“Ladies,” said the Prince de Cadignan, as the guests were about to
separate for the night, “I know that several of you propose to follow
the hounds with us to-morrow, and it becomes my duty to tell you that if
you will be Dianas you must rise, like Diana, with the dawn. The meet is
for half-past eight o’clock. I have in the course of my life seen many
women display greater courage than men, but for a few seconds only; and
you will need a strong dose of resolution to keep you on horseback the
whole day, barring a halt for breakfast, which we shall take, like true
hunters and huntresses, on the nail. Are you still determined to show
yourselves trained horse-women?”
“Prince, it is necessary for me to do so,” said Modeste, adroitly.
“I answer for myself,” said the Duchesse de Chaulieu.
“And I for my daughter Diane; she is worthy of her name,” added the
prince. “So, then, you all persist in your intentions? However, I shall
arrange, for the sake of Madame and Mademoiselle de Verneuil and others
of the party who stay at home, to drive the stag to the further end of
the pond.”
“Make yourself quite easy, mesdames,” said the Prince de Loudon, when
the Royal Huntsman had left the room; “that breakfast ‘on the nail’ will
take place under a comfortable tent.”
The next day, at dawn, all signs gave promise of a glorious day. The
skies, veiled by a slight gray vapor, showed spaces of purest blue, and
would surely be swept clear before mid-day by the northwest wind, which
was already playing with the fleecy cloudlets. As the hunting party left
the chateau, the Master of the Hunt, the Duc de Rhetore, and the Prince
de Loudon, who had no ladies to escort, rode in the advance, noticing
the white masses of the chateau, with its rising chimneys relieved
against the brilliant red-brown foliage which the trees in Normandy put
on at the close of a fine autumn.
“The ladies are fortunate in their weather,” remarked the Duc de
Rhetore.
“Oh, in spite of all their boasting,” replied the Prince de Cadignan, “I
think they will let us hunt without them!”
“So they might, if each had not a squire,” said the duke.
At this moment the attention of these determined huntsmen--for the
Prince de Loudon and the Duc de Rhetore are of the race of Nimrod, and
the best shots of the faubourg Saint-Germain--was attracted by a loud
altercation; and they spurred their horses to an open space at the
entrance to the forest of Rosembray, famous for its mossy turf, which
was appointed for the meet. The cause of the quarrel was soon apparent.
The Prince de Loudon, afflicted with anglomania, had brought out his own
hunting establishment, which was exclusively Britannic, and placed it
under orders of the Master of the Hunt. Now, one of his men, a little
Englishman,--fair, pale, insolent, and phlegmatic, scarcely able to
speak a word of French, and dressed with a neatness which distinguishes
all Britons, even those of the lower classes,--had posted himself on one
side of this open space. John Barry wore a short frock-coat, buttoned
tightly at the waist, made of scarlet cloth, with buttons bearing the De
Verneuil arms, white leather breeches, top-boots, a striped waistcoat,
and a collar and cape of black velvet. He held in his hand a small
hunting-whip, and hanging to his wrist by a silken cord was a
brass horn. This man, the first whipper-in, was accompanied by two
thorough-bred dogs,--fox-hounds, white, with liver spots, long in the
leg, fine in the muzzle, with slender heads, and little ears at their
crests. The huntsman--famous in the English county from which the
Prince de Loudon had obtained him at great cost--was in charge of an
establishment of fifteen horses and sixty English hounds, which cost the
Duc de Verneuil, who was nothing of a huntsman, but chose to indulge his
son in this essentially royal taste, an enormous sum of money to keep
up.
Now, when John arrived on the ground, he found himself forestalled by
three other whippers-in, in charge of two of the royal packs of hounds
which had been brought there in carts. They were the three best huntsmen
of the Prince de Cadignan, and presented, both in character and in their
distinctively French costume, a marked contrast to the representative
of insolent Albion. These favorites of the Prince, each wearing
full-brimmed, three-cornered hats, very flat and very wide-spreading,
beneath which grinned their swarthy, tanned, and wrinkled faces, lighted
by three pairs of twinkling eyes, were noticeably lean, sinewy, and
vigorous, like men in whom sport had become a passion. All three were
supplied with immense horns of Dampierre, wound with green worsted
cords, leaving only the brass tubes visible; but they controlled their
dogs by the eye and voice. Those noble animals were far more faithful
and submissive subjects than the human lieges whom the king was at that
moment addressing; all were marked with white, black, or liver spots,
each having as distinctive a countenance as the soldiers of Napoleon,
their eyes flashing like diamonds at the slightest noise. One of them,
brought from Poitou, was short in the back, deep in the shoulder,
low-jointed, and lop-eared; the other, from England, white, fine as a
greyhound with no belly, small ears, and built for running. Both were
young, impatient, and yelping eagerly, while the old hounds, on the
contrary, covered with scars, lay quietly with their heads on their
forepaws, and their ears to the earth like savages.
As the Englishman came up, the royal dogs and huntsmen looked at each
other as though they said, “If we cannot hunt by ourselves his Majesty’s
service is insulted.”
Beginning with jests, the quarrel presently grew fiercer between
Monsieur Jacquin La Roulie, the old French whipper-in, and John Barry,
the young islander. The two princes guessed from afar the subject of
the altercation, and the Master of the Hunt, setting spurs to his horse,
brought it to an end by saying, in a voice of authority:--
“Who drew the wood?”
“I, monseigneur,” said the Englishman.
“Very good,” said the Prince de Cadignan, proceeding to take Barry’s
report.
Dogs and men became silent and respectful before the Royal Huntsman, as
though each recognized his dignity as supreme. The prince laid out the
day’s work; for it is with a hunt as it is with a battle, and the
Master of Charles X.’s hounds was the Napoleon of forests. Thanks to the
admirable system which he has introduced into French venery, he was able
to turn his thoughts exclusively to the science and strategy of it.
He now quietly assigned a special duty to the Prince de Loudon’s
establishment, that of driving the stag to water, when, as he expected,
the royal hounds had sent it into the Crown forest which outlined the
horizon directly in front of the chateau. The prince knew well how to
soothe the self-love of his old huntsmen by giving them the most arduous
part of the work, and also that of the Englishman, whom he employed at
his own speciality, affording him a chance to show the fleetness of his
horses and dogs in the open. The two national systems were thus face to
face and allowed to do their best under each other’s eyes.
“Does monseigneur wish us to wait any longer?” said La Roulie,
respectfully.
“I know what you mean, old friend,” said the prince. “It is late, but--”
“Here come the ladies,” said the second whipper-in.
At that moment the cavalcade of sixteen riders was seen to approach
at the head of which were the green veils of the four ladies. Modeste,
accompanied by her father, the grand equerry, and La Briere, was in the
advance, beside the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse whom the Vicomte de Serizy
escorted. Behind them rode the Duchesse de Chaulieu, flanked by Canalis,
on whom she was smiling without a trace of rancor. When they had reached
the open space where the huntsmen with their red coats and brass bugles,
surrounded by the hounds, made a picture worthy of Van der Meulen, the
Duchesse de Chaulieu, who, in spite of her embonpoint, sat her horse
admirably, rode up to Modeste, finding it more for her dignity not to
avoid that young person, to whom the evening before she had not said a
single word.
When the Master of the Hunt finished his compliments to the ladies on
their amazing punctuality, Eleonore deigned to observe the magnificent
whip which sparked in Modeste’s little hand, and graciously asked leave
to look at it.
“I have never seen anything of the kind more beautiful,” she said,
showing it to Diane de Maufrigneuse. “It is in keeping with its
possessor,” she added, returning it to Modeste.
“You must admit, Madame la duchesse,” answered Mademoiselle de La
Bastie, with a tender and malicious glance at La Briere, “that it is a
rather strange gift from the hand of a future husband.”
“I should take it,” said Madame de Maufrigneuse, “as a declaration of my
rights, in remembrance of Louis XIV.”
La Briere’s eyes were suffused, and for a moment he dropped his
reins; but a second glance from Modeste ordered him not to betray his
happiness. The hunt now began.
The Duc d’Herouville took occasion to say in a low voice to his
fortunate rival; “Monsieur, I hope that you will make your wife happy;
if I can be useful to you in any way, command my services; I should be
only too glad to contribute to the happiness of so charming a pair.”
This great day, in which such vast interests of heart and fortune were
decided, caused but one anxiety to the Master of the Hunt,--namely,
whether or not the stag would cross the pond and be killed on the
lawn before the house; for huntsmen of his calibre are like great
chess-players who can predict a checkmate under certain circumstances.
The happy old man succeeded to the height of his wishes; the run was
magnificent, and the ladies released him from his attendance upon them
for the hunt of the next day but one,--which, however, turned out to be
rainy.
The Duc de Verneuil’s guests stayed five days at Rosembray. On the last
day the Gazette de France announced the appointment of Monsieur le Baron
de Canalis to the rank of commander of the Legion of honor, and to the
post of minister at Carlsruhe.
When, early in the month of December, Madame de La Bastie, operated upon
by Desplein, recovered her sight and saw Ernest de La Briere for the
first time, she pressed Modeste’s hand and whispered in her ear, “I
should have chosen him myself.”
Toward the last of February all the deeds for the estates in Provence
were signed by Latournelle, and about that time the family of La Bastie
obtained the marked honor of the king’s signature to the marriage
contract and to the ordinance transmitting their title and arms to La
Briere, who henceforth took the name of La Briere-La Bastie. The estate
of La Bastie was entailed by letters-patent issued about the end of
April. La Briere’s witnesses on the occasion of his marriage were
Canalis and the minister whom he had served for five years as secretary.
Those of the bride were the Duc d’Herouville and Desplein, whom the
Mignons long held in grateful remembrance, after giving him magnificent
and substantial proofs of their regard.
Later, in the course of this long history of our manners and customs, we
may again meet Monsieur and Madame de La Briere-La Bastie; and those
who have the eyes to see, will then behold how sweet, how easy, is the
marriage yoke with an educated and intelligent woman; for Modeste, who
had the wit to avoid the follies of pedantry, is the pride and happiness
of her husband, as she is of her family and of all those who surround
her.
ADDENDUM
The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
Beaupre, Fanny A Start in Life
The Muse of the Department
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Bixiou, Jean-Jacques The Purse
A Bachelor’s Establishment
The Government Clerks
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
The Firm of Nucingen
The Muse of the Department
Cousin Betty
The Member for Arcis
Beatrix
A Man of Business
Gaudissart II.
The Unconscious Humorists
Cousin Pons
Blondet, Emile Jealousies of a Country Town
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Another Study of Woman
The Secrets of a Princess
A Daughter of Eve
The Firm of Nucingen
The Peasantry
Bridau, Joseph The Purse
A Bachelor’s Establishment
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Start in Life
Another Study of Woman
Pierre Grassou
Letters of Two Brides
Cousin Betty
The Member for Arcis
Cadignan, Prince de The Secrets of a Princess
Canalis, Constant-Cyr-Melchior, Baron de Letters of Two Brides
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Magic Skin
Another Study of Woman
A Start in Life
Beatrix
The Unconscious Humorists
The Member for Arcis
Chatillonest, De A Woman of Thirty
Chaulieu, Henri, Duc de Letters of Two Brides
A Bachelor’s Establishment
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
The Thirteen
Dauriat A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Desplein The Atheist’s Mass
Cousin Pons
Lost Illusions
The Thirteen
The Government Clerks
Pierrette
A Bachelor’s Establishment
The Seamy Side of History
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Honorine
Estourny, Charles d’ Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
A Man of Business
Fontaine, Comte de The Chouans
The Ball at Sceaux
Cesar Birotteau
The Government Clerks
Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de The Gondreville Mystery
The Thirteen
A Bachelor’s Establishment
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Herouville, Duc d’ The Hated Son
Jealousies of a Country Town
Cousin Betty
La Bastie la Briere, Ernest de The Government Clerks
La Bastie la Briere, Madame Ernest de (Modeste) The Member for Arcis
Cousin Betty
Loudon, Prince de The Chouans
Marsay, Henri de The Thirteen
The Unconscious Humorists
Another Study of Woman
The Lily of the Valley
Father Goriot
Jealousies of a Country Town
Ursule Mirouet
A Marriage Settlement
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Letters of Two Brides
The Ball at Sceaux
The Secrets of a Princess
The Gondreville Mystery
A Daughter of Eve
Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de The Secrets of a Princess
Jealousies of a Country Town
The Muse of the Department
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Letters of Two Brides
Another Study of Woman
The Gondreville Mystery
The Member for Arcis
Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de Father Goriot
The Thirteen
Eugenie Grandet
Cesar Birotteau
Melmoth Reconciled
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Commission in Lunacy
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
The Firm of Nucingen
Another Study of Woman
A Daughter of Eve
The Member for Arcis
Schinner, Hippolyte The Purse
A Bachelor’s Establishment
Pierre Grassou
A Start in Life
Albert Savarus
The Government Clerks
The Imaginary Mistress
The Unconscious Humorists
Serizy, Comte Hugret de A Start in Life
A Bachelor’s Establishment
Honorine
Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life
Serizy, Vicomte de A Start in Life
The Imaginary Mistress
Sommervieux, Theodore de At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
The Government Clerks
Stidmann Beatrix
The Member for Arcis
Cousin Betty
Cousin Pons
The Unconscious Humorists