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diff --git a/2758.txt b/2758.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1d28216..0000000 --- a/2758.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2446 +0,0 @@ - THE MARQUISE DE GANGES - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Marquise de Ganges -Author: Alexandre Dumas, Pere -Release Date: August 15, 2006 [EBook #2758] -Reposted: November 28, 2016 [corrections made] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARQUISE DE GANGES *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger. - - - - - - *THE MARQUISE DE GANGES* - - _By_ - - *Alexandre Dumas, Pere* - - _From the set of Eight Volumes of "Celebrated Crimes"_ - - - 1910 - - - - -CONTENTS - - - *THE MARQUISE DE GANGES--1657* - - - - -*THE MARQUISE DE GANGES--1657* - - -Toward the close of the year 1657, a very plain carriage, with no arms -painted on it, stopped, about eight o'clock one evening, before the door -of a house in the rue Hautefeuille, at which two other coaches were -already standing. A lackey at once got down to open the carriage door; -but a sweet, though rather tremulous voice stopped him, saying, "Wait, -while I see whether this is the place." - -Then a head, muffled so closely in a black satin mantle that no feature -could be distinguished, was thrust from one of the carriage windows, and -looking around, seemed to seek for some decisive sign on the house -front. The unknown lady appeared to be satisfied by her inspection, for -she turned back to her companion. - -"It is here," said she. "There is the sign." - -As a result of this certainty, the carriage door was opened, the two -women alighted, and after having once more raised their eyes to a strip -of wood, some six or eight feet long by two broad, which was nailed -above the windows of the second storey, and bore the inscription, -"Madame Voison, midwife," stole quickly into a passage, the door of -which was unfastened, and in which there was just so much light as -enabled persons passing in or out to find their way along the narrow -winding stair that led from the ground floor to the fifth story. - -The two strangers, one of whom appeared to be of far higher rank than -the other, did not stop, as might have been expected, at the door -corresponding with the inscription that had guided them, but, on the -contrary, went on to the next floor. - -Here, upon the landing, was a kind of dwarf, oddly dressed after the -fashion of sixteenth-century Venetian buffoons, who, when he saw the two -women coming, stretched out a wand, as though to prevent them from going -farther, and asked what they wanted. - -"To consult the spirit," replied the woman of the sweet and tremulous -voice. - -"Come in and wait," returned the dwarf, lifting a panel of tapestry and -ushering the two women into a waiting-room. - -The women obeyed, and remained for about half an hour, seeing and -hearing nothing. At last a door, concealed by the tapestry, was suddenly -opened; a voice uttered the word "Enter," and the two women were -introduced into a second room, hung with black, and lighted solely by a -three-branched lamp that hung from the ceiling. The door closed behind -them, and the clients found themselves face to face with the sibyl. - -She was a woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six, who, unlike other -women, evidently desired to appear older than she was. She was dressed -in black; her hair hung in plaits; her neck, arms, and feet were bare; -the belt at her waist was clasped by a large garnet which threw out -sombre fires. In her hand she held a wand, and she was raised on a sort -of platform which stood for the tripod of the ancients, and from which -came acrid and penetrating fumes; she was, moreover, fairly handsome, -although her features were common, the eyes only excepted, and these, by -some trick of the toilet, no doubt, looked inordinately large, and, like -the garnet in her belt, emitted strange lights. - -When the two visitors came in, they found the soothsayer leaning her -forehead on her hand, as though absorbed in thought. Fearing to rouse -her from her ecstasy, they waited in silence until it should please her -to change her position. At the end of ten minutes she raised her head, -and seemed only now to become aware that two persons were standing -before her. - -"What is wanted of me again?" she asked, "and shall I have rest only in -the grave?" - -"Forgive me, madame," said the sweet-voiced unknown, "but I am wishing -to know----" - -"Silence!" said the sibyl, in a solemn voice. "I will not know your -affairs. It is to the spirit that you must address yourself; he is a -jealous spirit, who forbids his secrets to be shared; I can but pray to -him for you, and obey his will." - -At these words, she left her tripod, passed into an adjoining room, and -soon returned, looking even paler and more anxious than before, and -carrying in one hand a burning chafing dish, in the other a red paper. -The three flames of the lamp grew fainter at the same moment, and the -room was left lighted up only by the chafing dish; every object now -assumed a fantastic air that did not fail to disquiet the two visitors, -but it was too late to draw back. - -The soothsayer placed the chafing dish in the middle of the room, -presented the paper to the young woman who had spoken, and said to her-- - -"Write down what you wish to know." - -The woman took the paper with a steadier hand than might have been -expected, seated herself at a table, and wrote:-- - -"Am I young? Am I beautiful? Am I maid, wife, or widow? This is for the -past. - -"Shall I marry, or marry again? Shall I live long, or shall I die young? -This is for the future." - -Then, stretching out her hand to the soothsayer, she asked-- - -"What am I to do now with this?" - -"Roll that letter around this ball," answered the other, handing to the -unknown a little ball of virgin wax. "Both ball and letter will be -consumed in the flame before your eyes; the spirit knows your secrets -already. In three days you will have the answer." - -The unknown did as the sibyl bade her; then the latter took from her -hands the ball and the paper in which it was wrapped, and went and threw -both into the chafing pan. - -"And now all is done as it should be," said the soothsayer. "Comus!" - -The dwarf came in. - -"See the lady to her coach." - -The stranger left a purse upon the table, and followed Comus. He -conducted her and her companion, who was only a confidential maid, down -a back staircase, used as an exit, and leading into a different street -from that by which the two women had come in; but the coachman, who had -been told beforehand of this circumstance, was awaiting them at the -door, and they had only to step into their carriage, which bore them -rapidly away in the direction of the rue Dauphine. - -Three days later, according to the promise given her, the fair unknown, -when she awakened, found on the table beside her a letter in an -unfamiliar handwriting; it was addressed "To the beautiful Provencale," -and contained these words-- - -"You are young; you are beautiful; you are a widow. This is for the -present. - -"You will marry again; you will die young, and by a violent death. This -is for the future. - -"THE SPIRIT." - -The answer was written upon a paper like that upon which the questions -had been set down. - -The marquise turned pale and uttered a faint cry of terror; the answer -was so perfectly correct in regard to the past as to call up a fear that -it might be equally accurate in regard to the future. - -The truth is that the unknown lady wrapped in a mantle whom we have -escorted into the modern sibyl's cavern was no other than the beautiful -Marie de Rossan, who before her marriage had borne the name of -Mademoiselle de Chateaublanc, from that of an estate belonging to her -maternal grandfather, M. Joannis de Nocheres, who owned a fortune of -five to six hundred thousand livres. At the age of thirteen--that is to -say, in 1649--she had married the Marquis de Castellane, a gentleman of -very high birth, who claimed to be descended from John of Castille, the -son of Pedro the Cruel, and from Juana de Castro, his mistress. Proud of -his young wife's beauty, the Marquis de Castellane, who was an officer -of the king's galleys, had hastened to present her at court. Louis XIV, -who at the time of her presentation was barely twenty years old, was -struck by her enchanting face, and to the great despair of the famous -beauties of the day danced with her three times in one evening. Finally, -as a crowning touch to her reputation, the famous Christina of Sweden, -who was then at the French court, said of her that she had never, in any -of the kingdoms through which she had passed, seen anything equal to -"the beautiful Provencale." This praise had been so well received, that -the name of "the beautiful Provencale" had clung to Madame de -Castellane, and she was everywhere known by it. - -This favour of Louis XIV and this summing up of Christina's had been -enough to bring the Marquise de Castellane instantly into fashion; and -Mignard, who had just received a patent of nobility and been made -painter to the king, put the seal to her celebrity by asking leave to -paint her portrait. That portrait still exists, and gives a perfect -notion of the beauty which it represents; but as the portrait is far -from our readers' eyes, we will content ourselves by repeating, in its -own original words, the one given in 1667 by the author of a pamphlet -published at Rouen under the following title: True and Principal -Circumstances of the Deplorable Death of Madame the Marquise de Ganges: - -[Note: It is from this pamphlet, and from the Account of the Death of -Madame the Marquise de Ganges, formerly Marquise de Castellane, that we -have borrowed the principal circumstances of this tragic story. To these -documents we must add--that we may not be constantly referring our -readers to original sources--the Celebrated Trials by Guyot de Pitaval, -the Life of Marie de Rossan, and the Lettres galantes of Madame -Desnoyers.] - -"Her complexion, which was of a dazzling whiteness, was illumined by not -too brilliant a red, and art itself could not have arranged more -skilfully the gradations by which this red joined and merged into the -whiteness of the complexion. The brilliance of her face was heightened -by the decided blackness of her hair, growing, as though drawn by a -painter of the finest taste, around a well proportioned brow; her large, -well opened eyes were of the same hue as her hair, and shone with a soft -and piercing flame that rendered it impossible to gaze upon her -steadily; the smallness, the shape, the turn of her mouth, and, the -beauty of her teeth were incomparable; the position and the regular -proportion of her nose added to her beauty such an air of dignity, as -inspired a respect for her equal to the love that might be inspired by -her beauty; the rounded contour of her face, produced by a becoming -plumpness, exhibited all the vigour and freshness of health; to complete -her charms, her glances, the movements of her lips and of her head, -appeared to be guided by the graces; her shape corresponded to the -beauty of her face; lastly, her arms, her hands, her bearing, and her -gait were such that nothing further could be wished to complete the -agreeable presentment of a beautiful woman." - -[Note: All her contemporaries, indeed, are in agreement as to her -marvellous beauty; here is a second portrait of the marquise, delineated -in a style and manner still more characteristic of that period:-- - -"You will remember that she had a complexion smoother and finer than a -mirror, that her whiteness was so well commingled with the lively blood -as to produce an exact admixture never beheld elsewhere, and imparting -to her countenance the tenderest animation; her eyes and hair were -blacker than jet; her eyes, I say, of which the gaze could scarce, from -their excess of lustre, be supported, which have been celebrated as a -miracle of tenderness and sprightliness, which have given rise, a -thousand times, to the finest compliments of the day, and have been the -torment of many a rash man, must excuse me, if I do not pause longer to -praise them, in a letter; her mouth was the feature of her face which -compelled the most critical to avow that they had seen none of equal -perfection, and that, by its shape, its smallness, and its brilliance, -it might furnish a pattern for all those others whose sweetness and -charms had been so highly vaunted; her nose conformed to the fair -proportion of all her features; it was, that is to say, the finest in -the world; the whole shape of her face was perfectly round, and of so -charming a fullness that such an assemblage of beauties was never before -seen together. The expression of this head was one of unparalleled -sweetness and of a majesty which she softened rather by disposition than -by study; her figure was opulent, her speech agreeable, her step noble, -her demeanour easy, her temper sociable, her wit devoid of malice, and -founded upon great goodness of heart."] - -It is easy to understand that a woman thus endowed could not, in a court -where gallantry was more pursued than in any other spot in the world, -escape the calumnies of rivals; such calumnies, however, never produced -any result, so correctly, even in the absence of her husband, did the -marquise contrive to conduct herself; her cold and serious conversation, -rather concise than lively, rather solid than brilliant, contrasted, -indeed, with the light turn, the capricious and fanciful expressions -employed by the wits of that time; the consequence was that those who -had failed to succeed with her, tried to spread a report that the -marquise was merely a beautiful idol, virtuous with the virtue of a -statue. But though such things might be said and repeated in the absence -of the marquise, from the moment that she appeared in a drawing-room, -from the moment that her beautiful eyes and sweet smile added their -indefinable expression to those brief, hurried, and sensible words that -fell from her lips, the most prejudiced came back to her and were forced -to own that God had never before created anything that so nearly touched -perfection. - -She was thus in the enjoyment of a triumph that backbiters failed to -shake, and that scandal vainly sought to tarnish, when news came of the -wreck of the French galleys in Sicilian waters, and of the death of the -Marquis de Castellane, who was in command. The marquise on this -occasion, as usual, displayed the greatest piety and propriety: although -she had no very violent passion for her husband, with whom she had spent -scarcely one of the seven years during which their marriage had lasted, -on receipt of the news she went at once into retreat, going to live with -Madame d'Ampus, her mother-in-law, and ceasing not only to receive -visitors but also to go out. - -Six months after the death of her husband, the marquise received letters -from her grandfather, M. Joannis de Nocheres, begging her to come and -finish her time of mourning at Avignon. Having been fatherless almost -from childhood, Mademoiselle de Chateaublanc had been brought up by this -good old man, whom she loved dearly; she hastened accordingly to accede -to his invitation, and prepared everything for her departure. - -This was at the moment when la Voisin, still a young woman, and far from -having the reputation which she subsequently acquired, was yet beginning -to be talked of. Several friends of the Marquise de Castellane had been -to consult her, and had received strange predictions from her, some of -which, either through the art of her who framed them, or through some -odd concurrence of circumstances, had come true. The marquise could not -resist the curiosity with which various tales that she had heard of this -woman's powers had inspired her, and some days before setting out for -Avignon she made the visit which we have narrated. What answer she -received to her questions we have seen. - -The marquise was not superstitious, yet this fatal prophecy impressed -itself upon her mind and left behind a deep trace, which neither the -pleasure of revisiting her native place, nor the affection of her -grandfather, nor the fresh admiration which she did not fail to receive, -could succeed in removing; indeed, this fresh admiration was a weariness -to the marquise, and before long she begged leave of her grandfather to -retire into a convent and to spend there the last three months of her -mourning. - -It was in that place, and it was with the warmth of these poor -cloistered maidens, that she heard a man spoken of for the first time, -whose reputation for beauty, as a man, was equal to her own, as a woman. -This favourite of nature was the sieur de Lenide, Marquis de Ganges, -Baron of Languedoc, and governor of Saint-Andre, in the diocese of Uzes. -The marquise heard of him so often, and it was so frequently declared to -her that nature seemed to have formed them for each other, that she -began to allow admission to a very strong desire of seeing him. -Doubtless, the sieur de Lenide, stimulated by similar suggestions, had -conceived a great wish to meet the marquise; for, having got M. de -Nocheres who no doubt regretted her prolonged retreat--to entrust him -with a commission for his granddaughter, he came to the convent parlour -and asked for the fair recluse. She, although she had never seen him, -recognised him at the first glance; for having never seen so handsome a -cavalier as he who now presented himself before her, she thought this -could be no other than the Marquis de Ganges, of whom people had so -often spoken to her. - -That which was to happen, happened: the Marquise de Castellane and the -Marquis de Ganges could not look upon each other without loving. Both -were young, the marquis was noble and in a good position, the marquise -was rich; everything in the match, therefore, seemed suitable: and -indeed it was deferred only for the space of time necessary to complete -the year of mourning, and the marriage was celebrated towards the -beginning of the year 1558. The marquis was twenty years of age, and the -marquise twenty-two. - -The beginnings of this union were perfectly happy; the marquis was in -love for the first time, and the marquise did not remember ever to have -been in love. A son and a daughter came to complete their happiness. The -marquise had entirely forgotten the fatal prediction, or, if she -occasionally thought of it now, it was to wonder that she could ever -have believed in it. Such happiness is not of this world, and when by -chance it lingers here a while, it seems sent rather by the anger than -by the goodness of God. Better, indeed, would it be for him who -possesses and who loses it, never to have known it. - -The Marquis de Ganges was the first to weary of this happy life. Little -by little he began to miss the pleasures of a young man; he began to -draw away from the marquise and to draw nearer to his former friends. On -her part, the marquise, who for the sake of wedded intimacy had -sacrificed her habits of social life, threw herself into society, where -new triumphs awaited her. These triumphs aroused the jealousy of the -marquis; but he was too much a man of his century to invite ridicule by -any manifestation; he shut his jealousy into his soul, and it emerged in -a different form on every different occasion. To words of love, so sweet -that they seemed the speech of angels, succeeded those bitter and biting -utterances that foretell approaching division. Before long, the marquis -and the marquise only saw each other at hours when they could not avoid -meeting; then, on the pretext of necessary journeys, and presently -without any pretext at all, the marquis would go away for three-quarters -of a year, and once more the marquise found herself widowed. Whatever -contemporary account one may consult, one finds them all agreeing to -declare that she was always the same--that is to say, full of patience, -calmness, and becoming behaviour--and it is rare to find such a -unanimity of opinion about a young and beautiful woman. - -About this time the marquis, finding it unendurable to be alone with his -wife during the short spaces of time which he spent at home, invited his -two brothers, the chevalier and the abbe de Ganges, to come and live -with him. He had a third brother, who, as the second son, bore the title -of comte, and who was colonel of the Languedoc regiment, but as this -gentleman played no part in this story we shall not concern ourselves -with him. - -The abbe de Ganges, who bore that title without belonging to the Church, -had assumed it in order to enjoy its privileges: he was a kind of wit, -writing madrigals and 'bouts-rimes' [Bouts-rimes are verses written to a -given set of rhymes.] on occasion, a handsome man enough, though in -moments of impatience his eyes would take a strangely cruel expression; -as dissolute and shameless to boot, as though he had really belonged to -the clergy of the period. - -The chevalier de Ganges, who shared in some measure the beauty so -profusely showered upon the family, was one of those feeble men who -enjoy their own nullity, and grow on to old age inapt alike for good and -evil, unless some nature of a stronger stamp lays hold on them and drags -them like faint and pallid satellites in its wake. This was what befell -the chevalier in respect of his brother: submitted to an influence of -which he himself was not aware, and against which, had he but suspected -it, he would have rebelled with the obstinacy of a child, he was a -machine obedient to the will of another mind and to the passions of -another heart, a machine which was all the more terrible in that no -movement of instinct or of reason could, in his case, arrest the impulse -given. - -Moreover, this influence which the abbe had acquired over the chevalier -extended, in some degree also, to the marquis. Having as a younger son -no fortune, having no revenue, for though he wore a Churchman's robes he -did not fulfil a Churchman's functions, he had succeeded in persuading -the marquis, who was rich, not only in the enjoyment of his own fortune, -but also in that of his wife, which was likely to be nearly doubled at -the death of M. de Nocheres, that some zealous man was needed who would -devote himself to the ordering of his house and the management of his -property; and had offered himself for the post. The marquis had very -gladly accepted, being, as we have said, tired by this time of his -solitary home life; and the abbe had brought with him the chevalier, who -followed him like his shadow, and who was no more regarded than if he -had really possessed no body. - -The marquise often confessed afterwards that when she first saw these -two men, although their outward aspect was perfectly agreeable, she felt -herself seized by a painful impression, and that the fortune-teller's -prediction of a violent death, which she had so long forgotten, gashed -out like lightning before her eyes. The effect on the two brothers was -not of the same kind: the beauty of the marquise struck them both, -although in different ways. The chevalier was in ecstasies of -admiration, as though before a beautiful statue, but the impression that -she made upon him was that which would have been made by marble, and if -the chevalier had been left to himself the consequences of this -admiration would have been no less harmless. Moreover, the chevalier did -not attempt either to exaggerate or to conceal this impression, and -allowed his sister-in-law to see in what manner she struck him. The -abbe, on the contrary, was seized at first sight with a deep and violent -desire to possess this woman--the most beautiful whom he had ever met; -but being as perfectly capable of mastering his sensations as the -chevalier was incapable, he merely allowed such words of compliment to -escape him as weigh neither with him who utters nor her who hears them; -and yet, before the close of this first interview, the abbe had decided -in his irrevocable will that this woman should be his. - -As for the marquise, although the impression produced by her two -brothers-in-law could never be entirely effaced, the wit of the abbe, to -which he gave, with amazing facility, whatever turn he chose, and the -complete nullity of the chevalier brought her to certain feelings of -less repulsion towards them: for indeed the marquise had one of those -souls which never suspect evil, as long as it will take the trouble to -assume any veil at all of seeming, and which only recognise it with -regret when it resumes its true shape. - -Meanwhile the arrival of these two new inmates soon spread a little more -life and gaiety through the house. Furthermore; greatly to the -astonishment of the marquise, her husband, who had so long been -indifferent to her beauty, seemed to remark afresh that she was too -charming to be despised; his words accordingly began little by little to -express an affection that had long since gradually disappeared from -them. The marquise had never ceased to love him; she had suffered the -loss of his love with resignation, she hailed its return with joy, and -three months elapsed that resembled those which had long ceased to be -more to the poor wife than a distant and half-worn-out memory. - -Thus she had, with the supreme facility of youth, always ready to be -happy, taken up her gladness again, without even asking what genius had -brought back to her the treasure which she had thought lost, when she -received an invitation from a lady of the neighbourhood to spend some -days in her country house. Her husband and her two brothers-in-law, -invited with her, were of the party, and accompanied her. A great -hunting party had been arranged beforehand, and almost immediately upon -arriving everyone began to prepare for taking part in it. - -The abbe, whose talents had made him indispensable in every company, -declared that for that day he was the marquise's cavalier, a title which -his sister-in-law, with her usual amiability, confirmed. Each of the -huntsmen, following this example, made choice of a lady to whom to -dedicate his attentions throughout the day; then, this chivalrous -arrangement being completed, all present directed their course towards -the place of meeting. - -That happened which almost always happens the dogs hunted on their own -account. Two or three sportsmen only followed the dogs; the rest got -lost. The abbe, in his character of esquire to the marquise, had not -left her for a moment, and had managed so cleverly that he was alone -with her--an opportunity which he had been seeking for a month -previously with no less care--than the marquise had been using to avoid -it. No sooner, therefore, did the marquise believe herself aware that -the abbe had intentionally turned aside from the hunt than she attempted -to gallop her horse in the opposite direction from that which she had -been following; but the abbe stopped her. The marquise neither could nor -would enter upon a struggle; she resigned herself, therefore, to hearing -what the abbe had to say to her, and her face assumed that air of -haughty disdain which women so well know how to put on when they wish a -man to understand that he has nothing to hope from them. There was an -instant's silence; the abbe was the first to break it. - -"Madame," said he, "I ask your pardon for having used this means to -speak to you alone; but since, in spite of my rank of brother-in-law, -you did not seem inclined to grant me that favour if I had asked it, I -thought it would be better for me, to deprive you of the power to refuse -it me." - -"If you have hesitated to ask me so simple a thing, monsieur," replied -the marquise, "and if you have taken such precautions to compel me to -listen to you, it must, no doubt, be because you knew beforehand that -the words you had to say to me were such as I could not hear. Have the -goodness, therefore, to reflect, before you open this conversation, that -here as elsewhere I reserve the right--and I warn you of it--to -interrupt what you may say at the moment when it may cease to seem to me -befitting." - -"As to that, madame," said the abbe, "I think I can answer for it that -whatever it may please me to say to you, you will hear to the end; but -indeed the matters are so simple that there is no need to make you -uneasy beforehand: I wished to ask you, madame, whether you have -perceived a change in the conduct of your husband towards you." - -"Yes, monsieur," replied the marquise, "and no single day has passed in -which I have not thanked Heaven for this happiness." - -"And you have been wrong, madame," returned the abbe, with one of those -smiles that were peculiar to himself; "Heaven has nothing to do with it. -Thank Heaven for having made you the most beautiful and charming of -women, and that will be enough thanksgiving without despoiling me of -such as belong to my share." - -"I do not understand you, monsieur," said the marquise in an icy tone. - -"Well, I will make myself comprehensible, my dear sister-in-law. I am -the worker of the miracle for which you are thanking Heaven; to me -therefore belongs your gratitude. Heaven is rich enough not to rob the -poor." - -"You are right, monsieur: if it is really to you that I owe this return, -the cause of which I did not know, I will thank you in the first place; -and then afterwards I will thank Heaven for having inspired you with -this good thought." - -"Yes," answered the abbe, "but Heaven, which has inspired me with a good -thought, may equally well inspire me with a bad one, if the good thought -does not bring me what I expect from it." - -"What do you mean, monsieur?" - -"That there has never been more than one will in the family, and that -will is mine; that the minds of my two brothers turn according to the -fancy of that will like weathercocks before the wind, and that he who -has blown hot can blow cold." - -"I am still waiting for you to explain yourself, monsieur." - -"Well, then, my dear sister-in-law, since you are pleased not to -understand me, I will explain myself more clearly. My brother turned -from you through jealousy; I wished to give you an idea of my power over -him, and from extreme indifference I have brought him back, by showing -him that he suspected you wrongly, to the ardours of the warmest love. -Well, I need only tell him that I was mistaken, and fix his wandering -suspicions upon any man whatever, and I shall take him away from you, -even as I have brought him back. I need give you no proof of what I say; -you know perfectly well that I am speaking the truth." - -"And what object had you, in acting this part?" - -"To prove to you, madame, that at my will I can cause you to be sad or -joyful, cherished or neglected, adored or hated. Madame, listen to me: I -love you." - -"You insult me, monsieur!" cried the marquise, trying to withdraw the -bridle of her horse from the abbe's hands. - -"No fine words, my dear sister-in-law; for, with me, I warn you, they -will be lost. To tell a woman one loves her is never an insult; only -there are a thousand different ways of obliging her to respond to that -love. The error is to make a mistake in the way that one employs--that -is the whole of the matter." - -"And may I inquire which you have chosen?" asked the marquise, with a -crushing smile of contempt. - -"The only one that could succeed with a calm, cold, strong woman like -you, the conviction that your interest requires you to respond to my -love." - -"Since you profess to know me so well," answered the marquise, with -another effort, as unsuccessful as the former, to free the bridle of her -horse, "you should know how a woman like me would receive such an -overture; say to yourself what I might say to you, and above all, what I -might say to my husband." - -The abbe smiled. - -"Oh, as to that," he returned, "you can do as you please, madame. Tell -your husband whatever you choose; repeat our conversation word for word; -add whatever your memory may furnish, true or false, that may be most -convincing against me; then, when you have thoroughly given him his cue, -when you think yourself sure of him, I will say two words to him, and -turn him inside out like this glove. That is what I had to say to you, -madame I will not detain you longer. You may have in me a devoted friend -or a mortal enemy. Reflect." - -At these words the abbe loosed his hold upon the bridle of the -marquise's horse and left her free to guide it as she would. The -marquise put her beast to a trot, so as to show neither fear nor haste. -The abbe followed her, and both rejoined the hunt. - -The abbe had spoken truly. The marquise, notwithstanding the threat -which she had made, reflected upon the influence which this man had over -her husband, and of which she had often had proof she kept silence, -therefore, and hoped that he had made himself seem worse than he was, to -frighten her. On this point she was strangely mistaken. - -The abbe, however, wished to see, in the first place, whether the -marquise's refusal was due to personal antipathy or to real virtue. The -chevalier, as has been said, was handsome; he had that usage of good -society which does instead of mind, and he joined to it the obstinacy of -a stupid man; the abbe undertook to persuade him that he was in love -with the marquise. It was not a difficult matter. We have described the -impression made upon the chevalier by the first sight of Madame de -Ganges; but, owing beforehand the reputation of austerity that his -sister-in-law had acquired, he had not the remotest idea of paying court -to her. Yielding, indeed, to the influence which she exercised upon all -who came in contact with her, the chevalier had remained her devoted -servant; and the marquise, having no reason to mistrust civilities which -she took for signs of friendliness, and considering his position as her -husband's brother, treated him with less circumspection than was her -custom. - -The abbe sought him out, and, having made sure they were alone, said, -"Chevalier, we both love the same woman, and that woman is our brother's -wife; do not let us thwart each other: I am master of my passion, and -can the more easily sacrifice it to you that I believe you are the man -preferred; try, therefore, to obtain some assurance of the love which I -suspect the marquise of having for you; and from the day when you reach -that point I will withdraw, but otherwise, if you fail, give up your -place civilly to me, that I may try, in my turn, whether her heart is -really impregnable, as everybody says." - -The chevalier had never thought of the possibility of winning the -marquise; but from the moment in which his brother, with no apparent -motive of personal interest, aroused the idea that he might be beloved, -every spark of passion and of vanity that still existed in this -automaton took fire, and he began to be doubly assiduous and attentive -to his sister-in-law. She, who had never suspected any evil in this -quarter, treated the chevalier at first with a kindliness that was -heightened by her scorn for the abbe. But, before long, the chevalier, -misunderstanding the grounds of this kindliness, explained himself more -clearly. The marquise, amazed and at first incredulous, allowed him to -say enough to make his intentions perfectly clear; then she stopped him, -as she had done the abbe, by some of those galling words which women -derive from their indifference even more than from their virtue. - -At this check, the chevalier, who was far from possessing his brother's -strength and determination, lost all hope, and came candidly to own to -the latter the sad result of his attentions and his love. This was what -the abbe had awaited, in the first place for the satisfaction of his own -vanity, and in the second place for the means of carrying out his -schemes. He worked upon the chevalier's humiliation until he had wrought -it into a solid hatred; and then, sure of having him for a supporter and -even for an accomplice, he began to put into execution his plan against -the marquise. - -The consequence was soon shown in a renewal of alienation on the part of -M. de Ganges. A young man whom the marquise sometimes met in society, -and to whom, on account of his wit, she listened perhaps a little more -willingly than to others, became, if not the cause, at least the excuse -of a fresh burst of jealousy. This jealousy was exhibited as on previous -occasions, by quarrels remote from the real grievance; but the marquise -was not deceived: she recognised in this change the fatal hand of her -brother-in-law. But this certainty, instead of drawing her towards him, -increased her repulsion; and thenceforward she lost no opportunity of -showing him not only that repulsion but also the contempt that -accompanied it. - -Matters remained in this state for some months. Every day the marquise -perceived her husband growing colder, and although the spies were -invisible she felt herself surrounded by a watchfulness that took note -of the most private details of her life. As to the abbe and the -chevalier, they were as usual; only the abbe had hidden his hate behind -a smile that was habitual, and the chevalier his resentment behind that -cold and stiff dignity in which dull minds enfold themselves when they -believe themselves injured in their vanity. - -In the midst of all this, M. Joannis de Nocheres died, and added to the -already considerable fortune of his granddaughter another fortune of -from six to seven hundred thousand livres. - -This additional wealth became, on accruing to the marquise, what was -then called, in countries where the Roman law prevailed, a 'paraphernal' -estate that is to say that, falling in, after marriage? it was not -included in the dowry brought by the wife, and that she could dispose -freely both of the capital and the income, which might not be -administered even by her husband without a power of attorney, and of -which she could dispose at pleasure, by donation or by will. And in -fact, a few days after the marquise had entered into possession of her -grandfather's estate, her husband and his brothers learned that she had -sent for a notary in order to be instructed as to her rights. This step -betokened an intention of separating this inheritance from the common -property of the marriage; for the behaviour of the marquis towards his -wife--of which within himself he often recognised the injustice--left -him little hope of any other explanation. - -About this time a strange event happened. At a dinner given by the -marquise, a cream was served at dessert: all those who partook of this -cream were ill; the marquis and his two brothers, who had not touched -it, felt no evil effects. The remainder of this cream, which was -suspected of having caused illness to the guests, and particularly to -the marquise, who had taken of it twice, was analysed, and the presence -of arsenic in it demonstrated. Only, having been mixed with milk, which -is its antidote, the poison had lost some of its power, and had produced -but half the expected effect. As no serious disaster had followed this -occurrence, the blame was thrown upon a servant, who was said to have -mistaken arsenic for sugar, and everybody forgot it, or appeared to -forget it. - -The marquis, however, seemed to be gradually and naturally drawing -nearer again to his wife; but this time Madame de Ganges was not -deceived by his returning kindness. There, as in his alienation, she saw -the selfish hand of the abbe: he had persuaded his brother that seven -hundred thousand livres more in the house would make it worth while to -overlook some levities of behaviour; and the marquis, obeying the -impulse given, was trying, by kind dealing, to oppose his wife's still -unsettled intention of making a will. - -Towards the autumn there was talk of going to spend that season at -Ganges, a little town situated in Lower Languedoc, in the diocese of -Montpellier, seven leagues from that town, and nineteen from Avignon. -Although this was natural enough, since the marquis was lord of the town -and had a castle there, the marquise was seized by a strange shudder -when she heard the proposal. Remembrance of the prediction made to her -returned immediately to her mind. The recent and ill explained attempt -to poison her, too, very naturally added to her fears. - -Without directly and positively suspecting her brothers-in-law of that -crime, she knew that in them she had two implacable enemies. This -journey to a little town, this abode in a lonely castle, amid new, -unknown neighbours, seemed to her of no good omen; but open opposition -would have been ridiculous. On what grounds, indeed, could she base -resistance? The marquise could only own her terrors by accusing her -husband and her brothers-in-law. And of what could she accuse them? The -incident of the poisoned cream was not a conclusive proof. She resolved -accordingly to lock up all her fears in her heart, and to commit herself -to the hands of God. - -Nevertheless, she would not leave Avignon without signing the will which -she had contemplated making ever since M. de Nocheres' death. A notary -was called in who drew up the document. The Marquise de Ganges made her -mother, Madame de Rossan, her sole inheritor, and left in her charge the -duty of choosing between the testatrix's two children as to which of -them should succeed to the estate. These two children were, one a boy of -six years old, the other a girl of five. But this was not enough for the -marquise, so deep was her impression that she would not survive this -fatal journey; she gathered together, secretly and at night, the -magistrates of Avignon and several persons of quality, belonging to the -first families of the town, and there, before them, verbally at first, -declared that, in case of her death, she begged the honourable witnesses -whom she had assembled on purpose, not to recognise as valid, voluntary, -or freely written anything except the will which she had signed the day -before, and affirmed beforehand that any later will which might be -produced would be the effect of fraud or of violence. Then, having made -this verbal declaration, the marquise repeated it in writing, signed the -paper containing it, and gave the paper to be preserved by the honour of -those whom she constituted its guardians. Such a precaution, taken with -such minute detail, aroused the lively curiosity of her hearers. Many -pressing questions were put to the marquise, but nothing could be -extracted from her except that she had reasons for her action which she -could not declare. The cause of this assemblage remained a secret, and -every person who formed part of it promised the marquise not to reveal -it. - -On the next day, which was that preceding her departure for Ganges, the -marquise visited all the charitable institutions and religious -communities in Avignon; she left liberal alms everywhere, with the -request that prayers and masses should be said for her, in order to -obtain from God's grace that she should not be suffered to die without -receiving the sacraments of the Church. In the evening, she took leave -of all her friends with the affection and the tears of a person -convinced that she was bidding them a last farewell; and finally she -spent the whole night in prayer, and the maid who came to wake her found -her kneeling in the same spot where she, had left her the night before. - -The family set out for Ganges; the journey was performed without -accident. On reaching the castle, the marquise found her mother-in-law -there; she was a woman of remarkable distinction and piety, and her -presence, although it was to be but temporary, reassured the poor -fearful marquise a little. Arrangements had been made beforehand at the -old castle, and the most convenient and elegant of the rooms had been -assigned to the marquise; it was on the first floor, and looked out upon -a courtyard shut in on all sides by stables. - -On the first evening that she was to sleep here, the marquise explored -the room with the greatest attention. She inspected the cupboards, -sounded the walls, examined the tapestry, and found nothing anywhere -that could confirm her terrors, which, indeed, from that time began to -decrease. At the end of a certain time; however, the marquis's mother -left Ganges to return to Montpellier. Two, days after her departure, the -marquis talked of important business which required him to go back to -Avignon, and he too left the castle. The marquise thus remained alone -with the abbe, the chevalier, and a chaplain named Perette, who had been -attached for five-and-twenty years to the family of the marquis. The -rest of the household consisted of a few servants. - -The marquise's first care, on arriving at the castle, had been to -collect a little society for herself in the town. This was easy: not -only did her rank make it an honour to belong to her circle, her kindly -graciousness also inspired at first-sight the desire of having her for a -friend. The marquise thus endured less dulness than she had at first -feared. This precaution was by no means uncalled for; instead of -spending only the autumn at Ganges, the marquise was obliged, in -consequence of letters from her husband, to spend the winter there. -During the whole of this time the abbe and the chevalier seemed to have -completely forgotten their original designs upon her, and had again -resumed the conduct of respectful, attentive brothers. But with all -this, M. de Ganges remained estranged, and the marquise, who had not -ceased to love him, though she began to lose her fear, did not lose her -grief. - -One day the abbe entered her room suddenly enough to surprise her before -she had time to dry her tears; the secret being thus half surprised, he -easily obtained a knowledge of the whole. The marquise owned to him that -happiness in this world was impossible for her so long as her husband -led this separate and hostile life. The abbe tried to console her; but -amid his consolations he told her that the grief which she was suffering -had its source in herself; that her husband was naturally wounded by her -distrust of him--a distrust of which the will, executed by her, was a -proof, all the more humiliating because public, and that, while that -will existed, she could expect no advances towards reconciliation from -her husband. For that time the conversation ended there. - -Some days later, the abbe came into the marquise's room with a letter -which he had just received from his brother. This letter, supposed -confidential, was filled with tender complaints of his wife's conduct -towards him, and showed, through every sentence, a depth of affection -which only wrongs as serious as those from which the marquis considered -himself to be feeling could counterbalance. The marquise was, at first, -very much touched by this letter; but having soon reflected that just -sufficient time had elapsed since the explanation between herself and -the abbe for the marquis to be informed of it, she awaited further and -stronger proofs before changing her mind. - -From day to day, however, the abbe, under the pretext of reconciling the -husband and wife, became more pressing upon the matter of the will, and -the marquise, to whom this insistence seemed rather alarming, began to -experience some of her former fears. Finally, the abbe pressed her so -hard as to make her reflect that since, after the precautions which she -had taken at Avignon, a revocation could have no result, it would be -better to seem to yield rather than irritate this man, who inspired her -with so great a fear, by constant and obstinate refusals. The next time -that he returned to the subject she accordingly replied that she was -ready to offer her husband this new proof of her love if it would bring -him back to her, and having ordered a notary to be sent for, she made a -new will, in the presence of the abbe and the chevalier, and constituted -the marquis her residuary legatee. This second instrument bore date the -5th of May 1667. The abbe and the chevalier expressed the greatest joy -that this subject of discord was at last removed, and offered themselves -as guarantees, on their brother's behalf, of a better future. Some days -were passed in this hope, which a letter from the marquis came to -confirm; this letter at the same time announced his speedy return to -Ganges. - -On the 16th of May; the marquise, who for a month or two had not been -well, determined to take medicine; she therefore informed the chemist of -what she wanted, and asked him to make her up something at his -discretion and send it to her the next day. Accordingly, at the agreed -hour in the morning, the draught was brought to the marquise; but it -looked to her so black and so thick that she felt some doubt of the -skill of its compounder, shut it up in a cupboard in her room without -saying anything of the matter, and took from her dressing-case some -pills, of a less efficacious nature indeed, but to which she was -accustomed, and which were not so repugnant to her. - -The hour in which the marquise was to take this medicine was hardly over -when the abbe and the chevalier sent to know how she was. She replied -that she was quite well, and invited them to a collation which she was -giving about four o'clock to the ladies who made up her little circle. -An hour afterwards the abbe and the chevalier sent a second time to -inquire after her; the marquise, without paying particular attention to -this excessive civility, which she remembered afterwards, sent word as -before that she was perfectly well. The marquise had remained in bed to -do the honours of her little feast, and never had she felt more -cheerful. At the hour named all her guests arrived; the abbe and the -chevalier were ushered in, and the meal was served. Neither one nor the -other would share it; the abbe indeed sat down to table, but the -chevalier remained leaning on the foot of the bed. The abbe appeared -anxious, and only roused himself with a start from his absorption; then -he seemed to drive away some dominant idea, but soon the idea, stronger -than his will, plunged him again into a reverie, a state which struck -everyone the more particularly because it was far from his usual temper. -As to the chevalier, his eyes were fixed constantly upon his -sister-in-law, but in this there was not, as in his brother's behaviour, -anything surprising, since the marquise had never looked so beautiful. - -The meal over, the company took leave. The abbe escorted the ladies -downstairs; the chevalier remained with the marquise; but hardly had the -abbe left the room when Madame de Ganges saw the chevalier turn pale and -drop in a sitting position--he had been standing on the foot of the bed. -The marquise, uneasy, asked what was the matter; but before he could -reply, her attention was called to another quarter. The abbe, as pale -and as disturbed as the chevalier, came back into the room, carrying in -his hands a glass and a pistol, and double-locked the door behind him. -Terrified at this spectacle, the marquise half raised herself in her -bed, gazing voiceless and wordless. Then the abbe approached her, his -lips trembling; his hair bristling and his eyes blazing, and, presenting -to her the glass and the pistol, "Madame," said he, after a moment of -terrible silence, "choose, whether poison, fire, or"--he made a sign to -the chevalier, who drew his sword--"or steel." - -The marquise had one moment's hope: at the motion which she saw the -chevalier make she thought he was coming to her assistance; but being -soon undeceived, and finding herself between two men, both threatening -her, she slipped from her bed and fell on her knees. - -"What have I done," she cried, "oh, my God? that you should thus decree -my death, and after having made yourselves judges should make yourselves -executioners? I am guilty of no fault towards you except of having been -too faithful in my duty to my husband, who is your brother." - -Then seeing that it was vain to continue imploring the abbe, whose looks -and gestures spoke a mind made up, she turned towards the chevalier. - -"And you too, brother," said she, "oh, God, God! you, too! Oh, have pity -on me, in the name of Heaven!" - -But he, stamping his foot and pressing the point of his sword to her -bosom, answered-- - -"Enough, madam, enough; take your choice without delay; for if you do -not take it, we will take it for you." - -The marquise turned once again to the abbe, and her forehead struck the -muzzle of the pistol. Then she saw that she must die indeed, and -choosing of the three forms of death that which seemed to her the least -terrible, "Give me the poison, then," said she, "and may God forgive you -my death!" - -With these words she took the glass, but the thick black liquid of which -it was full aroused such repulsion that she would have attempted a last -appeal; but a horrible imprecation from the abbe and a threatening -movement from his brother took from her the very last gleam of hope. She -put the glass to her lips, and murmuring once more, "God! Saviour! have -pity on me!" she swallowed the contents. - -As she did so a few drops of the liquid fell upon her breast, and -instantly burned her skin like live coals; indeed, this infernal draught -was composed of arsenic and sublimate infused in aqua-fortis; then, -thinking that no more would be required of her, she dropped the glass. - -The marquise was mistaken: the abbe picked it up, and observing that all -the sediment had remained at the bottom, he gathered together on a -silver bodkin all that had coagulated on the sides of the glass and all -that had sunk to the bottom, and presenting this ball, which was about -the size of a nut, to the marquise, on the end of the bodkin, he said, -"Come, madame, you must swallow the holy-water sprinkler." - -The marquise opened her lips, with resignation; but instead of doing as -the abbe commanded, she kept this remainder of the poison in her mouth, -threw herself on the bed with a scream, and clasping the pillows, in her -pain, she put out the poison between the sheets, unperceived by her -assassins; and then turning back to them, folded her hands in entreaty -and said, "In the name of God, since you have killed my body, at least -do not destroy my soul, but send me a confessor." - -Cruel though the abbe and the chevalier were, they were no doubt -beginning to weary of such a scene; moreover, the mortal deed was -accomplished--after what she had drunk, the marquise could live but a -few minutes; at her petition they went out, locking the door behind -them. But no sooner did the marquise find herself alone than the -possibility of flight presented itself to her. She ran to the window: -this was but twenty-two feet above the ground, but the earth below was -covered with stones and rubbish. The marquise, being only in her -nightdress, hastened to slip on a silk petticoat; but at the moment when -she finished tying it round her waist she heard a step approaching her -room, and believing that her murderers were returning to make an end of -her, she flew like a madwoman to the window. At the moment of her -setting foot on the window ledge, the door opened: the marquise, ceasing -to consider anything, flung herself down, head first. - -Fortunately, the new-comer, who was the castle chaplain, had time to -reach out and seize her skirt. The skirt, not strong enough to bear the -weight of the marquise, tore; but its resistance, slight though it was, -sufficed nevertheless to change the direction of her body: the marquise, -whose head would have been shattered on the stones, fell on her feet -instead, and beyond their being bruised by the stones, received no -injury. Half stunned though she was by her fall, the marquise saw -something coming after her, and sprang aside. It was an enormous pitcher -of water, beneath which the priest, when he saw her escaping him, had -tried to crush her; but either because he had ill carried out his -attempt or because the marquise had really had time to move away, the -vessel was shattered at her feet without touching her, and the priest, -seeing that he had missed his aim, ran to warn the abbe and the -chevalier that the victim was escaping. - -As for the marquise, she had hardly touched the ground, when with -admirable presence of mind she pushed the end of one of her long plaits -so far down her throat as to provoke a fit of vomiting; this was the -more easily done that she had eaten heartily of the collation, and -happily the presence of the food had prevented the poison from attacking -the coats of the stomach so violently as would otherwise have been the -case. Scarcely had she vomited when a tame boar swallowed what she had -rejected, and falling into a convulsion, died immediately. - -As we have said, the room looked upon an enclosed courtyard; and the -marquise at first thought that in leaping from her room into this court -she had only changed her prison; but soon perceiving a light that -flickered from an upper window of ore of the stables, she ran thither, -and found a groom who was just going to bed. - -"In the name of Heaven, my good man," said she to him, "save me! I am -poisoned! They want to kill me! Do not desert me, I entreat you! Have -pity on me, open this stable for me; let me get away! Let me escape!" - -The groom did not understand much of what the marquise said to him; but -seeing a woman with disordered hair, half naked, asking help of him, he -took her by the arm, led her through the stables, opened a door for her, -and the marquise found herself in the street. Two women were passing; -the groom put her into their hands, without being able to explain to -them what he did not know himself. As for the marquise, she seemed able -to say nothing beyond these words: "Save me! I am poisoned! In the name -of Heaven, save me!" - -All at once she escaped from their hands and began to run like a mad -woman; she had seen, twenty steps away, on the threshold of the door by -which she had come, her two murderers in pursuit of her. - -Then they rushed after her; she shrieking that she was poisoned, they -shrieking that she was mad; and all this happening amid a crowd which, -not knowing what part to take, divided and made way for the victim and -the murderers. Terror gave the marquise superhuman strength: the woman -who was accustomed to walk in silken shoes upon velvet carpets, ran with -bare and bleeding feet over stocks and stones, vainly asking help, which -none gave her; for, indeed, seeing her thus, in mad flight, in a -nightdress, with flying hair, her only garment a tattered silk -petticoat, it was difficult not to--think that this woman was, as her -brothers-in-law said, mad. - -At last the chevalier came up with her, stopped her, dragged her, in -spite of her screams, into the nearest house, and closed the door behind -them, while the abbe, standing at the threshold with a pistol in his -hand, threatened to blow out the brains of any person who should -approach. - -The house into which the chevalier and the marquise had gone belonged to -one M. Desprats, who at the moment was from home, and whose wife was -entertaining several of her friends. The marquise and the chevalier, -still struggling together, entered the room where the company was -assembled: as among the ladies present were several who also visited the -marquise, they immediately arose, in the greatest amazement, to give her -the assistance that she implored; but the chevalier hastily pushed them -aside, repeating that the marquise was mad. To this reiterated -accusation--to which, indeed, appearances lent only too great a -probability--the marquise replied by showing her burnt neck and her -blackened lips, and wringing her hands in pain, cried out that she was -poisoned, that she was going to die, and begged urgently for milk, or at -least for water. Then the wife of a Protestant minister, whose name was -Madame Brunel, slipped into her hand a box of orvietan, some pieces of -which she hastened to swallow, while another lady gave her a glass of -water; but at the instant when she was lifting it to her mouth, the -chevalier broke it between her teeth, and one of the pieces of glass cut -her lips. At this, all the women would have flung themselves upon the -chevalier; but the marquise, fearing that he would only become more -enraged, and hoping to disarm him, asked, on the contrary, that she -might be left alone with him: all the company, yielding to her desire, -passed into the next room; this was what the chevalier, on his part, -too, asked. - -Scarcely were they alone, when the marquise, joining her hands, knelt to -him and said in the gentlest and most appealing voice that it was -possible to use, "Chevalier, my dear brother, will you not have pity -upon me, who have always had so much affection for you, and who, even -now, would give my blood for your service? You know that the things I am -saying are not merely empty words; and yet how is it you are treating -me, though I have not deserved it? And what will everyone say to such -dealings? Ah, brother, what a great unhappiness is mine, to have been so -cruelly treated by you! And yet--yes, brother--if you will deign to have -pity on me and to save my life, I swear, by my hope of heaven, to keep -no remembrance of what has happened; and to consider you always as my -protector and my friend." - -All at once the marquise rose with a great cry and clasped her hand to -her right side. While she was speaking, and before she perceived what he -was doing, the chevalier had drawn his sword, which was very short, and -using it as a dagger, had struck her in the breast; this first blow was -followed by a second, which came in contact with the shoulder blade, and -so was prevented from going farther. At these two blows the marquise -rushed towards the door, of the room into which the ladies had retired, -crying, "Help! He is killing me!" - -But during the time that she took to cross the room the chevalier -stabbed her five times in the back with his sword, and would no doubt -have done more, if at the last blow his sword had not broken; indeed, he -had struck with such force that the fragment remained embedded in her -shoulder, and the marquise fell forward on the floor, in a pool of her -blood, which was flowing all round her and spreading through the room. - -The chevalier thought he had killed her, and hearing the women running -to her assistance, he rushed from the room. The abbe was still at the -door, pistol in hand; the chevalier took him by the arm to drag him -away, and as the abbe hesitated to follow, he said:-- - -"Let us go, abbe; the business is done." - -The chevalier and the abbe had taken a few steps in the street when a -window opened and the women who had found the marquise expiring called -out for help: at these cries the abbe stopped short, and holding back -the chevalier by the arm, demanded-- - -"What was it you said, chevalier? If they are calling help, is she not -dead, after all?" - -"'Ma foi', go and see for yourself," returned the chevalier. "I have -done enough for my share; it is your turn now." - -"'Pardieu', that is quite my opinion," cried the abbe; and rushing back -to the house, he flung himself into the room at the moment when the -women, lifting the marquise with great difficulty, for she was so weak -that she could no longer help herself, were attempting to carry her to -bed. The abbe pushed them away, and arriving at the marquise, put his -pistol to her heart; but Madame Brunel, the same who had previously -given the marquise a box of orvietan, lifted up the barrel with her -hand, so that the shot went off into the air, and the bullet instead of -striking the marquise lodged in the cornice of the ceiling. The abbe -then took the pistol by the barrel and gave Madame Brunet so violent a -blow upon the head with the butt that she staggered and almost fell; he -was about to strike her again, but all the women uniting against him, -pushed him, with thousands of maledictions, out of the room, and locked -the door behind him. The two assassins, taking advantage of the -darkness, fled from Ganges, and reached Aubenas, which is a full league -away, about ten in the evening. - -Meanwhile the women were doing all they could for the marquise. Their -first intention, as we have already said, was to put her to bed, but the -broken sword blade made her unable to lie down, and they tried in vain -to pull it out, so deeply had it entered the bone. Then the marquise -herself showed Madame Brunei what method to take: the operating lady was -to sit on the bed, and while the others helped to hold up the marquise, -was to seize the blade with both hands, and pressing her--knees against -the patient's back, to pull violently and with a great jerk. This plan -at last succeeded, and the marquise was able to get to bed; it was nine -in the evening, and this horrible tragedy had been going on for nearly -three hours. - -The magistrates of Ganges, being informed of what had happened, and -beginning to believe that it was really a case of murder, came in -person, with a guard, to the marquise. As soon as she saw them come in -she recovered strength, and raising herself in bed, so great was her -fear, clasped her hands and besought their protection; for she always -expected to see one or the other of her murderers return. The -magistrates told her to reassure herself, set armed men to guard all the -approaches to the house, and while physicians and surgeons were, -summoned in hot haste from Montpellier, they on their part sent word to -the Baron de Trissan, provost of Languedoc, of the crime that had just -been committed, and gave him the names and the description of the -murderers. That official at once sent people after them, but it was -already too late: he learned that the abbe and the chevalier had slept -at Aubenas on the night of the murder, that there they had reproached -each other for their unskilfulness, and had come near cutting each -other's throats, that finally they had departed before daylight, and had -taken a boat, near Agde, from a beach called the "Gras de Palaval." - -The Marquis de Ganges was at Avignon, where he was prosecuting a servant -of his who had robbed him of two hundred crowns; when he heard news of -the event. He turned horribly pale as he listened to the messenger's -story, then falling into a violent fury against his brothers, he swore -that they should have no executioners other than himself. Nevertheless, -though he was so uneasy about the marquise's condition, he waited until -the next day in the afternoon before setting forth, and during the -interval he saw some of his friends at Avignon without saying anything -to them of the matter. He did not reach Ganges until four days after the -murder, then he went to the house of M. Desprats and asked to see his -wife, whom some kind priests had already prepared for the meeting; and -the marquise, as soon as she heard of his arrival, consented to receive -him. The marquis immediately entered the room, with his eyes full of -tears, tearing his hair, and giving every token of the deepest despair. - -The marquise receivers her husband like a forgiving wife and a dying -Christian. She scarcely even uttered some slight reproaches about the -manner in which he had deserted her; moreover, the marquis having -complained to a monk of these reproaches, and the monk having reported -his complaints to the marquise, she called her husband to her bedside, -at a moment when she was surrounded by people, and made him a public -apology, begging him to attribute the words that seemed to have wounded -him to the effect of her sufferings, and not to any failure in her -regard for him. The marquis, left alone with his wife, tried to take -advantage of this reconciliation to induce her to annul the declaration -that she had made before the magistrates of Avignon; for the vice-legate -and his officers, faithful to the promises made to the marquise, had -refused to register the fresh donation which she had made at Ganges, -according to the suggestions of the abbe, and which the latter had sent -off, the very moment it was signed, to his brother. But on this point -the marquise was immovably resolute, declaring that this fortune was -reserved for her children and therefore sacred to her, and that she -could make no alteration in what had been done at Avignon, since it -represented her genuine and final wishes. Notwithstanding this -declaration, the marquis did not cease to--remain beside his wife and to -bestow upon her every care possible to a devoted and attentive husband. - -Two days later than the Marquis de Ganges arrived Madame de Rossan great -was her amazement, after all the rumours that were already in -circulation about the marquis, at finding her daughter in the hands of -him whom she regarded as one of her murderers. But the marquise, far -from sharing that opinion, did all she could, not only to make her -mother feel differently, but even to induce her to embrace the marquis -as a son. This blindness on the part of the marquise caused Madame de -Rossan so much grief that notwithstanding her profound affection for her -daughter she would only stay two days, and in spite of the entreaties -that the dying woman made to her, she returned home, not allowing -anything to stop her. This departure was a great grief to the marquise, -and was the reason why she begged with renewed entreaties to be taken to -Montpellier. The very sight of the place where she had been so cruelly -tortured continually brought before her, not only the remembrance of the -murder, but the image of the murderers, who in her brief moments of -sleep so haunted her that she sometimes awoke suddenly, uttering shrieks -and calling for help. Unfortunately, the physician considered her too -weak to bear removal, and declared that no change of place could be made -without extreme danger. - -Then, when she heard this verdict, which had to be repeated to her, and -which her bright and lively complexion and brilliant eyes seemed to -contradict, the marquise turned all her thoughts towards holy things, -and thought only of dying like a saint after having already suffered -like a martyr. She consequently asked to receive the last sacrament, and -while it was being sent for, she repeated her apologies to her husband -and her forgiveness of his brothers, and this with a gentleness that, -joined to her beauty, made her whole personality appear angelic. When, -however, the priest bearing the viaticum entered, this expression -suddenly changed, and her face presented every token of the greatest -terror. She had just recognised in the priest who was bringing her the -last consolations of Heaven the infamous Perette, whom she could not but -regard as an accomplice of the abbe and the chevalier, since, after -having tried to hold her back, he had attempted to crush her beneath the -pitcher of water which he had thrown at her from the window, and since, -when he saw her escaping, he had run to warn her assassins and to set -them on her track. She recovered herself quickly, however, and seeing -that the priest, without any sign of remorse, was drawing near to her -bedside, she would not cause so great a scandal as would have been -caused by denouncing him at such a moment. Nevertheless, bending towards -him, she said, "Father, I hope that, remembering what has passed, and in -order to dispel fears that--I may justifiably entertain, you will make -no difficulty of partaking with me of the consecrated wafer; for I have -sometimes heard it said that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, while -remaining a token of salvation, has been known to be made a principle of -death." - -The priest inclined his head as a sign of assent. - -So the marquise communicated thus, taking a sacrament that she shared -with one of her murderers, as an evidence that she forgave this one like -the others and that she prayed God to forgive them as she herself did. - -The following days passed without any apparent increase in her illness, -the fever by which she was consumed rather enhancing her beauties, and -imparting to her voice and gestures a vivacity which they had never had -before. Thus everybody had begun to recover hope, except herself, who, -feeling better than anyone else what was her true condition, never for a -moment allowed herself any illusion, and keeping her son, who was seven -years old, constantly beside her bed, bade him again and again look well -at her, so that, young as he was, he might remember her all his life and -never forget her in his prayers. The poor child would burst into tears -and promise not only to remember her but also to avenge her when he was -a man. At these words the marquise gently reproved him, telling him that -all vengeance belonged to the king and to God, and that all cares of the -kind must be left to those two great rulers of heaven and of earth. - -On the 3rd of June, M. Catalan, a councillor, appointed as a -commissioner by the Parliament of Toulouse, arrived at Ganges, together -with all the officials required by his commission; but he could not see -the marquise that night, for she had dozed for some hours, and this -sleep had left a sort of torpor upon her mind, which might have impaired -the lucidity of her depositions. The next morning, without asking -anybody's opinion, M. Catalan repaired to the house of M. Desprats, and -in spite of some slight resistance on the part of those who were in -charge of her, made his way to the presence of the marquise. The dying -woman received him with an admirable presence of mind, that made M. -Catalan think there had been an intention the night before to prevent -any meeting between him and the person whom he was sent to interrogate. -At first the marquise would relate nothing that had passed, saying that -she could not at the same time accuse and forgive; but M. Catalan -brought her to see that justice required truth from her before all -things, since, in default of exact information, the law might go astray, -and strike the innocent instead of the guilty. This last argument -decided the marquise, and during the hour and a half that he spent alone -with her she told him all the details of this horrible occurrence. On -the morrow M. Catalan was to see her again; but on the morrow the -marquise was, in truth, much worse. He assured himself of this by his -own eyes, and as he knew almost all that he wished to know, did not -insist further, for fear of fatiguing her. - -Indeed, from that day forward, such atrocious sufferings laid hold upon -the marquise, that notwithstanding the firmness which she had always -shown, and which she tried to maintain to the end, she could not prevent -herself from uttering screams mingled with prayers. In this manner she -spent the whole day of the 4th and part of the 5th. At last, on that -day, which was a Sunday, towards four o'clock in the afternoon, she -expired. - -The body was immediately opened, and the physicians attested that the -marquise had died solely from the power of the poison, none of the seven -sword cuts which she had received being, mortal. They found the stomach -and bowels burned and the brain blackened. However, in spite of that -infernal draught, which, says the official report, "would have killed a -lioness in a few hours," the marquise struggled for nineteen days, so -much, adds an account from which we have borrowed some of these details, -so much did nature lovingly defend the beautiful body that she had taken -so much trouble to make. - - M. Catalan, the very moment he was informed of the marquise's death, - having with him twelve guards belonging to the governor, ten - archers, and a poqueton,--despatched them to the marquis's castle - with orders to seize his person, that of the priest, and those of - all the servants except the groom who had assisted the marquise in - her flight. The officer in command of this little squad found the - marquis walking up and down, melancholy and greatly disturbed, in - the large hall of the castle, and when he signified to him the - order of which he was the bearer, the marquis, without making any - resistance, and as though prepared for what was happening to him, - replied that he was ready to obey, and that moreover he had always - intended to go before the Parliament to accuse the murderers of his - wife. He was asked for the key of his cabinet, which he gave up, - and the order was given to conduct him, with the other persons - accused, to the prisons of Montpellier. As soon as the marquis came - into that town, the report of his arrival spread with incredible - rapidity from street to street. Then, as it was dark, lights came - to all the windows, and people corning out with torches formed a - torchlight procession, by means of which everybody could see him. - He, like the priest, was mounted on a sorry hired horse, and - entirely surrounded by archers, to whom, no doubt, he owed his life - on this occasion; for the indignation against him was so great that - everyone was egging on his neighbours to tear him limb from limb, - which would certainly have come to pass had he not been so - carefully defended and guarded. - -Immediately upon receiving news of her daughter's death, Madame de -Rossan took possession of all her property, and, making herself a party -to the case, declared that she would never desist from her suit until -her daughter's death was avenged. M. Catalan began the examination at -once, and the first interrogation to which he submitted the marquis -lasted eleven hours. Then soon afterwards he and the other persons -accused were conveyed from the prisons of Montpellier to those of -Toulouse. A crushing memorial by Madame de Rossan followed them, in -which she demonstrated with absolute clearness that the marquis had -participated in the crime of his two brothers, if not in act, in -thought, desire, and intention. - -The marquis's defence was very simple: it was his misfortune to have had -two villains for brothers, who had made attempts first upon the honour -and then upon the life of a wife whom he loved tenderly; they had -destroyed her by a most atrocious death, and to crown his evil fortune, -he, the innocent, was accused of having had a hand in that death. And, -indeed, the examinations in the trial did not succeed in bringing any -evidence against the marquis beyond moral presumptions, which, it -appears, were insufficient to induce his judges to award a sentence of -death. - -A verdict was consequently given, upon the 21st of August, 1667, which -sentenced the abbe and the chevalier de Ganges to be broken alive on the -wheel, the Marquis de Ganges to perpetual banishment from the kingdom, -his property to be confiscated to the king, and himself to lose his -nobility and to become incapable of succeeding to the property of his -children. As for the priest Perette, he was sentenced to the galleys for -life, after having previously been degraded from his clerical orders by -the ecclesiastical authorities. - -This sentence made as great a stir as the murder had done, and gave -rise, in that period when "extenuating circumstances" had not been -invented, to long and angry discussions. Indeed, the marquis either was -guilty of complicity or was not: if he was not, the punishment was too -cruel; if he was, the sentence was too light. Such was the opinion of -Louis XIV., who remembered the beauty of the Marquis de Ganges; for, -some time afterwards, when he was believed to have forgotten this -unhappy affair, and when he was asked to pardon the Marquis de la Douze, -who was accused of having poisoned his wife, the king answered, "There -is no need for a pardon, since he belongs to the Parliament of Toulouse, -and the Marquis de Ganges did very well without one." - -It may easily be supposed that this melancholy event did not pass -without inciting the wits of the day to write a vast number of verses -and bouts-rimes about the catastrophe by which one of the most beautiful -women of the country was carried off. Readers who have a taste for that -sort of literature are referred to the journals and memoirs of the -times. - -Now, as our readers, if they have taken any interest at all in the -terrible tale just narrated, will certainly ask what became of the -murderers, we will proceed to follow their course until the moment when -they disappeared, some into the night of death, some into the darkness -of oblivion. - -The priest Perette was the first to pay his debt to Heaven: he died at -the oar on the way from Toulouse to Brest. - -The chevalier withdrew to Venice, took service in the army of the Most -Serene Republic, then at war with Turkey, and was sent to Candia, which -the Mussulmans had been besieging for twenty years; he had scarcely -arrived there when, as he was walking on the ramparts of the town with -two other officers, a shell burst at their feet, and a fragment of it -killed the chevalier without so much as touching his companions, so that -the event was regarded as a direct act of Providence. - -As for the abbe, his story is longer and stranger. He parted from the -chevalier in the neighbourhood of Genoa, and crossing the whole of -Piedmont, part of Switzerland, and a corner of Germany, entered Holland -under the name of Lamartelliere. After many hesitations as to the place -where he would settle, he finally retired to Viane, of which the Count -of Lippe was at that time sovereign; there he made the acquaintance of a -gentleman who presented him to the count as a French religious refugee. - -The count, even in this first conversation, found that the foreigner who -had come to seek safety in his dominions possessed not only great -intelligence but a very solid sort of intelligence, and seeing that the -Frenchman was conversant with letters and with learning, proposed that -he should undertake the education of his son, who at that time was nine -years old. Such a proposal was a stroke of fortune for the abbe de -Ganges, and he did not dream of refusing it. - -The abbe de Ganges was one of those men who have great mastery over -themselves: from the moment when he saw that his interest, nay, the very -safety of his life required it, he concealed with extreme care whatever -bad passions existed within him, and only allowed his good qualities to -appear. He was a tutor who supervised the heart as sharply as the mind, -and succeeded in making of his pupil a prince so accomplished in both -respects, that the Count of Lippe, making use of such wisdom and such -knowledge, began to consult the tutor upon all matters of State, so that -in course of time the so-called Lamartelliere, without holding any -public office, had become the soul of the little principality. - -The countess had a young relation living with her, who though without -fortune was of a great family, and for whom the countess had a deep -affection; it did not escape her notice that her son's tutor had -inspired this poor young girl with warmer feelings than became her high -station, and that the false Lamartelliere, emboldened by his own growing -credit, had done all he could to arouse and keep up these feelings. The -countess sent for her cousin, and having drawn from her a confession of -her love, said that she herself had indeed a great regard for her son's -governor, whom she and her husband intended to reward with pensions and -with posts for the services he had rendered to their family and to the -State, but that it was too lofty an ambition for a man whose name was -Lamartelliere, and who had no relations nor family that could be owned, -to aspire to the hand of a girl who was related to a royal house; and -that though she did not require that the man who married her cousin -should be a Bourbon, a Montmorency, or a Rohan, she did at least desire -that he should be somebody, though it were but a gentleman of Gascony or -Poitou. - -The Countess of Lippe's young kinswoman went and repeated this answer, -word for word, to her lover, expecting him to be overwhelmed by it; but, -on the contrary, he replied that if his birth was the only obstacle that -opposed their union, there might be means to remove it. In fact, the -abbe, having spent eight years at the prince's court, amid the strongest -testimonies of confidence and esteem, thought himself sure enough of the -prince's goodwill to venture upon the avowal of his real name. - -He therefore asked an audience of the countess, who immediately granted -it. Bowing to her respectfully, he said, "Madame, I had flattered myself -that your Highness honoured me with your esteem, and yet you now oppose -my happiness: your Highness's relative is willing to accept me as a -husband, and the prince your son authorises my wishes and pardons my -boldness; what have I done to you, madame, that you alone should be -against me? and with what can you reproach me during the eight years -that I have had the honour of serving your Highness?" - -"I have nothing to reproach you with, monsieur," replied the countess: -"but I do not wish to incur reproach on my own part by permitting such a -marriage: I thought you too sensible and reasonable a man to need -reminding that, while you confined yourself to suitable requests and -moderate ambitions, you had reason to be pleased with our gratitude. Do -you ask that your salary shall be doubled? The thing is easy. Do you -desire important posts? They shall be given you; but do not, sir, so far -forget yourself as to aspire to an alliance that you cannot flatter -yourself with a hope of ever attaining." - -"But, madame," returned the petitioner, "who told you that my birth was -so obscure as to debar me from all hope of obtaining your consent?" - -"Why, you yourself, monsieur, I think," answered the countess in -astonishment; "or if you did not say so, your name said so for you." - -"And if that name is not mine, madame?" said the abbe, growing bolder; -"if unfortunate, terrible, fatal circumstances have compelled me to take -that name in order to hide another that was too unhappily famous, would -your Highness then be so unjust as not to change your mind?" - -"Monsieur," replied the countess, "you have said too much now not to go -on to the end. Who are you? Tell me. And if, as you give me to -understand, you are of good birth, I swear to you that want of fortune -shall not stand in the way." - -"Alas, madame," cried the abbe, throwing himself at her feet, "my name, -I am sure, is but too familiar to your Highness, and I would willingly -at this moment give half my blood that you had never heard it uttered; -but you have said it, madame, have gone too far to recede. Well, then, I -am that unhappy abbe de Ganges whose crimes are known and of whom I have -more than once heard you speak." - -"The abbe de Ganges!" cried the countess in horror,--"the abbe de -Ganges! You are that execrable abbe de Ganges whose very name makes one -shudder? And to you, to a man thus infamous, we have entrusted the -education of our only son? Oh, I hope, for all our sakes, monsieur, that -you are speaking falsely; for if you were speaking the truth I think I -should have you arrested this very instant and taken back to France to -undergo your punishment. The best thing you can do, if what you have -said to me is true, is instantly to leave not only the castle, but the -town and the principality; it will be torment enough for the rest of my -life whenever I think that I have spent seven years under the same roof -with you." - -The abbe would have replied; but the countess raised her voice so much, -that the young prince, who had been won over to his tutor's interests -and who was listening at his mother's door, judged that his protege's -business was taking an unfavourable turn; and went in to try and put -things right. He found his mother so much alarmed that she drew him to -her by an instinctive movement, as though to put herself under his -protection, and beg and pray as he might; he could only obtain -permission for his tutor to go away undisturbed to any country of the -world that he might prefer, but with an express prohibition of ever -again entering the presence of the Count or the Countess of Lippe. - -The abbe de Ganges withdrew to Amsterdam, where he became a teacher of -languages, and where his lady-love soon after came to him and married -him: his pupil, whom his parents could not induce, even when they told -him the real name of the false Lamartelliere, to share their horror of -him, gave him assistance as long as he needed it; and this state of -things continued until upon his wife attaining her majority he entered -into possession of some property that belonged to her. His regular -conduct and his learning, which had been rendered more solid by long and -serious study, caused him to be admitted into the Protestant consistory; -there, after an exemplary life, he died, and none but God ever knew -whether it was one of hypocrisy or of penitence. - -As for the Marquis de Ganges, who had been sentenced, as we have seen, -to banishment and the confiscation of his property, he was conducted to -the frontier of Savoy and there set at liberty. After having spent two -or three years abroad, so that the terrible catastrophe in which he had -been concerned should have time to be hushed up, he came back to France, -and as nobody--Madame de Rossan being now dead--was interested in -prosecuting him, he returned to his castle at Ganges, and remained -there, pretty well hidden. M. de Baville, indeed, the Lieutenant of -Languedoc, learned that the marquis had broken from his exile; but he -was told, at the same time, that the marquis, as a zealous Catholic, was -forcing his vassals to attend mass, whatever their religion might be: -this was the period in which persons of the Reformed Church were being -persecuted, and the zeal of the marquis appeared to M. de Baville to -compensate and more than compensate for the peccadillo of which he had -been accused; consequently, instead of prosecuting him, he entered into -secret communication with him, reassuring him about his stay in France, -and urging on his religious zeal; and in this manner twelve years passed -by. - -During this time the marquise's young son, whom we saw at his mother's -deathbed, had reached the age of twenty, and being rich in his father's -possessions--which his uncle had restored to him--and also by his -mother's inheritance, which he had shared with his sister, had married a -girl of good family, named Mademoiselle de Moissac, who was both rich -and beautiful. Being called to serve in the royal army, the count -brought his young wife to the castle of Ganges, and, having fervently -commended her to his father, left her in his charge. - -The Marquis de Ganges was forty-two veers old, and scarcely seemed -thirty; he was one of the handsomest men living; he fell in love with -his daughter-in-law and hoped to win her love, and in order to promote -this design, his first care was to separate from her, under the excuse -of religion, a maid who had been with her from childhood and to whom she -was greatly attached. - -This measure, the cause of which the young marquise did not know, -distressed her extremely. It was much against her will that she had come -to live at all in this old castle of Ganges, which had so recently been -the scene of the terrible story that we have just told. She inhabited -the suite of rooms in which the murder had been committed; her -bedchamber was the same which had belonged to the late marquise; her bed -was the same; the window by which she had fled was before her eyes; and -everything, down to the smallest article of furniture, recalled to her -the details of that savage tragedy. But even worse was her case when she -found it no longer possible to doubt her father-in-law's intentions; -when she saw herself beloved by one whose very name had again and again -made her childhood turn pale with terror, and when she was left alone at -all hours of the day in the sole company of the man whom public rumour -still pursued as a murderer. Perhaps in any other place the poor lonely -girl might have found some strength in trusting herself to God; but -there, where God had suffered one of the fairest and purest creatures -that ever existed to perish by so cruel a death, she dared not appeal to -Him, for He seemed to have turned away from this family. - -She waited, therefore, in growing terror; spending her days, as much as -she could, with the women of rank who lived in the little town of -Ganges, and some of whom, eye-witnesses of her mother-in-law's murder, -increased her terrors by the accounts which they gave of it, and which -she, with the despairing obstinacy of fear, asked to hear again and -again. As to her nights, she spent the greater part of them on her -knees, and fully dressed, trembling at the smallest sound; only -breathing freely as daylight came back, and then venturing to seek her -bed for a few hours' rest. - -At last the marquis's attempts became so direct and so pressing, that -the poor young woman resolved to escape at all costs from his hands. Her -first idea was to write to her father, explain to him her position and -ask help; but her father had not long been a Catholic, and had suffered -much on behalf of the Reformed religion, and on these accounts it was -clear that her letter would be opened by the marquis on pretext of -religion, and thus that step, instead of saving, might destroy her. She -had thus but one resource: her husband had always been a Catholic; her -husband was a captain of dragoons, faithful in the service of the king -and faithful in the service of God; there could be no excuse for opening -a letter to him; she resolved to address herself to him, explained the -position in which she found herself, got the address written by another -hand, and sent the letter to Montpellier, where it was posted. - -The young marquis was at Metz when he received his wife's missive. At -that instant all his childish memories awoke; he beheld himself at his -dying mother's bedside, vowing never to forget her and to pray daily for -her. The image presented itself of this wife whom he adored, in the same -room, exposed to the same violence, destined perhaps to the same fate; -all this was enough to lead him to take positive action: he flung -himself into a post-chaise, reached Versailles, begged an audience of -the king, cast himself, with his wife's letter in his hand, at the feet -of Louis XIV, and besought him to compel his father to return into -exile, where he swore upon has honour that he would send him everything -he could need in order to live properly. - -The king was not aware that the Marquis do Ganges had disobeyed the -sentence of banishment, and the manner in which he learned it was not -such as to make him pardon the contradiction of his laws. In consequence -he immediately ordered that if the Marquis de Ganges were found in -France he should be proceeded against with the utmost rigour. - -Happily for the marquis, the Comte de Ganges, the only one of his -brothers who had remained in France, and indeed in favour, learned the -king's decision in time. He took post from Versailles, and making the -greatest haste, went to warn him of the danger that was threatening; -both together immediately left Ganges, and withdrew to Avignon. The -district of Venaissin, still belonging at that time to the pope and -being governed by a vice-legate, was considered as foreign territory. -There he found his daughter, Madame d'Urban, who did all she could to -induce him to stay with her; but to do so would have been to flout Louis -XIV's orders too publicly, and the marquis was afraid to remain so much -in evidence lest evil should befall him; he accordingly retired to the -little village of l'Isle, built in a charming spot near the fountain of -Vaucluse; there he was lost sight of; none ever heard him spoken of -again, and when I myself travelled in the south of France in 1835, I -sought in vain any trace of the obscure and forgotten death which closed -so turbulent and stormy an existence. - -As, in speaking of the last adventures of the Marquis de Ganges, we have -mentioned the name of Madame d'Urban, his daughter, we cannot exempt -ourselves from following her amid the strange events of her life, -scandalous though they may be; such, indeed, was the fate of this -family, that it was to occupy the attention of France through well-nigh -a century, either by its crimes or by its freaks. - -On the death of the marquise, her daughter, who was barely six years -old, had remained in the charge of the dowager Marquise de Ganges, who, -when she had attained her twelfth year, presented to her as her husband -the Marquis de Perrant, formerly a lover of the grandmother herself. The -marquis was seventy years of age, having been born in the reign of Henry -IV; he had seen the court of Louis XIII and that of Louis XIV's youth, -and he had remained one of its most elegant and favoured nobles; he had -the manners of those two periods, the politest that the world has known, -so that the young girl, not knowing as yet the meaning of marriage and -having seen no other man, yielded without repugnance, and thought -herself happy in becoming the Marquise de Perrant. - -The marquis, who was very rich, had quarrelled With his younger brother, -and regarded him with such hatred that he was marrying only to deprive -his brother of the inheritance that would rightfully accrue to him, -should the elder die childless. Unfortunately, the marquis soon -perceived that the step which he had taken, however efficacious in the -case of another man, was likely to be fruitless in his own. He did not, -however, despair, and waited two or three years, hoping every day that -Heaven would work a miracle in his favour; but as every day diminished -the chances of this miracle, and his hatred for his brother grew with -the impossibility of taking revenge upon him, he adopted a strange and -altogether antique scheme, and determined, like the ancient Spartans, to -obtain by the help of another what Heaven refused to himself. - -The marquis did not need to seek long for the man who should give him -his revenge: he had in his house a young page, some seventeen or -eighteen years old, the son of a friend of his, who, dying without -fortune, had on his deathbed particularly commended the lad to the -marquis. This young man, a year older than his mistress, could not be -continually about her without falling passionately in love with her; and -however much he might endeavour to hide his love, the poor youth was as -yet too little practised in dissimulation to succeed iii concealing it -from the eyes of the marquis, who, after having at first observed its -growth with uneasiness, began on the contrary to rejoice in it, from the -moment when he had decided upon the scheme that we have just mentioned. - -The marquis was slow to decide but prompt to execute. Having taken his -resolution, he summoned his page, and, after having made him promise -inviolable secrecy, and having undertaken, on that condition, to prove -his gratitude by buying him a regiment, explained what was expected of -him. The poor youth, to whom nothing could have been more unexpected -than such a communication, took it at first for a trick by which the -marquis meant to make him own his love, and was ready to throw himself -at his feet and declare everything; but the marquis seeing his -confusion, and easily guessing its cause, reassured him completely by -swearing that he authorised him to take any steps in order to attain the -end that the marquis had in view. As in his inmost heart the aim of the -young man was the same, the bargain was soon struck: the page bound -himself by the most terrible oaths to keep the secret; and the marquis, -in order to supply whatever assistance was in his power, gave him money -to spend, believing that there was no woman, however virtuous, who could -resist the combination of youth, beauty, and fortune: unhappily for the -marquis, such a woman, whom he thought impossible, did exist, and was -his wife. - -The page was so anxious to obey his master, that from that very day his -mistress remarked the alteration that arose from the permission given -him--his prompt obedience to her orders and his speed in executing them, -in order to return a few moments the sooner to her presence. She was -grateful to him, and in the simplicity of her heart she thanked him. Two -days later the page appeared before her splendidly dressed; she observed -and remarked upon his improved appearance, and amused herself in conning -over all the parts of his dress, as she might have done with a new doll. -All this familiarity doubled the poor young man's passion, but he stood -before his mistress, nevertheless, abashed and trembling, like Cherubino -before his fair godmother. Every evening the marquis inquired into his -progress, and every evening the page confessed that he was no farther -advanced than the day before; then the marquis scolded, threatened to -take away his fine clothes, to withdraw his own promises, and finally to -address himself to some other person. At this last threat the youth -would again call up his courage, and promise to be bolder to-morrow; and -on the morrow would spend the day in making a thousand compliments to -his mistress's eyes, which she, in her innocence, did not understand. At -last, one day, Madame de Perrant asked him what made him look at her -thus, and he ventured to confess his love; but then Madame de Perrant, -changing her whole demeanour, assumed a face of sternness and bade him -go out of her room. - -The poor lover obeyed, and ran, in despair, to confide his grief to the -husband, who appeared sincerely to share it, but consoled him by saying -that he had no doubt chosen his moment badly; that all women, even the -least severe, had inauspicious hours in which they would not yield to -attack, and that he must let a few days pass, which he must employ in -making his peace, and then must take advantage of a better opportunity, -and not allow himself to be rebuffed by a few refusals; and to these -words the marquis added a purse of gold, in order that the page might, -if necessary, win over the marquise's waiting-woman. - -Guided thus by the older experience of the husband, the page began to -appear very much ashamed and very penitent; but for a day or two the -marquise, in spite of his apparent humility, kept him at a distance: at -last, reflecting no doubt, with the assistance of her mirror and of her -maid, that the crime was not absolutely unpardonable, and after having -reprimanded the culprit at some length, while he stood listening with -eyes cast down, she gave a him her hand, forgave him, and admitted him -to her companionship as before. - -Things went on in this way for a week. The page no longer raised his -eyes and did not venture to open his mouth, and the marquise was -beginning to regret the time in which he used to look and to speak, -when, one fine day while she was at her toilet, at which she had allowed -him to be present, he seized a moment when the maid had left her alone, -to cast himself at her feet and tell her that he had vainly tried to -stifle his love, and that, even although he were to die under the weight -of her anger, he must tell her that this love was immense, eternal, -stronger than his life. The marquise upon this wished to send him away, -as on the former occasion, but instead of obeying her, the page, better -instructed, took her in his arms. The marquise called, screamed, broke -her bell-rope; the waiting-maid, who had been bought over, according to -the marquis's advice, had kept the other women out of the way, and was -careful not to come herself. Then the marquise, resisting force by -force, freed herself from the page's arms, rushed to her husband's room, -and there, bare-necked, with floating hair, and looking lovelier than -ever, flung herself into his arms and begged his protection against the -insolent fellow who had just insulted her. But what was the amazement of -the marquise, when, instead of the anger which she expected to see break -forth, the marquis answered coldly that what she was saying was -incredible, that he had always found the young man very well behaved, -and that, no doubt, having taken up some frivolous ground of resentment -against him, she was employing this means to get rid of him; but, he -added, whatever might be his love for her, and his desire to do -everything that was agreeable to her, he begged her not to require this -of him, the young man being his friend's son, and consequently his own -adopted child. It was now the marquise who, in her turn, retired -abashed, not knowing what to make of such a reply, and fully resolving, -since her husband's protection failed her, to keep herself well guarded -by her own severity. - -Indeed, from that moment the marquise behaved to the poor youth with so -much prudery, that, loving her as he did, sincerely, he would have died -of grief, if he had not had the marquis at hand to encourage and -strengthen him. Nevertheless, the latter himself began to despair, and -to be more troubled by the virtue of his wife than another man might -have been by the levity of his. Finally, he resolved, seeing that -matters remained at the same point and that the marquise did not relax -in the smallest degree, to take extreme measures. He hid his page in a -closet of his wife's bedchamber, and, rising during her first sleep, -left empty his own place beside her, went out softly, double-locked the -door, and listened attentively to hear what would happen. - -He had not been listening thus for ten minutes when he heard a great -noise in the room, and the page trying in vain to appease it. The -marquis hoped that he might succeed, but the noise increasing, showed -him that he was again to be disappointed; soon came cries for help, for -the marquise could not ring, the bell-ropes having been lifted out of -her reach, and no one answering her cries, he heard her spring from her -high bed, run to the door, and finding it locked rush to the window, -which she tried to open: the scene had come to its climax. - -The marquis decided to go in, lest some tragedy should happen, or lest -his wife's screams should reach some belated passer-by, who next day -would make him the talk of the town. Scarcely did the marquise behold -him when she threw herself into his arms, and pointing to the page, -said:-- - -"Well, monsieur, will you still hesitate to free me from this insolent -wretch?" - -"Yes, madame," replied the marquis; "for this insolent wretch has been -acting for the last three months not only with my sanction but even by -my orders." - -The marquise remained stupefied. Then the marquis, without sending away -the page, gave his wife an explanation of all that had passed, and -besought her to yield to his desire of obtaining a successor, whom he -would regard as his own child, so long as it was hers; but young though -she was, the marquise answered with a dignity unusual at her age, that -his power over her had the limits that were set to it by law, and not -those that it might please him to set in their place, and that however -much she might wish to do what might be his pleasure, she would yet -never obey him at the expense of her soul and her honour. - -So positive an answer, while it filled her husband with despair, proved -to him that he must renounce the hope of obtaining an heir; but since -the page was not to blame for this, he fulfilled the promise that he had -made, bought him a regiment, and resigned himself to having the most -virtuous wife in France. His repentance was not, however, of long -duration; he died at the end of three months, after having confided to -his friend, the Marquis d'Urban, the cause of his sorrows. - -The Marquis d'Urban had a son of marriageable age; he thought that he -could find nothing more suitable for him than a wife whose virtue had -come triumphantly through such a trial: he let her time of mourning -pass, and then presented the young Marquis d'Urban, who succeeded in -making his attentions acceptable to the beautiful widow, and soon became -her husband. More fortunate than his predecessor, the Marquis d'Urban -had three heirs to oppose to his collaterals, when, some two years and a -half later, the Chevalier de Bouillon arrived at the capital of the -county of Venaissin. - -The Chevalier de Bouillon was a typical rake of the period, handsome, -young, and well-grown; the nephew of a cardinal who was influential at -Rome, and proud of belonging to a house which had privileges of -suzerainty. The chevalier, in his indiscreet fatuity, spared no woman; -and his conduct had given some scandal in the circle of Madame de -Maintenon, who was rising into power. One of his friends, having -witnessed the displeasure exhibited towards him by Louis XIV, who was -beginning to become devout, thought to do him a service by warning him -that the king "gardait une dent" against him. [ Translator's -note.--"Garder une dent," that is, to keep up a grudge, means literally -"to keep a tooth" against him.] - -"Pardieu!" replied the chevalier, "I am indeed unlucky when the only -tooth left to him remains to bite me." - -This pun had been repeated, and had reached Louis XIV, so that the -chevalier presently heard, directly enough this time, that the king -desired him to travel for some years. He knew the danger of -neglecting--such intimations, and since he thought the country after all -preferable to the Bastille, he left Paris, and arrived at Avignon, -surrounded by the halo of interest that naturally attends a handsome -young persecuted nobleman. - -The virtue of Madame d'Urban was as much cried up at Avignon as the -ill-behaviour of the chevalier had been reprobated in Paris. A -reputation equal to his own, but so opposite in kind, could not fail to -be very offensive to him, therefore he determined immediately upon -arriving to play one against the other. - -Nothing was easier than the attempt. M. d'Urban, sure of his wife's -virtue, allowed her entire liberty; the chevalier saw her wherever he -chose to see her, and every time he saw her found means to express a -growing passion. Whether because the hour had come for Madame d'Urban, -or whether because she was dazzled by the splendour of the chevalier's -belonging to a princely house, her virtue, hitherto so fierce, melted -like snow in the May sunshine; and the chevalier, luckier than the poor -page, took the husband's place without any attempt on Madame d'Urban's -part to cry for help. - -As all the chevalier desired was public triumph, he took care to make -the whole town acquainted at once with his success; then, as some -infidels of the neighbourhood still doubted, the chevalier ordered one -of his servants to wait for him at the marquise's door with a lantern -and a bell. At one in the morning, the chevalier came out, and the -servant walked before him, ringing the bell. At this unaccustomed sound, -a great number of townspeople, who had been quietly asleep, awoke, and, -curious to see what was happening, opened their windows. They beheld the -chevalier, walking gravely behind his servant, who continued to light -his master's way and to ring along the course of the street that lay -between Madame d'Urban's house and his own. As he had made no mystery to -anyone of his love affair, nobody took the trouble even to ask him -whence he came. However, as there might possibly be persons still -unconvinced, he repeated this same jest, for his own satisfaction, three -nights running; so that by the morning of the fourth day nobody had any -doubts left. - -As generally happens in such cases, M. d'Urban did not know a word of -what was going on until the moment when his friends warned him that he -was the talk of the town. Then he forbade his wife to see her lover -again. The prohibition produced the usual results: on the morrow, as, -soon as M. d'Urban had gone out, the marquise sent for the chevalier to -inform him of the catastrophe in which they were both involved; but she -found him far better prepared than herself for such blows, and he tried -to prove to her, by reproaches for her imprudent conduct, that all this -was her fault; so that at last the poor woman, convinced that it was she -who had brought these woes upon them, burst into tears. Meanwhile, M. -d'Urban, who, being jealous for the first time, was the more seriously -so, having learned that the chevalier was with his wife, shut the doors, -and posted himself in the ante-chamber with his servants, in order to -seize him as he came out. But the chevalier, who had ceased to trouble -himself about Madame d'Urban's tears, heard all the preparations, and, -suspecting some ambush, opened the window, and, although it was one -o'clock in the afternoon and the place was full of people, jumped out of -the window into the street, and did not hurt himself at all, though the -height was twenty feet, but walked quietly home at a moderate pace. - -The same evening, the chevalier, intending to relate his new adventure -in all its details, invited some of his friends to sup with him at the -pastrycook Lecoq's. This man, who was a brother of the famous Lecoq of -the rue Montorgueil, was the cleverest eating-house-keeper in Avignon; -his own unusual corpulence commended his cookery, and, when he stood at -the door, constituted an advertisement for his restaurant. The good man, -knowing with what delicate appetites he had to deal, did his very best -that evening, and that nothing might be wanting, waited upon his guests -himself. They spent the night drinking, and towards morning the -chevalier and his companions, being then drunk, espied their host -standing respectfully at the door, his face wreathed in smiles. The -chevalier called him nearer, poured him out a glass of wine and made him -drink with them; then, as the poor wretch, confused at such an honour, -was thanking him with many bows, he said:-- - -"Pardieu, you are too fat for Lecoq, and I must make you a capon." - -This strange proposition was received as men would receive it who were -drunk and accustomed by their position to impunity. The unfortunate -pastry-cook was seized, bound down upon the table, and died under their -treatment. The vice-legate being informed of the murder by one of the -waiters, who had run in on hearing his master's shrieks, and had found -him, covered with blood, in the hands of his butchers, was at first -inclined to arrest the chevalier and bring him conspicuously to -punishment. But he was restrained by his regard for the Cardinal de -Bouillon, the chevalier's uncle, and contented himself with warning the -culprit that unless he left the town instantly he would be put into the -hands of the authorities. The chevalier, who was beginning to have had -enough of Avignon, did not wait to be told twice, ordered the wheels of -his chaise to be greased and horses to be brought. In the interval -before they were ready the fancy took him to go and see Madame d'Urban -again. - -As the house of the marquise was the very last at which, after the -manner of his leaving it the day before, the chevalier was expected at -such an hour, he got in with the greatest ease, and, meeting a -lady's-maid, who was in his interests, was taken to the room where the -marquise was. She, who had not reckoned upon seeing the chevalier again, -received him with all the raptures of which a woman in love is capable, -especially when her love is a forbidden one. But the chevalier soon put -an end to them by announcing that his visit was a visit of farewell, and -by telling her the reason that obliged him to leave her. The marquise -was like the woman who pitied the fatigue of the poor horses that tore -Damien limb from limb; all her commiseration was for the chevalier, who -on account of such a trifle was being forced to leave Avignon. At last -the farewell had to be uttered, and as the chevalier, not knowing what -to say at the fatal moment, complained that he had no memento of her, -the marquise took down the frame that contained a portrait of herself -corresponding with one of her husband, and tearing out the canvas, -rolled, it up and gave it to the chevalier. The latter, so far from -being touched by this token of love, laid it down, as he went away, upon -a piece of furniture, where the marquise found it half an hour later. -She imagined that his mind being so full of the original, he had -forgotten the copy, and representing to herself the sorrow which the -discovery of this forgetfulness would cause him, she sent for a servant, -gave him the picture, and ordered him to take horse and ride after the -chevalier's chaise. The man took a post-horse, and, making great speed, -perceived the fugitive in the distance just as the latter had finished -changing horses. He made violent signs and shouted loudly, in order to -stop the postillion. But the postillion having told his fare that he saw -a man coming on at full speed, the chevalier supposed himself to be -pursued, and bade him go on as fast as possible. This order was so well -obeyed that the unfortunate servant only came up with the chaise a -league and a half farther on; having stopped the postillion, he got off -his horse, and very respectfully presented to the chevalier the picture -which he had been bidden to bring him. But the chevalier, having -recovered from his first alarm, bade him go about his business, and take -back the portrait--which was of no use to him--to the sender. The -servant, however, like a faithful messenger, declared that his orders -were positive, and that he should not dare go back to Madame d'Urban -without fulfilling them. The chevalier, seeing that he could not conquer -the man's determination, sent his postillion to a farrier, whose house -lay on the road, for a hammer and four nails, and with his own hands -nailed the portrait to the back of his chaise; then he stepped in again, -bade the postillion whip up his horses, and drove away, leaving Madame -d'Urban's messenger greatly astonished at the manner in which the -chevalier had used his mistress's portrait. - -At the next stage, the postillion, who was going back, asked for his -money, and the chevalier answered that he had none. The postillion -persisted; then the chevalier got out of his chaise, unfastened Madame -d'Urban's portrait, and told him that he need only put it up for sale in -Avignon and declare how it had come into his possession, in order to -receive twenty times the price of his stage; the postillion, seeing that -nothing else was to be got out of the chevalier, accepted the pledge, -and, following his instructions precisely, exhibited it next morning at -the door of a dealer in the town, together with an exact statement of -the story. The picture was bought back the same day for twenty-five -Louis. - -As may be supposed, the adventure was much talked of throughout the -town. Next day, Madame d'Urban disappeared, no one knew whither, at the -very time when the relatives of the marquis were met together and had -decided to ask the king for a 'lettre-de-cachet'. One of the gentlemen -present was entrusted with the duty of taking the necessary steps; but -whether because he was not active enough, or whether because he was in -Madame d'Urban's interests, nothing further was heard in Avignon of any -consequences ensuing from such steps. In the meantime, Madame d'Urban, -who had gone to the house of an aunt, opened negotiations with her -husband that were entirely successful, and a month after this adventure -she returned triumphantly to the conjugal roof. - -Two hundred pistoles, given by the Cardinal de Bouillon, pacified the -family of the unfortunate pastry-cook, who at first had given notice of -the affair to the police, but who soon afterwards withdrew their -complaint, and gave out that they had taken action too hastily on the -strength of a story told in joke, and that further inquiries showed -their relative to have died of an apoplectic stroke. - -Thanks--to this declaration, which exculpated the Chevalier de Bouillon -in the eyes of the king, he was allowed, after travelling for two years -in Italy and in Germany, to return undisturbed to France. - -Thus ends, not the family of Ganges, but the commotion which the family -made in the world. From time to time, indeed, the playwright or the -novelist calls up the pale and bloodstained figure of the marquise to -appear either on the stage or in a book; but the evocation almost always -ceases at her, and many persons who have written about the mother do not -even know what became of the children. Our intention has been to fill -this gap; that is why we have tried to tell what our predecessors left -out, and try offer to our readers what the stage--and often the actual -world--offers; comedy after melodrama. - - - - - ---- - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARQUISE DE GANGES *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2758 - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so -the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and -trademark. 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