Fromont and Risler -- Volume 3

the world, Pere Sigismond? How i

to be formidable rivals. Those former employes of the house of Fromont had set up on their own account, beginning in a very, small way, and had gradually succeeded in making for themselves a place on 'Change. Fromont the uncle had assisted them for a long while w

workmen and activity. The buildings were in good repair, the windows clean; everything had an aspect of enthusiasm, of good-humor, of discipline; and behind the grating in the counti

putation, and the ever-increasing prosperity of the establishment before his eyes. His stealthy glance penetrated to the darkest corne

mptiness of the strongbox. The poor man assumed a jaunty, unconcerned air which was truly pitiful to see. Business was good-very good. He h

ry, they led him away from his goal, and imagining that he detected surprise in the eyes of his auditors, he went completely astr

ay, so long a

he thought sly, but which

re, suppose we sett

in the counting-room gazed at one a

What accou

road joke, on the part of the old cashier. "Go along with you, you sly old Pere Planus!" The ol

had come in person, six months before,

trength was going. But he

nd Planus is growing old, that is plain.

at tears caused by the hearty laugh he had just enjoyed. The young peop

in person. What had taken place at the Prochassons' had probably been repeated everywhere else. It was quite useless, therefore, for him to subject himself to further humiliation. Yes, but the notes, the notes!-that thought renew

So-and-So. I want to

half open, his ha

our last bill? I f

t their last bill was settled. Fromont Jeune's rece

Another! Evidently it would

tion; but Claire did not see old Planus, any more than she had seen, when she left her house a few moments earlier, Monsieur Chebe in his long frock-coat and the illustrious Delobelle in his stovepipe hat, turning in

occasion, being driven to ask his father for forty francs to buy a pair of trousers, he had repaid the loan in small amounts. In his dealings with everybody, even with his children, M. Gardinois followed those traditions of a

operty when I am de

ne he knew should need his help, should bow before his wealth. When the Fromonts expressed in his presence their satisfaction at the prosperous turn their business was beginning to take, his sharp, cunning, little blue eye would smile ironically, and he would growl, "We shall see what it all comes to in the end," in a tone th

no one in the family will ever be rich enough to keep a c

r. But Claire, even as a child, had felt an invincible repugnance for the former peasant's hardness of heart and vainglorious selfishness. And when affection forms no bonds bet

will give her a royal presen

thing, because she wou

f, to face the endless sermons, the sneering raillery, the whole seasoned with Berrichon jests, with phrases smacking of the soil, with the taunts, o

of the one, the downfall of the house which the other had founded and of which he had been so proud while he lived. The th

given no warning of her visit, the carriage from the chatea

s long line of low walls and hedges separating it from the surrounding fields. The slates on the roof were as dark as the sky they reflected; and that magnificent summer residence, completely transformed by the bitter, silent winter, wit

eemed to het that Savigny watched her approach with the cold, aristocratic expression whi

el aspect o

isten, Claire, renouncing her plan of speaking to her grandfather, would have returned at once to Paris to maintain the repose of her life. But she did

er's wife, who came to open the gate, fawning and false and trembling, like all

ing among boxes and pigeonholes and great books with green backs, with the rage for bureaucracy due to his e

a sort of country spy, a paid informer who apprised hi

ouinat (polecat), and he had the flat, craft

t something serious and unusual had happened, and he made a sign to Fouinat, who d

you're all 'perlute'," said the gra

the slightest encouragement on his part, she kissed him and seated herself in front of the fire, where old stumps, surrounded by dry moss and pine needles picked up in the paths, were smouldering with occasional outbursts of life and the hissing of sap. She did not even take time to shake off the frost that sto

cy, a denial of any sort of sensibility. She went on to the end in one speech, respectful without humility, concealing her emotion, steadying her voice by the consciousness of the truth of her story. Really, seeing them thus face to face, he cold and calm, stretched out in his

ominating passion, overflowed in his whole manner, do what he would. When she had finished, he took the floor in his turn, began naturally enough with "I was sure of it-I always said so-I knew we should

ld man was as cold, as implacable as ever, and took advantage of her humiliation to humiliate her still more; for he belonged to the ra

little one, is that S

here. I happen to need

g for twelve hundred fra

Offer him that f

ild and he had received her as a beggar. The

ed M. Gardinois, with a

the door without replying. The ol

you don't know it, or you'd never come and ask me for money to go where yours has gone. Ah! I know all about your man's affairs. I have my police at Paris, yes, and at Asnieres, as well as at

t a terrible drama had entered her life at that moment through the

idonie has fin

don

an astonishing thing that, since the time-But you women are so vain! The idea that a man can deceive you is the last idea

riel had been furnished. He explained everything in detail. It was clear that, having found a new opportunity to exercise his mania for espionage, he had availed himself o

" And he gave her proofs, heaped them upon her, overpowered her with knife-thrusts in the heart. She had only to go to Darches, the jeweller in the Rue de la Paix. A fortnight before

ears that filled her eyes to overflow, and she was determined to smile to the end, the sweet, brave woman. From time to time she ca

ld the whole story. She bowe

you're in!" said the grandf

a little ashamed

breakfast

ad, not having s

riage is ready-some one wil

stil

ard, filled with souvenirs of her childhood, without once looking behind. And yet what echoes of hearty la

r the great dog Kiss, who followed her docilely, awaiting the caress which she did not give him. She had come as a child of the house, she went away

y, gran

-by,

honeysuckle, where the chateau mail-box was. She stopped instinctively, struck by one of those sudden awakenings of the memory which take place within us at critical moments and place before our eyes with wonderful clearness of outline the most trivial acts of our lives bearing any relation to present disa

letter inviting Sidonie to come and pass a month with her in the country. Something told her that all her misfortunes dated from that moment. "

t that moment, she cried out indignantly, gentle creature that she was, agai

her lied to me." And as she went on toward the station, the unhappy girl tried to

tood and accounted for certain peculiar circumstances in her husband's life, his frequent absences, his restlessness, his embarrassed behavior on certain days, and the abundant details which he sometimes volunteered, upon returning home, con

her of their happy romps together in the old days, with little shakes of the head, short leaps, capers of joy tempered by humility, concluding by stretching his beautiful white coat at full length at his mistress's feet, on the cold floor of the waiting-room. Those humble caresses which sought her out, like a hesitating offer of devotion and sympathy, caused the sobs she had so long restraine

e truth was so great that, when she reached her destination and alighted in front of that magnificent establishment, she stopped, afraid to enter. To give herself countenance, she pretended to be deeply interested in the jewels displayed in velvet cases; and one who had seen

urrent of its life beneath a lowering sky, heavy with snow. Nature is absent from the picture, so to speak. No wind, no sunlight. Just enough light for the dullest colors, the faintest reflections to produce an admirable effect, from the reddish-gray tone of the monuments to the gleams of jet which bespangle a woman's dress. Theatre and concert posters shine resplendent, as if illumined by the effulgence of the footlights. The shops are crowded. It seems that all those people must be preparing f

he entere

necklace of diamonds and roses. We could make

thousand les

" said Claire, "I

nged eyes and her deathly pallor, frightened her. She

long into that abyss of heartrending thoughts, of black things dancing madly in the depths of her mind. Oh! the coward,

dream. The sentiment of reality returned, pitiless and poignant, when she reached the steps of her little house. Risler was there, superintending several men who were carrying potted plants up to his wife's apartments, in preparatio

after all the rest! She rebelled; and as Risler saluted her, affectionately and with deep respect as always, her face assumed an ex

ightness and sense of justice, guided her actions. She barely took tim

elf quickly. We are going

s sitting, busily engaged in cleaning her watch-chain by i

urry. Get your

hed one of those fateful moments when the loss of one illusion causes you to lose them all, enables you to look to the very depths of human misery. The realization of her compl

child, who laughed merrily amid all the excitement. She was in haste to go before Georges' return, so that he might find the cradle empty and the house deserted. Where should she go? S

s the odor of a sachet-bag, the pattern of a bit of lace, were enough to bring tears to her eyes. Suddenly she heard a heavy footstep in the salon, the door of which was partly open; then there was a slight cough, as if to let her know that some one was the

at home to

ts, and Sigismond's square

d in an undertone. "I hav

, for she no longer remembere

. Monsieur Georges, when he went out, told

The hundred t

onsieur Planus; I

nge voice, as if he were speaking t

urned sl

st few hours the downfall of her happiness had caused her t

ould learn of the disaster, and he would learn at the same time that his

ld only weep and complain and shake his fist at life

notwithstandin

would perhaps seem to have fled at t

ight say

h, she would ha

low him to ente

cious that her feeling of repugnance, of revolt, began to grow less bitter, and a sudden ray of light seemed to make her

eplied gently. "We

ITOR'S B

s which he some

d dramatic

a place made ready

to be blind only so f