ofmy
friends
.
If
he
did
not
oppose
the
political
opinions
with
which
I
identify
my
own
career
,
I
should
be
pleased
to
make
any
rise
in
the
world
achieved
by
me
assist
to
the
raising
of
himself
.
But
my
opinions
,
as
during
the
time
we
were
brought
together
you
were
made
aware
,
are
those
of
a
practical
man
of
the
world
,
and
have
nothing
in
common
with
Communists
,
Socialists
,
Internationalists
,
or
whatever
sect
would
place
the
aged
societies
of
Europe
in
Medea’s
caldron
of
youth
.
At
a
moment
like
the
present
,
fanatics
and
dreamers
so
abound
that
the
number
of
such
sinners
will
necessitate
a
general
amnesty
when
order
is
restored
.
What
a
poet
so
young
as
you
may
have
written
or
said
at
such
a
time
will
be
readily
forgotten
and
forgiven
a
year
or
two
hence
,
provided
he
does
not
put
his
notions
into
violent
action
.
But
if
you
choose
to
persevere
in
the
views
you
now
advocate
,
so
be
it
.
They
will
not
make
poor
Julie
less
a
believer
in
your
wisdom
and
genius
.
Only
they
will
separate
you
from
me
,
and
a
day
may
come
when
I
should
have
the
painful
duty
of
ordering
you
to
be
shot
—
Die
meliora
.
Think
over
all
I
have
thus
frankly
said
.
Give
me
your
answer
within
forty-eight
hours
;
and
meanwhile
hold
no
communication
with
my
ward
.
I
have
the
honour
to
wish
you
good-day
.
”
CHAPTER
XI
.
The
short
grim
day
was
closing
when
Gustave
,
quitting
Julie’s
apartment
,
again
found
himself
in
the
streets
.
His
thoughts
were
troubled
and
confused
.
He
was
the
more
affected
by
Julie’s
impassioned
love
for
him
,
by
the
contrast
with
Isaura’s
words
and
manner
in
their
recent
interview
.
His
own
ancient
fancy
for
the
“
Ondine
of
Paris
”
became
revived
by
the
difficulties
between
their
ancient
intercourse
which
her
unexpected
scruples
and
De
Mauleon’s
guardianship
interposed
.
A
witty
writer
thus
defines
une
passion
,
“
une
caprice
inflamme
par
des
obstacles
.
”
In
the
ordinary
times
of
peace
,
Gustave
,
handsome
,
aspiring
to
reputable
position
in
the
beau
monde
,
would
not
have
admitted
any
considerations
to
compromise
his
station
by
marriage
with
a
fagurante
.
But
now
the
wild
political
doctrines
he
had
embraced
separated
his
ambition
from
that
beau
monde
,
and
combined
it
with
ascendancy
over
the
revolutionists
of
the
populace
—
a
direction
which
he
must
abandon
if
he
continued
his
suit
to
Isaura
.
Then
,
too
,
the
immediate
possession
of
Julie’s
dot
was
not
without
temptation
to
a
man
who
was
so
fond
of
his
personal
comforts
,
and
who
did
not
see
where
to
turn
for
a
dinner
,
if
,
obedient
to
Isaura’s
“
prejudices
,
”
he
abandoned
his
profits
as
a
writer
in
the
revolutionary
press
.
The
inducements
for
withdrawal
from
the
cause
he
had
espoused
,
held
out
to
him
with
so
haughty
a
coldness
by
De
Mauleon
,
were
not
wholly
without
force
,
though
they
irritated
his
self-esteem
.
He
was
dimly
aware
of
the
Vicomte’s
masculine
talents
for
public
life
;
and
the
high
reputation
he
had
already
acquired
among
military
authorities
,
and
even
among
experienced
and
thoughtful
civilians
,
had
weight
upon
Gustave’s
impressionable
temperament
.
But
though
De
Mauleon’s
implied
advice
here
coincided
in
much
with
the
tacit
compact
he
had
made
with
Isaura
,
it
alienated
him
more
from
Isaura
herself
,
for
Isaura
did
not
bring
to
him
the
fortune
which
would
enable
him
to
suspend
his
lucubrations
,
watch
the
turn
of
events
,
and
live
at
ease
in
the
meanwhile
;
and
the
dot
to
be
received
with
De
Mauleon’s
ward
had
those
advantages
.
While
thus
meditating
Gustave
turned
into
one
of
the
cantines
still
open
,
to
brighten
his
intellect
with
a
petit
verre
,
and
there
he
found
the
two
colleagues
in
the
extinct
Council
of
Ten
,
Paul
Grimm
and
Edgar
Ferrier
.
With
the
last
of
these
revolutionists
Gustave
had
become
intimately
lie
.
They
wrote
in
the
same
journal
,
and
he
willingly
accepted
a
distraction
from
his
self-conflict
which
Edgar
offered
him
in
a
dinner
at
the
cafe
Riche
,
which
still
offered
its
hospitalities
at
no
exorbitant
price
.
At
this
repast
,
as
the
drink
circulated
,
Gustave
waxed
confidential
.
He
longed
,
poor
youth
,
for
an
adviser
.
Could
he
marry
a
girl
who
had
been
a
ballet-dancer
,
and
who
had
come
into
an
unexpected
heritage
?
“
Es-tu
fou
d’en
douter
?
”
cried
Edgar
.
“
What
a
sublime
occasion
to
manifest
thy
scorn
of
the
miserable
banalities
of
the
bourgeoisie
!
It
will
but
increase
thy
moral
power
over
the
people
.
And
then
think
of
the
money
.
What
an
aid
to
the
cause
!
What
a
capital
for
the
launch
!
—
journal
all
thine
own
!
Besides
,
when
our
principles
triumph
—
as
triumph
they
must
—
what
would
be
marriage
but
a
brief
and
futile
ceremony
,
to
be
broken
the
moment
thou
hast
cause
to
complain
of
thy
wife
or
chafe
at
the
bond
?
Only
get
the
dot
into
thine
own
hands
.
L’amour
passe
—
reste
la
cassette
.
”
Though
there
was
enough
of
good
in
the
son
of
Madame
Rameau
to
revolt
at
the
precise
words
in
which
the
counsel
was
given
,
still
,
as
the
fumes
of
the
punch
yet
more
addled
his
brains
,
the
counsel
itself
was
acceptable
;
and
in
that
sort
of
maddened
fury
which
intoxication
produces
in
some
excitable
temperaments
,
as
Gustave
reeled
home
that
night
leaning
on
the
arm
of
stouter
Edgar
Ferrier
,
he
insisted
on
going
out
of
his
way
to
pass
the
house
in
which
Isaura
lived
,
and
,
pausing
under
her
window
,
gasped
out
some
verses
of
a
wild
song
,
then
much
in
vogue
among
the
votaries
of
Felix
Pyat
,
in
which
everything
that
existent
society
deems
sacred
was
reviled
in
the
grossest
ribaldry
.
Happily
Isaura’s
ear
heard
it
not
.
The
girl
was
kneeling
by
her
bedside
absorbed
in
prayer
.
CHAPTER
XII
.
Three
days
after
the
evening
thus
spent
by
Gustave
Rameau
,
Isaura
was
startled
by
a
visit
from
M
.
de
Mauleon
.
She
had
not
seen
him
since
the
commencement
of
the
siege
,
and
she
did
not
recognise
him
at
first
glance
in
his
military
uniform
.
“
I
trust
you
will
pardon
my
intrusion
,
Mademoiselle
,
”
he
said
,
in
the
low
sweet
voice
habitual
to
him
in
his
gentler
moods
,
“
but
I
thought
it
became
me
to
announce
to
you
the
decease
of
one
who
,
I
fear
,
did
not
discharge
with
much
kindness
the
duties
her
connection
with
you
imposed
.
Your
father’s
second
wife
,
afterwards
Madame
Selby
,
is
no
more
.
She
died
some
days
since
in
a
convent
to
which
she
had
retired
.
”
Isaura
had
no
cause
to
mourn
the
dead
,
but
she
felt
a
shock
in
the
suddenness
of
this
information
;
and
in
that
sweet
spirit
of
womanly
compassion
which
entered
so
largely
into
her
character
,
and
made
a
part
of
her
genius
itself
,
she
murmured
tearfully
,
“
The
poor
Signora
!
Why
could
I
not
have
been
with
her
in
illness
?
She
might
then
have
learned
to
love
me
.
And
she
died
in
a
convent
,
you
say
?
Ah
,
her
religion
was
then
sincere
!
Her
end
was
peaceful
?
”
“
Let
us
not
doubt
that
,
Mademoiselle
.
Certainly
she
lived
to
regret
any
former
errors
,
and
her
last
thought
was
directed
towards
such
atonement
as
might
be
in
her
power
.
And
it
is
that
desire
of
atonement
which
now
strangely
mixes
me
up
,
Mademoiselle
,
in
your
destinies
.
In
that
desire
for
atonement
,
she
left
to
my
charge
,
as
a
kinsman
distant
indeed
,
but
still
,
perhaps
,
the
nearest
with
whom
she
was
personally
acquainted
—
a
young
ward
.
In
accepting
that
trust
,
I
find
myself
strangely
compelled
to
hazard
the
risk
of
offending
you
.
”
“
Offending
me
?
How
?
Pray
speak
openly
.
”
“
In
so
doing
,
I
must
utter
the
name
of
Gustave
Rameau
.
”
Isaura
turned
pale
and
recoiled
,
but
she
did
not
speak
.
“
Did
he
inform
me
rightly
that
,
in
the
last
interview
with
him
three
days
ago
,
you
expressed
a
strong
desire
that
the
engagement
between
him
and
yourself
should
cease
;
and
that
you
only
,
and
with
reluctance
,
suspended
your
rejection
of
the
suit
he
had
pressed
on
you
,
in
consequence
of
his
entreaties
,
and
of
certain
assurances
as
to
the
changed
direction
of
the
talents
of
which
we
will
assume
that
he
is
possessed
?
”
“
Well
,
well
,
Monsieur
,
”
exclaimed
Isaura
,
her
whole
face
brightening
;
“
and
you
come
on
the
part
of
Gustave
Rameau
to
say
that
on
reflection
he
does
not
hold
me
to
our
engagement
—
that
in
honour
and
in
conscience
I
am
free
?
”
“
I
see
,
”
answered
De
Mauleon
,
smiling
,
“
that
I
am
pardoned
already
.
It
would
not
pain
you
if
such
were
my
instructions
in
the
embassy
I
undertake
?
”
“
Pain
me
?
No.
But
—
”
“
But
what
?
”
“
Must
he
persist
in
a
course
which
will
break
his
mother’s
heart
,
and
make
his
father
deplore
the
hour
that
he
was
born
?
Have
you
influence
over
him
,
M
.
de
Mauleon
?
If
so
,
will
you
not
exert
it
for
his
good
?
”
“
You
interest
yourself
still
in
his
fate
,
Mademoiselle
?
”
“
How
can
I
do
otherwise
?
Did
I
not
consent
to
share
it
when
my
heart
shrank
from
the
thought
of
our
union
?
And
now
when
,
if
I
understand
you
rightly
,
I
am
free
,
I
cannot
but
think
of
what
was
best
in
him
.
”
“
Alas
!
Mademoiselle
,
he
is
but
one
of
many
—
a
spoilt
child
of
that
Circe
,
imperial
Paris
.
Everywhere
I
look
around
,
I
see
but
corruption
.
It
was
hidden
by
the
halo
which
corruption
itself
engenders
.
The
halo
is
gone
,
the
corruption
is
visible
.
Where
is
the
old
French
manhood
?
Banished
from
the
heart
,
it
comes
out
only
at
the
tongue
.
Were
our
deeds
like
our
words
,
Prussia
would
beg
on
her
knee
to
be
a
province
of
France
.
Gustave
is
the
fit
poet
for
this
generation
.
Vanity
—
desire
to
be
known
for
something
,
no
matter
what
,
no
matter
by
whom
—
that
is
the
Parisian’s
leading
motive
power
;
—
orator
,
soldier
,
poet
,
all
alike
.
Utterers
of
fine
phrases
;
despising
knowledge
,
and
toil
,
and
discipline
;
railing
against
the
Germans
as
barbarians
,
against
their
generals
as
traitors
;
against
God
for
not
taking
their
part
.
What
can
be
done
to
weld
this
mass
of
hollow
bubbles
into
the
solid
form
of
a
nation
—
the
nation
it
affects
to
be
?
What
generation
can
be
born
out
of
the
unmanly
race
,
inebriate
with
brag
and
absinthe
?
Forgive
me
this
tirade
;
I
have
been
reviewing
the
battalion
I
command
.
As
for
Gustave
Rameau
,
—
if
we
survive
the
siege
,
and
see
once
more
a
Government
that
can
enforce
order
,
and
a
public
that
will
refuse
renown
for
balderdash
,
—
I
should
not
be
surprised
if
Gustave
Rameau
were
among
the
prettiest
imitators
of
Lamartine’s
early
Meditations
.
Had
he
been
born
under
Louis
XIV
.
how
loyal
he
would
have
been
!
What
sacred
tragedies
in
the
style
of
Athalie
he
would
have
written
,
in
the
hope
of
an
audience
at
Versailles
!
But
I
detain
you
from
the
letter
I
was
charged
to
deliver
you
.
I
have
done
so
purposely
,
that
I
might
convince
myself
that
you
welcome
that
release
which
your
too
delicate
sense
of
honour
shrank
too
long
from
demanding
.
”
Here
he
took
forth
and
placed
a
letter
in
Isaura’s
hand
;
and
,
as
if
to
allow
her
to
read
it
unobserved
,
retired
to
the
window
recess
.
Isaura
glanced
over
the
letter
.
It
ran
thus
:
“
I
feel
that
it
was
only
to
your
compassion
that
I
owed
your
consent
to
my
suit
.
Could
I
have
doubted
that
before
,
your
words
when
we
last
met
sufficed
to
convince
me
.
In
my
selfish
pain
at
the
moment
,
I
committed
a
great
wrong
.
I
would
have
held
you
bound
to
a
promise
from
which
you
desired
to
be
free
.
Grant
me
pardon
for
that
;
and
for
all
the
faults
by
which
I
have
offended
you
.
In
cancelling
our
engagement
,
let
me
hope
that
I
may
rejoice
in
your
friendship
,
your
remembrance
of
me
,
some
gentle
and
kindly
thought
.
My
life
may
henceforth
pass
out
of
contact
with
yours
;
but
you
will
ever
dwell
in
my
heart
,
an
image
pure
and
holy
as
the
saints
in
whom
you
may
well
believe-they
are
of
your
own
kindred
.
”
“
May
I
convey
to
Gustave
Rameau
any
verbal
reply
to
his
letter
?
”
asked
De
Mauleon
,
turning
as
she
replaced
the
letter
on
the
table
.
“
Only
my
wishes
for
his
welfare
.
It
might
wound
him
if
I
added
,
my
gratitude
for
the
generous
manner
in
which
he
has
interpreted
my
heart
,
and
acceded
to
its
desires
.
”
“
Mademoiselle
,
accept
my
congratulations
.
My
condolences
are
for
the
poor
girl
left
to
my
guardianship
.
Unhappily
she
loves
this
man
;
and
there
are
reasons
why
I
cannot
withhold
my
consent
to
her
union
with
him
,
should
he
demand
it
,
now
that
,
in
the
letter
remitted
to
you
,
he
has
accepted
your
dismissal
.
If
I
can
keep
him
out
of
all
the
follies
and
all
the
evils
into
which
he
suffers
his
vanity
to
mislead
his
reason
,
I
will
do
so
;
—
would
I
might
say
,
only
in
compliance
with
your
compassionate
injunctions
.
But
henceforth
the
infatuation
of
my
ward
compels
me
to
take
some
interest
in
his
career
.
Adieu
,
Mademoiselle
!
I
have
no
fear
for
your
happiness
now
.
”
Left
alone
,
Isaura
stood
as
one
transfigured
.
All
the
bloom
of
her
youth
seemed
suddenly
restored
.
Round
her
red
lips
the
dimples
opened
,
countless
mirrors
of
one
happy
smile
.
“
I
am
free
,
I
am
free
,
”
she
murmured
—
“
joy
,
joy
!
”
and
she
passed
from
the
room
to
seek
the
Venosta
,
singing
clear
,
singing
loud
,
as
a
bird
that
escapes
from
the
cage
and
warbles
to
the
heaven
it
regains
the
blissful
tale
of
its
release
.
CHAPTER
XIII
.
In
proportion
to
the
nearer
roar
of
the
besiegers’
cannon
,
and
the
sharper
gripe
of
famine
within
the
walls
,
the
Parisians
seemed
to
increase
their
scorn
for
the
skill
of
the
enemy
,
and
their
faith
in
the
sanctity
of
the
capital
.
All
false
news
was
believed
as
truth
;
all
truthful
news
abhorred
as
falsehood
.
Listen
to
the
groups
round
the
cafes
.
“
The
Prussian
funds
have
fallen
three
per
cent
.
at
Berlin
,
”
says
a
threadbare
ghost
of
the
Bourse
(
he
had
been
a
clerk
of
Louvier’s
)
.
“
Ay
,
”
cries
a
National
Guard
,
“
read
extracts
from
La
Liberte
.
The
barbarians
are
in
despair
.
Nancy
is
threatened
,
Belfort
is
freed
.
Bourbaki
is
invading
Baden
.
Our
fleets
are
pointing
their
cannon
upon
Hamburg
.
Their
country
endangered
,
their
retreat
cut
off
,
the
sole
hope
of
Bismarck
and
his
trembling
legions
is
to
find
a
refuge
in
Paris
.
The
increasing
fury
of
the
bombardment
is
a
proof
of
their
despair
.
”
“
In
that
case
,
”
whispered
Savarin
to
De
Breze
,
“
suppose
we
send
a
flag
of
truce
to
Versailles
with
a
message
from
Trochu
that
,
on
disgorging
their
conquests
,
ceding
the
left
bank
of
the
Rhine
,
and
paying
the
expenses
of
the
war
,
Paris
,
ever
magnanimous
to
the
vanquished
;
will
allow
the
Prussians
to
retire
.
”
“
The
Prussians
!
Retire
!
”
cried
Edgar
Ferrier
,
catching
the
last
word
and
glancing
fiercely
at
Savarin
.
“
What
Prussian
spy
have
we
among
us
?
Not
one
of
the
barbarians
shall
escape
.
We
have
but
to
dismiss
the
traitors
who
have
usurped
the
government
,
proclaim
the
Commune
and
the
rights
of
labour
,
and
we
give
birth
to
a
Hercules
that
even
in
its
cradle
can
strangle
the
vipers
.
”
Edgar
Ferrier
was
the
sole
member
of
his
political
party
among
the
group
which
he
thus
addressed
;
but
such
was
the
terror
which
the
Communists
already
began
to
inspire
among
the
bourgeoisie
that
no
one
volunteered
a
reply
.
Savarin
linked
his
arm
in
De
Breze’s
,
and
prudently
drew
him
off
.
“
I
suspect
,
”
said
the
former
,
“
that
we
shall
soon
have
worse
calamities
to
endure
than
the
Prussian
obus
and
the
black
loaf
.
The
Communists
will
have
their
day
.
”
“
I
shall
be
in
my
grave
before
then
,
”
said
De
Breze
,
in
hollow
accents
.
“
It
is
twenty-four
hours
since
I
spent
my
last
fifty
sous
on
the
purchase
of
a
rat
,
and
I
burnt
the
legs
of
my
bedstead
for
the
fuel
by
which
that
quadruped
was
roasted
.
”
“
Entre
nous
,
my
poor
friend
,
I
am
much
in
the
same
condition
,
”
said
Savarin
,
with
a
ghastly
attempt
at
his
old
pleasant
laugh
.
“
See
how
I
am
shrunken
!
My
wife
would
be
unfaithful
to
the
Savarin
of
her
dreams
if
she
accepted
a
kiss
from
the
slender
gallant
you
behold
in
me
.
But
I
thought
you
were
in
the
National
Guard
,
and
therefore
had
not
to
vanish
into
air
.
”
“
I
was
a
National
Guard
,
but
I
could
not
stand
the
hardships
,
and
being
above
the
age
,
I
obtained
my
exemption
.
As
to
pay
,
I
was
then
too
proud
to
claim
my
wage
of
1
franc
25
centimes
.
I
should
not
be
too
proud
now
.
Ah
,
blessed
be
Heaven
!
here
comes
Lemercier
;
he
owes
me
a
dinner
—
he
shall
pay
it
.
”
“
Bon
jour
,
my
dear
Frederic
!
How
handsome
you
look
in
your
kepi
!
Your
uniform
is
brilliantly
fresh
from
the
soil
of
powder
.
What
a
contrast
to
the
tatterdemalions
of
the
Line
!
”
“
I
fear
,
”
said
Lemercier
,
ruefully
,
“
that
my
costume
will
not
look
so
well
a
day
or
two
hence
.
I
have
just
had
news
that
will
no
doubt
seem
very
glorious
—
in
the
news
papers
.
But
then
newspapers
are
not
subjected
to
cannonballs
.
”
“
What
do
you
mean
?
”
answered
De
Breze
.
“
I
met
,
as
I
emerged
from
my
apartment
a
few
minutes
ago
,
that
fire-eater
,
Victor
de
Mauleon
,
who
always
contrives
to
know
what
passes
at
headquarters
.
He
told
me
that
preparations
are
being
made
for
a
great
sortie
.
Most
probably
the
announcement
will
appear
in
a
proclamation
tomorrow
,
and
our
troops
march
forth
to-morrow
night
.
The
National
Guard
(
fools
and
asses
who
have
been
yelling
out
for
decisive
action
)
are
to
have
their
wish
,
and
to
be
placed
in
the
van
of
battle
,
—
amongst
the
foremost
,
the
battalion
in
which
I
am
enrolled
.
Should
this
be
our
last
meeting
on
earth
,
say
that
Frederic
Lemercier
has
finished
his
part
in
life
with
eclat
.
”
“
Gallant
friend
,
”
said
De
Breze
,
feebly
seizing
him
by
the
arm
,
“
if
it
be
true
that
thy
mortal
career
is
menaced
,
die
as
thou
hast
lived
.
An
honest
man
leaves
no
debt
unpaid
.
Thou
owest
me
a
dinner
.
”
“
Alas
!
ask
of
me
what
is
possible
.
I
will
give
thee
three
,
however
,
if
I
survive
and
regain
my
rentes
.
But
today
I
have
not
even
a
mouse
to
share
with
Fox
.
”
“
Fox
lives
then
?
”
cried
De
Breze
,
with
sparkling
hungry
eyes
.
“
Yes
.
At
present
he
is
making
the
experiment
how
long
an
animal
can
live
without
food
.
”
“
Have
mercy
upon
him
,
poor
beast
!
Terminate
his
pangs
by
a
noble
death
.
Let
him
save
thy
friends
and
thyself
from
starving
.
For
myself
alone
I
do
not
plead
;
I
am
but
an
amateur
in
polite
literature
.
But
Savarin
,
the
illustrious
Savarin
,
—
in
criticism
the
French
Longinus
—
in
poetry
the
Parisian
Horace
—
in
social
life
the
genius
of
gaiety
in
pantaloons
,
—
contemplate
his
attenuated
frame
!
Shall
he
perish
for
want
of
food
while
thou
hast
such
superfluity
in
thy
larder
?
I
appeal
to
thy
heart
,
thy
conscience
,
thy
patriotism
.
What
,
in
the
eyes
of
France
,
are
a
thousand
Foxes
compared
to
a
single
Savarin
?
”
“
At
this
moment
,
”
sighed
Savarin
,
“
I
could
swallow
anything
,
however
nauseous
,
even
thy
flattery
,
De
Breze
.
But
,
my
friend
Frederic
,
thou
goest
into
battle
—
what
will
become
of
Fox
if
thou
fall
?
Will
he
not
be
devoured
by
strangers
?
Surely
it
were
a
sweeter
thought
to
his
faithful
heart
to
furnish
a
repast
to
thy
friends
?
—
his
virtues
acknowledged
,
his
memory
blest
!
”
“
Thou
dost
look
very
lean
,
my
poor
Savarin
!
And
how
hospitable
thou
wert
when
yet
plump
!
”
said
Frederic
,
pathetically
.
“
And
certainly
,
if
I
live
,
Fox
will
starve
;
if
I
am
slain
,
Fox
will
be
eaten
.
Yet
,
poor
Fox
,
dear
Fox
,
who
lay
on
my
breast
when
I
was
frostbitten
.
No
;
I
have
not
the
heart
to
order
him
to
the
spit
for
you
.
Urge
it
not
.
”
“
I
will
save
thee
that
pang
,
”
cried
De
Breze
.
“
We
are
close
by
thy
rooms
.
Excuse
me
for
a
moment
:
I
will
run
in
and
instruct
thy
bonne
.
”
So
saying
,
he
sprang
forward
with
an
elasticity
of
step
which
no
one
could
have
anticipated
from
his
previous
languor
.
Frederic
would
have
followed
,
but
Savarin
clung
to
him
,
whimpering
:
“
Stay
;
I
shall
fall
like
an
empty
sack
,
without
the
support
of
thine
arm
,
young
hero
.
Pooh
!
of
course
De
Breze
is
only
joking
—
a
pleasant
joke
.
Hist
!
a
secret
:
he
has
moneys
,
and
means
to
give
us
once
more
a
dinner
at
his
own
cost
,
pretending
that
we
dine
on
thy
dog
.
He
was
planning
this
when
thou
camest
up
.
Let
him
have
his
joke
,
and
we
shall
have
a
festin
de
Balthazar
.
”
“
Hein
!
”
said
Frederic
,
doubtfully
;
“
thou
art
sure
he
has
no
designs
upon
Fox
?
”
“
Certainly
not
,
except
in
regaling
us
.
Donkey
is
not
bad
,
but
it
is
14
francs
a
pound
.
A
pullet
is
excellent
,
but
it
is
30
francs
.
Trust
to
De
Breze
;
we
shall
have
donkey
and
pullet
,
and
Fox
shall
feast
upon
the
remains
.
”
Before
Frederic
could
reply
,
the
two
men
were
jostled
and
swept
on
by
a
sudden
rush
of
a
noisy
crowd
in
their
rear
.
They
could
but
distinguish
the
words
—
Glorious
news
—
victory
—
Faidherbe
—
Chanzy
.
But
these
words
were
sufficient
to
induce
them
to
join
willingly
in
the
rush
.
They
forgot
their
hunger
;
they
forget
Fox
.
As
they
were
hurried
on
,
they
learned
that
there
was
a
report
of
a
complete
defeat
of
the
Prussians
by
Faidherbe
near
Amiens
,
of
a
still
more
decided
one
on
the
Loire
by
Chanzy
.
These
generals
,
with
armies
flushed
with
triumph
,
were
pressing
on
towards
Paris
to
accelerate
the
destruction
of
the
hated
Germans
.
How
the
report
arose
no
one
exactly
knew
.
All
believed
it
,
and
were
making
their
way
to
the
Hotel
de
Ville
to
hear
it
formally
confirmed
.
Alas
!
before
,
they
got
there
they
were
met
by
another
crowd
returning
,
dejected
but
angry
.
No
such
news
had
reached
the
Government
.
Chanzy
and
Faidherbe
were
no
doubt
fighting
bravely
,
—
with
every
probability
of
success
;
but
—
The
Parisian
imagination
required
no
more
.
“
We
should
always
be
defeating
the
enemy
,
”
said
Savarin
,
“
if
there
were
not
always
a
but
;
”
and
his
audience
,
who
,
had
he
so
expressed
himself
ten
minutes
before
,
would
have
torn
him
to
pieces
,
now
applauded
the
epigram
;
and
with
execrations
on
Trochu
,
mingled
with
many
a
peal
of
painful
sarcastic
laughter
,
vociferated
and
dispersed
.
As
the
two
friends
sauntered
back
towards
the
part
of
the
Boulevards
on
which
De
Breze
had
parted
company
with
them
,
Savarin
quitted
Lemercier
suddenly
,
and
crossed
the
street
to
accost
a
small
party
of
two
ladies
and
two
men
who
were
on
their
way
to
the
Madeleine
.
While
he
was
exchanging
a
few
words
with
them
,
a
young
couple
,
arm
in
arm
,
passed
by
Lemercier
,
—
the
man
in
the
uniform
of
the
National
Guard-uniform
as
unsullied
as
Frederic’s
,
but
with
as
little
of
a
military
air
as
can
well
be
conceived
.
His
gait
was
slouching
;
his
head
bent
downwards
.
He
did
not
seem
to
listen
to
his
companion
,
who
was
talking
with
quickness
and
vivacity
,
her
fair
face
radiant
with
smiles
.
Lemercier
looked
at
them
as
they
passed
by
.
“
Sur
mon
ame
,
”
muttered
Frederic
to
himself
,
“
surely
that
is
la
belle
Julie
;
and
she
has
got
back
her
truant
poet
at
last
.
”
While
Lemercier
thus
soliloquised
,
Gustave
,
still
looking
down
,
was
led
across
the
street
by
his
fair
companion
,
and
into
the
midst
of
the
little
group
with
whom
Savarin
had
paused
to
speak
.
Accidentally
brushing
against
Savarin
himself
,
he
raised
his
eyes
with
a
start
,
about
to
mutter
some
conventional
apology
,
when
Julie
felt
the
arm
on
which
she
leant
tremble
nervously
.
Before
him
stood
Isaura
,
the
Countess
de
Vandemar
by
her
side
;
her
two
other
companions
,
Raoul
and
the
Abbe
Vertpre
,
a
step
or
two
behind
.
Gustave
uncovered
,
bowed
low
,
and
stood
mute
and
still
for
a
moment
,
paralysed
by
surprise
and
the
chill
of
a
painful
shame
.
Julie’s
watchful
eyes
,
following
his
,
fixed
themselves
on
the
same
face
.
On
the
instant
she
divined
the
truth
.
She
beheld
her
to
whom
she
had
owed
months
of
jealous
agony
,
and
over
whom
,
poor
child
,
she
thought
she
had
achieved
a
triumph
.
But
the
girl’s
heart
was
so
instinctively
good
that
the
sense
of
triumph
was
merged
in
a
sense
of
compassion
.
Her
rival
had
lost
Gustave
.
To
Julie
the
loss
of
Gustave
was
the
loss
of
all
that
makes
life
worth
having
.
On
her
part
,
Isaura
was
moved
not
only
by
the
beauty
of
Julie’s
countenance
,
but
still
more
by
the
childlike
ingenuousness
of
its
expression
.
So
,
for
the
first
time
in
their
lives
,
met
the
child
and
the
stepchild
of
Louise
Duval
.
Each
so
deserted
,
each
so
left
alone
and
inexperienced
amid
the
perils
of
the
world
,
with
fates
so
different
,
typifying
orders
of
womanhood
so
opposed
.
Isaura
was
naturally
the
first
to
break
the
silence
that
weighed
like
a
sensible
load
on
all
present
.
She
advanced
towards
Rameau
,
with
sincere
kindness
in
her
look
and
tone
.
“
Accept
my
congratulations
,
”
she
said
,
with
a
grave
smile
.
“
Your
mother
informed
me
last
evening
of
your
nuptials
.
Without
doubt
I
see
Madame
Gustave
Rameau
;
”
—
and
she
extended
her
hand
towards
Julie
.
The
poor
Ondine
shrank
back
for
a
moment
,
blushing
up
to
her
temples
.
It
was
the
first
hand
which
a
woman
of
spotless
character
had
extended
to
her
since
she
had
lost
the
protection
of
Madame
Surville
.
She
touched
it
timidly
,
humbly
,
then
drew
her
bridegroom
on
;
and
with
head
more
downcast
than
Gustave
,
passed
through
the
group
without
a
word
.
She
did
not
speak
to
Gustave
till
they
were
out
of
sight
and
hearing
of
those
they
had
left
.
Then
,
pressing
his
arm
passionately
,
she
said
:
“
And
that
is
the
demoiselle
thou
halt
resigned
for
me
!
Do
not
deny
it
.
I
am
so
glad
to
have
seen
her
;
it
has
done
me
so
much
good
.
How
it
has
deepened
,
purified
,
my
love
for
thee
!
I
have
but
one
return
to
make
;
but
that
is
my
whole
life
.
Thou
shalt
never
have
cause
to
blame
me
—
never
—
never
!
”
Savarin
looked
very
grave
and
thoughtful
when
he
rejoined
Lemercier
.
“
Can
I
believe
my
eyes
?
”
said
Frederic
.
“
Surely
that
was
Julie
Caumartin
leaning
on
Gustave
Rameau’s
arm
!
And
had
he
the
assurance
,
so
accompanied
,
to
salute
Madame
de
Vandemar
,
and
Mademoiselle
Cicogna
,
to
whom
I
understood
he
was
affianced
?
Nay
,
did
I
not
see
Mademoiselle
shake
hands
with
the
Ondine
?
or
am
I
under
one
of
the
illusions
which
famine
is
said
to
engender
in
the
brain
?
”
“
I
have
not
strength
now
to
answer
all
these
interrogatives
.
I
have
a
story
to
tell
;
but
I
keep
it
for
dinner
.
Let
us
hasten
to
thy
apartment
.
De
Breze
is
doubtless
there
waiting
us
.
”
CHAPTER
XIV
.
Unprescient
of
the
perils
that
awaited
him
,
absorbed
in
the
sense
of
existing
discomfort
,
cold
,
and
hunger
,
Fox
lifted
his
mournful
visage
from
his
master’s
dressing-gown
,
in
which
he
had
encoiled
his
shivering
frame
,
on
the
entrance
of
De
Breze
and
the
concierge
of
the
house
in
which
Lemercier
had
his
apartment
.
Recognising
the
Vicomte
as
one
of
his
master’s
acquaintances
,
he
checked
the
first
impulse
that
prompted
him
to
essay
a
feeble
bark
,
and
permitted
himself
,
with
a
petulant
whine
,
to
be
extracted
from
his
covering
,
and
held
in
the
arms
of
the
murderous
visitor
.
“
Dieu
des
dieux
!
”
ejaculated
De
Breze
,
“
how
light
the
poor
beast
has
become
!
”
Here
he
pinched
the
sides
and
thighs
of
the
victim
.
“
Still
,
”
he
said
,
“
there
is
some
flesh
yet
on
these
bones
.
You
may
grill
the
paws
,
fricassee
the
shoulders
,
and
roast
the
rest
.
The
rognons
and
the
head
accept
for
yourself
as
a
perquisite
.
”
Here
he
transferred
Fox
to
the
arms
of
the
concierge
,
adding
,
“
Vite
au
besogne
,
mon
ami
.
”
“
Yes
,
Monsieur
.
I
must
be
quick
about
it
while
my
wife
is
absent
.
She
has
a
faiblesse
for
the
brute
.
He
must
be
on
the
spit
before
she
returns
.
”
“
Be
it
so
;
and
on
the
table
in
an
hour
—
five
o’clock
precisely
—
I
am
famished
.
”
The
concierge
disappeared
with
Fox
.
De
Breze
then
amused
himself
by
searching
into
Frederic’s
cupboards
and
buffets
,
from
which
he
produced
a
cloth
and
utensils
necessary
for
the
repast
.
These
he
arranged
with
great
neatness
,
and
awaited
in
patience
the
moment
of
participation
in
the
feast
.
The
hour
of
five
had
struck
before
Savarin
and
Frederio
entered
the
salon
;
and
at
their
sight
De
Breze
dashed
to
the
staircase
and
called
out
to
the
concierge
to
serve
the
dinner
.
Frederic
,
though
unconscious
of
the
Thyestean
nature
of
the
banquet
,
still
looked
round
for
the
dog
;
and
,
not
perceiving
him
,
began
to
call
out
,
“
Fox
!
Fox
!
where
hast
thou
hidden
thyself
?
”
“
Tranquillise
yourself
,
”
said
De
Breze
.
“
Do
not
suppose
that
I
have
not
...
.
”
NOTE
BY
THE
AUTHOR’S
SON
.
—
[
See
also
Prefatory
Note
]
—
The
hand
that
wrote
thus
far
has
left
unwritten
the
last
scene
of
the
tragedy
of
poor
Fox
.
In
the
deep
where
Prospero
has
dropped
his
wand
are
now
irrevocably
buried
the
humour
and
the
pathos
of
this
cynophagous
banquet
.
One
detail
of
it
,
however
,
which
the
author
imparted
to
his
son
,
may
here
be
faintly
indicated
.
Let
the
sympathising
reader
recognise
all
that
is
dramatic
in
the
conflict
between
hunger
and
affection
;
let
him
recall
to
mind
the
lachrymose
loving-kindness
of
his
own
post-prandial
emotions
after
blissfully
breaking
some
fast
,
less
mercilessly
prolonged
,
we
will
hope
,
than
that
of
these
besieged
banqueters
,
and
then
,
though
unaided
by
the
fancy
which
conceived
so
quaint
a
situation
,
he
may
perhaps
imagine
what
tearful
tenderness
would
fill
the
eyes
of
the
kind-hearted
Frederic
,
as
they
contemplate
the
well-picked
bones
of
his
sacrificed
favourite
on
the
plate
before
him
;
which
he
pushes
away
,
sighing
,
“
Ah
,
poor
Fox
!
how
he
would
have
enjoyed
those
bones
!
”
The
chapter
immediately
following
this
one
also
remains
unfinished
.
It
was
not
intended
to
close
the
narrative
thus
left
uncompleted
;
but
of
those
many
and
so
various
works
which
have
not
unworthily
associated
with
almost
every
department
of
literature
the
name
of
a
single
English
writer
,
it
is
CHAPTER
THE
LAST
.
Had
the
author
lived
to
finish
it
,
he
would
doubtless
have
added
to
his
Iliad
of
the
Siege
of
Paris
its
most
epic
episode
,
by
here
describing
the
mighty
combat
between
those
two
princes
of
the
Parisian
Bourse
,
the
magnanimous
Duplessis
and
the
redoubtable
Louvier
.
Amongst
the
few
other
pages
of
the
book
which
have
been
left
unwritten
,
we
must
also
reckon
with
regret
some
pages
descriptive
of
the
reconciliation
between
Graham
Vane
and
Isaura
Cicogna
;
but
,
fortunately
for
the
satisfaction
of
every
reader
who
may
have
followed
thus
far
the
fortunes
of
Die
Parisians
,
all
that
our
curiosity
is
chiefly
interested
to
learn
has
been
recorded
in
the
Envoi
,
which
was
written
before
the
completion
of
the
novel
.
We
know
not
,
indeed
,
what
has
become
of
these
two
Parisian
types
of
a
Beauty
not
of
Holiness
,
the
poor
vain
Poet
of
the
Pave
,
and
the
good-hearted
Ondine
of
the
Gutter
.
It
is
obvious
,
from
the
absence
of
all
allusion
to
them
in
Lemercier’s
letter
to
Vane
,
that
they
had
passed
out
of
the
narrative
before
that
letter
was
written
.
We
must
suppose
the
catastrophe
of
their
fates
to
have
been
described
,
in
some
preceding
chapter
,
by
the
author
himself
;
who
would
assuredly
not
have
left
141.
Gustave
Rameau
in
permanent
pos
session
of
his
ill-merited
and
ill-ministered
fortune
.
That
French
representative
of
the
appropriately
popular
poetry
of
modern
ideas
,
which
prefers
“
the
roses
and
raptures
of
vice
”
to
“
the
lilies
and
languors
of
virtue
,
”
cannot
have
been
irredeemably
reconciled
by
the
sweet
savours
of
the
domestic
pot-au
jeu
,
even
when
spiced
with
pungent
whiffs
of
repudiated
disreputability
,
to
any
selfish
betrayal
of
the
cause
of
universal
social
emancipation
from
the
personal
proprieties
.
If
poor
Julie
Caumartin
has
perished
in
the
siege
of
Paris
,
with
all
the
grace
of
a
self-wrought
redemption
still
upon
her
,
we
shall
doubtless
deem
her
fate
a
happier
one
than
any
she
could
have
found
in
prolonged
existence
as
Madame
Rameau
;
and
a
certain
modicum
of
this
world’s
good
things
will
,
in
that
case
,
have
been
rescued
for
worthier
employment
by
Graham
Vane
.
To
that
assurance
nothing
but
Lemercier’s
description
of
the
fate
of
Victor
de
Mauleon
(
which
will
be
found
in
the
Envoi
)
need
be
added
for
the
satisfaction
of
our
sense
of
poetic
justice
and
if
on
the
mimic
stage
,
from
which
they
now
disappear
,
all
these
puppets
have
rightly
played
their
parts
in
the
drama
of
an
empire’s
fall
,
each
will
have
helped
to
“
point
a
moral
”
as
well
as
to
“
adorn
a
tale
.
”
Valete
et
plaudite
!
CHAPTER
THE
LAST
.
Among
the
refugees
which
the
convoi
from
Versailles
disgorged
on
the
Paris
station
were
two
men
,
who
,
in
pushing
through
the
crowd
,
came
suddenly
face
to
face
with
each
other
.
“
Aha
!
Bon
jour
,
M
.
Duplessis
,
”
said
a
burly
voice
.
“
Bon
jour
,
M
.
Louvier
,
”
replied
Duplessis
.
“
How
long
have
you
left
Bretagne
?
”
“
On
the
day
that
the
news
of
the
armistice
reached
it
,
in
order
to
be
able
to
enter
Paris
the
first
day
its
gates
were
open
.
And
you
—
where
have
you
been
?
”
“
In
London
.
”
“
Ah
!
in
London
!
”
said
Duplessis
,
paling
.
“
I
knew
I
had
an
enemy
there
.
”
“
Enemy
!
I
?
Bah
!
my
dear
Monsieur
.
What
makes
you
think
me
your
enemy
?
”
“
I
remember
your
threats
.
”
“
A
propos
of
Rochebriant
.
By
the
way
,
when
would
it
be
convenient
to
you
and
the
dear
Marquis
to
let
me
into
prompt
possession
of
that
property
?
You
can
no
longer
pretend
to
buy
it
as
a
dot
for
Mademoiselle
Valerie
.
”
“
I
know
not
that
yet
.
It
is
true
that
all
the
financial
operations
attempted
by
my
agent
in
London
have
failed
.
But
I
may
recover
myself
yet
,
now
that
I
re-enter
Paris
.
In
the
mean
time
,
we
have
still
six
months
before
us
;
for
,
as
you
will
find
—
if
you
know
it
not
already
—
the
interest
due
to
you
has
been
lodged
with
Messrs.
—
—
of
—
—
—
,
and
you
cannot
foreclose
,
even
if
the
law
did
not
take
into
consideration
the
national
calamities
as
between
debtor
and
creditor
.
”
“
Quite
true
.
But
if
you
cannot
buy
the
property
it
must
pass
into
my
hands
in
a
very
short
time
.
And
you
and
the
Marquis
had
better
come
to
an
amicable
arrangement
with
me
.
Apropos
,
I
read
in
the
Times
newspaper
that
Alain
was
among
the
wounded
in
the
sortie
of
December
.
”
“
Yes
;
we
learnt
that
through
a
pigeon-post
.
We
were
afraid
...
.
”
L’ENVOI
.
The
intelligent
reader
will
perceive
that
the
story
I
relate
is
virtually
closed
with
the
preceding
chapter
;
though
I
rejoice
to
think
that
what
may
be
called
its
plot
does
not
find
its
denouement
amidst
the
crimes
and
the
frenzy
of
the
Guerre
des
Communeaux
.
Fit
subjects
these
,
indeed
,
for
the
social
annalist
in
times
to
come
.
When
crimes
that
outrage
humanity
have
their
motive
or
their
excuse
in
principles
that
demand
the
demolition
of
all
upon
which
the
civilisation
of
Europe
has
its
basis-worship
,
property
,
and
marriage
—
in
order
to
reconstruct
a
new
civilisation
adapted
to
a
new
humanity
,
it
is
scarcely
possible
for
the
serenest
contemporary
to
keep
his
mind
in
that
state
of
abstract
reasoning
with
which
Philosophy
deduces
from
some
past
evil
some
existent
good
.
For
my
part
,
I
believe
that
throughout
the
whole
known
history
of
mankind
,
even
in
epochs
when
reason
is
most
misled
and
conscience
most
perverted
,
there
runs
visible
,
though
fine
and
threadlike
,
the
chain
of
destiny
,
which
has
its
roots
in
the
throne
of
an
All-wise
and
an
All-good
;
that
in
the
wildest
illusions
by
which
muititudes
are
frenzied
,
there
may
be
detected
gleams
of
prophetic
truths
;
that
in
the
fiercest
crimes
which
,
like
the
disease
of
an
epidemic
,
characterise
a
peculiar
epoch
under
abnormal
circumstances
,
there
might
be
found
instincts
or
aspirations
towards
some
social
virtues
to
be
realised
ages
afterwards
by
happier
generations
,
all
tending
to
save
man
from
despair
of
the
future
,
were
the
whole
society
to
unite
for
the
joyless
hour
of
his
race
in
the
abjuration
of
soul
and
the
denial
of
God
,
because
all
irresistibly
establishing
that
yearning
towards
an
unseen
future
which
is
the
leading
attribute
of
soul
,
evincing
the
government
of
a
divine
Thought
which
evolves
out
of
the
discords
of
one
age
the
harmonies
of
another
,
and
,
in
the
world
within
us
as
in
the
world
without
,
enforces
upon
every
unclouded
reason
the
distinction
between
Providence
and
chance
.
The
account
subjoined
may
suffice
to
say
all
that
rests
to
be
said
of
those
individuals
in
whose
fate
,
apart
from
the
events
or
personages
that
belong
to
graver
history
,
the
reader
of
this
work
may
have
conceived
an
interest
.
It
is
translated
from
the
letter
of
Frederic
Lemercier
to
Graham
Vane
,
dated
June
—
—
,
a
month
after
the
defeat
of
the
Communists
.
“
Dear
and
distinguished
Englishman
,
whose
name
I
honour
but
fail
to
pronounce
,
accept
my
cordial
thanks
for
your
interests
in
such
remains
of
Frederic
Lemercier
as
yet
survive
the
ravages
of
Famine
,
Equality
,
Brotherhood
,
Petroleum
,
and
the
Rights
of
Labour
.
I
did
not
desert
my
Paris
when
M
.
Thiers
,
‘parmula
non
bene
relicta
,
’
led
his
sagacious
friends
and
his
valiant
troops
to
the
groves
of
Versailles
,
and
confided
to
us
unarmed
citizens
the
preservation
of
order
and
property
from
the
insurgents
whom
he
left
in
possession
of
our
forts
and
cannon
.
I
felt
spellbound
by
the
interest
of
the
sinistoe
melodrame
,
with
its
quick
succession
of
scenic
effects
and
the
metropolis
of
the
world
for
its
stage
.
Taught
by
experience
,
I
did
not
aspire
to
be
an
actor
;
and
even
as
a
spectator
,
I
took
care
neither
to
hiss
nor
applaud
.
Imitating
your
happy
England
,
I
observed
a
strict
neutrality
;
and
,
safe
myself
from
danger
,
left
my
best
friends
to
the
care
of
the
gods
.
“
As
to
political
questions
,
I
dare
not
commit
myself
to
a
conjecture
.
At
this
rouge
et
noir
table
,
all
I
can
say
is
,
that
whichever
card
turns
up
,
it
is
either
a
red
or
a
black
one
.
One
gamester
gains
for
the
moment
by
the
loss
of
the
other
;
the
table
eventually
ruins
both
.
“
No
one
believes
that
the
present
form
of
government
can
last
;
every
one
differs
as
to
that
which
can
.
Raoul
de
Vandemar
is
immovably
convinced
of
the
restoration
of
the
Bourbons
.
Savarin
is
meditating
a
new
journal
devoted
to
the
cause
of
the
Count
of
Paris
.
De
Brew
and
the
old
Count
de
Passy
,
having
in
turn
espoused
and
opposed
every
previous
form
of
government
,
naturally
go
in
for
a
perfectly
novel
experiment
,
and
are
for
constitutional
dictatorship
under
the
Duc
d’Aumale
,
which
he
is
to
hold
at
his
own
pleasure
,
and
ultimately
resign
to
his
nephew
the
Count
,
under
the
mild
title
of
a
constitutional
king
;
—
that
is
,
if
it
ever
suits
the
pleasure
of
a
dictator
to
depose
himself
.
To
me
this
seems
the
wildest
of
notions
.
If
the
Duc’s
administration
were
successful
,
the
French
would
insist
on
keeping
it
;
and
if
the
uncle
were
unsuccessful
,
the
nephew
would
not
have
a
chance
.
Duplessis
retains
his
faith
in
the
Imperial
dynasty
;
and
that
Imperialist
party
is
much
stronger
than
it
appears
on
the
surface
.
So
many
of
the
bourgeoisie
recall
with
a
sigh
eighteen
years
of
prosperous
trade
;
so
many
of
the
military
officers
,
so
many
of
the
civil
officials
,
identify
their
career
with
the
Napoleonic
favour
;
and
so
many
of
the
Priesthood
,
abhorring
the
Republic
,
always
liable
to
pass
into
the
hands
of
those
who
assail
religion
,
—
unwilling
to
admit
the
claim
of
the
Orleanists
,
are
at
heart
for
the
Empire
.
“
But
I
will
tell
you
one
secret
.
I
and
all
the
quiet
folks
like
me
(
we
are
more
numerous
than
any
one
violent
faction
)
are
willing
to
accept
any
form
of
government
by
which
we
have
the
best
chance
of
keeping
our
coats
on
our
backs
.
Liberte
,
Egalite
,
Fraternity
,
are
gone
quite
out
of
fashion
;
and
Mademoiselle
—
has
abandoned
her
great
chant
of
the
Marseillaise
,
and
is
drawing
tears
from
enlightened
audiences
by
her
pathetic
delivery
of
‘O
Richard
!
O
mon
roi
!
’
”
“
Now
about
the
other
friends
of
whom
you
ask
for
news
.
“
Wonders
will
never
cease
.
Louvier
and
Duplessis
are
no
longer
deadly
rivals
.
They
have
become
sworn
friends
,
and
are
meditating
a
great
speculation
in
common
,
to
commence
as
soon
as
the
Prussian
debt
is
paid
off
.
Victor
de
Mauleon
brought
about
this
reconciliation
in
a
single
interview
during
the
brief
interregnum
between
the
Peace
and
the
Guerre
des
Communeaux
.
You
know
how
sternly
Louvier
was
bent
upon
seizing
Alain
de
Rochebriant’s
estates
.
Can
you
conceive
the
true
cause
?
Can
you
imagine
it
possible
that
a
hardened
money-maker
like
Louvier
should
ever
allow
himself
to
be
actuated
,
one
way
or
the
other
,
by
the
romance
of
a
sentimental
wrong
?
Yet
so
it
was
.
It
seems
that
many
years
ago
he
was
desperately
in
love
with
a
girl
who
disappeared
from
his
life
,
and
whom
he
believed
to
have
been
seduced
by
the
late
Marquis
de
Rochebriant
.
It
was
in
revenge
for
this
supposed
crime
that
he
had
made
himself
the
principal
mortgagee
of
the
late
Marquis
;
and
,
visiting
the
sins
of
the
father
on
the
son
,
had
,
under
the
infernal
disguise
of
friendly
interest
,
made
himself
sole
mortgagee
to
Alain
,
upon
terms
apparently
the
most
generous
.
The
demon
soon
showed
his
griffe
,
and
was
about
to
foreclose
,
when
Duplessis
came
to
Alain’s
relief
;
and
Rochebriant
was
to
be
Valerie’s
dot
on
her
marriage
with
Alain
.
The
Prussian
war
,
of
course
,
suspended
all
such
plans
,
pecuniary
and
matrimonial
.
Duplessis
,
whose
resources
were
terribly
crippled
by
the
war
,
attempted
operations
in
London
with
a
view
of
raising
the
sum
necessary
to
pay
off
the
mortgage
;
—
found
himself
strangely
frustrated
and
baffled
.
Louvier
was
in
London
,
and
defeated
his
rival’s
agent
in
every
speculation
.
It
became
impossible
for
Duplessis
to
redeem
the
mortgage
.
The
two
men
came
to
Paris
with
the
peace
.
Louvier
determined
both
to
seize
the
Breton
lands
and
to
complete
the
ruin
of
Duplessis
,
when
he
learned
from
De
Mauleon
that
he
had
spent
half
his
life
in
a
baseless
illusion
;
that
Alain’s
father
was
innocent
of
the
crime
for
which
his
son
was
to
suffer
;
—
and
Victor
,
with
that
strange
power
over
men’s
minds
which
was
so
peculiar
to
him
,
talked
Louvier
into
mercy
if
not
into
repentance
.
In
short
,
the
mortgage
is
to
be
paid
off
by
instalments
at
the
convenience
of
Duplessis
.
Alain’s
marriage
with
Valerie
is
to
take
place
in
a
few
weeks
.
The
fournisseurs
are
already
gone
to
fit
up
the
old
chateau
for
the
bride
,
and
Louvier
is
invited
to
the
wedding
.
“
I
have
all
this
story
from
Alain
,
and
from
Duplessis
himself
.
I
tell
the
tale
as
‘twas
told
to
me
,
with
all
the
gloss
of
sentiment
upon
its
woof
.
But
between
ourselves
,
I
am
too
Parisian
not
to
be
sceptical
as
to
the
unalloyed
amiability
of
sudden
conversions
.
And
I
suspect
that
Louvier
was
no
longer
in
a
condition
to
indulge
in
the
unprofitable
whim
of
turning
rural
seigneur
.
He
had
sunk
large
sums
and
incurred
great
liabilities
in
the
new
street
to
be
called
after
his
name
;
and
that
street
has
been
twice
ravaged
,
first
by
the
Prussian
siege
,
and
next
by
the
Guerre
des
Communeaux
;
and
I
can
detect
many
reasons
why
Louvier
should
deem
it
prudent
not
only
to
withdraw
from
the
Rochebriant
seizure
,
and
make
sure
of
peacefully
recovering
the
capital
lent
on
it
,
but
establishing
joint
interest
and
quasi
partnership
with
a
financier
so
brilliant
and
successful
as
Armand
Duplessis
has
hitherto
been
.
“
Alain
himself
is
not
quite
recovered
from
his
wound
,
and
is
now
at
Rochebriant
,
nursed
by
his
aunt
and
Valerie
.
I
have
promised
to
visit
him
next
week
.
Raoul
de
Vandemar
is
still
at
Paris
with
his
mother
,
saying
,
there
is
no
place
where
one
Christian
man
can
be
of
such
service
.
The
old
Count
declines
to
come
back
,
saying
there
is
no
place
where
a
philosopher
can
be
in
such
danger
.
“
I
reserve
as
my
last
communication
,
in
reply
to
your
questions
,
that
which
is
the
gravest
.
You
say
that
you
saw
in
the
public
journals
brief
notice
of
the
assassination
of
Victor
de
Mauleon
;
and
you
ask
for
such
authentic
particulars
as
I
can
give
of
that
event
,
and
of
the
motives
of
the
assassin
.
“
I
need
not
,
of
course
,
tell
you
how
bravely
the
poor
Vicomte
behaved
throughout
the
siege
;
but
he
made
many
enemies
among
the
worst
members
of
the
National
Guard
by
the
severity
of
his
discipline
;
and
had
he
been
caught
by
the
mob
the
same
day
as
Clement
Thomas
,
who
committed
the
same
offence
,
would
have
certainly
shared
the
fate
of
that
general
.
Though
elected
a
depute
,
he
remained
at
Paris
a
few
days
after
Thiers
+
Co.
left
it
,
in
the
hope
of
persuading
the
party
of
Order
,
including
then
no
small
portion
of
the
National
Guards
,
to
take
prompt
and
vigorous
measures
to
defend
the
city
against
the
Communists
.
Indignant
at
their
pusillanimity
,
he
then
escaped
to
Versailles
.
There
he
more
than
confirmed
the
high
reputation
he
had
acquired
during
the
siege
,
and
impressed
the
ablest
public
men
with
the
belief
that
he
was
destined
to
take
a
very
leading
part
in
the
strife
of
party
.
When
the
Versailles
troops
entered
Paris
,
he
was
,
of
course
,
among
them
in
command
of
a
battalion
.
“
He
escaped
safe
through
that
horrible
war
of
barricades
,
though
no
man
more
courted
danger
.
He
inspired
his
men
with
his
own
courage
.
It
was
not
till
the
revolt
was
quenched
on
the
evening
of
the
28th
May
that
he
met
his
death
.
The
Versailles
soldiers
,
naturally
exasperated
,
were
very
prompt
in
seizing
and
shooting
at
once
every
passenger
who
looked
like
a
foe
.
Some
men
under
De
Mauleon
had
seized
upon
one
of
these
victims
,
and
were
hurrying
him
into
the
next
street
for
execution
,
when
,
catching
sight
of
the
Vicomte
,
he
screamed
out
,
‘Lebeau
,
save
me
!
’
“
At
that
cry
De
Mauleon
rushed
forward
,
arrested
his
soldiers
,
cried
,
‘This
man
is
innocent
—
a
harmless
physician
.
I
answer
for
him.’
As
he
thus
spoke
,
a
wounded
Communist
,
lying
in
the
gutter
amidst
a
heap
of
the
slain
,
dragged
himself
up
,
reeled
towards
De
Mauleon
,
plunged
a
knife
between
his
shoulders
,
and
dropped
down
dead
.
“
The
Vicomte
was
carried
into
a
neighbouring
house
,
from
all
the
windows
of
which
the
tricolour
was
suspended
;
and
the
Medecin
whom
he
had
just
saved
from
summary
execution
examined
and
dressed
his
wound
.
The
Vicomte
lingered
for
more
than
an
hour
,
but
expired
in
the
effort
to
utter
some
words
,
the
sense
of
which
those
about
him
endeavoured
in
vain
to
seize
.
“
It
was
from
the
Medecin
that
the
name
of
the
assassin
and
the
motive
for
the
crime
were
ascertained
.
The
miscreant
was
a
Red
Republican
and
Socialist
named
Armand
Monnier
.
He
had
been
a
very
skilful
workman
,
and
earning
,
as
such
,
high
wages
.
But
he
thought
fit
to
become
an
active
revolutionary
politician
,
first
led
into
schemes
for
upsetting
the
world
by
the
existing
laws
of
marriage
,
which
had
inflicted
on
him
one
woman
who
ran
away
from
him
,
but
being
still
legally
his
wife
,
forbade
him
to
marry
another
woman
with
whom
he
lived
,
and
to
whom
he
seems
to
have
been
passionately
attached
.
“
These
schemes
,
however
,
he
did
not
put
into
any
positive
practice
till
he
fell
in
with
a
certain
Jean
Lebeau
,
who
exercised
great
influence
over
him
,
and
by
whom
he
was
admitted
into
one
of
the
secret
revolutionary
societies
which
had
for
their
object
the
overthrow
of
the
Empire
.
After
that
time
his
head
became
turned
.
The
fall
of
the
Empire
put
an
end
to
the
society
he
had
joined
:
Lebeau
dissolved
it
.
During
the
siege
Monnier
was
a
sort
of
leader
among
the
ouvriers
;
but
as
it
advanced
and
famine
commenced
,
he
contracted
the
habit
of
intoxication
.
His
children
died
of
cold
and
hunger
.
The
woman
he
lived
with
followed
them
to
the
grave
.
Then
he
seems
to
have
become
a
ferocious
madman
,
and
to
have
been
implicated
in
the
worst
crimes
of
the
Communists
.
He
cherished
a
wild
desire
of
revenge
against
this
Jean
Lebeau
,
to
whom
he
attributed
all
his
calamities
,
and
by
whom
,
he
said
,
his
brother
had
been
shot
in
the
sortie
of
December
.
“
Here
comes
the
strange
part
of
the
story
.
This
Jean
Lebeau
is
alleged
to
have
been
one
and
the
same
person
with
Victor
de
Mauleon
.
The
Medecin
I
have
named
,
and
who
is
well
known
in
Belleville
and
Montmartre
as
the
Medecin
des
Pauvres
,
confesses
that
he
belonged
to
the
secret
society
organised
by
Lebeau
;
that
the
disguise
the
Vicomte
assumed
was
so
complete
,
that
he
should
not
have
recognised
his
identity
with
the
conspirator
but
for
an
accident
.
During
the
latter
time
of
the
bombardment
,
he
,
the
Medecin
des
Pauvres
,
was
on
the
eastern
ramparts
,
and
his
attention
was
suddenly
called
to
a
man
mortally
wounded
by
the
splinter
of
a
shell
.
While
examining
the
nature
of
the
wound
;
De
Mauleon
,
who
was
also
on
the
ramparts
,
came
to
the
spot
.
The
dying
man
said
,
‘M
.
le
Vicomte
,
you
owe
me
a
service
.
My
name
is
Marc
le
Roux
.
I
was
on
the
police
before
the
war
.
When
M
.
de
.
Mauleon
reassumed
his
station
,
and
was
making
himself
obnoxious
to
the
Emperor
,
I
might
have
denounced
him
as
Jean
Lebeau
the
conspirator
.
I
did
not
.
The
siege
has
reduced
me
to
want
.
I
have
a
child
at
home
—
a
pet
.
Don’t
let
her
starve.’
‘I
will
see
to
her
,
’
said
the
Vicomte
.
Before
we
could
get
the
man
into
the
ambulance
cart
he
expired
.
“
The
Medecin
who
told
this
story
I
had
the
curiosity
to
see
myself
,
and
cross-question
.
I
own
I
believe
his
statement
.
Whether
De
Mauleon
did
or
did
not
conspire
against
a
fallen
dynasty
,
to
which
he
owed
no
allegiance
,
can
little
,
if
at
all
,
injure
the
reputation
he
has
left
behind
of
a
very
remarkable
man
—
of
great
courage
and
great
ability
—
who
might
have
had
a
splendid
career
if
he
had
survived
.
But
,
as
Savarin
says
truly
,
the
first
bodies
which
the
car
of
revolution
crushes
down
are
those
which
first
harness
themselves
to
it
.
“
Among
De
Mauleon’s
papers
is
the
programme
of
a
constitution
fitted
for
France
.
How
it
got
into
Savarin’s
hands
I
know
not
.
De
Mauleon
left
no
will
,
and
no
relations
came
forward
to
claim
his
papers
.
I
asked
Savarin
to
give
me
the
heads
of
the
plan
,
which
he
did
.
They
are
as
follows
:
“
The
American
republic
is
the
sole
one
worth
studying
,
for
it
has
lasted
.
The
causes
of
its
duration
are
in
the
checks
to
democratic
fickleness
and
disorder
.
1st
.
No
law
affecting
the
Constitution
can
be
altered
without
the
consent
of
two-thirds
of
Congress
.
2nd
.
To
counteract
the
impulses
natural
to
a
popular
Assembly
chosen
by
universal
suffrage
,
the
greater
legislative
powers
,
especially
in
foreign
affairs
,
are
vested
in
the
Senate
,
which
has
even
executive
as
well
as
legislative
functions
.
3rd
.
The
Chief
of
the
State
,
having
elected
his
government
,
can
maintain
it
independent
of
hostile
majorities
in
either
Assembly
.
“
‘These
three
principles
of
safety
to
form
the
basis
of
any
new
constitution
for
France
.
“
‘For
France
it
is
essential
that
the
chief
magistrate
,
under
whatever
title
he
assume
,
should
be
as
irresponsible
as
an
English
sovereign
.
Therefore
he
should
not
preside
at
his
councils
;
he
