Le Juif errant. English

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER XXVII. THE FIRST LAST, AND THE LAST FIRST.

  The carriage had travelled rapidly to Saint-Dizier House. During allthe way, Rodin remained mute, contenting himself with observing Fatherd'Aigrigny, and listening to him, as he poured forth his grief and furyin a long monologue, interrupted by exclamations, lamentations, andbursts of rage, directed against the strokes of that inexorable destiny,which had ruined in a moment the best founded hopes. When the carriageentered the courtyard, and stopped before the portico, the princess'sface could be seen through one of the windows, half hidden by the foldsof a curtain; in her burning anxiety, she came to see if it was reallyFather d'Aigrigny who arrived at the house. Still more, in defianceof all ordinary rules, this great lady, generally so scrupulous as toappearances, hurried from her apartment, and descended several stepsof the staircase, to meet Father d'Aigrigny, who was coming up witha dejected air. At sight of the livid and agitated countenance of thereverend father, the princess stopped suddenly, and grew pale. Shesuspected that all was lost. A look rapidly exchanged with her old loverleft her no doubt of the issue she so much feared. Rodin humbly followedthe reverend father, and both, preceded by the princess, entered theroom. The door once closed, the princess, addressing Father d'Aigrigny,exclaimed with unspeakable anguish: "What has happened?"

  Instead of answering this question, the reverend father, his eyessparkling with rage, his lips white, his features contracted, lookedfixedly at the princess, and said to her: "Do you know the amount ofthis inheritance, that we estimated at forty millions?"

  "I understand," cried the princess; "we have been deceived. Theinheritance amounts to nothing, and all you have dare has been in vain."

  "Yes, it has indeed been in vain," answered the reverend father,grinding his teeth with rage; "it was no question of forty millions, butof two hundred and twelve millions.

  "Two hundred and twelve millions!" repeated the princess in amazement,as she drew back a step. "It is impossible!"

  "I tell you I saw the vouchers, which were examined by the notary."

  "Two hundred and twelve millions?" resumed the princess, with deepdejection. "It is an immense and sovereign power--and you haverenounced--you have not struggled for it, by every possible means, andtill the last moment?"

  "Madame, I have done all that I could!--notwithstanding the treacheryof Gabriel, who this very morning declared that he renounced us, andseparated from the Society."

  "Ungrateful!" said the princess, unaffectedly.

  "The deed of gift, which I had the precaution to have prepared by thenotary, was in such good, legal form, that in spite of the objections ofthat accursed soldier and his son, the notary had put me in possessionof the treasure."

  "Two hundred and twelve millions!" repeated the princess clasping herhands. "Verily it is like a dream!"

  "Yes," replied Father d'Aigrigny, bitterly, "for us, this possession isindeed a dream, for a codicil has been discovered, which puts off forthree months and a half all the testamentary provisions. Now that ourvery precautions have roused the suspicion of all these heirs--now thatthey know the enormous amount at stake--they will be upon their guard;and all is lost."

  "But who is the wretch that produced this codicil?"

  "A woman."

  "What woman?"

  "Some wandering creature, that Gabriel says he met in America, where shesaved his life."

  "And how could this woman be there--how could she know the existence ofthis codicil?"

  "I think it was all arranged with a miserable Jew, the guardian of thehouse, whose family has had charge of the funds for three generations;he had no doubt some secret instructions, in case he suspected thedetention of any of the heirs, for this Marius de Rennepont had foreseenthat our Company would keep their eyes upon his race."

  "But can you not dispute the validity of this codicil?"

  "What, go to law in these times--litigate about a will--incur thecertainty of a thousand clamors, with no security for success?--It isbad enough, that even this should get wind. Alas! it is terrible. Sonear the goal! after so much care and trouble. An affair that had beenfollowed up with so much perseverance during a century and a half!"

  "Two hundred and twelve millions!" said the princess. "The Order wouldhave had no need to look for establishments in foreign countries; withsuch resources, it would have been able to impose itself upon France."

  "Yes," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, with bitterness; "by means ofeducation, we might have possessed ourselves of the rising generation.The power is altogether incalculable." Then, stamping with his foot, heresumed: "I tell you, that it is enough to drive one mad with rage! anaffair so wisely, ably, patiently conducted!"

  "Is there no hope?"

  "Only that Gabriel may not revoke his donation, in as far as concernshimself. That alone would be a considerable sum--not less than thirtymillions."

  "It is enormous--it is almost what you hoped," said the princess; "thenwhy despair?"

  "Because it is evident that Gabriel will dispute this donation. Howeverlegal it may be, he will find means to annul it, now that he is free,informed as to our designs, and surrounded by his adopted family. I tellyou, that all is lost. There is no hope left. I think it will be evenprudent to write to Rome, to obtain permission to leave Paris for awhile. This town is odious to me!"

  "Oh, yes! I see that no hope is left--since you, my friend, have decidedalmost to fly."

  Father d'Aigrigny was completely discouraged and broken down; thisterrible blow had destroyed all life and energy within him. He threwhimself back in an arm-chair, quite overcome. During the precedingdialogue, Rodin was standing humbly near the door, with his old hat inhis hand. Two or three times, at certain passages in the conversationbetween Father d'Aigrigny and the princess, the cadaverous face of thesocius, whose wrath appeared to be concentrated, was slightly flushed,and his flappy eyelids were tinged with red, as if the blood mounted inconsequence of an interior struggle; but, immediately after, his dullcountenance resumed its pallid blue.

  "I must write instantly to Rome, to announce this defeat, which hasbecome an event of the first importance, because it overthrows immensehopes," said Father d'Aigrigny, much depressed.

  The reverend father had remained seated; pointing to a table, he said toRodin, with an abrupt and haughty air:

  "Write!"

  The socius placed his hat on the ground, answered with a respectfulbow the command, and with stooping head and slanting walk, went toseat himself on a chair, that stood before a desk. Then, taking penand paper, he waited, silent and motionless, for the dictation of hissuperior.

  "With your permission, princess?" said Father d'Aigrigny to Madame deSaint-Dizier. The latter answered by an impatient wave of the hand, asif she reproached him for the formal demand at such a time. The reverendfather bowed, and dictated these words in a hoarse and hollow voice:"All our hopes, which of late had become almost certainties, have beensuddenly defeated. The affair of the Rennepont inheritance, in spiteof all the care and skill employed upon it, has completely andfinally failed. At the point to which matters had been brought, it isunfortunately worse than a failure; it is a most disastrous event forthe Society, which was clearly entitled to this property, fraudulentlywithdrawn from a confiscation made in our favor. My conscience at leastbears witness, that, to the last moment, I did all that was possibleto defend and secure our rights. But I repeat, we must consider thisimportant affair as lost absolutely and forever, and think no more aboutit."

  Thus dictating, Father d'Aigrigny's back was turned towards Rodin. At asudden movement made by the socius, in rising and throwing his pen uponthe table, instead of continuing to write, the reverend father turnedround, and, looking at Rodin with profound astonishment, said to him:"Well! what are you doing?"

  "It is time to end this--the man is mad!" said Rodin to himself, as headvanced slowly towards the fireplace.

  "What! you quit your place--you cease writing?" said the reverendfather, in amazement. Then, addressing the princess, who
shared in hisastonishment, he added, as he glanced contemptuously at the socius, "Heis losing his senses."

  "Forgive him," replied Mme. de Saint-Dizier; "it is, no doubt, theemotion caused by the ruin of this affair."

  "Thank the princess, return to your place, and continue to write," saidFather d'Aigrigny to Rodin, in a tone of disdainful compassion, as, withimperious finger, he pointed to the table.

  The socius, perfectly indifferent to this new order, approached thefireplace, drew himself up to his full height as he turned his archedback, planted himself firmly on his legs, stamped on the carpet with theheel of his clumsy, greasy shoes, crossed his hands beneath the flaps ofhis old, spotted coat, and, lifting his head, looked fixedly atFather d'Aigrigny. The socius had not spoken a word, but his hideouscountenance, now flushed, suddenly revealed such a sense of hissuperiority, and such sovereign contempt for Father d'Aigrigny, mingledwith so calm and serene a daring, that the reverend father and theprincess were quite confounded by it. They felt themselves overawed bythis little old man, so sordid and so ugly. Father d'Aigrigny knew toowell the customs of the Company, to believe his humble secretary capableof assuming so suddenly these airs of transcendent superiority withouta motive, or rather, without a positive right. Late, too late, thereverend father perceived, that this subordinate agent might be partlya spy, partly an experienced assistant, who, according to theconstitutions of the Order, had the power and mission to depose andprovisionally replace, in certain urgent cases, the incapable personover whom he was stationed as a guard. The reverend father was notdeceived. From the general to the provincials, and to the rectors ofthe colleges, all the superior members of the Order have stationednear them, often without their knowledge, and in apparently the lowestcapacities, men able to assume their functions at any given moment, andwho, with this view, constantly keep up a direct correspondence withRome.

  From the moment Rodin had assumed this position, the manners of Fatherd'Aigrigny, generally so haughty, underwent a change. Though it cost hima good deal, he said with hesitation, mingled with deference: "You have,no doubt, the right to command me--who hitherto have commanded." Rodin,without answering, drew from his well-rubbed and greasy pocket-book aslip of paper, stamped upon both sides, on which were written severallines in Latin. When he had read it, Father d'Aigrigny pressed thispaper respectfully, even religiously, to his lips: then returned it toRodin, with a low bow. When he again raised his head, he was purple withshame and vexation. Notwithstanding his habits of passive obedienceand immutable respect for the will of the Order, he felt a bitter andviolent rage at seeing himself thus abruptly deposed from power. Thatwas not all. Though, for a long time past, all relations in gallantryhad ceased between him and Mme. de Saint-Dizier, the latter was not theless a woman; and for him to suffer this humiliation in presence of awoman was, undoubtedly, cruel, as, notwithstanding his entrance into theOrder, he had not wholly laid aside the character of man of the world.Moreover, the princess, instead of appearing hurt and offended by thissudden transformation of the superior into a subaltern, and of thesubaltern into a superior, looked at Rodin with a sort of curiositymingled with interest. As a woman--as a woman, intensely ambitious,seeking to connect herself with every powerful influence--the princessloved this strange species of contrast. She found it curious andinteresting to see this man, almost in rags, mean in appearance, andignobly ugly, and but lately the most humble of subordinates look downfrom the height of his superior intelligence upon the nobleman bybirth, distinguished for the elegance of his manners, and just before soconsiderable a personage in the Society. From that moment, as the moreimportant personage of the two, Rodin completely took the place ofFather d'Aigrigny in the princess's mind. The first pang of humiliationover, the reverend father, though his pride bled inwardly, applied allhis knowledge of the world to behave with redoubled courtesy towardsRodin, who had become his superior by this abrupt change of fortune. Butthe ex-socius, incapable of appreciating, or rather of acknowledging,such delicate shades of manner, established himself at once, firmly,imperiously, brutally, in his new position, not from any reaction ofoffended pride, but from a consciousness of what he was really worth.A long acquaintance with Father d'Aigrigny had revealed to him theinferiority of the latter.

  "You threw away your pen," said Father d'Aigrigny to Rodin with extremedeference, "while I was dictating a note for Rome. Will you do me thefavor to tell me how I have acted wrong?"

  "Directly," replied Rodin, in his sharp, cutting voice. "For a long timethis affair appeared to me above your strength; but I abstained frominterfering. And yet what mistakes! what poverty of invention; whatcoarseness in the means employed to bring it to bear!"

  "I can hardly understand your reproaches," answered Father d'Aigrigny,mildly, though a secret bitterness made its way through his apparentsubmission. "Was not the success certain, had it not been for thiscodicil? Did you not yourself assist in the measures that you nowblame?"

  "You commanded, then, and it was my duty to obey. Besides, you were juston the point of succeeding--not because of the means you had taken--butin spite of those means, with all their awkward and revoltingbrutality."

  "Sir--you are severe," said Father d'Aigrigny.

  "I am just. One has to be prodigiously clever, truly, to shut up any onein a room, and then lock the door! And yet, what else have you done? Thedaughters of General Simon?--imprisoned at Leipsic, shut up in aconvent at Paris! Adrienne de Cardoville?--placed in confinement.Sleepinbuff--put in prison. Djalma?--quieted by a narcotic. One onlyingenious method, and a thousand times safer, because it acted morally,not materially, was employed to remove M. Hardy. As for your otherproceedings--they were all bad, uncertain, dangerous. Why? Because theywere violent, and violence provokes violence. Then it is no longer astruggle of keen, skillful, persevering men, seeing through the darknessin which they walk, but a match of fisticuffs in broad day. Though weshould be always in action, we should always shrink from view; and yetyou could find no better plan than to draw universal attention to usby proceedings at once open and deplorably notorious. To make them moresecret, you call in the guard, the commissary of police, the jailers,for your accomplices. It is pitiable, sir; nothing but the mostbrilliant success could cover such wretched folly; and this success hasbeen wanting."

  "Sir," said Father d'Aigrigny, deeply hurt, for the Princess de SaintDizier, unable to conceal the sort of admiration caused in her by theplain, decisive words of Rodin, looked at her old lover, with an airthat seemed to say, "He is right;"--"sir, you are more than severe inyour judgment; and, notwithstanding the deference I owe to you, I mustobserve, that I am not accustomed--"

  "There are many other things to which you are not accustomed," saidRodin, harshly interrupting the reverend father; "but you will accustomyourself to them. You have hitherto had a false idea of your own value.There is the old leaven of the soldier and the worlding fermentingwithin you, which deprives your reason of the coolness, lucidity, andpenetration that it ought to possess. You have been a fine militaryofficer, brisk and gay, foremost in wars and festivals, with pleasuresand women. These things have half worn you out. You will never beanything but a subaltern; you have been thoroughly tested. You willalways want that vigor and concentration of mind which governs men andevents. That vigor and concentration of mind I have--and do you knowwhy? It is because, solely devoted to the service of the Company, I havealways been ugly, dirty, unloved, unloving--I have all my manhood aboutme!"

  In pronouncing these words, full of cynical pride, Rodin was trulyfearful. The princess de Saint-Dizier thought him almost handsome by hisenergy and audacity.

  Father d'Aigrigny, feeling himself overawed, invincibly and inexorably,by this diabolical being, made a last effort to resist and exclaimed,"Oh! sir, these boastings are no proofs of valor and power. We must seeyou at work."

  "Yes," replied Rodin, coldly; "do you know at what work?" Rodin was fondof this interrogative mode of expression. "Why, at the work that you sobasely abandon."

  "What!"
cried the Princess de Saint-Dizier; for Father d'Aigrigny,stupefied at Rodin's audacity, was unable to utter a word.

  "I say," resumed Rodin, slowly, "that I undertake to bring to a goodissue this affair of the Rennepont inheritance, which appears to you sodesperate."

  "You?" cried Father d'Aigrigny. "You?" "I."

  "But they have unmasked our maneuvers."

  "So much the better; we shall be obliged to invent others."

  "But they; will suspect us in everything."

  "So much the better; the success that is difficult is the most certain."

  "What! do you hope to make Gabriel consent not to revoke his donation,which is perhaps illegal?"

  "I mean to bring in to the coffers of the Company the whole of the twohundred and twelve millions, of which they wish to cheat us. Is thatclear?"

  "It is clear--but impossible."

  "And I tell you that it is, and must be possible. Do you not understand,short-sighted as you are!" cried Rodin, animated to such a degree thathis cadaverous face became slightly flushed; "do you not understand thatit is no longer in our choice to hesitate? Either these two hundredand twelve millions must be ours--and then the re-establishment of oursovereign influence in France is sure--for, in these venal times, withsuch a sum at command, you may bribe or overthrow a government, or lightup the flame of civil war, and restore legitimacy, which is our naturalally, and, owing all to us, would give us all in return--"

  "That is clear," cried the princess, clasping her hands in admiration.

  "If, on the contrary," resumed Rodin, "these two hundred and twelvemillions fall into the hands of the family of the Renneponts, it willbe our ruin and our destruction. We shall create a stock of bitter andimplacable enemies. Have you not heard the execrable designs of thatRennepont, with regard to the association he recommends, and which, byan accursed fatality, his race are just in a condition to realize? Thinkof the forces that would rally round these millions. There would beMarshal Simon, acting in the name of his daughters--that is, the man ofthe people become a duke, without being the vainer for it, which secureshis influence with the mob, because military spirit and Bonapartismstill represent, in the eyes of the French populace, the traditions ofnational honor and glory. There would be Francis Hardy, the liberal,independent, enlightened citizen, the type of the great manufacturer,the friend of progress, the benefactor of his workmen. There would beGabriel--the good priest, as they say!--the apostle of the primitivegospel, the representative of the democracy of the church, of the poorcountry curate as opposed to the rich bishop, the tiller of the vine asopposed to him who sits in the shade of it; the propagator of allthe ideas of fraternity, emancipation, progress--to use their ownjargon--and that, not in the name of revolutionary and incendiarypolitics, but in the name of a religion of charity, love, and peace--tospeak as they speak. There, too, would be Adrienne de Cardoville, thetype of elegance, grace, and beauty, the priestess of the senses, whichshe deifies by refining and cultivating them. I need not tell you ofher wit and audacity; you know them but too well. No one could be moredangerous to us than this creature, a patrician in blood, a plebeian inheart, a poet in imagination. Then, too, there would be Prince Djalma,chivalrous, bold, ready for adventure, knowing nothing of civilizedlife, implacable in his hate as in his affection, a terrible instrumentfor whoever can make use of him. In this detestable family, even sucha wretch as Sleepinbuff, who in himself is of no value, raised andpurified by the contact of these generous and far from narrow natures(as they call them), might represent the working class, and take a largeshare in the influence of that association. Now do you not think that ifall these people, already exasperated against us, because (as they say)we have wished to rob them, should follow the detestable counsels ofthis Rennepont--should unite their forces around this immense fortune,which would strengthen them a hundred-fold--do you not think that, ifthey declare a deadly war against us, they will be the most dangerousenemies that we have ever had? I tell you that the Company has neverbeen in such serious peril; yes, it is now a question of life anddeath. We must no longer defend ourselves, but lead the attack, so asto annihilate this accursed race of Rennepont, and obtain possession ofthese millions."

  At this picture, drawn by Rodin with a feverish animation, which hadonly the more influence from its unexpectedness, the princess and Fatherd'Aigrigny looked at each other in confusion.

  "I confess," said the reverend father to Rodin, "I had not consideredall the dangerous consequences of this association, recommended by M. deRennepont. I believe that the heir, from the characters we know them tobe possessed of, would wish to realize this Utopia. The peril is greatand pressing; what is to be done?"

  "What, sir? You have to act upon ignorant, heroic, enthusiastic natureslike Djalma's--sensual and eccentric characters like Adrienne deCardoville's--simple and ingenuous minds like Rose and BlancheSimon's--honest and frank dispositions like Francis Hardy's--angelic andpure souls like Gabriel's--brutal and stupid instincts like Jacques--andcan you ask, 'What is to be done?'"

  "In truth, I do not understand you," said Father d'Aigrigny.

  "I believe it. Your past conduct shows as much," replied Rodin,contemptuously. "You have had recourse to the lowest and most mechanicalcontrivances, instead of acting upon the noble and generous passions,which, once united, would constitute so formidable a bond; but which,now divided and isolated, are open to every surprise, every seduction,every attack! Do you, at length understand me? Not yet?" added Rodin,shrugging his shoulders. "Answer me--do people die of despair?"

  "Yes."

  "May not the gratitude of successful love reach the last limits ofinsane generosity?"

  "Yes."

  "May there not be such horrible deceptions, that suicide is the onlyrefuge from frightful realities?"

  "Yes."

  "May not the excess of sensuality lead to the grave by a slow andvoluptuous agony?"

  "Yes."

  "Are there not in life such terrible circumstances that the mostworldly, the firmest, the most impious characters, throw themselvesblindly, overwhelmed with despair, into the arms of religion, andabandon all earthly greatness for sackcloth, and prayers, and solitude?"

  "Yes."

  "Are there not a thousand occasions in which the reaction of thepassions works the most extraordinary changes, and brings about the mosttragic catastrophes in the life of man and woman?"

  "No doubt."

  "Well, then! why ask me, 'What is to be done?' What would you say, forexample, if before three months are over, the most dangerous members ofthis family of the Renneponts should come to implore, upon their knees,admission to that very Society which they now hold in horror, and fromwhich Gabriel has just separated?"

  "Such a conversion is impossible," cried Father d'Aigrigny.

  "Impossible? What were you, sir, fifteen years ago?" said Rodin. "Animpious and debauched man of the world. And yet you came to us, and yourwealth became ours. What! we have conquered princes, kings, popes; wehave absorbed and extinguished in our unity magnificent intelligences,which, from afar, shone with too dazzling a light; we have all butgoverned two worlds; we have perpetuated our Society, full of life,rich and formidable, even to this day, through all the hate, and all thepersecutions that have assailed us; and yet we shall not be able toget the better of a single family, which threatens our Company, and hasdespoiled us of a large fortune? What! we are not skillful enough toobtain this result without having recourse to awkward and dangerousviolence? You do not know, then, the immense field that is thrownopen by the mutually destructive power of human passions, skillfullycombined, opposed, restrained, excited?--particularly," added Rodin,with a strange smile, "when, thanks to a powerful ally, these passionsare sure to be redoubled in ardor and energy."

  "What ally?" asked Father d'Aigrigny, who, as well as the Princess deSaint-Dizier, felt a sort of admiration mixed with terror.

  "Yes," resumed Rodin, without answering the reverend father; "thisformidable ally, who comes to our assistance, may bri
ng about the mostastonishing transformations--make the coward brave, and the impiouscredulous, and the gentle ferocious--"

  "But this ally!" cried the Princess, oppressed with a vague sense offear. "This great and formidable ally--who is he?"

  "If he comes," resumed Rodin, still impassible, "the youngest and mostvigorous, every moment in danger of death, will have no advantage overthe sick man at his last gasp."

  "But who is this ally?" exclaimed Father d'Aigrigny, more and morealarmed, for as the picture became darker, Rodin's face become morecadaverous.

  "This ally, who can decimate a population, may carry away with him inthe shroud that he drags at his heels, the whole of an accursed race;but even he must respect the life of that great intangible body, whichdoes not perish with the death of its members--for the spirit of theSociety of Jesus is immortal!"

  "And this ally?"

  "Oh, this ally," resumed Rodin, "who advances with slow steps, and whoseterrible coming is announced by mournful presentiments--"

  "Is--"

  "The Cholera!"

  These words, pronounced by Rodin in an abrupt voice, made the Princessand Father d'Aigrigny grow pale and tremble. Rodin's look was gloomy andchilling, like a spectre's. For some moments, the silence of thetomb reigned in the saloon. Rodin was the first to break it. Stillimpassible, he pointed with imperious gesture to the table, where a fewminutes before he had himself been humbly seated, and said in a sharpvoice to Father d'Aigrigny, "Write!"

  The reverend father started at first with surprise; then, rememberingthat from a superior he had become an inferior, he rose, bowed lowly toRodin, as he passed before him, seated himself at the table, took thepen, and said, "I am ready."

  Rodin dictated, and the reverend Father wrote as follows: "By themismanagement of the Reverend Father d'Aigrigny, the affair of theinheritance of the Rennepont family has been seriously compromised.The sum amounts to two hundred and twelve millions. Notwithstandingthe check we have received, we believe we may safely promise to preventthese Renneponts from injuring the Society, and to restore the twohundred and twelve millions to their legitimate possessors. We only askfor the most complete and extensive powers."

  A quarter of an hour after this scene, Rodin left Saint Dizier House,brushing with his sleeve the old greasy hat, I which he had pulled offto return the salute of the porter by a very low bow.