The Man Who Laughs

by Victor Hugo

  Caresses can roar. If you doubt it, observe the lion's. The woman was horrible, and yet full of grace. The eject was tragic. First he felt the claw, then the velvet of the paw. A feline attack, made up of advances and retreats. There was death as well as sport in this game of come and go. She idolised him, but arrogantly. The result was contagious frenzy. Fatal language, at once inexpressible, violent, and sweet. The insulter did not insult; the adorer outraged the object of adoration. She, who buffeted, deified him. Her tones imparted to her violent yet amorous words an indescribable Promethean grandeur. According to Æschylus, in the orgies in honour of the great goddess, the women were smitten by this evil frenzy when they pursued the satyrs under the stars. Such paroxysms raged in the mysterious dances in the grove of Dodona. This woman was as if transfigured--if, indeed, we can term that transfiguration which is the antithesis of heaven. Her hair quivered like a mane; her robe opened and closed. Nothing could be more attractive than that bosom, full of wild cries. The sunshine of the blue eye mingled with the fire of the black one. She was unearthly. Gwynplaine, giving way, felt himself vanquished by the deep subtlety of this attack.

  "I love you!" she cried.

  And she bit him with a kiss.

  Homeric clouds were, perhaps, about to be required to encompass Gwynplaine and Josiana, as they did Jupiter and Juno. For Gwynplaine to be loved by a woman who could see, and who saw him; to feel on his deformed mouth the pressure of divine lips, was exquisite and maddening. Before this woman, full of enigmas' all else faded away in his mind. The remembrance of Dea struggled in the shadows with weak cries. There is an antique bas-relief representing the Sphinx devouring a Cupid. The wings of the sweet celestial are bleeding between the fierce, grinning fangs.

  Did Gwynplaine love this woman? Has man, like the globe, two poles? Are we, on our inflexible axis, a moving sphere, a star when seen from afar, mud when seen more closely, in which night alternates with day? Has the heart two aspects--one on which its love is poured forth in light; the other in darkness? Here a woman of light, there a woman.of the sewer. Angels are necessary. Is it possible that demons are also essential? Has the soul the wings of the bat? Does twilight fall fatally for all? Is sin an integral and inevitable part of our destiny? Must we accept evil as part and portion of our whole? Do we inherit sin as a debt? What awful subjects for thought!

  Yet a voice tells us that weakness is a crime. Gwynplaine's feelings are not to be described. The flesh, life, terror, lust, an overwhelming intoxication of spirit, and all the shame possible to pride. Was he about to succumb?

  She repeated:

  "I love you!"

  And flung her frenzied arms around him.

  Gwynplaine panted.

  Suddenly close at hand there rang., clear and distinct, a little bell. It was the little bell inside the wall. The duchess, turning her head, said:

  "What does she want of me?"

  Quickly with the noise of a spring door, the silver panel, with the golden crown chased on it, opened.

  A compartment of a shaft, lined with royal blue velvet, appeared; and, on a golden salver, a letter.

  The letter, broad and weighty, was placed so as to exhibit the seal, which was a large impression in red wax. The bell continued to tinkle.

  The opened panel almost touched the couch where the duchess and Gwynplaine were sitting. Leaning over, but still keeping her arm round his neck, she took the letter from the plate, and touched the panel.

  The compartment closed in, and the bell ceased ringing.

  The duchess broke the seal, and, opening the envelope, drew out two documents contained therein, and flung it on the floor at Gwynplaine's feet.

  The impression of the broken seal was still decipherable, and Gwynplaine could distinguish a royal crown over the initial A.

  The torn envelope lay open before him, so that he could read, "To Her Grace the Duchess Josiana."

  The envelope had contained both vellum and parchment. The former was a small, the latter a large, document. On the parchment was a large Chancery seal in green wax, called Lords' sealing-wax. The face of the duchess, whose bosom was palpitating, and whose eyes were swimming with passion, became overspread with a slight expression of dissatisfaction.

  "Ah!" she said. "What does she send me? A lot of papers! What a spoil-sport that woman is!"

  Pushing aside the parchment, she opened the vellum.

  "It is her handwriting. It is my sister's hand. It is quite provoking. Gwynplaine, I asked you if you could read. Can you?"

  Gwynplaine nodded assent.

  She stretched herself at full length on the couch, carefully drew her feet and arms under her robe, with a whimsical affectation of modesty, and, giving Gwynplaine the vellum, watched him with an impassioned look.

  "Well! you are mine. Begin your duties, my beloved. Read me what the queen writes."

  Gwynplaine took the vellum, unfolded it, and, in a voice tremulous with many emotions, began to read:

  "MADAME--We are graciously pleased to send to you herewith, sealed and signed by our trusty and well-beloved William Cowper, Lord High Chancellor of England, a copy of a report, showing forth the very important fact that the legitimate son of Linnaeus, Lord Clancharlie, has just been discovered and recognised, bearing the name of Gwynplaine, in the lowest rank of a wandering and vagabond life, among strollers and mountebanks. His false position dates from his earliest days. In accordance with the laws of the country, and in virtue of his hereditary rights, Lord Fermain Clancharlie, son of Lord LinnÆus, will be this day admitted, and installed in his position in the House of Lords. Therefore, having regard to your welfare, and wishing to preserve for your use the property and estates of Lord Clancharlie of Hunkerville, we substitute him in the place of Lord David Dirry-Moir, and recommend him to your good graces. We have caused Lord Fermain to be conducted to Corleone Lodge. We will and command, as sister and as queen, that the said Lord Fermain Clancharlie, hitherto called Gwynplaine, shall be your husband, and that you shall marry him. Such is our royal pleasure."

  While Gwynplaine, in tremulous tones which varied at almost every word, was reading the document, the duchess, half risen from the couch, listened with fixed attention. When Gwynplaine finished, she snatched the letter from his hands.

  "Anne R." she murmured in a tone of abstraction.

  Then picking up from the floor the parchment she had thrown down, she ran her eye over it. It was the confession of the shipwrecked crew of the Matutina, embodied in a report signed by the sheriff of Southwark and by the Lord Chancellor.

  Having perused the report, she read the queen's letter over again. Then she Said:

  "Be it so."

  And calmly pointing with her finger to the door of the gallery through which he had entered, she added:

  "Begone."

  Gwynplaine was petrified, and remained immovable.

  She repeated, in icy tones:

  "Since you are my husband, begone."

  Gwynplaine, speechless, and with eyes downcast like a criminal, remained motionless. She added:

  "You have no right to be here; it is my lover's place." Gwynplaine was like a man transfixed.

  "Very well," said she, "I must go myself. So you are my husband. Nothing can be better. I hate you."

  She rose, and with an indescribably haughty gesture of adieu, left the room.

  The curtain in the doorway of the gallery fell behind her.

  * * *

  V

  THEY RECOGNISE, BUT DO NOT KNOW, EACH OTHER

  GWYNPLAINE WAS ALONE.

  Alone, and in presence of the tepid bath and the deserted couch.

  The confusion in his mind had reached its culminating point. His thoughts no longer resembled thoughts. They overflowed and ran riot; it was the anguish of a creature wrestling with perplexity. He felt as if he were awaking from a horrid nightmare.

  The entrance into unknown spheres is no simple matter.

  From the time he had received the duchess's letter,
brought by the page, a series of surprising adventures had befallen Gwynplaine, each one less intelligible than the other. Up to this time, though in a dream, he had seen things clearly. Now he could only grope his way.

  He no longer thought, or even dreamed. He collapsed.

  He sank down upon the couch which the duchess had vacated.

  Suddenly, he heard a sound of footsteps, and those of a man. The noise came from the opposite side of the gallery to that by which the duchess had departed. The man approached, and his footsteps, though deadened by the carpet, were clear and distinct. Gwynplaine, in spite of his abstraction, listened.

  Suddenly, beyond the silver web of curtain which the duchess had left partly open, a door, evidently concealed by the painted glass, opened wide, and there came floating into the room the refrain of an old French song, caroled at the top of a manly and joyous voice,

  Trois petits gorets sur leur fumier Juraient comme de porteurs de chaise.

  A man entered.

  He wore a sword by his side, a magnificent naval uniform, covered with gold lace, and held in his hand a plumed hat with loops and cockade.

  Gwynplaine sprang up erect as if moved by springs.

  He recognised the man, and was, in turn, recognised by him.

  From their astonished lips came, simultaneously, this double exclamation:

  "Gwynplaine!"

  "Tom-Jim-Jack!"

  The man with the plumed hat advanced toward Gwynplaine, who stood with folded arms.

  "What are you doing here, Gwynplaine?"

  "And you, Tom-Jim-Jack, what are you doing here?"

  "Oh! I understand. Josiana! a caprice. A mountebank and a monster! The double attraction is too powerful to be resisted. You disguised yourself in order to get here, Gwynplaine?

  "And you, too, Tom-Jim-Jack?"

  "Gwynplaine, what does this gentleman's dress mean?"

  "Tom-Jim-Jack, what does that officer's uniform mean?"

  "Gwynplaine, I answer no questions."

  "Neither do I, Tom-Jim-Jack."

  "Gwynplaine, my name is not Tom-Jim-Jack."

  "Tom-Jim-Jack, my name is not Gwynplaine."

  "Gwynplaine, I am here in my own house."

  "I am here in my own house, Tom-Jim-Jack."

  "I will not have you echo my words. You are ironical; but I've got a cane. An end to your jokes, you wretched fool."

  Gwynplaine became ashy pale.

  "You are a fool yourself, and you shall give me satisfaction for this insult."

  "In your booth as much as you like, with fisticuffs."

  "Here, and with swords!"

  "My friend, Gwynplaine, the sword is a weapon for gentlemen. With it I can only fight my equals. At fisticuffs we are equal; but not so with swords. At the Tadcaster Inn, Tom-Jim-Jack could box with Gwynplaine. At Windsor, the case is altered. Understand this; I am a rear-admiral."

  "And I am a peer of England."

  The man whom Gwynplaine recognised as Tom-Jim-Jack burst out laughing.

  "Why not a king? Indeed, you are right. An actor plays every part. You'll tell me next that you are Theseus, Duke of Athens."

  "I am a peer of England, and we are going to fight."

  "Gwynplaine, this becomes tiresome. Don't play with one who can order you to be flogged. I am Lord David Dirry-Moir."

  "And I am Lord Clancharlie."

  Again Lord David burst out laughing.

  "Well said! Gwynplaine is Lord Clancharlie. That is indeed the name the man must bear who is to win Josiana. Listen, I forgive you, and do you know the reason? It's because we are both lovers of the same woman."

  The curtain in the door was lifted, and a voice exclaimed:

  "You are the two husbands, my lords."

  They turned.

  "Barkilphedro!" cried Lord David.

  It was indeed he; he bowed low to the two lords, with a smile on his face.

  Some few paces behind him was a gentleman with a stern and dignified countenance, who carried in his hand a black wand.

  This gentleman advanced, and, bowing three times to Gwynplaine, said:

  "I am the Usher of the Black Rod. I come to fetch your lordship, in obedience to her Majesty's commands."

  * * *

  BOOK 8

  THE CAPITOL AND THINGS AROUND IT

  I

  ANALYSIS OF MAJESTIC MATTERS

  IRRESISTIBLE FATE ever carrying him forward, which had now for so many hours showered its surprises on Gwynplaine, and which had transported him to Windsor, transferred him again to London.

  Visionary realities succeeded each other without a moment's intermission.

  He could not escape from their influence. Freed from one he met another.

  He had scarcely time to breathe.

  Any one who has seen a juggler throwing and catching balls can judge the nature of fate. Those rising and falling projectiles are like men tossed in the hands of Destiny--projectiles and playthings.

  On the evening of the same day, Gwynplaine was an actor in an extraordinary scene.

  He was seated on a bench covered with fleurs-de-lis; over his silken clothes he wore a robe of scarlet velvet, lined with white silk, with a cape of ermine, and on his shoulders two bands of ermine embroidered with gold.

  Around him were men of all ages, young and old, seated like him on benches covered with fleurs-de-lis, and dressed like him in ermine and purple.

  In front of him other men were kneeling, clothed in black silk gowns. Some of them were writing.

  Opposite, and a short distance from him, he observed steps, a raised platform, a dais, a large escutcheon glittering between a lion and a unicorn, and at the top of the steps, on the platform under the dais, resting against the escutcheon, was a gilded chair with a crown over it. This was a throne.

  The throne of Great Britain.

  Gwynplaine, himself a peer of England, was in the House of Lords.

  How Gwynplaine's introduction to the House of Lords came about, we will now explain.

  Throughout the day, from morning to night, from Windsor to London, from Corleone Lodge to Westminster Hall, he had step by step mounted higher in the social grade. At each step he grew giddier.

  He had been conveyed from Windsor in a royal carriage with a peer's escort. There is not much difference between a guard of honour and a prisoner's.

  On that day, travelers on the London and Windsor road saw a galloping cavalcade of gentlemen pensioners of her Majesty's household escorting two carriages drawn at a rapid pace. In the first carriage sat the Usher of the Black Rod, his wand in his hand. In the second was to be seen a large hat with white plumes, throwing into shadow and hiding the face underneath it. Echo was it who was being thus hurried on--a prince? a prisoner?

  It was Gwynplaine.

  It looked as if they were conducting some one to the Tower, unless, indeed, they were escorting him to the House of Lords.

  The queen had done things well. As it was for her future brother-in-law, she had provided an escort from her own household.

  The officer of the Usher of the Black Rod rode on horseback at the head of the cavalcade.

  The Usher of the Black Rod carried on a cushion placed on a seat of the carriage, a black portfolio stamped with the royal crown.

  At Brentford, the last relay before London, the carriages and escort halted.

  A four-horse carriage of tortoise-shell, with two postilions, a coachman in a wig, and four footmen, was in waiting. The wheels, steps, springs, pole, and all the fittings of this carriage were gilt. The horses' harness was of silver.

  This state coach was of an ancient and extraordinary shape and would have been distinguished by its grandeur among the fifty-one celebrated carriages of which Roubo has left us drawings.

  The Usher of the Black Rod and his officer alighted. The latter, having lifted the cushion, on which rested the royal portfolio, from the seat in the postchaise, carried it on outstretched hands, and stood behind the Usher. He first opened the door o
f the empty carriage, then the door of that occupied by Gwynplaine, and, with downcast eyes, respectfully invited him to descend.

  Gwynplaine left the chaise, and took his seat in the carriage.

  The Usher carrying the rod, and the officer supporting the cushion, followed, and took their places on the low front seat provided for pages in old stage coaches.

  The inside of the carriage was lined with white satin trimmed with Binche silk, with tufts and tassels of silver. The roof was painted with armorial bearings. The postilions of the chaises they were leaving were dressed in the royal livery. The attendants of the carriage they now entered wore a different but very magnificent livery.