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La Grande Breteche ............................................................................................................................................1

"Ah! madame," replied the doctor, "I have some appalling stories in my collection. But each one has its

proper hour in a conversationyou know the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de

Fronsac: 'Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of champagne.' "

"But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared us," said the mistress of the house.

"At about a hundred paces from Vendome, on the banks of the Loir," said he, "stands an old brown house,

crowned with very high roofs, and so completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid tannery

or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small towns. In front of this house is a garden down to

the river, where the box shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle at their own will. A

few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown up quickly like an enclosing fence, and half hide the house.

The wild plants we call weeds have clothed the bank with their beautiful luxuriance. The fruittrees,

neglected for these ten years past, no longer bear a crop, and their suckers have formed a thicket. The

espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown with purslane; but, to be accurate there is

"Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old castle of the Dukes of Vendome, the only

spot whence the eye can see into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to determine, this spot

of earth must have been the joy of some country gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to

horticulture, but above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the wreck of an arbor, and

under it a table still stands not entirely destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the

negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as we divine the history of a worthy

tradesman when we read the epitaph on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender impressions which

seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial graced with this homely Christian motto, 'Ultimam

"The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside shutters are always closed; the balconies are

hung with swallows' nests; the doors are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined the flagstones of the

steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon and sun, winter, summer, and snow have eaten into the wood,

warped the boards, peeled off the paint. The dreary silence is broken only by birds and cats, polecats, rats,

and mice, free to scamper round, and fight, and eat each other. An invisible hand has written over it all:

"If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the street, you will see a large gate, with a

roundarched top; the children have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door had been blocked for

ten years. Through these irregular breaches you will see that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect

harmony with the side towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of weeds outline the pavingstones;

the walls are scored by enormous cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of

pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the bellcord is rotten; the gutterspouts broken. What fire from

heaven could have fallen there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God been mocked

here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no

reply. This empty and deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to none.

"It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La Grande Breteche. During my stay at

Vendome, where Despleins had left me in charge of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling became

one of my keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? Certain memories of indisputable authenticity

attach themselves to a ruin; but this house, still standing, though being slowly destroyed by an avenging hand,

contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the very least, it testified to a caprice. More than once in the

evening I boarded the hedge, run wild, which surrounded the enclosure. I braved scratches, I got into this

ownerless garden, this plot which was no longer public or private; I lingered there for hours gazing at the

disorder. I would not, as the price of the story to which this strange scene no doubt was due, have asked a

single question of any gossiping native. On that spot I wove delightful romances, and abandoned myself to

little debauches of melancholy which enchanted me. If I had known the reasonperhaps quite

commonplaceof this neglect, I should have lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To me this

refuge represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed by misfortune; sometimes the peace of

the graveyard without the dead, who speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home of lepers;

another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found there provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its

"More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the dull hum of the wings of some hurrying

woodpigeon. The earth is dank; you must be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering about

with the wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no fear of cold, for in a few moments you feel an

icy cloak settle on your shoulders, like the Commendatore's hand on Don Giovanni's neck.

"One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a

cry from the house, at the very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for this monumental

embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in gloomy thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into

my room with an air of mystery, and said, 'Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.'

" 'What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?Well, that's odd,' said she, leaving the room.

"On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat in hand, who came in like a ram ready to

butt his opponent, showing a receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the hue of a

glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. The stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the

" 'Monsieur,' said I, 'whom have I the honor of addressing?'He took a chair, placed himself in front of my

fire, put his hat on my table, and answered while he rubbed his hands: 'Dear me, it is very cold. Monsieur,

" 'I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,' I exclaimed. 'But I am not in a position to make a will for reasons best

" 'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence. 'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am

" 'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under

the will of the late Comtesse de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. One

moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. And besides, you are free to be ignorant of

the circumstances which compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendome to fall into ruin. Nevertheless,

monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should know that the laws forbid, under heavy penalties,

any trespass on enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in which the place is left may

be an excuse for your curiosity. For my part, I should be quite content to make you free to come and go in the

house; but being bound to respect the will of the testatrix, I have the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go

into the garden no more. I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never set foot in the house, which,

as I had the honor of informing you, is part of the estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing

there but verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have to pay annually out of the funds

left for that purpose by the late Madame de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the

"The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, perfectly understanding that the

administration of Madame de Merret's estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, his

glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my beautiful reveries and romances, I was to reject

" 'Monsieur,' said I, 'would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the reasons for such eccentricity?'

"At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which men feel who are accustomed to ride a

hobby, overspread the lawyer's countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took out his

snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, he took a large one. He was happy! A man who

has no hobby does not know all the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium between a

passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the whole bearing of Sterne's charming passion, and

had a perfect idea of the delight with which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his hobbyhorse.

" 'Monsieur,' said Monsieur Regnault, 'I was headclerk in Monsieur Roguin's office, in Paris. A firstrate

house, which you may have heard mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.Not having

money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to which they were run up in 1816, I came here and

bought my predecessor's business. I had relations in Vendome; among others, a wealthy aunt, who allowed

me to marry her daughter.Monsieur,' he went on after a little pause, 'three months after being licensed by

the Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I was going to bedit was before my marriageI was sent for by

Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who is now a servant in this

inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess' own carriage. Ah! one moment! I ought to tell you that

Monsieur le Comte de Merret had gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came to a

" 'On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand Breteche, having dismantled it. Some

people even say that she had burnt all the furniture, the hangingsin short, all the chattels and furniture

whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said M.(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your

pardon, I thought I was dictating a lease.)In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow at Merret. Have

you been to Merret, monsieur?No,' said he, answering himself, 'Ah, it is a very fine place.'

" 'For about three months previously,' he went on, with a jerk of his head, 'the Count and Countess had lived

in a very eccentric way; they admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the groundfloor, and Monsieur on the

first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never seen excepting at church. Subsequently, at home,

at the chateau, she refused to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to call on her. She was

already very much altered when she left la Grande Breteche to go to Merret. That dear ladyI say dear lady,

for it was she who gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but oncethat kind lady was very ill; she had,

no doubt, given up all hope, for she died without choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies

fancied she was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity was strangely excited by hearing that

Madame de Merret had need of my services. Nor was I the only person who took an interest in the affair.

That very night, though it was already late, all the town knew that I was going to Merret.

" 'The waitingwoman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her on the way; nevertheless, she told me

that her mistress had received the Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Cure of Merret, and

seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about eleven when I reached the chateau. I went up the great

staircase. After crossing some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and damp, I reached the state

bedroom where the Countess lay. From the rumors that were current concerning this lady (monsieur, I should

never end if I were to repeat all the tales that were told about her), I had imagined her a coquette. Imagine,

then, that I had great difficulty in seeing her in the great bed where she was lying. To be sure, to light this

enormous room, with oldfashioned heavy cornices, and so thick with dust that merely to see it was enough

to make you sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but you have not been to Merret. Well, the bed is

one of those old world beds, with a high tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the bed, on

which I saw an "Imitation of Christ," which, by the way, I bought for my wife, as well as the lamp. There

were also a deep armchair for her confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was all the

" 'My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered and hung with brown, you would have

felt yourself transported into a scene of a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,' and he lifted his hand with

" 'By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame de Merret, under the glimmer of the

lamp, which fell on the pillows. Her face was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The

Countess had a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as linen thread. She was sitting up in bed,

and seemed to keep upright with great difficulty. Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no doubt, and

halfdead already, hardly moved under the bony arch of her eyebrows.There,' he added, pointing to his

own brow. 'Her forehead was clammy; her fleshless hands were like bones covered with soft skin; the veins

and muscles were perfectly visible. She must have been very handsome; but at this moment I was startled into

an indescribable emotion at the sight. Never, said those who wrapped her in her shroud, had any living

creature been so emaciated and lived. In short, it was awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that woman,

that she was no more than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale violet, seemed to me not to move when she

" 'Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by calling me not infrequently to the

bedside of the dying to record their last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I have seen

were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent woman in her vast chateau. I heard not the least

sound, I did not perceive the movement which the sufferer's breathing ought to have given to the sheets that

covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed in looking at her in a sort of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At

last her large eyes moved; she tried to raise her right hand, but it fell back on the bed, and she uttered these

words, which came like a breath, for her voice was no longer a voice: "I have waited for you with the greatest

impatience." A bright flush rose to her cheeks. It was a great effort to her to speak.

" ' "Madame," I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment the old housekeeper rose and said in my

ear, "Do not speak; Madame la Comtesse is not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you say might

" 'I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all her remaining strength to move her right

hand, and slipped it, not without infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a moment. With a last

effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought out a sealed paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her

brow. "I place my will in your handsOh! God! Oh!" and that was all. She clutched a crucifix that lay on the

" 'The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. She must have suffered much! There was

" 'I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame de Merret had appointed me her

executor. She left the whole of her property to the hospital at Vendome excepting a few legacies. But these

were her instructions as relating to la Grande Breteche: She ordered me to leave the place, for fifty years

counting from the day of her death, in the state in which it might be at the time of her death, forbidding any

one, whoever he might be, to enter the apartments, prohibiting any repairs whatever, and even settling a

salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration

of that term, if the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the house is to become the property of my

heirs, for, as you know, a notary cannot take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to the heirsat

law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth in a codicil to the will, which is not to be

opened till the expiration of the said term of fifty years. The will has not been disputed, so' And without

finishing his sentence, the lanky notary looked at me with an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by

" 'Monsieur,' I said in conclusion, 'you have so vividly impressed me that I fancy I see the dying woman

whiter than her sheets; her glittering eyes frighten me; I shall dream of her tonight.But you must have

" 'Monsieur,' said he, with comical reticence, 'I never allow myself to criticise the conduct of a person who

"However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of Vendome, who communicated to me, not

without long digressions, the opinions of the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law in

Vendome. But these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that I was near falling asleep in spite of the

interest I felt in this authentic history. The notary's ponderous voice and monotonous accent, accustomed no

doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened to by his clients or fellowtownsmen, were too much

" 'Ah, ha, monsieur,' said he on the stairs, 'a good many persons would be glad to live fiveandforty years

longer; butone moment!' and he laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning look, as

much as to say, 'Mark my words!To last as long as thatas long as that,' said he, 'you must not be past

"I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last speech, which the notary thought very

funny; then I sat down in my armchair, with my feet on the firedogs. I had lost myself in a romance a

la Radcliffe, constructed on the juridical base given me by Monsieur Regnault, when the door, opened by a

woman's cautious hand, turned on the hinges. I saw my landlady come in, a buxom, florid dame, always

goodhumored, who had missed her calling in life. She was a Fleming, who ought to have seen the light in a

" 'Well, monsieur,' said she, 'Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been giving you his history of la Grande

"I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de Merret. At each sentence my hostess

put her head forward, looking at me with an innkeeper's keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the

instinct of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the cunning of a dealer.

" 'My good Madame Lepas,' said I as I ended, 'you seem to know more about it. Heh? If not, why have you

" 'Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de Merret; what sort of man was he?'

" 'Monsieur de Merretwell, you see he was a man you never could see the top of, he was so tall! A very

good gentleman, from Picardy, and who had, as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything

down, so as never to have difficulties with any one. He was hot tempered, you see! All our ladies liked him

" 'Well, may be,' said she; 'and you may suppose, sir, that a man had to have something to show for a

figurehead before he could marry Madame de Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the

handsomest and richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty thousand francs a year. All the town was at

the wedding; the bride was pretty and sweetlooking, quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a handsome

" 'Hm, hm! sososo far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, we of the common sort were not

hailfellowwellmet with them.Madame de Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no

doubt sometimes to put up with her husband's tantrums. But though he was rather haughty, we were fond of

him. After all, it was his place to behave so. When a man is a born nobleman, you see'

" 'Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame de Merret to part so violently?'

" 'Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.When I saw Monsieur Regnault go up to see you, it struck me

that he would speak to you about Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Breteche. That put it into

my head to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you are a man of good judgment and incapable of playing

a poor woman like me falsefor I never did any one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by my conscience. Up

to now I have never dared to say a word to the people of these parts; they are all chattermags, with tongues

like knives. And never till now, sir, have I had any traveler here who stayed so long in the inn as you have,

" 'My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a nature to compromise me,' I said,

"Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom my worthy landlady had

communicated the secret of which I was to be the sole possessor, but I listened.

" 'Monsieur,' said she, 'when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, prisoners of war and others, I was required

to lodge at the charge of the Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendome on parole. Notwithstanding his

parole, he had to show himself every day to the subprefect. He was a Spanish grandeeneither more nor

less. He had a name in os and dia, something like Bagos de Feredia. I wrote his name down in my books, and

you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a handsome young fellow for a Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He

was not more than five feet two or three in height, but so well made; and he had little hands that he kept so

beautifully! Ah! you should have seen them. He had as many brushes for his hands as a woman has for her

toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in his eye, a somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all

the same. He wore the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to lodge here, and, among

others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse d'Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He

did not eat much, but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible to owe him a grudge for

that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he did not say four words to me in a day, and it was impossible to

have the least bit of talk with him; if he was spoken to, he did not answer; it is a way, a mania they all have, it

" 'He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the services quite regularly. And where did he

post himself?we found this out later.Within two yards of Madame de Merret's chapel. As he took that

place the very first time he entered the church, no one imagined that there was any purpose in it. Besides, he

never raised his nose above his book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an evening he went for a walk

on the hill among the ruins of the old castle. It was his only amusement, poor man; it reminded him of his

" 'One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very late. I was rather uneasy when he did not

come in till just on the stroke of midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key of the door, and

we never sat up for him. He lived in a house belonging to us in the Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our

stableboys told us one evening that, going down to wash the horses in the river, he fancied he had seen the

Spanish Grandee swimming some little way off, just like a fish. When he came in, I told him to be careful of

" 'At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find him in his room; he had not come back.

By hunting through his things, I found a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces of Spanish

gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five thousand francs; and in a little sealed box ten thousand

francs worth of diamonds. The paper said that in case he should not return, he left us this money and these

diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God for his escape and for his salvation.

" 'At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. And this is the queer part of the story: he

brought back the Spaniard's clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of breakwater along the

river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Breteche. My husband went so early that no one saw him. After reading

the letter, he burnt the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Feredia's wish, we announced that he had escaped.

" 'The subprefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! he was never caught. Lepas believed that

the Spaniard had drowned himself. I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, that he had

something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, seeing that Rosalie told me that the crucifix her

mistress was so fond of that she had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now in the early days

of his stay here, Monsieur Feredia had one of ebony and silver which I never saw later.And now,

monsieur, do not you say that I need have no remorse about the Spaniard's fifteen thousand francs? Are they

" 'Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is like a wall. She knows something, but it is

"After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey to vague and sinister thoughts, to

romantic curiosity, and a religious dread, not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into

a dark church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a lofty vaulta dim figure glides

acrossthe sweep of a gown or of a priest's cassock is audibleand we shiver! La Grande Breteche, with its

rank grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty ironwork, its locked doors, its deserted rooms, suddenly rose

before me in fantastic vividness. I tried to get into the mysterious dwelling to search out the heart of this

"Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome. As I studied her, I detected signs of an

inmost thought, in spite of the blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul some

element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like the expression of devout souls who pray in

excess, or of a girl who has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, she was simple and

clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent

only from seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust, tucked into the

tightlaced bodice of a lilac and whitestriped gown. 'No,' said I to myself, 'I will not quit Vendome

without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche. To achieve this end, I will make love to Rosalie if

" 'Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!' she replied, laughing. She got over her

agitation at once; for every woman, from the highest lady to the innservant inclusive, has a native presence

" 'Yes; you are fresh and goodlooking enough never to lack lovers! But tell me, Rosalie, why did you

become an innservant on leaving Madame de Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?'

"This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. Rosalie, as it seemed to me, held in this

romantic affair the place of the middle square of the chessboard: she was at the very centre of the interest

and of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the knot of it. It was not a case for ordinary lovemaking;

this girl contained the last chapter of a romance, and from that moment all my attentions were devoted to

Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I observed in her, as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought,

a variety of good qualities; she was clean and neat; she was handsome, I need not say; she soon was

possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a woman in whatever rank of life. A fortnight after the

notary's visit, one evening, or rather one morning, in the small hours, I said to Rosalie:

" 'All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief's honor, which is the most loyal known.'

" 'If it is all the same to you,' said she, 'I would rather it should be with your own.'

"Thereupon she set her headkerchief straight, and settled herself to tell the tale; for there is no doubt a

particular attitude of confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. The best tales are told

at a certain hourjust as we are all here at table. No one ever told a story well standing up, or fasting.

"If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence, a whole volume would scarcely contain it. Now,

as the event of which she gave me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's gossip and

that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a ruleofthree sum stands between the first and

third, I have only to relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief.

"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on the ground floor; a little cupboard

in the wall, about four feet deep, served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of which

I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously ailing, so much so that her husband had left

her to herself, and had his own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it is impossible to

foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than usual from the club, where he went to read the papers

and talk politics with the residents in the neighborhood. His wife supposed him to have come in, to be in bed

and asleep. But the invasion of France had been the subject of a very animated discussion; the game of

billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty francs, an enormous sum at Vendome, where everybody is

thrifty, and where social habits are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise, and the

foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no Parisian would care for.

"For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie whether his wife was in bed; on the

girl's replying always in the affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith that comes of

habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret,

to tell her of his illluck, and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had observed that his wife was

very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better,

that convalescence had improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands discover everything, a little too late.

Instead of calling Rosalie, who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the coachman

playing a puzzling hand at cards, Monsieur de Merret made his way to his wife's room by the light of his

lantern, which he set down at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, easy to recognize, rang under the vaulted

"At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's room, he fancied he heard the door shut

of the closet of which I have spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in front of

the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie was in the cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt,

ringing in his ears like a peal of bells, put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read in her eyes an

" 'You are very late,' said she.Her voice, usually so clear and sweet, struck him as being slightly husky.

"Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. This was like a thunderclap. He

walked up and down the room, going from one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded.

" 'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly, while Rosalie helped her to undress. He

" 'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put in my curlpapers myself.'She

scented disaster at the mere aspect of her husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as Rosalie

was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few minutes in the passage, Monsieur de Merret came

and stood facing his wife, and said coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!' She looked at her

"This 'No' wrung Monsieur de Merret's heart; he did not believe it; and yet his wife had never appeared purer

or more saintly than she seemed to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. Madame de

Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and said in a voice of strange emotion, 'Remember, if

"The extraordinary dignity of his wife's attitude filled him with deep esteem for her, and inspired him with

" 'No, Josephine,' he said, 'I will not open it. In either event we should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all

the purity of your soul, I know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to save your

life.'At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband with a haggard stare.'See, here is your

crucifix,' he went on. 'Swear to me before God that there is no one in there; I will believe youI will never

" 'Louder,' said her husband; 'and repeat: "I swear before God that there is nobody in that closet." ' She

" 'That will do,' said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment's silence: 'You have there a fine piece of

work which I never saw before,' said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very artistically wrought.

" 'I found it at Duvivier's; last year when that troop of Spanish prisoners came through Vendome, he bought it

" 'Indeed,' said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; and he rang the bell.

"He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly to meet her, led her into the bay of the

" 'I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone prevents your setting up house, and that you

told him you would not be his wife till he found means to become a master mason.Well, go and fetch him;

tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive to wake no one in his house but himself. His reward

will be beyond your wishes. Above all, go out without saying a wordor else!' and he frowned.

" 'Jean!' Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the passage. Jean, who was both coachman

" 'Go to bed, all of you,' said his master, beckoning him to come close; and the gentleman added in a whisper,

"Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving his orders, quietly came back to her at

the fireside, and began to tell her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at the club. When

"Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to all the receptionrooms on the

ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at Vendome; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman

had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing that he could always find purchasers for

what might be left. It was this circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out.

" 'Gorenflot,' said her husband, 'go and fetch some bricks from the coachhouse; bring enough to wall up the

door of this cupboard; you can use the plaster that is left for cement.' Then, dragging Rosalie and the

workman close to him'Listen, Gorenflot,' said he, in a low voice, 'you are to sleep here tonight; but

tomorrow morning you shall have a passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you of. I will give you

six thousand francs for your journey. You must live in that town for ten years; if you find you do not like it,

you may settle in another, but it must be in the same country. Go through Paris and wait there till I join you. I

will there give you an agreement for six thousand francs more, to be paid to you on your return, provided you

have carried out the conditions of the bargain. For that price you are to keep perfect silence as to what you

have to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten thousand francs, which will not be paid to you till

your wedding day, and on condition of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your

"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on the door, on the mason, and on his

wife, but without any insulting display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. Madame

de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, and when her husband was at the other end

of the room to say to Rosalie: 'My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if only you will tell

Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she added aloud quite coolly: 'You had better help him.'

"Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while Gorenflot was walling up the door. This

silence was intentional on the husband's part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of saying

anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret's side it was pride or prudence. When the wall was

half built up the cunning mason took advantage of his master's back being turned to break one of the two

panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this Madame de Merret understood that Rosalie had

spoken to Gorenflot. They all three then saw the face of a dark, gloomylooking man, with black hair and

"Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to the stranger, to whom the signal was

"At four o'clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of September, the work was done. The mason

"Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, 'Oh, by the way, I must go to the Maire for

the passport.' He put on his hat, took two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the crucifix. His

"As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then in a terrible voice she cried: 'The pick!

Bring the pick! and set to work. I saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make a gap and

"In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; she, with a vehemence of which no words

can give an idea, set to work to demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, turning to deal

a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her Monsieur de Merret. She fainted away.

"Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid this trap for his wife; he had merely

written to the Maire and sent for Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had been

" 'Duvivier,' asked Monsieur de Merret, 'did not you buy some crucifixes of the Spaniards who passed

" 'Very good; thank you,' said he, flashing a tiger's glare at his wife. 'Jean,' he added, turning to his

confidential valet, 'you can serve my meals here in Madame de Merret's room. She is ill, and I shall not leave

"The cruel man remained in his wife's room for twenty days. During the earlier time, when there was some

little noise in the closet, and Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without allowing her

After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell under which Bianchon had held them was

broken. But there were some among them who had almost shivered at the last words.

Bianchon, Horace Father Goriot The Atheist's Mass Cesar Birotteau The Commission in Lunacy Lost

Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor's Establishment The Secrets of a Princess The

Government Clerks Pierrette A Study of Woman Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Honorine The Seamy Side

of History The Magic Skin A Second Home A Prince of Bohemia Letters of Two Brides The Muse of the

Department The Imaginary Mistress The Middle Classes Cousin Betty The Country Parson In addition, M.