Henry James
The American
Preface to the New York Edition 1907
The American which I had begun in Paris early in the winter of 187576 made
its first appearance in The Atlantic Monthly in June of the latter year and
continued there from month to month till May of the next It started on its
course while much was still unwritten and there again come back to me with
this remembrance the frequent hauntings and alarms of that comparatively early
time the habit of wondering what would happen if anything should happen if one
should break ones arm by an accident or make a long illness or suffer in body
mind fortune any other visitation involving a loss of time The habit of
apprehension became of course in some degree the habit of confidence that one
would pull through that with opportunity enough grave interruption never yet
had descended and that a special Providence in short despite the sad warning
of Thackerays Denis Duval and of Mrs Gaskells Wives and Daughters that of
Stevensons Weir of Hermiston was yet to come watches over anxious novelists
condemned to the economy of serialisation I make myself out in memory as having
at least for many months and in many places given my Providence much to do so
great a variety of scenes of labour implying all so much renewal of
application glimmer out of the book as I now read it over And yet as the faded
interest of the whole episode becomes again mildly vivid what I seem most to
recover is in its pale spectrality a degree of joy an eagerness on behalf of
my recital that must recklessly enough have overridden anxieties of every sort
including any view of inherent difficulties
I seem to recall no other like connexion in which the case was met to my
measure by so fond a complacency in which my subject can have appeared so apt
to take care of itself. I see now that I might all the while have taken much
better care of it yet as I had at the time no sense of neglecting it neither
acute nor rueful solicitude I can but speculate all vainly today on the oddity
of my composure I ask myself indeed if possibly recognising after I was
launched the danger of an inordinate leak since the ship has truly a hole in
its side more than sufficient to have sunk it I may not have managed as a
counsel of mere despair to stop my ears against the noise of waters and pretend
to myself I was afloat being indubitably in any case at sea with no harbour
of refuge till the end of my serial voyage If I succeeded at all in that
emulation in another sphere) of the pursued ostrich I must have succeeded
altogether must have buried my head in the sand and there found beatitude The
explanation of my enjoyment of it no doubt is that I was more than commonly
enamoured of my idea and that I believed it so trusted so imaginatively
fostered not less capable of limping to its goal on three feet than on one The
lameness might be what it would I clearly for myself felt the thing go
which is the most a dramatist can ever ask of his drama and I shall here
accordingly indulge myself in speaking first of how superficially it did so
proceed explaining then what I mean by its practical dependence on a miracle
It had come to me this happy halting view of an interesting case abruptly
enough some years before I recall sharply the felicity of the first glimpse
though I forget the accident of thought that produced it I recall that I was
seated in an American horsecar when I found myself of a sudden considering
with enthusiasm as the theme of a story the situation in another country and
an aristocratic society of some robust but insidiously beguiled and betrayed
some cruelly wronged compatriot the point being in especial that he should
suffer at the hands of persons pretending to represent the highest possible
civilisation and to be of an order in every way superior to his own What would
he do in that predicament how would he right himself or how failing a remedy
would he conduct himself under his wrong This would be the question involved
and I remember well how having entered the horsecar without a dream of it I
was presently to leave that vehicle in full possession of my answer He would
behave in the most interesting manner it would all depend on that stricken
smarting sore he would arrive at his just vindication and then would fail of
all triumphantly and all vulgarly enjoying it He would hold his revenge and
cherish it and feel its sweetness and then in the very act of forcing it home
would sacrifice it in disgust He would let them go in short his haughty
contemners even while feeling them with joy in his power and he would obey
in so doing one of the large and easy impulses generally characteristic of his
type He wouldnt forgive that would have in the case no application he
would simply turn at the supreme moment away the bitterness of his personal
loss yielding to the very force of his aversion All he would have at the end
would be therefore just the moral convenience indeed the moral necessity of
his practical but quite unappreciated magnanimity and ones last view of him
would be that of a strong man indifferent to his strength and too wrapped in
fine too wrapped above all in other and intenser reflexions for the assertion
of his rights This last point was of the essence and constituted in fact the
subject there would be no subject at all obviously or simply the commonest
of the common if my gentleman should enjoy his advantage I was charmed with
my idea which would take however much working out and precisely because it
had so much to give I think must I have dropped it for the time into the deep
well of unconscious cerebration not without the hope doubtless that it might
eventually emerge from that reservoir as one had already known the buried
treasure to come to light with a firm iridescent surface and a notable increase
of weight
This resurrection then took place in Paris where I was at the moment
living and in December 1875 my good fortune being apparently that Paris had
ever so promptly offered me and with an immediate directness at which I now
marvel since I had come back there after earlier visitations but a few weeks
before everything that was needed to make my conception concrete I seem again
at this distant day to see it become so quickly and easily quite as if filling
itself with life in that air The objectivity it had wanted it promptly put on
and if the questions had been with the usual intensity for my hero and his
crisis the whole formidable list the who the what the where the when the
why the how they gathered their answers in the cold shadow of the Arc de
Triomphe for fine reasons very much as if they had been plucking spring
flowers for the weaving of a frolic garland I saw from one day to another my
particular cluster of circumstances with the life of the splendid city playing
up in it like a flashing fountain in a marble basin The very splendour seemed
somehow to witness and intervene it was important for the effect of my friends
discomfiture that it should take place on a high and lighted stage and that his
original ambition the project exposing him should have sprung from beautiful
and noble suggestions those that at certain hours and under certain
impressions we feel the manytinted medium by the Seine irresistibly to
communicate It was all charmingly simple this conception, and the current must
have gushed full and clear to my imagination from the moment Christopher
Newman rose before me on a perfect day of the divine Paris spring in the great
gilded Salon Carré of the Louvre Under this strong contagion of the place he
would by the happiest of hazards meet his old comrade now initiated and
domiciled after which the rest would go of itself. If he was to be wronged he
would be wronged with just that conspicuity with his felicity at just that
pitch and with the highest aggravation of the general effect of misery mocked
at Great and gilded the whole trap set in fine for his wary freshness and
into which it would blunder upon its fate I have I confess no memory of a
disturbing doubt once the man himself was imaged to me and that germination is
a process almost always untraceable he must have walked into the situation as
by taking a passkey from his pocket
But what then meanwhile would be the affront one would see him as most
feeling the affront of course done him as a lover and yet not that done by
his mistress herself since injuries of this order are the stalest stuff of
romance I was not to have him jilted any more than I was to have him
successfully vindictive both his wrong and his right would have been in these
cases of too vulgar a type I doubtless even then felt that the conception of
Paris as the consecrated scene of rash infatuations and bold bad treacheries
belongs in the AngloSaxon imagination to the infancy of art The right
renovation of any such theme as that would place it in Boston or at Cleveland
at Hartford or at Utica give it some local connexion in which we had not
already had so much of it No I should make my heroine herself if heroine
there was to be an equal victim just as Romeo was not less the sport of fate
for not having been interestedly sacrificed by Juliet and to this end I had but
to imagine great people again imagine my hero confronted and involved with
them and impute to them with a fine free hand the arrogance and cruelty the
tortuous behaviour in given conditions, of which great people have been
historically so often capable But as this was the light in which they were to
show so the essence of the matter would be that he should at the right moment
find them in his power and so the situation would reach its highest interest
with the question of his utilisation of that knowledge It would be here in the
possession and application of his power that he would come out strong and would
so deeply appeal to our sympathy Here above all it really was however that my
conception unfurled with the best conscience in the world the emblazoned flag
of romance which venerable ensign it had though quite unwittingly from the
first and at every point sported in perfect good faith I had been plotting
archromance without knowing it just as I began to write it that December day
without recognising it and just as I all serenely and blissfully pursued the
process from month to month and from place to place just as I now in short
reading the book over find it yields me no interest and no reward comparable to
the fond perception of this truth
The thing is consistently consummately and I would fain really make bold
to say charmingly romantic and all without intention presumption
hesitation contrition The effect is equally undesigned and unabashed and I
lose myself at this late hour I am bound to add in a certain sad envy of the
free play of so much unchallenged instinct One would like to woo back such
hours of fine precipitation They represent to the critical sense which the
exercise of ones whole faculty has with time so inevitably and so thoroughly
waked up the happiest season of surrender to the invoked muse and the projected
fable the season of images so free and confident and ready that they brush
questions aside and disport themselves like the artless schoolboys of Grays
beautiful Ode in all the ecstasy of the ignorance attending them The time
doubtless comes soon enough when questions as I call them rule the roost and
when the little victim to adjust Grays term again to the creature of frolic
fancy doesnt dare propose a gambol till they have all like a board of
trustees discussing a new outlay sat on the possibly scandalous case I somehow
feel accordingly that it was lucky to have sacrificed on this particular altar
while one still could though it is perhaps droll in a yet higher degree to
have done so not simply because one was guileless but even quite under the
conviction in a general way that since no rendering of any object and no
painting of any picture can take effect without some form of reference and
control so these guarantees could but reside in a high probity of observation
I must decidedly have supposed all the while that I was acutely observing
and with a blest absence of wonder at its being so easy Let me certainly at
present rejoice in that absence for I ask myself how without it I could have
written The American
Was it indeed meanwhile my excellent conscience that kept the charm as
unbroken as it appears to me in rich retrospect to have remained or is it
that I suffer the mere influence of remembered of associated places and hours
all acute impressions to palm itself off as the sign of a finer confidence than
I could justly claim It is a pleasure to perceive how again and again the
shrunken depths of old work yet permit themselves to be sounded or even if
rather terrible the image dragged the long pole of memory stirs and rummages
the bottom and we fish up such fragments and relics of the submerged life and
the extinct consciousness as tempt us to piece them together My windows looked
into the Rue de Luxembourg since then meagrely renamed Rue Cambon and the
particular light Parisian click of the small cabhorse on the clear asphalt
with its sharpness of detonation between the high houses makes for the faded
page today a sort of interlineation of sound This sound rises to a martial
clatter at the moment a troop of cuirassiers charges down the narrow street
each morning to file directly opposite my house through the plain portal of
the barracks occupying part of the vast domain attached in a rearward manner to
one of the Ministères that front on the Place Vendôme an expanse marked along
a considerable stretch of the street by one of those high painted and
administrativelyplacarded garden walls that form deep vague recurrent notes
in the organic vastness of the city I have but to reread ten lines to recall
my daily effort not to waste time in hanging over the windowbar for a sight of
the cavalry the hard music of whose hoofs so directly and thrillingly appealed
an effort that inveterately failed and a trivial circumstance now dignified
to my imagination I may add by the fact that the fruits of this weakness the
various items of the vivid picture so constantly recaptured must have been in
themselves suggestive and inspiring must have been rich strains in their way
of the great Paris harmony I have ever in general found it difficult to write
of places under too immediate an impression the impression that prevents
standing off and allows neither space nor time for perspective The image has
had for the most part to be dim if the reflexion was to be as is proper for a
reflexion both sharp and quiet one has a horror I think artistically of
agitated reflexions
Perhaps that is why the novel after all was to achieve as it went on no
great certainly no very direct transfusion of the immense overhanging
presence It had to save as it could its own life to keep tight hold of the
tenuous silver thread the one hope for which was that it shouldnt be tangled
or clipped This earnest grasp of the silver thread was doubtless an easier
business in other places though as I remount the stream of composition I see
it faintly coloured again with the bright protection of the Normandy coast I
worked away a few weeks at Êtretat with the stronger glow of southernmost
France breaking in during a stay at Bayonne then with the fine historic and
other psychic substance of SaintGermainenLaye a purple patch of terraced
October before returning to Paris There comes after that the memory of a last
brief intense invocation of the enclosing scene of the pious effort to unwind
my tangle with a firm hand in the very light that light of high narrowish
French windows in old rooms the light somehow as one always feels of style
itself that had quickened my original vision I was to pass over to London that
autumn which was a reason the more for considering the matter the matter of
Newmans final predicament with due intensity to let a loose end dangle over
into alien air would so fix upon the whole I strenuously felt the dishonour of
piecemeal composition Therefore I strove to finish first in a small dusky
hotel of the Rive Gauche where though the windows again were high the days
were dim and the crepuscular court domestic intimate quaint testified to
ancient manners almost as if it had been that of Balzacs Maison Vauquer in Le
Père Goriot and then once more in the Rue de Luxembourg where a blackframed
Empire portraitmedallion suspended in the centre of each white panel of my
almost noble old salon made the coolest discreetest most measured decoration
and where through casements open to the last mildness of the year a belated
Saint Martins summer the tale was taken up afresh by the charming light click
and clatter that sound as of the thin quick quite feminine surfacebreathing
of Paris the shortest of rhythms for so huge an organism
I shall not tell whether I did there bring my book to a close and indeed I
shrink for myself from putting the question to the test of memory I follow it
so far the old urgent ingenious business and then I lose sight of it from
which I infer all exact recovery of the matter failing that I did not in the
event drag over the Channel a lengthening chain which would have been
detestable I reduce to the absurd perhaps however by that small subjective
issue any undue measure of the interest of this insistent recovery of what I
have called attendant facts There always has been for the valid work of art a
history though mainly inviting doubtless but to the curious critic for whom
such things grow up and are formed very much in the manner of attaching young
lives and characters those conspicuous cases of happy development as to which
evidence and anecdote are always in order The development indeed must be
certain to have been happy the life sincere the character fine the work of
art to create or repay critical curiosity must in short have been very valid
indeed Yet there is on the other hand no mathematical measure of that
importance it may be a matter of widelyvarying appreciation and I am willing
to grant assuredly that this interest in a given relation will nowhere so
effectually kindle as on the artists own part And I am afraid that after all
even his best excuse for it must remain the highly personal plea the joy of
living over as a chapter of experience, the particular intellectual adventure
Here lurks an immense homage to the general privilege of the artist to that
constructive that creative passion portentous words but they are convenient
the exercise of which finds so many an occasion for appearing to him the
highest of human fortunes the rarest boon of the gods He values it all
sublimely and perhaps a little fatuously for itself as the great extension
great beyond all others of experience and of consciousness; with the toil and
trouble a mere suncast shadow that falls shifts and vanishes the result of
his living in so large a light On the constant nameless felicity of this Robert
Louis Stevenson has in an admirable passage and as in so many other connexions
said the right word that the partaker of the life of art who repines at the
absence of the rewards as they are called of the pursuit might surely be
better occupied Much rather should he endlessly wonder at his not having to pay
half his substance for his luxurious immersion He enjoys it so to speak
without a tax the effort of labour involved the torment of expression of
which we have heard in our time so much being after all but the last refinement
of his privilege It may leave him weary and worn but how after his fashion
he will have lived As if one were to expect at once freedom and ease That
silly safety is but the sign of bondage and forfeiture Who can imagine free
selection which is the beautiful terrible whole of art without free
difficulty This is the very franchise of the city and high ambition of the
citizen The vision of the difficulty as one looks back bathes ones course in
a golden glow by which the very objects along the road are transfigured and
glorified so that one exhibits them to other eyes with an elation possibly
presumptuous
Since I accuse myself at all events of these complacencies I take advantage
of them to repeat that I value in my retrospect nothing so much as the lively
light on the romantic property of my subject that I had not expected to
encounter If in The American I invoked the romantic association without malice
prepense yet with a production of the romantic effect that is for myself
unmistakeable the occasion is of the best perhaps for penetrating a little the
obscurity of that principle By what art or mystery what craft of selection
omission or commission does a given picture of life appear to us to surround
its theme its figures and images with the air of romance while another picture
close beside it may affect us as steeping the whole matter in the element of
reality It is a question no doubt on the painters part very much more of
perceived effect effect after the fact than of conscious design though
indeed I have ever failed to see how a coherent picture of anything is
producible save by a complex of fine measurements The cause of the deflexion
in one pronounced sense or the other must lie deep however so that for the
most part we recognise the character of our interest only after the particular
magic as I say has thoroughly operated and then in truth but if we be a bit
critically minded if we find our pleasure that is in these intimate
appreciations for which as I am well aware ninetynine readers in a hundred
have no use whatever The determining condition would at any rate seem so
latent that one may well doubt if the full artistic consciousness ever reaches
it leaving the matter thus a case ever not of an authors plotting and
planning and calculating but just of his feeling and seeing of his conceiving
in a word and of his thereby inevitably expressing himself under the influence
of one value or the other These values represent different sorts and degrees of
the communicable thrill and I doubt if any novelist for instance ever
proposed to commit himself to one kind or the other with as little mitigation as
we are sometimes able to find for him The interest is greatest the interest
of his genius I mean and of his general wealth when he commits himself in
both directions not quite at the same time or to the same effect of course
but by some need of performing his whole possible revolution by the law of some
rich passion in him for extremes
Of the men of largest responding imagination before the human scene of
Scott of Balzac even of the coarse comprehensive prodigious Zola we feel I
think that the deflexion toward either quarter has never taken place that
neither the nature of the mans faculty nor the nature of his experience has
ever quite determined it His current remains therefore extraordinarily rich and
mixed washing us successively with the warm wave of the near and familiar and
the tonic shock as may be of the far and strange In making which opposition
I suggest not that the strange and the far are at all necessarily romantic they
happen to be simply the unknown which is quite a different matter The real
represents to my perception the things we cannot possibly not know sooner or
later in one way or another it being but one of the accidents of our hampered
state and one of the incidents of their quantity and number that particular
instances have not yet come our way The romantic stands on the other hand for
the things that with all the facilities in the world all the wealth and all
the courage and all the wit and all the adventure we never can directly know
the things that can reach us only through the beautiful circuit and subterfuge
of our thought and our desire There have been I gather many definitions of
romance as a matter indispensably of boats or of caravans or of tigers or of
historical characters or of ghosts or of forgers or of detectives or of
beautiful wicked women or of pistols and knives but they appear for the most
part reducible to the idea of the facing of danger the acceptance of great
risks for the fascination the very love of their uncertainty the joy of
success if possible and of battle in any case This would be a fine formula if
it bore examination but it strikes me as weak and inadequate as by no means
covering the true ground and yet as landing us in strange confusions
The panting pursuit of danger is the pursuit of life itself in which danger
awaits us possibly at every step and faces us at every turn so that the dream
of an intenser experience easily becomes rather some vision of a sublime
security like that enjoyed on the flowery plains of heaven where we may
conceive ourselves proceeding in ecstasy from one prodigious phase and form of
it to another And if it be insisted that the measure of the type is then in the
appreciation of danger the sign of our projection of the real being the
smallness of its dangers and that of our projection of the romantic the
hugeness the mark of the distinction being in short as they say of collars and
gloves and shoes the size and number of the danger this discrimination again
surely fails since it makes our difference not a difference of kind which is
what we want but a difference only of degree and subject by that condition to
the indignity of a sliding scale and a shifting measure There are immense and
flagrant dangers that are but sordid and squalid ones as we feel tainting with
their quality the very defiances they provoke while there are common and covert
ones that look like nothing and that can be but inwardly and occultly dealt
with which involve the sharpest hazards to life and honour and the highest
instant decisions and intrepidities of action It is an arbitrary stamp that
keeps these latter prosaic and makes the former heroic and yet I should still
less subscribe to a mere subjective division I mean one that would place the
difference wholly in the temper of the imperilled agent It would be impossible
to have a more romantic temper than Flauberts Madame Bovary and yet nothing
less resembles a romance than the record of her adventures To classify it by
that aspect the definition of the spirit that happens to animate her is like
settling the question as I have seen it witlessly settled by the presence or
absence of costume Where again then does costume begin or end save with the
run of one or another sort of play We must reserve vague labels for artless
mixtures
The only general attribute of projected romance that I can see the only one
that fits all its cases is the fact of the kind of experience with which it
deals experience liberated so to speak experience disengaged disembroiled
disencumbered exempt from the conditions that we usually know to attach to it
and if we wish so to put the matter drag upon it and operating in a medium
which relieves it in a particular interest of the inconvenience of a related
a measurable state a state subject to all our vulgar communities The greatest
intensity may so be arrived at evidently when the sacrifice of community of
the related sides of situations has not been too rash It must to this end not
flagrantly betray itself we must even be kept if possible for our illusion
from suspecting any sacrifice at all The balloon of experience is in fact of
course tied to the earth and under that necessity we swing thanks to a rope of
remarkable length in the more or less commodious car of the imagination but it
is by the rope we know where we are and from the moment that cable is cut we
are at large and unrelated we only swing apart from the globe though
remaining as exhilarated naturally as we like especially when all goes well
The art of the romancer is for the fun of it insidiously to cut the cable to
cut it without our detecting him What I have recognised then in The American
much to my surprise and after long years is that the experience here
represented is the disconnected and uncontrolled experience uncontrolled by
our general sense of the way things happen which romance alone more or less
successfully palms off on us It is a case of Newmans own intimate experience
all that being my subject the thread of which from beginning to end is not
once exchanged however momentarily for any other thread and the experience of
others concerning us and concerning him only so far as it touches him and as
he recognises feels or divines it There is our general sense of the way things
happen it abides with us indefeasibly as readers of fiction from the moment
we demand that our fiction shall be intelligible and there is our particular
sense of the way they dont happen which is liable to wake up unless reflexion
and criticism in us, have been skilfully and successfully drugged There are
drugs enough clearly it is all a question of applying them with tact in
which case the way things dont happen may be artfully made to pass for the way
things do
Amusing and even touching to me I profess at this time of day the
ingenuity worthy with whatever lapses of a better cause with which on
behalf of Newmans adventure this hocuspocus is attempted the value of the
instance not being diminished either surely by its having been attempted in
such evident good faith Yes all is romantic to my actual vision here and not
least so I hasten to add the fabulous felicity of my candour The way things
happen is frankly not the way in which they are represented as having happened
in Paris to my hero the situation I had conceived only saddled me with that
for want of my invention of something better The great house of Bellegarde in
a word would I now feel given the circumstances given the whole of the
ground have comported itself in a manner as different as possible from the
manner to which my narrative commits it of which truth moreover I am by no
means sure that in spite of what I have called my serenity I had not all the
while an uneasy suspicion I had dug in my path alas a hole into which I was
destined to fall I was so possessed of my idea that Newman should be illused
which was the essence of my subject that I attached too scant an importance to
its fashion of coming about Almost any fashion would serve I appear to have
assumed that would give me my main chance for him a matter depending not so
much on the particular trick played him as on the interesting face presented by
him to any damnable trick So where I part company with terrafirma is in making
that projected that performed outrage so much more showy dramatically
speaking than sound Had I patched it up to a greater apparent soundness my own
trick artistically speaking would have been played I should have cut the
cable without my readers suspecting it I doubtless at the time I repeat
believed I had taken my precautions but truly they should have been greater to
impart the air of truth to the attitude that is first to the pomp and
circumstance and second to the queer falsity of the Bellegardes
They would positively have jumped then the Bellegardes at my rich and easy
American and not have minded in the least any drawback especially as after
all given the pleasant palette from which I have painted him there were few
drawbacks to mind My subject imposed on me a group of closelyallied persons
animated by immense pretensions which was all very well which might be full
of the promise of interest only of interest felt most of all in the light of
comedy and of irony This better understood would have dwelt in the idea not
in the least of their not finding Newman good enough for their alliance and
thence being ready to sacrifice him but in that of their taking with alacrity
everything he could give them only asking for more and more and then adjusting
their pretensions and their pride to it with all the comfort in life Such
accommodation of the theory of a noble indifference to the practice of a deep
avidity is the real note of policy in forlorn aristocracies and I meant of
course that the Bellegardes should be virtually forlorn The perversion of truth
is by no means I think in the displayed acuteness of their remembrance of who
and what they are or at any rate take themselves for since it is the
misfortune of all insistence on worldly advantages and the situation of such
people bristles at the best by which I mean under whatever invocation of a
superficial simplicity with emphasis accent assumption to produce at times
an effect of grossness The picture of their tergiversation at all events
however it may originally have seemed to me to hang together has taken on this
rococo appearance precisely because their preferred course a thousand times
preferred would have been to haul him and his fortune into their boat under
cover of night perhaps in any case as quietly and with as little bumping and
splashing as possible and there accommodate him with the very safest and most
convenient seat Given Newman given the fact that the thing constitutes itself
organically as his adventure that too might very well be a situation and a
subject only it wouldnt have been the theme of The American as the book
stands the theme to which I was from so early pledged Since I had wanted a
wrong this other turn might even have been arranged to give me that might even
have been arranged to meet my requirement that somebody or something should be
in his power so delightfully and with the signal effect after all of defining
everything It is as difficult I said above to trace the dividingline
between the real and the romantic as to plant a milestone between north and
south but I am not sure an infallible sign of the latter is not this rank
vegetation of the power of bad people that good get into or vice versa It is
so rarely alas into our power that any one gets
It is difficult for me today to believe that I had not as my work went on
some shade of the rueful sense of my affront to verisimilitude yet I catch the
memory at least of no great sharpness no true critical anguish of remorse an
anomaly the reason of which in fact now glimmers interestingly out My concern
as I saw it was to make and to keep Newman consistent the picture of his
consistency was all my undertaking and the memory of that infatuation perfectly
abides with me He was to be the lighted figure the others even doubtless to
an excessive degree the woman who is made the agent of his discomfiture were
to be the obscured by which I should largely get the very effect most to be
invoked that of a generous nature engaged with forces with difficulties and
dangers that it but half understands If Newman was attaching enough I must
have argued his tangle would be sensible enough for the interest of everything
is all that it is his vision his conception his interpretation at the window
of his wide quite sufficiently wide consciousness we are seated from that
admirable position we assist He therefore supremely matters all the rest
matters only as he feels it treats it meets it A beautiful infatuation this
always I think the intensity of the creative effort to get into the skin of
the creature the act of personal possession of one being by another at its
completest and with the high enhancement ever that it is by the same
stroke the effort of the artist to preserve for his subject that unity, and for
his use of it in other words for the interest he desires to excite that effect
of a centre which most economise its value Its value is most discussable when
that economy has most operated the content and the importance of a work of art
are in fine wholly dependent on its being one outside of which all prate of its
representative character its meaning and its bearing its morality and
humanity are an impudent thing Strong in that character which is the
condition of its really bearing witness at all it is strong every way So much
remains true then on behalf of my instinct of multiplying the fine touches by
which Newman should live and communicate life and yet I still ask myself I
confess what I can have made of life in my picture at such a juncture as the
interval offered as elapsing between my heros first accepted state and the
nuptial rites that are to crown it Nothing here is in truth offered
everything is evaded and the effect of this I recognise is of the oddest His
relation to Madame de Cintré takes a great stride but the author appears to
view that but as a signal for letting it severely alone
I have been stupefied in so thoroughly revising the book to find on
turning a page that the light in which he is presented immediately after Madame
de Bellegarde has conspicuously introduced him to all her circle as her
daughters husbandtobe is that of an evening at the opera quite alone as if
he wouldnt surely spend his leisure and especially those hours of it with his
intended Instinctively from that moment one would have seen them intimately
and for ones interest beautifully together with some illustration of the
beauty incumbent on the author The truth was that at this point the author all
gracelessly could but hold his breath and pass lingering was too difficult
he had made for himself a crushing complication Since Madame de Cintré was
after all to back out every touch in the picture of her apparent loyalty would
add to her eventual shame She had acted in clear good faith but how could I
give the detail of an attitude on her part of which the foundation was yet so
weak I preferred as the minor evil to shirk the attempt at the cost
evidently of a signal loss of charm and with this lady altogether I
recognise a light plank too light a plank is laid for the reader over a dark
psychological abyss The delicate clue to her conduct is never definitely placed
in his hand I must have liked verily to think it was delicate and to flatter
myself it was to be felt with fingertips rather than heavily tugged at Here
then at any rate is the romantic tout craché the fine flower of Newmans
experience blooming in a medium cut off and shut up to itself. I dont for a
moment pronounce any spell proceeding from it necessarily the less workable to
a rejoicing ingenuity for that beguile the readers suspicion of his being
shut up transform it for him into a positive illusion of the largest liberty
and the success will ever be proportionate to the chance Only all this gave me
I make out a great deal to look to and I was perhaps wrong in thinking that
Newman by himself and for any occasional extra inch or so I might smuggle into
his measurements would see me through my wood Anything more liberated and
disconnected to repeat my terms than his prompt general profession before the
Tristrams of aspiring to a great marriage for example, could surely not well
be imagined I had to take that over with the rest of him and fit it in I had
indeed to exclude the outer air Still I find on reperusal that I have been
able to breathe at least in my aching void so that clinging to my hero as to a
tall protective goodnatured elder brother in a rough place I leave the
record to stand or fall by his more or less convincing image
Chapter I
On a brilliant day in May in the year 1868 a gentleman was reclining at his
ease on the great circular divan which at that period occupied the centre of the
Salon Carré in the Museum of the Louvre This commodious ottoman has since been
removed to the extreme regret of all weakkneed lovers of the fine arts but
the gentleman in question had taken serene possession of its softest spot and
with his head thrown back and his legs outstretched was staring at Murillos
beautiful moonborne Madonna in profound enjoyment of his posture He had
removed his hat and flung down beside him a little red guidebook and an
operaglass The day was warm he was heated with walking and he repeatedly
passed his handkerchief over his forehead with a somewhat wearied gesture And
yet he was evidently not a man to whom fatigue was familiar long lean and
muscular he suggested the sort of vigour that is commonly known as toughness
But his exertions on this particular day had been of an unwonted sort and he
had often performed great physical feats which left him less jaded than his
tranquil stroll through the Louvre He had looked out all the pictures to which
an asterisk was affixed in those formidable pages of fine print in his Bädeker
his attention had been strained and his eyes dazzled and he had sat down with
an æsthetic headache He had looked moreover not only at all the pictures but
at all the copies that were going forward around them in the hands of those
innumerable young women in irreproachable toilets who devote themselves in
France to the propagation of masterpieces and if the truth must be told he
had often admired the copy much more than the original His physiognomy would
have sufficiently indicated that he was a shrewd and capable fellow and in
truth he had often sat up all night over a bristling bundle of accounts and
heard the cock crow without a yawn But Raphael and Titian and Rubens were a new
kind of arithmetic and they inspired our friend for the first time in his
life with a vague selfmistrust
An observer with anything of an eye for national types would have had no
difficulty in determining the local origin of this undeveloped connoisseur and
indeed such an observer might have felt a certain humorous relish of the almost
ideal completeness with which he filled out the national mould The gentleman on
the divan was a powerful specimen of an American But he was not only a fine
American he was in the first place physically a fine man He appeared to
possess that kind of health and strength which when found in perfection are
the most impressive the physical capital which the owner does nothing to keep
up If he was a muscular Christian it was quite without knowing it If it was
necessary to walk to a remote spot he walked but he had never known himself to
exercise He had no theory with regard to cold bathing or the use of Indian
clubs he was neither an oarsman a rifleman nor a fencer he had never had
time for these amusements and he was quite unaware that the saddle is
recommended for certain forms of indigestion He was by inclination a temperate
man but he had supped the night before his visit to the Louvre at the Café
Anglais someone had told him it was an experience not to be omitted and he
had slept none the less the sleep of the just His usual attitude and carriage
were of a rather relaxed and lounging kind but when under a special
inspiration he straightened himself he looked like a grenadier on parade He
never smoked He had been assured such things are said that cigars were
excellent for the health and he was quite capable of believing it but he knew
as little about tobacco as about homoeopathy He had a very wellformed head
with a shapely symmetrical balance of the frontal and the occipital
development and a good deal of straight rather dry brown hair His complexion
was brown and his nose had a bold wellmarked arch His eye was of a clear
cold gray and save for a rather abundant moustache he was cleanshaved He
had the flat jaw and sinewy neck which are frequent in the American type but
the traces of national origin are a matter of expression even more than of
feature and it was in this respect that our friends countenance was supremely
eloquent The discriminating observer we have been supposing might however
perfectly have measured its expressiveness and yet have been at a loss to
describe it It had that typical vagueness which is not vacuity that blankness
which is not simplicity that look of being committed to nothing in particular
of standing in an attitude of general hospitality to the chances of life of
being very much at ones own disposal so characteristic of many American faces
It was our friends eye that chiefly told his story an eye in which innocence
and experience were singularly blended It was full of contradictory
suggestions and though it was by no means the glowing orb of a hero of romance
you could find in it almost anything you looked for Frigid and yet friendly
frank yet cautious shrewd yet credulous positive yet sceptical confident yet
shy extremely intelligent and extremely goodhumoured there was something
vaguely defiant in its concessions and something profoundly reassuring in its
reserve The cut of this gentlemans moustache with the two premature wrinkles
in the cheek above it and the fashion of his garments in which an exposed
shirtfront and a cerulean cravat played perhaps an obtrusive part completed
the conditions of his identity We have approached him perhaps at a not
especially favourable moment he is by no means sitting for his portrait But
listless as he lounges there rather baffled on the æsthetic question and
guilty of the damning fault as we have lately discovered it to be of
confounding the merit of the artist with that of his work for he admires the
squinting Madonna of the young lady with the boyish coiffure because he thinks
the young lady herself uncommonly taking he is a sufficiently promising
acquaintance Decision salubrity jocosity prosperity seem to hover within
his call he is evidently a practical man but the idea in his case has
undefined and mysterious boundaries which invite the imagination to bestir
itself on his behalf
As the little copyist proceeded with her work she sent every now and then a
responsive glance toward her admirer The cultivation of the fine arts appeared
to necessitate to her mind a great deal of byplay a great standing off with
folded arms and head drooping from side to side stroking of a dimpled chin with
a dimpled hand sighing and frowning and patting of the foot fumbling in
disordered tresses for wandering hairpins These performances were accompanied
by a restless glance which lingered longer than elsewhere upon the gentleman we
have described At last he rose abruptly put on his hat and approached the
young lady He placed himself before her picture and looked at it for some
moments during which she pretended to be quite unconscious of his inspection
Then addressing her with the single word which constituted the strength of his
French vocabulary and holding up one finger in a manner which appeared to him
to illuminate his meaning »Combien« he abruptly demanded
The artist stared a moment gave a little pout shrugged her shoulders put
down her palette and brushes and stood rubbing her hands
»How much« said our friend in English »Combien«
»Monsieur wishes to buy it« asked the young lady in French
»Very pretty splendide Combien« repeated the American
»It pleases monsieur my little picture Its a very beautiful subject«
said the young lady
»The Madonna yes I am not a Catholic but I want to buy it Combien Write
it here« And he took a pencil from his pocket and showed her the flyleaf of
his guidebook She stood looking at him and scratching her chin with the pencil
»Is it not for sale« he asked And as she still stood reflecting and looking
at him with an eye which in spite of her desire to treat this avidity of
patronage as a very old story betrayed an almost touching incredulity he was
afraid he had offended her She was simply trying to look indifferent and
wondering how far she might go »I havent made a mistake pas insulté no«
her interlocutor continued »Dont you understand a little English«
The young ladys aptitude for playing a part at short notice was remarkable
She fixed him with her conscious perceptive eye and asked him if he spoke no
French Then »Donnez« she said briefly and took the open guidebook In the
upper corner of the flyleaf she traced a number in a minute and extremely neat
hand Then she handed back the book and took up her palette again
Our friend read the number »2000 francs« He said nothing for a time but
stood looking at the picture while the copyist began actively to dabble with
her paint »For a copy isnt that a good deal« he asked at last »Pas
beaucoup«
The young lady raised her eyes from her palette scanned him from head to
foot and alighted with admirable sagacity upon exactly the right answer »Yes
its a good deal But my copy has remarkable qualities it is worth nothing
less«
The gentleman in whom we are interested understood no French but I have
said he was intelligent and here is a good chance to prove it He apprehended
by a natural instinct the meaning of the young womans phrase and it gratified
him to think that she was so honest Beauty talent virtue she combined
everything »But you must finish it« he said »Finish you know« and he
pointed to the unpainted hand of the figure
»Oh it shall be finished in perfection in the perfection of perfections«
cried mademoiselle and to confirm her promise she deposited a rosy blotch in
the middle of the Madonnas cheek
But the American frowned »Ah too red too red« he rejoined »Her
complexion« pointing to the Murillo »is more delicate«
»Delicate Oh it shall be delicate monsieur delicate as Sèvres biscuit I
am going to tone that down I know all the secrets of my art And where will you
allow us to send it to you Your address«
»My address Oh yes« And the gentleman drew a card from his pocketbook and
wrote something upon it Then hesitating a moment he said »If I dont like it
when it is finished you know I shall not be obliged to take it«
The young lady seemed as good a guesser as himself »Oh I am very sure that
monsieur is not capricious« she said with a roguish smile
»Capricious« And at this monsieur began to laugh »Oh no Im not
capricious I am very faithful I am very constant Comprenez«
»Monsieur is constant I understand perfectly Its a rare virtue To
recompense you you shall have your picture on the first possible day next week
as soon as it is dry I will take the card of monsieur« And she took it and
read his name »Christopher Newman« Then she tried to repeat it aloud and
laughed at her bad accent »Your English names are so droll«
»Droll« said Mr Newman laughing too »Did you ever hear of Christopher
Columbus«
»Bien sûr He invented America a very great man And is he your patron«
»My patron«
»Your patronsaint in the calendar«
»Oh exactly my parents named me for him«
»Monsieur is American«
»Dont you see it« monsieur inquired
»And you mean to carry my little picture away over there« and she explained
her phrase with a gesture
»Oh I mean to buy a great many pictures beaucoup beaucoup« said
Christopher Newman
»The honour is not less for me« the young lady answered »for I am sure
monsieur has a great deal of taste«
»But you must give me your card« Newman said »your card you know«
The young lady looked severe for an instant and then said »My father will
wait upon you«
But this time Mr Newmans powers of divination were at fault »Your card
your address« he simply repeated
»My address« said mademoiselle Then with a little shrug »Happily for
you you are an American It is the first time I ever gave my card to a
gentleman« And taking from her pocket a rather greasy portemonnaie she
extracted from it a small glazed visiting card and presented the latter to her
patron It was neatly inscribed in pencil with a great many flourishes Mlle
Noémie Nioche But Mr Newman unlike his companion read the name with perfect
gravity all French names to him were equally droll
»And precisely here is my father who has come to escort me home« said
Mademoiselle Noémie »He speaks English He will arrange with you« And she
turned to welcome a little old gentleman who came shuffling up peering over his
spectacles at Newman
M Nioche wore a glossy wig of an unnatural colour which overhung his
little meek white vacant face and left it hardly more expressive than the
unfeatured block upon which these articles are displayed in the barbers window
He was an exquisite image of shabby gentility His little illmade coat
desperately brushed his darned gloves his highlypolished boots his rusty
shapely hat told the story of a person who had had losses and who clung to the
spirit of nice habits though the letter had been hopelessly effaced Among
other things M Nioche had lost courage Adversity had not only ruined him it
had frightened him and he was evidently going through his remnant of life on
tiptoe for fear of waking up the hostile fates If this strange gentleman was
saying anything improper to his daughter M Nioche would entreat him huskily
as a particular favour to forbear but he would admit at the same time that he
was very presumptuous to ask for particular favours
»Monsieur has bought my picture« said Mademoiselle Noémie »When it is
finished you will carry it to him in a cab«
»In a cab« cried M Nioche and he stared in a bewildered way as if he
had seen the sun rising at midnight
»Are you the young ladys father« said Newman »I think she said you speak
English«
»Speak English yes« said the old man slowly rubbing his hands »I will
bring it in a cab«
»Say something then« cried his daughter »Thank him a little not too
much«
»A little my daughter a little« said M Nioche perplexed »How much«
»Two thousand« said Mademoiselle Noémie »Dont make a fuss or he will
take back his word«
»Two thousand« cried the old man and he began to fumble for his snuffbox
He looked at Newman from head to foot at his daughter and then at the
picture »Take care you dont spoil it« he cried almost sublimely
»We must go home« said Mademoiselle Noémie »This is a good days work
Take care how you carry it« And she began to put up her utensils
»How can I thank you« said M Nioche »My English does not suffice«
»I wish I spoke French as well« said Newman goodnaturedly »Your daughter
is very clever«
»Oh sir« and M Nioche looked over his spectacles with tearful eyes and
nodded several times with a world of sadness »She has had an education
trèssupérieure Nothing was spared Lessons in pastel at ten francs the lesson
lessons in oil at twelve francs I didnt look at the francs then Shes an
artiste eh«
»Do I understand you to say that you have had reverses« asked Newman
»Reverses Oh sir misfortunes terrible«
»Unsuccessful in business eh«
»Very unsuccessful sir«
»Oh never fear youll get on your legs again« said Newman cheerily
The old man drooped his head on one side and looked at him with an
expression of pain as if this were an unfeeling jest
»What does he say« demanded Mademoiselle Noémie
M Nioche took a pinch of snuff »He says I will make my fortune again«
»Perhaps he will help you And what else«
»He says thou art very clever«
»It is very possible You believe it yourself my father«
»Believe it my daughter With this evidence« and the old man turned
afresh with a staring wondering homage to the audacious daub on the easel
»Ask him then if he would not like to learn French«
»To learn French«
»To take lessons«
»To take lessons my daughter From thee«
»From you«
»From me my child How should I give lessons«
»Pas de raisons Ask him immediately« said Mademoiselle Noémie with soft
brevity
M Nioche stood aghast but under his daughters eye he collected his wits
and doing his best to assume an agreeable smile he executed her commands
»Would it please you to receive instruction in our beautiful language« he
inquired with an appealing quaver
»To study French« asked Newman staring
M Nioche pressed his fingertips together and slowly raised his shoulders
»A little conversation«
»Conversation thats it« murmured Mademoiselle Noémie who had caught the
word »The conversation of the best society«
»Our French conversation is famous you know« M Nioche ventured to
continue »Its a great talent«
»But isnt it awfully difficult« asked Newman very simply
»Not to a man of esprit like monsieur an admirer of beauty in every form«
and M Nioche cast a significant glance at his daughters Madonna
»I cant fancy myself chattering French« said Newman with a laugh »And
yet I suppose that the more a man knows the better«
»Monsieur expresses that very happily Hélas oui«
»I suppose it would help me a great deal knocking about Paris to know the
language«
»Ah there are so many things monsieur must want to say difficult things«
»Everything I want to say is difficult But you give lessons«
Poor M Nioche was embarrassed he smiled more appealingly »I am not a
regular professor« he admitted »I cant nevertheless tell him that Im a
professor« he said to his daughter
»Tell him its a very exceptional chance« answered Mademoiselle Noémie »an
homme du monde one gentleman conversing with another Remember what you are
what you have been«
»A teacher of languages in neither case Much more formerly and much less
today And if he asks the price of the lessons«
»He wont ask it« said Mademoiselle Noémie
»What he pleases I may say«
»Never Thats bad style«
»If he asks then«
Mademoiselle Noémie had put on her bonnet and was tying the ribbons She
smoothed them out with her soft little chin thrust forward »Ten francs« she
said quickly
»Oh my daughter I shall never dare«
»Dont dare then He wont ask till the end of the lessons and then I will
make out the bill«
M Nioche turned to the confiding foreigner again and stood rubbing his
hands with an air of seeming to plead guilty which was not intenser only
because it was habitually so striking It never occurred to Newman to ask him
for a guarantee of his skill in imparting instruction he supposed of course M
Nioche knew his own language and his appealing forlornness was quite the
perfection of what the American for vague reasons had always associated with
all elderly foreigners of the lessongiving class Newman had never reflected
upon philological processes His chief impression with regard to ascertaining
those mysterious correlatives of his familiar English vocables which were
current in this extraordinary city of Paris was that it was simply a matter of
a good deal of unwonted and rather ridiculous muscular effort on his own part
»How did you learn English« he asked of the old man
»When I was young before my miseries Oh I was wide awake then My father
was a great commerçant he placed me for a year in a countinghouse in England
Some of it stuck to me but I have forgotten«
»How much French can I learn in a month«
»What does he say« asked Mademoiselle Noémie
M Nioche explained
»He will speak like an angel« said his daughter
But the native integrity which had been vainly exerted to secure M Nioches
commercial prosperity flickered up again »Dame monsieur« he answered »All I
can teach you« And then recovering himself at a sign from his daughter »I
will wait upon you at your hotel«
»Oh yes I should like to learn French« Newman went on with democratic
confidingness »Hang me if I should ever have thought of it I took for granted
it was impossible But if you learned my language why shouldnt I learn yours«
and his frank friendly laugh drew the sting from the jest »Only if we are
going to converse you know you must think of something cheerful to converse
about«
»You are very good sir I am overcome« said M Nioche throwing out his
hands »But you have cheerfulness and happiness for two«
»Oh no« said Newman more seriously »You must be bright and lively thats
part of the bargain«
M Nioche bowed with his hand on his heart »Very well sir you have
already made me lively«
»Come and bring me my picture then I will pay you for it and we will talk
about that That will be a cheerful subject«
Mademoiselle Noémie had collected her accessories and she gave the precious
Madonna in charge to her father who retreated backwards out of sight holding
it at armslength and reiterating his obeisances The young lady gathered her
shawl about her like a perfect Parisienne and it was with the smile of a
Parisienne that she took leave of her patron
Chapter II
He wandered back to the divan and seated himself on the other side in view of
the great canvas on which Paul Veronese has depicted the marriage feast of Cana
Wearied as he was he found the picture entertaining it had an illusion for him
it satisfied his conception, which was ambitious of what a splendid banquet
should be In the lefthand corner of the picture is a young woman with yellow
tresses confined in a golden headdress she is bending forward and listening
with the smile of a charming woman at a dinnerparty to her neighbour Newman
detected her in the crowd admired her and perceived that she too had her
votive copyist a young man with his hair standing on end Suddenly he became
conscious of the germ of the mania of the collector he had taken the first
step why should he not go on It was only twenty minutes before that he had
bought the first picture of his life and now he was already thinking of
artpatronage as a fascinating pursuit His reflections quickened his
goodhumour and he was on the point of approaching the young man with another »
Combien« Two or three facts in this relation are noticeable although the
logical chain which connects them may seem imperfect He knew Mademoiselle
Nioche had asked too much he bore her no grudge for doing so and he was
determined to pay the young man exactly the proper sum At this moment however
his attention was attracted by a gentleman who had come from another part of the
room and whose manner was that of a stranger to the gallery although he was
equipped with neither guidebook nor operaglass He carried a white
sunumbrella lined with blue silk and he strolled in front of the Paul
Veronese vaguely looking at it but much too near to see anything but the grain
of the canvas Opposite to Christopher Newman he paused and turned and then our
friend who had been observing him had a chance to verify a suspicion aroused
by an imperfect view of his face The result of this larger scrutiny was that he
presently sprang to his feet strode across the room and with an outstretched
hand arrested the gentleman with the bluelined umbrella The latter stared but
put out his hand at a venture He was corpulent and rosy and though his
countenance which was ornamented with a beautiful flaxen beard carefully
divided in the middle and brushed outward at the sides was not remarkable for
intensity of expression he looked like a person who would willingly shake hands
with anyone I know not what Newman thought of his face but he found a want of
response in his grasp
»Oh come come« he said laughing »dont say now you dont know me if
I have not got a white parasol«
The sound of his voice quickened the others memory his face expanded to
its fullest capacity and he also broke into a laugh
»Why Newman Ill be blowed Where in the world I declare who would
have thought You know you have changed«
»You havent« said Newman
»Not for the better no doubt When did you get here«
»Three days ago«
»Why didnt you let me know«
»I had no idea you were here«
»I have been here these six years«
»It must be eight or nine since we met«
»Something of that sort We were very young«
»It was in St Louis during the war You were in the army«
»Oh no not I But you were«
»I believe I was«
»You came out all right«
»I came out with my legs and arms and with satisfaction All that seems
very far away«
»And how long have you been in Europe«
»Seventeen days«
»First time«
»Yes very much so«
»Made your everlasting fortune«
Christopher Newman was silent a moment and then with a tranquil smile he
answered »Yes«
»And come to Paris to spend it eh«
»Well we shall see So they carry those parasols here the menfolk«
»Of course they do Theyre great things They understand comfort out here«
»Where do you buy them«
»Anywhere everywhere«
»Well Tristram Im glad to get hold of you You can show me the ropes I
suppose you know Paris inside out«
Mr Tristram gave a mellow smile of self-gratulation »Well I guess there
are not many men that can show me much Ill take care of you«
»Its a pity you were not here a few minutes ago I have just bought a
picture You might have put the thing through for me«
»Bought a picture« said Mr Tristram looking vaguely round at the walls
»Why do they sell them«
»I mean a copy«
»Oh I see These« said Mr Tristram nodding at the Titians and Vandykes
»these I suppose are originals«
»I hope so« cried Newman »I dont want a copy of a copy«
»Ah« said Mr Tristram mysteriously »you can never tell They imitate
you know so deucedly well Its like the jewellers with their false stones Go
into the Palais Royal there you see Imitation on half the windows The law
obliges them to stick it on you know but you cant tell the things apart To
tell the truth« Mr Tristram continued with a wry face »I dont do much in
pictures I leave that to my wife«
»Ah you have got a wife«
»Didnt I mention it Shes a very nice woman you must know her Shes up
there in the Avenue dIéna«
»So you are regularly fixed house and children and all«
»Yes a tiptop house and a couple of youngsters«
»Well« said Christopher Newman stretching his arms a little with a sigh
»I envy you«
»Oh no you dont« answered Mr Tristram giving him a little poke with his
parasol
»I beg your pardon I do«
»Well you wont then when when «
»You dont certainly mean when I have seen your establishment«
»When you have seen Paris my boy You want to be your own master here«
»Oh I have been my own master all my life and Im tired of it«
»Well try Paris How old are you«
»Thirtysix«
»Cest le bel âge as they say here«
»What does that mean«
»It means that a man shouldnt send away his plate till he has eaten his
fill«
»All that I have just made arrangements to take French lessons«
»Oh you dont want any lessons Youll pick it up I never took any«
»I suppose you speak French as well as English«
»Better« said Mr Tristram roundly »Its a splendid language You can say
all sorts of bright things in it«
»But I suppose« said Christopher Newman with an earnest desire for
information »that you must be bright to begin with«
»Not a bit thats just the beauty of it«
The two friends as they exchanged these remarks had remained standing
where they met and leaning against the rail which protected the pictures Mr
Tristram at last declared that he was overcome with fatigue and should be happy
to sit down Newman recommended in the highest terms the great divan on which he
had been lounging and they prepared to seat themselves »This is a great place
isnt it« said Newman with ardour
»Great place great place Finest thing in the world« And then suddenly
Mr Tristram hesitated and looked about him »I suppose they wont let you smoke
here«
Newman stared »Smoke Im sure I dont know You know the regulations
better than I«
»I I never was here before«
»Never in six years«
»I believe my wife dragged me here once when we first came to Paris but I
never found my way back«
»But you say you know Paris so well«
»I dont call this Paris« cried Mr Tristram with assurance »Come lets
go over to the Palais Royal and have a smoke«
»I dont smoke« said Newman
»A drink then«
And Mr Tristram led his companion away They passed through the glorious
halls of the Louvre down the staircases along the cool dim galleries of
sculpture and out into the enormous court Newman looked about him as he went
but he made no comments and it was only when they at last emerged into the open
air that he said to his friend »It seems to me that in your place I should have
come here once a week«
»Oh no you wouldnt« said Mr Tristram »You think so but you wouldnt
You wouldnt have had time You would always mean to go but you never would go
Theres better fun than that here in Paris Italys the place to see pictures
wait till you get there There you have to go you cant do anything else Its
an awful country you cant get a decent cigar I dont know why I went in there
today I was strolling along rather hard up for amusement I sort of noticed
the Louvre as I passed and I thought I would go in and see what was going on
But if I hadnt found you there I should have felt rather sold Hang it I dont
care for pictures I prefer the reality« And Mr Tristram tossed off this happy
formula with an assurance which the numerous class of persons suffering from an
overdose of culture might have envied him
The two gentlemen proceeded along the Rue de Rivoli and into the Palais
Royal where they seated themselves at one of the little tables stationed at the
door of the café which projects into the great open quadrangle The place was
filled with people the fountains were spouting a band was playing clusters of
chairs were gathered beneath all the limetrees and buxom whitecapped nurses
seated along the benches were offering to their infant charges the amplest
facilities for nutrition There was an easy homely gaiety in the whole scene
and Christopher Newman felt that it was most characteristically Parisian
»And now« began Mr Tristram when they had tasted the decoction which he
had caused to be served to them »now just give an account of yourself What are
your ideas what are your plans where have you come from and where are you
going In the first place where are you staying«
»At the Grand Hotel« said Newman
Mr Tristram puckered his plump visage »That wont do You must change«
»Change« demanded Newman »Why its the finest hotel I ever was in«
»You dont want a fine hotel you want something small and quiet and
elegant where your bell is answered and your your person is recognised«
»They keep running to see if I have rung before I have touched the bell«
said Newman »and as for my person they are always bowing and scraping to it«
»I suppose you are always tipping them Thats very bad style«
»Always By no means A man brought me something yesterday and then stood
loafing about in a beggarly manner I offered him a chair and asked him if he
wouldnt sit down Was that bad style«
»Very«
»But he bolted instantly At any rate the place amuses me Hang your
elegance if it bores me I sat in the court of the Grand Hotel last night until
two oclock in the morning watching the coming and going and the people
knocking about«
»Youre easily pleased But you can do as you choose a man in your shoes
You have made a pile of money eh«
»I have made enough«
»Happy the man who can say that Enough for what«
»Enough to rest awhile to forget the confounded thing to look about me to
see the world to have a good time to improve my mind and if the fancy takes
me to marry a wife« Newman spoke slowly with a certain dryness of accent and
with frequent pauses This was his habitual mode of utterance but it was
especially marked in the words I have just quoted
»Jupiter Theres a programme« cried Mr Tristram »Certainly all that
takes money especially the wife unless indeed she gives it as mine did And
whats the story How have you done it«
Newman had pushed his hat back from his forehead folded his arms and
stretched his legs He listened to the music he looked about him at the
bustling crowd at the plashing fountains at the nurses and the babies »I have
worked« he answered at last
Tristram looked at him for some moments and allowed his placid eyes to
measure his friends generous longitude and rest upon his comfortably
contemplative face »What have you worked at« he asked
»Oh at several things«
»I suppose youre a smart fellow eh«
Newman continued to look at the nurses and babies they imparted to the
scene a kind of primordial pastoral simplicity »Yes« he said at last »I
suppose I am« And then in answer to his companions inquiries he related
briefly his history since their last meeting It was an intensely Western story
and it dealt with enterprises which it will be needless to introduce to the
reader in detail Newman had come out of the war with a brevet of
brigadiergeneral an honour which in this case without invidious comparisons
had lighted upon shoulders amply competent to bear it But though he could
manage a fight when need was Newman heartily disliked the business his four
years in the army had left him with an angry bitter sense of the waste of
precious things life and time and money and smartness and the early freshness
of purpose and he had addressed himself to the pursuits of peace with
passionate zest and energy He was of course as penniless when he plucked off
his shoulderstraps as when he put them on and the only capital at his disposal
was his dogged resolution and his lively perception of ends and means Exertion
and action were as natural to him as respiration a more completely healthy
mortal had never trod the elastic soil of the West His experience moreover
was as wide as his capacity when he was fourteen years old necessity had taken
him by his slim young shoulders and pushed him into the street to earn that
nights supper He had not earned it but he had earned the next nights and
afterwards whenever he had had none it was because he had gone without it to
use the money for something else a keener pleasure or a finer profit He had
turned his hand with his brain in it to many things he had been enterprising
in an eminent sense of the term; he had been adventurous and even reckless and
he had known bitter failure as well as brilliant success but he was a born
experimentalist and he had always found something to enjoy in the pressure of
necessity even when it was as irritating as the haircloth shirt of the mediæval
monk At one time failure seemed inexorably his portion illluck became his
bedfellow and whatever he touched he turned not to gold but to ashes His
most vivid conception of a supernatural element in the worlds affairs had come
to him once when this pertinacity of misfortune was at its climax there seemed
to him something stronger in life than his own will But the mysterious
something could only be the devil and he was accordingly seized with an intense
personal enmity to this impertinent force He had known what it was to have
utterly exhausted his credit to be unable to raise a dollar and to find
himself at nightfall in a strange city without a penny to mitigate its
strangeness It was under these circumstances that he made his entrance into San
Francisco the scene subsequently of his happiest strokes of fortune If he
did not like Dr Franklin in Philadelphia march along the street munching a
penny loaf it was only because he had not the penny loaf necessary to the
performance In his darkest days he had had but one simple practical impulse
the desire as he would have phrased it to see the thing through He did so at
last buffeted his way into smooth waters and made money largely It must be
admitted rather nakedly that Christopher Newmans sole aim in life had been to
make money what he had been placed in the world for was to his own perception
simply to wrest a fortune the bigger the better from defiant opportunity This
idea completely filled his horizon and satisfied his imagination Upon the uses
of money upon what one might do with a life into which one had succeeded in
injecting the golden stream he had up to his thirty year very scantily
reflected Life had been for him an open game and he had played for high
stakes He had won at last and carried off his winnings and now what was he to
do with them He was a man to whom sooner or later the question was sure to
present itself, and the answer to it belongs to our story A vague sense that
more answers were possible than his philosophy had hitherto dreamt of had
already taken possession of him and it seemed softly and agreeably to deepen as
he lounged in this brilliant corner of Paris with his friend
»I must confess« he presently went on »that here I dont feel at all
smart My remarkable talents seem of no use I feel as simple as a little child
and a little child might take me by the hand and lead me about«
»Oh Ill be your little child« said Tristram jovially »Ill take you by
the hand Trust yourself to me«
»I am a good worker« Newman continued »but I rather think I am a poor
loafer I have come abroad to amuse myself but I doubt whether I know how«
»Oh thats easily learned«
»Well I may perhaps learn it but I am afraid I shall never do it by rote
I have the best will in the world about it but my genius doesnt lie in that
direction As a loafer I shall never be original as I take it that you are«
»Yes« said Tristram »I suppose I am original like all those immoral
pictures in the Louvre«
»Besides« Newman continued »I dont want to work at pleasure any more
than I played at work I want to take it easily I feel deliciously lazy and I
should like to spend six months as I am now sitting under a tree and listening
to a band Theres only one thing I want to hear some good music«
»Music and pictures Lord what refined tastes You are what my wife calls
intellectual I aint a bit But we can find something better for you to do
than to sit under a tree To begin with you must come to the club«
»What club«
»The Occidental You will see all the Americans there all the best of them
at least Of course you play poker«
»Oh I say« cried Newman with energy »you are not going to lock me up in
a club and stick me down at a cardtable I havent come all this way for that«
»What the deuce have you come for You were glad enough to play poker in St
Louis I recollect when you cleaned me out«
»I have come to see Europe to get the best out of it I can I want to see
all the great things and do what the clever people do«
»The clever people Much obliged You set me down as a blockhead then«
Newman was sitting sidewise in his chair with his elbow on the back and his
head leaning on his hand Without moving he looked awhile at his companion with
his dry guarded halfinscrutable and yet altogether goodnatured smile
»Introduce me to your wife« he said at last
Tristram bounced about in his chair »Upon my word I wont She doesnt
want any help to turn up her nose at me nor do you either«
»I dont turn up my nose at you my dear fellow nor at anyone or anything
Im not proud I assure you Im not proud Thats why I am willing to take
example by the clever people«
»Well if Im not the rose as they say here I have lived near it I can
show you some clever people too Do you know General Packard Do you know CP
Hatch Do you know Miss Kitty Upjohn«
»I shall be happy to make their acquaintance I want to cultivate society«
Tristram seemed restless and suspicious he eyed his friend askance and
then »What are you up to any way« he demanded »Are you going to write a
book«
Christopher Newman twisted one end of his moustache awhile in silence and
at last he made answer »One day a couple of months ago something very curious
happened to me I had come on to New York on some important business it was
rather a long story a question of getting ahead of another party in a certain
particular way in the stockmarket This other party had once played me a very
mean trick I owed him a grudge I felt awfully savage at the time and I vowed
that when I got a chance I would figuratively speaking put his nose out of
joint There was a matter of some sixty thousand dollars at stake If I put it
out of his way it was a blow the fellow would feel and he really deserved no
quarter I jumped into a hack and went about my business and it was in this
hack this immortal historical hack that the curious thing I speak of
occurred It was a hack like any other only a trifle dirtier with a greasy
line along the top of the drab cushions as if it had been used for a great many
Irish funerals It is possible I took a nap I had been travelling all night
and though I was excited with my errand I felt the want of sleep At all events
I woke up suddenly from a sleep or from a kind of a reverie with the most
extraordinary feeling in the world a mortal disgust for the thing I was going
to do It came upon me like that« and he snapped his fingers »as abruptly
as an old wound that begins to ache I couldnt tell the meaning of it I only
felt that I loathed the whole business and wanted to wash my hands of it The
idea of losing that sixty thousand dollars of letting it utterly slide and
scuttle and never hearing of it again seemed the sweetest thing in the world
And all this took place quite independently of my will and I sat watching it as
if it were a play at the theatre I could feel it going on inside of me You may
depend upon it that there are things going on inside of us that we understand
mighty little about«
»Jupiter you make my flesh creep« cried Tristram »And while you sat in
your hack watching the play as you call it the other man marched in and
bagged your sixty thousand dollars«
»I have not the least idea I hope so poor devil but I never found out We
pulled up in front of the place I was going to in Wall Street but I sat still
in the carriage and at last the driver scrambled down off his seat to see
whether his carriage had not turned into a hearse I couldnt have got out any
more than if I had been a corpse What was the matter with me Momentary idiocy
youll say What I wanted to get out of was Wall Street I told the man to drive
down to the Brooklyn ferry and to cross over When we were over I told him to
drive me out into the country As I had told him originally to drive for dear
life down town I suppose he thought me insane Perhaps I was but in that case
I am insane still I spent the morning looking at the first green leaves on Long
Island I was sick of business I wanted to throw it all up and break off short
I had money enough or if I hadnt I ought to have I seemed to feel a new man
inside my old skin and I longed for a new world When you want a thing so very
badly you had better treat yourself to it I didnt understand the matter not
in the least but I gave the old horse the bridle and let him find his way As
soon as I could get out of the game I sailed for Europe That is how I come to
be sitting here«
»You ought to have bought up that hack« said Tristram »it isnt a safe
vehicle to have about And you have really sold out then you have retired from
business«
»I have made over my hand to a friend when I feel disposed I can take up
the cards again I daresay that a twelvemonth hence the operation will be
reversed The pendulum will swing back again I shall be sitting in the gondola
or on a dromedary and all of a sudden I shall want to clear out But for the
present I am perfectly free I have even bargained that I am to receive no
business letters«
»Oh its a real caprice de prince« said Tristram »I back out a poor
devil like me cant help you to spend such very magnificent leisure as that You
should get introduced to the crowned heads«
Newman looked at him a moment and then with his easy smile »How does one
do it« he asked
»Come I like that« cried Tristram »It shows you are in earnest«
»Of course I am in earnest Didnt I say I wanted the best I know the best
cant be had for mere money but I rather think money will do a good deal In
addition I am willing to take a good deal of trouble«
»You are not bashful eh«
»I havent the least idea I want the biggest kind of entertainment a man
can get People places art nature everything I want to see the tallest
mountains and the bluest lakes and the finest pictures and the handsomest
churches and the most celebrated men and the most beautiful women«
»Settle down in Paris then There are no mountains that I know of and the
only lake is in the Bois de Boulogne and not particularly blue But there is
everything else plenty of pictures and churches no end of celebrated men and
several beautiful women«
»But I cant settle down in Paris at this season just as summer is coming
on«
»Oh for the summer go up to Trouville«
»What is Trouville«
»The French Newport Half the Americans go«
»Is it anywhere near the Alps«
»About as near as Newport is to the Rocky Mountains«
»Oh I want to see Mont Blanc« said Newman »and Amsterdam and the Rhine
and a lot of places Venice in particular I have great ideas about Venice«
»Ah« said Mr Tristram rising »I see I shall have to introduce you to my
wife«
Chapter III
He performed this ceremony on the following day when by appointment
Christopher Newman went to dine with him Mr and Mrs Tristram lived behind one
of those chalkcoloured façades which decorate with their pompous sameness the
broad avenues manufactured by Baron Haussmann in the neighbourhood of the Arc de
Triomphe Their apartment was rich in the modern conveniences and Tristram lost
no time in calling his visitors attention to their principal household
treasures the gaslamps and the furnaceholes »Whenever you feel homesick« he
said »you must come up here Well stick you down before a register under a
good big burner and «
»And you will soon get over your homesickness« said Mrs Tristram
Her husband stared his wife often had a tone which he found inscrutable he
could not tell for his life whether she was in jest or in earnest The truth is
that circumstances had done much to cultivate in Mrs Tristram a marked tendency
to irony Her taste on many points differed from that of her husband and though
she made frequent concessions it must be confessed that her concessions were
not always graceful They were founded upon a vague project she had of some day
doing something very positive something a trifle passionate What she meant to
do she could by no means have told you but meanwhile nevertheless she was
buying a good conscience by instalments
It should be added without delay to anticipate misconception that her
little scheme of independence did not definitely involve the assistance of
another person of the opposite sex she was not saving up virtue to cover the
expenses of a flirtation For this there were various reasons To begin with
she had a very plain face and she was entirely without illusions as to her
appearance She had taken its measure to a hairs breadth she knew the worst
and the best she had accepted herself It had not been indeed without a
struggle As a young girl she had spent hours with her back to her mirror
crying her eyes out and later she had from desperation and bravado adopted
the habit of proclaiming herself the most illfavoured of women in order that
she might as in common politeness was inevitable be contradicted and
reassured It was since she had come to live in Europe that she had begun to
take the matter philosophically Her observation acutely exercised here had
suggested to her that a womans first duty is not to be beautiful but to be
pleasing and she encountered so many women who pleased without beauty that she
began to feel that she had discovered her mission She had once heard an
enthusiastic musician out of patience with a gifted bungler declare that a
fine voice is really an obstacle to singing properly and it occurred to her
that it might perhaps be equally true that a beautiful face is an obstacle to
the acquisition of charming manners Mrs Tristram then undertook to be
exquisitely agreeable and she brought to the task a really touching devotion
How well she would have succeeded I am unable to say unfortunately she broke
off in the middle Her own excuse was the want of encouragement in her immediate
circle But I am inclined to think that she had not a real genius for the
matter or she would have pursued the charming art for itself. The poor lady was
very incomplete She fell back upon the harmonies of the toilet which she
thoroughly understood and contented herself with dressing in perfection She
lived in Paris which she pretended to detest because it was only in Paris that
one could find things to exactly suit ones complexion Besides out of Paris it
was always more or less of a trouble to get tenbutton gloves When she railed
at this serviceable city and you asked her where she would prefer to reside
she returned some very unexpected answer She would say in Copenhagen or in
Barcelona having while making the tour of Europe spent a couple of days at
each of these places On the whole with her poetic furbelows and her
misshapen intelligent little face she was when you knew her a decidedly
interesting woman She was naturally shy and if she had been born a beauty she
would having no vanity probably have remained shy Now she was both diffident
and importunate extremely reserved sometimes with her friends and strangely
expansive with strangers She despised her husband despised him too much for
she had been perfectly at liberty not to marry him She had been in love with a
clever man who had slighted her and she had married a fool in the hope that
this thankless wit reflecting on it would conclude that she had no
appreciation of merit and that he had flattered himself in supposing that she
cared for his own Restless discontented visionary without personal
ambitions but with a certain avidity of imagination she was as I have said
before eminently incomplete She was full both for good and for ill of
beginnings that came to nothing but she had nevertheless morally a spark of
the sacred fire
Newman was fond under all circumstances of the society of women and now
that he was out of his native element and deprived of his habitual interests
he turned to it for compensation He took a great fancy to Mrs Tristram she
frankly repaid it and after their first meeting he passed a great many hours in
her drawingroom After two or three talks they were fast friends Newmans
manner with women was peculiar and it required some ingenuity on a ladys part
to discover that he admired her He had no gallantry in the usual sense of the
term; no compliments no graces no speeches Very fond of what is called
chaffing in his dealings with men he never found himself on a sofa beside a
member of the softer sex without feeling extremely serious He was not shy and
so far as awkwardness proceeds from a struggle with shyness he was not awkward
grave attentive submissive often silent he was simply swimming in a sort of
rapture of respect This emotion was not at all theoretic it was not even in a
high degree sentimental he had thought very little about the position of women
and he was not familiar either sympathetically or otherwise with the image of
a President in petticoats His attitude was simply the flower of his general
goodnature and a part of his instinctive and genuinely democratic assumption
of everyones right to lead an easy life If a shaggy pauper had a right to bed
and board and wages and a vote women of course who were weaker than paupers
and whose physical tissue was in itself an appeal should be maintained
sentimentally at the public expense Newman was willing to be taxed for this
purpose largely in proportion to his means Moreover many of the common
traditions with regard to women were with him fresh personal impressions he had
never read a novel He had been struck with their acuteness their subtlety
their tact their felicity of judgment They seemed to him exquisitely
organised If it is true that one must always have in ones work here below a
religion or at least an ideal of some sort Newman found his metaphysical
inspiration in a vague acceptance of final responsibility to some illumined
feminine brow
He spent a great deal of time in listening to advice from Mrs Tristram
advice it must be added for which he had never asked He would have been
incapable of asking for it for he had no perception of difficulties and
consequently no curiosity about remedies The complex Parisian world about him
seemed a very simple affair it was an immense amazing spectacle but it
neither inflamed his imagination nor irritated his curiosity He kept his hands
in his pockets looked on goodhumouredly desired to miss nothing important
observed a great many things narrowly and never reverted to himself Mrs
Tristrams advice was a part of the show and a more entertaining element in
her abundant gossip than the others He enjoyed her talking about himself it
seemed a part of her beautiful ingenuity but he never made an application of
anything she said or remembered it when he was away from her For herself she
appropriated him he was the most interesting thing she had had to think about
in many a month She wished to do something with him she hardly knew what
There was so much of him he was so rich and robust so easy friendly
welldisposed that he kept her fancy constantly on the alert For the present
the only thing she could do was to like him She told him that he was horribly
Western but in this compliment the adverb was tinged with insincerity She led
him about with her introduced him to fifty people and took extreme
satisfaction in her conquest Newman accepted every proposal shook hands
universally and promiscuously and seemed equally unfamiliar with trepidation or
with elation Tom Tristram complained of his wifes avidity and declared that
he could never have a clear five minutes with his friend If he had known how
things were going to turn out he never would have brought him to the Avenue
dIéna The two men formerly had not been intimate but Newman remembered his
earlier impression of his host and did Mrs Tristram who had by no means taken
him into her confidence but whose secret he presently discovered the justice
to admit that her husband was a rather degenerate mortal At twentyfive he had
been a good fellow and in this respect he was unchanged but of a man of his
age one expected something more People said he was sociable but this was as
much a matter of course as for a dipped sponge to expand and it was not a high
order of sociability He was a great gossip and tattler and to produce a laugh
would hardly have spared the reputation of his aged mother Newman had a
kindness for old memories but he found it impossible not to perceive that
Tristram was nowadays a very light weight His only aspirations were to hold out
at poker at his club to know the names of all the cocottes to shake hands all
round to ply his rosy gullet with truffles and champagne and to create
uncomfortable eddies and obstructions among the constituent atoms of the
American colony He was shamefully idle spiritless sensual snobbish He
irritated our friend by the tone of his allusions to their native country and
Newman was at a loss to understand why the United States were not good enough
for Mr Tristram He had never been a very conscious patriot but it vexed him
to see them treated as little better than a vulgar smell in his friends
nostrils and he finally broke out and swore that they were the greatest country
in the world that they could put all Europe into their breeches pockets and
that an American who spoke ill of them ought to be carried home in irons and
compelled to live in Boston This for Newman was putting it very
vindictively Tristram was a comfortable man to snub he bore no malice and he
continued to insist on Newmans finishing his evenings at the Occidental Club
Christopher Newman dined several times in the Avenue dIéna and his host
always proposed an early adjournment to this institution Mrs Tristram
protested and declared that her husband exhausted his ingenuity in trying to
displease her
»Oh no I never try my love« he answered »I know you loathe me quite
enough when I take my chance«
Newman hated to see a husband and wife on these terms and he was sure one
or other of them must be very unhappy He knew it was not Tristram Mrs
Tristram had a balcony before her windows upon which during the June evenings
she was fond of sitting and Newman used frankly to say that he preferred the
balcony to the club It had a fringe of perfumed plants in tubs and enabled you
to look up the broad street and see the Arch of Triumph vaguely massing its
heroic sculptures in the summer starlight Sometimes Newman kept his promise of
following Mr Tristram in half an hour to the Occidental and sometimes he
forgot it His hostess asked him a great many questions about himself but on
this subject he was an indifferent talker He was not what is called subjective
though when he felt that her interest was sincere he made an almost heroic
attempt to be He told her a great many things he had done and regaled her with
anecdotes of Western life she was from Philadelphia and with her eight years
in Paris talked of herself as a languid Oriental But some other person was
always the hero of the tale by no means always to his advantage and Newmans
own emotions were but scantily chronicled She had an especial wish to know
whether he had ever been in love seriously passionately and failing to
gather any satisfaction from his allusions she at last directly inquired He
hesitated awhile and at last he said »No« She declared that she was delighted
to hear it as it confirmed her private conviction that he was a man of no
feeling
»Really« he asked very gravely »Do you think so How do you recognise a
man of feeling«
»I cant make out« said Mrs Tristram »whether you are very simple or very
deep«
»Im very deep Thats a fact«
»I believe that if I were to tell you with a certain air that you have no
feeling you would implicitly believe me«
»A certain air« said Newman »Try it and see«
»You would believe me but you would not care« said Mrs Tristram
»You have got it all wrong I should care immensely but I shouldnt believe
you The fact is I have never had time to feel things I have had to do them to
make myself felt«
»I can imagine that you may have done that tremendously sometimes«
»Yes theres no mistake about that«
»When you are in a fury it cant be pleasant«
»I am never in a fury«
»Angry then or displeased«
»I am never angry and it is so long since I have been displeased that I
have quite forgotten it«
»I dont believe« said Mrs Tristram »that you are never angry A man
ought to be angry sometimes and you are neither good enough nor bad enough
always to keep your temper«
»I lose it perhaps once in five years«
»The time is coming round then« said his hostess »Before I have known you
six months I shall see you in a fine fury«
»Do you mean to put me into one«
»I should not be sorry You take things too coolly It exasperates me And
then you are too happy You have what must be the most agreeable thing in the
world the consciousness of having bought your pleasure beforehand and paid
for it You have not a day of reckoning staring you in the face Your reckonings
are over«
»Well I suppose I am happy« said Newman meditatively
»You have been odiously successful«
»Successful in copper« said Newman »only soso in railroads and a
hopeless fizzle in oil«
»It is very disagreeable to know how Americans have made their money Now
you have the world before you You have only to enjoy«
»Oh I suppose I am very well off« said Newman »Only I am tired of having
it thrown up at me Besides there are several drawbacks I am not
intellectual«
»One doesnt expect it of you« Mrs Tristram answered Then in a moment
»Besides you are«
»Well I mean to have a good time whether or no« said Newman »I am not
cultivated I am not even educated I know nothing about history or art or
foreign tongues or any other learned matters But I am not a fool either and
I shall undertake to know something about Europe by the time I have done with
it I feel something under my ribs here« he added in a moment »that I cant
explain a sort of a mighty hankering a desire to stretch out and haul in«
»Bravo« said Mrs Tristram »that is very fine You are the great Western
Barbarian stepping forth in his innocence and might gazing awhile at this poor
effete Old World and then swooping down on it«
»Oh come« said Newman »I am not a barbarian by a good deal I am very
much the reverse I have seen barbarians I know what they are«
»I dont mean that you are a Comanche chief or that you wear a blanket and
feathers There are different shades«
»I am a highly civilised man« said Newman »I stick to that If you dont
believe it I should like to prove it to you«
Mrs Tristram was silent awhile »I should like to make you prove it« she
said at last »I should like to put you in a difficult place«
»Pray do« said Newman
»That has a little conceited sound« his companion rejoined
»Oh« said Newman »I have a very good opinion of myself«
»I wish I could put it to the test Give me time and I will« And Mrs
Tristram remained silent for some time afterwards as if she was trying to keep
her pledge It did not appear that evening that she succeeded but as he was
rising to take his leave she passed suddenly as she was very apt to do from
the tone of unsparing persiflage to that of almost tremulous sympathy »Speaking
seriously« she said »I believe in you Mr Newman You flatter my patriotism«
»Your patriotism« Christopher demanded
»Even so It would take too long to explain and you probably would not
understand Besides you might take it really you might take it for a
declaration But it has nothing to do with you personally its what you
represent Fortunately you dont know all that or your conceit would increase
insufferably«
Newman stood staring and wondering what under the sun he represented
»Forgive all my meddlesome chatter and forget my advice It is very silly
in me to undertake to tell you what to do When you are embarrassed do as you
think best and you will do very well When you are in a difficulty judge for
yourself«
»I shall remember everything you have told me« said Newman »There are so
many forms and ceremonies over here «
»Forms and ceremonies are what I mean of course«
»Ah but I want to observe them« said Newman »Havent I as good a right as
another They dont scare me and you neednt give me leave to violate them I
wont take it«
»That is not what I mean I mean observe them in your own way Settle nice
questions for yourself Cut the knot or untie it as you choose«
»Oh I am sure I shall never fumble over it« said Newman
The next time that he dined in the Avenue dIéna was a Sunday a day on
which Mr Tristram left the cards unshuffled so that there was a trio in the
evening on the balcony The talk was of many things and at last Mrs Tristram
suddenly observed to Christopher Newman that it was high time he should take a
wife
»Listen to her she has the audacity« said Tristram who on Sunday evenings
was always rather acrimonious
»I dont suppose you have made up your mind not to marry« Mrs Tristram
continued
»Heaven forbid« cried Newman »I am sternly resolved on it«
»Its very easy« said Tristram »fatally easy«
»Well then I suppose you do not mean to wait till you are fifty«
»On the contrary I am in a great hurry«
»One would never suppose it Do you expect a lady to come and propose to
you«
»No I am willing to propose I think a great deal about it«
»Tell me some of your thoughts«
»Well« said Newman slowly »I want to marry very well«
»Marry a woman of sixty then« said Tristram
»Well in what sense«
»In every sense I shall be hard to please«
»You must remember that as the French proverb says the most beautiful girl
in the world can give but what she has«
»Since you ask me« said Newman »I will say frankly that I want extremely
to marry It is time to begin with before I know it I shall be forty And then
Im lonely and helpless and dull But if I marry now so long as I didnt do it
in hot haste when I was twenty I must do it with my eyes open I want to do the
thing in handsome style I not only want to make no mistakes but I want to make
a great hit I want to take my pick My wife must be a magnificent woman«
»Voilà ce qui sappelle parler« cried Mrs Tristram
»Oh I have thought an immense deal about it«
»Perhaps you think too much The best thing is simply to fall in love«
»When I find the woman who pleases me I shall love her enough My wife
shall be very comfortable«
»You are superb Theres a chance for the magnificent women«
»You are not fair« Newman rejoined »You draw a fellow out and put him off
his guard and then you laugh at him«
»I assure you« said Mrs Tristram »that I am very serious To prove it I
will make you a proposal Should you like me as they say here to marry you«
»To hunt up a wife for me«
»She is already found I will bring you together«
»Oh come« said Tristram »we dont keep a matrimonial bureau He will think
you want your commission«
»Present me to a woman who comes up to my notions« said Newman »and I will
marry her tomorrow«
»You have a strange tone about it and I dont quite understand you I
didnt suppose you would be so coldblooded and calculating«
Newman was silent a while »Well« he said at last »I want a great woman
I stick to that Thats one thing I can treat myself to and if it is to be had
I mean to have it What else have I toiled and struggled for all these years I
have succeeded and now what am I to do with my success To make it perfect as
I see it there must be a beautiful woman perched on the pile like a statue on
a monument She must be as good as she is beautiful and as clever as she is
good I can give my wife a good deal so I am not afraid to ask a good deal
myself She shall have everything a woman can desire I shall not even object to
her being too good for me she may be cleverer and wiser than I can understand
and I shall only be the better pleased I want to possess in a word the best
article in the market«
»Why didnt you tell a fellow all this at the outset« Tristram demanded »I
have been trying so to make you fond of me«
»This is very interesting« said Mrs Tristram »I like to see a man know
his own mind«
»I have known mine for a long time« Newman went on »I made up my mind
tolerably early in life that a beautiful wife was the thing best worth having
here below It is the greatest victory over circumstances When I say beautiful
I mean beautiful in mind and in manners as well as in person It is a thing
every man has an equal right to he may get it if he can He doesnt have to be
born with certain faculties on purpose he needs only to be a man Then he needs
only to use his will and such wits as he has and to try«
»It strikes me that your marriage is to be rather a matter of vanity«
»Well it is certain« said Newman »that if people notice my wife and
admire her I shall be mightily tickled«
»After this« cried Mrs Tristram »call any man modest«
»But none of them will admire her so much as I«
»I see you have a taste for splendour«
Newman hesitated a little and then »I honestly believe I have« he said
»And I suppose you have already looked about you a good deal«
»A good deal according to opportunity«
»And you have seen nothing that satisfied you«
»No« said Newman half reluctantly »I am bound to say in honesty that I
have seen nothing that really satisfied me«
»You remind me of the heroes of the French romantic poets Rolla and
Fortunio and all those other insatiable gentlemen for whom nothing in this world
was handsome enough But I see you are in earnest and I should like to help
you«
»Who the deuce is it darling that you are going to put upon him« Tristram
cried »We know a good many pretty girls thank Heaven but magnificent women
are not so common«
»Have you any objections to a foreigner« his wife continued addressing
Newman who had tilted back his chair and with his feet on a bar of the
balcony railing and his hands in his pockets was looking at the stars
»No Irish need apply« said Tristram
Newman meditated awhile »As a foreigner no« he said at last »I have no
prejudices«
»My dear fellow you have no suspicions« cried Tristram »You dont know
what terrible customers these foreign women are especially the magnificent
ones How should you like a fair Circassian with a dagger in her belt«
Newman administered a vigorous slap to his knee »I would marry a Japanese
if she pleased me« he affirmed
»We had better confine ourselves to Europe« said Mrs Tristram »The only
thing is then that the person be in herself to your taste«
»She is going to offer you an unappreciated governess« Tristram groaned
»Assuredly I wont deny that other things being equal I should prefer one
of my own countrywomen We should speak the same language and that would be a
comfort But I am not afraid of a foreigner Besides I rather like the idea of
taking in Europe too It enlarges the field of selection When you choose from
a greater number you can bring your choice to a finer point«
»You talk like Sardanapalus« exclaimed Tristram
»You say all this to the right person« said Newmans hostess »I happen to
number among my friends the loveliest woman in the world Neither more nor less
I dont say a very charming person or a very estimable woman or a very great
beauty I say simply the loveliest woman in the world«
»The deuce« cried Tristram »you have kept very quiet about her Were you
afraid of me«
»You have seen her« said his wife »but you have no perception of such
merit as Claires«
»Ah her name is Claire I give it up«
»Does your friend wish to marry« asked Newman
»Not in the least It is for you to make her change her mind It will not be
easy she has had one husband and he gave her a low opinion of the species.«
»Oh she is a widow then« said Newman
»Are you already afraid She was married at eighteen by her parents in the
French fashion to a disagreeable old man But he had the good taste to die a
couple of years afterward and she is now twentyfive«
»So she is French«
»French by her father English by her mother She is really more English
than French and she speaks English as well as you or I or rather much better
She belongs to the very top of the basket as they say here Her family on each
side is of fabulous antiquity her mother is the daughter of an English
Catholic earl Her father is dead and since her widowhood she has lived with
her mother and a married brother There is another brother younger who I
believe is wild They have an old hotel in the Rue de lUniversité but their
fortune is small and they make a common household for economys sake When I
was a girl I was put into a convent here for my education while my father made
the tour of Europe It was a silly thing to do with me but it had the advantage
that it made me acquainted with Claire de Bellegarde She was younger than I
but we became fast friends I took a tremendous fancy to her and she returned
my passion as far as she could They kept such a tight rein on her that she
could do very little and when I left the convent she had to give me up I was
not of her monde I am not now either but we sometimes meet They are terrible
people her monde all mounted upon stilts a mile high and with pedigrees long
in proportion It is the skim of the milk of the old noblesse Do you know what
a Legitimist is or an Ultramontane Go into Madame de Cintrés drawingroom
some afternoon at five oclock and you will see the bestpreserved specimens
I say go but no one is admitted who cant show his fifty quarterings«
»And this is the lady you propose to me to marry« asked Newman »A lady I
cant even approach«
»But you said just now that you recognised no obstacles«
Newman looked at Mrs Tristram a while stroking his moustache »Is she a
beauty« he demanded
»No«
»Oh then its no use «
»She is not a beauty but she is beautiful two very different things A
beauty has no faults in her face the face of a beautiful woman may have faults
that only deepen its charm«
»I remember Madame de Cintré now« said Tristram »She is as plain as a
pikestaff A man wouldnt look at her twice«
»In saying that he would not look at her twice my husband sufficiently
describes her« Mrs Tristram rejoined
»Is she good is she clever« Newman asked
»She is perfect I wont say more than that When you are praising a person
to another who is to know her it is bad policy to go into details I wont
exaggerate I simply recommend her Among all women I have known she stands
alone she is of a different clay«
»I should like to see her« said Newman simply
»I will try to manage it The only way will be to invite her to dinner I
have never invited her before and I dont know that she will come Her old
feudal countess of a mother rules the family with an iron hand and allows her
to have no friends but of her own choosing and to visit only in a certain
sacred circle But I can at least ask her«
At this moment Mrs Tristram was interrupted a servant stepped out upon the
balcony and announced that there were visitors in the drawingroom When
Newmans hostess had gone in to receive her friends Tom Tristram approached his
guest
»Dont put your foot into this my boy« he said puffing the last whiffs of
his cigar »Theres nothing in it«
Newman looked askance at him inquisitive »You tell another story eh«
»I say simply that Madame de Cintré is a great white doll of a woman who
cultivates quiet haughtiness«
»Ah shes haughty eh«
»She looks at you as if you were so much thin air and cares for you about
as much«
»She is very proud eh«
»Proud As proud as Im humble«
»And not goodlooking«
Tristram shrugged his shoulders »Its a kind of beauty you must be
intellectual to understand But I must go in and amuse the company«
Some time elapsed before Newman followed his friends into the drawingroom
When he at last made his appearance there he remained but a short time and
during this period sat perfectly silent listening to a lady to whom Mrs
Tristram had straightway introduced him and who chattered without a pause with
the full force of an extraordinarily highpitched voice Newman gazed and
attended Presently he came to bid goodnight to Mrs Tristram
»Who is that lady« he asked
»Miss Dora Finch How do you like her«
»Shes too noisy«
»She is thought so bright Certainly you are fastidious« said Mrs
Tristram
Newman stood a moment hesitating Then at last »Dont forget about your
friend« he said »Madame Whatshername the proud beauty Ask her to dinner
and give me good notice« And with this he departed
Some days later he came back it was in the afternoon He found Mrs
Tristram in her drawingroom with her was a visitor a woman young and pretty
dressed in white The two ladies had risen and the visitor was apparently taking
her leave As Newman approached he received from Mrs Tristram a glance of the
most vivid significance which he was not immediately able to interpret
»This is a good friend of ours« she said turning to her companion »Mr
Christopher Newman I have spoken of you to him and he has an extreme desire to
make your acquaintance If you had consented to come and dine I should have
offered him an opportunity«
The stranger turned her face toward Newman with a smile He was not
embarrassed for his unconscious sangfroid was boundless but as he became
aware that this was the proud and beautiful Madame de Cintré the loveliest
woman in the world the promised perfection the proposed ideal he made an
instinctive movement to gather his wits together Through the slight
preoccupation that it produced he had a sense of a long fair face and of two
eyes that were both brilliant and mild
»I should have been most happy« said Madame de Cintré »Unfortunately as I
have been telling Mrs Tristram I go on Monday to the country«
Newman had made a solemn bow »I am very sorry« he said
»Paris is getting too warm« Madame dc Cintré added taking her friends
hand again in farewell
Mrs Tristram seemed to have formed a sudden and somewhat venturesome
resolution and she smiled more intensely as women do when they take such
resolutions »I want Mr Newman to know you« she said dropping her head on one
side and looking at Madame de Cintrés bonnet ribbons
Christopher Newman stood gravely silent while his native penetration
admonished him Mrs Tristram was determined to force her friend to address him
a word of encouragement which should be more than one of the common formulas of
politeness and if she was prompted by charity it was by the charity that
begins at home Madame de Cintré was her dearest Claire and her especial
admiration but Madame de Cintré had found it impossible to dine with her and
Madame de Cintré should for once be forced gently to render tribute to Mrs
Tristram
»It would give me great pleasure« she said looking at Mrs Tristram
»Thats a great deal« cried the latter »for Madame de Cintré to say«
»I am very much obliged to you« said Newman »Mrs Tristram can speak
better for me than I can speak for myself«
Madame de Cintré looked at him again with the same soft brightness »Are
you to be long in Paris« she asked
»We shall keep him« said Mrs Tristram
»But you are keeping me« and Madame de Cintré shook her friends hand
»A moment longer« said Mrs Tristram
Madame de Cintré looked at Newman again this time without her smile Her
eyes lingered a moment »Will you come and see me« she asked
Mrs Tristram kissed her Newman expressed his thanks and she took her
leave Her hostess went with her to the door and left Newman alone a moment
Presently she returned rubbing her hands »It was a fortunate chance« she
said »She had come to decline my invitation You triumphed on the spot making
her ask you at the end of three minutes to her house«
»It was you who triumphed« said Newman »You must not be too hard upon
her«
Mrs Tristram stared »What do you mean«
»She did not strike me as so proud I should say she was shy«
»You are very discriminating And what do you think of her face«
»Its handsome« said Newman
»I should think it was Of course you will go and see her«
»Tomorrow« cried Newman
»No not tomorrow the next day That will be Sunday she leaves Paris on
Monday If you dont see her it will at least be a beginning« And she gave him
Madame de Cintrés address
He walked across the Seine late in the summer afternoon and made his way
through those gray and silent streets of the Faubourg St Germain whose houses
present to the outer world a face as impassive and as suggestive of the
concentration of privacy within as the blank walls of Eastern seraglios Newman
thought it a queer way for rich people to live his ideal of grandeur was a
splendid façade diffiusing its brilliancy outward too irradiating hospitality
The house to which he had been directed had a dark dusty painted portal which
swung open in answer to his ring It admitted him into a wide gravelled court
surrounded on three sides with closed windows and with a doorway facing the
street approached by three steps and surmounted by a tin canopy The place was
all in the shade it answered to Newmans conception of a convent The portress
could not tell him whether Madame de Cintré was visible he would please to
apply at the farther door He crossed the court a gentleman was sitting
bareheaded on the steps of the portico playing with a beautiful pointer He
rose as Newman approached and as he laid his hand upon the bell said with a
smile in English that he was afraid Newman would be kept waiting the servants
were scattered he himself had been ringing he didnt know what the deuce was
in them He was a young man his English was excellent and his smile very
frank Newman pronounced the name of Madame de Cintré
»I think« said the young man »that my sister is visible Come in and if
you will give me your card I will carry it to her myself«
Newman had been accompanied on his present errand by a slight sentiment I
will not say of defiance a readiness for aggression or defence as they might
prove needful but of reflective goodhumoured suspicion He took from his
pocket while he stood on the portico a card upon which under his name he had
written the words San Francisco and while he presented it he looked warily at
his interlocutor His glance was singularly reassuring he liked the young mans
face it strongly resembled that of Madame de Cintré He was evidently her
brother The young man on his side had made a rapid inspection of Newmans
person He had taken the card and was about to enter the house with it when
another figure appeared on the threshold an older man of a fine presence
wearing evening dress He looked hard at Newman and Newman looked at him
»Madame de Cintré« the younger man repeated as an introduction of the visitor
The other took the card from his hand read it in a rapid glance looked again
at Newman from head to foot hesitated a moment and then said gravely but
urbanely »Madame de Cintré is not at home«
The younger man made a gesture and then turning to Newman »I am very
sorry sir« he said
Newman gave him a friendly nod to show that he bore him no malice and
retraced his steps At the porters lodge he stopped the two men were still
standing on the portico
»Who is the gentleman with the dog« he asked of the old woman who
reappeared He had begun to learn French
»That is Monsieur le Comte«
»And the other«
»That is Monsieur le Marquis«
»A marquis« said Christopher in English which the old woman fortunately
did not understand »Oh then hes not the butler«
Chapter IV
Early one morning before Christopher Newman was dressed a little old man was
ushered into his apartment followed by a youth in a blouse bearing a picture
in a brilliant frame Newman among the distractions of Paris had forgotten M
Nioche and his accomplished daughter but this was an effective reminder
»I am afraid you had given me up sir« said the old man after many
apologies and salutations »We have made you wait so many days You accused us
perhaps of inconstancy of bad faith But behold me at last And behold also
the pretty Madonna Place it on a chair my friend in a good light so that
monsieur may admire it« And M Nioche addressing his companion helped him to
dispose the work of art
It had been endued with a layer of varnish an inch thick and its frame of
an elaborate pattern was at least a foot wide It glittered and twinkled in the
morning light and looked to Newmans eyes wonderfully splendid and precious
It seemed to him a very happy purchase and he felt rich in the possession of
it He stood looking at it complacently while he proceeded with his toilet and
M Nioche who had dismissed his own attendant hovered near smiling and
rubbing his hands
»It has wonderful finesse« he murmured caressingly »And here and there
are marvellous touches you probably perceive them sir It attracted great
attention on the Boulevard as we came along And then a gradation of tones
Thats what it is to know how to paint I dont say it because I am her father
sir but as one man of taste addressing another I cannot help observing that you
have there an exquisite work It is hard to produce such things and to have to
part with them If our means only allowed us the luxury of keeping it I really
may say sir« and M Nioche gave a little feebly insinuating laugh »I really
may say that I envy you You see« he added in a moment »we have taken the
liberty of offering you a frame It increases by a trifle the value of the work
and it will save you the annoyance so great for a person of your delicacy of
going about to bargain at the shops«
The language spoken by M Nioche was a singular compound which I shrink
from the attempt to reproduce in its integrity He had apparently once possessed
a certain knowledge of English and his accent was oddly tinged with the
cockneyism of the British metropolis But his learning had grown rusty with
disuse and his vocabulary was defective and capricious He had repaired it with
large patches of French with words anglicised by a process of his own and with
native idioms literally translated The result in the form in which he in all
humility presented it would be scarcely comprehensible to the reader so that I
have ventured to trim and sift it Newman only half understood it but it amused
him and the old mans decent forlornness appealed to his democratic instincts
The assumption of a fatality in misery always irritated his strong goodnature
it was almost the only thing that did so and he felt the impulse to wipe it
out as it were with the sponge of his own prosperity The papa of Mademoiselle
Noémie however had apparently on this occasion been vigorously indoctrinated
and he showed a certain tremulous eagerness to cultivate unexpected
opportunities
»How much do I owe you then with the frame« asked Newman
»It will make in all three thousand francs« said the old man smiling
agreeably but folding his hands in instinctive suppliance
»Can you give me a receipt«
»I have brought one« said M Nioche »I took the liberty of drawing it up
in case monsieur should happen to desire to discharge his debt« And he drew a
paper from his pocketbook and presented it to his patron The document was
written in a minute fantastic hand and couched in the choicest language
Newman laid down the money and M Nioche dropped the napoleons one by one
solemnly and lovingly into an old leathern purse
»And how is your young lady« asked Newman »She made a great impression on
me«
»An impression Monsieur is very good Monsieur admires her appearance«
»She is very pretty certainly«
»Alas yes she is very pretty«
»And what is the harm in her being pretty«
M Nioche fixed his eyes upon a spot on the carpet and shook his head Then
looking up at Newman with a gaze that seemed to brighten and expand »Monsieur
knows what Paris is She is dangerous to beauty when beauty hasnt the sou«
»Ah but that is not the case with your daughter She is rich now«
»Very true we are rich for six months But if my daughter were a plain girl
I should sleep better all the same«
»You are afraid of the young men«
»The young and the old«
»She ought to get a husband«
»Ah monsieur one doesnt get a husband for nothing Her husband must take
her as she is I cant give her a sou But the young men dont see with that
eye«
»Oh« said Newman »her talent is in itself a dowry«
»Ah sir it needs first to be converted into specie« and M Nioche slapped
his purse tenderly before he stowed it away »The operation doesnt take place
every day«
»Well your young men are very shabby« said Newman »thats all I can say
They ought to pay for your daughter and not ask money themselves«
»Those are very noble ideas monsieur but what will you have They are not
the ideas of this country We want to know what we are about when we marry«
»How big a portion does your daughter want«
M Nioche stared as if he wondered what was coming next but he promptly
recovered himself at a venture and replied that he knew a very nice young man
employed by an insurance company who would content himself with fifteen
thousand francs
»Let your daughter paint halfadozen pictures for me and she shall have
her dowry«
»Halfadozen pictures her dowry Monsieur is not speaking
inconsiderately«
»If she will make me six or eight copies in the Louvre as pretty as that
Madonna I will pay her the same price« said Newman
Poor M Nioche was speechless a moment with amazement and gratitude and
then he seized Newmans hand pressed it between his own ten fingers and gazed
at him with watery eyes »As pretty as that They shall be a thousand times
prettier they shall be magnificent sublime Ah if I only knew how to paint
myself sir so that I might lend a hand What can I do to thank you Voyons«
and he pressed his forehead while he tried to think of something
»Oh you have thanked me enough« said Newman
»Ah here it is sir« cried M Nioche »To express my gratitude I will
charge you nothing for the lessons in French conversation«
»The lessons I had quite forgotten them Listening to your English« added
Newman laughing »is almost a lesson in French«
»Ah I dont profess to teach English certainly« said M Nioche »But for
my own admirable tongue I am still at your service«
»Since you are here then« said Newman »we will begin This is a very good
hour I am going to have my coffee come every morning at halfpast nine and
have yours with me«
»Monsieur offers me my coffee also« cried M Nioche »Truly my beaux
jours are coming back«
»Come« said Newman »let us begin The coffee is almighty hot How do you
say that in French«
Every day then for the following three weeks the minutely respectable
figure of M Nioche made its appearance with a series of little inquiring and
apologetic obeisances among the aromatic fumes of Newmans morning beverage I
dont know how much French our friend learned but as he himself said if the
attempt did him no good it could at any rate do him no harm And it amused him
it gratified that irregularly sociable side of his nature which had always
expressed itself in a relish for ungrammatical conversation and which often
even in his busy and preoccupied days had made him sit on rail fences in young
Western towns in the twilight in gossip hardly less than fraternal with
humorous loafers and obscure fortuneseekers He had notions wherever he went
about talking with the natives he had been assured and his judgment approved
the advice that in travelling abroad it was an excellent thing to look into the
life of the country M Nioche was very much of a native and though his life
might not be particularly worth looking into he was a palpable and
smoothlyrounded unit in that picturesque Parisian civilisation which offered
our hero so much easy entertainment and propounded so many curious problems to
his inquiring and practical mind Newman was fond of statistics he liked to
know how things were done it gratified him to learn what taxes were paid what
profits were gathered what commercial habits prevailed how the battle of life
was fought M Nioche as a reduced capitalist was familiar with these
considerations and he formulated his information which he was proud to be able
to impart in the neatest possible terms and with a pinch of snuff between
finger and thumb As a Frenchman quite apart from Newmans napoleons M
Nioche loved conversation and even in his decay his urbanity had not grown
rusty As a Frenchman too he could give a clear account of things and still
as a Frenchman when his knowledge was at fault he could supply its lapses with
the most convenient and ingenious hypotheses The little shrunken financier was
intensely delighted to have questions asked him and he scraped together
information by frugal processes and took notes in his little greasy
pocketbook of incidents which might interest his munificent friend He read
old almanacs at the bookstalls on the quays and he began to frequent another
café where more newspapers were taken and his postprandial demitasse cost him
a penny extra and where he used to con the tattered sheets for curious
anecdotes freaks of nature, and strange coincidences He would relate with
solemnity the next morning that a child of five years of age had lately died at
Bordeaux whose brain had been found to weigh sixty ounces the brain of a
Napoleon or a Washington or that Madame P charcutière in the Rue de Clichy
had found in the wadding of an old petticoat the sum of three hundred and sixty
francs which she had lost five years before He pronounced his words with great
distinctness and sonority and Newman assured him that his way of dealing with
the French tongue was very superior to the bewildering chatter that he heard in
other mouths Upon this M Nioches accent became more finely trenchant than
ever he offered to read extracts from Lamartine and he protested that
although he did endeavour according to his feeble lights to cultivate refinement
of diction monsieur if he wanted the real thing should go to the Théâtre
Français
Newman took an interest in French thriftiness and conceived a lively
admiration for Parisian economies His own economic genius was so entirely for
operations on a larger scale and to move at his ease he needed so
imperatively the sense of great risks and great prizes that he found an
ungrudging entertainment in the spectacle of fortunes made by the aggregation of
copper coins and in the minute subdivision of labour and profit He questioned
M Nioche about his own manner of life and felt a friendly mixture of
compassion and respect over the recital of his delicate frugalities The worthy
man told him how at one period he and his daughter had supported existence
comfortably upon the sum of fifteen sous per diem recently having succeeded
in hauling ashore the last floating fragments of the wreck of his fortune his
budget had been a trifle more ample But they still had to count their sous very
narrowly and M Nioche intimated with a sigh that Mademoiselle Noémie did not
bring to this task that zealous cooperation which might have been desired
»But what will you have« he asked philosophically »One is young one is
pretty one needs new dresses and fresh gloves one cant wear shabby gowns
among the splendours of the Louvre«
»But your daughter earns enough to pay for her own clothes« said Newman
M Nioche looked at him with weak uncertain eyes He would have liked to be
able to say that his daughters talents were appreciated and that her crooked
little daubs commanded a market but it seemed a scandal to abuse the credulity
of this freehanded stranger who without a suspicion or a question had
admitted him to equal social rights He compromised and declared that while it
was obvious that Mademoiselle Noémies reproductions of the old masters had only
to be seen to be coveted the prices which in consideration of their altogether
peculiar degree of finish she felt obliged to ask for them had kept purchasers
at a respectful distance »Poor little one« said M Nioche with a sigh »it is
almost a pity that her work is so perfect It would be in her interest to paint
less well«
»But if Mademoiselle Noémie has this devotion to her art« Newman once
observed »why should you have those fears for her that you spoke of the other
day«
M Nioche meditated there was an inconsistency in his position it made him
chronically uncomfortable Though he had no desire to destroy the goose with the
golden eggs Newmans benevolent confidence he felt a tremulous impulse to
speak out all his trouble »Ah she is an artist my dear sir most assuredly«
he declared »But to tell you the truth she is also a franche coquette I am
sorry to say« he added in a moment shaking his head with a world of harmless
bitterness »that she comes honestly by it Her mother was one before her«
»You were not happy with your wife« Newman asked
M Nioche gave halfadozen little backward jerks of his head »She was my
purgatory monsieur«
»She deceived you«
»Under my nose year after year I was too stupid and the temptation was
too great But I found her out at last I have only been once in my life a man
to be afraid of I know it very well it was in that hour Nevertheless I dont
like to think of it I loved her I cant tell you how much She was a bad
woman«
»She is not living«
»She has gone to her account«
»Her influence on your daughter then« said Newman encouragingly »is not
to be feared«
»She cared no more for her daughter than for the sole of her shoe But
Noémie has no need of influence She is sufficient to herself She is stronger
than I«
»She doesnt obey you eh«
»She cant obey monsieur since I dont command What would be the use It
would only irritate her and drive her to some coup de tête She is very clever
like her mother she would waste no time about it As a child when I was
happy or supposed I was she studied drawing and painting with firstclass
professors and they assured me she had a talent I was delighted to believe it
and when I went into society I used to carry her pictures with me in a portfolio
and hand them round to the company I remember once a lady thought I was
offering them for sale and I took it very ill We dont know what we may come
to Then came my dark days and my explosion with Madame Nioche Noémie had no
more twentyfranc lessons but in the course of time when she grew older and
it became highly expedient that she should do something that would help to keep
us alive she bethought herself of her palette and brushes Some of our friends
in the quartier pronounced the idea fantastic they recommended her to try
bonnetmaking to get a situation in a shop or if she was more ambitious to
advertise for a place of dame de compagnie She did advertise and an old lady
wrote her a letter and bade her come and see her The old lady liked her and
offered her her living and six hundred francs a year but Noémie discovered that
she passed her life in her armchair and had only two visitors her confessor
and her nephew the confessor very strict and the nephew a man of fifty with a
broken nose and a government clerkship of two thousand francs She threw her old
lady over bought a paintbox a canvas and a new dress and went and set up
her easel in the Louvre There in one place and another she has passed the
last two years I cant say it has made us millionaires But Noémie tells me
that Rome was not built in a day that she is making great progress that I must
leave her to her own devices The fact is without prejudice to her genius that
she has no idea of burying herself alive She likes to see the world and to be
seen She says herself that she cant work in the dark With her appearance it
is very natural Only I cant help worrying and trembling and wondering what
may happen to her there all alone day after day amid all that coming and going
of strangers I cant be always at her side I go with her in the morning and I
come to fetch her away but she wont have me near her in the interval she says
I make her nervous As if it didnt make me nervous to wander about all day
without her Ah if anything were to happen to her« cried M Nioche clenching
his two fists and jerking back his head again portentously
»Oh I guess nothing will happen« said Newman
»I believe I should shoot her« said the old man solemnly
»Oh well marry her« said Newman »since thats how you manage it and I
will go and see her tomorrow at the Louvre and pick out the pictures she is to
copy for me«
M Nioche had brought Newman a message from his daughter in acceptance of
his magnificent commission the young lady declaring herself his most devoted
servant promising her most zealous endeavour and regretting that the
proprieties forbade her coming to thank him in person The morning after the
conversation just narrated Newman reverted to his intention of meeting
Mademoiselle Noémie at the Louvre M Nioche appeared preoccupied and left his
budget of anecdotes unopened he took a great deal of snuff and sent certain
oblique appealing glances toward his stalwart pupil At last when he was
taking his leave he stood a moment after he had polished his hat with his
calico pockethandkerchief with his small pale eyes fixed strangely upon
Newman
»Whats the matter« our hero demanded
»Excuse the solicitude of a fathers heart« said M Nioche »You inspire me
with boundless confidence but I cant help giving you a warning After all you
are a man you are young and at liberty Let me beseech you then to respect
the innocence of Mademoiselle Nioche«
Newman had wondered what was coming and at this he broke into a laugh He
was on the point of declaring that his own innocence struck him as the more
exposed but he contented himself with promising to treat the young girl with
nothing less than veneration He found her waiting for him seated upon the
great divan in the Salon Carré She was not in her workingday costume but wore
her bonnet and gloves and carried her parasol in honour of the occasion These
articles had been selected with unerring taste and a fresher prettier image of
youthful alertness and blooming discretion was not to be conceived She made
Newman a most respectful curtsy and expressed her gratitude for his liberality
in a wonderfully graceful little speech It annoyed him to have a charming young
girl stand there thanking him and it made him feel uncomfortable to think that
this perfect young lady with her excellent manners and her finished intonation
was literally in his pay He assured her in such French as he could muster
that the thing was not worth mentioning and that he considered her services a
great favour
»Whenever you please then« said Mademoiselle Noémie »we will pass the
review«
They walked slowly round the room then passed into the others and strolled
about for half an hour Mademoiselle Noémie evidently relished her situation
and had no desire to bring her public interview with her strikinglooking patron
to a close Newman perceived that prosperity agreed with her The little
thinlipped peremptory air with which she had addressed her father on the
occasion of their former meeting had given place to the most lingering and
caressing tones
»What sort of pictures do you desire« she asked »Sacred or profane«
»Oh a few of each« said Newman »But I want something bright and gay«
»Something gay There is nothing very gay in this solemn old Louvre But we
will see what we can find You speak French today like a charm My father has
done wonders«
»Oh I am a bad subject« said Newman »I am too old to learn a language«
»Too old Quelle folie« cried Mademoiselle Noémie with a clear shrill
laugh »You are a very young man And how do you like my father«
»He is a very nice old gentleman He never laughs at my blunders«
»He is very comme il faut my papa« said Mademoiselle Noémie »and as
honest as the day Oh an exceptional probity You could trust him with
millions«
»Do you always obey him« asked Newman
»Obey him«
»Do you do what he bids you«
The young girl stopped and looked at him she had a spot of colour in either
cheek and in her expressive French eye which projected too much for perfect
beauty there was a slight gleam of audacity »Why do you ask me that« she
demanded
»Because I want to know«
»You think me a bad girl« And she gave a strange smile
Newman looked at her a moment he saw that she was pretty but he was not in
the least dazzled He remembered poor M Nioches solicitude for her innocence
and he laughed out again as his eyes met hers Her face was the oddest mixture
of youth and maturity and beneath her candid brow her searching little smile
seemed to contain a world of ambiguous intentions She was pretty enough
certainly to make her father nervous but as regards her innocence Newman
felt ready on the spot to affirm that she had never parted with it She had
simply never had any she had been looking at the world since she was ten years
old and he would have been a wise man who could tell her any secrets In her
long mornings at the Louvre she had not only studied Madonnas and St Johns she
had kept an eye upon all the variously embodied human nature around her and she
had formed her conclusions In a certain sense it seemed to Newman M Nioche
might be at rest his daughter might do something very audacious but she would
never do anything foolish Newman with his longdrawn leisurely smile and his
even unhurried utterance was always mentally taking his time and he asked
himself now what she was looking at him in that way for He had an idea that
she would like him to confess that he did think her a bad girl
»Oh no« he said at last »it would be very bad manners in me to judge you
that way I dont know you«
»But my father has complained to you« said Mademoiselle Noémie
»He says you are a coquette«
»He shouldnt go about saying such things to gentlemen But you dont
believe it«
»No« said Newman gravely »I dont believe it«
She looked at him again gave a shrug and a smile and then pointed to a
small Italian picture a Marriage of St Catherine »How should you like that«
she asked
»It doesnt please me« said Newman »The young lady in the yellow dress is
not pretty«
»Ah you are a great connoisseur« murmured Mademoiselle Noémie
»In pictures Oh no I know very little about them«
»In pretty women then«
»In that I am hardly better«
»What do you say to that then« the young girl asked indicating a superb
Italian portrait of a lady »I will do it for you on a smaller scale«
»On a smaller scale Why not as large as the original«
Mademoiselle Noémie glanced at the glowing splendour of the Venetian
masterpiece and gave a little toss of her head »I dont like that woman She
looks stupid«
»I do like her« said Newman »Decidedly I must have her as large as life
And just as stupid as she is there«
The young girl fixed her eyes on him again and with her mocking smile »It
certainly ought to be easy for me to make her look stupid« she said
»What do you mean« asked Newman puzzled
She gave another little shrug »Seriously then you want that portrait
the golden hair the purple satin the pearl necklace the two magnificent
arms«
»Everything just as it is«
»Would nothing else do instead«
»Oh I want some other things but I want that too«
Mademoiselle Noémie turned away a moment walked to the other side of the
hall and stood there looking vaguely about her At last she came back »It
must be charming to be able to order pictures at such a rate Venetian
portraits as large as life You go at it en prince And you are going to travel
about Europe that way«
»Yes I intend to travel« said Newman
»Ordering buying spending money«
»Of course I shall spend some money«
»You are very happy to have it And you are perfectly free«
»How do you mean free«
»You have nothing to bother you no family no wife no fiancée«
»Yes I am tolerably free«
»You are very happy« said Mademoiselle Noémie gravely
»Je le veux bien« said Newman proving that he had learned more French than
he admitted
»And how long shall you stay in Paris« the young girl went on
»Only a few days more«
»Why do you go away«
»It is getting hot and I must go to Switzerland«
»To Switzerland Thats a fine country I would give my new parasol to see
it Lakes and mountains romantic valleys and icy peaks Oh I congratulate you
Meanwhile I shall sit here through all the hot summer daubing at your
pictures«
»Oh take your time about it« said Newman »Do them at your convenience«
They walked farther and looked at a dozen other things Newman pointed out
what pleased him and Mademoiselle Noémie generally criticised it and proposed
something else Then suddenly she diverged and began to talk about some personal
matter
»What made you speak to me the other day in the Salon Carré« she abruptly
asked
»I admired your picture«
»But you hesitated a long time«
»Oh I do nothing rashly« said Newman
»Yes I saw you watching me But I never supposed you were going to speak to
me I never dreamed I should be walking about here with you today Its very
curious«
»It is very natural« observed Newman
»Oh I beg your pardon not to me Coquette as you think me I have never
walked about in public with a gentleman before What was my father thinking of
when he consented to our interview«
»He was repenting of his unjust accusations« replied Newman
Mademoiselle Noémie remained silent at last she dropped into a seat »Well
then for those five it is fixed« she said »Five copies as brilliant and
beautiful as I can make them We have one more to choose Shouldnt you like one
of those great Rubenses the marriage of Marie de Médicis Just look at it and
see how handsome it is«
»Oh yes I should like that« said Newman
»Finish off with that« »Finish off with that good« And she laughed She
sat a moment looking at him and then she suddenly rose and stood before him
with her hands hanging and clasped in front of her »I dont understand you«
she said with a smile »I dont understand how a man can be so ignorant«
»Oh I am ignorant certainly« said Newman putting his hands into his
pockets
»Its ridiculous I dont know how to paint«
»You dont know how«
»I paint like a cat I cant draw a straight line I never sold a picture
until you bought that thing the other day« And as she offered this surprising
information she continued to smile
Newman burst into a laugh »Why do you tell me this« he asked
»Because it irritates me to see a clever man blunder so My pictures are
grotesque«
»And the one I possess «
»That one is rather worse than usual«
»Well« said Newman »I like it all the same«
She looked at him askance »That is a very pretty thing to say« she
answered »but it is my duty to warn you before you go farther This order of
yours is impossible you know What do you take me for It is work for ten men
You pick out the six most difficult pictures in the Louvre and you expect me to
go to work as if I were sitting down to hem a dozen pockethandkerchiefs I
wanted to see how far you would go«
Newman looked at the young girl in some perplexity In spite of the
ridiculous blunder of which he stood convicted he was very far from being a
simpleton and he had a lively suspicion that Mademoiselle Noémies sudden
frankness was not essentially more honest than her leaving him in error would
have been She was playing a game she was not simply taking pity on his
æsthetic verdancy What was it she expected to win The stakes were high and the
risk was great the prize therefore must have been commensurate But even
granting that the prize might be great Newman could not resist a movement of
admiration for his companions intrepidity She was throwing away with one hand
whatever she might intend to do with the other a very handsome sum of money
»Are you joking« he said »or are you serious«
»Oh serious« cried Mademoiselle Noémie but with her extraordinary smile
»I know very little about pictures or how they are painted If you cant do
all that of course you cant Do what you can then«
»It will be very bad« said Mademoiselle Noémie
»Oh« said Newman laughing »if you are determined it shall be bad of
course it will But why do you go on painting badly«
»I can do nothing else I have no real talent«
»You are deceiving your father then«
The young girl hesitated a moment »He knows very well«
»No« Newman declared »I am sure he believes in you«
»He is afraid of me I go on painting badly as you say because I want to
learn I like it at any rate And I like being here it is a place to come to
every day it is better than sitting in a little dark damp room on a court or
selling buttons and whalebones over a counter«
»Of course it is much more amusing« said Newman »But for a poor girl isnt
it rather an expensive amusement«
»Oh I am very wrong there is no doubt about that« said Mademoiselle
Noémie »But rather than earn my living as some girls do toiling with a
needle in little black holes out of the world I would throw myself into the
Seine«
»There is no need of that« Newman answered »your father told you my
offer«
»Your offer«
»He wants you to marry and I told him I would give you a chance to earn
your dot«
»He told me all about it and you see the account I make of it Why should
you take such an interest in my marriage«
»My interest was in your father I hold to my offer do what you can and I
will buy what you paint«
She stood for some time meditating with her eyes on the ground At last
looking up »What sort of a husband can you get for twelve thousand francs« she
asked
»Your father tells me he knows some very good young men«
»Grocers and butchers and little maîtres de cafés I will not marry at all
if I cant marry well«
»I would advise you not to be too fastidious« said Newman »Thats all the
advice I can give you«
»I am very much vexed at what I have said« cried the young girl »It has
done me no good But I couldnt help it«
»What good did you expect it to do you«
»I couldnt help it simply«
Newman looked at her a moment »Well your pictures may be bad« he said
»but you are too clever for me nevertheless I dont understand you Goodbye«
And he put out his hand
She made no response and offered him no farewell She turned away and
seated herself sidewise on a bench leaning her head on the back of her hand
which clasped the rail in front of the pictures Newman stood a moment and then
turned on his heel and retreated He had understood her better than he
confessed this singular scene was a practical commentary upon her fathers
statement that she was a frank coquette
Chapter V
When Newman related to Mrs Tristram his fruitless visit to Madame de Cintré
she urged him not to be discouraged but to carry out his plan of seeing Europe
during the summer and return to Paris in the autumn and settle down comfortably
for the winter »Madame de Cintré will keep« she said »she is not a woman who
will marry from one day to another« Newman made no distinct affirmation that he
would come back to Paris he even talked about Rome and the Nile and abstained
from professing any especial interest in Madame de Cintrés continued widowhood
This circumstance was at variance with his habitual frankness and may perhaps
be regarded as characteristic of the incipient stage of that passion which is
more particularly known as the mysterious one The truth is that the expression
of a pair of eyes that were at once brilliant and mild had become very
familiar to his memory and he would not easily have resigned himself to the
prospect of never looking into them again He communicated to Mrs Tristram a
number of other facts of greater or less importance as you choose but on this
particular point he kept his own counsel He took a kindly leave of M Nioche
having assured him that so far as he was concerned the bluecloaked Madonna
herself might have been present at his interview with Mademoiselle Noémie and
left the old man nursing his breastpocket in an ecstasy which the acutest
misfortune might have been defied to dissipate Newman then started on his
travels with all his usual appearance of slowstrolling leisure and all his
essential directness and intensity of aim No man seemed less in a hurry and
yet no man achieved more in brief periods He had certain practical instincts
which served him excellently in his trade of tourist He found his way in
foreign cities by divination his memory was excellent when once his attention
had been at all cordially given and he emerged from dialogues in foreign
tongues of which he had formally not understood a word in full possession of
the particular fact he had desired to ascertain His appetite for facts was
capacious and although many of those which he noted would have seemed woefully
dry and colourless to the ordinary sentimental traveller a careful inspection
of the list would have shown that he had a soft spot in his imagination In the
charming city of Brussels his first stoppingplace after leaving Paris he
asked a great many questions about the streetcars and took extreme
satisfaction in the reappearance of this familiar symbol of American
civilisation but he was also greatly struck with the beautiful Gothic tower of
the Hôtel de Ville and wondered whether it would not be possible to get up
something like it in San Francisco He stood for half an hour in the crowded
square before this edifice in imminent danger from carriagewheels listening
to a toothless old cicerone mumble in broken English the touching history of
Counts Egmont and Horn and he wrote the names of these gentlemen for reasons
best known to himself on the back of an old letter
At the outset on his leaving Paris his curiosity had not been intense
passive entertainment in the Champs Élysées and at the theatres seemed about
as much as he need expect of himself and although as he had said to Tristram
he wanted to see the mysterious satisfying best he had not the Grand Tour in
the least on his conscience and was not given to crossquestioning the
amusement of the hour He believed that Europe was made for him and not he for
Europe He had said that he wanted to improve his mind but he would have felt a
certain embarrassment a certain shame even a false shame possibly if he
had caught himself looking intellectually into the mirror Neither in this nor
in any other respect had Newman a high sense of responsibility it was his prime
conviction that a mans life should be easy and that he should be able to
resolve privilege into a matter of course The world to his sense was a great
bazaar where one might stroll about and purchase handsome things but he was no
more conscious individually of social pressure than he admitted the existence
of such a thing as an obligatory purchase He had not only a dislike but a sort
of moral mistrust of uncomfortable thoughts and it was both uncomfortable and
slightly contemptible to feel obliged to square oneself with a standard Ones
standard was the ideal of ones own goodhumoured prosperity the prosperity
which enabled one to give as well as take To expand without bothering about it
without shiftless timidity on one side or loquacious eagerness on the other
to the full compass of what he would have called a pleasant experience was
Newmans most definite programme of life He had always hated to hurry to catch
railroad trains and yet he had always caught them and just so an undue
solicitude for culture seemed a sort of silly dawdling at the station a
proceeding properly confined to women foreigners and other unpractical
persons All this admitted Newman enjoyed his journey when once he had fairly
entered the current as profoundly as the most zealous dilettante Ones
theories after all matter little it is ones humour that is the great thing
Our friend was intelligent and he could not help that He lounged through
Belgium and Holland and the Rhineland through Switzerland and Northern Italy
planning about nothing but seeing everything The guides and valets de place
found him an excellent subject He was always approachable for he was much
addicted to standing about in the vestibules and porticoes of inns and he
availed himself little of the opportunities for impressive seclusion which are
so liberally offered in Europe to gentlemen who travel with long purses When an
excursion a church a gallery a ruin was proposed to him the first thing
Newman usually did after surveying his postulant in silence from head to foot
was to sit down at a little table and order something to drink The cicerone
during this process, usually retreated to a respectful distance otherwise I am
not sure that Newman would not have bidden him sit down and have a glass also
and tell him as an honest fellow whether his church or his gallery was really
worth a mans trouble At last he rose and stretched his long legs beckoned to
the man of monuments looked at his watch and fixed his eye on his adversary
»What is it« he asked »How far« And whatever the answer was although he
seemed to hesitate he never declined He stepped into an open cab made his
conductor sit beside him to answer questions bade the driver go fast he had a
particular aversion to slow driving and rolled in all probability through a
dusty suburb to the goal of his pilgrimage If the goal was a disappointment
if the church was meagre or the ruin a heap of rubbish Newman never protested
or berated his cicerone he looked with an impartial eye upon great monuments
and small made the guide recite his lesson listened to it religiously asked
if there was nothing else to be seen in the neighbourhood and drove back again
at a rattling pace It is to be feared that his perception of the difference
between good architecture and bad was not acute and that he might sometimes
have been seen gazing with culpable serenity at inferior productions Ugly
churches were a part of his pastime in Europe as well as beautiful ones and
his tour was altogether a pastime But there is sometimes nothing like the
imagination of those people who have none and Newman now and then in an
unguided stroll in a foreign city before some lonely sadtowered church or
some angular image of one who had rendered civic service in an unknown past had
felt a singular inward tremor It was not an excitement or a perplexity it was
a placid fathomless sense of diversion
He encountered by chance in Holland a young American with whom for a time
he formed a sort of travellers partnership They were men of a very different
cast but each in his way was so good a fellow that for a few weeks at least
it seemed something of a pleasure to share the chances of the road Newmans
comrade whose name was Babcock was a young Unitarian minister a small spare
neatlyattired man with a strikingly candid physiognomy He was a native of
Dorchester Massachusetts and had spiritual charge of a small congregation in
another suburb of the New England metropolis His digestion was weak and he
lived chiefly on Graham bread and hominy a regimen to which he was so much
attached that his tour seemed to him destined to be blighted when on landing on
the Continent he found that these delicacies did not flourish under the table
dhôte system In Paris he had purchased a bag of hominy at an establishment
which called itself an American Agency and at which the New York illustrated
papers were also to be procured and he had carried it about with him and shown
extreme serenity and fortitude in the somewhat delicate position of having his
hominy prepared for him and served at anomalous hours at the hotels he
successively visited Newman had once spent a morning in the course of
business at Mr Babcocks birthplace and for reasons too recondite to unfold
his visit there always assumed in his mind a jocular cast To carry out his
joke which certainly seems poor so long as it is not explained he used often
to address his companion as Dorchester Fellowtravellers very soon grow
intimate but it is highly improbable that at home these extremely dissimilar
characters would have found any very convenient points of contact They were
indeed as different as possible Newman who never reflected on such matters
accepted the situation with great equanimity but Babcock used to meditate over
it privately used often indeed to retire to his room early in the evening for
the express purpose of considering it conscientiously and impartially He was
not sure that it was a good thing for him to associate with our hero whose way
of taking life was so little his own Newman was an excellent generous fellow
Mr Babcock sometimes said to himself that he was a noble fellow and
certainly it was impossible not to like him But would it not be desirable to
try to exert an influence upon him to try to quicken his moral life and sharpen
his sense of duty He liked everything he accepted everything he found
amusement in everything he was not discriminating he had not a high tone The
young man from Dorchester accused Newman of a fault which he considered very
grave and which he did his best to avoid what he would have called a want of
moral reaction Poor Mr Babcock was extremely fond of pictures and churches
and carried Mrs Jamesons works about in his trunk he delighted in aesthetic
analysis and received peculiar impressions from everything he saw But
nevertheless in his secret soul he detested Europe and he felt an irritating
need to protest against Newmans gross intellectual hospitality Mr Babcocks
moral malaise I am afraid lay deeper than where any definition of mine can
reach it He mistrusted the European temperament he suffered from the European
climate he hated the European dinnerhour European life seemed to him
unscrupulous and impure And yet he had an exquisite sense of beauty and as
beauty was often inextricably associated with the above displeasing conditions
as he wished above all to be just and dispassionate and as he was
furthermore extremely devoted to culture he could not bring himself to decide
that Europe was utterly bad But he thought it was very bad indeed and his
quarrel with Newman was that this unregulated epicure had a sadly insufficient
perception of the bad Babcock himself really knew as little about the bad in
any quarter of the world as a nursing infant his most vivid realisation of
evil had been the discovery that one of his college classmates who was studying
architecture in Paris had a love affair with a young woman who did not expect
him to marry her Babcock had related this incident to Newman and our hero had
applied an epithet of an unflattering sort to the young girl The next day his
companion asked him whether he was very sure he had used exactly the right word
to characterise the young architects mistress Newman stared and laughed
»There are a great many words to express that idea« he said »you can take your
choice«
»Oh I mean« said Babcock »was she possibly not to be considered in a
different light Dont you think she really expected him to marry her«
»I am sure I dont know« said Newman »Very likely she did I have no doubt
she is a grand woman« And he began to laugh again
»I didnt mean that either« said Babcock »I was only afraid that I might
have seemed yesterday not to remember not to consider well I think I will
write to Percival about it«
And he had written to Percival who answered him in a really impudent
fashion and he had reflected that it was somehow raw and reckless in Newman
to assume in that offhand manner that the young woman in Paris might be grand
The brevity of Newmans judgments very often shocked and discomposed him He had
a way of damning people without farther appeal or of pronouncing them capital
company in the face of uncomfortable symptoms which seemed unworthy of a man
whose conscience had been properly cultivated And yet poor Babcock liked him
and remembered that even if he was sometimes perplexing and painful this was
not a reason for giving him up Goethe recommended seeing human nature in the
most various forms and Mr Babcock thought Goethe perfectly splendid He often
tried in odd halfhours of conversation to infuse into Newman a little of his
own spiritual starch but Newmans personal texture was too loose to admit of
stiffening His mind could no more hold principles than a sieve can hold water
He admired principles extremely and thought Babcock a mighty fine little fellow
for having so many He accepted all that his highstrung companion offered him
and put them away in what he supposed to be a very safe place but poor Babcock
never afterwards recognised his gifts among the articles that Newman had in
daily use
They travelled together through Germany and into Switzerland where for
three or four weeks they trudged over passes and lounged upon blue lakes At
last they crossed the Simplon and made their way to Venice Mr Babcock had
become gloomy and even a trifle irritable he seemed moody absent preoccupied
he got his plans into a tangle and talked one moment of doing one thing and the
next of doing another Newman led his usual life made acquaintances took his
ease in the galleries and churches spent an unconscionable amount of time in
strolling in the Piazza San Marco bought a great many bad pictures and for a
fortnight enjoyed Venice grossly One evening coming back to his inn he found
Babcock waiting for him in the little garden beside it The young man walked up
to him looking very dismal thrust out his hand and said with solemnity that
he was afraid they must part Newman expressed his surprise and regret and
asked why a parting had become necessary »Dont be afraid Im tired of you« he
said
»You are not tired of me« demanded Babcock fixing him with his clear gray
eye
»Why the deuce should I be You are a very plucky fellow Besides I dont
grow tired of things«
»We dont understand each other« said the young minister
»Dont I understand you« cried Newman »Why I hoped I did But what if I
dont wheres the harm«
»I dont understand you« said Babcock And he sat down and rested his head
on his hand and looked up mournfully at his immeasurable friend
»Oh Lord I dont mind that« cried Newman with a laugh
»But its very distressing to me It keeps me in a state of unrest It
irritates me I cant settle anything I dont think its good for me«
»You worry too much thats whats the matter with you« said Newman
»Of course it must seem so to you You think I take things too hard and I
think you take things too easily We can never agree«
»But we have agreed very well all along«
»No I havent agreed« said Babcock shaking his head »I am very
uncomfortable I ought to have separated from you a month ago«
»Oh horrors Ill agree to anything« cried Newman
Mr Babcock buried his head in both hands At last looking up »I dont
think you appreciate my position« he said »I try to arrive at the truth about
everything And then you go too fast For me you are too passionate too
extravagant I feel as if I ought to go over all this ground we have traversed
again by myself alone I am afraid I have made a great many mistakes«
»Oh you neednt give so many reasons« said Newman »You are simply tired
of my company You have a good right to be«
»No no I am not tired« cried the pestered young divine »It is very wrong
to be tired«
»I give it up« laughed Newman »But of course it will never do to go on
making mistakes Go your way by all means I shall miss you but you have seen
I make friends very easily You will be lonely yourself but drop me a line
when you feel like it and I will wait for you anywhere«
»I think I will go back to Milan I am afraid I didnt do justice to Luini«
»Poor Luini« said Newman
»I mean that I am afraid I overestimated him I dont think that he is a
painter of the first rank«
»Luini« Newman exclaimed »why hes enchanting hes magnificent There
is something in his genius that is like a beautiful woman It gives one the same
feeling«
Mr Babcock frowned and winced And it must be added that this was for
Newman an unusually metaphysical flight but in passing through Milan he had
taken a great fancy to the painter »There you are again« said Mr Babcock
»Yes we had better separate« And on the morrow he retraced his steps and
proceeded to tone down his impressions of the great Lombard artist
A few days afterwards Newman received a note from his late companion which
ran as follows
»My dear Mr Newman I am afraid that my conduct at Venice a week
ago seemed to you strange and ungrateful and I wish to explain my
position which as I said at the time I do not think you appreciate I
had long had it on my mind to propose that we should part company and
this step was not really so abrupt as it seemed In the first place you
know I am travelling in Europe on funds supplied by my congregation
who kindly offered me a vacation and an opportunity to enrich my mind
with the treasures of nature and art in the Old World I feel
therefore as if I ought to use my time to the very best advantage I
have a high sense of responsibility You appear to care only for the
pleasure of the hour and you give yourself up to it with a violence
which I confess I am not able to emulate I feel as if I must arrive at
some conclusion and fix my belief on certain points Art and life seem
to me intensely serious things and in our travels in Europe we should
especially remember the immense seriousness of Art You seem to hold
that if a thing amuses you for the moment that is all you need ask for
it and your relish for mere amusement is also much higher than mine
You put moreover a kind of reckless confidence into your pleasure
which at times I confess has seemed to me shall I say it almost
cynical Your way at any rate is not my way and it is unwise that we
should attempt any longer to pull together And yet let me add that I
know there is a great deal to be said for your way I have felt its
attraction in your society very strongly But for this I should have
left you long ago But I was so perplexed I hope I have not done wrong
I feel as if I had a great deal of lost time to make up I beg you take
all this as I mean it which Heaven knows is not invidiously I have a
great personal esteem for you and hope that some day when I have
recovered my balance we shall meet again I hope you will continue to
enjoy your travels only do remember that Life and Art are extremely
serious Believe me your sincere friend and wellwisher
BENJAMIN BABCOCK
PS I am greatly perplexed by Luini«
This letter produced in Newmans mind a singular mixture of exhilaration and
awe At first Mr Babcocks tender conscience seemed to him a capital farce
and his travelling back to Milan only to get into a deeper muddle appeared as
the reward of his pedantry exquisitely and ludicrously just Then Newman
reflected that these are mighty mysteries that possibly he himself was indeed
that baleful and barely mentionable thing a cynic and that his manner of
considering the treasures of art and the privileges of life was probably very
base and immoral Newman had a great contempt for immorality and that evening
for a good half hour as he sat watching the starsheen on the warm Adriatic he
felt rebuked and depressed He was at a loss how to answer Babcocks letter His
good nature checked his resenting the young ministers lofty admonitions and
his tough inelastic sense of humour forbade his taking them seriously He wrote
no answer at all but a day or two afterward he found in a curiosityshop a
grotesque little statuette in ivory of the sixteenth century which he sent off
to Babcock without a commentary It represented a gaunt asceticlooking monk
in a tattered gown and cowl kneeling with clasped hands and pulling a
portentously long face It was a wonderfully delicate piece of carving and in a
moment through one of the rents of his gown you espied a fat capon hung round
the monks waist In Newmans intention what did the figure symbolise Did it
mean that he was going to try to be as hightoned as the monk looked at first
but that he feared he should succeed no better than the friar on a closer
inspection proved to have done It is not supposable that he intended a satire
upon Babcocks own asceticism for this would have been a truly cynical stroke
He made his late companion at any rate a very valuable little present
Newman on leaving Venice went through the Tyrol to Vienna and then
returned westward through Southern Germany The autumn found him at
BadenBaden where he spent several weeks The place was charming and he was in
no hurry to depart besides he was looking about him and deciding what to do
for the winter His summer had been very full and as he sat under the great
trees beside the miniature river that trickles past the Baden flowerbeds he
slowly rummaged it over He had seen and done a great deal enjoyed and observed
a great deal he felt older and yet he felt younger too He remembered Mr
Babcock and his desire to form conclusions and he remembered also that he had
profited very little by his friends exhortation to cultivate the same
respectable habit Could he not scrape together a few conclusions BadenBaden
was the prettiest place he had seen yet and orchestral music in the evening
under the stars was decidedly a great institution This was one of his
conclusions But he went on to reflect that he had done very wisely to pull up
stakes and come abroad this seeing of the world was a very interesting thing
He had learned a great deal he couldnt say just what but he had it there
under his hatband He had done what he wanted he had seen the great things
and he had given his mind a chance to improve if it would He cheerfully
believed that it had improved Yes this seeing of the world was very pleasant
and he would willingly do a little more of it Thirtysix years old as he was
he had a handsome stretch of life before him yet and he need not begin to count
his weeks Where should he take the world next I have said he remembered the
eyes of the lady whom he had found standing in Mrs Tristrams drawingroom
four months had elapsed and he had not forgotten them yet He had looked he
had made a point of looking into a great many other eyes in the interval but
the only ones he thought of now were Madame de Cintrés If he wanted to see
more of the world should he find it in Madame de Cintrés eyes He would
certainly find something there call it this world or the next Throughout these
rather formless meditations he sometimes thought of his past life and the long
array of years they had begun so early during which he had had nothing in his
head but enterprise They seemed far away now for his present attitude was more
than a holiday it was almost a rupture He had told Tristram that the pendulum
was swinging back and it appeared that the backward swing had not yet ended
Still enterprise which was over in the other quarter wore to his mind a
different aspect at different hours In its train a thousand forgotten episodes
came trooping back into his memory Some of them he looked complacently enough
in the face from some he averted his head They were old efforts old exploits
antiquated examples of smartness and sharpness Some of them as he looked at
them he felt decidedly proud of he admired himself as if he had been looking
at another man And in fact many of the qualities that make a great deed were
there the decision the resolution the courage the celerity the clear eye
and the strong hand Of certain other achievements it would be going too far to
say that he was ashamed of them for Newman had never had a stomach for dirty
work He was blessed with a natural impulse to disfigure with a direct
unreasoning blow the comely visage of temptation And certainly in no man
could a want of integrity have been less excusable Newman knew the crooked from
the straight at a glance and the former had cost him first and last a great
many moments of lively disgust But none the less some of his memories seemed to
wear at present a rather graceless and sordid mien and it struck him that if he
had never done anything very ugly he had never on the other hand done
anything particularly beautiful He had spent his years in the unremitting
effort to add thousands to thousands and now that he stood well outside of it
the business of moneygetting appeared extremely dry and sterile It is very
well to sneer at moneygetting after you have filled your pockets and Newman
it may be said should have begun somewhat earlier to moralise thus delicately
To this it may be answered that he might have made another fortune if he chose
and we ought to add that he was not exactly moralising It had come back to him
simply that what he had been looking at all the summer was a very rich and
beautiful world and that it had not all been made by sharp railroad men and
stockbrokers
During his stay at BadenBaden he received a letter from Mrs Tristram
scolding him for the scanty tidings he had sent to his friends of the Avenue
dIéna and begging to be definitely informed that he had not concocted any
horrid scheme for wintering in outlying regions but was coming back sanely and
promptly to the most comfortable city in the world Newmans answer ran as
follows
»I supposed you knew I was a miserable letter writer and didnt expect
anything of me I dont think I have written twenty letters of pure
friendship in my whole life in America I conducted my correspondence
altogether by telegrams This is a letter of pure friendship you have
got hold of a curiosity and I hope you will value it You want to know
everything that has happened to me these three months The best way to
tell you I think would be to send you my halfdozen guidebooks with
my pencilmarks in the margin Wherever you find a scratch or a cross
or a Beautiful or a So true or a Too thin you may know that I have had
a sensation of some sort or other That has been about my history ever
since I left you Belgium Holland Switzerland Germany Italy I have
been through the whole list and I dont think I am any the worse for
it I know more about Madonnas and churchsteeples than I supposed any
man could I have seen some very pretty things and shall perhaps talk
them over this winter by your fireside You see my face is not
altogether set against Paris I have had all kinds of plans and visions
but your letter has blown most of them away Lappétit vient en
mangeant says the French proverb and I find that the more I see of the
world the more I want to see Now that I am in the shafts why shouldnt
I trot to the end of the course Sometimes I think of the far East and
keep rolling the names of Eastern cities under my tongue Damascus and
Bagdad Medina and Mecca I spent a week last month in the company of a
returned missionary who told me I ought to be ashamed to be loafing
about Europe when there are such big things to be seen out there I do
want to explore but I think I would rather explore over in the Rue de
lUniversité Do you ever hear from that pretty lady If you can get her
to promise she will be at home the next time I call I will go back to
Paris straight I am more than ever in the state of mind I told you
about that evening I want a firstclass wife I have kept an eye on all
the pretty girls I have come across this summer but none of them came
up to my notion or anywhere near it I should have enjoyed all this a
thousand times more if I had had the lady just mentioned by my side The
nearest approach to her was a Unitarian minister from Boston who very
soon demanded a separation for incompatibility of temper He told me I
was lowminded immoral a devotee of art for art whatever that is
all of which greatly afflicted me for he was really a sweet little
fellow But shortly afterwards I met an Englishman with whom I struck
up an acquaintance which at first seemed to promise well a very bright
man who writes in the London papers and knows Paris nearly as well as
Tristram We knocked about for a week together but he very soon gave me
up in disgust I was too virtuous by half I was too stern a moralist
He told me in a friendly way that I was cursed with a conscience that
I judged things like a Methodist and talked about them like an old lady
This was rather bewildering Which of my two critics was I to believe I
didnt worry about it and very soon made up my mind they were both
idiots But there is one thing in which no one will ever have the
impudence to pretend I am wrong that is in being your faithful friend
CN«
Chapter VI
Newman gave up Damascus and Bagdad and returned to Paris before the autumn was
over He established himself in some rooms selected for him by Tom Tristram in
accordance with the latters estimate of what he called his social position
When Newman learned that his social position was to be taken into account he
professed himself utterly incompetent and begged Tristram to relieve him of the
care »I didnt know I had a social position« he said »and if I have I
havent the smallest idea what it is Isnt a social position knowing some two
or three thousand people and inviting them to dinner I know you and your wife
and little old Mr Nioche who gave me French lessons last spring Can I invite
you to dinner to meet each other If I can you must come tomorrow«
»That is not very grateful to me« said Mrs Tristram »who introduced you
last year to every creature I know«
»So you did I had quite forgotten But I thought you wanted me to forget«
said Newman with that tone of simple deliberateness which frequently marked his
utterance and which an observer would not have known whether to pronounce a
somewhat mysteriously humorous affectation of ignorance or a modest aspiration
to knowledge »you told me you disliked them all«
»Ah the way you remember what I say is at least very flattering But in
future« added Mrs Tristram »pray forget all the wicked things and remember
only the good ones It will be easily done and it will not fatigue your memory
But I forewarn you that if you trust my husband to pick out your rooms you are
in for something hideous«
»Hideous darling« cried Tristram
»Today I must say nothing wicked otherwise I should use stronger
language«
»What do you think she would say Newman« asked Tristram »If she really
tried now She can express displeasure volubly in two or three languages
thats what it is to be intellectual It gives her the start of me completely
for I cant swear for the life of me except in English When I get mad I have
to fall back on our dear old mother tongue Theres nothing like it after all«
Newman declared that he knew nothing about tables and chairs and that he
would accept in the way of a lodging with his eyes shut anything that
Tristram should offer him This was partly pure veracity on our heros part but
it was also partly charity He knew that to pry about and look at rooms and
make people open windows and poke into sofas with his cane and gossip with
landladies and ask who lived above and who below he knew that this was of all
pastimes the dearest to Tristrams heart and he felt the more disposed to put
it in his way as he was conscious that as regards his obliging friend he had
suffered the warmth of ancient goodfellowship somewhat to abate Besides he
had no taste for upholstery he had even no very exquisite sense of comfort or
convenience He had a relish for luxury and splendour but it was satisfied by
rather gross contrivances He scarcely knew a hard chair from a soft one and he
possessed a talent for stretching his legs which quite dispensed with
adventitious facilities His idea of comfort was to inhabit very large rooms
have a great many of them and be conscious of their possessing a number of
patented mechanical devices half of which he should never have occasion to
use The apartments should be light and brilliant and lofty he had once said
that he liked rooms in which you wanted to keep your hat on For the rest he
was satisfied with the assurance of any respectable person that everything was
handsome Tristram accordingly secured for him an apartment to which this
epithet might be lavishly applied It was situated on the Boulevard Haussmann
on a firstfloor and consisted of a series of rooms gilded from floor to
ceiling a foot thick draped in various light shades of satin and chiefly
furnished with mirrors and clocks Newman thought them magnificent thanked
Tristram heartily immediately took possession and had one of his trunks
standing for three months in his drawingroom
One day Mrs Tristram told him that her beautiful friend Madame de Cintré
had returned from the country that she had met her three days before coming
out of the Church of St Sulpice she herself having journeyed to that distant
quarter in quest of an obscure lacemender of whose skill she had heard high
praise
»And how were those eyes« Newman asked
»Those eyes were red with weeping if you please« said Mrs Tristram »She
had been to confession«
»It doesnt tally with your account of her« said Newman »that she should
have sins to confess«
»They were not sins they were sufferings«
»How do you know that«
»She asked me to come and see her I went this morning«
»And what does she suffer from«
»I didnt ask her With her somehow one is very discreet But I guessed
easily enough She suffers from her wicked old mother and her Grand Turk of a
brother They persecute her But I can almost forgive them because as I told
you she is a saint and a persecution is all that she needs to bring out her
saintliness and make her perfect«
»Thats a comfortable theory for her I hope you will never impart it to the
old folks Why does she let them bully her Is she not her own mistress«
»Legally yes I suppose but morally no In France you must never say Nay
to your mother whatever she requires of you She may be the most abominable old
woman in the world and make your life a purgatory but after all she is ma mère
and you have no right to judge her You have simply to obey The thing has a
fine side to it Madame de Cintré bows her head and folds her wings«
»Cant she at least make her brother leave off«
»Her brother is the chef de la famille as they say he is the head of the
clan With those people the family is everything you must act not for your own
pleasure but for the advantage of the family«
»I wonder what my family would like me to do« exclaimed Tristram
»I wish you had one« said his wife
»But what do they want to get out of that poor lady« Newman asked
»Another marriage They are not rich and they want to bring more money into
the family«
»Theres your chance my boy« said Tristram
»And Madame de Cintré objects« Newman continued
»She has been sold once she naturally objects to being sold again It
appears that the first time they made rather a poor bargain M de Cintré left a
scanty property«
»And to whom do they want to marry her now«
»I thought it best not to ask but you may be sure it is to some horrid old
nabob or to some dissipated little duke«
»Theres Mrs Tristram as large as life« cried her husband »Observe the
richness of her imagination She has not asked a single question its vulgar
to ask questions and yet she knows everything She has the history of Madame
de Cintrés marriage at her fingers ends She has seen the lovely Claire on her
knees with loosened tresses and streaming eyes and the rest of them standing
over her with spikes and goads and redhot irons ready to come down on her if
she refuses the tipsy duke The simple truth is that they have made a fuss about
her milliners bill or refused her an operabox«
Newman looked from Tristram to his wife with a certain mistrust in each
direction »Do you really mean« he asked of Mrs Tristram »that your friend is
being forced into an unhappy marriage«
»I think it extremely probable Those people are very capable of that sort
of thing«
»It is like something in a play« said Newman »that dark old house over
there looks as if wicked things had been done in it and might be done again«
»They have a still darker old house in the country Madame de Cintré tells
me and there during the summer this scheme must have been hatched«
»Must have been mind that« said Tristram
»After all« suggested Newman after a silence »she may be in trouble about
something else«
»If it is something else then it is something worse« said Mrs Tristram
with rich decision
Newman was silent awhile and seemed lost in meditation »Is it possible«
he asked at last »that they do that sort of thing over here that helpless
women are bullied into marrying men they hate«
»Helpless women all over the world have a hard time of it« said Mrs
Tristram »There is plenty of bullying everywhere«
»A great deal of that kind goes on in New York« said Tristram »Girls are
bullied or coaxed or bribed or all three together into marrying nasty fellows
There is no end of that always going on in the Fifth Avenue and other bad
things besides The Mysteries of the Fifth Avenue Someone ought to show them
up«
»I dont believe it« said Newman very gravely »I dont believe that in
America girls are ever subjected to compulsion I dont believe there have been
a dozen cases of it since the country began«
»Listen to the voice of the spread eagle« cried Tristram
»The spread eagle ought to use his wings« said Mrs Tristram »Fly to the
rescue of Madame de Cintré«
»To her rescue«
»Pounce down seize her in your talons and carry her off Marry her
yourself«
Newman for some moments answered nothing but presently »I should suppose
she had heard enough of marrying« he said »The kindest way to treat her would
be to admire her and yet never to speak of it But that sort of thing is
infamous« he added »it makes me feel savage to hear of it«
He heard of it however more than once afterward Mrs Tristram again saw
Madame de Cintré and again found her looking very sad But on these occasions
there had been no tears her beautiful eyes were clear and still »She is cold
calm and hopeless« Mrs Tristram declared and she added that on her
mentioning that her friend Mr Newman was again in Paris and was faithful in his
desire to make Madame de Cintrés acquaintance this lovely woman had found a
smile in her despair and declared that she was sorry to have missed his visit
in the spring and that she hoped he had not lost courage »I told her something
about you« said Mrs Tristram
»Thats a comfort« said Newman placidly »I like people to know about me«
A few days after this one dusky autumn afternoon he went again to the Rue
de lUniversité The early evening had closed in as he applied for admittance at
the stoutly guarded Hôtel de Bellegarde He was told that Madame de Cintré was
at home he crossed the court entered the farther door and was conducted
through a vestibule vast dim and cold up a broad stone staircase with an
ancient iron balustrade to an apartment on the secondfloor Announced and
ushered in he found himself in a sort of panelled boudoir at one end of which
a lady and gentleman were seated before the fire The gentleman was smoking a
cigarette there was no light in the room save that of a couple of candles and
the glow from the hearth Both persons rose to welcome Newman who in the
firelight recognised Madame de Cintré She gave him her hand with a smile which
seemed in itself an illumination and pointing to her companion said softly
»My brother« The gentleman offered Newman a frank friendly greeting and our
hero then perceived him to be the young man who had spoken to him in the court
of the hotel on his former visit and who had struck him as a good fellow
»Mrs Tristram has spoken to me a great deal of you« said Madame de Cintré
gently as she resumed her former place
Newman after he had seated himself began to consider what in truth was
his errand He had an unusual unexpected sense of having wandered into a
strange corner of the world He was not given as a general thing to
anticipating danger or forecasting disaster and he had had no social tremors
on this particular occasion He was not timid and he was not impudent He felt
too kindly toward himself to be the one and too goodnaturedly toward the rest
of the world to be the other But his native shrewdness sometimes placed his
ease of temper at its mercy with every disposition to take things simply it
was obliged to perceive that some things were not so simple as others He felt
as one does in missing a step in an ascent where one expected to find it This
strange pretty woman sitting in fireside talk with her brother in the gray
depths of her inhospitablelooking house what had he to say to her She seemed
enveloped in a sort of fantastic privacy on what grounds had he pulled away the
curtain For a moment he felt as if he had plunged into some medium as deep as
the ocean and as if he must exert himself to keep from sinking Meanwhile he
was looking at Madame de Cintré and she was settling herself in her chair and
drawing in her long dress and turning her face towards him Their eyes met a
moment afterwards she looked away and motioned to her brother to put a log on
the fire But the moment and the glance which traversed it had been sufficient
to relieve Newman of the first and the last fit of personal embarrassment he was
ever to know He performed the movement which was so frequent with him and
which was always a sort of symbol of his taking mental possession of a scene
he extended his legs The impression Madame de Cintré had made upon him on their
first meeting came back in an instant it had been deeper than he knew She was
pleasing she was interesting he had opened a book and the first lines held his
attention
She asked him several questions how lately he had seen Mrs Tristram how
long he had been in Paris how long he expected to remain there how he liked
it She spoke English without an accent or rather with that distinctively
British accent which on his arrival in Europe had struck Newman as an
altogether foreign tongue but which in women he had come to like extremely
Here and there Madame de Cintrés utterance had a faint shade of strangeness
but at the end of ten minutes Newman found himself waiting for these soft
roughnesses He enjoyed them and he marvelled to see that gross thing error
brought down to so fine a point
»You have a beautiful country« said Madame de Cintré presently
»Oh magnificent« said Newman »You ought to see it«
»I shall never see it« said Madame de Cintré with a smile
»Why not« asked Newman
»I dont travel especially so far«
»But you go away sometimes you are not always here«
»I go away in summer a little way to the country«
Newman wanted to ask her something more something personal he hardly knew
what »Dont you find it rather rather quiet here« he said »so far from the
street« Rather gloomy he was going to say but he reflected that that would be
impolite
»Yes it is very quiet« said Madame de Cintré »but we like that«
»Ah you like that« repeated Newman slowly
»Besides I have lived here all my life«
»Lived here all your life« said Newman in the same way
»I was born here and my father was born here before me and my grandfather
and my greatgrandfathers Were they not Valentin« and she appealed to her
brother
»Yes its a family habit to be born here« the young man said with a laugh
and rose and threw the remnant of his cigarette into the fire and then remained
leaning against the chimneypiece An observer would have perceived that he
wished to take a better look at Newman whom he covertly examined while he
stood stroking his moustache
»Your house is tremendously old then« said Newman
»How old is it brother« asked Madame de Cintré
The young man took the two candles from the mantelshelf lifted one high in
each hand and looked up toward the cornice of the room above the
chimneypiece This latter feature of the apartment was of white marble and in
the familiar rococo style of the last century but above it was a panelling of
an earlier date quaintly carved painted white and gilded here and there The
white had turned to yellow and the gilding was tarnished On the top the
figures ranged themselves into a sort of shield on which an armorial device was
cut Above it in relief was a date 1627 »There you have it« said the young
man »That is old or new according to your point of view«
»Well over here« said Newman »ones point of view gets shifted round
considerably« And he threw back his head and looked about the room »Your house
is of a very curious style of architecture« he said
»Are you interested in architecture« asked the young man at the
chimneypiece
»Well I took the trouble this summer« said Newman »to examine as well
as I can calculate some four hundred and seventy churches Do you call that
interested«
»Perhaps you are interested in theology« said the young man
»Not particularly Are you a Roman Catholic madam« And he turned to Madame
de Cintré
»Yes sir« she answered gravely
Newman was struck with the gravity of her tone he threw back his head and
began to look round the room again »Had you never noticed that number up
there« he presently asked
She hesitated a moment and then »In former years« she said
Her brother had been watching Newmans movement »Perhaps you would like to
examine the house« he said
Newman slowly brought down his eyes and looked at him he had a vague
impression that the young man at the chimneypiece was inclined to irony He was
a handsome fellow his face wore a smile his moustachios were curled up at the
ends and there was a little dancing gleam in his eye »Damn his French
impudence« Newman was on the point of saying to himself »What the deuce is he
grinning at« He glanced at Madame de Cintré she was sitting with her eyes
fixed on the floor She raised them they met his and she looked at her
brother Newman turned again to this young man and observed that he strikingly
resembled his sister This was in his favour and our heros first impression of
the Count Valentin moreover had been agreeable His mistrust expired and he
said he would be very glad to see the house
The young man gave a frank laugh and laid his hand on one of the
candlesticks »Good good« he exclaimed »Come then«
But Madame de Cintré rose quickly and grasped his arm »Ah Valentin« she
said »What do you mean to do«
»To show Mr Newman the house It will be very amusing«
She kept her hand on his arm and turned to Newman with a smile »Dont let
him take you« she said »you will not find it amusing It is a musty old house
like any other«
»It is full of curious things« said the count resisting »Besides I want
to do it it is a rare chance«
»You are very wicked brother« Madame de Cintré answered
»Nothing venture nothing have« cried the young man »Will you come«
Madame de Cintré stepped toward Newman gently clasping her hands and
smiling softly »Would you not prefer my society here by my fire to stumbling
about dark passages after my brother«
»A hundred times« said Newman »We will see the house some other day«
The young man put down his candlestick with mock solemnity and shaking his
head »Ah you have defeated a great scheme sir« he said
»A scheme I dont understand« said Newman
»You would have played your part in it all the better Perhaps some day I
shall have a chance to explain it«
»Be quiet and ring for the tea« said Madame de Cintré
The young man obeyed and presently a servant brought in the tea placed the
tray on a small table and departed Madame de Cintré from her place busied
herself with making it She had but just begun when the door was thrown open
and a lady rushed in making a loud rustling sound She stared at Newman gave a
little nod and a »Monsieur« and then quickly approached Madame de Cintré and
presented her forehead to be kissed Madame de Cintré saluted her and continued
to make tea The newcomer was young and pretty it seemed to Newman she wore
her bonnet and cloak and a train of royal proportions She began to talk
rapidly in French »Oh give me some tea my beautiful one for the love of God
Im exhausted mangled massacred« Newman found himself quite unable to follow
her she spoke much less distinctly than M Nioche
»That is my sisterinlaw« said the Count Valentin leaning towards him
»She is very pretty« said Newman
»Exquisite« answered the young man and this time again Newman suspected
him of irony
His sisterinlaw came round to the other side of the fire with her cup of
tea in her hand holding it out at armslength so that she might not spill it
on her dress and uttering little cries of alarm She placed the cup on the
mantelshelf and began to unpin her veil and pull off her gloves looking
meanwhile at Newman
»Is there anything I can do for you my dear lady« the Count Valentin
asked in a sort of mockcaressing tone
»Present monsieur« said his sisterinlaw
The young man answered »Mr Newman«
»I cant curtsy to you monsieur or I shall spill my tea« said the lady
»So Claire receives strangers like that« she added in a low voice in French
to her brotherinlaw
»Apparently« he answered with a smile Newman stood a moment and then he
approached Madame de Cintré She looked up at him as if she were thinking of
something to say But she seemed to think of nothing so she simply smiled He
sat down near her and she handed him a cup of tea For a few moments they talked
about that and meanwhile he looked at her He remembered what Mrs Tristram had
told him of her perfection and of her having in combination all the brilliant
things that he dreamed of finding This made him observe her not only without
mistrust but without uneasy conjectures the presumption from the first moment
he looked at her had been in her favour And yet if she was beautiful it was
not a dazzling beauty She was tall and moulded in long lines she had thick
fair hair a wide forehead and features with a sort of harmonious irregularity
Her clear gray eyes were strikingly expressive they were both gentle and
intelligent and Newman liked them immensely but they had not those depths of
splendour those manycoloured rays which illumine the brow of famous
beauties Madame de Cintré was rather thin and she looked younger than probably
she was In her whole person there was something both youthful and subdued
slender and yet ample tranquil yet shy a mixture of immaturity and repose of
innocence and dignity What had Tristram meant Newman wondered by calling her
proud She was certainly not proud now to him or if she was it was of no use
it was lost upon him she must pile it up higher if she expected him to mind it
She was a beautiful woman and it was very easy to get on with her Was she a
countess a marquise a kind of historical formation Newman who had rarely
heard these words used had never been at pains to attach any particular image
to them but they occurred to him now and seemed charged with a sort of
melodious meaning They signified something fair and softly bright that had
easy motions and spoke very agreeably
»Have you many friends in Paris do you go out« asked Madame de Cintré who
had at last thought of something to say
»Do you mean do I dance and all that«
»Do you go dans le monde as we say?«
»I have seen a good many people Mrs Tristram has taken me about I do
whatever she tells me«
»By yourself you are not fond of amusements«
»Oh yes of some sorts I am not fond of dancing and that sort of thing I
am too old and sober But I want to be amused I came to Europe for that«
»But you can be amused in America too«
»I couldnt I was always at work But after all that was my amusement«
At this moment Madame de Bellegarde came back for another cup of tea
accompanied by the Count Valentin Madame de Cintré when she had served her
began to talk again with Newman and recalling what he had last said »In your
own country you were very much occupied« she asked
»I was in business I have been in business since I was fifteen years old«
»And what was your business« asked Madame de Bellegarde who was decidedly
not so pretty as Madame de Cintré
»I have been in everything« said Newman »At one time I sold leather at
one time I manufactured washtubs«
Madame de Bellegarde made a little grimace »Leather I dont like that
Washtubs are better I prefer the smell of soap I hope at least they made your
fortune« She rattled this off with the air of a woman who had the reputation of
saying everything that came into her head and with a strong French accent
Newman had spoken with cheerful seriousness but Madame de Bellegardes tone
made him go on after a meditative pause with a certain light grimness of
jocularity »No I lost money on washtubs but I came out pretty square on
leather«
»I have made up my mind after all« said Madame de Bellegarde »that the
great point is how do you call it to come out square I am on my knees to
money I dont deny it If you have it I ask no questions For that I am a real
democrat like you monsieur Madame de Cintré is very proud but I find that
one gets much more pleasure in this sad life if one doesnt look too close«
»Just Heaven dear madam how you go at it« said the Count Valentin
lowering his voice
»Hes a man one can speak to I suppose since my sister receives him« the
lady answered »Besides its very true those are my ideas«
»Ah you call them ideas« murmured the young man
»But Mrs Tristram told me you had been in the army in your war« said
Madame de Cintré
»Yes but that is not business« said Newman
»Very true« said M de Bellegarde »Otherwise perhaps I should not be
penniless«
»Is it true« asked Newman in a moment »that you are so proud I had
already heard it«
Madame de Cintré smiled »Do you find me so«
»Oh« said Newman »I am no judge If you are proud with me you will have
to tell me Otherwise I shall not know it«
Madame de Cintré began to laugh »That would be pride in a sad position«
she said
»It would be partly« Newman went on »because I shouldnt want to know it
I want you to treat me well«
Madame de Cintré whose laugh had ceased looked at him with her head half
averted as if she feared what he was going to say
»Mrs Tristram told you the literal truth« he went on »I want very much to
know you I didnt come here simply to call today I came in the hope that you
might ask me to come again«
»Oh pray come often« said Madame de Cintré
»But will you be at home« Newman insisted Even to himself he seemed a
trifle pushing but he was in truth a trifle excited
»I hope so« said Madame de Cintré
Newman got up »Well we shall see« he said smoothing his hat with his
coatcuff
»Brother« said Madame de Cintré »invite Mr Newman to come again«
The Count Valentin looked at our hero from head to foot with his peculiar
smile in which impudence and urbanity seemed perplexingly commingled »Are you
a brave man« he asked eyeing him askance
»Well I hope so« said Newman
»I rather suspect so In that case come again«
»Ah what an invitation« murmured Madame de Cintré with something painful
in her smile
»Oh I want Mr Newman to come particularly« said the young man »It will
give me great pleasure I shall be desolate if I miss one of his visits But I
maintain he must be brave A stout heart sir« And he offered Newman his hand
»I shall not come to see you I shall come to see Madame de Cintré« said
Newman
»You will need all the more courage«
»Ah Valentin« said Madame de Cintré appealingly
»Decidedly« cried Madame de Bellegarde »I am the only person here capable
of saying something polite Come to see me you will need no courage« she said
Newman gave a laugh which was not altogether an assent and took his leave
Madame de Cintré did not take up her sisters challenge to be gracious but she
looked with a certain troubled air at the retreating guest
Chapter VII
One evening very late about a week after his visit to Madame de Cintré
Newmans servant brought him a card It was that of young M de Bellegarde
When a few moments later he went to receive his visitor he found him standing
in the middle of his great gilded parlour and eyeing it from cornice to carpet
M de Bellegardes face it seemed to Newman expressed a sense of lively
entertainment »What the devil is he laughing at now« our hero asked himself
But he put the question without acrimony for he felt that Madame de Cintrés
brother was a good fellow and he had a presentiment that on this basis of good
fellowship they were destined to understand each other Only if there was
anything to laugh at he wished to have a glimpse of it too
»To begin with« said the young man as he extended his hand »have I come
too late«
»Too late for what« asked Newman
»To smoke a cigar with you«
»You would have to come early to do that« said Newman »I dont smoke«
»Ah you are a strong man«
»But I keep cigars« Newman added »Sit down«
»Surely I may not smoke here« said M de Bellegarde
»What is the matter Is the room too small«
»It is too large It is like smoking in a ballroom or a church«
»That is what you were laughing at just now« Newman asked »the size of my
room«
»It is not size only« replied M de Bellegarde »but splendour and
harmony and beauty of detail It was the smile of admiration«
Newman looked at him a moment and then »So it is very ugly« he inquired
»Ugly my dear sir It is magnificent«
»That is the same thing I suppose« said Newman »Make yourself
comfortable Your coming to see me I take it is an act of friendship You were
not obliged to Therefore if anything around here amuses you it will be all in
a pleasant way Laugh as loud as you please I like to see my visitors cheerful
Only I must make this request that you explain the joke to me as soon as you
can speak I dont want to lose anything myself«
M de Bellegarde stared with a look of unresentful perplexity He laid his
hand on Newmans sleeve and seemed on the point of saying something but he
suddenly checked himself leaned back in his chair and puffed at his cigar At
last however breaking silence »Certainly« he said »my coming to see you is
an act of friendship Nevertheless I was in a measure obliged to do so My
sister asked me to come and a request from my sister is for me a law. I was
near you and I observed lights in what I supposed were your rooms It was not a
ceremonious hour for making a call but I was not sorry to do something that
would show I was not performing a mere ceremony«
»Well here I am as large as life« said Newman extending his legs
»I dont know what you mean« the young man went on »by giving me unlimited
leave to laugh Certainly I am a great laugher and it is better to laugh too
much than too little But it is not in order that we may laugh together or
separately that I have I may say sought your acquaintance To speak with
almost impudent frankness you interest me« All this was uttered by M de
Bellegarde with the modulated smoothness of the man of the world and in spite
of his excellent English of the Frenchman but Newman at the same time that he
sat noting its harmonious flow perceived that it was not mere mechanical
urbanity Decidedly there was something in his visitor that he liked M de
Bellegarde was a foreigner to his fingertips and if Newman had met him on a
Western prairie he would have felt it proper to address him with a »Howdyedo
Mosseer« But there was something in his physiognomy which seemed to cast a sort
of aerial bridge over the impassable gulf produced by difference of race He was
below the middle height and robust and agile in figure Valentin de Bellegarde
Newman afterwards learned had a mortal dread of the robustness overtaking the
agility he was afraid of growing stout he was too short as he said to afford
a belly He rode and fenced and practiced gymnastics with unremitting zeal and
if you greeted him with a »How well you are looking« he started and turned
pale In your well he read a grosser monosyllable He had a round head high
above the ears a crop of hair at once dense and silky a broad low forehead a
short nose of the ironical and inquiring rather than of the dogmatic or
sensitive cast and a moustache as delicate as that of a page in a romance He
resembled his sister not in feature but in the expression of his clear bright
eye completely void of introspection and in the way he smiled The great point
in his face was that it was intensely alive frankly ardently gallantly
alive The look of it was like a bell of which the handle might have been in
the young mans soul at a touch of the handle it rang with a loud silver sound
There was something in his quick light brown eye which assured you that he was
not economising his consciousness He was not living in a corner of it to spare
the furniture of the rest He was squarely encamped in the centre and he was
keeping open house When he smiled it was like the movement of a person who in
emptying a cup turns it upside down he gave you the last drop of his jollity
He inspired Newman with something of the same kindness that our hero used to
feel in his earlier years for those of his companions who could perform strange
and clever tricks make their joints crack in queer places or whistle at the
back of their mouths
»My sister told me« M de Bellegarde continued »that I ought to come and
remove the impression that I had taken such great pains to produce upon you the
impression that I am a lunatic Did it strike you that I behaved very oddly the
other day«
»Rather so« said Newman
»So my sister tells me« And M de Bellegarde watched his host for a moment
through his smokewreaths »If that is the case I think we had better let it
stand I didnt try to make you think I was a lunatic at all on the contrary
I wanted to produce a favourable impression But if after all I made a fool of
myself it was the intention of Providence I should injure myself by protesting
too much for I should seem to set up a claim for wisdom which in the sequel of
our acquaintance I could by no means justify Set me down as a lunatic with
intervals of sanity«
»Oh I guess you know what you are about« said Newman
»When I am sane I am very sane that I admit« M de Bellegarde answered
»But I didnt come here to talk about myself I should like to ask you a few
questions You allow me«
»Give me a specimen« said Newman
»You live here all alone«
»Absolutely With whom should I live«
»For the moment« said M de Bellegarde with a smile »I am asking
questions not answering them You have come to Paris for your pleasure«
Newman was silent awhile Then at last »Everyone asks me that« he said
with his mild slowness »It sounds so awfully foolish«
»But at any rate you had a reason«
»Oh I came for my pleasure« said Newman »Though it is foolish it is
true«
»And you are enjoying it«
Like any other good American Newman thought it as well not to truckle to
the foreigner »Oh soso« he answered
M de Bellegarde puffed his cigar again in silence »For myself« he said at
last »I am entirely at your service Anything I can do for you I shall be very
happy to do Call upon me at your convenience Is there anyone you desire to
know anything you wish to see It is a pity you should not enjoy Paris«
»Oh I do enjoy it« said Newman goodnaturedly »Im much obliged to you«
»Honestly speaking« M de Bellegarde went on »there is something absurd to
me in hearing myself make you these offers They represent a great deal of
goodwill but they represent little else You are a successful man and I am a
failure and its a turning of the tables to talk as if I could lend you a
hand«
»In what way are you a failure« asked Newman
»Oh Im not a tragical failure« cried the young man with a laugh »I have
not fallen from a height and my fiasco has made no noise You evidently are a
success You have made a fortune you have built up an edifice you are a
financial commercial power you can travel about the world until you have found
a soft spot and lie down in it with the consciousness of having earned your
rest Is not that true Well imagine the exact reverse of all that and you
have me I have done nothing I can do nothing«
»Why not«
»Its a long story Some day I will tell you Meanwhile Im right eh You
are a success You have made a fortune Its none of my business but in short
you are rich«
»Thats another thing that it sounds foolish to say« said Newman »Hang it
no man is rich«
»I have heard philosophers affirm« laughed M de Bellegarde »that no man
was poor but your formula strikes me as an improvement As a general thing I
confess I dont like successful people and I find clever men who have made
great fortunes very offensive They tread on my toes they make me
uncomfortable But as soon as I saw you I said to myself Ah there is a man
with whom I shall get on He has the goodnature of success and none of the
morgue he has not our confoundedly irritable French vanity In short I took a
fancy to you We are very different Im sure I dont believe there is a
subject on which we think or feel alike But I rather think we shall get on for
there is such a thing you know as being too different to quarrel«
»Oh I never quarrel« said Newman
»Never Sometimes its a duty or at least its a pleasure Oh I have had
two or three delicious quarrels in my day« and M de Bellegardes handsome
smile assumed at the memory of these incidents an almost voluptuous intensity
With the preamble embodied in his share of the foregoing fragment of
dialogue he paid our hero a long visit as the two men sat with their heels on
Newmans glowing hearth they heard the small hours of the morning striking
larger from a faroff belfry Valentin de Bellegarde was by his own confession
at all times a great chatterer and on this occasion he was evidently in a
particularly loquacious mood It was a tradition of his race that people of its
blood always conferred a favour by their smiles and as his enthusiasms were as
rare as his civility was constant he had a double reason for not suspecting
that his friendship could ever be importunate Moreover the flower of an
ancient stem as he was tradition since I have used the word had in his
temperament nothing of disagreeable rigidity It was muffled in sociability and
urbanity as an old dowager in her laces and strings of pearls Valentin was
what is called in France a gentilhomme of the purest source and his rule of
life so far as it was definite was to play the part of a gentilhomme This it
seemed to him was enough to occupy comfortably a young man of ordinary good
parts But all that he was he was by instinct and not by theory and the
amiability of his character was so great that certain of the aristocratic
virtues which in some aspects seem rather brittle and trenchant acquired in
his application of them an extreme geniality In his younger years he had been
suspected of low tastes and his mother had greatly feared he would make a slip
in the mud of the highway and bespatter the family shield He had been treated
therefore to more than his share of schooling and drilling but his instructors
had not succeeded in mounting him upon stilts They could not spoil his safe
spontaneity and he remained the least cautious and the most lucky of young
nobles He had been tied with so short a rope in his youth that he had now a
mortal grudge against family discipline He had been known to say within the
limits of the family that lightheaded as he was the honour of the name was
safer in his hands than in those of some of its other members and that if a day
ever came to try it they should see His talk was an odd mixture of almost
boyish garrulity and of the reserve and discretion of the man of the world and
he seemed to Newman as afterwards young members of the Latin races often seemed
to him now amusingly juvenile and now appallingly mature In America Newman
reflected lads of twentyfive and thirty have old heads and young hearts or at
least young morals here they have young heads and very aged hearts morals the
most grizzled and wrinkled
»What I envy you is your liberty« observed M de Bellegarde »your wide
range your freedom to come and go your not having a lot of people who take
themselves awfully seriously expecting something of you I live« he added with
a sigh »beneath the eyes of my admirable mother«
»It is your own fault what is to hinder you ranging« said Newman
»There is a delightful simplicity in that remark Everything is to hinder
me To begin with I have not a penny«
»I had not a penny when I began to range«
»Ah but your poverty was your capital Being an American it was impossible
you should remain what you were born and being born poor do I understand it
it was therefore inevitable that you should become rich You were in a
position that makes ones mouth water you looked round you and saw a world full
of things you had only to step up and take hold of When I was twenty I looked
around me and saw a world with everything ticketed Hands off and the deuce of
it was that the ticket seemed meant only for me I couldnt go into business I
couldnt make money because I was a Bellegarde I couldnt go into politics
because I was a Bellegarde the Bellegardes dont recognise the Bonapartes I
couldnt go into literature because I was a dunce I couldnt marry a rich
girl because no Bellegarde had ever married a roturière and it was not proper
that I should begin We shall have to come to it yet Marriageable heiresses
de notre bord are not to be had for nothing it must be name for name and
fortune for fortune The only thing I could do was to go and fight for the Pope
That I did punctiliously and received an apostolic fleshwound at
Castelfidardo It did neither the Holy Father nor me any good that I could see
Rome was doubtless a very amusing place in the days of Caligula but it has
sadly fallen off since I passed three years in the Castle of St Angelo and
then came back to secular life«
»So you have no profession you do nothing« said Newman
»I do nothing I am supposed to amuse myself and to tell the truth I have
amused myself One can if one knows how But you cant keep it up for ever I
am good for another five years perhaps but I foresee that after that I shall
lose my appetite Then what shall I do I think I shall turn monk Seriously I
think I shall tie a rope round my waist and go into a monastery It was an old
custom and the old customs were very good People understood life quite as well
as we do They kept the pot boiling till it cracked and then they put it on the
shelf altogether«
»Are you very religious« asked Newman in a tone which gave the inquiry a
grotesque effect
M de Bellegarde evidently appreciated the comical element in the question
but he looked at Newman a moment with extreme soberness »I am a very good
Catholic I respect the Church I adore the blessed Virgin I fear the Devil«
»Well then« said Newman »you are well fixed You have got pleasure in the
present and religion in the future what do you complain of«
»Its a part of ones pleasure to complain There is something in your own
circumstances that irritates me You are the first man I have ever envied Its
singular but so it is I have known many men who besides any factitious
advantages that I may possess had money and brains into the bargain but
somehow they have never disturbed my goodhumour But you have got something
that I should have liked to have It is not money it is not even brains
though no doubt yours are excellent It is not your six feet of height though I
should have rather liked to be a couple of inches taller Its a sort of air you
have of being thoroughly at home in the world When I was a boy my father told
me that it was by such an air as that that people recognised a Bellegarde He
called my attention to it He didnt advise me to cultivate it he said that as
we grew up it always came of itself. I supposed it had come to me because I
think I have always had the feeling My place in life was made for me and it
seemed easy to occupy it But you who as I understand it have made your own
place you who as you told us the other day have manufactured washtubs you
strike me somehow as a man who stands at his ease who looks at things from a
height I fancy you going about the world like a man travelling on a railroad in
which he owns a large amount of stock You make me feel as if I had missed
something What is it«
»It is the proud consciousness of honest toil of having manufactured a few
washtubs« said Newman at once jocose and serious
»Oh no I have seen men who had done even more men who had made not only
washtubs but soap strongsmelling yellow soap in great bars and they never
made me the least uncomfortable«
»Then its the privilege of being an American citizen« said Newman »That
sets a man up«
»Possibly« rejoined M de Bellegarde »But I am forced to say that I have
seen a great many American citizens who didnt seem at all set up or in the
least like large stockholders I never envied them I rather think the thing is
an accomplishment of your own«
»Oh come« said Newman »you will make me proud«
»No I shall not You have nothing to do with pride or with humility that
is a part of this easy manner of yours People are proud only when they have
something to lose and humble when they have something to gain«
»I dont know what I have to lose« said Newman »but I certainly have
something to gain«
»What is it« asked his visitor
Newman hesitated awhile »I will tell you when I know you better«
»I hope that will be soon Then if I can help you to gain it I shall be
happy«
»Perhaps you may« said Newman
»Dont forget then that I am your servant« M de Bellegarde answered and
shortly afterwards he took his departure
During the next three weeks Newman saw Bellegarde several times and without
formally swearing an eternal friendship the two men established a sort of
comradeship To Newman Bellegarde was the ideal Frenchman the Frenchman of
tradition and romance so far as our hero was acquainted with these mystical
influences Gallant expansive amusing more pleased himself with the effect he
produced than those even when they were well pleased for whom he produced it
a master of all the distinctively social virtues and a votary of all agreeable
sensations a devotee of something mysterious and sacred to which he
occasionally alluded in terms more ecstatic even than those in which he spoke of
the last pretty woman and which was simply the beautiful though somewhat
superannuated image of honour he was irresistibly entertaining and enlivening
and he formed a character to which Newman was as capable of doing justice when
he had once been placed in contact with it as he was unlikely in musing upon
the possible mixtures of our human ingredients mentally to have foreshadowed
it Bellegarde did not in the least cause him to modify his needful premise that
all Frenchmen are of a frothy and imponderable substance he simply reminded him
that light materials may be beaten up into a most agreeable compound No two
companions could be more different but their differences made a capital basis
for a friendship of which the distinctive characteristic was that it was
extremely amusing to each
Valentin de Bellegarde lived in the basement of an old house in the Rue
dAnjou St Honoré and his small apartments lay between the court of the house
and an old garden which spread itself behind it one of those large sunless
humid gardens into which you look unexpectingly in Paris from back windows
wondering how among the grudging habitations they find their space When Newman
returned Bellegardes visit he hinted that his lodging was at least as much a
laughing matter as his own But its oddities were of a different cast from those
of our heros gilded saloons on the Boulevard Haussmann the place was low
dusky contracted and crowded with curious bricàbrac Bellegarde penniless
patrician as he was was an insatiable collector and his walls were covered
with rusty arms and ancient panels and platters his doorways draped in faded
tapestries his floors muffled in the skins of beasts Here and there was one of
those uncomfortable tributes to elegance in which the upholsterers art in
France is so prolific a curtained recess with a sheet of lookingglass in
which among the shadows you could see nothing a divan on which for its
festoons and furbelows you could not sit a fireplace draped flounced and
frilled to the complete exclusion of fire The young mans possessions were in
picturesque disorder and his apartment was pervaded by the odour of cigars
mingled with perfumes more inscrutable Newman thought it a damp gloomy place
to live in and was puzzled by the obstructive and fragmentary character of the
furniture
Bellegarde according to the custom of his country talked very generously
about himself and unveiled the mysteries of his private history with an
unsparing hand Inevitably he had a vast deal to say about women and he used
frequently to indulge in sentimental and ironical apostrophes to these authors
of his joys and woes »Oh the women the women and the things they have made
me do« he would exclaim with a lustrous eye »Cest égal of all the follies
and stupidities I have committed for them I would not have missed one« On this
subject Newman maintained an habitual reserve to expatiate largely upon it had
always seemed to him a proceeding vaguely analogous to the cooing of pigeons and
the chatterings of monkeys and even inconsistent with a fullydeveloped human
character But Bellegardes confidences greatly amused him and rarely
displeased him for the generous young Frenchman was not a cynic »I really
think« he had once said »that I am not more depraved than most of my
contemporaries They are tolerably depraved my contemporaries« He said
wonderfully pretty things about his female friends and numerous and various as
they had been declared that on the whole there was more good in them than harm
»But you are not to take that as advice« he added »As an authority I am very
untrustworthy Im prejudiced in their favour Im an idealist« Newman listened
to him with his impartial smile and was glad for his own sake that he had
fine feelings but he mentally repudiated the idea of a Frenchman having
discovered any merit in the amiable sex which he himself did not suspect M de
Bellegarde however did not confine his conversation to the autobiographical
channel he questioned our hero largely as to the events of his own life and
Newman told him some better stories than any that Bellegarde carried in his
budget He narrated his career in fact from the beginning through all its
variations and whenever his companions credulity or his habits of gentility
appeared to protest it amused him to heighten the colour of the episode Newman
had sat with Western humorists in knots round castiron stoves and seen tall
stories grow taller without toppling over and his own imagination had learned
the trick of piling up consistent wonders Bellegardes regular attitude at last
became that of laughing selfdefence to maintain his reputation as an
allknowing Frenchman he doubted of everything wholesale The result of this
was that Newman found it impossible to convince him of certain timehonoured
verities
»But the details dont matter« said M de Bellegarde »You have evidently
had some surprising adventures you have seen some strange sides of life you
have revolved to and fro over a whole continent as I walk up and down the
Boulevard You are a man of the world with a vengeance You have spent some
deadly dull hours and you have done some extremely disagreeable things you
have shovelled sand as a boy for supper and you have eaten roast dog in a
golddiggers camp You have stood casting up figures for ten hours at a time
and you have sat through Methodist sermons for the sake of looking at a pretty
girl in another pew All that is rather stiff as we say. But at any rate you
have done something and you are something you have used your will and you have
made your fortune You have not stupefied yourself with debauchery and you have
not mortgaged your fortune to social conveniences You take things easily and
you have fewer prejudices even than I who pretend to have none but who in
reality have three or four Happy man you are strong and you are free But what
the deuce« demanded the young man in conclusion »do you propose to do with
such advantages Really to use them you need a better world than this There is
nothing worth your while here«
»Oh I think there is something« said Newman
»What is it«
»Well« murmured Newman »I will tell you some other time«
In this way our hero delayed from day to day broaching a subject which he
had very much at heart Meanwhile however he was growing practically familiar
with it in other words, he had called again three times on Madame de Cintré
On only two of these occasions had he found her at home and on each of them she
had other visitors Her visitors were numerous and extremely loquacious and
they exacted much of their hostesss attention She found time however to
bestow a little of it on Newman in an occasional vague smile the very
vagueness of which pleased him allowing him as it did to fill it out mentally
both at the time and afterwards with such meanings as most pleased him He sat
by without speaking looking at the entrances and exits the greetings and
chatterings of Madame de Cintrés visitors He felt as if he were at the play
and as if his own speaking would be an interruption sometimes he wished he had
a book to follow the dialogue he half expected to see a woman in a white cap
and pink ribbons come and offer him one for two francs Some of the ladies
looked at him very hard or very soft as you please others seemed profoundly
unconscious of his presence The men only looked at Madame de Cintré This was
inevitable for whether one called her beautiful or not she entirely occupied
and filled ones vision just as an agreeable sound fills ones ear Newman had
but twenty distinct words with her but he carried away an impression to which
solemn promises could not have given a higher value She was part of the play
that he was seeing acted quite as much as her companions but how she filled
the stage and how much better she did it Whether she rose or seated herself
whether she went with her departing friends to the door and lifted up the heavy
curtain as they passed out and stood an instant looking after them and giving
them the last nod or whether she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed
and her eyes resting listening and smiling she gave Newman the feeling that he
should like to have her always before him moving slowly to and fro along the
whole scale of expressive hospitality If it might be to him it would be well
if it might be for him it would be still better She was so tall and yet so
light so active and yet so still so elegant and yet so simple so frank and
yet so mysterious It was the mystery it was what she was off the stage as it
were that interested Newman most of all He could not have told you what
warrant he had for talking about mysteries if it had been his habit to express
himself in poetic figures he might have said that in observing Madame de Cintré
he seemed to see the vague circle which sometimes accompanies the partlyfilled
disc of the moon It was not that she was reserved on the contrary she was as
frank as flowing water But he was sure she had qualities which she herself did
not suspect
He had abstained for several reasons from saying some of these things to
Bellegarde One reason was that before proceeding to any act he was always
circumspect conjectural contemplative he had little eagerness as became a
man who felt that whenever he really began to move he walked with long steps
And then it simply pleased him not to speak it occupied him it excited him
But one day Bellegarde had been dining with him at a restaurant and they had
sat long over their dinner On rising from it Bellegarde proposed that to help
them through the rest of the evening they should go and see Madame Dandelard
Madame Dandelard was a little Italian lady who had married a Frenchman who
proved to be a rake and a brute and the torment of her life Her husband had
spent all her money and then lacking the means of obtaining more expensive
pleasures had taken in his duller hours to beating her She had a blue spot
somewhere which she showed to several persons including Bellegarde She had
obtained a separation from her husband collected the scraps of her fortune
they were very meagre and come to live in Paris where she was staying at a
hôtel garni She was always looking for an apartment and visiting inquiringly
those of oilier people She was very pretty very childlike and she made very
extraordinary remarks Bellegarde had made her acquaintance and the source of
his interest in her was according to his own declaration a curiosity as to
what would become of her »She is poor she is pretty and she is silly« he
said »it seems to me she can go only one way Its a pity but it cant be
helped I will give her six months She has nothing to fear from me but I am
watching the process. I am curious to see just how things will go Yes I know
what you are going to say this horrible Paris hardens ones heart But it
quickens ones wits and it ends by teaching one a refinement of observation To
see this little womans little drama play itself out now is for me an
intellectual pleasure«
»If she is going to throw herself away« Newman had said »you ought to stop
her«
»Stop her How stop her«
»Talk to her give her some good advice«
Bellegarde laughed »Heaven deliver us both Imagine the situation Go and
advise her yourself«
It was after this that Newman had gone with Bellegarde to see Madame
Dandelard When they came away Bellegarde reproached his companion »Where was
your famous advice« he asked »I didnt hear a word of it«
»Oh I give it up« said Newman simply
»Then you are as bad as I« said Bellegarde
»No because I dont take an intellectual pleasure in her prospective
adventures I dont in the least want to see her going down hill I had rather
look the other way But why« he asked in a moment »dont you get your sister
to go and see her«
Bellegarde stared »Go and see Madame Dandelard my sister«
»She might talk to her to very good purpose«
Bellegarde shook his head with sudden gravity »My sister cant see that
sort of person Madame Dandelard is nothing at all they would never meet«
»I should think« said Newman »that your sister might see whom she
pleased« And he privately resolved that after he knew her a little better he
would ask Madame de Cintré to go and talk to the foolish little Italian lady
After his dinner with Bellegarde on the occasion I have mentioned he
demurred to his companions proposal that they should go again and listen to
Madame Dandelard describe her sorrows and her bruises »I have something better
in mind« he said »come home with me and finish the evening before my fire«
Bellegarde always welcomed the prospect of a long stretch of conversation
and before long the two men sat watching the great blaze which scattered its
scintillations over the high adornments of Newmans ballroom
Chapter VIII
»Tell me something about your sister« Newman began abruptly
Bellegarde turned and gave him a quick look »Now that I think of it you
have never yet asked me a question about her«
»I know that very well«
»If it is because you dont trust me you are very right« said Bellegarde
»I cant talk of her rationally I admire her too much«
»Talk of her as you can« rejoined Newman »Let yourself go«
»Well we are very good friends we are such a brother and sister as have
not been seen since Orestes and Electra You have seen her you know what she
is tall thin light imposing and gentle half a grande dame and half an
angel a mixture of pride and humility of the eagle and the dove She looks
like a statue which had failed as stone resigned itself to its grave defects
and come to life as flesh and blood to wear white capes and long trains All I
can say is that she really possesses every merit that her face her glance her
smile the tone of her voice lead you to expect it is saying a great deal As
a general thing when a woman seems very charming I should say Beware But in
proportion as Claire seems charming you may fold your arms and let yourself
float with the current you are safe She is so good I have never seen a woman
half so perfect or so complete She has everything that is all I can say about
her There« Bellegarde concluded »I told you I should rhapsodize«
Newman was silent awhile as if he were turning over his companions words
»She is very good eh« he repeated at last
»Divinely good«
»Kind charitable gentle generous«
»Generosity itself kindness doubledistilled«
»Is she clever«
»She is the most intelligent woman I know Try her some day with something
difficult and you will see«
»Is she fond of admiration«
»Parbleu« cried Bellegarde »what woman is not«
»Ah when they are too fond of admiration they commit all kinds of follies
to get it«
»I did not say she was too fond« Bellegarde exclaimed »Heaven forbid I
should say anything so idiotic She is not too anything If I were to say she
was ugly I should not mean she was too ugly She is fond of pleasing and if
you are pleased she is grateful If you are not pleased she lets it pass and
thinks the worse neither of you nor of herself I imagine though she hopes the
saints in heaven are for I am sure she is incapable of trying to please by any
means of which they would disapprove«
»Is she grave or gay« asked Newman
»She is both not alternately for she is always the same There is gravity
in her gaiety and gaiety in her gravity But there is no reason why she should
be particularly gay«
»Is she unhappy«
»I wont say that for unhappiness is according as one takes things and
Claire takes them according to some receipt communicated to her by the Blessed
Virgin in a vision To be unhappy is to be disagreeable which for her is out
of the question So she has arranged her circumstances so as to be happy in
them«
»She is a philosopher« said Newman
»No she is simply a very nice woman«
»Her circumstances at any rate have been disagreeable«
Bellegarde hesitated a moment a thing he very rarely did »Oh my dear
fellow if I go into the history of my family I shall give you more than you
bargain for«
»No on the contrary I bargain for that« said Newman
»We shall have to appoint a special séance then beginning early Suffice
it for the present that Claire has not slept on roses She made at eighteen a
marriage that was expected to be brilliant but that turned out like a lamp that
goes out all smoke and bad smell M de Cintré was sixty years old and an
odious old gentleman He lived however but a short time and after his death
his family pounced upon his money brought a lawsuit against his widow and
pushed things very hard Their case was a good one for M de Cintré who had
been trustee for some of his relatives appeared to have been guilty of some
very irregular practices In the course of the suit some revelations were made
as to his private history which my sister found so displeasing that she ceased
to defend herself and washed her hands of the property This required some
pluck for she was between two fires her husbands family opposing her and her
own family forcing her My mother and my brother wished her to cleave to what
they regarded as her rights But she resisted firmly and at last bought her
freedom obtained my mothers assent to dropping the suit at the price of a
promise«
»What was the promise«
»To do anything else for the next ten years that was asked of her
anything that is but marry«
»She had disliked her husband very much«
»No one knows how much«
»The marriage had been made in your horrible French way« Newman continued
»made by the two families without her having any voice«
»It was a chapter for a novel She saw M de Cintré for the first time a
month before the wedding after everything to the minutest detail had been
arranged She turned white when she looked at him and white she remained till
her weddingday The evening before the ceremony she swooned away and she spent
the whole night in sobs My mother sat holding her two hands and my brother
walked up and down the room I declared it was revolting and told my sister
publicly that if she would refuse downright I would stand by her I was told to
go about my business and she became Comtesse de Cintré«
»Your brother« said Newman reflectively »must be a very nice young man«
»He is very nice though he is not young He is upwards of fifty fifteen
years my senior He has been a father to my sister and me He is a very
remarkable man he has the best manners in France He is extremely clever
indeed he is very learned He is writing a history of The Princesses of France
who never Married« This was said by Bellegarde with extreme gravity looking
straight at Newman and with an eye that betokened no mental reservation or
that at least almost betokened none
Newman perhaps discovered there what little there was for he presently
said »You dont love your brother«
»I beg your pardon« said Bellegarde ceremoniously »wellbred people always
love their brothers«
»Well I dont love him then« Newman answered
»Wait till you know him« rejoined Bellegarde and this time he smiled
»Is your mother also very remarkable« Newman asked after a pause
»For my mother« said Bellegarde now with intense gravity »I have the
highest admiration She is a very extraordinary woman You cannot approach her
without perceiving it«
»She is the daughter I believe of an English nobleman«
»Of the Earl of St Dunstans«
»Is the Earl of St Dunstans a very old family«
»Soso the sixteenth century It is on my fathers side that we go back
back back back The family antiquaries themselves lose breath At last they
stop panting and fanning themselves somewhere in the ninth century under
Charlemagne That is where we begin«
»There is no mistake about it« said Newman
»Im sure I hope not We have been mistaken at least for several centuries«
»And you have always married into old families«
»As a rule though in so long a stretch of time there have been some
exceptions Three or four Bellegardes in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries took wives out of the bourgeoisie married lawyers daughters«
»A lawyers daughter thats very bad is it« asked Newman
»Horrible one of us in the Middle Ages did better he married a
beggarmaid like King Cophetua That was really better it was like marrying a
bird or a monkey one didnt have to think about her family at all Our women
have always done well they have never even gone into the petite noblesse There
is I believe not a case on record of a misalliance among the women«
Newman turned this over awhile and then at last he said »You offered the
first time you came to see me to render me any service you could I told you
that some time I would mention something you might do Do you remember«
»Remember I have been counting the hours«
»Very well heres your chance Do what you can to make your sister think
well of me«
Bellegarde stared with a smile »Why Im sure she thinks as well of you as
possible already«
»An opinion founded on seeing me three or four times That is putting me off
with very little I want something more I have been thinking of it a good deal
and at last I have decided to tell you I should like very much to marry Madame
de Cintré«
Bellegarde had been looking at him with quickened expectancy and with the
smile with which he had greeted Newmans allusion to his promised request At
this last announcement he continued to gaze but his smile went through two or
three curious phases It felt apparently a momentary impulse to broaden but
this it immediately checked Then it remained for some instants taking counsel
with itself, at the end of which it decreed a retreat It slowly effaced itself
and left a look of seriousness modified by the desire not to be rude Extreme
surprise had come into the Count Valentins face but he had reflected that it
would be uncivil to leave it there And yet what the deuce was he to do with
it He got up in his agitation and stood before the chimneypiece still
looking at Newman He was a longer time thinking what to say than one would have
expected
»If you cant render me the service I ask« said Newman »say it out«
»Let me hear it again distinctly« said Bellegarde »Its very important
you know I shall plead your cause with my sister because you want you want
to marry her Thats it eh«
»Oh I dont say plead my cause exactly I shall try and do that myself
But say a good word for me now and then let her know that you think well of
me«
At this Bellegarde gave a little light laugh
»What I want chiefly after all« Newman went on »is just to let you know
what I have in mind I suppose that is what you expect isnt it I want to do
what is customary over here If there is anything particular to be done let me
know and I will do it I wouldnt for the world approach Madame de Cintré
without all the proper forms If I ought to go and tell your mother why I will
go and tell her I will go and tell your brother even I will go and tell
anyone you please As I dont know anyone else I begin by telling you But
that if it is a social obligation is a pleasure as well«
»Yes I see I see« said Bellegarde lightly stroking his chin »You have
a very right feeling about it but Im glad you have begun with me« He paused
hesitated and then turned away and walked slowly the length of the room Newman
got up and stood leaning against the mantelshelf with his hands in his pockets
watching Bellegardes promenade The young Frenchman came back and stopped in
front of him »I give it up« he said »I will not pretend I am not surprised I
am hugely Ouf Its a relief«
»That sort of news is always a surprise« said Newman »No matter what you
have done people are never prepared But if you are so surprised I hope at
least you are pleased«
»Come« said Bellegarde »I am going to be tremendously frank I dont know
whether I am pleased or horrified«
»If you are pleased I shall be glad« said Newman »and I shall be
encouraged If you are horrified I shall be sorry but I shall not be
discouraged You must make the best of it«
»That is quite right that is your only possible attitude You are
perfectly serious«
»Am I a Frenchman that I should not be« asked Newman »But why is it
bythebye that you should be horrified«
Bellegarde raised his hand to the back of his head and rubbed his hair
quickly up and down thrusting out the tip of his tongue as he did so »Why you
are not noble for instance« he said
»The devil I am not« exclaimed Newman
»Oh« said Bellegarde a little more seriously »I did not know you had a
title«
»A title What do you mean by a title« asked Newman »A count a duke a
marquis I dont know anything about that I dont know who is and who is not
But I say I am noble I dont exactly know what you mean by it but its a fine
word and a fine idea I put in a claim to it«
»But what have you to show my dear fellow what proofs«
»Anything you please But you dont suppose I am going to undertake to prove
that I am noble It is for you to prove the contrary«
»Thats easily done You have manufactured washtubs«
Newman stared a moment »Therefore I am not noble I dont see it Tell me
something I have not done something I cannot do«
»You cannot marry a woman like Madame de Cintré for the asking«
»I believe you mean« said Newman slowly »that I am not good enough«
»Brutally speaking yes«
Bellegarde had hesitated a moment and while he hesitated Newmans attentive
glance had grown somewhat eager In answer to these last words he for a moment
said nothing He simply blushed a little Then he raised his eyes to the ceiling
and stood looking at one of the rosy cherubs that was painted upon it »Of
course I dont expect to marry any woman for the asking« he said at last »I
expect first to make myself acceptable to her She must like me to begin with
But that I am not good enough to make a trial is rather a surprise«
Bellegarde wore a look of mingled perplexity sympathy and amusement »You
should not hesitate then to go up tomorrow and ask a duchess to marry you«
»Not if I thought she would suit me But I am very fastidious she might not
at all«
Bellegardes amusement began to prevail »And you should be surprised if she
refused you«
Newman hesitated a moment »It sounds conceited to say Yes but
nevertheless I think I should For I should make a very handsome offer«
»What would it be«
»Everything she wishes If I get hold of a woman that comes up to my
standard I shall think nothing too good for her I have been a long time
looking and I find such women are rare To combine the qualities I require
seems to be difficult but when the difficulty is vanquished it deserves a
reward My wife shall have a good position and I am not afraid to say that I
shall be a good husband«
»And these qualities that you require what are they«
»Goodness beauty intelligence a fine education personal elegance
everything in a word that makes a splendid woman«
»And noble birth evidently« said Bellegarde
»Oh throw that in by all means if its there The more the better«
»And my sister seems to you to have all these things«
»She is exactly what I have been looking for She is my dream realised«
»And you would make her a very good husband«
»That is what I wanted you to tell her«
Bellegarde laid his hand on his companions arm a moment looked at him with
his head on one side from head to foot and then with a loud laugh and
shaking the other hand in the air turned away He walked again the length of
the room and again he came back and stationed himself in front of Newman »All
this is very interesting it is very curious In what I said just now I was
speaking not for myself but for my traditions my superstitions For myself
really your proposal tickles me It startled me at first but the more I think
of it the more I see in it Its no use attempting to explain anything you
dont understand me After all I dont see why you need its no great loss«
»Oh if there is anything more to explain try it I want to proceed with my
eyes open I will do my best to understand«
»No« said Bellegarde »its disagreeable to me I give it up I liked you
the first time I saw you and I will abide by that It would be quite odious for
me to come talking to you as if I could patronise you I have told you before
that I envy you vous mimposez as we say. I didnt know you much until within
five minutes So we will let things go and I will say nothing to you that if
our positions were reversed you would not say to me«
I do not know whether in renouncing the mysterious opportunity to which he
alluded Bellegarde felt that he was doing something very generous If so he
was not rewarded his generosity was not appreciated Newman quite failed to
recognise the young Frenchmans power to wound his feelings and he had now no
sense of escaping or coming off easily He did not thank his companion even with
a glance »My eyes are open though« he said »so far as that you have
practically told me that your family and your friends will turn up their noses
at me I have never thought much about the reasons that make it proper for
people to turn up their noses and so I can only decide the question offhand
Looking at it in that way I cant see anything in it I simply think if you
want to know that Im as good as the best Who the best are I dont pretend to
say I have never thought much about that either To tell the truth I have
always had rather a good opinion of myself a man who is successful cant help
it But I will admit that I was conceited What I dont say Yes to is that I
dont stand high as high as any one else This is a line of speculation I
should not have chosen but you must remember you began it yourself I should
never have dreamed that I was on the defensive or that I had to justify myself
but if your people will have it so I will do my best«
»But you offered awhile ago to make your court as we say, to my mother
and my brother«
»Damn it« cried Newman »I want to be polite«
»Good« rejoined Bellegarde »this will go far it will be very
entertaining Excuse my speaking of it in that coldblooded fashion but the
matter must of necessity be for me something of a spectacle Its positively
exciting But apart from that I sympathise with you and I shall be actor so
far as I can as well as spectator You are a capital fellow I believe in you
and I back you The simple fact that you appreciate my sister will serve as the
proof I was asking for All men are equal especially men of taste«
»Do you think« asked Newman presently »that Madame de Cintré is determined
not to marry«
»That is my impression But that is not against you its for you to make
her change her mind«
»I am afraid it will be hard« said Newman gravely
»I dont think it will be easy In a general way I dont see why a widow
should ever marry again She has gained the benefits of matrimony freedom and
consideration and she has got rid of the drawbacks Why should she put her
head into the noose again Her usual motive is ambition if a man can offer her
a great position make her a princess or an ambassadress she may think the
compensation sufficient«
»And in that way is Madame de Cintré ambitious«
»Who knows« said Bellegarde with a profound shrug »I dont pretend to say
all that she is or all that she is not I think she might be touched by the
prospect of becoming the wife of a great man But in a certain way I believe
whatever she does will be the improbable Dont be too confident but dont
absolutely doubt Your best chance for success will be precisely in being to
her mind unusual unexpected original Dont try to be any one else be simply
yourself out and out Something or other cant fail to come of it I am very
curious to see what«
»I am much obliged to you for your advice« said Newman »And« he added
with a smile »I am glad for your sake I am going to be so amusing«
»It will be more than amusing« said Bellegarde »it will be inspiring I
look at it from my point of view and you from yours After all anything for a
change And only yesterday I was yawning so as to dislocate my jaw and
declaring that there was nothing new under the sun If it isnt new to see you
come into the family as a suitor I am very much mistaken Let me say that my
dear fellow I wont call it anything else bad or good I will simply call it
new« And overcome with a sense of the novelty thus foreshadowed Valentin de
Bellegarde threw himself into a deep armchair before the fire and with a fixed
intense smile seemed to read a vision of it in the flame of the logs After
awhile he looked up »Go ahead my boy you have my good wishes« he said »But
it is really a pity you dont understand me that you dont know just what I am
doing«
»Oh« said Newman laughing »dont do anything wrong Leave me to myself
rather or defy me out and out I wouldnt lay any load on your conscience«
Bellegarde sprang up again he was evidently excited there was a warmer
spark even than usual in his eye »You never will understand you never will
know« he said »and if you succeed and I turn out to have helped you you will
never be grateful not as I shall deserve you should be You will be an
excellent fellow always but you will not be grateful But it doesnt matter
for I shall get my own fun out of it« And he broke into an extravagant laugh
»You look puzzled« he added »you look almost frightened«
»It is a pity« said Newman »that I dont understand you I shall lose some
very good jokes«
»I told you you remember that we were very strange people« Bellegarde
went on »I give you warning again We are My mother is strange my brother is
strange and I verily believe that I am stranger than either You will even find
my sister a little strange Old trees have crooked branches old houses have
queer cracks old races have odd secrets Remember that we are eight hundred
years old«
»Very good« said Newman »thats the sort of thing I came to Europe for
You come into my programme«
»Touchezlà then« said Bellegarde putting out his hand »Its a bargain
I accept you I espouse your cause Its because I like you in a great measure
but that is not the only reason« And he stood holding Newmans hand and looking
at him askance
»What is the other one«
»I am in the Opposition. I dislike someone else«
»Your brother« asked Newman in his unmodulated voice
Bellegarde laid his finger on his lips with a whispered hush »Old races
have strange secrets« he said »Put yourself into motion come and see my
sister and be assured of my sympathy« And on this he took his leave
Newman dropped into a chair before his fire and sat a long time staring
into the blaze
Chapter IX
He went to see Madame de Cintré the next day and was informed by the servant
that she was at home He passed as usual up the large cold staircase and
through a spacious vestibule above where the walls seemed all composed of small
door panels touched with longfaded gilding whence he was ushered into the
sittingroom in which he had already been received It was empty and the
servant told him that Madame la Comtesse would presently appear He had time
while he waited to wonder whether Bellegarde had seen his sister since the
evening before and whether in this case he had spoken to her of their talk In
this case Madame de Cintrés receiving him was an encouragement He felt a
certain trepidation as he reflected that she might come in with the knowledge of
his supreme admiration and of the project he had built upon it in her eyes but
the feeling was not disagreeable Her face could wear no look that would make it
less beautiful and he was sure beforehand that however she might take the
proposal he had in reserve she would not take it in scorn or in irony He had a
feeling that if she could only read the bottom of his heart and measure the
extent of his good will toward her she would be entirely kind
She came in at last after so long an interval that he wondered whether she
had been hesitating She smiled with her usual frankness and held out her hand
she looked at him straight with her soft and luminous eyes and said without a
tremor in her voice that she was glad to see him and that she hoped he was
well He found in her what he had found before that faint perfume of a
personal shyness worn away by contact with the world but the more perceptible
the more closely you approached her This lingering diffidence seemed to give a
peculiar value to what was definite and assured in her manner it made it seem
like an accomplishment a beautiful talent something that one might compare to
an exquisite touch in a pianist It was in fact Madame dc Cintrés authority
as they say of artists that especially impressed and fascinated Newman he
always came back to the feeling that when he should complete himself by taking a
wife that was the way he should like his wife to interpret him to the world
The only trouble indeed was that when the instrument was so perfect it seemed
to interpose too much between you and the genius that used it Madame de Cintré
gave Newman the sense of an elaborate education of her having passed through
mysterious ceremonies and processes of culture in her youth of her having been
fashioned and made flexible to certain exalted social needs All this as I have
affirmed made her seem rare and precious a very expensive article as he
would have said and one which a man with an ambition to have everything about
him of the best would find it highly agreeable to possess But looking at the
matter with an eye to private felicity Newman wondered where in so exquisite a
compound nature and art showed their dividing line Where did the special
intention separate from the habit of good manners Where did urbanity end and
sincerity begin Newman asked himself these questions even while he stood ready
to accept the admired object in all its complexity he felt that he could do so
in profound security and examine its mechanism afterwards at leisure
»I am very glad to find you alone« he said »You know I have never had such
good luck before«
»But you have seemed before very well contented with your luck« said Madame
de Cintré »You have sat and watched my visitors with an air of quiet amusement
What have you thought of them«
»Oh I have thought the ladies were very elegant and very graceful and
wonderfully quick at repartee But what I have chiefly thought has been that
they only help me to admire you« This was not gallantry on Newmans part an
art in which he was quite unversed It was simply the instinct of the practical
man who had quite made up his mind what he wanted and was now beginning to
take active steps to obtain it
Madame de Cintré started slightly and raised her eyebrows she had
evidently not expected so fervid a compliment »Oh in that case« she said
with a laugh »your finding me alone is not good luck for me I hope some one
will come in quickly«
»I hope not« said Newman »I have something particular to say to you Have
you seen your brother«
»Yes I saw him an hour ago«
»Did he tell you that he had seen me last night«
»He said so«
»And did he tell you what we had talked about«
Madame de Cintré hesitated a moment As Newman asked these questions she had
grown a little pale as if she regarded what was coming as necessary but not as
agreeable »Did you give him a message to me« she asked
»It was not exactly a message I asked him to render me a service«
»The service was to sing your praises was it not« And she accompanied this
question with a little smile as if to make it easier to herself
»Yes that is what it really amounts to« said Newman »Did he sing my
praises«
»He spoke very well of you But when I know that it was by your special
request of course I must take his eulogy with a grain of salt«
»Oh that makes no difference« said Newman »Your brother would not have
spoken well of me unless he believed what he was saying He is too honest for
that«
»Are you very deep« said Madame de Cintré »Are you trying to please me by
praising my brother I confess it is a good way«
»For me any way that succeeds will be good I will praise your brother all
day if that will help me He is a noble little fellow He has made me feel in
promising to do what he can to help me that I can depend upon him«
»Dont make too much of that« said Madame de Cintré »He can help you very
little«
»Of course I must work my way myself I know that very well I only want a
chance to In consenting to see me after what he told you you almost seem to
be giving me a chance«
»I am seeing you« said Madame de Cintré slowly and gravely »because I
promised my brother I would«
»Blessings on your brothers head« cried Newman »What I told him last
evening was this that I admired you more than any woman I had ever seen and
that I should like immensely to make you my wife« He uttered these words with
great directness and firmness and without any sense of confusion He was full
of his idea he had completely mastered it and he seemed to look down on Madame
de Cintré with all her gathered elegance from the height of his bracing good
conscience It is probable that this particular tone and manner were the very
best he could have hit upon Yet the light just visibly forced smile with
which his companion had listened to him died away and she sat looking at him
with her lips parted and her face as solemn as a tragic mask There was
evidently something very painful to her in the scene to which he was subjecting
her and yet her impatience of it found no angry voice Newman wondered whether
he was hurting her he could not imagine why the liberal devotion he meant to
express should be disagreeable He got up and stood before her leaning one hand
on the chimneypiece »I know I have seen you very little to say this« he said
»so little that it may make what I say seem disrespectful That is my
misfortune I could have said it the first time I saw you Really I had seen
you before I had seen you in imagination you seemed almost an old friend So
what I say is not mere gallantry and compliments and nonsense I cant talk
that way I dont know how and I wouldnt to you if I could Its as serious as
such words can be I feel as if I knew you and knew what a beautiful admirable
woman you are I shall know better perhaps some day but I have a general
notion now You are just the woman I have been looking for except that you are
far more perfect I wont make any protestations and vows but you can trust me
It is very soon I know to say all this it is almost offensive But why not
gain time if one can And if you want time to reflect of course you do the
sooner you begin the better for me I dont know what you think of me but there
is no great mystery about me you see what I am Your brother told me that my
antecedents and occupations were against me that your family stands somehow on
a higher level than I do That is an idea which of course I dont understand
and dont accept But you dont care anything about that I can assure you that
I am a very solid fellow and that if I give my mind to it I can arrange things
so that in a very few years I shall not need to waste time in explaining who I
am and what I am You will decide for yourself whether you like me or not What
there is you see before you I honestly believe I have no hidden vices or nasty
tricks I am kind kind kind Everything that a man can give a woman I will
give you I have a large fortune a very large fortune some day if you will
allow me I will go into details If you want brilliancy everything in the way
of brilliancy that money can give you you shall have And as regards anything
you may give up dont take for granted too much that its place cannot be
filled Leave that to me Ill take care of you I shall know what you need
Energy and ingenuity can arrange everything Im a strong man There I have
said what I had on my heart It was better to get it off I am very sorry if
its disagreeable to you but think how much better it is that things should be
clear Dont answer me now if you dont wish it Think about it think about it
as slowly as you please Of course I havnt said I cant say half I mean
especially about my admiration for you But take a favourable view of me it
will only be just«
During this speech the longest that Newman had ever made Madame de Cintré
kept her gaze fixed upon him and it expanded at the last into a sort of
fascinated stare When he ceased speaking she lowered her eyes and sat for some
moments looking down and straight before her Then she slowly rose to her feet
and a pair of exceptionally keen eyes would have perceived that she was
trembling a little in the movement She still looked extremely serious »I am
very much obliged to you for your offer« she said »It seems very strange but
I am glad you spoke without waiting any longer It is better the subject should
be dismissed I appreciate all you say you do me great honour But I have
decided not to marry«
»Oh dont say that« cried Newman in a tone absolutely naïf from its
pleading and caressing cadence She had turned away and it made her stop a
moment with her back to him »Think better of that You are too young too
beautiful too much made to be happy and to make others happy If you are afraid
of losing your freedom I can assure you that this freedom here this life you
now lead is a dreary bondage to what I will offer you You shall do things that
I dont think you have ever thought of I will take you to live anywhere in the
wide world that you propose Are you unhappy You give me a feeling that you are
unhappy You have no right to be or to be made so Let me come in and put an
end to it«
Madame de Cintré stood there a moment longer looking away from him If she
was touched by the way he spoke the thing was conceivable His voice always
very mild and interrogative gradually became as soft and as tenderly
argumentative as if he had been talking to a muchloved child He stood watching
her and she presently turned round again but this time she did not look at
him and she spoke with a quietness in which there was a visible trace of
effort
»There are a great many reasons why I should not marry« she said »more
than I can explain to you As for my happiness I am very happy Your offer
seems strange to me for more reasons also than I can say Of course you have a
perfect right to make it But I cannot accept it it is impossible Please
never speak of this matter again If you cannot promise me this I must ask you
not to come back«
»Why is it impossible« Newman demanded »You may think it is at first
without its really being so I didnt expect you to be pleased at first but I
do believe that if you will think of it a good while you may be satisfied«
»I dont know you« said Madame de Cintré »Think how little I know you«
»Very little of course and therefore I dont ask for your ultimatum on the
spot I only ask you not to say No and to let me hope I will wait as long as
you desire Meanwhile you can see more of me and know me better look at me as a
possible husband as a candidate and make up your mind«
Something was going on rapidly in Madame de Cintrés thoughts she was
weighing a question there beneath Newmans eyes weighing it and deciding it
»From the moment I dont very respectfully beg you to leave the house and never
return« she said »I listen to you I seem to give you hope I have listened to
you against my judgment It is because you are eloquent If I had been told
this morning that I should consent to consider you as a possible husband I
should have thought my informant a little crazy I am listening to you you
see« And she threw her hands out for a moment and let them drop with a gesture
in which there was just the slightest expression of appealing weakness
»Well as far as saying goes I have said everything« said Newman »I
believe in you without restriction and I think all the good of you that it is
possible to think of a human creature I firmly believe that in marrying me you
will be safe As I said just now« he went on with a smile »I have no bad ways
I can do so much for you And if you are afraid that I am not what you have been
accustomed to not refined and delicate and punctilious you may easily carry
that too far I am delicate You shall see«
Madame de Cintré walked some distance away and paused before a great plant
an azalea which was flourishing in a porcelain tub before her window She
plucked off one of the flowers and twisting it in her fingers retraced her
steps Then she sat down in silence and her attitude seemed to be a consent
that Newman should say more
»Why should you say it is impossible you should marry« he continued »The
only thing that could make it really impossible would be your being already
married Is it because you have been unhappy in marriage That is all the more
reason. Is it because your family exert a pressure upon you interfere with you
annoy you That is still another reason you ought to be perfectly free and
marriage will make you so I dont say anything against your family understand
that« added Newman with an eagerness which might have made a perspicacious
observer smile »Whatever way you feel toward them is the right way and
anything that you should wish me to do to make myself agreeable to them I will
do as well as I know how Depend upon that«
Madame de Cintré rose again and came toward the fireplace near which Newman
was standing The expression of pain and embarrassment had passed out of her
face and it was illuminated with something which this time at least Newman
need not have been perplexed whether to attribute to habit or to intention to
art or to nature She had the air of a woman who had stepped across the frontier
of friendship and looking round her finds the region vast A certain checked
and controlled exaltation seemed mingled with the usual level radiance of her
glance »I will not refuse to see you again« she said »because much of what
you have said has given me pleasure But I will see you only on this condition
that you say nothing more in the same way for a long time«
»For how long«
»For six months It must be a solemn promise«
»Very well I promise«
»Goodbye then« she said and extended her hand
He held it a moment as if he were going to say something more But he only
looked at her then he took his departure
That evening on the Boulevard he met Valentin de Bellegarde After they
had exchanged greetings Newman told him that he had seen Madame de Cintré a few
hours before
»I know it« said Bellegarde »I dined in the Rue de lUniversité« And
then for some moments both men were silent Newman wished to ask Bellegarde
what visible impression his visit had made and the Count Valentin had a
question of his own Bellegarde spoke first
»Its none of my business but what the deuce did you say to my sister«
»I am willing to tell you« said Newman »that I made her an offer of
marriage«
»Already« And the young man gave a whistle »Time is money Is that what
you say in America And Madame de Cintré« he added with an interrogative
inflection
»She did not accept my offer«
»She couldnt you know in that way«
»But Im to see her again« said Newman
»Oh the strangeness of woman« exclaimed Bellegarde Then he stopped and
held Newman off at armslength »I look at you with respect« he exclaimed
»You have achieved what we call a personal success Immediately now I must
present you to my brother«
»Whenever you please« said Newman
Chapter X
Newman continued to see his friends the Tristrams with a good deal of frequency
though if you had listened to Mrs Tristrams account of the matter you would
have supposed that they had been cynically repudiated for the sake of grander
acquaintance »We were all very well so long as we had no rivals we were
better than nothing But now that you have become the fashion and have your
pick every day of three invitations to dinner we are tossed into the corner I
am sure it is very good of you to come and see us once a month I wonder you
dont send us your cards in an envelope When you do pray have them with black
edges it will be for the death of my last illusion« It was in this incisive
strain that Mrs Tristram moralised over Newmans socalled neglect which was
in reality a most exemplary constancy Of course she was joking but there was
always something ironical in her jokes as there was always something jocular in
her gravity
»I know no better proof that I have treated you very well« Newman had said
»than the fact that you make so free with my character Familiarity breeds
contempt I have made myself too cheap If I had a little proper pride I would
stay away awhile and when vou asked me to dinner say I was going to the
Princess Borealskas But I have not any pride where my pleasure is concerned
and to keep you in the humour to see me if you must see me only to call me bad
names I will agree to anything you choose I will admit that I am the biggest
snob in Paris« Newman in fact had declined an invitation personally given by
the Princess Borealska an inquiring Polish lady to whom he had been presented
on the ground that on that particular day he always dined at Mrs Tristrams
and it was only a tenderly perverse theory of his hostess of the Avenue dIéna
that he was faithless to his early friendships She needed the theory to explain
a certain moral irritation by which she was often visited though if this
explanation was unsound a deeper analyst than I must give the right one Having
launched our hero upon the current which was bearing him so rapidly along she
appeared but halfpleased at its swiftness She had succeeded too well she had
played her game too cleverly and she wished to mix up the cards Newman had
told her in due season that her friend was satisfactory The epithet was not
romantic but Mrs Tristram had no difficulty in perceiving that in essentials
the feeling which lay beneath it was Indeed the mild expansive brevity with
which it was uttered and a certain look at once appealing and inscrutable
that issued from Newmans halfclosed eyes as he leaned his head against the
back of his chair seemed to her the most eloquent attestation of a mature
sentiment that she had ever encountered Newman was according to the French
phrase only abounding in her own sense but his temperate raptures exerted a
singular effect upon that ardour which she herself had so freely manifested a
few months before She now seemed inclined to take a purely critical view of
Madame de Cintré and wished to have it understood that she did not in the least
answer for her being a compendium of all the virtues »No woman was ever so good
as that woman seems« she said »Remember what Shakespeare calls Desdemona A
supersubtle Venetian Madame de Cintré is a supersubtle Parisian She is a
charming woman and she has five hundred merits but you had better keep that in
mind« Was Mrs Tristram simply finding out that she was jealous of her dear
friend on the other side of the Seine and that in undertaking to provide Newman
with an ideal wife she had counted too much on her own disinterestedness We may
be permitted to doubt it The inconsistent little lady of the Avenue dIéna had
an insuperable need of changing her place intellectually She had a lively
imagination and she was capable at certain times of imagining the direct
reverse of her most cherished beliefs with a vividness more intense than that
of conviction She got tired of thinking aright but there was no serious harm
in it as she got equally tired of thinking wrong In the midst of her
mysterious perversities she had admirable flashes of justice One of these
occurred when Newman related to her that he had made a formal proposal to Madame
de Cintré He repeated in a few words what he had said and in a great many what
she had answered Mrs Tristram listened with extreme interest
»But after all« said Newman »there is nothing to congratulate me upon It
is not a triumph«
»I beg your pardon« said Mrs Tristram »it is a great triumph It is a
great triumph that she did not silence you at the first word and request you
never to speak to her again«
»I dont see that« observed Newman
»Of course you dont heaven forbid you should When I told you to go your
own way and do what came into your head I had no idea you would go over the
ground so fast I never dreamed you would offer yourself after five or six
morningcalls As yet what had you done to make her like you You had simply
sat not very straight and stared at her But she does like you«
»That remains to be seen«
»No that is proved What will come of it remains to be seen That you
should propose to marry her without more ado could never have come into her
head You can form very little idea of what passed through her mind as you
spoke if she ever really marries you the affair will be characterised by the
usual justice of all human things towards women You will think you take
generous views of her but you will never begin to know through what a strange
sea of feeling she passed before she accepted you As she stood there in front
of you the other day she plunged into it She said Why not to something
which a few hours earlier had been inconceivable She turned about on a
thousand gathered prejudices and traditions as on a pivot and looked where she
had never looked hitherto When I think of it when I think of Claire de Cintré
and all that she represents there seems to me something very fine in it When I
recommended you to try your fortune with her I of course thought well of you
and in spite of your sins I think so still But I confess I dont see quite what
you are and what you have done to make such a woman do this sort of thing for
you«
»Oh there is something very fine in it« said Newman with a laugh
repeating her words He took an extreme satisfaction in hearing that there was
something fine in it He had not the least doubt of it himself but he had
already begun to value the worlds admiration of Madame de Cintré as adding to
the prospective glory of possession
It was immediately after this conversation that Valentin de Bellegarde came
to conduct his friend to the Rue de lUniversité to present him to the other
members of his family »You are already introduced« he said »and you have
begun to be talked about My sister has mentioned your successive visits to my
mother and it was an accident that my mother was present at none of them I
have spoken of you as an American of immense wealth and the best fellow in the
world who is looking for something very superior in the way of a wife«
»Do you suppose« asked Newman »that Madame de Cintré has related to your
mother the last conversation I had with her«
»I am very certain that she has not she will keep her own counsel
Meanwhile you must make your way with the rest of the family Thus much is known
about you you have made a great fortune in trade you are a little eccentric
and you frankly admire our dear Claire My sisterinlaw whom you remember
seeing in Madame de Cintrés sittingroom took it appears a fancy to you she
has described you as having beaucoup de cachet My mother therefore, is curious
to see you«
»She expects to laugh at me eh« said Newman
»She never laughs If she does not like you dont hope to purchase favour
by being amusing Take warning by me«
This conversation took place in the evening and half an hour later Valentin
ushered his companion into an apartment of the house of the Rue de lUniversité
into which he had not yet penetrated the salon of the dowager Marquise de
Bellegarde It was a vast high room with elaborate and ponderous mouldings
painted a whitish gray along the upper portion of the walls and the ceiling
with a great deal of faded and carefullyrepaired tapestry in the doorways and
chairbacks a Turkey carpet in light colours still soft and deep in spite of
great antiquity on the floor and portraits of each of Madame de Bellegardes
children at the age of ten suspended against an old screen of red silk The
room was illumined exactly enough for conversation by halfadozen candles
placed in odd corners at a great distance apart In a deep armchair near the
fire sat an old lady in black at the other end of the room another person was
seated at the piano playing a very expressive waltz In this latter person
Newman recognised the young Marquise de Bellegarde
Valentin presented his friend and Newman walked up to the old lady by the
fire and shook hands with her He received a rapid impression of a white
delicate aged face with a high forehead a small mouth and a pair of cold
blue eyes which had kept much of the freshness of youth Madame de Bellegarde
looked hard at him and returned his handshake with a sort of British
positiveness which reminded him that she was the daughter of the Earl of St
Dunstans Her daughterinlaw stopped playing and gave him an agreeable smile
Newman sat down and looked about him while Valentin went and kissed the hand of
the young marquise
»I ought to have seen you before« said Madame de Bellegarde »You have paid
several visits to my daughter«
»Oh yes« said Newman smiling »Madame de Cintré and I are old friends by
this time«
»You have gone fast« said Madame de Bellegarde
»Not so fast as I should like« said Newman bravely
»Oh you are very ambitious« answered the old lady
»Yes I confess I am« said Newman smiling
Madame de Bellegarde looked at him with her cold fine eyes and he returned
her gaze reflecting that she was a possible adversary and trying to take her
measure Their eyes remained in contact for some moments Then Madame de
Bellegarde looked away and without smiling »I am very ambitious too« she
said
Newman felt that taking her measure was not easy she was a formidable
inscrutable little woman She resembled her daughter and yet she was utterly
unlike her The colouring in Madame de Cintré was the same and the high
delicacy of her brow and nose was hereditary But her face was a larger and
freer copy and her mouth in especial a happy divergence from that conservative
orifice a little pair of lips at once plump and pinched that looked when
closed as if they could not open wider than to swallow a gooseberry or to emit
an »Oh dear no« which probably had been thought to give the finishing touch to
the aristocratic prettiness of the Lady Emmeline Atheling as represented forty
years before in several Books of Beauty Madame de Cintrés face had to
Newmans eye a range of expression as delightfully vast as the windstreaked
cloudflecked distance on a Western prairie But her mothers white intense
respectable countenance with its formal gaze and its circumscribed smile
suggested a document signed and sealed a thing of parchment ink and ruled
lines »She is a woman of conventions and proprieties« he said to himself as he
looked at her »her world is the world of things immutably decreed But how she
is at home in it and what a paradise she finds it She walks about in it as if
it were a blooming park a Garden of Eden and when she sees This is genteel or
This is improper written on a milestone she stops ecstatically as if she were
listening to a nightingale or smelling a rose« Madame de Bellegarde wore a
little black velvet hood tied under her chin and she was wrapped in an old
black cashmere shawl
»You are an American« she said presently »I have seen several Americans«
»There are several in Paris« said Newman jocosely
»Oh really« said Madame de Bellegarde »It was in England I saw these or
somewhere else not in Paris I think it must have been in the Pyrenees many
years ago I am told your ladies are very pretty One of these ladies was very
pretty such a wonderful complexion She presented me a note of introduction
from some one I forget whom and she sent with it a note of her own I kept
her letter a long time afterwards it was so strangely expressed I used to know
some of the phrases by heart But I have forgotten them now it is so many years
ago Since then I have seen no more Americans I think my daughterinlaw has
she is a great gadabout she sees everyone«
At this the young lady came rustling forward pinching in a very slender
waist and casting idly preoccupied glances over the front of her dress which
was apparently designed for a ball She was in a singular way at once ugly and
pretty she had protuberant eyes and lips that were strangely red She reminded
Newman of his friend Mademoiselle Nioche this was what that muchobstructed
young lady would have liked to be Valentin de Bellegarde walked behind her at a
distance hopping about to keep off the farspreading train of her dress
»You ought to show more of your shoulders behind« he said very gravely
»You might as well wear a standing ruff as such a dress as that«
The young woman turned her back to the mirror over the chimneypiece and
glanced behind her to verify Valentins assertion The mirror descended low
and yet it reflected nothing but a large unclad flesh surface The young
marquise put her hands behind her and gave a downward pull to the waist of her
dress »Like that you mean« she asked
»That is a little better« said Bellegarde in the same tone »but it leaves
a good deal to be desired«
»Oh I never go to extremes« said his sisterinlaw And then turning to
Madame de Bellegarde »What were you calling me just now madame«
»I called you a gadabout« said the old lady »But I might call you
something else too«
»A gadabout What an ugly word What does it mean«
»A very beautiful person« Newman ventured to say seeing that it was in
French
»That is a pretty compliment but a bad translation« said the young
marquise And then looking at him a moment »Do you dance«
»Not a step«
»You are very wrong« she said simply And with another look at her back in
the mirror she turned away
»Do you like Paris« asked the old lady who was apparently wondering what
was the proper way to talk to an American
»Yes rather« said Newman And then he added with a friendly intonation
»Dont you«
»I cant say I know it I know my house I know my friends I dont know
Paris«
»Oh you lose a great deal« said Newman sympathetically
Madame de Bellegarde stared it was presumably the first time she had been
condoled with on her losses
»I am content with what I have« she said with dignity
Newmans eyes at this moment were wandering round the room which struck
him as rather sad and shabby passing from the high casements with their small
thicklyframed panes to the sallow tints of two or three portraits in pastel
of the last century which hung between them He ought obviously to have
answered that the contentment of his hostess was quite natural she had a great
deal but the idea did not occur to him during the pause of some moments which
followed
»Well my dear mother« said Valentin coming and leaning against the
chimneypiece »what do you think of my dear friend Newman Is he not the
excellent fellow I told you«
»My acquaintance with Mr Newman has not gone very far« said Madame de
Bellegarde »I can as yet only appreciate his great politeness«
»My mother is a great judge of these matters« said Valentin to Newman »If
you have satisfied her it is a triumph«
»I hope I shall satisfy you some day« said Newman looking at the old
lady »I have done nothing yet«
»You must not listen to my son he will bring you into trouble He is a sad
scatterbrain«
»Oh I like him I like him« said Newman genially
»He amuses you eh«
»Yes perfectly«
»Do you hear that Valentin« said Madame de Bellegarde »You amuse Mr
Newman«
»Perhaps we shall all come to that« Valentin exclaimed
»You must see my other son« said Madame de Bellegarde »He is much better
than this one But he will not amuse you«
»I dont know I dont know« murmured Valentin reflectively »But we shall
very soon see Here comes Monsieur mon frère«
The door had just opened to give ingress to a gentleman who stepped forward
and whose face Newman remembered He had been the author of our heros
discomfiture the first time he tried to present himself to Madame de Cintré
Valentin de Bellegarde went to meet his brother looked at him a moment and
then taking him by the arm led him up to Newman
»This is my excellent friend Mr Newman« he said very blandly »You must
know him«
»I am delighted to know Mr Newman« said the marquis with a low bow but
without offering his hand
»He is the old woman at secondhand« Newman said to himself as he returned
M de Bellegardes greeting And this was the startingpoint of a speculative
theory in his mind that the late marquis had been a very amiable foreigner
with an inclination to take life easily and a sense that it was difficult for
the husband of the stilted little lady by the fire to do so But if he had taken
little comfort in his wife he had taken much in his two younger children who
were after his own heart while Madame de Bellegarde had paired with her
eldestborn
»My brother has spoken to me of you« said M de Bellegarde »and as you are
also acquainted with my sister it was time we should meet« He turned to his
mother and gallantly bent over her hand touching it with his lips and then he
assumed an attitude before the chimneypiece With his long lean face his
highbridged nose and his small opaque eyes he looked much like an Englishman
His whiskers were fair and glossy and he had a large dimple of unmistakable
British origin in the middle of his handsome chin He was distinguished to the
tips of his polished nails and there was not a movement of his fine
perpendicular person that was not noble and majestic Newman had never yet been
confronted with such an incarnation of the art of taking oneself seriously he
felt a sort of impulse to step backward as you do to get a view of a great
façade
»Urbain« said young Madame de Bellegarde who had apparently been waiting
for her husband to take her to her ball »I call your attention to the fact that
I am dressed«
»That is a good idea« murmured Valentin
»I am at your orders my dear friend« said M de Bellegarde »Only you
must allow me first the pleasure of a little conversation with Mr Newman«
»Oh if you are going to a party dont let me keep you« objected Newman
»I am very sure we shall meet again Indeed if you would like to converse with
me I will gladly name an hour« He was eager to make it known that he would
readily answer all questions and satisfy all exactions
M de Bellegarde stood in a wellbalanced position before the fire
caressing one of his fair whiskers with one of his white hands and looking at
Newman half askance with eyes from which a particular ray of observation made
its way through a general meaningless smile »It is very kind of you to make
such an offer« he said »If I am not mistaken your occupations are such as to
make your time precious You are in a as we say, dans les affaires«
»In business you mean Oh no I have thrown business overboard for the
present I am loafing as we say. My time is quite my own«
»Ah you are taking a holiday« rejoined M de Bellegarde »Loafing Yes I
have heard that expression«
»Mr Newman is American« said Madame de Bellegarde
»My brother is a great ethnologist« said Valentin
»An ethnologist« said Newman »Ah you collect negroes skulls and that
sort of thing«
The marquis looked hard at his brother and began to caress his other
whisker Then turning to Newman with sustained urbanity »You are travelling
for your pleasure« he asked
»Oh I am knocking about to pick up one thing and another Of course I get a
good deal of pleasure out of it«
»What especially interests you« inquired the marquis
»Well everything interests me« said Newman »I am not particular
Manufactures are what I care most about«
»That has been your specialty«
»I cant say I have had any specialty My specialty has been to make the
largest possible fortune in the shortest possible time« Newman made this last
remark very deliberately he wished to open the way if it were necessary to an
authoritative statement of his means
M de Bellegarde laughed agreeably »I hope you have succeeded« he said
»Yes I have made a fortune in a reasonable time I am not so old you see«
»Paris is a very good place to spend a fortune I wish you great enjoyment
of yours« And M de Bellegarde drew forth his gloves and began to put them on
Newman for a few moments watched him sliding his white hands into the white
kid and as he did so his feelings took a singular turn M de Bellegardes good
wishes seemed to descend out of the white expanse of his sublime serenity with
the soft scattered movement of a shower of snowflakes Yet Newman was not
irritated he did not feel that he was being patronised he was conscious of no
especial impulse to introduce a discord into so noble a harmony Only he felt
himself suddenly in personal contact with the forces with which his friend
Valentin had told him that he would have to contend and he became sensible of
their intensity He wished to make some answering manifestations to stretch
himself out at his own length to sound a note at the uttermost end of his
scale It must be added that if this impulse was not vicious or malicious it
was by no means void of humorous expectancy Newman was quite as ready to give
play to that looselyadjusted smile of his if his hosts should happen to be
shocked as he was far from deliberately planning to shock them
»Paris is a very good place for idle people« he said »or it is a very good
place if your family has been settled here for a long time and you have made
acquaintances and got your relations round you or if you have got a big house
like this and a wife and children and mother and sister and everything
comfortable I dont like that way of living all in rooms next door to each
other But I am not an idler I try to be but I cant manage it it goes
against the grain My business habits are too deepseated Then I havnt any
house to call my own or anything in the way of a family My sisters are five
thousand miles away my mother died when I was a youngster and I havnt any
wife I wish I had So you see I dont exactly know what to do with myself I
am not fond of books as you are sir and I get tired of dining out and going
to the opera I miss my business activity You see I began to earn my living
when I was almost a baby and until a few months ago I have never had my hand
off the plow Elegant leisure comes hard«
This speech was followed by a profound silence of some moments on the part
of Newmans entertainers Valentin stood looking at him fixedly with his hands
in his pockets and then he slowly with a halfsidling motion went out of the
room The marquis continued to draw on his gloves and to smile benignantly
»You began to earn your living when you were a mere baby« said the
marquise
»Hardly more a small boy«
»You say you are not fond of books« said M de Bellegarde »but you must do
yourself the justice to remember that your studies were interrupted early«
»That is very true on my tenth birthday I stopped going to school I
thought it was a grand way to keep it But I picked up some information
afterwards« said Newman reassuringly
»You have some sisters« asked old Madame de Bellegarde
»Yes two sisters Splendid women«
»I hope that for them the hardships of life commenced less early«
»They married very early if you call that a hardship as girls do in our
Western country One of them is married to the owner of the largest indiarubber
house in the West«
»Ah you make houses also of indiarubber« inquired the marquise
»You can stretch them as your family increases« said young Madame de
Bellegarde who was muffling herself in a long white shawl
Newman indulged in a burst of hilarity and explained that the house in
which his brotherinlaw lived was a large wooden structure but that he
manufactured and sold indiarubber on a colossal scale
»My children have some little indiarubber shoes which they put on when they
go to play in the Tuileries in damp weather« said the young marquise »I wonder
whether your brotherinlaw made them«
»Very likely« said Newman »if he did you may be very sure that they are
well made«
»Well you must not be discouraged« said M de Bellegarde with vague
urbanity
»Oh I dont mean to be I have a project which gives me plenty to think
about and that is an occupation« And then Newman was silent a moment
hesitating yet thinking rapidly he wished to make his point and yet to do so
forced him to speak out in a way that was disagreeable to him »Nevertheless«
he continued addressing himself to old Madame de Bellegarde »I will tell you
my project perhaps you can help me I want to take a wife«
»It is a very good project but I am no matchmaker« said the old lady
Newman looked at her an instant and then with perfect sincerity »I should
have thought you were« he declared
Madame de Bellegarde appeared to think him too sincere She murmured
something sharply in French and fixed her eyes on her son At this moment the
door of the room was thrown open and with a rapid step Valentin reappeared
»I have a message for you« he said to his sisterinlaw »Claire bids me to
request you not to start for your ball She will go with you«
»Claire will go with us« cried the young marquise »En voilà du nouveau«
»She has changed her mind she decided half an hour ago and she is sticking
the last diamond into her hair« said Valentin
»What has taken possession of my daughter« demanded Madame de Bellegarde
sternly »She has not been into the world these three years Does she take such
a step at halfanhours notice and without consulting me«
»She consulted me dear mother five minutes since« said Valentin »and I
told her that such a beautiful woman she is beautiful you will see had no
right to bury herself alive«
»You should have referred Claire to her mother my brother« said M de
Bellegarde in French »This is very strange«
»I refer her to the whole company« said Valentin »Here she comes« and he
went to the open door met Madame de Cintré on the threshold took her by the
hand and led her into the room She was dressed in white but a long blue
cloak which hung almost to her feet was fastened across her shoulders by a
silver clasp She had tossed it back however and her long white arms were
uncovered In her dense fair hair there glittered a dozen diamonds She looked
serious and Newman thought rather pale but she glanced round her and when
she saw him smiled and put out her hand He thought her tremendously handsome
He had a chance to look at her full in the face for she stood a moment in the
centre of the room hesitating apparently what she should do without meeting
his eyes Then she went up to her mother who sat in her deep chair by the fire
looking at Madame de Cintré almost fiercely With her back turned to the others
Madame de Cintré held her cloak apart to show her dress
»What do you think of me« she asked
»I think you are audacious« said the marquise »It was but three days ago
when I asked you as a particular favour to myself to go to the Duchess de
Lusignans that you told me you were going nowhere and that one must be
consistent Is this your consistency Why should you distinguish Madame
Robineau Who is it you wish to please tonight«
»I wish to please myself dear mother« said Madame de Cintré And she bent
over and kissed the old lady
»I dont like surprises my sister« said Urbain de Bellegarde »especially
when one is on the point of entering a drawingroom«
Newman at this juncture felt inspired to speak »Oh if you are going into a
room with Madame de Cintré you neednt be afraid of being noticed yourself«
M de Bellegarde turned to his sister with a smile too intense to be easy
»I hope you appreciate a compliment that is paid you at your brothers expense«
he said »Come come madam« And offering Madame de Cintré his arm he led her
rapidly out of the room Valentin rendered the same service to young Madame de
Bellegarde who had apparently been reflecting on the fact that the balldress
of her sisterinlaw was much less brilliant than her own and yet had failed to
derive absolute comfort from the reflection With a farewell smile she sought
the complement of her consolation in the eyes of the American visitor and
perceiving in them a certain mysterious brilliancy it is not improbable that
she may have flattered herself she had found it
Newman left alone with old Madame de Bellegarde stood before her a few
moments in silence »Your daughter is very beautiful« he said at last
»She is very strange« said Madame de Bellegarde
»I am glad to hear it« Newman rejoined smiling »It makes me hope«
»Hope what«
»That she will consent some day to marry me«
The old lady rose slowly to her feet »That really is your project then«
»Yes will you favour it«
»Favour it« Madame de Bellegarde looked at him a moment and then shook her
head »No« she said softly
»Will you suffer it then Will you let it pass«
»You dont know what you ask I am a very proud and meddlesome old woman«
»Well I am very rich« said Newman
Madame de Bellegarde fixed her eyes on the floor and Newman thought it
probable she was weighing the reasons in favour of resenting the brutality of
this remark But at last looking up she said simply »How rich«
Newman expressed his income in a round number which had the magnificent
sound that large aggregations of dollars put on when they are translated into
francs He added a few remarks of a financial character which completed a
sufficiently striking presentment of his resources
Madame de Bellegarde listened in silence »You are very frank« she said
finally »I will be the same I would rather favour you on the whole than
suffer you It will be easier«
»I am thankful for any terms« said Newman »But for the present you have
suffered me long enough Good night« And he took his leave
Chapter XI
Newman on his return to Paris had not resumed the study of French conversation
with M Nioche he found that he had too many other uses for his time M
Nioche however came to see him very promptly having learned his whereabouts
by a mysterious process to which his patron never obtained the key The shrunken
little capitalist repeated his visit more than once He seemed oppressed by a
humiliating sense of having been overpaid and wished apparently to redeem his
debt by the offer of grammatical and statistical information in small
instalments He wore the same decently melancholy aspect as a few months before
a few months more or less of brushing could make little difference in the
antique lustre of his coat and hat But the poor old mans spirit was a trifle
more threadbare it seemed to have received some hard rubs during the summer
Newman inquired with interest about Mademoiselle Noémie and M Nioche at
first for answer simply looked at him in lachrymose silence
»Dont ask me sir« he said at last »I sit and watch her but I can do
nothing«
»Do you mean that she misconducts herself«
»I dont know I am sure I cant follow her I dont understand her She
has something in her head I dont know what she is trying to do She is too
deep for me«
»Does she continue to go to the Louvre Has she made any of those copies for
me«
»She goes to the Louvre but I see nothing of the copies She has something
on her easel I suppose it is one of the pictures you ordered Such a
magnificent order ought to give her fairyfingers But she is not in earnest I
cant say anything to her I am afraid of her One evening last summer when I
took her to walk in the Champs Élysées she said some things to me that
frightened me«
»What were they«
»Excuse an unhappy father from telling you« said M Nioche unfolding his
calico pockethandkerchief
Newman promised himself to pay Mademoiselle Noémie another visit at the
Louvre He was curious about the progress of his copies but it must be added
that he was still more curious about the progress of the young lady herself He
went one afternoon to the great museum and wandered through several of the
rooms in fruitless quest of her He was bending his steps to the long hall of
the Italian masters when suddenly he found himself face to face with Valentin
de Bellegarde The young Frenchman greeted him with ardour and assured him that
he was a godsend He himself was in the worst of humours and he wanted someone
to contradict
»In a bad humour among all these beautiful things« said Newman »I thought
you were so fond of pictures especially the old black ones There are two or
three here that ought to keep you in spirits«
»Oh today« answered Valentin »I am not in a mood for pictures and the
more beautiful they are the less I like them Their great staring eyes and fixed
positions irritate me I feel as if I were at some big dull party in a room
full of people I shouldnt wish to speak to What should I care for their
beauty Its a bore and worse still its a reproach I have a great many
ennuis I feel vicious«
»If the Louvre has so little comfort for you why in the world did you come
here« Newman asked
»That is one of my ennuis I came to meet my cousin a dreadful English
cousin a member of my mothers family who is in Paris for a week for her
husband and who wishes me to point out the principal beauties Imagine a woman
who wears a green crape bonnet in December and has straps sticking out of the
ankles of her interminable boots My mother begged I would do something to
oblige them I have undertaken to play valet de place this afternoon They were
to have met me here at two oclock and I have been waiting for them twenty
minutes Why doesnt she arrive She has at least a pair of feet to carry her I
dont know whether to be furious at their playing me false or delighted to have
escaped them«
»I think in your place I would be furious« said Newman »because they may
arrive yet and then your fury will still be of use to you Whereas if you were
delighted and they were afterwards to turn up you might not know what to do
with your delight«
»You give me excellent advice and I already feel better I will be furious
I will let them go to the deuce and I myself will go with you unless by chance
you too have a rendezvous«
»It is not exactly a rendezvous« said Newman »But I have in fact come to
see a person not a picture«
»A woman presumably«
»A young lady«
»Well« said Valentin »I hope for you with all my heart that she is not
clothed in green tulle and that her feet are not too much out of focus«
»I dont know much about her feet but she has very pretty hands«
Valentin gave a sigh »And on that assurance I must part with you«
»I am not certain of finding my young lady« said Newman »and I am not
quite prepared to lose your company on the chance It does not strike me as
particularly desirable to introduce you to her and yet I should rather like to
have your opinion of her«
»Is she pretty«
»I guess you will think so«
Bellegarde passed his arm into that of his companion »Conduct me to her on
the instant I should be ashamed to make a pretty woman wait for my verdict«
Newman suffered himself to be gently propelled in the direction in which he
had been walking but his step was not rapid He was turning something over in
his mind The two men passed into the long gallery of the Italian masters and
Newman after having scanned for a moment its brilliant vista turned aside into
the smaller apartment devoted to the same school on the left It contained very
few persons but at the farther end of it sat Mademoiselle Nioche before her
easel She was not at work her palette and brushes had been laid down beside
her her hands were folded in her lap and she was leaning back in her chair and
looking intently at two ladies on the other side of the hall who with their
backs turned to her had stopped before one of the pictures These ladies were
apparently persons of high fashion they were dressed with great splendour and
their long silken trains and furbelows were spread over the polished floor It
was at their dresses Mademoiselle Noémie was looking though what she was
thinking of I am unable to say I hazard the supposition that she was saying to
herself that to be able to drag such a train over a polished floor was a
felicity worth any price Her reflections at any rate were disturbed by the
advent of Newman and his companion She glanced at them quickly and then
colouring a little rose and stood before her easel
»I came here on purpose to see you« said Newman in his bad French offering
to shake hands And then like a good American he introduced Valentin formally
»Allow me to make you acquainted with the Comte Valentin de Bellegarde«
Valentin made a bow which must have seemed to Mademoiselle Noémie quite in
harmony with the impressiveness of his title but the graceful brevity of her
own response made no concession to underbred surprise She turned to Newman
putting up her hands to her hair and smoothing its delicatelyfelt roughness
Then rapidly she turned the canvas that was on her easel over upon its face
»You have not forgotten me« she asked
»I shall never forget you« said Newman »You may be sure of that«
»Oh« said the young girl »there are a great many different ways of
remembering a person« And she looked straight at Valentin de Bellegarde who
was looking at her as a gentleman may when a verdict is expected of him
»Have you painted anything for me« said Newman »Have you been
industrious«
»No I have done nothing« And taking up her palette she began to mix her
colours at hazard
»But your father tells me you have come here constantly«
»I have nowhere else to go Here all summer it was cool at least«
»Being here then« said Newman »you might have tried something«
»I told you before« she answered softly »that I dont know how to paint«
»But you have something charming on your easel now« said Valentin »if you
would only let me see it«
She spread out her two hands with the fingers expanded over the back of
the canvas those hands which Newman had called pretty and which in spite of
several paintstains Valentin could now admire »My painting is not charming«
she said
»It is the only thing about you that is not then mademoiselle« quoth
Valentin gallantly
She took up her little canvas and silently passed it to him He looked at
it and in a moment she said »I am sure you are a judge«
»Yes« he answered »I am«
»You know then that that is very bad«
»Mon Dieu« said Valentin shrugging his shoulders »let us distinguish«
»You know that I ought not to attempt to paint« the young girl continued
»Frankly then mademoiselle I think you ought not«
She began to look at the dresses of the two splendid ladies again a point
on which having risked one conjecture I think I may risk another While she
was looking at the ladies she was seeing Valentin de Bellegarde He at all
events was seeing her He put down the roughlybesmeared canvas and addressed a
little click with his tongue accompanied by an elevation of the eyebrows to
Newman
»Where have you been all these months« asked Mademoiselle Noémie of our
hero »You took those great journeys you amused yourself well«
»Oh yes« said Newman »I amused myself well enough«
»I am very glad« said Mademoiselle Noémie with extreme gentleness and she
began to dabble in her colours again She was singularly pretty with the look
of serious sympathy that she threw into her face
Valentin took advantage of her downcast eyes to telegraph again to his
companion He renewed his mysterious physiognomical play making at the same
time a rapid tremulous movement in the air with his fingers He was evidently
finding Mademoiselle Noémie extremely interesting the blue devils had departed
leaving the field clear
»Tell me something about your travels« murmured the young girl
»Oh I went to Switzerland to Geneva and Zermatt and Zürich and all
those places you know and down to Venice and all through Germany and down
the Rhine and into Holland and Belgium the regular round How do you say that
in French the regular round« Newman asked of Valentin
Mademoiselle Nioche fixed her eyes an instant on Bellegarde and then with a
little smile »I dont understand monsieur« she said »when he says so much at
once Would you be so good as to translate«
»I would rather talk to you out of my own head« Valentin declared
»No« said Newman gravely still in his bad French »you must not talk to
Mademoiselle Nioche because you say discouraging things You ought to tell her
to work to persevere«
»And we French mademoiselle« said Valentin »are accused of being false
flatterers«
»I dont want any flattery I want only the truth But I know the truth«
»All I say is that I suspect there are some things that you can do better
than paint« said Valentin
»I know the truth I know the truth« Mademoiselle Noémie repeated And
dipping a brush into a clot of red paint she drew a great horizontal daub
across her unfinished picture
»What is that« asked Newman
Without answering she drew another long crimson daub in a vertical
direction down the middle of her canvas and so in a moment completed the
rough indication of a cross »It is the sign of the truth« she said at last
The two men looked at each other and Valentin indulged in another flash of
physiognomical eloquence »You have spoiled your picture« said Newman
»I know that very well It was the only thing to do with it I had sat
looking at it all day without touching it I had begun to hate it It seemed to
me something was going to happen«
»I like it better that way than as it was before« said Valentin »Now it is
more interesting It tells a story Is it for sale mademoiselle«
»Everything I have is for sale« said Mademoiselle Noémie
»How much is this thing«
»Ten thousand francs« said the young girl without a smile
»Everything that Mademoiselle Nioche may do at present is mine in advance«
said Newman »It makes part of an order I gave her some months ago So you cant
have this«
»Monsieur will lose nothing by it« said the young girl looking at
Valentin And she began to put up her utensils
»I shall have gained a charming memory« said Valentin »You are going away
your day is over«
»My father is coming to fetch me« said Mademoiselle Noémie
She had hardly spoken when through the door behind her which opens on one
of the great white stone staircases of the Louvre M Nioche made his
appearance He came in with his usual patient shuffle and he made a low salute
to the two gentlemen who were standing before his daughters easel Newman shook
his hand with muscular friendliness and Valentin returned his greeting with
extreme deference While the old man stood waiting for Noémie to make a parcel
of her implements he let his mild oblique gaze hover towards Bellegarde who
was watching Mademoiselle Noémie put on her bonnet and mantle Valentin was at
no pains to disguise his scrutiny He looked at a pretty girl as he would have
listened to a piece of music Attention in each case was simple good manners
M Nioche at last took his daughters paintbox in one hand and the bedaubed
canvas after giving it a solemn puzzled stare in the other and led the way to
the door Mademoiselle Noémie made the young men the salute of a duchess and
followed her father
»Well« said Newman »what do you think of her«
»She is very remarkable Diable diable diable« repeated M de Bellegarde
reflectively »she is very remarkable«
»I am afraid she is a sad little adventuress« said Newman
»Not a little one a great one She has the material« And Valentin began
to walk away slowly looking vaguely at the pictures on the walls with a
thoughtful illumination in his eye Nothing could have appealed to his
imagination more than the possible adventures of a young lady endowed with the
material of Mademoiselle Nioche »She is very interesting« he went on »She is
a beautiful type«
»A beautiful type What the deuce do you mean« asked Newman
»I mean from the artistic point of view She is an artist outside of her
painting which obviously is execrable«
»But she is not beautiful I dont even think her very pretty«
»She is quite pretty enough for her purposes and it is a face and figure in
which everything tells If she were prettier she would be less intelligent and
her intelligence is half of her charm«
»In what way« asked Newman who was much amused at his companions
immediate philosophisation of Mademoiselle Nioche »does her intelligence strike
you as so remarkable«
»She has taken the measure of life and she has determined to be something
to succeed at any cost Her painting of course is a mere trick to gain time
She is waiting for her chance she wishes to launch herself and to do it well
She knows her Paris She is one of fifty thousand so far as the mere ambition
goes but I am very sure that in the way of resolution and capacity she is a
rarity And in one gift perfect heartlessness I will warrant she is
unsurpassed She has not as much heart as will go on the point of a needle That
is an immense virtue Yes she is one of the celebrities of the future«
»Heaven help us« said Newman »how far the artistic point of view may take
a man But in this case I must request that you dont let it take you too far
You have learned a wonderful deal about Mademoiselle Noémie in a quarter of an
hour Let that suffice dont follow up your researches«
»My dear fellow« cried Bellegarde with warmth »I hope I have too good
manners to intrude«
»You are not intruding The girl is nothing to me In fact I rather dislike
her But I like her poor old father and for his sake I beg you to abstain from
any attempt to verify your theories«
»For the sake of that seedy old gentleman who came to fetch her« demanded
Valentin stopping short And on Newmans assenting »Ah no ah no« he went on
with a smile »You are quite wrong my dear fellow you neednt mind him«
»I verily believe that you are accusing the poor gentleman of being capable
of rejoicing in his daughters dishonour«
»Voyons« said Valentin »who is he what is he«
»He is what he looks like as poor as a rat but very hightoned«
»Exactly I noticed him perfectly be sure I do him justice He has had
losses des malheurs as we say. He is very lowspirited and his daughter is
too much for him He is the pink of respectability and he has sixty years of
honesty on his back All this I perfectly appreciate But I know my fellowmen
and my fellowParisians and I will make a bargain with you« Newman gave ear to
his bargain and he went on »He would rather his daughter were a good girl than
a bad one but if the worst comes to the worst the old man will not do what
Virginius did Success justifies everything If Mademoiselle Noémie makes a
figure her papa will feel well we will call it relieved And she will make a
figure The old gentlemans future is assured«
»I dont know what Virginius did but M Nioche will shoot Miss Noémie«
said Newman »After that I suppose his future will be assured in some snug
prison«
»I am not a cynic I am simply an observer« Valentin rejoined
»Mademoiselle Noémie interests me she is extremely remarkable If there is a
good reason, in honour or decency for dismissing her from my thoughts forever
I am perfectly willing to do it Your estimate of the papas sensibilities is a
good reason until it is invalidated I promise you not to look at the young girl
again until you tell me that you have changed your mind about the papa When he
has given distinct proof of being a philosopher you will raise your interdict
Do you agree to that«
»Do you mean to bribe him«
»Oh you admit then that he is bribable No he would ask too much and it
would not be exactly fair I mean simply to wait You will continue I suppose
to see this interesting couple and you will give me the news yourself«
»Well« said Newman »if the old man turns out a humbug you may do what you
please I wash my hands of the matter«
»For the girl herself you may be at rest I dont know what harm she may do
to me but I certainly cant hurt her«
»It seems to me« said Newman »that you are very well matched You are both
hard cases and M Nioche and I I believe are the only virtuous men to be
found in Paris«
Soon after this M de Bellegarde in punishment for his levity received a
stern poke in the back from a pointed instrument Turning quickly round he found
the weapon to be a parasol wielded by a lady in a green gauze bonnet Valentins
English cousins had been drifting about unpiloted and evidently deemed that
they had a grievance Newman left him to their mercies but with a boundless
faith in his power to plead his cause
Chapter XII
Three days after his introduction to the family of Madame de Cintré Newman
coming in toward evening found upon his table the card of the Marquis de
Bellegarde On the following day he received a note informing him that the
Marquise de Bellegarde would be grateful for the honour of his company at
dinner
He went of course though he had to break another engagement to do it He
was ushered into the room in which Madame de Bellegarde had received him before
and here he found his venerable hostess surrounded by her entire family The
room was lighted only by the crackling fire which illumined the very small pink
slippers of a lady who seated in a low chair was stretching out her toes
before it This lady was the younger Madame de Bellegarde Madame de Cintré was
seated at the other end of the room holding a little girl against her knee the
child of her brother Urbain to whom she was apparently relating a wonderful
story Valentin was sitting on a puff close to his sisterinlaw into whose ear
he was certainly distilling the finest nonsense The marquis was stationed
before the fire with his head erect and his hands behind him in an attitude of
formal expectancy
Old Madame de Bellegarde stood up to give Newman her greeting and there was
that in the way she did so which seemed to measure narrowly the extent of her
condescension »We are all alone you see we have asked no one else« she said
austerely
»I am very glad you didnt this is much more sociable« said Newman »Good
evening sir« and he offered his hand to the marquis
M de Bellegarde was affable but in spite of his dignity he was restless
He began to pace up and down the room he looked out of the long windows he
took up books and laid them down again Young Madame de Bellegarde gave Newman
her hand without moving and without looking at him
»You may think that is coldness« exclaimed Valentin »but it is not it is
warmth It shows she is treating you as an intimate Now she detests me and yet
she is always looking at me«
»No wonder I detest you if I am always looking at you« cried the lady »If
Mr Newman does not like my way of shaking hands I will do it again«
But this charming privilege was lost upon our hero who was already making
his way across the room to Madame de Cintré She looked at him as she shook
hands but she went on with the story she was telling her little niece She had
only two or three phrases to add but they were apparently of great moment She
deepened her voice smiling as she did so and the little girl gazed at her with
round eyes
»But in the end the young prince married the beautiful Florabella« said
Madame de Cintré »and carried her off to live with him in the Land of the Pink
Sky There she was so happy that she forgot all her troubles and went out to
drive every day of her life in an ivory coach drawn by five hundred white mice
Poor Florabella« she explained to Newman »had suffered terribly«
»She had had nothing to eat for six months« said little Blanche
»Yes but when the six months were over she had a plumcake as big as that
ottoman« said Madame de Cintré »That quite set her up again«
»What a checkered career« said Newman »Are you very fond of children« He
was certain that she was but he wished to make her say it
»I like to talk with them« she answered »we can talk with them so much
more seriously than with grown persons That is great nonsense that I have been
telling Blanche but it is a great deal more serious than most of what we say in
society«
»I wish you would talk to me then as if I were Blanches age« said Newman
laughing »Were you happy at your ball the other night«
»Ecstatically«
»Now you are talking the nonsense that we talk in society« said Newman »I
dont believe that«
»It was my own fault if I was not happy The ball was very pretty and
everyone very amiable«
»It was on your conscience« said Newman »that you had annoyed your mother
and your brother«
Madame de Cintré looked at him a moment without answering »That is true«
she replied at last »I had undertaken more than I could carry out I have very
little courage I am not a heroine« She said this with a certain soft emphasis
but then changing her tone »I could never have gone through the sufferings of
the beautiful Florabella« she added »not even for her prospective rewards«
Dinner was announced and Newman betook himself to the side of old Madame de
Bellegarde The diningroom at the end of a cold corridor was vast and sombre
the dinner was simple and delicately excellent Newman wondered whether Madame
de Cintré had had something to do with ordering the repast and greatly hoped
she had Once seated at table with the various members of the ancient house of
Bellegarde around him he asked himself the meaning of his position Was the old
lady responding to his advances Did the fact that he was a solitary guest
augment his credit or diminish it Were they ashamed to show him to other
people or did they wish to give him a sign of sudden adoption into their last
reserve of favour Newman was on his guard he was watchful and conjectural and
yet at the same time he was vaguely indifferent Whether they gave him a long
rope or a short one he was there now and Madame de Cintré was opposite to him
She had a tall candlestick on each side of her she would sit there for the next
hour and that was enough The dinner was extremely solemn and measured he
wondered whether this was always the state of things in old families Madame de
Bellegarde held her head very high and fixed her eyes which looked peculiarly
sharp in her little finelywrinkled white face very intently upon the
tableservice The marquis appeared to have decided that the fine arts offered a
safe subject of conversation as not leading to startling personal revelations
Every now and then having learned from Newman that he had been through the
museums of Europe he uttered some polished aphorism upon the fleshtints of
Rubens and the goodtaste of Sansovino His manners seemed to indicate a fine
nervous dread that something disagreeable might happen if the atmosphere were
not purified by allusions of a thoroughly superior cast »What under the sun is
the man afraid of« Newman asked himself »Does he think I am going to offer to
swap jackknives with him« It was useless to shut his eyes to the fact that the
marquis was profoundly disagreeable to him He had never been a man of strong
personal aversions his nerves had not been at the mercy of the mystical
qualities of his neighbours But here was a man towards whom he was irresistibly
in opposition a man of forms and phrases and postures a man full of possible
impertinences and treacheries M de Bellegarde made him feel as if he were
standing barefooted on a marble floor and yet to gain his desire Newman felt
perfectly able to stand He wondered what Madame de Cintré thought of his being
accepted if accepted it was There was no judging from her face which
expressed simply the desire to be gracious in a manner which should require as
little explicit recognition as possible Young Madame de Bellegarde had always
the same manners she was always preoccupied distracted listening to
everything and hearing nothing looking at her dress her rings her
fingernails seeming rather bored and yet puzzling you to decide what was her
ideal of social diversion Newman was enlightened on this point later Even
Valentin did not quite seem master of his wits his vivacity was fitful and
forced yet Newman observed that in the lapses of his talk he appeared excited
His eyes had an intenser spark than usual The effect of all this was that
Newman for the first time in his life was not himself that he measured his
movements and counted his words and resolved that if the occasion demanded
that he should appear to have swallowed a ramrod he would meet the emergency
After dinner M de Bellegarde proposed to his guest that they should go into
the smokingroom and he led the way toward a small somewhat musty apartment
the walls of which were ornamented with old hangings of stamped leather and
trophies of rusty arms Newman refused a cigar but he established himself upon
one of the divans while the marquis puffed his own weed before the fireplace
and Valentin sat looking through the light fumes of a cigarette from one to the
other
»I cant keep quiet any longer« said Valentin at last »I must tell you
the news and congratulate you My brother seems unable to come to the point he
revolves around his announcement like the priest around the altar You are
accepted as a candidate for the hand of our sister«
»Valentin be a little proper« murmured the marquis with a look of the
most delicate irritation contracting the bridge of his high nose
»There has been a family council« the young man continued »my mother and
Urbain have put their heads together and even my testimony has not been
altogether excluded My mother and the marquis sat at a table covered with green
cloth my sisterinlaw and I were on a bench against the wall It was like a
committee at the Corps Législatif We were called up one after the other to
testify We spoke of you very handsomely Madame de Bellegarde said that if she
had not been told who you were she would have taken you for a duke an
American duke the Duke of California I said that I could warrant you grateful
for the smallest favours modest humble unassuming I was sure that you would
know your own place always and never give us occasion to remind you of certain
differences After all you couldnt help it if you were not a duke There were
none in your country but if there had been it was certain that smart and
active as you are you would have got the pick of the titles At this point I
was ordered to sit down but I think I made an impression in your favour«
M de Bellegarde looked at his brother with dangerous coldness and gave a
smile as thin as the edge of a knife Then he removed a spark of cigarash from
the sleeve of his coat he fixed his eyes for a while on the cornice of the
room and at last he inserted one of his white hands into the breast of his
waistcoat »I must apologise to you for the deplorable levity of my brother« he
said »and I must notify you that this is probably not the last time that his
want of tact will cause you serious embarrassment«
»No I confess I have no tact« said Valentin »Is your embarrassment really
painful Newman The marquis will put you right again his own touch is
deliciously delicate«
»Valentin I am sorry to say« the marquis continued »has never possessed
the tone the manner that belong to a young man in his position It has been a
great affliction to his mother who is very fond of the old traditions But you
must remember that he speaks for no one but himself«
»Oh I dont mind him sir« said Newman goodhumouredly »I know what he
amounts to«
»In the good old times« said Valentin »marquises and counts used to have
their appointed fools and jesters to crack jokes for them Nowadays we see a
great strapping democrat keeping a count about him to play the fool Its a good
situation but I certainly am very degenerate«
M de Bellegarde fixed his eyes for some time on the floor »My mother
informed me« he said presently »of the announcement that you made to her the
other evening«
»That I desired to marry your sister« said Newman
»That you wished to arrange a marriage« said the marquis slowly »with my
sister the Comtesse de Cintré The proposal was serious and required on my
mothers part a great deal of reflection She naturally took me into her
counsels and I gave my most zealous attention to the subject There was a great
deal to be considered more than you appear to imagine We have viewed the
question on all its faces we have weighed one thing against another Our
conclusion has been that we favour your suit My mother has desired me to inform
you of our decision She will have the honour of saying a few words to you on
the subject herself Meanwhile by us the heads of the family you are
accepted«
Newman got up and came nearer to the marquis »You will do nothing to hinder
me and all you can to help me eh«
»I will recommend my sister to accept you«
Newman passed his hand over his face and pressed it for a moment upon his
eyes This promise had a great sound and yet the pleasure he took in it was
embittered by his having to stand there so and receive his passport from M de
Bellegarde The idea of having this gentleman mixed up with his wooing and
wedding was more and more disagreeable to him But Newman had resolved to go
through the mill as he imaged it and he would not cry out at the first turn of
the wheel He was silent a while and then he said with a certain dryness which
Valentin told him afterwards had a very grand air »I am much obliged to you«
»I take note of the promise« said Valentin »I register the vow«
M de Bellegarde began to gaze at the cornice again he apparently had
something more to say »I must do my mother the justice« he resumed »I must do
myself the justice to say that our decision was not easy Such an arrangement
was not what we had expected The idea that my sister should marry a gentleman
ah in business was something of a novelty«
»So I told you you know« said Valentin raising his finger at Newman
»The novelty has not quite worn away I confess« the marquis went on
»perhaps it never will entirely But possibly that is not altogether to be
regretted« and he gave his thin smile again »It may be that the time has come
when we should make some concession to novelty There had been no novelties in
our house for a great many years I made the observation to my mother and she
did me the honour to admit that it was worthy of attention«
»My dear brother« interrupted Valentin »is not your memory just here
leading you the least bit astray Our mother is I may say distinguished for
her small respect for abstract reasoning Are you very sure that she replied to
your striking proposition in the gracious manner you describe You know how
terribly incisive she is sometimes Didnt she rather do you the honour to
say A fiddlestick for your phrases There are better reasons than that«
»Other reasons were discussed« said the marquis without looking at
Valentin but with an audible tremor in his voice »some of them possibly were
better We are conservative Mr Newman but we are not also bigots We judged
the matter liberally We have no doubt that everything will be comfortable«
Newman had stood listening to these remarks with his arms folded and his
eyes fastened upon M de Bellegarde »Comfortable« he said with a sort of grim
flatness of intonation »Why shouldnt we be comfortable If you are not it
will be your own fault I have everything to make me so«
»My brother means that with the lapse of time you may get used to the
change« and Valentin paused to light another cigarette
»What change« asked Newman in the same tone
»Urbain« said Valentin very gravely »I am afraid that Mr Newman does not
quite realise the change We ought to insist upon that«
»My brother goes too far« said M de Bellegarde »It is his fatal want of
tact again It is my mothers wish and mine that no such allusions should be
made Pray never make them yourself We prefer to assume that the person
accepted as the possible husband of my sister is one of ourselves and that he
should have no explanations to make With a little discretion on both sides
everything I think will be easy That is exactly what I wished to say that
we quite understand what we have undertaken and that you may depend upon our
adhering to our resolution«
Valentin shook his hands in the air and then buried his face in them »I
have less tact than I might have no doubt but oh my brother if you knew what
you yourself were saying« And he went off into a long laugh
M de Bellegardes face flushed a little but he held his head higher as if
to repudiate this concession to vulgar perturbability »I am sure you understand
me« he said to Newman
»Oh no I dont understand you at all« said Newman »But you neednt mind
that I dont care In fact I think I had better not understand you I might
not like it That wouldnt suit me at all you know I want to marry your
sister thats all to do it as quickly as possible and to find fault with
nothing I dont care how I do it I am not marrying you you know sir I have
got my leave and that is all I want«
»You had better receive the last word from my mother« said the marquis
»Very good I will go and get it« said Newman and he prepared to return to
the drawingroom
M de Bellegarde made a motion for him to pass first and when Newman had
gone out he shut himself into the room with Valentin Newman had been a trifle
bewildered by the audacious irony of the younger brother and he had not needed
its aid to point the moral of M de Bellegardes transcendent patronage He had
wit enough to appreciate the force of that civility which consists in calling
your attention to the impertinences it spares you But he had felt warmly the
delicate sympathy with himself that underlay Valentins fraternal irreverence
and he was most unwilling that his friend should pay a tax upon it He paused a
moment in the corridor after he had gone a few steps expecting to hear the
resonance of M de Bellegardes displeasure but he detected only a perfect
stillness The stillness itself seemed a trifle portentous he reflected
however that he had no right to stand listening and he made his way back to
the salon In his absence several persons had come in They were scattered about
the room in groups two or three of them having passed into a small boudoir
next to the drawingroom which had now been lighted and opened Old Madame de
Bellegarde was in her place by the fire talking to a very old gentleman in a
wig and a profuse white neckcloth of the fashion of 1820 Madame de Cintré was
bending a listening head to the historic confidences of an old lady who was
presumably the wife of the old gentleman in the neckcloth an old lady in a red
satin dress and an ermine cape who wore across her forehead a band with a topaz
set in it Young Madame de Bellegarde when Newman came in left some people
among whom she was sitting and took the place that she had occupied before
dinner Then she gave a little push to the puff that stood near her and by a
glance at Newman seemed to indicate that she had placed it in position for him
He went and took possession of it the marquiss wife amused and puzzled him
»I know your secret« she said in her bad but charming English »you need
make no mystery of it You wish to marry my sisterinlaw Cest un beau choix
A man like you ought to marry a tall thin woman You must know that I have
spoken in your favour you owe me a famous taper«
»You have spoken to Madame de Cintré« said Newman
»Oh no not that You may think it strange but my sisterinlaw and I are
not so intimate as that No I spoke to my husband and my motherinlaw I said
I was sure we could do what we chose with you«
»I am much obliged to you« said Newman laughing »but you cant«
»I know that very well I didnt believe a word of it But I wanted you to
come into the house I thought we should be friends«
»I am very sure of it« said Newman
»Dont be too sure If you like Madame de Cintré so much perhaps you will
not like me We are as different as blue and pink But you and I have something
in common I have come into this family by marriage you want to come into it in
the same way«
»Oh no I dont« interrupted Newman »I only want to take Madame de Cintré
out of it«
»Well to cast your nets you have to go into the water Our positions are
alike we shall be able to compare notes What do you think of my husband Its
a strange question isnt it But I shall ask you some stranger ones yet«
»Perhaps a stranger one will be easier to answer« said Newman »You might
try me«
»Oh you get off very well the old Comte de la Rochefidèle yonder
couldnt do it better I told them that if we only gave you a chance you would
be a perfect talon rouge I know something about men Besides you and I belong
to the same camp I am a ferocious democrat By birth I am vielle roche a good
little bit of the history of France is the history of my family Oh you never
heard of us of course Ce que cest que la gloire We are much better than the
Bellegardes at any rate But I dont care a pin for my pedigree I want to
belong to my time Im a revolutionist a radical a child of the age I am sure
I go beyond you I like clever people wherever they come from and I take my
amusement wherever I find it I dont pout at the Empire here all the world
pouts at the Empire Of course I have to mind what I say but I expect to take
my revenge with you« Madame de Bellegarde discoursed for some time longer in
this sympathetic strain with an eager abundance which seemed to indicate that
her opportunities for revealing her esoteric philosophy were indeed rare She
hoped that Newman would never be afraid of her however he might be with the
others for really she went very far indeed Strong people les gens forts
were in her opinion equal all the world over Newman listened to her with an
attention at once beguiled and irritated He wondered what the deuce she too
was driving at with her hope that he would not be afraid of her and her
protestations of equality In so far as he could understand her she was wrong
a silly rattling woman was certainly not the equal of a sensible man
preoccupied with an ambitious passion Madame de Bellegarde stopped suddenly
and looked at him sharply shaking her fan »I see you dont believe me« she
said »you are too much on your guard You will not form an alliance offensive
or defensive You are very wrong I could help you«
Newman answered that he was very grateful and that he would certainly ask
for help she should see »But first of all« he said »I must help myself« And
he went to join Madame de Cintré
»I have been telling Madame de la Rochefidèle that you are an American« she
said as he came up »It interests her greatly Her father went over with the
French troops to help you in your battles in the last century and she has
always in consequence wanted greatly to see an American But she has never
succeeded till tonight You are the first to her knowledge that she has ever
looked at«
Madame de la Rochefidèle had an aged cadaverous face with a falling of the
lower jaw which prevented her from bringing her lips together and reduced her
conversation to a series of impressive but inarticulate gutturals She raised an
antique eyeglass elaborately mounted in chased silver and looked at Newman
from head to foot Then she said something to which he listened deferentially
but which he completely failed to understand
»Madame de la Rochefidèle says that she is convinced that she must have seen
Americans without knowing it« Madame de Cintré explained Newman thought it
probable she had seen a great many things without knowing it and the old lady
again addressing herself to utterance declared as interpreted by Madame de
Cintré that she wished she had known it
At this moment the old gentleman who had been talking to the elder Madame de
Bellegarde drew near leading the marquise on his arm His wife pointed out
Newman to him apparently explaining his remarkable origin M de la
Rochefidèle whose old age was rosy and rotund spoke very neatly and clearly
almost as prettily Newman thought as M Nioche When he had been enlightened
he turned to Newman with an inimitable elderly grace
»Monsieur is by no means the first American that I have seen« he said
»Almost the first person I ever saw to notice him was an American«
»Ah« said Newman sympathetically
»The great Dr Franklin« said M de la Rochefidèle »Of course I was very
young He was received very well in our monde«
»Not better than Mr Newman« said Madame de Bellegarde »I beg he will
offer me his arm into the other room I could have offered no higher privilege
to Dr Franklin«
Newman complying with Madame de Bellegardes request perceived that her
two sons had returned to the drawingroom He scanned their faces an instant for
traces of the scene that had followed his separation from them but the marquis
seemed neither more nor less frigidly grand than usual and Valentin was kissing
ladies hands with at least his habitual air of self-abandonment to the act
Madame de Bellegarde gave a glance at her eldest son and by the time she had
crossed the threshold of her boudoir he was at her side The room was now empty
and offered a sufficient degree of privacy The old lady disengaged herself from
Newmans arm and rested her hand on the arm of the marquis and in this position
she stood a moment holding her head high and biting her small underlip I am
afraid the picture was lost upon Newman but Madame de Bellegarde was in fact
at this moment a striking image of the dignity which even in the case of a
little timeshrunken old lady may reside in the habit of unquestioned
authority and the absoluteness of a social theory favourable to yourself
»My son has spoken to you as I desired« she said »and you understand that
we shall not interfere The rest will lie with yourself«
»M de Bellegarde told me several things I didnt understand« said Newman
»but I made out that You will leave me an open field I am much obliged«
»I wish to add a word that my son probably did not feel at liberty to say«
the marquise rejoined »I must say it for my own peace of mind We are
stretching a point we are doing you a great favour«
»Oh your son said it very well didnt you« said Newman
»Not so well as my mother« declared the marquis
»I can only repeat I am much obliged«
»It is proper I should tell you« Madame de Bellegarde went on »that I am
very proud and that I hold my head very high I may be wrong but I am too old
to change At least I know it and I dont pretend to anything else Dont
flatter yourself that my daughter is not proud She is proud in her own way a
somewhat different way from mine You will have to make your terms with that
Even Valentin is proud if you touch the right spot or the wrong one Urbain
is proud that you see for yourself Sometimes I think he is a little too
proud but I wouldnt change him He is the best of my children he cleaves to
his old mother But I have said enough to show you that we are all proud
together It is well that you should know the sort of people you have come
among«
»Well« said Newman »I can only say in return that I am not proud I
shant mind you But you speak as if you intended to be very disagreeable«
»I shall not enjoy having my daughter marry you and I shall not pretend to
enjoy it If you dont mind that so much the better«
»If you stick to your own side of the contract we shall not quarrel that is
all I ask of you« said Newman »Keep your hands off and give me an open field
I am very much in earnest and there is not the slightest danger of my getting
discouraged or backing out You will have me constantly before your eyes if you
dont like it I am sorry for you I will do for your daughter if she will
accept me everything that a man can do for a woman I am happy to tell you
that as a promise a pledge I consider that on your side you make me an equal
pledge You will not back out eh«
»I dont know what you mean by backing out« said the marquise »It suggests
a movement of which I think no Bellegarde has ever been guilty«
»Our word is our word« said Urbain »We have given it«
»Well now« said Newman »I am very glad you are so proud it makes me
believe you will keep it«
The marquise was silent a moment and then suddenly »I shall always be
polite to you Mr Newman« she declared »but decidedly I shall never like
you«
»Dont be too sure« said Newman laughing
»I am so sure that I will ask you to take me back to my armchair without the
least fear of having my sentiments modified by the service you render me« And
Madame de Bellegarde took his arm and returned to the salon and to her
customary place
M de la Rochefidèle and his wife were preparing to take their leave and
Madame de Cintrés interview with the mumbling old lady was at an end She stood
looking about her asking herself apparently to whom she should next speak
when Newman came up to her
»Your mother has given me leave very solemnly to come here often« he
said »I mean to come often«
»I shall be glad to see you« she answered simply And then in a moment
»You probably think it very strange that there should be such a solemnity as
you say about your coming«
»Well yes I do rather«
»Do you remember what my brother Valentin said the first time you came to
see me that we were a strange strange family«
»It was not the first time I came but the second« said Newman
»Very true Valentin annoyed me at the time but now I know you better I
may tell you he was right If you come often you will see« and Madame de
Cintré turned away
Newman watched her awhile talking with other people and then he took his
leave He shook hands last with Valentin de Bellegarde who came out with him to
the top of the staircase »Well you have got your permit« said Valentin »I
hope you liked the process.«
»I like your sister more than ever But dont worry your brother any more
for my sake« Newman added »I dont mind him I am afraid he came down on you
in the smokingroom after I went out«
»When my brother comes down on me« said Valentin »he falls hard I have a
peculiar way of receiving him I must say« he continued »that they came up to
the mark much sooner than I expected I dont understand it they must have had
to turn the screw pretty tight Its a tribute to your millions«
»Well its the most precious one they have ever received« said Newman
He was turning away when Valentin stopped him looking at him with a
brilliant softlycynical glance »I should like to know whether within a few
days you have seen your venerable friend M Nioche«
»He was yesterday at my rooms« Newman answered
»What did he tell you«
»Nothing particular«
»You didnt see the muzzle of a pistol sticking out of his pocket«
»What are you driving at« Newman demanded »I thought he seemed rather
cheerful for him«
Valentin broke into a laugh »I am delighted to hear it I win my bet
Mademoiselle Noémie has thrown her cap over the mill as we say. She has left
the paternal domicile She is launched And M Nioche is rather cheerful for
him Dont brandish your tomahawk at that rate I have not seen her nor
communicated with her since that day at the Louvre Andromeda has found another
Perseus than I My information is exact on such matters it always is I suppose
that now you will raise your protest«
»My protest be hanged« murmured Newman disgustedly
But his tone found no echo in that in which Valentin with his hand on the
door to return to his mothers apartment exclaimed »But I shall see her now
She is very remarkable she is very remarkable«
Chapter XIII
Newman kept his promise or his menace of going often to the Rue de
lUniversité and during the next six weeks he saw Madame de Cintré more times
than he could have numbered He flattered himself that he was not in love but
his biographer may be supposed to know better He claimed at least none of the
exemptions and emoluments of the romantic passion Love he believed made a
fool of a man and his present emotion was not folly but wisdom wisdom sound
serene welldirected What he felt was an intense allconsuming tenderness
which had for its object an extraordinarily graceful and delicate and at the
same time impressive woman who lived in a large grey house on the left bank of
the Seine This tenderness turned very often into a positive heartache a sign
in which certainly Newman ought to have read the appellation which science has
conferred upon his sentiment When the heart has a heavy weight upon it it
hardly matters whether the weight be of gold or of lead when at any rate
happiness passes into that place in which it becomes identical with pain a man
may admit that the reign of wisdom is temporarily suspended Newman wished
Madame de Cintré so well that nothing he could think of doing for her in the
future rose to the high standard which his present mood had set itself She
seemed to him so felicitous a product of nature and circumstance that his
invention musing on future combinations was constantly catching its breath
with the fear of stumbling into some brutal compression or mutilation of her
beautiful personal harmony This is what I mean by Newmans tenderness Madame
de Cintré pleased him so exactly as she was that his desire to interpose
between her and the troubles of life had the quality of a young mothers
eagerness to protect the sleep of her firstborn child Newman was simply
charmed and he handled his charm as if it were a musicbox which would stop if
one shook it There can be no better proof of the hankering epicure that is
hidden in every mans temperament waiting for a signal from some divine
confederate that he may safely peep out Newman at last was enjoying purely
freely deeply Certain of Madame de Cintrés personal qualities the luminous
sweetness of her eyes the delicate mobility of her face the deep liquidity of
her voice filled all his consciousness A rosecrowned Greek of old gazing at
a marble goddess with his whole bright intellect resting satisfied in the act
could not have been a more complete embodiment of the wisdom that loses itself
in the enjoyment of quiet harmonies
He made no violent love to her no sentimental speeches He never
trespassed on what she had made him understand was for the present forbidden
ground But he had nevertheless a comfortable sense that she knew better from
day to day how much he admired her Though in general he was no great talker he
talked much and he succeeded perfectly in making her say many things He was
not afraid of boring her either by his discourse or by his silence and whether
or no he did occasionally bore her it is probable that on the whole she liked
him only the better for his absence of embarrassed scruples Her visitors
coming in often while Newman sat there found a tall lean silent man in a
halflounging attitude who laughed out sometimes when no one had meant to be
droll and remained grave in the presence of calculated witticisms for the
appreciation of which he had apparently not the proper culture
It must be confessed that the number of subjects upon which Newman had no
ideas was extremely large and it must be added that as regards those subjects
upon which he was without ideas he was also perfectly without words He had
little of the small change of conversation and his stock of readymade formulas
and phrases was the scantiest On the other hand he had plenty of attention to
bestow and his estimate of the importance of a topic did not depend upon the
number of clever things he could say about it He himself was almost never
bored and there was no man with whom it would have been a greater mistake to
suppose that silence meant displeasure What it was that entertained him during
some of his speechless sessions I must however confess myself unable to
determine. We know in a general way that a great many things which were old
stories to a great many people had the charm of novelty to him but a complete
list of his new impressions would probably contain a number of surprises for us
He told Madame de Cintré a hundred long stories he explained to her in talking
of the United States the working of various local institutions and mercantile
customs Judging by the sequel she was interested but one would not have been
sure of it beforehand As regards her own talk Newman was very sure himself
that she herself enjoyed it this was as a sort of amendment to the portrait
that Mrs Tristram had drawn of her He discovered that she had naturally an
abundance of gaiety He had been right at first in saying she was shy her
shyness in a woman whose circumstances and tranquil beauty afforded every
facility for wellmannered hardihood was only a charm the more For Newman it
had lasted some time and even when it went it left something behind it which
for awhile performed the same office Was this the tearful secret of which Mrs
Tristram had had a glimpse and of which as of her friends reserve her
highbreeding and her profundity she had given a sketch of which the outlines
were perhaps rather too heavy Newman supposed so but he found himself
wondering less every day what Madame de Cintrés secrets might be and more
convinced that secrets were in themselves, hateful things to her She was a
woman for the light not for the shade and her natural line was not picturesque
reserve and mysterious melancholy but frank joyous brilliant action with
just so much meditation as was necessary and not a grain more To this
apparently he had succeeded in bringing her back He felt himself that he was
an antidote to oppressive secrets what he offered her was in fact above all
things a vast sunny immunity from the need of having any He often passed his
evenings when Madame de Cintré had so appointed it at the chilly fireside of
Madame de Bellegarde contenting himself with looking across the room through
narrowed eyelids at his mistress who always made a point before her family
of talking to someone else Madame de Bellegarde sat by the fire conversing
neatly and coldly with whosoever approached her and glancing round the room
with her slowlyrestless eye the effect of which when it lighted upon him was
to Newmans sense identical with that of a sudden spurt of damp air When he
shook hands with her he always asked her with a laugh whether she could stand
him another evening and she replied without a laugh that thank God she had
always been able to do her duty Newman talking once of the marquise to Mrs
Tristram said that after all it was very easy to get on with her it always was
easy to get on with outandout rascals
»And is it by that elegant term« said Mrs Tristram »that you designate
the Marquise de Bellegarde«
»Well« said Newman »she is wicked she is an old sinner«
»What is her crime« asked Mrs Tristram
»I shouldnt wonder if she had murdered some one all from a sense of duty
of course«
»How can you be so dreadful« sighed Mrs Tristram
»I am not dreadful I am speaking of her favourably«
»Pray what will you say when you want to be severe«
»I shall keep my severity for someone else for the marquis Theres a man
I cant swallow mix the drink as I will«
»And what has he done«
»I cant quite make out it is something dreadfully bad something mean and
underhand and not redeemed by audacity as his mothers misdemeanours may have
been If he has never committed murder he has at least turned his back and
looked the other way while someone else was committing it«
In spite of this invidious hypothesis which must be taken for nothing more
than an example of the capricious play of American humour Newman did his best
to maintain an easy and friendly style of communication with M de Bellegarde
So long as he was in personal contact with people he disliked extremely to have
anything to forgive them and he was capable of a good deal of unsuspected
imaginative effort for the sake of his own personal comfort to assume for the
time that they were good fellows He did his best to treat the marquis as one
he believed honestly moreover that he could not in reason be such a
confounded fool as he seemed Newmans familiarity was never importunate his
sense of human equality was not an aggressive taste or an aesthetic theory but
something as natural and organic as a physical appetite which had never been put
on a scanty allowance and consequently was innocent of ungraceful eagerness
His tranquil unsuspectingness of the relativity of his own place in the social
scale was probably irritating to M de Bellegarde who saw himself reflected in
the mind of his potential brotherinlaw in a crude and colourless form
unpleasantly dissimilar to the impressive image projected upon his own
intellectual mirror He never forgot himself for an instant and replied to what
he must have considered Newmans advances with mechanical politeness Newman
who was constantly forgetting himself and indulging in an unlimited amount of
irresponsible inquiry and conjecture now and then found himself confronted by
the conscious ironical smile of his host What the deuce M de Bellegarde was
smiling at he was at a loss to divine M de Bellegardes smile may be supposed
to have been for himself a compromise between a great many emotions So long
as he smiled he was polite and it was proper he should be polite A smile
moreover committed him to nothing more than politeness and left the degree of
politeness agreeably vague A smile too was neither dissent which was too
serious nor agreement which might have brought on terrible complications And
then a smile covered his own personal dignity which in this critical situation
he was resolved to keep immaculate it was quite enough that the glory of his
house should pass into eclipse Between him and Newman his whole manner seemed
to declare there could be no interchange of opinion he was holding his breath
so as not to inhale the odour of democracy Newman was far from being versed in
European politics but he liked to have a general idea of what was going on
about him and he accordingly asked M de Bellegarde several times what he
thought of public affairs M de Bellegarde answered with suave concision that
he thought as ill of them as possible that they were going from bad to worse
and that the age was rotten to its core This gave Newman for the moment an
almost kindly feeling for the marquis he pitied a man for whom the world was so
cheerless a place and the next time he saw M de Bellegarde he attempted to
call his attention to some of the brilliant features of the time The marquis
presently replied that he had but a single political conviction which was
enough for him he believed in the divine right of Henry of Bourbon Fifth of
his name to the throne of France Newman stared and after this he ceased to
talk politics with M de Bellegarde He was not horrified nor scandalised he
was not even amused he felt as he should have felt if he had discovered in M
de Bellegarde a taste for certain oddities of diet an appetite for instance
for fishbones or nutshells Under these circumstances of course he would never
have broached dietary questions with him
One afternoon on his calling on Madame de Cintré Newman was requested by
the servant to wait a few moments as his hostess was not at liberty He walked
about the room awhile taking up her books smelling her flowers and looking at
her prints and photographs which he thought prodigiously pretty and at last
he heard the opening of a door to which his back was turned On the threshold
stood an old woman whom he remembered to have met several times in entering and
leaving the house She was tall and straight and dressed in black and she wore
a cap which if Newman had been initiated into such mysteries would have been a
sufficient assurance that she was not a Frenchwoman a cap of pure British
composition She had a pale decent depressedlooking face and a clear dull
English eye She looked at Newman a moment both intently and timidly and then
she dropped a short straight English curtsy
»Madame de Cintré begs you will kindly wait« she said »She has just come
in she will soon have finished dressing«
»Oh I will wait as long as she wants« said Newman »Pray tell her not to
hurry«
»Thank you sir« said the woman softly and then instead of retiring with
the message she advanced into the room She looked about her for a moment and
presently went to the table and began to arrange certain books and knickknacks
Newman was struck with the high respectability of her appearance he was afraid
to address her as a servant She busied herself for some moments with putting
the table in order and pulling the curtains straight while Newman walked slowly
to and fro He perceived at last from her reflection in the mirror as he was
passing that her hands were idle and that she was looking at him intently She
evidently wished to say something and Newman perceiving it helped her to
begin
»You are English« he asked
»Yes sir please« she answered quickly and softly »I was born in
Wiltshire«
»And what do you think of Paris«
»Oh I dont think of Paris sir« she said in the same tone »It is so
long since I have been here«
»Ah you have been here very long«
»It is more than forty years sir I came over with Lady Emmeline«
»You mean with old Madame de Bellegarde«
»Yes sir I came with her when she was married I was my ladys own woman«
»And you have been with her ever since«
»I have been in the house ever since My lady has taken a younger person
You see I am very old I do nothing regular now But I keep about«
»You look very strong and well« said Newman observing the erectness of her
figure and a certain venerable rosiness in her cheek
»Thank God I am not ill sir I hope I know my duty too well to go panting
and coughing about the house But I am an old woman sir and it is as an old
woman that I venture to speak to you«
»Oh speak out« said Newman curiously »You neednt be afraid of me«
»Yes sir I think you are kind I have seen you before«
»On the stairs you mean«
»Yes sir When you have been coming to see the countess I have taken the
liberty of noticing that you come often«
»Oh yes I come very often« said Newman laughing »You need not have been
very wide awake to notice that«
»I have noticed it with pleasure sir« said the ancient tirewoman gravely
And she stood looking at Newman with a strange expression of face The old
instinct of deference and humility was there the habit of decent
selfeffacement and knowledge of her own place But there mingled with it a
certain mild audacity born of the occasion and of a sense probably of
Newmans unprecedented approachableness and beyond this a vague indifference
to the old proprieties as if my ladys own woman had at last begun to reflect
that since my lady had taken another person she had a slight reversionary
property in herself
»You take a great interest in the family« said Newman
»A deep interest sir Especially in the countess«
»I am glad of that« said Newman And in a moment he added smiling »So do
I«
»So I supposed sir We cant help noticing these things and having our
ideas; can we sir«
»You mean as a servant« said Newman
»Ah there it is sir I am afraid that when I let my thoughts meddle with
such matters I am no longer a servant But I am so devoted to the countess if
she were my own child I couldnt love her more That is how I come to be so
bold sir They say you want to marry her«
Newman eyed his interlocutress and satisfied himself that she was not a
gossip but a zealot she looked anxious appealing discreet »It is quite
true« he said »I want to marry Madame de Cintré«
»And to take her away to America«
»I will take her wherever she wants to go«
»The farther away the better sir« exclaimed the old woman with sudden
intensity But she checked herself and taking up a paperweight in mosaic
began to polish it with her black apron »I dont mean anything against the
house or the family sir But I think a great change would do the poor countess
good It is very sad here«
»Yes its not very lively« said Newman »But Madame de Cintré is gay
herself«
»She is everything that is good You will not be vexed to hear that she has
been gayer for a couple of months past than she had been in many a day before«
Newman was delighted to gather this testimony to the prosperity of his suit
but he repressed all violent marks of elation »Has Madame de Cintré been in bad
spirits before this« he asked
»Poor lady she has good reason M de Cintré was no husband for a sweet
young lady like that And then as I say it has been a sad house It is better
in my humble opinion that she were out of it So if you will excuse me for
saying so I hope she will marry you«
»I hope she will« said Newman
»But you must not lose courage sir if she doesnt make up her mind at
once That is what I wanted to beg of you sir Dont give it up sir You will
not take it ill if I say its a great risk for any lady at any time all the
more when she has got rid of one bad bargain But if she can marry a good kind
respectable gentleman I think she had better make up her mind to it They speak
very well of you sir in the house and if you will allow me to say so I like
your face You have a very different appearance from the late count he wasnt
five feet high And they say your fortune is beyond everything Theres no harm
in that So I beseech you to be patient sir and bide your time If I dont say
this to you sir perhaps no one will Of course it is not for me to make any
promises I can answer for nothing But I think your chance is not so bad sir
I am nothing but a weary old woman in my quiet corner but one woman understands
another and I think I make out the countess I received her in my arms when she
came into the world and her first weddingday was the saddest of my life She
owes it to me to show me another and a brighter one If you will hold firm sir
and you look as if you would I think we may see it«
»I am much obliged to you for your encouragement« said Newman heartily
»One cant have too much I mean to hold firm And if Madame de Cintré marries
me you must come and live with her«
The old woman looked at him strangely with her soft lifeless eyes »It may
seem a heartless thing to say sir when one has been forty years in a house
but I may tell you that I should like to leave this place«
»Why its just the time to say it« said Newman fervently »After forty
years one wants a change«
»You are very kind sir« and this faithful servant dropped another curtsy
and seemed disposed to retire But she lingered a moment and gave a timid
joyless smile Newman was disappointed and his fingers stole half shyly half
irritably into his waistcoatpocket His informant noticed the movement »Thank
God I am not a Frenchwoman« she said »If I were I would tell you with a
brazen simper old as I am that if you please monsieur my information is
worth something Let me tell you so in my own decent English way It is worth
something«
»How much please« said Newman
»Simply this a promise not to hint to the countess that I have said these
things«
»If that is all you have it« said Newman
»That is all sir Thank you sir Goodday sir« And having once more slid
down telescopewise into her scanty petticoats the old woman departed At the
same moment Madame de Cintré came in by an opposite door She noticed the
movement of the other portiére and asked Newman who had been entertaining him
»The British female« said Newman »An old lady in a black dress and a cap
who curtsies up and down and expresses herself ever so well«
»An old lady who curtsies and expresses herself Ah you mean poor Mrs
Bread I happen to know that you have made a conquest of her«
»Mrs Cake she ought to be called« said Newman »She is very sweet She is
a delicious old woman«
Madame de Cintré looked at him a moment »What can she have said to you She
is an excellent creature but we think her rather dismal«
»I suppose« Newman answered presently »that I like her because she has
lived near you so long Since your birth she told me«
»Yes« said Madame de Cintré simply »she is very faithful I can trust
her«
Newman had never made any reflections to this lady upon her mother and her
brother Urbain had given no hint of the impression they made upon him But as
if she had guessed his thoughts she seemed careful to avoid all occasion for
making him speak of them She never alluded to her mothers domestic decrees
she never quoted the opinions of the marquis They had talked however of
Valentin and she had made no secret of her extreme affection for her younger
brother Newman listened sometimes with a certain harmless jealousy he would
have liked to divert some of her tender allusions to his own credit Once Madame
de Cintré told him with a little air of triumph about something that Valentin
had done which she thought very much to his honour It was a service he had
rendered to an old friend of the family something more serious than Valentin
was usually supposed capable of being Newman said he was glad to hear of it
and then began to talk about something which lay upon his own heart Madame de
Cintré listened but after awhile she said »I dont like the way you speak of
my brother Valentin« Hereupon Newman surprised said that he had never spoken
of him but kindly
»It is too kindly« said Madame de Cintré »It is a kindness that costs
nothing it is the kindness you show to a child It is as if you didnt respect
him«
»Respect him Why I think I do«
»You think If you are not sure it is no respect«
»Do you respect him« said Newman »If you do I do«
»If one loves a person that is a question one is not bound to answer« said
Madame de Cintré
»You should not have asked it of me then I am very fond of your brother«
»He amuses you But you would not like to resemble him«
»I shouldnt like to resemble anyone It is hard enough work resembling
oneself«
»What do you mean« asked Madame de Cintré »by resembling oneself«
»Why doing what is expected of one Doing ones duty«
»But that is only when one is very good«
»Well a great many people are good« said Newman »Valentin is quite good
enough for me«
Madame de Cintré was silent for a short time »He is not good enough for
me« she said at last »I wish he would do something«
»What can he do« asked Newman
»Nothing Yet he is very clever«
»It is a proof of cleverness« said Newman »to be happy without doing
anything«
»I dont think Valentin is happy in reality He is clever generous brave
but what is there to show for it To me there is something sad in his life
and sometimes I have a sort of foreboding about him I dont know why but I
fancy he will have some great trouble perhaps an unhappy end«
»Oh leave him to me« said Newman jovially »I will watch over him and keep
harm away«
One evening in Madame de Bellegardes salon the conversation had flagged
most sensibly The marquis walked up and down in silence like a sentinel at the
door of some smoothfronted citadel of the proprieties his mother sat staring
at the fire young Madame de Bellegarde worked at an enormous band of tapestry
Usually there were three or four visitors but on this occasion a violent storm
sufficiently accounted for the absence of even the most devoted habitués In the
long silences the howling of the wind and the beating of the rain were
distinctly audible Newman sat perfectly still watching the clock determined
to stay till the stroke of eleven but not a moment longer Madame de Cintré had
turned her back to the circle and had been standing for some time within the
uplifted curtain of a window with her forehead against the pane gazing out
into the deluged darkness Suddenly she turned round toward her sisterinlaw
»For heavens sake« she said with peculiar eagerness »go to the piano and
play something«
Madame de Bellegarde held up her tapestry and pointed to a little white
flower »Dont ask me to leave this I am in the midst of a masterpiece My
flower is going to smell very sweet I am putting in the smell with his
goldcoloured silk I am holding my breath I cant leave off Play something
yourself«
»It is absurd for me to play when you are present« said Madame de Cintré
But the next moment she went to the piano and began to strike the keys with
vehemence She played for some time rapidly and brilliantly when she stopped
Newman went to the piano and asked her to begin again She shook her head and
on his insisting she said »I have not been playing for you I have been
playing for myself« She went back to the window again and looked out and
shortly afterwards left the room When Newman took leave Urbain de Bellegarde
accompanied him as he always did just three steps down the staircase At the
bottom stood a servant with his overcoat He had just put it on when he saw
Madame de Cintré coming towards him across the vestibule
»Shall you be at home on Friday« Newman asked
She looked at him a moment before answering his question »You dont like my
mother and my brother« she said
He hesitated a moment and then he said softly »No«
She laid her hand on the balustrade and prepared to ascend the stairs
fixing her eyes on the first step
»Yes I shall be at home on Friday« and she passed up the wide dusky
staircase
On the Friday as soon as he came in she asked him to please to tell her
why he disliked her family
»Dislike your family« he exclaimed »That has a horrid sound I didnt say
so did I I didnt mean it if I did«
»I wish you would tell me what you think of them« said Madame de Cintré
»I dont think of any of them but you«
»That is because you dislike them Speak the truth you cant offend me«
»Well I dont exactly love your brother« said Newman »I remember now But
what is the use of my saying so I had forgotten it«
»You are too goodnatured« said Madame de Cintré gravely Then as if to
avoid the appearance of inviting him to speak ill of the marquis she turned
away motioning him to sit down
But he remained standing before her and said presently »What is of much
more importance is that they dont like me«
»No they dont« she said
»And dont you think they are wrong« Newman asked »I dont believe I am a
man to dislike«
»I suppose that a man who may be liked may also be disliked And my brother
my mother« she added »have not made you angry«
»Yes sometimes«
»You have never shown it«
»So much the better«
»Yes so much the better They think they have treated you very well«
»I have no doubt they might have handled me much more roughly« said Newman
»I am much obliged to them Honestly«
»You are generous« said Madame de Cintré »Its a disagreeable position«
»For them you mean Not for me«
»For me« said Madame de Cintré
»Not when their sins are forgiven« said Newman »They dont think I am as
good as they are I do But we shant quarrel about it«
»I cant even agree with you without saying something that has a
disagreeable sound The presumption was against you That you probably dont
understand«
Newman sat down and looked at her for some time »I dont think I really
understand it But when you say it I believe it«
»Thats a poor reason« said Madame de Cintré smiling
»No its a very good one You have a high spirit a high standard but with
you its all natural and unaffected you dont seem to have stuck your head into
a vice as if you were sitting for the photograph of propriety You think of me
as a fellow who has had no idea in life but to make money and drive sharp
bargains Thats a fair description of me but it is not the whole story A man
ought to care for something else though I dont know exactly what I cared for
moneymaking but I never cared particularly for the money There was nothing
else to do and it was impossible to be idle I have been very easy to others
and to myself I have done most of the things that people asked me I dont
mean rascals As regards your mother and your brother« Newman added »there is
only one point upon which I feel that I might quarrel with them I dont ask
them to sing my praises to you but I ask them to let you alone If I thought
they talked ill of me to you I should come down upon them«
»They have let me alone as you say They have not talked ill of you«
»In that case« cried Newman »I declare they are only too good for this
world«
Madame de Cintré appeared to find something startling in his exclamation
She would perhaps have replied but at this moment the door was thrown open
and Urbain de Bellegarde stepped across the threshold He appeared surprised at
finding Newman but his surprise was but a momentary shadow across the surface
of an unwonted joviality Newman had never seen the marquis so exhilarated his
pale unlighted countenance had a sort of thin transfiguration He held open the
door for someone else to enter and presently appeared old Madame de Bellegarde
leaning on the arm of a gentleman whom Newman had not seen before He had
already risen and Madame de Cintré rose as she always did before her mother
The marquis who had greeted Newman almost genially stood apart slowly rubbing
his hands His mother came forward with her companion She gave a majestic
little nod at Newman and then she released the strange gentleman that he might
make his bow to her daughter
»My daughter« she said »I have brought you an unknown relative Lord
Deepmere Lord Deepmere is our cousin but he has done only today what he ought
to have done long ago come to make our acquaintance«
Madame de Cintré smiled and offered Lord Deepmere her hand »It is very
extraordinary« said this noble laggard »but this is the first time that I have
ever been in Paris for more than three or four weeks«
»And how long have you been here now« asked Madame de Cintré
»Oh for the last two months« said Lord Deepmere
These two remarks might have constituted an impertinence but a glance at
Lord Deepmeres face would have satisfied you as it apparently satisfied Madame
de Cintré that they constituted only a naïveté When his companions were
seated Newman who was out of the conversation occupied himself with observing
the newcomer Observation however as regards Lord Deepmeres person had no
great range He was a small meagre man of some threeandthirty years of age
with a bald head a short nose and no front teeth in the upper jaw he had
round candid blue eyes and several pimples on his chin He was evidently very
shy and he laughed a great deal catching his breath with an odd startling
sound as the most convenient imitation of repose His physiognomy denoted great
simplicity a certain amount of brutality and a probable failure in the past to
profit by rare educational advantages He remarked that Paris was awfully jolly
but that for real thoroughpaced entertainment it was nothing to Dublin He even
preferred Dublin to London Had Madame de Cintré ever been to Dublin They must
all come over there some day and he would show them some Irish sport He always
went to Ireland for the fishing and he came to Paris for the new Offenbach
things They always brought them out in Dublin but he couldnt wait He had
been nine times to hear La Pomme de Paris Madame de Cintré leaning back with
her arms folded looked at Lord Deepmere with a more visibly puzzled face than
she usually showed to society Madame de Bellegarde on the other hand wore a
fixed smile The marquis said that among light operas his favourite was the
Gazza Ladra The marquise then began a series of inquiries about the duke and
the cardinal the old countess and Lady Barbara after listening to which and
to Lord Deepmeres somewhat irreverent responses for a quarter of an hour
Newman rose to take his leave The marquis went with him three steps into the
hall
»Is he Irish« asked Newman nodding in the direction of the visitor
»His mother was the daughter of Lord Finucane« said the marquis »he has
great Irish estates Lady Bridget in the complete absence of male heirs either
direct or collateral a most extraordinary circumstance came in for
everything But Lord Deepmeres title is English and his English property is
immense He is a charming young man«
Newman answered nothing but he detained the marquis as the latter was
beginning gracefully to recede »It is a good time for me to thank you« he
said »for sticking so punctiliously to our bargain for doing so much to help
me on with your sister«
The marquis stared »Really I have done nothing that I can boast of« he
said
»Oh dont be modest« Newman answered laughing »I cant flatter myself
that I am doing so well simply by my own merit And thank your mother for me
too« And he turned away leaving M de Bellegarde looking after him
Chapter XIV
The next time Newman came to the Rue de lUniversité he had the good fortune to
find Madame de Cintré alone He had come with a definite intention and he lost
no time in executing it She wore moreover a look which he eagerly interpreted
as expectancy
»I have been coming to see you for six months now« he said »and I have
never spoken to you a second time of marriage That was what you asked me I
obeyed Could any man have done better«
»You have acted with great delicacy« said Madame de Cintré
»Well I am going to change now« said Newman »I dont mean that I am going
to be indelicate but I am going to go back to where I began I am back there I
have been all round the circle Or rather I have never been away from there I
have never ceased to want what I wanted then Only now I am more sure of it if
possible I am more sure of myself and more sure of you I know you better
though I dont know anything I didnt believe three months ago You are
everything you are beyond everything I can imagine or desire You know me
now you must know me I wont say that you have seen the best but you have
seen the worst I hope you have been thinking all this while You must have seen
that I was only waiting you cant suppose that I was changing What will you
say to me now Say that everything is clear and reasonable and that I have
been very patient and considerate and deserve my reward And then give me your
hand Madame de Cintré do that Do it«
»I knew you were only waiting« she said »and I was very sure this day
would come I have thought about it a great deal At first I was half afraid of
it But I am not afraid of it now« She paused a moment and then she added
»Its a relief«
She was sitting on a low chair and Newman was on an ottoman near her He
leaned a little and took her hand which for an instant she let him keep »That
means that I have not waited for nothing« he said She looked at him for a
moment and he saw her eyes fill with tears »With me« he went on »you will be
as safe as safe« and even in his ardour he hesitated a moment for a
comparison »as safe« he said with a kind of simple solemnity »as in your
fathers arms«
Still she looked at him and her tears increased Then abruptly she buried
her face on the cushioned arm of the sofa beside her chair and broke into
noiseless sobs »I am weak I am weak« he heard her say
»All the more reason why you should give yourself up to me« he answered
»Why are you troubled There is nothing here that should trouble you I offer
you nothing but happiness Is that so hard to believe«
»To you everything seems so simple« she said raising her head »But things
are not so I like you extremely I liked you six months ago and now I am sure
of it as you say you are sure But it is not easy simply for that to decide
to marry you There are a great many things to think about«
»There ought to be only one thing to think about that we love each other«
said Newman And as she remained silent he quickly added »Very good if you
cant accept that dont tell me so«
»I should be very glad to think of nothing« she said at last »not to think
at all only to shut both my eyes and give myself up But I cant Im cold Im
old Im a coward I never supposed I should marry again and it seems to me
very strange I should ever have listened to you When I used to think as a
girl of what I should do if I were to marry freely by my own choice I thought
of a very different man from you«
»Thats nothing against me« said Newman with an immense smile »your taste
was not formed«
His smile made Madame de Cintré smile »Have you formed it« she asked And
then she said in a different tone »Where do you wish to live«
»Anywhere in the wide world you like We can easily settle that«
»I dont know why I ask you« she presently continued »I care very little
I think if I were to marry you I could live almost anywhere You have some false
ideas about me you think that I need a great many things that I must have a
brilliant worldly life I am sure you are prepared to take a great deal of
trouble to give me such things But that is very arbitrary I have done nothing
to prove that« She paused again looking at him and her mingled sound and
silence were so sweet to him that he had no wish to hurry her any more than he
would have had a wish to hurry a golden sunrise »Your being so different which
at first seemed a difficulty a trouble began one day to seem to me a pleasure
a great pleasure I was glad you were different And yet if I had said so no
one would have understood me I dont mean simply to my family«
»They would have said I was a queer monster eh« said Newman
»They would have said I could never be happy with you you were too
different and I would have said it was just because you were so different that
I might be happy But they would have given better reasons than I My only
reason « and she paused again
But this time in the midst of his golden sunrise Newman felt the impulse
to grasp at a rosy cloud »Your only reason is that you love me« he murmured
with an eloquent gesture and for want of a better reason Madame de Cintré
reconciled herself to this one
Newman came back the next day and in the vestibule as he entered the house he
encountered his friend Mrs Bread She was wandering about in honourable
idleness and when his eyes fell upon her she delivered him one of her curtsies
Then turning to the servant who had admitted him she said with the combined
majesty of her native superiority and of a rugged English accent »You may
retire I will have the honour of conducting monsieur« In spite of this
combination however it appeared to Newman that her voice had a slight quaver
as if the tone of command were not habitual to it The man gave her an
impertinent stare but he walked slowly away and she led Newman upstairs At
half its course the staircase gave a bend forming a little platform In the
angle of the wood stood an indifferent statue of an eighteenthcentury nymph
simpering sallow and cracked Here Mrs Bread stopped and looked with shy
kindness at her companion
»I know the good news sir« she murmured
»You have a good right to be first to know it« said Newman »You have taken
such a friendly interest«
Mrs Bread turned away and began to blow the dust off the statue as if this
might be mockery
»I suppose you want to congratulate me« said Newman »I am greatly
obliged« And then he added »You gave me much pleasure the other day«
She turned round apparently reassured »You are not to think that I have
been told anything« she said »I have only guessed But when I looked at you
as you came in I was sure I had guessed aright«
»You are very sharp« said Newman »I am sure that in your quiet way you see
everything«
»I am not a fool sir thank Cod I have guessed something else beside«
said Mrs Bread
»Whats that«
»I neednt tell you that sir I dont think you would believe it At any
rate it wouldnt please you«
»Oh tell me nothing but what will please me« laughed Newman »That is the
way you began«
»Well sir I suppose you wont be vexed to hear that the sooner everything
is over the better«
»The sooner we are married you mean The better for me certainly«
»The better for everyone«
»The better for you perhaps You know you are coming to live with us« said
Newman
»I am extremely obliged to you sir but it is not of myself I was thinking
I only wanted if I might take the liberty to recommend you to lose no time«
»Whom are you afraid of«
Mrs Bread looked up the staircase and then down and then she looked at the
undusted nymph as if she possibly had sentient ears »I am afraid of everyone«
she said
»What an uncomfortable state of mind« said Newman »Does every one wish to
prevent my marriage«
»I am afraid of already having said too much« Mrs Bread replied »I wont
take it back but I wont say any more« And she took her way up the staircase
again and led him into Madame de Cintrés salon
Newman indulged in a brief and silent imprecation when he found that Madame
de Cintré was not alone With her sat her mother and in the middle of the room
stood young Madame de Bellegarde in her bonnet and mantle The old marquise
who was leaning back in her chair with a hand clasping the knob of each arm
looked at him fixedly without moving She seemed barely conscious of his
greeting she appeared to be musing intently Newman said to himself that her
daughter had been announcing her engagement and that the old lady found the
morsel hard to swallow But Madame de Cintré as she gave him her hand gave him
also a look by which she appeared to mean that he should understand something
Was it a warning or a request Did she wish to enjoin speech or silence He was
puzzled and young Madame de Bellegardes pretty grin gave him no information
»I have not told my mother« said Madame de Cintré abruptly looking at
him
»Told me what« demanded the marquise »You tell me too little you should
tell me everything«
»That is what I do« said Madame Urbain with a little laugh
»Let me tell your mother« said Newman
The old lady stared at him again and then turned to her daughter »You are
going to marry him« she cried softly
»Oui ma mère« said Madame de Cintré
»Your daughter has consented to my great happiness« said Newman
»And when was this arrangement made« asked Madame de Bellegarde »I seem to
be picking up the news by chance«
»My suspense came to an end yesterday« said Newman
»And how long was mine to have lasted« said the marquise to her daughter
She spoke without irritation with a sort of cold noble displeasure
Madame de Cintré stood silent with her eyes on the ground »It is over
now« she said
»Where is my son where is Urbain« asked the marquise »Send for your
brother and inform him«
Young Madame de Bellegarde laid her hand on the bellrope »He was to make
some visits with me and I was to go and knock very softly very softly at
the door of his study But he can come to me« She pulled the bell and in a few
moments Mrs Bread appeared with a face of calm inquiry
»Send for your brother« said the old lady
But Newman felt an irresistible impulse to speak and to speak in a certain
way »Tell the marquis we want him« he said to Mrs Bread who quietly retired
Young Madame de Bellegarde went to her sisterinlaw and embraced her Then
she turned to Newman with an intense smile »She is charming I congratulate
you«
»I congratulate you sir« said Madame de Bellegarde with extreme
solemnity »My daughter is an extraordinarily good woman She may have faults
but I dont know them«
»My mother does not often make jokes« said Madame de Cintré »but when she
does they are terrible«
»She is ravishing« the Marquise Urbain resumed looking at her
sisterinlaw with her head on one side »Yes I congratulate you«
Madame de Cintré turned away and taking up a piece of tapestry began to
ply the needle Some minutes of silence elapsed which were interrupted by the
arrival of M de Bellegarde He came in with his hat in his hand gloved and
was followed by his brother Valentin who appeared to have just entered the
house M de Bellegarde looked around the circle and greeted Newman with his
usual finelymeasured courtesy Valentin saluted his mother and his sisters
and as he shook hands with Newman gave him a glance of acute interrogation
»Arrivez donc messieurs« cried young Madame de Bellegarde »We have great
news for you«
»Speak to your brother my daughter« said the old lady
Madame de Cintré had been looking at her tapestry She raised her eyes to
her brother »I have accepted Mr Newman«
»Your sister has consented« said Newman »You see after all I knew what I
was about«
»I am charmed« said M de Bellegarde with superior benignity
»So am I« said Valentin to Newman »The marquis and I are charmed I cant
marry myself but I can understand it I cant stand on my head but I can
applaud a clever acrobat My dear sister I bless your union«
The marquis stood looking for awhile into the crown of his hat »We have
been prepared« he said at last »but it is inevitable that in the face of the
event one should experience a certain emotion« And he gave a most unhilarious
smile
»I feel no emotion that I was not perfectly prepared for« said his mother
»I cant say that for myself« said Newman smiling but differently from
the marquis »I am happier than I expected to be I suppose its the sight of
your happiness«
»Dont exaggerate that« said Madame de Bellegarde getting up and laying
her hand upon her daughters arm »You cant expect an honest old woman to thank
you for taking away her beautiful only daughter«
»You forget me dear madame« said the young marquise demurely
»Yes she is very beautiful« said Newman
»And when is the wedding pray« asked young Madame de Bellegarde »I must
have a month to think over a dress«
»That must be discussed« said the marquise
»Oh we will discuss it and let you know« Newman exclaimed
»I have no doubt we shall agree« said Urbain
»If you dont agree with Madame de Cintré you will be very unreasonable«
»Come come Urbain« said young Madame de Bellegarde »I must go straight
to my tailors«
The old lady had been standing with her hand on her daughters arm looking
at her fixedly She gave a little sigh and murmured »No I did not expect it
You are a fortunate man« she added turning to Newman with an expressive nod
»Oh I know that« he answered »I feel tremendously proud I feel like
crying it on the housetops like stopping people in the street to tell them«
Madame de Bellegarde narrowed her lips »Pray dont« she said
»The more people that know it the better« Newman declared »I havent yet
announced it here but I telegraphed it this morning to America«
»Telegraphed it to America« the old lady murmured
»To New York to St Louis and to San Francisco those are the principal
cities you know Tomorrow I shall tell my friends here«
»Have you many« asked Madame de Bellegarde in a tone of which I am afraid
that Newman but partly measured the impertinence
»Enough to bring me a great many handshakes and congratulations To say
nothing« he added in a moment »of those I shall receive from your friends«
»They will not use the telegraph« said the marquise taking her departure
M de Bellegarde whose wife her imagination having apparently taken flight
to the tailors was fluttering her silken wings in emulation shook hands with
Newman and said with a more persuasive accent than the latter had ever heard
him use »You may count upon me« Then his wife led him away
Valentin stood looking from his sister to our hero
»I hope you have both reflected seriously« he said
Madame de Cintré smiled »We have neither your powers of reflection nor your
depth of seriousness but we have done our best«
»Well I have a great regard for each of you« Valentin continued »You are
charming young people But I am not satisfied on the whole that you belong to
that small and superior class that exquisite group composed of persons who
are worthy to remain unmarried These are rare souls they are the salt of the
earth But I dont mean to be invidious the marrying people are often very
nice«
»Valentin holds that women should marry and that men should not« said
Madame de Cintré »I dont know how he arranges it«
»I arrange it by adoring you my sister« said Valentin ardently
»Goodbye«
»Adore some one whom you can marry« said Newman »I will arrange that for
you some day I foresee that I am going to turn apostle«
Valentin was on the threshold he looked back a moment with a face that had
turned grave »I adore some one I cant marry« he said And he dropped the
portière and departed
»They dont like it« said Newman standing alone before Madame de Cintré
»No« she said after a moment »they dont like it«
»Well now do you mind that« asked Newman
»Yes« she said after another interval
»Thats a mistake«
»I cant help it I should prefer that my mother were pleased«
»Why the deuce« demanded Newman »is she not pleased She gave you leave to
marry me«
»Very true I dont understand it And yet I do mind it as you say You
will call it superstitious«
»That will depend upon how much you let it bother you Then I shall call it
an awful bore«
»I will keep it to myself« said Madame de Cintré »It shall not bother
you« And they then talked of their marriageday and Madame de Cintré assented
unreservedly to Newmans desire to have it fixed for an early date
Newmans telegrams were answered with interest Having despatched but three
electric missives he received no less than eight gratulatory bulletins in
return He put them into his pocketbook and the next time he encountered old
Madame de Bellegarde drew them forth and displayed them to her This it must be
confessed was a slightly malicious stroke the reader must judge in what degree
the offence was venial Newman knew that the marquise disliked his telegrams
though he could see no sufficient reason for it Madame de Cintré on the other
hand liked them and most of them being of a humorous cast laughed at them
immoderately and inquired into the character of their authors Newman now that
his prize was gained felt a peculiar desire that his triumph should be
manifest He more than suspected that the Bellegardes were keeping quiet about
it and allowing it in their select circle but a limited resonance and it
pleased him to think that if he were to take the trouble he might as he phrased
it break all the windows No man likes being repudiated and yet Newman if he
was not flattered was not exactly offended He had not this good excuse for his
somewhat aggressive impulse to promulgate his felicity his sentiment was of
another quality He wanted for once to make the heads of the house of Bellegarde
feel him he knew not when he should have another chance He had had for the
past six months a sense of the old lady and her son looking straight over his
head and he was now resolved that they should toe a mark which he would give
himself the satisfaction of drawing
»It is like seeing a bottle emptied when the wine is poured too slowly« he
said to Mrs Tristram »They make me want to joggle their elbows and force them
to spill their wine«
To this Mrs Tristram answered that he had better leave them alone and let
them do things in their own way »You must make allowances for them« she said
»It is natural enough that they should hang fire a little They thought they
accepted you when you made your application but they are not people of
imagination they could not project themselves into the future and now they
will have to begin again But they are people of honour and they will do
whatever is necessary«
Newman spent a few moments in narroweyed meditation
»I am not hard on them« he presently said »and to prove it I will invite
them all to a festival«
»To a festival«
»You have been laughing at my great gilded rooms all winter I will show you
that they are good for something I will give a party What is the grandest
thing one can do here I will hire all the great singers from the opera and all
the first people from the Théâtre Française and I will give an entertainment«
»And whom will you invite«
»You first of all And then the old lady and her son And then everyone
among her friends whom I have met at her house or elsewhere everyone who has
shown me the minimum of politeness every duke of them and his wife And then
all my friends without exception Miss Kitty Upjohn Miss Dora Finch General
Packard CP Hatch and all the rest And everyone shall know what it is about
that is to celebrate my engagement to the Countess de Cintré What do you think
of the idea«
»I think it is odious« said Mrs Tristram And then in a moment »I think
it is delicious«
The very next evening Newman repaired to Madame de Bellegardes salon where
he found her surrounded by her children and invited her to honour his poor
dwelling by her presence on a certain evening a fortnight distant
The marquise stared a moment »My dear sir« she cried »what do you want to
do to me«
»To make you acquainted with a few people and then to place you in a very
easy chair and ask you to listen to Madame Frezzolinis singing«
»You mean to give a concert«
»Something of that sort«
»And to have a crowd of people«
»All my friends and I hope some of yours and your daughters I want to
celebrate my engagement«
It seemed to Newman that Madame de Bellegarde turned pale She opened her
fan a fine old painted fan of the last century and looked at the picture
which represented a fête champêtre a lady with a guitar singing and a group
of dancers round a garlanded Hermes
»We go out so little« murmured the marquis »since my poor fathers death«
»But my dear father is still alive my friend« said his wife »I am only
waiting for my invitation to accept it« and she glanced with amiable confidence
at Newman »It will be magnificent I am very sure of that«
I am sorry to say to the discredit of Newmans gallantry that this ladys
invitation was not then and there bestowed he was giving all his attention to
the old marquise She looked up at last smiling »I cant think of letting you
offer me a fête« she said »until I have offered you one We want to present
you to our friends we will invite them all We have it very much at heart We
must do things in order Come to me about the 25th I will let you know the
exact day immediately We shall not have anyone so fine as Madame Frezzolini
but we shall have some very good people After that you may talk of your own
fête« The old lady spoke with a certain quick eagerness smiling more agreeably
as she went on
It seemed to Newman a handsome proposal and such proposals always touched
the sources of his goodnature He said to Madame de Bellegarde that he should
be glad to come on the 25th or any other day and that it mattered very little
whether he met his friends at her house or at his own I have said that Newman
was observant but it must be admitted that on this occasion he failed to notice
a certain delicate glance which passed between Madame de Bellegarde and the
marquis and which we may presume to have been a commentary upon the innocence
displayed in that latter clause of his speech
Valentin de Bellegarde walked away with Newman that evening and when they
had left the Rue de lUniversité some distance behind them he said reflectively
»My mother is very strong very strong« Then in answer to an interrogative
movement of Newmans he continued »She was driven to the wall but you would
never have thought it Her fête of the 25th was an invention of the moment She
had no idea whatever of giving a fête but finding it the only issue from your
proposal she looked straight at the dose excuse the expression and bolted
it as you saw without winking She is very strong«
»Dear me« said Newman divided between relish and compassion »I dont care
a straw for her fête I am willing to take the will for the deed«
»No no« said Valentin with a little inconsequent touch of family pride
»The thing will be done now and done handsomely«
Chapter XV
Valentin de Bellegardes announcement of the secession of Mademoiselle Nioche
from her fathers domicile and his irreverent reflections upon the attitude of
this anxious parent in so grave a catastrophe received a practical commentary
in the fact that M Nioche was slow to seek another interview with his late
pupil It had cost Newman some disgust to be forced to assent to Valentins
somewhat cynical interpretation of the old mans philosophy and though
circumstances seemed to indicate that he had not given himself up to a noble
despair Newman thought it very possible he might be suffering more keenly than
was apparent M Nioche had been in the habit of paying him a respectful little
visit every two or three weeks and his absence might be a proof quite as much
of extreme depression as of a desire to conceal the success with which he had
patched up his sorrow Newman presently learned from Valentin several details
touching this new phase of Mademoiselle Noémies career
»I told you she was remarkable« this unshrinking observer declared »and
the way she has managed this performance proves it She has had other chances
but she was resolved to take none but the best She did you the honour to think
for awhile that you might be such a chance You were not so she gathered up her
patience and waited awhile longer At last her occasion came along and she made
her move with her eyes wide open I am very sure she had no innocence to lose
but she had all her respectability Dubious little damsel as you thought her
she had kept a firm hold of that nothing could be proved against her and she
was determined not to let her reputation go till she had got her equivalent
About her equivalent she had high ideas Apparently her ideal has been
satisfied It is fifty years old baldheaded and deaf but it is very easy
about money«
»And where in the world« asked Newman »did you pick up this valuable
information«
»In conversation Remember my frivolous habits In conversation with a young
woman engaged in the humble trade of glovecleaner who keeps a small shop in
the Rue St Roch M Nioche lives in the same house up six pair of stairs
across the court in and out of whose illswept doorway Miss Noémie has been
flitting for the last five years The little glovecleaner was an old
acquaintance she used to be the friend of a friend of mine who has married and
dropped such friends I often saw her in his society As soon as I espied her
behind her clear little windowpane I recollected her I had on a spotlessly
fresh pair of gloves but I went in and held up my hands and said to her Dear
mademoiselle what will you ask me for cleaning these Dear count she answered
immediately I will clean them for you for nothing She had instantly recognised
me and I had to hear her history for the last six years But after that I put
her upon that of her neighbours She knows and admires Noémie and she told me
what I have just repeated«
A month elapsed without M Nioche reappearing and Newman who every morning
read two or three suicides in the Figaro began to suspect that mortification
proving stubborn he had sought a balm for his wounded pride in the waters of
the Seine He had a note of M Nioches address in his pocketbook and finding
himself one day in the quartier he determined in so far as he might to clear
up his doubts He repaired to the house in the Rue St Roch which bore the
recorded number and observed in a neighbouring basement behind a dangling row
of neatly inflated gloves the attentive physiognomy of Bellegardes informant
a sallow person in a dressinggown peering into the street as if she were
expecting that amiable nobleman to pass again But it was not to her that Newman
applied he simply asked of the portress if M Nioche were at home The portress
replied as the portress invariably replies that her lodger had gone out barely
three minutes before but then through the little square hole of her
lodgewindow taking the measure of Newmans fortunes and seeing them by an
unspecified process refresh the dry places of servitude to occupants of fifth
floors on courts she added that M Nioche would have had just time to reach the
Café de la Patrie round the second corner to the left at which establishment
he regularly spent his afternoons Newman thanked her for the information took
the second turning to the left and arrived at the Café de la Patrie He felt a
momentary hesitation to go in was it not rather mean to follow up poor old
Nioche at that rate But there passed across his vision an image of a haggard
little septuagenarian taking measured sips of a glass of sugar and water and
finding them quite impotent to sweeten his desolation He opened the door and
entered perceiving nothing at first but a dense cloud of tobaccosmoke Across
this however in a corner he presently descried the figure of M Nioche
stirring the contents of a deep glass with a lady seated in front of him The
ladys back was turned to Newman but M Nioche very soon perceived and
recognised his visitor Newman had gone toward him and the old man rose slowly
gazing at him with a more blighted expression even than usual
»If you are drinking hot punch« said Newman »I suppose you are not dead
Thats all right Dont move«
M Nioche stood staring with a fallen jaw not daring to put out his hand
The lady who sat facing him turned round in her place and glanced upward with
a spirited toss of her head displaying the agreeable features of his daughter
She looked at Newman sharply to see how he was looking at her then I dont
know what she discovered she said graciously »How dye do monsieur wont
you come into our little corner«
»Did you come did you come after me« asked M Nioche very softly
»I went to your house to see what had become of you I thought you might be
sick« said Newman
»It is very good of you as always« said the old man »No I am not well
Yes I am seek«
»Ask monsieur to sit down« said Mademoiselle Nioche »Garçon bring a
chair«
»Will you do us the honour to seat« said M Nioche timorously and with a
double foreignness of accent
Newman said to himself that he had better see the thing out and he took a
chair at the end of the table with Mademoiselle Nioche on his left and her
father on the other side »You will take something of course« said Miss
Noémie who was sipping a glass of madeira Newman said that he believed not
and then she turned to her papa with a smile »What an honour eh he has come
only for us« M Nioche drained his pungent glass at a long draught and looked
out from eyes more lachrymose in consequence »But you didnt come for me eh«
Mademoiselle Noémie went on »You didnt expect to find me here«
Newman observed the change in her appearance She was very elegant and
prettier than before she looked a year or two older and it was noticeable
that to the eye she had only gained in respectability She looked ladylike
She was dressed in quiet colours and she wore her expensively unobtrusive
toilet with a grace that might have come from years of practice Her present
selfpossession and aplomb struck Newman as really infernal and he inclined to
agree with Valentin de Bellegarde that the young lady was very remarkable »No
to tell the truth I didnt come for you« he said »and I didnt expect to find
you I was told« he added in a moment »that you had left your father«
»Quelle horreur« cried Mademoiselle Nioche with a smile »Does one leave
ones father You have the proof of the contrary«
»Yes convincing proof« said Newman glancing at M Nioche The old man
caught his glance obliquely with his faded deprecating eye and then lifting
his empty glass pretended to drink again
»Who told you that« Noémie demanded »I know very well It was M de
Bellegarde Why dont you say yes You are not polite«
»I am embarrassed« said Newman
»I set you a better example I know M de Bellegarde told you He knows a
great deal about me or he thinks he does He has taken a great deal of trouble
to find out but half of it isnt true In the first place I havent left my
father I am much too fond of him Isnt it so little father M de Bellegarde
is a charming young man it is impossible to be cleverer I know a good deal
about him too you can tell him that when you next see him«
»No« said Newman with a sturdy grin »I wont carry any messages for you«
»Just as you please« said Mademoiselle Nioche »I dont depend upon you
nor does M de Bellegarde either He is very much interested in me he can be
left to his own devices He is a contrast to you«
»Oh he is a great contrast to me I have no doubt« said Newman »But I
dont exactly know how you mean it«
»I mean it in this way First of all he never offered to help me to a dot
and a husband« And Mademoiselle Nioche paused smiling »I wont say that is in
his favour for I do you justice What led you by the way to make me such a
queer offer You didnt care for me«
»Oh yes I did« said Newman
»How so«
»It would have given me real pleasure to see you married to a respectable
young fellow«
»With six thousand francs of income« cried Mademoiselle Nioche »Do you
call that caring for me Im afraid you know little about women You were not
galant you were not what you might have been«
Newman flushed a trifle fiercely »Come« he exclaimed »thats rather
strong I had no idea I had been so shabby«
Mademoiselle Nioche smiled as she took up her muff »It is something at any
rate to have made you angry«
Her father had leaned both his elbows on the table and his head bent
forward was supported in his hands the thin white fingers of which were
pressed over his ears In this position he was staring fixedly at the bottom of
his empty glass and Newman supposed he was not hearing Mademoiselle Noémie
buttoned her furred jacket and pushed back her chair casting a glance charged
with the consciousness of an expensive appearance first down over her flounces
and then up at Newman
»You had better have remained an honest girl« Newman said quietly
M Nioche continued to stare at the bottom of his glass and his daughter
got up still bravely smiling »You mean that I look so much like one Thats
more than most women do nowadays Dont judge me yet awhile« she added »I mean
to succeed thats what I mean to do I leave you I dont mean to be seen in
cafés for one thing I cant think what you want of my poor father hes very
comfortable now It isnt his fault either Au revoir little father« And she
tapped the old man on the head with her muff Then she stopped a minute looking
at Newman »Tell M de Bellegarde when he wants news of me to come and get it
from me« And she turned and departed the whiteaproned waiter with a bow
holding the door wide open for her
M Nioche sat motionless and Newman hardly knew what to say to him The old
man looked dismally foolish »So you determined not to shoot her after all«
Newman said presently
M Nioche without moving raised his eyes and gave him a long peculiar
look It seemed to confess everything and yet not to ask for pity nor to
pretend on the other hand to a rugged ability to do without it It might have
expressed the state of mind of an innocuous insect flat in shape and conscious
of the impending pressure of a bootsole and reflecting that he was perhaps too
flat to be crushed M Nioches gaze was a profession of moral flatness »You
despise me terribly« he said in the weakest possible voice
»Oh no« said Newman »it is none of my business Its a good plan to take
things easily«
»I made you too many fine speeches« M Nioche added »I meant them at the
time«
»I am sure I am very glad you didnt shoot her« said Newman »I was afraid
you might have shot yourself That is why I came to look you up« And he began
to button his coat
»Neither« said M Nioche »You despise me and I cant explain to you I
hoped I shouldnt see you again«
»Why thats rather shabby« said Newman »You shouldnt drop your friends
that way Besides the last time you came to see me I thought you particularly
jolly«
»Yes I remember« said M Nioche musingly »I was in a fever I didnt know
what I said what I did It was delirium«
»Ah well you are quieter now«
M Nioche was silent a moment »As quiet as the grave« he whispered softly
»Are you very unhappy« asked Newman
M Nioche rubbed his forehead slowly and even pushed back his wig a little
looking askance at his empty glass »Yes yes But thats an old story I have
always been unhappy My daughter does what she will with me I take what she
gives me good or bad I have no spirit and when you have no spirit you must
keep quiet I shant trouble you any more«
»Well« said Newman rather disgusted at the smooth operation of the old
mans philosophy »thats as you please«
M Nioche seemed to have been prepared to be despised but nevertheless he
made a feeble movement of appeal from Newmans faint praise »After all« he
said »she is my daughter and I can still look after her If she will do wrong
why she will But there are many different paths there are degrees I can give
her the benefit give her the benefit« and M Nioche paused staring vaguely
at Newman who began to suspect that his brain had softened »the benefit of my
experience« M Nioche added
»Your experience« inquired Newman both amused and amazed
»My experience of business« said M Nioche gravely
»Ah yes« said Newman laughing »that will be a great advantage to her«
And then he said goodbye and offered the poor foolish old man his hand
M Nioche took it and leaned back against the wall holding it a moment and
looking up at him »I suppose you think my wits are going« he said »Very
likely I have always a pain in my head Thats why I cant explain I cant
tell you And shes so strong she makes me walk as she will anywhere But
theres this theres this« And he stopped still staring up at Newman His
little white eyes expanded and glittered for a moment like those of a cat in the
dark »Its not as it seems I havent forgiven her Oh no«
»Thats right dont« said Newman »Shes a bad case«
»Its horrible its terrible« said M Nioche »but do you want to know the
truth I hate her I take what she gives me and I hate her more Today she
brought me three hundred francs they are here in my waistcoatpocket Now I
hate her almost cruelly No I havent forgiven her«
»Why did you accept the money« Newman asked
»If I hadnt« said M Nioche »I should have hated her still more Thats
what misery is No I havent forgiven her«
»Take care you dont hurt her« said Newman laughing again And with this
he took his leave As he passed along the glazed side of the café on reaching
the street he saw the old man motioning the waiter with a melancholy gesture
to replenish his glass
One day a week after his visit to the Café de la Patrie he called upon
Valentin de Bellegarde and by good fortune found him at home Newman spoke of
his interview with M Nioche and his daughter and said he was afraid Valentin
had judged the old man correctly He had found the couple hobnobbing together in
amity the old gentlemans rigour was purely theoretic Newman confessed that he
was disappointed she should have expected to see M Nioche take high ground
»High ground my dear fellow« said Valentin laughing »there is no high
ground for him to take The only perceptible eminence in M Nioches horizon is
Montmartre which is not an edifying quarter You cant go mountaineering in a
flat country«
»He remarked indeed« said Newman »that he had not forgiven her But
shell never find it out«
»We must do him the justice to suppose he doesnt like the thing« Valentin
rejoined »Mademoiselle Nioche is like the great artists whose biographies we
read who at the beginning of their career have suffered opposition in the
domestic circle Their vocation has not been recognised by their families but
the world has done it justice Mademoiselle Nioche has a vocation«
»Oh come« said Newman impatiently »you take the little baggage too
seriously«
»I know I do but when one has nothing to think about one must think of
little baggages I suppose it is better to be serious about light things than
not to be serious at all This little baggage entertains me«
»Oh she has discovered that She knows you have been hunting her up and
asking questions about her She is very much tickled by it Thats rather
annoying«
»Annoying my dear fellow« laughed Valentin »not the least«
»Hanged if I should want to have a greedy little adventuress like that know
I was giving myself such pains about her« said Newman
»A pretty woman is always worth ones pains« objected Valentin
»Mademoiselle Nioche is welcome to be tickled by my curiosity and to know that
I am tickled that she is tickled She is not so much tickled by the way«
»You had better go and tell her« Newman rejoined »She gave me a message
for you of some such drift«
»Bless your quiet imagination« said Valentin »I have been to see her
three times in five days She is a charming hostess we talk of Shakespeare and
the musicalglasses She is extremely clever and a very curious type not at all
coarse or wanting to be coarse determined not to be She means to take very
good care of herself She is extremely perfect she is as hard and clearcut as
some little figure of a seanymph in an antique intaglio and I will warrant
that she has not a grain more of sentiment or heart than if she were scooped out
of a big amethyst You cant scratch her even with a diamond Extremely pretty
really when you know her she is wonderfully pretty intelligent determined
ambitious unscrupulous capable of looking at a man strangled without changing
colour she is upon my honour extremely entertaining«
»Its a fine list of attractions« said Newman »they would serve as a
policedetectives description of a favourite criminal I should sum them up by
another word than entertaining«
»Why that is just the word to use I dont say she is laudable or loveable
I dont want her as my wife or my sister But she is a very curious and
ingenious piece of machinery I like to see it in operation«
»Well I have seen some very curious machines too« said Newman »and once
in a needle factory I saw a gentleman from the city who had stepped too near
one of them picked up as neatly as if he had been prodded by a fork swallowed
down straight and ground into small pieces«
Reentering his domicile late in the evening three days after Madame de
Bellegarde had made her bargain with him the expression is sufficiently
correct touching the entertainment at which she was to present him to the
world he found on his table a card of goodly dimensions bearing an announcement
that this lady would be at home on the 27th of the month at ten oclock in the
evening He stuck it into the frame of his mirror and eyed it with some
complacency it seemed an agreeable emblem of triumph documentary evidence that
his prize was gained Stretched out on a chair he was looking at it lovingly
when Valentin de Bellegarde was shown into the room Valentins glance presently
followed the direction of Newmans and he perceived his mothers invitation
»And what have they put into the corner« he asked »Not the customary
music dancing or tableaux vivants They ought at least to put An American«
»Oh there are to be several of us« said Newman »Mrs Tristram told me
today that she had received a card and sent an acceptance«
»Ah then with Mrs Tristram and her husband you will have support My
mother might have put on her card Three Americans But I suspect you will not
lack amusement You will see a great many of the best people in France I mean
the long pedigrees and the high noses and all that Some of them are awful
idiots I advise you to take them up cautiously«
»Oh I guess I shall like them« said Newman »I am prepared to like
everyone and everything in these days I am in high goodhumour«
Valentin looked at him a moment in silence and then dropped himself into a
chair with an unwonted air of weariness »Happy man« he said with a sigh »Take
care you dont become offensive«
»If anyone chooses to take offense he may I have a good conscience« said
Newman
»So you are really in love with my sister«
»Yes sir« said Newman after a pause
»And she also«
»I guess she likes me« said Newman
»What is the witchcraft you have used« Valentin asked »How do you make
love«
»Oh I havent any general rules« said Newman »In any way that seems
acceptable«
»I suspect that if one knew it« said Valentin laughing »you are a
terrible customer You walk in sevenleague boots«
»There is something the matter with you tonight« Newman said in response
to this »You are vicious Spare me all discordant sounds until after my
marriage Then when I have settled down for life I shall be better able to
take things as they come«
»And when does your marriage take place«
»About six weeks hence«
Valentin was silent awhile and then he said »And you feel very confident
about the future«
»Confident I knew what I wanted exactly and I know what I have got«
»You are sure you are going to be happy«
»Sure« said Newman »So foolish a question deserves a foolish answer Yes«
»You are not afraid of anything«
»What should I be afraid of You cant hurt me unless you kill me by some
violent means That I should indeed consider a tremendous sell I want to live
and I mean to live I cant die of illness I am too ridiculously tough and the
time for dying of old age wont come round yet awhile I cant lose my wife I
shall take too good care of her I may lose my money or a large part of it but
that wont matter for I shall make twice as much again So what have I to be
afraid of«
»You are not afraid it may be rather a mistake for an American man of
business to marry a French countess«
»For the countess possibly but not for the man of business if you mean
me But my countess shall not be disappointed I answer for her happiness« And
as if he felt the impulse to celebrate his happy certitude by a bonfire he got
up to throw a couple of logs upon the already blazing hearth Valentin watched
for a few moments the quickened flame and then with his head leaning on his
hand gave a melancholy sigh »Got a headache« Newman asked
»Je suis triste« said Valentin with Gallic simplicity
»You are sad eh Is it about the lady you said the other night that you
adored and that you couldnt marry«
»Did I really say that It seemed to me afterwards that the words had
escaped me Before Claire it was bad taste But I felt gloomy as I spoke and I
feel gloomy still Why did you ever introduce me to that girl«
»Oh its Noémie is it Lord deliver us You dont mean to say you are
lovesick about her«
»Lovesick no its not a grand passion But the coldblooded little demon
sticks in my thoughts she has bitten me with those even little teeth of hers I
feel as if I might turn rabid and do something crazy in consequence Its very
low its disgustingly low Shes the most mercenary little jade in Europe Yet
she really affects my peace of mind she is always running in my head Its a
striking contrast to your noble and virtuous attachment a vile contrast It is
rather pitiful that it should be the best I am able to do for myself at my
present respectable age I am a nice young man eh en somme You cant warrant
my future as you do your own«
»Drop that girl short« said Newman »dont go near her again and your
future will do Come over to America and I will get you a place in a bank«
»It is easy to say drop her« said Valentin with a light laugh »You cant
drop a pretty woman like that One must be polite even with Noémie Besides
Ill not have her suppose I am afraid of her«
»So between politeness and vanity you will get deeper into the mud Keep
them both for something better Remember too that I didnt want to introduce
you to her you insisted I had a sort of uneasy feeling about it«
»Oh I dont reproach you« said Valentin »Heaven forbid I wouldnt for
the world have missed knowing her She is really extraordinary The way she has
already spread her wings is amazing I dont know when a woman has amused me
more But excuse me« he added in an instant »she doesnt amuse you at second
hand and the subject is an impure one Let us talk of something else« Valentin
introduced another topic but within five minutes Newman observed that by a
bold transition he had reverted to Mademoiselle Nioche and was giving pictures
of her manners and quoting specimens of her mots These were very witty and
for a young woman who six months before had been painting the most artless
madonnas startlingly cynical But at last abruptly he stopped became
thoughtful and for some time afterwards said nothing When he rose to go it was
evident that his thoughts were still running upon Mademoiselle Nioche »Yes
shes a frightful little monster« he said
Chapter XVI
The next ten days were the happiest that Newman had ever known He saw Madame de
Cintré every day and never saw either old Madame de Bellegarde or the elder of
his prospective brothersinlaw Madame de Cintré at last seemed to think it
becoming to apologise for their never being present »They are much taken up«
she said »with doing the honours of Paris to Lord Deepmere« There was a smile
in her gravity as she made this declaration and it deepened as she added »He
is our seventh cousin you know and blood is thicker than water And then he
is so interesting« And with this she laughed
Newman met young Madame de Bellegarde two or three times always roaming
about with graceful vagueness as if in search of an unattainable ideal of
amusement She always reminded him of a painted perfumebottle with a crack in
it but he had grown to have a kindly feeling for her based on the fact of her
owing conjugal allegiance to Urbain de Bellegarde He pitied M de Bellegardes
wife especially since she was a silly thirstilysmiling little brunette with
a suggestion of an unregulated heart The small marquise sometimes looked at him
with an intensity too marked not to be innocent for coquetry is more finely
shaded She apparently wanted to ask him something or tell him something he
wondered what it was But he was shy of giving her an opportunity because if
her communication bore upon the aridity of her matrimonial lot he was at a loss
to see how he could help her He had a fancy however of her coming up to him
some day and saying after looking round behind her with a little passionate
hiss »I know you detest my husband let me have the pleasure of assuring you
for once you are right Pity a poor woman who is married to a clockimage in
papiermâché« Possessing however in default of a competent knowledge of the
principles of etiquette a very downright sense of the meanness of certain
actions it seemed to him to belong to his position to keep on his guard he was
not going to put it into the power of these people to say that in their house he
had done anything unpleasant As it was Madame de Bellegarde used to give him
news of the dress she meant to wear at his wedding and which had not yet in
her creative imagination in spite of many interviews with the tailor resolved
itself into its composite totality »I told you pale blue bows on the sleeves
at the elbows« she said »But today I dont see my blue bows at all I dont
know what has become of them Today I see pink a tender pink And then I pass
through strange dull phases in which neither blue nor pink says anything to me
And yet I must have the bows«
»Have them green or yellow« said Newman
»Malheureux« the little marquise would cry »Green bows would break your
marriage your children would be illegitimate«
Madame de Cintré was calmly happy before the world and Newman had the
felicity of fancying that before him when the world was absent she was almost
agitatedly happy She said very tender things »I take no pleasure in you You
never give me a chance to scold you to correct you I bargained for that I
expected to enjoy it But you wont do anything dreadful you are dismally
inoffensive It is very stupid there is no excitement for me I might as well
be marrying someone else«
»I am afraid its the worst I can do« Newman would say in answer to this
»Kindly overlook the deficiency« He assured her that he at least would never
scold her she was perfectly satisfactory »If you only knew« he said »how
exactly you are what I coveted And I am beginning to understand why I coveted
it the having it makes all the difference that I expected Never was a man so
pleased with his good fortune You have been holding your head for a week past
just as I wanted my wife to hold hers You say just the things I want her to
say You walk about the room just as I want her to walk You have just the taste
in dress that I want her to have In short you come up to the mark and I can
tell you my mark was high«
These observations seemed to make Madame de Cintré rather grave At last she
said »Depend upon it I dont come up to the mark your mark is too high I am
not all that you suppose I am a much smaller affair She is a magnificent
woman your ideal Pray how did she come to such perfection«
»She was never anything else« Newman said
»I really believe« Madame de Cintré went on »that she is better than my
own ideal Do you know that is a very handsome compliment Well sir I will
make her my own«
Mrs Tristram came to see her dear Claire after Newman had announced his
engagement and she told our hero the next day that his good fortune was simply
absurd »For the ridiculous part of it is« she said »that you are evidently
going to be as happy as if you were marrying Miss Smith or Miss Thompson I call
it a brilliant match for you but you get brilliancy without paying any tax upon
it Those things are usually a compromise but here you have everything and
nothing crowds anything else out You will be brilliantly happy as well« Newman
thanked her for her pleasant encouraging way of saying things no woman could
encourage or discourage better Tristrams way of saying things was different
he had been taken by his wife to call upon Madame de Cintré and he gave an
account of the expedition
»You dont catch me giving an opinion on your countess this time« he said
»I put my foot in it once Thats a dd underhand thing to do by the way
coming round to sound a fellow upon the woman you are going to marry You
deserve anything you get Then of course you rush and tell her and she takes
care to make it pleasant for the poor spiteful wretch the first time he calls I
will do you the justice to say however that you dont seem to have told Madame
de Cintré or if you have shes uncommonly magnanimous She was very nice she
was tremendously polite She and Lizzie sat on the sofa pressing each others
hands and calling each other chère belle and Madame de Cintré sent me with
every third word a magnificent smile as if to give me to understand that I too
was a handsome dear She quite made up for past neglect I assure you she was
very pleasant and sociable Only in an evil hour it came into her head to say
that she must present us to her mother her mother wished to know your friends
I didnt want to know her mother and I was on the point of telling Lizzie to go
in alone and let me wait for her outside But Lizzie with her usual infernal
ingenuity guessed my purpose and reduced me by a glance of her eye So they
marched off arminarm and I followed as I could We found the old lady in her
armchair twiddling her aristocratic thumbs She looked at Lizzie from head to
foot but at that game Lizzie to do her justice was a match for her My wife
told her we were great friends of Mr Newman The marquise stared a moment and
then said Oh Mr Newman My daughter has made up her mind to marry a Mr
Newman Then Madame de Cintré began to fondle Lizzie again and said it was this
dear lady that had planned the match and brought them together Oh tis you I
have to thank for my American soninlaw the old lady said to Mrs Tristram It
was a very clever thought of yours Be sure of my gratitude And then she began
to look at me and presently said Pray are you engaged in some species of
manufacture I wanted to say that I manufactured broomsticks for old witches to
ride on but Lizzie got in ahead of me My husband Madame la Marquise she
said belongs to that unfortunate class of persons who have no profession and no
business and do very little good in the world To get her poke at the old woman
she didnt care where she shoved me Dear me said the marquise we all have our
duties I am sorry mine compel me to take leave of you said Lizzie And we
bundled out again But you have a motherinlaw in all the force of the term.«
»Oh« said Newman »my motherinlaw desires nothing better than to let me
alone«
Betimes on the evening of the 27th he went to Madame de Bellegardes ball
The old house in the Rue de lUniversité looked strangely brilliant In the
circle of light projected from the outer gate a detachment of the populace stood
watching the carriages roll in the court was illumined with flaring torches and
the portico carpeted with crimson When Newman arrived there were but a few
people present The marquise and her two daughters were at the top of the
staircase where the sallow old nymph in the angle peeped out from a bower of
plants Madame de Bellegarde in purple and fine laces looked like an old lady
painted by Vandyke Madame de Cintré was dressed in white The old lady greeted
Newman with majestic formality and looking round her called several of the
persons who were standing near They were elderly gentlemen of what Valentin de
Bellegarde had designated as the highnosed category two or three of them wore
cordons and stars They approached with measured alertness and the marquise
said that she wished to present them to Mr Newman who was going to marry her
daughter Then she introduced successively three dukes three counts and a
baron These gentlemen bowed and smiled most agreeably and Newman indulged in a
series of impartial hand shakes accompanied by a »Happy to make your
acquaintance sir« He looked at Madame de Cintré but she was not looking at
him If his personal selfconsciousness had been of a nature to make him
constantly refer to her as the critic before whom in company he played his
part he might have found it a flattering proof of her confidence that he never
caught her eyes resting upon him It is a reflection Newman did not make but we
may nevertheless risk it that in spite of this circumstance she probably saw
every movement of his little finger Young Madame de Bellegarde was dressed in
an audacious toilet of crimson crape bestrewn with huge silver moons thin
crescents and full discs
»You dont say anything about my dress« she said to Newman
»I feel« he answered »as if I were looking at you through a telescope It
is very strange«
»If it is strange it matches the occasion But I am not a heavenly body«
»I never saw the sky at midnight that particular shade of crimson« said
Newman
»That is my originality anyone could have chosen blue My sisterinlaw
would have chosen a lovely shade of blue with a dozen little delicate moons
But I think crimson is much more amusing And I give my idea which is
moonshine«
»Moonshine and bloodshed« said Newman
»A murder by moonlight« laughed Madame de Bellegarde »What a delicious
idea for a toilet To make it complete there is a dagger of diamonds you see
stuck into my hair But here comes Lord Deepmere« she added in a moment »I
must find out what he thinks of it« Lord Deepmere came up looking very red in
the face and laughing »Lord Deepmere cant decide which he prefers my
sisterinlaw or me« said Madame de Bellegarde »He likes Claire because she is
his cousin and me because I am not But he has no right to make love to Claire
whereas I am perfectly disponible It is very wrong to make love to a woman who
is engaged but it is very wrong not to make love to a woman who is married«
»Oh its very jolly making love to married women« said Lord Deepmere
»because they cant ask you to marry them«
»Is that what the others do the spinsters« Newman inquired
»Oh dear yes« said Lord Deepmere »in England all the girls ask a fellow to
marry them«
»And a fellow brutally refuses« said Madame de Bellegarde
»Why really you know a fellow cant marry any girl that asks him« said
his lordship
»Your cousin wont ask you She is going to marry Mr Newman«
»Oh thats a very different thing« laughed Lord Deepmere
»You would have accepted her I suppose That makes me hope that after all
you prefer me«
»Oh when things are nice I never prefer one to the other« said the young
Englishman »I take them all«
»Ah what a horror I wont be taken in that way I must be kept apart«
cried Madame de Bellegarde »Mr Newman is much better he knows how to choose
Oh he chooses as if he were threading a needle He prefers Madame de Cintré to
any conceivable creature or thing«
»Well you cant help my being her cousin« said Lord Deepmere to Newman
with candid hilarity
»Oh no I cant help that« said Newman laughing back »neither can she«
»And you cant help my dancing with her« said Lord Deepmere with sturdy
simplicity
»I could prevent that only by dancing with her myself« said Newman »But
unfortunately I dont know how to dance«
»Oh you may dance without knowing how may you not milord« said Madame de
Bellegarde But to this Lord Deepmere replied that a fellow ought to know how to
dance if he didnt want to make an ass of himself and at this same moment
Urbain de Bellegarde joined the group slowstepping and with his hands behind
him
»This is a very splendid entertainment« said Newman cheerfully »The old
house looks very bright«
»If you are pleased we are content« said the marquis lifting his
shoulders and bending them forward
»Oh I suspect everyone is pleased« said Newman »How can they help being
pleased when the first thing they see as they come in is your sister standing
there as beautiful as an angel«
»Yes she is very beautiful« rejoined the marquis solemnly »But that is
not so great a source of satisfaction to other people naturally as to you«
»Yes I am satisfied marquis I am satisfied« said Newman with his
protracted enunciation »And now tell me« he added looking round »who some of
your friends are«
M de Bellegarde looked about him in silence with his head bent and his
hand raised to his lower lip which he slowly rubbed A stream of people had
been pouring into the salon in which Newman stood with his host the rooms were
filling up and the spectacle had become brilliant It borrowed its splendour
chiefly from the shining shoulders and profuse jewels of the women and from the
voluminous elegance of their dresses There were no uniforms as Madame de
Bellegardes door was inexorably closed against the myrmidons of the upstart
power which then ruled the fortunes of France and the great company of smiling
and chattering faces was not graced by any very frequent suggestions of
harmonious beauty It is a pity nevertheless that Newman had not been a
physiognomist for a great many of the faces were irregularly agreeable
expressive and suggestive If the occasion had been different they would hardly
have pleased him he would have thought the women not pretty enough and the men
too smirking but he was now in a humour to receive none but agreeable
impressions and he looked no more narrowly than to perceive that everyone was
brilliant and to feel that the sum of their brilliancy was a part of his
credit »I will present you to some people« said M de Bellegarde after awhile
»I will make a point of it in fact You will allow me«
»Oh I will shake hands with anyone you want« said Newman »Your mother
just introduced me to halfadozen old gentlemen Take care you dont pick up
the same parties again«
»Who are the gentlemen to whom my mother presents you«
»Upon my word I forget them« said Newman laughing »The people here look
very much alike«
»I suspect they have not forgotten you« said the marquis and he began to
walk through the rooms Newman to keep near him in the crowd took his arm
after which for some time the marquis walked straight along in silence At
last reaching the farther end of the suite of receptionrooms Newman found
himself in the presence of a lady of monstrous proportions seated in a very
capacious armchair with several persons standing in a semicircle round her
This little group had divided as the marquis came up and M de Bellegarde
stepped forward and stood for an instant silent and obsequious with his hat
raised to his lips as Newman had seen some gentlemen stand in churches as soon
as they entered their pews The lady indeed bore a very fair likeness to a
reverend effigy in some idolatrous shrine She was monumentally stout and
imperturbably serene Her aspect was to Newman almost formidable he had a
troubled consciousness of a triple chin a small piercing eye a vast expanse of
uncovered bosom a nodding twinkling tiara of plumes and gems and an immense
circumference of satin petticoat With her little circle of beholders this
remarkable woman reminded him of the Fat Lady at a fair She fixed her small
unwinking eyes at the newcomers
»Dear duchess« said the marquis »let me present you our good friend Mr
Newman of whom you have heard us speak Wishing to make Mr Newman known to
those who are dear to us I could not possibly fail to begin with you«
»Charmed dear friend charmed monsieur« said the duchess in a voice
which though small and shrill was not disagreeable while Newman executed his
obeisance »I came on purpose to see monsieur I hope he appreciates the
compliment You have only to look at me to do so sir« she continued sweeping
her person with a muchencompassing glance Newman hardly knew what to say
though it seemed that to a duchess who joked about her corpulence one might say
almost anything On hearing that the duchess had come on purpose to see Newman
the gentlemen who surrounded her turned a little and looked at him with
sympathetic curiosity The marquis with supernatural gravity mentioned to him
the name of each while the gentleman who bore it bowed they were all what are
called in France beaux noms »I wanted extremely to see you« the duchess went
on »Cest positif In the first place I am very fond of the person you are
going to marry she is the most charming creature in France Mind you treat her
well or you shall hear some news of me But you look as if you were good I am
told you are very remarkable I have heard all sorts of extraordinary things
about you Voyons are they true«
»I dont know what you can have heard« said Newman
»Oh you have your légende We have heard that you have had a career the
most chequered the most bizarre What is that about your having founded a city
some ten years ago in the great West a city which contains today half a
million of inhabitants Isnt it half a million messieurs You are exclusive
proprietor of this flourishing settlement and are consequently fabulously rich
and you would be richer still if you didnt grant lands and houses free of rent
to all newcomers who will pledge themselves never to smoke cigars At this
game in three years we are told you are going to be made president of
America«
The duchess recited this amusing legend with a smooth selfpossession which
gave the speech to Newmans mind the air of being a bit of amusing dialogue in
a play delivered by a veteran comic actress Before she had ceased speaking he
had burst into loud irrepressible laughter »Dear duchess dear duchess« the
marquis began to murmur soothingly Two or three persons came to the door of
the room to see who was laughing at the duchess But the lady continued with the
soft serene assurance of a person who as a duchess was certain of being
listened to and as a garrulous woman was independent of the pulse of her
auditors »But I know you are very remarkable You must be to have endeared
yourself to this good marquis and to his admirable mother They dont bestow
their esteem on all the world They are very exacting I myself am not very sure
at this hour of really possessing it Eh Bellegarde To please you I see one
must be an American millionaire But your real triumph my dear sir is pleasing
the countess she is as difficult as a princess in a fairy tale Your success is
a miracle What is your secret I dont ask you to reveal it before all these
gentlemen but come and see me some day and give me a specimen of your talents«
»The secret is with Madame de Cintré« said Newman »You must ask her for
it It consists in her having a great deal of charity«
»Very pretty« said the duchess »Thats a very nice specimen to begin
with What Bellegarde are you already taking monsieur away«
»I have a duty to perform dear friend« said the marquis pointing to the
other groups
»Ah for you I know what that means Well I have seen monsieur that is
what I wanted He cant persuade me that he isnt very clever Farewell«
As Newman passed on with his host he asked who the duchess was »The
greatest lady in France« said the marquis M de Bellegarde then presented his
prospective brotherinlaw to some twenty other persons of both sexes selected
apparently for their typically august character In some cases this character
was written in a good round hand upon the countenance of the wearer in others
Newman was thankful for such help as his companions impressively brief
intimation contributed to the discovery of it There were large majestic men
and small demonstrative men there were ugly ladies in yellow lace and quaint
jewels and pretty ladies with white shoulders from which jewels and everything
else were absent Everyone gave Newman extreme attention everyone smiled
everyone was charmed to make his acquaintance everyone looked at him with that
soft hardness of good society which puts out its hand but keeps its fingers
closed over the coin If the marquis was going about as a bearleader if the
fiction of Beauty and the Beast was supposed to have found its companionpiece
the general impression appeared to be that the bear was a very fair imitation of
humanity Newman found his reception among the marquiss friends very pleasant
he could not have said more for it It was pleasant to be treated with so much
explicit politeness it was pleasant to hear neatlyturned civilities with a
flavour of wit uttered from beneath carefullyshaped moustaches it was
pleasant to see clever Frenchwomen they all seemed clever turn their backs
to their partners to get a good look at the strange American whom Claire de
Cintré was to marry and reward the object of the exhibition with a charming
smile At last as he turned away from a battery of smiles and other amenities
Newman caught the eye of the marquis looking at him heavily and thereupon for
a single instant he checked himself »Am I behaving like a dd fool« he asked
himself »Am I stepping about like a terrier on his hind legs« At this moment
he perceived Mrs Tristram at the other side of the room and he waved his hand
in farewell to M de Bellegarde and made his way toward her
»Am I holding my head too high« he asked »Do I look as if I had the lower
end of a pulley fastened to my chin«
»You look like all happy men very ridiculous« said Mrs Tristram »Its
the usual thing neither better nor worse I have been watching you for the last
ten minutes and I have been watching M de Bellegarde He doesnt like it«
»The more credit to him for putting it through« replied Newman »But I
shall be generous I shant trouble him any more But I am very happy I cant
stand still here Please to take my arm and we will go for a walk«
He led Mrs Tristram through all the rooms There were a great many of them
and decorated for the occasion and filled with a stately crowd their somewhat
tarnished nobleness recovered its lustre Mrs Tristram looking about her
dropped a series of softlyincisive comments upon her fellowguests But Newman
made vague answers he hardly heard her his thoughts were elsewhere They were
lost in a cheerful sense of success of attainment and victory His momentary
care as to whether he looked like a fool passed away leaving him simply with a
rich contentment He had got what he wanted The savour of success had always
been highly agreeable to him and it had been his fortune to know it often But
it had never before been so sweet been associated with so much that was
brilliant and suggestive and entertaining The lights the flowers the music
the crowd the splendid women the jewels the strangeness even of the universal
murmur of a clever foreign tongue were all a vivid symbol and assurance of his
having grasped his purpose and forced along his groove If Newmans smile was
larger than usual it was not tickled vanity that pulled the strings he had no
wish to be shown with the finger or to achieve a personal success If he could
have looked down at the scene invisible from a hole in the roof he would have
enjoyed it quite as much It would have spoken to him about his own prosperity
and deepened that easy feeling about life to which sooner or later he made all
experience contribute Just now the cup seemed full
»It is a very pretty party« said Mrs Tristram after they had walked
awhile »I have seen nothing objectionable except my husband leaning against the
wall and talking to an individual whom I suppose he takes for a duke but whom I
more than suspect to be the functionary who attends to the lamps Do you think
you could separate them Knock over a lamp«
I doubt whether Newman who saw no harm in Tristrams conversing with an
ingenious mechanic would have complied with this request but at this moment
Valentin de Bellegarde drew near Newman some weeks previously had presented
Madame de Cintrés youngest brother to Mrs Tristram for whose merits Valentin
professed a discriminating relish and to whom he had paid several visits
»Did you ever read Keats Belle Dame sans Merci« asked Mrs Tristram »You
remind me of the hero of the ballad
Oh what can ail thee knightatarms
Alone and palely loitering«
»If I am alone it is because I have been deprived of your society« said
Valentin »Besides it is good manners for no man except Newman to look happy
This is all to his address It is not for you and me to go before the curtain«
»You promised me last spring« said Newman to Mrs Tristram »that six
months from that time I should get into a monstrous rage It seems to me the
times up and yet the nearest I can come to doing anything rough now is to
offer you a café glacé«
»I told you we should do things grandly« said Valentin »I dont allude to
the cafés glacés But everyone is here and my sister told me just now that
Urbain had been adorable«
»Hes a good fellow hes a good fellow« said Newman »I love him as a
brother That reminds me that I ought to go and say something polite to your
mother«
»Let it be something very polite indeed« said Valentin »It may be the last
time you will feel so much like it«
Newman walked away almost disposed to clasp old Madame de Bellegarde round
the waist He passed through several rooms and at last found the old marquise in
the first saloon seated on a sofa with her young kinsman Lord Deepmere
beside her The young man looked somewhat bored his hands were thrust into his
pockets and his eyes were fixed upon the toes of his shoes his feet being
thrust out in front of him Madame de Bellegarde appeared to have been talking
to him with some intensity and to be waiting for an answer to what she had said
or for some sign of the effect of her words Her hands were folded in her lap
and she was looking at his lordships simple physiognomy with an air of politely
suppressed irritation
Lord Deepmere looked up as Newman approached met his eyes and changed
colour
»I am afraid I disturb an interesting interview« said Newman
Madame de Bellegarde rose and her companion rising at the same time she
put her hand into his arm She answered nothing for an instant and then as he
remained silent she said with a smile »It would be polite for Lord Deepmere to
say it was very interesting«
»Oh Im not polite« cried his lordship »But it was interesting«
»Madame de Bellegarde was giving you some good advice eh« said Newman
»toning you down a little«
»I was giving him some excellent advice« said the marquise fixing her
fresh cold eyes upon our hero »Its for him to take it«
»Take it sir take it« Newman exclaimed »Any advice the marquise gives
you tonight must be good for tonight marquise you must speak from a
cheerful comfortable spirit and that makes good advice You see everything
going on so brightly and successfully round you Your party is magnificent it
was a very happy thought It is much better than that thing of mine would have
been«
»If you are pleased I am satisfied« said Madame de Bellegarde »My desire
was to please you«
»Do you want to please me a little more« said Newman »Just drop our lordly
friend I am sure he wants to be off and shake his heels a little Then take my
arm and walk through the rooms«
»My desire was to please you« the old lady repeated And she liberated Lord
Deepmere Newman rather wondering at her docility »If this young man is wise«
she added »he will go and find my daughter and ask her to dance«
»I have been endorsing your advice« said Newman bending over her and
laughing »I suppose I must swallow that«
Lord Deepmere wiped his forehead and departed and Madame de Bellegarde took
Newmans arm »Yes its a very pleasant sociable entertainment« the latter
declared as they proceeded on their circuit »Everyone seems to know everyone
and to be glad to see everyone The marquis has made me acquainted with ever so
many people and I feel quite like one of the family Its an occasion« Newman
continued wanting to say something thoroughly kind and comfortable »that I
shall always remember and remember very pleasantly«
»I think it is an occasion that we shall none of us forget« said the
marquise with her pure neat enunciation
People made way for her as she passed others turned round and looked at
her and she received a great many greetings and pressings of the hand all of
which she accepted with the most delicate dignity But though she smiled upon
everyone she said nothing until she reached the last of the rooms where she
found her elder son Then »This is enough sir« she declared with measured
softness to Newman and turned to the marquis He put out both his hands and
took both hers drawing her to a seat with an air of the tenderest veneration
It was a most harmonious family group and Newman discreetly retired He moved
through the rooms for some time longer circulating freely overtopping most
people by his great height renewing acquaintance with some of the groups to
which Urbain de Bellegarde had presented him and expending generally the
surplus of his equanimity He continued to find it all extremely agreeable but
the most agreeable things have an end and the revelry on this occasion began to
deepen to a close The music was sounding its ultimate strains and people were
looking for the marquise to make their farewells There seemed to be some
difficulty in finding her and Newman heard a report that she had left the ball
feeling faint »She has succumbed to the emotions of the evening« he heard a
lady say »Poor dear marquise I can imagine all that they may have been for
her«
But he learned immediately afterwards that she had recovered herself and was
seated in an armchair near the doorway receiving parting compliments from great
ladies who insisted upon her not rising He himself set out in quest of Madame
de Cintré He had seen her move past him many times in the rapid circles of a
waltz but in accordance with her explicit instructions he had exchanged no
words with her since the beginning of the evening The whole house having been
thrown open the apartments of the rezdechaussée were also accessible though
a smaller number of persons had gathered there Newman wandered through them
observing a few scattered couples to whom this comparative seclusion appeared
grateful and reached a small conservatory which opened into the garden The end
of the conservatory was formed by a clear sheet of glass unmasked by plants
and admitting the winter starlight so directly that a person standing there
would seem to have passed into the open air Two persons stood there now a lady
and a gentleman the lady Newman from within the room and although she had
turned her back to it immediately recognised as Madame de Cintré He hesitated
as to whether he would advance but as he did so she looked round feeling
apparently that he was there She rested her eyes on him a moment and then
turned again to her companion
»It is almost a pity not to tell Mr Newman« she said softly but in a tone
that Newman could hear
»Tell him if you like« the gentleman answered in the voice of Lord
Deepmere
»Oh tell me by all means« said Newman advancing
Lord Deepmere he observed was very red in the face and he had twisted his
gloves into a tight cord as if he had been squeezing them dry These
presumably were tokens of violent emotion and it seemed to Newman that the
traces of a corresponding agitation were visible in Madame de Cintrés face The
two had been talking with much vivacity »What I should tell you is only to my
lords credit« said Madame de Cintré smiling frankly enough
»He wouldnt like it any better for that« said my lord with his awkward
laugh
»Come whats the mystery« Newman demanded »Clear it up I dont like
mysteries«
»We must have some things we dont like and go without some we do« said
the ruddy young nobleman laughing still
»It is to Lord Deepmeres credit but it is not to every ones« said Madame
de Cintré »So I shall say nothing about it You may be sure« she added and
she put out her hand to the Englishman who took it half shyly half
impetuously »And now go and dance« she said
»Oh yes I feel awfully like dancing« he answered »I shall go and get
tipsy« And he walked away with a gloomy guffaw
»What has happened between you« Newman asked
»I cant tell you now« said Madame de Cintré »Nothing that need make you
unhappy«
»Has the little Englishman been trying to make love to you«
She hesitated and then she uttered a grave »No hes a very honest little
fellow«
»But you are agitated Something is the matter«
»Nothing I repeat that need make you unhappy My agitation is over Some
day I will tell you what it was not now I cant now«
»Well I confess« remarked Newman »I dont want to hear anything
unpleasant I am satisfied with everything most of all with you I have seen
all the ladies and talked with a great many of them but I am satisfied with
you« Madame de Cintré covered him for a moment with her large soft glance and
then turned her eyes away into the starry night So they stood silent a moment
side by side »Say you are satisfied with me« said Newman
He had to wait a moment for the answer but it came at last low yet
distinct »I am very happy«
It was presently followed by a few words from another source which made
them both turn round »I am sadly afraid Madame de Cintré will take a chill I
have ventured to bring a shawl« Mrs Bread stood there softly solicitous
holding a white drapery in her hand
»Thank you« said Madame de Cinté »the sight of those cold stars gives one
a sense of frost I wont take your shawl but we will go back into the house«
She passed back and Newman followed her Mrs Bread standing respectfully
aside to make way for them Newman paused an instant before the old woman and
she glanced up at him with a silent greeting »Oh yes« he said »you must come
and live with us«
»Well then sir if you will« she answered »you have not seen the last of
me«
Chapter XVII
Newman was fond of music and went often to the opera A couple of evenings after
Madame de Bellegardes ball he sat listening to Don Giovanni having in honour
of this work which he had never yet seen represented come to occupy his
orchestrachair before the rising of the curtain Frequently he took a large box
and invited a party of his compatriots this was a mode of recreation to which
he was much addicted He liked making up parties of his friends and conducting
them to the theatre and taking them to drive on high drags or to dine at remote
restaurants He liked doing things which involved his paying for people the
vulgar truth is that he enjoyed treating them This was not because he was what
is called purseproud handling money in public was on the contrary positively
disagreeable to him he had a sort of personal modesty about it akin to what he
would have felt about making a toilet before spectators But just as it was a
gratification to him to be handsomely dressed just so it was a private
satisfaction to him he enjoyed it very clandestinely to have interposed
pecuniarily in a scheme of pleasure To set a large group of people in motion
and transport them to a distance to have special conveyances to charter
railwaycarriages and steamboats harmonised with his relish for bold processes
and made hospitality seem more active and more to the purpose A few evenings
before the occasion of which I speak he had invited several ladies and gentlemen
to the opera to listen to Madame Alboni a party which included Miss Dora
Finch It befell however that Miss Dora Finch sitting near Newman in the box
discoursed brilliantly not only during the entractes but during many of the
finest portions of the performance so that Newman had really come away with an
irritated sense that Madame Alboni had a thin shrill voice and that her
musical phrase was much garnished with a laugh of the giggling order After this
he promised himself to go for awhile to the opera alone
When the curtain had fallen upon the first act of Don Giovanni he turned
round in his place to observe the house Presently in one of the boxes he
perceived Urbain de Bellegarde and his wife The little marquise was sweeping
the house very busily with a glass and Newman supposing that she saw him
determined to go and bid her goodevening M de Bellegarde was leaning against
a column motionless looking straight in front of him with one hand in the
breast of his white waistcoat and the other resting his hat on his thigh Newman
was about to leave his place when he noticed in that obscure region devoted to
the small boxes which in France are called not inaptly bathingtubs a face
which even the dim light and the distance could not make wholly indistinct It
was the face of a young and pretty woman and it was surmounted with a coiffure
of pink roses and diamonds This person was looking round the house and her fan
was moving to and fro with the most practised grace when she lowered it Newman
perceived a pair of plump white shoulders and the edge of a rosecoloured dress
Beside her very close to the shoulders and talking apparently with an
earnestness which it pleased her scantily to heed sat a young man with a red
face and a very low shirtcollar A moments gazing left Newman with no doubts
the pretty young woman was Noémie Nioche He looked hard into the depths of the
box thinking her father might perhaps be in attendance but from what he could
see the young mans eloquence had no other auditor Newman at last made his way
out and in doing so he passed beneath the baignoire of Mademoiselle Noémie She
saw him as he approached and gave him a nod and smile which seemed meant as an
assurance that she was still a goodnatured girl in spite of her enviable rise
in the world Newman passed into the foyer and walked through it Suddenly he
paused in front of a gentleman seated on one of the divans The gentlemans
elbows were on his knees he was leaning forward and staring at the pavement
lost apparently in meditations of a somewhat gloomy cast But in spite of his
bent head Newman recognised him and in a moment sat down beside him Then the
gentleman looked up and displayed the expressive countenance of Valentin de
Bellegarde
»What in the world are you thinking of so hard« asked Newman
»A subject that requires hard thinking to do it justice« said Valentin »My
immeasurable idiocy«
»What is the matter now«
»The matter now is that I am a man again and no more a fool than usual But
I came within an inch of taking that girl au sérieux«
»You mean the young lady below stairs in a baignoire in a pink dress«
said Newman
»Did you notice what a brilliant kind of pink it was« Valentin inquired by
way of answer »It makes her look as white as new milk«
»White or black as you please But you have stopped going to see her«
»Oh bless you no Why should I stop I have changed but she hasnt« said
Valentin »I see she is a vulgar little wretch after all But she is as amusing
as ever and one must be amused«
»Well I am glad she strikes you so unpleasantly« Newman rejoined »I
suppose you have swallowed all those fine words you used about her the other
night You compared her to a sapphire or a topaz or an amethyst some
precious stone what was it«
»I dont remember« said Valentin »it may have been to a carbuncle But she
wont make a fool of me now She has no real charm Its an awfully low thing to
make a mistake about a person of that sort«
»I congratulate you« Newman declared »upon the scales having fallen from
your eyes Its a great triumph it ought to make you feel better«
»Yes it makes me feel better« said Valentin gaily Then checking himself
he looked askance at Newman »I rather think you are laughing at me If you were
not one of the family I would take it up«
»Oh no Im not laughing any more than I am one of the family You make me
feel badly You are too clever a fellow you are made of too good stuff to
spend your time in ups and downs over that class of goods The idea of splitting
hairs about Miss Nioche It seems to me awfully foolish You say you have given
up taking her seriously but you take her seriously so long as you take her at
all«
Valentin turned round in his place and looked awhile at Newman wrinkling
his forehead and rubbing his knees »Vous parlez dor But she has wonderfully
pretty arms Would you believe I didnt know it till this evening«
»But she is a vulgar little wretch remember all the same« said Newman
»Yes the other day she had the bad taste to begin to abuse her father to
his face in my presence I shouldnt have expected it of her it was a
disappointment heigho«
»Why she cares no more for her father than for her doormat« said Newman
»I discovered that the first time I saw her«
»Oh thats another affair she may think of the poor old beggar what she
pleases But it was low in her to call him bad names it quite threw me off It
was about a frilled petticoat that he was to have fetched from the
washerwomans he appeared to have neglected this graceful duty She almost
boxed his ears He stood there staring at her with his little blank eyes and
smoothing his old hat with his coattail At last he turned round and went out
without a word Then I told her it was in very bad taste to speak so to ones
papa She said she should be so thankful to me if I would mention it to her
whenever her taste was at fault she had immense confidence in mine I told her
I couldnt have the bother of forming her manners I had had an idea they were
already formed after the best models She had disappointed me But I shall get
over it« said Valentin gaily
»Oh times a great consoler« Newman answered with humorous sobriety He
was silent a moment and then he added in another tone »I wish you would think
of what I said to you the other day Come over to America with us and I will
put you in the way of doing some business You have got a very good head if you
will only use it«
Valentin made a genial grimace »My head is much obliged to you Do you mean
the place in a bank«
»There are several places but I suppose you would consider the bank the
most aristocratic«
Valentin burst into a laugh »My dear fellow at night all cats are gray
When one derogates there are no degrees«
Newman answered nothing for a minute Then »I think you will find there are
degrees in success« he said with a certain dryness
Valentin had leaned forward again with his elbows on his knees and he was
scratching the pavement with his stick At last he said looking up »Do you
really think I ought to do something«
Newman laid his hand on his companions arm and looked at him a moment
through sagaciouslynarrowed eyelids »Try it and see You are not good enough
for it but we will stretch a point«
»Do you really think I can make some money I should like to see how it
feels to have a little«
»Do what I tell you and you shall be rich« said Newman »Think of it« And
he looked at his watch and prepared to resume his way to Madame de Bellegardes
box
»Upon my word I will think of it« said Valentin »I will go and listen to
Mozart another half hour I can always think better to music and profoundly
meditate upon it«
The marquis was with his wife when Newman entered their box he was bland
remote and correct as usual or as it seemed to Newman even more than usual
»What do you think of the opera« asked our hero »What do you think of the
Don«
»We all know what Mozart is« said the marquis »our impressions dont date
from this evening Mozart is youth freshness brilliancy facility a little
too great facility perhaps But the execution is here and there deplorably
rough«
»I am very curious to see how it ends« said Newman
»You speak as if it were a feuilleton in the Figaro« observed the marquis
»You have surely seen the opera before«
»Never« said Newman »I am sure I should have remembered it Donna Elvira
reminds me of Madame de Cintré I dont mean in her circumstances but in the
music she sings«
»It is a very nice distinction« laughed the marquis lightly »There is no
great possibility I imagine of Madame de Cintré being forsaken«
»Not much« said Newman »But what becomes of the Don«
»The devil comes down or comes up« said Madame de Bellegarde »and
carries him off I suppose Zerlina reminds you of me«
»I will go to the foyer for a few moments« said the marquis »and give you
a chance to say that the Commander the man of stone resembles me« And he
passed out of the box
The little marquise stared an instant at the velvet ledge of the balcony
and then murmured »Not a man of stone a man of wood« Newman had taken her
husbands empty chair She made no protest and then she turned suddenly and
laid her closed fan upon his arm »I am very glad you came in« she said »I
want to ask you a favour I wanted to do so on Thursday at my motherinlaws
ball but you would give me no chance You were in such very good spirits that I
thought you might grant my little favour then not that you look particularly
doleful now It is something you must promise me now is the time to take you
after you are married you will be good for nothing Come promise«
»I never sign a paper without reading it first« said Newman »Show me your
document«
»No you must sign with your eyes shut I will hold your hand Come before
you put your head into the noose You ought to be thankful for me giving you a
chance to do something amusing«
»If it is so amusing« said Newman »it will be in even better season after
I am married«
»In other words,« cried Madame de Bellegarde »you will not do it at all
You will be afraid of your wife«
»Oh if the thing is intrinsically improper« said Newman »I wont go into
it If it is not I will do it after my marriage«
»You talk like a treatise on logic and English logic into the bargain«
exclaimed Madame de Bellegarde »Promise then after you are married After
all I shall enjoy keeping you to it«
»Well then after I am married« said Newman serenely
The little marquise hesitated a moment looking at him and he wondered what
was coming »I suppose you know what my life is« she presently said »I have no
pleasure I see nothing I do nothing I live in Paris as I might live at
Poitiers My motherinlaw calls me what is the pretty word a gadabout
accuses me of going to unheardof places and thinks it ought to be joy enough
for me to sit at home and count over my ancestors on my fingers But why should
I bother about my ancestors I am sure they never bothered about me I dont
propose to live with a green shade on my eyes I hold that things were made to
look at My husband you know has principles and the first on the list is that
the Tuileries are dreadfully vulgar If the Tuileries are vulgar his principles
are tiresome If I chose I might have principles quite as well as he If they
grew on ones family tree I should only have to give mine a shake to bring down
a shower of the finest At any rate I prefer clever Bonapartes to stupid
Bourbons«
»Oh I see you want to go to court« said Newman vaguely conjecturing that
she might wish him to appeal to the United States legation to smooth her way to
the imperial halls
The marquise gave a little sharp laugh »You are a thousand miles away I
will take care of the Tuileries myself the day I decide to go they will be very
glad to have me Sooner or later I shall dance in an imperial quadrille I know
what you are going to say How will you dare But I shall dare I am afraid of
my husband he is soft smooth irreproachable everything that you know but I
am afraid of him horribly afraid of him And yet I shall arrive at the
Tuileries But that will not be this winter nor perhaps next and meantime I
must live For the moment I want to go somewhere else its my dream I want to
go to the Bal Bullier«
»To the Bal Bullier« repeated Newman for whom the words at first meant
nothing
»The ball in the Latin Quarter where the students dance with their
mistresses Dont tell me you have not heard of it«
»Oh yes« said Newman »I have heard of it I remember now I have even been
there And you want to go there«
»It is silly it is low it is anything you please But I want to go Some
of my friends have been and they say it is awfully drôle My friends go
everywhere it is only I who sit moping at home«
»It seems to me you are not at home now« said Newman »and I shouldnt
exactly say you were moping«
»I am bored to death I have been to the opera twice a week for the last
eight years Whenever I ask for anything my mouth is stopped with that Pray
madam havent you an operabox Could a woman of taste want more In the first
place my operabox was down in my contrat they have to give it to me
Tonight for instance I should have preferred a thousand times to go to the
Palais Royal But my husband wont go to the Palais Royal because the ladies of
the court go there so much You may imagine then whether he would take me to
Bulliers he says it is a mere imitation and a bad one of what they do at
the Princess Kleinfusss But as I dont go to the Princess Kleinfusss the
next best thing is to go to Bulliers It is my dream at any rate its a fixed
idea All I ask of you is to give me your arm you are less compromising than
anyone else I dont know why but you are I can arrange it I shall risk
something but that is my own affair Besides fortune favours the bold Dont
refuse me it is my dream«
Newman gave a loud laugh It seemed to him hardly worth while to be the wife
of the Marquis de Bellegarde a daughter of the crusaders heiress of six
centuries of glories and traditions to have centred ones aspirations upon the
sight of a couple of hundred young ladies kicking off young mens hats It
struck him as a theme for the moralist but he had no time to moralise upon it
The curtain rose again M de Bellegarde returned and Newman went back to his
seat
He observed that Valentin de Bellegarde had taken his place in the baignoire
of Mademoiselle Nioche behind this young lady and her companion where he was
visible only if one carefully looked for him In the next act Newman met him in
the lobby and asked him if he had reflected upon possible emigration »If you
really meant to meditate« he said »you might have chosen a better place for
it«
»Oh the place was not bad« said Valentin »I was not thinking of that
girl I listened to the music and without thinking of the play or looking at
the stage I turned over your proposal At first it seemed quite fantastic And
then a certain fiddle in the orchestra I could distinguish it began to say
as it scraped away Why not why not And then in that rapid movement all the
fiddles took it up and the conductors stick seemed to beat it in the air Why
not why not Im sure I cant say I dont see why not I dont see why I
shouldnt do something It appears to me really a very bright idea This sort of
thing is certainly very stale And then I could come back with a trunk full of
dollars Besides I might possibly find it amusing They call me a raffiné who
knows but that I might discover an unsuspected charm in shopkeeping It would
really have a certain romantic picturesque side it would look well in my
biography It would look as if I were a strong man a firstrate man a man who
dominated circumstances«
»Never mind how it would look« said Newman »It always looks well to have
half a million of dollars There is no reason why you shouldnt have them if you
will mind what I tell you I alone and not talk to other parties« He passed
his arm into that of his companion and the two walked for some time up and down
one of the less frequented corridors Newmans imagination began to glow with
the idea of converting his bright impracticable friend into a firstclass man
of business He felt for the moment a sort of spiritual zeal the zeal of the
propagandist Its ardour was in part the result of that general discomfort which
the sight of all uninvested capital produced in him so fine an intelligence as
Bellegardes ought to be dedicated to high uses The highest uses known to
Newmans experience were certain transcendent sagacities in the handling of
railway stock And then his zeal was quickened by his personal kindness for
Valentin he had a sort of pity for him which he was well aware he never could
have made the Comte de Bellegarde understand He never lost a sense of its being
pitiable that Valentin should think it a large life to revolve in varnished
boots between the Rue dAnjou and the Rue de lUniversité taking the Boulevard
des Italiens on the way when over there in America ones promenade was a
continent and ones boulevard stretched from New York to San Francisco It
mortified him moreover to think that Valentin lacked money there was a
painful grotesqueness in it It affected him as the ignorance of a companion
otherwise without reproach touching some rudimentary branch of learning would
have done There were things that one knew about as a matter of course he would
have said in such a case Just so if one pretended to be easy in the world one
had money as a matter of course one had made it There was something almost
ridiculously anomalous to Newman in the sight of lively pretensions
unaccompanied by large investments in railroads though I may add that he would
not have maintained that such investments were in themselves a proper ground for
pretensions »I will make you do something« he said to Valentin »I will put
you through I know halfadozen things in which we can make a place for you
You will see some lively work It will take you a little while to get used to
the life but you will work in before long and at the end of six months after
you have done a thing or two on your own account you will like it And then it
will be very pleasant for you having your sister over there It will be
pleasant for her to have you too Yes Valentin« continued Newman pressing
his friends arm genially »I think I see just the opening for you Keep quiet
and Ill push you right in«
Newman pursued this favouring strain for some time longer The two men
strolled about for a quarter of an hour Valentin listened and questioned many
of his questions making Newman laugh loud at the naïveté of his ignorance of the
vulgar processes of moneygetting smiling himself too half ironical and half
curious And yet he was serious he was fascinated by Newmans plain prose
version of the legend of El Dorado It is true however that though to accept
an opening in an American mercantile house might be a bold original and in its
consequences extremely agreeable thing to do he did not quite see himself
objectively doing it So that when the bell rang to indicate the close of the
entracte there was a certain mockheroism in his saying with his brilliant
smile »Well then put me through push me in I make myself over to you Dip
me into the pot and turn me into gold«
They had passed into the corridor which encircled the row of baignoires and
Valentin stopped in front of the dusky little box in which Mademoiselle Nioche
had bestowed herself laying his hand on the doorknob »Oh come are you going
back there« asked Newman
»Mon Dieu oui« said Valentin
»Havent you another place«
»Yes I have my usual place in the stalls«
»You had better go and occupy it then«
»I see her very well from there too« added Valentin serenely »and
tonight she is worth seeing But« he added in a moment »I have a particular
reason for going back just now«
»Oh I give you up« said Newman »You are infatuated«
»No it is only this There is a young man in the box whom I shall annoy by
going in and I want to annoy him«
»I am sorry to hear it« said Newman »Cant you leave the poor fellow
alone«
»No he has given me cause The box is not his Noémie came in alone and
installed herself I went and spoke to her and in a few moments she asked me to
go and get her fan from the pocket of her cloak which the ouvreuse had carried
off In my absence this gentleman came in and took the chair beside Noémie in
which I had been sitting My reappearance disgusted him and he had the
grossness to show it He came within an ace of being impertinent I dont know
who he is he is some vulgar wretch I cant think where she picks up such
acquaintances He has been drinking too but he knows what he is about Just
now in the second act he was unmannerly again I shall put in another
appearance for ten minutes time enough to give him an opportunity to commit
himself if he feels inclined I really cant let the brute suppose that he is
keeping me out of the box«
»My dear fellow« said Newman remonstrantly »what childs play You are not
going to pick a quarrel about that girl I hope«
»That girl has nothing to do with it and I have no intention of picking a
quarrel I am not a bully nor a fireeater I simply wish to make a point that a
gentleman must«
»Oh damn your point« said Newman »That is the trouble with you Frenchmen
you must be always making points Well« he added »be short But if you are
going in for this kind of thing we must ship you off to America in advance«
»Very good« Valentin answered »whenever you please But if I go to
America I must not let this gentleman suppose that it is to run away from him«
And they separated At the end of the act Newman observed that Valentin was
still in the baignoire He strolled into the corridor again expecting to meet
him and when he was within a few yards of Mademoiselle Nioches box saw his
friend pass out accompanied by the young man who had been seated beside its
fair occupant The two gentlemen walked with some quickness of step to a distant
part of the lobby where Newman perceived them stop and stand talking The
manner of each was perfectly quiet but the stranger who looked flushed had
begun to wipe his face very emphatically with his pockethandkerchief By this
time Newman was abreast of the baignoire the door had been left ajar and he
could see a pink dress inside He immediately went in Mademoiselle Nioche
turned and greeted him with a brilliant smile
»Ah you have at last decided to come and see me« she exclaimed »You just
save your politeness You find me in a fine moment Sit down« There was a very
becoming little flush in her cheek and her eye had a noticeable spark You
would have said that she had received some very good news
»Something has happened here« said Newman without sitting down
»You find me in a very fine moment« she repeated »Two gentlemen one of
them is M de Bellegarde the pleasure of whose acquaintance I owe to you have
just had words about your humble servant Very big words too They cant come
off without crossing swords A duel that will give me a push« cried
Mademoiselle Noémie clapping her little hands »Cest ça qui pose une femme«
»You dont mean to say that Bellegarde is going to fight about you«
exclaimed Newman disgustedly
»Nothing less« and she looked at him with a hard little smile »No no you
are not galant And if you prevent this affair I shall owe you a grudge and
pay my debt«
Newman uttered an imprecation which though brief it consisted simply of
the interjection »Oh« followed by a geographical or more correctly perhaps a
theological noun in four letters had better not be transferred to these pages
He turned his back without more ceremony upon the pink dress and went out of the
box In the corridor he found Valentin and his companion walking towards him
The latter was thrusting a card into his waistcoatpocket Mademoiselle Noémies
jealous votary was a tall robust young man with a thick nose a prominent blue
eye a Germanic physiognomy and a massive watchchain When they reached the
box Valentin with an emphasised bow made way for him to pass in first Newman
touched Valentins arm as a sign that he wished to speak with him and
Bellegarde answered that he would be with him in an instant Valentin entered
the box after the robust young man but a couple of minutes afterwards he
reappeared largely smiling
»She is immensely tickled« he said »She says we will make her fortune I
dont want to be fatuous but I think it is very possible«
»So you are going to fight« said Newman
»My dear fellow dont look so mortally disgusted It was not my own choice
The thing is all arranged«
»I told you so« groaned Newman
»I told him so« said Valentin smiling
»What did he do to you«
»My good friend it doesnt matter what He used an expression I took it
up«
»But I insist upon knowing I cant as your elder brother have you rushing
into this sort of nonsense«
»I am very much obliged to you« said Valentin »I have nothing to conceal
but I cant go into particulars now and here«
»We will leave this place then You can tell me outside«
»Oh no I cant leave this place why should I hurry away I will go to my
orchestrastall and sit out the opera«
»You will not enjoy it you will be preoccupied«
Valentin looked at him a moment coloured a little smiled and patted him
on the arm »You are delightfully simple Before an affair a man is quiet The
quietest thing I can do is to go straight to my place«
»Ah« said Newman »you want her to see you there you and your quietness
I am not so simple It is a poor business«
Valentin remained and the two men in their respective places sat out the
rest of the performance which was also enjoyed by Mademoiselle Nioche and her
truculent admirer At the end Newman joined Valentin again and they went into
the street together Valentin shook his head at his friends proposal that he
should get into Newmans own vehicle and stopped on the edge of the pavement
»I must go off alone« he said »I must look up a couple of friends who will
take charge of this matter«
»I will take charge of it« Newman declared »Put it into my hands«
»You are very kind but that is hardly possible In the first place you
are as you said just now almost my brother you are about to marry my sister
That alone disqualifies you it casts doubts on your impartiality And if it
didnt it would be enough for me that I strongly suspect you of disapproving of
the affair You would try to prevent a meeting«
»Of course I should« said Newman »Whoever your friends are I hope they
will do that«
»Unquestionably they will They will urge that excuses be made proper
excuses But you would be too goodnatured You wont do«
Newman was silent a moment He was keenly annoyed but he saw it was useless
to attempt interference »When is this precious performance to come off« he
asked
»The sooner the better« said Valentin »The day after tomorrow I hope«
»Well« said Newman »I have certainly a claim to know the facts I cant
consent to shut my eyes to the matter«
»I shall be most happy to tell you the facts« said Valentin »They are very
simple and it will be quickly done But now everything depends on my putting my
hands on my friends without delay I will jump into a cab you had better drive
to my room and wait for me there I will turn up at the end of an hour«
Newman assented protestingly let his friend go and then betook himself to
the picturesque little apartment in the Rue dAnjou It was more than an hour
before Valentin returned but when he did so he was able to announce that he had
found one of his desired friends and that this gentleman had taken upon himself
the care of securing an associate Newman had been sitting without lights by
Valentins faded fire upon which he had thrown a log the blaze played over the
richlyencumbered little sittingroom and produced fantastic gleams and shadows
He listened in silence to Valentins account of what had passed between him and
the gentleman whose card he had in his pocket M Stanislas Kapp of Strasbourg
after his return to Mademoiselle Nioches box This hospitable young lady had
espied an acquaintance on the other side of the house and had expressed her
displeasure at his not having the civility to come and pay her a visit »Oh let
him alone« M Stanislas Kapp had hereupon exclaimed »There are too many people
in the box already« And he had fixed his eyes with a demonstrative stare upon
M de Bellegarde Valentin had promptly retorted that if there were too many
people in the box it was easy for M Kapp to diminish the number »I shall be
most happy to open the door for you« M Kapp exclaimed »I shall be delighted
to fling you into the pit« Valentin had answered »Oh do make a rumpus and get
into the papers« Miss Noémie had gleefully ejaculated »M Kapp turn him out
or M de Bellegarde pitch him into the pit into the orchestra anywhere I
dont care who does which so long as you make a scene« Valentin answered that
they would make no scene but that the gentleman would be so good as to step
into the corridor with him In the corridor after a brief further exchange of
words there had been an exchange of cards M Stanislas Kapp was very stiff He
evidently meant to force his offence home
»The man no doubt was insolent« Newman said »but if you hadnt gone back
into the box the thing wouldnt have happened«
»Why dont you see« Valentin replied »that the event proves the extreme
propriety of my going back into the box M Kapp wished to provoke me he was
awaiting his chance In such a case that is when he has been so to speak
notified a man must be on hand to receive the provocation My not returning
would simply have been tantamount to my saying to M Stanislas Kapp Oh if you
are going to be disagreeable « «
»You must manage it by yourself damned if Ill help you That would have
been a thoroughly sensible thing to say The only attraction for you seems to
have been the prospect of M Kapps impertinence« Newman went on »You told me
you were not going back for that girl«
»Oh dont mention that girl any more« murmured Valentin »Shes a bore«
»With all my heart But if that is the way you feel about her why couldnt
you let her alone«
Valentin shook his head with a fine smile »I dont think you quite
understand and I dont believe I can make you She understood the situation
she knew what was in the air she was watching us«
»A cat may look at a king What difference does that make«
»Why a man cant back down before a woman«
»I dont call her a woman You said yourself she was a stone« cried Newman
»Well« Valentin rejoined »there is no disputing about tastes Its a
matter of feeling its measured by ones sense of honour«
»Oh confound your sense of honour« cried Newman
»It is vain talking« said Valentin »words have passed and the thing is
settled«
Newman turned away taking his hat Then pausing with his hand on the door
»What are you going to use« he asked
»That is for M Stanislas Kapp as the challenged party to decide My own
choice would be a short light sword I handle it well Im an indifferent
shot«
Newman had put on his hat he pushed it back gently scratching his forehead
high up »I wish it were pistols« he said »I could show you how to lodge a
bullet«
Valentin broke into a laugh »What is it some English poet says about
consistency Its a flower or a star or a jewel Yours has the beauty of all
three« But he agreed to see Newman again on the morrow after the details of
his meeting with M Stanislas Kapp should have been arranged
In the course of the day Newman received three lines from him saying that
it had been decided that he should cross the frontier with his adversary and
that he was to take the night express to Geneva He should have time however
to dine with Newman In the afternoon Newman called upon Madame de Cintré but
his visit was brief She was as gracious and sympathetic as he had ever found
her but she was sad and she confessed on Newmans charging her with her red
eyes that she had been crying Valentin had been with her a couple of hours
before and his visit had left her with a painful impression He had laughed and
gossiped he had brought her no bad news he had only been in his manner
rather more affectionate than usual His fraternal tenderness had touched her
and on his departure she had burst into tears She had felt as if something
strange and sad were going to happen she had tried to reason away the fancy
and the effort had only given her a headache Newman of course was perforce
tonguetied about Valentins projected duel and his dramatic talent was not
equal to satirising Madame de Cintrés presentiment as pointedly as perfect
security demanded Before he went away he asked Madame de Cintré whether
Valentin had seen his mother
»Yes« she said »but he didnt make her cry«
It was in Newmans own apartment that Valentin dined having brought his
portmanteau so that he might adjourn directly to the railway M Stanislas Kapp
had positively declined to make excuses and he on his side obviously had
none to offer Valentin had found out with whom he was dealing M Stanislas
Kapp was the son and heir of a rich brewer of Strasbourg a youth of a
sanguineous and sanguinary temperament He was making ducks and drakes of
the paternal brewery and although he passed in a general way for a good fellow
he had already been observed to be quarrelsome after dinner »Que voulezvous«
said Valentin »Brought up on beer he cant stand champagne« He had chosen
pistols Valentin at dinner had an excellent appetite he made a point in
view of his long journey of eating more than usual He took the liberty of
suggesting to Newman a slight modification in the composition of a certain
fishsauce he thought it would be worth mentioning to the cook But Newman had
no thoughts for fishsauce he felt thoroughly discontented As he sat and
watched his amiable and clever companion going through his excellent repast with
the delicate deliberation of hereditary epicurism the folly of so charming a
fellow travelling off to expose his agreeable young life for the sake of M
Stanislas and Mademoiselle Noémie struck him with intolerable force He had
grown fond of Valentin he felt now how fond and his sense of helplessness only
increased his irritation
»Well this sort of thing may be all very well« he cried at last »but I
declare I dont see it I cant stop you perhaps but at least I can protest I
do protest violently«
»My dear fellow dont make a scene« said Valentin »Scenes in these cases
are in very bad taste«
»Your duel itself is a scene« said Newman »thats all it is Its a
wretched theatrical affair Why dont you take a band of music with you
outright Its dd barbarous and its dd corrupt both«
»Oh I cant begin at this time of day to defend the theory of duelling«
said Valentin »It is our custom and I think it is a good thing Quite apart
from the goodness of the cause in which a duel may be fought it has a kind of
picturesque charm which in this age of vile prose seems to me greatly to
recommend it Its a remnant of a highertempered time one ought to cling to
it Depend upon it a duel is never amiss«
»I dont know what you mean by a highertempered time« said Newman
»Because your greatgrandfather was an ass is that any reason why you should
be For my part I think we had better let our temper take care of itself; it
generally seems to me quite high enough I am not afraid of being too meek If
your greatgrandfather were to make himself unpleasant to me I think I could
manage him yet«
»My dear friend« said Valentin smiling »you cant invent anything that
will take the place of satisfaction for an insult To demand it and to give it
are equally excellent arrangements«
»Do you call this sort of thing satisfaction« Newman asked »Does it
satisfy you to receive a present of the carcass of that coarse fop does it
gratify you to make him a present of yours If a man hits you hit him back if
a man libels you haul him up«
»Haul him up into court Oh that is very nasty« said Valentin
»The nastiness is his not yours And for that matter what you are doing
is not particularly nice You are too good for it I dont say you are the most
useful man in the world or the cleverest or the most amiable But you are too
good to go and get your throat cut for a prostitute«
Valentin flushed a little but he laughed »I shant get my throat cut if I
can help it Moreover ones honour hasnt two different measures It only knows
that it is hurt it doesnt ask when or how or where«
»The more fool it is« said Newman
Valentin ceased to laugh he looked grave »I beg you not to say any more«
he said »If you do I shall almost fancy you dont care about about« and he
paused
»About what«
»About that matter about ones honour«
»Fancy what you please« said Newman »Fancy while you are at it that I care
about you though you are not worth it But come back without damage« he added
in a moment »and I will forgive you And then« he continued as Valentin was
going »I will ship you straight off to America«
»Well« answered Valentin »if I am to turn over a new page this may figure
as a tailpiece to the old« And then he lit another cigar and departed
»Blast that girl« said Newman as the door closed upon Valentin
Chapter XVIII
Newman went the next morning to see Madame de Cintré timing his visit so as to
arrive after the noonday breakfast In the court of the hôtel before the
portico stood Madame de Bellegardes old square carriage The servant who
opened the door answered Newmans inquiry with a slightly embarrassed and
hesitating murmur and at the same moment Mrs Bread appeared in the background
dimvisaged as usual and wearing a large black bonnet and shawl
»What is the matter« asked Newman »Is Madame la Comtesse at home or not«
Mrs Bread advanced fixing her eyes upon him he observed that she held a
sealed letter very delicately in her fingers »The countess has left a message
for you sir she has left this« said Mrs Bread holding out the letter which
Newman took
»Left it Is she out Is she gone away«
»She is going away sir she is leaving town« said Mrs Bread
»Leaving town« exclaimed Newman »What has happened«
»It is not for me to say sir« said Mrs Bread with her eyes on the
ground »But I thought it would come«
»What would come pray« Newman demanded He had broken the seal of the
letter but he still questioned »She is in the house She is visible«
»I dont think she expected you this morning« the old waitingwoman
replied »She was to leave immediately«
»Where is she going«
»To Fleurières«
»To Fleurières But surely I can see her«
Mrs Bread hesitated a moment and then clasping together her two hands »I
will take you« she said And she led the way upstairs At the top of the
staircase she paused and fixed her dry sad eyes upon Newman »Be very easy with
her« she said »she is most unhappy« Then she went on to Madame de Cintrés
apartment Newman perplexed and alarmed followed her rapidly Mrs Bread threw
open the door and Newman pushed back the curtain at the farther side of its
deep embrasure In the middle of the room stood Madame de Cintré her face was
pale and she was dressed for travelling Behind her before the fireplace stood
Urbain de Bellegarde looking at his fingernails near the marquis sat his
mother buried in an armchair and with her eyes immediately fixing themselves
upon Newman He felt as soon as he entered the room that he was in the
presence of something evil he was startled and pained as he would have been by
a threatening cry in the stillness of the night He walked straight to Madame de
Cintré and seized her by the hand
»What is the matter« he asked commandingly »what is happening«
Urbain de Bellegarde stared then left his place and came and leaned upon
his mothers chair behind Newmans sudden irruption had evidently discomposed
both mother and son Madame de Cintré stood silent with her eyes resting upon
Newmans She had often looked at him with all her soul as it seemed to him
but in this present gaze there was a sort of bottomless depth She was in
distress it was the most touching thing he had ever seen His heart rose into
his throat and he was on the point of turning to her companions with an angry
challenge but she checked him pressing the hand that held her own
»Something very grave has happened« she said »I cannot marry you«
Newman dropped her hand and stood staring first at her and then at the
others »Why not« he asked as quietly as possible
Madame de Cintré almost smiled but the attempt was strange »You must ask
my mother you must ask my brother«
»Why cant she marry me« said Newman looking at them
Madame de Bellegarde did not move in her place but she was as pale as her
daughter The marquis looked down at her She said nothing for some moments but
she kept her keen clear eyes upon Newman bravely The marquis drew himself up
and looked at the ceiling »Its impossible« he said softly
»Its improper« said Madame de Bellegarde
Newman began to laugh »Oh you are fooling« he exclaimed
»My sister you have no time you are losing your train« said the marquis
»Come is he mad« asked Newman
»No dont think that« said Madame de Cintré »But I am going away«
»Where are you going«
»To the country to Fleurières to be alone«
»To leave me« said Newman slowly
»I cant see you now« said Madame de Cintré
»Now why not«
»I am ashamed« said Madame de Cintré simply
Newman turned toward the marquis »What have you done to her what does it
mean« he asked with the same effort at calmness the fruit of his constant
practice in taking things easily He was excited but excitement with him was
only an intenser deliberateness it was the swimmer stripped
»It means that I have given you up« said Madame de Cintré »It means that«
Her face was too charged with tragic expression not fully to confirm her
words Newman was profoundly shocked but he felt as yet no resentment against
her He was amazed bewildered and the presence of the old marquise and her son
seemed to smite his eyes like the glare of a watchmans lantern »Cant I see
you alone« he asked
»It would be only more painful I hoped I should not see you I should
escape I wrote to you Goodbye« And she put out her hand again
Newman put both his own into his pockets »I will go with you« he said
She laid her two hands on his arm »Will you grant me a last request« and
as she looked at him urging this her eyes filled with tears »Let me go alone
let me go in peace I cant call it peace its death But let me bury
myself So goodbye«
Newman passed his hand into his hair and stood slowly rubbing his head and
looking through his keenlynarrowed eyes from one to the other of the three
persons before him His lips were compressed and the two lines which had formed
themselves beside his mouth might have made it appear at a first glance that he
was smiling I have said that his excitement was an intenser deliberateness and
now he looked grimly deliberate »It seems very much as if you had interfered
marquis« he said slowly »I thought you said you wouldnt interfere I know you
dont like me but that doesnt make any difference I thought you promised me
you wouldnt interfere I thought you swore on your honour that you wouldnt
interfere Dont you remember marquis«
The marquis lifted his eyebrows but he was apparently determined to be even
more urbane than usual He rested his two hands upon the back of his mothers
chair and bent forward as if he were leaning over the edge of a pulpit or a
lecturedesk He did not smile but he looked softly grave »Excuse me sir« he
said »I assured you that I would not influence my sisters decision I adhered
to the letter to my engagement Did I not sister«
»Dont appeal my son« said the marquise »your word is sufficient«
»Yes she accepted me« said Newman »That is very true I cant deny that
At least« he added in a different tone turning to Madame de Cintré »you did
accept me«
Something in the tone seemed to move her strongly She turned away burying
her face in her hands
»But you have interfered now havent you« inquired Newman of the marquis
»Neither then nor now have I attempted to influence my sister I used no
persuasion then I have used no persuasion today«
»And what have you used«
»We have used authority« said Madame de Bellegarde in a rich belllike
voice
»Ah you have used authority« Newman exclaimed »They have used authority«
he went on turning to Madame de Cintré »What is it how did they use it«
»My mother commanded« said Madame de Cintré
»Commanded you to give me up I see And you obey I see But why do you
obey« asked Newman
Madame de Cintré looked across at the old marquise her eyes slowly measured
her from head to foot »I am afraid of my mother« she said
Madame de Bellegarde rose with a certain quickness crying »This is a most
indecent scene«
»I have no wish to prolong it« said Madame de Cintré and turning to the
door she put out her hand again »If you can pity me a little let me go alone«
Newman shook her hand quietly and firmly »Ill come down there« he said
The portière dropped behind her and Newman sank with a long breath into the
nearest chair He leaned back in it resting his hands on the knobs of the arms
and looking at Madame de Bellegarde and Urbain There was a long silence They
stood side by side with their heads high and their handsome eyebrows arched
»So you make a distinction« Newman said at last »You make a distinction
between persuading and commanding Its very neat But the distinction is in
favour of commanding That rather spoils it«
»We have not the least objection to defining our position« said M de
Bellegarde »We understand that it should not at first appear to you quite
clear We rather expect indeed that you should not do us justice«
»Oh Ill do you justice« said Newman »Dont be afraid Please proceed«
The marquise laid her hand on her sons arm as if to deprecate the attempt
to define their position »It is quite useless« she said »to try and arrange
this matter so as to make it agreeable to you It can never be agreeable to you
It is a disappointment and disappointments are unpleasant I thought it over
carefully and tried to arrange it better but I only gave myself a headache and
lost my sleep Say what we will you will think yourself illtreated and you
will publish your wrongs among your friends But we are not afraid of that
Besides your friends are not our friends and it will not matter Think of us
as you please I only beg you not to be violent I have never in my life been
present at a violent scene of any kind and at my age I cant be expected to
begin«
»Is that all you have got to say« asked Newman slowly rising out of his
chair »Thats a poor show for a clever lady like you marquise Come try
again«
»My mother goes to the point with her usual honesty and intrepidity« said
the marquis toying with his watchguard »But it is perhaps well to say a
little more We of course quite repudiate the charge of having broken faith with
you We left you entirely at liberty to make yourself agreeable to my sister We
left her quite at liberty to entertain your proposal When she accepted you we
said nothing We therefore quite observed our promise It was only at a later
stage of the affair and on quite a different basis as it were that we
determined to speak It would have been better perhaps if we had spoken
before But really you see nothing has yet been done«
»Nothing has yet been done« Newman repeated the words unconscious of their
comical effect He had lost the sense of what the marquis was saying M de
Bellegardes superior style was a mere humming in his ears All that he
understood in his deep and simple indignation was that the matter was not a
violent joke and that the people before him were perfectly serious »Do you
suppose I can take this« he asked »Do you suppose it can matter to me what you
say Do you suppose I can seriously listen to you You are simply crazy«
Madame de Bellegarde gave a rap with her fan in the palm of her hand »If
you dont take it you can leave it sir It matters very little what you do My
daughter has given you up«
»She doesnt mean it« Newman declared after a moment
»I think I can assure you that she does« said the marquis
»Poor woman what damnable thing have you done to her« cried Newman
»Gently gently« murmured M de Bellegarde
»She told you« said the old lady »I commanded her«
Newman shook his head heavily »This sort of thing cant be you know« he
said »A man cant be used in this fashion You have got no right you have got
no power«
»My power« said Madame de Bellegarde »is in my childrens obedience«
»In their fear your daughter said There is something very strange in it
Why should your daughter be afraid of you« added Newman after looking a moment
at the old lady »There is some foul play«
The marquise met his gaze without flinching and as if she did not hear or
heed what he said »I did my best« she said quietly »I could endure it no
longer«
»It was a bold experiment« said the marquis
Newman felt disposed to walk to him clutch his neck with his fingers and
press his windpipe with his thumb »I neednt tell you how you strike me« he
said »of course you know that But I should think you would be afraid of your
friends all those people you introduced me to the other night There were some
very nice people among them you may depend upon it there were some honest men
and women«
»Our friends approve us« said M de Bellegarde »there is not a family
among them that would have acted otherwise And however that may be we take the
cue from no one The Bellegardes have been used to set the example not to wait
for it«
»You would have waited long before anyone would have set you such an example
as this« exclaimed Newman »Have I done anything wrong« he demanded »Have I
given you reason to change your opinion Have you found out anything against me
I cant imagine«
»Our opinion« said Madame de Bellegarde »is quite the same as at first
exactly We have no illwill towards yourself we are very far from accusing you
of misconduct Since your relations with us began you have been I frankly
confess less less peculiar than I expected It is not your disposition that
we object to it is your antecedents We really cannot reconcile ourselves to a
commercial person We fancied in an evil hour that we could it was a great
misfortune We determined to persevere to the end and to give you every
advantage I was resolved that you should have no reason to accuse me of a want
of loyalty We let the thing certainly go very far we introduced you to our
friends To tell the truth it was that I think that broke me down I
succumbed to the scene that took place on Thursday night in these rooms You
must excuse me if what I say is disagreeable to you but we cannot release
ourselves without an explanation«
»There can be no better proof of our good faith« said the marquis »than
our committing ourselves to you in the eyes of the world the other evening We
endeavoured to bind ourselves to tie our hands as it were«
»But it was that« added his mother »that opened our eyes and broke our
bonds We should have been most uncomfortable You know« she added in a moment
»that you were forewarned I told you we were very proud«
Newman took up his hat and began mechanically to smooth it the very
fierceness of his scorn kept him from speaking »You are not proud enough« he
observed at last
»In all this matter« said the marquis smiling »I really see nothing but
our humility«
»Let us have no more discussion than is necessary« resumed Madame de
Bellegarde »My daughter told you everything when she said she gave you up«
»I am not satisfied about your daughter« said Newman »I want to know what
you did to her It is all very easy talking about authority and saying you
commanded her She didnt accept me blindly and she wouldnt have given me up
blindly Not that I believe yet she has really given me up she will talk it
over with me But you have frightened her you have bullied her you have hurt
her What was it you did to her«
»I did very little« said Madame de Bellegarde in a tone which gave Newman
a chill when he afterwards remembered it
»Let me remind you that we offered you these explanations« the marquis
observed »with the express understanding that you should abstain from violence
of language«
»I am not violent« Newman answered »it is you who are violent But I dont
know that I have much more to say to you What you expect of me apparently is
to go my way thanking you for favours received and promising never to trouble
you again«
»We expect of you to act like a clever man« said Madame de Bellegarde »You
have shown yourself that already and what we have done is altogether based upon
your being so When one must submit one must Since my daughter absolutely
withdraws what will be the use of your making a noise«
»It remains to be seen whether your daughter absolutely withdraws Your
daughter and I are still very good friends nothing is changed in that As I
say I will talk it over with her«
»That will be of no use« said the old lady »I know my daughter well enough
to know that words spoken as she just now spoke to you are final Besides she
has promised me«
»I have no doubt her promise is worth a good deal more than your own« said
Newman »nevertheless I dont give her up«
»Just as you please But if she wont even see you and she wont your
constancy must remain purely Platonic«
Poor Newman was feigning a greater confidence than he felt Madame de
Cintrés strange intensity had in fact struck a chill to his heart her face
still impressed upon his vision had been a terribly vivid image of
renunciation He felt sick and suddenly helpless He turned away and stood for
a moment with his hand on the door then he faced about and after the briefest
hesitation broke out with a different accent »Come think of what this must be
to me and let her alone Why should you object to me so whats the matter
with me I cant hurt you I wouldnt if I could Im the most unobjectionable
fellow in the world What if I am a commercial person What under the sun do you
mean A commercial person I will be any sort of person you want I never talk
to you about business Let her go and I will ask no questions I will take her
away and you shall never see me or hear of me again I will stay in America if
you like Ill sign a paper promising never to come back to Europe All I want
is not to lose her«
Madame de Bellegarde and her son exchanged a glance of lucid irony and
Urbain said »My dear sir what you propose is hardly an improvement We have
not the slightest objection to seeing you as an amiable foreigner and we have
every reason for not wishing to be eternally separated from my sister We object
to the marriage and in that way« and M de Bellegarde gave a small thin
laugh »she would be more married than ever«
»Well then« said Newman »where is this place of yours Fleurières I
know it is near some old city on a hill«
»Precisely Poitiers is on a hill« said Madame de Bellegarde »I dont know
how old it is We are not afraid to tell you«
»It is Poitiers is it Very good« said Newman »I shall immediately follow
Madame de Cintré«
»The trains after this hour wont serve you« said Urbain
»I shall hire a special train«
»That will be a very silly waste of money« said Madame de Bellegarde
»It will be time enough to talk about waste three days hence« Newman
answered and clapping his hat on his head he departed
He did not immediately start for Fleurières he was too stunned and wounded
for consecutive action He simply walked he walked straight before him
following the river till he got out of the enceinte of Paris He had a burning
tingling sense of personal outrage He had never in his life received so
absolute a check he had never been pulled up or as he would have said let
down so short and he found the sensation intolerable he strode along tapping
the trees and lampposts fiercely with his stick and inwardly raging To lose
Madame de Cintré after he had taken such jubilant and triumphant possession of
her was as great an affront to his pride as it was an injury to his happiness
And to lose her by the interference and the dictation of others by an impudent
old woman and a pretentious fop stepping in with their authority It was too
preposterous it was too pitiful Upon what he deemed the unblushing treachery
of the Bellegardes Newman wasted little thought he consigned it once for all
to eternal perdition But the treachery of Madame de Cintré herself amazed and
confounded him there was a key to the mystery of course but he groped for it
in vain Only three days had elapsed since she stood beside him in the
starlight beautiful and tranquil as the trust with which he had inspired her
and told him that she was happy in the prospect of their marriage What was the
meaning of the change of what infernal potion had she tasted Poor Newman had a
terrible apprehension that she had really changed His very admiration for her
attached the idea of force and weight to her rupture But he did not rail at her
as false for he was sure she was unhappy In his walk he had crossed one of the
bridges of the Seine and he still followed unheedingly the long unbroken
quay He had left Paris behind him and he was almost in the country he was in
the pleasant suburb of Auteuil He stopped at last looked around him without
seeing or caring for its pleasantness and then slowly turned and at a slower
pace retraced his steps When he came abreast of the fantastic embankment known
as the Trocadero he reflected through his throbbing pain that he was near
Mrs Tristrams dwelling and that Mrs Tristram on particular occasions had
much of a womans kindness in her utterance He felt that he needed to pour out
his ire and took the road to her house Mrs Tristram was at home and alone
and as soon as she had looked at him on his entering the room she told him
that she knew what he had come for Newman sat down heavily in silence looking
at her
»They have backed out« she said »Well you may think it strange but I
felt something the other night in the air« Presently he told her his story she
listened with her eyes fixed on him When he had finished she said quietly
»They want her to marry Lord Deepmere« Newman stared He did not know that she
knew anything about Lord Deepmere »But I dont think she will« Mrs Tristram
added
»She marry that poor little cub« cried Newman »Oh Lord And yet why did
she refuse me«
»But that isnt the only thing« said Mrs Tristram »They really couldnt
endure you any longer They had overrated their courage I must say to give the
devil his due that there is something rather fine in that It was your
commercial quality in the abstract they couldnt swallow That is really
aristocratic They wanted your money but they have given you up for an idea«
Newman frowned most ruefully and took up his hat again »I thought you
would encourage me« he said with almost childlike sadness
»Excuse me« she answered very gently »I feel none the less sorry for you
especially as I am at the bottom of your troubles I have not forgotten that I
suggested the marriage to you I dont believe that Madame de Cintré has any
intention of marrying Lord Deepmere It is true he is not younger than she as
he looks He is thirtythree years old I looked in the Peerage But no I
cant believe her so horribly cruelly false«
»Please say nothing against her« said Newman
»Poor woman she is cruel But of course you will go after her and you will
plead powerfully Do you know that as you are now« Mrs Tristram pursued with
characteristic audacity of comment »you are extremely eloquent even without
speaking To resist you a woman must have a very fixed idea in her head I wish
I had done you a wrong that you might come to me in that fine fashion But go
to Madame de Cintré at any rate and tell her that she is a puzzle even to me I
am very curious to see how far family discipline will go«
Newman sat awhile longer leaning his elbows on his knees and his head in
his hands and Mrs Tristram continued to temper charity with philosophy and
compassion with criticism At last she inquired »And what does the Count
Valentin say to it« Newman started he had not thought of Valentin and his
errand on the Swiss frontier since the morning The reflection made him restless
again and he took his leave He went straight to his apartment where upon the
table of the vestibule he found a telegram It ran with the date and place as
follows »I am seriously ill please to come to me as soon as possible VB«
Newman groaned at this miserable news and at the necessity of deferring his
journey to the Château de Fleurières But he wrote to Madame de Cintré these few
lines they were all he had time for
»I dont give you up and I dont really believe you give me me up I
dont understand it but we shall clear it up together I cant follow
you to day as I am called to see a friend at a distance who is very
ill perhaps dying But I shall come to you as soon as I can leave my
friend Why shouldnt I say that he is your brother CN«
After this he had only time to catch the night express to Geneva
Chapter XIX
Newman possessed a remarkable talent for sitting still when it was necessary
and he had an opportunity to use it on his journey to Switzerland The
successive hours of the night brought him no sleep but he sat motionless in his
corner of the railwaycarriage with his eyes closed and the most observant of
his fellowtravellers might have envied him his apparent slumber Toward morning
slumber really came as an effect of mental rather than of physical fatigue He
slept for a couple of hours and at last waking found his eyes resting upon
one of the snowpowdered peaks of the Jura behind which the sky was just
reddening with the dawn But he saw neither the cold mountain nor the warm sky
his consciousness began to throb again on the very instant with a sense of his
wrong He got out of the train half an hour before it reached Geneva in the
cold morning twilight at the station indicated in Valentins telegram A drowsy
stationmaster was on the platform with a lantern and the hood of his overcoat
over his head and near him stood a gentleman who advanced to meet Newman This
personage was a man of forty with a tall lean figure a sallow face a dark
eye a neat moustache and a pair of fresh gloves He took off his hat looking
very grave and pronounced Newmans name Our hero assented and said »You are
M de Bellegardes friend«
»I unite with you in claiming that sad honour« said the gentleman »I had
placed myself at M de Bellegardes service in this melancholy affair together
with M de Grosjoyaux who is now at his bedside M de Grosjoyaux I believe
has had the honour of meeting you in Paris but as he is a better nurse than I
he remained with our poor friend Bellegarde has been eagerly expecting you«
»And how is Bellegarde« said Newman »He was badly hit«
»The doctor has condemned him we brought a surgeon with us But he will die
in the best sentiments I sent last evening for the curé of the nearest French
village who spent an hour with him The curé was quite satisfied«
»Heaven forgive us« groaned Newman »I would rather the doctor were
satisfied And can he see me shall he know me«
»When I left him half an hour ago he had fallen asleep after a feverish
wakeful night But we shall see« And Newmans companion proceeded to lead the
way out of the station to the village explaining as he went that the little
party was lodged in the humblest of Swiss inns where however they had
succeeded in making M de Bellegarde much more comfortable than could at first
have been expected »We are old companionsinarms« said Valentins second »it
is not the first time that one of us has helped the other to lie easily It is a
very nasty wound and the nastiest thing about it is that Bellegardes adversary
was no shot He put his bullet where he could It took it into its head to walk
straight into Bellegardes left side just below the heart«
As they picked their way in the gray deceptive dawn between the
manureheaps of the village street Newmans new acquaintance narrated the
particulars of the duel The conditions of the meeting had been that if the
first exchange of shots should fail to satisfy one of the two gentlemen a
second should take place Valentins first bullet had done exactly what Newmans
companion was convinced he had intended it to do it had grazed the arm of M
Stanislas Kapp just scratching the flesh M Kapps own projectile meanwhile
had passed at ten good inches from the person of Valentin The representatives
of M Stanislas had demanded another shot which was granted Valentin had then
fired aside and the young Alsatian had done effective execution »I saw when we
met him on the ground« said Newmans informant »that he was not going to be
commode It is a kind of bovine temperament« Valentin had immediately been
installed at the inn and M Stanislas and his friends had withdrawn to regions
unknown The police authorities of the canton had waited upon the party at the
inn had been extremely majestic and had drawn up a long procèsverbal but it
was probable that they would wink at so very gentlemanly a bit of bloodshed
Newman asked whether a message had not been sent to Valentins family and
learned that up to a late hour on the preceding evening Valentin had opposed it
He had refused to believe his wound was dangerous But after his interview with
the curé he had consented and a telegram had been despatched to his mother
»But the marquise had better hurry« said Newmans conductor
»Well its an abominable affair« said Newman »Thats all I have got to
say« To say this at least in a tone of infinite disgust was an irresistible
need
»Ah you dont approve« questioned his conductor with curious urbanity
»Approve« cried Newman »I wish that when I had him there night before
last I had locked him up in my cabinet de toilette«
Valentins late second opened his eyes and shook his head up and down two
or three times gravely with a little flutelike whistle But they had reached
the inn and a stout maidservant in a nightcap was at the door with a lantern
to take Newmans travellingbag from the porter who trudged behind him Valentin
was lodged on the groundfloor at the back of the house and Newmans companion
went along a stonefaced passage and softly opened a door Then he beckoned to
Newman who advanced and looked into the room which was lighted by a single
shaded candle Beside the fire sat M de Grosjoyaux asleep in his dressinggown
a little plump fair man whom Newman had seen several times in Valentins
company On the bed lay Valentin pale and still with his eyes closed a
figure very shocking to Newman who had seen it hitherto awake to its
fingertips M de Grosjoyauxs colleague pointed to an open door beyond and
whispered that the doctor was within keeping guard So long as Valentin slept
or seemed to sleep of course Newman could not approach him so our hero
withdrew for the present committing himself to the care of the halfwaked bonne
She took him to a room abovestairs and introduced him to a bed on which a
magnified bolster in yellow calico figured as a counterpane Newman lay down
and in spite of his counterpane slept for three or four hours When he awoke
the morning was advanced and the sun was filling his window and he heard
outside of it the clucking of hens
While he was dressing there came to his door a messenger from M de
Grosjoyaux and his companion proposing that he should breakfast with them
Presently he went downstairs to the little stonepaved diningroom where the
maidservant who had taken off her nightcap was serving the repast M de
Grosjoyaux was there surprisingly fresh for a gentleman who had been playing
sicknurse half the night rubbing his hands and watching the breakfasttable
attentively Newman renewed acquaintance with him and learned that Valentin was
still sleeping the surgeon who had had a fairly tranquil night was at present
sitting with him Before M de Grosjoyauxs associate reappeared Newman learned
that his name was M Ledoux and that Bellegardes acquaintance with him dated
from the days when they served together in the Pontifical Zouaves M Ledoux was
the nephew of a distinguished Ultramontane bishop At last the bishops nephew
came in with a toilet in which an ingenious attempt at harmony with the peculiar
situation was visible and with a gravity tempered by a decent deference to the
best breakfast that the Croix Helvétique had ever set forth Valentins servant
who was allowed only in scanty measure the honour of watching with his master
had been lending a light Parisian hand in the kitchen The two Frenchmen did
their best to prove that if circumstances might overshadow they could not
really obscure the national talent for conversation and M Ledoux delivered a
neat little eulogy on poor Bellegarde whom he pronounced the most charming
Englishman he had ever known
»Do you call him an Englishman« Newman asked
M Ledoux smiled a moment and then made an epigram »Cest plus quun
Anglais cest un Anglomane« Newman said soberly that he had never noticed it
and M de Grosjoyaux remarked that it was really too soon to deliver a funeral
oration upon poor Bellegarde »Evidently« said M Ledoux »But I couldnt help
observing this morning to Mr Newman that when a man has taken such excellent
measures for his salvation as our dear friend did last evening it seems almost
a pity he should put it in peril again by returning to the world« M Ledoux was
a great Catholic and Newman thought him a queer mixture His countenance by
daylight had a sort of amiably saturnine cast he had a very large thin nose
and looked like a Spanish picture He appeared to think duelling a very perfect
arrangement provided if one should get hit one could promptly see the priest
He seemed to take a great satisfaction in Valentins interview with the curé
and yet his conversation did not at all indicate a sanctimonious habit of mind
M Ledoux had evidently a high sense of the becoming and was prepared to be
urbane and tasteful on all points He was always furnished with a smile which
pushed his moustache up under his nose and an explanation Savoirvivre
knowing how to live was his specialty in which he included knowing how to
die but as Newman reflected with a good deal of dumb irritation he seemed
disposed to delegate to others the application of his learning on this latter
point M de Grosjoyaux was of quite another complexion and appeared to regard
his friends theological unction as the sign of an inaccessibly superior mind
He was evidently doing his utmost with a kind of jovial tenderness to make
life agreeable to Valentin to the last and help him as little as possible to
miss the Boulevard des Italiens but what chiefly occupied his mind was the
mystery of a bungling brewers son making so neat a shot He himself could snuff
a candle ampc and yet he confessed that he could not have done better than
this He hastened to add that on the present occasion he would have made a point
of not doing so well It was not an occasion for that sort of murderous work
que diable He would have picked out some quiet fleshy spot and just tapped it
with a harmless ball M Stanislas Kapp had been deplorably heavyhanded but
really when the world had come to that pass that one granted a meeting to a
brewers son This was M de Grosjoyauxs nearest approach to a
generalisation He kept looking through the window over the shoulder of M
Ledoux at a slender tree which stood at the end of a lane opposite to the inn
and seemed to be measuring its distance from his extended arm and secretly
wishing that since the subject had been introduced propriety did not forbid a
little speculative pistolpractice
Newman was in no humour to enjoy good company He could neither eat nor
talk his soul was sore with grief and anger and the weight of his double
sorrow was intolerable He sat with his eyes fixed upon his plate counting the
minutes wishing at one moment that Valentin would see him and leave him free to
go in quest of Madame de Cintré and his lost happiness and mentally calling
himself a vile brute the next for the impatient egotism of the wish He was
very poor company himself and even his acute preoccupation and his general
lack of the habit of pondering the impression he produced did not prevent him
from reflecting that his companions must be puzzled to see how poor Bellegarde
came to take such a fancy to this taciturn Yankee that he must needs have him at
his deathbed After breakfast he strolled forth alone into the village and
looked at the fountain the geese the open barn doors the brown bent old
women showing their hugely darned stockingheels at the ends of their
slowlyclicking sabots and the beautiful view of snowy Alp and purple Jura at
either end of the little street The day was brilliant early spring was in the
air and sunshine and the winters damp was trickling out of the cottage eaves
It was birth and brightness for all nature even for chirping chickens and
waddling goslings and it was to be death and burial for poor foolish
generous delightful Bellegarde Newman walked as far as the village church and
went into the small graveyard beside it where he sat down and looked at the
awkward tablets which were planted around They were all sordid and hideous and
Newman could feel nothing but the hardness and coldness of death He got up and
came back to the inn where he found M Ledoux having coffee and a cigarette at
a little green table which he had caused to be carried into the small garden
Newman learning that the doctor was still sitting with Valentin asked M
Ledoux if he might not be allowed to relieve him he had a great desire to be
useful to his poor friend This was easily arranged the doctor was very glad to
go to bed He was a youthful and rather jaunty practitioner but he had a clever
face and the ribbon of the Legion of Honour in his buttonhole Newman listened
attentively to the instructions he gave him before retiring and took
mechanically from his hand a small volume which the surgeon recommended as a
help to wakefulness and which turned out to be an old copy of Les Liaisons
Dangereuses
Valentin was still lying with his eyes closed and there was no visible
change in his condition Newman sat down near him and for a long time narrowly
watched him Then his eyes wandered away with his thoughts upon his own
situation and rested upon the chain of the Alps disclosed by the drawing of
the scant white cotton curtain of the window through which the sunshine passed
and lay in squares upon the redtiled floor He tried to interweave his
reflections with hope but he only half succeeded What had happened to him
seemed to have in its violence and audacity the force of a real calamity the
strength and insolence of Destiny herself It was unnatural and monstrous and
he had no arms against it At last a sound struck upon the stillness and he
heard Valentins voice
»It cant be about me you are pulling that long face« He found when he
turned that Valentin was lying in the same position but his eyes were open
and he was even trying to smile It was with a very slender strength that he
returned the pressure of Newmans hand »I have been watching you for a quarter
of an hour« Valentin went on »you have been looking as black as thunder You
are greatly disgusted with me I see Well of course So am I«
»Oh I shall not scold you« said Newman »I feel too badly And how are you
getting on«
»Oh Im getting off They have quite settled that havent they«
»Thats for you to settle you can get well if you try« said Newman with
resolute cheerfulness
»My dear fellow how can I try Trying is violent exercise and that sort of
thing isnt in order for a man with a hole in his side as big as your hat that
begins to bleed if he moves a hairsbreadth I knew you would come« he
continued »I knew I should wake up and find you here so Im not surprised But
last night I was very impatient I didnt see how I could keep still until you
came It was a matter of keeping still just like this as still as a mummy in
his case You talk about trying I tried that Well here I am yet these
twenty hours It seems like twenty days« Bellegarde talked slowly and feebly
but distinctly enough It was visible however that he was in extreme pain and
at last he closed his eyes Newman begged him to remain silent and spare
himself the doctor had left urgent orders »Oh« said Valentin »let us eat and
drink for tomorrow tomorrow« and he paused again »No not tomorrow
perhaps but today I cant eat and drink but I can talk Whats to be gained
at this pass by renun renunciation I mustnt use such big words I was
always a chatterer Lord how I have talked in my day«
»Thats a reason for keeping quiet now« said Newman »We know how well you
talk you know«
But Valentin without heeding him went on in the same weak dying drawl »I
wanted to see you because you have seen my sister Does she know will she
come«
Newman was embarrassed »Yes by this time she must know«
»Didnt you tell her« Valentin asked And then in a moment »Didnt you
bring me any message from her« His eyes rested upon Newmans with a certain
soft keenness
»I didnt see her after I got your telegram« said Newman »I wrote to her«
»And she sent you no answer«
Newman was obliged to reply that Madame de Cintré had left Paris »She went
yesterday to Fleurières«
»Yesterday to Fleurières Why did she go to Fleurières What day is this
What day was yesterday Ah then I shant see her« said Valentin sadly
»Fleurières is too far« And then he closed his eyes again Newman sat silent
summoning pious invention to his aid but he was relieved at finding that
Valentin was apparently too weak to reason or to be curious Bellegarde
however presently went on »And my mother and my brother will they come
Are they at Fleurières«
»They were in Paris but I didnt see them either« Newman answered »If
they received your telegram in time they will have started this morning
Otherwise they will be obliged to wait for the nightexpress and they will
arrive at the same hour as I did«
»They wont thank me they wont thank me« Valentin murmured »They will
pass an atrocious night and Urbain doesnt like the early morning air I dont
remember ever in my life to have seen him before noon before breakfast No one
ever saw him We dont know how he is then Perhaps hes different Who knows
Posterity perhaps will know Thats the time he works in his cabinet at the
history of the Princesses But I had to send for them hadnt I And then I
want to see my mother sit there where you sit and say goodbye to her Perhaps
after all I dont know her and she will have some surprise for me Dont think
you know her yet yourself perhaps she may surprise you But if I cant see
Claire I dont care for anything I have been thinking of it and in my
dreams too Why did she go to Fleurières today She never told me What has
happened Ah she ought to have guessed I was here this way It is the first
time in her life she ever disappointed me Poor Claire«
»You know we are not man and wife quite yet your sister and I« said
Newman »She doesnt yet account to me for all her actions« And after a
fashion he smiled
Valentin looked at him a moment »Have you quarrelled«
»Never never never« Newman exclaimed
»How happily you say that« said Valentin »You are going to be happy va«
In answer to this stroke of irony none the less powerful for being so
unconscious all poor Newman could do was to give a helpless and transparent
stare Valentin continued to fix him with his own rather overbright gaze and
presently he said »But something is the matter with you I watched you just
now you havent a bridegrooms face«
»My dear fellow« said Newman »how can I show you a bridegrooms face If
you think I enjoy seeing you lie there and not being able to help you «
»Why you are just the man to be cheerful dont forfeit your rights Im a
proof of your wisdom When was a man ever gloomy when he could say I told you
so You told me so you know You did what you could about it You said some
very good things I have thought them over But my dear friend I was right
all the same This is the regular way«
»I didnt do what I ought« said Newman »I ought to have done something
else«
»For instance«
»Oh something or other I ought to have treated you as a small boy«
»Well Im a very small boy now« said Valentin »Im rather less than an
infant An infant is helpless but its generally voted promising Im not
promising eh Society cant lose a less valuable member«
Newman was strongly moved He got up and turned his back upon his friend and
walked away to the window where he stood looking out but only vaguely seeing
»No I dont like the look of your back« Valentin continued »I have always
been an observer of backs yours is quite out of sorts«
Newman returned to his bedside and begged him to be quiet »Be quiet and get
well« he said »Thats what you must do Get well and help me«
»I told you you were in trouble How can I help you« Valentin asked
»Ill let you know when you are better You were always curious there is
something to get well for« Newman answered with resolute animation
Valentin closed his eyes and lay a long time without speaking He seemed
even to have fallen asleep But at the end of half an hour he began to talk
again »I am rather sorry about that place in the bank Who knows but that I
might have become another Rothschild But I wasnt meant for a banker bankers
are not so easy to kill Dont you think I have been very easy to kill Its not
like a serious man Its really very mortifying Its like telling your hostess
you must go when you count upon her begging you to stay and then finding she
does no such thing Really so soon Youve only just come Life doesnt make
me any such polite little speech«
Newman for some time said nothing but at last he broke out »Its a bad
case its a bad case its the worst case I ever met I dont want to say
anything unpleasant but I cant help it Ive seen men dying before and Ive
seen men shot But it always seemed more natural they were not so clever as
you Damnation damnation You might have done something better than this Its
about the meanest windingup of a mans affairs that I can imagine«
Valentin feebly waved his hand to and fro »Dont insist dont insist It
is mean decidedly mean For you see at the bottom down at the bottom in a
little place as small as the end of a winefunnel I agree with you«
A few moments after this the doctor put his head through the halfopened
door and perceiving that Valentin was awake came in and felt his pulse He
shook his head and declared that he had talked too much ten times too much
»Nonsense« said Valentin »a man sentenced to death can never talk too much
Have you never read an account of an execution in a newspaper Dont they always
set a lot of people at the prisoner lawyers reporters priests to make him
talk But its not Mr Newmans fault he sits there as mum as a deathshead«
The doctor observed that it was time his patients wound should be dressed
again MM de Grosjoyaux and Ledoux who had already witnessed this delicate
operation taking Newmans place as assistants Newman withdrew and learned from
his fellowwatchers that they had received a telegram from Urbain de Bellegarde
to the effect that their message had been delivered in the Rue de lUniversité
too late to allow him to take the morning train but that he would start with
his mother in the evening Newman wandered away into the village again and
walked about restlessly for two or three hours The day seemed terribly long At
dusk he came back and dined with the doctor and M Ledoux The dressing of
Valentins wound had been a very critical operation the doctor didnt really
see how he was to endure a repetition of it He then declared that he must beg
of Mr Newman to deny himself for the present the satisfaction of sitting with
M de Bellegarde more than anyone else apparently he had the flattering but
inconvenient privilege of exciting him M Ledoux at this swallowed a glass of
wine in silence he must have been wondering what the deuce Bellegarde found so
exciting in the American
Newman after dinner went up to his room where he sat for a long time
staring at his lighted candle and thinking that Valentin was dying downstairs
Late when the candle had burnt low there came a soft tap at his door The
doctor stood there with a candlestick and a shrug
»He must amuse himself still« said Valentins medical adviser »He insists
upon seeing you and I am afraid you must come I think at this rate that he
will hardly outlast the night«
Newman went back to Valentins room which he found lighted by a taper on
the hearth Valentin begged him to light a candle »I want to see your face« he
said »They say you excite me« he went on as Newman complied with this
request »and I confess I do feel excited but it isnt you its my own
thoughts I have been thinking thinking Sit down there and let me look at you
again« Newman seated himself folded his arms and bent a heavy gaze upon his
friend He seemed to be playing a part mechanically in a lugubrious comedy
Valentin looked at him for some time »Yes this morning I was right you have
something on your mind heavier than Valentin de Bellegarde Come Im a dying
man and its indecent to deceive me Something happened after I left Paris It
was not for nothing that my sister started off at this season of the year for
Fleurières Why was it It sticks in my crop I have been thinking it over and
if you dont tell me I shall guess«
»I had better not tell you« said Newman »It wont do you any good«
»If you think it will do me any good not to tell me you are very much
mistaken There is trouble about your marriage«
»Yes« said Newman »There is trouble about my marriage«
»Good« And Valentin was silent again »They have stopped it«
»They have stopped it« said Newman Now that he had spoken out he found a
satisfaction in it which deepened as he went on »Your mother and brother have
broken faith They have decided that it cant take place They have decided that
I am not good enough after all They have taken back their word Since you
insist there it is«
Valentin gave a sort of groan lifted his hands a moment and then let them
drop
»I am sorry not to have anything better to tell you about them« Newman
pursued »But its not my fault I was indeed very unhappy when your telegram
reached me I was quite upside down You may imagine whether I feel any better
now«
Valentin moaned gaspingly as if his wound were throbbing »Broken faith
broken faith« he murmured »And my sister my sister«
»Your sister is very unhappy she has consented to give me up I dont know
why I dont know what they have done to her it must be something pretty bad
In justice to her you ought to know it They have made her suffer I havent
seen her alone but only before them We had an interview yesterday morning
They came out flat in so many words They told me to go about my business It
seems to me a very bad case Im angry Im sore Im sick«
Valentin lay there staring with his eyes more brilliantly lighted his lips
soundlessly parted and a flush of colour in his pale face Newman had never
before uttered so many words in the plaintive key but now in speaking to
Valentin in the poor fellows extremity he had a feeling that he was making his
complaint somewhere within the presence of the power that men pray to in
trouble he felt his outgush of resentment as a sort of spiritual privilege
»And Claire« said Bellegarde »Claire She has given you up«
»I dont really believe it« said Newman
»No dont believe it dont believe it She is gaining time excuse her«
»I pity her« said Newman
»Poor Claire« murmured Valentin »But they but they« and he paused
again »You saw them they dismissed you face to face«
»Face to face They were very explicit«
»What did they say«
»They said they couldnt stand a commercial person«
Valentin put out his hand and laid it upon Newmans arm »And about their
promise their engagement with you«
»They made a distinction They said it was to hold good only until Madame de
Cintré accepted me«
Valentin lay staring awhile and his flush died away »Dont tell me any
more« he said at last »Im ashamed«
»You You are the soul of honour« said Newman simply
Valentin groaned and turned away his head For some time nothing more was
said Then Valentin turned back again and found a certain force to press
Newmans arm »Its very bad very bad When my people when my race come to
that it is time for me to withdraw I believe in my sister she will explain
Excuse her If she cant if she cant forgive her She has suffered But for
the others it is very bad very bad You take it very hard No its a shame to
make you say so« He closed his eyes and again there was a silence Newman felt
almost awed he had evoked a more solemn spirit than he expected Presently
Valentin looked at him again removing his hand from his arm »I apologise« he
said »Do you understand Here on my deathbed I apologise for my family For
my mother For my brother For the ancient house of Bellegarde Voilà« he added
softly
Newman for all answer took his hand and pressed it with a world of kindness
Valentin remained quiet and at the end of half an hour the doctor softly came
in Behind him through the halfopen door Newman saw the two questioning faces
of MM de Grosjoyaux and Ledoux The doctor laid his hand on Valentins wrist
and sat looking at him He gave no sign and the two gentlemen came in M Ledoux
having first beckoned to someone outside This was M le Curé who carried in
his hand an object unknown to Newman and covered with a white napkin M le
Curé was short round and red he advanced pulling off his little black cap to
Newman and deposited his burden on the table and then he sat down in the best
armchair with his hands folded across his person The other gentlemen had
exchanged glances which expressed unanimity as to the timeliness of their
presence But for a long time Valentin neither spoke nor moved It was Newmans
belief afterwards that M le Curé went to sleep At last abruptly Valentin
pronounced Newmans name His friend went to him and he said in French »You
are not alone I want to speak to you alone« Newman looked at the doctor and
the doctor looked at the curé who looked back at him and then the doctor and
the curé together gave a shrug »Alone for five minutes« Valentin repeated
»Please leave us«
The curé took up his burden again and led the way out followed by his
companions Newman closed the door behind them and came back to Valentins
bedside Bellegarde had watched all this intently
»Its very bad its very bad« he said after Newman had seated himself
close to him »The more I think of it the worse it is«
»Oh dont think of it« said Newman
But Valentin went on without heeding him »Even if they should come round
again the shame the baseness is there«
»Oh they wont come round« said Newman
»Well you can make them«
»Make them«
»I can tell you something a great secret an immense secret You can use
it against them frighten them force them«
»A secret« Newman repeated The idea of letting Valentin on his deathbed
confide to him an immense secret shocked him for the moment and made him draw
back It seemed an illicit way of arriving at information and even had a vague
analogy with listening at a keyhole Then suddenly the thought of forcing
Madame de Bellegarde and her son became attractive and Newman bent his head
closer to Valentins lips For some time however the dying man said nothing
more He only lay and looked at his friend with his kindled expanded troubled
eye and Newman began to believe that he had spoken in delirium But at last he
said
»There was something done something done at Fleurières It was foul play
My father something happened to him I dont know I have been ashamed
afraid to know But I know there is something My mother knows Urbain knows«
»Something happened to your father« said Newman urgently
Valentin looked at him still more wideeyed »He didnt get well«
»Get well of what«
But the immense effort which Valentin had made first to decide to utter
these words and then to bring them out appeared to have taken his last
strength He lapsed again into silence and Newman sat watching him »Do you
understand« he began again presently »At Fleurières You can find out Mrs
Bread knows Tell her I begged you to ask her Then tell them that and see It
may help you If not tell everyone It will it will« here Valentins voice
sank to the feeblest murmur »it will avenge you«
The words died away in a long soft groan Newman stood up deeply impressed
not knowing what to say his heart was beating violently »Thank you« he said
at last »I am much obliged« But Valentin seemed not to hear him he remained
silent and his silence continued At last Newman went and opened the door M
le Curé reentered bearing his sacred vessel and followed by the three
gentlemen and by Valentins servant It was almost processional
Chapter XX
Valentin de Bellegarde died tranquilly just as the cold faint March dawn began
to illumine the faces of the little knot of friends gathered about his bedside
An hour afterwards Newman left the inn and drove to Geneva he was naturally
unwilling to be present at the arrival of Madame de Bellegarde and her
firstborn At Geneva for the moment he remained He was like a man who has
had a fall and wants to sit still and count his bruises He instantly wrote to
Madame de Cintré relating to her the circumstances of her brothers death
with certain exceptions and asking her what was the earliest moment at which
he might hope that she would consent to see him M Ledoux had told him that he
had reason to know that Valentins will Bellegarde had a great deal of elegant
personal property to dispose of contained a request that he should be buried
near his father in the churchyard of Fleurières and Newman intended that the
state of his own relations with the family should not deprive him of the
satisfaction of helping to pay the last earthly honours to the best fellow in
the world He reflected that Valentins friendship was older than Urbains
enmity and that at a funeral it was easy to escape notice Madame de Cintrés
answer to his letter enabled him to time his arrival at Fleurières This answer
was very brief it ran as follows
»I thank you for your letter and for your being with Valentin It is a
most inexpressible sorrow to me that I was not To see you will be
nothing but a distress to me there is no need therefore to wait for
what you call brighter days It is all one now and I shall have no
brighter days Come when you please only notify me first My brother is
to be buried here on Friday and my family is to remain C DE C «
As soon as he received this letter Newman went straight to Paris and to
Poitiers The journey took him far southward through green Touraine and across
the farshining Loire into a country where the early spring deepened about him
as he went but he had never made a journey during which he heeded less what he
would have called the lay of the land He obtained lodging at an inn at
Poitiers and the next morning drove in a couple of hours to the village of
Fleurières But here preoccupied though he was he could not fail to notice the
picturesqueness of the place It was what the French call a petit bourg it lay
at the base of a sort of huge mound on the summit of which stood the crumbling
ruins of a feudal castle much of whose sturdy material as well as that of the
wall which dropped along the hill to enclose the clustered houses defensively
had been absorbed into the very substance of the village The church was simply
the former chapel of the castle fronting upon its grassgrown court which
however was of generous enough width to have given up its quaintest corner to a
little graveyard Here the very headstones themselves seemed to sleep as they
slanted into the grass the patient elbow of the rampart held them together on
one side and in front far beneath their mossy lids the green plains and blue
distances stretched away The way to church up the hill was impracticable to
vehicles It was lined with peasants two or three rows deep who stood watching
old Madame de Bellegarde slowly ascend it on the arm of her elder son behind
the pallbearers of the other Newman chose to lurk among the common mourners
who murmured »Madame la Comtesse« as a tall figure veiled in black passed before
them He stood in the dusky little church while the service was going forward
but at the dismal tombside he turned away and walked down the hill He went
back to Poitiers and spent two days in which patience and impatience were
singularly commingled On the third day he sent Madame de Cintré a note saying
that he would call upon her in the afternoon and in accordance with this he
again took his way to Fleurières He left his vehicle at the tavern in the
village street and obeyed the simple instructions which were given him for
finding the château
»It is just beyond there« said the landlord and pointed to the treetops
of the park above the opposite houses Newman followed the first crossroad to
the right it was bordered with mouldy cottages and in a few moments saw
before him the peaked roofs of the towers Advancing farther he found himself
before a vast iron gate rusty and closed here he paused a moment looking
through the bars The château was near the road this was at once its merit and
its defect but its aspect was extremely impressive Newman learned afterwards
from a guidebook of the province that it dated from the time of Henry IV It
presented to the wide paved area which preceded it and which was edged with
shabby farmbuildings an immense façade of dark timestained brick flanked by
two low wings each of which terminated in a little Dutchlooking pavilion
capped with a fantastic roof Two towers rose behind and behind the towers was
a mass of elms and beeches now just faintly green
But the great feature was a wide green river which washed the foundations
of the château The building rose from an island in the circling stream so that
this formed a perfect moat spanned by a twoarched bridge without a parapet
The dull brick walls which here and there made a grand straight sweep the ugly
little cupolas of the wings the deepset windows the long steep pinnacles of
mossy slate all mirrored themselves in the quiet water Newman rang at the
gate and was almost frightened at the tone with which a big rusty bell above
his head replied to him An old woman came out from the gatehouse and opened
the creaking portal just wide enough for him to pass and he went in across the
dry bare court and the little cracked white slabs of the causeway on the moat
At the door of the château he waited for some moments and this gave him a
chance to observe that Fleurières was not kept up and to reflect that it was a
melancholy place of residence »It looks« said Newman to himself and I give
the comparison for what it is worth »like a Chinese penitentiary« At last the
door was opened by a servant whom he remembered to have seen in the Rue de
lUniversité The mans dull face brightened as he perceived our hero for
Newman for indefinable reasons enjoyed the confidence of the liveried gentry
The footman led the way across a great central vestibule with a pyramid of
plants in tubs in the middle and glass doors all around to what appeared to be
the principal drawingroom of the château Newman crossed the threshold of a
room of superb proportions which made him feel at first like a tourist with a
guidebook and a cicerone awaiting a fee But when his guide had left him alone
with the observation that he would call Madame la Comtesse Newman perceived
that the salon contained little that was remarkable save a dark ceiling with
curiouslycarved rafters some curtains of elaborate antiquated tapestry and a
dark oaken floor polished like a mirror He waited some minutes walking up and
down but at length as he turned at the end of the room he saw that Madame de
Cintré had come in by a distant door She wore a black dress and she stood
looking at him As the length of the immense room lay between them he had time
to look at her before they met in the middle of it
He was dismayed at the change in her appearance Pale heavybrowed almost
haggard with a sort of monastic rigidity in her dress she had little but her
pure features in common with the woman whose radiant good grace he had hitherto
admired She let her eyes rest on his own and she let him take her hand but
her eyes looked like two rainy autumn moons and her touch was portentously
lifeless
»I was at your brothers funeral« Newman said »Then I waited three days
But I could wait no longer«
»Nothing can be lost or gained by waiting« said Madame de Cintré »But it
was very considerate of you to wait wronged as you have been«
»Im glad you think I have been wronged« said Newman with that oddly
humorous accent with which he often uttered words of the gravest meaning
»Do I need to say so« she asked »I dont think I have wronged seriously
many persons certainly not consciously To you to whom I have done this hard
and cruel thing the only reparation I can make is to say I know it I feel it
The reparation is pitifully small«
»Oh its a great step forward« said Newman with a gracious smile of
encouragement He pushed a chair towards her and held it looking at her
urgently She sat down mechanically and he seated himself near her but in a
moment he got up restlessly and stood before her She remained seated like a
troubled creature who had passed through the stage of restlessness
»I say nothing is to be gained by my seeing you« she went on »and yet I am
very glad you came Now I can tell you what I feel It is a selfish pleasure
but it is one of the last I shall have« And she paused with her great misty
eyes fixed upon him »I know how I have deceived and injured you I know how
cruel and cowardly I have been I see it as vividly as you do I feel it to the
ends of my fingers« And she unclasped her hands which were locked together in
her lap lifted them and dropped them at her side »Anything that you may have
said of me in your angriest passion is nothing to what I have said to myself«
»In my angriest passion« said Newman »I have said nothing hard of you The
very worst thing I have said of you yet is that you are the loveliest of women«
And he seated himself before her again abruptly
She flushed a little but even her flush was pale »That is because you
think I will come back But I will not come back It is in that hope you have
come here I know I am very sorry for you I would do almost anything for you
To say that after what I have done seems simply impudent but what can I say
that will not seem impudent To wrong you and apologise that is easy enough I
should not have wronged you« She stopped a moment looking at him and motioned
him to let her go on »I ought never to have listened to you at first that was
the wrong No good could come of it I felt it and yet I listened that was
your fault I liked you too much I believed in you«
»And dont you believe in me now«
»More than ever But now it doesnt matter I have given you up«
Newman gave a powerful thump with his clenched fist upon his knee »Why
why why« he cried »Give me a reason a decent reason You are not a child
you are not a minor nor an idiot You are not obliged to drop me because your
mother told you to Such a reason isnt worthy of you«
»I know that its not worthy of me But its the only one I have to give
After all« said Madame de Cintré throwing out her hands »think me an idiot
and forget me That will be the simplest way«
Newman got up and walked away with a crushing sense that his cause was lost
and yet with an equal inability to give up fighting He went to one of the great
windows and looked out at the stiffly embanked river and the formal gardens
which lay beyond it When he turned round Madame de Cintré had risen she stood
there silent and passive »You are not frank« said Newman »you are not honest
Instead of saying that you are imbecile you should say that other people are
wicked Your mother and your brother have been false and cruel they have been
so to me and I am sure they have been so to you Why do you try to shield them
Why do you sacrifice me to them Im not false Im not cruel You dont know
what you give up I can tell you that you dont They bully you and plot about
you and I I « And he paused holding out his hands She turned away and
began to leave him »You told me the other day that you were afraid of your
mother« he said following her »What did you mean«
Madame de Cintré shook her head »I remember I was sorry afterwards«
»You were sorry when she came down and put on the thumbscrews In Gods
name what is it she does to you«
»Nothing Nothing that you can understand And now that I have given you up
I must not complain of her to you«
»Thats no reasoning« cried Newman »Complain of her on the contrary Tell
me all about it frankly and trustfully as you ought and we will talk it over
so satisfactorily that you wont give me up«
Madame de Cintré looked down some moments fixedly and then raising her
eyes she said »One good at least has come of this I have made you judge me
more fairly You thought of me in a way that did me great honour I dont know
why you had taken it into your head But it left me no loophole for escape no
chance to be the common weak creature I am It was not my fault I warned you
from the first But I ought to have warned you more I ought to have convinced
you that I was doomed to disappoint you But I was in a way too proud You see
what my superiority amounts to I hope« she went on raising her voice with a
tremor which even then and there Newman thought beautiful »I am too proud to be
honest I am not too proud to be faithless I am timid and cold and selfish I
am afraid of being uncomfortable«
»And you call marrying me uncomfortable« said Newman staring
Madame de Cintré blushed a little and seemed to say that if begging his
pardon in words was impudent she might at least thus mutely express her perfect
comprehension of his finding her conduct odious »It is not marrying you it is
doing all that would go with it Its the rupture the defiance the insisting
upon being happy in my own way What right have I to be happy when when «
And she paused
»When what« said Newman
»When others have been most unhappy«
»What others« Newman asked »What have you to do with any others but me
Besides you said just now that you wanted happiness and that you should find
it by obeying your mother You contradict yourself«
»Yes I contradict myself that shows you that I am not even intelligent«
»You are laughing at me« cried Newman »You are mocking me«
She looked at him intently and an observer might have said that she was
asking herself whether she might not most quickly end their common pain by
confessing that she was mocking him »No I am not« she presently said
»Granting that you are not intelligent« he went on »that you are weak
that you are common that you are nothing that I have believed you were what I
ask of you is not an heroic effort it is a very common effort There is a great
deal on my side to make it easy The simple truth is that you dont care enough
about me to make it«
»I am cold« said Madame de Cintré »I am as cold as that flowing river«
Newman gave a great rap on the floor with his stick and a long grim laugh
»Good good« he cried »You go altogether too far you overshoot the mark
There isnt a woman in the world as bad as you would make yourself out I see
your game its what I said You are blackening yourself to whiten others You
dont want to give me up at all you like me you like me I know you do you
have shown it and I have felt it After that you may be as cold as you please
They have bullied you I say they have tortured you Its an outrage and I
insist upon saving you from the extravagance of your own generosity Would you
chop off your hand if your mother requested it«
Madame de Cintré looked a little frightened »I spoke of my mother too
blindly the other day I am my own mistress by law and by her approval She can
do nothing to me she has done nothing She has never alluded to those hard
words I used about her«
»She has made you feel them Ill promise you« said Newman
»Its my conscience that makes me feel them«
»Your conscience seems to me to be rather mixed« exclaimed Newman
passionately
»It has been in great trouble but now it is very clear« said Madame de
Cintré »I dont give you up for any worldly advantage or for any worldly
happiness«
»Oh you dont give me up for Lord Deepmere I know« said Newman »I wont
pretend even to provoke you that I think that But thats what your mother and
your brother wanted and your mother at that villainous ball of hers I liked
it at the time but the very thought of it now makes me rabid tried to push
him on to make up to you«
»Who told you this« said Madame de Cintré softly
»Not Valentin I observed it I guessed it I didnt know at the time that I
was observing it but it stuck in my memory And afterwards you recollect I
saw Lord Deepmere with you in the conservatory You said then that you would
tell me at another time what he had said to you«
»That was before before this« said Madame de Cintré
»It doesnt matter« said Newman »and besides I think I know Hes an
honest little Englishman He came and told you what your mother was up to that
she wanted him to supplant me not being a commercial person If he would make
you an offer she would undertake to bring you over and give me the slip Lord
Deepmere isnt very intellectual so she had to spell it out to him He said he
admired you no end and that he wanted you to know it but he didnt like being
mixed up with that sort of underhand work and he came to you and told tales
That was about the amount of it wasnt it And then you said you were perfectly
happy«
»I dont see why we should talk of Lord Deepmere« said Madame de Cintré
»It was not for that you came here and about my mother it doesnt matter what
you suspect and what you know When once my mind has been made up as it is now
I should not discuss these things Discussing anything now is very idle We
must try and live each as we can I believe you will be happy again even
sometimes when you think of me When you do so think this that it was not
easy and that I did the best I could I have things to reckon with that you
dont know I mean I have feelings I must do as they force me I must I must
They would haunt me otherwise« she cried with vehemence »they would kill me«
»I know what your feelings are they are superstitions They are the feeling
that after all though I am a good fellow I have been in business the feeling
that your mothers looks are law and your brothers words are gospel that you
all hang together and that its a part of the everlasting proprieties that they
should have a hand in everything you do It makes my blood boil That is cold
you are right And what I feel here« and Newman struck his heart and became
more poetical than he knew »is a glowing fire«
A spectator less preoccupied than Madame de Cintrés distracted wooer would
have felt sure from the first that her appealing calm of manner was the result
of violent effort in spite of which the tide of agitation was rapidly rising
On these last words of Newmans it overflowed though at first she spoke low
for fear of her voice betraying her »No I was not right I am not cold I
believe that if I am doing what seems so bad it is not mere weakness and
falseness Mr Newman its like a religion I cant tell you I cant Its
cruel of you to insist I dont see why I shouldnt ask you to believe me and
pity me Its like a religion Theres a curse upon the house I dont know what
I dont know why dont ask me We must all bear it I have been too selfish
I wanted to escape from it You offered me a great chance besides my liking
you It seemed good to change completely to break to go away And then I
admired you But I cant it has overtaken and come back to me« Her
selfcontrol had now completely abandoned her and her words were broken with
long sobs »Why do such dreadful things happen to us why is my brother
Valentin killed like a beast in the midst of his youth and his gaiety and his
brightness and all that we loved him for Why are there things I cant ask about
that I am afraid to know Why are there places I cant look at sounds I cant
hear Why is it given to me to choose to decide in a case so hard and so
terrible as this I am not meant for that I am not made for boldness and
defiance I was made to be happy in a quiet natural way« At this Newman gave a
most expressive groan but Madame de Cintré went on »I was made to do gladly
and gratefully what is expected of me My mother has always been very good to
me thats all I can say I must not judge her I must not criticise her If I
did it would come back to me I cant change«
»No« said Newman bitterly »I must change if I break in two in the
effort«
»You are different You are a man you will get over it You have all kinds
of consolation You were born you were trained to changes Besides besides
I shall always think of you«
»I dont care for that« cried Newman »You are cruel you are terribly
cruel God forgive you You may have the best reasons and the finest feelings in
the world that makes no difference You are a mystery to me I dont see how
such hardness can go with such loveliness«
Madame de Cintré fixed him a moment with her swimming eyes »You believe I
am hard then«
Newman answered her look and then broke out »You are a perfect faultless
creature Stay by me«
»Of course I am hard« she went on »Whenever we give pain we are hard And
we must give pain thats the world the hateful miserable world Ah« and she
gave a long deep sigh »I cant even say I am glad to have known you though I
am That too is to wrong you I can say nothing that is not cruel Therefore let
us part without more of this Goodbye« And she put out her hand
Newman stood and looked at it without taking it and then raised his eyes to
her face He felt himself like shedding tears of rage »What are you going to
do« he asked »Where are you going«
»Where I shall give no more pain and suspect no more evil I am going out of
the world«
»Out of the world«
»I am going into a convent«
»Into a convent« Newman repeated the words with the deepest dismay it was
as if she had said she was going into a hospital »Into a convent you«
»I told you that it was not for my worldly advantage or pleasure I was
leaving you«
But still Newman hardly understood »You are going to be a nun« he went on
»in a cell for life with a gown and white veil«
»A nun a Carmelite nun« said Madame de Cintré »For life with Gods
leave«
The idea struck Newman as too dark and horrible for belief and made him
feel as he would have done if she had told him that she was going to mutilate
her beautiful face or drink some potion that would make her mad He clasped his
hands and began to tremble visibly
»Madame de Cintré dont dont« he said »I beseech you On my knees if
you like Ill beseech you«
She laid her hand upon his arm with a tender pitying almost reassuring
gesture »You dont understand« she said »You have wrong ideas. It's nothing
horrible It is only peace and safety It is to be out of the world where such
troubles as this come to the innocent to the best And for life thats the
blessing of it They cant begin again«
Newman dropped into a chair and sat looking at her with a long inarticulate
murmur That this superb woman in whom he had seen all human grace and
household force should turn from him and all the brightness that he offered her
him and his future and his fortune and his fidelity to muffle herself in
ascetic rags and entomb herself in a cell was a confounding combination of the
inexorable and the grotesque As the image deepened before him the grotesque
seemed to expand and overspread it it was a reduction to the absurd of the
trial to which he was subjected »You you a nun« he exclaimed »you with your
beauty defaced you behind locks and bars Never never if I can prevent it«
And he sprang to his feet with a violent laugh
»You cant prevent it« said Madame de Cintré »and it ought a little to
satisfy you Do you suppose I will go on living in the world still beside you
and yet not with you It is all arranged Goodbye goodbye«
This time he took her hand took it in both his own »Forever« he said Her
lips made an inaudible movement and his own uttered a deep imprecation She
closed her eyes as if with the pain of hearing it then he drew her towards him
and clasped her to his breast He kissed her white face for an instant she
resisted and for a moment she submitted then with force she disengaged
herself and hurried away over the long shining floor The next moment the door
closed behind her
Newman made his way out as he could
Chapter XXI
There is a pretty public walk at Poitiers laid out upon the crest of the high
hill around which the little city clusters planted with thick trees and
looking down upon the fertile fields in which the old English princes fought for
their right and held it Newman paced up and down this quiet promenade for the
greater part of the next day and let his eyes wander over the historic
prospect but he would have been sadly at a loss to tell you afterwards whether
the latter was made up of coalfields or of vineyards He was wholly given up to
his grievance of which reflection by no means diminished the weight He feared
that Madame de Cintré was irretrievably lost and yet as he would have said
himself he didnt see his way clear to giving her up He found it impossible to
turn his back upon Fleurières and its inhabitants it seemed to him that some
germ of hope or reparation must lurk there somewhere if he could only stretch
his arm out far enough to pluck it It was as if he had his hand on a doorknob
and were closing his clenched fist upon it he had thumped he had called he
had pressed the door with his powerful knee and shaken it with all his
strength and dead damning silence had answered him And yet something held him
there something hardened the grasp of his fingers Newmans satisfaction had
been too intense his whole plan too deliberate and mature his prospect of
happiness too rich and comprehensive for this fine moral fabric to crumble at a
stroke The very foundation seemed fatally injured and yet he felt a stubborn
desire still to try to save the edifice He was filled with a sorer sense of
wrong than he had ever known or than he had supposed it possible he should
know To accept his injury and walk away without looking behind him was a
stretch of goodnature of which he found himself incapable He looked behind him
intently and continually and what he saw there did not assuage his resentment
He saw himself trustful generous liberal patient easy pocketing frequent
irritation and furnishing unlimited modesty To have eaten humble pie to have
been snubbed and patronised and satirised and have consented to take it as one
of the conditions of the bargain to have done this and done it all for
nothing surely gave one a right to protest And to be turned off because one
was a commercial person As if he had ever talked or dreamt of the commercial
since his connection with the Bellegardes began as if he had made the least
circumstance of the commercial as if he would not have consented to confound
the commercial fifty times a day if it might have increased by a hairs breadth
the chance of the Bellegardes not playing him a trick Granted that being
commercial was fair ground for having a trick played upon one how little they
knew about the class so designated and its enterprising way of not standing upon
trifles It was in the light of his injury that the weight of Newmans past
endurance seemed so heavy his actual irritation had not been so great merged
as it was in his vision of the cloudless blue that overarched his immediate
wooing But now his sense of outrage was deep rancorous and ever present he
felt that he was a good fellow wronged As for Madame de Cintrés conduct it
struck him with a kind of awe and the fact that he was powerless to understand
it or feel the reality of its motives only deepened the force with which he had
attached himself to her He had never let the fact of her Catholicism trouble
him Catholicism to him was nothing but a name and to express a mistrust of the
form in which her religious feelings had moulded themselves would have seemed to
him on his own part a rather pretentious affectation of Protestant zeal If such
superb white flowers as that could bloom in Catholic soil the soil was not
insalubrious But it was one thing to be a Catholic and another to turn nun
on your hands There was something lugubriously comical in the way Newmans
thoroughly contemporaneous optimism was confronted with this dusky oldworld
expedient To see a woman made for him and for motherhood to his children
juggled away in this tragic travesty it was a thing to rub ones eyes over a
nightmare an illusion a hoax But the hours passed away without disproving the
thing and leaving him only the aftersense of the vehemence with which he had
embraced Madame de Cintré He remembered her words and her looks he turned them
over and tried to shake the mystery out of them and to infuse them with an
endurable meaning What had she meant by her feeling being a kind of religion
It was the religion simply of the family laws the religion of which her
implacable little mother was the highpriestess Twist the thing about as her
generosity would the one certain fact was that they had used force against her
Her generosity had tried to screen them but Newmans heart rose into his throat
at the thought that they should go scotfree
The twentyfour hours wore themselves away and the next morning Newman
sprang to his feet with the resolution to return to Fleurières and demand
another interview with Madame de Bellegarde and her son He lost no time in
putting it into practice As he rolled swiftly over the excellent road in the
little calèche furnished him at the inn at Poitiers he drew forth as it were
from the very safe place in his mind to which he had consigned it the last
information given him by poor Valentin Valentin had told him he could do
something with it and Newman thought it would be well to have it at hand This
was of course not the first time lately that Newman had given it his
attention It was information in the rough it was dark and puzzling but
Newman was neither helpless nor afraid Valentin had evidently meant to put him
in possession of a powerful instrument though he could not be said to have
placed the handle very securely within his grasp But if he had not really told
him the secret he had at least given him the clew to it a clew of which that
queer old Mrs Bread held the other end Mrs Bread had always looked to Newman
as if she knew secrets and as he apparently enjoyed her esteem he suspected
she might be induced to share her knowledge with him So long as there was only
Mrs Bread to deal with he felt easy As to what there was to find out he had
only one fear that it might not be bad enough Then when the image of the
marquise and her son rose before him again standing side by side the old
womans hand in Urbains arm and the same cold unsociable fixedness in the eyes
of each he cried out to himself that the fear was groundless There was blood
in the secret at the very least He arrived at Fleurières almost in a state of
elation he had satisfied himself logically that in the presence of his threat
of exposure they would as he mentally phrased it rattle down like unwound
buckets He remembered indeed that he must first catch his hare first
ascertain what there was to expose but after that why shouldnt his happiness
be as good as new again Mother and son would drop their lovely victim in
terror and take to hiding and Madame de Cintré left to herself would surely
come back to him Give her a chance and she would rise to the surface return to
the light How could she fail to perceive that his house would be much the most
comfortable sort of convent
Newman as he had done before left his conveyance at the inn and walked the
short remaining distance to the château When he reached the gate however a
singular feeling took possession of him a feeling which strange as it may
seem had its source in its unfathomable goodnature He stood there awhile
looking through the bars of the large timestained face of the edifice and
wondering to what crime it was that the dark old house with its flowery name
had given convenient occasion It had given occasion first and last to
tyrannies and sufferings enough Newman said to himself it was an evillooking
place to live in Then suddenly came the reflection What a horrible
rubbishheap of iniquity to fumble in The attitude of inquisitor turned its
ignoble face and with the same movement Newman declared that the Bellegardes
should have another chance He would appeal once more directly to their sense of
fairness and not to their fear and if they should be accessible to reason he
need know nothing worse about them than what he already knew That was bad
enough
The gatekeeper let him in through the same stiff crevice as before and he
passed through the court and over the little rustic bridge on the moat The door
was opened before he had reached it and as if to put his clemency to rout with
the suggestion of a richer opportunity Mrs Bread stood there awaiting him Her
face as usual looked as hopelessly blank as the tidesmoothed seasand and
her black garments seemed of an intenser sable Newman had already learned that
her strange inexpressiveness could be a vehicle for emotion and he was not
surprised at the muffled vivacity with which she whispered »I thought you would
try again sir I was looking out for you«
»I am glad to see you« said Newman »I think you are my friend«
Mrs Bread looked at him opaquely »I wish you well sir but its vain
wishing now«
»You know then how they have treated me«
»Oh sir« said Mrs Bread dryly »I know everything«
Newman hesitated a moment »Everything«
Mrs Bread gave him a glance somewhat more lucent »I know at least too
much sir«
»One can never know too much I congratulate you I have come to see Madame
de Bellegarde and her son« Newman added »Are they at home If they are not I
will wait«
»My lady is always at home« Mrs Bread replied »and the marquis is mostly
with her«
»Please then tell them one or the other or both that I am here and that
I desire to see them«
Mrs Bread hesitated »May I take a great liberty sir«
»You have never taken a liberty but you have justified it« said Newman
with diplomatic urbanity
Mrs Bread dropped her wrinkled eyelids as if she were curtsying but the
curtsy stopped there the occasion was too grave »You have come to plead with
them again sir Perhaps you dont know this that Madame de Cintré returned
this morning to Paris«
»Ah shes gone« And Newman groaning smote the pavement with his stick
»She has gone straight to the convent the Carmelites they call it I see
you know sir My lady and the marquis take it very ill It was only last night
she told them«
»Ah she had kept it back then« cried Newman »Good good And they are
very fierce«
»They are not pleased« said Mrs Bread »But they may well dislike it They
tell me its most dreadful sir of all the nuns in Christendom the Carmelites
are the worst You may say they are really not human sir they make you give up
everything forever And to think of her there If I was one that cried sir I
could cry«
Newman looked at her an instant »We mustnt cry Mrs Bread we must act
Go and call them« And he made a movement to enter farther
But Mrs Bread gently checked him »May I take another liberty I am told
you were with my dearest Mr Valentin in his last hours If you would tell me a
word about him The poor count was my own boy sir for the first year of his
life he was hardly out of my arms I taught him to speak And the count spoke so
well sir He always spoke well to his poor old Bread When he grew up and took
his pleasure he always had a kind word for me And to die in that wild way They
have a story that he fought with a wine merchant I cant believe that sir And
was he in great pain«
»You are a wise kind old woman Mrs Bread« said Newman »I hoped I might
see you with my own children in your arms Perhaps I shall yet« And he put out
his hand Mrs Bread looked for a moment at his open palm and then as if
fascinated by the novelty of the gesture extended her own ladylike fingers
Newman held her hand firmly and deliberately fixing his eyes upon her »You
want to know all about Mr Valentin« he said
»It would be a sad pleasure sir«
»I can tell you everything Can you sometimes leave this place«
»The château sir I really dont know I never tried«
»Try then try hard Try this evening at dusk Come to me in the old ruin
there on the hill in the court before the church I will wait for you there I
have something very important to tell you An old woman like you can do as she
pleases«
Mrs Bread stared wondering with parted lips »Is it from the count sir«
she asked
»From the count from his deathbed« said Newman
»I will come then I will be bold for once for him«
She led Newman into the great drawingroom with which he had already made
acquaintance and retired to execute his commands Newman waited a long time at
last he was on the point of ringing and repeating his request He was looking
round him for a bell when the marquis came in with his mother on his arm It
will be seen that Newman had a logical mind when I say that he declared to
himself in perfect good faith as a result of Valentins dark hints that his
adversaries looked grossly wicked »There is no mistake about it now« he said
to himself as they advanced »Theyre a bad lot they have pulled off the mask«
Madame de Bellegarde and her son certainly bore in their faces the signs of
extreme perturbation they looked like people who had passed a sleepless night
Confronted moreover with an annoyance which they hoped they had disposed of
it was not natural that they should have any very tender glances to bestow upon
Newman He stood before them and such eyebeams as they found available they
levelled at him Newman feeling as if the door of a sepulchre had suddenly been
opened and the damp darkness were being exhaled
»You see I have come back« he said »I have come to try again«
»It would be ridiculous« said M de Bellegarde »to pretend that we are
glad to see you or that we dont question the taste of your visit«
»Oh dont talk about taste« said Newman with a laugh »or that will bring
us round to yours If I consulted my taste I certainly shouldnt come to see
you Besides I will make as short work as you please Promise me to raise the
blockade to set Madame de Cintré at liberty and I will retire instantly«
»We hesitated as to whether we would see you« said Madame de Bellegarde
»and we were on the point of declining the honour But it seemed to me that we
should act with civility as we have always done and I wished to have the
satisfaction of informing you that there are certain weaknesses that people of
our way of feeling can be guilty of but once«
»You may be weak but once but you will be audacious many times madam«
Newman answered »I didnt come however for conversational purposes I came to
say this simply That if you will write immediately to your daughter that you
withdraw your opposition to her marriage I will take care of the rest You
dont want her to turn nun you know more about the horrors of it than I do
Marrying a commercial person is better than that Give me a letter to her
signed and sealed saying you retract and that she may marry me with your
blessing and I will take it to her at the convent and bring her out Theres
your chance I call those easy terms«
»We look at the matter otherwise you know We call them very hard terms«
said Urbain de Bellegarde They had all remained standing rigidly in the middle
of the room »I think my mother will tell you that she would rather her daughter
should become Soeur Catherine than Mrs Newman«
But the old lady with the serenity of supreme power let her son make her
epigrams for her She only smiled almost sweetly shaking her head and
repeating »But once Mr Newman but once«
Nothing that Newman had ever seen or heard gave him such a sense of marble
hardness as this movement and the tone that accompanied it »Could anything
compel you« he asked »Do you know of anything that would force you«
»This language sir« said the marquis »addressed to people in bereavement
and grief is beyond all qualification«
»In most cases« Newman answered »your objection would have some weight
even admitting that Madame de Cintrés present intentions make time precious
But I have thought of what you speak of and I have come here today without
scruple simply because I consider your brother and you two very different
parties I see no connection between you Your brother was ashamed of you Lying
there wounded and dying the poor fellow apologised to me for your conduct He
apologised to me for that of his mother«
For a moment the effect of these words was as if Newman had struck a
physical blow A quick flush leaped into the faces of Madame de Bellegarde and
her son and they exchanged a glance like a twinkle of steel Urbain uttered two
words which Newman but half heard but of which the sense came to him as it were
in the reverberation of the sound »Le misérable«
»You show little respect for the living« said Madame de Bellegarde »but at
least respect the dead Dont profane dont insult the memory of my innocent
son«
»I speak the simple truth« Newman declared »and I speak it for a purpose
I repeat it distinctly Your son was utterly disgusted your son apologised«
Urbain de Bellegarde was frowning portentously and Newman supposed he was
frowning at poor Valentins invidious image Taken by surprise his scant
affection for his brother had made a momentary concession to dishonour But not
for an appreciable instant did his mother lower her flag »You are immensely
mistaken sir« she said »My son was sometimes light but he was never
indecent He died faithful to his name«
»You simply misunderstood him« said the marquis beginning to rally »You
affirm the impossible«
»Oh I dont care for poor Valentins apology« said Newman »It was far
more painful than pleasant to me This atrocious thing was not his fault he
never hurt me or anyone else he was the soul of honour But it shows how he
took it«
»If you wish to prove that my poor brother in his last moments was out of
his head we can only say that under the melancholy circumstances nothing was
more possible But confine yourself to that«
»He was quite in his right mind« said Newman with gentle but dangerous
doggedness »I have never seen him so bright and clever It was terrible to see
that witty capable fellow dying such a death You know I was very fond of your
brother And I have further proof of his sanity« Newman concluded
The marquise gathered herself together majestically »This is too gross«
she cried »We decline to accept your story sir we repudiate it Urbain open
the door« She turned away with an imperious motion to her son and passed
rapidly down the length of the room The marquis went with her and held the door
open Newman was left standing
He lifted his finger as a sign to M de Bellegarde who closed the door
behind his mother and stood waiting Newman slowly advanced more silent for
the moment than life The two men stood face to face Then Newman had a
singular sensation he felt his sense of injury almost brimming over into
jocularity »Come« he said »you dont treat me well at least admit that«
M de Bellegarde looked at him from head to foot and then in the most
delicate bestbred voice »I detest you personally« he said
»Thats the way I feel to you but for politeness sake I dont say it«
said Newman »Its singular I should want so much to be your brotherinlaw but
I cant give it up Let me try once more« And he paused a moment »You have a
secret you have a skeleton in the closet« M de Bellegarde continued to look
at him hard but Newman could not see whether his eyes betrayed anything the
look of his eyes was always so strange Newman paused again and then went on
»You and your mother have committed a crime« At this M de Bellegardes eyes
certainly did change they seemed to flicker like blown candles Newman could
see that he was profoundly startled but there was something admirable in his
selfcontrol
»Continue« said M de Bellegarde
Newman lifted a finger and made it waver a little in the air »Need I
continue You are trembling«
»Pray where did you obtain this interesting information« M de Bellegarde
asked very softly
»I shall be strictly accurate« said Newman »I wont pretend to know more
than I do At present that is all I know You have done something that you must
hide something that would damn you if it were known something that would
disgrace the name you are so proud of I dont know what it is but I can find
out Persist in your present course and I will find out Change it let your
sister go in peace and I will leave you alone Its a bargain«
The marquis almost succeeded in looking untroubled the breaking up of the
ice in his handsome countenance was an operation that was necessarily gradual
But Newmans mildlysyllabled argumentation seemed to press and press and
presently he averted his eyes He stood some moments reflecting
»My brother told you this« he said looking up
Newman hesitated a moment »Yes your brother told me«
The marquis smiled handsomely »Didnt I say that he was out of his mind«
»He was out of his mind if I dont find out He was very much in it if I
do«
M de Bellegarde gave a shrug »Eh sir find out or not as you please«
»I dont frighten you« demanded Newman
»Thats for you to judge«
»No its for you to judge at your leisure Think it over feel yourself
all round I will give you an hour or two I cant give you more for how do we
know how fast they may be making Madame de Cintré a nun Talk it over with your
mother let her judge whether she is frightened I dont believe she is as
easily frightened in general as you but you will see I will go and wait in
the village at the inn and I beg you to let me know as soon as possible Say
by three oclock A simple yes or no on paper will do Only you know in case
of a yes I shall expect you this time to stick to your bargain« And with this
Newman opened the door and let himself out The marquis did not move and
Newman retiring gave him another look »At the inn in the village« he
repeated Then he turned away altogether and passed out of the house
He was extremely excited by what he had been doing for it was inevitable
that there should be a certain emotion in calling up the spectre of dishonour
before a family a thousand years old But he went back to the inn and contrived
to wait there deliberately for the next two hours He thought it more than
probable that Urbain de Bellegarde would give no sign for an answer to his
challenge in either sense would be a confession of guilt What he most
expected was silence in other words defiance But he prayed that as he imaged
it his shot might bring them down It did bring by three oclock a note
delivered by a footman a note addressed in Urbain de Bellegardes handsome
English hand It ran as follows
»I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of letting you know that I return
to Paris tomorrow with my mother in order that we may see my sister
and confirm her in the resolution which is the most effectual reply to
your audacious pertinacity
HENRIURBAIN DE BELLEGARDE«
Newman put the letter into his pocket and continued his walk up and down the
innparlour He had spent most of his time for the past week in walking up and
down He continued to measure the length of the little salle of the Armes de
France until the day began to wane when he went out to keep his rendezvous with
Mrs Bread The path which led up the hill to the ruin was easy to find and
Newman in a short time had followed it to the top He passed beneath the rugged
arch of the castlewall and looked about him in the early dusk for an old woman
in black The castleyard was empty but the door of the church was open Newman
went into the little nave and of course found a deeper dusk than without A
couple of tapers however twinkled on the altar and just enabled him to
perceive a figure seated by one of the pillars Closer inspection helped him to
recognise Mrs Bread in spite of the fact that she was dressed with unwonted
splendour She wore a large black silk bonnet with imposing bows of crape and
an old black satin dress disposed itself in vaguely lustrous folds about her
person She had judged it proper to the occasion to appear in her stateliest
apparel She had been sitting with her eyes fixed upon the ground but when
Newman passed before her she looked up at him and then she rose
»Are you a Catholic Mrs Bread« he asked
»No sir Im a good Church of England woman very Low« she answered »But
I thought I should be safer in here than outside I was never out in the evening
before sir«
»We shall be safer« said Newman »where no one can hear us« And he led the
way back into the castlecourt and then followed a path beside the church which
he was sure must lead into another part of the ruin He was not deceived It
wandered along the crest of the hill and terminated before a fragment of wall
pierced by a rough aperture which had once been a door Through this aperture
Newman passed and found himself in a nook peculiarly favourable to quiet
conversation as probably many an earnest couple otherwise assorted than our
friends had assured themselves The hill sloped abruptly away and on the
remnant of its crest were scattered two or three fragments of stone Beneath
over the plain lay the gathered twilight through which in the near distance
gleamed two or three lights from the château Mrs Bread rustled slowly after
her guide and Newman satisfying himself that one of the fallen stones was
steady proposed to her to sit upon it She cautiously complied and he placed
himself upon another near her
Chapter XXII
»I am very much obliged to you for coming« Newman said »I hope it wont get
you into trouble«
»I dont think I shall be missed My lady in these days is not fond of
having me about her« This was said with a certain fluttered eagerness which
increased Newmans sense of having inspired the old woman with confidence
»From the first you know« he answered »you took an interest in my
prospects You were on my side That gratified me I assure you And now that
you know what they have done to me I am sure you are with me all the more«
»They have not done well I must say it« said Mrs Bread »But you mustnt
blame the poor countess they pressed her hard«
»I would give a million of dollars to know what they did to her« cried
Newman
Mrs Bread sat with a dull oblique gaze fixed upon the lights of the
château »They worked on her feelings they knew that was the way She is a
delicate creature They made her feel wicked She is only too good«
»Ah they made her feel wicked« said Newman slowly and then he repeated
it »They made her feel wicked they made her feel wicked« The words seemed to
him for the moment a vivid description of infernal ingenuity
»It was because she was so good that she gave up poor sweet lady« added
Mrs Bread
»But she was better to them than to me« said Newman
»She was afraid« said Mrs Bread very confidently »she has always been
afraid or at least for a long time That was the real trouble sir She was
like a fair peach I may say with just one little speck She had one little sad
spot You pushed her into the sunshine sir and it almost disappeared Then
they pulled her back into the shade and in a moment it began to spread Before
we knew it she was gone She was a delicate creature«
This singular attestation of Madame de Cintrés delicacy for all its
singularity set Newmans wound aching afresh »I see« he presently said »she
knew something bad about her mother«
»No sir she knew nothing« said Mrs Bread holding her head very stiff
and keeping her eyes fixed upon the glimmering windows of the château
»She guessed something then or suspected it«
»She was afraid to know« said Mrs Bread
»But you know at any rate« said Newman
She slowly turned her vague eyes upon Newman squeezing her hands together
in her lap »You are not quite faithful sir I thought it was to tell me about
Mr Valentin you asked me to come here«
»Oh the more we talk of Mr Valentin the better« said Newman »Thats
exactly what I want I was with him as I told you in his last hour He was in
a great deal of pain but he was quite himself You know what that means he was
bright and lively and clever«
»Oh he would always be clever sir« said Mrs Bread »And did he know of
your trouble«
»Yes he guessed it of himself«
»And what did he say to it«
»He said it was a disgrace to his name but it was not the first«
»Lord Lord« murmured Mrs Bread
»He said that his mother and his brother had once put their heads together
and invented something even worse«
»You shouldnt have listened to that sir«
»Perhaps not But I did listen and I dont forget it Now I want to know
what it is they did«
Mrs Bread gave a soft moan »And you have enticed me up into this strange
place to tell you«
»Dont be alarmed« said Newman »I wont say a word that shall be
disagreeable to you Tell me as it suits you and when it suits you Only
remember that it was Mr Valentins last wish that you should«
»Did he say that«
»He said it with his last breath Tell Mrs Bread I told you to ask her«
»Why didnt he tell you himself«
»It was too long a story for a dying man he had no breath left in his body
He could only say that he wanted me to know that wronged as I was it was my
right to know«
»But how will it help you sir« said Mrs Bread
»Thats for me to decide Mr Valentin believed it would and thats why he
told me Your name was almost the last word he spoke«
Mrs Bread was evidently awestruck by this statement she shook her clasped
hands slowly up and down »Excuse me sir« she said »if I take a great
liberty Is it the solemn truth you are speaking I must ask you that must I
not sir«
»Theres no offence It is the solemn truth I solemnly swear it Mr
Valentin himself would certainly have told me more if he had been able«
»Oh sir if he knew more«
»Dont you suppose he did«
»Theres no saying what he knew about anything« said Mrs Bread with a
mild headshake »He was so mightily clever He could make you believe he knew
things that he didnt and that he didnt know others that he had better not
have known«
»I suspect he knew something about his brother that kept the marquis civil
to him« Newman propounded »he made the marquis feel him What he wanted now
was to put me in his place he wanted to give me a chance to make the marquis
feel me«
»Mercy on us« cried the old waitingwoman »how wicked we all are«
»I dont know« said Newman »some of us are wicked certainly I am very
angry I am very sore and I am very bitter but I dont know that I am wicked
I have been cruelly injured They have hurt me and I want to hurt them I dont
deny that on the contrary I tell you plainly that that is the use I want to
make of your secret«
Mrs Bread seemed to hold her breath »You want to publish them you want
to shame them«
»I want to bring them down down down down I want to turn the tables
upon them I want to mortify them as they mortified me They took me up into a
high place and made me stand there for all the world to see me and then they
stole behind me and pushed me into this bottomless pit where I lie howling and
gnashing my teeth I made a fool of myself before all their friends but I shall
make something worse of them«
This passionate sally which Newman uttered with the greater fervour that it
was the first time he had had a chance to say all this aloud kindled two small
sparks in Mrs Breads fixed eyes »I suppose you have a right to your anger
sir but think of the dishonour you will draw down on Madame de Cintré«
»Madame de Cintré is buried alive« cried Newman »What are honour or
dishonour to her The door of the tomb is at this moment closing behind her«
»Yes it is most awful« moaned Mrs Bread
»She has moved off like her brother Valentin to give me room to work Its
as if it were done on purpose«
»Surely« said Mrs Bread apparently impressed by the ingenuity of this
reflection She was silent for some moments then she added »And would you
bring my lady before the courts«
»The courts care nothing for my lady« Newman replied »If she has committed
a crime she will be nothing for the courts but a wicked old woman«
»And will they hang her sir«
»That depends upon what she has done« And Newman eyed Mrs Bread intently
»It would break up the family most terribly sir«
»Its time such a family should be broken up« said Newman with a laugh
»And me at my age out of place sir« sighed Mrs Bread
»Oh I will take care of you You shall come and live with me You shall be
my housekeeper or anything you like I will pension you for life«
»Dear dear sir you think of everything« And she seemed to fall
abrooding
Newman watched her awhile and then he said suddenly »Ah Mrs Bread you
are too fond of my lady«
She looked at him as quickly »I wouldnt have you say that sir I dont
think it any part of my duty to be fond of my lady I have served her faithfully
this many a year but if she were to die tomorrow I believe before Heaven I
shouldnt shed a tear for her« Then after a pause »I have no reason to love
her« Mrs Bread added »The most she has done for me has been not to turn me
out of the house« Newman felt that decidedly his companion was more and more
confidential that if luxury is corrupting Mrs Breads conservative habits
were already relaxed by the spiritual comfort of this preconcerted interview in
a remarkable locality with a freespoken millionaire All his native shrewdness
admonished him that his part was simply to let her take her time let the charm
of the occasion work So he said nothing he only looked at her kindly Mrs
Bread sat nursing her lean elbows »My lady once did me a great wrong« she went
on at last »She has a terrible tongue when she is vexed It was many a year
ago but I have never forgotten it I have never mentioned it to a human
creature I have kept my grudge to myself I daresay I have been wicked but my
grudge has grown old with me It has grown good for nothing too I daresay but
it has lived along as I have lived It will die when I die not before«
»And what is your grudge« Newman asked
Mrs Bread dropped her eyes and hesitated »If I were a foreigner sir I
should make less of telling you it comes harder to a decent Englishwoman But I
sometimes think I have picked up too many foreign ways What I was telling you
belongs to a time when I was much younger and very different looking to what I
am now I had a very high colour sir if you can believe it indeed I was a
very smart lass My lady was younger too and the late marquis was youngest of
all I mean in the way he went on sir he had a very high spirit he was a
magnificent man He was fond of his pleasure like most foreigners and it must
be owned that he sometimes went rather below him to take it My lady was often
jealous and if youll believe it sir she did me the honour to be jealous of
me One day I had a red ribbon in my cap and my lady flew out at me and ordered
me to take it off She accused me of putting it on to make the marquis look at
me I dont know that I was impertinent but I spoke up like an honest girl and
didnt count my words A red ribbon indeed As if it was my ribbons the marquis
looked at My lady knew afterwards that I was perfectly respectable but she
never said a word to show that she believed it But the marquis did« Mrs Bread
presently added »I took off my red ribbon and put it away in a drawer where I
have kept it to this day Its faded now its a very pale pink but there it
lies My grudge has faded too the red has all gone out of it but it lies here
yet« And Mrs Bread stroked her black satin bodice
Newman listened with interest to this decent narrative which seemed to have
opened up the deeps of memory to his companion Then as she remained silent
and seemed to be losing herself in retrospective meditation upon her perfect
respectability he ventured upon a short cut to his goal »So Madame de
Bellegarde was jealous I see And M de Bellegarde admired pretty women
without distinction of class I suppose one mustnt be hard upon him for they
probably didnt all behave so properly as you But years afterwards it could
hardly have been jealousy that turned Madame de Bellegarde into a criminal«
Mrs Bread gave a weary sigh »We are using dreadful words sir but I dont
care now I see you have your idea and I have no will of my own My will was
the will of my children as I called them but I have lost my children now They
are dead I may say it of both of them and what should I care for the living
What is anyone in the house to me now what am I to them My lady objects to me
she has objected to me these thirty years I should have been glad to be
something to young Madame de Bellegarde though I never was nurse to the present
marquis When he was a baby I was too young they wouldnt trust me with him
But his wife told her own maid Mamselle Clarisse the opinion she had of me
Perhaps you would like to hear it sir«
»Oh immensely« said Newman
»She said that if I would sit in her childrens schoolroom I should do very
well for a penwiper When things have come to that I dont think I need stand
upon ceremony«
»Decidedly not« said Newman »Go on Mrs Bread«
Mrs Bread however relapsed again into troubled dumbness and all Newman
could do was to fold his arms and wait But at last she appeared to have set her
memories in order »It was when the late marquis was an old man and his eldest
son had been two years married It was when the time came on for marrying
Mademoiselle Claire thats the way they talk of it here you know sir The
marquiss health was bad he was very much broken down My lady had picked out
M de Cintré for no good reason that I could see But there are reasons I very
well know that are beyond me and you must be high in the world to understand
them Old M de Cintré was very high and my lady thought him almost as good as
herself thats saying a good deal Mr Urbain took sides with his mother as he
always did The trouble I believe was that my lady would give very little
money and all the other gentlemen asked more It was only M de Cintré that was
satisfied The Lord willed it he should have that one soft spot it was the only
one he had He may have been very grand in his birth and he certainly was very
grand in his bows and speeches but that was all the grandeur he had I think he
was like what I have heard of comedians not that I have ever seen one But I
know he painted his face He might paint it all he would he could never make me
like it The marquis couldnt abide him and declared that sooner than take such
a husband as that Mademoiselle Claire should take none at all He and my lady
had a great scene it came even to our ears in the servants hall It was not
their first quarrel if the truth must be told They were not a loving couple
but they didnt often come to words because I think neither of them thought
the others doings worth the trouble My lady had long ago got over her
jealousy and she had taken to indifference In this I must say they were well
matched The marquis was very easygoing he had a most gentlemanly temper He
got angry only once a year but then it was very bad He always took to bed
directly afterwards This time I speak of he took to bed as usual but he never
got up again Im afraid the poor gentleman was paying for his dissipation
isnt it true they mostly do sir when they get old My lady and Mr Urbain
kept quiet but I know my lady wrote letters to M de Cintré The marquis got
worse and the doctors gave him up My lady she gave him up too and if the truth
must be told she gave him up gladly When once he was out of the way she could
do what she pleased with her daughter and it was all arranged that my poor
innocent child should be handed over to M de Cintré You dont know what
mademoiselle was in those days sir she was the sweetest young creature in
France and knew as little of what was going on around her as the lamb does of
the butcher I used to nurse the marquis and I was always in his room It was
here at Fleurières in the autumn We had a doctor from Paris who came and
stayed two or three weeks in the house Then there came two others and there
was a consultation and these two others as I said declared that the marquis
couldnt be saved After this they went off pocketing their fees but the other
one stayed and did what he could The marquis himself kept crying out that he
wouldnt die that he didnt want to die that he would live and look after his
daughter Mademoiselle Claire and the viscount that was Mr Valentin you know
were both in the house The doctor was a clever man that I could see myself
and I think he believed that the marquis might get well We took good care of
him he and I between us and one day when my lady had almost ordered her
mourning my patient suddenly began to mend He got better and better till the
doctor said he was out of danger What was killing him was the dreadful fits of
pain in his stomach But little by little they stopped and the poor marquis
began to make his jokes again The doctor found something that gave him great
comfort some white stuff that we kept in a great bottle on the chimneypiece
I used to give it to the marquis through a glass tube it always made him
easier Then the doctor went away after telling me to keep on giving him the
mixture whenever he was bad After that there was a little doctor from Poitiers
who came every day So we were alone in the house my lady and her poor husband
and their three children Young Madame de Bellegarde had gone away with her
little girl to her mothers You know she is very lively and her maid told me
that she didnt like to be where people were dying« Mrs Bread paused a moment
and then she went on with the same quiet consistency »I think you have guessed
sir that when the marquis began to turn my lady was disappointed« And she
paused again bending upon Newman a face which seemed to grow whiter as the
darkness settled down upon them
Newman had listened eagerly with an eagerness greater even than that with
which he had bent his ear to Valentin de Bellegardes last words Every now and
then as his companion looked up at him she reminded him of an ancient tabby
cat protracting the enjoyment of a dish of milk Even her triumph was measured
and decorous the faculty of exultation had been chilled by disuse She
presently continued »Late one night I was sitting by the marquis in his room
the great red room in the west tower He had been complaining a little and I
gave him a spoonful of the doctors dose My lady had been there in the early
part of the evening she sat for more than an hour by his bed Then she went
away and left me alone After midnight she came back and her eldest son was
with her They went to the bed and looked at the marquis and my lady took hold
of his hand Then she turned to me and said he was not so well I remember how
the marquis without saying anything lay staring at her I can see his white
face at this moment in the great black square between the bedcurtains I said
I didnt think he was very bad and she told me to go to bed she would sit a
while with him When the marquis saw me going he gave a sort of groan and
called out to me not to leave him but Mr Urbain opened the door for me and
pointed the way out The present marquis perhaps you have noticed sir has a
very proud way of giving orders and I was there to take orders I went to my
room but I wasnt easy I couldnt tell you why I didnt undress I sat there
waiting and listening For what would you have said sir I couldnt have told
you for surely a poor gentleman might be comfortable with his wife and his son
It was as if I expected to hear the marquis moaning after me again I listened
but I heard nothing It was a very still night I never knew a night so still
At last the very stillness itself seemed to frighten me and I came out of my
room and went very softly downstairs In the anteroom outside of the marquiss
chamber I found Mr Urbain walking up and down He asked me what I wanted and
I said I came back to relieve my lady He said he would relieve my lady and
ordered me back to bed but as I stood there unwilling to turn away the door
of the room opened and my lady came out I noticed she was very pale she was
very strange She looked a moment at the count and at me and then she held out
her arms to the count He went to her and she fell upon him and hid her face I
went quickly past her into the room and to the marquiss bed He was lying
there very white with his eyes shut like a corpse I took hold of his hand
and spoke to him and he felt to me like a dead man Then I turned round my
lady and Mr Urbain were there My poor Bread said my lady M le Marquis is
gone Mr Urbain knelt down by the bed and said softly Mon père mon père I
thought it wonderful strange and asked my lady what in the world had happened
and why she hadnt called me She said nothing had happened that she had only
been sitting there with the marquis very quiet She had closed her eyes
thinking she might sleep and she had slept she didnt know how long When she
woke up he was dead Its death my son its death she said to the count Mr
Urbain said they must have the doctor immediately from Poitiers and that he
would ride off and fetch him He kissed his fathers face and then he kissed
his mother and went away My lady and I stood there at the bedside As I looked
at the poor marquis it came into my head that he was not dead that he was in a
kind of swoon And then my lady repeated My poor Bread its death its death
and I said Yes my lady its certainly death I said just the opposite to what
I believed it was my notion Then my lady said we must wait for the doctor and
we sat there and waited It was a long time the poor marquis neither stirred
nor changed I have seen death before said my lady and its terribly like
this Yes please my lady said I and I kept thinking The night wore away
without the counts coming back and my lady began to be frightened She was
afraid he had had an accident in the dark or met with some wild people At last
she got so restless that she went below to watch in the court for her sons
return I sat there alone and the marquis never stirred«
Here Mrs Bread paused again and the most artistic of romancers could not
have been more effective Newman made a movement as if he were turning over the
page of a novel »So he was dead« he exclaimed
»Three days afterwards he was in his grave« said Mrs Bread sententiously
»In a little while I went away to the front of the house and looked out into the
court and there before long I saw Mr Urbain ride in alone I waited a bit
to hear him come upstairs with his mother but they stayed below and I went
back to the marquiss room I went to the bed and held up the light to him but
I dont know why I didnt let the candlestick fall The marquiss eyes were open
open wide they were staring at me I knelt down beside him and took his
hands and begged him to tell me in the name of wonder whether he was alive or
dead Still he looked at me a long time and then he made me a sign to put my
ear close to him I am dead he said I am dead The marquise has killed me I
was all in a tremble I didnt understand him I didnt know what had become of
him He seemed both a man and a corpse if you can fancy sir But youll get
well now sir I said And then he whispered again ever so weak I wouldnt
get well for a kingdom I wouldnt be that womans husband again And then he
said more he said she had murdered him I asked him what she had done to him
but he only replied Murder murder And shell kill my daughter he said my
poor unhappy child And he begged me to prevent that and then he said that he
was dying that he was dead I was afraid to move or to leave him I was almost
dead myself All of a sudden he asked me to get a pencil and write for him and
then I had to tell him that I couldnt manage a pencil He asked me to hold him
up in bed while he wrote himself and I said he could never never do such a
thing But he seemed to have a kind of terror that gave him strength I found a
pencil in the room and a piece of paper and a book and I put the paper on the
book and the pencil into his hand and moved the candle near him You will think
all this very strange sir and very strange it was The strangest part of it
was that I believed he was dying and that I was eager to help him to write I
sat on the bed and put my arm round him and held him up I felt very strong I
believe I could have lifted him and carried him It was a wonder how he wrote
but he did write in a big scratching hand he almost covered one side of the
paper It seemed a long time I suppose it was three or four minutes He was
groaning terribly all the while Then he said it was ended and I let him down
upon his pillows and he gave me the paper and told me to fold it and hide it
and to give it to those who would act upon it Whom do you mean I said Who are
those who will act upon it But he only groaned for an answer he couldnt
speak for weakness In a few minutes he told me to go and look at the bottle on
the chimneypiece I knew the bottle he meant the white stuff that was good for
his stomach I went and looked at it but it was empty When I came back his
eyes were open and he was staring at me but soon he closed them and he said no
more I hid the paper in my dress I didnt look at what was written upon it
though I can read very well sir if I havent any handwriting I sat down near
the bed but it was nearly half an hour before my lady and the count came in
The marquis looked as he did when they left him and I never said a word about
his having been otherwise Mr Urbain said that the doctor had been called to a
person in childbirth but that he promised to set out for Fleurières
immediately In another half hour he arrived and as soon as he had examined the
marquis he said that we had had a false alarm The poor gentleman was very low
but he was still living I watched my lady and her son when he said this to see
if they looked at each other and I am obliged to admit that they didnt The
doctor said there was no reason he should die he had been going on so well And
then he wanted to know how he had suddenly fallen off he had left him so very
hearty My lady told her little story again what she had told Mr Urbain and
me and the doctor looked at her and said nothing He stayed all the next day
at the château and hardly left the marquis I was always there Mademoiselle
and Mr Valentin came and looked at their father but he never stirred It was a
strange deathly stupor My lady was always about her face was as white as her
husbands and she looked very proud as I had seen her look when her orders or
her wishes had been disobeyed It was as if the poor marquis had defied her and
the way she took it made me afraid of her The apothecary from Poitiers kept the
marquis along through the day and we waited for the other doctor from Paris
who as I told you had been staying at Fleurières They had telegraphed for him
early in the morning and in the evening he arrived He talked a bit outside
with the doctor from Poitiers and then they came in to see the marquis
together I was with him and so was Mr Urbain My lady had been to receive the
doctor from Paris and she didnt come back with him into the room He sat down
by the marquis I can see him there now with his hand on the marquiss wrist
and Mr Urbain watching him with a little lookingglass in his hand Im sure
hes better said the little doctor from Poitiers Im sure hell come back A
few moments after he had said this the marquis opened his eyes as if he were
waking up and looked at us from one to the other I saw him look at me very
softly as youd say At the same moment my lady came in on tiptoe she came up
to the bed and put in her head between me and the count The marquis saw her and
gave a long most wonderful moan He said something we couldnt understand and
he seemed to have a kind of spasm He shook all over and then closed his eyes
and the doctor jumped up and took hold of my lady He held her for a moment a
bit roughly The marquis was stone dead This time there were those there that
knew«
Newman felt as if he had been reading by starlight the report of highly
important evidence in a great murder case »And the paper the paper« he said
excitedly »What was written upon it«
»I cant tell you sir« answered Mrs Bread »I couldnt read it it was in
French«
»But could no one else read it«
»I never asked a human creature«
»No one has ever seen it«
»If you see it youll be the first«
Newman seized the old womans hand in both his own and pressed it
vigorously »I thank you ever so much for that« he cried »I want to be the
first I want it to be my property and no one elses Youre the wisest old
woman in Europe And what did you do with the paper« This information had made
him feel extraordinarily strong »Give it to me quick«
Mrs Bread got up with a certain majesty »It is not so easy as that sir
If you want the paper you must wait«
»But waiting is horrible you know« urged Newman
»I am sure I have waited I have waited these many years« said Mrs Bread
»That is very true You have waited for me I wont forget it And yet how
comes it you didnt do as M de Bellegarde said show the paper to someone«
»To whom should I show it« answered Mrs Bread mournfully »It was not easy
to know and manys the night I have lain awake thinking of it Six months
afterwards when they married Mademoiselle to her vicious old husband I was
very near bringing it out I thought it was my duty to do something with it and
yet I was mightily afraid I didnt know what was written on the paper or how
bad it might be and there was no one I could trust enough to ask And it seemed
to me a cruel kindness to do that sweet young creature letting her know that
her father had written her mother down so shamefully for thats what he did I
suppose I thought she would rather be unhappy with her husband than be unhappy
that way It was for her and for my dear Mr Valentin I kept quiet Quiet I call
it but for me it was a weary quietness It worried me terribly and it changed
me altogether But for others I held my tongue and no one to this hour knows
what passed between the poor marquis and me«
»But evidently there were suspicions« said Newman »Where did Mr Valentin
get his ideas«
»It was the little doctor from Poitiers He was very illsatisfied and he
made a great talk He was a sharp Frenchman and coming to the house as he did
day after day I suppose he saw more than he seemed to see And indeed the way
the poor marquis went off as soon as his eyes fell on my lady was a most
shocking sight for anyone The medical gentleman from Paris was much more
accommodating and he hushed up the other But for all he could do Mr Valentin
and Mademoiselle heard something they knew their fathers death was somehow
against nature Of course they couldnt accuse their mother and as I tell you
I was as dumb as that stone Mr Valentin used to look at me sometimes and his
eyes seemed to shine as if he were thinking of asking me something I was
dreadfully afraid he would speak and I always looked away and went about my
business If I were to tell him I was sure he would hate me afterwards and
that I could never have borne Once I went up to him and took a great liberty I
kissed him as I had kissed him when he was a child You oughtnt to look so
sad sir I said believe your poor old Bread Such a gallant handsome young
man can have nothing to be sad about And I think he understood me he
understood that I was begging off and he made up his mind in his own way He
went about with his unasked question in his mind as I did with my untold tale
we were both afraid of bringing dishonour on a great house And it was the same
with Mademoiselle She didnt know what had happened she wouldnt know My lady
and Mr Urbain asked me no questions because they had no reason I was as still
as a mouse When I was younger my lady thought me a hussy and now she thought
me a fool How should I have any ideas«
»But you say the little doctor from Poitiers made a talk« said Newman »Did
no one take it up«
»I heard nothing of it sir They are always talking scandal in these
foreign countries you may have noticed and I suppose they shook their heads
over Madame de Bellegarde But after all what could they say The marquis had
been ill and the marquis had died he had as good a right to die as anyone The
doctor couldnt say he had not come honestly by his cramps The next year the
little doctor left the place and bought a practice in Bordeaux and if there has
been any gossip it died out And I dont think there could have been much gossip
about my lady that anyone would listen to My lady is so very respectable«
Newman at this last affirmation broke into an immense resounding laugh
Mrs Bread had begun to move away from the spot where they were sitting and he
helped her through the aperture in the wall and along the homeward path »Yes«
he said »my ladys respectability is delicious it will be a great crash« They
reached the empty space in front of the church where they stopped a moment
looking at each other with something of an air of closer fellowship like two
sociable conspirators »But what was it« said Newman »what was it she did to
her husband She didnt stab him or poison him«
»I dont know sir no one saw it«
»Unless it was Mr Urbain You say he was walking up and down outside the
room Perhaps he looked through the keyhole But no I think that with his
mother he would take it on trust«
»You may be sure I have often thought of it« said Mrs Bread »I am sure
she didnt touch him with her hands I saw nothing on him anywhere I believe
it was in this way He had a fit of his great pain and he asked her for his
medicine Instead of giving it to him she went and poured it away before his
eyes Then he saw what she meant and weak and helpless as he was he was
frightened he was terrified You want to kill me he said Yes M le Marquis
I want to kill you says my lady and sits down and fixes her eyes upon him You
know my ladys eyes I think sir it was with them she killed him it was with
the terrible strong will she put into them It was like a frost on flowers«
»Well you are a very intelligent woman you have shown great discretion«
said Newman »I shall value your services as housekeeper extremely«
They had begun to descend the hill and Mrs Bread said nothing until they
reached the foot Newman strolled lightly beside her his head was thrown back
as he was gazing at all the stars he seemed to himself to be riding his
vengeance along the Milky Way »So you are serious sir about that« said Mrs
Bread softly
»About your living with me Why of course I take care of you to the end of
your days You cant live with those people any longer And you oughtnt to you
know after this You give me the paper and you move away«
»It seems very flighty in me to be taking a new place at this time of life«
observed Mrs Bread lugubriously »But if you are going to turn the house upside
down I would rather be out of it«
»Oh« said Newman in the cheerful tone of a man who feels rich in
alternatives »I dont think I shall bring in the constables if thats what you
mean Whatever Madame de Bellegarde did I am afraid the law cant take hold of
it But I am glad of that it leaves it altogether to me«
»You are a mighty bold gentleman sir« murmured Mrs Bread looking at him
round the edge of her great bonnet
He walked with her back to the château the curfew had tolled for the
laborious villagers of Fleurières and the street was unlighted and empty She
promised him that he should have the marquiss manuscript in half an hour Mrs
Bread choosing not to go in by the great gate they passed round by a winding
lane to a door in the wall of the park of which she had the key and which
would enable her to enter the château from behind Newman arranged with her that
he should await outside the wall her return with the coveted document
She went in and his half hour in the dusky lane seemed very long But he
had plenty to think about At last the door in the wall opened and Mrs Bread
stood there with one hand on the latch and the other holding out a scrap of
white paper folded small In a moment he was master of it and it had passed
into his waistcoatpocket »Come and see me in Paris« he said »we are to settle
your future you know and I will translate poor M de Bellegardes French to
you« Never had he felt so grateful as at this moment for M Nioches
instructions
Mrs Breads dull eyes had followed the disappearance of the paper and she
gave a heavy sigh »Well you have done what you would with me sir and I
suppose you will do it again You must take care of me now You are a terribly
positive gentleman«
»Just now« said Newman »Im a terribly impatient gentleman« And he bade
her goodnight and walked rapidly back to the inn He ordered his vehicle to be
prepared for his return to Poitiers and then he shut the door of the common
salle and strode towards the solitary lamp on the chimneypiece He pulled out
the paper and quickly unfolded it It was covered with pencilmarks which at
first in the feeble light seemed indistinct But Newmans fierce curiosity
forced a meaning from the tremulous signs The English of them was as follows
»My wife has tried to kill me and she has done it I am dying dying
horribly It is to marry my dear daughter to M de Cintré With all my
soul I protest I forbid it I am not insane ask the doctors ask
Mrs B It was alone with me here tonight she attacked me and put
me to death It is murder if murder ever was Ask the doctors
HENRIURBAIN DE BELLEGARDE«
Chapter XXIII
Newman returned to Paris the second day after his interview with Mrs Bread The
morrow he had spent at Poitiers reading over and over again the little document
which he had lodged in his pocketbook and thinking what he would do in the
circumstances and how he would do it He would not have said that Poitiers was
an amusing place yet the day seemed very short Domiciled once more in the
Boulevard Haussmann he walked over to the Rue de lUniversité and inquired of
Madame de Bellegardes portress whether the marquise had come back The portress
told him that she had arrived with M le Marquis on the preceding day and
further informed him that if he desired to enter Madame de Bellegarde and her
son were both at home As she said these words the little whitefaced old woman
who peered out of the dusky gatehouse of the Hôtel de Bellegarde gave a small
wicked smile a smile which seemed to Newman to mean »Go in if you dare« She
was evidently versed in the current domestic history she was placed where she
could feel the pulse of the house Newman stood a moment twisting his moustache
and looking at her then he abruptly turned away But this was not because he
was afraid to go in though he doubted whether if he did so he should be able
to make his way unchallenged into the presence of Madame de Cintrés
relatives Confidence excessive confidence perhaps quite as much as
timidity prompted his retreat He was nursing his thunderbolt he loved it he
was unwilling to part with it He seemed to be holding it aloft in the rumbling
vaguelyflashing air directly over the heads of his victims and he fancied he
could see their pale upturned faces Few specimens of the human countenance had
ever given him such pleasure as these lighted in the lurid fashion I have
hinted at and he was disposed to sip the cup of contemplative revenge in a
leisurely fashion It must be added too that he was at a loss to see exactly
how he could arrange to witness the operation of his thunder To send in his
card to Madame de Bellegarde would be a waste of ceremony she would certainly
decline to receive him On the other hand he could not force his way into her
presence It annoyed him keenly to think that he might be reduced to the blind
satisfaction of writing her a letter but he consoled himself in a measure with
the reflection that a letter might lead to an interview He went home and
feeling rather tired nursing a vengeance was it must be confessed a rather
fatiguing process it took a good deal out of one flung himself into one of
his brocaded fauteuils stretched his legs thrust his hands into his pockets
and while he watched the reflected sunset fading from the ornate housetops on
the opposite side of the Boulevard began mentally to compose a cool epistle to
Madame de Bellegarde While he was so occupied his servant threw open the door
and announced ceremoniously »Madame Brett«
Newman roused himself expectantly and in a few moments perceived upon his
threshold the worthy woman with whom he had conversed to such good purpose on
the starlit hilltop of Fleurières Mrs Bread had made for this visit the same
toilet as for her former expedition Newman was struck with her distinguished
appearance His lamp was not lit and as her large grave face gazed at him
through the light dusk from under the shadow of her ample bonnet he felt the
incongruity of such a person presenting herself as a servant He greeted her
with high geniality and bade her come in and sit down and make herself
comfortable There was something which might have touched the springs both of
mirth and of melancholy in the ancient maidenliness with which Mrs Bread
endeavoured to comply with these directions She was not playing at being
fluttered which would have been simply ridiculous she was doing her best to
carry herself as a person so humble that for her even embarrassment would have
been pretentious but evidently she had never dreamed of its being in her
horoscope to pay a visit at nightfall to a friendly single gentleman who lived
in theatricallooking rooms on one of the new boulevards
»I truly hope I am not forgetting my place sir« she murmured
»Forgetting your place« cried Newman »Why you are remembering it This is
your place you know You are already in my service your wages as housekeeper
began a fortnight ago I can tell you my house wants keeping Why dont you take
off your bonnet and stay«
»Take off my bonnet« said Mrs Bread with timid literalness »Oh sir I
havent my cap And with your leave sir I couldnt keep house in my best
gown«
»Never mind your gown« said Newman cheerfully »You shall have a better
gown than that«
Mrs Bread stared solemnly and then stretched her hands over her lustreless
satin skirt as if the perilous side of her situation was defining itself »Oh
sir I am fond of my own clothes« she murmured
»I hope you have left those wicked people at any rate« said Newman
»Well sir here I am« said Mrs Bread »Thats all I can tell you Here I
sit poor Catherine Bread Its a strange place for me to be I dont know
myself I never supposed I was so bold But indeed sir I have gone as far as
my own strength will bear me«
»Oh come Mrs Bread« said Newman almost caressingly »dont make yourself
uncomfortable Nows the time to feel lively you know«
She began to speak again with a trembling voice »I think it would be more
respectable if I could if I could « and her voice trembled to a pause
»If you could give up this sort of thing altogether« said Newman kindly
trying to anticipate her meaning which he supposed might be a wish to retire
from service
»If I could give up everything sir All I should ask is a decent Protestant
burial«
»Burial« cried Newman with a burst of laughter »Why to bury you now
would be a sad piece of extravagance Its only rascals who have to be buried to
get respectable Honest folks like you and me can live our time out and live
together Come did you bring your baggage«
»My box is locked and corded but I havent yet spoken to my lady«
»Speak to her then and have done with it I should like to have your
chance« cried Newman
»I would gladly give it you sir I have passed some weary hours in my
ladys dressingroom but this will be one of the longest She will tax me with
ingratitude«
»Well« said Newman »so long as you can tax her with murder «
»Oh sir I cant not I« sighed Mrs Bread
»You dont mean to say anything about it So much the better Leave that to
me«
»If she calls me a thankless old woman« said Mrs Bread »I shall have
nothing to say But it is better so« she softly added »She shall be my lady to
the last That will be more respectable«
»And then you will come to me and I shall be your gentleman« said Newman
»that will be more respectable still«
Mrs Bread rose with lowered eyes and stood a moment then looking up
she rested her eyes upon Newmans face The disordered proprieties were somehow
settling to rest She looked at Newman so long and so fixedly with such a dull
intense devotedness that he himself might have had a pretext for embarrassment
At last she said gently »You are not looking well sir«
»Thats natural enough« said Newman »I have nothing to feel well about To
be very indifferent and very fierce very dull and very jovial very sick and
very lively all at once why it rather mixes one up«
Mrs Bread gave a noiseless sigh »I can tell you something that will make
you feel duller still if you want to feel all one way About Madame de Cintré«
»What can you tell me« Newman demanded »Not that you have seen her«
She shook her head »No indeed sir nor ever shall Thats the dulness of
it Nor my lady Nor M de Bellegarde«
»You mean that she is kept so close«
»Close close« said Mrs Bread very softly
These words for an instant seemed to check the beating of Newmans heart
He leaned back in his chair staring up at the old woman »They have tried to
see her and she wouldnt she couldnt«
»She refused forever I had it from my ladys own maid« said Mrs Bread
»who had it from my lady To speak of it to such a person my lady must have felt
the shock Madame de Cintré wont see them now and now is her only chance A
while hence she will have no chance«
»You mean the other women the mothers the daughters the sister what is
it they call them wont let her«
»It is what they call the rule of the house or of the order I believe«
said Mrs Bread »There is no rule so strict as that of the Carmelites The bad
women in the reformatories are fine ladies to them They wear old brown cloaks
so the femme de chambre told me that you wouldnt use for a horse blanket And
the poor countess was so fond of softfeeling dresses she would never have
anything stiff They sleep on the ground« Mrs Bread went on »they are no
better no better« and she hesitated for a comparison »they are no better
than tinkers wives They give up everything down to the very name their poor
old nurses called them by They give up father and mother brother and sister
to say nothing of other persons« Mrs Bread delicately added »They wear a
shroud under their brown cloaks and a rope round their waists and they get up
on winter nights and go off into cold places to pray to the Virgin Mary The
Virgin Mary is a hard mistress«
Mrs Bread dwelling on these terrible facts sat dryeyed and pale with
her hands clasped in her satin lap Newman gave a melancholy groan and fell
forward leaning his head in his hands There was a long silence broken only by
the ticking of the great gilded clock on the chimneypiece
»Where is this place where is the convent« Newman asked at last looking
up
»There are two houses« said Mrs Bread »I found out I thought you would
like to know though its poor comfort I think One is the Avenue de Messine
they have learned that Madame de Cintré is there The other is in the Rue
dEnfer Thats a terrible name I suppose you know what it means«
Newman got up and walked away to the end of his long room When he came back
Mrs Bread had got up and stood by the fire with folded hands »Tell me this«
he said »Can I get near her even if I dont see her Can I look through a
grating or some such thing at the place where she is«
It is said that all women love a lover and Mrs Breads sense of the
preestablished harmony which kept servants in their place even as planets in
their orbits not that Mrs Bread had ever consciously likened herself to a
planet barely availed to temper the maternal melancholy with which she leaned
her head on one side and gazed at her new employer She probably felt for the
moment as if forty years before she had held him also in her arms »That
wouldnt help you sir It would only make her seem farther away«
»I want to go there at all events« said Newman »Avenue de Messine you
say And what is it they call themselves«
»Carmelites« said Mrs Bread
»I shall remember that«
Mrs Bread hesitated a moment and then »Its my duty to tell you this
sir« she went on »The convent has a chapel and some people are admitted on
Sunday to the mass You dont see the poor creatures that are shut up there but
I am told you can hear them sing Its a wonder they have any heart for singing
Some Sunday I shall make bold to go It seems to me I should know her voice in
fifty«
Newman looked at his visitor very gratefully then he held out his hand and
shook hers »Thank you« he said »If anyone can get in I will« A moment later
Mrs Bread proposed deferentially to retire but he checked her and put a
lighted candle into her hand »There are halfadozen rooms there I dont use«
he said pointing through an open door »Go and look at them and take your
choice You can live in the one you like best« From this bewildering
opportunity Mrs Bread at first recoiled but finally yielding to Newmans
gentle reassuring push she wandered off into the dusk with her tremulous
taper She remained absent a quarter of an hour during which Newman paced up
and down stopped occasionally to look out of the window at the lights on the
Boulevard and then resumed his walk Mrs Breads relish for her investigations
apparently increased as she proceeded but at last she reappeared and deposited
her candlestick on the chimneypiece
»Well have you picked one out« asked Newman
»A room sir They are all too fine for a dingy old body like me There
isnt one that hasnt a bit of gilding«
»Its only tinsel Mrs Bread« said Newman »If you stay there a while it
will all peel off of itself.« And he gave a dismal smile
»Oh sir there are things enough peeling off already« rejoined Mrs Bread
with a headshake »Since I was there I thought I would look about me I dont
believe you know sir The corners are most dreadful You do want a
housekeeper that you do you want a tidy Englishwoman that isnt above taking
hold of a broom«
Newman assured her that he suspected if he had not measured his domestic
abuses and that to reform them was a mission worthy of her powers She held her
candlestick aloft again and looked round the salon with compassionate glances
then she intimated that she accepted the mission and that its sacred character
would sustain her in her rupture with Madame de Bellegarde With this she
curtsied herself away
She came back the next day with her worldly goods and Newman going into his
drawingroom found her upon her aged knees before a divan sewing up some
detached fringe He questioned her as to her leavetaking with her late
mistress and she said it had proved easier than she feared »I was perfectly
civil sir but the Lord helped me to remember that a good woman has no call to
tremble before a bad one«
»I should think so« cried Newman »And does she know you have come to me«
»She asked me where I was going and I mentioned your name« said Mrs
Bread
»What did she say to that«
»She looked at me very hard and she turned very red Then she bade me leave
her I was all ready to go and I had got the coachman who is an Englishman to
bring down my poor box and to fetch me a cab But when I went down myself to
the gate I found it closed My lady had sent orders to the porter not to let me
pass and by the same orders the porters wife she is a dreadful sly old body
had gone out in a cab to fetch home M de Bellegarde from his club«
Newman slapped his knee »She is scared she is scared« he cried
exultantly
»I was frightened too sir« said Mrs Bread »but I was also mightily
vexed I took it very high with the porter and asked him by what right he used
violence to an honourable Englishwoman who had lived in the house for thirty
years before he was heard of Oh sir I was very grand and I brought the man
down He drew his bolts and let me out and I promised the cabman something
handsome if he would drive fast But he was terribly slow it seemed as if we
should never reach your blessed door I am all of a tremble still it took me
five minutes just now to thread my needle«
Newman told her with a gleeful laugh that if she chose she might have a
little maid on purpose to thread her needles and he went away murmuring to
himself again that the old woman was scared she was scared
He had not shown Mrs Tristram the little paper that he carried in his
pocketbook but since his return to Paris he had seen her several times and
she had told him that he seemed to her to be in a strange way an even stranger
way than his sad situation made natural Had his disappointment gone to his
head He looked like a man who was going to be ill and yet she had never seen
him more restless and active One day he would sit hanging his head and looking
as if he were firmly resolved never to smile again another he would indulge in
laughter that was almost unseemly and made jokes that were bad even for him If
he was trying to carry off his sorrow he at such times really went too far She
begged him of all things not to be strange Feeling in a measure responsible as
she did for the affair which had turned out so ill for him she could endure
anything but his strangeness He might be melancholy if he would or he might be
stoical he might be cross and cantankerous with her and ask her why she had
ever dared to meddle with his destiny to this she would submit for this she
would make allowances Only for Heavens sake let him not be incoherent That
would be extremely unpleasant It was like people talking in their sleep they
always frightened her And Mrs Tristram intimated that taking very high ground
as regards the moral obligation which events had laid upon her she proposed not
to rest quiet until she should have confronted him with the least inadequate
substitute for Madame de Cintré that the two hemispheres contained
»Oh« said Newman »we are even now and we had better not open a new
account You may bury me some day but you shall never marry me Its too rough
I hope at any rate« he added »that there is nothing incoherent in this that
I want to go next Sunday to the Carmelite chapel in the Avenue de Messine You
know one of the Catholic ministers an abbé is that it I have seen him
here you know that motherly old gentleman with the big waistband Please ask
him if I need a special leave to go in and if I do beg him to obtain it for
me«
Mrs Tristram gave expression to the liveliest joy »I am so glad you have
asked me to do something« she cried »You shall get into the chapel if the abbé
is disfrocked for his share in it« And two days afterwards she told him that it
was all arranged the abbé was enchanted to serve him and if he would present
himself civilly at the conventgate there would be no difficulty
Chapter XXIV
Sunday was as yet two days off but meanwhile to beguile his impatience Newman
took his way to the Avenue de Messine and got what comfort he could in staring
at the blank outer wall of Madame de Cintrés present residence The street in
question as some travellers will remember adjoins the Parc Monceau which is
one of the prettiest corners of Paris The quarter has an air of modern opulence
and convenience which seems at variance with the ascetic institution and the
impression made upon Newmans gloomilyirritated gaze by the freshlooking
windowless expanse behind which the woman he loved was perhaps even then
pledging herself to pass the rest of her days was less exasperating than he had
feared The place suggested a convent with the modern improvements an asylum
in which privacy though unbroken might be not quite identical with privation
and meditation though monotonous might be of a cheerful cast And yet he knew
the case was otherwise only at present it was not a reality to him It was too
strange and too mocking to be real it was like a page torn out of a romance
with no context in his own experience
On Sunday morning at the hour which Mrs Tristram had indicated he rang at
the gate in the blank wall It instantly opened and admitted him into a clean
coldlooking court from beyond which a dull plain edifice looked down upon
him A robust lay sister with a cheerful complexion emerged from a porters
lodge and on his stating his errand pointed to the open door of the chapel
an edifice which occupied the right side of the court and was preceded by a high
flight of steps Newman ascended the steps and immediately entered the open
door Service had not yet begun the place was dimly lighted and it was some
moments before he could distinguish its features Then he saw it was divided by
a large close iron screen into two unequal portions The altar was on the hither
side of the screen and between it and the entrance were disposed several
benches and chairs Three or four of these were occupied by vague motionless
figures figures that he presently perceived to be women deeply absorbed in
their devotion The place seemed to Newman very cold the smell of the incense
itself was cold Besides this there was a twinkle of tapers and here and there a
glow of coloured glass Newman seated himself the praying women kept still
with their backs turned He saw they were visitors like himself and he would
have liked to see their faces for he believed that they were the mourning
mothers and sisters of other women who had had the same pitiless courage as
Madame de Cintré But they were better off than he for they at least shared the
faith to which the others had sacrificed themselves Three or four persons came
in two of them were elderly gentlemen Everyone was very quiet Newman fastened
his eyes upon the screen behind the altar That was the convent the real
convent the place where she was But he could see nothing no light came
through the crevices He got up and approached the partition very gently trying
to look through But behind it there was darkness with nothing stirring He
went back to his place and after that a priest and two altarboys came in and
began to say mass
Newman watched their genuflections and gyrations with a grim still enmity
they seemed aids and abettors of Madame de Cintrés desertion they were
mouthing and droning out their triumph The priests long dismal intonings
acted upon his nerves and deepened his wrath there was something defiant in his
unintelligible drawl it seemed meant for Newman himself Suddenly there arose
from the depths of the chapel from behind the inexorable grating a sound which
drew his attention from the altar the sound of a strange lugubrious chant
uttered by womens voices It began softly but it presently grew louder and as
it increased it became more of a wail and a dirge It was the chant of the
Carmelite nuns their only human utterance It was their dirge over their buried
affections and over the vanity of earthly desires At first Newman was
bewildered almost stunned by the strangeness of the sound then as he
comprehended its meaning he listened intently and his heart began to throb He
listened for Madame de Cintrés voice and in the very heart of the tuneless
harmony he imagined he made it out We are obliged to believe that he was
wrong inasmuch as she had obviously not yet had time to become a member of the
invisible sisterhood The chant kept on mechanical and monotonous with dismal
repetitions and despairing cadences It was hideous it was horrible as it
continued Newman felt that he needed all his selfcontrol He was growing more
agitated he felt tears in his eyes At last as in its full force the thought
came over him that this confused impersonal wail was all that he or the world
she had deserted should ever hear of the voice he had found so sweet he felt
that he could bear it no longer He rose abruptly and made his way out On the
threshold he paused listened again to the dreary strain and then hastily
descended into the court As he did so he saw that the good sister with the
highcoloured cheeks and the fanlike frill to her coiffure who had admitted
him was in conference at the gate with two persons who had just come in A
second glance informed him that these persons were Madame de Bellegarde and her
son and that they were about to avail themselves of that method of approach to
Madame de Cintré which Newman had found but a mockery of consolation As he
crossed the court M de Bellegarde recognised him the marquis was coming to the
steps leading his mother The old lady also gave Newman a look and it
resembled that of her son Both faces expressed a franker perturbation
something more akin to the humbleness of dismay than Newman had yet seen in
them Evidently he startled the Bellegardes and they had not their grand
behaviour immediately in hand Newman hurried past them guided only by the
desire to get out of the conventwalls into the street The gate opened itself
at his approach he strode over the threshold and it closed behind him A
carriage which appeared to have been standing there was just turning away from
the sidewalk Newman looked at it for a moment blankly then he became
conscious through the dusky mist that swam before his eyes that a lady seated
in it was bowing to him The vehicle had turned away before he recognised her
it was an ancient landau with one half the cover lowered The ladys bow was
very positive and accompanied with a smile a little girl was seated beside her
He raised his hat and then the lady bade the coachman stop
The carriage halted again beside the pavement and she sat there and
beckoned to Newman beckoned with the demonstrative grace of Madame Urbain de
Bellegarde Newman hesitated a moment before he obeyed her summons during this
moment he had time to curse his stupidity for letting the others escape him He
had been wondering how he could get at them fool that he was for not stopping
them then and there What better place than beneath the very prisonwalls to
which they had consigned the promise of his joy He had been too bewildered to
stop them but now he felt ready to wait for them at the gate Madame Urbain
with a certain attractive petulance beckoned to him again and this time he
went over to the carriage She leaned out and gave him her hand looking at him
kindly and smiling
»Ah monsieur« she said »you dont include me in your wrath I had nothing
to do with it«
»Oh I dont suppose you could have prevented it« Newman answered in a tone
which was not that of studied gallantry
»What you say is too true for me to resent the small account it makes of my
influence I forgive you at any rate because you look as if you had seen a
ghost«
»I have« said Newman
»I am glad then I didnt go in with Madame de Bellegarde and my husband
You must have seen them eh Was the meeting affectionate Did you hear the
chanting They say its like the lamentations of the damned I wouldnt go in
one is certain to hear that soon enough Poor Claire in a white shroud and a
big brown cloak Thats the toilette of the Carmelites you know Well she was
always fond of long loose things But I must not speak of her to you only I
must say that I am very sorry for you that if I could have helped you I would
and that I think everyone has been very shabby I was afraid of it you know I
felt it in the air for a fortnight before it came When I saw you at my
motherinlaws ball taking it all so easily I felt as if you were dancing on
your grave But what could I do I wish you all the good I can think of You
will say that isnt much Yes they have been very shabby I am not a bit afraid
to say it I assure you everyone thinks so We are not all like that I am sorry
I am not going to see you again you know I think you very good company I would
prove it by asking you to get into the carriage and drive with me for a quarter
of an hour while I wait for my motherinlaw Only if we were seen
considering what has passed and everyone knows you have been turned away it
might be thought I was going a little too far even for me But I shall see you
sometimes somewhere eh You know« this was said in English »we have a
plan for a little amusement«
Newman stood there with his hand on the carriagedoor listening to this
consolatory murmur with an unlighted eye He hardly knew what Madame de
Bellgarde was saying he was only conscious that she was chattering
ineffectively But suddenly it occurred to him that with her pretty
professions there was a way of making her effective she might help him to get
at the old woman and the marquis »They are coming back soon your companions«
he said »You are waiting for them«
»They will hear the mass out there is nothing to keep them longer Claire
has refused to see them«
»I want to speak to them« said Newman »and you can help me you can do me
a favour Delay your return for five minutes and give me a chance at them I
will wait for them here«
Madame de Bellegarde clasped her hands with a tender grimace »My poor
friend what do you want to do to them To beg them to come back to you It will
be wasted words They will never come back«
»I want to speak to them all the same Pray do what I ask you Stay away
and leave them to me for five minutes you neednt be afraid I shall not be
violent I am very quiet«
»Yes you look very quiet If they had le coeur tendre you would move them
But they havent However I will do better for you than what you propose The
understanding is not that I shall come back for them I am going to the Parc
Monceau with my little girl to give her a walk and my motherinlaw who comes
so rarely into this quarter is to profit by the same opportunity to take the
air We are to wait for her in the park where my husband is to bring her to us
Follow me now just within the gates I shall get out of my carriage Sit down on
a chair in some quiet corner and I will bring them near you Theres devotion
for you Le reste vous regarde«
This proposal seemed to Newman extremely felicitous it revived his drooping
spirit and he reflected that Madame Urbain was not such a goose as she seemed
He promised immediately to overtake her and the carriage drove away
The Parc Monceau is a very pretty piece of landscapegardening but Newman
passing into it bestowed little attention upon its elegant vegetation which
was full of the freshness of spring He found Madame de Bellegarde promptly
seated in one of the quiet corners of which she had spoken while before her in
the alley her little girl attended by the footman and the lapdog walked up
and down as if she were taking a lesson in deportment Newman sat down beside
the mamma and she talked a great deal apparently with the design of convincing
him that if he would only see it poor dear Claire did not belong to the most
fascinating type of woman She was too tall and thin too stiff and cold her
mouth was too wide and her nose too narrow She had no dimples anywhere And
then she was eccentric eccentric in cold blood she was an Anglaise after all
Newman was very impatient she was counting the minutes until his victims should
reappear He sat silent leaning upon his cane looking absently and insensibly
at the little marquise At length Madame de Bellegarde said she would walk
toward the gate of the park and meet her companions but before she went she
dropped her eyes and after playing a moment with the lace of her sleeve
looked up again at Newman
»Do you remember« she asked »the promise you made me three weeks ago« And
then as Newman vainly consulting his memory was obliged to confess that the
promise had escaped it she declared that he had made her at the time a very
queer answer an answer at which viewing it in the light of the sequel she
had fair ground for taking offence »You promised to take me to Bulliers after
your marriage After your marriage you made a great point of that Three days
after that your marriage was broken off Do you know when I heard the news the
first thing I said to myself Oh heaven now he wont go with me to Bulliers
And I really began to wonder if you had not been expecting the rupture«
»Oh my dear lady« murmured Newman looking down the path to see if the
others were not coming
»I shall be goodnatured« said Madame de Bellegarde »One must not ask too
much of a gentleman who is in love with a cloistered nun Besides I cant go to
Bulliers while we are in mourning But I havent given it up for that The
partie is arranged I have my cavalier Lord Deepmere if you please He has
gone back to his dear Dublin but a few months hence I am to name any evening
and he will come over from Ireland on purpose Thats what I call gallantry«
Shortly after this Madame de Bellegarde walked away with her little girl
Newman sat in his place the time seemed terribly long He felt how fiercely his
quarter of an hour in the convent chapel had raked over the glowing coals of his
resentment Madame de Bellegarde kept him waiting but she proved as good as her
word At last she reappeared at the end of the path with her little girl and
her footman beside her slowly walked her husband with his mother on his arm
They were a long time advancing during which Newman sat unmoved Tingling as he
was with passion it was extremely characteristic of him that he was able to
moderate his expression of it as he would have turned down a flaring
gasburner His native coolness shrewdness and deliberateness his lifelong
submissiveness to the sentiment that words were acts and acts were steps in
life and that in this matter of taking steps curveting and prancing were
exclusively reserved for quadrupeds and foreigners all this admonished him
that rightful wrath had no connection with being a fool and indulging in
spectacular violence So as he rose when old Madame de Bellegarde and her son
were close to him he only felt very tall and light He had been sitting beside
some shrubbery in such a way as not to be noticeable at a distance but M de
Bellegarde had evidently already perceived him His mother and he were holding
their course but Newman stepped in front of them and they were obliged to
pause He lifted his hat slightly and looked at them for a moment they were
pale with amazement and disgust
»Excuse me for stopping you« he said in a low tone »but I must profit by
the occasion I have ten words to say to you Will you listen to them«
The marquis glared at him and then turned to his mother »Can Mr Newman
possibly have anything to say that is worth our listening to«
»I assure you I have something« said Newman »besides it is my duty to say
it Its a notification a warning«
»Your duty« said old Madame de Bellegarde her thin lips curving like
scorched paper »This is your affair not ours«
Madame Urbain meanwhile had seized her little girl by the hand with a
gesture of surprise and impatience which struck Newman intent as he was upon
his own words with its dramatic effectiveness »If Mr Newman is going to make
a scene in public« she exclaimed »I will take my poor child out of the mêlée
She is too young to see such naughtiness« and she instantly resumed her walk
»You had much better listen to me« Newman went on »Whether you do or not
things will be disagreeable for you but at any rate you will be prepared«
»We have already heard something of your threats« said the marquis »and
you know what we think of them«
»You think a good deal more than you admit A moment« Newman added in reply
to an exclamation of the old lady »I remember perfectly that we are in a public
place and you see I am very quiet I am not going to tell your secret to the
passersby I shall keep it to begin with for certain picked listeners Anyone
who observes us will think that we are having a friendly chat and that I am
complimenting you madam on your venerable virtues«
The marquis gave three short sharp raps on the ground with his stick »I
demand of you to step out of our path« he hissed
Newman instantly complied and M de Bellegarde stepped forward with his
mother Then Newman said »Half an hour hence Madame de Bellegarde will regret
that she didnt learn exactly what I mean«
The marquise had taken a few steps but at these words she paused looking
at Newman with eyes like two scintillating globules of ice »You are like a
peddler with something to sell« she said with a little cold laugh which only
partially concealed the tremor in her voice
»Oh no not to sell« Newman rejoined »I give it to you for nothing« And
he approached nearer to her looking her straight in the eyes »You killed your
husband« he said almost in a whisper »That is you tried once and failed and
then without trying you succeeded«
Madame de Bellegarde closed her eyes and gave a little cough which as a
piece of dissimulation struck Newman as really heroic »Dear mother« said the
marquis »does this stuff amuse you so much«
»The rest is more amusing« said Newman »You had better not lose it«
Madame de Bellegarde opened her eyes the scintillations had gone out of
them they were fixed and dead But she smiled superbly with her narrow little
lips and repeated Newmans word »Amusing Have I killed someone else«
»I dont count your daughter« said Newman »though I might Your husband
knew what you were doing I have a proof of it whose existence you have never
suspected« And he turned to the marquis who was terribly white whiter than
Newman had ever seen anyone out of a picture »A paper written by the hand and
signed with the name of HenriUrbain de Bellegarde Written after you madam
had left him for dead and while you sir had gone not very fast for the
doctor«
The marquis looked at his mother she turned away looking vaguely round
her »I must sit down« she said in a low tone going toward the bench on which
Newman had been sitting
»Couldnt you have spoken to me alone« said the marquis to Newman with a
strange look
»Well yes if I could have been sure of speaking to your mother alone
too« Newman answered »But I have had to take you as I could get you«
Madame de Bellegarde with a movement very eloquent of what he would have
called her grit her steelcold pluck and her instinctive appeal to her own
personal resources drew her hand out of her sons arm and went and seated
herself upon the bench There she remained with her hands folded in her lap
looking straight at Newman The expression of her face was such that he fancied
at first that she was smiling but he went and stood in front of her and saw
that her elegant features were distorted by agitation He saw however equally
that she was resisting her agitation with all the rigour of her inflexible will
and there was nothing like either fear or submission in her stony stare She had
been startled but she was not terrified Newman had an exasperating feeling
that she would get the better of him still he would not have believed it
possible that he could so utterly fail to be touched by the sight of a woman
criminal or other in so tight a place Madame de Bellegarde gave a glance at
her son which seemed tantamount to an injunction to be silent and leave her to
her own devices The marquis stood beside her with his hands behind him
looking at Newman
»What paper is this you speak of« asked the old lady with an imitation of
tranquillity which would have been applauded in a veteran actress
»Exactly what I have told you« said Newman »A paper written by your
husband after you had left him for dead and during the couple of hours before
you returned You see he had the time you shouldnt have stayed away so long
It declares distinctly his wifes murderous intent«
»I should like to see it« Madame de Bellegarde observed
»I thought you might« said Newman »and I have taken a copy« And he drew
from his waistcoatpocket a small folded sheet
»Give it to my son« said Madame de Bellegarde Newman handed it to the
marquis whose mother glancing at him said simply »Look at it« M de
Bellegardes eyes had a pale eagerness which it was useless for him to try to
dissimulate he took the paper in his lightgloved fingers and opened it There
was a silence during which he read it He had more than time to read it but
still he said nothing he stood staring at it »Where is the original« asked
Madame de Bellegarde in a voice which was really a consummate negation of
impatience
»In a very safe place Of course I cant show you that« said Newman »You
might want to take hold of it« he added with conscious quaintness »But thats
a very correct copy except of course the handwriting I am keeping the
original to show someone else«
M de Bellegarde at last looked up and his eyes were still very eager »To
whom do you mean to show it«
»Well Im thinking of beginning with the duchess« said Newman »that stout
lady I saw at your ball She asked me to come and see her you know I thought
at the moment I shouldnt have much to say to her but my little document will
give us something to talk about«
»You had better keep it my son« said Madame de Bellegarde
»By all means« said Newman »keep it and show it to your mother when you
get home«
»And after showing it to the duchess« asked the marquis folding the paper
and putting it away
»Well Ill take up the dukes« said Newman »Then the counts and the barons
all the people you had the cruelty to introduce me to in a character of which
you meant immediately to deprive me I have made out a list«
For a moment neither Madame de Bellegarde nor her son said a word the old
lady sat with her eyes upon the ground M de Bellegardes blanched pupils were
fixed upon her face Then looking at Newman »Is that all you have to say« she
asked
»No I want to say a few words more I want to say that I hope you quite
understand what Im about This is my revenge you know You have treated me
before the world convened for the express purpose as if I were not good
enough for you I mean to show the world that however bad I may be you are not
quite the people to say it«
Madame de Bellegarde was silent again and then she broke her silence Her
selfpossession continued to be extraordinary »I neednt ask you who has been
your accomplice Mrs Bread told me that you had purchased her services«
»Dont accuse Mrs Bread of venality« said Newman »She has kept your
secret all these years She had given you a long respite It was beneath her
eyes your husband wrote that paper he put it into her hands with a solemn
injunction that she was to make it public She was too goodhearted to make use
of it«
The old lady appeared for an instant to hesitate and then »She was my
husbands mistress« she said softly This was the only concession to
selfdefence that she condescended to make
»I doubt that« said Newman
Madame de Bellegarde got up from her bench »It was not to your opinions I
undertook to listen and if you have nothing left but them to tell me I think
this remarkable interview may terminate« And turning to the marquis she took
his arm again »My son« she said »say something«
M de Bellegarde looked down at his mother passing his hand over his
forehead and then tenderly caressingly »What shall I say« he asked
»There is only one thing to say« said the marquise »That it was really not
worth while to have interrupted our walk«
But the marquis thought he could improve this »Your papers a forgery« he
said to Newman
Newman shook his head a little with a tranquil smile »M de Bellegarde«
he said »your mother does better She has done better all along from the first
of my knowing you Youre a mighty plucky woman madam« he continued »Its a
great pity you have made me your enemy I should have been one of your greatest
admirers«
»Mon pauvre ami« said Madame de Bellegarde to her son in French and as if
she had not heard these words »you must take me immediately to my carriage«
Newman stepped back and let them leave him he watched them a moment and saw
Madame Urbain with her little girl come out of a bypath to meet them The old
lady stooped and kissed her grandchild »Damn it she is plucky« said Newman
and he walked home with a slight sense of being balked She was so
inexpressively defiant But on reflection he decided that what he had witnessed
was no real sense of security still less a real innocence It was only a very
superior style of brazen assurance »Wait till she reads the paper« he said to
himself and he concluded that he should hear from her soon
He heard sooner than he expected The next morning before midday when he
was about to give orders for his breakfast to be served M de Bellegardes card
was brought to him »She has read the paper and she has passed a bad night«
said Newman He instantly admitted his visitor who came in with the air of the
ambassador of a great power meeting the delegate of a barbarous tribe whom an
absurd accident had enabled for the moment to be abominably annoying The
ambassador at all events had passed a bad night and his faultlessly careful
toilet only threw into relief the frigid rancour in his eyes and the mottled
tones of his refined complexion He stood before Newman a moment breathing
quickly and softly and shaking his forefinger curtly as his host pointed to a
chair
»What I have come to say is soon said« he declared »and can only be said
without ceremony«
»I am good for as much or for as little as you desire« said Newman
The marquis looked round the room a moment and then »On what terms will
you part with your scrap of paper«
»On none« And while Newman with his head on one side and his hands behind
him sounded the marquiss turbid gaze with his own he added »Certainly that
is not worth sitting down about«
M de Bellegarde meditated a moment as if he had not heard Newmans
refusal »My mother and I last evening« he said »talked over your story You
will be surprised to learn that we think your little document is a« and he
held back his word a moment »is genuine«
»You forget that with you I am used to surprises« exclaimed Newman with a
laugh
»The very smallest amount of respect that we owe to my fathers memory« the
marquis continued »makes us desire that he should not be held up to the world
as the author of so so infernal an attack upon the reputation of a wife whose
only fault was that she had been submissive to accumulated injury«
»Oh I see« said Newman »Its for your fathers sake« And he laughed the
laugh in which he indulged when he was most amused a noiseless laugh with his
lips closed
But M de Bellegardes gravity held good »There are a few of my fathers
particular friends for whom the knowledge of so so unfortunate an
inspiration would be a real grief Even say we firmly established by medical
evidence the presumption of a mind disordered by fever il en resterait quelque
chose At the best it would look ill in him Very ill«
»Dont try medical evidence« said Newman »Dont touch the doctors and they
wont touch you I dont mind your knowing that I have not written to them«
Newman fancied that he saw signs in M de Bellegardes discoloured mask that
this information was extremely pertinent But it may have been merely fancy for
the marquis remained majestically argumentative »For instance Madame
dOutreville« he said »of whom you spoke yesterday I can imagine nothing that
would shock her more«
»Oh I am quite prepared to shock Madame dOutreville you know Thats on
the cards I expect to shock a great many people«
M de Bellegarde examined for a moment the stitching on the back of one of
his gloves Then without looking up »We dont offer you money« he said »That
we suppose to be useless«
Newman turning away took a few turns about the room and then came back
»What do you offer me By what I can make out the generosity is all to be on my
side«
The marquis dropped his arms at his side and held his head a little higher
»What we offer you is a chance a chance that a gentleman should appreciate A
chance to abstain from inflicting a terrible blot upon the memory of a man who
certainly had his faults but who personally had done you no wrong«
»There are two things to say to that« said Newman »The first is as
regards appreciating your chance that you dont consider me a gentleman Thats
your great point you know Its a poor rule that wont work both ways The
second is that well in a word you are talking great nonsense«
Newman who in the midst of his bitterness had as I have said kept well
before his eyes a certain ideal of saying nothing rude was immediately somewhat
regretfully conscious of the sharpness of these words But he speedily observed
that the marquis took them more quietly than might have been expected M de
Bellegarde like the stately ambassador that he was continued the policy of
ignoring what was disagreeable in his adversarys replies He gazed at the
gilded arabesques on the opposite wall and then presently transferred his
glance to Newman as if he too were a large grotesque in a rather vulgar system
of chamberdecoration »I suppose you know that as regards yourself it wont do
at all«
»How do you mean it wont do«
»Why of course you damn yourself But I suppose thats in your programme
You propose to throw mud at us you believe you hope that some of it may
stick We know of course it cant« explained the marquis in a tone of
conscious lucidity »but you take the chance and are willing at any rate to
show that you yourself have dirty hands«
»Thats a good comparison at least half of it is« said Newman »I take the
chance of something sticking But as regards my hands they are clean I have
taken the matter up with my fingertips«
M de Bellegarde looked a moment into his hat »All our friends are quite
with us« he said »They would have done exactly as we have done«
»I shall believe that when I hear them say it Meanwhile I shall think
better of human nature«
The marquis looked into his hat again »Madame de Cintré was extremely fond
of her father If she knew of the existence of the few written words of which
you propose to make this scandalous use she would demand of you proudly for his
sake to give it up to her and she would destroy it without reading it«
»Very possibly« Newman rejoined »But she will not know I was in that
convent yesterday and I know what she is doing Lord deliver us You can guess
whether it made me feel forgiving«
M de Bellegarde appeared to have nothing more to suggest but he continued
to stand there rigid and elegant as a man who believed that his mere personal
presence had an argumentative value Newman watched him and without yielding
an inch on the main issue felt an incongruously goodnatured impulse to help
him to retreat in good order
»Your visits a failure you see« he said »You offer too little«
»Propose something yourself« said the marquis
»Give me back Madame de Cintré in the same state in which you took her from
me«
M de Bellegarde threw back his head and his pale face flushed »Never« he
said
»You cant«
»We wouldnt if we could In the sentiment which led us to deprecate her
marriage nothing is changed«
»Deprecate is good« cried Newman »It was hardly worth while to come here
only to tell me that you are not ashamed of yourselves I could have guessed
that«
The marquis slowly walked toward the door and Newman following opened it
for him »What you propose to do will be very disagreeable« M de Bellegarde
said »That is very evident But it will be nothing more«
»As I understand it« Newman answered »that will be quite enough«
M de Bellegarde stood a moment looking on the ground as if he were
ransacking his ingenuity to see what else he could do to save his fathers
reputation Then with a little cold sigh he seemed to signify that he
regretfully surrendered the late marquis to the penalty of his turpitude He
gave a hardly perceptible shrug took his neat umbrella from the servant in the
vestibule and with his gentlemanly walk passed out Newman stood listening
till he heard the door close then he slowly exclaimed »Well I ought to begin
to be satisfied now«
Chapter XXV
Newman called upon the comical duchess and found her at home An old gentleman
with a high nose and a goldheaded cane was just taking leave of her he made
Newman a protracted obeisance as he retired and our hero supposed that he was
one of the mysterious grandees with whom he had shaken hands at Madame de
Bellegardes ball The duchess in her armchair from which she did not move
with a great flowerpot on one side of her a pile of pinkcovered novels on the
other and a large piece of tapestry depending from her lap presented an
expansive and imposing front but her aspect was in the highest degree gracious
and there was nothing in her manner to check the effusion of his confidence She
talked to him about flowers and books getting launched with marvellous
promptitude about the theatres about the peculiar institutions of his native
country about the humidity of Paris about the pretty complexions of the
American ladies about his impressions of France and his opinion of its female
inhabitants All this was a brilliant monologue on the part of the duchess who
like many of her countrywomen was a person of an affirmative rather than an
interrogative cast of mind who made mots and put them herself into circulation
and who was apt to offer you a present of a convenient little opinion neatly
enveloped in the gilt paper of a happy Gallicism Newman had come to her with a
grievance but he found himself in an atmosphere in which apparently no
cognisance was taken of grievances an atmosphere into which the chill of
discomfort had never penetrated and which seemed exclusively made up of mild
sweet stale intellectual perfumes The feeling with which he had watched Madame
dOutreville at the treacherous festival of the Bellegardes came back to him
she struck him as a wonderful old lady in a comedy particularly well up in her
part He observed before long that she asked him no questions about their common
friends she made no allusion to the circumstances under which he had been
presented to her She neither feigned ignorance of a change in these
circumstances nor pretended to condole with him upon it but she smiled and
discoursed and compared the tendertinted wools of her tapestry as if the
Bellegardes and their wickedness were not of this world »She is fighting shy«
said Newman to himself and having made the observation he was prompted to
observe further how the duchess would carry off her indifference She did so
in a masterly manner There was not a gleam of disguised consciousness in those
small clear demonstrative eyes which constituted her nearest claim to personal
loveliness there was not a symptom of apprehension that Newman would trench
upon the ground she proposed to avoid »Upon my word she does it very well« he
tacitly commented »They all hold together bravely and whether anyone else can
trust them or not they can certainly trust each other«
Newman at this juncture fell to admiring the duchess for her fine manners
He felt most accurately that she was not a grain less urbane than she would
have been if his marriage were still in prospect but he felt also that she was
not a particle more urbane He had come so reasoned the duchess Heaven knew
why he had come after what had happened and for the half hour therefore she
would be charmante But she would never see him again Finding no readymade
opportunity to tell his story Newman pondered these things more dispassionately
than might have been expected he stretched his legs as usual and even
chuckled a little appreciatively and noiselessly And then as the duchess went
on relating a mot with which her mother had snubbed the great Napoleon it
occurred to Newman that her evasion of a chapter of French history more
interesting to himself might possibly be the result of an extreme consideration
for his feelings Perhaps it was delicacy on the duchesss part not policy He
was on the point of saying something himself to make the chance which he had
determined to give her still better when the servant announced another visitor
The duchess on hearing the name it was that of an Italian prince gave a
little imperceptible pout and said to Newman rapidly »I beg you to remain I
desire this visit to be short« Newman said to himself at this that Madame
dOutreville intended after all that they should discuss the Bellegardes
together
The prince was a short stout man with a head disproportionately large He
had a dusky complexion and a bushy eyebrow beneath which his eye wore a fixed
and somewhat defiant expression he seemed to be challenging you to insinuate
that he was topheavy The duchess judging from her charge to Newman regarded
him as a bore but this was not apparent from the unchecked flow of her
conversation She made a fresh series of mots characterised with great felicity
the Italian intellect and the taste of the figs at Sorrento predicted the
ultimate future of the Italian kingdom disgust with the brutal Sardinian rule
and complete reversion throughout the peninsula to the sacred sway of the Holy
Father and finally gave a history of the love affairs of the Princess X
This narrative provoked some rectifications on the part of the prince who as
he said pretended to know something about that matter and having satisfied
himself that Newman was in no laughing mood either with regard to the size of
his head or anything else he entered into the controversy with an animation for
which the duchess when she set him down as a bore could not have been
prepared The sentimental vicissitudes of the Princess X led to a discussion
of the hearthistory of Florentine nobility in general the duchess had spent
five weeks in Florence and had gathered much information on the subject This
was merged in turn in an examination of the Italian heart per se. The duchess
took a brilliantly heterodox view thought it the least susceptible organ of
its kind that she had ever encountered related examples of its want of
susceptibility and at last declared that for her the Italians were a people of
ice The prince became flame to refute her and his visit really proved
charming Newman was naturally out of the conversation he sat with his head a
little on one side watching the interlocutors The duchess as she talked
frequently looked at him with a smile as if to intimate in the charming manner
of her nation that it lay only with him to say something very much to the
point But he said nothing at all and at last his thoughts began to wander A
singular feeling came over him a sudden sense of the folly of his errand What
under the sun had he to say to the duchess after all Wherein would it profit
him to tell her that the Bellegardes were traitors and that the old lady into
the bargain was a murderess He seemed morally to have turned a sort of
somersault and to find things looking differently in consequence He felt a
sudden stiffening of his will and quickening of his reserve What in the world
had he been thinking of when he fancied the duchess could help him and that it
would conduce to his comfort to make her think ill of the Bellegardes What did
her opinion of the Bellegardes matter to him It was only a shade more important
than the opinion the Bellegardes entertained of her The duchess help him that
cold stout soft artificial woman help him she who in the last twenty
minutes had built up between them a wall of polite conversation in which she
evidently flattered herself that he would never find a gate Had it come to that
that he was asking favours of conceited people and appealing for sympathy
where he had no sympathy to give He rested his arms on his knees and sat for
some minutes staring into his hat As he did so his ears tingled he had come
very near being an ass Whether or no the duchess would hear his story he
wouldnt tell it Was he to sit there another half hour for the sake of exposing
the Bellegardes The Bellegardes be hanged He got up abruptly and advanced to
shake hands with his hostess
»You cant stay longer« she asked very graciously
»I am afraid not« he said
She hesitated a moment and then »I had an idea you had something
particular to say to me« she declared
Newman looked at her he felt a little dizzy for the moment he seemed to be
turning his somersault again The little Italian prince came to his help »Ah
madam who has not that« he softly sighed
»Dont teach Mr Newman to say fadaises« said the duchess »It is his merit
that he doesnt know how«
»Yes I dont know how to say fadaises« said Newman »and I dont want to
say anything unpleasant«
»I am sure you are very considerate« said the duchess with a smile and she
gave him a little nod for goodbye with which he took his departure
Once in the street he stood for some time on the pavement wondering
whether after all he was not an ass not to have discharged his pistol And
then he decided that to talk to anyone whomsoever about the Bellegardes would be
extremely disagreeable to him The least disagreeable thing under the
circumstances was to banish them from his mind and never think of them again
Indecision had not hitherto been one of Newmans weaknesses and in this case it
was not of long duration For three days after this he did not or at least he
tried not to think of the Bellegardes He dined with Mrs Tristram and on her
mentioning their name he begged her almost severely to desist This gave Tom
Tristram a muchcoveted opportunity to offer his condolences
He leaned forward laying his hand on Newmans arm compressing his lips
and shaking his head »The fact is my dear fellow you see that you ought
never to have gone into it It was not your doing I know it was all my wife
If you want to come down on her Ill stand off I give you leave to hit her as
hard as you like You know she has never had a word of reproach from me in her
life and I think she is in need of something of the kind Why didnt you listen
to me You know I didnt believe in the thing I thought it at the best an
amiable delusion I dont profess to be a Don Juan or a gay Lothario that
class of man you know but I do pretend to know something about the harder sex
I have never disliked a woman in my life that she has not turned out badly I
was not at all deceived in Lizzie for instance I always had my doubts about
her Whatever you may think of my present situation I must at least admit that
I got into it with my eyes open Now suppose you had got into something like
this box with Madame de Cintré You may depend upon it she would have turned out
a stiff one And upon my word I dont see where you could have found your
comfort Not from the marquis my dear Newman he wasnt a man you could go and
talk things over with in a sociable commonsense way Did he ever seem to want
to have you on the premises did he ever try to see you alone Did he ever ask
you to come and smoke a cigar with him of an evening or step in when you had
been calling on the ladies and take something I dont think you would have got
much encouragement out of him And as for the old lady she struck one as an
uncommonly strong dose They have a great expression here you know they call
it sympathetic Everything is sympathetic or ought to be Now Madame de
Bellegarde is about as sympathetic as that mustardpot Theyre a dd
coldblooded lot any way I felt it awfully at that ball of theirs I felt as
if I were walking up and down in the Armoury in the Tower of London My dear
boy dont think me a vulgar brute for hinting at it but you may depend upon
it all they wanted was your money I know something about that I can tell when
people want ones money Why they stopped wanting yours I dont know I suppose
because they could get someone elses without working so hard for it It isnt
worth finding out It may be that it was not Madame de Cintré that backed out
first very likely the old woman put her up to it I suspect she and her mother
are really as thick as thieves eh You are well out of it my boy make up your
mind to that If I express myself strongly it is all because I love you so much
and from that point of view I may say I should as soon have thought of making up
to that piece of pale highmightiness as I should have thought of making up to
the Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde«
Newman sat gazing at Tristram during this harangue with a lacklustre eye
never yet had he seemed to himself to have outgrown so completely the phase of
equal comradeship with Tom Tristram Mrs Tristrams glance at her husband had
more of a spark she turned to Newman with a slightly lurid smile »You must at
least do justice« she said »to the felicity with which Mr Tristram repairs
the indiscretions of a too zealous wife«
But even without the aid of Tom Tristrams conversational felicities Newman
would have begun to think of the Bellegardes again He could cease to think of
them only when he ceased to think of his loss and privation and the days had as
yet but scantily lightened the weight of this incommodity In vain Mrs Tristram
begged him to cheer up she assured him that the sight of his countenance made
her miserable
»How can I help it« he demanded with a trembling voice »I feel like a
widower and a widower who has not even the consolation of going to stand
beside the grave of his wife who has not the right to wear so much mourning as
a weed on his hat I feel« he added in a moment »as if my wife had been
murdered and her assassins were still at large«
Mrs Tristram made no immediate rejoinder but at last she said with a
smile which in so far as it was a forced one was less successfully simulated
than such smiles on her lips usually were »Are you very sure that you would
have been happy«
Newman stared a moment and then shook his head »Thats weak« he said
»that wont do«
»Well« said Mrs Tristram with a more triumphant bravery »I dont believe
you would have been happy«
Newman gave a little laugh »Say I should have been miserable then its a
misery I should have preferred to any happiness«
Mrs Tristram began to muse »I should have been curious to see it would
have been very strange«
»Was it from curiosity that you urged me to try and marry her«
»A little« said Mrs Tristram growing still more audacious Newman gave
her the one angry look he had been destined ever to give her turned away and
took up his hat She watched him a moment and then she said »That sounds very
cruel but it is less so than it sounds Curiosity has a share in almost
everything I do I wanted very much to see first whether such a marriage could
actually take place second what would happen if it should take place«
»So you didnt believe« said Newman resentfully
»Yes I believed I believed that it would take place and that you would
be happy Otherwise I should have been among my speculations a very heartless
creature But« she continued laying her hand upon Newmans arm and hazarding a
grave smile »it was the highest flight ever taken by a tolerably bold
imagination«
Shortly after this she recommended him to leave Paris and travel for three
months Change of scene would do him good and he would forget his misfortune
sooner in absence from the objects which had witnessed it »I really feel«
Newman rejoined »as if to leave you at least would do me good and cost me
very little effort You are growing cynical you shock me and pain me«
»Very good« said Mrs Tristram goodnaturedly or cynically as may be
thought most probable »I shall certainly see you again«
Newman was very willing to get away from Paris the brilliant streets he had
walked through in his happier hours and which then seemed to wear a higher
brilliancy in honour of his happiness appeared now to be in the secret of his
defeat and to look down upon it in shining mockery He would go somewhere he
cared little where and he made his preparations Then one morning at
haphazard he drove to the train that would transport him to Boulogne and
despatch him thence to the shores of Britain As he rolled along in the train he
asked himself what had become of his revenge and he was able to say that it was
provisionally pigeonholed in a very safe place it would keep till called for
He arrived in London in the midst of what is called the season and it
seemed to him at first that he might here put himself in the way of being
diverted from his heavyheartedness He knew no one in all England but the
spectacle of the mighty metropolis roused him somewhat from his apathy Anything
that was enormous usually found favour with Newman and the multitudinous
energies and industries of England stirred within him a dull vivacity of
contemplation It is on record that the weather at that moment was of the
finest English quality he took long walks and explored London in every
direction he sat by the hour in Kensington Gardens and beside the adjoining
Drive watching the people and the horses and the carriages the rosy English
beauties the wonderful English dandies and the splendid flunkies He went to
the opera and found it better than in Paris he went to the theatre and found a
surprising charm in listening to dialogue the finest points of which came within
the range of his comprehension He made several excursions into the country
recommended by the waiter at his hotel with whom on this and similar points
he had established confidential relations He watched the deer in Windsor Forest
and admired the Thames from Richmond Hill he ate whitebait and brownbread and
butter at Greenwich and strolled in the grassy shadow of the cathedral of
Canterbury He also visited the Tower of London and Madame Tussauds exhibition
One day he thought he would go to Sheffield and then thinking again he gave
it up Why should he go to Sheffield He had a feeling that the link which bound
him to a possible interest in the manufacture of cutlery was broken He had no
desire for an inside view of any successful enterprise whatever and he would
not have given the smallest sum for the privilege of talking over the details of
the most splendid business with the shrewdest of overseers
One afternoon he had walked into Hyde Park and was slowly threading his way
through the human maze which edges the Drive The stream of carriages was no
less dense and Newman as usual marvelled at the strange dingy figures which
he saw taking the air in some of the stateliest vehicles They reminded him of
what he had read of eastern and southern countries in which grotesque idols and
fetiches were sometimes taken out of their temples and carried abroad in golden
chariots to be displayed to the multitude He saw a great many pretty cheeks
beneath highplumed hats as he squeezed his way through serried waves of
crumpled muslin and sitting on little chairs at the base of the great serious
English trees he observed a number of quieteyed maidens who seemed only to
remind him afresh that the magic of beauty had gone out of the world with Madame
de Cintré to say nothing of other damsels whose eyes were not quiet and who
struck him still more as a satire on possible consolation He had been walking
for some time when directly in front of him borne back by the summer breeze
he heard a few words uttered in that bright Parisian idiom from which his ears
had begun to alienate themselves The voice in which the words were spoken made
them seem even more like a thing with which he had once been familiar and as he
bent his eyes it lent an identity to the commonplace elegance of the black hair
and shoulders of a young lady walking in the same direction as himself
Mademoiselle Nioche apparently had come to seek a more rapid advancement in
London and another glance led Newman to suppose that she had found it A
gentleman was strolling beside her lending a most attentive ear to her
conversation and too entranced to open his lips Newman did not hear his voice
but perceived that he presented the dorsal expression of a welldressed
Englishman Mademoiselle Nioche was attracting attention the ladies who passed
her turned round to survey the Parisian perfection of her toilet A great
cataract of flounces rolled down from the young ladys waist to Newmans feet
he had to step aside to avoid treading upon them He stepped aside indeed with
a decision of movement which the occasion scarcely demanded for even this
imperfect glimpse of Miss Noémie had excited his displeasure She seemed an
odious blot upon the face of nature; he wanted to put her out of his sight He
thought of Valentin de Bellegarde still green in the earth of his burial his
young life clipped by this flourishing impudence The perfume of the young
ladys finery sickened him he turned his head and tried to deflect his course
but the pressure of the crowd kept him near her a few minutes longer so that he
heard what she was saying
»Ah Im sure he will miss me« she murmured »It was very cruel in me to
leave him I am afraid you will think me a very heartless creature He might
perfectly well have come with us I dont think he is very well« she added »it
seemed to me today that he was not very gay«
Newman wondered whom she was talking about but just then an opening among
his neighbours enabled him to turn away and he said to himself that she was
probably paying a tribute to British propriety and playing at tender solicitude
about her papa Was that miserable old man still treading the path of vice in
her train Was he still giving her the benefit of his experience of affairs and
had he crossed the sea to serve as her interpreter Newman walked some distance
farther and then began to retrace his steps taking care not to traverse again
the orbit of Mademoiselle Nioche At last he looked for a chair under the trees
but he had some difficulty in finding an empty one He was about to give up the
search when he saw a gentleman rise from the seat he had been occupying leaving
Newman to take it without looking at his neighbours He sat there for some time
without heeding them his attention was lost in the irritation and bitterness
produced by his recent glimpse of Miss Noémies iniquitous vitality But at the
end of a quarter of an hour dropping his eyes he perceived a small pugdog
squatted upon the path near his feet a diminutive but very perfect specimen of
its interesting species The pug was sniffing at the fashionable world as it
passed him with his little black muzzle and was kept from extending his
investigation by a large blue ribbon attached to his collar with an enormous
rosette and held in the hand of a person seated next to Newman To this person
Newman transferred his attention and immediately perceived that he was the
object of all that of his neighbour who was staring up at him from a pair of
little fixed white eyes These eyes Newman instantly recognized he had been
sitting for the last quarter of an hour beside M Nioche He had vaguely felt
that someone was staring at him M Nioche continued to stare he appeared
afraid to move even to the extent of evading Newmans glance
»Dear me« said Newman »are you here too« And he looked at his
neighbours helplessness more grimly than he knew M Nioche had a new hat and a
pair of kid gloves his clothes too seemed to belong to a more recent
antiquity than of yore Over his arm was suspended a ladys mantilla a light
and brilliant tissue fringed with white lace which had apparently been
committed to his keeping and the little dogs blue ribbon was wound tightly
round his hand There was no expression of recognition in his face or of
anything indeed save a sort of feeble fascinated dread Newman looked at the pug
and the lace mantilla and then he met the old mans eyes again »You know me I
see« he pursued »You might have spoken to me before« M Nioche still said
nothing but it seemed to Newman that his eyes began faintly to water »I didnt
expect« our hero went on »to meet you so far from from the Café de la
Patrie« The old man remained silent but decidedly Newman had touched the
source of tears His neighbour sat staring and Newman added »Whats the
matter M Nioche You used to talk to talk very prettily Dont you remember
you even gave lessons in conversation«
At this M Nioche decided to change his attitude He stooped and picked up
the pug lifted it to his face and wiped his eyes on its little soft back »I am
afraid to speak to you« he presently said looking over the puppys shoulder
»I hoped you wouldnt notice me I should have moved away but I was afraid that
if I moved you would notice me So I sat very still«
»I suspect you have a bad conscience sir« said Newman
The old man put down the little dog and held it carefully in his lap Then
he shook his head with his eyes still fixed upon his interlocutor »No Mr
Newman I have a good conscience« he murmured
»Then why should you want to slink away from me«
»Because because you dont understand my position«
»Oh I think you once explained it to me« said Newman »But it seems
improved«
»Improved« exclaimed M Nioche under his breath »Do you call this
improvement« And he glanced at the treasures in his arms
»Why you are on your travels« Newman rejoined »A visit to London in the
season is certainly a sign of prosperity«
M Nioche in answer to this cruel piece of irony lifted the puppy up to
his face again peering at Newman with his small blank eyeholes There was
something almost imbecile in the movement and Newman hardly knew whether he was
taking refuge in a convenient affectation of unreason or whether he had in fact
paid for his dishonour by the loss of his wits In the latter case just now he
felt little more tenderly to the foolish old man than in the former. Responsible
or not he was equally an accomplice of his detestably mischievous daughter
Newman was going to leave him abruptly when a ray of entreaty appeared to
disengage itself from the old mans misty gaze »Are you going away« he asked
»Do you want me to stay« said Newman
»I should have left you from consideration But my dignity suffers at your
leaving me that way«
»Have you got anything particular to say to me«
M Nioche looked round him to see that no one was listening and then he
said very softly but distinctly »I have not forgiven her«
Newman gave a short laugh but the old man seemed for the moment not to
perceive it he was gazing away absently at some metaphysical image of his
implacability »It doesnt much matter whether you forgive her or not« said
Newman »There are other people who wont I assure you«
»What has she done« M Nioche softly questioned turning round again »I
dont know what she does you know«
»She has done a devilish mischief it doesnt matter what« said Newman
»Shes a nuisance she ought to be stopped«
M Nioche stealthily put out his hand and laid it very gently upon Newmans
arm »Stopped yes« he whispered »Thats it Stopped short She is running
away she must be stopped« Then he paused a moment and looked round him »I
mean to stop her« he went on »I am only waiting for my chance«
»I see« said Newman laughing briefly again »She is running away and you
are running after her You have run a long distance«
But M Nioche stared insistently »I shall stop her« he softly repeated
He had hardly spoken when the crowd in front of them separated as if by the
impulse to make way for an important personage Presently through the opening
advanced Mademoiselle Nioche attended by the gentleman whom Newman had lately
observed His face being now presented to our hero the latter recognised the
irregular features the hardly more regular complexion and the amiable
expression of Lord Deepmere Noémie on finding herself suddenly confronted with
Newman who like M Nioche had risen from his seat faltered for a barely
perceptible instant She gave him a little nod as if she had seen him
yesterday and then with a goodnatured smile »Tiens how we keep meeting«
she said She looked consummately pretty and the front of her dress was a
wonderful work of art She went up to her father stretching out her hands for
the little dog which he submissively placed in them and she began to kiss it
and murmur over it »To think of leaving him all alone what a wicked
abominable creature he must believe me He has been very unwell« she added
turning and affecting to explain to Newman with a spark of infernal impudence
fine as a needlepoint in her eye »I dont think the English climate agrees
with him«
»It seems to agree wonderfully well with his mistress« said Newman
»Do you mean me I have never been better thank you« Miss Noémie declared
»But with milord« and she gave a brilliant glance at her late companion »how
can one help being well« She seated herself in the chair from which her father
had risen and began to arrange the little dogs rosette
Lord Deepmere carried off such embarrassment as might be incidental to this
unexpected encounter with the inferior grace of a male and a Briton He blushed
a good deal and greeted the object of his late momentary aspiration to rivalry
in the favour of a person other than the mistress of the invalid pug with an
awkward nod and a rapid ejaculation an ejaculation to which Newman who often
found it hard to understand the speech of English people was able to attach no
meaning Then the young man stood there with his hand on his hip and with a
conscious grin staring askance at Miss Noémie Suddenly an idea seemed to
strike him and he said turning to Newman »Oh you know her«
»Yes« said Newman »I know her I dont believe you do«
»Oh dear yes I do« said Lord Deepmere with another grin »I knew her in
Paris by my poor cousin Bellegarde you know He knew her poor fellow didnt
he It was she you know who was at the bottom of his affair Awfully sad
wasnt it« continued the young man talking off his embarrassment as his simple
nature permitted »They got up some story about its being for the Pope about
the other man having said something against the Popes morals They always do
that you know They put it on the Pope because Bellegarde was once in the
Zouaves But it was about her morals she was the Pope« Lord Deepmere pursued
directing an eye illumined by this pleasantry toward Mademoiselle Nioche who
was bending gracefully over her lapdog apparently absorbed in conversation
with it »I daresay you think it rather odd that I should ah keep up the
acquaintance« the young man resumed »but she couldnt help it you know and
Bellegarde was only my twentieth cousin I daresay you think its rather cheeky
my showing with her in Hyde Park but you see she isnt known yet and shes in
such very good form « And Lord Deepmeres conclusion was lost in the attesting
glance which he again directed toward the young lady
Newman turned away he was having more of her than he relished M Nioche
had stepped aside on his daughters approach and he stood there within a very
small compass looking down hard at the ground It had never yet as between him
and Newman been so apposite to place on record the fact that he had not
forgiven his daughter As Newman was moving away he looked up and drew near to
him and Newman seeing the old man had something particular to say bent his
head for an instant
»You will see it some day in the papers« murmured M Nioche
Our hero departed to hide his smile and to this day though the newspapers
form his principal reading his eyes have not been arrested by any paragraph
forming a sequel to this announcement
Chapter XXVI
In that uninitiated observation of the great spectacle of English life upon
which I have touched it might be supposed that Newman passed a great many dull
days But the dulness of his days pleased him his melancholy which was
settling into a secondary stage like a healing wound had in it a certain
acrid palatable sweetness He had company in his thoughts and for the present
he wanted no other He had no desire to make acquaintances and he left
untouched a couple of notes of introduction which had been sent him by Tom
Tristram He thought a great deal of Madame de Cintré sometimes with a dogged
tranquillity which might have seemed for a quarter of an hour at a time a near
neighbour to forgetfulness He lived over again the happiest hours he had known
that silver chain of numbered days in which his afternoon visits tending
sensibly to the ideal result had subtilised his good humour to a sort of
spiritual intoxication He came back to reality after such reveries with a
somewhat muffled shock he had begun to feel the need of accepting the
unchangeable. At other times the reality became an infamy again and the
unchangeable an imposture and he gave himself up to his angry restlessness till
he was weary But on the whole he fell into a rather reflective mood Without in
the least intending it or knowing it he attempted to read the moral of his
strange misadventure He asked himself in his quieter hours whether perhaps
after all he was more commercial than was pleasant We know that it was in
obedience to a strong reaction against questions exclusively commercial that he
had come out to pick up æsthetic entertainment in Europe it may therefore be
understood that he was able to conceive that a man might be too commercial He
was very willing to grant it but the concession as to his own case was not
made with any very oppressive sense of shame If he had been too commercial he
was ready to forget it for in being so he had done no man any wrong that might
not be as easily forgotten He reflected with sober placidity that at least
there were no monuments of his meanness scattered about the world If there was
any reason in the nature of things why his connection with business should have
cast a shadow upon a connection even a connection broken with a woman justly
proud he was willing to sponge it out of his life forever The thing seemed a
possibility he could not feel it doubtless as keenly as some people and it
hardly seemed worth while to flap his wings very hard to rise to the idea but
he could feel it enough to make any sacrifice that still remained to be made As
to what such sacrifice was now to be made to here Newman stopped short before a
blank wall over which there sometimes played a shadowy imagery He had a fancy
of carrying out his life as he would have directed it if Madame de Cintré had
been left to him of making it a religion to do nothing that she would have
disliked In this certainly there was no sacrifice but there was a pale
oblique ray of inspiration It would be lonely entertainment a good deal like
a man talking to himself in the mirror for want of better company Yet the idea
yielded Newman several half hours dumb exaltation as he sat with his hands in
his pockets and his legs stretched over the relics of an expensively poor
dinner in the undying English twilight If however his commercial imagination
was dead he felt no contempt for the surviving actualities begotten by it He
was glad he had been prosperous and had been a great man of business rather than
a small one he was extremely glad he was rich He felt no impulse to sell all
he had and give to the poor or to retire into meditative economy and
asceticism He was glad he was rich and tolerably young if it was possible to
think too much about buying and selling it was a gain to have a good slice of
life left in which not to think about them Come what should he think about
now Again and again Newman could only think of one thing his thoughts always
came back to it and as they did so with an emotional rush which seemed
physically to express itself in a sudden upward choking he leaned forward the
waiter having left the room and resting his arms on the table buried his
troubled face
He remained in England till midsummer and spent a month in the country
wandering about among cathedrals castles and ruins Several times taking a
walk from his inn into meadows and parks he stopped by a wellworn stile
looked across through the early evening at a gray church tower with its dusky
nimbus of thickcircling swallows and remembered that this might have been part
of the entertainment of his honeymoon He had never been so much alone or
indulged so little in accidental dialogue The period of recreation appointed by
Mrs Tristram had at last expired and he asked himself what he should do now
Mrs Tristram had written to him proposing to him that he should join her in
the Pyrenees but he was not in the humour to return to France The simplest
thing was to repair to Liverpool and embark on the first American steamer
Newman made his way to the great seaport and secured his berth and the night
before sailing he sat in his room at the hotel staring down vacantly and
wearily at an open portmanteau A number of papers were lying upon it which he
had been meaning to look over some of them might conveniently be destroyed But
at last he shuffled them roughly together and pushed them into a corner of the
valise they were business papers and he was in no humour for sifting them
Then he drew forth his pocketbook and took out a paper of smaller size than
those he had dismissed He did not unfold it he simply sat looking at the back
of it If he had momentarily entertained the idea of destroying it the idea
quickly expired What the paper suggested was the feeling that lay in his
innermost heart and that no reviving cheerfulness could long quench the
feeling that after all and above all he was a good fellow wronged With it came
a hearty hope that the Bellegardes were enjoying their suspense as to what he
would do yet The more it was prolonged the more they would enjoy it He had
hung fire once yes perhaps in his present queer state of mind he might hang
fire again But he restored the little paper to his pocketbook very tenderly
and felt better for thinking of the suspense of the Bellegardes He felt better
every time he thought of it after that as he sailed the summer seas He landed
in New York and journeyed across the continent to San Francisco and nothing
that he observed by the way contributed to mitigate his sense of being a good
fellow wronged
He saw a great many other good fellows his old friends but he told none
of them of the trick that had been played him He said simply that the lady he
was to have married had changed her mind and when he was asked if he had
changed his own he said »Suppose we change the subject« He told his friends
that he had brought home no new ideas from Europe and his conduct probably
struck them as an eloquent proof of failing invention He took no interest in
chatting about his affairs and manifested no desire to look over his accounts
He asked halfadozen questions which like those of an eminent physician
inquiring for particular symptoms showed that he still knew what he was talking
about but he made no comments and gave no directions He not only puzzled the
gentlemen on the Stock Exchange but he was himself surprised at the extent of
his indifference As it seemed only to increase he made an effort to combat it
he tried to interest himself and to take up his old occupations But they
appeared unreal to him do what he would he somehow could not believe in them
Sometimes he began to fear that there was something the matter with his head
that his brain perhaps had softened and that the end of his strong activities
had come This idea came back to him with an exasperating force A hopeless
helpless loafer useful to no one and detestable to himself this was what the
treachery of the Bellegardes had made of him In his restless idleness he came
back from San Francisco to New York and sat for three days in the lobby of his
hotel looking out through a huge wall of plateglass at the unceasing stream of
pretty girls in Parisianlooking dresses undulating past with little parcels
nursed against their neat figures At the end of three days he returned to San
Francisco and having arrived there he wished he had stayed away He had nothing
to do his occupation was gone and it seemed to him that he should never find
it again He had nothing to do here he sometimes said to himself but there was
something beyond the ocean that he was still to do something that he had left
undone experimentally and speculatively to see if it could content itself to
remain undone But it was not content it kept pulling at his heartstrings and
thumping at his reason it murmured in his ears and hovered perpetually before
his eyes It interposed between all new resolutions and their fulfilment it
seemed like a stubborn ghost dumbly entreating to be laid Till that was done
he should never be able to do anything else
One day toward the end of the winter after a long interval he received a
letter from Mrs Tristram who apparently was animated by a charitable desire to
amuse and distract her correspondent She gave him much Paris gossip talked of
General Packard and Miss Kitty Upjohn enumerated the new plays at the theatre
and enclosed a note from her husband who had gone down to spend a month at
Nice Then came her signature and after this her postscript The latter
consisted of these few lines »I heard three days since from my friend the Abbé
Aubert that Madame de Cintré last week took the veil at the Carmelites It was
on her twentyseventh birthday and she took the name of her patroness St
Veronica Sister Veronica has a lifetime before her«
This letter came to Newman in the morning in the evening he started for
Paris His wound began to ache with its first fierceness and during his long
bleak journey the thought of Madame de Cintrés lifetime passed within prison
walls on whose outer side he might stand kept him perpetual company Now he
would fix himself in Paris forever he would extort a sort of happiness from the
knowledge that if she was not there at least the stony sepulchre that held her
was He descended unannounced upon Mrs Bread whom he found keeping lonely
watch in his great empty saloons on the Boulevard Haussmann They were as neat
as a Dutch village Mrs Breads only occupation had been removing individual
dustparticles She made no complaint however of her loneliness for in her
philosophy a servant was but a mysteriously projected machine and it would be
as fantastic for a housekeeper to comment upon a gentlemans absences as for a
clock to remark upon not being wound up No particular clock Mrs Bread
supposed kept all the time and no particular servant could enjoy all the
sunshine diffused by the career of an exacting master She ventured
nevertheless to express a modest hope that Newman meant to remain a while in
Paris Newman laid his hand on hers and shook it gently »I mean to remain
forever« he said
He went after this to see Mrs Tristram to whom he had telegraphed and who
expected him She looked at him a moment and shook her head »This wont do«
she said »you have come back too soon« He sat down and asked about her husband
and her children tried even to inquire about Miss Dora Finch In the midst of
this »Do you know where she is« he asked abruptly
Mrs Tristram hesitated a moment of course he couldnt mean Miss Dora
Finch Then she answered properly »She has gone to the other house in the
Rue dEnfer« After Newman had sat a while longer looking very sombre she went
on »You are not so good a man as I thought You are more you are more «
»More what« Newman asked
»More unforgiving«
»Good God« cried Newman »do you expect me to forgive«
»No not that I have not forgiven so of course you cant But you might
forget You have a worse temper about it than I should have expected You look
wicked you look dangerous«
»I may be dangerous« he said »but I am not wicked No I am not wicked«
And he got up to go Mrs Tristram asked him to come back to dinner but he
answered that he did not feel like pledging himself to be present at an
entertainment even as a solitary guest Later in the evening if he should be
able he would come
He walked away through the city beside the Seine and over it and took the
direction of the Rue dEnfer The day had the softness of early spring but the
weather was gray and humid Newman found himself in a part of Paris which he
little knew a region of convents and prisons of streets bordered by long dead
walls and traversed by few wayfarers At the intersection of two of these
streets stood the house of the Carmelites a dull plain edifice with a
highshouldered blank wall all round it From without Newman could see its upper
windows its steep roof and its chimneys But these things revealed no symptoms
of human life the place looked dumb deaf inanimate The pale dead
discoloured wall stretched beneath it far down the empty side street a vista
without a human figure Newman stood there a long time there were no passers
he was free to gaze his fill This seemed the goal of his journey it was what
he had come for It was a strange satisfaction and yet it was a satisfaction
the barren stillness of the place seemed to be his own release from ineffectual
longing It told him that the woman within was lost beyond recall and that the
days and years of the future would pile themselves above her like the huge
immovable slab of a tomb These days and years in this place would always be
just so gray and silent Suddenly from the thought of their seeing him stand
there again the charm utterly departed He would never stand there again it
was gratuitous dreariness He turned away with a heavy heart but with a heart
lighter than the one he had brought
Everything was over and he too at last could rest He walked down through
narrow winding streets to the edge of the Seine again and there he saw close
above him the soft vast towers of Notre Dame He crossed one of the bridges
and stood a moment in the empty place before the great cathedral then he went
in beneath the grosslyimaged portals He wandered some distance up the nave and
sat down in the splendid dimness He sat a long time he heard faraway bells
chiming off at long intervals to the rest of the world He was very tired
this was the best place he could be in He said no prayers he had no prayers to
say He had nothing to be thankful for and he had nothing to ask nothing to
ask because now he must take care of himself But a great cathedral offers a
very various hospitality and Newman sat in his place because while he was
there he was out of the world The most unpleasant thing that had ever happened
to him had reached its formal conclusion as it were he could close the book
and put it away He leaned his head for a long time on the chair in front of
him when he took it up he felt that he was himself again Somewhere in his
mind a tight knot seemed to have loosened He thought of the Bellegardes he
had almost forgotten them He remembered them as people he had meant to do
something to He gave a groan as he remembered what he had meant to do he was
annoyed at having meant to do it the bottom suddenly had fallen out of his
revenge Whether it was Christian charity or unregenerate good nature what it
was in the background of his soul I dont pretend to say but Newmans last
thought was that of course he would let the Bellegardes go
If he had spoken it aloud he would have said that he didnt want to hurt
them He was ashamed of having wanted to hurt them They had hurt him but such
things were really not his game At last he got up and came out of the darkening
church not with the elastic step of a man who has won a victory or taken a
resolve but strolling soberly like a goodnatured man who is still a little
ashamed
Going home he said to Mrs Bread that he must trouble her to put back his
things into the portmanteau she had had unpacked the evening before His gentle
stewardess looked at him through eyes a trifle bedimmed »Dear me sir« she
exclaimed »I thought you said that you were going to stay forever«
»I meant that I was going to stay away forever« said Newman kindly And
since his departure from Paris on the following day he has certainly not
returned The gilded apartments I have so often spoken of stand ready to receive
him but they serve only as a spacious residence for Mrs Bread who wanders
eternally from room to room adjusting the tassels of the curtains and keeps
her wages which are regularly brought her by a bankers clerk in a great pink
Sèvres vase on the drawingroom mantelshelf
Late in the evening Newman went to Mrs Tristrams and found Tom Tristram by
the domestic fireside »Im glad to see you back in Paris« this gentleman
declared »You know its really the only place for a white man to live« Mr
Tristram made his friend welcome according to his own rosy light and offered
him a convenient résumé of the FrancoAmerican gossip of the last six months
Then at last he got up and said he would go for half an hour to the club »I
suppose a man who has been for six months in California wants a little
intellectual conversation Ill let my wife have a go at you«
Newman shook hands heartily with his host but did not ask him to remain
and then he relapsed into his place on the sofa opposite to Mrs Tristram She
presently asked him what he had done after leaving her »Nothing particular«
said Newman
»You struck me« she rejoined »as a man with a plot in his head You looked
as if you were bent on some sinister errand and after you had left me I
wondered whether I ought to have let you go«
»I only went over to the other side of the river to the Carmelites« said
Newman
Mrs Tristram looked at him a moment and smiled »What did you do there Try
to scale the wall«
»I did nothing I looked at the place for a few minutes and then came away«
Mrs Tristram gave him a sympathetic glance »You didnt happen to meet M
de Bellegarde« she asked »staring hopelessly at the conventwall as well I am
told he takes his sisters conduct very hard«
»No I didnt meet him I am happy to say« Newman answered after a pause
»They are in the country« Mrs Tristram went on »at what is the name of
the place Fleurières They returned there at the time you left Paris and have
been spending the year in extreme seclusion The little marquise must enjoy it
I expect to hear that she has eloped with her daughters musicmaster«
Newman was looking at the light woodfire but he listened to this with
extreme interest At last he spoke »I mean never to mention the name of those
people again and I dont want to hear anything more about them« And then he
took out his pocketbook and drew forth a scrap of paper He looked at it an
instant then got up and stood by the fire »I am going to burn them up« he
said »I am glad to have you as a witness There they go« And he tossed the
paper into the flame
Mrs Tristram sat with her embroideryneedle suspended »What is that
paper« she asked
Newman leaning against the fireplace stretched his arms and drew a longer
breath than usual Then after a moment »I can tell you now« he said »It was a
paper containing a secret of the Bellegardes something which would damn them
if it were known«
Mrs Tristram dropped her embroidery with a reproachful moan »Ah why
didnt you show it to me«
»I thought of showing it to you I thought of showing it to everyone I
thought of paying my debt to the Bellegardes that way So I told them and I
frightened them They have been staying in the country as you tell me to keep
out of the explosion But I have given it up«
Mrs Tristram began to take slow stitches again »Have you quite given it
up«
»Oh yes«
»Is it very bad this secret«
»Yes very bad«
»For myself« said Mrs Tristram »I am sorry you have given it up I should
have liked immensely to see your paper They have wronged me too you know as
your sponsor and guarantee and it would have served for my revenge as well How
did you come into possession of your secret«
»Its a long story But honestly at any rate«
»And they knew you were master of it«
»Oh I told them«
»Dear me how interesting« cried Mrs Tristram »And you humbled them at
your feet«
Newman was silent a moment »No not at all They pretended not to care
not to be afraid But I know they did care they were afraid«
»Are you very sure«
Newman stared a moment »Yes Im sure«
Mrs Tristram resumed her slow stitches »They defied you eh«
»Yes« said Newman »it was about that«
»You tried by the threat of exposure to make them retract« Mrs Tristram
pursued
»Yes but they wouldnt I gave them their choice and they chose to take
their chance of bluffing off the charge and convicting me of fraud But they
were frightened« Newman added »and I have had all the vengeance I want«
»It is most provoking« said Mrs Tristram »to hear you talk of the charge
when the charge is burnt up Is it quite consumed« she asked glancing at the
fire
Newman assured her that there was nothing left of it
»Well then« she said »I suppose there is no harm in saying that you
probably did not make them so very uncomfortable My impression would be that
since as you say they defied you it was because they believed that after
all you would never really come to the point Their confidence after counsel
taken of each other was not in their innocence nor in their talent for
bluffing things off it was in your remarkable good nature You see they were
right«
Newman instinctively turned to see if the little paper was in fact consumed
but there was nothing left of it