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diff --git a/old/5135.txt b/old/5135.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b005a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/5135.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13094 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fortune of the Rougons, by Emile Zola + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fortune of the Rougons + +Author: Emile Zola + +Editor: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + +Release Date: April 22, 2006 [EBook #5135] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FORTUNE OF THE ROUGONS *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny; John Bickers + + + + + +THE FORTUNE OF THE ROUGONS + +By Emile Zola + + +Edited With Introduction By Ernest Alfred Vizetelly + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +"The Fortune of the Rougons" is the initial volume of the +Rougon-Macquart series. Though it was by no means M. Zola's first essay +in fiction, it was undoubtedly his first great bid for genuine literary +fame, and the foundation of what must necessarily be regarded as his +life-work. The idea of writing the "natural and social history of a +family under the Second Empire," extending to a score of volumes, was +doubtless suggested to M. Zola by Balzac's immortal "Comedie Humaine." +He was twenty-eight years of age when this idea first occurred to him; +he was fifty-three when he at last sent the manuscript of his concluding +volume, "Dr. Pascal," to the press. He had spent five-and-twenty years +in working out his scheme, persevering with it doggedly and stubbornly, +whatever rebuffs he might encounter, whatever jeers and whatever insults +might be directed against him by the ignorant, the prejudiced, and the +hypocritical. Truth was on the march and nothing could stay it; even as, +at the present hour, its march, if slow, none the less continues athwart +another and a different crisis of the illustrious novelist's career. + +It was in the early summer of 1869 that M. Zola first began the actual +writing of "The Fortune of the Rougons." It was only in the following +year, however, that the serial publication of the work commenced in +the columns of "Le Siecle," the Republican journal of most influence +in Paris in those days of the Second Empire. The Franco-German war +interrupted this issue of the story, and publication in book form did +not take place until the latter half of 1871, a time when both the war +and the Commune had left Paris exhausted, supine, with little or no +interest in anything. No more unfavourable moment for the issue of an +ambitious work of fiction could have been found. Some two or three +years went by, as I well remember, before anything like a revival of +literature and of public interest in literature took place. Thus, M. +Zola launched his gigantic scheme under auspices which would have made +many another man recoil. "The Fortune of the Rougons," and two or three +subsequent volumes of his series, attracted but a moderate degree +of attention, and it was only on the morrow of the publication of +"L'Assommoir" that he awoke, like Byron, to find himself famous. + +As previously mentioned, the Rougon-Macquart series forms twenty +volumes. The last of these, "Dr. Pascal," appeared in 1893. Since +then M. Zola has written "Lourdes," "Rome," and "Paris." Critics have +repeated _ad nauseam_ that these last works constitute a new departure +on M. Zola's part, and, so far as they formed a new series, this +is true. But the suggestion that he has in any way repented of the +Rougon-Macquart novels is ridiculous. As he has often told me of recent +years, it is, as far as possible, his plan to subordinate his style and +methods to his subject. To have written a book like "Rome," so largely +devoted to the ambitions of the Papal See, in the same way as he had +written books dealing with the drunkenness or other vices of Paris, +would have been the climax of absurdity. + +Yet the publication of "Rome," was the signal for a general outcry on +the part of English and American reviewers that Zolaism, as typified by +the Rougon-Macquart series, was altogether a thing of the past. To my +thinking this is a profound error. M. Zola has always remained faithful +to himself. The only difference that I perceive between his latest +work, "Paris," and certain Rougon-Macquart volumes, is that with time, +experience and assiduity, his genius has expanded and ripened, and that +the hesitation, the groping for truth, so to say, which may be found in +some of his earlier writings, has disappeared. + +At the time when "The Fortune of the Rougons" was first published, none +but the author himself can have imagined that the foundation-stone of +one of the great literary monuments of the century had just been laid. +From the "story" point of view the book is one of M. Zola's very best, +although its construction--particularly as regards the long interlude of +the idyll of Miette and Silvere--is far from being perfect. Such a work +when first issued might well bring its author a measure of popularity, +but it could hardly confer fame. Nowadays, however, looking backward, +and bearing in mind that one here has the genius of M. Zola's lifework, +"The Fortune of the Rougons" becomes a book of exceptional interest +and importance. This has been so well understood by French readers that +during the last six or seven years the annual sales of the work have +increased threefold. Where, over a course of twenty years, 1,000 copies +were sold, 2,500 and 3,000 are sold to-day. How many living English +novelists can say the same of their early essays in fiction, issued more +than a quarter of a century ago? + +I may here mention that at the last date to which I have authentic +figures, that is, Midsummer 1897 (prior, of course, to what is called +"L'Affaire Dreyfus"), there had been sold of the entire Rougon-Macquart +series (which had begun in 1871) 1,421,000 copies. These were of the +ordinary Charpentier editions of the French originals. By adding thereto +several _editions de luxe_ and the widely-circulated popular illustrated +editions of certain volumes, the total amounts roundly to 2,100,000. +"Rome," "Lourdes," "Paris," and all M. Zola's other works, apart from +the "Rougon-Macquart" series, together with the translations into a +dozen different languages--English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, +Danish, Portuguese, Bohemian, Hungarian, and others--are not included +in the above figures. Otherwise the latter might well be doubled. Nor +is account taken of the many serial issues which have brought M. Zola's +views to the knowledge of the masses of all Europe. + +It is, of course, the celebrity attaching to certain of M. Zola's +literary efforts that has stimulated the demand for his other writings. +Among those which are well worthy of being read for their own sakes, I +would assign a prominent place to the present volume. Much of the story +element in it is admirable, and, further, it shows M. Zola as a +genuine satirist and humorist. The Rougons' yellow drawing-room and +its habitues, and many of the scenes between Pierre Rougon and his wife +Felicite, are worthy of the pen of Douglas Jerrold. The whole account, +indeed, of the town of Plassans, its customs and its notabilities, is +satire of the most effective kind, because it is satire true to life, +and never degenerates into mere caricature. + +It is a rather curious coincidence that, at the time when M. Zola was +thus portraying the life of Provence, his great contemporary, bosom +friend, and rival for literary fame, the late Alphonse Daudet, should +have been producing, under the title of "The Provencal Don Quixote," +that unrivalled presentment of the foibles of the French Southerner, +with everyone nowadays knows as "Tartarin of Tarascon." It is possible +that M. Zola, while writing his book, may have read the instalments of +"Le Don Quichotte Provencal" published in the Paris "Figaro," and it may +be that this perusal imparted that fillip to his pen to which we owe +the many amusing particulars that he gives us of the town of Plassans. +Plassans, I may mention, is really the Provencal Aix, which M. Zola's +father provided with water by means of a canal still bearing his name. +M. Zola himself, though born in Paris, spent the greater part of his +childhood there. Tarascon, as is well known, never forgave Alphonse +Daudet for his "Tartarin"; and in a like way M. Zola, who doubtless +counts more enemies than any other literary man of the period, has none +bitterer than the worthy citizens of Aix. They cannot forget or forgive +the rascally Rougon-Macquarts. + +The name Rougon-Macquart has to me always suggested that splendid and +amusing type of the cynical rogue, Robert Macaire. But, of course, both +Rougon and Macquart are genuine French names and not inventions. Indeed, +several years ago I came by chance upon them both, in an old French deed +which I was examining at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. I +there found mention of a Rougon family and a Macquart family dwelling +virtually side by side in the same village. This, however, was in +Champagne, not in Provence. Both families farmed vineyards for a once +famous abbey in the vicinity of Epernay, early in the seventeenth +century. To me, personally, this trivial discovery meant a great deal. +It somehow aroused my interest in M. Zola and his works. Of the latter I +had then only glanced through two or three volumes. With M. Zola himself +I was absolutely unacquainted. However, I took the liberty to inform him +of my little discovery; and afterwards I read all the books that he had +published. Now, as it is fairly well known, I have given the greater +part of my time, for several years past, to the task of familiarising +English readers with his writings. An old deed, a chance glance, +followed by the great friendship of my life and years of patient labour. +If I mention this matter, it is solely with the object of endorsing the +truth of the saying that the most insignificant incidents frequently +influence and even shape our careers. + +But I must come back to "The Fortune of the Rougons." It has, as I have +said, its satirical and humorous side; but it also contains a strong +element of pathos. The idyll of Miette and Silvere is a very touching +one, and quite in accord with the conditions of life prevailing in +Provence at the period M. Zola selects for his narrative. Miette is +a frank child of nature; Silvere, her lover, in certain respects +foreshadows, a quarter of a century in advance, the Abbe Pierre Fromont +of "Lourdes," "Rome," and "Paris." The environment differs, of course, +but germs of the same nature may readily be detected in both characters. +As for the other personages of M. Zola's book--on the one hand, Aunt +Dide, Pierre Rougon, his wife, Felicite, and their sons Eugene, Aristide +and Pascal, and, on the other, Macquart, his daughter Gervaise of +"L'Assommoir," and his son Jean of "La Terre" and "La Debacle," together +with the members of the Mouret branch of the ravenous, neurotic, duplex +family--these are analysed or sketched in a way which renders their +subsequent careers, as related in other volumes of the series, +thoroughly consistent with their origin and their up-bringing. I venture +to asset that, although it is possible to read individual volumes of +the Rougon-Macquart series while neglecting others, nobody can really +understand any one of these books unless he makes himself acquainted +with the alpha and the omega of the edifice, that is, "The Fortune of +the Rougons" and "Dr. Pascal." + +With regard to the present English translation, it is based on one made +for my father several years ago. But to convey M. Zola's meaning more +accurately I have found it necessary to alter, on an average, at least +one sentence out of every three. Thus, though I only claim to edit the +volume, it is, to all intents and purposes, quite a new English version +of M. Zola's work. + +E. A. V. MERTON, SURREY: August, 1898. + + + + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE + +I wish to explain how a family, a small group of human beings, conducts +itself in a given social system after blossoming forth and giving birth +to ten or twenty members, who, though they may appear, at the first +glance, profoundly dissimilar one from the other, are, as analysis +demonstrates, most closely linked together from the point of view of +affinity. Heredity, like gravity, has its laws. + +By resolving the duplex question of temperament and environment, I shall +endeavour to discover and follow the thread of connection which leads +mathematically from one man to another. And when I have possession of +every thread, and hold a complete social group in my hands, I shall +show this group at work, participating in an historical period; I shall +depict it in action, with all its varied energies, and I shall analyse +both the will power of each member, and the general tendency of the +whole. + +The great characteristic of the Rougon-Macquarts, the group or family +which I propose to study, is their ravenous appetite, the great +outburst of our age which rushes upon enjoyment. Physiologically the +Rougon-Macquarts represent the slow succession of accidents pertaining +to the nerves or the blood, which befall a race after the first organic +lesion, and, according to environment, determine in each individual +member of the race those feelings, desires and passions--briefly, all +the natural and instinctive manifestations peculiar to humanity--whose +outcome assumes the conventional name of virtue or vice. Historically +the Rougon-Macquarts proceed from the masses, radiate throughout the +whole of contemporary society, and ascend to all sorts of positions by +the force of that impulsion of essentially modern origin, which sets the +lower classes marching through the social system. And thus the dramas of +their individual lives recount the story of the Second Empire, from the +ambuscade of the Coup d'Etat to the treachery of Sedan. + +For three years I had been collecting the necessary documents for this +long work, and the present volume was even written, when the fall of the +Bonapartes, which I needed artistically, and with, as if by fate, I +ever found at the end of the drama, without daring to hope that it +would prove so near at hand, suddenly occurred and furnished me with +the terrible but necessary denouement for my work. My scheme is, at +this date, completed; the circle in which my characters will revolve +is perfected; and my work becomes a picture of a departed reign, of a +strange period of human madness and shame. + +This work, which will comprise several episodes, is therefore, in +my mind, the natural and social history of a family under the Second +Empire. And the first episode, here called "The Fortune of the Rougons," +should scientifically be entitled "The Origin." + +EMILE ZOLA PARIS, July 1, 1871. + + + + + +THE FORTUNE OF THE ROUGONS + + + +CHAPTER I + +On quitting Plassans by the Rome Gate, on the southern side of the town, +you will find, on the right side of the road to Nice, and a little way +past the first suburban houses, a plot of land locally known as the Aire +Saint-Mittre. + +This Aire Saint-Mittre is of oblong shape and on a level with the +footpath of the adjacent road, from which it is separated by a strip of +trodden grass. A narrow blind alley fringed with a row of hovels borders +it on the right; while on the left, and at the further end, it is closed +in by bits of wall overgrown with moss, above which can be seen the +top branches of the mulberry-trees of the Jas-Meiffren--an extensive +property with an entrance lower down the road. Enclosed upon three +sides, the Aire Saint-Mittre leads nowhere, and is only crossed by +people out for a stroll. + +In former times it was a cemetery under the patronage of Saint-Mittre, a +greatly honoured Provencal saint; and in 1851 the old people of Plassans +could still remember having seen the wall of the cemetery standing, +although the place itself had been closed for years. The soil had been +so glutted with corpses that it had been found necessary to open a new +burial-ground at the other end of town. Then the old abandoned cemetery +had been gradually purified by the dark thick-set vegetation which had +sprouted over it every spring. The rich soil, in which the gravediggers +could no longer delve without turning up some human remains, was +possessed of wondrous fertility. The tall weeds overtopped the walls +after the May rains and the June sunshine so as to be visible from the +high road; while inside, the place presented the appearance of a deep, +dark green sea studded with large blossoms of singular brilliancy. +Beneath one's feet amidst the close-set stalks one could feel that the +damp soil reeked and bubbled with sap. + +Among the curiosities of the place at that time were some large +pear-trees, with twisted and knotty boughs; but none of the housewives +of Plassans cared to pluck the large fruit which grew upon them. Indeed, +the townspeople spoke of this fruit with grimaces of disgust. No such +delicacy, however, restrained the suburban urchins, who assembled in +bands at twilight and climbed the walls to steal the pears, even before +they were ripe. + +The trees and the weeds with their vigorous growth had rapidly +assimilated all the decomposing matter in the old cemetery of +Saint-Mittre; the malaria rising from the human remains interred +there had been greedily absorbed by the flowers and the fruit; so that +eventually the only odour one could detect in passing by was the strong +perfume of wild gillyflowers. This had merely been a question of a few +summers. + +At last the townspeople determined to utilise this common property, +which had long served no purpose. The walls bordering the roadway and +the blind alley were pulled down; the weeds and the pear-trees uprooted; +the sepulchral remains were removed; the ground was dug deep, and such +bones as the earth was willing to surrender were heaped up in a +corner. For nearly a month the youngsters, who lamented the loss of +the pear-trees, played at bowls with the skulls; and one night +some practical jokers even suspended femurs and tibias to all the +bell-handles of the town. This scandal, which is still remembered at +Plassans, did not cease until the authorities decided to have the bones +shot into a hole which had been dug for the purpose in the new cemetery. +All work, however, is usually carried out with discreet dilatoriness +in country towns, and so during an entire week the inhabitants saw a +solitary cart removing these human remains as if they had been mere +rubbish. The vehicle had to cross Plassans from end to end, and owing to +the bad condition of the roads fragments of bones and handfuls of rich +mould were scattered at every jolt. There was not the briefest religious +ceremony, nothing but slow and brutish cartage. Never before had a town +felt so disgusted. + +For several years the old cemetery remained an object of terror. +Although it adjoined the main thoroughfare and was open to all comers, +it was left quite deserted, a prey to fresh vegetable growth. The local +authorities, who had doubtless counted on selling it and seeing +houses built upon it, were evidently unable to find a purchaser. The +recollection of the heaps of bones and the cart persistently jolting +through the streets may have made people recoil from the spot; or +perhaps the indifference that was shown was due to the indolence, the +repugnance to pulling down and setting up again, which is characteristic +of country people. At all events the authorities still retained +possession of the ground, and at last forgot their desire to dispose of +it. They did not even erect a fence round it, but left it open to all +comers. Then, as time rolled on, people gradually grew accustomed to +this barren spot; they would sit on the grass at the edges, walk about, +or gather in groups. When the grass had been worn away and the +trodden soil had become grey and hard, the old cemetery resembled a +badly-levelled public square. As if the more effectually to efface the +memory of all objectionable associations, the inhabitants slowly changed +the very appellation of the place, retaining but the name of the saint, +which was likewise applied to the blind alley dipping down at one corner +of the field. Thus there was the Aire Saint-Mittre and the Impasse +Saint-Mittre. + +All this dates, however, from some considerable time back. For more +than thirty years now the Aire Saint-Mittre has presented a different +appearance. One day the townspeople, far too inert and indifferent to +derive any advantage from it, let it, for a trifling consideration, +to some suburban wheelwrights, who turned it into a wood-yard. At the +present day it is still littered with huge pieces of timber thirty or +forty feet long, lying here and there in piles, and looking like lofty +overturned columns. These piles of timber, disposed at intervals from +one end of the yard to the other, are a continual source of delight +to the local urchins. In some places the ground is covered with fallen +wood, forming a kind of uneven flooring over which it is impossible to +walk, unless one balance one's self with marvellous dexterity. Troops of +children amuse themselves with this exercise all day long. You will see +them jumping over the big beams, walking in Indian file along the narrow +ends, or else crawling astride them; various games which generally +terminate in blows and bellowings. Sometimes, too, a dozen of them will +sit, closely packed one against the other, on the thin end of a pole +raised a few feet from the ground, and will see-saw there for hours +together. The Aire Saint-Mittre thus serves as a recreation ground, +where for more than a quarter of a century all the little suburban +ragamuffins have been in the habit of wearing out the seats of their +breeches. + +The strangeness of the place is increased by the circumstance that +wandering gipsies, by a sort of traditional custom always select the +vacant portions of it for their encampments. Whenever any caravan +arrives at Plassans it takes up its quarters on the Aire Saint-Mittre. +The place is consequently never empty. There is always some strange band +there, some troop of wild men and withered women, among whom groups of +healthy-looking children roll about on the grass. These people live +in the open air, regardless of everybody, setting their pots boiling, +eating nameless things, freely displaying their tattered garments, and +sleeping, fighting, kissing, and reeking with mingled filth and misery. + +The field, formerly so still and deserted, save for the buzzing of +hornets around the rich blossoms in the heavy sunshine, has thus become +a very rowdy spot, resounding with the noisy quarrels of the gipsies and +the shrill cries of the urchins of the suburb. In one corner there is a +primitive saw-mill for cutting the timber, the noise from which serves +as a dull, continuous bass accompaniment to the sharp voices. The wood +is placed on two high tressels, and a couple of sawyers, one of whom +stands aloft on the timber itself, while the other underneath is half +blinded by the falling sawdust, work a large saw to and fro for +hours together, with rigid machine-like regularity, as if they were +wire-pulled puppets. The wood they saw is stacked, plank by plank, along +the wall at the end, in carefully arranged piles six or eight feet high, +which often remain there several seasons, and constitute one of the +charms of the Aire Saint-Mittre. Between these stacks are mysterious, +retired little alleys leading to a broader path between the timber and +the wall, a deserted strip of verdure whence only small patches of +sky can be seen. The vigorous vegetation and the quivering, deathlike +stillness of the old cemetery still reign in this path. In all the +country round Plassans there is no spot more instinct with languor, +solitude, and love. It is a most delightful place for love-making. When +the cemetery was being cleared the bones must have been heaped up in +this corner; for even to-day it frequently happens that one's foot comes +across some fragment of a skull lying concealed in the damp turf. + +Nobody, however, now thinks of the bodies that once slept under that +turf. In the daytime only the children go behind the piles of wood when +playing at hide and seek. The green path remains virginal, unknown to +others who see nought but the wood-yard crowded with timber and grey +with dust. In the morning and afternoon, when the sun is warm, the whole +place swarms with life. Above all the turmoil, above the ragamuffins +playing among the timber, and the gipsies kindling fires under their +cauldrons, the sharp silhouette of the sawyer mounted on his beam stands +out against the sky, moving to and fro with the precision of clockwork, +as if to regulate the busy activity that has sprung up in this spot +once set apart for eternal slumber. Only the old people who sit on the +planks, basking in the setting sun, speak occasionally among themselves +of the bones which they once saw carted through the streets of Plassans +by the legendary tumbrel. + +When night falls the Aire Saint-Mittre loses its animation, and looks +like some great black hole. At the far end one may just espy the dying +embers of the gipsies' fires, and at times shadows slink noiselessly +into the dense darkness. The place becomes quite sinister, particularly +in winter time. + +One Sunday evening, at about seven o'clock, a young man stepped lightly +from the Impasse Saint-Mittre, and, closely skirting the walls, took +his way among the timber in the wood-yard. It was in the early part of +December, 1851. The weather was dry and cold. The full moon shone with +that sharp brilliancy peculiar to winter moons. The wood-yard did not +have the forbidding appearance which it wears on rainy nights; illumined +by stretches of white light, and wrapped in deep and chilly silence, it +spread around with a soft, melancholy aspect. + +For a few seconds the young man paused on the edge of the yard and gazed +mistrustfully in front of him. He carried a long gun, the butt-end of +which was hidden under his jacket, while the barrel, pointed towards the +ground, glittered in the moonlight. Pressing the weapon to his side, he +attentively examined the square shadows cast by the piles of timber. The +ground looked like a chess-board, with black and white squares clearly +defined by alternate patches of light and shade. The sawyers' tressels +in the centre of the plot threw long, narrow fantastic shadows, +suggesting some huge geometrical figure, upon a strip of bare grey +ground. The rest of the yard, the flooring of beams, formed a great +couch on which the light reposed, streaked here and there with the +slender black shadows which edged the different pieces of timber. In the +frigid silence under the wintry moon, the motionless, recumbent poles, +stiffened, as it were, with sleep and cold, recalled the corpses of +the old cemetery. The young man cast but a rapid glance round the empty +space; there was not a creature, not a sound, no danger of being seen or +heard. The black patches at the further end caused him more anxiety, but +after a brief examination he plucked up courage and hurriedly crossed +the wood-yard. + +As soon as he felt himself under cover he slackened his pace. He was now +in the green pathway skirting the wall behind the piles of planks. Here +his very footsteps became inaudible; the frozen grass scarcely crackled +under his tread. He must have loved the spot, have feared no danger, +sought nothing but what was pleasant there. He no longer concealed +his gun. The path stretched away like a dark trench, except that the +moonrays, gliding ever and anon between the piles of timber, then +streaked the grass with patches of light. All slept, both darkness and +light, with the same deep, soft, sad slumber. No words can describe the +calm peacefulness of the place. The young man went right down the path, +and stopped at the end where the walls of the Jas-Meiffren form an +angle. Here he listened as if to ascertain whether any sound might be +coming from the adjoining estate. At last, hearing nothing, he stooped +down, thrust a plank aside, and hid his gun in a timber-stack. + +An old tombstone, which had been overlooked in the clearing of the +burial-ground, lay in the corner, resting on its side and forming a high +and slightly sloping seat. The rain had worn its edges, and moss was +slowly eating into it. Nevertheless, the following fragment of an +inscription, cut on the side which was sinking into the ground, might +still have been distinguished in the moonlight: "_Here lieth . . . Marie +. . . died . . ._" The finger of time had effaced the rest. + +When the young man had concealed his gun he again listened attentively, +and still hearing nothing, resolved to climb upon the stone. The wall +being low, he was able to rest his elbows on the coping. He could, +however, perceive nothing except a flood of light beyond the row of +mulberry-trees skirting the wall. The flat ground of the Jas-Meiffren +spread out under the moon like an immense sheet of unbleached linen; +a hundred yards away the farmhouse and its outbuildings formed a still +whiter patch. The young man was still gazing anxiously in that direction +when, suddenly, one of the town clocks slowly and solemnly struck seven. +He counted the strokes, and then jumped down, apparently surprised and +relieved. + +He seated himself on the tombstone, like one who is prepared to +wait some considerable time. And for about half an hour he remained +motionless and deep in thought, apparently quite unconscious of the +cold, while his eyes gazed fixedly at a mass of shadow. He had placed +himself in a dark corner, but the beams of the rising moon had gradually +reached him, and at last his head was in the full light. + +He was a strong, sturdy-looking lad, with a fine mouth, and soft +delicate skin that bespoke youthfulness. He looked about seventeen years +of age, and was handsome in a characteristic way. + +His thin, long face looked like the work of some master sculptor; his +high forehead, overhanging brows, aquiline nose, broad flat chin, and +protruding cheek bones, gave singularly bold relief to his countenance. +Such a face would, with advancing age, become too bony, as fleshless as +that of a knight errant. But at this stage of youth, with chin and cheek +lightly covered with soft down, its latent harshness was attenuated by +the charming softness of certain contours which had remained vague and +childlike. His soft black eyes, still full of youth, also lent delicacy +to his otherwise vigorous countenance. The young fellow would probably +not have fascinated all women, as he was not what one calls a handsome +man; but his features, as a whole, expressed such ardent and sympathetic +life, such enthusiasm and energy, that they doubtless engaged the +thoughts of the girls of his own part--those sunburnt girls of the +South--as he passed their doors on sultry July evenings. + +He remained seated upon the tombstone, wrapped in thought, and +apparently quite unconscious of the moonlight which now fell upon +his chest and legs. He was of middle stature, rather thick-set, with +over-developed arms and a labourer's hands, already hardened by toil; +his feet, shod with heavy laced boots, looked large and square-toed. +His general appearance, more particularly the heaviness of his limbs, +bespoke lowly origin. There was, however, something in him, in the +upright bearing of his neck and the thoughtful gleams of his eyes, which +seemed to indicate an inner revolt against the brutifying manual labour +which was beginning to bend him to the ground. He was, no doubt, an +intelligent nature buried beneath the oppressive burden of race and +class; one of those delicate refined minds embedded in a rough envelope, +from which they in vain struggle to free themselves. Thus, in spite of +his vigour, he seemed timid and restless, feeling a kind of unconscious +shame at his imperfection. An honest lad he doubtless was, whose very +ignorance had generated enthusiasm, whose manly heart was impelled by +childish intellect, and who could show alike the submissiveness of +a woman and the courage of a hero. On the evening in question he was +dressed in a coat and trousers of greenish corduroy. A soft felt hat, +placed lightly on the back of his head, cast a streak of shadow over his +brow. + +As the neighbouring clock struck the half hour, he suddenly started from +his reverie. Perceiving that the white moonlight was shining full upon +him, he gazed anxiously ahead. Then he abruptly dived back into the +shade, but was unable to recover the thread of his thoughts. He now +realised that his hands and feet were becoming very cold, and impatience +seized hold of him. So he jumped upon the stone again, and once more +glanced over the Jas-Meiffren, which was still empty and silent. +Finally, at a loss how to employ his time, he jumped down, fetched +his gun from the pile of planks where he had concealed it, and amused +himself by working the trigger. The weapon was a long, heavy carbine, +which had doubtless belonged to some smuggler. The thickness of the butt +and the breech of the barrel showed it to be an old flintlock which had +been altered into a percussion gun by some local gunsmith. Such firearms +are to be found in farmhouses, hanging against the wall over the +chimney-piece. The young man caressed his weapon with affection; twenty +times or more he pulled the trigger, thrust his little finger into the +barrel, and examined the butt attentively. By degrees he grew full of +youth enthusiasm, combined with childish frolicsomeness, and ended by +levelling his weapon and aiming at space, like a recruit going through +his drill. + +It was now very nearly eight o'clock, and he had been holding his gun +levelled for over a minute, when all at once a low, panting call, light +as a breath, came from the direction of the Jas-Meiffren. + +"Are you there, Silvere?" the voice asked. + +Silvere dropped his gun and bounded on to the tombstone. + +"Yes, yes," he replied, also in a hushed voice. "Wait, I'll help you." + +Before he could stretch out his arms, however, a girl's head appeared +above the wall. With singular agility the damsel had availed herself of +the trunk of a mulberry-tree, and climbed aloft like a kitten. The ease +and certainty with which she moved showed that she was familiar with +this strange spot. In another moment she was seated on the coping of +the wall. Then Silvere, taking her in his arms, carried her, though not +without a struggle, to the seat. + +"Let go," she laughingly cried; "let go, I can get down alone very +well." And when she was seated on the stone slab she added: + +"Have you been waiting for me long? I've been running, and am quite out +of breath." + +Silvere made no reply. He seemed in no laughing humour, but gazed +sorrowfully into the girl's face. "I wanted to see you, Miette," he +said, as he seated himself beside her. "I should have waited all night +for you. I am going away at daybreak to-morrow morning." + +Miette had just caught sight of the gun lying on the grass, and with a +thoughtful air, she murmured: "Ah! so it's decided then? There's your +gun!" + +"Yes," replied Silvere, after a brief pause, his voice still faltering, +"it's my gun. I thought it best to remove it from the house to-night; +to-morrow morning aunt Dide might have seen me take it, and have felt +uneasy about it. I am going to hide it, and shall fetch it just before +starting." + +Then, as Miette could not remove her eyes from the weapon which he had +so foolishly left on the grass, he jumped up and again hid it among the +woodstacks. + +"We learnt this morning," he said, as he resumed his seat, "that the +insurgents of La Palud and Saint Martin-de-Vaulx were on the march, and +spent last night at Alboise. We have decided to join them. Some of the +workmen of Plassans have already left the town this afternoon; those who +still remain will join their brothers to-morrow." + +He spoke the word brothers with youthful emphasis. + +"A contest is becoming inevitable," he added; "but, at any rate, we have +right on our side, and we shall triumph." + +Miette listened to Silvere, her eyes meantime gazing in front of her, +without observing anything. + +"'Tis well," she said, when he had finished speaking. And after a fresh +pause she continued: "You warned me, yet I still hoped. . . . However, +it is decided." + +Neither of them knew what else to say. The green path in the deserted +corner of the wood-yard relapsed into melancholy stillness; only the +moon chased the shadows of the piles of timber over the grass. The two +young people on the tombstone remained silent and motionless in the +pale light. Silvere had passed his arm round Miette's waist, and she was +leaning against his shoulder. They exchanged no kisses, naught but +an embrace in which love showed the innocent tenderness of fraternal +affection. + +Miette was enveloped in a long brown hooded cloak reaching to her feet, +and leaving only her head and hands visible. The women of the lower +classes in Provence--the peasantry and workpeople--still wear these +ample cloaks, which are called pelisses; it is a fashion which must have +lasted for ages. Miette had thrown back her hood on arriving. Living in +the open air and born of a hotblooded race, she never wore a cap. Her +bare head showed in bold relief against the wall, which the moonlight +whitened. She was still a child, no doubt, but a child ripening into +womanhood. She had reached that adorable, uncertain hour when the +frolicsome girl changes to a young woman. At that stage of life a +bud-like delicacy, a hesitancy of contour that is exquisitely charming, +distinguishes young girls. The outlines of womanhood appear amidst +girlhood's innocent slimness, and woman shoots forth at first all +embarrassment, still retaining much of the child, and ever and +unconsciously betraying her sex. This period is very unpropitious for +some girls, who suddenly shoot up, become ugly, sallow and frail, like +plants before their due season. For those, however, who, like Miette, +are healthy and live in the open air, it is a time of delightful +gracefulness which once passed can never be recalled. + +Miette was thirteen years of age, and although strong and sturdy did not +look any older, so bright and childish was the smile which lit up her +countenance. However, she was nearly as tall as Silvere, plump and full +of life. Like her lover, she had no common beauty. She would not have +been considered ugly, but she might have appeared peculiar to many young +exquisites. Her rich black hair rose roughly erect above her forehead, +streamed back like a rushing wave, and flowed over her head and neck +like an inky sea, tossing and bubbling capriciously. It was very thick +and inconvenient to arrange. However, she twisted it as tightly as +possible into coils as thick as a child's fist, which she wound together +at the back of her head. She had little time to devote to her toilette, +but this huge chignon, hastily contrived without the aid of any mirror, +was often instinct with vigorous grace. On seeing her thus naturally +helmeted with a mass of frizzy hair which hung about her neck and +temples like a mane, one could readily understand why she always went +bareheaded, heedless alike of rain and frost. + +Under her dark locks appeared her low forehead, curved and golden like a +crescent moon. Her large prominent eyes, her short tip-tilted nose with +dilated nostrils, and her thick ruddy lips, when regarded apart from one +another, would have looked ugly; viewed, however, all together, amidst +the delightful roundness and vivacious mobility of her countenance, they +formed an ensemble of strange, surprising beauty. When Miette laughed, +throwing back her head and gently resting it on her right shoulder, she +resembled an old-time Bacchante, her throat distending with sonorous +gaiety, her cheeks round like those of a child, her teeth large and +white, her twists of woolly hair tossed by every outburst of merriment, +and waving like a crown of vine leaves. To realise that she was only a +child of thirteen, one had to notice the innocence underlying her full +womanly laughter, and especially the child-like delicacy of her chin and +soft transparency of her temples. In certain lights Miette's sun-tanned +face showed yellow like amber. A little soft black down already shaded +her upper lip. Toil too was beginning to disfigure her small hands, +which, if left idle, would have become charmingly plump and delicate. + +Miette and Silvere long remained silent. They were reading their own +anxious thoughts, and, as they pondered upon the unknown terrors of the +morrow, they tightened their mutual embrace. Their hearts communed with +each other, they understood how useless and cruel would be any verbal +plaint. The girl, however, could at last no longer contain herself, +and, choking with emotion, she gave expression, in one phrase, to their +mutual misgivings. + +"You will come back again, won't you?" she whispered, as she hung on +Silvere's neck. + +Silvere made no reply, but, half-stifling, and fearing lest he should +give way to tears like herself, he kissed her in brotherly fashion +on the cheek, at a loss for any other consolation. Then disengaging +themselves they again lapsed into silence. + +After a moment Miette shuddered. Now that she no longer leant against +Silvere's shoulder she was becoming icy cold. Yet she would not have +shuddered thus had she been in this deserted path the previous evening, +seated on this tombstone, where for several seasons they had tasted so +much happiness. + +"I'm very cold," she said, as she pulled her hood over her head. + +"Shall we walk about a little?" the young man asked her. "It's not yet +nine o'clock; we can take a stroll along the road." + +Miette reflected that for a long time she would probably not have the +pleasure of another meeting--another of those evening chats, the joy of +which served to sustain her all day long. + +"Yes, let us walk a little," she eagerly replied. "Let us go as far as +the mill. I could pass the whole night like this if you wanted to." + +They rose from the tombstone, and were soon hidden in the shadow of a +pile of planks. Here Miette opened her cloak, which had a quilted +lining of red twill, and threw half of it over Silvere's shoulders, +thus enveloping him as he stood there close beside her. The same garment +cloaked them both, and they passed their arms round each other's waist, +and became as it were but one being. When they were thus shrouded in the +pelisse they walked slowly towards the high road, fearlessly crossing +the vacant parts of the wood-yard, which looked white in the moonlight. +Miette had thrown the cloak over Silvere, and he had submitted to it +quite naturally, as though indeed the garment rendered them a similar +service every evening. + +The road to Nice, on either side of which the suburban houses are built, +was, in the year 1851, lined with ancient elm-trees, grand and gigantic +ruins, still full of vigour, which the fastidious town council has +replaced, some years since, by some little plane-trees. When Silvere and +Miette found themselves under the elms, the huge boughs of which cast +shadows on the moonlit footpath, they met now and again black forms +which silently skirted the house fronts. These, too, were amorous +couples, closely wrapped in one and the same cloak, and strolling in the +darkness. + +This style of promenading has been instituted by the young lovers of +Southern towns. Those boys and girls among the people who mean to marry +sooner or later, but who do not dislike a kiss or two in advance, know +no spot where they can kiss at their ease without exposing themselves to +recognition and gossip. Accordingly, while strolling about the suburbs, +the plots of waste land, the footpaths of the high road--in fact, +all these places where there are few passers-by and numerous shady +nooks--they conceal their identity by wrapping themselves in these long +cloaks, which are capacious enough to cover a whole family. The parents +tolerate these proceedings; however stiff may be provincial propriety, +no apprehensions, seemingly, are entertained. And, on the other hand, +nothing could be more charming than these lovers' rambles, which appeal +so keenly to the Southerner's fanciful imagination. There is a veritable +masquerade, fertile in innocent enjoyments, within the reach of the most +humble. The girl clasps her sweetheart to her bosom, enveloping him in +her own warm cloak; and no doubt it is delightful to be able to kiss +one's sweetheart within those shrouding folds without danger of being +recognised. One couple is exactly like another. And to the belated +pedestrian, who sees the vague groups gliding hither and thither, 'tis +merely love passing, love guessed and scarce espied. The lovers +know they are safely concealed within their cloaks, they converse in +undertones and make themselves quite at home; most frequently they do +not converse at all, but walk along at random and in silence, content +in their embrace. The climate alone is to blame for having in the first +instance prompted these young lovers to retire to secluded spots in the +suburbs. On fine summer nights one cannot walk round Plassans without +coming across a hooded couple in every patch of shadow falling from the +house walls. Certain places, the Aire Saint-Mittre, for instance, are +full of these dark "dominoes" brushing past one another, gliding softly +in the warm nocturnal air. One might imagine they were guests invited +to some mysterious ball given by the stars to lowly lovers. When the +weather is very warm and the girls do not wear cloaks, they simply turn +up their over-skirts. And in the winter the more passionate lovers make +light of the frosts. Thus, Miette and Silvere, as they descended the +Nice road, thought little of the chill December night. + +They passed through the slumbering suburb without exchanging a word, +but enjoying the mute delight of their warm embrace. Their hearts were +heavy; the joy which they felt in being side by side was tinged with the +painful emotion which comes from the thought of approaching severance, +and it seemed to them that they could never exhaust the mingled +sweetness and bitterness of the silence which slowly lulled their +steps. But the houses soon grew fewer, and they reached the end of the +Faubourg. There stands the entrance to the Jas-Meiffren, an iron gate +fixed to two strong pillars; a low row of mulberry-trees being visible +through the bars. Silvere and Miette instinctively cast a glance inside +as they passed on. + +Beyond the Jas-Meiffren the road descends with a gentle slope to a +valley, which serves as the bed of a little rivulet, the Viorne, a brook +in summer but a torrent in winter. The rows of elms still extended the +whole way at that time, making the high road a magnificent avenue, which +cast a broad band of gigantic trees across the hill, which was planted +with corn and stunted vines. On that December night, under the clear +cold moonlight, the newly-ploughed fields stretching away on either hand +resembled vast beds of greyish wadding which deadened every sound in the +atmosphere. The dull murmur of the Viorne in the distance alone sent a +quivering thrill through the profound silence of the country-side. + +When the young people had begun to descend the avenue, Miette's thoughts +reverted to the Jas-Meiffren which they had just left behind them. + +"I had great difficulty in getting away this evening," she said. "My +uncle wouldn't let me go. He had shut himself up in a cellar, where he +was hiding his money, I think, for he seemed greatly frightened this +morning at the events that are taking place." + +Silvere clasped her yet more lovingly. "Be brave!" said he. "The time +will come when we shall be able to see each other freely the whole day +long. You must not fret." + +"Oh," replied the girl, shaking her head, "you are very hopeful. For my +part I sometimes feel very sad. It isn't the hard work which grieves me; +on the contrary, I am often very glad of my uncle's severity, and the +tasks he sets me. He was quite right to make me a peasant girl; I should +perhaps have turned out badly, for, do you know, Silvere, there are +moments when I fancy myself under a curse. . . . I feel, then, that I +should like to be dead. . . . I think of you know whom." + +As she spoke these last words, her voice broke into a sob. Silvere +interrupted her somewhat harshly. "Be quiet," he said. "You promised not +to think about it. It's no crime of yours. . . . We love each other very +much, don't we?" he added in a gentler tone. "When we're married you'll +have no more unpleasant hours." + +"I know," murmured Miette. "You are so kind, you sustain me. But what am +I to do? I sometimes have fears and feelings of revolt. I think at times +that I have been wronged, and then I should like to do something wicked. +You see I pour forth my heart to you. Whenever my father's name is +thrown in my face, I feel my whole body burning. When the urchins cry +at me as I pass, 'Eh, La Chantegreil,' I lose all control of myself, and +feel that I should like to lay hold of them and whip them." + +After a savage pause she resumed: "As for you, you're a man; you're +going to fight; you're very lucky." + +Silvere had let her speak on. After a few steps he observed sorrowfully: +"You are wrong, Miette; yours is bad anger. You shouldn't rebel against +justice. As for me, I'm going to fight in defence of our common rights, +not to gratify any personal animosity." + +"All the same," the young girl continued, "I should like to be a man and +handle a gun. I feel that it would do me good." + +Then, as Silvere remained silent, she perceived that she had displeased +him. Her feverishness subsided, and she whispered in a supplicating +tone: "You are not angry with me, are you? It's your departure which +grieves me and awakens such ideas. I know very well you are right--that +I ought to be humble." + +Then she began to cry, and Silvere, moved by her tears, grasped her +hands and kissed them. + +"See, now, how you pass from anger to tears, like a child," he said +lovingly. "You must be reasonable. I'm not scolding you. I only want to +see you happier, and that depends largely upon yourself." + +The remembrance of the drama which Miette had so sadly evoked cast a +temporary gloom over the lovers. They continued their walk with bowed +heads and troubled thoughts. + +"Do you think I'm much happier than you?" Silvere at last inquired, +resuming the conversation in spite of himself. "If my grandmother had +not taken care of me and educated me, what would have become of me? With +the exception of my Uncle Antoine, who is an artisan like myself, and +who taught me to love the Republic, all my other relations seem to fear +that I might besmirch them by coming near them." + +He was now speaking with animation, and suddenly stopped, detaining +Miette in the middle of the road. + +"God is my witness," he continued, "that I do not envy or hate anybody. +But if we triumph, I shall have to tell the truth to those fine +gentlemen. Uncle Antoine knows all about this matter. You'll see when we +return. We shall all live free and happy." + +Then Miette gently led him on, and they resumed their walk. + +"You dearly love your Republic?" the girl asked, essaying a joke. "Do +you love me as much?" + +Her smile was not altogether free from a tinge of bitterness. She was +thinking, perhaps, how easily Silvere abandoned her to go and scour the +country-side. But the lad gravely replied: "You are my wife, to whom I +have given my whole heart. I love the Republic because I love you. When +we are married we shall want plenty of happiness, and it is to procure a +share of that happiness that I'm going way to-morrow morning. You surely +don't want to persuade me to remain at home?" + +"Oh, no!" cried the girl eagerly. "A man should be brave! Courage +is beautiful! You must forgive my jealousy. I should like to be as +strong-minded as you are. You would love me all the more, wouldn't you?" + +After a moment's silence she added, with charming vivacity and +ingenuousness: "Ah, how willingly I shall kiss you when you come back!" + +This outburst of a loving and courageous heart deeply affected Silvere. +He clasped Miette in his arms and printed several kisses on her cheek. +As she laughingly struggled to escape him, her eyes filled with tears of +emotion. + +All around the lovers the country still slumbered amid the deep +stillness of the cold. They were now half-way down the hill. On the top +of a rather lofty hillock to the left stood the ruins of a windmill, +blanched by the moon; the tower, which had fallen in on one side, alone +remained. This was the limit which the young people had assigned to +their walk. They had come straight from the Faubourg without casting a +single glance at the fields between which they passed. When Silvere had +kissed Miette's cheek, he raised his head and observed the mill. + +"What a long walk we've had!" he exclaimed. "See--here is the mill. It +must be nearly half-past nine. We must go home." + +But Miette pouted. "Let us walk a little further," she implored; "only a +few steps, just as far as the little cross-road, no farther, really." + +Silvere smiled as he again took her round the waist. Then they continued +to descend the hill, no longer fearing inquisitive glances, for they had +not met a living soul since passing the last houses. They nevertheless +remained enveloped in the long pelisse, which seemed, as it were, a +natural nest for their love. It had shrouded them on so many happy +evenings! Had they simply walked side by side, they would have felt +small and isolated in that vast stretch of country, whereas, blended +together as they were, they became bolder and seemed less puny. Between +the folds of the pelisse they gazed upon the fields stretching on both +sides of the road, without experiencing that crushing feeling with which +far-stretching callous vistas oppress the human affections. It seemed +to them as though they had brought their house with them; they felt a +pleasure in viewing the country-side as from a window, delighting in the +calm solitude, the sheets of slumbering light, the glimpses of nature +vaguely distinguishable beneath the shroud of night and winter, the +whole of that valley indeed, which while charming them could not thrust +itself between their close-pressed hearts. + +All continuity of conversation had ceased; they spoke no more of others, +nor even of themselves. They were absorbed by the present, pressing each +other's hands, uttering exclamations at the sight of some particular +spot, exchanging words at rare intervals, and then understanding each +other but little, for drowsiness came from the warmth of their embrace. +Silvere forgot his Republican enthusiasm; Miette no longer reflected +that her lover would be leaving her in an hour, for a long time, perhaps +for ever. The transports of their affection lulled them into a feeling +of security, as on other days, when no prospect of parting had marred +the tranquility of their meetings. + +They still walked on, and soon reached the little crossroad mentioned by +Miette--a bit of a lane which led through the fields to a village on the +banks of the Viorne. But they passed on, pretending not to notice +this path, where they had agreed to stop. And it was only some minutes +afterwards that Silvere whispered, "It must be very late; you will get +tired." + +"No; I assure you I'm not at all tired," the girl replied. "I could walk +several leagues like this easily." Then, in a coaxing tone, she added: +"Let us go down as far as the meadows of Sainte-Claire. There we will +really stop and turn back." + +Silvere, whom the girl's rhythmic gait lulled to semi-somnolence, made +no objection, and their rapture began afresh. They now went on more +slowly, fearing the moment when they would have to retrace their steps. +So long as they walked onward, they felt as though they were advancing +to the eternity of their mutual embrace; the return would mean +separation and bitter leave-taking. + +The declivity of the road was gradually becoming more gentle. In the +valley below there are meadows extending as far as the Viorne, which +runs at the other end, beneath a range of low hills. These meadows, +separated from the high-road by thickset hedges, are the meadows of +Sainte-Claire. + +"Bah!" exclaimed Silvere this time, as he caught sight of the first +patches of grass: "we may as well go as far as the bridge." + +At this Miette burst out laughing, clasped the young man round the neck, +and kissed him noisily. + +At the spot where the hedges begin, there were in those days two elms +forming the end of the long avenue, two colossal trees larger than any +of the others. The treeless fields stretch out from the high road, like +a broad band of green wool, as far as the willows and birches by the +river. The distance from the last elms to the bridge is scarcely three +hundred yards. The lovers took a good quarter of an hour to cover that +space. At last, however slow their gait, they reached the bridge, and +there they stopped. + +The road to Nice ran up in front of them, along the opposite slope of +the valley. But they could only see a small portion of it, as it takes a +sudden turn about half a mile from the bridge, and is lost to view among +the wooded hills. On looking round they caught sight of the other end +of the road, that which they had just traversed, and which leads in +a direct line from Plassans to the Viorne. In the beautiful winter +moonlight it looked like a long silver ribbon, with dark edgings traced +by the rows of elms. On the right and left the ploughed hill-land showed +like vast, grey, vague seas intersected by this ribbon, this roadway +white with frost, and brilliant as with metallic lustre. Up above, on a +level with the horizon, lights shone from a few windows in the Faubourg, +resembling glowing sparks. By degrees Miette and Silvere had walked +fully a league. They gazed at the intervening road, full of silent +admiration for the vast amphitheatre which rose to the verge of the +heavens, and over which flowed bluish streams of light, as over the +superposed rocks of a gigantic waterfall. The strange and colossal +picture spread out amid deathlike stillness and silence. Nothing could +have been of more sovereign grandeur. + +Then the young people, having leant against the parapet of the bridge, +gazed beneath them. The Viorne, swollen by the rains, flowed on with a +dull, continuous sound. Up and down stream, despite the darkness which +filled the hollows, they perceived the black lines of the trees growing +on the banks; here and there glided the moonbeams, casting a trail of +molten metal, as it were, over the water, which glittered and danced +like rays of light on the scales of some live animal. The gleams darted +with a mysterious charm along the gray torrent, betwixt the vague +phantom-like foliage. You might have thought this an enchanted valley, +some wondrous retreat where a community of shadows and gleams lived a +fantastic life. + +This part of the river was familiar to the lovers; they had often come +here in search of coolness on warm July nights; they had spent hours +hidden among the clusters of willows on the right bank, at the spot +where the meadows of Sainte-Claire spread their verdant carpet to the +waterside. They remembered every bend of the bank, the stones on which +they had stepped in order to cross the Viorne, at that season as narrow +as a brooklet, and certain little grassy hollows where they had indulged +in their dreams of love. Miette, therefore, now gazed from the bridge at +the right bank of the torrent with longing eyes. + +"If it were warmer," she sighed, "we might go down and rest awhile +before going back up the hill." Then, after a pause, during which +she kept her eyes fixed on the banks, she resumed: "Look down there, +Silvere, at that black mass yonder in front of the lock. Do you +remember? That's the brushwood where we sat last Corpus Christi Day." + +"Yes, so it is," replied Silvere, softly. + +This was the spot where they had first ventured to kiss each other on +the cheek. The remembrance just roused by the girl's words brought both +of them a delightful feeling, an emotion in which the joys of the +past mingled with the hopes of the morrow. Before their eyes, with the +rapidity of lightening, there passed all the delightful evenings they +had spent together, especially that evening of Corpus Christi Day, with +the warm sky, the cool willows of the Viorne, and their own loving talk. +And at the same time, whilst the past came back to their hearts full +of a delightful savour, they fancied they could plunge into the unknown +future, see their dreams realised, and march through life arm in +arm--even as they had just been doing on the highway--warmly wrapped in +the same cloak. Then rapture came to them again, and they smiled in each +other's eyes, alone amidst all the silent radiance. + +Suddenly, however, Silvere raised his head and, throwing off the cloak, +listened attentively. Miette, in her surprise, imitated him, at a loss +to understand why he had started so abruptly from her side. + +Confused sounds had for a moment been coming from behind the hills +in the midst of which the Nice road wends its way. They suggested the +distant jolting of a procession of carts; but not distinctly, so loud +was the roaring of the Viorne. Gradually, however, they became more +pronounced, and rose at last like the tramping of an army on the march. +Then amidst the continuous growing rumble one detected the shouts of a +crowd, strange rhythmical blasts as of a hurricane. One could even have +fancied they were the thunderclaps of a rapidly approaching storm which +was already disturbing the slumbering atmosphere. Silvere listened +attentively, unable to tell, however, what were those tempest-like +shouts, for the hills prevented them from reaching him distinctly. +Suddenly a dark mass appeared at the turn of the road, and then the +"Marseillaise" burst forth, formidable, sung as with avenging fury. + +"Ah, here they are!" cried Silvere, with a burst of joyous enthusiasm. + +Forthwith he began to run up the hill, dragging Miette with him. On the +left of the road was an embankment planted with evergreen oaks, up which +he clambered with the young girl, to avoid being carried away by the +surging, howling multitude. + +When he had reached the top of the bank and the shadow of the brushwood, +Miette, rather pale, gazed sorrowfully at those men whose distant song +had sufficed to draw Silvere from her embrace. It seemed as if the +whole band had thrust itself between them. They had been so happy a few +minutes before, locked in each other's arms, alone and lost amidst the +overwhelming silence and discreet glimmer of the moon! And now Silvere, +whose head was turned away from her, who no longer seemed even conscious +of her presence, had eyes only for those strangers whom he called his +brothers. + +The band descended the slope with a superb, irresistible stride. There +could have been nothing grander than the irruption of those few thousand +men into that cold, still, deathly scene. The highway became a torrent, +rolling with living waves which seemed inexhaustible. At the bend in the +road fresh masses ever appeared, whose songs ever helped to swell the +roar of this human tempest. When the last battalions came in sight the +uproar was deafening. The "Marseillaise" filled the atmosphere as +if blown through enormous trumpets by giant mouths, which cast it, +vibrating with a brazen clang, into every corner of the valley. The +slumbering country-side awoke with a start--quivering like a beaten drum +resonant to its very entrails, and repeating with each and every echo +the passionate notes of the national song. And then the singing was +no longer confined to the men. From the very horizon, from the distant +rocks, the ploughed land, the meadows, the copses, the smallest bits +of brushwood, human voices seemed to come. The great amphitheatre, +extending from the river to Plassans, the gigantic cascade over which +the bluish moonlight flowed, was as if filled with innumerable invisible +people cheering the insurgents; and in the depths of the Viorne, along +the waters streaked with mysterious metallic reflections, there was not +a dark nook but seemed to conceal human beings, who took up each refrain +with yet greater passion. With air and earth alike quivering, the whole +country-side cried for vengeance and liberty. So long as the little army +was descending the slope, the roar of the populace thus rolled on in +sonorous waves broken by abrupt outbursts which shook the very stones in +the roadway. + +Silvere, pale with emotion, still listened and looked on. The insurgents +who led the van of that swarming, roaring stream, so vague and monstrous +in the darkness, were rapidly approaching the bridge. + +"I thought," murmured Miette, "that you would not pass through +Plassans?" + +"They must have altered the plan of operations," Silvere replied; "we +were, in fact, to have marched to the chief town by the Toulon road, +passing to the left of Plassans and Orcheres. They must have left +Alboise this afternoon and passed Les Tulettes this evening." + +The head of the column had already arrived in front of the young people. +The little army was more orderly than one would have expected from a +band of undisciplined men. The contingents from the various towns and +villages formed separate battalions, each separated by a distance of a +few paces. These battalions were apparently under the orders of certain +chiefs. For the nonce the pace at which they were descending the +hillside made them a compact mass of invincible strength. There were +probably about three thousand men, all united and carried away by the +same storm of indignation. The strange details of the scene were not +discernible amidst the shadows cast over the highway by the lofty +slopes. At five or six feet from the brushwood, however, where Miette +and Silvere were sheltered, the left-hand embankment gave place to +a little pathway which ran alongside the Viorne; and the moonlight, +flowing through this gap, cast a broad band of radiance across the road. +When the first insurgents reached this patch of light they were +suddenly illumined by a sharp white glow which revealed, with singular +distinctness, every outline of visage or costume. And as the various +contingents swept on, the young people thus saw them emerge, fiercely +and without cessation, from the surrounding darkness. + +As the first men passed through the light Miette instinctively clung +to Silvere, although she knew she was safe, even from observation. She +passed her arm round the young fellow's neck, resting her head against +his shoulder. And with the hood of her pelisse encircling her pale +face she gazed fixedly at that square patch of light as it was rapidly +traversed by those strange faces, transfigured by enthusiasm, with dark +open mouths full of the furious cry of the "Marseillaise." Silvere, +whom she felt quivering at her side, then bent towards her and named the +various contingents as they passed. + +The column marched along eight abreast. In the van were a number of big, +square-headed fellows, who seemed to possess the herculean strength and +naive confidence of giants. They would doubtless prove blind, intrepid +defenders of the Republic. On their shoulders they carried large axes, +whose edges, freshly sharpened, glittered in the moonlight. + +"Those are the woodcutters of the forests of the Seille," said Silvere. +"They have been formed into a corps of sappers. At a signal from their +leaders they would march as far as Paris, battering down the gates of +the towns with their axes, just as they cut down the old cork-trees on +the mountain." + +The young man spoke with pride of the heavy fists of his brethren. And +on seeing a band of labourers and rough-bearded men, tanned by the +sun, coming along behind the woodcutters, he continued: "That is the +contingent from La Palud. That was the first place to rise. The men in +blouses are labourers who cut up the cork-trees; the others in velveteen +jackets must be sportsmen, poachers, and charcoal-burners living in the +passes of the Seille. The poachers knew your father, Miette. They have +good firearms, which they handle skilfully. Ah! if all were armed in the +same manner! We are short of muskets. See, the labourers have only got +cudgels!" + +Miette, still speechless, looked on and listened. As Silvere spoke to +her of her father, the blood surged to her cheeks. Her face burnt as she +scrutinised the sportsmen with a strange air of mingled indignation and +sympathy. From this moment she grew animated, yielding to the feverish +quiver which the insurgents' songs awakened. + +The column, which had just begun the "Marseillaise" afresh, was still +marching down as though lashed on by the sharp blasts of the "Mistral." +The men of La Palud were followed by another troop of workmen, among +whom a goodly number of middle class folks in great-coats were to be +seen. + +"Those are the men of Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx," Silvere resumed. "That +_bourg_ rose almost at the same time as La Palud. The masters joined the +workmen. There are some rich men there, Miette; men whose wealth would +enable them to live peacefully at home, but who prefer to risk their +lives in defence of liberty. One can but admire them. Weapons are very +scarce, however; they've scarcely got a few fowling-pieces. But do you +see those men yonder, Miette, with red bands round their left elbows? +They are the leaders." + +The contingents descended the hill more rapidly than Silvere could +speak. While he was naming the men from Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx, two +battalions had already crossed the ray of light which blanched the +roadway. + +"Did you see the insurgents from Alboise and Les Tulettes pass by just +now?" he asked. "I recognised Burgat the blacksmith. They must have +joined the band to-day. How they do run!" + +Miette was now leaning forward, in order to see more of the little bands +described to her by the young man. The quiver she felt rose from her +bosom to her throat. Then a battalion larger and better disciplined than +the others appeared. The insurgents composing it were nearly all dressed +in blue blouses, with red sashes round their waists. One would have +thought they were arrayed in uniform. A man on horseback, with a sabre +at his side, was in the midst of them. And most of these improvised +soldiers carried guns, probably carbines and old muskets of the National +Guard. + +"I don't know those," said Silvere. "The man on horseback must be the +chief I've heard spoken of. He brought with him the contingents from +Faverolles and the neighbouring villages. The whole column ought to be +equipped in the same manner." + +He had no time to take breath. "Ah! see, here are the country people!" +he suddenly cried. + +Small groups of ten or twenty men at the most were now advancing behind +the men of Faverolles. They all wore the short jacket of the Southern +peasantry, and as they sang they brandished pitchforks and scythes. Some +of them even only carried large navvies' shovels. Every hamlet, however, +had sent its able-bodied men. + +Silvere, who recognised the parties by their leaders, enumerated them in +feverish tones. "The contingent from Chavanoz!" said he. "There are +only eight men, but they are strong; Uncle Antoine knows them. Here's +Nazeres! Here's Poujols! They're all here; not one has failed to answer +the summons. Valqueyras! Hold, there's the parson amongst them; I've +heard about him, he's a staunch Republican." + +He was becoming intoxicated with the spectacle. Now that each battalion +consisted of only a few insurgents he had to name them yet more hastily, +and his precipitancy gave him the appearance of one in a frenzy. + +"Ah! Miette," he continued, "what a fine march past! Rozan! Vernoux! +Corbiere! And there are more still, you'll see. These have only got +scythes, but they'll mow down the troops as close as the grass in their +meadows--Saint-Eutrope! Mazet! Les Gardes, Marsanne! The whole north +side of the Seille! Ah, we shall be victorious! The whole country is +with us. Look at those men's arms, they are hard and black as iron. +There's no end to them. There's Pruinas! Roches Noires! Those last +are smugglers: they are carrying carbines. Still more scythes and +pitchforks, the contingents of country folk are still passing. +Castel-le-Vieux! Sainte-Anne! Graille! Estourmel! Murdaran!" + +His voice was husky with emotion as he finished naming these men, who +seemed to be borne away by a whirlwind as fast as he enumerated them. +Erect, with glowing countenance, he pointed out the several contingents +with a nervous gesture. Miette followed his movements. The road below +attracted her like the depths of a precipice. To avoid slipping down +the incline she clung to the young man's neck. A strange intoxication +emanated from those men, who themselves were inebriated with clamour, +courage, and confidence. Those beings, seen athwart a moonbeam, those +youths and those men in their prime, those old people brandishing +strange weapons and dressed in the most diverse costumes, from working +smock to middle class overcoat, those endless rows of heads, which +the hour and the circumstances endowed with an expression of fanatical +energy and enthusiasm, gradually appeared to the girl like a whirling, +impetuous torrent. At certain moments she fancied they were not of +themselves moving, that they were really being carried away by the force +of the "Marseillaise," by that hoarse, sonorous chant. She could not +distinguish any conversation, she heard but a continuous volume of +sound, alternating from bass to shrill notes, as piercing as nails +driven into one's flesh. This roar of revolt, this call to combat, +to death, with its outbursts of indignation, its burning thirst for +liberty, its remarkable blending of bloodthirsty and sublime impulses, +unceasingly smote her heart, penetrating more deeply at each fierce +outburst, and filling her with the voluptuous pangs of a virgin martyr +who stands erect and smiles under the lash. And the crowd flowed on ever +amidst the same sonorous wave of sound. The march past, which did not +really last more than a few minutes, seemed to the young people to be +interminable. + +Truly, Miette was but a child. She had turned pale at the approach of +the band, she had wept for the loss of love, but she was a brave child, +whose ardent nature was easily fired by enthusiasm. Thus ardent emotions +had gradually got possession of her, and she became as courageous as +a youth. She would willingly have seized a weapon and followed the +insurgents. As the muskets and scythes filed past, her white teeth +glistened longer and sharper between her red lips, like the fangs of +a young wolf eager to bite and tear. And as she listened to Silvere +enumerating the contingents from the country-side with ever-increasing +haste, the pace of the column seemed to her to accelerate still more. +She soon fancied it all a cloud of human dust swept along by a tempest. +Everything began to whirl before her. Then she closed her eyes; big hot +tears were rolling down her cheeks. + +Silvere's eyelashes were also moist. "I don't see the men who left +Plassans this afternoon," he murmured. + +He tried to distinguish the end of the column, which was still hidden by +the darkness. Suddenly he cried with joyous exultation: "Ah, here they +are! They've got the banner--the banner has been entrusted to them!" + +Then he wanted to leap from the slope in order to join his companions. +At this moment, however, the insurgents halted. Words of command ran +along the column, the "Marseillaise" died out in a final rumble, and +one could only hear the confused murmuring of the still surging crowd. +Silvere, as he listened, caught the orders which were passed on from one +contingent to another; they called the men of Plassans to the van. Then, +as each battalion ranged itself alongside the road to make way for the +banner, the young man reascended the embankment, dragging Miette with +him. + +"Come," he said; "we can get across the river before they do." + +When they were on the top, among the ploughed land, they ran along to a +mill whose lock bars the river. Then they crossed the Viorne on a +plank placed there by the millers, and cut across the meadows of +Sainte-Claire, running hand-in-hand, without exchanging a word. The +column threw a dark line over the highway, which they followed alongside +the hedges. There were some gaps in the hawthorns, and at last Silvere +and Miette sprang on to the road through one of them. + +In spite of the circuitous way they had come, they arrived at the same +time as the men of Plassans. Silvere shook hands with some of them. They +must have thought he had heard of the new route they had chosen, and had +come to meet them. Miette, whose face was half-concealed by her hood, +was scrutinised rather inquisitively. + +"Why, it's Chantegreil," at last said one of the men from the Faubourg +of Plassans, "the niece of Rebufat, the _meger_[*] of the Jas-Meiffren." + + [*] A _meger_ is a farmer in Provence who shares the + expenses and profits of his farm with the owner of the land. + +"Where have you sprung from, gadabout?" cried another voice. + +Silvere, intoxicated with enthusiasm, had not thought of the distress +which his sweetheart would feel at the jeers of the workmen. Miette, all +confusion, looked at him as if to implore his aid. But before he +could even open his lips another voice rose from the crowd, brutally +exclaiming: + +"Her father's at the galleys; we don't want the daughter of a thief and +murderer amongst us." + +At this Miette turned dreadfully pale. + +"You lie!" she muttered. "If my father did kill anybody, he never +thieved!" + +And as Silvere, pale and trembling more than she, began to clench his +fists: "Stop!" she continued; "this is my affair." + +Then, turning to the men, she repeated with a shout: "You lie! You lie! +He never stole a copper from anybody. You know it well enough. Why do +you insult him when he can't be here?" + +She drew herself up, superb with indignation. With her ardent, half-wild +nature she seemed to accept the charge of murder composedly enough, but +that of theft exasperated her. They knew it, and that was why folks, +from stupid malice, often cast the accusation in her face. + +The man who had just called her father a thief was merely repeating +what he had heard said for many years. The girl's defiant attitude +only incited the workmen to jeer the more. Silvere still had his fists +clenched, and matters might have become serious if a poacher from +the Seille, who had been sitting on a heap of stones at the roadside +awaiting the order to march, had not come to the girl's assistance. + +"The little one's right," he said. "Chantegreil was one of us. I knew +him. Nobody knows the real facts of his little matter. I always believed +in the truth of his deposition before the judge. The gendarme whom he +brought down with a bullet, while he was out shooting, was no doubt +taking aim at him at the time. A man must defend himself! At all events +Chantegreil was a decent fellow; he committed no robbery." + +As often happens in such cases, the testimony of this poacher sufficed +to bring other defenders to Miette's aid. Several workmen also professed +to have known Chantegreil. + +"Yes, yes, it's true!" they all said. "He wasn't a thief. There are +some scoundrels at Plassans who ought to be sent to prison in his place. +Chantegreil was our brother. Come, now, be calm, little one." + +Miette had never before heard anyone speak well of her father. He was +generally referred to as a beggar, a villain, and now she found good +fellows who had forgiving words for him, and declared him to be an +honest man. She burst into tears, again full of the emotion awakened in +her by the "Marseillaise;" and she bethought herself how she might thank +these men for their kindness to her in misfortune. For a moment she +conceived the idea of shaking them all by the hand like a man. But her +heart suggested something better. By her side stood the insurgent +who carried the banner. She touched the staff, and, to express her +gratitude, said in an entreating tone, "Give it to me; I will carry it." + +The simple-minded workmen understood the ingenuous sublimity of this +form of gratitude. + +"Yes," they all cried, "Chantegreil shall carry the banner." + +However, a woodcutter remarked that she would soon get tired, and would +not be able to go far. + +"Oh! I'm quite strong," she retorted proudly, tucking up her sleeves and +showing a pair of arms as big as those of a grown woman. Then as they +handed her the flag she resumed, "Wait just a moment." + +Forthwith she pulled off her cloak, and put it on again after turning +the red lining outside. In the clear moonlight she appeared to be +arrayed in a purple mantle reaching to her feet. The hood resting on the +edge of her chignon formed a kind of Phrygian cap. She took the flag, +pressed the staff to her bosom, and held herself upright amid the folds +of that blood-coloured banner which waved behind her. Enthusiastic child +that she was, her countenance, with its curly hair, large eyes moist +with tears, and lips parted in a smile, seemed to rise with energetic +pride as she turned it towards the sky. At that moment she was the +virgin Liberty. + +The insurgents burst into applause. The vivid imagination of those +Southerners was fired with enthusiasm at the sudden apparition of this +girl so nervously clasping their banner to her bosom. Shouts rose from +the nearest group: + +"Bravo, Chantegreil! Chantegreil for ever! She shall remain with us; +she'll bring us luck!" + +They would have cheered her for a long time yet had not the order to +resume the march arrived. Whilst the column moved on, Miette pressed +Silvere's hand and whispered in his ear: "You hear! I shall remain with +you. Are you glad?" + +Silvere, without replying, returned the pressure. He consented. In fact, +he was deeply affected, unable to resist the enthusiasm which fired his +companions. Miette seemed to him so lovely, so grand, so saintly! During +the whole climb up the hill he still saw her before him, radiant, amidst +a purple glory. She was now blended with his other adored mistress--the +Republic. He would have liked to be in action already, with his gun on +his shoulder. But the insurgents moved slowly. They had orders to make +as little noise as possible. Thus the column advanced between the +rows of elms like some gigantic serpent whose every ring had a strange +quivering. The frosty December night had again sunk into silence, and +the Viorne alone seemed to roar more loudly. + +On reaching the first houses of the Faubourg, Silvere ran on in front to +fetch his gun from the Aire Saint-Mittre, which he found slumbering in +the moonlight. When he again joined the insurgents they had reached +the Porte de Rome. Miette bent towards him, and with her childish smile +observed: "I feel as if I were at the procession on Corpus Christi Day +carrying the banner of the Virgin." + + + +CHAPTER II + +Plassans is a sub-prefecture with about ten thousand inhabitants. Built +on a plateau overlooking the Viorne, and resting on the north side +against the Garrigues hills, one of the last spurs of the Alps, the +town is situated, as it were, in the depths of a cul-de-sac. In 1851 +it communicated with the adjoining country by two roads only, the Nice +road, which runs down to the east, and the Lyons road, which rises to +the west, the one continuing the other on almost parallel lines. Since +that time a railway has been built which passes to the south of the +town, below the hill which descends steeply from the old ramparts to +the river. At the present day, on coming out of the station on the right +bank of the little torrent, one can see, by raising one's head, the +first houses of Plassans, with their gardens disposed in terrace +fashion. It is, however, only after an uphill walk lasting a full +quarter of an hour that one reaches these houses. + +About twenty years ago, owing, no doubt, to deficient means of +communication, there was no town that had more completely retained the +pious and aristocratic character of the old Provencal cities. Plassans +then had, and has even now, a whole district of large mansions built +in the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., a dozen churches, Jesuit +and Capuchin houses, and a considerable number of convents. Class +distinctions were long perpetuated by the town's division into various +districts. There were three of them, each forming, as it were, a +separate and complete locality, with its own churches, promenades, +customs, and landscapes. + +The district of the nobility, called Saint-Marc, after the name of one +of its parish churches, is a sort of miniature Versailles, with straight +streets overgrown with grass, and large square houses which conceal +extensive gardens. It extends to the south along the edge of the +plateau. Some of the mansions built on the declivity itself have a +double row of terraces whence one can see the whole valley of the +Viorne, a most charming vista much vaunted in that part of the country. +Then on the north-west, the old quarter, formed of the original town, +rears its narrow, tortuous lanes bordered with tottering hovels. The +Town-Hall, the Civil Court, the Market, and the Gendarmerie barracks +are situated here. This, the most populous part of the Plassans, is +inhabited by working-men and shop-keepers, all the wretched, toiling, +common folk. The new town forms a sort of parallelogram to the +north-east; the well-to-do, those who have slowly amassed a fortune, and +those engaged in the liberal professions, here occupy houses set out +in straight lines and coloured a light yellow. This district, which is +embellished by the Sub-Prefecture, an ugly plaster building decorated +with rose-mouldings, numbered scarcely five or six streets in 1851; it +is of quite recent formation, and it is only since the construction of +the railway that it has been growing in extent. + +One circumstance which even at the present time tends to divide +Plassans into three distinct independent parts is that the limits of the +districts are clearly defined by the principal thoroughfares. The Cours +Sauvaire and the Rue de Rome, which is, as it were, a narrow extension +of the former, run from west to east, from the Grand'-Porte to the +Porte de Rome, thus cutting the town into two portions, and dividing +the quarter of the nobility from the others. The latter are themselves +parted by the Rue de la Banne. This street, the finest in the locality, +starts from the extremity of the Cours Sauvaire, and ascends northwards, +leaving the black masses of the old quarter on its left, and the +light-yellow houses of the new town on its right. It is here, about +half-way along the street, that stands the Sub-Prefecture, in the rear +of a small square planted with sickly trees; the people of Plassans are +very proud of this edifice. + +As if to keep more isolated and shut up within itself, the town is +belted with old ramparts, which only serve to increase its gloom and +render it more confined. These ridiculous fortifications, preyed upon by +ivy and crowned with wild gillyflowers, are about as high and as thick +as the walls of a convent, and could be demolished by gunshot. They +have several openings, the principal of which, the Porte de Rome and the +Grand'-Porte, afford access to the Nice road and the Lyons road, at the +other end of town. Until 1853 these openings were furnished with huge +wooden two-leaved gates, arched at the top, and strengthened with bars +of iron. These gates were double-locked at eleven o'clock in summer, and +ten o'clock in winter. The town having thus shot its bolts like a timid +girl, went quietly to sleep. A keeper, who lived in a little cell in one +of the inner corners of each gateway, was authorised to admit belated +persons. But it was necessary to stand parleying a long time. The keeper +would not let people in until, by the light of his lantern, he had +carefully scrutinised their faces through a peep-hole. If their looks +displeased him they had to sleep outside. This custom of locking the +gates every evening was highly characteristic of the spirit of the town, +which was a commingling of cowardice, egotism, routine, exclusiveness, +and devout longing for a cloistered life. Plassans, when it had shut +itself up, would say to itself, "I am at home," with the satisfaction +of some pious bourgeois, who, assured of the safety of his cash-box, +and certain that no noise will disturb him, duly says his prayers and +retires gladly to bed. No other town, I believe, has so long persisted +in thus incarcerating itself like a nun. + +The population of Plassans is divided into three groups, corresponding +with the same number of districts. Putting aside the functionaries--the +sub-prefect, the receiver of taxes, the mortgage commissioner, and +the postmaster, who are all strangers to the locality, where they are +objects of envy rather than of esteem, and who live after their own +fashion--the real inhabitants, those who were born there and have +every intention of ending their days there, feel too much respect for +traditional usages and established boundaries not to pen themselves of +their own accord in one or other of the town's social divisions. + +The nobility virtually cloister themselves. Since the fall of Charles X. +they scarcely ever go out, and when they do they are eager to return +to their large dismal mansions, and walk along furtively as though they +were in a hostile country. They do not visit anyone, nor do they even +receive each other. Their drawing-rooms are frequented by a few priests +only. They spend the summer in the chateaux which they possess in the +environs; in the winter, they sit round their firesides. They are, as +it were, dead people weary of life. And thus the gloomy silence of a +cemetery hangs over their quarter of the town. The doors and windows +are carefully barricaded; one would think their mansions were so many +convents shut off from all the tumult of the world. At rare intervals +an abbe, whose measured tread adds to the gloomy silence of these sealed +houses, passes by and glides like a shadow through some half-opened +doorway. + +The well-to-do people, the retired tradesmen, the lawyers and notaries, +all those of the little easy-going, ambitious world that inhabits the +new town, endeavour to infuse some liveliness into Plassans. They go +to the parties given by the sub-prefect, and dream of giving similar +entertainments. They eagerly seek popularity, call a workman "my good +fellow," chat with the peasants about the harvest, read the papers, and +walk out with their wives on Sundays. Theirs are the enlightened +minds of the district, they are the only persons who venture to speak +disparagingly of the ramparts; in fact, they have several times demanded +of the authorities the demolition of those old walls, relics of a former +age. At the same time, the most sceptical among them experience a shock +of delight whenever a marquis or a count deigns to honour them with a +stiff salutation. Indeed, the dream of every citizen of the new town is +to be admitted to a drawing-room of the Saint-Marc quarter. They know +very well that their ambition is not attainable, and it is this which +makes them proclaim all the louder that they are freethinkers. But they +are freethinkers in words only; firm friends of the authorities, they +are ready to rush into the arms of the first deliverer at the slightest +indication of popular discontent. + +The group which toils and vegetates in the old quarter is not so clearly +defined as the others. The labouring classes are here in a majority; but +retail dealers and even a few wholesale traders are to be found among +them. As a matter of fact, Plassans is far from being a commercial +centre; there is only just sufficient trade to dispose of the products +of the country--oil, wine, and almonds. As for industrial labour, it is +represented almost entirely by three or four evil-smelling tanyards, +a felt hat manufactory, and some soap-boiling works, which last are +relegated to a corner of the Faubourg. This little commercial and +industrial world, though it may on high days and holidays visit the +people of the new district, generally takes up its quarters among the +operatives of the old town. Merchants, retail traders, and artisans have +common interests which unite them together. On Sundays only, the masters +make themselves spruce and foregather apart. On the other hand, the +labouring classes, which constitute scarcely a fifth of the population, +mingle with the idlers of the district. + +It is only once a week, and during the fine weather, that the three +districts of Plassans come together face to face. The whole town repairs +to the Cours Sauvaire on Sunday after vespers; even the nobility venture +thither. Three distinct currents flow along this sort of boulevard +planted with rows of plane-trees. The well-to-do citizens of the new +quarter merely pass along before quitting the town by the Grand'-Porte +and taking the Avenue du Mail on the right, where they walk up and down +till nightfall. Meantime, the nobility and the lower classes share the +Cours Sauvaire between them. For more than a century past the nobility +have selected the walk on the south side, which is bordered with large +mansions, and is the first to escape the heat of the sun; the lower +classes have to rest content with the walk on the north, where the +cafes, inns, and tobacconists' shops are located. The people and the +nobility promenade the whole afternoon, walking up and down the Cours +without anyone of either party thinking of changing sides. They are only +separated by a distance of some seven or eight yards, yet it is as if +they were a thousand leagues away from each other, for they scrupulously +follow those two parallel lines, as though they must not come in contact +here below. Even during the revolutionary periods each party kept to +its own side. This regulation walk on Sunday and the locking of the town +gates in the evening are analogous instances which suffice to indicate +the character of the ten thousand people inhabiting the town. + +Here, amidst these surroundings, until the year 1848, there vegetated +an obscure family that enjoyed little esteem, but whose head, Pierre +Rougon, subsequently played an important part in life owing to certain +circumstances. + +Pierre Rougon was the son of a peasant. His mother's family, the +Fouques, owned, towards the end of the last century, a large plot of +ground in the Faubourg, behind the old cemetery of Saint-Mittre; this +ground was subsequently joined to the Jas-Meiffren. The Fouques were the +richest market-gardeners in that part of the country; they supplied an +entire district of Plassans with vegetables. However, their name +died out a few years before the Revolution. Only one girl, Adelaide, +remained; born in 1768, she had become an orphan at the age of eighteen. +This girl, whose father had died insane, was a long, lank, pale +creature, with a scared look and strange ways which one might have taken +for shyness so long as she was a little girl. As she grew up, +however, she became still stranger; she did certain things which were +inexplicable even to the cleverest folk of the Faubourg, and from that +time it was rumoured that she was cracked like her father. + +She had scarcely been an orphan six months, in possession of a fortune +which rendered her an eagerly sought heiress, when it transpired that +she had married a young gardener named Rougon, a rough-hewn peasant from +the Basses-Alpes. This Rougon, after the death of the last of the male +Fouques, who had engaged him for a term, had remained in the service +of the deceased's daughter. From the situation of salaried servant he +ascended rapidly to the enviable position of husband. This marriage was +a first shock to public opinion. No one could comprehend why Adelaide +preferred this poor fellow, coarse, heavy, vulgar, scarce able to speak +French, to those other young men, sons of well-to-do farmers, who had +been seen hovering round her for some time. And, as provincial people do +not allow anything to remain unexplained, they made sure there was some +mystery at the bottom of this affair, alleging even that the marriage of +the two young people had become an absolute necessity. But events proved +the falsity of the accusation. More than a year went by before Adelaide +had a son. The Faubourg was annoyed; it could not admit that it was +wrong, and determined to penetrate the supposed mystery; accordingly all +the gossips kept a watch upon the Rougons. They soon found ample matter +for tittle-tattle. Rougon died almost suddenly, fifteen months after his +marriage, from a sunstroke received one afternoon while he was weeding a +bed of carrots. + +Scarcely a year then elapsed before the young widow caused unheard-of +scandal. It became known, as an indisputable fact, that she had a lover. +She did not appear to make any secret of it; several persons asserted +that they had heard her use endearing terms in public to poor Rougon's +successor. Scarcely a year of widowhood and a lover already! Such a +disregard of propriety seemed monstrous out of all reason. And the +scandal was heightened by Adelaide's strange choice. At that time there +dwelt at the end of the Impasse Saint-Mittre, in a hovel the back +of which abutted on the Fouques' land, a man of bad repute, who was +generally referred to as "that scoundrel Macquart." This man would +vanish for weeks and then turn up some fine evening, sauntering about +with his hands in his pockets and whistling as though he had just +come from a short walk. And the women sitting at their doorsteps as he +passed: "There's that scoundrel Macquart! He has hidden his bales and +his gun in some hollow of the Viorne." The truth was, Macquart had +no means, and yet ate and drank like a happy drone during his short +sojourns in the town. He drank copiously and with fierce obstinacy. +Seating himself alone at a table in some tavern, he would linger there +evening after evening, with his eyes stupidly fixed on his glass, +neither seeing nor hearing anything around him. When the landlord closed +his establishment, he would retire with a firm step, with his head +raised, as if he were kept yet more erect by inebriation. "Macquart +walks so straight, he's surely dead drunk," people used to say, as they +saw him going home. Usually, when he had had no drink, he walked with +a slight stoop and shunned the gaze of curious people with a kind of +savage shyness. + +Since the death of his father, a journeyman tanner who had left him as +sole heritage the hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre, he had never +been known to have either relatives or friends. The proximity of the +frontiers and the neighbouring forests of the Seille had turned this +singular, lazy fellow into a combination of smuggler and poacher, one +of those suspicious-looking characters of whom passers-by observe: "I +shouldn't care to meet that man at midnight in a dark wood." Tall, with +a formidable beard and lean face, Macquart was the terror of the +good women of the Faubourg of Plassans; they actually accused him of +devouring little children raw. Though he was hardly thirty years old, +he looked fifty. Amidst his bushy beard and the locks of hair which hung +over his face in poodle fashion, one could only distinguish the gleam +of his brown eyes, the furtive sorrowful glance of a man of vagrant +instincts, rendered vicious by wine and a pariah life. Although no +crimes had actually been brought home to him, no theft or murder was +ever perpetrated in the district without suspicion at once falling upon +him. + +And it was this ogre, this brigand, this scoundrel Macquart, whom +Adelaide had chosen! In twenty months she had two children by him, first +a boy and then a girl. There was no question of marriage between +them. Never had the Faubourg beheld such audacious impropriety. The +stupefaction was so great, the idea of Macquart having found a young and +wealthy mistress so completely upset the gossips, that they even spoke +gently of Adelaide. "Poor thing! She's gone quite mad," they would say. +"If she had any relatives she would have been placed in confinement long +ago." And as they never knew anything of the history of those strange +amours, they accused that rogue Macquart of having taken advantage of +Adelaide's weak mind to rob her of her money. + +The legitimate son, little Pierre Rougon, grew up with his mother's +other offspring. The latter, Antoine and Ursule, the young wolves as +they were called in the district, were kept at home by Adelaide, who +treated them as affectionately as her first child. She did not appear to +entertain a very clear idea of the position in life reserved for these +two poor creatures. To her they were the same in every respect as her +first-born. She would sometimes go out holding Pierre with one hand and +Antoine with the other, never noticing how differently the two little +fellows were already regarded. + +It was a strange home. For nearly twenty years everyone lived there +after his or her fancy, the children like the mother. Everything went +on free from control. In growing to womanhood, Adelaide had retained the +strangeness which had been taken for shyness when she was fifteen. It +was not that she was insane, as the people of the Faubourg asserted, +but there was a lack of equilibrium between her nerves and her blood, +a disorder of the brain and heart which made her lead a life out of +the ordinary, different from that of the rest of the world. She was +certainly very natural, very consistent with herself; but in the eyes of +the neighbours her consistency became pure insanity. She seemed +desirous of making herself conspicuous, it was thought she was wickedly +determined to turn things at home from bad to worse, whereas with great +naivete she simply acted according to the impulses of her nature. + +Ever since giving birth to her first child she had been subject to +nervous fits which brought on terrible convulsions. These fits recurred +periodically, every two or three months. The doctors whom she consulted +declared they could do nothing for her, that age would weaken the +severity of the attacks. They simply prescribed a dietary regimen of +underdone meat and quinine wine. However, these repeated shocks led to +cerebral disorder. She lived on from day to day like a child, like +a fawning animal yielding to its instincts. When Macquart was on his +rounds, she passed her time in lazy, pensive idleness. All she did for +her children was to kiss and play with them. Then as soon as her lover +returned she would disappear. + +Behind Macquart's hovel there was a little yard, separated from the +Fouques' property by a wall. One morning the neighbours were much +astonished to find in this wall a door which had not been there the +previous evening. Before an hour had elapsed, the entire Faubourg had +flocked to the neighbouring windows. The lovers must have worked the +whole night to pierce the opening and place the door there. They could +now go freely from one house to the other. The scandal was revived, +everyone felt less pity for Adelaide, who was certainly the disgrace +of the suburb; she was reproached more wrathfully for that door, that +tacit, brutal admission of her union, than even for her two illegitimate +children. "People should at least study appearances," the most tolerant +women would say. But Adelaide did not understand what was meant by +studying appearances. She was very happy, very proud of her door; she +had assisted Macquart to knock the stones from the wall and had even +mixed the mortar so that the work might proceed the quicker; and she +came with childish delight to inspect the work by daylight on the +morrow--an act which was deemed a climax of shamelessness by three +gossips who observed her contemplating the masonry. From that date, +whenever Macquart reappeared, it was thought, as no one then ever +saw the young woman, that she was living with him in the hovel of the +Impasse Saint-Mittre. + +The smuggler would come very irregularly, almost always unexpectedly, +to Plassans. Nobody ever knew what life the lovers led during the two +or three days he spent there at distant intervals. They used to shut +themselves up; the little dwelling seemed uninhabited. Then, as the +gossips had declared that Macquart had simply seduced Adelaide in order +to spend her money, they were astonished, after a time, to see him still +lead his wonted life, ever up hill and down dale and as badly equipped +as previously. Perhaps the young woman loved him all the more for +seeing him at rare intervals, perhaps he had disregarded her entreaties, +feeling an irresistible desire for a life of adventure. The gossips +invented a thousand fables, without succeeding in giving any reasonable +explanation of a connection which had originated and continued in so +strange a manner. The hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre remained closed +and preserved its secrets. It was merely guessed that Macquart had +probably acquired the habit of beating Adelaide, although the sound of +a quarrel never issued from the house. However, on several occasions she +was seen with her face black and blue, and her hair torn away. At the +same time, she did not display the least dejection or grief, nor did she +seek in any way to hide her bruises. She smiled, and seemed happy. No +doubt she allowed herself to be beaten without breathing a word. This +existence lasted for more than fifteen years. + +At times when Adelaide returned home she would find her house upside +down, but would not take the least notice of it. She was utterly +ignorant of the practical meaning of life, of the proper value of things +and the necessity for order. She let her children grow up like those +plum-trees which sprout along the highways at the pleasure of the rain +and sun. They bore their natural fruits like wild stock which has never +known grafting or pruning. Never was nature allowed such complete sway, +never did such mischievous creatures grow up more freely under the sole +influence of instinct. They rolled among the vegetables, passed their +days in the open air playing and fighting like good-for-nothing urchins. +They stole provisions from the house and pillaged the few fruit-trees in +the enclosure; they were the plundering, squalling, familiar demons of +this strange abode of lucid insanity. When their mother was absent +for days together, they would make such an uproar, and hit upon such +diabolical devices for annoying people, that the neighbours had to +threaten them with a whipping. Moreover, Adelaide did not inspire them +with much fear; if they were less obnoxious to other people when she was +at home, it was because they made her their victim, shirking school +five or six times a week and doing everything they could to receive some +punishment which would allow them to squall to their hearts' content. +But she never beat them, nor even lost her temper; she lived on very +well, placidly, indolently, in a state of mental abstraction amidst all +the uproar. At last, indeed, this uproar became indispensable to her, +to fill the void in her brain. She smiled complacently when she heard +anyone say, "Her children will beat her some day, and it will serve her +right." To all remarks, her utter indifference seemed to reply, "What +does it matter?" She troubled even less about her property than about +her children. The Fouques' enclosure, during the many years that this +singular existence lasted would have become a piece of waste ground +if the young woman had not luckily entrusted the cultivation of her +vegetables to a clever market-gardener. This man, who was to share the +profits with her, robbed her impudently, though she never noticed it. +This circumstance had its advantages, however; for, in order to steal +the more, the gardener drew as much as possible from the land, which in +the result almost doubled in value. + +Pierre, the legitimate son, either from secret instinct or from his +knowledge of the different manner in which he and the others were +regarded by the neighbours, domineered over his brother and sister +from an early age. In their quarrels, although he was much weaker than +Antoine, he always got the better of the contest, beating the other with +all the authority of a master. With regard to Ursule, a poor, puny, wan +little creature, she was handled with equal roughness by both the +boys. Indeed, until they were fifteen or sixteen, the three children +fraternally beat each other without understanding their vague, mutual +hatred, without realising how foreign they were to one another. It was +only in youth that they found themselves face to face with definite, +self-conscious personalities. + +At sixteen, Antoine was a tall fellow, a blend of Macquart's and +Adelaide's failings. Macquart, however, predominated in him, with his +love of vagrancy, his tendency to drunkenness, and his brutish savagery. +At the same time, under the influence of Adelaide's nervous nature, the +vices which in the father assumed a kind of sanguinary frankness were +in the son tinged with an artfulness full of hypocrisy and cowardice. +Antoine resembled his mother by his total want of dignified will, by his +effeminate voluptuous egotism, which disposed him to accept any bed of +infamy provided he could lounge upon it at his ease and sleep warmly in +it. People said of him: "Ah! the brigand! He hasn't even the courage of +his villainy like Macquart; if ever he commits a murder, it will be with +pin pricks." Physically, Antoine inherited Adelaide's thick lips only; +his other features resembled those of the smuggler, but they were softer +and more prone to change of expression. + +In Ursule, on the other hand, physical and moral resemblance to the +mother predominated. There was a mixture of certain characteristics in +her also; but born the last, at a time when Adelaide's love was warmer +than Macquart's, the poor little thing seemed to have received with her +sex a deeper impress of her mother's temperament. Moreover, hers was not +a fusion of the two natures, but rather a juxtaposition, a remarkably +close soldering. Ursule was whimsical, and displayed at times the +shyness, the melancholy, and the transports of a pariah; then she would +often break out into nervous fits of laughter, and muse lazily, like +a woman unsound both in head and heart. Her eyes, which at times had +a scared expression like those of Adelaide, were as limpid as crystal, +similar to those of kittens doomed to die of consumption. + +In presence of those two illegitimate children Pierre seemed a stranger; +to one who had not penetrated to the roots of his being he would have +appeared profoundly dissimilar. Never did child's nature show a more +equal balance of the characteristics of its parents. He was the exact +mean between the peasant Rougon and the nervous Adelaide. Paternal +grossness was attenuated by the maternal influence. One found in him the +first phase of that evolution of temperaments which ultimately brings +about the amelioration or deterioration of a race. Although he was still +a peasant, his skin was less coarse, his face less heavy, his intellect +more capacious and more supple. In him the defects of his father and his +mother had advantageously reacted upon each other. If Adelaide's nature, +rendered exquisitely sensitive by her rebellious nerves, had combated +and lessened Rougon's full-bodied ponderosity, the latter had +successfully prevented the young woman's tendency to cerebral disorder +from being implanted in the child. Pierre knew neither the passions nor +the sickly ravings of Macquart's young whelps. Very badly brought up, +unruly and noisy, like all children who are not restrained during their +infancy, he nevertheless possessed at bottom such sense and intelligence +as would always preserve him from perpetrating any unproductive folly. +His vices, his laziness, his appetite for indulgence, lacked the +instinctiveness which characterised Antoine's; he meant to cultivate +and gratify them honourably and openly. In his plump person of medium +height, in his long pale face, in which the features derived from his +father had acquired some of the maternal refinement, one could already +detect signs of sly and crafty ambition and insatiable desire, with +the hardness of heart and envious hatred of a peasant's son whom his +mother's means and nervous temperament had turned into a member of the +middle classes. + +When, at the age of seventeen, Pierre observed and was able to +understand Adelaide's disorders and the singular position of Antoine and +Ursule, he seemed neither sorry nor indignant, but simply worried as to +the course which would best serve his own interests. He was the only +one of the three children who had pursued his studies with any industry. +When a peasant begins to feel the need of instruction he most frequently +becomes a fierce calculator. At school Pierre's playmates roused his +first suspicions by the manner in which they treated and hooted his +brother. Later on he came to understand the significance of many looks +and words. And at last he clearly saw that the house was being pillaged. +From that time forward he regarded Antoine and Ursule as shameless +parasites, mouths that were devouring his own substance. Like the people +of the Faubourg, he thought that his mother was a fit subject for a +lunatic asylum, and feared she would end by squandering all her money, +if he did not take steps to prevent it. What gave him the finishing +stroke was the dishonesty of the gardener who cultivated the land. +At this, in one day, the unruly child was transformed into a thrifty, +selfish lad, hurriedly matured, as regards his instincts, by the strange +improvident life which he could no longer bear to see around him without +a feeling of anguish. Those vegetables, from the sale of which the +market-gardener derived the largest profits, really belonged to him; +the wine which his mother's offspring drank, the bread they ate, also +belonged to him. The whole house, the entire fortune, was his by right; +according to his boorish logic, he alone, the legitimate son, was +the heir. And as his riches were in danger, as everybody was greedily +gnawing at his future fortune, he sought a means of turning them all +out--mother, brother, sister, servants--and of succeeding immediately to +his inheritance. + +The conflict was a cruel one; the lad knew that he must first strike his +mother. Step by step, with patient tenacity, he executed a plan whose +every detail he had long previously thought out. His tactics were to +appear before Adelaide like a living reproach--not that he flew into +a passion, or upbraided her for her misconduct; but he had acquired a +certain manner of looking at her, without saying a word, which terrified +her. Whenever she returned from a short sojourn in Macquart's hovel she +could not turn her eyes on her son without a shudder. She felt his cold +glances, as sharp as steel blades pierce her deeply and pitilessly. The +severe, taciturn demeanour of the child of the man whom she had so soon +forgotten strangely troubled her poor disordered brain. She would fancy +at times that Rougon had risen from the dead to punish her for her +dissoluteness. Every week she fell into one of those nervous fits which +were shattering her constitution. She was left to struggle until she +recovered consciousness, after which she would creep about more feebly +than ever. She would also often sob the whole night long, holding her +head in her hands, and accepting the wounds that Pierre dealt her with +resignation, as if they had been the strokes of an avenging deity. At +other times she repudiated him; she would not acknowledge her own +flesh and blood in that heavy-faced lad, whose calmness chilled her own +feverishness so painfully. She would a thousand times rather have been +beaten than glared at like that. Those implacable looks, which followed +her everywhere, threw her at last into such unbearable torments that +on several occasions she determined to see her lover no more. As soon, +however, as Macquart returned she forgot her vows and hastened to him. +The conflict with her son began afresh, silent and terrible, when she +came back home. At the end of a few months she fell completely under his +sway. She stood before him like a child doubtful of her behaviour and +fearing that she deserves a whipping. Pierre had skilfully bound her +hand and foot, and made a very submissive servant of her, without +opening his lips, without once entering into difficult and compromising +explanations. + +When the young man felt that his mother was in his power, that he could +treat her like a slave, he began, in his own interest, to turn her +cerebral weakness and the foolish terror with which his glances inspired +her to his own advantage. His first care, as soon as he was master at +home, was to dismiss the market-gardener and replace him by one of his +own creatures. Then he took upon himself the supreme direction of the +household, selling, buying, and holding the cash-box. On the other hand, +he made no attempt to regulate Adelaide's actions, or to correct Antoine +and Ursule for their laziness. That mattered little to him, for he +counted upon getting rid of these people as soon as an opportunity +presented itself. He contented himself with portioning out their bread +and water. Then, having already got all the property in his own hands, +he awaited an event which would permit him to dispose of it as he +pleased. + +Circumstances proved singularly favourable. He escaped the conscription +on the ground of being a widow's eldest son. But two years later Antoine +was called out. His bad luck did not affect him much; he counted on his +mother purchasing a substitute for him. Adelaide, in fact, wished to +save him from serving; Pierre, however, who held the money, turned a +deaf ear to her. His brother's compulsory departure would be a lucky +event for him, and greatly assist the accomplishment of his plans. When +his mother mentioned the matter to him, he gave her such a look that +she did not venture to pursue it. His glance plainly signified, "Do you +wish, then, to ruin me for the sake of your illegitimate offspring?" +Forthwith she selfishly abandoned Antoine, for before everything else +she sought her own peace and quietness. Pierre, who did not like violent +measures, and who rejoiced at being able to eject his brother without a +disturbance, then played the part of a man in despair: the year had been +a bad one, money was scarce, and to raise any he would be compelled to +sell a portion of the land, which would be the beginning of their ruin. +Then he pledged his word of honour to Antoine that he would buy him out +the following year, though he meant to do nothing of the kind. Antoine +then went off, duped, and half satisfied. + +Pierre got rid of Ursule in a still more unexpected manner. A journeyman +hatter of the Faubourg, named Mouret, conceived a real affection for the +girl, whom he thought as white and delicate as any young lady from the +Saint-Marc quarter. He married her. On his part it was a love match, +free from all sordid motives. As for Ursule, she accepted the marriage +in order to escape a home where her eldest brother rendered life +intolerable. Her mother, absorbed in her own courses, and using her +remaining energy to defend her own particular interests, regarded +the matter with absolute indifference. She was even glad of Ursule's +departure from the house, hoping that Pierre, now that he had no further +cause for dissatisfaction, would let her live in peace after her +own fashion. No sooner had the young people been married than Mouret +perceived that he would have to quit Plassans, if he did not wish to +hear endless disparaging remarks about his wife and his mother-in-law. +Taking Ursule with him, he accordingly repaired to Marseilles, where he +worked at his trade. It should be mentioned that he had not asked +for one sou of dowry. When Pierre, somewhat surprised by this +disinterestedness, commenced to stammer out some explanations, Mouret +closed his mouth by saying that he preferred to earn his wife's bread. +Nevertheless the worthy son of the peasant remained uneasy; Mouret's +indifference seemed to him to conceal some trap. + +Adelaide now remained to be disposed of. Nothing in the world would have +induced Pierre to live with her any longer. She was compromising him; +it was with her that he would have liked to make a start. But he found +himself between two very embarrassing alternatives: to keep her, and +thus, in a measure, share her disgrace, and bind a fetter to his feet +which would arrest him in his ambitious flight; or to turn her out, with +the certainty of being pointed at as a bad son, which would have robbed +him of the reputation for good nature which he desired. Knowing that he +would be in want of everybody, he desired to secure an untarnished +name throughout Plassans. There was but one method to adopt, namely, to +induce Adelaide to leave of her own accord. Pierre neglected nothing to +accomplish this end. He considered his mother's misconduct a sufficient +excuse for his own hard-heartedness. He punished her as one would +chastise a child. The tables were turned. The poor woman cowered under +the stick which, figuratively, was constantly held over her. She was +scarcely forty-two years old, and already had the stammerings of +terror, and vague, pitiful looks of an old woman in her dotage. Her son +continued to stab her with his piercing glances, hoping that she would +run away when her courage was exhausted. The unfortunate woman suffered +terribly from shame, restrained desire and enforced cowardice, receiving +the blows dealt her with passive resignation, and nevertheless returning +to Macquart with the determination to die on the spot rather than +submit. There were nights when she would have got out of bed, and thrown +herself into the Viorne, if with her weak, nervous, nature she had not +felt the greatest fear of death. On several occasions she thought of +running away and joining her lover on the frontier. It was only +because she did not know whither to go that she remained in the house, +submitting to her son's contemptuous silence and secret brutality. +Pierre divined that she would have left long ago if she had only had a +refuge. He was waiting an opportunity to take a little apartment for her +somewhere, when a fortuitous occurrence, which he had not ventured +to anticipate, abruptly brought about the realisation of his desires. +Information reached the Faubourg that Macquart had just been killed on +the frontier by a shot from a custom-house officer, at the moment when +he was endeavouring to smuggle a load of Geneva watches into France. The +story was true. The smuggler's body was not even brought home, but was +interred in the cemetery of a little mountain village. Adelaide's grief +plunged her into stupor. Her son, who watched her curiously, did not see +her shed a tear. Macquart had made her sole legatee. She inherited +his hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre, and his carbine, which a +fellow-smuggler, braving the balls of the custom-house officers, loyally +brought back to her. On the following day she retired to the little +house, hung the carbine above the mantelpiece, and lived there estranged +from all the world, solitary and silent. + +Pierre was at last sole master of the house. The Fouques' land belonged +to him in fact, if not in law. He never thought of establishing himself +on it. It was too narrow a field for his ambition. To till the ground +and cultivate vegetables seemed to him boorish, unworthy of his +faculties. He was in a hurry to divest himself of everything +recalling the peasant. With his nature refined by his mother's nervous +temperament, he felt an irresistible longing for the enjoyments of the +middle classes. In all his calculations, therefore, he had regarded the +sale of the Fouques' property as the final consummation. This sale, by +placing a round sum of money in his hands, would enable him to marry the +daughter of some merchant who would take him into partnership. At this +period the wars of the First Empire were greatly thinning the ranks of +eligible young men. Parents were not so fastidious as previously in the +choice of a son-in-law. Pierre persuaded himself that money would +smooth all difficulties, and that the gossip of the Faubourg would be +overlooked; he intended to pose as a victim, as an honest man suffering +from a family disgrace, which he deplored, without being soiled by it or +excusing it. + +For several months already he had cast his eyes on a certain Felicite +Puech, the daughter of an oil-dealer. The firm of Puech & Lacamp, whose +warehouses were in one of the darkest lanes of the old quarter, was +far from prosperous. It enjoyed but doubtful credit in the market, and +people talked vaguely of bankruptcy. It was precisely in consequence of +these evil reports that Pierre turned his batteries in this direction. +No well-to-do trader would have given him his daughter. He meant to +appear on the scene at the very moment when old Puech should no longer +know which way to turn; he would then purchase Felicite of him, and +re-establish the credit of the house by his own energy and intelligence. +It was a clever expedient for ascending the first rung of the social +ladder, for raising himself above his station. Above all things, he +wished to escape from that frightful Faubourg where everybody reviled +his family, and to obliterate all these foul legends, by effacing even +the very name of the Fouques' enclosure. For that reason the filthy +streets of the old quarter seemed to him perfect paradise. There, only, +he would be able to change his skin. + +The moment which he had been awaiting soon arrived. The firm of Puech +and Lacamp seemed to be at the last gasp. The young man then negotiated +the match with prudent skill. He was received, if not as a deliverer, at +least as a necessary and acceptable expedient. The marriage agreed upon, +he turned his attention to the sale of the ground. The owner of the +Jas-Meiffren, desiring to enlarge his estate, had made him repeated +offers. A low, thin, party-wall alone separated the two estates. Pierre +speculated on the eagerness of his wealthy neighbour, who, to gratify +his caprice, offered as much as fifty thousand francs for the land. It +was double its value. Pierre, whoever, with the craftiness of a peasant, +pulled a long face, and said that he did not care to sell; that his +mother would never consent to get rid of the property where the Fouques +had lived from father to son for nearly two centuries. But all the time +that he was seemingly holding back he was really making preparations for +the sale. Certain doubts had arisen in his mind. According to his own +brutal logic, the property belonged to him; he had the right to dispose +of it as he chose. Beneath this assurance, however, he had vague +presentiments of legal complications. So he indirectly consulted a +lawyer of the Faubourg. + +He learnt some fine things from him. According to the lawyer, his hands +were completely tied. His mother alone could alienate the property, and +he doubted whether she would. But what he did not know, what came as a +heavy blow to him, was that Ursule and Antoine, those young wolves, +had claims on the estate. What! they would despoil him, rob him, the +legitimate child! The lawyer's explanations were clear and precise, +however; Adelaide, it is true, had married Rougon under the common +property system; but as the whole fortune consisted of land, the young +woman, according to law, again came into possession of everything at her +husband's death. Moreover, Macquart and Adelaide had duly acknowledged +their children when declaring their birth for registration, and thus +these children were entitled to inherit from their mother. For +sole consolation, Pierre learnt that the law reduced the share of +illegitimate children in favour of the others. This, however, did not +console him at all. He wanted to have everything. He would not have +shared ten sous with Ursule and Antoine. + +This vista of the intricacies of the Code opened up a new horizon, which +he scanned with a singularly thoughtful air. He soon recognised that +a shrewd man must always keep the law on his side. And this is what he +devised without consulting anyone, even the lawyer, whose suspicions he +was afraid of arousing. He knew how to turn his mother round his finger. +One fine morning he took her to a notary and made her sign a deed of +sale. Provided she were left the hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre, +Adelaide would have sold all Plassans. Besides, Pierre assured her an +annual income of six hundred francs, and made the most solemn promises +to watch over his brother and sister. This oath satisfied the good +woman. She recited, before the notary, the lesson which it had pleased +her son to teach her. On the following day the young man made her place +her name at the foot of a document in which she acknowledged having +received fifty thousand francs as the price of the property. This was +his stroke of genius, the act of a rogue. He contented himself with +telling his mother, who was a little surprised at signing such a receipt +when she had not seen a centime of the fifty thousand francs, that it +was a pure formality of no consequence whatever. As he slipped the paper +into his pocket, he thought to himself, "Now, let the young wolves ask +me to render an account. I will tell them the old woman has squandered +everything. They will never dare to go to law with me about it." A week +afterwards, the party-wall no longer existed: a plough had turned up +the vegetable beds; the Fouques' enclosure, in accordance with young +Rougon's wish, was about to become a thing of the past. A few months +later, the owner of the Jas-Meiffren even had the old market-gardener's +house, which was falling to pieces, pulled down. + +When Pierre had secured the fifty thousand francs he married Felicite +Puech with as little delay as possible. Felicite was a short, dark +woman, such as one often meets in Provence. She looked like one of +those brown, lean, noisy grasshoppers, which in their sudden leaps often +strike their heads against the almond-trees. Thin, flat-breasted, with +pointed shoulders and a face like that of a pole-cat, her features +singularly sunken and attenuated, it was not easy to tell her age; +she looked as near fifteen as thirty, although she was in reality only +nineteen, four years younger than her husband. There was much feline +slyness in the depths of her little black eyes, which suggested gimlet +holes. Her low, bumpy forehead, her slightly depressed nose with +delicate quivering nostrils, her thin red lips and prominent chin, +parted from her cheeks by strange hollows, all suggested the countenance +of an artful dwarf, a living mask of intrigue, an active, envious +ambition. With all her ugliness, however, Felicite possessed a sort of +gracefulness which rendered her seductive. People said of her that she +could be pretty or ugly as she pleased. It would depend on the fashion +in which she tied her magnificent hair; but it depended still more on +the triumphant smile which illumined her golden complexion when she +thought she had got the better of somebody. Born under an evil star, +and believing herself ill-used by fortune, she was generally content +to appear an ugly creature. She did not, however, intend to abandon the +struggle, for she had vowed that she would some day make the whole town +burst with envy, by an insolent display of happiness and luxury. Had +she been able to act her part on a more spacious stage, where full play +would have been allowed her ready wit, she would have quickly brought +her dream to pass. Her intelligence was far superior to that of the +girls of her own station and education. Evil tongues asserted that her +mother, who had died a few years after she was born, had, during the +early period of her married life, been familiar with the Marquis de +Carnavant, a young nobleman of the Saint-Marc quarter. In fact, Felicite +had the hands and feet of a marchioness, and, in this respect, did not +appear to belong to that class of workers from which she was descended. + +Her marriage with Pierre Rougon, that semi-peasant, that man of the +Faubourg, whose family was in such bad odour, kept the old quarter in +a state of astonishment for more than a month. She let people gossip, +however, receiving the stiff congratulations of her friends with strange +smiles. Her calculations had been made; she had chosen Rougon for a +husband as one would choose an accomplice. Her father, in accepting the +young man, had merely had eyes for the fifty thousand francs which were +to save him from bankruptcy. Felicite, however, was more keen-sighted. +She looked into the future, and felt that she would be in want of a +robust man, even if he were somewhat rustic, behind whom she might +conceal herself, and whose limbs she would move at will. She entertained +a deliberate hatred for the insignificant little exquisites of +provincial towns, the lean herd of notaries' clerks and prospective +barristers, who stand shivering with cold while waiting for clients. +Having no dowry, and despairing of ever marrying a rich merchant's son, +she by far preferred a peasant whom she could use as a passive tool, +to some lank graduate who would overwhelm her with his academical +superiority, and drag her about all her life in search of hollow +vanities. She was of opinion that the woman ought to make the man. She +believed herself capable of carving a minister out of a cow-herd. That +which had attracted her in Rougon was his broad chest, his heavy frame, +which was not altogether wanting in elegance. A man thus built would +bear with ease and sprightliness the mass of intrigues which she +dreamt of placing on his shoulders. However, while she appreciated her +husband's strength and vigour, she also perceived that he was far +from being a fool; under his coarse flesh she had divined the cunning +suppleness of his mind. Still she was a long way from really knowing her +Rougon; she thought him far stupider than he was. A few days after her +marriage, as she was by chance fumbling in the drawer of a secretaire, +she came across the receipt for fifty thousand francs which Adelaide +had signed. At sight of it she understood things, and felt rather +frightened; her own natural average honesty rendered her hostile to such +expedients. Her terror, however, was not unmixed with admiration; Rougon +became in her eyes a very smart fellow. + +The young couple bravely sought to conquer fortune. The firm of Puech +& Lacamp was not, after all, so embarrassed as Pierre had thought. Its +liabilities were small, it was merely in want of ready-money. In the +provinces, traders adopt prudent courses to save them from serious +disasters. Puech & Lacamp were prudent to an excessive degree; they +never risked a thousand crowns without the greatest fear, and thus their +house, a veritable hole, was an unimportant one. The fifty thousand +francs that Pierre brought into it sufficed to pay the debts and extend +the business. The beginnings were good. During three successive years +the olive harvest was an abundant one. Felicite, by a bold stroke which +absolutely frightened both Pierre and old Puech, made them purchase +a considerable quantity of oil, which they stored in their warehouse. +During the following years, as the young woman had foreseen, the crops +failed, and a considerable rise in prices having set in, they realised +large profits by selling out their stock. + +A short time after this haul, Puech & Lacamp retired from the firm, +content with the few sous they had just secured, and ambitious of living +on their incomes. + +The young couple now had sole control of the business, and thought +that they had at last laid the foundation of their fortune. "You have +vanquished my ill-luck," Felicite would sometimes say to her husband. + +One of the rare weaknesses of her energetic nature was to believe +herself stricken by misfortune. Hitherto, so she asserted, nothing had +been successful with either herself or her father, in spite of all their +efforts. Goaded by her southern superstition, she prepared to struggle +with fate as one struggles with somebody who is endeavouring to strangle +one. Circumstances soon justified her apprehensions in a singular +manner. Ill-luck returned inexorably. Every year some fresh disaster +shook Rougon's business. A bankruptcy resulted in the loss of a few +thousand francs; his estimates of crops proved incorrect, through +the most incredible circumstances; the safest speculations collapsed +miserably. It was a truceless, merciless combat. + +"You see I was born under an unlucky star!" Felicite would bitterly +exclaim. + +And yet she still struggled furiously, not understanding how it was that +she, who had shown such keen scent in a first speculation, could now +only give her husband the most deplorable advice. + +Pierre, dejected and less tenacious than herself, would have gone +into liquidation a score of times had it not been for his wife's firm +obstinacy. She longed to be rich. She perceived that her ambition could +only be attained by fortune. As soon as they possessed a few hundred +thousand francs they would be masters of the town. She would get her +husband appointed to an important post, and she would govern. It was +not the attainment of honours which troubled her; she felt herself +marvellously well armed for such a combat. But she could do nothing to +get together the first few bags of money which were needed. Though the +ruling of men caused her no apprehensions, she felt a sort of impotent +rage at the thought of those inert, white, cold, five-franc pieces over +which her intriguing spirit had no power, and which obstinately resisted +her. + +The battle lasted for more than thirty years. The death of Puech proved +another heavy blow. Felicite, who had counted upon an inheritance of +about forty thousand francs, found that the selfish old man, in order +to indulge himself in his old age, had sunk all his money in a life +annuity. The discovery made her quite ill. She was gradually becoming +soured, she was growing more lean and harsh. To see her, from morning +till night, whirling round the jars of oil, one would have thought she +believed that she could stimulate the sales by continually flitting +about like a restless fly. Her husband, on the contrary, became heavier; +misfortune fattened him, making him duller and more indolent. These +thirty years of combat did not, however, bring him to ruin. At each +annual stock-taking they managed to make both ends meet fairly well; if +they suffered any loss during one season, they recouped themselves the +next. However, it was precisely this living from hand to mouth which +exasperated Felicite. She would, by far, have preferred a big failure. +They would then, perhaps, have been able to commence life over again, +instead of obstinately persisting in their petty business, working +themselves to death to gain the bare necessaries of life. During one +third of a century they did not save fifty thousand francs. + +It should be mentioned that, from the very first years of their married +life, they had a numerous family, which in the long run became a heavy +burden to them. In the course of five years, from 1811 to 1815, Felicite +gave birth to three boys. Then during the four ensuing years she +presented her husband with two girls. These had but an indifferent +welcome; daughters are a terrible embarrassment when one has no dowry to +give them. + +However, the young woman did not regard this troop of children as the +cause of their ruin. On the contrary, she based on her sons' heads the +building of the fortune which was crumbling in her own hands. They were +hardly ten years old before she discounted their future careers in her +dreams. Doubting whether she would ever succeed herself, she centred +in them all her hopes of overcoming the animosity of fate. They would +provide satisfaction for her disappointed vanity, they would give her +that wealthy, honourable position which she had hitherto sought in vain. +From that time forward, without abandoning the business struggle, +she conceived a second plan for obtaining the gratification of her +domineering instincts. It seemed to her impossible that, amongst her +three sons, there should not be a man of superior intellect, who would +enrich them all. She felt it, she said. Accordingly, she nursed the +children with a fervour in which maternal severity was blended with an +usurer's solicitude. She amused herself by fattening them as though they +constituted a capital which, later on, would return a large interest. + +"Enough!" Pierre would sometimes exclaim, "all children are ungrateful. +You are spoiling them, you are ruining us." + +When Felicite spoke of sending them to college, he got angry. Latin was +a useless luxury, it would be quite sufficient if they went through +the classes of a little neighbouring school The young woman, however, +persisted in her design. She possessed certain elevated instincts which +made her take a great pride in surrounding herself with accomplished +children; moreover, she felt that her sons must never remain as +illiterate as her husband, if she wished to see them become prominent +men. She fancied them all three in Paris in high positions, which she +did not clearly define. When Rougon consented, and the three youngsters +had entered the eighth class, Felicite felt the most lively satisfaction +she had ever experienced. She listened with delight as they talked of +their professors and their studies. When she heard her eldest son make +one of his brothers decline _Rosa, a rose_, it sounded like delicious +music to her. It is only fair to add that her delight was not tarnished +by any sordid calculations. Even Rougon felt the satisfaction which an +illiterate man experiences on perceiving his sons grow more learned than +himself. Then the fellowship which grew up between their sons and +those of the local big-wigs completed the parents' gratification. The +youngsters were soon on familiar terms with the sons of the Mayor and +the Sub-Prefect, and even with two or three young noblemen whom the +Saint-Marc quarter had deigned to send to the Plassans College. Felicite +was at a loss how to repay such an honour. The education of the three +lads weighed seriously on the budget of the Rougon household. + +Until the boys had taken their degrees, their parents, who kept them at +college at enormous sacrifices, lived in hopes of their success. When +they had obtained their diplomas Felicite wished to continue her work, +and even persuaded her husband to send the three to Paris. Two of them +devoted themselves to the study of law, and the third passed through +the School of Medicine. Then, when they were men, and had exhausted the +resources of the Rougon family and were obliged to return and establish +themselves in the provinces, their parents' disenchantment began. They +idled about and grew fat. And Felicite again felt all the bitterness of +her ill-luck. Her sons were failing her. They had ruined her, and did +not return any interest on the capital which they represented. This +last blow of fate was the heaviest, as it fell on her ambition and her +maternal vanity alike. Rougon repeated to her from morning till night, +"I told you so!" which only exasperated her the more. + +One day, as she was bitterly reproaching her eldest son with the large +amount of money expended on his education, he said to her with equal +bitterness, "I will repay you later on if I can. But as you had no +means, you should have brought us up to a trade. We are out of our +element, we are suffering more than you." + +Felicite understood the wisdom of these words. From that time she ceased +to accuse her children, and turned her anger against fate, which never +wearied of striking her. She started her old complaints afresh, and +bemoaned more and more the want of means which made her strand, as it +were, in port. Whenever Rougon said to her, "Your sons are lazy fellows, +they will eat up all we have," she sourly replied, "Would to God I had +more money to give them; if they do vegetate, poor fellows, it's because +they haven't got a sou to bless themselves with." + +At the beginning of the year 1848, on the eve of the Revolution of +February, the three young Rougons held very precarious positions +at Plassans. They presented most curious and profoundly dissimilar +characteristics, though they came of the same stock. They were in +reality superior to their parents. The race of the Rougons was destined +to become refined through its female side. Adelaide had made Pierre +a man of moderate enterprise, disposed to low ambitions; Felicite +had inspired her sons with a higher intelligence, with a capacity for +greater vices and greater virtues. + +At the period now referred to the eldest, Eugene, was nearly forty years +old. He was a man of middle height, slightly bald, and already disposed +to obesity. He had his father's face, a long face with broad features; +beneath his skin one could divine the fat to which were due the flabby +roundness of his features, and his yellowish, waxy complexion. Though +his massive square head still recalled the peasant, his physiognomy was +transfigured, lit up from within as it were, when his drooping eyelids +were raised and his eyes awoke to life. In the son's case, the father's +ponderousness had turned to gravity. This big fellow, Eugene, usually +preserved a heavy somnolent demeanour. At the same time, certain of his +heavy, languid movements suggested those of a giant stretching his limbs +pending the time for action. By one of those alleged freaks of nature, +of which, however, science is now commencing to discover the laws, if +physical resemblance to Pierre was perfect in Eugene, Felicite on +her side seemed to have furnished him with his brains. He offered an +instance of certain moral and intellectual qualities of maternal origin +being embedded in the coarse flesh he had derived from his father. He +cherished lofty ambitions, possessed domineering instincts, and showed +singular contempt for trifling expedients and petty fortunes. + +He was a proof that Plassans was perhaps not mistaken in suspecting that +Felicite had some blue blood in her veins. The passion for indulgence, +which became formidably developed in the Rougons, and was, in fact, the +family characteristic, attained in his case its highest pitch; he longed +for self-gratification, but in the form of mental enjoyment such as +would gratify his burning desire for domination. A man such as this was +never intended to succeed in a provincial town. He vegetated there +for fifteen years, his eyes turned towards Paris, watching his +opportunities. On his return home he had entered his name on the rolls, +in order to be independent of his parents. After that he pleaded from +time to time, earning a bare livelihood, without appearing to rise above +average mediocrity. At Plassans his voice was considered thick, his +movements heavy. He generally wandered from the question at issue, +rambled, as the wiseacres expressed it. On one occasion particularly, +when he was pleading in a case for damages, he so forgot himself as to +stray into a political disquisition, to such a point that the presiding +judge interfered, whereupon he immediately sat down with a strange +smile. His client was condemned to pay a considerable sum of money, +a circumstance which did not, however, seem to cause Eugene the least +regret for his irrelevant digression. He appeared to regard his speeches +as mere exercises which would be of use to him later on. It was this +that puzzled and disheartened Felicite. She would have liked to see her +son dictating the law to the Civil Court of Plassans. At last she came +to entertain a very unfavourable opinion of her first-born. To her +mind this lazy fellow would never be the one to shed any lustre on the +family. Pierre, on the contrary, felt absolute confidence in him, +not that he had more intuition than his wife, but because external +appearances sufficed him, and he flattered himself by believing in +the genius of a son who was his living image. A month prior to the +Revolution of February, 1848, Eugene became restless; some special +inspiration made him anticipate the crisis. From that time forward he +seemed to feel out of his element at Plassans. He would wander about the +streets like a distressed soul. At last he formed a sudden resolution, +and left for Paris, with scarcely five hundred francs in his pocket. + +Aristide, the youngest son, was, so to speak, diametrically opposed +to Eugene. He had his mother's face, and a covetousness and slyness of +character prone to trivial intrigues, in which his father's instincts +predominated. Nature has need of symmetry. Short, with a pitiful +countenance suggesting the knob of a stick carved into a Punch's head, +Aristide ferretted and fumbled everywhere, without any scruples, eager +only to gratify himself. He loved money as his eldest brother loved +power. While Eugene dreamed of bending a people to his will, and +intoxicated himself with visions of future omnipotence, the other +fancied himself ten times a millionaire, installed in a princely +mansion, eating and drinking to his heart's content, and enjoying life +to the fullest possible extent. Above all things, he longed to make a +rapid fortune. When he was building his castles in the air, they would +rise in his mind as if by magic; he would become possessed of tons of +gold in one night. These visions agreed with his indolence, as he never +troubled himself about the means, considering those the best which were +the most expeditious. In his case the race of the Rougons, of those +coarse, greedy peasants with brutish appetites, had matured too rapidly; +every desire for material indulgence was found in him, augmented +threefold by hasty education, and rendered the more insatiable and +dangerous by the deliberate way in which the young man had come to +regard their realisation as his set purpose. In spite of her keen +feminine intuition, Felicite preferred this son; she did not perceive +the greater affinity between herself and Eugene; she excused the follies +and indolence of her youngest son under the pretext that he would +some day be the superior genius of the family, and that such a man +was entitled to live a disorderly life until his intellectual strength +should be revealed. + +Aristide subjected her indulgence to a rude test. In Paris he led a low, +idle life; he was one of those students who enter their names at the +taverns of the Quartier Latin. He did not remain there, however, more +than two years; his father, growing apprehensive, and seeing that he had +not yet passed a single examination, kept him at Plassans and spoke of +finding a wife for him, hoping that domestic responsibility would make +him more steady. Aristide let himself be married. He had no very +clear idea of his own ambitions at this time; provincial life did not +displease him; he was battening in his little town--eating, sleeping, +and sauntering about. Felicite pleaded his cause so earnestly that +Pierre consented to board and lodge the newly-married couple, on +condition that the young man should turn his attention to the business. +From that time, however, Aristide led a life of ease and idleness. He +spent his days and the best part of his nights at the club, again and +again slipping out of his father's office like a schoolboy to go and +gamble away the few louis that his mother gave him clandestinely. + +It is necessary to have lived in the depths of the French provinces to +form an idea of the four brutifying years which the young fellow spent +in this fashion. In every little town there is a group of individuals +who thus live on their parents, pretending at times to work, but in +reality cultivating idleness with a sort of religious zeal. Aristide was +typical of these incorrigible drones. For four years he did little +but play ecarte. While he passed his time at the club, his wife, a +fair-complexioned nerveless woman, helped to ruin the Rougon business +by her inordinate passion for showy gowns and her formidable appetite, +a rather remarkable peculiarity in so frail a creature. Angele, however, +adored sky-blue ribbons and roast beef. She was the daughter of a +retired captain who was called Commander Sicardot, a good-hearted old +gentleman, who had given her a dowry of ten thousand francs--all his +savings. Pierre, in selecting Angele for his son had considered that +he had made an unexpected bargain, so lightly did he esteem Aristide. +However, that dowry of ten thousand francs, which determined his choice, +ultimately became a millstone round his neck. His son, who was already +a cunning rogue, deposited the ten thousand francs with his father, +with whom he entered into partnership, declining, with the most sincere +professions of devotion, to keep a single copper. + +"We have no need of anything," he said; "you will keep my wife and +myself, and we will reckon up later on." + +Pierre was short of money at the time, and accepted, not, however, +without some uneasiness at Aristide's disinterestedness. The latter +calculated that it would be years before his father would have ten +thousand francs in ready money to repay him, so that he and his wife +would live at the paternal expense so long as the partnership could not +be dissolved. It was an admirable investment for his few bank-notes. +When the oil-dealer understood what a foolish bargain he had made he +was not in a position to rid himself of Aristide; Angele's dowry was +involved in speculations which were turning out unfavourably. He +was exasperated, stung to the heart, at having to provide for his +daughter-in-law's voracious appetite and keep his son in idleness. Had +he been able to buy them out of the business he would twenty times have +shut his doors on those bloodsuckers, as he emphatically expressed it. +Felicite secretly defended them; the young man, who had divined her +dreams of ambition, would every evening describe to her the elaborate +plans by which he would shortly make a fortune. By a rare chance she +had remained on excellent terms with her daughter-in-law. It must be +confessed that Angele had no will of her own--she could be moved and +disposed of like a piece of furniture. + +Meantime Pierre became enraged whenever his wife spoke to him of the +success their youngest son would ultimately achieve; he declared that +he would really bring them to ruin. During the four years that the young +couple lived with him he stormed in this manner, wasting his impotent +rage in quarrels, without in the least disturbing the equanimity of +Aristide and Angele. They were located there, and there they intended +to remain like blocks of wood. At last Pierre met with a stroke of luck +which enabled him to return the ten thousand francs to his son. When, +however, he wanted to reckon up accounts with him, Aristide interposed +so much chicanery that he had to let the couple go without deducting +a copper for their board and lodging. They installed themselves but +a short distance off, in a part of the old quarter called the Place +Saint-Louis. The ten thousand francs were soon consumed. They had +everything to get for their new home. Moreover Aristide made no change +in his mode of living as long as any money was left in the house. When +he had reached the last hundred-franc note he felt rather nervous. He +was seen prowling about the town in a suspicious manner. He no longer +took his customary cup of coffee at the club; he watched feverishly +whilst play was going on, without touching a card. Poverty made him more +spiteful than he would otherwise have been. He bore the blow for a long +time, obstinately refusing to do anything in the way of work. + +In 1840 he had a son, little Maxime, whom his grandmother Felicite +fortunately sent to college, paying his fees clandestinely. That made +one mouth less at home; but poor Angele was dying of hunger, and her +husband was at last compelled to seek a situation. He secured one at the +Sub-Prefecture. He remained there nearly ten years, and only attained a +salary of eighteen hundred francs per annum. From that time forward it +was with ever increasing malevolence and rancour that he hungered for +the enjoyments of which he was deprived. His lowly position exasperated +him; the paltry hundred and fifty francs which he received every month +seemed to him an irony of fate. Never did man burn with such desire for +self-gratification. Felicite, to whom he imparted his sufferings, was +by no means grieved to see him so eager. She thought his misery would +stimulate his energies. At last, crouching in ambush as it were, with +his ears wide open, he began to look about him like a thief seeking his +opportunity. At the beginning of 1848, when his brother left for Paris, +he had a momentary idea of following him. But Eugene was a bachelor; +and he, Aristide, could not take his wife so far without money. So he +waited, scenting a catastrophe, and ready to fall on the first prey that +might come within his reach. + +The other son, Pascal, born between Eugene and Aristide, did not appear +to belong to the family. He was one of those frequent cases which give +the lie to the laws of heredity. During the evolution of a race nature +often produces some one being whose every element she derives from her +own creative powers. Nothing in the moral or physical constitution of +Pascal recalled the Rougons. Tall, with a grave and gentle face, he +had an uprightness of mind, a love of study, a retiring modesty which +contrasted strangely with the feverish ambitions and unscrupulous +intrigues of his relatives. After acquitting himself admirably of his +medical studies in Paris, he had retired, by preference, to Plassans, +notwithstanding the offers he received from his professors. He loved a +quiet provincial life; he maintained that for a studious man such a life +was preferable to the excitement of Paris. Even at Plassans he did +not exert himself to extend his practice. Very steady, and despising +fortune, he contented himself with the few patients sent him by chance. +All his pleasures were centred in a bright little house in the new town, +where he shut himself up, lovingly devoting his whole time to the study +of natural history. He was particularly fond of physiology. It was known +in the town that he frequently purchased dead bodies from the hospital +grave-digger, a circumstance which rendered him an object of horror to +delicate ladies and certain timid gentlemen. Fortunately, they did not +actually look upon him as a sorcerer; but his practice diminished, +and he was regarded as an eccentric character, to whom people of good +society ought not to entrust even a finger-tip, for fear of being +compromised. The mayor's wife was one day heard to say: "I would sooner +die than be attended by that gentleman. He smells of death." + +From that time, Pascal was condemned. He seemed to rejoice at the mute +terror which he inspired. The fewer patients he had, the more time he +could devote to his favourite sciences. As his fees were very moderate, +the poorer people remained faithful to him; he earned just enough to +live, and lived contentedly, a thousand leagues away from the rest +of the country, absorbed in the pure delight of his researches and +discoveries. From time to time he sent a memoir to the Academie des +Sciences at Paris. Plassans did not know that this eccentric character, +this gentleman who smelt of death was well-known and highly-esteemed +in the world of science. When people saw him starting on Sundays for an +excursion among the Garrigues hills, with a botanist's bag hung round +his neck and a geologist's hammer in his hand, they would shrug their +shoulders and institute a comparison between him and some other doctor +of the town who was noted for his smart cravat, his affability to the +ladies, and the delicious odour of violets which his garments always +diffused. Pascal's parents did not understand him any better than other +people. When Felicite saw him adopting such a strange, unpretentious +mode of life she was stupefied, and reproached him for disappointing +her hopes. She, who tolerated Aristide's idleness because she thought it +would prove fertile, could not view without regret the slow progress +of Pascal, his partiality for obscurity and contempt for riches, his +determined resolve to lead a life of retirement. He was certainly not +the child who would ever gratify her vanities. + +"But where do you spring from?" she would sometimes say to him. "You +are not one of us. Look at your brothers, how they keep their eyes open, +striving to profit by the education we have given them, whilst you waste +your time on follies and trifles. You make a very poor return to us, who +have ruined ourselves for your education. No, you are certainly not one +of us." + +Pascal, who preferred to laugh whenever he was called upon to feel +annoyed, replied cheerfully, but not without a sting of irony: "Oh, +you need not be frightened, I shall never drive you to the verge of +bankruptcy; when any of you are ill, I will attend you for nothing." + +Moreover, though he never displayed any repugnance to his relatives, +he very rarely saw them, following in this wise his natural instincts. +Before Aristide obtained a situation at the Sub-Prefecture, Pascal +had frequently come to his assistance. For his part he had remained a +bachelor. He had not the least suspicion of the grave events that were +preparing. For two or three years he had been studying the great problem +of heredity, comparing the human and animal races together, and becoming +absorbed in the strange results which he obtained. Certain observations +which he had made with respect to himself and his relatives had been, so +to say, the starting-point of his studies. The common people, with their +natural intuition, so well understood that he was quite different from +the other Rougons, that they invariably called him Monsieur Pascal, +without ever adding his family name. + +Three years prior to the Revolution of 1848 Pierre and Felicite retired +from business. Old age was coming on apace; they were both past fifty +and were weary enough of the struggle. In face of their ill fortune, +they were afraid of being ultimately ruined if they obstinately +persisted in the fight. Their sons, by disappointing their expectations, +had dealt them the final blow. Now that they despaired of ever being +enriched by them, they were anxious to make some little provision for +old age. They retired with forty thousand francs at the utmost. This +sum provided an annual income of two thousand francs, just sufficient +to live in a small way in the provinces. Fortunately, they were by +themselves, having succeeded in marrying their daughters Marthe and +Sidonie, the former of whom resided at Marseilles and the latter in +Paris. + +After they had settled their affairs they would much have liked to take +up their abode in the new town, the quarter of the retired traders, but +they dared not do so. Their income was too small; they were afraid that +they would cut but a poor figure there. So, as a sort of compromise, +they took apartments in the Rue de la Banne, the street which separates +the old quarter from the new one. As their abode was one of the row +of houses bordering the old quarter, they still lived among the common +people; nevertheless, they could see the town of the richer classes from +their windows, so that they were just on the threshold of the promised +land. + +Their apartments, situated on the second floor, consisted of three +large rooms--dining-room, drawing-room, and bedroom. The first floor was +occupied by the owner of the house, a stick and umbrella manufacturer, +who had a shop on the ground floor. The house, which was narrow and +by no means deep, had only two storeys. Felicite moved into it with a +bitter pang. In the provinces, to live in another person's house is an +avowal of poverty. Every family of position at Plassans has a house +of its own, landed property being very cheap there. Pierre kept the +purse-strings well tied; he would not hear of any embellishments. The +old furniture, faded, worn, damaged though it was, had to suffice, +without even being repaired. Felicite, however, who keenly felt the +necessity for this parsimony, exerted herself to give fresh polish to +all the wreckage; she herself knocked nails into some of the furniture +which was more dilapidated than the rest, and darned the frayed velvet +of the arm-chairs. + +The dining-room, which, like the kitchen, was at the back of the house, +was nearly bare; a table and a dozen chairs were lost in the gloom of +this large apartment, whose window faced the grey wall of a neighbouring +building. As no strangers ever went into the bedroom, Felicite had +stowed all her useless furniture there; thus, besides a bedstead, +wardrobe, secretaire, and wash-stand, it contained two cradles, one +perched atop of the other, a sideboard whose doors were missing, and an +empty bookcase, venerable ruins which the old woman could not make up +her mind to part with. All her cares, however, were bestowed upon the +drawing-room, and she almost succeeded in making it comfortable and +decent. The furniture was covered with yellowish velvet with satin +flowers; in the middle stood a round table with a marble top, while a +couple of pier tables, surmounted by mirrors, leant against the walls at +either end of the room. There was even a carpet, which just covered the +middle of the floor, and a chandelier in a white muslin cover which the +flies had spotted with black specks. On the walls hung six lithographs +representing the great battles of Napoleon I. Moreover, the furniture +dated from the first years of the Empire. The only embellishment that +Felicite could obtain was to have the walls hung with orange-hued paper +covered with large flowers. Thus the drawing room had a strange yellow +glow, which filled it with an artificial dazzling light. The furniture, +the paper, and the window curtains were yellow; the carpet and even the +marble table-tops showed touches of yellow. However, when the curtains +were drawn the colours harmonised fairly well and the drawing-room +looked almost decent. + +But Felicite had dreamed of quite a different kind of luxury. She +regarded with mute despair this ill-concealed misery. She usually +occupied the drawing-room, the best apartment in the house, and the +sweetest and bitterest of her pastimes was to sit at one of the windows +which overlooked the Rue de la Banne and gave her a side view of the +square in front of the Sub-Prefecture. That was the paradise of her +dreams. That little, neat, tidy square, with its bright houses, seemed +to her a Garden of Eden. She would have given ten years of her life to +possess one of those habitations. The house at the left-hand corner, +in which the receiver of taxes resided, particularly tempted her. She +contemplated it with eager longing. Sometimes, when the windows of +this abode were open, she could catch a glimpse of rich furniture and +tasteful elegance which made her burn with envy. + +At this period the Rougons passed through a curious crisis of vanity +and unsatiated appetite. The few proper feelings which they had once +entertained had become embittered. They posed as victims of evil +fortune, not with resignation, however, for they seemed still more +keenly determined that they would not die before they had satisfied +their ambitions. In reality, they did not abandon any of their hopes, +notwithstanding their advanced age. Felicite professed to feel a +presentiment that she would die rich. However, each day of poverty +weighed them down the more. When they recapitulated their vain +attempts--when they recalled their thirty years' struggle, and the +defection of their children--when they saw their airy castles end in +this yellow drawing-room, whose shabbiness they could only conceal by +drawing the curtains, they were overcome with bitter rage. Then, as a +consolation, they would think of plans for making a colossal fortune, +seeking all sorts of devices. Felicite would fancy herself the winner +of the grand prize of a hundred thousand francs in some lottery, while +Pierre pictured himself carrying out some wonderful speculation. They +lived with one sole thought--that of making a fortune immediately, in a +few hours--of becoming rich and enjoying themselves, if only for a year. +Their whole beings tended to this, stubbornly, without a pause. And they +still cherished some faint hopes with regard to their sons, with that +peculiar egotism of parents who cannot bear to think that they have sent +their children to college without deriving some personal advantage from +it. + +Felicite did not appear to have aged; she was still the same dark little +woman, ever on the move, buzzing about like a grasshopper. Any person +walking behind her on the pavement would have thought her a girl of +fifteen, from the lightness of her step and the angularity of her +shoulders and waist. Even her face had scarcely undergone any change; it +was simply rather more sunken, rather more suggestive of the snout of a +pole-cat. + +As for Pierre Rougon, he had grown corpulent, and had become a highly +respectable looking citizen, who only lacked a decent income to make him +a very dignified individual. His pale, flabby face, his heaviness, +his languid manner, seemed redolent of wealth. He had one day heard a +peasant who did not know him say: "Ah! he's some rich fellow, that fat +old gentleman there. He's no cause to worry about his dinner!" This +was a remark which stung him to the heart, for he considered it cruel +mockery to be only a poor devil while possessing the bulk and contented +gravity of a millionaire. When he shaved on Sundays in front of a small +five-sou looking-glass hanging from the fastening of a window, he would +often think that in a dress coat and white tie he would cut a far better +figure at the Sub-Prefect's than such or such a functionary of Plassans. +This peasant's son, who had grown sallow from business worries, and +corpulent from a sedentary life, whose hateful passions were hidden +beneath naturally placid features, really had that air of solemn +imbecility which gives a man a position in an official salon. People +imagined that his wife held a rod over him, but they were mistaken. He +was as self-willed as a brute. Any determined expression of extraneous +will would drive him into a violent rage. Felicite was far too supple to +thwart him openly; with her light fluttering nature she did not attack +obstacles in front. When she wished to obtain something from her +husband, or drive him the way she thought best, she would buzz round him +in her grasshopper fashion, stinging him on all sides, and returning +to the charge a hundred times until he yielded almost unconsciously. He +felt, moreover, that she was shrewder than he, and tolerated her advice +fairly patiently. Felicite, more useful than the coach fly, would +sometimes do all the work while she was thus buzzing round Pierre's +ears. Strange to say, the husband and wife never accused each other +of their ill-success. The only bone of contention between them was the +education lavished on their children. + +The Revolution of 1848 found all the Rougons on the lookout, exasperated +by their bad luck, and disposed to lay violent hands on fortune if ever +they should meet her in a byway. They were a family of bandits lying in +wait, ready to rifle and plunder. Eugene kept an eye on Paris; Aristide +dreamed of strangling Plassans; the mother and father, perhaps the most +eager of the lot, intended to work on their own account, and reap +some additional advantage from their sons' doings. Pascal alone, that +discreet wooer of science, led the happy, indifferent life of a lover in +his bright little house in the new town. + + + +CHAPTER III + +In that closed, sequestered town of Plassans, where class distinction +was so clearly marked in 1848, the commotion caused by political events +was very slight. Even at the present day the popular voice sounds very +faintly there; the middle classes bring their prudence to bear in the +matter, the nobility their mute despair, and the clergy their shrewd +cunning. Kings may usurp thrones, or republics may be established, +without scarcely any stir in the town. Plassans sleeps while Paris +fights. But though on the surface the town may appear calm and +indifferent, in the depths hidden work goes on which it is curious +to study. If shots are rare in the streets, intrigues consume the +drawing-rooms of both the new town and the Saint-Marc quarter. Until the +year 1830 the masses were reckoned of no account. Even at the present +time they are similarly ignored. Everything is settled between the +clergy, the nobility, and the bourgeoisie. The priests, who are very +numerous, give the cue to the local politics; they lay subterranean +mines, as it were, and deal blows in the dark, following a prudent +tactical system, which hardly allows of a step in advance or retreat +even in the course of ten years. The secret intrigues of men who desire +above all things to avoid noise requires special shrewdness, a special +aptitude for dealing with small matters, and a patient endurance such +as one only finds in persons callous to all passions. It is thus that +provincial dilatoriness, which is so freely ridiculed in Paris, is full +of treachery, secret stabs, hidden victories and defeats. These worthy +men, particularly when their interests are at stake, kill at home with +a snap of the fingers, as we, the Parisians, kill with cannon in the +public thoroughfares. + +The political history of Plassans, like that of all little towns in +Provence, is singularly characteristic. Until 1830, the inhabitants +remained observant Catholics and fervent royalists; even the lower +classes only swore by God and their legitimate sovereigns. Then there +came a sudden change; faith departed, the working and middle classes +deserted the cause of legitimacy, and gradually espoused the great +democratic movement of our time. When the Revolution of 1848 broke out, +the nobility and the clergy were left alone to labour for the triumph +of Henri V. For a long time they had regarded the accession of the +Orleanists as a ridiculous experiment, which sooner or later would bring +back the Bourbons; although their hopes were singularly shaken, they +nevertheless continued the struggle, scandalised by the defection of +their former allies, whom they strove to win back to their cause. The +Saint-Marc quarter, assisted by all the parish priests, set to +work. Among the middle classes, and especially among the people, the +enthusiasm was very great on the morrow of the events of February; these +apprentice republicans were in haste to display their revolutionary +fervour. As regards the gentry of the new town, however, the +conflagration, bright though it was, lasted no longer than a fire of +straw. The small houseowners and retired tradespeople who had had their +good days, or had made snug little fortunes under the monarchy, were +soon seized with panic; the Republic, with its constant shocks and +convulsions, made them tremble for their money and their life of +selfishness. + +Consequently, when the Clerical reaction of 1849 declared itself, nearly +all the middle classes passed over to the Conservative party. They were +received with open arms. The new town had never before had such close +relations with the Saint-Marc quarter: some of the nobility even went +so far as to shake hands with lawyers and retired oil-dealers. This +unexpected familiarity kindled the enthusiasm of the new quarter, which +henceforward waged bitter warfare against the republican government. To +bring about such a coalition, the clergy had to display marvellous skill +and endurance. The nobility of Plassans for the most part lay prostrate, +as if half dead. They retained their faith, but lethargy had fallen on +them, and they preferred to remain inactive, allowing the heavens to +work their will. They would gladly have contented themselves with silent +protest, feeling, perhaps, a vague presentiment that their divinities +were dead, and that there was nothing left for them to do but rejoin +them. Even at this period of confusion, when the catastrophe of 1848 was +calculated to give them a momentary hope of the return of the Bourbons, +they showed themselves spiritless and indifferent, speaking of rushing +into the melee, yet never quitting their hearths without a pang of +regret. + +The clergy battled indefatigably against this feeling of impotence and +resignation. They infused a kind of passion into their work: a priest, +when he despairs, struggles all the more fiercely. The fundamental +policy of the Church is to march straight forward; even though she +may have to postpone the accomplishment of her projects for several +centuries, she never wastes a single hour, but is always pushing forward +with increasing energy. So it was the clergy who led the reaction of +Plassans; the nobility only lent them their name, nothing more. The +priests hid themselves behind the nobles, restrained them, directed +them, and even succeeded in endowing them with a semblance of life. When +they had induced them to overcome their repugnance so far as to make +common cause with the middle classes, they believed themselves certain +of victory. The ground was marvellously well prepared. This ancient +royalist town, with its population of peaceful householders and timorous +tradespeople, was destined to range itself, sooner or later, on the side +of law and order. The clergy, by their tactics, hastened the conversion. +After gaining the landlords of the new town to their side, they even +succeeded in convincing the little retail-dealers of the old quarter. +From that time the reactionary movement obtained complete possession of +the town. All opinions were represented in this reaction; such a mixture +of embittered Liberals, Legitimists, Orleanists, Bonapartists, and +Clericals had never before been seen. It mattered little, however, at +that time. The sole object was to kill the Republic; and the Republic +was at the point of death. Only a fraction of the people--a thousand +workmen at most, out of the ten thousand souls in the town--still +saluted the tree of liberty planted in the middle of the square in front +of the Sub-Prefecture. + +The shrewdest politicians of Plassans, those who led the reactionary +movement, did not scent the approach of the Empire until very much +later. Prince Louis Napoleon's popularity seemed to them a mere passing +fancy of the multitude. His person inspired them with but little +admiration. They reckoned him a nonentity, a dreamer, incapable of +laying his hands on France, and especially of maintaining his authority. +To them he was only a tool whom they would make use of, who would clear +the way for them, and whom they would turn out as soon as the hour +arrived for the rightful Pretender to show himself.[*] However, months +went by, and they became uneasy. It was only then that they vaguely +perceived they were being duped: they had no time, however, to take any +steps; the Coup d'Etat burst over their heads, and they were compelled +to applaud. That great abomination, the Republic, had been assassinated; +that, at least, was some sort of triumph. So the clergy and the nobility +accepted accomplished facts with resignation; postponing, until +later, the realisation of their hopes, and making amends for their +miscalculations by uniting with the Bonapartists for the purpose of +crushing the last Republicans. + + [*] The Count de Chambord, "Henri V." + +It was these events that laid the foundation of the Rougons' fortune. +After being mixed up with the various phases of the crisis, they rose to +eminence on the ruins of liberty. These bandits had been lying in wait +to rob the Republic; as soon as it had been strangled, they helped to +plunder it. + +After the events of February 1848, Felicite, who had the keenest scent +of all the members of the family, perceived that they were at last on +the right track. So she began to flutter round her husband, goading +him on to bestir himself. The first rumours of the Revolution that had +overturned King Louis Philippe had terrified Pierre. When his wife, +however, made him understand that they had little to lose and much to +gain from a convulsion, he soon came round to her way of thinking. + +"I don't know what you can do," Felicite repeatedly said, "but it seems +to me that there's plenty to be done. Did not Monsieur de Carnavant say +to us one day that he would be rich if ever Henri V. should return, and +that this sovereign would magnificently recompense those who had worked +for his restoration? Perhaps our fortune lies in that direction. We may +yet be lucky." + +The Marquis de Carnavant, the nobleman who, according to the scandalous +talk of the town, had been on very familiar terms with Felicite's +mother, used occasionally to visit the Rougons. Evil tongues asserted +that Madame Rougon resembled him. He was a little, lean, active man, +seventy-five years old at that time, and Felicite certainly appeared to +be taking his features and manner as she grew older. It was said that +the wreck of his fortune, which had already been greatly diminished by +his father at the time of the Emigration, had been squandered on women. +Indeed, he cheerfully acknowledged his poverty. Brought up by one of +his relatives, the Count de Valqueyras, he lived the life of a parasite, +eating at the count's table and occupying a small apartment just under +his roof. + +"Little one," he would often say to Felicite, as he patted her on +the cheek, "if ever Henri V. gives me a fortune, I will make you my +heiress!" + +He still called Felicite "little one," even when she was fifty years +old. It was of these friendly pats, of these repeated promises of an +inheritance, that Madame Rougon was thinking when she endeavoured +to drive her husband into politics. Monsieur de Carnavant had often +bitterly lamented his inability to render her any assistance. No +doubt he would treat her like a father if ever he should acquire some +influence. Pierre, to whom his wife half explained the situation in +veiled terms, declared his readiness to move in any direction indicated. + +The marquis's peculiar position qualified him to act as an energetic +agent of the reactionary movement at Plassans from the first days of the +Republic. This bustling little man, who had everything to gain from the +return of his legitimate sovereigns, worked assiduously for their cause. +While the wealthy nobility of the Saint-Marc quarter were slumbering in +mute despair, fearing, perhaps that they might compromise themselves and +again be condemned to exile, he multiplied himself, as it were, spread +the propaganda and rallied faithful ones together. He was a weapon whose +hilt was held by an invisible hand. From that time forward he paid daily +visits to the Rougons. He required a centre of operations. His relative, +Monsieur de Valqueyras, had forbidden him to bring any of his associates +into his house, so he had chosen Felicite's yellow drawing-room. +Moreover, he very soon found Pierre a valuable assistant. He could not +go himself and preach the cause of Legitimacy to the petty traders and +workmen of the old quarter; they would have hooted him. Pierre, on the +other hand, who had lived among these people, spoke their language and +knew their wants, was able to catechise them in a friendly way. He thus +became an indispensable man. In less than a fortnight the Rougons were +more determined royalists than the king himself. The marquis, perceiving +Pierre's zeal, shrewdly sheltered himself behind him. What was the use +of making himself conspicuous, when a man with such broad shoulders was +willing to bear on them the burden of all the follies of a party? He +allowed Pierre to reign, puff himself out with importance and speak +with authority, content to restrain or urge him on, according to +the necessities of the cause. Thus, the old oil-dealer soon became a +personage of mark. In the evening, when they were alone, Felicite used +to say to him: "Go on, don't be frightened. We're on the right track. If +this continues we shall be rich; we shall have a drawing-room like the +tax-receiver's, and be able to entertain people." + +A little party of Conservatives had already been formed at the Rougons' +house, and meetings were held every evening in the yellow drawing-room +to declaim against the Republic. + +Among those who came were three or four retired merchants who trembled +for their money, and clamoured with all their might for a wise and +strong government. An old almond-dealer, a member of the Municipal +Council, Monsieur Isidore Granoux, was the head of this group. His +hare-lipped mouth was cloven a little way from the nose; his round eyes, +his air of mingled satisfaction and astonishment, made him resemble a +fat goose whose digestion is attended by wholesome terror of the cook. +He spoke little, having no command of words; and he only pricked up +his ears when anyone accused the Republicans of wishing to pillage the +houses of the rich; whereupon he would colour up to such a degree as +to make one fear an approaching apoplectic fit, and mutter low +imprecations, in which the words "idlers," "scoundrels," "thieves," and +"assassins" frequently recurred. + +All those who frequented the yellow drawing-room were not, however, +as heavy as this fat goose. A rich landowner, Monsieur Roudier, with a +plump, insinuating face, used to discourse there for hours altogether, +with all the passion of an Orleanist whose calculations had been upset +by the fall of Louis Philippe. He had formerly been a hosier at Paris, +and a purveyor to the Court, but had now retired to Plassans. He had +made his son a magistrate, relying on the Orleanist party to promote him +to the highest dignities. The revolution having ruined all his hopes, he +had rushed wildly into the reaction. His fortune, his former commercial +relations with the Tuileries, which he transformed into friendly +intercourse, that prestige which is enjoyed by every man in the +provinces who has made his money in Paris and deigns to come and spend +it in a far away department, gave him great influence in the district; +some persons listened to him as though he were an oracle. + +However, the strongest intellect of the yellow drawing-room was +certainly Commander Sicardot, Aristide's father-in-law. Of Herculean +frame, with a brick-red face, scarred and planted with tufts of grey +hair, he was one of the most glorious old dolts of the Grande Armee. +During the February Revolution he had been exasperated with the +street warfare and never wearied of referring to it, proclaiming with +indignation that this kind of fighting was shameful: whereupon he +recalled with pride the grand reign of Napoleon. + +Another person seen at the Rougons' house was an individual with clammy +hands and equivocal look, one Monsieur Vuillet, a bookseller, who +supplied all the devout ladies of the town with holy images and +rosaries. Vuillet dealt in both classical and religious works; he was +a strict Catholic, a circumstance which insured him the custom of the +numerous convents and parish churches. Further, by a stroke of genius he +had added to his business the publication of a little bi-weekly +journal, the "Gazette de Plassans," which was devoted exclusively to +the interests of the clergy. This paper involved an annual loss of a +thousand francs, but it made him the champion of the Church, and enabled +him to dispose of his sacred unsaleable stock. Though he was virtually +illiterate and could not even spell correctly, he himself wrote the +articles of the "Gazette" with a humility and rancour that compensated +for his lack of talent. The marquis, in entering on the campaign, had +perceived immediately the advantage that might be derived from the +co-operation of this insipid sacristan with the coarse, mercenary pen. +After the February Revolution the articles in the "Gazette" contained +fewer mistakes; the marquis revised them. + +One can now imagine what a singular spectacle the Rougons' yellow +drawing-room presented every evening. All opinions met there to bark at +the Republic. Their hatred of that institution made them agree together. +The marquis, who never missed a meeting, appeased by his presence the +little squabbles which occasionally arose between the commander and +the other adherents. These plebeians were inwardly flattered by the +handshakes which he distributed on his arrival and departure. Roudier, +however, like a free-thinker of the Rue Saint-Honore, asserted that the +marquis had not a copper to bless himself with, and was disposed to make +light of him. M. de Carnavant on his side preserved the amiable smile of +a nobleman lowering himself to the level of these middle class people, +without making any of those contemptuous grimaces which any other +resident of the Saint-Marc quarter would have thought fit under such +circumstances. The parasite life he had led had rendered him supple. He +was the life and soul of the group, commanding in the name of unknown +personages whom he never revealed. "They want this, they don't want +that," he would say. The concealed divinities who thus watched over +the destinies of Plassans from behind some cloud, without appearing to +interfere directly in public matters, must have been certain priests, +the great political agents of the country. When the marquis pronounced +that mysterious word "they," which inspired the assembly with such +marvellous respect, Vuillet confessed, with a gesture of pious devotion, +that he knew them very well. + +The happiest person in all this was Felicite. At last she had people +coming to her drawing-room. It was true she felt a little ashamed of her +old yellow velvet furniture. She consoled herself, however, thinking +of the rich things she would purchase when the good cause should have +triumphed. The Rougons had, in the end, regarded their royalism as very +serious. Felicite went as far as to say, when Roudier was not present, +that if they had not made a fortune in the oil business the fault lay in +the monarchy of July. This was her mode of giving a political tinge to +their poverty. She had a friendly word for everybody, even for Granoux, +inventing each evening some new polite method of waking him up when it +was time for departure. + +The drawing-room, that little band of Conservatives belonging to +all parties, and daily increasing in numbers, soon wielded powerful +influence. Owing to the diversified characters of its members, and +especially to the secret impulse which each one received from the +clergy, it became the centre of the reactionary movement and spread its +influence throughout Plassans. The policy of the marquis, who sank his +own personality, transformed Rougon into the leader of the party. The +meetings were held at his house, and this circumstance sufficed in the +eyes of most people to make him the head of the group, and draw public +attention to him. The whole work was attributed to him; he was believed +to be the chief artisan of the movement which was gradually bringing +over to the Conservative party those who had lately been enthusiastic +Republicans. There are some situations which benefit only persons of bad +repute. These lay the foundations of their fortune where men of better +position and more influence would never dare to risk theirs. Roudier, +Granoux, and the others, all men of means and respectability, certainly +seemed a thousand times preferable to Pierre as the acting leaders of +the Conservative party. But none of them would have consented to turn +his drawing-room into a political centre. Their convictions did not go +so far as to induce them to compromise themselves openly; in fact, they +were only so many provincial babblers, who liked to inveigh against the +Republic at a neighbour's house as long as the neighbour was willing to +bear the responsibility of their chatter. The game was too risky. There +was no one among the middle classes of Plassans who cared to play it +except the Rougons, whose ungratified longings urged them on to extreme +measures. + +In the month of April, 1849, Eugene suddenly left Paris, and came to +stay with his father for a fortnight. Nobody ever knew the purpose of +this journey. It is probable that Eugene wanted to sound his native +town, to ascertain whether he might successfully stand as a candidate +for the legislature which was about to replace the Constituent Assembly. +He was too shrewd to risk a failure. No doubt public opinion appeared to +him little in his favour, for he abstained from any attempt. It was not +known at Plassans what had become of him in Paris, what he was doing +there. On his return to his native place, folks found him less heavy and +somnolent than formerly. They surrounded him and endeavoured to make him +speak out concerning the political situation. But he feigned ignorance +and compelled them to talk. A little perspicacity would have detected +that beneath his apparent unconcern there was great anxiety with regard +to the political opinions of the town. However, he seemed to be sounding +the ground more on behalf of a party than on his own account. + +Although he had renounced all hope for himself, he remained at Plassans +until the end of the month, assiduously attending the meetings in the +yellow drawing-room. As soon as the bell rang, announcing the first +visitor, he would take up his position in one of the window recesses as +far as possible from the lamp. And he remained there the whole +evening, resting his chin on the palm of his right hand, and listening +religiously. The greatest absurdities did not disturb his equanimity. +He nodded approval even to the wild grunts of Granoux. When anyone asked +him his own opinion, he politely repeated that of the majority. Nothing +seemed to tire his patience, neither the hollow dreams of the marquis, +who spoke of the Bourbons as if 1815 were a recent date, nor the +effusions of citizen Roudier, who grew quite pathetic when he recounted +how many pairs of socks he had supplied to the citizen king, Louis +Philippe. On the contrary, he seemed quite at his ease in this Tower of +Babel. Sometimes, when these grotesque personages were storming against +the Republic, his eyes would smile, while his lips retained their +expression of gravity. His meditative manner of listening, and his +invariable complacency, had earned him the sympathy of everyone. He was +considered a nonentity, but a very decent fellow. Whenever an old oil or +almond dealer failed to get a hearing, amidst the clamour, for some plan +by which he could save France if he were only a master, he took himself +off to Eugene and shouted his marvellous suggestions in his ear. And +Eugene gently nodded his head, as though delighted with the grand +projects he was listening to. Vuillet, alone, regarded him with a +suspicious eye. This bookseller, half-sacristan and half-journalist, +spoke less than the others, but was more observant. He had noticed +that Eugene occasionally conversed at times in a corner with Commander +Sicardot. So he determined to watch them, but never succeeded in +overhearing a word. Eugene silenced the commander by a wink whenever +Vuillet approached them. From that time, Sicardot never spoke of the +Napoleons without a mysterious smile. + +Two days before his return to Paris, Eugene met his brother Aristide, on +the Cours Sauvaire, and the latter accompanied him for a short distance +with the importunity of a man in search of advice. As a matter of fact, +Aristide was in great perplexity. Ever since the proclamation of the +Republic, he had manifested the most lively enthusiasm for the new +government. His intelligence, sharpened by two years' stay at Paris, +enabled him to see farther than the thick heads of Plassans. He divined +the powerlessness of the Legitimists and Orleanists, without clearly +distinguishing, however, what third thief would come and juggle the +Republic away. At all hazard he had ranged himself on the side of the +victors, and he had severed his connection with his father, whom he +publicly denounced as an old fool, an old dolt whom the nobility had +bamboozled. + +"Yet my mother is an intelligent woman," he would add. "I should never +have thought her capable of inducing her husband to join a party whose +hopes are simply chimerical. They are taking the right course to end +their lives in poverty. But then women know nothing about politics." + +For his part he wanted to sell himself as dearly as possible. His great +anxiety as to the direction in which the wind was blowing, so that he +might invariably range himself on the side of that party, which, in +the hour of triumph, would be able to reward him munificently. +Unfortunately, he was groping in the dark. Shut up in his far away +province, without a guide, without any precise information, he felt +quite lost. While waiting for events to trace out a sure and certain +path, he preserved the enthusiastic republican attitude which he had +assumed from the very first day. Thanks to this demeanour, he remained +at the Sub-Prefecture; and his salary was even raised. Burning, however, +with the desire to play a prominent part, he persuaded a bookseller, +one of Vuillet's rivals, to establish a democratic journal, to which +he became one of the most energetic contributors. Under his impulse the +"Independant" waged merciless warfare against the reactionaries. But the +current gradually carried him further than he wished to go; he ended by +writing inflammatory articles, which made him shudder when he re-perused +them. It was remarked at Plassans that he directed a series of attacks +against all whom his father was in the habit of receiving of an evening +in his famous yellow drawing-room. The fact is that the wealth of +Roudier and Granoux exasperated Aristide to such a degree as to make him +forget all prudence. Urged on by his jealous, insatiate bitterness, +he had already made the middle classes his irreconcilable enemy, +when Eugene's arrival and demeanour at Plassans caused him great +consternation. He confessed to himself that his brother was a skilful +man. According to him, that big, drowsy fellow always slept with one +eye open, like a cat lying in wait before a mouse-hole. And now here was +Eugene spending entire evenings in the yellow drawing-room, and devoting +himself to those same grotesque personages whom he, Aristide, had so +mercilessly ridiculed. When he discovered from the gossip of the town +that his brother shook hands with Granoux and the marquis, he asked +himself, with considerable anxiety, what was the meaning of it? Could he +himself have been deceived? Had the Legitimists or the Orleanists +really any chance of success? The thought terrified him. He lost his +equilibrium, and, as frequently happens, he fell upon the Conservatives +with increased rancour, as if to avenge his own blindness. + +On the evening prior to the day when he stopped Eugene on the Cours +Sauvaire, he had published, in the "Independant," a terrible article +on the intrigues of the clergy, in response to a short paragraph from +Vuillet, who had accused the Republicans of desiring to demolish the +churches. Vuillet was Aristide's bugbear. Never a week passed but these +two journalists exchanged the greatest insults. In the provinces, +where a periphrastic style is still cultivated, polemics are clothed in +high-sounding phrases. Aristide called his adversary "brother Judas," +or "slave of Saint-Anthony." Vuillet gallantly retorted by terming the +Republican "a monster glutted with blood whose ignoble purveyor was the +guillotine." + +In order to sound his brother, Aristide, who did not dare to appear +openly uneasy, contented himself with asking: "Did you read my article +yesterday? What do you think of it?" + +Eugene lightly shrugged his shoulders. "You're a simpleton, brother," +was his sole reply. + +"Then you think Vuillet right?" cried the journalist, turning pale; "you +believe in Vuillet's triumph?" + +"I!--Vuillet----" + +He was certainly about to add, "Vuillet is as big a fool as you are." +But, observing his brother's distorted face anxiously extended towards +him, he experienced sudden mistrust. "Vuillet has his good points," he +calmly replied. + +On parting from his brother, Aristide felt more perplexed than before. +Eugene must certainly have been making game of him, for Vuillet was +really the most abominable person imaginable. However, he determined to +be prudent and not tie himself down any more; for he wished to have his +hands free should he ever be called upon to help any party in strangling +the Republic. + +Eugene, on the morning of his departure, an hour before getting into the +diligence, took his father into the bedroom and had a long conversation +with him. Felicite, who remained in the drawing-room, vainly tried to +catch what they were saying. They spoke in whispers, as if they feared +lest a single word should be heard outside. When at last they quitted +the bedroom they seemed in high spirits. After kissing his father and +mother, Eugene, who usually spoke in a drawling tone, exclaimed with +vivacity: "You have understood me, father? There lies our fortune. We +must work with all our energy in that direction. Trust in me." + +"I'll follow your instructions faithfully," Rougon replied. "Only don't +forget what I asked you as the price of my cooperation." + +"If we succeed your demands shall be satisfied, I give you my word. +Moreover, I will write to you and guide you according to the direction +which events may take. Mind, no panic or excitement. You must obey me +implicitly." + +"What have you been plotting there?" Felicite asked inquisitively. + +"My dear mother," Eugene replied with a smile, "you have had too +little faith in me thitherto to induce me to confide in you my hopes, +particularly as at present they are only based on probabilities. To +be able to understand me you would require faith. However, father will +inform you when the right time comes." + +Then, as Felicite assumed the demeanour of a woman who feels somewhat +piqued, he added in her ear, as he kissed her once more: "I take after +you, although you disowned me. Too much intelligence would be dangerous +at the present moment. When the crisis comes, it is you who will have to +manage the business." + +He then quitted the room, but, suddenly re-opening the door, exclaimed +in an imperious tone: "Above all things, do not trust Aristide; he is a +mar-all, who would spoil everything. I have studied him sufficiently to +feel certain that he will always fall on his feet. Don't have any +pity; if we make a fortune, he'll know well enough how to rob us of his +share." + +When Eugene had gone, Felicite endeavoured to ferret out the secret that +was being hidden from her. She knew her husband too well to interrogate +him openly. He would have angrily replied that it was no business of +hers. In spite, however, of the clever tactics she pursued, she learnt +absolutely nothing. Eugene had chosen a good confidant for those +troubled times, when the greatest discretion was necessary. Pierre, +flattered by his son's confidence, exaggerated that passive ponderosity +which made him so impenetrable. When Felicite saw she would not learn +anything from him, she ceased to flutter round him. On one point only +did she remain inquisitive, but in this respect her curiosity was +intense. The two men had mentioned a price stipulated by Pierre himself. +What could that price be? This after all was the sole point of interest +for Felicite, who did not care a rap for political matters. She knew +that her husband must have sold himself dearly, but she was burning to +know the nature of the bargain. One evening, when they had gone to bed, +finding Pierre in a good humour, she brought the conversation round to +the discomforts of their poverty. + +"It's quite time to put an end to this," she said. "We have been ruining +ourselves in oil and fuel since those gentlemen have been coming here. +And who will pay the reckoning? Nobody perhaps." + +Her husband fell into the trap, and smiled with complacent superiority. +"Patience," said he. And with an air of shrewdness he looked into his +wife's eyes and added: "Would you be glad to be the wife of a receiver +of taxes?" + +Felicite's face flushed with a joyous glow. She sat up in bed and +clapped her old withered little hands like a child. + +"Really?" she stammered. "At Plassans?" + +Pierre, without replying, gave a long affirmative nod. He enjoyed his +consort's astonishment and emotion. + +"But," she at last resumed, half sitting, "you would have to deposit +an enormous sum as security. I have heard that our neighbour, Monsieur +Peirotte, had to deposit eighty thousand francs with the Treasury." + +"Eh!" said the retired oil-dealer, "that's nothing to do with me; Eugene +will see to that. He will get the money advanced by a banker in Paris. +You see, I selected an appointment bringing in a good income. Eugene at +first made a wry face, saying one must be rich to occupy such posts, to +which influential men were usually nominated. I persisted, however, and +he yielded. To be a receiver of taxes one need not know either Greek +or Latin. I shall have a representative, like Monsieur Peirotte, and he +will do all the work." + +Felicite listened to him with rapture. + +"I guessed, however," he continued, "what it was that worried our dear +son. We're not much liked here. People know that we have no means, and +will make themselves obnoxious. But all sorts of things occur in a +time of crisis. Eugene wished to get me an appointment in another town. +However, I objected; I want to remain at Plassans." + +"Yes, yes, we must remain here," the old woman quickly replied. "We have +suffered here, and here we must triumph. Ah! I'll crush them all, those +fine ladies on the Mail, who scornfully eye my woollen dresses! I didn't +think of the appointment of receiver of taxes at all; I thought you +wanted to become mayor." + +"Mayor! Nonsense. That appointment is honorary. Eugene also mentioned +the mayoralty to me. I replied: 'I'll accept, if you give me an income +of fifteen thousand francs.'" + +This conversation, in which high figures flew about like rockets, quite +excited Felicite. She felt delightfully buoyant. But at last she put on +a devout air, and gravely said: "Come, let us reckon it out. How much +will you earn?" + +"Well," said Pierre, "the fixed salary, I believe, is three thousand +francs." + +"Three thousand," Felicite counted. + +"Then there is so much per cent on the receipts, which at Plassans, may +produce the sum of twelve thousand francs." + +"That makes fifteen thousand." + +"Yes, about fifteen thousand francs. That's what Peirotte earns. That's +not all. Peirotte does a little banking business on his own account. +It's allowed. Perhaps I shall be disposed to make a venture when I feel +luck on my side." + +"Well, let us say twenty thousand. Twenty thousand francs a year!" +repeated Felicite, overwhelmed by the amount. + +"We shall have to repay the advances," Pierre observed. + +"That doesn't matter," Felicite replied, "we shall be richer than many +of those gentlemen. Are the marquis and the others going to share the +cake with you?" + +"No, no; it will be all for us," he replied. + +Then, as she continued to importune him with her questions, Pierre +frowned, thinking that she wanted to wrest his secret from him. "We've +talked enough," he said, abruptly. "It's late, let us go to sleep. It +will bring us bad luck to count our chickens beforehand. I haven't got +the place yet. Above all things, be prudent." + +When the lamp was extinguished, Felicite could not sleep. With her eyes +closed she built the most marvellous castles in the air. Those twenty +thousand francs a year danced a diabolical dance before her in the +darkness. She occupied splendid apartments in the new town, enjoyed the +same luxuries as Monsieur Peirotte, gave parties, and bespattered the +whole place with her wealth. That, however, which tickled her vanity +most was the high position that her husband would then occupy. He would +pay their state dividends to Granoux, Roudier, and all those people who +now came to her house as they might come to a cafe, to swagger and learn +the latest news. She had noticed the free-and-easy manner in which these +people entered her drawing-room, and it had made her take a dislike to +them. Even the marquis, with his ironical politeness, was beginning +to displease her. To triumph alone, therefore, to keep the cake +for themselves, as she expressed it, was a revenge which she fondly +cherished. Later on, when all those ill-bred persons presented +themselves, hats off, before Monsieur Rougon the receiver of taxes, +she would crush them in her turn. She was busy with these thoughts all +night; and on the morrow, as she opened the shutters, she instinctively +cast her first glance across the street towards Monsieur Peirotte's +house, and smiled as she contemplated the broad damask curtains hanging +in the windows. + +Felicite's hopes, in becoming modified, had grown yet more intense. Like +all women, she did not object to a tinge of mystery. The secret object +that her husband was pursuing excited her far more than the Legitimist +intrigues of Monsieur de Carnavant had ever done. She abandoned, without +much regret, the calculations she had based on the marquis's success +now that her husband declared he would be able to make large profits +by other means. She displayed, moreover, remarkable prudence and +discretion. + +In reality, she was still tortured by anxious curiosity; she studied +Pierre's slightest actions, endeavouring to discover their meaning. +What if by chance he were following the wrong track? What if Eugene were +dragging them in his train into some break-neck pit, whence they would +emerge yet more hungry and impoverished? However, faith was dawning +on her. Eugene had commanded with such an air of authority that she +ultimately came to believe in him. In this case again some unknown power +was at work. Pierre would speak mysteriously of the high personages whom +their eldest son visited in Paris. For her part she did not know what +he could have to do with them, but on the other hand she was unable to +close her eyes to Aristide's ill-advised acts at Plassans. The +visitors to her drawing-room did not scruple to denounce the democratic +journalist with extreme severity. Granoux muttered that he was a +brigand, and Roudier would three or four times a week repeat to +Felicite: "Your son is writing some fine articles. Only yesterday he +attacked our friend Vuillet with revolting scurrility." + +The whole room joined in the chorus, and Commander Sicardot spoke of +boxing his son-in-law's ears, while Pierre flatly disowned him. The poor +mother hung her head, restraining her tears. For an instant she felt +an inclination to burst forth, to tell Roudier that her dear child, +in spite of his faults, was worth more than he and all the others put +together. But she was tied down, and did not wish to compromise the +position they had so laboriously attained. Seeing the whole town so +bitter against Aristide, she despaired of his future, thinking he was +hopelessly ruining himself. On two occasions she spoke to him in +secret, imploring him to return to them, and not to irritate the yellow +drawing-room any further. Aristide replied that she did not understand +such matters; that she was the one who had committed a great blunder in +placing her husband at the service of the marquis. So she had to abandon +her son to his own courses, resolving, however that if Eugene succeeded +she would compel him to share the spoils with the poor fellow who was +her favourite child. + +After the departure of his eldest son, Pierre Rougon pursued his +reactionary intrigues. Nothing seemed to have changed in the opinions of +the famous yellow drawing-room. Every evening the same men came to join +in the same propaganda in favour of the establishment of a monarchy, +while the master of the house approved and aided them with as much zeal +as in the past. Eugene had left Plassans on May 1. A few days later, +the yellow drawing-room was in raptures. The gossips were discussing the +letter of the President of the Republic to General Oudinot, in which +the siege of Rome had been decided upon. This letter was regarded as a +brilliant victory, due to the firm demeanour of the reactionary party. +Since 1848 the Chambers had been discussing the Roman question; but it +had been reserved for a Bonaparte to stifle a rising Republic by an act +of intervention which France, if free, would never have countenanced. +The marquis declared, however, that one could not better promote the +cause of legitimacy, and Vuillet wrote a superb article on the matter. +The enthusiasm became unbounded when, a month later, Commander Sicardot +entered the Rougons' house one evening and announced to the company +that the French army was fighting under the walls of Rome. Then, while +everybody was raising exclamations at this news, he went up to Pierre, +and shook hands with him in a significant manner. And when he had taken +a seat, he began to sound the praises of the President of the Republic, +who, said he, was the only person able to save France from anarchy. + +"Let him save it, then, as quickly as possible," interrupted the +marquis, "and let him then understand his duty by restoring it to its +legitimate masters." + +Pierre seemed to approve this fine retort, and having thus given +proof of his ardent royalism, he ventured to remark that Prince Louis +Bonaparte had his entire sympathy in the matter. He thereupon exchanged +a few short sentences with the commander, commending the excellent +intentions of the President, which sentences one might have thought +prepared and learnt beforehand. Bonapartism now, for the first time, +made its entry into the yellow drawing-room. It is true that since the +election of December 10 the Prince had been treated there with a certain +amount of consideration. He was preferred a thousand times to Cavaignac, +and the whole reactionary party had voted for him. But they regarded +him rather as an accomplice than a friend; and, as such, they distrusted +him, and even began to accuse him of a desire to keep for himself +the chestnuts which he had pulled out of the fire. On that particular +evening, however, owing to the fighting at Rome, they listened with +favour to the praises of Pierre and the commander. + +The group led by Granoux and Roudier already demanded that the President +should order all republican rascals to be shot; while the marquis, +leaning against the mantelpiece, gazed meditatively at a faded rose on +the carpet. When he at last lifted his head, Pierre, who had furtively +watched his countenance as if to see the effect of his words, suddenly +ceased speaking. However, Monsieur de Carnavant merely smiled and +glanced at Felicite with a knowing look. This rapid by-play was not +observed by the other people. Vuillet alone remarked in a sharp tone: + +"I would rather see your Bonaparte at London than at Paris. Our affairs +would get along better then." + +At this the old oil-dealer turned slightly pale, fearing that he had +gone too far. "I'm not anxious to retain 'my' Bonaparte," he said, with +some firmness; "you know where I would send him to if I were the master. +I simply assert that the expedition to Rome was a good stroke." + +Felicite had followed this scene with inquisitive astonishment. However, +she did not speak of it to her husband, which proved that she adopted it +as the basis of secret study. The marquis's smile, the significance of +which escaped her, set her thinking. + +From that day forward, Rougon, at distant intervals, whenever the +occasion offered, slipped in a good word for the President of the +Republic. On such evenings, Commander Sicardot acted the part of a +willing accomplice. At the same time, Clerical opinions still reigned +supreme in the yellow drawing-room. It was more particularly in +the following year that this group of reactionaries gained decisive +influence in the town, thanks to the retrograde movement which was going +on at Paris. All those anti-Liberal laws which the country called "the +Roman expedition at home" definitively secured the triumph of the Rougon +faction. The last enthusiastic bourgeois saw the Republic tottering, and +hastened to rally round the Conservatives. Thus the Rougons' hour had +arrived; the new town almost gave them an ovation on the day when the +tree of Liberty, planted on the square before the Sub-Prefecture, was +sawed down. This tree, a young poplar brought from the banks of the +Viorne, had gradually withered, much to the despair of the republican +working-men, who would come every Sunday to observe the progress of +the decay without being able to comprehend the cause of it. A hatter's +apprentice at last asserted that he had seen a woman leave Rougon's +house and pour a pail of poisoned water at the foot of the tree. It +thenceforward became a matter of history that Felicite herself got up +every night to sprinkle the poplar with vitriol. When the tree was dead +the Municipal Council declared that the dignity of the Republic required +its removal. For this, as they feared the displeasure of the working +classes, they selected an advanced hour of the night. However, the +conservative householders of the new town got wind of the little +ceremony, and all came down to the square before the Sub-Prefecture in +order to see how the tree of Liberty would fall. The frequenters of the +yellow drawing-room stationed themselves at the windows there. When the +poplar cracked and fell with a thud in the darkness, as tragically rigid +as some mortally stricken hero, Felicite felt bound to wave a white +handkerchief. This induced the crowd to applaud, and many responded to +the salute by waving their handkerchiefs likewise. A group of people +even came under the window shouting: "We'll bury it, we'll bury it." + +They meant the Republic, no doubt. Such was Felicite's emotion, that +she almost had a nervous attack. It was a fine evening for the yellow +drawing-room. + +However, the marquis still looked at Felicite with the same mysterious +smile. This little old man was far too shrewd to be ignorant of whither +France was tending. He was among the first to scent the coming of the +Empire. When the Legislative Assembly, later on, exhausted its energies +in useless squabbling, when the Orleanists and the Legitimists tacitly +accepted the idea of the Coup d'Etat, he said to himself that the +game was definitely lost. In fact, he was the only one who saw things +clearly. Vuillet certainly felt that the cause of Henry V., which his +paper defended, was becoming detestable; but it mattered little to him; +he was content to be the obedient creature of the clergy; his entire +policy was framed so as to enable him to dispose of as many rosaries and +sacred images as possible. As for Roudier and Granoux, they lived in +a state of blind scare; it was not certain whether they really had any +opinions; all that they desired was to eat and sleep in peace; their +political aspirations went no further. The marquis, though he had bidden +farewell to his hopes, continued to come to the Rougons' as regularly as +ever. He enjoyed himself there. The clash of rival ambitions among +the middle classes, and the display of their follies, had become an +extremely amusing spectacle to him. He shuddered at the thought of again +shutting himself in the little room which he owed to the beneficence of +the Count de Valqueyras. With a kind of malicious delight, he kept to +himself the conviction that the Bourbons' hour had not yet arrived. He +feigned blindness, working as hitherto for the triumph of Legitimacy, +and still remaining at the orders of the clergy and nobility, though +from the very first day he had penetrated Pierre's new course of action, +and believed that Felicite was his accomplice. + +One evening, being the first to arrive, he found the old lady alone +in the drawing-room. "Well! little one," he asked, with his smiling +familiarity, "are your affairs going on all right? Why the deuce do you +make such mysteries with me?" + +"I'm not hiding anything from you," Felicite replied, somewhat +perplexed. + +"Come, do you think you can deceive an old fox like me, eh? My dear +child, treat me as a friend. I'm quite ready to help you secretly. Come +now, be frank!" + +A bright idea struck Felicite. She had nothing to tell; but perhaps she +might find out something if she kept quiet. + +"Why do you smile?" Monsieur de Carnavant resumed. "That's the beginning +of a confession, you know. I suspected that you must be behind your +husband. Pierre is too stupid to invent the pretty treason you are +hatching. I sincerely hope the Bonapartists will give you what I should +have asked for you from the Bourbons." + +This single sentence confirmed the suspicions which the old woman had +entertained for some time past. + +"Prince Louis has every chance, hasn't he?" she eagerly inquired. + +"Will you betray me if I tell you that I believe so?" the marquis +laughingly replied. "I've donned my mourning over it, little one. I'm +simply a poor old man, worn out and only fit to be laid on the shelf. +It was for you, however, that I was working. Since you have been able to +find the right track without me, I shall feel some consolation in seeing +you triumph amidst my own defeat. Above all things, don't make any more +mysteries. Come to me if you are ever in trouble." + +And he added, with the sceptical smile of a nobleman who has lost caste: +"Pshaw! I also can go in for a little treachery!" + +At this moment the clan of retired oil and almond dealers arrived. + +"Ah! the dear reactionaries!" Monsieur de Carnavant continued in an +undertone. "You see, little one, the great art of politics consists in +having a pair of good eyes when other people are blind. You hold all the +best cards in the pack." + +On the following day, Felicite, incited by this conversation, desired +to make sure on the matter. They were then in the first days of the year +1851. For more than eighteen months, Rougon had been in the habit of +receiving a letter from his son Eugene regularly every fortnight. He +would shut himself in the bedroom to read these letters, which he then +hid at the bottom of an old secretaire, the key of which he carefully +kept in his waistcoat pocket. Whenever his wife questioned him about +their son he would simply answer: "Eugene writes that he is going on +all right." Felicite had long since thought of laying hands on her son's +letters. So early on the morning after her chat with the marquis, while +Pierre was still asleep, she got up on tiptoes, took the key of the +secretaire from her husband's waistcoat and substituted in its place +that of the chest of drawers, which was of the same size. Then, as soon +as her husband had gone out, she shut herself in the room in her turn, +emptied the drawer, and read all the letters with feverish curiosity. + +Monsieur de Carnavant had not been mistaken, and her own suspicions were +confirmed. There were about forty letters, which enabled her to follow +the course of that great Bonapartist movement which was to terminate in +the second Empire. The letters constituted a sort of concise journal, +narrating events as they occurred, and drawing hopes and suggestions +from each of them. Eugene was full of faith. He described Prince Louis +Bonaparte to his father as the predestined necessary man who alone could +unravel the situation. He had believed in him prior even to his return +to France, at a time when Bonapartism was treated as a ridiculous +chimera. Felicite understood that her son had been a very active secret +agent since 1848. Although he did not clearly explain his position in +Paris, it was evident that he was working for the Empire, under +the orders of personages whose names he mentioned with a sort of +familiarity. Each of his letters gave information as to the progress of +the cause, to which an early denouement was foreshadowed; and usually +concluded by pointing out the line of action that Pierre should pursue +at Plassans. Felicite could now comprehend certain words and acts of +her husband, whose significance had previously escaped her; Pierre was +obeying his son, and blindly following his recommendations. + +When the old woman had finished reading, she was convinced. Eugene's +entire thoughts were clearly revealed to her. He reckoned upon making +his political fortune in the squabble, and repaying his parents the debt +he owed them for his education, by throwing them a scrap of the prey as +soon as the quarry was secured. However small the assistance his father +might render to him and to the cause, it would not be difficult to get +him appointed receiver of taxes. Nothing would be refused to one who +like Eugene had steeped his hands in the most secret machinations. His +letters were simply a kind attention on his part, a device to prevent +the Rougons from committing any act of imprudence, for which Felicite +felt deeply grateful. She read certain passages of the letters twice +over, notably those in which Eugene spoke, in vague terms, of "a final +catastrophe." This catastrophe, the nature or bearings of which she +could not well conceive became a sort of end of the world for her. God +would range the chosen ones on His right hand and the damned on His +left, and she placed herself among the former. + +When she succeeded in replacing the key in her husband's waistcoat +pocket on the following night, she made up her mind to employ the same +expedient for reading every fresh letter that arrived. She resolved, +likewise, to profess complete ignorance. This plan was an excellent one. +Henceforward, she gave her husband the more assistance as she appeared +to render it unconsciously. When Pierre thought he was working alone +it was she who brought the conversation round to the desired topic, +recruiting partisans for the decisive moment. She felt hurt at Eugene's +distrust of her. She wanted to be able to say to him, after the triumph: +"I knew all, and so far from spoiling anything, I have secured the +victory." Never did an accomplice make less noise or work harder. The +marquis, whom she had taken into her confidence, was astounded at it. + +The fate of her dear Aristide, however, continued to make her uneasy. +Now that she shared the faith of her eldest son, the rabid articles of +the "Independant" alarmed her all the more. She longed to convert the +unfortunate republican to Napoleonist ideas; but she did not know how +to accomplish this in a discreet manner. She recalled the emphasis with +which Eugene had told them to be on their guard against Aristide. At +last she submitted the matter to Monsieur de Carnavant, who was entirely +of the same opinion. + +"Little one," he said to her, "in politics one must know how to look +after one's self. If you were to convert your son, and the 'Independant' +were to start writing in defence of Bonapartism, it would deal the party +a rude blow. The 'Independant' has already been condemned, its title +alone suffices to enrage the middle classes of Plassans. Let dear +Aristide flounder about; this only moulds young people. He does not +appear to me to be cut out for carrying on the role of a martyr for any +length of time." + +However, in her eagerness to point out the right way to her family, +now that she believed herself in possession of the truth, Felicite even +sought to convert her son Pascal. The doctor, with the egotism of a +scientist immersed in his researches, gave little heed to politics. +Empires might fall while he was making an experiment, yet he would not +have deigned to turn his head. He at last yielded, however, to certain +importunities of his mother, who accused him more than ever of living +like an unsociable churl. + +"If you were to go into society," she said to him, "you would get some +well-to-do patients. Come, at least, and spend some evenings in our +drawing-room. You will make the acquaintance of Messieurs Roudier, +Granoux, and Sicardot, all gentlemen in good circumstances, who will pay +you four or five francs a visit. The poor people will never enrich you." + +The idea of succeeding in life, of seeing all her family attain to +fortune, had become a form of monomania with Felicite. Pascal, in order +to be agreeable to her, came and spent a few evenings in the yellow +drawing-room. He was much less bored there than he had apprehended. At +first he was rather stupefied at the degree of imbecility to which +sane men can sink. The old oil and almond dealers, the marquis and the +commander even, appeared to him so many curious animals, which he +had not hitherto had an opportunity of studying. He looked with a +naturalist's interest at their grimacing faces, in which he discerned +traces of their occupations and appetites; he listened also to their +inane chatter, just as he might have tried to catch the meaning of +a cat's mew or a dog's bark. At this period he was occupied with +comparative natural history, applying to the human race the observations +which he had made upon animals with regard to the working of heredity. +While he was in the yellow drawing-room, therefore, he amused himself +with the belief that he had fallen in with a menagerie. He established +comparisons between the grotesque creatures he found there and certain +animals of his acquaintance. The marquis, with his leanness and small +crafty-looking head, reminded him exactly of a long green grasshopper. +Vuillet impressed him as a pale, slimy toad. He was more considerate for +Roudier, a fat sheep, and for the commander, an old toothless mastiff. +But the prodigious Granoux was a perpetual cause of astonishment to him. +He spent a whole evening measuring this imbecile's facial angle. When he +heard him mutter indistinct imprecations against those blood-suckers +the Republicans, he always expected to hear him moan like a calf; and +he could never see him rise from his chair without imagining that he was +about to leave the room on all fours. + +"Talk to them," his mother used to say in an undertone; "try and make a +practice out of these gentlemen." + +"I am not a veterinary surgeon," he at last replied, exasperated. + +One evening Felicite took him into a corner and tired to catechise +him. She was glad to see him come to her house rather assiduously. +She thought him reconciled to Society, not suspecting for a moment the +singular amusement that he derived from ridiculing these rich people. +She cherished the secret project of making him the fashionable doctor +of Plassans. It would be sufficient if men like Granoux and Roudier +consented to give him a start. She wished, above all, to impart to +him the political views of the family, considering that a doctor had +everything to gain by constituting himself a warm partisan of the regime +which was to succeed the Republic. + +"My dear boy," she said to him, "as you have now become reasonable, +you must give some thought to the future. You are accused of being a +Republican, because you are foolish enough to attend all the beggars +of the town without making any charge. Be frank, what are your real +opinions?" + +Pascal looked at his mother with naive astonishment, then with a smile +replied: "My real opinions? I don't quite know--I am accused of being a +Republican, did you say? Very well! I don't feel at all offended. I +am undoubtedly a Republican, if you understand by that word a man who +wishes the welfare of everybody." + +"But you will never attain to any position," Felicite quickly +interrupted. "You will be crushed. Look at your brothers, they are +trying to make their way." + +Pascal then comprehended that he was not called upon to defend his +philosophic egotism. His mother simply accused him of not speculating +on the political situation. He began to laugh somewhat sadly, and then +turned the conversation into another channel. Felicite could never +induce him to consider the chances of the various parties, nor to enlist +in that one of them which seemed likely to carry the day. However, he +still occasionally came to spend an evening in the yellow drawing-room. +Granoux interested him like an antediluvian animal. + +In the meantime, events were moving. The year 1851 was a year of anxiety +and apprehension for the politicians of Plassans, and the cause which +the Rougons served derived advantage from this circumstance. The most +contradictory news arrived from Paris; sometimes the Republicans were +in the ascendant, sometimes the Conservative party was crushing the +Republic. The echoes of the squabbles which were rending the Legislative +Assembly reached the depths of the provinces, now in an exaggerated, now +in an attenuated form, varying so greatly as to obscure the vision of +the most clear-sighted. The only general feeling was that a denouement +was approaching. The prevailing ignorance as to the nature of this +denouement kept timid middle class people in a terrible state of +anxiety. Everybody wished to see the end. They were sick of uncertainty, +and would have flung themselves into the arms of the Grand Turk, if he +would have deigned to save France from anarchy. + +The marquis's smile became more acute. Of an evening, in the yellow +drawing-room, when Granoux's growl was rendered indistinct by fright, he +would draw near to Felicite and whisper in her ear: "Come, little one, +the fruit is ripe--but you must make yourself useful." + +Felicite, who continued to read Eugene's letters, and knew that +a decisive crisis might any day occur, had already often felt the +necessity of making herself useful, and reflected as to the manner in +which the Rougons should employ themselves. At last she consulted the +marquis. + +"It all depends upon circumstances," the little old man replied. "If the +department remains quiet, if no insurrection occurs to terrify Plassans, +it will be difficult for you to make yourselves conspicuous and render +any services to the new government. I advise you, in that case, to +remain at home, and peacefully await the bounties of your son Eugene. +But if the people rise, and our brave bourgeois think themselves in +danger, there will be a fine part to play. Your husband is somewhat +heavy--" + +"Oh!" said Felicite, "I'll undertake to make him supple. Do you think +the department will revolt?" + +"To my mind it's a certainty. Plassans, perhaps, will not make a +stir; the reaction has secured too firm a hold here for that. But the +neighbouring towns, especially the small ones and the villages, have +long been worked by certain secret societies, and belong to the advanced +Republican party. If a Coup d'Etat should burst forth, the tocsin will +be heard throughout the entire country, from the forests of the Seille +to the plateau of Sainte-Roure." + +Felicite reflected. "You think, then," she resumed, "that an +insurrection is necessary to ensure our fortune!" + +"That's my opinion," replied Monsieur de Carnavant. And he added, with a +slightly ironical smile: "A new dynasty is never founded excepting upon +an affray. Blood is good manure. It will be a fine thing for the Rougons +to date from a massacre, like certain illustrious families." + +These words, accompanied by a sneer, sent a cold chill through +Felicite's bones. But she was a strong-minded woman, and the sight of +Monsieur Peirotte's beautiful curtains, which she religiously viewed +every morning, sustained her courage. Whenever she felt herself +giving way, she planted herself at the window and contemplated the +tax-receiver's house. For her it was the Tuileries. She had determined +upon the most extreme measures in order to secure an entree into the new +town, that promised land, on the threshold of which she had stood with +burning longing for so many years. + +The conversation which she had held with the marquis had at last clearly +revealed the situation to her. A few days afterwards, she succeeded in +reading one of Eugene's letters, in which he, who was working for the +Coup d'Etat, seemed also to rely upon an insurrection as the means of +endowing his father with some importance. Eugene knew his department +well. All his suggestions had been framed with the object of placing +as much influence as possible in the hands of the yellow drawing-room +reactionaries, so that the Rougons might be able to hold the town at the +critical moment. In accordance with his desires, the yellow drawing-room +was master of Plassans in November, 1851. Roudier represented the rich +citizens there, and his attitude would certainly decide that of the +entire new town. Granoux was still more valuable; he had the Municipal +Council behind him: he was its most powerful member, a fact which +will give some idea of its other members. Finally, through Commander +Sicardot, whom the marquis had succeeded in getting appointed as chief +of the National Guard, the yellow drawing-room had the armed forces at +their disposal. + +The Rougons, those poor disreputable devils, had thus succeeded +in rallying round themselves the instruments of their own fortune. +Everyone, from cowardice or stupidity, would have to obey them and work +in the dark for their aggrandisement. They simply had to fear those +other influences which might be working with the same object as +themselves, and might partially rob them of the merit of victory. That +was their great fear, for they wanted to reserve to themselves the role +of deliverers. They knew beforehand that they would be aided rather than +hindered by the clergy and the nobility. But if the sub-prefect, the +mayor, and the other functionaries were to take a step in advance and at +once stifle the insurrection they would find themselves thrown into the +shade, and even arrested in their exploits; they would have neither time +nor means to make themselves useful. What they longed for was complete +abstention, general panic among the functionaries. If only all regular +administration should disappear, and they could dispose of the destinies +of Plassans for a single day, their fortune would be firmly established. + +Happily for them, there was not a man in the government service whose +convictions were so firm or whose circumstances were so needy as to +make him disposed to risk the game. The sub-prefect was a man of liberal +spirit whom the executive had forgetfully left at Plassans, owing, no +doubt, to the good repute of the town. Of timid character and incapable +of exceeding his authority, he would no doubt be greatly embarrassed in +the presence of an insurrection. The Rougons, who knew that he was in +favour of the democratic cause, and who consequently never dreaded his +zeal, were simply curious to know what attitude he would assume. As for +the municipality, this did not cause them much apprehension. The mayor, +Monsieur Garconnet, was a Legitimist whose nomination had been procured +by the influence of the Saint-Marc quarter in 1849. He detested the +Republicans and treated them with undisguised disdain; but he was too +closely united by bonds of friendship with certain members of the +church to lend any active hand in a Bonapartist Coup d'Etat. The other +functionaries were in exactly the same position. The justices of the +peace, the post-master, the tax-collector, as well as Monsieur Peirotte, +the chief receiver of taxes, were all indebted for their posts to +the Clerical reaction, and could not accept the Empire with any great +enthusiasm. The Rougons, though they did not quite see how they might +get rid of these people and clear the way for themselves, nevertheless +indulged in sanguine hopes on finding there was little likelihood of +anybody disputing their role as deliverers. + +The denouement was drawing near. In the last few days of November, as +the rumour of a Coup d'Etat was circulating, the prince-president was +accused of seeking the position of emperor. + +"Eh! we'll call him whatever he likes," Granoux exclaimed, "provided he +has those Republican rascals shot!" + +This exclamation from Granoux, who was believed to be asleep, caused +great commotion. The marquis pretended not to have heard it; but all +the bourgeois nodded approval. Roudier, who, being rich, did not fear to +applaud the sentiment aloud, went so far as to declare, while glancing +askance at Monsieur de Carnavant, that the position was no longer +tenable, and that France must be chastised as soon as possible, never +mind by what hand. + +The marquis still maintained a silence which was interpreted as +acquiescence. And thereupon the Conservative clan, abandoning the cause +of Legitimacy, ventured to offer up prayers in favour of the Empire. + +"My friends," said Commander Sicardot, rising from his seat, "only a +Napoleon can now protect threatened life and property. Have no fear, +I've taken the necessary precautions to preserve order at Plassans." + +As a matter of fact the commander, in concert with Rougon, had +concealed, in a kind of cart-house near the ramparts, both a supply of +cartridges and a considerable number of muskets; he had also taken steps +to secure the co-operation of the National Guard, on which he believed +he could rely. His words produced a very favourable impression. +On separating for the evening, the peaceful citizens of the yellow +drawing-room spoke of massacring the "Reds" if they should dare to stir. + +On December 1, Pierre Rougon received a letter from Eugene which he went +to read in his bedroom, in accordance with his prudent habit. Felicite +observed, however, that he was very agitated when he came out again. +She fluttered round the secretaire all day. When night came, she could +restrain her impatience no longer. Her husband had scarcely fallen +asleep, when she quietly got up, took the key of the secretaire from +the waistcoat pocket, and gained possession of the letter with as little +noise as possible. Eugene, in ten lines, warned his father that the +crisis was at hand, and advised him to acquaint his mother with the +situation of affairs. The hour for informing her had arrived; he might +stand in need of her advice. + +Felicite awaited, on the morrow, a disclosure which did not come. She +did not dare to confess her curiosity; but continued to feign ignorance, +though enraged at the foolish distrust of her husband, who, doubtless, +considered her a gossip, and weak like other women. Pierre, with +that marital pride which inspires a man with the belief in his own +superiority at home, had ended by attributing all their past ill-luck to +his wife. From the time that he fancied he had been conducting matters +alone everything seemed to him to have gone as he desired. He had +decided, therefore, to dispense altogether with his consort's counsels, +and to confide nothing to her, in spite of his son's recommendations. + +Felicite was piqued to such a degree that she would have upset the whole +affair had she not desired the triumph as ardently as Pierre. So she +continued to work energetically for victory, while endeavouring to take +her revenge. + +"Ah! if he could only have some great fright," thought she; "if he would +only commit some act of imprudence! Then I should see him come to me and +humbly ask for advice; it would be my turn to lay down the law." + +She felt somewhat uneasy at the imperious attitude Pierre would +certainly assume if he were to triumph without her aid. On marrying this +peasant's son, in preference to some notary's clerk, she had intended to +make use of him as a strongly made puppet, whose strings she would pull +in her own way; and now, at the decisive moment, the puppet, in his +blind stupidity, wanted to work alone! All the cunning, all the feverish +activity within the old woman protested against this. She knew Pierre +was quite capable of some brutal resolve such as that which he had taken +when he compelled his mother to sign the receipt for fifty thousand +francs; the tool was indeed a useful and unscrupulous one; but she felt +the necessity for guiding it, especially under present circumstances, +when considerable suppleness was requisite. + +The official news of the Coup d'Etat did not reach Plassans until the +afternoon of December 3--a Thursday. Already, at seven o'clock in the +evening, there was a full meeting in the yellow drawing-room. Although +the crisis had been eagerly desired, vague uneasiness appeared on the +faces of the majority. They discussed events amid endless chatter. +Pierre, who like the others was slightly pale, thought it right, as an +extreme measure of prudence, to excuse Prince Louis's decisive act to +the Legitimists and Orleanists who were present. + +"There is talk of an appeal to the people," he said; "the nation will +then be free to choose whatever government it likes. The president is a +man to retire before our legitimate masters." + +The marquis, who had retained his aristocratic coolness, was the only +one who greeted these words with a smile. The others, in the enthusiasm +of the moment, concerned themselves very little about what might follow. +All their opinions foundered. Roudier, forgetting the esteem which as a +former shopkeeper he had entertained for the Orleanists, stopped Pierre +rather abruptly. And everybody exclaimed: "Don't argue the matter. Let +us think of preserving order." + +These good people were terribly afraid of the Republicans. There had, +however been very little commotion in the town on the announcement of +the events in Paris. People had collected in front of the notices posted +on the door of the Sub-Prefecture; it was also rumoured that a few +hundred workmen had left their work and were endeavouring to organise +resistance. That was all. No serious disturbance seemed likely to occur. +The course which the neighbouring towns and rural districts might take +seemed more likely to occasion anxiety; however, it was not yet known +how they had received the news of the Coup d'Etat. + +Granoux arrived at about nine o'clock, quite out of breath. He had just +left a sitting of the Municipal Council which had been hastily summoned +together. Choking with emotion, he announced that the mayor, Monsieur +Garconnet, had declared, while making due reserves, that he was +determined to preserve order by the most stringent measures. However, +the intelligence which caused the noisiest chattering in the yellow +drawing-room was that of the resignation of the sub-prefect. This +functionary had absolutely refused to communicate the despatches of the +Minister of the Interior to the inhabitants of Plassans; he had just +left the town, so Granoux asserted, and it was thanks to the mayor that +the messages had been posted. This was perhaps the only sub-prefect in +France who ever had the courage of his democratic opinions. + +Although Monsieur Garconnet's firm demeanour caused the Rougons +some secret anxiety, they rubbed their hands at the flight of the +sub-prefect, which left the post vacant for them. It was decided on this +memorable evening that the yellow drawing-room party should accept the +Coup d'Etat and openly declare that it was in favour of accomplished +facts. Vuillet was commissioned to write an article to that effect, and +publish it on the morrow in the "Gazette." Neither he nor the marquis +raised any objection. They had, no doubt, received instructions from the +mysterious individuals to whom they sometimes made pious allusions. The +clergy and the nobility were already resigned to the course of lending +a strong hand to the victors, in order to crush their common enemy, the +Republic. + +While the yellow drawing-room was deliberating on the evening in +question, Aristide was perspiring with anxiety. Never had gambler, +staking his last louis on a card, felt such anguish. During the day the +resignation of his chief, the sub-prefect, had given him much matter for +reflection. He had heard him repeat several times that the Coup d'Etat +must prove a failure. This functionary, endowed with a limited amount of +honesty, believed in the final triumph of the democracy, though he +had not the courage to work for that triumph by offering resistance. +Aristide was in the habit of listening at the doors of the +Sub-Prefecture, in order to get precise information, for he felt that he +was groping in the dark, and clung to the intelligence which he gleaned +from the officials. The sub-prefect's opinion struck him forcibly; but +he remained perplexed. He thought to himself: "Why does the fellow go +away if he is so certain that the prince-president will meet with a +check?" However, as he was compelled to espouse one side or the other, +he resolved to continue his opposition. He wrote a very hostile article +on the Coup d'Etat, and took it to the "Independant" the same evening +for the following morning's issue. He had corrected the proofs of this +article, and was returning home somewhat calmed, when, as he passed +along the Rue de la Banne, he instinctively raised his head and glanced +at the Rougons' windows. Their windows were brightly lighted up. + +"What can they be plotting up there?" the journalist asked himself, with +anxious curiosity. + +A fierce desire to know the opinion of the yellow drawing-room with +regard to recent events then assailed him. He credited this group of +reactionaries with little intelligence; but his doubts recurred, he was +in that frame of mind when one might seek advice from a child. He +could not think of entering his father's home at that moment, after the +campaign he had waged against Granoux and the others. Nevertheless, he +went upstairs, reflecting what a singular figure he would cut if he were +surprised on the way by anyone. On reaching the Rougons' door, he could +only catch a confused echo of voices. + +"What a child I am," said he, "fear makes me stupid." And he was going +to descend again, when he heard the approach of his mother, who was +about to show somebody out. He had barely time to hide in a dark corner +formed by a little staircase leading to the garrets of the house. The +Rougons' door opened, and the marquis appeared, followed by Felicite. +Monsieur de Carnavant usually left before the gentlemen of the new town +did, in order no doubt to avoid having to shake hands with them in the +street. + +"Eh! little one," he said on the landing, in a low voice, "these men are +greater cowards than I should have thought. With such men France will +always be at the mercy of whoever dares to lay his hands upon her!" +And he added, with some bitterness, as though speaking to himself: "The +monarchy is decidedly becoming too honest for modern times. Its day is +over." + +"Eugene announced the crisis to his father," replied Felicite. "Prince +Louis's triumph seems to him certain." + +"Oh, you can proceed without fear," the marquis replied, as he descended +the first steps. "In two or three days the country will be well bound +and gagged. Good-bye till to-morrow, little one." + +Felicite closed the door again. Aristide had received quite a shock in +his dark corner. However, without waiting for the marquis to reach the +street, he bounded down the staircase, four steps at a time, rushed +outside like a madman, and turned his steps towards the printing-office +of the "Independant." A flood of thoughts surged through his mind. He +was enraged, and accused his family of having duped him. What! Eugene +kept his parents informed of the situation, and yet his mother had never +given him any of his eldest brother's letters to read, in order that he +might follow the advice given therein! And it was only now he learnt by +chance that his eldest brother regarded the success of the Coup d'Etat +as certain! This circumstance, moreover, confirmed certain presentiments +which that idiot of a sub-prefect had prevented him from obeying. He was +especially exasperated against his father, whom he had thought stupid +enough to be a Legitimist, but who revealed himself as a Bonapartist at +the right moment. + +"What a lot of folly they have allowed me to perpetrate," he muttered as +he ran along. "I'm a fine fellow now. Ah! what a lesson! Granoux is more +capable than I." + +He entered the office of the "Independant" like a hurricane, and +asked for his article in a choking voice. The article had already been +imposed. He had the forme unlocked and would not rest until he had +himself destroyed the setting, mixing the type in a furious manner, like +a set of dominoes. The bookseller who managed the paper looked at him +in amazement. He was, in reality, rather glad of the incident, as the +article had seemed to him somewhat dangerous. But he was absolutely +obliged to have some copy, if the "Independant" was to appear. + +"Are you going to give me something else?" he asked. + +"Certainly," replied Aristide. + +He sat down at the table and began a warm panegyric on the Coup d'Etat. +At the very first line, he swore that Prince Louis had just saved the +Republic; but he had hardly written a page before he stopped and seemed +at a loss how to continue. A troubled look came over his pole-cat face. + +"I must go home," he said at last. "I will send you this immediately. +Your paper can appear a little later, if necessary." + +He walked slowly on his way home, lost in meditation. He was again +giving way to indecision. Why should he veer round so quickly? Eugene +was an intelligent fellow, but his mother had perhaps exaggerated the +significance of some sentence in his letter. In any case, it would be +better to wait and hold his tongue. + +An hour later Angele called at the bookseller's, feigning deep emotion. + +"My husband has just severely injured himself," she said. "He jammed his +four fingers in a door as he was coming in. In spite of his sufferings, +he has dictated this little note, which he begs you to publish +to-morrow." + +On the following day the "Independant," made up almost entirely of +miscellaneous items of news, appeared with these few lines at the head +of the first column: + +"A deplorable accident which has occurred to our eminent contributor +Monsieur Aristide Rougon will deprive us of his articles for some +time. He will suffer at having to remain silent in the present grave +circumstances. None of our readers will doubt, however, the good wishes +which he offers up with patriotic feelings for the welfare of France." + +This burlesque note had been maturely studied. The last sentence might +be interpreted in favour of all parties. By this expedient, Aristide +devised a glorious return for himself on the morrow of battle, in the +shape of a laudatory article on the victors. On the following day he +showed himself to the whole town, with his arm in a sling. His mother, +frightened by the notice in the paper, hastily called upon him, but +he refused to show her his hand, and spoke with a bitterness which +enlightened the old woman. + +"It won't be anything," she said in a reassuring and somewhat sarcastic +tone, as she was leaving. "You only want a little rest." + +It was no doubt owing to this pretended accident, and the sub-prefect's +departure, that the "Independant" was not interfered with, like most of +the democratic papers of the departments. + +The 4th day of the month proved comparatively quiet at Plassans. In the +evening there was a public demonstration which the mere appearance +of the gendarmes sufficed to disperse. A band of working-men came to +request Monsieur Garconnet to communicate the despatches he had received +from Paris, which the latter haughtily refused to do; as it retired +the band shouted: "Long live the Republic! Long live the Constitution!" +After this, order was restored. The yellow drawing-room, after +commenting at some length on this innocent parade, concluded that +affairs were going on excellently. + +The 5th and 6th were, however, more disquieting. Intelligence was +received of successive risings in small neighbouring towns; the +whole southern part of the department had taken up arms; La Palud and +Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx had been the first to rise, drawing after them +the villages of Chavanos, Nazeres, Poujols, Valqueyras and Vernoux. The +yellow drawing-room party was now becoming seriously alarmed. It felt +particularly uneasy at seeing Plassans isolated in the very midst of the +revolt. Bands of insurgents would certainly scour the country and cut +off all communications. Granoux announced, with a terrified look, that +the mayor was without any news. Some people even asserted that blood had +been shed at Marseilles, and that a formidable revolution had broken out +in Paris. Commander Sicardot, enraged at the cowardice of the bourgeois, +vowed he would die at the head of his men. + +On Sunday the 7th the terror reached a climax. Already at six o'clock +the yellow drawing-room, where a sort of reactionary committee sat _en +permanence_, was crowded with pale, trembling men, who conversed in +undertones, as though they were in a chamber of death. It had been +ascertained during the day that a column of insurgents, about three +thousand strong, had assembled at Alboise, a big village not more than +three leagues away. It was true that this column had been ordered to +make for the chief town of the department, leaving Plassans on its left; +but the plan of campaign might at any time be altered; moreover, it +sufficed for these cowardly cits to know that there were insurgents a +few miles off, to make them feel the horny hands of the toilers already +tightened round their throats. They had had a foretaste of the revolt in +the morning; the few Republicans at Plassans, seeing that they would +be unable to make any determined move in the town, had resolved to join +their brethren of La Palud and Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx; the first group +had left at about eleven o'clock, by the Porte de Rome, shouting the +"Marseillaise" and smashing a few windows. Granoux had had one broken. +He mentioned the circumstance with stammerings of terror. + +Meantime, the most acute anxiety agitated the yellow drawing-room. The +commander had sent his servant to obtain some information as to the +exact movements of the insurgents, and the others awaited this man's +return, making the most astonishing surmises. They had a full meeting. +Roudier and Granoux, sinking back in their arm-chairs, exchanged the +most pitiable glances, whilst behind them moaned a terror-stricken group +of retired tradesmen. Vuillet, without appearing over scared, reflected +upon what precautions he should take to protect his shop and person; he +was in doubt whether he should hide himself in his garret or cellar, +and inclined towards the latter. For their part Pierre and the commander +walked up and down, exchanging a word ever and anon. The old oil-dealer +clung to this friend Sicardot as if to borrow a little courage from +him. He, who had been awaiting the crisis for such a long time, now +endeavoured to keep his countenance, in spite of the emotion which was +stifling him. As for the marquis, more spruce and smiling than usual, he +conversed in a corner with Felicite, who seemed very gay. + +At last a ring came. The gentlemen started as if they had heard a +gun-shot. Dead silence reigned in the drawing-room when Felicite went to +open the door, towards which their pale, anxious faces were turned. Then +the commander's servant appeared on the threshold, quite out of breath, +and said abruptly to his master: "Sir, the insurgents will be here in an +hour." + +This was a thunderbolt. They all started up, vociferating, and raising +their arms towards the ceiling. For several minutes it was impossible +to hear one's self speak. The company surrounded the messenger, +overwhelming him with questions. + +"Damnation!" the commander at length shouted, "don't make such a row. Be +calm, or I won't answer for anything." + +Everyone sank back in his chair again, heaving long-drawn sighs. They +then obtained a few particulars. The messenger had met the column at Les +Tulettes, and had hastened to return. + +"There are at least three thousand of them," said he. "They are marching +in battalions, like soldiers. I thought I caught sight of some prisoners +in their midst." + +"Prisoners!" cried the terrified bourgeois. + +"No doubt," the marquis interrupted in his shrill voice. "I've +heard that the insurgents arrest all persons who are known to have +conservative leanings." + +This information gave a finishing touch to the consternation of the +yellow drawing-room. A few bourgeois got up and stealthily made for the +door, reflecting that they had not too much time before them to gain a +place of safety. + +The announcement of the arrests made by the Republicans appeared to +strike Felicite. She took the marquis aside and asked him: "What do +these men do with the people they arrest?" + +"Why, they carry them off in their train," Monsieur de Carnavant +replied. "They no doubt consider them excellent hostages." + +"Ah!" the old woman rejoined, in a strange tone. + +Then she again thoughtfully watched the curious scene of panic around +her. The bourgeois gradually disappeared; soon there only remained +Vuillet and Roudier, whom the approaching danger inspired with some +courage. As for Granoux, he likewise remained in his corner, his legs +refusing to perform their office. + +"Well, I like this better," Sicardot remarked, as he observed the flight +of the other adherents. "Those cowards were exasperating me at last. +For more than two years they've been speaking of shooting all the +Republicans in the province, and to-day they wouldn't even fire a +halfpenny cracker under their noses." + +Then he took up his hat and turned towards the door. + +"Let's see," he continued, "time presses. Come, Rougon." + +Felicite, it seemed, had been waiting for this moment. She placed +herself between the door and her husband, who, for that matter, was not +particularly eager to follow the formidable Sicardot. + +"I won't have you go out," she cried, feigning sudden despair. "I won't +let you leave my side. Those scoundrels will kill you." + +The commander stopped in amazement. + +"Hang it all!" he growled, "if the women are going to whine now--Come +along, Rougon!' + +"No, no," continued the old woman, affecting increase of terror, "he +sha'n't follow you. I will hang on to his clothes and prevent him." + +The marquis, very much surprised at the scene, looked inquiringly at +Felicite. Was this really the woman who had just now been conversing so +merrily? What comedy was she playing? Pierre, meantime, seeing that his +wife wanted to detain him, deigned a determination to force his way out. + +"I tell you you shall not go," the old woman reiterated, as she clung +to one of his arms. And turning towards the commander, she said to him: +"How can you think of offering any resistance? They are three thousand +strong, and you won't be able to collect a hundred men of any spirit. +You are rushing into the cannon's mouth to no purpose." + +"Eh! that is our duty," said Sicardot, impatiently. + +Felicite burst into sobs. + +"If they don't kill him, they'll make him a prisoner," she continued, +looked fixedly at her husband. "Good heavens! What will become of me, +left alone in an abandoned town?" + +"But," exclaimed the commander, "we shall be arrested just the same if +we allow the insurgents to enter the town unmolested. I believe that +before an hour has elapsed the mayor and all the functionaries will be +prisoners, to say nothing of your husband and the frequenters of this +drawing-room." + +The marquis thought he saw a vague smile play about Felicite's lips as +she answered, with a look of dismay: "Do you really think so?" + +"Of course!" replied Sicardot; "the Republicans are not so stupid as +to leave enemies behind them. To-morrow Plassans will be emptied of its +functionaries and good citizens." + +At these words, which she had so cleverly provoked, Felicite released +her husband's arms. Pierre no longer looked as if he wanted to go out. +Thanks to his wife, whose skilful tactics escaped him, however, and +whose secret complicity he never for a moment suspected, he had just +lighted on a whole plan of campaign. + +"We must deliberate before taking any decision," he said to the +commander. "My wife is perhaps not wrong in accusing us of forgetting +the true interests of our families." + +"No, indeed, madame is not wrong," cried Granoux, who had been listening +to Felicite's terrified cries with the rapture of a coward. + +Thereupon the commander energetically clapped his hat on his head, and +said in a clear voice: "Right or wrong, it matters little to me. I am +commander of the National Guard. I ought to have been at the mayor's +before now. Confess that you are afraid, that you leaven me to act +alone. . . . Well, good-night." + +He was just turning the handle of the door, when Rougon forcibly +detained him. + +"Listen, Sicardot," he said. + +He drew him into a corner, on seeing Vuillet prick up his big ears. And +there he explained to him, in an undertone, that it would be a good plan +to leave a few energetic men behind the insurgents, so as to restore +order in the town. And as the fierce commander obstinately refused to +desert his post, Pierre offered to place himself at the head of such a +reserve corps. + +"Give me the key of the cart-shed in which the arms and ammunition are +kept," he said to him, "and order some fifty of our men not to stir +until I call for them." + +Sicardot ended by consenting to these prudent measures. He entrusted +Pierre with the key of the cart-shed, convinced as he was of the +inexpediency of present resistance, but still desirous of sacrificing +himself. + +During this conversation, the marquis had whispered a few words in +Felicite's ear with a knowing look. He complimented her, no doubt, on +her theatrical display. The old woman could not repress a faint smile. +But, as Sicardot shook hands with Rougon and prepared to go, she again +asked him with an air of fright: "Are you really determined to leave +us?" + +"It is not for one of Napoleon's old soldiers to let himself be +intimidated by the mob," he replied. + +He was already on the landing, when Granoux hurried after him, crying: +"If you go to the mayor's tell him what's going on. I'll just run home +to my wife to reassure her." + +Then Felicite bent towards the marquis's ear, and whispered with +discreet gaiety: "Upon my word, it is best that devil of a commander +should go and get himself arrested. He's far too zealous." + +However, Rougon brought Granoux back to the drawing-room. Roudier, who +had quietly followed the scene from his corner, making signs in support +of the proposed measures of prudence, got up and joined them. When the +marquis and Vuillet had likewise risen, Pierre began: + +"Now that we are alone, among peaceable men, I propose that we should +conceal ourselves so as to avoid certain arrest, and be at liberty as +soon as ours again becomes the stronger party." + +Granoux was ready to embrace him. Roudier and Vuillet breathed more +easily. + +"I shall want you shortly, gentlemen," the oil-dealer continued, with +an important air. "It is to us that the honour of restoring order in +Plassans is reserved." + +"You may rely upon us!" cried Vuillet, with an enthusiasm which +disturbed Felicite. + +Time was pressing. These singular defenders of Plassans, who hid +themselves the better to protect the town, hastened away, to bury +themselves in some hole or other. Pierre, on being left alone with +his wife, advised her not to make the mistake of barricading herself +indoors, but to reply, if anybody came to question her, that he, Pierre, +had simply gone on a short journey. And as she acted the simpleton, +feigning terror and asking what all this was coming to, he replied +abruptly: "It's nothing to do with you. Let me manage our affairs alone. +They'll get on all the better." + +A few minutes later he was rapidly threading his way along the Rue de +la Banne. On reaching the Cours Sauvaire, he saw a band of armed workmen +coming out of the old quarter and singing the "Marseillaise." + +"The devil!" he thought. "It was quite time, indeed; here's the town +itself in revolt now!" + +He quickened his steps in the direction of the Porte de Rome. Cold +perspiration came over him while he waited there for the dilatory keeper +to open the gate. Almost as soon as he set foot on the high road, he +perceived in the moonlight at the other end of the Faubourg the column +of insurgents, whose gun barrels gleamed like white flames. So it was +at a run that he dived into the Impasse Saint-Mittre, and reached his +mother's house, which he had not visited for many a long year. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Antoine Macquart had returned to Plassans after the fall of the first +Napoleon. He had had the incredible good fortune to escape all the +final murderous campaigns of the Empire. He had moved from barracks +to barracks, dragging on his brutifying military life. This mode of +existence brought his natural vices to full development. His idleness +became deliberate; his intemperance, which brought him countless +punishments, became, to his mind, a veritable religious duty. But that +which above all made him the worst of scapegraces was the supercilious +disdain which he entertained for the poor devils who had to earn their +bread. + +"I've got money waiting for me at home," he often said to his comrades; +"when I've served my time, I shall be able to live like a gentleman." + +This belief, together with his stupid ignorance, prevented him from +rising even to the grade of corporal. + +Since his departure he had never spent a day's furlough at Plassans, his +brother having invented a thousand pretexts to keep him at a distance. +He was therefore completely ignorant of the adroit manner in which +Pierre had got possession of their mother's fortune. Adelaide, with her +profound indifference, did not even write to him three times to tell him +how she was going on. The silence which generally greeted his numerous +requests for money did not awaken the least suspicion in him; Pierre's +stinginess sufficed to explain the difficulty he experienced in securing +from time to time a paltry twenty-franc piece. This, however, only +increased his animosity towards his brother, who left him to languish +in military service in spite of his formal promise to purchase his +discharge. He vowed to himself that on his return home he would no +longer submit like a child, but would flatly demand his share of the +fortune to enable him to live as he pleased. In the diligence which +conveyed him home he dreamed of a delightful life of idleness. The +shattering of his castles in the air was terrible. When he reached +the Faubourg, and could no longer even recognise the Fouques' plot of +ground, he was stupefied. He was compelled to ask for his mother's new +address. There a terrible scene occurred. Adelaide calmly informed him +of the sale of the property. He flew into a rage, and even raised his +hand against her. + +The poor woman kept repeating: "Your brother has taken everything; it is +understood that he will take care of you." + +At last he left her and ran off to see Pierre, whom he had previously +informed of his return, and who was prepared to receive him in such a +way as to put an end to the matter at the first word of abuse. + +"Listen," the oil-dealer said to him, affecting distant coldness; "don't +rouse my anger, or I'll turn you out. As a matter of fact, I don't know +you. We don't bear the same name. It's quite misfortune enough for me +that my mother misconducted herself, without having her offspring coming +here and insulting me. I was well disposed towards you, but since you +are insolent I shall do nothing for you, absolutely nothing." + +Antoine was almost choking with rage. + +"And what about my money," he cried; "will you give it up, you thief, or +shall I have to drag you before the judges?" + +Pierre shrugged his shoulders. + +"I've got no money of yours," he replied, more calmly than ever. "My +mother disposed of her fortune as she thought proper. I am certainly not +going to poke my nose into her business. I willingly renounced all hope +of inheritance. I am quite safe from your foul accusations." + +And as his brother, exasperated by this composure, and not knowing what +to think, muttered something, Pierre thrust Adelaide's receipt under his +nose. The reading of this scrap of paper completed Antoine's dismay. + +"Very well," he said, in a calmer voice, "I know now what I have to do." + +The truth was, however, he did not know what to do. His inability to hit +upon any immediate expedient for obtaining his share of the money and +satisfying his desire of revenge increased his fury. He went back to +his mother and subjected her to a disgraceful cross-examination. The +wretched woman could do nothing but again refer him to Pierre. + +"Do you think you are going to make me run to and fro like a shuttle?" +he cried, insolently. "I'll soon find out which of you two has the +hoard. You've already squandered it, perhaps?" + +And making an allusion to her former misconduct he asked her if there +were still not some low fellow to whom she gave her last sous? He did +not even spare his father, that drunkard Macquart, as he called him, +who must have lived on her till the day of his death, and who left his +children in poverty. The poor woman listened with a stupefied air; big +tears rolled down her cheeks. She defended herself with the terror of +a child, replying to her son's questions as though he were a judge; she +swore that she was living respectably, and reiterated with emphasis that +she had never had a sou of the money, that Pierre had taken everything. +Antoine almost came to believe it at last. + +"Ah! the scoundrel!" he muttered; "that's why he wouldn't purchase my +discharge." + +He had to sleep at his mother's house, on a straw mattress flung in +a corner. He had returned with his pockets perfectly empty, and was +exasperated at finding himself destitute of resources, abandoned like +a dog in the streets, without hearth or home, while his brother, as he +thought, was in a good way of business, and living on the fat of +the land. As he had no money to buy clothes with, he went out on the +following day in his regimental cap and trousers. He had the good +fortune to find, at the bottom of a cupboard, an old yellowish velveteen +jacket, threadbare and patched, which had belonged to Macquart. In this +strange attire he walked about the town, relating his story to everyone, +and demanding justice. + +The people whom he went to consult received him with a contempt which +made him shed tears of rage. Provincial folks are inexorable towards +fallen families. In the general opinion it was only natural that the +Rougon-Macquarts should seek to devour each other; the spectators, +instead of separating them, were more inclined to urge them on. Pierre, +however, was at that time already beginning to purify himself of his +early stains. People laughed at his roguery; some even went so far as to +say that he had done quite right, if he really had taken possession of +the money, and that it would be a good lesson to the dissolute folks of +the town. + +Antoine returned home discouraged. A lawyer had advised him, in a +scornful manner, to wash his dirty linen at home, though not until he +had skilfully ascertained whether Antoine possessed the requisite +means to carry on a lawsuit. According to this man, the case was very +involved, the pleadings would be very lengthy, and success was doubtful. +Moreover, it would require money, and plenty of it. + +Antoine treated his mother yet more harshly that evening. Not knowing +on whom else to wreak his vengeance, he repeated his accusation of the +previous day; he kept the wretched woman up till midnight, trembling +with shame and fright. Adelaide having informed him that Pierre made +her an allowance, he now felt certain that his brother had pocketed +the fifty thousand francs. But, in his irritation, he still affected to +doubt it, and did not cease to question the poor woman, again and again +reproaching her with misconduct. + +Antoine soon found out that, alone and without resources, he could not +successfully carry on a contest with his brother. He then endeavoured +to gain Adelaide to his cause; an accusation lodged by her might have +serious consequences. But, at Antoine's first suggestion of it, the +poor, lazy, lethargic creature firmly refused to bring trouble on her +eldest son. + +"I am an unhappy woman," she stammered; "it is quite right of you to get +angry. But I should feel too much remorse if I caused one of my sons to +be sent to prison. No; I'd rather let you beat me." + +He saw that he would get nothing but tears out of her, and contented +himself with saying that she was justly punished, and that he had no +pity for her. In the evening, upset by the continual quarrels which her +son had sought with her, Adelaide had one of those nervous attacks which +kept her as rigid as if she had been dead. The young man threw her on +her bed, and then began to rummage the house to see if the wretched +woman had any savings hidden away. He found about forty francs. He took +possession of them, and, while his mother still lay there, rigid and +scarce able to breathe, he quietly took the diligence to Marseilles. + +He had just bethought himself that Mouret, the journeyman hatter who had +married his sister Ursule, must be indignant at Pierre's roguery, and +would no doubt be willing to defend his wife's interests. But he did +not find in him the man he expected. Mouret plainly told him that he had +become accustomed to look upon Ursule as an orphan, and would have no +contentions with her family at any price. Their affairs were prospering. +Antoine was received so coldly that he hastened to take the diligence +home again. But, before leaving, he was anxious to revenge himself for +the secret contempt which he read in the workman's eyes; and, observing +that his sister appeared rather pale and dejected, he said to her +husband, in a slyly cruel way, as he took his departure: "Have a care, +my sister was always sickly, and I find her much changed for the worse; +you may lose her altogether." + +The tears which rushed to Mouret's eyes convinced him that he had +touched a sore wound. But then those work-people made too great a +display of their happiness. + +When he was back again in Plassans, Antoine became the more menacing +from the conviction that his hands were tied. During a whole month he +was seen all over the place. He paraded the streets, recounting his +story to all who would listen to him. Whenever he succeeded in extorting +a franc from his mother, he would drink it away at some tavern, where he +would revile his brother, declaring that the rascal should shortly hear +from him. In places like these, the good-natured fraternity which reigns +among drunkards procured him a sympathetic audience; all the scum of the +town espoused his cause, and poured forth bitter imprecations against +that rascal Rougon, who left a brave soldier to starve; the discussion +generally terminating with an indiscriminate condemnation of the rich. +Antoine, the better to revenge himself, continued to march about in his +regimental cap and trousers and his old yellow velvet jacket, although +his mother had offered to purchase some more becoming clothes for him. +But no; he preferred to make a display of his rags, and paraded them on +Sundays in the most frequented parts of the Cours Sauvaire. + +One of his most exquisite pleasures was to pass Pierre's shop ten +times a day. He would enlarge the holes in his jacket with his fingers, +slacken his step, and sometimes stand talking in front of the door, so +as to remain longer in the street. On these occasions, too, he would +bring one of his drunken friends and gossip to him; telling him about +the theft of the fifty thousand francs, accompanying his narrative +with loud insults and menaces, which could be heard by everyone in +the street, and taking particular care that his abuse should reach the +furthest end of the shop. + +"He'll finish by coming to beg in front of our house," Felicite used to +say in despair. + +The vain little woman suffered terribly from this scandal. She even at +this time felt some regret at ever having married Rougon; his family +connections were so objectionable. She would have given all she had in +the world to prevent Antoine from parading his rags. But Pierre, who +was maddened by his brother's conduct, would not allow his name to be +mentioned. When his wife tried to convince him that it would perhaps +be better to free himself from all annoyance by giving Antoine a little +money: "No, nothing; not a sou," he cried with rage. "Let him starve!" + +He confessed, however, at last that Antoine's demeanour was becoming +intolerable. One day, Felicite, desiring to put an end to it, called to +"that man," as she styled him with a disdainful curl on her lip. "That +man" was in the act of calling her a foul name in the middle of the +street, where he stood with one of his friends, even more ragged than +himself. They were both drunk. + +"Come, they want us in there," said Antoine to his companion in a +jeering tone. + +But Felicite drew back, muttering: "It's you alone we wish to speak to." + +"Bah!" the young man replied, "my friend's a decent fellow. You needn't +mind him hearing. He'll be my witness." + +The witness sank heavily on a chair. He did not take off his hat, but +began to stare around him, with the maudlin, stupid grin of drunkards +and coarse people who know that they are insolent. Felicite was so +ashamed that she stood in front of the shop door in order that +people outside might not see what strange company she was receiving. +Fortunately her husband came to the rescue. A violent quarrel ensued +between him and his brother. The latter, after stammering insults, +reiterated his old grievances twenty times over. At last he even began +to cry, and his companion was near following his example. Pierre had +defended himself in a very dignified manner. + +"Look here," he said at last, "you're unfortunate, and I pity you. +Although you have cruelly insulted me, I can't forget that we are +children of the same mother. If I give you anything, however, you must +understand I give it you out of kindness, and not from fear. Would you +like a hundred francs to help you out of your difficulties?" + +This abrupt offer of a hundred francs dazzled Antoine's companion. He +looked at the other with an air of delight, which clearly signified: "As +the gentleman offers a hundred francs, it is time to leave off +abusing him." But Antoine was determined to speculate on his brother's +favourable disposition. He asked him whether he took him for a fool; it +was his share, ten thousand francs, that he wanted. + +"You're wrong, you're wrong," stuttered his friend. + +At last, as Pierre, losing all patience, was threatening to turn +them both out, Antoine lowered his demands and contented himself with +claiming one thousand francs. They quarrelled for another quarter of +an hour over this amount. Finally, Felicite interfered. A crowd was +gathering round the shop. + +"Listen," she said, excitedly; "my husband will give you two hundred +francs. I'll undertake to buy you a suit of clothes, and hire a room for +a year for you." + +Rougon got angry at this. But Antoine's comrade cried, with transports +of delight: "All right, it's settled, then; my friend accepts." + +Antoine did, in fact, declare, in a surly way, that he would accept. +He felt he would not be able to get any more. It was arranged that the +money and clothes should be sent to him on the following day, and that a +few days later, as soon as Felicite should have found a room for him, he +would take up his quarters there. As they were leaving, the young +man's sottish companion became as respectful as he had previously been +insolent. He bowed to the company more than a dozen times, in an awkward +and humble manner, muttering many indistinct thanks, as if the Rougons' +gifts had been intended for himself. + +A week later Antoine occupied a large room in the old quarter, in which +Felicite, exceeding her promises, had placed a bed, a table, and some +chairs, on the young man formally undertaking not to molest them in +future. Adelaide felt no regret at her son leaving her; the short stay +he had made with her had condemned her to bread and water for more than +three months. However, Antoine had soon eaten and drunk the two hundred +francs he received from Pierre. He never for a moment thought of +investing them in some little business which would have helped him to +live. When he was again penniless, having no trade, and being, moreover, +unwilling to work, he again sought to slip a hand into the Rougons' +purse. Circumstances were not the same as before, however, and he failed +to intimidate them. Pierre even took advantage of this opportunity to +turn him out, and forbade him ever to set foot in his house again. +It was of no avail for Antoine to repeat his former accusations. The +townspeople, who were acquainted with his brother's munificence from +the publicity which Felicite had given to it, declared him to be in +the wrong, and called him a lazy, idle fellow. Meantime his hunger was +pressing. He threatened to turn smuggler like his father, and perpetrate +some crime which would dishonour his family. At this the Rougons +shrugged their shoulders; they knew he was too much of a coward to risk +his neck. At last, blindly enraged against his relatives in particular +and society in general, Antoine made up his mind to seek some work. + +In a tavern of the Faubourg he made the acquaintance of a basket-maker +who worked at home. He offered to help him. In a short time he learnt to +plait baskets and hampers--a coarse and poorly-paid kind of labour which +finds a ready market. He was very soon able to work on his own account. +This trade pleased him, as it was not over laborious. He could still +indulge his idleness, and that was what he chiefly cared for. He would +only take to his work when he could no longer do otherwise; then he +would hurriedly plait a dozen baskets and go and sell them in the +market. As long as the money lasted he lounged about, visiting all +the taverns and digesting his drink in the sunshine. Then, when he had +fasted a whole day, he would once more take up his osier with a low +growl and revile the wealthy who lived in idleness. The trade of a +basket-maker, when followed in such a manner, is a thankless one. +Antoine's work would not have sufficed to pay for his drinking bouts +if he had not contrived a means of procuring his osier at low cost. He +never bought any at Plassans, but used to say that he went each month to +purchase a stock at a neighbouring town, where he pretended it was +sold cheaper. The truth, however, was that he supplied himself from +the osier-grounds of the Viorne on dark nights. A rural policeman even +caught him once in the very act, and Antoine underwent a few days' +imprisonment in consequence. It was from that time forward that he posed +in the town as a fierce Republican. He declared that he had been quietly +smoking his pipe by the riverside when the rural policeman arrested him. +And he added: "They would like to get me out of the way because they +know what my opinions are. But I'm not afraid of them, those rich +scoundrels." + +At last, at the end of ten years of idleness, Antoine considered that +he had been working too hard. His constant dream was to devise some +expedient by which he might live at his ease without having to do +anything. His idleness would never have rested content with bread and +water; he was not like certain lazy persons who are willing to put up +with hunger provided they can keep their hands in their pockets. He +liked good feeding and nothing to do. He talked at one time of taking a +situation as servant in some nobleman's house in the Saint-Marc quarter. +But one of his friends, a groom, frightened him by describing the +exacting ways of his masters. Finally Macquart, sick of his baskets, +and seeing the time approach when he would be compelled to purchase +the requisite osier, was on the point of selling himself as an army +substitute and resuming his military life, which he preferred a thousand +times to that of an artisan, when he made the acquaintance of a woman, +an acquaintance which modified his plans. + +Josephine Gavaudan, who was known throughout the town by the familiar +diminutive of Fine, was a tall, strapping wench of about thirty. With +a square face of masculine proportions, and a few terribly long hairs +about her chin and lips, she was cited as a doughty woman, one who could +make the weight of her fist felt. Her broad shoulders and huge arms +consequently inspired the town urchins with marvellous respect; and they +did not even dare to smile at her moustache. Notwithstanding all this, +Fine had a faint voice, weak and clear like that of a child. Those who +were acquainted with her asserted that she was as gentle as a lamb, in +spite of her formidable appearance. As she was very hard-working, she +might have put some money aside if she had not had a partiality for +liqueurs. She adored aniseed, and very often had to be carried home on +Sunday evenings. + +On week days she would toil with the stubbornness of an animal. She had +three or four different occupations; she sold fruit or boiled chestnuts +in the market, according to the season; went out charring for a few +well-to-do people; washed up plates and dishes at houses when parties +were given, and employed her spare time in mending old chairs. She was +more particularly known in the town as a chair-mender. In the South +large numbers of straw-bottomed chairs are used. + +Antoine Macquart formed an acquaintance with Fine at the market. When he +went to sell his baskets in the winter he would stand beside the stove +on which she cooled her chestnuts and warm himself. He was astonished +at her courage, he who was frightened of the least work. By degrees he +discerned, beneath the apparent roughness of this strapping creature, +signs of timidity and kindliness. He frequently saw her give handfuls of +chestnuts to the ragged urchins who stood in ecstasy round her smoking +pot. At other times, when the market inspector hustled her, she very +nearly began to cry, apparently forgetting all about her heavy fists. +Antoine at last decided that she was exactly the woman he wanted. She +would work for both and he would lay down the law at home. She would +be his beast of burden, an obedient, indefatigable animal. As for her +partiality for liqueurs, he regarded this as quite natural. After well +weighing the advantages of such an union, he declared himself to Fine, +who was delighted with his proposal. No man had ever yet ventured to +propose to her. Though she was told that Antoine was the most worthless +of vagabonds, she lacked the courage to refuse matrimony. The very +evening of the nuptials the young man took up his abode in his wife's +lodgings in the Rue Civadiere, near the market. These lodgings, +consisting of three rooms, were much more comfortably furnished than his +own, and he gave a sigh of satisfaction as he stretched himself out on +the two excellent mattresses which covered the bedstead. + +Everything went on very well for the first few days. Fine attended to +her various occupations as in the past; Antoine, seized with a sort of +marital self-pride which astonished even himself, plaited in one week +more baskets than he had ever before done in a month. On the first +Sunday, however, war broke out. The couple had a goodly sum of money in +the house, and they spent it freely. During the night, when they were +both drunk, they beat each other outrageously, without being able to +remember on the morrow how it was that the quarrel had commenced. They +had remained on most affectionate terms until about ten o'clock, when +Antoine had begun to beat Fine brutally, whereupon the latter, growing +exasperated and forgetting her meekness, had given him back as much as +she received. She went to work again bravely on the following day, as +though nothing had happened. But her husband, with sullen rancour, +rose late and passed the remainder of the day smoking his pipe in the +sunshine. + +From that time forward the Macquarts adopted the kind of life which +they were destined to lead in the future. It became, as it were, tacitly +understood between them that the wife should toil and moil to keep her +husband. Fine, who had an instinctive liking for work, did not object +to this. She was as patient as a saint, provided she had had no drink, +thought it quite natural that her husband should remain idle, and even +strove to spare him the most trifling labour. Her little weakness, +aniseed, did not make her vicious, but just. On the evenings when +she had forgotten herself in the company of a bottle of her favourite +liqueur, if Antoine tried to pick a quarrel with her, she would set +upon him with might and main, reproaching him with his idleness and +ingratitude. The neighbours grew accustomed to the disturbances which +periodically broke out in the couple's room. The two battered each other +conscientiously; the wife slapped like a mother chastising a naughty +child; but the husband, treacherous and spiteful as he was, measured his +blows, and, on several occasions, very nearly crippled the unfortunate +woman. + +"You'll be in a fine plight when you've broken one of my arms or legs," +she would say to him. "Who'll keep you then, you lazy fellow?" + +Excepting for these turbulent scenes, Antoine began to find his new mode +of existence quite endurable. He was well clothed, and ate and drank his +fill. He had laid aside the basket work altogether; sometimes, when he +was feeling over-bored, he would resolve to plait a dozen baskets for +the next market day; but very often he did not even finish the first +one. He kept, under a couch, a bundle of osier which he did not use up +in twenty years. + +The Macquarts had three children, two girls and a boy. Lisa,[*] born +the first, in 1827, one year after the marriage, remained but little +at home. She was a fine, big, healthy, full-blooded child, greatly +resembling her mother. She did not, however, inherit the latter's animal +devotion and endurance. Macquart had implanted in her a most decided +longing for ease and comfort. While she was a child she would consent to +work for a whole day in return for a cake. When she was scarcely seven +years old, the wife of the postmaster, who was a neighbour of the +Macquarts, took a liking to her. She made a little maid of her. And when +she lost her husband in 1839, and went to live in Paris, she took Lisa +with her. The parents had almost given her their daughter. + + [*] The pork-butcher's wife in _Le Ventre de Paris_ (_The + Fat and the Thin_). + +The second girl, Gervaise,[*] born the following year, was a cripple +from birth. Her right thigh was smaller than the left and showed signs +of curvature, a curious hereditary result of the brutality which her +mother had to endure during her fierce drunken brawls with Macquart. +Gervaise remained puny, and Fine, observing her pallor and weakness, +put her on a course of aniseed, under the pretext that she required +something to strengthen her. But the poor child became still more +emaciated. She was a tall, lank girl, whose frocks, invariably too +large, hung round her as if they had nothing under them. Above a +deformed and puny body she had a sweet little doll-like head, a tiny +round face, pale and exquisitely delicate. Her infirmity almost became +graceful. Her body swayed gently at every step with a sort of rhythmical +swing. + + [*] The chief female character in _L'Assommoir_ (_The Dramshop_). + +The Macquarts' son, Jean,[*] was born three years later. He was a robust +child, in no respect recalling Gervaise. Like the eldest girl, he took +after his mother, without having any physical resemblance to her. He +was the first to import into the Rougon-Macquart stock a fat face with +regular features, which showed all the coldness of a grave yet not +over-intelligent nature. This boy grew up with the determination of +some day making an independent position for himself. He attended school +diligently, and tortured his dull brain to force a little arithmetic and +spelling into it. After that he became an apprentice, repeating much +the same efforts with a perseverance that was the more meritorious as it +took him a whole day to learn what others acquired in an hour. + + [*] Figures prominently in _La Terre_ (_The Earth_) and _La + Debacle_ (_The Downfall_). + +As long as these poor little things remained a burden to the house, +Antoine grumbled. They were useless mouths that lessened his own share. +He vowed, like his brother, that he would have no more children, those +greedy creatures who bring their parents to penury. It was something to +hear him bemoan his lot when they sat five at table, and the mother gave +the best morsels to Jean, Lisa, and Gervaise. + +"That's right," he would growl; "stuff them, make them burst!" + +Whenever Fine bought a garment or a pair of boots for them, he would +sulk for days together. Ah! if he had only known, he would never had had +that pack of brats, who compelled him to limit his smoking to four sous' +worth of tobacco a day, and too frequently obliged him to eat stewed +potatoes for dinner, a dish which he heartily detested. + +Later on, however, as soon as Jean and Gervaise earned their first +francs, he found some good in children after all. Lisa was no longer +there. He lived upon the earnings of the two others without compunction, +as he had already lived upon their mother. It was a well-planned +speculation on his part. As soon as little Gervaise was eight years old, +she went to a neighbouring dealer's to crack almonds; she there earned +ten sous a day, which her father pocketed right royally, without even +a question from Fine as to what became of the money. The young girl was +next apprenticed to a laundress, and as soon as she received two francs +a day for her work, the two francs strayed in a similar manner into +Macquart's hands. Jean, who had learnt the trade of a carpenter, was +likewise despoiled on pay-days, whenever Macquart succeeded in catching +him before he had handed the money to his mother. If the money escaped +Macquart, which sometimes happened, he became frightfully surly. He +would glare at his wife and children for a whole week, picking a quarrel +for nothing, although he was, as yet, ashamed to confess the real cause +of his irritations. On the next pay-day, however, he would station +himself on the watch, and as soon as he had succeeded in pilfering the +youngster's earnings, he disappeared for days together. + +Gervaise, beaten and brought up in the streets among all the lads of the +neighbourhood, became a mother when she was fourteen years of age. The +father of her child was not eighteen years old. He was a journeyman +tanner named Lantier. At first Macquart was furious, but he calmed +down somewhat when he learnt that Lantier's mother, a worthy woman, was +willing to take charge of the child. He kept Gervaise, however; she was +then already earning twenty-five sous a day, and he therefore avoided +all question of marriage. Four years later she had a second child, which +was likewise taken in by Lantier's mother. This time Macquart shut his +eyes altogether. And when Fine timidly suggested that it was time to +come to some understanding with the tanner, in order to end a state of +things which made people chatter, he flatly declared that his daughter +should not leave him, and that he would give her to her lover later on, +"when he was worthy of her, and had enough money to furnish a home." + +This was a fine time for Antoine Macquart. He dressed like a gentleman, +in frock-coats and trousers of the finest cloth. Cleanly shaved, and +almost fat, he was no longer the emaciated ragged vagabond who had been +wont to frequent the taverns. He dropped into cafes, read the papers, +and strolled on the Cours Sauvaire. He played the gentleman as long as +he had any money in his pocket. At times of impecuniosity he remained at +home, exasperated at being kept in his hovel and prevented from taking +his customary cup of coffee. On such occasions he would reproach the +whole human race with his poverty, making himself ill with rage and +envy, until Fine, out of pity, would often give him the last silver coin +in the house so that he might spend his evening at the cafe. This dear +fellow was fiercely selfish. Gervaise, who brought home as much as sixty +francs a month, wore only thin cotton frocks, while he had black satin +waistcoats made for him by one of the best tailors in Plassans. + +Jean, the big lad who earned three or four francs a day, was perhaps +robbed even more impudently. The cafe where his father passed entire +days was just opposite his master's workshop, and while he had plane or +saw in hand he could see "Monsieur" Macquart on the other side of the +way, sweetening his coffee or playing piquet with some petty annuitant. +It was his money that the lazy old fellow was gambling away. He, Jean, +never stepped inside a cafe, he never had so much as five sous to pay +for a drink. Antoine treated him like a little girl, never leaving him a +centime, and always demanding an exact account of the manner in which he +had employed his time. If the unfortunate lad, led away by some of +his mates, wasted a day somewhere in the country, on the banks of the +Viorne, or on the slopes of Garrigues, his father would storm and raise +his hand, and long bear him a grudge on account of the four francs less +that he received at the end of the fortnight. He thus held his son in +a state of dependence, sometimes even looking upon the sweethearts whom +the young carpenter courted as his own. Several of Gervaise's friends +used to come to the Macquarts' house, work-girls from sixteen to +eighteen years of age, bold and boisterous girls who, on certain +evenings, filled the room with youth and gaiety. Poor Jean, deprived of +all pleasure, ever kept at home by the lack of money, looked at these +girls with longing eyes; but the childish life which he was compelled +to lead had implanted invincible shyness in him; in playing with his +sister's friends, he was hardly bold enough to touch them with the tips +of his fingers. Macquart used to shrug his shoulders with pity. + +"What a simpleton!" he would mutter, with an air of ironical +superiority. + +And it was he who would kiss the girls, when his wife's back was turned. +He carried his attentions even further with a little laundress whom Jean +pursued rather more earnestly than the others. One fine evening he stole +her almost from his arms. The old rogue prided himself on his gallantry. + +There are some men who live upon their mistresses. Antoine Macquart +lived on his wife and children with as much shamelessness and impudence. +He did not feel the least compunction in pillaging the home and going +out to enjoy himself when the house was bare. He still assumed a +supercilious air, returning from the cafe only to rail against the +poverty and wretchedness that awaited him at home. He found the dinner +detestable, he called Gervaise a blockhead, and declared that Jean would +never be a man. Immersed in his own selfish indulgence, he rubbed his +hands whenever he had eaten the best piece in the dish; and then he +smoked his pipe, puffing slowly, while the two poor children, overcome +with fatigue, went to sleep with their heads resting on the table. +Thus Macquart passed his days in lazy enjoyment. It seemed to him quite +natural that he should be kept in idleness like a girl, to sprawl about +on the benches of some tavern, or stroll in the cool of the day along +the Cours or the Mail. At last he went so far as to relate his amorous +escapades in the presence of his son, who listened with glistening +eyes. The children never protested, accustomed as they were to see their +mother humble herself before her husband. + +Fine, that strapping woman who drubbed him soundly when they were both +intoxicated, always trembled before him when she was sober, and allowed +him to rule despotically at home. He robbed her in the night of the +coppers which she had earned during the day at the market, but she +never dared to protest, except by veiled rebukes. Sometimes, when he had +squandered the week's money in advance, he accused her, poor thing, who +worked herself to death, of being stupid and not knowing how to manage. +Fine, as gentle as a lamb, replied, in her soft, clear voice, which +contrasted so strangely with her big figure, that she was no longer +twenty years old, and that money was becoming hard to earn. In order +to console herself, she would buy a pint of aniseed, and drink little +glassfuls of it with her daughter of an evening, after Antoine had gone +back to the cafe. That was their dissipation. Jean went to bed, while +the two women remained at the table, listening attentively in order to +remove the bottle and glasses at the first sound. + +When Macquart was late, they often became intoxicated by the many "nips" +they thus thoughtlessly imbibed. Stupefied and gazing at each other +with vague smiles, this mother and daughter would end by stuttering. +Red patches appeared on Gervaise's cheeks; her delicate doll-like face +assumed a look of maudlin beatitude. Nothing could be more heart-rending +than to see this wretched, pale child, aglow with drink and wearing the +idiotic smile of a confirmed sot about her moist lips. Fine, huddled +up on her chair, became heavy and drowsy. They sometimes forgot to keep +watch, or even lacked the strength to remove the bottle and glasses when +Antoine's footsteps were heard on the stairs. On these occasions +blows were freely exchanged among the Macquarts. Jean had to get up +to separate his father and mother and make his sister go to bed, as +otherwise she would have slept on the floor. + +Every political party numbers its grotesques and its villains. Antoine +Macquart, devoured by envy and hatred, and meditating revenge against +society in general, welcomed the Republic as a happy era when he would +be allowed to fill his pockets from his neighbour's cash-box, and even +strangle the neighbour if the latter manifested any displeasure. +His cafe life and all the newspaper articles he had read without +understanding them had made him a terrible ranter who enunciated the +strangest of political theories. It is necessary to have heard one of +those malcontents who ill digest what they read, haranguing the company +in some provincial taproom, in order to conceive the degree of hateful +folly at which Macquart had arrived. As he talked a good deal, had +seen active service, and was naturally regarded as a man of energy and +spirit, he was much sought after and listened to by simpletons. Although +he was not the chief of any party, he had succeeded in collecting +round him a small group of working-men who took his jealous ravings for +expressions of honest and conscientious indignation. + +Directly after the Revolution of February '48, he persuaded himself that +Plassans was his own, and, as he strolled along the streets, the +jeering manner in which he regarded the little retail traders who stood +terrified at their shop doors clearly signified: "Our day has come, +my little lambs; we are going to lead you a fine dance!" He had grown +insolent beyond belief; he acted the part of a victorious despot to +such a degree that he ceased to pay for his drinks at the cafe, and the +landlord, a simpleton who trembled whenever Antoine rolled his eyes, +dared not present his bill. The number of cups of coffee he consumed +during this period was incalculable; sometimes he invited his friends, +and shouted for hours together that the people were dying of hunger, and +that the rich ought to share their wealth with them. He himself would +never have given a sou to a beggar. + +That which chiefly converted him into a fierce Republican was the hope +of at last being able to revenge himself on the Rougons, who had openly +ranged themselves on the side of the reactionary party. Ah, what a +triumph if he could only hold Pierre and Felicite at his mercy! Although +the latter had not succeeded over well in business, they had at +last become gentlefolks, while he, Macquart, had still remained a +working-man. That exasperated him. Perhaps he was still more mortified +because one of their sons was a barrister, another a doctor, and the +third a clerk, while his son Jean merely worked at a carpenter's shop, +and his daughter Gervaise at a washerwoman's. When he compared the +Macquarts with the Rougons, he was still more ashamed to see his wife +selling chestnuts in the market, and mending the greasy old straw-seated +chairs of the neighbourhood in the evening. Pierre, after all, was but +his brother, and had no more right than himself to live fatly on his +income. Moreover, this brother was actually playing the gentleman with +money stolen from him. Whenever Macquart touched upon this subject, he +became fiercely enraged; he clamoured for hours together, incessantly +repeating his old accusations, and never wearying of exclaiming: "If +my brother was where he ought to be, I should be the moneyed man at the +present time!" + +And when anyone asked him where his brother ought to be, he would reply, +"At the galleys!" in a formidable voice. + +His hatred further increased when the Rougons had gathered the +Conservatives round them, and thus acquired a certain influence in +Plassans. The famous yellow drawing-room became, in his hare-brained +chatter at the cafe, a cave of bandits, an assembly of villains who +every evening swore on their daggers that they would murder the people. +In order to incite the starvelings against Pierre, Macquart went so far +as to circulate a report that the retired oil-dealer was not so poor as +he pretended, but that he concealed his treasures through avarice and +fear of robbery. His tactics thus tended to rouse the poor people by a +repetition of absurdly ridiculous tales, which he often came to believe +in himself. His personal animosity and his desire for revenge were ill +concealed beneath his professions of patriotism; but he was heard so +frequently, and he had such a loud voice, that no one would have dared +to doubt the genuineness of his convictions. + +At bottom, all the members of this family had the same brutish passions. +Felicite, who clearly understood that Macquart's wild theories were +simply the fruit of restrained rage and embittered envy, would much have +liked to purchase his silence. Unfortunately, she was short of money, +and did not dare to interest him in the dangerous game which her husband +was playing. Antoine now injured them very much among the well-to-do +people of the new town. It sufficed that he was a relation of theirs. +Granoux and Roudier often scornfully reproached them for having such a +man in their family. Felicite consequently asked herself with anguish +how they could manage to cleanse themselves of such a stain. + +It seemed to her monstrous and indecent that Monsieur Rougon should have +a brother whose wife sold chestnuts, and who himself lived in crapulous +idleness. She at last even trembled for the success of their secret +intrigues, so long as Antoine seemingly took pleasure in compromising +them. When the diatribes which he levelled at the yellow drawing-room +were reported to her, she shuddered at the thought that he was capable +of becoming desperate and ruining all their hopes by force of scandal. + +Antoine knew what consternation his demeanour must cause the Rougons, +and it was solely for the purpose of exhausting their patience that he +from day to day affected fiercer opinions. At the cafe he frequented +he used to speak of "my brother Pierre" in a voice which made everybody +turn round; and if he happened to meet some reactionary from the yellow +drawing-room in the street, he would mutter some low abuse which the +worthy citizen, amazed at such audacity, would repeat to the Rougons +in the evening, as though to make them responsible for his disagreeable +encounter. + +One day Granoux arrived in a state of fury. + +"Really," he exclaimed, when scarcely across the threshold, "it's +intolerable; one can't move a step without being insulted." Then, +addressing Pierre, he added: "When one has a brother like yours, sir, +one should rid society of him. I was just quietly walking past the +Sub-Prefecture, when that rascal passed me muttering something in which +I could clearly distinguish the words 'old rogue.'" + +Felicite turned pale, and felt it necessary to apologise to Granoux, but +he refused to accept any excuses, and threatened to leave altogether. +The marquis, however, exerted himself to arrange matters. + +"It is very strange," he said, "that the wretched fellow should have +called you an old rogue. Are you sure that he intended the insult for +you?" + +Granoux was perplexed; he admitted at last, however, that Antoine might +have muttered: "So you are again going to that old rogue's?" + +At this Monsieur de Carnavant stroked his chin to conceal the smile +which rose to his lips in spite of himself. + +Then Rougon, with superb composure, replied: "I thought as much; the +'old rogue' was no doubt intended for me. I've very glad that this +misunderstanding is now cleared up. Gentlemen, pray avoid the man in +question, whom I formally repudiate." + +Felicite, however, did not take matters so coolly; every fresh scandal +caused by Macquart made her more and more uneasy; she would sometimes +pass the whole night wondering what those gentlemen must think of the +matter. + +A few months before the Coup d'Etat, the Rougons received an anonymous +letter, three pages of foul insults, in which they were warned that +if their party should ever triumph, the scandalous story of Adelaide's +amours would be published in some newspaper, together with an account +of the robbery perpetrated by Pierre, when he had compelled his mother, +driven out of her senses by debauchery, to sign a receipt for fifty +thousand francs. This letter was a heavy blow for Rougon himself. +Felicite could not refrain from reproaching her husband with his +disreputable family; for the husband and wife never for a moment doubted +that this letter was Antoine's work. + +"We shall have to get rid of the blackguard at any price," said Pierre +in a gloomy tone. "He's becoming too troublesome by far." + +In the meantime, Macquart, resorting to his former tactics, looked round +among his own relatives for accomplices who would join him against the +Rougons. He had counted upon Aristide at first, on reading his terrible +articles in the "Independant." But the young man, in spite of all his +jealous rage, was not so foolish as to make common cause with such +a fellow as his uncle. He never even minced matters with him, but +invariably kept him at a distance, a circumstance which induced Antoine +to regard him suspiciously. In the taverns, where Macquart reigned +supreme, people went so far as to say the journalist was paid to provoke +disturbances. + +Baffled on this side, Macquart had no alternative but to sound his +sister Ursule's children. Ursule had died in 1839, thus fulfilling her +brother's evil prophecy. The nervous affection which she had inherited +from her mother had turned into slow consumption, which gradually killed +her. She left three children; a daughter, eighteen years of age, named +Helene, who married a clerk, and two boys, the elder, Francois, a young +man of twenty-three, and the younger, a sickly little fellow scarcely +six years old, named Silvere. The death of his wife, whom he adored, +proved a thunderbolt to Mouret. He dragged on his existence for another +year, neglecting his business and losing all the money he had saved. +Then, one morning, he was found hanging in a cupboard where Ursule's +dresses were still suspended. His elder son, who had received a good +commercial training, took a situation in the house of his uncle Rougon, +where he replaced Aristide, who had just left. + +Rougon, in spite of his profound hatred for the Macquarts, gladly +welcomed this nephew, whom he knew to be industrious and sober. He +was in want of a youth whom he could trust, and who would help him to +retrieve his affairs. Moreover, during the time of Mouret's prosperity, +he had learnt to esteem the young couple, who knew how to make money, +and thus he had soon become reconciled with his sister. Perhaps he +thought he was making Francois some compensation by taking him into his +business; having robbed the mother, he would shield himself from remorse +by giving employment to the son; even rogues make honest calculations +sometimes. It was, however, a good thing for him. If the house of Rougon +did not make a fortune at this time, it was certainly through no fault +of that quiet, punctilious youth, Francois, who seemed born to pass his +life behind a grocer's counter, between a jar of oil and a bundle +of dried cod-fish. Although he physically resembled his mother, he +inherited from his father a just if narrow mind, with an instinctive +liking for a methodical life and the safe speculations of a small +business. + +Three months after his arrival, Pierre, pursuing his system of +compensation, married him to his young daughter Marthe,[*] whom he did +not know how to dispose of. The two young people fell in love with +each other quite suddenly, in a few days. A peculiar circumstance had +doubtless determined and enhanced their mutual affection. There was a +remarkably close resemblance between them, suggesting that of brother +and sister. Francois inherited, through Ursule, the face of his +grandmother Adelaide. Marthe's case was still more curious; she was an +equally exact portrait of Adelaide, although Pierre Rougon had none of +his mother's features distinctly marked; the physical resemblance +had, as it were, passed over Pierre, to reappear in his daughter. The +similarity between husband and wife went, however, no further than +their faces; if the worthy son of a steady matter-of-fact hatter was +distinguishable in Francois, Marthe showed the nervousness and mental +weakness of her grandmother. Perhaps it was this combination of physical +resemblance and moral dissimilarity which threw the young people into +each other's arms. From 1840 to 1844 they had three children. Francois +remained in his uncle's employ until the latter retired. Pierre had +desired to sell him the business, but the young man knew what small +chance there was of making a fortune in trade at Plassans; so he +declined the offer and repaired to Marseilles, where he established +himself with his little savings. + + [*] Both Francois and Marthe figure largely in _The Conquest + of Plassans_. + +Macquart soon had to abandon all hope of dragging this big industrious +fellow into his campaign against the Rougons; whereupon, with all the +spite of a lazybones, he regarded him as a cunning miser. He fancied, +however, that he had discovered the accomplice he was seeking in +Mouret's second son, a lad of fifteen years of age. Young Silvere had +never even been to school at the time when Mouret was found hanging +among his wife's skirts. His elder brother, not knowing what to do +with him, took him also to his uncle's. The latter made a wry face on +beholding the child; he had no intention of carrying his compensation so +far as to feed a useless mouth. Thus Silvere, to whom Felicite also took +a dislike, was growing up in tears, like an unfortunate little outcast, +when his grandmother Adelaide, during one of the rare visits she paid +the Rougons, took pity on him, and expressed a wish to have him with +her. Pierre was delighted; he let the child go, without even suggesting +an increase of the paltry allowance that he made Adelaide, and which +henceforward would have to suffice for two. + +Adelaide was then nearly seventy-five years of age. Grown old while +leading a cloistered existence, she was no longer the lanky ardent girl +who formerly ran to embrace the smuggler Macquart. She had stiffened and +hardened in her hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre, that dismal silent +hole where she lived entirely alone on potatoes and dry vegetables, and +which she did not leave once in the course of a month. On seeing her +pass, you might have thought her to be one of those delicately white old +nuns with automatic gait, whom the cloister has kept apart from all the +concerns of this world. Her pale face, always scrupulously girt with a +white cap, looked like that of a dying woman; a vague, calm countenance +it was, wearing an air of supreme indifference. Prolonged taciturnity +had made her dumb; the darkness of her dwelling and the continual +sight of the same objects had dulled her glance and given her eyes the +limpidity of spring water. Absolute renunciation, slow physical and +moral death, had little by little converted this crazy _amorosa_ into a +grave matron. When, as often happened, a blank stare came into her +eyes, and she gazed before her without seeing anything, one could detect +utter, internal void through those deep bright cavities. + +Nothing now remained of her former voluptuous ardour but weariness of +the flesh and a senile tremor of the hands. She had once loved like +a she-wolf, but was now wasted, already sufficiently worn out for the +grave. There had been strange workings of her nerves during her long +years of chastity. A dissolute life would perhaps have wrecked her less +than the slow hidden ravages of unsatisfied fever which had modified her +organism. + +Sometimes, even now, this moribund, pale old woman, who seemed to have +no blood left in her, was seized with nervous fits like electric shocks, +which galvanised her, and for an hour brought her atrocious intensity of +life. She would lie on her bed rigid, with her eyes open; then hiccoughs +would come upon her and she would writhe and struggle, acquiring the +frightful strength of those hysterical madwomen whom one has to tie down +in order to prevent them from breaking their heads against a wall. +This return to former vigour, these sudden attacks, gave her a terrible +shock. When she came to again, she would stagger about with such a +scared, stupefied look, that the gossips of the Faubourg used to say: +"She's been drinking, the crazy old thing!" + +Little Silvere's childish smile was for her the last pale ray which +brought some warmth to her frozen limbs. Weary of solitude, and +frightened at the thought of dying alone in one of her fits, she had +asked to have the child. With the little fellow running about near +her, she felt secure against death. Without relinquishing her habits of +taciturnity, or seeking to render her automatic movements more supple, +she conceived inexpressible affection for him. Stiff and speechless, she +would watch him playing for hours together, listening with delight to +the intolerable noise with which he filled the old hovel. That tomb +had resounded with uproar ever since Silvere had been running about it, +bestriding broomsticks, knocking up against the doors, and shouting and +crying. He brought Adelaide back to the world, as it were; she looked +after him with the most adorable awkwardness; she who, in her youth, +had neglected the duties of a mother, now felt the divine pleasures +of maternity in washing his face, dressing him, and watching over his +sickly life. It was a reawakening of love, a last soothing passion which +heaven had granted to this woman who had been so ravaged by the want of +some one to love; the touching agony of a heart that had lived amidst +the most acute desires, and which was now dying full of love for a +child. + +She was already too far gone to pour forth the babble of good plump +grandmothers; she adored the child in secret with the bashfulness of a +young girl, without knowing how to fondle him. Sometimes she took him on +her knees, and gazed at him for a long time with her pale eyes. When +the little one, frightened by her mute white visage, began to cry, she +seemed perplexed by what she had done, and quickly put him down upon the +floor without even kissing him. Perhaps she recognised in him a faint +resemblance to Macquart the poacher. + +Silvere grew up, ever tete-a-tete with Adelaide. With childish cajolery +he used to call her aunt Dide, a name which ultimately clung to the +old woman; the word "aunt" employed in this way is simply a term of +endearment in Provence. The child entertained singular affection, not +unmixed with respectful terror, for his grandmother. During her nervous +fits, when he was quite a little boy, he ran away from her, crying, +terrified by her disfigured countenance; and he came back very timidly +after the attack, ready to run away again, as though the old woman were +disposed to beat him. Later on, however, when he was twelve years old, +he would stop there bravely and watch in order that she might not hurt +herself by falling off the bed. He stood for hours holding her tightly +in his arms to subdue the rude shocks which distorted her. During +intervals of calmness he would gaze with pity on her convulsed features +and withered frame, over which her skirts lay like a shroud. These +hidden dramas, which recurred every month, this old woman as rigid as +a corpse, this child bent over her, silently watching for the return +of consciousness, made up amidst the darkness of the hovel a strange +picture of mournful horror and broken-hearted tenderness. + +When aunt Dide came round, she would get up with difficulty, and set +about her work in the hovel without even questioning Silvere. She +remembered nothing, and the child, from a sort of instinctive prudence, +avoided the least allusion to what had taken place. These recurring +fits, more than anything else, strengthened Silvere's deep attachment +for his grandmother. In the same manner as she adored him without any +garrulous effusiveness, he felt a secret, almost bashful, affection for +her. While he was really very grateful to her for having taken him in +and brought him up, he could not help regarding her as an extraordinary +creature, a prey to some strange malady, whom he ought to pity and +respect. No doubt there was not sufficient life left in Adelaide; she +was too white and too stiff for Silvere to throw himself on her neck. +Thus they lived together amidst melancholy silence, in the depths of +which they felt the tremor of boundless love. + +The sad, solemn atmosphere, which he had breathed from childhood, gave +Silvere a strong heart, in which gathered every form of enthusiasm. He +early became a serious, thoughtful little man, seeking instruction with +a kind of stubbornness. He only learnt a little spelling and arithmetic +at the school of the Christian Brothers, which he was compelled to leave +when he was but twelve years old, on account of his apprenticeship. He +never acquired the first rudiments of knowledge. However, he read all +the odd volumes which fell into his hands, and thus provided himself +with strange equipment; he had some notions of a multitude of subjects, +ill-digested notions, which he could never classify distinctly in his +head. When he was quite young, he had been in the habit of playing in +the workshop of a master wheelwright, a worthy man named Vian, who lived +at the entrance of the blind-alley in front of the Aire Saint-Mittre +where he stored his timber. Silvere used to jump up on the wheels of the +tilted carts undergoing repair, and amuse himself by dragging about +the heavy tools which his tiny hands could scarcely lift. One of his +greatest pleasures, too, was to assist the workmen by holding some piece +of wood for them, or bringing them the iron-work which they required. +When he had grown older he naturally became apprenticed to Vian. The +latter had taken a liking to the little fellow who was always kicking +about his heels, and asked Adelaide to let him come, refusing to take +anything for his board and lodging. Silvere eagerly accepted, already +foreseeing the time when he would be able to make his poor aunt Dide +some return for all she had spent upon him. + +In a short time he became an excellent workman. He cherished, however, +much higher ambitions. Having once seen, at a coachbuilder's at +Plassans, a fine new carriage, shining with varnish, he vowed that he +would one day build carriages himself. He remembered this carriage as +a rare and unique work of art, an ideal towards which his aspirations +should tend. The tilted carts at which he worked in Vian's shop, those +carts which he had lovingly cherished, now seemed unworthy of his +affections. He began to attend the local drawing-school, where he formed +a connection with a youngster who had left college, and who lent him an +old treatise on geometry. He plunged into this study without a guide, +racking his brains for weeks together in order to grasp the simplest +problem in the world. In this matter he gradually became one of those +learned workmen who can hardly sign their name and yet talk about +algebra as though it were an intimate friend. + +Nothing unsettles the mind so much as this desultory kind of education, +which reposes on no firm basis. Most frequently such scraps of knowledge +convey an absolutely false idea of the highest truths, and render +persons of limited intellect insufferably stupid. In Silvere's case, +however, his scraps of stolen knowledge only augmented his liberal +aspirations. He was conscious of horizons which at present remained +closed to him. He formed for himself divine conceptions of things beyond +his reach, and lived on, regarding in a deep, innocent, religious way +the noble thoughts and grand conceptions towards which he was raising +himself, but which he could not as yet comprehend. He was one of the +simple-minded, one whose simplicity was divine, and who had remained +on the threshold of the temple, kneeling before the tapers which from a +distance he took for stars. + +The hovel in the Impasse Saint-Mittre consisted, in the first place, +of a large room into which the street door opened. The only pieces of +furniture in this room, which had a stone floor, and served both as a +kitchen and a dining-room, were some straw-seated chairs, a table on +trestles, and an old coffer which Adelaide had converted into a sofa, by +spreading a piece of woollen stuff over the lid. In the left hand +corner of the large fireplace stood a plaster image of the Holy Virgin, +surrounded by artificial flowers; she is the traditional good mother of +all old Provencal women, however irreligious they may be. A passage led +from the room into a yard situated at the rear of the house; in this +yard there was a well. Aunt Dide's bedroom was on the left side of the +passage; it was a little apartment containing an iron bedstead and one +chair; Silvere slept in a still smaller room on the right hand side, +just large enough for a trestle bedstead; and he had been obliged to +plan a set of shelves, reaching up to the ceiling, to keep by him +all those dear odd volumes which he saved his sous to purchase from a +neighbouring general dealer. When he read at night-time, he would hang +his lamp on a nail at the head of the bed. If his grandmother had an +attack, he merely had to leap out at the first gasp to be at her side in +a moment. + +The young man led the life of a child. He passed his existence in this +lonely spot. Like his father, he felt a dislike for taverns and Sunday +strolling. His mates wounded his delicate susceptibilities by their +coarse jokes. He preferred to read, to rack his rain over some simple +geometrical problem. Since aunt Dide had entrusted him with the +little household commissions she did not go out at all, but ceased all +intercourse even with her family. The young man sometimes thought of her +forlornness; he reflected that the poor old woman lived but a few steps +from the children who strove to forget her, as though she were dead; +and this made him love her all the more, for himself and for the others. +When he at times entertained a vague idea that aunt Dide might be +expiating some former transgressions, he would say to himself: "I was +born to pardon her." + +A nature such as Silvere's, ardent yet self-restrained, naturally +cherished the most exalted republican ideas. At night, in his little +hovel, Silvere would again and again read a work of Rousseau's which he +had picked up at the neighbouring dealer's among a number of old locks. +The reading of this book kept him awake till daylight. Amidst his dream +of universal happiness so dear to the poor, the words liberty, equality, +fraternity, rang in his ears like those sonorous sacred calls of the +bells, at the sound of which the faithful fall upon their knees. When, +therefore, he learnt that the Republic had just been proclaimed in +France he fancied that the whole world would enjoy a life of celestial +beatitude. His knowledge, though imperfect, made him see farther than +other workmen; his aspirations did not stop at daily bread; but his +extreme ingenuousness, his complete ignorance of mankind, kept him +in the dreamland of theory, a Garden of Eden where universal justice +reigned. His paradise was for a long time a delightful spot in which he +forgot himself. + +When he came to perceive that things did not go on quite satisfactorily +in the best of republics he was sorely grieved, and indulged in another +dream, that of compelling men to be happy even by force. Every act which +seemed to him prejudicial to the interest of the people roused him to +revengeful indignation. Though he was as gentle as a child, he cherished +the fiercest political animosity. He would not have killed a fly, and +yet he was for ever talking of a call to arms. Liberty was his passion, +an unreasoning, absolute passion, to which he gave all the feverish +ardour of his blood. Blinded by enthusiasm, he was both too ignorant and +too learned to be tolerant, and would not allow for men's weaknesses; he +required an ideal government of perfect justice and perfect liberty. It +was at this period that Antoine Macquart thought of setting him against +the Rougons. He fancied that this young enthusiast would work terrible +havoc if he were only exasperated to the proper pitch. This calculation +was not altogether devoid of shrewdness. + +Such being Antoine's scheme, he tried to induce Silvere to visit him, by +professing inordinate admiration for the young man's ideas. But he +very nearly compromised the whole matter at the outset. He had a way +of regarding the triumph of the Republic as a question of personal +interest, as an era of happy idleness and endless junketing, which +chilled his nephew's purely moral aspirations. However, he perceived +that he was on the wrong track, and plunged into strange bathos, a +string of empty but high-sounding words, which Silvere accepted as a +satisfactory proof of his civism. Before long the uncle and the nephew +saw each other two or three times a week. During their long discussions, +in which the fate of the country was flatly settled, Antoine endeavoured +to persuade the young man that the Rougons' drawing-room was the chief +obstacle to the welfare of France. But he again made a false move by +calling his mother "old jade" in Silvere's presence. He even repeated to +him the early scandals about the poor woman. The young man blushed for +shame, but listened without interruption. He had not asked his uncle +for this information; he felt heart-broken by such confidences, which +wounded his feeling of respectful affection for aunt Dide. From that +time forward he lavished yet more attention upon his grandmother, +greeting her always with pleasant smiles and looks of forgiveness. +However, Macquart felt that he had acted foolishly, and strove to take +advantage of Silvere's affection for Adelaide by charging the Rougons +with her forlornness and poverty. According to him, he had always been +the best of sons, whereas his brother had behaved disgracefully; Pierre +had robbed his mother, and now, when she was penniless, he was ashamed +of her. He never ceased descanting on this subject. Silvere thereupon +became indignant with his uncle Pierre, much to the satisfaction of his +uncle Antoine. + +The scene was much the same every time the young man called. He used +to come in the evening, while the Macquarts were at dinner. The father +would be swallowing some potato stew with a growl, picking out the +pieces of bacon, and watching the dish when it passed into the hands of +Jean and Gervaise. + +"You see, Silvere," he would say with a sullen rage which was +ill-concealed beneath his air of cynical indifference, "more potatoes, +always potatoes! We never eat anything else now. Meat is only for +rich people. It's getting quite impossible to make both ends meet with +children who have the devil's appetite and their own too." + +Gervaise and Jean bent over their plates, no longer even daring to cut +some bread. Silvere, who in his dream lived in heaven, did not grasp the +situation. In a calm voice he pronounced these storm-laden words: + +"But you should work, uncle." + +"Ah! yes," sneered Macquart, stung to the quick. "You want me to work, +eh! To let those beggars, the rich folk, continue to prey upon me. I +should earn probably twenty sous a day, and ruin my constitution. It's +worth while, isn't it?" + +"Everyone earns what he can," the young man replied. "Twenty sous are +twenty sous; and it all helps in a home. Besides, you're an old soldier, +why don't you seek some employment?" + +Fine would then interpose, with a thoughtlessness of which she soon +repented. + +"That's what I'm always telling him," said she. "The market inspector +wants an assistant; I mentioned my husband to him, and he seems well +disposed towards us." + +But Macquart interrupted her with a fulminating glance. "Eh! hold +your tongue," he growled with suppressed anger. "Women never know +what they're talking about! Nobody would have me; my opinions are too +well-known." + +Every time he was offered employment he displayed similar irritation. He +did not cease, however, to ask for situations, though he always refused +such as were found for him, assigning the most extraordinary reasons. +When pressed upon the point he became terrible. + +If Jean were to take up a newspaper after dinner he would at once +exclaim: "You'd better go to bed. You'll be getting up late to-morrow, +and that'll be another day lost. To think of that young rascal coming +home with eight francs short last week! However, I've requested his +master not give him his money in future; I'll call for it myself." + +Jean would go to bed to avoid his father's recriminations. He had but +little sympathy with Silvere; politics bored him, and he thought his +cousin "cracked." When only the women remained, if they unfortunately +started some whispered converse after clearing the table, Macquart would +cry: "Now, you idlers! Is there nothing that requires mending? we're +all in rags. Look here, Gervaise, I was at your mistress's to-day, and I +learnt some fine things. You're a good-for-nothing, a gad-about." + +Gervaise, now a grown girl of more than twenty, coloured up at +thus being scolded in the presence of Silvere, who himself felt +uncomfortable. One evening, having come rather late, when his uncle was +not at home, he had found the mother and daughter intoxicated before +an empty bottle. From that time he could never see his cousin without +recalling the disgraceful spectacle she had presented, with the maudlin +grin and large red patches on her poor, pale, puny face. He was not +less shocked by the nasty stories that circulated with regard to her. +He sometimes looked at her stealthily, with the timid surprise of a +schoolboy in the presence of a disreputable character. + +When the two women had taken up their needles, and were ruining their +eyesight in order to mend his old shirts, Macquart, taking the best +seat, would throw himself back with an air of delicious comfort, and sip +and smoke like a man who relishes his laziness. This was the time when +the old rogue generally railed against the wealthy for living on +the sweat of the poor man's brow. He was superbly indignant with the +gentlemen of the new town, who lived so idly, and compelled the poor +to keep them in luxury. The fragments of communistic notions which he +culled from the newspapers in the morning became grotesque and monstrous +on falling from his lips. He would talk of a time near at hand when +no one would be obliged to work. He always, however, kept his fiercest +animosity for the Rougons. He never could digest the potatoes he had +eaten. + +"I saw that vile creature Felicite buying a chicken in the market this +morning," he would say. "Those robbers of inheritances must eat chicken, +forsooth!" + +"Aunt Dide," interposed Silvere, "says that uncle Pierre was very kind +to you when you left the army. Didn't he spend a large sum of money in +lodging and clothing you?" + +"A large sum of money!" roared Macquart in exasperation; "your +grandmother is mad. It was those thieves who spread those reports +themselves, so as to close my mouth. I never had anything." + +Fine again foolishly interfered, reminding him that he had received two +hundred francs, besides a suit of clothes and a year's rent. Antoine +thereupon shouted to her to hold her tongue, and continued, with +increasing fury: "Two hundred francs! A fine thing! I want my due, ten +thousand francs. Ah! yes, talk of the hole they shoved me into like a +dog, and the old frock-coat which Pierre gave me because he was ashamed +to wear it any longer himself, it was so dirty and ragged!" + +He was not speaking the truth; but, seeing the rage that he was in, +nobody ventured to protest any further. Then, turning towards Silvere: +"It's very stupid of you to defend them!" he added. "They robbed your +mother, who, good woman, would be alive now if she had had the means of +taking care of herself." + +"Oh! you're not just, uncle," the young man said; "my mother did not +die for want of attention, and I'm certain my father would never have +accepted a sou from his wife's family!" + +"Pooh! don't talk to me! your father would have taken the money just +like anybody else. We were disgracefully plundered, and it's high time +we had our rights." + +Then Macquart, for the hundredth time, began to recount the story of +the fifty thousand francs. His nephew, who knew it by heart, and all +the variations with which he embellished it, listened to him rather +impatiently. + +"If you were a man," Antoine would say in conclusion, "you would come +some day with me, and we would kick up a nice row at the Rougons. We +would not leave without having some money given us." + +Silvere, however, grew serious, and frankly replied: "If those wretches +robbed us, so much the worse for them. I don't want their money. You +see, uncle, it's not for us to fall on our relatives. If they've done +wrong, well, one of these days they'll be severely punished for it." + +"Ah! what a big simpleton you are!" the uncle cried. "When we have the +upper hand, you'll see whether I sha'n't settle my own little affairs +myself. God cares a lot about us indeed! What a foul family ours is! +Even if I were starving to death, not one of those scoundrels would +throw me a dry crust." + +Whenever Macquart touched upon this subject, he proved inexhaustible. He +bared all his bleeding wounds of envy and covetousness. He grew mad +with rage when he came to think that he was the only unlucky one in the +family, and was forced to eat potatoes, while the others had meat to +their heart's content. He would pass all his relations in review, even +his grand-nephews, and find some grievance and reason for threatening +every one of them. + +"Yes, yes," he repeated bitterly, "they'd leave me to die like a dog." + +Gervaise, without raising her head or ceasing to ply her needle, would +sometimes say timidly: "Still, father, cousin Pascal was very kind to +us, last year, when you were ill." + +"He attended you without charging a sou," continued Fine, coming to her +daughter's aid, "and he often slipped a five-franc piece into my hand to +make you some broth." + +"He! he'd have killed me if I hadn't had a strong constitution!" +Macquart retorted. "Hold your tongues, you fools! You'd let yourselves +be twisted about like children. They'd all like to see me dead. When I'm +ill again, I beg you not to go and fetch my nephew, for I didn't feel at +all comfortable in his hands. He's only a twopenny-halfpenny doctor, and +hasn't got a decent patient in all his practice." + +When once Macquart was fully launched, he could not stop. "It's like +that little viper, Aristide," he would say, "a false brother, a traitor. +Are you taken in by his articles in the 'Independant,' Silvere? You +would be a fine fool if you were. They're not even written in good +French; I've always maintained that this contraband Republican is in +league with his worthy father to humbug us. You'll see how he'll turn +his coat. And his brother, the illustrious Eugene, that big blockhead +of whom the Rougons make such a fuss! Why, they've got the impudence to +assert that he occupies a good position in Paris! I know something about +his position; he's employed at the Rue de Jerusalem; he's a police spy." + +"Who told you so? You know nothing about it," interrupted Silvere, whose +upright spirit at last felt hurt by his uncle's lying accusations. + +"Ah! I know nothing about it? Do you think so? I tell you he is a +police spy. You'll be shorn like a lamb one of these days, with your +benevolence. You're not manly enough. I don't want to say anything +against your brother Francois; but, if I were in your place, I shouldn't +like the scurvy manner in which he treats you. He earns a heap of money +at Marseilles, and yet he never sends you a paltry twenty-franc pierce +for pocket money. If ever you become poor, I shouldn't advise you to +look to him for anything." + +"I've no need of anybody," the young man replied in a proud and slightly +injured tone of voice. "My own work suffices for aunt Dide and myself. +You're cruel, uncle." + +"I only say what's true, that's all. I should like to open your eyes. +Our family is a disreputable lot; it's sad but true. Even that little +Maxime, Aristide's son, that little nine-year-old brat, pokes his +tongue out at me when me meets me. That child will some day beat his +own mother, and a good job too! Say what you like, all those folks don't +deserve their luck; but it's always like this in families, the good ones +suffer while the bad ones make their fortunes." + +All this dirty linen, which Macquart washed with such complacency before +his nephew, profoundly disgusted the young man. He would have liked to +soar back into his dream. As soon as he began to show unmistakable signs +of impatience, Antoine would employ strong expedients to exasperate him +against their relatives. + +"Defend them! Defend them!" he would say, appearing to calm down. "I, +for my part, have arranged to have nothing more to do with them. I only +mention the matter out of pity for my poor mother, whom all that gang +treat in a most revolting manner." + +"They are wretches!" Silvere murmured. + +"Oh! you don't know, you don't understand. These Rougons pour all sorts +of insults and abuse on the good woman. Aristide has forbidden his son +even to recognise her. Felicite talks of having her placed in a lunatic +asylum." + +The young man, as white as a sheet, abruptly interrupted his uncle: +"Enough!" he cried. "I don't want to know any more about it. There will +have to be an end to all this." + +"I'll hold my tongue, since it annoys you," the old rascal replied, +feigning a good-natured manner. "Still, there are some things that +you ought not to be ignorant of, unless you want to play the part of a +fool." + +Macquart, while exerting himself to set Silvere against the Rougons, +experienced the keenest pleasure on drawing tears of anguish from the +young man's eyes. He detested him, perhaps, more than he did the others, +and this because he was an excellent workman and never drank. He brought +all his instincts of refined cruelty into play, in order to invent +atrocious falsehoods which should sting the poor lad to the heart; then +he revelled in his pallor, his trembling hands and his heart-rending +looks, with the delight of some evil spirit who measures his stabs and +finds that he has struck his victim in the right place. When he thought +that he had wounded and exasperated Silvere sufficiently, he would at +last touch upon politics. + +"I've been assured," he would say, lowering his voice, "that the Rougons +are preparing some treachery." + +"Treachery?" Silvere asked, becoming attentive. + +"Yes, one of these nights they are going to seize all the good citizens +of the town and throw them into prison." + +The young man was at first disposed to doubt it, but his uncle gave +precise details; he spoke of lists that had been drawn up, he mentioned +the persons whose names were on these lists, he indicated in what +manner, at what hour, and under what circumstances the plot would be +carried into effect. Silvere gradually allowed himself to be taken in +by this old woman's tale, and was soon raving against the enemies of the +Republic. + +"It's they that we shall have to reduce to impotence if they persist in +betraying the country!" he cried. "And what do they intend to do with +the citizens whom they arrest?" + +"What do they intend to do with them? Why, they will shoot them in the +lowest dungeons of the prison, of course," replied Macquart, with a +hoarse laugh. And as the young man, stupefied with horror, looked at +him without knowing what to say: "This will not be the first lot to be +assassinated there," he continued. "You need only go and prowl about the +Palais de Justice of an evening to hear the shots and groans." + +"Oh, the wretches!" Silvere murmured. + +Thereupon uncle and nephew launched out into high politics. Fine and +Gervaise, on finding them hotly debating things, quietly went to bed +without attracting their attention. Then the two men remained together +till midnight, commenting on the news from Paris and discussing the +approaching and inevitable struggle. Macquart bitterly denounced the men +of his own party, Silvere dreamed his dream of ideal liberty aloud, and +for himself only. Strange conversations these were, during which the +uncle poured out many a little nip for himself, and from which the +nephew emerged quite intoxicated with enthusiasm. Antoine, however, +never succeeded in obtaining from the young Republican any perfidious +suggestion or play of warfare against the Rougons. In vain he tried to +goad him on; he seldom heard him suggest aught but an appeal to eternal +justice, which sooner or later would punish the evil-doers. + +The ingenuous youth did indeed speak warmly of taking up arms and +massacring the enemies of the Republic; but, as soon as these enemies +strayed out of his dream or became personified in his uncle Pierre or +any other person of his acquaintance, he relied upon heaven to spare +him the horror of shedding blood. It is very probable that he would have +ceased visiting Macquart, whose jealous fury made him so uncomfortable, +if he had not tasted the pleasure of being able to speak freely of his +dear Republic there. In the end, however, his uncle exercised decisive +influence over his destiny; he irritated his nerves by his everlasting +diatribes, and succeeded in making him eager for an armed struggle, the +conquest of universal happiness by violence. + +When Silvere reached his sixteenth year, Macquart had him admitted into +the secret society of the Montagnards, a powerful association whose +influence extended throughout Southern France. From that moment the +young Republican gazed with longing eyes at the smuggler's carbine, +which Adelaide had hung over her chimney-piece. Once night, while his +grandmother was asleep, he cleaned and put it in proper condition. Then +he replaced it on its nail and waited, indulging in brilliant reveries, +fancying gigantic epics, Homeric struggles, and knightly tournaments, +whence the defenders of liberty would emerge victorious and acclaimed by +the whole world. + +Macquart meantime was not discouraged. He said to himself that he would +be able to strangle the Rougons alone if he could ever get them into a +corner. His envious rage and slothful greed were increased by certain +successive accidents which compelled him to resume work. In the early +part of 1850 Fine died, almost suddenly, from inflammation of the lungs, +which she had caught by going one evening to wash the family linen in +the Viorne, and carrying it home wet on her back. She returned soaked +with water and perspiration, bowed down by her load, which was terribly +heavy, and she never recovered. + +Her death filled Macquart with consternation. His most reliable source +of income was gone. When, a few days later, he sold the caldron in which +his wife had boiled her chestnuts, and the wooden horse which she used +in reseating old chairs, he foully accused the Divinity of having robbed +him of that strong strapping woman of whom he had often felt ashamed, +but whose real worth he now appreciated. He now also fell upon the +children's earnings with greater avidity than ever. But, a month later, +Gervaise, tired of his continual exactions, ran away with her two +children and Lantier, whose mother was dead. The lovers took refuge in +Paris. Antoine, overwhelmed, vented his rage against his daughter by +expressing the hope that she might die in hospital like most of her +kind. This abuse did not, however, improve the situation, which was +decidedly becoming bad. Jean soon followed his sister's example. He +waited for pay-day to come round, and then contrived to receive the +money himself. As he was leaving he told one of his friends, who +repeated it to Antoine, that he would no longer keep his lazy father, +and that if the latter should take it into his head to have him brought +back by the gendarmes he would touch neither saw nor plane. + +On the morrow, when Antoine, having vainly sought him, found himself +alone and penniless in the house where for twenty years he had been +comfortably kept, he flew into the most frantic rage, kicked the +furniture about, and yelled the vilest imprecations. Then he sank down +exhausted, and began to drag himself about and moan like a convalescent. +The fear of having to earn his bread made him positively ill. When +Silvere came to see him, he complained, with tears, of his children's +ingratitude. Had he not always been a good father to them? Jean and +Gervaise were monsters, who had made him an evil return for all he had +done for them. Now they abandoned him because he was old, and they could +not get anything more out of him! + +"But uncle," said Silvere, "you are not yet too old to work!" + +Macquart, coughing and stooping, shook his head mournfully, as if to say +that he could not bear the least fatigue for any length of time. Just +as his nephew was about to withdraw, he borrowed ten francs of him. Then +for a month he lived by taking his children's old clothes, one by one, +to a second-hand dealer's, and in the same way, little by little, he +sold all the small articles in the house. Soon nothing remained but +a table, a chair, his bed, and the clothes on his back. He ended by +exchanging the walnut-wood bedstead for a plain strap one. When he had +exhausted all his resources, he cried with rage; and, with the fierce +pallor of a man who is resigned to suicide, he went to look for the +bundle of osier that he had forgotten in some corner for a quarter of +a century past. As he took it up he seemed to be lifting a mountain. +However, he again began to plait baskets and hampers, while denouncing +the human race for their neglect. + +It was particularly at this time that he talked of dividing and sharing +the riches of the wealthy. He showed himself terrible. His speeches +kept up a constant conflagration in the tavern, where his furious looks +secured him unlimited credit. Moreover, he only worked when he had been +unable to get a five-franc piece out of Silvere or a comrade. He was +no longer "Monsieur" Macquart, the clean-shaven workman, who wore his +Sunday clothes every day and played the gentleman; he again became the +big slovenly devil who had once speculated on his rags. Felicite did not +dare to go to market now that he was so often coming there to sell +his baskets. He once had a violent quarrel with her there. His hatred +against the Rougons grew with his wretchedness. He swore, with horrible +threats, that he would wreak justice himself, since the rich were +leagued together to compel him to toil. + +In this state of mind, he welcomed the Coup d'Etat with the ardent, +obstreperous delight of a hound scenting the quarry. As the few honest +Liberals in the town had failed to arrive at an understanding amongst +themselves, and therefore kept apart, he became naturally one of +the most prominent agents of the insurrection. The working classes, +notwithstanding the unfavourable opinion which they at last entertained +of this lazy fellow, would, when the time arrived, have to accept him +as a rallying flag. On the first few days, however, the town remained +quiet, and Macquart thought that his plans were frustrated. It was not +until the news arrived of the rising of the rural districts that he +recovered hope. For his own part he would not have left Plassans for all +the world; accordingly he invented some pretext for not following those +workmen who, on the Sunday morning, set off to join the insurrectionary +band of La Palud and Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx. + +On the evening of the same day he was sitting in some disreputable +tavern of the old quarter with a few friends, when a comrade came to +inform him that the insurgents were only a few miles from Plassans. This +news had just been brought by an express, who had succeeded in making +his way into the town, and had been charged to get the gates opened +for the column. There was an outburst of triumph. Macquart, especially, +appeared to be delirious with enthusiasm. The unforeseen arrival of the +insurgents seemed to him a delicate attention of Providence for his own +particular benefit. His hands trembled at the idea that he would soon +hold the Rougons by the throat. + +He hastily quitted the tavern with his friends. All the Republicans who +had not yet left the town were soon assembled on the Cours Sauvaire. It +was this band that Rougon had perceived as he was hastening to conceal +himself in his mother's house. When the band had reached the top of +the Rue de la Banne, Macquart, who had stationed himself at the rear, +detained four of his companions, big fellows who were not over-burdened +with brains and whom he swayed by his tavern bluster. He easily +persuaded them that the enemies of the Republic must be arrested +immediately if they wished to prevent the greatest calamities. The truth +was that he feared Pierre might escape him in the midst of the confusion +which the entry of the insurgents would produce. However, the four big +fellows followed him with exemplary docility, and knocked violently +at the door of the Rougons' abode. In this critical situation Felicite +displayed admirable courage. She went down and opened the street door +herself. + +"We want to go upstairs into your rooms," Macquart said to her brutally. + +"Very well, gentlemen, walk up," she replied with ironical politeness, +pretending that she did not recognise her brother-in-law. + +Once upstairs, Macquart ordered her to fetch her husband. + +"My husband is not here," she said with perfect calmness; "he is +travelling on business. He took the diligence for Marseilles at six +o'clock this evening." + +Antoine at this declaration, which Felicite uttered in a clear voice, +made a gesture of rage. He rushed through the drawing-room, and then +into the bedroom, turned the bed up, looked behind the curtains and +under the furniture. The four big fellows assisted him. They searched +the place for a quarter of an hour. Felicite meantime quietly seated +herself on the drawing-room sofa, and began to fasten the strings of her +petticoats, like a person who has been surprised in her sleep and has +not had time to dress properly. + +"It's true then, he's run away, the coward!" Macquart muttered on +returning to the drawing-room. + +Nevertheless, he continued to look about him with a suspicious air. He +felt a presentiment that Pierre could not have given up the game at the +decisive moment. At last he approached Felicite, who was yawning: "Show +us the place where your husband is hidden," he said to her, "and I +promise no harm shall be done to him." + +"I have told you the truth," she replied impatiently. "I can't deliver +my husband to you, as he's not here. You have searched everywhere, +haven't you? Then leave me alone now." + +Macquart, exasperated by her composure, was just going to strike her, +when a rumbling noise arose from the street. It was the column of +insurgents entering the Rue de la Banne. + +He then had to leave the yellow drawing-room, after shaking his fist +at his sister-in-law, calling her an old jade, and threatening that he +would soon return. At the foot of the staircase, he took one of the men +who accompanied him, a navvy named Cassoute, the most wooden-headed of +the four, and ordered him to sit on the first step, and remain there. + +"You must come and inform me," he said to him, "if you see the scoundrel +from upstairs return." + +The man sat down heavily. When Macquart reached the pavement, he +raised his eyes and observed Felicite leaning out of the window of the +yellow-drawing room, watching the march past of the insurgents, as if +it was nothing but a regiment passing through the town to the strains +of its band. This last sign of perfect composure irritated him to such a +degree that he was almost tempted to go up again and throw the old woman +into the street. However, he followed the column, muttering in a hoarse +voice: "Yes, yes, look at us passing. We'll see whether you will station +yourself at your balcony to-morrow." + +It was nearly eleven o'clock at night when the insurgents entered the +town by the Porte de Rome. The workmen remaining in Plassans had opened +the gate for them, in spite of the wailings of the keeper, from whom +they could only wrest the keys by force. This man, very jealous of his +office, stood dumbfoundered in the presence of the surging crowd. To +think of it! he, who never allowed more than one person to pass in at +a time, and then only after a prolonged examination of his face! And +he murmured that he was dishonoured. The men of Plassans were still +marching at the head of the column by way of guiding the others; Miette, +who was in the front rank, with Silvere on her left, held up her banner +more proudly than ever now that she could divine behind the closed +blinds the scared looks of well-to-do bourgeois startled out of their +sleep. The insurgents passed along the Rue de Rome and the Rue de la +Banne slowly and warily; at every crossway, although they well knew the +quiet disposition of the inhabitants, they feared they might be received +with bullets. The town seemed lifeless, however; there was scarcely +a stifled exclamation to be heard at the windows. Only five or six +shutters opened. Some old householder then appeared in his night-shirt, +candle in hand, and leant out to obtain a better view; but as soon as he +distinguished the tall red girl who appeared to be drawing that crowd of +black demons behind her, he hastily closed his window again, terrified +by such a diabolical apparition. + +The silence of the slumbering town reassured the insurgents, who +ventured to make their way through the lanes of the old quarter, and +thus reached the market-place and the Place de l'Hotel-de-Ville, which +was connected by a short but broad street. These open spaces, planted +with slender trees, were brilliantly illumined by the moon. Against the +clear sky the recently restored town-hall appeared like a large patch of +crude whiteness, the fine black lines of the wrought-iron arabesques of +the first-floor balcony showing in bold relief. Several persons could +be plainly distinguished standing on this balcony, the mayor, Commander +Sicardot, three or four municipal councillors, and other functionaries. +The doors below were closed. The three thousand Republicans, who covered +both open spaces, halted with upraised heads, ready to force the doors +with a single push. + +The arrival of the insurrectionary column at such an hour took the +authorities by surprise. Before repairing to the mayor's, Commander +Sicardot had taken time to don his uniform. He then had to run and rouse +the mayor. When the keeper of the Porte de Rome, who had been left free +by the insurgents, came to announce that the villains were already in +the town, the commander had so far only managed to assemble a score of +the national guards. The gendarmes, though their barracks were close by, +could not even be warned. It was necessary to shut the town-hall +doors in all haste, in order to deliberate. Five minutes later a low +continuous rumbling announced the approach of the column. + +Monsieur Garconnet, out of hatred to the Republic, would have greatly +liked to offer resistance. But he was of a prudent nature, and +comprehended the futility of a struggle on finding only a few pale men, +who were scarcely awake, around him. So the deliberations did not last +long. Sicardot alone was obstinate; he wanted to fight, asserting that +twenty men would suffice to bring these three thousand villains to +reason. At this Monsieur Garconnet shrugged his shoulders, and declared +that the only step to take was to make an honourable capitulation. As +the uproar of the mob increased, he went out on the balcony, followed +by all the persons present. Silence was gradually obtained. Below, among +the black, quivering mass of insurgents, the guns and scythes glittered +in the moonlight. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" cried the mayor in a loud voice. + +Thereupon a man in a greatcoat, a landowner of La Palud, stepped +forward. + +"Open the doors," he said, without replying to Monsieur Garconnet's +question. "Avoid a fratricidal conflict." + +"I call upon you to withdraw," the mayor continued. "I protest in the +name of the law." + +These words provoked deafening shouts from the crowd. When the tumult +had somewhat abated, vehement calls ascended to the balcony. Voices +shouted: "It is in the name of the law that we have come here!" + +"Your duty as a functionary is to secure respect for the fundamental +law of the land, the constitution, which has just been outrageously +violated." + +"Long live the constitution! Long live the Republic!" + +Then as Monsieur Garconnet endeavoured to make himself heard, and +continued to invoke his official dignity, the land-owner of La +Palud, who was standing under the balcony, interrupted him with +great vehemence: "You are now nothing but the functionary of a fallen +functionary; we have come to dismiss you from your office." + +Hitherto, Commander Sicardot had been ragefully biting his moustache, +and muttering insulting words. The sight of the cudgels and scythes +exasperated him; and he made desperate efforts to restrain himself +from treating these twopenny-halfpenny soldiers, who had not even a +gun apiece, as they deserved. But when he heard a gentleman in a mere +greatcoat speak of deposing a mayor girded with his scarf, he could no +longer contain himself and shouted: "You pack of rascals! If I only had +four men and a corporal, I'd come down and pull your ears for you, and +make you behave yourselves!" + +Less than this was needed to raise a serious disturbance. A long shout +rose from the mob as it made a rush for the doors. Monsieur Garconnet, +in consternation, hastily quitted the balcony, entreating Sicardot to be +reasonable unless he wished to have them massacred. But in two minutes +the doors gave way, the people invaded the building and disarmed the +national guards. The mayor and the other functionaries present were +arrested. Sicardot, who declined to surrender his sword, had to +be protected from the fury of some insurgents by the chief of the +contingent from Les Tulettes, a man of great self-possession. When the +town-hall was in the hands of the Republicans, they led their prisoners +to a small cafe in the market-place, and there kept them closely +watched. + +The insurrectionary army would have avoided marching through Plassans +if its leaders had not decided that a little food and a few hours' rest +were absolutely necessary for the men. Instead of pushing forward +direct to the chief town of the department, the column, owing to the +inexcusable weakness and the inexperience of the improvised general who +commanded it, was now diverging to the left, making a detour which was +destined, ultimately, to lead it to destruction. It was bound for the +heights of Sainte-Roure, still about ten leagues distant, and it was +in view of this long march that it had been decided to pass through +Plassans, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour. It was now half-past +eleven. + +When Monsieur Garconnet learnt that the band was in quest of provisions, +he offered his services to procure them. This functionary formed, under +very difficult circumstances, a proper estimate of the situation. Those +three thousand starving men would have to be satisfied; it would never +do for Plassans, on waking up, to find them still squatting on the +pavements; if they withdrew before daybreak they would simply have +passed through the slumbering town like an evil dream, like one of those +nightmares which depart with the arrival of dawn. And so, although he +remained a prisoner, Monsieur Garconnet, followed by two guards, went +about knocking at the bakers' doors, and had all the provisions that he +could find distributed among the insurgents. + +Towards one o'clock the three thousand men began to eat, squatting on +the ground, with their weapons between their legs. The market-place +and the neighbourhood of the town-hall were turned into vast open-air +refectories. In spite of the bitter cold, humorous sallies were +exchanged among the swarming multitude, the smallest groups of which +showed forth in the brilliant moonlight. The poor famished fellows +eagerly devoured their portions while breathing on their fingers to warm +them; and, from the depths of adjoining streets, where vague black forms +sat on the white thresholds of the houses, there came sudden bursts +of laughter. At the windows emboldened, inquisitive women, with silk +handkerchiefs tied round their heads, watched the repast of those +terrible insurgents, those blood-suckers who went in turn to the market +pump to drink a little water in the hollows of their hands. + +While the town-hall was being invaded, the gendarmes' barracks, situated +a few steps away, in the Rue Canquoin, which leads to the market, had +also fallen into the hands of the mob. The gendarmes were surprised in +their beds and disarmed in a few minutes. The impetus of the crowd had +carried Miette and Silvere along in this direction. The girl, who still +clasped her flagstaff to her breast, was pushed against the wall of +the barracks, while the young man, carried away by the human wave, +penetrated into the interior, and helped his comrades to wrest from the +gendarmes the carbines which they had hastily caught up. Silvere, waxing +ferocious, intoxicated by the onslaught, attacked a big devil of a +gendarme named Rengade, with whom for a few moments he struggled. At +last, by a sudden jerk, he succeeded in wresting his carbine from him. +But the barrel struck Rengade a violent blow in the face, which put his +right eye out. Blood flowed, and, some of it splashing Silvere's hands, +quickly brought him to his senses. He looked at his hands, dropped the +carbine, and ran out, in a state of frenzy, shaking his fingers. + +"You are wounded!" cried Miette. + +"No, no," he replied in a stifled voice, "I've just killed a gendarme." + +"Is he really dead?" asked Miette. + +"I don't know," replied Silvere, "his face was all covered with blood. +Come quickly." + +Then he hurried the girl away. On reaching the market, he made her sit +down on a stone bench, and told her to wait there for him. He was still +looking at his hands, muttering something at the same time. Miette at +last understood from his disquieted words that he wished to go and kiss +his grandmother before leaving. + +"Well, go," she said; "don't trouble yourself about me. Wash your +hands." + +But he went quickly away, keeping his fingers apart, without thinking +of washing them at the pump which he passed. Since he had felt Rengade's +warm blood on his skin, he had been possessed by one idea, that of +running to Aunt Dide's and dipping his hands in the well-trough at the +back of the little yard. There only, he thought, would he be able +to wash off the stain of that blood. Moreover, all his calm, gentle +childhood seemed to return to him; he felt an irresistible longing +to take refuge in his grandmother's skirts, if only for a minute. +He arrived quite out of breath. Aunt Dide had not gone to bed, a +circumstance which at any other time would have greatly surprised +Silvere. But on entering he did not even see his uncle Rougon, who was +seated in a corner on the old chest. He did not wait for the poor old +woman's questions. "Grandmother," he said quickly, "you must forgive +me; I'm going to leave with the others. You see I've got blood on me. I +believe I've killed a gendarme." + +"You've killed a gendarme?" Aunt Dide repeated in a strange voice. + +Her eyes gleamed brightly as she fixed them on the red stains. And +suddenly she turned towards the chimney-piece. "You've taken the gun," +she said; "where's the gun?" + +Silvere, who had left the weapon with Miette, swore to her that it was +quite safe. And for the very first time, Adelaide made an allusion to +the smuggler Macquart in her grandson's presence. + +"You'll bring the gun back? You promise me!" she said with singular +energy. "It's all I have left of him. You've killed a gendarme; ah, it +was the gendarmes who killed him!" + +She continued gazing fixedly at Silvere with an air of cruel +satisfaction, and apparently without thought of detaining him. She never +asked him for any explanation, nor wept like those good grandmothers who +always imagine, at sight of the least scratch, that their grandchildren +are dying. All her nature was concentrated in one unique thought, to +which she at last gave expression with ardent curiosity: "Did you kill +the gendarme with the gun?" + +Either Silvere did not quite catch what she said, or else he +misunderstood her. + +"Yes!" he replied. "I'm going to wash my hands." + +It was only on returning from the well that he perceived his uncle. +Pierre had turned pale on hearing the young man's words. Felicite was +indeed right; his family took a pleasure in compromising him. One of +his nephews had now killed a gendarme! He would never get the post +of receiver of taxes, if he did not prevent this foolish madman from +rejoining the insurgents. So he planted himself in front of the door, +determined to prevent Silvere from going out. + +"Listen," he said to the young fellow, who was greatly surprised to find +him there. "I am the head of the family, and I forbid you to leave this +house. You're risking both your honour and ours. To-morrow I will try to +get you across the frontier." + +But Silvere shrugged his shoulders. "Let me pass," he calmly replied. +"I'm not a police-spy; I shall not reveal your hiding-place, never +fear." And as Rougon continued to speak of the family dignity and the +authority with which his seniority invested him: "Do I belong to your +family?" the young man continued. "You have always disowned me. To-day, +fear has driven you here, because you feel that the day of judgment has +arrived. Come, make way! I don't hide myself; I have a duty to perform." + +Rougon did not stir. But Aunt Dide, who had listened with a sort of +delight to Silvere's vehement language, laid her withered hand on her +son's arm. "Get out of the way, Pierre," she said; "the lad must go." + +The young man gave his uncle a slight shove, and dashed outside. Then +Rougon, having carefully shut the door again, said to his mother in an +angry, threatening tone: "If any mischief happens to him it will be your +fault. You're an old mad-woman; you don't know what you've just done." + +Adelaide, however, did not appear to hear him. She went and threw some +vine-branches on the fire, which was going out, and murmured with a +vague smile: "I'm used to it. He would remain away for months together, +and then come back to me in much better health." + +She was no doubt speaking of Macquart. + +In the meantime, Silvere hastily regained the market-place. As he +approached the spot where he had left Miette, he heard a loud uproar of +voices and saw a crowd which made him quicken his steps. A cruel scene +had just occurred. Some inquisitive people were walking among the +insurgents, while the latter quietly partook of their meal. Amongst +these onlookers was Justin Rebufat, the son of the farmer of the +Jas-Meiffren, a youth of twenty years old, a sickly, squint-eyed +creature, who harboured implacable hatred against his cousin Miette. +At home he grudged her the bread she ate, and treated her like a beggar +picked up from the gutter out of charity. It is probable that the young +girl had rejected his advances. Lank and pale, with ill-proportioned +limbs and face all awry, he revenged himself upon her for his own +ugliness, and the contempt which the handsome, vigorous girl must have +evinced for him. He ardently longed to induce his father to send her +about her business; and for this reason he was always spying upon her. +For some time past, he had become aware of the meetings with Silvere, +and had only awaited a decisive opportunity to reveal everything to his +father, Rebufat. + +On the evening in question, having seen her leave home at about eight +o'clock, Justin's hatred had overpowered him, and he had been unable +to keep silent any longer. Rebufat, on hearing his story, fell into a +terrible rage, and declared that he would kick the gadabout out of his +house should she have the audacity to return. Justin then went to +bed, relishing beforehand the fine scene which would take place on the +morrow. Then, however, a burning desire came upon him for some immediate +foretaste of his revenge. So he dressed himself again and went out. +Perhaps he might meet Miette. In that case he was resolved to treat +her insolently. This is how he came to witness the arrival of the +insurgents, whom he followed to the town-hall with a vague presentiment +that he would find the lovers there. And, indeed, he at last caught +sight of his cousin on the seat where she was waiting for Silvere. +Seeing her wrapped in her long pelisse, with the red flag at her side, +resting against a market pillar, he began to sneer and deride her in +foul language. The girl, thunderstruck at seeing him, was unable +to speak. She wept beneath his abuse, and whist she was overcome by +sobbing, bowing her head and hiding her face, Justin called her a +convict's daughter, and shouted that old Rebufat would give her a good +thrashing should she ever dare to return to Jas-Meiffren. + +For a quarter of an hour he thus kept her smarting and trembling. Some +people had gathered round, and grinned stupidly at the painful scene. +At last a few insurgents interfered, and threatened the young man with +exemplary chastisement if he did not leave Miette alone. But Justin, +although he retreated, declared that he was not afraid of them. It was +just at this moment that Silvere came up. Young Rebufat, on catching +sight of him, made a sudden bound, as if to take flight; for he was +afraid of him, knowing that he was much stronger than himself. He could +not, however, resist the temptation to cast a parting insult on the girl +in her lover's presence. + +"Ah! I knew very well," he cried, "that the wheelwright could not be +far off! You left us to run after that crack-brained fellow, eh? You +wretched girl! When's the baptism to be?" + +Then he retreated a few steps further on seeing Silvere clench his +fists. + +"And mind," he continued, with a vile sneer, "don't come to our house +again. My father will kick you out if you do! Do you hear?" + +But he ran away howling, with bruised visage. For Silvere had bounded +upon him and dealt him a blow full in the face. The young man did +not pursue him. When he returned to Miette he found her standing up, +feverishly wiping her tears away with the palm of her hand. And as +he gazed at her tenderly, in order to console her, she made a sudden +energetic gesture. "No," she said, "I'm not going to cry any more, +you'll see. I'm very glad of it. I don't feel any regret now for having +left home. I am free." + +She took up the flag and led Silvere back into the midst of the +insurgents. It was now nearly two o'clock in the morning. The cold was +becoming so intense that the Republicans had risen to their feet and +were marching to and fro in order to warm themselves while they finished +their bread. At last their leaders gave orders for departure. The column +formed again. The prisoners were placed in the middle of it. Besides +Monsieur Garconnet and Commander Sicardot, the insurgents had +arrested Monsieur Peirotte, the receiver of taxes, and several other +functionaries, all of whom they led away. + +At this moment Aristide was observed walking about among the groups. +In presence of this formidable rising, the dear fellow had thought it +imprudent not to remain on friendly terms with the Republicans; but as, +on the other hand, he did not desire to compromise himself too much, +he had come to bid them farewell with his arm in a sling, complaining +bitterly of the accursed injury which prevented him from carrying +a weapon. As he walked through the crowd he came across his brother +Pascal, provided with a case of surgical instruments and a little +portable medicine chest. The doctor informed him, in his quiet, way, +that he intended to follow the insurgents. At this Aristide inwardly +pronounced him a great fool. At last he himself slunk away, fearing lest +the others should entrust the care of the town to him, a post which he +deemed exceptionally perilous. + +The insurgents could not think of keeping Plassans in their power. The +town was animated by so reactionary a spirit that it seemed impossible +even to establish a democratic municipal commission there, as had +already been done in other places. So they would simply have gone off +without taking any further steps if Macquart, prompted and emboldened by +his own private animosities, had not offered to hold Plassans in awe, on +condition that they left him twenty determined men. These men were given +him, and at their head he marched off triumphantly to take possession +of the town-hall. Meantime the column of insurgents was wending its +way along the Cours Sauvaire, and making its exit by the Grand'-Porte, +leaving the streets, which it had traversed like a tempest, silent +and deserted in its rear. The high road, whitened by the moonshine, +stretched far into the distance. Miette had refused the support of +Silvere's arm; she marched on bravely, steady and upright, holding the +red flag aloft with both hands, without complaining of the cold which +was turning her fingers blue. + + + +CHAPTER V + +The high roads stretched far way, white with moonlight. + +The insurrectionary army was continuing its heroic march through the +cold, clear country. It was like a mighty wave of enthusiasm. The thrill +of patriotism, which transported Miette and Silvere, big children that +they were, eager for love and liberty, sped, with generous fervour, +athwart the sordid intrigues of the Macquarts and the Rougons. At +intervals the trumpet-voice of the people rose and drowned the prattle +of the yellow drawing-room and the hateful discourses of uncle Antoine. +And vulgar, ignoble farce was turned into a great historical drama. + +On quitting Plassans, the insurgents had taken the road to Orcheres. +They expected to reach that town at about ten o'clock in the morning. +The road skirts the course of the Viorne, following at some height the +windings of the hillocks, below which the torrent flows. On the left, +the plain spreads out like an immense green carpet, dotted here and +there with grey villages. On the right, the chain of the Garrigues rears +its desolate peaks, its plateaux of stones, its huge rusty boulders +that look as though they had been reddened by the sun. The high road, +embanked along the riverside, passes on amidst enormous rocks, between +which glimpses of the valley are caught at every step. Nothing could be +wilder or more strikingly grand than this road out of the hillside. At +night time, especially, it inspires one with a feeling of deep awe. The +insurgents advanced under the pale light, along what seemed the chief +street of some ruined town, bordered on either side with fragments +of temples. The moon turned each rock into a broken column, crumbling +capital, or stretch of wall pierced with mysterious arches. On high +slumbered the mass of the Garrigues, suffused with a milky tinge, and +resembling some immense Cyclopean city whose towers, obelisks, houses +and high terraces hid one half of the heavens; and in the depths below, +on the side of the plain, was a spreading ocean of diffused light, +vague and limitless, over which floated masses of luminous haze. The +insurrectionary force might well have thought they were following some +gigantic causeway, making their rounds along some military road built on +the shore of a phosphorescent sea, and circling some unknown Babel. + +On the night in question, the Viorne roared hoarsely at the foot of +the rocks bordering the route. Amidst the continuous rumbling of the +torrent, the insurgents could distinguish the sharp, wailing notes of +the tocsin. The villages scattered about the plain, on the other side of +the river, were rising, sounding alarm-bells, and lighting signal fires. +Till daybreak the marching column, which the persistent tolling of +a mournful knell seemed to pursue in the darkness, thus beheld the +insurrection spreading along the valley, like a train of powder. The +fires showed in the darkness like stains of blood; echoes of distant +songs were wafted to them; the whole vague distance, blurred by the +whitish vapours of the moon, stirred confusedly, and suddenly broke into +a spasm of anger. For leagues and leagues the scene remained the same. + +These men, marching on under the blind impetus of the fever with which +the events in Paris had inspired Republican hearts, became elated at +seeing that long stretch of country quivering with revolt. Intoxicated +with enthusiastic belief in the general insurrection of which they +dreamed, they fancied that France was following them; on the other side +of the Viorne, in that vast ocean of diffused light, they imagined there +were endless files of men rushing like themselves to the defence of the +Republic. All simplicity and delusion, as multitudes so often are, they +imagined, in their uncultured minds, that victory was easy and certain. +They would have seized and shot as a traitor any one who had then +asserted that they were the only ones who had the courage of their +duty, and that the rest of the country, overwhelmed with fright, was +pusillanimously allowing itself to be garrotted. + +They derived fresh courage, too, from the welcome accorded to them +by the few localities that lay along their route on the slopes of the +Garrigues. The inhabitants rose _en masse_ immediately the little army +drew near; women ran to meet them, wishing them a speedy victory, while +men, half clad, seized the first weapons they could find and rushed to +join their ranks. There was a fresh ovation at every village, shouts of +welcome and farewell many times reiterated. + +Towards daybreak the moon disappeared behind the Garrigues and the +insurgents continued their rapid march amidst the dense darkness of +a winter night. They were now unable to distinguish the valley or the +hills; they heard only the hoarse plaints of the bells, sounding through +the deep obscurity like invisible drums, hidden they knew not where, but +ever goading them on with despairing calls. + +Miette and Silvere went on, all eagerness like the others. Towards +daybreak, the girl suffered greatly from fatigue; she could only walk +with short hurried steps, and was unable to keep up with the long +strides of the men who surrounded her. Nevertheless she courageously +strove to suppress all complaints; it would have cost her too much +to confess that she was not as strong as a boy. During the first few +leagues of the march Silvere gave her his arm; then, seeing that the +standard was gradually slipping from her benumbed hands, he tried to +take it in order to relieve her; but she grew angry, and would only +allow him to hold it with one hand while she continued to carry it on +her shoulder. She thus maintained her heroic demeanour with childish +stubbornness, smiling at the young man each time he gave her a glance of +loving anxiety. At last, when the moon hid itself, she gave way in the +sheltering darkness. Silvere felt her leaning more heavily on his arm. +He now had to carry the flag, and hold her round the waist to prevent +her from stumbling. Nevertheless she still made no complaint. + +"Are you very tired, poor Miette?" Silvere asked her. + +"Yea, a little tired," she replied in a weary tone. + +"Would you like to rest a bit?" + +She made no reply; but he realised that she was staggering. He thereupon +handed the flag to one of the other insurgents and quitted the ranks, +almost carrying the girl in his arms. She struggled a little, she felt +so distressed at appearing such a child. But he calmed her, telling her +that he knew of a cross-road which shortened the distance by one half. +They would be able to take a good hour's rest and reach Orcheres at the +same time as the others. + +It was then six o'clock. There must have been a slight mist rising from +the Viorne, for the darkness seemed to be growing denser. The young +people groped their way along the slope of the Garrigues, till they came +to a rock on which they sat down. Around them lay an abyss of darkness. +They were stranded, as it were, on some reef above a dense void. And +athwart that void, when the dull tramp of the little army had died away, +they only heard two bells, the one clear toned and ringing doubtless at +their feet, in some village across the road; and the other far-off and +faint, responding, as it were, with distant sobs to the feverish plaints +of the first. One might have thought that these bells were recounting to +each other, through the empty waste, the sinister story of a perishing +world. + +Miette and Silvere, warmed by their quick march, did not at first feel +the cold. They remained silent, listening in great dejection to the +sounds of the tocsin, which made the darkness quiver. They could not +even see one another. Miette felt frightened, and, seeking for Silvere's +hand, clasped it in her own. After the feverish enthusiasm which for +several hours had carried them along with the others, this sudden halt +and the solitude in which they found themselves side by side left them +exhausted and bewildered as though they had suddenly awakened from a +strange dream. They felt as if a wave had cast them beside the highway, +then ebbed back and left them stranded. Irresistible reaction plunged +them into listless stupor; they forgot their enthusiasm; they thought no +more of the men whom they had to rejoin; they surrendered themselves to +the melancholy sweetness of finding themselves alone, hand in hand, in +the midst of the wild darkness. + +"You are not angry with me?" the girl at length inquired. "I could +easily walk the whole night with you; but they were running too quickly, +I could hardly breathe." + +"Why should I be angry with you?" the young man said. + +"I don't know. I was afraid you might not love me any longer. I wish I +could have taken long strides like you, and have walked along without +stopping. You will think I am a child." + +Silvere smiled, and Miette, though the darkness prevented her from +seeing him, guessed that he was doing so. Then she continued with +determination: "You must not always treat me like a sister. I want to be +your wife some day." + +Forthwith she clasped Silvere to her bosom, and, still with her arms +about him, murmured: "We shall grow so cold; come close to me that we +may be warm." + +Then they lapsed into silence. Until that troublous hour, they had loved +one another with the affection of brother and sister. In their ignorance +they still mistook their feelings for tender friendship, although +beneath their guileless love their ardent blood surged more wildly +day by day. Given age and experience, a violent passion of southern +intensity would at last spring from this idyll. Every girl who hangs on +a youth's neck is already a woman, a woman unconsciously, whom a caress +may awaken to conscious womanhood. When lovers kiss on the cheeks, it is +because they are searching, feeling for one another's lips. Lovers are +made by a kiss. It was on that dark and cold December night, amid the +bitter wailing of the tocsin, that Miette and Silvere exchanged one of +those kisses that bring all the heart's blood to the lips. + +They remained silent, close to one another. A gentle glow soon +penetrated them, languor overcame them, and steeped them in feverish +drowsiness. They were quite warm at last, and lights seemed to flit +before their closed eyelids, while a buzzing mounted to their brains. +This state of painful ecstasy, which lasted some minutes, seemed +endless to them. Then, in a kind of dream, their lips met. The kiss they +exchanged was long and greedy. It seemed to them as if they had never +kissed before. Yet their embrace was fraught with suffering and they +released one another. And the chilliness of the night having cooled +their fever, they remained in great confusion at some distance one from +the other. + +Meantime the bells were keeping up their sinister converse in the +dark abyss which surrounded the young people. Miette, trembling and +frightened, did not dare to draw near to Silvere again. She did not even +know if he were still there, for she could no longer hear him move. The +stinging sweetness of their kiss still clung to their lips, to which +passionate phrases surged, and they longed to kiss once more. But shame +restrained them from the expression of any such desire. They felt that +they would rather never taste that bliss again than speak of it aloud. +If their blood had not been lashed by their rapid march, if the darkness +had not offered complicity, they would, for a long time yet, have +continued kissing each other on the cheeks like old playfellows. +Feelings of modesty were coming to Miette. She remembered Justin's +coarseness. A few hours previously she had listened, without a blush, +to that fellow who called her a shameless girl. She had wept without +understanding his meaning, she had wept simply because she guessed that +what he spoke of must be base. Now that she was becoming a woman, she +wondered in a last innocent transport whether that kiss, whose burning +smart she could still feel, would not perhaps suffice to cover her with +the shame to which her cousin had referred. Thereupon she was seized +with remorse, and burst into sobs. + +"What is the matter; why are you crying?" asked Silvere in an anxious +voice. + +"Oh, leave me," she faltered, "I do not know." + +Then in spite of herself, as it were, she continued amidst her tears: +"Ah! what an unfortunate creature I am! When I was ten years old +people used to throw stones at me. To-day I am treated as the vilest of +creatures. Justin did right to despise me before everybody. We have been +doing wrong, Silvere." + +The young man, quite dismayed, clasped her in his arms again, trying +to console her. "I love you," he whispered, "I am your brother. Why +say that we have been doing wrong? We kissed each other because we were +cold. You know very well that we used to kiss each other every evening +before separating." + +"Oh! not as we did just now," she whispered. "It must be wrong, for a +strange feeling came over me. The men will laugh at me now as I pass, +and they will be right in doing so. I shall not be able to defend +myself." + +The young fellow remained silent, unable to find a word to calm the +agitation of this big child, trembling at her first kiss of love. He +clasped her gently, imagining that he might calm her by his embrace. +She struggled, however, and continued: "If you like, we will go away; we +will leave the province. I can never return to Plassans; my uncle would +beat me; all the townspeople would point their fingers at me--" And +then, as if seized with sudden irritation, she added: "But no! I am +cursed! I forbid you to leave aunt Dide to follow me. You must leave me +on the highway." + +"Miette, Miette!" Silvere implored; "don't talk like that." + +"Yes. I want to please you. Be reasonable. They have turned me out like +a vagabond. If I went back with you, you would always be fighting for my +sake, and I don't want that." + +At this the young man again pressed a kiss upon her lips, murmuring: +"You shall be my wife, and nobody will then dare to hurt you." + +"Oh! please, I entreat you!" she said, with a stifled cry; "don't kiss +me so. You hurt me." + +Then, after a short silence: "You know quite well that I cannot be your +wife now. We are too young. You would have to wait for me, and meanwhile +I should die of shame. You are wrong in protesting; you will be forced +to leave me in some corner." + +At this Silvere, his fortitude exhausted, began to cry. A man's sobs +are fraught with distressing hoarseness. Miette, quite frightened as +she felt the poor fellow shaking in her arms, kissed him on the face, +forgetting she was burning her lips. But it was all her fault. She was +a little simpleton to have let a kiss upset her so completely. She +now clasped her lover to her bosom as if to beg forgiveness for having +pained him. These weeping children, so anxiously clasping one another, +made the dark night yet more woeful than before. In the distance, the +bells continued to complain unceasingly in panting accents. + +"It is better to die," repeated Silvere, amidst his sobs; "it is better +to die." + +"Don't cry; forgive me," stammered Miette. "I will be brave; I will do +all you wish." + +When the young man had dried his tears: "You are right," he said; "we +cannot return to Plassans. But the time for cowardice has not yet come. +If we come out of the struggle triumphant, I will go for aunt Dide, and +we will take her ever so far away with us. If we are beaten----" + +He stopped. + +"If we are beaten?" repeated Miette, softly. + +"Then be it as God wills!" continued Silvere, in a softer voice. "I most +likely shall not be there. You will comfort the poor woman. That would +be better." + +"Ah! as you said just now," the young girl murmured, "it would be better +to die." + +At this longing for death they tightened their embrace. Miette relied +upon dying with Silvere; he had only spoken of himself, but she felt +that he would gladly take her with him into the earth. They would there +be able to love each other more freely than under the sun. Aunt +Dide would die likewise and join them. It was, so to say, a rapid +presentiment, a desire for some strange voluptuousness, to which +Heaven, by the mournful accents of the tocsin, was promising early +gratification. To die! To die! The bells repeated these words with +increasing passion, and the lovers yielded to the calls of the darkness; +they fancied they experienced a foretaste of the last sleep, in the +drowsiness into which they again sank, whilst their lips met once more. + +Miette no longer turned away. It was she, now, who pressed her lips to +Silvere's, who sought with mute ardour for the delight whose stinging +smart she had not at first been able to endure. The thought of +approaching death had excited her; she no longer felt herself blushing, +but hung upon her love, while he in faltering voice repeated: "I love +you! I love you!" + +But at this Miette shook her head, as if to say it was not true. With +her free and ardent nature she had a secret instinct of the meaning and +purposes of life, and though she was right willing to die she would fain +have known life first. At last, growing calmer, she gently rested her +head on the young man's shoulder, without uttering a word. Silvere +kissed her again. She tasted those kisses slowly, seeking their meaning, +their hidden sweetness. As she felt them course through her veins, +she interrogated them, asking if they were all love, all passion. But +languor at last overcame her, and she fell into gentle slumber. Silvere +had enveloped her in her pelisse, drawing the skirt around himself at +the same time. They no longer felt cold. The young man rejoiced to find, +from the regularity of her breathing, that the girl was now asleep; +this repose would enable them to proceed on their way with spirit. He +resolved to let her slumber for an hour. The sky was still black, and +the approach of day was but faintly indicated by a whitish line in the +east. Behind the lovers there must have been a pine wood whose musical +awakening it was that the young man heard amidst the morning breezes. +And meantime the wailing of the bells grew more sonorous in the +quivering atmosphere, lulling Miette's slumber even as it had +accompanied her passionate fever. + +Until that troublous night, these young people had lived through one +of those innocent idylls that blossom among the toiling masses, those +outcasts and folks of simple mind amidst whom one may yet occasionally +find amours as primitive as those of the ancient Greek romances. + +Miette had been scarcely nine years old at the time when her father was +sent to the galleys for shooting a gendarme. The trial of Chantegreil +had remained a memorable case in the province. The poacher boldly +confessed that he had killed the gendarme, but he swore that the latter +had been taking aim at him. "I only anticipated him," he said, "I +defended myself; it was a duel, not a murder." He never desisted from +this line of argument. The presiding Judge of the Assizes could not make +him understand that, although a gendarme has the right to fire upon a +poacher, a poacher has no right to fire upon a gendarme. Chantegreil +escaped the guillotine, owing to his obviously sincere belief in his own +innocence, and his previous good character. The man wept like a child +when his daughter was brought to him prior to his departure for Toulon. +The little thing, who had lost her mother in her infancy, dwelt at this +time with her grandfather at Chavanoz, a village in the passes of the +Seille. When the poacher was no longer there, the old man and the +girl lived upon alms. The inhabitants of Chavanoz, all sportsmen and +poachers, came to the assistance of the poor creatures whom the convict +had left behind him. After a while, however, the old man died of grief, +and Miette, left alone by herself, would have had to beg on the high +roads, if the neighbours had not remembered that she had an aunt at +Plassans. A charitable soul was kind enough to take her to this aunt, +who did not, however, receive her very kindly. + +Eulalie Chantegreil, the spouse of _meger_ Rebufat, was a big, dark, +stubborn creature, who ruled the home. She led her husband by the noise, +said the people of the Faubourg of Plassans. The truth was, Rebufat, +avaricious and eager for work and gain, felt a sort of respect for this +big creature, who combined uncommon vigour with strict sobriety and +economy. + +Thanks to her, the household thrived. The _meger_ grumbled one evening +when, on returning home from work, he found Miette installed there. But +his wife closed his mouth by saying in her gruff voice: "Bah, the little +thing's strongly built, she'll do for a servant; we'll keep her and save +wages." + +This calculation pleased Rebufat. He went so far as to feel the little +thing's arms, and declared with satisfaction that she was sturdy for her +age. Miette was then nine years old. From the very next day he made use +of her. The work of the peasant-woman in the South of France is much +lighter than in the North. One seldom sees them employed in digging the +ground, carrying loads, or doing other kinds of men's work. They bind +sheaves, gather olives and mulberry leaves; perhaps their most laborious +work is that of weeding. Miette worked away willingly. Open-air life +was her delight, her health. So long as her aunt lived she was always +smiling. The good woman, in spite of her roughness, at last loved her +as her own child; she forbade her doing the hard work which her husband +sometimes tried to force upon her, saying to the latter: + +"Ah! you're a clever fellow! You don't understand, you fool, that if you +tire her too much to-day, she won't be able to do anything to-morrow!" + +This argument was decisive. Rebufat bowed his head, and carried the load +which he had desired to set on the young girl's shoulders. + +The latter would have lived in perfect happiness under the secret +protection of her aunt Eulalie, but for the teasing of her cousin, who +was then a lad of sixteen, and employed his idle hours in hating and +persecuting her. Justin's happiest moments were those when by means of +some gross falsehood he succeeded in getting her scolded. Whenever he +could tread on her feet, or push her roughly, pretending not to have +seen her, he laughed and felt the delight of those crafty folks who +rejoice at other people's misfortunes. Miette, however, would stare at +him with her large black childish eyes gleaming with anger and silent +scorn, which checked the cowardly youngster's sneers. In reality he was +terribly afraid of his cousin. + +The young girl was just attaining her eleventh year when her aunt +Eulalie suddenly died. From that day everything changed in the house. +Rebufat gradually come to treat her like a farm-labourer. He overwhelmed +her with all sorts of rough work, and made use of her as a beast of +burden. She never even complained, however, thinking that she had a debt +of gratitude to repay him. In the evening, when she was worn out with +fatigue, she mourned for her aunt, that terrible woman whose latent +kindliness she now realised. However, it was not the hard work that +distressed her, for she delighted in her strength, and took a pride in +her big arms and broad shoulders. What distressed her was her uncle's +distrustful surveillance, his continual reproaches, and the irritated +employer-like manner he assumed towards her. She had now become a +stranger in the house. Yet even a stranger would not have been so badly +treated as she was. Rebufat took the most unscrupulous advantage of +this poor little relative, whom he pretended to keep out of charity. She +repaid his harsh hospitality ten times over with her work, and yet never +a day passed but he grudged her the bread she ate. Justin especially +excelled in wounding her. Since his mother had been dead, seeing her +without a protector, he had brought all his evil instincts into play in +trying to make the house intolerable to her. The most ingenious torture +which he invented was to speak to Miette of her father. The poor girl, +living away from the world, under the protection of her aunt, who had +forbidden any one ever to mention the words "galleys" or "convict" +before her, hardly understood their meaning. It was Justin who explained +it to her by relating, in his own manner, the story of the murder of the +gendarme, and Chantegreil's conviction. There was no end to the horrible +particulars he supplied: the convicts had a cannonball fastened to one +ankle by a chain, they worked fifteen hours a day, and all died under +their punishment; their prison, too, was a frightful place, the horrors +of which he described minutely. Miette listened to him, stupefied, her +eyes full of tears. Sometimes she was roused to sudden violence, and +Justin quickly retired before her clenched fists. However, he took a +savage delight in thus instructing her as to the nature of prison +life. When his father flew into a passion with the child for any little +negligence, he chimed in, glad to be able to insult her without danger. +And if she attempted to defend herself, he would exclaim: "Bah! bad +blood always shows itself. You'll end at the galleys like your father." + +At this Miette sobbed, stung to the heart, powerless and overwhelmed +with shame. + +She was already growing to womanhood at this period. Of precocious +nature, she endured her martyrdom with extraordinary fortitude. She +rarely gave way, excepting when her natural pride succumbed to her +cousin's outrages. Soon even, she was able to bear, without a tear, the +incessant insults of this cowardly fellow, who ever watched her while he +spoke, for fear lest she should fly at his face. Then, too, she learnt +to silence him by staring at him fixedly. She had several times felt +inclined to run away from the Jas-Meiffren; but she did not do so, +as her courage could not brook the idea of confessing that she was +vanquished by the persecution she endured. She certainly earned her +bread, she did not steal the Rebufats' hospitality; and this conviction +satisfied her pride. So she remained there to continue the struggle, +stiffening herself and living on with the one thought of resistance. Her +plan was to do her work in silence, and revenge herself for all harsh +treatment by mute contempt. She knew that her uncle derived too much +advantage from her to listen readily to the insinuations of Justin, +who longed to get her turned out of doors. And in a defiant spirit she +resolved that she would not go away of her own accord. + +Her continuous voluntary silence was full of strange fancies. Passing +her days in the enclosure, isolated from all the world, she formed ideas +for herself which would have strangely shocked the good people of the +Faubourg. Her father's fate particularly occupied her thoughts. All +Justin's abuse recurred to her; and she ended by accepting the charge +of murder, saying to herself, however, that her father had done well +to kill the gendarme who had tried to kill him. She had learnt the real +story from a labourer who had worked for a time at the Jas-Meiffren. +From that moment, on the few occasions when she went out, she no longer +even turned if the ragamuffins of the Faubourg followed her, crying: +"Hey! La Chantegreil!" + +She simply hastened her steps homeward, with lips compressed, and black, +fierce eyes. Then after shutting the gate, she perhaps cast one long +glance at the gang of urchins. She would have become vicious, have +lapsed into fierce pariah savagery, if her childishness had not +sometimes gained the mastery. Her extreme youth brought her little +girlish weaknesses which relieved her. She would then cry with shame for +herself and her father. She would hide herself in a stable so that she +might sob to her heart's content, for she knew that, if the others saw +her crying, they would torment her all the more. And when she had wept +sufficiently, she would bathe her eyes in the kitchen, and then again +subside into uncomplaining silence. It was not interest alone, however, +which prompted her to hide herself; she carried her pride in her +precocious strength so far that she was unwilling to appear a child. In +time she would have become very unhappy. Fortunately she was saved by +discovering the latent tenderness of her loving nature. + +The well in the yard of the house occupied by aunt Dide and Silvere was +a party-well. The wall of the Jas-Meiffren cut it in halves. Formerly, +before the Fouques' property was united to the neighbouring estate, the +market-gardeners had used this well daily. Since the transfer of the +Fouques' ground, however, as it was at some distance from the outhouses, +the inmates of the Jas, who had large cisterns at their disposal, did +not draw a pail of water from it in a month. On the other side, one +could hear the grating of the pulley every morning when Silvere drew the +water for aunt Dide. + +One day the pulley broke. The young wheelwright made a good strong one +of oak, and put it up in the evening after his day's work. To do this +he had to climb upon the wall. When he had finished the job he remained +resting astride the coping, and surveyed with curiosity the large +expanse of the Jas-Meiffren. At last a peasant-girl, who was weeding the +ground a few feet from him, attracted his attention. It was in July, and +the air was broiling, although the sun had already sank to the horizon. +The peasant-girl had taken off her jacket. In a white bodice, with a +coloured neckerchief tied over her shoulders, and the sleeves of her +chemise turned up as far as her elbows, she was squatting amid the folds +of her blue cotton skirt, which was secured to a pair of braces crossed +behind her back. She crawled about on her knees as she pulled up the +tares and threw them into a basket. The young man could only see her +bare, sun-tanned arms stretching out right and left to seize some +overlooked weed. He followed this rapid play of her arms complacently, +deriving a singular pleasure from seeing them so firm and quick. The +young person had slightly raised herself on noticing that he was +no longer at work, but had again lowered her head before he could +distinguish her features. This shyness kept him in suspense. Like an +inquisitive lad he wondered who this weeder could be, and while he +lingered there, whistling and beating time with a chisel, the latter +suddenly slipped out of his hand. It fell into the Jas-Meiffren, +striking the curb of the well, and then bounding a few feet from the +wall. Silvere looked at it, leaning forward and hesitating to get over. +But the peasant-girl must have been watching the young man askance, for +she jumped up without saying anything, picked up the chisel, and handed +it to Silvere, who then perceived that she was a mere child. He was +surprised and rather intimidated. The young girl raised herself towards +him in the red glare of the sunset. The wall at this spot was low, but +nevertheless too high for her to reach him. So he bent low over the +coping, while she still raised herself on tiptoes. They did not speak, +but looked at each other with an air of smiling confusion. The young man +would indeed have liked to keep the girl in that position. She turned to +him a charming head, with handsome black eyes, and red lips, which quite +astonished and stirred him. He had never before seen a girl so near; +he had not known that lips and eyes could be so pleasant to look at. +Everything about the girl seemed to possess a strange fascination for +him--her coloured neckerchief, her white bodice, her blue cotton skirt +hanging from braces which stretched with the motion of her shoulders. +Then his glance glided along the arm which was handing him the tool; as +far as the elbow this arm was of a golden brown, as though clothed with +sun-burn; but higher up, in the shadow of the tucked-up sleeve, Silvere +perceived a bare, milk-white roundness. At this he felt confused; +however, he leant further over, and at last managed to grasp the chisel. +The little peasant-girl was becoming embarrassed. Still they remained +there, smiling at each other, the child beneath with upturned face, and +the lad half reclining on the coping of the wall. They could not part +from each other. So far they had not exchanged a word, and Silvere even +forgot to say, "Thank you." + +"What's your name?" he asked. + +"Marie," replied the peasant-girl; "but everybody calls me Miette." + +Again she raised herself slightly, and in a clear voice inquired in her +turn: "And yours?" + +"My name is Silvere," the young workman replied. + +A pause ensued, during which they seemed to be listening complacently to +the music of their names. + +"I'm fifteen years old," resumed Silvere. "And you?" + +"I!" said Miette; "oh, I shall be eleven on All Saints' Day." + +The young workman made a gesture of surprise. "Ah! really!" he said, +laughing, "and to think I took you for a woman! You've such big arms." + +She also began to laugh, as she lowered her eyes to her arms. Then they +ceased speaking. They remained for another moment gazing and smiling at +each other. And finally, as Silvere seemingly had no more questions to +ask her, Miette quietly withdrew and went on plucking her weeds, without +raising her head. The lad for his part remained on the wall for a while. +The sun was setting; a stream of oblique rays poured over the yellow +soil of the Jas-Meiffren, which seemed to be all ablaze--one would have +said that a fire was running along the ground--and, in the midst of the +flaming expanse, Silvere saw the little stooping peasant-girl, whose +bare arms had resumed their rapid motion. The blue cotton skirt was +now becoming white; and rays of light streamed over the child's +copper-coloured arms. At last Silvere felt somewhat ashamed of remaining +there, and accordingly got off the wall. + +In the evening, preoccupied with his adventure, he endeavoured to +question aunt Dide. Perhaps she would know who this Miette was who had +such black eyes and such red lips. But, since she had lived in the house +in the alley, the old woman had never once given a look behind the wall +of the little yard. It was, to her, like an impassable rampart, which +shut off her past. She did not know--she did not want to know--what +there might now be on the other side of that wall, in that old enclosure +of the Fouques, where she had buried her love, her heart and her flesh. +As soon as Silvere began to question her she looked at him with childish +terror. Was he, then, going to stir up the ashes of those days now dead +and gone, and make her weep like her son Antoine had done? + +"I don't know," she said in a hasty voice; "I no longer go out, I never +see anybody." + +Silvere waited the morrow with considerable impatience. And as soon +as he got to his master's workshop, he drew his fellow-workmen into +conversation. He did not say anything about his interview with Miette; +but spoke vaguely of a girl whom he had seen from a distance in the +Jas-Meiffren. + +"Oh! that's La Chantegreil!" cried one of the workmen. + +There was no necessity for Silvere to question them further, for they +told him the story of the poacher Chantegreil and his daughter Miette, +with that unreasoning spite which is felt for social outcasts. The girl, +in particular, they treated in a foul manner; and the insulting gibe +of "daughter of a galley-slave" constantly rose to their lips like an +incontestable reason for condemning the poor, dear innocent creature to +eternal disgrace. + +However, wheelwright Vian, an honest, worthy fellow, at last silenced +his men. + +"Hold your tongues, you foul mouths!" he said, as he let fall the +shaft of a cart that he had been examining. "You ought to be ashamed of +yourselves for being so hard upon the child. I've seen her, the little +thing looks a very good girl. Besides, I'm told she doesn't mind work, +and already does as much as any woman of thirty. There are some lazy +fellows here who aren't a match for her. I hope, later on, that she'll +get a good husband who'll stop this evil talk." + +Silvere, who had been chilled by the workmen's gross jests and insults, +felt tears rise to his eyes at the last words spoken by Vian. However, +he did not open his lips. He took up his hammer, which he had laid down +near him, and began with all his might to strike the nave of a wheel +which he was binding with iron. + +In the evening, as soon as he had returned home from the workshop, he +ran to the wall and climbed upon it. He found Miette engaged upon the +same labour as the day before. He called her. She came to him, with her +smile of embarrassment, and the charming shyness of a child who from +infancy had grown up in tears. + +"You're La Chantegreil, aren't you?" he asked her, abruptly. + +She recoiled, she ceased smiling, and her eyes turned sternly black, +gleaming with defiance. So this lad was going to insult her, like the +others! She was turning her back upon him, without giving an answer, +when Silvere, perplexed by her sudden change of countenance, hastened to +add: "Stay, I beg you--I don't want to pain you--I've got so many things +to tell you!" + +She turned round, still distrustful. Silvere, whose heart was full, and +who had resolved to relieve it, remained for a moment speechless, not +knowing how to continue, for he feared lest he should commit a fresh +blunder. At last he put his whole heart in one phrase: "Would you like +me to be your friend?" he said, in a voice full of emotion. And as +Miette, in surprise, raised her eyes, which were again moist and +smiling, he continued with animation: "I know that people try to vex +you. It's time to put a stop to it. I will be your protector now. Shall +I?" + +The child beamed with delight. This proffered friendship roused her from +all her evil dreams of taciturn hatred. Still she shook her head and +answered: "No, I don't want you to fight on my account. You'd have +too much to do. Besides which, there are persons from whom you cannot +protect me." + +Silvere wished to declare that he would defend her against the whole +world, but she closed his mouth with a coaxing gesture, as she added: "I +am satisfied to have you as a friend." + +They then conversed together for a few minutes, lowering their voices as +much as possible. Miette spoke to Silvere of her uncle and her cousin. +For all the world she would not have liked them to catch him astride +the coping of the wall. Justin would be implacable with such a weapon +against her. She spoke of her misgivings with the fright of a schoolgirl +on meeting a friend with whom her mother has forbidden her to associate. +Silvere merely understood, however, that he would not be able to see +Miette at his pleasure. This made him very sad. Still, he promised that +he would not climb upon the wall any more. They were both endeavouring +to find some expedient for seeing each other again, when Miette suddenly +begged him to go away; she had just caught sight of Justin, who was +crossing the grounds in the direction of the wall. Silvere quickly +descended. When he was in the little yard again, he remained by the wall +to listen, irritated by his flight. After a few minutes he ventured to +climb again and cast a glance into the Jas-Meiffren, but he saw Justin +speaking with Miette, and quickly withdrew his head. On the following +day he could see nothing of his friend, not even in the distance; she +must have finished her work in that part of the Jas. A week passed in +this fashion, and the young people had no opportunity of exchanging a +single word. Silvere was in despair; he thought of boldly going to the +Rebufats to ask for Miette. + +The party-well was a large one, but not very deep. On either side of +the wall the curb formed a large semicircle. The water was only ten or +twelve feet down at the utmost. This slumbering water reflected the two +apertures of the well, two half-moons between which the shadow of the +wall cast a black streak. On leaning over, one might have fancied in the +vague light that the half-moons were two mirrors of singular clearness +and brilliance. Under the morning sunshine, when the dripping of the +ropes did not disturb the surface of the water, these mirrors, these +reflections of the heavens, showed like white patches on the green +water, and in them the leaves of the ivy which had spread along the wall +over the well were repeated with marvellous exactness. + +One morning, at an early hour, Silvere, as he came to draw water for +aunt Dide, bent over the well mechanically, just as he was taking hold +of the rope. He started, and then stood motionless, still leaning over. +He had fancied that he could distinguish in the well the face of a young +girl who was looking at him with a smile; however, he had shaken the +rope, and the disturbed water was now but a dim mirror that no longer +reflected anything clearly. Silvere, who did not venture to stir, and +whose heart beat rapidly, then waited for the water to settle. As +its ripples gradually widened and died away, he perceived the image +reappearing. It oscillated for a long time, with a swing which lent +a vague, phantom-like grace to its features, but at last it remained +stationary. It was the smiling countenance of Miette, with her head +and shoulders, her coloured neckerchief, her white bodice, and her blue +braces. Silvere next perceived his own image in the other mirror. Then, +knowing that they could see each other, they nodded their heads. For +the first moment, they did not even think of speaking. At last they +exchanged greetings. + +"Good morning, Silvere." + +"Good morning, Miette." + +They were surprised by the strange sound of their voices, which became +singularly soft and sweet in that damp hole. The sound seemed, indeed, +to come from a distance, like the soft music of voices heard of an +evening in the country. They understood that it would suffice to speak +in a whisper in order to hear each other. The well echoed the faintest +breath. Leaning over its brink, they conversed while gazing at one +another's reflection. Miette related how sad she had been the last week. +She was now working at the other end of the Jas, and could only get out +early in the morning. Then she made a pout of annoyance which Silvere +distinguished perfectly, and to which he replied by nodding his head +with an air of vexation. They were exchanging all those gestures and +facial expressions that speech entails. They cared but little for the +wall which separated them now that they could see each other in those +hidden depths. + +"I knew," continued Miette, with a knowing look, "that you came here to +draw water every morning at the same hour. I can hear the grating of the +pulley from the house. So I made an excuse, I pretended that the water +in this well boiled the vegetables better. I thought that I might come +here every morning to draw water at the same time as you, so as to say +good morning to you without anyone suspecting it." + +She smiled innocently, as though well pleased with her device, and +ended by saying: "But I did not imagine we should see each other in the +water." + +It was, in fact, this unhoped-for pleasure which so delighted them. They +only spoke to see their lips move, so greatly did this new frolic amuse +their childish natures. And they resolved to use all means in their +power to meet here every morning. When Miette had said that she must go +away, she told Silvere that he could draw his pail of water. But he did +not dare to shake the rope; Miette was still leaning over--he could see +her smiling face, and it was too painful to him to dispel that smile. As +he slightly stirred his pail, the water murmured, and the smile faded. +Then he stopped, seized with a strange fear; he fancied that he had +vexed her and made her cry. But the child called to him, "Go on! go on!" +with a laugh which the echo prolonged and rendered more sonorous. She +herself then nosily sent down a pail. There was a perfect tempest. +Everything disappeared under the black water. And Silvere made up his +mind to fill two pitchers, while listening to the retreating steps of +Miette on the other side of the wall. + +From that day, the young people never missed their assignations. The +slumbering water, the white mirrors in which they gazed at one another, +imparted to their interviews a charm which long sufficed their playful, +childish imaginations. They had no desire to see each other face to +face: it seemed much more amusing to them to use the well as a mirror, +and confide their morning greetings to its echo. They soon came to look +upon the well as an old friend. They loved to bend over the motionless +water that resembled molten silver. A greenish glimmer hovered below, +in a mysterious half light, and seemed to change the damp hole into some +hiding-place in the depths of a wood. They saw each other in a sort +of greenish nest bedecked with moss, in the midst of fresh water and +foliage. And all the strangeness of the deep spring, the hollow tower +over which they bent, trembling with fascination, added unconfessed and +delightful fear to their merry laughter. The wild idea occurred to them +of going down and seating themselves on a row of large stones which +formed a kind of circular bench at a few inches above the water. They +would dip their feet in the latter, converse there for hours, and no +one would think of coming to look for them in such a spot. But when +they asked each other what there might be down there, their vague fears +returned; they thought it quite sufficient to let their reflected images +descend into the depths amidst those green glimmers which tinged the +stones with strange moire-like reflections, and amidst those mysterious +noises which rose from the dark corners. Those sounds issuing from the +invisible made them particularly uneasy; they often fancied that voices +were replying to their own; and then they would remain silent, detecting +a thousand faint plaints which they could not understand. These came +from the secret travail of the moisture, the sighs of the atmosphere, +the drops that glided over the stones, and fell below with the +sonorousness of sobs. They would nod affectionately to each other +in order to reassure themselves. Thus the attraction which kept them +leaning over the brink had a tinge of secret terror, like all poignant +charms. But the well still remained their old friend. It was such +an excellent pretext for meeting! Justin, who watched Miette's every +movement, never suspected the cause of her eagerness to go and draw some +water every morning. At times, he saw her from the distance, leaning +over and loitering. "Ah! the lazy thing!" he muttered; "how fond she is +of dawdling about!" How could he suspect that, on the other side of the +wall, there was a wooer contemplating the girl's smile in the water, and +saying to her: "If that red-haired donkey Justin should illtreat you, +just tell me of it, and he shall hear from me!" + +This amusement lasted for more than a month. It was July then; the +mornings were sultry; the sun shone brightly, and it was quite a +pleasure to come to that damp spot. It was delightful to feel the cold +breath of the well on one's face, and make love amidst this spring water +while the skies were kindling their fires. Miette would arrive out of +breath after crossing the stubble fields; as she ran along, her hair +fell down over her forehead and temples; and it was with flushed face +and dishevelled locks that she would lean over, shaking with laughter, +almost before she had had time to set her pitcher down. Silvere, who +was almost always the first at the well, felt, as he suddenly saw her +smiling face in the water, as keen a joy as he would have experienced +had she suddenly thrown herself into his arms at the bend of a pathway. +Around them the radiant morning hummed with mirth; a wave of warm light, +sonorous with the buzzing of insects, beat against the old wall, the +posts, and the curbstone. They, however, no longer saw the shower of +morning sunshine, nor heard the thousand sounds rising from the ground; +they were in the depths of their green hiding-place, under the earth, in +that mysterious and awesome cavity, and quivered with pleasure as they +lingered there enjoying its fresh coolness and dim light. + +On some mornings, Miette, who by nature could not long maintain a +contemplative attitude, began to tease; she would shake the rope, and +make drops of water fall in order to ripple the mirrors and deface the +reflections. Silvere would then entreat her to remain still; he, whose +fervour was deeper than hers, knew no keener pleasure than that of +gazing at his love's image reflected so distinctly in every feature. +But she would not listen to him; she would joke and feign a rough old +bogey's voice, to which the echo imparted a raucous melodiousness. + +"No, no," she would say in chiding fashion; "I don't love you to-day! +I'm making faces at you; see how ugly I am." + +And she laughed at seeing the fantastic forms which their spreading +faces assumed as they danced upon the disturbed water. + +One morning she got angry in real earnest. She did not find Silvere at +the trysting-place, and waited for him for nearly a quarter of an hour, +vainly making the pulley grate. She was just about to depart in a rage +when he arrived. As soon as she perceived him she let a perfect tempest +loose in the well, shook her pail in an irritated manner, and made the +blackish water whirl and splash against the stones. In vain did Silvere +try to explain that aunt Dide had detained him. To all his excuses she +replied: "You've vexed me; I don't want to see you." + +The poor lad, in despair, vainly questioned that sombre cavity, now so +full of lamentable sounds, where, on other days, such a bright vision +usually awaited him amid the silence of the stagnant water. He had to go +away without seeing Miette. On the morrow, arriving before the time, +he gazed sadly into the well, hearing nothing, and thinking that the +obstinate girl would not come, when she, who was already on the other +side slyly watching his arrival, bent over suddenly with a burst of +laughter. All was at once forgotten. + +In this wise the well was the scene of many a little drama and comedy. +That happy cavity, with its gleaming mirrors and musical echoes, quickly +ripened their love. They endowed it with such strange life, so filled it +with their youthful love, that, long after they had ceased to come and +lean over the brink, Silvere, as he drew water every morning, would +fancy he could see Miette's smiling face in the dim light that still +quivered with the joy they had set there. + +That month of playful love rescued Miette from her mute despair. She +felt a revival of her affections, her happy childish carelessness, which +had been held in check by the hateful loneliness in which she lived. +The certainty that she was loved by somebody, and that she was no longer +alone in the world, enabled her to endure the persecutions of Justin +and the Faubourg urchins. A song of joy, whose glad notes drowned their +hootings, now sounded in her heart. She thought of her father with +tender compassion, and did not now so frequently yield to dreams of +bitter vengeance. Her dawning love cooled her feverish broodings +like the fresh breezes of the dawn. At the same time she acquired the +instinctive cunning of a young girl in love. She felt that she must +maintain her usual silent and rebellious demeanour if she were to escape +Justin's suspicions. But, in spite of her efforts, her eyes retained a +sweet unruffled expression when the lad bullied her; she was no longer +able to put on her old black look of indignant anger. One morning he +heard her humming to herself at breakfast-time. + +"You seem very gay, Chantegreil!" he said to her suspiciously, glancing +keenly at her from his lowering eyes. "I bet you've been up to some of +your tricks again!" + +She shrugged her shoulders, but she trembled inwardly; and she did all +she could to regain her old appearance of rebellious martyrdom. However, +though Justin suspected some secret happiness, it was long before he was +able to discover how his victim had escaped him. + +Silvere, on his side, enjoyed profound happiness. His daily meetings +with Miette made his idle hours pass pleasantly away. During his +long silent companionship with aunt Dide, he recalled one by one his +remembrances of the morning, revelling in their most trifling details. +From that time forward, the fulness of his heart cloistered him yet more +in the lonely existence which he had adopted with his grandmother. He +was naturally fond of hidden spots, of solitary retirement, where he +could give himself up to his thoughts. At this period already he had +eagerly begun to read all the old odd volumes which he could pick up at +brokers' shops in the Faubourg, and which were destined to lead him to +a strange and generous social religion and morality. His +reading--ill-digested and lacking all solid foundation--gave him +glimpses of the world's vanities and pleasures, especially with regard +to women, which would have seriously troubled his mind if his heart +had not been contented. When Miette came, he received her at first as +a companion, then as the joy and ambition of his life. In the evening, +when he had retired to the little nook where he slept, and hung his lamp +at the head of his strap-bedstead, he would find Miette on every page of +the dusty old volume which he had taken at random from a shelf above his +head and was reading devoutly. He never came across a young girl, a good +and beautiful creature, in his reading, without immediately identifying +her with his sweetheart. And he would set himself in the narrative as +well. If he were reading a love story, it was he who married Miette at +the end, or died with her. If, on the contrary, he were perusing some +political pamphlet, some grave dissertation on social economy, works +which he preferred to romances, for he had that singular partiality for +difficult subjects which characterises persons of imperfect scholarship, +he still found some means of associating her with the tedious themes +which frequently he could not even understand. For instance, he tried +to persuade himself that he was learning how to be good and kind to her +when they were married. He thus associated her with all his visionary +dreamings. Protected by the purity of his affection against the +obscenity of certain eighteenth-century tales which fell into his hands, +he found particular pleasure in shutting himself up with her in those +humanitarian Utopias which some great minds of our own time, infatuated +by visions of universal happiness have imagined. Miette, in his mind, +became quite essential to the abolition of pauperism and the definitive +triumph of the principles of the Revolution. There were nights of +feverish reading, when his mind could not tear itself from his book, +which he would lay down and take up at least a score of times, nights +of voluptuous weariness which he enjoyed till daybreak like some secret +orgie, cramped up in that tiny room, his eyes troubled by the flickering +yellow light, while he yielded to the fever of insomnia and schemed +out new social schemes of the most absurdly ingenuous nature, in which +woman, always personified by Miette, was worshipped by the nations on +their knees. + +He was predisposed to Utopian ideas by certain hereditary influences; +his grandmother's nervous disorders became in him so much chronic +enthusiasm, striving after everything that was grandiose and impossible. +His lonely childhood, his imperfect education, had developed his natural +tendencies in a singular manner. However, he had not yet reached the age +when the fixed idea plants itself in a man's mind. In the morning, after +he had dipped his head in a bucket of water, he remembered his thoughts +and visions of the night but vaguely; nothing remained of his dreams +save a childlike innocence, full of trustful confidence and yearning +tenderness. He felt like a child again. He ran to the well, solely +desirous of meeting his sweetheart's smile, and tasting the delights +of the radiant morning. And during the day, when thoughts of the future +sometimes made him silent and dreamy, he would often, prompted by some +sudden impulse, spring up and kiss aunt Dide on both cheeks, whereat the +old woman would gaze at him anxiously, perturbed at seeing his eyes so +bright, and gleaming with a joy which she thought she could divine. + +At last, as time went on, Miette and Silvere began to tire of only +seeing each other's reflection. The novelty of their play was gone, and +now they began to dream of keener pleasures than the well could afford +them. In this longing for reality which came upon them, there was the +wish to see each other face to face, to run through the open fields, and +return out of breath with their arms around each other's waist, clinging +closely together in order that they might the better feel each other's +love. One morning Silvere spoke of climbing over the wall, and walking +in the Jas with Miette. But the child implored him not to perpetrate +such folly, which would place her at Justin's mercy. He then promised to +seek some other means. + +The wall in which the well was set made a sudden bend a few paces +further on, thereby forming a sort of recess, where the lovers would be +free from observation, if they were to take shelter there. The question +was how to reach this recess. Silvere could no longer entertain the idea +of climbing over, as Miette had appeared so afraid. He secretly thought +of another plan. The little door which Macquart and Adelaide had set up +one night long years previously had remained forgotten in this remote +corner. The owner of the Jas-Meiffren had not even thought of blocking +it up. Blackened by damp and green with moss, its lock and hinges eaten +away with rust, it looked like a part of the old wall. Doubtless the +key was lost; the grass growing beside the lower boards, against which +slight mounds had formed, amply proved that no one had passed that way +for many a long year. However, it was the lost key that Silvere hoped to +find. He knew with what devotion his aunt Dide allowed the relics of the +past to lie rotting wherever they might be. He searched the house for a +week without any result, and went stealthily night by night to see if +he had at last put his hand on the right key during the daytime. In this +way he tried more than thirty keys which had doubtless come from the old +property of the Fouques, and which he found all over the place, against +the walls, on the floors, and at the bottom of drawers. He was becoming +disheartened, when all at once he found the precious key. It was simply +tied by a string to the street door latch-key, which always remained in +the lock. It had hung there for nearly forty years. Aunt Dide must every +day have touched it with her hand, without ever making up her mind to +throw it away, although it could now only carry her back sorrowfully +into the past. When Silvere had convinced himself that it really opened +the little door, he awaited the ensuing day, dreaming of the joyful +surprise which he was preparing for Miette. He had not told her for what +he had been searching. + +On the morrow, as soon as he heard the girl set her pitcher down, he +gently opened the door, sweeping away with a push the tall weeds which +covered the threshold. Stretching out his head, he saw Miette leaning +over the brink of the well, looking into the water, absorbed in +expectation. Thereupon, in a couple of strides, he reached the recess +formed by the wall, and thence called, "Miette! Miette!" in a soft +voice, which made her tremble. She raised her head, thinking he was on +the coping of the wall. But when she saw him in the Jas, at a few steps +from her, she gave a faint cry of surprise, and ran up to him. They took +each other's hand, and looked at one another, delighted to be so near, +thinking themselves far handsomer like this, in the warm sunshine. It +was the middle of August, the Feast of the Assumption. In the +distance, the bells were pealing in the limpid atmosphere that so often +accompanies great days of festival, an atmosphere full of bright gaiety. + +"Good morning, Silvere!" + +"Good morning, Miette!" + +The voices in which they exchanged their morning greetings sounded +strange to them. They knew only the muffled accents transmitted by the +echo of the well. And now their voices seemed to them as clear as the +notes of a lark. And ah! how delightful it was in that warm corner, in +that holiday atmosphere! They still held each other's hands. Silvere +leaning against the wall, Miette with her figure slightly thrown +backwards. They were about to tell each other all the soft things which +they had not dared to confide to the reverberations of the well, when +Silvere, hearing a slight noise, started, and, turning pale, dropped +Miette's hands. He had just seen aunt Dide standing before him erect and +motionless on the threshold of the doorway. + +The grandmother had come to the well by chance. And on perceiving, in +the old black wall, the white gap formed by the doorway which Silvere +had left wide open, she had experienced a violent shock. That open gap +seemed to her like a gulf of light violently illumining her past. She +once more saw herself running to the door amidst the morning brightness, +and crossing the threshold full of the transports of her nervous love. +And Macquart was there awaiting her. She hung upon his neck and pressed +against his bosom, whilst the rising sun, following her through the +doorway, which she had left open in her hurry, enveloped them with +radiance. It was a sudden vision which roused her cruelly from the +slumber of old age, like some supreme chastisement, and awakened a +multitude of bitter memories within her. Had the well, had the entire +wall, disappeared beneath the earth, she would not have been more +stupefied. She had never thought that this door would open again. In her +mind it had been walled up ever since the hour of Macquart's death. And +amidst her amazement she felt angry, indignant with the sacrilegious +hand that had penetrated this violation, and left that white open space +agape like a yawning tomb. She stepped forward, yielding to a kind of +fascination, and halted erect within the framework of the door. + +Then she gazed out before her, with a feeling of dolorous surprise. She +had certainly been told that the old enclosure of the Fouques was +now joined to the Jas-Meiffren; but she would never have thought the +associations of her youth could have vanished so completely. It seemed +as though some tempest had carried off everything that her memory +cherished. The old dwelling, the large kitchen-garden, the beds of green +vegetables, all had disappeared. Not a stone, not a tree of former times +remained. And instead of the scene amidst which she had grown up, and +which in her mind's eye she had seen but yesterday, there lay a strip +of barren soil, a broad patch of stubbles, bare like a desert. +Henceforward, when, on closing her eyes, she might try to recall the +objects of the past, that stubble would always appear to her like a +shroud of yellowish drugget spread over the soil, in which her youth lay +buried. In the presence of that unfamiliar commonplace scene her heart +died, as it were, a second time. Now all was completely, finally ended. +She was robbed even of her dreams of the past. Then she began to regret +that she had yielded to the attraction of that white opening, of that +doorway gaping upon the days which were now for ever lost. + +She was about to retire and close the accursed door, without even +seeking to discover who had opened it, when she suddenly perceived +Miette and Silvere. And the sight of the two young lovers, who, with +hanging heads, nervously awaited her glance, kept her on the threshold, +quivering with yet keener pain. She now understood all. To the very end, +she was destined to picture herself there, clasped in Macquart's arms +in the bright sunshine. Yet a second time had the door served as an +accomplice. Where love had once passed, there was it passing again. +'Twas the eternal and endless renewal, with present joys and future +tears. Aunt Dide could only see the tears, and a sudden presentiment +showed her the two children bleeding, with stricken hearts. Overwhelmed +by the recollection of her life's sorrow, which this spot had just +awakened within her, she grieved for her dear Silvere. She alone was +guilty; if she had not formerly had that door made Silvere would not +now be at a girl's feet in that lonely nook, intoxicating himself with a +bliss which prompts and angers the jealousy of death. + +After a brief pause, she went up to the young man, and, without a +word, took him by the hand. She might, perhaps, have left them there, +chattering under the wall, had she not felt that she herself was, to +some extent, an accomplice in this fatal love. As she came back with +Silvere, she turned on hearing the light footfall of Miette, who, having +quickly taken up her pitcher, was hastening across the stubble. She was +running wildly, glad at having escaped so easily. And aunt Dide smiled +involuntarily as she watched her bound over the ground like a runaway +goat. + +"She is very young," she murmured, "she has plenty of time." + +She meant, no doubt, that Miette had plenty of time before her to suffer +and weep. Then, turning her eyes upon Silvere, who with a glance of +ecstasy had followed the child as she ran off in the bright sunshine, +she simply added: "Take care, my boy; this sort of thing sometimes kills +one." + +These were the only words she spoke with reference to the incident which +had awakened all the sorrows that lay slumbering in the depths of her +being. Silence had become a real religion with her. When Silvere came +in, she double-locked the door, and threw the key down the well. In +this wise she felt certain that the door would no longer make her an +accomplice. She examined it for a moment, glad at seeing it reassume its +usual gloomy, barrier-like aspect. The tomb was closed once more; the +white gap was for ever boarded up with that damp-stained mossy timber +over which the snails had shed silvery tears. + +In the evening, aunt Dide had another of those nervous attacks which +came upon her at intervals. At these times she would often talk aloud +and ramble incoherently, as though she was suffering from nightmare. +That evening, while Silvere held her down on her bed, he heard her +stammer in a panting voice such words as "custom-house officer," "fire," +and "murder." And she struggled, and begged for mercy, and dreamed aloud +of vengeance. At last, as always happened when the attack was drawing to +a close, she fell into a strange fright, her teeth chattering, while her +limbs quivered with abject terror. Finally, after raising herself into +a sitting posture, she cast a haggard look of astonishment at one and +another corner of the room, and then fell back upon the pillow, heaving +deep sighs. She was, doubtless, a prey to some hallucination. However, +she drew Silvere to her bosom, and seemed to some degree to recognise +him, though ever and anon she confused him with someone else. + +"There they are!" she stammered. "Do you see? They are going to take +you, they will kill you again. I don't want them to--Send them away, +tell them I won't; tell them they are hurting me, staring at me like +that--" + +Then she turned to the wall, to avoid seeing the people of whom she was +talking. And after an interval of silence, she continued: "You are near +me, my child, aren't you? You must not leave me. I thought I was going +to die just now. We did wrong to make an opening in the wall. I have +suffered ever since. I was certain that door would bring us further +misfortune--Oh! the innocent darlings, what sorrow! They will kill them +as well, they will be shot down like dogs." + +Then she relapsed into catalepsy; she was no longer even aware of +Silvere's presence. Suddenly, however, she sat up, and gazed at the foot +of her bed, with a fearful expression of terror. + +"Why didn't you send them away?" she cried, hiding her white head +against the young man's breast. "They are still there. The one with the +gun is making signs that he is going to fire." + +Shortly afterwards she fell into the heavy slumber that usually +terminated these attacks. On the next day, she seemed to have forgotten +everything. She never again spoke to Silvere of the morning on which she +had found him with a sweetheart behind the wall. + +The young people did not see each other for a couple of days. When +Miette ventured to return to the well, they resolved not to recommence +the pranks which had upset aunt Dide. However, the meeting which had +been so strangely interrupted had filled them with a keen desire to +meet again in some happy solitude. Weary of the delights afforded by the +well, and unwilling to vex aunt Dide by seeing Miette again on the other +side of the wall, Silvere begged the girl to meet him somewhere else. +She required but little pressing; she received the proposal with the +willing smile of a frolicsome lass who has no thought of evil. What +made her smile was the idea of outwitting that spy of a Justin. When the +lovers had come to agreement, they discussed at length the choice of a +favourable spot. Silvere proposed the most impossible trysting-places. +He planned regular journeys, and even suggested meeting the young girl +at midnight in the barns of the Jas-Meiffren. Miette, who was much more +practical, shrugged her shoulders, declaring she would try to think of +some spot. On the morrow, she tarried but a minute at the well, just +time enough to smile at Silvere and tell him to be at the far end of the +Aire Saint-Mittre at about ten o'clock in the evening. One may be +sure that the young man was punctual. All day long Miette's choice had +puzzled him, and his curiosity increased when he found himself in the +narrow lane formed by the piles of planks at the end of the plot of +ground. "She will come this way," he said to himself, looking along the +road to Nice. But he suddenly heard a loud shaking of boughs behind +the wall, and saw a laughing head, with tumbled hair, appear above the +coping, whilst a joyous voice called out: "It's me!" + +And it was, in fact, Miette, who had climbed like an urchin up one of +the mulberry-trees, which even nowadays still border the boundary of +the Jas-Meiffren. In a couple of leaps she reached the tombstone, half +buried in the corner at the end of the lane. Silvere watched her descend +with delight and surprise, without even thinking of helping her. As soon +as she had alighted, however, he took both her hands in his, and said: +"How nimble you are!--you climb better than I do." + +It was thus that they met for the first time in that hidden corner where +they were destined to pass such happy hours. From that evening forward +they saw each other there nearly every night. They now only used the +well to warn each other of unforeseen obstacles to their meetings, of +a change of time, and of all the trifling little news that seemed +important in their eyes, and allowed of no delay. It sufficed for the +one who had a communication to make to set the pulley in motion, for its +creaking noise could be heard a long way off. But although, on certain +days, they summoned one another two or three times in succession to +speak of trifles of immense importance, it was only in the evening in +that lonely little passage that they tasted real happiness. Miette was +exceptionally punctual. She fortunately slept over the kitchen, in a +room where the winter provisions had been kept before her arrival, and +which was reached by a little private staircase. She was thus able to go +out at all hours, without being seen by Rebufat or Justin. Moreover, if +the latter should ever see her returning she intended to tell him some +tale or other, staring at him the while with that stern look which +always reduced him to silence. + +Ah! how happy those warm evenings were! The lovers had now reached the +first days of September, a month of bright sunshine in Provence. It was +hardly possible for them to join each other before nine o'clock. Miette +arrived from over the wall, in surmounting which she soon acquired such +dexterity that she was almost always on the old tombstone before Silvere +had time to stretch out his arms. She would laugh at her own strength +and agility as, for a moment, with her hair in disorder, she remained +almost breathless, tapping her skirt to make it fall. Her sweetheart +laughingly called her an impudent urchin. In reality he much admired +her pluck. He watched her jump over the wall with the complacency of an +older brother supervising the exercises of a younger one. Indeed, +there was yet much that was childlike in their growing love. On several +occasions they spoke of going on some bird's-nesting expedition on the +banks of the Viorne. + +"You'll see how I can climb," said Miette proudly. "When I lived at +Chavanoz, I used to go right up to the top of old Andre's walnut-trees. +Have you ever taken a magpie's nest? It's very difficult!" + +Then a discussion arose as to how one ought to climb a poplar. Miette +stated her opinions, with all a boy's confidence. + +However, Silvere, clasping her round the knees, had by this time lifted +her to the ground, and then they would walk on, side by side, their arms +encircling each other's waist. Though they were but children, fond of +frolicsome play and chatter, and knew not even how to speak of love, yet +they already partook of love's delight. It sufficed them to press each +other's hands. Ignorant whither their feelings and their hearts were +drifting, they did not seek to hide the blissful thrills which the +slightest touch awoke. Smiling, often wondering at the delight they +experienced, they yielded unconsciously to the sweetness of new feelings +even while talking, like a couple of schoolboys, of the magpies' nests +which are so difficult to reach. + +And as they talked they went down the silent path, between the piles of +planks and the wall of the Jas-Meiffren. They never went beyond the end +of that narrow blind alley, but invariably retraced their steps. They +were quite at home there. Miette, happy in the knowledge of their +safe concealment, would often pause and congratulate herself on her +discovery. + +"Wasn't I lucky!" she would gleefully exclaim. "We might walk a long way +without finding such a good hiding-place." + +The thick grass muffled the noise of their footsteps. They were steeped +in gloom, shut in between two black walls, and only a strip of dark sky, +spangled with stars, was visible above their heads. And as they stepped +along, pacing this path which resembled a dark stream flowing beneath +the black star-sprent sky, they were often thrilled with undefinable +emotion, and lowered their voices, although there was nobody to hear +them. Surrendering themselves as it were to the silent waves of night, +over which they seemed to drift, they recounted to one another, with +lovers' rapture, the thousand trifles of the day. + +At other times, on bright nights, when the moonlight clearly outlined +the wall and the timber-stacks, Miette and Silvere would romp about with +all the carelessness of children. The path stretched out, alight with +white rays, and retaining no suggestion of secrecy, and the young people +laughed and chased each other like boys at play, at times venturing even +to climb upon the piles of timber. Silvere was occasionally obliged to +frighten Miette by telling her that Justin might be watching her from +over the wall. Then, quite out of breath, they would stroll side +by side, and plan how they might some day go for a scamper in the +Sainte-Claire meadows, to see which of the two would catch the other. + +Their growing love thus accommodated itself to dark and clear nights. +Their hearts were ever on the alert, and a little shade sufficed to +sweeten the pleasure of their embrace, and soften their laughter. This +dearly-loved retreat--so gay in the moonshine, so strangely thrilling +in the gloom--seemed an inexhaustible source of both gaiety and silent +emotion. They would remain there until midnight, while the town dropped +off to sleep and the lights in the windows of the Faubourg went out one +by one. + +They were never disturbed in their solitude. At that late hour children +were no longer playing at hide-and-seek behind the piles of planks. +Occasionally, when the young couple heard sounds in the distance--the +singing of some workmen as they passed along the road, or conversation +coming from the neighbouring sidewalks--they would cast stealthy glances +over the Aire Saint-Mittre. The timber-yard stretched out, empty of +all, save here and there some falling shadows. On warm evenings they +sometimes caught glimpses of loving couples there, and of old men +sitting on the big beams by the roadside. When the evenings grew colder, +all that they ever saw on the melancholy, deserted spot was some gipsy +fire, before which, perhaps, a few black shadows passed to and fro. +Through the still night air words and sundry faint sounds were wafted to +them, the "good-night" of a townsman shutting his door, the closing of a +window-shutter, the deep striking of a clock, all the parting sounds of +a provincial town retiring to rest. And when Plassans was slumbering, +they might still hear the quarrelling of the gipsies and the crackling +of their fires, amidst which suddenly rose the guttural voices of girls +singing in a strange tongue, full of rugged accents. + +But the lovers did not concern themselves much with what went on in the +Aire Saint-Mittre; they hastened back into their own little privacy, and +again walked along their favourite retired path. Little did they care +for others, or for the town itself! The few planks which separated them +from the wicked world seemed to them, after a while, an insurmountable +rampart. They were so secluded, so free in this nook, situated though it +was in the very midst of the Faubourg, at only fifty paces from the Rome +Gate, that they sometimes fancied themselves far away in some hollow of +the Viorne, with the open country around them. Of all the sounds +which reached them, only one made them feel uneasy, that of the clocks +striking slowly in the darkness. At times, when the hour sounded, they +pretended not to hear, at other moments they stopped short as if to +protest. However, they could not go on for ever taking just another +ten minutes, and so the time came when they were at last obliged to say +good-night. Then Miette reluctantly climbed upon the wall again. But all +was not ended yet, they would linger over their leave-taking for a +good quarter of an hour. When the girl had climbed upon the wall, she +remained there with her elbows on the coping, and her feet supported +by the branches of the mulberry-tree, which served her as a ladder. +Silvere, perched on the tombstone, was able to take her hands again, and +renew their whispered conversation. They repeated "till to-morrow!" a +dozen times, and still and ever found something more to say. At last +Silvere began to scold. + +"Come, you must get down, it is past midnight." + +But Miette, with a girl's waywardness, wished him to descend first; she +wanted to see him go away. And as he persisted in remaining, she ended +by saying abruptly, by way of punishment, perhaps: "Look! I am going to +jump down." + +Then she sprang from the mulberry-tree, to the great consternation of +Silvere. He heard the dull thud of her fall, and the burst of laughter +with which she ran off, without choosing to reply to his last adieu. For +some minutes he would remain watching her vague figure as it disappeared +in the darkness, then, slowly descending, he regained the Impasse +Saint-Mittre. + +During two years they came to the path every day. At the time of their +first meetings they enjoyed some beautiful warm nights. They might +almost have fancied themselves in the month of May, the month of +seething sap, when a pleasant odour of earth and fresh leaves pervades +the warm air. This _renouveau_, this second spring, was like a gift from +heaven which allowed them to run freely about the path and tighten their +bonds of affection. + +At last came rain, and snow, and frost. But the disagreeableness of +winter did not keep them away. Miette put on her long brown pelisse, and +they both made light of the bad weather. When the nights were dry and +clear, and puffs of wind raised the hoar frost beneath their footsteps +and fell on their faces like taps from a switch, they refrained from +sitting down. They walked quickly to and fro, wrapped in the pelisse, +their cheeks blue with cold, and their eyes watering; and they laughed +heartily, quite quivering with mirth, at the rapidity of their +march through the freezing atmosphere. One snowy evening they amused +themselves with making an enormous snowball, which they rolled into +a corner. It remained there fully a month, which caused them fresh +astonishment each time they met in the path. Nor did the rain frighten +them. They came to see each other through the heaviest downpours, though +they got wet to the skin in doing so. Silvere would hasten to the spot, +saying to himself that Miette would never be mad enough to come; and +when Miette arrived, he could not find it in his heart to scold her. +In reality he had been expecting her. At last he sought some shelter +against the inclement weather, knowing quite well that they would +certainly come out, however much they might promise one another not to +do so when it rained. To find a shelter he only had to disturb one of +the timber-stacks; pulling out several pieces of wood and arranging them +so that they would move easily, in such wise that he could displace and +replace them at pleasure. + +From that time forward the lovers possessed a sort of low and narrow +sentry-box, a square hole, which was only big enough to hold them +closely squeezed together on a beam which they had left at the bottom +of the little cell. Whenever it rained, the first to arrive would take +shelter here; and on finding themselves together again they would listen +with delight to the rain beating on the piles of planks. Before and +around them, through the inky blackness of the night, came a rush of +water which they could not see, but which resounded continuously like +the roar of a mob. They were nevertheless quite alone, as though they +had been at the end of the world or beneath the sea. They never felt so +happy, so isolated, as when they found themselves in that timber-stack, +in the midst of some such deluge which threatened to carry them away at +every moment. Their bent knees almost reached the opening, and though +they thrust themselves back as far as possible, the spray of the rain +bathed their cheeks and hands. The big drops, falling from the planks, +splashed at regular intervals at their feet. The brown pelisse kept them +warm, and the nook was so small that Miette was compelled to sit almost +on Silvere's knees. And they would chatter and then lapse into silence, +overcome with languor, lulled by the warmth of their embrace and the +monotonous beating of the shower. For hours and hours they remained +there, with that same enjoyment of the rain which prompts little +children to stroll along solemnly in stormy weather with open umbrellas +in their hands. After a while they came to prefer the rainy evenings, +though their parting became more painful on those occasions. Miette was +obliged to climb the wall in the driving rain, and cross the puddles of +the Jas-Meiffren in perfect darkness. As soon as she had left his arms, +she was lost to Silvere amidst the gloom and the noise of the falling +water. In vain he listened, he was deafened, blinded. However, the +anxiety caused by this brusque separation proved an additional charm, +and, until the morrow, each would be uneasy lest anything should have +befallen the other in such weather, when one would not even have turned +a dog out of doors. Perchance one of them had slipped, or lost the way; +such were the mutual fears which possessed them, and rendered their next +interview yet more loving. + +At last the fine days returned, April brought mild nights, and the grass +in the green alley sprouted up wildly. Amidst the stream of life flowing +from heaven and rising from the earth, amidst all the intoxication of +the budding spring-time, the lovers sometimes regretted their winter +solitude, the rainy evenings and the freezing nights, during which they +had been so isolated so far from all human sounds. At present the days +did not draw to a close soon enough, and they grew impatient with the +lagging twilights. When the night had fallen sufficiently for Miette to +climb upon the wall without danger of being seen, and they could at last +glide along their dear path, they no longer found there the solitude +congenial to their shy, childish love. People began to flock to the Aire +Saint-Mittre, the urchins of the Faubourg remained there, romping about +the beams, and shouting, till eleven o'clock at night. It even happened +occasionally that one of them would go and hide behind the piles of +timber, and assail Miette and Silvere with boyish jeers. The fear of +being surprised amidst that general awakening of life as the season +gradually grew warmer, tinged their meetings with anxiety. + +Then, too, they began to stifle in the narrow lane. Never had it +throbbed with so ardent a quiver; never had that soil, in which the +last bones left of the former cemetery lay mouldering, sent forth such +oppressive and disturbing odours. They were still too young to relish +the voluptuous charm of that secluded nook which the springtide filled +with fever. The grass grew to their knees, they moved to and fro with +difficulty, and certain plants, when they crushed their young shoots, +sent forth a pungent odour which made them dizzy. Then, seized with +strange drowsiness and staggering with giddiness, their feet as +though entangled in the grass, they would lean against the wall, with +half-closed eyes, unable to move a step. All the soft languor from the +skies seemed to penetrate them. + +With the petulance of beginners, impatient and irritated at this sudden +faintness, they began to think their retreat too confined, and decided +to ramble through the open fields. Every evening came fresh frolics. +Miette arrived with her pelisse; they wrapped themselves in it, and +then, gliding past the walls, reached the high-road and the open +country, the broad fields where the wind rolled with full strength, +like the waves at high tide. And here they no longer felt stifled; they +recovered all their youthfulness, free from the giddy intoxication born +of the tall rank weeds of the Aire Saint-Mittre. + +During two summers they rambled through the district. Every rock ledge, +every bed of turf soon knew them; there was not a cluster of trees, a +hedge, or a bush, which did not become their friend. They realized their +dreams: they chased each other wildly over the meadows of Sainte-Claire, +and Miette ran so well that Silvere had to put his best foot forward +to catch her. Sometimes, too, they went in search of magpies' nests. +Headstrong Miette, wishing to show how she had climbed trees at +Chavanoz, would tie up her skirts with a piece of string, and ascend the +highest poplars; while Silvere stood trembling beneath, with his arms +outstretched to catch her should she slip. These frolics so turned them +from thoughts of love that one evening they almost fought like a couple +of lads coming out of school. But there were nooks in the country side +which were not healthful for them. So long as they rambled on they were +continually shouting with laughter, pushing and teasing one another. +They covered miles and miles of ground; sometimes they went as far as +the chain of the Garrigues, following the narrowest paths and cutting +across the fields. The region belonged to them; they lived there as in a +conquered territory, enjoying all that the earth and the sky could give +them. Miette, with a woman's lack of scruple, did not hesitate to pluck +a bunch of grapes, or a cluster of green almonds, from the vines +and almond-trees whose boughs brushed her as she passed; and at this +Silvere, with his absolute ideas of honesty, felt vexed, although he +did not venture to find fault with the girl, whose occasional sulking +distressed him. "Oh! the bad girl!" thought he, childishly exaggerating +the matter, "she would make a thief of me." But Miette would thereupon +force his share of the stolen fruit into his mouth. The artifices he +employed, such as holding her round the waist, avoiding the fruit trees, +and making her run after him when they were near the vines, so as +to keep her out of the way of temptation, quickly exhausted his +imagination. At last there was nothing to do but to make her sit +down. And then they again began to experience their former stifling +sensations. The gloomy valley of the Viorne particularly disturbed +them. When weariness brought them to the banks of the torrent, all their +childish gaiety seemed to disappear. A grey shadow floated under the +willows, like the scented crape of a woman's dress. The children felt +this crape descend warm and balmy from the voluptuous shoulders of the +night, kiss their temples and envelop them with irresistible languor. In +the distance the crickets chirped in the meadows of Sainte-Claire, +and at their feet the ripples of the Viorne sounded like lovers' +whispers--like the soft cooing of humid lips. The stars cast a rain of +sparkles from the slumbering heavens. And, amidst the throbbing of the +sky, the waters and the darkness, the children reposing on the grass +sought each other's hands and pressed them. + +Silvere, who vaguely understood the danger of these ecstasies, would +sometimes jump up and propose to cross over to one of the islets left +by the low water in the middle of the stream. Both ventured forth, with +bare feet. Miette made light of the pebbles, refusing Silvere's help, +and it once happened that she sat down in the very middle of the stream; +however, there were only a few inches of water, and she escaped with +nothing worse than a wet petticoat. Then, having reached the island, +they threw themselves on the long neck of sand, their eyes on a level +with the surface of the river whose silvery scales they saw quivering +far away in the clear night. Then Miette would declare that they were +in a boat, that the island was certainly floating; she could feel it +carrying her along. The dizziness caused by the rippling of the water +amused them for a moment, and they lingered there, singing in an +undertone, like boatmen as they strike the water with their oars. At +other times, when the island had a low bank, they sat there as on a bed +of verdure, and let their bare feet dangle in the stream. And then for +hours they chatted together, swinging their legs, and splashing the +water, delighted to set a tempest raging in the peaceful pool whose +freshness cooled their fever. + +These footbaths suggested a dangerous idea to Miette. Nothing would +satisfy her but a complete bath. A little above the bridge over the +Viorne there was a very convenient spot, she said, barely three or four +feet deep and quite safe; the weather was so warm, it would be so nice +to have the water up to their necks; besides which, she had been dying +to learn to swim for such a long time, and Silvere would be able to +teach her. Silvere raised objections; it was not prudent at night time; +they might be seen; perhaps, too they might catch cold. However, nothing +could turn Miette from her purpose. One evening she came with a bathing +costume which she had made out of an old dress; and Silvere was then +obliged to go back to aunt Dide's for his bathing drawers. Their +proceedings were characterised by great simplicity. Miette disrobed +herself beneath the shade of a stout willow; and when both were ready, +enveloped in the blackness which fell from the foliage around them, they +gaily entered the cool water, oblivious of all previous scruples, and +knowing in their innocence no sense of shame. They remained in the river +quite an hour, splashing and throwing water into each other's faces; +Miette now getting cross, now breaking out into laughter, while Silvere +gave her her first lesson, dipping her head under every now and again so +as to accustom her to the water. As long as he held her up she threw her +arms and legs about violently, thinking she was swimming; but directly +he let her go, she cried and struggled, striking the water with her +outstretched hands, clutching at anything she could get hold of, the +young man's waist or one of his wrists. She leant against him for an +instant, resting, out of breath and dripping with water; and then she +cried: "Once more; but you do it on purpose, you don't hold me." + +At the end of a fortnight, the girl was able to swim. With her limbs +moving freely, rocked by the stream, playing with it, she yielded form +and spirit alike to its soft motion, to the silence of the heavens, +and the dreaminess of the melancholy banks. As she and Silvere swam +noiselessly along, she seemed to see the foliage of both banks thicken +and hang over them, draping them round as with a huge curtain. When +the moon shone, its rays glided between the trunks of the trees, and +phantoms seemed to flit along the river-side in white robes. Miette felt +no nervousness, however, only an indefinable emotion as she followed +the play of the shadows. As she went onward with slower motion, the calm +water, which the moon converted into a bright mirror, rippled at +her approach like a silver-broidered cloth; eddies widened and lost +themselves amid the shadows of the banks, under the hanging willow +branches, whence issued weird, plashing sounds. At every stroke she +perceived recesses full of sound; dark cavities which she hastened +to pass by; clusters and rows of trees, whose sombre masses were +continually changing form, stretching forward and apparently following +her from the summit of the bank. And when she threw herself on her back, +the depths of the heavens affected her still more. From the fields, from +the distant horizon, which she could no longer see, a solemn lingering +strain, composed of all the sighs of the night, was wafted to her. + +She was not of a dreamy nature; it was physically, through the medium of +each of her senses, that she derived enjoyment from the sky, the river, +and the play of light and shadow. The river, in particular, bore her +along with endless caresses. When she swam against the current she was +delighted to feel the stream flow rapidly against her bosom and limbs. +She dipped herself in it yet more deeply, with the water reaching to her +lips, so that it might pass over her shoulders, and envelop her, from +chin to feet, with flying kisses. Then she would float, languid and +quiescent, on the surface, whilst the ripples glided softly between her +costume and her skin. And she would also roll over in the still pools +like a cat on a carpet; and swim from the luminous patches where +the moonbeams were bathing, to the dark water shaded by the foliage, +shivering the while, as though she had quitted a sunny plain and then +felt the cold from the boughs falling on her neck. + +She now remained quite silent in the water, and would not allow Silvere +to touch her. Gliding softly by his side, she swam on with the light +rustling of a bird flying across the copse, or else she would circle +round him, a prey to vague disquietude which she did not comprehend. +He himself darted quickly away if he happened to brush against her. +The river was now but a source of enervating intoxication, voluptuous +languor, which disturbed them strangely. When they emerged from their +bath they felt dizzy, weary, and drowsy. Fortunately, the girl declared +one evening that she would bathe no more, as the cold water made the +blood run to her head. And it was in all truth and innocence that she +said this. + +Then their long conversations began anew. The dangers to which the +innocence of their love had lately been exposed had left no other trace +in Silvere's mind than great admiration for Miette's physical strength. +She had learned to swim in a fortnight, and often, when they raced +together, he had seen her stem the current with a stroke as rapid as his +own. He, who delighted in strength and bodily exercises, felt a +thrill of pleasure at seeing her so strong, so active and adroit. He +entertained at heart a singular admiration for her stout arms. One +evening, after one of the first baths that had left them so playful, +they caught each other round the waist on a strip of sand, and wrestled +for several minutes without Silvere being able to throw Miette. At +last, indeed, it was the young man who lost his balance, while the girl +remained standing. Her sweetheart treated her like a boy, and it was +those long rambles of theirs, those wild races across the meadows, those +birds' nests filched from the tree crests, those struggles and violent +games of one and another kind that so long shielded them and their love +from all impurity. + +Then, too, apart from his youthful admiration for his sweetheart's +dashing pluck, Silvere felt for her all the compassionate tenderness of +a heart that ever softened towards the unfortunate. He, who could never +see any forsaken creature, a poor man, or a child, walking barefooted +along the dusty roads, without a throb of pity, loved Miette because +nobody else loved her, because she virtually led an outcast's hard life. +When he saw her smile he was deeply moved by the joy he brought her. +Moreover, the child was a wildling, like himself, and they were of the +same mind in hating all the gossips of the Faubourg. The dreams in which +Silvere indulged in the daytime, while he plied his heavy hammer round +the cartwheels in his master's shop, were full of generous enthusiasm. +He fancied himself Miette's redeemer. All his reading rushed to his +head; he meant to marry his sweetheart some day, in order to raise her +in the eyes of the world. It was like a holy mission that he imposed +upon himself, that of redeeming and saving the convict's daughter. And +his head was so full of certain theories and arguments, that he did not +tell himself these things in simple fashion, but became lost in perfect +social mysticism; imagining rehabilitation in the form of an apotheosis +in which he pictured Miette seated on a throne, at the end of the Cours +Sauvaire, while the whole town prostrated itself before her, entreating +her pardon and singing her praises. Happily he forgot all these fine +things as soon as Miette jumped over the wall, and said to him on the +high road: "Let us have a race! I'm sure you won't catch me." + +However, if the young man dreamt like this of the glorification of his +sweetheart, he also showed such passion for justice that he often made +her weep on speaking to her about her father. In spite of the softening +effect which Silvere's friendship had had upon her, she still at times +gave way to angry outbreaks of temper, when all the stubbornness and +rebellion latent in her nature stiffened her with scowling eyes and +tightly-drawn lips. She would then contend that her father had done +quite right to kill the gendarme, that the earth belongs to everybody, +and that one has the right to fire a gun when and where one likes. +Thereupon Silvere, in a grave voice, explained the law to her as he +understood it, with strange commentaries which would have startled the +whole magistracy of Plassans. These discussions took place most often in +some remote corner of the Sainte-Claire meadows. The grassy carpet of a +dusky green hue stretched further than they could see, undotted even by +a single tree, and the sky seemed colossal, spangling the bare horizon +with the stars. It seemed to the young couple as if they were being +rocked on a sea of verdure. Miette argued the point obstinately; she +asked Silvere if her father should have let the gendarme kill him, and +Silvere, after a momentary silence, replied that, in such a case, it +was better to be the victim than the murderer, and that it was a great +misfortune for anyone to kill a fellow man, even in legitimate defence. +The law was something holy to him, and the judges had done right in +sending Chantegreil to the galleys. At this the girl grew angry, and +almost struck her sweetheart, crying out that he was as heartless as the +rest. And as he still firmly defended his ideas of justice, she finished +by bursting into sobs, and stammering that he was doubtless ashamed +of her, since he was always reminding her of her father's crime. These +discussions ended in tears, in mutual emotion. But although the child +cried, and acknowledged that she was perhaps wrong, she still retained +deep within her a wild resentful temper. She once related, with hearty +laughter, that she had seen a gendarme fall off his horse and break his +leg. Apart from this, Miette only lived for Silvere. When he asked her +about her uncle and cousin, she replied that "She did not know;" and +if he pressed her, fearing that they were making her too unhappy at the +Jas-Meiffren, she simply answered that she worked hard, and that nothing +had changed. She believed, however, that Justin had at last found out +what made her sing in the morning, and filled her eyes with delight. But +she added: "What does it matter? If ever he comes to disturb us we'll +receive him in such a way that he won't be in a hurry to meddle with our +affairs any more." + +Now and again the open country, their long rambles in the fresh air, +wearied them somewhat. They then invariably returned to the Aire +Saint-Mittre, to the narrow lane, whence they had been driven by the +noisy summer evenings, the pungent scent of the trodden grass, all the +warm oppressive emanations. On certain nights, however, the path proved +cooler, and the winds freshened it so that they could remain there +without feeling faint. They then enjoyed a feeling of delightful repose. +Seated on the tombstone, deaf to the noise of the children and gipsies, +they felt at home again. Silvere had on various occasions picked +up fragments of bones, even pieces of skulls, and they were fond of +speaking of the ancient burial-ground. It seemed to them, in their +lively fancies, that their love had shot up like some vigorous plant in +this nook of soil which dead men's bones had fertilised. It had grown, +indeed, like those wild weeds, it had blossomed as blossom the poppies +which sway like bare bleeding hearts at the slightest breeze. And +they ended by fancying that the warm breaths passing over them, the +whisperings heard in the gloom, the long quivering which thrilled the +path, came from the dead folk sighing their departed passions in +their faces, telling them the stories of their bridals, as they turned +restlessly in their graves, full of a fierce longing to live and love +again. Those fragments of bone, they felt convinced of it, were full of +affection for them; the shattered skulls grew warm again by contact with +their own youthful fire, the smallest particles surrounded them with +passionate whispering, anxious solicitude, throbbing jealousy. And when +they departed, the old burial-ground seemed to groan. Those weeds, +in which their entangled feet often stumbled on sultry nights, were +fingers, tapered by tomb life, that sprang up from the earth to detain +them and cast them into each other's arms. That pungent and penetrating +odour exhaled by the broken stems was the fertilising perfume, the +mighty quintessence of life which is slowly elaborated in the grave, +and intoxicates the lovers who wander in the solitude of the paths. +The dead, the old departed dead, longed for the bridal of Miette and +Silvere. + +They were never afraid. The sympathy which seemed to hover around them +thrilled them and made them love the invisible beings whose soft touch +they often imagined they could feel, like a gentle flapping of wings. +Sometimes they were saddened by sweet melancholy, and could not +understand what the dead desired of them. They went on basking in their +innocent love, amidst this flood of sap, this abandoned cemetery, whose +rich soil teemed with life, and imperiously demanded their union. They +still remained ignorant of the meaning of the buzzing voices which they +heard ringing in their ears, the sudden glow which sent the blood flying +to their faces. + +They often questioned each other about the remains which they +discovered. Miette, after a woman's fashion, was partial to lugubrious +subjects. At each new discovery she launched into endless suppositions. +If the bone were small, she spoke of some beautiful girl a prey to +consumption, or carried off by fever on the eve of her marriage; if the +bone were large, she pictured some big old man, a soldier or a judge, +some one who had inspired others with terror. For a long time the +tombstone particularly engaged their attention. One fine moonlight night +Miette distinguished some half-obliterated letters on one side of it, +and thereupon she made Silvere scrape the moss away with his knife. Then +they read the mutilated inscription: "Here lieth . . . Marie . . . +died . . ." And Miette, finding her own name on the stone, was quite +terror-stricken. Silvere called her a "big baby," but she could not +restrain her tears. She had received a stab in the heart, she said; she +would soon die, and that stone was meant for her. The young man himself +felt alarmed. However, he succeeded in shaming the child out of these +thoughts. What! she so courageous, to dream about such trifles! They +ended by laughing. Then they avoided speaking of it again. But in +melancholy moments, when the cloudy sky saddened the pathway, Miette +could not help thinking of that dead one, that unknown Marie, whose +tomb had so long facilitated their meetings. The poor girl's bones were +perhaps still lying there. And at this thought Miette one evening had a +strange whim, and asked Silvere to turn the stone over to see what might +be under it. He refused, as though it were sacrilege, and his refusal +strengthened Miette's fancies with regard to the dear phantom which bore +her name. She positively insisted that the girl had died young, as +she was, and in the very midst of her love. She even began to pity the +stone, that stone which she climbed so nimbly, and on which they had +sat so often, a stone which death had chilled, and which their love had +warmed again. + +"You'll see, this tombstone will bring us misfortune," she added. "If +you were to die, I should come and lie here, and then I should like to +have this stone set over my body." + +At this, Silvere, choking with emotion, scolded her for thinking of such +mournful things. + +And so, for nearly two years, their love grew alike in the narrow +pathway and the open country. Their idyll passed through the chilling +rains of December and the burning solicitations of July, free from all +touch of impurity, ever retaining the sweet charm of some old Greek +love-tale, all the naive hesitancy of youth which desires but knows not. +In vain did the long-departed dead whisper in their ears. They carried +nothing away from the old cemetery but emotional melancholy and a vague +presentiment of a short life. A voice seemed to whisper to them that +they would depart amidst their virginal love, long ere the bridal day +would give them wholly to each other. It was there, on the tombstone and +among the bones that lay hidden beneath the rank grass, that they had +first come to indulge in that longing for death, that eager desire to +sleep together in the earth, that now set them stammering and sighing +beside the Orcheres road, on that December night, while the two bells +repeated their mournful warnings to one another. + +Miette was sleeping calmly, with her head resting on Silvere's chest +while he mused upon their past meeting, their lovely years of unbroken +happiness. At daybreak the girl awoke. The valley now spread out clearly +under the bright sky. The sun was still behind the hills, but a stream +of crystal light, limpid and cold as spring-water, flowed from the +pale horizon. In the distance, the Viorne, like a white satin ribbon, +disappeared among an expanse of red and yellow land. It was a boundless +vista, with grey seas of olive-trees, and vineyards that looked like +huge pieces of striped cloth. The whole country was magnified by the +clearness of the atmosphere and the peaceful cold. However, sharp gusts +of wind chilled the young people's faces. And thereupon they sprang to +their feet, cheered by the sight of the clear morning. Their melancholy +forebodings had vanished with the darkness, and they gazed with delight +at the immense expanse of the plain, and listened to the tolling of the +two bells that now seemed to be joyfully ringing in a holiday. + +"Ah! I've had a good sleep!" Miette cried. "I dreamt you were kissing +me. Tell me now, did you kiss me?" + +"It's very possible," Silvere replied laughing. "I was not very warm. It +is bitterly cold." + +"I only feel cold in the feet," Miette rejoined. + +"Well! let us have a run," said Silvere. "We have still two good leagues +to go. You will get warm." + +Thereupon they descended the hill and ran until they reached the high +road. When they were below they raised their heads as if to say farewell +to that rock on which they had wept while their kisses burned their +lips. But they did not again speak of that ardent embrace which had +thrilled them so strongly with vague, unknown desire. Under the pretext +of walking more quickly they did not even take each other's arm. They +experienced some slight confusion when they looked at one another, +though why they could not tell. Meantime the dawn was rising around +them. The young man, who had sometimes been sent to Orcheres by his +master, knew all the shortest cuts. Thus they walked on for more than +two leagues, along dingle paths by the side of interminable ledges and +walls. Now and again Miette accused Silvere of having taken her the +wrong way; for, at times--for a quarter of an hour at a stretch--they +lost all sight of the surrounding country, seeing above the walls and +hedges nothing but long rows of almond-trees whose slender branches +showed sharply against the pale sky. + +All at once, however, they came out just in front of Orcheres. Loud +cries of joy, the shouting of a crowd, sounded clearly in the limpid +air. The insurrectionary forces were only now entering the town. Miette +and Silvere went in with the stragglers. Never had they seen such +enthusiasm. To judge from the streets, one would have thought it was a +procession day, when the windows are decked with the finest drapery to +honour the passage of the Canopy. The townsfolk welcomed the insurgents +as though they were deliverers. The men embraced them, while the women +brought them food. Old men were to be seen weeping at the doors. And the +joyousness was of an essentially Southern character, pouring forth in +clamorous fashion, in singing, dancing, and gesticulation. As Miette +passed along she was carried away by a _farandole_[*] which spread +whirling all round the Grand' Place. Silvere followed her. His thoughts +of death and his discouragement were now far away. He wanted to fight, +to sell his life dearly at least. The idea of a struggle intoxicated +him afresh. He dreamed of victory to be followed by a happy life with +Miette, amidst the peacefulness of the universal Republic. + + [*] The _farandole_ is the popular dance of Provence. + +The fraternal reception accorded them by the inhabitants of Orcheres +proved to be the insurgents' last delight. They spent the day amidst +radiant confidence and boundless hope. The prisoners, Commander +Sicardot, Messieurs Garconnet, Peirotte and the others, who had been +shut up in one of the rooms at the mayor's, the windows of which +overlooked the Grand' Place, watched the _farandoles_ and wild outbursts +of enthusiasm with surprise and dismay. + +"The villains!" muttered the Commander, leaning upon a window-bar, as +though bending over the velvet-covered hand-rest of a box at a theatre: +"To think that there isn't a battery or two to make a clean sweep of all +that rabble!" + +Then he perceived Miette, and addressing himself to Monsieur Garconnet, +he added: "Do you see, sir, that big girl in red over yonder? How +disgraceful! They've even brought their mistresses with them. If this +continues much longer we shall see some fine goings-on." + +Monsieur Garconnet shook his head, saying something about "unbridled +passions," and "the most evil days of history." Monsieur Peirotte, as +white as a sheet, remained silent; he only opened his lips once, to say +to Sicardot, who was still bitterly railing: "Not so loud, sir; not so +loud! You will get us all massacred." + +As a matter of fact, the insurgents treated the gentlemen with the +greatest kindness. They even provided them with an excellent dinner in +the evening. Such attentions, however, were terrifying to such a quaker +as the receiver of taxes; the insurgents he thought would not treat them +so well unless they wished to make them fat and tender for the day when +they might wish to devour them. + +At dusk that day Silvere came face to face with his cousin, Doctor +Pascal. The latter had followed the band on foot, chatting with the +workmen who held him in the greatest respect. At first he had striven +to dissuade them from the struggle; and then, as if convinced by their +arguments, he had said to them with his kindly smile: "Well, perhaps you +are right, my friends; fight if you like, I shall be here to patch up +your arms and legs." + +Then, in the morning he began to gather pebbles and plants along the +high road. He regretted that he had not brought his geologist's hammer +and botanical wallet with him. His pockets were now so full of stones +that they were almost bursting, while bundles of long herbs peered forth +from the surgeon's case which he carried under his arm. + +"Hallo! You here, my lad?" he cried, as he perceived Silvere. "I thought +I was the only member of the family here." + +He spoke these last words with a touch of irony, as if deriding the +intrigues of his father and his uncle Antoine. Silvere was very glad +to meet his cousin; the doctor was the only one of the Rougons who +ever shook hands with him in the street, and showed him any sincere +friendship. Seeing him, therefore, still covered with dust from the +march, the young man thought him gained over to the Republican cause, +and was much delighted thereat. He talked to the doctor, with youthful +magniloquence, of the people's rights, their holy cause, and their +certain triumph. Pascal smiled as he listened, and watched the youth's +gestures and the ardent play of his features with curiosity, as though +he were studying a patient, or analysing an enthusiasm, to ascertain +what might be at the bottom of it. + +"How you run on! How you run on!" he finally exclaimed. "Ah! you are +your grandmother's true grandson." And, in a whisper, he added, like +some chemist taking notes: "Hysteria or enthusiasm, shameful madness +or sublime madness. It's always those terrible nerves!" Then, again +speaking aloud, as if summing up the matter, he said: "The family is +complete now. It will count a hero among its members." + +Silvere did not hear him. He was still talking of his dear Republic. +Miette had dropped a few paces off; she was still wrapped in her large +red pelisse. She and Silvere had traversed the town arm-in-arm. +The sight of this tall red girl at last puzzled Pascal, and again +interrupting his cousin, he asked him: "Who is this child with you?" + +"She is my wife," Silvere gravely answered. + +The doctor opened his eyes wide, for he did not understand. He was very +shy with women; however, he raised his hat to Miette as he went away. + +The night proved an anxious one. Forebodings of misfortune swept over +the insurgents. The enthusiasm and confidence of the previous evening +seemed to die away in the darkness. In the morning there were gloomy +faces; sad looks were exchanged, followed by discouraging silence. +Terrifying rumours were now circulating. Bad news, which the leaders +had managed to conceal the previous evening, had spread abroad, though +nobody in particular was known to have spoken. It was the work of +that invisible voice, which, with a word, throws a mob into a panic. +According to some reports Paris was subdued, and the provinces had +offered their hands and feet, eager to be bound. And it was added that +a large party of troops, which had left Marseilles under the command of +Colonel Masson and Monsieur de Bleriot, the prefect of the department, +was advancing by forced marches to disperse the insurrectionary bands. +This news came like a thunderbolt, at once awakening rage and despair. +These men, who on the previous evening had been all aglow with patriotic +fever, now shivered with cold, chilled to their hearts by the shameful +submissiveness of prostrate France. They alone, then, had had the +courage to do their duty! And now they were to be left to perish amidst +the general panic, the death-like silence of the country; they had +become mere rebels, who would be hunted down like wild beasts; they, +who had dreamed of a great war, of a whole nation in revolt, and of +the glorious conquest of the people's rights! Miserably baffled and +betrayed, this handful of men could but weep for their dead faith and +their vanished dreams of justice. There were some who, while taunting +France with her cowardice, flung away their arms, and sat down by the +roadside, declaring that they would there await the bullets of the +troops, and show how Republicans could die. + +Although these men had nothing now but death or exile before them, +there were very few desertions from their ranks. A splendid feeling of +solidarity kept them together. Their indignation turned chiefly against +their leaders, who had really proved incapable. Irreparable mistakes +had been committed; and now the insurgents, without order or discipline, +barely protected by a few sentries, and under the command of irresolute +men, found themselves at the mercy of the first soldiers that might +arrive. + +They spent two more days at Orcheres, Tuesday and Wednesday, thus losing +time and aggravating the situation. The general, the man with the sabre, +whom Silvere had pointed out to Miette on the Plassans road, vacillated +and hesitated under the terrible responsibility that weighed upon him. +On Thursday he came to the conclusion that the position of Orcheres +was a decidedly dangerous one; so towards one o'clock he gave orders to +march, and led his little army to the heights of Sainte-Roure. That was, +indeed, an impregnable position for any one who knew how to defend it. +The houses of Sainte-Roure rise in tiers along a hill-side; behind the +town all approach is shut off by enormous rocks, so that this kind of +citadel can only be reached by the Nores plain, which spreads out at the +foot of the plateau. An esplanade, converted into a public walk planted +with magnificent elms, overlooks the plain. It was on this esplanade +that the insurgents encamped. The hostages were imprisoned in the Hotel +de la Mule-Blanche, standing half-way along the promenade. The night +passed away heavy and black. The insurgents spoke of treachery. As soon +as it was morning, however, the man with the sabre, who had neglected to +take the simplest precautions, reviewed the troops. The contingents were +drawn up in line with their backs turned to the plain. They presented +a wonderful medley of costume, some wearing brown jackets, others +dark greatcoats, and others again blue blouses girded with red sashes. +Moreover, their arms were an equally odd collection: there were newly +sharpened scythes, large navvies' spades, and fowling-pieces with +burnished barrels glittering in the sunshine. And at the very moment +when the improvised general was riding past the little army, a sentry, +who had been forgotten in an olive-plantation, ran up gesticulating and +shouting: + +"The soldiers! The soldiers!" + +There was indescribable emotion. At first, they thought it a false +alarm. Forgetting all discipline, they rushed forward to the end of the +esplanade in order to see the soldiers. The ranks were broken, and as +the dark line of troops appeared, marching in perfect order with a long +glitter of bayonets, on the other side of the greyish curtain of olive +trees, there came a hasty and disorderly retreat, which sent a quiver of +panic to the other end of the plateau. Nevertheless, the contingents +of La Palud and Saint-Martin-de-Vaulx had again formed in line in +the middle of the promenade, and stood there erect and fierce. A +wood-cutter, who was a head taller than any of his companions, shouted, +as he waved his red neckerchief: "To arms, Chavanoz, Graille, Poujols, +Saint-Eutrope! To arms, Les Tulettes! To arms, Plassans!" + +Crowds streamed across the esplanade. The man with the sabre, surrounded +by the folks from Faverolles, marched off with several of the country +contingents--Vernoux, Corbiere, Marsanne, and Pruinas--to outflank the +enemy and then attack him. Other contingents, from Valqueyras, Nazere, +Castel-le-Vieux, Les Roches-Noires, and Murdaran, dashed to the left, +scattering themselves in skirmishing parties over the Nores plain. + +And meantime the men of the towns and villages that the wood-cutter had +called to his aid mustered together under the elms, there forming a dark +irregular mass, grouped without regard to any of the rules of strategy, +simply placed there like a rock, as it were, to bar the way or die. The +men of Plassans stood in the middle of this heroic battalion. Amid the +grey hues of the blouses and jackets, and the bluish glitter of the +weapons, the pelisse worn by Miette, who was holding the banner with +both hands, looked like a large red splotch--a fresh and bleeding wound. + +All at once perfect silence fell. Monsieur Peirotte's pale face appeared +at a window of the Hotel de la Mule-Blanche. And he began to speak, +gesticulating with his hands. + +"Go in, close the shutters," the insurgents furiously shouted; "you'll +get yourself killed." + +Thereupon the shutters were quickly closed, and nothing was heard save +the regular, rhythmical tramp of the soldiers who were drawing near. + +A minute, that seemed an age, went by. The troops had disappeared, +hidden by an undulation of the ground; but over yonder, on the side of +the Nores plain, the insurgents soon perceived the bayonets shooting +up, one after another, like a field of steel-eared corn under the rising +sun. At that moment Silvere, who was glowing with feverish agitation, +fancied he could see the gendarme whose blood had stained his hands. He +knew, from the accounts of his companions, that Rengade was not dead, +that he had only lost an eye; and he clearly distinguished the unlucky +man with his empty socket bleeding horribly. The keen recollection of +this gendarme, to whom he had not given a thought since his departure +from Plassans, proved unbearable. He was afraid that fear might get the +better of him, and he tightened his hold on his carbine, while a mist +gathered before his eyes. He felt a longing to discharge his gun +and fire at the phantom of that one-eyed man so as to drive it away. +Meantime the bayonets were still and ever slowly ascending. + +When the heads of the soldiers appeared on a level with the esplanade, +Silvere instinctively turned to Miette. She stood there with flushed +face, looking taller than ever amidst the folds of the red banner; she +was indeed standing on tiptoes in order to see the troops, and nervous +expectation made her nostrils quiver and her red lips part so as to +show her white, eager, gleaming teeth. Silvere smiled at her. But he had +scarcely turned his head when a fusillade burst out. The soldiers, who +could only be seen from their shoulders upwards, had just fired their +first volley. It seemed to Silvere as though a great gust of wind was +passing over his head, while a shower of leaves, lopped off by the +bullets, fell from the elms. A sharp sound, like the snapping of a dead +branch, made him look to his right. Then, prone on the ground, he saw +the big wood-cutter, he who was a head taller than the others. There was +a little black hole in the middle of his forehead. And thereupon Silvere +fired straight before him, without taking aim, reloaded and fired again +like a madman or an unthinking wild beast, in haste only to kill. He +could not even distinguish the soldiers now; smoke, resembling strips of +grey muslin, was floating under the elms. The leaves still rained upon +the insurgents, for the troops were firing too high. Every now and then, +athwart the fierce crackling of the fusillade, the young man heard a +sigh or a low rattle, and a rush was made among the band as if to make +room for some poor wretch clutching hold of his neighbours as he fell. +The firing lasted ten minutes. + +Then, between two volleys some one exclaimed in a voice of terror: +"Every man for himself! _Sauve qui peut!_" This roused shouts and +murmurs of rage, as if to say, "The cowards! Oh! the cowards!" sinister +rumours were spreading--the general had fled; cavalry were sabring the +skirmishers in the Nores plain. However, the irregular firing did not +cease, every now and again sudden bursts of flame sped through the +clouds of smoke. A gruff voice, the voice of terror, shouted yet louder: +"Every man for himself! _Sauve qui peut!_" Some men took to flight, +throwing down their weapons and leaping over the dead. The others closed +their ranks. At last there were only some ten insurgents left. Two more +took to flight, and of the remaining eight three were killed at one +discharge. + +The two children had remained there mechanically without understanding +anything. As the battalion diminished in numbers, Miette raised the +banner still higher in the air; she held it in front of her with +clenched fists as if it were a huge taper. It was completely riddled +by bullets. When Silvere had no more cartridges left in his pocket, he +ceased firing, and gazed at the carbine with an air of stupor. It was +then that a shadow passed over his face, as though the flapping wings +of some colossal bird had brushed against his forehead. And raising his +eyes he saw the banner fall from Miette's grasp. The child, her hands +clasped to her breast, her head thrown back with an expression of +excruciating suffering, was staggering to the ground. She did not utter +a single cry, but sank at last upon the red banner. + +"Get up; come quickly," Silvere said, in despair, as he held out his +hand to her. + +But she lay upon the ground without uttering a word, her eyes wide open. +Then he understood, and fell on his knees beside her. + +"You are wounded, eh? tell me? Where are you wounded?" + +She still spoke no word; she was stifling, and gazing at him out of her +large eyes, while short quivers shook her frame. Then he pulled away her +hands. + +"It's there, isn't it? it's there." + +And he tore open her bodice, and laid her bosom bare. He searched, but +saw nothing. His eyes were brimming with tears. At last under the left +breast he perceived a small pink hole; a single drop of blood stained +the wound. + +"It's nothing," he whispered; "I'll go and find Pascal, he'll put you +all right again. If you could only get up. Can't you move?" + +The soldiers were not firing now; they had dashed to the left in pursuit +of the contingents led away by the man with the sabre. And in the centre +of the esplanade there only remained Silvere kneeling beside Miette's +body. With the stubbornness of despair, he had taken her in his arms. He +wanted to set her on her feet, but such a quiver of pain came upon the +girl that he laid her down again, and said to her entreatingly: "Speak +to me, pray. Why don't you say something to me?" + +She could not; she slowly, gently shook her hand, as if to say that +it was not her fault. Her close-pressed lips were already contracting +beneath the touch of death. With her unbound hair streaming around her, +and her head resting amid the folds of the blood-red banner, all her +life now centred in her eyes, those black eyes glittering in her white +face. Silvere sobbed. The glance of those big sorrowful eyes filled him +with distress. He read in them bitter, immense regret for life. Miette +was telling him that she was going away all alone, and before their +bridal day; that she was leaving him ere she had become his wife. She +was telling him, too, that it was he who had willed that it should +be so, that he should have loved her as other lovers love their +sweethearts. In the hour of her agony, amidst that stern conflict +between death and her vigorous nature, she bewailed her fate in going +like that to the grave. Silvere, as he bent over her, understood how +bitter was the pang. He recalled their caresses, how she had hung round +his neck, and had yearned for his love, but he had not understood, and +now she was departing from him for evermore. Bitterly grieved at the +thought that throughout her eternal rest she would remember him solely +as a companion and playfellow, he kissed her on the bosom while his hot +tears fell upon her lips. Those passionate kisses brought a last gleam +of joy to Miette's eyes. They loved one another, and their idyll ended +in death. + +But Silvere could not believe she was dying. "No, you will see, it will +prove only a trifle," he declared. "Don't speak if it hurts you. Wait, I +will raise your head and then warm you; your hands are quite frozen." + +But the fusillade had begun afresh, this time on the left, in the olive +plantations. A dull sound of galloping cavalry rose from the plain. +At times there were loud cries, as of men being slaughtered. And +thick clouds of smoke were wafted along and hung about the elms on the +esplanade. Silvere for his part no longer heard or saw anything. Pascal, +who came running down in the direction of the plain, saw him stretched +upon the ground, and hastened towards him, thinking he was wounded. As +soon as the young man saw him, he clutched hold of him and pointed to +Miette. + +"Look," he said, "she's wounded, there, under the breast. Ah! how good +of you to come! You will save her." + +At that moment, however, a slight convulsion shook the dying girl. A +pain-fraught shadow passed over her face, and as her contracted lips +suddenly parted, a faint sigh escaped from them. Her eyes, still wide +open, gazed fixedly at the young man. + +Then Pascal, who had stooped down, rose again, saying in a low voice: +"She is dead." + +Dead! Silvere reeled at the sound of the word. He had been kneeling +forward, but now he sank back, as though thrown down by Miette's last +faint sigh. + +"Dead! Dead!" he repeated; "it is not true, she is looking at me. See +how she is looking at me!" + +Then he caught the doctor by the coat, entreating him to remain there, +assuring him that he was mistaken, that she was not dead, and that he +could save her if he only would. Pascal resisted gently, saying, in his +kindly voice: "I can do nothing for her, others are waiting for me. Let +go, my poor child; she is quite dead." + +At last Silvere released his hold and again fell back. Dead! Dead! Still +that word, which rang like a knell in his dazed brain! When he was alone +he crept up close to the corpse. Miette still seemed to be looking +at him. He threw himself upon her, laid his head upon her bosom, and +watered it with his tears. He was beside himself with grief. He pressed +his lips wildly to her, and breathed out all his passion, all his soul, +in one long kiss, as though in the hope that it might bring her to life +again. But the girl was turning cold in spite of his caresses. He felt +her lifeless and nerveless beneath his touch. Then he was seized with +terror, and with haggard face and listless hanging arms he remained +crouching in a state of stupor, and repeating: "She is dead, yet she is +looking at me; she does not close her eyes, she sees me still." + +This fancy was very sweet to him. He remained there perfectly still, +exchanging a long look with Miette, in whose glance, deepened by death, +he still seemed to read the girl's lament for her sad fate. + +In the meantime, the cavalry were still sabring the fugitives over the +Nores plain; the cries of the wounded and the galloping of the horses +became more distant, softening like music wafted from afar through the +clear air. Silvere was no longer conscious of the fighting. He did +not even see his cousin, who mounted the slope again and crossed the +promenade. Pascal, as he passed along, picked up Macquart's carbine +which Silvere had thrown down; he knew it, as he had seen it hanging +over aunt Dide's chimney-piece, and he thought he might as well save it +from the hands of the victors. He had scarcely entered the Hotel de la +Mule-Blanche, whither a large number of the wounded had been taken, when +a band of insurgents, chased by the soldiers like a herd of cattle, once +more rushed into the esplanade. The man with the sabre had fled; it was +the last contingents from the country who were being exterminated. There +was a terrible massacre. In vain did Colonel Masson and the prefect, +Monsieur de Bleriot, overcome by pity, order a retreat. The infuriated +soldiers continued firing upon the mass, and pinning isolated fugitives +to the walls with their bayonets. When they had no more enemies before +them, they riddled the facade of the Mule-Blanche with bullets. The +shutters flew into splinters; one window which had been left half-open +was torn out, and there was a loud rattle of broken glass. Pitiful +voices were crying out from within; "The prisoners! The prisoners!" But +the troops did not hear; they continued firing. All at once Commander +Sicardot, growing exasperated, appeared at the door, waved his arms, and +endeavoured to speak. Monsieur Peirotte, the receiver of taxes, with his +slim figure and scared face, stood by his side. However, another volley +was fired, and Monsieur Peirotte fell face foremost, with a heavy thud, +to the ground. + +Silvere and Miette were still looking at each other. Silvere had +remained by the corpse, through all the fusillade and the howls of +agony, without even turning his head. He was only conscious of the +presence of some men around him, and, from a feeling of modesty, he drew +the red banner over Miette's breast. Then their eyes still continued to +gaze at one another. + +The conflict, however, was at an end. The death of the receiver of +taxes had satiated the soldiers. Some of these ran about, scouring every +corner of the esplanade, to prevent the escape of a single insurgent. +A gendarme who perceived Silvere under the trees, ran up to him, and +seeing that it was a lad he had to deal with, called: "What are you +doing there, youngster?" + +Silvere, whose eyes were still fixed on those of Miette, made no reply. + +"Ah! the bandit, his hands are black with powder," the gendarme +exclaimed, as he stooped down. "Come, get up, you scoundrel! You know +what you've got to expect." + +Then, as Silvere only smiled vaguely and did not move, the other looked +more attentively, and saw that the corpse swathed in the banner was that +of a girl. + +"A fine girl; what a pity!" he muttered. "Your mistress, eh? you +rascal!" + +Then he made a violent grab at Silvere, and setting him on his feet led +him away like a dog that is dragged by one leg. Silvere submitted in +silence, as quietly as a child. He just turned round to give another +glance at Miette. He felt distressed at thus leaving her alone under the +trees. For the last time he looked at her from afar. She was still lying +there in all her purity, wrapped in the red banner, her head slightly +raised, and her big eyes turned upward towards heaven. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +It was about five o'clock in the morning when Rougon at last ventured to +leave his mother's house. The old woman had gone to sleep on a chair. He +crept stealthily to the end of the Impasse Saint-Mittre. There was not a +sound, not a shadow. He pushed on as far as the Porte de Rome. The gates +stood wide open in the darkness that enveloped the slumbering town. +Plassans was sleeping as sound as a top, quite unconscious, apparently, +of the risk it was running in allowing the gates to remain unsecured. +It seemed like a city of the dead. Rougon, taking courage, made his way +into the Rue de Nice. He scanned from a distance the corners of each +successive lane; and trembled at every door, fearing lest he should see +a band of insurgents rush out upon him. However, he reached the Cours +Sauvaire without any mishap. The insurgents seemed to have vanished in +the darkness like a nightmare. + +Pierre then paused for a moment on the deserted pavement, heaving a +deep sigh of relief and triumph. So those rascals had really abandoned +Plassans to him. The town belonged to him now; it slept like the foolish +thing it was; there it lay, dark and tranquil, silent and confident, and +he had only to stretch out his hand to take possession of it. That +brief halt, the supercilious glance which he cast over the drowsy place, +thrilled him with unspeakable delight. He remained there, alone in the +darkness, and crossed his arms, in the attitude of a great general on +the eve of a victory. He could hear nothing in the distance but the +murmur of the fountains of the Cours Sauvaire, whose jets of water fell +into the basins with a musical plashing. + +Then he began to feel a little uneasy. What if the Empire should +unhappily have been established without his aid? What if Sicardot, +Garconnet, and Peirotte, instead of being arrested and led away by +the insurrectionary band, had shut the rebels up in prison? A cold +perspiration broke out over him, and he went on his way again, hoping +that Felicite would give him some accurate information. He now pushed on +more rapidly, and was skirting the houses of the Rue de la Banne, when a +strange spectacle, which caught his eyes as he raised his head, riveted +him to the ground. One of the windows of the yellow drawing-room was +brilliantly illuminated, and, in the glare, he saw a dark form, which he +recognized as that of his wife, bending forward, and shaking its arms in +a violent manner. He asked himself what this could mean, but, unable to +think of any explanation, was beginning to feel seriously alarmed, when +some hard object bounded over the pavement at his feet. Felicite had +thrown him the key of the cart-house, where he had concealed a supply +of muskets. This key clearly signified that he must take up arms. So he +turned away again, unable to comprehend why his wife had prevented him +from going upstairs, and imagining the most horrible things. + +He now went straight to Roudier, whom he found dressed and ready to +march, but completely ignorant of the events of the night. Roudier lived +at the far end of the new town, as in a desert, whither no tidings of +the insurgents' movements had penetrated. Pierre, however, proposed +to him that they should go to Granoux, whose house stood on one of +the corners of the Place des Recollets, and under whose windows the +insurgent contingents must have passed. The municipal councillor's +servant remained for a long time parleying before consenting to admit +them, and they heard poor Granoux calling from the first floor in a +trembling voice: + +"Don't open the door, Catherine! The streets are full of bandits." + +He was in his bedroom, in the dark. When he recognised his two faithful +friends he felt relieved; but he would not let the maid bring a lamp, +fearing lest the light might attract a bullet. He seemed to think that +the town was still full of insurgents. Lying back on an arm-chair near +the window, in his pants, and with a silk handkerchief round his head, +he moaned: "Ah! my friends, if you only knew!--I tried to go to bed, but +they were making such a disturbance! At last I lay down in my arm-chair +here. I've seen it all, everything. Such awful-looking men; a band of +escaped convicts! Then they passed by again, dragging brave Commander +Sicardot, worthy Monsieur Garconnet, the postmaster, and others away +with them, and howling the while like cannibals!" + +Rougon felt a thrill of joy. He made Granoux repeat to him how he had +seen the mayor and the others surrounded by the "brigands." + +"I saw it all!" the poor man wailed. "I was standing behind the blind. +They had just seized Monsieur Peirotte, and I heard him saying as he +passed under my window: 'Gentlemen, don't hurt me!' They were certainly +maltreating him. It's abominable, abominable." + +However, Roudier calmed Granoux by assuring him that the town was free. +And the worthy gentleman began to feel quite a glow of martial ardour +when Pierre informed him that he had come to recruit his services for +the purpose of saving Plassans. These three saviours then took council +together. They each resolved to go and rouse their friends, and appoint +a meeting at the cart-shed, the secret arsenal of the reactionary +party. Meantime Rougon constantly bethought himself of Felicite's wild +gestures, which seemed to betoken danger somewhere. Granoux, assuredly +the most foolish of the three, was the first to suggest that there must +be some Republicans left in the town. This proved a flash of light, +and Rougon, with a feeling of conviction, reflected: "There must be +something of Macquart's doing under all this." + +An hour or so later the friends met again in the cart-shed, which was +situated in a very lonely spot. They had glided stealthily from door to +door, knocking and ringing as quietly as possible, and picking up all +the men they could. However, they had only succeeded in collecting some +forty, who arrived one after the other, creeping along in the dark, with +the pale and drowsy countenances of men who had been violently startled +from their sleep. The cart-shed, let to a cooper, was littered with old +hoops and broken casks, of which there were piles in every corner. The +guns were stored in the middle, in three long boxes. A taper, stuck on +a piece of wood, illumined the strange scene with a flickering glimmer. +When Rougon had removed the covers of the three boxes, the spectacle +became weirdly grotesque. Above the fire-arms, whose barrels shown with +a bluish, phosphorescent glitter, were outstretched necks and heads that +bent with a sort of secret fear, while the yellow light of the taper +cast shadows of huge noses and locks of stiffened hair upon the walls. + +However, the reactionary forces counted their numbers, and the smallness +of the total filled them with hesitation. They were only thirty-nine all +told, and this adventure would mean certain death for them. A father +of a family spoke of his children; others, without troubling themselves +about excuses, turned towards the door. Then, however, two fresh +conspirators arrived, who lived in the neighbourhood of the Town +Hall, and knew for certain that there were not more than about twenty +Republicans still at the mayor's. The band thereupon deliberated afresh. +Forty-one against twenty--these seemed practicable conditions. So the +arms were distributed amid a little trembling. It was Rougon who took +them from the boxes, and each man present, as he received his gun, the +barrel of which on that December night was icy cold, felt a sudden chill +freeze him to his bones. The shadows on the walls assumed the clumsy +postures of bewildered conscripts stretching out their fingers. Pierre +closed the boxes regretfully; he left there a hundred and nine guns +which he would willingly have distributed; however, he now had to divide +the cartridges. Of these, there were two large barrels full in the +furthest corner of the cart-shed, sufficient to defend Plassans against +an army. And as this corner was dark, one of the gentlemen brought the +taper near, whereupon another conspirator--a burly pork-butcher, with +immense fists--grew angry, declaring that it was most imprudent to bring +a light so close. They strongly approved his words, so the cartridges +were distributed in the dark. They completely filled their pockets with +them. Then, after they had loaded their guns, with endless precautions, +they lingered there for another moment, looking at each other with +suspicious eyes, or exchanging glances in which cowardly ferocity was +mingled with an expression of stupidity. + +In the streets they kept close to the houses, marching silently and +in single file, like savages on the war-path. Rougon had insisted upon +having the honour of marching at their head; the time had come when he +must needs run some risk, if he wanted to see his schemes successful. +Drops of perspiration poured down his forehead in spite of the cold. +Nevertheless he preserved a very martial bearing. Roudier and Granoux +were immediately behind him. Upon two occasions the column came to an +abrupt halt. They fancied they had heard some distant sound of fighting; +but it was only the jingle of the little brass shaving-dishes hanging +from chains, which are used as signs by the barbers of Southern France. +These dishes were gently shaking to and fro in the breeze. After each +halt, the saviours of Plassans continued their stealthy march in the +dark, retaining the while the mien of terrified heroes. In this manner +they reached the square in front of the Town Hall. There they formed a +group round Rougon, and took counsel together once more. In the facade +of the building in front of them only one window was lighted. It was now +nearly seven o'clock and the dawn was approaching. + +After a good ten minutes' discussion, it was decided to advance as +far as the door, so as to ascertain what might be the meaning of this +disquieting darkness and silence. The door proved to be half open. One +of the conspirators thereupon popped his head in, but quickly withdrew +it, announcing that there was a man under the porch, sitting against the +wall fast asleep, with a gun between his legs. Rougon, seeing a chance +of commencing with a deed of valour, thereupon entered first, and, +seizing the man, held him down while Roudier gagged him. This first +triumph, gained in silence, singularly emboldened the little troop, who +had dreamed of a murderous fusillade. And Rougon had to make imperious +signs to restrain his soldiers from indulging in over-boisterous +delight. + +They continued their advance on tip-toes. Then, on the left, in the +police guard-room, which was situated there, they perceived some fifteen +men lying on camp-beds and snoring, amid the dim glimmer of a lantern +hanging from the wall. Rougon, who was decidedly becoming a great +general, left half of his men in front of the guard-room with orders not +to rouse the sleepers, but to watch them and make them prisoners if they +stirred. He was personally uneasy about the lighted window which they +had seen from the square. He still scented Macquart's hand in the +business, and, as he felt that he would first have to make prisoners of +those who were watching upstairs, he was not sorry to be able to adopt +surprise tactics before the noise of a conflict should impel them to +barricade themselves in the first-floor rooms. So he went up quietly, +followed by the twenty heroes whom he still had at his disposal. Roudier +commanded the detachment remaining in the courtyard. + +As Rougon had surmised, it was Macquart who was comfortably installed +upstairs in the mayor's office. He sat in the mayor's arm-chair, +with his elbows on the mayor's writing-table. With the characteristic +confidence of a man of coarse intellect, who is absorbed by a fixed idea +and bent upon his own triumph, he had imagined after the departure of +the insurgents that Plassans was now at his complete disposal, and that +he would be able to act there like a conqueror. In his opinion that +body of three thousand men who had just passed through the town was +an invincible army, whose mere proximity would suffice to keep the +bourgeois humble and docile in his hands. The insurgents had imprisoned +the gendarmes in their barracks, the National Guard was already +dismembered, the nobility must be quaking with terror, and the retired +citizens of the new town had certainly never handled a gun in their +lives. Moreover, there were no arms any more than there were soldiers. +Thus Macquart did not even take the precaution to have the gates shut. +His men carried their confidence still further by falling asleep, while +he calmly awaited the dawn which he fancied would attract and rally all +the Republicans of the district round him. + +He was already meditating important revolutionary measures; the +nomination of a Commune of which he would be the chief, the imprisonment +of all bad patriots, and particularly of all such persons as had +incurred his displeasure. The thought of the baffled Rougons and their +yellow drawing-room, of all that clique entreating him for mercy, +thrilled him with exquisite pleasure. In order to while away the time he +resolved to issue a proclamation to the inhabitants of Plassans. Four +of his party set to work to draw up this proclamation, and when it was +finished Macquart, assuming a dignified manner in the mayor's arm-chair, +had it read to him before sending it to the printing office of the +"Independant," on whose patriotism he reckoned. One of the writers was +commencing, in an emphatic voice, "Inhabitants of Plassans, the hour +of independence has struck, the reign of justice has begun----" when a +noise was heard at the door of the office, which was slowly pushed open. + +"Is it you, Cassoute?" Macquart asked, interrupting the perusal. + +Nobody answered; but the door opened wider. + +"Come in, do!" he continued, impatiently. "Is my brigand of a brother at +home?" + +Then, all at once both leaves of the door were violently thrown back +and slammed against the walls, and a crowd of armed men, in the midst of +whom marched Rougon, with his face very red and his eyes starting out +of their sockets, swarmed into the office, brandishing their guns like +cudgels. + +"Ah! the blackguards, they're armed!" shouted Macquart. + +He was about to seize a pair of pistols which were lying on the +writing-table, when five men caught hold of him by the throat and held +him in check. The four authors of the proclamation struggled for an +instant. There was a good deal of scuffling and stamping, and a noise +of persons falling. The combatants were greatly hampered by their guns, +which they would not lay aside, although they could not use them. In the +struggle, Rougon's weapon, which an insurgent had tried to wrest from +him, went off of itself with a frightful report, and filled the room +with smoke. The bullet shattered a magnificent mirror that reached from +the mantelpiece to the ceiling, and was reputed to be one of the +finest mirrors in the town. This shot, fired no one knew why, deafened +everybody, and put an end to the battle. + +Then, while the gentlemen were panting and puffing, three other reports +were heard in the courtyard. Granoux immediately rushed to one of the +windows. And as he and the others anxiously leaned out, their faces +lengthened perceptibly, for they were in nowise eager for a struggle +with the men in the guard-room, whom they had forgotten amidst their +triumph. However, Roudier cried out from below that all was right. And +Granoux then shut the window again, beaming with joy. The fact of +the matter was, that Rougon's shot had aroused the sleepers, who had +promptly surrendered, seeing that resistance was impossible. Then, +however, three of Roudier's men, in their blind haste to get the +business over, had discharged their firearms in the air, as a sort of +answer to the report from above, without knowing quite why they did so. +It frequently happens that guns go off of their own accord when they are +in the hands of cowards. + +And now, in the room upstairs, Rougon ordered Macquart's hands to be +bound with the bands of the large green curtains which hung at the +windows. At this, Macquart, wild with rage, broke into scornful jeers. +"All right; go on," he muttered. "This evening or to-morrow, when the +others return, we'll settle accounts!" + +This allusion to the insurrectionary forces sent a shudder to the +victors' very marrow; Rougon for his part almost choked. His brother, +who was exasperated at having been surprised like a child by these +terrified bourgeois, who, old soldier that he was, he disdainfully +looked upon as good-for-nothing civilians, defied him with a glance of +the bitterest hatred. + +"Ah! I can tell some pretty stories about you, very pretty ones!" +the rascal exclaimed, without removing his eyes from the retired oil +merchant. "Just send me before the Assize Court, so that I may tell the +judge a few tales that will make them laugh." + +At this Rougon turned pale. He was terribly afraid lest Macquart should +blab then and there, and ruin him in the esteem of the gentlemen who had +just been assisting him to save Plassans. These gentlemen, astounded by +the dramatic encounter between the two brothers, and, foreseeing some +stormy passages, had retired to a corner of the room. Rougon, however, +formed a heroic resolution. He advanced towards the group, and in a very +proud tone exclaimed: "We will keep this man here. When he has reflected +on his position he will be able to give us some useful information." +Then, in a still more dignified voice, he went on: "I will discharge my +duty, gentlemen. I have sworn to save the town from anarchy, and I +will save it, even should I have to be the executioner of my nearest +relative." + +One might have thought him some old Roman sacrificing his family on the +altar of his country. Granoux, who felt deeply moved, came to press his +hand with a tearful countenance, which seemed to say: "I understand you; +you are sublime!" And then he did him the kindness to take everybody +away, under the pretext of conducting the four other prisoners into the +courtyard. + +When Pierre was alone with his brother, he felt all his self-possession +return to him. "You hardly expected me, did you?" he resumed. "I +understand things now; you have been laying plots against me. You +wretched fellow; see what your vices and disorderly life have brought +you to!" + +Macquart shrugged his shoulders. "Shut up," he replied; "go to the +devil. You're an old rogue. He laughs best who laughs last." + +Thereupon Rougon, who had formed no definite plan with regard to him, +thrust him into a dressing-room whither Monsieur Garconnet retired to +rest sometimes. This room lighted from above, had no other means of +exit than the doorway by which one entered. It was furnished with a few +arm-chairs, a sofa, and a marble wash-stand. Pierre double-locked the +door, after partially unbinding his brother's hands. Macquart was then +heard to throw himself on the sofa, and start singing the "Ca Ira" in a +loud voice, as though he were trying to sing himself to sleep. + +Rougon, who at last found himself alone, now in his turn sat down in +the mayor's arm-chair. He heaved a sigh as he wiped his brow. How hard, +indeed, it was to win fortune and honours! However, he was nearing the +end at last. He felt the soft seat of the arm-chair yield beneath him, +while with a mechanical movement he caressed the mahogany writing-table +with his hands, finding it apparently quite silky and delicate, like the +skin of a beautiful woman. Then he spread himself out, and assumed +the dignified attitude which Macquart had previously affected while +listening to the proclamation. The silence of the room seemed fraught +with religious solemnity, which inspired Rougon with exquisite delight. +Everything, even the dust and the old documents lying in the corners, +seemed to exhale an odour of incense, which rose to his dilated +nostrils. This room, with its faded hangings redolent of petty +transactions, all the trivial concerns of a third-rate municipality, +became a temple of which he was the god. + +Nevertheless, amidst his rapture, he started nervously at every shout +from Macquart. The words aristocrat and lamp-post, the threats of +hanging that form the refrain of the famous revolutionary song, the "Ca +Ira," reached him in angry bursts, interrupting his triumphant dream in +the most disagreeable manner. Always that man! And his dream, in which +he saw Plassans at his feet, ended with a sudden vision of the Assize +Court, of the judges, the jury, and the public listening to Macquart's +disgraceful revelations; the story of the fifty thousand francs, and +many other unpleasant matters; or else, while enjoying the softness of +Monsieur Garconnet's arm-chair, he suddenly pictured himself suspended +from a lamp-post in the Rue de la Banne. Who would rid him of that +wretched fellow? At last Antoine fell asleep, and then Pierre enjoyed +ten good minutes' pure ecstasy. + +Roudier and Granoux came to rouse him from this state of beatitude. +They had just returned from the prison, whither they had taken the +insurgents. Daylight was coming on apace, the town would soon be awake, +and it was necessary to take some decisive step. Roudier declared that, +before anything else, it would be advisable to issue a proclamation to +the inhabitants. Pierre was, at that moment, reading the one which the +insurgents had left upon the table. + +"Why," cried he, "this will suit us admirably! There are only a few +words to be altered." + +And, in fact, a quarter of an hour sufficed for the necessary changes, +after which Granoux read out, in an earnest voice: "Inhabitants of +Plassans--The hour of resistance has struck, the reign of order has +returned----" + +It was decided that the proclamation should be printed at the office of +the "Gazette," and posted at all the street corners. + +"Now listen," said Rougon; "we'll go to my house; and in the meantime +Monsieur Granoux will assemble here the members of the municipal council +who had not been arrested and acquaint them with the terrible events of +the night." Then he added, majestically: "I am quite prepared to accept +the responsibility of my actions. If what I have already done appears a +satisfactory pledge of my desire for order, I am willing to place myself +at the head of a municipal commission, until such time as the regular +authorities can be reinstated. But, in order, that nobody may accuse me +of ambitious designs, I shall not re-enter the Town Hall unless called +upon to do so by my fellow-citizens." + +At this Granoux and Roudier protested that Plassans would not be +ungrateful. Their friend had indeed saved the town. And they recalled +all that he had done for the cause of order: the yellow drawing-room +always open to the friends of authority, his services as spokesman in +the three quarters of the town, the store of arms which had been his +idea, and especially that memorable night--that night of prudence and +heroism--in which he had rendered himself forever illustrious. Granoux +added that he felt sure of the admiration and gratitude of the municipal +councillors. + +"Don't stir from your house," he concluded; "I will come and fetch you +to lead you back in triumph." + +Then Roudier said that he quite understood the tact and modesty of their +friend, and approved it. Nobody would think of accusing him of ambition, +but all would appreciate the delicacy which prompted him to take no +office save with the consent of his fellow-citizens. That was very +dignified, very noble, altogether grand. + +Under this shower of eulogies, Rougon humbly bowed his head. "No, no; +you go too far," he murmured, with voluptuous thrillings of exquisite +pleasure. Each sentence that fell from the retired hosier and the old +almond-merchant, who stood on his right and left respectively, fell +sweetly on his ears; and, leaning back in the mayor's arm-chair, steeped +in the odour of officiality which pervaded the room, he bowed to the +right and to the left, like a royal pretender whom a _coup d'etat_ is +about to convert into an emperor. + +When they were tired of belauding each other, they all three went +downstairs. Granoux started off to call the municipal council together, +while Roudier told Rougon to go on in front, saying that he would join +him at his house, after giving the necessary orders for guarding the +Town Hall. The dawn was now fast rising, and Pierre proceeded to the Rue +de la Banne, tapping his heels in a martial manner on the still deserted +pavement. He carried his hat in his hand in spite of the bitter cold; +for puffs of pride sent all his blood to his head. + +On reaching his house he found Cassoute at the bottom of the stairs. The +navvy had not stirred, for he had seen nobody enter. He sat there, on +the first step, resting his big head in his hands, and gazing fixedly in +front of him, with the vacant stare and mute stubbornness of a faithful +dog. + +"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" Pierre said to him, taking in +the situation at a glance. "Well, go and tell Monsieur Macquart that +I've come home. Go and ask for him at the Town Hall." + +Cassoute rose and took himself off, with an awkward bow. He was going +to get himself arrested like a lamb, to the great delight of Pierre, +who laughed as he went upstairs, asking himself, with a feeling of vague +surprise: "I have certainly plenty of courage; shall I turn out as good +a diplomatist?" + +Felicite had not gone to bed last night. He found her dressed in her +Sunday clothes, wearing a cap with lemon-coloured ribbons, like a lady +expecting visitors. She had sat at the window in vain; she had heard +nothing, and was dying with curiosity. + +"Well?" she asked, rushing to meet her husband. + +The latter, quite out of breath, entered the yellow drawing-room, +whither she followed him, carefully closing the door behind her. He sank +into an arm-chair, and, in a gasping voice, faltered: "It's done; we +shall get the receivership." + +At this she fell on his neck and kissed him. + +"Really? Really?" she cried. "But I haven't heard anything. Oh, my +darling husband, do tell me; tell me all!" + +She felt fifteen years old again, and began to coax him and whirl round +him like a grasshopper fascinated by the light and heat. And Pierre, +in the effusion of his triumph, poured out his heart to her. He did not +omit a single detail. He even explained his future projects, forgetting +that, according to his theories, wives were good for nothing, and that +his must be kept in complete ignorance of what went on if he wished to +remain master. Felicite leant over him and drank in his words. She made +him repeat certain parts of his story, declaring she had not heard; in +fact, her delight bewildered her so much that at times she seemed quite +deaf. When Pierre related the events at the Town Hall, she burst into a +fit of laughter, changed her chair three times, and moved the furniture +about, quite unable to sit still. After forty years of continuous +struggle, fortune had at last yielded to them. Eventually she became so +mad over it that she forgot all prudence. + +"It's to me you owe all this!" she exclaimed, in an outburst of triumph. +"If I hadn't looked after you, you would have been nicely taken in by +the insurgents. You booby, it was Garconnet, Sicardot, and the others, +that had got to be thrown to those wild beasts." + +Then, showing her teeth, loosened by age, she added, with a girlish +smile: "Well, the Republic for ever! It has made our path clear." + +But Pierre had turned cross. "That's just like you!" he muttered; "you +always fancy that you've foreseen everything. It was I who had the idea +of hiding myself. As though women understood anything about politics! +Bah, my poor girl, if you were to steer the bark we should very soon be +shipwrecked." + +Felicite bit her lip. She had gone too far and forgotten her +self-assigned part of good, silent fairy. Then she was seized with one +of those fits of covert exasperation, which she generally experienced +when her husband tried to crush her with his superiority. And she again +promised herself, when the right time should arrive, some exquisite +revenge, which would deliver this man into her power, bound hand and +foot. + +"Ah! I was forgetting!" resumed Rougon, "Monsieur Peirotte is amongst +them. Granoux saw him struggling in the hands of the insurgents." + +Felicite gave a start. She was just at that moment standing at the +window, gazing with longing eyes at the house where the receiver of +taxes lived. She had felt a desire to do so, for in her mind the idea of +triumph was always associated with envy of that fine house. + +"So Monsieur Peirotte is arrested!" she exclaimed in a strange tone as +she turned round. + +For an instant she smiled complacently; then a crimson blush rushed +to her face. A murderous wish had just ascended from the depths of her +being. "Ah! if the insurgents would only kill him!" + +Pierre no doubt read her thoughts in her eyes. + +"Well, if some ball were to hit him," he muttered, "our business would +be settled. There would be no necessity to supercede him, eh? and it +would be no fault of ours." + +But Felicite shuddered. She felt that she had just condemned a man to +death. If Monsieur Peirotte should now be killed, she would always +see his ghost at night time. He would come and haunt her. So she only +ventured to cast furtive glances, full of fearful delight, at the +unhappy man's windows. Henceforward all her enjoyment would be fraught +with a touch of guilty terror. + +Moreover, Pierre, having now poured out his soul, began to perceive the +other side of the situation. He mentioned Macquart. How could they +get rid of that blackguard? But Felicite, again fired with enthusiasm, +exclaimed: "Oh! one can't do everything at once. We'll gag him, somehow. +We'll soon find some means or other." + +She was now walking to and fro, putting the arm-chairs in order, and +dusting their backs. Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the room, +and gave the faded furniture a long glance. + +"Good Heavens!" she said, "how ugly it is here! And we shall have +everybody coming to call upon us!" + +"Bah!" replied Pierre, with supreme indifference, "we'll alter all +that." + +He who, the night before, had entertained almost religious veneration +for the arm-chairs and the sofa, would now have willingly stamped on +them. Felicite, who felt the same contempt, even went so far as to +upset an arm-chair which was short of a castor and did not yield to her +quickly enough. + +It was at this moment that Roudier entered. It at once occurred to +the old woman that he had become much more polite. His "Monsieur" and +"Madame" rolled forth in delightfully musical fashion. But the other +habitues were now arriving one after the other; and the drawing-room was +fast getting full. Nobody yet knew the full particulars of the events +of the night, and all had come in haste, with wondering eyes and smiling +lips, urged on by the rumours which were beginning to circulate through +the town. These gentlemen who, on the previous evening, had left the +drawing-room with such precipitation at the news of the insurgents' +approach, came back, inquisitive and importunate, like a swarm of +buzzing flies which a puff of wind would have dispersed. Some of +them had not even taken time to put on their braces. They were very +impatient, but it was evident that Rougon was waiting for some one else +before speaking out. He constantly turned an anxious look towards +the door. For an hour there was only significant hand-shaking, vague +congratulation, admiring whispering, suppressed joy of uncertain origin, +which only awaited a word of enlightenment to turn to enthusiasm. + +At last Granoux appeared. He paused for a moment on the threshold, +with his right hand pressed to his breast between the buttons of his +frock-coat; his broad pale face was beaming; in vain he strove to +conceal his emotion beneath an expression of dignity. All the others +became silent on perceiving him; they felt that something extraordinary +was about to take place. Granoux walked straight up to Rougon, through +two lines of visitors, and held out his hand to him. + +"My friend," he said, "I bring you the homage of the Municipal Council. +They call you to their head, until our mayor shall be restored to us. +You have saved Plassans. In the terrible crisis through which we are +passing we want men who, like yourself, unite intelligence with courage. +Come--" + +At this point Granoux, who was reciting a little speech which he had +taken great trouble to prepare on his way from the Town Hall to the +Rue de la Banne felt his memory fail him. But Rougon, overwhelmed with +emotion, broke in, shaking his hand and repeating: "Thank you, my dear +Granoux; I thank you very much." + +He could find nothing else to say. However, a loud burst of voices +followed. Every one rushed upon him, tried to shake hands, poured forth +praises and compliments, and eagerly questioned him. But he, already +putting on official dignity, begged for a few minutes' delay in order +that he might confer with Messieurs Granoux and Roudier. Business before +everything. The town was in such a critical situation! Then the three +accomplices retired to a corner of the drawing-room, where, in an +undertone, they divided power amongst themselves; the rest of the +visitors, who remained a few paces away, trying meanwhile to look +extremely wise and furtively glancing at them with mingled admiration +and curiosity. It was decided that Rougon should take the title of +president of the Municipal Commission; Granoux was to be secretary; +whilst, as for Roudier, he became commander-in-chief of the reorganised +National Guard. They also swore to support each other against all +opposition. + +However, Felicite, who had drawn near, abruptly inquired: "And Vuillet?" + +At this they looked at each other. Nobody had seen Vuillet. Rougon +seemed somewhat uneasy. + +"Perhaps they've taken him away with the others," he said, to ease his +mind. + +But Felicite shook her head. Vuillet was not the man to let himself be +arrested. Since nobody had seen or heard him, it was certain he had been +doing something wrong. + +Suddenly the door opened and Vuillet entered, bowing humbly, with +blinking glance and stiff sacristan's smile. Then he held out his moist +hand to Rougon and the two others. + +Vuillet had settled his little affairs alone. He had cut his own slice +out of the cake, as Felicite would have said. While peeping through +the ventilator of his cellar he had seen the insurgents arrest +the postmaster, whose offices were near his bookshop. At daybreak, +therefore, at the moment when Rougon was comfortably seated in the +mayor's arm-chair, he had quietly installed himself in the postmaster's +office. He knew the clerks; so he received them on their arrival, +told them that he would replace their chief until his return, and that +meantime they need be in nowise uneasy. Then he ransacked the morning +mail with ill-concealed curiosity. He examined the letters, and seemed +to be seeking a particular one. His new berth doubtless suited his +secret plans, for his satisfaction became so great that he actually gave +one of the clerks a copy of the "Oeuvres Badines de Piron." Vuillet, it +should be mentioned, did business in objectionable literature, which he +kept concealed in a large drawer, under the stock of heads and +religious images. It is probable that he felt some slight qualms at +the free-and-easy manner in which he had taken possession of the post +office, and recognised the desirability of getting his usurpation +confirmed as far as possible. At all events, he had thought it well to +call upon Rougon, who was fast becoming an important personage. + +"Why! where have you been?" Felicite asked him in a distrustful manner. + +Thereupon he related his story with sundry embellishments. According to +his own account he had saved the post-office from pillage. + +"All right then! That's settled! Stay on there!" said Pierre, after a +moment's reflection. "Make yourself useful." + +This last sentence revealed the one great fear that possessed the +Rougons. They were afraid that some one might prove too useful, and +do more than themselves to save the town. Still, Pierre saw no serious +danger in leaving Vuillet as provisional postmaster; it was even a +convenient means of getting rid of him. Felicite, however, made a sharp +gesture of annoyance. + +The consultation having ended, the three accomplices mingled with the +various groups that filled the drawing-room. They were at last obliged +to satisfy the general curiosity by giving detailed accounts of recent +events. Rougon proved magnificent. He exaggerated, embellished, and +dramatised the story which he had related to his wife. The distribution +of the guns and cartridges made everybody hold their breath. But it was +the march through the deserted streets and the seizure of the town-hall +that most amazed these worthy bourgeois. At each fresh detail there was +an interruption. + +"And you were only forty-one; it's marvellous!" + +"Ah, indeed! it must have been frightfully dark!" + +"No; I confess I never should have dared it!" + +"Then you seized him, like that, by the throat? + +"And the insurgents, what did they say?" + +These remarks and questions only incited Rougon's imagination the more. +He replied to everybody. He mimicked the action. This stout man, in his +admiration of his own achievements, became as nimble as a schoolboy; he +began afresh, repeated himself, amidst the exclamations of surprise and +individual discussions which suddenly arose about some trifling detail. +And thus he continued blowing his trumpet, making himself more and +more important as if some irresistible force impelled him to turn his +narrative into a genuine epic. Moreover Granoux and Roudier stood by +his side prompting him, reminding him of such trifling matters as he +omitted. They also were burning to put in a word, and occasionally +they could not restrain themselves, so that all three went on talking +together. When, in order to keep the episode of the broken mirror for +the denouement, like some crowning glory, Rougon began to describe what +had taken place downstairs in the courtyard, after the arrest of the +guard, Roudier accused him of spoiling the narrative by changing +the sequence of events. For a moment they wrangled about it somewhat +sharply. Then Roudier, seeing a good opportunity for himself, suddenly +exclaimed: "Very well, let it be so. But you weren't there. So let me +tell it." + +He thereupon explained at great length how the insurgents had awoke, and +how the muskets of the town's deliverers had been levelled at them to +reduce them to impotence. He added, however, that no blood, fortunately, +had been shed. This last sentence disappointed his audience, who had +counted upon one corpse at least. + +"But I thought you fired," interrupted Felicite, recognising that the +story was wretchedly deficient in dramatic interest. + +"Yes, yes, three shots," resumed the old hosier. "The pork-butcher +Dubruel, Monsieur Lievin, and Monsieur Massicot discharged their guns +with really culpable alacrity." And as there were some murmurs at this +remark; "Culpable, I repeat the word," he continued. "There are quite +enough cruel necessities in warfare without any useless shedding of +blood. Besides, these gentlemen swore to me that it was not their fault; +they can't understand how it was their guns went off. Nevertheless, a +spent ball after ricocheting grazed the cheek of one of the insurgents +and left a mark on it." + +This graze, this unexpected wound, satisfied the audience. Which cheek, +right or left, had been grazed, and how was it that a bullet, a spent +one, even, could strike a cheek without piercing it? These points +supplied material for some long discussions. + +"Meantime," continued Rougon at the top of his voice, without giving +time for the excitement to abate; "meantime we had plenty to do +upstairs. The struggle was quite desperate." + +Then he described, at length, the arrival of his brother and the four +other insurgents, without naming Macquart, whom he simply called "the +leader." The words, "the mayor's office," "the mayor's arm-chair," +"the mayor's writing table," recurred to him every instant, and in the +opinion of his audience imparted marvellous grandeur to the terrible +scene. It was not at the porter's lodge that the fight was now being +waged, but in the private sanctum of the chief magistrate of the town. +Roudier was quite cast in to the background. Then Rougon at last came to +the episode which he had been keeping in reserve from the commencement, +and which would certainly exalt him to the dignity of a hero. + +"Thereupon," said he, "an insurgent rushes upon me. I push the mayor's +arm-chair away, and seize the man by the throat. I hold him tightly, +you may be sure of it! But my gun was in my way. I didn't want to let +it drop; a man always sticks to his gun. I held it, like this, under the +left arm. All of a sudden, it went off--" + +The whole audience hung on Rougon's lips. But Granoux, who was opening +his mouth wide with a violent itching to say something, shouted: "No, +no, that isn't right. You were not in a position to see things, my +friend; you were fighting like a lion. But I saw everything, while I was +helping to bind one of the prisoners. The man tried to murder you; it +was he who fired the gun; I saw him distinctly slip his black fingers +under your arm." + +"Really?" said Rougon, turning quite pale. + +He did not know he had been in such danger, and the old almond +merchant's account of the incident chilled him with fright. Granoux, as +a rule, did not lie; but, on a day of battle, it is surely allowable to +view things dramatically. + +"I tell you the man tried to murder you," he repeated, with conviction. + +"Ah," said Rougon in a faint voice, "that's how it is I heard the bullet +whiz past my ear!" + +At this, violent emotion came upon the audience. Everybody gazed at +the hero with respectful awe. He had heard a bullet whiz past his ear! +Certainly, none of the other bourgeois who were there could say as much. +Felicite felt bound to rush into her husband's arms so as to work up +the emotion to boiling point. But Rougon immediately freed himself, +and concluded his narrative with this heroic sentence, which has become +famous at Plassans: "The shot goes off; I hear the bullet whiz past my +ear; and whish! it smashes the mayor's mirror." + +This caused complete consternation. Such a magnificent mirror, too! +It was scarcely credible! the damage done to that looking-glass almost +out-balanced Rougon's heroism, in the estimation of the company. The +glass became an object of absorbing interest, and they talked about +it for a quarter of an hour, with many exclamations and expressions of +regret, as though it had been some dear friend that had been stricken to +the heart. This was the culminating point that Rougon had aimed at, the +denouement of his wonderful Odyssey. A loud hubbub of voices filled +the yellow drawing-room. The visitors were repeating what they had just +heard, and every now and then one of them would leave a group to ask the +three heroes the exact truth with regard to some contested incident. The +heroes set the matter right with scrupulous minuteness, for they felt +that they were speaking for history! + +At last Rougon and his two lieutenants announced that they were expected +at the town-hall. Respectful silence was then restored, and the company +smiled at each other discreetly. Granoux was swelling with importance. +He was the only one who had seen the insurgent pull the trigger and +smash the mirror; this sufficed to exalt him, and almost made him burst +his skin. On leaving the drawing-room, he took Roudier's arm with the +air of a great general who is broken down with fatigue. "I've been up +for thirty-six hours," he murmured, "and heaven alone knows when I shall +get to bed!" + +Rougon, as he withdrew, took Vuillet aside and told him that the party +of order relied more than ever on him and the "Gazette." He would have +to publish an effective article to reassure the inhabitants and treat +the band of villains who had passed through Plassans as it deserved. + +"Be easy!" replied Vuillet. "In the ordinary course the 'Gazette' +ought not to appear till to-morrow morning, but I'll issue it this very +evening." + +When the leaders had left, the rest of the visitors remained in the +yellow drawing-room for another moment, chattering like so many +old women, whom the escape of a canary has gathered together on the +pavement. These retired tradesmen, oil dealers, and wholesale hatters, +felt as if they were in a sort of fairyland. Never had they experienced +such thrilling excitement before. They could not get over their surprise +at discovering such heroes as Rougon, Granoux, and Roudier in their +midst. At last, half stifled by the stuffy atmosphere, and tired of ever +telling each other the same things, they decided to go off and spread +the momentous news abroad. They glided away one by one, each anxious +to have the glory of being the first to know and relate everything, and +Felicite, as she leaned out of the window, on being left alone, saw +them dispersing in the Rue de la Banne, waving their arms in an excited +manner, eager as they were to diffuse emotion to the four corners of the +town. + +It was ten o'clock, and Plassans, now wide awake, was running about the +streets, wildly excited by the reports which were circulating. Those who +had seen or heard the insurrectionary forces, related the most foolish +stories, contradicting each other, and indulging in the wildest +suppositions. The majority, however, knew nothing at all about the +matter; they lived at the further end of the town, and listened with +gaping mouths, like children to a nursery tale, to the stories of how +several thousand bandits had invaded the streets during the night and +vanished before daybreak like an army of phantoms. A few of the most +sceptical said: "Nonsense!" Yet some of the details were very precise; +and Plassans at last felt convinced that some frightful danger had +passed over it while it slept. The darkness which had shrouded this +danger, the various contradictory reports that spread, all invested the +matter with mystery and vague horror, which made the bravest shudder. +Whose hand had diverted the thunderbolt from them? There seemed to +be something quite miraculous about it. There were rumours of unknown +deliverers, of a handful of brave men who had cut off the hydra's head; +but no one seemed acquainted with the exact particulars, and the whole +story appeared scarcely credible, until the company from the yellow +drawing-room spread through the streets, scattering tidings, ever +repeating the same narrative at each door they came to. + +It was like a train of powder. In a few minutes the story had spread +from one end of the town to the other. Rougon's name flew from mouth to +mouth, with exclamations of surprise in the new town, and of praise in +the old quarter. The idea of being without a sub-prefect, a mayor, a +postmaster, a receiver of taxes, or authorities of any kind, at first +threw the inhabitants into consternation. They were stupefied at having +been able to sleep through the night and get up as usual, in the +absence of any settled government. Their first stupor over, they +threw themselves recklessly into the arms of their liberators. The few +Republicans shrugged their shoulders, but the petty shopkeepers, the +small householders, the Conservatives of all shades, invoked blessings +on those modest heroes whose achievements had been shrouded by the +night. When it was known that Rougon had arrested his own brother, the +popular admiration knew no bounds. People talked of Brutus, and thus the +indiscretion which had made Pierre rather anxious, really redounded +to his glory. At this moment when terror still hovered over them, +the townsfolk were virtually unanimous in their gratitude. Rougon was +accepted as their saviour without the slightest show of opposition. + +"Just think of it!" the poltroons exclaimed, "there were only forty-one +of them!" + +That number of forty-one amazed the whole town, and this was the +origin of the Plassans legend of how forty-one bourgeois had made three +thousand insurgents bite the dust. There were only a few envious spirits +of the new town, lawyers without work and retired military men ashamed +of having slept ingloriously through that memorable night, who raised +any doubts. The insurgents, these sceptics hinted, had no doubt left +the town of their own accord. There were no indications of a combat, +no corpses, no blood-stains. So the deliverers had certainly had a very +easy task. + +"But the mirror, the mirror!" repeated the enthusiasts. "You can't deny +that the mayor's mirror has been smashed; go and see it for yourselves." + +And, in fact, until night-time, quite a stream of town's-people flowed, +under one pretext or another, into the mayor's private office, the door +of which Rougon left wide open. The visitors planted themselves in front +of the mirror, which the bullet had pierced and starred, and they all +gave vent to the same exclamation: "By Jove; that ball must have had +terrible force!" + +Then they departed quite convinced. + +Felicite, at her window, listened with delight to all the rumours and +laudatory and grateful remarks which arose from the town. At that moment +all Plassans was talking of her husband. She felt that the two districts +below her were quivering, wafting her the hope of approaching triumph. +Ah! how she would crush that town which she had been so long in getting +beneath her feet! All her grievances crowded back to her memory, and her +past disappointments redoubled her appetite for immediate enjoyment. + +At last she left the window, and walked slowly round the drawing-room. +It was there that, a little while previously, everybody had held out +their hands to her husband and herself. He and she had conquered; the +citizens were at their feet. The yellow drawing-room seemed to her a +holy place. The dilapidated furniture, the frayed velvet, the chandelier +soiled with fly-marks, all those poor wrecks now seemed to her like +the glorious bullet-riddled debris of a battle-field. The plain of +Austerlitz would not have stirred her to deeper emotion. + +When she returned to the window, she perceived Aristide wandering about +the place of the Sub-Prefecture, with his nose in the air. She beckoned +to him to come up, which he immediately did. It seemed as if he had only +been waiting for this invitation. + +"Come in," his mother said to him on the landing, seeing that he +hesitated. "Your father is not here." + +Aristide evinced all the shyness of a prodigal son returning home. He +had not been inside the yellow drawing-room for nearly four years. He +still carried his arm in a sling. + +"Does your hand still pain you?" his mother asked him, ironically. + +He blushed as he answered with some embarrassment: "Oh! it's getting +better; it's nearly well again now." + +Then he lingered there, loitering about and not knowing what to say. +Felicite came to the rescue. "I suppose you've heard them talking about +your father's noble conduct?" she resumed. + +He replied that the whole town was talking of it. And then, as he +regained his self-possession, he paid his mother back for her raillery +in her own coin. Looking her full in the face he added: "I came to see +if father was wounded." + +"Come, don't play the fool!" cried Felicite, petulantly. "If I were you +I would act boldly and decisively. Confess now that you made a false +move in joining those good-for-nothing Republicans. You would be very +glad, I'm sure, to be well rid of them, and to return to us, who are the +stronger party. Well, the house is open to you!" + +But Aristide protested. The Republic was a grand idea. Moreover, the +insurgents might still carry the day. + +"Don't talk nonsense to me!" retorted the old woman, with some +irritation. "You're afraid that your father won't have a very warm +welcome for you. But I'll see to that. Listen to me: go back to your +newspaper, and, between now and to-morrow, prepare a number strongly +favouring the Coup d'Etat. To-morrow evening, when this number has +appeared, come back here and you will be received with open arms." + +Then seeing that the young man remained silent: "Do you hear?" she +added, in a lower and more eager tone; "it is necessary for our sake, +and for your own, too, that it should be done. Don't let us have any +more nonsense and folly. You've already compromised yourself enough in +that way." + +The young man made a gesture--the gesture of a Caesar crossing the +Rubicon--and by doing so escaped entering into any verbal engagement. As +he was about to withdraw, his mother, looking for the knot in his sling, +remarked: "First of all, you must let me take off this rag. It's getting +a little ridiculous, you know!" + +Aristide let her remove it. When the silk handkerchief was untied, +he folded it neatly and placed it in his pocket. And as he kissed his +mother he exclaimed: "Till to-morrow then!" + +In the meanwhile, Rougon was taking official possession of the mayor's +offices. There were only eight municipal councillors left; the others +were in the hands of the insurgents, as well as the mayor and his two +assessors. The eight remaining gentlemen, who were all on a par with +Granoux, perspired with fright when the latter explained to them the +critical situation of the town. It requires an intimate knowledge of the +kind of men who compose the municipal councils of some of the smaller +towns, in order to form an idea of the terror with which these timid +folk threw themselves into Rougon's arms. At Plassans, the mayor had +the most incredible blockheads under him, men without any ideas of their +own, and accustomed to passive obedience. Consequently, as Monsieur +Garconnet was no longer there, the municipal machine was bound to get +out of order, and fall completely under the control of the man who might +know how to set it working. Moreover, as the sub-prefect had left the +district, Rougon naturally became sole and absolute master of the town; +and thus, strange to relate, the chief administrative authority fell +into the hands of a man of indifferent repute, to whom, on the previous +evening, not one of his fellow-citizens would have lent a hundred +francs. + +Pierre's first act was to declare the Provisional Commission "en +permanence." Then he gave his attention to the organisation of the +national guard, and succeeded in raising three hundred men. The +hundred and nine muskets left in the cart-shed were also distributed +to volunteers, thereby bringing up the number of men armed by the +reactionary party to one hundred and fifty; the remaining one hundred +and fifty guards consisted of well-affected citizens and some of +Sicardot's soldiers. When Commander Roudier reviewed the little army in +front of the town-hall, he was annoyed to see the market-people smiling +in their sleeves. The fact is that several of his men had no uniforms, +and some of them looked very droll with their black hats, frock-coats, +and muskets. But, at any rate, they meant well. A guard was left at the +town-hall and the rest of the forces were sent in detachments to the +various town gates. Roudier reserved to himself the command of the guard +stationed at the Grand'-Porte, which seemed to be more liable to attack +than the others. + +Rougon, who now felt very conscious of his power, repaired to the Rue +Canquoin to beg the gendarmes to remain in their barracks and interfere +with nothing. He certainly had the doors of the gendarmerie opened--the +keys having been carried off by the insurgents--but he wanted to triumph +alone, and had no intention of letting the gendarmes rob him of any part +of his glory. If he should really have need of them he could always +send for them. So he explained to them that their presence might tend to +irritate the working-men and thus aggravate the situation. The sergeant +in command thereupon complimented him on his prudence. When Rougon was +informed that there was a wounded man in the barracks, he asked to see +him, by way of rendering himself popular. He found Rengade in bed, with +his eye bandaged, and his big moustaches just peeping out from under the +linen. With some high-sounding words about duty, Rougon endeavoured to +comfort the unfortunate fellow who, having lost an eye, was swearing +with exasperation at the thought that his injury would compel him to +quit the service. At last Rougon promised to send the doctor to him. + +"I'm much obliged to you, sir," Rengade replied; "but, you know, what +would do me more good than any quantity of doctor's stuff would be to +wring the neck of the villain who put my eye out. Oh! I shall know him +again; he's a little thin, palish fellow, quite young." + +Thereupon Pierre bethought himself of the blood he had seen on Silvere's +hand. He stepped back a little, as though he was afraid that Rengade +would fly at his throat, and cry: "It was your nephew who blinded me; +and you will have to pay for it." And whilst he was mentally cursing his +disreputable family, he solemnly declared that if the guilty person were +found he should be punished with all the rigour of the law. + +"No, no, it isn't worth all that trouble," the one-eyed man replied; +"I'll just wring his neck for him when I catch him." + +Rougon hastened back to the town-hall. The afternoon was employed in +taking various measures. The proclamation posted up about one o'clock +produced an excellent impression. It ended by an appeal to the good +sense of the citizens, and gave a firm assurance that order would not +again be disturbed. Until dusk, in fact, the streets presented a picture +of general relief and perfect confidence. On the pavements, the groups +who were reading the proclamation exclaimed: + +"It's all finished now; we shall soon see the troops who have been sent +in pursuit of the insurgents." + +This belief that some soldiers were approaching was so general that the +idles of the Cours Sauvaire repaired to the Nice road, in order to +meet and hear the regimental band. But they returned at nightfall +disappointed, having seen nothing; and then a feeling of vague alarm +began to disturb the townspeople. + +At the town-hall, the Provisional Commission had talked so much, without +coming to any decision, that the members, whose stomachs were quite +empty, began to feel alarmed again. Rougon dismissed them to dine, +saying that they would meet afresh at nine o'clock in the evening. He +was just about to leave the room himself, when Macquart awoke and began +to pommel the door of his prison. He declared he was hungry, then asked +what time it was, and when his brother had told him it was five o'clock, +he feigned great astonishment, and muttered, with diabolical malice, +that the insurgents had promised to return much earlier, and that they +were very slow in coming to deliver him. Rougon, having ordered +some food to be taken to him, went downstairs, quite worried by the +earnestness with which the rascal spoke of the return of the insurgents. + +When he reached the street, his disquietude increased. The town seemed +to him quite altered. It was assuming a strange aspect; shadows were +gliding along the footpaths, which were growing deserted and silent, +while gloomy fear seemed, like fine rain, to be slowly, persistently +falling with the dusk over the mournful-looking houses. The babbling +confidence of the daytime was fatally terminating in groundless panic, +in growing alarm as the night drew nearer; the inhabitants were so weary +and so satiated with their triumph that they had no strength left but to +dream of some terrible retaliation on the part of the insurgents. Rougon +shuddered as he passed through this current of terror. He hastened his +steps, feeling as if he would choke. As he passed a cafe on the Place +des Recollets, where the lamps had just been lit, and where the petty +cits of the new town were assembled, he heard a few words of terrifying +conversation. + +"Well! Monsieur Picou," said one man in a thick voice, "you've heard the +news? The regiment that was expected has not arrived." + +"But nobody expected any regiment, Monsieur Touche," a shrill voice +replied. + +"I beg your pardon. You haven't read the proclamation, then?" + +"Oh yes, it's true the placards declare that order will be maintained by +force, if necessary." + +"You see, then, there's force mentioned; that means armed forces, of +course." + +"What do people say then?" + +"Well, you know, folks are beginning to feel rather frightened; they say +that this delay on the part of the soldiers isn't natural, and that the +insurgents may well have slaughtered them." + +A cry of horror resounded through the cafe. Rougon was inclined to go in +and tell those bourgeois that the proclamation had never announced the +arrival of a regiment, that they had no right to strain its meaning +to such a degree, nor to spread such foolish theories abroad. But he +himself, amidst the disquietude which was coming over him, was not quite +sure he had not counted upon a despatch of troops; and he did, in fact, +consider it strange that not a single soldier had made his appearance. +So he reached home in a very uneasy state of mind. Felicite, still +petulant and full of courage, became quite angry at seeing him upset by +such silly trifles. Over the dessert she comforted him. + +"Well, you great simpleton," she said, "so much the better, if the +prefect does forget us! We shall save the town by ourselves. For my +part, I should like to see the insurgents return, so that we might +receive them with bullets and cover ourselves with glory. Listen to +me, go and have the gates closed, and don't go to bed; bustle about all +night; it will all be taken into account later on." + +Pierre returned to the town-hall in rather more cheerful spirits. He +required some courage to remain firm amidst the woeful maunderings of +his colleagues. The members of the Provisional Commission seemed to reek +with panic, just as they might with damp in the rainy season. They all +professed to have counted upon the despatch of a regiment, and began to +exclaim that brave citizens ought not to be abandoned in such a manner +to the fury of the rabble. Pierre, to preserve peace, almost promised +they should have a regiment on the morrow. Then he announced, in a +solemn manner, that he was going to have the gates closed. This came as +a relief. Detachments of the national guards had to repair immediately +to each gate and double-lock it. When they had returned, several members +confessed that they really felt more comfortable; and when Pierre +remarked that the critical situation of the town imposed upon them the +duty of remaining at their posts, some of them made arrangements with +the view of spending the night in an arm-chair. Granoux put on a black +silk skull cap which he had brought with him by way of precaution. +Towards eleven o'clock, half of the gentlemen were sleeping round +Monsieur Garconnet's writing table. Those who still managed to keep +their eyes open fancied, as they listened to the measured tramp of +the national guards in the courtyard, that they were heroes and were +receiving decorations. A large lamp, placed on the writing-table, +illumined this strange vigil. All at once, however, Rougon, who had +seemed to be slumbering, jumped up, and sent for Vuillet. He had just +remembered that he had not received the "Gazette." + +The bookseller made his appearance in a very bad humour. + +"Well!" Rougon asked him as he took him aside, "what about the article +you promised me? I haven't seen the paper." + +"Is that what you disturbed me for?" Vuillet angrily retorted. "The +'Gazette' has not been issued; I've no desire to get myself murdered +to-morrow, should the insurgents come back." + +Rougon tried to smile as he declared that, thank heaven, nobody would be +murdered at all. It was precisely because false and disquieting rumours +were running about that the article in question would have rendered +great service to the good cause. + +"Possibly," Vuillet resumed; "but the best of causes at the present +time is to keep one's head on one's shoulders." And he added, with +maliciousness, "And I was under the impression you had killed all the +insurgents! You've left too many of them for me to run any risk." + +Rougon, when he was alone again, felt amazed at this mutiny on the part +of a man who was usually so meek and mild. Vuillet's conduct seemed +to him suspicious. But he had no time to seek an explanation; he had +scarcely stretched himself out afresh in his arm-chair, when Roudier +entered, with a big sabre, which he had attached to his belt, clattering +noisily against his legs. The sleepers awoke in a fright. Granoux +thought it was a call to arms. + +"Eh? what! What's the matter?" he asked, as he hastily put his black +silk cap into his pocket. + +"Gentlemen," said Roudier, breathlessly, without thinking of taking +any oratorical precautions, "I believe that a band of insurgents is +approaching the town." + +These words were received with the silence of terror. Rougon alone had +the strength to ask, "Have you seen them?" + +"No," the retired hosier replied; "but we hear strange noises out in the +country; one of my men assured me that he had seen fires along the slope +of the Garrigues." + +Then, as all the gentlemen stared at each other white and speechless, +"I'll return to my post," he continued. "I fear an attack. You had +better take precautions." + +Rougon would have followed him, to obtain further particulars, but he +was already too far away. After this the Commission was by no means +inclined to go to sleep again. Strange noises! Fires! An attack! And +in the middle of the night too! It was very easy to talk of taking +precautions, but what were they to do? Granoux was very near advising +the course which had proved so successful the previous evening: that +is of hiding themselves, waiting till the insurgents has passed through +Plassans, and then triumphing in the deserted streets. Pierre, however, +fortunately remembering his wife's advice, said that Roudier might +have made a mistake, and that the best thing would be to go and see for +themselves. Some of the members made a wry face at this suggestion; +but when it had been agreed that an armed escort should accompany the +Commission, they all descended very courageously. They only left a few +men downstairs; they surrounded themselves with about thirty of the +national guards, and then they ventured into the slumbering town, where +the moon, creeping over the house roofs, slowly cast lengthened shadows. +They went along the ramparts, from one gate to the other, seeing nothing +and hearing nothing. The national guards at the various posts certainly +told them that peculiar sounds occasionally reached them from the +country through the closed gates. When they strained their ears, +however, they detected nothing but a distant murmur, which Granoux said +was merely the noise of the Viorne. + +Nevertheless they remained doubtful. And they were about to return to +the town-hall in a state of alarm, though they made a show of shrugging +their shoulders and of treating Roudier as a poltroon and a dreamer, +when Rougon, anxious to reassure them, thought of enabling them to +view the plain over a distance of several leagues. Thereupon he led the +little company to the Saint-Marc quarter and knocked at the door of the +Valqueyras mansion. + +At the very outset of the disturbances Count de Valqueyras had left for +his chateau at Corbiere. There was no one but the Marquis de Carnavant +at the Plassans house. He, since the previous evening, had prudently +kept aloof; not that he was afraid, but because he did not care to be +seen plotting with the Rougons at the critical moment. As a matter +of fact, he was burning with curiosity. He had been compelled to shut +himself up in order to resist the temptation of hastening to the yellow +drawing-room. When the footman came to tell him, in the middle of the +night, that there were some gentlemen below asking for him, he could not +hold back any longer. He got up and went downstairs in all haste. + +"My dear Marquis," said Rougon, as he introduced to him the members +of the Municipal Commission, "we want to ask a favour of you. Will you +allow us to go into the garden of the mansion?" + +"By all means," replied the astonished marquis, "I will conduct you +there myself." + +On the way thither he ascertained what their object was. At the end of +the garden rose a terrace which overlooked the plain. A large portion of +the ramparts had there tumbled in, leaving a boundless prospect to the +view. It had occurred to Rougon that this would serve as an excellent +post of observation. While conversing together the members of the +Commission leaned over the parapet. The strange spectacle that spread +out before them soon made them silent. In the distance, in the valley of +the Viorne, across the vast hollow which stretched westward between the +chain of the Garrigues and the mountains of the Seille, the rays of the +moon were streaming like a river of pale light. The clumps of trees, the +gloomy rocks, looked, here and there, like islets and tongues of land, +emerging from a luminous sea; and, according to the bends of the Viorne +one could now and again distinguish detached portions of the river, +glittering like armour amidst the fine silvery dust falling from the +firmament. It all looked like an ocean, a world, magnified by the +darkness, the cold, and their own secret fears. At first the gentlemen +could neither hear nor see anything. The quiver of light and of distant +sound blinded their eyes and confused their ears. Granoux, though he +was not naturally poetic, was struck by the calm serenity of that winter +night, and murmured: "What a beautiful night, gentlemen!" + +"Roudier was certainly dreaming," exclaimed Rougon, rather disdainfully. + +But the marquis, whose ears were quick, had begun to listen. "Ah!" he +observed in his clear voice, "I hear the tocsin." + +At this they all leant over the parapet, holding their breath. And light +and pure as crystal the distant tolling of a bell rose from the plain. +The gentlemen could not deny it. It was indeed the tocsin. Rougon +pretended that he recognised the bell of Beage, a village fully a league +from Plassans. This he said in order to reassure his colleagues. + +But the marquis interrupted him. "Listen, listen: this time it is the +bell of Saint-Maur." And he indicated another point of the horizon to +them. There was, in fact, a second bell wailing through the clear night. +And very soon there were ten bells, twenty bells, whose despairing +tollings were detected by their ears, which had by this time grown +accustomed to the quivering of the darkness. Ominous calls rose from all +sides, like the faint rattles of dying men. Soon the whole plain seemed +to be wailing. The gentlemen no longer jeered at Roudier; particularly +as the marquis, who took a malicious delight in terrifying them, was +kind enough to explain the cause of all this bell-ringing. + +"It is the neighbouring villages," he said to Rougon, "banding together +to attack Plassans at daybreak." + +At this Granoux opened his eyes wide. "Didn't you see something just +this moment over there?" he asked all of a sudden. + +Nobody had looked; the gentlemen had been keeping their eyes closed in +order to hear the better. + +"Ah! look!" he resumed after a short pause. "There, beyond the Viorne, +near that black mass." + +"Yes, I see," replied Rougon, in despair; "it's a fire they're kindling." + +A moment later another fire appeared almost immediately in front of +the first one, then a third, and a fourth. In this wise red splotches +appeared at nearly equal distances throughout the whole length of the +valley, resembling the lamps of some gigantic avenue. The moonlight, +which dimmed their radiance, made them look like pools of blood. This +melancholy illumination gave a finishing touch to the consternation of +the Municipal Commission. + +"Of course!" the marquis muttered, with his bitterest sneer, "those +brigands are signalling to each other." And he counted the fires +complacently, to get some idea, he said, as to how many men "the brave +national guard of Plassans" would have to deal with. Rougon endeavoured +to raise doubts by saying the villages were taking up arms in order to +join the army of the insurgents, and not for the purpose of attacking +the town. But the gentlemen, by their silent consternation, made +it clear that they had formed their own opinion, and were not to be +consoled. + +"I can hear the 'Marseillaise' now," remarked Granoux in a hushed voice. + +It was indeed true. A detachment must have been following the course of +the Viorne, passing, at that moment, just under the town. The cry, "To +arms, citizens! Form your battalions!" reached the on-lookers in sudden +bursts with vibrating distinctness. Ah! what an awful night it was! The +gentlemen spent it leaning over the parapet of the terrace, numbed by +the terrible cold, and yet quite unable to tear themselves away from +the sight of that plain which resounded with the tocsin and the +"Marseillaise," and was all ablaze with signal-fires. They feasted their +eyes upon that sea of light, flecked with blood-red flames; and they +strained their ears in order to listen to the confused clamour, till at +last their senses began to deceive them, and they saw and heard the most +frightful things. Nothing in the world would have induced them to leave +the spot. If they had turned their backs, they would have fancied that +a whole army was at their heels. After the manner of a certain class +of cowards, they wished to witness the approach of the danger, in order +that they might take flight at the right moment. Towards morning, when +the moon had set and they could see nothing in front of them but a +dark void, they fell into a terrible fright. They fancied they were +surrounded by invisible enemies, who were crawling along in the +darkness, ready to fly at their throats. At the slightest noise they +imagined there were enemies deliberating beneath the terrace, prior to +scaling it. Yet there was nothing, nothing but darkness upon which they +fixed their eyes distractedly. The marquis, as if to console them, said +in his ironical way: "Don't be uneasy! They will certainly wait till +daybreak." + +Meanwhile Rougon cursed and swore. He felt himself again giving way to +fear. As for Granoux, his hair turned completely white. At last the dawn +appeared with weary slowness. This again was a terribly anxious moment. +The gentlemen, at the first ray of light, expected to see an army drawn +up in line before the town. It so happened that day that the dawn was +lazy and lingered awhile on the edge of the horizon. With outstretched +necks and fixed gaze, the party on the terrace peered anxiously into the +misty expanse. In the uncertain light they fancied they caught glimpses +of colossal profiles, the plain seemed to be transformed into a lake of +blood, the rocks looked like corpses floating on its surface, and the +clusters of trees took the forms of battalions drawn up and threatening +attack. When the growing light had at last dispersed these phantoms, +the morning broke so pale, so mournful, so melancholy, that even the +marquis's spirits sank. Not a single insurgent was to be seen, and the +high roads were free; but the grey valley wore a gruesomely sad and +deserted aspect. The fires had now gone out, but the bells still rang +on. Towards eight o'clock, Rougon observed a small party of men who were +moving off along the Viorne. + +By this time the gentlemen were half dead with cold and fatigue. Seeing +no immediate danger, they determined to take a few hours' rest. A +national guard was left on the terrace as a sentinel, with orders to +run and inform Roudier if he should perceive any band approaching in the +distance. Then Granoux and Rougon, quite worn out by the emotions of the +night, repaired to their homes, which were close together, and supported +each other on the way. + +Felicite put her husband to bed with every care. She called him "poor +dear," and repeatedly told him that he ought not to give way to evil +fancies, and that all would end well. But he shook his head; he felt +grave apprehensions. She let him sleep till eleven o'clock. Then, after +he had had something to eat, she gently turned him out of doors, making +him understand that he must go through with the matter to the end. +At the town-hall, Rougon found only four members of the Commission in +attendance; the others had sent excuses, they were really ill. Panic +had been sweeping through the town with growing violence all through the +morning. The gentlemen had not been able to keep quiet respecting the +memorable night they had spent on the terrace of the Valqueyras mansion. +Their servants had hastened to spread the news, embellishing it with +various dramatic details. By this time it had already become a matter of +history that from the heights of Plassans troops of cannibals had been +seen dancing and devouring their prisoners. Yes, bands of witches had +circled hand in hand round their caldrons in which they were boiling +children, while on and on marched endless files of bandits, whose +weapons glittered in the moonlight. People spoke too of bells that of +their own accord, sent the tocsin ringing through the desolate air, +and it was even asserted that the insurgents had fired the neighbouring +forests, so that the whole country side was in flames. + +It was Tuesday, the market-day at Plassans, and Roudier had thought it +necessary to have the gates opened in order to admit the few peasants +who had brought vegetables, butter, and eggs. As soon as it had +assembled, the Municipal Commission, now composed of five members only, +including its president, declared that this was unpardonable imprudence. +Although the sentinel stationed at the Valqueyras mansion had seen +nothing, the town ought to have been kept closed. Then Rougon decided +that the public crier, accompanied by a drummer, should go through the +streets, proclaim a state of siege, and announce to the inhabitants +that whoever might go out would not be allowed to return. The gates were +officially closed in broad daylight. This measure, adopted in order to +reassure the inhabitants, raised the scare to its highest pitch. And +there could scarcely have been a more curious sight than that of this +little city, thus padlocking and bolting itself up beneath the bright +sunshine, in the middle of the nineteenth century. + +When Plassans had buckled and tightened its belt of dilapidated +ramparts, when it had bolted itself in like a besieged fortress at +the approach of an assault, the most terrible anguish passed over the +mournful houses. At every moment, in the centre of the town, people +fancied they could hear a discharge of musketry in the Faubourgs. They +no longer received any news; they were, so to say, at the bottom of +a cellar, in a walled hole, where they were anxiously awaiting +either deliverance or the finishing stroke. For the last two days +the insurgents, who were scouring the country, had cut off all +communication. Plassans found itself isolated from the rest of France. +It felt that it was surrounded by a region in open rebellion, where the +tocsin was ever ringing and the "Marseillaise" was ever roaring like +a river that has overflowed its banks. Abandoned to its fate and +shuddering with alarm the town lay there like some prey which would +prove the reward of the victorious party. The strollers on the Cours +Sauvaire were ever swaying between fear and hope according as they +fancied that they could see the blouses of insurgents or the uniforms +of soldiers at the Grand'-Porte. Never had sub-prefecture, pent within +tumble-down walls, endured more agonising torture. + +Towards two o'clock it was rumoured that the Coup d'Etat had failed, +that the prince-president was imprisoned at Vincennes, and that Paris +was in the hands of the most advanced demagogues. It was reported also +that Marseilles, Toulon, Draguignan, the entire South, belonged to the +victorious insurrectionary army. The insurgents would arrive in the +evening and put Plassans to the sword. + +Thereupon a deputation repaired to the town-hall to expostulate with +the Municipal Commission for closing the gates, whereby they would only +irritate the insurgents. Rougon, who was losing his head, defended his +order with all his remaining strength. This locking of the gates seemed +to him one of the most ingenious acts of his administration; he advanced +the most convincing arguments in its justification. But the others +embarrassed him by their questions, asking him where were the soldiers, +the regiment that he had promised. Then he began to lie, and told them +flatly that he had promised nothing at all. The non-appearance of this +legendary regiment, which the inhabitants longed for with such eagerness +that they had actually dreamt of its arrival, was the chief cause of the +panic. Well-informed people even named the exact spot on the high road +where the soldiers had been butchered. + +At four o'clock Rougon, followed by Granoux, again repaired to the +Valqueyras mansion. Small bands, on their way to join the insurgents at +Orcheres, still passed along in the distance, through the valley of the +Viorne. Throughout the day urchins climbed the ramparts, and bourgeois +came to peep through the loopholes. These volunteer sentinels kept up +the terror by counting the various bands, which were taken for so many +strong battalions. The timorous population fancied it could see from the +battlements the preparations for some universal massacre. At dusk, as on +the previous evening, the panic became yet more chilling. + +On returning to the municipal offices Rougon and his inseparable +companion, Granoux, recognised that the situation was growing +intolerable. During their absence another member of the Commission had +disappeared. They were only four now, and they felt they were making +themselves ridiculous by staying there for hours, looking at each +other's pale countenances, and never saying a word. Moreover, they were +terribly afraid of having to spend a second night on the terrace of the +Valqueyras mansion. + +Rougon gravely declared that as the situation of affairs was unchanged, +there was no need for them to continue to remain there _en permanence_. +If anything serious should occur information would be sent to them. And, +by a decision duly taken in council, he deputed to Roudier the carrying +on of the administration. Poor Roudier, who remembered that he had +served as a national guard in Paris under Louis-Philippe, was meantime +conscientiously keeping watch at the Grand'-Porte. + +Rougon went home looking very downcast, and creeping along under the +shadows of the houses. He felt that Plassans was becoming hostile +to him. He heard his name bandied about amongst the groups, with +expressions of anger and contempt. He walked upstairs, reeling and +perspiring. Felicite received him with speechless consternation. She, +also, was beginning to despair. Their dreams were being completely +shattered. They stood silent, face to face, in the yellow drawing-room. +The day was drawing to a close, a murky winter day which imparted a +muddy tint to the orange-coloured wall-paper with its large flower +pattern; never had the room looked more faded, more mean, more shabby. +And at this hour they were alone; they no longer had a crowd of +courtiers congratulating them, as on the previous evening. A single +day had sufficed to topple them over, at the very moment when they were +singing victory. If the situation did not change on the morrow their +game would be lost. + +Felicite who, when gazing on the previous evening at the ruins of +the yellow drawing-room, had thought of the plains of Austerlitz, now +recalled the accursed field of Waterloo as she observed how mournful +and deserted the place was. Then, as her husband said nothing, she +mechanically went to the window--that window where she had inhaled with +delight the incense of the entire town. She perceived numerous groups +below on the square, but she closed the blinds upon seeing some heads +turn towards their house, for she feared that she might be hooted. She +felt quite sure that those people were speaking about them. + +Indeed, voices rose through the twilight. A lawyer was clamouring in the +tone of a triumphant pleader. "That's just what I said; the insurgents +left of their own accord, and they won't ask the permission of the +forty-one to come back. The forty-one indeed! a fine farce! Why, I +believe there were at least two hundred." + +"No, indeed," said a burly trader, an oil-dealer and a great politician, +"there were probably not even ten. There was no fighting or else we +should have seen some blood in the morning. I went to the town-hall +myself to look; the courtyard was as clean as my hand." + +Then a workman, who stepped timidly up to the group, added: "There was +no need of any violence to seize the building; the door wasn't even +shut." + +This remark was received with laughter, and the workman, thus +encouraged, continued: "As for those Rougons, everybody knows that they +are a bad lot." + +This insult pierced Felicite to the heart. The ingratitude of the +people was heartrending to her, for she herself was at last beginning to +believe in the mission of the Rougons. She called for her husband. She +wanted him to learn how fickle was the multitude. + +"It's all a piece with their mirror," continued the lawyer. "What a fuss +they made about that broken glass! You know that Rougon is quite capable +of having fired his gun at it just to make believe there had been a +battle." + +Pierre restrained a cry of pain. What! they did not even believe in his +mirror now! They would soon assert that he had not heard a bullet whiz +past his ear. The legend of the Rougons would be blotted out; nothing +would remain of their glory. But his torture was not at an end yet. +The groups manifested their hostility as heartily as they had displayed +their approval on the previous evening. A retired hatter, an old man +seventy years of age, whose factory had formerly been in the Faubourg, +ferreted out the Rougons' past history. He spoke vaguely, with the +hesitation of a wandering memory, about the Fouques' property, and +Adelaide, and her amours with a smuggler. He said just enough to give +a fresh start to the gossip. The tattlers drew closer together and such +words as "rogues," "thieves," and "shameless intriguers," ascended to +the shutter behind which Pierre and Felicite were perspiring with fear +and indignation. The people on the square even went so far as to pity +Macquart. This was the final blow. On the previous day Rougon had been a +Brutus, a stoic soul sacrificing his own affections to his country; now +he was nothing but an ambitious villain, who felled his brother to the +ground and made use of him as a stepping-stone to fortune. + +"You hear, you hear them?" Pierre murmured in a stifled voice. "Ah! the +scoundrels, they are killing us; we shall never retrieve ourselves." + +Felicite, enraged, was beating a tattoo on the shutter with her +impatient fingers. + +"Let them talk," she answered. "If we get the upper hand again they +shall see what stuff I'm made of. I know where the blow comes from. The +new town hates us." + +She guessed rightly. The sudden unpopularity of the Rougons was the +work of a group of lawyers who were very much annoyed at the importance +acquired by an old illiterate oil-dealer, whose house had been on the +verge of bankruptcy. The Saint-Marc quarter had shown no sign of life +for the last two days. The inhabitants of the old quarter and the new +town alone remained in presence, and the latter had taken advantage +of the panic to injure the yellow drawing-room in the minds of the +tradespeople and working-classes. Roudier and Granoux were said to +be excellent men, honourable citizens, who had been led away by the +Rougons' intrigues. Their eyes ought to be opened to it. Ought not +Monsieur Isidore Granoux to be seated in the mayor's arm-chair, in the +place of that big portly beggar who had not a copper to bless himself +with? Thus launched, the envious folks began to reproach Rougon for +all the acts of his administration, which only dated from the previous +evening. He had no right to retain the services of the former Municipal +Council; he had been guilty of grave folly in ordering the gates to be +closed; it was through his stupidity that five members of the Commission +had contracted inflammation of the lungs on the terrace of the +Valqueyras mansion. There was no end to his faults. The Republicans +likewise raised their heads. They talked of the possibility of a sudden +attack upon the town-hall by the workmen of the Faubourg. The reaction +was at its last gasp. + +Pierre, at this overthrow of all his hopes, began to wonder what support +he might still rely on if occasion should require any. + +"Wasn't Aristide to come here this evening," he asked, "to make it up +with us?" + +"Yes," answered Felicite. "He promised me a good article. The +'Independant' has not appeared yet--" + +But her husband interrupted her, crying: "See! isn't that he who is just +coming out of the Sub-Prefecture?" + +The old woman glanced in that direction. "He's got his arm in a sling +again!" she cried. + +Aristide's hand was indeed wrapped in the silk handkerchief once more. +The Empire was breaking up, but the Republic was not yet triumphant, +and he had judged it prudent to resume the part of a disabled man. He +crossed the square stealthily, without raising his head. Then doubtless +hearing some dangerous and compromising remarks among the groups of +bystanders, he made all haste to turn the corner of the Rue de la Banne. + +"Bah! he won't come here," said Felicite bitterly. "It's all up with us. +Even our children forsake us!" + +She shut the window violently, in order that she might not see or hear +anything more. When she had lit the lamp, she and her husband sat down +to dinner, disheartened and without appetite, leaving most of their food +on their plates. They only had a few hours left them to take a decisive +step. It was absolutely indispensable that before daybreak Plassans +should be at their feet beseeching forgiveness, or else they must +entirely renounce the fortune which they had dreamed of. The total +absence of any reliable news was the sole cause of their anxious +indecision. Felicite, with her clear intellect, had quickly perceived +this. If they had been able to learn the result of the Coup d'Etat, +they would either have faced it out and have still pursued their role of +deliverers, or else have done what they could to efface all recollection +of their unlucky campaign. But they had no precise information; they +were losing their heads; the thought that they were thus risking their +fortune on a throw, in complete ignorance of what was happening, brought +a cold perspiration to their brows. + +"And why the devil doesn't Eugene write to me?" Rougon suddenly cried, +in an outburst of despair, forgetting that he was betraying the secret +of his correspondence to his wife. + +But Felicite pretended not to have heard. Her husband's exclamation +had profoundly affected her. Why, indeed, did not Eugene write to his +father? After keeping him so accurately informed of the progress of the +Bonapartist cause, he ought at least to have announced the triumph or +defeat of Prince Louis. Mere prudence would have counselled the +despatch of such information. If he remained silent, it must be that the +victorious Republic had sent him to join the pretender in the dungeons +of Vincennes. At this thought Felicite felt chilled to the marrow; her +son's silence destroyed her last hopes. + +At that moment somebody brought up the "Gazette," which had only just +appeared. + +"Ah!" said Pierre, with surprise. "Vuillet has issued his paper!" + +Thereupon he tore off the wrapper, read the leading article, and +finished it looking as white as a sheet, and swaying on his chair. + +"Here, read," he resumed, handing the paper to Felicite. + +It was a magnificent article, attacking the insurgents with unheard of +violence. Never had so much stinging bitterness, so many falsehoods, +such bigoted abuse flowed from pen before. Vuillet commenced by +narrating the entry of the insurgents into Plassans. The description +was a perfect masterpiece. He spoke of "those bandits, those +villainous-looking countenances, that scum of the galleys," invading the +town, "intoxicated with brandy, lust, and pillage." Then he exhibited +them "parading their cynicism in the streets, terrifying the inhabitants +with their savage cries and seeking only violence and murder." Further +on, the scene at the town-hall and the arrest of the authorities became +a most horrible drama. "Then they seized the most respectable people by +the throat; and the mayor, the brave commander of the national +guard, the postmaster, that kindly functionary, were--even like the +Divinity--crowned with thorns by those wretches, who spat in their +faces." The passage devoted to Miette and her red pelisse was quite a +flight of imagination. Vuillet had seen ten, twenty girls steeped in +blood: "and who," he wrote, "did not behold among those monsters some +infamous creatures clothed in red, who must have bathed themselves in +the blood of the martyrs murdered by the brigands along the high roads? +They were brandishing banners, and openly receiving the vile caresses of +the entire horde." And Vuillet added, with Biblical magniloquence, "The +Republic ever marches on amidst debauchery and murder." + +That, however, was only the first part of the article; the narrative +being ended, the editor asked if the country would any longer tolerate +"the shamelessness of those wild beasts, who respected neither property +nor persons." He made an appeal to all valorous citizens, declaring that +to tolerate such things any longer would be to encourage them, and +that the insurgents would then come and snatch "the daughter from her +mother's arms, the wife from her husband's embraces." And at last, +after a pious sentence in which he declared that Heaven willed the +extermination of the wicked, he concluded with this trumpet blast: "It +is asserted that these wretches are once more at our gates; well then +let each one of us take a gun and shoot them down like dogs. I for my +part shall be seen in the front rank, happy to rid the earth of such +vermin." + +This article, in which periphrastic abuse was strung together with all +the heaviness of touch which characterises French provincial journalism, +quite terrified Rougon, who muttered, as Felicite replaced the "Gazette" +on the table: "Ah! the wretch! he is giving us the last blow; people +will believe that I inspired this diatribe." + +"But," his wife remarked, pensively, "did you not this morning tell me +that he absolutely refused to write against the Republicans? The news +that circulated had terrified him, and he was as pale as death, you +said." + +"Yes! yes! I can't understand it at all. When I insisted, he went so +far as to reproach me for not having killed all the insurgents. It was +yesterday that he ought to have written that article; to-day he'll get +us all butchered!" + +Felicite was lost in amazement. What could have prompted Vuillet's +change of front? The idea of that wretched semi-sacristan carrying a +musket and firing on the ramparts of Plassans seemed to her one of the +most ridiculous things imaginable. There was certainly some determining +cause underlying all this which escaped her. Only one thing seemed +certain. Vuillet was too impudent in his abuse and too ready with his +valour, for the insurrectionary band to be really so near the town as +some people asserted. + +"He's a spiteful fellow, I always said so," Rougon resumed, after +reading the article again. "He has only been waiting for an opportunity +to do us this injury. What a fool I was to leave him in charge of the +post-office!" + +This last sentence proved a flash of light. Felicite started up quickly, +as though at some sudden thought. Then she put on a cap and threw a +shawl over her shoulders. + +"Where are you going, pray?" her husband asked her with surprise. "It's +past nine o'clock." + +"You go to bed," she replied rather brusquely, "you're not well; go and +rest yourself. Sleep on till I come back; I'll wake you if necessary, +and then we can talk the matter over." + +She went out with her usual nimble gait, ran to the post-office, and +abruptly entered the room where Vuillet was still at work. On seeing her +he made a hasty gesture of vexation. + +Never in his life had Vuillet felt so happy. Since he had been able +to slip his little fingers into the mail-bag he had enjoyed the most +exquisite pleasure, the pleasure of an inquisitive priest about to +relish the confessions of his penitents. All the sly blabbing, all the +vague chatter of sacristies resounded in his ears. He poked his long, +pale nose into the letters, gazed amorously at the superscriptions with +his suspicious eyes, sounded the envelopes just like little abbes sound +the souls of maidens. He experienced endless enjoyment, was titillated +by the most enticing temptation. The thousand secrets of Plassans lay +there. He held in his hand the honour of women, the fortunes of men, +and had only to break a seal to know as much as the grand vicar at the +cathedral who was the confidant of all the better people of the town. +Vuillet was one of those terribly bitter, frigid gossips, who worm out +everything, but never repeat what they hear, except by way of dealing +somebody a mortal blow. He had, consequently, often longed to dip his +arms into the public letter-box. Since the previous evening the private +room at the post-office had become a big confessional full of darkness +and mystery, in which he tasted exquisite rapture while sniffing at the +letters which exhaled veiled longings and quivering avowals. Moreover, +he carried on his work with consummate impudence. The crisis through +which the country was passing secured him perfect impunity. If some +letters should be delayed, or others should miscarry altogether, it +would be the fault of those villainous Republicans who were scouring +the country and interrupting all communication. The closing of the town +gates had for a moment vexed him, but he had come to an understanding +with Roudier, whereby the couriers were allowed to enter and bring the +mails direct to him without passing by the town-hall. + +As a matter of fact he had only opened a few letters, the important +ones, those in which his keen scent divined some information which it +would be useful for him to know before anybody else. Then he contented +himself by locking up in a drawer, for delivery subsequently, such +letters as might give information and rob him of the merit of his +valour at a time when the whole town was trembling with fear. This pious +personage, in selecting the management of the post-office as his own +share of the spoils, had given proof of singular insight into the +situation. + +When Madame Rougon entered, he was taking his choice of a heap of +letters and papers, under the pretext, no doubt, of classifying them. +He rose, with his humble smile, and offered her a seat; his reddened +eyelids blinking rather uneasily. But Felicite did not sit down; she +roughly exclaimed: "I want the letter." + +At this Vuillet's eyes opened widely, with an expression of perfect +innocence. + +"What letter, madame?" he asked. + +"The letter you received this morning for my husband. Come, Monsieur +Vuillet, I'm in a hurry." + +And as he stammered that he did not know, that he had not seen anything, +that it was very strange, Felicite continued in a covertly threatening +voice: "A letter from Paris, from my son, Eugene; you know what I mean, +don't you? I'll look for it myself." + +Thereupon she stepped forward as if intending to examine the various +packets which littered the writing table. But he at once bestirred +himself, and said he would go and see. The service was necessarily in +great confusion! Perhaps, indeed, there might be a letter. In that case +they would find it. But, as far as he was concerned, he swore he had not +seen any. While he was speaking he moved about the office turning over +all the papers. Then he opened the drawers and the portfolios. Felicite +waited, quite calm and collected. + +"Yes, indeed, you're right, here's a letter for you," he cried at last, +as he took a few papers from a portfolio. "Ah! those confounded clerks, +they take advantage of the situation to do nothing in the proper way." + +Felicite took the letter and examined the seal attentively, apparently +quite regardless of the fact that such scrutiny might wound Vuillet's +susceptibilities. She clearly perceived that the envelope must have been +opened; the bookseller, in his unskilful way, had used some sealing +wax of a darker colour to secure it again. She took care to open the +envelope in such a manner as to preserve the seal intact, so that it +might serve as proof of this. Then she read the note. Eugene briefly +announced the complete success of the Coup d'Etat. Paris was subdued, +the provinces generally speaking remained quiet, and he counselled +his parents to maintain a very firm attitude in face of the partial +insurrection which was disturbing the South. In conclusion he told them +that the foundation of their fortune was laid, if they did not weaken. + +Madame Rougon put the letter in her pocket, and sat down slowly, looking +into Vuillet's face. The latter had resumed his sorting in a feverish +manner, as though he were very busy. + +"Listen to me, Monsieur Vuillet," she said to him. And when he raised +his head: "let us play our cards openly; you do wrong to betray us; some +misfortune may befall you. If, instead of unsealing our letters--" + +At this he protested, and feigned great indignation. But she calmly +continued: "I know, I know your school, you never confess. Come, don't +let us waste any more words, what interest have you in favouring the +Coup d'Etat?" + +And, as he continued to assert his perfect honesty, she at last lost +patience. "You take me for a fool!" she cried. "I've read your article. +You would do much better to act in concert with us." + +Thereupon, without avowing anything, he flatly submitted that he wished +to have the custom of the college. Formerly it was he who had supplied +that establishment with school books. But it had become known that he +sold objectionable literature clandestinely to the pupils; for which +reason, indeed, he had almost been prosecuted at the Correctional Police +Court. Since then he had jealously longed to be received back into the +good graces of the directors. + +Felicite was surprised at the modesty of his ambition, and told him so. +To open letters and risk the galleys just for the sake of selling a few +dictionaries and grammars! + +"Eh!" he exclaimed in a shrill voice, "it's an assured sale of four or +five thousand francs a year. I don't aspire to impossibilities like some +people." + +She did not take any notice of his last taunting words. No more was said +about his opening the letters. A treaty of alliance was concluded, by +which Vuillet engaged that he would not circulate any news or take any +step in advance, on condition that the Rougons should secure him the +custom of the college. As she was leaving, Felicite advised him not to +compromise himself any further. It would be sufficient for him to detain +the letters and distribute them only on the second day. + +"What a knave," she muttered, when she reached the street, forgetting +that she herself had just laid an interdict upon the mail. + +She went home slowly, wrapped in thought. She even went out of her +way, passing along the Cours Sauvaire, as if to gain time and ease for +reflection before going in. Under the trees of the promenade she met +Monsieur de Carnavant, who was taking advantage of the darkness to +ferret about the town without compromising himself. The clergy of +Plassans, to whom all energetic action was distasteful, had, since the +announcement of the Coup d'Etat, preserved absolute neutrality. In the +priests' opinion the Empire was virtually established, and they awaited +an opportunity to resume in some new direction their secular intrigues. +The marquis, who had now become a useless agent, remained only +inquisitive on one point--he wished to know how the turmoil would +finish, and in what manner the Rougons would play their role to the end. + +"Oh! it's you, little one!" he exclaimed, as soon as he recognized +Felicite. "I wanted to see you; your affairs are getting muddled!" + +"Oh, no; everything is going on all right," she replied, in an +absent-minded way. + +"So much the better. You'll tell me all about it, won't you? Ah! I must +confess that I gave your husband and his colleagues a terrible fright +the other night. You should have seen how comical they looked on the +terrace, while I was pointing out a band of insurgents in every cluster +of trees in the valley! You forgive me?" + +"I'm much obliged to you," said Felicite quickly. "You should have made +them die of fright. My husband is a big sly-boots. Come and see me some +morning, when I am alone." + +Then she turned away, as though this meeting with the marquis had +determined her. From head to foot the whole of her little person +betokened implacable resolution. At last she was going to revenge +herself on Pierre for his petty mysteries, have him under her heel, and +secure, once for all, her omnipotence at home. There would be a fine +scene, quite a comedy, indeed, the points of which she was already +enjoying in anticipation, while she worked out her plan with all the +spitefulness of an injured woman. + +She found Pierre in bed, sleeping heavily; she brought the candle near +him for an instant, and gazed with an air of compassion, at his big +face, across which slight twitches occasionally passed; then she sat +down at the head of the bed, took off her cap, let her hair fall loose, +assumed the appearance of one in despair, and began to sob quite loudly. + +"Hallo! What's the matter? What are you crying for?" asked Pierre, +suddenly awaking. + +She did not reply, but cried more bitterly. + +"Come, come, do answer," continued her husband, frightened by this mute +despair. "Where have you been? Have you seen the insurgents?" + +She shook her head; then, in a faint voice, she said: "I've just come +from the Valqueyras mansion. I wanted to ask Monsieur de Carnavant's +advice. Ah! my dear, all is lost." + +Pierre sat up in bed, very pale. His bull neck, which his unbuttoned +night-shirt exposed to view, all his soft, flabby flesh seemed to swell +with terror. At last he sank back, pale and tearful, looking like some +grotesque Chinese figure in the middle of the untidy bed. + +"The marquis," continued Felicite, "thinks that Prince Louis has +succumbed. We are ruined; we shall never get a sou." + +Thereupon, as often happens with cowards, Pierre flew into a passion. It +was the marquis's fault, it was his wife's fault, the fault of all +his family. Had he ever thought of politics at all, until Monsieur de +Carnavant and Felicite had driven him to that tomfoolery? + +"I wash my hands of it altogether," he cried. "It's you two who are +responsible for the blunder. Wasn't it better to go on living on +our little savings in peace and quietness? But then, you were always +determined to have your own way! You see what it has brought us to." + +He was losing his head completely, and forgot that he had shown himself +as eager as his wife. However, his only desire now was to vent his +anger, by laying the blame of his ruin upon others. + +"And, moreover," he continued, "could we ever have succeeded with +children like ours? Eugene abandons us just at the critical moment; +Aristide has dragged us through the mire, and even that big simpleton +Pascal is compromising us by his philanthropic practising among the +insurgents. And to think that we brought ourselves to poverty simply to +give them a university education!" + +Then, as he drew breath, Felicite said to him softly: "You are +forgetting Macquart." + +"Ah! yes; I was forgetting him," he resumed more violently than ever; +"there's another whom I can't think of without losing all patience! But +that's not all; you know little Silvere. Well, I saw him at my mother's +the other evening with his hands covered with blood. He has put some +gendarme's eye out. I did not tell you of it, as I didn't want to +frighten you. But you'll see one of my nephews in the Assize Court. Ah! +what a family! As for Macquart, he has annoyed us to such an extent that +I felt inclined to break his head for him the other day when I had a gun +in my hand. Yes, I had a mind to do it." + +Felicite let the storm pass over. She had received her husband's +reproaches with angelic sweetness, bowing her head like a culprit, +whereby she was able to smile in her sleeve. Her demeanour provoked and +maddened Pierre. When speech failed the poor man, she heaved deep sighs, +feigning repentance; and then she repeated, in a disconsolate voice: +"Whatever shall we do! Whatever shall we do! We are over head and ears +in debt." + +"It's your fault!" Pierre cried, with all his remaining strength. + +The Rougons, in fact, owed money on every side. The hope of approaching +success had made them forget all prudence. Since the beginning of 1851 +they had gone so far as to entertain the frequenters of the yellow +drawing-room every evening with syrup and punch, and cakes--providing, +in fact, complete collations, at which they one and all drank to the +death of the Republic. Besides this, Pierre had placed a quarter of +his capital at the disposal of the reactionary party, as a contribution +towards the purchase of guns and cartridges. + +"The pastry-cook's bill amounts to at least a thousand francs," Felicite +resumed, in her sweetest tone, "and we probably owe twice as much to +the liqueur-dealer. Then there's the butcher, the baker, the +greengrocer----" + +Pierre was in agony. And Felicite struck him a final blow by adding: "I +say nothing of the ten thousand francs you gave for the guns." + +"I, I!" he faltered, "but I was deceived, I was robbed! It was that +idiot Sicardot who let me in for that by swearing that the Napoleonists +would be triumphant. I thought I was only making an advance. But the old +dolt will have to repay me my money." + +"Ah! you won't get anything back," said his wife, shrugging her +shoulders. "We shall suffer the fate of war. When we have paid off +everything, we sha'n't even have enough to buy dry bread with. Ah! it's +been a fine campaign. We can now go and live in some hovel in the old +quarter." + +This last phrase had a most lugubrious sound. It seemed like the knell +of their existence. Pierre pictured the hovel in the old quarter, which +had just been mentioned by Felicite. 'Twas there, then, that he would +die on a pallet, after striving all his life for the enjoyment of ease +and luxury. In vain had he robbed his mother, steeped his hands in the +foulest intrigues, and lied and lied for many a long year. The Empire +would not pay his debts--that Empire which alone could save him. He +jumped out of bed in his night-shirt, crying: "No; I'll take my gun; I +would rather let the insurgents kill me." + +"Well!" Felicite rejoined, with great composure, "you can have that done +to-morrow or the day after; the Republicans are not far off. And that +way will do as well as another to make an end of matters." + +Pierre shuddered. It seemed as if some one had suddenly poured a large +pail of cold water over his shoulders. He slowly got into bed again, and +when he was warmly wrapped up in the sheets, he began to cry. This +fat fellow easily burst into tears--gently flowing, inexhaustible +tears--which streamed from his eyes without an effort. A terrible +reaction was now going on within him. After his wrath he became as +weak as a child. Felicite, who had been waiting for this crisis, was +delighted to see him so spiritless, so resourceless, and so humbled +before her. She still preserved silence, and an appearance of distressed +humility. After a long pause, her seeming resignation, her mute +dejection, irritated Pierre's nerves. + +"But do say something!" he implored; "let us think matters over +together. Is there really no hope left us?" + +"None, you know very well," she replied; "you explained the situation +yourself just now; we have no help to expect from anyone; even our +children have betrayed us." + +"Let us flee, then. Shall we leave Plassans to-night--immediately?" + +"Flee! Why, my dear, to-morrow we should be the talk of the whole town. +Don't you remember, too, that you have had the gates closed?" + +A violent struggle was going on in Pierre's mind, which he exerted to +the utmost in seeking for some solution; at last, as though he felt +vanquished, he murmured, in supplicating tones: "I beseech you, do try +to think of something; you haven't said anything yet." + +Felicite raised her head, feigning surprise; and with a gesture of +complete powerlessness she said: "I am a fool in these matters. I don't +understand anything about politics, you've told me so a hundred times." + +And then, as her embarrassed husband held his tongue and lowered his +eyes, she continued slowly, but not reproachfully: "You have not kept me +informed of your affairs, have you? I know nothing at all about them, I +can't even give you any advice. It was quite right of you, though; women +chatter sometimes, and it is a thousand times better for the men to +steer the ship alone." + +She said this with such refined irony that her husband did not detect +that she was deriding him. He simply felt profound remorse. And, all of +a sudden, he burst out into a confession. He spoke of Eugene's letters, +explained his plans, his conduct, with all the loquacity of a man who +is relieving his conscience and imploring a saviour. At every moment +he broke off to ask: "What would you have done in my place?" or else +he cried, "Isn't that so? I was right, I could not act otherwise." But +Felicite did not even deign to make a sign. She listened with all the +frigid reserve of a judge. In reality she was tasting the most exquisite +pleasure; she had got that sly-boots fast at last; she played with him +like a cat playing with a ball of paper; and he virtually held out his +hands to be manacled by her. + +"But wait," he said hastily, jumping out of bed. "I'll give you Eugene's +correspondence to read. You can judge the situation better then." + +She vainly tried to hold him back by his night-shirt. He spread out the +letters on the table by the bed-side, and then got into bed again, and +read whole pages of them, and compelled her to go through them herself. +She suppressed a smile, and began to feel some pity for the poor man. + +"Well," he said anxiously, when he had finished, "now you know +everything. Do you see any means of saving us from ruin!" + +She still gave no answer. She appeared to be pondering deeply. + +"You are an intelligent woman," he continued, in order to flatter her, +"I did wrong in keeping any secret from you; I see it now." + +"Let us say nothing more about that," she replied. "In my opinion, if +you had enough courage----" And as he looked at her eagerly, she broke +off and said, with a smile: "But you promise not to distrust me any +more? You will tell me everything, eh? You will do nothing without +consulting me?" + +He swore, and accepted the most rigid conditions. Felicite then got into +bed; and in a whisper, as if she feared somebody might hear them, she +explained at length her plan of campaign. In her opinion the town +must be allowed to fall into still greater panic, while Pierre was to +maintain an heroic demeanour in the midst of the terrified inhabitants. +A secret presentiment, she said, warned her that the insurgents were +still at a distance. Moreover, the party of order would sooner or later +carry the day, and the Rougons would be rewarded. After the role of +deliverer, that of martyr was not to be despised. And she argued so +well, and spoke with so much conviction, that her husband, surprised at +first by the simplicity of her plan, which consisted in facing it out, +at last detected in it a marvellous tactical scheme, and promised to +conform to it with the greatest possible courage. + +"And don't forget that it is I who am saving you," the old woman +murmured in a coaxing tone. "Will you be nice to me?" + +They kissed each other and said good-night. But neither of them slept; +after a quarter of an hour had gone by, Pierre, who had been gazing at +the round reflection of the night-lamp on the ceiling, turned, and in a +faint whisper told his wife of an idea that had just occurred to him. + +"Oh! no, no," Felicite murmured, with a shudder. "That would be too +cruel." + +"Well," he resumed, "but you want to spread consternation among the +inhabitants! They would take me seriously, if what I told you should +occur." Then perfecting his scheme, he cried: "We might employ Macquart. +That would be a means of getting rid of him." + +Felicite seemed to be struck with the idea. She reflected, seemed to +hesitate, and then, in a distressful tone faltered: "Perhaps you are +right. We must see. After all we should be very stupid if we were +over-scrupulous, for it's a matter of life and death to us. Let me do +it. I'll see Macquart to-morrow, and ascertain if we can come to +an understanding with him. You would only wrangle and spoil all. +Good-night; sleep well, my poor dear. Our troubles will soon be ended, +you'll see." + +They again kissed each other and fell asleep. The patch of light on the +ceiling now seemed to be assuming the shape of a terrified eye, that +stared wildly and fixedly upon the pale, slumbering couple who reeked +with crime beneath their very sheets, and dreamt they could see a rain +of blood falling in big drops which turned into golden coins as they +plashed upon the floor. + +On the morrow, before daylight, Felicite repaired to the town-hall, +armed with instructions from Pierre to seek an interview with Macquart. +She took her husband's national guard uniform with her, wrapped in a +cloth. There were only a few men fast asleep in the guard-house. The +doorkeeper, who was entrusted with the duty of supplying Macquart with +food, went upstairs with her to open the door of the dressing-room, +which had been turned into a cell. Then quietly he came down again. + +Macquart had now been kept in the room for two days and two nights. He +had had time to indulge in lengthy reflections. After his sleep, his +first hours had been given up to outbursts of impotent rage. Goaded by +the idea that his brother was lording it in the adjoining room, he had +felt a great longing to break the door open. At all events he would +strangle Rougon with his own hands, as soon as the insurgents should +return and release him. But, in the evening, at twilight, he calmed +down, and gave over striding furiously round the little room. He inhaled +a sweet odour there; a feeling of comfort relaxed his nerves. Monsieur +Garconnet, who was very rich, refined, and vain, had caused this little +room to be arranged in a very elegant fashion; the sofa was soft and +warm; scents, pomades, and soaps adorned the marble washstand, and the +pale light fell from the ceiling with a soft glow, like the gleams of +a lamp suspended in an alcove. Macquart, amidst this perfumed soporific +atmosphere fell asleep, thinking that those scoundrels, the rich, "were +very fortunate, all the same." He had covered himself with a blanket +which had been given to him, and with his head and back and arms +reposing on the cushions, he stretched himself out on the couch until +morning. When he opened his eyes, a ray of sunshine was gliding through +the opening above. Still he did not leave the sofa. He felt warm, and +lay thinking as he gazed around him. He bethought himself that he would +never again have such a place to wash in. The washstand particularly +interested him. It was by no means hard, he thought, to keep oneself +spruce when one had so many little pots and phials at one's disposal. +This made him think bitterly of his own life of privation. The idea +occurred to him that perhaps he had been on the wrong track. There +is nothing to be gained by associating with beggars. He ought to have +played the scamp; he should have acted in concert with the Rougons. + +Then, however, he rejected this idea. The Rougons were villains who had +robbed him. But the warmth and softness of the sofa, continued to work +upon his feelings, and fill him with vague regrets. After all, the +insurgents were abandoning him, and allowing themselves to be beaten +like idiots. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the Republic was +mere dupery. Those Rougons were lucky! And he recalled his own bootless +wickedness and underhand intrigues. Not one member of the family had +ever been on his side; neither Aristide, nor Silvere's brother, nor +Silvere himself, who was a fool to grow so enthusiastic about the +Republic and would never do any good for himself. Then Macquart +reflected that his wife was dead, that his children had left him, and +that he would die alone, like a dog in some wretched corner, without a +copper to bless himself with. Decidedly, he ought to have sold himself +to the reactionary party. Pondering in this fashion, he eyed the +washstand, feeling a strong inclination to go and wash his hands with a +certain powder soap which he saw in a glass jar. Like all lazy fellows +who live upon their wives or children, he had foppish tastes. Although +he wore patched trousers, he liked to inundate himself with aromatic +oil. He spent hours with his barber, who talked politics, and brushed +his hair for him between their discussions. So, at last, the temptation +became too strong, and Macquart installed himself before the washstand. +He washed his hands and face, dressed his hair, perfumed himself, in +fact went through a complete toilet. He made use in turn of all the +bottles, all the various soaps and powders; but his greatest pleasure +was to dry his hands with the mayor's towels, which were so soft and +thick. He buried his wet face in them, and inhaled, with delight, all +the odour of wealth. Then, having pomaded himself, and smelling sweetly +from head to foot, he once more stretched himself on the sofa, feeling +quite youthful again, and disposed to the most conciliatory thoughts. He +felt yet greater contempt for the Republic since he had dipped his nose +into Monsieur Garconnet's phials. The idea occurred to him that there +was, perhaps, still time for him to make peace with his brother. He +wondered what he might well ask in return for playing the traitor. His +rancour against the Rougons still gnawed at his heart; but he was in one +of those moods when, lying on one's back in silence, one is apt to admit +stern facts, and scold oneself for neglecting to feather a comfortable +nest in which one may wallow in slothful ease, even at the cost of +relinquishing one's most cherished animosities. Towards evening Antoine +determined to send for his brother on the following day. But when, in +the morning, he saw Felicite enter the room he understood that his aid +was wanted, so he remained on his guard. + +The negotiations were long and full of pitfalls, being conducted on +either side with infinite skill. At first they both indulged in vague +complaints, then Felicite, who was surprised to find Macquart almost +polite, after the violent manner in which he had behaved at her house on +the Sunday evening, assumed a tone of gentle reproach. She deplored +the hatred which severed their families. But, in truth, he had so +calumniated his brother, and manifested such bitter animosity towards +him, that he had made poor Rougon quite lose his head. + +"But, dash it, my brother has never behaved like a brother to me," +Macquart replied, with restrained violence. "Has he ever given me +any assistance? He would have let me die in my hovel! When he behaved +differently towards me--you remember, at the time he gave me two hundred +francs--I am sure no one can reproach me with having said a single +unpleasant word about him. I said everywhere that he was a very +good-hearted fellow." + +This clearly signified: "If you had continued to supply me with money, +I should have been very pleasant towards you, and would have helped you, +instead of fighting against you. It's your own fault. You ought to have +bought me." + +Felicite understood this so well that she replied: "I know you have +accused us of being hard upon you, because you imagine we are in +comfortable circumstances; but you are mistaken, my dear brother; we are +poor people; we have never been able to act towards you as our hearts +would have desired." She hesitated a moment, and then continued: "If it +were absolutely necessary in some serious contingency, we might perhaps +be able to make a sacrifice; but, truly, we are very poor, very poor!" + +Macquart pricked up his ears. "I have them!" he thought. Then, without +appearing to understand his sister-in-law's indirect offer, he detailed +the wretchedness of his life in a doleful manner, and spoke of his +wife's death and his children's flight. Felicite, on her side, referred +to the crisis through which the country was passing, and declared that +the Republic had completely ruined them. Then from word to word she +began to bemoan the exigencies of a situation which compelled one +brother to imprison another. How their hearts would bleed if justice +refused to release its prey! And finally she let slip the word +"galleys!" + +"Bah! I defy you," said Macquart calmly. + +But she hastily exclaimed: "Oh! I would rather redeem the honour of the +family with my own blood. I tell you all this to show you that we shall +not abandon you. I have come to give you the means of effecting your +escape, my dear Antoine." + +They gazed at each other for a moment, sounding each other with a look, +before engaging in the contest. + +"Unconditionally?" he asked, at length. + +"Without any condition," she replied. + +Then she sat down beside him on the sofa, and continued, in a determined +voice: "And even, before crossing the frontier, if you want to earn a +thousand-franc note, I can put you in the way of doing so." + +There was another pause. + +"If it's all above board I shall have no objection," Antoine muttered, +apparently reflecting. "You know I don't want to mix myself up with your +underhand dealings." + +"But there are no underhand dealings about it," Felicite resumed, +smiling at the old rascal's scruples. "Nothing can be more simple: you +will presently leave this room, and go and conceal yourself in your +mother's house, and this evening you can assemble your friends and come +and seize the town-hall again." + +Macquart did not conceal his extreme surprise. He did not understand it +at all. + +"I thought," he said, "that you were victorious." + +"Oh! I haven't got time now to tell you all about it," the old woman +replied, somewhat impatiently. "Do you accept or not?" + +"Well, no; I don't accept--I want to think it over. It would be very +stupid of me to risk a possible fortune for a thousand francs." + +Felicite rose. "Just as you like my dear fellow," she said, coldly. "You +don't seem to realise the position you are in. You came to my house and +treated me as though I were a mere outcast; and then, when I am kind +enough to hold out a hand to you in the hole into which you have +stupidly let yourself fall, you stand on ceremony, and refuse to be +rescued. Well, then, stay here, wait till the authorities come back. As +for me, I wash my hands of the whole business." + +With these words she reached the door. + +"But give me some explanations," he implored. "I can't strike a bargain +with you in perfect ignorance of everything. For two days past I have +been quite in the dark as to what's going on. How do I know that you are +not cheating me?" + +"Bah! you're a simpleton," replied Felicite, who had retraced her steps +at Antoine's doleful appeal. "You are very foolish not to trust yourself +implicitly to us. A thousand francs! That's a fine sum, a sum that one +would only risk in a winning cause. I advise you to accept." + +He still hesitated. + +"But when we want to seize the place, shall we be allowed to enter +quietly?" + +"Ah! I don't know," she said, with a smile. "There will perhaps be a +shot or two fired." + +He looked at her fixedly. + +"Well, but I say, little woman," he resumed in a hoarse voice, "you +don't intend, do you, to have a bullet lodged in my head?" + +Felicite blushed. She was, in fact, just thinking that they would be +rendered a great service, if, during the attack on the town-hall, a +bullet should rid them of Antoine. It would be a gain of a thousand +francs, besides all the rest. So she muttered with irritation: "What an +idea! Really, it's abominable to think such things!" + +Then, suddenly calming down, she added: + +"Do you accept? You understand now, don't you?" + +Macquart had understood perfectly. It was an ambush that they were +proposing to him. He did not perceive the reasons or the consequences +of it, and this was what induced him to haggle. After speaking of the +Republic as though it were a mistress whom, to his great grief, he could +no longer love, he recapitulated the risks which he would have to run, +and finished by asking for two thousand francs. But Felicite abided +by her original offer. They debated the matter until she promised to +procure him, on his return to France, some post in which he would +have nothing to do, and which would pay him well. The bargain was then +concluded. She made him don the uniform she had brought with her. He +was to betake himself quietly to aunt Dide's, and afterwards, towards +midnight, assemble all the Republicans he could in the neighbourhood of +the town-hall, telling them that the municipal offices were unguarded, +and that they had only to push open the door to take possession of them. +Antoine then asked for earnest money, and received two hundred francs. +Felicite undertook to pay the remaining eight hundred on the following +day. The Rougons were risking the last sum they had at their disposal. + +When Felicite had gone downstairs, she remained on the square for a +moment to watch Macquart go out. He passed the guard-house, quietly +blowing his nose. He had previously broken the skylight in the +dressing-room, to make it appear that he had escaped that way. + +"It's all arranged," Felicite said to her husband, when she returned +home. "It will be at midnight. It doesn't matter to me at all now. I +should like to see them all shot. How they slandered us yesterday in the +street!" + +"It was rather silly of you to hesitate," replied Pierre, who was +shaving. "Every one would do the same in our place." + +That morning--it was a Wednesday--he was particularly careful about his +toilet. His wife combed his hair and tied his cravat, turning him about +like a child going to a distribution of prizes. And when he was ready, +she examined him, declared that he looked very nice, and that he would +make a very good figure in the midst of the serious events that were +preparing. His big pale face wore an expression of grave dignity and +heroic determination. She accompanied him to the first landing, giving +him her last advice: he was not to depart in any way from his courageous +demeanour, however great the panic might be; he was to have the gates +closed more hermetically than ever, and leave the town in agonies of +terror within its ramparts; it would be all the better if he were to +appear the only one willing to die for the cause of order. + +What a day it was! The Rougons still speak of it as of a glorious and +decisive battle. Pierre went straight to the town-hall, heedless of the +looks or words that greeted him on his way. He installed himself there +in magisterial fashion, like a man who did not intend to quit the place, +whatever might happen. And he simply sent a note to Roudier, to advise +him that he was resuming authority. + +"Keep watch at the gates," he added, knowing that these lines might +become public: "I myself will watch over the town and ensure the +security of life and property. It is at the moment when evil passions +reappear and threaten to prevail that good citizens should endeavour to +stifle them, even at the peril of their lives." The style, and the very +errors in spelling, made this note--the brevity of which suggested the +laconic style of the ancients--appear all the more heroic. Not one of +the gentlemen of the Provisional Commission put in an appearance. The +last two who had hitherto remained faithful, and Granoux himself, +even, prudently stopped at home. Thus Rougon was the only member of the +Commission who remained at his post, in his presidential arm-chair, all +the others having vanished as the panic increased. He did not even +deign to issue an order summoning them to attend. He was there, and that +sufficed, a sublime spectacle, which a local journal depicted later on +in a sentence: "Courage giving the hand to duty." + +During the whole morning Pierre was seen animating the town-hall with +his goings and comings. He was absolutely alone in the large, empty +building, whose lofty halls reechoed with the noise of his heels. All +the doors were left open. He made an ostentatious show of his presidency +over a non-existent council in the midst of this desert, and appeared +so deeply impressed with the responsibility of his mission that the +doorkeeper, meeting him two or three times in the passages, bowed to him +with an air of mingled surprise and respect. He was seen, too, at every +window, and, in spite of the bitter cold, he appeared several times +on the balcony with bundles of papers in his hand, like a busy man +attending to important despatches. + +Then, towards noon, he passed through the town and visited the +guard-houses, speaking of a possible attack, and letting it be +understood, that the insurgents were not far off; but he relied, he +said, on the courage of the brave national guards. If necessary they +must be ready to die to the last man for the defence of the good cause. +When he returned from this round, slowly and solemnly, after the manner +of a hero who has set the affairs of his country in order, and now only +awaits death, he observed signs of perfect stupor along his path; the +people promenading in the Cours, the incorrigible little householders, +whom no catastrophe would have prevented from coming at certain hours +to bask in the sun, looked at him in amazement, as if they did not +recognize him, and could not believe that one of their own set, a former +oil-dealer, should have the boldness to face a whole army. + +In the town the anxiety was at its height. The insurrectionists were +expected every moment. The rumour of Macquart's escape was commented +upon in a most alarming manner. It was asserted that he had been rescued +by his friends, the Reds, and that he was only waiting for nighttime in +order to fall upon the inhabitants and set fire to the four corners of +the town. Plassans, closed in and terror-stricken, gnawing at its own +vitals within its prison-like walls, no longer knew what to imagine in +order to frighten itself. The Republicans, in the face of Rougon's +bold demeanour, felt for a moment distrustful. As for the new +town--the lawyers and retired tradespeople who had denounced the yellow +drawing-room on the previous evening--they were so surprised that +they dared not again openly attack such a valiant man. They contented +themselves with saying "It was madness to brave victorious insurgents +like that, and such useless heroism would bring the greatest misfortunes +upon Plassans." Then, at about three o'clock, they organised a +deputation. Pierre, though he was burning with desire to make a display +of his devotion before his fellow-citizens, had not ventured to reckon +upon such a fine opportunity. + +He spoke sublimely. It was in the mayor's private room that the +president of the Provisional Commission received the deputation from the +new town. The gentlemen of the deputation, after paying homage to his +patriotism, besought him to forego all resistance. But he, in a loud +voice, talked of duty, of his country, of order, of liberty, and various +other things. Moreover, he did not wish to compel any one to imitate +him; he was simply discharging a duty which his conscience and his heart +dictated to him. + +"You see, gentlemen, I am alone," he said in conclusion. "I will take +all the responsibility, so that nobody but myself may be compromised. +And if a victim is required I willingly offer myself; I wish to +sacrifice my own life for the safety of the inhabitants." + +A notary, the wiseacre of the party, remarked that he was running to +certain death. + +"I know it," he resumed solemnly. "I am prepared!" + +The gentlemen looked at each other. Those words "I am prepared!" filled +them with admiration. Decidedly this man was a brave fellow. The notary +implored him to call in the aid of the gendarmes; but he replied that +the blood of those brave soldiers was precious, and he would not have +it shed, except in the last extremity. The deputation slowly withdrew, +feeling deeply moved. An hour afterwards, Plassans was speaking of +Rougon as of a hero; the most cowardly called him "an old fool." + +Towards evening, Rougon was much surprised to see Granoux hasten to +him. The old almond-dealer threw himself in his arms, calling him +"great man," and declaring that he would die with him. The words "I am +prepared!" which had just been reported to him by his maid-servant, +who had heard it at the greengrocer's, had made him quite enthusiastic. +There was charming naivete in the nature of this grotesque, timorous +old man. Pierre kept him with him, thinking that he would not be of +much consequence. He was even touched by the poor fellow's devotion, and +resolved to have him publicly complimented by the prefect, in order to +rouse the envy of the other citizens who had so cowardly abandoned him. +And so both of them awaited the night in the deserted building. + +At the same time Aristide was striding about at home in an uneasy +manner. Vuillet's article had astonished him. His father's demeanour +stupefied him. He had just caught sight of him at the window, in a white +cravat and black frock-coat, so calm at the approach of danger that all +his ideas were upset. Yet the insurgents were coming back triumphant, +that was the belief of the whole town. But Aristide felt some doubts +on the point; he had suspicions of some lugubrious farce. As he did not +dare to present himself at his parents' house, he sent his wife thither. +And when Angele returned, she said to him, in her drawling voice: "Your +mother expects you; she is not angry at all, she seems rather to be +making fun of you. She told me several times that you could just put +your sling back in your pocket." + +Aristide felt terribly vexed. However, he ran to the Rue de la Banne, +prepared to make the most humble submission. His mother was content +to receive him with scornful laughter. "Ah! my poor fellow," said she, +"you're certainly not very shrewd." + +"But what can one do in a hole like Plassans!" he angrily retorted. "On +my word of honour, I am becoming a fool here. No news, and everybody +shivering! That's what it is to be shut up in these villainous ramparts. +Ah! If I had only been able to follow Eugene to Paris!" + +Then, seeing that his mother was still smiling, he added bitterly: +"You haven't been very kind to me, mother. I know many things, I do. My +brother kept you informed of what was going on, and you have never given +me the faintest hint that might have been useful to me." + +"You know that, do you?" exclaimed Felicite, becoming serious and +distrustful. "Well, you're not so foolish as I thought, then. Do you +open letters like some one of my acquaintance?" + +"No; but I listen at doors," Aristide replied, with great assurance. + +This frankness did not displease the old woman. She began to smile +again, and asked more softly: "Well, then, you blockhead, how is it you +didn't rally to us sooner?" + +"Ah! that's where it is," the young man said, with some embarrassment. +"I didn't have much confidence in you. You received such idiots: my +father-in-law, Granoux, and the others!--And then, I didn't want to go +too far. . . ." He hesitated, and then resumed, with some uneasiness: +"To-day you are at least quite sure of the success of the Coup d'Etat, +aren't you?" + +"I!" cried Felicite, wounded by her son's doubts; "no, I'm not sure of +anything." + +"And yet you sent word to say that I was to take off my sling!" + +"Yes; because all the gentlemen are laughing at you." + +Aristide remained stock still, apparently contemplating one of the +flowers of the orange-coloured wall-paper. And his mother felt sudden +impatience as she saw him hesitating thus. + +"Ah! well," she said, "I've come back again to my former opinion; you're +not very shrewd. And you think you ought to have had Eugene's letters +to read? Why, my poor fellow you would have spoilt everything, with +your perpetual vacillation. You never can make up your mind. You are +hesitating now." + +"I hesitate?" he interrupted, giving his mother a cold, keen glance. +"Ah! well, you don't know me. I would set the whole town on fire if it +were necessary, and I wanted to warm my feet. But, understand me, I've +no desire to take the wrong road! I'm tired of eating hard bread, and I +hope to play fortune a trick. But I only play for certainties." + +He spoke these words so sharply, with such a keen longing for success, +that his mother recognised the cry of her own blood. + +"Your father is very brave," she whispered. + +"Yes, I've seen him," he resumed with a sneer. "He's got a fine look on +him! He reminded me of Leonidas at Thermopylae. Is it you, mother, who +have made him cut this figure?" + +And he added cheerfully, with a gesture of determination: "Well, so much +the worse! I'm a Bonapartist! Father is not the man to risk the chance +of being killed unless it pays him well." + +"You're quite right," his mother replied; "I mustn't say anything; but +to-morrow you'll see." + +He did not press her, but swore that she would soon have reason to be +proud of him; and then he took his departure, while Felicite, feeling +her old preference reviving, said to herself at the window, as she +watched him going off, that he had the devil's own wit, that she would +never have had sufficient courage to let him leave without setting him +in the right path. + +And now for the third time a night full of anguish fell upon Plassans. +The unhappy town was almost at its death-rattle. The citizens hastened +home and barricaded their doors with a great clattering of iron bolts +and bars. The general feeling seemed to be that, by the morrow, Plassans +would no longer exist, that it would either be swallowed up by the earth +or would evaporate in the atmosphere. When Rougon went home to dine, he +found the streets completely deserted. This desolation made him sad and +melancholy. As a result of this, when he had finished his meal, he +felt some slight misgivings, and asked his wife if it were necessary to +follow up the insurrection that Macquart was preparing. + +"Nobody will run us down now," said he. "You should have seen those +gentlemen of the new town, how they bowed to me! It seems to me quite +unnecessary now to kill anybody--eh? What do you think? We shall feather +our nest without that." + +"Ah! what a nerveless fellow you are!" Felicite cried angrily. "It was +your own idea to do it, and now you back out! I tell you that you'll +never do anything without me! Go then, go your own way. Do you think the +Republicans would spare you if they got hold of you?" + +Rougon went back to the town-hall, and prepared for the ambush. Granoux +was very useful to him. He despatched him with orders to the different +posts guarding the ramparts. The national guards were to repair to the +town-hall in small detachments, as secretly as possible. Roudier, that +bourgeois who was quite out of his element in the provinces, and who +would have spoilt the whole affair with his humanitarian preaching, was +not even informed of it. Towards eleven o'clock, the court-yard of the +town-hall was full of national guards. Then Rougon frightened them; he +told them that the Republicans still remaining in Plassans were about +to attempt a desperate _coup de main_, and plumed himself on having been +warned in time by his secret police. When he had pictured the bloody +massacre which would overtake the town, should these wretches get the +upper hand, he ordered his men to cease speaking, and extinguish all +lights. He took a gun himself. Ever since the morning he had been living +as in a dream; he no longer knew himself; he felt Felicite behind him. +The crisis of the previous night had thrown him into her hands, and he +would have allowed himself to be hanged, thinking: "It does not matter, +my wife will come and cut me down." To augment the tumult, and prolong +the terror of the slumbering town, he begged Granoux to repair to the +cathedral and have the tocsin rung at the first shots he might hear. The +marquis's name would open the beadle's door. And then, in darkness and +dismal silence, the national guards waited in the yard, in a terrible +state of anxiety, their eyes fixed on the porch, eager to fire, as +though they were lying in wait for a pack of wolves. + +In the meantime, Macquart had spent the day at aunt Dide's house. +Stretching himself on the old coffer, and lamenting the loss of Monsieur +Garconnet's sofa, he had several times felt a mad inclination to break +into his two hundred francs at some neighbouring cafe. This money was +burning a hole in his waistcoat pocket; however, he whiled away his time +by spending it in imagination. His mother moved about, in her stiff, +automatic way, as if she were not even aware of his presence. During the +last few days her children had been coming to her rather frequently, +in a state of pallor and desperation, but she departed neither from her +taciturnity, nor her stiff, lifeless expression. She knew nothing of +the fears which were throwing the pent-up town topsy-turvy, she was a +thousand leagues away from Plassans, soaring into the one constant +fixed idea which imparted such a blank stare to her eyes. Now and again, +however, at this particular moment, some feeling of uneasiness, some +human anxiety, occasionally made her blink. Antoine, unable to resist +the temptation of having something nice to eat, sent her to get a roast +chicken from an eating-house in the Faubourg. When it was set on the +table: "Hey!" he said to her, "you don't often eat fowl, do you? It's +only for those who work, and know how to manage their affairs. As for +you, you always squandered everything. I bet you're giving all your +savings to that little hypocrite, Silvere. He's got a mistress, the sly +fellow. If you've a hoard of money hidden in some corner, he'll ease you +of it nicely some day." + +Macquart was in a jesting mood, glowing with wild exultation. The money +he had in his pocket, the treachery he was preparing, the conviction +that he had sold himself at a good price--all filled him with the +self-satisfaction characteristic of vicious people who naturally +became merry and scornful amidst their evil practices. Of all his talk, +however, aunt Dide only heard Silvere's name. + +"Have you seen him?" she asked, opening her lips at last. + +"Who? Silvere?" Antoine replied. "He was walking about among the +insurgents with a tall red girl on his arm. It will serve him right if +he gets into trouble." + +The grandmother looked at him fixedly, then, in a solemn voice, +inquired: "Why?" + +"Eh! Why, he shouldn't be so stupid," resumed Macquart, feeling somewhat +embarrassed. "People don't risk their necks for the sake of ideas. I've +settled my own little business. I'm no fool." + +But aunt Dide was no longer listening to him. She was murmuring: "He had +his hands covered with blood. They'll kill him like the other one. His +uncles will send the gendarmes after him." + +"What are you muttering there?" asked her son, as he finished picking +the bones of the chicken. "You know I like people to accuse me to +my face. If I have sometimes talked to the little fellow about the +Republic, it was only to bring him round to a more reasonable way of +thinking. He was dotty. I love liberty myself, but it mustn't degenerate +into license. And as for Rougon, I esteem him. He's a man of courage and +common-sense." + +"He had the gun, hadn't he?" interrupted aunt Dide, whose wandering mind +seemed to be following Silvere far away along the high road. + +"The gun? Ah! yes; Macquart's carbine," continued Antoine, after casting +a glance at the mantel-shelf, where the fire-arm was usually hung. "I +fancy I saw it in his hands. A fine instrument to scour the country +with, when one has a girl on one's arm. What a fool!" + +Then he thought he might as well indulge in a few coarse jokes. Aunt +Dide had begun to bustle about the room again. She did not say a word. +Towards the evening Antoine went out, after putting on a blouse, and +pulling over his eyes a big cap which his mother had bought for him. +He returned into the town in the same manner as he had quitted it, by +relating some nonsensical story to the national guards who were on duty +at the Rome Gate. Then he made his way to the old quarter, where he +crept from house to house in a mysterious manner. All the Republicans of +advanced views, all the members of the brotherhood who had not followed +the insurrectionary army, met in an obscure inn, where Macquart had made +an appointment with them. When about fifty men were assembled, he made a +speech, in which he spoke of personal vengeance that must be wreaked, +of a victory that must be gained, and of a disgraceful yoke that must be +thrown off. And he ended by undertaking to deliver the town-hall over +to them in ten minutes. He had just left it, it was quite unguarded, +he said, and the red flag would wave over it that very night if they so +desired. The workmen deliberated. At that moment the reaction seemed to +be in its death throes. The insurgents were virtually at the gates of +the town. It would therefore be more honourable to make an effort to +regain power without awaiting their return, so as to be able to receive +them as brothers, with the gates wide open, and the streets and squares +adorned with flags. Moreover, none of those present distrusted Macquart. +His hatred of the Rougons, the personal vengeance of which he spoke, +could be taken as guaranteeing his loyalty. It was arranged that each of +them who was a sportsman and had a gun at home should fetch it, and +that the band should assemble at midnight in the neighbourhood of +the town-hall. A question of detail very nearly put an end to their +plans--they had no bullets; however, they decided to load their weapons +with small shot: and even that seemed unnecessary, as they were told +that they would meet with no resistance. + +Once more Plassans beheld a band of armed men filing along close to the +houses, in the quiet moonlight. When the band was assembled in front of +the town-hall, Macquart, while keeping a sharp look-out, boldly advanced +to the building. He knocked, and when the door-keeper, who had learnt +his lesson, asked what was wanted, he uttered such terrible threats, +that the man, feigning fright, made haste to open the door. Both leaves +of it swung back slowly, and the porch then lay open and empty before +them, while Macquart shouted in a loud voice: "Come on, my friends!" + +That was the signal. He himself quickly jumped aside, and as the +Republicans rushed in, there came, from the darkness of the yard, a +stream of fire and a hail of bullets, which swept through the gaping +porch with a roar as of thunder. The doorway vomited death. The +national guards, exasperated by their long wait, eager to shake off the +discomfort weighing upon them in that dismal court-yard, had fired a +volley with feverish haste. The flash of the firing was so bright, that, +through the yellow gleams Macquart distinctly saw Rougon taking aim. He +fancied that his brother's gun was deliberately levelled at himself, +and he recalled Felicite's blush, and made his escape, muttering: "No +tricks! The rascal would kill me. He owes me eight hundred francs." + +In the meantime a loud howl had arisen amid the darkness. The surprised +Republicans shouted treachery, and fired in their turn. A national guard +fell under the porch. But the Republicans, on their side, had three +dead. They took to flight, stumbling over the corpses, stricken with +panic, and shouting through the quiet lanes: "Our brothers are being +murdered!" in despairing voices which found no echo. Thereupon the +defenders of order, having had time to reload their weapons, rushed into +the empty square, firing at every street corner, wherever the darkness +of a door, the shadow of a lamp-post, or the jutting of a stone made +them fancy they saw an insurgent. In this wise they remained there ten +minutes, firing into space. + +The affray had burst over the slumbering town like a thunderclap. The +inhabitants in the neighbouring streets, roused from sleep by this +terrible fusillade, sat up in bed, their teeth chattering with fright. +Nothing in the world would have induced them to poke their noses out of +the window. And slowly, athwart the air, in which the shots had suddenly +resounded, one of the cathedral bells began to ring the tocsin with so +irregular, so strange a rhythm, that one might have thought the noise to +be the hammering of an anvil or the echoes of a colossal kettle struck +by a child in a fit of passion. This howling bell, whose sound the +citizens did not recognise, terrified them yet more than the reports of +the fire-arms had done; and there were some who thought they heard an +endless train of artillery rumbling over the paving-stones. They lay +down again and buried themselves beneath their blankets, as if they +would have incurred some danger by still sitting up in bed in their +closely-fastened rooms. With their sheets drawn up to their chins, they +held their breath, and made themselves as small as possible, while their +wives, by their side, almost fainted with terror as they buried their +heads among the pillows. + +The national guards who had remained at the ramparts had also heard the +shots, and thinking that the insurgents had entered by means of some +subterranean passage, they ran up helter-skelter, in groups of five +or six, disturbing the silence of the streets with the tumult of their +excited rush. Roudier was one of the first to arrive. However, Rougon +sent them all back to their posts, after reprimanding them severely +for abandoning the gates of the town. Thrown into consternation by +this reproach--for in their panic, they had, in fact, left the gates +absolutely defenceless--they again set off at a gallop, hurrying through +the streets with still more frightful uproar. Plassans might well have +thought that an infuriated army was crossing it in all directions. The +fusillade, the tocsin, the marches and countermarches of the national +guards, the weapons which were being dragged along like clubs, the +terrified cries in the darkness, all produced a deafening tumult, +such as might break forth in a town taken by assault and given over +to plunder. It was the final blow of the unfortunate inhabitants, who +really believed that the insurgents had arrived. They had, indeed, said +that it would be their last night--that Plassans would be swallowed up +in the earth, or would evaporate into smoke before daybreak; and now, +lying in their beds, they awaited the catastrophe in the most abject +terror, fancying at times that their houses were already tottering. + +Meantime Granoux still rang the tocsin. When, in other respects, silence +had again fallen upon the town, the mournfulness of that ringing became +intolerable. Rougon, who was in a high fever, felt exasperated by its +distant wailing. He hastened to the cathedral, and found the door open. +The beadle was on the threshold. + +"Ah! that's quite enough!" he shouted to the man; "anybody would think +there was some one crying; it's quite unbearable." + +"But it isn't me, sir," replied the beadle in a distressed manner. "It's +Monsieur Granoux, he's gone up into the steeple. I must tell you that I +removed the clapper of the bell, by his Reverence's order, precisely +to prevent the tocsin from being sounded. But Monsieur Granoux wouldn't +listen to reason. He climbed up, and I've no idea what he can be making +that noise with." + +Thereupon Rougon hastily ascended the staircase which led to the bells, +shouting: "That will do! That will do! For goodness' sake leave off!" + +When he had reached the top he caught sight of Granoux, by the light +of the moon which glided through an embrasure; the ex almond dealer was +standing there hatless, and dealing furious blows with a heavy hammer. +He did so with a right good will. He first threw himself back, then took +a spring, and finally fell upon the sonorous bronze as if he wanted +to crack it. One might have thought he was a blacksmith striking hot +iron--but a frock-coated blacksmith, short and bald, working in a wild +and awkward way. + +Surprise kept Rougon motionless for a moment at the sight of this +frantic bourgeois thus belabouring the bell in the moonlight. Then +he understood the kettle-like clang which this strange ringer had +disseminated over the town. He shouted to him to stop, but Granoux did +not hear. Rougon was obliged to take hold of his frock-coat, and then +the other recognising him, exclaimed in a triumphant voice: "Ah! you've +heard it. At first I tried to knock the bell with my fists, but that +hurt me. Fortunately I found this hammer. Just a few more blows, eh?" + +However, Rougon dragged him away. Granoux was radiant. He wiped his +forehead, and made his companion promise to let everybody know in the +morning that he had produced all that noise with a mere hammer. What +an achievement, and what a position of importance that furious ringing +would confer upon him! + +Towards morning, Rougon bethought himself of reassuring Felicite. In +accordance with his orders, the national guards had shut themselves up +in the town-hall. He had forbidden them to remove the corpses, under the +pretext that it was necessary to give the populace of the old quarter a +lesson. And as, while hastening to the Rue de la Banne, he passed over +the square, on which the moon was no longer shining, he inadvertently +stepped on the clenched hand of a corpse that lay beside the footpath. +At this he almost fell. That soft hand, which yielded beneath his +heel, brought him an indefinable sensation of disgust and horror. And +thereupon he hastened at full speed along the deserted streets, fancying +that a bloody fist was pursuing him. + +"There are four of them on the ground," he said, as he entered his +house. + +He and his wife looked at one another as though they were astonished at +their crime. + +The lamplight imparted the hue of yellow wax to their pale faces. + +"Have you left them there?" asked Felicite; "they must be found there." + +"Of course! I didn't pick them up. They are lying on their backs. I +stepped on something soft----" + +Then he looked at his boot; its heel was covered with blood. While he +was putting on a pair of shoes, Felicite resumed: + +"Well! so much the better! It's over now. People won't be inclined to +repeat that you only fire at mirrors." + +The fusillade which the Rougons had planned in order that they might +be finally recognised as the saviours of Plassans, brought the whole +terrified and grateful town to their feet. The day broke mournfully +with the grey melancholy of a winter-morning. The inhabitants, hearing +nothing further, ventured forth, weary of trembling beneath their +sheets. At first some ten or fifteen appeared. Later on, when a rumour +spread that the insurgents had taken flight, leaving their dead in +every gutter, Plassans rose in a body and descended upon the town-hall. +Throughout the morning people strolled inquisitively round the four +corpses. They were horribly mutilated, particularly one, which had three +bullets in the head. But the most horrible to look upon was the body +of a national guard, who had fallen under the porch; he had received a +charge of the small shot, used by the Republicans in lieu of bullets, +full in the face; and blood oozed from his torn and riddled countenance. +The crowd feasted their eyes upon this horror, with the avidity for +revolting spectacles which is so characteristic of cowards. The national +guard was freely recognised; he was the pork-butcher Dubruel, the man +whom Roudier had accused on the Monday morning of having fired with +culpable eagerness. Of the three other corpses, two were journeymen +hatters; the third was not identified. For a long while gaping groups +remained shuddering in front of the red pools which stained the +pavement, often looking behind them with an air of mistrust, as though +that summary justice which had restored order during the night by force +of arms, were, even now, watching and listening to them, ready to shoot +them down in their turn, unless they kissed with enthusiasm the hand +that had just rescued them from the demagogy. + +The panic of the night further augmented the terrible effect produced +in the morning by the sight of the four corpses. The true history of +the fusillade was never known. The firing of the combatants, Granoux's +hammering, the helter-skelter rush of the national guards through the +streets, had filled people's ears with such terrifying sounds that most +of them dreamed of a gigantic battle waged against countless enemies. +When the victors, magnifying the number of their adversaries with +instinctive braggardism, spoke of about five hundred men, everybody +protested against such a low estimate. Some citizens asserted that they +had looked out of their windows and seen an immense stream of fugitives +passing by for more than an hour. Moreover everybody had heard the +bandits running about. Five hundred men would never have been able to +rouse a whole town. It must have been an army, and a fine big army too, +which the brave militia of Plassans had "driven back into the ground." +This phrase of their having been "driven back into the ground," first +used by Rougon, struck people as being singularly appropriate, for the +guards who were charged with the defence of the ramparts swore by all +that was holy that not a single man had entered or quitted the town, +a circumstance which tinged what had happened with mystery, even +suggesting the idea of horned demons who had vanished amidst flames, and +thus fairly upsetting the minds of the multitude. It is true the guards +avoided all mention of their mad gallops; and so the more rational +citizens were inclined to believe that a band of insurgents had really +entered the town either by a breach in the wall or some other channel. +Later on, rumours of treachery were spread abroad, and people talked of +an ambush. The cruel truth could no longer be concealed by the men whom +Macquart had led to slaughter, but so much terror still prevailed, +and the sight of blood had thrown so many cowards into the arms of the +reactionary party, that these rumours were attributed to the rage of +the vanquished Republicans. It was asserted, on the other hand, that +Macquart had been made prisoner by Rougon, who kept him in a damp cell, +where he was letting him slowly die of starvation. This horrible tale +made people bow to the very ground whenever they encountered Rougon. + +Thus it was that this grotesque personage, this pale, flabby, +tun-bellied citizen became, in one night, a terrible captain, whom +nobody dared to ridicule any more. He had steeped his foot in blood. +The inhabitants of the old quarter stood dumb with fright before the +corpses. But towards ten o'clock, when the respectable people of the new +town arrived, the whole square hummed with subdued chatter. People spoke +of the other attack, of the seizure of the mayor's office, in which a +mirror only had been wounded; but this time they no longer pooh-poohed +Rougon, they spoke of him with respectful dismay; he was indeed a hero, +a deliverer. The corpses, with open eyes, stared at those gentlemen, the +lawyers and householders, who shuddered as they murmured that civil war +had many cruel necessities. The notary, the chief of the deputation +sent to the town-hall on the previous evening, went from group to group, +recalling the proud words "I am prepared!" then used by the energetic +man to whom the town owed its safety. There was a general feeling of +humiliation. Those who had railed most cruelly against the forty-one, +those, especially, who had referred to the Rougons as intriguers and +cowards who merely fired shots in the air, were the first to speak of +granting a crown of laurels "to the noble citizen of whom Plassans would +be for ever proud." For the pools of blood were drying on the pavement, +and the corpses proclaimed to what a degree of audacity the party of +disorder, pillage, and murder had gone, and what an iron hand had been +required to put down the insurrection. + +Moreover, the whole crowd was eager to congratulate Granoux, and shake +hands with him. The story of the hammer had become known. By an innocent +falsehood, however, of which he himself soon became unconscious, he +asserted that, having been the first to see the insurgents, he had set +about striking the bell, in order to sound the alarm, so that, but for +him, the national guards would have been massacred. This doubled his +importance. His achievement was declared prodigious. People spoke of him +now as "Monsieur Isidore, don't you know? the gentleman who sounded +the tocsin with a hammer!" Although the sentence was somewhat lengthy, +Granoux would willingly have accepted it as a title of nobility; and +from that day forward he never heard the word "hammer" pronounced +without imagining it to be some delicate flattery. + +While the corpses were being removed, Aristide came to look at them. He +examined them on all sides, sniffing and looking inquisitively at +their faces. His eyes were bright, and he had a sharp expression of +countenance. In order to see some wound the better he even lifted up the +blouse of one corpse with the very hand which on the previous day had +been suspended in a sling. This examination seemed to convince him and +remove all doubt from his mind. He bit his lips, remained there for a +moment in silence, and then went off for the purpose of hastening the +issue of the "Independant," for which he had written a most important +article. And as he hurried along beside the houses he recalled his +mother's words: "You will see to-morrow!" Well, he had seen now; it was +very clever; it even frightened him somewhat. + +In the meantime, Rougon's triumph was beginning to embarrass him. Alone +in Monsieur Garconnet's office, hearing the buzzing of the crowd, he +became conscious of a strange feeling, which prevented him from showing +himself on the balcony. That blood, in which he had stepped, seemed to +have numbed his legs. He wondered what he should do until the evening. +His poor empty brain, upset by the events of the night, sought +desperately for some occupation, some order to give, or some measure to +be taken, which might afford him some distraction. But he could think +about nothing clearly. Whither was Felicite leading him? Was it really +all finished now, or would he still have to kill somebody else? Then +fear again assailed him, terrible doubts arose in his mind, and he +already saw the ramparts broken down on all sides by an avenging army +of the Republicans, when a loud shout: "The insurgents! The insurgents!" +burst forth under the very windows of his room. At this he jumped up, +and raising a curtain, saw the crowd rushing about the square in a state +of terror. What a thunderbolt! In less than a second he pictured himself +ruined, plundered, and murdered; he cursed his wife, he cursed the whole +town. Then, as he looked behind him in a suspicious manner, seeking +some means of escape, he heard the mob break out into applause, uttering +shouts of joy, making the very glass rattle with their wild +delight. Then he returned to the window; the women were waving their +handkerchiefs, and the men were embracing each other. There were some +among them who joined hands and began to dance. Rougon stood there +stupefied, unable to comprehend it all, and feeling his head swimming. +The big, deserted, silent building, in which he was alone, quite +frightened him. + +When he afterwards confessed his feelings to Felicite, he was unable to +say how long his torture had lasted. He only remembered that a noise of +footsteps, re-echoing through the vast halls, had roused him from his +stupor. He expected to be attacked by men in blouses, armed with scythes +and clubs, whereas it was the Municipal Commission which entered, quite +orderly and in evening dress, each member with a beaming countenance. +Not one of them was absent. A piece of good news had simultaneously +cured all these gentlemen. Granoux rushed into the arms of his dear +president. + +"The soldiers!" he stammered, "the soldiers!" + +A regiment had, in fact, just arrived, under the command of Colonel +Masson and Monsieur de Bleriot, prefect of the department. The +gunbarrels which had been observed from the ramparts, far away in the +plain, had at first suggested the approach of the insurgents. Rougon was +so deeply moved on learning the truth, that two big tears rolled down +his cheeks. He was weeping, the great citizen! The Municipal Commission +watched those big tears with most respectful admiration. But Granoux +again threw himself on his friend's neck, crying: + +"Ah! how glad I am! You know I'm a straightforward man. Well, we were +all of us afraid; it is not so, gentlemen? You, alone, were great, +brave, sublime! What energy you must have had! I was just now saying to +my wife: 'Rougon is a great man; he deserves to be decorated.'" + +Then the gentlemen proposed to go and meet the prefect. For a moment +Rougon felt both stunned and suffocated; he was unable to believe +in this sudden triumph, and stammered like a child. However, he drew +breath, and went downstairs with the quiet dignity suited to the +solemnity of the occasion. But the enthusiasm which greeted the +commission and its president outside the town-hall almost upset his +magisterial gravity afresh. His name sped through the crowd, accompanied +this time by the warmest eulogies. He heard everyone repeat Granoux's +avowal, and treat him as a hero who had stood firm and resolute amidst +universal panic. And, as far as the Sub-Prefecture, where the commission +met the prefect, he drank his fill of popularity and glory. + +Monsieur de Bleriot and Colonel Masson had entered the town alone, +leaving their troops encamped on the Lyons road. They had lost +considerable time through a misunderstanding as to the direction taken +by the insurgents. Now, however, they knew the latter were at Orcheres; +and it would only be necessary to stop an hour at Plassans, just +sufficient time to reassure the population and publish the cruel +ordinances which decreed the sequestration of the insurgents' property, +and death to every individual who might be taken with arms in his +hands. Colonel Masson smiled when, in accordance with the orders of the +commander of the national guards, the bolts of the Rome Gate were drawn +back with a great rattling of rusty old iron. The detachment on duty +there accompanied the prefect and the colonel as a guard of honour. +As they traversed the Cours Sauvaire, Roudier related Rougon's epic +achievements to the gentlemen--the three days of panic that had +terminated with the brilliant victory of the previous night. When the +two processions came face to face therefore, Monsieur de Bleriot quickly +advanced towards the president of the Commission, shook hands with him, +congratulated him, and begged him to continue to watch over the town +until the return of the authorities. Rougon bowed, while the prefect, +having reached the door of the Sub-Prefecture, where he wished to take +a brief rest, proclaimed in a loud voice that he would not forget to +mention his brave and noble conduct in his report. + +In the meantime, in spite of the bitter cold, everybody had come to +their windows. Felicite, leaning forward at the risk of falling out, +was quite pale with joy. Aristide had just arrived with a number of the +"Independant," in which he had openly declared himself in favour of the +Coup d'Etat, which he welcomed "as the aurora of liberty in order and +of order in liberty." He had also made a delicate allusion to the +yellow drawing-room, acknowledging his errors, declaring that "youth is +presumptuous," and that "great citizens say nothing, reflect in silence, +and let insults pass by, in order to rise heroically when the day of +struggle comes." He was particularly pleased with this sentence. His +mother thought his article extremely well written. She kissed her dear +child, and placed him on her right hand. The Marquis de Carnavant, weary +of incarcerating himself, and full of eager curiosity, had likewise come +to see her, and stood on her left, leaning on the window rail. + +When Monsieur de Bleriot offered his hand to Rougon on the square below +Felicite began to weep. "Oh! see, see," she said to Aristide. "He has +shaken hands with him. Look! he is doing it again!" And casting a glance +at the windows, where groups of people were congregated, she added: "How +wild they must be! Look at Monsieur Peirotte's wife, she's biting +her handkerchief. And over there, the notary's daughter, and Madame +Massicot, and the Brunet family, what faces, eh? how angry they look! +Ah, indeed, it's our turn now." + +She followed the scene which was being acted outside the Sub-Prefecture +with thrills of delight, which shook her ardent, grasshopper-like figure +from head to foot. She interpreted the slightest gesture, invented words +which she was unable to catch, and declared that Pierre bowed very well +indeed. She was a little vexed when the prefect deigned to speak to poor +Granoux, who was hovering about him fishing for a word of praise. No +doubt Monsieur de Bleriot already knew the story of the hammer, for the +retired almond-dealer turned as red as a young girl, and seemed to +be saying that he had only done his duty. However, that which angered +Felicite still more was her husband's excessive amiability in presenting +Vuillet to the authorities. Vuillet, it is true, pushed himself forward +amongst them, and Rougon was compelled to mention him. + +"What a schemer!" muttered Felicite. "He creeps in everywhere. How +confused my poor dear husband must be! See, there's the colonel speaking +to him. What can he be saying to him?" + +"Ah! little one," the marquis replied with a touch of irony, "he is +complimenting him for having closed the gates so carefully." + +"My father has saved the town," Aristide retorted curtly. "Have you seen +the corpses, sir?" + +Monsieur de Carnavant did not answer. He withdrew from the window, and +sat down in an arm-chair, shaking his head with an air of some disgust. +At that moment, the prefect having taken his departure, Rougon came +upstairs and threw himself upon his wife's neck. + +"Ah! my dear!" he stammered. + +He was unable to say more. Felicite made him kiss Aristide after telling +him of the superb article which the young man had inserted in the +"Independant." Pierre would have kissed the marquis as well, he was +deeply affected. However, his wife took him aside, and gave him Eugene's +letter which she had sealed up in an envelope again. She pretended that +it had just been delivered. Pierre read it and then triumphantly held it +out to her. + +"You are a sorceress," he said to her laughing. "You guessed everything. +What folly I should have committed without you! We'll manage our little +affairs together now. Kiss me: you're a good woman." + +He clasped her in his arms, while she discreetly exchanged a knowing +smile with the marquis. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +It was not until Sunday, the day after the massacre at Sainte-Roure, +that the troops passed through Plassans again. The prefect and the +colonel, whom Monsieur Garconnet had invited to dinner, once more +entered the town alone. The soldiers went round the ramparts and +encamped in the Faubourg, on the Nice road. Night was falling; the sky, +overcast since the morning, had a strange yellow tint, and illumined +the town with a murky light, similar to the copper-coloured glimmer +of stormy weather. The reception of the troops by the inhabitants was +timid; the bloodstained soldiers, who passed by weary and silent, in +the yellow twilight, horrified the cleanly citizens promenading on +the Cours. They stepped out of the way whispering terrible stories of +fusillades and revengeful reprisals which still live in the recollection +of the region. The Coup d'Etat terror was beginning to make itself felt, +an overwhelming terror which kept the South in a state of tremor for +many a long month. Plassans, in its fear and hatred of the insurgents, +had welcomed the troops on their first arrival with enthusiasm; but now, +at the appearance of that gloomy taciturn regiment, whose men were ready +to fire at a word from their officers, the retired merchants and even +the notaries of the new town anxiously examined their consciences, +asking if they had not committed some political peccadilloes which might +be thought deserving of a bullet. + +The municipal authorities had returned on the previous evening in a +couple of carts hired at Sainte-Roure. Their unexpected entry was devoid +of all triumphal display. Rougon surrendered the mayor's arm-chair +without much regret. The game was over; and with feverish longing he now +awaited the recompense for his devotion. On the Sunday--he had not hoped +for it until the following day--he received a letter from Eugene. +Since the previous Thursday Felicite had taken care to send her son +the numbers of the "Gazette" and "Independant" which, in special second +editions had narrated the battle of the night and the arrival of the +prefect at Plassans. Eugene now replied by return of post that the +nomination of a receivership would soon be signed; but added that he +wished to give them some good news immediately. He had obtained the +ribbon of the Legion of Honour for his father. Felicite wept with joy. +Her husband decorated! Her proud dream had never gone as far as that. +Rougon, pale with delight, declared they must give a grand dinner that +very evening. He no longer thought of expense; he would have thrown his +last fifty francs out of the drawing-room windows in order to celebrate +that glorious day. + +"Listen," he said to his wife; "you must invite Sicardot: he has annoyed +me with that rosette of his for a long time! Then Granoux and Roudier; +I shouldn't be at all sorry to make them feel that it isn't their purses +that will ever win them the cross. Vuillet is a skinflint, but the +triumph ought to be complete: invite him as well as the small fry. I was +forgetting; you must go and call on the marquis in person; we will seat +him on your right; he'll look very well at our table. You know that +Monsieur Garconnet is entertaining the colonel and the prefect. That is +to make me understand that I am nobody now. But I can afford to laugh at +his mayoralty; it doesn't bring him in a sou! He has invited me, but +I shall tell him that I also have some people coming. The others will +laugh on the wrong side of their mouths to-morrow. And let everything +be of the best. Have everything sent from the Hotel de Provence. We must +outdo the mayor's dinner." + +Felicite set to work. Pierre still felt some vague uneasiness amidst his +rapture. The Coup d'Etat was going to pay his debts, his son Aristide +had repented of his faults, and he was at last freeing himself from +Macquart; but he feared some folly on Pascal's part, and was especially +anxious about the lot reserved for Silvere. Not that he felt the least +pity for the lad; he was simply afraid the matter of the gendarme might +come before the Assize Court. Ah! if only some discriminating bullet had +managed to rid him of that young scoundrel! As his wife had pointed out +to him in the morning, all obstacles had fallen away before him; the +family which had dishonoured him had, at the last moment, worked for his +elevation; his sons Eugene and Aristide, those spend-thrifts, the cost +of whose college life he had so bitterly regretted, were at last paying +interest on the capital expended for their education. And yet the +thought of that wretched Silvere must come to mar his hour of triumph! + +While Felicite was running about to prepare the dinner for the evening, +Pierre heard of the arrival of the troops and determined to go and make +inquiries. Sicardot, whom he had questioned on his return, knew nothing; +Pascal must have remained to look after the wounded; as for Silvere, he +had not even been seen by the commander, who scarcely knew him. Rougon +therefore repaired to the Faubourg, intending to make inquiries there +and at the same time pay Macquart the eight hundred francs which he had +just succeeded in raising with great difficulty. However, when he found +himself in the crowded encampment, and from a distance saw the prisoners +sitting in long files on the beams in the Aire Saint-Mittre, guarded by +soldiers gun in hand, he felt afraid of being compromised, and so slunk +off to his mother's house, with the intention of sending the old woman +out to pick up some information. + +When he entered the hovel it was almost night. At first the only person +he saw there was Macquart smoking and drinking brandy. + +"Is that you? I'm glad of it," muttered Antoine. "I'm growing deuced +cold here. Have you got the money?" + +But Pierre did not reply. He had just perceived his son Pascal leaning +over the bed. And thereupon he questioned him eagerly. The doctor, +surprised by his uneasiness, which he attributed to paternal affection, +told him that the soldiers had taken him and would have shot him, had +it not been for the intervention of some honest fellow whom he did not +know. Saved by his profession of surgeon, he had returned to Plassans +with the troops. This greatly relieved Rougon. So there was yet another +who would not compromise him. He was evincing his delight by repeated +hand-shakings, when Pascal concluded in a sorrowful voice: "Oh! don't +make merry. I have just found my poor grandmother in a very dangerous +state. I brought her back this carbine, which she values very much; I +found her lying here, and she has not moved since." + +Pierre's eyes were becoming accustomed to the dimness. In the fast +fading light he saw aunt Dide stretched, rigid and seemingly lifeless, +upon her bed. Her wretched frame, attacked by neurosis from the hour of +birth, was at length laid prostrate by a supreme shock. Her nerves had +so to say consumed her blood. Moreover some cruel grief seemed to have +suddenly accelerated her slow wasting-away. Her pale nun-like face, +drawn and pinched by a life of gloom and cloister-like self-denial, was +now stained with red blotches. With convulsed features, eyes that glared +terribly, and hands twisted and clenched, she lay at full length in her +skirts, which failed to hide the sharp outlines of her scrawny limbs. +Extended there with lips closely pressed she imparted to the dim room +all the horror of a mute death-agony. + +Rougon made a gesture of vexation. This heart-rending spectacle was very +distasteful to him. He had company coming to dinner in the evening, and +it would be extremely inconvenient for him to have to appear mournful. +His mother was always doing something to bother him. She might just +as well have chosen another day. However, he put on an appearance of +perfect ease, as he said: "Bah! it's nothing. I've seen her like that a +hundred times. You must let her lie still; it's the only thing that does +her any good." + +Pascal shook his head. "No, this fit isn't like the others," he +whispered. "I have often studied her, and have never observed such +symptoms before. Just look at her eyes: there is a peculiar fluidity, a +pale brightness about them which causes me considerable uneasiness. And +her face, how frightfully every muscle of it is distorted!" + +Then bending over to observe her features more closely, he continued +in a whisper, as though speaking to himself: "I have never seen such a +face, excepting among people who have been murdered or have died from +fright. She must have experienced some terrible shock." + +"But how did the attack begin?" Rougon impatiently inquired, at a loss +for an excuse to leave the room. + +Pascal did not know. Macquart, as he poured himself out another glass +of brandy, explained that he had felt an inclination to drink a little +Cognac, and had sent her to fetch a bottle. She had not been long +absent, and at the very moment when she returned she had fallen rigid on +the floor without uttering a word. Macquart himself had carried her to +the bed. + +"What surprises me," he said, by way of conclusion, "is, that she did +not break the bottle." + +The young doctor reflected. After a short pause he resumed: "I heard two +shots fired as I came here. Perhaps those ruffians have been shooting +some more prisoners. If she passed through the ranks of the soldiers at +that moment, the sight of blood may have thrown her into this fit. She +must have had some dreadful shock." + +Fortunately he had with him the little medicine-case which he had been +carrying about ever since the departure of the insurgents. He tried +to pour a few drops of reddish liquid between aunt Dide's closely-set +teeth, while Macquart again asked his brother: "Have you got the money?" + +"Yes, I've brought it; we'll settle now," Rougon replied, glad of this +diversion. + +Thereupon Macquart, seeing that he was about to be paid, began to moan. +He had only learnt the consequence of his treachery when it was too +late; otherwise he would have demanded twice or thrice as much. And he +complained bitterly. Really now a thousand francs was not enough. His +children had forsaken him, he was all alone in the world, and obliged to +quit France. He almost wept as he spoke of his coming exile. + +"Come now, will you take the eight hundred francs?" said Rougon, who was +in haste to be off. + +"No, certainly not; double the sum. Your wife cheated me. If she had +told me distinctly what it was she expected of me, I would never have +compromised myself for such a trifle." + +Rougon laid the eight hundred francs upon the table. + +"I swear I haven't got any more," he resumed. "I will think of you +later. But do, for mercy's sake, get away this evening." + +Macquart, cursing and muttering protests, thereupon carried the table +to the window, and began to count the gold in the fading twilight. The +coins tickled the tips of his fingers very pleasantly as he let them +fall, and jingled musically in the darkness. At last he paused for a +moment to say: "You promised to get me a berth, remember. I want to +return to France. The post of rural guard in some pleasant neighbourhood +which I could mention, would just suit me." + +"Very well, I'll see about it," Rougon replied. "Have you got the eight +hundred francs?" + +Macquart resumed his counting. The last coins were just clinking when a +burst of laughter made them turn their heads. Aunt Dide was standing up +in front of the bed, with her bodice unfastened, her white hair hanging +loose, and her face stained with red blotches. Pascal had in vain +endeavoured to hold her down. Trembling all over, and with her arms +outstretched, she shook her head deliriously. + +"The blood-money! the blood-money!" she again and again repeated. "I +heard the gold. And it is they, they who sold him. Ah! the murderers! +They are a pack of wolves." + +Then she pushed her hair aback, and passed her hand over her brow, as +though seeking to collect her thoughts. And she continued: "Ah! I have +long seen him with a bullet-hole in his forehead. There were always +people lying in wait for him with guns. They used to sign to me that +they were going to fire. . . . It's terrible! I feel some one breaking +my bones and battering out my brains. Oh! Mercy! Mercy! I beseech you; +he shall not see her any more--never, never! I will shut him up. I will +prevent him from walking out with her. Mercy! Mercy! Don't fire. It is +not my fault. If you knew----" + +She had almost fallen on her knees, and was weeping and entreating while +she stretched her poor trembling hands towards some horrible vision +which she saw in the darkness. Then she suddenly rose upright, and her +eyes opened still more widely as a terrible cry came from her convulsed +throat, as though some awful sight, visible to her alone, had filled her +with mad terror. + +"Oh, the gendarme!" she said, choking and falling backwards on the bed, +where she rolled about, breaking into long bursts of furious, insane +laughter. + +Pascal was studying the attack attentively. The two brothers, who felt +very frightened, and only detected snatches of what their mother said, +had taken refuge in a corner of the room. When Rougon heard the word +gendarme, he thought he understood her. Ever since the murder of her +lover, the elder Macquart, on the frontier, aunt Dide had cherished a +bitter hatred against all gendarmes and custom-house officers, whom she +mingled together in one common longing for vengeance. + +"Why, it's the story of the poacher that she's telling us," he +whispered. + +But Pascal made a sign to him to keep quiet. The stricken woman had +raised herself with difficulty, and was looking round her, with a +stupefied air. She remained silent for a moment, endeavouring to +recognise the various objects in the room, as though she were in some +strange place. Then, with a sudden expression of anxiety, she asked: +"Where is the gun?" + +The doctor put the carbine into her hands. At this she raised a light +cry of joy, and gazed at the weapon, saying in a soft, sing-song, +girlish whisper: "That is it. Oh! I recognise it! It is all stained with +blood. The stains are quite fresh to-day. His red hands have left marks +of blood on the butt. Ah! poor, poor aunt Dide!" + +Then she became dizzy once more, and lapsed into silent thought. + +"The gendarme was dead," she murmured at last, "but I have seen him +again; he has come back. They never die, those blackguards!" + +Again did gloomy passion come over her, and, shaking the carbine, she +advanced towards her two sons who, speechless with fright, retreated to +the very wall. Her loosened skirts trailed along the ground, as she drew +up her twisted frame, which age had reduced to mere bones. + +"It's you who fired!" she cried. "I heard the gold. . . . Wretched woman +that I am! . . . I brought nothing but wolves into the world--a whole +family--a whole litter of wolves! . . . There was only one poor lad, +and him they have devoured; each had a bite at him, and their lips are +covered with blood. . . . Ah! the accursed villains! They have robbed, +they have murdered. . . . And they live like gentlemen. Villains! +Accursed villains!" + +She sang, laughed, cried, and repeated "accursed villains!" in strangely +sonorous tones, which suggested a crackling of a fusillade. Pascal, with +tears in his eyes, took her in his arms and laid her on the bed +again. She submitted like a child, but persisted in her wailing cries, +accelerating their rhythm, and beating time on the sheet with her +withered hands. + +"That's just what I was afraid of," the doctor said; "she is mad. The +blow has been too heavy for a poor creature already subject, as she is, +to acute neurosis. She will die in a lunatic asylum like her father." + +"But what could she have seen?" asked Rougon, at last venturing to quit +the corner where he had hidden himself. + +"I have a terrible suspicion," Pascal replied. "I was going to speak to +you about Silvere when you came in. He is a prisoner. You must endeavour +to obtain his release from the prefect, if there is still time." + +The old oil-dealer turned pale as he looked at his son. Then, rapidly, +he responded: "Listen to me; you stay here and watch her. I'm too busy +this evening. We will see to-morrow about conveying her to the lunatic +asylum at Les Tulettes. As for you, Macquart, you must leave this +very night. Swear to me that you will! I'm going to find Monsieur de +Bleriot." + +He stammered as he spoke, and felt more eager than ever to get out into +the fresh air of the streets. Pascal fixed a penetrating look on the +madwoman, and then on his father and uncle. His professional instinct +was getting the better of him, and he studied the mother and the sons, +with all the keenness of a naturalist observing the metamorphosis of +some insect. He pondered over the growth of that family to which he +belonged, over the different branches growing from one parent stock, +whose sap carried identical germs to the farthest twigs, which bent in +divers ways according to the sunshine or shade in which they lived. And +for a moment, as by the glow of a lightning flash, he thought he could +espy the future of the Rougon-Macquart family, a pack of unbridled, +insatiate appetites amidst a blaze of gold and blood. + +Aunt Dide, however, had ceased her wailing chant at the mention of +Silvere's name. For a moment she listened anxiously. Then she broke out +into terrible shrieks. Night had now completely fallen, and the black +room seemed void and horrible. The shrieks of the madwoman, who was +no longer visible, rang out from the darkness as from a grave. Rougon, +losing his head, took to flight, pursued by those taunting cries, whose +bitterness seemed to increase amidst the gloom. + +As he was emerging from the Impasse Saint-Mittre with hesitating steps, +wondering whether it would not be dangerous to solicit Silvere's pardon +from the prefect, he saw Aristide prowling about the timber-yard. The +latter, recognising his father, ran up to him with an expression of +anxiety and whispered a few words in his ear. Pierre turned pale, and +cast a look of alarm towards the end of the yard, where the darkness was +only relieved by the ruddy glow of a little gipsy fire. Then they both +disappeared down the Rue de Rome, quickening their steps as though they +had committed a murder, and turning up their coat-collars in order that +they might not be recognised. + +"That saves me an errand," Rougon whispered. "Let us go to dinner. They +are waiting for us." + +When they arrived, the yellow drawing-room was resplendent. Felicite +was all over the place. Everybody was there; Sicardot, Granoux, Roudier, +Vuillet, the oil-dealers, the almond-dealers, the whole set. The +marquis, however, had excused himself on the plea of rheumatism; +and, besides, he was about to leave Plassans on a short trip. Those +bloodstained bourgeois offended his feelings of delicacy, and moreover +his relative, the Count de Valqueyras, had begged him to withdraw from +public notice for a little time. Monsieur de Carnavant's refusal vexed +the Rougons; but Felicite consoled herself by resolving to make a more +profuse display. She hired a pair of candelabra and ordered several +additional dishes as a kind of substitute for the marquis. The table was +laid in the yellow drawing-room, in order to impart more solemnity to +the occasion. The Hotel de Provence had supplied the silver, the china, +and the glass. The cloth had been laid ever since five o'clock in order +that the guests on arriving might feast their eyes upon it. At either +end of the table, on the white cloth, were bouquets of artificial roses, +in porcelain vases gilded and painted with flowers. + +When the habitual guests of the yellow drawing-room were assembled +there they could not conceal their admiration of the spectacle. Several +gentlemen smiled with an air of embarrassment while they exchanged +furtive glances, which clearly signified, "These Rougons are mad, +they are throwing their money out of the window." The truth was that +Felicite, on going round to invite her guests, had been unable to hold +her tongue. So everybody knew that Pierre had been decorated, and that +he was about to be nominated to some post; at which, of course, they +pulled wry faces. Roudier indeed observed that "the little black woman +was puffing herself out too much." Now that "prize-day" had come this +band of bourgeois, who had rushed upon the expiring Republic--each one +keeping an eye on the other, and glorying in giving a deeper bite than +his neighbour--did not think it fair that their hosts should have all +the laurels of the battle. Even those who had merely howled by instinct, +asking no recompense of the rising Empire, were greatly annoyed to see +that, thanks to them, the poorest and least reputable of them all should +be decorated with the red ribbon. The whole yellow drawing-room ought to +have been decorated! + +"Not that I value the decoration," Roudier said to Granoux, whom he had +dragged into the embrasure of a window. "I refused it in the time of +Louis-Philippe, when I was purveyor to the court. Ah! Louis-Philippe was +a good king. France will never find his equal!" + +Roudier was becoming an Orleanist once more. And he added, with the +crafty hypocrisy of an old hosier from the Rue Saint-Honore: "But you, +my dear Granoux; don't you think the ribbon would look well in your +button-hole? After all, you did as much to save the town as Rougon did. +Yesterday, when I was calling upon some very distinguished persons, they +could scarcely believe it possible that you had made so much noise with +a mere hammer." + +Granoux stammered his thanks, and, blushing like a maiden at her first +confession of love, whispered in Roudier's ear: "Don't say anything +about it, but I have reason to believe that Rougon will ask the ribbon +for me. He's a good fellow at heart, you know." + +The old hosier thereupon became grave, and assumed a very affable +manner. When Vuillet came and spoke to him of the well-deserved reward +that their friend had just received, he replied in a loud voice, so as +to be heard by Felicite, who was sitting a little way off, that "men +like Rougon were an ornament to the Legion of Honour." The bookseller +joined in the chorus; he had that morning received a formal assurance +that the custom of the college would be restored to him. As for +Sicardot, he at first felt somewhat annoyed to find himself no longer +the only one of the set who was decorated. According to him, none but +soldiers had a right to the ribbon. Pierre's valour surprised him. +However, being in reality a good-natured fellow, he at last grew warmer, +and ended by saying that the Napoleons always knew how to distinguish +men of spirit and energy. + +Rougon and Aristide consequently had an enthusiastic reception; on their +arrival all hands were held out to them. Some of the guests went so +far as to embrace them. Angele sat on the sofa, by the side of her +mother-in-law, feeling very happy, and gazing at the table with the +astonishment of a gourmand who has never seen so many dishes at once. +When Aristide approached, Sicardot complimented his son-in-law upon his +superb article in the "Independant." He restored his friendship to +him. The young man, in answer to the fatherly questions which Sicardot +addressed to him, replied that he was anxious to take his little family +with him to Paris, where his brother Eugene would push him forward; but +he was in want of five hundred francs. Sicardot thereupon promised +him the money, already foreseeing the day when his daughter would be +received at the Tuileries by Napoleon III. + +In the meantime, Felicite had made a sign to her husband. Pierre, +surrounded by everybody and anxiously questioned about his pallor, could +only escape for a minute. He was just able to whisper in his wife's ear +that he had found Pascal and that Macquart would leave that night. Then +lowering his voice still more he told her of his mother's insanity, and +placed his finger on his lips, as if to say: "Not a word; that would +spoil the whole evening." Felicite bit her lips. They exchanged a look +in which they read their common thoughts: so now the old woman would not +trouble them any more: the poacher's hovel would be razed to the ground, +as the walls of the Fouques' enclosure had been demolished; and they +would for ever enjoy the respect and esteem of Plassans. + +But the guests were looking at the table. Felicite showed the gentlemen +their seats. It was perfect bliss. As each one took his spoon, Sicardot +made a gesture to solicit a moment's delay. Then he rose and gravely +said: "Gentlemen, on behalf of the company present, I wish to express +to our host how pleased we are at the rewards which his courage and +patriotism have procured for him. I now see that he must have acted upon +a heaven-sent inspiration in remaining here, while those beggars were +dragging myself and others along the high roads. Therefore, I heartily +applaud the decision of the government. . . . Let me finish, you can +then congratulate our friend. . . . Know, then, that our friend, besides +being made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, is also to be appointed +to a receiver of taxes." + +There was a cry of surprise. They had expected a small post. Some of +them tried to force a smile; but, aided by the sight of the table, the +compliments again poured forth profusely. + +Sicardot once more begged for silence. "Wait one moment," he resumed; +"I have not finished. Just one word. It is probable that our friend will +remain among us, owing to the death of Monsieur Peirotte." + +Whilst the guests burst out into exclamations, Felicite felt a keen pain +in her heart. Sicardot had already told her that the receiver had been +shot; but at the mention of that sudden and shocking death, just as they +were starting on that triumphal dinner, it seemed as if a chilling gust +swept past her face. She remembered her wish; it was she who had killed +that man. However, amidst the tinkling music of the silver, the company +began to do honour to the banquet. In the provinces, people eat +very much and very noisily. By the time the _releve_ was served, the +gentlemen were all talking together; they showered kicks upon the +vanquished, flattered one another, and made disparaging remarks about +the absence of the marquis. It was impossible, they said, to maintain +intercourse with the nobility. Roudier even gave out that the marquis +had begged to be excused because his fear of the insurgents had given +him jaundice. At the second course they all scrambled like hounds at +the quarry. The oil-dealers and almond-dealers were the men who saved +France. They clinked glasses to the glory of the Rougons. Granoux, who +was very red, began to stammer, while Vuillet, very pale, was quite +drunk. Nevertheless Sicardot continued filling his glass. For her part +Angele, who had already eaten too much, prepared herself some sugar and +water. The gentlemen were so delighted at being freed from panic, and +finding themselves together again in that yellow drawing-room, round a +good table, in the bright light radiating from the candelabra and +the chandelier--which they now saw for the first time without its +fly-specked cover--that they gave way to most exuberant folly and +indulged in the coarsest enjoyment. Their voices rose in the warm +atmosphere more huskily and eulogistically at each successive dish till +they could scarcely invent fresh compliments. However, one of them, an +old retired master-tanner, hit upon this fine phrase--that the dinner +was a "perfect feast worthy of Lucullus." + +Pierre was radiant, and his big pale face perspired with triumph. +Felicite, already accustoming herself to her new station in life, said +that they would probably rent poor Monsieur Peirotte's flat until they +could purchase a house of their own in the new town. She was already +planning how she would place her future furniture in the receiver's +rooms. She was entering into possession of her Tuileries. At one +moment, however, as the uproar of voices became deafening, she seemed to +recollect something, and quitting her seat she whispered in Aristide's +ear: "And Silvere?" + +The young man started with surprise at the question. + +"He is dead," he replied, likewise in a whisper. "I was there when the +gendarme blew his brains out with a pistol." + +Felicite in her turn shuddered. She opened her mouth to ask her son +why he had not prevented this murder by claiming the lad; but abruptly +hesitating she remained there speechless. Then Aristide, who had read +her question on her quivering lips, whispered: "You understand, I said +nothing--so much the worse for him! I did quite right. It's a good +riddance." + +This brutal frankness displeased Felicite. So Aristide had his skeleton, +like his father and mother. He would certainly not have confessed so +openly that he had been strolling about the Faubourg and had allowed his +cousin to be shot, had not the wine from the Hotel de Provence and the +dreams he was building upon his approaching arrival in Paris, made +him depart from his habitual cunning. The words once spoken, he +swung himself to and fro on his chair. Pierre, who had watched the +conversation between his wife and son from a distance, understood what +had passed and glanced at them like an accomplice imploring silence. It +was the last blast of terror, as it were, which blew over the Rougons, +amidst the splendour and enthusiastic merriment of the dinner. True, +Felicite, on returning to her seat, espied a taper burning behind a +window on the other side of the road. Some one sat watching Monsieur +Peirotte's corpse, which had been brought back from Sainte-Roure that +morning. She sat down, feeling as if that taper were heating her back. +But the gaiety was now increasing, and exclamations of rapture rang +through the yellow drawing-room when the dessert appeared. + +At that same hour, the Faubourg was still shuddering at the tragedy +which had just stained the Aire Saint-Mittre with blood. The return of +the troops, after the carnage on the Nores plain, had been marked by the +most cruel reprisals. Men were beaten to death behind bits of wall, with +the butt-ends of muskets, others had their brains blown out in ravines +by the pistols of gendarmes. In order that terror might impose silence, +the soldiers strewed their road with corpses. One might have followed +them by the red trail which they left behind.[*] It was a long butchery. +At every halting-place, a few insurgents were massacred. Two were killed +at Sainte-Roure, three at Ocheres, one at Beage. When the troops were +encamped at Plassans, on the Nice road, it was decided that one more +prisoner, the most guilty, should be shot. The victors judged it wise +to leave this fresh corpse behind them in order to inspire the town +with respect for the new-born Empire. But the soldiers were now weary of +killing; none offered himself for the fatal task. The prisoners, thrown +on the beams in the timber-yard as though on a camp bed, and bound +together in pairs by the hands, listened and waited in a state of weary, +resigned stupor. + + [*] Though M. Zola has changed his place in his account of + the insurrection, that account is strictly accurate in all + its chief particulars. What he says of the savagery both of + the soldiers and of their officers is confirmed by all + impartial historical writers.--EDITOR. + +At that moment the gendarme Rengade roughly opened a way for himself +through the crowd of inquisitive idlers. As soon as he heard that the +troops had returned with several hundred insurgents, he had risen +from bed, shivering with fever, and risking his life in the cold, dark +December air. Scarcely was he out of doors when his wound reopened, the +bandage which covered his eyeless socket became stained with blood, +and a red streamlet trickled over his cheek and moustache. He looked +frightful in his dumb fury with his pale face and blood-stained bandage, +as he ran along closely scrutinising each of the prisoners. He followed +the beams, bending down and going to and fro, making the bravest shudder +by his abrupt appearance. And, all of a sudden: "Ah! the bandit, I've +got him!" he cried. + +He had just laid his hand on Silvere's shoulder. Silvere, crouching down +on a beam, with lifeless and expressionless face, was looking straight +before him into the pale twilight, with a calm, stupefied air. Ever +since his departure from Sainte-Roure, he had retained that vacant +stare. Along the high road, for many a league, whenever the soldiers +urged on the march of their captives with the butt-ends of their rifles, +he had shown himself as gentle as a child. Covered with dust, thirsty +and weary, he trudged onward without saying a word, like one of those +docile animals that herdsmen drive along. He was thinking of Miette. He +ever saw her lying on the banner, under the trees with her eyes turned +upwards. For three days he had seen none but her; and at this very +moment, amidst the growing darkness, he still saw her. + +Rengade turned towards the officer, who had failed to find among the +soldiers the requisite men for an execution. + +"This villain put my eye out," he said, pointing to Silvere. "Hand him +over to me. It's as good as done for you." + +The officer did not reply in words, but withdrew with an air of +indifference, making a vague gesture. The gendarme understood that the +man was surrendered to him. + +"Come, get up!" he resumed, as he shook him. + +Silvere, like all the other prisoners, had a companion attached to him. +He was fastened by the arm to a peasant of Poujols named Mourgue, a man +about fifty, who had been brutified by the scorching sun and the +hard labour of tilling the ground. Crooked-backed already, his hands +hardened, his face coarse and heavy, he blinked his eyes in a stupid +manner, with the stubborn, distrustful expression of an animal subject +to the lash. He had set out armed with a pitchfork, because his fellow +villagers had done so; but he could not have explained what had thus +set him adrift on the high roads. Since he had been made a prisoner +he understood it still less. He had some vague idea that he was being +conveyed home. His amazement at finding himself bound, the sight of all +the people staring at him, stupefied him still more. As he only spoke +and understood the dialect of the region, he could not imagine what the +gendarme wanted. He raised his coarse, heavy face towards him with an +effort; then, fancying he was being asked the name of his village, he +said in his hoarse voice: + +"I come from Poujols." + +A burst of laughter ran through the crowd, and some voices cried: +"Release the peasant." + +"Bah!" Rengade replied; "the more of this vermin that's crushed the +better. As they're together, they can both go." + +There was a murmur. + +But the gendarme turned his terrible blood-stained face upon the +onlookers, and they slunk off. One cleanly little citizen went away +declaring that if he remained any longer it would spoil his appetite for +dinner. However some boys who recognised Silvere, began to speak of "the +red girl." Thereupon the little citizen retraced his steps, in order to +see the lover of the female standard-bearer, that depraved creature who +had been mentioned in the "Gazette." + +Silvere, for his part, neither saw nor heard anything; Rengade had to +seize him by the collar. Thereupon he got up, forcing Mourgue to rise +also. + +"Come," said the gendarme. "It won't take long." + +Silvere then recognised the one-eyed man. He smiled. He must have +understood. But he turned his head away. The sight of the one-eyed man, +of his moustaches which congealed blood stiffened as with sinister rime, +caused him profound grief. He would have liked to die in perfect peace. +So he avoided the gaze of Rengade's one eye, which glared from beneath +the white bandage. And of his own accord he proceeded to the end of +the Aire Saint-Mittre, to the narrow lane hidden by the timber stacks. +Mourgue followed him thither. + +The Aire stretched out, with an aspect of desolation under the sallow +sky. A murky light fell here and there from the copper-coloured clouds. +Never had a sadder and more lingering twilight cast its melancholy over +this bare expanse--this wood-yard with its slumbering timber, so stiff +and rigid in the cold. The prisoners, the soldiers, and the mob along +the high road disappeared amid the darkness of the trees. The expanse, +the beams, the piles of planks alone grew pale under the fading light, +assuming a muddy tint that vaguely suggested the bed of a dried-up +torrent. The sawyers' trestles, rearing their meagre framework in a +corner, seemed to form gallows, or the uprights of a guillotine. And +there was no living soul there excepting three gipsies who showed their +frightened faces at the door of their van--an old man and woman, and a +big girl with woolly hair, whose eyes gleamed like those of a wolf. + +Before reaching the secluded path, Silvere looked round him. He +bethought himself of a far away Sunday when he had crossed the wood-yard +in the bright moonlight. How calm and soft it had been!--how slowly had +the pale rays passed over the beams! Supreme silence had fallen from the +frozen sky. And amidst this silence, the woolly-haired gipsy girl had +sung in a low key and an unknown tongue. Then Silvere remembered that +the seemingly far-off Sunday was only a week old. But a week ago he had +come to bid Miette farewell! How long past it seemed! He felt as though +he had not set foot in the wood-yard for years. But when he reached the +narrow path his heart failed him. He recognised the odour of the grass, +the shadows of the planks, the holes in the wall. A woeful voice rose +from all those things. The path stretched out sad and lonely; it seemed +longer to him than usual, and he felt a cold wind blowing down it. The +spot had aged cruelly. He saw that the wall was moss-eaten, that the +verdant carpet was dried up by frost, that the piles of timber had been +rotted by rain. It was perfect devastation. The yellow twilight fell +like fine dust upon the ruins of all that had been most dear to him. He +was obliged to close his eyes that he might again behold the lane green, +and live his happy hours afresh. It was warm weather; and he was +racing with Miette in the balmy air. Then the cruel December rains fell +unceasingly, yet they still came there, sheltering themselves beneath +the planks and listening with rapture to the heavy plashing of the +shower. His whole life--all his happiness--passed before him like a +flash of lightning. Miette was climbing over the wall, running to +him, shaking with sonorous laughter. She was there; he could see her, +gleaming white through the darkness, with her living helm of ink-black +hair. She was talking about the magpies' nests, which are so difficult +to steal, and she dragged him along with her. Then he heard the gentle +murmur of the Viorne in the distance, the chirping of the belated +grasshoppers, and the blowing of the breeze among the poplars in +the meadows of Sainte-Claire. Ah, how they used to run! How well he +remembered it! She had learnt to swim in a fortnight. She was a plucky +girl. She had only had one great fault: she was inclined to pilfering. +But he would have cured her of that. Then the thought of their first +embraces brought him back to the narrow path. They had always ended by +returning to that nook. He fancied he could hear the gipsy girl's song +dying away, the creaking of the last shutters, the solemn striking of +the clocks. Then the hour of separation came, and Miette climbed the +wall again and threw him a kiss. And he saw her no more. Emotion choked +him at the thought: he would never see her again--never! + +"When you're ready," jeered the one-eyed man; "come, choose your place." + +Silvere took a few more steps. He was approaching the end of the path, +and could see nothing but a strip of sky in which the rust-coloured +light was fading away. Here had he spent his life for two years past. +The slow approach of death added an ineffable charm to this pathway +which had so long served as a lovers' walk. He loitered, bidding a long +and lingering farewell to all he loved; the grass, the timber, the stone +of the old wall, all those things into which Miette had breathed life. +And again his thoughts wandered. They were waiting till they should be +old enough to marry: Aunt Dide would remain with them. Ah! if they had +fled far away, very far away, to some unknown village, where the +scamps of the Faubourg would no longer have been able to come and cast +Chantegreil's crime in his daughter's face. What peaceful bliss! They +would have opened a wheelwright's workshop beside some high road. No +doubt, he cared little for his ambitions now; he no longer thought +of coachmaking, of carriages with broad varnished panels as shiny as +mirrors. In the stupor of his despair he could not remember why his +dream of bliss would never come to pass. Why did he not go away with +Miette and aunt Dide? Then as he racked his memory, he heard the sharp +crackling of a fusillade; he saw a standard fall before him, its staff +broken and its folds drooping like the wings of a bird brought down by a +shot. It was the Republic falling asleep with Miette under the red flag. +Ah, what wretchedness! They were both dead, both had bleeding wounds in +their breasts. And it was they--the corpses of his two loves--that now +barred his path of life. He had nothing left him and might well die +himself. These were the thoughts that had made him so gentle, so +listless, so childlike all the way from Sainte-Roure. The soldiers +might have struck him, he would not have felt it. His spirit no longer +inhabited his body. It was far away, prostrate beside the loved ones who +were dead under the trees amidst the pungent smoke of the gunpowder. + +But the one-eyed man was growing impatient; giving a push to Mourgue, +who was lagging behind, he growled: "Get along, do; I don't want to be +here all night." + +Silvere stumbled. He looked at his feet. A fragment of a skull lay +whitening in the grass. He thought he heard a murmur of voices filling +the pathway. The dead were calling him, those long departed ones, whose +warm breath had so strangely perturbed him and his sweetheart during +the sultry July evenings. He recognised their low whispers. They were +rejoicing, they were telling him to come, and promising to restore +Miette to him beneath the earth, in some retreat which would prove +still more sequestered than this old trysting-place. The cemetery, whose +oppressive odours and dark vegetation had breathed eager desire into the +children's hearts, while alluringly spreading out its couches of rank +grass, without succeeding however in throwing them into one another's +arms, now longed to imbibe Silvere's warm blood. For two summers past it +had been expecting the young lovers. + +"Is it here?" asked the one-eyed man. + +Silvere looked in front of him. He had reached the end of the path. His +eyes fell on the tombstone, and he started. Miette was right, that stone +was for her. _"Here lieth . . . Marie . . . died . . . "_ She was +dead, that slab had fallen over her. His strength failing him, he leant +against the frozen stone. How warm it had been when they sat in that +nook, chatting for many a long evening! She had always come that way, +and the pressure of her foot, as she alighted from the wall, had worn +away the stone's surface in one corner. The mark seemed instinct with +something of her lissom figure. And to Silvere it appeared as if some +fatalism attached to all these objects--as if the stone were there +precisely in order that he might come to die beside it, there where he +had loved. + +The one-eyed man cocked his pistols. + +Death! death! the thought fascinated Silvere. It was to this spot, +then, that they had led him, by the long white road which descends from +Sainte-Roure to Plassans. If he had known it, he would have hastened on +yet more quickly in order to die on that stone, at the end of the +narrow path, in the atmosphere where he could still detect the scent of +Miette's breath! Never had he hoped for such consolation in his grief. +Heaven was merciful. He waited, a vague smile playing on is face. + +Mourgue, meantime, had caught sight of the pistols. Hitherto he had +allowed himself to be dragged along stupidly. But fear now overcame him, +and he repeated, in a tone of despair: "I come from Poujols--I come from +Poujols!" + +Then he threw himself on the ground, rolling at the gendarme's feet, +breaking out into prayers for mercy, and imagining that he was being +mistaken for some one else. + +"What does it matter to me that you come from Poujols?" Rengade +muttered. + +And as the wretched man, shivering and crying with terror, and quite +unable to understand why he was going to die, held out his trembling +hands--his deformed, hard, labourer's hands--exclaiming in his patois +that he had done nothing and ought to be pardoned, the one-eyed man grew +quite exasperated at being unable to put the pistol to his temple, owing +to his constant movements. + +"Will you hold your tongue?" he shouted. + +Thereupon Mourgue, mad with fright and unwilling to die, began to howl +like a beast--like a pig that is being slaughtered. + +"Hold your tongue, you scoundrel!" the gendarme repeated. + +And he blew his brains out. The peasant fell with a thud. His body +rolled to the foot of a timber-stack, where it remained doubled up. The +violence of the shock had severed the rope which fastened him to his +companion. Silvere fell on his knees before the tombstone. + +It was to make his vengeance the more terrible that Rengade had killed +Mourgue first. He played with his second pistol, raising it slowly in +order to relish Silvere's agony. But the latter looked at him quietly. +Then again the sight of this man, with the one fierce, scorching eye, +made him feel uneasy. He averted his glance, fearing that he might die +cowardly if he continued to look at that feverishly quivering gendarme, +with blood-stained bandage and bleeding moustache. However, as he raised +his eyes to avoid him, he perceived Justin's head just above the wall, +at the very spot where Miette had been wont to leap over. + +Justin had been at the Porte de Rome, among the crowd, when the gendarme +had led the prisoners away. He had set off as fast as he could by way of +the Jas-Meiffren, in his eagerness to witness the execution. The thought +that he alone, of all the Faubourg scamps, would view the tragedy at +his ease, as from a balcony, made him run so quickly that he twice fell +down. And in spite of his wild chase, he arrived too late to witness the +first shot. He climbed the mulberry tree in despair; but he smiled when +he saw that Silvere still remained. The soldiers had informed him of +his cousin's death, and now the murder of the wheelwright brought his +happiness to a climax. He awaited the shot with that delight which the +sufferings of others always afforded him--a delight increased tenfold by +the horror of the scene, and a feeling of exquisite fear. + +Silvere, on recognising that vile scamp's head all by itself above the +wall--that pale grinning face, with hair standing on end--experienced a +feeling of fierce rage, a sudden desire to live. It was the last revolt +of his blood--a momentary mutiny. He again sank down on his knees, +gazing straight before him. A last vision passed before his eyes in +the melancholy twilight. At the end of the path, at the entrance of the +Impasse Saint-Mittre, he fancied he could see aunt Dide standing erect, +white and rigid like the statue of a saint, while she witnessed his +agony from a distance. + +At that moment he felt the cold pistol on his temple. There was a smile +on Justin's pale face. Closing his eyes, Silvere heard the long-departed +dead wildly summoning him. In the darkness, he now saw nothing save +Miette, wrapped in the banner, under the trees, with her eyes turned +towards heaven. Then the one-eyed man fired, and all was over; the lad's +skull burst open like a ripe pomegranate; his face fell upon the stone, +with his lips pressed to the spot which Miette's feet had worn--that +warm spot which still retained a trace of his dead love. + +And in the evening at dessert, at the Rougons' abode, bursts of laughter +arose with the fumes from the table, which was still warm with the +remains of the dinner. At last the Rougons were nibbling at the +pleasures of the wealthy! Their appetites, sharpened by thirty years +of restrained desire, now fell to with wolfish teeth. These fierce, +insatiate wild beasts, scarcely entering upon indulgence, exulted at +the birth of the Empire--the dawn of the Rush for the Spoils. The Coup +d'Etat, which retrieved the fortune of the Bonapartes, also laid the +foundation for that of the Rougons. + +Pierre stood up, held out his glass, and exclaimed: "I drink to Prince +Louis--to the Emperor!" + +The gentlemen, who had drowned their jealousies in champagne, rose in a +body and clinked glasses with deafening shouts. It was a fine spectacle. +The bourgeois of Plassans, Roudier, Granoux, Vuillet, and all the +others, wept and embraced each other over the corpse of the Republic, +which as yet was scarcely cold. But a splendid idea occurred to +Sicardot. He took from Felicite's hair a pink satin bow, which she had +placed over her right ear in honour of the occasion, cut off a strip +of the satin with his dessert knife, and then solemnly fastened it +to Rougon's button-hole. The latter feigned modesty, and pretended to +resist. But his face beamed with joy, as he murmured: "No, I beg you, it +is too soon. We must wait until the decree is published." + +"Zounds!" Sicardot exclaimed, "will you please keep that! It's an old +soldier of Napoleon who decorates you!" + +The whole company burst into applause. Felicite almost swooned with +delight. Silent Granoux jumped up on a chair in his enthusiasm, waving +his napkin and making a speech which was lost amid the uproar. The +yellow drawing-room was wild with triumph. + +But the strip of pink satin fastened to Pierre's button-hole was not +the only red spot in that triumph of the Rougons. A shoe, with a +blood-stained heel, still lay forgotten under the bedstead in the +adjoining room. The taper burning at Monsieur Peirotte's bedside, over +the way, gleamed too with the lurid redness of a gaping wound amidst +the dark night. And yonder, far away, in the depths of the Aire +Saint-Mittre, a pool of blood was congealing upon a tombstone. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Fortune of the Rougons, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FORTUNE OF THE ROUGONS *** + +***** This file should be named 5135.txt or 5135.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/3/5135/ + +Produced by Dagny; John Bickers; 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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