CHAPTER XVII.
A STRANGE BETROTHAL.
M. Dambreuse, when Deslauriers presented himself at his house, wasthinking of reviving his great coal-mining speculation. But this fusionof all the companies into one was looked upon unfavourably; there was anoutcry against monopolies, as if immense capital were not needed forcarrying out enterprises of this kind!
Deslauriers, who had read for the purpose the work of Gobet and thearticles of M. Chappe in the _Journal des Mines_, understood thequestion perfectly. He demonstrated that the law of 1810 established forthe benefit of the grantee a privilege which could not be transferred.Besides, a democratic colour might be given to the undertaking. Tointerfere with the formation of coal-mining companies was against theprinciple even of association.
M. Dambreuse intrusted to him some notes for the purpose of drawing up amemorandum. As for the way in which he meant to pay for the work, he wasall the more profuse in his promises from the fact that they were notvery definite.
Deslauriers called again at Frederick's house, and gave him an accountof the interview. Moreover, he had caught a glimpse of Madame Dambreuseat the bottom of the stairs, just as he was going out.
"I wish you joy--upon my soul, I do!"
Then they had a chat about the election. There was something to bedevised in order to carry it.
Three days later Deslauriers reappeared with a sheet of paper coveredwith handwriting, intended for the newspapers, and which was nothingless than a friendly letter from M. Dambreuse, expressing approval oftheir friend's candidature. Supported by a Conservative and praised by aRed, he ought to succeed. How was it that the capitalist had put hissignature to such a lucubration? The advocate had, of his own motion,and without the least appearance of embarrassment, gone and shown it toMadame Dambreuse, who, thinking it quite appropriate, had taken the restof the business on her own shoulders.
Frederick was astonished at this proceeding. Nevertheless, he approvedof it; then, as Deslauriers was to have an interview with M. Roque, hisfriend explained to him how he stood with regard to Louise.
"Tell them anything you like; that my affairs are in an unsettled state,that I am putting them in order. She is young enough to wait!"
Deslauriers set forth, and Frederick looked upon himself as a very ableman. He experienced, moreover, a feeling of gratification, a profoundsatisfaction. His delight at being the possessor of a rich woman was notspoiled by any contrast. The sentiment harmonised with the surroundings.His life now would be full of joy in every sense.
Perhaps the most delicious sensation of all was to gaze at MadameDambreuse in the midst of a number of other ladies in her drawing-room.The propriety of her manners made him dream of other attitudes. Whileshe was talking in a tone of coldness, he would recall to mind theloving words which she had murmured in his ear. All the respect which hefelt for her virtue gave him a thrill of pleasure, as if it were ahomage which was reflected back on himself; and at times he felt alonging to exclaim:
"But I know her better than you! She is mine!"
It was not long ere their relations came to be socially recognised as anestablished fact. Madame Dambreuse, during the whole winter, broughtFrederick with her into fashionable society.
He nearly always arrived before her; and he watched her as she enteredthe house they were visiting with her arms uncovered, a fan in her hand,and pearls in her hair. She would pause on the threshold (the lintel ofthe door formed a framework round her head), and she would open and shuther eyes with a certain air of indecision, in order to see whether hewas there.
She drove him back in her carriage; the rain lashed the carriage-blinds.The passers-by seemed merely shadows wavering in the mire of the street;and, pressed close to each other, they observed all these things vaguelywith a calm disdain. Under various pretexts, he would linger in her roomfor an entire additional hour.
It was chiefly through a feeling of ennui that Madame Dambreuse hadyielded. But this latest experience was not to be wasted. She desired togive herself up to an absorbing passion; and so she began to heap onhis head adulations and caresses.
She sent him flowers; she had an upholstered chair made for him. Shemade presents to him of a cigar-holder, an inkstand, a thousand littlethings for daily use, so that every act of his life should recall her tohis memory. These kind attentions charmed him at first, and in a littlewhile appeared to him very simple.
She would step into a cab, get rid of it at the opening into a by-way,and come out at the other end; and then, gliding along by the walls,with a double veil on her face, she would reach the street whereFrederick, who had been keeping watch, would take her arm quickly tolead her towards his house. His two men-servants would have gone out fora walk, and the doorkeeper would have been sent on some errand. Shewould throw a glance around her--nothing to fear!--and she would breatheforth the sigh of an exile who beholds his country once more. Their goodfortune emboldened them. Their appointments became more frequent. Oneevening, she even presented herself, all of a sudden, in fullball-dress. These surprises might have perilous consequences. Hereproached her for her lack of prudence. Nevertheless, he was not takenwith her appearance. The low body of her dress exposed her thinness toofreely.
It was then that he discovered what had hitherto been hidden fromhim--the disillusion of his senses. None the less did he makeprofessions of ardent love; but in order to call up such emotions hefound it necessary to evoke the images of Rosanette and Madame Arnoux.
This sentimental atrophy left his intellect entirely untrammelled; andhe was more ambitious than ever of attaining a high position in society.Inasmuch as he had such a stepping-stone, the very least he could do wasto make use of it.
One morning, about the middle of January, Senecal entered his study, andin response to his exclamation of astonishment, announced that he wasDeslauriers' secretary. He even brought Frederick a letter. It containedgood news, and yet it took him to task for his negligence; he would haveto come down to the scene of action at once. The future deputy said hewould set out on his way there in two days' time.
Senecal gave no opinion on the other's merits as a candidate. He spokeabout his own concerns and about the affairs of the country.
Miserable as the state of things happened to be, it gave him pleasure,for they were advancing in the direction of Communism. In the firstplace, the Administration led towards it of its own accord, since everyday a greater number of things were controlled by the Government. As forProperty, the Constitution of '48, in spite of its weaknesses, had notspared it. The State might, in the name of public utility, henceforthtake whatever it thought would suit it. Senecal declared himself infavour of authority; and Frederick noticed in his remarks theexaggeration which characterised what he had said himself toDeslauriers. The Republican even inveighed against the masses for theirinadequacy.
"Robespierre, by upholding the right of the minority, had brought LouisXVI. to acknowledge the National Convention, and saved the people.Things were rendered legitimate by the end towards which they weredirected. A dictatorship is sometimes indispensable. Long live tyranny,provided that the tyrant promotes the public welfare!"
Their discussion lasted a long time; and, as he was taking hisdeparture, Senecal confessed (perhaps it was the real object of hisvisit) that Deslauriers was getting very impatient at M. Dambreuse'ssilence.
But M. Dambreuse was ill. Frederick saw him every day, his character ofan intimate friend enabling him to obtain admission to the invalid'sbedside.
General Changarnier's recall had powerfully affected the capitalist'smind. He was, on the evening of the occurrence, seized with a burningsensation in his chest, together with an oppression that prevented himfrom lying down. The application of leeches gave him immediate relief.The dry cough disappeared; the respiration became more easy; and, eightdays later, he said, while swallowing some broth:
"Ah! I'm better now--but I was near going on the last long journey!"
"Not without me!" exclaimed Madame Dambreuse, intending
by this remarkto convey that she would not be able to outlive him.
Instead of replying, he cast upon her and upon her lover a singularsmile, in which there was at the same time resignation, indulgence,irony, and even, as it were, a touch of humour, a sort of secretsatisfaction almost amounting to actual joy.
Frederick wished to start for Nogent. Madame Dambreuse objected to this;and he unpacked and re-packed his luggage by turns according to thechanges in the invalid's condition.
Suddenly M. Dambreuse spat forth considerable blood. The "princes ofmedical science," on being consulted, could not think of any freshremedy. His legs swelled, and his weakness increased. He had severaltimes evinced a desire to see Cecile, who was at the other end of Francewith her husband, now a collector of taxes, a position to which he hadbeen appointed a month ago. M. Dambreuse gave express orders to send forher. Madame Dambreuse wrote three letters, which she showed him.
Without trusting him even to the care of the nun, she did not leave himfor one second, and no longer went to bed. The ladies who had theirnames entered at the door-lodge made enquiries about her with feelingsof admiration, and the passers-by were filled with respect on seeing thequantity of straw which was placed in the street under the windows.
On the 12th of February, at five o'clock, a frightful haemoptysis cameon. The doctor who had charge of him pointed out that the case hadassumed a dangerous aspect. They sent in hot haste for a priest.
While M. Dambreuse was making his confession, Madame kept gazingcuriously at him some distance away. After this, the young doctorapplied a blister, and awaited the result.
The flame of the lamps, obscured by some of the furniture, lighted upthe apartment in an irregular fashion. Frederick and Madame Dambreuse,at the foot of the bed, watched the dying man. In the recess of a windowthe priest and the doctor chatted in low tones. The good sister on herknees kept mumbling prayers.
At last came a rattling in the throat. The hands grew cold; the facebegan to turn white. Now and then he drew a deep breath all of asudden; but gradually this became rarer and rarer. Two or three confusedwords escaped him. He turned his eyes upward, and at the same moment hisrespiration became so feeble that it was almost imperceptible. Then hishead sank on one side on the pillow.
For a minute, all present remained motionless.
Madame Dambreuse advanced towards the dead body of her husband, and,without an effort--with the unaffectedness of one discharging aduty--she drew down the eyelids. Then she spread out her two arms, herfigure writhing as if in a spasm of repressed despair, and quitted theroom, supported by the physician and the nun.
A quarter of an hour afterwards, Frederick made his way up to herapartment.
There was in it an indefinable odour, emanating from some delicatesubstances with which it was filled. In the middle of the bed lay ablack dress, which formed a glaring contrast with the pink coverlet.
Madame Dambreuse was standing at the corner of the mantelpiece. Withoutattributing to her any passionate regret, he thought she looked a littlesad; and, in a mournful voice, he said:
"You are enduring pain?"
"I? No--not at all."
As she turned around, her eyes fell on the dress, which she inspected.Then she told him not to stand on ceremony.
"Smoke, if you like! You can make yourself at home with me!"
And, with a great sigh:
"Ah! Blessed Virgin!--what a riddance!"
Frederick was astonished at this exclamation. He replied, as he kissedher hand:
"All the same, you were free!"
This allusion to the facility with which the intrigue between them hadbeen carried on hurt Madame Dambreuse.
"Ah! you don't know the services that I did for him, or the misery inwhich I lived!"
"What!"
"Why, certainly! Was it a safe thing to have always near him thatbastard, a daughter, whom he introduced into the house at the end offive years of married life, and who, were it not for me, might have ledhim into some act of folly?"
Then she explained how her affairs stood. The arrangement on theoccasion of her marriage was that the property of each party should beseparate.[I] The amount of her inheritance was three hundred thousandfrancs. M. Dambreuse had guaranteed by the marriage contract that in theevent of her surviving him, she should have an income of fifteenthousand francs a year, together with the ownership of the mansion. Buta short time afterwards he had made a will by which he gave her all hepossessed, and this she estimated, so far as it was possible toascertain just at present, at over three millions.
Frederick opened his eyes widely.
[I] A marriage may take place in France under the _regime decommunaute_, by which the husband has the enjoyment and the right ofdisposing of the property both of himself and his wife; the _regimedotal_, by which he can only dispose of the income; and the _regime deseparation de biens_, by which husband and wife enjoy and exercisecontrol over their respective estates separately.--TRANSLATOR.
"It was worth the trouble, wasn't it? However, I contributed to it! Itwas my own property I was protecting; Cecile would have unjustly robbedme of it."
"Why did she not come to see her father?"
As he asked her this question Madame Dambreuse eyed him attentively;then, in a dry tone:
"I haven't the least idea! Want of heart, probably! Oh! I know what sheis! And for that reason she won't get a farthing from me!"
She had not been very troublesome, he pointed out; at any rate, sinceher marriage.
"Ha! her marriage!" said Madame Dambreuse, with a sneer. And she grudgedhaving treated only too well this stupid creature, who was jealous,self-interested, and hypocritical. "All the faults of her father!" Shedisparaged him more and more. There was never a person with suchprofound duplicity, and with such a merciless disposition into thebargain, as hard as a stone--"a bad man, a bad man!"
Even the wisest people fall into errors. Madame Dambreuse had just madea serious one through this overflow of hatred on her part. Frederick,sitting opposite her in an easy chair, was reflecting deeply,scandalised by the language she had used.
She arose and knelt down beside him.
"To be with you is the only real pleasure! You are the only one I love!"
While she gazed at him her heart softened, a nervous reaction broughttears into her eyes, and she murmured:
"Will you marry me?"
At first he thought he had not understood what she meant. He was stunnedby this wealth.
She repeated in a louder tone:
"Will you marry me?"
At last he said with a smile:
"Have you any doubt about it?"
Then the thought forced itself on his mind that his conduct wasinfamous, and in order to make a kind of reparation to the dead man, heoffered to watch by his side himself. But, feeling ashamed of this pioussentiment, he added, in a flippant tone:
"It would be perhaps more seemly."
"Perhaps so, indeed," she said, "on account of the servants."
The bed had been drawn completely out of the alcove. The nun was nearthe foot of it, and at the head of it sat a priest, a different one, atall, spare man, with the look of a fanatical Spaniard. On thenight-table, covered with a white cloth, three wax-tapers were burning.
Frederick took a chair, and gazed at the corpse.
The face was as yellow as straw. At the corners of the mouth there weretraces of blood-stained foam. A silk handkerchief was tied around theskull, and on the breast, covered with a knitted waistcoat, lay a silvercrucifix between the two crossed hands.
It was over, this life full of anxieties! How many journeys had he notmade to various places? How many rows of figures had he not piledtogether? How many speculations had he not hatched? How many reports hadhe not heard read? What quackeries, what smiles and curvets! For he hadacclaimed Napoleon, the Cossacks, Louis XVIII., 1830, the working-men,every _regime_, loving power so dearly that he would have paid in orderto have the opportunity of selling himself.
B
ut he had left behind him the estate of La Fortelle, three factories inPicardy, the woods of Crance in the Yonne, a farm near Orleans, and agreat deal of personal property in the form of bills and papers.
Frederick thus made an estimate of her fortune; and it would soon,nevertheless, belong to him! First of all, he thought of "what peoplewould say"; then he asked himself what present he ought to make to hismother, and he was concerned about his future equipages, and aboutemploying an old coachman belonging to his own family as the doorkeeper.Of course, the livery would not be the same. He would convert the largereception-room into his own study. There was nothing to prevent him byknocking down three walls from setting up a picture-gallery on thesecond-floor. Perhaps there might be an opportunity for introducing intothe lower portion of the house a hall for Turkish baths. As for M.Dambreuse's office, a disagreeable spot, what use could he make of it?
These reflections were from time to time rudely interrupted by thesounds made by the priest in blowing his nose, or by the good sister insettling the fire.
But the actual facts showed that his thoughts rested on a solidfoundation. The corpse was there. The eyelids had reopened, and thepupils, although steeped in clammy gloom, had an enigmatic, intolerableexpression.
Frederick fancied that he saw there a judgment directed against himself,and he felt almost a sort of remorse, for he had never any complaint tomake against this man, who, on the contrary----
"Come, now! an old wretch!" and he looked at the dead man more closelyin order to strengthen his mind, mentally addressing him thus:
"Well, what? Have I killed you?"
Meanwhile, the priest read his breviary; the nun, who sat motionless,had fallen asleep. The wicks of the three wax-tapers had grown longer.
For two hours could be heard the heavy rolling of carts making their wayto the markets. The window-panes began to admit streaks of white. A cabpassed; then a group of donkeys went trotting over the pavement. Thencame strokes of hammers, cries of itinerant vendors of wood and blastsof horns. Already every other sound was blended with the great voice ofawakening Paris.
Frederick went out to perform the duties assigned to him. He firstrepaired to the Mayor's office to make the necessary declaration; then,when the medical officer had given him a certificate of death, he calleda second time at the municipal buildings in order to name the cemeterywhich the family had selected, and to make arrangements for the funeralceremonies.
The clerk in the office showed him a plan which indicated the mode ofinterment adopted for the various classes, and a programme giving fullparticulars with regard to the spectacular portion of the funeral. Wouldhe like to have an open funeral-car or a hearse with plumes, plaits onthe horses, and aigrettes on the footmen, initials or a coat-of-arms,funeral-lamps, a man to display the family distinctions? and what numberof carriages would he require?
Frederick did not economise in the slightest degree. Madame Dambreusewas determined to spare no expense.
After this he made his way to the church.
The curate who had charge of burials found fault with the waste of moneyon funeral pomps. For instance, the officer for the display of armorialdistinctions was really useless. It would be far better to have a goodlydisplay of wax-tapers. A low mass accompanied by music would beappropriate.
Frederick gave written directions to have everything that was agreedupon carried out, with a joint undertaking to defray all the expenses.
He went next to the Hotel de Ville to purchase a piece of ground. Agrant of a piece which was two metres in length and one in breadth[J]cost five hundred francs. Did he want a grant for fifty years orforever?
"Oh, forever!" said Frederick.
He took the whole thing seriously and got into a state of intenseanxiety about it. In the courtyard of the mansion a marble-cutter waswaiting to show him estimates and plans of Greek, Egyptian, and Moorishtombs; but the family architect had already been in consultation withMadame; and on the table in the vestibule there were all sorts ofprospectuses with reference to the cleaning of mattresses, thedisinfection of rooms, and the various processes of embalming.
After dining, he went back to the tailor's shop to order mourning forthe servants; and he had still to discharge another function, for thegloves that he had ordered were of beaver, whereas the right kind for afuneral were floss-silk.
When he arrived next morning, at ten o'clock, the large reception-roomwas filled with people, and nearly everyone said, on encountering theothers, in a melancholy tone:
"It is only a month ago since I saw him! Good heavens! it will be thesame way with us all!"
[J] A metre is about 3-1/4 feet--TRANSLATOR.
"Yes; but let us try to keep it as far away from us as possible!"
Then there were little smiles of satisfaction; and they even engaged inconversations entirely unsuited to the occasion. At length, the masterof the ceremonies, in a black coat in the French fashion and shortbreeches, with a cloak, cambric mourning-bands, a long sword by hisside, and a three-cornered hat under his arm, gave utterance, with abow, to the customary words:
"Messieurs, when it shall be your pleasure."
The funeral started. It was the market-day for flowers on the Place dela Madeleine. It was a fine day with brilliant sunshine; and the breeze,which shook the canvas tents, a little swelled at the edges the enormousblack cloth which was hung over the church-gate. The escutcheon of M.Dambreuse, which covered a square piece of velvet, was repeated therethree times. It was: _Sable, with an arm sinister or and a clenched handwith a glove argent_; with the coronet of a count, and this device: _Byevery path_.
The bearers lifted the heavy coffin to the top of the staircase, andthey entered the building. The six chapels, the hemicycles, and theseats were hung with black. The catafalque at the end of the choirformed, with its large wax-tapers, a single focus of yellow lights. Atthe two corners, over the candelabra, flames of spirits of wine wereburning.
The persons of highest rank took up their position in the sanctuary, andthe rest in the nave; and then the Office for the Dead began.
With the exception of a few, the religious ignorance of all was soprofound that the master of the ceremonies had, from time to time, tomake signs to them to rise, to kneel, or to resume their seats. Theorgan and the two double-basses could be heard alternately with thevoices. In the intervals of silence, the only sounds that reached theear were the mumblings of the priest at the altar; then the music andthe chanting went on again.
The light of day shone dimly through the three cupolas, but the opendoor let in, as it were, a stream of white radiance, which, entering ina horizontal direction, fell on every uncovered head; and in the air,half-way towards the ceiling of the church, floated a shadow, which waspenetrated by the reflection of the gildings that decorated the ribbingof the pendentives and the foliage of the capitals.
Frederick, in order to distract his attention, listened to the _Diesirae_. He gazed at those around him, or tried to catch a glimpse of thepictures hanging too far above his head, wherein the life of theMagdalen was represented. Luckily, Pellerin came to sit down beside him,and immediately plunged into a long dissertation on the subject offrescoes. The bell began to toll. They left the church.
The hearse, adorned with hanging draperies and tall plumes, set out forPere-Lachaise drawn by four black horses, with their manes plaited,their heads decked with tufts of feathers, and with large trappingsembroidered with silver flowing down to their shoes. The driver of thevehicle, in Hessian boots, wore a three-cornered hat with a long pieceof crape falling down from it. The cords were held by four personages: aquestor of the Chamber of Deputies, a member of the General Council ofthe Aube, a delegate from the coal-mining company, and Fumichon, as afriend. The carriage of the deceased and a dozen mourning-coachesfollowed. The persons attending at the funeral came in the rear, fillingup the middle of the boulevard.
The passers-by stopped to look at the mournful procession. Women, withtheir brats in their arms, got up on chairs, and people
, who had beendrinking glasses of beer in the cafes, presented themselves at thewindows with billiard-cues in their hands.
The way was long, and, as at formal meals at which people are at firstreserved and then expansive, the general deportment speedily relaxed.They talked of nothing but the refusal of an allowance by the Chamber tothe President. M. Piscatory had shown himself harsh; Montalembert hadbeen "magnificent, as usual," and MM. Chamballe, Pidoux, Creton, inshort, the entire committee would be compelled perhaps to follow theadvice of MM. Quentin-Bauchard and Dufour.
This conversation was continued as they passed through the Rue de laRoquette, with shops on each side, in which could be seen only chains ofcoloured glass and black circular tablets covered with drawings andletters of gold--which made them resemble grottoes full of stalactitesand crockery-ware shops. But, when they had reached the cemetery-gate,everyone instantaneously ceased speaking.
The tombs among the trees: broken columns, pyramids, temples, dolmens,obelisks, and Etruscan vaults with doors of bronze. In some of themmight be seen funereal boudoirs, so to speak, with rustic armchairs andfolding-stools. Spiders' webs hung like rags from the little chains ofthe urns; and the bouquets of satin ribbons and the crucifixes werecovered with dust. Everywhere, between the balusters on the tombstones,may be observed crowns of immortelles and chandeliers, vases, flowers,black discs set off with gold letters, and plaster statuettes--littleboys or little girls or little angels sustained in the air by brasswires; several of them have even a roof of zinc overhead. Huge cablesmade of glass strung together, black, white, or azure, descend from thetops of the monuments to the ends of the flagstones with long folds,like boas. The rays of the sun, striking on them, made them scintillatein the midst of the black wooden crosses. The hearse advanced along thebroad paths, which are paved like the streets of a city. From time totime the axletrees cracked. Women, kneeling down, with their dressestrailing in the grass, addressed the dead in tones of tenderness. Littlewhite fumes arose from the green leaves of the yew trees. These camefrom offerings that had been left behind, waste material that had beenburnt.
M. Dambreuse's grave was close to the graves of Manuel and BenjaminConstant. The soil in this place slopes with an abrupt decline. One hasunder his feet there the tops of green trees, further down the chimneysof steam-pumps, then the entire great city.
Frederick found an opportunity of admiring the scene while the variousaddresses were being delivered.
The first was in the name of the Chamber of Deputies, the second in thename of the General Council of the Aube, the third in the name of thecoal-mining company of Saone-et-Loire, the fourth in the name of theAgricultural Society of the Yonne, and there was another in the name ofa Philanthropic Society. Finally, just as everyone was going away, astranger began reading a sixth address, in the name of the AmiensSociety of Antiquaries.
And thereupon they all took advantage of the occasion to denounceSocialism, of which M. Dambreuse had died a victim. It was the effectproduced on his mind by the exhibitions of anarchic violence, togetherwith his devotion to order, that had shortened his days. They praisedhis intellectual powers, his integrity, his generosity, and even hissilence as a representative of the people, "for, if he was not anorator, he possessed instead those solid qualities a thousand times moreuseful," etc., with all the requisite phrases--"Premature end; eternalregrets; the better land; farewell, or rather no, _au revoir!_"
The clay, mingled with stones, fell on the coffin, and he would neveragain be a subject for discussion in society.
However, there were a few allusions to him as the persons who hadfollowed his remains left the cemetery. Hussonnet, who would have togive an account of the interment in the newspapers, took up all theaddresses in a chaffing style, for, in truth, the worthy Dambreuse hadbeen one of the most notable _pots-de-vin_[K] of the last reign. Thenthe citizens were driven in the mourning-coaches to their various placesof business; the ceremony had not lasted very long; they congratulatedthemselves on the circumstance.
Frederick returned to his own abode quite worn out.
[K] The reader will excuse this barbarism on account of its convenience._Pot-de-vin_ means a gratuity or something paid to a person who has notearned it.--TRANSLATOR.
When he presented himself next day at Madame Dambreuse's residence, hewas informed that she was busy below stairs in the room where M.Dambreuse had kept his papers.
The cardboard receptacles and the different drawers had been openedconfusedly, and the account-books had been flung about right and left. Aroll of papers on which were endorsed the words "Repayment hopeless" layon the ground. He was near falling over it, and picked it up. MadameDambreuse had sunk back in the armchair, so that he did not see her.
"Well? where are you? What is the matter!"
She sprang to her feet with a bound.
"What is the matter? I am ruined, ruined! do you understand?"
M. Adolphe Langlois, the notary, had sent her a message to call at hisoffice, and had informed her about the contents of a will made by herhusband before their marriage. He had bequeathed everything to Cecile;and the other will was lost. Frederick turned very pale. No doubt shehad not made sufficient search.
"Well, then, look yourself!" said Madame Dambreuse, pointing at theobjects contained in the room.
The two strong-boxes were gaping wide, having been broken open withblows of a cleaver, and she had turned up the desk, rummaged in thecupboards, and shaken the straw-mattings, when, all of a sudden,uttering a piercing cry, she dashed into corner where she had justnoticed a little box with a brass lock. She opened it--nothing!
"Ah! the wretch! I, who took such devoted care of him!"
Then she burst into sobs.
"Perhaps it is somewhere else?" said Frederick.
"Oh! no! it was there! in that strong-box, I saw it there lately. 'Tisburned! I'm certain of it!"
One day, in the early stage of his illness, M. Dambreuse had gone downto this room to sign some documents.
"'Tis then he must have done the trick!"
And she fell back on a chair, crushed. A mother grieving beside an emptycradle was not more woeful than Madame Dambreuse was at the sight of theopen strong-boxes. Indeed, her sorrow, in spite of the baseness of themotive which inspired it, appeared so deep that he tried to console herby reminding her that, after all, she was not reduced to sheer want.
"It is want, when I am not in a position to offer you a large fortune!"
She had not more than thirty thousand livres a year, without taking intoaccount the mansion, which was worth from eighteen to twenty thousand,perhaps.
Although to Frederick this would have been opulence, he felt, none theless, a certain amount of disappointment. Farewell to his dreams and toall the splendid existence on which he had intended to enter! Honourcompelled him to marry Madame Dambreuse. For a minute he reflected;then, in a tone of tenderness:
"I'll always have yourself!"
She threw herself into his arms, and he clasped her to his breast withan emotion in which there was a slight element of admiration forhimself.
Madame Dambreuse, whose tears had ceased to flow, raised her face,beaming all over with happiness, and seizing his hand:
"Ah! I never doubted you! I knew I could count on you!"
The young man did not like this tone of anticipated certainty withregard to what he was pluming himself on as a noble action.
Then she brought him into her own apartment, and they began to arrangetheir plans for the future. Frederick should now consider the best wayof advancing himself in life. She even gave him excellent advice withreference to his candidature.
The first point was to be acquainted with two or three phrases borrowedfrom political economy. It was necessary to take up a specialty, such asthe stud system, for example; to write a number of notes on questions oflocal interest, to have always at his disposal post-offices ortobacconists' shops, and to do a heap of little services. In thisrespect M. Dambreuse had shown himself a true model. Thus, on o
neoccasion, in the country, he had drawn up his wagonette, full of friendsof his, in front of a cobbler's stall, and had bought a dozen pairs ofshoes for his guests, and for himself a dreadful pair of boots, which hehad not even the courage to wear for an entire fortnight. This anecdoteput them into a good humour. She related others, and that with a renewalof grace, youthfulness, and wit.
She approved of his notion of taking a trip immediately to Nogent. Theirparting was an affectionate one; then, on the threshold, she murmuredonce more:
"You love me--do you not?"
"Eternally," was his reply.
A messenger was waiting for him at his own house with a line written inlead-pencil informing him that Rosanette was about to be confined. Hehad been so much preoccupied for the past few days that he had notbestowed a thought upon the matter.
She had been placed in a special establishment at Chaillot.
Frederick took a cab and set out for this institution.
At the corner of the Rue de Marbeuf he read on a board in big letters:"Private Lying-in-Hospital, kept by Madame Alessandri, first-classmidwife, ex-pupil of the Maternity, author of various works, etc." Then,in the centre of the street, over the door--a little side-door--therewas another signboard: "Private Hospital of Madame Alessandri," withall her titles.
Frederick gave a knock. A chambermaid, with the figure of an Abigail,introduced him into the reception-room, which was adorned with amahogany table and armchairs of garnet velvet, and with a clock under aglobe.
Almost immediately Madame appeared. She was a tall brunette of forty,with a slender waist, fine eyes, and the manners of good society. Sheapprised Frederick of the mother's happy delivery, and brought him up toher apartment.
Rosanette broke into a smile of unutterable bliss, and, as if drowned inthe floods of love that were suffocating her, she said in a low tone:
"A boy--there, there!" pointing towards a cradle close to her bed.
He flung open the curtains, and saw, wrapped up in linen, ayellowish-red object, exceedingly shrivelled-looking, which had a badsmell, and which was bawling lustily.
"Embrace him!"
He replied, in order to hide his repugnance:
"But I am afraid of hurting him."
"No! no!"
Then, with the tips of his lips, he kissed his child.
"How like you he is!"
And with her two weak arms, she clung to his neck with an outburst offeeling which he had never witnessed on her part before.
The remembrance of Madame Dambreuse came back to him. He reproachedhimself as a monster for having deceived this poor creature, who lovedand suffered with all the sincerity of her nature. For several days heremained with her till night.
She felt happy in this quiet place; the window-shutters in front of itremained always closed. Her room, hung with bright chintz, looked out ona large garden. Madame Alessandri, whose only shortcoming was that sheliked to talk about her intimate acquaintanceship with eminentphysicians, showed her the utmost attention. Her associates, nearly allprovincial young ladies, were exceedingly bored, as they had nobody tocome to see them. Rosanette saw that they regarded her with envy, andtold this to Frederick with pride. It was desirable to speak low,nevertheless. The partitions were thin, and everyone stood listening athiding-places, in spite of the constant thrumming of the pianos.
At last, he was about to take his departure for Nogent, when he got aletter from Deslauriers. Two fresh candidates had offered themselves,the one a Conservative, the other a Red; a third, whatever he might be,would have no chance. It was all Frederick's fault; he had let the luckymoment pass by; he should have come sooner and stirred himself.
"You have not even been seen at the agricultural assembly!" The advocateblamed him for not having any newspaper connection.
"Ah! if you had followed my advice long ago! If we had only a publicprint of our own!"
He laid special stress on this point. However, many persons who wouldhave voted for him out of consideration for M. Dambreuse, abandoned himnow. Deslauriers was one of the number. Not having anything more toexpect from the capitalist, he had thrown over his _protege_.
Frederick took the letter to show it to Madame Dambreuse.
"You have not been to Nogent, then?" said she.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I saw Deslauriers three days ago."
Having learned that her husband was dead, the advocate had come to makea report about the coal-mines, and to offer his services to her as a manof business. This seemed strange to Frederick; and what was his frienddoing down there?
Madame Dambreuse wanted to know how he had spent his time since they hadparted.
"I have been ill," he replied.
"You ought at least to have told me about it."
"Oh! it wasn't worth while;" besides, he had to settle a heap of things,to keep appointments and to pay visits.
From that time forth he led a double life, sleeping religiously at theMarechale's abode and passing the afternoon with Madame Dambreuse, sothat there was scarcely a single hour of freedom left to him in themiddle of the day.
The infant was in the country at Andilly. They went to see it once aweek.
The wet-nurse's house was on rising ground in the village, at the end ofa little yard as dark as a pit, with straw on the ground, hens here andthere, and a vegetable-cart under the shed.
Rosanette would begin by frantically kissing her baby, and, seized witha kind of delirium, would keep moving to and fro, trying to milk theshe-goat, eating big pieces of bread, and inhaling the odour of manure;she even wanted to put a little of it into her handkerchief.
Then they took long walks, in the course of which she went into thenurseries, tore off branches from the lilac-trees which hung down overthe walls, and exclaimed, "Gee ho, donkey!" to the asses that weredrawing cars along, and stopped to gaze through the gate into theinterior of one of the lovely gardens; or else the wet-nurse would takethe child and place it under the shade of a walnut-tree; and for hoursthe two women would keep talking the most tiresome nonsense.
Frederick, not far away from them, gazed at the beds of vines on theslopes, with here and there a clump of trees; at the dusty pathsresembling strips of grey ribbon; at the houses, which showed white andred spots in the midst of the greenery; and sometimes the smoke of alocomotive stretched out horizontally to the bases of the hills, coveredwith foliage, like a gigantic ostrich's feather, the thin end of whichwas disappearing from view.
Then his eyes once more rested on his son. He imagined the child growninto a young man; he would make a companion of him; but perhaps he wouldbe a blockhead, a wretched creature, in any event. He was alwaysoppressed by the illegality of the infant's birth; it would have beenbetter if he had never been born! And Frederick would murmur, "Poorchild!" his heart swelling with feelings of unutterable sadness.
They often missed the last train. Then Madame Dambreuse would scold himfor his want of punctuality. He would invent some falsehood.
It was necessary to invent some explanations, too, to satisfy Rosanette.She could not understand how he spent all his evenings; and when shesent a messenger to his house, he was never there! One day, when hechanced to be at home, the two women made their appearance almost at thesame time. He got the Marechale to go away, and concealed MadameDambreuse, pretending that his mother was coming up to Paris.
Ere long, he found these lies amusing. He would repeat to one the oathwhich he had just uttered to the other, send them bouquets of the samesort, write to them at the same time, and then would institute acomparison between them. There was a third always present in histhoughts. The impossibility of possessing her seemed to him ajustification of his perfidies, which were intensified by the fact thathe had to practise them alternately; and the more he deceived, no matterwhich of the two, the fonder of him she grew, as if the love of one ofthem added heat to that of the other, and, as if by a sort of emulation,each of them were seeking to make him forget the other.
"Admire my con
fidence in you!" said Madame Dambreuse one day to him,opening a sheet of paper, in which she was informed that M. Moreau and acertain Rose Bron were living together as husband and wife.
"Can it be that this is the lady of the races?"
"What an absurdity!" he returned. "Let me have a look at it!"
The letter, written in Roman characters, had no signature. MadameDambreuse, in the beginning, had tolerated this mistress, who furnisheda cloak for their adultery. But, as her passion became stronger, she hadinsisted on a rupture--a thing which had been effected long since,according to Frederick's account; and when he had ceased to protest, shereplied, half closing her eyes, in which shone a look like the point ofa stiletto under a muslin robe:
"Well--and the other?"
"What other?"
"The earthenware-dealer's wife!"
He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. She did not press the matter.
But, a month later, while they were talking about honour and loyalty,and he was boasting about his own (in a casual sort of way, for the sakeof precaution), she said to him:
"It is true--you are acting uprightly--you don't go back there anymore?"
Frederick, who was at the moment thinking of the Marechale, stammered:
"Where, pray?"
"To Madame Arnoux's."
He implored her to tell him from whom she got the information. It wasthrough her second dressmaker, Madame Regimbart.
So, she knew all about his life, and he knew nothing about hers!
In the meantime, he had found in her dressing-room the miniature of agentleman with long moustaches--was this the same person about whosesuicide a vague story had been told him at one time? But there was noway of learning any more about it! However, what was the use of it? Thehearts of women are like little pieces of furniture wherein things aresecreted, full of drawers fitted into each other; one hurts himself,breaks his nails in opening them, and then finds within only somewithered flower, a few grains of dust--or emptiness! And then perhaps hefelt afraid of learning too much about the matter.
She made him refuse invitations where she was unable to accompany him,stuck to his side, was afraid of losing him; and, in spite of this unionwhich was every day becoming stronger, all of a sudden, abyssesdisclosed themselves between the pair about the most triflingquestions--an estimate of an individual or a work of art.
She had a style of playing on the piano which was correct and hard. Herspiritualism (Madame Dambreuse believed in the transmigration of soulsinto the stars) did not prevent her from taking the utmost care of hercash-box. She was haughty towards her servants; her eyes remained dry atthe sight of the rags of the poor. In the expressions of which shehabitually made use a candid egoism manifested itself: "What concern isthat of mine? I should be very silly! What need have I?" and a thousandlittle acts incapable of analysis revealed hateful qualities in her. Shewould have listened behind doors; she could not help lying to herconfessor. Through a spirit of despotism, she insisted on Frederickgoing to the church with her on Sunday. He obeyed, and carried herprayer-book.
The loss of the property she had expected to inherit had changed herconsiderably. These marks of grief, which people attributed to the deathof M. Dambreuse, rendered her interesting, and, as in former times, shehad a great number of visitors. Since Frederick's defeat at theelection, she was ambitious of obtaining for both of them an embassy inGermany; therefore, the first thing they should do was to submit to thereigning ideas.
Some persons were in favour of the Empire, others of the Orleans family,and others of the Comte de Chambord; but they were all of one opinion asto the urgency of decentralisation, and several expedients were proposedwith that view, such as to cut up Paris into many large streets in orderto establish villages there, to transfer the seat of government toVersailles, to have the schools set up at Bourges, to suppress thelibraries, and to entrust everything to the generals of division; andthey glorified a rustic existence on the assumption that the uneducatedman had naturally more sense than other men! Hatreds increased--hatredof primary teachers and wine-merchants, of the classes of philosophy, ofthe courses of lectures on history, of novels, red waistcoats, longbeards, of independence in any shape, or any manifestation ofindividuality, for it was necessary "to restore the principle ofauthority"--let it be exercised in the name of no matter whom; let itcome from no matter where, as long as it was Force, Authority! TheConservatives now talked in the very same way as Senecal. Frederick wasno longer able to understand their drift, and once more he found at thehouse of his former mistress the same remarks uttered by the same men.
The salons of the unmarried women (it was from this period that theirimportance dates) were a sort of neutral ground where reactionaries ofdifferent kinds met. Hussonnet, who gave himself up to the depreciationof contemporary glories (a good thing for the restoration of Order),inspired Rosanette with a longing to have evening parties like anyother. He undertook to publish accounts of them, and first of all hebrought a man of grave deportment, Fumichon; then came Nonancourt, M. deGremonville, the Sieur de Larsilloix, ex-prefect, and Cisy, who was nowan agriculturist in Lower Brittany, and more Christian than ever.
In addition, men who had at one time been the Marechale's lovers, suchas the Baron de Comaing, the Comte de Jumillac, and others, presentedthemselves; and Frederick was annoyed by their free-and-easy behaviour.
In order that he might assume the attitude of master in the house, heincreased the rate of expenditure there. Then he went in for keeping agroom, took a new habitation, and got a fresh supply of furniture. Thesedisplays of extravagance were useful for the purpose of making hisalliance appear less out of proportion with his pecuniary position. Theresult was that his means were soon terribly reduced--and Rosanette wasentirely ignorant of the fact!
One of the lower middle-class, who had lost caste, she adored a domesticlife, a quiet little home. However, it gave her pleasure to have "an athome day." In referring to persons of her own class, she called them"Those women!" She wished to be a society lady, and believed herself tobe one. She begged of him not to smoke in the drawing-room any more, andfor the sake of good form tried to make herself look thin.
She played her part badly, after all; for she grew serious, and evenbefore going to bed always exhibited a little melancholy, just as thereare cypress trees at the door of a tavern.
He found out the cause of it; she was dreaming of marriage--she, too!Frederick was exasperated at this. Besides, he recalled to mind herappearance at Madame Arnoux's house, and then he cherished a certainspite against her for having held out against him so long.
He made enquiries none the less as to who her lovers had been. Shedenied having had any relations with any of the persons he mentioned. Asort of jealous feeling took possession of him. He irritated her byasking questions about presents that had been made to her, and werestill being made to her; and in proportion to the exciting effect whichthe lower portion of her nature produced upon him, he was drawn towardsher by momentary illusions which ended in hate.
Her words, her voice, her smile, all had an unpleasant effect on him,and especially her glances with that woman's eye forever limpid andfoolish. Sometimes he felt so tired of her that he would have seen herdie without being moved at it. But how could he get into a passion withher? She was so mild that there was no hope of picking a quarrel withher.
Deslauriers reappeared, and explained his sojourn at Nogent by sayingthat he was making arrangements to buy a lawyer's office. Frederick wasglad to see him again. It was somebody! and as a third person in thehouse, he helped to break the monotony.
The advocate dined with them from time to time, and whenever any littledisputes arose, always took Rosanette's part, so that Frederick, on oneoccasion, said to him:
"Ah! you can have with her, if it amuses you!" so much did he long forsome chance of getting rid of her.
About the middle of the month of June, she was served with an order madeby the law courts by which Maitre Athanase Gautherot, sheriff's officer
,called on her to pay him four thousand francs due to MademoiselleClemence Vatnaz; if not, he would come to make a seizure on her.
In fact, of the four bills which she had at various times signed, onlyone had been paid; the money which she happened to get since then havingbeen spent on other things that she required.
She rushed off at once to see Arnoux. He lived now in the FaubourgSaint-Germain, and the porter was unable to tell her the name of thestreet. She made her way next to the houses of several friends of hers,could not find one of them at home, and came back in a state of utterdespair.
She did not wish to tell Frederick anything about it, fearing lest thisnew occurrence might prejudice the chance of a marriage between them.
On the following morning, M. Athanase Gautherot presented himself withtwo assistants close behind him, one of them sallow with a mean-lookingface and an expression of devouring envy in his glance, the otherwearing a collar and straps drawn very tightly, with a sort of thimbleof black taffeta on his index-finger--and both ignobly dirty, withgreasy necks, and the sleeves of their coats too short.
Their employer, a very good-looking man, on the contrary, began byapologising for the disagreeable duty he had to perform, while at thesame time he threw a look round the room, "full of pretty things, uponmy word of honour!" He added, "Not to speak of the things that can't beseized." At a gesture the two bailiff's men disappeared.
Then he became twice as polite as before. Could anyone believe that alady so charming would not have a genuine friend! A sale of her goodsunder an order of the courts would be a real misfortune. One never getsover a thing like that. He tried to excite her fears; then, seeing thatshe was very much agitated, suddenly assumed a paternal tone. He knewthe world. He had been brought into business relations with all theseladies--and as he mentioned their names, he examined the frames of thepictures on the walls. They were old pictures of the worthy Arnoux,sketches by Sombary, water-colours by Burieu, and three landscapes byDittmer. It was evident that Rosanette was ignorant of their value,Maitre Gautherot turned round to her:
"Look here! to show that I am a decent fellow, do one thing: give me upthose Dittmers here--and I am ready to pay all. Do you agree?"
At that moment Frederick, who had been informed about the matter byDelphine in the anteroom, and who had just seen the two assistants, camein with his hat on his head, in a rude fashion. Maitre Gautherot resumedhis dignity; and, as the door had been left open:
"Come on, gentlemen--write down! In the second room, let us say--an oaktable with its two leaves, two sideboards----"
Frederick here stopped him, asking whether there was not some way ofpreventing the seizure.
"Oh! certainly! Who paid for the furniture?"
"I did."
"Well, draw up a claim--you have still time to do it."
Maitre Gautherot did not take long in writing out his official report,wherein he directed that Mademoiselle Bron should attend at an enquiryin chambers with reference to the ownership of the furniture, and havingdone this he withdrew.
Frederick uttered no reproach. He gazed at the traces of mud left on thefloor by the bailiff's shoes, and, speaking to himself:
"It will soon be necessary to look about for money!"
"Ah! my God, how stupid I am!" said the Marechale.
She ransacked a drawer, took out a letter, and made her way rapidly tothe Languedoc Gas Lighting Company, in order to get the transfer of hershares.
She came back an hour later. The interest in the shares had been sold toanother. The clerk had said, in answer to her demand, while examiningthe sheet of paper containing Arnoux's written promise to her: "Thisdocument in no way constitutes you the proprietor of the shares. Thecompany has no cognisance of the matter." In short, he sent her awayunceremoniously, while she choked with rage; and Frederick would have togo to Arnoux's house at once to have the matter cleared up.
But Arnoux would perhaps imagine that he had come to recover in anindirect fashion the fifteen thousand francs due on the mortgage whichhe had lost; and then this claim from a man who had been his mistress'slover seemed to him a piece of baseness.
Selecting a middle course, he went to the Dambreuse mansion to getMadame Regimbart's address, sent a messenger to her residence, and inthis way ascertained the name of the cafe which the Citizen now haunted.
It was the little cafe on the Place de la Bastille, in which he sat allday in the corner to the right at the lower end of the establishment,never moving any more than if he were a portion of the building.
After having gone successively through the half-cup of coffee, the glassof grog, the "bishop," the glass of mulled wine, and even the red wineand water, he fell back on beer, and every half hour he let fall thisword, "Bock!" having reduced his language to what was actuallyindispensable. Frederick asked him if he saw Arnoux occasionally.
"No!"
"Look here--why?"
"An imbecile!"
Politics, perhaps, kept them apart, and so Frederick thought it ajudicious thing to enquire about Compain.
"What a brute!" said Regimbart.
"How is that?"
"His calf's head!"
"Ha! explain to me what the calf's head is!"
Regimbart's face wore a contemptuous smile.
"Some tomfoolery!"
After a long interval of silence, Frederick went on to ask:
"So, then, he has changed his address?"
"Who?"
"Arnoux!"
"Yes--Rue de Fleurus!"
"What number?"
"Do I associate with the Jesuits?"
"What, Jesuits!"
The Citizen replied angrily:
"With the money of a patriot whom I introduced to him, this pig has setup as a dealer in beads!"
"It isn't possible!"
"Go there, and see for yourself!"
It was perfectly true; Arnoux, enfeebled by a fit of sickness, hadturned religious; besides, he had always had a stock of religion in hiscomposition, and (with that mixture of commercialism and ingenuity whichwas natural to him), in order to gain salvation and fortune bothtogether, he had begun to traffick in religious objects.
Frederick had no difficulty in discovering his establishment,on whose signboard appeared these words: "_Emporium of GothicArt_--Restoration of articles used in ecclesiastical ceremonies--Churchornaments--Polychromatic sculpture--Frankincense of the Magi, Kings,&c., &c."
At the two corners of the shop-window rose two wooden statues, streakedwith gold, cinnabar, and azure, a Saint John the Baptist with hissheepskin, and a Saint Genevieve with roses in her apron and a distaffunder her arm; next, groups in plaster, a good sister teaching a littlegirl, a mother on her knees beside a little bed, and three collegiansbefore the holy table. The prettiest object there was a kind of chaletrepresenting the interior of a crib with the ass, the ox, and the childJesus stretched on straw--real straw. From the top to the bottom of theshelves could be seen medals by the dozen, every sort of beads,holy-water basins in the form of shells, and portraits of ecclesiasticaldignitaries, amongst whom Monsignor Affre and our Holy Father shoneforth with smiles on their faces.
Arnoux sat asleep at his counter with his head down. He had agedterribly. He had even round his temples a wreath of rosebuds, and thereflection of the gold crosses touched by the rays of the sun fell overhim.
Frederick was filled with sadness at this spectacle of decay. Throughdevotion to the Marechale he, however, submitted to the ordeal, andstepped forward. At the end of the shop Madame Arnoux showed herself;thereupon, he turned on his heel.
"I couldn't see him," he said, when he came back to Rosanette.
And in vain he went on to promise that he would write at once to hisnotary at Havre for some money--she flew into a rage. She had never seena man so weak, so flabby. While she was enduring a thousand privations,other people were enjoying themselves.
Frederick was thinking about poor Madame Arnoux, and picturing tohimself the heart-rending impoverishment of her surrou
ndings. He hadseated himself before the writing-desk; and, as Rosanette's voice stillkept up its bitter railing:
"Ah! in the name of Heaven, hold your tongue!"
"Perhaps you are going to defend them?"
"Well, yes!" he exclaimed; "for what's the cause of this display offury?"
"But why is it that you don't want to make them pay up? 'Tis for fear ofvexing your old flame--confess it!"
He felt an inclination to smash her head with the timepiece. Wordsfailed him. He relapsed into silence.
Rosanette, as she walked up and down the room, continued:
"I am going to hurl a writ at this Arnoux of yours. Oh! I don't wantyour assistance. I'll get legal advice."
Three days later, Delphine rushed abruptly into the room where hermistress sat.
"Madame! madame! there's a man here with a pot of paste who has given mea fright!"
Rosanette made her way down to the kitchen, and saw there a vagabondwhose face was pitted with smallpox. Moreover, one of his arms wasparalysed, and he was three fourths drunk, and hiccoughed every time heattempted to speak.
This was Maitre Gautherot's bill-sticker. The objections raised againstthe seizure having been overruled, the sale followed as a matter ofcourse.
For his trouble in getting up the stairs he demanded, in the firstplace, a half-glass of brandy; then he wanted another favour, namely,tickets for the theatre, on the assumption that the lady of the housewas an actress. After this he indulged for some minutes in winks, whoseimport was perfectly incomprehensible. Finally, he declared that forforty sous he would tear off the corners of the poster which he hadalready affixed to the door below stairs. Rosanette found herselfreferred to by name in it--a piece of exceptional harshness which showedthe spite of the Vatnaz.
She had at one time exhibited sensibility, and had even, while sufferingfrom the effects of a heartache, written to Beranger for his advice. Butunder the ravages of life's storms, her spirit had become soured, forshe had been forced, in turn, to give lessons on the piano, to act asmanageress of a _table d'hote_, to assist others in writing for thefashion journals, to sublet apartments, and to traffic in lace in theworld of light women, her relations with whom enabled her to makeherself useful to many persons, and amongst others to Arnoux. She hadformerly been employed in a commercial establishment.
There it was one of her functions to pay the workwomen; and for each ofthem there were two livres, one of which always remained in her hands.Dussardier, who, through kindness, kept the amount payable to a girlnamed Hortense Baslin, presented himself one day at the cash-office atthe moment when Mademoiselle Vatnaz was presenting this girl's account,1,682 francs, which the cashier paid her. Now, on the very day beforethis, Dussardier had entered down the sum as 1,082 in the girl Baslin'sbook. He asked to have it given back to him on some pretext; then,anxious to bury out of sight the story of this theft, he stated that hehad lost it. The workwoman ingenuously repeated this falsehood toMademoiselle Vatnaz, and the latter, in order to satisfy her mind aboutthe matter, came with a show of indifference to talk to the shopman onthe subject. He contented himself with the answer: "I have burnedit!"--that was all. A little while afterwards she quitted the house,without believing that the book had been really destroyed, and filledwith the idea that Dussardier had preserved it.
On hearing that he had been wounded, she rushed to his abode, with theobject of getting it back. Then, having discovered nothing, in spite ofthe closest searches, she was seized with respect, and presently withlove, for this youth, so loyal, so gentle, so heroic and so strong! Ather age such good fortune in an affair of the heart was a thing that onewould not expect. She threw herself into it with the appetite of anogress; and she had given up literature, Socialism, "the consolingdoctrines and the generous Utopias," the course of lectures which shehad projected on the "Desubalternization of Woman"--everything, evenDelmar himself; finally she offered to unite herself to Dussardier inmarriage.
Although she was his mistress, he was not at all in love with her.Besides, he had not forgotten her theft. Then she was too wealthy forhim. He refused her offer. Thereupon, with tears in her eyes, she toldhim about what she had dreamed--it was to have for both of them aconfectioner's shop. She possessed the capital that was requiredbeforehand for the purpose, and next week this would be increased to theextent of four thousand francs. By way of explanation, she referred tothe proceedings she had taken against the Marechale.
Dussardier was annoyed at this on account of his friend. He recalled tomind the cigar-holder that had been presented to him at the guard-house,the evenings spent in the Quai Napoleon, the many pleasant chats, thebooks lent to him, the thousand acts of kindness which Frederick haddone in his behalf. He begged of the Vatnaz to abandon the proceedings.
She rallied him on his good nature, while exhibiting an antipathyagainst Rosanette which he could not understand. She longed only forwealth, in fact, in order to crush her, by-and-by, with her four-wheeledcarriage.
Dussardier was terrified by these black abysses of hate, and when he hadascertained what was the exact day fixed for the sale, he hurried out.On the following morning he made his appearance at Frederick's housewith an embarrassed countenance.
"I owe you an apology."
"For what, pray?"
"You must take me for an ingrate, I, whom she is the----" He faltered.
"Oh! I'll see no more of her. I am not going to be her accomplice!" Andas the other was gazing at him in astonishment:
"Isn't your mistress's furniture to be sold in three days' time?"
"Who told you that?"
"Herself--the Vatnaz! But I am afraid of giving you offence----"
"Impossible, my dear friend!"
"Ah! that is true--you are so good!"
And he held out to him, in a cautious fashion, a hand in which heclasped a little pocket-book made of sheep-leather.
It contained four thousand francs--all his savings.
"What! Oh! no! no!----"
"I knew well I would wound your feelings," returned Dussardier, with atear in the corner of his eye.
Frederick pressed his hand, and the honest fellow went on in a piteoustone:
"Take the money! Give me that much pleasure! I am in such a state ofdespair. Can it be, furthermore, that all is over? I thought we shouldbe happy when the Revolution had come. Do you remember what a beautifulthing it was? how freely we breathed! But here we are flung back into aworse condition of things than ever.
"Now, they are killing our Republic, just as they killed the otherone--the Roman! ay, and poor Venice! poor Poland! poor Hungary! Whatabominable deeds! First of all, they knocked down the trees of Liberty,then they restricted the right to vote, shut up the clubs,re-established the censorship and surrendered to the priests the powerof teaching, so that we might look out for the Inquisition. Why not? TheConservatives want to give us a taste of the stick. The newspapers arefined merely for pronouncing an opinion in favour of abolishing thedeath-penalty. Paris is overflowing with bayonets; sixteen departmentsare in a state of siege; and then the demand for amnesty is againrejected!"
He placed both hands on his forehead, then, spreading out his arms as ifhis mind were in a distracted state:
"If, however, we only made the effort! if we were only sincere, we mightunderstand each other. But no! The workmen are no better than thecapitalists, you see! At Elboeuf recently they refused to help at afire! There are wretches who profess to regard Barbes as an aristocrat!In order to make the people ridiculous, they want to get nominated forthe presidency Nadaud, a mason--just imagine! And there is no way out ofit--no remedy! Everybody is against us! For my part, I have never doneany harm; and yet this is like a weight pressing down on my stomach. Ifthis state of things continues, I'll go mad. I have a mind to do awaywith myself. I tell you I want no money for myself! You'll pay it backto me, deuce take it! I am lending it to you."
Frederick, who felt himself constrained by necessity, ended by takingthe four thousand francs from him. And so
they had no more disquietudeso far as the Vatnaz was concerned.
But it was not long ere Rosanette was defeated in her action againstArnoux; and through sheer obstinacy she wished to appeal.
Deslauriers exhausted his energies in trying to make her understand thatArnoux's promise constituted neither a gift nor a regular transfer. Shedid not even pay the slightest attention to him, her notion being thatthe law was unjust--it was because she was a woman; men backed up eachother amongst themselves. In the end, however, she followed his advice.
He made himself so much at home in the house, that on several occasionshe brought Senecal to dine there. Frederick, who had advanced him money,and even got his own tailor to supply him with clothes, did not likethis unceremoniousness; and the advocate gave his old clothes to theSocialist, whose means of existence were now of an exceedingly uncertaincharacter.
He was, however, anxious to be of service to Rosanette. One day, whenshe showed him a dozen shares in the Kaolin Company (that enterprisewhich led to Arnoux being cast in damages to the extent of thirtythousand francs), he said to her:
"But this is a shady transaction, and you have now a grand chance!"
She had the right to call on him to pay her debts. In the first place,she could prove that he was jointly bound to pay all the company'sliabilities, since he had certified personal debts as collectivedebts--in short, he had embezzled sums which were payable only to thecompany.
"All this renders him guilty of fraudulent bankruptcy under articles 586and 587 of the Commercial Code, and you may be sure, my pet, we'll sendhim packing."
Rosanette threw herself on his neck. He entrusted her case next day tohis former master, not having time to devote attention to it himself,as he had business at Nogent. In case of any urgency, Senecal couldwrite to him.
His negotiations for the purchase of an office were a mere pretext. Hespent his time at M. Roque's house, where he had begun not only bysounding the praises of their friend, but by imitating his manners andlanguage as much as possible; and in this way he had gained Louise'sconfidence, while he won over that of her father by making an attack onLedru-Rollin.
If Frederick did not return, it was because he mingled in aristocraticsociety, and gradually Deslauriers gave them to understand that he wasin love with somebody, that he had a child, and that he was keeping afallen creature.
The despair of Louise was intense. The indignation of Madame Moreau wasnot less strong. She saw her son whirling towards the bottom of a gulfthe depth of which could not be determined, was wounded in her religiousideas as to propriety, and as it were, experienced a sense of personaldishonour; then all of a sudden her physiognomy underwent a change. Tothe questions which people put to her with regard to Frederick, shereplied in a sly fashion:
"He is well, quite well."'
She was aware that he was about to be married to Madame Dambreuse.
The date of the event had been fixed, and he was even trying to think ofsome way of making Rosanette swallow the thing.
About the middle of autumn she won her action with reference to thekaolin shares. Frederick was informed about it by Senecal, whom he metat his own door, on his way back from the courts.
It had been held that M. Arnoux was privy to all the frauds, and theex-tutor had such an air of making merry over it that Frederickprevented him from coming further, assuring Senecal that he would conveythe intelligence to Rosanette. He presented himself before her with alook of irritation on his face.
"Well, now you are satisfied!"
But, without minding what he had said:
"Look here!"
And she pointed towards her child, which was lying in a cradle close tothe fire. She had found it so sick at the house of the wet-nurse thatmorning that she had brought it back with her to Paris.
All the infant's limbs were exceedingly thin, and the lips were coveredwith white specks, which in the interior of the mouth became, so tospeak, clots of blood-stained milk.
"What did the doctor say?"
"Oh! the doctor! He pretends that the journey has increased his--I don'tknow what it is, some name in 'ite'--in short, that he has thethrush.[L] Do you know what that is?"
Frederick replied without hesitation: "Certainly," adding that it wasnothing.
But in the evening he was alarmed by the child's debilitated look and bythe progress of these whitish spots, resembling mould, as if life,already abandoning this little frame, had left now nothing but matterfrom which vegetation was sprouting. His hands were cold; he was nolonger able to drink anything; and the nurse, another woman, whom theporter had gone and taken on chance at an office, kept repeating:
"It seems to me he's very low, very low!"
[L] This disease, consisting of ulceration of the tongue and palate, isalso called _aphthae_--TRANSLATOR.
Rosanette was up all night with the child.
In the morning she went to look for Frederick.
"Just come and look at him. He doesn't move any longer."
In fact, he was dead. She took him up, shook him, clasped him in herarms, calling him most tender names, covered him with kisses, broke intosobs, turned herself from one side to the other in a state ofdistraction, tore her hair, uttered a number of shrieks, and then letherself sink on the edge of the divan, where she lay with her mouth openand a flood of tears rushing from her wildly-glaring eyes.
Then a torpor fell upon her, and all became still in the apartment. Thefurniture was overturned. Two or three napkins were lying on the floor.It struck six. The night-light had gone out.
Frederick, as he gazed at the scene, could almost believe that he wasdreaming. His heart was oppressed with anguish. It seemed to him thatthis death was only a beginning, and that behind it was a worsecalamity, which was just about to come on.
Suddenly, Rosanette said in an appealing tone:
"We'll preserve the body--shall we not?"
She wished to have the dead child embalmed. There were many objectionsto this. The principal one, in Frederick's opinion, was that the thingwas impracticable in the case of children so young. A portrait would bebetter. She adopted this idea. He wrote a line to Pellerin, and Delphinehastened to deliver it.
Pellerin arrived speedily, anxious by this display of zeal to effaceall recollection of his former conduct. The first thing he said was:
"Poor little angel! Ah, my God, what a misfortune!"
But gradually (the artist in him getting the upper hand) he declaredthat nothing could be made out of those yellowish eyes, that livid face,that it was a real case of still-life, and would, therefore, requirevery great talent to treat it effectively; and so he murmured:
"Oh, 'tisn't easy--'tisn't easy!"
"No matter, as long as it is life-like," urged Rosanette.
"Pooh! what do I care about a thing being life-like? Down with Realism!'Tis the spirit that must be portrayed by the painter! Let me alone! Iam going to try to conjure up what it ought to be!"
He reflected, with his left hand clasping his brow, and with his righthand clutching his elbow; then, all of a sudden:
"Ha, I have an idea! a pastel! With coloured mezzotints, almost spreadout flat, a lovely model could be obtained with the outer surfacealone!"
He sent the chambermaid to look for his box of colours; then, having achair under his feet and another by his side, he began to throw outgreat touches with as much complacency as if he had drawn them inaccordance with the bust. He praised the little Saint John of Correggio,the Infanta Rosa of Velasquez, the milk-white flesh-tints of Reynolds,the distinction of Lawrence, and especially the child with long hairthat sits in Lady Gower's lap.
"Besides, could you find anything more charming than these little toads?The type of the sublime (Raphael has proved it by his Madonnas) isprobably a mother with her child?"
Rosanette, who felt herself stifling, went away; and presently Pellerinsaid:
"Well, about Arnoux; you know what has happened?"
"No! What?"
"However, it was bound to
end that way!"
"What has happened, might I ask?"
"Perhaps by this time he is----Excuse me!"
The artist got up in order to raise the head of the little corpsehigher.
"You were saying----" Frederick resumed.
And Pellerin, half-closing his eyes, in order to take his dimensionsbetter:
"I was saying that our friend Arnoux is perhaps by this time locked up!"
Then, in a tone of satisfaction:
"Just give a little glance at it. Is that the thing?"
"Yes, 'tis quite right. But about Arnoux?"
Pellerin laid down his pencil.
"As far as I could understand, he was sued by one Mignot, an intimatefriend of Regimbart--a long-headed fellow that, eh? What an idiot! Justimagine! one day----"
"What! it's not Regimbart that's in question, is it?"
"It is, indeed! Well, yesterday evening, Arnoux had to produce twelvethousand francs; if not, he was a ruined man."
"Oh! this perhaps is exaggerated," said Frederick.
"Not a bit. It looked to me a very serious business, very serious!"
At that moment Rosanette reappeared, with red spots under her eyes,which glowed like dabs of paint. She sat down near the drawing andgazed at it. Pellerin made a sign to the other to hold his tongue onaccount of her. But Frederick, without minding her:
"Nevertheless, I can't believe----"
"I tell you I met him yesterday," said the artist, "at seven o'clock inthe evening, in the Rue Jacob. He had even taken the precaution to havehis passport with him; and he spoke about embarking from Havre, he andhis whole camp."
"What! with his wife?"
"No doubt. He is too much of a family man to live by himself."
"And are you sure of this?"
"Certain, faith! Where do you expect him to find twelve thousandfrancs?"
Frederick took two or three turns round the room. He panted for breath,bit his lips, and then snatched up his hat.
"Where are you going now?" said Rosanette.
He made no reply, and the next moment he had disappeared.