March 2, 2023 • 23 mins
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(00:00):
Chapter sixteen of Paris. What amI to say? The whole proceeding was
a delirium, a madness. Ispent a little over three weeks there,
and during that time saw my hundredthousand francs come to an end. I
speak only of the one hundred thousandfrancs. For the other hundred thousand I
gave to Mademoiselle Blanche in pure cash. That is to say, I handed
(00:24):
her fifty thousand francs at Frankfurt,and three days later in Paris advanced her
another fifty thousand a note of hand. Nevertheless, a week had not elapsed
ere she came to me for moremoney. Ai les sans mille franc quinu
Roston, she added to les mangerrata vecmoi monuccitel. Yes, she always
(00:47):
called me her uchitel. A personmore economical, grasping and mean than Mademoiselle
Blanche, one could not imagine.But this was only as regards her own
money, my hundred thousand francs.As she explained to me later, she
needed to set up her establishment inParis, so that once and for all
I may be on a decent footingand proof against any stones which may be
(01:10):
thrown at me at all events fora long time to come. Nevertheless,
I saw nothing of those hundred thousandfrancs. For my own purse, which
she inspected daily, never managed toamass in it more than a hundred francs
at a time, and generally thesum did not reach even that figure.
What do you want with money?She would say to me, with air
of absolute simplicity, and I neverdisputed the point. Nevertheless, though she
(01:37):
fitted out her flat very badly withthe money, the fact did not prevent
her from saying, when later shewas showing me over the rooms of her
new abode, see what care andtaste can do with the most wretched of
means. However, her wretchedness hadcost fifty thousand francs, while with the
remaining fifty thousand she purchased a carriageand horses. Also, we gave a
(02:01):
couple of balls evening parties attended byHortense and Lisette and Cleopatra, who were
women remarkable both for the number oftheir liaisons and though only in some cases,
for their good looks. At thesereunions, I had to play the
part of host to meet and entertainfat mercantile parvenus, who were impossible by
(02:22):
reason of their rudeness and braggadocio.Colonels of various kinds, hungry authors and
journalistic hacks, all of whom disportedthemselves in fashionable tailcoats and pale yellow gloves,
and displayed such an aggregate of conceitand gasconnade as would be unthinkable even
in Saint Petersburg, which is sayinga great deal. They used to try
(02:45):
to make fun of me, ButI would console myself by drinking champagne and
then lolling in a retiring room.Nevertheless, I found it deadly work.
Seta nuccitell blanche would say of mequi agagne de Saint Mille, France,
and but for me would have hadnot a notion how to spend them.
Presently he will have to return tohis tutoring. Does anyone know of a
(03:07):
vacant post? You know one mustdo something for him. I had the
more frequent recourse to champagne, inthat I constantly felt depressed and bored,
owing to the fact that I wasliving in the most bourgeois commercial milieu imaginable,
a milieu wherein every sue was countedand grudged. Indeed, two weeks
(03:28):
had not elapsed before I perceived thatBlanche had no real affection for me,
even though she dressed me in elegantclothes and herself tied my tie each day.
In short, she utterly despised me, but that caused me no concern.
Lasee and Aert, I spent myevenings generally at the Chateau de Fleure,
(03:49):
where I would get fuddled and thendance the can can, which in
that establishment was a very indecent performancewith a claw at length. The time
came when Blanche had rained my pursedry. She had conceived an idea that
during the term of our residence together, it would be well if I were
always to walk behind her with apaper and pencil, in order to jot
(04:11):
down exactly what she spent, whatshe had saved, what she was paying
out, and what she was layingby well. Of course, I could
not fail to be aware that thiswould entail a battle over every ten francs.
So although for every possible objection thatI might make she had prepared a
suitable answer, she soon saw thatI made no objections, and therefore had
(04:32):
to start disputes herself. That isto say, she would burst out into
tirades, which were met only withsilence as I lolled on a sofa and
stared fixedly at the ceiling. Thisgreatly surprised her. At first, she
imagined that it was due merely tothe fact that I was a fool un
uchitel. Wherefore she would break offher harangue in the belief that, being
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too stupid to understand, I wasa hopeless case. Then she would leave
the room, but returned ten minuteslater to resume the contest. This continued
throughout her squandering of my money,a squandering altogether out of proportion to our
means. An example is the wayin which she changed her first pair of
horses for a pair which cost sixteenthousand francs bibby. She said on the
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latter occasion, as she approached me, surely you are not angry. No,
I am merely tired, was myreply, as I pushed her from
me. This seemed to her socurious that straightway she seated herself by my
side. You see, she wenton, I decided to spend so much
upon these horses only because I caneasily sell them again. They would go
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at any time for twenty thousand francs. Yes, yes, they are splendid
horses, and you have got asplendid turnout. I am quite content.
Let me hear no more of thematter. Then you are not angry?
No, why should I be.You are wise to provide yourself with what
you need, for it will allcome in handy in the future. Yes,
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I quite see the necessity of yourestablishing yourself on a good basis,
for without it you will never earnyour million. My hundred thousand francs.
I look upon merely as a beginning, as a mere drop in the bucket.
Blanche, who had by no meansexpected such declarations from me, but
rather an uproar in protests, wasrather taken aback. Well, well,
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what a man you are, sheexclaimed. Metu a l'esprit pour comprondre set
mount Garcon. Although you are atutor, you ought to have been born
a prince. Are you not sorrythat your money should be going so quickly?
No, the quicker it goes,the better me. Setu madi donc
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are you really rich? Mes Seto? You have too much contempt for money?
Kessic tuferra epred donc apre, Ishall go to Hamburg and win another
hundred thousand francs oui oui, saysa semagnefiq ah. I know you will
win them and bring them to me. When you have done so, didunc,
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you will end by making me loveyou. Since you are what you
are, I mean to love youall the time and never to be unfaithful
to you. You see, Ihave not loved you before, Parsica juccu
croye cut nescun uchitel lachos come unluckynespa. Yet all the time I have
been true to you. Parsica's yoursui buonfield you lie, I interrupted?
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Did I not see you the otherday with Albert, with that black jowled
officer. Oh oh mitu es Yes, you are lying right enough, But
what makes you suppose that I shouldbe angry? Rubbish ill folk quejunis sipas.
Even if that officer were here now, I should refrain from putting him
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out of the room if I thoughtyou really cared for him. Only mind
you do not give him any ofmy money. You hear you say?
Do you that you would not beangry? Met to s Envrey philosof say
to you ui uvre philosoph Ebienne,chetimira, chetemire tou veratu sera content true
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enough. From that time onwards sheseemed to attach herself only to me,
and in this manner we spent ourlast ten days together. The promised etoile
I did not see, but inother respects, she to a certain extent
kept her word. Moreover, sheintroduced me to Hortense, who was a
remarkable woman in her way, andknown among us as Therese Philosophe. But
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I need not enlarge further, forto do so would require a story to
itself, and entail a coloring whichI am loath to impart to the present
narrative. The point is that,with all my faculties, I desired the
episode to come to an end asspeedily as possible. Unfortunately, our hundred
thousand francs asked at us, asI have said, for very nearly a
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month, which greatly surprised me.At all events, Blanche bought herself articles
to the tune of eighty thousand francs, and the rest sufficed just to meet
our expenses of living. Towards theclose of the affair, Blanche grew almost
frank with me at least, shescarcely lied to me at all, declaring,
amongst other things, that none ofthe debts which she had been obliged
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to incur were going to fall uponmy head. I have purposely refrained from
making you responsible for my bills orborrowings, she said, for the reason
that I am sorry for you.Any other woman in my place would have
done so and have let you goto prison. See then, how much
I love you, and how goodhearted I am think too, what this
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accursed marriage with the General is goingto cost me. True enough, the
marriage took place, It did soat the close of our month together,
and I am bound to suppose thatit was upon the ceremony that the last
rem of my money were spent withit. The episode, that is to
say, my sojourn with the frenchwoman, came to an end, and I
formerly retired from the scene. Ithappened thus, a week after we had
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taken up our abode in Paris,there arrived thither the General. He came
straight to see us, and thenceforwardlived with us practically as our guest,
though he had a flat of hisown as well. Blanche met him with
Merry Battinage and laughter, and eventhrew her arms around him. In fact,
she managed it so that he hadto follow everywhere in her train,
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whether when promenading on the boulevards,or when driving, or when going to
the theater, or when paying calls. And this use which she made of
him, quite satisfied the General.Still of imposing appearance and presents, as
well as of fair height, hehad a dyed mustache and whiskers he had
formerly been in the coursiers, anda hansom, though a somewhat wrinkled face.
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Also, his manners were excellent,and he could carry a frockcoat well,
the more so since in Paris hetook to wearing his orders. To
promenade the boulevards with such a manwas not only a thing possible, but
also, so to speak, athing advisable. And with this program,
the good but foolish General had nota fault to find the truth is that
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he had never counted upon this program. When he came to Paris to seek
us out. On that occasion,he had made his appearance nearly shaking with
terror, for he had supposed thatBlanche would at once raise an outcry and
have him put from the door.Wherefore he was the more enraptured at the
turn that things had taken, andspent the month in a state of senseless
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ecstasy. Already I had learnt thatafter our unexpected departure from Mulettenburg he had
had a sort of fit, thathe had fallen into a swoon, and
spent a week in a species ofgarruless delirium. Doctors had been summoned to
him, but he had broken awayfrom them and suddenly taken a train to
Paris. Of course, Lanshe's receptionof him had acted as the best of
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all possible cures, but for longenough he carried the marks of his affliction.
Despite his present condition of rapture anddelight, to think clearly, or
even to engage in any serious conversationhad now become impossible for him. He
could only ejaculate after each word,hum and then not his head in confirmation.
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Sometimes also he would laugh, butonly in a nervous, hysterical sort
of a fashion, while at othertimes he would sit for hours, looking
as black as night, with hisheavy eyebrows knitted. Of much that went
on, he remained wholly oblivious,for he grew extremely absent minded, and
took to talking to himself. OnlyBlanche could awake him to any semblance of
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life. His fits of depression andmoodiness in corners always meant either that he
had not seen her for some while, or that she had gone out without
taking him with her, or thatshe had omitted to caress him before departing.
When in this condition, he wouldrefuse to say what he wanted,
nor had he the least idea thathe was thus sulking and moping next after
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remaining in this condition for an houror two, this I remarked on two
occasions, when Blanche had gone outfor the day, probably to see Albert,
he would begin to look about himand to grow uneasy, and to
hurry about with an air as thoughhe had suddenly remembered something and must try
and find it, after which,not perceiving the object of his search,
nor succeeding in recalling what that objecthad been, he would have suddenly relapse
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into oblivion, and continue so untilthe reappearance of Blanche Mary Wanton, half
dressed and laughing her strident laugh asshe approached to pet him and even to
kiss him, though the latter rewardhe seldom received once. He was so
overjoyed at her doing so that heburst into tears. Even I myself was
surprised. From the first moment ofhis arrival in Paris, Blanche set herself
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to plead with me on his behalf, and at such times she even rose
to heights of eloquence, saying thatit was for me she had abandoned him,
though she had almost become his betrothedand promised to become so, that
it was for her sake he haddeserted his family, that having been in
his service, I ought to rememberthe fact, and to feel ashamed.
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To all this, I would saynothing. However much she chattered on,
until at length I would burst outlaughing, and the incident would come to
an end. At first, asI have said, she had thought me
a fool. But since she hadcome to deem me a man of sense
and sensibility, in short, Ihad the happiness of calling her better nature
into play, For though at firstI had not deemed her so, she
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was in reality a kind hearted womanafter her own fashion. You are good
and clever, she said to metowards the finish, and my one regret
is that you are also wrongheaded.You will never be a rich man,
un vray Russ un Kalmuk. Sheusually called me several times. She sent
me to give the General an airingin the street, even as she might
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have done with a lackey and herspaniel. But I preferred to take him
to the theater, to the balmabille, and to restaurants. For this
purpose she usually allowed me some money, though the General had a little of
his own and enjoyed taking out hispurse before strangers. Once I had to
use actual force to prevent him frombuying a phaeton at a price of seven
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hundred francs, after a vehicle hadcaught his fancy in the Palais Royal as
seeming to be a desirable present forBlanche. What could she have done with
a seven hundred franc phaeton, andthe General possessed in the world but a
thousand francs. The origin even ofthose francs I could never determine, but
imagine them to have eminated from misterAstley, the more so since the latter
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had paid the family's hotel bill.As for what view the General took of
myself, I think that he neverdivined the footing on which I stood with
Blanche. True he had heard ina dim sort of way that I had
won a good deal of money.But more probably he supposed me to be
acting as secretary, or even asa kind of servant to his innimarata.
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At all events, he continued toaddress me, in his old haughty style,
as my superior. At times heeven took it upon himself to scold
me. One morning, in particular, he started to snare at me over
our matutinal coffee. Though not aman prone to take offense, he suddenly,
and for some reason of which tothis day I am ignorant, fell
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out with me. Of course,even he himself did not know the reason.
To put things Shortly, he begana speech which had neither beginning nor
ending, and cried out abetone rampeutthat I was a boy whom he would
soon put to rights, and soforth and so forth. Yet no one
could understand what he was saying,and at length Blanche exploded in a burst
of laughter. Finally something appeased him, and he was taken out for his
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walk. More than once, however, I noticed that his depression was growing
upon him, that he seemed tobe feeling the want of somebody or something
that, despite Blanche's presence, hewas missing some person in particular. Twice
on these occasions did he plunge intoa conversation with me, though he could
not make himself intelligible, and onlywent on rambling about the service his late
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wife, his home, and hisproperty. Every now and then, also
some particular word would please him,whereupon he would repeat it a hundred times
in the day, even though theword happened to express neither his thoughts nor
his feelings. Again, I wouldtry to get him to talk about his
children, but always he cut meshort in his old snappish way and passed
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to another subject. Yes, yes, my children, was all that I
could extract from him. Yes,you are right in what you have said
about them. Only once did hedisclose his real feelings. That was when
we were taking him to the theater, and suddenly he exclaimed, my unfortunate
children, Yes, sir, theyare unfortunate children. Once too, when
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I chanced to mention Paulina, hegrew quite bitter against her. She is
an ungrateful woman, he exclaimed.She is a bad and ungrateful woman.
She has broken up a family.If there were laws here, I would
have her impaled, Yes I would. As for de Grie, the General
would not have his name mentioned.He has ruined me, he would say,
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he has robbed me and cut mythroat. For two years. He
was a perfect nightmare to me.For months at a time. He never
left me in my dreams. Donot speak of him again. It was
now clear to me that Blanche andhe were on the point of coming to
terms. Yet, true to myusual custom, I said nothing at length.
Blanche took the initiative in explaining matters. She did so a week before
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we parted. E la duchance.She prattled, for the grandmother is now
really ill and therefore bound to die. Mister Astley has just sent a telegram
to say so, and you willagree with me that the General is likely
to be her heir. Even ifhe should not be so. He will
not come amiss, since in thefirst place he has his pension, and
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in the second place he will becontent to live in a back room,
whereas I shall be Madame General andget into a good circle of society.
She was always thinking of this,and become a Russian chatelaine. Yes,
I shall have a mansion of myown and peasants and a million of money
at my back. But suppose heshould prove jealous, he might demand all
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sorts of things. You know,do you follow me? Oh, dear,
no, how ridiculous that would beof him. Besides, I have
taken measures to prevent it. Youneed not be alarmed. That is to
say, I have induced him tosign notes of hand in Albert's name.
Consequently, at any time I couldget him punished. Isn't he ridiculous?
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Very well, then marry him,and in truth she did so, though
the marriage was a family one onlyand involved no pomp or ceremony. In
fact, she invited to the nuptialsnone but Albert and a few other friends,
Hortense, Cleopatrick, and the restshe kept firmly at a distance.
As for the bridegroom, he tooka great interest in his new position.
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Blanche herself tied his tie, andBlanche herself pomaded him, with the result
that in his frock coat and whitewaistcoat, he looked quite commie fout la
portan tree commielifot, Blanche remarked whenshe issued from his room, as though
the idea that he was trea comilfot had impressed even her. For myself,
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I had so little knowledge of theminor details of the affair, and
took part in it so much asa supine spectator, that I have forgotten
most of what passed on this occasion. I only remember that Blanche and the
widow figured at it not as ducomige, but as du place. Why
they had hitherto been du comige,I do not know. I only know
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that this entirely satisfied the General,that he liked the name du plus even
better than he had liked the namedu comige. On the morning of the
wedding, he paced the salon inhis gala attire and kept repeating to himself
with an air of great gravity andimportance, Mademoiselle Blanche du Place, Mademoiselle
Blanche du place duplace. He beamedwith satisfaction. As he did so both
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in the church and at the weddingbreakfast. He remained not only pleased and
contented, but even proud. Shetoo, underwent a change, for now
she assumed an air of added dignity. I must behave altogether differently, she
confided to me, with a seriousair. Yet, mark you, there
was a tiresome circumstance of which Ihad never before thought, which is,
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how best to pronounce my new familyname Sigorianski Sigozianski, Madame la generale de
Sago, Madame la general de fourteenconsonants. Oh, these infernal Russian names,
the last of them would be thebest to use, don't you think?
At length, the time had comefor us to part, and Blanche,
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the egregious Blanche shed real tears asshe took her leave of me to
e tes bonafant. She said witha sob jieu deu croyez bat a tou
and aveis leire. But it suitedyou. Then, having given me a
final handshake, she exclaimed a tonguewhereafter running into her boudoir, she brought
me thence two thousand franc notes.I could scarcely believe my eyes. They
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may come in handy for you,she explained, for though you are a
very learned tutor, you are avery stupid man. More than two thousand
francs. However, I am notgoing to give you, for the reason
that if I did so, youwould gamble them all away. Now good
bye, ne serone, tou jieurbon amis, and if you win again,
do not fail to come to me, Eh, to serazaree. I
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myself had still five hundred francs left, as well as a watch worth a
thousand francs, a few diamond studs, and so on. Consequently, I
could subsist for quite a length oftime without particularly bestirring myself. Purposely,
I have taken up my abode whereI am now, partly to pull myself
together, and partly to wait formister Astley, who I have learnt will
soon be here for a day orso on business. Yes, I know
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that, And then and then Ishall go to Hamburg. But to Roulettenburg
I shall not go until next year, for they say it is bad to
try one's luck twice in succession ata table. Moreover, Hamburg is where
the best play is carried on endof Chapter sixteen
Chapter sixteen of Paris. What amI to say? The whole proceeding was
a delirium, a madness. Ispent a little over three weeks there,
and during that time saw my hundredthousand francs come to an end. I
speak only of the one hundred thousandfrancs. For the other hundred thousand I
gave to Mademoiselle Blanche in pure cash. That is to say, I handed
(00:24):
her fifty thousand francs at Frankfurt,and three days later in Paris advanced her
another fifty thousand a note of hand. Nevertheless, a week had not elapsed
ere she came to me for moremoney. Ai les sans mille franc quinu
Roston, she added to les mangerrata vecmoi monuccitel. Yes, she always
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called me her uchitel. A personmore economical, grasping and mean than Mademoiselle
Blanche, one could not imagine.But this was only as regards her own
money, my hundred thousand francs.As she explained to me later, she
needed to set up her establishment inParis, so that once and for all
I may be on a decent footingand proof against any stones which may be
(01:10):
thrown at me at all events fora long time to come. Nevertheless,
I saw nothing of those hundred thousandfrancs. For my own purse, which
she inspected daily, never managed toamass in it more than a hundred francs
at a time, and generally thesum did not reach even that figure.
What do you want with money?She would say to me, with air
of absolute simplicity, and I neverdisputed the point. Nevertheless, though she
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fitted out her flat very badly withthe money, the fact did not prevent
her from saying, when later shewas showing me over the rooms of her
new abode, see what care andtaste can do with the most wretched of
means. However, her wretchedness hadcost fifty thousand francs, while with the
remaining fifty thousand she purchased a carriageand horses. Also, we gave a
(02:01):
couple of balls evening parties attended byHortense and Lisette and Cleopatra, who were
women remarkable both for the number oftheir liaisons and though only in some cases,
for their good looks. At thesereunions, I had to play the
part of host to meet and entertainfat mercantile parvenus, who were impossible by
(02:22):
reason of their rudeness and braggadocio.Colonels of various kinds, hungry authors and
journalistic hacks, all of whom disportedthemselves in fashionable tailcoats and pale yellow gloves,
and displayed such an aggregate of conceitand gasconnade as would be unthinkable even
in Saint Petersburg, which is sayinga great deal. They used to try
(02:45):
to make fun of me, ButI would console myself by drinking champagne and
then lolling in a retiring room.Nevertheless, I found it deadly work.
Seta nuccitell blanche would say of mequi agagne de Saint Mille, France,
and but for me would have hadnot a notion how to spend them.
Presently he will have to return tohis tutoring. Does anyone know of a
(03:07):
vacant post? You know one mustdo something for him. I had the
more frequent recourse to champagne, inthat I constantly felt depressed and bored,
owing to the fact that I wasliving in the most bourgeois commercial milieu imaginable,
a milieu wherein every sue was countedand grudged. Indeed, two weeks
(03:28):
had not elapsed before I perceived thatBlanche had no real affection for me,
even though she dressed me in elegantclothes and herself tied my tie each day.
In short, she utterly despised me, but that caused me no concern.
Lasee and Aert, I spent myevenings generally at the Chateau de Fleure,
(03:49):
where I would get fuddled and thendance the can can, which in
that establishment was a very indecent performancewith a claw at length. The time
came when Blanche had rained my pursedry. She had conceived an idea that
during the term of our residence together, it would be well if I were
always to walk behind her with apaper and pencil, in order to jot
(04:11):
down exactly what she spent, whatshe had saved, what she was paying
out, and what she was layingby well. Of course, I could
not fail to be aware that thiswould entail a battle over every ten francs.
So although for every possible objection thatI might make she had prepared a
suitable answer, she soon saw thatI made no objections, and therefore had
(04:32):
to start disputes herself. That isto say, she would burst out into
tirades, which were met only withsilence as I lolled on a sofa and
stared fixedly at the ceiling. Thisgreatly surprised her. At first, she
imagined that it was due merely tothe fact that I was a fool un
uchitel. Wherefore she would break offher harangue in the belief that, being
(04:54):
too stupid to understand, I wasa hopeless case. Then she would leave
the room, but returned ten minuteslater to resume the contest. This continued
throughout her squandering of my money,a squandering altogether out of proportion to our
means. An example is the wayin which she changed her first pair of
horses for a pair which cost sixteenthousand francs bibby. She said on the
(05:17):
latter occasion, as she approached me, surely you are not angry. No,
I am merely tired, was myreply, as I pushed her from
me. This seemed to her socurious that straightway she seated herself by my
side. You see, she wenton, I decided to spend so much
upon these horses only because I caneasily sell them again. They would go
(05:40):
at any time for twenty thousand francs. Yes, yes, they are splendid
horses, and you have got asplendid turnout. I am quite content.
Let me hear no more of thematter. Then you are not angry?
No, why should I be.You are wise to provide yourself with what
you need, for it will allcome in handy in the future. Yes,
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I quite see the necessity of yourestablishing yourself on a good basis,
for without it you will never earnyour million. My hundred thousand francs.
I look upon merely as a beginning, as a mere drop in the bucket.
Blanche, who had by no meansexpected such declarations from me, but
rather an uproar in protests, wasrather taken aback. Well, well,
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what a man you are, sheexclaimed. Metu a l'esprit pour comprondre set
mount Garcon. Although you are atutor, you ought to have been born
a prince. Are you not sorrythat your money should be going so quickly?
No, the quicker it goes,the better me. Setu madi donc
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are you really rich? Mes Seto? You have too much contempt for money?
Kessic tuferra epred donc apre, Ishall go to Hamburg and win another
hundred thousand francs oui oui, saysa semagnefiq ah. I know you will
win them and bring them to me. When you have done so, didunc,
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you will end by making me loveyou. Since you are what you
are, I mean to love youall the time and never to be unfaithful
to you. You see, Ihave not loved you before, Parsica juccu
croye cut nescun uchitel lachos come unluckynespa. Yet all the time I have
been true to you. Parsica's yoursui buonfield you lie, I interrupted?
(07:34):
Did I not see you the otherday with Albert, with that black jowled
officer. Oh oh mitu es Yes, you are lying right enough, But
what makes you suppose that I shouldbe angry? Rubbish ill folk quejunis sipas.
Even if that officer were here now, I should refrain from putting him
(07:54):
out of the room if I thoughtyou really cared for him. Only mind
you do not give him any ofmy money. You hear you say?
Do you that you would not beangry? Met to s Envrey philosof say
to you ui uvre philosoph Ebienne,chetimira, chetemire tou veratu sera content true
(08:18):
enough. From that time onwards sheseemed to attach herself only to me,
and in this manner we spent ourlast ten days together. The promised etoile
I did not see, but inother respects, she to a certain extent
kept her word. Moreover, sheintroduced me to Hortense, who was a
remarkable woman in her way, andknown among us as Therese Philosophe. But
(08:41):
I need not enlarge further, forto do so would require a story to
itself, and entail a coloring whichI am loath to impart to the present
narrative. The point is that,with all my faculties, I desired the
episode to come to an end asspeedily as possible. Unfortunately, our hundred
thousand francs asked at us, asI have said, for very nearly a
(09:03):
month, which greatly surprised me.At all events, Blanche bought herself articles
to the tune of eighty thousand francs, and the rest sufficed just to meet
our expenses of living. Towards theclose of the affair, Blanche grew almost
frank with me at least, shescarcely lied to me at all, declaring,
amongst other things, that none ofthe debts which she had been obliged
(09:26):
to incur were going to fall uponmy head. I have purposely refrained from
making you responsible for my bills orborrowings, she said, for the reason
that I am sorry for you.Any other woman in my place would have
done so and have let you goto prison. See then, how much
I love you, and how goodhearted I am think too, what this
(09:48):
accursed marriage with the General is goingto cost me. True enough, the
marriage took place, It did soat the close of our month together,
and I am bound to suppose thatit was upon the ceremony that the last
rem of my money were spent withit. The episode, that is to
say, my sojourn with the frenchwoman, came to an end, and I
formerly retired from the scene. Ithappened thus, a week after we had
(10:11):
taken up our abode in Paris,there arrived thither the General. He came
straight to see us, and thenceforwardlived with us practically as our guest,
though he had a flat of hisown as well. Blanche met him with
Merry Battinage and laughter, and eventhrew her arms around him. In fact,
she managed it so that he hadto follow everywhere in her train,
(10:33):
whether when promenading on the boulevards,or when driving, or when going to
the theater, or when paying calls. And this use which she made of
him, quite satisfied the General.Still of imposing appearance and presents, as
well as of fair height, hehad a dyed mustache and whiskers he had
formerly been in the coursiers, anda hansom, though a somewhat wrinkled face.
(10:56):
Also, his manners were excellent,and he could carry a frockcoat well,
the more so since in Paris hetook to wearing his orders. To
promenade the boulevards with such a manwas not only a thing possible, but
also, so to speak, athing advisable. And with this program,
the good but foolish General had nota fault to find the truth is that
(11:18):
he had never counted upon this program. When he came to Paris to seek
us out. On that occasion,he had made his appearance nearly shaking with
terror, for he had supposed thatBlanche would at once raise an outcry and
have him put from the door.Wherefore he was the more enraptured at the
turn that things had taken, andspent the month in a state of senseless
(11:39):
ecstasy. Already I had learnt thatafter our unexpected departure from Mulettenburg he had
had a sort of fit, thathe had fallen into a swoon, and
spent a week in a species ofgarruless delirium. Doctors had been summoned to
him, but he had broken awayfrom them and suddenly taken a train to
Paris. Of course, Lanshe's receptionof him had acted as the best of
(12:01):
all possible cures, but for longenough he carried the marks of his affliction.
Despite his present condition of rapture anddelight, to think clearly, or
even to engage in any serious conversationhad now become impossible for him. He
could only ejaculate after each word,hum and then not his head in confirmation.
(12:22):
Sometimes also he would laugh, butonly in a nervous, hysterical sort
of a fashion, while at othertimes he would sit for hours, looking
as black as night, with hisheavy eyebrows knitted. Of much that went
on, he remained wholly oblivious,for he grew extremely absent minded, and
took to talking to himself. OnlyBlanche could awake him to any semblance of
(12:43):
life. His fits of depression andmoodiness in corners always meant either that he
had not seen her for some while, or that she had gone out without
taking him with her, or thatshe had omitted to caress him before departing.
When in this condition, he wouldrefuse to say what he wanted,
nor had he the least idea thathe was thus sulking and moping next after
(13:05):
remaining in this condition for an houror two, this I remarked on two
occasions, when Blanche had gone outfor the day, probably to see Albert,
he would begin to look about himand to grow uneasy, and to
hurry about with an air as thoughhe had suddenly remembered something and must try
and find it, after which,not perceiving the object of his search,
nor succeeding in recalling what that objecthad been, he would have suddenly relapse
(13:28):
into oblivion, and continue so untilthe reappearance of Blanche Mary Wanton, half
dressed and laughing her strident laugh asshe approached to pet him and even to
kiss him, though the latter rewardhe seldom received once. He was so
overjoyed at her doing so that heburst into tears. Even I myself was
surprised. From the first moment ofhis arrival in Paris, Blanche set herself
(13:52):
to plead with me on his behalf, and at such times she even rose
to heights of eloquence, saying thatit was for me she had abandoned him,
though she had almost become his betrothedand promised to become so, that
it was for her sake he haddeserted his family, that having been in
his service, I ought to rememberthe fact, and to feel ashamed.
(14:13):
To all this, I would saynothing. However much she chattered on,
until at length I would burst outlaughing, and the incident would come to
an end. At first, asI have said, she had thought me
a fool. But since she hadcome to deem me a man of sense
and sensibility, in short, Ihad the happiness of calling her better nature
into play, For though at firstI had not deemed her so, she
(14:37):
was in reality a kind hearted womanafter her own fashion. You are good
and clever, she said to metowards the finish, and my one regret
is that you are also wrongheaded.You will never be a rich man,
un vray Russ un Kalmuk. Sheusually called me several times. She sent
me to give the General an airingin the street, even as she might
(15:01):
have done with a lackey and herspaniel. But I preferred to take him
to the theater, to the balmabille, and to restaurants. For this
purpose she usually allowed me some money, though the General had a little of
his own and enjoyed taking out hispurse before strangers. Once I had to
use actual force to prevent him frombuying a phaeton at a price of seven
(15:22):
hundred francs, after a vehicle hadcaught his fancy in the Palais Royal as
seeming to be a desirable present forBlanche. What could she have done with
a seven hundred franc phaeton, andthe General possessed in the world but a
thousand francs. The origin even ofthose francs I could never determine, but
imagine them to have eminated from misterAstley, the more so since the latter
(15:46):
had paid the family's hotel bill.As for what view the General took of
myself, I think that he neverdivined the footing on which I stood with
Blanche. True he had heard ina dim sort of way that I had
won a good deal of money.But more probably he supposed me to be
acting as secretary, or even asa kind of servant to his innimarata.
(16:07):
At all events, he continued toaddress me, in his old haughty style,
as my superior. At times heeven took it upon himself to scold
me. One morning, in particular, he started to snare at me over
our matutinal coffee. Though not aman prone to take offense, he suddenly,
and for some reason of which tothis day I am ignorant, fell
(16:29):
out with me. Of course,even he himself did not know the reason.
To put things Shortly, he begana speech which had neither beginning nor
ending, and cried out abetone rampeutthat I was a boy whom he would
soon put to rights, and soforth and so forth. Yet no one
could understand what he was saying,and at length Blanche exploded in a burst
of laughter. Finally something appeased him, and he was taken out for his
(16:52):
walk. More than once, however, I noticed that his depression was growing
upon him, that he seemed tobe feeling the want of somebody or something
that, despite Blanche's presence, hewas missing some person in particular. Twice
on these occasions did he plunge intoa conversation with me, though he could
not make himself intelligible, and onlywent on rambling about the service his late
(17:15):
wife, his home, and hisproperty. Every now and then, also
some particular word would please him,whereupon he would repeat it a hundred times
in the day, even though theword happened to express neither his thoughts nor
his feelings. Again, I wouldtry to get him to talk about his
children, but always he cut meshort in his old snappish way and passed
(17:36):
to another subject. Yes, yes, my children, was all that I
could extract from him. Yes,you are right in what you have said
about them. Only once did hedisclose his real feelings. That was when
we were taking him to the theater, and suddenly he exclaimed, my unfortunate
children, Yes, sir, theyare unfortunate children. Once too, when
(17:59):
I chanced to mention Paulina, hegrew quite bitter against her. She is
an ungrateful woman, he exclaimed.She is a bad and ungrateful woman.
She has broken up a family.If there were laws here, I would
have her impaled, Yes I would. As for de Grie, the General
would not have his name mentioned.He has ruined me, he would say,
(18:19):
he has robbed me and cut mythroat. For two years. He
was a perfect nightmare to me.For months at a time. He never
left me in my dreams. Donot speak of him again. It was
now clear to me that Blanche andhe were on the point of coming to
terms. Yet, true to myusual custom, I said nothing at length.
Blanche took the initiative in explaining matters. She did so a week before
(18:42):
we parted. E la duchance.She prattled, for the grandmother is now
really ill and therefore bound to die. Mister Astley has just sent a telegram
to say so, and you willagree with me that the General is likely
to be her heir. Even ifhe should not be so. He will
not come amiss, since in thefirst place he has his pension, and
(19:03):
in the second place he will becontent to live in a back room,
whereas I shall be Madame General andget into a good circle of society.
She was always thinking of this,and become a Russian chatelaine. Yes,
I shall have a mansion of myown and peasants and a million of money
at my back. But suppose heshould prove jealous, he might demand all
(19:26):
sorts of things. You know,do you follow me? Oh, dear,
no, how ridiculous that would beof him. Besides, I have
taken measures to prevent it. Youneed not be alarmed. That is to
say, I have induced him tosign notes of hand in Albert's name.
Consequently, at any time I couldget him punished. Isn't he ridiculous?
(19:48):
Very well, then marry him,and in truth she did so, though
the marriage was a family one onlyand involved no pomp or ceremony. In
fact, she invited to the nuptialsnone but Albert and a few other friends,
Hortense, Cleopatrick, and the restshe kept firmly at a distance.
As for the bridegroom, he tooka great interest in his new position.
(20:10):
Blanche herself tied his tie, andBlanche herself pomaded him, with the result
that in his frock coat and whitewaistcoat, he looked quite commie fout la
portan tree commielifot, Blanche remarked whenshe issued from his room, as though
the idea that he was trea comilfot had impressed even her. For myself,
(20:33):
I had so little knowledge of theminor details of the affair, and
took part in it so much asa supine spectator, that I have forgotten
most of what passed on this occasion. I only remember that Blanche and the
widow figured at it not as ducomige, but as du place. Why
they had hitherto been du comige,I do not know. I only know
(20:55):
that this entirely satisfied the General,that he liked the name du plus even
better than he had liked the namedu comige. On the morning of the
wedding, he paced the salon inhis gala attire and kept repeating to himself
with an air of great gravity andimportance, Mademoiselle Blanche du Place, Mademoiselle
Blanche du place duplace. He beamedwith satisfaction. As he did so both
(21:21):
in the church and at the weddingbreakfast. He remained not only pleased and
contented, but even proud. Shetoo, underwent a change, for now
she assumed an air of added dignity. I must behave altogether differently, she
confided to me, with a seriousair. Yet, mark you, there
was a tiresome circumstance of which Ihad never before thought, which is,
(21:42):
how best to pronounce my new familyname Sigorianski Sigozianski, Madame la generale de
Sago, Madame la general de fourteenconsonants. Oh, these infernal Russian names,
the last of them would be thebest to use, don't you think?
At length, the time had comefor us to part, and Blanche,
(22:03):
the egregious Blanche shed real tears asshe took her leave of me to
e tes bonafant. She said witha sob jieu deu croyez bat a tou
and aveis leire. But it suitedyou. Then, having given me a
final handshake, she exclaimed a tonguewhereafter running into her boudoir, she brought
me thence two thousand franc notes.I could scarcely believe my eyes. They
(22:29):
may come in handy for you,she explained, for though you are a
very learned tutor, you are avery stupid man. More than two thousand
francs. However, I am notgoing to give you, for the reason
that if I did so, youwould gamble them all away. Now good
bye, ne serone, tou jieurbon amis, and if you win again,
do not fail to come to me, Eh, to serazaree. I
(22:52):
myself had still five hundred francs left, as well as a watch worth a
thousand francs, a few diamond studs, and so on. Consequently, I
could subsist for quite a length oftime without particularly bestirring myself. Purposely,
I have taken up my abode whereI am now, partly to pull myself
together, and partly to wait formister Astley, who I have learnt will
soon be here for a day orso on business. Yes, I know
(23:15):
that, And then and then Ishall go to Hamburg. But to Roulettenburg
I shall not go until next year, for they say it is bad to
try one's luck twice in succession ata table. Moreover, Hamburg is where
the best play is carried on endof Chapter sixteen
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