The young guard : a picture of Paris morals and manners

Front matter

I

Emory University Library |j

S3

Chapter I

" Ah, De MeVas ! Come in, my dear fellow, and sit down," said Jarly, lying rather than sitting on his directorial armchair, his legs lazily stretched out under a broad desk. And, continuing aloud the diatribe commenced mentally : " Ah, my friend, these authors and composers ! There are two or three hundred of them here in Paris who think that we directors have been created and brought into the world solely to listen to their idiotic lucubrations, or to be deafened by their quavers and semi-quavers. I don't know if my colleagues follow my example, but, for myself, I never read any manuscript ; there, never ! Thank you ! I've not the slightest wish to go mad before my time comes ! No, but can you imagine me swallowing all that heap of paper 1"

And he pointed out to Hector an enormous range of pigeon-holes rising from the floor to the ceiling, in which were piled up five or six hundred manuscripts with blue or yellow covers.

" And what has set you so dreadfully against these poor authors ? "

"Oh, two fearful bores, by name Anatole Pipert and Robert Mimes : one, a young librettist, the other a music-

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hall maestro. Tlioy kept me here nearly an hour trying to persuade me that there was an extraordinary situation in their play. Ah, I am up to them — the situations of your authors ! Nine times out of ten, it is the directors whom they have to thank for them. ' The Beautiful Andalusian,' my present operetta, it was I who re-wrote it from the first line to the last."

" The deuce ! your collaboration was not happy ; the piece has only run twenty nights, and you are playing to half-filled houses."

" That is the fault of that stick of an Anna Due ! Simple ruination ! She might be the mother of the whole company ! How can you expect the public to interest itself in the loves of this ancient lady and the 'jeuno premier 1 ' At that age it is no longer passion, it is vice ; and, not content with that, she has taken it into her head to lose her voice. Happily, within the last few days, my stage manager has discovered in the chorus a little marvel, Lucie Guepin, yes, a wretched chorus-singer, w T ho after rehearsal was singing a verse for her own amusement, but so prettily, with such ' go ' and such power of mimicry, that he told me of her. I heard her, to judge for myself. Fetching, my boy ; fetching ! You must tell me what you think of her."

Jarly had lost no time in deciding what course to pursue. He was a man of prompt decisions, and as Anna Due had tried to have her own way with him, he had given Lucie four or five full rehearsals, and the next day he was going to put her name across the bills.

After all, people were getting sick of these celebrities who had languished in the arms of two or three generations of actors, and who would persist in coming on the boards and giving off their hoarse ditties from between their scanty teeth. These relics of the past, whose clumsy figures were

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only imperfectly hidden by the brilliancy and tinsel of the operetta, had no longer any attraction but for college youths encouraged by their professors in the admiration of the antique. The true public was tired of pre-historic " divas," and Lucie Guepin was barely twenty !

Yet De Moras was sceptically inclined. He, too, had thought to have unearthed an operetta star in the person of Mademoiselle Berthe Pompon, his mistress for the time being, and he frankly owned that ho had been taken in like any novice. And although she had made an excellent "debut" at the "Benaissance" they had soon to put a stopper on her. She was wrong here, awkward there, vulgar always ; and then, her gestures on the stage were those of an epileptic person, enough to give all the spectators nervous attacks. So much so, that the powder-train of her success resembled those damp fire-works which, after a momentary flash, go out miserably without a report. And yet, De Meras had neglected nothing to give his mistress a good start ; articles in the papers, canvassings at the clubs, everything had been pressed into the service, not to mention her luxurious surroundings, her brilliant turn-outs which had not failed to attract attention round the lake. Well, young as she was, Berthe Pompon no more took than Anna.

" By-the-bye, they say you are giving poor Berthe the sack 1 It only wanted that to complete it," said Jarly abruptly.

"And they say truly," answered De Meras calmly. "But the young lady is not so much to be pitied as you seem to think ; my friends at the Mirlitons will soon have consoled her for my loss."

At these words, the impresario's Ja.cc brightened up in the most singular ^manner. This separation was an accomplished fact, then ! De Meras was free, perfectly free. If only he should be smitten with Lucie, what a stioke of luck

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for the " Folies-Parisiennes " theatre ! For, there was no denying it, Hector was the sure bringer of luck, the man- Mascotte, whose love was fortune to women.

"Ah, my dear fellow, you must hear her," cried Jarly. "She is rehearsing. I w ; ant your opinion, for you are a connoisseur. Follow me."

He dragged the young man through the labyrinth of passages and staircases which led from the director's room to the iron door connecting the theatre with the stage. After having noiselessly opened the door so as not to draw attention to his presence, he pushed De Meras into the front row of the orchestra stalls. Lucie, her arms bare, her tambourine in her hands, her beautiful brown hair gathered in a chignon on her neck, her hips swaying almost imperceptibly from left to right, and her chest thrown slightly forward, was just attacking her grand " bolero."

Her piercing black eyes, protected by their fringe of long lashes, had that look, at once stubborn and gentle, provocative and modest, wanton and ardent, of the Spanish woman. Her legs beautifully moulded, without leanness as without undue fullness, were joined to two feet just large enough to stand on. As for her fingers, which plied the castanettes with all the git ana's boldness, they were tapering, white, and abounding in dainty dimples which tempted the lover's kiss.

"Why, of course," said De Moras, "it's Daniello, the little page in the second act. 1 had noticed her before ; can't she give you a look ! "

" Isn't she charming 1 "

" Wait a moment before deciding finally."

Lucie, very confident, was pouring out with incomparable expression the sonorous notes of the " bolero," giving full force to its voluptuous measures. Her voice, like a multicoloured stream of fire, dispersed itself in the empty theatre,

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dashing against the ceiling and the cornices, and descending in a rain of sparkling modulations.

"Very good!'' murmured De Meras. "Very sympathetic voice — minute to a marvel — and uncommonly cheeky too, for all her demure little face ; very promising ! "

" I believe you ! " said Jarly eagerly.

Then, standing up, and brandishing his stick towards the stage :

'• Take the first act over again, my children, and with a will ! won't you 1 — for the little one ! "

A murmur of discontent ran through the groups on the stage, whilst the under-manager, with the help of a scene-shifter, improvised hastily with stools and benches the scenery for the first act.

All the performers were out of temper, replying to their comrades in a uniform and almost, unintelligible voice.

" When will you have done speaking in your boots ? " cried Jarly impatiently from time to time.

The actor spoken to fell back muttering. What sense was there in having to go over again for this new-comer a pai't which he knew like a book 1 The women especially betrayed unmistakable ill-humour, muffled up to their ears, complaining of the draughts of this filthy theatre where they were catching their death. A few of them were coughing mournfully.

In the doubtful light which the narrow windows in the roof and the single gas-jet fastened against the prompter's box threw on the stage, one could see them in the background^ sitting on their chairs in a semi-circle, their backs turned ostentatiously on the foot-lights.

It was not only the fact that they were being made to repeat over and over again a piece which they played every evening, which caused this tossing of heads and hostile attitude ; over and above all, there was this choice which

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Jarly had dared to make, and which was so offensive to them all, of a chorus-singer to double a leading part.

Everyone, even those who had but a line to say, was up in arms. And there were murmurs which the stage manager was obliged from time to time to hush, with a

" Ladies, please ! One cannot hear one's self speak."

Doucais, the old comedian of the company, took advantage of the moments of quiet which followed the frequent calls to order, to tell doubtful stories, of which he had a very varied stock, the fruit of twenty years of a strolling player's life in the provinces.

And there were bursts of laughter directly it was Lucie's turn to sing, and their jealousy especially overcame them.

One couple only kept aloof ; Mertal, the tenor, and Bettina, the second singer. Very friendly were they, and taking no part in the ill-feelings of this life, this happy couple, whom one was constantly coming across flirting in out-of-the-way corners, on the seats in the lobby, in the passages, underneath the set pieces, or in the shadow of the harlequin's screen.

And well aware too of the advantages of union ; sticking up for one another in the case of a menaced effect, a sentence cut out of a scene, or even a word out of a sentence, and threatening, first one and then the other, to throw up their part if justice was not done to one or other of them ; in one word, spooning each other as actors almost as much as they did as lovers.

And yet the actress was over forty, having given birth some twenty years before to a strapping boy, who, at that moment, was serving his country in the cuirassiers. As for Lucie, quite at home in her manola's costume, although she was the only lady who had exchanged her ordinary clothes for the low body and short petticoats, she bestowed her attentions solely on the actors during the moments of leisure which her part left her.

She was instinctively aware of all the hatred which her unexpected rise in the world would occasion among the women, and she was too politic to beard the discontented ones, and too good-natured to give herself airs, to cause them humiliation.

Several times, too, she stepped on one side to where a man, closely shaven, of unpretentious appearance, and not belonging to the company, was carrying on a conversation in low tones, at the wings, with Irma Bechart, a school friend of Lucie's.

" Now for the second, my children, and briskly ! The concerted pieces only, and then we'll go," cried Jarly, as soon as the first act was over. " Those who haven't got a scene with the Andalusian can go."

There was a general move on the stage, and the iron door slammed several times. The chorus-singers rushed towards the exit.

" Not you, chorus-singers ! " shouted the director. " Is it so difficult then to understand 1 Now then, ladies, let us take the serenade." And he gave out the words himself :

A sound of leaves being turned over drowned the orchestra, where the scores spread out on the music-stands showed like white patches in the midst of a medley of soft hats, and the leader gave with the bow of his violin the signal to begin.

Two bars, and then, suddenly, from the back of the stage, was heard Lucie's clear and ardent voice, breathing forth with infinite sweetness the recitative :

which served as the prelude to a duet with the tenor. This time De Moras applauded, Jarly was beaming.

" I was certain you would be pleased with her," he said.

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"Besides, it has always been my own especial forte, unearthing talent, and how many have had me only to thank for having brought them out ! "

And he added, with conviction :

"You ought to speak at the ministry of this particular find I have made."

" Certainly — in due time," replied De Meras.

"For this reason, that the directorship of the Opera will be vacant before long. And, hang it all, I think that my past history as a director speaks strongly enough in my favour to enable me to send in my application without overweening conceit."

De Meras nodded, but this time without answering.

He had all the directors under his thumb by his connexion with the administration of the " Beaux- Arts ; " friendly as he was with Loredan Goulot, the minister, intimate with his chief secretary, Dorneval, and on the best of terms with all at the Licensing of Plays office. Now, at any moment, a director may have to fight for his own interests, or, what is worse, may have a crow to pick with the " Beaux- Arts," and therefore it is an advantage to have a friend at court.

So De Meras cultivated these relations, which, besides the importance they gave him, were most useful to his mistresses, whom he was able, were it necessary, to pass on to a director.

As Lucie was just about to begin her grand air : " Messieurs, que me demandez-vous ? " a whispering behind him made De Meras look round.

He cast a glance over the dark theatre where the balconies and galleries appeared confusedly covered with their great grey cloths to keep the dust from them during the day, and finally discovered near the private boxes, close together, and hand in hand, a young man and a woman who appeared to him to be pretty, without his being able perfectly to distinguish her features.

"Who is that, there?" he asked of Jarly.

" Oh, no one ; some of Lucie Guepin's friends, doubtless, whom she has brought here, to have their opinion."

De Moras listened a moment and caught the following words :

" You know, Armand, I want all your time, all, at least, that you do not devote to business."

" Quite true, Juliette," answered the young man in a bored voice, " but .Cardillan docs not leave me much leisure. You are aware that he is the head of an important political party, and his position of vice-president of the Chamber loads us with work."

" I am so afraid that you no longer love me."

" What childishness ! And then, must I always be reminding you that we are playing a dangerous game for you, and that we have need, both of us, of the greatest prudence in order to conceal our connection from your brother-in-law ? "

" Oh, you can rest assured, my dear Armand ! My precautions are taken. I have always a good excuse for going out, and, believe me, we have no cause to be uneasy so far as concerns Monsieur Bechart."

De Meras with difficulty controlled a laugh.

"Why, it is Armand Lobel with Madame Bechart, the sister-in-law of the under-secretary of the Beaux-Arts ! He seems to me to find this lady's love weigh rather too heavily on him."

" You know the Becharts ? "

"Do I know them! So then, the pretty Juliette has left Doueval. In that case Loredan Goulot can pack up his traps ! Madame Bechart resembles the rats. When she leaves a ministry, you may swear it is going to fall."

The rehearsal had just been concluded with the end of the second act.

" Shall we go on the stage? " asked Jarly.

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"Yes, I should like to see the little one close to. You ■were right, there is something in this child. Just send two or three boxes and a dozen stalls to my club. I Avill distribute them among all the ancient admirers of youthful charms; there is nothing like your grey-beards to infuse life into the youngsters."

In the corridor he met Arniand and Madame Bechart.

" How do 1 " said he, giving his hand to Lobel.

At the same time he bowed to Juliette, and inquired after her niece Irma.

The young girl was on the stage where she had an office to fulfil ; it was she who, each time Lucie came off, threw a shawl over her shoulders.

"She would entrust this task to no other," added Madame Bechart. "And then, everything pertaining to a theatre has an extraordinary attraction for her. Ah ! I believe we shall have all our work to prevent her from carrying out her intention of coming out at a music-hall. Fortunately, Monsieur Lobel has been good enough to keep me company. I must have bored him dreadfully."

Lobel protested.

""Well, now I give you back your liberty," she continued, letting go the young man's arm, " but it is understood that you dine to-morrow at Monsieur Bechart's, to take me to see Lucie's ' debut ' in the evening."

Lobel knitted his brows at this unlooked-for proposal. As he was stammering some awkward excuse for declining the invitation, Hector came to his rescue.

"It is I, madame, who shall have the pleasure of taking possession of my friend, Armand Lcbel, to-morrow evening. It was agreed between us yesterday that he was to call for me at my Uncle Beraudy's at half-past eight, so as to give me an excuse for escaping from the bosom of my family. So I cau only give him up to you at the cost of being

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myself deprived of the sight of your friend, Mademoiselle Ouepin's, 'debut.'"

Lobel gave Do Moras a look of gratitude.

"You see, madame, with the best intentions in the world — " said he.

He did not finish. Lucie, followed by Irma, came up to them.

.Tarly introduced the "diva" to De Meras.

She was wreathed in smiles, and brought her shawl with awkward modesty over her bare shoulders, whilst her white and deliciously rounded arms issued from the short puffy sleeves of her costume.

Her breasts, heaving from the excitement of the afternoon's rehearsal, were full, but not unduly so, and by no means out of proportion with the dainty build of the body.

She was nature personified in this little group, with her childish delight, clapping her hands like any school girl, and her charms heightened by the glance from her black eyes, which had something disturbing in it.

" Is my director satisfied 1 " she asked, with a little modest pout.

"You must not consult my opinion to-day, my child," said Jarly, quickly. " Ask rather De Meras what he thinks of you."

" Oh, don't say I did badly, sir ! " she cried, clasping her hands in an attitude of supplication, " it would grieve me so much ! I should cry all night, and my eyes would be red for the performance to-morrow."

" Which would be infinitely less pretty than the lovely black which nature has given you," replied Hector. "And since you ask my opinion, I can assure you with perfect sincerity, that you possess something more precious still than your beautiful eyes, and that is talent — and original talent, which is rare. I will add, that if you are to-morrow

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what you have been to-day, you will be able to lay claim to one of those successes -which mark an epoch in the annals of a theatre."

For a moment she was on the verge of bursting into tears. " I am so afraid the gentleman is making fun of me," she murmured.

" He ! " cried Jarly. " Ha, ha ! you don't catch him joking ! He is nothing if not outspoken. Ten years have I known him, and never once has he been wrong in his prognostications ! "

" I can assure you that I have said what I really think," said De Meras. " Jarly can dismiss his whole company, for henceforth your name alone will be sufficient to fill the bill ! "

Do you hear, Blaizinot 1 ?" cried the young girl, her face all smiles again, thanks to the astonishing mobility which allowed her to change suddenly her expression. And she threw herself into the arms of the clean-shaven man, having need of some clasp as a kind of sanction to the happiness with which she was filled.

"Who is that person V asked De Moras, in an undertone, nettled that Lucie had quitted the hand he had given her, to fall with so much warmth on the neck of a stranger.

Jarly hesitated to reply.

" It is Blaizinot," he murmured finally.

" Her lover % " continued De Moras, in a tone of slight vexation.

" Yes, a lover of passage, a strolling player ; it's nothing serious,"

Chapter II

Since the age of twenty, and he was now thirty-seven, De Meras had lived in the full swing of Parisian fast life.

His father, the descendant of an old family of lawyers, and himself a judge, had died president of the Bordeaux Court, leaving to each of his children — Hector, then in his nineteenth year, by his first wife, and Severine by his second — two hundred thousand francs, and a house of the value of fifty or sixty thousand. Hector's mother had brought Monsieur de Meras a dowry of two hundred and fifty thousand francs, the whole of which had come back to the young man, whose means at his majority consisted consequently of an income of twenty-two to twenty-three thousand francs, plus the half of the rental of the house in Bordeaux, in all, twenty-five thousand francs a year.

Severine's fortune was more modest, her mother having married penniless, and having had no prospect of inheriting when she was carried off by peritonitis a few days after her daughter's birth.

Monsieur de Meras had in his will allotted to each of his children their exact share of his property, and confided them to the care of their uncle and guardian, Beraudy, his sister's husband, a widower for many years. He had made special mention of Severine, whom he begged his brother-in-law to take charge of and educate. Uncle Beraudy had not failed in his task. As soon as she was old enough to go to school he had entrusted his niece to the care of the ladies of

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the " Sacre-Coeur," and the young girl did not leave there until she had obtained her teacher's diploma.

But the excellent man had not only been anxious to make of his niece a clever and distinguished woman, ho had wished, too, to preserve in her that family affection which so soon becomes weakened when one grows up apart from one's friends. For this reason he had made every effort to bring the brother and sister together as much as possible, in order to strengthen by frequent meetings this natural affection. Severine doted on her big brother, and on holidays, when she arrived in the Rue de 1' Arcade and learned that the dearly loved one was not coming, her tears overflowed, and uucle Beraudy had need of all his coaxings to bring back the smiles to the little girl's face.

But his little sister was not the only one whom this naughty big brother upset. His uncle had to bear his lot in it.

In his love of independence Hector had called for an account of his stewardship directly he was of age, and since then he had never permitted Monsieur Beraudy to interfere in the slightest degree with the management of his affairs.

His friends, all chosen from among the young men in the best position, with the highest titles and the largest means had been not a little astonished, knowing his relatively modest resources, to see him fashioning his way of life on their own. Besides which, he never borrowed ! He must be living on his capital then, for one cannot be the lover of the prettiest actresses in Paris without enormous expenses. A few of them even only owed their horse and carriage to their connection with him. And this kind of life had been going on for ten years, with no sign that the end was approaching. He did not play, or at least very little, and usually without winning or losing. And the mistresses who left him, or whom he left, had never anything but good to say of him.

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Several of] his successors in the hearts of these ladies had tried to worm out of them the secret of this free-masonry which he enjoyed with so much gusto, and they had all replied in singing the praises of his person, his character, and his loyalty. He remained a living riddle, even to those " roues " of Parisian life whom nothing escapes, and who are always " au courant " of all the latest tit-bits of scandal. His latest flame was this Berthc Pompon, who had failed to come off in a Parisian "theatre de genre," and whom he had at once cast aside, as having thenceforward no attraction for him. And yet she was pretty enough, this fair-haired girl with her black eyes, her bold face, her full bosom and elegant figure.

He had made more than one man jealous the day when, having lifted her up from her low estate, he issued forth with her from their mansion in the Avenue d'Eylau, lolling at her side on the cushions of an elegant landau drawn by a pair of greys w T orth at least fifteen thousand francs.

And behold, suddenly, after two years of a connection which was to all appearance without a cloud, all was over between them. Hector had taken up his abode again in his chambers on the ground-floor of a house in the Rue Taitbout, keeping only his phaeton, and leaving to the forsaken fair, diamonds, " objets d'art," horses, carriages, and house !

And yet, for all that, there were plenty of people who maintained that the famous twenty-five thousand francs a year were still intact, and the house at Bordeaux free from mortgages !

There was no understanding it !

In his moments of celibacy the libertine bethought him that he had an uncle and a sister, and went to see them pretty frequently.

It was six o'clock when he arrived.

" Uncle, uncle ' here is Hector!" cried the young girl,

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rushing into Monsieur Beraudy 's study, without even kissing her brother, so anxious was she to impart to the old man the joy with which she herself was fiilcd.

But she awaited him in the doorway, her arms stretched out, her face beaming, ready to avenge herself for the selfimposed delay by devouring him with kisses.

He was always the dearly loved big brother of other days, but grown more imposing; and she saw the likeness dimly now in this brilliant man, so " distingue," so flattered, the most remarkable figure, perhaps, amongst all the fashionable youth. And these same absences, so repeated, so long, did they not give a greater value to the few hours which he devoted to her from time to time 1

Uncle Beraudy shook the hand which his nephew held out to him, but with less warmth than Severine.

" Might one dine ' en famille ' this evening without disturbing one's hosts 1 " said De Moras, smiling.

" He asks it ! " cried the young girl with a reproachful pout, which contrasted with her great eyes all sparkling with pleasure.

" I will go and see even that some delicacy is added to the menu, to feast the return of the prodigal big brother."

And, casting on her uncle a look full of gentle supplication, which said plainly : " Don't scold my brother ! " she rushed off to give her orders in the kitchen.

Alone with Beraudy, De Muras inquired with interest after the old man's health, and, to avoid awkward questions, began all at once to ask about Severine.

" Do you know, uncle, that little sister is getting a big girl, and a pretty one too ] "

" Isn't she 1 " replied Beraudy, whose rather gloomy face became all at once bright. He adored his niece, and it caused him the most lively satisfaction to hear Severine's praises.

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"For five or six years," continued Hector, "her mouth has not grown, nor her nose ; it is only those charming great eyes, which are always getting bigger ; one will begin to ask when they are going to stop growing ! What a coaxing expression they've got, so artlessly malicious ! "

'• She has the mind and heart of an angel, your sister ! "

" I know it well. And perhaps you have not noticed that her figure is developing superbly ; it was no longer a child who opened its arms to me just now, but a woman ! Ah, uncle, before six months are over, she will be one of the prettiest marriageable girls in Paris ! "