"To increase the value of the gift, I confess I did presume to name you as their benefactress. Besides, what have I done more than carry out your promises?"
"I cannot allow of even this pious fraud, and to-morrow they shall learn from me whom they have to thank. I will tell them the extent of their obligations to you."
"Oh, pray do no such thing, or you will spoil all my fine schemes.
Remember that I have a small apartment in the house; that for the sake of much good I hope to effect, I am anxious to preserve a strict _incognito_ there. Recollect, also, that the Morels are now beyond the reach of further distress; and, finally, let me remind you that there are other claimants for your benevolence. And now for the subject of our present intrigue. I want your generous aid and a.s.sistance in behalf of a mother and daughter, who from former affluence are at this moment reduced to the most abject penury, in consequence of having been most villainously despoiled of their just rights."
"Poor things! And where do these unfortunate beings reside, my lord?"
"I do not know."
"Then how did you become acquainted with their misfortunes?"
"Yesterday I was at the Temple,--perhaps, Madame la Marquise, you do not know what sort of place the Temple is?"
"Indeed, my lord, I do not."
"It is a bazaar of the most amusing description. Well, I went there for the purpose of making several purchases in company with a female lodger who occupies an apartment adjoining my own--"
"Indeed! A female neighbour?"
"Yes, my next-door neighbour on the fourth floor. Don"t you recollect I told you I had a chamber in the Rue du Temple?"
"Pardon me, my lord, I had quite forgotten that circ.u.mstance."
"I must tell you that this same neighbour is one of the prettiest little mantua-makers you ever saw. She is called Rigolette, is for ever laughing, and never was in love."
"Upon my word, a most uncommon specimen of her cla.s.s!"
"She even admits that her indifference to the tender pa.s.sion arises less from prudence than because she has not time to think about love or lovers, both of which she says would take up too much of her time; as, working from twelve to fifteen hours daily, it is with difficulty she manages to earn twenty-five sous a day, yet on that trifling sum she lives contentedly."
"Is it possible?"
"Possible! Why, she even launches out into luxuries,--has a couple of birds, who consume as much food as herself, arranges her chamber with the most scrupulous and pretty neatness, while her dress would make a modern belle grow pale with envy."
"And all this effected upon five and twenty sous a day? It is almost difficult to believe it."
"I a.s.sure you my fair neighbour is a pattern of industry, order, economy, and practical philosophy; and as such I beg to recommend her to your notice in her capacity of dressmaker, in which she is reported to have much skill. If you will honour her with your commands, her fortune will be surely made; although there is no occasion for your carrying your beneficence so far as to wear the dresses you permit her to make."
"Oh, I will take care to give her employment immediately. Poor girl!
living honestly and contentedly upon a sum squandered by the rich for the most trifling whim or caprice."
"Well, now then that you have undertaken to interest yourself in my deserving young neighbour, let us proceed to the little adventure I was about to relate to you. I went, as I told you, to the Temple with Mlle.
Rigolette in order to purchase many articles necessary for the comfort of the poor family in the garret, when, accidentally examining the drawers of an old _secretaire_ exposed for sale, I found the fragment of a letter in a female hand, in which the writer bitterly deplored the dest.i.tution to which herself and daughter were exposed in consequence of the villainy of the person in whose hands their money had been placed. I inquired of the mistress of the shop how she became possessed of the piece of furniture in question. She told me it was part of a lot of very common household goods she purchased of a person still young, who had evidently disposed of all her effects from stern necessity, and being without any other means of raising money. Both mother and daughter, continued my informant, seemed much superior to their condition, and each bore their distress with a proud yet calm fort.i.tude."
"And do you not know where these poor ladies can be found, my lord?"
"I do not, unfortunately, at the present moment, but I have given directions to M. de Graun to use every effort to discover them, and, if needs must be, even to apply to the police for a.s.sistance. It is just probable that the unfortunate parent and child, finding themselves stripped of their little stock of furniture, may have sought refuge in some obscure lodging; and if so, there is every chance of discovering their abode, since the keepers of lodging-houses are obliged to write a daily report of every fresh inmate they receive."
"What a singular combination of events!" said Madame d"Harville, much astonished: "Your account is, indeed, a most interesting one."
"You have not heard all yet. In a corner of the fragment of writing found in the old _secretaire_, are these words, "To write to Madame de Lucenay.""
"Oh, how fortunate!" exclaimed Madame d"Harville, with much animation.
"No doubt the d.u.c.h.ess can tell me all about these unfortunate ladies.
But then," added she, thoughtfully, "I do not see, after all, how we shall be able to describe them, as we do not even know their name."
"Nay, it will be easy to inquire whether she is acquainted with a widow still in the prime of life, whose air and manner indicate her being far superior to her present circ.u.mstances, and who has a daughter about sixteen years of age named Claire. I am sure it was Claire the woman told me the younger female was called."
"How very strange! That is my child"s name; and furnishes an additional reason for my interesting myself in their misfortunes."
"I forgot to tell you that the brother of this unhappy widow died by his own hands a very few months ago."
Madame d"Harville was silent for some minutes, as though reflecting deeply; at length she said:
"If Madame de Lucenay be in any way acquainted with this unfortunate family, these particulars will be quite sufficient to identify them; besides which the lamentable end of the brother must have fixed every circ.u.mstance connected with them more strongly in her memory. How impatient I feel to question the d.u.c.h.ess on the subject! I will write her a note this very evening, begging of her not to go out to-morrow till I have seen her. Who can these interesting people be? From your account, my lord, I should say they certainly belong to the higher cla.s.s of society, and must, therefore, feel their present distress so much the more keenly. Alas, to such as they the falling into such utter dest.i.tution must inflict a deeper, keener sting!"
"And all their sufferings have arisen from the knavery of an unprincipled scoundrel,--a notary, named Jacques Ferrand. But I am in possession of other acts of villainy on his part equally black with this."
"That is the name of the person acting as the legal adviser both of my husband and mother-in-law," exclaimed Clemence; "and, indeed, my lord, I think you must be mistaken in your opinion of him, for he is universally regarded as a person of the strictest honour and probity."
"I a.s.sure you I have the most irrefragable proofs of what I a.s.sert.
Meanwhile let me beg of you to be perfectly silent as to the character I a.s.sign this man, who is as subtle as unprincipled; and the better to unmask his nefarious practices, it is necessary he should be allowed to think himself secure from all danger; a few days will enable me to perfect my schemes for bringing him to a severe reckoning. He it was who brought such unmerited affliction upon the interesting females I have been telling you of, by defrauding them of a large sum, which, it appears, was consigned to his care by the brother of the unfortunate widow."
"And this money?"
"Was their sole dependence."
"This is, indeed, a crime of the most heinous description!"
""Tis, indeed, of blackest die," exclaimed Rodolph, "having nothing to extenuate it, and originating neither in pa.s.sion nor necessity. The pangs of hunger will often instigate a man to commit a theft, the thirst for revenge lead on to murder; but this legal hypocrite is pa.s.sing rich, and invested, by common consent, with a character of almost priestly sanct.i.ty, while his countenance and manners are moulded with such studious art as to inspire and command universal confidence. The a.s.sa.s.sin kills you at a blow,--this villain tortures, prolongs your sufferings, and leaves you, after the death-blow has been inflicted, to sink under the gnawing agonies of want, misery, and despair. Nothing is safe from the cupidity of such a man as Ferrand: the inheritance of the orphan, the hard-earned savings of the laborious poor,--all excite alike his unprincipled avarice; and that which in other men arises out of the impulse of the moment is with this wretch the result of a cold and unrelenting calculation. You entrust him with your wealth,--to see it is to covet it, and with him to desire is to possess himself, without the smallest scruple. Totally unheeding your future wretchedness, the grasping deceiver deprives you of your property, and without a pang consigns you to beggary and dest.i.tution. Suppose that, by a long course of labour and privations, you have contrived to ama.s.s a provision against the wants and infirmities of old age; well, no sooner is this cold-blooded hypocrite made the depositary of your little treasure, than he unhesitatingly appropriates it, leaving you to drag on a miserable existence, without a morsel of bread but such as the hand of charity doles out to you. Nor is this all. Let us consider the fearful consequences of these infamous acts of spoliation. Take the case of the widow of whom we were speaking just now,--imagine her dying of grief and a crushed spirit, the results of her heavy afflictions; she leaves a young and helpless girl to struggle alone in the world,--a weak and delicate being, whose very loveliness increases her dangers and difficulties. Without friends or support, unaccustomed to the rough realities of life, the poor orphan has but to choose between starvation and dishonour. In an evil hour she falls, and becomes a lost, degraded creature. And thus Jacques Ferrand, by his dishonest appropriation of the things committed to his charge, occasions not only the death of the mother, but the dishonour of the child; he destroys the body of the one and the soul of the other,--and again, I say, not with the merciful despatch of the a.s.sa.s.sin"s dagger, but by the slow tortures of lingering cruelty!"
Clemence listened in profound silence, not unmixed with surprise, at hearing Rodolph express himself with so much indignation and bitterness.
Accustomed only to witness the most urbane suavity in the tone and manner of her guest, she felt more than ordinarily struck by his vehement and excited language; which, however, seemed to show his intense abhorrence of all crooked and nefarious dealings.
"I must entreat your pardon, madame," said the prince, after a pause, "for having permitted myself to use so much warmth in the presence of a lady; but, in truth, I could not restrain my indignation when I reflected on all the horrible dangers which may overwhelm your future protegees. But, be a.s.sured, it is quite impossible to exaggerate those fearful consequences brought about by ruin and misery."
"Indeed! Indeed, my lord, you rather merit my thanks, for having so powerfully and energetically augmented, if possible, the tender pity I feel for this unfortunate parent, whose heart is, doubtless, wrung with anguish rather for her young and innocent daughter than for herself. It is, in truth, a fearful situation. But we shall soon be enabled to relieve her mind, and rescue her from her present misery, shall we not, my lord? Oh, yes, I feel a.s.sured we shall,--and henceforward their happiness shall be my care. I am rich,--though not so much so as I could wish, now that I perceive how worthily wealth may be employed; but should there be occasion for further aid than I am enabled to afford, I will apply to M. d"Harville in their behalf. I will render him so happy, that he shall find it impossible to refuse any of my new caprices, and I foresee that I shall have plenty of them. You told me, did you not, my lord, that our protegees are proud? So much the better. I am better pleased to find them so; for pride under unmerited misfortune always betokens a great and elevated mind. But I shall be able to overreach them, for I will so contrive that they shall be relieved from their present misery without ever guessing to what channel they owe their deliverance from misery. You think I shall find it difficult to deceive them? So much the better. Oh, I have my own plans of action, I can a.s.sure you, my lord; and you will see that I shall be deficient neither in cunning nor address."
"I fully antic.i.p.ate the most Machiavelian system of ruse and deep combination," said Rodolph, smiling.
"But we must, first of all, discover where they are. Oh, how I wish to-morrow were come! When I leave Madame de Lucenay, I shall go directly to their old residence, make inquiries of their late neighbours, collect all the information I can, and form my own conclusions from all I see and hear. I should feel so proud and delighted to work out all the good I intend to these poor ladies, without being a.s.sisted by any person; and I shall accomplish it,--I feel sure I shall. This adventure affects me greatly. Poor things! I seem even to feel a livelier interest in their misfortunes when I think of my own child."
Deeply touched at this charitable warmth, Rodolph smiled with sincere commiseration at seeing a young creature of scarcely twenty years of age, seeking to lose, amid occupations so pure and n.o.ble, the sense of the severe domestic afflictions which bore so heavily upon her. The eyes of Clemence sparkled with enthusiasm, a delicate carnation tinged her pale cheek, while the animation of her words and gestures imparted additional beauty to her lovely countenance.
The close and silent scrutiny of Rodolph did not escape the notice of Madame d"Harville. She blushed, looked down for a few minutes, then, raising her eyes in sweet confusion, said:
"I see, my lord, you are amused at my girlish eagerness. But, in truth, I am impatient to taste those sources of delight which are about to gild an existence hitherto so replete with grief and sadness, and, unfortunately, so useless to every one. Alas, this was not the life my early dreams had pictured to me,--the one great pa.s.sion of life I must for ever renounce! Though young, I must live, and act, and think, as though scores of years had pa.s.sed over my head. Alas, alas!" continued Clemence, with a sigh, "to me is denied the dear domestic joys my heart could so fondly have prized." After a minute"s pause she resumed: "But why should I dwell on such vain and fruitless regrets? Thanks to you, my lord, charity will replace the void left in my heart by disappointed affection. Already have I owed to your counsels the enjoyment of the most touching emotions. Your words, my lord, affect me deeply, and exercise unbounded influence over me. The more I meditate on what you have advanced, the more I search into its real depth and value, the more I am struck by its vast power and truth, the more just and valuable does it appear to me. Then, when I reflect that, not satisfied with sympathising with sufferings of which you can form no idea from actual experience, you aid me with the most salutary counsels, and guide me, step by step, in the new and delightful path of virtue and goodness pointed out by you to relieve a weary and worn-out heart, oh, my lord, what treasure of all that is good must your mind contain! From what source have you drawn so large a supply of tender pity for the woes of all?"
"Nay, the secret of my sincere commiseration with the woes of others consists in my having deeply suffered myself,--nay, in still sighing over heavy sorrows none can alleviate or cure."