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diff --git a/469-h/469-h.htm b/469-h/469-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85234a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/469-h/469-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6655 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Duchesse of Langeais, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Duchesse de Langeais, by Honore de Balzac + +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 Duchesse de Langeais + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: February 20, 2010 [EBook #469] +Last Updated: November 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESSE DE LANGEAIS *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE DUCHESSE OF LANGEAIS + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + Preparer’s Note: + </p> + <p> + The Duchesse of Langeais is the second part of a trilogy. Part one is + entitled Ferragus and part three is The Girl with the Golden Eyes. The + three stories are frequently combined under the title The Thirteen. + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + To Franz Liszt + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> THE DUCHESSE OF LANGEAIS </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM </a> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE DUCHESSE OF LANGEAIS + </h2> + <p> + In a Spanish city on an island in the Mediterranean, there stands a + convent of the Order of Barefoot Carmelites, where the rule instituted by + St. Theresa is still preserved with all the first rigor of the reformation + brought about by that illustrious woman. Extraordinary as this may seem, + it is none the less true. Almost every religious house in the Peninsula, + or in Europe for that matter, was either destroyed or disorganized by the + outbreak of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars; but as this + island was protected through those times by the English fleet, its wealthy + convent and peaceable inhabitants were secure from the general trouble and + spoliation. The storms of many kinds which shook the first fifteen years + of the nineteenth century spent their force before they reached those + cliffs at so short a distance from the coast of Andalusia. + </p> + <p> + If the rumour of the Emperor’s name so much as reached the shore of the + island, it is doubtful whether the holy women kneeling in the cloisters + grasped the reality of his dream-like progress of glory, or the majesty + that blazed in flame across kingdom after kingdom during his meteor life. + </p> + <p> + In the minds of the Roman Catholic world, the convent stood out + pre-eminent for a stern discipline which nothing had changed; the purity + of its rule had attracted unhappy women from the furthest parts of Europe, + women deprived of all human ties, sighing after the long suicide + accomplished in the breast of God. No convent, indeed, was so well fitted + for that complete detachment of the soul from all earthly things, which is + demanded by the religious life, albeit on the continent of Europe there + are many convents magnificently adapted to the purpose of their existence. + Buried away in the loneliest valleys, hanging in mid-air on the steepest + mountainsides, set down on the brink of precipices, in every place man has + sought for the poetry of the Infinite, the solemn awe of Silence; in every + place man has striven to draw closer to God, seeking Him on mountain + peaks, in the depths below the crags, at the cliff’s edge; and everywhere + man has found God. But nowhere, save on this half-European, half-African + ledge of rock could you find so many different harmonies, combining so to + raise the soul, that the sharpest pain comes to be like other memories; + the strongest impressions are dulled, till the sorrows of life are laid to + rest in the depths. + </p> + <p> + The convent stands on the highest point of the crags at the uttermost end + of the island. On the side towards the sea the rock was once rent sheer + away in some globe-cataclysm; it rises up a straight wall from the base + where the waves gnaw at the stone below high-water mark. Any assault is + made impossible by the dangerous reefs that stretch far out to sea, with + the sparkling waves of the Mediterranean playing over them. So, only from + the sea can you discern the square mass of the convent built conformably + to the minute rules laid down as to the shape, height, doors, and windows + of monastic buildings. From the side of the town, the church completely + hides the solid structure of the cloisters and their roofs, covered with + broad slabs of stone impervious to sun or storm or gales of wind. + </p> + <p> + The church itself, built by the munificence of a Spanish family, is the + crowning edifice of the town. Its fine, bold front gives an imposing and + picturesque look to the little city in the sea. The sight of such a city, + with its close-huddled roofs, arranged for the most part amphitheatre-wise + above a picturesque harbour, and crowned by a glorious cathedral front + with triple-arched Gothic doorways, belfry towers, and filigree spires, is + a spectacle surely in every way the sublimest on earth. Religion towering + above daily life, to put men continually in mind of the End and the way, + is in truth a thoroughly Spanish conception. But now surround this picture + by the Mediterranean, and a burning sky, imagine a few palms here and + there, a few stunted evergreen trees mingling their waving leaves with the + motionless flowers and foliage of carved stone; look out over the reef + with its white fringes of foam in contrast to the sapphire sea; and then + turn to the city, with its galleries and terraces whither the townsfolk + come to take the air among their flowers of an evening, above the houses + and the tops of the trees in their little gardens; add a few sails down in + the harbour; and lastly, in the stillness of falling night, listen to the + organ music, the chanting of the services, the wonderful sound of bells + pealing out over the open sea. There is sound and silence everywhere; + oftener still there is silence over all. + </p> + <p> + The church is divided within into a sombre mysterious nave and narrow + aisles. For some reason, probably because the winds are so high, the + architect was unable to build the flying buttresses and intervening + chapels which adorn almost all cathedrals, nor are there openings of any + kind in the walls which support the weight of the roof. Outside there is + simply the heavy wall structure, a solid mass of grey stone further + strengthened by huge piers placed at intervals. Inside, the nave and its + little side galleries are lighted entirely by the great stained-glass + rose-window suspended by a miracle of art above the centre doorway; for + upon that side the exposure permits of the display of lacework in stone + and of other beauties peculiar to the style improperly called Gothic. + </p> + <p> + The larger part of the nave and aisles was left for the townsfolk, who + came and went and heard mass there. The choir was shut off from the rest + of the church by a grating and thick folds of brown curtain, left slightly + apart in the middle in such a way that nothing of the choir could be seen + from the church except the high altar and the officiating priest. The + grating itself was divided up by the pillars which supported the organ + loft; and this part of the structure, with its carved wooden columns, + completed the line of the arcading in the gallery carried by the shafts in + the nave. If any inquisitive person, therefore, had been bold enough to + climb upon the narrow balustrade in the gallery to look down into the + choir, he could have seen nothing but the tall eight-sided windows of + stained glass beyond the high altar. + </p> + <p> + At the time of the French expedition into Spain to establish Ferdinand VII + once more on the throne, a French general came to the island after the + taking of Cadiz, ostensibly to require the recognition of the King’s + Government, really to see the convent and to find some means of entering + it. The undertaking was certainly a delicate one; but a man of passionate + temper, whose life had been, as it were, but one series of poems in + action, a man who all his life long had lived romances instead of writing + them, a man pre-eminently a Doer, was sure to be tempted by a deed which + seemed to be impossible. + </p> + <p> + To open the doors of a convent of nuns by lawful means! The metropolitan + or the Pope would scarcely have permitted it! And as for force or + stratagem—might not any indiscretion cost him his position, his + whole career as a soldier, and the end in view to boot? The Duc + d’Angouleme was still in Spain; and of all the crimes which a man in + favour with the Commander-in-Chief might commit, this one alone was + certain to find him inexorable. The General had asked for the mission to + gratify private motives of curiosity, though never was curiosity more + hopeless. This final attempt was a matter of conscience. The Carmelite + convent on the island was the only nunnery in Spain which had baffled his + search. + </p> + <p> + As he crossed from the mainland, scarcely an hour’s distance, he felt a + presentiment that his hopes were to be fulfilled; and afterwards, when as + yet he had seen nothing of the convent but its walls, and of the nuns not + so much as their robes; while he had merely heard the chanting of the + service, there were dim auguries under the walls and in the sound of the + voices to justify his frail hope. And, indeed, however faint those so + unaccountable presentiments might be, never was human passion more + vehemently excited than the General’s curiosity at that moment. There are + no small events for the heart; the heart exaggerates everything; the heart + weighs the fall of a fourteen-year-old Empire and the dropping of a + woman’s glove in the same scales, and the glove is nearly always the + heavier of the two. So here are the facts in all their prosaic simplicity. + The facts first, the emotions will follow. + </p> + <p> + An hour after the General landed on the island, the royal authority was + re-established there. Some few Constitutional Spaniards who had found + their way thither after the fall of Cadiz were allowed to charter a vessel + and sail for London. So there was neither resistance nor reaction. But the + change of government could not be effected in the little town without a + mass, at which the two divisions under the General’s command were obliged + to be present. Now, it was upon this mass that the General had built his + hopes of gaining some information as to the sisters in the convent; he was + quite unaware how absolutely the Carmelites were cut off from the world; + but he knew that there might be among them one whom he held dearer than + life, dearer than honour. + </p> + <p> + His hopes were cruelly dashed at once. Mass, it is true, was celebrated in + state. In honour of such a solemnity, the curtains which always hid the + choir were drawn back to display its riches, its valuable paintings and + shrines so bright with gems that they eclipsed the glories of the ex-votos + of gold and silver hung up by sailors of the port on the columns in the + nave. But all the nuns had taken refuge in the organ-loft. And yet, in + spite of this first check, during this very mass of thanksgiving, the most + intimately thrilling drama that ever set a man’s heart beating opened out + widely before him. + </p> + <p> + The sister who played the organ aroused such intense enthusiasm, that not + a single man regretted that he had come to the service. Even the men in + the ranks were delighted, and the officers were in ecstasy. As for the + General, he was seemingly calm and indifferent. The sensations stirred in + him as the sister played one piece after another belong to the small + number of things which it is not lawful to utter; words are powerless to + express them; like death, God, eternity, they can only be realised through + their one point of contact with humanity. Strangely enough, the organ + music seemed to belong to the school of Rossini, the musician who brings + most human passion into his art. + </p> + <p> + Some day his works, by their number and extent, will receive the reverence + due to the Homer of music. From among all the scores that we owe to his + great genius, the nun seemed to have chosen <i>Moses in Egypt</i> for + special study, doubtless because the spirit of sacred music finds therein + its supreme expression. Perhaps the soul of the great musician, so + gloriously known to Europe, and the soul of this unknown executant had met + in the intuitive apprehension of the same poetry. So at least thought two + dilettanti officers who must have missed the Theatre Favart in Spain. + </p> + <p> + At last in the <i>Te Deum</i> no one could fail to discern a French soul + in the sudden change that came over the music. Joy for the victory of the + Most Christian King evidently stirred this nun’s heart to the depths. She + was a Frenchwoman beyond mistake. Soon the love of country shone out, + breaking forth like shafts of light from the fugue, as the sister + introduced variations with all a Parisienne’s fastidious taste, and + blended vague suggestions of our grandest national airs with her music. A + Spaniard’s fingers would not have brought this warmth into a graceful + tribute paid to the victorious arms of France. The musician’s nationality + was revealed. + </p> + <p> + “We find France everywhere, it seems,” said one of the men. + </p> + <p> + The General had left the church during the <i>Te Deum</i>; he could not + listen any longer. The nun’s music had been a revelation of a woman loved + to frenzy; a woman so carefully hidden from the world’s eyes, so deeply + buried in the bosom of the Church, that hitherto the most ingenious and + persistent efforts made by men who brought great influence and unusual + powers to bear upon the search had failed to find her. The suspicion + aroused in the General’s heart became all but a certainty with the vague + reminiscence of a sad, delicious melody, the air of <i>Fleuve du Tage</i>. + The woman he loved had played the prelude to the ballad in a boudoir in + Paris, how often! and now this nun had chosen the song to express an + exile’s longing, amid the joy of those that triumphed. Terrible sensation! + To hope for the resurrection of a lost love, to find her only to know that + she was lost, to catch a mysterious glimpse of her after five years—five + years, in which the pent-up passion, chafing in an empty life, had grown + the mightier for every fruitless effort to satisfy it! + </p> + <p> + Who has not known, at least once in his life, what it is to lose some + precious thing; and after hunting through his papers, ransacking his + memory, and turning his house upside down; after one or two days spent in + vain search, and hope, and despair; after a prodigious expenditure of the + liveliest irritation of soul, who has not known the ineffable pleasure of + finding that all-important nothing which had come to be a king of + monomania? Very good. Now, spread that fury of search over five years; put + a woman, put a heart, put love in the place of the trifle; transpose the + monomania into the key of high passion; and, furthermore, let the seeker + be a man of ardent temper, with a lion’s heart and a leonine head and + mane, a man to inspire awe and fear in those who come in contact with him—realise + this, and you may, perhaps, understand why the General walked abruptly out + of the church when the first notes of a ballad, which he used to hear with + a rapture of delight in a gilt-paneled boudoir, began to vibrate along the + aisles of the church in the sea. + </p> + <p> + The General walked away down the steep street which led to the port, and + only stopped when he could not hear the deep notes of the organ. Unable to + think of anything but the love which broke out in volcanic eruption, + filling his heart with fire, he only knew that the <i>Te Deum</i> was over + when the Spanish congregation came pouring out of the church. Feeling that + his behaviour and attitude might seem ridiculous, he went back to head the + procession, telling the alcalde and the governor that, feeling suddenly + faint, he had gone out into the air. Casting about for a plea for + prolonging his stay, it at once occurred to him to make the most of this + excuse, framed on the spur of the moment. He declined, on a plea of + increasing indisposition, to preside at the banquet given by the town to + the French officers, betook himself to his bed, and sent a message to the + Major-General, to the effect that temporary illness obliged him to leave + the Colonel in command of the troops for the time being. This commonplace + but very plausible stratagem relieved him of all responsibility for the + time necessary to carry out his plans. The General, nothing if not + “catholic and monarchical,” took occasion to inform himself of the hours + of the services, and manifested the greatest zeal for the performance of + his religious duties, piety which caused no remark in Spain. + </p> + <p> + The very next day, while the division was marching out of the town, the + General went to the convent to be present at vespers. He found an empty + church. The townsfolk, devout though they were, had all gone down to the + quay to watch the embarkation of the troops. He felt glad to be the only + man there. He tramped noisily up the nave, clanking his spurs till the + vaulted roof rang with the sound; he coughed, he talked aloud to himself + to let the nuns know, and more particularly to let the organist know that + if the troops were gone, one Frenchman was left behind. Was this singular + warning heard and understood? He thought so. It seemed to him that in the + <i>Magnificat</i> the organ made response which was borne to him on the + vibrating air. The nun’s spirit found wings in music and fled towards him, + throbbing with the rhythmical pulse of the sounds. Then, in all its might, + the music burst forth and filled the church with warmth. The Song of Joy + set apart in the sublime liturgy of Latin Christianity to express the + exaltation of the soul in the presence of the glory of the ever-living + God, became the utterance of a heart almost terrified by its gladness in + the presence of the glory of a mortal love; a love that yet lived, a love + that had risen to trouble her even beyond the grave in which the nun is + laid, that she may rise again as the bride of Christ. + </p> + <p> + The organ is in truth the grandest, the most daring, the most magnificent + of all instruments invented by human genius. It is a whole orchestra in + itself. It can express anything in response to a skilled touch. Surely it + is in some sort a pedestal on which the soul poises for a flight forth + into space, essaying on her course to draw picture after picture in an + endless series, to paint human life, to cross the Infinite that separates + heaven from earth? And the longer a dreamer listens to those giant + harmonies, the better he realizes that nothing save this hundred-voiced + choir on earth can fill all the space between kneeling men, and a God + hidden by the blinding light of the Sanctuary. The music is the one + interpreter strong enough to bear up the prayers of humanity to heaven, + prayer in its omnipotent moods, prayer tinged by the melancholy of many + different natures, coloured by meditative ecstasy, upspringing with the + impulse of repentance—blended with the myriad fancies of every + creed. Yes. In those long vaulted aisles the melodies inspired by the + sense of things divine are blended with a grandeur unknown before, are + decked with new glory and might. Out of the dim daylight, and the deep + silence broken by the chanting of the choir in response to the thunder of + the organ, a veil is woven for God, and the brightness of His attributes + shines through it. + </p> + <p> + And this wealth of holy things seemed to be flung down like a grain of + incense upon the fragile altar raised to Love beneath the eternal throne + of a jealous and avenging God. Indeed, in the joy of the nun there was + little of that awe and gravity which should harmonize with the solemnities + of the <i>Magnificat</i>. She had enriched the music with graceful + variations, earthly gladness throbbing through the rhythm of each. In such + brilliant quivering notes some great singer might strive to find a voice + for her love, her melodies fluttered as a bird flutters about her mate. + There were moments when she seemed to leap back into the past, to dally + there now with laughter, now with tears. Her changing moods, as it were, + ran riot. She was like a woman excited and happy over her lover’s return. + </p> + <p> + But at length, after the swaying fugues of delirium, after the marvellous + rendering of a vision of the past, a revulsion swept over the soul that + thus found utterance for itself. With a swift transition from the major to + the minor, the organist told her hearer of her present lot. She gave the + story of long melancholy broodings, of the slow course of her moral + malady. How day by day she deadened the senses, how every night cut off + one more thought, how her heart was slowly reduced to ashes. The sadness + deepened shade after shade through languid modulations, and in a little + while the echoes were pouring out a torrent of grief. Then on a sudden, + high notes rang out like the voices of angels singing together, as if to + tell the lost but not forgotten lover that their spirits now could only + meet in heaven. Pathetic hope! Then followed the <i>Amen</i>. No more joy, + no more tears in the air, no sadness, no regrets. The <i>Amen</i> was the + return to God. The final chord was deep, solemn, even terrible; for the + last rumblings of the bass sent a shiver through the audience that raised + the hair on their heads; the nun shook out her veiling of crepe, and + seemed to sink again into the grave from which she had risen for a moment. + Slowly the reverberations died away; it seemed as if the church, but now + so full of light, had returned to thick darkness. + </p> + <p> + The General had been caught up and borne swiftly away by this + strong-winged spirit; he had followed the course of its flight from + beginning to end. He understood to the fullest extent the imagery of that + burning symphony; for him the chords reached deep and far. For him, as for + the sister, the poem meant future, present, and past. Is not music, and + even opera music, a sort of text, which a susceptible or poetic temper, or + a sore and stricken heart, may expand as memories shall determine? If a + musician must needs have the heart of a poet, must not the listener too be + in a manner a poet and a lover to hear all that lies in great music? + Religion, love, and music—what are they but a threefold expression + of the same fact, of that craving for expansion which stirs in every noble + soul. And these three forms of poetry ascend to God, in whom all passion + on earth finds its end. Wherefore the holy human trinity finds a place + amid the infinite glories of God; of God, whom we always represent + surrounded with the fires of love and seistrons of gold—music and + light and harmony. Is not He the Cause and the End of all our strivings? + </p> + <p> + The French General guessed rightly that here in the desert, on this bare + rock in the sea, the nun had seized upon music as an outpouring of the + passion that still consumed her. Was this her manner of offering up her + love as a sacrifice to God? Or was it Love exultant in triumph over God? + The questions were hard to answer. But one thing at least the General + could not mistake—in this heart, dead to the world, the fire of + passion burned as fiercely as in his own. + </p> + <p> + Vespers over, he went back to the alcalde with whom he was staying. In the + all-absorbing joy which comes in such full measure when a satisfaction + sought long and painfully is attained at last, he could see nothing beyond + this—he was still loved! In her heart love had grown in loneliness, + even as his love had grown stronger as he surmounted one barrier after + another which this woman had set between them! The glow of soul came to + its natural end. There followed a longing to see her again, to contend + with God for her, to snatch her away—a rash scheme, which appealed + to a daring nature. He went to bed, when the meal was over, to avoid + questions; to be alone and think at his ease; and he lay absorbed by deep + thought till day broke. + </p> + <p> + He rose only to go to mass. He went to the church and knelt close to the + screen, with his forehead touching the curtain; he would have torn a hole + in it if he had been alone, but his host had come with him out of + politeness, and the least imprudence might compromise the whole future of + his love, and ruin the new hopes. + </p> + <p> + The organ sounded, but it was another player, and not the nun of the last + two days whose hands touched the keys. It was all colorless and cold for + the General. Was the woman he loved prostrated by emotion which well-nigh + overcame a strong man’s heart? Had she so fully realised and shared an + unchanged, longed-for love, that now she lay dying on her bed in her cell? + While innumerable thoughts of this kind perplexed his mind, the voice of + the woman he worshipped rang out close beside him; he knew its clear + resonant soprano. It was her voice, with that faint tremor in it which + gave it all the charm that shyness and diffidence gives to a young girl; + her voice, distinct from the mass of singing as a <i>prima donna’s</i> in + the chorus of a finale. It was like a golden or silver thread in dark + frieze. + </p> + <p> + It was she! There could be no mistake. Parisienne now as ever, she had not + laid coquetry aside when she threw off worldly adornments for the veil and + the Carmelite’s coarse serge. She who had affirmed her love last evening + in the praise sent up to God, seemed now to say to her lover, “Yes, it is + I. I am here. My love is unchanged, but I am beyond the reach of love. You + will hear my voice, my soul shall enfold you, and I shall abide here under + the brown shroud in the choir from which no power on earth can tear me. + You shall never see me more!” + </p> + <p> + “It is she indeed!” the General said to himself, raising his head. He had + leant his face on his hands, unable at first to bear the intolerable + emotion that surged like a whirlpool in his heart, when that well-known + voice vibrated under the arcading, with the sound of the sea for + accompaniment. + </p> + <p> + Storm was without, and calm within the sanctuary. Still that rich voice + poured out all its caressing notes; it fell like balm on the lover’s + burning heart; it blossomed upon the air—the air that a man would + fain breathe more deeply to receive the effluence of a soul breathed forth + with love in the words of the prayer. The alcalde coming to join his guest + found him in tears during the elevation, while the nun was singing, and + brought him back to his house. Surprised to find so much piety in a French + military man, the worthy magistrate invited the confessor of the convent + to meet his guest. Never had news given the General more pleasure; he paid + the ecclesiastic a good deal of attention at supper, and confirmed his + Spanish hosts in the high opinion they had formed of his piety by a not + wholly disinterested respect. + </p> + <p> + He inquired with gravity how many sisters there were in the convent, and + asked for particulars of its endowment and revenues, as if from courtesy + he wished to hear the good priest discourse on the subject most + interesting to him. He informed himself as to the manner of life led by + the holy women. Were they allowed to go out of the convent, or to see + visitors? + </p> + <p> + “Senor,” replied the venerable churchman, “the rule is strict. A woman + cannot enter a monastery of the order of St. Bruno without a special + permission from His Holiness, and the rule here is equally stringent. No + man may enter a convent of Barefoot Carmelites unless he is a priest + specially attached to the services of the house by the Archbishop. None of + the nuns may leave the convent; though the great Saint, St. Theresa, often + left her cell. The Visitor or the Mothers Superior can alone give + permission, subject to an authorization from the Archbishop, for a nun to + see a visitor, and then especially in a case of illness. Now we are one of + the principal houses, and consequently we have a Mother Superior here. + Among other foreign sisters there is one Frenchwoman, Sister Theresa; she + it is who directs the music in the chapel.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said the General, with feigned surprise. “She must have rejoiced + over the victory of the House of Bourbon.” + </p> + <p> + “I told them the reason of the mass; they are always a little bit + inquisitive.” + </p> + <p> + “But Sister Theresa may have interests in France. Perhaps she would like + to send some message or to hear news.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not think so. She would have come to ask me.” + </p> + <p> + “As a fellow-countryman, I should be quite curious to see her,” said the + General. “If it is possible, if the Lady Superior consents, if——” + </p> + <p> + “Even at the grating and in the Reverend Mother’s presence, an interview + would be quite impossible for anybody whatsoever; but, strict as the + Mother is, for a deliverer of our holy religion and the throne of his + Catholic Majesty, the rule might be relaxed for a moment,” said the + confessor, blinking. “I will speak about it.” + </p> + <p> + “How old is Sister Theresa?” inquired the lover. He dared not ask any + questions of the priest as to the nun’s beauty. + </p> + <p> + “She does not reckon years now,” the good man answered, with a simplicity + that made the General shudder. + </p> + <p> + Next day before siesta, the confessor came to inform the French General + that Sister Theresa and the Mother consented to receive him at the grating + in the parlour before vespers. The General spent the siesta in pacing to + and fro along the quay in the noonday heat. Thither the priest came to + find him, and brought him to the convent by way of the gallery round the + cemetery. Fountains, green trees, and rows of arcading maintained a cool + freshness in keeping with the place. + </p> + <p> + At the further end of the long gallery the priest led the way into a large + room divided in two by a grating covered with a brown curtain. In the + first, and in some sort of public half of the apartment, where the + confessor left the newcomer, a wooden bench ran round the wall, and two or + three chairs, also of wood, were placed near the grating. The ceiling + consisted of bare unornamented joists and cross-beams of ilex wood. As the + two windows were both on the inner side of the grating, and the dark + surface of the wood was a bad reflector, the light in the place was so dim + that you could scarcely see the great black crucifix, the portrait of + Saint Theresa, and a picture of the Madonna which adorned the grey parlour + walls. Tumultuous as the General’s feelings were, they took something of + the melancholy of the place. He grew calm in that homely quiet. A sense of + something vast as the tomb took possession of him beneath the chill + unceiled roof. Here, as in the grave, was there not eternal silence, deep + peace—the sense of the Infinite? And besides this there was the + quiet and the fixed thought of the cloister—a thought which you felt + like a subtle presence in the air, and in the dim dusk of the room; an + all-pervasive thought nowhere definitely expressed, and looming the larger + in the imagination; for in the cloister the great saying, “Peace in the + Lord,” enters the least religious soul as a living force. + </p> + <p> + The monk’s life is scarcely comprehensible. A man seems confessed a + weakling in a monastery; he was born to act, to live out a life of work; + he is evading a man’s destiny in his cell. But what man’s strength, + blended with pathetic weakness, is implied by a woman’s choice of the + convent life! A man may have any number of motives for burying himself in + a monastery; for him it is the leap over the precipice. A woman has but + one motive—she is a woman still; she betrothes herself to a Heavenly + Bridegroom. Of the monk you may ask, “Why did you not fight your battle?” + But if a woman immures herself in the cloister, is there not always a + sublime battle fought first? + </p> + <p> + At length it seemed to the General that that still room, and the lonely + convent in the sea, were full of thoughts of him. Love seldom attains to + solemnity; yet surely a love still faithful in the breast of God was + something solemn, something more than a man had a right to look for as + things are in this nineteenth century? The infinite grandeur of the + situation might well produce an effect upon the General’s mind; he had + precisely enough elevation of soul to forget politics, honours, Spain, and + society in Paris, and to rise to the height of this lofty climax. And what + in truth could be more tragic? How much must pass in the souls of these + two lovers, brought together in a place of strangers, on a ledge of + granite in the sea; yet held apart by an intangible, unsurmountable + barrier! Try to imagine the man saying within himself, “Shall I triumph + over God in her heart?” when a faint rustling sound made him quiver, and + the curtain was drawn aside. + </p> + <p> + Between him and the light stood a woman. Her face was hidden by the veil + that drooped from the folds upon her head; she was dressed according to + the rule of the order in a gown of the colour become proverbial. Her bare + feet were hidden; if the General could have seen them, he would have known + how appallingly thin she had grown; and yet in spite of the thick folds of + her coarse gown, a mere covering and no ornament, he could guess how + tears, and prayer, and passion, and loneliness had wasted the woman before + him. + </p> + <p> + An ice-cold hand, belonging, no doubt, to the Mother Superior, held back + the curtain. The General gave the enforced witness of their interview a + searching glance, and met the dark, inscrutable gaze of an aged recluse. + The Mother might have been a century old, but the bright, youthful eyes + belied the wrinkles that furrowed her pale face. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse,” he began, his voice shaken with emotion, “does your + companion understand French?” The veiled figure bowed her head at the + sound of his voice. + </p> + <p> + “There is no duchess here,” she replied. “It is Sister Theresa whom you + see before you. She whom you call my companion is my mother in God, my + superior here on earth.” + </p> + <p> + The words were so meekly spoken by the voice that sounded in other years + amid harmonious surroundings of refined luxury, the voice of a queen of + fashion in Paris. Such words from the lips that once spoke so lightly and + flippantly struck the General dumb with amazement. + </p> + <p> + “The Holy Mother only speaks Latin and Spanish,” she added. + </p> + <p> + “I understand neither. Dear Antoinette, make my excuses to her.” + </p> + <p> + The light fell full upon the nun’s figure; a thrill of deep emotion + betrayed itself in a faint quiver of her veil as she heard her name softly + spoken by the man who had been so hard in the past. + </p> + <p> + “My brother,” she said, drawing her sleeve under her veil, perhaps to + brush tears away, “I am Sister Theresa.” + </p> + <p> + Then, turning to the Superior, she spoke in Spanish; the General knew + enough of the language to understand what she said perfectly well; + possibly he could have spoken it had he chosen to do so. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Mother, the gentleman presents his respects to you, and begs you to + pardon him if he cannot pay them himself, but he knows neither of the + languages which you speak——” + </p> + <p> + The aged nun bent her head slowly, with an expression of angelic + sweetness, enhanced at the same time by the consciousness of her power and + dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know this gentleman?” she asked, with a keen glance. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Mother.” + </p> + <p> + “Go back to your cell, my daughter!” said the Mother imperiously. + </p> + <p> + The General slipped aside behind the curtain lest the dreadful tumult + within him should appear in his face; even in the shadow it seemed to him + that he could still see the Superior’s piercing eyes. He was afraid of + her; she held his little, frail, hardly-won happiness in her hands; and + he, who had never quailed under a triple row of guns, now trembled before + this nun. The Duchess went towards the door, but she turned back. + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” she said, with dreadful calmness, “the Frenchman is one of my + brothers.” + </p> + <p> + “Then stay, my daughter,” said the Superior, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + The piece of admirable Jesuitry told of such love and regret, that a man + less strongly constituted might have broken down under the keen delight in + the midst of a great and, for him, an entirely novel peril. Oh! how + precious words, looks, and gestures became when love must baffle lynx eyes + and tiger’s claws! Sister Theresa came back. + </p> + <p> + “You see, my brother, what I have dared to do only to speak to you for a + moment of your salvation and of the prayers that my soul puts up for your + soul daily. I am committing mortal sin. I have told a lie. How many days + of penance must expiate that lie! But I shall endure it for your sake. My + brother, you do not know what happiness it is to love in heaven; to feel + that you can confess love purified by religion, love transported into the + highest heights of all, so that we are permitted to lose sight of all but + the soul. If the doctrine and the spirit of the Saint to whom we owe this + refuge had not raised me above earth’s anguish, and caught me up and set + me, far indeed beneath the Sphere wherein she dwells, yet truly above this + world, I should not have seen you again. But now I can see you, and hear + your voice, and remain calm——” + </p> + <p> + The General broke in, “But, Antoinette, let me see you, you whom I love + passionately, desperately, as you could have wished me to love you.” + </p> + <p> + “Do not call me Antoinette, I implore you. Memories of the past hurt me. + You must see no one here but Sister Theresa, a creature who trusts in the + Divine mercy.” She paused for a little, and then added, “You must control + yourself, my brother. Our Mother would separate us without pity if there + is any worldly passion in your face, or if you allow the tears to fall + from your eyes.” + </p> + <p> + The General bowed his head to regain self-control; when he looked up again + he saw her face beyond the grating—the thin, white, but still + impassioned face of the nun. All the magic charm of youth that once + bloomed there, all the fair contrast of velvet whiteness and the colour of + the Bengal rose, had given place to a burning glow, as of a porcelain jar + with a faint light shining through it. The wonderful hair in which she + took such pride had been shaven; there was a bandage round her forehead + and about her face. An ascetic life had left dark traces about the eyes, + which still sometimes shot out fevered glances; their ordinary calm + expression was but a veil. In a few words, she was but the ghost of her + former self. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you that have come to be my life, you must come out of this tomb! You + were mine; you had no right to give yourself, even to God. Did you not + promise me to give up all at the least command from me? You may perhaps + think me worthy of that promise now when you hear what I have done for + you. I have sought you all through the world. You have been in my thoughts + at every moment for five years; my life has been given to you. My friends, + very powerful friends, as you know, have helped with all their might to + search every convent in France, Italy, Spain, Sicily, and America. Love + burned more brightly for every vain search. Again and again I made long + journeys with a false hope; I have wasted my life and the heaviest + throbbings of my heart in vain under many a dark convent wall. I am not + speaking of a faithfulness that knows no bounds, for what is it?—nothing + compared with the infinite longings of my love. If your remorse long ago + was sincere, you ought not to hesitate to follow me today.” + </p> + <p> + “You forget that I am not free.” + </p> + <p> + “The Duke is dead,” he answered quickly. + </p> + <p> + Sister Theresa flushed red. + </p> + <p> + “May heaven be open to him!” she cried with a quick rush of feeling. “He + was generous to me.—But I did not mean such ties; it was one of my + sins that I was ready to break them all without scruple—for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you speaking of your vows?” the General asked, frowning. “I did not + think that anything weighed heavier with your heart than love. But do not + think twice of it, Antoinette; the Holy Father himself shall absolve you + of your oath. I will surely go to Rome, I will entreat all the powers of + earth; if God could come down from heaven, I would——” + </p> + <p> + “Do not blaspheme.” + </p> + <p> + “So do not fear the anger of God. Ah! I would far rather hear that you + would leave your prison for me; that this very night you would let + yourself down into a boat at the foot of the cliffs. And we would go away + to be happy somewhere at the world’s end, I know not where. And with me at + your side, you should come back to life and health under the wings of + love.” + </p> + <p> + “You must not talk like this,” said Sister Theresa; “you do not know what + you are to me now. I love you far better than I ever loved you before. + Every day I pray for you; I see you with other eyes. Armand, if you but + knew the happiness of giving yourself up, without shame, to a pure + friendship which God watches over! You do not know what joy it is to me to + pray for heaven’s blessing on you. I never pray for myself: God will do + with me according to His will; but, at the price of my soul, I wish I + could be sure that you are happy here on earth, and that you will be happy + hereafter throughout all ages. My eternal life is all that trouble has + left me to offer up to you. I am old now with weeping; I am neither young + nor fair; and in any case, you could not respect the nun who became a + wife; no love, not even motherhood, could give me absolution.... What can + you say to outweigh the uncounted thoughts that have gathered in my heart + during the past five years, thoughts that have changed, and worn, and + blighted it? I ought to have given a heart less sorrowful to God.” + </p> + <p> + “What can I say? Dear Antoinette, I will say this, that I love you; that + affection, love, a great love, the joy of living in another heart that is + ours, utterly and wholly ours, is so rare a thing and so hard to find, + that I doubted you, and put you to sharp proof; but now, today, I love + you, Antoinette, with all my soul’s strength.... If you will follow me + into solitude, I will hear no voice but yours, I will see no other face.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, Armand! You are shortening the little time that we may be together + here on earth.” + </p> + <p> + “Antoinette, will you come with me?” + </p> + <p> + “I am never away from you. My life is in your heart, not through the + selfish ties of earthly happiness, or vanity, or enjoyment; pale and + withered as I am, I live here for you, in the breast of God. As God is + just, you shall be happy——” + </p> + <p> + “Words, words all of it! Pale and withered? How if I want you? How if I + cannot be happy without you? Do you still think of nothing but duty with + your lover before you? Is he never to come first and above all things else + in your heart? In time past you put social success, yourself, heaven knows + what, before him; now it is God, it is the welfare of my soul! In Sister + Theresa I find the Duchess over again, ignorant of the happiness of love, + insensible as ever, beneath the semblance of sensibility. You do not love + me; you have never loved me——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my brother——!” + </p> + <p> + “You do not wish to leave this tomb. You love my soul, do you say? Very + well, through you it will be lost forever. I shall make away with myself——” + </p> + <p> + “Mother!” Sister Theresa called aloud in Spanish, “I have lied to you; + this man is my lover!” + </p> + <p> + The curtain fell at once. The General, in his stupor, scarcely heard the + doors within as they clanged. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! she loves me still!” he cried, understanding all the sublimity of + that cry of hers. “She loves me still. She must be carried off....” + </p> + <p> + The General left the island, returned to headquarters, pleaded ill-health, + asked for leave of absence, and forthwith took his departure for France. + </p> + <p> + And now for the incidents which brought the two personages in this Scene + into their present relation to each other. + </p> + <p> + The thing known in France as the Faubourg Saint-Germain is neither a + Quarter, nor a sect, nor an institution, nor anything else that admits of + a precise definition. There are great houses in the Place Royale, the + Faubourg Saint-Honore, and the Chaussee d’Antin, in any one of which you + may breathe the same atmosphere of Faubourg Saint-Germain. So, to begin + with, the whole Faubourg is not within the Faubourg. There are men and + women born far enough away from its influences who respond to them and + take their place in the circle; and again there are others, born within + its limits, who may yet be driven forth forever. For the last forty years + the manners, and customs, and speech, in a word, the tradition of the + Faubourg Saint-Germain, has been to Paris what the Court used to be in + other times; it is what the Hotel Saint-Paul was to the fourteenth + century; the Louvre to the fifteenth; the Palais, the Hotel Rambouillet, + and the Place Royale to the sixteenth; and lastly, as Versailles was to + the seventeenth and the eighteenth. + </p> + <p> + Just as the ordinary workaday Paris will always centre about some point; + so, through all periods of history, the Paris of the nobles and the upper + classes converges towards some particular spot. It is a periodically + recurrent phenomenon which presents ample matter for reflection to those + who are fain to observe or describe the various social zones; and possibly + an enquiry into the causes that bring about this centralization may do + more than merely justify the probability of this episode; it may be of + service to serious interests which some day will be more deeply rooted in + the commonwealth, unless, indeed, experience is as meaningless for + political parties as it is for youth. + </p> + <p> + In every age the great nobles, and the rich who always ape the great + nobles, build their houses as far as possible from crowded streets. When + the Duc d’Uzes built his splendid hotel in the Rue Montmartre in the reign + of Louis XIV, and set the fountain at his gates—for which beneficent + action, to say nothing of his other virtues, he was held in such + veneration that the whole quarter turned out in a body to follow his + funeral—when the Duke, I say, chose this site for his house, he did + so because that part of Paris was almost deserted in those days. But when + the fortifications were pulled down, and the market gardens beyond the + line of the boulevards began to fill with houses, then the d’Uzes family + left their fine mansion, and in our time it was occupied by a banker. + Later still, the noblesse began to find themselves out of their element + among shopkeepers, left the Place Royale and the centre of Paris for good, + and crossed the river to breathe freely in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, + where palaces were reared already about the great hotel built by Louis XIV + for the Duc de Maine—the Benjamin among his legitimated offspring. + And indeed, for people accustomed to a stately life, can there be more + unseemly surroundings than the bustle, the mud, the street cries, the bad + smells, and narrow thoroughfares of a populous quarter? The very habits of + life in a mercantile or manufacturing district are completely at variance + with the lives of nobles. The shopkeeper and artisan are just going to bed + when the great world is thinking of dinner; and the noisy stir of life + begins among the former when the latter have gone to rest. Their day’s + calculations never coincide; the one class represents the expenditure, the + other the receipts. Consequently their manners and customs are + diametrically opposed. + </p> + <p> + Nothing contemptuous is intended by this statement. An aristocracy is in a + manner the intellect of the social system, as the middle classes and the + proletariat may be said to be its organizing and working power. It + naturally follows that these forces are differently situated; and of their + antagonism there is bred a seeming antipathy produced by the performance + of different functions, all of them, however, existing for one common end. + </p> + <p> + Such social dissonances are so inevitably the outcome of any charter of + the constitution, that however much a Liberal may be disposed to complain + of them, as of treason against those sublime ideas with which the + ambitious plebeian is apt to cover his designs, he would none the less + think it a preposterous notion that M. le Prince de Montmorency, for + instance, should continue to live in the Rue Saint-Martin at the corner of + the street which bears that nobleman’s name; or that M. le Duc de + Fitz-James, descendant of the royal house of Scotland, should have his + hotel at the angle of the Rue Marie Stuart and the Rue Montorgueil. <i>Sint + ut sunt, aut non sint</i>, the grand words of the Jesuit, might be taken + as a motto by the great in all countries. These social differences are + patent in all ages; the fact is always accepted by the people; its + “reasons of state” are self-evident; it is at once cause and effect, a + principle and a law. The common sense of the masses never deserts them + until demagogues stir them up to gain ends of their own; that common sense + is based on the verities of social order; and the social order is the same + everywhere, in Moscow as in London, in Geneva as in Calcutta. Given a + certain number of families of unequal fortune in any given space, you will + see an aristocracy forming under your eyes; there will be the patricians, + the upper classes, and yet other ranks below them. Equality may be a <i>right</i>, + but no power on earth can convert it into <i>fact</i>. It would be a good + thing for France if this idea could be popularized. The benefits of + political harmony are obvious to the least intelligent classes. Harmony + is, as it were, the poetry of order, and order is a matter of vital + importance to the working population. And what is order, reduced to its + simplest expression, but the agreement of things among themselves—unity, + in short? Architecture, music, and poetry, everything in France, and in + France more than in any other country, is based upon this principle; it is + written upon the very foundations of her clear accurate language, and a + language must always be the most infallible index of national character. + In the same way you may note that the French popular airs are those most + calculated to strike the imagination, the best-modulated melodies are + taken over by the people; clearness of thought, the intellectual + simplicity of an idea attracts them; they like the incisive sayings that + hold the greatest number of ideas. France is the one country in the world + where a little phrase may bring about a great revolution. Whenever the + masses have risen, it has been to bring men, affairs, and principles into + agreement. No nation has a clearer conception of that idea of unity which + should permeate the life of an aristocracy; possibly no other nation has + so intelligent a comprehension of a political necessity; history will + never find her behind the time. France has been led astray many a time, + but she is deluded, woman-like, by generous ideas, by a glow of enthusiasm + which at first outstrips sober reason. + </p> + <p> + So, to begin with, the most striking characteristic of the Faubourg is the + splendour of its great mansions, its great gardens, and a surrounding + quiet in keeping with princely revenues drawn from great estates. And what + is this distance set between a class and a whole metropolis but visible + and outward expression of the widely different attitude of mind which must + inevitably keep them apart? The position of the head is well defined in + every organism. If by any chance a nation allows its head to fall at its + feet, it is pretty sure sooner or later to discover that this is a + suicidal measure; and since nations have no desire to perish, they set to + work at once to grow a new head. If they lack the strength for this, they + perish as Rome perished, and Venice, and so many other states. + </p> + <p> + This distinction between the upper and lower spheres of social activity, + emphasized by differences in their manner of living, necessarily implies + that in the highest aristocracy there is real worth and some + distinguishing merit. In any state, no matter what form of “government” is + affected, so soon as the patrician class fails to maintain that complete + superiority which is the condition of its existence, it ceases to be a + force, and is pulled down at once by the populace. The people always wish + to see money, power, and initiative in their leaders, hands, hearts, and + heads; they must be the spokesmen, they must represent the intelligence + and the glory of the nation. Nations, like women, love strength in those + who rule them; they cannot give love without respect; they refuse utterly + to obey those of whom they do not stand in awe. An aristocracy fallen into + contempt is a <i>roi faineant</i>, a husband in petticoats; first it + ceases to be itself, and then it ceases to be. + </p> + <p> + And in this way the isolation of the great, the sharply marked distinction + in their manner of life, or in a word, the general custom of the patrician + caste is at once the sign of a real power, and their destruction so soon + as that power is lost. The Faubourg Saint-Germain failed to recognise the + conditions of its being, while it would still have been easy to perpetuate + its existence, and therefore was brought low for a time. The Faubourg + should have looked the facts fairly in the face, as the English + aristocracy did before them; they should have seen that every institution + has its climacteric periods, when words lose their old meanings, and ideas + reappear in a new guise, and the whole conditions of politics wear a + changed aspect, while the underlying realities undergo no essential + alteration. + </p> + <p> + These ideas demand further development which form an essential part of + this episode; they are given here both as a succinct statement of the + causes, and an explanation of the things which happen in the course of the + story. + </p> + <p> + The stateliness of the castles and palaces where nobles dwell; the luxury + of the details; the constantly maintained sumptuousness of the furniture; + the “atmosphere” in which the fortunate owner of landed estates (a rich + man before he was born) lives and moves easily and without friction; the + habit of mind which never descends to calculate the petty workaday gains + of existence; the leisure; the higher education attainable at a much + earlier age; and lastly, the aristocratic tradition that makes of him a + social force, for which his opponents, by dint of study and a strong will + and tenacity of vocation, are scarcely a match-all these things should + contribute to form a lofty spirit in a man, possessed of such privileges + from his youth up; they should stamp his character with that high + self-respect, of which the least consequence is a nobleness of heart in + harmony with the noble name that he bears. And in some few families all + this is realised. There are noble characters here and there in the + Faubourg, but they are marked exceptions to a general rule of egoism which + has been the ruin of this world within a world. The privileges above + enumerated are the birthright of the French noblesse, as of every + patrician efflorescence ever formed on the surface of a nation; and will + continue to be theirs so long as their existence is based upon real + estate, or money; <i>domaine-sol</i> and <i>domaine-argent</i> alike, the + only solid bases of an organized society; but such privileges are held + upon the understanding that the patricians must continue to justify their + existence. There is a sort of moral <i>fief</i> held on a tenure of + service rendered to the sovereign, and here in France the people are + undoubtedly the sovereigns nowadays. The times are changed, and so are the + weapons. The knight-banneret of old wore a coat of chain armor and a + hauberk; he could handle a lance well and display his pennon, and no more + was required of him; today he is bound to give proof of his intelligence. + A stout heart was enough in the days of old; in our days he is required to + have a capacious brain-pan. Skill and knowledge and capital—these + three points mark out a social triangle on which the scutcheon of power is + blazoned; our modern aristocracy must take its stand on these. + </p> + <p> + A fine theorem is as good as a great name. The Rothschilds, the Fuggers of + the nineteenth century, are princes <i>de facto</i>. A great artist is in + reality an oligarch; he represents a whole century, and almost always he + is a law to others. And the art of words, the high pressure machinery of + the writer, the poet’s genius, the merchant’s steady endurance, the strong + will of the statesman who concentrates a thousand dazzling qualities in + himself, the general’s sword—all these victories, in short, which a + single individual will win, that he may tower above the rest of the world, + the patrician class is now bound to win and keep exclusively. They must + head the new forces as they once headed the material forces; how should + they keep the position unless they are worthy of it? How, unless they are + the soul and brain of a nation, shall they set its hands moving? How lead + a people without the power of command? And what is the marshal’s baton + without the innate power of the captain in the man who wields it? The + Faubourg Saint-Germain took to playing with batons, and fancied that all + the power was in its hands. It inverted the terms of the proposition which + called it into existence. And instead of flinging away the insignia which + offended the people, and quietly grasping the power, it allowed the + bourgeoisie to seize the authority, clung with fatal obstinacy to its + shadow, and over and over again forgot the laws which a minority must + observe if it would live. When an aristocracy is scarce a thousandth part + of the body social, it is bound today, as of old, to multiply its points + of action, so as to counterbalance the weight of the masses in a great + crisis. And in our days those means of action must be living forces, and + not historical memories. + </p> + <p> + In France, unluckily, the noblesse were still so puffed up with the notion + of their vanished power, that it was difficult to contend against a kind + of innate presumption in themselves. Perhaps this is a national defect. + The Frenchman is less given than anyone else to undervalue himself; it + comes natural to him to go from his degree to the one above it; and while + it is a rare thing for him to pity the unfortunates over whose heads he + rises, he always groans in spirit to see so many fortunate people above + him. He is very far from heartless, but too often he prefers to listen to + his intellect. The national instinct which brings the Frenchman to the + front, the vanity that wastes his substance, is as much a dominant passion + as thrift in the Dutch. For three centuries it swayed the noblesse, who, + in this respect, were certainly pre-eminently French. The scion of the + Faubourg Saint-Germain, beholding his material superiority, was fully + persuaded of his intellectual superiority. And everything contributed to + confirm him in his belief; for ever since the Faubourg Saint-Germain + existed at all—which is to say, ever since Versailles ceased to be + the royal residence—the Faubourg, with some few gaps in continuity, + was always backed up by the central power, which in France seldom fails to + support that side. Thence its downfall in 1830. + </p> + <p> + At that time the party of the Faubourg Saint-Germain was rather like an + army without a base of operation. It had utterly failed to take advantage + of the peace to plant itself in the heart of the nation. It sinned for + want of learning its lesson, and through an utter incapability of + regarding its interests as a whole. A future certainty was sacrificed to a + doubtful present gain. This blunder in policy may perhaps be attributed to + the following cause. + </p> + <p> + The class-isolation so strenuously kept up by the noblesse brought about + fatal results during the last forty years; even caste-patriotism was + extinguished by it, and rivalry fostered among themselves. When the French + noblesse of other times were rich and powerful, the nobles (<i>gentilhommes</i>) + could choose their chiefs and obey them in the hour of danger. As their + power diminished, they grew less amenable to discipline; and as in the + last days of the Byzantine Empire, everyone wished to be emperor. They + mistook their uniform weakness for uniform strength. + </p> + <p> + Each family ruined by the Revolution and the abolition of the law of + primogeniture thought only of itself, and not at all of the great family + of the noblesse. It seemed to them that as each individual grew rich, the + party as a whole would gain in strength. And herein lay their mistake. + Money, likewise, is only the outward and visible sign of power. All these + families were made up of persons who preserved a high tradition of + courtesy, of true graciousness of life, of refined speech, with a family + pride, and a squeamish sense of <i>noblesse oblige</i> which suited well + with the kind of life they led; a life wholly filled with occupations + which become contemptible so soon as they cease to be accessories and take + the chief place in existence. There was a certain intrinsic merit in all + these people, but the merit was on the surface, and none of them were + worth their face-value. + </p> + <p> + Not a single one among those families had courage to ask itself the + question, “Are we strong enough for the responsibility of power?” They + were cast on the top, like the lawyers of 1830; and instead of taking the + patron’s place, like a great man, the Faubourg Saint-Germain showed itself + greedy as an upstart. The most intelligent nation in the world perceived + clearly that the restored nobles were organizing everything for their own + particular benefit. From that day the noblesse was doomed. The Faubourg + Saint-Germain tried to be an aristocracy when it could only be an + oligarchy—two very different systems, as any man may see for himself + if he gives an intelligent perusal to the list of the patronymics of the + House of Peers. + </p> + <p> + The King’s Government certainly meant well; but the maxim that the people + must be made to <i>will</i> everything, even their own welfare, was pretty + constantly forgotten, nor did they bear in mind that La France is a woman + and capricious, and must be happy or chastised at her own good pleasure. + If there had been many dukes like the Duc de Laval, whose modesty made him + worthy of the name he bore, the elder branch would have been as securely + seated on the throne as the House of Hanover at this day. + </p> + <p> + In 1814 the noblesse of France were called upon to assert their + superiority over the most aristocratic bourgeoisie in the most feminine of + all countries, to take the lead in the most highly educated epoch the + world had yet seen. And this was even more notably the case in 1820. The + Faubourg Saint-Germain might very easily have led and amused the middle + classes in days when people’s heads were turned with distinctions, and art + and science were all the rage. But the narrow-minded leaders of a time of + great intellectual progress all of them detested art and science. They had + not even the wit to present religion in attractive colours, though they + needed its support. While Lamartine, Lamennais, Montalembert, and other + writers were putting new life and elevation into men’s ideas of religion, + and gilding it with poetry, these bunglers in the Government chose to make + the harshness of their creed felt all over the country. Never was nation + in a more tractable humour; La France, like a tired woman, was ready to + agree to anything; never was mismanagement so clumsy; and La France, like + a woman, would have forgiven wrongs more easily than bungling. + </p> + <p> + If the noblesse meant to reinstate themselves, the better to found a + strong oligarchy, they should have honestly and diligently searched their + Houses for men of the stamp that Napoleon used; they should have turned + themselves inside out to see if peradventure there was a Constitutionalist + Richelieu lurking in the entrails of the Faubourg; and if that genius was + not forthcoming from among them, they should have set out to find him, + even in the fireless garret where he might happen to be perishing of cold; + they should have assimilated him, as the English House of Lords + continually assimilates aristocrats made by chance; and finally ordered + him to be ruthless, to lop away the old wood, and cut the tree down to the + living shoots. But, in the first place, the great system of English + Toryism was far too large for narrow minds; the importation required time, + and in France a tardy success is no better than a fiasco. So far, + moreover, from adopting a policy of redemption, and looking for new forces + where God puts them, these petty great folk took a dislike to any capacity + that did not issue from their midst; and, lastly, instead of growing young + again, the Faubourg Saint-Germain grew positively older. + </p> + <p> + Etiquette, not an institution of primary necessity, might have been + maintained if it had appeared only on state occasions, but as it was, + there was a daily wrangle over precedence; it ceased to be a matter of art + or court ceremonial, it became a question of power. And if from the outset + the Crown lacked an adviser equal to so great a crisis, the aristocracy + was still more lacking in a sense of its wider interests, an instinct + which might have supplied the deficiency. They stood nice about M. de + Talleyrand’s marriage, when M. de Talleyrand was the one man among them + with the steel-encompassed brains that can forge a new political system + and begin a new career of glory for a nation. The Faubourg scoffed at a + minister if he was not gently born, and produced no one of gentle birth + that was fit to be a minister. There were plenty of nobles fitted to serve + their country by raising the dignity of justices of the peace, by + improving the land, by opening out roads and canals, and taking an active + and leading part as country gentlemen; but these had sold their estates to + gamble on the Stock Exchange. Again the Faubourg might have absorbed the + energetic men among the bourgeoisie, and opened their ranks to the + ambition which was undermining authority; they preferred instead to fight, + and to fight unarmed, for of all that they once possessed there was + nothing left but tradition. For their misfortune there was just precisely + enough of their former wealth left them as a class to keep up their bitter + pride. They were content with their past. Not one of them seriously + thought of bidding the son of the house take up arms from the pile of + weapons which the nineteenth century flings down in the market-place. + Young men, shut out from office, were dancing at Madame’s balls, while + they should have been doing the work done under the Republic and the + Empire by young, conscientious, harmlessly employed energies. It was their + place to carry out at Paris the programme which their seniors should have + been following in the country. The heads of houses might have won back + recognition of their titles by unremitting attention to local interests, + by falling in with the spirit of the age, by recasting their order to suit + the taste of the times. + </p> + <p> + But, pent up together in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where the spirit of + the ancient court and traditions of bygone feuds between the nobles and + the Crown still lingered on, the aristocracy was not whole-hearted in its + allegiance to the Tuileries, and so much the more easily defeated because + it was concentrated in the Chamber of Peers, and badly organized even + there. If the noblesse had woven themselves into a network over the + country, they could have held their own; but cooped up in their Faubourg, + with their backs against the Chateau, or spread at full length over the + Budget, a single blow cut the thread of a fast-expiring life, and a petty, + smug-faced lawyer came forward with the axe. In spite of M. + Royer-Collard’s admirable discourse, the hereditary peerage and law of + entail fell before the lampoons of a man who made it a boast that he had + adroitly argued some few heads out of the executioner’s clutches, and now + forsooth must clumsily proceed to the slaying of old institutions. + </p> + <p> + There are examples and lessons for the future in all this. For if there + were not still a future before the French aristocracy, there would be no + need to do more than find a suitable sarcophagus; it were something + pitilessly cruel to burn the dead body of it with fire of Tophet. But + though the surgeon’s scalpel is ruthless, it sometimes gives back life to + a dying man; and the Faubourg Saint-Germain may wax more powerful under + persecution than in its day of triumph, if it but chooses to organize + itself under a leader. + </p> + <p> + And now it is easy to give a summary of this semi-political survey. The + wish to re-establish a large fortune was uppermost in everyone’s mind; a + lack of broad views, and a mass of small defects, a real need of religion + as a political factor, combined with a thirst for pleasure which damaged + the cause of religion and necessitated a good deal of hypocrisy; a certain + attitude of protest on the part of loftier and clearer-sighted men who set + their faces against Court jealousies; and the disaffection of the + provincial families, who often came of purer descent than the nobles of + the Court which alienated them from itself—all these things combined + to bring about a most discordant state of things in the Faubourg + Saint-Germain. It was neither compact in its organisation, nor consequent + in its action; neither completely moral, nor frankly dissolute; it did not + corrupt, nor was it corrupted; it would neither wholly abandon the + disputed points which damaged its cause, nor yet adopt the policy that + might have saved it. In short, however effete individuals might be, the + party as a whole was none the less armed with all the great principles + which lie at the roots of national existence. What was there in the + Faubourg that it should perish in its strength? + </p> + <p> + It was very hard to please in the choice of candidates; the Faubourg had + good taste, it was scornfully fastidious, yet there was nothing very + glorious nor chivalrous truly about its fall. + </p> + <p> + In the Emigration of 1789 there were some traces of a loftier feeling; but + in the Emigration of 1830 from Paris into the country there was nothing + discernible but self-interest. A few famous men of letters, a few + oratorical triumphs in the Chambers, M. de Talleyrand’s attitude in the + Congress, the taking of Algiers, and not a few names that found their way + from the battlefield into the pages of history—all these things were + so many examples set before the French noblesse to show that it was still + open to them to take their part in the national existence, and to win + recognition of their claims, if, indeed, they could condescend thus far. + In every living organism the work of bringing the whole into harmony + within itself is always going on. If a man is indolent, the indolence + shows itself in everything that he does; and, in the same manner, the + general spirit of a class is pretty plainly manifested in the face it + turns on the world, and the soul informs the body. + </p> + <p> + The women of the Restoration displayed neither the proud disregard of + public opinion shown by the court ladies of olden time in their + wantonness, nor yet the simple grandeur of the tardy virtues by which they + expiated their sins and shed so bright a glory about their names. There + was nothing either very frivolous or very serious about the woman of the + Restoration. She was hypocritical as a rule in her passion, and + compounded, so to speak, with its pleasures. Some few families led the + domestic life of the Duchesse d’Orleans, whose connubial couch was + exhibited so absurdly to visitors at the Palais Royal. Two or three kept + up the traditions of the Regency, filling cleverer women with something + like disgust. The great lady of the new school exercised no influence at + all over the manners of the time; and yet she might have done much. She + might, at worst, have presented as dignified a spectacle as English-women + of the same rank. But she hesitated feebly among old precedents, became a + bigot by force of circumstances, and allowed nothing of herself to appear, + not even her better qualities. + </p> + <p> + Not one among the Frenchwomen of that day had the ability to create a + salon whither leaders of fashion might come to take lessons in taste and + elegance. Their voices, which once laid down the law to literature, that + living expression of a time, now counted absolutely for nought. Now when a + literature lacks a general system, it fails to shape a body for itself, + and dies out with its period. + </p> + <p> + When in a nation at any time there is a people apart thus constituted, the + historian is pretty certain to find some representative figure, some + central personage who embodies the qualities and the defects of the whole + party to which he belongs; there is Coligny, for instance, among the + Huguenots, the Coadjuteur in the time of the Fronde, the Marechal de + Richelieu under Louis XV, Danton during the Terror. It is in the nature of + things that the man should be identified with the company in which history + finds him. How is it possible to lead a party without conforming to its + ideas? or to shine in any epoch unless a man represents the ideas of his + time? The wise and prudent head of a party is continually obliged to bow + to the prejudices and follies of its rear; and this is the cause of + actions for which he is afterwards criticised by this or that historian + sitting at a safer distance from terrific popular explosions, coolly + judging the passion and ferment without which the great struggles of the + world could not be carried on at all. And if this is true of the + Historical Comedy of the Centuries, it is equally true in a more + restricted sphere in the detached scenes of the national drama known as + the <i>Manners of the Age</i>. + </p> + <p> + At the beginning of that ephemeral life led by the Faubourg Saint-Germain + under the Restoration, to which, if there is any truth in the above + reflections, they failed to give stability, the most perfect type of the + aristocratic caste in its weakness and strength, its greatness and + littleness, might have been found for a brief space in a young married + woman who belonged to it. This was a woman artificially educated, but in + reality ignorant; a woman whose instincts and feelings were lofty while + the thought which should have controlled them was wanting. She squandered + the wealth of her nature in obedience to social conventions; she was ready + to brave society, yet she hesitated till her scruples degenerated into + artifice. With more wilfulness than real force of character, + impressionable rather than enthusiastic, gifted with more brain than + heart; she was supremely a woman, supremely a coquette, and above all + things a Parisienne, loving a brilliant life and gaiety, reflecting never, + or too late; imprudent to the verge of poetry, and humble in the depths of + her heart, in spite of her charming insolence. Like some straight-growing + reed, she made a show of independence; yet, like the reed, she was ready + to bend to a strong hand. She talked much of religion, and had it not at + heart, though she was prepared to find in it a solution of her life. How + explain a creature so complex? Capable of heroism, yet sinking + unconsciously from heroic heights to utter a spiteful word; young and + sweet-natured, not so much old at heart as aged by the maxims of those + about her; versed in a selfish philosophy in which she was all + unpractised, she had all the vices of a courtier, all the nobleness of + developing womanhood. She trusted nothing and no one, yet there were times + when she quitted her sceptical attitude for a submissive credulity. + </p> + <p> + How should any portrait be anything but incomplete of her, in whom the + play of swiftly-changing colour made discord only to produce a poetic + confusion? For in her there shone a divine brightness, a radiance of youth + that blended all her bewildering characteristics in a certain completeness + and unity informed by her charm. Nothing was feigned. The passion or + semi-passion, the ineffectual high aspirations, the actual pettiness, the + coolness of sentiment and warmth of impulse, were all spontaneous and + unaffected, and as much the outcome of her own position as of the position + of the aristocracy to which she belonged. She was wholly self-contained; + she put herself proudly above the world and beneath the shelter of her + name. There was something of the egoism of Medea in her life, as in the + life of the aristocracy that lay a-dying, and would not so much as raise + itself or stretch out a hand to any political physician; so well aware of + its feebleness, or so conscious that it was already dust, that it refused + to touch or be touched. + </p> + <p> + The Duchesse de Langeais (for that was her name) had been married for + about four years when the Restoration was finally consummated, which is to + say, in 1816. By that time the revolution of the Hundred Days had let in + the light on the mind of Louis XVIII. In spite of his surroundings, he + comprehended the situation and the age in which he was living; and it was + only later, when this Louis XI, without the axe, lay stricken down by + disease, that those about him got the upper hand. The Duchesse de + Langeais, a Navarreins by birth, came of a ducal house which had made a + point of never marrying below its rank since the reign of Louis XIV. Every + daughter of the house must sooner or later take a <i>tabouret</i> at + Court. So, Antoinette de Navarreins, at the age of eighteen, came out of + the profound solitude in which her girlhood had been spent to marry the + Duc de Langeais’ eldest son. The two families at that time were living + quite out of the world; but after the invasion of France, the return of + the Bourbons seemed to every Royalist mind the only possible way of + putting an end to the miseries of the war. + </p> + <p> + The Ducs de Navarreins and de Langeais had been faithful throughout to the + exiled Princes, nobly resisting all the temptations of glory under the + Empire. Under the circumstances they naturally followed out the old family + policy; and Mlle Antoinette, a beautiful and portionless girl, was married + to M. le Marquis de Langeais only a few months before the death of the + Duke his father. + </p> + <p> + After the return of the Bourbons, the families resumed their rank, + offices, and dignity at Court; once more they entered public life, from + which hitherto they held aloof, and took their place high on the sunlit + summits of the new political world. In that time of general baseness and + sham political conversions, the public conscience was glad to recognise + the unstained loyalty of the two houses, and a consistency in political + and private life for which all parties involuntarily respected them. But, + unfortunately, as so often happens in a time of transition, the most + disinterested persons, the men whose loftiness of view and wise principles + would have gained the confidence of the French nation and led them to + believe in the generosity of a novel and spirited policy—these men, + to repeat, were taken out of affairs, and public business was allowed to + fall into the hands of others, who found it to their interest to push + principles to their extreme consequences by way of proving their devotion. + </p> + <p> + The families of Langeais and Navarreins remained about the Court, + condemned to perform the duties required by Court ceremonial amid the + reproaches and sneers of the Liberal party. They were accused of gorging + themselves with riches and honours, and all the while their family estates + were no larger than before, and liberal allowances from the civil list + were wholly expended in keeping up the state necessary for any European + government, even if it be a Republic. + </p> + <p> + In 1818, M. le Duc de Langeais commanded a division of the army, and the + Duchess held a post about one of the Princesses, in virtue of which she + was free to live in Paris and apart from her husband without scandal. The + Duke, moreover, besides his military duties, had a place at Court, to + which he came during his term of waiting, leaving his major-general in + command. The Duke and Duchess were leading lives entirely apart, the world + none the wiser. Their marriage of convention shared the fate of nearly all + family arrangements of the kind. Two more antipathetic dispositions could + not well have been found; they were brought together; they jarred upon + each other; there was soreness on either side; then they were divided once + for all. Then they went their separate ways, with a due regard for + appearances. The Duc de Langeais, by nature as methodical as the Chevalier + de Folard himself, gave himself up methodically to his own tastes and + amusements, and left his wife at liberty to do as she pleased so soon as + he felt sure of her character. He recognised in her a spirit pre-eminently + proud, a cold heart, a profound submissiveness to the usages of the world, + and a youthful loyalty. Under the eyes of great relations, with the light + of a prudish and bigoted Court turned full upon the Duchess, his honour + was safe. + </p> + <p> + So the Duke calmly did as the <i>grands seigneurs</i> of the eighteenth + century did before him, and left a young wife of two-and-twenty to her own + devices. He had deeply offended that wife, and in her nature there was one + appalling characteristic—she would never forgive an offence when + woman’s vanity and self-love, with all that was best in her nature + perhaps, had been slighted, wounded in secret. Insult and injury in the + face of the world a woman loves to forget; there is a way open to her of + showing herself great; she is a woman in her forgiveness; but a secret + offence women never pardon; for secret baseness, as for hidden virtues and + hidden love, they have no kindness. + </p> + <p> + This was Mme la Duchesse de Langeais’ real position, unknown to the world. + She herself did not reflect upon it. It was the time of the rejoicings + over the Duc de Berri’s marriage. The Court and the Faubourg roused itself + from its listlessness and reserve. This was the real beginning of that + unheard-of splendour which the Government of the Restoration carried too + far. At that time the Duchess, whether for reasons of her own, or from + vanity, never appeared in public without a following of women equally + distinguished by name and fortune. As queen of fashion she had her <i>dames + d’atours</i>, her ladies, who modeled their manner and their wit on hers. + They had been cleverly chosen. None of her satellites belonged to the + inmost Court circle, nor to the highest level of the Faubourg + Saint-Germain; but they had set their minds upon admission to those inner + sanctuaries. Being as yet simple denominations, they wished to rise to the + neighbourhood of the throne, and mingle with the seraphic powers in the + high sphere known as <i>le petit chateau</i>. Thus surrounded, the + Duchess’s position was stronger and more commanding and secure. Her + “ladies” defended her character and helped her to play her detestable part + of a woman of fashion. She could laugh at men at her ease, play with fire, + receive the homage on which the feminine nature is nourished, and remain + mistress of herself. + </p> + <p> + At Paris, in the highest society of all, a woman is a woman still; she + lives on incense, adulation, and honours. No beauty, however undoubted, no + face, however fair, is anything without admiration. Flattery and a lover + are proofs of power. And what is power without recognition? Nothing. If + the prettiest of women were left alone in a corner of a drawing-room, she + would droop. Put her in the very centre and summit of social grandeur, she + will at once aspire to reign over all hearts—often because it is out + of her power to be the happy queen of one. Dress and manner and coquetry + are all meant to please one of the poorest creatures extant—the + brainless coxcomb, whose handsome face is his sole merit; it was for such + as these that women threw themselves away. The gilded wooden idols of the + Restoration, for they were neither more nor less, had neither the + antecedents of the <i>petits maitres</i> of the time of the Fronde, nor + the rough sterling worth of Napoleon’s heroes, not the wit and fine + manners of their grandsires; but something of all three they meant to be + without any trouble to themselves. Brave they were, like all young + Frenchmen; ability they possessed, no doubt, if they had had a chance of + proving it, but their places were filled up by the old worn-out men, who + kept them in leading strings. It was a day of small things, a cold prosaic + era. Perhaps it takes a long time for a Restoration to become a Monarchy. + </p> + <p> + For the past eighteen months the Duchesse de Langeais had been leading + this empty life, filled with balls and subsequent visits, objectless + triumphs, and the transient loves that spring up and die in an evening’s + space. All eyes were turned on her when she entered a room; she reaped her + harvest of flatteries and some few words of warmer admiration, which she + encouraged by a gesture or a glance, but never suffered to penetrate + deeper than the skin. Her tone and bearing and everything else about her + imposed her will upon others. Her life was a sort of fever of vanity and + perpetual enjoyment, which turned her head. She was daring enough in + conversation; she would listen to anything, corrupting the surface, as it + were, of her heart. Yet when she returned home, she often blushed at the + story that had made her laugh; at the scandalous tale that supplied the + details, on the strength of which she analyzed the love that she had never + known, and marked the subtle distinctions of modern passion, not with + comment on the part of complacent hypocrites. For women know how to say + everything among themselves, and more of them are ruined by each other + than corrupted by men. + </p> + <p> + There came a moment when she discerned that not until a woman is loved + will the world fully recognise her beauty and her wit. What does a husband + prove? Simply that a girl or woman was endowed with wealth, or well + brought up; that her mother managed cleverly that in some way she + satisfied a man’s ambitions. A lover constantly bears witness to her + personal perfections. Then followed the discovery still in Mme de + Langeais’ early womanhood, that it was possible to be loved without + committing herself, without permission, without vouchsafing any + satisfaction beyond the most meagre dues. There was more than one demure + feminine hypocrite to instruct her in the art of playing such dangerous + comedies. + </p> + <p> + So the Duchess had her court, and the number of her adorers and courtiers + guaranteed her virtue. She was amiable and fascinating; she flirted till + the ball or the evening’s gaiety was at an end. Then the curtain dropped. + She was cold, indifferent, self-contained again till the next day brought + its renewed sensations, superficial as before. Two or three men were + completely deceived, and fell in love in earnest. She laughed at them, she + was utterly insensible. “I am loved!” she told herself. “He loves me!” The + certainty sufficed her. It is enough for the miser to know that his every + whim might be fulfilled if he chose; so it was with the Duchess, and + perhaps she did not even go so far as to form a wish. + </p> + <p> + One evening she chanced to be at the house of an intimate friend Mme la + Vicomtesse de Fontaine, one of the humble rivals who cordially detested + her, and went with her everywhere. In a “friendship” of this sort both + sides are on their guard, and never lay their armor aside; confidences are + ingeniously indiscreet, and not unfrequently treacherous. Mme de Langeais + had distributed her little patronizing, friendly, or freezing bows, with + the air natural to a woman who knows the worth of her smiles, when her + eyes fell upon a total stranger. Something in the man’s large gravity of + aspect startled her, and, with a feeling almost like dread, she turned to + Mme de Maufrigneuse with, “Who is the newcomer, dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Someone that you have heard of, no doubt. The Marquis de Montriveau.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! is it he?” + </p> + <p> + She took up her eyeglass and submitted him to a very insolent scrutiny, as + if he had been a picture meant to receive glances, not to return them. + </p> + <p> + “Do introduce him; he ought to be interesting.” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody more tiresome and dull, dear. But he is the fashion.” + </p> + <p> + M. Armand de Montriveau, at that moment all unwittingly the object of + general curiosity, better deserved attention than any of the idols that + Paris needs must set up to worship for a brief space, for the city is + vexed by periodical fits of craving, a passion for <i>engouement</i> and + sham enthusiasm, which must be satisfied. The Marquis was the only son of + General de Montriveau, one of the <i>ci-devants</i> who served the + Republic nobly, and fell by Joubert’s side at Novi. Bonaparte had placed + his son at the school at Chalons, with the orphans of other generals who + fell on the battlefield, leaving their children under the protection of + the Republic. Armand de Montriveau left school with his way to make, + entered the artillery, and had only reached a major’s rank at the time of + the Fontainebleau disaster. In his section of the service the chances of + advancement were not many. There are fewer officers, in the first place, + among the gunners than in any other corps; and in the second place, the + feeling in the artillery was decidedly Liberal, not to say Republican; and + the Emperor, feeling little confidence in a body of highly educated men + who were apt to think for themselves, gave promotion grudgingly in the + service. In the artillery, accordingly, the general rule of the army did + not apply; the commanding officers were not invariably the most remarkable + men in their department, because there was less to be feared from + mediocrities. The artillery was a separate corps in those days, and only + came under Napoleon in action. + </p> + <p> + Besides these general causes, other reasons, inherent in Armand de + Montriveau’s character, were sufficient in themselves to account for his + tardy promotion. He was alone in the world. He had been thrown at the age + of twenty into the whirlwind of men directed by Napoleon; his interests + were bounded by himself, any day he might lose his life; it became a habit + of mind with him to live by his own self-respect and the consciousness + that he had done his duty. Like all shy men, he was habitually silent; but + his shyness sprang by no means from timidity; it was a kind of modesty in + him; he found any demonstration of vanity intolerable. There was no sort + of swagger about his fearlessness in action; nothing escaped his eyes; he + could give sensible advice to his chums with unshaken coolness; he could + go under fire, and duck upon occasion to avoid bullets. He was kindly; but + his expression was haughty and stern, and his face gained him this + character. In everything he was rigorous as arithmetic; he never permitted + the slightest deviation from duty on any plausible pretext, nor blinked + the consequences of a fact. He would lend himself to nothing of which he + was ashamed; he never asked anything for himself; in short, Armand de + Montriveau was one of many great men unknown to fame, and philosophical + enough to despise it; living without attaching themselves to life, because + they have not found their opportunity of developing to the full their + power to do and feel. + </p> + <p> + People were afraid of Montriveau; they respected him, but he was not very + popular. Men may indeed allow you to rise above them, but to decline to + descend as low as they can do is the one unpardonable sin. In their + feeling towards loftier natures, there is a trace of hate and fear. Too + much honour with them implies censure of themselves, a thing forgiven + neither to the living nor to the dead. + </p> + <p> + After the Emperor’s farewells at Fontainebleau, Montriveau, noble though + he was, was put on half-pay. Perhaps the heads of the War Office took + fright at uncompromising uprightness worthy of antiquity, or perhaps it + was known that he felt bound by his oath to the Imperial Eagle. During the + Hundred Days he was made a Colonel of the Guard, and left on the field of + Waterloo. His wounds kept him in Belgium he was not present at the + disbanding of the Army of the Loire, but the King’s government declined to + recognise promotion made during the Hundred Days, and Armand de Montriveau + left France. + </p> + <p> + An adventurous spirit, a loftiness of thought hitherto satisfied by the + hazards of war, drove him on an exploring expedition through Upper Egypt; + his sanity or impulse directed his enthusiasm to a project of great + importance, he turned his attention to that unexplored Central Africa + which occupies the learned of today. The scientific expedition was long + and unfortunate. He had made a valuable collection of notes bearing on + various geographical and commercial problems, of which solutions are still + eagerly sought; and succeeded, after surmounting many obstacles, in + reaching the heart of the continent, when he was betrayed into the hands + of a hostile native tribe. Then, stripped of all that he had, for two + years he led a wandering life in the desert, the slave of savages, + threatened with death at every moment, and more cruelly treated than a + dumb animal in the power of pitiless children. Physical strength, and a + mind braced to endurance, enabled him to survive the horrors of that + captivity; but his miraculous escape well-nigh exhausted his energies. + When he reached the French colony at Senegal, a half-dead fugitive covered + with rags, his memories of his former life were dim and shapeless. The + great sacrifices made in his travels were all forgotten like his studies + of African dialects, his discoveries, and observations. One story will + give an idea of all that he passed through. Once for several days the + children of the sheikh of the tribe amused themselves by putting him up + for a mark and flinging horses’ knuckle-bones at his head. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau came back to Paris in 1818 a ruined man. He had no interest, + and wished for none. He would have died twenty times over sooner than ask + a favour of anyone; he would not even press the recognition of his claims. + Adversity and hardship had developed his energy even in trifles, while the + habit of preserving his self-respect before that spiritual self which we + call conscience led him to attach consequence to the most apparently + trivial actions. His merits and adventures became known, however, through + his acquaintances, among the principal men of science in Paris, and some + few well-read military men. The incidents of his slavery and subsequent + escape bore witness to a courage, intelligence, and coolness which won him + celebrity without his knowledge, and that transient fame of which Paris + salons are lavish, though the artist that fain would keep it must make + untold efforts. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau’s position suddenly changed towards the end of that year. He + had been a poor man, he was now rich; or, externally at any rate, he had + all the advantages of wealth. The King’s government, trying to attach + capable men to itself and to strengthen the army, made concessions about + that time to Napoleon’s old officers if their known loyalty and character + offered guarantees of fidelity. M. de Montriveau’s name once more appeared + in the army list with the rank of colonel; he received his arrears of pay + and passed into the Guards. All these favours, one after another, came to + seek the Marquis de Montriveau; he had asked for nothing however small. + Friends had taken the steps for him which he would have refused to take + for himself. + </p> + <p> + After this, his habits were modified all at once; contrary to his custom, + he went into society. He was well received, everywhere he met with great + deference and respect. He seemed to have found some end in life; but + everything passed within the man, there were no external signs; in society + he was silent and cold, and wore a grave, reserved face. His social + success was great, precisely because he stood out in such strong contrast + to the conventional faces which line the walls of Paris salons. He was, + indeed, something quite new there. Terse of speech, like a hermit or a + savage, his shyness was thought to be haughtiness, and people were greatly + taken with it. He was something strange and great. Women generally were so + much the more smitten with this original person because he was not to be + caught by their flatteries, however adroit, nor by the wiles with which + they circumvent the strongest men and corrode the steel temper. Their + Parisian’s grimaces were lost upon M. de Montriveau; his nature only + responded to the sonorous vibration of lofty thought and feeling. And he + would very promptly have been dropped but for the romance that hung about + his adventures and his life; but for the men who cried him up behind his + back; but for a woman who looked for a triumph for her vanity, the woman + who was to fill his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + For these reasons the Duchesse de Langeais’ curiosity was no less lively + than natural. Chance had so ordered it that her interest in the man before + her had been aroused only the day before, when she heard the story of one + of M. de Montriveau’s adventures, a story calculated to make the strongest + impression upon a woman’s ever-changing fancy. + </p> + <p> + During M. de Montriveau’s voyage of discovery to the sources of the Nile, + he had had an argument with one of his guides, surely the most + extraordinary debate in the annals of travel. The district that he wished + to explore could only be reached on foot across a tract of desert. Only + one of his guides knew the way; no traveller had penetrated before into + that part of the country, where the undaunted officer hoped to find a + solution of several scientific problems. In spite of the representations + made to him by the guide and the older men of the place, he started upon + the formidable journey. Summoning up courage, already highly strung by the + prospect of dreadful difficulties, he set out in the morning. + </p> + <p> + The loose sand shifted under his feet at every step; and when, at the end + of a long day’s march, he lay down to sleep on the ground, he had never + been so tired in his life. He knew, however, that he must be up and on his + way before dawn next day, and his guide assured him that they should reach + the end of their journey towards noon. That promise kept up his courage + and gave him new strength. In spite of his sufferings, he continued his + march, with some blasphemings against science; he was ashamed to complain + to his guide, and kept his pain to himself. After marching for a third of + the day, he felt his strength failing, his feet were bleeding, he asked if + they should reach the place soon. “In an hour’s time,” said the guide. + Armand braced himself for another hour’s march, and they went on. + </p> + <p> + The hour slipped by; he could not so much as see against the sky the + palm-trees and crests of hill that should tell of the end of the journey + near at hand; the horizon line of sand was vast as the circle of the open + sea. + </p> + <p> + He came to a stand, refused to go farther, and threatened the guide—he + had deceived him, murdered him; tears of rage and weariness flowed over + his fevered cheeks; he was bowed down with fatigue upon fatigue, his + throat seemed to be glued by the desert thirst. The guide meanwhile stood + motionless, listening to these complaints with an ironical expression, + studying the while, with the apparent indifference of an Oriental, the + scarcely perceptible indications in the lie of the sands, which looked + almost black, like burnished gold. + </p> + <p> + “I have made a mistake,” he remarked coolly. “I could not make out the + track, it is so long since I came this way; we are surely on it now, but + we must push on for two hours.” + </p> + <p> + “The man is right,” thought M. de Montriveau. + </p> + <p> + So he went on again, struggling to follow the pitiless native. It seemed + as if he were bound to his guide by some thread like the invisible tie + between the condemned man and the headsman. But the two hours went by, + Montriveau had spent his last drops of energy, and the skyline was a + blank, there were no palm-trees, no hills. He could neither cry out nor + groan, he lay down on the sand to die, but his eyes would have frightened + the boldest; something in his face seemed to say that he would not die + alone. His guide, like a very fiend, gave him back a cool glance like a + man that knows his power, left him to lie there, and kept at a safe + distance out of reach of his desperate victim. At last M. Montriveau + recovered strength enough for a last curse. The guide came nearer, + silenced him with a steady look, and said, “Was it not your own will to go + where I am taking you, in spite of us all? You say that I have lied to + you. If I had not, you would not be even here. Do you want the truth? Here + it is. <i>We have still another five hours’ march before us, and we cannot + go back</i>. Sound yourself; if you have not courage enough, here is my + dagger.” + </p> + <p> + Startled by this dreadful knowledge of pain and human strength, M. de + Montriveau would not be behind a savage; he drew a fresh stock of courage + from his pride as a European, rose to his feet, and followed his guide. + The five hours were at an end, and still M. de Montriveau saw nothing, he + turned his failing eyes upon his guide; but the Nubian hoisted him on his + shoulders, and showed him a wide pool of water with greenness all about + it, and a noble forest lighted up by the sunset. It lay only a hundred + paces away; a vast ledge of granite hid the glorious landscape. It seemed + to Armand that he had taken a new lease of life. His guide, that giant in + courage and intelligence, finished his work of devotion by carrying him + across the hot, slippery, scarcely discernible track on the granite. + Behind him lay the hell of burning sand, before him the earthly paradise + of the most beautiful oasis in the desert. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess, struck from the first by the appearance of this romantic + figure, was even more impressed when she learned that this was that + Marquis de Montriveau of whom she had dreamed during the night. She had + been with him among the hot desert sands, he had been the companion of her + nightmare wanderings; for such a woman was not this a delightful presage + of a new interest in her life? And never was a man’s exterior a better + exponent of his character; never were curious glances so well justified. + The principal characteristic of his great, square-hewn head was the thick, + luxuriant black hair which framed his face, and gave him a strikingly + close resemblance to General Kleber; and the likeness still held good in + the vigorous forehead, in the outlines of his face, the quiet fearlessness + of his eyes, and a kind of fiery vehemence expressed by strongly marked + features. He was short, deep-chested, and muscular as a lion. There was + something of the despot about him, and an indescribable suggestion of the + security of strength in his gait, bearing, and slightest movements. He + seemed to know that his will was irresistible, perhaps because he wished + for nothing unjust. And yet, like all really strong men, he was mild of + speech, simple in his manners, and kindly natured; although it seemed as + if, in the stress of a great crisis, all these finer qualities must + disappear, and the man would show himself implacable, unshaken in his + resolve, terrific in action. There was a certain drawing in of the inner + line of the lips which, to a close observer, indicated an ironical bent. + </p> + <p> + The Duchesse de Langeais, realising that a fleeting glory was to be won by + such a conquest, made up her mind to gain a lover in Armand de Montriveau + during the brief interval before the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse brought him + to be introduced. She would prefer him above the others; she would attach + him to herself, display all her powers of coquetry for him. It was a + fancy, such a merest Duchess’s whim as furnished a Lope or a Calderon with + the plot of the <i>Dog in the Manger</i>. She would not suffer another + woman to engross him; but she had not the remotest intention of being his. + </p> + <p> + Nature had given the Duchess every qualification for the part of coquette, + and education had perfected her. Women envied her, and men fell in love + with her, not without reason. Nothing that can inspire love, justify it, + and give it lasting empire was wanting in her. Her style of beauty, her + manner, her voice, her bearing, all combined to give her that instinctive + coquetry which seems to be the consciousness of power. Her shape was + graceful; perhaps there was a trace of self-consciousness in her changes + of movement, the one affectation that could be laid to her charge; but + everything about her was a part of her personality, from her least little + gesture to the peculiar turn of her phrases, the demure glance of her + eyes. Her great lady’s grace, her most striking characteristic, had not + destroyed the very French quick mobility of her person. There was an + extraordinary fascination in her swift, incessant changes of attitude. She + seemed as if she surely would be a most delicious mistress when her corset + and the encumbering costume of her part were laid aside. All the rapture + of love surely was latent in the freedom of her expressive glances, in her + caressing tones, in the charm of her words. She gave glimpses of the + high-born courtesan within her, vainly protesting against the creeds of + the duchess. + </p> + <p> + You might sit near her through an evening, she would be gay and melancholy + in turn, and her gaiety, like her sadness, seemed spontaneous. She could + be gracious, disdainful, insolent, or confiding at will. Her apparent good + nature was real; she had no temptation to descend to malignity. But at + each moment her mood changed; she was full of confidence or craft; her + moving tenderness would give place to a heart-breaking hardness and + insensibility. Yet how paint her as she was, without bringing together all + the extremes of feminine nature? In a word, the Duchess was anything that + she wished to be or to seem. Her face was slightly too long. There was a + grace in it, and a certain thinness and fineness that recalled the + portraits of the Middle Ages. Her skin was white, with a faint rose tint. + Everything about her erred, as it were, by an excess of delicacy. + </p> + <p> + M. de Montriveau willingly consented to be introduced to the Duchesse de + Langeais; and she, after the manner of persons whose sensitive taste leads + them to avoid banalities, refrained from overwhelming him with questions + and compliments. She received him with a gracious deference which could + not fail to flatter a man of more than ordinary powers, for the fact that + a man rises above the ordinary level implies that he possesses something + of that tact which makes women quick to read feeling. If the Duchess + showed any curiosity, it was by her glances; her compliments were conveyed + in her manner; there was a winning grace displayed in her words, a subtle + suggestion of a desire to please which she of all women knew the art of + manifesting. Yet her whole conversation was but, in a manner, the body of + the letter; the postscript with the principal thought in it was still to + come. After half an hour spent in ordinary talk, in which the words gained + all their value from her tone and smiles, M. de Montriveau was about to + retire discreetly, when the Duchess stopped him with an expressive + gesture. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know, monsieur, whether these few minutes during which I have + had the pleasure of talking to you proved so sufficiently attractive, that + I may venture to ask you to call upon me; I am afraid that it may be very + selfish of me to wish to have you all to myself. If I should be so + fortunate as to find that my house is agreeable to you, you will always + find me at home in the evening until ten o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + The invitation was given with such irresistible grace, that M. de + Montriveau could not refuse to accept it. When he fell back again among + the groups of men gathered at a distance from the women, his friends + congratulated him, half laughingly, half in earnest, on the extraordinary + reception vouchsafed him by the Duchesse de Langeais. The difficult and + brilliant conquest had been made beyond a doubt, and the glory of it was + reserved for the Artillery of the Guard. It is easy to imagine the jests, + good and bad, when this topic had once been started; the world of Paris + salons is so eager for amusement, and a joke lasts for such a short time, + that everyone is eager to make the most of it while it is fresh. + </p> + <p> + All unconsciously, the General felt flattered by this nonsense. From his + place where he had taken his stand, his eyes were drawn again and again to + the Duchess by countless wavering reflections. He could not help admitting + to himself that of all the women whose beauty had captivated his eyes, not + one had seemed to be a more exquisite embodiment of faults and fair + qualities blended in a completeness that might realise the dreams of + earliest manhood. Is there a man in any rank of life that has not felt + indefinable rapture in his secret soul over the woman singled out (if only + in his dreams) to be his own; when she, in body, soul, and social aspects, + satisfies his every requirement, a thrice perfect woman? And if this + threefold perfection that flatters his pride is no argument for loving + her, it is beyond cavil one of the great inducements to the sentiment. + Love would soon be convalescent, as the eighteenth century moralist + remarked, were it not for vanity. And it is certainly true that for + everyone, man or woman, there is a wealth of pleasure in the superiority + of the beloved. Is she set so high by birth that a contemptuous glance can + never wound her? is she wealthy enough to surround herself with state + which falls nothing short of royalty, of kings, of finance during their + short reign of splendour? is she so ready-witted that a keen-edged jest + never brings her into confusion? beautiful enough to rival any woman?—Is + it such a small thing to know that your self-love will never suffer + through her? A man makes these reflections in the twinkling of an eye. And + how if, in the future opened out by early ripened passion, he catches + glimpses of the changeful delight of her charm, the frank innocence of a + maiden soul, the perils of love’s voyage, the thousand folds of the veil + of coquetry? Is not this enough to move the coldest man’s heart? + </p> + <p> + This, therefore, was M. de Montriveau’s position with regard to woman; his + past life in some measure explaining the extraordinary fact. He had been + thrown, when little more than a boy, into the hurricane of Napoleon’s + wars; his life had been spent on fields of battle. Of women he knew just + so much as a traveller knows of a country when he travels across it in + haste from one inn to another. The verdict which Voltaire passed upon his + eighty years of life might, perhaps, have been applied by Montriveau to + his own thirty-seven years of existence; had he not thirty-seven follies + with which to reproach himself? At his age he was as much a novice in love + as the lad that has just been furtively reading <i>Faublas</i>. Of women + he had nothing to learn; of love he knew nothing; and thus, desires, quite + unknown before, sprang from this virginity of feeling. + </p> + <p> + There are men here and there as much engrossed in the work demanded of + them by poverty or ambition, art or science, as M. de Montriveau by war + and a life of adventure—these know what it is to be in this unusual + position if they very seldom confess to it. Every man in Paris is supposed + to have been in love. No woman in Paris cares to take what other women + have passed over. The dread of being taken for a fool is the source of the + coxcomb’s bragging so common in France; for in France to have the + reputation of a fool is to be a foreigner in one’s own country. Vehement + desire seized on M. de Montriveau, desire that had gathered strength from + the heat of the desert and the first stirrings of a heart unknown as yet + in its suppressed turbulence. + </p> + <p> + A strong man, and violent as he was strong, he could keep mastery over + himself; but as he talked of indifferent things, he retired within + himself, and swore to possess this woman, for through that thought lay the + only way to love for him. Desire became a solemn compact made with + himself, an oath after the manner of the Arabs among whom he had lived; + for among them a vow is a kind of contract made with Destiny a man’s whole + future is solemnly pledged to fulfil it, and everything even his own + death, is regarded simply as a means to the one end. + </p> + <p> + A younger man would have said to himself, “I should very much like to have + the Duchess for my mistress!” or, “If the Duchesse de Langeais cared for a + man, he would be a very lucky rascal!” But the General said, “I will have + Mme de Langeais for my mistress.” And if a man takes such an idea into his + head when his heart has never been touched before, and love begins to be a + kind of religion with him, he little knows in what a hell he has set his + foot. + </p> + <p> + Armand de Montriveau suddenly took flight and went home in the first hot + fever-fit of the first love that he had known. When a man has kept all his + boyish beliefs, illusions, frankness, and impetuosity into middle age, his + first impulse is, as it were, to stretch out a hand to take the thing that + he desires; a little later he realizes that there is a gulf set between + them, and that it is all but impossible to cross it. A sort of childish + impatience seizes him, he wants the thing the more, and trembles or cries. + Wherefore, the next day, after the stormiest reflections that had yet + perturbed his mind, Armand de Montriveau discovered that he was under the + yoke of the senses, and his bondage made the heavier by his love. + </p> + <p> + The woman so cavalierly treated in his thoughts of yesterday had become a + most sacred and dreadful power. She was to be his world, his life, from + this time forth. The greatest joy, the keenest anguish, that he had yet + known grew colorless before the bare recollection of the least sensation + stirred in him by her. The swiftest revolutions in a man’s outward life + only touch his interests, while passion brings a complete revulsion of + feeling. And so in those who live by feeling, rather than by + self-interest, the doers rather than the reasoners, the sanguine rather + than the lymphatic temperaments, love works a complete revolution. In a + flash, with one single reflection, Armand de Montriveau wiped out his + whole past life. + </p> + <p> + A score of times he asked himself, like a boy, “Shall I go, or shall I + not?” and then at last he dressed, came to the Hotel de Langeais towards + eight o’clock that evening, and was admitted. He was to see the woman—ah! + not the woman—the idol that he had seen yesterday, among lights, a + fresh innocent girl in gauze and silken lace and veiling. He burst in upon + her to declare his love, as if it were a question of firing the first shot + on a field of battle. + </p> + <p> + Poor novice! He found his ethereal sylphide shrouded in a brown cashmere + dressing-gown ingeniously befrilled, lying languidly stretched out upon a + sofa in a dimly lighted boudoir. Mme de Langeais did not so much as rise, + nothing was visible of her but her face, her hair was loose but confined + by a scarf. A hand indicated a seat, a hand that seemed white as marble to + Montriveau by the flickering light of a single candle at the further side + of the room, and a voice as soft as the light said: + </p> + <p> + “If it had been anyone else, M. le Marquis, a friend with whom I could + dispense with ceremony, or a mere acquaintance in whom I felt but slight + interest, I should have closed my door. I am exceedingly unwell.” + </p> + <p> + “I will go,” Armand said to himself. + </p> + <p> + “But I do not know how it is,” she continued (and the simple warrior + attributed the shining of her eyes to fever), “perhaps it was a + presentiment of your kind visit (and no one can be more sensible of the + prompt attention than I), but the vapors have left my head.” + </p> + <p> + “Then may I stay?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I should be very sorry to allow you to go. I told myself this morning + that it was impossible that I should have made the slightest impression on + your mind, and that in all probability you took my request for one of the + commonplaces of which Parisians are lavish on every occasion. And I + forgave your ingratitude in advance. An explorer from the deserts is not + supposed to know how exclusive we are in our friendships in the Faubourg.” + </p> + <p> + The gracious, half-murmured words dropped one by one, as if they had been + weighted with the gladness that apparently brought them to her lips. The + Duchess meant to have the full benefit of her headache, and her + speculation was fully successful. The General, poor man, was really + distressed by the lady’s simulated distress. Like Crillon listening to the + story of the Crucifixion, he was ready to draw his sword against the + vapors. How could a man dare to speak just then to this suffering woman of + the love that she inspired? Armand had already felt that it would be + absurd to fire off a declaration of love point-blank at one so far above + other women. With a single thought came understanding of the delicacies of + feeling, of the soul’s requirements. To love: what was that but to know + how to plead, to beg for alms, to wait? And as for the love that he felt, + must he not prove it? His tongue was mute, it was frozen by the + conventions of the noble Faubourg, the majesty of a sick headache, the + bashfulness of love. But no power on earth could veil his glances; the + heat and the Infinite of the desert blazed in eyes calm as a panther’s, + beneath the lids that fell so seldom. The Duchess enjoyed the steady gaze + that enveloped her in light and warmth. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse,” he answered, “I am afraid I express my gratitude for + your goodness very badly. At this moment I have but one desire—I + wish it were in my power to cure the pain.” + </p> + <p> + “Permit me to throw this off, I feel too warm now,” she said, gracefully + tossing aside a cushion that covered her feet. + </p> + <p> + “Madame, in Asia your feet would be worth some ten thousand sequins. + </p> + <p> + “A traveler’s compliment!” smiled she. + </p> + <p> + It pleased the sprightly lady to involve a rough soldier in a labyrinth of + nonsense, commonplaces, and meaningless talk, in which he manoeuvred, in + military language, as Prince Charles might have done at close quarters + with Napoleon. She took a mischievous amusement in reconnoitring the + extent of his infatuation by the number of foolish speeches extracted from + a novice whom she led step by step into a hopeless maze, meaning to leave + him there in confusion. She began by laughing at him, but nevertheless it + pleased her to make him forget how time went. + </p> + <p> + The length of a first visit is frequently a compliment, but Armand was + innocent of any such intent. The famous explorer spent an hour in chat on + all sorts of subjects, said nothing that he meant to say, and was feeling + that he was only an instrument on whom this woman played, when she rose, + sat upright, drew the scarf from her hair, and wrapped it about her + throat, leant her elbow on the cushions, did him the honour of a complete + cure, and rang for lights. The most graceful movement succeeded to + complete repose. She turned to M. de Montriveau, from whom she had just + extracted a confidence which seemed to interest her deeply, and said: + </p> + <p> + “You wish to make game of me by trying to make me believe that you have + never loved. It is a man’s great pretension with us. And we always believe + it! Out of pure politeness. Do we not know what to expect from it for + ourselves? Where is the man that has found but a single opportunity of + losing his heart? But you love to deceive us, and we submit to be + deceived, poor foolish creatures that we are; for your hypocrisy is, after + all, a homage paid to the superiority of our sentiments, which are all + purity.” + </p> + <p> + The last words were spoken with a disdainful pride that made the novice in + love feel like a worthless bale flung into the deep, while the Duchess was + an angel soaring back to her particular heaven. + </p> + <p> + “Confound it!” thought Armand de Montriveau, “how am I to tell this wild + thing that I love her?” + </p> + <p> + He had told her already a score of times; or rather, the Duchess had a + score of times read his secret in his eyes; and the passion in this + unmistakably great man promised her amusement, and an interest in her + empty life. So she prepared with no little dexterity to raise a certain + number of redoubts for him to carry by storm before he should gain an + entrance into her heart. Montriveau should overleap one difficulty after + another; he should be a plaything for her caprice, just as an insect + teased by children is made to jump from one finger to another, and in + spite of all its pains is kept in the same place by its mischievous + tormentor. And yet it gave the Duchess inexpressible happiness to see that + this strong man had told her the truth. Armand had never loved, as he had + said. He was about to go, in a bad humour with himself, and still more out + of humour with her; but it delighted her to see a sullenness that she + could conjure away with a word, a glance, or a gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come tomorrow evening?” she asked. “I am going to a ball, but I + shall stay at home for you until ten o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + Montriveau spent most of the next day in smoking an indeterminate quantity + of cigars in his study window, and so got through the hours till he could + dress and go to the Hotel de Langeais. To anyone who had known the + magnificent worth of the man, it would have been grievous to see him grown + so small, so distrustful of himself; the mind that might have shed light + over undiscovered worlds shrunk to the proportions of a she-coxcomb’s + boudoir. Even he himself felt that he had fallen so low already in his + happiness that to save his life he could not have told his love to one of + his closest friends. Is there not always a trace of shame in the lover’s + bashfulness, and perhaps in woman a certain exultation over diminished + masculine stature? Indeed, but for a host of motives of this kind, how + explain why women are nearly always the first to betray the secret?—a + secret of which, perhaps, they soon weary. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse cannot see visitors, monsieur,” said the man; “she is + dressing, she begs you to wait for her here.” + </p> + <p> + Armand walked up and down the drawing-room, studying her taste in the + least details. He admired Mme de Langeais herself in the objects of her + choosing; they revealed her life before he could grasp her personality and + ideas. About an hour later the Duchess came noiselessly out of her + chamber. Montriveau turned, saw her flit like a shadow across the room, + and trembled. She came up to him, not with a bourgeoise’s enquiry, “How do + I look?” She was sure of herself; her steady eyes said plainly, “I am + adorned to please you.” + </p> + <p> + No one surely, save the old fairy godmother of some princess in disguise, + could have wound a cloud of gauze about the dainty throat, so that the + dazzling satin skin beneath should gleam through the gleaming folds. The + Duchess was dazzling. The pale blue colour of her gown, repeated in the + flowers in her hair, appeared by the richness of its hue to lend substance + to a fragile form grown too wholly ethereal; for as she glided towards + Armand, the loose ends of her scarf floated about her, putting that + valiant warrior in mind of the bright damosel flies that hover now over + water, now over the flowers with which they seem to mingle and blend. + </p> + <p> + “I have kept you waiting,” she said, with the tone that a woman can always + bring into her voice for the man whom she wishes to please. + </p> + <p> + “I would wait patiently through an eternity,” said he, “if I were sure of + finding a divinity so fair; but it is no compliment to speak of your + beauty to you; nothing save worship could touch you. Suffer me only to + kiss your scarf.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, fie!” she said, with a commanding gesture, “I esteem you enough to + give you my hand.” + </p> + <p> + She held it out for his kiss. A woman’s hand, still moist from the scented + bath, has a soft freshness, a velvet smoothness that sends a tingling + thrill from the lips to the soul. And if a man is attracted to a woman, + and his senses are as quick to feel pleasure as his heart is full of love, + such a kiss, though chaste in appearance, may conjure up a terrific storm. + </p> + <p> + “Will you always give it me like this?” the General asked humbly when he + had pressed that dangerous hand respectfully to his lips. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but there we must stop,” she said, smiling. She sat down, and seemed + very slow over putting on her gloves, trying to slip the unstretched kid + over all her fingers at once, while she watched M. de Montriveau; and he + was lost in admiration of the Duchess and those repeated graceful + movements of hers. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you were punctual,” she said; “that is right. I like punctuality. It + is the courtesy of kings, His Majesty says; but to my thinking, from you + men it is the most respectful flattery of all. Now, is it not? Just tell + me.” + </p> + <p> + Again she gave him a side glance to express her insidious friendship, for + he was dumb with happiness sheer happiness through such nothings as these! + Oh, the Duchess understood <i>son metier de femme</i>—the art and + mystery of being a woman—most marvelously well; she knew, to + admiration, how to raise a man in his own esteem as he humbled himself to + her; how to reward every step of the descent to sentimental folly with + hollow flatteries. + </p> + <p> + “You will never forget to come at nine o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + “No; but are you going to a ball every night?” + </p> + <p> + “Do I know?” she answered, with a little childlike shrug of the shoulders; + the gesture was meant to say that she was nothing if not capricious, and + that a lover must take her as she was.—“Besides,” she added, “what + is that to you? You shall be my escort.” + </p> + <p> + “That would be difficult tonight,” he objected; “I am not properly + dressed.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me,” she returned loftily, “that if anyone has a right to + complain of your costume, it is I. Know, therefore, <i>monsieur le + voyageur</i>, that if I accept a man’s arm, he is forthwith above the laws + of fashion, nobody would venture to criticise him. You do not know the + world, I see; I like you the better for it.” + </p> + <p> + And even as she spoke she swept him into the pettiness of that world by + the attempt to initiate him into the vanities of a woman of fashion. + </p> + <p> + “If she chooses to do a foolish thing for me, I should be a simpleton to + prevent her,” said Armand to himself. “She has a liking for me beyond a + doubt; and as for the world, she cannot despise it more than I do. So, now + for the ball if she likes.” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess probably thought that if the General came with her and + appeared in a ballroom in boots and a black tie, nobody would hesitate to + believe that he was violently in love with her. And the General was well + pleased that the queen of fashion should think of compromising herself for + him; hope gave him wit. He had gained confidence, he brought out his + thoughts and views; he felt nothing of the restraint that weighed on his + spirits yesterday. His talk was interesting and animated, and full of + those first confidences so sweet to make and to receive. + </p> + <p> + Was Mme de Langeais really carried away by his talk, or had she devised + this charming piece of coquetry? At any rate, she looked up mischievously + as the clock struck twelve. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you have made me too late for the ball!” she exclaimed, surprised and + vexed that she had forgotten how time was going. + </p> + <p> + The next moment she approved the exchange of pleasures with a smile that + made Armand’s heart give a sudden leap. + </p> + <p> + “I certainly promised Mme de Beauseant,” she added. “They are all + expecting me.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well—go.” + </p> + <p> + “No—go on. I will stay. Your Eastern adventures fascinate me. Tell + me the whole story of your life. I love to share in a brave man’s + hardships, and I feel them all, indeed I do!” + </p> + <p> + She was playing with her scarf, twisting it and pulling it to pieces, with + jerky, impatient movements that seemed to tell of inward dissatisfaction + and deep reflection. + </p> + <p> + “<i>We</i> are fit for nothing,” she went on. “Ah! we are contemptible, + selfish, frivolous creatures. We can bore ourselves with amusements, and + that is all we can do. Not one of us that understands that she has a part + to play in life. In old days in France, women were beneficent lights; they + lived to comfort those that mourned, to encourage high virtues, to reward + artists and stir new life with noble thoughts. If the world has grown so + petty, ours is the fault. You make me loathe the ball and this world in + which I live. No, I am not giving up much for you.” + </p> + <p> + She had plucked her scarf to pieces, as a child plays with a flower, + pulling away all the petals one by one; and now she crushed it into a + ball, and flung it away. She could show her swan’s neck. + </p> + <p> + She rang the bell. “I shall not go out tonight,” she told the footman. Her + long, blue eyes turned timidly to Armand; and by the look of misgiving in + them, he knew that he was meant to take the order for a confession, for a + first and great favour. There was a pause, filled with many thoughts, + before she spoke with that tenderness which is often in women’s voices, + and not so often in their hearts. “You have had a hard life,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “No,” returned Armand. “Until today I did not know what happiness was.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you know it now?” she asked, looking at him with a demure, keen + glance. + </p> + <p> + “What is happiness for me henceforth but this—to see you, to hear + you?... Until now I have only known privation; now I know that I can be + unhappy——” + </p> + <p> + “That will do, that will do,” she said. “You must go; it is past midnight. + Let us regard appearances. People must not talk about us. I do not know + quite what I shall say; but the headache is a good-natured friend, and + tells no tales.” + </p> + <p> + “Is there to be a ball tomorrow night?” + </p> + <p> + “You would grow accustomed to the life, I think. Very well. Yes, we will + go again tomorrow night.” + </p> + <p> + There was not a happier man in the world than Armand when he went out from + her. Every evening he came to Mme de Langeais’ at the hour kept for him by + a tacit understanding. + </p> + <p> + It would be tedious, and, for the many young men who carry a redundance of + such sweet memories in their hearts, it were superfluous to follow the + story step by step—the progress of a romance growing in those hours + spent together, a romance controlled entirely by a woman’s will. If + sentiment went too fast, she would raise a quarrel over a word, or when + words flagged behind her thoughts, she appealed to the feelings. Perhaps + the only way of following such Penelope’s progress is by marking its + outward and visible signs. + </p> + <p> + As, for instance, within a few days of their first meeting, the assiduous + General had won and kept the right to kiss his lady’s insatiable hands. + Wherever Mme de Langeais went, M. de Montriveau was certain to be seen, + till people jokingly called him “Her Grace’s orderly.” And already he had + made enemies; others were jealous, and envied him his position. Mme de + Langeais had attained her end. The Marquis de Montriveau was among her + numerous train of adorers, and a means of humiliating those who boasted of + their progress in her good graces, for she publicly gave him preference + over them all. + </p> + <p> + “Decidedly, M. de Montriveau is the man for whom the Duchess shows a + preference,” pronounced Mme de Serizy. + </p> + <p> + And who in Paris does not know what it means when a woman “shows a + preference?” All went on therefore according to prescribed rule. The + anecdotes which people were pleased to circulate concerning the General + put that warrior in so formidable a light, that the more adroit quietly + dropped their pretensions to the Duchess, and remained in her train merely + to turn the position to account, and to use her name and personality to + make better terms for themselves with certain stars of the second + magnitude. And those lesser powers were delighted to take a lover away + from Mme de Langeais. The Duchess was keen-sighted enough to see these + desertions and treaties with the enemy; and her pride would not suffer her + to be the dupe of them. As M. de Talleyrand, one of her great admirers, + said, she knew how to take a second edition of revenge, laying the + two-edged blade of a sarcasm between the pairs in these “morganatic” + unions. Her mocking disdain contributed not a little to increase her + reputation as an extremely clever woman and a person to be feared. Her + character for virtue was consolidated while she amused herself with other + people’s secrets, and kept her own to herself. Yet, after two months of + assiduities, she saw with a vague dread in the depths of her soul that M. + de Montriveau understood nothing of the subtleties of flirtation after the + manner of the Faubourg Saint-Germain; he was taking a Parisienne’s + coquetry in earnest. + </p> + <p> + “You will not tame <i>him</i>, dear Duchess,” the old Vidame de Pamiers + had said. “‘Tis a first cousin to the eagle; he will carry you off to his + eyrie if you do not take care.” + </p> + <p> + Then Mme de Langeais felt afraid. The shrewd old noble’s words sounded + like a prophecy. The next day she tried to turn love to hate. She was + harsh, exacting, irritable, unbearable; Montriveau disarmed her with + angelic sweetness. She so little knew the great generosity of a large + nature, that the kindly jests with which her first complaints were met + went to her heart. She sought a quarrel, and found proofs of affection. + She persisted. + </p> + <p> + “When a man idolizes you, how can he have vexed you?” asked Armand. + </p> + <p> + “You do not vex me,” she answered, suddenly grown gentle and submissive. + “But why do you wish to compromise me? For me you ought to be nothing but + a <i>friend</i>. Do you not know it? I wish I could see that you had the + instincts, the delicacy of real friendship, so that I might lose neither + your respect nor the pleasure that your presence gives me.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing but your <i>friend</i>!” he cried out. The terrible word sent an + electric shock through his brain. “On the faith of these happy hours that + you grant me, I sleep and wake in your heart. And now today, for no + reason, you are pleased to destroy all the secret hopes by which I live. + You have required promises of such constancy in me, you have said so much + of your horror of women made up of nothing but caprice; and now do you + wish me to understand that, like other women here in Paris, you have + passions, and know nothing of love? If so, why did you ask my life of me? + why did you accept it?” + </p> + <p> + “I was wrong, my friend. Oh, it is wrong of a woman to yield to such + intoxication when she must not and cannot make any return.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand. You have merely been coquetting with me, and——” + </p> + <p> + “Coquetting?” she repeated. “I detest coquetry. A coquette Armand, makes + promises to many, and gives herself to none; and a woman who keeps such + promises is a libertine. This much I believed I had grasped of our code. + But to be melancholy with humorists, gay with the frivolous, and politic + with ambitious souls; to listen to a babbler with every appearance of + admiration, to talk of war with a soldier, wax enthusiastic with + philanthropists over the good of the nation, and to give to each one his + little dole of flattery—it seems to me that this is as much a matter + of necessity as dress, diamonds, and gloves, or flowers in one’s hair. + Such talk is the moral counterpart of the toilette. You take it up and lay + it aside with the plumed head-dress. Do you call this coquetry? Why, I + have never treated you as I treat everyone else. With you, my friend, I am + sincere. Have I not always shared your views, and when you convinced me + after a discussion, was I not always perfectly glad? In short, I love you, + but only as a devout and pure woman may love. I have thought it over. I am + a married woman, Armand. My way of life with M. de Langeais gives me + liberty to bestow my heart; but law and custom leave me no right to + dispose of my person. If a woman loses her honour, she is an outcast in + any rank of life; and I have yet to meet with a single example of a man + that realizes all that our sacrifices demand of him in such a case. Quite + otherwise. Anyone can foresee the rupture between Mme de Beauseant and M. + d’Ajuda (for he is going to marry Mlle de Rochefide, it seems), that + affair made it clear to my mind that these very sacrifices on the woman’s + part are almost always the cause of the man’s desertion. If you had loved + me sincerely, you would have kept away for a time.—Now, I will lay + aside all vanity for you; is not that something? What will not people say + of a woman to whom no man attaches himself? Oh, she is heartless, + brainless, soulless; and what is more, devoid of charm! Coquettes will not + spare me. They will rob me of the very qualities that mortify them. So + long as my reputation is safe, what do I care if my rivals deny my merits? + They certainly will not inherit them. Come, my friend; give up something + for her who sacrifices so much for you. Do not come quite so often; I + shall love you none the less.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said Armand, with the profound irony of a wounded heart in his words + and tone. “Love, so the scribblers say, only feeds on illusions. Nothing + could be truer, I see; I am expected to imagine that I am loved. But, + there!—there are some thoughts like wounds, from which there is no + recovery. My belief in you was one of the last left to me, and now I see + that there is nothing left to believe in this earth.” + </p> + <p> + She began to smile. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” Montriveau went on in an unsteady voice, “this Catholic faith to + which you wish to convert me is a lie that men make for themselves; hope + is a lie at the expense of the future; pride, a lie between us and our + fellows; and pity, and prudence, and terror are cunning lies. And now my + happiness is to be one more lying delusion; I am expected to delude + myself, to be willing to give gold coin for silver to the end. If you can + so easily dispense with my visits; if you can confess me neither as your + friend nor your lover, you do not care for me! And I, poor fool that I am, + tell myself this, and know it, and love you!” + </p> + <p> + “But, dear me, poor Armand, you are flying into a passion!” + </p> + <p> + “I flying into a passion?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You think that the whole question is opened because I ask you to be + careful.” + </p> + <p> + In her heart of hearts she was delighted with the anger that leapt out in + her lover’s eyes. Even as she tortured him, she was criticising him, + watching every slightest change that passed over his face. If the General + had been so unluckily inspired as to show himself generous without + discussion (as happens occasionally with some artless souls), he would + have been a banished man forever, accused and convicted of not knowing how + to love. Most women are not displeased to have their code of right and + wrong broken through. Do they not flatter themselves that they never yield + except to force? But Armand was not learned enough in this kind of lore to + see the snare ingeniously spread for him by the Duchess. So much of the + child was there in the strong man in love. + </p> + <p> + “If all you want is to preserve appearances,” he began in his simplicity, + “I am willing to——” + </p> + <p> + “Simply to preserve appearances!” the lady broke in; “why, what idea can + you have of me? Have I given you the slightest reason to suppose that I + can be yours?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, what else are we talking about?” demanded Montriveau. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur, you frighten me!... No, pardon me. Thank you,” she added, + coldly; “thank you, Armand. You have given me timely warning of + imprudence; committed quite unconsciously, believe it, my friend. You know + how to endure, you say. I also know how to endure. We will not see each + other for a time; and then, when both of us have contrived to recover + calmness to some extent, we will think about arrangements for a happiness + sanctioned by the world. I am young, Armand; a man with no delicacy might + tempt a woman of four-and-twenty to do many foolish, wild things for his + sake. But <i>you</i>! You will be my friend, promise me that you will?” + </p> + <p> + “The woman of four-and-twenty,” returned he, “knows what she is about.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down on the sofa in the boudoir, and leant his head on his hands. + </p> + <p> + “Do you love me, madame?” he asked at length, raising his head, and + turning a face full of resolution upon her. “Say it straight out; Yes or + No!” + </p> + <p> + His direct question dismayed the Duchess more than a threat of suicide + could have done; indeed, the woman of the nineteenth century is not to be + frightened by that stale stratagem, the sword has ceased to be part of the + masculine costume. But in the effect of eyelids and lashes, in the + contraction of the gaze, in the twitching of the lips, is there not some + influence that communicates the terror which they express with such vivid + magnetic power? + </p> + <p> + “Ah, if I were free, if——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! is it only your husband that stands in the way?” the General + exclaimed joyfully, as he strode to and fro in the boudoir. “Dear + Antoinette, I wield a more absolute power than the Autocrat of all the + Russias. I have a compact with Fate; I can advance or retard destiny, so + far as men are concerned, at my fancy, as you alter the hands of a watch. + If you can direct the course of fate in our political machinery, it simply + means (does it not?) that you understand the ins and outs of it. You shall + be free before very long, and then you must remember your promise.” + </p> + <p> + “Armand!” she cried. “What do you mean? Great heavens! Can you imagine + that I am to be the prize of a crime? Do you want to kill me? Why! you + cannot have any religion in you! For my own part, I fear God. M. de + Langeais may have given me reason to hate him, but I wish him no manner of + harm.” + </p> + <p> + M. de Montriveau beat a tattoo on the marble chimney-piece, and only + looked composedly at the lady. + </p> + <p> + “Dear,” continued she, “respect him. He does not love me, he is not kind + to me, but I have duties to fulfil with regard to him. What would I not do + to avert the calamities with which you threaten him?—Listen,” she + continued after a pause, “I will not say another word about separation; + you shall come here as in the past, and I will still give you my forehead + to kiss. If I refused once or twice, it was pure coquetry, indeed it was. + But let us understand each other,” she added as he came closer. “You will + permit me to add to the number of my satellites; to receive even more + visitors in the morning than heretofore; I mean to be twice as frivolous; + I mean to use you to all appearance very badly; to feign a rupture; you + must come not quite so often, and then, afterwards——” + </p> + <p> + While she spoke, she had allowed him to put an arm about her waist, + Montriveau was holding her tightly to him, and she seemed to feel the + exceeding pleasure that women usually feel in that close contact, an + earnest of the bliss of a closer union. And then, doubtless she meant to + elicit some confidence, for she raised herself on tiptoe, and laid her + forehead against Armand’s burning lips. + </p> + <p> + “And then,” Montriveau finished her sentence for her, “you shall not speak + to me of your husband. You ought not to think of him again.” + </p> + <p> + Mme de Langeais was silent awhile. + </p> + <p> + “At least,” she said, after a significant pause, “at least you will do all + that I wish without grumbling, you will not be naughty; tell me so, my + friend? You wanted to frighten me, did you not? Come, now, confess it?... + You are too good ever to think of crimes. But is it possible that you can + have secrets that I do not know? How can you control Fate?” + </p> + <p> + “Now, when you confirm the gift of the heart that you have already given + me, I am far too happy to know exactly how to answer you. I can trust you, + Antoinette; I shall have no suspicion, no unfounded jealousy of you. But + if accident should set you free, we shall be one——” + </p> + <p> + “Accident, Armand?” (With that little dainty turn of the head that seems + to say so many things, a gesture that such women as the Duchess can use on + light occasions, as a great singer can act with her voice.) “Pure + accident,” she repeated. “Mind that. If anything should happen to M. de + Langeais by your fault, I should never be yours.” + </p> + <p> + And so they parted, mutually content. The Duchess had made a pact that + left her free to prove to the world by words and deeds that M. de + Montriveau was no lover of hers. And as for him, the wily Duchess vowed to + tire him out. He should have nothing of her beyond the little concessions + snatched in the course of contests that she could stop at her pleasure. + She had so pretty an art of revoking the grant of yesterday, she was so + much in earnest in her purpose to remain technically virtuous, that she + felt that there was not the slightest danger for her in preliminaries + fraught with peril for a woman less sure of her self-command. After all, + the Duchess was practically separated from her husband; a marriage long + since annulled was no great sacrifice to make to her love. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau on his side was quite happy to win the vaguest promise, glad + once for all to sweep aside, with all scruples of conjugal fidelity, her + stock of excuses for refusing herself to his love. He had gained ground a + little, and congratulated himself. And so for a time he took unfair + advantage of the rights so hardly won. More a boy than he had ever been in + his life, he gave himself up to all the childishness that makes first love + the flower of life. He was a child again as he poured out all his soul, + all the thwarted forces that passion had given him, upon her hands, upon + the dazzling forehead that looked so pure to his eyes; upon her fair hair; + on the tufted curls where his lips were pressed. And the Duchess, on whom + his love was poured like a flood, was vanquished by the magnetic influence + of her lover’s warmth; she hesitated to begin the quarrel that must part + them forever. She was more a woman than she thought, this slight creature, + in her effort to reconcile the demands of religion with the ever-new + sensations of vanity, the semblance of pleasure which turns a Parisienne’s + head. Every Sunday she went to Mass; she never missed a service; then, + when evening came, she was steeped in the intoxicating bliss of repressed + desire. Armand and Mme de Langeais, like Hindoo fakirs, found the reward + of their continence in the temptations to which it gave rise. Possibly, + the Duchess had ended by resolving love into fraternal caresses, harmless + enough, as it might have seemed to the rest of the world, while they + borrowed extremes of degradation from the license of her thoughts. How + else explain the incomprehensible mystery of her continual fluctuations? + Every morning she proposed to herself to shut her door on the Marquis de + Montriveau; every evening, at the appointed hour, she fell under the charm + of his presence. There was a languid defence; then she grew less unkind. + Her words were sweet and soothing. They were lovers—lovers only + could have been thus. For him the Duchess would display her most sparkling + wit, her most captivating wiles; and when at last she had wrought upon his + senses and his soul, she might submit herself passively to his fierce + caresses, but she had her <i>nec plus ultra</i> of passion; and when once + it was reached, she grew angry if he lost the mastery of himself and made + as though he would pass beyond. No woman on earth can brave the + consequences of refusal without some motive; nothing is more natural than + to yield to love; wherefore Mme de Langeais promptly raised a second line + of fortification, a stronghold less easy to carry than the first. She + evoked the terrors of religion. Never did Father of the Church, however + eloquent, plead the cause of God better than the Duchess. Never was the + wrath of the Most High better justified than by her voice. She used no + preacher’s commonplaces, no rhetorical amplifications. No. She had a + “pulpit-tremor” of her own. To Armand’s most passionate entreaty, she + replied with a tearful gaze, and a gesture in which a terrible plenitude + of emotion found expression. She stopped his mouth with an appeal for + mercy. She would not hear another word; if she did, she must succumb; and + better death than criminal happiness. + </p> + <p> + “Is it nothing to disobey God?” she asked him, recovering a voice grown + faint in the crises of inward struggles, through which the fair actress + appeared to find it hard to preserve her self-control. “I would sacrifice + society, I would give up the whole world for you, gladly; but it is very + selfish of you to ask my whole after-life of me for a moment of pleasure. + Come, now! are you not happy?” she added, holding out her hand; and + certainly in her careless toilette the sight of her afforded consolations + to her lover, who made the most of them. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes from policy, to keep her hold on a man whose ardent passion gave + her emotions unknown before, sometimes in weakness, she suffered him to + snatch a swift kiss; and immediately, in feigned terror, she flushed red + and exiled Armand from the sofa so soon as the sofa became dangerous + ground. + </p> + <p> + “Your joys are sins for me to expiate, Armand; they are paid for by + penitence and remorse,” she cried. + </p> + <p> + And Montriveau, now at two chairs’ distance from that aristocratic + petticoat, betook himself to blasphemy and railed against Providence. The + Duchess grew angry at such times. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” she said drily, “I do not understand why you decline to + believe in God, for it is impossible to believe in man. Hush, do not talk + like that. You have too great a nature to take up their Liberal nonsense + with its pretension to abolish God.” + </p> + <p> + Theological and political disputes acted like a cold douche on Montriveau; + he calmed down; he could not return to love when the Duchess stirred up + his wrath by suddenly setting him down a thousand miles away from the + boudoir, discussing theories of absolute monarchy, which she defended to + admiration. Few women venture to be democrats; the attitude of democratic + champion is scarcely compatible with tyrannous feminine sway. But often, + on the other hand, the General shook out his mane, dropped politics with a + leonine growling and lashing of the flanks, and sprang upon his prey; he + was no longer capable of carrying a heart and brain at such variance for + very far; he came back, terrible with love, to his mistress. And she, if + she felt the prick of fancy stimulated to a dangerous point, knew that it + was time to leave her boudoir; she came out of the atmosphere surcharged + with desires that she drew in with her breath, sat down to the piano, and + sang the most exquisite songs of modern music, and so baffled the physical + attraction which at times showed her no mercy, though she was strong + enough to fight it down. + </p> + <p> + At such times she was something sublime in Armand’s eyes; she was not + acting, she was genuine; the unhappy lover was convinced that she loved + him. Her egoistic resistance deluded him into a belief that she was a pure + and sainted woman; he resigned himself; he talked of Platonic love, did + this artillery officer! + </p> + <p> + When Mme de Langeais had played with religion sufficiently to suit her own + purposes, she played with it again for Armand’s benefit. She wanted to + bring him back to a Christian frame of mind; she brought out her edition + of <i>Le Genie du Christianisme</i>, adapted for the use of military men. + Montriveau chafed; his yoke was heavy. Oh! at that, possessed by the + spirit of contradiction, she dinned religion into his ears, to see whether + God might not rid her of this suitor, for the man’s persistence was + beginning to frighten her. And in any case she was glad to prolong any + quarrel, if it bade fair to keep the dispute on moral grounds for an + indefinite period; the material struggle which followed it was more + dangerous. + </p> + <p> + But if the time of her opposition on the ground of the marriage law might + be said to be the <i>epoque civile</i> of this sentimental warfare, the + ensuing phase which might be taken to constitute the <i>epoque religieuse</i> + had also its crisis and consequent decline of severity. + </p> + <p> + Armand happening to come in very early one evening, found M. l’Abbe + Gondrand, the Duchess’s spiritual director, established in an armchair by + the fireside, looking as a spiritual director might be expected to look + while digesting his dinner and the charming sins of his penitent. In the + ecclesiastic’s bearing there was a stateliness befitting a dignitary of + the Church; and the episcopal violet hue already appeared in his dress. At + sight of his fresh, well-preserved complexion, smooth forehead, and + ascetic’s mouth, Montriveau’s countenance grew uncommonly dark; he said + not a word under the malicious scrutiny of the other’s gaze, and greeted + neither the lady nor the priest. The lover apart, Montriveau was not + wanting in tact; so a few glances exchanged with the bishop-designate told + him that here was the real forger of the Duchess’s armory of scruples. + </p> + <p> + That an ambitious abbe should control the happiness of a man of + Montriveau’s temper, and by underhand ways! The thought burst in a furious + tide over his face, clenched his fists, and set him chafing and pacing to + and fro; but when he came back to his place intending to make a scene, a + single look from the Duchess was enough. He was quiet. + </p> + <p> + Any other woman would have been put out by her lover’s gloomy silence; it + was quite otherwise with Mme de Langeais. She continued her conversation + with M. de Gondrand on the necessity of re-establishing the Church in its + ancient splendour. And she talked brilliantly. + </p> + <p> + The Church, she maintained, ought to be a temporal as well as a spiritual + power, stating her case better than the Abbe had done, and regretting that + the Chamber of Peers, unlike the English House of Lords, had no bench of + bishops. Nevertheless, the Abbe rose, yielded his place to the General, + and took his leave, knowing that in Lent he could play a return game. As + for the Duchess, Montriveau’s behaviour had excited her curiosity to such + a pitch that she scarcely rose to return her director’s low bow. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter with you, my friend?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I cannot stomach that Abbe of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “Why did you not take a book?” she asked, careless whether the Abbe, then + closing the door, heard her or no. + </p> + <p> + The General paused, for the gesture which accompanied the Duchess’s speech + further increased the exceeding insolence of her words. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Antoinette, thank you for giving love precedence of the Church; + but, for pity’s sake, allow me to ask one question.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! you are questioning me! I am quite willing. You are my friend, are + you not? I certainly can open the bottom of my heart to you; you will see + only one image there.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you talk about our love to that man?” + </p> + <p> + “He is my confessor.” + </p> + <p> + “Does he know that I love you?” + </p> + <p> + “M. de Montriveau, you cannot claim, I think, to penetrate the secrets of + the confessional?” + </p> + <p> + “Does that man know all about our quarrels and my love for you?” + </p> + <p> + “That man, monsieur; say God!” + </p> + <p> + “God again! <i>I</i> ought to be alone in your heart. But leave God alone + where He is, for the love of God and me. Madame, you <i>shall not</i> go + to confession again, or——” + </p> + <p> + “Or?” she repeated sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “Or I will never come back here.” + </p> + <p> + “Then go, Armand. Good-bye, good-bye forever.” + </p> + <p> + She rose and went to her boudoir without so much as a glance at Armand, as + he stood with his hand on the back of a chair. How long he stood there + motionless he himself never knew. The soul within has the mysterious power + of expanding as of contracting space. + </p> + <p> + He opened the door of the boudoir. It was dark within. A faint voice was + raised to say sharply: + </p> + <p> + “I did not ring. What made you come in without orders? Go away, Suzette.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you are ill,” exclaimed Montriveau. + </p> + <p> + “Stand up, monsieur, and go out of the room for a minute at any rate,” she + said, ringing the bell. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse rang for lights?” said the footman, coming in with the + candles. When the lovers were alone together, Mme de Langeais still lay on + her couch; she was just as silent and motionless as if Montriveau had not + been there. + </p> + <p> + “Dear, I was wrong,” he began, a note of pain and a sublime kindness in + his voice. “Indeed, I would not have you without religion——” + </p> + <p> + “It is fortunate that you can recognise the necessity of a conscience,” + she said in a hard voice, without looking at him. “I thank you in God’s + name.” + </p> + <p> + The General was broken down by her harshness; this woman seemed as if she + could be at will a sister or a stranger to him. He made one despairing + stride towards the door. He would leave her forever without another word. + He was wretched; and the Duchess was laughing within herself over mental + anguish far more cruel than the old judicial torture. But as for going + away, it was not in his power to do it. In any sort of crisis, a woman is, + as it were, bursting with a certain quantity of things to say; so long as + she has not delivered herself of them, she experiences the sensation which + we are apt to feel at the sight of something incomplete. Mme de Langeais + had not said all that was in her mind. She took up her parable and said: + </p> + <p> + “We have not the same convictions, General, I am pained to think. It would + be dreadful if a woman could not believe in a religion which permits us to + love beyond the grave. I set Christian sentiments aside; you cannot + understand them. Let me simply speak to you of expediency. Would you + forbid a woman at court the table of the Lord when it is customary to take + the sacrament at Easter? People must certainly do something for their + party. The Liberals, whatever they may wish to do, will never destroy the + religious instinct. Religion will always be a political necessity. Would + you undertake to govern a nation of logic-choppers? Napoleon was afraid to + try; he persecuted ideologists. If you want to keep people from reasoning, + you must give them something to feel. So let us accept the Roman Catholic + Church with all its consequences. And if we would have France go to mass, + ought we not to begin by going ourselves? Religion, you see, Armand, is a + bond uniting all the conservative principles which enable the rich to live + in tranquillity. Religion and the rights of property are intimately + connected. It is certainly a finer thing to lead a nation by ideas of + morality than by fear of the scaffold, as in the time of the Terror—the + one method by which your odious Revolution could enforce obedience. The + priest and the king—that means you, and me, and the Princess my + neighbour; and, in a word, the interests of all honest people personified. + There, my friend, just be so good as to belong to your party, you that + might be its Scylla if you had the slightest ambition that way. I know + nothing about politics myself; I argue from my own feelings; but still I + know enough to guess that society would be overturned if people were + always calling its foundations in question——” + </p> + <p> + “If that is how your Court and your Government think, I am sorry for you,” + broke in Montriveau. “The Restoration, madam, ought to say, like Catherine + de Medici, when she heard that the battle of Dreux was lost, ‘Very well; + now we will go to the meeting-house.’ Now 1815 was your battle of Dreux. + Like the royal power of those days, you won in fact, while you lost in + right. Political Protestantism has gained an ascendancy over people’s + minds. If you have no mind to issue your Edict of Nantes; or if, when it + is issued, you publish a Revocation; if you should one day be accused and + convicted of repudiating the Charter, which is simply a pledge given to + maintain the interests established under the Republic, then the Revolution + will rise again, terrible in her strength, and strike but a single blow. + It will not be the Revolution that will go into exile; she is the very + soil of France. Men die, but people’s interests do not die. ... Eh, great + Heavens! what are France and the crown and rightful sovereigns, and the + whole world besides, to us? Idle words compared with my happiness. Let + them reign or be hurled from the throne, little do I care. Where am I + now?” + </p> + <p> + “In the Duchesse de Langeais’ boudoir, my friend.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no. No more of the Duchess, no more of Langeais; I am with my dear + Antoinette.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you do me the pleasure to stay where you are,” she said, laughing + and pushing him back, gently however. + </p> + <p> + “So you have never loved me,” he retorted, and anger flashed in lightning + from his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “No, dear”; but the “No” was equivalent to “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “I am a great ass,” he said, kissing her hands. The terrible queen was a + woman once more.—“Antoinette,” he went on, laying his head on her + feet, “you are too chastely tender to speak of our happiness to anyone in + this world.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she cried, rising to her feet with a swift, graceful spring, “you + are a great simpleton.” And without another word she fled into the + drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + “What is it now?” wondered the General, little knowing that the touch of + his burning forehead had sent a swift electric thrill through her from + foot to head. + </p> + <p> + In hot wrath he followed her to the drawing-room, only to hear divinely + sweet chords. The Duchess was at the piano. If the man of science or the + poet can at once enjoy and comprehend, bringing his intelligence to bear + upon his enjoyment without loss of delight, he is conscious that the + alphabet and phraseology of music are but cunning instruments for the + composer, like the wood and copper wire under the hands of the executant. + For the poet and the man of science there is a music existing apart, + underlying the double expression of this language of the spirit and + senses. <i>Andiamo mio ben</i> can draw tears of joy or pitying laughter + at the will of the singer; and not unfrequently one here and there in the + world, some girl unable to live and bear the heavy burden of an unguessed + pain, some man whose soul vibrates with the throb of passion, may take up + a musical theme, and lo! heaven is opened for them, or they find a + language for themselves in some sublime melody, some song lost to the + world. + </p> + <p> + The General was listening now to such a song; a mysterious music unknown + to all other ears, as the solitary plaint of some mateless bird dying + alone in a virgin forest. + </p> + <p> + “Great Heavens! what are you playing there?” he asked in an unsteady + voice. + </p> + <p> + “The prelude of a ballad, called, I believe, <i>Fleuve du Tage</i>.” + </p> + <p> + “I did not know that there was such music in a piano,” he returned. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” she said, and for the first time she looked at him as a woman looks + at the man she loves, “nor do you know, my friend, that I love you, and + that you cause me horrible suffering; and that I feel that I must utter my + cry of pain without putting it too plainly into words. If I did not, I + should yield——But you see nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “And you will not make me happy!” + </p> + <p> + “Armand, I should die of sorrow the next day.” + </p> + <p> + The General turned abruptly from her and went. But out in the street he + brushed away the tears that he would not let fall. + </p> + <p> + The religious phase lasted for three months. At the end of that time the + Duchess grew weary of vain repetitions; the Deity, bound hand and foot, + was delivered up to her lover. Possibly she may have feared that by sheer + dint of talking of eternity she might perpetuate his love in this world + and the next. For her own sake, it must be believed that no man had + touched her heart, or her conduct would be inexcusable. She was young; the + time when men and women feel that they cannot afford to lose time or to + quibble over their joys was still far off. She, no doubt, was on the verge + not of first love, but of her first experience of the bliss of love. And + from inexperience, for want of the painful lessons which would have taught + her to value the treasure poured out at her feet, she was playing with it. + Knowing nothing of the glory and rapture of the light, she was fain to + stay in the shadow. + </p> + <p> + Armand was just beginning to understand this strange situation; he put his + hope in the first word spoken by nature. Every evening, as he came away + from Mme de Langeais’, he told himself that no woman would accept the + tenderest, most delicate proofs of a man’s love during seven months, nor + yield passively to the slighter demands of passion, only to cheat love at + the last. He was waiting patiently for the sun to gain power, not doubting + but that he should receive the earliest fruits. The married woman’s + hesitations and the religious scruples he could quite well understand. He + even rejoiced over those battles. He mistook the Duchess’s heartless + coquetry for modesty; and he would not have had her otherwise. So he had + loved to see her devising obstacles; was he not gradually triumphing over + them? Did not every victory won swell the meagre sum of lovers’ intimacies + long denied, and at last conceded with every sign of love? Still, he had + had such leisure to taste the full sweetness of every small successive + conquest on which a lover feeds his love, that these had come to be + matters of use and wont. So far as obstacles went, there were none now + save his own awe of her; nothing else left between him and his desire save + the whims of her who allowed him to call her Antoinette. So he made up his + mind to demand more, to demand all. Embarrassed like a young lover who + cannot dare to believe that his idol can stoop so low, he hesitated for a + long time. He passed through the experience of terrible reactions within + himself. A set purpose was annihilated by a word, and definite resolves + died within him on the threshold. He despised himself for his weakness, + and still his desire remained unuttered. Nevertheless, one evening, after + sitting in gloomy melancholy, he brought out a fierce demand for his + illegally legitimate rights. The Duchess had not to wait for her + bond-slave’s request to guess his desire. When was a man’s desire a + secret? And have not women an intuitive knowledge of the meaning of + certain changes of countenance? + </p> + <p> + “What! you wish to be my friend no longer?” she broke in at the first + words, and a divine red surging like new blood under the transparent skin, + lent brightness to her eyes. “As a reward for my generosity, you would + dishonor me? Just reflect a little. I myself have thought much over this; + and I think always for us <i>both</i>. There is such a thing as a woman’s + loyalty, and we can no more fail in it than you can fail in honour. <i>I</i> + cannot blind myself. If I am yours, how, in any sense, can I be M. de + Langeais’ wife? Can you require the sacrifice of my position, my rank, my + whole life in return for a doubtful love that could not wait patiently for + seven months? What! already you would rob me of my right to dispose of + myself? No, no; you must not talk like this again. No, not another word. I + will not, I cannot listen to you.” + </p> + <p> + Mme de Langeais raised both hands to her head to push back the tufted + curls from her hot forehead; she seemed very much excited. + </p> + <p> + “You come to a weak woman with your purpose definitely planned out. You + say—‘For a certain length of time she will talk to me of her + husband, then of God, and then of the inevitable consequences. But I will + use and abuse the ascendancy I shall gain over her; I will make myself + indispensable; all the bonds of habit, all the misconstructions of + outsiders, will make for me; and at length, when our <i>liaison</i> is + taken for granted by all the world, I shall be this woman’s master.’—Now, + be frank; these are your thoughts! Oh! you calculate, and you say that you + love. Shame on you! You are enamoured? Ah! that I well believe! You wish + to possess me, to have me for your mistress, that is all! Very well then, + No! The <i>Duchesse de Langeais</i> will not descend so far. Simple <i>bourgeoises</i> + may be the victims of your treachery—I, never! Nothing gives me + assurance of your love. You speak of my beauty; I may lose every trace of + it in six months, like the dear Princess, my neighbour. You are captivated + by my wit, my grace. Great Heavens! you would soon grow used to them and + to the pleasures of possession. Have not the little concessions that I was + weak enough to make come to be a matter of course in the last few months? + Some day, when ruin comes, you will give me no reason for the change in + you beyond a curt, ‘I have ceased to care for you.’—Then, rank and + fortune and honour and all that was the Duchesse de Langeais will be + swallowed up in one disappointed hope. I shall have children to bear + witness to my shame, and——” With an involuntary gesture she + interrupted herself, and continued: “But I am too good-natured to explain + all this to you when you know it better than I. Come! let us stay as we + are. I am only too fortunate in that I can still break these bonds which + you think so strong. Is there anything so very heroic in coming to the + Hotel de Langeais to spend an evening with a woman whose prattle amuses + you?—a woman whom you take for a plaything? Why, half a dozen young + coxcombs come here just as regularly every afternoon between three and + five. They, too, are very generous, I am to suppose? I make fun of them; + they stand my petulance and insolence pretty quietly, and make me laugh; + but as for you, I give all the treasures of my soul to you, and you wish + to ruin me, you try my patience in endless ways. Hush, that will do, that + will do,” she continued, seeing that he was about to speak, “you have no + heart, no soul, no delicacy. I know what you want to tell me. Very well, + then—yes. I would rather you should take me for a cold, insensible + woman, with no devotion in her composition, no heart even, than be taken + by everybody else for a vulgar person, and be condemned to your so-called + pleasures, of which you would most certainly tire, and to everlasting + punishment for it afterwards. Your selfish love is not worth so many + sacrifices....” + </p> + <p> + The words give but a very inadequate idea of the discourse which the + Duchess trilled out with the quick volubility of a bird-organ. Nor, truly, + was there anything to prevent her from talking on for some time to come, + for poor Armand’s only reply to the torrent of flute notes was a silence + filled with cruelly painful thoughts. He was just beginning to see that + this woman was playing with him; he divined instinctively that a devoted + love, a responsive love, does not reason and count the consequences in + this way. Then, as he heard her reproach him with detestable motives, he + felt something like shame as he remembered that unconsciously he had made + those very calculations. With angelic honesty of purpose, he looked + within, and self-examination found nothing but selfishness in all his + thoughts and motives, in the answers which he framed and could not utter. + He was self-convicted. In his despair he longed to fling himself from the + window. The egoism of it was intolerable. + </p> + <p> + What indeed can a man say when a woman will not believe in love?—Let + me prove how much I love you.—The <i>I</i> is always there. + </p> + <p> + The heroes of the boudoir, in such circumstances, can follow the example + of the primitive logician who preceded the Pyrrhonists and denied + movement. Montriveau was not equal to this feat. With all his audacity, he + lacked this precise kind which never deserts an adept in the formulas of + feminine algebra. If so many women, and even the best of women, fall a + prey to a kind of expert to whom the vulgar give a grosser name, it is + perhaps because the said experts are great <i>provers</i>, and love, in + spite of its delicious poetry of sentiment, requires a little more + geometry than people are wont to think. + </p> + <p> + Now the Duchess and Montriveau were alike in this—they were both + equally unversed in love lore. The lady’s knowledge of theory was but + scanty; in practice she knew nothing whatever; she felt nothing, and + reflected over everything. Montriveau had had but little experience, was + absolutely ignorant of theory, and felt too much to reflect at all. Both + therefore were enduring the consequences of the singular situation. At + that supreme moment the myriad thoughts in his mind might have been + reduced to the formula—“Submit to be mine——” words which + seem horribly selfish to a woman for whom they awaken no memories, recall + no ideas. Something nevertheless he must say. And what was more, though + her barbed shafts had set his blood tingling, though the short phrases + that she discharged at him one by one were very keen and sharp and cold, + he must control himself lest he should lose all by an outbreak of anger. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse, I am in despair that God should have invented no way for + a woman to confirm the gift of her heart save by adding the gift of her + person. The high value which you yourself put upon the gift teaches me + that I cannot attach less importance to it. If you have given me your + inmost self and your whole heart, as you tell me, what can the rest + matter? And besides, if my happiness means so painful a sacrifice, let us + say no more about it. But you must pardon a man of spirit if he feels + humiliated at being taken for a spaniel.” + </p> + <p> + The tone in which the last remark was uttered might perhaps have + frightened another woman; but when the wearer of a petticoat has allowed + herself to be addressed as a Divinity, and thereby set herself above all + other mortals, no power on earth can be so haughty. + </p> + <p> + “M. le Marquis, I am in despair that God should not have invented some + nobler way for a man to confirm the gift of his heart than by the + manifestation of prodigiously vulgar desires. We become bond-slaves when + we give ourselves body and soul, but a man is bound to nothing by + accepting the gift. Who will assure me that love will last? The very love + that I might show for you at every moment, the better to keep your love, + might serve you as a reason for deserting me. I have no wish to be a + second edition of Mme de Beauseant. Who can ever know what it is that + keeps you beside us? Our persistent coldness of heart is the cause of an + unfailing passion in some of you; other men ask for an untiring devotion, + to be idolized at every moment; some for gentleness, others for tyranny. + No woman in this world as yet has really read the riddle of man’s heart.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause. When she spoke again it was in a different tone. + </p> + <p> + “After all, my friend, you cannot prevent a woman from trembling at the + question, ‘Will this love last always?’ Hard though my words may be, the + dread of losing you puts them into my mouth. Oh, me! it is not I who + speaks, dear, it is reason; and how should anyone so mad as I be + reasonable? In truth, I am nothing of the sort.” + </p> + <p> + The poignant irony of her answer had changed before the end into the most + musical accents in which a woman could find utterance for ingenuous love. + To listen to her words was to pass in a moment from martyrdom to heaven. + Montriveau grew pale; and for the first time in his life, he fell on his + knees before a woman. He kissed the Duchess’s skirt hem, her knees, her + feet; but for the credit of the Faubourg Saint-Germain it is necessary to + respect the mysteries of its boudoirs, where many are fain to take the + utmost that Love can give without giving proof of love in return. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess thought herself generous when she suffered herself to be + adored. But Montriveau was in a wild frenzy of joy over her complete + surrender of the position. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Antoinette,” he cried. “Yes, you are right; I will not have you + doubt any longer. I too am trembling at this moment—lest the angel + of my life should leave me; I wish I could invent some tie that might bind + us to each other irrevocably.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” she said, under her breath, “so I was right, you see.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me say all that I have to say; I will scatter all your fears with a + word. Listen! if I deserted you, I should deserve to die a thousand + deaths. Be wholly mine, and I will give you the right to kill me if I am + false. I myself will write a letter explaining certain reasons for taking + my own life; I will make my final arrangements, in short. You shall have + the letter in your keeping; in the eye of the law it will be a sufficient + explanation of my death. You can avenge yourself, and fear nothing from + God or men.” + </p> + <p> + “What good would the letter be to me? What would life be if I had lost + your love? If I wished to kill you, should I not be ready to follow? No; + thank you for the thought, but I do not want the letter. Should I not + begin to dread that you were faithful to me through fear? And if a man + knows that he must risk his life for a stolen pleasure, might it not seem + more tempting? Armand, the thing I ask of you is the one hard thing to + do.” + </p> + <p> + “Then what is it that you wish?” + </p> + <p> + “Your obedience and my liberty.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, God!” cried he, “I am a child.” + </p> + <p> + “A wayward, much spoilt child,” she said, stroking the thick hair, for his + head still lay on her knee. “Ah! and loved far more than he believes, and + yet he is very disobedient. Why not stay as we are? Why not sacrifice to + me the desires that hurt me? Why not take what I can give, when it is all + that I can honestly grant? Are you not happy?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes, I am happy when I have not a doubt left. Antoinette, doubt in + love is a kind of death, is it not?” + </p> + <p> + In a moment he showed himself as he was, as all men are under the + influence of that hot fever; he grew eloquent, insinuating. And the + Duchess tasted the pleasures which she reconciled with her conscience by + some private, Jesuitical ukase of her own; Armand’s love gave her a thrill + of cerebral excitement which custom made as necessary to her as society, + or the Opera. To feel that she was adored by this man, who rose above + other men, whose character frightened her; to treat him like a child; to + play with him as Poppaea played with Nero—many women, like the wives + of King Henry VIII, have paid for such a perilous delight with all the + blood in their veins. Grim presentiment! Even as she surrendered the + delicate, pale, gold curls to his touch, and felt the close pressure of + his hand, the little hand of a man whose greatness she could not mistake; + even as she herself played with his dark, thick locks, in that boudoir + where she reigned a queen, the Duchess would say to herself: + </p> + <p> + “This man is capable of killing me if he once finds out that I am playing + with him.” + </p> + <p> + Armand de Montriveau stayed with her till two o’clock in the morning. From + that moment this woman, whom he loved, was neither a duchess nor a + Navarreins; Antoinette, in her disguises, had gone so far as to appear to + be a woman. On that most blissful evening, the sweetest prelude ever + played by a Parisienne to what the world calls “a slip”; in spite of all + her affectations of a coyness which she did not feel, the General saw all + maidenly beauty in her. He had some excuse for believing that so many + storms of caprice had been but clouds covering a heavenly soul; that these + must be lifted one by one like the veils that hid her divine loveliness. + The Duchess became, for him, the most simple and girlish mistress; she was + the one woman in the world for him; and he went away quite happy in that + at last he had brought her to give him such pledges of love, that it + seemed to him impossible but that he should be but her husband henceforth + in secret, her choice sanctioned by Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Armand went slowly home, turning this thought in his mind with the + impartiality of a man who is conscious of all the responsibilities that + love lays on him while he tastes the sweetness of its joys. He went along + the Quais to see the widest possible space of sky; his heart had grown in + him; he would fain have had the bounds of the firmament and of earth + enlarged. It seemed to him that his lungs drew an ampler breath. In the + course of his self-examination, as he walked, he vowed to love this woman + so devoutly, that every day of her life she should find absolution for her + sins against society in unfailing happiness. Sweet stirrings of life when + life is at the full! The man that is strong enough to steep his soul in + the colour of one emotion, feels infinite joy as glimpses open out for him + of an ardent lifetime that knows no diminution of passion to the end; even + so it is permitted to certain mystics, in ecstasy, to behold the Light of + God. Love would be naught without the belief that it would last forever; + love grows great through constancy. It was thus that, wholly absorbed by + his happiness, Montriveau understood passion. + </p> + <p> + “We belong to each other forever!” + </p> + <p> + The thought was like a talisman fulfilling the wishes of his life. He did + not ask whether the Duchess might not change, whether her love might not + last. No, for he had faith. Without that virtue there is no future for + Christianity, and perhaps it is even more necessary to society. A + conception of life as feeling occurred to him for the first time; hitherto + he had lived by action, the most strenuous exertion of human energies, the + physical devotion, as it may be called, of the soldier. + </p> + <p> + Next day M. de Montriveau went early in the direction of the Faubourg + Saint-Germain. He had made an appointment at a house not far from the + Hotel de Langeais; and the business over, he went thither as if to his own + home. The General’s companion chanced to be a man for whom he felt a kind + of repulsion whenever he met him in other houses. This was the Marquis de + Ronquerolles, whose reputation had grown so great in Paris boudoirs. He + was witty, clever, and what was more—courageous; he set the fashion + to all the young men in Paris. As a man of gallantry, his success and + experience were equally matters of envy; and neither fortune nor birth was + wanting in his case, qualifications which add such lustre in Paris to a + reputation as a leader of fashion. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going?” asked M. de Ronquerolles. + </p> + <p> + “To Mme de Langeais’.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, true. I forgot that you had allowed her to lime(sp) you. You are + wasting your affections on her when they might be much better employed + elsewhere. I could have told you of half a score of women in the financial + world, any one of them a thousand times better worth your while than that + titled courtesan, who does with her brains what less artificial women do + with——” + </p> + <p> + “What is this, my dear fellow?” Armand broke in. “The Duchess is an angel + of innocence.” + </p> + <p> + Ronquerolles began to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Things being thus, dear boy,” said he, “it is my duty to enlighten you. + Just a word; there is no harm in it between ourselves. Has the Duchess + surrendered? If so, I have nothing more to say. Come, give me your + confidence. There is no occasion to waste your time in grafting your great + nature on that unthankful stock, when all your hopes and cultivation will + come to nothing.” + </p> + <p> + Armand ingenuously made a kind of general report of his position, + enumerating with much minuteness the slender rights so hardly won. + Ronquerolles burst into a peal of laughter so heartless, that it would + have cost any other man his life. But from their manner of speaking and + looking at each other during that colloquy beneath the wall, in a corner + almost as remote from intrusion as the desert itself, it was easy to + imagine the friendship between the two men knew no bounds, and that no + power on earth could estrange them. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Armand, why did you not tell me that the Duchess was a puzzle to + you? I would have given you a little advice which might have brought your + flirtation properly through. You must know, to begin with, that the women + of our Faubourg, like any other women, love to steep themselves in love; + but they have a mind to possess and not to be possessed. They have made a + sort of compromise with human nature. The code of their parish gives them + a pretty wide latitude short of the last transgression. The sweets enjoyed + by this fair Duchess of yours are so many venial sins to be washed away in + the waters of penitence. But if you had the impertinence to ask in earnest + for the moral sin to which naturally you are sure to attach the highest + importance, you would see the deep disdain with which the door of the + boudoir and the house would be incontinently shut upon you. The tender + Antoinette would dismiss everything from her memory; you would be less + than a cipher for her. She would wipe away your kisses, my dear friend, as + indifferently as she would perform her ablutions. She would sponge love + from her cheeks as she washes off rouge. We know women of that sort—the + thorough-bred Parisienne. Have you ever noticed a grisette tripping along + the street? Her face is as good as a picture. A pretty cap, fresh cheeks, + trim hair, a guileful smile, and the rest of her almost neglected. Is not + this true to the life? Well, that is the Parisienne. She knows that her + face is all that will be seen, so she devotes all her care, finery, and + vanity to her head. The Duchess is the same; the head is everything with + her. She can only feel through her intellect, her heart lies in her brain, + she is a sort of intellectual epicure, she has a head-voice. We call that + kind of poor creature a Lais of the intellect. You have been taken in like + a boy. If you doubt it, you can have proof of it tonight, this morning, + this instant. Go up to her, try the demand as an experiment, insist + peremptorily if it is refused. You might set about it like the late + Marechal de Richelieu, and get nothing for your pains.” + </p> + <p> + Armand was dumb with amazement. + </p> + <p> + “Has your desire reached the point of infatuation?” + </p> + <p> + “I want her at any cost!” Montriveau cried out despairingly. + </p> + <p> + “Very well. Now, look here. Be as inexorable as she is herself. Try to + humiliate her, to sting her vanity. Do <i>not</i> try to move her heart, + nor her soul, but the woman’s nerves and temperament, for she is both + nervous and lymphatic. If you can once awaken desire in her, you are safe. + But you must drop these romantic boyish notions of yours. If when once you + have her in your eagle’s talons you yield a point or draw back, if you so + much as stir an eyelid, if she thinks that she can regain her ascendancy + over you, she will slip out of your clutches like a fish, and you will + never catch her again. Be as inflexible as law. Show no more charity than + the headsman. Hit hard, and then hit again. Strike and keep on striking as + if you were giving her the knout. Duchesses are made of hard stuff, my + dear Armand; there is a sort of feminine nature that is only softened by + repeated blows; and as suffering develops a heart in women of that sort, + so it is a work of charity not to spare the rod. Do you persevere. Ah! + when pain has thoroughly relaxed those nerves and softened the fibres that + you take to be so pliant and yielding; when a shriveled heart has learned + to expand and contract and to beat under this discipline; when the brain + has capitulated—then, perhaps, passion may enter among the steel + springs of this machinery that turns out tears and affectations and + languors and melting phrases; then you shall see a most magnificent + conflagration (always supposing that the chimney takes fire). The steel + feminine system will glow red-hot like iron in the forge; that kind of + heat lasts longer than any other, and the glow of it may possibly turn to + love. + </p> + <p> + “Still,” he continued, “I have my doubts. And, after all, is it worth + while to take so much trouble with the Duchess? Between ourselves a man of + my stamp ought first to take her in hand and break her in; I would make a + charming woman of her; she is a thoroughbred; whereas, you two left to + yourselves will never get beyond the A B C. But you are in love with her, + and just now you might not perhaps share my views on this subject——. + A pleasant time to you, my children,” added Ronquerolles, after a pause. + Then with a laugh: “I have decided myself for facile beauties; they are + tender, at any rate, the natural woman appears in their love without any + of your social seasonings. A woman that haggles over herself, my poor boy, + and only means to inspire love! Well, have her like an extra horse—for + show. The match between the sofa and confessional, black and white, queen + and knight, conscientious scruples and pleasure, is an uncommonly amusing + game of chess. And if a man knows the game, let him be never so little of + a rake, he wins in three moves. Now, if I undertook a woman of that sort, + I should start with the deliberate purpose of——” His voice + sank to a whisper over the last words in Armand’s ear, and he went before + there was time to reply. + </p> + <p> + As for Montriveau, he sprang at a bound across the courtyard of the Hotel + de Langeais, went unannounced up the stairs straight to the Duchess’s + bedroom. + </p> + <p> + “This is an unheard-of thing,” she said, hastily wrapping her + dressing-gown about her. “Armand! this is abominable of you! Come, leave + the room, I beg. Just go out of the room, and go at once. Wait for me in + the drawing-room.—Come now!” + </p> + <p> + “Dear angel, has a plighted lover no privilege whatsoever?” + </p> + <p> + “But, monsieur, it is in the worst possible taste of a plighted lover or a + wedded husband to break in like this upon his wife.” + </p> + <p> + He came up to the Duchess, took her in his arms, and held her tightly to + him. + </p> + <p> + “Forgive, dear Antoinette; but a host of horrid doubts are fermenting in + my heart.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Doubts</i>? Fie!—Oh, fie on you!” + </p> + <p> + “Doubts all but justified. If you loved me, would you make this quarrel? + Would you not be glad to see me? Would you not have felt a something stir + in your heart? For I, that am not a woman, feel a thrill in my inmost self + at the mere sound of your voice. Often in a ballroom a longing has come + upon me to spring to your side and put my arms about your neck.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! if you have doubts of me so long as I am not ready to spring to your + arms before all the world, I shall be doubted all my life long, I suppose. + Why, Othello was a mere child compared with you!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he cried despairingly, “you have no love for me——” + </p> + <p> + “Admit, at any rate, that at this moment you are not lovable.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I have still to find favour in your sight?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I should think so. Come,” added she, “with a little imperious air, go + out of the room, leave me. I am not like you; I wish always to find favour + in your eyes.” + </p> + <p> + Never woman better understood the art of putting charm into insolence, and + does not the charm double the effect? is it not enough to infuriate the + coolest of men? There was a sort of untrammeled freedom about Mme de + Langeais; a something in her eyes, her voice, her attitude, which is never + seen in a woman who loves when she stands face to face with him at the + mere sight of whom her heart must needs begin to beat. The Marquis de + Ronquerolles’ counsels had cured Armand of sheepishness; and further, + there came to his aid that rapid power of intuition which passion will + develop at moments in the least wise among mortals, while a great man at + such a time possesses it to the full. He guessed the terrible truth + revealed by the Duchess’s nonchalance, and his heart swelled with the + storm like a lake rising in flood. + </p> + <p> + “If you told me the truth yesterday, be mine, dear Antoinette,” he cried; + “you shall——” + </p> + <p> + “In the first place,” said she composedly, thrusting him back as he came + nearer—“in the first place, you are not to compromise me. My woman + might overhear you. Respect me, I beg of you. Your familiarity is all very + well in my boudoir in an evening; here it is quite different. Besides, + what may your ‘you shall’ mean? ‘You shall.’ No one as yet has ever used + that word to me. It is quite ridiculous, it seems to me, absolutely + ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + “Will you surrender nothing to me on this point?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! do you call a woman’s right to dispose of herself a ‘point?’ A + capital point indeed; you will permit me to be entirely my own mistress on + that ‘point.’” + </p> + <p> + “And how if, believing in your promises to me, I should absolutely require + it?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! then you would prove that I made the greatest possible mistake when I + made you a promise of any kind; and I should beg you to leave me in + peace.” + </p> + <p> + The General’s face grew white; he was about to spring to her side, when + Mme de Langeais rang the bell, the maid appeared, and, smiling with a + mocking grace, the Duchess added, “Be so good as to return when I am + visible.” + </p> + <p> + Then Montriveau felt the hardness of a woman as cold and keen as a steel + blade; she was crushing in her scorn. In one moment she had snapped the + bonds which held firm only for her lover. She had read Armand’s intention + in his face, and held that the moment had come for teaching the Imperial + soldier his lesson. He was to be made to feel that though duchesses may + lend themselves to love, they do not give themselves, and that the + conquest of one of them would prove a harder matter than the conquest of + Europe. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” returned Armand, “I have not time to wait. I am a spoilt child, + as you told me yourself. When I seriously resolve to have that of which we + have been speaking, I shall have it.” + </p> + <p> + “You will have it?” queried she, and there was a trace of surprise in her + loftiness. + </p> + <p> + “I shall have it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! you would do me a great pleasure by ‘resolving’ to have it. For + curiosity’s sake, I should be delighted to know how you would set about it——” + </p> + <p> + “I am delighted to put a new interest into your life,” interrupted + Montriveau, breaking into a laugh which dismayed the Duchess. “Will you + permit me to take you to the ball tonight?” + </p> + <p> + “A thousand thanks. M. de Marsay has been beforehand with you. I gave him + my promise.” + </p> + <p> + Montriveau bowed gravely and went. + </p> + <p> + “So Ronquerolles was right,” thought he, “and now for a game of chess.” + </p> + <p> + Thenceforward he hid his agitation by complete composure. No man is strong + enough to bear such sudden alternations from the height of happiness to + the depths of wretchedness. So he had caught a glimpse of happy life the + better to feel the emptiness of his previous existence? There was a + terrible storm within him; but he had learned to endure, and bore the + shock of tumultuous thoughts as a granite cliff stands out against the + surge of an angry sea. + </p> + <p> + “I could say nothing. When I am with her my wits desert me. She does not + know how vile and contemptible she is. Nobody has ventured to bring her + face to face with herself. She has played with many a man, no doubt; I + will avenge them all.” + </p> + <p> + For the first time, it may be, in a man’s heart, revenge and love were + blended so equally that Montriveau himself could not know whether love or + revenge would carry all before it. That very evening he went to the ball + at which he was sure of seeing the Duchesse de Langeais, and almost + despaired of reaching her heart. He inclined to think that there was + something diabolical about this woman, who was gracious to him and radiant + with charming smiles; probably because she had no wish to allow the world + to think that she had compromised herself with M. de Montriveau. Coolness + on both sides is a sign of love; but so long as the Duchess was the same + as ever, while the Marquis looked sullen and morose, was it not plain that + she had conceded nothing? Onlookers know the rejected lover by various + signs and tokens; they never mistake the genuine symptoms for a coolness + such as some women command their adorers to feign, in the hope of + concealing their love. Everyone laughed at Montriveau; and he, having + omitted to consult his cornac, was abstracted and ill at ease. M. de + Ronquerolles would very likely have bidden him compromise the Duchess by + responding to her show of friendliness by passionate demonstrations; but + as it was, Armand de Montriveau came away from the ball, loathing human + nature, and even then scarcely ready to believe in such complete + depravity. + </p> + <p> + “If there is no executioner for such crimes,” he said, as he looked up at + the lighted windows of the ballroom where the most enchanting women in + Paris were dancing, laughing, and chatting, “I will take you by the nape + of the neck, Mme la Duchesse, and make you feel something that bites more + deeply than the knife in the Place de la Greve. Steel against steel; we + shall see which heart will leave the deeper mark.” + </p> + <p> + For a week or so Mme de Langeais hoped to see the Marquis de Montriveau + again; but he contented himself with sending his card every morning to the + Hotel de Langeais. The Duchess could not help shuddering each time that + the card was brought in, and a dim foreboding crossed her mind, but the + thought was vague as a presentiment of disaster. When her eyes fell on the + name, it seemed to her that she felt the touch of the implacable man’s + strong hand in her hair; sometimes the words seemed like a prognostication + of a vengeance which her lively intellect invented in the most shocking + forms. She had studied him too well not to dread him. Would he murder her, + she wondered? Would that bull-necked man dash out her vitals by flinging + her over his head? Would he trample her body under his feet? When, where, + and how would he get her into his power? Would he make her suffer very + much, and what kind of pain would he inflict? She repented of her conduct. + There were hours when, if he had come, she would have gone to his arms in + complete self-surrender. + </p> + <p> + Every night before she slept she saw Montriveau’s face; every night it + wore a different aspect. Sometimes she saw his bitter smile, sometimes the + Jovelike knitting of the brows; or his leonine look, or some disdainful + movement of the shoulders made him terrible for her. Next day the card + seemed stained with blood. The name of Montriveau stirred her now as the + presence of the fiery, stubborn, exacting lover had never done. Her + apprehensions gathered strength in the silence. She was forced, without + aid from without, to face the thought of a hideous duel of which she could + not speak. Her proud hard nature was more responsive to thrills of hate + than it had ever been to the caresses of love. Ah! if the General could + but have seen her, as she sat with her forehead drawn into folds between + her brows; immersed in bitter thoughts in that boudoir where he had + enjoyed such happy moments, he might perhaps have conceived high hopes. Of + all human passions, is not pride alone incapable of engendering anything + base? Mme de Langeais kept her thoughts to herself, but is it not + permissible to suppose that M. de Montriveau was no longer indifferent to + her? And has not a man gained ground immensely when a woman thinks about + him? He is bound to make progress with her either one way or the other + afterwards. + </p> + <p> + Put any feminine creature under the feet of a furious horse or other + fearsome beast; she will certainly drop on her knees and look for death; + but if the brute shows a milder mood and does not utterly slay her, she + will love the horse, lion, bull, or what not, and will speak of him quite + at her ease. The Duchess felt that she was under the lion’s paws; she + quaked, but she did not hate him. + </p> + <p> + The man and woman thus singularly placed with regard to each other met + three times in society during the course of that week. Each time, in reply + to coquettish questioning glances, the Duchess received a respectful bow, + and smiles tinged with such savage irony, that all her apprehensions over + the card in the morning were revived at night. Our lives are simply such + as our feelings shape them for us; and the feelings of these two had + hollowed out a great gulf between them. + </p> + <p> + The Comtesse de Serizy, the Marquis de Ronquerolles’ sister, gave a great + ball at the beginning of the following week, and Mme de Langeais was sure + to go to it. Armand was the first person whom the Duchess saw when she + came into the room, and this time Armand was looking out for her, or so + she thought at least. The two exchanged a look, and suddenly the woman + felt a cold perspiration break from every pore. She had thought all along + that Montriveau was capable of taking reprisals in some unheard-of way + proportioned to their condition, and now the revenge had been discovered, + it was ready, heated, and boiling. Lightnings flashed from the foiled + lover’s eyes, his face was radiant with exultant vengeance. And the + Duchess? Her eyes were haggard in spite of her resolution to be cool and + insolent. She went to take her place beside the Comtesse de Serizy, who + could not help exclaiming, “Dear Antoinette! what is the matter with you? + You are enough to frighten one.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall be all right after a quadrille,” she answered, giving a hand to a + young man who came up at that moment. + </p> + <p> + Mme de Langeais waltzed that evening with a sort of excitement and + transport which redoubled Montriveau’s lowering looks. He stood in front + of the line of spectators, who were amusing themselves by looking on. + Every time that <i>she</i> came past him, his eyes darted down upon her + eddying face; he might have been a tiger with the prey in his grasp. The + waltz came to an end, Mme de Langeais went back to her place beside the + Countess, and Montriveau never took his eyes off her, talking all the + while with a stranger. + </p> + <p> + “One of the things that struck me most on the journey,” he was saying (and + the Duchess listened with all her ears), “was the remark which the man + makes at Westminster when you are shown the axe with which a man in a mask + cut off Charles the First’s head, so they tell you. The King made it first + of all to some inquisitive person, and they repeat it still in memory of + him.” + </p> + <p> + “What does the man say?” asked Mme de Serizy. + </p> + <p> + “‘Do not touch the axe!’” replied Montriveau, and there was menace in the + sound of his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Really, my Lord Marquis,” said Mme de Langeais, “you tell this old story + that everybody knows if they have been to London, and look at my neck in + such a melodramatic way that you seem to me to have an axe in your hand.” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess was in a cold sweat, but nevertheless she laughed as she spoke + the last words. + </p> + <p> + “But circumstances give the story a quite new application,” returned he. + </p> + <p> + “How so; pray tell me, for pity’s sake?” + </p> + <p> + “In this way, madame—you have touched the axe,” said Montriveau, + lowering his voice. + </p> + <p> + “What an enchanting prophecy!” returned she, smiling with assumed grace. + “And when is my head to fall?” + </p> + <p> + “I have no wish to see that pretty head of yours cut off. I only fear some + great misfortune for you. If your head were clipped close, would you feel + no regrets for the dainty golden hair that you turn to such good account?” + </p> + <p> + “There are those for whom a woman would love to make such a sacrifice; + even if, as often happens, it is for the sake of a man who cannot make + allowances for an outbreak of temper.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite so. Well, and if some wag were to spoil your beauty on a sudden by + some chemical process, and you, who are but eighteen for us, were to be a + hundred years old?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, the smallpox is our Battle of Waterloo, monsieur,” she interrupted. + “After it is over we find out those who love us sincerely.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you not regret the lovely face that?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! indeed I should, but less for my own sake than for the sake of + someone else whose delight it might have been. And, after all, if I were + loved, always loved, and truly loved, what would my beauty matter to me?—What + do you say, Clara?” + </p> + <p> + “It is a dangerous speculation,” replied Mme de Serizy. + </p> + <p> + “Is it permissible to ask His Majesty the King of Sorcerers when I made + the mistake of touching the axe, since I have not been to London as yet?——” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Not so</i>,” he answered in English, with a burst of ironical + laughter. + </p> + <p> + “And when will the punishment begin?” + </p> + <p> + At this Montriveau coolly took out his watch, and ascertained the hour + with a truly appalling air of conviction. + </p> + <p> + “A dreadful misfortune will befall you before this day is out.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not a child to be easily frightened, or rather, I am a child + ignorant of danger,” said the Duchess. “I shall dance now without fear on + the edge of the precipice.” + </p> + <p> + “I am delighted to know that you have so much strength of character,” he + answered, as he watched her go to take her place in a square dance. + </p> + <p> + But the Duchess, in spite of her apparent contempt for Armand’s dark + prophecies, was really frightened. Her late lover’s presence weighed upon + her morally and physically with a sense of oppression that scarcely ceased + when he left the ballroom. And yet when she had drawn freer breath, and + enjoyed the relief for a moment, she found herself regretting the + sensation of dread, so greedy of extreme sensations is the feminine + nature. The regret was not love, but it was certainly akin to other + feelings which prepare the way for love. And then—as if the + impression which Montriveau had made upon her were suddenly revived—she + recollected his air of conviction as he took out his watch, and in a + sudden spasm of dread she went out. + </p> + <p> + By this time it was about midnight. One of her servants, waiting with her + pelisse, went down to order her carriage. On her way home she fell + naturally enough to musing over M. de Montriveau’s prediction. Arrived in + her own courtyard, as she supposed, she entered a vestibule almost like + that of her own hotel, and suddenly saw that the staircase was different. + She was in a strange house. Turning to call her servants, she was attacked + by several men, who rapidly flung a handkerchief over her mouth, bound her + hand and foot, and carried her off. She shrieked aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Madame, our orders are to kill you if you scream,” a voice said in her + ear. + </p> + <p> + So great was the Duchess’s terror, that she could never recollect how nor + by whom she was transported. When she came to herself, she was lying on a + couch in a bachelor’s lodging, her hands and feet tied with silken cords. + In spite of herself, she shrieked aloud as she looked round and met Armand + de Montriveau’s eyes. He was sitting in his dressing-gown, quietly smoking + a cigar in his armchair. + </p> + <p> + “Do not cry out, Mme la Duchesse,” he said, coolly taking the cigar out of + his mouth; “I have a headache. Besides, I will untie you. But listen + attentively to what I have the honour to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + Very carefully he untied the knots that bound her feet. + </p> + <p> + “What would be the use of calling out? Nobody can hear your cries. You are + too well bred to make any unnecessary fuss. If you do not stay quietly, if + you insist upon a struggle with me, I shall tie your hands and feet again. + All things considered, I think that you have self-respect enough to stay + on this sofa as if you were lying on your own at home; cold as ever, if + you will. You have made me shed many tears on this couch, tears that I hid + from all other eyes.” + </p> + <p> + While Montriveau was speaking, the Duchess glanced about her; it was a + woman’s glance, a stolen look that saw all things and seemed to see + nothing. She was much pleased with the room. It was rather like a monk’s + cell. The man’s character and thoughts seemed to pervade it. No decoration + of any kind broke the grey painted surface of the walls. A green carpet + covered the floor. A black sofa, a table littered with papers, two big + easy-chairs, a chest of drawers with an alarum clock by way of ornament, a + very low bedstead with a coverlet flung over it—a red cloth with a + black key border—all these things made part of a whole that told of + a life reduced to its simplest terms. A triple candle-sconce of Egyptian + design on the chimney-piece recalled the vast spaces of the desert and + Montriveau’s long wanderings; a huge sphinx-claw stood out beneath the + folds of stuff at the bed-foot; and just beyond, a green curtain with a + black and scarlet border was suspended by large rings from a spear handle + above a door near one corner of the room. The other door by which the band + had entered was likewise curtained, but the drapery hung from an ordinary + curtain-rod. As the Duchess finally noted that the pattern was the same on + both, she saw that the door at the bed-foot stood open; gleams of ruddy + light from the room beyond flickered below the fringed border. Naturally, + the ominous light roused her curiosity; she fancied she could distinguish + strange shapes in the shadows; but as it did not occur to her at the time + that danger could come from that quarter, she tried to gratify a more + ardent curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur, if it is not indiscreet, may I ask what you mean to do with + me?” The insolence and irony of the tone stung through the words. The + Duchess quite believed that she read extravagant love in Montriveau’s + speech. He had carried her off; was not that in itself an acknowledgment + of her power? + </p> + <p> + “Nothing whatever, madame,” he returned, gracefully puffing the last whiff + of cigar smoke. “You will remain here for a short time. First of all, I + should like to explain to you what you are, and what I am. I cannot put my + thoughts into words whilst you are twisting on the sofa in your boudoir; + and besides, in your own house you take offence at the slightest hint, you + ring the bell, make an outcry, and turn your lover out at the door as if + he were the basest of wretches. Here my mind is unfettered. Here nobody + can turn me out. Here you shall be my victim for a few seconds, and you + are going to be so exceedingly kind as to listen to me. You need fear + nothing. I did not carry you off to insult you, nor yet to take by force + what you refused to grant of your own will to my unworthiness. I could not + stoop so low. You possibly think of outrage; for myself, I have no such + thoughts.” + </p> + <p> + He flung his cigar coolly into the fire. + </p> + <p> + “The smoke is unpleasant to you, no doubt, madame?” he said, and rising at + once, he took a chafing-dish from the hearth, burnt perfumes, and purified + the air. The Duchess’s astonishment was only equaled by her humiliation. + She was in this man’s power; and he would not abuse his power. The eyes in + which love had once blazed like flame were now quiet and steady as stars. + She trembled. Her dread of Armand was increased by a nightmare sensation + of restlessness and utter inability to move; she felt as if she were + turned to stone. She lay passive in the grip of fear. She thought she saw + the light behind the curtains grow to a blaze, as if blown up by a pair of + bellows; in another moment the gleams of flame grew brighter, and she + fancied that three masked figures suddenly flashed out; but the terrible + vision disappeared so swiftly that she took it for an optical delusion. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” Armand continued with cold contempt, “one minute, just one + minute is enough for me, and you shall feel it afterwards at every moment + throughout your lifetime, the one eternity over which I have power. I am + not God. Listen carefully to me,” he continued, pausing to add solemnity + to his words. “Love will always come at your call. You have boundless + power over men: but remember that once you called love, and love came to + you; love as pure and true-hearted as may be on earth, and as reverent as + it was passionate; fond as a devoted woman’s, as a mother’s love; a love + so great indeed, that it was past the bounds of reason. You played with + it, and you committed a crime. Every woman has a right to refuse herself + to love which she feels she cannot share; and if a man loves and cannot + win love in return, he is not to be pitied, he has no right to complain. + But with a semblance of love to attract an unfortunate creature cut off + from all affection; to teach him to understand happiness to the full, only + to snatch it from him; to rob him of his future of felicity; to slay his + happiness not merely today, but as long as his life lasts, by poisoning + every hour of it and every thought—this I call a fearful crime!” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur——” + </p> + <p> + “I cannot allow you to answer me yet. So listen to me still. In any case I + have rights over you; but I only choose to exercise one—the right of + the judge over the criminal, so that I may arouse your conscience. If you + had no conscience left, I should not reproach you at all; but you are so + young! You must feel some life still in your heart; or so I like to + believe. While I think of you as depraved enough to do a wrong which the + law does not punish, I do not think you so degraded that you cannot + comprehend the full meaning of my words. I resume.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke the Duchess heard the smothered sound of a pair of bellows. + Those mysterious figures which she had just seen were blowing up the fire, + no doubt; the glow shone through the curtain. But Montriveau’s lurid face + was turned upon her; she could not choose but wait with a fast-beating + heart and eyes fixed in a stare. However curious she felt, the heat in + Armand’s words interested her even more than the crackling of the + mysterious flames. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” he went on after a pause, “if some poor wretch commits a murder + in Paris, it is the executioner’s duty, you know, to lay hands on him and + stretch him on the plank, where murderers pay for their crimes with their + heads. Then the newspapers inform everyone, rich and poor, so that the + former are assured that they may sleep in peace, and the latter are warned + that they must be on the watch if they would live. Well, you that are + religious, and even a little of a bigot, may have masses said for such a + man’s soul. You both belong to the same family, but yours is the elder + branch; and the elder branch may occupy high places in peace and live + happily and without cares. Want or anger may drive your brother the + convict to take a man’s life; you have taken more, you have taken the joy + out of a man’s life, you have killed all that was best in his life—his + dearest beliefs. The murderer simply lay in wait for his victim, and + killed him reluctantly, and in fear of the scaffold; but <i>you</i> ...! + You heaped up every sin that weakness can commit against strength that + suspected no evil; you tamed a passive victim, the better to gnaw his + heart out; you lured him with caresses; you left nothing undone that could + set him dreaming, imagining, longing for the bliss of love. You asked + innumerable sacrifices of him, only to refuse to make any in return. He + should see the light indeed before you put out his eyes! It is wonderful + how you found the heart to do it! Such villainies demand a display of + resource quite above the comprehension of those bourgeoises whom you laugh + at and despise. They can give and forgive; they know how to love and + suffer. The grandeur of their devotion dwarfs us. Rising higher in the + social scale, one finds just as much mud as at the lower end; but with + this difference, at the upper end it is hard and gilded over. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, to find baseness in perfection, you must look for a noble bringing + up, a great name, a fair woman, a duchess. You cannot fall lower than the + lowest unless you are set high above the rest of the world.—I + express my thoughts badly; the wounds you dealt me are too painful as yet, + but do not think that I complain. My words are not the expression of any + hope for myself; there is no trace of bitterness in them. Know this, + madame, for a certainty—I forgive you. My forgiveness is so complete + that you need not feel in the least sorry that you came hither to find it + against your will.... But you might take advantage of other hearts as + child-like as my own, and it is my duty to spare them anguish. So you have + inspired the thought of justice. Expiate your sin here on earth; God may + perhaps forgive you; I wish that He may, but He is inexorable, and will + strike.” + </p> + <p> + The broken-spirited, broken-hearted woman looked up, her eyes filled with + tears. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you cry? Be true to your nature. You could look on indifferently + at the torture of a heart as you broke it. That will do, madame, do not + cry. I cannot bear it any longer. Other men will tell you that you have + given them life; as for myself, I tell you, with rapture, that you have + given me blank extinction. Perhaps you guess that I am not my own, that I + am bound to live for my friends, that from this time forth I must endure + the cold chill of death, as well as the burden of life? Is it possible + that there can be so much kindness in you? Are you like the desert tigress + that licks the wounds she has inflicted?” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess burst out sobbing. + </p> + <p> + “Pray spare your tears, madame. If I believed in them at all, it would + merely set me on my guard. Is this another of your artifices? or is it + not? You have used so many with me; how can one think that there is any + truth in you? Nothing that you do or say has any power now to move me. + That is all I have to say.” + </p> + <p> + Mme de Langeais rose to her feet, with a great dignity and humility in her + bearing. + </p> + <p> + “You are right to treat me very hardly,” she said, holding out a hand to + the man who did not take it; “you have not spoken hardly enough; and I + deserve this punishment.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I</i> punish you, madame! A man must love still, to punish, must he + not? From me you must expect no feeling, nothing resembling it. If I + chose, I might be accuser and judge in my cause, and pronounce and carry + out the sentence. But I am about to fulfil a duty, not a desire of + vengeance of any kind. The cruelest revenge of all, I think, is scorn of + revenge when it is in our power to take it. Perhaps I shall be the + minister of your pleasures; who knows? Perhaps from this time forth, as + you gracefully wear the tokens of disgrace by which society marks out the + criminal, you may perforce learn something of the convict’s sense of + honour. And then, you will love!” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess sat listening; her meekness was unfeigned; it was no + coquettish device. When she spoke at last, it was after a silence. + </p> + <p> + “Armand,” she began, “it seems to me that when I resisted love, I was + obeying all the instincts of woman’s modesty; I should not have looked for + such reproaches from <i>you</i>. I was weak; you have turned all my + weaknesses against me, and made so many crimes of them. How could you fail + to understand that the curiosity of love might have carried me further + than I ought to go; and that next morning I might be angry with myself, + and wretched because I had gone too far? Alas! I sinned in ignorance. I + was as sincere in my wrongdoing, I swear to you, as in my remorse. There + was far more love for you in my severity than in my concessions. And + besides, of what do you complain? I gave you my heart; that was not + enough; you demanded, brutally, that I should give my person——” + </p> + <p> + “Brutally?” repeated Montriveau. But to himself he said, “If I once allow + her to dispute over words, I am lost.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You came to me as if I were one of those women. You showed none of + the respect, none of the attentions of love. Had I not reason to reflect? + Very well, I reflected. The unseemliness of your conduct is not + inexcusable; love lay at the source of it; let me think so, and justify + you to myself.—Well, Armand, this evening, even while you were + prophesying evil, I felt convinced that there was happiness in store for + us both. Yes, I put my faith in the noble, proud nature so often tested + and proved.” She bent lower. “And I was yours wholly,” she murmured in his + ear. “I felt a longing that I cannot express to give happiness to a man so + violently tried by adversity. If I must have a master, my master should be + a great man. As I felt conscious of my height, the less I cared to + descend. I felt I could trust you, I saw a whole lifetime of love, while + you were pointing to death.... Strength and kindness always go together. + My friend, you are so strong, you will not be unkind to a helpless woman + who loves you. If I was wrong, is there no way of obtaining forgiveness? + No way of making reparation? Repentance is the charm of love; I should + like to be very charming for you. How could I, alone among women, fail to + know a woman’s doubts and fears, the timidity that it is so natural to + feel when you bind yourself for life, and know how easily a man snaps such + ties? The bourgeoises, with whom you compared me just now, give + themselves, but they struggle first. Very well—I struggled; but here + I am!—Ah! God, he does not hear me!” she broke off, and wringing her + hands, she cried out “But I love you! I am yours!” and fell at Armand’s + feet. + </p> + <p> + “Yours! yours! my one and only master!” + </p> + <p> + Armand tried to raise her. + </p> + <p> + “Madame, it is too late! Antoinette cannot save the Duchesse de Langeais. + I cannot believe in either. Today you may give yourself; tomorrow, you may + refuse. No power in earth or heaven can insure me the sweet constancy of + love. All love’s pledges lay in the past; and now nothing of that past + exists.” + </p> + <p> + The light behind the curtain blazed up so brightly, that the Duchess could + not help turning her head; this time she distinctly saw the three masked + figures. + </p> + <p> + “Armand,” she said, “I would not wish to think ill of you. Why are those + men there? What are you going to do to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Those men will be as silent as I myself with regard to the thing which is + about to be done. Think of them simply as my hands and my heart. One of + them is a surgeon——” + </p> + <p> + “A surgeon! Armand, my friend, of all things, suspense is the hardest to + bear. Just speak; tell me if you wish for my life; I will give it to you, + you shall not take it——” + </p> + <p> + “Then you did not understand me? Did I not speak just now of justice? To + put an end to your misapprehensions,” continued he, taking up a small + steel object from the table, “I will now explain what I have decided with + regard to you.” + </p> + <p> + He held out a Lorraine cross, fastened to the tip of a steel rod. + </p> + <p> + “Two of my friends at this very moment are heating another cross, made on + this pattern, red-hot. We are going to stamp it upon your forehead, here + between the eyes, so that there will be no possibility of hiding the mark + with diamonds, and so avoiding people’s questions. In short, you shall + bear on your forehead the brand of infamy which your brothers the convicts + wear on their shoulders. The pain is a mere trifle, but I feared a nervous + crisis of some kind, of resistance——” + </p> + <p> + “Resistance?” she cried, clapping her hands for joy. “Oh no, no! I would + have the whole world here to see. Ah, my Armand, brand her quickly, this + creature of yours; brand her with your mark as a poor little trifle + belonging to you. You asked for pledges of my love; here they are all in + one. Ah! for me there is nothing but mercy and forgiveness and eternal + happiness in this revenge of yours. When you have marked this woman with + your mark, when you set your crimson brand on her, your slave in soul, you + can never afterwards abandon her, you will be mine for evermore? When you + cut me off from my kind, you make yourself responsible for my happiness, + or you prove yourself base; and I know that you are noble and great! Why, + when a woman loves, the brand of love is burnt into her soul by her own + will.—Come in, gentlemen! come in and brand her, this Duchesse de + Langeais. She is M. de Montriveau’s forever! Ah! come quickly, all of you, + my forehead burns hotter than your fire!” + </p> + <p> + Armand turned his head sharply away lest he should see the Duchess + kneeling, quivering with the throbbings of her heart. He said some word, + and his three friends vanished. + </p> + <p> + The women of Paris salons know how one mirror reflects another. The + Duchess, with every motive for reading the depths of Armand’s heart, was + all eyes; and Armand, all unsuspicious of the mirror, brushed away two + tears as they fell. Her whole future lay in those two tears. When he + turned round again to help her to rise, she was standing before him, sure + of love. Her pulses must have throbbed fast when he spoke with the + firmness she had known so well how to use of old while she played with + him. + </p> + <p> + “I spare you, madame. All that has taken place shall be as if it had never + been, you may believe me. But now, let us bid each other goodbye. I like + to think that you were sincere in your coquetries on your sofa, sincere + again in this outpouring of your heart. Good-bye. I feel that there is no + faith in you left in me. You would torment me again; you would always be + the Duchess, and——But there, good-bye, we shall never + understand each other. + </p> + <p> + “Now, what do you wish?” he continued, taking the tone of a master of the + ceremonies—“to return home, or to go back to Mme de Serizy’s ball? I + have done all in my power to prevent any scandal. Neither your servants + nor anyone else can possibly know what has passed between us in the last + quarter of an hour. Your servants have no idea that you have left the + ballroom; your carriage never left Mme de Serizy’s courtyard; your + brougham may likewise be found in the court of your own hotel. Where do + you wish to be?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you counsel, Armand?” + </p> + <p> + “There is no Armand now, Mme la Duchesse. We are strangers to each other.” + </p> + <p> + “Then take me to the ball,” she said, still curious to put Armand’s power + to the test. “Thrust a soul that suffered in the world, and must always + suffer there, if there is no happiness for her now, down into hell again. + And yet, oh my friend, I love you as your bourgeoises love; I love you so + that I could come to you and fling my arms about your neck before all the + world if you asked it off me. The hateful world has not corrupted me. I am + young at least, and I have grown younger still. I am a child, yes, your + child, your new creature. Ah! do not drive me forth out of my Eden!” + </p> + <p> + Armand shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! let me take something with me, if I go, some little thing to wear + tonight on my heart,” she said, taking possession of Armand’s glove, which + she twisted into her handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + “No, I am <i>not</i> like all those depraved women. You do not know the + world, and so you cannot know my worth. You shall know it now! There are + women who sell themselves for money; there are others to be gained by + gifts, it is a vile world! Oh, I wish I were a simple bourgeoise, a + working girl, if you would rather have a woman beneath you than a woman + whose devotion is accompanied by high rank, as men count it. Oh, my + Armand, there are noble, high, and chaste and pure natures among us; and + then they are lovely indeed. I would have all nobleness that I might offer + it all up to you. Misfortune willed that I should be a duchess; I would I + were a royal princess, that my offering might be complete. I would be a + grisette for you, and a queen for everyone besides.” + </p> + <p> + He listened, damping his cigars with his lips. + </p> + <p> + “You will let me know when you wish to go,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “But I should like to stay——” + </p> + <p> + “That is another matter!” + </p> + <p> + “Stay, that was badly rolled,” she cried, seizing on a cigar and devouring + all that Armand’s lips had touched. + </p> + <p> + “Do you smoke?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what would I not do to please you?” + </p> + <p> + “Very well. Go, madame.” + </p> + <p> + “I will obey you,” she answered, with tears in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You must be blindfolded; you must not see a glimpse of the way.” + </p> + <p> + “I am ready, Armand,” she said, bandaging her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Can you see?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Noiselessly he knelt before her. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! I can hear you!” she cried, with a little fond gesture, thinking that + the pretence of harshness was over. + </p> + <p> + He made as if he would kiss her lips; she held up her face. + </p> + <p> + “You can see, madame.” + </p> + <p> + “I am just a little bit curious.” + </p> + <p> + “So you always deceive me?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! take off this handkerchief, sir,” she cried out, with the passion of + a great generosity repelled with scorn, “lead me; I will not open my + eyes.” + </p> + <p> + Armand felt sure of her after that cry. He led the way; the Duchess nobly + true to her word, was blind. But while Montriveau held her hand as a + father might, and led her up and down flights of stairs, he was studying + the throbbing pulses of this woman’s heart so suddenly invaded by Love. + Mme de Langeais, rejoicing in this power of speech, was glad to let him + know all; but he was inflexible; his hand was passive in reply to the + questionings of her hand. + </p> + <p> + At length, after some journey made together, Armand bade her go forward; + the opening was doubtless narrow, for as she went she felt that his hand + protected her dress. His care touched her; it was a revelation surely that + there was a little love still left; yet it was in some sort a farewell, + for Montriveau left her without a word. The air was warm; the Duchess, + feeling the heat, opened her eyes, and found herself standing by the fire + in the Comtesse de Serizy’s boudoir. + </p> + <p> + She was alone. Her first thought was for her disordered toilette; in a + moment she had adjusted her dress and restored her picturesque coiffure. + </p> + <p> + “Well, dear Antoinette, we have been looking for you everywhere.” It was + the Comtesse de Serizy who spoke as she opened the door. + </p> + <p> + “I came here to breathe,” said the Duchess; “it is unbearably hot in the + rooms.” + </p> + <p> + “People thought that you had gone; but my brother Ronquerolles told me + that your servants were waiting for you.” + </p> + <p> + “I am tired out, dear, let me stay and rest here for a minute,” and the + Duchess sat down on the sofa. + </p> + <p> + “Why, what is the matter with you? You are shaking from head to foot!” + </p> + <p> + The Marquis de Ronquerolles came in. + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse, I was afraid that something might have happened. I have + just come across your coachman, the man is as tipsy as all the Swiss in + Switzerland.” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess made no answer; she was looking round the room, at the + chimney-piece and the tall mirrors, seeking the trace of an opening. Then + with an extraordinary sensation she recollected that she was again in the + midst of the gaiety of the ballroom after that terrific scene which had + changed the whole course of her life. She began to shiver violently. + </p> + <p> + “M. de Montriveau’s prophecy has shaken my nerves,” she said. “It was a + joke, but still I will see whether his axe from London will haunt me even + in my sleep. So good-bye, dear.—Good-bye, M. le Marquis.” + </p> + <p> + As she went through the rooms she was beset with inquiries and regrets. + Her world seemed to have dwindled now that she, its queen, had fallen so + low, was so diminished. And what, moreover, were these men compared with + him whom she loved with all her heart; with the man grown great by all + that she had lost in stature? The giant had regained the height that he + had lost for a while, and she exaggerated it perhaps beyond measure. She + looked, in spite of herself, at the servant who had attended her to the + ball. He was fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + “Have you been here all the time?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, madame.” + </p> + <p> + As she took her seat in her carriage she saw, in fact, that her coachman + was drunk—so drunk, that at any other time she would have been + afraid; but after a great crisis in life, fear loses its appetite for + common food. She reached home, at any rate, without accident; but even + there she felt a change in herself, a new feeling that she could not shake + off. For her, there was now but one man in the world; which is to say that + henceforth she cared to shine for his sake alone. + </p> + <p> + While the physiologist can define love promptly by following out natural + laws, the moralist finds a far more perplexing problem before him if he + attempts to consider love in all its developments due to social + conditions. Still, in spite of the heresies of the endless sects that + divide the church of Love, there is one broad and trenchant line of + difference in doctrine, a line that all the discussion in the world can + never deflect. A rigid application of this line explains the nature of the + crisis through which the Duchess, like most women, was to pass. Passion + she knew, but she did not love as yet. + </p> + <p> + Love and passion are two different conditions which poets and men of the + world, philosophers and fools, alike continually confound. Love implies a + give and take, a certainty of bliss that nothing can change; it means so + close a clinging of the heart, and an exchange of happiness so constant, + that there is no room left for jealousy. Then possession is a means and + not an end; unfaithfulness may give pain, but the bond is not less close; + the soul is neither more nor less ardent or troubled, but happy at every + moment; in short, the divine breath of desire spreading from end to end of + the immensity of Time steeps it all for us in the selfsame hue; life takes + the tint of the unclouded heaven. But Passion is the foreshadowing of + Love, and of that Infinite to which all suffering souls aspire. Passion is + a hope that may be cheated. Passion means both suffering and transition. + Passion dies out when hope is dead. Men and women may pass through this + experience many times without dishonor, for it is so natural to spring + towards happiness; but there is only one love in a lifetime. All + discussions of sentiment ever conducted on paper or by word of mouth may + therefore be resumed by two questions—“Is it passion? Is it love?” + So, since love comes into existence only through the intimate experience + of the bliss which gives it lasting life, the Duchess was beneath the yoke + of passion as yet; and as she knew the fierce tumult, the unconscious + calculations, the fevered cravings, and all that is meant by that word <i>passion</i>—she + suffered. Through all the trouble of her soul there rose eddying gusts of + tempest, raised by vanity or self-love, or pride or a high spirit; for all + these forms of egoism make common cause together. + </p> + <p> + She had said to this man, “I love you; I am yours!” Was it possible that + the Duchesse de Langeais should have uttered those words—in vain? + She must either be loved now or play her part of queen no longer. And then + she felt the loneliness of the luxurious couch where pleasure had never + yet set his glowing feet; and over and over again, while she tossed and + writhed there, she said, “I want to be loved.” + </p> + <p> + But the belief that she still had in herself gave her hope of success. The + Duchess might be piqued, the vain Parisienne might be humiliated; but the + woman saw glimpses of wedded happiness, and imagination, avenging the time + lost for nature, took a delight in kindling the inextinguishable fire in + her veins. She all but attained to the sensations of love; for amid her + poignant doubt whether she was loved in return, she felt glad at heart to + say to herself, “I love him!” As for her scruples, religion, and the world + she could trample them under foot! Montriveau was her religion now. She + spent the next day in a state of moral torpor, troubled by a physical + unrest, which no words could express. She wrote letters and tore them all + up, and invented a thousand impossible fancies. + </p> + <p> + When M. de Montriveau’s usual hour arrived, she tried to think that he + would come, and enjoyed the feeling of expectation. Her whole life was + concentrated in the single sense of hearing. Sometimes she shut her eyes, + straining her ears to listen through space, wishing that she could + annihilate everything that lay between her and her lover, and so establish + that perfect silence which sounds may traverse from afar. In her tense + self-concentration, the ticking of the clock grew hateful to her; she + stopped its ill-omened garrulity. The twelve strokes of midnight sounded + from the drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, God!” she cried, “to see him here would be happiness. And yet, it is + not so very long since he came here, brought by desire, and the tones of + his voice filled this boudoir. And now there is nothing.” + </p> + <p> + She remembered the times that she had played the coquette with him, and + how that her coquetry had cost her her lover, and the despairing tears + flowed for long. + </p> + <p> + Her woman came at length with, “Mme la Duchesse does not know, perhaps, + that it is two o’clock in the morning; I thought that madame was not + feeling well.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am going to bed,” said the Duchess, drying her eyes. “But + remember, Suzanne, never to come in again without orders; I tell you this + for the last time.” + </p> + <p> + For a week, Mme de Langeais went to every house where there was a hope of + meeting M. de Montriveau. Contrary to her usual habits, she came early and + went late; gave up dancing, and went to the card-tables. Her experiments + were fruitless. She did not succeed in getting a glimpse of Armand. She + did not dare to utter his name now. One evening, however, in a fit of + despair, she spoke to Mme de Serizy, and asked as carelessly as she could, + “You must have quarreled with M. de Montriveau? He is not to be seen at + your house now.” + </p> + <p> + The Countess laughed. “So he does not come here either?” she returned. “He + is not to be seen anywhere, for that matter. He is interested in some + woman, no doubt.” + </p> + <p> + “I used to think that the Marquis de Ronquerolles was one of his friends——” + the Duchess began sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “I have never heard my brother say that he was acquainted with him.” + </p> + <p> + Mme de Langeais did not reply. Mme de Serizy concluded from the Duchess’s + silence that she might apply the scourge with impunity to a discreet + friendship which she had seen, with bitterness of soul, for a long time + past. + </p> + <p> + “So you miss that melancholy personage, do you? I have heard most + extraordinary things of him. Wound his feelings, he never comes back, he + forgives nothing; and, if you love him, he keeps you in chains. To + everything that I said of him, one of those that praise him sky-high would + always answer, ‘He knows how to love!’ People are always telling me that + Montriveau would give up all for his friend; that his is a great nature. + Pooh! society does not want such tremendous natures. Men of that stamp are + all very well at home; let them stay there and leave us to our pleasant + littlenesses. What do you say, Antoinette?” + </p> + <p> + Woman of the world though she was, the Duchess seemed agitated, yet she + replied in a natural voice that deceived her fair friend: + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry to miss him. I took a great interest in him, and promised to + myself to be his sincere friend. I like great natures, dear friend, + ridiculous though you may think it. To give oneself to a fool is a clear + confession, is it not, that one is governed wholly by one’s senses?” + </p> + <p> + Mme de Serizy’s “preferences” had always been for commonplace men; her + lover at the moment, the Marquis d’Aiglemont, was a fine, tall man. + </p> + <p> + After this, the Countess soon took her departure, you may be sure Mme de + Langeais saw hope in Armand’s withdrawal from the world; she wrote to him + at once; it was a humble, gentle letter, surely it would bring him if he + loved her still. She sent her footman with it next day. On the servant’s + return, she asked whether he had given the letter to M. de Montriveau + himself, and could not restrain the movement of joy at the affirmative + answer. Armand was in Paris! He stayed alone in his house; he did not go + out into society! So she was loved! All day long she waited for an answer + that never came. Again and again, when impatience grew unbearable, + Antoinette found reasons for his delay. Armand felt embarrassed; the reply + would come by post; but night came, and she could not deceive herself any + longer. It was a dreadful day, a day of pain grown sweet, of intolerable + heart-throbs, a day when the heart squanders the very forces of life in + riot. + </p> + <p> + Next day she sent for an answer. + </p> + <p> + “M. le Marquis sent word that he would call on Mme la Duchesse,” reported + Julien. + </p> + <p> + She fled lest her happiness should be seen in her face, and flung herself + on her couch to devour her first sensations. + </p> + <p> + “He is coming!” + </p> + <p> + The thought rent her soul. And, in truth, woe unto those for whom suspense + is not the most horrible time of tempest, while it increases and + multiplies the sweetest joys; for they have nothing in them of that flame + which quickens the images of things, giving to them a second existence, so + that we cling as closely to the pure essence as to its outward and visible + manifestation. What is suspense in love but a constant drawing upon an + unfailing hope?—a submission to the terrible scourging of passion, + while passion is yet happy, and the disenchantment of reality has not set + in. The constant putting forth of strength and longing, called suspense, + is surely, to the human soul, as fragrance to the flower that breathes it + forth. We soon leave the brilliant, unsatisfying colours of tulips and + coreopsis, but we turn again and again to drink in the sweetness of + orange-blossoms or volkameria-flowers compared separately, each in its own + land, to a betrothed bride, full of love, made fair by the past and + future. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess learned the joys of this new life of hers through the rapture + with which she received the scourgings of love. As this change wrought in + her, she saw other destinies before her, and a better meaning in the + things of life. As she hurried to her dressing-room, she understood what + studied adornment and the most minute attention to her toilet mean when + these are undertaken for love’s sake and not for vanity. Even now this + making ready helped her to bear the long time of waiting. A relapse of + intense agitation set in when she was dressed; she passed through nervous + paroxysms brought on by the dreadful power which sets the whole mind in + ferment. Perhaps that power is only a disease, though the pain of it is + sweet. The Duchess was dressed and waiting at two o clock in the + afternoon. At half-past eleven that night M. de Montriveau had not + arrived. To try to give an idea of the anguish endured by a woman who + might be said to be the spoilt child of civilization, would be to attempt + to say how many imaginings the heart can condense into one thought. As + well endeavour to measure the forces expended by the soul in a sigh + whenever the bell rang; to estimate the drain of life when a carriage + rolled past without stopping, and left her prostrate. + </p> + <p> + “Can he be playing with me?” she said, as the clocks struck midnight. + </p> + <p> + She grew white; her teeth chattered; she struck her hands together and + leapt up and crossed the boudoir, recollecting as she did so how often he + had come thither without a summons. But she resigned herself. Had she not + seen him grow pale, and start up under the stinging barbs of irony? Then + Mme de Langeais felt the horror of the woman’s appointed lot; a man’s is + the active part, a woman must wait passively when she loves. If a woman + goes beyond her beloved, she makes a mistake which few men can forgive; + almost every man would feel that a woman lowers herself by this piece of + angelic flattery. But Armand’s was a great nature; he surely must be one + of the very few who can repay such exceeding love by love that lasts + forever. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I will make the advance,” she told herself, as she tossed on her + bed and found no sleep there; “I will go to him. I will not weary myself + with holding out a hand to him, but I will hold it out. A man of a + thousand will see a promise of love and constancy in every step that a + woman takes towards him. Yes, the angels must come down from heaven to + reach men; and I wish to be an angel for him.” + </p> + <p> + Next day she wrote. It was a billet of the kind in which the intellects of + the ten thousand Sevignes that Paris now can number particularly excel. + And yet only a Duchesse de Langeais, brought up by Mme la Princesse de + Blamont-Chauvry, could have written that delicious note; no other woman + could complain without lowering herself; could spread wings in such a + flight without draggling her pinions in humiliation; rise gracefully in + revolt; scold without giving offence; and pardon without compromising her + personal dignity. + </p> + <p> + Julien went with the note. Julien, like his kind, was the victim of love’s + marches and countermarches. + </p> + <p> + “What did M. de Montriveau reply?” she asked, as indifferently as she + could, when the man came back to report himself. + </p> + <p> + “M. le Marquis requested me to tell Mme la Duchesse that it was all + right.” + </p> + <p> + Oh the dreadful reaction of the soul upon herself! To have her heart + stretched on the rack before curious witnesses; yet not to utter a sound, + to be forced to keep silence! One of the countless miseries of the rich! + </p> + <p> + More than three weeks went by. Mme de Langeais wrote again and again, and + no answer came from Montriveau. At last she gave out that she was ill, to + gain a dispensation from attendance on the Princess and from social + duties. She was only at home to her father the Duc de Navarreins, her aunt + the Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, the old Vidame de Pamiers (her maternal + great-uncle), and to her husband’s uncle, the Duc de Grandlieu. These + persons found no difficulty in believing that the Duchess was ill, seeing + that she grew thinner and paler and more dejected every day. The vague + ardour of love, the smart of wounded pride, the continual prick of the + only scorn that could touch her, the yearnings towards joys that she + craved with a vain continual longing—all these things told upon her, + mind and body; all the forces of her nature were stimulated to no purpose. + She was paying the arrears of her life of make-believe. + </p> + <p> + She went out at last to a review. M. de Montriveau was to be there. For + the Duchess, on the balcony of the Tuileries with the Royal Family, it was + one of those festival days that are long remembered. She looked supremely + beautiful in her languor; she was greeted with admiration in all eyes. It + was Montriveau’s presence that made her so fair. + </p> + <p> + Once or twice they exchanged glances. The General came almost to her feet + in all the glory of that soldier’s uniform, which produces an effect upon + the feminine imagination to which the most prudish will confess. When a + woman is very much in love, and has not seen her lover for two months, + such a swift moment must be something like the phase of a dream when the + eyes embrace a world that stretches away forever. Only women or young men + can imagine the dull, frenzied hunger in the Duchess’s eyes. As for older + men, if during the paroxysms of early passion in youth they had experience + of such phenomena of nervous power; at a later day it is so completely + forgotten that they deny the very existence of the luxuriant ecstasy—the + only name that can be given to these wonderful intuitions. Religious + ecstasy is the aberration of a soul that has shaken off its bonds of + flesh; whereas in amorous ecstasy all the forces of soul and body are + embraced and blended in one. If a woman falls a victim to the tyrannous + frenzy before which Mme de Langeais was forced to bend, she will take one + decisive resolution after another so swiftly that it is impossible to give + account of them. Thought after thought rises and flits across her brain, + as clouds are whirled by the wind across the grey veil of mist that shuts + out the sun. Thenceforth the facts reveal all. And the facts are these. + </p> + <p> + The day after the review, Mme de Langeais sent her carriage and liveried + servants to wait at the Marquis de Montriveau’s door from eight o’clock in + the morning till three in the afternoon. Armand lived in the Rue de + Tournon, a few steps away from the Chamber of Peers, and that very day the + House was sitting; but long before the peers returned to their palaces, + several people had recognised the Duchess’s carriage and liveries. The + first of these was the Baron de Maulincour. That young officer had met + with disdain from Mme de Langeais and a better reception from Mme de + Serizy; he betook himself at once therefore to his mistress, and under + seal of secrecy told her of this strange freak. + </p> + <p> + In a moment the news was spread with telegraphic speed through all the + coteries in the Faubourg Saint-Germain; it reached the Tuileries and the + Elysee-Bourbon; it was the sensation of the day, the matter of all the + talk from noon till night. Almost everywhere the women denied the facts, + but in such a manner that the report was confirmed; the men one and all + believed it, and manifested a most indulgent interest in Mme de Langeais. + Some among them threw the blame on Armand. + </p> + <p> + “That savage of a Montriveau is a man of bronze,” said they; “he insisted + on making this scandal, no doubt.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, then,” others replied, “Mme de Langeais has been guilty of a + most generous piece of imprudence. To renounce the world and rank, and + fortune, and consideration for her lover’s sake, and that in the face of + all Paris, is as fine a <i>coup d’etat</i> for a woman as that barber’s + knife-thrust, which so affected Canning in a court of assize. Not one of + the women who blame the Duchess would make a declaration worthy of ancient + times. It is heroic of Mme de Langeais to proclaim herself so frankly. Now + there is nothing left to her but to love Montriveau. There must be + something great about a woman if she says, ‘I will have but one passion.’” + </p> + <p> + “But what is to become of society, monsieur, if you honour vice in this + way without respect for virtue?” asked the Comtesse de Granville, the + attorney-general’s wife. + </p> + <p> + While the Chateau, the Faubourg, and the Chaussee d’Antin were discussing + the shipwreck of aristocratic virtue; while excited young men rushed about + on horseback to make sure that the carriage was standing in the Rue de + Tournon, and the Duchess in consequence was beyond a doubt in M. de + Montriveau’s rooms, Mme de Langeais, with heavy throbbing pulses, was + lying hidden away in her boudoir. And Armand?—he had been out all + night, and at that moment was walking with M. de Marsay in the Gardens of + the Tuileries. The elder members, of Mme de Langeais’ family were engaged + in calling upon one another, arranging to read her a homily and to hold a + consultation as to the best way of putting a stop to the scandal. + </p> + <p> + At three o’clock, therefore, M. le Duc de Navarreins, the Vidame de + Pamiers, the old Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, and the Duc de Grandlieu + were assembled in Mme la Duchesse de Langeais’ drawing-room. To them, as + to all curious inquirers, the servants said that their mistress was not at + home; the Duchess had made no exceptions to her orders. But these four + personages shone conspicuous in that lofty sphere, of which the + revolutions and hereditary pretensions are solemnly recorded year by year + in the <i>Almanach de Gotha</i>, wherefore without some slight sketch of + each of them this picture of society were incomplete. + </p> + <p> + The Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, in the feminine world, was a most poetic + wreck of the reign of Louis Quinze. In her beautiful prime, so it was + said, she had done her part to win for that monarch his appellation of <i>le + Bien-aime</i>. Of her past charms of feature, little remained save a + remarkably prominent slender nose, curved like a Turkish scimitar, now the + principal ornament of a countenance that put you in mind of an old white + glove. Add a few powdered curls, high-heeled pantoufles, a cap with + upstanding loops of lace, black mittens, and a decided taste for <i>ombre</i>. + But to do full justice to the lady, it must be said that she appeared in + low-necked gowns of an evening (so high an opinion of her ruins had she), + wore long gloves, and raddled her cheeks with Martin’s classic rouge. An + appalling amiability in her wrinkles, a prodigious brightness in the old + lady’s eyes, a profound dignity in her whole person, together with the + triple barbed wit of her tongue, and an infallible memory in her head, + made of her a real power in the land. The whole Cabinet des Chartes was + entered in duplicate on the parchment of her brain. She knew all the + genealogies of every noble house in Europe—princes, dukes, and + counts—and could put her hand on the last descendants of Charlemagne + in the direct line. No usurpation of title could escape the Princesse de + Blamont-Chauvry. + </p> + <p> + Young men who wished to stand well at Court, ambitious men, and young + married women paid her assiduous homage. Her salon set the tone of the + Faubourg Saint-Germain. The words of this Talleyrand in petticoats were + taken as final decrees. People came to consult her on questions of + etiquette or usages, or to take lessons in good taste. And, in truth, no + other old woman could put back her snuff-box in her pocket as the Princess + could; while there was a precision and a grace about the movements of her + skirts, when she sat down or crossed her feet, which drove the finest + ladies of the young generation to despair. Her voice had remained in her + head during one-third of her lifetime; but she could not prevent a descent + into the membranes of the nose, which lent to it a peculiar + expressiveness. She still retained a hundred and fifty thousand livres of + her great fortune, for Napoleon had generously returned her woods to her; + so that personally and in the matter of possessions she was a woman of no + little consequence. + </p> + <p> + This curious antique, seated in a low chair by the fireside, was chatting + with the Vidame de Pamiers, a contemporary ruin. The Vidame was a big, + tall, and spare man, a seigneur of the old school, and had been a + Commander of the Order of Malta. His neck had always been so tightly + compressed by a strangulation stock, that his cheeks pouched over it a + little, and he held his head high; to many people this would have given an + air of self-sufficiency, but in the Vidame it was justified by a + Voltairean wit. His wide prominent eyes seemed to see everything, and as a + matter of fact there was not much that they had not seen. Altogether, his + person was a perfect model of aristocratic outline, slim and slender, + supple and agreeable. He seemed as if he could be pliant or rigid at will, + and twist and bend, or rear his head like a snake. + </p> + <p> + The Duc de Navarreins was pacing up and down the room with the Duc de + Grandlieu. Both were men of fifty-six or thereabouts, and still hale; both + were short, corpulent, flourishing, somewhat florid-complexioned men with + jaded eyes, and lower lips that had begun to hang already. But for an + exquisite refinement of accent, an urbane courtesy, and an ease of manner + that could change in a moment to insolence, a superficial observer might + have taken them for a couple of bankers. Any such mistake would have been + impossible, however, if the listener could have heard them converse, and + seen them on their guard with men whom they feared, vapid and commonplace + with their equals, slippery with the inferiors whom courtiers and + statesmen know how to tame by a tactful word, or to humiliate with an + unexpected phrase. + </p> + <p> + Such were the representatives of the great noblesse that determined to + perish rather than submit to any change. It was a noblesse that deserved + praise and blame in equal measure; a noblesse that will never be judged + impartially until some poet shall arise to tell how joyfully the nobles + obeyed the King though their heads fell under a Richelieu’s axe, and how + deeply they scorned the guillotine of ‘89 as a foul revenge. + </p> + <p> + Another noticeable trait in all the four was a thin voice that agreed + peculiarly well with their ideas and bearing. Among themselves, at any + rate, they were on terms of perfect equality. None of them betrayed any + sign of annoyance over the Duchess’s escapade, but all of them had learned + at Court to hide their feelings. + </p> + <p> + And here, lest critics should condemn the puerility of the opening of the + forthcoming scene, it is perhaps as well to remind the reader that Locke, + once happening to be in the company of several great lords, renowned no + less for their wit than for their breeding and political consistency, + wickedly amused himself by taking down their conversation by some + shorthand process of his own; and afterwards, when he read it over to them + to see what they could make of it, they all burst out laughing. And, in + truth, the tinsel jargon which circulates among the upper ranks in every + country yields mighty little gold to the crucible when washed in the ashes + of literature or philosophy. In every rank of society (some few Parisian + salons excepted) the curious observer finds folly a constant quantity + beneath a more or less transparent varnish. Conversation with any + substance in it is a rare exception, and boeotianism is current coin in + every zone. In the higher regions they must perforce talk more, but to + make up for it they think the less. Thinking is a tiring exercise, and the + rich like their lives to flow by easily and without effort. It is by + comparing the fundamental matter of jests, as you rise in the social scale + from the street-boy to the peer of France, that the observer arrives at a + true comprehension of M. de Talleyrand’s maxim, “The manner is + everything”; an elegant rendering of the legal axiom, “The form is of more + consequence than the matter.” In the eyes of the poet the advantage rests + with the lower classes, for they seldom fail to give a certain character + of rude poetry to their thoughts. Perhaps also this same observation may + explain the sterility of the salons, their emptiness, their shallowness, + and the repugnance felt by men of ability for bartering their ideas for + such pitiful small change. + </p> + <p> + The Duke suddenly stopped as if some bright idea occurred to him, and + remarked to his neighbour: + </p> + <p> + “So you have sold Tornthon?” + </p> + <p> + “No, he is ill. I am very much afraid I shall lose him, and I should be + uncommonly sorry. He is a very good hunter. Do you know how the Duchesse + de Marigny is?” + </p> + <p> + “No. I did not go this morning. I was just going out to call when you came + in to speak about Antoinette. But yesterday she was very ill indeed; they + had given her up, she took the sacrament.” + </p> + <p> + “Her death will make a change in your cousin’s position.” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all. She gave away her property in her lifetime, only keeping an + annuity. She made over the Guebriant estate to her niece, Mme de + Soulanges, subject to a yearly charge.” + </p> + <p> + “It will be a great loss for society. She was a kind woman. Her family + will miss her; her experience and advice carried weight. Her son Marigny + is an amiable man; he has a sharp wit, he can talk. He is pleasant, very + pleasant. Pleasant? oh, that no one can deny, but—ill regulated to + the last degree. Well, and yet it is an extraordinary thing, he is very + acute. He was dining at the club the other day with that moneyed + Chaussee-d’Antin set. Your uncle (he always goes there for his game of + cards) found him there to his astonishment, and asked if he was a member. + ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘I don’t go into society now; I am living among the + bankers.’—You know why?” added the Marquis, with a meaning smile. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the Duke. + </p> + <p> + “He is smitten with that little Mme Keller, Gondreville’s daughter; she is + only lately married, and has a great vogue, they say, in that set.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Antoinette does not find time heavy on her hands, it seems,” + remarked the Vidame. + </p> + <p> + “My affection for that little woman has driven me to find a singular + pastime,” replied the Princess, as she returned her snuff-box to her + pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Dear aunt, I am extremely vexed,” said the Duke, stopping short in his + walk. “Nobody but one of Bonaparte’s men could ask such an indecorous + thing of a woman of fashion. Between ourselves, Antoinette might have made + a better choice.” + </p> + <p> + “The Montriveaus are a very old family and very well connected, my dear,” + replied the Princess; “they are related to all the noblest houses of + Burgundy. If the Dulmen branch of the Arschoot Rivaudoults should come to + an end in Galicia, the Montriveaus would succeed to the Arschoot title and + estates. They inherit through their great-grandfather. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure?” + </p> + <p> + “I know it better than this Montriveau’s father did. I told him about it, + I used to see a good deal of him; and, Chevalier of several orders though + he was, he only laughed; he was an encyclopaedist. But his brother turned + the relationship to good account during the emigration. I have heard it + said that his northern kinsfolk were most kind in every way——” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, to be sure. The Comte de Montriveau died at St. Petersburg,” said + the Vidame. “I met him there. He was a big man with an incredible passion + for oysters.” + </p> + <p> + “However many did he eat?” asked the Duc de Grandlieu. + </p> + <p> + “Ten dozen every day.” + </p> + <p> + “And did they not disagree with him?” + </p> + <p> + “Not the least bit in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, that is extraordinary! Had he neither the stone nor gout, nor any + other complaint, in consequence?” + </p> + <p> + “No; his health was perfectly good, and he died through an accident.” + </p> + <p> + “By accident! Nature prompted him to eat oysters, so probably he required + them; for up to a certain point our predominant tastes are conditions of + our existence.” + </p> + <p> + “I am of your opinion,” said the Princess, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Madame, you always put a malicious construction on things,” returned the + Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “I only want you to understand that these remarks might leave a wrong + impression on a young woman’s mind,” said she, and interrupted herself to + exclaim, “But this niece, this niece of mine!” + </p> + <p> + “Dear aunt, I still refuse to believe that she can have gone to M. de + Montriveau,” said the Duc de Navarreins. + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” returned the Princess. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think, Vidame?” asked the Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “If the Duchess were an artless simpleton, I should think that——” + </p> + <p> + “But when a woman is in love she becomes an artless simpleton,” retorted + the Princess. “Really, my poor Vidame, you must be getting older.” + </p> + <p> + “After all, what is to be done?” asked the Duke. + </p> + <p> + “If my dear niece is wise,” said the Princess, “she will go to Court this + evening—fortunately, today is Monday, and reception day—and + you must see that we all rally round her and give the lie to this absurd + rumour. There are hundreds of ways of explaining things; and if the + Marquis de Montriveau is a gentleman, he will come to our assistance. We + will bring these children to listen to reason——” + </p> + <p> + “But, dear aunt, it is not easy to tell M. de Montriveau the truth to his + face. He is one of Bonaparte’s pupils, and he has a position. Why, he is + one of the great men of the day; he is high up in the Guards, and very + useful there. He has not a spark of ambition. He is just the man to say, + ‘Here is my commission, leave me in peace,’ if the King should say a word + that he did not like.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, pray, what are his opinions?” + </p> + <p> + “Very unsound.” + </p> + <p> + “Really,” sighed the Princess, “the King is, as he always has been, a + Jacobin under the Lilies of France.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! not quite so bad,” said the Vidame. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; I have known him for a long while. The man that pointed out the + Court to his wife on the occasion of her first state dinner in public + with, ‘These are our people,’ could only be a black-hearted scoundrel. I + can see Monsieur exactly the same as ever in the King. The bad brother who + voted so wrongly in his department of the Constituent Assembly was sure to + compound with the Liberals and allow them to argue and talk. This + philosophical cant will be just as dangerous now for the younger brother + as it used to be for the elder; this fat man with the little mind is + amusing himself by creating difficulties, and how his successor is to get + out of them I do not know; he holds his younger brother in abhorrence; he + would be glad to think as he lay dying, ‘He will not reign very long——‘” + </p> + <p> + “Aunt, he is the King, and I have the honour to be in his service——” + </p> + <p> + “But does your post take away your right of free speech, my dear? You come + of quite as good a house as the Bourbons. If the Guises had shown a little + more resolution, His Majesty would be a nobody at this day. It is time I + went out of this world, the noblesse is dead. Yes, it is all over with + you, my children,” she continued, looking as she spoke at the Vidame. + “What has my niece done that the whole town should be talking about her? + She is in the wrong; I disapprove of her conduct, a useless scandal is a + blunder; that is why I still have my doubts about this want of regard for + appearances; I brought her up, and I know that——” + </p> + <p> + Just at that moment the Duchess came out of her boudoir. She had + recognised her aunt’s voice and heard the name of Montriveau. She was + still in her loose morning-gown; and even as she came in, M. de Grandlieu, + looking carelessly out of the window, saw his niece’s carriage driving + back along the street. The Duke took his daughter’s face in both hands and + kissed her on the forehead. + </p> + <p> + “So, dear girl,” he said, “you do not know what is going on?” + </p> + <p> + “Has anything extraordinary happened, father dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, all Paris believes that you are with M. de Montriveau.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Antoinette, you were at home all the time, were you not?” said + the Princess, holding out a hand, which the Duchess kissed with + affectionate respect. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, dear mother; I was at home all the time. And,” she added, as she + turned to greet the Vidame and the Marquis, “I wished that all Paris + should think that I was with M. de Montriveau.” + </p> + <p> + The Duke flung up his hands, struck them together in despair, and folded + his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Then, cannot you see what will come of this mad freak?” he asked at last. + </p> + <p> + But the aged Princess had suddenly risen, and stood looking steadily at + the Duchess, the younger woman flushed, and her eyes fell. Mme de Chauvry + gently drew her closer, and said, “My little angel, let me kiss you!” + </p> + <p> + She kissed her niece very affectionately on the forehead, and continued + smiling, while she held her hand in a tight clasp. + </p> + <p> + “We are not under the Valois now, dear child. You have compromised your + husband and your position. Still, we will arrange to make everything + right.” + </p> + <p> + “But, dear aunt, I do not wish to make it right at all. It is my wish that + all Paris should say that I was with M. de Montriveau this morning. If you + destroy that belief, however ill grounded it may be, you will do me a + singular disservice.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you really wish to ruin yourself, child, and to grieve your family?” + </p> + <p> + “My family, father, unintentionally condemned me to irreparable misfortune + when they sacrificed me to family considerations. You may, perhaps, blame + me for seeking alleviations, but you will certainly feel for me.” + </p> + <p> + “After all the endless pains you take to settle your daughters suitably!” + muttered M. de Navarreins, addressing the Vidame. + </p> + <p> + The Princess shook a stray grain of snuff from her skirts. “My dear little + girl,” she said, “be happy, if you can. We are not talking of troubling + your felicity, but of reconciling it with social usages. We all of us here + assembled know that marriage is a defective institution tempered by love. + But when you take a lover, is there any need to make your bed in the Place + du Carrousel? See now, just be a bit reasonable, and hear what we have to + say.” + </p> + <p> + “I am listening.” + </p> + <p> + “Mme la Duchesse,” began the Duc de Grandlieu, “if it were any part of an + uncle’s duty to look after his nieces, he ought to have a position; + society would owe him honours and rewards and a salary, exactly as if he + were in the King’s service. So I am not here to talk about my nephew, but + of your own interests. Let us look ahead a little. If you persist in + making a scandal—I have seen the animal before, and I own that I + have no great liking for him—Langeais is stingy enough, and he does + not care a rap for anyone but himself; he will have a separation; he will + stick to your money, and leave you poor, and consequently you will be a + nobody. The income of a hundred thousand livres that you have just + inherited from your maternal great-aunt will go to pay for his mistresses’ + amusements. You will be bound and gagged by the law; you will have to say + <i>Amen</i> to all these arrangements. Suppose M. de Montriveau leaves you——dear + me! do not let us put ourselves in a passion, my dear niece; a man does + not leave a woman while she is young and pretty; still, we have seen so + many pretty women left disconsolate, even among princesses, that you will + permit the supposition, an all but impossible supposition I quite wish to + believe.——Well, suppose that he goes, what will become of you + without a husband? Keep well with your husband as you take care of your + beauty; for beauty, after all, is a woman’s parachute, and a husband also + stands between you and worse. I am supposing that you are happy and loved + to the end, and I am leaving unpleasant or unfortunate events altogether + out of the reckoning. This being so, fortunately or unfortunately, you may + have children. What are they to be? Montriveaus? Very well; they certainly + will not succeed to their father’s whole fortune. You will want to give + them all that you have; he will wish to do the same. Nothing more natural, + dear me! And you will find the law against you. How many times have we + seen heirs-at-law bringing a law-suit to recover the property from + illegitimate children? Every court of law rings with such actions all over + the world. You will create a <i>fidei commissum</i> perhaps; and if the + trustee betrays your confidence, your children have no remedy against him; + and they are ruined. So choose carefully. You see the perplexities of the + position. In every possible way your children will be sacrificed of + necessity to the fancies of your heart; they will have no recognised + status. While they are little they will be charming; but, Lord! some day + they will reproach you for thinking of no one but your two selves. We old + gentlemen know all about it. Little boys grow up into men, and men are + ungrateful beings. When I was in Germany, did I not hear young de Horn + say, after supper, ‘If my mother had been an honest woman, I should be + prince-regnant!’ <i>If</i>?’ We have spent our lives in hearing plebeians + say <i>if</i>. <i>If</i> brought about the Revolution. When a man cannot + lay the blame on his father or mother, he holds God responsible for his + hard lot. In short, dear child, we are here to open your eyes. I will say + all I have to say in a few words, on which you had better meditate: A + woman ought never to put her husband in the right.” + </p> + <p> + “Uncle, so long as I cared for nobody, I could calculate; I looked at + interests then, as you do; now, I can only feel.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear little girl,” remonstrated the Vidame, “life is simply a + complication of interests and feelings; to be happy, more particularly in + your position, one must try to reconcile one’s feelings with one’s + interests. A grisette may love according to her fancy, that is + intelligible enough, but you have a pretty fortune, a family, a name and a + place at Court, and you ought not to fling them out of the window. And + what have we been asking you to do to keep them all?—To manoeuvre + carefully instead of falling foul of social conventions. Lord! I shall + very soon be eighty years old, and I cannot recollect, under any regime, a + love worth the price that you are willing to pay for the love of this + lucky young man.” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess silenced the Vidame with a look; if Montriveau could have seen + that glance, he would have forgiven all. + </p> + <p> + “It would be very effective on the stage,” remarked the Duc de Grandlieu, + “but it all amounts to nothing when your jointure and position and + independence is concerned. You are not grateful, my dear niece. You will + not find many families where the relatives have courage enough to teach + the wisdom gained by experience, and to make rash young heads listen to + reason. Renounce your salvation in two minutes, if it pleases you to damn + yourself; well and good; but reflect well beforehand when it comes to + renouncing your income. I know of no confessor who remits the pains of + poverty. I have a right, I think, to speak in this way to you; for if you + are ruined, I am the one person who can offer you a refuge. I am almost an + uncle to Langeais, and I alone have a right to put him in the wrong.” + </p> + <p> + The Duc de Navarreins roused himself from painful reflections. + </p> + <p> + “Since you speak of feeling, my child,” he said, “let me remind you that a + woman who bears your name ought to be moved by sentiments which do not + touch ordinary people. Can you wish to give an advantage to the Liberals, + to those Jesuits of Robespierre’s that are doing all they can to vilify + the noblesse? Some things a Navarreins cannot do without failing in duty + to his house. You would not be alone in your dishonor——” + </p> + <p> + “Come, come!” said the Princess. “Dishonor? Do not make such a fuss about + the journey of an empty carriage, children, and leave me alone with + Antoinette. All three of you come and dine with me. I will undertake to + arrange matters suitably. You men understand nothing; you are beginning to + talk sourly already, and I have no wish to see a quarrel between you and + my dear child. Do me the pleasure to go.” + </p> + <p> + The three gentlemen probably guessed the Princess’s intentions; they took + their leave. M. de Navarreins kissed his daughter on the forehead with, + “Come, be good, dear child. It is not too late yet if you choose.” + </p> + <p> + “Couldn’t we find some good fellow in the family to pick a quarrel with + this Montriveau?” said the Vidame, as they went downstairs. + </p> + <p> + When the two women were alone, the Princess beckoned her niece to a little + low chair by her side. + </p> + <p> + “My pearl,” said she, “in this world below, I know nothing worse + calumniated than God and the eighteenth century; for as I look back over + my own young days, I do not recollect that a single duchess trampled the + proprieties underfoot as you have just done. Novelists and scribblers + brought the reign of Louis XV into disrepute. Do not believe them. The du + Barry, my dear, was quite as good as the Widow Scarron, and the more + agreeable woman of the two. In my time a woman could keep her dignity + among her gallantries. Indiscretion was the ruin of us, and the beginning + of all the mischief. The philosophists—the nobodies whom we admitted + into our salons—had no more gratitude or sense of decency than to + make an inventory of our hearts, to traduce us one and all, and to rail + against the age by way of a return for our kindness. The people are not in + a position to judge of anything whatsoever; they looked at the facts, not + at the form. But the men and women of those times, my heart, were quite as + remarkable as at any other period of the Monarchy. Not one of your + Werthers, none of your notabilities, as they are called, never a one of + your men in yellow kid gloves and trousers that disguise the poverty of + their legs, would cross Europe in the dress of a travelling hawker to + brave the daggers of a Duke of Modena, and to shut himself up in the + dressing-room of the Regent’s daughter at the risk of his life. Not one of + your little consumptive patients with their tortoiseshell eyeglasses would + hide himself in a closet for six weeks, like Lauzun, to keep up his + mistress’s courage while she was lying in of her child. There was more + passion in M. de Jaucourt’s little finger than in your whole race of + higglers that leave a woman to better themselves elsewhere! Just tell me + where to find the page that would be cut in pieces and buried under the + floorboards for one kiss on the Konigsmark’s gloved finger! + </p> + <p> + “Really, it would seem today that the roles are exchanged, and women are + expected to show their devotion for men. These modern gentlemen are worth + less, and think more of themselves. Believe me, my dear, all these + adventures that have been made public, and now are turned against our good + Louis XV, were kept quite secret at first. If it had not been for a pack + of poetasters, scribblers, and moralists, who hung about our + waiting-women, and took down their slanders, our epoch would have appeared + in literature as a well-conducted age. I am justifying the century and not + its fringe. Perhaps a hundred women of quality were lost; but for every + one, the rogues set down ten, like the gazettes after a battle when they + count up the losses of the beaten side. And in any case I do not know that + the Revolution and the Empire can reproach us; they were coarse, dull, + licentious times. Faugh! it is revolting. Those are the brothels of French + history. + </p> + <p> + “This preamble, my dear child,” she continued after a pause, “brings me to + the thing that I have to say. If you care for Montriveau, you are quite at + liberty to love him at your ease, and as much as you can. I know by + experience that, unless you are locked up (but locking people up is out of + fashion now), you will do as you please; I should have done the same at + your age. Only, sweetheart, I should not have given up my right to be the + mother of future Ducs de Langeais. So mind appearances. The Vidame is + right. No man is worth a single one of the sacrifices which we are foolish + enough to make for their love. Put yourself in such a position that you + may still be M. de Langeais’ wife, in case you should have the misfortune + to repent. When you are an old woman, you will be very glad to hear mass + said at Court, and not in some provincial convent. Therein lies the whole + question. A single imprudence means an allowance and a wandering life; it + means that you are at the mercy of your lover; it means that you must put + up with insolence from women that are not so honest, precisely because + they have been very vulgarly sharp-witted. It would be a hundred times + better to go to Montriveau’s at night in a cab, and disguised, instead of + sending your carriage in broad daylight. You are a little fool, my dear + child! Your carriage flattered his vanity; your person would have ensnared + his heart. All this that I have said is just and true; but, for my own + part, I do not blame you. You are two centuries behind the times with your + false ideas of greatness. There, leave us to arrange your affairs, and say + that Montriveau made your servants drunk to gratify his vanity and to + compromise you——” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess rose to her feet with a spring. “In Heaven’s name, aunt, do + not slander him!” + </p> + <p> + The old Princess’s eyes flashed. + </p> + <p> + “Dear child,” she said, “I should have liked to spare such of your + illusions as were not fatal. But there must be an end of all illusions + now. You would soften me if I were not so old. Come, now, do not vex him, + or us, or anyone else. I will undertake to satisfy everybody; but promise + me not to permit yourself a single step henceforth until you have + consulted me. Tell me all, and perhaps I may bring it all right again.” + </p> + <p> + “Aunt, I promise——” + </p> + <p> + “To tell me everything?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, everything. Everything that can be told.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my sweetheart, it is precisely what cannot be told that I want to + know. Let us understand each other thoroughly. Come, let me put my + withered old lips on your beautiful forehead. No; let me do as I wish. I + forbid you to kiss my bones. Old people have a courtesy of their own.... + There, take me down to my carriage,” she added, when she had kissed her + niece. + </p> + <p> + “Then may I go to him in disguise, dear aunt?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—yes. The story can always be denied,” said the old Princess. + </p> + <p> + This was the one idea which the Duchess had clearly grasped in the sermon. + When Mme de Chauvry was seated in the corner of her carriage, Mme de + Langeais bade her a graceful adieu and went up to her room. She was quite + happy again. + </p> + <p> + “My person would have snared his heart; my aunt is right; a man cannot + surely refuse a pretty woman when she understands how to offer herself.” + </p> + <p> + That evening, at the Elysee-Bourbon, the Duc de Navarreins, M. de Pamiers, + M. de Marsay, M. de Grandlieu, and the Duc de Maufrigneuse triumphantly + refuted the scandals that were circulating with regard to the Duchesse de + Langeais. So many officers and other persons had seen Montriveau walking + in the Tuileries that morning, that the silly story was set down to + chance, which takes all that is offered. And so, in spite of the fact that + the Duchess’s carriage had waited before Montriveau’s door, her character + became as clear and as spotless as Membrino’s sword after Sancho had + polished it up. + </p> + <p> + But, at two o’clock, M. de Ronquerolles passed Montriveau in a deserted + alley, and said with a smile, “She is coming on, is your Duchess. Go on, + keep it up!” he added, and gave a significant cut of the riding whip to + his mare, who sped off like a bullet down the avenue. + </p> + <p> + Two days after the fruitless scandal, Mme de Langeais wrote to M. de + Montriveau. That letter, like the preceding ones, remained unanswered. + This time she took her own measures, and bribed M. de Montriveau’s man, + Auguste. And so at eight o’clock that evening she was introduced into + Armand’s apartment. It was not the room in which that secret scene had + passed; it was entirely different. The Duchess was told that the General + would not be at home that night. Had he two houses? The man would give no + answer. Mme de Langeais had bought the key of the room, but not the man’s + whole loyalty. + </p> + <p> + When she was left alone she saw her fourteen letters lying on an + old-fashioned stand, all of them uncreased and unopened. He had not read + them. She sank into an easy-chair, and for a while she lost consciousness. + When she came to herself, Auguste was holding vinegar for her to inhale. + </p> + <p> + “A carriage; quick!” she ordered. + </p> + <p> + The carriage came. She hastened downstairs with convulsive speed, and left + orders that no one was to be admitted. For twenty-four hours she lay in + bed, and would have no one near her but her woman, who brought her a cup + of orange-flower water from time to time. Suzette heard her mistress moan + once or twice, and caught a glimpse of tears in the brilliant eyes, now + circled with dark shadows. + </p> + <p> + The next day, amid despairing tears, Mme de Langeais took her resolution. + Her man of business came for an interview, and no doubt received + instructions of some kind. Afterwards she sent for the Vidame de Pamiers; + and while she waited, she wrote a letter to M. de Montriveau. The Vidame + punctually came towards two o’clock that afternoon, to find his young + cousin looking white and worn, but resigned; never had her divine + loveliness been more poetic than now in the languor of her agony. + </p> + <p> + “You owe this assignation to your eighty-four years, dear cousin,” she + said. “Ah! do not smile, I beg of you, when an unhappy woman has reached + the lowest depths of wretchedness. You are a gentleman, and after the + adventures of your youth you must feel some indulgence for women.” + </p> + <p> + “None whatever,” said he. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” + </p> + <p> + “Everything is in their favour.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Well, you are one of the inner family circle; possibly you will be + the last relative, the last friend whose hand I shall press, so I can ask + your good offices. Will you, dear Vidame, do me a service which I could + not ask of my own father, nor of my uncle Grandlieu, nor of any woman? You + cannot fail to understand. I beg of you to do my bidding, and then to + forget what you have done, whatever may come of it. It is this: Will you + take this letter and go to M. de Montriveau? will you see him yourself, + give it into his hands, and ask him, as you men can ask things between + yourselves—for you have a code of honour between man and man which + you do not use with us, and a different way of regarding things between + yourselves—ask him if he will read this letter? Not in your + presence. Certain feelings men hide from each other. I give you authority + to say, if you think it necessary to bring him, that it is a question of + life or death for me. If he deigns——” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Deigns</i>!” repeated the Vidame. + </p> + <p> + “If he deigns to read it,” the Duchess continued with dignity, “say one + thing more. You will go to see him about five o’clock, for I know that he + will dine at home today at that time. Very good. By way of answer he must + come to see me. If, three hours afterwards, by eight o’clock, he does not + leave his house, all will be over. The Duchesse de Langeais will have + vanished from the world. I shall not be dead, dear friend, no, but no + human power will ever find me again on this earth. Come and dine with me; + I shall at least have one friend with me in the last agony. Yes, dear + cousin, tonight will decide my fate; and whatever happens to me, I pass + through an ordeal by fire. There! not a word. I will hear nothing of the + nature of comment or advice——Let us chat and laugh together,” + she added, holding out a hand, which he kissed. “We will be like two + grey-headed philosophers who have learned how to enjoy life to the last + moment. I will look my best; I will be very enchanting for you. You + perhaps will be the last man to set eyes on the Duchesse de Langeais.” + </p> + <p> + The Vicomte bowed, took the letter, and went without a word. At five + o’clock he returned. His cousin had studied to please him, and she looked + lovely indeed. The room was gay with flowers as if for a festivity; the + dinner was exquisite. For the grey-headed Vidame the Duchess displayed all + the brilliancy of her wit; she was more charming than she had ever been + before. At first the Vidame tried to look on all these preparations as a + young woman’s jest; but now and again the attempted illusion faded, the + spell of his fair cousin’s charm was broken. He detected a shudder caused + by some kind of sudden dread, and once she seemed to listen during a + pause. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” she said. + </p> + <p> + At seven o’clock the Duchess left him for a few minutes. When she came + back again she was dressed as her maid might have dressed for a journey. + She asked her guest to be her escort, took his arm, sprang into a hackney + coach, and by a quarter to eight they stood outside M. de Montriveau’s + door. + </p> + <p> + Armand meantime had been reading the following letter:— + </p> + <p> + “MY FRIEND,—I went to your rooms for a few minutes without your + knowledge; I found my letters there, and took them away. This cannot be + indifference, Armand, between us; and hatred would show itself quite + differently. If you love me, make an end of this cruel play, or you will + kill me, and afterwards, learning how much you were loved, you might be in + despair. If I have not rightly understood you, if you have no feeling + towards me but aversion, which implies both contempt and disgust, then I + give up all hope. A man never recovers from those feelings. You will have + no regrets. Dreadful though that thought may be, it will comfort me in my + long sorrow. Regrets? Oh, my Armand, may I never know of them; if I + thought that I had caused you a single regret——But, no, I will + not tell you what desolation I should feel. I should be living still, and + I could not be your wife; it would be too late! + </p> + <p> + “Now that I have given myself wholly to you in thought, to whom else + should I give myself?—to God. The eyes that you loved for a little + while shall never look on another man’s face; and may the glory of God + blind them to all besides. I shall never hear human voices more since I + heard yours—so gentle at the first, so terrible yesterday; for it + seems to me that I am still only on the morrow of your vengeance. And now + may the will of God consume me. Between His wrath and yours, my friend, + there will be nothing left for me but a little space for tears and + prayers. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you wonder why I write to you? Ah! do not think ill of me if I + keep a gleam of hope, and give one last sigh to happy life before I take + leave of it forever. I am in a hideous position. I feel all the inward + serenity that comes when a great resolution has been taken, even while I + hear the last growlings of the storm. When you went out on that terrible + adventure which so drew me to you, Armand, you went from the desert to the + oasis with a good guide to show you the way. Well, I am going out of the + oasis into the desert, and you are a pitiless guide to me. And yet you + only, my friend, can understand how melancholy it is to look back for the + last time on happiness—to you, and you only, I can make moan without + a blush. If you grant my entreaty, I shall be happy; if you are + inexorable, I shall expiate the wrong that I have done. After all, it is + natural, is it not, that a woman should wish to live, invested with all + noble feelings, in her friend’s memory? Oh! my one and only love, let her + to whom you gave life go down into the tomb in the belief that she is + great in your eyes. Your harshness led me to reflect; and now that I love + you so, it seems to me that I am less guilty than you think. Listen to my + justification, I owe it to you; and you that are all the world to me, owe + me at least a moment’s justice. + </p> + <p> + “I have learned by my own anguish all that I made you suffer by my + coquetry; but in those days I was utterly ignorant of love. <i>You</i> + know what the torture is, and you mete it out to me! During those first + eight months that you gave me you never roused any feeling of love in me. + Do you ask why this was so, my friend? I can no more explain it than I can + tell you why I love you now. Oh! certainly it flattered my vanity that I + should be the subject of your passionate talk, and receive those burning + glances of yours; but you left me cold. No, I was not a woman; I had no + conception of womanly devotion and happiness. Who was to blame? You would + have despised me, would you not, if I had given myself without the impulse + of passion? Perhaps it is the highest height to which we can rise—to + give all and receive no joy; perhaps there is no merit in yielding oneself + to bliss that is foreseen and ardently desired. Alas, my friend, I can say + this now; these thoughts came to me when I played with you; and you seemed + to me so great even then that I would not have you owe the gift to pity——What + is this that I have written? + </p> + <p> + “I have taken back all my letters; I am flinging them one by one on the + fire; they are burning. You will never know what they confessed—all + the love and the passion and the madness—— + </p> + <p> + “I will say no more, Armand; I will stop. I will not say another word of + my feelings. If my prayers have not echoed from my soul through yours, I + also, woman that I am, decline to owe your love to your pity. It is my + wish to be loved, because you cannot choose but love me, or else to be + left without mercy. If you refuse to read this letter, it shall be burnt. + If, after you have read it, you do not come to me within three hours, to + be henceforth forever my husband, the one man in the world for me; then I + shall never blush to know that this letter is in your hands, the pride of + my despair will protect my memory from all insult, and my end shall be + worthy of my love. When you see me no more on earth, albeit I shall still + be alive, you yourself will not think without a shudder of the woman who, + in three hours’ time, will live only to overwhelm you with her tenderness; + a woman consumed by a hopeless love, and faithful—not to memories of + past joys—but to a love that was slighted. + </p> + <p> + “The Duchesse de la Valliere wept for lost happiness and vanished power; + but the Duchesse de Langeais will be happy that she may weep and be a + power for you still. Yes, you will regret me. I see clearly that I was not + of this world, and I thank you for making it clear to me. + </p> + <p> + “Farewell; you will never touch <i>my</i> axe. Yours was the executioner’s + axe, mine is God’s; yours kills, mine saves. Your love was but mortal, it + could not endure disdain or ridicule; mine can endure all things without + growing weaker, it will last eternally. Ah! I feel a sombre joy in + crushing you that believe yourself so great; in humbling you with the + calm, indulgent smile of one of the least among the angels that lie at the + feet of God, for to them is given the right and the power to protect and + watch over men in His name. You have but felt fleeting desires, while the + poor nun will shed the light of her ceaseless and ardent prayer about you, + she will shelter you all your life long beneath the wings of a love that + has nothing of earth in it. + </p> + <p> + “I have a presentiment of your answer; our trysting place shall be—in + heaven. Strength and weakness can both enter there, dear Armand; the + strong and the weak are bound to suffer. This thought soothes the anguish + of my final ordeal. So calm am I that I should fear that I had ceased to + love you if I were not about to leave the world for your sake. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “ANTOINETTE.” + </pre> + <p> + “Dear Vidame,” said the Duchess as they reached Montriveau’s house, “do me + the kindness to ask at the door whether he is at home.” The Vidame, + obedient after the manner of the eighteenth century to a woman’s wish, got + out, and came back to bring his cousin an affirmative answer that sent a + shudder through her. She grasped his hand tightly in hers, suffered him to + kiss her on either cheek, and begged him to go at once. He must not watch + her movements nor try to protect her. “But the people passing in the + street,” he objected. + </p> + <p> + “No one can fail in respect to me,” she said. It was the last word spoken + by the Duchess and the woman of fashion. + </p> + <p> + The Vidame went. Mme de Langeais wrapped herself about in her cloak, and + stood on the doorstep until the clocks struck eight. The last stroke died + away. The unhappy woman waited ten, fifteen minutes; to the last she tried + to see a fresh humiliation in the delay, then her faith ebbed. She turned + to leave the fatal threshold. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, God!” the cry broke from her in spite of herself; it was the first + word spoken by the Carmelite. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau and some of his friends were talking together. He tried to + hasten them to a conclusion, but his clock was slow, and by the time he + started out for the Hotel de Langeais the Duchess was hurrying on foot + through the streets of Paris, goaded by the dull rage in her heart. She + reached the Boulevard d’Enfer, and looked out for the last time through + falling tears on the noisy, smoky city that lay below in a red mist, + lighted up by its own lamps. Then she hailed a cab, and drove away, never + to return. When the Marquis de Montriveau reached the Hotel de Langeais, + and found no trace of his mistress, he thought that he had been duped. He + hurried away at once to the Vidame, and found that worthy gentleman in the + act of slipping on his flowered dressing-gown, thinking the while of his + fair cousin’s happiness. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau gave him one of the terrific glances that produced the effect + of an electric shock on men and women alike. + </p> + <p> + “Is it possible that you have lent yourself to some cruel hoax, monsieur?” + Montriveau exclaimed. “I have just come from Mme de Langeais’ house; the + servants say that she is out.” + </p> + <p> + “Then a great misfortune has happened, no doubt,” returned the Vidame, + “and through your fault. I left the Duchess at your door——” + </p> + <p> + “When?” + </p> + <p> + “At a quarter to eight.” + </p> + <p> + “Good evening,” returned Montriveau, and he hurried home to ask the porter + whether he had seen a lady standing on the doorstep that evening. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, my Lord Marquis, a handsome woman, who seemed very much put out. She + was crying like a Magdalen, but she never made a sound, and stood as + upright as a post. Then at last she went, and my wife and I that were + watching her while she could not see us, heard her say, ‘Oh, God!’ so that + it went to our hearts, asking your pardon, to hear her say it.” + </p> + <p> + Montriveau, in spite of all his firmness, turned pale at those few words. + He wrote a few lines to Ronquerolles, sent off the message at once, and + went up to his rooms. Ronquerolles came just about midnight. + </p> + <p> + Armand gave him the Duchess’s letter to read. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” asked Ronquerolles. + </p> + <p> + “She was here at my door at eight o’clock; at a quarter-past eight she had + gone. I have lost her, and I love her. Oh! if my life were my own, I could + blow my brains out.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, pooh! Keep cool,” said Ronquerolles. “Duchesses do not fly off like + wagtails. She cannot travel faster than three leagues an hour, and + tomorrow we will ride six.—Confound it! Mme de Langeais is no + ordinary woman,” he continued. “Tomorrow we will all of us mount and ride. + The police will put us on her track during the day. She must have a + carriage; angels of that sort have no wings. We shall find her whether she + is on the road or hidden in Paris. There is the semaphore. We can stop + her. You shall be happy. But, my dear fellow, you have made a blunder, of + which men of your energy are very often guilty. They judge others by + themselves, and do not know the point when human nature gives way if you + strain the cords too tightly. Why did you not say a word to me sooner? I + would have told you to be punctual. Good-bye till tomorrow,” he added, as + Montriveau said nothing. “Sleep if you can,” he added, with a grasp of the + hand. + </p> + <p> + But the greatest resources which society has ever placed at the disposal + of statesmen, kings, ministers, bankers, or any human power, in fact, were + all exhausted in vain. Neither Montriveau nor his friends could find any + trace of the Duchess. It was clear that she had entered a convent. + Montriveau determined to search, or to institute a search, for her through + every convent in the world. He must have her, even at the cost of all the + lives in a town. And in justice to this extraordinary man, it must be said + that his frenzied passion awoke to the same ardour daily and lasted + through five years. Only in 1829 did the Duc de Navarreins hear by chance + that his daughter had travelled to Spain as Lady Julia Hopwood’s maid, + that she had left her service at Cadiz, and that Lady Julia never + discovered that Mlle Caroline was the illustrious duchess whose sudden + disappearance filled the minds of the highest society of Paris. + </p> + <p> + The feelings of the two lovers when they met again on either side of the + grating in the Carmelite convent should now be comprehended to the full, + and the violence of the passion awakened in either soul will doubtless + explain the catastrophe of the story. + </p> + <p> + In 1823 the Duc de Langeais was dead, and his wife was free. Antoinette de + Navarreins was living, consumed by love, on a ledge of rock in the + Mediterranean; but it was in the Pope’s power to dissolve Sister Theresa’s + vows. The happiness bought by so much love might yet bloom for the two + lovers. These thoughts sent Montriveau flying from Cadiz to Marseilles, + and from Marseilles to Paris. + </p> + <p> + A few months after his return to France, a merchant brig, fitted out and + munitioned for active service, set sail from the port of Marseilles for + Spain. The vessel had been chartered by several distinguished men, most of + them Frenchmen, who, smitten with a romantic passion for the East, wished + to make a journey to those lands. Montriveau’s familiar knowledge of + Eastern customs made him an invaluable travelling companion, and at the + entreaty of the rest he had joined the expedition; the Minister of War + appointed him lieutenant-general, and put him on the Artillery Commission + to facilitate his departure. + </p> + <p> + Twenty-fours hours later the brig lay to off the north-west shore of an + island within sight of the Spanish coast. She had been specially chosen + for her shallow keel and light mastage, so that she might lie at anchor in + safety half a league away from the reefs that secure the island from + approach in this direction. If fishing vessels or the people on the island + caught sight of the brig, they were scarcely likely to feel suspicious of + her at once; and besides, it was easy to give a reason for her presence + without delay. Montriveau hoisted the flag of the United States before + they came in sight of the island, and the crew of the vessel were all + American sailors, who spoke nothing but English. One of M. de Montriveau’s + companions took the men ashore in the ship’s longboat, and made them so + drunk at an inn in the little town that they could not talk. Then he gave + out that the brig was manned by treasure-seekers, a gang of men whose + hobby was well known in the United States; indeed, some Spanish writer had + written a history of them. The presence of the brig among the reefs was + now sufficiently explained. The owners of the vessel, according to the + self-styled boatswain’s mate, were looking for the wreck of a galleon + which foundered thereabouts in 1778 with a cargo of treasure from Mexico. + The people at the inn and the authorities asked no more questions. + </p> + <p> + Armand, and the devoted friends who were helping him in his difficult + enterprise, were all from the first of the opinion that there was no hope + of rescuing or carrying off Sister Theresa by force or stratagem from the + side of the little town. Wherefore these bold spirits, with one accord, + determined to take the bull by the horns. They would make a way to the + convent at the most seemingly inaccessible point; like General Lamarque, + at the storming of Capri, they would conquer Nature. The cliff at the end + of the island, a sheer block of granite, afforded even less hold than the + rock of Capri. So it seemed at least to Montriveau, who had taken part in + that incredible exploit, while the nuns in his eyes were much more + redoubtable than Sir Hudson Lowe. To raise a hubbub over carrying off the + Duchess would cover them with confusion. They might as well set siege to + the town and convent, like pirates, and leave not a single soul to tell of + their victory. So for them their expedition wore but two aspects. There + should be a conflagration and a feat of arms that should dismay all + Europe, while the motives of the crime remained unknown; or, on the other + hand, a mysterious, aerial descent which should persuade the nuns that the + Devil himself had paid them a visit. They had decided upon the latter + course in the secret council held before they left Paris, and subsequently + everything had been done to insure the success of an expedition which + promised some real excitement to jaded spirits weary of Paris and its + pleasures. + </p> + <p> + An extremely light pirogue, made at Marseilles on a Malayan model, enabled + them to cross the reef, until the rocks rose from out of the water. Then + two cables of iron wire were fastened several feet apart between one rock + and another. These wire ropes slanted upwards and downwards in opposite + directions, so that baskets of iron wire could travel to and fro along + them; and in this manner the rocks were covered with a system of baskets + and wire-cables, not unlike the filaments which a certain species of + spider weaves about a tree. The Chinese, an essentially imitative people, + were the first to take a lesson from the work of instinct. Fragile as + these bridges were, they were always ready for use; high waves and the + caprices of the sea could not throw them out of working order; the ropes + hung just sufficiently slack, so as to present to the breakers that + particular curve discovered by Cachin, the immortal creator of the harbour + at Cherbourg. Against this cunningly devised line the angry surge is + powerless; the law of that curve was a secret wrested from Nature by that + faculty of observation in which nearly all human genius consists. + </p> + <p> + M. de Montriveau’s companions were alone on board the vessel, and out of + sight of every human eye. No one from the deck of a passing vessel could + have discovered either the brig hidden among the reefs, or the men at work + among the rocks; they lay below the ordinary range of the most powerful + telescope. Eleven days were spent in preparation, before the Thirteen, + with all their infernal power, could reach the foot of the cliffs. The + body of the rock rose up straight from the sea to a height of thirty + fathoms. Any attempt to climb the sheer wall of granite seemed impossible; + a mouse might as well try to creep up the slippery sides of a plain china + vase. Still there was a cleft, a straight line of fissure so fortunately + placed that large blocks of wood could be wedged firmly into it at a + distance of about a foot apart. Into these blocks the daring workers drove + iron cramps, specially made for the purpose, with a broad iron bracket at + the outer end, through which a hole had been drilled. Each bracket carried + a light deal board which corresponded with a notch made in a pole that + reached to the top of the cliffs, and was firmly planted in the beach at + their feet. With ingenuity worthy of these men who found nothing + impossible, one of their number, a skilled mathematician, had calculated + the angle from which the steps must start; so that from the middle they + rose gradually, like the sticks of a fan, to the top of the cliff, and + descended in the same fashion to its base. That miraculously light, yet + perfectly firm, staircase cost them twenty-two days of toil. A little + tinder and the surf of the sea would destroy all trace of it forever in a + single night. A betrayal of the secret was impossible; and all search for + the violators of the convent was doomed to failure. + </p> + <p> + At the top of the rock there was a platform with sheer precipice on all + sides. The Thirteen, reconnoitring the ground with their glasses from the + masthead, made certain that though the ascent was steep and rough, there + would be no difficulty in gaining the convent garden, where the trees were + thick enough for a hiding-place. After such great efforts they would not + risk the success of their enterprise, and were compelled to wait till the + moon passed out of her last quarter. + </p> + <p> + For two nights Montriveau, wrapped in his cloak, lay out on the rock + platform. The singing at vespers and matins filled him with unutterable + joy. He stood under the wall to hear the music of the organ, listening + intently for one voice among the rest. But in spite of the silence, the + confused effect of music was all that reached his ears. In those sweet + harmonies defects of execution are lost; the pure spirit of art comes into + direct communication with the spirit of the hearer, making no demand on + the attention, no strain on the power of listening. Intolerable memories + awoke. All the love within him seemed to break into blossom again at the + breath of that music; he tried to find auguries of happiness in the air. + During the last night he sat with his eyes fixed upon an ungrated window, + for bars were not needed on the side of the precipice. A light shone there + all through the hours; and that instinct of the heart, which is sometimes + true, and as often false, cried within him, “She is there!” + </p> + <p> + “She is certainly there! Tomorrow she will be mine,” he said to himself, + and joy blended with the slow tinkling of a bell that began to ring. + </p> + <p> + Strange unaccountable workings of the heart! The nun, wasted by yearning + love, worn out with tears and fasting, prayer and vigils; the woman of + nine-and-twenty, who had passed through heavy trials, was loved more + passionately than the lighthearted girl, the woman of four-and-twenty, the + sylphide, had ever been. But is there not, for men of vigorous character, + something attractive in the sublime expression engraven on women’s faces + by the impetuous stirrings of thought and misfortunes of no ignoble kind? + Is there not a beauty of suffering which is the most interesting of all + beauty to those men who feel that within them there is an inexhaustible + wealth of tenderness and consoling pity for a creature so gracious in + weakness, so strong with love? It is the ordinary nature that is attracted + by young, smooth, pink-and-white beauty, or, in one word, by prettiness. + In some faces love awakens amid the wrinkles carved by sorrow and the ruin + made by melancholy; Montriveau could not but feel drawn to these. For + cannot a lover, with the voice of a great longing, call forth a wholly new + creature? a creature athrob with the life but just begun breaks forth for + him alone, from the outward form that is fair for him, and faded for all + the world besides. Does he not love two women?—One of them, as + others see her, is pale and wan and sad; but the other, the unseen love + that his heart knows, is an angel who understands life through feeling, + and is adorned in all her glory only for love’s high festivals. + </p> + <p> + The General left his post before sunrise, but not before he had heard + voices singing together, sweet voices full of tenderness sounding faintly + from the cell. When he came down to the foot of the cliffs where his + friends were waiting, he told them that never in his life had he felt such + enthralling bliss, and in the few words there was that unmistakable thrill + of repressed strong feeling, that magnificent utterance which all men + respect. + </p> + <p> + That night eleven of his devoted comrades made the ascent in the darkness. + Each man carried a poniard, a provision of chocolate, and a set of + house-breaking tools. They climbed the outer walls with scaling-ladders, + and crossed the cemetery of the convent. Montriveau recognised the long, + vaulted gallery through which he went to the parlour, and remembered the + windows of the room. His plans were made and adopted in a moment. They + would effect an entrance through one of the windows in the Carmelite’s + half of the parlour, find their way along the corridors, ascertain whether + the sister’s names were written on the doors, find Sister Theresa’s cell, + surprise her as she slept, and carry her off, bound and gagged. The + programme presented no difficulties to men who combined boldness and a + convict’s dexterity with the knowledge peculiar to men of the world, + especially as they would not scruple to give a stab to ensure silence. + </p> + <p> + In two hours the bars were sawn through. Three men stood on guard outside, + and two inside the parlour. The rest, barefooted, took up their posts + along the corridor. Young Henri de Marsay, the most dexterous man among + them, disguised by way of precaution in a Carmelite’s robe, exactly like + the costume of the convent, led the way, and Montriveau came immediately + behind him. The clock struck three just as the two men reached the + dormitory cells. They soon saw the position. Everything was perfectly + quiet. With the help of a dark lantern they read the names luckily written + on every door, together with the picture of a saint or saints and the + mystical words which every nun takes as a kind of motto for the beginning + of her new life and the revelation of her last thought. Montriveau reached + Sister Theresa’s door and read the inscription, <i>Sub invocatione sanctae + matris Theresae</i>, and her motto, <i>Adoremus in aeternum</i>. Suddenly + his companion laid a hand on his shoulder. A bright light was streaming + through the chinks of the door. M. de Ronquerolles came up at that moment. + </p> + <p> + “All the nuns are in the church,” he said; “they are beginning the Office + for the Dead.” + </p> + <p> + “I will stay here,” said Montriveau. “Go back into the parlour, and shut + the door at the end of the passage.” + </p> + <p> + He threw open the door and rushed in, preceded by his disguised companion, + who let down the veil over his face. + </p> + <p> + There before them lay the dead Duchess; her plank bed had been laid on the + floor of the outer room of her cell, between two lighted candles. Neither + Montriveau nor de Marsay spoke a word or uttered a cry; but they looked + into each other’s faces. The General’s dumb gesture tried to say, “Let us + carry her away!” + </p> + <p> + “Quickly” shouted Ronquerolles, “the procession of nuns is leaving the + church. You will be caught!” + </p> + <p> + With magical swiftness of movement, prompted by an intense desire, the + dead woman was carried into the convent parlour, passed through the + window, and lowered from the walls before the Abbess, followed by the + nuns, returned to take up Sister Theresa’s body. The sister left in charge + had imprudently left her post; there were secrets that she longed to know; + and so busy was she ransacking the inner room, that she heard nothing, and + was horrified when she came back to find that the body was gone. Before + the women, in their blank amazement, could think of making a search, the + Duchess had been lowered by a cord to the foot of the crags, and + Montriveau’s companions had destroyed all traces of their work. By nine + o’clock that morning there was not a sign to show that either staircase or + wire-cables had ever existed, and Sister Theresa’s body had been taken on + board. The brig came into the port to ship her crew, and sailed that day. + </p> + <p> + Montriveau, down in the cabin, was left alone with Antoinette de + Navarreins. For some hours it seemed as if her dead face was transfigured + for him by that unearthly beauty which the calm of death gives to the body + before it perishes. + </p> + <p> + “Look here,” said Ronquerolles when Montriveau reappeared on deck, “<i>that</i> + was a woman once, now it is nothing. Let us tie a cannon ball to both feet + and throw the body overboard; and if ever you think of her again, think of + her as of some book that you read as a boy.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” assented Montriveau, “it is nothing now but a dream.” + </p> + <p> + “That is sensible of you. Now, after this, have passions; but as for love, + a man ought to know how to place it wisely; it is only a woman’s last love + that can satisfy a man’s first love.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <p> + Note: The Duchesse de Langeais is the second part of a trilogy. Part one + is entitled Ferragus and part three is The Girl with the Golden Eyes. In + other addendum references all three stories are usually combined under the + title The Thirteen. + </p> + <p> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Blamont-Chauvry, Princesse de + Madame Firmiani + The Lily of the Valley + + Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Gondreville Mystery + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Granville, Comtesse Angelique de + A Second Home + A Daughter of Eve + + Keller, Madame Francois + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + + Langeais, Duc de + An Episode under the Terror + + Langeais, Duchesse Antoinette de + Father Goriot + Ferragus + + Marsay, Henri de + Ferragus + The Girl with the Golden Eyes + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + The Gondreville Mystery + A Daughter of Eve + + Montriveau, General Marquis Armand de + Father Goriot + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Another Study of Woman + Pierrette + The Member for Arcis + + Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pamiers, Vidame de + Ferragus + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Ronquerolles, Marquis de + The Imaginary Mistress + The Peasantry + Ursule Mirouet + A Woman of Thirty + Another Study of Woman + Ferragus + The Girl with the Golden Eyes + The Member for Arcis + + Serizy, Comtesse de + A Start in Life + Ferragus + Ursule Mirouet + A Woman of Thirty + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Another Study of Woman + The Imaginary Mistress + + Soulanges, Comtesse Hortense de + Domestic Peace + The Peasantry + + Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Gondreville Mystery + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s The Duchesse de Langeais, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUCHESSE DE LANGEAIS *** + +***** This file should be named 469-h.htm or 469-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/469/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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