Count Casimir had reached that stage where drunkenness takes on a kind
of gravity, of regretfulness.
He thought a little, then began his story. I regret that I cannot
reproduce more perfectly its archaic flavor.
"When the grapes begin to color in Antinea's garden, I shall be
sixty-eight. It is very sad, my dear boy, to have sowed all your wild
oats. It isn't true that life is always beginning over again. How
bitter, to have known the Tuileries in 1860, and to have reached the
point where I am now!
"One evening, just before the war (I remember that Victor Black was
still living), some charming women whose names I need not disclose (I
read the names of their sons from time to time in the society news of
the _Gaulois_) expressed to me their desire to rub elbows with some
real _demi-mondaines_ of the artist quarter. I took them to a ball at
the _Grande Chaumière_. There was a crowd of young painters, models,
students. In the midst of the uproar, several couples danced the
_cancan_ till the chandeliers shook with it. We noticed especially a
little, dark man, dressed in a miserable top-coat and checked trousers
which assuredly knew the support of no suspenders. He was cross-eyed,
with a wretched beard and hair as greasy as could be. He bounded and
kicked extravagantly. The ladies called him Léon Gambetta.
"What an annoyance, when I realize that I need only have felled this
wretched lawyer with one pistol shot to have guaranteed perfect
happiness to myself and to my adopted country, for, my dear fellow, I
am French at heart, if not by birth.
"I was born in 1829, at Warsaw, of a Polish father and a Russian
mother. It is from her that I hold my title of Hetman of Jitomir. It
was restored to me by Czar Alexander II on a request made to him on
his visit to Paris, by my august master, the Emperor Napoleon III.
"For political reasons, which I cannot describe without retelling the
history of unfortunate Poland, my father, Count Bielowsky, left Warsaw
in 1830, and went to live in London. After the death of my mother, he
began to squander his immense fortune--from sorrow, he said. When, in
his time, he died at the period of the Prichard affair, he left me
barely a thousand pounds sterling of income, plus two or three systems
of gaming, the impracticability of which I learned later.
"I will never be able to think of my nineteenth and twentieth years
without emotion, for I then completely liquidated this small
inheritance. London was indeed an adorable spot in those days. I had a
jolly bachelor's apartment in Piccadilly.
"'Picadilly! Shops, palaces, bustle and breeze,
The whirling of wheels and the murmur of trees.'
"Fox hunting in a _briska_, driving a buggy in Hyde Park, the rout,
not to mention the delightful little parties with the light Venuses of
Drury Lane, this took all my time. All? I am unjust. There was also
gaming, and a sentiment of filial piety forced me to verify the
systems of the late Count, my father. It was gaming which was the
cause of the event I must describe to you, by which my life was to be
so strangely changed.
"My friend, Lord Malmesbury, had said to me a hundred times, 'I must
take you to see an exquisite creature who lives in Oxford Street,
number 277, Miss Howard.' One evening I went with him. It was the
twenty-second of February, 1848. The mistress of the house was really
marvelously beautiful, and the guests were charming. Besides
Malmesbury, I observed several acquaintances: Lord Clebden, Lord
Chesterfield, Sir Francis Mountjoye, Major in the Second Life Guards,
and Count d'Orsay. They played cards and then began to talk politics.
Events in France played the main part in the conversation and they
discussed endlessly the consequences of the revolt that had broken out
in Paris that same morning, in consequence of the interdiction of the
banquet in the 12th arrondissement, of which word had just been
received by telegram. Up to that time, I had never bothered myself
with public affairs. So I don't know what moved me to affirm with the
impetuosity of my nineteen years that the news from France meant the
Republic next day and the Empire the day after....
"The company received my sally with a discreet laugh, and their looks
were centered on a guest who made the fifth at a _bouillotte_ table
where they had just stopped playing.
"The guest smiled, too. He rose and came towards me. I observed that
he was of middle height, perhaps even shorter, buttoned tightly into a
blue frock coat, and that his eye had a far-off, dreamy look.
"All the players watched this scene with delighted amusement.
"'Whom have I the honor of addressing?' he asked in a very gentle
voice.
"'Count Bielowsky,' I answered coolly to show him that the difference
in our ages was not sufficient to justify the interrogation.
"Well, my dear Count, may your prediction indeed be realized; and I
hope that you will not neglect the Tuileries,' said the guest in the
blue coat, with a smile.
"And he added, finally consenting to present himself:
"'Prince Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte.'
"I played no active rôle in the _coup d'état_, and I do not regret it.
It is a principle with me that a stranger should not meddle with the
internal affairs of a country. The prince understood this discretion,
and did not forget the young man who had been of such good omen to
him.
"I was one of the first whom he called to the Elysée. My fortune was
definitely established by a defamatory note on 'Napoleon the little.'
The next year, when Mgr. Sibour was out of the way, I was made
Gentleman of the Chamber, and the Emperor was even so kind as to have
me marry the daughter of the Marshal Repeto, Duke of Mondovi.
"I have no scruple in announcing that this union was not what it
should have been. The Countess, who was ten years older than I, was
crabbed and not particularly pretty. Moreover, her family had insisted
resolutely on a marriage portion. Now I had nothing at this time
except the twenty-five thousand pounds for my appointment as Gentleman
of the Chamber. A sad lot for anyone on intimate terms with the Count
d'Orsay and the Duke of Gramont-Caderousse! Without the kindness of
the Emperor, where would I have been?
"One morning in the spring of 1852, I was in my study opening my mail.
There was a letter from His Majesty, calling me to the Tuileries at
four o'clock; a letter from Clémentine, informing me that she expected
me at five o'clock at her house. Clémentine was the beautiful one for
whom, just then, I was ready to commit any folly. I was so proud of
her that, one evening at the _Maison Dorée_, I flaunted her before
Prince Metternich, who was tremendously taken with her. All the court
envied me that conquest; and I was morally obliged to continue to
assume its expenses. And then Clémentine was so pretty! The Emperor
himself.... The other letters, good lord, the other letters were the
bills of the dressmakers of that young person, who, in spite of my
discreet remonstrances, insisted on having them sent to my conjugal
dwelling.
"There were bills for something over forty thousand francs: gowns and
ball dresses from Gagelin-Opigez, 23 Rue de Richelieu; hats and
bonnets from Madame Alexandrine, 14 Rue d'Antin; lingerie and many
petticoats from Madame Pauline, 100 Rue de Clery; dress trimmings and
gloves from the _Ville de Lyon_, 6 Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin;
foulards from the _Malle des Indes_; handkerchiefs from the _Compagnie
Irlandaise_; laces from Ferguson; cosmetics from _Candès_.... This
whitening cream of _Candès_, in particular, overwhelmed me with
stupefaction. The bill showed fifty-one flasks. Six hundred and
twenty-seven francs and fifty centimes' worth of whitening cream from
_Candès_.... Enough to soften the skin of a squadron of a hundred
guards!
"'This can't keep on,' I said, putting the bills in my pocket.
"At ten minutes to four, I crossed the wicket by the Carrousel.
"In the Salon of the _aides de camp_ I happened on Bacciochi.
"'The Emperor has the grippe,' he said to me. 'He is keeping to his
room. He has given orders to have you admitted as soon as you arrive.
Come.'
"His Majesty, dressed in a braided vest and Cossack trousers, was
meditating before a window. The pale green of the Tuileries showed
luminously under a gentle warm shower.
"'Ah! Here he is,' said Napoleon. 'Here, have a cigarette. It seems
that you had great doings, you and Gramont-Caderousse, last evening,
at the _Château de Fleurs_.'
"I smiled with satisfaction.
"'So Your Majesty knows already....'
"'I know, I know vaguely.'
"'Do you know Gramont-Caderousse's last "mot"?'
"'No, but you are going to tell it to me.'
"'Here goes, then. We were five or six: myself, Viel-Castel, Gramont,
Persigny....'
"'Persigny!' said the Emperor. 'He has no right to associate with
Gramont, after all that Paris says about his wife.'
"'Just so Sire. Well, Persigny was excited, no doubt about it. He
began telling us how troubled he was because of the Duchess's
conduct.'
"'This Fialin isn't over tactful,' muttered the Emperor.
"'Just so, Sire. Then, does Your Majesty know what Gramont hurled at
him?'
"'What?'
"'He said to him, "_Monsieur le Duc_, I forbid you to speak ill of my
mistress before me."
"'Gramont goes too far,' said Napoleon with a dreamy smile.
"'That is what we all thought, including Viel-Castel, who was
nevertheless delighted.'
"'Apropos of this,' said Napoleon after a silence, 'I have forgotten
to ask you for news of the Countess Bielowsky.'
"'She is very well, Sire, I thank Your Majesty,'
"'And Clémentine? Still the same dear child?'
"'Always, Sire. But....'
"'It seems that M. Baroche is madly in love with her.'
"'I am very much honored, Sire. But this honor becomes too
burdensome.'
"I had drawn from my pocket that morning's bills and I spread them out
under the eyes of the Emperor.
"He looked at them with his distant smile.
"'Come, come. If that is all, I can fix that, since I have a favor to
ask of you.'
"'I am entirely at Your Majesty's service.'
"He struck a gong.
"'Send for M. Mocquard.'
"'I have the grippe,' he said. 'Mocquard will explain the affair to
you.'
"The Emperor's private secretary entered.
"'Here is Bielowsky, Mocquard,' said Napoleon. 'You know what I want
him to do. Explain it to him.'
"And he began to tap on the window-panes against which the rain was
beating furiously.
"'My dear Count,' said Mocquard, taking a chair, 'it is very simple.
You have doubtless heard of a young explorer of promise, M. Henry
Duveyrier.'
"I shook my head as a sign of negation, very much surprised at this
beginning.
"'M. Duveyrier,' continued Mocquard, 'has returned to Paris after a
particularly daring trip to South Africa and the Sahara. M. Vivien de
Saint Martin, whom I have seen recently has assured me that the
Geographical Society intends to confer its great gold medal upon him,
in recognition of these exploits. In the course of his trip, M.
Duveyrier has entered into negotiations with the chief of the people
who always have been so rebellious to His Majesty's armies, the
Tuareg.'
"I looked at the Emperor. My bewilderment was such that he began to
laugh.
"'Listen,' he said.
"'M. Duveyrier,' continued Mocquard, 'was able to arrange to have a
delegation of these chiefs come to Paris to present their respects to
His Majesty. Very important results may arise from this visit, and His
Excellency the Colonial Minister, does not despair of obtaining the
signature of a treaty of commerce, reserving special advantages to our
fellow countrymen. These chiefs, five of them, among them Sheik Otham,
_Amenokol_ or Sultan of the Confederation of Adzjer, arrive to-morrow
morning at the _Gare de Lyon_. M. Duveyrier will meet them. But the
Emperor has thought that besides....'
"'I thought,' said Napoleon III, delighted by my bewilderment, 'I
thought that it was correct to have some one of the Gentlemen of my
Chamber wait upon the arrival of these Mussulman dignitaries. That is
why you are here, my poor Bielowsky. Don't be frightened,' he added,
laughing harder. 'You will have M. Duveyrier with you. You are charged
only with the special part of the reception: to accompany these
princes to the lunch that I am giving them to-morrow at the Tuileries;
then, in the evening, discreetly on account of their religious
scruples, to succeed in giving them a very high idea of Parisian
civilization, with nothing exaggerated: do not forget that in the
Sahara they are very high religious dignitaries. In that respect, I
have confidence in your tact and give you _carte blanche_....
Mocquard!'
"'Sire?'
"'You will apportion on the budget, half to Foreign Affairs, half to
the Colonies, the funds Count Bielowsky will need for the reception of
the Tuareg delegation. It seems to me that a hundred thousand francs,
to begin.... The Count has only to tell you if he is forced to exceed
that figure.'
"Clémentine lived on the Rue Boccador, in a little Moorish pavilion
that I had bought for her from M. de Lesseps. I found her in bed. When
she saw me, she burst into tears.
"'Great fools that we are!' she murmured amidst her sobs, 'what have
we done!'
"'Clémentine, tell me!'
"'What have we done, what have we done!' she repeated, and I felt
against me, her floods of black hair, her warm cheek which was
fragrant with _eau de Nanon_.
"'What is it? What can it be?'
"'It is....' and she murmured something in my ear.
"'No!' I said, stupefied. 'Are you quite sure?'
"'Am I quite sure!'
"I was thunderstruck.
"'You don't seem much pleased,' she said sharply.
"'I did not say that.... Though, really, I am very much pleased, I
assure you.'
"'Prove it to me: let us spend the day together tomorrow.'
"'To-morrow!' I stammered. 'Impossible!'
"'Why?' she demanded suspiciously.
"'Because to-morrow, I have to pilot the Tuareg mission about Paris.
The Emperor's orders.'
"'What bluff is this?' asked Clémentine.
"'I admit that nothing so much resembles a lie as the truth.'
"I retold Mocquard's story to Clémentine, as well as I could. She
listened to me with an expression that said: 'you can't fool me that
way.'
"Finally, furious, I burst out:
"'You can see for yourself. I am dining with them, tomorrow; and I
invite you.'
"'I shall be very pleased to come,' said Clémentine with great
dignity.
"I admit that I lacked self-control at that minute. But think what a
day it had been! Forty thousand francs of bills as soon as I woke up.
The ordeal of escorting the savages around Paris all the next day.
And, quite unexpectedly, the announcement of an approaching irregular
paternity....
"'After all,' I thought, as I returned to my house, 'these are the
Emperor's orders. He has commanded me to give the Tuareg an idea of
Parisian civilization. Clémentine comports herself very well in
society and just now it would not do to aggravate her. I will engage a
room for to-morrow at the _Café de Paris_, and tell Gramont-Caderousse
and Viel-Castel to bring their silly mistresses. It will be very
French to enjoy the attitude of these children of the desert in the
midst of this little party.'
"The train from Marseilles arrived at 10:20. On the platform I found
M. Duveyrier, a young man of twenty-three with blue eyes and a little
blond beard. The Tuareg fell into his arms as they descended from the
train. He had lived with them for two years, in their tents, the devil
knows where. He presented me to their chief, Sheik Otham, and to four
others, splendid fellows in their blue cotton draperies and their
amulets of red leather. Fortunately, they all spoke a kind of
_sabir_[13] which helped things along.
[Footnote 13: Dialect spoken in Algeria and the Levant--a mixture of
Arabian, French, Italian and Spanish.]
"I only mention in passing the lunch at the Tuileries, the visits in
the evening to the Museum, to the _Hotel de Ville_, to the Imperial
Printing Press. Each time, the Tuareg inscribed their names in the
registry of the place they were visiting. It was interminable. To give
you an idea, here is the complete name of Sheik Otham alone:
Otham-ben-el-Hadj-el-Bekri-ben-el-Hadj-el-Faqqi-ben-Mohammad-Bouya-
ben-si-Ahmed-es-Souki-ben-Mahmoud.[14]
[Footnote 14: I have succeeded in finding on the registry of the
Imperial Printing Press the names of the Tuareg chiefs and those who
accompanied them on their visit, M. Henry Duveyrier and the Count
Bielowsky. (Note by M. Leroux.)]
"And there were five of them like that!
"I maintained my good humor, however, because on the boulevards,
everywhere, our success was colossal. At the _Café de Paris_, at
six-thirty, it amounted to frenzy. The delegation, a little drunk,
embraced me: '_Bono, Napoléon, bono, Eugénie; bono, Casimir; bono,
Christians_.' Gramont-Caderousse and Viel-Castel were already in booth
number eight, with Anna Grimaldi, of the _Folies Dramatiques_, and
Hortense Schneider, both beautiful enough to strike terror to the
heart. But the palm was for my dear Clémentine, when she entered. I
must tell you how she was dressed: a gown of white tulle, over China
blue tarletan, with pleatings, and ruffles of tulle over the
pleatings. The tulle skirt was caught up on each side by garlands of
green leaves mingled with rose clusters. Thus it formed a valence
which allowed the tarletan skirt to show in front and on the sides.
The garlands were caught up to the belt and, in the space between
their branches, were knots of rose satin with long ends. The pointed
bodice was draped with tulle, the billowy bertha of tulle was edged
with lace. By way of head-dress, she had placed upon her black locks a
diadem crown of the same flowers. Two long leafy tendrils were twined
in her hair and fell on her neck. As cloak, she had a kind of scarf of
blue cashmere embroidered in gold and lined with blue satin.
"So much beauty and splendor immediately moved the Tuareg and,
especially, Clémentine's right-hand neighbor, El-Hadj-ben-Guemâma,
brother of Sheik Otham and Sultan of Ahaggar. By the time the soup
arrived, a bouillon of wild game, seasoned with Tokay, he was already
much smitten. When they served the compote of fruits Martinique _à la
liqueur de Mme. Amphoux_, he showed every indication of illimitable
passion. The Cyprian wine _de la Commanderie_ made him quite sure of
his sentiments. Hortense kicked my foot under the table. Gramont,
intending to do the same to Anna, made a mistake and aroused the
indignant protests of one of the Tuareg. I can safely say that when
the time came to go to Mabille, we were enlightened as to the manner
in which our visitors respected the prohibition decreed by the Prophet
in respect to wine.
"At Mabille, while Clémentine, Hortense, Anna, Ludovic and the three
Tuareg gave themselves over to the wildest gallops, Sheik Otham took
me aside and confided to me, with visible emotion, a certain
commission with which he had just been charged by his brother, Sheik
Ahmed.
"The next day, very early, I reached Clémentine's house.
"'My dear,' I began, after having waked her, not without difficulty,
'listen to me. I want to talk to you seriously.'
"She rubbed her eyes a bit crossly.
"'How did you like that young Arabian gentleman who was so taken with
you last night?'
"'Why, well enough,' she said, blushing.
"'Do you know that in his country, he is the sovereign prince and
reigns over territories five or six times greater than those of our
august master, the Emperor Napoleon III?'
"'He murmured something of that kind to me,' she said, becoming
interested.
"'Well, would it please you to mount on a throne, like our august
sovereign, the Empress Eugénie?'
"Clémentine, looked startled.
"'His own brother, Sheik Otham, has charged me in his name to make
this offer.'
"Clémentine, dumb with amazement, did not reply.
"'I, Empress!' she finally stammered.
"'The decision rests with you. They must have your answer before
midday. If it is 'yes,' we lunch together at Voisin's, and the bargain
is made.'
"I saw that she had already made up her mind, but she thought it well
to display a little sentiment.
"'And you, you!' she groaned. 'To leave you thus.... Never!'
"'No foolishness, dear child,' I said gently. 'You don't know perhaps
that I am ruined. Yes, completely: I don't even know how I am going to
pay for your complexion cream!'
"'Ah!' she sighed.
"She added, however, 'And ... the child?'
"'What child?'
"'Our child ... our child.'
"'Ah! That is so. Why, you will have to put it down to profit and
loss. I am even convinced that Sheik Ahmed will find that it resembles
him.'
"'You can turn everything into a joke,' she said between laughing and
crying.
"The next morning, at the same hour, the Marseilles express carried
away the five Tuareg and Clémentine. The young woman, radiant, was
leaning on the arm of Sheik Ahmed, who was beside himself with joy.
"'Have you many shops in your capital?' she asked him languidly.
"And he, smiling broadly under his veil, replied:
"'_Besef, besef, bono, roumis, bono_.'
"At the last moment, Clémentine had a pang of emotion.
"'Listen, Casimir, you have always been kind to me. I am going to be a
queen. If you weary of it here, promise me, swear to me....'
"The Sheik had understood. He took a ring from his finger and slipped
it onto mine.
"'Sidi Casimir, comrade,' he affirmed. 'You come--find us. Take Sidi
Ahmed's ring and show it. Everybody at Ahaggar comrades. _Bono_
Ahaggar, _bono_.'
"When I came out of the _Gare de Lyon_, I had the feeling of having
perpetrated an excellent joke."
The Hetman of Jitomir was completely drunk. I had had the utmost
difficulty in understanding the end of his story, because he
interjected, every other moment, couplets from Jacques Offenbach's
best score.
_Dans un bois passait un jeune homme,
Un jeune homme frais et beau,
Sa main tenait une pomme,
Vous voyez d'ici le tableau_.
"Who was disagreeably surprised by the fall of Sedan? It was Casimir,
poor old Casimir! Five thousand _louis_ to pay by the fifth of
September, and not the first sou, no, not the first sou. I take my hat
and my courage and go to the Tuileries. No more Emperor there, no! But
the Empress was so kind. I found her alone--ah, people scatter quickly
under such circumstances!--alone, with a senator, M. Mérimée, the only
literary man I have ever known who was at the same time a man of the
world. 'Madame,' he was saying to her, 'you must give up all hope. M.
Thiers, whom I just met on the _Pont Royal_, would listen to nothing.'
"'Madame,' I said in my turn, 'Your Majesty always will know where her
true friends are.'
"And I kissed her hand.
"_Evohé, que les déesses
Out de drôles de façons
Pour enjôler, pour enjôler, pour enjôler les gaâarçons_!
"I returned to my home in the Rue de Lille. On the way I encountered
the rabble going from the _Corps Législatif_ to the Hotel de Ville. My
mind was made up.
"'Madame,' I said to my wife, 'my pistols.'
"'What is the matter?' she asked, frightened.
"'All is lost. But there is still a chance to preserve my honor. I am
going to be killed on the barricades.'
"'Ah! Casimir,' she sobbed, falling into my arms. 'I have misjudged
you. Will you forgive me?'
"'I forgive you, Aurelie,' I said with dignified emotion. 'I have not
always been right myself.'
"I tore myself away from this mad scene. It was six o'clock. On the
Rue de Bac, I hailed a cab on its mad career.
"'Twenty francs tip,' I said to the coachman, 'if you get to the _Gare
de Lyon_ in time for the Marseilles train, six thirty-seven.'"
The Hetman of Jitomir could say no more. He had rolled over on the
cushions and slept with clenched fists.