A HOUSE IN THE RUE DU TEMPLE.
In order to profit by the particulars furnished by Baron de Graün
respecting La Goualeuse and Germain, the Schoolmaster's son, it became
necessary for Rodolph to visit the house in the Rue du Temple, formerly
the abode of that young man, whose retreat the prince likewise hoped to
discover through the intervention of Mlle. Rigolette. Although prepared
to find it a difficult task, inasmuch as it was more than probable, if
the grisette were really sufficiently in Germain's confidence to be
aware of his present abode, she also knew too well his anxiety to
conceal it to be likely to give the desired information.
By renting the chamber lately occupied by the young man, Rodolph,
besides being on the spot to follow up his researches, considered he
should also be enabled to observe closely the different individuals
inhabiting the rest of the house.
The same day on which the conversation passed between the Baron de Graün
and Murphy, Rodolph, plainly and unpretendingly dressed, wended his way
about three o'clock, on a gloomy November afternoon, towards the Rue du
Temple.
Situated in a district of much business and dense population, the house
in question had nothing remarkable in its appearance; it was composed of
a ground floor, occupied by a man keeping a low sort of dram-shop, and
four upper stories, surmounted by attics. A dark and narrow alley led
to a small yard, or, rather, a species of square well, of about five or
six feet in width, completely destitute of either air or light, and
serving as a pestilential receptacle for all the filth thrown by the
various occupants of the respective chambers from the unglazed sashes
with which each landing-place was provided.
At the bottom of a damp, dismal-looking staircase, a glimmering light
indicated the porter's residence, rendered smoky and dingy by the
constant burning of a lamp, requisite, even at midday, to enlighten the
gloomy hole, into which Rodolph entered for the purpose of asking leave
to view the apartment then vacant.
A lamp, placed behind a glass globe filled with water, served as a
reflector; and by its light might be seen, at the far end of the "lodge"
(as in courtesy it was styled), a bed, covered with a sort of patchwork
counterpane, exhibiting a mingled mass of every known colour and
material. A walnut-tree table graced the side of the room, bearing a
variety of articles suited to the taste and ornamental notions of its
owners. First in order appeared a little waxen Saint John, with a very
fat lamb at his feet, and a large peruke of flowing white curls on his
head, the whole enclosed in a cracked glass case, the joinings of which
were ingeniously secured by slips of blue paper; secondly, a pair of old
plated candlesticks, tarnished by time, and bearing, instead of lights,
two gilded oranges,--doubtless an offering to the porteress on the last
New Year's day; and, thirdly, two boxes, the one composed of variegated
straw, the other covered with multitudinous shells, but both smelling
strongly of the galleys or house of correction[10] (let us hope, for the
sake of the morality of the porteress in the Rue du Temple, that these
precious specimens were not presented to her from the original owners
and fabricators of them); and, lastly, between the two boxes, and just
beneath a circular clock, was suspended a pair of red morocco
dress-boots, small enough for the feet of fairies, but elaborately and
skilfully designed and completed. This _chef-d'oeuvre_, as the ancient
masters of the craft would style them, joined to the fantastic designs
sketched on the walls representing boots and shoes, abundantly indicated
that the porter of this establishment devoted his time and his talents
to the repairing of shoes and shoe leather.
[10] These boxes were the exclusive manufacture of the criminals
confined either in the galleys or prisons, and who spent nearly
all their spare hours in making them.
At the instant when Rodolph ventured into the smoky den, M. Pipelet, the
porter, temporarily absent, had left his better half, Madame Pipelet, as
his representative. This individual was seated by the stove in the
centre of the lodge, deeply engrossed in watching the boiling of a pot
placed over it. The description of Madame Pipelet may be given in a few
words. She was the most ugly, forbidding, wrinkled, toothless old hag
one might meet in the course of a long life. Her dress was dirty,
tawdry, and untidy; while her head-dress was composed of a Brutus wig,
originally of a blond colour, but changed by time into every shade of
red, brown, and yellow, the stiff ends of the perished hair standing out
like the ears of wheat in a wheat-sheaf. Much did Madame Pipelet pride
herself upon this tasteful covering to her sexagenarian skull; nor was
it believed she ever laid it aside, whether sleeping or waking.
At the sight of Rodolph the porteress inquired, in a surly tone:
"Well, and pray what do you want?"
"I believe, madame," replied Rodolph, laying a profound emphasis on the
word madame, "I believe there is an apartment to be let in this house?"
The deep respect implied in his voice and words somewhat mollified the
porteress, who answered, rather less sourly:
[Illustration: "_This Individual Was Seated by the Stove_"
Original Etching by Adrian Marcel]
"Yes, there is a room to let on the fourth floor, but you cannot see it
now,--Alfred has gone out."
"You are speaking of your son, I presume, madame; may I take the liberty
of asking whether he is expected in shortly?"
"I am not speaking of my son, but my husband. I suppose there is no act
of parliament why my Pipelet should not be called 'Alfred.' Is there,
pray?"
"None, certainly, madame, that I am aware of; but, with your kind
permission, I will await his return. I am very desirous of taking the
vacant chamber,--both the street and neighbourhood suit me; and the
admirable order in which the house seems kept pleases me excessively.
But, previously to viewing the lodging I am anxious to take, I should be
very glad to ascertain whether you, madame, could do me the favour to
take the management of my little housekeeping off my hands? I never like
to have any one about me but the authorised housekeeper belonging to the
house, when such arrangements meet with their approbation."
This proposition, so flatteringly expressed, and the word "housekeeper"
completely won Madame Pipelet, who replied:
"With the greatest of pleasure, sir, I will attend to all you require. I
am sure I shall be proud to wait upon such a gentleman; and, for the
small charge of six francs a month, you shall be treated like a prince."
"Then for six francs a month, I may reckon upon your valuable services.
Will you permit me to ask your name?"
"Pomona Fortunata Anastasia Pipelet."
"Well, then, Madame Pipelet, having agreed as to your own terms, will
you be pleased to tell me those for the apartment I wish to engage?"
"With the adjoining small closet, one hundred and fifty francs a
month,--not a farthing less. The principal lessee is a screw,--a regular
skinflint."
"What is his name?"
"M. Bras Rouge."
This name, and the remembrances so unexpectedly presented by it, made
Rodolph start.
"I think, Madame Pipelet, you were saying that the principal lessee of
the house is----"
"M. Bras Rouge."
"And he lives----"
"Rue aux Fêves, No. 13. He also keeps an estaminet near the Champs
Elysées."
All doubt was then at an end,--it was the Bras Rouge of infamous
notoriety; and singular indeed did the circumstance of thus coming
across him strike Rodolph.
"But though M. Bras Rouge is your principal lessee, he is not, I
presume, the owner of the house; may I ask who is?"
"M. Bourdon; but I have never had communication with any one besides M.
Bras Rouge."
With the design of still further ingratiating himself with the
porteress, Rodolph resumed:
"My dear madame, this cold day would make a little of something warm and
comfortable very acceptable. Might I venture to solicit the favour of
your stepping as far as the spirit-shop, kept so conveniently at hand,
and bring a bottle of cassia and two glasses? For I feel very tired, and
the cold has quite seized me. Stay, madame, we will have three glasses,
if you please; because I hope your husband will join us when he
returns."
So saying, he placed a franc in the fat, dirty hand of the porteress.
"Ah, monsieur, you are determined to make us all fall in love with you!"
cried Madame Pipelet, nodding her approval of the commission, and
thereby sending the flush of pleasure into a face glowing with all the
fiery honours of an excited Bacchante.
"To be sure! There is nothing like a drop of really good cordial such a
day as this; and they do keep most excellent here at hand. I'll go,--of
course I will; but I shall only bring a couple of glasses, for Alfred
and I always drink out of the same glass. Poor old darling! he is so
very nice and particular in showing all those sort of delicate
attentions to women."
"Then go along, my good Madame Pipelet, and we will wait till Alfred
comes."
"But, then, suppose any one wants me whilst I am out, who will mind the
lodge?"
"Oh, I'll take care of the lodge."
The old woman departed on her agreeable errand.
At the termination of a few minutes the postman tapped at the lodge
window, and putting his hand into the apartment, presented two letters,
merely saying, "Three sous."
"Six sous, you mean, for two letters," replied Rodolph.
"One is free," answered the man.
Having paid and dismissed the postman, Rodolph mechanically examined the
two letters thus committed to his charge; but at a further glance they
seemed to him worthy a more attentive observation. The epistle addressed
to Madame Pipelet exhaled through its hot-pressed envelope a strong
odour of Russia leather; it bore, on a seal of red wax, the initials "C.
R." surmounted by a helmet, and supported by a cross of the Legion of
Honour. The direction was written in a firm, bold hand. The heraldic
device of the commingled casque and cross made Rodolph smile, and
confirmed him in the idea that the writer of the letter in question was
not a female. Who was this scented, emblazoned correspondent of old
Anastasia Pipelet? Rodolph felt an undefinable curiosity to know. The
other epistle, written upon coarse and common paper, was united only by
a common wafer, pricked over with the point of a pin, and was addressed
to "M. César Bradamanti, Operating Dentist." Evidently disguised, the
superscription was entirely composed of capital letters. Whether founded
on a true or false presage, this letter seemed to Rodolph to wear a
mournful look, as though evil or misery were contained within its shabby
folds. He perceived that some of the letters in the direction were
fainter than the others, and that the paper there seemed a little
rumpled: a tear had evidently fallen upon it.
Madame Pipelet returned, bearing the bottle of cassia and two glasses.
"I have dawdled,--have I not, monsieur?" said she, gaily. "But let you
once get into that good Père Joseph's shop, and it is hard work to get
out again. Oh, that old man is a very insinuating----"
"Here, madame," interrupted Rodolph, "here are two letters the postman
left while you were gone."
"Dear me! Two letters! Pray excuse me, monsieur. I suppose you paid for
them?"
"I did."
"You are very good. I tell you what, then, we will settle that out of
the first money you have to pay me; how much was it?"
"Three sous," answered Rodolph, much amused at the ingenious method of
reimbursement employed by Madame Pipelet. "But may I, without offence,
observe that one of the letters is addressed to you, and that you
possess in the writer a correspondent whose _billets-doux_ are
marvellously well perfumed?"
"Let us see what it is about," said the porteress, taking the epistle in
the scented envelope. "Yes, upon my word, it is scented up like a real
_billet-doux_! Now, I should very much like to know who would dare write
_me_ a love-letter! He must be a villain!"
"And suppose it had fallen into your husband's hands, Madame Pipelet?"
"Oh, for goodness' sake don't mention that, or I shall faint away in
your arms! But how stupid I am! Now I know all about it," replied the
fat porteress, shrugging her shoulders. "To be sure! to be sure! it
comes from the Commandant! Lord bless me, what a fright I have had! for
Alfred is as jealous as a Turk."
"Here is another letter addressed to M. César Bradamanti."
"Ah! to be sure, the dentist on the third floor. I will put it in the
letter-boot."
Rodolph fancied he had not caught the right words, but, to his
astonishment, he saw Madame Pipelet gravely throw the letter alluded to
into an old top-boot hanging up against the wall. He looked at her with
surprise.
"Do you mean," said he at length, "to put the gentleman's letter in----"
"Oh, yes, that is all right," replied the porteress. "I have put it in
the letter-boot,--there, you see. So now nobody's letters can be
mislaid; and when the different lodgers return home, Alfred or myself
turns the boot upside down,--we sort them out, and everybody gets his
own."
So saying, the porteress proceeded to break the seal of the letter
addressed to her; which having done, she turned it round and round,
looked at it in every direction, then, after a short appearance of
embarrassment and uncertainty, she said to Rodolph:
"Alfred generally reads my letters for me, because I do not happen to be
able to read them myself; perhaps you would not mind just looking over
this for me?"
"With the utmost pleasure!" quickly replied Rodolph, curious to dive
into the mysteries of who Madame Pipelet's correspondent might be; and
forthwith he read what follows, written upon hot-pressed paper, stamped
in its right-hand corner with the helmet, the letters "C. R.," the
heraldic supporters, and the cross of honour.
"To-morrow (Friday), about eleven o'clock, let there be a good
(not an overfierce) fire lighted in both rooms; have everything
well dusted, and remove the coverings from the furniture, taking
especial care not to scratch the gilding, or to soil or burn the
carpet while lighting the fires. If I should not be in about one
o'clock, when a lady will arrive in a hackney-coach and inquire
for me by the name of M. Charles, let her be shown up to the
apartment; after which the key is to be taken down-stairs again,
and kept till my arrival."
Spite of the want of finished composition displayed in this _billet_,
Rodolph perfectly comprehended to whom and what it alluded, and merely
added, after perusing it:
"Who lives on the first floor, then?"
The old woman placed her yellow, shrivelled finger upon her pendulous
lip, and replied, by a half-malicious grin:
"Hush! There is a woman in the way,--silence!"
"Oh, my dear Madame Pipelet, I merely asked because, before living in a
house, one likes to know a little."
"Yes, yes! Of course, everybody likes to know all they can; that is all
fair enough; and I am sure I have no objection to tell you all I know
myself, and that is but very little. Well, but to begin. About six weeks
ago a carpet-maker came here to look at the first floor, which was then
to let, and to ask the price, and other particulars about it. Next day
he came again, accompanied by a young man of fair complexion, small
moustaches, and wearing a cross of honour and very fine linen. The
carpet-maker called him commandant."
"A military man, I suppose?" said Rodolph.
"Military!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, with a chuckle. "Not he! Why,
Alfred might as well call himself porter to a prince."
"How so?"
"Why, he is only in the National Guard! The carpet-maker only called him
commandant to flatter him: just the same as it tickles up Alfred's
vanity to be styled _concierge_ instead of porter. So when the
commandant (that is the only name we know him by) had looked over the
rooms, he said to the upholsterer, his friend, 'Well, I think the place
will do for me,--just see the landlord, and arrange all about it.' 'Yes,
commandant,' says the other. And the very next day the upholsterer-man
signed the lease with M. Bras Rouge (in his own name, mind you); and,
further, paid six months in advance, because, he said, the gentleman did
not wish to be bored about references. And such a power of fine
furniture as was sent into the first floor! _Sophesus_ (sarcophagus)
curtains, all silk; glasses set in gold, and everything you can mention,
all beautiful enough to astonish you; just, for all the world, like one
of them grand cafes on the Boulevards! As for the carpets,--oh, you
never trod on the like of them, I'll be bound. Put your foot on them,
and you'd fancy you was stepping on velvet, and take it off again for
fear of spoiling it. When everything was completed, the commandant came
to look at it,--just to see if he could find out anything more he
wanted; but he could not. So then he spoke to Alfred, and says he,
'Could you take charge of my rooms and keep them in nice order, light
fires from time to time, and get them ready for me when I wish to occupy
them? I shall not be here often,' says he, 'and would always write you a
line before coming, to give you time to prepare them.' 'Yes, commandant,
I can,' answers my flatterer of an Alfred. 'And what shall you charge?'
'Twenty francs a month, commandant.' 'Twenty francs!' exclaimed the
commandant. 'Why, porter, you are jesting, surely!' And hereupon he
began bating Alfred down in the most shabby manner, trying to squeeze
poor people like us out of two or three miserable francs, when he had
been squandering thousands in fitting up his grand apartments, which,
after all, he did not mean to live in! However, after a deal of
battling, we got twelve francs a month out of him,--a paltry, pitiful,
two-farthing captain! What a difference, now, between you and him!"
added the porteress, addressing Rodolph with an admiring glance. "You
don't call yourself fine names and titles,--you only look like a plain
body,--you must be poor, or you would not perch yourself on the fourth
floor; and yet you agreed with me for six francs, without attempting to
bate me down!"
"And when did the commandant pay you his next visit?"
"I'll tell you,--and good fun it is, too. My gentleman must have been
nicely choused by somebody. Three times did he write (same as to-day),
ordering us to light a fire and have everything ready for the reception
of a lady he expected would come. Come! Yes, I daresay he may expect a
long time first, I rather think."
"Nobody came then?"
"Listen. The first time the commandant arrived, strutting and swelling
like a turkey-cock, humming and singing, after his manner, all the gay
tunes of the day, walking up and down his fine room with his hands stuck
in his pockets, and occasionally stopping to arrange his hair before the
glass,--we were watching him all the time. Well, this went on for two or
three hours, when, I suppose, he knew it was no use waiting any longer;
so he came down-stairs very softly, and with quite a different manner to
the pride and consequence he had marched up with. By way of teasing him,
Pipelet and I went out to him and said, 'Commandant, there has been no
lady whatever to inquire for you,' 'Very well! Very well!' exclaimed he,
half mad and half ashamed of being laughed at, and, buttoning up his
coat, he walked off as fast as he could. The next time, before he came
himself, a small note was brought here by a man, directed to M. Charles;
I strongly suspected he was done again, and Pipelet and me were enjoying
a hearty good laugh over it when the commandant arrived. 'Captain,'
says I, putting the back of my hand up to my wig, by way of military
salute, 'here is a letter for you, but I am afraid it contains news of a
second countermarch against you.' He looked at me sour as a crab,
snatched the letter from my hand, read it, turned scarlet as a boiled
lobster, then walked off, pretending to whistle; but he was finely
vexed,--ready to hang himself, I could see he was,--and it was rare nuts
to me. 'Go, and swallow that pill, my two-farthing captain,' says I to
myself; 'that serves you right for only giving twelve francs a month for
minding your apartments.'"
"And the third time?"
"Ah, the third time I really thought it was all right. The commandant
arrived more stuck up with pride than ever; his eyes staring with
self-satisfied admiration at himself and the certainty of not being
disappointed this time. Let me tell the truth about him; he really is a
good-looking man, and dresses well, though he stinks of musk like a
civet cat. Well, there was my gentleman arrayed in all his finery, and
scarcely condescending to look at us poor folks; he seemed as though he
conferred a favour on the earth by deigning to walk on it, and went,
sticking his nose into the air, as if he meant to touch the clouds with
it. He took the key, and said to us, as he passed up-stairs, in a
jeering, self-complacent tone, as though to revenge himself for having
been laughed at twice before, 'You will direct the lady to my apartments
when she comes.' Well, Pipelet and I were so anxious to see the lady he
expected, though we did not much reckon upon her keeping her
appointment, even if she ever made one, that we went and hid ourselves
behind the little door that belongs to the alley; and, behold! in a
short time a blue hackney-coach, with its blinds drawn down, stopped at
the entrance to the house. 'There she is!' says I to Alfred. 'There is
his madame; let's keep back a bit for fear we frighten her away.' The
coachman got off his box and opened the door. Then we saw a female,
closely covered with a black veil, and carrying a muff; she had
apparently been crying, for she kept her handkerchief to her face; for
when the steps were let down, instead of alighting, she said some few
words to the driver, who, much surprised, shut the door up again."
"Then the lady did not get out?"
"No! she threw herself back in the coach and pressed her handkerchief
tightly to her eyes. I rushed out, and before the coachman had time to
get on his seat again, I called out, 'Hallo, there, coachy! are you
going back again?' 'Yes,' says he. 'Where?' says I. 'Where I came from,'
answers he. 'And where did you come from?' asks I again. 'From the Rue
St. Dominique, corner of the Rue Belle Chasse.'"
Rodolph started at these words. His dearest friend, the Marquis
d'Harville, who, as elsewhere stated, had been for some time labouring
under a deep melancholy none could penetrate, lived in the very place
just mentioned by Madame Pipelet. Could this mysterious female in the
blue _fiacre_ be the Marquise d'Harville? And was it from the lightness
and frivolity of her conduct that the mind of her excellent husband was
bowed down by doubts and misgivings? These painful suggestions crowded
on Rodolph's mind, but, although well acquainted with all the various
guests received by the marquise, he could recollect no one answering the
description of the commandant; added to which, any female might have
taken a hackney-coach from that spot without necessarily living in the
street. There was really nothing to identify the unknown of the blue
_fiacre_ with Madame d'Harville, and yet a thousand vague fears and
painful suspicions crossed his mind; his uneasy manner and deep
abstraction did not escape the porteress.
"What are you thinking of, sir?" asked she at length.
"I was wondering what could have induced the lady, after coming to the
very door, to change her mind so suddenly."
"There is no saying; some sudden thought,--dread or fear,--for we poor
women are but weak, cowardly things," said the porteress, assuming a
timid, frightened manner. "Well, I think if it had been myself now,
coming secretly to visit Alfred, I should have had to try back a great
many times before I could have screwed up my courage to venture in. But
then, as for visiting your great dons in this kind of way, I never could
have done such a thing. No, never! I am sure there is nobody under the
face of heaven can say I ever give them the least freedom,--I should
think not, indeed, while my poor dear old darling of a husband is left."
"No doubt,--no doubt, Madame Pipelet; but about the young person you
were describing in the blue _fiacre_?"
"Oh! mind, I don't know whether she was young or old; I could not even
catch a glimpse of the tip of her nose; all I can say is she went as she
came, and that is all about it. As for Alfred and me, we were better
pleased than if we had found ten francs."
"Why so?"
"By enjoying the rage and confusion of the commandant when he found
himself a third time disappointed; but, instead of going and telling him
at once that his 'madame' had been and gone, we allowed him to fume and
fret for a whole hour. Then I went softly up-stairs with only my list
slippers on. I reached his door, which I found half shut; as I pushed
against it, it creaked; the staircase is as black as night, and the
entrance to the apartment quite as obscure. Scarcely had I crept into
the room, when the commandant caught me in his arms, saying, in a
languishing voice, 'My dearest angel! what makes you so late?'"
Spite of the serious nature of the thoughts crowding upon his mind,
Rodolph could not restrain a smile as he surveyed the grotesque periwig
and hideously wrinkled, carbuncled visage of the heroine of this comic
scene.
Madame Pipelet, however, resumed her narration with a mirthful chuckle
that increased her ugliness:
"That was a go, wasn't it? But stop a bit. Well, I did not make the
least reply, but, almost keeping in my breath, I waited to see what
would be the end of this strange reception. For a minute or two the
commandant kept hugging me up, then, all of a sudden, the brute pushed
me away, exclaiming with as much disgust as though he had touched a
toad, 'Who the devil are you?' 'Me, commandant,--the porteress,--Madame
Pipelet; and, as such, I will thank you to keep your hands off my waist,
and not to call me your angel, and scold me for being late. Suppose
Alfred had heard you, a pretty business we should have made of it!'
'What the deuce brings you here?' cried he. 'Merely to let you know the
lady in the hackney-coach has just arrived!' 'Well, then, you stupid old
fool, show her up directly. Did I not tell you to do so?' 'Yes,
commandant; you said I was to show her up.' 'Then why do you not obey
me?' 'Because the lady--' 'Speak out, woman, if you can!' 'The lady has
gone again.' 'Something you have said or done, then, to offend her, I am
sure!' roared he in a perfect fury. 'Not at all, commandant. The lady
did not alight, but when the coach stopped and the driver opened the
door, she desired him to take her back to where she came from.' 'The
vehicle cannot have got far by this time,' exclaimed the commandant,
hastening towards the door. 'It has been gone upwards of an hour,'
answered I, enjoying his fury and disappointment. 'An hour! an hour! and
what, in the devil's name, hindered you from letting me know this
sooner?' 'Because, commandant, Alfred and I thought we would spare you
as long as we could the tidings of this third breakdown, which we
fancied might be too much for you.' Come, thinks I, there is something
to make you remember flinging me out of your arms, as though it made you
sick to touch me. 'Begone!' bawled out the commandant. 'You hideous old
hag! You can neither say nor do the thing that is right,' and with this
he pulled off his dressing-gown and threw his beautiful Greek cap, made
of velvet embroidered with gold, on the ground: it was a real shame, for
the cap was a downright beauty; and as for the dressing-gown, oh, my! it
would set anybody longing. Meanwhile the commandant kept pacing the
room, with his eyes glaring like a wild beast and glowing like two
glow-worms."
"But were you not afraid of losing his employ?"
"He knew too well what he was about for that; we had him in a fix, we
knew where his 'madame' lived, and had he said anything to us, we should
have threatened to expose the whole affair. And who do you think for his
beggarly twelve francs would have undertaken to attend to his rooms,--a
stranger? No! That we would have prevented; we would soon have made the
place too hot to hold any person he might appoint,--poor, shabby fellow
that he is! What do you think? He actually had the meanness to examine
his wood and put out the quantity he should allow to be burnt while he
was away. He is nothing but an upstart, I am sure,--a nobody, who has
suddenly tumbled into money he does not know how to spend properly,--a
rich man's head and a beggar's body, who squanders with one hand and
nips and pinches with the other. I do not wish him any harm, but it
amuses me immensely to think how he has been befooled; and he will go on
believing and expecting from day to day, because he is too vain to
imagine he is being laughed at. At any rate, if the lady ever comes in
reality, I will let my friend the oyster-woman next door know; she
enjoys a joke as well as I do, and is quite as curious as myself to find
out what sort of person she is, whether fair or dark, pretty or plain.
And--who knows?--this woman may be cheating some easygoing simpleton of
a husband for the sake of our two-penny-halfpenny of a commandant! Well,
that is no concern of mine, but I am sorry, too, for the poor, dear,
deceived individual, whoever he may be. Dear me! Dear me! My pot is
boiling over,--excuse me a minute, I must just look to it. Ah, it is
time Alfred was in, for dinner is quite ready, and tripe, you know,
should never be kept waiting. This tripe is done to a turn. Do you
prefer the thick or thin tripe? Alfred likes it thick. The poor darling
has been sadly out of spirits lately, and I got this dainty dish to
cheer him up a bit; for, as Alfred says himself, that for a bribe of
good thick tripe he would betray France itself,--his beloved France.
Yes, the dear old pet would change his country for such fine fat tripe
as this, he would."
While Madame Pipelet was thus delivering her domestic harangue upon the
virtues of tripe and the powerful influence it possessed over even the
patriotism of her husband, Rodolph was buried in the deepest and most
sombre reflections. The female, whose visits to the house had just been
detailed, be she the Marquise d'Harville or any other individual, had
evidently long struggled with her imprudence ere she had brought herself
to grant a first and second rendezvous, and then, terrified at the
probable consequences of her imprudence, a salutary remorse had, in all
probability, prevented her from fulfilling her dangerous engagement. It
might be that the fine person this M. Charles was described as
possessing had captivated the senses of Madame d'Harville, whom Rodolph
knew well as a woman of deep feeling, high intellect, and superior
taste, of an elevated turn of mind, and a reputation unsullied by the
faintest breath of slander. After long and mature consideration, he
succeeded in persuading himself that the wife of his friend had nothing
to do with the unknown female in the blue _fiacre_. Madame Pipelet,
having completed her culinary arrangements, resumed her conversation
with Rodolph.
"And who lives on the second floor?" inquired he of the porteress.
"Why, Mother Burette does,--a most wonderful woman at fortune-telling;
bless you, she can read in your hand the same as a book, and many quite
first-rate people come to her to have the cards consulted when they are
anxious about any particular matter. She earns her weight in gold, and
that is not a trifle, for she is a rare bundle of an old body. However,
telling fortunes is only one of her means of gaining a livelihood."
"Why, what does she do besides?"
"She keeps what you would call a pawnbroker's shop upon a small scale."
"I see; your second-floor lodger lends out again the money she derives
from her skill in foretelling events by reading the cards."
"Exactly so; only she is cheaper and more easy to deal with than the
regular pawnbrokers: she does not confuse you with a heap of paper
tickets and duplicates,--nothing of the sort. Now suppose: Some one
brings Mother Burette a shirt worth three francs; well, she lends ten
sous upon condition of being paid twenty at the end of the week,
otherwise she keeps the shirt for ever. That is simple enough, is it
not? Always in round figures, you see,--a child could understand it. And
the odd things she has brought her as pledges you would scarcely
believe. You can hardly guess what she sometimes is asked to lend upon.
I saw her once advance money upon a gray parrot that swore like a
trooper,--the blackguard did."
"A parrot? But to what amount did she advance money?"
"I'll tell you; the parrot was well known; it belonged to a Madame
Herbelot, the widow of a factor, living close by, and it was also well
understood that Madame Herbelot valued the parrot as much as she did her
life. Well, Mother Burette said to her, 'I will lend you ten francs on
your bird, but if by this day week at twelve o'clock I do not receive
twenty francs with interest (it would amount to that in round numbers),
if I am not paid my twenty francs, with the expenses of his keep, I
shall give your Polly a trifling dose of arsenic mixed with his food.'
She knew her customer well, bless you! However, by this threat Mother
Burette received her twenty francs at the end of seven days, and Madame
Herbelot got back her disagreeable, screaming parrot."
"Mother Burette has no other way of living besides the two you have
named, I suppose?"
"Not that I know of. I don't know, however, what to say of some rather
sly and secret transactions, carried on in a small room she never allows
any one to enter, except M. Bras Rouge and an old one-eyed woman, called
La Chouette."
Rodolph opened his eyes with unmixed astonishment as these names sounded
on his ear, and the porteress, interpreting the surprise of her future
lodger according to her own notions, said:
"That name would make any one stare with astonishment. Certainly La
Chouette is uncommonly odd; is it not?"
"It is, indeed. Does the woman who is so styled come here frequently?"
"We saw her the day before yesterday, for the first time these six
weeks. She was rather lame, I observed."
"And what do you suppose she wants with the fortune-telling woman?"
"That I do not know; at least, as to what takes place in the little room
I was telling you of, where La Chouette alone is admitted with M. Bras
Rouge and Mother Burette. I have, however, particularly observed that on
those occasions the one-eyed woman always has a large bundle with her
in her basket, and that M. Bras Rouge also carries a parcel of some size
beneath his cloak, and that they always return empty-handed."
"And what can these packets contain?"
"The Lord above knows, for I don't; only they kick up the devil's own
row with them, whatever they are. And then such whiffs of sulphur,
charcoal, and melted lead, as you go up the stairs; and blow, blow,
blow, like a smith's forge. I verily believe Mother Burette has dealings
with the old one, and practises magic in this private apartment;
leastways, that is what M. César Bradamanti, our third-floor lodger,
said to me. A very clever individual is M. César. When I say an
'individual,' I mean an Italian, though he speaks as good French as you
or me, excepting his accent, and that is nothing. Oh, he is very clever,
indeed! knows all about physic; and pulls out teeth, not for the sake of
the money but the honour of his profession,--yes, really, sir, for
downright honour. Now, suppose you had six decayed teeth,--and he says
the same thing to all who choose to listen to him,--well, then he will
take out five for nothing, and only charge you for the sixth. Besides
which, he sells all manner of remedies for all sorts of
complaints,--diseases of the lungs, coughs, colds, every complaint you
can name; but then he makes his own drugs, and he has for his assistant
the son of our principal lessee, little Tortillard. He says that his
master is going to buy himself a horse and a red coat, and to sell his
drugs in the market-places, and that young Tortillard is to be dressed
like a page and be at the drum, to attract customers."
"This seems to me a very humble occupation for the son of your principal
lessee."
"Why, his father says unless he gets a pretty strong hand over him, and
a tolerably powerful taste of whipcord, in the way of a sound thrashing,
every now and then, he is safe to come to the scaffold. And he is about
the ugliest, most spiteful, ill-disposed young rascal one would wish to
meet: he has played more than one abominable trick upon poor M. César
Bradamanti, who is the best creature possible; for he cured Alfred of a
rheumatic attack, and I promise you we have not forgotten it. Yet there
are some people wicked enough to--But no, I will not tell you: it would
make the hair of your head stand on end. As Alfred says, if it were
true, it would send him to the galleys."
"Why, what do they accuse him of?"
"Oh, I really cannot tell you! I can't, indeed; for it is so--"
"Then we will drop the subject."
"And to say such things of a young man! Upon my life and soul, it is too
bad."
"Pray, Madame Pipelet, do not give yourself the trouble of saying any
more about it: let us speak of other matters."
"Why, I don't know but, as you are to live in the house, it is only fair
and right to prepare you for any falsehoods you may hear. I suppose you
are sufficiently well off to make the acquaintance of M. César
Bradamanti, and unless you are put on your guard against these reports,
they might lead to your breaking off with him. So, just put your ear
down and I'll whisper what it is people say about him."
And the old woman, in a low tone, muttered a few words as Rodolph
inclined his head; he started from her, with mingled disgust and horror.
"Impossible!" exclaimed he. "Surely human nature is not capable of such
crimes!"
"Shocking! Is it not? But treat it as I do,--all scandal and lies. What,
do you think the man who cured Alfred's rheumatism,--who draws five
teeth out of six for nothing,--who has testimonies (testimonials) from
every prince and king in the world,--and, above all, pays as he goes,
down on the nail, would go for to do such things? Not he! I'll stake my
blessed life upon it."
While Madame Pipelet thus vented her indignant opinion concerning the
reports in circulation, Rodolph recalled to his memory the letter he had
seen addressed to the quack dentist; he remembered the counterfeited
writing and the coarse, common paper, stained with tears, which had
well-nigh obliterated part of the address,--too well did he see in the
mysterious grief-stained epistle the opening of a drama of deep and
fearful import; and while these sad presages filled his mind, a powerful
impression whispered within him that the dreadful doings ascribed to the
Italian were not altogether unfounded.
"Oh, I declare, here comes Alfred!" exclaimed the porteress. "Now he
will tell you his opinion of all these spiteful stories about poor M.
Bradamanti. Bless you! Alfred thinks him as innocent as a lamb, ever
since he cured his rheumatics."
M. Pipelet entered the lodge with a grave, magisterial air. He was about
sixty years of age, comfortably fat, with a large, broad countenance,
strongly resembling in its cast and style the faces carved upon the
far-famed nutcrackers of Nuremberg; a nose, of more than ordinary
proportions, helping to complete the likeness. An old and dingy-looking
hat, with a very deep brim, surmounted the whole. Alfred, who adhered to
this upper ornament as tenaciously as his wife did to her Brutus wig,
was further attired in an ancient green coat, with immense flaps turned
up with grease,--if so might be described the bright and shiny patches
of long-accumulated dirt, which had given an entirely different hue to
some portions of the garment. But, though clad in a hat and coat
esteemed by Pipelet and his wife as closely resembling full dress,
Alfred had not laid aside the modest emblem of his trade, but from his
waist uprose the buff-coloured triangular front of his leathern apron,
partly concealing a waistcoat boasting nearly as great a variety of
colours as did the patchwork counterpane of Madame Pipelet.
The porter's recognition of Rodolph as he entered was gracious in the
extreme; but, alas! he smiled a melancholy welcome, and his countenance
and languid air marked a man of secret sorrow.
"Alfred," said Madame Pipelet, when she had introduced her two
companions, "here is a gentleman after the apartment on the fourth
floor, and we have only been waiting for you to drink a glass of cordial
he sent for."
This delicate attention won for Rodolph the entire trust and confidence
of the melancholy porter, who, touching the brim of his hat, said, in a
deep bass voice worthy of being employed in a cathedral:
"We shall give the gentleman every satisfaction as porters, and,
doubtless, he will act the same by us as a lodger; 'birds of a feather
flock together,' as the proverb says." Then, interrupting himself, M.
Pipelet anxiously added, "Providing, sir, you are not a painter!"
"No, I am not a painter, but a plain merchant's clerk."
"My most humble duty to you, sir. I congratulate you that Nature did not
make you one of those monsters called artists."
"Artists, monsters!" returned Rodolph. "Tell me, pray, why you style
them so."
Instead of replying, M. Pipelet elevated his clasped hands towards the
ceiling, and allowed a heavy sound, between a grunt and a groan, to
escape his overcharged breast.
"You must know, sir," said Madame Pipelet, in a low tone, to Rodolph,
"that painters have embittered Alfred's life; they have worried my poor
old dear almost out of his senses, and made him half stupefied, as you
see him now." Then speaking loud, she added, in a caressing tone, "Oh,
never mind the blackguard, there's a dear, but try and forget all about
it, or you will be ill, and unable to eat the nice tripe I have got for
your dinner."
"Let us hope I shall have courage and firmness enough for all things,"
replied M. Pipelet, with a dignified and resigned air; "but he has done
me much harm; he has been my persecutor, almost my executioner,--long
have I suffered, but now I despise him! Ah," said he, turning to
Rodolph, "never allow a painter to enter your doors; they are the
plague--the ruin--the destruction of a house!"
"You have, then, had a painter lodging with you, I presume?"
"Unhappily, sir, I did have one," replied M. Pipelet, with much
bitterness, "and that one named Cabrion. Ah!"
At the recollections brought back by this name, the porter's declaration
of courage and endurance utterly failed him, and again his clenched
fists were raised, as though to invoke the vengeance he had so lately
described himself as despising.
"And was this individual the last occupant of the chamber I am about
engaging?" inquired Rodolph.
"No, no! The last lodger was an excellent young man named M. Germain.
No, this Cabrion had the room before he came. Ah, sir, since Cabrion
left, he has all but driven me stark staring mad!"
"Did you, then, so much regret him?" asked Rodolph.
"Regret him! Regret Cabrion!" screamed the astounded porter; "why, only
imagine, M. Bras Rouge paid him two quarters' rent to induce him to quit
the place, for, unluckily, he had taken his apartments for a term. What
a scamp he was! You have no idea of the horrible tricks he played off
upon all the lodgers as well as us. Why, just to give you one little
proof of his villainy, there was hardly a single wind instrument he did
not make use of as a sort of annoyance to the lodgers; from the French
horn to the flageolet, he made use of all, and even carried his
rascality so far as to play false and to keep blowing the same note for
hours together; it was enough to worry one out of one's senses. Well, I
suppose there were upwards of twenty different petitions sent to our
chief lessee, M. Bras Rouge, to turn the beggar out; and, at last, he
was only got rid of by paying him two quarters' rent,--rather droll, is
it not, for a landlord to pay his lodger? But, bless you, the house was
so upset by him that he might have had any price so he would but take
himself off; however, he _did_ go. And now you suppose we were clear of
M. Cabrion? I'll tell you. Next night, about eleven o'clock, I was in
bed, when rap, rap, rap, comes to the gate. I pulls up the
string,--somebody walks up to my door, 'How do you do, porter?' says a
voice; 'will you oblige me with a lock of your hair?' 'Somebody has
mistaken the door,' says my wife. So I calls out to the stranger, 'You
are wrong, friend, you want next door.' 'I think not,' returns the
voice; 'this is No. 17, is it not, and the porter's name is Pipelet? I'm
all right; so please to open the door and oblige me with a lock of your
beautiful hair.' 'My name is Pipelet, certainly,' answers I. 'Well,
then, friend Pipelet, Cabrion has sent me for a piece of your hair; he
says he must and he will have it.'"
As Pipelet uttered the last words he gave his head a mournful shake,
and, folding his arms, assumed an attitude of martyrlike resolution.
"Do you perceive, sir? He sends to me, his mortal enemy, whom he
overwhelmed with insults and continually outraged in every way, to beg a
lock of my hair,--a favour which even ladies have been known to refuse
to a lover!"
"But, supposing this Cabrion had been as good a lodger as was M.
Germain," replied Rodolph, with some difficulty preserving the gravity
of countenance, "do you think you might have accorded him the favour?"
"Not to the best lodger that treads shoe-leather would I grant a similar
request," replied the man in the flapped hat, waving it majestically
over his brows as he spoke; "it is contrary to my principles and habits
to give my hair to any one,--only I should have refused with the most
scrupulous regard to politeness."
"That is not all," chimed in the porteress. "Only conceive, sir, the
abominable conduct of that Cabrion, who, from morning to night, at all
hours and at all times, sends a swarm of vagabonds like himself to ask
Alfred for a lock of his hair,--always for Cabrion!"
"Ah, monsieur," sighed out poor Pipelet, "had I committed the most
atrocious crimes, my sleep could not have been rendered more broken and
unrefreshing; scarcely do I fall into a doze than I wake starting with
the idea of being called by that cursed Cabrion! I suspect
everybody,--in each person who approaches me I see an emissary from my
persecutor come to request a lock of my hair. I am losing my good
spirits, my temper, and becoming gloomy, suspicious, peevish, and
ill-natured. This infernal Cabrion has murdered my whole life!"
And Pipelet heaved so profound a sigh that his hat, vibrating for some
time from the consequences of the convulsive shake of the head
occasioned thereby, fell forward and completely veiled his care-stricken
features.
"I can well understand, now," said Rodolph, "that you are not
particularly partial to painters; but I suppose the M. Germain you were
praising so highly made up for the bad treatment you received from M.
Cabrion?"
"Yes, yes, sir; as I told you, M. Germain was a delightful young man, so
honourable and kind-hearted, open as the day, and ever ready to serve
and oblige; he was cheerful and merry as need be, but then he always
kept his high spirits within proper bounds instead of worrying people to
death by his unmeaning hoaxes, like that Cabrion, who I wish was at the
devil!"
"Come, come, my good M. Pipelet, I must not let you thus excite
yourself; and who, now, is the person fortunate enough to possess such a
pattern of a lodger as this M. Germain seems to have been?"
"That is more than I can tell you; no one knows whither he has gone, nor
are they likely, except, indeed, through Mlle. Rigolette."
"And who is Mlle. Rigolette?" demanded Rodolph.
"Why, she is a needlewoman, also living on the fourth floor," cried
Madame Pipelet; "another pattern lodger, always pays her rent in
advance, and keeps her little chamber so nice and clean; then she is
well behaved to every one, so merry and happy, like a bird, though, poor
thing! very like a caged bird, obliged to work early and late to earn
two francs a day, and often not half that, let her try ever so hard."
"How does it happen that Mlle. Rigolette should be the only person
entrusted with the secret of M. Germain's present abode?"
"Why, when he was going away, he came to us and said," returned Madame
Pipelet, "'I do not expect any letters; but if, by chance, any should
come, please to give them to Mlle. Rigolette.' And she is well worthy of
his confidence, if his letters were filled with gold; don't you think
so, Alfred?"
"The fact is," said the porter, in a severe tone, "that I know no harm
of Mlle. Rigolette, excepting her permitting herself to be wheedled over
by that vile scamp, Cabrion."
"But you know, Alfred, that nothing more than a few harmless attentions
passed between them," interrupted the porteress; "for, though Mlle.
Rigolette is as merry as a kitten, she is as prudent and correct as I am
myself. You should see the strong bolts she has inside her door; and if
her next-door neighbour will make love to her, that is not her fault; it
follows as a matter of course when people are so close to each other.
It was just the same with the travelling-clerk we had here before
Cabrion, and so it was when M. Germain took the room this abominable
painter occupied. So, as I say, there is no blame to Mlle. Rigolette; it
arises out of the two rooms joining one another so closely,--naturally
that brings about a little flirtation, but nothing more."
"So, then, it becomes a matter of course, does it," said Rodolph, "that
every one who occupies the apartment I am to have should make love to
Mlle. Rigolette?"
"Why, of course, monsieur; how can you be good neighbours without
it,--don't you see? Now, imagine yourself lodging in the very next room
to a nice, pretty, obliging young person, like Mlle. Rigolette; well,
then, young people will be young people,--sometimes you want a light,
sometimes a few live coals to kindle up your fire, maybe a little
water,--for one is sure always to find plenty of fresh spring water at
Mlle. Rigolette's, she is never without it; it is her only luxury,--she
is like a little duck, always dabbling in it; and if she does happen to
have a little leisure, such a washing down of floors and cleaning of
windows! Never the least soil or neglect about either herself or her
apartment, and so you will find."
"And so M. Germain, by reason of his close proximity to Mlle. Rigolette,
became what you style upon perfectly neighbourly terms with her?"
"Oh, bless you, yes! Why, the two seemed cut out for each other, so
young and so good-looking! It was quite a pleasure to look at them as
they came down-stairs of a Sunday to take the only walk, poor things!
they could afford themselves throughout the week; she dressed in a smart
little cap and a gown that cost, probably, not more than twenty-five
sous the ell, but made by herself, and that so tastily that it became
her as much as though it had been of satin; he, mind ye, dressed and
looking like a regular gentleman."
"And M. Germain has not been to see Mlle. Rigolette, I suppose, since he
quitted the house?"
"No, monsieur; unless on Sunday, for Mlle. Rigolette has no time during
the other six days of the week to think of sweethearting. Why, the poor
girl rises at five or six o'clock, and works incessantly till ten or
eleven o'clock at night, never once leaving her room except for a few
minutes in the morning, when she goes out to buy food for herself and
her two canary-birds; and the three eat but very little, just a
penn'orth of milk, a little bread, some chickweed, bird-seed, and clear
fresh water, and the whole three of them sing away as merrily as though
they fared ever so sumptuously. And Mlle. Rigolette is kind and
charitable, too, as far as lies in her power; that is to say, she gives
her time, her sleep, and her services; for, poor girl! she can scarcely
manage to keep herself by working closely for twelve hours a day. Those
poor, unfortunate creatures in the attics, whom M. Bras Rouge is going
to turn into the streets in two or three days' time, if even he wait so
long,--why, Mlle. Rigolette and M. Germain sat up with the children
night after night!"
"You have a distressed family, then, here?"
"Distressed! Oh, God bless you, my good sir, I think we have, indeed.
Why, there are five young children, an almost dying mother, an idiotic
grandmother, and their only support a man who, though he slaves like a
negro, cannot even get bread enough to eat,--and a capital workman he
is, too; three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four is all he allows
himself,--and what sleep it is! broken by his children crying for food,
by the groans of his sick wife tossing on her miserable straw bed, or
the idiotic screams of the poor bedridden old grandmother, who sometimes
howls like a wolf,--from hunger, too,--for, poor creature! she has not
sense or reason to know better, and when she gets very hungry you may
hear cries and screams all down the staircase."
"Horrible!" exclaimed Rodolph, with a shudder; "and does no one afford
them any assistance?"
"Truly, sir, we do all we can; we are but poor ourselves; however, since
the commandant has allowed me his paltry twelve francs a month for
looking after his apartments, I have managed once a week to make a
little broth for these poor, unfortunate creatures. Mlle. Rigolette
deprives herself of her night's rest, and sits up, poor girl (though it
burns her candles), contriving out of one bit and the other of her
cutting out, to make up a few clothes for the children; sometimes from
the morsels left of her work she manages a small nightcap or gown; and
M. Germain, who had not a franc more than he knew what to do with, used
to pretend, from time to time, that he had received a present of a few
bottles of wine from his friends; and Morel (that is the name of the
workman with the sick family) was sure to be invited to share it with
him; and it was really wonderful to see how refreshed and strengthened
poor Morel used to seem after M. Germain had made him take a good pull
at his wine, to put, as he used to say, a little life and soul into his
half-exhausted body."
"And the surgeon-dentist, what did he do for this wretched family?"
"M. Bradamanti?" said the porter. "Ah! he cured my rheumatism, and I owe
him my eternal gratitude; but from that day I said to my wife,
'Anastasia, M. Bradamanti'--hum!--hum!--did I not say so, Anastasia?"
"Exactly; that is precisely what you did say."
"But I want to know what this M. Bradamanti did to assist the poor
starving beings in your garrets."
"Why, you see, monsieur, when I mentioned to M. Bradamanti the misery
and utter destitution of poor Morel--by the way, he first began the
conversation by complaining that the raving and screaming of the old
idiot woman throughout the night for food prevented him from sleeping,
and that he found it very unpleasant; however, he listened to my
description of the state the whole family was in, and then he said,
'Well, if they are so much distressed, you may tell them that if they
want any teeth drawn, I will excuse them paying even for the sixth.'"
"I tell you what, Madame Pipelet," said Rodolph, "I have a decidedly bad
opinion of this man. And your female pawnbroker, was she more
charitable?"
"Very much after the fashion of M. Bradamanti," said the porteress; "she
lent a few sous upon their wretched clothes; every garment they had has
passed into her hands, and even their last mattress; but they were not
long coming to the last, for they never had but two."
"But she gave them no further aid?"
"Help them, poor creatures! Not she. Mother Burette is as great a brute
in her way as her lover, M. Bras Rouge, is in his; for between you and
I," added the porteress, with an uncommonly knowing wink of the eye and
sagacious shake of the head, "there is something rather tender going on
between these two."
"Really!" cried Rodolph.
"I think so,--I do, upon my life. And why not? Why, the folks in St.
Martin are as loving as the rest of the world; are they not, my old
pet?"
A melancholy shake of the head, which produced a corresponding motion in
the huge black hat, was M. Pipelet's only answer. As for Madame Pipelet,
since she had begun expressing sympathy for the poor sufferers in the
attics, her countenance had ceased to strike Rodolph as repulsive, and
he even thought it wore an agreeable expression.
"And what is this poor Morel's trade?"
"A maker of false jewelry; he works by the piece; but, dear me! that
sort of work is so much imitated, and so cheaply got up that--For a man
can but work his best, and he cannot do more than he can; besides, when
you have got to find bread for seven persons without reckoning yourself,
it is rather a hard job, I take it. And though his eldest daughter does
her best to assist the family, she has but very little in her power."
"How old is this daughter?"
"About eighteen, and as lovely a young creature as you would see in a
long summer's day. She lives as servant with an old miserly fellow, rich
enough to buy and sell half Paris,--a notary, named M. Jacques Ferrand."
"M. Jacques Ferrand!" exclaimed Rodolph, surprised at the fresh
coincidence which brought under his notice the very individual from
whom, or from whose confidential housekeeper, he expected to glean so
many particulars relative to La Goualeuse. "M. Jacques Ferrand, who
lives in the Rue du Sentier, do you mean?" inquired he.
"The very same; are you acquainted with him?"
"Not at all; but he does the law business for the firm I belong to."
"Ah! then you must know that he is a regular money-grubbing old usurer;
but then, let me do the man justice. He is strictly religious, and
devout as a monk; never absent from mass or vespers, making his Easter
offerings, and going regularly to confession. If he ever enjoys himself,
it is only along with the priests, drinking holy water, and eating
blessed bread. Oh, he is almost a saint in the strictness of his life;
but, then, his heart is as hard as iron, and as stern and rigid towards
others as he is severe towards himself. Why, poor Louise, daughter to
our sick lodger, has been his only servant for the last eighteen months.
And what a good girl she is! Gentle as a lamb in temper and disposition,
but willing as a horse to work; and he only gives this poor thing, who
slaves herself to death for him, eighteen francs a month,--not a
farthing more, I give you my word; and out of this she only keeps back
six francs for her own maintenance, and hands over the other twelve to
her starving family; that has been all their dependence for some time
past; but when seven persons have to live upon it, it does not go far."
"But what does the father earn,--I mean, provided he is industrious?"
"Industrious! God bless you, he has always overworked himself; he is the
soberest, steadiest creature alive; and I verily believe that if he had
the promise of obtaining any favour he liked to ask of Heaven, it would
be that the day might be made doubly as long as it now is, that he might
earn bread enough to stop the cries of his starving brats."
"Then the father cannot earn enough if he were to try ever so hard, it
seems?"
"Why, the poor man was ill abed for three months, and that threw them
all behind; his wife's health was quite ruined by the fatigue of nursing
him and the severe want she experienced of common necessaries for
herself and family. She now lies in a dying state; they have had nothing
for all that period besides Louise's wages and what they could obtain
from Mother Burette upon the few wretched articles they could dispose
of. True, the master for whom Morel had worked advanced them a trifle,
out of respect for a man he had always found punctual and honest when he
could work. But, la! Eight people only to be found in bread, that is
what I say,--just imagine how hard it must be to keep life and soul
together upon such small means; and if you could only see the hole they
are all huddled together in--But do not let us talk any more about that,
monsieur, for our dinner is ready, and the very thought of their
wretched garret turns my stomach. However, happily, M. Bras Rouge is
going to clear the house of them,--when I say happily, I don't mean it
ill-naturedly in the least; but since these poor Morels have fallen
into such misery, and it is quite out of our power to help them, why
let them go and be miserable elsewhere; it will be a heartache the less
for us all."
"But, if they are turned out from here, where will they go to?"
"Truly, I don't know."
"And how much can this poor workman earn daily when in health, and
without any calls upon his time or attention?"
"Why, if he had not to attend to his old mother, nurse his sick wife,
and look after the five children, he could earn his three or four francs
a day, because he works like a downright slave; but now that at least
three-quarters of his time are taken up with the family, he can hardly
manage to earn forty sous."
"That is little, indeed,--poor creatures!"
"Yes, it is easy to say poor creatures, but there are so many equally
poor creatures, that, as we can do nothing for them, it is no use to
worry ourselves about it,--is it, Alfred? And, talking of consoling
ourselves, there stands the cassia, and we have never thought of tasting
it."
"To tell you the truth, Madame Pipelet, after what I have just heard I
have no inclination to partake of it. You and M. Pipelet must drink my
health in it when I am gone."
"You are extremely kind, sir," said the porter; "but will you not like
to see the rooms up-stairs?"
"I shall be glad to do so, if perfectly convenient; and, if they suit, I
will engage them at once and leave a deposit."
The porter, followed by Rodolph, emerged from the gloomy lodge, and
proceeded up-stairs.