much touched, dismissed her: +"Well, let us hope that your son will give you satisfaction, and be able +to repay you for all you have done for him." + +With a gesture of infinite sorrow, Madame Mathis discreetly withdrew. She +was quite ignorant of her son's doings, but fate had pursued her so +relentlessly that she ever trembled. + +"I don't think that the poor woman has much to expect from her son," said +Pierre, when she had gone. "I only saw him once, but the gleam in his +eyes was as harsh and trenchant as that of a knife." + +"Do you think so?" the old priest exclaimed, with his kindly /naivete/. +"Well, he seemed to me very polite, perhaps a trifle eager to enjoy life; +but then, all the young folks are impatient nowadays. Come, let us sit +down to table, for the soup will be cold." + +Almost at the same hour, on the other side of Paris, night had in like +fashion slowly fallen in the drawing-room of the Countess de Quinsac, on +the dismal, silent ground-floor of an old mansion in the Rue St. +Dominique. The Countess was there, alone with her faithful friend, the +Marquis de Morigny, she on one side, and he on the other side of the +chimney-piece, where the last embers of the wood fire were dying out. The +servant had not yet brought the lamp, and the Countess refrained from +ringing, finding some relief from her anxiety in the falling darkness, +which hid from view all the unconfessed thoughts that she was afraid of +showing on her weary face. And it was only now, before that dim hearth, +and in that black room, where never a sound of wheels disturbed the +silence of the slumberous past, that she dared to speak. + +"Yes, my friend," she said, "I am not satisfied with Gerard's health. You +will see him yourself, for he promised to come home early and dine with +me. Oh! I'm well aware that he looks big and strong; but to know him +properly one must have nursed and watched him as I have done! What +trouble I had to rear him! In reality he is at the mercy of any petty +ailment. His slightest complaint becomes serious illness. And the life he +leads does not conduce to good health." + +She paused and sighed, hesitating to carry her confession further. + +"He leads the life he can," slowly responded the Marquis de Morigny, of +whose delicate profile, and lofty yet loving bearing, little could be +seen in the gloom. "As he was unable to endure military life, and as even +the fatigues of diplomacy frighten you, what would you have him do? He +can only live apart pending the final collapse, while this abominable +Republic is dragging France to the grave." + +"No doubt, my friend. And yet it is just that idle life which frightens +me. He is losing in it all that was good and healthy in him. I don't +refer merely to the /liaisons/ which we have had to tolerate. The last +one, which I found so much difficulty in countenancing at the outset, so +contrary did it seem to all my ideas and beliefs, has since seemed to me +to exercise almost a good influence. Only he is now entering his +thirty-sixth year, and can he continue living in this fashion without +object or duties? If he is ailing it is perhaps precisely because he does +nothing, holds no position, and serves no purpose." Her voice again +quavered. "And then, my friend, since you force me to tell you +everything, I must own that I am not in good health myself. I have had +several fainting fits of late, and have consulted a doctor. The truth is, +that I may go off at any moment." + +With a quiver, Morigny leant forward in the still deepening gloom, and +wished to take hold of her hands. "You! what, am I to lose you, my last +affection!" he faltered, "I who have seen the old world I belong to +crumble away, I who only live in the hope that you at all events will +still be here to close my eyes!" + +But she begged him not to increase her grief: "No, no, don't take my +hands, don't kiss them! Remain there in the shade, where I can scarcely +see you. . . . We have loved one another so long without aught to cause +shame or regret; and that will prove our strength--our divine +strength--till we reach the grave. . . . And if you were to touch me, if +I were to feel you too near me I could not finish, for I have not done so +yet." + +As soon as he had relapsed into silence and immobility, she continued: +"If I were to die to-morrow, Gerard would not even find here the little +fortune which he still fancies is in my hands. The dear child has often +cost me large sums of money without apparently being conscious of it. I +ought to have been more severe, more prudent. But what would you have? +Ruin is at hand. I have always been too weak a mother. And do you now +understand in what anguish I live? I ever have the thought that if I die +Gerard will not even possess enough to live on, for he is incapable of +effecting the miracle which I renew each day, in order to keep the house +up on a decent footing. . . . Ah! I know him, so supine, so sickly, in +spite of his proud bearing, unable to do anything, even conduct himself. +And so what will become of him; will he not fall into the most dire +distress?" + +Then her tears flowed freely, her heart opened and bled, for she foresaw +what must happen after her death: the collapse of her race and of a whole +world in the person of that big child. And the Marquis, still motionless +but distracted, feeling that he had no title to offer his own fortune, +suddenly understood her, foresaw in what disgrace this fresh disaster +would culminate. + +"Ah! my poor friend!" he said at last in a voice trembling with revolt +and grief. "So you have agreed to that marriage--yes, that abominable +marriage with that woman's daughter! Yet you swore it should never be! +You would rather witness the collapse of everything, you said. And now +you are consenting, I can feel it!" + +She still wept on in that black, silent drawing-room before the +chimney-piece where the fire had died out. Did not Gerard's marriage to +Camille mean a happy ending for herself, a certainty of leaving her son +wealthy, loved, and seated at the banquet of life? However, a last +feeling of rebellion arose within her. + +"No, no," she exclaimed, "I don't consent, I swear to you that I don't +consent as yet. I am fighting with my whole strength, waging an incessant +battle, the torture of which you cannot imagine." + +Then, in all sincerity, she foresaw the likelihood of defeat. "If I +should some day give way, my friend, at all events believe that I feel, +as fully as you do, how abominable such a marriage must be. It will be +the end of our race and our honour!" + +This cry profoundly stirred the Marquis, and he was unable to add a word. +Haughty and uncompromising Catholic and Royalist that he was, he, on his +side also, expected nothing but the supreme collapse. Yet how +heartrending was the thought that this noble woman, so dearly and so +purely loved, would prove one of the most mournful victims of the +catastrophe! And in the shrouding gloom he found courage to kneel before +her, take her hand, and kiss it. + +Just as the servant was at last bringing a lighted lamp Gerard made his +appearance. The past-century charm of the old Louis XVI. drawing-room, +with its pale woodwork, again became apparent in the soft light. In order +that his mother might not be over-saddened by his failure to dine with +her that evening the young man had put on an air of brisk gaiety; and +when he had explained that some friends were waiting for him, she at once +released him from his promise, happy as she felt at seeing him so merry. + +"Go, go, my dear boy," said she, "but mind you do not tire yourself too +much. . . . I am going to keep Morigny; and the General and Larombiere +are coming at nine o'clock. So be easy, I shall have someone with me to +keep me from fretting and feeling lonely." + +In this wise Gerard after sitting down for a moment and chatting with the +Marquis was able to slip away, dress, and betake himself to the Cafe +Anglais. + +When he reached it women in fur cloaks were already climbing the stairs, +fashionable and merry parties were filling the private rooms, the +electric lights shone brilliantly, and the walls were already vibrating +with the stir of pleasure and debauchery. In the room which Baron +Duvillard had engaged the young man found an extraordinary display, the +most superb flowers, and a profusion of plate and crystal as for a royal +gala. The pomp with which the six covers were laid called forth a smile; +while the bill of fare and the wine list promised marvels, all the rarest +and most expensive things that could be selected. + +"It's stylish, isn't it?" exclaimed Silviane, who was already there with +Duvillard, Fonsegue and Duthil. "I just wanted to make your influential +critic open his eyes a little! When one treats a journalist to such a +dinner as this, he has got to be amiable, hasn't he?" + +In her desire to conquer, it had occurred to the young woman to array +herself in the most amazing fashion. Her gown of yellow satin, covered +with old Alencon lace, was cut low at the neck; and she had put on all +her diamonds, a necklace, a diadem, shoulder-knots, bracelets and rings. +With her candid, girlish face, she looked like some Virgin in a missal, a +Queen-Virgin, laden with the offerings of all Christendom. + +"Well, well, you look so pretty," said Gerard, who sometimes jested with +her, "that I think it will do all the same." + +"Ah!" she replied with equanimity. "You consider me a /bourgeoise/, I +see. Your opinion is that a simple little dinner and a modest gown would +have shown better taste. But ah! my dear fellow, you don't know the way +to get round men!" + +Duvillard signified his approval, for he was delighted to be able to show +her in all her glory, adorned like an idol. Fonsegue, for his part, +talked of diamonds, saying that they were now doubtful investments, as +the day when they would become articles of current manufacture was fast +approaching, thanks to the electrical furnace and other inventions. +Meantime Duthil, with an air of ecstasy and the dainty gestures of a +lady's maid, hovered around the young woman, either smoothing a +rebellious bow or arranging some fold of her lace. + +"But I say," resumed Silviane, "your critic seems to be an ill-bred man, +for he's keeping us waiting." + +Indeed, the critic arrived a quarter of an hour late, and while +apologising, he expressed his regret that he should be obliged to leave +at half-past nine, for he was absolutely compelled to put in an +appearance at a little theatre in the Rue Pigalle. He was a big fellow of +fifty with broad shoulders and a full, bearded face. His most +disagreeable characteristic was the narrow dogmatic pedantry which he had +acquired at the Ecole Normale, and had never since been able to shake +off. All his herculean efforts to be sceptical and frivolous, and the +twenty years he had spent in Paris mingling with every section of +society, had failed to rid him of it. /Magister/ he was, and /magister/ +he remained, even in his most strenuous flights of imagination and +audacity. From the moment of his arrival he tried to show himself +enraptured with Silviane. Naturally enough, he already knew her by sight, +and had even criticised her on one occasion in five or six contemptuous +lines. However, the sight of her there, in full beauty, clad like a +queen, and presented by four influential protectors, filled him with +emotion; and he was struck with the idea that nothing would be more +Parisian and less pedantic than to assert she had some talent and give +her his support. + +They had seated themselves at table, and the repast proved a magnificent +one, the service ever prompt and assiduous, an attendant being allotted +to each diner. While the flowers scattered their perfumes through the +room, and the plate and crystal glittered on the snowy cloth, an +abundance of delicious and unexpected dishes were handed round--a +sturgeon from Russia, prohibited game, truffles as big as eggs, and +hothouse vegetables and fruit as full of flavour as if they had been +naturally matured. It was money flung out of window, simply for the +pleasure of wasting more than other people, and eating what they could +not procure. The influential critic, though he displayed the ease of a +man accustomed to every sort of festivity, really felt astonished at it +all, and became servile, promising his support, and pledging himself far +more than he really wished to. Moreover, he showed himself very gay, +found some witty remarks to repeat, and even some rather ribald jests. +But when the champagne appeared after the roast and the grand burgundies, +his over-excitement brought him back perforce to his real nature. The +conversation had now turned on Corneille's "Polyeucte" and the part of +"Pauline," in which Silviane wished to make her /debut/ at the Comedie +Francaise. This extraordinary caprice, which had quite revolted the +influential critic a week previously, now seemed to him simply a bold +enterprise in which the young woman might even prove victorious if she +consented to listen to his advice. And, once started, he delivered quite +a lecture on the past, asserting that no actress had ever yet understood +it properly, for at the outset Pauline was simply a well-meaning little +creature of the middle classes, and the beauty of her conversion at the +finish arose from the working of a miracle, a stroke of heavenly grace +which endowed her with something divine. This was not the opinion of +Silviane, who from the first lines regarded Pauline as the ideal heroine +of some symbolical legend. However, as the critic talked on and on, she +had to feign approval; and he was delighted at finding her so beautiful +and docile beneath his ferule. At last, as ten o'clock was striking, he +rose and tore out of the hot and reeking room in order to do his work. + +"Ah! my dears," cried Silviane, "he's a nice bore is that critic of +yours! What a fool he is with his idea of Pauline being a little +/bourgeoise/! I would have given him a fine dressing if it weren't for +the fact that I have some need of him. Ah! no, it's too idiotic! Pour me +out a glass of champagne. I want something to set me right after all +that!" + +The /fete/ then took quite an intimate turn between the four men who +remained and that bare-armed, bare-breasted girl, covered with diamonds; +while from the neighbouring passages and rooms came bursts of laughter +and sounds of kissing, all the stir and mirth of the debauchery now +filling the house. And beneath the windows torrents of vehicles and +pedestrians streamed along the Boulevards where reigned the wild fever of +pleasure and harlotry. + +"No, don't open it, or I shall catch cold!" resumed Silviane, addressing +Fonsegue as he stepped towards the window. "Are you so very warm, then? +I'm just comfortable. . . . But, Duvillard, my good fellow, please order +some more champagne. It's wonderful what a thirst your critic has given +me!" + +Amidst the blinding glare of the lamps and the perfume of the flowers and +wines, one almost stifled in the room. And Silviane was seized with an +irresistible desire for a spree, a desire to tipple and amuse herself in +some vulgar fashion, as in her bygone days. A few glasses of champagne +brought her to full pitch, and she showed the boldest and giddiest +gaiety. The others, who had never before seen her so lively, began on +their own side to feel amused. As Fonsegue was obliged to go to his +office she embraced him "like a daughter," as she expressed it. However, +on remaining alone with the others she indulged in great freedom of +speech, which became more and more marked as her intoxication increased. +And to the class of men with whom she consorted her great attraction, as +she was well aware, lay in the circumstance that with her virginal +countenance and her air of ideal purity was coupled the most monstrous +perversity ever displayed by any shameless woman. Despite her innocent +blue eyes and lily-like candour, she would give rein, particularly when +she was drunk, to the most diabolical of fancies. + +Duvillard let her drink on, but she guessed his thoughts, like she +guessed those of the others, and simply smiled while concocting +impossible stories and descanting fantastically in the language of the +gutter. And seeing her there in her dazzling gown fit for a queenly +virgin, and hearing her pour forth the vilest words, they thought her +most wonderfully droll. However, when she had drunk as much champagne as +she cared for and was half crazy, a novel idea suddenly occurred to her. + +"I say, my children," she exclaimed, "we are surely not going to stop +here. It's so precious slow! You shall take me to the Chamber of +Horrors--eh? just to finish the evening. I want to hear Legras sing 'La +Chemise,' that song which all Paris is running to hear him sing." + +But Duvillard indignantly rebelled: "Oh! no," said he; "most certainly +not. It's a vile song and I'll never take you to such an abominable +place." + +But she did not appear to hear him. She had already staggered to her feet +and was arranging her hair before a looking-glass. "I used to live at +Montmartre," she said, "and it'll amuse me to go back there. And, +besides, I want to know if this Legras is a Legras that I knew, oh! ever +so long ago! Come, up you get, and let us be off!" + +"But, my dear girl," pleaded Duvillard, "we can't take you into that den +dressed as you are! Just fancy your entering that place in a low-necked +gown and covered with diamonds! Why everyone would jeer at us! Come, +Gerard, just tell her to be a little reasonable." + +Gerard, equally offended by the idea of such a freak, was quite willing +to intervene. But she closed his mouth with her gloved hand and repeated +with the gay obstinacy of intoxication: "Pooh, it will be all the more +amusing if they do jeer at us! Come, let us be off, let us be off, +quick!" + +Thereupon Duthil, who had been listening with a smile and the air of a +man of pleasure whom nothing astonishes or displeases, gallantly took her +part. "But, my dear Baron, everybody goes to the Chamber of Horrors," +said he. "Why, I myself have taken the noblest ladies there, and +precisely to hear that song of Legras, which is no worse than anything +else." + +"Ah! you hear what Duthil says!" cried Silviane. "He's a deputy, he is, +and he wouldn't go there if he thought it would compromise his +honorability!" + +Then, as Duvillard still struggled on in despair at the idea of +exhibiting himself with her in such a scandalous place, she became all +the merrier: "Well, my dear fellow, please yourself. I don't need you. +You and Gerard can go home if you like. But I'm going to Montmartre with +Duthil. You'll take charge of me, won't you, Duthil, eh?" + +Still, the Baron was in no wise disposed to let the evening finish in +that fashion. The mere idea of it gave him a shock, and he had to resign +himself to the girl's stubborn caprice. The only consolation he could +think of was to secure Gerard's presence, for the young man, with some +lingering sense of decorum, still obstinately refused to make one of the +party. So the Baron took his hands and detained him, repeating in urgent +tones that he begged him to come as an essential mark of friendship. And +at last the wife's lover and daughter's suitor had to give way to the man +who was the former's husband and the latter's father. + +Silviane was immensely amused by it all, and, indiscreetly thee-ing and +thou-ing Gerard, suggested that he at least owed the Baron some little +compliance with his wishes. + +Duvillard pretended not to hear her. He was listening to Duthil, who told +him that there was a sort of box in a corner of the Chamber of Horrors, +in which one could in some measure conceal oneself. And then, as +Silviane's carriage--a large closed landau, whose coachman, a sturdy, +handsome fellow, sat waiting impassively on his box--was down below, they +started off. + +The Chamber of Horrors was installed in premises on the Boulevard de +Rochechouart, formerly occupied by a cafe whose proprietor had become +bankrupt.* It was a suffocating place, narrow, irregular, with all sorts +of twists, turns, and secluded nooks, and a low and smoky ceiling. And +nothing could have been more rudimentary than its decorations. The walls +had simply been placarded with posters of violent hues, some of the +crudest character, showing the barest of female figures. Behind a piano +at one end there was a little platform reached by a curtained doorway. +For the rest, one simply found a number of bare wooden forms set +alongside the veriest pot-house tables, on which the glasses containing +various beverages left round and sticky marks. There was no luxury, no +artistic feature, no cleanliness even. Globeless gas burners flared +freely, heating a dense mist compounded of tobacco smoke and human +breath. Perspiring, apoplectical faces could be perceived through this +veil, and an acrid odour increased the intoxication of the assembly, +which excited itself with louder and louder shouts at each fresh song. It +had been sufficient for an enterprising fellow to set up these boards, +bring out Legras, accompanied by two or three girls, make him sing his +frantic and abominable songs, and in two or three evenings overwhelming +success had come, all Paris being enticed and flocking to the place, +which for ten years or so had failed to pay as a mere cafe, where by way +of amusement petty cits had been simply allowed their daily games at +dominoes. + + * Those who know Paris will identify the site selected by M. Zola + as that where 'Colonel' Lisbonne of the Commune installed his + den the 'Bagne' some years ago. Nevertheless, such places as the + 'Chamber of Horrors' now abound in the neighbourhood of + Montmartre, and it must be admitted that whilst they are + frequented by certain classes of Frenchmen they owe much of + their success in a pecuniary sense to the patronage of + foreigners. Among the latter, Englishmen are particularly + conspicuous.--Trans. + +And the change had been caused by the passion for filth, the irresistible +attraction exercised by all that brought opprobrium and disgust. The +Paris of enjoyment, the /bourgeoisie/ which held all wealth and power, +which would relinquish naught of either, though it was surfeited and +gradually wearying of both, simply hastened to the place in order that +obscenity and insult might be flung in its face. Hypnotised, as it were, +while staggering to its fall, it felt a need of being spat upon. And what +a frightful symptom there lay in it all: those condemned ones rushing +upon dirt of their own accord, voluntarily hastening their own +decomposition by that unquenchable thirst for the vile, which attracted +men, reputed to be grave and upright, and lovely women of the most +perfect grace and luxury, to all the beastliness of that low den! + +At one of the tables nearest the stage sat little Princess Rosemonde de +Harn, with wild eyes and quivering nostrils, delighted as she felt at now +being able to satisfy her curiosity regarding the depths of Paris life. +Young Hyacinthe had resigned himself to the task of bringing her, and, +correctly buttoned up in his long frock-coat, he was indulgent enough to +refrain from any marked expression of boredom. At a neighbouring table +they had found a shadowy Spaniard of their acquaintance, a so-called +Bourse jobber, Bergaz, who had been introduced to the Princess by Janzen, +and usually attended her entertainments. They virtually knew nothing +about him, not even if he really earned at the Bourse all the money which +he sometimes spent so lavishly, and which enabled him to dress with +affected elegance. His slim, lofty figure was not without a certain air +of distinction, but his red lips spoke of strong passions and his bright +eyes were those of a beast of prey. That evening he had two young fellows +with him, one Rossi, a short, swarthy Italian, who had come to Paris as a +painter's model, and had soon glided into the lazy life of certain +disreputable callings, and the other, Sanfaute, a born Parisian +blackguard, a pale, beardless, vicious and impudent stripling of La +Chapelle, whose long curly hair fell down upon either side of his bony +cheeks. + +"Oh! pray now!" feverishly said Rosemonde to Bergaz; "as you seem to know +all these horrid people, just show me some of the celebrities. Aren't +there some thieves and murderers among them?" + +He laughed shrilly, and in a bantering way replied: "But you know these +people well enough, madame. That pretty, pink, delicate-looking woman +over yonder is an American lady, the wife of a consul, whom, I believe, +you receive at your house. That other on the right, that tall brunette +who shows such queenly dignity, is a Countess, whose carriage passes +yours every day in the Bois. And the thin one yonder, whose eyes glitter +like those of a she-wolf, is the particular friend of a high official, +who is well known for his reputation of austerity." + +But she stopped him, in vexation: "I know, I know. But the others, those +of the lower classes, those whom one comes to see." + +Then she went on asking questions, and seeking for terrifying and +mysterious countenances. At last, two men seated in a corner ended by +attracting her attention; one of them a very young fellow with a pale, +pinched face, and the other an ageless individual who, besides being +buttoned up to his neck in an old coat, had pulled his cap so low over +his eyes, that one saw little of his face beyond the beard which fringed +it. Before these two stood a couple of mugs of beer, which they drank +slowly and in silence. + +"You are making a great mistake, my dear," said Hyacinthe with a frank +laugh, "if you are looking for brigands in disguise. That poor fellow +with the pale face, who surely doesn't have food to eat every day, was my +schoolfellow at Condorcet!" + +Bergaz expressed his amazement. "What! you knew Mathis at Condorcet! +After all, though, you're right, he received a college education. Ah! and +so you knew him. A very remarkable young man he is, though want is +throttling him. But, I say, the other one, his companion, you don't know +him?" + +Hyacinthe, after looking at the man with the cap-hidden face, was already +shaking his head, when Bergaz suddenly gave him a nudge as a signal to +keep quiet, and by way of explanation he muttered: "Hush! Here's +Raphanel. I've been distrusting him for some time past. Whenever he +appears anywhere, the police is not far off." + +Raphanel was another of the vague, mysterious Anarchists whom Janzen had +presented to the Princess by way of satisfying her momentary passion for +revolutionism. This one, though he was a fat, gay, little man, with a +doll-like face and childish nose, which almost disappeared between his +puffy cheeks, had the reputation of being a thorough desperado; and at +public meetings he certainly shouted for fire and murder with all his +lungs. Still, although he had already been compromised in various +affairs, he had invariably managed to save his own bacon, whilst his +companions were kept under lock and key; and this they were now beginning +to think somewhat singular. + +He at once shook hands with the Princess in a jovial way, took a seat +near her without being invited, and forthwith denounced the dirty +/bourgeoisie/ which came to wallow in places of ill fame. Rosemonde was +delighted, and encouraged him, but others near by began to get angry, and +Bergaz examined him with his piercing eyes, like a man of energy who +acts, and lets others talk. Now and then, too, he exchanged quick glances +of intelligence with his silent lieutenants, Sanfaute and Rossi, who +plainly belonged to him, both body and soul. They were the ones who found +their profit in Anarchy, practising it to its logical conclusions, +whether in crime or in vice. + +Meantime, pending the arrival of Legras with his "Flowers of the +Pavement," two female vocalists had followed one another on the stage, +the first fat and the second thin, one chirruping some silly love songs +with an under-current of dirt, and the other shouting the coarsest of +refrains, in a most violent, fighting voice. She had just finished amidst +a storm of bravos, when the assembly, stirred to merriment and eager for +a laugh, suddenly exploded once more. Silviane was entering the little +box at one end of the hall. When she appeared erect in the full light, +with bare arms and shoulders, looking like a planet in her gown of yellow +satin and her blazing diamonds, there arose a formidable uproar, shouts, +jeers, hisses, laughing and growling, mingled with ferocious applause. +And the scandal increased, and the vilest expressions flew about as soon +as Duvillard, Gerard and Duthil also showed themselves, looking very +serious and dignified with their white ties and spreading shirt fronts. + +"We told you so!" muttered Duvillard, who was much annoyed with the +affair, while Gerard tried to conceal himself in a dim corner. + +She, however, smiling and enchanted, faced the public, accepting the +storm with the candid bearing of a foolish virgin, much as one inhales +the vivifying air of the open when it bears down upon one in a squall. +And, indeed, she herself had sprung from the sphere before her, its +atmosphere was her native air. + +"Well, what of it?" she said replying to the Baron who wanted her to sit +down. "They are merry. It's very nice. Oh! I'm really amusing myself!" + +"Why, yes, it's very nice," declared Duthil, who in like fashion set +himself at his ease. "Silviane is right, people naturally like a laugh +now and then!" + +Amidst the uproar, which did not cease, little Princess Rosemonde rose +enthusiastically to get a better view. "Why, it's your father who's with +that woman Silviane," she said to Hyacinthe. "Just look at them! Well, he +certainly has plenty of bounce to show himself here with her!" + +Hyacinthe, however, refused to look. It didn't interest him, his father +was an idiot, only a child would lose his head over a girl in that +fashion. And with his contempt for woman the young man became positively +insulting. + +"You try my nerves, my dear fellow," said Rosemonde as she sat down. "You +are the child with your silly ideas about us. And as for your father, he +does quite right to love that girl. I find her very pretty indeed, quite +adorable!" + +Then all at once the uproar ceased, those who had risen resumed their +seats, and the only sound was that of the feverish throb which coursed +through the assembly. Legras had just appeared on the platform. He was a +pale sturdy fellow with a round and carefully shaven face, stern eyes, +and the powerful jaws of a man who compels the adoration of women by +terrorising them. He was not deficient in talent, he sang true, and his +ringing voice was one of extraordinary penetration and pathetic power. +And his /repertoire/, his "Flowers of the Pavement," completed the +explanation of his success; for all the foulness and suffering of the +lower spheres, the whole abominable sore of the social hell created by +the rich, shrieked aloud in these songs in words of filth and fire and +blood. + +A prelude was played on the piano, and Legras standing there in his +velvet jacket sang "La Chemise," the horrible song which brought all +Paris to hear him. All the lust and vice that crowd the streets of the +great city appeared with their filth and their poison; and amid the +picture of Woman stripped, degraded, ill-treated, dragged through the +mire and cast into a cesspool, there rang out the crime of the +/bourgeoisie/. But the scorching insult of it all was less in the words +themselves than in the manner in which Legras cast them in the faces of +the rich, the happy, the beautiful ladies who came to listen to him. +Under the low ceiling, amidst the smoke from the pipes, in the blinding +glare of the gas, he sent his lines flying through the assembly like +expectorations, projected by a whirlwind of furious contempt. And when he +had finished there came delirium; the beautiful ladies did not even think +of wiping away the many affronts they had received, but applauded +frantically. The whole assembly stamped and shouted, and wallowed, +distracted, in its ignominy. + +"Bravo! bravo!" the little Princess repeated in her shrill voice. "It's +astonishing, astonishing, prodigious!" + +And Silviane, whose intoxication seemed to have increased since she had +been there, in the depths of that fiery furnace, made herself +particularly conspicuous by the manner in which she clapped her hands and +shouted: "It's he, it's my Legras! I really must kiss him, he's pleased +me so much!" + +Duvillard, now fairly exasperated, wished to take her off by force. But +she clung to the hand-rest of the box, and shouted yet more loudly, +though without any show of temper. It became necessary to parley with +her. Yes, she was willing to go off and let them drive her home; but, +first of all, she must embrace Legras, who was an old friend of hers. "Go +and wait for me in the carriage!" she said, "I will be with you in a +moment." + +Just as the assembly was at last becoming calmer, Rosemonde perceived +that the box was emptying; and her own curiosity being satisfied, she +thought of prevailing on Hyacinthe to see her home. He, who had listened +to Legras in a languid way without even applauding, was now talking of +Norway with Bergaz, who pretended that he had travelled in the North. Oh! +the fiords! oh! the ice-bound lakes! oh! the pure lily-white, chaste +coldness of the eternal winter! It was only amid such surroundings, said +Hyacinthe, that he could understand woman and love, like a kiss of the +very snow itself. + +"Shall we go off there to-morrow?" exclaimed the Princess with her +vivacious effrontery. "I'll shut up my house and slip the key under the +door." + +Then she added that she was jesting, of course. But Bergaz knew her to be +quite capable of such a freak; and at the idea that she might shut up her +little mansion and perhaps leave it unprotected he exchanged a quick +glance with Sanfaute and Rossi, who still smiled in silence. Ah! what an +opportunity for a fine stroke! What an opportunity to get back some of +the wealth of the community appropriated by the blackguard /bourgeoisie/! + +Meantime Raphanel, after applauding Legras, was looking all round the +place with his little grey, sharp eyes. And at last young Mathis and his +companion, the ill-clad individual, of whose face only a scrap of beard +could be seen, attracted his attention. They had neither laughed nor +applauded; they seemed to be simply a couple of tired fellows who were +resting, and in whose opinion one is best hidden in the midst of a crowd. + +All at once, though, Raphanel turned towards Bergaz: "That's surely +little Mathis over yonder. But who's that with him?" + +Bergaz made an evasive gesture; he did not know. Still, he no longer took +his eyes from Raphanel. And he saw the other feign indifference at what +followed, and finish his beer and take his leave, with the jesting remark +that he had an appointment with a lady at a neighbouring omnibus office. +No sooner had he gone than Bergaz rose, sprang over some of the forms and +jostled people in order to reach little Mathis, into whose ear he +whispered a few words. And the young man at once left his table, taking +his companion and pushing him outside through an occasional exit. It was +all so rapidly accomplished that none of the general public paid +attention to the flight. + +"What is it?" said the Princess to Bergaz, when he had quietly resumed +his seat between Rossi and Sanfaute. + +"Oh! nothing, I merely wished to shake hands with Mathis as he was going +off." + +Thereupon Rosemonde announced that she meant to do the same. +Nevertheless, she lingered a moment longer and again spoke of Norway on +perceiving that nothing could impassion Hyacinthe except the idea of the +eternal snow, the intense, purifying cold of the polar regions. In his +poem on the "End of Woman," a composition of some thirty lines, which he +hoped he should never finish, he thought of introducing a forest of +frozen pines by way of final scene. Now the Princess had risen and was +gaily reverting to her jest, declaring that she meant to take him home to +drink a cup of tea and arrange their trip to the Pole, when an +involuntary exclamation fell from Bergaz, who, while listening, had kept +his eyes on the doorway. + +"Mondesir! I was sure of it!" + +There had appeared at the entrance a short, sinewy, broad-backed little +man, about whose round face, bumpy forehead, and snub nose there was +considerable military roughness. One might have thought him a +non-commissioned officer in civilian attire. He gazed over the whole +room, and seemed at once dismayed and disappointed. + +Bergaz, however, wishing to account for his exclamation, resumed in an +easy way: "Ah! I said there was a smell of the police about the place! +You see that fellow--he's a detective, a very clever one, named Mondesir, +who had some trouble when he was in the army. Just look at him, sniffing +like a dog that has lost scent! Well, well, my brave fellow, if you've +been told of any game you may look and look for it, the bird's flown +already!" + +Once outside, when Rosemonde had prevailed on Hyacinthe to see her home, +they hastened to get into the brougham, which was waiting for them, for +near at hand they perceived Silviane's landau, with the majestic coachman +motionless on his box, while Duvillard, Gerard, and Duthil still stood +waiting on the curbstone. They had been there for nearly twenty minutes +already, in the semi-darkness of that outer boulevard, where all the +vices of the poor districts of Paris were on the prowl. They had been +jostled by drunkards; and shadowy women brushed against them as they went +by whispering beneath the oaths and blows of bullies. And there were +couples seeking the darkness under the trees, and lingering on the +benches there; while all around were low taverns and dirty lodging-houses +and places of ill-fame. All the human degradation which till break of day +swarms in the black mud of this part of Paris, enveloped the three men, +giving them the horrors, and yet neither the Baron nor Gerard nor Duthil +was willing to go off. Each hoped that he would tire out the others, and +take Silviane home when she should at last appear. + +But after a time the Baron grew impatient, and said to the coachman: +"Jules, go and see why madame doesn't come." + +"But the horses, Monsieur le Baron?" + +"Oh! they will be all right, we are here." + +A fine drizzle had begun to fall; and the wait went on again as if it +would never finish. But an unexpected meeting gave them momentary +occupation. A shadowy form, something which seemed to be a thin, +black-skirted woman, brushed against them. And all of a sudden they were +surprised to find it was a priest. + +"What, is it you, Monsieur l'Abbe Froment?" exclaimed Gerard. "At this +time of night? And in this part of Paris?" + +Thereupon Pierre, without venturing either to express his own +astonishment at finding them there themselves, or to ask them what they +were doing, explained that he had been belated through accompanying Abbe +Rose on a visit to a night refuge. Ah! to think of all the frightful want +which at last drifted to those pestilential dormitories where the stench +had almost made him faint! To think of all the weariness and despair +which there sank into the slumber of utter prostration, like that of +beasts falling to the ground to sleep off the abominations of life! No +name could be given to the promiscuity; poverty and suffering were there +in heaps, children and men, young and old, beggars in sordid rags, beside +the shameful poor in threadbare frock-coats, all the waifs and strays of +the daily shipwrecks of Paris life, all the laziness and vice, and +ill-luck and injustice which the torrent rolls on, and throws off like +scum. Some slept on, quite annihilated, with the faces of corpses. +Others, lying on their backs with mouths agape, snored loudly as if still +venting the plaint of their sorry life. And others tossed restlessly, +still struggling in their slumber against fatigue and cold and hunger, +which pursued them like nightmares of monstrous shape. And from all those +human beings, stretched there like wounded after a battle, from all that +ambulance of life reeking with a stench of rottenness and death, there +ascended a nausea born of revolt, the vengeance-prompting thought of all +the happy chambers where, at that same hour, the wealthy loved or rested +in fine linen and costly lace.* + + * Even the oldest Paris night refuges, which are the outcome + of private philanthropy--L'Oeuvre de l'Hospitalite de Nuit-- + have only been in existence some fourteen or fifteen years. + Before that time, and from the period of the great Revolution + forward, there was absolutely no place, either refuge, asylum, + or workhouse, in the whole of that great city of wealth and + pleasure, where the houseless poor could crave a night's + shelter. The various royalist, imperialist and republican + governments and municipalities of modern France have often + been described as 'paternal,' but no governments and + municipalities in the whole civilised world have done less for + the very poor. The official Poor Relief Board--L'Assistance + Publique--has for fifty years been a by-word, a mockery and a + sham, in spite of its large revenue. And this neglect of the + very poor has been an important factor in every French + revolution. Each of these--even that of 1870--had its purely + economic side, though many superficial historians are content + to ascribe economic causes to the one Revolution of 1789, and + to pass them by in all other instances.--Trans. + +In vain had Pierre and Abbe Rose passed all the poor wretches in review +while seeking the big Old'un, the former carpenter, so as to rescue him +from the cesspool of misery, and send him to the Asylum on the very +morrow. He had presented himself at the refuge that evening, but there +was no room left, for, horrible to say, even the shelter of that hell +could only be granted to early comers. And so he must now be leaning +against a wall, or lying behind some palings. This had greatly distressed +poor Abbe Rose and Pierre, but it was impossible for them to search every +dark, suspicious corner; and so the former had returned to the Rue +Cortot, while the latter was seeking a cab to convey him back to Neuilly. + +The fine drizzling rain was still falling and becoming almost icy, when +Silviane's coachman, Jules, at last reappeared and interrupted the +priest, who was telling the Baron and the others how his visit to the +refuge still made him shudder. + +"Well, Jules--and madame?" asked Duvillard, quite anxious at seeing the +coachman return alone. + +Impassive and respectful, with no other sign of irony than a slight +involuntary twist of the lips, Jules answered: "Madame sends word that +she is not going home; and she places her carriage at the gentlemen's +disposal if they will allow me to drive them home." + +This was the last straw, and the Baron flew into a passion. To have +allowed her to drag him to that vile den, to have waited there hopefully +so long, and to be treated in this fashion for the sake of a Legras! No, +no, he, the Baron, had had enough of it, and she should pay dearly for +her abominable conduct! Then he stopped a passing cab and pushed Gerard +inside it saying, "You can set me down at my door." + +"But she's left us the carriage!" shouted Duthil, who was already +consoled, and inwardly laughed at the termination of it all. "Come here, +there's plenty of room for three. No? you prefer the cab? Well, just as +you like, you know." + +For his part he gaily climbed into the landau and drove off lounging on +the cushions, while the Baron, in the jolting old cab, vented his rage +without a word of interruption from Gerard, whose face was hidden by the +darkness. To think of it! that she, whom he had overwhelmed with gifts, +who had already cost him two millions of francs, should in this fashion +insult him, the master who could dispose both of fortunes and of men! +Well, she had chosen to do it, and he was delivered! Then Duvillard drew +a long breath like a man released from the galleys. + +For a moment Pierre watched the two vehicles go off; and then took his +own way under the trees, so as to shelter himself from the rain until a +vacant cab should pass. Full of distress and battling thoughts he had +begun to feel icy cold. The whole monstrous night of Paris, all the +debauchery and woe that sobbed around him made him shiver. Phantom-like +women who, when young, had led lives of infamy in wealth, and who now, +old and faded, led lives of infamy in poverty, were still and ever +wandering past him in search of bread, when suddenly a shadowy form +grazed him, and a voice murmured in his ear: "Warn your brother, the +police are on Salvat's track, he may be arrested at any moment." + +The shadowy figure was already going its way, and as a gas ray fell upon +it, Pierre thought that he recognised the pale, pinched face of Victor +Mathis. And at the same time, yonder in Abbe Rose's peaceful dining-room, +he fancied he could again see the gentle face of Madame Mathis, so sad +and so resigned, living on solely by the force of the last trembling hope +which she had unhappily set in her son. + + + +III + +PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT + +ALREADY at eight o'clock on that holiday-making mid-Lent Thursday, when +all the offices of the Home Department were empty, Monferrand, the +Minister, sat alone in his private room. A single usher guarded his door, +and in the first ante-chamber there were only a couple of messengers. + +The Minister had experienced, on awaking, the most unpleasant of +emotions. The "Voix du Peuple," which on the previous day had revived the +African Railway scandal, by accusing Barroux of having pocketed 20,000 +francs, had that morning published its long-promised list of the +bribe-taking senators and deputies. And at the head of this list +Monferrand had found his own name set down against a sum of 80,000 +francs, while Fonsegue was credited with 50,000. Then a fifth of the +latter amount was said to have been Duthil's share, and Chaigneux had +contented himself with the beggarly sum of 3,000 francs--the lowest price +paid for any one vote, the cost of each of the others ranging from 5 to +20,000. + +It must be said that there was no anger in Monferrand's emotion. Only he +had never thought that Sagnier would carry his passion for uproar and +scandal so far as to publish this list--a page which was said to have +been torn from a memorandum book belonging to Duvillard's agent, Hunter, +and which was covered with incomprehensible hieroglyphics that ought to +have been discussed and explained, if, indeed, the real truth was to be +arrived at. Personally, Monferrand felt quite at ease, for he had written +nothing, signed nothing, and knew that one could always extricate oneself +from a mess by showing some audacity, and never confessing. Nevertheless, +what a commotion it would all cause in the parliamentary duck-pond. He at +once realised the inevitable consequences, the ministry overthrown and +swept away by this fresh whirlwind of denunciation and tittle-tattle. +Mege would renew his interpellation on the morrow, and Vignon and his +friends would at once lay siege to the posts they coveted. And he, +Monferrand, could picture himself driven out of that ministerial sanctum +where, for eight months past, he had been taking his ease, not with any +foolish vainglory, but with the pleasure of feeling that he was in his +proper place as a born ruler, who believed he could tame and lead the +multitude. + +Having thrown the newspapers aside with a disdainful gesture, he rose and +stretched himself, growling the while like a plagued lion. And then he +began to walk up and down the spacious room, which showed all the faded +official luxury of mahogany furniture and green damask hangings. Stepping +to and fro, with his hands behind his back, he no longer wore his usual +fatherly, good-natured air. He appeared as he really was, a born +wrestler, short, but broad shouldered, with sensual mouth, fleshy nose +and stern eyes, that all proclaimed him to be unscrupulous, of iron will +and fit for the greatest tasks. Still, in this case, in what direction +lay his best course? Must he let himself be dragged down with Barroux? +Perhaps his personal position was not absolutely compromised? And yet how +could he part company from the others, swim ashore, and save himself +while they were being drowned? It was a grave problem, and with his +frantic desire to retain power, he made desperate endeavours to devise +some suitable manoeuvre. + +But he could think of nothing, and began to swear at the virtuous fits of +that silly Republic, which, in his opinion, rendered all government +impossible. To think of such foolish fiddle-faddle stopping a man of his +acumen and strength! How on earth can one govern men if one is denied the +use of money, that sovereign means of sway? And he laughed bitterly; for +the idea of an idyllic country where all great enterprises would be +carried out in an absolutely honest manner seemed to him the height of +absurdity. + +At last, however, unable as he was to come to a determination, it +occurred to him to confer with Baron Duvillard, whom he had long known, +and whom he regretted not having seen sooner so as to urge him to +purchase Sagnier's silence. At first he thought of sending the Baron a +brief note by a messenger; but he disliked committing anything to paper, +for the veriest scrap of writing may prove dangerous; so he preferred to +employ the telephone which had been installed for his private use near +his writing-table. + +"It is Baron Duvillard who is speaking to me? . . . Quite so. It's I, the +Minister, Monsieur Monferrand. I shall be much obliged if you will come +to see me at once. . . . Quite so, quite so, I will wait for you." + +Then again he walked to and fro and meditated. That fellow Duvillard was +as clever a man as himself, and might be able to give him an idea. And he +was still laboriously trying to devise some scheme, when the usher +entered saying that Monsieur Gascogne, the Chief of the Detective Police, +particularly wished to speak to him. Monferrand's first thought was that +the Prefecture of Police desired to know his views respecting the steps +which ought to be taken to ensure public order that day; for two mid-Lent +processions--one of the Washerwomen and the other of the Students--were +to march through Paris, whose streets would certainly be crowded. + +"Show Monsieur Gascogne in," he said. + +A tall, slim, dark man, looking like an artisan in his Sunday best, then +stepped into the ministerial sanctum. Fully acquainted with the +under-currents of Paris life, this Chief of the Detective Force had a +cold dispassionate nature and a clear and methodical mind. +Professionalism slightly spoilt him, however: he would have possessed +more intelligence if he had not credited himself with so much. + +He began by apologising for his superior the Prefect, who would certainly +have called in person had he not been suffering from indisposition. +However, it was perhaps best that he, Gascogne, should acquaint Monsieur +le Ministre with the grave affair which brought him, for he knew every +detail of it. Then he revealed what the grave affair was. + +"I believe, Monsieur le Ministre, that we at last hold the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy." + +At this, Monferrand, who had been listening impatiently, became quite +impassioned. The fruitless searches of the police, the attacks and the +jeers of the newspapers, were a source of daily worry to him. "Ah!--Well, +so much the better for you Monsieur Gascogne," he replied with brutal +frankness. "You would have ended by losing your post. The man is +arrested?" + +"Not yet, Monsieur le Ministre; but he cannot escape, and it is merely an +affair of a few hours." + +Then the Chief of the Detective Force told the whole story: how Detective +Mondesir, on being warned by a secret agent that the Anarchist Salvat was +in a tavern at Montmartre, had reached it just as the bird had flown; +then how chance had again set him in presence of Salvat at a hundred +paces or so from the tavern, the rascal having foolishly loitered there +to watch the establishment; and afterwards how Salvat had been stealthily +shadowed in the hope that they might catch him in his hiding-place with +his accomplices. And, in this wise, he had been tracked to the +Porte-Maillot, where, realising, no doubt, that he was pursued, he had +suddenly bolted into the Bois de Boulogne. It was there that he had been +hiding since two o'clock in the morning in the drizzle which had not +ceased to fall. They had waited for daylight in order to organise a +/battue/ and hunt him down like some animal, whose weariness must +necessarily ensure capture. And so, from one moment to another, he would +be caught. + +"I know the great interest you take in the arrest, Monsieur le Ministre," +added Gascogne, "and it occurred to me to ask your orders. Detective +Mondesir is over there, directing the hunt. He regrets that he did not +apprehend the man on the Boulevard de Rochechouart; but, all the same, +the idea of following him was a capital one, and one can only reproach +Mondesir with having forgotten the Bois de Boulogne in his calculations." + +Salvat arrested! That fellow Salvat whose name had filled the newspapers +for three weeks past. This was a most fortunate stroke which would be +talked of far and wide! In the depths of Monferrand's fixed eyes one +could divine a world of thoughts and a sudden determination to turn this +incident which chance had brought him to his own personal advantage. In +his own mind a link was already forming between this arrest and that +African Railways interpellation which was likely to overthrow the +ministry on the morrow. The first outlines of a scheme already rose +before him. Was it not his good star that had sent him what he had been +seeking--a means of fishing himself out of the troubled waters of the +approaching crisis? + +"But tell me, Monsieur Gascogne," said he, "are you quite sure that this +man Salvat committed the crime?" + +"Oh! perfectly sure, Monsieur le Ministre. He'll confess everything in +the cab before he reaches the Prefecture." + +Monferrand again walked to and fro with a pensive air, and ideas came to +him as he spoke on in a slow, meditative fashion. "My orders! well, my +orders, they are, first, that you must act with the very greatest +prudence. Yes, don't gather a mob of promenaders together. Try to arrange +things so that the arrest may pass unperceived--and if you secure a +confession keep it to yourself, don't communicate it to the newspapers. +Yes, I particularly recommend that point to you, don't take the +newspapers into your confidence at all--and finally, come and tell me +everything, and observe secrecy, absolute secrecy, with everybody else." + +Gascogne bowed and would have withdrawn, but Monferrand detained him to +say that not a day passed without his friend Monsieur Lehmann, the Public +Prosecutor, receiving letters from Anarchists who threatened to blow him +up with his family; in such wise that, although he was by no means a +coward, he wished his house to be guarded by plain-clothes officers. A +similar watch was already kept upon the house where investigating +magistrate Amadieu resided. And if the latter's life was precious, that +of Public Prosecutor Lehmann was equally so, for he was one of those +political magistrates, one of those shrewd talented Israelites, who make +their way in very honest fashion by invariably taking the part of the +Government in office. + +Then Gascogne in his turn remarked: "There is also the Barthes affair, +Monsieur le Ministre--we are still waiting. Are we to arrest Barthes at +that little house at Neuilly?" + +One of those chances which sometimes come to the help of detectives and +make people think the latter to be men of genius had revealed to him the +circumstance that Barthes had found a refuge with Abbe Pierre Froment. +Ever since the Anarchist terror had thrown Paris into dismay a warrant +had been out against the old man, not for any precise offence, but simply +because he was a suspicious character and might, therefore, have had some +intercourse with the Revolutionists. However, it had been repugnant to +Gascogne to arrest him at the house of a priest whom the whole district +venerated as a saint; and the Minister, whom he had consulted on the +point, had warmly approved of his reserve, since a member of the clergy +was in question, and had undertaken to settle the affair himself. + +"No, Monsieur Gascogne," he now replied, "don't move in the matter. You +know what my feelings are, that we ought to have the priests with us and +not against us--I have had a letter written to Abbe Froment in order that +he may call here this morning, as I shall have no other visitors. I will +speak to him myself, and you may take it that the affair no longer +concerns you." + +Then he was about to dismiss him when the usher came back saying that the +President of the Council was in the ante-room.* + + * The title of President of the Council is given to the French + prime minister.--Trans. + +"Barroux!--Ah! dash it, then, Monsieur Gascogne, you had better go out +this way. It is as well that nobody should meet you, as I wish you to +keep silent respecting Salvat's arrest. It's fully understood, is it not? +I alone am to know everything; and you will communicate with me here +direct, by the telephone, if any serious incident should arise." + +The Chief of the Detective Police had scarcely gone off, by way of an +adjoining /salon/, when the usher reopened the door communicating with +the ante-room: "Monsieur le President du Conseil." + +With a nicely adjusted show of deference and cordiality, Monferrand +stepped forward, his hands outstretched: "Ah! my dear President, why did +you put yourself out to come here? I would have called on you if I had +known that you wished to see me." + +But with an impatient gesture Barroux brushed aside all question of +etiquette. "No, no! I was taking my usual stroll in the Champs Elysees, +and the worries of the situation impressed me so keenly that I preferred +to come here at once. You yourself must realise that we can't put up with +what is taking place. And pending to-morrow morning's council, when we +shall have to arrange a plan of defence, I felt that there was good +reason for us to talk things over." + +He took an armchair, and Monferrand on his side rolled another forward so +as to seat himself with his back to the light. Whilst Barroux, the elder +of the pair by ten years, blanched and solemn, with a handsome face, +snowy whiskers, clean-shaven chin and upper-lip, retained all the dignity +of power, the bearing of a Conventionnel of romantic views, who sought to +magnify the simple loyalty of a rather foolish but good-hearted +/bourgeois/ nature into something great; the other, beneath his heavy +common countenance and feigned frankness and simplicity, concealed +unknown depths, the unfathomable soul of a shrewd enjoyer and despot who +was alike pitiless and unscrupulous in attaining his ends. + +For a moment Barroux drew breath, for in reality he was greatly moved, +his blood rising to his head, and his heart beating with indignation and +anger at the thought of all the vulgar insults which the "Voix du Peuple" +had poured upon him again that morning. "Come, my dear colleague," said +he, "one must stop that scandalous campaign. Moreover, you can realise +what awaits us at the Chamber to-morrow. Now that the famous list has +been published we shall have every malcontent up in arms. Vignon is +bestirring himself already--" + +"Ah! you have news of Vignon?" exclaimed Monferrand, becoming very +attentive. + +"Well, as I passed his door just now, I saw a string of cabs waiting +there. All his creatures have been on the move since yesterday, and at +least twenty persons have told me that the band is already dividing the +spoils. For, as you must know, the fierce and ingenuous Mege is again +going to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for others. Briefly, we are +dead, and the others claim that they are going to bury us in mud before +they fight over our leavings." With his arm outstretched Barroux made a +theatrical gesture, and his voice resounded as if he were in the tribune. +Nevertheless, his emotion was real, tears even were coming to his eyes. +"To think that I who have given my whole life to the Republic, I who +founded it, who saved it, should be covered with insults in this fashion, +and obliged to defend myself against abominable charges! To say that I +abused my trust! That I sold myself and took 200,000 francs from that man +Hunter, simply to slip them into my pocket! Well, certainly there /was/ a +question of 200,000 francs between us. But how and under what +circumstances? They were doubtless the same as in your case, with regard +to the 80,000 francs that he is said to have handed you--" + +But Monferrand interrupted his colleague in a clear trenchant voice: "He +never handed me a centime." + +The other looked at him in astonishment, but could only see his big, +rough head, whose features were steeped in shadow: "Ah! But I thought you +had business relations with him, and knew him particularly well." + +"No, I simply knew Hunter as everyone knew him. I was not even aware that +he was Baron Duvillard's agent in the African Railways matter; and there +was never any question of that affair between us." + +This was so improbable, so contrary to everything Barroux knew of the +business, that for a moment he felt quite scared. Then he waved his hand +as if to say that others might as well look after their own affairs, and +reverted to himself. "Oh! as for me," he said, "Hunter called on me more +than ten times, and made me quite sick with his talk of the African +Railways. It was at the time when the Chamber was asked to authorise the +issue of lottery stock.* And, by the way, my dear fellow, I was then here +at the Home Department, while you had just taken that of Public Works. I +can remember sitting at that very writing-table, while Hunter was in the +same armchair that I now occupy. That day he wanted to consult me about +the employment of the large sum which Duvillard's house proposed to spend +in advertising; and on seeing what big amounts were set down against the +Royalist journals, I became quite angry, for I realised with perfect +accuracy that this money would simply be used to wage war against the +Republic. And so, yielding to Hunter's entreaties, I also drew up a list +allotting 200,000 francs among the friendly Republican newspapers, which +were paid through me, I admit it. And that's the whole story."** + + * This kind of stock is common enough in France. A part of it is + extinguished annually at a public "drawing," when all such + shares or bonds that are drawn become entitled to redemption + at "par," a percentage of them also securing prizes of various + amounts. City of Paris Bonds issued on this system are very + popular among French people with small savings; but, on the + other hand, many ventures, whose lottery stock has been + authorised by the Legislature, have come to grief and ruined + investors.--Trans. + + ** All who are acquainted with recent French history will be + aware that Barroux' narrative is simply a passage from the + life of the late M. Floquet, slightly modified to suit the + requirements of M. Zola's story.--Trans. + +Then he sprang to his feet and struck his chest, whilst his voice again +rose: "Well, I've had more than enough of all that calumny and falsehood! +And I shall simply tell the Chamber my story to-morrow. It will be my +only defence. An honest man does not fear the truth!" + +But Monferrand, in his turn, had sprung up with a cry which was a +complete confession of his principles: "It's ridiculous, one never +confesses; you surely won't do such a thing!" + +"I shall," retorted Barroux with superb obstinacy. "And we shall see if +the Chamber won't absolve me by acclamation." + +"No, you will fall beneath an explosion of hisses, and drag all of us +down with you." + +"What does it matter? We shall fall with dignity, like honest men!" + +Monferrand made a gesture of furious anger, and then suddenly became +calm. Amidst all the anxious confusion in which he had been struggling +since daybreak, a gleam now dawned upon him. The vague ideas suggested by +Salvat's approaching arrest took shape, and expanded into an audacious +scheme. Why should he prevent the fall of that big ninny Barroux? The +only thing of importance was that he, Monferrand, should not fall with +him, or at any rate that he should rise again. So he protested no +further, but merely mumbled a few words, in which his rebellious feeling +seemingly died out. And at last, putting on his good-natured air once +more, he said: "Well, after all you are perhaps right. One must be brave. +Besides, you are our head, my dear President, and we will follow you." + +They had now again sat down face to face, and their conversation +continued till they came to a cordial agreement respecting the course +which the Government should adopt in view of the inevitable +interpellation on the morrow. + +Meantime, Baron Duvillard was on his way to the ministry. He had scarcely +slept that night. When on the return from Montmartre Gerard had set him +down at his door in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, he had at once gone to bed, +like a man who is determined to compel sleep, so that he may forget his +worries and recover self-control. But slumber would not come; for hours +and hours he vainly sought it. The manner in which he had been insulted +by that creature Silviane was so monstrous! To think that she, whom he +had enriched, whose every desire he had contented, should have cast such +mud at him, the master, who flattered himself that he held Paris and the +Republic in his hands, since he bought up and controlled consciences just +as others might make corners in wool or leather for the purposes of +Bourse speculation. And the dim consciousness that Silviane was the +avenging sore, the cancer preying on him who preyed on others, completed +his exasperation. In vain did he try to drive away his haunting thoughts, +remember his business affairs, his appointments for the morrow, his +millions which were working in every quarter of the world, the financial +omnipotence which placed the fate of nations in his grasp. Ever, and in +spite of all, Silviane rose up before him, splashing him with mud. In +despair he tried to fix his mind on a great enterprise which he had been +planning for months past, a Trans-Saharan railway, a colossal venture +which would set millions of money at work, and revolutionise the trade of +the world. And yet Silviane appeared once more, and smacked him on both +cheeks with her dainty little hand, which she had dipped in the gutter. +It was only towards daybreak that he at last dozed off, while vowing in a +fury that he would never see her again, that he would spurn her, and +order her away, even should she come and drag herself at his feet. + +However, when he awoke at seven, still tired and aching, his first +thought was for her, and he almost yielded to a fit of weakness. The idea +came to him to ascertain if she had returned home, and if so make his +peace. But he jumped out of bed, and after his ablutions he recovered all +his bravery. She was a wretch, and he this time thought himself for ever +cured of his passion. To tell the truth, he forgot it as soon as he +opened the morning newspapers. The publication of the list of +bribe-takers in the "Voix du Peuple" quite upset him, for he had hitherto +thought it unlikely that Sagnier held any such list. However, he judged +the document at a glance, at once separating the few truths it contained +from a mass of foolishness and falsehood. And this time also he did not +consider himself personally in danger. There was only one thing that he +really feared: the arrest of his intermediary, Hunter, whose trial might +have drawn him into the affair. As matters stood, and as he did not cease +to repeat with a calm and smiling air, he had merely done what every +banking-house does when it issues stock, that is, pay the press for +advertisements and puffery, employ brokers, and reward services +discreetly rendered to the enterprise. It was all a business matter, and +for him that expression summed up everything. Moreover, he played the +game of life bravely, and spoke with indignant contempt of a banker who, +distracted and driven to extremities by blackmailing, had imagined that +he would bring a recent scandal to an end by killing himself: a pitiful +tragedy, from all the mire and blood of which the scandal had sprouted +afresh with the most luxuriant and indestructible vegetation. No, no! +suicide was not the course to follow: a man ought to remain erect, and +struggle on to his very last copper, and the very end of his energy. + +At about nine o'clock a ringing brought Duvillard to the telephone +installed in his private room. And then his folly took possession of him +once more: it must be Silviane who wished to speak to him. She often +amused herself by thus disturbing him amidst his greatest cares. No doubt +she had just returned home, realising that she had carried things too far +on the previous evening and desiring to be forgiven. However, when he +found that the call was from Monferrand, who wished him to go to the +ministry, he shivered slightly, like a man saved from the abyss beside +which he is travelling. And forthwith he called for his hat and stick, +desirous as he was of walking and reflecting in the open air. And again +he became absorbed in the intricacies of the scandalous business which +was about to stir all Paris and the legislature. Kill himself! ah, no, +that would be foolish and cowardly. A gust of terror might be sweeping +past; nevertheless, for his part he felt quite firm, superior to events, +and resolved to defend himself without relinquishing aught of his power. + +As soon as he entered the ante-rooms of the ministry he realised that the +gust of terror was becoming a tempest. The publication of the terrible +list in the "Voix du Peuple" had chilled the guilty ones to the heart; +and, pale and distracted, feeling the ground give way beneath them, they +had come to take counsel of Monferrand, who, they hoped, might save them. +The first whom Duvillard perceived was Duthil, looking extremely +feverish, biting his moustaches, and constantly making grimaces in his +efforts to force a smile. The banker scolded him for coming, saying that +it was a great mistake to have done so, particularly with such a scared +face. The deputy, however, his spirits already cheered by these rough +words, began to defend himself, declaring that he had not even read +Sagnier's article, and had simply come to recommend a lady friend to the +Minister. Thereupon the Baron undertook this business for him and sent +him away with the wish that he might spend a merry mid-Lent. However, the +one who most roused Duvillard's pity was Chaigneux, whose figure swayed +about as if bent by the weight of his long equine head, and who looked so +shabby and untidy that one might have taken him for an old pauper. On +recognising the banker he darted forward, and bowed to him with +obsequious eagerness. + +"Ah! Monsieur le Baron," said he, "how wicked some men must be! They are +killing me, I shall die of it all; and what will become of my wife, what +will become of my three daughters, who have none but me to help them?" + +The whole of his woeful story lay in that lament. A victim of politics, +he had been foolish enough to quit Arras and his business there as a +solicitor, in order to seek triumph in Paris with his wife and daughters, +whose menial he had then become--a menial dismayed by the constant +rebuffs and failures which his mediocrity brought upon him. An honest +deputy! ah, good heavens! yes, he would have liked to be one; but was he +not perpetually "hard-up," ever in search of a hundred-franc note, and +thus, perforce, a deputy for sale? And withal he led such a pitiable +life, so badgered by the women folk about him, that to satisfy their +demands he would have picked up money no matter where or how. + +"Just fancy, Monsieur le Baron, I have at last found a husband for my +eldest girl. It is the first bit of luck that I have ever had; there will +only be three women left on my hands if it comes off. But you can imagine +what a disastrous impression such an article as that of this morning must +create in the young man's family. So I have come to see the Minister to +beg him to give my future son-in-law a prefectoral secretaryship. I have +already promised him the post, and if I can secure it things may yet be +arranged." + +He looked so terribly shabby and spoke in such a doleful voice that it +occurred to Duvillard to do one of those good actions on which he +ventured at times when they were likely to prove remunerative +investments. It is, indeed, an excellent plan to give a crust of bread to +some poor devil whom one can turn, if necessary, into a valet or an +accomplice. So the banker dismissed Chaigneux, undertaking to do his +business for him in the same way as he had undertaken to do Duthil's. And +he added that he would be pleased to see him on the morrow, and have a +chat with him, as he might be able to help him in the matter of his +daughter's marriage. + +At this Chaigneux, scenting a loan, collapsed into the most lavish +thanks. "Ah! Monsieur le Baron, my life will not be long enough to enable +me to repay such a debt of gratitude." + +As Duvillard turned round he was surprised to see Abbe Froment waiting in +a corner of the ante-room. Surely that one could not belong to the batch +of /suspects/, although by the manner in which he was pretending to read +a newspaper it seemed as if he were trying to hide some keen anxiety. At +last the Baron stepped forward, shook hands, and spoke to him cordially. +And Pierre thereupon related that he had received a letter requesting him +to call on the Minister that day. Why, he could not tell; in fact, he was +greatly surprised, he said, putting on a smile in order to conceal his +disquietude. He had been waiting a long time already, and hoped that he +would not be forgotten on that bench. + +Just then the usher appeared, and hastened up to the banker. "The +Minister," said he, "was at that moment engaged with the President of the +Council; but he had orders to admit the Baron as soon as the President +withdrew." Almost immediately afterwards Barroux came out, and as +Duvillard was about to enter he recognised and detained him. And he spoke +of the denunciations very bitterly, like one indignant with all the +slander. Would not he, Duvillard, should occasion require it, testify +that he, Barroux, had never taken a centime for himself? Then, forgetting +that he was speaking to a banker, and that he was Minister of Finances, +he proceeded to express all his disgust of money. Ah! what poisonous, +murky, and defiling waters were those in which money-making went on! +However, he repeated that he would chastise his insulters, and that a +statement of the truth would suffice for the purpose. + +Duvillard listened and looked at him. And all at once the thought of +Silviane came back, and took possession of the Baron, without any attempt +on his part to drive it away. He reflected that if Barroux had chosen to +give him a helping hand when he had asked for it, Silviane would now have +been at the Comedie Francaise, in which case the deplorable affair of the +previous night would not have occurred; for he was beginning to regard +himself as guilty in the matter; if he had only contented Silviane's whim +she would never have dismissed him in so vile a fashion. + +"You know, I owe you a grudge," he said, interrupting Barroux. + +The other looked at him in astonishment. "And why, pray?" he asked. + +"Why, because you never helped me in the matter of that friend of mine +who wishes to make her /debut/ in 'Polyeucte.'" + +Barroux smiled, and with amiable condescension replied: "Ah! yes, +Silviane d'Aulnay! But, my dear sir, it was Taboureau who put spokes in +the wheel. The Fine Arts are his department, and the question was +entirely one for him. And I could do nothing; for that very worthy and +honest gentleman, who came to us from a provincial faculty, was full of +scruples. For my own part I'm an old Parisian, I can understand anything, +and I should have been delighted to please you." + +At this fresh resistance offered to his passion Duvillard once more +became excited, eager to obtain that which was denied him. "Taboureau, +Taboureau!" said he, "he's a nice deadweight for you to load yourself +with! Honest! isn't everybody honest? Come, my dear Minister, there's +still time, get Silviane admitted, it will bring you good luck for +to-morrow." + +This time Barroux burst into a frank laugh: "No, no, I can't cast +Taboureau adrift at this moment--people would make too much sport of +it--a ministry wrecked or saved by a Silviane question!" + +Then he offered his hand before going off. The Baron pressed it, and for +a moment retained it in his own, whilst saying very gravely and with a +somewhat pale face: "You do wrong to laugh, my dear Minister. Governments +have fallen or set themselves erect again through smaller matters than +that. And should you fall to-morrow I trust that you will never have +occasion to regret it." + +Wounded to the heart by the other's jesting air, exasperated by the idea +that there was something he could not achieve, Duvillard watched Barroux +as he withdrew. Most certainly the Baron did not desire a reconciliation +with Silviane, but he vowed that he would overturn everything if +necessary in order to send her a signed engagement for the Comedie, and +this simply by way of vengeance, as a slap, so to say,--yes, a slap which +would make her tingle! That moment spent with Barroux had been a decisive +one. + +However, whilst still following Barroux with his eyes, Duvillard was +surprised to see Fonsegue arrive and manoeuvre in such a way as to escape +the Prime Minister's notice. He succeeded in doing so, and then entered +the ante-room with an appearance of dismay about the whole of his little +figure, which was, as a rule, so sprightly. It was the gust of terror, +still blowing, that had brought him thither. + +"Didn't you see your friend Barroux?" the Baron asked him, somewhat +puzzled. + +"Barroux? No!" + +This quiet lie was equivalent to a confession of everything. Fonsegue was +so intimate with Barroux that he thee'd and thou'd him, and for ten years +had been supporting him in his newspaper, having precisely the same +views, the same political religion. But with a smash-up threatening, he +doubtless realised, thanks to his wonderfully keen scent, that he must +change his friendships if he did not wish to remain under the ruins +himself. If he had, for long years, shown so much prudence and diplomatic +virtue in order to firmly establish the most dignified and respected of +Parisian newspapers, it was not for the purpose of letting that newspaper +be compromised by some foolish blunder on the part of an honest man. + +"I thought you were on bad terms with Monferrand," resumed Duvillard. +"What have you come here for?" + +"Oh! my dear Baron, the director of a leading newspaper is never on bad +terms with anybody. He's at the country's service." + +In spite of his emotion, Duvillard could not help smiling. "You are +right," he responded. "Besides, Monferrand is really an able man, whom +one can support without fear." + +At this Fonsegue began to wonder whether his anguish of mind was visible. +He, who usually played the game of life so well, with his own hand under +thorough control, had been terrified by the article in the "Voix du +Peuple." For the first time in his career he had perpetrated a blunder, +and felt that he was at the mercy of some denunciation, for with +unpardonable imprudence he had written a very brief but compromising +note. He was not anxious concerning the 50,000 francs which Barroux had +handed him out of the 200,000 destined for the Republican press. But he +trembled lest another affair should be discovered, that of a sum of money +which he had received as a present. It was only on feeling the Baron's +keen glance upon him that he was able to recover some self-possession. +How silly it was to lose the knack of lying and to confess things simply +by one's demeanour! + +But the usher drew near and repeated that the Minister was now waiting +for the Baron; and Fonsegue went to sit down beside Abbe Froment, whom he +also was astonished to find there. Pierre repeated that he had received a +letter, but had no notion what the Minister might wish to say to him. And +the quiver of his hands again revealed how feverishly impatient he was to +know what it might be. However, he could only wait, since Monferrand was +still busy discussing such grave affairs. + +On seeing Duvillard enter, the Minister had stepped forward, offering his +hand. However much the blast of terror might shake others, he had +retained his calmness and good-natured smile. "What an affair, eh, my +dear Baron!" he exclaimed. + +"It's idiotic!" plainly declared the other, with a shrug of his +shoulders. Then he sat down in the armchair vacated by Barroux, while the +Minister installed himself in front of him. These two were made to +understand one another, and they indulged in the same despairing gestures +and furious complaints, declaring that government, like business, would +no longer be possible if men were required to show such virtue as they +did not possess. At all times, and under every /regime/, when a decision +of the Chambers had been required in connection with some great +enterprise, had not the natural and legitimate tactics been for one to do +what might be needful to secure that decision? It was absolutely +necessary that one should obtain influential and sympathetic support, in +a word, make sure of votes. Well, everything had to be paid for, men like +other things, some with fine words, others with favours or money, +presents made in a more or less disguised manner. And even admitting +that, in the present cases, one had gone rather far in the purchasing, +that some of the bartering had been conducted in an imprudent way, was it +wise to make such an uproar over it? Would not a strong government have +begun by stifling the scandal, from motives of patriotism, a mere sense +of cleanliness even? + +"Why, of course! You are right, a thousand times right!" exclaimed +Monferrand. "Ah! if I were the master you would see what a fine +first-class funeral I would give it all!" Then, as Duvillard looked at +him fixedly, struck by these last words, he added with his expressive +smile: "Unfortunately I'm not the master, and it was to talk to you of +the situation that I ventured to disturb you. Barroux, who was here just +now, seemed to me in a regrettable frame of mind." + +"Yes, I saw him, he has such singular ideas at times--" Then, breaking +off, the Baron added: "Do you know that Fonsegue is in the ante-room? As +he wishes to make his peace with you, why not send for him? He won't be +in the way, in fact, he's a man of good counsel, and the support of his +newspaper often suffices to give one the victory." + +"What, is Fonsegue there!" cried Monferrand. "Why, I don't ask better +than to shake hands with him. There were some old affairs between us that +don't concern anybody! But, good heavens! if you only knew what little +spite I harbour!" + +When the usher had admitted Fonsegue the reconciliation took place in the +simplest fashion. They had been great friends at college in their native +Correze, but had not spoken together for ten years past in consequence of +some abominable affair the particulars of which were not exactly known. +However, it becomes necessary to clear away all corpses when one wishes +to have the arena free for a fresh battle. + +"It's very good of you to come back the first," said Monferrand. "So it's +all over, you no longer bear me any grudge?" + +"No, indeed!" replied Fonsegue. "Why should people devour one another +when it would be to their interest to come to an understanding?" + +Then, without further explanations, they passed to the great affair, and +the conference began. And when Monferrand had announced Barroux' +determination to confess and explain his conduct, the others loudly +protested. That meant certain downfall, they would prevent him, he surely +would not be guilty of such folly. Forthwith they discussed every +imaginable plan by which the Ministry might be saved, for that must +certainly be Monferrand's sole desire. He himself with all eagerness +pretended to seek some means of extricating his colleagues and himself +from the mess in which they were. However, a faint smile, still played +around his lips, and at last as if vanquished he sought no further. +"There's no help for it," said he, "the ministry's down." + +The others exchanged glances, full of anxiety at the thought of another +Cabinet dealing with the African Railways affair. A Vignon Cabinet would +doubtless plume itself on behaving honestly. + +"Well, then, what shall we do?" + +But just then the telephone rang, and Monferrand rose to respond to the +summons: "Allow me." + +He listened for a moment and then spoke into the tube, nothing that he +said giving the others any inkling of the information which had reached +him. This had come from the Chief of the Detective Police, and was to the +effect that Salvat's whereabouts in the Bois de Boulogne had been +discovered, and that he would be hunted down with all speed. "Very good! +And don't forget my orders," replied Monferrand. + +Now that Salvat's arrest was certain, the Minister determined to follow +the plan which had gradually taken shape in his mind; and returning to +the middle of the room he slowly walked to and fro, while saying with his +wonted familiarity: "But what would you have, my friends? It would be +necessary for me to be the master. Ah! if I were the master! A Commission +of Inquiry, yes! that's the proper form for a first-class funeral to take +in a big affair like this, so full of nasty things. For my part, I should +confess nothing, and I should have a Commission appointed. And then you +would see the storm subside." + +Duvillard and Fonsegue began to laugh. The latter, however, thanks to his +intimate knowledge of Monferrand, almost guessed the truth. "Just +listen!" said he; "even if the ministry falls it doesn't necessarily +follow that you must be on the ground with it. Besides, a ministry can be +mended when there are good pieces of it left." + +Somewhat anxious at finding his thoughts guessed, Monferrand protested: +"No, no, my dear fellow, I don't play that game. We are jointly +responsible, we've got to keep together, dash it all!" + +"Keep together! Pooh! Not when simpletons purposely drown themselves! +And, besides, if we others have need of you, we have a right to save you +in spite of yourself! Isn't that so, my dear Baron?" + +Then, as Monferrand sat down, no longer protesting but waiting, +Duvillard, who was again thinking of his passion, full of anger at the +recollection of Barroux' refusal, rose in his turn, and exclaimed: "Why, +certainly! If the ministry's condemned let it fall! What good can you get +out of a ministry which includes such a man as Taboureau! There you have +an old, worn-out professor without any prestige, who comes to Paris from +Grenoble, and has never set foot in a theatre in his life! Yet the +control of the theatres is handed over to him, and naturally he's ever +doing the most stupid things!" + +Monferrand, who was well informed on the Silviane question, remained +grave, and for a moment amused himself by trying to excite the Baron. +"Taboureau," said he, "is a somewhat dull and old-fashioned University +man, but at the department of Public Instruction he's in his proper +element." + +"Oh! don't talk like that, my dear fellow! You are more intelligent than +that, you are not going to defend Taboureau as Barroux did. It's quite +true that I should very much like to see Silviane at the Comedie. She's a +very good girl at heart, and she has an amazing lot of talent. Would you +stand in her way if you were in Taboureau's place?" + +"I? Good heavens, no! A pretty girl on the stage, why, it would please +everybody, I'm sure. Only it would be necessary to have a man of the same +views as were at the department of Instruction and Fine Arts." + +His sly smile had returned to his face. The securing of that girl's +/debut/ was certainly not a high price to pay for all the influence of +Duvillard's millions. Monferrand therefore turned towards Fonsegue as if +to consult him. The other, who fully understood the importance of the +affair, was meditating in all seriousness: "A senator is the proper man +for Public Instruction," said he. "But I can think of none, none at all, +such as would be wanted. A man of broad mind, a real Parisian, and yet +one whose presence at the head of the University wouldn't cause too much +astonishment--there's perhaps Dauvergne--" + +"Dauvergne! Who's he?" exclaimed Monferrand in surprise. "Ah! yes, +Dauvergne the senator for Dijon--but he's altogether ignorant of +University matters, he hasn't the slightest qualification." + +"Well, as for that," resumed Fonsegue, "I'm trying to think. Dauvergne is +certainly a good-looking fellow, tall and fair and decorative. Besides, +he's immensely rich, has a most charming young wife--which does no harm, +on the contrary--and he gives real /fetes/ at his place on the Boulevard +St. Germain." + +It was only with hesitation that Fonsegue himself had ventured to suggest +Dauvergne. But by degrees his selection appeared to him a real "find." +"Wait a bit! I recollect now that in his young days Dauvergne wrote a +comedy, a one act comedy in verse, and had it performed at Dijon. And +Dijon's a literary town, you know, so that piece of his sets a little +perfume of 'Belles-Lettres' around him. And then, too, he left Dijon +twenty years ago, and is a most determined Parisian, frequenting every +sphere of society. Dauvergne will do whatever one desires. He's the man +for us, I tell you." + +Duvillard thereupon declared that he knew him, and considered him a very +decent fellow. Besides, he or another, it mattered nothing! + +"Dauvergne, Dauvergne," repeated Monferrand. "/Mon Dieu/, yes! After all, +why not? He'll perhaps make a very good minister. Let us say Dauvergne." +Then suddenly bursting into a hearty laugh: "And so we are reconstructing +the Cabinet in order that that charming young woman may join the Comedie! +The Silviane cabinet--well, and what about the other departments?" + +He jested, well knowing that gaiety often hastens difficult solutions. +And, indeed, they merrily continued settling what should be done if the +ministry were defeated on the morrow. Although they had not plainly said +so the plan was to let Barroux sink, even help him to do so, and then +fish Monferrand out of the troubled waters. The latter engaged himself +with the two others, because he had need of them, the Baron on account of +his financial sovereignty, and the director of "Le Globe" on account of +the press campaign which he could carry on in his favour. And in the same +way the others, quite apart from the Silviane business, had need of +Monferrand, the strong-handed man of government, who undertook to bury +the African Railways scandal by bringing about a Commission of Inquiry, +all the strings of which would be pulled by himself. There was soon a +perfect understanding between the three men, for nothing draws people +more closely together than common interest, fear and need. Accordingly, +when Duvillard spoke of Duthil's business, the young lady whom he wished +to recommend, the Minister declared that it was settled. A very nice +fellow was Duthil, they needed a good many like him. And it was also +agreed that Chaigneux' future son-in-law should have his secretaryship. +Poor Chaigneux! He was so devoted, always ready to undertake any +commission, and his four women folk led him such a hard life! + +"Well, then, it's understood." And Monferrand, Duvillard and Fonsegue +vigorously shook hands. + +However, when the first accompanied the others to the door, he noticed a +prelate, in a cassock of fine material, edged with violet, speaking to a +priest in the ante-room. Thereupon he, the Minister, hastened forward, +looking much distressed. "Ah! you were waiting, Monseigneur Martha! Come +in, come in quick!" + +But with perfect urbanity the Bishop refused. "No, no, Monsieur l'Abbe +Froment was here before me. Pray receive him first." + +Monferrand had to give way; he admitted the priest, and speedily dealt +with him. He who usually employed the most diplomatic reserve when he was +in presence of a member of the clergy plumply unfolded the Barthes +business. Pierre had experienced the keenest anguish during the two hours +that he had been waiting there, for he could only explain the letter he +had received by a surmise that the police had discovered his brother's +presence in his house. And so when he heard the Minister simply speak of +Barthes, and declare that the government would rather see him go into +exile than be obliged to imprison him once more, he remained for a moment +quite disconcerted. As the police had been able to discover the old +conspirator in the little house at Neuilly, how was it that they seemed +altogether ignorant of Guillaume's presence there? It was, however, the +usual gap in the genius of great detectives. + +"Pray what do you desire of me, Monsieur le Ministre?" said Pierre at +last; "I don't quite understand." + +"Why, Monsieur l'Abbe, I leave all this to your sense of prudence. If +that man were still at your house in forty-eight hours from now, we +should be obliged to arrest him there, which would be a source of grief +to us, for we are aware that your residence is the abode of every virtue. +So advise him to leave France. If he does that we shall not trouble him." + +Then Monferrand hastily brought Pierre back to the ante-room; and, +smiling and bending low, he said: "Monseigneur, I am entirely at your +disposal. Come in, come in, I beg you." + +The prelate, who was gaily chatting with Duvillard and Fonsegue, shook +hands with them, and then with Pierre. In his desire to win all hearts, +he that morning displayed the most perfect graciousness. His bright, +black eyes were all smiles, the whole of his handsome face wore a +caressing expression, and he entered the ministerial sanctum leisurely +and gracefully, with an easy air of conquest. + +And now only Monferrand and Monseigneur Martha were left, talking on and +on in the deserted building. Some people had thought that the prelate +wished to become a deputy. But he played a far more useful and lofty part +in governing behind the scenes, in acting as the directing mind of the +Vatican's policy in France. Was not France still the Eldest Daughter of +the Church, the only great nation which might some day restore +omnipotence to the Papacy? For that reason he had accepted the Republic, +preached the duty of "rallying" to it, and inspired the new Catholic +group in the Chamber. And Monferrand, on his side, struck by the progress +of the New Spirit, that reaction of mysticism which flattered itself that +it would bury science, showed the prelate much amiability, like a +strong-handed man who, to ensure his own victory, utilised every force +that was offered him. + + + +IV + +THE MAN HUNT + +ON the afternoon of that same day such a keen desire for space and the +open air came upon Guillaume, that Pierre consented to accompany him on a +long walk in the Bois de Boulogne. The priest, upon returning from his +interview with Monferrand, had informed his brother that the government +once more wished to get rid of Nicholas Barthes. However, they were so +perplexed as to how they should impart these tidings to the old man, that +they resolved to postpone the matter until the evening. During their walk +they might devise some means of breaking the news in a gentle way. As for +the walk, this seemed to offer no danger; to all appearance Guillaume was +in no wise threatened, so why should he continue hiding? Thus the +brothers sallied forth and entered the Bois by the Sablons gate, which +was the nearest to them. + +The last days of March had now come, and the trees were beginning to show +some greenery, so soft and light, however, that one might have thought it +was pale moss or delicate lace hanging between the stems and boughs. +Although the sky remained of an ashen grey, the rain, after falling +throughout the night and morning, had ceased; and exquisite freshness +pervaded that wood now awakening to life once more, with its foliage +dripping in the mild and peaceful atmosphere. The mid-Lent rejoicings had +apparently attracted the populace to the centre of Paris, for in the +avenues one found only the fashionable folks of select days, the people +of society who come thither when the multitude stops away. There were +carriages and gentlemen on horseback; beautiful aristocratic ladies who +had alighted from their broughams or landaus; and wet-nurses with +streaming ribbons, who carried infants wearing the most costly lace. Of +the middle-classes, however, one found only a few matrons living in the +neighbourhood, who sat here and there on the benches busy with embroidery +or watching their children play. + +Pierre and Guillaume followed the Allee de Longchamp as far as the road +going from Madrid to the lakes. Then they took their way under the trees, +alongside the little Longchamp rivulet. They wished to reach the lakes, +pass round them, and return home by way of the Maillot gate. But so +charming and peaceful was the deserted plantation through which they +passed, that they yielded to a desire to sit down and taste the delight +of resting amidst all the budding springtide around them. A fallen tree +served them as a bench, and it was possible for them to fancy themselves +far away from Paris, in the depths of some real forest. It was, too, of a +real forest that Guillaume began to think on thus emerging from his long, +voluntary imprisonment. Ah! for the space; and for the health-bringing +air which courses between that forest's branches, that forest of the +world which by right should be man's inalienable domain! However, the +name of Barthes, the perpetual prisoner, came back to Guillaume's lips, +and he sighed mournfully. The thought that there should be even a single +man whose liberty was thus ever assailed, sufficed to poison the pure +atmosphere he breathed. + +"What will you say to Barthes?" he asked his brother. "The poor fellow +must necessarily be warned. Exile is at any rate preferable to +imprisonment." + +Pierre sadly waved his hand. "Yes, of course, I must warn him. But what a +painful task it is!" + +Guillaume made no rejoinder, for at that very moment, in that remote, +deserted nook, where they could fancy themselves at the world's end, a +most extraordinary spectacle was presented to their view. Something or +rather someone leapt out of a thicket and bounded past them. It was +assuredly a man, but one who was so unrecognisable, so miry, so woeful +and so frightful, that he might have been taken for an animal, a boar +that hounds had tracked and forced from his retreat. On seeing the +rivulet, he hesitated for a moment, and then followed its course. But, +all at once, as a sound of footsteps and panting breath drew nearer, he +sprang into the water, which reached his thighs, bounded on to the +further bank, and vanished from sight behind a clump of pines. A moment +afterwards some keepers and policemen rushed by, skirting the rivulet, +and in their turn disappearing. It was a man hunt that had gone past, a +fierce, secret hunt with no display of scarlet or blast of horns athwart +the soft, sprouting foliage. + +"Some rascal or other," muttered Pierre. "Ah! the wretched fellow!" + +Guillaume made a gesture of discouragement. "Gendarmes and prison!" said +he. "They still constitute society's only schooling system!" + +Meantime the man was still running on, farther and farther away. + +When, on the previous night, Salvat had suddenly escaped from the +detectives by bounding into the Bois de Boulogne, it had occurred to him +to slip round to the Dauphine gate and there descend into the deep ditch* +of the city ramparts. He remembered days of enforced idleness which he +had spent there, in nooks where, for his own part, he had never met a +living soul. Nowhere, indeed, could one find more secret places of +retreat, hedged round by thicker bushes, or concealed from view by +loftier herbage. Some corners of the ditch, at certain angles of the +massive bastions, are favourite dens or nests for thieves and lovers. +Salvat, as he made his way through the thickest of the brambles, nettles +and ivy, was lucky enough to find a cavity full of dry leaves, in which +he buried himself to the chin. The rain had already drenched him, and +after slipping down the muddy slope, he had frequently been obliged to +grope his way upon all fours. So those dry leaves proved a boon such as +he had not dared to hope for. They dried him somewhat, serving as a +blanket in which he coiled himself after his wild race through the dank +darkness. The rain still fell, but he now only felt it on his head, and, +weary as he was, he gradually sank into deep slumber beneath the +continuous drizzle. When he opened his eyes again, the dawn was breaking, +and it was probably about six o'clock. During his sleep the rain had +ended by soaking the leaves, so that he was now immersed in a kind of +chilly bath. Still he remained in it, feeling that he was there sheltered +from the police, who must now surely be searching for him. None of those +bloodhounds would guess his presence in that hole, for his body was quite +buried, and briers almost completely hid his head. So he did not stir, +but watched the rise of the dawn. + + * This ditch or dry moat is about 30 feet deep and 50 feet wide. + The counterscarp by which one may descend into it has an angle + of 45 degrees.--Trans. + +When at eight o'clock some policemen and keepers came by, searching the +ditch, they did not perceive him. As he had anticipated, the hunt had +begun at the first glimmer of light. For a time his heart beat violently; +however, nobody else passed, nothing whatever stirred the grass. The only +sounds that reached him were faint ones from the Bois de Boulogne, the +ring of a bicyclist's bell, the thud of a horse's hoofs, the rumble of +carriage wheels. And time went by, nine o'clock came, and then ten +o'clock. Since the rain had ceased falling, Salvat had not suffered so +much from the cold, for he was wearing a thick overcoat which little +Mathis had given him. But, on the other hand, hunger was coming back; +there was a burning sensation in his stomach, and leaden hoops seemed to +be pressing against his ribs. He had eaten nothing for two days; he had +been starving already on the previous evening, when he had accepted a +glass of beer at that tavern at Montmartre. Nevertheless, his plan was to +remain in the ditch until nightfall, and then slip away in the direction +of the village of Boulogne, where he knew of a means of egress from the +wood. He was not caught yet, he repeated, he might still manage to +escape. Then he tried to get to sleep again, but failed, so painful had +his sufferings become. By the time it was eleven, everything swam before +his eyes. He once nearly fainted, and thought that he was going to die. +Then rage gradually mastered him, and, all at once, he sprang out of his +leafy hiding-place, desperately hungering for food, unable to remain +there any longer, and determined to find something to eat, even should it +cost him his liberty and life. It was then noon. + +On leaving the ditch he found the spreading lawns of the chateau of La +Muette before him. He crossed them at a run, like a madman, instinctively +going towards Boulogne, with the one idea that his only means of escape +lay in that direction. It seemed miraculous that nobody paid attention to +his helter-skelter flight. However, when he had reached the cover of some +trees he became conscious of his imprudence, and almost regretted the +sudden madness which had borne him along, eager for escape. Trembling +nervously, he bent low among some furze bushes, and waited for a few +minutes to ascertain if the police were behind him. Then with watchful +eye and ready ear, wonderful instinct and scent of danger, he slowly went +his way again. He hoped to pass between the upper lake and the Auteuil +race-course; but there were few trees in that part, and they formed a +broad avenue. He therefore had to exert all his skill in order to avoid +observation, availing himself of the slenderest stems, the smallest +bushes, as screens, and only venturing onward after a lengthy inspection +of his surroundings. Before long the sight of a guard in the distance +revived his fears and detained him, stretched on the ground behind some +brambles, for a full quarter of an hour. Then the approach first of a +cab, whose driver had lost his way, and afterwards of a strolling +pedestrian, in turn sufficed to stop him. He breathed once more, however, +when, after passing the Mortemart hillock, he was able to enter the +thickets lying between the two roads which lead to Boulogne and St. +Cloud. The coppices thereabouts were dense, and he merely had to follow +them, screened from view, in order to reach the outlet he knew of, which +was now near at hand. So he was surely saved. + +But all at once, at a distance of some five and thirty yards, he saw a +keeper, erect and motionless, barring his way. He turned slightly to the +left and there perceived another keeper, who also seemed to be awaiting +him. And there were more and more of them; at every fifty paces or so +stood a fresh one, the whole forming a /cordon/, the meshes as it were of +a huge net. The worst was that he must have been perceived, for a light +cry, like the clear call of an owl, rang out, and was repeated farther +and farther off. The hunters were at last on the right scent, prudence +had become superfluous, and it was only by flight that the quarry might +now hope to escape. Salvat understood this so well that he suddenly began +to run, leaping over all obstacles and darting between the trees, +careless whether he were seen or heard. A few bounds carried him across +the Avenue de St. Cloud into the plantations stretching to the Allee de +la Reine Marguerite. There the undergrowth was very dense; in the whole +Bois there are no more closely set thickets. In summer they become one +vast entanglement of verdure, amidst which, had it been the leafy season, +Salvat might well have managed to secrete himself. For a moment he did +find himself alone, and thereupon he halted to listen. He could neither +see nor hear the keepers now. Had they lost his track, then? Profound +quietude reigned under the fresh young foliage. But the light, owlish cry +arose once more, branches cracked, and he resumed his wild flight, +hurrying straight before him. Unluckily he found the Allee de la Reine +Marguerite guarded by policemen, so that he could not cross over, but had +to skirt it without quitting the thickets. And now his back was turned +towards Boulogne; he was retracing his steps towards Paris. However, a +last idea came to his bewildered mind: it was to run on in this wise as +far as the shady spots around Madrid, and then, by stealing from copse to +copse, attempt to reach the Seine. To proceed thither across the bare +expanse of the race-course and training ground was not for a moment to be +thought of. + +So Salvat still ran on and on. But on reaching the Allee de Longchamp he +found it guarded like the other roads, and therefore had to relinquish +his plan of escaping by way of Madrid and the river-bank. While he was +perforce making a bend alongside the Pre Catelan, he became aware that +the keepers, led by detectives, were drawing yet nearer to him, confining +his movements to a smaller and smaller area. And his race soon acquired +all the frenzy of despair. Haggard and breathless he leapt mounds, rushed +past multitudinous obstacles. He forced a passage through brambles, broke +down palings, thrice caught his feet in wire work which he had not seen, +and fell among nettles, yet picked himself up went on again, spurred by +the stinging of his hands and face. It was then Guillaume and Pierre saw +him pass, unrecognisable and frightful, taking to the muddy water of the +rivulet like a stag which seeks to set a last obstacle between itself and +the hounds. There came to him a wild idea of getting to the lake, and +swimming, unperceived, to the island in the centre of it. That, he madly +thought, would be a safe retreat, where he might burrow and hide himself +without possibility of discovery. And so he still ran on. But once again +the sight of some guards made him retrace his steps, and he was compelled +to go back and back in the direction of Paris, chased, forced towards the +very fortifications whence he had started that morning. It was now nearly +three in the afternoon. For more than two hours and a half he had been +running. + +At last he saw a soft, sandy ride for horsemen before him. He crossed it, +splashing through the mire left by the rain, and reached a little +pathway, a delightful lovers' lane, as shady in summer as any arbour. For +some time he was able to follow it, concealed from observation, and with +his hopes reviving. But it led him to one of those broad, straight +avenues where carriages and bicycles, the whole afternoon pageant of +society, swept past under the mild and cloudy sky. So he returned to the +thickets, fell once more upon the keepers, lost all notion of the +direction he took, and even all power of thought, becoming a mere thing +carried along and thrown hither and thither by the chances of the pursuit +which pressed more and more closely upon him. Star-like crossways +followed one upon other, and at last he came to a broad lawn, where the +full light dazzled him. And there he suddenly felt the hot, panting +breath of his pursuers close in the rear. Eager, hungry breath it was, +like that of hounds seeking to devour him. Shouts rang out, one hand +almost caught hold of him, there was a rush of heavy feet, a scramble to +seize him. But with a supreme effort he leapt upon a bank, crawled to its +summit, rose again, and once more found himself alone, still running on +amid the fresh and quiet greenery. + +Nevertheless, this was the end. He almost fell flat upon the ground. His +aching feet could no longer carry him; blood was oozing from his ears, +and froth had come to his mouth. His heart beat with such violence that +it seemed likely to break his ribs. Water and perspiration streamed from +him, he was miry and haggard and tortured by hunger, conquered, in fact, +more by hunger than by fatigue. And through the mist which seemed to have +gathered before his wild eyes, he suddenly saw an open doorway, the +doorway of a coach-house in the rear of a kind of chalet, sequestered +among trees. Excepting a big white cat, which took to flight, there was +not a living creature in the place. Salvat plunged into it and rolled +over on a heap of straw, among some empty casks. He was scarcely hidden +there when he heard the chase sweep by, the detectives and the keepers +losing scent, passing the chalet and rushing in the direction of the +Paris ramparts. The noise of their heavy boots died away, and deep +silence fell, while the hunted man, who had carried both hands to his +heart to stay its beating, sank into the most complete prostration, with +big tears trickling from his closed eyes. + +Whilst all this was going on, Pierre and Guillaume, after a brief rest, +had resumed their walk, reaching the lake and proceeding towards the +crossway of the Cascades, in order to return to Neuilly by the road +beyond the water. However, a shower fell, compelling them to take shelter +under the big leafless branches of a chestnut-tree. Then, as the rain +came down more heavily and they could perceive a kind of chalet, a little +cafe-restaurant amid a clump of trees, they hastened thither for better +protection. In a side road, which they passed on their way, they saw a +cab standing, its driver waiting there in philosophical fashion under the +falling shower. Pierre, moreover, noticed a young man stepping out +briskly in front of them, a young man resembling Gerard de Quinsac, who, +whilst walking in the Bois, had no doubt been overtaken by the rain, and +like themselves was seeking shelter in the chalet. However, on entering +the latter's public room, the priest saw no sign of the gentleman, and +concluded that he must have been mistaken. This public room, which had a +kind of glazed verandah overlooking the Bois, contained a few chairs and +tables, the latter with marble tops. On the first floor there were four +or five private rooms reached by a narrow passage. Though the doors were +open the place had as yet scarcely emerged from its winter's rest. There +was nobody about, and on all sides one found the dampness common to +establishments which, from lack of custom, are compelled to close from +November until March. In the rear were some stables, a coach-house, and +various mossy, picturesque outbuildings, which painters and gardeners +would now soon embellish for the gay pleasure parties which the fine +weather would bring. + +"I really think that they haven't opened for the season yet," said +Guillaume as he entered the silent house. + +"At all events they will let us stay here till the rain stops," answered +Pierre, seating himself at one of the little tables. + +However, a waiter suddenly made his appearance seemingly in a great +hurry. He had come down from the first floor, and eagerly rummaged a +cupboard for a few dry biscuits, which he laid upon a plate. At last he +condescended to serve the brothers two glasses of Chartreuse. + +In one of the private rooms upstairs Baroness Duvillard, who had driven +to the chalet in a cab, had been awaiting her lover Gerard for nearly +half an hour. It was there that, during the charity bazaar, they had +given each other an appointment. For them the chalet had precious +memories: two years previously, on discovering that secluded nest, which +was so deserted in the early, hesitating days of chilly spring, they had +met there under circumstances which they could not forget. And the +Baroness, in choosing the house for the supreme assignation of their +dying passion, had certainly not been influenced merely by a fear that +she might be spied upon elsewhere. She had, indeed, thought of the first +kisses that had been showered on her there, and would fain have revived +them even if they should now prove the last that Gerard would bestow on +her. + +But she would also have liked to see some sunlight playing over the +youthful foliage. The ashen sky and threatening rain saddened her. And +when she entered the private room she did not recognise it, so cold and +dim it seemed with its faded furniture. Winter had tarried there, with +all the dampness and mouldy smell peculiar to rooms which have long +remained closed. Then, too, some of the wall paper which had come away +from the plaster hung down in shreds, dead flies were scattered over the +parquetry flooring; and in order to open the shutters the waiter had to +engage in a perfect fight with their fastenings. However, when he had +lighted a little gas-stove, which at once flamed up and diffused some +warmth, the room became more cosy. + +Eve had seated herself on a chair, without raising the thick veil which +hid her face. Gowned, gloved, and bonneted in black, as if she were +already in mourning for her last passion, she showed naught of her own +person save her superb fair hair, which glittered like a helm of tawny +gold. She had ordered tea for two, and when the waiter brought it with a +little plateful of dry biscuits, left, no doubt, from the previous +season, he found her in the same place, still veiled and motionless, +absorbed, it seemed, in a gloomy reverie. If she had reached the cafe +half an hour before the appointed time it was because she desired some +leisure and opportunity to overcome her despair and compose herself. She +resolved that of all things she would not weep, that she would remain +dignified and speak calmly, like one who, whatever rights she might +possess, preferred to appeal to reason only. And she was well pleased +with the courage that she found within her. Whilst thinking of what she +should say to dissuade Gerard from a marriage which to her mind would +prove both a calamity and a blunder, she fancied herself very calm, +indeed almost resigned to whatsoever might happen. + +But all at once she started and began to tremble. Gerard was entering the +room. + +"What! are you here the first, my dear?" he exclaimed. "I thought that I +myself was ten minutes before the time! And you've ordered some tea and +are waiting for me!" + +He forced a smile as he spoke, striving to display the same delight at +seeing her as he had shown in the early golden days of their passion. But +at heart he was much embarrassed, and he shuddered at the thought of the +awful scene which he could foresee. + +She had at last risen and raised her veil. And looking at him she +stammered: "Yes, I found myself at liberty earlier than I expected. . . . +I feared some impediment might arise . . . and so I came." + +Then, seeing how handsome and how affectionate he still looked, she could +not restrain her passion. All her skilful arguments, all her fine +resolutions, were swept away. Her flesh irresistibly impelled her towards +him; she loved him, she would keep him, she would never surrender him to +another. And she wildly flung her arms around his neck. + +"Oh! Gerard, Gerard! I suffer too cruelly; I cannot, I cannot bear it! +Tell me at once that you will not marry her, that you will never marry +her!" + +Her voice died away in a sob, tears started from her eyes. Ah! those +tears which she had sworn she would never shed! They gushed forth without +cessation, they streamed from her lovely eyes like a flood of the +bitterest grief. + +"My daughter, O God! What! you would marry my daughter! She, here, on +your neck where I am now! No, no, such torture is past endurance, it must +not be, I will not have it!" + +He shivered as he heard that cry of frantic jealousy raised by a mother +who now was but a woman, maddened by the thought of her rival's youth, +those five and twenty summers which she herself had left far behind. For +his part, on his way to the assignation, he had come to what he thought +the most sensible decision, resolving to break off the intercourse after +the fashion of a well-bred man, with all sorts of fine consolatory +speeches. But sternness was not in his nature. He was weak and +soft-hearted, and had never been able to withstand a woman's tears. +Nevertheless, he endeavoured to calm her, and in order to rid himself of +her embrace, he made her sit down upon the sofa. And there, beside her, +he replied: "Come, be reasonable, my dear. We came here to have a +friendly chat, did we not? I assure you that you are greatly exaggerating +matters." + +But she was determined to obtain a more positive answer from him. "No, +no!" she retorted, "I am suffering too dreadfully, I must know the truth +at once. Swear to me that you will never, never marry her!" + +He again endeavoured to avoid replying as she wished him to do. "Come, +come," he said, "you will do yourself harm by giving way to such grief as +this; you know that I love you dearly." + +"Then swear to me that you will never, never marry her." + +"But I tell you that I love you, that you are the only one I love." + +Then she again threw her arms around him, and kissed him passionately +upon the eyes. "Is it true?" she asked in a transport. "You love me, you +love no one else? Oh! tell me so again, and kiss me, and promise me that +you will never belong to her." + +Weak as he was he could not resist her ardent caresses and pressing +entreaties. There came a moment of supreme cowardice and passion; her +arms were around him and he forgot all but her, again and again repeating +that he loved none other, and would never, never marry her daughter. At +last he even sank so low as to pretend that he simply regarded that poor, +infirm creature with pity. His words of compassionate disdain for her +rival were like nectar to Eve, for they filled her with the blissful idea +that it was she herself who would ever remain beautiful in his eyes and +whom he would ever love. . . . + +At last silence fell between them, like an inevitable reaction after such +a tempest of despair and passion. It disturbed Gerard. "Won't you drink +some tea?" he asked. "It is almost cold already." + +She was not listening, however. To her the reaction had come in a +different form; and as though the inevitable explanation were only now +commencing, she began to speak in a sad and weary voice. "My dear Gerard, +you really cannot marry my daughter. In the first place it would be so +wrong, and then there is the question of your name, your position. +Forgive my frankness, but the fact is that everybody would say that you +had sold yourself--such a marriage would be a scandal for both your +family and mine." + +As she spoke she took hold of his hands, like a mother seeking to prevent +her big son from committing some terrible blunder. And he listened to +her, with bowed head and averted eyes. She now evinced no anger, no +jealous rage; all such feelings seemed to have departed with the rapture +of her passion. + +"Just think of what people would say," she continued. "I don't deceive +myself, I am fully aware that there is an abyss between your circle of +society and ours. It is all very well for us to be rich, but money simply +enlarges the gap. And it was all very fine for me to be converted, my +daughter is none the less 'the daughter of the Jewess,' as folks so often +say. Ah! my Gerard, I am so proud of you, that it would rend my heart to +see you lowered, degraded almost, by a marriage for money with a girl who +is deformed, who is unworthy of you and whom you could never love." + +He raised his eyes and looked at her entreatingly, anxious as he was to +be spared such painful talk. "But haven't I sworn to you, that you are +the only one I love?" he said. "Haven't I sworn that I would never marry +her! It's all over. Don't let us torture ourselves any longer." + +Their glances met and lingered on one another, instinct with all the +misery which they dared not express in words. Eve's face had suddenly +aged; her eyelids were red and swollen, and blotches marbled her +quivering cheeks, down which her tears again began to trickle. "My poor, +poor Gerard," said she, "how heavily I weigh on you. Oh! do not deny it! +I feel that I am an intolerable burden on your shoulders, an impediment +in your life, and that I shall bring irreparable disaster on you by my +obstinacy in wishing you to be mine alone." + +He tried to speak, but she silenced him. "No, no, all is over between us. +I am growing ugly, all is ended. And besides, I shut off the future from +you. I can be of no help to you, whereas you bestow all on me. And yet +the time has come for you to assure yourself a position. At your age you +can't continue living without any certainty of the morrow, without a home +and hearth of your own; and it would be cowardly and cruel of me to set +myself up as an obstacle, and prevent you from ending your life happily, +as I should do if I clung to you and dragged you down with me." + +Gazing at him through her tears she continued speaking in this fashion. +Like his mother she was well aware that he was weak and even sickly; and +she therefore dreamt of arranging a quiet life for him, a life of +tranquil happiness free from all fear of want. She loved him so fondly; +and possessed so much genuine kindness of heart that perhaps it might be +possible for her to rise even to renunciation and sacrifice. Moreover, +the very egotism born of her beauty suggested that it might be well for +her to think of retirement and not allow the autumn of her life to be +spoilt by torturing dramas. All this she said to him, treating him like a +child whose happiness she wished to ensure even at the price of her own; +and he, his eyes again lowered, listened without further protest, pleased +indeed to let her arrange a happy life for him. + +Examining the situation from every aspect, she at last began to +recapitulate the points in favour of that abominable marriage, the +thought of which had so intensely distressed her. "It is certain," she +said, "that Camille would bring you all that I should like you to have. +With her, I need hardly say it, would come plenty, affluence. And as for +the rest, well, I do not wish to excuse myself or you, but I could name +twenty households in which there have been worse things. Besides, I was +wrong when I said that money opened a gap between people. On the +contrary, it draws them nearer together, it secures forgiveness for every +fault; so nobody would dare to blame you, there would only be jealous +ones around you, dazzled by your good fortune." + +Gerard rose, apparently rebelling once more. "Surely," said he, "/you/ +don't insist on my marrying your daughter?" + +"Ah! no indeed! But I am sensible, and I tell you what I ought to tell +you. You must think it all over." + +"I have done so already. It is you that I have loved, and that I love +still. What you say is impossible." + +She smiled divinely, rose, and again embraced him. "How good and kind you +are, my Gerard. Ah! if you only knew how I love you, how I shall always +love you, whatever happens." + +Then she again began to weep, and even he shed tears. Their good faith +was absolute; tender of heart as they were, they sought to delay the +painful wrenching and tried to hope for further happiness. But they were +conscious that the marriage was virtually an accomplished fact. Only +tears and words were left them, while life and destiny were marching on. +And if their emotion was so acute it was probably because they felt that +this was the last time they would meet as lovers. Still they strove to +retain the illusion that they were not exchanging their last farewell, +that their lips would some day meet again in a kiss of rapture. + +Eve removed her arms from the young man's neck, and they both gazed round +the room, at the sofa, the table, the four chairs, and the little hissing +gas-stove. The moist, hot atmosphere was becoming quite oppressive. + +"And so," said Gerard, "you won't drink a cup of tea?" + +"No, it's so horrid here," she answered, while arranging her hair in +front of the looking-glass. + +At that parting moment the mournfulness of this place, where she had +hoped to find such delightful memories, filled her with distress, which +was turning to positive anguish, when she suddenly heard an uproar of +gruff voices and heavy feet. People were hastening along the passage and +knocking at the doors. And, on darting to the window, she perceived a +number of policemen surrounding the chalet. At this the wildest ideas +assailed her. Had her daughter employed somebody to follow her? Did her +husband wish to divorce her so as to marry Silviane? The scandal would be +awful, and all her plans must crumble! She waited in dismay, white like a +ghost; while Gerard, also paling and quivering, begged her to be calm. At +last, when loud blows were dealt upon the door and a Commissary of Police +enjoined them to open it, they were obliged to do so. Ah! what a moment, +and what dismay and shame! + +Meantime, for more than an hour, Pierre and Guillaume had been waiting +for the rain to cease. Seated in a corner of the glazed verandah they +talked in undertones of Barthes' painful affair, and ultimately decided +to ask Theophile Morin to dine with them on the following evening, and +inform his old friend that he must again go into exile. + +"That is the best course," repeated Guillaume. "Morin is very fond of him +and will know how to break the news. I have no doubt too that he will go +with him as far as the frontier." + +Pierre sadly looked at the falling rain. "Ah! what a choice," said he, +"to be ever driven to a foreign land under penalty of being thrust into +prison. Poor fellow! how awful it is to have never known a moment of +happiness and gaiety in one's life, to have devoted one's whole existence +to the idea of liberty, and to see it scoffed at and expire with +oneself!" + +Then the priest paused, for he saw several policemen and keepers approach +the cafe and prowl round it. Having lost scent of the man they were +hunting, they had retraced their steps with the conviction no doubt that +he had sought refuge in the chalet. And in order that he might not again +escape them, they now took every precaution, exerted all their skill in +surrounding the place before venturing on a minute search. Covert fear +came upon Pierre and Guillaume when they noticed these proceedings. It +seemed to them that it must all be connected with the chase which they +had caught a glimpse of some time previously. Still, as they happened to +be in the chalet they might be called upon to give their names and +addresses. At this thought they glanced at one another, and almost made +up their minds to go off under the rain. But they realised that anything +like flight might only compromise them the more. So they waited; and all +at once there came a diversion, for two fresh customers entered the +establishment. + +A victoria with its hood and apron raised had just drawn up outside the +door. The first to alight from it was a young, well-dressed man with a +bored expression of face. He was followed by a young woman who was +laughing merrily, as if much amused by the persistence of the downpour. +By way of jesting, indeed, she expressed her regret that she had not come +to the Bois on her bicycle, whereupon her companion retorted that to +drive about in a deluge appeared to him the height of idiocy. + +"But we were bound to go somewhere, my dear fellow," she gaily answered. +"Why didn't you take me to see the maskers?" + +"The maskers, indeed! No, no, my dear. I prefer the Bois, and even the +bottom of the lake, to them." + +Then, as the couple entered the chalet, Pierre saw that the young woman +who made merry over the rain was little Princess Rosemonde, while her +companion, who regarded the mid-Lent festivities as horrible, and +bicycling as an utterly unaesthetic amusement, was handsome Hyacinthe +Duvillard. On the previous evening, while they were taking a cup of tea +together on their return from the Chamber of Horrors, the young man had +responded to the Princess's blandishments by declaring that the only form +of attachment he believed in was a mystic union of intellects and souls. +And as such a union could only be fittingly arrived at amidst the cold, +chaste snow, they had decided that they would start for Christiania on +the following Monday. Their chief regret was that by the time they +reached the fiords the worst part of the northern winter would be over. + +They sat down in the cafe and ordered some kummel, but there was none, +said the waiter, so they had to content themselves with common anisette. +Then Hyacinthe, who had been a schoolfellow of Guillaume's sons, +recognised both him and Pierre; and leaning towards Rosemonde told her in +a whisper who the elder brother was. + +Thereupon, with sudden enthusiasm, she sprang to her feet: "Guillaume +Froment, indeed! the great chemist!" And stepping forward with arm +outstretched, she continued: "Ah! monsieur, you must excuse me, but I +really must shake hands with you. I have so much admiration for you! You +have done such wonderful work in connection with explosives!" Then, +noticing the chemist's astonishment, she again burst into a laugh: "I am +the Princess de Harn, your brother Abbe Froment knows me, and I ought to +have asked him to introduce me. However, we have mutual friends, you and +I; for instance, Monsieur Janzen, a very distinguished man, as you are +aware. He was to have taken me to see you, for I am a modest disciple of +yours. Yes, I have given some attention to chemistry, oh! from pure zeal +for truth and in the hope of helping good causes, not otherwise. So you +will let me call on you--won't you?--directly I come back from +Christiania, where I am going with my young friend here, just to acquire +some experience of unknown emotions." + +In this way she rattled on, never allowing the others an opportunity to +say a word. And she mingled one thing with another; her cosmopolitan +tastes, which had thrown her into Anarchism and the society of shady +adventurers; her new passion for mysticism and symbolism; her belief that +the ideal must triumph over base materialism; her taste for aesthetic +verse; and her dream of some unimagined rapture when Hyacinthe should +kiss her with his frigid lips in a realm of eternal snow. + +All at once, however, she stopped short and again began to laugh. "Dear +me!" she exclaimed. "What are those policemen looking for here? Have they +come to arrest us? How amusing it would be!" + +Police Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir had just made up their +minds to search the cafe, as their men had hitherto failed to find Salvat +in any of the outbuildings. They were convinced that he was here. Dupot, +a thin, bald, short-sighted, spectacled little man, wore his usual +expression of boredom and weariness; but in reality he was very wide +awake and extremely courageous. He himself carried no weapons; but, as he +anticipated a most violent resistance, such as might be expected from a +trapped wolf, he advised Mondesir to have his revolver ready. From +considerations of hierarchical respect, however, the detective, who with +his snub nose and massive figure had much the appearance of a bull-dog, +was obliged to let his superior enter first. + +From behind his spectacles the Commissary of Police quickly scrutinized +the four customers whom he found in the cafe: the lady, the priest, and +the two other men. And passing them in a disdainful way, he at once made +for the stairs, intending to inspect the upper floor. Thereupon the +waiter, frightened by the sudden intrusion of the police, lost his head +and stammered: "But there's a lady and gentleman upstairs in one of the +private rooms." + +Dupot quietly pushed him aside. "A lady and gentleman, that's not what we +are looking for. . . . Come, make haste, open all the doors, you mustn't +leave a cupboard closed." + +Then climbing to the upper floor, he and Mondesir explored in turn every +apartment and corner till they at last reached the room where Eve and +Gerard were together. Here the waiter was unable to admit them, as the +door was bolted inside. "Open the door!" he called through the keyhole, +"it isn't you that they want!" + +At last the bolt was drawn back, and Dupot, without even venturing to +smile, allowed the trembling lady and gentleman to go downstairs, while +Mondesir, entering the room, looked under every article of furniture, and +even peeped into a little cupboard in order that no neglect might be +imputed to him. + +Meantime, in the public room which they had to cross after descending the +stairs, Eve and Gerard experienced fresh emotion; for people whom they +knew were there, brought together by an extraordinary freak of chance. +Although Eve's face was hidden by a thick veil, her eyes met her son's +glance and she felt sure that he recognised her. What a fatality! He had +so long a tongue and told his sister everything! Then, as the Count, in +despair at such a scandal, hurried off with the Baroness to conduct her +through the pouring rain to her cab, they both distinctly heard little +Princess Rosemonde exclaim: "Why, that was Count de Quinsac! Who was the +lady, do you know?" And as Hyacinthe, greatly put out, returned no +answer, she insisted, saying: "Come, you must surely know her. Who was +she, eh?" + +"Oh! nobody. Some woman or other," he ended by replying. + +Pierre, who had understood the truth, turned his eyes away to hide his +embarrassment. But all at once the scene changed. At the very moment when +Commissary Dupot and detective Mondesir came downstairs again, after +vainly exploring the upper floor, a loud shout was raised outside, +followed by a noise of running and scrambling. Then Gascogne, the Chief +of the Detective Force, who had remained in the rear of the chalet, +continuing the search through the outbuildings, made his appearance, +pushing before him a bundle of rags and mud, which two policemen held on +either side. And this bundle was the man, the hunted man, who had just +been discovered in the coach-house, inside a staved cask, covered with +hay. + +Ah! what a whoop of victory there was after that run of two hours' +duration, that frantic chase which had left them all breathless and +footsore! It had been the most exciting, the most savage of all sports--a +man hunt! They had caught the man at last, and they pushed him, they +dragged him, they belaboured him with blows. And he, the man, what a +sorry prey he looked! A wreck, wan and dirty from having spent the night +in a hole full of leaves, still soaked to his waist from having rushed +through a stream, drenched too by the rain, bespattered with mire, his +coat and trousers in tatters, his cap a mere shred, his legs and hands +bleeding from his terrible rush through thickets bristling with brambles +and nettles. There no longer seemed anything human about his face; his +hair stuck to his moist temples, his bloodshot eyes protruded from their +sockets; fright, rage, and suffering were all blended on his wasted, +contracted face. Still it was he, the man, the quarry, and they gave him +another push, and he sank on one of the tables of the little cafe, still +held and shaken, however, by the rough hands of the policemen. + +Then Guillaume shuddered as if thunderstruck, and caught hold of Pierre's +hand. At this the priest, who was looking on, suddenly understood the +truth and also quivered. Salvat! the man was Salvat! It was Salvat whom +they had seen rushing through the wood like a wild boar forced by the +hounds. And it was Salvat who was there, now conquered and simply a +filthy bundle. Then once more there came to Pierre, amidst his anguish, a +vision of the errand girl lying yonder at the entrance of the Duvillard +mansion, the pretty fair-haired girl whom the bomb had ripped and killed! + +Dupot and Mondesir made haste to participate in Gascogne's triumph. To +tell the truth, however, the man had offered no resistance; it was like a +lamb that he had let the police lay hold of him. And since he had been in +the cafe, still roughly handled, he had simply cast a weary and mournful +glance around him. + +At last he spoke, and the first words uttered by his hoarse, gasping +voice were these: "I am hungry." + +He was sinking with hunger and weariness. This was the third day that he +had eaten nothing. + +"Give him some bread," said Commissary Dupot to the waiter. "He can eat +it while a cab is being fetched." + +A policeman went off to find a vehicle. The rain had suddenly ceased +falling, the clear ring of a bicyclist's bell was heard in the distance, +some carriages drove by, and under the pale sunrays life again came back +to the Bois. + +Meantime, Salvat had fallen gluttonously upon the hunk of bread which had +been given him, and whilst he was devouring it with rapturous animal +satisfaction, he perceived the four customers seated around. He seemed +irritated by the sight of Hyacinthe and Rosemonde, whose faces expressed +the mingled anxiety and delight they felt at thus witnessing the arrest +of some bandit or other. But all at once his mournful, bloodshot eyes +wavered, for to his intense surprise he had recognised Pierre and +Guillaume. When he again looked at the latter it was with the submissive +affection of a grateful dog, and as if he were once more promising that +he would divulge nothing, whatever might happen. + +At last he again spoke, as if addressing himself like a man of courage, +both to Guillaume, from whom he had averted his eyes, and to others also, +his comrades who were not there: "It was silly of me to run," said he. "I +don't know why I did so. It's best that it should be all ended. I'm +ready." + + + +V + +THE GAME OF POLITICS + +ON reading the newspapers on the following morning Pierre and Guillaume +were greatly surprised at not finding in them the sensational accounts of +Salvat's arrest which they had expected. All they could discover was a +brief paragraph in a column of general news, setting forth that some +policemen on duty in the Bois de Boulogne had there arrested an +Anarchist, who was believed to have played a part in certain recent +occurrences. On the other hand, the papers gave a deal of space to the +questions raised by Sagnier's fresh denunciations. There were innumerable +articles on the African Railways scandal, and the great debate which +might be expected at the Chamber of Deputies, should Mege, the Socialist +member, really renew his interpellation, as he had announced his +intention of doing. + +As Guillaume's wrist was now fast healing, and nothing seemed to threaten +him, he had already, on the previous evening, decided that he would +return to Montmartre. The police had passed him by without apparently +suspecting any responsibility on his part; and he was convinced that +Salvat would keep silent. Pierre, however, begged him to wait a little +longer, at any rate until the prisoner should have been interrogated by +the investigating magistrate, by which time they would be able to judge +the situation more clearly. Pierre, moreover, during his long stay at the +Home Department on the previous morning, had caught a glimpse of certain +things and overheard certain words which made him suspect some dim +connection between Salvat's crime and the parliamentary crisis; and he +therefore desired a settlement of the latter before Guillaume returned to +his wonted life. + +"Just listen," he said to his brother. "I am going to Morin's to ask him +to come and dine here this evening, for it is absolutely necessary that +Barthes should be warned of the fresh blow which is falling on him. And +then I think I shall go to the Chamber, as I want to know what takes +place there. After that, since you desire it, I will let you go back to +your own home." + +It was not more than half-past one when Pierre reached the +Palais-Bourbon. It had occurred to him that Fonsegue would be able to +secure him admittance to the meeting-hall, but in the vestibule he met +General de Bozonnet, who happened to possess a couple of tickets. A +friend of his, who was to have accompanied him, had, at the last moment, +been unable to come. So widespread was the curiosity concerning the +debate now near at hand, and so general were the predictions that it +would prove a most exciting one, that the demand for tickets had been +extremely keen during the last twenty-four hours. In fact Pierre would +never have been able to obtain admittance if the General had not +good-naturedly offered to take him in. As a matter of fact the old +warrior was well pleased to have somebody to chat with. He explained that +he had simply come there to kill time, just as he might have killed it at +a concert or a charity bazaar. However, like the ex-Legitimist and +Bonapartist that he was, he had really come for the pleasure of feasting +his eyes on the shameful spectacle of parliamentary ignominy. + +When the General and Pierre had climbed the stairs, they were able to +secure two front seats in one of the public galleries. Little Massot, who +was already there, and who knew them both, placed one of them on his +right and the other on his left. "I couldn't find a decent seat left in +the press gallery," said he, "but I managed to get this place, from which +I shall be able to see things properly. It will certainly be a big +sitting. Just look at the number of people there are on every side!" + +The narrow and badly arranged galleries were packed to overflowing. There +were men of every age and a great many women too in the confused, serried +mass of spectators, amidst which one only distinguished a multiplicity of +pale white faces. The real scene, however, was down below in the +meeting-hall, which was as yet empty, and with its rows of seats disposed +in semi-circular fashion looked like the auditorium of a theatre. Under +the cold light which fell from the glazed roofing appeared the solemn, +shiny tribune, whence members address the Chamber, whilst behind it, on a +higher level, and running right along the rear wall, was what is called +the Bureau, with its various tables and seats, including the presidential +armchair. The Bureau, like the tribune, was still unoccupied. The only +persons one saw there were a couple of attendants who were laying out new +pens and filling inkstands. + +"The women," said Massot with a laugh, after another glance at the +galleries, "come here just as they might come to a menagerie, that is, in +the secret hope of seeing wild beasts devour one another. But, by the +way, did you read the article in the 'Voix du Peuple' this morning? What +a wonderful fellow that Sagnier is. When nobody else can find any filth +left, he manages to discover some. He apparently thinks it necessary to +add something new every day, in order to send his sales up. And of course +it all disturbs the public, and it's thanks to him that so many people +have come here in the hope of witnessing some horrid scene." + +Then he laughed again, as he asked Pierre if he had read an unsigned +article in the "Globe," which in very dignified but perfidious language +had called upon Barroux to give the full and frank explanations which the +country had a right to demand in that matter of the African Railways. +This paper had hitherto vigorously supported the President of the +Council, but in the article in question the coldness which precedes a +rupture was very apparent. Pierre replied that the article had much +surprised him, for he had imagined that Fonsegue and Barroux were linked +together by identity of views and long-standing personal friendship. + +Massot was still laughing. "Quite so," said he. "And you may be sure that +the governor's heart bled when he wrote that article. It has been much +noticed, and it will do the government a deal of harm. But the governor, +you see, knows better than anybody else what line he ought to follow to +save both his own position and the paper's." + +Then he related what extraordinary confusion and emotion reigned among +the deputies in the lobbies through which he had strolled before coming +upstairs to secure a seat. After an adjournment of a couple of days the +Chamber found itself confronted by this terrible scandal, which was like +one of those conflagrations which, at the moment when they are supposed +to be dying out, suddenly flare up again and devour everything. The +various figures given in Sagnier's list, the two hundred thousand francs +paid to Barroux, the eighty thousand handed to Monferrand, the fifty +thousand allotted to Fonsegue, the ten thousand pocketed by Duthil, and +the three thousand secured by Chaigneux, with all the other amounts +distributed among So-and-so and So-and-so, formed the general subject of +conversation. And at the same time some most extraordinary stories were +current; there was no end of tittle-tattle in which fact and falsehood +were so inextricably mingled that everybody was at sea as to the real +truth. Whilst many deputies turned pale and trembled as beneath a blast +of terror, others passed by purple with excitement, bursting with +delight, laughing with exultation at the thought of coming victory. For, +in point of fact, beneath all the assumed indignation, all the calls for +parliamentary cleanliness and morality, there simply lay a question of +persons--the question of ascertaining whether the government would be +overthrown, and in that event of whom the new administration would +consist. Barroux no doubt appeared to be in a bad way; but with things in +such a muddle one was bound to allow a margin for the unexpected. From +what was generally said it seemed certain that Mege would be extremely +violent. Barroux would answer him, and the Minister's friends declared +that he was determined to speak out in the most decisive manner. As for +Monferrand he would probably address the Chamber after his colleague, but +Vignon's intentions were somewhat doubtful, as, in spite of his delight, +he made a pretence of remaining in the back, ground. He had been seen +going from one to another of his partisans, advising them to keep calm, +in order that they might retain the cold, keen /coup d'oeil/ which in +warfare generally decides the victory. Briefly, such was the plotting and +intriguing that never had any witch's cauldron brimful of drugs and +nameless abominations been set to boil on a more hellish fire than that +of this parliamentary cook-shop. + +"Heaven only knows what they will end by serving us," said little Massot +by way of conclusion. + +General de Bozonnet for his part anticipated nothing but disaster. If +France had only possessed an army, said he, one might have swept away +that handful of bribe-taking parliamentarians who preyed upon the country +and rotted it. But there was no army left, there was merely an armed +nation, a very different thing. And thereupon, like a man of a past age +whom the present times distracted, he started on what had been his +favourite subject of complaint ever since he had been retired from the +service. + +"Here's an idea for an article if you want one," he said to Massot. +"Although France may have a million soldiers she hasn't got an army. I'll +give you some notes of mine, and you will be able to tell people the +truth." + +Warfare, he continued, ought to be purely and simply a caste occupation, +with commanders designated by divine right, leading mercenaries or +volunteers into action. By democratising warfare people had simply killed +it; a circumstance which he deeply regretted, like a born soldier who +regarded fighting as the only really noble occupation that life offered. +For, as soon as it became every man's duty to fight, none was willing to +do so; and thus compulsory military service--what was called "the nation +in arms"--would, at a more or less distant date, certainly bring about +the end of warfare. If France had not engaged in a European war since +1870 this was precisely due to the fact that everybody in France was +ready to fight. But rulers hesitated to throw a whole nation against +another nation, for the loss both in life and treasure would be +tremendous. And so the thought that all Europe was transformed into a +vast camp filled the General with anger and disgust. He sighed for the +old times when men fought for the pleasure of the thing, just as they +hunted; whereas nowadays people were convinced that they would +exterminate one another at the very first engagement. + +"But surely it wouldn't be an evil if war should disappear," Pierre +gently remarked. + +This somewhat angered the General. "Well, you'll have pretty nations if +people no longer fight," he answered, and then trying to show a practical +spirit, he added: "Never has the art of war cost more money than since +war itself has become an impossibility. The present-day defensive peace +is purely and simply ruining every country in Europe. One may be spared +defeat, but utter bankruptcy is certainly at the end of it all. And in +any case the profession of arms is done for. All faith in it is dying +out, and it will soon be forsaken, just as men have begun to forsake the +priesthood." + +Thereupon he made a gesture of mingled grief and anger, almost cursing +that parliament, that Republican legislature before him, as if he +considered it responsible for the future extinction of warfare. But +little Massot was wagging his head dubiously, for he regarded the subject +as rather too serious a one for him to write upon. And, all at once, in +order to turn the conversation into another channel, he exclaimed: "Ah! +there's Monseigneur Martha in the diplomatic gallery beside the Spanish +Ambassador. It's denied, you know, that he intends to come forward as a +candidate in Morbihan. He's far too shrewd to wish to be a deputy. He +already pulls the strings which set most of the Catholic deputies who +have 'rallied' to the Republican Government in motion." + +Pierre himself had just noticed Monseigneur Martha's smiling face. And, +somehow or other, however modest might be the prelate's demeanour, it +seemed to him that he really played an important part in what was going +on. He could hardly take his eyes from him. It was as if he expected that +he would suddenly order men hither and thither, and direct the whole +march of events. + +"Ah!" said Massot again. "Here comes Mege. It won't be long now before +the sitting begins." + +The hall, down below, was gradually filling. Deputies entered and +descended the narrow passages between the benches. Most of them remained +standing and chatting in a more or less excited way; but some seated +themselves and raised their grey, weary faces to the glazed roof. It was +a cloudy afternoon, and rain was doubtless threatening, for the light +became quite livid. If the hall was pompous it was also dismal with its +heavy columns, its cold allegorical statues, and its stretches of bare +marble and woodwork. The only brightness was that of the red velvet of +the benches and the gallery hand-rests. + +Every deputy of any consequence who entered was named by Massot to his +companions. Mege, on being stopped by another member of the little +Socialist group, began to fume and gesticulate. Then Vignon, detaching +himself from a group of friends and putting on an air of smiling +composure, descended the steps towards his seat. The occupants of the +galleries, however, gave most attention to the accused members, those +whose names figured in Sagnier's list. And these were interesting +studies. Some showed themselves quite sprightly, as if they were entirely +at their ease; but others had assumed a most grave and indignant +demeanour. Chaigneux staggered and hesitated as if beneath the weight of +some frightful act of injustice; whereas Duthil looked perfectly serene +save for an occasional twitch of his lips. The most admired, however, was +Fonsegue, who showed so candid a face, so open a glance, that his +colleagues as well as the spectators might well have declared him +innocent. Nobody indeed could have looked more like an honest man. + +"Ah! there's none like the governor," muttered Massot with enthusiasm. +"But be attentive, for here come the ministers. One mustn't miss Barroux' +meeting with Fonsegue, after this morning's article." + +Chance willed it that as Barroux came along with his head erect, his face +pale, and his whole demeanour aggressive, he was obliged to pass Fonsegue +in order to reach the ministerial bench. In doing so he did not speak to +him, but he gazed at him fixedly like one who is conscious of defection, +of a cowardly stab in the back on the part of a traitor. Fonsegue seemed +quite at ease, and went on shaking hands with one and another of his +colleagues as if he were altogether unconscious of Barroux' glance. Nor +did he even appear to see Monferrand, who walked by in the rear of the +Prime Minister, wearing a placid good-natured air, as if he knew nothing +of what was impending, but was simply coming to some ordinary humdrum +sitting. However, when he reached his seat, he raised his eyes and smiled +at Monseigneur Martha, who gently nodded to him. Then well pleased to +think that things were going as he wished them to go, he began to rub his +hands, as he often did by way of expressing his satisfaction. + +"Who is that grey-haired, mournful-looking gentleman on the ministerial +bench?" Pierre inquired of Massot. + +"Why, that's Taboureau, the Minister of Public Instruction, the excellent +gentleman who is said to have no prestige. One's always hearing of him, +and one never recognises him; he looks like an old, badly worn coin. Just +like Barroux he can't feel very well pleased with the governor this +afternoon, for to-day's 'Globe' contained an article pointing out his +thorough incapacity in everything concerning the fine arts. It was an +article in measured language, but all the more effective for that very +reason. It would surprise me if Taboureau should recover from it." + +Just then a low roll of drums announced the arrival of the President and +other officials of the Chamber. A door opened, and a little procession +passed by amidst an uproar of exclamations and hasty footsteps. Then, +standing at his table, the President rang his bell and declared the +sitting open. But few members remained silent, however, whilst one of the +secretaries, a dark, lanky young man with a harsh voice, read the minutes +of the previous sitting. When they had been adopted, various letters of +apology for non-attendance were read, and a short, unimportant bill was +passed without discussion. And then came the big affair, Mege's +interpellation, and at once the whole Chamber was in a flutter, while the +most passionate curiosity reigned in the galleries above. On the +Government consenting to the interpellation, the Chamber decided that the +debate should take place at once. And thereupon complete silence fell, +save that now and again a brief quiver sped by, in which one could detect +the various feelings, passions and appetites swaying the assembly. + +Mege began to speak with assumed moderation, carefully setting forth the +various points at issue. Tall and thin, gnarled and twisted like a +vine-stock, he rested his hands on the tribune as if to support his bent +figure, and his speech was often interrupted by the little dry cough +which came from the tuberculosis that was burning him. But his eyes +sparkled with passion behind his glasses, and little by little his voice +rose in piercing accents and he drew his lank figure erect and began to +gesticulate vehemently. He reminded the Chamber that some two months +previously, at the time of the first denunciations published by the "Voix +du Peuple," he had asked leave to interpellate the Government respecting +that deplorable affair of the African Railways; and he remarked, truly +enough, that if the Chamber had not yielded to certain considerations +which he did not wish to discuss, and had not adjourned his proposed +inquiries, full light would long since have been thrown on the whole +affair, in such wise that there would have been no revival, no increase +of the scandal, and no possible pretext for that abominable campaign of +denunciation which tortured and disgusted the country. However, it had at +last been understood that silence could be maintained no longer. It was +necessary that the two ministers who were so loudly accused of having +abused their trusts, should prove their innocence, throw full light upon +all they had done; apart from which the Chamber itself could not possibly +remain beneath the charge of wholesale venality. + +Then he recounted the whole history of the affair, beginning with the +grant of a concession for the African Lines to Baron Duvillard; and next +passing to the proposals for the issue of lottery stock, which proposals, +it was now said, had only been sanctioned by the Chamber after the most +shameful bargaining and buying of votes. At this point Mege became +extremely violent. Speaking of that mysterious individual Hunter, Baron +Duvillard's recruiter and go-between, he declared that the police had +allowed him to flee from France, much preferring to spend its time in +shadowing Socialist deputies. Then, hammering the tribune with his fist, +he summoned Barroux to give a categorical denial to the charges brought +against him, and to make it absolutely clear that he had never received a +single copper of the two hundred thousand francs specified in Hunter's +list. Forthwith certain members shouted to Mege that he ought to read the +whole list; but when he wished to do so others vociferated that it was +abominable, that such a mendacious and slanderous document ought not to +be accorded a place in the proceedings of the French legislature. Mege +went on still in frantic fashion, figuratively casting Sagnier into the +gutter, and protesting that there was nothing in common between himself +and such a base insulter. But at the same time he demanded that justice +and punishment should be meted out equally to one and all, and that if +indeed there were any bribe-takers among his colleagues, they should be +sent that very night to the prison of Mazas. + +Meantime the President, erect at his table, rang and rang his bell +without managing to quell the uproar. He was like a pilot who finds the +tempest too strong for him. Among all the men with purple faces and +barking mouths who were gathered in front of him, the ushers alone +maintained imperturbable gravity. At intervals between the bursts of +shouting, Mege's voice could still be heard. By some sudden transition he +had come to the question of a Collectivist organisation of society such +as he dreamt of, and he contrasted it with the criminal capitalist +society of the present day, which alone, said he, could produce such +scandals. And yielding more and more to his apostolic fervour, declaring +that there could be no salvation apart from Collectivism, he shouted that +the day of triumph would soon dawn. He awaited it with a smile of +confidence. In his opinion, indeed, he merely had to overthrow that +ministry and perhaps another one, and then he himself would at last take +the reins of power in hand, like a reformer who would know how to pacify +the nation. As outside Socialists often declared, it was evident that the +blood of a dictator flowed in that sectarian's veins. His feverish, +stubborn rhetoric ended by exhausting his interrupters, who were +compelled to listen to him. When he at last decided to leave the tribune, +loud applause arose from a few benches on the left. + +"Do you know," said Massot to the General, "I met Mege taking a walk with +his three little children in the Jardin des Plantes the other day. He +looked after them as carefully as an old nurse. I believe he's a very +worthy fellow at heart, and lives in a very modest way." + +But a quiver had now sped through the assembly. Barroux had quitted his +seat to ascend the tribune. He there drew himself erect, throwing his +head back after his usual fashion. There was a haughty, majestic, +slightly sorrowful expression on his handsome face, which would have been +perfect had his nose only been a little larger. He began to express his +sorrow and indignation in fine flowery language, which he punctuated with +theatrical gestures. His eloquence was that of a tribune of the romantic +school, and as one listened to him one could divine that in spite of all +his pomposity he was really a worthy, tender-hearted and somewhat foolish +man. That afternoon he was stirred by genuine emotion; his heart bled at +the thought of his disastrous destiny, he felt that a whole world was +crumbling with himself. Ah! what a cry of despair he stifled, the cry of +the man who is buffeted and thrown aside by the course of events on the +very day when he thinks that his civic devotion entitles him to triumph! +To have given himself and all he possessed to the cause of the Republic, +even in the dark days of the Second Empire; to have fought and struggled +and suffered persecution for that Republic's sake; to have established +that Republic amidst the battle of parties, after all the horrors of +national and civil war; and then, when the Republic at last triumphed and +became a living fact, secure from all attacks and intrigues, to suddenly +feel like a survival of some other age, to hear new comers speak a new +language, preach a new ideal, and behold the collapse of all he had +loved, all he had reverenced, all that had given him strength to fight +and conquer! The mighty artisans of the early hours were no more; it had +been meet that Gambetta should die. How bitter it all was for the last +lingering old ones to find themselves among the men of the new, +intelligent and shrewd generation, who gently smiled at them, deeming +their romanticism quite out of fashion! All crumbled since the ideal of +liberty collapsed, since liberty was no longer the one desideratum, the +very basis of the Republic whose existence had been so dearly purchased +after so long an effort! + +Erect and dignified Barroux made his confession. The Republic to him was +like the sacred ark of life; the very worst deeds became saintly if they +were employed to save her from peril. And in all simplicity he, told his +story, how he had found the great bulk of Baron Duvillard's money going +to the opposition newspapers as pretended payment for puffery and +advertising, whilst on the other hand the Republican organs received but +beggarly, trumpery amounts. He had been Minister of the Interior at the +time, and had therefore had charge of the press; so what would have been +said of him if he had not endeavoured to reestablish some equilibrium in +this distribution of funds in order that the adversaries of the +institutions of the country might not acquire a great increase of +strength by appropriating all the sinews of war? Hands had been stretched +out towards him on all sides, a score of newspapers, the most faithful, +the most meritorious, had claimed their legitimate share. And he had +ensured them that share by distributing among them the two hundred +thousand francs set down in the list against his name. Not a centime of +the money had gone into his own pocket, he would allow nobody to impugn +his personal honesty, on that point his word must suffice. At that moment +Barroux was really grand. All his emphatic pomposity disappeared; he +showed himself, as he really was--an honest man, quivering, his heart +bared, his conscience bleeding, in his bitter distress at having been +among those who had laboured and at now being denied reward. + +For, truth to tell, his words fell amidst icy silence. In his childish +simplicity he had anticipated an outburst of enthusiasm; a Republican +Chamber could but acclaim him for having saved the Republic; and now the +frigidity of one and all quite froze him. He suddenly felt that he was +all alone, done for, touched by the hand of death. Nevertheless, he +continued speaking amidst that terrible silence with the courage of one +who is committing suicide, and who, from his love of noble and eloquent +attitudes, is determined to die standing. He ended with a final +impressive gesture. However, as he came down from the tribune, the +general coldness seemed to increase, not a single member applauded. With +supreme clumsiness he had alluded to the secret scheming of Rome and the +clergy, whose one object, in his opinion, was to recover the predominant +position they had lost and restore monarchy in France at a more or less +distant date. + +"How silly of him! Ought a man ever to confess?" muttered Massot. "He's +done for, and the ministry too!" + +Then, amidst the general frigidity, Monferrand boldly ascended the +tribune stairs. The prevailing uneasiness was compounded of all the +secret fear which sincerity always causes, of all the distress of the +bribe-taking deputies who felt that they were rolling into an abyss, and +also of the embarrassment which the others felt at thought of the more or +less justifiable compromises of politics. Something like relief, +therefore, came when Monferrand started with the most emphatic denials, +protesting in the name of his outraged honour, and dealing blow after +blow on the tribune with one hand, while with the other he smote his +chest. Short and thick-set, with his face thrust forward, hiding his +shrewdness beneath an expression of indignant frankness, he was for a +moment really superb. He denied everything. He was not only ignorant of +what was meant by that sum of eighty thousand francs set down against his +name, but he defied the whole world to prove that he had even touched a +single copper of that money. He boiled over with indignation to such a +point that he did not simply deny bribe-taking on his own part, he denied +it on behalf of the whole assembly, of all present and past French +legislatures, as if, indeed, bribe-taking on the part of a representative +of the people was altogether too monstrous an idea, a crime that +surpassed possibility to such an extent that the mere notion of it was +absurd. And thereupon applause rang out; the Chamber, delivered from its +fears, thrilled by his words, acclaimed him. + +From the little Socialist group, however, some jeers arose, and voices +summoned Monferrand to explain himself on the subject of the African +Railways, reminding him that he had been at the head of the Public Works +Department at the time of the vote, and requiring of him that he should +state what he now meant to do, as Minister of the Interior, in order to +reassure the country. He juggled with this question, declaring that if +there were any guilty parties they would be punished, for he did not +require anybody to remind him of his duty. And then, all at once, with +incomparable maestria, he had recourse to the diversion which he had been +preparing since the previous day. His duty, said he, was a thing which he +never forgot; he discharged it like a faithful soldier of the nation hour +by hour, and with as much vigilance as prudence. He had been accused of +employing the police on he knew not what base spying work in such wise as +to allow the man Hunter to escape. Well, as for that much-slandered +police force, he would tell the Chamber on what work he had really +employed it the day before, and how zealously it had laboured for the +cause of law and order. In the Bois de Boulogne, on the previous +afternoon, it had arrested that terrible scoundrel, the perpetrator of +the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, that Anarchist mechanician Salvat, +who for six weeks past had so cunningly contrived to elude capture. The +scoundrel had made a full confession during the evening, and the law +would now take its course with all despatch. Public morality was at last +avenged, Paris might now emerge in safety from its long spell of terror, +Anarchism would be struck down, annihilated. And that was what he, +Monferrand, had done as a Minister for the honour and safety of his +country, whilst villains were vainly seeking to dishonour him by +inscribing his name on a list of infamy, the outcome of the very basest +political intrigues. + +The Chamber listened agape and quivering. This story of Salvat's arrest, +which none of the morning papers had reported; the present which +Monferrand seemed to be making them of that terrible Anarchist whom many +had already begun to regard as a myth; the whole /mise-en-scene/ of the +Minister's speech transported the deputies as if they were suddenly +witnessing the finish of a long-interrupted drama. Stirred and flattered, +they prolonged their applause, while Monferrand went on celebrating his +act of energy, how he had saved society, how crime should be punished, +and how he himself would ever prove that he had a strong arm and could +answer for public order. He even won favour with the Conservatives and +Clericals on the Right by separating himself from Barroux, addressing a +few words of sympathy to those Catholics who had "rallied" to the +Republic, and appealing for concord among men of different beliefs in +order that they might fight the common enemy, that fierce, wild socialism +which talked of overthrowing everything! + +By the time Monferrand came down from the tribune, the trick was played, +he had virtually saved himself. Both the Right and Left of the Chamber* +applauded, drowning the protests of the few Socialists whose +vociferations only added to the triumphal tumult. Members eagerly +stretched out their hands to the Minister, who for a moment remained +standing there and smiling. But there was some anxiety in that smile of +his; his success was beginning to frighten him. Had he spoken too well, +and saved the entire Cabinet instead of merely saving himself? That would +mean the ruin of his plan. The Chamber ought not to vote under the effect +of that speech which had thrilled it so powerfully. Thus Monferrand, +though he still continued to smile, spent a few anxious moments in +waiting to see if anybody would rise to answer him. + + * Ever since the days of the Bourbon Restoration it has been + the practice in the French Chambers for the more conservative + members to seat themselves on the President's right, and for + the Radical ones to place themselves on his left. The central + seats of the semicircle in which the members' seats are + arranged in tiers are usually occupied by men of moderate views. + Generally speaking, such terms as Right Centre and Left Centre + are applied to groups of Moderates inclining in the first place + to Conservatism and in the latter to Radicalism. All this is of + course known to readers acquainted with French institutions, but + I give the explanation because others, after perusing French + news in some daily paper, have often asked me what was meant by + "a deputy of the Right," and so forth.--Trans. + +His success had been as great among the occupants of the galleries as +among the deputies themselves. Several ladies had been seen applauding, +and Monseigneur Martha had given unmistakable signs of the liveliest +satisfaction. "Ah, General!" said Massot to Bozonnet in a sneering way. +"Those are our fighting men of the present time. And he's a bold and +strong one, is Monferrand. Of course it is all what people style 'saving +one's bacon,' but none the less it's very clever work." + +Just then, however, Monferrand to his great satisfaction had seen Vignon +rise from his seat in response to the urging of his friends. And +thereupon all anxiety vanished from the Minister's smile, which became +one of malicious placidity. + +The very atmosphere of the Chamber seemed to change with Vignon in the +tribune. He was slim, with a fair and carefully tended beard, blue eyes +and all the suppleness of youth. He spoke, moreover, like a practical +man, in simple, straightforward language, which made the emptiness of the +other's declamatory style painfully conspicuous. His term of official +service as a prefect in the provinces had endowed him with keen insight; +and it was in an easy way that he propounded and unravelled the most +intricate questions. Active and courageous, confident in his own star, +too young and too shrewd to have compromised himself in anything so far, +he was steadily marching towards the future. He had already drawn up a +rather more advanced political programme than that of Barroux and +Monferrand, so that when opportunity offered there might be good reasons +for him to take their place. Moreover, he was quite capable of carrying +out his programme by attempting some of the long-promised reforms for +which the country was waiting. He had guessed that honesty, when it had +prudence and shrewdness as its allies, must some day secure an innings. +In a clear voice, and in a very quiet, deliberate way, he now said what +it was right to say on the subject under discussion, the things that +common sense dictated and that the Chamber itself secretly desired should +be said. He was certainly the first to rejoice over an arrest which would +reassure the country; but he failed to understand what connection there +could be between that arrest and the sad business that had been brought +before the Chamber. The two affairs were quite distinct and different, +and he begged his colleagues not to vote in the state of excitement in +which he saw them. Full light must be thrown on the African Railways +question, and this, one could not expect from the two incriminated +ministers. However, he was opposed to any suggestion of a committee of +inquiry. In his opinion the guilty parties, if such there were, ought to +be brought immediately before a court of law. And, like Barroux, he wound +up with a discreet allusion to the growing influence of the clergy, +declaring that he was against all unworthy compromises, and was equally +opposed to any state dictatorship and any revival of the ancient +theocratic spirit. + +Although there was but little applause when Vignon returned to his seat, +it was evident that the Chamber was again master of its emotions. And the +situation seemed so clear, and the overthrow of the ministry so certain, +that Mege, who had meant to reply to the others, wisely abstained from +doing so. Meantime people noticed the placid demeanour of Monferrand, who +had listened to Vignon with the utmost complacency, as if he were +rendering homage to an adversary's talent; whereas Barroux, ever since +the cold silence which had greeted his speech, had remained motionless in +his seat, bowed down and pale as a corpse. + +"Well, it's all over," resumed Massot, amidst the hubbub which arose as +the deputies prepared to vote; "the ministry's done for. Little Vignon +will go a long way, you know. People say that he dreams of the Elysee. At +all events everything points to him as our next prime minister." + +Then, as the journalist rose, intending to go off, the General detained +him: "Wait a moment, Monsieur Massot," said he. "How disgusting all that +parliamentary cooking is! You ought to point it out in an article, and +show people how the country is gradually being weakened and rotted to the +marrow by all such useless and degrading discussions. Why, a great battle +resulting in the loss of 50,000 men would exhaust us less than ten years +of this abominable parliamentary system. You must call on me some +morning. I will show you a scheme of military reform, in which I point +out the necessity of returning to the limited professional armies which +we used to have, for this present-day national army, as folks call it, +which is a semi-civilian affair and at best a mere herd of men, is like a +dead weight on us, and is bound to pull us down!" + +Pierre, for his part, had not spoken a word since the beginning of the +debate. He had listened to everything, at first influenced by the thought +of his brother's interests, and afterwards mastered by the feverishness +which gradually took possession of everybody present. He had become +convinced that there was nothing more for Guillaume to fear; but how +curiously did one event fit into another, and how loudly had Salvat's +arrest re-echoed in the Chamber! Looking down into the seething hall +below him, he had detected all the clash of rival passions and interests. +After watching the great struggle between Barroux, Monferrand and Vignon, +he had gazed upon the childish delight of that terrible Socialist Mege, +who was so pleased at having been able to stir up the depths of those +troubled waters, in which he always unwittingly angled for the benefit of +others. Then, too, Pierre had become interested in Fonsegue, who, knowing +what had been arranged between Monferrand, Duvillard and himself, evinced +perfect calmness and strove to reassure Duthil and Chaigneux, who, on +their side, were quite dismayed by the ministry's impending fall. Yet, +Pierre's eyes always came back to Monseigneur Martha. He had watched his +serene smiling face throughout the sitting, striving to detect his +impressions of the various incidents that had occurred, as if in his +opinion that dramatic parliamentary comedy had only been played as a step +towards the more or less distant triumph for which the prelate laboured. +And now, while awaiting the result of the vote, as Pierre turned towards +Massot and the General, he found that they were talking of nothing but +recruiting and tactics and the necessity of a bath of blood for the whole +of Europe. Ah! poor mankind, ever fighting and ever devouring one another +in parliaments as well as on battle-fields, when, thought Pierre, would +it decide to disarm once and for all, and live at peace according to the +laws of justice and reason! + +Then he again looked down into the hall, where the greatest confusion was +prevailing among the deputies with regard to the coming vote. There was +quite a rainfall of suggested "resolutions," from a very violent one +proposed by Mege, to another, which was merely severe, emanating from +Vignon. The ministry, however, would only accept the "Order of the day +pure and simple," a mere decision, that is, to pass to the next business, +as if Mege's interpellation had been unworthy of attention. And presently +the Government was defeated, Vignon's resolution being adopted by a +majority of twenty-five. Some portion of the Left had evidently joined +hands with the Right and the Socialist group. A prolonged hubbub followed +this result. + +"Well, so we are to have a Vignon Cabinet," said Massot, as he went off +with Pierre and the General. "All the same, though, Monferrand has saved +himself, and if I were in Vignon's place I should distrust him." + +That evening there was a very touching farewell scene at the little house +at Neuilly. When Pierre returned thither from the Chamber, saddened but +reassured with regard to the future, Guillaume at once made up his mind +to go home on the morrow. And as Nicholas Barthes was compelled to leave, +the little dwelling seemed on the point of relapsing into dreary quietude +once more. + +Theophile Morin, whom Pierre had informed of the painful alternative in +which Barthes was placed, duly came to dinner; but he did not have time +to speak to the old man before they all sat down to table at seven +o'clock. As usual Barthes had spent his day in marching, like a caged +lion, up and down the room in which he had accepted shelter after the +fashion of a big fearless child, who never worried with regard either to +his present circumstances or the troubles which the future might have in +store for him. His life had ever been one of unlimited hope, which +reality had ever shattered. Although all that he had loved, all that he +had hoped to secure by fifty years of imprisonment or exile,--liberty, +equality and a real brotherly republic,--had hitherto failed to come, +such as he had dreamt of them, he nevertheless retained the candid faith +of his youth, and was ever confident in the near future. He would smile +indulgently when new comers, men of violent ideas, derided him and called +him a poor old fellow. For his part, he could make neither head nor tail +of the many new sects. He simply felt indignant with their lack of human +feeling, and stubbornly adhered to his own idea of basing the world's +regeneration on the simple proposition that men were naturally good and +ought to be free and brotherly. + +That evening at dinner, feeling that he was with friends who cared for +him, Barthes proved extremely gay, and showed all his ingenuousness in +talking of his ideal, which would soon be realised, said he, in spite of +everything. He could tell a story well whenever he cared to chat, and on +that occasion he related some delightful anecdotes about the prisons +through which he had passed. He knew all the dungeons, Ste. Pelagie and +Mont St. Michel, Belle-Ile-en-Mer and Clairvaux, to say nothing of +temporary gaols and the evil-smelling hulks on board which political +prisoners are often confined. And he still laughed at certain +recollections, and related how in the direst circumstances he had always +been able to seek refuge in his conscience. The others listened to him +quite charmed by his conversation, but full of anguish at the thought +that this perpetual prisoner or exile must again rise and take his staff +to sally forth, driven from his native land once more. + +Pierre did not speak out until they were partaking of dessert. Then he +related how the Minister had written to him, and how in a brief interview +he had stated that Barthes must cross the frontier within forty-eight +hours if he did not wish to be arrested. Thereupon the old man gravely +rose, with his white fleece, his eagle beak and his bright eyes still +sparkling with the fire of youth. And he wished to go off at once. +"What!" said he, "you have known all this since yesterday, and have still +kept me here at the risk of my compromising you even more than I had done +already! You must forgive me, I did not think of the worry I might cause +you, I thought that everything would be satisfactorily arranged. I must +thank you both--yourself and Guillaume--for the few days of quietude that +you have procured to an old vagabond and madman like myself." + +Then, as they tried to prevail on him to remain until the following +morning, he would not listen to them. There would be a train for Brussels +about midnight, and he had ample time to take it. He refused to let Morin +accompany him. No, no, said he, Morin was not a rich man, and moreover he +had work to attend to. Why should he take him away from his duties, when +it was so easy, so simple, for him to go off alone? He was going back +into exile as into misery and grief which he had long known, like some +Wandering Jew of Liberty, ever driven onward through the world. + +When he took leave of the others at ten o'clock, in the little sleepy +street just outside the house, tears suddenly dimmed his eyes. "Ah! I'm +no longer a young man," he said; "it's all over this time. I shall never +come back again. My bones will rest in some corner over yonder." And yet, +after he had affectionately embraced Pierre and Guillaume, he drew +himself up like one who remained unconquered, and he raised a supreme cry +of hope. "But after all, who knows? Triumph may perhaps come to-morrow. +The future belongs to those who prepare it and wait for it!" + +Then he walked away, and long after he had disappeared his firm, sonorous +footsteps could be heard re-echoing in the quiet night. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Cities Trilogy: Paris, +Vol. 3, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE CITIES: PARIS, VOL. 3 *** + +This file should be named pari310.txt or pari310.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, pari311.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, pari310a.txt + +Produced by Dagny [dagnypg@yahoo.com] +and David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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