THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.
53
stowing, such things can be kept in a space of four foot
equare. A purchaser presents himself, this miliinery
ware is relieved from this high pressure ; the shop-
keeper gives, in a careless manner, a little blow with
her hand in the crown, to raise it, smoothes the fore-
part on his knee, and you have under your eyes a fan
tastical bygone object, which recalls confusedly to
your mind those fabulous head-dresses, particularly
belonging to box-openers at the theatre, to the aunts
of figurantes, or the duennas of a provincial theatre.
' Still farther on, at ihe sign of the Fashion of the Day,
under the arcades of the rotunda raised at tlie end of
the large passage which divides the Temple in two
parts, are hung up like ex-voto offerings myriads of
clothes, of colors, forms, and shapes the most extraor-
dinary, still more so than the women's old hats.
Thus one sees frocks of gridelin, most beautifully set
off with three rows of brass buttons, a la hussarde,"
and most warmly ornamented with a little fur collar of
foxskin.
Frock coats, primitively bottle green, which time
had rendered pea-green, bound with black cord, and
made almost like new by a lining of blue and yellow
plaid, of the most ludicrous appearance.
Coats, formerly called swallow-tailed, of a mushroom
œplor, with rich collars of plush, ornamented with but-
tons once plated with silver, but now a red copycrish
tint. There was also to be seen maroon polonaises,
with collars of cat's skin, trimmed with frogs and loops
of black fretted cotton; close at hand were robes de
chambre artistically made of old " carriks," lined in-
side with pieces of calico; the best of them are blue or
dingv green, ornamented with variegated cottons, em-
v.^r,ïr)«i-Afl with "fil nassee." and lined with a. red stuff
broidered with " fil passée," and lined with a red stuff
figured with orange flowers, facings and collars the
¦same; a " cordelière," made of old bell cord of twisted
wool, serves as a girdle to these elegant dishabilles, in
the which Robert Maeaire might have flourished with
the most lofty good fortune. We will speak only from
memory of a mass of costumes of Frontiu, more or
less equivocal, more or less barbarous, among which
one could find now and then some authentic royal or
princely liveries, that revolutions of all kinds have
dragged from the palace to the gloomy arches of the
rotunda of the Temple.
This exhibition of old shoes, old hats, and old clothes
is the comical part of this bazar; it is the district of the
things of little value disguised and displayed with
much pretension; but we must acknowledge, or rather
proclaim, that this vast establishment is of great utility
for the poorer classes. There they buy, at two or three
hundred per cent, discount, excellent things, almost
new, of which the depreciation is almost imaginary.
One of the sides of the Temple, destined for bedclothes,
was filled with piles of coverings, sheets, mattresses,
and pillows. Farther on were carpets, curtains, house-
hold utensils of all sorts; besides clothing, shoes, caps,
for all conditions, for all ages. These articles, gener-
ally of extreme neatness, presented nothing repugnant
to the senses. One could not believe, before visiting
this bazar, how little time and money were necessary
to fill a cart with all that is necessary for the complete
establishment of two or three families in want of every-
thing.
Rodolphe was struck with the manner, at once press-
ing, officious and cheerful, with which the shopkeepers,
standing outside their shops, solicited the custom of
the passers-by ; these manners, stamped with a kind of
respectful familiarity, seemed to belong to another
age.
Hardly had he appeared in the grand passage, than
he was pursued with the most seductive offers.
"Monsieur, come in here and see my mattress—as
good as new; I will rip open the corners, and you shall
see inside ; you'll think it is lambs' wool, it's so soft and
white!" " My pretty little lady, I have sheets of the
finest linen, better than new, for their first roughness
is worn off; they are as pliable as a glove, strong as a
Warp of steel."
H" My nice couple, do buy one of these coverings;
do you see. it is soft, warm, and light; one would say it
was made of down ; it is nearly new for it has not been
used twenty times; come, my good lady, make your
husband decide—give me your custom, I will fix you
off very cheap; you shall be satisfied; you wiil come
back to see ' la Mere Bouvard ;' you will find everything
in my shop; yesterday, I had a superb chance; you
shall see it; 'allons,' come in, then! I ask nothing to
show my things."
"Ma foi, my neighbor,"said Rodolphe to Rigolette,
" this'good old soul shall have the preference; she takes
us for a young married couple; that flatters me—I
decide for her shop."
" Agreed for the good old soul!" said Rigolette. "I
fancy her also." The grisette and her companion
entered the shop of " la Mere Bouvard."
Through a magnanimity perhaps without example
elsewhere than in the Temple, the rivals of "la Mere
Bouvard " did not grumble at the preference shown to
her; one of her neighbors carried her generosity so far
as to say, " As long as it is' the ' Mere Bouvard ' who
has this windfall, good, she has a family, and is'la
doyenne ' and honor of the Temple."
" Look here, my pretty little lady," said she to Rigo-
lette who examined several things with the eye of a
" connoisseur," " here is what I spoke of; two sets of
bed-elothes complete, as good as new. If by chance
you should want a little old secretary, not dear, here is
one ; I got it in the same lot. Although ordinarily I do
not buy furniture, I could not refuse to take it ; the
person's from whom I got all these things seemed so un-
happy! Poor lady! It was, above all, the sale of this
antiquity whieh seemed to make her heart bleed. It ap-
pears it was an old family relic."
At these words, and while the old woman talked with
"While  Rigolette was finishing her purchases, Ro-
dolphe  examined closely his discovery.   Among the 1
scratches which covered the paper Rodolphe read what j
was evidently part of an unfinished letter.
"Monsieur—Be persuaded that most fearful misfor-
tunes could alone induce me to take this step. It is
not pride misplaced which causes my scruples; it is the
absolute want of any claim for the oldest shopkeeper,
the longest established, for the services I dare to ask
you. The sight of my daughter, reduced like myself to
the most fearful want, overcomes my embarrassment.
A few words will suffice to inform you of the cause of
the disasters which overwhelm me.
"After the death of my husband, I had for my for-
tune three hundred thousand francs placed by my
brother with M. Jacques Ferrand. a notary. I received
at Angers, where I had retired with my daughter, the
interest of this sum, through the hands of my brother.
You know,*M., the frightful event which put an end to
his days; ruined, as it appears, by secret and unfor-
tunate speculations, he killed himself eight inonths
since. At the time of this fatal event, I received from
him some desperate lines. When I should read them,
he wrote, that he should exist no longer. He termina-
ted this letter in informing me that he possessed no
title relative to the sum placed in my name with M.
Jacques Ferrand ; that he never gave a receipt, for he
was honor, piaty itself; it would suffice for me to pre-
sent myself to him for this affair to be suitably regu-
lated.
"As soon as it was possible for me to think of any-
thing else than the frightful death of my brother, I
came to Paris, where I knew no one but you, Monsieur
and that indirectly by the relations which you had had
with my husband. Î have told you, that the sum de-
posited with M. Jacques Ferrand formed all my fortune,
and my brother sent me every six months the interest
of this money ; more than a year had passed since the
last payment. I presented myself to M. Jacques Fer-
rand to demand a revenue, of which I had the greatest
need.
" Hardly had I named myself, than, without respect
for my grief, he accused my brother of having bor-
rowed from him two thousand francs which he lost by
his death; adding, that his suicide was not only a crime
before God and before man, but it was also an act of
spoliation of which he, M. Jacques Ferrand, %vas a vic-
tim.
"This odious language aroused me; the probity of
iny brother was well known; he had, it is true, un-
known to me and his friends, lost his fortune in haz-
ardous speculations; but he was dead with a reputa-
tion intact, regretted by all, and leaving no debt save
that of the notary.
"I answered M. Ferrand that I authorized him to
take at once, from the money of mine which he had in
charge, the two thousand francs which my brother
owed him. At these words he regarded me with an
air of surprise, and asked me what money I was talk-
ing about.
" 'Of that which my brother placed with you eigh-
teen months since, Monsieur, of which until now you
have paid ine the interest through him,' said I, not un-
derstanding his question.
"The notary shrugged his shoulders, smiled with
pity, and answered that, far from having placed any
money with him, my brother had borrowed from him
two thousand francs. It is impossible to express to
you my alarm at this answer. ' But what has become
of this'sum?'cried I. 'My daughter and myself have
no-other resource; if this is taken from us, there is
nothing left us but the most abject poverty. What will
become of us?'
"'I don't know,' answered the notary, coldly. 'It is
probable that your brother, instead of placing this
amount with me, has lost it in these speculations,
which he carried on unknown to every one.'
"'It is false] it is infamous!'I cried. 'My brother
was honor itself. Far from robbing me and my daugh-
ter, he sacrificed himself for us. He would never
marry that he might leave what he possessed to my
child.'
'"Do you dare, then, to pretend, Madame, that I
am capable of denying a deposite which has been con-
fided to me?' asked the notary, with indignation,
which appeared so honorable and sincere that I an-
swered:
"'No, surely not, Monsieur; your reputation for
probity is known ; but I cannot, however, accuse my
brother of such a cruel abuse of confidence."
'"On what titles do you pretend to claim this of me?'
asked M. Ferrand. 'On none, Monsieur. Eighteen
months since, my brother, who managed my affairs,
wrote me: " I have an excellent investment at six per
cent. ; send me your power of attorney to sell your
' rentes;' I shall deposit three hundred thousand francs
with M.Jacques Ferrand, notary." I sent my power
to my brother; a few clays after, he advised me that he
had made the deposit with you, that you never gave
a receipt, and at the end of six months he sent me the
interest due.'
" 'And at least you have some letters from him on
this subject, Madame?'
" 'No, Monsieur. They treated of business alone; I
did not preserve them.'
" ' I can, unfortunately, do nothing, Madame,' an-
swered the notary. ' If my probity was not above all
suspicion, all doubt, I would say to you: The tribunals
are open; attack me; the judges will have to choose
between the. word of an honorable man, who for thirty
years enjoys the esteem of worthy people, and the
posthumous declaration of a man who, after having
ruined himself in the most mad speculations, has only
I would say to you in fine
This piece of a letter stopped there; for scribbling'»
not to be deciphered covered some lines which still re-
mained; finally, at the bottom, in a corner, Rodolphe
read this kind of memorandum:
found a refuge in suicide.   _
Eigolette about the prices of different articles, Ro- | Attack me, Madame, if you dare, and.the memory of
dolphe examined more attentively the article which | your brother will be dishonored.   But I believe that
"la Mere Bouvard" had shown him.                                  you will have the good sense to resign yourself to a
It was one of those old-fashioned secretaries of rose-   misfortune great, without doubt, but to which I am a
wood, of a form almost triangular, closed by a panel in
front, which, when unfolded and sustained by two long
supports of copper, served as a writing-table. In the
middle of this panel, ornamented with inlaid work of
various colored wood, Rodolphe remarked a cipher, in-
crusted with ebony, and composed of an M and an R
intertwined, surmounted by a count's crown. He sup-
posed that the last possessor of this piece of furni-
ture belonged to the upper classes of society. His
curiosity was redoubled; he looked at the secretary
with a new scrutiny: he mechanically opened tlie
drawers, one after the other, when, finding some diffl-
stranger.
"'But, Monsieur, I am a mother! if my fortune is
taken from me, my daughter and myself have no other
resource except our furniture; that sold, it is poverty,
Monsieur, frightful poverty!'
"'You have been duped; it is a misfortune; I can
not help it,'answered the notary. 'I left the notary
more dead than alive; what remained for me to do in
this extremity? With no title to prove the validity of
my claim, convinced of the probity of my brother, con-
founded by the assurance of M. Ferrand, having no
one from whom I could ask advice (you were then
eulty with the last and seeking the cause of this obsta- travelling), knowing that it needed money to procure
Cl« he discovered and drew out with care a leaf of pa- the opinion of lawyers, I dared not to undertake such
per, which had slipped under the drawer.                         a process.   Then it was-----' "
WRITE TO MADAME LA DUCHESSE DE LUCENAY."
Rodolphe remained thoughtful after reading thia
fragment of a letter. Although the new infamy of
which it seemed to accuse Jacques Ferrand was not
proved, this man had shown himself so devoid of pity
towards the unfortunate Morel, so infamous towards
Louise, his daughter, that a desial of a deposite, pro-
tected by certain impunity, could hardly be astonish-
ing on his part.
This mother, who reclaimed this fortune so strangely
disappeared, was without doubt accustomed to a com-
petency. Ruined by a sudden blow, knowing no on»
at Paris, what must have become of these two women,
stripped of everything, alone in this immense city?
Rodolphe had, as we know, promised some intrigue»
to Madame d'Harville, in assigning her by chance
ought to occupy her mind, a part to play in a good
work to be forthcoming, certain to find, before his next
interview with the marquise, some unfortunate to sol-
ace. He thought that perhaps chance might put him
in the way of some worthy unfortunate, who could,
according to his project, interest fhe heart and imagi-
nation of Madame d' Harville.
The draft of a letter which he held in his hand, a
copy of which had doubtless been sent to the person of
whom she had implored assistance, announced a proud
and resigned character, to whom the offer of alms
would be revolting. Howmanyprecautions, then, how
many twistings, how many delicate " ruses " to conceal
the source of a generous assistance, or to make her
accept it 1
"And, besides, how much address to obtain admit-
tance to the dwelling of this person, so as to judge
whether she really deserved commiseration or not!
Rodolphe foresaw a crowd of new emotions, curious
and touching, which must singularly amuse Madame
d'Harville, as he had promised her.
"Well! my husband,"- said Rigolette gayly to Ro-
dolphe, " what is that scrap of paper that you are read-
ing" there?" "M.y_ little wife," answered Rodolphe;
" you are very curious! I will tell you by-and-by. Have
you finished your purchases?" "Certainly, and your
' proteges ' will be fixed like kings. Now yo'u have only
to pay. Madame Bouvard is easy to deal with—must
be just." " My little wife, anidea! While I pay, if you
would go and choose clothes for Madame Morel and
her children?" " I acknowledge my ignorance on the
subject of purchases. You will have them sent here:
we will make but one journey, and our poor folks will
thus have all at once."
"You are always right, my husband. Wait forme,
I shan't be long. I know two shops where I am a
regular customer; I will find there all I want." And
Eigolette went out.   But she returned to say :
''Madame Bouvard, I confide my husband to you;
don't you look sweet at him, at least 1" Another laugh,
and she disappeared.
Chapter XV.—Discovery.
"Must acknowledge, Monsieur," said la Mere Bou
vard to Rodolphe, after the departure of Rigolette,
" that you have there a famous little manager. Peste!
She understands how to buy; and besides, an't she
pretty ! red and white, with large, fine, black eyes, and
hair of the same color." "Is she not charming, and
am I not a fortunate husband, Madame Bouvard?".
"As fortunate a husband as she is a wife, I am very
sure."
" You are not deceived: but tell me how much I owe
you?"
"Your little manager would not give more than
three hundred and thirty francs for all. As there is
only one ' bon Dieu,' I make but thirteen francs, for I
have not bought these things as cheap as usual. I had
not the heart to bargain for them ; the people who sold
them appeared too unhappy."
"Truly? Are these the same persons from whom
you also bought this little secretary?" "Yes, Mon-
sieur. Ah! stop; that breaks my heart only to think
of it. Just imagine that the day before yesterday
there came here a lady still young and handsome, but
so pale, so thin, that it gave one pain to see her. Al-
though she was, aspne would say, very neat in her ap-
pearance, her old rusty black shawl, her dress, also
black and all frayed, her straw hat in the month of
January (she was in mourning), announced what we
call genteel poverty, for I am sure that she is a lady
very ' comme il faut;' well, she asked me, blushing, if
I wished to buy two sets of bedclothes and a little old
secretary; I answered that, since I sold, I must buy;
that if it suited me, it was a settled affair; but that I
should wish to see the tilings. She begged me to come
home with her, not far from here, the other side of the
Boulevard, to a house on the quay of the Canal Saint
Martin. I left my shop in charge of my niece; I fol-
lowed the lady; we arrived at a house for ' small folks,'
as we say, right at the bottom of the court; we went
up the fourth story, the lady knocked, a young girl of
fourteen cam» to open the door; she. was also in
mourning, and also very pale and thin, but, in spite of
that, beautiful as the morning; so beautiful that I re-
mained speechless." "And this handsome young
girl?"
"Was the daughter of the lady in mourning. Not-
withstanding the cold, a poor dress of black and white
cotton, and a little black shawl, well worn, was all she
had on." "And their lodgings were miserable?" "Just
figure to yourself, Monsieur, two rooms very clean, but
very empty, icy enough to freeze one to death; in the
first place there was the fireplace, where not a spark
was to be seen : there had been no fire there for a. long
time. As for furniture, two beds, two chairs, a com-
mode, an old trunk, and the little secretary; on the
trunk, a bundle in a handkerchief. This little bundle,
it was all that remained to the mother and daughter,
their furniture once sold. The landlord took the two
bedsteads, chairs, trunk, and table, for what was due
to him, as the porter told me as he came up with us.
Then this lady begged me honestly to value the mat.
tresses, sheet's, curtains, and blankets. 'Foi' of an
honest woman. Monsieur, although my trade is to buy
cheap and sell dear, when I saw this poor young lady
with ber eyes full of tears, and her mother, who, in
spite of her 'sangfroid,' looked as if she was weeping
within. I valued the things at fifteen francs more than
I should have done, and this I swear to you. I eve-
consented to take this little secretary, to oblige them,
although it is not in my line." "I will buy it, Madame
Bouvard." "Mafoi! so much the better, Monsieur; it
would have remained a long time on my hands.   I told