Fromont and Risler -- Volume 1

years during which Sidonie acquired the familiarity with luxury and the grace

onvent with the outfit of a little queen; and at that very time the Chebes were discussing the question of apprenticing Sidonie to s

t as she grew older she realized more fully the distance that separated them,

f embarrassment; but visitors came, girl friends from the convent, among others a tall girl, alwa

idonie longed to go away at once. The other embarrassed her with awkward

s from her own; and a deathly sadness seized her, especially when, on her return home, her mother spoke of sending her as an appre

an apprenticeship. "Let her learn a trade," said the honest

iselle Le Mire spoke of

excellent

her to the Rue du Rio-Dore, to the fourth floor of an

Children's Toys, Mathematical Instruments in Glass, Bouquets for Brides and Maids of Honor, Wild Flowers a Specialty; and above was a

horribl

the factory. A narrow staircase, a narrow door, a succession of rooms with brick floors, all small and cold, and in the last an old maid with a fa

-it is most extraordinary how many old noblemen Le Rouergue has produced!-and of an unfaithful steward who had carried off their whole fortune. She instantly aroused the sympathies of M. Cheb

Le Mire seated her in front of a great drawer filled with pearls, needles, an

the young women would soon be there and they would show her exactly what she would have to do, for Mademoiselle Le Mire (always written in two words!) d

retchedly dressed, but with their hair becomingly arranged, after the fashion

rubbing their eyes, saying t

received for mourning jewels, and haste was essential. Sidonie, whom the forewoman instructed in her task in a to

atted together as they worked. They talked of a weddin

ose name was Malvina. "It's to be at noon. We shal

e whole party rushed downs

t a corner of the table and ate alone for the first time in her life. Great God! what a sad and wretc

irls trooped noisily

satin gown? And the vei

a luck

ch, leaning against the rail, throughout the ceremony. That question of a wealthy marriage,

hions and fill their minds with thoughts of luxury and elegance. To the poor girls who worked on Mademoiselle Le Mire's fourth floor, the

And the great trees in the square, the carriages that wheeled about there, coquettishly sl

s with the precocious dexterity and taste she had acquired in Desiree's neighborhood. So that i

pearls and bits of false coral; for at Mademoiselle Le Mire's they worked only in what was

eir friendship and their confidence, but without ever sharing their pleasures. She was too proud to go to see weddings at midday; and when she heard them talking of

than that, did we

complete pressing orders. In the gaslight those pale-faced Parisians, sorting pearls as white as themselves, of a dead, unwholesome whiteness, were a

ge, in 'Les Trois Mousq

urent? Oh! M

queens of melodrama, appeared before them in the white

could be heard in the street, crying their mirabelles and Queen Claudes, the workgirls slept heavily, their heads on the tabl

novels. She carried one in her head mu

e just stirring, the chimney emitted its first puff of black smoke. Sidonie, as she passed, could hear the shouts of the workmen, the dull, heavy blows of the bars of the printing-p

rting the false pearls even at night, in her own home, when she went, after dinner, to breathe the fresh air at the window on the landing an

red, Madame Chebe. Sh

ake you all int

t Risler organized to amuse Sidonie,

re was always a ribbon to be ironed at the last moment, or a bit of trimming to be sewn on in an attempt to rejuven

crippled child, ashamed of her deformity, never would stir from her chair, and Mamma Delobelle stayed behind to keep her company. Moreover, neither po

ng past the car windows, and the healthful exercise, the bath in the pure air saturated with the water of the Seine, vivified by a bit of forest, perfumed by flowering

ways the

obelle, who would saunter along, absorbed by his chimera, dressed in gray, with gray gaiters, a little hat over his ear, a light top coat on his arm,

did not appreciate it without the accompaniments of shooting-matches, wooden horses, sack races, and

ed her beyond measure. Her only pleasure in those throngs was the consciousness of being stared at. The veriest boor's

earch of flowers for patterns for his wall-papers. Frantz, with his long arms, would pull down the highest branches of a hawthorn, or would clim

ng suddenly as if in obedience to a caprice, resembles a living face, some one looking at you amid the lovely, quivering foliage. Risler arranged his bouquets artistically

ibbon, and slung over Frantz's back, away they went. Risler, always engrossed in h

h its white bells, among those eglantines. What do you think? Wou

for eglantine. Wild flowers always seemed to her like

the Chateau de Savigny, in the hothouses, on the balconies, and all about the gravelled courty

gs in summer! Such artificial enjoyment, such idiotic laughter, such doleful ballads, sung in whispers

n, declaim against the station-agent, the company, the government; sa

the superior air with which he replied, "I believe you!" gave those who stood near to understand that these gentlemen knew exactly what would h

g the long wait for the evening trains. From the station, lighted by a single lamp, she could see the black clumps of trees outside, lighted her

and, soaring above all the rest, the shrill treble of M. Chebe, shrieking in his sea-gull's voice: "Break down the doors! break down the doors!"-a thing that the little man would have taken good care not to do himself, as he had

t of cloud before the tired faces. The cars which they entered at last, after hours of waiting, were saturated with it also. Sidonie would open the window, and l

d passed. She thought of the rich, to whom all the days of their lives were days of rest; and vaguely, as in a dream, the long park avenues of which she had caught glimpses during the day appeared to her thronged

ebe's life from th

undergone a few additional repairs, and that was all. But, as Sidonie grew older, Frantz, now become a young man, acquired a habit of gazing at her

med her task regularly, silently, without the slightest thought of the future or

he ardor of those who see something at the end of their efforts; so that, at the age o

n making signs and winking at each other behind the children's backs. And when they left the theatre Madame Chebe solemn

or lover tried t

d is left behind, the streets become darker and darker, the passers more and more rare. Frantz began by

ou, Si

you know that so long as

iment; she brought away from it nothing but new methods of arranging the hair, and patterns of gowns. The new, exaggerated toilettes of the actresses, their gait, even the spurious elegance of their speech, which seemed to her of the highest distinction, and with

their love-scene!"

dly toward a little face surrounded by a white woollen

ie si

ene. The actress wore

xplaining himself. The words he sought would not come, and then, t

Porte Saint-Denis-when we

matters that his declaration froze on his lips, or else it was stoppe

Marais, he sudde

me, Sidonie

Delobelles had

r into the night that their lamp was among the last to be extinguished on the quiet Rue de Braque. They always s

d not acted for a long time; but having, as he said, no right to abandon the stage, he kept his mania alive by clinging to a number of the strolling player's habits, and the supper on returning home was one of them, as was his habit of delaying

as they worked, and with great animation, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour. During the whol

"the only thing he needs is

would forget everything for him. And if Desiree spoke with great confidence, it was because she was intimately acquainted with the woman who was so well ad

et

but Desiree knew how fondly that little woman loved Frantz, and how she had thought of him night and day for years. He had not noticed it himself, but seemed to have eye

the stool; one of those wonderful journeys from which she always returned happy and smiling, leaning on Frantz's arm with all the confidence of a beloved wife. As her fingers followed her though

the door

b you?" said a t

slightly drowsy, sud

waiting for father, as you see. These brigands of artists alwa

had undergone, "I can't stop. I saw a light and I just stepped in to tell you-to tel

avens, wh

nd Mademoiselle Sidonie a

good little wife," exclaimed Mamma Delobelle

, as Mamma Delobelle did nothing but look at the clock to see whether her great man would return soon, no one noticed the lame girl's emotion, n