by Eugène Sue
The terrible storm which rages without renders still more agreeable the picture of this peaceful interior. A rousing fire burns in a broad chimney-place faced with white marble, and throws its joyous light on the carefully polished floor; nothing can be more cheerful than the old fashioned chintz hangings and curtains with red Chinese figures upon a white ground, and the panels over the door painted with pastoral scenes in the style of Watteau. A clock of Sevres china, and rosewood furniture inlaid with green — quaint and portly furniture, twisted into all sorts of grotesque shapes — complete the decorations of this apartment.
Out-doors, the gale continued to howl furiously, and sometimes a gust of wind would rush down the chimney, or shake the fastenings of the windows. The man who was occupied in sorting the samples of grain was M. Dupont, bailiff of Cardoville manor.
“Holy Virgin!” said his wife; “what dreadful weather, my dear! This M. Rodin, who is to come here this morning, as the Princess de Saint Dizier’s steward announced to us, picked out a very bad day for it.”
“Why, in truth, I have rarely heard such a hurricane. If M. Rodin has never seen the sea in its fury, he may feast his eyes to-day with the sight.”
“What can it be that brings this M. Rodin, my dear?”
“Faith! I know nothing about it. The steward tells me in his letter to show M. Rodin the greatest attention, and to obey him as if he were my master. It will be for him to explain himself, and for me to execute his orders, since he comes on the part of the princess.”
“By rights he should come from Mademoiselle Adrienne, as the land belongs to her since the death of the duke her father.”
“Yes; but the princess being aunt to the young lady, her steward manages Mademoiselle Adrienne’s affairs — so whether one or the other, it amounts to the same thing.”
“May be M. Rodin means to buy the estate. Though, to be sure, that stout lady who came from Paris last week on purpose to see the chateau appeared to have a great wish for it.”
At these words the bailiff began to laugh with a sly look.
“What is there to laugh at, Dupont?” asked his wife, a very good creature, but not famous for intelligence or penetration.
“I laugh,” answered Dupont, “to think of the face and figure of that enormous woman: with such a look, who the devil would call themselves Madame de la Sainte-Colombe — Mrs. Holy Dove? A pretty saint, and a pretty dove, truly! She is round as a hogshead, with the voice of a town-crier; has gray moustachios like an old grenadier, and without her knowing it, I heard her say to her servant: ‘Stir your stumps, my hearty!’ — and yet she calls herself Sainte-Colombe!”
“How hard on her you are, Dupont; a body don’t choose one’s name. And, if she has a beard, it is not the lady’s fault.”
“No — but it is her fault to call herself Sainte-Colombe. Do you imagine it her true name? Ah, my poor Catherine, you are yet very green in some things.”
“While you, my poor Dupont, are well read in slander! This lady seems very respectable. The first thing she asked for on arriving was the chapel of the Castle, of which she had heard speak. She even said that she would make some embellishments in it; and, when I told her we had no church in this little place, she appeared quite vexed not to have a curate in the village.”
“Oh, to be sure! that’s the first thought of your upstarts — to play the great lady of the parish, like your titled people.”
“Madame de la Sainte-Colombe need not play the great lady, because she is one.”
“She! a great lady? Oh, lor’!”
“Yes — only see how she was dressed, in scarlet gown, and violet gloves like a bishop’s; and, when she took off her bonnet, she had a diamond band round her head-dress of false, light hair, and diamond ear-drops as large as my thumb, and diamond rings on every finger! None of your tuppenny beauties would wear so many diamonds in the middle of the day.”
“You are a pretty judge!”
“That is not all.”
“Do you mean to say there’s more?”
“She talked of nothing but dukes, and marquises, and counts, and very rich gentlemen, who visit at her house, and are her most intimate friends; and then, when she saw the summer house in the park, half-burnt by the Prussians, which our late master never rebuilt, she asked, ‘What are those ruins there?’ and I answered: ‘Madame, it was in the time of the Allies that the pavilion was burnt.’— ‘Oh, my clear,’ cried she; ‘our allies, good, dear allies! they and the Restoration began my fortune!’ So you see, Dupont, I said to myself directly: ‘She was no doubt one of the noble women who fled abroad—’”
“Madame de la Sainte-Colombe!” cried the bailiff, laughing heartily. “Oh, my poor, poor wife!”
“Oh, it is all very well; but because you have been three years at Paris, don’t think yourself a conjurer!”
“Catherine, let’s drop it: you will make me say some folly, and there are certain things which dear, good creatures like you need never know.”
“I cannot tell what you are driving at, only try to be less slanderous — for, after all, should Madame de la Sainte-Colombe buy the estate, will you be sorry to remain as her bailiff, eh?”
“Not I — for we are getting old, my good Catherine; we have lived here twenty years, and we have been too honest to provide for our old days by pilfering — and truly, at our age, it would be hard to seek another place, which perhaps we should not find. What I regret is, that Mademoiselle Adrienne should not keep the land; it seems that she wished to sell it, against the will of the princess.”
“Good gracious, Dupont! is it not very extraordinary that Mademoiselle Adrienne should have the disposal of her large fortune so early in life?”
“Faith! simple enough. Our young lady, having no father or mother, is mistress of her property, besides having a famous little will of her own. Dost remember, ten years ago, when the count brought her down here one summer? — what an imp of mischief! and then what eyes! eh? — how they sparkled, even then!”
“It is true that Mademoiselle Adrienne had in her look — an expression — a very uncommon expression for her age.”
“If she has kept what her witching, luring face promised, she must be very pretty by this time, notwithstanding the peculiar color of her hair — for, between ourselves, if she had been a tradesman’s daughter, instead of a young lady of high birth, they would have called it red.”
“There again! more slander.”
“What! against Mademoiselle Adrienne? Heaven forbid — I always thought that she would be as good as pretty, and it is not speaking ill of her to say she has red hair. On the contrary, it always appears to me so fine, so bright, so sunny, and to suit so well her snowy complexion and black eyes, that in truth I would not have had it other than it was; and I am sure, that now this very color of her hair, which would be a blemish in any one else, must only add to the charm of Mademoiselle Adrienne’s face. She must have such a sweet vixen look!”
“Oh! to be candid, she really was a vixen — always running about the park, aggravating her governess, climbing the trees — in fact, playing all manner of naughty tricks.”
“I grant you, Mademoiselle Adrienne was a chip of the old block; but then what wit, what engaging ways, and above all, what a good heart!”
“Yes — that she certainly had. Once I remember she gave her shawl and her new merino frock to a poor little beggar girl, and came back to the house in her petticoat, and bare arms.”
“Oh, an excellent heart — but headstrong — terribly headstrong!”
“Yes — that she was; and ’tis likely to finish badly, for it seems that she does things at Paris — oh! such things—”
“What things?”
“Oh, my dear; I can hardly venture—”
“Fell, but what are they?”
“Why,” said the worthy dame, with a sort of embarrassment and confusion, which showed how much she was shocked by such enormities, “they say, that Mademoiselle Adrienne never sets foot in a church,
but lives in a kind of heathen temple in her aunt’s garden, where she has masked women to dress her up like a goddess, and scratches them very often, because she gets tipsy — without mentioning, that every night she plays on a hunting horn of massive gold — all which causes the utmost grief and despair to her poor aunt the princess.”
Here the bailiff burst into a fit of laughter, which interrupted his wife.
“Now tell me,” said he, when this first access of hilarity was over, “where did you get these fine stories about Mademoiselle Adrienne?”
“From Rene’s wife, who went to Paris to look for a child to nurse; she called at Saint-Dizier House, to see Madame Grivois, her godmother. — Now Madame Grivois is first bedchamber woman to the princess — and she it was who told her all this — and surely she ought to know, being in the house.”
“Yes, a fine piece of goods that Grivois! once she was a regular bad ‘un, but now she professes to be as over-nice as her mistress; like master like man, they say. The princess herself, who is now so stiff and starched, knew how to carry on a lively game in her time. Fifteen years ago, she was no such prude: do you remember that handsome colonel of hussars, who was in garrison at Abbeville? an exiled noble who had served in Russia, whom the Bourbons gave a regiment on the Restoration?”
“Yes, yes — I remember him; but you are really too backbiting.”
“Not a bit — I only speak the truth. The colonel spent his whole time here, and every one said he was very warm with this same princess, who is now such a saint. Oh! those were the jolly times. Every evening, some new entertainment at the chateau. What a fellow that colonel was, to set things going; how well he could act a play! — I remember—”
The bailiff was unable to proceed. A stout maid-servant, wearing the costume and cap of Picardy, entered in haste, and thus addressed her mistress: “Madame, there is a person here that wants to speak to master; he has come in the postmaster’s calash from Saint-Valery, and he says that he is M. Rodin.”
“M. Rodin?” said the bailiff rising. “Show him in directly!”
A moment after, M. Rodin made his appearance. According to his custom, he was dressed even more than plainly. With an air of great humility, he saluted the bailiff and his wife, and at a sign from her husband, the latter withdrew. The cadaverous countenance of M. Rodin, his almost invisible lips, his little reptile eyes, half concealed by their flabby lids, and the sordid style of his dress, rendered his general aspect far from prepossessing; yet this man knew how, when it was necessary, to affect, with diabolical art, so much sincerity and good-nature — his words were so affectionate and subtly penetrating — that the disagreeable feeling of repugnance, which the first sight of him generally inspired, wore off little by little, and he almost always finished by involving his dupe or victim in the tortuous windings of an eloquence as pliant as it was honeyed and perfidious; for ugliness and evil have their fascination, as well as what is good and fair.
The honest bailiff looked at this man with surprise, when he thought of the pressing recommendation of the steward of the Princess de Saint Dizier; he had expected to see quite another sort of personage, and, hardly able to dissemble his astonishment, he said to him: “Is it to M. Rodin that I have the honor to speak?”
“Yes, sir; and here is another letter from the steward of the Princess de Saint-Dizier.”
“Pray, sir, draw near the fire, whilst I just see what is in this letter. The weather is so bad,” continued the bailiff, obligingly, “may I not offer you some refreshment?”
“A thousand thanks, my dear sir; I am off again in an hour.”
Whilst M. Dupont read, M. Rodin threw inquisitive glances round the chamber; like a man of skill and experience, he had frequently drawn just and useful inductions from those little appearances, which, revealing a taste or habit, give at the same time some notion of a character; on this occasion, however, his curiosity was at fault.
“Very good, sir,” said the bailiff, when he had finished reading; “the steward renews his recommendation, and tells me to attend implicitly to your commands.”
“Well, sir, they will amount to very little, and I shall not trouble you long.”
“It will be no trouble, but an honor.”
“Nay, I know how much your time must be occupied, for, as soon as one enters this chateau, one is struck with the good order and perfect keeping of everything in it — which proves, my dear sir, what excellent care you take of it.”
“Oh, sir, you flatter me.”
“Flatter you? — a poor old man like myself has something else to think of. But to come to business: there is a room here which is called the Green Chamber?”
“Yes, sir; the room which the late Count-Duke de Cardoville used for a study.”
“You will have the goodness to take me there.”
“Unfortunately, it is not in my power to do so. After the death of the Count-Duke, and when the seals were removed, a number of papers were shut up in a cabinet in that room, and the lawyers took the keys with them to Paris.”
“Here are those keys,” said M. Rodin, showing to the bailiff a large and a small key tied together.
“Oh, sir! that is different. You come to look for papers?”
“Yes — for certain papers — and also far a small mahogany casket, with silver clasps — do you happen to know it?”
“Yes, sir; I have often seen it on the count’s writing-table. It must be in the large, lacquered cabinet, of which you have the key.”
“You will conduct me to this chamber, as authorized by the Princess de Saint-Dizier?”
“Yes, sir; the princess continues in good health?”
“Perfectly so. She lives altogether above worldly things.”
“And Mademoiselle Adrienne?”
“Alas, my dear sir!” said M. Rodin, with a sigh of deep contrition and grief.
“Good heaven, sir! has any calamity happened to Mademoiselle Adrienne?”
“In what sense do you mean it?”
“Is she ill?”
“No, no — she is, unfortunately, as well as she is beautiful.”
“Unfortunately!” cried the bailiff, in surprise.
“Alas, yes! for when beauty, youth, and health are joined to an evil spirit of revolt and perversity — to a character which certainly has not its equal upon earth — it would be far better to be deprived of those dangerous advantages, which only become so many causes of perdition. But I conjure you, my dear sir, let us talk of something else: this subject is too painful,” said M. Rodin, with a voice of deep emotion, lifting the tip of his little finger to the corner of his right eye, as if to stop a rising tear.
The bailiff did not see the tear, but he saw the gesture, and he was struck with the change in M. Rodin’s voice. He answered him, therefore, with much sympathy: “Pardon my indiscretion, sir; I really did not know—”
“It is I who should ask pardon for this involuntary display of feeling — tears are so rare with old men — but if you had seen, as I have, the despair of that excellent princess, whose only fault has been too much kindness, too much weakness, with regard to her niece — by which she has encouraged her — but, once more, let us talk of something else, my dear sir!”
After a moment’s pause, during which M. Rodin seemed to recover from his emotion, he said to Dupont: “One part of my mission, my dear sir — that which relates to the Green Chamber — I have now told you; but there is yet another. Before coming to it, however, I must remind you of a circumstance you have perhaps forgotten — namely, that some fifteen or sixteen years ago, the Marquis d’Aigrigny, then colonel of the hussars in garrison at Abbeville, spent some time in this house.”
“Oh, sir! what a dashing officer was there! It was only just now, that I was talking about him to my wife. He was the life of the house! — how well he could perform plays — particularly the character of a scapegrace. In the Two Edmonds, for instance, he would make you die with laughing, in that part of a drunken soldier — and then, with wh
at a charming voice he sang Joconde, sir — better than they could sing it at Paris!”
Rodin, having listened complacently to the bailiff, said to him: “You doubtless know that, after a fierce duel he had with a furious Bonapartist, one General Simon, the Marquis d’Aigrigny (whose private secretary I have now the honor to be) left the world for the church.”
“No, sir! is it possible? That fine officer!”
“That fine officer — brave, noble, rich, esteemed, and flattered — abandoned all those advantages for the sorry black gown; and, notwithstanding his name, position, high connections, his reputation as a great preacher, he is still what he was fourteen years ago — a plain abbe — whilst so many, who have neither his merit nor his virtues, are archbishops and cardinals.”
M. Rodin expressed himself with so much goodness, with such an air of conviction, and the facts he cited appeared to be so incontestable, that M. Dupont could not help exclaiming: “Well, sir, that is splendid conduct!”
“Splendid? Oh, no!” said M. Rodin, with an inimitable expression of simplicity; “it is quite a matter of course when one has a heart like M. d’Aigrigny’s. But amongst all his good qualities, he has particularly that of never forgetting worthy people — people of integrity, honor, conscience — and therefore, my dear M. Dupont, he has not forgotten you.”
“What, the most noble marquis deigns to remember—”