ofsociety
.
Would
you
sacrifice
the
principle
which
concerns
the
welfare
of
millions
,
because
you
cannot
embody
it
in
the
person
of
an
individual
utterly
insignificant
in
himself
?
In
a
word
,
if
you
prefer
monarchy
to
the
hazard
of
republicanism
for
such
a
country
as
France
,
accept
the
monarchy
you
find
,
since
it
is
quite
clear
you
cannot
rebuild
the
monarchy
you
would
prefer
.
Does
it
not
embrace
all
the
great
objects
for
which
you
call
yourself
Legitimist
?
Under
it
religion
is
honoured
,
a
national
Church
secured
,
in
reality
if
not
in
name
;
under
it
you
have
united
the
votes
of
millions
to
the
establishment
of
the
throne
;
under
it
all
the
material
interests
of
the
country
,
commercial
,
agricultural
,
have
advanced
with
an
unequalled
rapidity
of
progress
;
under
it
Paris
has
become
the
wonder
of
the
world
for
riches
,
for
splendour
,
for
grace
and
beauty
;
under
it
the
old
traditional
enemies
of
France
have
been
humbled
and
rendered
impotent
.
The
policy
of
Richelieu
has
been
achieved
in
the
abasement
of
Austria
;
the
policy
of
Napoleon
I
.
has
been
consummated
in
the
salvation
of
Europe
from
the
semi-barbarous
ambition
of
Russia
.
England
no
longer
casts
her
trident
in
the
opposition
scale
of
the
balance
of
European
power
.
Satisfied
with
the
honour
of
our
alliance
,
she
has
lost
every
other
ally
;
and
her
forces
neglected
,
her
spirit
enervated
,
her
statesmen
dreaming
believers
in
the
safety
of
their
island
,
provided
they
withdraw
from
the
affairs
of
Europe
,
may
sometimes
scold
us
,
but
will
certainly
not
dare
to
fight
.
With
France
she
is
but
an
inferior
satellite
;
without
France
she
is
—
nothing
.
Add
to
all
this
a
court
more
brilliant
than
that
of
Louis
XIV
.
,
a
sovereign
not
indeed
without
faults
and
errors
,
but
singularly
mild
in
his
nature
,
warm-hearted
to
friends
,
forgiving
to
foes
,
whom
personally
no
one
could
familiarly
know
and
not
be
charmed
with
a
bonte
of
character
,
lovable
as
that
of
Henri
IV
.
,
—
and
tell
me
what
more
than
all
this
could
you
expect
from
the
reign
of
a
Bourbon
?
”
“
With
such
results
,
”
said
Alain
,
“
from
the
monarchy
you
so
eloquently
praise
,
I
fail
to
discover
what
the
emperor’s
throne
could
possibly
gain
by
a
few
powerless
converts
from
an
unpopular
,
and
you
say
,
no
doubt
truly
,
from
a
hopeless
cause
.
”
“
I
say
monarchy
gains
much
by
the
loyal
adhesion
of
any
man
of
courage
,
ability
,
and
honour
.
Every
new
monarchy
gains
much
by
conversions
from
the
ranks
by
which
the
older
monarchies
were
strengthened
and
adorned
.
But
I
do
not
here
invoke
your
aid
merely
to
this
monarchy
,
my
cousin
;
I
demand
your
devotion
to
the
interests
of
France
;
I
demand
that
you
should
not
rest
an
outlaw
from
her
service
.
Ah
,
you
think
that
France
is
in
no
danger
,
that
you
may
desert
or
oppose
the
Empire
as
you
list
,
and
that
society
will
remain
safe
!
You
are
mistaken
.
Ask
Enguerrand
.
”
“
Madame
,
”
said
Enguerrand
,
“
you
overrate
my
political
knowledge
in
that
appeal
;
but
,
honestly
speaking
,
I
subscribe
to
your
reasonings
.
I
agree
with
you
that
the
empire
sorely
needs
the
support
of
men
of
honour
;
it
has
one
cause
of
rot
which
now
undermines
it
,
—
dishonest
jobbery
in
its
administrative
departments
;
even
in
that
of
the
army
,
which
apparently
is
so
heeded
and
cared
for
.
I
agree
with
you
that
France
is
in
danger
,
and
may
need
the
swords
of
all
her
better
sons
,
whether
against
the
foreigner
or
against
her
worst
enemies
,
—
the
mobs
of
her
great
towns
.
I
myself
received
a
military
education
,
and
but
for
my
reluctance
to
separate
myself
from
my
father
and
Raoul
,
I
should
be
a
candidate
for
employments
more
congenial
to
me
than
those
of
the
Bourse
and
my
trade
in
the
glove-shop
.
But
Alain
is
happily
free
from
all
family
ties
,
and
Alain
knows
that
my
advice
to
him
is
not
hostile
to
your
exhortations
.
”
“
I
am
glad
to
think
he
is
under
so
salutary
an
influence
,
”
said
the
Duchesse
;
and
seeing
that
Alain
remained
silent
and
thoughtful
,
she
wisely
changed
the
subject
,
and
shortly
afterwards
the
two
friends
took
leave
.
CHAPTER
IV
.
Three
days
elapsed
before
Graham
again
saw
M
.
Lebeau
.
The
letter-writer
did
not
show
himself
at
the
cafe
,
and
was
not
to
be
found
at
his
office
,
the
ordinary
business
of
which
was
transacted
by
his
clerk
,
saying
that
his
master
was
much
engaged
on
important
matters
that
took
him
from
home
.
Graham
naturally
thought
that
these
matters
concerned
the
discovery
of
Louise
Duval
,
and
was
reconciled
to
suspense
.
At
the
cafe
,
awaiting
Lebeau
,
he
had
slid
into
some
acquaintance
with
the
ouvrier
Armand
Monnier
,
whose
face
and
talk
had
before
excited
his
interest
.
Indeed
,
the
acquaintance
had
been
commenced
by
the
ouvrier
,
who
seated
himself
at
a
table
near
to
Graham’s
,
and
,
after
looking
at
him
earnestly
for
some
minutes
,
said
,
“
You
are
waiting
for
your
antagonist
at
dominos
,
M
.
Lebeau
,
—
a
very
remarkable
man
.
”
“
So
he
seems
.
I
know
,
however
,
but
little
of
him
.
You
,
perhaps
,
have
known
him
longer
?
”
“
Several
months
.
Many
of
your
countrymen
frequent
this
cafe
,
but
you
do
not
seem
to
care
to
associate
with
the
blouses
.
”
“
It
is
not
that
;
but
we
islanders
are
shy
,
and
don’t
make
acquaintance
with
each
other
readily
.
By
the
way
,
since
you
so
courteously
accost
me
,
I
may
take
the
liberty
of
saying
that
I
overheard
you
defend
the
other
night
,
against
one
of
my
countrymen
,
who
seemed
to
me
to
talk
great
nonsense
,
the
existence
of
le
bon
Dieu
.
You
had
much
the
best
of
it
.
I
rather
gathered
from
your
argument
that
you
went
somewhat
further
,
and
were
not
too
enlightened
to
admit
of
Christianity
.
”
Armand
Monnier
looked
pleased
.
He
liked
praise
;
and
he
liked
to
hear
himself
talk
,
and
he
plunged
at
once
into
a
very
complicated
sort
of
Christianity
,
—
partly
Arian
,
partly
Saint
Simonian
,
with
a
little
of
Rousseau
and
a
great
deal
of
Armand
Monnier
.
Into
this
we
need
not
follow
him
;
but
,
in
sum
,
it
was
a
sort
of
Christianity
,
the
main
heads
of
which
consisted
in
the
removal
of
your
neighbour’s
landmarks
,
in
the
right
of
the
poor
to
appropriate
the
property
of
the
rich
,
in
the
right
of
love
to
dispense
with
marriage
,
and
the
duty
of
the
State
to
provide
for
any
children
that
might
result
from
such
union
,
—
the
parents
being
incapacitated
to
do
so
,
as
whatever
they
might
leave
was
due
to
the
treasury
in
common
.
Graham
listened
to
these
doctrines
with
melancholy
not
unmixed
with
contempt
.
“
Are
these
opinions
of
yours
,
”
he
asked
,
“
derived
from
reading
or
your
own
reflection
?
”
“
Well
,
from
both
,
but
from
circumstances
in
life
that
induced
me
to
read
and
reflect
.
I
am
one
of
the
many
victims
of
the
tyrannical
law
of
marriage
.
When
very
young
I
married
a
woman
who
made
me
miserable
,
and
then
forsook
me
.
Morally
,
she
has
ceased
to
be
my
wife
;
legally
,
she
is
.
I
then
met
with
another
woman
who
suits
me
,
who
loves
me
.
She
lives
with
me
;
I
cannot
marry
her
;
she
has
to
submit
to
humiliations
,
to
be
called
contemptuously
an
ouvrier’s
mistress
.
Then
,
though
before
I
was
only
a
Republican
,
I
felt
there
was
something
wrong
in
society
which
needed
a
greater
change
than
that
of
a
merely
political
government
;
and
then
,
too
,
when
I
was
all
troubled
and
sore
,
I
chanced
to
read
one
of
Madame
de
Grantmesnil’s
books
.
A
glorious
genius
that
woman’s
!
”
“
She
has
genius
,
certainly
,
”
said
Graham
,
with
a
keen
pang
at
his
heart
,
—
Madame
de
Grantmesnil
,
the
dearest
friend
of
Isaura
!
“
But
,
”
he
added
,
“
though
I
believe
that
eloquent
author
has
indirectly
assailed
certain
social
institutions
,
including
that
of
marriage
,
I
am
perfectly
persuaded
that
she
never
designed
to
effect
such
complete
overthrow
of
the
system
which
all
civilized
communities
have
hitherto
held
in
reverence
as
your
doctrines
would
attempt
;
and
,
after
all
,
she
but
expresses
her
ideas
through
the
medium
of
fabulous
incidents
and
characters
.
And
men
of
your
sense
should
not
look
for
a
creed
in
the
fictions
of
poets
and
romance-writers
.
”
“
Ah
,
”
said
Monnier
,
“
I
dare
say
neither
Madame
de
Grantmesnil
nor
even
Rousseau
ever
even
guessed
the
ideas
they
awoke
in
their
readers
;
but
one
idea
leads
on
to
another
.
And
genuine
poetry
and
romance
touch
the
heart
so
much
more
than
dry
treatises
.
In
a
word
,
Madame
de
Grantmesnil’s
book
set
me
thinking
;
and
then
I
read
other
books
,
and
talked
with
clever
men
,
and
educated
myself
.
And
so
I
became
the
man
I
am
.
”
Here
,
with
a
self-satisfied
air
,
Monnier
bowed
to
the
Englishman
,
and
joined
a
group
at
the
other
end
of
the
room
.
The
next
evening
,
just
before
dusk
,
Graham
Vane
was
seated
musingly
in
his
own
apartment
in
the
Faubourg
Montmartre
,
when
there
came
a
slight
knock
at
his
door
.
He
was
so
wrapped
in
thought
that
he
did
not
hear
the
sound
,
though
twice
repeated
.
The
door
opened
gently
,
and
M
.
Lebeau
appeared
on
the
threshold
.
The
room
was
lighted
only
by
the
gas-lamp
from
the
street
without
.
Lebeau
advanced
through
the
gloom
,
and
quietly
seated
himself
in
the
corner
of
the
fireplace
opposite
to
Graham
before
he
spoke
.
“
A
thousand
pardons
for
disturbing
your
slumbers
,
Monsieur
Lamb
.
”
Startled
then
by
the
voice
so
near
him
,
Graham
raised
his
head
,
looked
round
,
and
beheld
very
indistinctly
the
person
seated
so
near
him
.
“
Monsieur
Lebeau
?
”
“
At
your
service
.
I
promise
to
give
an
answer
to
your
question
;
accept
my
apologies
that
it
has
been
deferred
so
long
.
I
shall
not
this
evening
go
to
our
cafe
.
I
took
the
liberty
of
calling
—
”
“
Monsieur
Lebeau
,
you
are
a
brick
.
”
“
A
what
,
Monsieur
!
—
a
brique
?
”
“
I
forgot
;
you
are
not
up
to
our
fashionable
London
idioms
.
A
brick
means
a
jolly
fellow
,
and
it
is
very
kind
in
you
to
call
.
What
is
your
decision
?
”
“
Monsieur
,
I
can
give
you
some
information
,
but
it
is
so
slight
that
I
offer
it
gratis
,
and
forego
all
thought
of
undertaking
further
inquiries
.
They
could
only
be
prosecuted
in
another
country
,
and
it
would
not
be
worth
my
while
to
leave
Paris
on
the
chance
of
gaining
so
trifling
a
reward
as
you
propose
.
Judge
for
yourself
.
In
the
year
1849
,
and
in
the
month
of
July
,
Louise
Duval
left
Paris
for
Aix-la-Chapelle
.
There
she
remained
some
weeks
,
and
then
left
it
.
I
can
learn
no
further
traces
of
her
movements
.
”
“
Aix-la-Chapelle
!
What
could
she
do
there
?
”
“
It
is
a
Spa
in
great
request
;
crowded
during
the
summer
season
with
visitors
from
all
countries
.
She
might
have
gone
there
for
health
or
for
pleasure
.
”
“
Do
you
think
that
one
could
learn
more
at
the
Spa
itself
if
one
went
there
?
”
“
Possibly
.
But
it
is
so
long
,
—
twenty
years
ago
.
”
“
She
might
have
revisited
the
place
.
”
“
Certainly
;
but
I
know
no
more
.
”
“
Was
she
there
under
the
same
name
,
—
Duval
?
”
“
I
am
sure
of
that
.
”
“
Do
you
think
she
left
it
alone
or
with
others
?
You
tell
me
she
was
awfully
belle
;
she
might
have
attracted
admirers
.
”
“
If
,
”
answered
Lebeau
,
reluctantly
,
“
I
could
believe
the
report
of
my
informant
,
Louise
Duval
left
Aix
not
alone
,
but
with
some
gallant
;
not
an
Englishman
.
They
are
said
to
have
parted
soon
,
and
the
man
is
now
dead
.
But
,
speaking
frankly
,
I
do
not
think
Mademoiselle
Duval
would
have
thus
compromised
her
honour
and
sacrificed
her
future
.
I
believe
she
would
have
scorned
all
proposals
that
were
not
those
of
marriage
.
But
all
I
can
say
for
certainty
is
that
nothing
is
known
to
me
of
her
fate
since
she
quitted
Aix-la-Chapelle
.
”
“
In
1849
?
She
had
then
a
child
living
.
”
“
A
child
?
I
never
heard
that
she
had
any
child
;
and
I
do
not
believe
she
could
have
had
any
child
in
1849.
”
Graham
mused
.
Somewhat
less
than
five
years
after
1849
Louise
Duval
had
been
seen
at
Aix-la-Chapelle
.
Possibly
she
found
some
attraction
at
that
place
,
and
might
yet
be
discovered
there
.
“
Monsieur
Lebeau
,
”
said
Graham
,
“
you
know
this
lady
by
sight
;
you
would
recognize
her
in
spite
of
the
lapse
of
years
.
Will
you
go
to
Aix
and
find
out
there
what
you
can
?
Of
course
,
expenses
will
be
paid
,
and
the
reward
will
be
given
if
you
succeed
.
”
“
I
cannot
oblige
you
.
My
interest
in
this
poor
lady
is
not
very
strong
,
though
I
should
be
willing
to
serve
her
,
and
glad
to
know
that
she
were
alive
.
I
have
now
business
on
hand
which
interests
me
much
more
,
and
which
will
take
me
from
Paris
,
but
not
in
the
direction
of
Aix
.
”
“
If
I
wrote
to
my
employer
,
and
got
him
to
raise
the
reward
to
some
higher
amount
,
that
might
make
it
worth
your
while
?
”
“
I
should
still
answer
that
my
affairs
will
not
permit
such
a
journey
.
But
if
there
be
any
chance
of
tracing
Louise
Duval
at
Aix
,
—
and
there
may
be
,
—
you
would
succeed
quite
as
well
as
I
should
.
You
must
judge
for
yourself
if
it
be
worth
your
trouble
to
attempt
such
a
task
;
and
if
you
do
attempt
it
,
and
do
succeed
,
pray
let
me
know
.
—
A
line
to
my
office
will
reach
me
for
some
little
time
,
even
if
I
am
absent
from
Paris
.
Adieu
,
Monsieur
Lamb
.
”
Here
M
.
Lebeau
Lose
and
departed
.
Graham
relapsed
into
thought
;
but
a
train
of
thought
much
more
active
,
much
more
concentred
than
before
.
“
No
,
”
thus
ran
his
meditations
,
—
“
no
,
it
would
not
be
safe
to
employ
that
man
further
.
The
reasons
that
forbid
me
to
offer
any
very
high
reward
for
the
discovery
of
this
woman
operate
still
more
strongly
against
tendering
to
her
own
relation
a
sum
that
might
indeed
secure
his
aid
,
but
would
unquestionably
arouse
his
suspicions
,
and
perhaps
drag
into
light
all
that
must
be
concealed
.
Oh
,
this
cruel
mission
!
I
am
,
indeed
,
an
impostor
to
myself
till
it
be
fulfilled
.
I
will
go
to
Aix
,
and
take
Renard
with
me
.
I
am
impatient
till
I
set
out
,
but
I
cannot
quit
Paris
without
once
more
seeing
Isaura
.
She
consents
to
relinquish
the
stage
;
surely
I
could
wean
her
too
from
intimate
friendship
with
a
woman
whose
genius
has
so
fatal
an
effect
upon
enthusiastic
minds
.
And
then
—
and
then
?
”
He
fell
into
a
delightful
revery
;
and
contemplating
Isaura
as
his
future
wife
,
he
surrounded
her
sweet
image
with
all
those
attributes
of
dignity
and
respect
with
which
an
Englishman
is
accustomed
to
invest
the
destined
bearer
of
his
name
,
the
gentle
sovereign
of
his
household
,
the
sacred
mother
of
his
children
.
In
this
picture
the
more
brilliant
qualities
of
Isaura
found
,
perhaps
,
but
faint
presentation
.
Her
glow
of
sentiment
,
her
play
of
fancy
,
her
artistic
yearnings
for
truths
remote
,
for
the
invisible
fairyland
of
beautiful
romance
,
receded
into
the
background
of
the
picture
.
It
was
all
these
,
no
doubt
,
that
had
so
strengthened
and
enriched
the
love
at
first
sight
,
which
had
shaken
the
equilibrium
of
his
positive
existence
;
and
yet
he
now
viewed
all
these
as
subordinate
to
the
one
image
of
mild
decorous
matronage
into
which
wedlock
was
to
transform
the
child
of
genius
,
longing
for
angel
wings
and
unlimited
space
.
CHAPTER
V.
On
quitting
the
sorry
apartment
of
the
false
M
.
Lamb
,
Lebeau
walked
on
with
slow
steps
and
bended
head
,
like
a
man
absorbed
in
thought
.
He
threaded
a
labyrinth
of
obscure
streets
,
no
longer
in
the
Faubourg
Montmartre
,
and
dived
at
last
into
one
of
the
few
courts
which
preserve
the
cachet
of
the
moyen
age
untouched
by
the
ruthless
spirit
of
improvement
which
during
the
second
empire
has
so
altered
the
face
of
Paris
.
At
the
bottom
of
the
court
stood
a
large
house
,
much
dilapidated
,
but
bearing
the
trace
of
former
grandeur
in
pilasters
and
fretwork
in
the
style
of
the
Renaissance
,
and
a
defaced
coat
of
arms
,
surmounted
with
a
ducal
coronet
,
over
the
doorway
.
The
house
had
the
aspect
of
desertion
:
many
of
the
windows
were
broken
;
others
were
jealously
closed
with
mouldering
shutters
.
The
door
stood
ajar
;
Lebeau
pushed
it
open
,
and
the
action
set
in
movement
a
bell
within
a
porter’s
lodge
.
The
house
,
then
,
was
not
uninhabited
;
it
retained
the
dignity
of
a
concierge
.
A
man
with
a
large
grizzled
beard
cut
square
,
and
holding
a
journal
in
his
hand
,
emerged
from
the
lodge
,
and
moved
his
cap
with
a
certain
bluff
and
surly
reverence
on
recognizing
Lebeau
.
“
What
!
so
early
,
citizen
?
”
“
Is
it
too
early
?
”
said
Lebeau
,
glancing
at
his
watch
.
“
So
it
is
;
I
was
not
aware
of
the
time
.
But
I
am
tired
with
waiting
;
let
me
into
the
salon
.
I
will
wait
for
the
rest
;
I
shall
not
be
sorry
for
a
little
repose
.
”
“
Bon
,
”
said
the
porter
,
sententiously
;
“
while
man
reposes
men
advance
.
”
“
A
profound
truth
,
citizen
Le
Roux
;
though
if
they
advance
on
a
reposing
foe
,
they
have
blundering
leaders
unless
they
march
through
unguarded
by-paths
and
with
noiseless
tread
.
”
Following
the
porter
up
a
dingy
broad
staircase
,
Lebeau
was
admitted
into
a
large
room
,
void
of
all
other
furniture
than
a
table
,
two
benches
at
its
sides
,
and
a
fauteuil
at
its
head
.
On
the
mantelpiece
there
was
a
huge
clock
,
and
some
iron
sconces
were
fixed
on
the
panelled
walls
.
Lebeau
flung
himself
,
with
a
wearied
air
,
into
the
fauteuil
.
The
porter
looked
at
him
with
a
kindly
expression
.
He
had
a
liking
to
Lebeau
,
whom
he
had
served
in
his
proper
profession
of
messenger
or
commissionnaire
before
being
placed
by
that
courteous
employer
in
the
easy
post
he
now
held
.
Lebeau
,
indeed
,
had
the
art
,
when
he
pleased
,
of
charming
inferiors
;
his
knowledge
of
mankind
allowed
him
to
distinguish
peculiarities
in
each
individual
,
and
flatter
the
amour
propre
by
deference
to
such
eccentricities
.
Marc
le
Roux
,
the
roughest
of
“
red
caps
,
”
had
a
wife
of
whom
he
was
very
proud
.
He
would
have
called
the
empress
Citoyenne
Eugenie
,
but
he
always
spoke
of
his
wife
as
Madame
.
Lebeau
won
his
heart
by
always
asking
after
Madame
.
“
You
look
tired
,
citizen
,
”
said
the
porter
;
“
let
me
bring
you
a
glass
of
wine
.
”
“
Thank
you
,
mon
ami
,
no.
Perhaps
later
,
if
I
have
time
,
after
we
break
up
,
to
pay
my
respects
to
Madame
.
”
The
porter
smiled
,
bowed
,
and
retired
muttering
,
“
Nom
d’un
petit
bonhomme
;
il
n’y
a
rien
de
tel
que
les
belles
manieres
.
”
Left
alone
,
Lebeau
leaned
his
elbow
on
the
table
,
resting
his
chin
on
his
hand
,
and
gazing
into
the
dim
space
,
—
for
it
was
now
,
indeed
,
night
,
and
little
light
came
through
the
grimy
panes
of
the
one
window
left
unclosed
by
shutters
.
He
was
musing
deeply
.
This
man
was
,
in
much
,
an
enigma
to
himself
.
Was
he
seeking
to
unriddle
it
?
A
strange
compound
of
contradictory
elements
.
In
his
stormy
youth
there
had
been
lightning-like
flashes
of
good
instincts
,
of
irregular
honour
,
of
inconsistent
generosity
,
—
a
puissant
wild
nature
,
with
strong
passions
of
love
and
of
hate
,
without
fear
,
but
not
without
shame
.
In
other
forms
of
society
that
love
of
applause
which
had
made
him
seek
and
exult
in
the
notoriety
which
he
mistook
for
fame
might
have
settled
down
into
some
solid
and
useful
ambition
.
He
might
have
become
great
in
the
world’s
eye
,
for
at
the
service
of
his
desires
there
were
no
ordinary
talents
.
Though
too
true
a
Parisian
to
be
a
severe
student
,
still
,
on
the
whole
,
he
had
acquired
much
general
information
,
partly
from
books
,
partly
from
varied
commerce
with
mankind
.
He
had
the
gift
,
both
by
tongue
and
by
pen
,
of
expressing
himself
with
force
and
warmth
;
time
and
necessity
had
improved
that
gift
.
Coveting
,
during
his
brief
career
of
fashion
,
the
distinctions
which
necessitate
lavish
expenditure
,
he
had
been
the
most
reckless
of
spendthrifts
;
but
the
neediness
which
follows
waste
had
never
destroyed
his
original
sense
of
personal
honour
.
Certainly
Victor
de
Mauleon
was
not
,
at
the
date
of
his
fall
,
a
man
to
whom
the
thought
of
accepting
,
much
less
of
stealing
,
the
jewels
of
a
woman
who
loved
him
could
have
occurred
as
a
possible
question
of
casuistry
between
honour
and
temptation
.
Nor
could
that
sort
of
question
have
,
throughout
the
sternest
trials
or
the
humblest
callings
to
which
his
after-life
had
been
subjected
,
forced
admission
into
his
brain
.
He
was
one
of
those
men
,
perhaps
the
most
terrible
though
unconscious
criminals
,
who
are
the
offsprings
produced
by
intellectual
power
and
egotistical
ambition
.
If
you
had
offered
to
Victor
de
Mauleon
the
crown
of
the
Caesars
,
on
condition
of
his
doing
one
of
those
base
things
which
“
a
gentleman
”
cannot
do
,
pick
a
pocket
,
cheat
at
cards
,
—
Victor
de
Mauleon
would
have
refused
the
crown
.
He
would
not
have
refused
on
account
of
any
laws
of
morality
affecting
the
foundations
of
the
social
system
,
but
from
the
pride
of
his
own
personality
.
“
I
,
Victor
de
Mauleon
!
I
pick
a
pocket
!
I
cheat
at
cards
!
I
!
”
But
when
something
incalculably
worse
for
the
interests
of
society
than
picking
a
pocket
or
cheating
at
cards
was
concerned
;
when
for
the
sake
either
of
private
ambition
or
political
experiment
hitherto
untested
,
and
therefore
very
doubtful
,
the
peace
and
order
and
happiness
of
millions
might
be
exposed
to
the
release
of
the
most
savage
passions
,
rushing
on
revolutionary
madness
or
civil
massacre
,
then
this
French
dare-devil
would
have
been
just
as
unscrupulous
as
any
English
philosopher
whom
a
metropolitan
borough
might
elect
as
its
representative
.
The
system
of
the
empire
was
in
the
way
of
Victor
de
Mauleon
,
—
in
the
way
of
his
private
ambition
,
in
the
way
of
his
political
dogmas
;
and
therefore
it
must
be
destroyed
,
no
matter
what
nor
whom
it
crushed
beneath
its
ruins
.
He
was
one
of
those
plotters
of
revolutions
not
uncommon
in
democracies
,
ancient
and
modern
,
who
invoke
popular
agencies
with
the
less
scruple
because
they
have
a
supreme
contempt
for
the
populace
.
A
man
with
mental
powers
equal
to
De
Mauleon’s
,
and
who
sincerely
loves
the
people
and
respects
the
grandeur
of
aspiration
with
which
,
in
the
great
upheaving
of
their
masses
,
they
so
often
contrast
the
irrational
credulities
of
their
ignorance
and
the
blind
fury
of
their
wrath
,
is
always
exceedingly
loath
to
pass
the
terrible
gulf
that
divides
reform
from
revolution
.
He
knows
how
rarely
it
happens
that
genuine
liberty
is
not
disarmed
in
the
passage
,
and
what
sufferings
must
be
undergone
by
those
who
live
by
their
labour
during
the
dismal
intervals
between
the
sudden
destruction
of
one
form
of
society
and
the
gradual
settlement
of
another
.
Such
a
man
,
however
,
has
no
type
in
a
Victor
de
Mauleon
.
The
circumstances
of
his
life
had
placed
this
strong
nature
at
war
with
society
,
and
corrupted
into
misanthropy
affections
that
had
once
been
ardent
.
That
misanthropy
made
his
ambition
more
intense
,
because
it
increased
his
scorn
for
the
human
instruments
it
employed
.
Victor
de
Mauleon
knew
that
however
innocent
of
the
charges
that
had
so
long
darkened
his
name
,
and
however
—
thanks
to
his
rank
,
his
manners
,
his
savoir
vivre
,
the
aid
of
Louvier’s
countenance
and
the
support
of
his
own
high-born
connections
—
he
might
restore
himself
to
his
rightful
grade
in
private
life
,
the
higher
prizes
in
public
life
would
scarcely
be
within
reach
,
to
a
man
of
his
antecedents
and
stinted
means
,
in
the
existent
form
and
conditions
of
established
political
order
.
Perforce
,
the
aristocrat
must
make
himself
democrat
if
he
would
become
a
political
chief
.
Could
he
assist
in
turning
upside
down
the
actual
state
of
things
,
he
trusted
to
his
individual
force
of
character
to
find
himself
among
the
uppermost
in
the
general
bouleversement
.
And
in
the
first
stage
of
popular
revolution
the
mob
has
no
greater
darling
than
the
noble
who
deserts
his
order
,
though
in
the
second
stage
it
may
guillotine
him
at
the
denunciation
of
his
cobbler
.
A
mind
so
sanguine
and
so
audacious
as
that
of
Victor
de
Mauleon
never
thinks
of
the
second
step
if
it
sees
a
way
to
the
first
.
CHAPTER
VI
.
The
room
was
in
complete
darkness
,
save
where
a
ray
from
a
gas-lamp
at
the
mouth
of
the
court
came
aslant
through
the
window
,
when
citizen
Le
Roux
re-entered
,
closed
the
window
,
lighted
two
of
the
sconces
,
and
drew
forth
from
a
drawer
in
the
table
implements
of
writing
,
which
he
placed
thereon
noiselessly
,
as
if
he
feared
to
disturb
M
.
Lebeau
,
whose
head
,
buried
in
his
hands
,
rested
on
the
table
.
He
seemed
in
a
profound
sleep
.
At
last
the
porter
gently
touched
the
arm
of
the
slumberer
,
and
whispered
in
his
ear
,
“
It
is
on
the
stroke
of
ten
,
citizen
;
they
will
be
here
in
a
minute
or
so
.
”
Lebeau
lifted
his
head
drowsily
.
“
Eh
,
”
said
he
—
“
what
?
”
“
You
have
been
asleep
.
”
“
I
suppose
so
,
for
I
have
been
dreaming
.
Ha
!
I
hear
the
door-bell
.
I
am
wide
awake
now
.
”
The
porter
left
him
,
and
in
a
few
minutes
conducted
into
the
salon
two
men
wrapped
in
cloaks
,
despite
the
warmth
of
the
summer
night
.
Lebeau
shook
hands
with
them
silently
,
and
not
less
silently
they
laid
aside
their
cloaks
and
seated
themselves
.
Both
these
men
appeared
to
belong
to
the
upper
section
of
the
middle
class
.
One
,
strongly
built
,
with
a
keen
expression
of
countenance
,
was
a
surgeon
considered
able
in
his
profession
,
but
with
limited
practice
,
owing
to
a
current
suspicion
against
his
honour
in
connection
with
a
forged
will
.
The
other
,
tall
,
meagre
,
with
long
grizzled
hair
and
a
wild
unsettled
look
about
the
eyes
,
was
a
man
of
science
;
had
written
works
well
esteemed
upon
mathematics
and
electricity
,
also
against
the
existence
of
any
other
creative
power
than
that
which
he
called
“
nebulosity
,
”
and
defined
to
be
the
combination
of
heat
and
moisture
.
The
surgeon
was
about
the
age
of
forty
,
the
atheist
a
few
years
older
.
In
another
minute
or
so
,
a
knock
was
heard
against
the
wall
.
One
of
the
men
rose
and
touched
a
spring
in
the
panel
,
which
then
flew
back
,
and
showed
an
opening
upon
a
narrow
stair
,
by
which
,
one
after
the
other
,
entered
three
other
members
of
the
society
.
Evidently
there
was
more
than
one
mode
of
ingress
and
exit
.
The
three
new-comers
were
not
Frenchmen
,
—
one
might
see
that
at
a
glance
;
probably
they
had
reasons
for
greater
precaution
than
those
who
entered
by
the
front
door
.
One
,
a
tall
,
powerfully-built
man
,
with
fair
hair
and
beard
,
dressed
with
a
certain
pretension
to
elegance
,
—
faded
threadbare
elegance
,
—
exhibiting
no
appearance
of
linen
,
was
a
Pole
.
One
,
a
slight
bald
man
,
very
dark
and
sallow
,
was
an
Italian
.
The
third
,
who
seemed
like
an
ouvrier
in
his
holiday
clothes
,
was
a
Belgian
.
Lebeau
greeted
them
all
with
an
equal
courtesy
,
and
each
with
an
equal
silence
took
his
seat
at
the
table
.
Lebeau
glanced
at
the
clock
.
“
Confreres
,
”
he
said
,
“
our
number
as
fixed
for
this
seance
still
needs
two
to
be
complete
,
and
doubtless
they
will
arrive
in
a
few
minutes
.
Till
they
come
,
we
can
but
talk
upon
trifles
.
Permit
me
to
offer
you
my
cigar-case
.
”
And
so
saying
,
he
who
professed
to
be
no
smoker
handed
his
next
neighbour
,
who
was
the
Pole
,
a
large
cigar-case
amply
furnished
;
and
the
Pole
,
helping
himself
to
two
cigars
,
handed
the
case
to
the
man
next
him
,
—
two
only
declining
the
luxury
,
the
Italian
and
the
Belgian
.
But
the
Pole
was
the
only
man
who
took
two
cigars
.
Steps
were
now
heard
on
the
stairs
,
the
door
opened
,
and
citizen
Le
Toux
ushered
in
,
one
after
the
other
,
two
men
,
this
time
unmistakably
French
,
—
to
an
experienced
eye
unmistakably
Parisians
:
the
one
,
a
young
beardless
man
,
who
seemed
almost
boyish
,
with
a
beautiful
face
,
and
a
stinted
,
meagre
frame
;
the
other
,
a
stalwart
man
of
about
eight-and
twenty
,
dressed
partly
as
an
ouvrier
,
not
in
his
Sunday
clothes
,
rather
affecting
the
blouse
,
—
not
that
he
wore
that
antique
garment
,
but
that
he
was
in
rough
costume
unbrushed
and
stained
,
with
thick
shoes
and
coarse
stockings
,
and
a
workman’s
cap.
But
of
all
who
gathered
round
the
table
at
which
M
.
Lebeau
presided
,
he
had
the
most
distinguished
exterior
,
—
a
virile
honest
exterior
,
a
massive
open
forehead
,
intelligent
eyes
,
a
handsome
clear-cut
incisive
profile
,
and
solid
jaw
.
The
expression
of
the
face
was
stern
,
but
not
mean
,
—
an
expression
which
might
have
become
an
ancient
baron
as
well
as
a
modern
workman
;
in
it
plenty
of
haughtiness
and
of
will
,
and
still
more
of
self-esteem
.
“
Confreres
,
”
said
Lebeau
,
rising
,
and
every
eye
turned
to
him
,
“
our
number
for
the
present
seance
is
complete
.
To
business
.
Since
we
last
met
,
our
cause
has
advanced
with
rapid
and
not
with
noiseless
stride
.
I
need
not
tell
you
that
Louis
Bonaparte
has
virtually
abnegated
Les
idees
Napoleoniennes
,
—
a
fatal
mistake
for
him
,
a
glorious
advance
for
us
.
The
liberty
of
the
press
must
very
shortly
be
achieved
,
and
with
it
personal
government
must
end
.
When
the
autocrat
once
is
compelled
to
go
by
the
advice
of
his
ministers
,
look
for
sudden
changes
.
His
ministers
will
be
but
weathercocks
,
turned
hither
and
thither
according
as
the
wind
chops
at
Paris
;
and
Paris
is
the
temple
of
the
winds
.
The
new
revolution
is
almost
at
hand
.
[
Murmurs
of
applause
.
]
It
would
move
the
laughter
of
the
Tuileries
and
its
ministers
,
of
the
Bourse
and
of
its
gamblers
,
of
every
dainty
salon
of
this
silken
city
of
would-be
philosophers
and
wits
,
if
they
were
told
that
here
within
this
mouldering
baraque
,
eight
men
,
so
little
blessed
by
fortune
,
so
little
known
to
fame
as
ourselves
,
met
to
concert
the
fall
of
an
empire
.
The
Government
would
not
deem
us
important
enough
to
notice
our
existence
.
”
“
I
know
not
that
,
”
interrupted
the
Pole
.
“
Ah
,
pardon
,
”
resumed
the
orator
;
“
I
should
have
confined
my
remark
to
the
five
of
us
who
are
French
.
I
did
injustice
to
the
illustrious
antecedents
of
our
foreign
allies
.
I
know
that
you
,
Thaddeus
Loubisky
,
that
you
,
Leonardo
Raselli
,
have
been
too
eminent
for
hands
hostile
to
tyrants
not
to
be
marked
with
a
black
cross
in
the
books
of
the
police
;
I
know
that
you
,
Jan
Vanderstegen
,
if
hitherto
unscarred
by
those
wounds
in
defence
of
freedom
which
despots
and
cowards
would
fain
miscall
the
brands
of
the
felon
,
still
owe
it
to
your
special
fraternity
to
keep
your
movements
rigidly
concealed
.
The
tyrant
would
suppress
the
International
Society
,
and
forbids
it
the
liberty
of
congress
.
To
you
three
is
granted
the
secret
entrance
to
our
council-hall
.
But
we
Frenchmen
are
as
yet
safe
in
our
supposed
insignificance
.
Confreres
,
permit
me
to
impress
on
you
the
causes
why
,
insignificant
as
we
seem
,
we
are
really
formidable
.
In
the
first
place
,
we
are
few
:
the
great
mistake
in
most
secret
associations
has
been
to
admit
many
councillors
;
and
disunion
enters
wherever
many
tongues
can
wrangle
.
In
the
next
place
,
though
so
few
in
council
,
we
are
legion
when
the
time
comes
for
action
;
because
we
are
representative
men
,
each
of
his
own
section
,
and
each
section
is
capable
of
an
indefinite
expansion
.
“
You
,
valiant
Pole
,
you
,
politic
Italian
,
enjoy
the
confidence
of
thousands
now
latent
in
unwatched
homes
and
harmless
callings
,
but
who
,
when
you
lift
a
finger
,
will
,
like
the
buried
dragon’s
teeth
,
spring
up
into
armed
men
.
You
,
Jan
Vanderstegen
,
the
trusted
delegate
from
Verviers
,
that
swarming
camp
of
wronged
labour
in
its
revolt
from
the
iniquities
of
capital
,
—
you
,
when
the
hour
arrives
,
can
touch
the
wire
that
flashes
the
telegram
‘Arise’
through
all
the
lands
in
which
workmen
combine
against
their
oppressors
.
“
Of
us
five
Frenchmen
,
let
me
speak
more
modestly
.
You
,
sage
and
scholar
,
Felix
Ruvigny
,
honoured
alike
for
the
profundity
of
your
science
and
the
probity
of
your
manners
,
induced
to
join
us
by
your
abhorrence
of
priestcraft
and
superstition
,
—
you
made
a
wide
connection
among
all
the
enlightened
reasoners
who
would
emancipate
the
mind
of
man
from
the
trammels
of
Church-born
fable
,
and
when
the
hour
arrives
in
which
it
is
safe
to
say
,
‘Delenda
est
Roma
,
’
you
know
where
to
find
the
pens
that
are
more
victorious
than
swords
against
a
Church
and
a
Creed
.
You
”
(
turning
to
the
surgeon
)
—
“
you
,
Gaspard
le
Noy
,
whom
a
vile
calumny
has
robbed
of
the
throne
in
your
profession
so
justly
due
to
your
skill
,
you
,
nobly
scorning
the
rich
and
great
,
have
devoted
yourself
to
tend
and
heal
the
humble
and
the
penniless
,
so
that
you
have
won
the
popular
title
of
the
‘Medecin
des
Pauvres
,
’
when
the
time
comes
wherein
soldiers
shall
fly
before
the
sansculottes
,
and
the
mob
shall
begin
the
work
which
they
who
move
mobs
will
complete
,
the
clients
of
Gaspard
le
Noy
will
be
the
avengers
of
his
wrongs
.
“
You
,
Armand
Monnier
,
simple
ouvrier
,
but
of
illustrious
parentage
,
for
your
grandsire
was
the
beloved
friend
of
the
virtuous
Robespierre
,
your
father
perished
a
hero
and
a
martyr
in
the
massacre
of
the
coup
d’etat
;
you
,
cultured
in
the
eloquence
of
Robespierre
himself
,
and
in
the
persuasive
philosophy
of
Robespierre’s
teacher
,
Rousseau
;
you
,
the
idolized
orator
of
the
Red
Republicans
,
—
you
will
be
indeed
a
chief
of
dauntless
bands
when
the
trumpet
sounds
for
battle
.
Young
publicist
and
poet
,
Gustave
Rameau
,
—
I
care
not
which
you
are
at
present
,
I
know
what
you
will
be
soon
,
you
need
nothing
for
the
development
of
your
powers
over
the
many
but
an
organ
for
their
manifestation
.
Of
that
anon
.
I
now
descend
into
the
bathos
of
egotism
.
I
am
compelled
lastly
to
speak
of
myself
.
It
was
at
Marseilles
and
Lyons
,
as
you
already
know
,
that
I
first
conceived
the
plan
of
this
representative
association
.
For
years
before
I
had
been
in
familiar
intercourse
with
the
friends
of
freedom
,
—
that
is
,
with
the
foes
of
the
Empire
.
They
are
not
all
poor
;
some
few
are
rich
and
generous
.
I
do
not
say
these
rich
and
few
concur
in
the
ultimate
objects
of
the
poor
and
many
;
‘but
they
concur
in
the
first
object
,
the
demolition
of
that
which
exists
,
—
the
Empire
.
In
the
course
of
my
special
calling
of
negotiator
or
agent
in
the
towns
of
the
Midi
,
I
formed
friendships
with
some
of
these
prosperous
malcontents
;
and
out
of
these
friendships
I
conceived
the
idea
which
is
embodied
in
this
council
.
“
According
to
that
conception
,
while
the
council
may
communicate
as
it
will
with
all
societies
,
secret
or
open
,
having
revolution
for
their
object
,
the
council
refuses
to
merge
itself
in
any
other
confederation
;
it
stands
aloof
and
independent
;
it
declines
to
admit
into
its
code
any
special
articles
of
faith
in
a
future
beyond
the
bounds
to
which
it
limits
its
design
and
its
force
.
That
design
unites
us
;
to
go
beyond
would
divide
.
We
all
agree
to
destroy
the
Napoleonic
dynasty
;
none
of
us
might
agree
as
to
what
we
should
place
in
its
stead
.
All
of
us
here
present
might
say
,
‘A
republic.’
Ay
,
but
of
what
kind
?
Vanderstegen
would
have
it
socialistic
;
Monnier
goes
further
,
and
would
have
it
communistic
,
on
the
principles
of
Fourier
;
Le
Noy
adheres
to
the
policy
of
Danton
,
and
would
commence
the
republic
by
a
reign
of
terror
;
our
Italian
ally
abhors
the
notion
of
general
massacre
,
and
advocates
individual
assassination
.
Ruvigny
would
annihilate
the
worship
of
a
Deity
;
Monnier
holds
with
Voltaire
and
Robespierre
,
that
,
‘if
there
were
no
Deity
,
it
would
be
necessary
to
man
to
create
one.’
Bref
,
we
could
not
agree
upon
any
plan
for
the
new
edifice
,
and
therefore
we
refuse
to
discuss
one
till
the
ploughshare
has
gone
over
the
ruins
of
the
old
.
But
I
have
another
and
more
practical
reason
for
keeping
our
council
distinct
from
all
societies
with
professed
objects
beyond
that
of
demolition
.
We
need
a
certain
command
of
money
.
It
is
I
who
bring
to
you
that
,
and
—
how
?
Not
from
my
own
resources
,
—
they
but
suffice
to
support
myself
;
not
by
contributions
from
ouvriers
who
,
as
you
well
know
,
will
subscribe
only
for
their
own
ends
in
the
victory
of
workmen
over
masters
.
I
bring
money
to
you
from
the
coffers
of
the
rich
malcontents
.
Their
politics
are
not
those
of
most
present
;
their
politics
are
what
they
term
moderate
.
Some
are
indeed
for
a
republic
,
but
for
a
republic
strong
in
defence
of
order
,
in
support
of
property
;
others
—
and
they
are
more
numerous
and
the
more
rich
—
for
a
constitutional
monarchy
,
and
,
if
possible
,
for
the
abridgment
of
universal
suffrage
,
which
in
their
eyes
tends
only
to
anarchy
in
the
towns
and
arbitrary
rule
under
priestly
influence
in
the
rural
districts
.
They
would
not
subscribe
a
sou
if
they
thought
it
went
to
further
the
designs
whether
of
Ruvigny
the
atheist
,
or
of
Monnier
,
who
would
enlist
the
Deity
of
Rousseau
on
the
side
of
the
drapeau
rouge
;
not
a
sou
if
they
knew
I
had
the
honour
to
boast
such
confreres
as
I
see
around
me
.
They
subscribe
,
as
we
concert
,
for
the
fall
of
Bonaparte
.
The
policy
I
adopt
I
borrow
from
the
policy
of
the
English
Liberals
.
In
England
,
potent
millionnaires
,
high-born
dukes
,
devoted
Churchmen
,
belonging
to
the
Liberal
party
,
accept
the
services
of
men
who
look
forward
to
measures
which
would
ruin
capital
,
eradicate
aristocracy
,
and
destroy
the
Church
,
provided
these
men
combine
with
them
in
some
immediate
step
onward
against
the
Tories
.
They
have
a
proverb
which
I
thus
adapt
to
French
localities
:
if
a
train
passes
Fontainebleau
on
its
way
to
Marseilles
,
why
should
I
not
take
it
to
Fontainebleau
because
other
passengers
are
going
on
to
Marseilles
?
“
Confreres
,
it
seems
to
me
the
moment
has
come
when
we
may
venture
some
of
the
fund
placed
at
my
disposal
to
other
purposes
than
those
to
which
it
has
been
hitherto
devoted
.
I
propose
,
therefore
,
to
set
up
a
journal
under
the
auspices
of
Gustave
Rameau
as
editor-in-chief
,
—
a
journal
which
,
if
he
listen
to
my
advice
,
will
create
no
small
sensation
.
It
will
begin
with
a
tone
of
impartiality
;
it
will
refrain
from
all
violence
of
invective
;
it
will
have
wit
,
it
will
have
sentiment
,
and
eloquence
;
it
will
win
its
way
into
the
salons
and
cafes
of
educated
men
;
and
then
,
and
then
,
when
it
does
change
from
polished
satire
into
fierce
denunciation
and
sides
with
the
blouses
,
its
effect
will
be
startling
and
terrific
.
Of
this
I
will
say
more
to
citizen
Rameau
in
private
.
To
you
I
need
not
enlarge
upon
the
fact
that
,
at
Paris
,
a
combination
of
men
,
though
immeasurably
superior
to
us
in
status
or
influence
,
without
a
journal
at
command
is
nowhere
;
with
such
a
journal
,
written
not
to
alarm
but
to
seduce
fluctuating
opinions
,
a
combination
of
men
immeasurably
inferior
to
us
may
be
anywhere
.
“
Confreres
,
this
affair
settled
,
I
proceed
to
distribute
amongst
you
sums
of
which
each
who
receives
will
render
me
an
account
,
except
our
valued
confrere
the
Pole
.
All
that
we
can
subscribe
to
the
cause
of
humanity
a
representative
of
Poland
requires
for
himself
.
”
(
A
suppressed
laugh
among
all
but
the
Pole
,
who
looked
round
with
a
grave
,
imposing
air
,
as
much
as
to
say
,
“
What
is
there
to
laugh
at
?
—
a
simple
truth
.
”
)
M
.
Lebeau
then
presented
to
each
of
his
confreres
a
sealed
envelope
,
containing
no
doubt
a
bank-note
,
and
perhaps
also
private
instructions
as
to
its
disposal
.
It
was
one
of
his
rules
to
make
the
amount
of
any
sum
granted
to
an
individual
member
of
the
society
from
the
fund
at
his
disposal
a
confidential
secret
between
himself
and
the
recipient
.
Thus
jealousy
was
avoided
if
the
sums
were
unequal
;
and
unequal
they
generally
were
.
In
the
present
instance
the
two
largest
sums
were
given
to
the
“
Medecin
des
Pauvres
”
and
to
the
delegate
from
Verviers
.
Both
were
no
doubt
to
be
distributed
among
“
the
poor
,
”
at
the
discretion
of
the
trustee
appointed
.
Whatever
rules
with
regard
to
the
distribution
of
money
M
.
Lebeau
laid
down
were
acquiesced
in
without
demur
,
for
the
money
was
found
exclusively
by
himself
,
and
furnished
without
the
pale
of
the
Secret
Council
,
of
which
he
had
made
himself
founder
and
dictator
.
Some
other
business
was
then
discussed
,
sealed
reports
from
each
member
were
handed
to
the
president
,
who
placed
them
unopened
in
his
pocket
,
and
resumed
,
“
Confreres
,
our
seance
is
now
concluded
.
The
period
for
our
next
meeting
must
remain
indefinite
,
for
I
myself
shall
leave
Paris
as
soon
as
I
have
set
on
foot
the
journal
,
on
the
details
of
which
I
will
confer
with
citizen
Rameau
.
I
am
not
satisfied
with
the
progress
made
by
the
two
travelling
missionaries
who
complete
our
Council
of
Ten
;
and
though
I
do
not
question
their
zeal
,
I
think
my
experience
may
guide
it
if
I
take
a
journey
to
the
towns
of
Bordeaux
and
Marseilles
,
where
they
now
are
.
But
should
circumstances
demanding
concert
or
action
arise
,
you
may
be
sure
that
I
will
either
summon
a
meeting
or
transmit
instructions
to
such
of
our
members
as
may
be
most
usefully
employed
.
For
the
present
,
confreres
,
you
are
relieved
.
Remain
only
you
,
dear
young
author
.
”
CHAPTER
VII
.
Left
alone
with
Gustave
Rameau
,
the
President
of
the
Secret
Council
remained
silently
musing
for
some
moments
;
but
his
countenance
was
no
longer
moody
and
overcast
,
—
his
nostrils
were
dilated
,
as
in
triumph
;
there
was
a
half-smile
of
pride
on
his
lips
.
Rameau
watched
him
curiously
and
admiringly
.
The
young
man
had
the
impressionable
,
excitable
temperament
common
to
Parisian
genius
,
—
especially
when
it
nourishes
itself
on
absinthe
.
He
enjoyed
the
romance
of
belonging
to
a
secret
society
;
he
was
acute
enough
to
recognize
the
sagacity
by
which
this
small
conclave
was
kept
out
of
those
crazed
combinations
for
impracticable
theories
more
likely
to
lead
adventurers
to
the
Tarpeian
Rock
than
to
the
Capitol
,
while
yet
those
crazed
combinations
might
,
in
some
critical
moment
,
become
strong
instruments
in
the
hands
of
practical
ambition
.
Lebeau
fascinated
him
,
and
took
colossal
proportions
in
his
intoxicated
vision
,
—
vision
indeed
intoxicated
at
this
moment
,
for
before
it
floated
the
realized
image
of
his
aspirations
,
—
a
journal
of
which
he
was
to
be
the
editor-in-chief
;
in
which
his
poetry
,
his
prose
,
should
occupy
space
as
large
as
he
pleased
;
through
which
his
name
,
hitherto
scarce
known
beyond
a
literary
clique
,
would
resound
in
salon
and
club
and
cafe
,
and
become
a
familiar
music
on
the
lips
of
fashion
.
And
he
owed
this
to
the
man
seated
there
,
—
a
prodigious
man
.
“
Cher
poete
,
”
said
Lebeau
,
breaking
silence
,
“
it
gives
me
no
mean
pleasure
to
think
I
am
opening
a
career
to
one
whose
talents
fit
him
for
those
goals
on
which
they
who
reach
write
names
that
posterity
shall
read
.
Struck
with
certain
articles
of
yours
in
the
journal
made
celebrated
by
the
wit
and
gayety
of
Savarin
,
I
took
pains
privately
to
inquire
into
your
birth
,
your
history
,
connections
,
antecedents
.
All
confirmed
my
first
impression
,
—
that
you
were
exactly
the
writer
I
wish
to
secure
to
our
cause
.
I
therefore
sought
you
in
your
rooms
,
unintroduced
and
a
stranger
,
in
order
to
express
my
admiration
of
your
compositions
.
Bref
,
we
soon
became
friends
;
and
after
comparing
minds
,
I
admitted
you
,
at
your
request
,
into
this
Secret
Council
.
Now
,
in
proposing
to
you
the
conduct
of
the
journal
I
would
establish
,
for
which
I
am
prepared
to
find
all
necessary
funds
,
I
am
compelled
to
make
imperative
conditions
.
Nominally
you
will
be
editor-in-chief
:
that
station
,
if
the
journal
succeeds
,
will
secure
you
position
and
fortune
;
if
it
fail
,
you
fail
with
it
.
But
we
will
not
speak
of
failure
;
I
must
have
it
succeed
.
Our
interest
,
then
,
is
the
same
.
Before
that
interest
all
puerile
vanities
fade
away
.
Nominally
,
I
say
,
you
are
editor-in-chief
;
but
all
the
real
work
of
editing
will
,
at
first
,
be
done
by
others
.
”
“
Ah
!
”
exclaimed
Rameau
,
aghast
and
stunned
.
Lebeau
resumed
,
“
To
establish
the
journal
I
propose
needs
more
than
the
genius
of
youth
;
it
needs
the
tact
and
experience
of
mature
years
.
”
Rameau
sank
back
on
his
chair
with
a
sullen
sneer
on
his
pale
lips
.
Decidedly
Lebeau
was
not
so
great
a
man
as
he
had
thought
.
“
A
certain
portion
of
the
journal
,
”
continued
Lebeau
,
“
will
be
exclusively
appropriated
to
your
pen
.
”
Rameau’s
lip
lost
the
sneer
.
“
But
your
pen
must
be
therein
restricted
to
compositions
of
pure
fancy
,
disporting
in
a
world
that
does
not
exist
;
or
,
if
on
graver
themes
connected
with
the
beings
of
the
world
that
does
exist
,
the
subjects
will
be
dictated
to
you
and
revised
.
Yet
even
in
the
higher
departments
of
a
journal
intended
to
make
way
at
its
first
start
,
we
need
the
aid
,
not
indeed
of
men
who
write
better
than
you
,
but
of
men
whose
fame
is
established
,
—
whose
writings
,
good
or
bad
,
the
public
run
to
read
,
and
will
find
good
even
if
they
are
bad
.
You
must
consign
one
column
to
the
playful
comments
and
witticisms
of
Savarin
.
”
“
Savarin
?
But
he
has
a
journal
of
his
own
.
He
will
not
,
as
an
author
,
condescend
to
write
in
one
just
set
up
by
me
;
and
as
a
politician
,
he
as
certainly
will
not
aid
in
an
ultrademocratic
revolution
.
If
he
care
for
politics
at
all
,
he
is
a
constitutionalist
,
an
Orleanist
.
”
“
Enfant
!
as
an
author
Savarin
will
condescend
to
contribute
to
your
journal
,
first
,
because
it
in
no
way
attempts
to
interfere
with
his
own
;
secondly
,
—
I
can
tell
you
a
secret
,
Savarin’s
journal
no
longer
suffices
for
his
existence
.
He
has
sold
more
than
two-thirds
of
its
property
;
he
is
in
debt
,
and
his
creditor
is
urgent
;
and
to-morrow
you
will
offer
Savarin
thirty
thousand
francs
for
one
column
from
his
pen
,
and
signed
by
his
name
,
for
two
months
from
the
day
the
journal
starts
.
He
will
accept
,
partly
because
the
sum
will
clear
off
the
debt
that
hampers
him
,
partly
because
he
will
take
care
that
the
amount
becomes
known
;
and
that
will
help
him
to
command
higher
terms
for
the
sale
of
the
remaining
shares
in
the
journal
he
now
edits
,
for
the
new
book
which
you
told
me
he
intended
to
write
,
and
for
the
new
journal
which
he
will
be
sure
to
set
up
as
soon
as
he
has
disposed
of
the
old
one
.
You
say
that
,
as
a
politician
,
Savarin
,
an
Orleanist
,
will
not
aid
in
an
ultra-democratic
revolution
.
Who
asks
him
to
do
so
?
Did
I
not
imply
at
the
meeting
that
we
commence
our
journal
with
politics
the
mildest
?
Though
revolutions
are
not
made
with
rose-water
,
it
is
rose-water
that
nourishes
their
roots
.
The
polite
cynicism
of
authors
,
read
by
those
who
float
on
the
surface
of
society
,
prepares
the
way
for
the
social
ferment
in
its
deeps
.
Had
there
been
no
Voltaire
,
there
would
have
been
no
Camille
Desmoulins
;
had
there
been
no
Diderot
,
there
would
have
been
no
Marat
.
We
start
as
polite
cynics
.
Of
all
cynics
Savarin
is
the
politest
.
But
when
I
bid
high
for
him
,
it
is
his
clique
that
I
bid
for
.
Without
his
clique
he
is
but
a
wit
;
with
his
clique
,
a
power
.
Partly
out
of
that
clique
,
partly
out
of
a
circle
beyond
it
,
which
Savarin
can
more
or
less
influence
,
I
select
ten
.
Here
is
the
list
of
them
;
study
it
.
Entre
nous
,
I
esteem
their
writings
as
little
as
I
do
artificial
flies
;
but
they
are
the
artificial
flies
at
which
,
in
this
particular
season
of
the
year
,
the
public
rise
.
You
must
procure
at
least
five
of
the
ten
;
and
I
leave
you
carte
blanche
as
to
the
terms
.
Savarin
gained
,
the
best
of
them
will
be
proud
of
being
his
associates
.
Observe
,
none
of
these
messieurs
of
brilliant
imagination
are
to
write
political
articles
;
those
will
be
furnished
to
you
anonymously
,
and
inserted
without
erasure
or
omission
.
When
you
have
secured
Savarin
,
and
five
at
least
of
the
collaborateurs
in
the
list
,
write
to
me
at
my
office
.
I
give
you
four
days
to
do
this
;
and
the
day
the
journal
starts
you
enter
into
the
income
of
fifteen
thousand
francs
a
year
,
with
a
rise
in
salary
proportioned
to
profits
.
Are
you
contented
with
the
terms
?
”
“
Of
course
I
am
;
but
supposing
I
do
not
gain
the
aid
of
Savarin
,
or
five
at
least
of
the
list
you
give
,
which
I
see
at
a
glance
contains
names
the
most
a
la
mode
in
this
kind
of
writing
,
more
than
one
of
them
of
high
social
rank
,
whom
it
is
difficult
for
me
even
to
approach
,
—
if
,
I
say
,
I
fail
?
”
“
What
!
with
a
carte
blanche
of
terms
?
fie
!
Are
you
a
Parisian
?
Well
,
to
answer
you
frankly
,
if
you
fail
in
so
easy
a
task
,
you
are
not
the
man
to
edit
our
journal
,
and
I
shall
find
another
.
Allez
,
courage
!
Take
my
advice
;
see
Savarin
the
first
thing
to-morrow
morning
.
Of
course
,
my
name
and
calling
you
will
keep
a
profound
secret
from
him
,
as
from
all
.
Say
as
mysteriously
as
you
can
that
parties
you
are
forbidden
to
name
instruct
you
to
treat
with
M
.
Savarin
,
and
offer
him
the
terms
I
have
specified
,
the
thirty
thousand
francs
paid
to
him
in
advance
the
moment
he
signs
the
simple
memorandum
of
agreement
.
The
more
mysterious
you
are
,
the
more
you
will
impose
,
—
that
is
,
wherever
you
offer
money
and
don’t
ask
for
it
.
”
Here
Lebeau
took
up
his
hat
,
and
,
with
a
courteous
nod
of
adieu
,
lightly
descended
the
gloomy
stairs
.
CHAPTER
VIII
.
At
night
,
after
this
final
interview
with
Lebeau
,
Graham
took
leave
for
good
of
his
lodgings
in
Montmartre
,
and
returned
to
his
apartment
in
the
Rue
d’Anjou
.
He
spent
several
hours
of
the
next
morning
in
answering
numerous
letters
accumulated
during
his
absence
.
Late
in
the
afternoon
he
had
an
interview
with
M
.
Renard
,
who
,
as
at
that
season
of
the
year
he
was
not
over-busied
with
other
affairs
,
engaged
to
obtain
leave
to
place
his
services
at
Graham’s
command
during
the
time
requisite
for
inquiries
at
Aix
,
and
to
be
in
readiness
to
start
the
next
day
.
Graham
then
went
forth
to
pay
one
or
two
farewell
visits
;
and
these
over
,
bent
his
way
through
the
Champs
Elysees
towards
Isaura’s
villa
,
when
he
suddenly
encountered
Rochebriant
on
horseback
.
The
Marquis
courteously
dismounted
,
committing
his
horse
to
the
care
of
the
groom
,
and
linking
his
arm
in
Graham’s
,
expressed
his
pleasure
at
seeing
him
again
;
then
,
with
some
visible
hesitation
and
embarrassment
,
he
turned
the
conversation
towards
the
political
aspects
of
France
.
“
There
was
,
”
he
said
,
“
much
in
certain
words
of
yours
,
when
we
last
walked
together
in
this
very
path
,
that
sank
deeply
into
my
mind
at
the
time
,
and
over
which
I
have
of
late
still
more
earnestly
reflected
.
You
spoke
of
the
duties
a
Frenchman
owed
to
France
,
and
the
‘impolicy’
of
remaining
aloof
from
all
public
employment
on
the
part
of
those
attached
to
the
Legitimist
cause
.
”
“
True
;
it
cannot
be
the
policy
of
any
party
to
forget
that
between
the
irrevocable
past
and
the
uncertain
future
there
intervenes
the
action
of
the
present
time
.
”
“
Should
you
,
as
an
impartial
bystander
,
consider
it
dishonourable
