On one occasion? I sold him three times over.
Vautrin
That was better. And what business was the steward then engaged in?
Lafouraille
I was going to tell you. I was footman at eighteen with the De
Langeacs —
Vautrin
I thought it was in the Duc de Montsorel’s house.
Lafouraille No; the duke, fortunately, has only twice set eyes on me, and has, I hope, forgotten me.
Vautrin
Did you rob him?
Lafouraille
Well, to some small extent.
Vautrin
Why do you want him to forget you?
Lafouraille Because, after seeing him again, yesterday, at the embassy, I should then feel safe.
Vautrin
And it is the same man?
Lafouraille We are both older by twenty-five years, and that is the only difference.
Vautrin
Tell me all about him. I knew I had heard you mention his name. Go on.
Lafouraille The Vicomte de Langeac, one of my masters, and this Duc de Montsorel were like peas in the same pod. When I was forced to choose between the nobles and the people, I did not hesitate; from a mere footman, I became a citizen, and citizen Philip Boulard was an earnest worker. I had enthusiasm, and acquired influence in the faubourg.
Vautrin
And so you have been a politician, have you?
Lafouraille
Not for long. I did a pretty thing, and that ruined me.
Vautrin Aha! My boy, pretty things are like pretty women — better light shy of them; they often bring trouble. What was this pretty thing?
Lafouraille I’ll tell you. In the scrimmage of the Tenth of August, the duke confided to my care the Vicomte de Langeac; I disguised and hid him, I gave him food at the risk of my popularity and my life. The duke had greatly encouraged me by such trifles as a thousand gold pieces, and that Blondet had the infamy to offer me a bigger pile to give up our young master.
Vautrin
Did you give him up?
Lafouraille Immediately. He was jugged in the Abbaye, and I became the happy possessor of sixty good thousands of francs in gold, in real gold.
Vautrin
And what has this to do with the Duc de Montsorel?
Lafouraille Wait a little. When the days of September came, my conduct seemed to me slightly reprehensible; and to quiet my conscience, I determined to propose to the duke, who was leaving the country that I should rescue his friend.
Vautrin
Did your remorse prove a good investment?
Lafouraille That it did; for it was rare in those days! The duke promised me twenty thousand francs if I delivered the viscount from the hands of my comrades, and I succeeded in doing so.
Vautrin
Twenty thousand francs for a viscount!
Lafouraille And he was all the more worth it, because he was the last. I found that out too late. The steward had disposed of all the other Langeacs, even to the poor grandmother whom he had sent to the Carmelites.
Vautrin
That was good!
Lafouraille But then something else happened. That Blondet heard of my devotion, he traced me out and found me in the neighborhood of Mortagne, where my master was at the house of one of my uncles waiting for a chance to reach the sea. The noodle offered me as much money as he had already given me. I saw before me an honest life for the rest of my days; and I was weak. My friend Blondet caused the viscount to be shot as a spy; and my uncle and myself were imprisoned as his accomplices. We were not released until I had disgorged all my gold.
Vautrin That is the way a knowledge of the human heart is acquired. You were dealing with a stronger man than yourself.
Lafouraille
That remains to be seen; for I am still alive.
Vautrin
Enough of that! There is nothing of use to me in your tale.
Lafouraille
Can I go now?
Vautrin Come, come. You seem to experience a keen longing to be where I am not. But you went into society yesterday; did you do anything?
Lafouraille The servants said such funny things about their masters, that I could not leave the antechamber.
Vautrin
Yet I saw you nibbling at the sideboard; what did you take?
Lafouraille
Nothing — but stay — I took a wineglass of Madeira.
Vautrin What did you do with the dozen of gold spoons that went with the glass of Madeira?
Lafouraille Gold spoons! I’ve searched diligently, but find nothing of that kind in my memory.
Vautrin Possibly; but you will find them in your mattress. And was Philosopher also absent-minded?
Lafouraille Poor Philosopher! Since morning he has been a laughing-stock below stairs. He induced a coachman who was very young to strip off his gold lace for him. It was all false on the underside. In these days masters are thieves. You cannot be sure of anything, more’s the pity.
Vautrin (whistles) This is no joking matter. You will make me lose the house: this must be put a stop to — Here, father Buteux, ahoy! Philosopher! Come here. Fil-de-Soie! My dear friends, let us have a clearing up. You are a pack of scoundrels.
SCENE THIRD.
The same persons, Buteux, Philosopher and Fil-de-Soie.
Buteux
Present! Is the house on fire?
Fil-de-Soie
Is it some one burning with curiosity?
Buteux
A fire would be better, for it can be put out.
Philosopher
But the other can be choked.
Lafouraille
Bah! He has had enough of this trifling.
Buteux
So we are to have more moralizing — thank you for that.
Fil-de-Soie
He cannot want me for I have not been out.
Vautrin (to Fil-de-Soie) You? The evening when I bade you exchange your scullion’s cap for a footman’s hat — poisoner —
Fil-de-Soie
We will drop the extra names.
Vautrin And you accompanied me as my footman to the field marshal’s; while helping me on with my cloak, you stole the watch of the Cossack prince.
Fil-de-Soie
One of the enemies of France.
Vautrin
You, Buteux, you old malefactor, carried off the opera-glass of the
Princesse d’Arjos the evening she set down your young master at our
gate.
Buteux
It dropped on the carriage step.
Vautrin You should have respectfully handed it back to her; but the gold and the pearls appealed to your tigerish talons.
Lafouraille Now, now, surely people can have a little fun? Devil take it! Did not you, Jacques —
Vautrin
What do you mean?
Lafouraille Did not you, Monsieur Vautrin, require thirty thousand francs that this young man might live in princely style? We succeeded in satisfying you in the fashion of foreign governments, by borrowing, and getting credit. All those who come to ask for me leave some with us. And you are not satisfied.
Fil-de-Soie And if, when I am sent to buy provisions without a sou, I may not be allowed to bring back some cash with me, — I might as well send in my resignation.
Philosopher And didn’t I sell our custom to four different coach-builders — 5,000 francs each clip — and the man who got the order lost all? One evening Monsieur de Frescas starts off from home with wretched screws, and we bring him back, Lafouraille and I, with a span worth ten thousand francs, which have cost him only twenty glasses of brandy.
Lafouraille
No, it was Kirchenwasser.
Philosopher
Yes, and yet you fly into a rage —
Fil-de-Soie
How are you going to keep house now?
Vautrin Do you expect to do things of this kind for long? What I have permitted in order to set up our establish
ment, from this day forth I forbid. You wish, I suppose, to descend from robbery to swindling? If you do not understand what I say I will look out for better servants.
Buteux
And where will you find them?
Lafouraille
Let him hunt for them!
Vautrin You forget, I see, that I have pledged myself to save your necks! Dear, dear, do you think I have sifted you, like seeds in a colander, through three different places of residence, to let you hover round a gibbet, like flies round a candle? I wish you to know that any imprudence that brings you to such a position, is, to men of my stamp, a crime. You ought to appear as supremely innocent as you, Philosopher, appeared to him who let you rip off his lace. Never forget the part you are playing; you are honest fellows, faithful domestics, and adore Raoul de Frescas, your master.
Buteux Do you take this young man for a god? You have harnessed us to his car; but we know him no better than he knows us.
Philosopher
Tell me, is he one of our kind?
Fil-de-Soie
What is he going to bring us to?
Lafouraille We obey on condition that the Society of the Ten Thousand be reconstituted, so that never less than ten thousand francs at a time be assigned to us; at present we have not any funds in common.
Fil-de-Soie
When are we all to be capitalists?
Buteux If the gang knew that for the last six months I have been disguising myself as an old porter, without any object, I should be disgraced. If I am willing to risk my neck, it is that I may give bread to my Adele, whom you have forbidden me to see, and who for six months must have been as dry as a match.
Lafouraille (to the other two)
She is in prison. Poor man! Let us spare his feelings.
Vautrin Have you finished? Come now, you have made merry here for six months, eaten like diplomats, drunk like Poles, and have wanted nothing.
Buteux
Yes, we are rusting out!
Vautrin Thanks to me, the police have forgotten you! You owe your good luck to me alone! I have erased the brand from your foreheads. I am the head, whose ideas you, the arms, carry out.
Philosopher
We are satisfied.
Vautrin
You must all obey me blindly.
Lafouraille
Blindly.
Vautrin
Without a murmur.
Fil-de-Soie
Without a murmur.
Vautrin Or else let us break our compact, and be off with you! If I meet with ingratitude from you, to whom can I venture hereafter to do a service?
Philosopher
To no one, my emperor.
Lafouraille
I should rather say, our great teacher!
Buteux
I love you more than I love Adele.
Fil-de-Soie
We worship you.
Vautrin
If necessary, I shall even have to beat you.
Philosopher
We’ll take it without a murmur.
Vautrin
To spit in your face; to bowl over your lives like a row of skittles.
Buteux
But I bowl over with a knife.
Vautrin
Very well — Kill me this instant.
Buteux It is no use being vexed with this man. Do you wish me to restore the opera-glass? I intended it for Adele!
All (surrounding Vautrin)
Would you abandon us, Vautrin?
Lafouraille
Vautrin! Our friend.
Philosopher
Mighty Vautrin!
Fil-de-Soie
Our old companion, deal with us as you will.
Vautrin Yes, and I can deal with you as I will. When I think what trouble you make, in your trinket-stealing, I feel inclined to send you back to the place I took you from. You are either above or below the level of society, dregs or foam; but I desire to make you enter into society. People used to hoot you as you went by. I wish them to bow to you; you were once the basest of mankind, I wish you to be more than honest men.
Philosopher
Is there such a class?
Buteux
There are those who are nothing at all.
Vautrin There are those who decide upon the honesty of others. You will never be honest burgesses, you must belong either to the wretched or the rich; you must therefore master one-half of the world! Take a bath of gold, and you will come forth from it virtuous!
Fil-de-Soie
To think, that, when I have need of nothing, I shall be a good prince!
Vautrin Of course. And you, Lafouraille, you can become Count of Saint Helena; and what would you like to be, Buteux?
Buteux I should like to be a philanthropist, for the philanthropist always becomes a millionaire.
Philosopher
And I, a banker.
Fil-de-Soie
He wishes to be a licensed professional.
Vautrin Show yourselves then, according as occasion demands it, blind and clear-sighted, adroit and clumsy, stupid and clever, like all those who make their fortune. Never judge me, and try to understand my meaning. You ask who Raoul de Frescas is? I will explain to you; he will soon have an income of twelve hundred thousand francs. He will be a prince. And I picked him up when he was begging on the high road, and ready to become a drummer-boy; in his twelfth year he had neither name nor family; he came from Sardinia, where he must have got into some trouble, for he was a fugitive from justice.
Buteux
Oh, now that we know his antecedents and his social position —
Vautrin
Be off to your lodge!
Buteux
Little Nini, daughter of Giroflee is there —
Vautrin
She may let a spy pass in.
Buteux She! She is a little cat to whom it is not necessary to point out the stool-pigeons.
Vautrin You may judge my power from what I am in process of doing for Raoul. Ought he not to be preferred before all? Raoul de Frescas is a young man who has remained pure as an angel in the midst of our mire-pit; he is our conscience; moreover, he is my creation; I am at once his father, his mother, and I desire to be his guiding providence. I, who can never know happiness, still delight in making other people happy. I breathe through his lips, I live in his life, his passions are my own; and it is impossible for me to know noble and pure emotions excepting in the heart of this being unsoiled by crime. You have your fancies, here I show you mine. In exchange for the blight which society has brought upon me, I give it a man of honor, and enter upon a struggle with destiny; do you wish to be of my party? Obey me.
All
In life, and death —
Vautrin (aside) So my savage beasts are once more brought to submission. (Aloud) Philosopher, try to put on the air, the face, the costume of an employe of the lost goods bureau, and take back to the embassy the plate borrowed by Lafouraille. (To Fil-de-Soie) You, Fil-de-Soie, must prepare a sumptuous dinner, as Monsieur de Frescas is to entertain a few friends. You will afterwards dress yourself as a respectable man, and assume the air of a lawyer. You will go to number six, Rue Oblin, ring seven times at the fourth-story door, and ask for Pere Giroflee. When they ask where you come from, you will answer from a seaport in Bohemia. They will let you in. I want certain letters and papers of the Duc de Christoval; here are the text and patterns. I want an absolute fac-simile, with the briefest possible delay. Lafouraille, you must go and insert a few lines in the newspapers, notifying the arrival of . . . (He whispers into his ear.) This forms part of my plan. Now leave me.
Lafouraille
Well, are you satisfied?
Vautrin
Yes.
Philosopher
You want nothing more of us?
Vautrin
Nothing.
Fil-de-Soie
There will be no more rebellion; every one will be good.
Buteux Let your mind rest easy; we are going to be n
ot only polite, but honest.
Vautrin That is right, boys; a little integrity, a great deal of address, and you will be respected.
(Exeunt all except Vautrin.)
SCENE FOURTH.
Vautrin (alone) In order to lead them it is only necessary to let them think they have an honorable future. They have no future, no prospects! Pshaw! If generals took their soldiers seriously, not a cannon would be fired! In a few days, following upon years of subterranean labors, I shall have won for Raoul a commanding position; it must be made sure to him. Lafouraille and Philosopher will be necessary to me in the country where I am to give him a family. Ah, this love! It has put out of the question the life I had destined him to. I wished to win for him a solitary glory, to see him conquering for me and under my direction, the world which I am forbidden to enter. Raoul is not only the child of my intellect and of my malice, he is also my instrument of revenge. These fellows of mine cannot understand these sentiments; they are happy; they have never fallen, not they! They were born criminals. But I have attempted to raise myself. Yet though a man can raise himself in the eyes of God, he can never do so in the eyes of the world. People tell you to repent, and then refuse to pardon. Men possess in their dealings with each other the instincts of savage animals. Once wounded, one is down-trodden by his fellows. Moreover, to ask the protection of a world whose laws you have trampled under foot is like returning to a house which you have burnt and whose roof would fall and crush you. I have well polished and perfected the magnetic instrument of my domination. Raoul was brave, he would have sacrificed his life, like a fool; I had to make him cold and domineering, and to dispel from his mind, one by one, his exalted ideas of life; to render him suspicious and tricky as — an old bill-broker, while all the while he knew not who I was. And at this moment love has broken down the whole scaffolding. He should have been great; now, he can only be happy. I shall therefore retire to live in a corner at the height of his prosperity; his happiness will have been my work. For two days I have been asking myself whether it would not be better that the Princesse d’Arjos should die of some ailment — say brain fever. It’s singular how many plans a woman can upset!
SCENE FIFTH.
Vautrin and Lafouraille.
Vautrin
What is the matter? Cannot I be alone one moment? Did I call?
Lafouraille
We are likely to feel the claws of justice scratch our shoulders.
Vautrin
What new blunder have you committed?
Lafouraille The fact is little Nini has admitted a well-dressed gentleman who asks to see you. Buteux is whistling the air, There’s No Place Like Home, so it must be a sleuth.
Works of Honore De Balzac Page 1397