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+Project Gutenberg's The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3), by Lewis Wingfield
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3)
+       A Tale of the Dark Days of France
+
+Author: Lewis Wingfield
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38865]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAID OF HONOUR, VOL. 1 (OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=YxBLAAAAIAAJ
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE MAID OF HONOUR
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE MAID OF HONOUR
+
+
+                  A Tale of the Dark Days of France
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                       THE HON. LEWIS WINGFIELD
+
+                              AUTHOR OF
+
+         "LADY GRIZEL," "THE LORDS OF STROGUE," "ABIGEL ROWE"
+
+                                 ETC.
+
+
+
+
+
+                          _IN THREE VOLUMES_
+                               VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON
+                       RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
+           Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.
+
+                                 1891
+
+                       [_All Rights Reserved_]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                  TO
+
+                        WILLIAM HENRY WELDON.
+
+                              A TRIBUTE
+
+                          OF OLD FRIENDSHIP.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+       On The Volcano, 1789
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+       Husband And Wife.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+       Investigation.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+       The Chateau Of Lorge.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+       The Half-brothers.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+
+       Temptation.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+       A Terrible Discovery.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+       A New Arrival.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+       Thunder Clouds.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+       The Magic Tub.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE MAID OF HONOUR.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                        ON THE VOLCANO, 1789.
+
+
+Although there was no cash in silken fob or broidered pocket, the
+Elect denied themselves no luxury. Bejewelled Fashion was sumptuously
+clad: my ladies quarrelled and intrigued, danced and gambled--my lords
+slept off the fumes of wine, and mopped the wounds begot of midnight
+brawl; then drank and fought again.
+
+Money? No credit even. Trade was at a standstill, yet the court was
+uproariously gay.
+
+Money and credit--sinews of pleasure as well as business--having
+flitted from lively Paris, you might suppose that the wheels of
+Society would cease to turn--that the flower-decked car of gilded
+Juggernaut would come creeping to a standstill. Not yet. Impelled by
+the impulse of its own velocity, it continued to crush on awhile.
+Those who knew were numbed by the chill shadow of the inevitable, or
+rendered callous by the knowledge of their helplessness. Those who
+were deaf and blind groped blissfully on in their lighthearted
+ignorance. Selfish all, depraved most, the blue-blooded sang in merry
+chorus, "Let us eat and drink that the worms may grow fat on us." Not
+so the gaunt crowds whose blood was but mud and water. As their
+long-suffering ancestors had monotonously done, they groaned in
+unison, crying to God for death, as the only release from misery.
+
+What if whole villages were decimated by famine? What if plague and
+starvation stalked through the towns? My lords and my ladies cared
+not, for they were poised too high to see. Were the grovelling
+creatures slaves or insects? Slaves, for they delved patiently, with
+moans that were vain bleatings as of sheep; whereas outraged insects
+for the most part sting.
+
+We all know that the first duty of serfs is to labour for their
+betters: their second, when the worn machinery is out of gear, to
+retire underground with promptitude. How unseemly--nay, revolting,
+therefore, is their conduct when, weary of groaning and of
+teeth-gnashing, they belabour with fists instead!
+
+The scene we look upon is a tranquil and a pretty one, despite certain
+vague and ominous rumours which, intangible, permeate the air. The
+favourite saloon of Her Majesty, Marie Antoinette, in the Palace of
+the Tuileries, is a small, square chamber decorated with raised
+garlands, flutes, and tambourines in carved wood, painted a dead
+white, mellowed now by the glimmer of many candles, shaded. Curtains
+and furniture are yellow, embroidered with gold; the bare floor is
+waxed and polished, reflecting the costly and varied rainbow garb of
+some forty assembled guests. Through open casements--it is a warm
+evening in July--we mark the majestic outline of the venerable Louvre
+cut black against the blue--a calm unclouded blue, loftily oblivious
+of angry curls of darkling smoke which two days since uprose from the
+ruins of the stormed Bastile. Doors as well as windows are spread wide
+to woo the air; a bevy of ladies, glittering with gems, are fanning
+themselves languidly. Through the portals on the right you obtain a
+glimpse of the remains of supper: a dainty repast, fit for fastidious
+fairies; such an ideal cosy feast as the queen loved to conjure for
+her familiars. Through the left door we may perceive an array of green
+tables with gilt legs, at which gentlemen clad in satins of delicate
+hue are squabbling over the devil's books. Their voices from time to
+time grow angry, their talk unduly loud. But for the adjacent presence
+of the queen, swords might be drawn and blood spilt. Young Monsieur de
+Castellane, officer in the Swiss Guard, has just lost his paternal
+acres to the Marquis de Gange, a fact which, in the latter, seems to
+evoke no sign of interest. With the usual luck of players who are
+quite indifferent, Fortune had befriended the marquis, and yet, as
+things were, the prize was an empty bauble--a mere meaningless array
+of lands with high-sounding names which looked vastly well--on paper.
+
+The Marquis de Gange was an absentminded person, given to reverie and
+the contemplation of the infinite, and it is somewhat annoying to lose
+even paper property to one so utterly unappreciative.
+
+Roused by the congratulations of the surrounding group of butterflies,
+the marquis descended for a moment to earth, and laughed lightly.
+
+"A profitable stake to win, in sooth," he observed, with a yawn.
+"Castellane! I hereby resign your empty title-deeds, having quite
+enough such foolish lumber of my own. Your part of the country is a
+caldron, mine is a furnace. Thank heaven, my wife's estates are in a
+land of peace, or, like many more, we should be beggars."
+
+"It is not given to everyone to mate with a great heiress," remarked
+rueful Castellane, feeling in his empty pocket.
+
+"You should look out for one," said the marquis, serenely smiling,
+"for you know that since the Third Estate has raised its ugly head,
+you don't dare to show your nose at Castellane. The tenants would
+growl of rights of man, and prod your silk stockings with their
+pitchforks."
+
+"That's true enough," sighed the young scapegrace, with a puzzled air.
+"Though they deserve the galleys for their temerity, they are patted
+on the back by our too lenient sovereign--a mob of insolent
+ragamuffins! Last time I travelled south, I was worried to
+fiddle-strings by deputations whom I declined to see--a parcel of
+unpractical idiots, who, when I demanded rents, babbled of redress of
+grievances. Really, de Gauge, you may keep the title-deeds, for, since
+no one will lend a louis on them, they are no better than a musty
+mockery."
+
+The butterflies enjoyed the jest and laughed in chorus. There was
+something delightfully whimsical about the fact that the acres for
+which heroes had bled, and which had been enjoyed in majestic fashion
+by a long line of noble ancestors, should--as in the fairy tale--be
+transmuted into heaps of dead and mouldy leaves.
+
+After the laugh came silence, for were they not all in the same
+battered boat? No matter. Whate'er betide, they must sink or swim
+together.
+
+"Awkward customers, the Third Estate," some one remarked presently.
+"That untoward matter of the Bastile may prove an evil precedent."
+
+"Pooh!" yawned a stout old gentleman, whose weatherbeaten visage was
+round and of a bluish red. "A flash in the pan--a paltry riot--a piece
+of low impertinence which ministers, if they were not hopelessly
+idiotic, should have foreseen and smothered. Stick to the title-deeds,
+son-in-law. If you live long enough, they will be useful some day."
+
+"No," replied de Gange, carelessly. "Thanks to you, maréchal, my
+nest's well feathered. Gabrielle has enough for both."
+
+The wealthy old Maréchal de Brèze looked pleased. When you have hit on
+a suitable match for your heiress during an epidemic of impecuniosity,
+it is well to be assured that the fortunate spouse is not a greedy
+gold-seeker. "Clovis!" he cried heartily, "give me your hand. You are
+queer and dreamy, beyond my poor comprehension; but I believe--yes, I
+do!--that you are an upright and honest man!"
+
+"Treason, maréchal! High treason! How dare you say rude things of
+ministers? Come and join the ladies. We affect learning, remember,
+nowadays, and can bandy wisdom with the best of you!"
+
+It was the magical voice of Marie herself, whose silver tones had
+fluttered so many hearts to their undoing; whose radiant beauty and
+light spirits had given rise to such dark intrigues. The gentlemen,
+obeying the merry summons, streamed into the saloon, and were soon
+bowing, with bent spines and squared elbows, over the tiny cups of
+coffee, which, as her wont was, she distributed with her own hands.
+The king was not present, for he abhorred gambling and late hours, and
+on the _soirées intimes_ of his consort invariably sought refuge in
+his study.
+
+"Louise de Savoye," commanded the queen in mock tragic tones, "hand
+round the cakes. Perform your office of mistress of the household.
+From your fair fingers they will taste all the sweeter."
+
+"Promise, then, not to talk of the horrid _tiers état_," replied the
+lady addressed, with a little shudder. "Those who saw the dreadful
+women dancing and shouting like fiends as they marched in triumph from
+the Bastile, will not forget the spectacle."
+
+"Madame la Princesse de Lamballe was always nervous," laughed M. de
+Castellane.
+
+"Yes," replied the princess, simply. "I don't know why, but I am
+desperately afraid of a mob."
+
+"We were all a little frightened at first," observed the queen; "for
+when we heard the booming of artillery which sounded so terribly
+close, and beheld the infatuated madcaps carrying away their dead, we
+could not comprehend the freak. 'Tis a pity it was crowned with
+success, for it will put foolish ideas into ignorant minds. But it
+will lead to nothing, I am assured, and all's well that ends well.
+When the king announced this morning that he was going to the
+Assembly, without guards or escort, I thought he must have lost his
+wits; but events showed that he was wise, as he always is. His
+confidence in the loyalty of the deputies combined with his simple and
+touching address, excited the keenest enthusiasm. The shouting throng
+escorted him on foot all the way hither to the palace. I am not
+ashamed to say that as from a balcony Lamballe and I contemplated the
+affecting scene of warm devotion, we clasped each other and wept."
+
+"For every precious tear," murmured de Castellane, "we'll have the
+life-drops of the canaille!"
+
+"God forbid!" ejaculated the queen, with sudden pallor. "I wish them
+no ill if they would spare his majesty their vagaries. Love them I
+cannot, for I am not Christian enough to love my enemies. I wonder--I
+wonder----"
+
+"What, dear mistress?" inquired a tall young lady plainly dressed in
+white, who was the most beautiful member even of that favoured circle.
+"What causes our queen to wonder?"
+
+"I wonder what will be the end--that's all, dear Gabrielle," laughed
+the volatile Marie, recovering her spirits. "What will happen to me;
+to our precious Lamballe; to you; to your shocking pedant of a husband
+there, who as usual is in cloudland?"
+
+The beautiful lady whom she called Gabrielle, glanced at the
+abstracted Marquis de Gange, who was her husband, and shivered. There
+was an odd look upon his face sometimes which she had not the wit to
+decipher. What was he doing in cloudland so far removed from her?
+Then, when he dropped down to earth again, he would smile vaguely but
+pleasantly enough, and the strange impression would fade from her
+mind. Her wistful eyes were more often fixed on him than his on hers,
+which is curious, considering her beauty.
+
+"The veil which hides the future is a precious boon," reflected the
+queen, "and yet we all burn to pierce it."
+
+"That is because we should not," observed Madame de Lamballe, with
+conviction, "on the principle of Eve and the apple, you know. A
+fortune-teller once took my hand to read my fortune, and what she read
+on my palm was so appalling that she fainted. I have had the
+discretion never to inquire further."
+
+"Pooh, I am not so prudent," mused her majesty. "Three times have I
+sought to pierce the veil, with the same result--repentance."
+
+"I pray you in pity--hush!" implored the Marquise de Gange. "My
+husband dragged me once to see a horrible old hag who lived like a
+savage in a den somewhere--I know not where. She performed
+incantations and drew my horoscope. It makes my flesh creep to think
+of it!"
+
+"Was it so ghastly?" inquired Marie Antoinette in a low tone of awe.
+"So was mine. Horoscopes are nightmares. And so it seems was that of
+our beloved Louise. I wonder--how I wonder what will be the end of
+it?"
+
+She glanced around at the company, and all looked sympathetically
+glum. If the gipsies had with one accord been so audaciously rude to
+the three beauties as to hint at unpleasant things in the future, what
+was to be done? Was a crusade to be preached, for the annihilation of
+the peccant race? Fat old de Brèze might pay expenses, and, like Peter
+the Hermit, rally the avenging force. Old de Brèze was a soldier who
+had won his spurs, yet instead of sounding a clarion and calling
+squires to arm him _cap-a-pie_, he only shuffled in his chair and
+snuffled uneasily while de Castellane snorted with ardour. Clearly the
+crusade was not likely to answer; it was a trifle out of date; and yet
+the fact remained that the fiat of the Fates had gone forth against
+the lovely trio. The Marquis de Gange was a mystic, well acquainted
+with the tortuous ways and spiteful tricks of the fatal three. Perhaps
+he would kindly elucidate the situation? No. His wife gazed wistfully
+at him. He looked furtively at her, then, smiling, lowered his eyes,
+and again sank into his accustomed reverie. The marquise sighed
+deeply, and concealed her face behind her fan.
+
+The April visage of the queen was sombre; then the cloud cleared.
+
+"Are we not silly," she exclaimed, "to sit trembling before a bogey? A
+fig for the gipsies! Despite their lugubrious hints here am I, after
+over fifteen years of prosperous wedded life, queen of the land most
+favoured by nature in the world, adored by my husband and my children.
+What can woman desire more than complete domestic bliss? What say you,
+Gabrielle?"
+
+The Marquise de Gange, target for a circle of inquiring eyes, blushed
+crimson and turned away.
+
+"This is too good!" cried the queen in glee, drawing her friend
+towards her to imprint a kiss upon her brow. "You naughty, wayward
+girl! You are wicked and tempt Providence. A blush and something like
+a tear--ay, and a sigh, from the bosom of Gabrielle, Marquise de
+Gange--the only woman in the country who has any money--the most
+beautiful girl in France, whose wonderful complexion has gained for
+her the sobriquet of 'the Lily.' Yes, you are, and I admit it without
+envy. Blessed with a passable husband and two lovely babes, and an
+admirable mother and a doting father! Fie! You are ungrateful, but we
+must not see you punished."
+
+Marie Antoinette's enjoyment increased as she poured forth her
+raillery, and marked the confusion of the marquise.
+
+"Monsieur de Gange. Descend to earth and come into court!" she cried.
+"Confess! What have you done to Gabrielle? Have you lost heavily at
+cards? No? You are jealous that her name should be the toast on every
+lip? No? You are put out because she understands nothing of the
+philosopher's stone? Not even that? I give it up. Fortune has spoiled
+you, child. As Figaro says, '_Qu'avez vous fait pour tants de biens?
+Vous vous êtes donnée la peine de naître--rien de plus!_'"
+
+The marquis made a low bow and contemplated his fair wife with a
+moonlit kind of satisfaction, but answered nothing.
+
+"He disdains to plead!" laughed Madame de Lamballe.
+
+"Guilty or not guilty--say!" cried Marie Antoinette. "Dumb? Maréchal
+de Brèze! we surrender to you the prisoner that you may investigate
+and do your duty. We have respectful confidence in that strange
+phenomenon, a rich man, at a time when all others are paupers. Look
+after Gabrielle, Mr. Money-bag! Shield her from a designing husband
+who, I begin to believe, conceals the raffish vices of a rake under
+the mask of recondite erudition."
+
+The Marquise de Gange was unnecessarily perturbed by the lively sally,
+and tapped her wooden heel upon the floor.
+
+"Alack, madam!" declared the marquis, compelled to speak, "I regret to
+be so unmodish as to have few of the fashionable vices. Instead of
+pleading in my own behalf, I would, if I dared, take up the cudgels
+for another. Doctor Mesmer----"
+
+"The arch charlatan!" exclaimed the queen, raising both hands in
+protest.
+
+"Not so. Others have aped his ways; have draped themselves in tawdry
+frippery which bore some semblance to his robes. In spite of calumny,
+and persecution, and fraudulent imitation and roguish arts, the master
+remains the master still, although he be unjustly banished by those
+whom he has benefited."
+
+"The statue has come to life!" tittered Madame de Lamballe.
+"Cagliostro was unmasked as a cheat, so the one who went before wisely
+shook off his dust at him. Let us all agree to be convinced that
+Mesmer is a persecuted saint. We have the marquis's word for it. Let
+us have Mesmer back at once from banishment. Perchance he will employ
+his occult essences to calm the Parisian mob!"
+
+"The king will not permit him to return to France," the queen said
+doubtfully; "yet as an empiric he was fascinating."
+
+"When your majesty deigns to say I am in cloudland," remarked the
+marquis, with a high-bred courtesy, in which was a tinge of scorn,
+"you will understand that my spirit is on earth--at Spa--the refuge in
+exile of the master."
+
+"I see it all!" said Madame de Lamballe, flourishing her fan. "It is
+Gabrielle who is jealous--and of Mesmer! What singular complications
+are produced by mystical alliances. A husband has a lovely wife, for
+whom everyone else is sighing, and is no whit jealous of _her_ because
+he is an absorbed neophyte at the fount of wisdom. The prophet usurps
+his soul and his will. Where is the poor wife then?"
+
+"What cruel things are said in jest!" Gabrielle cried hotly, breaking
+her silence at last. "I am not unhappy; and if I were, it would be no
+one's concern but mine. I care no sou for Mesmer or Cagliostro, or any
+of the conjuring rout. Jealous of such creatures--faugh!"
+
+A shrunken dame who had been slumbering in a corner awoke with a
+start, and guiltily conscious of a nap, became garrulous in a weak
+piping treble like the irresponsible murmur of a rivulet.
+
+"Your majesty is misinformed," she babbled plaintively. "People will
+say such things, and go to mass o' Sundays. Our daughter Gabrielle is
+happy as the day is long--why not? Clovis isn't jealous one bit, and
+quite right too. He lets her do as she likes, go where she likes,
+doesn't care where she goes. Perfect trust is a fine thing, but I
+often tell him that it is rash to throw so fair a creature into
+temptation, for who knows what they'll do until they are tempted?
+Gabrielle, I must admit, though quite a saint, can be as provoking as
+saints often were. And they, the saints, were so dreadfully frail
+sometimes, and so easily forgiven, and then held up to us as patterns.
+I can't quite make it out. If I had ever dreamed of doing half the
+shocking things that the canonized saints did, I should---- Eh?--oh!"
+
+With that the rivulet ceased to flow as abruptly as it had begun, and
+the queen, who had with difficulty curbed her merriment, looked round
+for the cause of interruption. She beheld a little stout gentleman,
+with a round, blue-red face, in a state of imminent explosion. He whom
+she had declared to command the respect due to wealth, showed signs of
+choking from exasperation. His features had swelled till his bead-like
+eyes were scarcely visible; his finger nails were clenched into his
+palms. It was some seconds ere he could splutter out his spleen. Then
+with a deprecating look at her majesty, he gasped out--
+
+"Majesté, pardon her. A fool! Always and for ever a fool--and my wife
+too."
+
+Then, forgetting the presence in which he sat, he continued in white
+heat--
+
+"I'll dash your stupid head against the wall when we get home. To dare
+to make your own daughter ridiculous before this company! To make your
+own flesh and blood absurd, through your incorrigible idiocy! Not that
+you can do it, for she's an angel straight from heaven. Provoking,
+forsooth! My darling--the idol of my heart! The Marquis de Gange knows
+better than to ill-treat his wife. If he did--well; old battered
+soldier though I am, I'd be even with him in a way he'd not forget."
+
+"Oh--so harsh--always so harsh!" whimpered the rivulet in choking
+gasps. "Quite like dear M. Montgolfier's fire-balloon! I did not
+mean----"
+
+"Hold your tongue!" snorted the maréchal in a menacing whisper--"and
+wait till we get home."
+
+The situation, like many born of jesting, grew embarrassing. Old
+soldiers, especially when rich, may be allowed a certain freedom. But
+the ways of the barrack-yard may not be introduced into palaces. Marie
+Antoinette was not averse to a certain licence, which should banish
+for the time being the buckramed etiquette that she so loathed. But a
+family skeleton suddenly popping out of ambush to shake all its joints
+and grin with all its teeth! How uncomely a spectacle at the
+Tuileries! The assembled company, too, evidently enjoyed the fun, and
+would surely spread the story all over Paris on the morrow as the
+style of repartée that obtained at the queen's gatherings. If the
+episode, harmless in itself, were to reach the king's ears, he would
+be annoyed, and justly in such times as these, when everybody's hand
+was beginning to clutch his neighbour's throat. How many an innocent
+jest of Marie Antoinette's had already been built by malice into the
+proportions of a mountain? Unwittingly, she had, as it appeared, set
+fire to a mine. Gabrielle looked sorely distressed; her husband
+sullen, in that his pleading had failed, and that he could do nothing
+on behalf of the _savant_ whom he worshipped. Her mother hazily
+perceived that it would be well to cork down the ebullient
+effervescence of her prattle, while the beady eyes of the maréchal,
+moving from the husband to the wife and back again, seemed to have
+detected the trace of something that was new, the discovery of which
+was disconcerting.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+                           HUSBAND AND WIFE.
+
+
+When it is so plain to lookers-on that people ought to be happy, how
+perverse it is of them to be miserable! As the queen had declared,
+Gabrielle Marquise de Gange had no ostensible excuse for wretchedness.
+The specks on the sun of her good fortune were so tiny as to be
+well-nigh invisible. Upon the background of her portrait by Madame le
+Brun, that ingenious artist had inscribed in a hand so clear that all
+who ran might read, "The fairest woman of her time."
+
+Mademoiselle Gabrielle de Brèze, when she appeared at court in the
+capacity of maid of honour, took the town by storm. Veteran
+lady-killers withdrew gold toothpicks from their gums to vow that so
+brilliant a complexion, such melting eyes that changed like the moody
+sea, from blue to deepest violet, such a bewitching little nose, and
+such deliciously fresh lips, had never been seen before; "and her
+figure! and her ankle!! and her arm and shoulder!!!" chimed in the
+younger swains whose hearts were already in their hands to be flung
+down as a palpitating carpet for her dainty little shoes.
+
+The queen was enchanted with the success of her _protégée_, who was
+speedily surrounded by an increasing circle of danglers who minced
+with toes turned out, shook back their costly ruffles, and lisped the
+most honeyed compliments from morn to dewy eve. She enjoyed her new
+position vastly, was blithe as a young bird, and gazed fearlessly on
+into a future, which seemed an interminable vista paved with roses.
+Nor was she the least spoilt by adulation. She liked flattery, as
+every pretty woman does, but looked forward at no very distant period
+to the sober, substantial enjoyment of calm domestic happiness. When
+it pleased her parents to provide a spouse, she was prepared to take
+him to her heart as a dutiful daughter should, and lavish on him all
+the treasures of a young and guileless affection.
+
+The king was glad of her success, because she was the child of the
+Maréchal de Brèze, a veteran of the good old school, whose body had
+been improved and beautified by honourable scars won in his country's
+battles. As for Madame de Brèze, people endured her existence. She was
+a fool and a chatterbox, and wrinkled to boot, with an extraordinary
+capacity for seeing things awry, and sagely commenting on them after
+the fashion of a Greek chorus. No one took heed of her, but all liked
+and respected the red-visaged old soldier whose rough rind covered a
+generous nature, and whose purse-strings were always slack.
+
+For the Maréchal de Brèze was no mere soldier of fortune with naught
+in his valise except a bâton. He was rich in moneys safely banked with
+Necker at Geneva; possessed estates in smiling Touraine; and,
+moreover, was afflicted with the possession of an ancient and dismal
+chateau on the Loire, whose waters mirrored a labyrinth of
+high-pitched roofs, gaunt turrets, and grim gargoyles.
+
+Of noble birth, entrancingly lovely, and an heiress. Heavens! what a
+combination; and at a time, too, as the queen had remarked, when
+everyone was out at elbows. It was evident that such a phenomenon must
+be snapped up at once; and straightway--helter-skelter up the wide
+stairs of the Hotel de Brèze rushed a mob of needy suitors--a hungry
+pack, yelling in full cry, whose ravenous ardour so scared madame that
+she forgot to improve the occasion. They had never loved till now,
+they cried in unison. Their quarterings were legion, their rent-rolls
+were miles long. The tenants never paid, and the ermine was somewhat
+mud-stained, but these were trifling details. They all adored the
+divine Gabrielle for herself--her angel form alone; that she should
+happen to be an heiress was another detail, and of course rather a
+drawback than otherwise.
+
+The maréchal laughed till his round red face was blue, for these
+disinterested persons oozed with ravening greed. The queen looked
+grave. To save her favourite from the maw of vultures was a
+responsibility she would not shirk. A spouse must be found for
+Gabrielle who might be trusted not to be outrageously bad to her. In
+these days a good husband of fitting rank was an extinct animal.
+Warily scanning the horizon, Marie Antoinette fixed, as the fitting
+swain, on Clovis, Marquis de Gange, and de Brèze agreed with her
+majesty that Clovis was just the man.
+
+So far as family went, the De Ganges could compete with the noblest.
+Acres had dwindled; tenants were recalcitrant; Clovis's income was
+little more than nominal, but nowadays poverty was modish in the
+highest circles; and, besides, it is well that the husband of a great
+heiress should be kept under due control. The cunning old soldier had
+settled long ago that the spouse of his daughter should not make ducks
+and drakes of her broad pieces, at least without her full consent. He
+had arranged in his own mind that he would bind up the money tight,
+and place it in her hands, hedged about with safeguards when called to
+another world. Till then he would himself dispense his fortune as his
+darling should wish and dictate. To this arrangement de Gange was
+quite agreeable, knowing that the maréchal was no skin-flint who would
+need abject suing. The old gentleman, who flattered himself that he
+was a judge of character, scanned the young man's features with keen
+scrutiny, and on the smooth surface could detect nothing of the
+ravenous wolf. The marquis was a tall, well-built, handsome fellow,
+dreamy and absent in manner, pedantic in his ways, a trifle too much
+enamoured of the crotchets of his day.
+
+In the waning eighteenth century, while ladies were hopelessly
+frivolous or else weighed down with pedantry, the gentlemen came for
+the most part under three categories. There was the debauched
+voluptuary, ruined alike in health, purse, and reputation, whose
+honour was perforce upon his sleeve, since there was no room in his
+body for aught but selfishness. Then there was a feeble imitator who
+was as artistically unsatisfactory as nondescripts always are, for his
+fragment of conscience pulled him one way, and his envious admiration
+of stupendous wickedness another. He was always on the see-saw between
+vice and virtue, barely within touch of either. The third class was
+the most interesting, for it was clothed in mystery and draped in
+paradox. The dark and uncanny and incomprehensible engrossed the minds
+of this set. Revealed religion having been voted out of date by the
+encyclopædists and others, it was necessary to replace the broken idol
+with another. It was affirmed that Nature was moved by secret springs,
+governed by a world of spirits whom it was possible to coerce and
+bring under man's dominion. It was discovered that talismans,
+astrology, magic sciences, were not the vulgar impostures denounced by
+a jealous priestcraft; that the _genus homo_ was composed of two
+distinct organisms, one visible and one invisible, the latter of which
+was privileged to roam freely about the universe, paying morning calls
+in remote planets, communing with angelic hosts. This was a
+fascinating theory for many reasons. The spirits who pulled our
+world-strings were good and bad, and alike vulnerable. Clearly, then,
+it was the distinct duty of philanthropists to fight and conquer those
+who were responsible for human ills. How delightful a sensation to
+seize a naughty spirit by the hair and administer a sound drubbing! To
+wrestle with the one, for instance, who is responsible for gout, and
+return him tweak for tweak! The yoke of the evil ones must be thrown
+off, that humanity, comfortably free from pain and sorrow, might sit
+down and enjoy millennium.
+
+Hence, the dreamy people who vaguely wished well to their fellows,
+joined the train of mystics, laid claim to superior virtue, and
+titillated their petty vanity by posing cheaply as philanthropists.
+
+Then think of the refreshing variety which might be introduced into
+one's amours! A weariful succession of mundane mistresses is so
+palling to a jaded palate. But according to the new creed, as your
+earthly tenement was occupied, _faute de mieux_, by commonplace
+lovemaking and intrigue, your more fortunate other self was blessed by
+an ethereal Affinity. While, in the flesh, you dallied, for want of
+something more amusing to do, at the feet of Phryne, your soul was
+flirting with a seraph somewhere in rarified space. It is gravely and
+seriously related of the visionary Swedenborg that while he resided in
+London, his fleshly frame was continually being refreshed. And how?
+His ethereal essence was in constant communion with that of a noble
+lady in Gutemburg. Their entwined spirits sat on a satin sofa in a
+boudoir illumined by wax candles--which candles were punctually
+lighted by respectful footmen at the accustomed hour of the
+rendezvous.
+
+The high priest of the new creed was Mesmer, a Swabian doctor, who was
+conspicuously successful in waging war against the envious elves who
+undermine the health. As to his career of victory there was no doubt
+whatever, for by hocus-pocus and laying on of hands, he succeeded in
+curing a variety of nervous complaints which the enemy said were due
+to diseased imagination. It was idle to deny that somehow or other he
+did work miracles. Even St. Thomas, arch-doubter, could believe what
+he saw and felt. Under Mesmer's influence the sick took up their beds
+and walked, the halt flung away their crutches. The streets about his
+dwelling were choked with blazoned coaches. The frivolous and the
+earnest alike lost their heads. Considering the peculiarities of his
+temperament--too timid and too lazy to act, and therefore easily
+satisfied with theory--it was in the nature of things that Clovis,
+Marquis de Gange, should be Mesmer's most fervent pupil.
+
+At a period when the peccadilloes of high-born aspirants to eligible
+maidens were apt to be somewhat deep-dyed, it would have been absurd
+to object to a suitor on the frivolous score of mysticism. The most
+exacting of wives could hardly be jealous of a passing flirtation with
+the crystal ball of Doctor Dee. Nor could she fairly take umbrage at
+delicate attentions to a crucible. Clovis and Gabrielle were married
+in the royal chapel, the bride being given away by the most amiable
+and unsinning of hard-used monarchs, and the world (who ought to know)
+said that the future of the happy pair could not be otherwise than
+rosy. They were a model couple, for Clovis was serious and reflective
+beyond his years, with a graceful turn for music, while the lovely
+face of Gabrielle beamed with affectionate pride. She was quiet,
+steady, and domestic, quite smothered under a heap of virtues.
+
+Unfortunately, there were spirits at work who should have been
+detected at once in their mischievous game if Mesmer had not been
+napping, and duly routed by that prophet for the behoof of his dear
+pupil. They should have been carefully exorcised by the Master for his
+benefit, and sent packing into space to worry some one else; but as
+ill-luck would have it, the prophet was no longer present. All the
+medicos of the French capital uprose with one accord, like one large
+man, and sent the great Mesmer flying. If the new creed was to be
+accepted, where would all the doctors be? It was altogether a
+pestilent affair. Bread must not be snatched out of the mouths of
+doctors by designing quacks. Deputations of furious physicians rushed
+to the Tuileries, charging the luckless Swabian with egregious
+misdemeanours, and the king, as was his wont, gave way on the wrong
+occasion. Mesmer fell a victim to professional jealousy and ignorance,
+and was banished from France. He paid clandestine visits to Paris
+between 1785 and 1793, and to the end his following was great, but for
+all that, like many another illustrious pioneer, he was kicked and
+buffeted by ignorance.
+
+The spirits, whom he was too busy in his absence and his anxieties to
+exorcise, played havoc in the new _ménage_. Clovis, who took very
+kindly to the fleshpots, was proud of his wife's beauty and success,
+and in no wise jealous of the danglers. In truth, she was no more to
+him than the _chef-d'[oe]uvre_ of a great painter, which we admire as
+our own until we weary of it; while we take pleasure in listening to
+the praises of the critics thereanent, because it chances to be our
+property; a noble work whose beauties we appreciate for a time with
+the eye of the connoisseur, then--since it is always with us--cease to
+contemplate at all. She was perfect, of course; every one knew that.
+Her husband, however, found little enjoyment in her society, and soon
+came to prefer the contemplation of the over-vaunted charms from a
+respectful distance.
+
+Accustomed as the spoilt beauty was to lavish showers of admiration
+from morning till night, the unexpected coldness of Clovis surprised
+and offended Gabrielle. Had she not in her artless way said, as it
+were, "You are my partner, chosen by the wise ones. I am pure, and
+true, and full of love, and you shall have it all?" It was not within
+her experience to suppose that the chosen partner would care nothing
+for her. How could she suppose that the angel direct from heaven
+(which she was assured that she was at least a dozen times a day) was
+no more to the bone of her bone than a statue to be dusted and
+approved? Gabrielle was extremely proud; had been pampered much. She
+was--alas, that so fair a jewel should be flawed--quite ignorant of
+female wiles. So distressing and blunt an innocence was probably her
+mother's gift. Uncompromisingly straightforward, the young bride, who,
+from the first, was genuinely fond of the handsome marquis, roundly
+accused him of indifference. What had she done to deserve it? As she
+complained, she cried a little, which was tiresome. Men abhor feminine
+whimpering, which always reddens the nose.
+
+She insisted on knowing in what she had offended. Her listening lord
+came down from an excursion in some upper sphere, somewhat irritably
+disposed by the interruption, and abruptly assured the weeping lady
+that she was mistaken. He admired and liked her very much, and would
+like her still better if she would abstain from making scenes. He had
+never been in love, he tranquilly confessed, and never would be; had
+never been in the meshes of any siren. Perhaps his invisible twin-self
+was so devoted somewhere to an "Affinity" as to have engrossed the
+love-capacity of both.
+
+Such an explanation did not mend matters. An Affinity, forsooth--in
+space! More likely one of flesh and blood in hiding round the corner.
+It is humiliating to be calmly told that the man to whom one has given
+oneself till death brings parting, has never been in love--ay--and
+never will be! Stung by a feeling that was half-suspicious jealousy,
+half-outraged pride, the young wife said cutting things which had
+better been left unspoken. The face of the marquis darkened. "It
+depends on yourself," he remarked, coldly, "whether we dwell together
+in peace and amity or not. I have already said that I like and admire
+you very much. You must be content to take people as you find them,
+for it is manifest that no one can give that which he does not
+possess."
+
+It is a grievous thing for a domestically inclined and affectionate
+woman to be rudely exhorted to feed on her own tissues; to discover
+that, as regards herself and the chosen one, affection is all on one
+side. With burning tears of mortification, Gabrielle realised that
+though Clovis was as cold as a corpse, she loved him. Perchance the
+unconscious fear engendered by contact with so unusual and unexpected
+a type, gave birth to a surprised fascination. She set him down as a
+very clever and extremely learned man, and, had he so willed it, would
+have worshipped at his shrine with the unreasoning satisfaction of
+those who are not mentally gifted. She would have whispered with arms
+about his neck, "Dear Clovis! I am not clever enough to rise to your
+level, but I believe all you say because you say it. So kiss me, for I
+am yours for all in all, and so delighted to be lovely and an heiress
+for your dear darling sake!" But how to coo forth such pretty prattle
+to a figure made of wood? How rest content with being coldly liked,
+when you are burning to be beloved? Scathing disappointment and
+disillusion! The beautiful and pampered Gabrielle, fortune's favoured
+child, moped and fretted, and was miserable.
+
+As years went on matters did not improve, for the unseen fingers of
+the naughty spirits were tearing the pair asunder. When she would
+fain have pouted out her lips to kiss, he stretched a surface of
+cheek that was aggressively passive. He was kind according to his
+lights--intended to be quite a model husband, but then wives and
+husbands differ as to the way that leads to perfection. Since there
+could be no sympathy between them, he interfered with her in no wise.
+A man often deems that negative condition of freedom the _summum
+bonum_; not so an affectionate woman. It is said that _mariages de
+convenance_ are in the long run the most satisfactory unions, because
+neither party expects anything, and whatever pleasure may casually
+arise from friendly intercourse is to the good, whereas love-matches
+are built upon the sand, made up of vague yearnings and unpractical
+desires. The inevitable discovery is reached with lamentable rapidity
+that dolls are stuffed with bran, and that in a sadly imperfect world
+"things are not what they seem." But if sympathy is nil--never existed
+at all--what flowers of joy can spring from utter barrenness? Clovis
+adored music, and could discourse prettily enough on the 'cello.
+Alack! Gabrielle had no ear, could not tell Glück from Lulli; the
+droning of the 'cello set her nerves a tingling; and when the
+unappreciated player put down the bow to prate of animal magnetism, as
+expounded by the immortal Mesmer, his beautiful wife grew peevish. Oh,
+foolish Gabrielle! why could you not be affectionately deceitful since
+you loved the man. Is the better sex gifted for nothing with peculiar
+attributes? Why not have compelled yourself, with pardonable
+falsehood, to ask tenderly after the favourite 'cello, have begged to
+be told more of Mesmer? You would, doubtless, have had to listen to
+much that would have profoundly bored you; but is not sweet woman's
+mission self-effacement--the daily swallowing of a large dose of
+boredom? Would you not have been well repaid, if you could have taught
+your husband by cunning degrees to seek your society instead of
+gadding after science; to prefer to all others a seat in your bower,
+with the partner who has become necessary to his comfort?
+
+Certain it is that some of us have a dismal knack of turning our least
+comely side to those whom we like best. Whilst inwardly longing to
+fling herself prone in the mire and embrace his dear, lovely legs, the
+marquise grew nervous in her husband's presence; was fatally impelled
+somehow to play the somnambule, and close up like a sleeping flower.
+
+And so it came about that as time wore on the husband sought his
+wife's society less and less; grew daily more indifferent.
+
+The Marquise de Gange was not one of those who could find distraction
+among danglers. Both education and temperament forbade so improper but
+modish a proceeding. To her the circle of admirers were wired dolls,
+and tiresome puppets, too. Eating her heart in solitude, she might
+have been goaded in time to fly the empty world, and seek the
+consolation of a cloister. But she was saved from such grim comfort by
+the arrival of a pair of cherubs. A boy and a girl were born unto her,
+and thanking God for the saving boon, she arose and felt brave again.
+
+Gabrielle's nature, which had been hardening, though she knew it not,
+softened. For the sake of the pink mites she could consent to live on
+in a world that was no longer empty. By some magical metamorphosis the
+ugly cracks that had yawned across the stony plain had been filled up.
+The dun hideousness which by its drear monotony made the eyes ache was
+masked by blossom and verdure. Crooning over the silver cradle in
+which both treasures slumbered (an extravagance of the enchanted
+maréchal) she built airy palaces of amazing gorgeousness for them to
+dwell in. They were to be shielded by triple walls from care and
+sorrow. To money all, we are told, is possible. Then fell the palaces
+like piles of cards. Had she not herself been shielded? Had not gold
+been freely squandered that not one of her rose leaves should be
+crumpled? Yet--but for the advent of the cherubs, and despite the
+watchful affection of the doting maréchal--had she not been very near
+fleeing from the tinsel grandeur of a squalid globe to take refuge at
+the altar-foot?
+
+The castles insisted on being built, however. Patience and
+long-suffering would reap their reward some day. The cherubs would
+grow up and weave an indissoluble link with their young fingers which
+should draw the estranged parents together and bind them tight at
+last. Their mother would fondly teach them to adore their father, to
+see none but his best side. They would learn to respect his crotchets.
+And at this point she would herself be lost in dreamy reverie. Could
+his tenets with regard to the prophet be aught but midsummer madness?
+There was no doubt that he cured the sick. What if it were really
+possible to rout the wicked demons and produce millennium? To her
+practical but limited intelligence the creed was a farrago of folly.
+But then, Clovis, who was so clever, believed in it. Was she more
+stupid and ignorant even than humility confessed? Then she would rise
+suddenly and go about some household business, with the head-shake of
+the antlered stag that scatters dewdrops. The new creed was blasphemy,
+and she would have naught to do with it. The holy angels would guard
+herself and the dear innocents, if angelic suffrages could be secured
+by never-ceasing fervent prayer.
+
+Sages do not care for babies, though mothers generally do. Clovis,
+when exhorted to that effect, contemplated his offspring once a day as
+some curious product from a distant land, gave each cherub a finger to
+suck, then retired with unseemly alacrity to his 'cello and his books.
+
+The ramifications of secret societies in the metropolis were spreading
+in all directions--societies which deliberated with closed doors to
+escape vulgar ribaldry--bands of philanthropists urged by pure
+benevolence, in search now of a universal panacea. Humanity was a vast
+brotherhood to be united for mutual defence against the machinations
+of the devils. Exhorted by Mesmer from a distance, the faithful toiled
+quietly on, that the name of their master might be exalted.
+
+So matters progressed in humdrum fashion for several years, and Clovis
+was placidly content; but as the procession of the months went by, a
+gradual change came over the societies, which, when he became aware of
+it, filled the unmilitant soul of the marquis with dread. Bold
+philanthropists, at midnight meetings, would sometimes give vent to
+new and startling views, affecting not health, but politics. A few
+presumed openly to declare that the evil spirits had got into the
+ministers, from whom they must be quickly expelled. Considering that
+ministries fell and rose just now at brief intervals, it was shocking
+to think how many bad spirits must be at work. M. Necker and Turgot,
+and brilliantly fertile Calonne, were all occupied by fiends who
+entered in and made themselves comfortable, as the hermit-crab invades
+the shell of the creature he has devoured. This theorem being
+established, it became the duty of the philanthropists to busy
+themselves on behalf of their country, which needed special as well as
+prompt doctoring. Then uprose speakers whose discourse smacked little
+of philanthropy, but savoured rather of iconoclasm. The Marquis de
+Gange, noble and wealthy, would make a splendid figure-head for the
+budding movement. Ere he could recover breath, or gather the scattered
+strands of his scared wits, Clovis found himself on the point of
+becoming an important political personage, and at a moment when
+prominence and personal peril marched hand in hand abreast. He
+prudently took to shunning the places of meeting, which but the other
+day had been his favourite resorts, for he had a horror of politics,
+and objected to being made a hero; but the agitators declined to let
+him escape so easily. They pursued him to his home, strove to convince
+him that he was a patriot; by turns threatened and cajoled, till the
+dreamer in an agony beheld no safety but in flight. A pretty state of
+things! Was not his wife the favourite of the queen; his father-in-law
+esteemed by the king? What would the verdict of his class be, were he
+to turn round and bite the hands that had caressed him? He would be
+ostracised, undone, held up to merited obloquy. He had no ambition to
+become another Lafayette, and declined to be convinced by argument. To
+avoid being mixed in complications fraught with danger, it would be
+prudent to vanish for a time, but whither to retire was the rub. He
+wished to stay and yet to go, and bit his nails in indecision.
+Concealed anxiety made calm Clovis querulous and snappish, and
+Gabrielle was not slow to perceive that he was suffering, though the
+cause she could not guess. He had got himself into some mess. Was it
+money? If only he would let her share his worries! Her timid overtures
+were promptly nipped; terror made him absolutely harsh. Sighing, she
+fell back upon herself, as usual, and kissed the cherubs in their bed.
+
+At the time when this story opens, July, 1789, the marquis and his
+wife had been married six years. The latter, though easily led by
+kindness, could fitfully display sometimes symptoms of independence.
+As a loving and self-respecting woman, she had kept with infinite care
+her catalogue of troubles from her parents. They, content with
+constant assurances that all was well, desired no further information.
+Madame de Brèze had settled, to her complete satisfaction, that her
+son-in-law was a harmless lunatic. When she obliged him with her
+views, he looked through her at something beyond. But then, who had
+ever appreciated her sagacity? Well, well. Have not some of our
+brightest lights been misunderstood while alive, to be tardily
+canonized afterwards? As for M. de Brèze, he was perfectly satisfied
+with Clovis, who, if eccentric and somewhat fish-like, was
+delightfully free from vices. If a man is perfect in manners and
+deportment, always civil and obliging, surely you may forgive the
+small drawbacks which go with the visionary and the bookworm. The
+bluff soldier would have had him drink and gamble more, just to show
+that he was human and a man, and be less fond of mysterious societies.
+But as Clovis had himself remarked, we must take people as we find
+them, and be content with mercies vouchsafed. Why! The marquis might
+have turned out an incorrigible rake; have squandered large sums
+coaxed from his wife on low theatrical hussies. Thank goodness, he
+showed no signs of breaking out in that direction; and it was not
+until the _soirée intime_ at the palace that it came home to the
+doting father that there might be something amiss in the _ménage_.
+
+Gabrielle had looked so unaccountably distressed and confused. She was
+concealing something--what? Was the placid marquis an ogre in private?
+Of course not. As he strolled home the maréchal made up his mind to
+pump Toinon on the morrow, and, from hints ingeniously extracted from
+that astute damsel, severely catechise his daughter.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+                            INVESTIGATION.
+
+
+Who was Toinon? A very important personage. Foster-sister and
+confidential abigail to the Marquise de Gange, the two were as united
+as if they had indeed been sisters.
+
+Of pretty dark-eyed roguish Toinon, neither the lacqueys, nor pages,
+nor hairdressers could make anything. When they exposed their flame
+for her edification she was irreverent enough to laugh. Tapping the
+swelling bosom, of whose outline she was justly proud, she would
+declare with a merry peal, that it was an empty casket. The organ
+which they professed to covet was no longer there, having been
+surrendered to the safe custody of a certain young man at Lorge. She
+had left it behind on purpose, lest some of these enterprising
+kitchen-beaux should steal it unawares. Whereabouts was Lorge, one
+gibed, that he might run and fetch the treasure?
+
+Lorge, she replied, with mock seriousness, was a gloomy chateau on the
+Loire, home of rats and bats, of which the less one saw the better. He
+who would venture thither in search of that missing organ of hers
+would have to break a lance with Jean Boulot, a stalwart, honest
+gamekeeper, who would thrust the invader down an _oubliette_ without
+compunction, to vanish for evermore.
+
+When the worthy maréchal called at the Hotel de Gange, as was his
+daily wont, and, instead of making at once for his daughter's boudoir,
+turned aside into the tiny chamber where Toinon sat and worked, that
+damsel started and turned red. Brought up side by side with Gabrielle,
+she entertained a deep veneration for the old soldier. For him as for
+the marquise, she would have worked her fingers to the bone; have
+cheerfully submitted to any penance; and now her conscience tingled
+guiltily, for she knew that she deserved a lecture.
+
+Doubtless it had come to the ears of de Brèze that when last the
+family was at Lorge, she and big Jean Boulot had plighted troth
+together. The maréchal would, of course, rate her soundly for her
+folly, since with her advantages she might have done much better than
+throw herself away upon a peasant.
+
+Jean was a fine fellow, blunt and obstinate, but sincere, given to
+thinking for himself, but he was only a servant, half-gamekeeper,
+half-bailiff, and many a well-to-do farmer would have been too glad to
+place pretty Toinon at the head of his table. This was bad enough; but
+worse remained behind. Since it had been imprudently encouraged by the
+king, that plaguy Third Estate had been giving itself airs, flaunting
+its arrogant pretensions and propounding its ridiculous demands from
+every country cabaret. The absurd ant stood erect upon its hill with
+threatening mandibles. Mere yokels were presuming to chatter in
+village market-places, to discuss matters which concerned their
+betters, to express opinions of their own which were sadly lacking in
+respect; and somehow they escaped the lash. Such impudence caused
+proper-minded and cultured persons to shiver in dismay. If we turn
+swine into lap-dogs, we shall certainly regret our foolishness. The
+old maréchal, who hated Lorge, detested it more than ever, when he
+found that the evil leaven had penetrated into far Touraine, and was
+not slow in expressing his views with regard to the ant upon the hill.
+"Life is a game of give and take," he said, "in which the unscrupulous
+always take too much, unless kept well in hand. Peasants should have
+no individual opinions, but humbly follow their masters."
+
+Now, was it not a shocking thing that Jean Boulot, who ought to have
+meekly bowed his head at the very mention of aristocracy, should be
+insolent enough to make rude remarks about the upper class under the
+shadow of ancestral Lorge? It was reported to the maréchal that his
+paid servant had harangued his cronies under the village tree, and had
+used pestilent expressions anent the local magnates. He received
+prompt warning that on a repetition of the offence he would lose his
+place, whereupon he was said to have remarked, with a broad grin, that
+soon there would be no place to lose. And Toinon, foster-sister and
+confidential abigail, had absolutely betrothed herself in secret to
+this abandoned wretch!
+
+It was awful; but when we give ourselves away, how shall we recover
+the gift? She determined to bring her lover to a proper frame of mind
+before confessing what she had done. She wrote commenting sharply on
+the escapade, imploring her betrothed to reform, lest haply he should
+share the gruesome fate which she was informed awaited democrats. To
+this he had replied in an independent and flippant manner, which
+foreshadowed a thorny future. "My darling," he had the assurance to
+write, "never fear for me. If all masters were like ours, instead of
+being selfish tyrants, we should all be peaceable and happy; but,
+alas, the innocent minority must, for the general good, submit to
+suffer for the guilty. France, asleep too long, is slowly waking.
+National sovereignty, spell-bound for centuries, has yawned and
+stretched itself, and fools would oppose, to combat the champions of
+Liberty, the flickering will of a weak king! War, my dearest, it will
+have to be, for we must wade to the goal through blood. God gives
+justice to men only at the price of battles!"
+
+A nice sort of letter, this, for one who was almost a de Brèze to
+receive from her affianced husband! How quickly she destroyed the
+tell-tale scrap which she had hoped to be able to exhibit. These
+high-flown periods were not his own. With rough and homely fist he had
+copied this pinchbeck fervour. He must have taken to frequenting one
+of those horrid, odious clubs that were springing up like fungi, be
+consorting with abominable demagogues. There were some firebrands
+about who were beginning to be known as Jacobins. Surely honest Jean
+would never become so depraved as to join that cohort? Would it be
+wise as well as loyal to send this lover packing--to disclaim at once
+both him and his pestilent opinions? No doubt it would, but in love
+matters who is wise? Toinon loved her big, blunt, honest Jean, and if
+he adored his darling as he delightfully vowed he did, it was her
+place to exert her influence to bring him to a better mind. On the
+very next visit to Lorge, she would rate him soundly, drag him by
+force out of the mire, cleanse his soiled wool, and produce in triumph
+the errant sheep clean and quite respectable.
+
+But if the maréchal knew all about it, and was here now to administer
+a jobation, what course should she pursue? It was a feeling of guilt
+and a resolve to fight that brought the becoming flush to Toinon's
+cheek.
+
+It was not, however, to denounce an undeserving swain who was a
+democrat that the maréchal strode into her room, and hearkening to his
+discourse she felt relieved. After listening to the tale of his
+suspicions the girl sat pondering with her work upon her lap gazing
+idly at a long string of gilt sedans that were crawling in the
+direction of the Tuileries. The marquis unkind to his wife? Yes and
+no. He was a singular man, the marquis, made up, more than most, of
+contradictory and opposing elements. He was apparently self-contained,
+complete in himself, needing no sympathetic help; and yet he was a
+weak and undecided man, and these require support. To Toinon he was a
+riddle, for it had struck her once or twice that the passions of which
+he seemed to be bereft might be only dormant; that the crust in which
+he was enveloped might need but a touch for him to burst his
+cerements, and show that he was a mortal after all. Was he
+deceitful--playing a part for a deliberate purpose? No. Toinon thought
+not; there was no motive for comedy. What she did feel certain of was
+this. If he was in a trance, as she half suspected, it must be by some
+other hand than Gabrielle's that he would eventually be aroused. He
+was an instrument which she had not the skill to play upon. Had not
+the faithful abigail watched the pair for years? As month followed
+month they had drifted further asunder and were still drifting. The
+estrangement to the wife was torture; the husband it affected not. In
+her pain she lowered herself to "scenes"--exhaled herself in wearisome
+complaints.
+
+The Maréchal de Brèze was shocked and distressed. Torture, scenes,
+complaints! And he had been thanking heaven that there was no blur on
+the mirror of their happiness. He would take his son-in-law to task;
+pour out upon him the appalling vials of his indignation; bring him to
+his knees repentant. Toinon sagely shook her head. "Place not the
+finger twixt bark and tree," dryly observed the sapient maiden. "The
+paled ashes of affection may not be made to glow again by scoldings.
+She is an angel--the best of women--but too apt sometimes to figure
+as a _femme incomprise_. All may come right in time, for he is a
+well-meaning man if difficult to live with." Then Toinon travelled off
+on the sea of conjecture. Was he a good man or not? "Upon my word,"
+she declared at last, "after six years of watching I cannot tell what
+he is. A colourless nonentity? I can hardly think so. There are people
+with whom we have been in close communion half our lives, and whom we
+believe we know down to the finger-tips. Then, hey! Presto! They
+suddenly do something unexpected, and we find that we never knew them
+at all!"
+
+"But with such a wife as Gabrielle," urged the maréchal, chafing.
+"Young, pure, sweet, rich, beautiful. Gracious powers! Was the man
+marble? What more could mortal require?"
+
+Toinon, except in her own love affairs, could be vastly wise. "Alas,
+dear master," she said, laughing sadly, "sure you have learned by this
+time that to some perfection is intolerable? Are we not often
+impelled, being so imperfect ourselves, to love people for their
+defects? On account of alluring blemishes we agree to overlook their
+virtues. You must have known men, chained for life to loveliness, who
+have adored a freckled fright, and gloated in the joy of contrast over
+the details of her ugliness."
+
+The old soldier looked glumly out of window, silent, whereupon the
+damsel continued.
+
+"Of all the stupid old legends, Beauty and the Beast is the silliest.
+Why. Many a charming woman would have been disgusted when the hideous
+wretch turned out a handsome prince. What is at the bottom of
+_mésalliances?_ Why do cultivated women elope with ignorant domestics;
+leave home and comfort to consort with a lacquey or a groom? Because
+to some there is a charm in stooping. The act of uncrowning is in
+itself a pleasure. Perhaps madame is too perfect for the marquis."
+
+The maréchal admitted, by silence, the truth of the shrewd damsel's
+discourse. In his own time he had had a wide experience, grave and
+gay, and was not unaware that a jaded or unhealthy appetite craves for
+abnormal food. None knew better than he that the insipidity of
+doll-like prettiness may grow exasperating. We gaze at portraits of
+the celebrated fair ones of the past, and scanning their queer mouths
+and noses, conclude that fashions change in beauty as well as costume.
+We fail to detect the charms of Anne Bullen or Mary Stuart, and we are
+wrong. Intellect and wit can illumine irregular features as the sun
+lights up a landscape. Thick lips and a snub nose may be transfigured
+under the divine rays till they seem a miracle of loveliness.
+
+Then the anxious old gentleman waxed cross. A froward girl was Toinon
+with her sham sagacity. She had ridden away on a false premise. The
+most plausible theories are delusive. Gabrielle was no doll, but a
+quiet, well-conducted, sensible woman enough, if not of brilliant
+parts. _Femme incomprise_, indeed! Modest but fragrant violets lurk
+under leaves, and we take the trouble to look for them. How dared this
+presumptuous marquis to misunderstand the treasure he had won? It was
+not the comely mask of flesh alone that drew the buzzing crowd of
+moths. Married, they could not be aiming at her wealth. The marquise
+was constantly surrounded by the attentive bevy of youths. Butterflies
+attended her daily lévée, drank chocolate while her hair was being
+powdered, spent hours over her trivial errands, and she accorded to
+none the preference. A virtuous wife in an unvirtuous throng might be
+of momentary interest as an anomaly, but sparks would soon weary of
+the wonder. No. She was lively enough to hold her own in the swift
+patter of petty small-talk. It did the heart good to hear her jocund
+laugh. It must be admitted that the expression of her face changed
+little, but then it was so fair that to change would be to mar it. Who
+would have the sculptured Psyche grin, or ask the Venus of Milo to
+grimace?
+
+The more carefully he reviewed this knotty question, the more
+bewildered became the excellent de Brèze. Laudably resolved to delve
+to the bottom, he left the waiting-maid for the mistress, and observed
+for the first time that his daughter's welcoming smile was less bright
+than of yore. On being cross-questioned, she grew grave and reticent,
+refusing to complain of her husband, and entrenched herself within a
+proud reserve. "He might be odd, but she preferred him as he was," she
+declared shortly; would not have him altered by one tittle. Vainly her
+father pressed her, assured her that he would do nothing that she
+would not entirely approve. There was naught to be drawn from
+Gabrielle.
+
+"Well," said the maréchal at last, wistfully sighing, "if I am not to
+interfere, I won't; but you know that I live only for my child."
+
+"I know you do, dear," she softly answered. "Your anxiety wrings my
+heart!"
+
+Then rising from her seat, trembling from head to foot, she clasped
+him in a fond embrace, and seemed about to make a confession. Words
+trembled on her lips, but whatever they were, she choked them back
+again, and indulged in delicious tears.
+
+"You have spoilt me so, that I am naughty and capricious," she
+remarked gaily. "Do you really sufficiently love your little Gabrielle
+to submit to a wayward whim?"
+
+"When did I deny you anything?" reproachfully replied de Brèze.
+
+"Never; nor will you now, though it is a great slice of property that
+I require. Will the best of men humour my new fancy? Yes? Well, then,
+know that I am tired of Paris and its tinsel, and would fain retire to
+the country."
+
+"You--leave the gaieties of Paris?"
+
+"Yes. The good air and quiet will brace my nerves, untuned by racket,
+and that explosion of presumptuous wickedness that sacrificed so many
+lives."
+
+"The storming of the Bastile?" returned the maréchal. "Pshaw! By and
+bye we will terribly avenge de Launay and his intrepid garrison. What
+on earth will you do in the country? In a week you'll be petrified
+with ennui."
+
+"Not at Lorge. Its grimness suits my humour. The children are less
+strong than I would have them. Freedom in pure air will bring back the
+roses to their cheeks, and in them you know I am engrossed. My
+children, oh! my children! What should I have become without them."
+
+The involuntary bitter cry, so eloquent of pain, and so speedily
+suppressed, clove the bosom of the maréchal.
+
+"She will not tell me or have confidence," he groaned inwardly, "and
+yet her suffering is great. She must have her way in this as in other
+things, and God be with her in her travail."
+
+With the delicate tact of a gentleman he let pass the cry unnoticed,
+and simply said, "What do you wish, my dearest?"
+
+"Lorge," she replied, "no less. What a rapacious greedy soul I must be
+to rob you of the home of your ancestors!"
+
+"It shall be yours," the maréchal replied, delighted to be able to do
+something. "I understand that for some reason you desire to take
+possession and hold the place without interference? Is that so? At my
+death, it will be yours with all the rest. Meanwhile, I lend it, to do
+with as you will."
+
+It was an odd fancy. What could be the meaning of the freak? Presently
+he enquired, "What will your husband do?"
+
+"It was his idea," was the eager rejoinder. "He wishes it, and I
+am--oh--so very glad! I long to get him away from Paris and its evil
+influences. Do you know, father?" Gabrielle continued in a grave
+whisper, "that there are secret meetings he attends, to come home at
+dawn in a fever. And there are forbidding men who come to see him,
+whom he evidently does not want to see; such coarse and common men. I
+don't know what it all is, but it has something to do with that
+mystical groping after the unattainable which is so weariful, and can
+only end in madness. To a Christian, such impious presumption is
+horrible!"
+
+"Then I hold the clue?" cried the old man, much relieved. "It is the
+prophet who is in your way? You would wean Clovis from Mesmer, turn
+him from Cagliostro, and carry him to Mass on Sundays?"
+
+The idea was so comically innocent, that de Brèze wheezed with
+delight. "Sweet pet!" he said, tapping his daughter's cheek archly,
+"you are earnest if not clever."
+
+And then he went off into a shout of laughter, as he beheld in
+imagination the daily scene at Lorge. _Tête-à-tête_ in the dreary
+chateau among the bats and owls, she would drone out Bossuet's sermons
+to put animal magnetism to flight; perhaps call in the village curé to
+assist. What a delightful prospect for the husband! How ghastly
+tiresome is the wife who preaches at her other half; drones out to him
+scraps out of good books. Well, well. We must not place our finger
+twixt bark and tree; but if any form of desperation was likely to
+awake the entranced Clovis (as Toinon had it), a system of moral
+lecturing on the part of a well-meaning but narrow-minded spouse was
+about the thing to perform the miracle.
+
+The maréchal trotted home quite pleased, and straightway informed by
+letter those whom it concerned that henceforth, the Marquise de Gange
+was to be considered the proprietress of Lorge. Both M. and Madame de
+Brèze equally loathed the place. If Gabrielle was possessed by the
+strange fancy of playing chatelaine, in its cobwebbed corridors, let
+her do so by all means, and convert her husband if she might.
+
+The good maréchal was mistaken. Gabrielle knew better than to worry
+her husband with importunate readings, but trusted rather for the
+working of a change to the renewed intimacy which retirement must
+produce. She never would have dared to propose a hermitage to Clovis,
+but when he himself suggested a temporary flitting, she thanked heaven
+as if a prayer had been answered. She could not guess that he was
+afraid to stop in Paris, and that he was revolving an embryo scheme of
+closer union with Mesmer. The prophet having been ejected from the
+land with Maranatha, could not unfortunately bestow his presence or
+personal assistance. But why should he not send to his pupil some
+learned adept, well versed in mystic lore who, in sylvan solitude
+would further instruct the neophyte? Removed from the frivolous court,
+and secure against being mixed in the treasonable doings of political
+philanthropists, his mind would be in a condition of receptivity, and
+his studies would make giant strides.
+
+Poor Gabrielle! She had said to herself with a choking heart-leap
+that, removed from pernicious influences, she and the cherubs would
+wind fond webs about him, and win him from indifference to love. Alas!
+Poor simple yearning wife!
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+                       THE CHATEAU OF "LORGE."
+
+
+In Touraine, midway between Tours and Blois, the venerable chateau of
+Lorge stands out from a wooded background, bathing its feet in the
+swiftly flowing Loire, morosely contemplating the details of its grim
+reflection. Profoundly interesting from an archæological point of
+view, the historic pile is not a lively dwelling, and it is no wonder
+that the jolly old maréchal should have ungrudgingly passed it to his
+daughter. Privileged to occupy a place in one of the most smiling
+provinces of France, it is within a drive of Amboise on one side and
+Chinon on the other, dignified castles both; and not very far away is
+Diane de Poictier's Chenonceaux, whimsically spanning a river, a
+specimen of elfin architecture straight from fairyland. Lorge dates
+from the iron period; not the time of prehistoric man, who had
+recently blossomed out of monkeydom, but of the early mediæval barons,
+who slept in their armour--as they still do on their tombs--whose pet
+pastimes were the cleaving of pates and the quaffing of usquebaugh.
+
+With the march of centuries Amboise, Chinon, and the rest found it
+advisable to polish themselves up, and modify their native harshness
+to be in touch with less rugged epochs; but no coaxing ingenuity of
+architect or landscape gardener could ever smooth the frown from the
+frowning face of Lorge. It seemed to say with pride, "The darkest and
+most cruel deeds have been perpetrated within my walls. Down below I
+have smothered the cries for mercy of weak women outraged, and
+children brutally maltreated. My favourite music is the clank of
+steel. I was baptised with blood, whose reek may never fade, whose
+stain may never be effaced."
+
+You cannot make a junketting house out of a fortress, and Lorge,
+despite changes, is a fortress still. On the façade, defended by the
+river, are the stately reception rooms, opening one into the other in
+a string; a long suite which occupies the first floor, whose heavily
+mullioned casements are large enough to permit the sun to gild the
+antique hangings. Each of these windows is adorned by a ponderous
+stone balcony, which can be used for purposes of defence. The other
+sides of the edifice seem blank and blind, the high enclosing walls
+being unbroken, save by a dentilated series of merlons and crenels,
+with cruciform embrasures below, The chambers on these sides are
+particularly depressing to the spirits, since they afford no prospect,
+save a bare paved court with the enclosing wall beyond.
+
+Courageous chatelaines, striving after cheerfulness, have made efforts
+from time to time to brighten Lorge. The drawbridge and portcullis,
+which jealously barred the entrance, have been removed from the double
+archway and replaced by wooden doors. The moat which guarded the three
+sides landward, with a defensive wall along the outer bank, has become
+a garden with trim green slopes, and a wealth of glorious roses. The
+ends that used to join the river have been walled up, and adorned with
+flights of steps which lead to decaying boat-houses. Private posterns,
+drilled in the masonry, afford easy access from the courtyard to the
+moat-pleasaunce for such as may possess the keys; but in spite of
+every effort, the flowering hedges and rose-bushes only serve by
+contrast to make Lorge more dreary--a skull bedecked with flowers. One
+specially brave lady had the hardihood once to plan great gardens in
+the Dutch style beyond the moat, on the other side of the road. There
+were long alleys of clipped yew and beech; _tonelles_ or arched bowers
+to give grateful shade; a procession of weird animals, fashioned of
+holly, that cast fantastic shadows on the sward; oblong tanks where
+swans serenely sailed, steering among isles of water-lily. But no
+subsequent chatelaine was sturdy enough to carry on the hopeless war.
+The alleys were soon choked, the _tonelles_ grew into thickets, the
+mimic menagerie degenerated into ragged rows of bushes. By the time
+the maréchal inherited, there was no place devoted to flowers except
+the moat-pleasaunce, and even that was sadly neglected.
+
+Though you see them not, dank dungeons honeycomb the foundations.
+There are noisome cells on the level of the water-line that may at
+will be flooded. You know that they are there, although some lord with
+tender nerves fastened them up long since. There they are, under your
+feet, audibly crooning their low song of woe unmerited, of dumb
+despair, of remorseless cruelty. The ancient implements of torture
+that still ornament the wainscot of the banquet-hall take up their
+parable, and sing. Time does not still that wailing chaunt which tells
+of robbery, and tyranny, and persecution. No skill may exorcise the
+train of shades, undone for greed or lust, or victims for conscience'
+sake, who parade the corridors of Lorge.
+
+Not but what it has charms of its own: a plaintive sweetness set in a
+minor key. The view across the Loire in summer time of emerald
+woodland is superb. The long drawing-rooms overlooking the stream are
+of stately proportions. Their immense overhanging chimney-pieces are
+blazoned with coats of arms sculptured in the stone. Carved crests are
+repeated again and again in the fretted ceilings. The tapestries, with
+their shadowy story of mad King Charles the Sixth and his treacherous
+wife, and the faithful girl, Odette, with their warm background of
+dimmed gold, have been pronounced by experts to be priceless. The
+little boudoir at the end which closes the suite is a dainty and cosy
+nest. Than the country round nothing can be more delightful; you may
+ride for hours unchecked amid the leafy woods over a velvet carpet; or
+you may boat and explore the erratic sinuosities of the river,
+dreaming out epics as you go anent the lordly, but for the most part
+empty, dwellings that look down on you from either bank. As an
+irreverent Parisian visitor once observed to a horror-stricken
+neighbour, "Lorge would be a charming _séjour_ if one might pull down
+the castle and erect instead a villa."
+
+At the time which occupies us there was but one near neighbour
+resident. The Chateau de Montbazon was not much more than a mile away,
+having been built on a little bit of Lorge property beyond the Loire,
+which had changed hands one night at cards. The spot commanded an
+exceptionally fine prospect, so the owner placed a house on it. It was
+bought a generation later by the Baron de Vaux, who dwelt there with
+his wife and daughter, Angelique, and great was the joy of those
+ladies upon hearing that Lorge, which was so little occupied, was
+again to be inhabited.
+
+Country life at this period was, from a fashionable point of view, a
+singular anomaly. Marie Antoinette's dairymaid proclivities at Trianon
+had rendered it _de rigueur_ to find pleasure in bucolic occupations.
+Old customs were giving way to new-fangled habits borrowed from other
+nations. You were offered tea as in England instead of coffee, and
+were invited to join in the game of "boston," brought from the infant
+republic beyond seas by the followers of Lafayette. Dress, except at
+the Parisian court, grew simpler. Ladies, instead of brocaded damasks,
+wore muslins and flimsy materials. Men donned garments of plain cloth
+instead of satin or velvet. Noble dames grown tired of expensive
+jewellery affected a badge made of some hero's head executed in
+miniature. Franklin's or Rousseau's profile was modish, though the
+more sentimental preferred a pet cat's portrait set on a ribbon in
+place of a diadem and feathers. Emancipated from trains and furbelows,
+you could now really move about in the country without much
+discomfort.
+
+The court circle was perforce a narrow one. Those who had not the
+entrée to Versailles withdrew to their estates when the queen retired
+to Trianon, and there drank milk and made believe to hunt, or acted
+tragedies and spouted epic poesy, pretending to be vastly entertained;
+not but what they were ready to rush back to the capital with all
+despatch when Fashion declared it possible.
+
+But then, of late years, the decrees of Fashion had been sorely
+interfered with by that aggressive Third Estate. Refusal to pay rents
+was annoying, but an evil to which all were accustomed. In some parts
+evil-disposed persons declared landlords to be the natural foes of the
+sovereign people, and discussed how the vermin was to be got rid of. A
+deep-rooted, bitter hate, sprung from long and systematic oppression,
+divided class from class by an intangible but impenetrable barrier; a
+hate that grew all the stronger, in that it had long been veiled by
+fear and lashed by supercilious scorn. Republicanism was in execrable
+taste--a subject for contemptuous laughter on the part of the
+provincial seigneurie. Its exponents bore on a pole a turnip with a
+candle in it, which could frighten none but children. The country
+nobility attached no special meaning to the unseemly snarling. Until
+the great crash came, and the rural palaces were sacked and burned,
+the seigneurie never fully realized the thinness of the crust they had
+been dancing on. In certain provinces it had been unsafe for some time
+past for landlords to show their noses at all, much less prate of
+paying rent. These not unwillingly left their chateaux to fate,
+whereby the condition of small shopkeepers and such local fry was not
+ameliorated. In more favoured districts dislike and discontent lay
+smouldering, and my lords were still free to amuse themselves with
+their guests from town, indifferent to the feelings of the masses.
+
+The de Vaux family were not of the court circle; indeed, they rarely
+travelled to the metropolis, but were content to ape its manners from
+a distance. The trio were dull enough, as narrow in their views and as
+obstinately fixed in the tenets of their grandsires as most country
+gentlefolk are, but they were well intentioned, and availed themselves
+of the earliest opportunity to pay their respects at Lorge. Gabrielle
+received them with open arms. Was she not bent on inaugurating a new
+era for herself and Clovis, and had she not been informed by her
+father's unseemly merriment, that it is not well to bore a husband?
+Not that the newcomers, who had driven over in the craziest of
+shanderydans, showed signs of being an acquisition. On the contrary.
+Long before the sun went down, Gabrielle felt that she could see too
+much of Madame de Vaux, while Clovis listened, marvelling, to the old
+gentleman's platitudes which were at least a century old.
+
+The baroness was not slow to tumble out upon the floor her peck of
+troubles. She always had a waggon-load about her. Angelique examined
+the gown of the marquise with absorbed interest. The baron lectured on
+affairs, with an occasional raid into his wife's country, to rout her
+army of Jeremiads.
+
+"Figure to yourself, my dear," groaned Madame de Vaux, after a
+refreshing pinch of snuff, "that though we have had little disturbance
+here so far, we are surrounded by snakes in the grass. Our Angelique
+is always doing something for the ungrateful monsters who, when her
+back's turned, gnash their teeth. All last winter, in spite of the
+hard times, we distributed broken victuals to the destitute, and they
+said that the refuse from our table had already been refused by the
+dogs. Did you ever hear the like? Horrid, spiteful, ungrateful
+creatures!"
+
+"They know no better," replied Angelique, with a contemptuous curl of
+the lip. "We can afford to laugh at them and their threats when we are
+conscious of having done our duty."
+
+"My brave child!" ejaculated madame with fervour; "what a comfort to
+be mother of a child who would rise equal to any emergency!"
+
+"Noblesse oblige!" snorted the baron, proudly. "We may be poor and
+compelled to fill ourselves with over much _bouilli_, but our blood is
+of the ancestral colour. A daughter of yours and mine, madame, would,
+of course, be equal to an emergency."
+
+The sentiment was mighty fine--one that might not be disputed. Clovis
+languidly bowed and murmured something polite, while Gabrielle yawned
+behind her fan. Good gracious! Was the intercourse of the new
+neighbours to consist in mutual admiration of pedigrees?
+
+The marquis turned the conversation to his favourite subject. Had the
+baron, who doubtless was acquainted with matters of current interest,
+by means of the _Gazette_, at all occupied himself with animal
+magnetism?
+
+With what? A pretty subject for gentlefolk! Rumour had already
+whispered that the young marquis's pursuits were uncanny. The baron
+glanced at the baroness, who looked unutterable things, while
+Angelique detected a shade of sadness flitting over the face of the
+marquise.
+
+"God forbid!" cried the old lady, leaping into the breach, "that we
+should know aught of devil's sabbats."
+
+Clovis laughed, amused. "It is so easy to denounce what we do not
+comprehend," he observed, demurely. "Some day, when you are howling
+with pain, we will drive over to Montbazon, and cure you by laying on
+of hands."
+
+Gabrielle frowned. Such an ill-chosen expression, a parody on Holy
+Writ, or something like it! She began to perceive that it might not be
+so easy to vanquish Mesmer, and, seeing them as shocked as she was,
+felt rather anxious to be rid of her guests.
+
+"I won't be cured by devils!" stoutly declared the baroness. "I'd
+rather grin and bear it."
+
+"For my part, I care little to inquire into the means, provided that I
+am cured," civilly remarked Angelique.
+
+Here was one ready for conversion! Clovis woke up, and drawing his
+chair closer, detailed with eager admiration the triumphs of the
+prophet, to which the baron listened with the polite sceptical smile
+that becomes one who is a noble--a superior person--and knows it.
+Gabrielle looked grave and apologetic. The ground was slippery, and
+the baroness, agile, despite her figure, again jumped into the breach.
+
+"Yes. Just one more dish of tea, my sweetest marquise," she cried,
+"and then we must go home to Montbazon. When you come to see us, if
+you like to walk, you have only to cross the river in a boat, you
+know, and the distance by the bridle-path is nothing. But I would not
+wander alone if I were you, there are such sinister men about. Do you
+know--of course you don't--that you've a nice thorn in your own side
+that will soon prick you--he! he! That Jean Boulot of yours is a
+shocking character, one of the odious, deceitful, crawling kind, which
+is the worst of all!"
+
+"Nothing of the sort, my dear!" interrupted the baron. "His opinions
+are regretable, but he is a rough, honest fellow who professes a
+humble fondness for the de Brèze family, which does him honour!"
+
+"And in the same breath he derides the aristocracy!" retorted the old
+lady, with a giggle.
+
+"Which can well look after itself!" replied her husband.
+
+"Take my advice, dear, and get rid of him, or you'll regret it," urged
+the baroness.
+
+"He's a confidential servant, who was born and bred here!" objected
+Gabrielle. "He and those who went before have always served us well,
+and Jean would not hurt a hair of any of our heads, I warrant. He did
+something silly the other day in the way of talking nonsense, and my
+father rated him for it. That episode is over and forgotten."
+
+"He's a democrat, or worse, if possible," asserted the baroness with
+many nods. "Capable of anything, my dear; get rid of him; a scorpion!"
+she continued, wagging her head; and content with this first
+impression, the old lady gathered up her wraps, and with an elaborate
+curtsey, swept away the family, delighted with the effect she had
+produced.
+
+Neither Gabrielle nor Clovis were equally charmed. These tiresome
+people were their only neighbours! Then it must be solitude indeed.
+Angelique seemed a nice girl enough; but the baroness was overwise in
+her own conceit; and the baron ridiculously puffed with the
+overweening vanity of class. If the pair were to live absolutely
+alone, Gabrielle, doubting her own strength of will and power of
+fascination, already trembled for her experiment. Where could society
+be found which should rub off the jagged edges of a _tête-à-tête_? The
+chateaux round about were unoccupied. Nobody dwelt at Blois except
+bourgeoisie and common persons. Perhaps this move into the desert had
+been imprudent. Well, if it proved disastrous, they could return to
+Paris and no harm done, considering how far apart they had drifted
+already. A little society--just two or three congenial persons--would
+make all the difference; but where might such fowls be caught?
+
+What of this communication about Jean Boulot? surely it was idle
+tittle-tattle, born in the murky brain of a stupid old woman. He a
+scorpion on the hearth, to be got rid of before he could sting? The
+charge was ridiculous, and yet demanded attention, considering the
+Bastile episode such a brief while ago. And he was engaged to Toinon
+too. Under the seal of strictest secrecy that damsel had shared her
+delicious secret with her foster-sister, and the latter with a hearty
+kiss had wished her joy. It was only fair to both the lovers that the
+matter should be cleared up, and to that end the damsel must be
+cross-examined.
+
+When charged with the lamentable leanings of her affianced, Toinon
+made no attempt to laugh the matter off. She was fain to confess
+herself disappointed in Jean Boulot. He was too straightforward to
+stoop to knavery. You only had to look into his fearless, clear grey
+eyes to be assured of it; but his sentiments were distressing. He told
+his love when she remonstrated that reason and justice could only be
+departed from by paths watered with tears; and when she retorted that
+he would certainly be hanged if he were heard to indulge in such talk,
+he only shrugged his shoulders and remarked that the gallows were made
+for the unlucky. In the middle of an impressive lecture he snatched a
+kiss and laughed, and actually confessed with something that looked
+like pride that he had just been selected from among his fellows to be
+chief of some new society. He was constantly moving about among the
+rustics discoursing about the improvement of their condition at the
+expense of a superior class. All Toinon could be sure of was that Jean
+was beyond her control. Perhaps madame might succeed in managing the
+young man and bring him to a sense of his enormities.
+
+The experiment was not crowned with success, for instead of confessing
+his sins with a _mea culpa_, Jean smiled and delivered himself of
+various mysterious hints. "Never you fear," he asserted, cheerfully,
+"whatever may happen by and by, you and yours shall be defended with
+my best blood; not but what a glimpse of your sweet face will be
+enough to calm the boys, however spitefully inclined. As to the
+others--H'm!"
+
+Enigmatical and unsatisfactory.
+
+It was certainly very dull in the desert; and before many weeks were
+over, the marquise was prepared secretly to admit that her father had
+judged rightly. She was no nearer to her husband here than in Paris;
+and caught herself longing more and more for those two or three
+congenial persons who were unattainable. It is all very well to wrap
+yourself in your children, to watch the young intelligence unfolding
+tender leaves, to mark and record with little thrills of joy each new
+sally of infant wit; but carefully nurtured babes retire early to the
+nest, and long evening hours have to be got through which are apt to
+hang heavy on the hands. There was absolutely no one to talk to,
+Gabrielle was not of a studious turn, avoiding the library as a close
+and musty place, had no _penchant_ for embroidery, cared not to tinkle
+on a spinette. Clovis, on the other hand, professed himself delighted
+with the unbroken solitude where there was nobody to plague him with
+politics; employed his time in writing reams to Mesmer, and counting
+the days which must elapse before he could receive replies. When weary
+of considering the pros and cons of the prophet's theories, he locked
+himself in his study, and could be heard far into the night groaning
+sonatas on his 'cello. Oh, that 'cello! Its moans were extremely
+wearing to Gabrielle's nerves, for it always suggested to her a coffin
+with some one in agony inside. Weave new bands of affection, forsooth,
+far from the madding crowd! How doleful a deception was hers.
+
+The marquis seemed to have forgotten that he was father of two
+cherubs, was certainly oblivious of the fact that his better half was
+a reigning beauty, who, in her prime was self-deposed. Sometimes he
+would sally forth on solitary rides, and return, depressed and dumb,
+to fall asleep in his chair. It was certain that the pair were
+drifting more fatally distant from each other in the country even than
+in town. This was not life, but vegetation; sure any change would be a
+godsend.
+
+At one moment the hapless marquise thought of summoning a bevy of the
+danglers whom she had loftily pretended to despise; but, if they were
+to come--unable to get on with Clovis--how were they to be amused? At
+another time she was on the point of imploring the maréchal and his
+wife to break the bonds of dulness by a visit, but then again she
+hesitated. How was she to parry her father's anxious questions, how
+avoid his sympathetic eyes? No. Come what might, she would bear what
+she must bear, and veil her wounds from her beloved ones.
+
+Now and again the de Vaux family drove over to spend the afternoon,
+and the visit was in due course returned; but though all parties were
+punctiliously civil and vowed they enjoyed themselves immensely, it
+was clear to both families that no intimacy could arise between them.
+
+Gabrielle was almost driven to lower her flag and retire from the
+field; was indeed debating how she should set about it with dignity,
+when that for which she craved was suddenly tossed into her lap.
+
+One morning, the marquis actually so far broke through his secluded
+habits, as without a formal message sent in advance, to invade his
+wife's boudoir. Her heart gave a great bound, and looking up from the
+children's hornbook in glad surprise, she smiled gratefully on him.
+Was this a first advance? She was determined that the visit should be
+a pleasant one, and to that end proceeded forthwith to trot out the
+prodigies. He had no idea, she prattled, how vast were their
+acquirements. They knew ever so many wondrous things which would no
+doubt delight their parent. Straightway, like little clockwork
+parrots, well-wound up, the infants chirped forth their lore, while
+the marquis's face increased in length, the while with well-bred
+courtesy he made believe to listen. His dreamy eyes wandered over a
+map of varied stains on their dirty little pinafores. They diffused an
+aroma of bread and butter; their angel fingers shone with grease.
+Their acquirements, he coldly agreed when they had run down, were
+remarkable for tender years, and the weather being fine they had
+better run out and play.
+
+Gabrielle sighed. Mere politeness--such politeness as a wearied but
+courteous stranger might bestow--in which was no scintilla of
+affection. Unnatural parent! After all, the darlings were perchance a
+trifle juvenile to interest a man. Men, as a rule, can see no beauty
+in babes and sucklings; vote them revolting lumps of adipose tissue;
+but then, sweet Victor and Camille were not babies, for one was five
+and the other four--were enjoying that most fascinating period of
+existence when we are never clean, and are always falling down and
+crying.
+
+The unappreciated angels having shrieked off down the long
+drawing-rooms, there to tumble, hurt themselves, and howl, Clovis sat
+down and explained the cause of his irruption.
+
+"A letter! Good news or bad?" inquired Gabrielle, with a presentiment
+of evil.
+
+"That depends how you read it," returned her husband, quietly. "As you
+are aware, I never inflicted my uncongenial presence overmuch on you;
+never sought to know why you were so ready to abdicate your brilliant
+position in Paris to suit a passing whim of mine, but I was none the
+less obliged by your compliance. I now wish you to please yourself,
+and make arrangements for the future, such as may suit your views."
+
+Gabrielle stared at the automaton. Good heavens! His uncongenial
+presence. Was he so blind as not to perceive how she hungered for it?
+A burning reproach was on her lips, but found no voice; for somehow,
+seeing him sit there so straight and cold and self-complacent, her
+courage oozed away.
+
+"Do what you choose." He continued with bland indifference. "I was
+never jealous of your entourage, because I liked you to enjoy the meed
+of admiration that is your due, and know that you are to be trusted
+even in so perilous a vortex as Versailles. For reasons with which I
+need not trouble you, I prefer myself to remain here for a while, with
+your permission; but seem to see that you are weary of playing the
+chatelaine. Is it so? Would you like to return to Paris. Please
+yourself. You will admit that I give you the completest liberty."
+
+The heart of the poor wife sank low. For what crime was she condemned
+to love an icicle? If he would only find fault, or discover a
+grievance, or even wax wroth without a cause, and smite her! Each calm
+and measured sentence as he sat, with the finger-tips of one hand
+poised accurately on those of the other, was like the prick of a steel
+stiletto. His gaze was fixed on a tree a long way off. He could not
+even trouble to look at her.
+
+Sighing wearily, she murmured, "Completest liberty, no doubt. I and
+the children are to go away and leave you here alone?"
+
+Clovis moved his gaze to another tree and cleared his throat. "Not
+unless you wish it," he said, "but something has happened that is a
+little embarrassing."
+
+"Any trouble? Am I not here to share it."
+
+"Scarcely a trouble--an inconvenience only, which you may object to
+share," her husband answered, smiling. "Could you brook other
+inmates?"
+
+"Other inmates! What can you mean?'
+
+"As you know, though you have never seen them, I have two
+half-brothers. They are inseparable--quite pattern brothers--the one
+brilliantly clever, the other his admiring shadow. The Abbé Pharamond,
+the younger one, would be welcomed in any society on account of his
+sparkling talent; but he has preferred to shine alone at Toulouse,
+rather than consent to be a unit in the system of stars at Paris. He
+has got into trouble, and writes to ask for an asylum for himself and
+Phebus."
+
+"What trouble?"
+
+"A too pungent epigram followed by a fatal duel, makes it convenient
+to seek eclipse. In six months the affair will have blown over. You
+would be sure to like the abbé, if you met him; while as for poor dear
+Phebus, the chevalier, as he is called in the south, he is fat and
+somnolent, and would not hurt a fly."
+
+Gabrielle reflected, Why did a voice deep down within whisper words of
+warning? Here were the congenial persons for whose advent she had
+longed. What a relief to the _tête-à-tête_ would be the brilliant
+abbé, and fat Phebus who would not hurt a fly! Thanks to them, Lorge
+might become endurable. On the suggestion of a return to Paris, the
+difficulty had occurred to her as to the excuse to be made for her
+husband's lengthened absence. Clearly she must remain at Lorge, so
+long as he thought fit to do so. Perhaps the abbé disliked music and
+hated violoncellos? Together in the dead of night they would capture
+the marquis's treasure and send it floating down the Loire.
+
+"My dear Clovis!" she exclaimed presently, with genuine pleasure; "you
+singular being! What objection could I have? On the contrary, I am
+charmed with the opportunity of making the acquaintance of your
+brothers."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                          THE HALF-BROTHERS.
+
+
+Never was there a greater bit of luck for the Lorge hermits than the
+epigram that was too pungent, and its consequences. With the arrival
+of the fugitives there was inaugurated a new _régime_. Cobwebs seemed
+to vanish at a stroke. The dismal old chateau stirred and rubbed its
+eyes, for, as by magic, the spirit of ennui who had his dwelling there
+was routed and put to flight.
+
+The Abbé Pharamond was made of quicksilver. Such a mass of ubiquitous
+ever-moving energy would have awakened the seven sleepers. Everyone
+felt his influence; and no one had a word to say against him, except
+Toinon and Jean Boulot. Even the objections of these, as might be
+expected in low-born persons, were of the vaguest. The one found fault
+with his effeminate manners and mincing ways, the other vowed that he
+was so sweet as to be mawkish. Balanced one on either knee, the
+prodigies (with clean pinafores and polished visages) were taught to
+warble the amorous ditties of the south, an absurd performance which
+frequently brought over Madame de Vaux in the shanderydan, and caused
+her to explode with laughter. His presence acted like a magnet. There
+was always a stock of the neatest compliments on hand for Angelique;
+the most respectfully rapt attention for the baron's platitudes. He
+was constantly riding to Montbazon on his way to somewhere else, bent
+on organizing a picnic or a hunt, and even discovered and dragged from
+their retreats into the light a variety of country gentlemen who
+seldom left their burrows. "If the dear man were a layman!" grieved
+the baroness. "The very thing for Angelique." But since he was a
+churchman, she must do her best with the other.
+
+"Pooh! Stuff and nonsense!" objected the baron. "They were of good
+family--could boast, indeed, of most superior blood--but were as poor
+as church mice, both."
+
+Whereupon his spouse remarked from out her nightcap folds that she did
+dislike a mole. Was not the marquis a good-natured gentleman, if
+stupid, and was he not plainly devoted to his brothers--proud at least
+of one? It could be seen with half an eye that the abbé's influence
+was great, and would grow greater. Out of Gabrielle's wealth, after de
+Brèze's death, he would, of course, provide for his brothers in a
+fitting and lavish manner.
+
+Gabrielle fell at once, and without resistance, under the spell of the
+abbé. She had never known so charming and accomplished a person.
+Faugh! the tawdry butterflies of Versailles! The gaudy numskulls! Mere
+contemptible machines, that mopped and mowed to order. In Pharamond
+she beheld for the first time a man whose masterful nature somehow
+compelled obedience. Among other fascinating ways, he had a trick
+(aware of a trim and graceful figure) of tossing himself down in a
+picturesque attitude at Gabrielle's feet, burningly eager for advice;
+and on considering the interview afterwards, she was pleasantly
+surprised to find how she had shone--how undoubtedly, yet
+unaccountably, sage had been her counsel. "He exerts a good influence
+over me," she murmured. "Like flowers under the sun's first rays I
+expand. Till he arrived, I knew not how dense had been our darkness.
+Alas! if Clovis were a little like him how different had been my
+fate!"
+
+Even Clovis was the better for the abbé's advent. His brother would
+walk straight into his sanctum and drag him from his books to join
+some party of pleasure; but, lest he should turn restive, would argue
+in his nimble fashion, as they rode along, upon abstruse points of
+philosophy. Though not fully believing in the tremendous powers
+claimed by the prophet, he declared himself open to conviction with
+regard to Mesmer; and Gabrielle was amazed to perceive how animated
+her husband could become in his efforts to convince the doubter. When
+hounded from the capital, Mesmer had travelled south before settling
+at Spa, and the abbé had seen him perform his marvels. Hunted out of
+Paris by the Academy of Medicine, persecution had produced the usual
+result--attacked, defended, abused, glorified, Fame shook all her
+bauble bells, and rescued his name from neglect. At Montpelier, his
+following was so great that he and his small staff could not supply
+the necessary treatment. There was no denying that under his magnetic
+passes certain patients did recover. However much argument might
+meander, it always came back to that point. In what the mysterious
+healing fluid consisted, was the difficult question. Did an invisible
+current actually flow from the manipulator to the patient, or was it
+but the effect of ascendency of will--of the strong nature bearing
+down the weak?
+
+During the discussions on the subject, the abbé would jokingly wave
+his whip at the chevalier, whose sleek figure jogged behind. "There is
+a case in point," he laughed. "Phebus's will is completely subservient
+to mine, and he knows it. Tell them, chevalier, is there anything I
+could not make you do?"
+
+Then the broad visage of Phebus would beam with respectful pride as he
+surveyed his clever brother. "No, abbé," he would quietly rejoin. "You
+are wiser and better than I, and I am content that you should think
+for both."
+
+Then in his turn would Clovis laugh as he glanced at the attentive
+Gabrielle. "We must be careful, lest," he observed, slyly, "we forfeit
+our independence. While pretending to disbelieve, he is deceiving us,
+for he is himself gifted with magnetic powers of a high order. I vow I
+am half influenced already, and must take precautions lest I become a
+slave."
+
+Those were pleasant rides under the yellowing foliage in the late
+autumn of '89. Clovis was galvanised into a semblance of activity, and
+appeared under the process to have half realized how charming was his
+wife. Instead of provokingly staring without seeing her, he observed
+how fresh was her complexion, how silken and golden and heavy were the
+loose plaits of her unpowdered hair. To her astonishment, following
+the abbé's lead, he became almost attentive, guiding her horse over
+difficult ground, even marking the fact when she was tired.
+
+And so it came about, as by touch of fairy wand, that Gabrielle, alone
+in the desert, had found a following. The husband whom she adored was
+displaying a ghostly kindness, with which for the present she was
+content. If he only would appreciate the prodigies--but that, under
+beneficent influence, would follow, doubtless. The newly-arrived
+swains vied with each other in endeavouring to forestall her wishes.
+The abbé ordered everyone about for the general good and her
+particular behoof, like some hovering farseeing deity; while the less
+pretentious chevalier plodded at her heel like a wheezy spaniel, as
+active as his redundancy permitted.
+
+In their way, good looking fellows both. The chevalier was short and
+very fair, with pale blue eyes and a weak mouth, producing a somewhat
+washed-out effect. His nose was aquiline and delicately moulded. In
+many respects he bore a curious resemblance to his majesty the
+reigning monarch. The abbé, his junior by several years, looked a
+decade younger at least. He was slim and wiry, built on a small scale,
+with well-turned limbs and white hands remarkable for their fragility.
+Indeed, in considering his appearance people always remembered the
+soft, twining fingers which looked as weak as a woman's, and which, in
+a hand-shake, could give so firm a grip. His face was round and pale,
+his lips thin and tightly pressed together, his eyes steel-grey with a
+strongly accentuated pupil. There was something about his usual
+expression that suggested a particularly high-bred white cat--due
+possibly to a purring manner and an air of sensual complacency. But
+there were moments--not unknown to the chevalier--when the eyes could
+gleam with tawny lightning, darken with thunder-clouds, while the
+small even teeth were ground in passion, and the pale face turned
+livid. Like all seemingly light and effeminate beings, who are really
+of wrought steel, the gay and frolicsome abbé could become a sweeping
+whirlwind; but since he usually managed to have his way unchallenged,
+serious atmospheric disturbances were of rare occurrence. As the eyes
+of an angry cat seem to be illumined from behind, so on rare occasions
+of excessive wrath those of the abbé assumed a malevolent glitter, in
+face of which the chevalier cowered, despite his breadth of beam. His
+plump uncertain hands grew moist, his words were few and husky; he
+whimpered and breathed hard; and the privileged observer could have
+little doubt that there was absolutely nothing he could not be goaded
+to essay under pressure from Abbé Pharamond.
+
+On a certain mild evening in October, master and serf were riding home
+from Montbazon, and the latter unconsciously shrank and stopped his
+horse, conscious of the glitter that he feared. Wistfully and humbly
+he looked up, anxious to ascertain wherein he had offended.
+
+"The de Vaux are a charming family," remarked the abbé, airily kissing
+his fingertips. "I compliment you, dear brother."
+
+When the abbé chose to gibe, the chevalier sniffed something
+disagreeable.
+
+"Ha, ha! How lugubrious a countenance for a favoured lover! As doleful
+as a bee who's lost his sting! When do we propose to marry? Never keep
+a lady waiting!"
+
+"What do you mean?" stammered Phebus, mopping his brow.
+
+"Madame de Vaux expects you to propose for Angelique."
+
+"But I don't want to marry Angelique."
+
+"What! Not the delightful shoot from the family tree of which we hear
+so much? Like the Indian banyan its proportions darken the sky. Why
+not--tell me?"
+
+"Because I do not wish to marry at all," replied Phebus.
+
+"And why--and why--and why?" laughed Pharamond, in elfish mood. "Nay,
+do not tell me. Cannot I read into your erring soul as through a sheet
+of dirty glass? Because you are hopelessly enamoured of your brother's
+handsome wife!"
+
+Phebus started and turned scarlet.
+
+"Don't look so exasperatingly sheepish! you quivering mass of jelly,"
+sneered Pharamond.
+
+An explosion of laughter resounded through the wood and ceased, and
+the glitter shone forth again.
+
+"Do you know that it is extremely wrong to nourish a flame for one's
+brother's wife?" he inquired dryly. "Most reprehensible in itself and
+not unlikely to lead to complications. Will Clovis approve, think
+you?"
+
+Perceiving that Phebus was too confused and upset by the sudden attack
+to answer, the abbé frisked on, urging forward both horses with his
+whip.
+
+"See!" he observed, addressing nature generally. "How lenient Mother
+Church can be to the shortcomings of the weak! Do I blame this culprit
+for adoring the lovely Gabrielle? Not a bit! If he did not his heart
+would be of stone instead of pulp. Stout Phebus is consumed with
+hopeless adoration. But is it hopeless? Ah! There's the rub. Don't
+babble like an idiot, but confess. Have we openly given vent to our
+boiling passion? Yes, or no?"
+
+The chevalier bent his head and sobbed out, "I'm a miserable wicked
+wretch!"
+
+"Of course you are," affably agreed the abbé. "Make a clean breast of
+it to Mother Church, who will straightway absolve the sinner. Do we
+adore her to the ends of our fat fingers? Eh?"
+
+"How can I help adoring her?" replied harassed Phebus.
+
+"Certainly not--how could you?" echoed his tormentor. "Ho! ho! ho!
+ho!" The abbé's mocking laugh reverberated among the trees. "I've half
+a mind to tell Clovis--shall I? How he'd enjoy the jest!" And at
+contemplation of the maze of mischief that might result from such a
+proceeding, he laughed again, "Ho! ho!"
+
+"Does she return your love? Have you really made the trial?" he
+inquired suddenly, with a sneer upon his lips. "No? Then, my poor
+fellow, I am genuinely sorry for your plight. Presto! The Church has
+run away! Behold a doctor; hearken to words of wisdom. Your ailment's
+very bad, but curable. This is a queer world, I'd have you know, in
+which there is one unpardonable crime, failure. We hunt down and
+exterminate the exposed bungler, who, if he bungles, and would yet
+save his skin, must take precautions not to be found out. Now I found
+you out at once, you simple oaf, so you deserve to be delivered to
+Clovis. I ought to sacrifice so paltry a specimen of intrigue, but
+then--are you not, too, my brother?"
+
+The chevalier knitted his brows in a vain effort to comprehend what
+underlay the abbé's banter.
+
+"Oh! what a tender brother!" the latter continued; "for I will even
+assist you in your quest. Yes, I, the virtuous Abbé Pharamond. The
+doctor prescribes a fervent wooing--a scaling of the ramparts--a
+storming of the citadel. You have gone too timidly to work. Between
+this husband and wife there can be no bond of union. That much we
+know. _Ergo_, the heart of the beauty is yet to win, since she is
+fancy free. You shall try your luck in earnest, and I will give you
+all my help--on one condition."
+
+"You will!" murmured Phebus, melted to tears by admiring gratitude,
+"How shall I repay such kindness?"
+
+"Thus. You try your hand and do your best, but if you fail you retire
+for ever from the field. If she likes you, well and good. Win and wear
+her and be happy. If not, promise to worry her no more with annoying
+importunities."
+
+The suggested arrangement was so singular, that the chevalier,
+recovering himself a little, knew not what to think. What could his
+astute brother be driving at? Why should he desire to throw the
+hitherto unstained wife into a lover's arms? Had he a spite against
+the marquis? No. Against Gabrielle? Hardly. Perhaps he was sorry, as
+Phebus had been, to observe Clovis's neglect, and anxious to see
+Ariadne consoled? How kind of the abbé to select him, the chevalier,
+as the proposed comforter! A new vista of possibilities unrolled
+itself. Unaided he would have gone on sympathetically sighing, but
+with the abbé's encouragement and active assistance, wonders might be
+accomplished.
+
+The latter was beaming on him now with bonhomie. Clearly he wished,
+fraternally, to see sister-in-law and brother happy, and imbued with
+the spirit of the times in which they lived, was doing his best to
+make them so. Warmly the chevalier blurted out his thanks. His brother
+was good and kind, as he always meant to be, though now and then so
+puzzling and strange. He would follow his instructions dutifully to
+the letter, and Gabrielle won, would be till death her slave.
+
+"That is well," assented the abbé with a friendly clap on the
+shoulder. "You have beaten about the bush too long, instead of making
+straight for the goal. Women have sharp instincts, and since they
+require wooing, despise too bashful swains. This very night the coast
+shall be kept clear for you. The balmy autumn breeze is to love vows
+the softest of accompaniments. I will retain Clovis in his study with
+arguments about the prophet he reveres."
+
+The two jogged on in amicable silence, both equally satisfied, to all
+appearances, with the result of the conference, until the peaked
+turrets of Lorge frowned black against a primrose sunset. Then, before
+entering the courtyard, the abbé turned and whispered sternly, "A
+compact, mind, which you will break at your peril. Win or withdraw. Do
+not attempt to deceive me, for I never forgive deceit."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+
+                             TEMPTATION.
+
+
+The eccentric schemer was true to his word, as grateful Phebus
+acknowledged with eyes more watery than usual. What a blessed thing it
+was to have so accommodating a brother as Pharamond! The chevalier
+grew hot and cold as he considered the chance that was about to be
+thrown in his way, a golden chance--and between whimsical little
+prayers for success, he gazed furtively now and then at the other
+brother, whose honour he was so ready to smirch.
+
+The prodigies having been sent to bed, and the evening meal being
+leisurely discussed, the abbé became inquisitive anent the latest
+intelligence from Spa. Was it true that the genius of the prophet had
+achieved yet greater marvels? What were these rumours as to a further
+magnetic development, accompanied by fresh triumphs? Clovis snapped
+eagerly at the bait, and proceeded to explain that something amazing
+had indeed been discovered such as should transform the world of
+science. Persons afflicted with ailments were in future to be ranged
+around a series of large buckets or tubs containing a mixture of
+broken glass, iron shavings, and cold water. How simple a treatment,
+and yet how efficacious! Talk of ancient miracles! No wonder that all
+the doctors were mad with spite, as well as all the apothecaries, and
+that they should thirst for the blood of him who had exposed their
+disgraceful cheating!
+
+"Most amazing! Most wonderful!" echoed the abbé, leaning back in his
+chair. "The wicked spirits conquered, and those who were afflicted
+through their malice being cured by means of the tub, what was there
+left of the curse bequeathed by Adam? If somebody would only go a step
+or two further and discover the elixir of life, and a method of making
+gold, the world would be quite a pleasant place to live in, and he for
+one would positively decline to leave it."
+
+Gabrielle listened, mystified, glancing from one to another of the
+trio. Clovis was quite animated. His eyes sparkled, his cheeks were
+flushed, and his tongue loosened. What power was this of the abbé's,
+which could melt an icicle, bring a corpse to life? She was awed and
+uneasy.
+
+Was Pharamond making fun of Clovis--fooling him to the top of his
+bent--in mischief? Surely not, for did he not owe to his brother's
+kindness a secure asylum, a refuge in an awkward strait, and pocket
+money also? For Gabrielle, in her kindness of heart, had guessed that
+the fugitives were out at elbows, and had quietly handed two neatly
+enveloped packets to her husband, with a request that he would pass
+them on. Clovis took the packets without surprise or even thanks, and
+his wife smiled to herself at his carelessness in money matters. Since
+his marriage he had always been well provided without the asking, and
+had come--how like a dreamer--to look on coin as convenient manna,
+which somehow dropped from heaven just at the auspicious moment.
+
+What could so sensible a man as the abbé mean by encouraging him in
+his nonsense? He was sitting there now with head thrown back, and the
+placid air of one who knows how to enjoy digestion, rapping out now
+and then a leading question, such as would put Clovis on his mettle.
+Was she, Gabrielle, in the wrong to despise these things? It seemed
+so. Her husband dabbled in philanthropy; the abbé was an excellent
+man, bent on doing good to his fellows; and this was the reason for
+the interest of both in Mesmer.
+
+"Just think!" the marquis was observing with regret, "what good work
+might be done in the district if we could inaugurate a magic tub! The
+mists rising from the Loire generate rheumatism and paralysis, to say
+nothing of fevers, all of which, by means of a blessed bucket, might
+cease to exist except in fable. Why! this gloomy old prison-house
+might become a central office from which benefits would be scattered
+broadcast; its primæval bloodstains might come in time to be washed
+away with Mesmer's tincture of iron!"
+
+"Why not?" murmured the abbé, with increasing interest.
+
+"Alas!" sighed Clovis. "The arrangement of the tub, it seems, is a
+matter of the most delicate nicety, which cannot be described by
+letter. If Mesmer would only visit us? But he is afraid now, he says,
+to venture into France."
+
+"Why not go to him--Mahomet and the mountain, you know," suggested
+Pharamond. "Or get him to lend you for a time one of his cultured
+adepts."
+
+"Ah! if he would do that!" echoed Clovis, eagerly. "If he would lend
+me somebody who knows."
+
+"Our dear Gabrielle would not stand an adept!" cried the abbé, with
+laughter. "See how distressed she looks at my poor suggestion! Nay,
+sweet sister; I was only jesting. In sooth, this new-fangled bucket is
+too large a bolus to swallow. The idea of sensible people squatting
+round a tub with glass wands pressed against their temples!"
+
+Pharamond's access of facetiousness nettled the marquis, who remarked
+peevishly, "What a puzzle you are! Too gifted and too learned, I
+should have thought, to mock as the ignorant do at all that they
+cannot fathom."
+
+"Nay! I did not mean to anger you!" cried Pharamond, still laughing.
+"But I was bound to reassure our hostess as to an irruption of adepts.
+Come, come. Let her enjoy the evening air. Show me the plans and
+instructions, and while I endeavour to decipher them, play me a tune
+on the 'cello."
+
+Oh! clever abbé, who knew so well how to twitch his puppet-strings! It
+certainly was a delightful evening, and Gabrielle, with the pursy
+chevalier trotting by her side, flung open a casement and stepped
+forth upon a balcony. As she gazed across the shadowy river, she was
+too absorbed with the consideration of a riddle to remark the
+condition of her companion, who panted nervously. Was Clovis
+mad--victim of a monomania--or did she wrong him? Why should he lie to
+her, and to Pharamond? He had declared, and the abbé accepted the
+statement without cavil, that the magic tub had already produced
+miraculous cures. No doubt it is both ignorant and stupid to contemn
+what you cannot understand. Clovis was always saying so, and he was
+right. If the discovery was genuine, then, as he had said, how
+wonderful a boon wherewith to endow the province! It was quite true
+that the peasantry were a prey to rheumatic pains and aches. In her
+rides she often went among the poor distributing simple remedies, and
+had been dubbed by them the "White Chatelaine," in contradistinction
+to some of dark and unsavoury memory who had gone before. But then, an
+irruption of adepts. What sort of a creature was an adept? The idea
+had revolted her, she scarce knew why; and yet, was she not
+unreasonable? If the prophet or a selection from his following were to
+take up their quarters at Lorge, what then? There was room enough in
+the great building, and the abbé would doubtless make himself useful
+in seeing that they kept to themselves. Ah! But the cherished hope
+which had been the means of bringing the chatelaine to Lorge; the hope
+to which she clung with the tenacity of love. Surrounded by an army of
+dreamers more dreamy than himself, the half-recovered Clovis would
+drift away again, be farther than ever from her yearning arms,
+engrossed in his magical operations. How unsteady a seat is that
+between the horns of a dilemma. If she refused to countenance the tub
+and its attendant sprites, she might be withholding from the sick a
+saving and certain cure. If she encouraged the new theory and its
+satellites, instinct told her that she would be raising a wall between
+herself and her husband which she would never be able to scale. She
+was wicked and selfish to hesitate. The marquise felt with humble
+conviction the extent of her badness; but human nature at the best is
+rickety, and she was unlucky enough to adore her husband. At this
+point, as she stood on the balcony reflecting, with the red hot
+chevalier by her side, she shivered, for plaintive sounds were
+floating on the breeze.
+
+"This is intolerable!" she murmured. "If Clovis would only oblige me
+by sacrificing that dreadful 'cello!"
+
+"It does set one's teeth on edge," agreed the chevalier.
+
+"Because it contains a soul in torment," returned the marquise,
+pressing her fingers in her ears. "I can manage to endure other
+implements of music, but I cannot bear a 'cello."
+
+"We have a remedy at hand," wheezed the amorous chevalier. "It is as
+balmy as a summer's night, and winter will soon be upon us. Put on a
+hood and scarf, and let me row you for an hour on the river."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                        A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+The family did not meet again till the next day at the hour of second
+_déjeuner_, and an intangible cloud appeared to have fallen on the
+party. There was something like suspicion in the manner of those who
+yesterday were so trustingly united.
+
+The chevalier, sulky and silent, would not raise his eyes from his
+plate. The liveliest sallies of the abbé fell dismally flat, for even
+Gabrielle was so pre-occupied that she could not summon a smile. Her
+beautiful face was grave and sad, and bore trace of recent tears,
+while the brow of the marquis wore a frown, as if he had heard bad
+news. Indeed, a proposition had been placed before him yesternight,
+or, rather, dropped carelessly, which startled and annoyed him. In
+course of their _tête-à-tête_ over the plans, Pharamond had said, "If
+I were you I would be careful not to offend madame, for she, not you,
+is master." It had never occurred to him before to see things in this
+light, and yet it was undoubtedly true. She had never stood between
+him and his desires, but it was not pleasant to be reminded that she
+might be led to do so some day. And from the conversation--as it
+chanced--a wavering idea had become in his mind a fixed resolve. The
+introduction of an adept into the household had been the happiest
+thought on the part of Pharamond, but--provoking fellow that he
+was--no sooner had he made the suggestion than he proceeded to nip it
+in the bud. For when Clovis would fain have enlarged upon the topic,
+the abbé had retorted with a demure headshake: "I made a mistake, and
+I am sorry. Your wife believes no more in Mesmer than I do--less--and,
+taking offence, might complain to old de Brèze of the introduction
+into _his_ house of a pack of needy jugglers."
+
+If she did it would be awkward and insulting to her husband. Would she
+be capable of so unwifely a proceeding? Surely not. The abbé, who was
+a compendium of wise maxims, remarked that it would be better not to
+try her--to let sleeping dogs lie. Perhaps he was right, but the pill
+presented to the lips of Clovis was bitter, with a new and acrid
+taste.
+
+Glancing round the breakfast-table, the spirits of Pharamond went up,
+and he rubbed his hands with satisfaction. No need to ask simple
+Phebus how he had fared last night? Failure was written on his face!
+
+In the minds of all three who sat around him a tiny germ was working.
+So far all was well; but the _ménage_ must not be permitted to fall
+back into the doldrums.
+
+"Come, come!" cried the abbé, cheerily; "what ails us all? Is the
+angel of death passing overhead? The weather is divine. Were we not to
+hunt to-day, starting from Montbazon, and is not the attractive
+Angelique anxiously awaiting Phebus? Air and exercise will brace our
+nerves. Clovis's wits want sharpening, and then, maybe, he will guess
+all about the bucket without further aid from Mesmer."
+
+Cloud or no cloud, there was no resisting Pharamond for long. His tact
+was infinite. Pretending to perceive that there was a tiff of some
+sort between the chevalier and the chatelaine, he ostentatiously
+interposed himself between them. No one was in the humour for the
+chase? Very well. No more was he. Phebus, whose one accomplishment was
+a knowledge of horseflesh, had business in the stables, which he would
+be good enough to see to. The other brothers would flutter around
+Gabrielle, who, established on her favourite seat in the moat-garden,
+would issue orders to her slaves.
+
+What? The hobby again? Really the prophet should be proud of a pupil
+so serious and earnest! Well, well. Would dear Gabrielle mind being
+left alone for a little? No? Then the brothers would take a stroll
+together, and perhaps the abbé would be converted.
+
+"If I am," the latter cried merrily, as linking his arm within that of
+the marquis, he led him away, "I shall turn myself to the conversion
+of Gabrielle. After that we will set our wits to work, arrange a magic
+tub, and all preside over it together."
+
+The magic tub! When the brothers returned from their walk, heated with
+discussion, the one was airy and serene, the other wofully cross.
+Gabrielle was sorely troubled by the change which she indistinctly
+felt. Why should Clovis be cross? The reason of the chevalier's
+sullenness, alas, she knew too well! The abbé was apparently much
+struck by the arguments of the neophyte, and wavered. Why, then,
+should Clovis be in a bad humour? And if Pharamond, the clever one,
+was well nigh convinced, who was she that she should doubt? There was
+nothing for it but to submit to the guidance of the abbé.
+
+Clovis shambled off to his study in a self-conscious and sheepish way,
+whereupon a sly smile spread over the face of Pharamond.
+
+"Do you know why our dear Clovis is in so villanous a humour?" he
+asked, glancing archly down at the marquise. "No, of course not. You
+would never guess. He wants something of you, and is afraid to ask,
+lest you refuse."
+
+"Afraid of me!" ejaculated Gabrielle, amazed.
+
+"Not quite that--but husbands do not like to ask favours and be
+refused."
+
+The marquise held her peace, for she was bitterly hurt. Refuse a
+favour to him, the husband whose good graces she was here to
+cultivate? Never. Oh, why was he so very blind! How could she ever
+hope to win his entire love and confidence if he read her character so
+ill! Then, overcome by emotion, she wept and confided in the abbé, who
+skilfully soothed her pain. He did not deserve such a treasure--this
+purblind, blundering husband, of course he did not; but since the
+Church had bound the two together, there was nothing for it but to
+make the best of the bad bargain. It was most fortunate that he,
+Pharamond, should have joined the circle, for it should be his
+privilege, as son of the Church, if permitted so great a favour, to
+act as go-between on delicate subjects, and prevent friction. Now here
+was a silly thing which, but for him, might have led to estrangement.
+Clovis had concluded that his scientific investigations demanded a
+trained assistant, and dreaded to admit as much. Was he not a foolish
+fellow?
+
+Gabrielle's heart sank low within her. Oh, Clovis! Clovis! An
+assistant! an army of assistants, if he so wished it. But it was
+soul-harrowing that his desires should require an interpreter. And now
+the good churchman changed his note from comfort to gentle chiding.
+She was ungrateful, the dear Gabrielle, to be so impatient. The
+ambassador would run on the instant and tell Clovis how he wronged his
+wife. She was ready to do all he wished, as he might have known she
+would be. Rome was not built in a day, and the firm trusting
+confidence which should unite wife and husband requires to be put
+together brick by brick, with plodding patience for a trowel. It
+should not be the abbé's fault if his watchful care did not produce,
+with time, the desired end. He would try, but Clovis was of a
+suspicious and untrusting nature, and if failure were to result after
+all--why he, the abbé, could not help what, of course, he would
+bitterly deplore.
+
+It is a curious fact that this was not quite the communication which
+he made to Clovis when, presently, he joined him in his study.
+
+"She has given way," he said; "I thought I could persuade her. I led
+her to feel that though she may hold the purse-strings, she must learn
+to know that you are master. We shall arrive at that, and make good
+our independence with constant quiet pressure. How wise of you to
+trust in me! Leave the whole matter in my hands. Say nothing on the
+subject yourself, for the plant of marital right is a fragile one
+which requires most careful handling."
+
+Gabrielle spent much of her time in reflection, wondering how it was
+that she should be so lamentably misunderstood. The only one who could
+read her aright was Abbé Pharamond, and yet there were points in his
+behaviour which perplexed the simple lady. He was kind and sympathetic
+now as he invariably was; but a change might be detected in his
+manner, which was a difference, though so slight a one that a man
+would scarce have noticed it. He loved to recline at her feet reciting
+poetry or reading classic prose--a course of improving literature, he
+called it, for the storing of a magazine that was somewhat empty; and
+in intervals of rest she would find his steely eyes fixed steadily on
+her with a peculiar expression that was half pity. Warming under his
+ever-ready sympathy she confided to him one day the shocking details
+of a certain evening on the river, and was unaccountably pained and
+disappointed at the way he treated the disclosure. In the butterfly
+clergy of Paris--steeped to the lips in vice--such a view would be
+natural and consistent; but that Pharamond, self-elected friend and
+Mentor, should display so little indignation and proper principle was
+distressing.
+
+Instead of being shocked at the escapade of Phebus, he laughed
+outright, and remarked lightly, "Of course, the poor donkey fell in
+love with you. He must, indeed, be a figure-head of wood who could
+resist such charms, and I should be sorry to find a brother of mine to
+be made of timber. Command me. Am I not your champion? Shall I rush
+forth and spit the simpleton for his temerity?"
+
+Clearly this was not the spirit in which a son of Mother Church should
+receive the news of a brother-in-law's declaration, and Gabrielle
+declared as much to her trusted counsellor.
+
+"Half-brother-in-law," interrupted the latter, admiring his oval
+nails.
+
+"It is all the same--equally wrong."
+
+"Oh, dear no! Excuse me, but it takes two halves to make a whole!"
+This light method of dealing with so grave a subject savoured of
+flippant levity; added to which distressful fact, the abbé, taking
+advantage of Gabrielle's troubled silence, had sidled closer, and was
+peering up through half-closed lids with an admiring scrutiny which
+made her vaguely uncomfortable.
+
+"The heart is independent of the will," he whispered, absently, "and
+we should not be blamed for its vagaries! You could not like the
+fellow? Of course, you could not: he is fat and foolish; and I a dolt
+to ask so vain a question. Before we are aware of it our hearts are
+given, and the gift may not be cancelled. A platitude, is it not? Does
+not that same platitude show that Love is Fate--that where he wills he
+lights, always a conqueror? Who shall punish us for bending before the
+tyrant?"
+
+"What can you mean?" inquired the marquise, startled.
+
+"Say," inquired the abbé. "Despite trivial drawbacks, we are all happy
+here together, are we not? As to Phebus, what is your decree? Because
+a man loved you, you would not chase him hence? That were unduly
+harsh."
+
+No. The marquise had no intention of endeavouring to banish Phebus.
+Was he not of the same blood as Clovis and Pharamond, husband and
+friend? To the latter she owed much, and, being grateful, would strain
+many a point to avoid offending him. It was thanks to his intervention
+that the wheels had run of late more smoothly. Indeed, she might have
+come in time to accept the situation as it was, ceasing to wish for
+something better, but for the chevalier's inconvenient flame. Even as
+it was, there was no reason why the stream, disturbed for a moment,
+should not flow as smoothly as before, since Phebus, convinced of his
+mistake, ceased to be importunate. Enwrapt in a veil of reserve he
+studiously avoided a _tête-à-tête_ with her whom he had honoured with
+elephantine love-making.
+
+Impelled by these various considerations, Gabrielle replied, quietly,
+"No. I would not chase a man away because he loved me," and a look of
+exultation flashed over the abbé's features, which as quickly faded.
+
+Lorge in winter could scarcely be called a cheerful spot; yet,
+accustomed by gradual degrees to the still life of unbroken monotony,
+none of the party suggested a return to Paris. The chevalier wandered
+aimlessly, a solitary figure, the phantom of regret--and his energies
+seemed bent on equal avoidance of Gabrielle and Angelique. Clovis
+became more and more engrossed in his pursuits, and though he
+frequently discussed the proposed assistant, took no steps--lymphatic
+unpractical creature--to unearth an adept learned in mystic lore. It
+became his habit to join the family circle once a day, and on these
+occasions he grew almost genial under the skilled banter of his
+brother. Pharamond, a miracle of resource and ready usefulness,
+ferreted out curtains of thick silk from mouldering trunks, and made
+of the boudoir at the end of the suite quite a tempting and delightful
+nest. With heaps of cushions he arranged a species of divan about the
+fire, and stretched out at full length on it declaimed by the hour
+with nice emphasis the sparkling lines of Beaumarchais. Gabrielle did
+not quite take in the sense of all he read, but the voice was
+singularly sweet and soothing--so different from the groaning
+'cello--and she grew accustomed as time went on to the singular
+expression in the eyes.
+
+Those were peaceful, placid days. When the snow swirled without in
+blustering eddies, the curtains were drawn close, and logs were piled
+upon the fire till they hissed and sparkled, and Gabrielle, as she
+listened to the rhythm of the verse, broken pleasantly from time to
+time by the distant mirth of the children as they romped now and then
+with the attentive chevalier, was fain to confess herself content. How
+smoothly the water runs as it approaches the edge of the precipice,
+and with what angry foam crests it hurries away after the fall. If the
+chatelaine had been asked at this juncture whether she pined for
+aught, she would have said _No_. Clovis, the shadowy one, was nearer
+to her than he had ever been, condescending sometimes to discuss
+affairs with her and even play with the darling prodigies. We can't
+fashion our spouses to our liking. Those who are undemonstrative must
+not be expected to coruscate. Clovis was not wilfully unkind. The
+chevalier had forgotten his folly. What a mercy that was! The abbé,
+with all his lightly scintillating oddities, was a pearl of price. All
+things considered, existence was not unpleasant.
+
+The dream was interrupted in this wise. On a certain stormy evening
+the abbé had laid down his book. The chevalier reclined in his chair,
+gulping in stentorous slumber, while Gabrielle sat listening to the
+saddest sound in the world--the soughing of the winter wind. At her
+feet lay Pharamond with flushed face, excited by the story he had been
+reading--that of Francesca da Rimini.
+
+"That pig will die in a fit," he remarked presently, with a glance of
+scorn at his brother, who lay with his back to them in gurgling
+unconsciousness; "and the sooner the better, for then we shall be
+alone."
+
+"_That day they read no more!_" Ah me, what a tale it is, old as the
+hills but ever new!
+
+A silence. Gabrielle too was reflecting on the story of Francesca.
+
+"An all-devouring consuming love. Tell me, Gabrielle, is it a curse or
+a blessing?"
+
+"That depends," replied the other, slowly, "whether it be pure or not.
+The condition of real love implies abnegation of self in favour of the
+one who is loved."
+
+"Too cold a view of it for me," returned the abbé. "I belong to the
+south, where it burns and scorches. I believe that illicit love is
+best. Poor Gabrielle! Ignorant sleeping princess, yet awaiting the
+awakening kiss! How strange, that one so beautiful should never have
+felt the divine breath! Clovis could not love. He is too selfish. With
+that brute snoring there, the god-like sentiment rises no higher than
+the lust of the uncultured savage."
+
+Tears welled into the eyes of Gabrielle. "I take it," she murmured,
+"that the reason love is so often a curse lies in its inequality,
+since it is given to no couple to love with equal fervour."
+
+Under influence of the reading and of the abbé's words, old yearnings
+had sprung newly into life again which she had deemed dead. Alas! If
+the affection of Clovis had been as true and staunch as hers, how
+unclouded a career would have been theirs. Illicit love, he had dared
+to say--this insidious Pharamond! No; never--never that! She sighed,
+and with chin on hand, gazed into the fire. It was mere idle prate.
+Men of a poetic turn run into such extremes.
+
+How beautiful she looked in the warm fitful glow in a plain sacque of
+palest rose, her hair loosely gathered to display to advantage the
+poise of the graceful head. What a perfect neck and shoulder, and how
+exquisitely modelled an arm. One hand lay carelessly upon her lap. It
+was as though he saw that shapely arm for the first time. The blood
+surging to his brain, the abbé bent down and impressed a burning kiss
+on it.
+
+Goaded by circumstances--an irresistible temptation--he had betrayed
+himself. Well! Why not now as well as later? On the whole, he was
+rather glad to have been drawn out of his usual caution.
+
+Rising from the cushions to his knees, he pressed another kiss upon
+her shoulder, and whispered with hot and labouring breath, which
+seemed to burn the skin--"Gabrielle--my Gabrielle--my own, spite all;
+it is I who am to teach you the love that maddens and entrances."
+
+Bewildered by the suddenness of the act, crimson to the roots of her
+fair hair, Gabrielle sank panting, speechless, against the carven
+oak-panel--till, feeling a hand gliding round her waist, she writhed
+out of the embrace, and, revolted, half-choked, with swimming head,
+staggered to her feet.
+
+"You too!" she faltered faintly, glancing from one brother to the
+other in fear. "Oh, Pharamond! You must be insane! You did not know
+what you were doing!"
+
+"Did I not? Hush. Why wake that idiot?" whispered the abbé, striving,
+as he clung, to wreathe again about her arm his trembling sinuous
+fingers. "I know right well what I have done, and glory in it since I
+have made you my own. On the first evening that I set eyes on your
+lustrous beauty, I swore that some day you should be mine. That day is
+come; you are hemmed round. Others want you, but not so much as I; and
+when I say _I will_, all must give way to that! I hold you in my hand
+as I might a fluttering bird just caught. Aha! How the poor heart
+beats. Be calm; oh, heart of mine! I can be patient and wait until the
+bird shall cease to struggle, and will like you all the better for the
+fluttering!"
+
+Gabrielle's blood chilled in growing horror, and she endeavoured to
+recoil, as he approached. Now she understood the strange expression
+that he wore sometimes. Her chosen counsellor had been slowly winding
+a limed thread about her limbs which should hold her fast--a helpless
+victim to his unhallowed passions--ere she knew that she was bound.
+Fool! Vain, wicked fool! Could one so astute have so completely missed
+the key to the situation? She adored the husband who, in her ignorance
+and inexperience, she deemed a demigod. To her he was a genius of whom
+she was unworthy. Here was her shield of unsullied steel, and
+brilliant, cynical Pharamond, who saw through and despised Clovis,
+guessed nothing of its existence.
+
+Then, as thought swiftly followed thought in tumultuous wave, it fell
+on her with a numb dead weight of misgiving, how much this discovery
+might mean to her. What would she do without the abbé's help? With
+terror, she realized now as she looked steadily at him, that this was
+no wild impulse borne of chance, to be condoned and forgotten like
+that of the chevalier, but the result of a deep-laid scheme. She could
+see before her an obstinate man whose will was iron and scruples nil,
+who had resolved some day to snatch what she had not to give. To whom
+in so strange an extremity could she turn for help? Wringing her hands
+together, she moaned out, "I am alone, without a friend!"
+
+"Not so!" the abbé whispered, edging nearer. "Trust to me in this as
+in other matters, for I know best, and you will thank me--oh, how
+much. Are not you to learn and I to teach? I hold the clue of the
+mystery, which is still veiled to you. Learn love from me--burning,
+devouring love; and for the first time you will know happiness."
+
+"Another step and I will wake the chevalier!" Gabrielle faltered,
+wrapping round her a poor tattered shred of shivering dignity.
+
+Pharamond laughed his long sweet laugh of rippling music, which now
+caused Gabrielle to shudder.
+
+"Awake him? Do!" gibed he, "or shall I? Look at his bull neck and
+broad fat back! He is not yours, for he is mine, though he would have
+been yours if you had wished it. Why not admit the truth in order that
+you may know me? It will save useless trouble. I loyally allowed him
+as my elder the first chance, on condition that if he failed the prize
+should be left to me. Ha, ha! Awake him by all means, that I may bid
+him remove his carcase. It cumbers the ground! Pah! What a pig-like
+snore!"
+
+Again, though she had retreated, with feet faltering among the
+draperies, to an extreme corner behind the cushions, Gabrielle felt
+the wreathing arm stealing round her waist.
+
+"Pharamond!" she pleaded huskily, exhausted. "To yourself and me be
+merciful, and you will have my earnest prayers----"
+
+"Would you usurp my functions?" whispered the abbé in mischief.
+
+The marquise pushed him from her with a strength wrung from
+indignation. "For the sake of all of us, go for a time," she murmured.
+"In the name of honest womanhood and vain regret--go! that this folly
+may be forgotten. I will try to forget. Go! and I swear to you that no
+word of it shall pass my lips."
+
+"How little you know me," scoffed the abbé, disdaining for the time to
+press her further. "Have you not learnt yet, that what I will is done?
+Awake the pig there, and ask if it is not so. What I have resolved
+upon, I do. You are mine--all mine--whether you like it or not; now or
+a little later!"
+
+"Then I must seek refuge with my husband."
+
+"If you accuse me, he will not believe you. The influence over him
+that you awkwardly threw away, I gained. How ill you've played your
+cards, most charming woman! He is a weak man who must be led by some
+one--it might have been by _you_. Come, say the word, and you shall
+lead him yet; or, rather, we will together."
+
+Gabrielle looked again into the abbé's face (which was so terribly
+close to hers), then at that of his sleeping brother, who had turned
+in uneasy slumber. How could she have been deceived so long?
+Sensuality on both masks--the one, gross and altogether earthy; the
+other, marked by flashes of sly eyes and twists of thin lips that were
+not well to look upon, for that second mask was transparent, and the
+devil was peering through.
+
+"I will give you time to think," proceeded the abbé, "since, though
+the moment is propitious, you are not in the mood for wooing. Here is
+a rebus. Your fate is in my hand, yet in your own. According as you
+decide, you will find in me the most devoted servant or the most
+implacable enemy. The love of us southerners is not far removed from
+hate. According as you act, you may bask in its beams or be scorched
+into a cinder; hence it is to be feared and respected."
+
+Pressing so close to her that she could feel the pulsations of his
+breast, he added in low accents that cut into her heart like steel,
+"Be well advised, and comprehend the truth. Your life hangs in the
+balance for happiness or misery. Consider, and choose wisely, for this
+is the critical time on which your fate depends."
+
+Then, opening the door with a bow whose distinction would have done
+honour to Trianon, he stood aside to let the lady pass into her
+bedchamber. Closing the door again, he knit his brows and bit his
+nails while contemplating the sleeping chevalier. "A trifle premature,
+that's all," he muttered; "no harm done, for all her sweeping pride.
+Well-meaning, vacillating women are like satin-skinned horses in the
+arena--all the better for a touch of the lash. It is written, my
+mission is to teach her _love_, and I will do it thoroughly from my
+own point of view--of course. She is inexperienced, and proud, and
+empty. If the fruit's not ripe, I've time to wait for it to mellow.
+Perhaps, who knows? I may, should she be restive, be forced to crush
+her pride. A pity! for it would be a charm removed. Perchance I shall
+only squeeze firmly, without crushing it. The snaring of a bird that
+is shy, whose plumage must not be injured! Shall it be tamed by
+kindness, or the reverse? A problem, this, that Time's slow fingers
+must unravel. The key to it is patience--most valuable of virtues!" He
+stood long, pondering as he surveyed his sleeping brother. It was as
+if he sought some luminous answer in those puffed and stolid features.
+
+Next morning, Gabrielle appeared at déjeuner with pallid cheeks and
+red eyes, under whose lids there glinted a ray of apprehension. That
+Clovis's two half-brothers should both have developed, without
+encouragement, so ill-omened a passion! What had the future in store
+for a helpless woman as the upshot of so perilous a dilemma? Was it
+not, after all, an ugly dream--a hideous nightmare born of Erebus,
+that had been routed by healthful morning? Having eaten his fill,
+Clovis was placidly sipping claret, and forming a mimic tub out of
+bread-crusts. The round visage of the chevalier was as expressionless
+as usual.
+
+Upon the entrance of the chatelaine, the abbé had risen to close the
+door with nimblest alacrity and deftest grace, and had led her to the
+table with ceremoniously respectful finger-tips. The evil expression
+was gone. Glancing nervously at him, she saw nothing but a polished
+bonhomie veneered with distant and deferential kindliness. He deplored
+her looks with ready grief, but added, for consolation, that a washed
+rose revives in sunshine, and becomes more fragrant for the shower.
+
+"She mopes for lack of proper exercise," he exclaimed, with a gentle
+headshake of reproach. "Let us make a little party, and make a raid on
+Montbazon."
+
+Clovis, busy with the bread-crusts, remarked somewhat tartly that he
+was much occupied, as they ought all to know; that the others had
+better go without him; whereupon Gabrielle turned pale. Ride with the
+two brothers, whose overweening and importunate affection she had so
+recently repulsed!
+
+"I vow," cried facetious Pharamond, "that our Gabrielle is growing
+delicate. She who was wont to be active objects to exercise.
+Decidedly, my Clovis, we must set the miraculous tub agoing for the
+benefit of your delightful wife."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                            A NEW ARRIVAL.
+
+
+Our dear marquise--as you have realised ere this--satisfied the desire
+of the eye in all ways, for, combined with beauty of feature and of
+colour, was the suave sweetness of expression that is bred of the
+domestic virtues. Had she been an abbess the odour of her sanctity
+would have penetrated down to us in many a miraculous legend, and her
+carved simulacrum would have stood in many a niche and sculptured
+frieze along with those of other privileged young ladies. But she
+could not guide a husband who needed a bridle rein, neither could she
+decipher rebuses. The eccentric conduct of the versatile and too
+inflammable abbé completely mystified her. Why had he in the firelight
+resembled a satyr, to become in the morning so meek, and mild, and
+saint-like? Perhaps her prayers had been answered and, seeing the
+error of his ways, he had repented ere it was too late. It is
+disconcerting when an amorous and fervid swain inflicts burning kisses
+on your skin, and next day forgets the transgression. In the case of
+Pharamond a marvel must have been worked, for never by wink of eyelid
+did he attempt to recall his untoward proceedings during the storm.
+The episode was washed clean away by the snowdrift. He was alert, and
+lively, and amiable, as heretofore; always active in performing little
+services, inventing some new comfort or pleasure, rallying the dull,
+sympathizing with the weary. He knew better than to sit glum and
+mumchance like the chevalier. Betrayed into error, he had accepted
+rebuff like a gentleman, and by a marked increase of respect was
+trying to win forgiveness. This was quite as it should be, and there
+was no more to be said. And so, the clouds that threatened being
+dissipated, the months of winter rolled away in so uniform a sequence
+that their glassy flow seemed as if it must run for ever.
+
+The marquis, influenced probably by his repentant brother, was amiable
+enough. The two talked Mesmer all day long; formed plans for mutual
+assistance: held lengthy conferences in the study, which always had,
+now the satisfying result of improving Clovis's temper. The first
+primrose had just emerged from its bed when the abbé announced one day
+the portentous fact that the marquis was packing his valise.
+
+"Packing his valise! Tired of the dulness of Lorge?" Gabrielle felt a
+tinge of sadness at the thought. Why not have let things be? If there
+was to be a change, would it be for better or worse?
+
+"How silly you are!" observed Clovis, cheerfully, remarking her
+wistful look. "Are we limpets glued to a rock? I am about to make a
+little journey, quite a short one--the effect of which in the future
+may transfigure the countenance of earth."
+
+"You will not be absent long?" inquired the marquise, in a reproachful
+tone.
+
+"A couple of weeks at most. The fact is, that I am going to Spa, and
+hope to bring back with me the assistant, without whom I can advance
+no further."
+
+"You said you did not object," murmured Pharamond, softly.
+
+"Object? Certainly not. I said so long ago."
+
+Clovis frowned. He did not like to be reminded of dependence just as
+he was about to use his liberty.
+
+"I have a hundred questions to ask, which must be answered by word of
+mouth, and shall bring back such a budget of testimony as shall
+surprise even you into belief. The country is distressingly quiet and
+monotonous. You are not afraid, I suppose, to await my return under
+the joint protection of my brothers?"
+
+The abbé was innocently contemplating the tapestry opposite with rapt
+interest; the chevalier was examining the floor. If the husband had
+only known--how whimsical a question! Gabrielle glanced at one, then
+at the other, with a tiny twinge of misgiving, which speedily gave way
+to confidence, and replied simply--
+
+"Oh, no; I am afraid of neither. Even if they attempted to do me harm,
+and why should they? have I not Toinon at hand, and her no less
+devoted lover?"
+
+"Harm! From us!" echoed Pharamond, vastly tickled. "Phebus is an ogre
+with great teeth and one blear eye, whilst I am the original
+Croquemitaine, devourer of white-fleshed maidens."
+
+"I have said I am not afraid of you," remarked the marquise, demurely.
+
+"Jean Boulot, the devoted lover!" continued the playful abbé. "More
+danger in his little finger, I warrant, than in both our bodies. While
+you are absent, Clovis, I've half a mind to divert myself with pretty
+Toinon; but, alas! I am in terror of her big surly bear. A brawny
+malcontent! Only the other day I heard him deliver an address under
+the village tree--such a compound of fire and brimstone--and I suppose
+my smile was not respectful; for, catching my eye, he directed his
+abuse at me, and poured forth such a scurrilous diatribe against our
+class that I was glad enough to escape. Like everyone else, however,
+he respects Gabrielle, and when he becomes aggressive, she shall
+shield us from his wrath!"
+
+The marquise was relieved, for this was a delicate way of hinting that
+there was to be no recurrence of that scene. Why should she mind being
+left with the brothers? Clovis, who did not shine as a protector,
+might depart on his mission with a light heart, to return as soon as
+possible wreathed with the laurels of success.
+
+He went, and the household, after the small excitement of the
+unimportant incident, returned to its monotony of peace. The brothers
+treated their chatelaine with such an increase of punctilio and
+ceremony as should perforce stop the idle gossip of provincial
+busybodies. Even shrewd Toinon, who was of an unbelieving turn, and
+never quite satisfied with regard to the honeyed churchman, looked on
+the situation with approval.
+
+The marquis had been absent three weeks when a messenger arrived with
+a missive directed to the abbé. Gabrielle was in the moat garden
+superintending the chevalier, who was occupied in the watering of
+plants. Toinon was there, too, looking after Jean Boulot, as was her
+duty, while he clipped and trimmed the hedges, with the prodigies
+hanging to his coat-tails. The group made a charming picture of rural
+bliss, such as it makes good the heart to look upon. Through the
+postern-door leisurely emerged the abbé, gazing at a paper as he
+descended the grassy slope with a scowl of genuine annoyance.
+
+"What is it?" cried Gabrielle, turning pale. "Nothing wrong with
+Clovis?"
+
+"Everything wrong with Clovis," retorted Pharamond, testily. "He must
+have lost his wits to be capable of such a proceeding."
+
+"He is well?"
+
+"Oh, yes; he is well."
+
+"Then all is well."
+
+"Is it? That remains to be shown. He will be home to-morrow at supper
+time."
+
+"Then all is well, indeed. The best of news!"
+
+Delighted as she was, a pang shot through the heart of the marquise,
+in that the absent one had elected to communicate with his brother
+rather than his wife.
+
+"Do you know?" she remarked with a smile, "that I am quite jealous. He
+ought to have written to me."
+
+"I suppose he had the decency to be ashamed, and so left it to me to
+smooth the way for him. There is something here which I doubt your
+liking. It was wrong--very, very wrong--not to have first consulted
+_you_."
+
+"What is it? Let me know, without all this parley. You torture me!"
+
+"Well, the prodigal returns to-morrow--but not alone."
+
+"I know that. He had full permission to hire an assistant. Are there
+more? He is welcome to bring his friends."
+
+"A female friend?"
+
+"A woman!" ejaculated Gabrielle, dropping her garden scissors, while
+Toinon stared, round-eyed.
+
+"A woman!" echoed Pharamond, moved to real anger. "Was there ever
+anything so ridiculous! a woman picked up at Spa!"
+
+"What can she want here?' inquired Toinon.
+
+"A protégée, it appears, of that infernal prophet," grumbled the abbé.
+"Listen to what he says: 'Gabrielle will be charmed,' he writes
+(double distilled blockhead), 'when she understands it all, for by a
+most lucky chance, the presence of Mademoiselle Brunelle will serve a
+double purpose. She is an adept of the first class, educated under the
+eye of Mesmer himself, instructed in all the intricacies of animal
+magnetism, and has, moreover, successfully followed the avocation of
+governess. The dear children have outgrown the reach of my wife's
+teaching, and Mademoiselle Brunelle can henceforth superintend their
+studies.'"
+
+Pharamond looked dubiously at his sister-in-law, who flushed red, then
+paled. His annoyance was more than justified, for it was outrageous to
+engage a resident governess without consulting the wife and mother.
+And yet it might be for the best. The dear prodigies knew all that
+poor Gabrielle could teach them, and in this remote spot it was
+difficult without great expense to procure masters from Blois or
+Tours. Clovis had been enabled to see and interview a lady, which was
+better than taking her on trust by letter. The mother should have been
+consulted, though, before entering on a definite engagement.
+
+Toinon's indignation broke forth.
+
+"Well, I'm sure," she sniffed, "what next. Stray women are to be
+brought into the house without madame's sanction. If I were she, I'd
+dispatch our Jean to bar the way, and forbid the baggage to approach.
+Such impudence!"
+
+In curbing the maid's zeal, Gabrielle convinced herself. The marquis
+was master, and his will was law. He had been most wise and far-seeing
+in thinking of the dear children's welfare. He had thought more of
+them than she, who had twitted him with indifference. He had done
+well, as always, and Toinon would perhaps be kind enough to stifle her
+impertinence.
+
+Toinon screwed up her lips, and muttered between her teeth, "Madame is
+a saint too good for earth. She may endure the insult patiently, but I
+shall hate the horrid woman from the very instant she arrives!"
+
+It was evening when the wheels of the marquis's coach were heard
+grinding on the gravel, and amid the din of servants moving trunks and
+bundles, Gabrielle, who waited in the salon, was aware of a deep,
+strong voice rapping out sharp orders like a rattle of artillery. "You
+awkward loons!" it shouted, "be careful of that tub and its contents.
+Are there not some other rascals somewhere who are less clumsy?"
+
+Ere long, the voice was heard approaching up the stairs, along the
+corridor, still grumbling noisily anent bucolic yokeldom, and, by and
+by, a much cloaked figure loomed on the threshold, and straightway
+went through the complicated evolutions of an elaborate and respectful
+curtsey.
+
+"Madame la Marquise, no doubt," said the deep, strong voice. "Madame's
+humble and obedient servant. My name is Aglaé Brunelle. Where are the
+darling infants?"
+
+The abruptness of the salutation amused Gabrielle.
+
+The woman rejoiced in a fine figure, of somewhat large proportions, as
+was evident when she unwound her wraps. Her complexion was dusky, her
+hair and eyes coal black. Her mouth large, with full, red lips, which
+contrasted well with the square white teeth behind. The thick,
+straight eyebrows were endowed with a strange mobility which hinted at
+habits of command curiously at variance with the position of the
+new-comer. Her manner, however, towards the marquise was a miracle of
+deportment. Submissive respect was deftly mingled with a tinge of
+independent nonchalance, glossed over with an unconcealed admiration,
+flattering to the beauty of the chatelaine.
+
+"An oddity," thought Gabrielle, unconsciously relieved to perceive
+that the large lady was uncomely.
+
+"An ugly, insolent monster," was the uncompromising verdict of fierce
+Toinon, who had scanned her from the top of the stairs.
+
+Her noisy delight over the prodigies who had been kept up to make
+acquaintance with their governess quite won the mother's heart. The
+tall figure went down on its knees with a prodigious thump, and twined
+them in its bare dark arms with a shower of kisses.
+
+"The darlings--the cherubs--the pets," growled the strong voice, like
+a muffled drum. "They will soon love their Aglaé, will they not? I
+knew that the offspring of a father like the good marquis and of so
+divinely lovely a mother, must be angels--and they are--they are;"
+another shower of kisses. "Madame la Marquise must forgive my
+brusquerie, for I do so dote on children."
+
+Here was an excellent beginning. The mother was gratified--the
+father looked on the picturesque group with a broad smile of
+self-complacency. It was evident for once that he had been extremely
+clever. Mademoiselle's manners being peculiar, he had had misgivings
+as to this first interview, but nothing could have gone better. The
+lady was a marvel of intelligence! Of course she was--a favourite
+pupil of Mesmer's, who knew his secrets, was mistress of his system.
+From this day a new era was to dawn on gloomy Lorge. The new-comer was
+an undoubted acquisition--just what was required to crown the family
+edifice. All would go merrily now as marriage bells.
+
+The astute abbé was puzzled by the governess. Her arrival upset all
+his calculations. Clovis had never consulted him any more than
+Gabrielle, and under a preoccupied manner, he had, on receipt of the
+letter, been consumed by a white heat of rage. To dare to introduce a
+foreign element without his consent! Had he been scheming all this
+while to be baffled by a stranger? For surely in so small and retired
+a household she would take a prominent part. Would the woman turn out
+friend or foe? He had deemed the dreamy Clovis well under his thumb
+for life. The chevalier was a mere pawn upon the board. Since playing
+that false move on the night of the storm, he had employed all his
+arts to lull Gabrielle's suspicions, and had succeeded beyond
+expectation. That a head so cool as his should for once so betray its
+owner! A little patience. So delicious a prize was worth working and
+waiting for, and trying for again and again. Of different grit to the
+chevalier, he was not one to submit to defeat on a first repulse. No:
+his appetite was whetted. The morsel should be his and only his, as he
+had openly sworn; and would be all the more enjoyable for a little
+vexatious waiting.
+
+Thus had he arranged the future in his mind. But now, what of the
+governess? This unexpected move must be met somehow. Would it be well
+to form an alliance with her, or must she be promptly ousted? Her
+character must be studied with care. Evidently by nature domineering,
+what would be her attitude to him? Could she be frightened and
+brow-beaten? Not likely. Would she endeavour to undermine the
+influence he had already gained in order to reign alone? Probably.
+
+At the thought the abbé's eyes gleamed cat-like, and his thin lips
+tightened over grinding teeth. Turned out by a scheming stranger, and
+when all promised so well. To be turned out meant ruin, for things in
+the south had been going so wrong during the last six months, had
+become so much worse since the period of their hurried flight from
+Toulouse, that both brothers were quite dependent on the marquis. To
+be ejected now, or later, by the large dark hand of the unwelcome
+Aglaé would mean pecuniary undoing, and the loss of the sweet morsel
+as well. Resign Gabrielle? Never! How to manage, then? The marquise
+was inclined to be friendly with the interloper, which showed a too
+Christian frame of mind to cope with mundane buffeting. This must be
+combated at once, lest it should become necessary before long to make
+a combined effort for the annihilation of the intruder.
+
+What had the baleful woman come for to this dismal and remote retreat?
+Why had Mesmer thrust his protégée upon the neophyte? With curses the
+abbé admitted inwardly that he was himself at the bottom of the
+imbroglio. With the idea of dividing the husband from the wife for
+ever, he had conceived the plan of burying Clovis so deep in mysticism
+that he might never be pulled out of the slough, and to that end had
+suggested an assistant who should be taught to play upon his foibles.
+But who could be expected to foresee that the adept would take the
+form of a woman?
+
+Of course, the woman was a greedy adventuress in search of flesh-pots,
+and had gauged aright the feeble and vacillating character of the
+young Marquis de Gange. She was evidently extremely gifted and he the
+dullest of good-looking dogs. Already he was dazzled by the jewels of
+a varied experience which she threw about so freely, and began to
+babble exasperating nonsense of having met his "Affinity" at last!
+
+That she had some deep design on hand was evident, for she laid
+herself out to dazzle the besotted Clovis, and succeeded but too well.
+If it were not so, what could the motive of so brilliant a person be
+for deliberately banishing herself to this hermitage? She had
+certainly not jogged along those rugged roads for the edification of
+two strange children, however abnormally cherubic.
+
+In the struggle which must come, simple Gabrielle would be worsted.
+Beauty and honest innocence alone are never a match for intellect,
+even when combined with outward homeliness. Aglaé Brunelle was not
+absolutely ugly, and yet by no means pretty; but when a superior mind
+shines through a face, however plain, does it not light the features
+with a beauty all its own? Toinon had learnt that long since, and used
+it, as we have seen, for a text.
+
+The more he thought the matter over, the more puzzled grew the abbé;
+the more angry with himself and dissatisfied. A very few days after
+the arrival of Mademoiselle, her pervading presence began to be felt
+by the entire household in a way that maddened Pharamond. It was like
+the mysterious action of yeast on dough. As outwardly respectful and
+submissive as a dependent should be, everybody came to feel that
+orders emanated from her. Was the fascination due to an occult power
+inoculated by the prophet? Even the scoffing abbé began to wonder
+whether there was something serious underlying the antics of the
+charlatan, after all. Certain it was that she did possess a power, but
+whether due to magnetism or strong will, it was hard to determine. The
+abbé's will was as tough as hers, he was proud to think, but instinct
+told him that a struggle between the two would be exhausting to both,
+and that none might prophesy the result. Better an alliance, if she,
+like him, was working on a web. But would she brook a divided sway?
+Was _he_ prepared to accept so unsatisfactory an arrangement? How
+exasperating, that just as the horizon seemed so clear, the sky so
+cloudless, a thunderbolt should come out of the blue to play havoc
+with all his combinations.
+
+What of Gabrielle? His schemes revolved around her. Thanks to his
+cleverness he and she had tranquilly resumed their old relations. He
+did not propose to be content to read poetry for ever. A time was to
+come when she was to return the burning kisses he had impressed upon
+her shoulder, and twine her arms about his neck; and that longed-for
+moment was no nearer now than months ago. To tame the fluttering bird
+to his will he must do a little squeezing, after all, and make up by
+the ardour of the future for the painful proceedings of the present.
+Yes, Gabrielle must be gently racked, be made familiar with tweaks and
+pains. A little twist or two and a tug of ropes just to hint of such a
+tearing as was possible. Perhaps the governess, if an alliance could
+be brought about, might become a useful agent instead of a kill-joy.
+Isolated on all sides, the Marquise de Gange must be thrown on her
+dear friend the abbé for protection; then the rest would quite
+naturally follow.
+
+Among other things the accomplished Aglaé was a skilled musician, and
+this became a new and unexpected bond between her and the enchanted
+marquis. She could rattle off by heart on the spinet all Lulli and
+Glück, could even improvise entrancing accompaniments to airs hitherto
+unknown to her. She loved music, and considered the violoncello to be
+the most soul-stirring if sad of instruments. Sometimes her hands
+would slide from the keys while a great sigh burst from her capacious
+bosom, and the marquis looking up would perceive tears rolling down
+her cheeks. "It is nothing, but I do love it so," she would snuffle
+incoherently, and then resume the improvising with eyes and nose
+unbecomingly roseate and swollen.
+
+What with the music (Gabrielle of course, retired into space at the
+first scratching of the 'cello) and experiments with the bucket, and
+abstruse instructions as to laying on of hands, and the careful study
+of Mesmer's now frequent letters, the marquis and the governess were
+constantly thrown together. To flirt with your affinity--two souls
+denuded of their earthy envelope, side by side on a sofa--may have its
+delights; but surely to commune together in the flesh at all hours has
+conspicuous advantages.
+
+On the day after her arrival Gabrielle had courteously volunteered to
+show mademoiselle over the castle, and that lady had overawed her
+hostess by the variety and minuteness of her knowledge, and bewildered
+her with searching questions. The abbé, looking on, had pointed out to
+the chevalier (who, gooseberry-eyed, saw nothing) the amusing contrast
+presented by the two ladies.
+
+Gabrielle was a _Greuze_, without that painter's namby-pamby softness;
+so fair a thing that the hours almost turned laggard on their plodding
+way to gaze at her. Tall, slim, erect, with a carriage which is a gift
+at birth and can never be mimicked by a parvenue; a perfect figure; a
+colour borrowed from an unopened moss-rose; an expression of calm, as
+of an unrippled sea in a land-locked bay. By her side moved Aglaé
+Brunelle--taller still, broad-shouldered; with a waist of smaller
+dimensions than might be expected from the massive moulding of the
+limbs; an expression changing each moment according to the object
+brought under the beady eyes; a heavy swinging gait, and a trick of
+tossing the head. There was something that pleased by its oddity, and
+was as effective in its way as the sweeping erectness of her
+companion.
+
+Aglaé insisted upon going everywhere, and delivered a running lecture
+as she went, impressing points with a straight dark finger,
+square-tipped. From the turret window she delivered herself of a
+lesson in geography, showing that she knew more about the vicinity of
+the Loire than those who dwelt there. She vowed it was a shame to have
+walled up the dungeons, for in one (unless she was misinformed) was a
+crucifix carved with reverent care out of the stone, by the broken
+knife blade of a despairing prisoner. Then, the survey over, she
+declared she had not seen the most interesting object of all. What was
+that? Why! the school-room of the prodigies; what else? Was she not
+here to teach their minds to shoot, and was it not most important that
+the scene of the operation should be selected with consummate care?
+There was no school-room--only a nursery! Then and there so crying a
+defect should be remedied. Madame would forgive her energy,
+recognizing the importance of the subject? Madame was so beautiful and
+indulgent to a poor stranger that there was no doubt of it. The
+darlings must have every advantage. Did not madame think so? Of course
+she did. Then off stumped Mademoiselle Brunelle, shaking the floor as
+though a colossal statue had been endowed with movement, and the big
+voice was heard in thunder presently, shouting out peremptory commands
+about curtains and chairs and tables.
+
+Who was to resist this interloper? Gabrielle, though she felt nettled
+at being taken despotically in hand, and thrust aside, was not
+prepared to interfere, for manifestly the arrangements were for the
+good of the darlings. The new broom was sweeping so very clean, that
+compunction invaded the maternal bosom, in that she had been remiss in
+not sufficiently considering the extent of the cherubic wants.
+
+Established in the best room on the ground floor to her satisfaction,
+surrounded with pictures and statuettes and ornamental nicknacks
+ravished from other chambers, Mademoiselle Brunelle let all and sundry
+know that here was her especial stronghold which none would invade
+with impunity.
+
+Nevertheless, the Marquise de Gange, who did not understand that such
+an _ukase_ could possibly refer to her, prepared herself to assist at
+the lessons of the dear ones and to watch the process of shooting,
+and she was no little taken aback at the arbitrary proceedings
+of the governess. At first she took no notice of sour smiles and
+head-tossings, whereupon mademoiselle thought fit to dot her _i_'s,
+and bluntly inform madame with that queer mixture of respect and
+independence, in which the latter was beginning to preponderate, that
+it was a troublesome matter to instruct youth in complicated subjects
+in the presence of an ignorant mother.
+
+"Do consider, madame," she observed, saucily, "how humiliating for you
+it will be, if they discover how little you know!"
+
+Gabrielle bowed her head and blushingly admitted her shortcomings. "I
+too can learn," she murmured with meekness, "and you will find me an
+anxious pupil;" but somehow whenever the rustle of her dress was heard
+in the corridor, the cherubs unaccountably began their music lesson;
+and when, remarking the fact, she requested that in future the
+scraping of Victor's violin might be exchanged for more delectable
+study, mademoiselle raised her mobile thatch of brow, and curtly
+declared that she took orders only from the marquis.
+
+Gabrielle left the school-room humbled and bewildered, for a novel
+idea had been thrust on her which her loyal nature refused to
+entertain. Clovis could not have introduced this new factor into the
+household for the purpose of annoying his wife! Everyone admitted that
+he was a good man, if selfish and somewhat unpractical.
+
+He did not wish this creature to stand betwixt a mother and her babes?
+Surely not. The suspicion was unworthy of a true wife, and banished as
+soon as formed. There was a mistake somewhere. The woman meant well,
+but was officious. Clovis occupy himself about such domestic details!
+Why, he rarely took notice of the children at all, unless worried into
+doing so. Why should he show interest now--since the arrival of this
+person? Pondering over this problem in confused pain between the
+alleys of the moated garden, the marquise endeavoured to reassure
+herself. Could she be so foolish as to be growing jealous of a
+stranger who, it could not be denied, was acting for the best? It was
+perfectly true that the marquise knew nothing of the subjects that
+were being taught by Aglaé, and it was genuinely kind of her not to
+let the cherubs see that their erudition overtopped their mother's.
+
+And yet--the hireling had been sadly rude to the mother in the
+presence of the darlings.
+
+"You are agitated, sweet sister?" whispered the abbé, coming softly up
+behind across the grass--his soft hands in a dainty muff, for it was
+chilly--and beaming down on her. "Do you know that I've been following
+these five minutes without obtaining a hearing?"
+
+He looked so kind, had behaved with such discretion since his mistake,
+that her chilled heart warmed to him. Her lips trembled, and she burst
+into a flood of tears. His fingers clutched within the muff (oh! how
+like the vulture's talons!) as though he would have clasped her to his
+breast and held her there; but with a supreme effort he restrained the
+impulse. "Not yet; not yet," he murmured to himself, as hearkening to
+her artless tale with anxious mien he gazed in silence across the
+swiftly-flowing Loire.
+
+
+"I fear your suspicion is well founded, and that Clovis wishes it," he
+murmured shortly, when she had finished; then, taking her cold hand in
+his, he led her through the postern to a spot which overlooked the
+cherubic sanctuary.
+
+Clovis sat by the spinet, beating time with a roll of music--the
+divine afflatus heavy on him--while the pair of angels played.
+
+"She got rid of you on purpose; drove you out, to be untrammelled in
+her intercourse with him!" whispered the abbé with compassion.
+
+"My children!" moaned the chatelaine, aghast. "Why can it be his wish
+that she should take them from me, their mother?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+                           THUNDER CLOUDS.
+
+
+Gabrielle was stung to the quick. When _she_ taught the infants her
+husband could never be lured into the nursery, and now--in so brief a
+space of time--a stranger had succeeded in rousing his dormant
+interest. In her jealousy she took to secretly watching the movements
+of the governess, and discovered, to her dismay, that the steps of
+Clovis were constantly wending towards the school-room. And this state
+of things had been brought about by the non-performance of duties. It
+was her own fault--of course it was her own fault for neglecting the
+abbé's warning. Had he not said that Clovis required leading; had he
+not even offered to assist her in leading him, and had she not replied
+by inference that so long as he was guided judiciously, it might be by
+another hand? But never, in wildest nightmare, had she conjured the
+possibility of that hand being another woman's! She was a bad wife,
+for she had neglected her duty, since, surely, it is a wife's first
+duty to make herself pleasant to her husband. Oh! woe on sins of
+omission! Instead of pampering her spouse's hobbies she had scoffed at
+them, and punishment had swooped swiftly down on her.
+
+But it was not too late to set the matter right. He was not a bad man,
+though difficult to live with. A word of remonstrance at this juncture
+was worth a homily later, and he would hearken to her words of
+pleading, for since the arrival of the brothers at Lorge he had shown,
+in a glimmering glow-worm way, that he admired and liked his wife. She
+was satisfied that his sluggish nature was not capable of a warmer
+feeling, and had brought herself meekly to accept that microscopic
+meed of affection. She must take her courage in her hands, and open
+her heart to him; declare that his new arrangement, which at the start
+promised well enough, was making his wife wretched. When he came to
+understand that she was miserable, he would apologise at once and send
+the interloper packing.
+
+Rising from the sofa on which she had fallen after pacing the room in
+a fever, she moved rapidly along the corridor which led to the
+marquis' study. Her fingers were on the door-knob, and her head was
+whirling with persuasive arguments, when of a sudden her hand dropped
+powerless. There were low voices murmuring within. The parquet all
+around the closed door was strewn with straw and bottles, while on an
+open packing-case was scrawled in large letters the name of Aglaé
+Brunelle. A cold shiver passed over her frame. She was with him now,
+that woman. On familiar terms, indeed, since her boxes were unpacked
+by Clovis! They were never weary of communing together, with heads
+close and hair mingling, discussing subjects which absorbed them both,
+but in which she would never have a part! The pride of the young
+chatelaine rebelled. She could not complain before the domineering
+adventuress. Would it not be humiliating enough to confess to _him_
+that his beautiful and high-born wife was jealous of a stranger,
+sprung from nowhere in particular, who was rather plain than
+otherwise?
+
+Reluctantly returning to the boudoir, she took a pen and, after a
+pause of meditation, flung it down. Write to her fond father, begging
+him to intervene? No. He believed that she was happy, and should
+believe it to the end, however much she might be made to suffer. He
+should share her joys, but not her sorrows, the good father who adored
+her so. She must endeavour to remedy her own mistakes, fight this
+rival single-handed, win back the errant husband by the female arts
+which hitherto she had affected to despise, and understood so little.
+Was she strong enough for the difficult task? Perchance the abbé would
+assist; but was it not another bitter thing to summon one to the
+rescue who, though repentant, had once so grievously forgotten
+himself?
+
+Meanwhile, though he kept up a show of airy levity, the cunning
+Pharamond was, in a different way, almost as perturbed as she. The
+strides of the affinity were prodigious, whereas his own siege of
+Gabrielle made no advance at all. Unless he grappled with the
+situation without delay, he would assuredly be worsted. But how to
+grapple with it, by cajolery or threats? Or would it be advisable to
+practise the arts of the bravo? Was the hand of cordial friendship to
+be extended to the interloper, or was she forthwith to be stabbed in
+the back? Pharamond considered himself a genius, and knew that one
+attribute of genius is to know when to seize an opportunity. Consider
+the knotty problem as he would, he could not come to a decision.
+Perhaps, for the present, a waiting game would be the best to play.
+The hand of friendship first, as an experiment; a stab with the
+poignard by and by.
+
+The abbé in his uncertainty took to dividing his valuable society
+between the ladies. While the marquis and his affinity were fidgeting
+over experiments, he read impassioned strophes to the marquise. When
+the party went forth for a walk or drive he attached himself to the
+skirt of Aglaé. Her behaviour was irreproachable. She laughed slily at
+his delicate hints, and seemed mightily amused by his compliments.
+Once, when he thought he was really making progress in this direction,
+she placed her two large hands upon her haunches, and wagging her
+head, remarked, "Does monsieur think me blind?"
+
+"Certainly not," replied the gallant abbé. "Those sparkling orbs shine
+like fireflies."
+
+"Then why arrange a trap--and such a clumsy one--for my poor big
+simple feet to fall into?"
+
+It is disconcerting to the astute to be twitted with lack of
+skill. The tactics that served for Gabrielle would not do with this
+shrewder lady. Since she guessed his hand, why not show the cards?
+Dangerous--but a hazardous game not unfrequently coerces Fortune.
+
+"Why can't you trust me, mademoiselle," he murmured. "Cannot one so
+sharp perceive that I'm her friend?"
+
+"A thousand thanks. I am indeed blessed," simpered the lady, raising
+her bushy brows. "A fortunate wanderer on life's rugged road. The
+marquis is all goodness. Have I also found favour with his brother?"
+
+"I have helped you already," pursued the abbé, fibbing. "I have
+explained to the marquise that she must no longer interfere with the
+children; that Mademoiselle Brunelle is to have absolute and complete
+control."
+
+Aglaé shot at the speaker a suspicious glance. An ally and not an
+enemy? To what end? If it were really so, a friend in the camp would
+be extremely useful. A snare--surely a snare--for this man had every
+reason to dislike the intruder.
+
+"What motive have you for befriending a poor insignificant creature
+such as I?" bluntly demanded the governess. "People do nothing for
+nothing in this world, and I know that I am not a beauty."
+
+"I have my reasons."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Eve was too prying. Accept the lesson and trust."
+
+Aglaé looked straight at Pharamond; then laughing her great rolling
+laugh playfully shook her head.
+
+"No. Trust You? Thank you," she said. "You overreach yourself, for you
+are a dreadfully sharp-witted gentleman who can see through a wall and
+round a corner. You think I have grand plans, when I have none; for I
+am only a guileless wandering waif who enjoys the good things of this
+world."
+
+There was a sly look of covert malice in her sparkling eyes which
+belied her words, "You do not believe me?" she continued. "I am not
+quite young, so I have learned to know the world and its funny little
+snares. Flies are only eaten by spiders because their lives are so
+short, that they've no time to learn experience."
+
+"You take me for a spider?" inquired Pharamond, uncertain what to make
+of the lady.
+
+"You are certainly a wee bit like, for you want to gobble up poor me!"
+
+"I assure you that both I and the chevalier are friends, whom you
+would do well to trust."
+
+"You take me for a cuckoo, and all the while I am a dove," cried
+lively Aglaé. Then seeing that the abbé was nonplussed, she spoke
+musingly, as though discussing a grave matter with herself. "What a
+pity," she observed regretfully to the landscape, "that the dear man
+cannot be explicit. He is afraid that the lowly governess may supplant
+him with his brother, and would like to tumble me neck and crop into
+his yawning gaping trap! In so shrewd a gentleman stupidity is sad."
+She pretended not to see the gleam of menace in the abbé's eyes, or
+the sharp clenching of his hands, and turned with an ingenuous look of
+artless innocence when he blurted out in anger,--
+
+"Afraid! I am afraid of no one. I can speak more plainly, if you
+will."
+
+"No need," replied the governess, carelessly, "for I can see round
+corners quite as well as you. I can read your character up to a point,
+and beyond that I confess I am baffled. I have changed my mind--women
+have the right, haven't they?--and will give you a lesson in candour.
+There is no witness to our cosy chat, for the birds are gone
+a-picnicing, so why should we beat about the bush? Stick to the truth,
+abbé. You say you are afraid of none, the while you are afraid of me.
+You look with fear on my growing influence over the marquis, and in
+that you are right, for I intend that he shall be my slave, unable to
+live out of my company. See how plain spoken I am, whilst you are full
+of artifice! When I came here I had no projects, being content to
+drift like a cork, leaving events to sort themselves, and my plans
+even now are of the vaguest. The marquis is rich. Do not suppose for a
+moment that I propose to become his mistress. Never, never, never! _ce
+serait trop bête!_ If his puling wife were to die I might condescend
+to succeed her, but that is not just now within the limits of the
+probable. I like the marquis, and I like the grey old chateau, and I
+enjoy the sweets of wealth. Why trouble about the morrow, then?
+Whatever I may choose to do I shall succeed in it, for patience is one
+of my pet virtues--not but what I love them all--and success is made
+of patience as the sea of drops."
+
+"You are a singular woman!" remarked the abbé.
+
+"Am I not? Frankness is so nice when no one's by. My long speech is
+not finished yet, for I would like to add that I like you too, and
+should regret to have you for an enemy. Here is my point of doubt. I
+saw before I had been here a day that you were enamoured of the pretty
+doll. I do not blame you, for most men are idiots. They cannot learn
+that good looks are provokingly transient, while intellect bears wear
+and tear."
+
+"Your candour is half confidence disguised," laughed Pharamond. "What
+can you be aiming at if you disdain to become his mistress?"
+
+"Have I not said I do not know? I have not thought. I am open to be
+led by circumstances. Candour for candour. I burn to discover what you
+are aiming at with regard to the pretty doll? Why are you so anxious
+to make a friend of me? Am I to be the scourge to lash her to
+obedience? Yes? A crooked compliment, but let that pass. I have no
+pity for that sort of woman, and if you promise not to stand in my way
+when I discover what it is, I will accept the rôle to serve you. If I
+help you now I may claim your assistance later, A bargain! We
+understand each other quite, I think? We will make the fool so
+wretched that in despair she'll seek refuge on your breast."
+
+It was evident that tortuous ways did not find favour with
+mademoiselle, who preferred making for a goal with straight
+uncompromising march, kicking down barriers with her big broad feet.
+It was to be an alliance, then? Well and good; but it was somewhat
+nettling that the proposal should come from her, as if her own idea.
+When the caprice seized her, she could take things with so high a hand
+as to be bewildering. The abbé resolved to accept her terms, but would
+have the last word on the subject.
+
+Bending over Aglaé's dusky fingers, he lightly touched them with his
+lips. "You are a monstrous clever lady," he said, "and my admiring
+respect increases hourly. Trust us as we trust you, and each party
+will be the stronger for the union. We are both skilful players, you
+and I, who, antagonistic, might spoil each other. Loyalty and trust.
+It's understood." With that he made a low obeisance and left the lady
+to her thoughts.
+
+Mademoiselle Brunelle revolved the course of the conference, and was
+satisfied. When first engaged, knowing the marquise to be a beauty,
+she had, as she explained, formed no definite design. That which was
+working in her brain had grown out of a survey of the situation. On
+the whole, there was nothing to find fault with. For a wage, the abbé
+was to throw all his weight into her scale--a wage which cost her
+nothing. He had correctly pointed out that as foes they would hurt
+each other; but she was far from admitting that in a contest it would
+be she who would succumb. Her contempt for the culpable helplessness
+of the marquise was so intense that it cost her much to be civil. What
+a pleasure, then, to stick pins into her quivering flesh! To have a
+woman always at one's elbow who sighs like the east wind, and weeps
+like a cataract, as Gabrielle had taken to do of late, was vastly
+irritating. There is naught more trying to strong nerves than the
+fecklessness of one that can do nothing to help itself but scream--not
+that Gabrielle screamed, or made any uproar. She was far too haughty
+for that, and veiled her pain as closely as weakness permitted; but
+Aglaé knew as well as faithful and indignant Toinon, that the hapless
+lady's grief found vent in midnight vigil, and earnest prayer and
+bitter tears, which in the morning left their mark. Entangled
+in an intrigue with Pharamond, such claws as she possessed for
+self-protection, would be cut. If by skilful handling the ripened
+cherry could be dropped into his mouth, it would be the better for
+everyone. Though Aglaé, for some eccentric reason, declined to be
+herself a mistress, she saw no reason why another should not. If
+Gabrielle and Pharamond could be brought together, all would be
+satisfied. The wind would change; the cataract dry up; a serious
+source of annoyance would be removed; and the lovers sufficient unto
+themselves, would not trouble about the subsequent proceedings of the
+marquis and his affinity.
+
+But supposing that weeping Niobe proved obdurate--weak people are
+pigheaded--and was inconvenient enough to be inconsolable? There is no
+use in erecting castles till we know the ground they are to be built
+on. The abbé was a spiteful little wretch, and, baulked, there was no
+guessing how he would act, or of what he would be capable. Sufficient
+unto the day is the evil. To oblige him, Gabrielle should receive the
+lash, and it would be amusing to watch the result.
+
+As week followed week, life seemed to run so oilily at Lorge, that
+onlookers would have envied the unruffled lot of the tranquil lotus
+eaters. And yet what fierce currents were beginning to battle under
+the smooth surface--currents of hate and sorrow, and envy and
+despair--some ensanguined, some black as winter night. The only member
+of the party who was not pining for something different--whose
+aspirations and desires were satisfied--was Clovis, Marquis de Gange.
+He had found his affinity, had caught his adept, and had succeeded,
+without remonstrance, in making her one of the family. His brother,
+instead of objecting in any way to the presence of an interloper, was
+constantly congratulating him on his good luck in having unearthed so
+desirable a specimen. "Just think," he cried, beaming with
+satisfaction; "you might have saddled us with a tatterdemalion who
+would have stolen the family plate and have cut our throats while we
+were asleep, instead of which you have produced a bundle of charms,
+big enough for two!" Clovis was grateful to his brother for chiming in
+so promptly with his whim. "She is indeed a charmer," he purred, "so
+good-natured and obliging; never cross or malevolent, with no touch
+of venom on her tongue. There's nothing more dreadful than a spiteful
+or scheming woman. The very thought of such an anomaly makes me
+shudder." And then he sighed a little. If Gabrielle could only be as
+good-humoured as Aglaé, and as accommodating as Pharamond. Despite his
+efforts, he could not help remarking that piteously sad face every
+morning at _déjeuner_. She was pale and thin, and her beauty was on
+the wane. Her eyes loomed unnaturally large. Never a talker, she
+rarely opened her lips now, but sat drumming her fingers on the
+table-cloth in the most uninteresting way, staring across the Loire as
+if she did not know each detail of that landscape. How different from
+Aglaé, who could prattle on for ever on any subject.
+
+On the grand principle that we hate persons whom we have injured
+almost as much as those from whom we have received benefits, the sight
+of melancholy Gabrielle began to tell upon the nerves of Clovis. She
+was guilty of the great crime of boring him and of pinching
+conscience, and was unfortunate enough not to show advantageously by
+the side of the new foil. A moist statue of Endurance established at
+one's breakfast-table is an overpoweringly cumbersome piece of
+furniture, however immaculate its contours. Poor Gabrielle was no
+actress. If her heart was bursting, she had not the art to grin, and
+smirk, and caper to conceal the unpleasant fact. If her dimmed eyes
+were surrounded by _bistre_ circles like a rainy moon, if her lip
+quivered and her cheek was wan, she could not help it, for the modicum
+of courage she possessed was oozing, and she cared not if she lived or
+died. Her heart was slowly withering. When looking on the man upon
+whom she had bestowed her love, for better or worse for life, his
+image was blurred by distance. She saw him across a wide gulf that was
+ever widening. Our unlucky heroine's mind, as we have learned, was not
+well stocked. The sometimes skittish Brunelle's square head was so
+stocked with lore that doubtless in moments of woe she could
+unpigeonhole an array of valuable statistics and build with them a
+bulwark against trouble. Gabrielle was incapable of any such
+proceeding. She loved her husband with the loyalty of the simple woman
+who loves once. She worshipped the prodigies, who under the new
+_régime_ were becoming even more prodigious. Her husband turned away
+from her; the darlings were estranged from their own mother. Seeing
+her so little, and pampered and flattered by the brilliant governess,
+they learned to dote on the funny tall brown woman with the voice like
+a deep-toned bell, who was ever ready, when they danced into the room,
+to cast aside her occupation and teach them a new game, or invent for
+them a new story. Her resources were endless, for her spirits were
+inexhaustible, and, like Richelieu and his kittens, she found the
+gambols of childhood entertaining.
+
+Gabrielle rarely saw the darlings now. They were isolated in a remote
+wing, to which she dared not penetrate for fear of some covert insult.
+Wearied by the ever-present reproach of her sad face, Clovis changed
+his habits. For the future, he would breakfast in his study, he
+declared, so as not to interrupt his experiments.
+
+How fortunately affairs were turning, to be sure! Clovis was
+enchanted. His neighbour, the Comte de Vaux, usually such an old
+nuisance with his prate of the _grande noblesse_, was opportunely
+attacked with acutest sciatica. What a chance to try the _bucket!_
+Thanks to that admirable Aglaé, it was complete. The exact placing of
+the various bottles; the quantity of iron filing in each; the modicum
+of liquid; the length of the glass wands: all was known and arranged
+to a fraction. The rheumatism of the respectable De Vaux would be sent
+packing. Glory would cover Mesmer and his two disciples.
+
+Gabrielle had sought refuge from despair in good works, as most
+stricken women do. She was indefatigable amongst the poor, and the
+advent of the "White Chatelaine" produced always a chorus of blessing.
+When departing on her rounds, Aglaé, gazing down upon her from her
+window, had often been heard to give vent to growls and ribald
+thunderclaps.
+
+"Just look at mawkish pale-face," she cried one day to the chevalier,
+who nodded and smiled, pretending to be intelligent. "There's not a
+thing she can do right. Fool! making friends with the weak instead of
+with the strong! I know better than that."
+
+Toinon, who chanced to overhear, smiled maliciously. "Indeed?" she
+chuckled to herself. "If Jean Boulot speaks truth, it is the strong
+who have been slumbering, while the weak danced and sang. Wait a bit,
+and you will get your deserts, milady. And, oh! won't I help you on
+your road!"
+
+This matter of the completed bucket was one in which the chatelaine
+might assist with propriety in an endeavour to please her husband. She
+had heard so much of it as almost to be convinced of its efficacy.
+True, the abbé had told her that it was a delusion, that the bottom of
+the whole scheme was imagination; that the mechanical effect of
+friction in disorders of a convulsive nature will produce startling
+results; that there is a well-known law which impels one excited
+animal to imitate another in a similar situation to himself, and that
+this would satisfactorily account for the phenomena of Mesmer's cures.
+But this was some time ago, and since then Pharamond had affected to
+come round, and when he beheld the completed tub he gave way to spasms
+of rapture.
+
+When the newly-wedded wife in pique had worried her spouse with
+scenes, they were only the ebullitions of a much-admired woman
+irritated by the loved one's coolness. Now she had trod the path of
+trouble so far that those days were out of ken. In her efforts to win
+back her husband she would even conciliate the mischief-maker. Some
+women seem specially created for martyrdom. Otherwise insignificant,
+we should not see them but for the dazzling whiteness of their robes.
+I dare say that many of the canonized young ladies whose legends
+thrill us would, had they not been called to march over the
+ploughshare of trial, have remained as much in obscurity as any other
+ordinary young persons, who are too stupid to make a pudding or darn a
+stocking. They would have passed utterly unnoticed in the crowd but
+for the martyr's nimbus.
+
+"The woman does not like me, and is rude," argued too guileless
+Gabrielle, as she considered her resolve, "but she is such a general
+favourite that surely she can't be a bad woman; she is only vulgar,
+and given to self-assertion. Perhaps the fault lies in myself."
+Bravely, then, the meek saint uprose and went straight to Aglaé's
+apartment, bearing with her a peace-offering, bent on the making up of
+differences.
+
+But the sublime and the angelic were beyond the comprehension of
+mundane Aglaé, who since infancy had known nothing but the sordid;
+whose childhood had been passed in a beast-like tussle, a constant
+struggle for food. To her thinking, the maxim anent the turning of the
+cheek is an insult to common sense, considering the world whereon we
+were placed without consent of ours. In Saturn or Jupiter, perhaps,
+such inflated theories may be appropriate. Those worlds may be
+pleasant places to dwell in. There, no doubt, a police force is not
+required, while the wily but necessary detective is pictured as a
+curiosity, an extinct monster, like the Dodo and the Mammoth on this
+globe.
+
+Mademoiselle Brunelle, an unromantic lady of middle age, too
+commonplace to enjoy the fantastic, looked on eccentricities with a
+jaundiced eye, and the contemplation made her peevish.
+
+When the wan marquise knocked and gently entered the sanctum, where
+she should have known there was no place for her, the ire of Aglaé was
+kindled, and sulkily regarding the invader, she assumed her most
+offensive attitude. What could the abject, grovelling, brow-beaten
+creature want, coming here to bother? How dared she take such a
+liberty? She deserved a setting down--a drubbing. Here was a chance
+for the lash! The mere sight of the wide opened violet eyes of the
+marquise, with their eloquent depth of ineffable sadness, acted on her
+nerves as the flag of the toreador does upon the bull. We must not
+blame her, for those who have struggled up somehow without educated
+help, must judge for themselves according to their lights, and they
+are beset with insoluble riddles, as ill-cultured fields are choked
+with weeds. To women such as Aglaé, true pride is an unknown quantity.
+Instead of considering it as an organ of extremest delicacy, with
+ramifications as minute and various as that most amazing of creations,
+the nerve system--she, like others of her kidney, understood nothing
+more than an aggressive haughtiness, with an accompaniment of sledge
+hammers. To her, the refined pride which can afford to pass slights
+unnoticed and ignored impertinence, was a mystery which might not be
+deciphered.
+
+Gabrielle--so misread by Aglaé--had bestirred herself to achieve an
+object, and was prepared to forgive and obliterate the ugly past. The
+pugnacious and low-souled Aglaé could only perceive a lady of high
+rank, who, out of cowardice, abdicated her position to grovel like a
+beggar in the dirt. Such an one obviously merited castigation;
+deserved to be rudely shown that being so mean-spirited she should
+cower into a corner and hide away her shame.
+
+This was the occasion for judicious pin-sticking. The alliance
+demanded an operation. What would the abbé say, who had prated so
+seraphically about loyalty, if he came to know that his ally and his
+recalcitrant lady love had made a compact under the rose? Oh, dear no!
+A reconciliation between the marquise and her governess would never do
+at all! A consummation injudicious and undesirable. The purveyor of
+impossible theories must be well-rapped on the knuckles. The cheek
+that was turned to the smiter must be soundly thwacked to prevent a
+recurrence in the future of ill-judged and degrading mawkishness.
+
+Aglaé, therefore, on the advent of the conciliatory marquise, made a
+pettish movement of studied impertinence, and yawned slowly in her
+face like a dyspeptic hippopotamus.
+
+"What's that you are bringing me?" she grunted. "You know that I don't
+want to be worried with you? A present? From you? Oh dear! How you
+annoy me! As if I wished for your present!"
+
+Nothing daunted, Gabrielle held out the olive-branch. "It is a
+bracelet my father gave me," she said, calmly, "and I would like you
+to wear it, that you may be assured each time you look on it, that I
+bear no malice for your roughness."
+
+"Nice enough. Your father had good taste," the governess remarked,
+with another portentous yawn. "But what do I want with your trinkets?
+Eh? I have only to say the word to be bedecked with the family
+jewels."
+
+First pin, plunged well into the flesh. Gabrielle turned white, but
+did not abandon her purpose.
+
+"What harm have I ever done you?" she asked, quietly.
+
+"Harm!" echoed Aglaé. "The harm of coming into the world, and making
+of yourself a perpetual nuisance. Nobody here wants you. Why can't you
+go out of it?"
+
+"I wish to be taught about Mesmer and his theories," pursued
+Gabrielle, with a courage which should have compelled respect. "Give
+me lessons and I will pay you."
+
+"_You_ pay me?" laughed Aglaé amused. "My price might be too high for
+your purse."
+
+The marquise looked at the governess in mild surprise. Could it be
+that she did not know how the case stood with regard to money? It was
+not for her to enlighten the interloper. The fact was, that as the
+marquis received what he wanted, the subject of filthy lucre was never
+mentioned in the household.
+
+"The carriage has been ordered, and I will go with you to-day." She
+decided quietly.
+
+"What!" shrieked Aglaé, tired of the interview. "You want to go to
+Montbazon? Do you know that we are going to operate upon old de Vaux?
+My poor soul! You would only be most desperately in the way, seeing
+how ignorant and in experienced you are. Come. Saints prefer the
+truth, I'm told, though I don't find it always pleasant; but then I'm
+not a saint, you see. I would have you realise that your method is
+deplorable. You have managed so ill as to drive the marquis from his
+own breakfast-table with your ridiculous woful airs. The luckless
+master of the house has been hunted from the dining-hall. For a saint,
+I call that ungenerous." Pin No. 2.
+
+"I may be incompetent to amuse--that is my misfortune," sighed the
+marquise; "but it is strange that one with so good a heart as he,
+should treat her so harshly who loves him with all her soul."
+
+"Love!" laughed the governess with insolence, much tickled. "You don't
+know what it means. How just it is that one so fair should be so
+brainless! All you could give him was the clammy affection of a fish.
+No wonder that anything so chilly should be returned with thanks."
+
+Gabrielle's cheeks began to burn, her eyes to sparkle. "It is not for
+you who eat my bread to shower insults on me! Till you came," she
+said, "we got on well enough. I took what he had to give with
+gratitude. I have endured too much from you, and know now that you are
+wicked. Beware lest you push me to extremity."
+
+"Till I came?" echoed the governess. "Till then it was the worthy
+abbé's tact that kept things going, no thanks to you. One of the few
+just rules of this bad world is that as we make our bed we lie on it.
+Your bed is full of creases? Too late, my dear, to smooth them. So I
+am the kill-joy, am I? Ask your husband whether he was ever so happy
+as since my coming? You poor, puling, whining bat!" pursued Aglaé,
+surveying her victim with withering scorn. "You could not perceive
+that natures such as his require a master--a strong hand to lead, an
+iron will to guide, a whip to drive, if need be. Here is the hand to
+which he has learnt to cling and shall cling to--to the end."
+
+Mademoiselle flourished the large square-fingered hand so close to the
+marquise's face that she recoiled.
+
+"Why, even your children care more for me than you," she scoffed. Pin
+No. 3. "No doubt I have bewitched them? You should get me burned as a
+sorceress, and start your life afresh. I freely give you this advice,
+so never say I am ill-natured. Puling and whining adds loathing to
+indifference. Cheerfully accept the fate you've carved, and make the
+best of it. Now you must really excuse me; I must dress, for I never
+keep the marquis waiting;" and with that she firmly pushed the
+marquise from the room and slammed the door in her face.
+
+It was cruelly put, but true--all of it. With sinking heart the pale
+chatelaine admitted it was true. Too late now for remedy. The woman
+had taken Clovis in that powerful hand of hers, and twisted him round
+her little finger. Would it be of any use to make the appeal to him
+from which she had shrunk so long? No. The woman had laid stress on
+the fact that he had come actually to avoid her presence, would not
+even sit at table with her. Nothing short of absolute aversion could
+deprive her thus of every privilege of wife and mother. What had she
+done to deserve it?
+
+Painfully the chatelaine reviewed her empty life. If she had gone too
+far with one of the Paris swains she could not have been more
+completely ostracised. He was indifferent even then, heeding not her
+incomings or outgoings, and yet he must once have cared a little for
+his young wife, for then his eyes were sometimes fixed on her with
+genuine satisfaction. Never now. By what intangible, invisible degrees
+had things come to this grievous pass? Must she take the woman's
+advice, and strive to look with cheerfulness on the inevitable? A
+wife, yet no wife! What was to be the end of it? Only twenty-five
+years old. How wide a waste of barren dreariness in front ere she
+might hope for rest.
+
+A sound of wheels on the gravel--the carriage was gone. On the box was
+a wondrous array of parcels. Clovis and Aglaé were engaged in so
+animated a discussion that the children on the front seat crowed and
+clapped hands with glee, marking the gesticulations of papa and the
+dear, funny, brown woman. Their elfin laughter reverberated among the
+grim pinnacles and turrets, and as the carriage turned into a woody
+glade, Gabrielle saw from her seat in the moat-garden little Camille
+climb upon the woman's knee and press her rosy face against the brown
+one. The action smote the marquise as with a knife-stab, and she
+moaned as if in bodily pain. "She usurps my place completely,"
+murmured the hapless lady, deadly pale. "I am as little a mother as a
+wife. Oh, God grant me strength to endure! Though I be without the
+gate, teach me to be thankful that they are happy."
+
+She was aware of a long shadow on the grass, and a gentle voice by her
+side echoed her own thought.
+
+"Alone--always alone," the suave abbé said, scrutinizing with lazy
+satisfaction the delicacy and whiteness of his hands. "How is it, dear
+marquise, that you only of our coterie are heavy-hearted? You need
+rousing. What will you gain by moping except a loss of beauty and a
+bad digestion? They've gone off to Montbazon, Clovis and his affinity
+and the babes--twittering like so many sparrows. I should like to
+survey the scene there, it will be most entertainingly ridiculous, but
+they won't let us miserable scoffers assist at the incantation. Our
+presence would annul the charm. What a divine day!" he continued,
+flinging himself on the grass in a graceful attitude at the feet of
+the chatelaine. "How swiftly the seasons pass! These glorious summer
+days! How we enjoy the sun although we seek the shade, apparently
+ungrateful. We forget that the leaves will turn sallow and swirl down
+and die, and that we shall pine for warmth in vain. Why not? Why
+trouble about the future when the present is brimming with delight?"
+
+The abbé, his hands clasped behind his head, was peering straight up
+into the blue, and what he saw there must have been pleasing, for he
+seemed as satisfied with everything in general as the cat that purrs
+before the fire.
+
+"Why so dismal, my dear Gabrielle, on so perfect a morning as this; it
+savours of ingratitude to heaven?"
+
+Gabrielle glanced down at him. Was he playing with her in malice, as
+the cat does with the mouse? Dismal, forsooth, when your heart
+overflows with misery!
+
+Pharamond was in a retrospective mood, and dreamily surveyed the past
+as he might some moving panorama.
+
+"Let me see," he said. "How long have we dwelt here a model family? A
+year and a half--rather more than a year and a half."
+
+"Only that?" sighed Gabrielle. "It seems a lifetime."
+
+"You are discontented? Yearn for the frippery of court life? I am not
+surprised. It is horribly selfish of us all to lock up such peerless
+beauty as yours to gloat over among ourselves."
+
+"A worse than useless gift," remarked Gabrielle, with conviction,
+"bestowed on us by nature in her most malicious mood. Happiness is
+given to the ugly ones."
+
+"At least they are saved the pang that accompanies the first wrinkle,"
+asserted Pharamond. "You refer to Mademoiselle Brunelle, I suppose;
+our charming Aglaé. She appears to be happy enough indeed. Those large
+women of stoutish build possess a power of assimilation--of selecting
+what is best, and chewing the cud of its enjoyment. Ages ago, before I
+appeared on the scene, you were discontented. Yes, you were, dear
+Gabrielle. It was my privilege then to bring back sunshine to this
+gloomy spot. You might have rewarded me but you were unkind. I did not
+complain, but endured your cruelty without a murmur. It was my
+solicitude that unwrinkled your rose-leaves. You might have rewarded
+me, I say, and you would not, and yet I bore no malice."
+
+A foreboding of new evil darkened around Gabrielle's heart. "Why refer
+to that episode that was condoned, and dead, and buried?"
+
+Without changing his attitude, the abbé pursued purringly--
+
+"For those halcyon days you had me to thank--me only, remember that,
+and you could not be grateful. Ingratitude must be gently chidden, for
+it goes ill with beauty--as a mother gently chides a well-beloved one.
+I crumpled the leaves again, deliberately squeezed them into tiny
+roughnesses, that you might learn how much you owed me. I confess it
+was my doing. It was for your own good I did it."
+
+The marquise sat like stone. What was this new gulf slowly
+yawning--and she who looked to him for help!
+
+"Did you never guess that it was I? No? How singular. Your intellect
+works slowly. I never say what I don't mean, and I warned you, unless
+I mistake sadly, that it depended on yourself whether I was to be
+friend or foe. Does you memory serve you? Yes? So glad."
+
+"I had learned to trust you as a friend," murmured Gabrielle, huskily.
+"A dear friend on whom to lean in trouble. Alas--alas! my only one!"
+
+"Why, alas? You are, excuse me, so very foolish. As our sensible Aglaé
+is so fond of saying, 'We do nothing for nothing in this world.' To
+sit at these dainty feet is in itself a privilege, but ardent men,
+made of hot flesh and blood, crave more. It's human nature to be
+grasping."
+
+"If you have mercy, peace!" implored the pale lady in growing terror.
+
+The abbé raised himself on his elbow and surveyed Gabrielle--as lovely
+as a startled fawn in her distress--with a smile that was quite
+paternal, and belied the green glitter from beneath the lids. "What a
+naughty girl," he chuckled, "to tempt a weak mortal with such charms.
+I swear to you that with that marble skin, and those widely-opened
+eyes of violet, like eyes that see a phantom, and ruby lips just
+slightly parted, and that fluttering heaving bosom, you are ten times
+more beautiful than I have ever seen you yet! Tut, tut! Calm yourself.
+Do not take me for that uncomfortable thing, a basilisk. I am not
+going to touch you, so don't look horrified. I am going away. That is
+why I spoke. I wished you to know how matters stand, and to reflect
+during my absence. It is desirable that you should quite comprehend
+that for weal or woe your future depends on me."
+
+"Going away," echoed Gabrielle, relieved, and yet dismayed.
+
+"It is necessary. Was it not delicately imagined to speak, as I had to
+speak, just on the eve of departure? Am I not considerate? We have
+lately had letters of strange purport from Paris. Outrageous rumours
+are abroad, which, if a whit of them is true, may mean serious peril
+to our class. Over the affair of the Bastile the king was lamentably
+misguided. He and his ministers know now and bitterly regret their
+lack of purpose, for the scum, as was to be expected, has taken heart
+of grace and waxes impudent with impunity. So I am going to make a
+little trip to the capital, just to reconnoitre. Do not be alarmed. I
+think that the agitation is all moonshine. Reflect on what I have
+said, and remember that there's a limit to man's patience. Your
+future, whether for comfort or the reverse, depends entirely on me. I
+repeat it for the sake of emphasis. I gave you peace, then at my whim
+withdrew it. Have I made it clear that what I have done I can undo?"
+
+"There are limits to a woman's patience as well as a man's," Gabrielle
+observed, grimly.
+
+"Quite so," acquiesced the other. "Mademoiselle Brunelle has been a
+thorn in your flesh, which I regret. You have endured its irritation
+with fortitude, for which you deserve all praise. It depends upon
+yourself whether or no the thorn be pruned away. For that you need my
+aid, which shall be freely tendered--on conditions that you wot of.
+During my absence I have instructed the chevalier to watch, that you
+may be shielded from assaults of the enemy. A useful watchdog is the
+chevalier, faithful and obedient, who will report to me everything
+that passes. It is a sad pity that he takes to drink. I have observed
+lately that he takes more and more to the bottle. Of that by and by he
+must be cured. Meanwhile, I would have you consider the case from
+every point of view, and yourself deliver the verdict."
+
+The Abbé Pharamond rose to his feet, and kissing his finger tips,
+departed.
+
+Pressure from all quarters to the same end. You have made your
+bed--make the best of it; accept the inevitable cheerfully. What the
+fates decree we fight against in vain. Unfortunate Gabrielle.
+Patience? Good heavens--how long-suffering was hers! And what had she
+gained by it? Rebuff. Persecution. Torture. Out of the labyrinth they
+had planted about her there were two exits. She might appeal to the
+maréchal for protection, return to the shelter of his roof. But to let
+him learn that her life was shattered, that the marriage he had
+himself arranged had turned out so disastrously; it would break the
+old man's heart.
+
+The other passage? Through the gates of Death. No. That method of
+escape might not be employed either. What would the old man's feelings
+be if he discovered that she had been driven to suicide? And yet--to
+fall into the maw of the abbé. Never--never--never. Why not? Why
+should she care what happened? To her it mattered little now what
+chanced, bereft of all. Her father need never know. Perhaps, if she
+gave way they would in pity grant her peace? Sure she was going crazy.
+Peace? The peace of guilt? Peace where there was no peace? No--no. It
+should never come to that.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+                            THE MAGIC TUB.
+
+
+The abbé was a chameleon--bewildering in the abruptness of his
+changes. The carriage that returned from Montbazon was a chariot of
+triumph, and the abbé joined with vigour in the pæans of victory. He
+wished to leave a good impression, that his absence might be
+regretted. He was going on a tour of business and of pleasure; was
+determined to enjoy himself immensely--he, who as a provincial had
+rarely visited Paris. How delicious before he went, he declared with
+rapture, to have his mind relieved, to be assured that the magic tub
+was no fraud--Mesmer, a genius, not a charlatan! They must toast the
+prophet in bumpers of champagne. He insisted on it, and accordingly
+dragged the delighted Clovis from his study to join the circle at
+dinner. Clovis was quite another man. A gladness was in his eyes that
+transformed his glum visage, and Gabrielle sitting opposite wondered.
+In this mood, sure if she spoke, he would hearken. Was the case really
+hopeless? Was it, indeed, too late? Alack. It was evident that the
+abbé was playing a part, for now and again he glanced at Gabrielle
+with an expression that was full of meaning. The situation was
+bewildering. Like one who dreams she sat listening to the victorious
+duet, wherein the marquis and the governess took up their tale by
+turns.
+
+Under the sun of success Clovis opened like a flower. He was radiant
+with content. His wife yearned to lead him from the room to her
+secluded boudoir, and there, twining her arms about his neck, point
+out the facets of the situation of which he seemed so singularly
+ignorant. She would have fallen at his feet and clasped his knees;
+have hugged him to her breast and warmed him with a spark of her own
+fire. But then, that insidious talk of mademoiselle's under which her
+memory tingled. The clammy affection of a fish! A man who required a
+master. The venom instilled was inoculating her system. Pride laid a
+finger on her lips.
+
+Oh! What a scene it had been at Montbazon! To perform a successful
+séance, Aglaé explained, many accessories were _de rigueur_, since the
+vital fluid could not work with effect unless the mind were brought
+into a condition of fixed and unruffled calm. Now it is no easy matter
+to bring about this state in one who is a prey to aches and pains. The
+case is somewhat akin to that in the dentist's room when the patient
+is informed on the honour of a gentleman that the twinge will be a
+mere nothing, and that agitation is to be deprecated and calm
+desirable. Then he suddenly finds an object as large as a coach-house
+half down his throat, and the top of his head flies off. Unruffled
+calm, indeed, with a twang of the sciatic nerve and a twitter down the
+calf, and a great nail being hammered into the big toe! The crusty old
+Baron de Vaux growled out that as he could not be calm they had better
+remove their apparatus.
+
+Calm being a _sine qua non_, Mesmer had pointed out long since that
+music was a necessary feature in an operation while the patient was
+being manipulated. He was in the habit of placing his devotees in a
+delicious garden carpeted with grass, refreshed by play of fountains,
+variegated by beds of perfumed flowers and clumps of bushes, from
+amongst which came dulcet strains. In the intervals of crises a
+complete orchestra hidden somewhere burst forth into harmonious
+symphonies, at one time grave at another gay, quieting the patient
+into beatitude due to gratification of his senses. Sight, smell,
+hearing, all were considered. So minutely did the prophet delve into
+the matter that he issued an order against wind instruments. The
+symphonies were to be in D minor, interpreted by stringed instruments
+only; and at critical moments their effect was increased by the
+strains of an harmonica, touched by his own skilled fingers. Lest
+nerves should be excited by all this instead of quieted, a silent
+attendant stood behind each patient with a jug, from which, according
+to his discretion, he dribbled cold water upon the pate below him.
+This item was particularly soothing.
+
+Now it was obvious that all these perfections were not easily to be
+obtained in the provinces. The mind of Clovis had been much exercised
+in the matter, and he dreaded failure for himself and obloquy for the
+prophet. But Aglaé was a treasure of resource. While her deft hands
+were rubbing the count's withered leg, the marquis was in an outer
+chamber to grumble _ad libitum_ on his beloved 'cello. The village
+band was to await the crisis, and then break forth into the baron's
+favourite air of Vive Henri Quatre. The effect was sure to be
+splendid, for country magnates--even of the _grande noblesse_--were of
+rougher grit than pampered city ones; and, in sober fact, the baron
+did not know a bassoon from a violin.
+
+But then there were unexpected difficulties, under which Clovis
+unaided would have succumbed. The bucket was there, and the marquis
+delivered a learned lecture on it to somewhat apprehensive lieges.
+They would be kind enough to remark that at the bottom of the tub was
+a substratum of rusty nails, covered with a layer of iron filings,
+over which was laid a set of bottles with necks radiating outward.
+Above them was another set of bottles with necks radiating inward.
+This was most important, for radiation was one of the secrets of the
+system. Cords of silk were attached all round with nooses, each for a
+patient's neck, and by these cords the vital fluid was to circulate to
+the patient and back again.
+
+Madame de Vaux was much scandalized. "On no account will I allow a
+rope around my husband's neck," she vowed emphatically. "The Baron de
+Vaux treated like a common felon! Never, while she could prevent it!
+Had not the low mob of the capital been stringing people to lamp-posts
+with ropes of late? Why the king allowed it she could not think; but
+he, no doubt, knew better than his subjects. The marquis ought to be
+ashamed of himself for proposing anything so improper and suggestive."
+
+Angelique considered the whole affair undignified, and was sorry that
+the village band should assist at such a spectacle. The rope was
+abandoned, and in its stead a long tube of glass was passed from the
+side of the tub to the right temple of the patient--a much more
+decorous proceeding where a live baron was concerned. Then the 'cello
+began to drone and the governess to rub, and by and by the old man's
+face began to twitch and his toothless gums to move. The baroness,
+much shocked at this derogation from accustomed dignity, vowed that it
+was impious, that the devil was at work, and that she ought to have
+provided a curt and a brush with holy water. The patient began to
+laugh, then cry; then shout, then mumble. All down his leg were
+prickings--such curious prickings. "Oh, Mother of Heaven! The prods of
+the arch-fiend," faintly gurgled the old lady. "Stuff and nonsense!
+Angelic punctures!"
+
+"All is going well!" announced the authoritative voice of Aglaé.
+"Band! Strike up--here is the crisis!" she shouted joyfully, but the
+musicians stood aghast. Sure the poor gentleman had the dance of St.
+Vitus as well as lesser ailments. A savour of brimstone pervaded the
+apartment. Some swore, with shrieks, that they could see his Satanic
+majesty--could count the hairs in his tail; and then all rushed forth
+pell-mell like panic-stricken sheep. Madame de Vaux screamed and
+fainted, while Angelique, who was no coward, retired into a corner.
+
+Clovis had his misgivings, and as he scraped on, louder now to mask
+the retreat of defaulters, wondered inwardly whether it was all a
+devil's trick? He cast uneasy glances at the stooping Aglaé, who
+rubbed on unmoved. What a stupendous woman. Not a tremor at suggestion
+of the Evil One. He felt sure that face to face with the whole Satanic
+court that strong-minded female's colour would not have changed a
+shade. It was not possible to feel fear in so sturdily self-reliant a
+presence. Clovis's misgivings waned, and he groaned on at his
+instrument with lightened heart. His ever-increasing admiration for
+mademoiselle became tinctured with an awe in which respect was mingled
+with apprehension. Who could resist such a woman whatever she might
+decree? She had indeed twisted her admirer round her finger, and could
+do with him as she listed.
+
+The séance over, the baron was wrapped in blankets and exhorted to
+sleep while the adept and her neophyte refreshed the inner person.
+When they returned later to the operating room the old lady, recovered
+from her swoon, was weeping silently, while Angelique stood by amazed.
+The tears were those of relief and joy. The twang of the sciatic nerve
+was stilled. The pain was gone. The baron, wringing the hand of
+Mademoiselle Brunelle, vowed he was younger by ten years.
+
+This was the tale told in duet, with the accompanying chorus of the
+abbé. Amazing, marvellous, wonderful! Aglaé beamed on all around like
+the dimmed sun through golden mist. At every moment Clovis appealed to
+her with the devoted submissiveness of willing slavery. His chains
+were of roses, and he hugged them. Pharamond glanced slyly from time
+to time at the two ladies, so contrasted in appearance and demeanour,
+and then frowned at the chevalier, who was absorbed by attentions to
+the bottle. It was inconvenient that the oaf should take to drink. Had
+he not been charged with the important mission of watching over the
+marquise? He had better take good care not to transgress. If aught
+went wrong in the abbé's absence the chevalier should repent it
+bitterly.
+
+
+
+                           END OF VOLUME I.
+
+
+
+                          *   *   *   *   *
+         SIMMONS & BOTTEN, PRINTERS, LONDON.   _G. C. & Co_.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3), by 
+Lewis Wingfield
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3), by Lewis Wingfield
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3)
+       A Tale of the Dark Days of France
+
+Author: Lewis Wingfield
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38865]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAID OF HONOUR, VOL. 1 (OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br>
+
+1. Page scan source:<br>
+http://books.google.com/books?id=YxBLAAAAIAAJ</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>THE MAID OF HONOUR</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>THE MAID OF HONOUR</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>A Tale of the Dark Days of France</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>BY</h5>
+
+<h2>THE HON. LEWIS WINGFIELD</h2>
+
+<h5>AUTHOR OF<br>
+
+&quot;LADY GRIZEL,&quot; &quot;THE LORDS OF STROGUE,&quot; &quot;ABIGEL ROWE&quot;<br>
+
+ETC.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4><i>IN THREE VOLUMES</i></h4>
+<h4>VOL. I.</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>LONDON</h4>
+<h3>RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON</h3>
+<h3>Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.</h3>
+
+<h3>1891</h3>
+<br>
+<h5>[<i>All Rights Reserved</i>]</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>TO</h5>
+
+<h2>WILLIAM HENRY WELDON.</h2>
+<br>
+<h3>A TRIBUTE</h3>
+
+<h3>OF OLD FRIENDSHIP.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<div style="margin-left:25%; margin-right:25%">
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01"><span class="sc">On The Volcano, 1789</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02"><span class="sc">Husband And Wife.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03"><span class="sc">Investigation.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04"><span class="sc">The Chateau Of Lorge.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05"><span class="sc">The Half-brothers.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06"><span class="sc">Temptation.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07"><span class="sc">A Terrible Discovery.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08"><span class="sc">A New Arrival.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09"><span class="sc">Thunder Clouds.</span></a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<p class="normal"><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10"><span class="sc">The Magic Tub.</span></a></p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>THE MAID OF HONOUR.</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">ON THE VOLCANO, 1789.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Although there was no cash in silken fob or broidered pocket, the
+Elect denied themselves no luxury. Bejewelled Fashion was sumptuously
+clad: my ladies quarrelled and intrigued, danced and gambled--my lords
+slept off the fumes of wine, and mopped the wounds begot of midnight
+brawl; then drank and fought again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Money? No credit even. Trade was at a standstill, yet the court was
+uproariously gay.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Money and credit--sinews of pleasure as well as business--having
+flitted from lively Paris, you might suppose that the wheels of
+Society would cease to turn--that the flower-decked car of gilded
+Juggernaut would come creeping to a standstill. Not yet. Impelled by
+the impulse of its own velocity, it continued to crush on awhile.
+Those who knew were numbed by the chill shadow of the inevitable, or
+rendered callous by the knowledge of their helplessness. Those who
+were deaf and blind groped blissfully on in their lighthearted
+ignorance. Selfish all, depraved most, the blue-blooded sang in merry
+chorus, &quot;Let us eat and drink that the worms may grow fat on us.&quot; Not
+so the gaunt crowds whose blood was but mud and water. As their
+long-suffering ancestors had monotonously done, they groaned in
+unison, crying to God for death, as the only release from misery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What if whole villages were decimated by famine? What if plague and
+starvation stalked through the towns? My lords and my ladies cared
+not, for they were poised too high to see. Were the grovelling
+creatures slaves or insects? Slaves, for they delved patiently, with
+moans that were vain bleatings as of sheep; whereas outraged insects
+for the most part sting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We all know that the first duty of serfs is to labour for their
+betters: their second, when the worn machinery is out of gear, to
+retire underground with promptitude. How unseemly--nay, revolting,
+therefore, is their conduct when, weary of groaning and of
+teeth-gnashing, they belabour with fists instead!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The scene we look upon is a tranquil and a pretty one, despite certain
+vague and ominous rumours which, intangible, permeate the air. The
+favourite saloon of Her Majesty, Marie Antoinette, in the Palace of
+the Tuileries, is a small, square chamber decorated with raised
+garlands, flutes, and tambourines in carved wood, painted a dead
+white, mellowed now by the glimmer of many candles, shaded. Curtains
+and furniture are yellow, embroidered with gold; the bare floor is
+waxed and polished, reflecting the costly and varied rainbow garb of
+some forty assembled guests. Through open casements--it is a warm
+evening in July--we mark the majestic outline of the venerable Louvre
+cut black against the blue--a calm unclouded blue, loftily oblivious
+of angry curls of darkling smoke which two days since uprose from the
+ruins of the stormed Bastile. Doors as well as windows are spread wide
+to woo the air; a bevy of ladies, glittering with gems, are fanning
+themselves languidly. Through the portals on the right you obtain a
+glimpse of the remains of supper: a dainty repast, fit for fastidious
+fairies; such an ideal cosy feast as the queen loved to conjure for
+her familiars. Through the left door we may perceive an array of green
+tables with gilt legs, at which gentlemen clad in satins of delicate
+hue are squabbling over the devil's books. Their voices from time to
+time grow angry, their talk unduly loud. But for the adjacent presence
+of the queen, swords might be drawn and blood spilt. Young Monsieur de
+Castellane, officer in the Swiss Guard, has just lost his paternal
+acres to the Marquis de Gange, a fact which, in the latter, seems to
+evoke no sign of interest. With the usual luck of players who are
+quite indifferent, Fortune had befriended the marquis, and yet, as
+things were, the prize was an empty bauble--a mere meaningless array
+of lands with high-sounding names which looked vastly well--on paper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquis de Gange was an absentminded person, given to reverie and
+the contemplation of the infinite, and it is somewhat annoying to lose
+even paper property to one so utterly unappreciative.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Roused by the congratulations of the surrounding group of butterflies,
+the marquis descended for a moment to earth, and laughed lightly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A profitable stake to win, in sooth,&quot; he observed, with a yawn.
+&quot;Castellane! I hereby resign your empty title-deeds, having quite
+enough such foolish lumber of my own. Your part of the country is a
+caldron, mine is a furnace. Thank heaven, my wife's estates are in a
+land of peace, or, like many more, we should be beggars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is not given to everyone to mate with a great heiress,&quot; remarked
+rueful Castellane, feeling in his empty pocket.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You should look out for one,&quot; said the marquis, serenely smiling,
+&quot;for you know that since the Third Estate has raised its ugly head,
+you don't dare to show your nose at Castellane. The tenants would
+growl of rights of man, and prod your silk stockings with their
+pitchforks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That's true enough,&quot; sighed the young scapegrace, with a puzzled air.
+&quot;Though they deserve the galleys for their temerity, they are patted
+on the back by our too lenient sovereign--a mob of insolent
+ragamuffins! Last time I travelled south, I was worried to
+fiddle-strings by deputations whom I declined to see--a parcel of
+unpractical idiots, who, when I demanded rents, babbled of redress of
+grievances. Really, de Gauge, you may keep the title-deeds, for, since
+no one will lend a louis on them, they are no better than a musty
+mockery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The butterflies enjoyed the jest and laughed in chorus. There was
+something delightfully whimsical about the fact that the acres for
+which heroes had bled, and which had been enjoyed in majestic fashion
+by a long line of noble ancestors, should--as in the fairy tale--be
+transmuted into heaps of dead and mouldy leaves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After the laugh came silence, for were they not all in the same
+battered boat? No matter. Whate'er betide, they must sink or swim
+together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Awkward customers, the Third Estate,&quot; some one remarked presently.
+&quot;That untoward matter of the Bastile may prove an evil precedent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pooh!&quot; yawned a stout old gentleman, whose weatherbeaten visage was
+round and of a bluish red. &quot;A flash in the pan--a paltry riot--a piece
+of low impertinence which ministers, if they were not hopelessly
+idiotic, should have foreseen and smothered. Stick to the title-deeds,
+son-in-law. If you live long enough, they will be useful some day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; replied de Gange, carelessly. &quot;Thanks to you, maréchal, my
+nest's well feathered. Gabrielle has enough for both.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The wealthy old Maréchal de Brèze looked pleased. When you have hit on
+a suitable match for your heiress during an epidemic of impecuniosity,
+it is well to be assured that the fortunate spouse is not a greedy
+gold-seeker. &quot;Clovis!&quot; he cried heartily, &quot;give me your hand. You are
+queer and dreamy, beyond my poor comprehension; but I believe--yes, I
+do!--that you are an upright and honest man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Treason, maréchal! High treason! How dare you say rude things of
+ministers? Come and join the ladies. We affect learning, remember,
+nowadays, and can bandy wisdom with the best of you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was the magical voice of Marie herself, whose silver tones had
+fluttered so many hearts to their undoing; whose radiant beauty and
+light spirits had given rise to such dark intrigues. The gentlemen,
+obeying the merry summons, streamed into the saloon, and were soon
+bowing, with bent spines and squared elbows, over the tiny cups of
+coffee, which, as her wont was, she distributed with her own hands.
+The king was not present, for he abhorred gambling and late hours, and
+on the <i>soirées intimes</i> of his consort invariably sought refuge in
+his study.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Louise de Savoye,&quot; commanded the queen in mock tragic tones, &quot;hand
+round the cakes. Perform your office of mistress of the household.
+From your fair fingers they will taste all the sweeter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Promise, then, not to talk of the horrid <i>tiers état</i>,&quot; replied the
+lady addressed, with a little shudder. &quot;Those who saw the dreadful
+women dancing and shouting like fiends as they marched in triumph from
+the Bastile, will not forget the spectacle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame la Princesse de Lamballe was always nervous,&quot; laughed M. de
+Castellane.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; replied the princess, simply. &quot;I don't know why, but I am
+desperately afraid of a mob.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We were all a little frightened at first,&quot; observed the queen; &quot;for
+when we heard the booming of artillery which sounded so terribly
+close, and beheld the infatuated madcaps carrying away their dead, we
+could not comprehend the freak. 'Tis a pity it was crowned with
+success, for it will put foolish ideas into ignorant minds. But it
+will lead to nothing, I am assured, and all's well that ends well.
+When the king announced this morning that he was going to the
+Assembly, without guards or escort, I thought he must have lost his
+wits; but events showed that he was wise, as he always is. His
+confidence in the loyalty of the deputies combined with his simple and
+touching address, excited the keenest enthusiasm. The shouting throng
+escorted him on foot all the way hither to the palace. I am not
+ashamed to say that as from a balcony Lamballe and I contemplated the
+affecting scene of warm devotion, we clasped each other and wept.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For every precious tear,&quot; murmured de Castellane, &quot;we'll have the
+life-drops of the canaille!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God forbid!&quot; ejaculated the queen, with sudden pallor. &quot;I wish them
+no ill if they would spare his majesty their vagaries. Love them I
+cannot, for I am not Christian enough to love my enemies. I wonder--I
+wonder----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, dear mistress?&quot; inquired a tall young lady plainly dressed in
+white, who was the most beautiful member even of that favoured circle.
+&quot;What causes our queen to wonder?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I wonder what will be the end--that's all, dear Gabrielle,&quot; laughed
+the volatile Marie, recovering her spirits. &quot;What will happen to me;
+to our precious Lamballe; to you; to your shocking pedant of a husband
+there, who as usual is in cloudland?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The beautiful lady whom she called Gabrielle, glanced at the
+abstracted Marquis de Gange, who was her husband, and shivered. There
+was an odd look upon his face sometimes which she had not the wit to
+decipher. What was he doing in cloudland so far removed from her?
+Then, when he dropped down to earth again, he would smile vaguely but
+pleasantly enough, and the strange impression would fade from her
+mind. Her wistful eyes were more often fixed on him than his on hers,
+which is curious, considering her beauty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The veil which hides the future is a precious boon,&quot; reflected the
+queen, &quot;and yet we all burn to pierce it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is because we should not,&quot; observed Madame de Lamballe, with
+conviction, &quot;on the principle of Eve and the apple, you know. A
+fortune-teller once took my hand to read my fortune, and what she read
+on my palm was so appalling that she fainted. I have had the
+discretion never to inquire further.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pooh, I am not so prudent,&quot; mused her majesty. &quot;Three times have I
+sought to pierce the veil, with the same result--repentance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I pray you in pity--hush!&quot; implored the Marquise de Gange. &quot;My
+husband dragged me once to see a horrible old hag who lived like a
+savage in a den somewhere--I know not where. She performed
+incantations and drew my horoscope. It makes my flesh creep to think
+of it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was it so ghastly?&quot; inquired Marie Antoinette in a low tone of awe.
+&quot;So was mine. Horoscopes are nightmares. And so it seems was that of
+our beloved Louise. I wonder--how I wonder what will be the end of
+it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She glanced around at the company, and all looked sympathetically
+glum. If the gipsies had with one accord been so audaciously rude to
+the three beauties as to hint at unpleasant things in the future, what
+was to be done? Was a crusade to be preached, for the annihilation of
+the peccant race? Fat old de Brèze might pay expenses, and, like Peter
+the Hermit, rally the avenging force. Old de Brèze was a soldier who
+had won his spurs, yet instead of sounding a clarion and calling
+squires to arm him <i>cap-a-pie</i>, he only shuffled in his chair and
+snuffled uneasily while de Castellane snorted with ardour. Clearly the
+crusade was not likely to answer; it was a trifle out of date; and yet
+the fact remained that the fiat of the Fates had gone forth against
+the lovely trio. The Marquis de Gange was a mystic, well acquainted
+with the tortuous ways and spiteful tricks of the fatal three. Perhaps
+he would kindly elucidate the situation? No. His wife gazed wistfully
+at him. He looked furtively at her, then, smiling, lowered his eyes,
+and again sank into his accustomed reverie. The marquise sighed
+deeply, and concealed her face behind her fan.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The April visage of the queen was sombre; then the cloud cleared.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are we not silly,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;to sit trembling before a bogey? A
+fig for the gipsies! Despite their lugubrious hints here am I, after
+over fifteen years of prosperous wedded life, queen of the land most
+favoured by nature in the world, adored by my husband and my children.
+What can woman desire more than complete domestic bliss? What say you,
+Gabrielle?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquise de Gange, target for a circle of inquiring eyes, blushed
+crimson and turned away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is too good!&quot; cried the queen in glee, drawing her friend
+towards her to imprint a kiss upon her brow. &quot;You naughty, wayward
+girl! You are wicked and tempt Providence. A blush and something like
+a tear--ay, and a sigh, from the bosom of Gabrielle, Marquise de
+Gange--the only woman in the country who has any money--the most
+beautiful girl in France, whose wonderful complexion has gained for
+her the sobriquet of 'the Lily.' Yes, you are, and I admit it without
+envy. Blessed with a passable husband and two lovely babes, and an
+admirable mother and a doting father! Fie! You are ungrateful, but we
+must not see you punished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marie Antoinette's enjoyment increased as she poured forth her
+raillery, and marked the confusion of the marquise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Monsieur de Gange. Descend to earth and come into court!&quot; she cried.
+&quot;Confess! What have you done to Gabrielle? Have you lost heavily at
+cards? No? You are jealous that her name should be the toast on every
+lip? No? You are put out because she understands nothing of the
+philosopher's stone? Not even that? I give it up. Fortune has spoiled
+you, child. As Figaro says, '<i>Qu'avez vous fait pour tants de biens?
+Vous vous êtes donnée la peine de naître--rien de plus!</i>'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquis made a low bow and contemplated his fair wife with a
+moonlit kind of satisfaction, but answered nothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He disdains to plead!&quot; laughed Madame de Lamballe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Guilty or not guilty--say!&quot; cried Marie Antoinette. &quot;Dumb? Maréchal
+de Brèze! we surrender to you the prisoner that you may investigate
+and do your duty. We have respectful confidence in that strange
+phenomenon, a rich man, at a time when all others are paupers. Look
+after Gabrielle, Mr. Money-bag! Shield her from a designing husband
+who, I begin to believe, conceals the raffish vices of a rake under
+the mask of recondite erudition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquise de Gange was unnecessarily perturbed by the lively sally,
+and tapped her wooden heel upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alack, madam!&quot; declared the marquis, compelled to speak, &quot;I regret to
+be so unmodish as to have few of the fashionable vices. Instead of
+pleading in my own behalf, I would, if I dared, take up the cudgels
+for another. Doctor Mesmer----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The arch charlatan!&quot; exclaimed the queen, raising both hands in
+protest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so. Others have aped his ways; have draped themselves in tawdry
+frippery which bore some semblance to his robes. In spite of calumny,
+and persecution, and fraudulent imitation and roguish arts, the master
+remains the master still, although he be unjustly banished by those
+whom he has benefited.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The statue has come to life!&quot; tittered Madame de Lamballe.
+&quot;Cagliostro was unmasked as a cheat, so the one who went before wisely
+shook off his dust at him. Let us all agree to be convinced that
+Mesmer is a persecuted saint. We have the marquis's word for it. Let
+us have Mesmer back at once from banishment. Perchance he will employ
+his occult essences to calm the Parisian mob!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The king will not permit him to return to France,&quot; the queen said
+doubtfully; &quot;yet as an empiric he was fascinating.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When your majesty deigns to say I am in cloudland,&quot; remarked the
+marquis, with a high-bred courtesy, in which was a tinge of scorn,
+&quot;you will understand that my spirit is on earth--at Spa--the refuge in
+exile of the master.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see it all!&quot; said Madame de Lamballe, flourishing her fan. &quot;It is
+Gabrielle who is jealous--and of Mesmer! What singular complications
+are produced by mystical alliances. A husband has a lovely wife, for
+whom everyone else is sighing, and is no whit jealous of <i>her</i> because
+he is an absorbed neophyte at the fount of wisdom. The prophet usurps
+his soul and his will. Where is the poor wife then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What cruel things are said in jest!&quot; Gabrielle cried hotly, breaking
+her silence at last. &quot;I am not unhappy; and if I were, it would be no
+one's concern but mine. I care no sou for Mesmer or Cagliostro, or any
+of the conjuring rout. Jealous of such creatures--faugh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A shrunken dame who had been slumbering in a corner awoke with a
+start, and guiltily conscious of a nap, became garrulous in a weak
+piping treble like the irresponsible murmur of a rivulet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your majesty is misinformed,&quot; she babbled plaintively. &quot;People will
+say such things, and go to mass o' Sundays. Our daughter Gabrielle is
+happy as the day is long--why not? Clovis isn't jealous one bit, and
+quite right too. He lets her do as she likes, go where she likes,
+doesn't care where she goes. Perfect trust is a fine thing, but I
+often tell him that it is rash to throw so fair a creature into
+temptation, for who knows what they'll do until they are tempted?
+Gabrielle, I must admit, though quite a saint, can be as provoking as
+saints often were. And they, the saints, were so dreadfully frail
+sometimes, and so easily forgiven, and then held up to us as patterns.
+I can't quite make it out. If I had ever dreamed of doing half the
+shocking things that the canonized saints did, I should---- Eh?--oh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that the rivulet ceased to flow as abruptly as it had begun, and
+the queen, who had with difficulty curbed her merriment, looked round
+for the cause of interruption. She beheld a little stout gentleman,
+with a round, blue-red face, in a state of imminent explosion. He whom
+she had declared to command the respect due to wealth, showed signs of
+choking from exasperation. His features had swelled till his bead-like
+eyes were scarcely visible; his finger nails were clenched into his
+palms. It was some seconds ere he could splutter out his spleen. Then
+with a deprecating look at her majesty, he gasped out--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Majesté, pardon her. A fool! Always and for ever a fool--and my wife
+too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then, forgetting the presence in which he sat, he continued in white
+heat--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'll dash your stupid head against the wall when we get home. To dare
+to make your own daughter ridiculous before this company! To make your
+own flesh and blood absurd, through your incorrigible idiocy! Not that
+you can do it, for she's an angel straight from heaven. Provoking,
+forsooth! My darling--the idol of my heart! The Marquis de Gange knows
+better than to ill-treat his wife. If he did--well; old battered
+soldier though I am, I'd be even with him in a way he'd not forget.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh--so harsh--always so harsh!&quot; whimpered the rivulet in choking
+gasps. &quot;Quite like dear M. Montgolfier's fire-balloon! I did not
+mean----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hold your tongue!&quot; snorted the maréchal in a menacing whisper--&quot;and
+wait till we get home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The situation, like many born of jesting, grew embarrassing. Old
+soldiers, especially when rich, may be allowed a certain freedom. But
+the ways of the barrack-yard may not be introduced into palaces. Marie
+Antoinette was not averse to a certain licence, which should banish
+for the time being the buckramed etiquette that she so loathed. But a
+family skeleton suddenly popping out of ambush to shake all its joints
+and grin with all its teeth! How uncomely a spectacle at the
+Tuileries! The assembled company, too, evidently enjoyed the fun, and
+would surely spread the story all over Paris on the morrow as the
+style of repartée that obtained at the queen's gatherings. If the
+episode, harmless in itself, were to reach the king's ears, he would
+be annoyed, and justly in such times as these, when everybody's hand
+was beginning to clutch his neighbour's throat. How many an innocent
+jest of Marie Antoinette's had already been built by malice into the
+proportions of a mountain? Unwittingly, she had, as it appeared, set
+fire to a mine. Gabrielle looked sorely distressed; her husband
+sullen, in that his pleading had failed, and that he could do nothing
+on behalf of the <i>savant</i> whom he worshipped. Her mother hazily
+perceived that it would be well to cork down the ebullient
+effervescence of her prattle, while the beady eyes of the maréchal,
+moving from the husband to the wife and back again, seemed to have
+detected the trace of something that was new, the discovery of which
+was disconcerting.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">HUSBAND AND WIFE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">When it is so plain to lookers-on that people ought to be happy, how
+perverse it is of them to be miserable! As the queen had declared,
+Gabrielle Marquise de Gange had no ostensible excuse for wretchedness.
+The specks on the sun of her good fortune were so tiny as to be
+well-nigh invisible. Upon the background of her portrait by Madame le
+Brun, that ingenious artist had inscribed in a hand so clear that all
+who ran might read, &quot;The fairest woman of her time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Gabrielle de Brèze, when she appeared at court in the
+capacity of maid of honour, took the town by storm. Veteran
+lady-killers withdrew gold toothpicks from their gums to vow that so
+brilliant a complexion, such melting eyes that changed like the moody
+sea, from blue to deepest violet, such a bewitching little nose, and
+such deliciously fresh lips, had never been seen before; &quot;and her
+figure! and her ankle!! and her arm and shoulder!!!&quot; chimed in the
+younger swains whose hearts were already in their hands to be flung
+down as a palpitating carpet for her dainty little shoes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The queen was enchanted with the success of her <i>protégée</i>, who was
+speedily surrounded by an increasing circle of danglers who minced
+with toes turned out, shook back their costly ruffles, and lisped the
+most honeyed compliments from morn to dewy eve. She enjoyed her new
+position vastly, was blithe as a young bird, and gazed fearlessly on
+into a future, which seemed an interminable vista paved with roses.
+Nor was she the least spoilt by adulation. She liked flattery, as
+every pretty woman does, but looked forward at no very distant period
+to the sober, substantial enjoyment of calm domestic happiness. When
+it pleased her parents to provide a spouse, she was prepared to take
+him to her heart as a dutiful daughter should, and lavish on him all
+the treasures of a young and guileless affection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The king was glad of her success, because she was the child of the
+Maréchal de Brèze, a veteran of the good old school, whose body had
+been improved and beautified by honourable scars won in his country's
+battles. As for Madame de Brèze, people endured her existence. She was
+a fool and a chatterbox, and wrinkled to boot, with an extraordinary
+capacity for seeing things awry, and sagely commenting on them after
+the fashion of a Greek chorus. No one took heed of her, but all liked
+and respected the red-visaged old soldier whose rough rind covered a
+generous nature, and whose purse-strings were always slack.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the Maréchal de Brèze was no mere soldier of fortune with naught
+in his valise except a bâton. He was rich in moneys safely banked with
+Necker at Geneva; possessed estates in smiling Touraine; and,
+moreover, was afflicted with the possession of an ancient and dismal
+chateau on the Loire, whose waters mirrored a labyrinth of
+high-pitched roofs, gaunt turrets, and grim gargoyles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of noble birth, entrancingly lovely, and an heiress. Heavens! what a
+combination; and at a time, too, as the queen had remarked, when
+everyone was out at elbows. It was evident that such a phenomenon must
+be snapped up at once; and straightway--helter-skelter up the wide
+stairs of the Hotel de Brèze rushed a mob of needy suitors--a hungry
+pack, yelling in full cry, whose ravenous ardour so scared madame that
+she forgot to improve the occasion. They had never loved till now,
+they cried in unison. Their quarterings were legion, their rent-rolls
+were miles long. The tenants never paid, and the ermine was somewhat
+mud-stained, but these were trifling details. They all adored the
+divine Gabrielle for herself--her angel form alone; that she should
+happen to be an heiress was another detail, and of course rather a
+drawback than otherwise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The maréchal laughed till his round red face was blue, for these
+disinterested persons oozed with ravening greed. The queen looked
+grave. To save her favourite from the maw of vultures was a
+responsibility she would not shirk. A spouse must be found for
+Gabrielle who might be trusted not to be outrageously bad to her. In
+these days a good husband of fitting rank was an extinct animal.
+Warily scanning the horizon, Marie Antoinette fixed, as the fitting
+swain, on Clovis, Marquis de Gange, and de Brèze agreed with her
+majesty that Clovis was just the man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So far as family went, the De Ganges could compete with the noblest.
+Acres had dwindled; tenants were recalcitrant; Clovis's income was
+little more than nominal, but nowadays poverty was modish in the
+highest circles; and, besides, it is well that the husband of a great
+heiress should be kept under due control. The cunning old soldier had
+settled long ago that the spouse of his daughter should not make ducks
+and drakes of her broad pieces, at least without her full consent. He
+had arranged in his own mind that he would bind up the money tight,
+and place it in her hands, hedged about with safeguards when called to
+another world. Till then he would himself dispense his fortune as his
+darling should wish and dictate. To this arrangement de Gange was
+quite agreeable, knowing that the maréchal was no skin-flint who would
+need abject suing. The old gentleman, who flattered himself that he
+was a judge of character, scanned the young man's features with keen
+scrutiny, and on the smooth surface could detect nothing of the
+ravenous wolf. The marquis was a tall, well-built, handsome fellow,
+dreamy and absent in manner, pedantic in his ways, a trifle too much
+enamoured of the crotchets of his day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the waning eighteenth century, while ladies were hopelessly
+frivolous or else weighed down with pedantry, the gentlemen came for
+the most part under three categories. There was the debauched
+voluptuary, ruined alike in health, purse, and reputation, whose
+honour was perforce upon his sleeve, since there was no room in his
+body for aught but selfishness. Then there was a feeble imitator who
+was as artistically unsatisfactory as nondescripts always are, for his
+fragment of conscience pulled him one way, and his envious admiration
+of stupendous wickedness another. He was always on the see-saw between
+vice and virtue, barely within touch of either. The third class was
+the most interesting, for it was clothed in mystery and draped in
+paradox. The dark and uncanny and incomprehensible engrossed the minds
+of this set. Revealed religion having been voted out of date by the
+encyclopædists and others, it was necessary to replace the broken idol
+with another. It was affirmed that Nature was moved by secret springs,
+governed by a world of spirits whom it was possible to coerce and
+bring under man's dominion. It was discovered that talismans,
+astrology, magic sciences, were not the vulgar impostures denounced by
+a jealous priestcraft; that the <i>genus homo</i> was composed of two
+distinct organisms, one visible and one invisible, the latter of which
+was privileged to roam freely about the universe, paying morning calls
+in remote planets, communing with angelic hosts. This was a
+fascinating theory for many reasons. The spirits who pulled our
+world-strings were good and bad, and alike vulnerable. Clearly, then,
+it was the distinct duty of philanthropists to fight and conquer those
+who were responsible for human ills. How delightful a sensation to
+seize a naughty spirit by the hair and administer a sound drubbing! To
+wrestle with the one, for instance, who is responsible for gout, and
+return him tweak for tweak! The yoke of the evil ones must be thrown
+off, that humanity, comfortably free from pain and sorrow, might sit
+down and enjoy millennium.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hence, the dreamy people who vaguely wished well to their fellows,
+joined the train of mystics, laid claim to superior virtue, and
+titillated their petty vanity by posing cheaply as philanthropists.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then think of the refreshing variety which might be introduced into
+one's amours! A weariful succession of mundane mistresses is so
+palling to a jaded palate. But according to the new creed, as your
+earthly tenement was occupied, <i>faute de mieux</i>, by commonplace
+lovemaking and intrigue, your more fortunate other self was blessed by
+an ethereal Affinity. While, in the flesh, you dallied, for want of
+something more amusing to do, at the feet of Phryne, your soul was
+flirting with a seraph somewhere in rarified space. It is gravely and
+seriously related of the visionary Swedenborg that while he resided in
+London, his fleshly frame was continually being refreshed. And how?
+His ethereal essence was in constant communion with that of a noble
+lady in Gutemburg. Their entwined spirits sat on a satin sofa in a
+boudoir illumined by wax candles--which candles were punctually
+lighted by respectful footmen at the accustomed hour of the
+rendezvous.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The high priest of the new creed was Mesmer, a Swabian doctor, who was
+conspicuously successful in waging war against the envious elves who
+undermine the health. As to his career of victory there was no doubt
+whatever, for by hocus-pocus and laying on of hands, he succeeded in
+curing a variety of nervous complaints which the enemy said were due
+to diseased imagination. It was idle to deny that somehow or other he
+did work miracles. Even St. Thomas, arch-doubter, could believe what
+he saw and felt. Under Mesmer's influence the sick took up their beds
+and walked, the halt flung away their crutches. The streets about his
+dwelling were choked with blazoned coaches. The frivolous and the
+earnest alike lost their heads. Considering the peculiarities of his
+temperament--too timid and too lazy to act, and therefore easily
+satisfied with theory--it was in the nature of things that Clovis,
+Marquis de Gange, should be Mesmer's most fervent pupil.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At a period when the peccadilloes of high-born aspirants to eligible
+maidens were apt to be somewhat deep-dyed, it would have been absurd
+to object to a suitor on the frivolous score of mysticism. The most
+exacting of wives could hardly be jealous of a passing flirtation with
+the crystal ball of Doctor Dee. Nor could she fairly take umbrage at
+delicate attentions to a crucible. Clovis and Gabrielle were married
+in the royal chapel, the bride being given away by the most amiable
+and unsinning of hard-used monarchs, and the world (who ought to know)
+said that the future of the happy pair could not be otherwise than
+rosy. They were a model couple, for Clovis was serious and reflective
+beyond his years, with a graceful turn for music, while the lovely
+face of Gabrielle beamed with affectionate pride. She was quiet,
+steady, and domestic, quite smothered under a heap of virtues.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Unfortunately, there were spirits at work who should have been
+detected at once in their mischievous game if Mesmer had not been
+napping, and duly routed by that prophet for the behoof of his dear
+pupil. They should have been carefully exorcised by the Master for his
+benefit, and sent packing into space to worry some one else; but as
+ill-luck would have it, the prophet was no longer present. All the
+medicos of the French capital uprose with one accord, like one large
+man, and sent the great Mesmer flying. If the new creed was to be
+accepted, where would all the doctors be? It was altogether a
+pestilent affair. Bread must not be snatched out of the mouths of
+doctors by designing quacks. Deputations of furious physicians rushed
+to the Tuileries, charging the luckless Swabian with egregious
+misdemeanours, and the king, as was his wont, gave way on the wrong
+occasion. Mesmer fell a victim to professional jealousy and ignorance,
+and was banished from France. He paid clandestine visits to Paris
+between 1785 and 1793, and to the end his following was great, but for
+all that, like many another illustrious pioneer, he was kicked and
+buffeted by ignorance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The spirits, whom he was too busy in his absence and his anxieties to
+exorcise, played havoc in the new <i>ménage</i>. Clovis, who took very
+kindly to the fleshpots, was proud of his wife's beauty and success,
+and in no wise jealous of the danglers. In truth, she was no more to
+him than the <i>chef-d'&#339;uvre</i> of a great painter, which we admire as
+our own until we weary of it; while we take pleasure in listening to
+the praises of the critics thereanent, because it chances to be our
+property; a noble work whose beauties we appreciate for a time with
+the eye of the connoisseur, then--since it is always with us--cease to
+contemplate at all. She was perfect, of course; every one knew that.
+Her husband, however, found little enjoyment in her society, and soon
+came to prefer the contemplation of the over-vaunted charms from a
+respectful distance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accustomed as the spoilt beauty was to lavish showers of admiration
+from morning till night, the unexpected coldness of Clovis surprised
+and offended Gabrielle. Had she not in her artless way said, as it
+were, &quot;You are my partner, chosen by the wise ones. I am pure, and
+true, and full of love, and you shall have it all?&quot; It was not within
+her experience to suppose that the chosen partner would care nothing
+for her. How could she suppose that the angel direct from heaven
+(which she was assured that she was at least a dozen times a day) was
+no more to the bone of her bone than a statue to be dusted and
+approved? Gabrielle was extremely proud; had been pampered much. She
+was--alas, that so fair a jewel should be flawed--quite ignorant of
+female wiles. So distressing and blunt an innocence was probably her
+mother's gift. Uncompromisingly straightforward, the young bride, who,
+from the first, was genuinely fond of the handsome marquis, roundly
+accused him of indifference. What had she done to deserve it? As she
+complained, she cried a little, which was tiresome. Men abhor feminine
+whimpering, which always reddens the nose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She insisted on knowing in what she had offended. Her listening lord
+came down from an excursion in some upper sphere, somewhat irritably
+disposed by the interruption, and abruptly assured the weeping lady
+that she was mistaken. He admired and liked her very much, and would
+like her still better if she would abstain from making scenes. He had
+never been in love, he tranquilly confessed, and never would be; had
+never been in the meshes of any siren. Perhaps his invisible twin-self
+was so devoted somewhere to an &quot;Affinity&quot; as to have engrossed the
+love-capacity of both.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such an explanation did not mend matters. An Affinity, forsooth--in
+space! More likely one of flesh and blood in hiding round the corner.
+It is humiliating to be calmly told that the man to whom one has given
+oneself till death brings parting, has never been in love--ay--and
+never will be! Stung by a feeling that was half-suspicious jealousy,
+half-outraged pride, the young wife said cutting things which had
+better been left unspoken. The face of the marquis darkened. &quot;It
+depends on yourself,&quot; he remarked, coldly, &quot;whether we dwell together
+in peace and amity or not. I have already said that I like and admire
+you very much. You must be content to take people as you find them,
+for it is manifest that no one can give that which he does not
+possess.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a grievous thing for a domestically inclined and affectionate
+woman to be rudely exhorted to feed on her own tissues; to discover
+that, as regards herself and the chosen one, affection is all on one
+side. With burning tears of mortification, Gabrielle realised that
+though Clovis was as cold as a corpse, she loved him. Perchance the
+unconscious fear engendered by contact with so unusual and unexpected
+a type, gave birth to a surprised fascination. She set him down as a
+very clever and extremely learned man, and, had he so willed it, would
+have worshipped at his shrine with the unreasoning satisfaction of
+those who are not mentally gifted. She would have whispered with arms
+about his neck, &quot;Dear Clovis! I am not clever enough to rise to your
+level, but I believe all you say because you say it. So kiss me, for I
+am yours for all in all, and so delighted to be lovely and an heiress
+for your dear darling sake!&quot; But how to coo forth such pretty prattle
+to a figure made of wood? How rest content with being coldly liked,
+when you are burning to be beloved? Scathing disappointment and
+disillusion! The beautiful and pampered Gabrielle, fortune's favoured
+child, moped and fretted, and was miserable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As years went on matters did not improve, for the unseen fingers of
+the naughty spirits were tearing the pair asunder. When she would
+fain have pouted out her lips to kiss, he stretched a surface of
+cheek that was aggressively passive. He was kind according to his
+lights--intended to be quite a model husband, but then wives and
+husbands differ as to the way that leads to perfection. Since there
+could be no sympathy between them, he interfered with her in no wise.
+A man often deems that negative condition of freedom the <i>summum
+bonum</i>; not so an affectionate woman. It is said that <i>mariages de
+convenance</i> are in the long run the most satisfactory unions, because
+neither party expects anything, and whatever pleasure may casually
+arise from friendly intercourse is to the good, whereas love-matches
+are built upon the sand, made up of vague yearnings and unpractical
+desires. The inevitable discovery is reached with lamentable rapidity
+that dolls are stuffed with bran, and that in a sadly imperfect world
+&quot;things are not what they seem.&quot; But if sympathy is nil--never existed
+at all--what flowers of joy can spring from utter barrenness? Clovis
+adored music, and could discourse prettily enough on the 'cello.
+Alack! Gabrielle had no ear, could not tell Glück from Lulli; the
+droning of the 'cello set her nerves a tingling; and when the
+unappreciated player put down the bow to prate of animal magnetism, as
+expounded by the immortal Mesmer, his beautiful wife grew peevish. Oh,
+foolish Gabrielle! why could you not be affectionately deceitful since
+you loved the man. Is the better sex gifted for nothing with peculiar
+attributes? Why not have compelled yourself, with pardonable
+falsehood, to ask tenderly after the favourite 'cello, have begged to
+be told more of Mesmer? You would, doubtless, have had to listen to
+much that would have profoundly bored you; but is not sweet woman's
+mission self-effacement--the daily swallowing of a large dose of
+boredom? Would you not have been well repaid, if you could have taught
+your husband by cunning degrees to seek your society instead of
+gadding after science; to prefer to all others a seat in your bower,
+with the partner who has become necessary to his comfort?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Certain it is that some of us have a dismal knack of turning our least
+comely side to those whom we like best. Whilst inwardly longing to
+fling herself prone in the mire and embrace his dear, lovely legs, the
+marquise grew nervous in her husband's presence; was fatally impelled
+somehow to play the somnambule, and close up like a sleeping flower.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And so it came about that as time wore on the husband sought his
+wife's society less and less; grew daily more indifferent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Marquise de Gange was not one of those who could find distraction
+among danglers. Both education and temperament forbade so improper but
+modish a proceeding. To her the circle of admirers were wired dolls,
+and tiresome puppets, too. Eating her heart in solitude, she might
+have been goaded in time to fly the empty world, and seek the
+consolation of a cloister. But she was saved from such grim comfort by
+the arrival of a pair of cherubs. A boy and a girl were born unto her,
+and thanking God for the saving boon, she arose and felt brave again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle's nature, which had been hardening, though she knew it not,
+softened. For the sake of the pink mites she could consent to live on
+in a world that was no longer empty. By some magical metamorphosis the
+ugly cracks that had yawned across the stony plain had been filled up.
+The dun hideousness which by its drear monotony made the eyes ache was
+masked by blossom and verdure. Crooning over the silver cradle in
+which both treasures slumbered (an extravagance of the enchanted
+maréchal) she built airy palaces of amazing gorgeousness for them to
+dwell in. They were to be shielded by triple walls from care and
+sorrow. To money all, we are told, is possible. Then fell the palaces
+like piles of cards. Had she not herself been shielded? Had not gold
+been freely squandered that not one of her rose leaves should be
+crumpled? Yet--but for the advent of the cherubs, and despite the
+watchful affection of the doting maréchal--had she not been very near
+fleeing from the tinsel grandeur of a squalid globe to take refuge at
+the altar-foot?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The castles insisted on being built, however. Patience and
+long-suffering would reap their reward some day. The cherubs would
+grow up and weave an indissoluble link with their young fingers which
+should draw the estranged parents together and bind them tight at
+last. Their mother would fondly teach them to adore their father, to
+see none but his best side. They would learn to respect his crotchets.
+And at this point she would herself be lost in dreamy reverie. Could
+his tenets with regard to the prophet be aught but midsummer madness?
+There was no doubt that he cured the sick. What if it were really
+possible to rout the wicked demons and produce millennium? To her
+practical but limited intelligence the creed was a farrago of folly.
+But then, Clovis, who was so clever, believed in it. Was she more
+stupid and ignorant even than humility confessed? Then she would rise
+suddenly and go about some household business, with the head-shake of
+the antlered stag that scatters dewdrops. The new creed was blasphemy,
+and she would have naught to do with it. The holy angels would guard
+herself and the dear innocents, if angelic suffrages could be secured
+by never-ceasing fervent prayer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sages do not care for babies, though mothers generally do. Clovis,
+when exhorted to that effect, contemplated his offspring once a day as
+some curious product from a distant land, gave each cherub a finger to
+suck, then retired with unseemly alacrity to his 'cello and his books.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ramifications of secret societies in the metropolis were spreading
+in all directions--societies which deliberated with closed doors to
+escape vulgar ribaldry--bands of philanthropists urged by pure
+benevolence, in search now of a universal panacea. Humanity was a vast
+brotherhood to be united for mutual defence against the machinations
+of the devils. Exhorted by Mesmer from a distance, the faithful toiled
+quietly on, that the name of their master might be exalted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So matters progressed in humdrum fashion for several years, and Clovis
+was placidly content; but as the procession of the months went by, a
+gradual change came over the societies, which, when he became aware of
+it, filled the unmilitant soul of the marquis with dread. Bold
+philanthropists, at midnight meetings, would sometimes give vent to
+new and startling views, affecting not health, but politics. A few
+presumed openly to declare that the evil spirits had got into the
+ministers, from whom they must be quickly expelled. Considering that
+ministries fell and rose just now at brief intervals, it was shocking
+to think how many bad spirits must be at work. M. Necker and Turgot,
+and brilliantly fertile Calonne, were all occupied by fiends who
+entered in and made themselves comfortable, as the hermit-crab invades
+the shell of the creature he has devoured. This theorem being
+established, it became the duty of the philanthropists to busy
+themselves on behalf of their country, which needed special as well as
+prompt doctoring. Then uprose speakers whose discourse smacked little
+of philanthropy, but savoured rather of iconoclasm. The Marquis de
+Gange, noble and wealthy, would make a splendid figure-head for the
+budding movement. Ere he could recover breath, or gather the scattered
+strands of his scared wits, Clovis found himself on the point of
+becoming an important political personage, and at a moment when
+prominence and personal peril marched hand in hand abreast. He
+prudently took to shunning the places of meeting, which but the other
+day had been his favourite resorts, for he had a horror of politics,
+and objected to being made a hero; but the agitators declined to let
+him escape so easily. They pursued him to his home, strove to convince
+him that he was a patriot; by turns threatened and cajoled, till the
+dreamer in an agony beheld no safety but in flight. A pretty state of
+things! Was not his wife the favourite of the queen; his father-in-law
+esteemed by the king? What would the verdict of his class be, were he
+to turn round and bite the hands that had caressed him? He would be
+ostracised, undone, held up to merited obloquy. He had no ambition to
+become another Lafayette, and declined to be convinced by argument. To
+avoid being mixed in complications fraught with danger, it would be
+prudent to vanish for a time, but whither to retire was the rub. He
+wished to stay and yet to go, and bit his nails in indecision.
+Concealed anxiety made calm Clovis querulous and snappish, and
+Gabrielle was not slow to perceive that he was suffering, though the
+cause she could not guess. He had got himself into some mess. Was it
+money? If only he would let her share his worries! Her timid overtures
+were promptly nipped; terror made him absolutely harsh. Sighing, she
+fell back upon herself, as usual, and kissed the cherubs in their bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the time when this story opens, July, 1789, the marquis and his
+wife had been married six years. The latter, though easily led by
+kindness, could fitfully display sometimes symptoms of independence.
+As a loving and self-respecting woman, she had kept with infinite care
+her catalogue of troubles from her parents. They, content with
+constant assurances that all was well, desired no further information.
+Madame de Brèze had settled, to her complete satisfaction, that her
+son-in-law was a harmless lunatic. When she obliged him with her
+views, he looked through her at something beyond. But then, who had
+ever appreciated her sagacity? Well, well. Have not some of our
+brightest lights been misunderstood while alive, to be tardily
+canonized afterwards? As for M. de Brèze, he was perfectly satisfied
+with Clovis, who, if eccentric and somewhat fish-like, was
+delightfully free from vices. If a man is perfect in manners and
+deportment, always civil and obliging, surely you may forgive the
+small drawbacks which go with the visionary and the bookworm. The
+bluff soldier would have had him drink and gamble more, just to show
+that he was human and a man, and be less fond of mysterious societies.
+But as Clovis had himself remarked, we must take people as we find
+them, and be content with mercies vouchsafed. Why! The marquis might
+have turned out an incorrigible rake; have squandered large sums
+coaxed from his wife on low theatrical hussies. Thank goodness, he
+showed no signs of breaking out in that direction; and it was not
+until the <i>soirée intime</i> at the palace that it came home to the
+doting father that there might be something amiss in the <i>ménage</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle had looked so unaccountably distressed and confused. She was
+concealing something--what? Was the placid marquis an ogre in private?
+Of course not. As he strolled home the maréchal made up his mind to
+pump Toinon on the morrow, and, from hints ingeniously extracted from
+that astute damsel, severely catechise his daughter.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">INVESTIGATION.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Who was Toinon? A very important personage. Foster-sister and
+confidential abigail to the Marquise de Gange, the two were as united
+as if they had indeed been sisters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of pretty dark-eyed roguish Toinon, neither the lacqueys, nor pages,
+nor hairdressers could make anything. When they exposed their flame
+for her edification she was irreverent enough to laugh. Tapping the
+swelling bosom, of whose outline she was justly proud, she would
+declare with a merry peal, that it was an empty casket. The organ
+which they professed to covet was no longer there, having been
+surrendered to the safe custody of a certain young man at Lorge. She
+had left it behind on purpose, lest some of these enterprising
+kitchen-beaux should steal it unawares. Whereabouts was Lorge, one
+gibed, that he might run and fetch the treasure?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Lorge, she replied, with mock seriousness, was a gloomy chateau on the
+Loire, home of rats and bats, of which the less one saw the better. He
+who would venture thither in search of that missing organ of hers
+would have to break a lance with Jean Boulot, a stalwart, honest
+gamekeeper, who would thrust the invader down an <i>oubliette</i> without
+compunction, to vanish for evermore.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the worthy maréchal called at the Hotel de Gange, as was his
+daily wont, and, instead of making at once for his daughter's boudoir,
+turned aside into the tiny chamber where Toinon sat and worked, that
+damsel started and turned red. Brought up side by side with Gabrielle,
+she entertained a deep veneration for the old soldier. For him as for
+the marquise, she would have worked her fingers to the bone; have
+cheerfully submitted to any penance; and now her conscience tingled
+guiltily, for she knew that she deserved a lecture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doubtless it had come to the ears of de Brèze that when last the
+family was at Lorge, she and big Jean Boulot had plighted troth
+together. The maréchal would, of course, rate her soundly for her
+folly, since with her advantages she might have done much better than
+throw herself away upon a peasant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Jean was a fine fellow, blunt and obstinate, but sincere, given to
+thinking for himself, but he was only a servant, half-gamekeeper,
+half-bailiff, and many a well-to-do farmer would have been too glad to
+place pretty Toinon at the head of his table. This was bad enough; but
+worse remained behind. Since it had been imprudently encouraged by the
+king, that plaguy Third Estate had been giving itself airs, flaunting
+its arrogant pretensions and propounding its ridiculous demands from
+every country cabaret. The absurd ant stood erect upon its hill with
+threatening mandibles. Mere yokels were presuming to chatter in
+village market-places, to discuss matters which concerned their
+betters, to express opinions of their own which were sadly lacking in
+respect; and somehow they escaped the lash. Such impudence caused
+proper-minded and cultured persons to shiver in dismay. If we turn
+swine into lap-dogs, we shall certainly regret our foolishness. The
+old maréchal, who hated Lorge, detested it more than ever, when he
+found that the evil leaven had penetrated into far Touraine, and was
+not slow in expressing his views with regard to the ant upon the hill.
+&quot;Life is a game of give and take,&quot; he said, &quot;in which the unscrupulous
+always take too much, unless kept well in hand. Peasants should have
+no individual opinions, but humbly follow their masters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now, was it not a shocking thing that Jean Boulot, who ought to have
+meekly bowed his head at the very mention of aristocracy, should be
+insolent enough to make rude remarks about the upper class under the
+shadow of ancestral Lorge? It was reported to the maréchal that his
+paid servant had harangued his cronies under the village tree, and had
+used pestilent expressions anent the local magnates. He received
+prompt warning that on a repetition of the offence he would lose his
+place, whereupon he was said to have remarked, with a broad grin, that
+soon there would be no place to lose. And Toinon, foster-sister and
+confidential abigail, had absolutely betrothed herself in secret to
+this abandoned wretch!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was awful; but when we give ourselves away, how shall we recover
+the gift? She determined to bring her lover to a proper frame of mind
+before confessing what she had done. She wrote commenting sharply on
+the escapade, imploring her betrothed to reform, lest haply he should
+share the gruesome fate which she was informed awaited democrats. To
+this he had replied in an independent and flippant manner, which
+foreshadowed a thorny future. &quot;My darling,&quot; he had the assurance to
+write, &quot;never fear for me. If all masters were like ours, instead of
+being selfish tyrants, we should all be peaceable and happy; but,
+alas, the innocent minority must, for the general good, submit to
+suffer for the guilty. France, asleep too long, is slowly waking.
+National sovereignty, spell-bound for centuries, has yawned and
+stretched itself, and fools would oppose, to combat the champions of
+Liberty, the flickering will of a weak king! War, my dearest, it will
+have to be, for we must wade to the goal through blood. God gives
+justice to men only at the price of battles!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A nice sort of letter, this, for one who was almost a de Brèze to
+receive from her affianced husband! How quickly she destroyed the
+tell-tale scrap which she had hoped to be able to exhibit. These
+high-flown periods were not his own. With rough and homely fist he had
+copied this pinchbeck fervour. He must have taken to frequenting one
+of those horrid, odious clubs that were springing up like fungi, be
+consorting with abominable demagogues. There were some firebrands
+about who were beginning to be known as Jacobins. Surely honest Jean
+would never become so depraved as to join that cohort? Would it be
+wise as well as loyal to send this lover packing--to disclaim at once
+both him and his pestilent opinions? No doubt it would, but in love
+matters who is wise? Toinon loved her big, blunt, honest Jean, and if
+he adored his darling as he delightfully vowed he did, it was her
+place to exert her influence to bring him to a better mind. On the
+very next visit to Lorge, she would rate him soundly, drag him by
+force out of the mire, cleanse his soiled wool, and produce in triumph
+the errant sheep clean and quite respectable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But if the maréchal knew all about it, and was here now to administer
+a jobation, what course should she pursue? It was a feeling of guilt
+and a resolve to fight that brought the becoming flush to Toinon's
+cheek.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not, however, to denounce an undeserving swain who was a
+democrat that the maréchal strode into her room, and hearkening to his
+discourse she felt relieved. After listening to the tale of his
+suspicions the girl sat pondering with her work upon her lap gazing
+idly at a long string of gilt sedans that were crawling in the
+direction of the Tuileries. The marquis unkind to his wife? Yes and
+no. He was a singular man, the marquis, made up, more than most, of
+contradictory and opposing elements. He was apparently self-contained,
+complete in himself, needing no sympathetic help; and yet he was a
+weak and undecided man, and these require support. To Toinon he was a
+riddle, for it had struck her once or twice that the passions of which
+he seemed to be bereft might be only dormant; that the crust in which
+he was enveloped might need but a touch for him to burst his
+cerements, and show that he was a mortal after all. Was he
+deceitful--playing a part for a deliberate purpose? No. Toinon thought
+not; there was no motive for comedy. What she did feel certain of was
+this. If he was in a trance, as she half suspected, it must be by some
+other hand than Gabrielle's that he would eventually be aroused. He
+was an instrument which she had not the skill to play upon. Had not
+the faithful abigail watched the pair for years? As month followed
+month they had drifted further asunder and were still drifting. The
+estrangement to the wife was torture; the husband it affected not. In
+her pain she lowered herself to &quot;scenes&quot;--exhaled herself in wearisome
+complaints.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Maréchal de Brèze was shocked and distressed. Torture, scenes,
+complaints! And he had been thanking heaven that there was no blur on
+the mirror of their happiness. He would take his son-in-law to task;
+pour out upon him the appalling vials of his indignation; bring him to
+his knees repentant. Toinon sagely shook her head. &quot;Place not the
+finger twixt bark and tree,&quot; dryly observed the sapient maiden. &quot;The
+paled ashes of affection may not be made to glow again by scoldings.
+She is an angel--the best of women--but too apt sometimes to figure
+as a <i>femme incomprise</i>. All may come right in time, for he is a
+well-meaning man if difficult to live with.&quot; Then Toinon travelled off
+on the sea of conjecture. Was he a good man or not? &quot;Upon my word,&quot;
+she declared at last, &quot;after six years of watching I cannot tell what
+he is. A colourless nonentity? I can hardly think so. There are people
+with whom we have been in close communion half our lives, and whom we
+believe we know down to the finger-tips. Then, hey! Presto! They
+suddenly do something unexpected, and we find that we never knew them
+at all!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But with such a wife as Gabrielle,&quot; urged the maréchal, chafing.
+&quot;Young, pure, sweet, rich, beautiful. Gracious powers! Was the man
+marble? What more could mortal require?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Toinon, except in her own love affairs, could be vastly wise. &quot;Alas,
+dear master,&quot; she said, laughing sadly, &quot;sure you have learned by this
+time that to some perfection is intolerable? Are we not often
+impelled, being so imperfect ourselves, to love people for their
+defects? On account of alluring blemishes we agree to overlook their
+virtues. You must have known men, chained for life to loveliness, who
+have adored a freckled fright, and gloated in the joy of contrast over
+the details of her ugliness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old soldier looked glumly out of window, silent, whereupon the
+damsel continued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of all the stupid old legends, Beauty and the Beast is the silliest.
+Why. Many a charming woman would have been disgusted when the hideous
+wretch turned out a handsome prince. What is at the bottom of
+<i>mésalliances?</i> Why do cultivated women elope with ignorant domestics;
+leave home and comfort to consort with a lacquey or a groom? Because
+to some there is a charm in stooping. The act of uncrowning is in
+itself a pleasure. Perhaps madame is too perfect for the marquis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The maréchal admitted, by silence, the truth of the shrewd damsel's
+discourse. In his own time he had had a wide experience, grave and
+gay, and was not unaware that a jaded or unhealthy appetite craves for
+abnormal food. None knew better than he that the insipidity of
+doll-like prettiness may grow exasperating. We gaze at portraits of
+the celebrated fair ones of the past, and scanning their queer mouths
+and noses, conclude that fashions change in beauty as well as costume.
+We fail to detect the charms of Anne Bullen or Mary Stuart, and we are
+wrong. Intellect and wit can illumine irregular features as the sun
+lights up a landscape. Thick lips and a snub nose may be transfigured
+under the divine rays till they seem a miracle of loveliness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then the anxious old gentleman waxed cross. A froward girl was Toinon
+with her sham sagacity. She had ridden away on a false premise. The
+most plausible theories are delusive. Gabrielle was no doll, but a
+quiet, well-conducted, sensible woman enough, if not of brilliant
+parts. <i>Femme incomprise</i>, indeed! Modest but fragrant violets lurk
+under leaves, and we take the trouble to look for them. How dared this
+presumptuous marquis to misunderstand the treasure he had won? It was
+not the comely mask of flesh alone that drew the buzzing crowd of
+moths. Married, they could not be aiming at her wealth. The marquise
+was constantly surrounded by the attentive bevy of youths. Butterflies
+attended her daily lévée, drank chocolate while her hair was being
+powdered, spent hours over her trivial errands, and she accorded to
+none the preference. A virtuous wife in an unvirtuous throng might be
+of momentary interest as an anomaly, but sparks would soon weary of
+the wonder. No. She was lively enough to hold her own in the swift
+patter of petty small-talk. It did the heart good to hear her jocund
+laugh. It must be admitted that the expression of her face changed
+little, but then it was so fair that to change would be to mar it. Who
+would have the sculptured Psyche grin, or ask the Venus of Milo to
+grimace?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The more carefully he reviewed this knotty question, the more
+bewildered became the excellent de Brèze. Laudably resolved to delve
+to the bottom, he left the waiting-maid for the mistress, and observed
+for the first time that his daughter's welcoming smile was less bright
+than of yore. On being cross-questioned, she grew grave and reticent,
+refusing to complain of her husband, and entrenched herself within a
+proud reserve. &quot;He might be odd, but she preferred him as he was,&quot; she
+declared shortly; would not have him altered by one tittle. Vainly her
+father pressed her, assured her that he would do nothing that she
+would not entirely approve. There was naught to be drawn from
+Gabrielle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said the maréchal at last, wistfully sighing, &quot;if I am not to
+interfere, I won't; but you know that I live only for my child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know you do, dear,&quot; she softly answered. &quot;Your anxiety wrings my
+heart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then rising from her seat, trembling from head to foot, she clasped
+him in a fond embrace, and seemed about to make a confession. Words
+trembled on her lips, but whatever they were, she choked them back
+again, and indulged in delicious tears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have spoilt me so, that I am naughty and capricious,&quot; she
+remarked gaily. &quot;Do you really sufficiently love your little Gabrielle
+to submit to a wayward whim?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When did I deny you anything?&quot; reproachfully replied de Brèze.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never; nor will you now, though it is a great slice of property that
+I require. Will the best of men humour my new fancy? Yes? Well, then,
+know that I am tired of Paris and its tinsel, and would fain retire to
+the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You--leave the gaieties of Paris?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. The good air and quiet will brace my nerves, untuned by racket,
+and that explosion of presumptuous wickedness that sacrificed so many
+lives.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The storming of the Bastile?&quot; returned the maréchal. &quot;Pshaw! By and
+bye we will terribly avenge de Launay and his intrepid garrison. What
+on earth will you do in the country? In a week you'll be petrified
+with ennui.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not at Lorge. Its grimness suits my humour. The children are less
+strong than I would have them. Freedom in pure air will bring back the
+roses to their cheeks, and in them you know I am engrossed. My
+children, oh! my children! What should I have become without them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The involuntary bitter cry, so eloquent of pain, and so speedily
+suppressed, clove the bosom of the maréchal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She will not tell me or have confidence,&quot; he groaned inwardly, &quot;and
+yet her suffering is great. She must have her way in this as in other
+things, and God be with her in her travail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With the delicate tact of a gentleman he let pass the cry unnoticed,
+and simply said, &quot;What do you wish, my dearest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lorge,&quot; she replied, &quot;no less. What a rapacious greedy soul I must be
+to rob you of the home of your ancestors!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It shall be yours,&quot; the maréchal replied, delighted to be able to do
+something. &quot;I understand that for some reason you desire to take
+possession and hold the place without interference? Is that so? At my
+death, it will be yours with all the rest. Meanwhile, I lend it, to do
+with as you will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was an odd fancy. What could be the meaning of the freak? Presently
+he enquired, &quot;What will your husband do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was his idea,&quot; was the eager rejoinder. &quot;He wishes it, and I
+am--oh--so very glad! I long to get him away from Paris and its evil
+influences. Do you know, father?&quot; Gabrielle continued in a grave
+whisper, &quot;that there are secret meetings he attends, to come home at
+dawn in a fever. And there are forbidding men who come to see him,
+whom he evidently does not want to see; such coarse and common men. I
+don't know what it all is, but it has something to do with that
+mystical groping after the unattainable which is so weariful, and can
+only end in madness. To a Christian, such impious presumption is
+horrible!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I hold the clue?&quot; cried the old man, much relieved. &quot;It is the
+prophet who is in your way? You would wean Clovis from Mesmer, turn
+him from Cagliostro, and carry him to Mass on Sundays?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The idea was so comically innocent, that de Brèze wheezed with
+delight. &quot;Sweet pet!&quot; he said, tapping his daughter's cheek archly,
+&quot;you are earnest if not clever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And then he went off into a shout of laughter, as he beheld in
+imagination the daily scene at Lorge. <i>Tête-à-tête</i> in the dreary
+chateau among the bats and owls, she would drone out Bossuet's sermons
+to put animal magnetism to flight; perhaps call in the village curé to
+assist. What a delightful prospect for the husband! How ghastly
+tiresome is the wife who preaches at her other half; drones out to him
+scraps out of good books. Well, well. We must not place our finger
+twixt bark and tree; but if any form of desperation was likely to
+awake the entranced Clovis (as Toinon had it), a system of moral
+lecturing on the part of a well-meaning but narrow-minded spouse was
+about the thing to perform the miracle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The maréchal trotted home quite pleased, and straightway informed by
+letter those whom it concerned that henceforth, the Marquise de Gange
+was to be considered the proprietress of Lorge. Both M. and Madame de
+Brèze equally loathed the place. If Gabrielle was possessed by the
+strange fancy of playing chatelaine, in its cobwebbed corridors, let
+her do so by all means, and convert her husband if she might.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The good maréchal was mistaken. Gabrielle knew better than to worry
+her husband with importunate readings, but trusted rather for the
+working of a change to the renewed intimacy which retirement must
+produce. She never would have dared to propose a hermitage to Clovis,
+but when he himself suggested a temporary flitting, she thanked heaven
+as if a prayer had been answered. She could not guess that he was
+afraid to stop in Paris, and that he was revolving an embryo scheme of
+closer union with Mesmer. The prophet having been ejected from the
+land with Maranatha, could not unfortunately bestow his presence or
+personal assistance. But why should he not send to his pupil some
+learned adept, well versed in mystic lore who, in sylvan solitude
+would further instruct the neophyte? Removed from the frivolous court,
+and secure against being mixed in the treasonable doings of political
+philanthropists, his mind would be in a condition of receptivity, and
+his studies would make giant strides.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Poor Gabrielle! She had said to herself with a choking heart-leap
+that, removed from pernicious influences, she and the cherubs would
+wind fond webs about him, and win him from indifference to love. Alas!
+Poor simple yearning wife!</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">THE CHATEAU OF &quot;LORGE.&quot;</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">In Touraine, midway between Tours and Blois, the venerable chateau of
+Lorge stands out from a wooded background, bathing its feet in the
+swiftly flowing Loire, morosely contemplating the details of its grim
+reflection. Profoundly interesting from an archæological point of
+view, the historic pile is not a lively dwelling, and it is no wonder
+that the jolly old maréchal should have ungrudgingly passed it to his
+daughter. Privileged to occupy a place in one of the most smiling
+provinces of France, it is within a drive of Amboise on one side and
+Chinon on the other, dignified castles both; and not very far away is
+Diane de Poictier's Chenonceaux, whimsically spanning a river, a
+specimen of elfin architecture straight from fairyland. Lorge dates
+from the iron period; not the time of prehistoric man, who had
+recently blossomed out of monkeydom, but of the early mediæval barons,
+who slept in their armour--as they still do on their tombs--whose pet
+pastimes were the cleaving of pates and the quaffing of usquebaugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With the march of centuries Amboise, Chinon, and the rest found it
+advisable to polish themselves up, and modify their native harshness
+to be in touch with less rugged epochs; but no coaxing ingenuity of
+architect or landscape gardener could ever smooth the frown from the
+frowning face of Lorge. It seemed to say with pride, &quot;The darkest and
+most cruel deeds have been perpetrated within my walls. Down below I
+have smothered the cries for mercy of weak women outraged, and
+children brutally maltreated. My favourite music is the clank of
+steel. I was baptised with blood, whose reek may never fade, whose
+stain may never be effaced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">You cannot make a junketting house out of a fortress, and Lorge,
+despite changes, is a fortress still. On the façade, defended by the
+river, are the stately reception rooms, opening one into the other in
+a string; a long suite which occupies the first floor, whose heavily
+mullioned casements are large enough to permit the sun to gild the
+antique hangings. Each of these windows is adorned by a ponderous
+stone balcony, which can be used for purposes of defence. The other
+sides of the edifice seem blank and blind, the high enclosing walls
+being unbroken, save by a dentilated series of merlons and crenels,
+with cruciform embrasures below, The chambers on these sides are
+particularly depressing to the spirits, since they afford no prospect,
+save a bare paved court with the enclosing wall beyond.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Courageous chatelaines, striving after cheerfulness, have made efforts
+from time to time to brighten Lorge. The drawbridge and portcullis,
+which jealously barred the entrance, have been removed from the double
+archway and replaced by wooden doors. The moat which guarded the three
+sides landward, with a defensive wall along the outer bank, has become
+a garden with trim green slopes, and a wealth of glorious roses. The
+ends that used to join the river have been walled up, and adorned with
+flights of steps which lead to decaying boat-houses. Private posterns,
+drilled in the masonry, afford easy access from the courtyard to the
+moat-pleasaunce for such as may possess the keys; but in spite of
+every effort, the flowering hedges and rose-bushes only serve by
+contrast to make Lorge more dreary--a skull bedecked with flowers. One
+specially brave lady had the hardihood once to plan great gardens in
+the Dutch style beyond the moat, on the other side of the road. There
+were long alleys of clipped yew and beech; <i>tonelles</i> or arched bowers
+to give grateful shade; a procession of weird animals, fashioned of
+holly, that cast fantastic shadows on the sward; oblong tanks where
+swans serenely sailed, steering among isles of water-lily. But no
+subsequent chatelaine was sturdy enough to carry on the hopeless war.
+The alleys were soon choked, the <i>tonelles</i> grew into thickets, the
+mimic menagerie degenerated into ragged rows of bushes. By the time
+the maréchal inherited, there was no place devoted to flowers except
+the moat-pleasaunce, and even that was sadly neglected.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Though you see them not, dank dungeons honeycomb the foundations.
+There are noisome cells on the level of the water-line that may at
+will be flooded. You know that they are there, although some lord with
+tender nerves fastened them up long since. There they are, under your
+feet, audibly crooning their low song of woe unmerited, of dumb
+despair, of remorseless cruelty. The ancient implements of torture
+that still ornament the wainscot of the banquet-hall take up their
+parable, and sing. Time does not still that wailing chaunt which tells
+of robbery, and tyranny, and persecution. No skill may exorcise the
+train of shades, undone for greed or lust, or victims for conscience'
+sake, who parade the corridors of Lorge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Not but what it has charms of its own: a plaintive sweetness set in a
+minor key. The view across the Loire in summer time of emerald
+woodland is superb. The long drawing-rooms overlooking the stream are
+of stately proportions. Their immense overhanging chimney-pieces are
+blazoned with coats of arms sculptured in the stone. Carved crests are
+repeated again and again in the fretted ceilings. The tapestries, with
+their shadowy story of mad King Charles the Sixth and his treacherous
+wife, and the faithful girl, Odette, with their warm background of
+dimmed gold, have been pronounced by experts to be priceless. The
+little boudoir at the end which closes the suite is a dainty and cosy
+nest. Than the country round nothing can be more delightful; you may
+ride for hours unchecked amid the leafy woods over a velvet carpet; or
+you may boat and explore the erratic sinuosities of the river,
+dreaming out epics as you go anent the lordly, but for the most part
+empty, dwellings that look down on you from either bank. As an
+irreverent Parisian visitor once observed to a horror-stricken
+neighbour, &quot;Lorge would be a charming <i>séjour</i> if one might pull down
+the castle and erect instead a villa.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the time which occupies us there was but one near neighbour
+resident. The Chateau de Montbazon was not much more than a mile away,
+having been built on a little bit of Lorge property beyond the Loire,
+which had changed hands one night at cards. The spot commanded an
+exceptionally fine prospect, so the owner placed a house on it. It was
+bought a generation later by the Baron de Vaux, who dwelt there with
+his wife and daughter, Angelique, and great was the joy of those
+ladies upon hearing that Lorge, which was so little occupied, was
+again to be inhabited.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Country life at this period was, from a fashionable point of view, a
+singular anomaly. Marie Antoinette's dairymaid proclivities at Trianon
+had rendered it <i>de rigueur</i> to find pleasure in bucolic occupations.
+Old customs were giving way to new-fangled habits borrowed from other
+nations. You were offered tea as in England instead of coffee, and
+were invited to join in the game of &quot;boston,&quot; brought from the infant
+republic beyond seas by the followers of Lafayette. Dress, except at
+the Parisian court, grew simpler. Ladies, instead of brocaded damasks,
+wore muslins and flimsy materials. Men donned garments of plain cloth
+instead of satin or velvet. Noble dames grown tired of expensive
+jewellery affected a badge made of some hero's head executed in
+miniature. Franklin's or Rousseau's profile was modish, though the
+more sentimental preferred a pet cat's portrait set on a ribbon in
+place of a diadem and feathers. Emancipated from trains and furbelows,
+you could now really move about in the country without much
+discomfort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The court circle was perforce a narrow one. Those who had not the
+entrée to Versailles withdrew to their estates when the queen retired
+to Trianon, and there drank milk and made believe to hunt, or acted
+tragedies and spouted epic poesy, pretending to be vastly entertained;
+not but what they were ready to rush back to the capital with all
+despatch when Fashion declared it possible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But then, of late years, the decrees of Fashion had been sorely
+interfered with by that aggressive Third Estate. Refusal to pay rents
+was annoying, but an evil to which all were accustomed. In some parts
+evil-disposed persons declared landlords to be the natural foes of the
+sovereign people, and discussed how the vermin was to be got rid of. A
+deep-rooted, bitter hate, sprung from long and systematic oppression,
+divided class from class by an intangible but impenetrable barrier; a
+hate that grew all the stronger, in that it had long been veiled by
+fear and lashed by supercilious scorn. Republicanism was in execrable
+taste--a subject for contemptuous laughter on the part of the
+provincial seigneurie. Its exponents bore on a pole a turnip with a
+candle in it, which could frighten none but children. The country
+nobility attached no special meaning to the unseemly snarling. Until
+the great crash came, and the rural palaces were sacked and burned,
+the seigneurie never fully realized the thinness of the crust they had
+been dancing on. In certain provinces it had been unsafe for some time
+past for landlords to show their noses at all, much less prate of
+paying rent. These not unwillingly left their chateaux to fate,
+whereby the condition of small shopkeepers and such local fry was not
+ameliorated. In more favoured districts dislike and discontent lay
+smouldering, and my lords were still free to amuse themselves with
+their guests from town, indifferent to the feelings of the masses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The de Vaux family were not of the court circle; indeed, they rarely
+travelled to the metropolis, but were content to ape its manners from
+a distance. The trio were dull enough, as narrow in their views and as
+obstinately fixed in the tenets of their grandsires as most country
+gentlefolk are, but they were well intentioned, and availed themselves
+of the earliest opportunity to pay their respects at Lorge. Gabrielle
+received them with open arms. Was she not bent on inaugurating a new
+era for herself and Clovis, and had she not been informed by her
+father's unseemly merriment, that it is not well to bore a husband?
+Not that the newcomers, who had driven over in the craziest of
+shanderydans, showed signs of being an acquisition. On the contrary.
+Long before the sun went down, Gabrielle felt that she could see too
+much of Madame de Vaux, while Clovis listened, marvelling, to the old
+gentleman's platitudes which were at least a century old.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The baroness was not slow to tumble out upon the floor her peck of
+troubles. She always had a waggon-load about her. Angelique examined
+the gown of the marquise with absorbed interest. The baron lectured on
+affairs, with an occasional raid into his wife's country, to rout her
+army of Jeremiads.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Figure to yourself, my dear,&quot; groaned Madame de Vaux, after a
+refreshing pinch of snuff, &quot;that though we have had little disturbance
+here so far, we are surrounded by snakes in the grass. Our Angelique
+is always doing something for the ungrateful monsters who, when her
+back's turned, gnash their teeth. All last winter, in spite of the
+hard times, we distributed broken victuals to the destitute, and they
+said that the refuse from our table had already been refused by the
+dogs. Did you ever hear the like? Horrid, spiteful, ungrateful
+creatures!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They know no better,&quot; replied Angelique, with a contemptuous curl of
+the lip. &quot;We can afford to laugh at them and their threats when we are
+conscious of having done our duty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My brave child!&quot; ejaculated madame with fervour; &quot;what a comfort to
+be mother of a child who would rise equal to any emergency!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Noblesse oblige!&quot; snorted the baron, proudly. &quot;We may be poor and
+compelled to fill ourselves with over much <i>bouilli</i>, but our blood is
+of the ancestral colour. A daughter of yours and mine, madame, would,
+of course, be equal to an emergency.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sentiment was mighty fine--one that might not be disputed. Clovis
+languidly bowed and murmured something polite, while Gabrielle yawned
+behind her fan. Good gracious! Was the intercourse of the new
+neighbours to consist in mutual admiration of pedigrees?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquis turned the conversation to his favourite subject. Had the
+baron, who doubtless was acquainted with matters of current interest,
+by means of the <i>Gazette</i>, at all occupied himself with animal
+magnetism?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With what? A pretty subject for gentlefolk! Rumour had already
+whispered that the young marquis's pursuits were uncanny. The baron
+glanced at the baroness, who looked unutterable things, while
+Angelique detected a shade of sadness flitting over the face of the
+marquise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God forbid!&quot; cried the old lady, leaping into the breach, &quot;that we
+should know aught of devil's sabbats.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis laughed, amused. &quot;It is so easy to denounce what we do not
+comprehend,&quot; he observed, demurely. &quot;Some day, when you are howling
+with pain, we will drive over to Montbazon, and cure you by laying on
+of hands.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle frowned. Such an ill-chosen expression, a parody on Holy
+Writ, or something like it! She began to perceive that it might not be
+so easy to vanquish Mesmer, and, seeing them as shocked as she was,
+felt rather anxious to be rid of her guests.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I won't be cured by devils!&quot; stoutly declared the baroness. &quot;I'd
+rather grin and bear it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For my part, I care little to inquire into the means, provided that I
+am cured,&quot; civilly remarked Angelique.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here was one ready for conversion! Clovis woke up, and drawing his
+chair closer, detailed with eager admiration the triumphs of the
+prophet, to which the baron listened with the polite sceptical smile
+that becomes one who is a noble--a superior person--and knows it.
+Gabrielle looked grave and apologetic. The ground was slippery, and
+the baroness, agile, despite her figure, again jumped into the breach.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. Just one more dish of tea, my sweetest marquise,&quot; she cried,
+&quot;and then we must go home to Montbazon. When you come to see us, if
+you like to walk, you have only to cross the river in a boat, you
+know, and the distance by the bridle-path is nothing. But I would not
+wander alone if I were you, there are such sinister men about. Do you
+know--of course you don't--that you've a nice thorn in your own side
+that will soon prick you--he! he! That Jean Boulot of yours is a
+shocking character, one of the odious, deceitful, crawling kind, which
+is the worst of all!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing of the sort, my dear!&quot; interrupted the baron. &quot;His opinions
+are regretable, but he is a rough, honest fellow who professes a
+humble fondness for the de Brèze family, which does him honour!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in the same breath he derides the aristocracy!&quot; retorted the old
+lady, with a giggle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Which can well look after itself!&quot; replied her husband.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Take my advice, dear, and get rid of him, or you'll regret it,&quot; urged
+the baroness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He's a confidential servant, who was born and bred here!&quot; objected
+Gabrielle. &quot;He and those who went before have always served us well,
+and Jean would not hurt a hair of any of our heads, I warrant. He did
+something silly the other day in the way of talking nonsense, and my
+father rated him for it. That episode is over and forgotten.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He's a democrat, or worse, if possible,&quot; asserted the baroness with
+many nods. &quot;Capable of anything, my dear; get rid of him; a scorpion!&quot;
+she continued, wagging her head; and content with this first
+impression, the old lady gathered up her wraps, and with an elaborate
+curtsey, swept away the family, delighted with the effect she had
+produced.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Neither Gabrielle nor Clovis were equally charmed. These tiresome
+people were their only neighbours! Then it must be solitude indeed.
+Angelique seemed a nice girl enough; but the baroness was overwise in
+her own conceit; and the baron ridiculously puffed with the
+overweening vanity of class. If the pair were to live absolutely
+alone, Gabrielle, doubting her own strength of will and power of
+fascination, already trembled for her experiment. Where could society
+be found which should rub off the jagged edges of a <i>tête-à-tête</i>? The
+chateaux round about were unoccupied. Nobody dwelt at Blois except
+bourgeoisie and common persons. Perhaps this move into the desert had
+been imprudent. Well, if it proved disastrous, they could return to
+Paris and no harm done, considering how far apart they had drifted
+already. A little society--just two or three congenial persons--would
+make all the difference; but where might such fowls be caught?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What of this communication about Jean Boulot? surely it was idle
+tittle-tattle, born in the murky brain of a stupid old woman. He a
+scorpion on the hearth, to be got rid of before he could sting? The
+charge was ridiculous, and yet demanded attention, considering the
+Bastile episode such a brief while ago. And he was engaged to Toinon
+too. Under the seal of strictest secrecy that damsel had shared her
+delicious secret with her foster-sister, and the latter with a hearty
+kiss had wished her joy. It was only fair to both the lovers that the
+matter should be cleared up, and to that end the damsel must be
+cross-examined.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When charged with the lamentable leanings of her affianced, Toinon
+made no attempt to laugh the matter off. She was fain to confess
+herself disappointed in Jean Boulot. He was too straightforward to
+stoop to knavery. You only had to look into his fearless, clear grey
+eyes to be assured of it; but his sentiments were distressing. He told
+his love when she remonstrated that reason and justice could only be
+departed from by paths watered with tears; and when she retorted that
+he would certainly be hanged if he were heard to indulge in such talk,
+he only shrugged his shoulders and remarked that the gallows were made
+for the unlucky. In the middle of an impressive lecture he snatched a
+kiss and laughed, and actually confessed with something that looked
+like pride that he had just been selected from among his fellows to be
+chief of some new society. He was constantly moving about among the
+rustics discoursing about the improvement of their condition at the
+expense of a superior class. All Toinon could be sure of was that Jean
+was beyond her control. Perhaps madame might succeed in managing the
+young man and bring him to a sense of his enormities.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The experiment was not crowned with success, for instead of confessing
+his sins with a <i>mea culpa</i>, Jean smiled and delivered himself of
+various mysterious hints. &quot;Never you fear,&quot; he asserted, cheerfully,
+&quot;whatever may happen by and by, you and yours shall be defended with
+my best blood; not but what a glimpse of your sweet face will be
+enough to calm the boys, however spitefully inclined. As to the
+others--H'm!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Enigmatical and unsatisfactory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was certainly very dull in the desert; and before many weeks were
+over, the marquise was prepared secretly to admit that her father had
+judged rightly. She was no nearer to her husband here than in Paris;
+and caught herself longing more and more for those two or three
+congenial persons who were unattainable. It is all very well to wrap
+yourself in your children, to watch the young intelligence unfolding
+tender leaves, to mark and record with little thrills of joy each new
+sally of infant wit; but carefully nurtured babes retire early to the
+nest, and long evening hours have to be got through which are apt to
+hang heavy on the hands. There was absolutely no one to talk to,
+Gabrielle was not of a studious turn, avoiding the library as a close
+and musty place, had no <i>penchant</i> for embroidery, cared not to tinkle
+on a spinette. Clovis, on the other hand, professed himself delighted
+with the unbroken solitude where there was nobody to plague him with
+politics; employed his time in writing reams to Mesmer, and counting
+the days which must elapse before he could receive replies. When weary
+of considering the pros and cons of the prophet's theories, he locked
+himself in his study, and could be heard far into the night groaning
+sonatas on his 'cello. Oh, that 'cello! Its moans were extremely
+wearing to Gabrielle's nerves, for it always suggested to her a coffin
+with some one in agony inside. Weave new bands of affection, forsooth,
+far from the madding crowd! How doleful a deception was hers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquis seemed to have forgotten that he was father of two
+cherubs, was certainly oblivious of the fact that his better half was
+a reigning beauty, who, in her prime was self-deposed. Sometimes he
+would sally forth on solitary rides, and return, depressed and dumb,
+to fall asleep in his chair. It was certain that the pair were
+drifting more fatally distant from each other in the country even than
+in town. This was not life, but vegetation; sure any change would be a
+godsend.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At one moment the hapless marquise thought of summoning a bevy of the
+danglers whom she had loftily pretended to despise; but, if they were
+to come--unable to get on with Clovis--how were they to be amused? At
+another time she was on the point of imploring the maréchal and his
+wife to break the bonds of dulness by a visit, but then again she
+hesitated. How was she to parry her father's anxious questions, how
+avoid his sympathetic eyes? No. Come what might, she would bear what
+she must bear, and veil her wounds from her beloved ones.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now and again the de Vaux family drove over to spend the afternoon,
+and the visit was in due course returned; but though all parties were
+punctiliously civil and vowed they enjoyed themselves immensely, it
+was clear to both families that no intimacy could arise between them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle was almost driven to lower her flag and retire from the
+field; was indeed debating how she should set about it with dignity,
+when that for which she craved was suddenly tossed into her lap.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One morning, the marquis actually so far broke through his secluded
+habits, as without a formal message sent in advance, to invade his
+wife's boudoir. Her heart gave a great bound, and looking up from the
+children's hornbook in glad surprise, she smiled gratefully on him.
+Was this a first advance? She was determined that the visit should be
+a pleasant one, and to that end proceeded forthwith to trot out the
+prodigies. He had no idea, she prattled, how vast were their
+acquirements. They knew ever so many wondrous things which would no
+doubt delight their parent. Straightway, like little clockwork
+parrots, well-wound up, the infants chirped forth their lore, while
+the marquis's face increased in length, the while with well-bred
+courtesy he made believe to listen. His dreamy eyes wandered over a
+map of varied stains on their dirty little pinafores. They diffused an
+aroma of bread and butter; their angel fingers shone with grease.
+Their acquirements, he coldly agreed when they had run down, were
+remarkable for tender years, and the weather being fine they had
+better run out and play.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle sighed. Mere politeness--such politeness as a wearied but
+courteous stranger might bestow--in which was no scintilla of
+affection. Unnatural parent! After all, the darlings were perchance a
+trifle juvenile to interest a man. Men, as a rule, can see no beauty
+in babes and sucklings; vote them revolting lumps of adipose tissue;
+but then, sweet Victor and Camille were not babies, for one was five
+and the other four--were enjoying that most fascinating period of
+existence when we are never clean, and are always falling down and
+crying.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The unappreciated angels having shrieked off down the long
+drawing-rooms, there to tumble, hurt themselves, and howl, Clovis sat
+down and explained the cause of his irruption.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A letter! Good news or bad?&quot; inquired Gabrielle, with a presentiment
+of evil.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That depends how you read it,&quot; returned her husband, quietly. &quot;As you
+are aware, I never inflicted my uncongenial presence overmuch on you;
+never sought to know why you were so ready to abdicate your brilliant
+position in Paris to suit a passing whim of mine, but I was none the
+less obliged by your compliance. I now wish you to please yourself,
+and make arrangements for the future, such as may suit your views.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle stared at the automaton. Good heavens! His uncongenial
+presence. Was he so blind as not to perceive how she hungered for it?
+A burning reproach was on her lips, but found no voice; for somehow,
+seeing him sit there so straight and cold and self-complacent, her
+courage oozed away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do what you choose.&quot; He continued with bland indifference. &quot;I was
+never jealous of your entourage, because I liked you to enjoy the meed
+of admiration that is your due, and know that you are to be trusted
+even in so perilous a vortex as Versailles. For reasons with which I
+need not trouble you, I prefer myself to remain here for a while, with
+your permission; but seem to see that you are weary of playing the
+chatelaine. Is it so? Would you like to return to Paris. Please
+yourself. You will admit that I give you the completest liberty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The heart of the poor wife sank low. For what crime was she condemned
+to love an icicle? If he would only find fault, or discover a
+grievance, or even wax wroth without a cause, and smite her! Each calm
+and measured sentence as he sat, with the finger-tips of one hand
+poised accurately on those of the other, was like the prick of a steel
+stiletto. His gaze was fixed on a tree a long way off. He could not
+even trouble to look at her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sighing wearily, she murmured, &quot;Completest liberty, no doubt. I and
+the children are to go away and leave you here alone?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis moved his gaze to another tree and cleared his throat. &quot;Not
+unless you wish it,&quot; he said, &quot;but something has happened that is a
+little embarrassing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Any trouble? Am I not here to share it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Scarcely a trouble--an inconvenience only, which you may object to
+share,&quot; her husband answered, smiling. &quot;Could you brook other
+inmates?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Other inmates! What can you mean?'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you know, though you have never seen them, I have two
+half-brothers. They are inseparable--quite pattern brothers--the one
+brilliantly clever, the other his admiring shadow. The Abbé Pharamond,
+the younger one, would be welcomed in any society on account of his
+sparkling talent; but he has preferred to shine alone at Toulouse,
+rather than consent to be a unit in the system of stars at Paris. He
+has got into trouble, and writes to ask for an asylum for himself and
+Phebus.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A too pungent epigram followed by a fatal duel, makes it convenient
+to seek eclipse. In six months the affair will have blown over. You
+would be sure to like the abbé, if you met him; while as for poor dear
+Phebus, the chevalier, as he is called in the south, he is fat and
+somnolent, and would not hurt a fly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle reflected, Why did a voice deep down within whisper words of
+warning? Here were the congenial persons for whose advent she had
+longed. What a relief to the <i>tête-à-tête</i> would be the brilliant
+abbé, and fat Phebus who would not hurt a fly! Thanks to them, Lorge
+might become endurable. On the suggestion of a return to Paris, the
+difficulty had occurred to her as to the excuse to be made for her
+husband's lengthened absence. Clearly she must remain at Lorge, so
+long as he thought fit to do so. Perhaps the abbé disliked music and
+hated violoncellos? Together in the dead of night they would capture
+the marquis's treasure and send it floating down the Loire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Clovis!&quot; she exclaimed presently, with genuine pleasure; &quot;you
+singular being! What objection could I have? On the contrary, I am
+charmed with the opportunity of making the acquaintance of your
+brothers.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">THE HALF-BROTHERS.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Never was there a greater bit of luck for the Lorge hermits than the
+epigram that was too pungent, and its consequences. With the arrival
+of the fugitives there was inaugurated a new <i>régime</i>. Cobwebs seemed
+to vanish at a stroke. The dismal old chateau stirred and rubbed its
+eyes, for, as by magic, the spirit of ennui who had his dwelling there
+was routed and put to flight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé Pharamond was made of quicksilver. Such a mass of ubiquitous
+ever-moving energy would have awakened the seven sleepers. Everyone
+felt his influence; and no one had a word to say against him, except
+Toinon and Jean Boulot. Even the objections of these, as might be
+expected in low-born persons, were of the vaguest. The one found fault
+with his effeminate manners and mincing ways, the other vowed that he
+was so sweet as to be mawkish. Balanced one on either knee, the
+prodigies (with clean pinafores and polished visages) were taught to
+warble the amorous ditties of the south, an absurd performance which
+frequently brought over Madame de Vaux in the shanderydan, and caused
+her to explode with laughter. His presence acted like a magnet. There
+was always a stock of the neatest compliments on hand for Angelique;
+the most respectfully rapt attention for the baron's platitudes. He
+was constantly riding to Montbazon on his way to somewhere else, bent
+on organizing a picnic or a hunt, and even discovered and dragged from
+their retreats into the light a variety of country gentlemen who
+seldom left their burrows. &quot;If the dear man were a layman!&quot; grieved
+the baroness. &quot;The very thing for Angelique.&quot; But since he was a
+churchman, she must do her best with the other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pooh! Stuff and nonsense!&quot; objected the baron. &quot;They were of good
+family--could boast, indeed, of most superior blood--but were as poor
+as church mice, both.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whereupon his spouse remarked from out her nightcap folds that she did
+dislike a mole. Was not the marquis a good-natured gentleman, if
+stupid, and was he not plainly devoted to his brothers--proud at least
+of one? It could be seen with half an eye that the abbé's influence
+was great, and would grow greater. Out of Gabrielle's wealth, after de
+Brèze's death, he would, of course, provide for his brothers in a
+fitting and lavish manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle fell at once, and without resistance, under the spell of the
+abbé. She had never known so charming and accomplished a person.
+Faugh! the tawdry butterflies of Versailles! The gaudy numskulls! Mere
+contemptible machines, that mopped and mowed to order. In Pharamond
+she beheld for the first time a man whose masterful nature somehow
+compelled obedience. Among other fascinating ways, he had a trick
+(aware of a trim and graceful figure) of tossing himself down in a
+picturesque attitude at Gabrielle's feet, burningly eager for advice;
+and on considering the interview afterwards, she was pleasantly
+surprised to find how she had shone--how undoubtedly, yet
+unaccountably, sage had been her counsel. &quot;He exerts a good influence
+over me,&quot; she murmured. &quot;Like flowers under the sun's first rays I
+expand. Till he arrived, I knew not how dense had been our darkness.
+Alas! if Clovis were a little like him how different had been my
+fate!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even Clovis was the better for the abbé's advent. His brother would
+walk straight into his sanctum and drag him from his books to join
+some party of pleasure; but, lest he should turn restive, would argue
+in his nimble fashion, as they rode along, upon abstruse points of
+philosophy. Though not fully believing in the tremendous powers
+claimed by the prophet, he declared himself open to conviction with
+regard to Mesmer; and Gabrielle was amazed to perceive how animated
+her husband could become in his efforts to convince the doubter. When
+hounded from the capital, Mesmer had travelled south before settling
+at Spa, and the abbé had seen him perform his marvels. Hunted out of
+Paris by the Academy of Medicine, persecution had produced the usual
+result--attacked, defended, abused, glorified, Fame shook all her
+bauble bells, and rescued his name from neglect. At Montpelier, his
+following was so great that he and his small staff could not supply
+the necessary treatment. There was no denying that under his magnetic
+passes certain patients did recover. However much argument might
+meander, it always came back to that point. In what the mysterious
+healing fluid consisted, was the difficult question. Did an invisible
+current actually flow from the manipulator to the patient, or was it
+but the effect of ascendency of will--of the strong nature bearing
+down the weak?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During the discussions on the subject, the abbé would jokingly wave
+his whip at the chevalier, whose sleek figure jogged behind. &quot;There is
+a case in point,&quot; he laughed. &quot;Phebus's will is completely subservient
+to mine, and he knows it. Tell them, chevalier, is there anything I
+could not make you do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then the broad visage of Phebus would beam with respectful pride as he
+surveyed his clever brother. &quot;No, abbé,&quot; he would quietly rejoin. &quot;You
+are wiser and better than I, and I am content that you should think
+for both.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then in his turn would Clovis laugh as he glanced at the attentive
+Gabrielle. &quot;We must be careful, lest,&quot; he observed, slyly, &quot;we forfeit
+our independence. While pretending to disbelieve, he is deceiving us,
+for he is himself gifted with magnetic powers of a high order. I vow I
+am half influenced already, and must take precautions lest I become a
+slave.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Those were pleasant rides under the yellowing foliage in the late
+autumn of '89. Clovis was galvanised into a semblance of activity, and
+appeared under the process to have half realized how charming was his
+wife. Instead of provokingly staring without seeing her, he observed
+how fresh was her complexion, how silken and golden and heavy were the
+loose plaits of her unpowdered hair. To her astonishment, following
+the abbé's lead, he became almost attentive, guiding her horse over
+difficult ground, even marking the fact when she was tired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And so it came about, as by touch of fairy wand, that Gabrielle, alone
+in the desert, had found a following. The husband whom she adored was
+displaying a ghostly kindness, with which for the present she was
+content. If he only would appreciate the prodigies--but that, under
+beneficent influence, would follow, doubtless. The newly-arrived
+swains vied with each other in endeavouring to forestall her wishes.
+The abbé ordered everyone about for the general good and her
+particular behoof, like some hovering farseeing deity; while the less
+pretentious chevalier plodded at her heel like a wheezy spaniel, as
+active as his redundancy permitted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In their way, good looking fellows both. The chevalier was short and
+very fair, with pale blue eyes and a weak mouth, producing a somewhat
+washed-out effect. His nose was aquiline and delicately moulded. In
+many respects he bore a curious resemblance to his majesty the
+reigning monarch. The abbé, his junior by several years, looked a
+decade younger at least. He was slim and wiry, built on a small scale,
+with well-turned limbs and white hands remarkable for their fragility.
+Indeed, in considering his appearance people always remembered the
+soft, twining fingers which looked as weak as a woman's, and which, in
+a hand-shake, could give so firm a grip. His face was round and pale,
+his lips thin and tightly pressed together, his eyes steel-grey with a
+strongly accentuated pupil. There was something about his usual
+expression that suggested a particularly high-bred white cat--due
+possibly to a purring manner and an air of sensual complacency. But
+there were moments--not unknown to the chevalier--when the eyes could
+gleam with tawny lightning, darken with thunder-clouds, while the
+small even teeth were ground in passion, and the pale face turned
+livid. Like all seemingly light and effeminate beings, who are really
+of wrought steel, the gay and frolicsome abbé could become a sweeping
+whirlwind; but since he usually managed to have his way unchallenged,
+serious atmospheric disturbances were of rare occurrence. As the eyes
+of an angry cat seem to be illumined from behind, so on rare occasions
+of excessive wrath those of the abbé assumed a malevolent glitter, in
+face of which the chevalier cowered, despite his breadth of beam. His
+plump uncertain hands grew moist, his words were few and husky; he
+whimpered and breathed hard; and the privileged observer could have
+little doubt that there was absolutely nothing he could not be goaded
+to essay under pressure from Abbé Pharamond.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On a certain mild evening in October, master and serf were riding home
+from Montbazon, and the latter unconsciously shrank and stopped his
+horse, conscious of the glitter that he feared. Wistfully and humbly
+he looked up, anxious to ascertain wherein he had offended.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The de Vaux are a charming family,&quot; remarked the abbé, airily kissing
+his fingertips. &quot;I compliment you, dear brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the abbé chose to gibe, the chevalier sniffed something
+disagreeable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha, ha! How lugubrious a countenance for a favoured lover! As doleful
+as a bee who's lost his sting! When do we propose to marry? Never keep
+a lady waiting!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you mean?&quot; stammered Phebus, mopping his brow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame de Vaux expects you to propose for Angelique.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I don't want to marry Angelique.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What! Not the delightful shoot from the family tree of which we hear
+so much? Like the Indian banyan its proportions darken the sky. Why
+not--tell me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I do not wish to marry at all,&quot; replied Phebus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And why--and why--and why?&quot; laughed Pharamond, in elfish mood. &quot;Nay,
+do not tell me. Cannot I read into your erring soul as through a sheet
+of dirty glass? Because you are hopelessly enamoured of your brother's
+handsome wife!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Phebus started and turned scarlet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't look so exasperatingly sheepish! you quivering mass of jelly,&quot;
+sneered Pharamond.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An explosion of laughter resounded through the wood and ceased, and
+the glitter shone forth again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know that it is extremely wrong to nourish a flame for one's
+brother's wife?&quot; he inquired dryly. &quot;Most reprehensible in itself and
+not unlikely to lead to complications. Will Clovis approve, think
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Perceiving that Phebus was too confused and upset by the sudden attack
+to answer, the abbé frisked on, urging forward both horses with his
+whip.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;See!&quot; he observed, addressing nature generally. &quot;How lenient Mother
+Church can be to the shortcomings of the weak! Do I blame this culprit
+for adoring the lovely Gabrielle? Not a bit! If he did not his heart
+would be of stone instead of pulp. Stout Phebus is consumed with
+hopeless adoration. But is it hopeless? Ah! There's the rub. Don't
+babble like an idiot, but confess. Have we openly given vent to our
+boiling passion? Yes, or no?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The chevalier bent his head and sobbed out, &quot;I'm a miserable wicked
+wretch!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course you are,&quot; affably agreed the abbé. &quot;Make a clean breast of
+it to Mother Church, who will straightway absolve the sinner. Do we
+adore her to the ends of our fat fingers? Eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How can I help adoring her?&quot; replied harassed Phebus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly not--how could you?&quot; echoed his tormentor. &quot;Ho! ho! ho!
+ho!&quot; The abbé's mocking laugh reverberated among the trees. &quot;I've half
+a mind to tell Clovis--shall I? How he'd enjoy the jest!&quot; And at
+contemplation of the maze of mischief that might result from such a
+proceeding, he laughed again, &quot;Ho! ho!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does she return your love? Have you really made the trial?&quot; he
+inquired suddenly, with a sneer upon his lips. &quot;No? Then, my poor
+fellow, I am genuinely sorry for your plight. Presto! The Church has
+run away! Behold a doctor; hearken to words of wisdom. Your ailment's
+very bad, but curable. This is a queer world, I'd have you know, in
+which there is one unpardonable crime, failure. We hunt down and
+exterminate the exposed bungler, who, if he bungles, and would yet
+save his skin, must take precautions not to be found out. Now I found
+you out at once, you simple oaf, so you deserve to be delivered to
+Clovis. I ought to sacrifice so paltry a specimen of intrigue, but
+then--are you not, too, my brother?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The chevalier knitted his brows in a vain effort to comprehend what
+underlay the abbé's banter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! what a tender brother!&quot; the latter continued; &quot;for I will even
+assist you in your quest. Yes, I, the virtuous Abbé Pharamond. The
+doctor prescribes a fervent wooing--a scaling of the ramparts--a
+storming of the citadel. You have gone too timidly to work. Between
+this husband and wife there can be no bond of union. That much we
+know. <i>Ergo</i>, the heart of the beauty is yet to win, since she is
+fancy free. You shall try your luck in earnest, and I will give you
+all my help--on one condition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will!&quot; murmured Phebus, melted to tears by admiring gratitude,
+&quot;How shall I repay such kindness?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thus. You try your hand and do your best, but if you fail you retire
+for ever from the field. If she likes you, well and good. Win and wear
+her and be happy. If not, promise to worry her no more with annoying
+importunities.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The suggested arrangement was so singular, that the chevalier,
+recovering himself a little, knew not what to think. What could his
+astute brother be driving at? Why should he desire to throw the
+hitherto unstained wife into a lover's arms? Had he a spite against
+the marquis? No. Against Gabrielle? Hardly. Perhaps he was sorry, as
+Phebus had been, to observe Clovis's neglect, and anxious to see
+Ariadne consoled? How kind of the abbé to select him, the chevalier,
+as the proposed comforter! A new vista of possibilities unrolled
+itself. Unaided he would have gone on sympathetically sighing, but
+with the abbé's encouragement and active assistance, wonders might be
+accomplished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The latter was beaming on him now with bonhomie. Clearly he wished,
+fraternally, to see sister-in-law and brother happy, and imbued with
+the spirit of the times in which they lived, was doing his best to
+make them so. Warmly the chevalier blurted out his thanks. His brother
+was good and kind, as he always meant to be, though now and then so
+puzzling and strange. He would follow his instructions dutifully to
+the letter, and Gabrielle won, would be till death her slave.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is well,&quot; assented the abbé with a friendly clap on the
+shoulder. &quot;You have beaten about the bush too long, instead of making
+straight for the goal. Women have sharp instincts, and since they
+require wooing, despise too bashful swains. This very night the coast
+shall be kept clear for you. The balmy autumn breeze is to love vows
+the softest of accompaniments. I will retain Clovis in his study with
+arguments about the prophet he reveres.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The two jogged on in amicable silence, both equally satisfied, to all
+appearances, with the result of the conference, until the peaked
+turrets of Lorge frowned black against a primrose sunset. Then, before
+entering the courtyard, the abbé turned and whispered sternly, &quot;A
+compact, mind, which you will break at your peril. Win or withdraw. Do
+not attempt to deceive me, for I never forgive deceit.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">TEMPTATION.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The eccentric schemer was true to his word, as grateful Phebus
+acknowledged with eyes more watery than usual. What a blessed thing it
+was to have so accommodating a brother as Pharamond! The chevalier
+grew hot and cold as he considered the chance that was about to be
+thrown in his way, a golden chance--and between whimsical little
+prayers for success, he gazed furtively now and then at the other
+brother, whose honour he was so ready to smirch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The prodigies having been sent to bed, and the evening meal being
+leisurely discussed, the abbé became inquisitive anent the latest
+intelligence from Spa. Was it true that the genius of the prophet had
+achieved yet greater marvels? What were these rumours as to a further
+magnetic development, accompanied by fresh triumphs? Clovis snapped
+eagerly at the bait, and proceeded to explain that something amazing
+had indeed been discovered such as should transform the world of
+science. Persons afflicted with ailments were in future to be ranged
+around a series of large buckets or tubs containing a mixture of
+broken glass, iron shavings, and cold water. How simple a treatment,
+and yet how efficacious! Talk of ancient miracles! No wonder that all
+the doctors were mad with spite, as well as all the apothecaries, and
+that they should thirst for the blood of him who had exposed their
+disgraceful cheating!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most amazing! Most wonderful!&quot; echoed the abbé, leaning back in his
+chair. &quot;The wicked spirits conquered, and those who were afflicted
+through their malice being cured by means of the tub, what was there
+left of the curse bequeathed by Adam? If somebody would only go a step
+or two further and discover the elixir of life, and a method of making
+gold, the world would be quite a pleasant place to live in, and he for
+one would positively decline to leave it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle listened, mystified, glancing from one to another of the
+trio. Clovis was quite animated. His eyes sparkled, his cheeks were
+flushed, and his tongue loosened. What power was this of the abbé's,
+which could melt an icicle, bring a corpse to life? She was awed and
+uneasy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Was Pharamond making fun of Clovis--fooling him to the top of his
+bent--in mischief? Surely not, for did he not owe to his brother's
+kindness a secure asylum, a refuge in an awkward strait, and pocket
+money also? For Gabrielle, in her kindness of heart, had guessed that
+the fugitives were out at elbows, and had quietly handed two neatly
+enveloped packets to her husband, with a request that he would pass
+them on. Clovis took the packets without surprise or even thanks, and
+his wife smiled to herself at his carelessness in money matters. Since
+his marriage he had always been well provided without the asking, and
+had come--how like a dreamer--to look on coin as convenient manna,
+which somehow dropped from heaven just at the auspicious moment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What could so sensible a man as the abbé mean by encouraging him in
+his nonsense? He was sitting there now with head thrown back, and the
+placid air of one who knows how to enjoy digestion, rapping out now
+and then a leading question, such as would put Clovis on his mettle.
+Was she, Gabrielle, in the wrong to despise these things? It seemed
+so. Her husband dabbled in philanthropy; the abbé was an excellent
+man, bent on doing good to his fellows; and this was the reason for
+the interest of both in Mesmer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just think!&quot; the marquis was observing with regret, &quot;what good work
+might be done in the district if we could inaugurate a magic tub! The
+mists rising from the Loire generate rheumatism and paralysis, to say
+nothing of fevers, all of which, by means of a blessed bucket, might
+cease to exist except in fable. Why! this gloomy old prison-house
+might become a central office from which benefits would be scattered
+broadcast; its primæval bloodstains might come in time to be washed
+away with Mesmer's tincture of iron!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not?&quot; murmured the abbé, with increasing interest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alas!&quot; sighed Clovis. &quot;The arrangement of the tub, it seems, is a
+matter of the most delicate nicety, which cannot be described by
+letter. If Mesmer would only visit us? But he is afraid now, he says,
+to venture into France.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not go to him--Mahomet and the mountain, you know,&quot; suggested
+Pharamond. &quot;Or get him to lend you for a time one of his cultured
+adepts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! if he would do that!&quot; echoed Clovis, eagerly. &quot;If he would lend
+me somebody who knows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our dear Gabrielle would not stand an adept!&quot; cried the abbé, with
+laughter. &quot;See how distressed she looks at my poor suggestion! Nay,
+sweet sister; I was only jesting. In sooth, this new-fangled bucket is
+too large a bolus to swallow. The idea of sensible people squatting
+round a tub with glass wands pressed against their temples!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pharamond's access of facetiousness nettled the marquis, who remarked
+peevishly, &quot;What a puzzle you are! Too gifted and too learned, I
+should have thought, to mock as the ignorant do at all that they
+cannot fathom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay! I did not mean to anger you!&quot; cried Pharamond, still laughing.
+&quot;But I was bound to reassure our hostess as to an irruption of adepts.
+Come, come. Let her enjoy the evening air. Show me the plans and
+instructions, and while I endeavour to decipher them, play me a tune
+on the 'cello.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Oh! clever abbé, who knew so well how to twitch his puppet-strings! It
+certainly was a delightful evening, and Gabrielle, with the pursy
+chevalier trotting by her side, flung open a casement and stepped
+forth upon a balcony. As she gazed across the shadowy river, she was
+too absorbed with the consideration of a riddle to remark the
+condition of her companion, who panted nervously. Was Clovis
+mad--victim of a monomania--or did she wrong him? Why should he lie to
+her, and to Pharamond? He had declared, and the abbé accepted the
+statement without cavil, that the magic tub had already produced
+miraculous cures. No doubt it is both ignorant and stupid to contemn
+what you cannot understand. Clovis was always saying so, and he was
+right. If the discovery was genuine, then, as he had said, how
+wonderful a boon wherewith to endow the province! It was quite true
+that the peasantry were a prey to rheumatic pains and aches. In her
+rides she often went among the poor distributing simple remedies, and
+had been dubbed by them the &quot;White Chatelaine,&quot; in contradistinction
+to some of dark and unsavoury memory who had gone before. But then, an
+irruption of adepts. What sort of a creature was an adept? The idea
+had revolted her, she scarce knew why; and yet, was she not
+unreasonable? If the prophet or a selection from his following were to
+take up their quarters at Lorge, what then? There was room enough in
+the great building, and the abbé would doubtless make himself useful
+in seeing that they kept to themselves. Ah! But the cherished hope
+which had been the means of bringing the chatelaine to Lorge; the hope
+to which she clung with the tenacity of love. Surrounded by an army of
+dreamers more dreamy than himself, the half-recovered Clovis would
+drift away again, be farther than ever from her yearning arms,
+engrossed in his magical operations. How unsteady a seat is that
+between the horns of a dilemma. If she refused to countenance the tub
+and its attendant sprites, she might be withholding from the sick a
+saving and certain cure. If she encouraged the new theory and its
+satellites, instinct told her that she would be raising a wall between
+herself and her husband which she would never be able to scale. She
+was wicked and selfish to hesitate. The marquise felt with humble
+conviction the extent of her badness; but human nature at the best is
+rickety, and she was unlucky enough to adore her husband. At this
+point, as she stood on the balcony reflecting, with the red hot
+chevalier by her side, she shivered, for plaintive sounds were
+floating on the breeze.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is intolerable!&quot; she murmured. &quot;If Clovis would only oblige me
+by sacrificing that dreadful 'cello!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It does set one's teeth on edge,&quot; agreed the chevalier.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because it contains a soul in torment,&quot; returned the marquise,
+pressing her fingers in her ears. &quot;I can manage to endure other
+implements of music, but I cannot bear a 'cello.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have a remedy at hand,&quot; wheezed the amorous chevalier. &quot;It is as
+balmy as a summer's night, and winter will soon be upon us. Put on a
+hood and scarf, and let me row you for an hour on the river.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The family did not meet again till the next day at the hour of second
+<i>déjeuner</i>, and an intangible cloud appeared to have fallen on the
+party. There was something like suspicion in the manner of those who
+yesterday were so trustingly united.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The chevalier, sulky and silent, would not raise his eyes from his
+plate. The liveliest sallies of the abbé fell dismally flat, for even
+Gabrielle was so pre-occupied that she could not summon a smile. Her
+beautiful face was grave and sad, and bore trace of recent tears,
+while the brow of the marquis wore a frown, as if he had heard bad
+news. Indeed, a proposition had been placed before him yesternight,
+or, rather, dropped carelessly, which startled and annoyed him. In
+course of their <i>tête-à-tête</i> over the plans, Pharamond had said, &quot;If
+I were you I would be careful not to offend madame, for she, not you,
+is master.&quot; It had never occurred to him before to see things in this
+light, and yet it was undoubtedly true. She had never stood between
+him and his desires, but it was not pleasant to be reminded that she
+might be led to do so some day. And from the conversation--as it
+chanced--a wavering idea had become in his mind a fixed resolve. The
+introduction of an adept into the household had been the happiest
+thought on the part of Pharamond, but--provoking fellow that he
+was--no sooner had he made the suggestion than he proceeded to nip it
+in the bud. For when Clovis would fain have enlarged upon the topic,
+the abbé had retorted with a demure headshake: &quot;I made a mistake, and
+I am sorry. Your wife believes no more in Mesmer than I do--less--and,
+taking offence, might complain to old de Brèze of the introduction
+into <i>his</i> house of a pack of needy jugglers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If she did it would be awkward and insulting to her husband. Would she
+be capable of so unwifely a proceeding? Surely not. The abbé, who was
+a compendium of wise maxims, remarked that it would be better not to
+try her--to let sleeping dogs lie. Perhaps he was right, but the pill
+presented to the lips of Clovis was bitter, with a new and acrid
+taste.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Glancing round the breakfast-table, the spirits of Pharamond went up,
+and he rubbed his hands with satisfaction. No need to ask simple
+Phebus how he had fared last night? Failure was written on his face!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the minds of all three who sat around him a tiny germ was working.
+So far all was well; but the <i>ménage</i> must not be permitted to fall
+back into the doldrums.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, come!&quot; cried the abbé, cheerily; &quot;what ails us all? Is the
+angel of death passing overhead? The weather is divine. Were we not to
+hunt to-day, starting from Montbazon, and is not the attractive
+Angelique anxiously awaiting Phebus? Air and exercise will brace our
+nerves. Clovis's wits want sharpening, and then, maybe, he will guess
+all about the bucket without further aid from Mesmer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Cloud or no cloud, there was no resisting Pharamond for long. His tact
+was infinite. Pretending to perceive that there was a tiff of some
+sort between the chevalier and the chatelaine, he ostentatiously
+interposed himself between them. No one was in the humour for the
+chase? Very well. No more was he. Phebus, whose one accomplishment was
+a knowledge of horseflesh, had business in the stables, which he would
+be good enough to see to. The other brothers would flutter around
+Gabrielle, who, established on her favourite seat in the moat-garden,
+would issue orders to her slaves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What? The hobby again? Really the prophet should be proud of a pupil
+so serious and earnest! Well, well. Would dear Gabrielle mind being
+left alone for a little? No? Then the brothers would take a stroll
+together, and perhaps the abbé would be converted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If I am,&quot; the latter cried merrily, as linking his arm within that of
+the marquis, he led him away, &quot;I shall turn myself to the conversion
+of Gabrielle. After that we will set our wits to work, arrange a magic
+tub, and all preside over it together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The magic tub! When the brothers returned from their walk, heated with
+discussion, the one was airy and serene, the other wofully cross.
+Gabrielle was sorely troubled by the change which she indistinctly
+felt. Why should Clovis be cross? The reason of the chevalier's
+sullenness, alas, she knew too well! The abbé was apparently much
+struck by the arguments of the neophyte, and wavered. Why, then,
+should Clovis be in a bad humour? And if Pharamond, the clever one,
+was well nigh convinced, who was she that she should doubt? There was
+nothing for it but to submit to the guidance of the abbé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis shambled off to his study in a self-conscious and sheepish way,
+whereupon a sly smile spread over the face of Pharamond.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know why our dear Clovis is in so villanous a humour?&quot; he
+asked, glancing archly down at the marquise. &quot;No, of course not. You
+would never guess. He wants something of you, and is afraid to ask,
+lest you refuse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Afraid of me!&quot; ejaculated Gabrielle, amazed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not quite that--but husbands do not like to ask favours and be
+refused.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquise held her peace, for she was bitterly hurt. Refuse a
+favour to him, the husband whose good graces she was here to
+cultivate? Never. Oh, why was he so very blind! How could she ever
+hope to win his entire love and confidence if he read her character so
+ill! Then, overcome by emotion, she wept and confided in the abbé, who
+skilfully soothed her pain. He did not deserve such a treasure--this
+purblind, blundering husband, of course he did not; but since the
+Church had bound the two together, there was nothing for it but to
+make the best of the bad bargain. It was most fortunate that he,
+Pharamond, should have joined the circle, for it should be his
+privilege, as son of the Church, if permitted so great a favour, to
+act as go-between on delicate subjects, and prevent friction. Now here
+was a silly thing which, but for him, might have led to estrangement.
+Clovis had concluded that his scientific investigations demanded a
+trained assistant, and dreaded to admit as much. Was he not a foolish
+fellow?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle's heart sank low within her. Oh, Clovis! Clovis! An
+assistant! an army of assistants, if he so wished it. But it was
+soul-harrowing that his desires should require an interpreter. And now
+the good churchman changed his note from comfort to gentle chiding.
+She was ungrateful, the dear Gabrielle, to be so impatient. The
+ambassador would run on the instant and tell Clovis how he wronged his
+wife. She was ready to do all he wished, as he might have known she
+would be. Rome was not built in a day, and the firm trusting
+confidence which should unite wife and husband requires to be put
+together brick by brick, with plodding patience for a trowel. It
+should not be the abbé's fault if his watchful care did not produce,
+with time, the desired end. He would try, but Clovis was of a
+suspicious and untrusting nature, and if failure were to result after
+all--why he, the abbé, could not help what, of course, he would
+bitterly deplore.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is a curious fact that this was not quite the communication which
+he made to Clovis when, presently, he joined him in his study.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She has given way,&quot; he said; &quot;I thought I could persuade her. I led
+her to feel that though she may hold the purse-strings, she must learn
+to know that you are master. We shall arrive at that, and make good
+our independence with constant quiet pressure. How wise of you to
+trust in me! Leave the whole matter in my hands. Say nothing on the
+subject yourself, for the plant of marital right is a fragile one
+which requires most careful handling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle spent much of her time in reflection, wondering how it was
+that she should be so lamentably misunderstood. The only one who could
+read her aright was Abbé Pharamond, and yet there were points in his
+behaviour which perplexed the simple lady. He was kind and sympathetic
+now as he invariably was; but a change might be detected in his
+manner, which was a difference, though so slight a one that a man
+would scarce have noticed it. He loved to recline at her feet reciting
+poetry or reading classic prose--a course of improving literature, he
+called it, for the storing of a magazine that was somewhat empty; and
+in intervals of rest she would find his steely eyes fixed steadily on
+her with a peculiar expression that was half pity. Warming under his
+ever-ready sympathy she confided to him one day the shocking details
+of a certain evening on the river, and was unaccountably pained and
+disappointed at the way he treated the disclosure. In the butterfly
+clergy of Paris--steeped to the lips in vice--such a view would be
+natural and consistent; but that Pharamond, self-elected friend and
+Mentor, should display so little indignation and proper principle was
+distressing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Instead of being shocked at the escapade of Phebus, he laughed
+outright, and remarked lightly, &quot;Of course, the poor donkey fell in
+love with you. He must, indeed, be a figure-head of wood who could
+resist such charms, and I should be sorry to find a brother of mine to
+be made of timber. Command me. Am I not your champion? Shall I rush
+forth and spit the simpleton for his temerity?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clearly this was not the spirit in which a son of Mother Church should
+receive the news of a brother-in-law's declaration, and Gabrielle
+declared as much to her trusted counsellor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Half-brother-in-law,&quot; interrupted the latter, admiring his oval
+nails.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is all the same--equally wrong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, dear no! Excuse me, but it takes two halves to make a whole!&quot;
+This light method of dealing with so grave a subject savoured of
+flippant levity; added to which distressful fact, the abbé, taking
+advantage of Gabrielle's troubled silence, had sidled closer, and was
+peering up through half-closed lids with an admiring scrutiny which
+made her vaguely uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The heart is independent of the will,&quot; he whispered, absently, &quot;and
+we should not be blamed for its vagaries! You could not like the
+fellow? Of course, you could not: he is fat and foolish; and I a dolt
+to ask so vain a question. Before we are aware of it our hearts are
+given, and the gift may not be cancelled. A platitude, is it not? Does
+not that same platitude show that Love is Fate--that where he wills he
+lights, always a conqueror? Who shall punish us for bending before the
+tyrant?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What can you mean?&quot; inquired the marquise, startled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say,&quot; inquired the abbé. &quot;Despite trivial drawbacks, we are all happy
+here together, are we not? As to Phebus, what is your decree? Because
+a man loved you, you would not chase him hence? That were unduly
+harsh.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">No. The marquise had no intention of endeavouring to banish Phebus.
+Was he not of the same blood as Clovis and Pharamond, husband and
+friend? To the latter she owed much, and, being grateful, would strain
+many a point to avoid offending him. It was thanks to his intervention
+that the wheels had run of late more smoothly. Indeed, she might have
+come in time to accept the situation as it was, ceasing to wish for
+something better, but for the chevalier's inconvenient flame. Even as
+it was, there was no reason why the stream, disturbed for a moment,
+should not flow as smoothly as before, since Phebus, convinced of his
+mistake, ceased to be importunate. Enwrapt in a veil of reserve he
+studiously avoided a <i>tête-à-tête</i> with her whom he had honoured with
+elephantine love-making.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Impelled by these various considerations, Gabrielle replied, quietly,
+&quot;No. I would not chase a man away because he loved me,&quot; and a look of
+exultation flashed over the abbé's features, which as quickly faded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Lorge in winter could scarcely be called a cheerful spot; yet,
+accustomed by gradual degrees to the still life of unbroken monotony,
+none of the party suggested a return to Paris. The chevalier wandered
+aimlessly, a solitary figure, the phantom of regret--and his energies
+seemed bent on equal avoidance of Gabrielle and Angelique. Clovis
+became more and more engrossed in his pursuits, and though he
+frequently discussed the proposed assistant, took no steps--lymphatic
+unpractical creature--to unearth an adept learned in mystic lore. It
+became his habit to join the family circle once a day, and on these
+occasions he grew almost genial under the skilled banter of his
+brother. Pharamond, a miracle of resource and ready usefulness,
+ferreted out curtains of thick silk from mouldering trunks, and made
+of the boudoir at the end of the suite quite a tempting and delightful
+nest. With heaps of cushions he arranged a species of divan about the
+fire, and stretched out at full length on it declaimed by the hour
+with nice emphasis the sparkling lines of Beaumarchais. Gabrielle did
+not quite take in the sense of all he read, but the voice was
+singularly sweet and soothing--so different from the groaning
+'cello--and she grew accustomed as time went on to the singular
+expression in the eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Those were peaceful, placid days. When the snow swirled without in
+blustering eddies, the curtains were drawn close, and logs were piled
+upon the fire till they hissed and sparkled, and Gabrielle, as she
+listened to the rhythm of the verse, broken pleasantly from time to
+time by the distant mirth of the children as they romped now and then
+with the attentive chevalier, was fain to confess herself content. How
+smoothly the water runs as it approaches the edge of the precipice,
+and with what angry foam crests it hurries away after the fall. If the
+chatelaine had been asked at this juncture whether she pined for
+aught, she would have said <i>No</i>. Clovis, the shadowy one, was nearer
+to her than he had ever been, condescending sometimes to discuss
+affairs with her and even play with the darling prodigies. We can't
+fashion our spouses to our liking. Those who are undemonstrative must
+not be expected to coruscate. Clovis was not wilfully unkind. The
+chevalier had forgotten his folly. What a mercy that was! The abbé,
+with all his lightly scintillating oddities, was a pearl of price. All
+things considered, existence was not unpleasant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The dream was interrupted in this wise. On a certain stormy evening
+the abbé had laid down his book. The chevalier reclined in his chair,
+gulping in stentorous slumber, while Gabrielle sat listening to the
+saddest sound in the world--the soughing of the winter wind. At her
+feet lay Pharamond with flushed face, excited by the story he had been
+reading--that of Francesca da Rimini.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That pig will die in a fit,&quot; he remarked presently, with a glance of
+scorn at his brother, who lay with his back to them in gurgling
+unconsciousness; &quot;and the sooner the better, for then we shall be
+alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>That day they read no more!</i>&quot; Ah me, what a tale it is, old as the
+hills but ever new!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A silence. Gabrielle too was reflecting on the story of Francesca.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An all-devouring consuming love. Tell me, Gabrielle, is it a curse or
+a blessing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That depends,&quot; replied the other, slowly, &quot;whether it be pure or not.
+The condition of real love implies abnegation of self in favour of the
+one who is loved.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Too cold a view of it for me,&quot; returned the abbé. &quot;I belong to the
+south, where it burns and scorches. I believe that illicit love is
+best. Poor Gabrielle! Ignorant sleeping princess, yet awaiting the
+awakening kiss! How strange, that one so beautiful should never have
+felt the divine breath! Clovis could not love. He is too selfish. With
+that brute snoring there, the god-like sentiment rises no higher than
+the lust of the uncultured savage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Tears welled into the eyes of Gabrielle. &quot;I take it,&quot; she murmured,
+&quot;that the reason love is so often a curse lies in its inequality,
+since it is given to no couple to love with equal fervour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under influence of the reading and of the abbé's words, old yearnings
+had sprung newly into life again which she had deemed dead. Alas! If
+the affection of Clovis had been as true and staunch as hers, how
+unclouded a career would have been theirs. Illicit love, he had dared
+to say--this insidious Pharamond! No; never--never that! She sighed,
+and with chin on hand, gazed into the fire. It was mere idle prate.
+Men of a poetic turn run into such extremes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">How beautiful she looked in the warm fitful glow in a plain sacque of
+palest rose, her hair loosely gathered to display to advantage the
+poise of the graceful head. What a perfect neck and shoulder, and how
+exquisitely modelled an arm. One hand lay carelessly upon her lap. It
+was as though he saw that shapely arm for the first time. The blood
+surging to his brain, the abbé bent down and impressed a burning kiss
+on it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Goaded by circumstances--an irresistible temptation--he had betrayed
+himself. Well! Why not now as well as later? On the whole, he was
+rather glad to have been drawn out of his usual caution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Rising from the cushions to his knees, he pressed another kiss upon
+her shoulder, and whispered with hot and labouring breath, which
+seemed to burn the skin--&quot;Gabrielle--my Gabrielle--my own, spite all;
+it is I who am to teach you the love that maddens and entrances.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bewildered by the suddenness of the act, crimson to the roots of her
+fair hair, Gabrielle sank panting, speechless, against the carven
+oak-panel--till, feeling a hand gliding round her waist, she writhed
+out of the embrace, and, revolted, half-choked, with swimming head,
+staggered to her feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You too!&quot; she faltered faintly, glancing from one brother to the
+other in fear. &quot;Oh, Pharamond! You must be insane! You did not know
+what you were doing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did I not? Hush. Why wake that idiot?&quot; whispered the abbé, striving,
+as he clung, to wreathe again about her arm his trembling sinuous
+fingers. &quot;I know right well what I have done, and glory in it since I
+have made you my own. On the first evening that I set eyes on your
+lustrous beauty, I swore that some day you should be mine. That day is
+come; you are hemmed round. Others want you, but not so much as I; and
+when I say <i>I will</i>, all must give way to that! I hold you in my hand
+as I might a fluttering bird just caught. Aha! How the poor heart
+beats. Be calm; oh, heart of mine! I can be patient and wait until the
+bird shall cease to struggle, and will like you all the better for the
+fluttering!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle's blood chilled in growing horror, and she endeavoured to
+recoil, as he approached. Now she understood the strange expression
+that he wore sometimes. Her chosen counsellor had been slowly winding
+a limed thread about her limbs which should hold her fast--a helpless
+victim to his unhallowed passions--ere she knew that she was bound.
+Fool! Vain, wicked fool! Could one so astute have so completely missed
+the key to the situation? She adored the husband who, in her ignorance
+and inexperience, she deemed a demigod. To her he was a genius of whom
+she was unworthy. Here was her shield of unsullied steel, and
+brilliant, cynical Pharamond, who saw through and despised Clovis,
+guessed nothing of its existence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then, as thought swiftly followed thought in tumultuous wave, it fell
+on her with a numb dead weight of misgiving, how much this discovery
+might mean to her. What would she do without the abbé's help? With
+terror, she realized now as she looked steadily at him, that this was
+no wild impulse borne of chance, to be condoned and forgotten like
+that of the chevalier, but the result of a deep-laid scheme. She could
+see before her an obstinate man whose will was iron and scruples nil,
+who had resolved some day to snatch what she had not to give. To whom
+in so strange an extremity could she turn for help? Wringing her hands
+together, she moaned out, &quot;I am alone, without a friend!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so!&quot; the abbé whispered, edging nearer. &quot;Trust to me in this as
+in other matters, for I know best, and you will thank me--oh, how
+much. Are not you to learn and I to teach? I hold the clue of the
+mystery, which is still veiled to you. Learn love from me--burning,
+devouring love; and for the first time you will know happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Another step and I will wake the chevalier!&quot; Gabrielle faltered,
+wrapping round her a poor tattered shred of shivering dignity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pharamond laughed his long sweet laugh of rippling music, which now
+caused Gabrielle to shudder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Awake him? Do!&quot; gibed he, &quot;or shall I? Look at his bull neck and
+broad fat back! He is not yours, for he is mine, though he would have
+been yours if you had wished it. Why not admit the truth in order that
+you may know me? It will save useless trouble. I loyally allowed him
+as my elder the first chance, on condition that if he failed the prize
+should be left to me. Ha, ha! Awake him by all means, that I may bid
+him remove his carcase. It cumbers the ground! Pah! What a pig-like
+snore!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again, though she had retreated, with feet faltering among the
+draperies, to an extreme corner behind the cushions, Gabrielle felt
+the wreathing arm stealing round her waist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pharamond!&quot; she pleaded huskily, exhausted. &quot;To yourself and me be
+merciful, and you will have my earnest prayers----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Would you usurp my functions?&quot; whispered the abbé in mischief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquise pushed him from her with a strength wrung from
+indignation. &quot;For the sake of all of us, go for a time,&quot; she murmured.
+&quot;In the name of honest womanhood and vain regret--go! that this folly
+may be forgotten. I will try to forget. Go! and I swear to you that no
+word of it shall pass my lips.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How little you know me,&quot; scoffed the abbé, disdaining for the time to
+press her further. &quot;Have you not learnt yet, that what I will is done?
+Awake the pig there, and ask if it is not so. What I have resolved
+upon, I do. You are mine--all mine--whether you like it or not; now or
+a little later!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I must seek refuge with my husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you accuse me, he will not believe you. The influence over him
+that you awkwardly threw away, I gained. How ill you've played your
+cards, most charming woman! He is a weak man who must be led by some
+one--it might have been by <i>you</i>. Come, say the word, and you shall
+lead him yet; or, rather, we will together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle looked again into the abbé's face (which was so terribly
+close to hers), then at that of his sleeping brother, who had turned
+in uneasy slumber. How could she have been deceived so long?
+Sensuality on both masks--the one, gross and altogether earthy; the
+other, marked by flashes of sly eyes and twists of thin lips that were
+not well to look upon, for that second mask was transparent, and the
+devil was peering through.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will give you time to think,&quot; proceeded the abbé, &quot;since, though
+the moment is propitious, you are not in the mood for wooing. Here is
+a rebus. Your fate is in my hand, yet in your own. According as you
+decide, you will find in me the most devoted servant or the most
+implacable enemy. The love of us southerners is not far removed from
+hate. According as you act, you may bask in its beams or be scorched
+into a cinder; hence it is to be feared and respected.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pressing so close to her that she could feel the pulsations of his
+breast, he added in low accents that cut into her heart like steel,
+&quot;Be well advised, and comprehend the truth. Your life hangs in the
+balance for happiness or misery. Consider, and choose wisely, for this
+is the critical time on which your fate depends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then, opening the door with a bow whose distinction would have done
+honour to Trianon, he stood aside to let the lady pass into her
+bedchamber. Closing the door again, he knit his brows and bit his
+nails while contemplating the sleeping chevalier. &quot;A trifle premature,
+that's all,&quot; he muttered; &quot;no harm done, for all her sweeping pride.
+Well-meaning, vacillating women are like satin-skinned horses in the
+arena--all the better for a touch of the lash. It is written, my
+mission is to teach her <i>love</i>, and I will do it thoroughly from my
+own point of view--of course. She is inexperienced, and proud, and
+empty. If the fruit's not ripe, I've time to wait for it to mellow.
+Perhaps, who knows? I may, should she be restive, be forced to crush
+her pride. A pity! for it would be a charm removed. Perchance I shall
+only squeeze firmly, without crushing it. The snaring of a bird that
+is shy, whose plumage must not be injured! Shall it be tamed by
+kindness, or the reverse? A problem, this, that Time's slow fingers
+must unravel. The key to it is patience--most valuable of virtues!&quot; He
+stood long, pondering as he surveyed his sleeping brother. It was as
+if he sought some luminous answer in those puffed and stolid features.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Next morning, Gabrielle appeared at déjeuner with pallid cheeks and
+red eyes, under whose lids there glinted a ray of apprehension. That
+Clovis's two half-brothers should both have developed, without
+encouragement, so ill-omened a passion! What had the future in store
+for a helpless woman as the upshot of so perilous a dilemma? Was it
+not, after all, an ugly dream--a hideous nightmare born of Erebus,
+that had been routed by healthful morning? Having eaten his fill,
+Clovis was placidly sipping claret, and forming a mimic tub out of
+bread-crusts. The round visage of the chevalier was as expressionless
+as usual.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Upon the entrance of the chatelaine, the abbé had risen to close the
+door with nimblest alacrity and deftest grace, and had led her to the
+table with ceremoniously respectful finger-tips. The evil expression
+was gone. Glancing nervously at him, she saw nothing but a polished
+bonhomie veneered with distant and deferential kindliness. He deplored
+her looks with ready grief, but added, for consolation, that a washed
+rose revives in sunshine, and becomes more fragrant for the shower.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She mopes for lack of proper exercise,&quot; he exclaimed, with a gentle
+headshake of reproach. &quot;Let us make a little party, and make a raid on
+Montbazon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis, busy with the bread-crusts, remarked somewhat tartly that he
+was much occupied, as they ought all to know; that the others had
+better go without him; whereupon Gabrielle turned pale. Ride with the
+two brothers, whose overweening and importunate affection she had so
+recently repulsed!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I vow,&quot; cried facetious Pharamond, &quot;that our Gabrielle is growing
+delicate. She who was wont to be active objects to exercise.
+Decidedly, my Clovis, we must set the miraculous tub agoing for the
+benefit of your delightful wife.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">A NEW ARRIVAL.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Our dear marquise--as you have realised ere this--satisfied the desire
+of the eye in all ways, for, combined with beauty of feature and of
+colour, was the suave sweetness of expression that is bred of the
+domestic virtues. Had she been an abbess the odour of her sanctity
+would have penetrated down to us in many a miraculous legend, and her
+carved simulacrum would have stood in many a niche and sculptured
+frieze along with those of other privileged young ladies. But she
+could not guide a husband who needed a bridle rein, neither could she
+decipher rebuses. The eccentric conduct of the versatile and too
+inflammable abbé completely mystified her. Why had he in the firelight
+resembled a satyr, to become in the morning so meek, and mild, and
+saint-like? Perhaps her prayers had been answered and, seeing the
+error of his ways, he had repented ere it was too late. It is
+disconcerting when an amorous and fervid swain inflicts burning kisses
+on your skin, and next day forgets the transgression. In the case of
+Pharamond a marvel must have been worked, for never by wink of eyelid
+did he attempt to recall his untoward proceedings during the storm.
+The episode was washed clean away by the snowdrift. He was alert, and
+lively, and amiable, as heretofore; always active in performing little
+services, inventing some new comfort or pleasure, rallying the dull,
+sympathizing with the weary. He knew better than to sit glum and
+mumchance like the chevalier. Betrayed into error, he had accepted
+rebuff like a gentleman, and by a marked increase of respect was
+trying to win forgiveness. This was quite as it should be, and there
+was no more to be said. And so, the clouds that threatened being
+dissipated, the months of winter rolled away in so uniform a sequence
+that their glassy flow seemed as if it must run for ever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquis, influenced probably by his repentant brother, was amiable
+enough. The two talked Mesmer all day long; formed plans for mutual
+assistance: held lengthy conferences in the study, which always had,
+now the satisfying result of improving Clovis's temper. The first
+primrose had just emerged from its bed when the abbé announced one day
+the portentous fact that the marquis was packing his valise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Packing his valise! Tired of the dulness of Lorge?&quot; Gabrielle felt a
+tinge of sadness at the thought. Why not have let things be? If there
+was to be a change, would it be for better or worse?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How silly you are!&quot; observed Clovis, cheerfully, remarking her
+wistful look. &quot;Are we limpets glued to a rock? I am about to make a
+little journey, quite a short one--the effect of which in the future
+may transfigure the countenance of earth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will not be absent long?&quot; inquired the marquise, in a reproachful
+tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A couple of weeks at most. The fact is, that I am going to Spa, and
+hope to bring back with me the assistant, without whom I can advance
+no further.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You said you did not object,&quot; murmured Pharamond, softly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Object? Certainly not. I said so long ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis frowned. He did not like to be reminded of dependence just as
+he was about to use his liberty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a hundred questions to ask, which must be answered by word of
+mouth, and shall bring back such a budget of testimony as shall
+surprise even you into belief. The country is distressingly quiet and
+monotonous. You are not afraid, I suppose, to await my return under
+the joint protection of my brothers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbé was innocently contemplating the tapestry opposite with rapt
+interest; the chevalier was examining the floor. If the husband had
+only known--how whimsical a question! Gabrielle glanced at one, then
+at the other, with a tiny twinge of misgiving, which speedily gave way
+to confidence, and replied simply--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, no; I am afraid of neither. Even if they attempted to do me harm,
+and why should they? have I not Toinon at hand, and her no less
+devoted lover?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Harm! From us!&quot; echoed Pharamond, vastly tickled. &quot;Phebus is an ogre
+with great teeth and one blear eye, whilst I am the original
+Croquemitaine, devourer of white-fleshed maidens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have said I am not afraid of you,&quot; remarked the marquise, demurely.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jean Boulot, the devoted lover!&quot; continued the playful abbé. &quot;More
+danger in his little finger, I warrant, than in both our bodies. While
+you are absent, Clovis, I've half a mind to divert myself with pretty
+Toinon; but, alas! I am in terror of her big surly bear. A brawny
+malcontent! Only the other day I heard him deliver an address under
+the village tree--such a compound of fire and brimstone--and I suppose
+my smile was not respectful; for, catching my eye, he directed his
+abuse at me, and poured forth such a scurrilous diatribe against our
+class that I was glad enough to escape. Like everyone else, however,
+he respects Gabrielle, and when he becomes aggressive, she shall
+shield us from his wrath!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquise was relieved, for this was a delicate way of hinting that
+there was to be no recurrence of that scene. Why should she mind being
+left with the brothers? Clovis, who did not shine as a protector,
+might depart on his mission with a light heart, to return as soon as
+possible wreathed with the laurels of success.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He went, and the household, after the small excitement of the
+unimportant incident, returned to its monotony of peace. The brothers
+treated their chatelaine with such an increase of punctilio and
+ceremony as should perforce stop the idle gossip of provincial
+busybodies. Even shrewd Toinon, who was of an unbelieving turn, and
+never quite satisfied with regard to the honeyed churchman, looked on
+the situation with approval.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquis had been absent three weeks when a messenger arrived with
+a missive directed to the abbé. Gabrielle was in the moat garden
+superintending the chevalier, who was occupied in the watering of
+plants. Toinon was there, too, looking after Jean Boulot, as was her
+duty, while he clipped and trimmed the hedges, with the prodigies
+hanging to his coat-tails. The group made a charming picture of rural
+bliss, such as it makes good the heart to look upon. Through the
+postern-door leisurely emerged the abbé, gazing at a paper as he
+descended the grassy slope with a scowl of genuine annoyance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot; cried Gabrielle, turning pale. &quot;Nothing wrong with
+Clovis?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything wrong with Clovis,&quot; retorted Pharamond, testily. &quot;He must
+have lost his wits to be capable of such a proceeding.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, yes; he is well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then all is well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it? That remains to be shown. He will be home to-morrow at supper
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then all is well, indeed. The best of news!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Delighted as she was, a pang shot through the heart of the marquise,
+in that the absent one had elected to communicate with his brother
+rather than his wife.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know?&quot; she remarked with a smile, &quot;that I am quite jealous. He
+ought to have written to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I suppose he had the decency to be ashamed, and so left it to me to
+smooth the way for him. There is something here which I doubt your
+liking. It was wrong--very, very wrong--not to have first consulted
+<i>you</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it? Let me know, without all this parley. You torture me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, the prodigal returns to-morrow--but not alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know that. He had full permission to hire an assistant. Are there
+more? He is welcome to bring his friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A female friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A woman!&quot; ejaculated Gabrielle, dropping her garden scissors, while
+Toinon stared, round-eyed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A woman!&quot; echoed Pharamond, moved to real anger. &quot;Was there ever
+anything so ridiculous! a woman picked up at Spa!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What can she want here?' inquired Toinon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A protégée, it appears, of that infernal prophet,&quot; grumbled the abbé.
+&quot;Listen to what he says: 'Gabrielle will be charmed,' he writes
+(double distilled blockhead), 'when she understands it all, for by a
+most lucky chance, the presence of Mademoiselle Brunelle will serve a
+double purpose. She is an adept of the first class, educated under the
+eye of Mesmer himself, instructed in all the intricacies of animal
+magnetism, and has, moreover, successfully followed the avocation of
+governess. The dear children have outgrown the reach of my wife's
+teaching, and Mademoiselle Brunelle can henceforth superintend their
+studies.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pharamond looked dubiously at his sister-in-law, who flushed red, then
+paled. His annoyance was more than justified, for it was outrageous to
+engage a resident governess without consulting the wife and mother.
+And yet it might be for the best. The dear prodigies knew all that
+poor Gabrielle could teach them, and in this remote spot it was
+difficult without great expense to procure masters from Blois or
+Tours. Clovis had been enabled to see and interview a lady, which was
+better than taking her on trust by letter. The mother should have been
+consulted, though, before entering on a definite engagement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Toinon's indignation broke forth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, I'm sure,&quot; she sniffed, &quot;what next. Stray women are to be
+brought into the house without madame's sanction. If I were she, I'd
+dispatch our Jean to bar the way, and forbid the baggage to approach.
+Such impudence!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In curbing the maid's zeal, Gabrielle convinced herself. The marquis
+was master, and his will was law. He had been most wise and far-seeing
+in thinking of the dear children's welfare. He had thought more of
+them than she, who had twitted him with indifference. He had done
+well, as always, and Toinon would perhaps be kind enough to stifle her
+impertinence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Toinon screwed up her lips, and muttered between her teeth, &quot;Madame is
+a saint too good for earth. She may endure the insult patiently, but I
+shall hate the horrid woman from the very instant she arrives!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was evening when the wheels of the marquis's coach were heard
+grinding on the gravel, and amid the din of servants moving trunks and
+bundles, Gabrielle, who waited in the salon, was aware of a deep,
+strong voice rapping out sharp orders like a rattle of artillery. &quot;You
+awkward loons!&quot; it shouted, &quot;be careful of that tub and its contents.
+Are there not some other rascals somewhere who are less clumsy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ere long, the voice was heard approaching up the stairs, along the
+corridor, still grumbling noisily anent bucolic yokeldom, and, by and
+by, a much cloaked figure loomed on the threshold, and straightway
+went through the complicated evolutions of an elaborate and respectful
+curtsey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame la Marquise, no doubt,&quot; said the deep, strong voice. &quot;Madame's
+humble and obedient servant. My name is Aglaé Brunelle. Where are the
+darling infants?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abruptness of the salutation amused Gabrielle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The woman rejoiced in a fine figure, of somewhat large proportions, as
+was evident when she unwound her wraps. Her complexion was dusky, her
+hair and eyes coal black. Her mouth large, with full, red lips, which
+contrasted well with the square white teeth behind. The thick,
+straight eyebrows were endowed with a strange mobility which hinted at
+habits of command curiously at variance with the position of the
+new-comer. Her manner, however, towards the marquise was a miracle of
+deportment. Submissive respect was deftly mingled with a tinge of
+independent nonchalance, glossed over with an unconcealed admiration,
+flattering to the beauty of the chatelaine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An oddity,&quot; thought Gabrielle, unconsciously relieved to perceive
+that the large lady was uncomely.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An ugly, insolent monster,&quot; was the uncompromising verdict of fierce
+Toinon, who had scanned her from the top of the stairs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her noisy delight over the prodigies who had been kept up to make
+acquaintance with their governess quite won the mother's heart. The
+tall figure went down on its knees with a prodigious thump, and twined
+them in its bare dark arms with a shower of kisses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The darlings--the cherubs--the pets,&quot; growled the strong voice, like
+a muffled drum. &quot;They will soon love their Aglaé, will they not? I
+knew that the offspring of a father like the good marquis and of so
+divinely lovely a mother, must be angels--and they are--they are;&quot;
+another shower of kisses. &quot;Madame la Marquise must forgive my
+brusquerie, for I do so dote on children.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here was an excellent beginning. The mother was gratified--the
+father looked on the picturesque group with a broad smile of
+self-complacency. It was evident for once that he had been extremely
+clever. Mademoiselle's manners being peculiar, he had had misgivings
+as to this first interview, but nothing could have gone better. The
+lady was a marvel of intelligence! Of course she was--a favourite
+pupil of Mesmer's, who knew his secrets, was mistress of his system.
+From this day a new era was to dawn on gloomy Lorge. The new-comer was
+an undoubted acquisition--just what was required to crown the family
+edifice. All would go merrily now as marriage bells.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The astute abbé was puzzled by the governess. Her arrival upset all
+his calculations. Clovis had never consulted him any more than
+Gabrielle, and under a preoccupied manner, he had, on receipt of the
+letter, been consumed by a white heat of rage. To dare to introduce a
+foreign element without his consent! Had he been scheming all this
+while to be baffled by a stranger? For surely in so small and retired
+a household she would take a prominent part. Would the woman turn out
+friend or foe? He had deemed the dreamy Clovis well under his thumb
+for life. The chevalier was a mere pawn upon the board. Since playing
+that false move on the night of the storm, he had employed all his
+arts to lull Gabrielle's suspicions, and had succeeded beyond
+expectation. That a head so cool as his should for once so betray its
+owner! A little patience. So delicious a prize was worth working and
+waiting for, and trying for again and again. Of different grit to the
+chevalier, he was not one to submit to defeat on a first repulse. No:
+his appetite was whetted. The morsel should be his and only his, as he
+had openly sworn; and would be all the more enjoyable for a little
+vexatious waiting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus had he arranged the future in his mind. But now, what of the
+governess? This unexpected move must be met somehow. Would it be well
+to form an alliance with her, or must she be promptly ousted? Her
+character must be studied with care. Evidently by nature domineering,
+what would be her attitude to him? Could she be frightened and
+brow-beaten? Not likely. Would she endeavour to undermine the
+influence he had already gained in order to reign alone? Probably.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the thought the abbé's eyes gleamed cat-like, and his thin lips
+tightened over grinding teeth. Turned out by a scheming stranger, and
+when all promised so well. To be turned out meant ruin, for things in
+the south had been going so wrong during the last six months, had
+become so much worse since the period of their hurried flight from
+Toulouse, that both brothers were quite dependent on the marquis. To
+be ejected now, or later, by the large dark hand of the unwelcome
+Aglaé would mean pecuniary undoing, and the loss of the sweet morsel
+as well. Resign Gabrielle? Never! How to manage, then? The marquise
+was inclined to be friendly with the interloper, which showed a too
+Christian frame of mind to cope with mundane buffeting. This must be
+combated at once, lest it should become necessary before long to make
+a combined effort for the annihilation of the intruder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What had the baleful woman come for to this dismal and remote retreat?
+Why had Mesmer thrust his protégée upon the neophyte? With curses the
+abbé admitted inwardly that he was himself at the bottom of the
+imbroglio. With the idea of dividing the husband from the wife for
+ever, he had conceived the plan of burying Clovis so deep in mysticism
+that he might never be pulled out of the slough, and to that end had
+suggested an assistant who should be taught to play upon his foibles.
+But who could be expected to foresee that the adept would take the
+form of a woman?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of course, the woman was a greedy adventuress in search of flesh-pots,
+and had gauged aright the feeble and vacillating character of the
+young Marquis de Gange. She was evidently extremely gifted and he the
+dullest of good-looking dogs. Already he was dazzled by the jewels of
+a varied experience which she threw about so freely, and began to
+babble exasperating nonsense of having met his &quot;Affinity&quot; at last!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That she had some deep design on hand was evident, for she laid
+herself out to dazzle the besotted Clovis, and succeeded but too well.
+If it were not so, what could the motive of so brilliant a person be
+for deliberately banishing herself to this hermitage? She had
+certainly not jogged along those rugged roads for the edification of
+two strange children, however abnormally cherubic.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the struggle which must come, simple Gabrielle would be worsted.
+Beauty and honest innocence alone are never a match for intellect,
+even when combined with outward homeliness. Aglaé Brunelle was not
+absolutely ugly, and yet by no means pretty; but when a superior mind
+shines through a face, however plain, does it not light the features
+with a beauty all its own? Toinon had learnt that long since, and used
+it, as we have seen, for a text.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The more he thought the matter over, the more puzzled grew the abbé;
+the more angry with himself and dissatisfied. A very few days after
+the arrival of Mademoiselle, her pervading presence began to be felt
+by the entire household in a way that maddened Pharamond. It was like
+the mysterious action of yeast on dough. As outwardly respectful and
+submissive as a dependent should be, everybody came to feel that
+orders emanated from her. Was the fascination due to an occult power
+inoculated by the prophet? Even the scoffing abbé began to wonder
+whether there was something serious underlying the antics of the
+charlatan, after all. Certain it was that she did possess a power, but
+whether due to magnetism or strong will, it was hard to determine. The
+abbé's will was as tough as hers, he was proud to think, but instinct
+told him that a struggle between the two would be exhausting to both,
+and that none might prophesy the result. Better an alliance, if she,
+like him, was working on a web. But would she brook a divided sway?
+Was <i>he</i> prepared to accept so unsatisfactory an arrangement? How
+exasperating, that just as the horizon seemed so clear, the sky so
+cloudless, a thunderbolt should come out of the blue to play havoc
+with all his combinations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What of Gabrielle? His schemes revolved around her. Thanks to his
+cleverness he and she had tranquilly resumed their old relations. He
+did not propose to be content to read poetry for ever. A time was to
+come when she was to return the burning kisses he had impressed upon
+her shoulder, and twine her arms about his neck; and that longed-for
+moment was no nearer now than months ago. To tame the fluttering bird
+to his will he must do a little squeezing, after all, and make up by
+the ardour of the future for the painful proceedings of the present.
+Yes, Gabrielle must be gently racked, be made familiar with tweaks and
+pains. A little twist or two and a tug of ropes just to hint of such a
+tearing as was possible. Perhaps the governess, if an alliance could
+be brought about, might become a useful agent instead of a kill-joy.
+Isolated on all sides, the Marquise de Gange must be thrown on her
+dear friend the abbé for protection; then the rest would quite
+naturally follow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Among other things the accomplished Aglaé was a skilled musician, and
+this became a new and unexpected bond between her and the enchanted
+marquis. She could rattle off by heart on the spinet all Lulli and
+Glück, could even improvise entrancing accompaniments to airs hitherto
+unknown to her. She loved music, and considered the violoncello to be
+the most soul-stirring if sad of instruments. Sometimes her hands
+would slide from the keys while a great sigh burst from her capacious
+bosom, and the marquis looking up would perceive tears rolling down
+her cheeks. &quot;It is nothing, but I do love it so,&quot; she would snuffle
+incoherently, and then resume the improvising with eyes and nose
+unbecomingly roseate and swollen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What with the music (Gabrielle of course, retired into space at the
+first scratching of the 'cello) and experiments with the bucket, and
+abstruse instructions as to laying on of hands, and the careful study
+of Mesmer's now frequent letters, the marquis and the governess were
+constantly thrown together. To flirt with your affinity--two souls
+denuded of their earthy envelope, side by side on a sofa--may have its
+delights; but surely to commune together in the flesh at all hours has
+conspicuous advantages.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the day after her arrival Gabrielle had courteously volunteered to
+show mademoiselle over the castle, and that lady had overawed her
+hostess by the variety and minuteness of her knowledge, and bewildered
+her with searching questions. The abbé, looking on, had pointed out to
+the chevalier (who, gooseberry-eyed, saw nothing) the amusing contrast
+presented by the two ladies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle was a <i>Greuze</i>, without that painter's namby-pamby softness;
+so fair a thing that the hours almost turned laggard on their plodding
+way to gaze at her. Tall, slim, erect, with a carriage which is a gift
+at birth and can never be mimicked by a parvenue; a perfect figure; a
+colour borrowed from an unopened moss-rose; an expression of calm, as
+of an unrippled sea in a land-locked bay. By her side moved Aglaé
+Brunelle--taller still, broad-shouldered; with a waist of smaller
+dimensions than might be expected from the massive moulding of the
+limbs; an expression changing each moment according to the object
+brought under the beady eyes; a heavy swinging gait, and a trick of
+tossing the head. There was something that pleased by its oddity, and
+was as effective in its way as the sweeping erectness of her
+companion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aglaé insisted upon going everywhere, and delivered a running lecture
+as she went, impressing points with a straight dark finger,
+square-tipped. From the turret window she delivered herself of a
+lesson in geography, showing that she knew more about the vicinity of
+the Loire than those who dwelt there. She vowed it was a shame to have
+walled up the dungeons, for in one (unless she was misinformed) was a
+crucifix carved with reverent care out of the stone, by the broken
+knife blade of a despairing prisoner. Then, the survey over, she
+declared she had not seen the most interesting object of all. What was
+that? Why! the school-room of the prodigies; what else? Was she not
+here to teach their minds to shoot, and was it not most important that
+the scene of the operation should be selected with consummate care?
+There was no school-room--only a nursery! Then and there so crying a
+defect should be remedied. Madame would forgive her energy,
+recognizing the importance of the subject? Madame was so beautiful and
+indulgent to a poor stranger that there was no doubt of it. The
+darlings must have every advantage. Did not madame think so? Of course
+she did. Then off stumped Mademoiselle Brunelle, shaking the floor as
+though a colossal statue had been endowed with movement, and the big
+voice was heard in thunder presently, shouting out peremptory commands
+about curtains and chairs and tables.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Who was to resist this interloper? Gabrielle, though she felt nettled
+at being taken despotically in hand, and thrust aside, was not
+prepared to interfere, for manifestly the arrangements were for the
+good of the darlings. The new broom was sweeping so very clean, that
+compunction invaded the maternal bosom, in that she had been remiss in
+not sufficiently considering the extent of the cherubic wants.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Established in the best room on the ground floor to her satisfaction,
+surrounded with pictures and statuettes and ornamental nicknacks
+ravished from other chambers, Mademoiselle Brunelle let all and sundry
+know that here was her especial stronghold which none would invade
+with impunity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless, the Marquise de Gange, who did not understand that such
+an <i>ukase</i> could possibly refer to her, prepared herself to assist at
+the lessons of the dear ones and to watch the process of shooting,
+and she was no little taken aback at the arbitrary proceedings
+of the governess. At first she took no notice of sour smiles and
+head-tossings, whereupon mademoiselle thought fit to dot her <i>i</i>'s,
+and bluntly inform madame with that queer mixture of respect and
+independence, in which the latter was beginning to preponderate, that
+it was a troublesome matter to instruct youth in complicated subjects
+in the presence of an ignorant mother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do consider, madame,&quot; she observed, saucily, &quot;how humiliating for you
+it will be, if they discover how little you know!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle bowed her head and blushingly admitted her shortcomings. &quot;I
+too can learn,&quot; she murmured with meekness, &quot;and you will find me an
+anxious pupil;&quot; but somehow whenever the rustle of her dress was heard
+in the corridor, the cherubs unaccountably began their music lesson;
+and when, remarking the fact, she requested that in future the
+scraping of Victor's violin might be exchanged for more delectable
+study, mademoiselle raised her mobile thatch of brow, and curtly
+declared that she took orders only from the marquis.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle left the school-room humbled and bewildered, for a novel
+idea had been thrust on her which her loyal nature refused to
+entertain. Clovis could not have introduced this new factor into the
+household for the purpose of annoying his wife! Everyone admitted that
+he was a good man, if selfish and somewhat unpractical.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He did not wish this creature to stand betwixt a mother and her babes?
+Surely not. The suspicion was unworthy of a true wife, and banished as
+soon as formed. There was a mistake somewhere. The woman meant well,
+but was officious. Clovis occupy himself about such domestic details!
+Why, he rarely took notice of the children at all, unless worried into
+doing so. Why should he show interest now--since the arrival of this
+person? Pondering over this problem in confused pain between the
+alleys of the moated garden, the marquise endeavoured to reassure
+herself. Could she be so foolish as to be growing jealous of a
+stranger who, it could not be denied, was acting for the best? It was
+perfectly true that the marquise knew nothing of the subjects that
+were being taught by Aglaé, and it was genuinely kind of her not to
+let the cherubs see that their erudition overtopped their mother's.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And yet--the hireling had been sadly rude to the mother in the
+presence of the darlings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are agitated, sweet sister?&quot; whispered the abbé, coming softly up
+behind across the grass--his soft hands in a dainty muff, for it was
+chilly--and beaming down on her. &quot;Do you know that I've been following
+these five minutes without obtaining a hearing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked so kind, had behaved with such discretion since his mistake,
+that her chilled heart warmed to him. Her lips trembled, and she burst
+into a flood of tears. His fingers clutched within the muff (oh! how
+like the vulture's talons!) as though he would have clasped her to his
+breast and held her there; but with a supreme effort he restrained the
+impulse. &quot;Not yet; not yet,&quot; he murmured to himself, as hearkening to
+her artless tale with anxious mien he gazed in silence across the
+swiftly-flowing Loire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear your suspicion is well founded, and that Clovis wishes it,&quot; he
+murmured shortly, when she had finished; then, taking her cold hand in
+his, he led her through the postern to a spot which overlooked the
+cherubic sanctuary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis sat by the spinet, beating time with a roll of music--the
+divine afflatus heavy on him--while the pair of angels played.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She got rid of you on purpose; drove you out, to be untrammelled in
+her intercourse with him!&quot; whispered the abbé with compassion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My children!&quot; moaned the chatelaine, aghast. &quot;Why can it be his wish
+that she should take them from me, their mother?&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">THUNDER CLOUDS.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle was stung to the quick. When <i>she</i> taught the infants her
+husband could never be lured into the nursery, and now--in so brief a
+space of time--a stranger had succeeded in rousing his dormant
+interest. In her jealousy she took to secretly watching the movements
+of the governess, and discovered, to her dismay, that the steps of
+Clovis were constantly wending towards the school-room. And this state
+of things had been brought about by the non-performance of duties. It
+was her own fault--of course it was her own fault for neglecting the
+abbé's warning. Had he not said that Clovis required leading; had he
+not even offered to assist her in leading him, and had she not replied
+by inference that so long as he was guided judiciously, it might be by
+another hand? But never, in wildest nightmare, had she conjured the
+possibility of that hand being another woman's! She was a bad wife,
+for she had neglected her duty, since, surely, it is a wife's first
+duty to make herself pleasant to her husband. Oh! woe on sins of
+omission! Instead of pampering her spouse's hobbies she had scoffed at
+them, and punishment had swooped swiftly down on her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But it was not too late to set the matter right. He was not a bad man,
+though difficult to live with. A word of remonstrance at this juncture
+was worth a homily later, and he would hearken to her words of
+pleading, for since the arrival of the brothers at Lorge he had shown,
+in a glimmering glow-worm way, that he admired and liked his wife. She
+was satisfied that his sluggish nature was not capable of a warmer
+feeling, and had brought herself meekly to accept that microscopic
+meed of affection. She must take her courage in her hands, and open
+her heart to him; declare that his new arrangement, which at the start
+promised well enough, was making his wife wretched. When he came to
+understand that she was miserable, he would apologise at once and send
+the interloper packing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Rising from the sofa on which she had fallen after pacing the room in
+a fever, she moved rapidly along the corridor which led to the
+marquis' study. Her fingers were on the door-knob, and her head was
+whirling with persuasive arguments, when of a sudden her hand dropped
+powerless. There were low voices murmuring within. The parquet all
+around the closed door was strewn with straw and bottles, while on an
+open packing-case was scrawled in large letters the name of Aglaé
+Brunelle. A cold shiver passed over her frame. She was with him now,
+that woman. On familiar terms, indeed, since her boxes were unpacked
+by Clovis! They were never weary of communing together, with heads
+close and hair mingling, discussing subjects which absorbed them both,
+but in which she would never have a part! The pride of the young
+chatelaine rebelled. She could not complain before the domineering
+adventuress. Would it not be humiliating enough to confess to <i>him</i>
+that his beautiful and high-born wife was jealous of a stranger,
+sprung from nowhere in particular, who was rather plain than
+otherwise?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Reluctantly returning to the boudoir, she took a pen and, after a
+pause of meditation, flung it down. Write to her fond father, begging
+him to intervene? No. He believed that she was happy, and should
+believe it to the end, however much she might be made to suffer. He
+should share her joys, but not her sorrows, the good father who adored
+her so. She must endeavour to remedy her own mistakes, fight this
+rival single-handed, win back the errant husband by the female arts
+which hitherto she had affected to despise, and understood so little.
+Was she strong enough for the difficult task? Perchance the abbé would
+assist; but was it not another bitter thing to summon one to the
+rescue who, though repentant, had once so grievously forgotten
+himself?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile, though he kept up a show of airy levity, the cunning
+Pharamond was, in a different way, almost as perturbed as she. The
+strides of the affinity were prodigious, whereas his own siege of
+Gabrielle made no advance at all. Unless he grappled with the
+situation without delay, he would assuredly be worsted. But how to
+grapple with it, by cajolery or threats? Or would it be advisable to
+practise the arts of the bravo? Was the hand of cordial friendship to
+be extended to the interloper, or was she forthwith to be stabbed in
+the back? Pharamond considered himself a genius, and knew that one
+attribute of genius is to know when to seize an opportunity. Consider
+the knotty problem as he would, he could not come to a decision.
+Perhaps, for the present, a waiting game would be the best to play.
+The hand of friendship first, as an experiment; a stab with the
+poignard by and by.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbé in his uncertainty took to dividing his valuable society
+between the ladies. While the marquis and his affinity were fidgeting
+over experiments, he read impassioned strophes to the marquise. When
+the party went forth for a walk or drive he attached himself to the
+skirt of Aglaé. Her behaviour was irreproachable. She laughed slily at
+his delicate hints, and seemed mightily amused by his compliments.
+Once, when he thought he was really making progress in this direction,
+she placed her two large hands upon her haunches, and wagging her
+head, remarked, &quot;Does monsieur think me blind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly not,&quot; replied the gallant abbé. &quot;Those sparkling orbs shine
+like fireflies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then why arrange a trap--and such a clumsy one--for my poor big
+simple feet to fall into?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It is disconcerting to the astute to be twitted with lack of
+skill. The tactics that served for Gabrielle would not do with this
+shrewder lady. Since she guessed his hand, why not show the cards?
+Dangerous--but a hazardous game not unfrequently coerces Fortune.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why can't you trust me, mademoiselle,&quot; he murmured. &quot;Cannot one so
+sharp perceive that I'm her friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A thousand thanks. I am indeed blessed,&quot; simpered the lady, raising
+her bushy brows. &quot;A fortunate wanderer on life's rugged road. The
+marquis is all goodness. Have I also found favour with his brother?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have helped you already,&quot; pursued the abbé, fibbing. &quot;I have
+explained to the marquise that she must no longer interfere with the
+children; that Mademoiselle Brunelle is to have absolute and complete
+control.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aglaé shot at the speaker a suspicious glance. An ally and not an
+enemy? To what end? If it were really so, a friend in the camp would
+be extremely useful. A snare--surely a snare--for this man had every
+reason to dislike the intruder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What motive have you for befriending a poor insignificant creature
+such as I?&quot; bluntly demanded the governess. &quot;People do nothing for
+nothing in this world, and I know that I am not a beauty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have my reasons.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Eve was too prying. Accept the lesson and trust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aglaé looked straight at Pharamond; then laughing her great rolling
+laugh playfully shook her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. Trust You? Thank you,&quot; she said. &quot;You overreach yourself, for you
+are a dreadfully sharp-witted gentleman who can see through a wall and
+round a corner. You think I have grand plans, when I have none; for I
+am only a guileless wandering waif who enjoys the good things of this
+world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a sly look of covert malice in her sparkling eyes which
+belied her words, &quot;You do not believe me?&quot; she continued. &quot;I am not
+quite young, so I have learned to know the world and its funny little
+snares. Flies are only eaten by spiders because their lives are so
+short, that they've no time to learn experience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You take me for a spider?&quot; inquired Pharamond, uncertain what to make
+of the lady.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are certainly a wee bit like, for you want to gobble up poor me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I assure you that both I and the chevalier are friends, whom you
+would do well to trust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You take me for a cuckoo, and all the while I am a dove,&quot; cried
+lively Aglaé. Then seeing that the abbé was nonplussed, she spoke
+musingly, as though discussing a grave matter with herself. &quot;What a
+pity,&quot; she observed regretfully to the landscape, &quot;that the dear man
+cannot be explicit. He is afraid that the lowly governess may supplant
+him with his brother, and would like to tumble me neck and crop into
+his yawning gaping trap! In so shrewd a gentleman stupidity is sad.&quot;
+She pretended not to see the gleam of menace in the abbé's eyes, or
+the sharp clenching of his hands, and turned with an ingenuous look of
+artless innocence when he blurted out in anger,--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Afraid! I am afraid of no one. I can speak more plainly, if you
+will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No need,&quot; replied the governess, carelessly, &quot;for I can see round
+corners quite as well as you. I can read your character up to a point,
+and beyond that I confess I am baffled. I have changed my mind--women
+have the right, haven't they?--and will give you a lesson in candour.
+There is no witness to our cosy chat, for the birds are gone
+a-picnicing, so why should we beat about the bush? Stick to the truth,
+abbé. You say you are afraid of none, the while you are afraid of me.
+You look with fear on my growing influence over the marquis, and in
+that you are right, for I intend that he shall be my slave, unable to
+live out of my company. See how plain spoken I am, whilst you are full
+of artifice! When I came here I had no projects, being content to
+drift like a cork, leaving events to sort themselves, and my plans
+even now are of the vaguest. The marquis is rich. Do not suppose for a
+moment that I propose to become his mistress. Never, never, never! <i>ce
+serait trop bête!</i> If his puling wife were to die I might condescend
+to succeed her, but that is not just now within the limits of the
+probable. I like the marquis, and I like the grey old chateau, and I
+enjoy the sweets of wealth. Why trouble about the morrow, then?
+Whatever I may choose to do I shall succeed in it, for patience is one
+of my pet virtues--not but what I love them all--and success is made
+of patience as the sea of drops.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a singular woman!&quot; remarked the abbé.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Am I not? Frankness is so nice when no one's by. My long speech is
+not finished yet, for I would like to add that I like you too, and
+should regret to have you for an enemy. Here is my point of doubt. I
+saw before I had been here a day that you were enamoured of the pretty
+doll. I do not blame you, for most men are idiots. They cannot learn
+that good looks are provokingly transient, while intellect bears wear
+and tear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your candour is half confidence disguised,&quot; laughed Pharamond. &quot;What
+can you be aiming at if you disdain to become his mistress?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have I not said I do not know? I have not thought. I am open to be
+led by circumstances. Candour for candour. I burn to discover what you
+are aiming at with regard to the pretty doll? Why are you so anxious
+to make a friend of me? Am I to be the scourge to lash her to
+obedience? Yes? A crooked compliment, but let that pass. I have no
+pity for that sort of woman, and if you promise not to stand in my way
+when I discover what it is, I will accept the rôle to serve you. If I
+help you now I may claim your assistance later, A bargain! We
+understand each other quite, I think? We will make the fool so
+wretched that in despair she'll seek refuge on your breast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was evident that tortuous ways did not find favour with
+mademoiselle, who preferred making for a goal with straight
+uncompromising march, kicking down barriers with her big broad feet.
+It was to be an alliance, then? Well and good; but it was somewhat
+nettling that the proposal should come from her, as if her own idea.
+When the caprice seized her, she could take things with so high a hand
+as to be bewildering. The abbé resolved to accept her terms, but would
+have the last word on the subject.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Bending over Aglaé's dusky fingers, he lightly touched them with his
+lips. &quot;You are a monstrous clever lady,&quot; he said, &quot;and my admiring
+respect increases hourly. Trust us as we trust you, and each party
+will be the stronger for the union. We are both skilful players, you
+and I, who, antagonistic, might spoil each other. Loyalty and trust.
+It's understood.&quot; With that he made a low obeisance and left the lady
+to her thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Brunelle revolved the course of the conference, and was
+satisfied. When first engaged, knowing the marquise to be a beauty,
+she had, as she explained, formed no definite design. That which was
+working in her brain had grown out of a survey of the situation. On
+the whole, there was nothing to find fault with. For a wage, the abbé
+was to throw all his weight into her scale--a wage which cost her
+nothing. He had correctly pointed out that as foes they would hurt
+each other; but she was far from admitting that in a contest it would
+be she who would succumb. Her contempt for the culpable helplessness
+of the marquise was so intense that it cost her much to be civil. What
+a pleasure, then, to stick pins into her quivering flesh! To have a
+woman always at one's elbow who sighs like the east wind, and weeps
+like a cataract, as Gabrielle had taken to do of late, was vastly
+irritating. There is naught more trying to strong nerves than the
+fecklessness of one that can do nothing to help itself but scream--not
+that Gabrielle screamed, or made any uproar. She was far too haughty
+for that, and veiled her pain as closely as weakness permitted; but
+Aglaé knew as well as faithful and indignant Toinon, that the hapless
+lady's grief found vent in midnight vigil, and earnest prayer and
+bitter tears, which in the morning left their mark. Entangled
+in an intrigue with Pharamond, such claws as she possessed for
+self-protection, would be cut. If by skilful handling the ripened
+cherry could be dropped into his mouth, it would be the better for
+everyone. Though Aglaé, for some eccentric reason, declined to be
+herself a mistress, she saw no reason why another should not. If
+Gabrielle and Pharamond could be brought together, all would be
+satisfied. The wind would change; the cataract dry up; a serious
+source of annoyance would be removed; and the lovers sufficient unto
+themselves, would not trouble about the subsequent proceedings of the
+marquis and his affinity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But supposing that weeping Niobe proved obdurate--weak people are
+pigheaded--and was inconvenient enough to be inconsolable? There is no
+use in erecting castles till we know the ground they are to be built
+on. The abbé was a spiteful little wretch, and, baulked, there was no
+guessing how he would act, or of what he would be capable. Sufficient
+unto the day is the evil. To oblige him, Gabrielle should receive the
+lash, and it would be amusing to watch the result.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As week followed week, life seemed to run so oilily at Lorge, that
+onlookers would have envied the unruffled lot of the tranquil lotus
+eaters. And yet what fierce currents were beginning to battle under
+the smooth surface--currents of hate and sorrow, and envy and
+despair--some ensanguined, some black as winter night. The only member
+of the party who was not pining for something different--whose
+aspirations and desires were satisfied--was Clovis, Marquis de Gange.
+He had found his affinity, had caught his adept, and had succeeded,
+without remonstrance, in making her one of the family. His brother,
+instead of objecting in any way to the presence of an interloper, was
+constantly congratulating him on his good luck in having unearthed so
+desirable a specimen. &quot;Just think,&quot; he cried, beaming with
+satisfaction; &quot;you might have saddled us with a tatterdemalion who
+would have stolen the family plate and have cut our throats while we
+were asleep, instead of which you have produced a bundle of charms,
+big enough for two!&quot; Clovis was grateful to his brother for chiming in
+so promptly with his whim. &quot;She is indeed a charmer,&quot; he purred, &quot;so
+good-natured and obliging; never cross or malevolent, with no touch
+of venom on her tongue. There's nothing more dreadful than a spiteful
+or scheming woman. The very thought of such an anomaly makes me
+shudder.&quot; And then he sighed a little. If Gabrielle could only be as
+good-humoured as Aglaé, and as accommodating as Pharamond. Despite his
+efforts, he could not help remarking that piteously sad face every
+morning at <i>déjeuner</i>. She was pale and thin, and her beauty was on
+the wane. Her eyes loomed unnaturally large. Never a talker, she
+rarely opened her lips now, but sat drumming her fingers on the
+table-cloth in the most uninteresting way, staring across the Loire as
+if she did not know each detail of that landscape. How different from
+Aglaé, who could prattle on for ever on any subject.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the grand principle that we hate persons whom we have injured
+almost as much as those from whom we have received benefits, the sight
+of melancholy Gabrielle began to tell upon the nerves of Clovis. She
+was guilty of the great crime of boring him and of pinching
+conscience, and was unfortunate enough not to show advantageously by
+the side of the new foil. A moist statue of Endurance established at
+one's breakfast-table is an overpoweringly cumbersome piece of
+furniture, however immaculate its contours. Poor Gabrielle was no
+actress. If her heart was bursting, she had not the art to grin, and
+smirk, and caper to conceal the unpleasant fact. If her dimmed eyes
+were surrounded by <i>bistre</i> circles like a rainy moon, if her lip
+quivered and her cheek was wan, she could not help it, for the modicum
+of courage she possessed was oozing, and she cared not if she lived or
+died. Her heart was slowly withering. When looking on the man upon
+whom she had bestowed her love, for better or worse for life, his
+image was blurred by distance. She saw him across a wide gulf that was
+ever widening. Our unlucky heroine's mind, as we have learned, was not
+well stocked. The sometimes skittish Brunelle's square head was so
+stocked with lore that doubtless in moments of woe she could
+unpigeonhole an array of valuable statistics and build with them a
+bulwark against trouble. Gabrielle was incapable of any such
+proceeding. She loved her husband with the loyalty of the simple woman
+who loves once. She worshipped the prodigies, who under the new
+<i>régime</i> were becoming even more prodigious. Her husband turned away
+from her; the darlings were estranged from their own mother. Seeing
+her so little, and pampered and flattered by the brilliant governess,
+they learned to dote on the funny tall brown woman with the voice like
+a deep-toned bell, who was ever ready, when they danced into the room,
+to cast aside her occupation and teach them a new game, or invent for
+them a new story. Her resources were endless, for her spirits were
+inexhaustible, and, like Richelieu and his kittens, she found the
+gambols of childhood entertaining.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle rarely saw the darlings now. They were isolated in a remote
+wing, to which she dared not penetrate for fear of some covert insult.
+Wearied by the ever-present reproach of her sad face, Clovis changed
+his habits. For the future, he would breakfast in his study, he
+declared, so as not to interrupt his experiments.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">How fortunately affairs were turning, to be sure! Clovis was
+enchanted. His neighbour, the Comte de Vaux, usually such an old
+nuisance with his prate of the <i>grande noblesse</i>, was opportunely
+attacked with acutest sciatica. What a chance to try the <i>bucket!</i>
+Thanks to that admirable Aglaé, it was complete. The exact placing of
+the various bottles; the quantity of iron filing in each; the modicum
+of liquid; the length of the glass wands: all was known and arranged
+to a fraction. The rheumatism of the respectable De Vaux would be sent
+packing. Glory would cover Mesmer and his two disciples.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle had sought refuge from despair in good works, as most
+stricken women do. She was indefatigable amongst the poor, and the
+advent of the &quot;White Chatelaine&quot; produced always a chorus of blessing.
+When departing on her rounds, Aglaé, gazing down upon her from her
+window, had often been heard to give vent to growls and ribald
+thunderclaps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Just look at mawkish pale-face,&quot; she cried one day to the chevalier,
+who nodded and smiled, pretending to be intelligent. &quot;There's not a
+thing she can do right. Fool! making friends with the weak instead of
+with the strong! I know better than that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Toinon, who chanced to overhear, smiled maliciously. &quot;Indeed?&quot; she
+chuckled to herself. &quot;If Jean Boulot speaks truth, it is the strong
+who have been slumbering, while the weak danced and sang. Wait a bit,
+and you will get your deserts, milady. And, oh! won't I help you on
+your road!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This matter of the completed bucket was one in which the chatelaine
+might assist with propriety in an endeavour to please her husband. She
+had heard so much of it as almost to be convinced of its efficacy.
+True, the abbé had told her that it was a delusion, that the bottom of
+the whole scheme was imagination; that the mechanical effect of
+friction in disorders of a convulsive nature will produce startling
+results; that there is a well-known law which impels one excited
+animal to imitate another in a similar situation to himself, and that
+this would satisfactorily account for the phenomena of Mesmer's cures.
+But this was some time ago, and since then Pharamond had affected to
+come round, and when he beheld the completed tub he gave way to spasms
+of rapture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the newly-wedded wife in pique had worried her spouse with
+scenes, they were only the ebullitions of a much-admired woman
+irritated by the loved one's coolness. Now she had trod the path of
+trouble so far that those days were out of ken. In her efforts to win
+back her husband she would even conciliate the mischief-maker. Some
+women seem specially created for martyrdom. Otherwise insignificant,
+we should not see them but for the dazzling whiteness of their robes.
+I dare say that many of the canonized young ladies whose legends
+thrill us would, had they not been called to march over the
+ploughshare of trial, have remained as much in obscurity as any other
+ordinary young persons, who are too stupid to make a pudding or darn a
+stocking. They would have passed utterly unnoticed in the crowd but
+for the martyr's nimbus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The woman does not like me, and is rude,&quot; argued too guileless
+Gabrielle, as she considered her resolve, &quot;but she is such a general
+favourite that surely she can't be a bad woman; she is only vulgar,
+and given to self-assertion. Perhaps the fault lies in myself.&quot;
+Bravely, then, the meek saint uprose and went straight to Aglaé's
+apartment, bearing with her a peace-offering, bent on the making up of
+differences.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the sublime and the angelic were beyond the comprehension of
+mundane Aglaé, who since infancy had known nothing but the sordid;
+whose childhood had been passed in a beast-like tussle, a constant
+struggle for food. To her thinking, the maxim anent the turning of the
+cheek is an insult to common sense, considering the world whereon we
+were placed without consent of ours. In Saturn or Jupiter, perhaps,
+such inflated theories may be appropriate. Those worlds may be
+pleasant places to dwell in. There, no doubt, a police force is not
+required, while the wily but necessary detective is pictured as a
+curiosity, an extinct monster, like the Dodo and the Mammoth on this
+globe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Brunelle, an unromantic lady of middle age, too
+commonplace to enjoy the fantastic, looked on eccentricities with a
+jaundiced eye, and the contemplation made her peevish.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the wan marquise knocked and gently entered the sanctum, where
+she should have known there was no place for her, the ire of Aglaé was
+kindled, and sulkily regarding the invader, she assumed her most
+offensive attitude. What could the abject, grovelling, brow-beaten
+creature want, coming here to bother? How dared she take such a
+liberty? She deserved a setting down--a drubbing. Here was a chance
+for the lash! The mere sight of the wide opened violet eyes of the
+marquise, with their eloquent depth of ineffable sadness, acted on her
+nerves as the flag of the toreador does upon the bull. We must not
+blame her, for those who have struggled up somehow without educated
+help, must judge for themselves according to their lights, and they
+are beset with insoluble riddles, as ill-cultured fields are choked
+with weeds. To women such as Aglaé, true pride is an unknown quantity.
+Instead of considering it as an organ of extremest delicacy, with
+ramifications as minute and various as that most amazing of creations,
+the nerve system--she, like others of her kidney, understood nothing
+more than an aggressive haughtiness, with an accompaniment of sledge
+hammers. To her, the refined pride which can afford to pass slights
+unnoticed and ignored impertinence, was a mystery which might not be
+deciphered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle--so misread by Aglaé--had bestirred herself to achieve an
+object, and was prepared to forgive and obliterate the ugly past. The
+pugnacious and low-souled Aglaé could only perceive a lady of high
+rank, who, out of cowardice, abdicated her position to grovel like a
+beggar in the dirt. Such an one obviously merited castigation;
+deserved to be rudely shown that being so mean-spirited she should
+cower into a corner and hide away her shame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was the occasion for judicious pin-sticking. The alliance
+demanded an operation. What would the abbé say, who had prated so
+seraphically about loyalty, if he came to know that his ally and his
+recalcitrant lady love had made a compact under the rose? Oh, dear no!
+A reconciliation between the marquise and her governess would never do
+at all! A consummation injudicious and undesirable. The purveyor of
+impossible theories must be well-rapped on the knuckles. The cheek
+that was turned to the smiter must be soundly thwacked to prevent a
+recurrence in the future of ill-judged and degrading mawkishness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aglaé, therefore, on the advent of the conciliatory marquise, made a
+pettish movement of studied impertinence, and yawned slowly in her
+face like a dyspeptic hippopotamus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What's that you are bringing me?&quot; she grunted. &quot;You know that I don't
+want to be worried with you? A present? From you? Oh dear! How you
+annoy me! As if I wished for your present!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nothing daunted, Gabrielle held out the olive-branch. &quot;It is a
+bracelet my father gave me,&quot; she said, calmly, &quot;and I would like you
+to wear it, that you may be assured each time you look on it, that I
+bear no malice for your roughness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nice enough. Your father had good taste,&quot; the governess remarked,
+with another portentous yawn. &quot;But what do I want with your trinkets?
+Eh? I have only to say the word to be bedecked with the family
+jewels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">First pin, plunged well into the flesh. Gabrielle turned white, but
+did not abandon her purpose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What harm have I ever done you?&quot; she asked, quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Harm!&quot; echoed Aglaé. &quot;The harm of coming into the world, and making
+of yourself a perpetual nuisance. Nobody here wants you. Why can't you
+go out of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I wish to be taught about Mesmer and his theories,&quot; pursued
+Gabrielle, with a courage which should have compelled respect. &quot;Give
+me lessons and I will pay you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;<i>You</i> pay me?&quot; laughed Aglaé amused. &quot;My price might be too high for
+your purse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquise looked at the governess in mild surprise. Could it be
+that she did not know how the case stood with regard to money? It was
+not for her to enlighten the interloper. The fact was, that as the
+marquis received what he wanted, the subject of filthy lucre was never
+mentioned in the household.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The carriage has been ordered, and I will go with you to-day.&quot; She
+decided quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; shrieked Aglaé, tired of the interview. &quot;You want to go to
+Montbazon? Do you know that we are going to operate upon old de Vaux?
+My poor soul! You would only be most desperately in the way, seeing
+how ignorant and in experienced you are. Come. Saints prefer the
+truth, I'm told, though I don't find it always pleasant; but then I'm
+not a saint, you see. I would have you realise that your method is
+deplorable. You have managed so ill as to drive the marquis from his
+own breakfast-table with your ridiculous woful airs. The luckless
+master of the house has been hunted from the dining-hall. For a saint,
+I call that ungenerous.&quot; Pin No. 2.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I may be incompetent to amuse--that is my misfortune,&quot; sighed the
+marquise; &quot;but it is strange that one with so good a heart as he,
+should treat her so harshly who loves him with all her soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Love!&quot; laughed the governess with insolence, much tickled. &quot;You don't
+know what it means. How just it is that one so fair should be so
+brainless! All you could give him was the clammy affection of a fish.
+No wonder that anything so chilly should be returned with thanks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle's cheeks began to burn, her eyes to sparkle. &quot;It is not for
+you who eat my bread to shower insults on me! Till you came,&quot; she
+said, &quot;we got on well enough. I took what he had to give with
+gratitude. I have endured too much from you, and know now that you are
+wicked. Beware lest you push me to extremity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Till I came?&quot; echoed the governess. &quot;Till then it was the worthy
+abbé's tact that kept things going, no thanks to you. One of the few
+just rules of this bad world is that as we make our bed we lie on it.
+Your bed is full of creases? Too late, my dear, to smooth them. So I
+am the kill-joy, am I? Ask your husband whether he was ever so happy
+as since my coming? You poor, puling, whining bat!&quot; pursued Aglaé,
+surveying her victim with withering scorn. &quot;You could not perceive
+that natures such as his require a master--a strong hand to lead, an
+iron will to guide, a whip to drive, if need be. Here is the hand to
+which he has learnt to cling and shall cling to--to the end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle flourished the large square-fingered hand so close to the
+marquise's face that she recoiled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, even your children care more for me than you,&quot; she scoffed. Pin
+No. 3. &quot;No doubt I have bewitched them? You should get me burned as a
+sorceress, and start your life afresh. I freely give you this advice,
+so never say I am ill-natured. Puling and whining adds loathing to
+indifference. Cheerfully accept the fate you've carved, and make the
+best of it. Now you must really excuse me; I must dress, for I never
+keep the marquis waiting;&quot; and with that she firmly pushed the
+marquise from the room and slammed the door in her face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was cruelly put, but true--all of it. With sinking heart the pale
+chatelaine admitted it was true. Too late now for remedy. The woman
+had taken Clovis in that powerful hand of hers, and twisted him round
+her little finger. Would it be of any use to make the appeal to him
+from which she had shrunk so long? No. The woman had laid stress on
+the fact that he had come actually to avoid her presence, would not
+even sit at table with her. Nothing short of absolute aversion could
+deprive her thus of every privilege of wife and mother. What had she
+done to deserve it?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Painfully the chatelaine reviewed her empty life. If she had gone too
+far with one of the Paris swains she could not have been more
+completely ostracised. He was indifferent even then, heeding not her
+incomings or outgoings, and yet he must once have cared a little for
+his young wife, for then his eyes were sometimes fixed on her with
+genuine satisfaction. Never now. By what intangible, invisible degrees
+had things come to this grievous pass? Must she take the woman's
+advice, and strive to look with cheerfulness on the inevitable? A
+wife, yet no wife! What was to be the end of it? Only twenty-five
+years old. How wide a waste of barren dreariness in front ere she
+might hope for rest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A sound of wheels on the gravel--the carriage was gone. On the box was
+a wondrous array of parcels. Clovis and Aglaé were engaged in so
+animated a discussion that the children on the front seat crowed and
+clapped hands with glee, marking the gesticulations of papa and the
+dear, funny, brown woman. Their elfin laughter reverberated among the
+grim pinnacles and turrets, and as the carriage turned into a woody
+glade, Gabrielle saw from her seat in the moat-garden little Camille
+climb upon the woman's knee and press her rosy face against the brown
+one. The action smote the marquise as with a knife-stab, and she
+moaned as if in bodily pain. &quot;She usurps my place completely,&quot;
+murmured the hapless lady, deadly pale. &quot;I am as little a mother as a
+wife. Oh, God grant me strength to endure! Though I be without the
+gate, teach me to be thankful that they are happy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She was aware of a long shadow on the grass, and a gentle voice by her
+side echoed her own thought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alone--always alone,&quot; the suave abbé said, scrutinizing with lazy
+satisfaction the delicacy and whiteness of his hands. &quot;How is it, dear
+marquise, that you only of our coterie are heavy-hearted? You need
+rousing. What will you gain by moping except a loss of beauty and a
+bad digestion? They've gone off to Montbazon, Clovis and his affinity
+and the babes--twittering like so many sparrows. I should like to
+survey the scene there, it will be most entertainingly ridiculous, but
+they won't let us miserable scoffers assist at the incantation. Our
+presence would annul the charm. What a divine day!&quot; he continued,
+flinging himself on the grass in a graceful attitude at the feet of
+the chatelaine. &quot;How swiftly the seasons pass! These glorious summer
+days! How we enjoy the sun although we seek the shade, apparently
+ungrateful. We forget that the leaves will turn sallow and swirl down
+and die, and that we shall pine for warmth in vain. Why not? Why
+trouble about the future when the present is brimming with delight?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbé, his hands clasped behind his head, was peering straight up
+into the blue, and what he saw there must have been pleasing, for he
+seemed as satisfied with everything in general as the cat that purrs
+before the fire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why so dismal, my dear Gabrielle, on so perfect a morning as this; it
+savours of ingratitude to heaven?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gabrielle glanced down at him. Was he playing with her in malice, as
+the cat does with the mouse? Dismal, forsooth, when your heart
+overflows with misery!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pharamond was in a retrospective mood, and dreamily surveyed the past
+as he might some moving panorama.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me see,&quot; he said. &quot;How long have we dwelt here a model family? A
+year and a half--rather more than a year and a half.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only that?&quot; sighed Gabrielle. &quot;It seems a lifetime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are discontented? Yearn for the frippery of court life? I am not
+surprised. It is horribly selfish of us all to lock up such peerless
+beauty as yours to gloat over among ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A worse than useless gift,&quot; remarked Gabrielle, with conviction,
+&quot;bestowed on us by nature in her most malicious mood. Happiness is
+given to the ugly ones.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At least they are saved the pang that accompanies the first wrinkle,&quot;
+asserted Pharamond. &quot;You refer to Mademoiselle Brunelle, I suppose;
+our charming Aglaé. She appears to be happy enough indeed. Those large
+women of stoutish build possess a power of assimilation--of selecting
+what is best, and chewing the cud of its enjoyment. Ages ago, before I
+appeared on the scene, you were discontented. Yes, you were, dear
+Gabrielle. It was my privilege then to bring back sunshine to this
+gloomy spot. You might have rewarded me but you were unkind. I did not
+complain, but endured your cruelty without a murmur. It was my
+solicitude that unwrinkled your rose-leaves. You might have rewarded
+me, I say, and you would not, and yet I bore no malice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A foreboding of new evil darkened around Gabrielle's heart. &quot;Why refer
+to that episode that was condoned, and dead, and buried?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Without changing his attitude, the abbé pursued purringly--</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For those halcyon days you had me to thank--me only, remember that,
+and you could not be grateful. Ingratitude must be gently chidden, for
+it goes ill with beauty--as a mother gently chides a well-beloved one.
+I crumpled the leaves again, deliberately squeezed them into tiny
+roughnesses, that you might learn how much you owed me. I confess it
+was my doing. It was for your own good I did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The marquise sat like stone. What was this new gulf slowly
+yawning--and she who looked to him for help!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you never guess that it was I? No? How singular. Your intellect
+works slowly. I never say what I don't mean, and I warned you, unless
+I mistake sadly, that it depended on yourself whether I was to be
+friend or foe. Does you memory serve you? Yes? So glad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had learned to trust you as a friend,&quot; murmured Gabrielle, huskily.
+&quot;A dear friend on whom to lean in trouble. Alas--alas! my only one!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, alas? You are, excuse me, so very foolish. As our sensible Aglaé
+is so fond of saying, 'We do nothing for nothing in this world.' To
+sit at these dainty feet is in itself a privilege, but ardent men,
+made of hot flesh and blood, crave more. It's human nature to be
+grasping.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you have mercy, peace!&quot; implored the pale lady in growing terror.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbé raised himself on his elbow and surveyed Gabrielle--as lovely
+as a startled fawn in her distress--with a smile that was quite
+paternal, and belied the green glitter from beneath the lids. &quot;What a
+naughty girl,&quot; he chuckled, &quot;to tempt a weak mortal with such charms.
+I swear to you that with that marble skin, and those widely-opened
+eyes of violet, like eyes that see a phantom, and ruby lips just
+slightly parted, and that fluttering heaving bosom, you are ten times
+more beautiful than I have ever seen you yet! Tut, tut! Calm yourself.
+Do not take me for that uncomfortable thing, a basilisk. I am not
+going to touch you, so don't look horrified. I am going away. That is
+why I spoke. I wished you to know how matters stand, and to reflect
+during my absence. It is desirable that you should quite comprehend
+that for weal or woe your future depends on me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Going away,&quot; echoed Gabrielle, relieved, and yet dismayed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is necessary. Was it not delicately imagined to speak, as I had to
+speak, just on the eve of departure? Am I not considerate? We have
+lately had letters of strange purport from Paris. Outrageous rumours
+are abroad, which, if a whit of them is true, may mean serious peril
+to our class. Over the affair of the Bastile the king was lamentably
+misguided. He and his ministers know now and bitterly regret their
+lack of purpose, for the scum, as was to be expected, has taken heart
+of grace and waxes impudent with impunity. So I am going to make a
+little trip to the capital, just to reconnoitre. Do not be alarmed. I
+think that the agitation is all moonshine. Reflect on what I have
+said, and remember that there's a limit to man's patience. Your
+future, whether for comfort or the reverse, depends entirely on me. I
+repeat it for the sake of emphasis. I gave you peace, then at my whim
+withdrew it. Have I made it clear that what I have done I can undo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are limits to a woman's patience as well as a man's,&quot; Gabrielle
+observed, grimly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quite so,&quot; acquiesced the other. &quot;Mademoiselle Brunelle has been a
+thorn in your flesh, which I regret. You have endured its irritation
+with fortitude, for which you deserve all praise. It depends upon
+yourself whether or no the thorn be pruned away. For that you need my
+aid, which shall be freely tendered--on conditions that you wot of.
+During my absence I have instructed the chevalier to watch, that you
+may be shielded from assaults of the enemy. A useful watchdog is the
+chevalier, faithful and obedient, who will report to me everything
+that passes. It is a sad pity that he takes to drink. I have observed
+lately that he takes more and more to the bottle. Of that by and by he
+must be cured. Meanwhile, I would have you consider the case from
+every point of view, and yourself deliver the verdict.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Abbé Pharamond rose to his feet, and kissing his finger tips,
+departed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pressure from all quarters to the same end. You have made your
+bed--make the best of it; accept the inevitable cheerfully. What the
+fates decree we fight against in vain. Unfortunate Gabrielle.
+Patience? Good heavens--how long-suffering was hers! And what had she
+gained by it? Rebuff. Persecution. Torture. Out of the labyrinth they
+had planted about her there were two exits. She might appeal to the
+maréchal for protection, return to the shelter of his roof. But to let
+him learn that her life was shattered, that the marriage he had
+himself arranged had turned out so disastrously; it would break the
+old man's heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The other passage? Through the gates of Death. No. That method of
+escape might not be employed either. What would the old man's feelings
+be if he discovered that she had been driven to suicide? And yet--to
+fall into the maw of the abbé. Never--never--never. Why not? Why
+should she care what happened? To her it mattered little now what
+chanced, bereft of all. Her father need never know. Perhaps, if she
+gave way they would in pity grant her peace? Sure she was going crazy.
+Peace? The peace of guilt? Peace where there was no peace? No--no. It
+should never come to that.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">THE MAGIC TUB.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The abbé was a chameleon--bewildering in the abruptness of his
+changes. The carriage that returned from Montbazon was a chariot of
+triumph, and the abbé joined with vigour in the pæans of victory. He
+wished to leave a good impression, that his absence might be
+regretted. He was going on a tour of business and of pleasure; was
+determined to enjoy himself immensely--he, who as a provincial had
+rarely visited Paris. How delicious before he went, he declared with
+rapture, to have his mind relieved, to be assured that the magic tub
+was no fraud--Mesmer, a genius, not a charlatan! They must toast the
+prophet in bumpers of champagne. He insisted on it, and accordingly
+dragged the delighted Clovis from his study to join the circle at
+dinner. Clovis was quite another man. A gladness was in his eyes that
+transformed his glum visage, and Gabrielle sitting opposite wondered.
+In this mood, sure if she spoke, he would hearken. Was the case really
+hopeless? Was it, indeed, too late? Alack. It was evident that the
+abbé was playing a part, for now and again he glanced at Gabrielle
+with an expression that was full of meaning. The situation was
+bewildering. Like one who dreams she sat listening to the victorious
+duet, wherein the marquis and the governess took up their tale by
+turns.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under the sun of success Clovis opened like a flower. He was radiant
+with content. His wife yearned to lead him from the room to her
+secluded boudoir, and there, twining her arms about his neck, point
+out the facets of the situation of which he seemed so singularly
+ignorant. She would have fallen at his feet and clasped his knees;
+have hugged him to her breast and warmed him with a spark of her own
+fire. But then, that insidious talk of mademoiselle's under which her
+memory tingled. The clammy affection of a fish! A man who required a
+master. The venom instilled was inoculating her system. Pride laid a
+finger on her lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Oh! What a scene it had been at Montbazon! To perform a successful
+séance, Aglaé explained, many accessories were <i>de rigueur</i>, since the
+vital fluid could not work with effect unless the mind were brought
+into a condition of fixed and unruffled calm. Now it is no easy matter
+to bring about this state in one who is a prey to aches and pains. The
+case is somewhat akin to that in the dentist's room when the patient
+is informed on the honour of a gentleman that the twinge will be a
+mere nothing, and that agitation is to be deprecated and calm
+desirable. Then he suddenly finds an object as large as a coach-house
+half down his throat, and the top of his head flies off. Unruffled
+calm, indeed, with a twang of the sciatic nerve and a twitter down the
+calf, and a great nail being hammered into the big toe! The crusty old
+Baron de Vaux growled out that as he could not be calm they had better
+remove their apparatus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Calm being a <i>sine qua non</i>, Mesmer had pointed out long since that
+music was a necessary feature in an operation while the patient was
+being manipulated. He was in the habit of placing his devotees in a
+delicious garden carpeted with grass, refreshed by play of fountains,
+variegated by beds of perfumed flowers and clumps of bushes, from
+amongst which came dulcet strains. In the intervals of crises a
+complete orchestra hidden somewhere burst forth into harmonious
+symphonies, at one time grave at another gay, quieting the patient
+into beatitude due to gratification of his senses. Sight, smell,
+hearing, all were considered. So minutely did the prophet delve into
+the matter that he issued an order against wind instruments. The
+symphonies were to be in D minor, interpreted by stringed instruments
+only; and at critical moments their effect was increased by the
+strains of an harmonica, touched by his own skilled fingers. Lest
+nerves should be excited by all this instead of quieted, a silent
+attendant stood behind each patient with a jug, from which, according
+to his discretion, he dribbled cold water upon the pate below him.
+This item was particularly soothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now it was obvious that all these perfections were not easily to be
+obtained in the provinces. The mind of Clovis had been much exercised
+in the matter, and he dreaded failure for himself and obloquy for the
+prophet. But Aglaé was a treasure of resource. While her deft hands
+were rubbing the count's withered leg, the marquis was in an outer
+chamber to grumble <i>ad libitum</i> on his beloved 'cello. The village
+band was to await the crisis, and then break forth into the baron's
+favourite air of Vive Henri Quatre. The effect was sure to be
+splendid, for country magnates--even of the <i>grande noblesse</i>--were of
+rougher grit than pampered city ones; and, in sober fact, the baron
+did not know a bassoon from a violin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But then there were unexpected difficulties, under which Clovis
+unaided would have succumbed. The bucket was there, and the marquis
+delivered a learned lecture on it to somewhat apprehensive lieges.
+They would be kind enough to remark that at the bottom of the tub was
+a substratum of rusty nails, covered with a layer of iron filings,
+over which was laid a set of bottles with necks radiating outward.
+Above them was another set of bottles with necks radiating inward.
+This was most important, for radiation was one of the secrets of the
+system. Cords of silk were attached all round with nooses, each for a
+patient's neck, and by these cords the vital fluid was to circulate to
+the patient and back again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Madame de Vaux was much scandalized. &quot;On no account will I allow a
+rope around my husband's neck,&quot; she vowed emphatically. &quot;The Baron de
+Vaux treated like a common felon! Never, while she could prevent it!
+Had not the low mob of the capital been stringing people to lamp-posts
+with ropes of late? Why the king allowed it she could not think; but
+he, no doubt, knew better than his subjects. The marquis ought to be
+ashamed of himself for proposing anything so improper and suggestive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Angelique considered the whole affair undignified, and was sorry that
+the village band should assist at such a spectacle. The rope was
+abandoned, and in its stead a long tube of glass was passed from the
+side of the tub to the right temple of the patient--a much more
+decorous proceeding where a live baron was concerned. Then the 'cello
+began to drone and the governess to rub, and by and by the old man's
+face began to twitch and his toothless gums to move. The baroness,
+much shocked at this derogation from accustomed dignity, vowed that it
+was impious, that the devil was at work, and that she ought to have
+provided a curt and a brush with holy water. The patient began to
+laugh, then cry; then shout, then mumble. All down his leg were
+prickings--such curious prickings. &quot;Oh, Mother of Heaven! The prods of
+the arch-fiend,&quot; faintly gurgled the old lady. &quot;Stuff and nonsense!
+Angelic punctures!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All is going well!&quot; announced the authoritative voice of Aglaé.
+&quot;Band! Strike up--here is the crisis!&quot; she shouted joyfully, but the
+musicians stood aghast. Sure the poor gentleman had the dance of St.
+Vitus as well as lesser ailments. A savour of brimstone pervaded the
+apartment. Some swore, with shrieks, that they could see his Satanic
+majesty--could count the hairs in his tail; and then all rushed forth
+pell-mell like panic-stricken sheep. Madame de Vaux screamed and
+fainted, while Angelique, who was no coward, retired into a corner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clovis had his misgivings, and as he scraped on, louder now to mask
+the retreat of defaulters, wondered inwardly whether it was all a
+devil's trick? He cast uneasy glances at the stooping Aglaé, who
+rubbed on unmoved. What a stupendous woman. Not a tremor at suggestion
+of the Evil One. He felt sure that face to face with the whole Satanic
+court that strong-minded female's colour would not have changed a
+shade. It was not possible to feel fear in so sturdily self-reliant a
+presence. Clovis's misgivings waned, and he groaned on at his
+instrument with lightened heart. His ever-increasing admiration for
+mademoiselle became tinctured with an awe in which respect was mingled
+with apprehension. Who could resist such a woman whatever she might
+decree? She had indeed twisted her admirer round her finger, and could
+do with him as she listed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The séance over, the baron was wrapped in blankets and exhorted to
+sleep while the adept and her neophyte refreshed the inner person.
+When they returned later to the operating room the old lady, recovered
+from her swoon, was weeping silently, while Angelique stood by amazed.
+The tears were those of relief and joy. The twang of the sciatic nerve
+was stilled. The pain was gone. The baron, wringing the hand of
+Mademoiselle Brunelle, vowed he was younger by ten years.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was the tale told in duet, with the accompanying chorus of the
+abbé. Amazing, marvellous, wonderful! Aglaé beamed on all around like
+the dimmed sun through golden mist. At every moment Clovis appealed to
+her with the devoted submissiveness of willing slavery. His chains
+were of roses, and he hugged them. Pharamond glanced slyly from time
+to time at the two ladies, so contrasted in appearance and demeanour,
+and then frowned at the chevalier, who was absorbed by attentions to
+the bottle. It was inconvenient that the oaf should take to drink. Had
+he not been charged with the important mission of watching over the
+marquise? He had better take good care not to transgress. If aught
+went wrong in the abbé's absence the chevalier should repent it
+bitterly.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>END OF VOLUME I.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="W20">
+<h5>SIMMONS &amp; BOTTEN, PRINTERS, LONDON. <i>G. C. &amp; Co</i>.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3), by 
+Lewis Wingfield
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+</body>
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+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3), by Lewis Wingfield
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3)
+       A Tale of the Dark Days of France
+
+Author: Lewis Wingfield
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38865]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAID OF HONOUR, VOL. 1 (OF 3) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=YxBLAAAAIAAJ
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE MAID OF HONOUR
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE MAID OF HONOUR
+
+
+                  A Tale of the Dark Days of France
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                       THE HON. LEWIS WINGFIELD
+
+                              AUTHOR OF
+
+         "LADY GRIZEL," "THE LORDS OF STROGUE," "ABIGEL ROWE"
+
+                                 ETC.
+
+
+
+
+
+                          _IN THREE VOLUMES_
+                               VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON
+                       RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
+           Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.
+
+                                 1891
+
+                       [_All Rights Reserved_]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                  TO
+
+                        WILLIAM HENRY WELDON.
+
+                              A TRIBUTE
+
+                          OF OLD FRIENDSHIP.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+       On The Volcano, 1789
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+       Husband And Wife.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+       Investigation.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+       The Chateau Of Lorge.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+       The Half-brothers.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+
+       Temptation.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+       A Terrible Discovery.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+       A New Arrival.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+       Thunder Clouds.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+       The Magic Tub.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         THE MAID OF HONOUR.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                        ON THE VOLCANO, 1789.
+
+
+Although there was no cash in silken fob or broidered pocket, the
+Elect denied themselves no luxury. Bejewelled Fashion was sumptuously
+clad: my ladies quarrelled and intrigued, danced and gambled--my lords
+slept off the fumes of wine, and mopped the wounds begot of midnight
+brawl; then drank and fought again.
+
+Money? No credit even. Trade was at a standstill, yet the court was
+uproariously gay.
+
+Money and credit--sinews of pleasure as well as business--having
+flitted from lively Paris, you might suppose that the wheels of
+Society would cease to turn--that the flower-decked car of gilded
+Juggernaut would come creeping to a standstill. Not yet. Impelled by
+the impulse of its own velocity, it continued to crush on awhile.
+Those who knew were numbed by the chill shadow of the inevitable, or
+rendered callous by the knowledge of their helplessness. Those who
+were deaf and blind groped blissfully on in their lighthearted
+ignorance. Selfish all, depraved most, the blue-blooded sang in merry
+chorus, "Let us eat and drink that the worms may grow fat on us." Not
+so the gaunt crowds whose blood was but mud and water. As their
+long-suffering ancestors had monotonously done, they groaned in
+unison, crying to God for death, as the only release from misery.
+
+What if whole villages were decimated by famine? What if plague and
+starvation stalked through the towns? My lords and my ladies cared
+not, for they were poised too high to see. Were the grovelling
+creatures slaves or insects? Slaves, for they delved patiently, with
+moans that were vain bleatings as of sheep; whereas outraged insects
+for the most part sting.
+
+We all know that the first duty of serfs is to labour for their
+betters: their second, when the worn machinery is out of gear, to
+retire underground with promptitude. How unseemly--nay, revolting,
+therefore, is their conduct when, weary of groaning and of
+teeth-gnashing, they belabour with fists instead!
+
+The scene we look upon is a tranquil and a pretty one, despite certain
+vague and ominous rumours which, intangible, permeate the air. The
+favourite saloon of Her Majesty, Marie Antoinette, in the Palace of
+the Tuileries, is a small, square chamber decorated with raised
+garlands, flutes, and tambourines in carved wood, painted a dead
+white, mellowed now by the glimmer of many candles, shaded. Curtains
+and furniture are yellow, embroidered with gold; the bare floor is
+waxed and polished, reflecting the costly and varied rainbow garb of
+some forty assembled guests. Through open casements--it is a warm
+evening in July--we mark the majestic outline of the venerable Louvre
+cut black against the blue--a calm unclouded blue, loftily oblivious
+of angry curls of darkling smoke which two days since uprose from the
+ruins of the stormed Bastile. Doors as well as windows are spread wide
+to woo the air; a bevy of ladies, glittering with gems, are fanning
+themselves languidly. Through the portals on the right you obtain a
+glimpse of the remains of supper: a dainty repast, fit for fastidious
+fairies; such an ideal cosy feast as the queen loved to conjure for
+her familiars. Through the left door we may perceive an array of green
+tables with gilt legs, at which gentlemen clad in satins of delicate
+hue are squabbling over the devil's books. Their voices from time to
+time grow angry, their talk unduly loud. But for the adjacent presence
+of the queen, swords might be drawn and blood spilt. Young Monsieur de
+Castellane, officer in the Swiss Guard, has just lost his paternal
+acres to the Marquis de Gange, a fact which, in the latter, seems to
+evoke no sign of interest. With the usual luck of players who are
+quite indifferent, Fortune had befriended the marquis, and yet, as
+things were, the prize was an empty bauble--a mere meaningless array
+of lands with high-sounding names which looked vastly well--on paper.
+
+The Marquis de Gange was an absentminded person, given to reverie and
+the contemplation of the infinite, and it is somewhat annoying to lose
+even paper property to one so utterly unappreciative.
+
+Roused by the congratulations of the surrounding group of butterflies,
+the marquis descended for a moment to earth, and laughed lightly.
+
+"A profitable stake to win, in sooth," he observed, with a yawn.
+"Castellane! I hereby resign your empty title-deeds, having quite
+enough such foolish lumber of my own. Your part of the country is a
+caldron, mine is a furnace. Thank heaven, my wife's estates are in a
+land of peace, or, like many more, we should be beggars."
+
+"It is not given to everyone to mate with a great heiress," remarked
+rueful Castellane, feeling in his empty pocket.
+
+"You should look out for one," said the marquis, serenely smiling,
+"for you know that since the Third Estate has raised its ugly head,
+you don't dare to show your nose at Castellane. The tenants would
+growl of rights of man, and prod your silk stockings with their
+pitchforks."
+
+"That's true enough," sighed the young scapegrace, with a puzzled air.
+"Though they deserve the galleys for their temerity, they are patted
+on the back by our too lenient sovereign--a mob of insolent
+ragamuffins! Last time I travelled south, I was worried to
+fiddle-strings by deputations whom I declined to see--a parcel of
+unpractical idiots, who, when I demanded rents, babbled of redress of
+grievances. Really, de Gauge, you may keep the title-deeds, for, since
+no one will lend a louis on them, they are no better than a musty
+mockery."
+
+The butterflies enjoyed the jest and laughed in chorus. There was
+something delightfully whimsical about the fact that the acres for
+which heroes had bled, and which had been enjoyed in majestic fashion
+by a long line of noble ancestors, should--as in the fairy tale--be
+transmuted into heaps of dead and mouldy leaves.
+
+After the laugh came silence, for were they not all in the same
+battered boat? No matter. Whate'er betide, they must sink or swim
+together.
+
+"Awkward customers, the Third Estate," some one remarked presently.
+"That untoward matter of the Bastile may prove an evil precedent."
+
+"Pooh!" yawned a stout old gentleman, whose weatherbeaten visage was
+round and of a bluish red. "A flash in the pan--a paltry riot--a piece
+of low impertinence which ministers, if they were not hopelessly
+idiotic, should have foreseen and smothered. Stick to the title-deeds,
+son-in-law. If you live long enough, they will be useful some day."
+
+"No," replied de Gange, carelessly. "Thanks to you, marechal, my
+nest's well feathered. Gabrielle has enough for both."
+
+The wealthy old Marechal de Breze looked pleased. When you have hit on
+a suitable match for your heiress during an epidemic of impecuniosity,
+it is well to be assured that the fortunate spouse is not a greedy
+gold-seeker. "Clovis!" he cried heartily, "give me your hand. You are
+queer and dreamy, beyond my poor comprehension; but I believe--yes, I
+do!--that you are an upright and honest man!"
+
+"Treason, marechal! High treason! How dare you say rude things of
+ministers? Come and join the ladies. We affect learning, remember,
+nowadays, and can bandy wisdom with the best of you!"
+
+It was the magical voice of Marie herself, whose silver tones had
+fluttered so many hearts to their undoing; whose radiant beauty and
+light spirits had given rise to such dark intrigues. The gentlemen,
+obeying the merry summons, streamed into the saloon, and were soon
+bowing, with bent spines and squared elbows, over the tiny cups of
+coffee, which, as her wont was, she distributed with her own hands.
+The king was not present, for he abhorred gambling and late hours, and
+on the _soirees intimes_ of his consort invariably sought refuge in
+his study.
+
+"Louise de Savoye," commanded the queen in mock tragic tones, "hand
+round the cakes. Perform your office of mistress of the household.
+From your fair fingers they will taste all the sweeter."
+
+"Promise, then, not to talk of the horrid _tiers etat_," replied the
+lady addressed, with a little shudder. "Those who saw the dreadful
+women dancing and shouting like fiends as they marched in triumph from
+the Bastile, will not forget the spectacle."
+
+"Madame la Princesse de Lamballe was always nervous," laughed M. de
+Castellane.
+
+"Yes," replied the princess, simply. "I don't know why, but I am
+desperately afraid of a mob."
+
+"We were all a little frightened at first," observed the queen; "for
+when we heard the booming of artillery which sounded so terribly
+close, and beheld the infatuated madcaps carrying away their dead, we
+could not comprehend the freak. 'Tis a pity it was crowned with
+success, for it will put foolish ideas into ignorant minds. But it
+will lead to nothing, I am assured, and all's well that ends well.
+When the king announced this morning that he was going to the
+Assembly, without guards or escort, I thought he must have lost his
+wits; but events showed that he was wise, as he always is. His
+confidence in the loyalty of the deputies combined with his simple and
+touching address, excited the keenest enthusiasm. The shouting throng
+escorted him on foot all the way hither to the palace. I am not
+ashamed to say that as from a balcony Lamballe and I contemplated the
+affecting scene of warm devotion, we clasped each other and wept."
+
+"For every precious tear," murmured de Castellane, "we'll have the
+life-drops of the canaille!"
+
+"God forbid!" ejaculated the queen, with sudden pallor. "I wish them
+no ill if they would spare his majesty their vagaries. Love them I
+cannot, for I am not Christian enough to love my enemies. I wonder--I
+wonder----"
+
+"What, dear mistress?" inquired a tall young lady plainly dressed in
+white, who was the most beautiful member even of that favoured circle.
+"What causes our queen to wonder?"
+
+"I wonder what will be the end--that's all, dear Gabrielle," laughed
+the volatile Marie, recovering her spirits. "What will happen to me;
+to our precious Lamballe; to you; to your shocking pedant of a husband
+there, who as usual is in cloudland?"
+
+The beautiful lady whom she called Gabrielle, glanced at the
+abstracted Marquis de Gange, who was her husband, and shivered. There
+was an odd look upon his face sometimes which she had not the wit to
+decipher. What was he doing in cloudland so far removed from her?
+Then, when he dropped down to earth again, he would smile vaguely but
+pleasantly enough, and the strange impression would fade from her
+mind. Her wistful eyes were more often fixed on him than his on hers,
+which is curious, considering her beauty.
+
+"The veil which hides the future is a precious boon," reflected the
+queen, "and yet we all burn to pierce it."
+
+"That is because we should not," observed Madame de Lamballe, with
+conviction, "on the principle of Eve and the apple, you know. A
+fortune-teller once took my hand to read my fortune, and what she read
+on my palm was so appalling that she fainted. I have had the
+discretion never to inquire further."
+
+"Pooh, I am not so prudent," mused her majesty. "Three times have I
+sought to pierce the veil, with the same result--repentance."
+
+"I pray you in pity--hush!" implored the Marquise de Gange. "My
+husband dragged me once to see a horrible old hag who lived like a
+savage in a den somewhere--I know not where. She performed
+incantations and drew my horoscope. It makes my flesh creep to think
+of it!"
+
+"Was it so ghastly?" inquired Marie Antoinette in a low tone of awe.
+"So was mine. Horoscopes are nightmares. And so it seems was that of
+our beloved Louise. I wonder--how I wonder what will be the end of
+it?"
+
+She glanced around at the company, and all looked sympathetically
+glum. If the gipsies had with one accord been so audaciously rude to
+the three beauties as to hint at unpleasant things in the future, what
+was to be done? Was a crusade to be preached, for the annihilation of
+the peccant race? Fat old de Breze might pay expenses, and, like Peter
+the Hermit, rally the avenging force. Old de Breze was a soldier who
+had won his spurs, yet instead of sounding a clarion and calling
+squires to arm him _cap-a-pie_, he only shuffled in his chair and
+snuffled uneasily while de Castellane snorted with ardour. Clearly the
+crusade was not likely to answer; it was a trifle out of date; and yet
+the fact remained that the fiat of the Fates had gone forth against
+the lovely trio. The Marquis de Gange was a mystic, well acquainted
+with the tortuous ways and spiteful tricks of the fatal three. Perhaps
+he would kindly elucidate the situation? No. His wife gazed wistfully
+at him. He looked furtively at her, then, smiling, lowered his eyes,
+and again sank into his accustomed reverie. The marquise sighed
+deeply, and concealed her face behind her fan.
+
+The April visage of the queen was sombre; then the cloud cleared.
+
+"Are we not silly," she exclaimed, "to sit trembling before a bogey? A
+fig for the gipsies! Despite their lugubrious hints here am I, after
+over fifteen years of prosperous wedded life, queen of the land most
+favoured by nature in the world, adored by my husband and my children.
+What can woman desire more than complete domestic bliss? What say you,
+Gabrielle?"
+
+The Marquise de Gange, target for a circle of inquiring eyes, blushed
+crimson and turned away.
+
+"This is too good!" cried the queen in glee, drawing her friend
+towards her to imprint a kiss upon her brow. "You naughty, wayward
+girl! You are wicked and tempt Providence. A blush and something like
+a tear--ay, and a sigh, from the bosom of Gabrielle, Marquise de
+Gange--the only woman in the country who has any money--the most
+beautiful girl in France, whose wonderful complexion has gained for
+her the sobriquet of 'the Lily.' Yes, you are, and I admit it without
+envy. Blessed with a passable husband and two lovely babes, and an
+admirable mother and a doting father! Fie! You are ungrateful, but we
+must not see you punished."
+
+Marie Antoinette's enjoyment increased as she poured forth her
+raillery, and marked the confusion of the marquise.
+
+"Monsieur de Gange. Descend to earth and come into court!" she cried.
+"Confess! What have you done to Gabrielle? Have you lost heavily at
+cards? No? You are jealous that her name should be the toast on every
+lip? No? You are put out because she understands nothing of the
+philosopher's stone? Not even that? I give it up. Fortune has spoiled
+you, child. As Figaro says, '_Qu'avez vous fait pour tants de biens?
+Vous vous etes donnee la peine de naitre--rien de plus!_'"
+
+The marquis made a low bow and contemplated his fair wife with a
+moonlit kind of satisfaction, but answered nothing.
+
+"He disdains to plead!" laughed Madame de Lamballe.
+
+"Guilty or not guilty--say!" cried Marie Antoinette. "Dumb? Marechal
+de Breze! we surrender to you the prisoner that you may investigate
+and do your duty. We have respectful confidence in that strange
+phenomenon, a rich man, at a time when all others are paupers. Look
+after Gabrielle, Mr. Money-bag! Shield her from a designing husband
+who, I begin to believe, conceals the raffish vices of a rake under
+the mask of recondite erudition."
+
+The Marquise de Gange was unnecessarily perturbed by the lively sally,
+and tapped her wooden heel upon the floor.
+
+"Alack, madam!" declared the marquis, compelled to speak, "I regret to
+be so unmodish as to have few of the fashionable vices. Instead of
+pleading in my own behalf, I would, if I dared, take up the cudgels
+for another. Doctor Mesmer----"
+
+"The arch charlatan!" exclaimed the queen, raising both hands in
+protest.
+
+"Not so. Others have aped his ways; have draped themselves in tawdry
+frippery which bore some semblance to his robes. In spite of calumny,
+and persecution, and fraudulent imitation and roguish arts, the master
+remains the master still, although he be unjustly banished by those
+whom he has benefited."
+
+"The statue has come to life!" tittered Madame de Lamballe.
+"Cagliostro was unmasked as a cheat, so the one who went before wisely
+shook off his dust at him. Let us all agree to be convinced that
+Mesmer is a persecuted saint. We have the marquis's word for it. Let
+us have Mesmer back at once from banishment. Perchance he will employ
+his occult essences to calm the Parisian mob!"
+
+"The king will not permit him to return to France," the queen said
+doubtfully; "yet as an empiric he was fascinating."
+
+"When your majesty deigns to say I am in cloudland," remarked the
+marquis, with a high-bred courtesy, in which was a tinge of scorn,
+"you will understand that my spirit is on earth--at Spa--the refuge in
+exile of the master."
+
+"I see it all!" said Madame de Lamballe, flourishing her fan. "It is
+Gabrielle who is jealous--and of Mesmer! What singular complications
+are produced by mystical alliances. A husband has a lovely wife, for
+whom everyone else is sighing, and is no whit jealous of _her_ because
+he is an absorbed neophyte at the fount of wisdom. The prophet usurps
+his soul and his will. Where is the poor wife then?"
+
+"What cruel things are said in jest!" Gabrielle cried hotly, breaking
+her silence at last. "I am not unhappy; and if I were, it would be no
+one's concern but mine. I care no sou for Mesmer or Cagliostro, or any
+of the conjuring rout. Jealous of such creatures--faugh!"
+
+A shrunken dame who had been slumbering in a corner awoke with a
+start, and guiltily conscious of a nap, became garrulous in a weak
+piping treble like the irresponsible murmur of a rivulet.
+
+"Your majesty is misinformed," she babbled plaintively. "People will
+say such things, and go to mass o' Sundays. Our daughter Gabrielle is
+happy as the day is long--why not? Clovis isn't jealous one bit, and
+quite right too. He lets her do as she likes, go where she likes,
+doesn't care where she goes. Perfect trust is a fine thing, but I
+often tell him that it is rash to throw so fair a creature into
+temptation, for who knows what they'll do until they are tempted?
+Gabrielle, I must admit, though quite a saint, can be as provoking as
+saints often were. And they, the saints, were so dreadfully frail
+sometimes, and so easily forgiven, and then held up to us as patterns.
+I can't quite make it out. If I had ever dreamed of doing half the
+shocking things that the canonized saints did, I should---- Eh?--oh!"
+
+With that the rivulet ceased to flow as abruptly as it had begun, and
+the queen, who had with difficulty curbed her merriment, looked round
+for the cause of interruption. She beheld a little stout gentleman,
+with a round, blue-red face, in a state of imminent explosion. He whom
+she had declared to command the respect due to wealth, showed signs of
+choking from exasperation. His features had swelled till his bead-like
+eyes were scarcely visible; his finger nails were clenched into his
+palms. It was some seconds ere he could splutter out his spleen. Then
+with a deprecating look at her majesty, he gasped out--
+
+"Majeste, pardon her. A fool! Always and for ever a fool--and my wife
+too."
+
+Then, forgetting the presence in which he sat, he continued in white
+heat--
+
+"I'll dash your stupid head against the wall when we get home. To dare
+to make your own daughter ridiculous before this company! To make your
+own flesh and blood absurd, through your incorrigible idiocy! Not that
+you can do it, for she's an angel straight from heaven. Provoking,
+forsooth! My darling--the idol of my heart! The Marquis de Gange knows
+better than to ill-treat his wife. If he did--well; old battered
+soldier though I am, I'd be even with him in a way he'd not forget."
+
+"Oh--so harsh--always so harsh!" whimpered the rivulet in choking
+gasps. "Quite like dear M. Montgolfier's fire-balloon! I did not
+mean----"
+
+"Hold your tongue!" snorted the marechal in a menacing whisper--"and
+wait till we get home."
+
+The situation, like many born of jesting, grew embarrassing. Old
+soldiers, especially when rich, may be allowed a certain freedom. But
+the ways of the barrack-yard may not be introduced into palaces. Marie
+Antoinette was not averse to a certain licence, which should banish
+for the time being the buckramed etiquette that she so loathed. But a
+family skeleton suddenly popping out of ambush to shake all its joints
+and grin with all its teeth! How uncomely a spectacle at the
+Tuileries! The assembled company, too, evidently enjoyed the fun, and
+would surely spread the story all over Paris on the morrow as the
+style of repartee that obtained at the queen's gatherings. If the
+episode, harmless in itself, were to reach the king's ears, he would
+be annoyed, and justly in such times as these, when everybody's hand
+was beginning to clutch his neighbour's throat. How many an innocent
+jest of Marie Antoinette's had already been built by malice into the
+proportions of a mountain? Unwittingly, she had, as it appeared, set
+fire to a mine. Gabrielle looked sorely distressed; her husband
+sullen, in that his pleading had failed, and that he could do nothing
+on behalf of the _savant_ whom he worshipped. Her mother hazily
+perceived that it would be well to cork down the ebullient
+effervescence of her prattle, while the beady eyes of the marechal,
+moving from the husband to the wife and back again, seemed to have
+detected the trace of something that was new, the discovery of which
+was disconcerting.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+                           HUSBAND AND WIFE.
+
+
+When it is so plain to lookers-on that people ought to be happy, how
+perverse it is of them to be miserable! As the queen had declared,
+Gabrielle Marquise de Gange had no ostensible excuse for wretchedness.
+The specks on the sun of her good fortune were so tiny as to be
+well-nigh invisible. Upon the background of her portrait by Madame le
+Brun, that ingenious artist had inscribed in a hand so clear that all
+who ran might read, "The fairest woman of her time."
+
+Mademoiselle Gabrielle de Breze, when she appeared at court in the
+capacity of maid of honour, took the town by storm. Veteran
+lady-killers withdrew gold toothpicks from their gums to vow that so
+brilliant a complexion, such melting eyes that changed like the moody
+sea, from blue to deepest violet, such a bewitching little nose, and
+such deliciously fresh lips, had never been seen before; "and her
+figure! and her ankle!! and her arm and shoulder!!!" chimed in the
+younger swains whose hearts were already in their hands to be flung
+down as a palpitating carpet for her dainty little shoes.
+
+The queen was enchanted with the success of her _protegee_, who was
+speedily surrounded by an increasing circle of danglers who minced
+with toes turned out, shook back their costly ruffles, and lisped the
+most honeyed compliments from morn to dewy eve. She enjoyed her new
+position vastly, was blithe as a young bird, and gazed fearlessly on
+into a future, which seemed an interminable vista paved with roses.
+Nor was she the least spoilt by adulation. She liked flattery, as
+every pretty woman does, but looked forward at no very distant period
+to the sober, substantial enjoyment of calm domestic happiness. When
+it pleased her parents to provide a spouse, she was prepared to take
+him to her heart as a dutiful daughter should, and lavish on him all
+the treasures of a young and guileless affection.
+
+The king was glad of her success, because she was the child of the
+Marechal de Breze, a veteran of the good old school, whose body had
+been improved and beautified by honourable scars won in his country's
+battles. As for Madame de Breze, people endured her existence. She was
+a fool and a chatterbox, and wrinkled to boot, with an extraordinary
+capacity for seeing things awry, and sagely commenting on them after
+the fashion of a Greek chorus. No one took heed of her, but all liked
+and respected the red-visaged old soldier whose rough rind covered a
+generous nature, and whose purse-strings were always slack.
+
+For the Marechal de Breze was no mere soldier of fortune with naught
+in his valise except a baton. He was rich in moneys safely banked with
+Necker at Geneva; possessed estates in smiling Touraine; and,
+moreover, was afflicted with the possession of an ancient and dismal
+chateau on the Loire, whose waters mirrored a labyrinth of
+high-pitched roofs, gaunt turrets, and grim gargoyles.
+
+Of noble birth, entrancingly lovely, and an heiress. Heavens! what a
+combination; and at a time, too, as the queen had remarked, when
+everyone was out at elbows. It was evident that such a phenomenon must
+be snapped up at once; and straightway--helter-skelter up the wide
+stairs of the Hotel de Breze rushed a mob of needy suitors--a hungry
+pack, yelling in full cry, whose ravenous ardour so scared madame that
+she forgot to improve the occasion. They had never loved till now,
+they cried in unison. Their quarterings were legion, their rent-rolls
+were miles long. The tenants never paid, and the ermine was somewhat
+mud-stained, but these were trifling details. They all adored the
+divine Gabrielle for herself--her angel form alone; that she should
+happen to be an heiress was another detail, and of course rather a
+drawback than otherwise.
+
+The marechal laughed till his round red face was blue, for these
+disinterested persons oozed with ravening greed. The queen looked
+grave. To save her favourite from the maw of vultures was a
+responsibility she would not shirk. A spouse must be found for
+Gabrielle who might be trusted not to be outrageously bad to her. In
+these days a good husband of fitting rank was an extinct animal.
+Warily scanning the horizon, Marie Antoinette fixed, as the fitting
+swain, on Clovis, Marquis de Gange, and de Breze agreed with her
+majesty that Clovis was just the man.
+
+So far as family went, the De Ganges could compete with the noblest.
+Acres had dwindled; tenants were recalcitrant; Clovis's income was
+little more than nominal, but nowadays poverty was modish in the
+highest circles; and, besides, it is well that the husband of a great
+heiress should be kept under due control. The cunning old soldier had
+settled long ago that the spouse of his daughter should not make ducks
+and drakes of her broad pieces, at least without her full consent. He
+had arranged in his own mind that he would bind up the money tight,
+and place it in her hands, hedged about with safeguards when called to
+another world. Till then he would himself dispense his fortune as his
+darling should wish and dictate. To this arrangement de Gange was
+quite agreeable, knowing that the marechal was no skin-flint who would
+need abject suing. The old gentleman, who flattered himself that he
+was a judge of character, scanned the young man's features with keen
+scrutiny, and on the smooth surface could detect nothing of the
+ravenous wolf. The marquis was a tall, well-built, handsome fellow,
+dreamy and absent in manner, pedantic in his ways, a trifle too much
+enamoured of the crotchets of his day.
+
+In the waning eighteenth century, while ladies were hopelessly
+frivolous or else weighed down with pedantry, the gentlemen came for
+the most part under three categories. There was the debauched
+voluptuary, ruined alike in health, purse, and reputation, whose
+honour was perforce upon his sleeve, since there was no room in his
+body for aught but selfishness. Then there was a feeble imitator who
+was as artistically unsatisfactory as nondescripts always are, for his
+fragment of conscience pulled him one way, and his envious admiration
+of stupendous wickedness another. He was always on the see-saw between
+vice and virtue, barely within touch of either. The third class was
+the most interesting, for it was clothed in mystery and draped in
+paradox. The dark and uncanny and incomprehensible engrossed the minds
+of this set. Revealed religion having been voted out of date by the
+encyclopaedists and others, it was necessary to replace the broken idol
+with another. It was affirmed that Nature was moved by secret springs,
+governed by a world of spirits whom it was possible to coerce and
+bring under man's dominion. It was discovered that talismans,
+astrology, magic sciences, were not the vulgar impostures denounced by
+a jealous priestcraft; that the _genus homo_ was composed of two
+distinct organisms, one visible and one invisible, the latter of which
+was privileged to roam freely about the universe, paying morning calls
+in remote planets, communing with angelic hosts. This was a
+fascinating theory for many reasons. The spirits who pulled our
+world-strings were good and bad, and alike vulnerable. Clearly, then,
+it was the distinct duty of philanthropists to fight and conquer those
+who were responsible for human ills. How delightful a sensation to
+seize a naughty spirit by the hair and administer a sound drubbing! To
+wrestle with the one, for instance, who is responsible for gout, and
+return him tweak for tweak! The yoke of the evil ones must be thrown
+off, that humanity, comfortably free from pain and sorrow, might sit
+down and enjoy millennium.
+
+Hence, the dreamy people who vaguely wished well to their fellows,
+joined the train of mystics, laid claim to superior virtue, and
+titillated their petty vanity by posing cheaply as philanthropists.
+
+Then think of the refreshing variety which might be introduced into
+one's amours! A weariful succession of mundane mistresses is so
+palling to a jaded palate. But according to the new creed, as your
+earthly tenement was occupied, _faute de mieux_, by commonplace
+lovemaking and intrigue, your more fortunate other self was blessed by
+an ethereal Affinity. While, in the flesh, you dallied, for want of
+something more amusing to do, at the feet of Phryne, your soul was
+flirting with a seraph somewhere in rarified space. It is gravely and
+seriously related of the visionary Swedenborg that while he resided in
+London, his fleshly frame was continually being refreshed. And how?
+His ethereal essence was in constant communion with that of a noble
+lady in Gutemburg. Their entwined spirits sat on a satin sofa in a
+boudoir illumined by wax candles--which candles were punctually
+lighted by respectful footmen at the accustomed hour of the
+rendezvous.
+
+The high priest of the new creed was Mesmer, a Swabian doctor, who was
+conspicuously successful in waging war against the envious elves who
+undermine the health. As to his career of victory there was no doubt
+whatever, for by hocus-pocus and laying on of hands, he succeeded in
+curing a variety of nervous complaints which the enemy said were due
+to diseased imagination. It was idle to deny that somehow or other he
+did work miracles. Even St. Thomas, arch-doubter, could believe what
+he saw and felt. Under Mesmer's influence the sick took up their beds
+and walked, the halt flung away their crutches. The streets about his
+dwelling were choked with blazoned coaches. The frivolous and the
+earnest alike lost their heads. Considering the peculiarities of his
+temperament--too timid and too lazy to act, and therefore easily
+satisfied with theory--it was in the nature of things that Clovis,
+Marquis de Gange, should be Mesmer's most fervent pupil.
+
+At a period when the peccadilloes of high-born aspirants to eligible
+maidens were apt to be somewhat deep-dyed, it would have been absurd
+to object to a suitor on the frivolous score of mysticism. The most
+exacting of wives could hardly be jealous of a passing flirtation with
+the crystal ball of Doctor Dee. Nor could she fairly take umbrage at
+delicate attentions to a crucible. Clovis and Gabrielle were married
+in the royal chapel, the bride being given away by the most amiable
+and unsinning of hard-used monarchs, and the world (who ought to know)
+said that the future of the happy pair could not be otherwise than
+rosy. They were a model couple, for Clovis was serious and reflective
+beyond his years, with a graceful turn for music, while the lovely
+face of Gabrielle beamed with affectionate pride. She was quiet,
+steady, and domestic, quite smothered under a heap of virtues.
+
+Unfortunately, there were spirits at work who should have been
+detected at once in their mischievous game if Mesmer had not been
+napping, and duly routed by that prophet for the behoof of his dear
+pupil. They should have been carefully exorcised by the Master for his
+benefit, and sent packing into space to worry some one else; but as
+ill-luck would have it, the prophet was no longer present. All the
+medicos of the French capital uprose with one accord, like one large
+man, and sent the great Mesmer flying. If the new creed was to be
+accepted, where would all the doctors be? It was altogether a
+pestilent affair. Bread must not be snatched out of the mouths of
+doctors by designing quacks. Deputations of furious physicians rushed
+to the Tuileries, charging the luckless Swabian with egregious
+misdemeanours, and the king, as was his wont, gave way on the wrong
+occasion. Mesmer fell a victim to professional jealousy and ignorance,
+and was banished from France. He paid clandestine visits to Paris
+between 1785 and 1793, and to the end his following was great, but for
+all that, like many another illustrious pioneer, he was kicked and
+buffeted by ignorance.
+
+The spirits, whom he was too busy in his absence and his anxieties to
+exorcise, played havoc in the new _menage_. Clovis, who took very
+kindly to the fleshpots, was proud of his wife's beauty and success,
+and in no wise jealous of the danglers. In truth, she was no more to
+him than the _chef-d'[oe]uvre_ of a great painter, which we admire as
+our own until we weary of it; while we take pleasure in listening to
+the praises of the critics thereanent, because it chances to be our
+property; a noble work whose beauties we appreciate for a time with
+the eye of the connoisseur, then--since it is always with us--cease to
+contemplate at all. She was perfect, of course; every one knew that.
+Her husband, however, found little enjoyment in her society, and soon
+came to prefer the contemplation of the over-vaunted charms from a
+respectful distance.
+
+Accustomed as the spoilt beauty was to lavish showers of admiration
+from morning till night, the unexpected coldness of Clovis surprised
+and offended Gabrielle. Had she not in her artless way said, as it
+were, "You are my partner, chosen by the wise ones. I am pure, and
+true, and full of love, and you shall have it all?" It was not within
+her experience to suppose that the chosen partner would care nothing
+for her. How could she suppose that the angel direct from heaven
+(which she was assured that she was at least a dozen times a day) was
+no more to the bone of her bone than a statue to be dusted and
+approved? Gabrielle was extremely proud; had been pampered much. She
+was--alas, that so fair a jewel should be flawed--quite ignorant of
+female wiles. So distressing and blunt an innocence was probably her
+mother's gift. Uncompromisingly straightforward, the young bride, who,
+from the first, was genuinely fond of the handsome marquis, roundly
+accused him of indifference. What had she done to deserve it? As she
+complained, she cried a little, which was tiresome. Men abhor feminine
+whimpering, which always reddens the nose.
+
+She insisted on knowing in what she had offended. Her listening lord
+came down from an excursion in some upper sphere, somewhat irritably
+disposed by the interruption, and abruptly assured the weeping lady
+that she was mistaken. He admired and liked her very much, and would
+like her still better if she would abstain from making scenes. He had
+never been in love, he tranquilly confessed, and never would be; had
+never been in the meshes of any siren. Perhaps his invisible twin-self
+was so devoted somewhere to an "Affinity" as to have engrossed the
+love-capacity of both.
+
+Such an explanation did not mend matters. An Affinity, forsooth--in
+space! More likely one of flesh and blood in hiding round the corner.
+It is humiliating to be calmly told that the man to whom one has given
+oneself till death brings parting, has never been in love--ay--and
+never will be! Stung by a feeling that was half-suspicious jealousy,
+half-outraged pride, the young wife said cutting things which had
+better been left unspoken. The face of the marquis darkened. "It
+depends on yourself," he remarked, coldly, "whether we dwell together
+in peace and amity or not. I have already said that I like and admire
+you very much. You must be content to take people as you find them,
+for it is manifest that no one can give that which he does not
+possess."
+
+It is a grievous thing for a domestically inclined and affectionate
+woman to be rudely exhorted to feed on her own tissues; to discover
+that, as regards herself and the chosen one, affection is all on one
+side. With burning tears of mortification, Gabrielle realised that
+though Clovis was as cold as a corpse, she loved him. Perchance the
+unconscious fear engendered by contact with so unusual and unexpected
+a type, gave birth to a surprised fascination. She set him down as a
+very clever and extremely learned man, and, had he so willed it, would
+have worshipped at his shrine with the unreasoning satisfaction of
+those who are not mentally gifted. She would have whispered with arms
+about his neck, "Dear Clovis! I am not clever enough to rise to your
+level, but I believe all you say because you say it. So kiss me, for I
+am yours for all in all, and so delighted to be lovely and an heiress
+for your dear darling sake!" But how to coo forth such pretty prattle
+to a figure made of wood? How rest content with being coldly liked,
+when you are burning to be beloved? Scathing disappointment and
+disillusion! The beautiful and pampered Gabrielle, fortune's favoured
+child, moped and fretted, and was miserable.
+
+As years went on matters did not improve, for the unseen fingers of
+the naughty spirits were tearing the pair asunder. When she would
+fain have pouted out her lips to kiss, he stretched a surface of
+cheek that was aggressively passive. He was kind according to his
+lights--intended to be quite a model husband, but then wives and
+husbands differ as to the way that leads to perfection. Since there
+could be no sympathy between them, he interfered with her in no wise.
+A man often deems that negative condition of freedom the _summum
+bonum_; not so an affectionate woman. It is said that _mariages de
+convenance_ are in the long run the most satisfactory unions, because
+neither party expects anything, and whatever pleasure may casually
+arise from friendly intercourse is to the good, whereas love-matches
+are built upon the sand, made up of vague yearnings and unpractical
+desires. The inevitable discovery is reached with lamentable rapidity
+that dolls are stuffed with bran, and that in a sadly imperfect world
+"things are not what they seem." But if sympathy is nil--never existed
+at all--what flowers of joy can spring from utter barrenness? Clovis
+adored music, and could discourse prettily enough on the 'cello.
+Alack! Gabrielle had no ear, could not tell Glueck from Lulli; the
+droning of the 'cello set her nerves a tingling; and when the
+unappreciated player put down the bow to prate of animal magnetism, as
+expounded by the immortal Mesmer, his beautiful wife grew peevish. Oh,
+foolish Gabrielle! why could you not be affectionately deceitful since
+you loved the man. Is the better sex gifted for nothing with peculiar
+attributes? Why not have compelled yourself, with pardonable
+falsehood, to ask tenderly after the favourite 'cello, have begged to
+be told more of Mesmer? You would, doubtless, have had to listen to
+much that would have profoundly bored you; but is not sweet woman's
+mission self-effacement--the daily swallowing of a large dose of
+boredom? Would you not have been well repaid, if you could have taught
+your husband by cunning degrees to seek your society instead of
+gadding after science; to prefer to all others a seat in your bower,
+with the partner who has become necessary to his comfort?
+
+Certain it is that some of us have a dismal knack of turning our least
+comely side to those whom we like best. Whilst inwardly longing to
+fling herself prone in the mire and embrace his dear, lovely legs, the
+marquise grew nervous in her husband's presence; was fatally impelled
+somehow to play the somnambule, and close up like a sleeping flower.
+
+And so it came about that as time wore on the husband sought his
+wife's society less and less; grew daily more indifferent.
+
+The Marquise de Gange was not one of those who could find distraction
+among danglers. Both education and temperament forbade so improper but
+modish a proceeding. To her the circle of admirers were wired dolls,
+and tiresome puppets, too. Eating her heart in solitude, she might
+have been goaded in time to fly the empty world, and seek the
+consolation of a cloister. But she was saved from such grim comfort by
+the arrival of a pair of cherubs. A boy and a girl were born unto her,
+and thanking God for the saving boon, she arose and felt brave again.
+
+Gabrielle's nature, which had been hardening, though she knew it not,
+softened. For the sake of the pink mites she could consent to live on
+in a world that was no longer empty. By some magical metamorphosis the
+ugly cracks that had yawned across the stony plain had been filled up.
+The dun hideousness which by its drear monotony made the eyes ache was
+masked by blossom and verdure. Crooning over the silver cradle in
+which both treasures slumbered (an extravagance of the enchanted
+marechal) she built airy palaces of amazing gorgeousness for them to
+dwell in. They were to be shielded by triple walls from care and
+sorrow. To money all, we are told, is possible. Then fell the palaces
+like piles of cards. Had she not herself been shielded? Had not gold
+been freely squandered that not one of her rose leaves should be
+crumpled? Yet--but for the advent of the cherubs, and despite the
+watchful affection of the doting marechal--had she not been very near
+fleeing from the tinsel grandeur of a squalid globe to take refuge at
+the altar-foot?
+
+The castles insisted on being built, however. Patience and
+long-suffering would reap their reward some day. The cherubs would
+grow up and weave an indissoluble link with their young fingers which
+should draw the estranged parents together and bind them tight at
+last. Their mother would fondly teach them to adore their father, to
+see none but his best side. They would learn to respect his crotchets.
+And at this point she would herself be lost in dreamy reverie. Could
+his tenets with regard to the prophet be aught but midsummer madness?
+There was no doubt that he cured the sick. What if it were really
+possible to rout the wicked demons and produce millennium? To her
+practical but limited intelligence the creed was a farrago of folly.
+But then, Clovis, who was so clever, believed in it. Was she more
+stupid and ignorant even than humility confessed? Then she would rise
+suddenly and go about some household business, with the head-shake of
+the antlered stag that scatters dewdrops. The new creed was blasphemy,
+and she would have naught to do with it. The holy angels would guard
+herself and the dear innocents, if angelic suffrages could be secured
+by never-ceasing fervent prayer.
+
+Sages do not care for babies, though mothers generally do. Clovis,
+when exhorted to that effect, contemplated his offspring once a day as
+some curious product from a distant land, gave each cherub a finger to
+suck, then retired with unseemly alacrity to his 'cello and his books.
+
+The ramifications of secret societies in the metropolis were spreading
+in all directions--societies which deliberated with closed doors to
+escape vulgar ribaldry--bands of philanthropists urged by pure
+benevolence, in search now of a universal panacea. Humanity was a vast
+brotherhood to be united for mutual defence against the machinations
+of the devils. Exhorted by Mesmer from a distance, the faithful toiled
+quietly on, that the name of their master might be exalted.
+
+So matters progressed in humdrum fashion for several years, and Clovis
+was placidly content; but as the procession of the months went by, a
+gradual change came over the societies, which, when he became aware of
+it, filled the unmilitant soul of the marquis with dread. Bold
+philanthropists, at midnight meetings, would sometimes give vent to
+new and startling views, affecting not health, but politics. A few
+presumed openly to declare that the evil spirits had got into the
+ministers, from whom they must be quickly expelled. Considering that
+ministries fell and rose just now at brief intervals, it was shocking
+to think how many bad spirits must be at work. M. Necker and Turgot,
+and brilliantly fertile Calonne, were all occupied by fiends who
+entered in and made themselves comfortable, as the hermit-crab invades
+the shell of the creature he has devoured. This theorem being
+established, it became the duty of the philanthropists to busy
+themselves on behalf of their country, which needed special as well as
+prompt doctoring. Then uprose speakers whose discourse smacked little
+of philanthropy, but savoured rather of iconoclasm. The Marquis de
+Gange, noble and wealthy, would make a splendid figure-head for the
+budding movement. Ere he could recover breath, or gather the scattered
+strands of his scared wits, Clovis found himself on the point of
+becoming an important political personage, and at a moment when
+prominence and personal peril marched hand in hand abreast. He
+prudently took to shunning the places of meeting, which but the other
+day had been his favourite resorts, for he had a horror of politics,
+and objected to being made a hero; but the agitators declined to let
+him escape so easily. They pursued him to his home, strove to convince
+him that he was a patriot; by turns threatened and cajoled, till the
+dreamer in an agony beheld no safety but in flight. A pretty state of
+things! Was not his wife the favourite of the queen; his father-in-law
+esteemed by the king? What would the verdict of his class be, were he
+to turn round and bite the hands that had caressed him? He would be
+ostracised, undone, held up to merited obloquy. He had no ambition to
+become another Lafayette, and declined to be convinced by argument. To
+avoid being mixed in complications fraught with danger, it would be
+prudent to vanish for a time, but whither to retire was the rub. He
+wished to stay and yet to go, and bit his nails in indecision.
+Concealed anxiety made calm Clovis querulous and snappish, and
+Gabrielle was not slow to perceive that he was suffering, though the
+cause she could not guess. He had got himself into some mess. Was it
+money? If only he would let her share his worries! Her timid overtures
+were promptly nipped; terror made him absolutely harsh. Sighing, she
+fell back upon herself, as usual, and kissed the cherubs in their bed.
+
+At the time when this story opens, July, 1789, the marquis and his
+wife had been married six years. The latter, though easily led by
+kindness, could fitfully display sometimes symptoms of independence.
+As a loving and self-respecting woman, she had kept with infinite care
+her catalogue of troubles from her parents. They, content with
+constant assurances that all was well, desired no further information.
+Madame de Breze had settled, to her complete satisfaction, that her
+son-in-law was a harmless lunatic. When she obliged him with her
+views, he looked through her at something beyond. But then, who had
+ever appreciated her sagacity? Well, well. Have not some of our
+brightest lights been misunderstood while alive, to be tardily
+canonized afterwards? As for M. de Breze, he was perfectly satisfied
+with Clovis, who, if eccentric and somewhat fish-like, was
+delightfully free from vices. If a man is perfect in manners and
+deportment, always civil and obliging, surely you may forgive the
+small drawbacks which go with the visionary and the bookworm. The
+bluff soldier would have had him drink and gamble more, just to show
+that he was human and a man, and be less fond of mysterious societies.
+But as Clovis had himself remarked, we must take people as we find
+them, and be content with mercies vouchsafed. Why! The marquis might
+have turned out an incorrigible rake; have squandered large sums
+coaxed from his wife on low theatrical hussies. Thank goodness, he
+showed no signs of breaking out in that direction; and it was not
+until the _soiree intime_ at the palace that it came home to the
+doting father that there might be something amiss in the _menage_.
+
+Gabrielle had looked so unaccountably distressed and confused. She was
+concealing something--what? Was the placid marquis an ogre in private?
+Of course not. As he strolled home the marechal made up his mind to
+pump Toinon on the morrow, and, from hints ingeniously extracted from
+that astute damsel, severely catechise his daughter.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+                            INVESTIGATION.
+
+
+Who was Toinon? A very important personage. Foster-sister and
+confidential abigail to the Marquise de Gange, the two were as united
+as if they had indeed been sisters.
+
+Of pretty dark-eyed roguish Toinon, neither the lacqueys, nor pages,
+nor hairdressers could make anything. When they exposed their flame
+for her edification she was irreverent enough to laugh. Tapping the
+swelling bosom, of whose outline she was justly proud, she would
+declare with a merry peal, that it was an empty casket. The organ
+which they professed to covet was no longer there, having been
+surrendered to the safe custody of a certain young man at Lorge. She
+had left it behind on purpose, lest some of these enterprising
+kitchen-beaux should steal it unawares. Whereabouts was Lorge, one
+gibed, that he might run and fetch the treasure?
+
+Lorge, she replied, with mock seriousness, was a gloomy chateau on the
+Loire, home of rats and bats, of which the less one saw the better. He
+who would venture thither in search of that missing organ of hers
+would have to break a lance with Jean Boulot, a stalwart, honest
+gamekeeper, who would thrust the invader down an _oubliette_ without
+compunction, to vanish for evermore.
+
+When the worthy marechal called at the Hotel de Gange, as was his
+daily wont, and, instead of making at once for his daughter's boudoir,
+turned aside into the tiny chamber where Toinon sat and worked, that
+damsel started and turned red. Brought up side by side with Gabrielle,
+she entertained a deep veneration for the old soldier. For him as for
+the marquise, she would have worked her fingers to the bone; have
+cheerfully submitted to any penance; and now her conscience tingled
+guiltily, for she knew that she deserved a lecture.
+
+Doubtless it had come to the ears of de Breze that when last the
+family was at Lorge, she and big Jean Boulot had plighted troth
+together. The marechal would, of course, rate her soundly for her
+folly, since with her advantages she might have done much better than
+throw herself away upon a peasant.
+
+Jean was a fine fellow, blunt and obstinate, but sincere, given to
+thinking for himself, but he was only a servant, half-gamekeeper,
+half-bailiff, and many a well-to-do farmer would have been too glad to
+place pretty Toinon at the head of his table. This was bad enough; but
+worse remained behind. Since it had been imprudently encouraged by the
+king, that plaguy Third Estate had been giving itself airs, flaunting
+its arrogant pretensions and propounding its ridiculous demands from
+every country cabaret. The absurd ant stood erect upon its hill with
+threatening mandibles. Mere yokels were presuming to chatter in
+village market-places, to discuss matters which concerned their
+betters, to express opinions of their own which were sadly lacking in
+respect; and somehow they escaped the lash. Such impudence caused
+proper-minded and cultured persons to shiver in dismay. If we turn
+swine into lap-dogs, we shall certainly regret our foolishness. The
+old marechal, who hated Lorge, detested it more than ever, when he
+found that the evil leaven had penetrated into far Touraine, and was
+not slow in expressing his views with regard to the ant upon the hill.
+"Life is a game of give and take," he said, "in which the unscrupulous
+always take too much, unless kept well in hand. Peasants should have
+no individual opinions, but humbly follow their masters."
+
+Now, was it not a shocking thing that Jean Boulot, who ought to have
+meekly bowed his head at the very mention of aristocracy, should be
+insolent enough to make rude remarks about the upper class under the
+shadow of ancestral Lorge? It was reported to the marechal that his
+paid servant had harangued his cronies under the village tree, and had
+used pestilent expressions anent the local magnates. He received
+prompt warning that on a repetition of the offence he would lose his
+place, whereupon he was said to have remarked, with a broad grin, that
+soon there would be no place to lose. And Toinon, foster-sister and
+confidential abigail, had absolutely betrothed herself in secret to
+this abandoned wretch!
+
+It was awful; but when we give ourselves away, how shall we recover
+the gift? She determined to bring her lover to a proper frame of mind
+before confessing what she had done. She wrote commenting sharply on
+the escapade, imploring her betrothed to reform, lest haply he should
+share the gruesome fate which she was informed awaited democrats. To
+this he had replied in an independent and flippant manner, which
+foreshadowed a thorny future. "My darling," he had the assurance to
+write, "never fear for me. If all masters were like ours, instead of
+being selfish tyrants, we should all be peaceable and happy; but,
+alas, the innocent minority must, for the general good, submit to
+suffer for the guilty. France, asleep too long, is slowly waking.
+National sovereignty, spell-bound for centuries, has yawned and
+stretched itself, and fools would oppose, to combat the champions of
+Liberty, the flickering will of a weak king! War, my dearest, it will
+have to be, for we must wade to the goal through blood. God gives
+justice to men only at the price of battles!"
+
+A nice sort of letter, this, for one who was almost a de Breze to
+receive from her affianced husband! How quickly she destroyed the
+tell-tale scrap which she had hoped to be able to exhibit. These
+high-flown periods were not his own. With rough and homely fist he had
+copied this pinchbeck fervour. He must have taken to frequenting one
+of those horrid, odious clubs that were springing up like fungi, be
+consorting with abominable demagogues. There were some firebrands
+about who were beginning to be known as Jacobins. Surely honest Jean
+would never become so depraved as to join that cohort? Would it be
+wise as well as loyal to send this lover packing--to disclaim at once
+both him and his pestilent opinions? No doubt it would, but in love
+matters who is wise? Toinon loved her big, blunt, honest Jean, and if
+he adored his darling as he delightfully vowed he did, it was her
+place to exert her influence to bring him to a better mind. On the
+very next visit to Lorge, she would rate him soundly, drag him by
+force out of the mire, cleanse his soiled wool, and produce in triumph
+the errant sheep clean and quite respectable.
+
+But if the marechal knew all about it, and was here now to administer
+a jobation, what course should she pursue? It was a feeling of guilt
+and a resolve to fight that brought the becoming flush to Toinon's
+cheek.
+
+It was not, however, to denounce an undeserving swain who was a
+democrat that the marechal strode into her room, and hearkening to his
+discourse she felt relieved. After listening to the tale of his
+suspicions the girl sat pondering with her work upon her lap gazing
+idly at a long string of gilt sedans that were crawling in the
+direction of the Tuileries. The marquis unkind to his wife? Yes and
+no. He was a singular man, the marquis, made up, more than most, of
+contradictory and opposing elements. He was apparently self-contained,
+complete in himself, needing no sympathetic help; and yet he was a
+weak and undecided man, and these require support. To Toinon he was a
+riddle, for it had struck her once or twice that the passions of which
+he seemed to be bereft might be only dormant; that the crust in which
+he was enveloped might need but a touch for him to burst his
+cerements, and show that he was a mortal after all. Was he
+deceitful--playing a part for a deliberate purpose? No. Toinon thought
+not; there was no motive for comedy. What she did feel certain of was
+this. If he was in a trance, as she half suspected, it must be by some
+other hand than Gabrielle's that he would eventually be aroused. He
+was an instrument which she had not the skill to play upon. Had not
+the faithful abigail watched the pair for years? As month followed
+month they had drifted further asunder and were still drifting. The
+estrangement to the wife was torture; the husband it affected not. In
+her pain she lowered herself to "scenes"--exhaled herself in wearisome
+complaints.
+
+The Marechal de Breze was shocked and distressed. Torture, scenes,
+complaints! And he had been thanking heaven that there was no blur on
+the mirror of their happiness. He would take his son-in-law to task;
+pour out upon him the appalling vials of his indignation; bring him to
+his knees repentant. Toinon sagely shook her head. "Place not the
+finger twixt bark and tree," dryly observed the sapient maiden. "The
+paled ashes of affection may not be made to glow again by scoldings.
+She is an angel--the best of women--but too apt sometimes to figure
+as a _femme incomprise_. All may come right in time, for he is a
+well-meaning man if difficult to live with." Then Toinon travelled off
+on the sea of conjecture. Was he a good man or not? "Upon my word,"
+she declared at last, "after six years of watching I cannot tell what
+he is. A colourless nonentity? I can hardly think so. There are people
+with whom we have been in close communion half our lives, and whom we
+believe we know down to the finger-tips. Then, hey! Presto! They
+suddenly do something unexpected, and we find that we never knew them
+at all!"
+
+"But with such a wife as Gabrielle," urged the marechal, chafing.
+"Young, pure, sweet, rich, beautiful. Gracious powers! Was the man
+marble? What more could mortal require?"
+
+Toinon, except in her own love affairs, could be vastly wise. "Alas,
+dear master," she said, laughing sadly, "sure you have learned by this
+time that to some perfection is intolerable? Are we not often
+impelled, being so imperfect ourselves, to love people for their
+defects? On account of alluring blemishes we agree to overlook their
+virtues. You must have known men, chained for life to loveliness, who
+have adored a freckled fright, and gloated in the joy of contrast over
+the details of her ugliness."
+
+The old soldier looked glumly out of window, silent, whereupon the
+damsel continued.
+
+"Of all the stupid old legends, Beauty and the Beast is the silliest.
+Why. Many a charming woman would have been disgusted when the hideous
+wretch turned out a handsome prince. What is at the bottom of
+_mesalliances?_ Why do cultivated women elope with ignorant domestics;
+leave home and comfort to consort with a lacquey or a groom? Because
+to some there is a charm in stooping. The act of uncrowning is in
+itself a pleasure. Perhaps madame is too perfect for the marquis."
+
+The marechal admitted, by silence, the truth of the shrewd damsel's
+discourse. In his own time he had had a wide experience, grave and
+gay, and was not unaware that a jaded or unhealthy appetite craves for
+abnormal food. None knew better than he that the insipidity of
+doll-like prettiness may grow exasperating. We gaze at portraits of
+the celebrated fair ones of the past, and scanning their queer mouths
+and noses, conclude that fashions change in beauty as well as costume.
+We fail to detect the charms of Anne Bullen or Mary Stuart, and we are
+wrong. Intellect and wit can illumine irregular features as the sun
+lights up a landscape. Thick lips and a snub nose may be transfigured
+under the divine rays till they seem a miracle of loveliness.
+
+Then the anxious old gentleman waxed cross. A froward girl was Toinon
+with her sham sagacity. She had ridden away on a false premise. The
+most plausible theories are delusive. Gabrielle was no doll, but a
+quiet, well-conducted, sensible woman enough, if not of brilliant
+parts. _Femme incomprise_, indeed! Modest but fragrant violets lurk
+under leaves, and we take the trouble to look for them. How dared this
+presumptuous marquis to misunderstand the treasure he had won? It was
+not the comely mask of flesh alone that drew the buzzing crowd of
+moths. Married, they could not be aiming at her wealth. The marquise
+was constantly surrounded by the attentive bevy of youths. Butterflies
+attended her daily levee, drank chocolate while her hair was being
+powdered, spent hours over her trivial errands, and she accorded to
+none the preference. A virtuous wife in an unvirtuous throng might be
+of momentary interest as an anomaly, but sparks would soon weary of
+the wonder. No. She was lively enough to hold her own in the swift
+patter of petty small-talk. It did the heart good to hear her jocund
+laugh. It must be admitted that the expression of her face changed
+little, but then it was so fair that to change would be to mar it. Who
+would have the sculptured Psyche grin, or ask the Venus of Milo to
+grimace?
+
+The more carefully he reviewed this knotty question, the more
+bewildered became the excellent de Breze. Laudably resolved to delve
+to the bottom, he left the waiting-maid for the mistress, and observed
+for the first time that his daughter's welcoming smile was less bright
+than of yore. On being cross-questioned, she grew grave and reticent,
+refusing to complain of her husband, and entrenched herself within a
+proud reserve. "He might be odd, but she preferred him as he was," she
+declared shortly; would not have him altered by one tittle. Vainly her
+father pressed her, assured her that he would do nothing that she
+would not entirely approve. There was naught to be drawn from
+Gabrielle.
+
+"Well," said the marechal at last, wistfully sighing, "if I am not to
+interfere, I won't; but you know that I live only for my child."
+
+"I know you do, dear," she softly answered. "Your anxiety wrings my
+heart!"
+
+Then rising from her seat, trembling from head to foot, she clasped
+him in a fond embrace, and seemed about to make a confession. Words
+trembled on her lips, but whatever they were, she choked them back
+again, and indulged in delicious tears.
+
+"You have spoilt me so, that I am naughty and capricious," she
+remarked gaily. "Do you really sufficiently love your little Gabrielle
+to submit to a wayward whim?"
+
+"When did I deny you anything?" reproachfully replied de Breze.
+
+"Never; nor will you now, though it is a great slice of property that
+I require. Will the best of men humour my new fancy? Yes? Well, then,
+know that I am tired of Paris and its tinsel, and would fain retire to
+the country."
+
+"You--leave the gaieties of Paris?"
+
+"Yes. The good air and quiet will brace my nerves, untuned by racket,
+and that explosion of presumptuous wickedness that sacrificed so many
+lives."
+
+"The storming of the Bastile?" returned the marechal. "Pshaw! By and
+bye we will terribly avenge de Launay and his intrepid garrison. What
+on earth will you do in the country? In a week you'll be petrified
+with ennui."
+
+"Not at Lorge. Its grimness suits my humour. The children are less
+strong than I would have them. Freedom in pure air will bring back the
+roses to their cheeks, and in them you know I am engrossed. My
+children, oh! my children! What should I have become without them."
+
+The involuntary bitter cry, so eloquent of pain, and so speedily
+suppressed, clove the bosom of the marechal.
+
+"She will not tell me or have confidence," he groaned inwardly, "and
+yet her suffering is great. She must have her way in this as in other
+things, and God be with her in her travail."
+
+With the delicate tact of a gentleman he let pass the cry unnoticed,
+and simply said, "What do you wish, my dearest?"
+
+"Lorge," she replied, "no less. What a rapacious greedy soul I must be
+to rob you of the home of your ancestors!"
+
+"It shall be yours," the marechal replied, delighted to be able to do
+something. "I understand that for some reason you desire to take
+possession and hold the place without interference? Is that so? At my
+death, it will be yours with all the rest. Meanwhile, I lend it, to do
+with as you will."
+
+It was an odd fancy. What could be the meaning of the freak? Presently
+he enquired, "What will your husband do?"
+
+"It was his idea," was the eager rejoinder. "He wishes it, and I
+am--oh--so very glad! I long to get him away from Paris and its evil
+influences. Do you know, father?" Gabrielle continued in a grave
+whisper, "that there are secret meetings he attends, to come home at
+dawn in a fever. And there are forbidding men who come to see him,
+whom he evidently does not want to see; such coarse and common men. I
+don't know what it all is, but it has something to do with that
+mystical groping after the unattainable which is so weariful, and can
+only end in madness. To a Christian, such impious presumption is
+horrible!"
+
+"Then I hold the clue?" cried the old man, much relieved. "It is the
+prophet who is in your way? You would wean Clovis from Mesmer, turn
+him from Cagliostro, and carry him to Mass on Sundays?"
+
+The idea was so comically innocent, that de Breze wheezed with
+delight. "Sweet pet!" he said, tapping his daughter's cheek archly,
+"you are earnest if not clever."
+
+And then he went off into a shout of laughter, as he beheld in
+imagination the daily scene at Lorge. _Tete-a-tete_ in the dreary
+chateau among the bats and owls, she would drone out Bossuet's sermons
+to put animal magnetism to flight; perhaps call in the village cure to
+assist. What a delightful prospect for the husband! How ghastly
+tiresome is the wife who preaches at her other half; drones out to him
+scraps out of good books. Well, well. We must not place our finger
+twixt bark and tree; but if any form of desperation was likely to
+awake the entranced Clovis (as Toinon had it), a system of moral
+lecturing on the part of a well-meaning but narrow-minded spouse was
+about the thing to perform the miracle.
+
+The marechal trotted home quite pleased, and straightway informed by
+letter those whom it concerned that henceforth, the Marquise de Gange
+was to be considered the proprietress of Lorge. Both M. and Madame de
+Breze equally loathed the place. If Gabrielle was possessed by the
+strange fancy of playing chatelaine, in its cobwebbed corridors, let
+her do so by all means, and convert her husband if she might.
+
+The good marechal was mistaken. Gabrielle knew better than to worry
+her husband with importunate readings, but trusted rather for the
+working of a change to the renewed intimacy which retirement must
+produce. She never would have dared to propose a hermitage to Clovis,
+but when he himself suggested a temporary flitting, she thanked heaven
+as if a prayer had been answered. She could not guess that he was
+afraid to stop in Paris, and that he was revolving an embryo scheme of
+closer union with Mesmer. The prophet having been ejected from the
+land with Maranatha, could not unfortunately bestow his presence or
+personal assistance. But why should he not send to his pupil some
+learned adept, well versed in mystic lore who, in sylvan solitude
+would further instruct the neophyte? Removed from the frivolous court,
+and secure against being mixed in the treasonable doings of political
+philanthropists, his mind would be in a condition of receptivity, and
+his studies would make giant strides.
+
+Poor Gabrielle! She had said to herself with a choking heart-leap
+that, removed from pernicious influences, she and the cherubs would
+wind fond webs about him, and win him from indifference to love. Alas!
+Poor simple yearning wife!
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+                       THE CHATEAU OF "LORGE."
+
+
+In Touraine, midway between Tours and Blois, the venerable chateau of
+Lorge stands out from a wooded background, bathing its feet in the
+swiftly flowing Loire, morosely contemplating the details of its grim
+reflection. Profoundly interesting from an archaeological point of
+view, the historic pile is not a lively dwelling, and it is no wonder
+that the jolly old marechal should have ungrudgingly passed it to his
+daughter. Privileged to occupy a place in one of the most smiling
+provinces of France, it is within a drive of Amboise on one side and
+Chinon on the other, dignified castles both; and not very far away is
+Diane de Poictier's Chenonceaux, whimsically spanning a river, a
+specimen of elfin architecture straight from fairyland. Lorge dates
+from the iron period; not the time of prehistoric man, who had
+recently blossomed out of monkeydom, but of the early mediaeval barons,
+who slept in their armour--as they still do on their tombs--whose pet
+pastimes were the cleaving of pates and the quaffing of usquebaugh.
+
+With the march of centuries Amboise, Chinon, and the rest found it
+advisable to polish themselves up, and modify their native harshness
+to be in touch with less rugged epochs; but no coaxing ingenuity of
+architect or landscape gardener could ever smooth the frown from the
+frowning face of Lorge. It seemed to say with pride, "The darkest and
+most cruel deeds have been perpetrated within my walls. Down below I
+have smothered the cries for mercy of weak women outraged, and
+children brutally maltreated. My favourite music is the clank of
+steel. I was baptised with blood, whose reek may never fade, whose
+stain may never be effaced."
+
+You cannot make a junketting house out of a fortress, and Lorge,
+despite changes, is a fortress still. On the facade, defended by the
+river, are the stately reception rooms, opening one into the other in
+a string; a long suite which occupies the first floor, whose heavily
+mullioned casements are large enough to permit the sun to gild the
+antique hangings. Each of these windows is adorned by a ponderous
+stone balcony, which can be used for purposes of defence. The other
+sides of the edifice seem blank and blind, the high enclosing walls
+being unbroken, save by a dentilated series of merlons and crenels,
+with cruciform embrasures below, The chambers on these sides are
+particularly depressing to the spirits, since they afford no prospect,
+save a bare paved court with the enclosing wall beyond.
+
+Courageous chatelaines, striving after cheerfulness, have made efforts
+from time to time to brighten Lorge. The drawbridge and portcullis,
+which jealously barred the entrance, have been removed from the double
+archway and replaced by wooden doors. The moat which guarded the three
+sides landward, with a defensive wall along the outer bank, has become
+a garden with trim green slopes, and a wealth of glorious roses. The
+ends that used to join the river have been walled up, and adorned with
+flights of steps which lead to decaying boat-houses. Private posterns,
+drilled in the masonry, afford easy access from the courtyard to the
+moat-pleasaunce for such as may possess the keys; but in spite of
+every effort, the flowering hedges and rose-bushes only serve by
+contrast to make Lorge more dreary--a skull bedecked with flowers. One
+specially brave lady had the hardihood once to plan great gardens in
+the Dutch style beyond the moat, on the other side of the road. There
+were long alleys of clipped yew and beech; _tonelles_ or arched bowers
+to give grateful shade; a procession of weird animals, fashioned of
+holly, that cast fantastic shadows on the sward; oblong tanks where
+swans serenely sailed, steering among isles of water-lily. But no
+subsequent chatelaine was sturdy enough to carry on the hopeless war.
+The alleys were soon choked, the _tonelles_ grew into thickets, the
+mimic menagerie degenerated into ragged rows of bushes. By the time
+the marechal inherited, there was no place devoted to flowers except
+the moat-pleasaunce, and even that was sadly neglected.
+
+Though you see them not, dank dungeons honeycomb the foundations.
+There are noisome cells on the level of the water-line that may at
+will be flooded. You know that they are there, although some lord with
+tender nerves fastened them up long since. There they are, under your
+feet, audibly crooning their low song of woe unmerited, of dumb
+despair, of remorseless cruelty. The ancient implements of torture
+that still ornament the wainscot of the banquet-hall take up their
+parable, and sing. Time does not still that wailing chaunt which tells
+of robbery, and tyranny, and persecution. No skill may exorcise the
+train of shades, undone for greed or lust, or victims for conscience'
+sake, who parade the corridors of Lorge.
+
+Not but what it has charms of its own: a plaintive sweetness set in a
+minor key. The view across the Loire in summer time of emerald
+woodland is superb. The long drawing-rooms overlooking the stream are
+of stately proportions. Their immense overhanging chimney-pieces are
+blazoned with coats of arms sculptured in the stone. Carved crests are
+repeated again and again in the fretted ceilings. The tapestries, with
+their shadowy story of mad King Charles the Sixth and his treacherous
+wife, and the faithful girl, Odette, with their warm background of
+dimmed gold, have been pronounced by experts to be priceless. The
+little boudoir at the end which closes the suite is a dainty and cosy
+nest. Than the country round nothing can be more delightful; you may
+ride for hours unchecked amid the leafy woods over a velvet carpet; or
+you may boat and explore the erratic sinuosities of the river,
+dreaming out epics as you go anent the lordly, but for the most part
+empty, dwellings that look down on you from either bank. As an
+irreverent Parisian visitor once observed to a horror-stricken
+neighbour, "Lorge would be a charming _sejour_ if one might pull down
+the castle and erect instead a villa."
+
+At the time which occupies us there was but one near neighbour
+resident. The Chateau de Montbazon was not much more than a mile away,
+having been built on a little bit of Lorge property beyond the Loire,
+which had changed hands one night at cards. The spot commanded an
+exceptionally fine prospect, so the owner placed a house on it. It was
+bought a generation later by the Baron de Vaux, who dwelt there with
+his wife and daughter, Angelique, and great was the joy of those
+ladies upon hearing that Lorge, which was so little occupied, was
+again to be inhabited.
+
+Country life at this period was, from a fashionable point of view, a
+singular anomaly. Marie Antoinette's dairymaid proclivities at Trianon
+had rendered it _de rigueur_ to find pleasure in bucolic occupations.
+Old customs were giving way to new-fangled habits borrowed from other
+nations. You were offered tea as in England instead of coffee, and
+were invited to join in the game of "boston," brought from the infant
+republic beyond seas by the followers of Lafayette. Dress, except at
+the Parisian court, grew simpler. Ladies, instead of brocaded damasks,
+wore muslins and flimsy materials. Men donned garments of plain cloth
+instead of satin or velvet. Noble dames grown tired of expensive
+jewellery affected a badge made of some hero's head executed in
+miniature. Franklin's or Rousseau's profile was modish, though the
+more sentimental preferred a pet cat's portrait set on a ribbon in
+place of a diadem and feathers. Emancipated from trains and furbelows,
+you could now really move about in the country without much
+discomfort.
+
+The court circle was perforce a narrow one. Those who had not the
+entree to Versailles withdrew to their estates when the queen retired
+to Trianon, and there drank milk and made believe to hunt, or acted
+tragedies and spouted epic poesy, pretending to be vastly entertained;
+not but what they were ready to rush back to the capital with all
+despatch when Fashion declared it possible.
+
+But then, of late years, the decrees of Fashion had been sorely
+interfered with by that aggressive Third Estate. Refusal to pay rents
+was annoying, but an evil to which all were accustomed. In some parts
+evil-disposed persons declared landlords to be the natural foes of the
+sovereign people, and discussed how the vermin was to be got rid of. A
+deep-rooted, bitter hate, sprung from long and systematic oppression,
+divided class from class by an intangible but impenetrable barrier; a
+hate that grew all the stronger, in that it had long been veiled by
+fear and lashed by supercilious scorn. Republicanism was in execrable
+taste--a subject for contemptuous laughter on the part of the
+provincial seigneurie. Its exponents bore on a pole a turnip with a
+candle in it, which could frighten none but children. The country
+nobility attached no special meaning to the unseemly snarling. Until
+the great crash came, and the rural palaces were sacked and burned,
+the seigneurie never fully realized the thinness of the crust they had
+been dancing on. In certain provinces it had been unsafe for some time
+past for landlords to show their noses at all, much less prate of
+paying rent. These not unwillingly left their chateaux to fate,
+whereby the condition of small shopkeepers and such local fry was not
+ameliorated. In more favoured districts dislike and discontent lay
+smouldering, and my lords were still free to amuse themselves with
+their guests from town, indifferent to the feelings of the masses.
+
+The de Vaux family were not of the court circle; indeed, they rarely
+travelled to the metropolis, but were content to ape its manners from
+a distance. The trio were dull enough, as narrow in their views and as
+obstinately fixed in the tenets of their grandsires as most country
+gentlefolk are, but they were well intentioned, and availed themselves
+of the earliest opportunity to pay their respects at Lorge. Gabrielle
+received them with open arms. Was she not bent on inaugurating a new
+era for herself and Clovis, and had she not been informed by her
+father's unseemly merriment, that it is not well to bore a husband?
+Not that the newcomers, who had driven over in the craziest of
+shanderydans, showed signs of being an acquisition. On the contrary.
+Long before the sun went down, Gabrielle felt that she could see too
+much of Madame de Vaux, while Clovis listened, marvelling, to the old
+gentleman's platitudes which were at least a century old.
+
+The baroness was not slow to tumble out upon the floor her peck of
+troubles. She always had a waggon-load about her. Angelique examined
+the gown of the marquise with absorbed interest. The baron lectured on
+affairs, with an occasional raid into his wife's country, to rout her
+army of Jeremiads.
+
+"Figure to yourself, my dear," groaned Madame de Vaux, after a
+refreshing pinch of snuff, "that though we have had little disturbance
+here so far, we are surrounded by snakes in the grass. Our Angelique
+is always doing something for the ungrateful monsters who, when her
+back's turned, gnash their teeth. All last winter, in spite of the
+hard times, we distributed broken victuals to the destitute, and they
+said that the refuse from our table had already been refused by the
+dogs. Did you ever hear the like? Horrid, spiteful, ungrateful
+creatures!"
+
+"They know no better," replied Angelique, with a contemptuous curl of
+the lip. "We can afford to laugh at them and their threats when we are
+conscious of having done our duty."
+
+"My brave child!" ejaculated madame with fervour; "what a comfort to
+be mother of a child who would rise equal to any emergency!"
+
+"Noblesse oblige!" snorted the baron, proudly. "We may be poor and
+compelled to fill ourselves with over much _bouilli_, but our blood is
+of the ancestral colour. A daughter of yours and mine, madame, would,
+of course, be equal to an emergency."
+
+The sentiment was mighty fine--one that might not be disputed. Clovis
+languidly bowed and murmured something polite, while Gabrielle yawned
+behind her fan. Good gracious! Was the intercourse of the new
+neighbours to consist in mutual admiration of pedigrees?
+
+The marquis turned the conversation to his favourite subject. Had the
+baron, who doubtless was acquainted with matters of current interest,
+by means of the _Gazette_, at all occupied himself with animal
+magnetism?
+
+With what? A pretty subject for gentlefolk! Rumour had already
+whispered that the young marquis's pursuits were uncanny. The baron
+glanced at the baroness, who looked unutterable things, while
+Angelique detected a shade of sadness flitting over the face of the
+marquise.
+
+"God forbid!" cried the old lady, leaping into the breach, "that we
+should know aught of devil's sabbats."
+
+Clovis laughed, amused. "It is so easy to denounce what we do not
+comprehend," he observed, demurely. "Some day, when you are howling
+with pain, we will drive over to Montbazon, and cure you by laying on
+of hands."
+
+Gabrielle frowned. Such an ill-chosen expression, a parody on Holy
+Writ, or something like it! She began to perceive that it might not be
+so easy to vanquish Mesmer, and, seeing them as shocked as she was,
+felt rather anxious to be rid of her guests.
+
+"I won't be cured by devils!" stoutly declared the baroness. "I'd
+rather grin and bear it."
+
+"For my part, I care little to inquire into the means, provided that I
+am cured," civilly remarked Angelique.
+
+Here was one ready for conversion! Clovis woke up, and drawing his
+chair closer, detailed with eager admiration the triumphs of the
+prophet, to which the baron listened with the polite sceptical smile
+that becomes one who is a noble--a superior person--and knows it.
+Gabrielle looked grave and apologetic. The ground was slippery, and
+the baroness, agile, despite her figure, again jumped into the breach.
+
+"Yes. Just one more dish of tea, my sweetest marquise," she cried,
+"and then we must go home to Montbazon. When you come to see us, if
+you like to walk, you have only to cross the river in a boat, you
+know, and the distance by the bridle-path is nothing. But I would not
+wander alone if I were you, there are such sinister men about. Do you
+know--of course you don't--that you've a nice thorn in your own side
+that will soon prick you--he! he! That Jean Boulot of yours is a
+shocking character, one of the odious, deceitful, crawling kind, which
+is the worst of all!"
+
+"Nothing of the sort, my dear!" interrupted the baron. "His opinions
+are regretable, but he is a rough, honest fellow who professes a
+humble fondness for the de Breze family, which does him honour!"
+
+"And in the same breath he derides the aristocracy!" retorted the old
+lady, with a giggle.
+
+"Which can well look after itself!" replied her husband.
+
+"Take my advice, dear, and get rid of him, or you'll regret it," urged
+the baroness.
+
+"He's a confidential servant, who was born and bred here!" objected
+Gabrielle. "He and those who went before have always served us well,
+and Jean would not hurt a hair of any of our heads, I warrant. He did
+something silly the other day in the way of talking nonsense, and my
+father rated him for it. That episode is over and forgotten."
+
+"He's a democrat, or worse, if possible," asserted the baroness with
+many nods. "Capable of anything, my dear; get rid of him; a scorpion!"
+she continued, wagging her head; and content with this first
+impression, the old lady gathered up her wraps, and with an elaborate
+curtsey, swept away the family, delighted with the effect she had
+produced.
+
+Neither Gabrielle nor Clovis were equally charmed. These tiresome
+people were their only neighbours! Then it must be solitude indeed.
+Angelique seemed a nice girl enough; but the baroness was overwise in
+her own conceit; and the baron ridiculously puffed with the
+overweening vanity of class. If the pair were to live absolutely
+alone, Gabrielle, doubting her own strength of will and power of
+fascination, already trembled for her experiment. Where could society
+be found which should rub off the jagged edges of a _tete-a-tete_? The
+chateaux round about were unoccupied. Nobody dwelt at Blois except
+bourgeoisie and common persons. Perhaps this move into the desert had
+been imprudent. Well, if it proved disastrous, they could return to
+Paris and no harm done, considering how far apart they had drifted
+already. A little society--just two or three congenial persons--would
+make all the difference; but where might such fowls be caught?
+
+What of this communication about Jean Boulot? surely it was idle
+tittle-tattle, born in the murky brain of a stupid old woman. He a
+scorpion on the hearth, to be got rid of before he could sting? The
+charge was ridiculous, and yet demanded attention, considering the
+Bastile episode such a brief while ago. And he was engaged to Toinon
+too. Under the seal of strictest secrecy that damsel had shared her
+delicious secret with her foster-sister, and the latter with a hearty
+kiss had wished her joy. It was only fair to both the lovers that the
+matter should be cleared up, and to that end the damsel must be
+cross-examined.
+
+When charged with the lamentable leanings of her affianced, Toinon
+made no attempt to laugh the matter off. She was fain to confess
+herself disappointed in Jean Boulot. He was too straightforward to
+stoop to knavery. You only had to look into his fearless, clear grey
+eyes to be assured of it; but his sentiments were distressing. He told
+his love when she remonstrated that reason and justice could only be
+departed from by paths watered with tears; and when she retorted that
+he would certainly be hanged if he were heard to indulge in such talk,
+he only shrugged his shoulders and remarked that the gallows were made
+for the unlucky. In the middle of an impressive lecture he snatched a
+kiss and laughed, and actually confessed with something that looked
+like pride that he had just been selected from among his fellows to be
+chief of some new society. He was constantly moving about among the
+rustics discoursing about the improvement of their condition at the
+expense of a superior class. All Toinon could be sure of was that Jean
+was beyond her control. Perhaps madame might succeed in managing the
+young man and bring him to a sense of his enormities.
+
+The experiment was not crowned with success, for instead of confessing
+his sins with a _mea culpa_, Jean smiled and delivered himself of
+various mysterious hints. "Never you fear," he asserted, cheerfully,
+"whatever may happen by and by, you and yours shall be defended with
+my best blood; not but what a glimpse of your sweet face will be
+enough to calm the boys, however spitefully inclined. As to the
+others--H'm!"
+
+Enigmatical and unsatisfactory.
+
+It was certainly very dull in the desert; and before many weeks were
+over, the marquise was prepared secretly to admit that her father had
+judged rightly. She was no nearer to her husband here than in Paris;
+and caught herself longing more and more for those two or three
+congenial persons who were unattainable. It is all very well to wrap
+yourself in your children, to watch the young intelligence unfolding
+tender leaves, to mark and record with little thrills of joy each new
+sally of infant wit; but carefully nurtured babes retire early to the
+nest, and long evening hours have to be got through which are apt to
+hang heavy on the hands. There was absolutely no one to talk to,
+Gabrielle was not of a studious turn, avoiding the library as a close
+and musty place, had no _penchant_ for embroidery, cared not to tinkle
+on a spinette. Clovis, on the other hand, professed himself delighted
+with the unbroken solitude where there was nobody to plague him with
+politics; employed his time in writing reams to Mesmer, and counting
+the days which must elapse before he could receive replies. When weary
+of considering the pros and cons of the prophet's theories, he locked
+himself in his study, and could be heard far into the night groaning
+sonatas on his 'cello. Oh, that 'cello! Its moans were extremely
+wearing to Gabrielle's nerves, for it always suggested to her a coffin
+with some one in agony inside. Weave new bands of affection, forsooth,
+far from the madding crowd! How doleful a deception was hers.
+
+The marquis seemed to have forgotten that he was father of two
+cherubs, was certainly oblivious of the fact that his better half was
+a reigning beauty, who, in her prime was self-deposed. Sometimes he
+would sally forth on solitary rides, and return, depressed and dumb,
+to fall asleep in his chair. It was certain that the pair were
+drifting more fatally distant from each other in the country even than
+in town. This was not life, but vegetation; sure any change would be a
+godsend.
+
+At one moment the hapless marquise thought of summoning a bevy of the
+danglers whom she had loftily pretended to despise; but, if they were
+to come--unable to get on with Clovis--how were they to be amused? At
+another time she was on the point of imploring the marechal and his
+wife to break the bonds of dulness by a visit, but then again she
+hesitated. How was she to parry her father's anxious questions, how
+avoid his sympathetic eyes? No. Come what might, she would bear what
+she must bear, and veil her wounds from her beloved ones.
+
+Now and again the de Vaux family drove over to spend the afternoon,
+and the visit was in due course returned; but though all parties were
+punctiliously civil and vowed they enjoyed themselves immensely, it
+was clear to both families that no intimacy could arise between them.
+
+Gabrielle was almost driven to lower her flag and retire from the
+field; was indeed debating how she should set about it with dignity,
+when that for which she craved was suddenly tossed into her lap.
+
+One morning, the marquis actually so far broke through his secluded
+habits, as without a formal message sent in advance, to invade his
+wife's boudoir. Her heart gave a great bound, and looking up from the
+children's hornbook in glad surprise, she smiled gratefully on him.
+Was this a first advance? She was determined that the visit should be
+a pleasant one, and to that end proceeded forthwith to trot out the
+prodigies. He had no idea, she prattled, how vast were their
+acquirements. They knew ever so many wondrous things which would no
+doubt delight their parent. Straightway, like little clockwork
+parrots, well-wound up, the infants chirped forth their lore, while
+the marquis's face increased in length, the while with well-bred
+courtesy he made believe to listen. His dreamy eyes wandered over a
+map of varied stains on their dirty little pinafores. They diffused an
+aroma of bread and butter; their angel fingers shone with grease.
+Their acquirements, he coldly agreed when they had run down, were
+remarkable for tender years, and the weather being fine they had
+better run out and play.
+
+Gabrielle sighed. Mere politeness--such politeness as a wearied but
+courteous stranger might bestow--in which was no scintilla of
+affection. Unnatural parent! After all, the darlings were perchance a
+trifle juvenile to interest a man. Men, as a rule, can see no beauty
+in babes and sucklings; vote them revolting lumps of adipose tissue;
+but then, sweet Victor and Camille were not babies, for one was five
+and the other four--were enjoying that most fascinating period of
+existence when we are never clean, and are always falling down and
+crying.
+
+The unappreciated angels having shrieked off down the long
+drawing-rooms, there to tumble, hurt themselves, and howl, Clovis sat
+down and explained the cause of his irruption.
+
+"A letter! Good news or bad?" inquired Gabrielle, with a presentiment
+of evil.
+
+"That depends how you read it," returned her husband, quietly. "As you
+are aware, I never inflicted my uncongenial presence overmuch on you;
+never sought to know why you were so ready to abdicate your brilliant
+position in Paris to suit a passing whim of mine, but I was none the
+less obliged by your compliance. I now wish you to please yourself,
+and make arrangements for the future, such as may suit your views."
+
+Gabrielle stared at the automaton. Good heavens! His uncongenial
+presence. Was he so blind as not to perceive how she hungered for it?
+A burning reproach was on her lips, but found no voice; for somehow,
+seeing him sit there so straight and cold and self-complacent, her
+courage oozed away.
+
+"Do what you choose." He continued with bland indifference. "I was
+never jealous of your entourage, because I liked you to enjoy the meed
+of admiration that is your due, and know that you are to be trusted
+even in so perilous a vortex as Versailles. For reasons with which I
+need not trouble you, I prefer myself to remain here for a while, with
+your permission; but seem to see that you are weary of playing the
+chatelaine. Is it so? Would you like to return to Paris. Please
+yourself. You will admit that I give you the completest liberty."
+
+The heart of the poor wife sank low. For what crime was she condemned
+to love an icicle? If he would only find fault, or discover a
+grievance, or even wax wroth without a cause, and smite her! Each calm
+and measured sentence as he sat, with the finger-tips of one hand
+poised accurately on those of the other, was like the prick of a steel
+stiletto. His gaze was fixed on a tree a long way off. He could not
+even trouble to look at her.
+
+Sighing wearily, she murmured, "Completest liberty, no doubt. I and
+the children are to go away and leave you here alone?"
+
+Clovis moved his gaze to another tree and cleared his throat. "Not
+unless you wish it," he said, "but something has happened that is a
+little embarrassing."
+
+"Any trouble? Am I not here to share it."
+
+"Scarcely a trouble--an inconvenience only, which you may object to
+share," her husband answered, smiling. "Could you brook other
+inmates?"
+
+"Other inmates! What can you mean?'
+
+"As you know, though you have never seen them, I have two
+half-brothers. They are inseparable--quite pattern brothers--the one
+brilliantly clever, the other his admiring shadow. The Abbe Pharamond,
+the younger one, would be welcomed in any society on account of his
+sparkling talent; but he has preferred to shine alone at Toulouse,
+rather than consent to be a unit in the system of stars at Paris. He
+has got into trouble, and writes to ask for an asylum for himself and
+Phebus."
+
+"What trouble?"
+
+"A too pungent epigram followed by a fatal duel, makes it convenient
+to seek eclipse. In six months the affair will have blown over. You
+would be sure to like the abbe, if you met him; while as for poor dear
+Phebus, the chevalier, as he is called in the south, he is fat and
+somnolent, and would not hurt a fly."
+
+Gabrielle reflected, Why did a voice deep down within whisper words of
+warning? Here were the congenial persons for whose advent she had
+longed. What a relief to the _tete-a-tete_ would be the brilliant
+abbe, and fat Phebus who would not hurt a fly! Thanks to them, Lorge
+might become endurable. On the suggestion of a return to Paris, the
+difficulty had occurred to her as to the excuse to be made for her
+husband's lengthened absence. Clearly she must remain at Lorge, so
+long as he thought fit to do so. Perhaps the abbe disliked music and
+hated violoncellos? Together in the dead of night they would capture
+the marquis's treasure and send it floating down the Loire.
+
+"My dear Clovis!" she exclaimed presently, with genuine pleasure; "you
+singular being! What objection could I have? On the contrary, I am
+charmed with the opportunity of making the acquaintance of your
+brothers."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                          THE HALF-BROTHERS.
+
+
+Never was there a greater bit of luck for the Lorge hermits than the
+epigram that was too pungent, and its consequences. With the arrival
+of the fugitives there was inaugurated a new _regime_. Cobwebs seemed
+to vanish at a stroke. The dismal old chateau stirred and rubbed its
+eyes, for, as by magic, the spirit of ennui who had his dwelling there
+was routed and put to flight.
+
+The Abbe Pharamond was made of quicksilver. Such a mass of ubiquitous
+ever-moving energy would have awakened the seven sleepers. Everyone
+felt his influence; and no one had a word to say against him, except
+Toinon and Jean Boulot. Even the objections of these, as might be
+expected in low-born persons, were of the vaguest. The one found fault
+with his effeminate manners and mincing ways, the other vowed that he
+was so sweet as to be mawkish. Balanced one on either knee, the
+prodigies (with clean pinafores and polished visages) were taught to
+warble the amorous ditties of the south, an absurd performance which
+frequently brought over Madame de Vaux in the shanderydan, and caused
+her to explode with laughter. His presence acted like a magnet. There
+was always a stock of the neatest compliments on hand for Angelique;
+the most respectfully rapt attention for the baron's platitudes. He
+was constantly riding to Montbazon on his way to somewhere else, bent
+on organizing a picnic or a hunt, and even discovered and dragged from
+their retreats into the light a variety of country gentlemen who
+seldom left their burrows. "If the dear man were a layman!" grieved
+the baroness. "The very thing for Angelique." But since he was a
+churchman, she must do her best with the other.
+
+"Pooh! Stuff and nonsense!" objected the baron. "They were of good
+family--could boast, indeed, of most superior blood--but were as poor
+as church mice, both."
+
+Whereupon his spouse remarked from out her nightcap folds that she did
+dislike a mole. Was not the marquis a good-natured gentleman, if
+stupid, and was he not plainly devoted to his brothers--proud at least
+of one? It could be seen with half an eye that the abbe's influence
+was great, and would grow greater. Out of Gabrielle's wealth, after de
+Breze's death, he would, of course, provide for his brothers in a
+fitting and lavish manner.
+
+Gabrielle fell at once, and without resistance, under the spell of the
+abbe. She had never known so charming and accomplished a person.
+Faugh! the tawdry butterflies of Versailles! The gaudy numskulls! Mere
+contemptible machines, that mopped and mowed to order. In Pharamond
+she beheld for the first time a man whose masterful nature somehow
+compelled obedience. Among other fascinating ways, he had a trick
+(aware of a trim and graceful figure) of tossing himself down in a
+picturesque attitude at Gabrielle's feet, burningly eager for advice;
+and on considering the interview afterwards, she was pleasantly
+surprised to find how she had shone--how undoubtedly, yet
+unaccountably, sage had been her counsel. "He exerts a good influence
+over me," she murmured. "Like flowers under the sun's first rays I
+expand. Till he arrived, I knew not how dense had been our darkness.
+Alas! if Clovis were a little like him how different had been my
+fate!"
+
+Even Clovis was the better for the abbe's advent. His brother would
+walk straight into his sanctum and drag him from his books to join
+some party of pleasure; but, lest he should turn restive, would argue
+in his nimble fashion, as they rode along, upon abstruse points of
+philosophy. Though not fully believing in the tremendous powers
+claimed by the prophet, he declared himself open to conviction with
+regard to Mesmer; and Gabrielle was amazed to perceive how animated
+her husband could become in his efforts to convince the doubter. When
+hounded from the capital, Mesmer had travelled south before settling
+at Spa, and the abbe had seen him perform his marvels. Hunted out of
+Paris by the Academy of Medicine, persecution had produced the usual
+result--attacked, defended, abused, glorified, Fame shook all her
+bauble bells, and rescued his name from neglect. At Montpelier, his
+following was so great that he and his small staff could not supply
+the necessary treatment. There was no denying that under his magnetic
+passes certain patients did recover. However much argument might
+meander, it always came back to that point. In what the mysterious
+healing fluid consisted, was the difficult question. Did an invisible
+current actually flow from the manipulator to the patient, or was it
+but the effect of ascendency of will--of the strong nature bearing
+down the weak?
+
+During the discussions on the subject, the abbe would jokingly wave
+his whip at the chevalier, whose sleek figure jogged behind. "There is
+a case in point," he laughed. "Phebus's will is completely subservient
+to mine, and he knows it. Tell them, chevalier, is there anything I
+could not make you do?"
+
+Then the broad visage of Phebus would beam with respectful pride as he
+surveyed his clever brother. "No, abbe," he would quietly rejoin. "You
+are wiser and better than I, and I am content that you should think
+for both."
+
+Then in his turn would Clovis laugh as he glanced at the attentive
+Gabrielle. "We must be careful, lest," he observed, slyly, "we forfeit
+our independence. While pretending to disbelieve, he is deceiving us,
+for he is himself gifted with magnetic powers of a high order. I vow I
+am half influenced already, and must take precautions lest I become a
+slave."
+
+Those were pleasant rides under the yellowing foliage in the late
+autumn of '89. Clovis was galvanised into a semblance of activity, and
+appeared under the process to have half realized how charming was his
+wife. Instead of provokingly staring without seeing her, he observed
+how fresh was her complexion, how silken and golden and heavy were the
+loose plaits of her unpowdered hair. To her astonishment, following
+the abbe's lead, he became almost attentive, guiding her horse over
+difficult ground, even marking the fact when she was tired.
+
+And so it came about, as by touch of fairy wand, that Gabrielle, alone
+in the desert, had found a following. The husband whom she adored was
+displaying a ghostly kindness, with which for the present she was
+content. If he only would appreciate the prodigies--but that, under
+beneficent influence, would follow, doubtless. The newly-arrived
+swains vied with each other in endeavouring to forestall her wishes.
+The abbe ordered everyone about for the general good and her
+particular behoof, like some hovering farseeing deity; while the less
+pretentious chevalier plodded at her heel like a wheezy spaniel, as
+active as his redundancy permitted.
+
+In their way, good looking fellows both. The chevalier was short and
+very fair, with pale blue eyes and a weak mouth, producing a somewhat
+washed-out effect. His nose was aquiline and delicately moulded. In
+many respects he bore a curious resemblance to his majesty the
+reigning monarch. The abbe, his junior by several years, looked a
+decade younger at least. He was slim and wiry, built on a small scale,
+with well-turned limbs and white hands remarkable for their fragility.
+Indeed, in considering his appearance people always remembered the
+soft, twining fingers which looked as weak as a woman's, and which, in
+a hand-shake, could give so firm a grip. His face was round and pale,
+his lips thin and tightly pressed together, his eyes steel-grey with a
+strongly accentuated pupil. There was something about his usual
+expression that suggested a particularly high-bred white cat--due
+possibly to a purring manner and an air of sensual complacency. But
+there were moments--not unknown to the chevalier--when the eyes could
+gleam with tawny lightning, darken with thunder-clouds, while the
+small even teeth were ground in passion, and the pale face turned
+livid. Like all seemingly light and effeminate beings, who are really
+of wrought steel, the gay and frolicsome abbe could become a sweeping
+whirlwind; but since he usually managed to have his way unchallenged,
+serious atmospheric disturbances were of rare occurrence. As the eyes
+of an angry cat seem to be illumined from behind, so on rare occasions
+of excessive wrath those of the abbe assumed a malevolent glitter, in
+face of which the chevalier cowered, despite his breadth of beam. His
+plump uncertain hands grew moist, his words were few and husky; he
+whimpered and breathed hard; and the privileged observer could have
+little doubt that there was absolutely nothing he could not be goaded
+to essay under pressure from Abbe Pharamond.
+
+On a certain mild evening in October, master and serf were riding home
+from Montbazon, and the latter unconsciously shrank and stopped his
+horse, conscious of the glitter that he feared. Wistfully and humbly
+he looked up, anxious to ascertain wherein he had offended.
+
+"The de Vaux are a charming family," remarked the abbe, airily kissing
+his fingertips. "I compliment you, dear brother."
+
+When the abbe chose to gibe, the chevalier sniffed something
+disagreeable.
+
+"Ha, ha! How lugubrious a countenance for a favoured lover! As doleful
+as a bee who's lost his sting! When do we propose to marry? Never keep
+a lady waiting!"
+
+"What do you mean?" stammered Phebus, mopping his brow.
+
+"Madame de Vaux expects you to propose for Angelique."
+
+"But I don't want to marry Angelique."
+
+"What! Not the delightful shoot from the family tree of which we hear
+so much? Like the Indian banyan its proportions darken the sky. Why
+not--tell me?"
+
+"Because I do not wish to marry at all," replied Phebus.
+
+"And why--and why--and why?" laughed Pharamond, in elfish mood. "Nay,
+do not tell me. Cannot I read into your erring soul as through a sheet
+of dirty glass? Because you are hopelessly enamoured of your brother's
+handsome wife!"
+
+Phebus started and turned scarlet.
+
+"Don't look so exasperatingly sheepish! you quivering mass of jelly,"
+sneered Pharamond.
+
+An explosion of laughter resounded through the wood and ceased, and
+the glitter shone forth again.
+
+"Do you know that it is extremely wrong to nourish a flame for one's
+brother's wife?" he inquired dryly. "Most reprehensible in itself and
+not unlikely to lead to complications. Will Clovis approve, think
+you?"
+
+Perceiving that Phebus was too confused and upset by the sudden attack
+to answer, the abbe frisked on, urging forward both horses with his
+whip.
+
+"See!" he observed, addressing nature generally. "How lenient Mother
+Church can be to the shortcomings of the weak! Do I blame this culprit
+for adoring the lovely Gabrielle? Not a bit! If he did not his heart
+would be of stone instead of pulp. Stout Phebus is consumed with
+hopeless adoration. But is it hopeless? Ah! There's the rub. Don't
+babble like an idiot, but confess. Have we openly given vent to our
+boiling passion? Yes, or no?"
+
+The chevalier bent his head and sobbed out, "I'm a miserable wicked
+wretch!"
+
+"Of course you are," affably agreed the abbe. "Make a clean breast of
+it to Mother Church, who will straightway absolve the sinner. Do we
+adore her to the ends of our fat fingers? Eh?"
+
+"How can I help adoring her?" replied harassed Phebus.
+
+"Certainly not--how could you?" echoed his tormentor. "Ho! ho! ho!
+ho!" The abbe's mocking laugh reverberated among the trees. "I've half
+a mind to tell Clovis--shall I? How he'd enjoy the jest!" And at
+contemplation of the maze of mischief that might result from such a
+proceeding, he laughed again, "Ho! ho!"
+
+"Does she return your love? Have you really made the trial?" he
+inquired suddenly, with a sneer upon his lips. "No? Then, my poor
+fellow, I am genuinely sorry for your plight. Presto! The Church has
+run away! Behold a doctor; hearken to words of wisdom. Your ailment's
+very bad, but curable. This is a queer world, I'd have you know, in
+which there is one unpardonable crime, failure. We hunt down and
+exterminate the exposed bungler, who, if he bungles, and would yet
+save his skin, must take precautions not to be found out. Now I found
+you out at once, you simple oaf, so you deserve to be delivered to
+Clovis. I ought to sacrifice so paltry a specimen of intrigue, but
+then--are you not, too, my brother?"
+
+The chevalier knitted his brows in a vain effort to comprehend what
+underlay the abbe's banter.
+
+"Oh! what a tender brother!" the latter continued; "for I will even
+assist you in your quest. Yes, I, the virtuous Abbe Pharamond. The
+doctor prescribes a fervent wooing--a scaling of the ramparts--a
+storming of the citadel. You have gone too timidly to work. Between
+this husband and wife there can be no bond of union. That much we
+know. _Ergo_, the heart of the beauty is yet to win, since she is
+fancy free. You shall try your luck in earnest, and I will give you
+all my help--on one condition."
+
+"You will!" murmured Phebus, melted to tears by admiring gratitude,
+"How shall I repay such kindness?"
+
+"Thus. You try your hand and do your best, but if you fail you retire
+for ever from the field. If she likes you, well and good. Win and wear
+her and be happy. If not, promise to worry her no more with annoying
+importunities."
+
+The suggested arrangement was so singular, that the chevalier,
+recovering himself a little, knew not what to think. What could his
+astute brother be driving at? Why should he desire to throw the
+hitherto unstained wife into a lover's arms? Had he a spite against
+the marquis? No. Against Gabrielle? Hardly. Perhaps he was sorry, as
+Phebus had been, to observe Clovis's neglect, and anxious to see
+Ariadne consoled? How kind of the abbe to select him, the chevalier,
+as the proposed comforter! A new vista of possibilities unrolled
+itself. Unaided he would have gone on sympathetically sighing, but
+with the abbe's encouragement and active assistance, wonders might be
+accomplished.
+
+The latter was beaming on him now with bonhomie. Clearly he wished,
+fraternally, to see sister-in-law and brother happy, and imbued with
+the spirit of the times in which they lived, was doing his best to
+make them so. Warmly the chevalier blurted out his thanks. His brother
+was good and kind, as he always meant to be, though now and then so
+puzzling and strange. He would follow his instructions dutifully to
+the letter, and Gabrielle won, would be till death her slave.
+
+"That is well," assented the abbe with a friendly clap on the
+shoulder. "You have beaten about the bush too long, instead of making
+straight for the goal. Women have sharp instincts, and since they
+require wooing, despise too bashful swains. This very night the coast
+shall be kept clear for you. The balmy autumn breeze is to love vows
+the softest of accompaniments. I will retain Clovis in his study with
+arguments about the prophet he reveres."
+
+The two jogged on in amicable silence, both equally satisfied, to all
+appearances, with the result of the conference, until the peaked
+turrets of Lorge frowned black against a primrose sunset. Then, before
+entering the courtyard, the abbe turned and whispered sternly, "A
+compact, mind, which you will break at your peril. Win or withdraw. Do
+not attempt to deceive me, for I never forgive deceit."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+
+                             TEMPTATION.
+
+
+The eccentric schemer was true to his word, as grateful Phebus
+acknowledged with eyes more watery than usual. What a blessed thing it
+was to have so accommodating a brother as Pharamond! The chevalier
+grew hot and cold as he considered the chance that was about to be
+thrown in his way, a golden chance--and between whimsical little
+prayers for success, he gazed furtively now and then at the other
+brother, whose honour he was so ready to smirch.
+
+The prodigies having been sent to bed, and the evening meal being
+leisurely discussed, the abbe became inquisitive anent the latest
+intelligence from Spa. Was it true that the genius of the prophet had
+achieved yet greater marvels? What were these rumours as to a further
+magnetic development, accompanied by fresh triumphs? Clovis snapped
+eagerly at the bait, and proceeded to explain that something amazing
+had indeed been discovered such as should transform the world of
+science. Persons afflicted with ailments were in future to be ranged
+around a series of large buckets or tubs containing a mixture of
+broken glass, iron shavings, and cold water. How simple a treatment,
+and yet how efficacious! Talk of ancient miracles! No wonder that all
+the doctors were mad with spite, as well as all the apothecaries, and
+that they should thirst for the blood of him who had exposed their
+disgraceful cheating!
+
+"Most amazing! Most wonderful!" echoed the abbe, leaning back in his
+chair. "The wicked spirits conquered, and those who were afflicted
+through their malice being cured by means of the tub, what was there
+left of the curse bequeathed by Adam? If somebody would only go a step
+or two further and discover the elixir of life, and a method of making
+gold, the world would be quite a pleasant place to live in, and he for
+one would positively decline to leave it."
+
+Gabrielle listened, mystified, glancing from one to another of the
+trio. Clovis was quite animated. His eyes sparkled, his cheeks were
+flushed, and his tongue loosened. What power was this of the abbe's,
+which could melt an icicle, bring a corpse to life? She was awed and
+uneasy.
+
+Was Pharamond making fun of Clovis--fooling him to the top of his
+bent--in mischief? Surely not, for did he not owe to his brother's
+kindness a secure asylum, a refuge in an awkward strait, and pocket
+money also? For Gabrielle, in her kindness of heart, had guessed that
+the fugitives were out at elbows, and had quietly handed two neatly
+enveloped packets to her husband, with a request that he would pass
+them on. Clovis took the packets without surprise or even thanks, and
+his wife smiled to herself at his carelessness in money matters. Since
+his marriage he had always been well provided without the asking, and
+had come--how like a dreamer--to look on coin as convenient manna,
+which somehow dropped from heaven just at the auspicious moment.
+
+What could so sensible a man as the abbe mean by encouraging him in
+his nonsense? He was sitting there now with head thrown back, and the
+placid air of one who knows how to enjoy digestion, rapping out now
+and then a leading question, such as would put Clovis on his mettle.
+Was she, Gabrielle, in the wrong to despise these things? It seemed
+so. Her husband dabbled in philanthropy; the abbe was an excellent
+man, bent on doing good to his fellows; and this was the reason for
+the interest of both in Mesmer.
+
+"Just think!" the marquis was observing with regret, "what good work
+might be done in the district if we could inaugurate a magic tub! The
+mists rising from the Loire generate rheumatism and paralysis, to say
+nothing of fevers, all of which, by means of a blessed bucket, might
+cease to exist except in fable. Why! this gloomy old prison-house
+might become a central office from which benefits would be scattered
+broadcast; its primaeval bloodstains might come in time to be washed
+away with Mesmer's tincture of iron!"
+
+"Why not?" murmured the abbe, with increasing interest.
+
+"Alas!" sighed Clovis. "The arrangement of the tub, it seems, is a
+matter of the most delicate nicety, which cannot be described by
+letter. If Mesmer would only visit us? But he is afraid now, he says,
+to venture into France."
+
+"Why not go to him--Mahomet and the mountain, you know," suggested
+Pharamond. "Or get him to lend you for a time one of his cultured
+adepts."
+
+"Ah! if he would do that!" echoed Clovis, eagerly. "If he would lend
+me somebody who knows."
+
+"Our dear Gabrielle would not stand an adept!" cried the abbe, with
+laughter. "See how distressed she looks at my poor suggestion! Nay,
+sweet sister; I was only jesting. In sooth, this new-fangled bucket is
+too large a bolus to swallow. The idea of sensible people squatting
+round a tub with glass wands pressed against their temples!"
+
+Pharamond's access of facetiousness nettled the marquis, who remarked
+peevishly, "What a puzzle you are! Too gifted and too learned, I
+should have thought, to mock as the ignorant do at all that they
+cannot fathom."
+
+"Nay! I did not mean to anger you!" cried Pharamond, still laughing.
+"But I was bound to reassure our hostess as to an irruption of adepts.
+Come, come. Let her enjoy the evening air. Show me the plans and
+instructions, and while I endeavour to decipher them, play me a tune
+on the 'cello."
+
+Oh! clever abbe, who knew so well how to twitch his puppet-strings! It
+certainly was a delightful evening, and Gabrielle, with the pursy
+chevalier trotting by her side, flung open a casement and stepped
+forth upon a balcony. As she gazed across the shadowy river, she was
+too absorbed with the consideration of a riddle to remark the
+condition of her companion, who panted nervously. Was Clovis
+mad--victim of a monomania--or did she wrong him? Why should he lie to
+her, and to Pharamond? He had declared, and the abbe accepted the
+statement without cavil, that the magic tub had already produced
+miraculous cures. No doubt it is both ignorant and stupid to contemn
+what you cannot understand. Clovis was always saying so, and he was
+right. If the discovery was genuine, then, as he had said, how
+wonderful a boon wherewith to endow the province! It was quite true
+that the peasantry were a prey to rheumatic pains and aches. In her
+rides she often went among the poor distributing simple remedies, and
+had been dubbed by them the "White Chatelaine," in contradistinction
+to some of dark and unsavoury memory who had gone before. But then, an
+irruption of adepts. What sort of a creature was an adept? The idea
+had revolted her, she scarce knew why; and yet, was she not
+unreasonable? If the prophet or a selection from his following were to
+take up their quarters at Lorge, what then? There was room enough in
+the great building, and the abbe would doubtless make himself useful
+in seeing that they kept to themselves. Ah! But the cherished hope
+which had been the means of bringing the chatelaine to Lorge; the hope
+to which she clung with the tenacity of love. Surrounded by an army of
+dreamers more dreamy than himself, the half-recovered Clovis would
+drift away again, be farther than ever from her yearning arms,
+engrossed in his magical operations. How unsteady a seat is that
+between the horns of a dilemma. If she refused to countenance the tub
+and its attendant sprites, she might be withholding from the sick a
+saving and certain cure. If she encouraged the new theory and its
+satellites, instinct told her that she would be raising a wall between
+herself and her husband which she would never be able to scale. She
+was wicked and selfish to hesitate. The marquise felt with humble
+conviction the extent of her badness; but human nature at the best is
+rickety, and she was unlucky enough to adore her husband. At this
+point, as she stood on the balcony reflecting, with the red hot
+chevalier by her side, she shivered, for plaintive sounds were
+floating on the breeze.
+
+"This is intolerable!" she murmured. "If Clovis would only oblige me
+by sacrificing that dreadful 'cello!"
+
+"It does set one's teeth on edge," agreed the chevalier.
+
+"Because it contains a soul in torment," returned the marquise,
+pressing her fingers in her ears. "I can manage to endure other
+implements of music, but I cannot bear a 'cello."
+
+"We have a remedy at hand," wheezed the amorous chevalier. "It is as
+balmy as a summer's night, and winter will soon be upon us. Put on a
+hood and scarf, and let me row you for an hour on the river."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                        A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+The family did not meet again till the next day at the hour of second
+_dejeuner_, and an intangible cloud appeared to have fallen on the
+party. There was something like suspicion in the manner of those who
+yesterday were so trustingly united.
+
+The chevalier, sulky and silent, would not raise his eyes from his
+plate. The liveliest sallies of the abbe fell dismally flat, for even
+Gabrielle was so pre-occupied that she could not summon a smile. Her
+beautiful face was grave and sad, and bore trace of recent tears,
+while the brow of the marquis wore a frown, as if he had heard bad
+news. Indeed, a proposition had been placed before him yesternight,
+or, rather, dropped carelessly, which startled and annoyed him. In
+course of their _tete-a-tete_ over the plans, Pharamond had said, "If
+I were you I would be careful not to offend madame, for she, not you,
+is master." It had never occurred to him before to see things in this
+light, and yet it was undoubtedly true. She had never stood between
+him and his desires, but it was not pleasant to be reminded that she
+might be led to do so some day. And from the conversation--as it
+chanced--a wavering idea had become in his mind a fixed resolve. The
+introduction of an adept into the household had been the happiest
+thought on the part of Pharamond, but--provoking fellow that he
+was--no sooner had he made the suggestion than he proceeded to nip it
+in the bud. For when Clovis would fain have enlarged upon the topic,
+the abbe had retorted with a demure headshake: "I made a mistake, and
+I am sorry. Your wife believes no more in Mesmer than I do--less--and,
+taking offence, might complain to old de Breze of the introduction
+into _his_ house of a pack of needy jugglers."
+
+If she did it would be awkward and insulting to her husband. Would she
+be capable of so unwifely a proceeding? Surely not. The abbe, who was
+a compendium of wise maxims, remarked that it would be better not to
+try her--to let sleeping dogs lie. Perhaps he was right, but the pill
+presented to the lips of Clovis was bitter, with a new and acrid
+taste.
+
+Glancing round the breakfast-table, the spirits of Pharamond went up,
+and he rubbed his hands with satisfaction. No need to ask simple
+Phebus how he had fared last night? Failure was written on his face!
+
+In the minds of all three who sat around him a tiny germ was working.
+So far all was well; but the _menage_ must not be permitted to fall
+back into the doldrums.
+
+"Come, come!" cried the abbe, cheerily; "what ails us all? Is the
+angel of death passing overhead? The weather is divine. Were we not to
+hunt to-day, starting from Montbazon, and is not the attractive
+Angelique anxiously awaiting Phebus? Air and exercise will brace our
+nerves. Clovis's wits want sharpening, and then, maybe, he will guess
+all about the bucket without further aid from Mesmer."
+
+Cloud or no cloud, there was no resisting Pharamond for long. His tact
+was infinite. Pretending to perceive that there was a tiff of some
+sort between the chevalier and the chatelaine, he ostentatiously
+interposed himself between them. No one was in the humour for the
+chase? Very well. No more was he. Phebus, whose one accomplishment was
+a knowledge of horseflesh, had business in the stables, which he would
+be good enough to see to. The other brothers would flutter around
+Gabrielle, who, established on her favourite seat in the moat-garden,
+would issue orders to her slaves.
+
+What? The hobby again? Really the prophet should be proud of a pupil
+so serious and earnest! Well, well. Would dear Gabrielle mind being
+left alone for a little? No? Then the brothers would take a stroll
+together, and perhaps the abbe would be converted.
+
+"If I am," the latter cried merrily, as linking his arm within that of
+the marquis, he led him away, "I shall turn myself to the conversion
+of Gabrielle. After that we will set our wits to work, arrange a magic
+tub, and all preside over it together."
+
+The magic tub! When the brothers returned from their walk, heated with
+discussion, the one was airy and serene, the other wofully cross.
+Gabrielle was sorely troubled by the change which she indistinctly
+felt. Why should Clovis be cross? The reason of the chevalier's
+sullenness, alas, she knew too well! The abbe was apparently much
+struck by the arguments of the neophyte, and wavered. Why, then,
+should Clovis be in a bad humour? And if Pharamond, the clever one,
+was well nigh convinced, who was she that she should doubt? There was
+nothing for it but to submit to the guidance of the abbe.
+
+Clovis shambled off to his study in a self-conscious and sheepish way,
+whereupon a sly smile spread over the face of Pharamond.
+
+"Do you know why our dear Clovis is in so villanous a humour?" he
+asked, glancing archly down at the marquise. "No, of course not. You
+would never guess. He wants something of you, and is afraid to ask,
+lest you refuse."
+
+"Afraid of me!" ejaculated Gabrielle, amazed.
+
+"Not quite that--but husbands do not like to ask favours and be
+refused."
+
+The marquise held her peace, for she was bitterly hurt. Refuse a
+favour to him, the husband whose good graces she was here to
+cultivate? Never. Oh, why was he so very blind! How could she ever
+hope to win his entire love and confidence if he read her character so
+ill! Then, overcome by emotion, she wept and confided in the abbe, who
+skilfully soothed her pain. He did not deserve such a treasure--this
+purblind, blundering husband, of course he did not; but since the
+Church had bound the two together, there was nothing for it but to
+make the best of the bad bargain. It was most fortunate that he,
+Pharamond, should have joined the circle, for it should be his
+privilege, as son of the Church, if permitted so great a favour, to
+act as go-between on delicate subjects, and prevent friction. Now here
+was a silly thing which, but for him, might have led to estrangement.
+Clovis had concluded that his scientific investigations demanded a
+trained assistant, and dreaded to admit as much. Was he not a foolish
+fellow?
+
+Gabrielle's heart sank low within her. Oh, Clovis! Clovis! An
+assistant! an army of assistants, if he so wished it. But it was
+soul-harrowing that his desires should require an interpreter. And now
+the good churchman changed his note from comfort to gentle chiding.
+She was ungrateful, the dear Gabrielle, to be so impatient. The
+ambassador would run on the instant and tell Clovis how he wronged his
+wife. She was ready to do all he wished, as he might have known she
+would be. Rome was not built in a day, and the firm trusting
+confidence which should unite wife and husband requires to be put
+together brick by brick, with plodding patience for a trowel. It
+should not be the abbe's fault if his watchful care did not produce,
+with time, the desired end. He would try, but Clovis was of a
+suspicious and untrusting nature, and if failure were to result after
+all--why he, the abbe, could not help what, of course, he would
+bitterly deplore.
+
+It is a curious fact that this was not quite the communication which
+he made to Clovis when, presently, he joined him in his study.
+
+"She has given way," he said; "I thought I could persuade her. I led
+her to feel that though she may hold the purse-strings, she must learn
+to know that you are master. We shall arrive at that, and make good
+our independence with constant quiet pressure. How wise of you to
+trust in me! Leave the whole matter in my hands. Say nothing on the
+subject yourself, for the plant of marital right is a fragile one
+which requires most careful handling."
+
+Gabrielle spent much of her time in reflection, wondering how it was
+that she should be so lamentably misunderstood. The only one who could
+read her aright was Abbe Pharamond, and yet there were points in his
+behaviour which perplexed the simple lady. He was kind and sympathetic
+now as he invariably was; but a change might be detected in his
+manner, which was a difference, though so slight a one that a man
+would scarce have noticed it. He loved to recline at her feet reciting
+poetry or reading classic prose--a course of improving literature, he
+called it, for the storing of a magazine that was somewhat empty; and
+in intervals of rest she would find his steely eyes fixed steadily on
+her with a peculiar expression that was half pity. Warming under his
+ever-ready sympathy she confided to him one day the shocking details
+of a certain evening on the river, and was unaccountably pained and
+disappointed at the way he treated the disclosure. In the butterfly
+clergy of Paris--steeped to the lips in vice--such a view would be
+natural and consistent; but that Pharamond, self-elected friend and
+Mentor, should display so little indignation and proper principle was
+distressing.
+
+Instead of being shocked at the escapade of Phebus, he laughed
+outright, and remarked lightly, "Of course, the poor donkey fell in
+love with you. He must, indeed, be a figure-head of wood who could
+resist such charms, and I should be sorry to find a brother of mine to
+be made of timber. Command me. Am I not your champion? Shall I rush
+forth and spit the simpleton for his temerity?"
+
+Clearly this was not the spirit in which a son of Mother Church should
+receive the news of a brother-in-law's declaration, and Gabrielle
+declared as much to her trusted counsellor.
+
+"Half-brother-in-law," interrupted the latter, admiring his oval
+nails.
+
+"It is all the same--equally wrong."
+
+"Oh, dear no! Excuse me, but it takes two halves to make a whole!"
+This light method of dealing with so grave a subject savoured of
+flippant levity; added to which distressful fact, the abbe, taking
+advantage of Gabrielle's troubled silence, had sidled closer, and was
+peering up through half-closed lids with an admiring scrutiny which
+made her vaguely uncomfortable.
+
+"The heart is independent of the will," he whispered, absently, "and
+we should not be blamed for its vagaries! You could not like the
+fellow? Of course, you could not: he is fat and foolish; and I a dolt
+to ask so vain a question. Before we are aware of it our hearts are
+given, and the gift may not be cancelled. A platitude, is it not? Does
+not that same platitude show that Love is Fate--that where he wills he
+lights, always a conqueror? Who shall punish us for bending before the
+tyrant?"
+
+"What can you mean?" inquired the marquise, startled.
+
+"Say," inquired the abbe. "Despite trivial drawbacks, we are all happy
+here together, are we not? As to Phebus, what is your decree? Because
+a man loved you, you would not chase him hence? That were unduly
+harsh."
+
+No. The marquise had no intention of endeavouring to banish Phebus.
+Was he not of the same blood as Clovis and Pharamond, husband and
+friend? To the latter she owed much, and, being grateful, would strain
+many a point to avoid offending him. It was thanks to his intervention
+that the wheels had run of late more smoothly. Indeed, she might have
+come in time to accept the situation as it was, ceasing to wish for
+something better, but for the chevalier's inconvenient flame. Even as
+it was, there was no reason why the stream, disturbed for a moment,
+should not flow as smoothly as before, since Phebus, convinced of his
+mistake, ceased to be importunate. Enwrapt in a veil of reserve he
+studiously avoided a _tete-a-tete_ with her whom he had honoured with
+elephantine love-making.
+
+Impelled by these various considerations, Gabrielle replied, quietly,
+"No. I would not chase a man away because he loved me," and a look of
+exultation flashed over the abbe's features, which as quickly faded.
+
+Lorge in winter could scarcely be called a cheerful spot; yet,
+accustomed by gradual degrees to the still life of unbroken monotony,
+none of the party suggested a return to Paris. The chevalier wandered
+aimlessly, a solitary figure, the phantom of regret--and his energies
+seemed bent on equal avoidance of Gabrielle and Angelique. Clovis
+became more and more engrossed in his pursuits, and though he
+frequently discussed the proposed assistant, took no steps--lymphatic
+unpractical creature--to unearth an adept learned in mystic lore. It
+became his habit to join the family circle once a day, and on these
+occasions he grew almost genial under the skilled banter of his
+brother. Pharamond, a miracle of resource and ready usefulness,
+ferreted out curtains of thick silk from mouldering trunks, and made
+of the boudoir at the end of the suite quite a tempting and delightful
+nest. With heaps of cushions he arranged a species of divan about the
+fire, and stretched out at full length on it declaimed by the hour
+with nice emphasis the sparkling lines of Beaumarchais. Gabrielle did
+not quite take in the sense of all he read, but the voice was
+singularly sweet and soothing--so different from the groaning
+'cello--and she grew accustomed as time went on to the singular
+expression in the eyes.
+
+Those were peaceful, placid days. When the snow swirled without in
+blustering eddies, the curtains were drawn close, and logs were piled
+upon the fire till they hissed and sparkled, and Gabrielle, as she
+listened to the rhythm of the verse, broken pleasantly from time to
+time by the distant mirth of the children as they romped now and then
+with the attentive chevalier, was fain to confess herself content. How
+smoothly the water runs as it approaches the edge of the precipice,
+and with what angry foam crests it hurries away after the fall. If the
+chatelaine had been asked at this juncture whether she pined for
+aught, she would have said _No_. Clovis, the shadowy one, was nearer
+to her than he had ever been, condescending sometimes to discuss
+affairs with her and even play with the darling prodigies. We can't
+fashion our spouses to our liking. Those who are undemonstrative must
+not be expected to coruscate. Clovis was not wilfully unkind. The
+chevalier had forgotten his folly. What a mercy that was! The abbe,
+with all his lightly scintillating oddities, was a pearl of price. All
+things considered, existence was not unpleasant.
+
+The dream was interrupted in this wise. On a certain stormy evening
+the abbe had laid down his book. The chevalier reclined in his chair,
+gulping in stentorous slumber, while Gabrielle sat listening to the
+saddest sound in the world--the soughing of the winter wind. At her
+feet lay Pharamond with flushed face, excited by the story he had been
+reading--that of Francesca da Rimini.
+
+"That pig will die in a fit," he remarked presently, with a glance of
+scorn at his brother, who lay with his back to them in gurgling
+unconsciousness; "and the sooner the better, for then we shall be
+alone."
+
+"_That day they read no more!_" Ah me, what a tale it is, old as the
+hills but ever new!
+
+A silence. Gabrielle too was reflecting on the story of Francesca.
+
+"An all-devouring consuming love. Tell me, Gabrielle, is it a curse or
+a blessing?"
+
+"That depends," replied the other, slowly, "whether it be pure or not.
+The condition of real love implies abnegation of self in favour of the
+one who is loved."
+
+"Too cold a view of it for me," returned the abbe. "I belong to the
+south, where it burns and scorches. I believe that illicit love is
+best. Poor Gabrielle! Ignorant sleeping princess, yet awaiting the
+awakening kiss! How strange, that one so beautiful should never have
+felt the divine breath! Clovis could not love. He is too selfish. With
+that brute snoring there, the god-like sentiment rises no higher than
+the lust of the uncultured savage."
+
+Tears welled into the eyes of Gabrielle. "I take it," she murmured,
+"that the reason love is so often a curse lies in its inequality,
+since it is given to no couple to love with equal fervour."
+
+Under influence of the reading and of the abbe's words, old yearnings
+had sprung newly into life again which she had deemed dead. Alas! If
+the affection of Clovis had been as true and staunch as hers, how
+unclouded a career would have been theirs. Illicit love, he had dared
+to say--this insidious Pharamond! No; never--never that! She sighed,
+and with chin on hand, gazed into the fire. It was mere idle prate.
+Men of a poetic turn run into such extremes.
+
+How beautiful she looked in the warm fitful glow in a plain sacque of
+palest rose, her hair loosely gathered to display to advantage the
+poise of the graceful head. What a perfect neck and shoulder, and how
+exquisitely modelled an arm. One hand lay carelessly upon her lap. It
+was as though he saw that shapely arm for the first time. The blood
+surging to his brain, the abbe bent down and impressed a burning kiss
+on it.
+
+Goaded by circumstances--an irresistible temptation--he had betrayed
+himself. Well! Why not now as well as later? On the whole, he was
+rather glad to have been drawn out of his usual caution.
+
+Rising from the cushions to his knees, he pressed another kiss upon
+her shoulder, and whispered with hot and labouring breath, which
+seemed to burn the skin--"Gabrielle--my Gabrielle--my own, spite all;
+it is I who am to teach you the love that maddens and entrances."
+
+Bewildered by the suddenness of the act, crimson to the roots of her
+fair hair, Gabrielle sank panting, speechless, against the carven
+oak-panel--till, feeling a hand gliding round her waist, she writhed
+out of the embrace, and, revolted, half-choked, with swimming head,
+staggered to her feet.
+
+"You too!" she faltered faintly, glancing from one brother to the
+other in fear. "Oh, Pharamond! You must be insane! You did not know
+what you were doing!"
+
+"Did I not? Hush. Why wake that idiot?" whispered the abbe, striving,
+as he clung, to wreathe again about her arm his trembling sinuous
+fingers. "I know right well what I have done, and glory in it since I
+have made you my own. On the first evening that I set eyes on your
+lustrous beauty, I swore that some day you should be mine. That day is
+come; you are hemmed round. Others want you, but not so much as I; and
+when I say _I will_, all must give way to that! I hold you in my hand
+as I might a fluttering bird just caught. Aha! How the poor heart
+beats. Be calm; oh, heart of mine! I can be patient and wait until the
+bird shall cease to struggle, and will like you all the better for the
+fluttering!"
+
+Gabrielle's blood chilled in growing horror, and she endeavoured to
+recoil, as he approached. Now she understood the strange expression
+that he wore sometimes. Her chosen counsellor had been slowly winding
+a limed thread about her limbs which should hold her fast--a helpless
+victim to his unhallowed passions--ere she knew that she was bound.
+Fool! Vain, wicked fool! Could one so astute have so completely missed
+the key to the situation? She adored the husband who, in her ignorance
+and inexperience, she deemed a demigod. To her he was a genius of whom
+she was unworthy. Here was her shield of unsullied steel, and
+brilliant, cynical Pharamond, who saw through and despised Clovis,
+guessed nothing of its existence.
+
+Then, as thought swiftly followed thought in tumultuous wave, it fell
+on her with a numb dead weight of misgiving, how much this discovery
+might mean to her. What would she do without the abbe's help? With
+terror, she realized now as she looked steadily at him, that this was
+no wild impulse borne of chance, to be condoned and forgotten like
+that of the chevalier, but the result of a deep-laid scheme. She could
+see before her an obstinate man whose will was iron and scruples nil,
+who had resolved some day to snatch what she had not to give. To whom
+in so strange an extremity could she turn for help? Wringing her hands
+together, she moaned out, "I am alone, without a friend!"
+
+"Not so!" the abbe whispered, edging nearer. "Trust to me in this as
+in other matters, for I know best, and you will thank me--oh, how
+much. Are not you to learn and I to teach? I hold the clue of the
+mystery, which is still veiled to you. Learn love from me--burning,
+devouring love; and for the first time you will know happiness."
+
+"Another step and I will wake the chevalier!" Gabrielle faltered,
+wrapping round her a poor tattered shred of shivering dignity.
+
+Pharamond laughed his long sweet laugh of rippling music, which now
+caused Gabrielle to shudder.
+
+"Awake him? Do!" gibed he, "or shall I? Look at his bull neck and
+broad fat back! He is not yours, for he is mine, though he would have
+been yours if you had wished it. Why not admit the truth in order that
+you may know me? It will save useless trouble. I loyally allowed him
+as my elder the first chance, on condition that if he failed the prize
+should be left to me. Ha, ha! Awake him by all means, that I may bid
+him remove his carcase. It cumbers the ground! Pah! What a pig-like
+snore!"
+
+Again, though she had retreated, with feet faltering among the
+draperies, to an extreme corner behind the cushions, Gabrielle felt
+the wreathing arm stealing round her waist.
+
+"Pharamond!" she pleaded huskily, exhausted. "To yourself and me be
+merciful, and you will have my earnest prayers----"
+
+"Would you usurp my functions?" whispered the abbe in mischief.
+
+The marquise pushed him from her with a strength wrung from
+indignation. "For the sake of all of us, go for a time," she murmured.
+"In the name of honest womanhood and vain regret--go! that this folly
+may be forgotten. I will try to forget. Go! and I swear to you that no
+word of it shall pass my lips."
+
+"How little you know me," scoffed the abbe, disdaining for the time to
+press her further. "Have you not learnt yet, that what I will is done?
+Awake the pig there, and ask if it is not so. What I have resolved
+upon, I do. You are mine--all mine--whether you like it or not; now or
+a little later!"
+
+"Then I must seek refuge with my husband."
+
+"If you accuse me, he will not believe you. The influence over him
+that you awkwardly threw away, I gained. How ill you've played your
+cards, most charming woman! He is a weak man who must be led by some
+one--it might have been by _you_. Come, say the word, and you shall
+lead him yet; or, rather, we will together."
+
+Gabrielle looked again into the abbe's face (which was so terribly
+close to hers), then at that of his sleeping brother, who had turned
+in uneasy slumber. How could she have been deceived so long?
+Sensuality on both masks--the one, gross and altogether earthy; the
+other, marked by flashes of sly eyes and twists of thin lips that were
+not well to look upon, for that second mask was transparent, and the
+devil was peering through.
+
+"I will give you time to think," proceeded the abbe, "since, though
+the moment is propitious, you are not in the mood for wooing. Here is
+a rebus. Your fate is in my hand, yet in your own. According as you
+decide, you will find in me the most devoted servant or the most
+implacable enemy. The love of us southerners is not far removed from
+hate. According as you act, you may bask in its beams or be scorched
+into a cinder; hence it is to be feared and respected."
+
+Pressing so close to her that she could feel the pulsations of his
+breast, he added in low accents that cut into her heart like steel,
+"Be well advised, and comprehend the truth. Your life hangs in the
+balance for happiness or misery. Consider, and choose wisely, for this
+is the critical time on which your fate depends."
+
+Then, opening the door with a bow whose distinction would have done
+honour to Trianon, he stood aside to let the lady pass into her
+bedchamber. Closing the door again, he knit his brows and bit his
+nails while contemplating the sleeping chevalier. "A trifle premature,
+that's all," he muttered; "no harm done, for all her sweeping pride.
+Well-meaning, vacillating women are like satin-skinned horses in the
+arena--all the better for a touch of the lash. It is written, my
+mission is to teach her _love_, and I will do it thoroughly from my
+own point of view--of course. She is inexperienced, and proud, and
+empty. If the fruit's not ripe, I've time to wait for it to mellow.
+Perhaps, who knows? I may, should she be restive, be forced to crush
+her pride. A pity! for it would be a charm removed. Perchance I shall
+only squeeze firmly, without crushing it. The snaring of a bird that
+is shy, whose plumage must not be injured! Shall it be tamed by
+kindness, or the reverse? A problem, this, that Time's slow fingers
+must unravel. The key to it is patience--most valuable of virtues!" He
+stood long, pondering as he surveyed his sleeping brother. It was as
+if he sought some luminous answer in those puffed and stolid features.
+
+Next morning, Gabrielle appeared at dejeuner with pallid cheeks and
+red eyes, under whose lids there glinted a ray of apprehension. That
+Clovis's two half-brothers should both have developed, without
+encouragement, so ill-omened a passion! What had the future in store
+for a helpless woman as the upshot of so perilous a dilemma? Was it
+not, after all, an ugly dream--a hideous nightmare born of Erebus,
+that had been routed by healthful morning? Having eaten his fill,
+Clovis was placidly sipping claret, and forming a mimic tub out of
+bread-crusts. The round visage of the chevalier was as expressionless
+as usual.
+
+Upon the entrance of the chatelaine, the abbe had risen to close the
+door with nimblest alacrity and deftest grace, and had led her to the
+table with ceremoniously respectful finger-tips. The evil expression
+was gone. Glancing nervously at him, she saw nothing but a polished
+bonhomie veneered with distant and deferential kindliness. He deplored
+her looks with ready grief, but added, for consolation, that a washed
+rose revives in sunshine, and becomes more fragrant for the shower.
+
+"She mopes for lack of proper exercise," he exclaimed, with a gentle
+headshake of reproach. "Let us make a little party, and make a raid on
+Montbazon."
+
+Clovis, busy with the bread-crusts, remarked somewhat tartly that he
+was much occupied, as they ought all to know; that the others had
+better go without him; whereupon Gabrielle turned pale. Ride with the
+two brothers, whose overweening and importunate affection she had so
+recently repulsed!
+
+"I vow," cried facetious Pharamond, "that our Gabrielle is growing
+delicate. She who was wont to be active objects to exercise.
+Decidedly, my Clovis, we must set the miraculous tub agoing for the
+benefit of your delightful wife."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                            A NEW ARRIVAL.
+
+
+Our dear marquise--as you have realised ere this--satisfied the desire
+of the eye in all ways, for, combined with beauty of feature and of
+colour, was the suave sweetness of expression that is bred of the
+domestic virtues. Had she been an abbess the odour of her sanctity
+would have penetrated down to us in many a miraculous legend, and her
+carved simulacrum would have stood in many a niche and sculptured
+frieze along with those of other privileged young ladies. But she
+could not guide a husband who needed a bridle rein, neither could she
+decipher rebuses. The eccentric conduct of the versatile and too
+inflammable abbe completely mystified her. Why had he in the firelight
+resembled a satyr, to become in the morning so meek, and mild, and
+saint-like? Perhaps her prayers had been answered and, seeing the
+error of his ways, he had repented ere it was too late. It is
+disconcerting when an amorous and fervid swain inflicts burning kisses
+on your skin, and next day forgets the transgression. In the case of
+Pharamond a marvel must have been worked, for never by wink of eyelid
+did he attempt to recall his untoward proceedings during the storm.
+The episode was washed clean away by the snowdrift. He was alert, and
+lively, and amiable, as heretofore; always active in performing little
+services, inventing some new comfort or pleasure, rallying the dull,
+sympathizing with the weary. He knew better than to sit glum and
+mumchance like the chevalier. Betrayed into error, he had accepted
+rebuff like a gentleman, and by a marked increase of respect was
+trying to win forgiveness. This was quite as it should be, and there
+was no more to be said. And so, the clouds that threatened being
+dissipated, the months of winter rolled away in so uniform a sequence
+that their glassy flow seemed as if it must run for ever.
+
+The marquis, influenced probably by his repentant brother, was amiable
+enough. The two talked Mesmer all day long; formed plans for mutual
+assistance: held lengthy conferences in the study, which always had,
+now the satisfying result of improving Clovis's temper. The first
+primrose had just emerged from its bed when the abbe announced one day
+the portentous fact that the marquis was packing his valise.
+
+"Packing his valise! Tired of the dulness of Lorge?" Gabrielle felt a
+tinge of sadness at the thought. Why not have let things be? If there
+was to be a change, would it be for better or worse?
+
+"How silly you are!" observed Clovis, cheerfully, remarking her
+wistful look. "Are we limpets glued to a rock? I am about to make a
+little journey, quite a short one--the effect of which in the future
+may transfigure the countenance of earth."
+
+"You will not be absent long?" inquired the marquise, in a reproachful
+tone.
+
+"A couple of weeks at most. The fact is, that I am going to Spa, and
+hope to bring back with me the assistant, without whom I can advance
+no further."
+
+"You said you did not object," murmured Pharamond, softly.
+
+"Object? Certainly not. I said so long ago."
+
+Clovis frowned. He did not like to be reminded of dependence just as
+he was about to use his liberty.
+
+"I have a hundred questions to ask, which must be answered by word of
+mouth, and shall bring back such a budget of testimony as shall
+surprise even you into belief. The country is distressingly quiet and
+monotonous. You are not afraid, I suppose, to await my return under
+the joint protection of my brothers?"
+
+The abbe was innocently contemplating the tapestry opposite with rapt
+interest; the chevalier was examining the floor. If the husband had
+only known--how whimsical a question! Gabrielle glanced at one, then
+at the other, with a tiny twinge of misgiving, which speedily gave way
+to confidence, and replied simply--
+
+"Oh, no; I am afraid of neither. Even if they attempted to do me harm,
+and why should they? have I not Toinon at hand, and her no less
+devoted lover?"
+
+"Harm! From us!" echoed Pharamond, vastly tickled. "Phebus is an ogre
+with great teeth and one blear eye, whilst I am the original
+Croquemitaine, devourer of white-fleshed maidens."
+
+"I have said I am not afraid of you," remarked the marquise, demurely.
+
+"Jean Boulot, the devoted lover!" continued the playful abbe. "More
+danger in his little finger, I warrant, than in both our bodies. While
+you are absent, Clovis, I've half a mind to divert myself with pretty
+Toinon; but, alas! I am in terror of her big surly bear. A brawny
+malcontent! Only the other day I heard him deliver an address under
+the village tree--such a compound of fire and brimstone--and I suppose
+my smile was not respectful; for, catching my eye, he directed his
+abuse at me, and poured forth such a scurrilous diatribe against our
+class that I was glad enough to escape. Like everyone else, however,
+he respects Gabrielle, and when he becomes aggressive, she shall
+shield us from his wrath!"
+
+The marquise was relieved, for this was a delicate way of hinting that
+there was to be no recurrence of that scene. Why should she mind being
+left with the brothers? Clovis, who did not shine as a protector,
+might depart on his mission with a light heart, to return as soon as
+possible wreathed with the laurels of success.
+
+He went, and the household, after the small excitement of the
+unimportant incident, returned to its monotony of peace. The brothers
+treated their chatelaine with such an increase of punctilio and
+ceremony as should perforce stop the idle gossip of provincial
+busybodies. Even shrewd Toinon, who was of an unbelieving turn, and
+never quite satisfied with regard to the honeyed churchman, looked on
+the situation with approval.
+
+The marquis had been absent three weeks when a messenger arrived with
+a missive directed to the abbe. Gabrielle was in the moat garden
+superintending the chevalier, who was occupied in the watering of
+plants. Toinon was there, too, looking after Jean Boulot, as was her
+duty, while he clipped and trimmed the hedges, with the prodigies
+hanging to his coat-tails. The group made a charming picture of rural
+bliss, such as it makes good the heart to look upon. Through the
+postern-door leisurely emerged the abbe, gazing at a paper as he
+descended the grassy slope with a scowl of genuine annoyance.
+
+"What is it?" cried Gabrielle, turning pale. "Nothing wrong with
+Clovis?"
+
+"Everything wrong with Clovis," retorted Pharamond, testily. "He must
+have lost his wits to be capable of such a proceeding."
+
+"He is well?"
+
+"Oh, yes; he is well."
+
+"Then all is well."
+
+"Is it? That remains to be shown. He will be home to-morrow at supper
+time."
+
+"Then all is well, indeed. The best of news!"
+
+Delighted as she was, a pang shot through the heart of the marquise,
+in that the absent one had elected to communicate with his brother
+rather than his wife.
+
+"Do you know?" she remarked with a smile, "that I am quite jealous. He
+ought to have written to me."
+
+"I suppose he had the decency to be ashamed, and so left it to me to
+smooth the way for him. There is something here which I doubt your
+liking. It was wrong--very, very wrong--not to have first consulted
+_you_."
+
+"What is it? Let me know, without all this parley. You torture me!"
+
+"Well, the prodigal returns to-morrow--but not alone."
+
+"I know that. He had full permission to hire an assistant. Are there
+more? He is welcome to bring his friends."
+
+"A female friend?"
+
+"A woman!" ejaculated Gabrielle, dropping her garden scissors, while
+Toinon stared, round-eyed.
+
+"A woman!" echoed Pharamond, moved to real anger. "Was there ever
+anything so ridiculous! a woman picked up at Spa!"
+
+"What can she want here?' inquired Toinon.
+
+"A protegee, it appears, of that infernal prophet," grumbled the abbe.
+"Listen to what he says: 'Gabrielle will be charmed,' he writes
+(double distilled blockhead), 'when she understands it all, for by a
+most lucky chance, the presence of Mademoiselle Brunelle will serve a
+double purpose. She is an adept of the first class, educated under the
+eye of Mesmer himself, instructed in all the intricacies of animal
+magnetism, and has, moreover, successfully followed the avocation of
+governess. The dear children have outgrown the reach of my wife's
+teaching, and Mademoiselle Brunelle can henceforth superintend their
+studies.'"
+
+Pharamond looked dubiously at his sister-in-law, who flushed red, then
+paled. His annoyance was more than justified, for it was outrageous to
+engage a resident governess without consulting the wife and mother.
+And yet it might be for the best. The dear prodigies knew all that
+poor Gabrielle could teach them, and in this remote spot it was
+difficult without great expense to procure masters from Blois or
+Tours. Clovis had been enabled to see and interview a lady, which was
+better than taking her on trust by letter. The mother should have been
+consulted, though, before entering on a definite engagement.
+
+Toinon's indignation broke forth.
+
+"Well, I'm sure," she sniffed, "what next. Stray women are to be
+brought into the house without madame's sanction. If I were she, I'd
+dispatch our Jean to bar the way, and forbid the baggage to approach.
+Such impudence!"
+
+In curbing the maid's zeal, Gabrielle convinced herself. The marquis
+was master, and his will was law. He had been most wise and far-seeing
+in thinking of the dear children's welfare. He had thought more of
+them than she, who had twitted him with indifference. He had done
+well, as always, and Toinon would perhaps be kind enough to stifle her
+impertinence.
+
+Toinon screwed up her lips, and muttered between her teeth, "Madame is
+a saint too good for earth. She may endure the insult patiently, but I
+shall hate the horrid woman from the very instant she arrives!"
+
+It was evening when the wheels of the marquis's coach were heard
+grinding on the gravel, and amid the din of servants moving trunks and
+bundles, Gabrielle, who waited in the salon, was aware of a deep,
+strong voice rapping out sharp orders like a rattle of artillery. "You
+awkward loons!" it shouted, "be careful of that tub and its contents.
+Are there not some other rascals somewhere who are less clumsy?"
+
+Ere long, the voice was heard approaching up the stairs, along the
+corridor, still grumbling noisily anent bucolic yokeldom, and, by and
+by, a much cloaked figure loomed on the threshold, and straightway
+went through the complicated evolutions of an elaborate and respectful
+curtsey.
+
+"Madame la Marquise, no doubt," said the deep, strong voice. "Madame's
+humble and obedient servant. My name is Aglae Brunelle. Where are the
+darling infants?"
+
+The abruptness of the salutation amused Gabrielle.
+
+The woman rejoiced in a fine figure, of somewhat large proportions, as
+was evident when she unwound her wraps. Her complexion was dusky, her
+hair and eyes coal black. Her mouth large, with full, red lips, which
+contrasted well with the square white teeth behind. The thick,
+straight eyebrows were endowed with a strange mobility which hinted at
+habits of command curiously at variance with the position of the
+new-comer. Her manner, however, towards the marquise was a miracle of
+deportment. Submissive respect was deftly mingled with a tinge of
+independent nonchalance, glossed over with an unconcealed admiration,
+flattering to the beauty of the chatelaine.
+
+"An oddity," thought Gabrielle, unconsciously relieved to perceive
+that the large lady was uncomely.
+
+"An ugly, insolent monster," was the uncompromising verdict of fierce
+Toinon, who had scanned her from the top of the stairs.
+
+Her noisy delight over the prodigies who had been kept up to make
+acquaintance with their governess quite won the mother's heart. The
+tall figure went down on its knees with a prodigious thump, and twined
+them in its bare dark arms with a shower of kisses.
+
+"The darlings--the cherubs--the pets," growled the strong voice, like
+a muffled drum. "They will soon love their Aglae, will they not? I
+knew that the offspring of a father like the good marquis and of so
+divinely lovely a mother, must be angels--and they are--they are;"
+another shower of kisses. "Madame la Marquise must forgive my
+brusquerie, for I do so dote on children."
+
+Here was an excellent beginning. The mother was gratified--the
+father looked on the picturesque group with a broad smile of
+self-complacency. It was evident for once that he had been extremely
+clever. Mademoiselle's manners being peculiar, he had had misgivings
+as to this first interview, but nothing could have gone better. The
+lady was a marvel of intelligence! Of course she was--a favourite
+pupil of Mesmer's, who knew his secrets, was mistress of his system.
+From this day a new era was to dawn on gloomy Lorge. The new-comer was
+an undoubted acquisition--just what was required to crown the family
+edifice. All would go merrily now as marriage bells.
+
+The astute abbe was puzzled by the governess. Her arrival upset all
+his calculations. Clovis had never consulted him any more than
+Gabrielle, and under a preoccupied manner, he had, on receipt of the
+letter, been consumed by a white heat of rage. To dare to introduce a
+foreign element without his consent! Had he been scheming all this
+while to be baffled by a stranger? For surely in so small and retired
+a household she would take a prominent part. Would the woman turn out
+friend or foe? He had deemed the dreamy Clovis well under his thumb
+for life. The chevalier was a mere pawn upon the board. Since playing
+that false move on the night of the storm, he had employed all his
+arts to lull Gabrielle's suspicions, and had succeeded beyond
+expectation. That a head so cool as his should for once so betray its
+owner! A little patience. So delicious a prize was worth working and
+waiting for, and trying for again and again. Of different grit to the
+chevalier, he was not one to submit to defeat on a first repulse. No:
+his appetite was whetted. The morsel should be his and only his, as he
+had openly sworn; and would be all the more enjoyable for a little
+vexatious waiting.
+
+Thus had he arranged the future in his mind. But now, what of the
+governess? This unexpected move must be met somehow. Would it be well
+to form an alliance with her, or must she be promptly ousted? Her
+character must be studied with care. Evidently by nature domineering,
+what would be her attitude to him? Could she be frightened and
+brow-beaten? Not likely. Would she endeavour to undermine the
+influence he had already gained in order to reign alone? Probably.
+
+At the thought the abbe's eyes gleamed cat-like, and his thin lips
+tightened over grinding teeth. Turned out by a scheming stranger, and
+when all promised so well. To be turned out meant ruin, for things in
+the south had been going so wrong during the last six months, had
+become so much worse since the period of their hurried flight from
+Toulouse, that both brothers were quite dependent on the marquis. To
+be ejected now, or later, by the large dark hand of the unwelcome
+Aglae would mean pecuniary undoing, and the loss of the sweet morsel
+as well. Resign Gabrielle? Never! How to manage, then? The marquise
+was inclined to be friendly with the interloper, which showed a too
+Christian frame of mind to cope with mundane buffeting. This must be
+combated at once, lest it should become necessary before long to make
+a combined effort for the annihilation of the intruder.
+
+What had the baleful woman come for to this dismal and remote retreat?
+Why had Mesmer thrust his protegee upon the neophyte? With curses the
+abbe admitted inwardly that he was himself at the bottom of the
+imbroglio. With the idea of dividing the husband from the wife for
+ever, he had conceived the plan of burying Clovis so deep in mysticism
+that he might never be pulled out of the slough, and to that end had
+suggested an assistant who should be taught to play upon his foibles.
+But who could be expected to foresee that the adept would take the
+form of a woman?
+
+Of course, the woman was a greedy adventuress in search of flesh-pots,
+and had gauged aright the feeble and vacillating character of the
+young Marquis de Gange. She was evidently extremely gifted and he the
+dullest of good-looking dogs. Already he was dazzled by the jewels of
+a varied experience which she threw about so freely, and began to
+babble exasperating nonsense of having met his "Affinity" at last!
+
+That she had some deep design on hand was evident, for she laid
+herself out to dazzle the besotted Clovis, and succeeded but too well.
+If it were not so, what could the motive of so brilliant a person be
+for deliberately banishing herself to this hermitage? She had
+certainly not jogged along those rugged roads for the edification of
+two strange children, however abnormally cherubic.
+
+In the struggle which must come, simple Gabrielle would be worsted.
+Beauty and honest innocence alone are never a match for intellect,
+even when combined with outward homeliness. Aglae Brunelle was not
+absolutely ugly, and yet by no means pretty; but when a superior mind
+shines through a face, however plain, does it not light the features
+with a beauty all its own? Toinon had learnt that long since, and used
+it, as we have seen, for a text.
+
+The more he thought the matter over, the more puzzled grew the abbe;
+the more angry with himself and dissatisfied. A very few days after
+the arrival of Mademoiselle, her pervading presence began to be felt
+by the entire household in a way that maddened Pharamond. It was like
+the mysterious action of yeast on dough. As outwardly respectful and
+submissive as a dependent should be, everybody came to feel that
+orders emanated from her. Was the fascination due to an occult power
+inoculated by the prophet? Even the scoffing abbe began to wonder
+whether there was something serious underlying the antics of the
+charlatan, after all. Certain it was that she did possess a power, but
+whether due to magnetism or strong will, it was hard to determine. The
+abbe's will was as tough as hers, he was proud to think, but instinct
+told him that a struggle between the two would be exhausting to both,
+and that none might prophesy the result. Better an alliance, if she,
+like him, was working on a web. But would she brook a divided sway?
+Was _he_ prepared to accept so unsatisfactory an arrangement? How
+exasperating, that just as the horizon seemed so clear, the sky so
+cloudless, a thunderbolt should come out of the blue to play havoc
+with all his combinations.
+
+What of Gabrielle? His schemes revolved around her. Thanks to his
+cleverness he and she had tranquilly resumed their old relations. He
+did not propose to be content to read poetry for ever. A time was to
+come when she was to return the burning kisses he had impressed upon
+her shoulder, and twine her arms about his neck; and that longed-for
+moment was no nearer now than months ago. To tame the fluttering bird
+to his will he must do a little squeezing, after all, and make up by
+the ardour of the future for the painful proceedings of the present.
+Yes, Gabrielle must be gently racked, be made familiar with tweaks and
+pains. A little twist or two and a tug of ropes just to hint of such a
+tearing as was possible. Perhaps the governess, if an alliance could
+be brought about, might become a useful agent instead of a kill-joy.
+Isolated on all sides, the Marquise de Gange must be thrown on her
+dear friend the abbe for protection; then the rest would quite
+naturally follow.
+
+Among other things the accomplished Aglae was a skilled musician, and
+this became a new and unexpected bond between her and the enchanted
+marquis. She could rattle off by heart on the spinet all Lulli and
+Glueck, could even improvise entrancing accompaniments to airs hitherto
+unknown to her. She loved music, and considered the violoncello to be
+the most soul-stirring if sad of instruments. Sometimes her hands
+would slide from the keys while a great sigh burst from her capacious
+bosom, and the marquis looking up would perceive tears rolling down
+her cheeks. "It is nothing, but I do love it so," she would snuffle
+incoherently, and then resume the improvising with eyes and nose
+unbecomingly roseate and swollen.
+
+What with the music (Gabrielle of course, retired into space at the
+first scratching of the 'cello) and experiments with the bucket, and
+abstruse instructions as to laying on of hands, and the careful study
+of Mesmer's now frequent letters, the marquis and the governess were
+constantly thrown together. To flirt with your affinity--two souls
+denuded of their earthy envelope, side by side on a sofa--may have its
+delights; but surely to commune together in the flesh at all hours has
+conspicuous advantages.
+
+On the day after her arrival Gabrielle had courteously volunteered to
+show mademoiselle over the castle, and that lady had overawed her
+hostess by the variety and minuteness of her knowledge, and bewildered
+her with searching questions. The abbe, looking on, had pointed out to
+the chevalier (who, gooseberry-eyed, saw nothing) the amusing contrast
+presented by the two ladies.
+
+Gabrielle was a _Greuze_, without that painter's namby-pamby softness;
+so fair a thing that the hours almost turned laggard on their plodding
+way to gaze at her. Tall, slim, erect, with a carriage which is a gift
+at birth and can never be mimicked by a parvenue; a perfect figure; a
+colour borrowed from an unopened moss-rose; an expression of calm, as
+of an unrippled sea in a land-locked bay. By her side moved Aglae
+Brunelle--taller still, broad-shouldered; with a waist of smaller
+dimensions than might be expected from the massive moulding of the
+limbs; an expression changing each moment according to the object
+brought under the beady eyes; a heavy swinging gait, and a trick of
+tossing the head. There was something that pleased by its oddity, and
+was as effective in its way as the sweeping erectness of her
+companion.
+
+Aglae insisted upon going everywhere, and delivered a running lecture
+as she went, impressing points with a straight dark finger,
+square-tipped. From the turret window she delivered herself of a
+lesson in geography, showing that she knew more about the vicinity of
+the Loire than those who dwelt there. She vowed it was a shame to have
+walled up the dungeons, for in one (unless she was misinformed) was a
+crucifix carved with reverent care out of the stone, by the broken
+knife blade of a despairing prisoner. Then, the survey over, she
+declared she had not seen the most interesting object of all. What was
+that? Why! the school-room of the prodigies; what else? Was she not
+here to teach their minds to shoot, and was it not most important that
+the scene of the operation should be selected with consummate care?
+There was no school-room--only a nursery! Then and there so crying a
+defect should be remedied. Madame would forgive her energy,
+recognizing the importance of the subject? Madame was so beautiful and
+indulgent to a poor stranger that there was no doubt of it. The
+darlings must have every advantage. Did not madame think so? Of course
+she did. Then off stumped Mademoiselle Brunelle, shaking the floor as
+though a colossal statue had been endowed with movement, and the big
+voice was heard in thunder presently, shouting out peremptory commands
+about curtains and chairs and tables.
+
+Who was to resist this interloper? Gabrielle, though she felt nettled
+at being taken despotically in hand, and thrust aside, was not
+prepared to interfere, for manifestly the arrangements were for the
+good of the darlings. The new broom was sweeping so very clean, that
+compunction invaded the maternal bosom, in that she had been remiss in
+not sufficiently considering the extent of the cherubic wants.
+
+Established in the best room on the ground floor to her satisfaction,
+surrounded with pictures and statuettes and ornamental nicknacks
+ravished from other chambers, Mademoiselle Brunelle let all and sundry
+know that here was her especial stronghold which none would invade
+with impunity.
+
+Nevertheless, the Marquise de Gange, who did not understand that such
+an _ukase_ could possibly refer to her, prepared herself to assist at
+the lessons of the dear ones and to watch the process of shooting,
+and she was no little taken aback at the arbitrary proceedings
+of the governess. At first she took no notice of sour smiles and
+head-tossings, whereupon mademoiselle thought fit to dot her _i_'s,
+and bluntly inform madame with that queer mixture of respect and
+independence, in which the latter was beginning to preponderate, that
+it was a troublesome matter to instruct youth in complicated subjects
+in the presence of an ignorant mother.
+
+"Do consider, madame," she observed, saucily, "how humiliating for you
+it will be, if they discover how little you know!"
+
+Gabrielle bowed her head and blushingly admitted her shortcomings. "I
+too can learn," she murmured with meekness, "and you will find me an
+anxious pupil;" but somehow whenever the rustle of her dress was heard
+in the corridor, the cherubs unaccountably began their music lesson;
+and when, remarking the fact, she requested that in future the
+scraping of Victor's violin might be exchanged for more delectable
+study, mademoiselle raised her mobile thatch of brow, and curtly
+declared that she took orders only from the marquis.
+
+Gabrielle left the school-room humbled and bewildered, for a novel
+idea had been thrust on her which her loyal nature refused to
+entertain. Clovis could not have introduced this new factor into the
+household for the purpose of annoying his wife! Everyone admitted that
+he was a good man, if selfish and somewhat unpractical.
+
+He did not wish this creature to stand betwixt a mother and her babes?
+Surely not. The suspicion was unworthy of a true wife, and banished as
+soon as formed. There was a mistake somewhere. The woman meant well,
+but was officious. Clovis occupy himself about such domestic details!
+Why, he rarely took notice of the children at all, unless worried into
+doing so. Why should he show interest now--since the arrival of this
+person? Pondering over this problem in confused pain between the
+alleys of the moated garden, the marquise endeavoured to reassure
+herself. Could she be so foolish as to be growing jealous of a
+stranger who, it could not be denied, was acting for the best? It was
+perfectly true that the marquise knew nothing of the subjects that
+were being taught by Aglae, and it was genuinely kind of her not to
+let the cherubs see that their erudition overtopped their mother's.
+
+And yet--the hireling had been sadly rude to the mother in the
+presence of the darlings.
+
+"You are agitated, sweet sister?" whispered the abbe, coming softly up
+behind across the grass--his soft hands in a dainty muff, for it was
+chilly--and beaming down on her. "Do you know that I've been following
+these five minutes without obtaining a hearing?"
+
+He looked so kind, had behaved with such discretion since his mistake,
+that her chilled heart warmed to him. Her lips trembled, and she burst
+into a flood of tears. His fingers clutched within the muff (oh! how
+like the vulture's talons!) as though he would have clasped her to his
+breast and held her there; but with a supreme effort he restrained the
+impulse. "Not yet; not yet," he murmured to himself, as hearkening to
+her artless tale with anxious mien he gazed in silence across the
+swiftly-flowing Loire.
+
+
+"I fear your suspicion is well founded, and that Clovis wishes it," he
+murmured shortly, when she had finished; then, taking her cold hand in
+his, he led her through the postern to a spot which overlooked the
+cherubic sanctuary.
+
+Clovis sat by the spinet, beating time with a roll of music--the
+divine afflatus heavy on him--while the pair of angels played.
+
+"She got rid of you on purpose; drove you out, to be untrammelled in
+her intercourse with him!" whispered the abbe with compassion.
+
+"My children!" moaned the chatelaine, aghast. "Why can it be his wish
+that she should take them from me, their mother?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+                           THUNDER CLOUDS.
+
+
+Gabrielle was stung to the quick. When _she_ taught the infants her
+husband could never be lured into the nursery, and now--in so brief a
+space of time--a stranger had succeeded in rousing his dormant
+interest. In her jealousy she took to secretly watching the movements
+of the governess, and discovered, to her dismay, that the steps of
+Clovis were constantly wending towards the school-room. And this state
+of things had been brought about by the non-performance of duties. It
+was her own fault--of course it was her own fault for neglecting the
+abbe's warning. Had he not said that Clovis required leading; had he
+not even offered to assist her in leading him, and had she not replied
+by inference that so long as he was guided judiciously, it might be by
+another hand? But never, in wildest nightmare, had she conjured the
+possibility of that hand being another woman's! She was a bad wife,
+for she had neglected her duty, since, surely, it is a wife's first
+duty to make herself pleasant to her husband. Oh! woe on sins of
+omission! Instead of pampering her spouse's hobbies she had scoffed at
+them, and punishment had swooped swiftly down on her.
+
+But it was not too late to set the matter right. He was not a bad man,
+though difficult to live with. A word of remonstrance at this juncture
+was worth a homily later, and he would hearken to her words of
+pleading, for since the arrival of the brothers at Lorge he had shown,
+in a glimmering glow-worm way, that he admired and liked his wife. She
+was satisfied that his sluggish nature was not capable of a warmer
+feeling, and had brought herself meekly to accept that microscopic
+meed of affection. She must take her courage in her hands, and open
+her heart to him; declare that his new arrangement, which at the start
+promised well enough, was making his wife wretched. When he came to
+understand that she was miserable, he would apologise at once and send
+the interloper packing.
+
+Rising from the sofa on which she had fallen after pacing the room in
+a fever, she moved rapidly along the corridor which led to the
+marquis' study. Her fingers were on the door-knob, and her head was
+whirling with persuasive arguments, when of a sudden her hand dropped
+powerless. There were low voices murmuring within. The parquet all
+around the closed door was strewn with straw and bottles, while on an
+open packing-case was scrawled in large letters the name of Aglae
+Brunelle. A cold shiver passed over her frame. She was with him now,
+that woman. On familiar terms, indeed, since her boxes were unpacked
+by Clovis! They were never weary of communing together, with heads
+close and hair mingling, discussing subjects which absorbed them both,
+but in which she would never have a part! The pride of the young
+chatelaine rebelled. She could not complain before the domineering
+adventuress. Would it not be humiliating enough to confess to _him_
+that his beautiful and high-born wife was jealous of a stranger,
+sprung from nowhere in particular, who was rather plain than
+otherwise?
+
+Reluctantly returning to the boudoir, she took a pen and, after a
+pause of meditation, flung it down. Write to her fond father, begging
+him to intervene? No. He believed that she was happy, and should
+believe it to the end, however much she might be made to suffer. He
+should share her joys, but not her sorrows, the good father who adored
+her so. She must endeavour to remedy her own mistakes, fight this
+rival single-handed, win back the errant husband by the female arts
+which hitherto she had affected to despise, and understood so little.
+Was she strong enough for the difficult task? Perchance the abbe would
+assist; but was it not another bitter thing to summon one to the
+rescue who, though repentant, had once so grievously forgotten
+himself?
+
+Meanwhile, though he kept up a show of airy levity, the cunning
+Pharamond was, in a different way, almost as perturbed as she. The
+strides of the affinity were prodigious, whereas his own siege of
+Gabrielle made no advance at all. Unless he grappled with the
+situation without delay, he would assuredly be worsted. But how to
+grapple with it, by cajolery or threats? Or would it be advisable to
+practise the arts of the bravo? Was the hand of cordial friendship to
+be extended to the interloper, or was she forthwith to be stabbed in
+the back? Pharamond considered himself a genius, and knew that one
+attribute of genius is to know when to seize an opportunity. Consider
+the knotty problem as he would, he could not come to a decision.
+Perhaps, for the present, a waiting game would be the best to play.
+The hand of friendship first, as an experiment; a stab with the
+poignard by and by.
+
+The abbe in his uncertainty took to dividing his valuable society
+between the ladies. While the marquis and his affinity were fidgeting
+over experiments, he read impassioned strophes to the marquise. When
+the party went forth for a walk or drive he attached himself to the
+skirt of Aglae. Her behaviour was irreproachable. She laughed slily at
+his delicate hints, and seemed mightily amused by his compliments.
+Once, when he thought he was really making progress in this direction,
+she placed her two large hands upon her haunches, and wagging her
+head, remarked, "Does monsieur think me blind?"
+
+"Certainly not," replied the gallant abbe. "Those sparkling orbs shine
+like fireflies."
+
+"Then why arrange a trap--and such a clumsy one--for my poor big
+simple feet to fall into?"
+
+It is disconcerting to the astute to be twitted with lack of
+skill. The tactics that served for Gabrielle would not do with this
+shrewder lady. Since she guessed his hand, why not show the cards?
+Dangerous--but a hazardous game not unfrequently coerces Fortune.
+
+"Why can't you trust me, mademoiselle," he murmured. "Cannot one so
+sharp perceive that I'm her friend?"
+
+"A thousand thanks. I am indeed blessed," simpered the lady, raising
+her bushy brows. "A fortunate wanderer on life's rugged road. The
+marquis is all goodness. Have I also found favour with his brother?"
+
+"I have helped you already," pursued the abbe, fibbing. "I have
+explained to the marquise that she must no longer interfere with the
+children; that Mademoiselle Brunelle is to have absolute and complete
+control."
+
+Aglae shot at the speaker a suspicious glance. An ally and not an
+enemy? To what end? If it were really so, a friend in the camp would
+be extremely useful. A snare--surely a snare--for this man had every
+reason to dislike the intruder.
+
+"What motive have you for befriending a poor insignificant creature
+such as I?" bluntly demanded the governess. "People do nothing for
+nothing in this world, and I know that I am not a beauty."
+
+"I have my reasons."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Eve was too prying. Accept the lesson and trust."
+
+Aglae looked straight at Pharamond; then laughing her great rolling
+laugh playfully shook her head.
+
+"No. Trust You? Thank you," she said. "You overreach yourself, for you
+are a dreadfully sharp-witted gentleman who can see through a wall and
+round a corner. You think I have grand plans, when I have none; for I
+am only a guileless wandering waif who enjoys the good things of this
+world."
+
+There was a sly look of covert malice in her sparkling eyes which
+belied her words, "You do not believe me?" she continued. "I am not
+quite young, so I have learned to know the world and its funny little
+snares. Flies are only eaten by spiders because their lives are so
+short, that they've no time to learn experience."
+
+"You take me for a spider?" inquired Pharamond, uncertain what to make
+of the lady.
+
+"You are certainly a wee bit like, for you want to gobble up poor me!"
+
+"I assure you that both I and the chevalier are friends, whom you
+would do well to trust."
+
+"You take me for a cuckoo, and all the while I am a dove," cried
+lively Aglae. Then seeing that the abbe was nonplussed, she spoke
+musingly, as though discussing a grave matter with herself. "What a
+pity," she observed regretfully to the landscape, "that the dear man
+cannot be explicit. He is afraid that the lowly governess may supplant
+him with his brother, and would like to tumble me neck and crop into
+his yawning gaping trap! In so shrewd a gentleman stupidity is sad."
+She pretended not to see the gleam of menace in the abbe's eyes, or
+the sharp clenching of his hands, and turned with an ingenuous look of
+artless innocence when he blurted out in anger,--
+
+"Afraid! I am afraid of no one. I can speak more plainly, if you
+will."
+
+"No need," replied the governess, carelessly, "for I can see round
+corners quite as well as you. I can read your character up to a point,
+and beyond that I confess I am baffled. I have changed my mind--women
+have the right, haven't they?--and will give you a lesson in candour.
+There is no witness to our cosy chat, for the birds are gone
+a-picnicing, so why should we beat about the bush? Stick to the truth,
+abbe. You say you are afraid of none, the while you are afraid of me.
+You look with fear on my growing influence over the marquis, and in
+that you are right, for I intend that he shall be my slave, unable to
+live out of my company. See how plain spoken I am, whilst you are full
+of artifice! When I came here I had no projects, being content to
+drift like a cork, leaving events to sort themselves, and my plans
+even now are of the vaguest. The marquis is rich. Do not suppose for a
+moment that I propose to become his mistress. Never, never, never! _ce
+serait trop bete!_ If his puling wife were to die I might condescend
+to succeed her, but that is not just now within the limits of the
+probable. I like the marquis, and I like the grey old chateau, and I
+enjoy the sweets of wealth. Why trouble about the morrow, then?
+Whatever I may choose to do I shall succeed in it, for patience is one
+of my pet virtues--not but what I love them all--and success is made
+of patience as the sea of drops."
+
+"You are a singular woman!" remarked the abbe.
+
+"Am I not? Frankness is so nice when no one's by. My long speech is
+not finished yet, for I would like to add that I like you too, and
+should regret to have you for an enemy. Here is my point of doubt. I
+saw before I had been here a day that you were enamoured of the pretty
+doll. I do not blame you, for most men are idiots. They cannot learn
+that good looks are provokingly transient, while intellect bears wear
+and tear."
+
+"Your candour is half confidence disguised," laughed Pharamond. "What
+can you be aiming at if you disdain to become his mistress?"
+
+"Have I not said I do not know? I have not thought. I am open to be
+led by circumstances. Candour for candour. I burn to discover what you
+are aiming at with regard to the pretty doll? Why are you so anxious
+to make a friend of me? Am I to be the scourge to lash her to
+obedience? Yes? A crooked compliment, but let that pass. I have no
+pity for that sort of woman, and if you promise not to stand in my way
+when I discover what it is, I will accept the role to serve you. If I
+help you now I may claim your assistance later, A bargain! We
+understand each other quite, I think? We will make the fool so
+wretched that in despair she'll seek refuge on your breast."
+
+It was evident that tortuous ways did not find favour with
+mademoiselle, who preferred making for a goal with straight
+uncompromising march, kicking down barriers with her big broad feet.
+It was to be an alliance, then? Well and good; but it was somewhat
+nettling that the proposal should come from her, as if her own idea.
+When the caprice seized her, she could take things with so high a hand
+as to be bewildering. The abbe resolved to accept her terms, but would
+have the last word on the subject.
+
+Bending over Aglae's dusky fingers, he lightly touched them with his
+lips. "You are a monstrous clever lady," he said, "and my admiring
+respect increases hourly. Trust us as we trust you, and each party
+will be the stronger for the union. We are both skilful players, you
+and I, who, antagonistic, might spoil each other. Loyalty and trust.
+It's understood." With that he made a low obeisance and left the lady
+to her thoughts.
+
+Mademoiselle Brunelle revolved the course of the conference, and was
+satisfied. When first engaged, knowing the marquise to be a beauty,
+she had, as she explained, formed no definite design. That which was
+working in her brain had grown out of a survey of the situation. On
+the whole, there was nothing to find fault with. For a wage, the abbe
+was to throw all his weight into her scale--a wage which cost her
+nothing. He had correctly pointed out that as foes they would hurt
+each other; but she was far from admitting that in a contest it would
+be she who would succumb. Her contempt for the culpable helplessness
+of the marquise was so intense that it cost her much to be civil. What
+a pleasure, then, to stick pins into her quivering flesh! To have a
+woman always at one's elbow who sighs like the east wind, and weeps
+like a cataract, as Gabrielle had taken to do of late, was vastly
+irritating. There is naught more trying to strong nerves than the
+fecklessness of one that can do nothing to help itself but scream--not
+that Gabrielle screamed, or made any uproar. She was far too haughty
+for that, and veiled her pain as closely as weakness permitted; but
+Aglae knew as well as faithful and indignant Toinon, that the hapless
+lady's grief found vent in midnight vigil, and earnest prayer and
+bitter tears, which in the morning left their mark. Entangled
+in an intrigue with Pharamond, such claws as she possessed for
+self-protection, would be cut. If by skilful handling the ripened
+cherry could be dropped into his mouth, it would be the better for
+everyone. Though Aglae, for some eccentric reason, declined to be
+herself a mistress, she saw no reason why another should not. If
+Gabrielle and Pharamond could be brought together, all would be
+satisfied. The wind would change; the cataract dry up; a serious
+source of annoyance would be removed; and the lovers sufficient unto
+themselves, would not trouble about the subsequent proceedings of the
+marquis and his affinity.
+
+But supposing that weeping Niobe proved obdurate--weak people are
+pigheaded--and was inconvenient enough to be inconsolable? There is no
+use in erecting castles till we know the ground they are to be built
+on. The abbe was a spiteful little wretch, and, baulked, there was no
+guessing how he would act, or of what he would be capable. Sufficient
+unto the day is the evil. To oblige him, Gabrielle should receive the
+lash, and it would be amusing to watch the result.
+
+As week followed week, life seemed to run so oilily at Lorge, that
+onlookers would have envied the unruffled lot of the tranquil lotus
+eaters. And yet what fierce currents were beginning to battle under
+the smooth surface--currents of hate and sorrow, and envy and
+despair--some ensanguined, some black as winter night. The only member
+of the party who was not pining for something different--whose
+aspirations and desires were satisfied--was Clovis, Marquis de Gange.
+He had found his affinity, had caught his adept, and had succeeded,
+without remonstrance, in making her one of the family. His brother,
+instead of objecting in any way to the presence of an interloper, was
+constantly congratulating him on his good luck in having unearthed so
+desirable a specimen. "Just think," he cried, beaming with
+satisfaction; "you might have saddled us with a tatterdemalion who
+would have stolen the family plate and have cut our throats while we
+were asleep, instead of which you have produced a bundle of charms,
+big enough for two!" Clovis was grateful to his brother for chiming in
+so promptly with his whim. "She is indeed a charmer," he purred, "so
+good-natured and obliging; never cross or malevolent, with no touch
+of venom on her tongue. There's nothing more dreadful than a spiteful
+or scheming woman. The very thought of such an anomaly makes me
+shudder." And then he sighed a little. If Gabrielle could only be as
+good-humoured as Aglae, and as accommodating as Pharamond. Despite his
+efforts, he could not help remarking that piteously sad face every
+morning at _dejeuner_. She was pale and thin, and her beauty was on
+the wane. Her eyes loomed unnaturally large. Never a talker, she
+rarely opened her lips now, but sat drumming her fingers on the
+table-cloth in the most uninteresting way, staring across the Loire as
+if she did not know each detail of that landscape. How different from
+Aglae, who could prattle on for ever on any subject.
+
+On the grand principle that we hate persons whom we have injured
+almost as much as those from whom we have received benefits, the sight
+of melancholy Gabrielle began to tell upon the nerves of Clovis. She
+was guilty of the great crime of boring him and of pinching
+conscience, and was unfortunate enough not to show advantageously by
+the side of the new foil. A moist statue of Endurance established at
+one's breakfast-table is an overpoweringly cumbersome piece of
+furniture, however immaculate its contours. Poor Gabrielle was no
+actress. If her heart was bursting, she had not the art to grin, and
+smirk, and caper to conceal the unpleasant fact. If her dimmed eyes
+were surrounded by _bistre_ circles like a rainy moon, if her lip
+quivered and her cheek was wan, she could not help it, for the modicum
+of courage she possessed was oozing, and she cared not if she lived or
+died. Her heart was slowly withering. When looking on the man upon
+whom she had bestowed her love, for better or worse for life, his
+image was blurred by distance. She saw him across a wide gulf that was
+ever widening. Our unlucky heroine's mind, as we have learned, was not
+well stocked. The sometimes skittish Brunelle's square head was so
+stocked with lore that doubtless in moments of woe she could
+unpigeonhole an array of valuable statistics and build with them a
+bulwark against trouble. Gabrielle was incapable of any such
+proceeding. She loved her husband with the loyalty of the simple woman
+who loves once. She worshipped the prodigies, who under the new
+_regime_ were becoming even more prodigious. Her husband turned away
+from her; the darlings were estranged from their own mother. Seeing
+her so little, and pampered and flattered by the brilliant governess,
+they learned to dote on the funny tall brown woman with the voice like
+a deep-toned bell, who was ever ready, when they danced into the room,
+to cast aside her occupation and teach them a new game, or invent for
+them a new story. Her resources were endless, for her spirits were
+inexhaustible, and, like Richelieu and his kittens, she found the
+gambols of childhood entertaining.
+
+Gabrielle rarely saw the darlings now. They were isolated in a remote
+wing, to which she dared not penetrate for fear of some covert insult.
+Wearied by the ever-present reproach of her sad face, Clovis changed
+his habits. For the future, he would breakfast in his study, he
+declared, so as not to interrupt his experiments.
+
+How fortunately affairs were turning, to be sure! Clovis was
+enchanted. His neighbour, the Comte de Vaux, usually such an old
+nuisance with his prate of the _grande noblesse_, was opportunely
+attacked with acutest sciatica. What a chance to try the _bucket!_
+Thanks to that admirable Aglae, it was complete. The exact placing of
+the various bottles; the quantity of iron filing in each; the modicum
+of liquid; the length of the glass wands: all was known and arranged
+to a fraction. The rheumatism of the respectable De Vaux would be sent
+packing. Glory would cover Mesmer and his two disciples.
+
+Gabrielle had sought refuge from despair in good works, as most
+stricken women do. She was indefatigable amongst the poor, and the
+advent of the "White Chatelaine" produced always a chorus of blessing.
+When departing on her rounds, Aglae, gazing down upon her from her
+window, had often been heard to give vent to growls and ribald
+thunderclaps.
+
+"Just look at mawkish pale-face," she cried one day to the chevalier,
+who nodded and smiled, pretending to be intelligent. "There's not a
+thing she can do right. Fool! making friends with the weak instead of
+with the strong! I know better than that."
+
+Toinon, who chanced to overhear, smiled maliciously. "Indeed?" she
+chuckled to herself. "If Jean Boulot speaks truth, it is the strong
+who have been slumbering, while the weak danced and sang. Wait a bit,
+and you will get your deserts, milady. And, oh! won't I help you on
+your road!"
+
+This matter of the completed bucket was one in which the chatelaine
+might assist with propriety in an endeavour to please her husband. She
+had heard so much of it as almost to be convinced of its efficacy.
+True, the abbe had told her that it was a delusion, that the bottom of
+the whole scheme was imagination; that the mechanical effect of
+friction in disorders of a convulsive nature will produce startling
+results; that there is a well-known law which impels one excited
+animal to imitate another in a similar situation to himself, and that
+this would satisfactorily account for the phenomena of Mesmer's cures.
+But this was some time ago, and since then Pharamond had affected to
+come round, and when he beheld the completed tub he gave way to spasms
+of rapture.
+
+When the newly-wedded wife in pique had worried her spouse with
+scenes, they were only the ebullitions of a much-admired woman
+irritated by the loved one's coolness. Now she had trod the path of
+trouble so far that those days were out of ken. In her efforts to win
+back her husband she would even conciliate the mischief-maker. Some
+women seem specially created for martyrdom. Otherwise insignificant,
+we should not see them but for the dazzling whiteness of their robes.
+I dare say that many of the canonized young ladies whose legends
+thrill us would, had they not been called to march over the
+ploughshare of trial, have remained as much in obscurity as any other
+ordinary young persons, who are too stupid to make a pudding or darn a
+stocking. They would have passed utterly unnoticed in the crowd but
+for the martyr's nimbus.
+
+"The woman does not like me, and is rude," argued too guileless
+Gabrielle, as she considered her resolve, "but she is such a general
+favourite that surely she can't be a bad woman; she is only vulgar,
+and given to self-assertion. Perhaps the fault lies in myself."
+Bravely, then, the meek saint uprose and went straight to Aglae's
+apartment, bearing with her a peace-offering, bent on the making up of
+differences.
+
+But the sublime and the angelic were beyond the comprehension of
+mundane Aglae, who since infancy had known nothing but the sordid;
+whose childhood had been passed in a beast-like tussle, a constant
+struggle for food. To her thinking, the maxim anent the turning of the
+cheek is an insult to common sense, considering the world whereon we
+were placed without consent of ours. In Saturn or Jupiter, perhaps,
+such inflated theories may be appropriate. Those worlds may be
+pleasant places to dwell in. There, no doubt, a police force is not
+required, while the wily but necessary detective is pictured as a
+curiosity, an extinct monster, like the Dodo and the Mammoth on this
+globe.
+
+Mademoiselle Brunelle, an unromantic lady of middle age, too
+commonplace to enjoy the fantastic, looked on eccentricities with a
+jaundiced eye, and the contemplation made her peevish.
+
+When the wan marquise knocked and gently entered the sanctum, where
+she should have known there was no place for her, the ire of Aglae was
+kindled, and sulkily regarding the invader, she assumed her most
+offensive attitude. What could the abject, grovelling, brow-beaten
+creature want, coming here to bother? How dared she take such a
+liberty? She deserved a setting down--a drubbing. Here was a chance
+for the lash! The mere sight of the wide opened violet eyes of the
+marquise, with their eloquent depth of ineffable sadness, acted on her
+nerves as the flag of the toreador does upon the bull. We must not
+blame her, for those who have struggled up somehow without educated
+help, must judge for themselves according to their lights, and they
+are beset with insoluble riddles, as ill-cultured fields are choked
+with weeds. To women such as Aglae, true pride is an unknown quantity.
+Instead of considering it as an organ of extremest delicacy, with
+ramifications as minute and various as that most amazing of creations,
+the nerve system--she, like others of her kidney, understood nothing
+more than an aggressive haughtiness, with an accompaniment of sledge
+hammers. To her, the refined pride which can afford to pass slights
+unnoticed and ignored impertinence, was a mystery which might not be
+deciphered.
+
+Gabrielle--so misread by Aglae--had bestirred herself to achieve an
+object, and was prepared to forgive and obliterate the ugly past. The
+pugnacious and low-souled Aglae could only perceive a lady of high
+rank, who, out of cowardice, abdicated her position to grovel like a
+beggar in the dirt. Such an one obviously merited castigation;
+deserved to be rudely shown that being so mean-spirited she should
+cower into a corner and hide away her shame.
+
+This was the occasion for judicious pin-sticking. The alliance
+demanded an operation. What would the abbe say, who had prated so
+seraphically about loyalty, if he came to know that his ally and his
+recalcitrant lady love had made a compact under the rose? Oh, dear no!
+A reconciliation between the marquise and her governess would never do
+at all! A consummation injudicious and undesirable. The purveyor of
+impossible theories must be well-rapped on the knuckles. The cheek
+that was turned to the smiter must be soundly thwacked to prevent a
+recurrence in the future of ill-judged and degrading mawkishness.
+
+Aglae, therefore, on the advent of the conciliatory marquise, made a
+pettish movement of studied impertinence, and yawned slowly in her
+face like a dyspeptic hippopotamus.
+
+"What's that you are bringing me?" she grunted. "You know that I don't
+want to be worried with you? A present? From you? Oh dear! How you
+annoy me! As if I wished for your present!"
+
+Nothing daunted, Gabrielle held out the olive-branch. "It is a
+bracelet my father gave me," she said, calmly, "and I would like you
+to wear it, that you may be assured each time you look on it, that I
+bear no malice for your roughness."
+
+"Nice enough. Your father had good taste," the governess remarked,
+with another portentous yawn. "But what do I want with your trinkets?
+Eh? I have only to say the word to be bedecked with the family
+jewels."
+
+First pin, plunged well into the flesh. Gabrielle turned white, but
+did not abandon her purpose.
+
+"What harm have I ever done you?" she asked, quietly.
+
+"Harm!" echoed Aglae. "The harm of coming into the world, and making
+of yourself a perpetual nuisance. Nobody here wants you. Why can't you
+go out of it?"
+
+"I wish to be taught about Mesmer and his theories," pursued
+Gabrielle, with a courage which should have compelled respect. "Give
+me lessons and I will pay you."
+
+"_You_ pay me?" laughed Aglae amused. "My price might be too high for
+your purse."
+
+The marquise looked at the governess in mild surprise. Could it be
+that she did not know how the case stood with regard to money? It was
+not for her to enlighten the interloper. The fact was, that as the
+marquis received what he wanted, the subject of filthy lucre was never
+mentioned in the household.
+
+"The carriage has been ordered, and I will go with you to-day." She
+decided quietly.
+
+"What!" shrieked Aglae, tired of the interview. "You want to go to
+Montbazon? Do you know that we are going to operate upon old de Vaux?
+My poor soul! You would only be most desperately in the way, seeing
+how ignorant and in experienced you are. Come. Saints prefer the
+truth, I'm told, though I don't find it always pleasant; but then I'm
+not a saint, you see. I would have you realise that your method is
+deplorable. You have managed so ill as to drive the marquis from his
+own breakfast-table with your ridiculous woful airs. The luckless
+master of the house has been hunted from the dining-hall. For a saint,
+I call that ungenerous." Pin No. 2.
+
+"I may be incompetent to amuse--that is my misfortune," sighed the
+marquise; "but it is strange that one with so good a heart as he,
+should treat her so harshly who loves him with all her soul."
+
+"Love!" laughed the governess with insolence, much tickled. "You don't
+know what it means. How just it is that one so fair should be so
+brainless! All you could give him was the clammy affection of a fish.
+No wonder that anything so chilly should be returned with thanks."
+
+Gabrielle's cheeks began to burn, her eyes to sparkle. "It is not for
+you who eat my bread to shower insults on me! Till you came," she
+said, "we got on well enough. I took what he had to give with
+gratitude. I have endured too much from you, and know now that you are
+wicked. Beware lest you push me to extremity."
+
+"Till I came?" echoed the governess. "Till then it was the worthy
+abbe's tact that kept things going, no thanks to you. One of the few
+just rules of this bad world is that as we make our bed we lie on it.
+Your bed is full of creases? Too late, my dear, to smooth them. So I
+am the kill-joy, am I? Ask your husband whether he was ever so happy
+as since my coming? You poor, puling, whining bat!" pursued Aglae,
+surveying her victim with withering scorn. "You could not perceive
+that natures such as his require a master--a strong hand to lead, an
+iron will to guide, a whip to drive, if need be. Here is the hand to
+which he has learnt to cling and shall cling to--to the end."
+
+Mademoiselle flourished the large square-fingered hand so close to the
+marquise's face that she recoiled.
+
+"Why, even your children care more for me than you," she scoffed. Pin
+No. 3. "No doubt I have bewitched them? You should get me burned as a
+sorceress, and start your life afresh. I freely give you this advice,
+so never say I am ill-natured. Puling and whining adds loathing to
+indifference. Cheerfully accept the fate you've carved, and make the
+best of it. Now you must really excuse me; I must dress, for I never
+keep the marquis waiting;" and with that she firmly pushed the
+marquise from the room and slammed the door in her face.
+
+It was cruelly put, but true--all of it. With sinking heart the pale
+chatelaine admitted it was true. Too late now for remedy. The woman
+had taken Clovis in that powerful hand of hers, and twisted him round
+her little finger. Would it be of any use to make the appeal to him
+from which she had shrunk so long? No. The woman had laid stress on
+the fact that he had come actually to avoid her presence, would not
+even sit at table with her. Nothing short of absolute aversion could
+deprive her thus of every privilege of wife and mother. What had she
+done to deserve it?
+
+Painfully the chatelaine reviewed her empty life. If she had gone too
+far with one of the Paris swains she could not have been more
+completely ostracised. He was indifferent even then, heeding not her
+incomings or outgoings, and yet he must once have cared a little for
+his young wife, for then his eyes were sometimes fixed on her with
+genuine satisfaction. Never now. By what intangible, invisible degrees
+had things come to this grievous pass? Must she take the woman's
+advice, and strive to look with cheerfulness on the inevitable? A
+wife, yet no wife! What was to be the end of it? Only twenty-five
+years old. How wide a waste of barren dreariness in front ere she
+might hope for rest.
+
+A sound of wheels on the gravel--the carriage was gone. On the box was
+a wondrous array of parcels. Clovis and Aglae were engaged in so
+animated a discussion that the children on the front seat crowed and
+clapped hands with glee, marking the gesticulations of papa and the
+dear, funny, brown woman. Their elfin laughter reverberated among the
+grim pinnacles and turrets, and as the carriage turned into a woody
+glade, Gabrielle saw from her seat in the moat-garden little Camille
+climb upon the woman's knee and press her rosy face against the brown
+one. The action smote the marquise as with a knife-stab, and she
+moaned as if in bodily pain. "She usurps my place completely,"
+murmured the hapless lady, deadly pale. "I am as little a mother as a
+wife. Oh, God grant me strength to endure! Though I be without the
+gate, teach me to be thankful that they are happy."
+
+She was aware of a long shadow on the grass, and a gentle voice by her
+side echoed her own thought.
+
+"Alone--always alone," the suave abbe said, scrutinizing with lazy
+satisfaction the delicacy and whiteness of his hands. "How is it, dear
+marquise, that you only of our coterie are heavy-hearted? You need
+rousing. What will you gain by moping except a loss of beauty and a
+bad digestion? They've gone off to Montbazon, Clovis and his affinity
+and the babes--twittering like so many sparrows. I should like to
+survey the scene there, it will be most entertainingly ridiculous, but
+they won't let us miserable scoffers assist at the incantation. Our
+presence would annul the charm. What a divine day!" he continued,
+flinging himself on the grass in a graceful attitude at the feet of
+the chatelaine. "How swiftly the seasons pass! These glorious summer
+days! How we enjoy the sun although we seek the shade, apparently
+ungrateful. We forget that the leaves will turn sallow and swirl down
+and die, and that we shall pine for warmth in vain. Why not? Why
+trouble about the future when the present is brimming with delight?"
+
+The abbe, his hands clasped behind his head, was peering straight up
+into the blue, and what he saw there must have been pleasing, for he
+seemed as satisfied with everything in general as the cat that purrs
+before the fire.
+
+"Why so dismal, my dear Gabrielle, on so perfect a morning as this; it
+savours of ingratitude to heaven?"
+
+Gabrielle glanced down at him. Was he playing with her in malice, as
+the cat does with the mouse? Dismal, forsooth, when your heart
+overflows with misery!
+
+Pharamond was in a retrospective mood, and dreamily surveyed the past
+as he might some moving panorama.
+
+"Let me see," he said. "How long have we dwelt here a model family? A
+year and a half--rather more than a year and a half."
+
+"Only that?" sighed Gabrielle. "It seems a lifetime."
+
+"You are discontented? Yearn for the frippery of court life? I am not
+surprised. It is horribly selfish of us all to lock up such peerless
+beauty as yours to gloat over among ourselves."
+
+"A worse than useless gift," remarked Gabrielle, with conviction,
+"bestowed on us by nature in her most malicious mood. Happiness is
+given to the ugly ones."
+
+"At least they are saved the pang that accompanies the first wrinkle,"
+asserted Pharamond. "You refer to Mademoiselle Brunelle, I suppose;
+our charming Aglae. She appears to be happy enough indeed. Those large
+women of stoutish build possess a power of assimilation--of selecting
+what is best, and chewing the cud of its enjoyment. Ages ago, before I
+appeared on the scene, you were discontented. Yes, you were, dear
+Gabrielle. It was my privilege then to bring back sunshine to this
+gloomy spot. You might have rewarded me but you were unkind. I did not
+complain, but endured your cruelty without a murmur. It was my
+solicitude that unwrinkled your rose-leaves. You might have rewarded
+me, I say, and you would not, and yet I bore no malice."
+
+A foreboding of new evil darkened around Gabrielle's heart. "Why refer
+to that episode that was condoned, and dead, and buried?"
+
+Without changing his attitude, the abbe pursued purringly--
+
+"For those halcyon days you had me to thank--me only, remember that,
+and you could not be grateful. Ingratitude must be gently chidden, for
+it goes ill with beauty--as a mother gently chides a well-beloved one.
+I crumpled the leaves again, deliberately squeezed them into tiny
+roughnesses, that you might learn how much you owed me. I confess it
+was my doing. It was for your own good I did it."
+
+The marquise sat like stone. What was this new gulf slowly
+yawning--and she who looked to him for help!
+
+"Did you never guess that it was I? No? How singular. Your intellect
+works slowly. I never say what I don't mean, and I warned you, unless
+I mistake sadly, that it depended on yourself whether I was to be
+friend or foe. Does you memory serve you? Yes? So glad."
+
+"I had learned to trust you as a friend," murmured Gabrielle, huskily.
+"A dear friend on whom to lean in trouble. Alas--alas! my only one!"
+
+"Why, alas? You are, excuse me, so very foolish. As our sensible Aglae
+is so fond of saying, 'We do nothing for nothing in this world.' To
+sit at these dainty feet is in itself a privilege, but ardent men,
+made of hot flesh and blood, crave more. It's human nature to be
+grasping."
+
+"If you have mercy, peace!" implored the pale lady in growing terror.
+
+The abbe raised himself on his elbow and surveyed Gabrielle--as lovely
+as a startled fawn in her distress--with a smile that was quite
+paternal, and belied the green glitter from beneath the lids. "What a
+naughty girl," he chuckled, "to tempt a weak mortal with such charms.
+I swear to you that with that marble skin, and those widely-opened
+eyes of violet, like eyes that see a phantom, and ruby lips just
+slightly parted, and that fluttering heaving bosom, you are ten times
+more beautiful than I have ever seen you yet! Tut, tut! Calm yourself.
+Do not take me for that uncomfortable thing, a basilisk. I am not
+going to touch you, so don't look horrified. I am going away. That is
+why I spoke. I wished you to know how matters stand, and to reflect
+during my absence. It is desirable that you should quite comprehend
+that for weal or woe your future depends on me."
+
+"Going away," echoed Gabrielle, relieved, and yet dismayed.
+
+"It is necessary. Was it not delicately imagined to speak, as I had to
+speak, just on the eve of departure? Am I not considerate? We have
+lately had letters of strange purport from Paris. Outrageous rumours
+are abroad, which, if a whit of them is true, may mean serious peril
+to our class. Over the affair of the Bastile the king was lamentably
+misguided. He and his ministers know now and bitterly regret their
+lack of purpose, for the scum, as was to be expected, has taken heart
+of grace and waxes impudent with impunity. So I am going to make a
+little trip to the capital, just to reconnoitre. Do not be alarmed. I
+think that the agitation is all moonshine. Reflect on what I have
+said, and remember that there's a limit to man's patience. Your
+future, whether for comfort or the reverse, depends entirely on me. I
+repeat it for the sake of emphasis. I gave you peace, then at my whim
+withdrew it. Have I made it clear that what I have done I can undo?"
+
+"There are limits to a woman's patience as well as a man's," Gabrielle
+observed, grimly.
+
+"Quite so," acquiesced the other. "Mademoiselle Brunelle has been a
+thorn in your flesh, which I regret. You have endured its irritation
+with fortitude, for which you deserve all praise. It depends upon
+yourself whether or no the thorn be pruned away. For that you need my
+aid, which shall be freely tendered--on conditions that you wot of.
+During my absence I have instructed the chevalier to watch, that you
+may be shielded from assaults of the enemy. A useful watchdog is the
+chevalier, faithful and obedient, who will report to me everything
+that passes. It is a sad pity that he takes to drink. I have observed
+lately that he takes more and more to the bottle. Of that by and by he
+must be cured. Meanwhile, I would have you consider the case from
+every point of view, and yourself deliver the verdict."
+
+The Abbe Pharamond rose to his feet, and kissing his finger tips,
+departed.
+
+Pressure from all quarters to the same end. You have made your
+bed--make the best of it; accept the inevitable cheerfully. What the
+fates decree we fight against in vain. Unfortunate Gabrielle.
+Patience? Good heavens--how long-suffering was hers! And what had she
+gained by it? Rebuff. Persecution. Torture. Out of the labyrinth they
+had planted about her there were two exits. She might appeal to the
+marechal for protection, return to the shelter of his roof. But to let
+him learn that her life was shattered, that the marriage he had
+himself arranged had turned out so disastrously; it would break the
+old man's heart.
+
+The other passage? Through the gates of Death. No. That method of
+escape might not be employed either. What would the old man's feelings
+be if he discovered that she had been driven to suicide? And yet--to
+fall into the maw of the abbe. Never--never--never. Why not? Why
+should she care what happened? To her it mattered little now what
+chanced, bereft of all. Her father need never know. Perhaps, if she
+gave way they would in pity grant her peace? Sure she was going crazy.
+Peace? The peace of guilt? Peace where there was no peace? No--no. It
+should never come to that.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+                            THE MAGIC TUB.
+
+
+The abbe was a chameleon--bewildering in the abruptness of his
+changes. The carriage that returned from Montbazon was a chariot of
+triumph, and the abbe joined with vigour in the paeans of victory. He
+wished to leave a good impression, that his absence might be
+regretted. He was going on a tour of business and of pleasure; was
+determined to enjoy himself immensely--he, who as a provincial had
+rarely visited Paris. How delicious before he went, he declared with
+rapture, to have his mind relieved, to be assured that the magic tub
+was no fraud--Mesmer, a genius, not a charlatan! They must toast the
+prophet in bumpers of champagne. He insisted on it, and accordingly
+dragged the delighted Clovis from his study to join the circle at
+dinner. Clovis was quite another man. A gladness was in his eyes that
+transformed his glum visage, and Gabrielle sitting opposite wondered.
+In this mood, sure if she spoke, he would hearken. Was the case really
+hopeless? Was it, indeed, too late? Alack. It was evident that the
+abbe was playing a part, for now and again he glanced at Gabrielle
+with an expression that was full of meaning. The situation was
+bewildering. Like one who dreams she sat listening to the victorious
+duet, wherein the marquis and the governess took up their tale by
+turns.
+
+Under the sun of success Clovis opened like a flower. He was radiant
+with content. His wife yearned to lead him from the room to her
+secluded boudoir, and there, twining her arms about his neck, point
+out the facets of the situation of which he seemed so singularly
+ignorant. She would have fallen at his feet and clasped his knees;
+have hugged him to her breast and warmed him with a spark of her own
+fire. But then, that insidious talk of mademoiselle's under which her
+memory tingled. The clammy affection of a fish! A man who required a
+master. The venom instilled was inoculating her system. Pride laid a
+finger on her lips.
+
+Oh! What a scene it had been at Montbazon! To perform a successful
+seance, Aglae explained, many accessories were _de rigueur_, since the
+vital fluid could not work with effect unless the mind were brought
+into a condition of fixed and unruffled calm. Now it is no easy matter
+to bring about this state in one who is a prey to aches and pains. The
+case is somewhat akin to that in the dentist's room when the patient
+is informed on the honour of a gentleman that the twinge will be a
+mere nothing, and that agitation is to be deprecated and calm
+desirable. Then he suddenly finds an object as large as a coach-house
+half down his throat, and the top of his head flies off. Unruffled
+calm, indeed, with a twang of the sciatic nerve and a twitter down the
+calf, and a great nail being hammered into the big toe! The crusty old
+Baron de Vaux growled out that as he could not be calm they had better
+remove their apparatus.
+
+Calm being a _sine qua non_, Mesmer had pointed out long since that
+music was a necessary feature in an operation while the patient was
+being manipulated. He was in the habit of placing his devotees in a
+delicious garden carpeted with grass, refreshed by play of fountains,
+variegated by beds of perfumed flowers and clumps of bushes, from
+amongst which came dulcet strains. In the intervals of crises a
+complete orchestra hidden somewhere burst forth into harmonious
+symphonies, at one time grave at another gay, quieting the patient
+into beatitude due to gratification of his senses. Sight, smell,
+hearing, all were considered. So minutely did the prophet delve into
+the matter that he issued an order against wind instruments. The
+symphonies were to be in D minor, interpreted by stringed instruments
+only; and at critical moments their effect was increased by the
+strains of an harmonica, touched by his own skilled fingers. Lest
+nerves should be excited by all this instead of quieted, a silent
+attendant stood behind each patient with a jug, from which, according
+to his discretion, he dribbled cold water upon the pate below him.
+This item was particularly soothing.
+
+Now it was obvious that all these perfections were not easily to be
+obtained in the provinces. The mind of Clovis had been much exercised
+in the matter, and he dreaded failure for himself and obloquy for the
+prophet. But Aglae was a treasure of resource. While her deft hands
+were rubbing the count's withered leg, the marquis was in an outer
+chamber to grumble _ad libitum_ on his beloved 'cello. The village
+band was to await the crisis, and then break forth into the baron's
+favourite air of Vive Henri Quatre. The effect was sure to be
+splendid, for country magnates--even of the _grande noblesse_--were of
+rougher grit than pampered city ones; and, in sober fact, the baron
+did not know a bassoon from a violin.
+
+But then there were unexpected difficulties, under which Clovis
+unaided would have succumbed. The bucket was there, and the marquis
+delivered a learned lecture on it to somewhat apprehensive lieges.
+They would be kind enough to remark that at the bottom of the tub was
+a substratum of rusty nails, covered with a layer of iron filings,
+over which was laid a set of bottles with necks radiating outward.
+Above them was another set of bottles with necks radiating inward.
+This was most important, for radiation was one of the secrets of the
+system. Cords of silk were attached all round with nooses, each for a
+patient's neck, and by these cords the vital fluid was to circulate to
+the patient and back again.
+
+Madame de Vaux was much scandalized. "On no account will I allow a
+rope around my husband's neck," she vowed emphatically. "The Baron de
+Vaux treated like a common felon! Never, while she could prevent it!
+Had not the low mob of the capital been stringing people to lamp-posts
+with ropes of late? Why the king allowed it she could not think; but
+he, no doubt, knew better than his subjects. The marquis ought to be
+ashamed of himself for proposing anything so improper and suggestive."
+
+Angelique considered the whole affair undignified, and was sorry that
+the village band should assist at such a spectacle. The rope was
+abandoned, and in its stead a long tube of glass was passed from the
+side of the tub to the right temple of the patient--a much more
+decorous proceeding where a live baron was concerned. Then the 'cello
+began to drone and the governess to rub, and by and by the old man's
+face began to twitch and his toothless gums to move. The baroness,
+much shocked at this derogation from accustomed dignity, vowed that it
+was impious, that the devil was at work, and that she ought to have
+provided a curt and a brush with holy water. The patient began to
+laugh, then cry; then shout, then mumble. All down his leg were
+prickings--such curious prickings. "Oh, Mother of Heaven! The prods of
+the arch-fiend," faintly gurgled the old lady. "Stuff and nonsense!
+Angelic punctures!"
+
+"All is going well!" announced the authoritative voice of Aglae.
+"Band! Strike up--here is the crisis!" she shouted joyfully, but the
+musicians stood aghast. Sure the poor gentleman had the dance of St.
+Vitus as well as lesser ailments. A savour of brimstone pervaded the
+apartment. Some swore, with shrieks, that they could see his Satanic
+majesty--could count the hairs in his tail; and then all rushed forth
+pell-mell like panic-stricken sheep. Madame de Vaux screamed and
+fainted, while Angelique, who was no coward, retired into a corner.
+
+Clovis had his misgivings, and as he scraped on, louder now to mask
+the retreat of defaulters, wondered inwardly whether it was all a
+devil's trick? He cast uneasy glances at the stooping Aglae, who
+rubbed on unmoved. What a stupendous woman. Not a tremor at suggestion
+of the Evil One. He felt sure that face to face with the whole Satanic
+court that strong-minded female's colour would not have changed a
+shade. It was not possible to feel fear in so sturdily self-reliant a
+presence. Clovis's misgivings waned, and he groaned on at his
+instrument with lightened heart. His ever-increasing admiration for
+mademoiselle became tinctured with an awe in which respect was mingled
+with apprehension. Who could resist such a woman whatever she might
+decree? She had indeed twisted her admirer round her finger, and could
+do with him as she listed.
+
+The seance over, the baron was wrapped in blankets and exhorted to
+sleep while the adept and her neophyte refreshed the inner person.
+When they returned later to the operating room the old lady, recovered
+from her swoon, was weeping silently, while Angelique stood by amazed.
+The tears were those of relief and joy. The twang of the sciatic nerve
+was stilled. The pain was gone. The baron, wringing the hand of
+Mademoiselle Brunelle, vowed he was younger by ten years.
+
+This was the tale told in duet, with the accompanying chorus of the
+abbe. Amazing, marvellous, wonderful! Aglae beamed on all around like
+the dimmed sun through golden mist. At every moment Clovis appealed to
+her with the devoted submissiveness of willing slavery. His chains
+were of roses, and he hugged them. Pharamond glanced slyly from time
+to time at the two ladies, so contrasted in appearance and demeanour,
+and then frowned at the chevalier, who was absorbed by attentions to
+the bottle. It was inconvenient that the oaf should take to drink. Had
+he not been charged with the important mission of watching over the
+marquise? He had better take good care not to transgress. If aught
+went wrong in the abbe's absence the chevalier should repent it
+bitterly.
+
+
+
+                           END OF VOLUME I.
+
+
+
+                          *   *   *   *   *
+         SIMMONS & BOTTEN, PRINTERS, LONDON.   _G. C. & Co_.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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