MADEMOISELLE LOUISE
That year, my parents, seeing me gaping idly at the moon, sent me to Aix
to study law, for these good souls were wise enough to know that my
bachelor’s degree was but an insufficient guarantee either of wisdom or
of science. But before my departure for the Sextine city I met with an
adventure which both interested and touched me.
In a neighbouring farmhouse, a family from the town had settled, and
going to church we sometimes met the daughters. Towards the end of
summer, they, with their mother, came to call, and my mother
appropriately offered them curds; for we had on our farm fine herds of
cattle, and milk in abundance. My mother herself superintended the
dairy, making not only the curds but the cream cheeses, those small
cheeses of the country of Arles, so much appreciated by Beland de la
Belaudière, the Provençal poet in the time of the Valois kings:
A la ville des Baux, pour un florin vaillant
Vous avez un tablier plein de fromages
Qui fond au gosier comme sucre fin.[8]
Like the shepherdesses sung by Virgil, each day my mother, carrying on
her hip the earthenware pot and skimmer, descended to the dairy and
filled up the various moulds with the fine flaking curds from her pot.
The cheeses made, she left them to drain upon the osiers, which I myself
delighted to cut for her down by the stream.
So on this occasion we partook with these young girls of a bowl of
curds. One of them, about my own age, with a face which recalled those
Greek profiles sculptured on the ancient monuments in the plains of
Saint-Rémy, regarded me tenderly with her great dark eyes. Her name was
Louise.
We visited the peacocks, with their rainbow-hued tails outspread, the
bees in their long row of sheltered hives, the bleating lambs in the
fold, the well with its pent-roof supported by pillars of
stone--everything, in fact, which could interest them. Louise seemed to
move in a dream of delight.
When we were in the garden, while my mother chatted with hers, and
gathered pears for our guests, Louise and I sat down together on the
parapet of the old well.
“I want to tell you something,” began Mademoiselle Louise. “Do you
remember a little frock, a muslin frock that your mother took to you one
day when you were at school at St. Michel de Frigolet?”
“Yes--to act my part in the piece called _Les Enfants d’Edouard_.”
“Well then--that dress, monsieur, was mine.”
“But did they not return it to you?” I asked like an imbecile.
“Oh yes,” she said, a little confused, “I only spoke of it as--one might
of anything.”
Then her mother called her.
Louise gave me her hand; such a cold hand, and since the hour was late
they went home.
A week later, towards sunset, Mademoiselle Louise appeared again at our
door, this time accompanied only by a friend.
“Good afternoon,” said she. “We have come to buy some of those juicy
pears you gave us the other day from your garden.”
My mother invited them to be seated, but Louise declined, saying it was
too late, and I accompanied them to gather the pears.
Louise’s friend, Courrade by name, was from Saint-Rémy, a handsome girl,
with thick brown hair encircled by her Arlesienne ribbon; charming as
Louise was, she acted imprudently in bringing such a friend.
Arrived in the orchard, while I lowered the branches, Courrade, raising
her pretty round arms, bare to the elbow, set to work and picked the
pears. Louise, looking very pale, encouraged her, and bade her choose
the most ripe. My heart was already stirred, though by which of the
girls I could not say, when Louise, as if she had something to
communicate, drew me to one side, and we sauntered slowly towards the
group of cypresses, where, side by side, we sat down on a stone bench, I
somewhat embarrassed, she regarding me with emotion.
“Frédéric,” she began, “the other day I spoke to you of a frock which at
the age of eleven I lent you to wear in the play at St. Michel de
Frigolet.... You have read the story of Déjanire and Hercules?”
“Yes,” I answered laughing, “and also of the tunic which the beautiful
Déjanire gave to poor Hercules, and which set his blood on fire.”
“Ah!” said the young girl, “in this case it is just the reverse, for
that little white muslin dress which you had touched--which you had
worn--from the moment I put it on once more, I loved you. Do not be
angry with me for this confession, which I know must appear strange,
even mad, in your eyes. Ah, do not be angry,” she begged, weeping, “for
this divine fire, conveyed to me by the fatal dress, and which from that
time has never ceased to consume me, I have hidden deep within my heart,
oh, Frédéric, for seven long years!”
I took her little feverish hand in mine, and would have replied by
folding her in my arms; but gently she pushed me from her:
“No, Frédéric,” she said, “as yet we cannot say whether the poem of
which I have sung the first stanza will ever go further.... I must now
leave you. Think on what I have said, and remember that since I am one
of those who cannot change, whatever your answer may be, my heart is
given to you for ever.”
So saying she rose, and running up to her friend Courrade, called to her
to bring the pears that they might weigh and pay for them.
We returned to the house, and having settled for the pears they left. My
feelings were difficult to analyse. I found myself both charmed and
disturbed by this sudden appearance of young maidens upon the scene,
both of whom in a certain fashion appealed strongly to me. Long I
strolled among the trees, watching the sun’s rays grow slanting and the
doves fly home to roost, and in spite of a feeling of exhilaration, and
even happiness, on sounding myself I perceived that I was in a rare fix.
The “Disciple of Venus” says truly, “Love will not brook command.” This
heroic young maid, armed with nought but her grace and her virginity,
was she not justified in thinking to come off victorious? Charming as
she was, and herself charmed by her long dream of love, no wonder if she
thought that in the words of Dante, “Love that has no lover pardons
love,” and that a young man living as I was an isolated country life,
would respond with emotion at the first cooing note. She did not realise
that love, being the gift and abandonment of all one’s being, no sooner
does the soul feel itself pursued with the object of capture, than it
flies off like the bird to whom the charmer calls in vain.
So it was that in presence of this chain of flowers, this rose, who
unfolded all her sweetness for me, I coiled up with reserve, whereas
towards the other, who, in her capacity of devoted friend and
confidante, seemed to avoid my approach and my glance, I felt myself
irresistibly drawn. For at that age I must confess to having already
formed very definite ideas on the subject of love and the beloved. One
day, either in the near or the far future, I told myself, I should meet
her, my fate, in that same land of Arles, a superb country maiden,
wearing the Arlesian costume like a queen, galloping on her steed across
the plains of the Crau, a trident in her hand; after a long and ardent
wooing, one fine day my song of love would win her, and in triumph I
should conduct her to our farm, where, like my mother before her, she
should reign over her pastoral subjects. Already as I look back, I see
that I dreamt of my “Mireille,” and this ideal of blooming beauty
already conceived by me, though only in the silence and secrecy of my
heart, told greatly against the chances of poor Mademoiselle Louise,
who, according to the standard of my vision, was far too much of a young
lady.
After this we started a correspondence, or rather an interchange of love
on one side and friendship on the other, which lasted over a period of
some three years or more--all the time I was at Aix in fact. On my side
I endeavoured gallantly to humour her sentiment for myself, so that,
little by little if I could, I might change it to a feeling less
embarrassing for both of us. But Louise, in spite of this, grew ever
more and more fixed in her infatuation, winging to me one missive after
another of despairing farewell. The following was the last of these
letters:
* * * * *
“I have loved but once, and I shall die, I vow to you, with the name of
Frédéric engraven on my heart. Ah! the sleepless nights I have passed
thinking of my hapless fate! And yesterday, reading over your vain
attempts at consolation, the effort to keep back my weeping almost made
my heart break. The doctor announced that I had fever, a nervous
breakdown, and prescribed rest. How I rejoiced to think I was indeed
seriously ill! I felt even happy at the thought of dying and awaiting
you in that other world where your letter declares we shall surely
meet.... But hear me, Frédéric, I beseech you, since it is indeed true
that before long you will hear I have quitted this world, shed I beg,
one tear of regret for me. Two years ago I made you a promise: it was to
pray God every day to give you happiness--perfect happiness; never have
I failed to offer up that prayer, and I shall never fail while life
lasts. On your side, I beseech you, therefore, do not forget me,
Frédéric; but when you see beneath your feet the withered yellow leaves,
let them remind you of my young life withered by tears, dried up by
grief, and when you pass by a brooklet, listen to its gentle murmur, and
hear in that plaintive sound the echo of my love, and when some little
bird brushes you with its soft wing, let that tiny messenger say to you
that I am ever near you. Forget not your poor Louise, oh, Frédéric, I
pray you.”
* * * * *
This was the final adieu sent to me by the poor young girl, sealed with
her own blood and accompanied by a medallion of the Holy Virgin, covered
with her kisses, and encased in a small velvet cover on which she had
embroidered my initials with her chestnut hair, encircled by a wreath of
ivy, and the words, “Behold in me the strand of ivy, ever my love
embraces thee.”
Poor dear Louise! Not long after this she took the veil and became a
nun, and in a few years died. Even now it moves me to melancholy when I
think of her young life withered before its bloom by this ill-starred
love. To her memory I dedicate this little record, and offer it to her
_Manes_ hovering perhaps still around me.
* * * * *
The town of Aix (Head of Justice was the old significance), where I
betook myself to make my law studies, by reason of its honourable past
as capital of Provence and parliamentary city, possessed an air of
soberness and dignity somewhat in contradiction with the Provençal
atmosphere. The stately air given by the shady trees of the beautiful
public drive, the fountains, monuments and palaces of bygone days,
together with the numerous black-robed magistrates, lawyers and
professors to be seen in the streets, all contributed towards the severe
and rather cold aspect which characterised this city.
In my time, however, this impression was but a surface one, and among
the students there was a gaiety of race, an intimate good-fellowship,
quite in keeping with the traditions left by the good King René of old.
I remember even worthy counsellors and judges of the Court who, when at
home, either in town or country house, amused themselves and their
friends playing the tambourine;[9] while grave and learned doctors, such
as d’Astros, brother of the Cardinal of that name, delivered at the
Academy lectures in the simple and joyous tongue of their native
Provençal. One of the best methods this for keeping alive the national
soul, and which in Aix has never lapsed. Count Portalis, for example,
one of the grand jurists of the Napoleon Code, wrote a play in
Provençal. Then there was Monsieur Diouloufet, famous librarian of the
French Athens[10] (as Aix once called herself), who, in the reign of
Louis XVIII., sang in the language of Provence his poems of “Les
Magnans”; while Monsieur Mignet, the illustrious historian and
academician, came every year to Aix on purpose to play bowls, the
national game of his youth, his panacea for restoring and renovating all
men being “to drink in the sunshine of Provence, speak the language of
Provence, eat a _ragoût_ of Provence, and every morning play a game of
bowls.”
I had been in Aix a few months when, walking one afternoon near the Hot
Springs, to my joy I suddenly caught sight of the profile, and quite
unmistakable nose, of my friend Anselme Mathieu of Châteauneuf.
In his usual casual way he greeted me. “This water is really hot--it is
not pretence my dear fellow, it positively smokes.”
“When did you arrive?” I asked him with a hearty grip of the hand. “And
what good wind blew you here?”
“The night before last,” said he. “Faith, I said to myself, since
Mistral is off to Aix to read for law, I had better do likewise.”
I congratulated him on the happy inspiration, and inquired whether he
had taken his bachelor’s degree, without which it was useless to think
of being admitted to the Law Faculty.
“Oh yes,” he laughed. “I passed out with the wooden spoon! But if they
refuse me a diploma in the courts of law, no man can prevent my taking
one in the courts of love! Why, only to-day,” he continued, “I made the
acquaintance of a charming young laundress, a little sunburnt it is
true, but with lips like a cherry, teeth like a puppy, unruly curls
peeping from out her white cap, a bare throat, little turned-up nose,
dimpled arms----”
“Hold, villain,” I remonstrated, “it strikes me your eyes were not
idle.”
“Frédéric, you are on a wrong scent,” he answered solemnly. “Think not
that I, a scion of the noble house of Montredon, irresponsible though I
may be, would lose my heart to a little chit of a laundress--but, I
don’t know if you share this feeling, I find it impossible to pass a
pretty face without turning round to gaze at it. In short, after a
little conversation with the girl, we arranged that she should
[Illustration: ANSELM MATHIEU.]
[Illustration: THÉODORE AUBANEL.]
wash for me and come to fetch my things next week!”
I upbraided him for an unscrupulous scoundrel, but he interrupted me
again, saying I had not yet grasped the situation, and begging me to
listen to the end of his tale.
“While chatting with my little friend,” he continued, “I noticed she was
rubbing away at a dainty chemise of finest linen, trimmed with lace. It
excited my curiosity and admiration--I inquired to whom it belonged?
‘This chemise,’ the young girl answered, ‘belongs to one of the most
beautiful ladies in Aix--a _baronne_ of some thirty summers, married,
poor thing, to an old curmudgeon who is a judge of the Courts and
jealous as a Turk.’ ‘She must be bored to death,’ I cried. ‘Ah yes,’ she
replied, ‘she is bored to death, poor lady. There she sits on her
balcony waiting, one would say, for some gallant gentleman who shall
come to the rescue.’ I inquired her name, but here she demurred, saying
she was but the laundress, and had no right to mix herself up in affairs
that did not concern her. Not a word more could I get out of her; but,”
added Mathieu hopefully, “when she comes for my washing next week, it is
a pity if I don’t make her open her lips by bestowing two or three good
kisses upon them.”
“And when you know the name of the lady, what then?” I asked.
“What then? Why, my dear fellow, I have bread in the cupboard for three
years! While you other poor devils are grinding away at your law
studies, I, like the troubadours of old Provence, shall at my leisure
study beneath my lady’s balcony the gentle art of the laws of love.”
And this was, in effect, precisely the task undertaken and accomplished
by the Chevalier Mathieu during the three following years at Aix.
* * * * *
Ah, the good days we spent in excursions all over the country! Now a
picnic by the Bridge of Arc, in a dell just off the dusty high road to
Marseilles, or a party to Tholonet to sniff up the fine fumes of the
wine of Langesse. Another time it was a students’ duel in the valley of
Infernets, the pistols charged with pellets of mud; or again a merry
company on the diligence to Toulon, through the lovely woods of Cuge and
across the Gorge of Ollioules. The students of Aix had led much the same
life since the good old days of the Popes of Avignon and the time of
Queen Joan.
While we were thus amusing ourselves in the noble city of the Counts of
Provence, Roumanille, more wise and staid, was publishing at Avignon,
in the periodical called the _Commune_, admirable dialogues, full of
wisdom, good sense and courage, as, for example, “Le Thym,” “Un Rouge et
un Blanc,” “Les Prêtres,” work which both popularised and dignified the
Provençal tongue. From this he proceeded, on the strength of the
reputation won by his “Pâquerettes” and his daring pamphlets, to
convoke, through the means of his journal, all Provençal singers of the
day, old and young. The outcome of this rallying movement was a
publication in 1852, _Les Provençales_, presented to the public with an
introduction of ardent enthusiasm by the learned and eminent savant,
Monsieur Saint-René Taillandier, then residing at Montpellier.
In this first venture appeared contributions from d’Astros and Gaut of
Aix; Aubert, Bellot, Bénédit, Bourelly, and Barthélemy of Marseilles;
Bondin, Cassan, Giéra of Avignon; Tarascon was represented by Gautier,
and Beaucaire by Bonnet; Châteauneuf by Anselme Mathieu; Carpentras by
Reybaud and Dupuy; Cavaillon by Castil-Blaze, then there was Garcin,
warm-hearted son of that Marshal d’Alliens mentioned in _Mireille_; and
Crousillat of Salon, besides a group of Languedoc poets--Moquin-Tandon,
Peyrottes, Lafare-Alois; and Jasmin, who contributed one poem.
The principal contributor, however, was Roumanille, then in full flower
of production, his last work, entitled “Les Crèches,” having elicited
from the great Sainte-Beuve the declaration that it was worthy of
Klopstock.
Théodore Aubanel, then in his twenty-second year, began to send forth
his first master-strokes, “Le 9 Thermidor,” “Les Faucheurs,” “A la
Toussaint.” And finally, I also, aflame with the fine ardour of
patriotism, sent in my ten short pieces, among which were “Amertume,”
“Le Mistral,” “Une Course de Taureaux,” and a “Bonjour à Tous,” which
last notified our new start.
* * * * *
But to return to the gay Mathieu and his love adventure with the lady of
Aix, the conclusion of which I left untold.
Whenever I came across this student in the laws of love, I inquired
without fail of his progress.
His patience and perseverance, he announced to me one day, had been
rewarded, and Lélette, the little laundress, at last consented to show
him the house of the fair _baronne_. Beneath her balcony he had from
that time paced to and fro, unwearyingly, until finally observed by the
object of his adoration--a lady, declared Mathieu, of matchless
beauty--and the sequel proved of good taste also, since the other
evening, smiling charmingly upon her devoted cavalier, she had let fall
from the heaven above him--a flower.
Thereupon Mathieu produced a faded carnation in proof of his tale, and
gazing with tender rapture, blew a kiss skywards.
After this, several months elapsed, without my catching a sight of
Mathieu. I resolved to go and look him up.
Mounting to his attic, I found my friend reclining with one foot on a
chair.
Bidding me a hearty welcome, he poured forth his latest news and the
history of his accident.
“Imagine, my dear fellow--I had hit upon a plan for a nocturnal visit to
my divine lady. Everything was arranged--Lélette, my little laundress,
lent us a hand. I entered the garden at eleven o’clock, and by the
trellis of the rosetree which creeps to her window, I climbed up. You
may imagine how my heart beat! For she, my sovereign lady, had promised
to stretch out her dainty hand that I might press thereon my kisses.
Heavens!--the shutters opened softly--and a hand, my Frédéric, a hand I
quickly recognised was not that of my adored, shook down on my upturned
nose--the cinders of a pipe! I waited for no more, but sliding to the
ground, I fled. I leapt the garden wall, and, confound it--sprained my
foot!”
He laughed, and I joined him till we nearly dislocated our jaws. I
inquired if he had sent for a doctor? That office he informed me had
been undertaken by the mother of Lélette--a worthy dame who kept a
tavern near the Porte d’Italie. This old body, being a sorceress in her
way, had steeped the sprained foot in white wine, muttering weird
incantations the while, and, after bandaging the foot tightly, concluded
the ceremony by making the sign of the cross three times with her great
toe.
“So here I am,” said Mathieu, “waiting till Providence sees fit to heal
me ... and reading meanwhile the ‘Pâquerettes’ of our friend Roumanille.
The time does not hang heavy, for little Lélette brings me my simple
fare twice a day, and in default of ortolans I am thankful for
sparrows.”
Whether Mathieu, well named, as he afterwards was, the “Félibre of the
Kisses,” drew on his gorgeous imagination for the whole of this romantic
episode, I cannot pretend to say; enough that I repeat it as he told it
to me.