One Victorin Hulot, his father retire for the night, said to his mother:
"Well, we are at any so happy that my father has come to us. My wife and I shall our if only this lasts "
"Your father is nearly seventy," said the Baroness. "He still thinks of Madame Marneffe, that I can see; but he will her in time. A for is not like gambling, or speculation, or avarice; there is an end to it."
But Adeline, still in of her fifty years and her sorrows, in this was mistaken. Profligates, men Nature has with the power of the limits set to love, are as old as their age.
During this into Baron Hulot had been three times to the Rue du Dauphin, and had not been the man of seventy. His him again, and he would have his to Valerie, his family, his all, without a regret. But Valerie, now altered, mentioned money, not the twelve hundred a year to be settled on their son; on the contrary, she offered him money, she loved Hulot as a woman of six-and-thirty loves a law-student—a poor, poetical, boy. And the wife she had her dear Hector!
The fourth meeting this had been upon at the end of the third, as in Italian theatres the play was for the next night. The hour was nine in the morning. On the next day when the was for which the old man had himself to rules, at about eight in the morning, Reine came and asked to see the Baron. Hulot, some catastrophe, out to speak with Reine, who would not come into the anteroom. The waiting-maid gave him the note:—
"DEAR OLD MAN,—Do not go to the Rue du Dauphin. Our is
ill, and I must nurse him; but be there this at nine.
Crevel is at Corbeil with Monsieur Lebas; so I am sure he will
no to his little palace. I have arrangements
here to be free for the night and Marneffe is
awake. Answer me as to all this, for your long of a
wife no longer you your as she did. I am told she
is still so that you might play me false, you are such a
dog! Burn this note; I am of every one."
Hulot this in reply:
"MY LOVE,—As I have told you, my wife has not for five-and-twenty
years with my pleasures. For you I would give up a
hundred Adelines. I will be in the Crevel at nine this
my divinity. Oh that your might soon die!
We should part no more. And this is the wish of
"YOUR HECTOR."
That the Baron told his wife that he had with the Minister at Saint-Cloud, that he would come home at about four or five in the morning; and he to the Rue du Dauphin. It was the end of the month of June.
Few men have in the of their life the of going to their death; those who have returned from the of the may be easily counted. But some have had a of it in dreams; they have gone through it all, to the of the knife at their throat, at the moment when and come to them. Well, the to which the Councillor of State was a at five in the in Crevel's and bed, was than that of himself to the in the presence of ten thousand looking at you with twenty thousand of fire.
Valerie was asleep in a attitude. She was lovely, as a woman is who is to look so in sleep. It is art nature; in short, a picture.
In his position the Baron's were but three above the floor. His gaze, idly, as that of a man who is just and his ideas, on a door painted with flowers by Jan, an artist of fame. The Baron did not see twenty thousand eyes, like the man to death; he saw but one, of which the was more than the thousands on the Public Square.
Now this sensation, in the of than that of a man to death, was one for which many a Englishman would pay a high price. The Baron there, still, and in cold sweat. He to the fact; but this had a voice. A of was through the door.
"So long as it is nobody but Crevel playing a on me!" said the Baron to himself, only too of an in the temple.
The door was opened. The Majesty of the French Law, which in all documents next to the King, visible in the person of a little police-officer supported by a tall Justice of the Peace, in by Monsieur Marneffe. The police functionary, in shoes of which the were together with bows, ended at top in a yellow almost of hair, and a him as a wide-awake, cheerful, and dog, from Paris life had no secrets. His eyes, though with spectacles, the with a glance. The Justice of the Peace, a retired attorney, and an old of the sex, the delinquent.
"Pray the by our office, Monsieur le Baron!" said the constable; "we are acting for the plaintiff. The Justice of the Peace is here to the of the premises. I know who you are, and who the lady is who is accused."
Valerie opened her eyes, gave such a as use to on the stage, in on the bed, like a of the Middle Ages in her sulphur-colored on a of faggots.
"Death, and I am ready! my dear Hector—but a police court? Oh! never."
With one she passed the three and under the little writing-table, her in her hands.
"Ruin! Death!" she cried.
"Monsieur," said Marneffe to Hulot, "if Madame Marneffe goes mad, you are than a profligate; you will be a murderer."
What can a man do, what can he say, when he is in a which is not his, on the score of hiring, with a woman who is no more his than the is? Well, this:
"Monsieur the Justice of the Peace, Monsieur the Police Officer," said the Baron with some dignity, "be good to take proper of that woman, to me to be in danger. You can me afterwards. The doors are locked, no doubt; you need not that she will away, or I either, the we wear."
The two to the magnate's injunctions.
"You, come here, cur!" said Hulot in a low voice to Marneffe, taking him by the arm and him closer. "It is not I, but you, who will be the murderer! You want to be head-clerk of your room and officer of the Legion of Honor?"
"That in the place, Chief!" Marneffe, with a bow.
"You shall be all that, only your wife and these fellows."
"Nay, nay!" said Marneffe knowingly. "These must up their report as to the fact; without that, the in my case, where should I be? The higher official ranks are of rascalities. You have done me out of my wife, and you have not promoted me, Monsieur le Baron; I give you only two days to out of the scrape. Here are some "
"Some letters!" Hulot.
"Yes; which prove that you are the father of the child my wife to give birth to. You understand? And you ought to settle on my son a equal to what he will through this bastard. But I will be reasonable; this not me, I have no for myself. A hundred a year will satisfy me. By tomorrow I must be Monsieur Coquet's and see my name on the list for promotion in the Legion of Honor at the July fetes, or else—the and my against you will be the Bench. I am not so hard to with after all, you see."
"Bless me, and such a woman!" said the Justice of the Peace to the police constable. "What a to the world if she should go mad!"
"She is not mad," said the sententiously. The police is always the of scepticism. "Monsieur le Baron Hulot has been by a trick," he added, loud for Valerie to him.
Valerie a from her which would have killed him on the spot if looks the they express. The police-officer smiled; he had a snare, and the woman had into it. Marneffe his wife to go into the other room and herself decently, for he and the Baron had come to an agreement on all points, and Hulot his dressing-gown and came out again.
"Gentlemen," said he to the two officials, "I need not on you to be secret."
The bowed.
The police-officer twice on the door; his came in, sat at the "bonheur-du-jour," and what the to him in an undertone. Valerie still vehemently. When she was dressed, Hulot into the other room and put on his clothes. Meanwhile the report was written.
Marneffe then wanted to take his wife home; but Hulot, that he saw her for the last time, the of being allowed to speak with her.
"Monsieur, your wife has cost me dear for me to be allowed to say good-bye to her—in the presence of you all, of course."
Valerie up to Hulot, and he in her ear:
"There is nothing left for us but to fly, but how can we correspond? We have been "
"Through Reine," she answered. "But my dear friend, after this we can meet again. I am disgraced. Besides, you will about me—you will them "
The Baron a of denial.
"You will them, and I can thank God for that, for then you will not me."
"He will not die a second-class clerk!" said Marneffe to Hulot, as he his wife away, saying roughly, "Come, madame; if I am to you, I do not choose to be a to others."
Valerie left the house, Crevel's Eden, with a last at the Baron, so that he she him. The Justice of the Peace gave Madame Marneffe his arm to the coach with a of gallantry. The Baron, who was to the report, bewildered, alone with the police-officer. When the Baron had signed, the officer looked at him keenly, over his glasses.
"You are very sweet on the little lady, Monsieur le Baron?"
"To my sorrow, as you see."
"Suppose that she not for you?" the man on, "that she is you?"
"I have long that, monsieur—here, in this very spot, Monsieur Crevel and I told each other "
"Oh! Then you that you were in Monsieur le Maire's private snuggery?"
"Perfectly."
The touched his with a gesture.
"You are very much in love," said he. "I say no more. I respect an passion, as a doctor respects an complaint. I saw Monsieur de Nucingen, the banker, in the same way "
"He is a friend of mine," said the Baron. "Many a time have I with his Esther. She was the two she cost him."
"And more," said the officer. "That of the old Baron's cost four their lives. Oh! such as these are like the cholera!"
"What had you to say to me?" asked the Baron, who took this very ill.
"Oh! why should I you of your illusions?" the officer. "Men have any left at your age!"
"Rid me of them!" the Councillor.
"You will the physician later," the officer, smiling.
"I of you, monsieur."
"Well, then, that woman was in with her husband."
"Oh! "
"Yes, sir, and so it is in two cases out of every ten. Oh! we know it well."
"What proof have you of such a conspiracy?"
"In the place, the husband!" said the other, with the of a in wounds. "Mean is in every line of that face. But you, no doubt, set great store by a by that woman with to the child?"
"So much so, that I always have it about me," Hulot, in his breast-pocket for the little pocketbook which he always there.
"Leave your pocketbook where it is," said the man, as as a thunder-clap. "Here is the letter. I now know all I want to know. Madame Marneffe, of course, was aware of what that pocketbook contained?"
"She alone in the world."
"So I supposed. Now for the proof you asked for of her with her husband."
"Let us hear!" said the Baron, still incredulous.
"When we came in here, Monsieur le Baron, that Marneffe the way, and he took up this letter, which his wife, no doubt, had on this writing-table," and he pointed to the bonheur-du-jour. "That was the spot upon by the couple, in case she should succeed in the while you were asleep; for this letter, as to you by the lady, is, with those you to her, in a police-court."
He Hulot the note that Reine had delivered to him in his private room at the office.
"It is one of the documents in the case," said the police-agent; "return it to me, monsieur."
"Well, monsieur," Hulot with expression, "that woman is itself in ratios. I am at this moment that she has three lovers."
"That is perfectly evident," said the officer. "Oh, they are not all on the streets! When a woman that in a and a drawing-room, and her own house, it is not a case for and centimes, Monsieur le Baron. Mademoiselle Esther, of you spoke, and who herself, away with millions. If you will take my advice, you will out of it, monsieur. This last little game will have cost you dear. That of a husband has the law on his side. And indeed, but for me, that little woman would have you again!"
"Thank you, monsieur," said the Baron, trying to maintain his dignity.
"Now we will lock up; the is played out, and you can send your key to Monsieur the Mayor."
Hulot home in a of on helplessness, and in the thoughts. He his and wife, and into her the history of the past three years, like a child of a toy. This from an old man in feeling, this and heart-rending narrative, while it Adeline with pity, also gave her the joy; she thanked Heaven for this last catastrophe, for in she saw the husband settled at last in the of his family.
"Lisbeth was right," said Madame Hulot and without any recrimination, "she told us how it would be."
"Yes. If only I had to her, of into a rage, that day when I wanted Hortense to go home than the of that—Oh! my dear Adeline, we must save Wenceslas. He is up to his in that mire!"
"My old man, the middle-classes have out no than the actresses," said Adeline, with a smile.
The Baroness was at the in her Hector; when she saw him so unhappy, ailing, under his weight of woes, she was all heart, all pity, all love; she would have her blood to make Hulot happy.
"Stay with us, my dear Hector. Tell me what is it that such do to you so powerfully. I too will try. Why have you not me to be what you want? Am I in intelligence? Men still think me to my favor."
Many a married woman, to her and to her husband, may here pause to ask herself why and men, so tender-hearted to the Madame Marneffes, do not take their for the object of their and passions, like the Baronne Adeline Hulot.
This is, indeed, one of the most of nature. Love, which is of reason, the and of a soul, and pleasure, the in the market-place, are two of the same thing. The woman who can satisfy these is as in her as a great general, a great writer, a great artist, a great in a nation. A man of or an idiot—a Hulot or a Crevel—equally for the and for enjoyment; all go in search of the compound, so that at last it is to be a work in two volumes. This is a to society.
Marriage, no doubt, must be as a tie; it is life, with its and its on parts equally. Libertines, who for treasure, are as as other evil-doers who are more with than they. These are not a of moralizing; they the of many misfortunes. But, indeed, this points its own moral—or morals, for they are of many kinds.
The Baron presently to call on the Marshal Prince de Wissembourg, powerful was now his only chance. Having under his protection for five-and-thirty years, he was a visitor at all hours, and would be to his rooms as soon as he was up.
"Ah! How are you, my dear Hector?" said the great and leader. "What is the matter? You look anxious. And yet the session is ended. One more over! I speak of that now as I used to speak of a campaign. And I the newspapers speak of the sessions as campaigns."
"We have been in difficulties, I must confess, Marshal; but the times are hard!" said Hulot. "It cannot be helped; the world was so. Every phase has its own drawbacks. The in the year 1841 is that neither the King the ministers are free to act as Napoleon was."
The Marshal gave Hulot one of those which in its pride, clearness, and that, in of years, that was still and vigorous.
"You want me to so something for you?" said he, in a tone.
"I myself under the of to you for the promotion of one of my second to the of a room—as a personal to myself—and his to be officer of the Legion of Honor."
"What is his name?" said the Marshal, with a look like a flash.
"Marneffe."
"He has a wife; I saw her on the occasion of your daughter's marriage. If Roger—but Roger is away! Hector, my boy, this is with your pleasures. What, you still ?Well, you are a to the old Guard. That is what comes of having been in the Commissariat; you have reserves! But have nothing to do with this little job, my dear boy; it is too of the to be good business."
"No, Marshal; it is business, for the police have a in it. Would you like to see me go there?"
"The devil!" said the Prince uneasily. "Go on!"
"Well, I am in the of a fox. You have always been so to me, that you will, I am sure, to help me out of the position in which I am placed."
Hulot related his misadventures, as and as as he could.
"And you, Prince, will you allow my to die of grief, a man you love so well; or one of your staff in the War Office, a Councillor of State, to live in disgrace. This Marneffe is a creature; he can be in two or three years."
"How you talk of two or three years, my dear fellow!" said the Marshal.
"But, Prince, the Imperial Guard is immortal."
"I am the last of the of Marshals," said the Prince. "Listen, Hector. You do not know the of my to you; you shall see. On the day when I retire from office, we will go together. But you are not a Deputy, my friend. Many men want your place; but for me, you would be out of it by this time. Yes, I have many a to keep you in it. Well, I you your two requests; it would be too to see you the at your age and in the position you hold. But you your a little too far. If this to discussion, we shall not be blameless. I can laugh at such things; but you will it a under your feet. And the next session will see your dismissal. Your place is out as a to five or six men, and you have been to keep it by the of my arguments. I tell you, on the day when you retire, there will be five to one happy man; whereas, by you on by a for two or three years, we shall secure all six votes. There was a great laugh at the Council meeting; the Veteran of the Old Guard, as they say, was wide in tactics! I am with you. And you are gray; you are a happy man to be able to into such as these! How long is it since I—Lieutenant Cottin—had a mistress?"
He the bell.
"That police report must be destroyed," he added.
"Monseigneur, you are as a father to me! I not mention my on that point."
"I still wish I had Roger here," the Prince, as Mitouflet, his of the chambers, came in. "I was just going to send for him! You may go, Mitouflet. Go you, my dear old fellow, go and have the nomination out; I will it. At the same time, that low will not long the fruit of his crimes. He will be watched, and out of the for the smallest fault. You are saved this time, my dear Hector; take for the future. Do not your friends' patience. You shall have the nomination this morning, and your man shall his promotion in the Legion of Honor. How old are you now?"
"Within three months of seventy."
"What a scapegrace!" said the Prince, laughing. "It is you who a promotion, but, by thunder! we are not under Louis XV.!"
Such is the of that the of the Napoleonic phalanx, that they always as if they were in together, and to together through thick and thin.
"One more such as this," Hulot as he the courtyard, "and I am done for!"
The official to Baron de Nucingen, to he now a trifle, and succeeded in thousand francs, on his salary for two years more; the banker that in the event of Hulot's retirement on his pension, the whole of it should be to the of the till the and were all off.
This new bargain, like the first, was in the name of Vauvinet, to the Baron notes of hand to the amount of twelve thousand francs.
On the day, the police report, the husband's charge, the letters—all the papers—were destroyed. The promotion of Monsieur Marneffe, in the of the July fetes, was not on in any newspaper.
