Lisbeth set out for the Rue Plumet, where she now as to the theatre—to her emotions.
The Hulot had for his wife of a large, entrance-room, a drawing-room, and a and dressing-room. The dining-room was next the drawing-room on one side. Two servants' rooms and a on the third the accommodation, which was not of a Councillor of State, high up in the War Office. The house, the court-yard, and the stairs were handsome.
The Baroness, who had to her drawing-room, bed-room, and dining-room with the of her splendor, had away the best of the from the house in the Rue de l'Universite. Indeed, the woman was to these mute of her life; to her they had an almost eloquence. In memory she saw her flowers, as in the she patterns visible now to other eyes.
On going into the anteroom, where twelve chairs, a barometer, a large stove, and long, white curtains, with red, the waiting-room of a Government office, the visitor oppressed, at once of the in which the lived. Grief, like pleasure, the atmosphere. A into any home is to tell you love or there.
Adeline would be in an with by Jacob Desmalters, of in the Empire with ormolu, which looks less than the brass-work of Louis XVI.! It gave one a to see this woman on a Roman chair, a work-table with her, colorless, false cheerfulness, but her air, as she had the she always in the house. Her proud her and her beauty.
The Baroness, by the end of her year of to this apartment, had every of misfortune.
"Still, here my Hector has my life much than it should be for a peasant," said she to herself. "He that it should be so; his will be done! I am Baroness Hulot, the sister-in-law of a Marshal of France. I have done nothing wrong; my two children are settled in life; I can wait for death, in the of an wife and the of happiness."
A portrait of Hulot, in the of a Commissary General of the Imperial Guard, painted in 1810 by Robert Lefebvre, above the work-table, and when visitors were announced, Adeline into a an Imitation of Jesus Christ, her study. This Magdalen thus the Voice of the Spirit in her desert.
"Mariette, my child," said Lisbeth to the woman who opened the door, "how is my dear Adeline to-day?"
"Oh, she looks well, mademoiselle; but you and me, if she goes on in this way, she will kill herself," said Mariette in a whisper. "You ought to her to live better. Now, yesterday told me to give her two sous' of milk and a roll for one sou; to her a for dinner and a of cold veal; she had a to last her the week—of course, for the days when she at home and alone. She will not more than ten a day for her food. It is unreasonable. If I were to say anything about it to Monsieur le Marechal, he might with Monsieur le Baron and him nothing, you, who are so and clever, can manage "
"But why do you not apply to my the Baron?" said Lisbeth.
"Oh, dear mademoiselle, he has not been here for three or more; in fact, not since we last had the of you! Besides, has me, under threat of dismissal, to ask the master for money. But as for grief! oh, lady, she has been very unhappy. It is the time that has neglected her for so long. Every time the she to the window—but for the last five days she has sat still in her chair. She reads. Whenever she goes out to see Madame la Comtesse, she says, ‘Mariette, if comes in,' says she, ‘tell him I am at home, and send the to me; he shall be well paid for his trouble.'"
"Poor soul!" said Lisbeth; "it goes to my heart. I speak of her to the Baron every day. What can I do? ‘Yes,' says he, ‘Betty, you are right; I am a wretch. My wife is an angel, and I am a monster! I will go tomorrow ' And he with Madame Marneffe. That woman is him, and he her; he only in her sight. I do what I can; if I were not there, and if I had not Mathurine to upon, he would twice as much as he does; and as he has any money in the world, he would have his out by this time. And, I tell you, Mariette, Adeline would die of her husband's death, I am perfectly certain. At any rate, I to make ends meet, and prevent my from too much money into the fire."
"Yes, that is what says, soul! She how much she you," Mariette. "She said she had you for many years "
"Indeed!" said Lisbeth. "And did she say anything else?"
"No, mademoiselle. If you wish to her, talk to her about Monsieur le Baron; she you your in him every day."
"Is she alone?"
"I pardon, no; the Marshal is with her. He comes every day, and she always tells him she saw in the morning, but that he comes in very late at night."
"And is there a good dinner to-day?"
Mariette hesitated; she not meet Lisbeth's eye. The drawing-room door opened, and Marshal Hulot out in such that he to Lisbeth without looking at her, and a paper. Lisbeth it up and ran after him downstairs, for it was to a man; but she managed not to overtake the Marshal, and as she came up again she read the lines in pencil:—
"MY DEAR BROTHER,—My husband has me the money for my
quarter's expenses; but my Hortense was in such need of
it, that I her the whole sum, which was to
set her straight. Could you me a hundred francs? For I
cannot ask Hector for more; if he were to me, I not
it."
"My word!" Lisbeth, "she must be in to her to such a degree!"
Lisbeth in. She saw in Adeline's eyes, and her arms her neck.
"Adeline, my dearest, I know all," Cousin Betty. "Here, the Marshal this paper—he was in such a of mind, and like a greyhound. Has that Hector you no money since ?"
"He it me regularly," the Baroness, "but Hortense needed it, and "
"And you had not to pay for dinner to-night," said Lisbeth, her. "Now I why Mariette looked so when I said something about the soup. You are childish, Adeline; come, take my savings."
"Thank you, my cousin," said Adeline, away a tear. "This little is only temporary, and I have provided for the future. My will be no more than two thousand four hundred a year, rent inclusive, and I shall have the money. Above all, Betty, not a word to Hector. Is he well?"
"As as the Pont Neuf, and as as a lark; he thinks of nothing but his Valerie."
Madame Hulot looked out at a tall silver-fir in of the window, and Lisbeth not see her cousin's to read their expression.
"Did you mention that it was the day when we all together here?"
"Yes. But, dear me! Madame Marneffe is a dinner; she to Monsieur Coquet to resign, and that is of the importance. Now, Adeline, to me. You know that I am proud as to my independence. Your husband, my dear, will you to ruin. I I be of use to you all by near this woman, but she is a of depravity, and she will make your husband promise which will you all to disgrace." Adeline like a person to the heart. "My dear Adeline, I am sure of what I say. I it is my to you. Well, let us think of the future. The Marshal is an old man, but he will last a long time yet—he good pay; when he dies his would have a pension of six thousand francs. On such an I would to maintain you all. Use your over the good man to him to me. It is not for the of being Madame la Marechale; I value such nonsense at no more than I value Madame Marneffe's conscience; but you will all have bread. I see that Hortense must be wanting it, since you give her yours."
The Marshal now came in; he had such haste, that he was his with his bandana.
"I have Mariette two thousand francs," he to his sister-in-law.
Adeline to the of her hair. Two on the of the still long lashes, and she pressed the old man's hand; his the of a lover.
"I to the money in a present for you, Adeline," said he. "Instead of me, you must choose for the thing you would like best."
He took Lisbeth's hand, which she out to him, and so was he by his satisfaction, that he it.
"That looks promising," said Adeline to Lisbeth, so as she was able to smile.
The Hulot and his wife now came in.
"Is my to dinner?" asked the Marshal sharply.
Adeline took up a pencil and these on a of paper:
"I him; he promised this that he would be here; but if he should not come, it would be the Marshal him. He is with business."
And she him the paper. She had this way of with Marshal Hulot, and a little of paper and a pencil at hand on the work-table.
"I know," said the Marshal, "he is very hard over the in Algiers."
At this moment, Hortense and Wenceslas arrived, and the Baroness, as she saw all her family about her, gave the Marshal a by none but Lisbeth.
Happiness had the artist, who was by his wife and by the world. His had almost round, and his did to the which blood to men of birth. His early fame, his position, the that the world on as as we say, "How d'ye do?" or discuss the weather, gave him that high of which into when wanes. The Cross of the Legion of Honor was the of the great man he himself to be.
After three years of married life, Hortense was to her husband what a dog is to its master; she his every movement with a look that a inquiry, her were always on him, like those of a on his treasure; her was pathetic. In her might be her mother's and teaching. Her beauty, as great as ever, was touched by the of melancholy.
On Hortense come in, it Lisbeth that some long-suppressed was about to through the thin of reticence. Lisbeth, from the days of the honeymoon, had been sure that this had too small an for so great a passion.
Hortense, as she her mother, with her a phrases, to heart, of which the was to Lisbeth by of the head.
"Adeline, like me, must work for her living," Cousin Betty. "She shall be to tell me what she will do! Those will know at last, like mine, what it is to work they must."
At six o'clock the family party in to dinner. A place was for Hector.
"Leave it so," said the Baroness to Mariette, "monsieur sometimes comes in late."
"Oh, my father will come," said Victorin to his mother. "He promised me he would when we at the Chamber."
Lisbeth, like a in the middle of its net, over all these countenances. Having Victorin and Hortense from their birth, their were to her like of glass, through which she read their souls. Now, from looks by Victorin on his mother, she saw that some was over Adeline which Victorin to reveal. The famous lawyer had some anxiety. His for his mother was in the with which he at her.
Hortense was in her own woes; for a past, as Lisbeth knew, she had been the which want of money to souls, and to on life has smiled, and who their alarms. Also Lisbeth had that her mother had her no money. Adeline's had her so low as to use the that to borrowers.
Hortense's of mind, with her brother's and the Baroness' dejection, the dinner a meal, with the added of the Marshal's deafness. Three gave a little life to the scene: Lisbeth, Celestine, and Wenceslas. Hortense's had the artist's natural as a Pole, the and noisy high that these Frenchmen of the North. His of mind and the of his that he in himself, and that Hortense, to her mother's training, all to herself.
"You must be content, at any rate," said Lisbeth to her cousin, as they rose from table, "since your mother has helped you with her money."
"Mamma!" Hortense in astonishment. "Oh, mamma! It is for me that she would like to make money. You do not know, Lisbeth, but I have a that she for it in secret."
They were the large, dark drawing-room where there were no candles, all Mariette, who was the lamp into Adeline's bedroom. At this Victorin just touched Lisbeth and Hortense on the arm. The two women, the hint, left Wenceslas, Celestine, the Marshal, and the Baroness to go on together, and in a window-bay.
"What is it, Victorin?" said Lisbeth. "Some by your father, I wager."
"Yes, alas!" Victorin. "A money-lender named Vauvinet has of my father's to the amount of sixty thousand francs, and wants to prosecute. I to speak of the to my father at the Chamber, but he would not me; he almost me. Had we tell my mother?"
"No, no," said Lisbeth, "she has too many troubles; it would be a death-blow; you must her. You have no idea how low she has fallen. But for your uncle, you would have no dinner here this evening."
"Dear Heaven! Victorin, what we are!" said Hortense to her brother. "We ought to have what Lisbeth has told us. My dinner is me!"
Hortense say no more; she her mouth with her to a sob, and melted into tears.
"I told the Vauvinet to call on me tomorrow," Victorin, "but will he be satisfied by my on a mortgage? I it. Those men on money to others on terms."
"Let us sell out of the funds!" said Lisbeth to Hortense.
"What good would that do?" Victorin. "It would fifteen or sixteen thousand francs, and we want sixty thousand."
"Dear cousin!" Hortense, Lisbeth with the of guilelessness.
"No, Lisbeth, keep your little fortune," said Victorin, pressing the old maid's hand. "I shall see tomorrow what this man would be up to. With my wife's consent, I can at least or the prosecution—for it would be to see my father's impugned. What would the War Minister say? My father's salary, which he for three years, will not be the month of December, so we cannot offer that as a guarantee. This Vauvinet has the eleven times; so you may what my father must pay in interest. We must close this pit."
"If only Madame Marneffe would him over!" said Hortense bitterly.
"Heaven forbid!" Victorin. "He would take up some one else; and with her, at any rate, the is over."
What a in children so respectful, and so long by their mother in of their father! They him now for what he was.
"But for me," said Lisbeth, "your father's would be more complete than it is."
"Come in to mamma," said Hortense; "she is very sharp, and will something; as our Lisbeth says, let us keep from her—let us be cheerful."
"Victorin," said Lisbeth, "you have no of what your father will be to by his for women. Try to secure some by the Marshal to me. Say something about it this evening; I will early on purpose."
Victorin into the bedroom.
"And you, little thing!" said Lisbeth in an to Hortense, "what can you do?"
"Come to dinner with us tomorrow, and we will talk it over," answered Hortense. "I do not know which way to turn; you know how hard life is, and you will me."
While the whole family with one to the Marshal to marry, and while Lisbeth was making her way home to the Rue Vanneau, one of those which, in such as Madame Marneffe, are a to by them to their energy and every of depravity. One fact, at any rate, must be acknowledged: life in Paris is too full for to do and unprovoked; is only a of against aggressors—that is all.
