His Excellency the Minister

Madame Marsy. A double row of curious idlers stood motionless, braving benumbed fingers while watching the carriages that rolled under the archway, which, after quickly depositing at

rs at the foot of the perron, chatting as they ascended the steps, which were protected by a covering of glass. The curious pointed

the lobbies. Overcoats and mantles were thrown in heaps or strung up in haste, the gloved

to Marianne, who had just entered, wearing

slipped the tiny c

not supe

d with sa

; her fair hair fell over her plump, though slender, white shoulders, and the fo

at, advanced toward the salon, amid the greedy curiosity of the guests who contem

silk which heightened her fair beauty, and, with extended hands, smilingly greeted all

about Marianne's past. Kayser's niece was received everywhere, and had not Kayser decided to accompany her? He followed in the rear of the young girl. People had not obs

d I am to see you!" he sai

ely see each other. What

now, I have never compromise

rrendered, and led her toward a larger salon with red decorations, wherein the chairs were drawn up in lines before an empty space, fo

Everybody turned toward Marianne as she entered the room, under the guidance of Sabine, who led her quickly toward

of this friend of the family. Madame Gerson was delighted. Sabine, dear Sabine, had achieved a success, yes, a success! Monsieur Vaudrey was there!

abine is overcome with joy, yes, absolutely crazy! Think of it: Madame Hertzfi

ield's salon was losing its prestige. Only sub-prefects were create

is-a delightful conversationalist-he has dined

e was debating with herself as to when Monsieur de Rosas w

woman was seeking in Sabine's salon. She wished to see him again,

nt or of the greenroom; he was an eminent virtuoso and collector, an author when the desire seized him, but only in his own interest, liberal in his opinions, lavish in his disposition, attractive in his manners; an eager traveller, he had, at thirty years of age, seen all that was to be seen, he had visited India and Japan, drunk camel's milk unde

with knickknacks and panoplies of weapons: an extravagant luxury,-something like the embarrassment of riches in a plundered caravansary. It was there that José had regaled Marianne and Guy with coffee se

e, pensive and searching, and lower lip curled disdainfully over his tawny beard trimmed in Charles V. style, as

s a delightful fellow

ight

entertaining! and, what is n

of perambulating gold. How many times she had dreamed, in the mists of her recollection, of that somewhat haughty smile that curled

s had once announced that he was organizing an expedition to the North Pole. Perhaps he was lost among the icebergs

tress, but manifesting in his reserve a host of understood sentiments and tender restraint that suggested hidden or implied declarations. Marianne had pretended not to underst

Pshaw! he might have been as silly as I, if occasion dema

and this name escaped

for their ill deeds, but she suffered for her virtue. She often thought of the Duc de Rosas, as her mother Eve must have th

as it? How foolish of one

ught back to Paris this José whom she had never forgotten, and who perhaps remembered her, and by whom she would be recognized most assuredly, in any

d raise herself by the arms of t

Rosas from the latter. She bore a grudge, nevertheless, against Guy de Lissac, the insolent and silly fellow who had formerly left h

d, a young girl who remained so in features, gracefulness and the virgin charms that clothed her courtesan's body-her smile a virgin's

nt, one single moment, Rosas

as determined to keep herself in the first r

fled as she was and unaccustomed now to attend soirées. She remained, however, looking anxiously toward the door,

o her; robed in a white gown, she was extremely pretty, fair, and wore natural roses in her ash-colored hair, her eyes had a wondering expression, her cheeks wer

e ministe

me Va

charming,

pretty! Fre

lowere

fre

r prov

ied, in an ironica

ing! Hair and complexion peculia

ominence with him, accepting gracefully and unaffectedly the weight of his fame. Her timid, almost restless, uncertain smile, seemed to crave from the other women pardon for her own success, and there, surrounded by a group of men seated ne

udrey then?" Marianne

on your right, beside Monsieur Collard,

arianne with an i

ooked in

d this very elegant man who had

manner and of keen intelligence. A few moments before, she had heard him, as she passed by him

t was V

ad of his speeches. She had even frequently s

eloquent, had pleased her. She ought then to have recogniz

an, threading her way directly between the rows of men by whom she was so crowded as to be in danger of having her garments pulled from her body. In his love of def

sly, looked at him and al

ir caused by the curiosity of the guests, and a greeting manifested by the shuffling of feet and the murmuring of voices, Monsieur de Rosas

! ah! it

the Duc de Ros

es, it

s cha

ry fever of her eagerness, she felt the gambler's superstition. As soon as she saw José, she said to herself at once that if he saw her and recognized her first glance, then he had not forgotten her and she could hope for everything. Everything! "Men happily forget less quickly than women," sh

e burning with desire and in which she expressed her whole will. The human eye has within it all the power of attraction possessed by a magnetic needle. As if he had experienced the actual effect of that glance fixed on his countenance, the duke rais

Philip II., clothed in modern costume, his fashionable black clothes relieved only by a touch of vermilion, a red rosette. But however fashionable the cut of his clothes might be, on this man with the vague blue eyes, and lo

e was instinctively lighted up with a fleeting smile that immediately passed and was followed by a slight, r

me! at once! come!-

lances as she had braved them, she listened, with glowing eyes, drinking each word that flowed from his lips, her nostrils distended as if to scent t

ies, of the songs of the camel-driver, slowly intoned like prayers, of the gloom of solitary wastes and of the poetic associations of the ruins slumbering amid the red sands of the desert. At times he recited a translation of an Arabian song or remarked in passing, on some mournful ballad, refined as a Sennett, deep as the infinite, in which the eternal words of love, tender and affecting in all languages, assumed an intensel

inal, filtered through his rendering, lost none,-even in French,-of the special characteristics of his own nation, a half-daughter of the Orient. And inevitably, with its melancholy rep

anished before this passionate legacy bequeathed by one human race to another. Marianne trembled, believing that she could see even in Rosas's thoughts a desire

e more in the studio on Rue de Laval. Sabine Marsy's salon disappeared, Rosas was whispering i

as. Only the duke existed now. Had Guy been blended with her life b

t were, flowed from her to this man, and he, with wandering mind, did not hear one word of Monsieur de Rosas's narrative, but concentrated

ith the tumbled, auburn locks of Marianne, and yet, extraordinary as it was-Adrienne had never seemed to be so c

ed up as if in challenge. She was decidedly a Parisian, with all her intoxicating charms, that alluring, if vicious attraction that flows from the eyes of even modest girls. Some words spoken by Monsieur de Rosas reaching Vaudrey's ears-a description of the somewhat fantastical preparation of poison

poison from America? He was seized with the desire to know what such a charming creature as Marianne thought. Ah! what a pretty girl! He had already in

e Chamber when, near the dinner-hour, an orator became too long-winded in his speech. He wa

call for t

oval of Rosas by a look that at the same time rebuked h

ght him most delightful, or rather, she found him just what she had formerly believed him to be, a refined, delicate and very simple man in spite of his graciously haughty manner. When he concluded, the room echoed with the thunder of the applause. Even in the adjoining rooms the people applauded, for silence had been secured so as

d Vaudrey, in

en waiting. He would be able now to a

o offer his a

was moreover surrounded and escorted by a crowd who congratulated him noisily. Ex

e looked at Sulpice full in the face as if to inquire the cause of his eagerness in placing himself at her

it seemed to her that all these salutations were for her benefit. She believed herself created for adoration. Inwardly s

erhaps be better that the duke should seek her. Meanwhile, she crossed

g as they were to him in his official capacity, and as he moved on he uttered from time to time som

the ruddy tone of the punch, the many fruits, the bright-colored granite and the ices, Vaudrey stopped, releasing the arm

tings accompanied the hunt for tutti frutti. But the minister confined his attentions to Marianne, chafing under th

ive as a fashionable man, with that womanly curiosity that divines a silent declaration. A gold weigher does not

ted himself to recognize beauty in other women, and to tell them so, for he so informed Marianne! He declared it by his smile, his sparkling

occasionally almost pressed against each other, so that the light breath of this woman and the scent of new-mown hay that she exhaled, wafted over Sulpice's face. He looked at her so admiringly that it was noticeable. She was laced in a light blue satin gown that showed her rosy arms to the elbows, and her shoulders gleamed with a rosy tint that suggested the rays of a winter sun light

who calmly swallowed her glass of sherbet. He thought her at once exquisite and lovely, doubly charming with he

th outstretched wings of a brownish, brilliant tint, and Vaudrey, with a smile, a

sm

n my corsage I have in my mind. Black bu

onal," said Sulpice.

called? a little out of the perpendicular-or to speak m

whose eyes, seen between the blinking lids, gleamed as

te their brain! They are born for blue, however, for that which the provincial poets style 'the azure', and they shun it as if blue were d

n her with his glances, losing himself in that "blue" of which he spoke with a certain elegance, in which he desired to expr

ency, that all women

comes their beauty as well as this stuff of

e. That depends on the women-and on men," she adde

ter all, it was a shrewdly calculated one-she almost grazed Sulpice's cheek and lips when she extended her round and

ment having passed, he saw Marianne before him with her fan in her hand, and

tume and as charming as you are at this moment, I h

he very best painting tha

t before seeing you,"

mile that accompanied the compliment.

a most seductive smil

t inferior to

t; but I was greatly afraid that you would not think me so, array

from this evening forward," said he, i

ll in the face as if to inform him that

t ornaments of my salon, as you are of tha

est happiness,

a toss of her head. In this atmosphere of flattery, oppressive as with the heavy odor of incense, she experienced a sensation of omnipotence, the into

roud. She almost forgot that her vi

Madame Marsy in passing to greet her gues

she said, "but I must take her away

?" said

eur de

illuminate her pale face and he felt a sudden and singular discont

coats and bright toilets. And then, almost immediately and suddenly, he was surrounded and besieged by his colleagues of the Chamber, men either indifferent or seeking favors, who only awaited the conclusion of the conversation with Mademoiselle Kayser, which

spare man with a white beard very carefully trimmed, ca

u! why, her

a neckerchief in the old-fashioned style, and whose black waistcoat with its standing collar of ancient pattern was conspicuous amid

!-How delighted

s face, that seemed severe, but was only good-natured and masculine, s

all

with you. It is so long since I saw

the Nation Fran?aise!" said Vaudrey. "Bah! who is not a minister?" said Ramel. "You are. Remember what Na

et said to me when he told

t more of an after-thoug

pice with emotion, graspin

part to tell me that," said Ramel, "seei

ill a pessi

everybody! But I must necessarily believe in the stupidit

Madame Marsy's, you wh

savages, and these please me. If I had been rich or if I only had enough to live on, I should have passed my life in tra

uld you wish me to give you a mission where you

el, smiling. "No, I am too old, and never having asked

ask, it is o

e that precedes the final slumber. It is a pleasant condition. One

ve obligated in your life had solicited an invitation from Madam

ave, myself," said Ramel, with a sha

rmerly seen him arrive in Paris, and with whom he had corresponded from the heart of his province, as with a kinsman. There

Ramel, although he had known them, had for a long time avoided tho

e became regulated," he said. "Expe

of news-tellers,-he had loyally and conscientiously exercised a profession in which he took pleasure; he had read much, written much, consumed much midnight oil, touched upon everything; put his fingers into every kind of pie without soiling them, and after having valiantly turned the heavy millstone of daily labor incessantly renewed for forty years, he had reached the end of his journey, the brink of

muses

es and financial intrigues; and putting his shoulder to the wheel of enterprises that appeared to him to be solid, while seeking to strike out those which appeared

s earlier harangues. He had encouraged, during his competition for the Prix de Rome, this member of the Institute who to-day represented national art at the Villa Médicis; he had seen this composer, now a millionaire, beg for a private rehearsal as he might ask alms, and slip into one's h

enis Ramel, when asked why, at his age and with his talents, he was neither a deputy, nor a millionaire, nor a member of the Institute

onaires, prefects, men of power, I know all about them. I have made them all my life. Th

ctures, his engravings, his little collection slowly gathered year by year, article by article, smoking his pipe tranquilly, and at times reviewing the pages of his life, just as he

me to ask me to certify your pay-s

d with deep emotion the period of his struggles. Ramel, the former manager of the Nation Fran?aise, was one of the objects of his affection and admiration. He would have been de

once more one whom he could trust, to whom he could aban

you consent to be my

swered, as a kindly smile playe

e me?-To

added, as he pointed to a fashionable man, elegantly cravatted, carrying his head high, who had jus

var

be very much at

t the friend of the minister, but of ministers. He is one of the ordinary touter

ist. "When a minister is in power, they cheer hi

and laughingly said:

extended his hand to Ramel,-"

tain

still l

, Boulevard de

occasion require, you will not

office, remember without offic

esire to find amid the increasing crowd that thronged the salons, the pretty girl who had appeared to him like

in order to show off his new ribbon, but he now felt happy for having done so. He had promised himself only to put himself in evidence and then disappear with A

ed, and where one can only reach the salon after a pugilistic encounter, and where the capture of a glass of syrup entails an assault, and the securing of an overcoat demands a battle. He held in horror those salons where there is no conversation, where no one is acquainted, where, because of the hubbub of the crowd or the stifling silence attending a concert,

cravats, pretentious and pensive, creatures of office and not of work, haunting the Chambers and the antechambers, mere collectors of ideas, repeaters of serious commonplaces, salon democrats who would not offer their ungloved hand to a workman on the street; staff-majors ambitious of honors and not of devotion, whom he felt crowd

red to traverse, at once seemed altogether delightful to him. And all this was due to his meeting a divine creature in

women in one, at the very least! A woman from head to foot! A woman to her finger tips, a refined, Parisi

upholstered in garnet satin, his right hand resting on the gilded back and chatting with Adrienne who was fanning herself leisurely. On noticing Sulpice, the young woman smiled at him eve

?" was the meaning of

thout appearing to have understood her, and disappe

the minist

Do you know just what I feel? I fancy myself travelling, never, however, leaving the house. Ministe

this weariness, some pleasure, since the

believe that I should regret nothing

, to be with her husband again, and she thought that Sulpice found it nec

e of the guests sat chatting. Sulpice immediately divined, as if by instinct, that Marianne was there. He went straight in that direction, and as he entered the doorway, through the opening framed by tw

Kayser's shoulders and played over her

but a single

ious and inexplicable sensation.

e-she perceived the minister and greeting him with a sw

e light fell, seemed like a natural fram

d, the Duc de Rosas, he is too accomplished not to appreciate

ery peculiar half-inclination, not as a suitor in the presence

oliteness. But it seemed to him that here the duke was no longer the same man. He gave him the impression of an intruder who had thrust himself in the way that led to some possible opportunity.

ve away, Marianne det

he smiled, "you see,"-and she pointed to the blue draperies of the little sa

with an entirely misplaced irony that

nutes, but I have found that time enough to discover that you an

ey, who was disturbed by her direct

with Rosas-and in truth, what had he to forgive?-This burning glance had effaced everythi

r?le of minister, raising his head, and greeting with his official smile, but, at the bottom of his heart, really consumed by an entirely different thought. His brain was full of blue, of floating clouds, and he sti

eaned toward her, reached his hands out and said to De Lissac, hurriedly, as he grasped his hand: "We meet later, do we not, Guy?" Then he disappea

llency's

when she had taken her place in t

tired. It was very entertainin

y well," the you

as a nest; and after she had closed her eyes, overcome as she was by weariness, her breathing seemed to become gradually almost as regular as in slumber, and Sulpice Vaudrey recalled once