The Alkahest

of her chamber, which looked on the garden, and saw that they were watching one of t

e room. Then she knocked gently on the door of communication, to assure herself that Balthazar had

with Pierquin, will you?

escended that a listener would

“he tore this bit out of her dress, and he broke the jaw of that griffin; I’m sure I don’t

n’t have it mended at all — it is n

er; “why isn’t it a misfortune, I should lik

erquin,” said Madame Claes

m; as she never took any but that of her hus

for the thirty

om Messieurs Protez and Chiffreville, who have drawn six letter

some plausible pretext, I entreat you. Give me the letter. I will speak to him myself about it. All is well,” she ad

ry looked at Mademoiselle Claes, who was entering the room fr

selle Marguerite as pretty

an upon her lap, raised her head and looked at her daughter,

concealed the shallow insignificance of a notary busied exclusively with earthly interests; though he was still young enough to feel envy. To marry into the family of Claes would have been to him an object of extreme desire, if an instinct of avarice had not underlain it. He could seem generous, but for all that he was a keen reckoner. And thus, without explaining to himself the motive for his change of manner, his behavior was harsh, peremptory, and surly, like that of an ordinary business man, when he thought the Claes were ruined; accommod

note of the change which her present reply had wrought in his demeanor; she guessed its meaning and tried to read her daughter’s mind

s he descended the stairs. Balthazar entered, dressed in the fashion of the period. He wore highly polished top-boots, which allowed the upper part of the white silk stockings to appear, blue kerseymere small-clothes with gold buttons, a flowered white waistcoat, and a blue frock-coat. He had trimmed his beard, combed and perfumed his hair, pared his nails, and washed his hands, all with such care

Pierquin,” said

e took his youngest child from his

ke you long to marry? Take my word for it, my dear Pierquin, family happiness consoles a

o the carpet. The mother turned away her eyes that she might not betray the emotion w

hazar, putting his son on the floor and

litter of the gold buttons which fastened the b

l, how is Pere Morillon?” he said to his eldest son, taking him by the ear and twisting it. “Are you

e notary with the affectionate

mething to say to me.” He took his arm to lead hi

he joy she felt in seeing him once more so young, so affable, so truly hims

arling child! I love you

seen my father so kind,

ering her his arm, Madame Claes took that of her husband an

er hunting objects were stamped in gold. Carefully arranged here and there above the shelves, shone the brilliant plumage of strange birds, and the lustre of rare shells. The chairs, which evidently had not been changed since the beginning of the sixteenth century, showed the square shape with twisted co

Dutch or Flemish school. The dinner-service of faience, decorated with raised colored figures, in the manner of Bernard Palissy, came from the English manufactory of Wedgwood. The silver-ware was massive, with square sides and designs in high relief — genuine family plate, whose pieces, in every vari

se marvels, being reserved for great occasions, wore an air of dignity often lost to things which are, as it were, made common by daily use. Here, in the home quarter, everything bore the

nders is disappearing. Now-a-days everything is changing; furniture is made from Greek models; wherever you go you see helmets, lances, shields, and bows and arrows! Everybody is rebuilding his house, selling his old furniture, melting up his silver dishes, or exchanging them for Sevres porcelain — which does not compare with either old Dresden or with Chinese ware. Oh! as for me, I’m Flemish to the core; my heart actually bleeds to see the coppersmiths buying up our beautiful inlaid furniture for the mer

ndurance by submitting them to the action of sun and rain. You are right enough, how

now the fashion, gave her the brilliant idea of selling a quantity of heavy silver-ware which she had inhe

dame Claes’s mind returned to the conversation, “s

were too wise not to know that such a scheme was attempting the impossible, too much of a Christian to take God’s work out of his hands; and, like every other Claes, too good a business man to spend your money for such befooling quacker

d Balthazar. “Ha! so they think me ruined? Well, my dear Pierquin, two months hence I shall give a fete in

his tenderness than at this moment. He was full of attention to his children, and his conversation had the charms of grace, and wit, and pertinence. This return of fatherly feeling, so long absent,

me to share his beliefs. Whether he really understood the drift of his master’s researches from certain exclamations which escaped the chemist when expected results disappointed him, or whether the innate tendency of mankind towards imitation made him adopt the ideas of the man in whose atmosphere he lived, certain it is that Lemulquinier had

and that no doubt was the trade of the particular ancestor of the old valet who passed from a state of serfdom to one of burgher dignity, until some unknown misfortune had again reduced his present descendant to the condition of a serf, with the addition of wages. The whole history of Flanders and its linen-trade was epitomized in this old man, often called, by way of euphony, Mulquinier. He was

him pass with an interest mingled with awe; to all their questions he returned sibylline answers big with mysterious treasures. Proud of being necessary to his master, he assumed an annoying authority over his companions, employing it to further his own interests and compel a submission which made him virtually

d tulip which Balthazar alone possessed. This flower, named “tulipa Claesiana,” combined the seven colors; and the curved edges of each petal looked as though they were gilt. Balthazar’s father, who had frequently refused ten thousand florins for this treasure, took such precautions against the theft of a single seed that he kept the plant always in t

y at Madame Claes and at the many-colored pyramid. The former was too enthusiastic over the beauty of the flow

tinued Pierquin, addressing Bal

s, in the tone of a man to whom forty thou

ce, during which the child

is one,

re’s a

he name of

of despair. “A compound of hydrogen and oxygen gives off, according to their relative proportions, under the

hat she did not seize its exact meaning; and Balthazar, as if remembering th

understand me,

ck into the absorbed medit

can’t change his skin, nor the leopard his spots,” he whispered to Madame Claes. “Have the goodness to remonstrate

tended not to hear him, kissed little Jean in

is wife round the waist, and put an end to the uneasiness h

w to get r

see the tears of happiness that filled her eyes: then she rested her

o the parlor,” she

wife. About half-past nine, when Jean had gone to bed, Marguerite returned to the parlor after helping her sister Felicie to undress, and found her mother seated in the deep armchair, and

down, kissed her tenderly on the forehead, and said, “Carry

darling daughter

g, watching the last glimmer of the twilight as it faded from the trees in the garden, whose outlines were scarcely dis

go ups

uary of tender feelings, where simplicity blended with all that was most sweet and sacred in social life. Any woman in Madame Claes’s position would have wished to gather about her the elegances of life, but Josephine had done so with exquisite taste, knowing well how great an influence the aspect of our surroundings exerts u

e long throats of Chinese vases judiciously placed about the room, and sparkled in the profusion of lights whose effect can only be compared to a joyous burst of martial music. The gleam of the wax candles cast a mellow sheen on the coverings of pearl-gray silk, whose monotony was relieved by touches of gold,

ly drawn, betrayed a desire for solitude, a jealous intention of guarding the sound of every word, of hiding every look of the reconquered husband. Madame Claes, wearing a dressing-robe of muslin, which was trimmed by a long pelerine with falls of lace that came about her t