literary,
social
—
which
it
confers
on
the
contributors
who
effect
the
success
.
M
.
Lebeau
had
shown
much
more
sagacity
in
selecting
Gustave
Rameau
for
the
nominal
editor
than
Savarin
supposed
or
my
reader
might
detect
.
In
the
first
place
,
Gustave
himself
,
with
all
his
defects
of
information
and
solidity
of
intellect
,
was
not
without
real
genius
,
—
and
a
sort
of
genius
that
when
kept
in
restraint
,
and
its
field
confined
to
sentiment
or
sarcasm
,
was
in
unison
with
the
temper
of
the
day
;
in
the
second
place
,
it
was
only
through
Gustave
that
Lebeau
could
have
got
at
Savarin
,
and
the
names
which
that
brilliant
writer
had
secured
at
the
outset
would
have
sufficed
to
draw
attention
to
the
earliest
numbers
of
the
“
Sens
Commun
,
”
despite
a
title
which
did
not
seem
alluring
.
But
these
names
alone
could
not
have
sufficed
to
circulate
the
new
journal
to
the
extent
it
had
already
reached
.
This
was
due
to
the
curiosity
excited
by
leading
articles
of
a
style
new
to
the
Parisian
public
,
and
of
which
the
authorship
defied
conjecture
.
They
were
signed
Pierre
Firmin
,
—
supposed
to
be
a
nom
de
plume
,
as
,
that
name
was
utterly
unknown
in
the
world
of
letters
.
They
affected
the
tone
of
an
impartial
observer
;
they
neither
espoused
nor
attacked
any
particular
party
;
they
laid
down
no
abstract
doctrines
of
government
.
But
somehow
or
other
,
in
language
terse
yet
familiar
,
sometimes
careless
yet
never
vulgar
,
they
expressed
a
prevailing
sentiment
of
uneasy
discontent
,
a
foreboding
of
some
destined
change
in
things
established
,
without
defining
the
nature
of
such
change
,
without
saying
whether
it
would
be
for
good
or
for
evil
.
In
his
criticisms
upon
individuals
,
the
writer
was
guarded
and
moderate
—
the
keenest-eyed
censor
of
the
press
could
not
have
found
a
pretext
for
interference
with
expression
of
opinions
so
polite
.
Of
the
Emperor
these
articles
spoke
little
,
but
that
little
was
not
disrespectful
;
yet
,
day
after
day
,
the
articles
contributed
to
sap
the
Empire
.
All
malcontents
of
every
shade
comprehended
,
as
by
a
secret
of
freemasonry
,
that
in
this
journal
they
had
an
ally
.
Against
religion
not
a
word
was
uttered
,
yet
the
enemies
of
religion
bought
that
journal
;
still
,
the
friends
of
religion
bought
it
too
,
for
those
articles
treated
with
irony
the
philosophers
on
paper
who
thought
that
their
contradictory
crotchets
could
fuse
themselves
into
any
single
Utopia
,
or
that
any
social
edifice
,
hurriedly
run
up
by
the
crazy
few
,
could
become
a
permanent
habitation
for
the
turbulent
many
,
without
the
clamps
of
a
creed
.
The
tone
of
these
articles
always
corresponded
with
the
title
of
the
journal
,
—
“
Common-sense
.
”
It
was
to
common-sense
that
it
appealed
,
—
appealed
in
the
utterance
of
a
man
who
disdained
the
subtle
theories
,
the
vehement
declamation
,
the
credulous
beliefs
,
or
the
inflated
bombast
,
which
constitute
so
large
a
portion
of
the
Parisian
press
.
The
articles
rather
resembled
certain
organs
of
the
English
press
,
which
profess
to
be
blinded
by
no
enthusiasm
for
anybody
or
anything
,
which
find
their
sale
in
that
sympathy
with
ill-nature
to
which
Huet
ascribes
the
popularity
of
Tacitus
,
and
,
always
quietly
undermining
institutions
with
a
covert
sneer
,
never
pretend
to
a
spirit
of
imagination
so
at
variance
with
common-sense
as
a
conjecture
how
the
institutions
should
be
rebuilt
or
replaced
.
Well
,
somehow
or
other
the
journal
,
as
I
was
saying
,
hit
the
taste
of
the
Parisian
public
.
It
intimated
,
with
the
easy
grace
of
an
unpremeditated
agreeable
talker
,
that
French
society
in
all
its
classes
was
rotten
;
and
each
class
was
willing
to
believe
that
all
the
others
were
rotten
,
and
agreed
that
unless
the
others
were
reformed
,
there
was
something
very
unsound
in
itself
.
The
ball
at
the
Duchesse
de
Tarascon’s
was
a
brilliant
event
.
The
summer
was
far
advanced
;
many
of
the
Parisian
holiday-makers
had
returned
to
the
capital
,
but
the
season
had
not
commenced
,
and
a
ball
at
that
time
of
year
was
a
very
unwonted
event
.
But
there
was
a
special
occasion
for
this
fete
,
—
a
marriage
between
a
niece
of
the
Duchesse
and
the
son
of
a
great
official
in
high
favour
at
the
Imperial
Court
.
The
dinner
at
Louvier’s
broke
up
early
,
and
the
music
for
the
second
waltz
was
sounding
when
Enguerrand
,
Alain
,
and
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
ascended
the
stairs
.
Raoul
did
not
accompany
them
;
he
went
very
rarely
to
any
balls
,
—
never
to
one
given
by
an
Imperialist
,
however
nearly
related
to
him
the
Imperialist
might
be
.
But
in
the
sweet
indulgence
of
his
good-nature
,
he
had
no
blame
for
those
who
did
go
,
—
not
for
Enguerrand
,
still
less
,
of
course
,
for
Alain
.
Something
too
might
well
here
be
said
as
to
his
feeling
towards
Victor
de
Mauleon
.
He
had
joined
in
the
family
acquittal
of
that
kinsman
as
to
the
grave
charge
of
the
jewels
;
the
proofs
of
innocence
thereon
seemed
to
him
unequivocal
and
decisive
,
therefore
he
had
called
on
the
Vicomte
and
acquiesced
in
all
formal
civilities
shown
to
him
.
But
such
acts
of
justice
to
a
fellow-gentilhomme
and
a
kinsman
duly
performed
,
he
desired
to
see
as
little
as
possible
of
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
.
He
reasoned
thus
:
“
Of
every
charge
which
society
made
against
this
man
he
is
guiltless
;
but
of
all
the
claims
to
admiration
which
society
accorded
to
him
before
it
erroneously
condemned
,
there
are
none
which
make
me
covet
his
friendship
,
or
suffice
to
dispel
doubts
as
to
what
he
may
be
when
society
once
more
receives
him
.
And
the
man
is
so
captivating
that
I
should
dread
his
influence
over
myself
did
I
see
much
of
him
.
”
Raoul
kept
his
reasonings
to
himself
,
for
he
had
that
sort
of
charity
which
indisposes
an
amiable
man
to
be
severe
on
bygone
offences
.
In
the
eyes
of
Enguerrand
and
Alain
,
and
such
young
votaries
of
the
mode
as
they
could
influence
,
Victor
de
Mauleon
assumed
almost
heroic
proportions
.
In
the
affair
which
had
inflicted
on
him
a
calumny
so
odious
,
it
was
clear
that
he
had
acted
with
chivalrous
delicacy
of
honour
.
And
the
turbulence
and
recklessness
of
his
earlier
years
,
redeemed
as
they
were
,
in
the
traditions
of
his
contemporaries
,
by
courage
and
generosity
,
were
not
offences
to
which
young
Frenchmen
are
inclined
to
be
harsh
.
All
question
as
to
the
mode
in
which
his
life
might
have
been
passed
during
his
long
absence
from
the
capital
was
merged
in
the
respect
due
to
the
only
facts
known
,
and
these
were
clearly
proved
in
his
pieces
justificatives
:
First
,
that
he
had
served
under
another
name
in
the
ranks
of
the
army
in
Algiers
;
had
distinguished
himself
there
for
signal
valour
,
and
received
,
with
promotion
,
the
decoration
of
the
cross
.
His
real
name
was
known
only
to
his
colonel
,
and
on
quitting
the
service
,
the
colonel
placed
in
his
hands
a
letter
of
warm
eulogy
on
his
conduct
,
and
identifying
him
as
Victor
de
Mauleon
.
Secondly
,
that
in
California
he
had
saved
a
wealthy
family
from
midnight
murder
,
fighting
single-handed
against
and
overmastering
three
ruffians
,
and
declining
all
other
reward
from
those
he
had
preserved
than
a
written
attestation
of
their
gratitude
.
In
all
countries
,
valour
ranks
high
in
the
list
of
virtues
;
in
no
country
does
it
so
absolve
from
vices
as
it
does
in
France
.
But
as
yet
Victor
de
Mauleon’s
vindication
was
only
known
by
a
few
,
and
those
belonging
to
the
gayer
circles
of
life
.
How
he
might
be
judged
by
the
sober
middle
class
,
which
constitutes
the
most
important
section
of
public
opinion
to
a
candidate
for
political
trusts
and
distinctions
,
was
another
question
.
The
Duchesse
stood
at
the
door
to
receive
her
visitors
.
Duplessis
was
seated
near
the
entrance
,
by
the
side
of
a
distinguished
member
of
the
Imperial
Government
,
with
whom
he
was
carrying
on
a
whispered
conversation
.
The
eye
of
the
financier
,
however
,
turned
towards
the
doorway
as
Alain
and
Enguerrand
entered
,
and
passing
over
their
familiar
faces
,
fixed
itself
attentively
on
that
of
a
mach
older
man
whom
Enguerrand
was
presenting
to
the
Duchesse
,
and
in
whom
Duplessis
rightly
divined
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
.
Certainly
if
no
one
could
have
recognized
M
.
Lebeau
in
the
stately
personage
who
had
visited
Louvier
,
still
less
could
one
who
had
heard
of
the
wild
feats
of
the
roi
des
viveurs
in
his
youth
reconcile
belief
in
such
tales
with
the
quiet
modesty
of
mien
which
distinguished
the
cavalier
now
replying
,
with
bended
head
and
subdued
accents
,
to
the
courteous
welcome
of
the
brilliant
hostess
.
But
for
such
difference
in
attributes
between
the
past
and
the
present
De
Mauleon
,
Duplessis
had
been
prepared
by
the
conversation
at
the
Maison
Doree
.
And
now
,
as
the
Vicomte
,
yielding
his
place
by
the
Duchesse
to
some
new-comer
,
glided
on
,
and
,
leaning
against
a
column
,
contemplated
the
gay
scene
before
him
with
that
expression
of
countenance
,
half
sarcastic
,
half
mournful
,
with
which
men
regard
,
after
long
estrangement
,
the
scenes
of
departed
joys
,
Duplessis
felt
that
no
change
in
that
man
had
impaired
the
force
of
character
which
had
made
him
the
hero
of
reckless
coevals
.
Though
wearing
no
beard
,
not
even
a
mustache
,
there
was
something
emphatically
masculine
in
the
contour
of
the
close-shaven
cheek
and
resolute
jaw
;
in
a
forehead
broad
at
the
temples
,
and
protuberant
in
those
organs
over
the
eyebrows
which
are
said
to
be
significant
of
quick
perception
and
ready
action
;
in
the
lips
,
when
in
repose
compressed
,
perhaps
somewhat
stern
in
their
expression
,
but
pliant
and
mobile
when
speaking
,
and
wonderfully
fascinating
when
they
smiled
.
Altogether
,
about
this
Victor
de
Mauleon
there
was
a
nameless
distinction
,
apart
from
that
of
conventional
elegance
.
You
would
have
said
,
“
That
is
a
man
of
some
marked
individuality
,
an
eminence
of
some
kind
in
himself
.
”
You
would
not
be
surprised
to
hear
that
he
was
a
party-leader
,
a
skilled
diplomatist
,
a
daring
soldier
,
an
adventurous
traveller
;
but
you
would
not
guess
him
to
be
a
student
,
an
author
,
an
artist
.
While
Duplessis
thus
observed
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
,
all
the
while
seeming
to
lend
an
attentive
ear
to
the
whispered
voice
of
the
Minister
by
his
side
,
Alain
passed
on
into
the
ball-room
.
He
was
fresh
enough
to
feel
the
exhilaration
of
the
dance
.
Enguerrand
(
who
had
survived
that
excitement
,
and
who
habitually
deserted
any
assembly
at
an
early
hour
for
the
cigar
and
whist
of
his
club
)
had
made
his
way
to
De
Mauleon
,
and
there
stationed
himself
.
The
lion
of
one
generation
has
always
a
mixed
feeling
of
curiosity
and
respect
for
the
lion
of
a
generation
before
him
,
and
the
young
Vandemar
had
conceived
a
strong
and
almost
an
affectionate
interest
in
this
discrowned
king
of
that
realm
in
fashion
which
,
once
lost
,
is
never
to
be
regained
;
for
it
is
only
Youth
that
can
hold
its
sceptre
and
command
its
subjects
.
“
In
this
crowd
,
Vicomte
,
”
said
Enguerrand
,
“
there
must
be
many
old
acquaintances
of
yours
?
”
“
Perhaps
so
,
but
as
yet
I
have
only
seen
new
faces
.
”
As
he
thus
spoke
,
a
middle-aged
man
,
decorated
with
the
grand
cross
of
the
Legion
and
half-a-dozen
foreign
orders
,
lending
his
arm
to
a
lady
of
the
same
age
radiant
in
diamonds
,
passed
by
towards
the
ball-room
,
and
in
some
sudden
swerve
of
his
person
,
occasioned
by
a
pause
of
his
companion
to
adjust
her
train
,
he
accidentally
brushed
against
De
Mauleon
,
whom
he
had
not
before
noticed
.
Turning
round
to
apologize
for
his
awkwardness
,
he
encountered
the
full
gaze
of
the
Vicomte
,
started
,
changed
countenance
,
and
hurried
on
his
companion
.
“
Do
you
not
recognize
his
Excellency
?
”
said
Enguerrand
,
smiling
.
“
His
cannot
be
a
new
face
to
you
.
”
“
Is
it
the
Baron
de
Lacy
?
”
asked
De
Mauleon
.
“
The
Baron
de
Lacy
,
now
Comte
d’Epinay
,
ambassador
at
the
Court
of
—
—
-
,
and
,
if
report
speak
true
,
likely
soon
to
exchange
that
post
for
the
porte
feuille
of
Minister
.
”
“
He
has
got
on
in
life
since
I
saw
him
last
,
the
little
Baron
.
He
was
then
my
devoted
imitator
,
and
I
was
not
proud
of
the
imitation
.
”
“
He
has
got
on
by
always
clinging
to
the
skirts
of
some
one
stronger
than
himself
,
—
to
yours
,
I
dare
say
,
when
,
being
a
parvenu
despite
his
usurped
title
of
baron
,
he
aspired
to
the
entree
into
clubs
and
salons
.
The
entree
thus
obtained
,
the
rest
followed
easily
;
he
became
a
millionaire
through
a
wife’s
dot
,
and
an
ambassador
through
the
wife’s
lover
,
who
is
a
power
in
the
State
.
”
“
But
he
must
have
substance
in
himself
.
Empty
bags
can
not
be
made
to
stand
upright
.
Ah
!
unless
I
mistake
,
I
see
some
one
I
knew
better
.
Yon
pale
,
thin
man
,
also
with
the
grand
cross
—
surely
that
is
Alfred
Hennequin
.
Is
he
too
a
decorated
Imperialist
?
I
left
him
a
socialistic
Republican
.
”
“
But
,
I
presume
,
even
then
an
eloquent
avocat
.
He
got
into
the
Chamber
,
spoke
well
,
defended
the
coup-d’etat
.
He
has
just
been
made
Prefet
of
the
great
department
of
the
a
popular
appointment
.
He
bears
a
high
character
.
Pray
renew
your
acquaintance
with
him
;
he
is
coming
this
way
.
”
“
Will
so
grave
a
dignitary
renew
acquaintance
with
me
?
I
doubt
it
.
”
But
as
De
Mauleon
said
this
,
he
moved
from
the
column
,
and
advanced
towards
the
Prefet
.
Enguerrand
followed
him
,
and
saw
the
Vicomte
extend
his
hand
to
his
old
acquaintance
.
The
Prefet
stared
,
and
said
,
with
frigid
courtesy
,
“
Pardon
me
,
—
some
mistake
.
”
“
Allow
me
,
Monsieur
Hennequin
,
”
said
Enguerrand
,
interposing
,
and
wishing
good-naturedly
to
save
De
Mauleon
the
awkwardness
of
introducing
himself
,
—
“
allow
me
to
reintroduce
you
to
my
kinsman
,
whom
the
lapse
of
years
may
well
excuse
you
for
forgetting
,
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
.
”
Still
the
Prefet
did
not
accept
the
hand
.
He
bowed
with
formal
ceremony
,
said
,
“
I
was
not
aware
that
Monsieur
le
Vicomte
had
returned
to
Paris
,
”
and
moving
to
the
doorway
,
made
his
salutation
to
the
hostess
and
disappeared
.
“
The
insolent
!
”
muttered
Enguerrand
.
“
Hush
!
”
said
De
Mauleon
,
quietly
,
“
I
can
fight
no
more
duels
,
—
especially
with
a
Prefet
.
But
I
own
I
am
weak
enough
to
feel
hurt
at
such
a
reception
from
Hennequin
,
for
he
owed
me
some
obligations
,
—
small
,
perhaps
,
but
still
they
were
such
as
might
have
made
me
select
him
,
rather
than
Louvier
,
as
the
vindicator
of
my
name
,
had
I
known
him
to
be
so
high
placed
.
But
a
man
who
has
raised
himself
into
an
authority
may
well
be
excused
for
forgetting
a
friend
whose
character
needs
defence
.
I
forgive
him
.
”
There
was
something
pathetic
in
the
Vicomte’s
tone
which
touched
Enguerrand’s
warm
if
light
heart
.
But
De
Mauleon
did
not
allow
him
time
to
answer
.
He
went
on
quickly
through
an
opening
in
the
gay
crowd
,
which
immediately
closed
behind
him
,
and
Enguerrand
saw
him
no
more
that
evening
.
Duplessis
ere
this
had
quitted
his
seat
by
the
Minister
,
drawn
thence
by
a
young
and
very
pretty
girl
resigned
to
his
charge
by
a
cavalier
with
whom
she
had
been
dancing
.
She
was
the
only
daughter
of
Duplessis
,
and
he
valued
her
even
more
than
the
millions
he
had
made
at
the
Bourse
.
“
The
Princess
,
”
she
said
,
“
has
been
swept
off
in
the
train
of
some
German
Royalty
;
so
,
petit
pere
,
I
must
impose
myself
on
thee
.
”
The
Princess
,
a
Russian
of
high
rank
,
was
the
chaperon
that
evening
of
Mademoiselle
Valerie
Duplessis
.
“
And
I
suppose
I
must
take
thee
back
into
the
ballroom
,
”
said
the
financier
,
smiling
proudly
,
“
and
find
thee
partners
.
”
“
I
don’t
want
your
aid
for
that
,
Monsieur
;
except
this
quadrille
,
my
list
is
pretty
well
filled
up
.
”
“
And
I
hope
the
partners
will
be
pleasant
.
Let
me
know
who
they
are
,
”
he
whispered
,
as
they
threaded
their
way
into
the
ball-room
.
The
girl
glanced
at
her
tablet
.
“
Well
,
the
first
on
the
list
is
milord
somebody
,
with
an
unpronounceable
English
name
.
”
“
Beau
cavalier
?
”
“
No
;
ugly
,
old
too
;
thirty
at
least
.
”
Duplessis
felt
relieved
.
He
did
not
wish
his
daughter
to
fall
in
love
with
an
Englishman
.
“
And
the
next
?
”
“
The
next
?
”
she
said
hesitatingly
,
and
he
observed
that
a
soft
blush
accompanied
the
hesitation
.
“
Yes
,
the
next
.
Not
English
too
?
”
“
Oh
,
no
;
the
Marquis
de
Rochebriant
.
”
“
Ah
!
who
presented
him
to
thee
?
”
“
Thy
friend
,
petit
pere
,
M
.
de
Braze
.
”
Duplessis
again
glanced
at
his
daughter’s
face
;
it
was
bent
over
her
bouquet
.
“
Is
he
ugly
also
?
”
“
Ugly
!
”
exclaimed
the
girl
,
indignantly
;
“
why
,
he
is
—
”
she
checked
herself
and
turned
away
her
head
.
Duplessis
became
thoughtful
.
He
was
glad
that
he
had
accompanied
his
child
into
the
ball-room
;
he
would
stay
there
,
and
keep
watch
on
her
and
Rochebriant
also
.
Up
to
that
moment
he
had
felt
a
dislike
to
Rochebriant
.
That
young
noble’s
too
obvious
pride
of
race
had
nettled
him
,
not
the
less
that
the
financier
himself
was
vain
of
his
ancestry
.
Perhaps
he
still
disliked
Alain
,
but
the
dislike
was
now
accompanied
with
a
certain
,
not
hostile
,
interest
;
and
if
he
became
connected
with
the
race
,
the
pride
in
it
might
grow
contagious
.
They
had
not
been
long
in
the
ball-room
before
Alain
came
up
to
claim
his
promised
partner
.
In
saluting
Duplessis
,
his
manner
was
the
same
as
usual
,
not
more
cordial
,
not
less
ceremoniously
distant
.
A
man
so
able
as
the
financier
cannot
be
without
quick
knowledge
of
the
human
heart
.
“
If
disposed
to
fall
in
love
with
Valerie
,
”
thought
Duplessis
,
“
he
would
have
taken
more
pains
to
please
her
father
.
Well
,
thank
heaven
,
there
are
better
matches
to
be
found
for
her
than
a
noble
without
fortune
and
a
Legitimist
without
career
.
”
In
fact
,
Alain
felt
no
more
for
Valerie
than
for
any
other
pretty
girl
in
the
room
.
In
talking
with
the
Vicomte
de
Braze
in
the
intervals
of
the
dance
,
he
had
made
some
passing
remark
on
her
beauty
.
De
Braze
had
said
,
“
Yes
,
she
is
charming
;
I
will
present
you
,
”
and
hastened
to
do
so
before
Rochebriant
even
learned
her
name
.
So
introduced
,
he
could
but
invite
her
to
give
him
her
first
disengaged
dance
,
and
when
that
was
fixed
,
he
had
retired
,
without
entering
into
conversation
.
Now
,
as
they
took
their
places
in
the
quadrille
,
he
felt
that
effort
of
speech
had
become
a
duty
,
if
not
a
pleasure
;
and
of
course
,
he
began
with
the
first
commonplace
which
presented
itself
to
his
mind
.
“
Do
you
not
think
it
a
very
pleasant
ball
,
Mademoiselle
?
”
“
Yes
,
”
dropped
,
in
almost
inaudible
reply
,
from
Valerie’s
rosy
lips
.
“
And
not
over-crowded
,
as
most
balls
are
?
”
Valerie’s
lips
again
moved
,
but
this
time
quite
inaudibly
.
The
obligations
of
the
figure
now
caused
a
pause
.
Alain
racked
his
brains
and
began
,
“
They
tell
me
the
last
season
was
more
than
usually
gay
;
of
that
I
cannot
judge
,
for
it
was
well-nigh
over
when
I
came
to
Paris
for
the
first
time
.
”
Valerie
looked
up
with
a
more
animated
expression
than
her
childlike
face
had
yet
shown
,
and
said
,
this
time
distinctly
,
“
This
is
my
first
ball
,
Monsieur
le
Marquis
.
”
“
One
has
only
to
look
at
Mademoiselle
to
divine
that
fact
,
”
replied
Alain
,
gallantly
.
Again
the
conversation
was
interrupted
by
the
dance
;
but
the
ice
between
the
two
was
now
broken
;
and
when
the
quadrille
was
concluded
,
and
Rochebriant
led
the
fair
Valerie
back
to
her
father’s
side
,
she
felt
as
if
she
had
been
listening
to
the
music
of
the
spheres
,
and
that
the
music
had
now
suddenly
stopped
.
Alain
,
alas
for
her
!
was
under
no
such
pleasing
illusion
.
Her
talk
had
seemed
to
him
artless
indeed
,
but
very
insipid
,
compared
with
the
brilliant
conversation
of
the
wedded
Parisiennes
with
whom
he
more
habitually
danced
;
and
it
was
with
rather
a
sensation
of
relief
that
he
made
his
parting
bow
,
and
receded
into
the
crowd
of
bystanders
.
Meanwhile
De
Mauleon
had
quitted
the
assemblage
,
walking
slowly
through
the
deserted
streets
towards
his
apartment
.
The
civilities
he
had
met
at
Louvier’s
dinner-party
,
and
the
marked
distinction
paid
to
him
by
kinsmen
of
rank
and
position
so
unequivocal
as
Alain
and
Enguerrand
,
had
softened
his
mood
and
cheered
his
spirits
.
He
had
begun
to
question
himself
whether
a
fair
opening
to
his
political
ambition
was
really
forbidden
to
him
under
the
existent
order
of
things
,
whether
it
necessitated
the
employment
of
such
dangerous
tools
as
those
to
which
anger
and
despair
had
reconciled
his
intellect
.
But
the
pointed
way
in
which
he
had
been
shunned
or
slighted
by
the
two
men
who
belonged
to
political
life
—
two
men
who
in
youth
had
looked
up
to
himself
,
and
whose
dazzling
career
of
honours
was
identified
with
the
Imperial
system
—
reanimated
his
fiercer
passions
and
his
more
perilous
designs
.
The
frigid
accost
of
Hennequin
more
especially
galled
him
;
it
wounded
not
only
his
pride
but
his
heart
;
it
had
the
venom
of
ingratitude
,
and
it
is
the
peculiar
privilege
of
ingratitude
to
wound
hearts
that
have
learned
to
harden
themselves
to
the
hate
or
contempt
of
men
to
whom
no
services
have
been
rendered
.
In
some
private
affair
concerning
his
property
,
De
Mauleon
had
had
occasion
to
consult
Hennequin
,
then
a
rising
young
avocat
.
Out
of
that
consultation
a
friendship
had
sprung
up
,
despite
the
differing
habits
and
social
grades
of
the
two
men
.
One
day
,
calling
on
Hennequin
,
he
found
him
in
a
state
of
great
nervous
excitement
.
The
avocat
had
received
a
public
insult
in
the
salon
of
a
noble
,
to
whom
De
Mauleon
had
introduced
him
,
from
a
man
who
pretended
to
the
hand
of
a
young
lady
to
whom
Hennequin
was
attached
,
and
indeed
almost
affianced
.
The
man
was
a
notorious
spadassin
,
—
a
duellist
little
less
renowned
for
skill
in
all
weapons
than
De
Mauleon
himself
.
The
affair
had
been
such
that
Hennequin’s
friends
assured
him
he
had
no
choice
but
to
challenge
this
bravo
.
Hennequin
,
brave
enough
at
the
bar
,
was
no
hero
before
sword-point
or
pistol
.
He
was
utterly
ignorant
of
the
use
of
either
weapon
;
his
death
in
the
encounter
with
an
antagonist
so
formidable
seemed
to
him
certain
,
and
life
was
so
precious
,
—
an
honourable
and
distinguished
career
opening
before
him
,
marriage
with
the
woman
he
loved
.
Still
he
had
the
Frenchman’s
point
of
honour
.
He
had
been
told
that
he
must
fight
;
well
,
then
,
he
must
.
He
asked
De
Mauleon
to
be
one
of
his
seconds
,
and
in
asking
him
,
sank
in
his
chair
,
covered
his
face
with
his
hands
,
and
burst
into
tears
.
“
Wait
till
to-morrow
,
”
said
De
Mauleon
;
“
take
no
step
till
then
.
Meanwhile
,
you
are
in
my
hands
,
and
I
answer
for
your
honour
.
”
On
leaving
Hennequin
,
Victor
sought
the
spadassin
at
the
club
of
which
they
were
both
members
,
and
contrived
,
without
reference
to
Hennequin
,
to
pick
a
quarrel
with
him
.
A
challenge
ensued
;
a
duel
with
swords
took
place
the
next
morning
.
De
Mauleon
disarmed
and
wounded
his
antagonist
,
not
gravely
,
but
sufficiently
to
terminate
the
encounter
.
He
assisted
to
convey
the
wounded
man
to
his
apartment
,
and
planted
himself
by
his
bedside
,
as
if
he
were
a
friend
.
“
Why
on
earth
did
you
fasten
a
quarrel
on
me
?
”
asked
the
spadassin
;
“
and
why
,
having
done
so
,
did
you
spare
my
life
;
for
your
sword
was
at
my
heart
when
you
shifted
its
point
,
and
pierced
my
shoulder
?
”
“
I
will
tell
you
,
and
in
so
doing
,
beg
you
to
accept
my
friendship
hereafter
,
on
one
condition
.
In
the
course
of
the
day
,
write
or
dictate
a
few
civil
words
of
apology
to
M
.
Hennequin
.
Ma
foi
!
every
one
will
praise
you
for
a
generosity
so
becoming
in
a
man
who
has
given
such
proofs
of
courage
and
skill
to
an
avocat
who
has
never
handled
a
sword
nor
fired
a
pistol
.
”
That
same
day
De
Mauleon
remitted
to
Hennequin
an
apology
for
heated
words
freely
retracted
,
which
satisfied
all
his
friends
.
For
the
service
thus
rendered
by
De
Mauleon
,
Hennequin
declared
himself
everlastingly
indebted
.
In
fact
,
he
entirely
owed
to
that
friend
his
life
,
his
marriage
,
his
honour
,
his
career
.
“
And
now
,
”
thought
De
Mauleon
,
“
now
,
when
he
could
so
easily
requite
me
,
—
now
he
will
not
even
take
my
hand
.
Is
human
nature
itself
at
war
with
me
?
”
CHAPTER
III
.
Nothing
could
be
simpler
than
the
apartment
of
the
Vicomte
de
Mauleon
,
in
the
second
story
of
a
quiet
old-fashioned
street
.
It
had
been
furnished
at
small
cost
out
of
his
savings
.
Yet
,
on
the
whole
,
it
evinced
the
good
taste
of
a
man
who
had
once
been
among
the
exquisites
of
the
polite
world
.
You
felt
that
you
were
in
the
apartment
of
a
gentleman
,
and
a
gentleman
of
somewhat
severe
tastes
,
and
of
sober
matured
years
.
He
was
sitting
the
next
morning
in
the
room
which
he
used
as
a
private
study
.
Along
the
walls
were
arranged
dwarf
bookcases
,
as
yet
occupied
by
few
books
,
most
of
them
books
of
reference
,
others
cheap
editions
of
the
French
classics
in
prose
—
no
poets
,
no
romance-writers
,
with
a
few
Latin
authors
also
in
prose
,
—
Cicero
,
Sallust
,
Tacitus
.
He
was
engaged
at
his
desk
writing
,
—
a
book
with
its
leaves
open
before
him
,
“
Paul
Louis
Courier
,
”
that
model
of
political
irony
and
masculine
style
of
composition
.
There
was
a
ring
at
his
door-bell
.
The
Vicomte
kept
no
servant
.
He
rose
and
answered
the
summons
.
He
recoiled
a
few
paces
on
recognizing
his
visitor
in
M
.
Hennequin
.
The
Prefet
this
time
did
not
withdraw
his
hand
;
he
extended
it
,
but
it
was
with
a
certain
awkwardness
and
timidity
.
“
I
thought
it
my
duty
to
call
on
you
,
Vicomte
,
thus
early
,
having
already
seen
M
.
Enguerrand
de
Vandemar
.
He
has
shown
me
the
copies
of
the
pieces
which
were
inspected
by
your
distinguished
kinsmen
,
and
which
completely
clear
you
of
the
charge
that
—
grant
me
your
pardon
when
I
say
—
seemed
to
me
still
to
remain
unanswered
when
I
had
the
honour
to
meet
you
last
night
.
”
“
It
appears
to
me
,
Monsieur
Hennequin
,
that
you
,
as
an
avocat
so
eminent
,
might
have
convinced
yourself
very
readily
of
that
fact
.
”
“
Monsieur
le
Vicomte
,
I
was
in
Switzerland
with
my
wife
at
the
time
of
the
unfortunate
affair
in
which
you
were
involved
.
”
“
But
when
you
returned
to
Paris
,
you
might
perhaps
have
deigned
to
make
inquiries
so
affecting
the
honour
of
one
you
had
called
a
friend
,
and
for
whom
you
had
professed
”
—
De
Mauleon
paused
;
he
disdained
to
add
—
“
an
eternal
gratitude
.
”
Hennequin
coloured
slightly
,
but
replied
with
self-possession
.
“
I
certainly
did
inquire
.
I
did
hear
that
the
charge
against
you
with
regard
to
the
abstraction
of
the
jewels
was
withdrawn
,
that
you
were
therefore
acquitted
by
law
;
but
I
heard
also
that
society
did
not
acquit
you
,
and
that
,
finding
this
,
you
had
quitted
France
.
Pardon
me
again
,
no
one
would
listen
to
me
when
I
attempted
to
speak
on
your
behalf
but
now
that
so
many
years
have
elapsed
,
that
the
story
is
imperfectly
remembered
,
that
relations
so
high-placed
receive
you
so
cordially
,
—
now
I
rejoice
to
think
that
you
will
have
no
difficulty
in
regaining
a
social
position
never
really
lost
,
but
for
a
time
resigned
.
”
“
I
am
duly
sensible
of
the
friendly
joy
you
express
.
I
was
reading
the
other
day
in
a
lively
author
some
pleasant
remarks
on
the
effects
of
medisance
or
calumny
upon
our
impressionable
Parisian
public
.
‘If
,
’
says
the
writer
,
‘I
found
myself
accused
of
having
put
the
two
towers
of
Notre
Dame
into
my
waistcoat-pocket
I
should
not
dream
of
defending
myself
;
I
should
take
to
flight
.
And
,
’
adds
the
writer
,
‘if
my
best
friend
were
under
the
same
accusation
,
I
should
be
so
afraid
of
being
considered
his
accomplice
that
I
should
put
my
best
friend
outside
the
door.’
Perhaps
,
Monsieur
Hennequin
,
I
was
seized
with
the
first
alarm
.
Why
should
I
blame
you
if
seized
with
the
second
?
Happily
,
this
good
city
of
Paris
has
its
reactions
.
And
you
can
now
offer
me
your
hand
.
Paris
has
by
this
time
discovered
that
the
two
towers
of
Notre
Dame
are
not
in
my
pocket
.
”
There
was
a
pause
.
De
Mauleon
had
resettled
himself
at
his
desk
,
bending
over
his
papers
,
and
his
manner
seemed
to
imply
that
he
considered
the
conversation
at
an
end
.
But
a
pang
of
shame
,
of
remorse
,
of
tender
remembrance
,
shot
across
the
heart
of
the
decorous
,
worldly
,
self-seeking
man
,
who
owed
all
that
he
now
was
to
the
ci-devant
vaurien
before
him
.
Again
he
stretched
forth
his
hand
,
and
this
time
grasped
De
Mauleon’s
warmly
.
“
Forgive
me
,
”
he
said
,
feelingly
and
hoarsely
;
“
forgive
me
,
I
was
to
blame
.
By
character
,
and
perhaps
by
the
necessities
of
my
career
,
I
am
over-timid
to
public
opinion
,
public
scandal
.
Forgive
me
.
Say
if
in
anything
now
I
can
requite
,
though
but
slightly
,
the
service
I
owe
you
.
”
De
Mauleon
looked
steadily
at
the
Prefet
,
and
said
slowly
,
“
Would
you
serve
me
in
turn
?
Are
you
sincere
?
”
The
Prefet
hesitated
a
moment
,
then
answered
firmly
,
“
Yes
.
”
“
Well
,
then
,
what
I
ask
of
you
is
a
frank
opinion
,
—
not
as
lawyer
,
not
as
Prefet
,
but
as
a
man
who
knows
the
present
state
of
French
society
.
Give
that
opinion
without
respect
to
my
feelings
one
way
or
other
.
Let
it
emanate
solely
from
your
practised
judgment
.
”
“
Be
it
so
,
”
said
Hennequin
,
wondering
what
was
to
come
.
De
Mauleon
resumed
,
“
As
you
may
remember
,
during
my
former
career
I
had
no
political
ambition
.
I
did
not
meddle
with
politics
.
In
the
troubled
times
that
immediately
succeeded
the
fall
of
Louis
Philippe
I
was
but
an
epicurean
looker-on
.
Grant
that
,
so
far
as
admission
to
the
salons
is
concerned
,
I
shall
encounter
no
difficulty
in
regaining
position
;
but
as
regards
the
Chamber
,
public
life
,
a
political
career
,
can
I
have
my
fair
opening
under
the
Empire
?
You
pause
.
Answer
as
you
have
promised
,
frankly
.
”
“
The
difficulties
in
the
way
of
a
political
career
would
be
very
great
.
”
“
Insuperable
?
”
“
I
fear
so
.
Of
course
,
in
my
capacity
of
Prefet
,
I
have
no
small
influence
in
my
department
in
support
of
a
Government
candidate
.
But
I
do
not
think
that
the
Imperial
Government
could
,
at
this
time
especially
,
in
which
it
must
be
very
cautious
in
selecting
its
candidates
,
be
induced
to
recommend
you
.
The
affair
of
the
jewels
would
be
raked
up
;
your
vindication
disputed
,
denied
;
the
fact
that
for
so
many
years
you
have
acquiesced
in
that
charge
without
taking
steps
to
refute
it
;
your
antecedents
,
even
apart
from
that
charge
;
your
present
want
of
property
(
M
.
Enguerrand
tells
me
your
income
is
but
moderate
)
;
the
absence
of
all
previous
repute
in
public
life
.
No
;
relinquish
the
idea
of
political
contest
,
—
it
would
expose
you
to
inevitable
mortifications
,
to
a
failure
that
would
even
jeopardize
the
admission
to
the
salons
which
you
are
now
gaining
.
You
could
not
be
a
Government
candidate
.
”
“
Granted
.
I
may
have
no
desire
to
be
one
;
but
an
opposition
candidate
,
one
of
the
Liberal
party
?
”
“
As
an
Imperialist
,
”
said
Hennequin
,
smiling
gravely
,
“
and
holding
the
office
I
do
,
it
would
not
become
me
to
encourage
a
candidate
against
the
Emperor’s
Government
.
But
speaking
with
the
frankness
you
solicit
,
I
should
say
that
your
chances
there
are
infinitely
worse
.
The
Opposition
are
in
a
pitiful
minority
,
—
the
most
eminent
of
the
Liberals
can
scarcely
gain
seats
for
themselves
;
great
local
popularity
or
property
,
high
established
repute
for
established
patriotism
,
or
proved
talents
of
oratory
and
statesmanship
,
are
essential
qualifications
for
a
seat
in
the
Opposition
;
and
even
these
do
not
suffice
for
a
third
of
the
persons
who
possess
them
.
Be
again
what
you
were
before
,
—
the
hero
of
salons
remote
from
the
turbulent
vulgarity
of
politics
.
”
“
I
am
answered
.
Thank
you
once
more
.
The
service
I
rendered
you
once
is
requited
now
.
”
“
No
,
indeed
,
—
no
;
but
will
you
dine
with
me
quietly
today
,
and
allow
me
to
present
to
you
my
wife
and
two
children
,
born
since
we
parted
?
I
say
to-day
,
for
to-morrow
I
return
to
my
Prefecture
.
”
“
I
am
infinitely
obliged
by
your
invitation
,
but
to-day
I
dine
with
the
Comte
de
Beauvilliers
to
meet
some
of
the
Corps
Diplomatique
.
I
must
make
good
my
place
in
the
salons
,
since
you
so
clearly
show
me
that
I
have
no
chance
of
one
in
the
Legislature
—
unless
—
”
“
Unless
what
?
”
“
Unless
there
happen
one
of
those
revolutions
in
which
the
scum
comes
uppermost
.
”
“
No
fear
of
that
.
The
subterranean
barracks
and
railway
have
ended
forever
the
rise
of
the
scum
,
the
reign
of
the
canaille
and
its
barricades
.
”
“
Adieu
,
my
dear
Hennequin
.
My
respectful
hommages
a
Madame
.
”
After
that
day
the
writing
of
Pierre
Firmin
in
“
Le
Sens
Commun
,
”
though
still
keeping
within
the
pale
of
the
law
,
became
more
decidedly
hostile
to
the
Imperial
system
,
still
without
committing
their
author
to
any
definite
programme
of
the
sort
of
government
that
should
succeed
it
.
CHAPTER
IV
.
The
weeks
glided
on
.
Isaura’s
manuscript
bad
passed
into
print
;
it
came
out
in
the
French
fashion
of
feuilletons
,
—
a
small
detachment
at
a
time
.
A
previous
flourish
of
trumpets
by
Savarin
and
the
clique
at
his
command
insured
it
attention
,
if
not
from
the
general
public
,
at
least
from
critical
and
literary
coteries
.
Before
the
fourth
instalment
appeared
it
had
outgrown
the
patronage
of
the
coteries
;
it
seized
hold
of
the
public
.
It
was
not
in
the
last
school
in
fashion
;
incidents
were
not
crowded
and
violent
,
—
they
were
few
and
simple
,
rather
appertaining
to
an
elder
school
,
in
which
poetry
of
sentiment
and
grace
of
diction
prevailed
.
That
very
resemblance
to
old
favourites
gave
it
the
attraction
of
novelty
.
In
a
word
,
it
excited
a
pleased
admiration
,
and
great
curiosity
was
felt
as
to
the
authorship
.
When
it
oozed
out
that
it
was
by
the
young
lady
whose
future
success
in
the
musical
world
had
been
so
sanguinely
predicted
by
all
who
had
heard
her
sing
,
the
interest
wonderfully
increased
.
Petitions
to
be
introduced
to
her
acquaintance
were
showered
upon
Savarin
.
Before
she
scarcely
realized
her
dawning
fame
,
she
was
drawn
from
her
quiet
home
and
retired
habits
;
she
was
fetee
and
courted
in
the
literary
circle
of
which
Savarin
was
a
chief
.
That
circle
touched
,
on
one
side
,
Bohemia
;
on
the
other
,
that
realm
of
politer
fashion
which
,
in
every
intellectual
metropolis
,
but
especially
in
Paris
,
seeks
to
gain
borrowed
light
from
luminaries
in
art
and
letters
.
But
the
very
admiration
she
obtained
somewhat
depressed
,
somewhat
troubled
her
;
after
all
,
it
did
not
differ
from
that
which
was
at
her
command
as
a
singer
.
On
the
one
hand
,
she
shrank
instinctively
from
the
caresses
of
female
authors
and
the
familiar
greetings
of
male
authors
,
who
frankly
lived
in
philosophical
disdain
of
the
conventions
respected
by
sober
,
decorous
mortals
.
On
the
other
hand
,
in
the
civilities
of
those
who
,
while
they
courted
a
rising
celebrity
,
still
held
their
habitual
existence
apart
from
the
artistic
world
,
there
was
a
certain
air
of
condescension
,
of
patronage
,
towards
the
young
stranger
with
no
other
protector
but
Signora
Venosta
,
the
ci-devant
public
singer
,
and
who
had
made
her
debut
in
a
journal
edited
by
M
.
Gustave
Rameau
,
which
,
however
disguised
by
exaggerated
terms
of
praise
,
wounded
her
pride
of
woman
in
flattering
her
vanity
as
author
.
Among
this
latter
set
were
wealthy
,
high-born
men
,
who
addressed
her
as
woman
—
as
woman
beautiful
and
young
—
with
words
of
gallantry
that
implied
love
,
but
certainly
no
thought
of
marriage
,
—
many
of
the
most
ardent
were
indeed
married
already
.
But
once
launched
into
the
thick
of
Parisian
hospitalities
,
it
was
difficult
to
draw
back
.
The
Venosta
wept
at
the
thought
of
missing
some
lively
soiree
,
and
Savarin
laughed
at
her
shrinking
fastidiousness
as
that
of
a
child’s
ignorance
of
the
world
.
But
still
she
had
her
mornings
to
herself
;
and
in
those
mornings
,
devoted
to
the
continuance
of
her
work
(
for
the
commencement
was
in
print
before
a
third
was
completed
)
,
she
forgot
the
commonplace
world
that
received
her
in
the
evenings
.
Insensibly
to
herself
the
tone
of
this
work
had
changed
as
it
proceeded
.
It
had
begun
seriously
indeed
,
but
in
the
seriousness
there
was
a
certain
latent
joy
.
It
might
be
the
joy
of
having
found
vent
of
utterance
;
it
might
be
rather
a
joy
still
more
latent
,
inspired
by
the
remembrance
of
Graham’s
words
and
looks
,
and
by
the
thought
that
she
had
renounced
all
idea
of
the
professional
career
which
he
had
evidently
disapproved
.
Life
then
seemed
to
her
a
bright
possession
.
We
have
seen
that
she
had
begun
her
roman
without
planning
how
it
should
end
.
She
had
,
however
,
then
meant
it
to
end
,
somehow
or
other
,
happily
.
Now
the
lustre
had
gone
from
life
;
the
tone
of
the
work
was
saddened
;
it
foreboded
a
tragic
close
.
But
for
the
general
reader
it
became
,
with
every
chapter
,
still
more
interesting
;
the
poor
child
had
a
singularly
musical
gift
of
style
,
—
a
music
which
lent
itself
naturally
to
pathos
.
Every
very
young
writer
knows
how
his
work
,
if
one
of
feeling
,
will
colour
itself
from
the
views
of
some
truth
in
his
innermost
self
;
and
in
proportion
as
it
does
so
,
how
his
absorption
in
the
work
increases
,
till
it
becomes
part
and
parcel
of
his
own
mind
and
heart
.
The
presence
of
a
hidden
sorrow
may
change
the
fate
of
the
beings
he
has
created
,
and
guide
to
the
grave
those
whom
,
in
a
happier
vein
,
he
would
have
united
at
the
altar
.
It
is
not
till
a
later
stage
of
experience
and
art
that
the
writer
escapes
from
the
influence
of
his
individual
personality
,
and
lives
in
existences
that
take
no
colourings
from
his
own
.
Genius
usually
must
pass
through
the
subjective
process
before
it
gains
the
objective
.
Even
a
Shakspeare
represents
himself
in
the
Sonnets
before
no
trace
of
himself
is
visible
in
a
Falstaff
or
a
Lear
.
No
news
of
the
Englishman
,
—
not
a
word
.
Isaura
could
not
but
feel
that
in
his
words
,
his
looks
,
that
day
in
her
own
garden
,
and
those
yet
happier
days
at
Enghien
,
there
had
been
more
than
friendship
;
there
had
been
love
,
—
love
enough
to
justify
her
own
pride
in
whispering
to
herself
,
“
And
I
love
too
.
”
But
then
that
last
parting
!
how
changed
he
was
!
how
cold
!
She
conjectured
that
jealousy
of
Rameau
might
,
in
some
degree
,
account
for
the
coldness
when
he
first
entered
the
room
,
but
surely
not
when
he
left
;
surely
not
when
she
had
overpassed
the
reserve
of
her
sex
,
and
implied
by
signs
rarely
misconstrued
by
those
who
love
that
he
had
no
cause
for
jealousy
of
another
.
Yet
he
had
gone
,
—
parted
with
her
pointedly
as
a
friend
,
a
mere
friend
.
How
foolish
she
had
been
to
think
this
rich
ambitious
foreigner
could
ever
have
meant
to
be
more
!
In
the
occupation
of
her
work
she
thought
to
banish
his
image
;
but
in
that
work
the
image
was
never
absent
;
there
were
passages
in
which
she
pleadingly
addressed
it
,
and
then
would
cease
abruptly
,
stifled
by
passionate
tears
.
Still
she
fancied
that
the
work
would
reunite
them
;
that
in
its
pages
he
would
hear
her
voice
and
comprehend
her
heart
.
And
thus
all
praise
of
the
work
became
very
,
very
dear
to
her
.
At
last
,
after
many
weeks
,
Savarin
heard
from
Graham
.
The
letter
was
dated
Aix-la-Chapelle
,
at
which
the
Englishman
said
he
might
yet
be
some
time
detained
.
In
the
letter
Graham
spoke
chiefly
of
the
new
journal
:
in
polite
compliment
of
Savarin’s
own
effusions
;
in
mixed
praise
and
condemnation
of
the
political
and
social
articles
signed
Pierre
Firmin
,
—
praise
of
their
intellectual
power
,
condemnation
of
their
moral
cynicism
.
“
The
writer
,
”
he
said
,
“
reminds
me
of
a
passage
in
which
Montesquieu
compares
the
heathen
philosophers
to
those
plants
which
the
earth
produces
in
places
that
have
never
seen
the
heavens
.
The
soil
of
his
experience
does
not
grow
a
single
belief
;
and
as
no
community
can
exist
without
a
belief
of
some
kind
,
so
a
politician
without
belief
can
but
help
to
destroy
;
he
cannot
reconstruct
.
Such
writers
corrupt
a
society
;
they
do
not
reform
a
system
.
”
He
closed
his
letter
with
a
reference
to
Isaura
:
“
Do
,
in
your
reply
,
my
dear
Savarin
,
tell
me
something
about
your
friends
Signora
Venosta
and
the
Signorina
,
whose
work
,
so
far
as
yet
published
,
I
have
read
with
admiring
astonishment
at
the
power
of
a
female
writer
so
young
to
rival
the
veteran
practitioners
of
fiction
in
the
creation
of
interest
in
imaginary
characters
,
and
in
sentiments
which
,
if
they
appear
somewhat
over-romantic
and
exaggerated
,
still
touch
very
fine
chords
in
human
nature
not
awakened
in
our
trite
every-day
existence
.
I
presume
that
the
beauty
of
the
roman
has
been
duly
appreciated
by
a
public
so
refined
as
the
Parisian
,
and
that
the
name
of
the
author
is
generally
known
.
No
doubt
she
is
now
much
the
rage
of
the
literary
circles
,
and
her
career
as
a
writer
may
be
considered
fixed
.
Pray
present
my
congratulations
to
the
Signorina
when
you
see
her
.
”
Savarin
had
been
in
receipt
of
this
letter
some
days
before
he
called
on
Isaura
,
and
carelessly
showed
it
to
her
.
She
took
it
to
the
window
to
read
,
in
order
to
conceal
the
trembling
of
her
hands
.
In
a
few
minutes
she
returned
it
silently
.
“
Those
Englishmen
,
”
said
Savarin
,
“
have
not
the
heart
of
compliment
.
I
am
by
no
means
flattered
by
what
he
says
of
my
trifles
,
and
I
dare
say
you
are
still
less
pleased
with
this
chilly
praise
of
your
charming
tale
;
but
the
man
means
to
be
civil
.
”
“
Certainly
,
”
said
Isaura
,
smiling
faintly
.
“
Only
think
of
Rameau
!
”
resumed
Savarin
.
“
On
the
strength
of
his
salary
in
the
‘Sens
Commun
,
’
and
on
the
chateaux
en
Espagne
which
he
constructs
thereon
,
he
has
already
furnished
an
apartment
in
the
Chaussee
d’Antin
,
and
talks
of
setting
up
a
coupe
in
order
to
maintain
the
dignity
of
letters
when
he
goes
to
dine
with
the
duchesses
who
are
some
day
or
other
to
invite
him
.
Yet
I
admire
his
self-confidence
,
though
I
laugh
at
it
.
A
man
gets
on
by
a
spring
in
his
own
mechanism
,
and
he
should
always
keep
it
wound
up
.
Rameau
will
make
a
figure
.
I
used
to
pity
him
;
I
begin
to
respect
.
Nothing
succeeds
like
success
.
But
I
see
I
am
spoiling
your
morning
.
Au
revoir
,
mon
enfant
.
”
Left
alone
,
Isaura
brooded
in
a
sort
of
mournful
wonderment
over
the
words
referring
to
herself
in
Graham’s
letter
.
Read
though
but
once
,
she
knew
them
by
heart
.
What
!
did
he
consider
those
characters
she
had
represented
as
wholly
imaginary
?
In
one
—
the
most
prominent
,
the
most
attractive
—
could
he
detect
no
likeness
to
himself
?
What
!
did
he
consider
so
“
over-romantic
and
exaggerated
”
sentiments
which
couched
appeals
from
her
heart
to
his
?
Alas
!
in
matters
of
sentiment
it
is
the
misfortune
of
us
men
that
even
the
most
refined
of
us
often
grate
upon
some
sentiment
in
a
woman
,
though
she
may
not
be
romantic
,
—
not
romantic
at
all
,
as
people
go
,
—
some
sentiment
which
she
thought
must
be
so
obvious
if
we
cared
a
straw
about
her
,
and
which
,
though
we
prize
her
above
the
Indies
,
is
by
our
dim
,
horn-eyed
,
masculine
vision
undiscernible
.
It
may
be
something
in
itself
the
airiest
of
trifles
:
the
anniversary
of
a
day
in
which
the
first
kiss
was
interchanged
,
nay
,
of
a
violet
gathered
,
a
misunderstanding
cleared
up
;
and
of
that
anniversary
we
remember
no
more
than
we
do
of
our
bells
and
coral
.
But
she
—
she
remembers
it
;
it
is
no
bells
and
coral
to
her
.
Of
course
,
much
is
to
be
said
in
excuse
of
man
,
brute
though
he
be
.
Consider
the
multiplicity
of
his
occupations
,
the
practical
nature
of
his
cares
.
But
granting
the
validity
of
all
such
excuse
,
there
is
in
man
an
original
obtuseness
of
fibre
as
regards
sentiment
in
comparison
with
the
delicacy
of
woman’s
.
It
comes
,
perhaps
,
from
the
same
hardness
of
constitution
which
forbids
us
the
luxury
of
ready
tears
.
Thus
it
is
very
difficult
for
the
wisest
man
to
understand
thoroughly
a
woman
.
Goethe
says
somewhere
that
the
highest
genius
in
man
must
have
much
of
the
woman
in
it
.
If
this
be
true
,
the
highest
genius
alone
in
man
can
comprehend
and
explain
the
nature
of
woman
,
because
it
is
not
remote
from
him
,
but
an
integral
part
of
his
masculine
self
.
I
am
not
sure
,
however
,
that
it
necessitates
the
highest
genius
,
but
rather
a
special
idiosyncrasy
in
genius
which
the
highest
may
or
may
not
have
.
I
think
Sophocles
a
higher
genius
than
Euripides
;
but
Euripides
has
that
idiosyncrasy
,
and
Sophocles
not
.
I
doubt
whether
women
would
accept
Goethe
as
their
interpreter
with
the
same
readiness
with
which
they
would
accept
Schiller
.
Shakspeare
,
no
doubt
,
excels
all
poets
in
the
comprehension
of
women
,
in
his
sympathy
with
them
in
the
woman-part
of
his
nature
which
Goethe
ascribes
to
the
highest
genius
;
but
,
putting
aside
that
“
monster
,
”
I
do
not
remember
any
English
poet
whom
we
should
consider
conspicuously
eminent
in
that
lore
,
unless
it
be
the
prose
poet
,
nowadays
generally
underrated
and
little
read
,
who
wrote
the
letters
of
Clarissa
Harlowe
.
I
say
all
this
in
vindication
of
Graham
Vane
,
if
,
though
a
very
clever
man
in
his
way
,
and
by
no
means
uninstructed
in
human
nature
,
he
had
utterly
failed
in
comprehending
the
mysteries
which
to
this
poor
woman-child
seemed
to
need
no
key
for
one
who
really
loved
her
.
But
we
have
said
somewhere
before
in
this
book
that
music
speaks
in
a
language
which
cannot
explain
itself
except
in
music
.
So
speaks
,
in
the
human
heart
,
much
which
is
akin
to
music
.
Fiction
(
that
is
,
poetry
,
whether
in
form
of
rhyme
or
prose
)
speaks
thus
pretty
often
.
A
reader
must
be
more
commonplace
than
,
I
trust
,
my
gentle
readers
are
,
if
he
suppose
that
when
Isaura
symbolized
the
real
hero
of
her
thoughts
in
the
fabled
hero
of
her
romance
,
she
depicted
him
as
one
of
whom
the
world
could
say
,
“
That
is
Graham
Vane
.
”
I
doubt
if
even
a
male
poet
would
so
vulgarize
any
woman
whom
he
thoroughly
reverenced
and
loved
.
She
is
too
sacred
to
him
to
be
thus
unveiled
to
the
public
stare
;
as
the
sweetest
of
all
ancient
love-poets
says
well
—
“
Qui
sapit
in
tacito
gaudeat
ille
sinu
.
”
But
a
girl
,
a
girl
in
her
first
untold
timid
love
,
to
let
the
world
know
,
“
that
is
the
man
I
love
and
would
die
for
!
”
—
if
such
a
girl
be
,
she
has
no
touch
of
the
true
woman-genius
,
and
certainly
she
and
Isaura
have
nothing
in
common
.
Well
,
then
,
in
Isaura’s
invented
hero
,
though
she
saw
the
archetypal
form
of
Graham
Vane
,
—
saw
him
as
in
her
young
,
vague
,
romantic
dreams
idealized
,
beautified
,
transfigured
,
—
he
would
have
been
the
vainest
of
men
if
he
had
seen
therein
the
reflection
of
himself
.
On
the
contrary
he
said
,
in
the
spirit
of
that
jealousy
to
which
he
was
too
prone
,
“
Alas
!
this
,
then
,
is
some
ideal
,
already
seen
perhaps
,
compared
to
which
how
commonplace
am
I
!
”
and
thus
persuading
himself
,
no
wonder
that
the
sentiments
surrounding
this
unrecognized
archetype
appeared
to
him
over-romantic
.
His
taste
acknowledged
the
beauty
of
form
which
clothed
them
;
his
heart
envied
the
ideal
that
inspired
them
.
But
they
seemed
so
remote
from
him
;
they
put
the
dreamland
of
the
writer
farther
and
farther
from
his
workday
real
life
.
In
this
frame
of
mind
,
then
,
he
had
written
to
Savarin
,
and
the
answer
he
received
hardened
it
still
more
.
Savarin
had
replied
,
as
was
his
laudable
wont
in
correspondence
,
the
very
day
he
received
Graham’s
letter
,
and
therefore
before
he
had
even
seen
Isaura
.
In
his
reply
,
he
spoke
much
of
the
success
her
work
had
obtained
;
of
the
invitations
showered
upon
her
,
and
the
sensation
she
caused
in
the
salons
;
of
her
future
career
,
with
hope
that
she
might
even
rival
Madame
de
Grantmesnil
some
day
,
when
her
ideas
became
emboldened
by
maturer
experience
,
and
a
closer
study
of
that
model
of
eloquent
style
,
—
saying
that
the
young
editor
was
evidently
becoming
enamoured
of
his
fair
contributor
;
and
that
Madame
Savarin
had
ventured
the
prediction
that
the
Signorina’s
roman
would
end
in
the
death
of
the
heroine
,
and
the
marriage
of
the
writer
.
CHAPTER
V.
And
still
the
weeks
glided
on
:
autumn
succeeded
to
summer
,
the
winter
to
autumn
;
the
season
of
Paris
was
at
its
height
.
The
wondrous
capital
seemed
to
repay
its
Imperial
embellisher
by
the
splendour
and
the
joy
of
its
fetes
.
But
the
smiles
on
the
face
of
Paris
were
hypocritical
and
hollow
.
The
Empire
itself
had
passed
out
of
fashion
.
Grave
men
and
impartial
observers
felt
anxious
.
Napoleon
had
renounced
les
ideas
Napoleoniennes
.
He
was
passing
into
the
category
of
constitutional
sovereigns
,
and
reigning
,
not
by
his
old
undivided
prestige
,
but
by
the
grace
of
party
.
The
press
was
free
to
circulate
complaints
as
to
the
past
and
demands
as
to
the
future
,
beneath
which
the
present
reeled
,
ominous
of
earthquake
.
People
asked
themselves
if
it
were
possible
that
the
Empire
could
co-exist
with
forms
of
government
not
imperial
,
yet
not
genuinely
constitutional
,
with
a
majority
daily
yielding
to
a
minority
.
The
basis
of
universal
suffrage
was
sapped
.
About
this
time
the
articles
in
the
“
Sens
Commun
”
signed
Pierre
Firmin
were
creating
not
only
considerable
sensation
,
but
marked
effect
on
opinion
;
and
the
sale
of
the
journal
was
immense
.
Necessarily
the
repute
and
the
position
of
Gustave
Rameau
,
as
the
avowed
editor
of
this
potent
journal
,
rose
with
its
success
.
Nor
only
his
repute
and
position
;
bank-notes
of
considerable
value
were
transmitted
to
him
by
the
publisher
,
with
the
brief
statement
that
they
were
sent
by
the
sole
proprietor
of
the
paper
as
the
editor’s
fair
share
of
profit
.
The
proprietor
was
never
named
,
but
Rameau
took
it
for
granted
that
it
was
M
.
Lebeau
.
M
.
Lebeau
he
had
never
seen
since
the
day
he
had
brought
him
the
list
of
contributors
,
and
was
then
referred
to
the
publisher
,
whom
he
supposed
M
.
Lebeau
had
secured
,
and
received
the
first
quarter
of
his
salary
in
advance
.
The
salary
was
a
trifle
compared
to
the
extra
profits
thus
generously
volunteered
.
He
called
at
Lebeau’s
office
,
and
saw
only
the
clerk
,
who
said
that
his
chef
was
abroad
.
Prosperity
produced
a
marked
change
for
the
better
,
if
not
in
the
substance
of
Rameau’s
character
,
at
least
in
his
manners
and
social
converse
.
He
no
longer
exhibited
that
restless
envy
of
rivals
,
which
is
the
most
repulsive
symptom
of
vanity
diseased
.
He
pardoned
Isaura
her
success
;
nay
,
he
was
even
pleased
at
it
.
The
nature
of
her
work
did
not
clash
with
his
own
kind
of
writing
.
It
was
so
thoroughly
woman
like
that
one
could
not
compare
it
to
a
man’s
.
Moreover
,
that
success
had
contributed
largely
to
the
profits
by
which
he
had
benefited
,
and
to
his
renown
as
editor
of
the
journal
which
accorded
place
to
this
new-found
genius
.
But
there
was
a
deeper
and
more
potent
cause
for
sympathy
with
the
success
of
his
fair
young
contributor
.
He
had
imperceptibly
glided
into
love
with
her
,
—
a
love
very
different
from
that
with
which
poor
Julie
Caumartin
flattered
herself
she
had
inspired
the
young
poet
.
Isaura
was
one
of
those
women
for
whom
,
even
in
natures
the
least
chivalric
,
love
,
however
ardent
,
cannot
fail
to
be
accompanied
with
a
certain
reverence
