A child of Israel. A novel

Front matter

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Contents

Chapter Page

I. THE WINNER OF THE PRIZE OF ROME ... 21

II. THE CHATEAU DE BOVILLIERS 24

Chapter I. The Winner Of The Prize Of Rome

TO Colonel Morseux of the 3 d Artillery . Grenoble .

Trouville, August 2 6th, 187-.

So your promotion has come at last, my dear Nephtali. The Gazette has just reached us, and behold, you are a Colonel. How proud we are of Frenchmen !

Your wife is dancing about the room for joy; and your two babies who understand nothing at all about it, and who fear she has gone mad, gaze at their uncle in speechless bewilderment from the corner of the sofa, as if asking whether they should laugh or cry.

Whereupon, my too excitable sister bursts into a fit of sobbing which sets all four of us to embracing each other like so many fools, while we mingle our tears together. You can certainly boast, Monsieur Colonel, of having received from my hand, the most affectionate

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wife in the universe. Do not neglect to thank me at the first opportunity.

But I scarcely know when that will be ; for even if you come with the greatest possible despatch, you will not find me under your roof ; a fact which grieves our good Magdalene not a little. But what can you expect, O magnanimous warrior? The pension I receive as the winner of the prize of Rome expires this year, and Trouville is not the place to amass the fortune to which my position of laureate entitles me.

To speak seriously, I am expected at the chateau of a rich connoisseur in Picardy, who has a commission of about thirty thousand francs for me, ceilings, walls, and perhaps a portrait besides. I am to be there on the first of September, and as I must first spend a few days in Paris, you see it will be impossible for me to remain with Magadalene and the children until your return.

It breaks my heart, as you may readily suppose, to think that I shall not have an opportunity to press your hand and thank you for the happiness you have conferred upon my little sister. It would be so delightful to spend a whole month more with you. I have enjoyed myself infinitely here. This crowd of idlers amuses me exceedingly. The airs of the fine ladies who frequent the promenade ; the amusing conceit of the bald-headed gentlemen ; the interminable waltzes at the Casino ; the races at Deauville, and the frantic flirtations that are carried on under the very eyes of the grandmammas, all this rests my mind ; but the

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terrible necessity of wearing patent leather shoes and kid gloves drives me away. One must respect one’s self and uphold the dignity of labor. So away !

I have exhausted all the excuses for remaining that I can think of, my good Nephtali, and can not help ridiculing myself when I try to invent others ; so with drooping head, I shall take the train to-morrow, immediately after breakfast, and when you receive this letter, I shall be rushing along at the rate of forty miles an hour, towards my studio. So farewell.

Do not tarry long. Society here is a little mixed, and Magdalene does not think she ought to go out much alone. Not that she wants for chaperones; besides, her two babies are an all-sufficient safeguard : but she has all our old prejudices, and prefers to remain at home if, in default of a brother’s arm, she can not lean upon that of her husband. So make haste, if you do not wish her to immure herself within the walls of your villa.

******_

After September 1st, address my letters,

Care Baron Vaconsin de Bovilliers :

Chateau de Bovilliers ,

Bovilliers , Via Mesnil-St.-Firmin ( Oise'),

With sincere regards,

Your affectionate scapegrace of a brother-in-law,

Pierre Wavre.

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Chapter II

THE CHATEAU DE BOVILLIERS. t HE train that bore Pierre to the chateau de Bovil-

X tiers the following Sunday, was three hours behind time. A short distance from Creil, part of the engine broke, and two cars were thrown from the track. Women uttered piercing shrieks ; men swore like pirates ; the employes hustled one another about, and there was a great rumpus, at the end of which, it was ascertained that no one had received a scratch.

On stepping out upon the platform at Breteuil, Pierre saw a tall footman who, after approaching and addressing him by name in a questioning manner, relieved him of his valise and conducted him to a victoria which was drawn up at the entrance to the station.

The vehicle was perfect in style and in appointments, and the horse, a superb blooded animal, was champing its bit and foaming with impatience, while the coachman had all he could do to restrain it. This English coachman was an equally superb specimen in his way ; he sat as rigidly erect as the letter I, with his whip planted on his thigh, and with his lower jaw so firmly encased in a tall, stiff linen collar, that he could not have turned his head for all the gold of Peru.

Pierre once comfortably seated, the footman sprang

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upon the box, the coachman uttered a brief command in English, and the animal started off on a swinging trot.

The chateau de Bovilliers is six good miles from Breteuil, and the country through which one must pass to reach it, is not so picturesque in its character as to shorten the distance. One sees only plains and fields, with an occasional bit of woods, and everywhere a profusion of stunted apple trees so loaded with fruit that the branches almost touch the ground.

The day was drawing to a close ; all the birds were silent save the larks, who occasionally dropped a clear note from the glowing clouds dyed a brilliant crimson by the setting sun, though from time to time the sharp report of some persevering sportsman’s rifle startled the horse, which was quickly reduced to subjection by an imperious word from the coachman. The dim light, the restful silence and the monotony of the landscape, all inclined the young man to reflection.

Once more he fancied himself a boy in the smoky shop of his now deceased father, a worthy Hollander who had entered France years before with his pack upon his back, carrying the linen and embroideries of his native land from door to door. In imagination, Pierre saw the good man admitted at most only to the servant’s hall* of the chateau which his son was about to enter as an equal. When he thought of this, a sort of timidity seized him. High as was the estimate which he had justly formed of his artistio

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talent, and brilliant as were bis future prospects, he was nevertheless a little surprised at the respect and consideration these people of rank accorded him, for he felt himself to be a very insignificant person in comparison with these strangers whom he regarded as individuals of a superior order — the cream of society.

Just at nightfall the carriage passed through a massive gateway; the wheels creaked noisily on the fine gravel, and through the shrubbery Pierre caught occasional glimpses of light from a doorway before which the horse soon stopped.

Thanks to the flambeaus held by two powdered lackeys, the young man could see advancing towards him, bareheaded and smoking a cigar, a tall gentleman, very distinguished in appearance, with a frank, open face : the master of the house.

“So you have come at last, my dear sir,” he exclaimed, descending a few steps, with outstretched hands and smiling lips. “ What befell you on the way ? ”

Pierre briefly informed him of the accident near Creil.

“ The ladies were beginning to be anxious,” remarked his host.

Then taking him by the arm, he added :

“ Come, allow me to present you to them, after which I will keep you company at dinner. You must be nearly famished.”

The drawing room which Pierre entered on the arm

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of his host had four large windows overlooking a park, the vast extent of which was evident even in the twilight. Six large candelabra filled with candles only dimly lighted this apartment, so great was its size, but at one end of.it, a bay window hung with heavy curtains formed a sort of boudoir, adorned with hot-house plants, whose luxuriant green foliage was clearly visible in the brilliant light that illuminated this cosy nook. Here, four persons, two ladies and two priests, were seated.

The elder of the ladies was short and very stout, with an immense bust, though she was so tightly laced that there seemed to be imminent danger of her breaking in two. She was still quite youthful and attractive in appearance, dressed with great care, and was as neat and shining as a new penny: Madame la Baronne Vaconsin de Bovilliers ; nee Antoinette de Belencour.

The other, aged about twenty, a brunette, with clear honest eyes, and radiant with all the beauty and grace of girlhood, was Mademoiselle Louise Yaconsin de Bovilliers.

Between the two abbds there was a singular contrast.

The one whose cassock was ornamented with a broad, distinguS and almost coquettish band of violet, had a superb head. A mass of white hair contrasted so effectively with his dark brown eyes that one felt rather inclined to suspect that he had pulled out the black ones. He had a finely cut nose, of irreproachable contour, whose mobile nostrils quivered with the

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slightest emotion ; scarlet lips that displayed firm white teeth like those of a pretty female gourmand, in a smile so sweet, artless and winning that any Englishwoman would have been tempted to become a convert merely for the pleasure of confessing her peccadilloes to this good father. A canon of graceful form, and without a darn in his clothing, but not a shade more haughty on that account, he was also a crafty itian who had taken hold of his profession by the right end. He was a missionary, a sort of home missionary and travelling preacher, who published his sermons in book form, — his sermons and other writings, which yielded him a handsome living while waiting for the Nunciature to make him a bishop, but at present simply Abbe Remondat, a pure blooded Auvergnat.

His confrere, the exact opposite of him in every respect, a tall, sallow, angular and ungainly man, with hair as black as a raven’s wing, and clad in a threadbare cassock, was the officiating priest at Bovilliers. He was the son of the village schoolmaster who, having no other child, had sent him to the seminary in order to keep him out of the army: and to look at him, one would have judged that the poor wretch had a grudge against the entire human race.

This was a great mistake, however. M. Lahoulotte, for that was the curate’s name, felt animosity only towards himself, never having forgiven himself for his folly in taking orders ; but he reserved his charity for his neighbor, promising heaven to all who sought it,

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for his was a nature which could no more admit the existence of a hell than the infallibility of our Holy Father the Pope, whom he called Pius IX., Leon X., or Alexander VI.

He was a resigned sufferer, who iii spite of the example of the blessed Saint Laurent, did not even turn upon his gridiron. “ Where the goat is tethered, there must it browse,” lie said to himself; and he did browse upon whatever came in his way, neglecting not even the most trivial duty.

On Philip’s entrance, he was the only person to rise, not through obsequiousness to the master of a house where he had dined luxuriously, but from a natural courtesy. Besides, the young man’s appearance impressed him favorably at the first glance.

There is no doubt whatever that Pierre possessed the gift of inspiring sympathy. A trifle above medium height he was, as artists say, “ in proportion and it is a universal law that all animals and men who are “in proportion,” or to use a common expression, well built, are graceful in attitude and in movement.

His brow bore the seal of genius; his eyes were unusually large, and the long lashes which shaded them imparted to them the velvety softness that characterizes those of the natives of India ; his silky hair waved naturally, and the clear, olive tint of his complexion contrasted strikingly with his soft, curlingblack beard. A handsome fellow, but not of the type that makes one question the existence of any intellec-

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tual faculties; on the contrary, his was a face that beamed with animation, wit and intelligence.

The Baroness extended her hand in response to his bow.

“ You must make yourself quite at home, sir,” she said graciously. u Dine first, and then rest ; we will make each other’s acquaintance, to-morrow.”

Louise favored him with her sweetest smile, and the canon gayly rallied him on the fear he must have felt on seeing the cars jostle each other.

As for Abbe Lahoulotte, after exchanging salutations with the new comer, he inquired if the smoke of a cigar would mar the pleasure of his repast ; and the young man having assured him to the contrary, he followed him and the baron into the dining room, where Pierre found his dinner awaiting him.

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Chapter III. “what Charming People!”

•HE son of an army contractor under the First

1 Empire, who had been ennobled by the founder of the dynasty as a reward for not having stolen as much as many others, Pierre’s host was certainly a baron, and even more incontestably a Vaconsin, but not in the least a Bovilliers.

Having become the owner of the chateau in the village of that name, — thanks to his wife’s dowry, — he had begun by signing himself Baron Vaconsin (of Bovilliers), then he omitted the parenthesis, and now signed himself : “ Baron V. de Bovilliers.”

Not that he attached any importance to it ; but the baroness had begged him to do so, and he could scarcely refuse her a pleasure that cost him so little effort. After all, had she not bestowed upon him the only thing he cared for in the world, the opulence to which he felt he was justly entitled, and whose charm he appreciated all the more from the fact that he had been deprived of it early in life, first through his father’s dissipation, and afterwards by his own extravagance.

It certainly did not follow, because he cheated the government less than some of his brother contractors, that the first Baron Vaconsin should have come off

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empty-handed; but the return of the Bourbons grieved him so profoundly, that for fear of falling into a state of melancholy, the worthy man plunged into excesses which made a very sensible diminution in the savings with which his son had supposed he would be able to alleviate his grief for the loss of his father. Nevertheless, having been reared in the same school, when he came into possession of such property as his parent had not been able to squander, the young baron continued to live so well, that one morning his lawyer informed him that he had received the last penny of his inheritance.

Any other person would have experienced some anxiety, but he was too much of a philosopher. From the very first, he gave up all idea of earning his living in any way whatsoever. His was too haughty a soul to stoop to such degradation ; besides, he was assured by his friends that he possessed certain personal attractions which, together with his title of Baron, could not fail to relieve him of his embarrassment by means of a wealthy marriage.

It was not very difficult for him to believe this, for he was really an attractive person in every sense of the word, tall, handsome, a superb rider, an indefatigable sportsman, a skillful leader of the German and the possessor of incomparable genius as an inventor of pleasure parties.

What more could one desire? How could a man

thus fortunately endowed find any difficulty in extrieating himself from financial trouble through some one of the many heiresses who are, as every one knows, created for the express purpose of replenishing the purses of noblemen who have squandered their patrimony.

Still, it was not a favorable opportunity for operations of that sort. The advocates of electoral reform were harassing good M. Guizot so badly, that not knowing what was about to happen, wealthy families hesitated to dower their daughters. The Revolution of ’48 put a stop to this entirely, and for some time after the Coup d’Etat, fathers dowered only such daughters as threatened to remain on their hands indefinitely, unless they untied their purse strings. But after the establishment of the Second Empire some of his father’s old friends reappeared as if by enchantment, people of importance now, rolling along in their carriages, keeping open house, and making hay while the sun shone, particularly at the Bourse, and favorably disposed towards every body and every thing in any way connected with the First Empire.

Consequently, the son of the former contractor had only to show himself, to become a prominent member of the band. His name was enough.

Still, none of the positions offered him were satisfactory.

“Why should you marvel at it?” he would reply. “I am not in a position to make a suitable appearance at Court, or to represent the imperial government 2

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properly. Ah ! if I had only married earlier. It is too late now, you see, to think of that.”

His friends sneered at these objections, and as many of the old nobility, weary of sulking unnoticed, were beginning to make overtures to the new dynast}', the daughter of a Marquis de Belencour who coveted a seat in the Senate was regarded as a very suitable bride for the gentleman. The father welcomed the suggestion with marked enthusiasm ; but the daughter protested loudly. “ A paltry baron of the Empire for her? A Belencour wed a Vaeonsin? Impossible!”

But her father, the Marquis, wishing to be a senator at any price, forced her to swallow the pill in spite of her mortification.

But she at least had her revenge. Realizing that her husband was essentially a pleasure seeker, she attempted to dissuade him from employing their fortune in giving prestige to the government. She was pretty ; she still had for him the charm of novelty, and her triumph was the more complete from the fact that the baron, though fond of authority, felt no desire to be hampered with restraints which must, it seemed to him, be extremely tiresome and unpleasant to such persons as were obliged to submit to them by reason of official position.

As a natural consequence, his noble protectors ceased to interest themselves in him, which led to the ruin of his renegade father’s ambition ; and that nobleman felt such an intense chagrin at having

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betrayed his party and forsaken his principles for nothing, that he pined and died, to the secret delight of his son-in-law, who was happy to pocket the whole of his dupe’s property.

Still, we must do the baron the justice to say, that without assuming the administrative harness, or the robes of a dignitary, he tripled their fortune within the brief space of two years. A handsome man, and a most agreeable companion, he ingratiated himself into the favor and intimate friendship of the magnates of the epoch. Morny never went into an enterprise without reserving a goodly slice for his friend ; Haussman never planned an improvement without he succeeded (how, we shall never know) in informing the baron that such or such a piece of property would soon be doubled in value.

He was such a handsome fellow ! Copying one who at that time passed for the most accomplished of gentlemen, and the flower of chivalry and fashion, there was something in his careless freedom of speech, and in the disdainful carelessness of his manner that betrayed the cynical indifference of a man whose battle has been fought and won. The result of all this was to win him considerable reputation as a wit. He felt so secure from any possible misfortune that he did not hesitate to ridicule the trials and perplexities of others : and certain newspapers chronicled his sayings with unwearied devotion.

On the contrary, certain pamphlets published, in

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spite of the police, handled him very roughly, and exhibited the successful adventurer in his true colors. But he turned a deaf ear to all this, pretending to ignore the attacks of these miscreants.

Ignore them ! how could he ? His wife did not neglect a single opportunity to place them directly under his nose, manifesting an indignation which she did not experience in the least, for on the contrary, she was very glad to wound this plebeian who had been forced upon her acceptance — this Vaconsin ennobled only yesterday by the Duke of Enghien’s assassin.

Mile. Antoinette de B&lencour still hated her husband with a deadly hatred, and though she worshipped her children — she had not been able to avoid bringing two into the world — she detested their father all the more because he was their father. In fact, had it not been for her religious principles and the strict ultramontane education she had received, she would have infinitely preferred that her son and daughter had derived their being from a different source ; and though fitted by nature for a peaceful domestic life, there was nothing annoying and painful that she did not wish her lord and master, for whom she continued to feel the greatest contempt in spite of the softening influences of time and maternity. On account of the ties that bound him to the prominent persons of the Second Empire, she openly rejoiced at its fall on the Fourth of September, though her companion in life paid no attention whatever to her exultation.

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For what difference did the downfall of the Empire make to him, now? He had obtained all he desired: so if his wife thought to goad him to desperation by her expressions of delight, she was greatly mistaken.

Never since the creation of the world did a man and woman who had sworn to mutually love and honor each other, hate each other to such an extent. But the real state of affairs was apparent to no one. Even their children did not suspect it, and though the Baroness went to confession regularly every fortnight, and though she consulted Abbd R&nondat by letter or verbally when he was near at hand, upon the most trivial questions of duty, her feelings in regard to the Baron remained a sealed letter, a secret between herself and her compassionate God.

There is no doubt that Vaconsin himself suspected her feelings : but as his education forbade alike any scandal and any abusive words, and as he had his own way in all important matters, he paid but little attention to his wife’s systematic hostility.

He allowed her, however, the greatest freedom in all matters that concerned herself and the government of her household. There had been a little trouble at first in regard to the children ; but that was of slight duration; the children yielding as easily to the influence of the father as to that of the mother.

The son entered Saint-Cyr, from which he emerged a second lieutenant in a regiment of Chasseurs. As

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bitterly opposed to the Bonapartism of the father as to the legitimist opinions of the mother, his sympathies were with the men who had at least succeeded in saving the national honor in the explosion.

As for Louise, her independence of character was an acknowledged fact. When she was only sixteen, her confessor having said a word too much, she announced her intention of working out her own salvation. The baron openly exulted ; the baroness was greatly scandalized ; and the brother talked of breaking the head of the man who had ventured to offend his sister ; but the young girl calmed her brother, embraced Madame Antoinette, nSe de BMencour, and begging her father not to persist, she held to her resolution though she sedulously avoided any further discussion on the subject. We repeat, a character.

All this, which it is necessary to know in order to understand this story, our friend Pierre did not even suspect. Besides, he was one of those persons who go straight onward, believing what people tell them and making no effort to see the other side of the picture. Moreover, why should this particularly interest him ? Brought here by one definite object, what did the temperament of his hosts matter to him. He yas to regard them as customers, nothing more. If they treated him with courtesy that was all he had a right to ask.

He had reason to be more than satisfied in this respect. On the very first evening, while keeping him company at the table, the baron chatted with a freedom

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and familiarity that the artist thought a little premature, especially as his host’s very condescension gave the new-comer an impression of haughtiness ; but on his return to the drawing room, the baroness, her daughter and Abbe Rdmondat all treated him with such exquisite tact, that Pierre, entirely reassured, on . retiring to his room, mentally exclaimed:

“ What charming people I ”

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Chapter IV. A Telltale Letter

T

O Madame Morseux ,

Villa Belle-Air , Trouville,

My Dearest Sister :

It is three days since I reached the Chateau de Bovilliers, and as school boys say to their good parents, “ I now take my pen in hand in the hope that this will find you the same.” They seldom specify how, but the heart supplies the omission, divining the real meaning.

This is a genuine chateau, my dear sister, that is to say, it realizes my conception of one, and of a delightful residence. There is no “ North Tower,” with recently fabricated ruins of dungeons, no guard-room, nor fosses, nor machicolations, nothing gloomy or frightful to poor wretches of my rank, Pariahs, released from slavery only yesterday.

Imagine Malmaison in the midst of a park which, were it not for the absolute absence of any water course, might easily be mistaken for the favorite retreat of the Empress Josephine.

But how differently the mansion is furnished ! There is nothing in the ponderous style of the Empire ; everything is elegant, harmonious, and comfortable to the last degree ! Wealth is a good thing after all I

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I was received with a cordiality that made me feel perfectly at ease from the very first. The Baron alone made me a little uncomfortable with his unceremonious manner ; I had nor reached the hors d' oeuvres at dinner before he called me: “My dear fellow.” It seemed to me this was going a little too fast, and I felt tempted to tap him on the waistcoat and retort by calling him : “ Old gentleman.”

But noticing that he applies the same title to the two abb£s who are staying here, I have ceased to feel sensitive on that score, and have come to the conclusion that it is merely a habit he contracted while frequenting the society of the magnates connected with the former Court, particularly that of Morny, whom he must have taken for a model and copied servilely in former years. Like the ex-President of the Chamber, he drawls, winks with a knowing air, as if to give people to understand that he says much less than he means, and affects the condescending affability of a grand seigneur , in spite of which the ass’s ear, or rather the parvenu peeps forth from under the lion’s skin. He is a man who has made himself comme il faut; blood is wanting. The effort betrays itself much oftener than lie supposes.

With his wife, it is very different. She was born a lady, and she possesses the instinctive composure and the unaffected affability of a great lady. Heavens I how pretty she must have been. The very type of a court favorite. She has all the characteristics — the

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seductive grace, and that inclination to piety which, in the good old times when we ranked a little lower than spaniels — would have circumscribed her destiny between a palace and a Carmelite's cell.

On the day following my arrival, they explained the work that was expected of me. It is well worth the trouble of coming ; there is a chance to distinguish one’s self. Another task which interests me quite as much, is the portrait of the daughter of the house, which I am to begin at once, as the architect is not yet ready for me.

She is a young lady about twenty years of age, with remarkable eyes and an expression which it will be very difficult to catch, and even more difficult to fix upon canvas, so original is its character, so wonderful the play of expression. I am enchanted, and at the same time, a little intimidated b}^ my task. Not that I am inclined to doubt my skill, but under the conditions upon which I am to engage in the work, I must succeed at once. Consequently I am a trifle anxious.