Sentimental education; the story of a young man

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION

Sentimental
Education

The Story of a Young Man

GUSTAVE FLAUBER1

EDITED BY

DORA KNOWLES RANOUS

NEW YORK

BREXTANO'S
Publishers

KCA

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY

BRENTANO'S
All Rights Reserved

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS
BOOK I

CHAPTER PAGE

I A PROMISING EPISODE 1

II THE WISDOM OF YOUTH .... 15

III THE RULING PASSION 24

IV THE ETERNAL FEMININE .... 34
V A CONSUMING LOVE 66

VI HOPES DEFERRED . 117

VII PARIS AGAIN . . ...... 130

VIII FREDERICK ENTERTAINS AND Is ENTER-
TAINED 162

IX THE FAMILY FRIEND 218

X A PLEASANT LITTLE DINNER . . . 260

XI A DUEL 277

XII LITTLE LOUISE BECOMES A WOMAN . 321

XIII ROSANETTE IN A NEW ROLE 335

v

BOOK II

CHAPTER PAGE

XIV REVOLUTIONARY DAYS 1

XV LOUISE Is DISILLUSIONED .... 80

XVI THREE CHARMING WOMEN .... 100

XVII FREDERICK'S BETROTHAL 126

XVIII UNDER THE HAMMER 173

XIX AFTER MANY YEARS 195

XX WHEN A MAN'S FORTY . . 203

BOOK I

CHAPTER I

A PROMISING EPISODE

IN front of the Quai St. Bernard, the Ville de Mon-
tereau, which was just about to start, was puffing
great whirlwinds of smoke. It was six o'clock on
the morning of the I5th of September, 1840.

People rushed on board the vessel in frantic haste.
The traffic was obstructed by casks, cables, and baskets
of linen. The sailors answered no questions. People
jostled one another. Between the two paddle-boxes
was a heap of parcels ; the clamour was drowned in
the loud hissing of the steam, which, making its way
through the plates of sheet-iron, encompassed every-
thing in a white mist, while the bell at the prow kept
continuously ringing.

At last, the vessel drew away ; and the banks of the
river, crowded with warehouses, timber-yards, and
manufactories, opened out like two huge ribbons being
unrolled.

A young man about eighteen, with long hair, hold-
ing an album under his arm, stood motionless near the
helm. Penetrating the haze, he could see steeples,
buildings of which he did not know the names ; then,
with a farewell glance, he observed the He St. Louis,
the Cite, and Notre Dame. As Paris faded from view
he heaved a deep sigh.

2 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Frederick Moreau had just taken his Bachelor's de-
gree, and was returning home to Nogent-sur-Seine,
where he would have to lead a monotonous existence
for two months, before going back to begin his legal
studies. His mother had sent him, with enough money
to cover his expenses, to Havre to see an uncle, from
whom she had expectations of his receiving an inherit-
ance. He had returned from there only yesterday;
and he consoled himself for not having been able to
spend a little time in the capital by taking the longest
possible though less convenient route to reach his
own part of the country.

The uproar had subsided. The passengers were all
taking their places. Some of them stood warming
themselves around the machinery, and the chimney
spat forth with a slow, rhythmic rattle its plume of
black smoke. Drops of dew glistened on the copper
plates; the deck quivered with the vibration from
within; and the two paddle-wheels, rapidly turning,
lashed the water. The river edges were covered with
sand. The vessel swept past rafts of wood which os-
cillated under the rippling of the waves, or a boat with-
out sails in which a man sat fishing. Then the drift-
ing haze cleared ; the sun appeared ; the hill which
had been visible on the right of the Seine subsided
by degrees, and another rose nearer on the opposite
bank.

Frederick was thinking about the apartment which
he would occupy over there, on the plan of a drama,
on subjects for pictures, on future passions. He was
beginning to find that the happiness merited by the
excellence of his soul was slow in arriving. He
declaimed some melancholy verses as he walked
rapidly along the deck till he reached the end at
which the bell was. In the centre of a group of pas-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 3

sengers and sailors he saw a gentleman talking soft
nothings to a country-woman, while fingering the
gold cross which she wore over her breast. He was
a jovial blade of forty, with frizzled hair. He wore
a jacket of black velvet, two emeralds sparkled in his
cambric shirt, and his wide, white trousers fell over
odd-looking red boots of Russia leather ornamented
with blue designs.

The presence of Fredrick did not discompose him.
He turned round and glanced several times at the young
man with winks of inquiry. He next offered cigars
to all who were standing near him. But, apparently
getting tired of their society, he moved away and took
a seat further up. Frederick followed him.

The conversation, at first, was on the various kinds
of tobacco, then quite naturally it turned into a dis-
cussion about women. The gentleman in the red
boots gave the younger man advice; he put forward
theories, related anecdotes, referred to himself by
way of illustration, and he gave utterance to all these
things in a paternal tone, with the ingenuousness of
entertaining depravity.

He was republican in his opinions. He had trav-
elled ; was familiar with the inner life of theatres,
restaurants, and newspapers, and knew all the theat-
rical celebrities, whom he spoke of by their first
names. Frederick told him confidentially about his
projects; and the elder man took an encouraging
view of them.

He stopped talking a moment to take a look at the
funnel, then he mumbled rapidly a long calculation
in order to ascertain " how much each stroke of the
piston at so many times per minute would come to,"
etc., and, having found the number, he spoke about
the scenery, which he admired immensely. Then he

4 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

expressed his delight at having got away from busi-
ness.

Frederick regarded him with a certain amount of
respect, and politely intimated a desire to know his
name. The stranger, without a moment's hesitation,
replied :

"Jacques Arnoux, proprietor of L'Art Industriel,
Boulevard Montmartre."

A man-servant in a gold-laced cap came up and said :

" Would Monsieur have the kindness to go below ?
Mademoiselle is crying."

L'Art Industriel was a hybrid establishment,
wherein the functions of an art journal and a picture-
shop were combined. Frederick remembered seeing
this title several times in the bookseller's window in
his native place on bi-g prospectuses, on which the
name of Jacques Arnoux displayed itself magis-
terially.

The sun's rays fell perpendicularly, shedding a
glittering light on the iron hoops around the masts,
the plates of the barricades, and the surface of the
water, which, at the prow, was cut into two furrows
that spread out as far as the borders of the meadows.
At each curve of the river, a screen of pale poplars
presented itself with the utmost uniformity. The
surrounding country at this point had an empty look.
In the sky were little white clouds which remained
motionless, and the sense of weariness, which vaguely
diffused itself over everything, seemed to retard the
progress of the steamboat and to add to the insignifi-
cant appearance of the passengers. With the excep-
tion of a few persons of good position who were
travelling first class, they consisted of artisans or
shopmen with their wives and children. It was cus-
tomary at that time to wear old clothes when trav-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 5

elling, so nearly all had their heads covered with
shabby Greek caps or discoloured hats, and wore thin
black coats that had become threadbare from constant
rubbing against writing-desks, or frock-coats with
the casings of their buttons loose from continual ser-
vice in the shop. Here and there some roll-collar
waistcoat afforded a glimpse of a coffee-stained calico
shirt. Pinchbeck pins were stuck into torn cravats.
List shoes were kept up by stitched straps.

Frederick, in order to get back to his place, pushed
against the grating leading into the part of the ves-
sel reserved for first-class passengers, and in so doing
disturbed two sportsmen with their dogs.

What he then saw was like a vision. She was
seated in the middle of a bench all alone, or, at least
it appeared so to him; he could see no one else,
dazzled as he was by her eyes. At the moment when
he was passing, she raised her head; his shoulders
bent involuntarily ; and, when he had seated himself,
some little distance away, on the same side, he
glanced toward her.

She wore a wide straw hat, the red ribbons of which
fluttered in the wind behind her. Her black tresses,
braided around the top of her large forehead, descended
very low near her cheeks, and seemed amorously to
press the oval of her face. Her robe of muslin spotted
with green spread out in ample folds. She was em-
broidering something; and her straight nose, her
rounded chin, her entire person was outlined on
the background of the luminous air and the blue sky.

As she maintained the same attitude, he took sev-
eral turns to the right and to the left, hiding from
her his change of position; then he placed himself
close to her parasol, which lay against the bench, and
pretended to be looking at a sloop on the river.

6 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Never before had he seen such a lustrous dark skin,
such a seductive figure, or more delicately shaped
fingers than those through which the sunlight
gleamed. He gazed with amazement at her work-
basket, as if it were something unusual. What was
her name, her place of residence, her life, her past?
He longed to become familiar with the furnishings
of her apartment, with the dresses that she had worn,
with the people whom she visited ; and the desire of
physical possession yielded to a deeper yearning, a
painful and boundless curiosity.

A negress, wearing a silk handkerchief tied round
her head, appeared, holding by the hand a little girl
already tall for her age. The child, whose eyes were
swimming in tears, had just awakened. The lady
took the little one on her knees. " Mademoiselle was
not good, though she would soon be seven ; her
mother would not love her any more. She was too
often forgiven for being naughty." And Frederick
heard those things with delight, as if he had made a
discovery, an acquisition.

He concluded that she must be of Andalusian de-
scent, perhaps a Creole: had she brought this negress
with her from the West Indian Islands?

Meanwhile his attention was directed to a long
shawl with violet stripes thrown behind her over the
copper support of the bench. She must have, many a
time, wrapped it around her, as the vessel sped
through the waves; drawn it over her feet, gone to
sleep in it !

Frederick suddenly noticed that with the sweep of
its fringes it was slipping off, and on the point of
falling into the water; with a bound he caught it.
She said:

" Thank you, Monsieur."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 7

Their eyes met.

" Are you ready, my dear ? " cried my lord Arnoux,
presenting himself at the hood of the companion-
ladder.

Mademoiselle Marthe ran over to him, and, cling-
ing to his neck, she began pulling at his moustache.
The strains of a harp were heard — she wanted to see
the music played; and presently the performer on the
instrument, at the request of the negress, entered the
place reserved for saloon passengers. Arnoux recog-
nised in him a man who had formerly been a model,
and " thou'd " him, to the astonishment of the by-
standers. At length the harpist, flinging back his
long hair, stretched out his hands and began playing.

It was an Oriental ballad all about poniards, flow-
ers, and stars. The man in rags sang it in a sharp
voice ; the twanging of the harp-strings broke the
harmony of the tune with false notes. He played
more vigorously: the chords vibrated, and their me-
tallic sounds seemed to emit sobs, and, as it were,
the plaint of a proud and vanquished love. On both
sides of the river, woods reached down to the edge
of the water. A current of fresh air swept past, and
Madame Arnoux gazed vaguely into the distance.
When the music stopped, she moved her eyes as if
she were starting out of a dream.

The harpist approached them with an air of hu-
mility. While Arnoux was searching his pockets for
money, Frederick stretched out toward the cap his
closed hand, and then, opening it in a shamefaced
manner, he deposited in the cap a louis d'or. It was
not vanity that had prompted him to bestow this alms
in her presence, but the hope of a blessing in which
he felt she might share — an almost religious impulse
of the heart.

8 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Arnoux, leading the way, cordially invited him to
go below. Frederick replied that he had just lunched;
on the contrary, he was nearly dying of hunger; but
he had not a single centime in his purse.

After that, it seemed to him that he had as much
right as anyone else to remain in the cabin.

Ladies and gentlemen were seated before round
tables, lunching, while an attendant went about serv-
ing coffee. Monsieur and Madame Arnoux were in
the extreme right-hand corner. He seated himself
on the long bench covered with velvet, picking up a
newspaper which he found there.

They would have to take the diligence at Monte-
reau for Chalons. Their tour in Switzerland would
last a month. Madame Arnoux blamed her husband
for his weakness with the child. He whispered in
her ear; it was evidently something agreeable, for
she smiled. Then he rose to draw down the window
curtain at her back. Under the low, white ceiling, a
crude light filled the cabin. Frederick, sitting oppo-
site, could distinguish the shadow made by her eye-
lashes. She just moistened her lips at her glass and
broke a little piece of crust between her fingers. The
lapis-lazuli locket fastened by a gold chain to her
*vrist made a ringing sound, every now and then, as
it touched her plate. Those present, however, did
not appear to notice it.

At intervals one could see, through the port-holes,
the side of a boat which was taking away passengers
or putting them on board. Those who sat round the
tables looked through the openings, and called out
the names of the various places they passed along the
river.

Arnoux complained of the cooking. He grumbled
particularly at the amount of the bill, and had it re-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 9

duced. Then he carried off the young man toward
the forecastle to drink a glass of grog with him.
But Frederick speedily returned to gaze at Madame
Arnoux, who had gone back to her seat under the
awning. She was reading a thin, grey-covered vol-
ume. From time to time the corners of her mouth
curled and a gleam of pleasure lighted up her face.
He felt jealous of the author of a book which ap-
peared to interest her so much. The more he con-
templated her, the more he felt that there were yawn-
ing abysses between them. He was reflecting that he
should very soon lose sight of her irrevocably, and
without having extracted a few words from her,
without leaving her even a souvenir!

On the right, a plain was visible. On the left, a
strip of pasture-land rose gently to meet a hillock
where one could see vineyards, groups of walnut-
trees, a mill embedded in the grassy slopes, and, be-
yond that, little zigzag paths over a white mass of
rocks that reached up toward the clouds. What
bliss it would have been to ascend side by side with
her, his arm around her waist, as her gown swept
the yellow leaves, listening to her voice and gazing
into her glowing eyes ! The steamboat might stop,
and all they would have to do would be to step right
out; and yet this thing, simple as it seemed, was not
less difficult than it would have been to alter the
course of the sun.

The little girl kept skipping playfully around the
place where he had stationed himself on the deck.
Frederick tried to kiss her. She hid herself behind
her nurse. Her mother scolded her for not being
nice to the gentleman who had rescued her own
shawl. Was this an indirect overture?

" Is she going to speak to me? " he asked himself.

10 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Time was flying. How was he to get an invitation
to the Arnoux's house? And he could think of noth-
ing better than to draw her attention to the autumnal
hues, adding:

" We are approaching winter — the season of balls
and dinner-parties."

But Arnoux was entirely occupied with his lug-
gage. They had arrived at the river's bank facing
Surville. The two bridges drew nearer. They
passed a rope walk, then a range of low-built houses,
inside which there were pots of tar and splinters of
wood ; and children ran along the sand turning head
over heels. Frederick recognised a man with a
sleeved .waistcoat, and called out to him:

" Make haste."

They were at the landing-place. He looked around
anxiously for Arnoux amongst the crowd of passen-
gers, and presently the other came and shook hands
with him, saying:

" A pleasant time, Monsieur ! "

When he was on the quay, Frederick looked back.
She was standing beside the helm. He cast a look
toward her into which he tried to put his whole soul.
She remained motionless, as if nothing had hap-
pened. Then, without paying the slightest attention
to the obeisances of his manservant:

" Why is not the trap here ? "

The man made excuses.

" Clumsy fellow ! Give me some money."

And after that he went off to get something to eat
at an inn.

A quarter of an hour later, he felt an inclination to
turn into the coachyard, as if by chance. He might
see her again.

" What's the use? " he said to himself.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 11

The vehicle carried him off. The two horses did
not belong to his mother. She had borrowed one
from M. Chambrion, the tax-collector. Isidore, hav-
ing set forth the day before, had taken a rest at Bray
until evening, and had slept at Montereau, so that
the animals, with restored vigour, were trotting
briskly.

Fields on which the crops had been cut stretched
out in apparently endless succession ; and by degrees
Villeneuve, St. Georges, Ablon, Chatillon, Corbeil,
and the other places — his entire journey — came back
to his mind with such vividness that he could recall
fresh details, more intimate particulars.
Under the lowest flounce of her gown, her foot
showed itself encased in a dainty silk boot of ma-
roon shade. The awning made of ticking formed a
wide canopy over her head, and the little red tassels
of the edging kept trembling in the breeze.

She resembled the women of whom he had read
in romances. Nothing could be added to the charms
of her person, and nothing could be taken from them.
The universe had suddenly enlarged. She was the
luminous point toward which all things converged ; and,
lulled by the movement of the vehicle, with half-closed
eyes, and his face turned toward the clouds, he aban-
doned himself to a dreamy, infinite joy.

At Bray, he did not wait till the horses had got
their oats ; he walked on along the road by himself.
Arnoux addressed her as " Marie." He now loudly
repeated the name " Marie ! " His voice pierced the
air and was lost in the distance.

The sky toward the west was one great mass of
flaming purple. Huge stacks of wheat, rising up in
the midst of the stubble fields, threw giant shadows.
A dog barked in a distant farm-house. He shivered,

12 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

seized with disquietude for which he could assign
no cause.

When Isidore came up with him, he jumped into
the front seat to drive. His fit of weakness was over.
He had thoroughly made up his mind to effect an in-
troduction into the house of the Arnoux, and to be-
come intimate with them. Their house should be
entertaining ; besides, he liked Arnoux ; then — you
never can tell ! Thereupon a wave of blood rushed
up to his face ; his temples throbbed ; he cracked his
whip, shook the reins, and set the horses going at such
a pace that the old coachman repeatedly exclaimed :
" Easy ! easy now, or they'll get broken-winded ! "
Gradually Frederick calmed down, and he attended
to what the man was saying. Monsieur's return was
impatiently awaited. Mademoiselle Louise had cried
to go in the trap to meet him*

" Who, pray, is Mademoiselle Louise ? "
" Monsieur Roque's little girl, you know."
" Ah, yes ! I had forgotten," rejoined Frederick
carelessly.

Meanwhile, the two horses could keep up the fu-
rious pace no longer. They were both getting lame;
nine o'clock struck at St. Laurent's when he arrived
at the parade in front of his mother's house.

This large house, with a garden looking out on the
open country, conferred additional social importance
on Madame Moreau, who was the most respected
lady in the district.

She had descended from an old family of nobles,
of which the male line was now extinct. Her hus-
band, a plebeian whom her parents had forced her to
marry, met his death by a sword-thrust, during her
pre'gnancy, leaving a much encumbered estate. She
received visitors three times a week, and from time

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 13

to time gave a fashionable dinner. But the number
of wax candles was calculated beforehand, and she
looked forward with impatience to the payment of
her rents. These pecuniary embarrassments, con-
cealed as if there were some guilt attached to them,
imparted a certain gravity to her character. Never-
theless, she displayed no prudery, no sourness, in the
practice of her particular virtues. Her most trifling
charities seemed munificent alms. She was consulted
about the selection of servants, the education of
young girls, and the art of making preserves, and
Monseigneur used to stay at her house on the occa-
sion of his episcopal visitations.

Madame Moreau cherished a lofty ambition for
her son. Through a prudence which was grounded
on the expectation of favours, she did not care to
hear blame cast on the Government. He would re-
quire patronage at first; then, with such aid, he
might become a councillor of state, an ambassador,
a minister. His success at the college of Sens justi-
fied this proud anticipation ; had he not carried off
the prize of honour?

When he entered the drawing-room, all present
arose noisily ; he was embraced ; then the chairs, large
and small, were drawn up in a big semi-circle around
the fireplace. M. Gamblin immediately asked him
what his opinion was about Madame Lafarge. This
case, the rage of the moment, did not fail to lead to
a violent discussion. Madame Moreau stopped it, to
the regret, however, of M. Gamblin ; he deemed it
serviceable to the young man in his character of a
future lawyer, and, nettled at what had occurred, he
left the drawing-room.

Nothing done by a friend of Pere Roque should
have caused surprise. The reference to Pere Roque

14 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

led them to speak of M. Dambreuse, who had lately
become the owner of the demesne of La Fortelle.
But the tax-collector had drawn Frederick aside to
ask what he thought of M. Guizot's latest work.
They were all anxious to know about his private af-
fairs, and Madame Benoit went cleverly to work,
with that end in view, by inquiring about his uncle.
How was that worthy relative? They no longer
heard from him. Had he not a distant cousin in
America ?

The cook announced that Monsieur's soup was
served. The guests discreetly retired. As soon as
they were alone in the dining-room, his mother said
to him in a low tone :

"Well?"

The old man had received him in a very cordial
manner, but had not disclosed his intentions.

Madame Moreau sighed.

" Where is she now ? " was his thought.

The diligence was probably rolling along the road,
and, wrapped up in the shawl, doubtless, she was
leaning against the cloth of the coupe, her beautiful
head nodding as she slept.

He and his mother wrere about to go up to their
apartments when a waiter from the Swan of the
Cross brought him a note.

" What is that, pray ? "

" It is-Deslauriers, who wishes to see me," said he.

" Ha ! your chum ! " said Madame Moreau, with a
contemptuous sneer. " Certainly it is a nice hour to
choose ! "

Frederick hesitated. But friendship was stronger.
He got his hat.

His mother requested him to return quickly.

CHAPTER II

THE WISDOM OF YOUTH

THE father of Charles Deslauriers was an ex-
captain in the line. He had retired from the
service in 1818 and returned to Nogent, where
he had married. With the amount of the dowry he
bought up the business of a process-server, which
barely maintained him. Made bitter by continuous
unjust treatment, suffering still from the effects of
old wounds, and always regretting the Emperor, he
vented on those around him the fits of rage that
seemed to choke him. Few children received so
many thrashings as did his son. In spite of blows,
however, the child remained obstinate. His mother,
when she interposed, was also ill-treated. Finally,
the captain placed the boy in his office, and all day
long kept him bent over a desk copying documents,
with the result that his right shoulder was noticeably
higher than his left.

In 1833, on the invitation of the president, the
captain sold his office. His wife died of cancer. He
then went to live at Dijon and started in business
at Troyes, where he was connected with the slave
trade. Having obtained a small scholarship for
Charles, he placed him at the college of Sens, where
Frederick met him. But one of the boys was twelve
years old, while the other was fifteen; besides, a
thousand differences of character and origin tended
to keep them apart.

Frederick had in his chest of drawers all sorts of

16 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

useful things — choice articles, such as a dressing-
case would indicate. He liked to lie in bed in the
mornings, to look at the swallows, and to read plays;
and, missing the comforts of home, he thought col-
lege life rough. To the process-server's son it
seemed a pleasant existence. He worked so hard
that, at the end of the second year, he got into the
third form. However, owing to his poverty or to his
quarrelsome disposition, he was intensely disliked.
But when on one occasion, in the courtyard where
pupils of the middle grade exercised, an attendant
openly called him a beggar's child, he sprang at the
fellow's throat, and would have killed him if three of
the ushers had not intervened. Frederick, moved by
admiration, pressed him in his arms. From that day
forward they were fast friends. The affection of a
grandee no doubt flattered the vanity of the youth
of meaner rank, and the other accepted as a piece of
good fortune the devotion freely offered to him.
During the holidays Charles's father left him in the
college. A translation of Plato which he chanced on
excited his enthusiasm. He became smitten with a
love of metaphysical studies ; and he made rapid
progress, for he came to the subject with all the
energy of youth and the self-confidence of an eman-
cipated intellect. Jouffroy, Cousin, Laromiguiere,
Malebranche, and the Scotch metaphysicians — every-
thing that the library contained dealing with this
branch of knowledge passed through his hands. He
even stole the key in order to get at the books.

Frederick's intellectual distractions were of a less
serious description. He made sketches of the gene-
alogy of Christ as carved on a post in the Rue des
Trois Rois, then of the gateway of a cathedral.
After a course of mediaeval dramas, he turned to

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 17

memoirs — Froissart, Comines, Pierre de 1'Estoile, and
Brantome.

The impressions left on his mind by this kind of
reading impressed him to such an extent that he felt
a need within him of reproducing those pictures of
bygone days. His ambition was to be, one day, the
Walter Scott of France. Deslauriers dreamed of
formulating an exhaustive system of philosophy, cal-
culated to have the most far-reaching results.

They conversed on all these matters at recreation
hours, in the playground, in front of the moral
maxim inscribed under the clock. They whispered
to each other about them in the chapel, even with St.
Louis staring down at them. They dreamed about
them in the dormitory, which looked out on a burial-
ground. On walking-days they took up a position
behind the others, and talked unceasingly.

They spoke of what they would do later, when
they had left college. First of all, they would set out
on a long voyage with the money which Frederick
would take out of his own fortune immediately on
reaching his majority. Then they would return to
Paris; they would work together, and would never
part; and, as a relaxation from their labours, they
would have love-affairs with princesses in boudoirs
lined with satin, or dazzling orgies with famous
courtesans. Their rapturous day-dreams were fol-
lowed by doubts. After a crisis of verbose gaiety,
they would often lapse into a long silence.

On summer evenings, when they had been walking
for some time over stony paths which bordered on
vineyards, or on the highroad in the open country,
and when they saw the wheat waving in the sunlight,
while the air was filled with the fragrance of an-
gelica, a sort of suffocating sensation overpowered

18 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

them, and they stretched themselves on their backs,
dizzy, intoxicated.

The proctor maintained that they mutually cried
up each other. Nevertheless, if Frederick worked his
way up to the higher forms, it was through the per-
suasions of his friend ; and, during the vacation in
1837, he often brought Deslauriers to his mother's
house.

Madame Moreau did not like the young man. He
had a terrible appetite. He was fond of making re-
publican speeches. To crown all, she got it into her
head that he had been the means of leading her son
into improper places. Their relations toward each
other were watched. This only made their friend-
ship grow stronger, and they bade one another adieu
with deep sorrow when, a year later, Deslauriers left
the college to study law in Paris.

Frederick anxiously looked forward to the time
when they would meet again. For two years they
had not seen each other; and, when their embraces
were over, they walked across the bridges to talk
more at their ease.

The captain, who had set up a billiard-room at
Villenauxe, had become very angry when his son de-
manded an account of the expense of tutelage, and
even cut down the cost of food to the lowest figure.
As he intended to become a candidate later for a
professor's chair at the school, and as he had no
money, Deslauriers accepted the post of principal
clerk in an attorney's office at Troyes. By dint of
sheer privation he spared four thousand francs; and
by not drawing upon the sum which came to him
through his mother, he would always have enough
to enable him to work freely for three years while
waiting for a better position. It was necessary,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 19

therefore, to abandon their former plan of living to-
gether in the capital, at least for the present.

Frederick hung down his head. This was the first
of his dreams to crumble into dust.

" Be comforted," said the captain's son. " Life is
long. We are both young. We shall meet again.
Think no more of it ! "

He shook the other's hand warmly, and, to distract
his attention, questioned him at length about his
journey.

Frederick had little to tell. But, at the recollec-
tion of Madame Arnoux, his vexation disappeared.
He did not mention her, restrained by a feeling of
bashfulness. He made up for this by expatiating on
Arnoux, recalling his talk, his agreeable manner, his
stories; and Deslauriers urged him strongly to culti-
vate this new acquaintance.

Frederick had of late written nothing. His liter-
ary opinions were changed. Passion was now su-
preme in his estimation. He was equally enthusias-
tic over Werther, Rene, Franck, Lara, Lelia, and
other imaginative creations of less merit. Sometimes
it seemed to him that music alone was capable of
giving expression to his internal agitation; he
dreamed of symphonies ; or else the surface of
things attracted him, and he longed to paint. He
had, however, writen verses. Deslauriers considered
them beautiful, but did not suggest that he should
write another poem.

As for himself, he had given up metaphysics. So-
cial economy and the French Revolution absorbed all
his attention. He was a tall fellow of twenty-two,
thin, with a wide mouth, and a resolute air. On this
particular evening, he wore a poor-looking paletot of
lasting; and his shoes were white with dust, for he

20 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

had come all the way from Villenauxe on foot ex-
pressly to see Frederick.

Isidore appeared while they were talking. Ma-
dame begged of Monsieur to return home, and, for
fear of catching cold, she had sent him his heavy
cloak.

" Wait a while ! " said Deslauriers. And they con-
tinued walking from one end to the other of the two
bridges which rest on the narrow islet formed by the
canal and the river.

On the side toward Nogent they had immediately in
front of them a block of houses which projected a
little. At the right was the church, behind the mills,
whose sluices had been closed up ; and, on the left, were
the hedges, covered with shrubs, skirting the wood,
and forming a boundary for the gardens, which could
scarcely be distinguished. On the side toward Paris
the high road formed a sheer descending line, and the
meadows lost themselves in the distance amid the
vapours of the night. Silence reigned along this road,
whose white track gleamed through the surrounding
gloom. Odours of damp leaves ascended toward them.
The waterfall, where the stream had been diverted
from its course a hundred paces farther away, rumbled
with that deep harmonious sound which waves make in
the night time.

Deslauriers stopped, and said :

" Tis droll to have all these worthy folks sleeping
peacefully ! Patience ! A new 'eighty-nine is in the air.
People are tired of constitutions, charters, subtleties,
lies ! Ah, if I only had a newspaper, or a platform, how
I would wrestle with all these things! But, in order
to undertake anything whatever, money is necessary.
What a curse it is to be a tavern-keeper's son. and to
waste one's youth in quest of bread ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 21

He hung his head, bit his lips, and shivered beneath
his threadbare overcoat.

Frederick flung half his cloak over his friend's shoul-
ders. They both wrapped themselves up in it; and,
with their arms around each other, they walked down
the road.

" How do you think I can possibly live over there
without you ? " said Frederick.

His friend's bitterness had revived his own sadness.

" I could have done something, with a woman to love
me. Why do you laugh ? Love is the inspiration, and,
as it were, the atmosphere of genius. Extraordinary
emotions produce sublime results. As for seeking after
her whom I desire, I wyill not ! Besides, if I should ever
find her, she would repel me. I belong to the race of
the disinherited, and I shall be swept under by a treas-
ure that will be of paste or of diamond — I know not
which."

A shadow fell across the road, and at the same time
they heard these words :

" Pardon me, gentlemen ! "

The person who had uttered them was a little man
attired in an ample brown frock-coat, and with a cap
on his head which under its peak afforded a glimpse of
a sharp nose.

" Monsieur Roque ? " said Frederick.

' The very man ! " returned the voice.

He explained his presence by stating that he was
inspecting the wolf-traps in his garden near the water-
side.

" And so you are back again in the old home? Very
good ! I heard of it through my little girl. Your health
is good, I hope ? You are not going away again ? "

Then he left them, repelled, probably, by Frederick's
coldness.

22 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Madame Moreau, indeed, was not on visiting terms
with him. Pere Roque lived in peculiar relations with
his maidservant, and was held in very poor esteem, al-
though he was the vice-president at elections, and M.
Dambreuse's manager.

' The banker who lives in the Rue d'Anjou," ob-
served Deslauriers. " Do you know what you ought
to do, my fine fellow ? "

Isidore once more interrupted. His orders were
positive ; he was not to return without Frederick.
Madame would be getting uneasy at his absence.

"' Well, well, he will go back," said Deslauriers.
" He won't stay out all night."

And, as soon as the man-servant had disappeared :

" You ought to get that old fellow to introduce you
to the Dambreuses. There's nothing so useful as to
be on visiting terms at a rich man's house. Since you
have a black coat and white gloves, make use of them.
You must mix in that set. You can introduce me later.
Just think! — a man worth millions! Do all you can
to make him like you, and his wife, too. Become her
lover ! "

Frederick uttered an exclamation of protest.

*' Why, I can quote classical examples for you on
that point ; I should rather think so ! Recall Rastignac
in the Comedie Humaine. You will succeed, I have no
doubt."

Frederick had so much faith in Deslauriers that he
felt himself weakening, and forgetting Madame Ar-
noux, or including her in the prediction made with
regard to the other, he could not refrain from smiling.

The clerk added :

" A last piece of advice : pass your examinations. It
is always helpful to have a handle to your name : and,
•without more ado, give up your Catholic and Satanic

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 23

poets, whose philosophy is as old as the twelfth cen-
tury ! Your despair is absurd. The very greatest men
have had more difficult beginnings ; for example, Mira-
beau. Besides, our separation will not be for long. I
will make that pickpocket of a father of mine disgorge.
It is time for me to be going back. Farewell ! Have
you got a hundred sous, that I may pay for my din-
ner? "

Frederick gave him ten francs, all that was left of
what he had got in the morning from Isidore.

Meanwhile, some forty yards away from the bridges,
a light shone from the garret-window of a low-built
house.

Deslauriers noticed it. Then, removing his hat, he
said impressively :

" Your pardon, Venus, Queen of Heaven, but neces-
sity is the parent of wisdom. We have been slandered
enough for that — so have mercy."

This allusion to an adventure in which they had both
taken part, put them in a merry mood. They laughed
loudly as they passed through the streets.

Then, having settled his bill at the inn, Deslauriers
walked back with Frederick as far as the crossway near
the Hotel-Dieu. The two friends parted after a fond
embrace.

CHAPTER III

THE RULING PASSION

FINDING himself one morning, two months later,
in the Rue Coq-Heron, Frederick bethought him-
self that it was a good opportunity to make his
momentous visit.

Chance aided him. Pere Roque had given him a
roll of papers, requesting him to deliver them up per-
sonally to M. Dambreuse ; and the worthy man accom-
panied the package with an open letter of introduction
in behalf of his young friend.

Madame Moreau appeared surprised at this proceed-
ing, but Frederick concealed his delight.

M. Dambreuse's real title was the Comte d'Am-
breuse ; but since 1825, gradually abandoning his title
of nobility and his party, he had given his attention to
business ; and with his ears open in every office, his
hand in every enterprise, on the alert for every oppor-
tunity, as subtle as a Greek and as industrious as a
native of Auvergne, he had amassed a fortune which
might be called considerable. Furthermore, he was an
officer of the Legion of Honour, a member of the Gen-
eral Council of the Aube, a deputy, and some day
would be a peer of France. However, affable as he
was in other respects, he wearied the Minister by his
continual applications for relief, for crosses, and for
licences for tobacconists' shops; and in his complaints
against authority he showed inclinations toward the
Left Centre.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 25

His wife, the pretty Madame Dambreuse, who fig-
ured in the fashion journals, presided at charitable
assemblies. By flattering the duchesses, she appeased
the rancours of the aristocratic faubourg, and caused
the residents to believe that M. Dambreuse might yet
repent and render them some services.

The young man was agitated when he made his call.

" It would have been better to take my dress-
coat with me. No doubt they will give me an invitation
to next week's ball. What will they think of me ? "

His self-confidence returned when he reflected that
M. Dambreuse was only a person of the middle class,
and he sprang out of the cab briskly on reaching the
Rue d'Anjou.

When he had pushed open one of the two gateways
he crossed the courtyard, mounted the steps in front
of the house, and entered a vestibule paved with col-
oured marble.

A bell rang, upon which a valet made his appearance.
He showed Frederick into a little apartment, where
there stood two strong-boxes, and numerous pigeon-
holes filled with pieces of pasteboard. In the centre of
the room M. Dambreuse was writing at a roll-top
desk.

He glanced over Pere Roque's letter, then opened
the canvas in which the papers were wrapped, and ex-
amined them.

At some distance M. Dambreuse presented the ap-
pearance of being still young, owing to his slight figure.
But his thin white hair, his feeble limbs, and, above all,
the extraordinary pallor of his face, indicated a shat-
tered constitution. There was an expression of pitiless
energy in his sea-green eyes, colder than eyes of glass.
His cheek-bones projected, and his finger-joints were
knotted.

26 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

At length he arose and asked the young man a few
questions with regard to mutual acquaintances at No-
gent and also with regard to his studies, and then dis-
missed him with a bow. Frederick went out through
another lobby, and found himself at the lower end of
the courtyard near the coach-house.

A blue brougham, to which a black horse was yoked,
stood before the house. The carriage door opened, a
lady stepped in, and the vehicle, with a rumbling noise,
went rolling along the gravel. Frederick had reached
the courtyard gate from the other side at the same mo-
ment. As there was not room enough for him to pass,
he waited. The young lady, with her head thrust for-
ward past the carriage blind, spoke to the door-keeper
in a very low tone. All he could see was her back, cov-
ered with a violet mantle. However, he glanced into
the interior of the carriage, lined with blue rep, and
ornamented with silk lace and fringes. The lady's
robes filled up the space within. He stole away from
this little padded box with its perfume of iris, and its
vague atmosphere of feminine elegance. The coach-
man slackened the reins, the horse jerked abruptly past
the starting-point, and all disappeared.

Frederick returned on foot, following the track of
the boulevard.

He regretted not having been able to get a satis-
factory view of Madame Dambreuse. A little higher
than the Rue Montmartre a regular jumble of vehicles
made him turn his head, and on the opposite side, fac-
ing him, he read on a marble plate :

" JACQUES ARNOUX."

Strange that he had not thought about her sooner!
It was Deslauriers' fault ; and he approached the shop,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 27

which, however, he did not enter. He was waiting for
her to appear.

The high, transparent plate-glass windows contained
statuettes, drawings, engravings, catalogues and num-
bers of L'Art Industrie!, arranged in a skilful fashion ;
and the amounts of the subscriptions were repeated on
the door, which was decorated with the publisher's
initials.

Frederick pretended to be examining the drawings.
After hesitating for a long time, he went in. A clerk
lifted the portiere, and in reply to a question, said that
Monsieur would not be in the shop before five o'clock.
But if the message could be conveyed

" No ! I will come back again," Frederick answered
blandly.

The following days were occupied in searching for
lodgings ; and he fixed upon an apartment in the second
story of a furnished mansion in the Rue Hyacinthe.

With a fresh blotting-case under his arm, he set out
to attend the opening lecture of the course. Three
hundred young men, bare-headed, filled an amphi-
theatre, where an old man in a red gown was deliver-
ing a discourse in a monotonous voice. Quill pens
could be heard scratching over the paper. In this hall
he found once more the dusty odour of the school, a
reading-desk of familiar shape, the same wearisome
monotony ! For a fortnight he regularly attended the
law lectures. But he dropped the study of the Civil
Code before getting as far as Article 3, and he gave up
the Institutes at the Summa Divisio Personarum.

The pleasures that he had anticipated did not come
to him; and when he had exhausted a circulating li-
brary, gone over the collections in the Louvre, and
been at the theatre a great many nights in succession,
he sank into the lowest depths of idleness.

28 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

His depression was augmented by a thousand fresh
annoyances. He found it necessary to count his linen
and to tolerate the door-keeper, a bore with the figure
of a male hospital nurse, who made up his bed in the
morning, smelling of alcohol always and grunting. He
did not like his apartment, which was ornamented with
an alabaster time-piece. The partitions were thin ; he
could hear the students making punch, laughing and
singing.

Tired of this solitude, he sought out one of his old
schoolfellows, Baptiste Martinon; he discovered this
friend of his boyhood in a middle-class boarding-house
in the Rue Saint-Jacques, cramming in legal procedure,
seated before a coal fire. A woman in a print dress sat
opposite him darning his socks.

Martinon was what people call a very fine man — big,
chubby, with regular features, and blue eyes set high up
in his face. His father, an extensive landowner, had
destined him for the magistracy; and wishing already
to present a dignified exterior, he wore his beard cut
like a collar round his neck.

As there was no rational foundation for Frederick's
complaints, and as he could not give evidence of any
real misfortune, Martinon was unable to understand
his lamentations about existence. As for him, he went
every morning to the school, after that took a walk in
the Luxembourg, in the evening swallowed his half-
cup of coffee ; and with fifteen hundred francs a year,
and the love of this work-woman, he felt perfectly
happy.

" What happiness ! " was Frederick's internal com-
ment.

At the school he had formed another acquaintance, a
youth of aristocratic family, who on account of his
dainty manners resembled a young lady.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 29

M. de Cisy devoted himself to drawing, and loved
the Gothic style. They frequently went together to
admire the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame. But the
young patrician's rank and pretensions covered an in-
tellect of the feeblest order. Everything took him by
surprise. He laughed immoderately at the most trifling
joke, and displayed such utter simplicity that Frederick
at first took him for a wag, and finally regarded him as
a booby.

The young man was finding it impossible, therefore,
to be cordial with anyone ; and he was constantly look-
ing forward to an invitation from the Dambreuses.

On New Year's Day he sent them visiting-cards, but
received none in return.

He made his way back to the office of L'Art Indus-
triel.

A third time he returned to it, and at last saw Ar-
noux carrying on an argument with five or six persons
around him. He scarcely responded to the young
man's bow ; and Frederick was hurt by this reception.
None the less he cogitated over the best means of find-
ing his way to her side.

His first idea was to come frequently to the shop on
the pretext of getting pictures at low prices. Then he
conceived the notion of slipping into the letter-box of
the journal a few " very strong " articles, which might
lead to friendly relations. Perhaps it would be wiser
to go straight to the mark at once, and declare his love ?
Acting on this impulse, he wrote a letter covering a
dozen pages, full of lyric lines and apostrophes ; but he
tore it up, and did nothing, attempted nothing — bereft
of motive power by his want of success.

Above Arnoux's shop there were, on the first floor,
three windows which were lighted up every evening.
Shadows might be seen moving about behind the blinds,

30 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

especially one ; this was hers ; and he went far out of
his way in order to gaze at the windows, and to con-
template that shadow.

A negress who crossed his path one day in the Tuil-
eries, holding a little girl by the hand, recalled to his
mind Madame Arnoux's negress. She was sure to
come there, like the others ; every time he passed
through the Tuileries his heart began to beat with the
anticipation of meeting her. On sunny days he con-
tinued to walk as far as the end of the Champs-Elysees.

Women seated with careless ease in open carriages,
and with their veils floating in the wind, passed close
to him, their horses advancing at a steady walking pace,
and with an unconscious see-saw movement that made
the varnished leather of the harness crackle. His eyes
wandered along the rows of female heads, and certain
vague resemblances brought back Madame Arnoux to
his mind. He pictured her to himself, in the midst of
the others, in one of those little broughams like that in
which he had seen Madame Dambreuse.

But the sun was setting, the cold wind raised whirl-
ing clouds of dust, and all the equipages descended the
long sloping avenue at a quick trot, touching', sweeping
past one another, getting out of one another's way;
then, at the Place de la Concorde, they went off in dif-
ferent directions.

Frederick went to a restaurant in the Rue de la
Harpe and got a dinner for forty-three sous. He
glanced disdainfully at the old mahogany counter, the
soiled napkins, the worn silver-plate, and the hats
hanging on the wall.

Those around him were students like himself. They
talked about their professors, and about their mis-
tresses. What cared he about professors? And had
he a mistress? To avoid being a witness of their en-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 31

joyment, he came as late as possible. The tables were
all strewn with remnants of food. The two waiters,
worn out with attendance on customers, lay asleep,
each in a different corner ; and an odour of cooking,
of an argand lamp, and of tobacco, filled the deserted
dining-room. Then he slowly toiled along the streets
again.

He was smitten with a vague remorse. He renewed
his attendance at lectures. But as he was entirely ig-
norant of the matters which formed the subject of
explanation, things of the simplest description puzzled
him. He set about writing a novel, which he entitled
Sylvio, the Fisherman's Son. The scene of the story
was Venice. The hero was himself, and Madame
Arnoux was the heroine. She was named Antonia;
and, to get possession of her, the hero assassinated a
number of noblemen, and burned a portion of the city ;
after which feats he sang a serenade under her bal-
cony, whereon fluttered in the breeze the red damask
curtains of the Boulevard Montmartre.

The numerous reminiscences on which he dwelt pro-
duced a disheartening effect on him ; he went no far-
ther with the work, and his mental vacuity redoubled.

After this, he begged of Deslauriers to come and
share his apartment. They might make arrangements
to live together with the aid of his allowance of two
thousand francs; anything would be better than this
miserable existence. Deslauriers could not yet leave
Troyes. He urged his friend to find some means of
diverting his thoughts, and, with that end in view, sug-
gested that he should call on Senecal.

Senecal was a mathematical tutor, a hard-headed
man with republican convictions, a future Saint- Just,
according to the clerk. Frederick ascended the five
flights, up which he lived, three times in succession,

32 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

without getting a visit from him in return. He did not
go back.

He now determined to amuse himself. He attended
the balls at the Opera House. These exhibitions of
riotous gaiety chilled him the moment he had passed
the door. Besides, he was embarrassed by the fear of
being subjected to insult on the subject of money, his
notion being that a supper with a domino entailed
considerable expense, and was rather a big adventure.

It seemed to him, nevertheless, that he must needs
love her. Sometimes he used to wake up with his
heart full of hope, dress himself carefully as if he were
going to keep an appointment, and start on inter-
minable excursions all over Paris. Whenever a woman
walked in front of him, or came toward him, he would
say : " Here she is ! " Every time it was only a fresh
disappointment. The thought of Madame Arnoux
strengthened these desires. Perhaps he might find her
on his way; and he conjured up dangerous complica-
tions, extraordinary perils from which he might have
the opportunity to save her.

So the days slipped by with the same tiresome ex-
periences, and enslavement to contracted habits. Every
week he wrote long letters to Deslauriers, dined from
time to time with Martinon,and occasionallysawM.de
Cisy. Then he hired a piano and composed German
waltzes.

One evening at the theatre of the Palais-Royal, he
saw, in one of the stage-boxes, Arnoux with a woman
by his side. Was it she ? The screen of green taffeta,
pulled over the side of the box, hid her face. At length,
the curtain rose, and the screen was drawn aside. She
was a tall woman of about thirty, rather faded, and,
when she laughed, her thick lips uncovered a row of
shining teeth. She chatted familiarly with Arnoux,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 33

tapping" him on the fingers from time to time with her
fan. Then a fair-haired young girl with eyelids a little
red, as if she had just been weeping, seated herself
between them. Arnoux, after that, remained stooping
over her shoulder, pouring forth a stream of talk to
which she listened without replying. Frederick taxed
his ingenuity to conceive what the social position of
these modestly attired women could be.

At the close of the play, he made a dash for the pas-
sages. A crowd of people going out filled them up.
Arnoux, just ahead of him, was descending the stair-
case step by step, with a woman on each arm.

Suddenly a gas-burner shed its light on him. He
wore a crape hat-band. She was dead, perhaps ? This
idea tormented Frederick's mind so much, that he hur-
ried, next day, to the. office of L 'Art Industriel, and
paying, without a moment's delay, for one of the en-
gravings exposed in the window for sale, he asked the
shop-assistant how Monsieur Arnoux was.

The shop-assistant replied :

" Why, quite well ! "

Frederick, growing pale, added :

" And Madame ? "

" Madame, also."

Frederick forgot to carry off his engraving.

The winter drew to a close. He was less melancholy
in the spring time, and began to study for his examina-
tion. After passing it indifferently, he went home.

He refrained from going to Troyes to see his friend,
in order to escape his mother's comments. On his re-
turn to Paris at the end of the vacation, he moved to
two rooms on the Quai Napoleon, which he furnished.
He was hopeless now of ever getting an invitation
from the Dambreuses. His great passion for Madame
Arnoux was also fading away.

CHAPTER IV

THE ETERNAL FEMININE

WHILE on his way to attend a law lecture
one morning in December Frederick noticed
more than ordinary excitement in the Rue
Saint- Jacques. The students were rushing out of the
cafes, and, through the open windows, they were call-
ing from one house to the other. The shop-keepers,
standing in the middle of the footpath, were looking
about them anxiously ; the window-shutters were fas-
tened ; and when he reached the Rue Soufflot there
was a large assemblage around the Pantheon.

Frederick found himself close to fair-haired young
man of prepossessing appearance, with, a moustache
and a tuft of beard on his chin, like a dandy of Louis
Kill's time. He asked the stranger what the mat-
ter was.

" I haven't the least idea," replied the other, " nor
have they, for that matter! 'Tis their fashion just
now ! What a good joke ! "

And he burst out laughing. The petitions for Re-
form, which had been signed at the quarters of the
National Guard, together with the property-census of
Humann and other events besides, had, for the past six
months, led to inexplicable gatherings of riotous crowds
in Paris, and so frequently had they broken out that
the newspapers had ceased to refer to them.

" This lacks graceful outline and colour," continued
Frederick's neighbour. " I am convinced, messire, that

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 35

we have degenerated. In the good epoch of Louis XI,
and even in that of Benjamin Constant, there was more
mutiny amongst the students. I find them as pacific a?
sheep, as stupid as greenhorns, and only fit to be grocers.
Ye gods ! And these are what we call the youth of
the schools ! "

He extended his arms after the fashion of Frederick
Lemaitre in Robert Macaire.

" Youth of the schools, I give you my blessing ! "

After this, addressing a ragpicker, who was moving
a heap of oyster-shells up against the wall of a wine-
merchant's house :

" Do you belong to them — the youth of the schools ? "

The old man lifted up a hideous countenance in
which one could trace, in the midst of a grey beard, a
red nose and two dull eyes, bloodshot from drink.

" No, you appear to me rather one of those men with
patibulary faces whom we see, on various occasions,
liberally scattering gold. Oh, scatter it, my patriarch,
scatter it! Corrupt me with the treasures of Albion!
Are you English? I do not reject the presents of
Artaxerxes ! Let us have a little talk about the union
of customs ! "

Frederick felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Mar-
tinon, looking exceedingly pale.

" Well ! " said he with a deep sigh, " another riot ! "

He was afraid of being compromised, and uttered
complaints. Men in blouses especially made him feel
uneasy, suggesting a connection with secret societies.

" You mean to say you believe in secret societies,"
said the young man with the moustaches. " That is a
worn-out trick of the Government to frighten the mid-
dle-class folk ! "

Martinon urged him to speak in a lower tone, for
fear of the police.

36 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" You believe also in the police, do you ? As a mat-
ter of fact, how do you know, Monsieur, that I am not
myself a police spy?"

And he looked at him in such a way, that Martinon,
much discomposed, was, at first, unable to see the joke.
The people pushed them on, and they were all three
forced to stand on the little staircase which led, by one
of the passages, to the new amphitheatre.

The crowd soon dispersed of its own accord. Many
faces could be distinguished. They bowed toward
the distinguished Professor Samuel Rondelot, who,
wrapped in his big frock-coat, with his silver spectacles
up high on his forehead, and breathing hard from his
asthma, was advancing at an easy pace, on his way to
deliver his lecture. This man was one of the judicial
glories of the nineteenth century, the rival of tlu,
Zachariaes and the Ruhdorffs. His new dignity as peer
of France had in no way altered his external de-
meanour. He was known to be poor, and was treated
with profound respect.

Meanwhile, at the lower end of the square, some per-
sons cried out :

" Down with Guizot ! "

" Down with Pritchard ! "

" Down with the sold ones ! "

" Down with Louis Philippe ! "

The crowd swayed to and fro, and, pressing against
the gate of the courtyard, which was shut, the professor
was prevented from going farther. He stopped in
front of the staircase. He was speedily observed on
the lowest of three steps. He spoke; the loud mur-
murs of the throng drowned his voice. Although at
another time they might love him, they hated him now,
for he represented authority. He was answered by
vociferations from all sides. He shrugged his shoulders

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 37

disdainfully, and plunged into the passage. Martinon
profited by his situation to disappear at the same mo-
ment.

" What a coward ! " said Frederick.

" He was prudent," returned the other.

There was an outburst of applause from the crowd,
from whose point of view this retreat, on the part of
the professor, appeared in the light of a victory. r§Ffi>m
every window, faces, eager with curiosity, lookecj-lpi}fo
Some struck up the " Marseillaise "; others
going to Beranger's house.

" To Laffitte's house ! " 'oo{

" To Chateaubriand's house ! "

" To Voltaire's house ! " yelled the young man wr$»
the fair moustaches. "j-

The police tried to pass around, saying in the mildest
tones they could assume :

" Move on, messieurs ! Move on ! Take yourselves
off!"

Somebody shouted :

" Down with the slaughterers ! "

This was a form of insult common since the troubles
of September. Everyone echoed it. The guardians of
public order were hooted and hissed. They began to
grow pale. One of them could endure it no longer,
and, seeing a low-sized young man approaching too
close, and laughing in his teeth, he pushed him back so
roughly that he tumbled over on his back some five
paces away, in front of a wine-merchant's shop. All
made way ; but almost immediately afterward the po-
liceman rolled on the ground himself, felled by a blow
from a species of Hercules, whose hair hung down like
a bundle of tow under an oilskin cap. Having stopped
for a few minutes at the corner of the Rue Saint-
Jacques, he had very quickly laid down a large case,

38 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

which he had been carrying, in order to make a spring
at the policeman, and, holding down that functionary,
punched his face unmercifully. The other policemen
rushed to the rescue of their comrade. The terrible
shop-assistant was so powerfully built that it took four
of them to overcome him. Two shook him, while keep-
ing a grip on his collar ; two others dragged his arms ;
a fifth gave him digs of the knee in the ribs ; and all
of them called him " brigand," " assassin," " rioter."
With his breast bare, and his clothes in rags, he pro-
tested that he was innocent ; he could not, in cold blood,
look at a child being beaten.

" My name is Dussardier. I'm employed at Mes-
sieurs Valincart Brothers' lace and fancy warehouse, in
the Rue de Clerv. Where's my case? I want my
case ! "

He kept repeating:

" Dussardier, Rue de Clery. My case ! "

However, he quieted down, and, with a stoical air,
allowed himself to be led toward the guard-house in the
Rue Descartes. A flood of people came rushing after
him. Frederick and the young man with the mous-
taches walked immediately behind, full of admiration
for the shopman, and indignant at the violence of power.

As they advanced, the crowd thinned.

The policemen from time to time turned round, with
threatening looks; and the rowdies, no longer having
anything to do, and the spectators not having anything
to look at, all drifted away by degrees. The passers-by,
who met the procession, stared at Dussardier, and in
loud tones made abusive remarks about him. One old
woman, at her own door, bawled out that he had stolen
a loaf of bread from her. This unjust accusation in-
creased the wrath of the two friends. At length, they
reached the guard-house.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 39

Frederick and his companion boldly demanded to
have the man under arrest delivered up. The sentinel
threatened, if they persisted, to ram them into jail too.
They said they desired to see the commander of the
guard-house, and stated their names, and the fact that
they were law-students, declaring that the prisoner was
one also.

They were ushered into a room perfectly bare, in
which, amid an atmosphere of smoke, four benches
lined the roughly plastered walls. At the lower end
there was an open wicket. Then appeared the sturdy
face of Dussardier, who, with his hair all tousled, his
honest little eyes, and his broad snout, suggested to
one's mind in a confused sort of way the physiognomy
of a faithful dog.

" Don't you recognise us? " said Hussonnet.

This was the name of the young man with the mous-
taches.

" Why — " stammered Dussardier.

" Don't play the fool any longer," returned the other.
" We know that, like ourselves, you, too, are a law-
student."

In spite of their winks, Dussardier failed to under-
stand. He appeared to be collecting his thoughts ; then,
suddenly :

" Has my case been found? "

Frederick raised his eyes, feeling much discouraged.

Hussonnet, however, said promptly :

" Ha ! your case, in which you keep your notes of
lectures ? Yes, yes, make your mind easy about that ! "

They made further pantomimic signs with redoubled
energy, till Dussardier at last realised that they had
come to help him ; and he held his tongue, fearing that
he might compromise them. Besides, he experienced
a kind of shamefacedness at seeing himself raised to

40 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the social rank of student, and to an equality with those
young men who had such white hands.

"Do you wish to send any message to anyone?"
asked Frederick.

" No, thanks, not to anyone."

" But your family ? "

He bent his head without replying; the poor fellow
was a bastard. The two friends stood quite astonished
at his silence.

" Have you anything to smoke ? " was Frederick's
next question.

He felt about, then drew forth from the depths of
one of his pockets the remains of a pipe — a beautiful
pipe, made of white talc with a shank of blackwood, a
silver cover, and an amber mouthpiece.

For the last three years he had been engaged in com-
pleting this masterpiece. He had carefully kept the
bowl of it in a kind of sheath of chamois, smoking it
as slowly as possible, without ever letting it lie on any
cold stone substance, and hanging it up every evening
over the head of his bed. And now he shook out the
fragments of it into his hand, the nails of which were
covered with blood, and with his chin sunk on his chest,
his pupils fixed and dilated, he gazed at this wreck of
the thing that had yielded him such delight with un-
utterable sadness.

" Suppose we give him some cigars, eh? " said Hus-
sonnet in a whisper, making a gesture as if he were
handing them out.

Frederick had already laid down a cigar-holder,
filled, on the edge of the wicket.

" Pray take this. Good-bye ! Cheer up ! "

Dussardier flung himself on the two hands that were
held out toward him. He pressed them frantically, his
voice choked with sobs.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 41

" What ? For me !— f or me ! "

The two friends tore themselves away from this ef-
fusive display of gratitude, and went off to lunch to-
gether at the Cafe Tabourey, near the Luxembourg.

While cutting up the beefsteak, Hussonnet informed
his companion that he worked for the fashion journals,
and manufactured catchwords for L 'Art Industriel.

"At Jacques Arnoux's establishment?" said Fred-
erick.

" Do you know him? "

" Yes ! — no ! — that is to say, I have seen him — I have
met him."

He carelessly asked Hussonnet if he ever saw Ar-
noux's wife.

" Sometimes/' the Bohemian replied.

Frederick did not venture to follow up his inquiries.
This man henceforth would occupy a large space in his
life. He paid the cafe bill without any protest on the
other's part.

There was a bond of mutual sympathy between
them ; they gave one another their respective addresses,
and Hussonnet cordially invited Frederick to accom-
pany him to the Rue de Fleurus.

They had reached the middle of the garden, when
Arnoux's clerk, holding his breath, twisted his features
into a hideous grimace, and began to crow like a cock.
Thereupon all the cocks in the vicinity responded with
prolonged " cock-a-doodle-doos."

" It is a signal," explained Hussonnet.

They stopped close to the Theatre Bobino, in front
of a house, which they approached by way of an
alley. In the skylight of a garret, between the nastur-
tiums and the sweet peas, a young woman showed her-
self, bare-headed, in her stays, her two arms resting on
the edge of the roof-gutter.

42 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Good-morrow, my angel ! good-morrow, ducky ! "
said Hussonnet, sending her kisses.

He made the barrier fly open with a kick, and dis-
appeared.

Frederick waited for him all the week. He did not
like to call at Hussonnet's residence, lest it might ap-
pear as if he were in a hurry for a luncheon in return
for the one he had paid for. But he sought the clerk all
over the Latin Quarter. He came across him one even-
ing, and brought him to his apartment on the Quai
Napoleon.

They had a long chat, and unbosomed themselves to
each other. Hussonnet yearned after the glory and the
gains of the theatre. He collaborated in the writing
of vaudevilles which were not accepted, " had heaps of
plans," could turn a couplet ; he sang for Frederick a
few of the verses he had composed. Then, noticing on
one of the shelves a volume of Hugo and another of
Lamartine, he broke out into sarcastic criticisms of the
romantic school. These poets had neither good sense
nor correctness, and, above all, did not write French !
He plumed himself on his knowledge of the language,
and analysed the most beautiful phrases with that
snarling severity, that academic taste, which persons of
playful disposition exhibit when they are discussing
serious art.

Frederick was wounded in his predilections, and felt
a desire to shorten the discussion. Why not take the
risk at once of uttering the word on which his happi-
ness depended ? He asked this literary youth whether
it would be possible to get an introduction into the
Arnoux's house through him.

The thing was declared to be quite easy, and they
fixed upon the following day.

Hussonnet failed to keep the appointment, and on

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 43

three subsequent occasions he did not turn up. One
Saturday, about four o'clock, he made his appearance.
But, taking advantage of the cab into which they had
got, he drew up in front of the Theatre Frangais to get
a box-ticket, got down at a tailor's shop, then at a
dressmaker's, and wrote notes in the doorkeeper's
lodge. At last they came to the Boulevard Mont-
martre. Frederick passed through the shop, and went
up the staircase. Arnoux recognised him through the
glass-partition in front of his desk, and while continu-
ing to write he stretched out his hand and laid it on
Frederick's shoulder.

Five or six persons, standing around, filled the nar-
row apartment, which was lighted by a single window
looking out on the yard ; a sofa of brown damask wool
filled the interior of an alcove between two door-cur-
tains of similar material. Upon the chimney-piece,
covered with old papers, there was a bronze Venus.
Two candelabra, garnished with rose-coloured wax-
tapers, supported it, one at each side. At the right,
near a cardboard chest of drawers, a man, seated in an
armchair, and with his hat on, was reading a news-
paper. The walls were hidden beneath an array of
prints and pictures, precious engravings or sketches by
contemporary masters, adorned with dedications testi-
fying the most sincere affection for Jacques Arnoux.

" You're getting on well all this time ? " said he, turn-
ing round to Frederick.

And, without waiting for an answer, he asked Hus-
sonnet in a low tone :

" What is your friend's name ? " Then, raising his
voice :

" Take a cigar out of the box on the cardboard
stand."

The office of L 'Art Industriel, situated in a central

44 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

position in Paris, was a convenient place of resort, a
neutral ground wherein rivalries elbowed each other
familiarly. On this day might be seen there Antenor
Braive, who painted portraits of kings ; Jules Burrieu,
who by his sketches was popularising the wars in Al-
geria ; the caricaturist Sombary, the sculptor Vourdat,
and several others. And not a single one of them cor-
responded with the student's preconceived ideas. Their
manners were simple, their talk free and easy. The
mystic Lovarias told an obscene story ; and the inventor
of Oriental landscape, the famous Dittmer, wore a knit-
ted shirt under his waistcoat, and went home in the
omnibus.

The first topic discussed was the case of a girl named
Apollonie, formerly a model, whom Burrieu alleged
that he had seen on the boulevard in a carriage. Hus-
sonnet explained this metamorphosis through the suc-
cession of persons who had loved her.

" How well this sly dog knows the girls of Paris ! "
said Arnoux.

" After you, if there are any of them left, sire," re-
plied the Bohemian, with a military salute, in imitation
of the grenadier offering his flask to Napoleon.

The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
a man of middle stature, whose coat was fastened by a
single button, and whose eyes glittered with a rather
wild expression.

" What a lot of shopkeepers you are ! " said he.
" God bless my soul ! what does money signify ? The
old masters did not trouble their heads about the mil-
lion— Correggio, Murillo "

" Add Pellerin," said Sombary.

But, without taking the least notice of the epigram,
he went on talking with such vehemence that Arnoux
was forced to repeat twice to him :

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 45

" My wife expects you on Thursday. Don't for-
get!"

This remark recalled Madame Arnoux to Frederick's
thoughts. No doubt, she could be reached through the
little room near the sofa. Arnoux had just opened the
portiere leading into it to get a pocket-handkerchief,
and Frederick had seen a wash-stand at the far end of
the apartment.

But at this point a kind of muttering sound came
from the corner of the chimney-piece ; it was caused by
the personage who sat in the armchair reading the
newspaper. He was a man of five feet nine inches in
height, with rather heavy eyelashes, a head of grey
hair, and an imposing appearance; his name was
Regimbart.

" What's the matter now, citizen ? " said Arnoux.

" Another piece of rascality on the part of the Gov-
ernment ! "

He was referring to the dismissal of a schoolmaster.

Pellerin again took up his parallel between Michael
Angelo and Shakespeare. Dittmer was leaving when
Arnoux pulled him back in order to put two bank notes
into his hand. Thereupon Hussonnet said, considering
this an opportune time :

" Couldn't you give me an advance, my dear mas-
ter ?"

But Arnoux had resumed his seat, and was severely
reprimanding an old man of mean aspect, who wore a
pair of blue spectacles.

" Ha ! a nice fellow you are, Pere Isaac ! Here are
three works cried down, destroyed ! Everybody is
laughing at me ! People know what they are now !
What can I do with them ? I'll have to send them off
to California — or to the devil-! Hold your tongue! "

The specialty of this old worthy consisted in attach-

46 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ing the signatures of the great masters to pictures.
Arnoux refused to pay him, and dismissed him in a
brutal fashion. Then, with an entire change of man-
ner, he bowed to a gentleman of affectedly grave de-
meanour, who wore whiskers and displayed a white
tie around his neck and the cross of the Legion of Hon-
our over his breast.

With his elbow resting on the window-fastening, he
talked to him for a long time in honeyed tones. At last
he exclaimed :

" Ah ! well, I am not bothered with brokers, Count."

The nobleman gave way, and Arnoux paid him down
twenty-five louis. As soon as he had gone :

" What a plague these big lords are ! "

"A lot of scoundrels! " muttered Regimbart.

As it grew later, Arnoux became more busy. He
classified articles, tore open letters, set out accounts in
a row ; at the sound of hammering in the warehouse he
went out to look after the packing; then he returned
to his ordinary work ; and, while he kept his steel pen
running over the paper, he indulged in sharp witti-
cisms. He had an invitation to dine with his lawyer
that evening, and was starting next day for Belgium.

The door near the sofa flew open, and a tall, thin
woman entered with abrupt movements, which made
all the trinkets of her watch rattle under her black taf-
feta gown.

It was the woman of whom Frederick had caught a
glimpse last summer at the Palais-Royal. Some of
those present, addressing her by name, shook hands
with her. Hussonnet had at last managed to extract
fifty francs from his employer. The clock struck seven.

All rose to go.

Arnoux told Pellerin to remain, and accompanied
Mademoiselle Vatnaz into the dressing-room.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 47

Frederick could not hear what they said ; they spoke
in whispers. Presently, the woman's voice was raised :

" I have been waiting ever since the job was done,
six months ago."

There was a long silence, and then Mademoiselle
Yatnaz reappeared. Arnoux had again promised her
something.

" Oh ! oh ! later, we shall see ! "

" Good-bye ! happy man," said she, as she was go-
ing out.

Arnoux quickly reentered the dressing-room, rubbed
some cosmetic over his moustaches, raised his braces,
stretched his straps ; and said, while he was washing
his hands:

" I would require two over the door at two hundred
and fifty apiece, in Boucher's style. Is that under-
stood?"

" Very well," said the artist, his face reddening.

'' Good ! and don't forget my wife ! "

Frederick accompanied Pellerin to the end of the
Faubourg Poissonniere, and asked his permission to
call on him sometimes, a favour which was graciously
accorded.

Pellerin read numerous works on aesthetics, in order
to find out the true theory of the Beautiful, convinced
that, when he had discovered it, he would produce
masterpieces. He had surrounded himself with every
imaginable auxiliary — drawings, plaster-casts, models,
engravings ; and he kept searching about, eating his
heart out. Tormented by the desire for glory, and
wasting his days in discussions, believing in a thousand
fooleries — in systems, in criticisms, in the importance
of a regulation or a reform in the domain of Art — he
had at fifty as yet produced nothing save mere sketches.

On entering his studio one's attention was directed

48 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

toward two large pictures, in which the first tones of
colour laid on here and there made on the white canvas
spots of brown, red, and blue. Overhead was a net-
work of lines in chalk, like stitches of thread repeated
twenty times ; it was impossible to understand. Pel-
lerin explained the subject of these two compositions
by indicating with his thumb the portions that were
lacking. The first was intended to represent " The
Madness of Nebuchadnezzar," and the second " The
Burning of Rome by Nero." Frederick expressed ad-
miration of them.

He admired academies of women with dishevelled
hair, landscapes abounding in trunks of trees, twisted
by the storm ; and, above all, freaks of the pen, imita-
tions from memory of Callot, Rembrandt, or Goya, of
which he did not know the models. Pellerin no longer
set any value on these works of his youth. He was
now all in favour of the grand style ; he dogmatised
eloquently about Phidias and Winckelmann. The ob-
jects around him strengthened the force of his lan-
guage ; a death's head on a prie-dieu, yataghans, a
monk's habit. Frederick put on the latter.

Arriving early one day, he surprised the artist in his
wretched folding-bed, which was hidden from view by
a strip of tapestry ; for Pellerin went to bed late, being
an assiduous frequenter of the theatres. An old wo-
man in tatters attended on him. He dined at a cook-
shop, and lived without a mistress.

But why had he never chanced to speak of Madame
Arnoux? As for her husband, at one time he called
Arnoux a decent fellow, at other times a charlatan.
Frederick was waiting for some disclosures on his part.

One day, while looking over one of the portfolios in
the studio, he thought he could trace in the portrait of
a female Bohemian sonv resemblance to Mademoiselle

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 49

Vatnaz; and, as he felt interested in this lady, he de-
sired to know her exact social position.

She had been, at one time, as far as Pellerin could
ascertain, a schoolmistress in the provinces. She now
gave lessons in Paris, and tried to write for the small
journals.

Frederick suggested that one would imagine from
her manners with Arnoux that she was his mistress.

" Pshaw ! he has others ! "

Then, turning away his face, which reddened with
shame at the baseness of the suggestion, the young man
replied, with a swaggering air :

" Very likely his wife gets even with him? "

" Not at all ; she is virtuous."

Frederick again experienced a feeling of compunc-
tion, and the result was that his attendance at the office
of the art journal became more frequent than before.

The big letters which formed the name of Arnoux
on the marble plate above the shop seemed to him
quite peculiar and pregnant with significance, like some
sacred writing. The wide footpath, by its descent,
facilitated his approach ; the door almost opened of its
own accord ; and the handle, smooth to the touch, gave
him the sensation of friendly and, as it were, intelligent
fingers clasping his. Unconsciously, he became as
regular as Regimbart.

Every day Regimbart seated himself in the chimney-
corner, in his armchair, got hold of the National, and
kept possession of it, expressing his thoughts by ex-
clamations or by shrugs of the shoulders.

At eight o'clock in the morning he descended the
heights of Montmartre, in order. to imbibe white wine
in the Rue Notre Dame des Victoires. A late break-
fast, after several games of billiards, occupied time
till three o'clock. He then directed his steps toward the

50 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Passage des Panoramas, where 'he had a glass of ab-
sinthe. After the sitting in Arnoux's shop, he entered
the Bordelais smoking-divan, where he swallowed some
bitters ; then, rather than return home to his wife, he
preferred to dine alone in a little cafe in the Rue Gail-
Ion, where he desired them to serve up to him " house-
hold dishes, natural things." Finally, he made his way
to another billiard-room, and remained there till mid-
night ; in fact, till one o'clock in the morning, up to the
last moment, when, the gas being put out and the win-
dow-shutters fastened, the master of the establishment,
worn out, begged him to leave.

And it was not the love of drinking that attracted
Citizen Regimbart to these places, but the inveterate
habit of talking politics at such resorts.

Arnoux appeared to have a very great esteem for
him. One day he said to Frederick :

" He knows a lot, I can tell you. He is an able man."

On another occasion Regimbart spread over his desk
papers relating to the kaolin mines in Brittany. Arnoux
referred to his own experience on the subject.

Frederick showed himself more ceremonious toward
Regimbart, going so far as to invite him from time to
time to join him in a glass of absinthe ; and, although
he considered him a stupid man, he often remained a
full hour in his company solely because he was Jacques
Arnoux's friend.

After pushing forward some contemporary masters
early in their career, Arnoux, the picture-dealer,
a man of progressive ideas, had tried, while clinging
to his artistic ways, to extend his pecuniary profits.
His object was to emancipate the fine arts, to get the
sublime at a cheap price. Over every industry asso-
ciated with Parisian luxury he exercised an influence
which proved advantageous with respect to little things,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 51

but fatal with respect to great things. With his mania
for pandering to public opinion, he made clever artists
swerve from their true path, corrupted the strong, ex-
hausted the weak, and won distinction for those of
mediocre talent; he set them up with the assistance of
his connections and of his magazine. Tyros in paint-
ing were ambitious to see their works in his shop-
window, and upholsterers brought specimens of furni-
ture to his house. Frederick regarded him, at the one
time, as a millionaire, as a dilettante, and as a man of
action. However, he noticed many things that rilled
him with astonishment, for my lord Arnoux was rather
sly in his commercial transactions.

He received from the very heart of Germany or of
Italy a picture purchased in Paris for fifteen hundred
francs, and, exhibiting an invoice that brought the
price up to four thousand, he sold it over again for
three thousand five hundred. One of his regular tricks
with painters was to exact as a drink-allowance an
abatement in the purchase-money of their pictures, un-
der the pretence that he would bring out an engraving
of it. He always, when selling such pictures, made a
profit by the abatement; but the engraving never ap-
peared. To those who complained that he had taken
an advantage of them, he would reply by a slap on the
stomach. Generous in other ways, however, he squan-
dered money on cigars for his acquaintances, " thee'd "
and " thou'd " persons who were unknown, displayed
enthusiasm about a work or a man ; and, after that,
sticking to his opinion, and, regardless of consequences,
spared no expense in journeys, correspondence, and
advertising. He considered himself very upright, and,
yielding to an irresistible impulse to unbosom himself,
ingenuously told his friends about certain indelicate
acts of which he had been guilty. Once, in order to

52 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

annoy a member of his own trade who inaugurated
another art journal with a big banquet, he asked Fred-
erick to write, under his own eyes, a little before the
hour fixed for the entertainment, letters to the guests
recalling the invitations.

" This impugns nobody's honour, you understand ? "

And the young man did not dare to refuse the ser-
vice.

Next day, on entering with Hussonnet M. Arnoux's
office, Frederick saw through the door (the one open-
ing on the staircase) the hem of a lady's dress disap-
pearing.

" A thousand pardons ! " said Hussonnet. " If I had
known that there were women "

" Oh ! that one is my own," replied Arnoux. " She
just came in to pay me a visit as she was passing."

" You don't say so ! " said Frederick.

" Why, yes ; she is going back home again."

The charm of the surroundings was suddenly with-
drawn. That which had seemed to him to be diffused
vaguely through the place had now vanished — or,
rather, it had never been there. He felt an infinite
amazement, and, as it were, the painful sensation of
having been betrayed.

Arnoux, while rummaging about in his drawer,
smiled. Was he laughing at him ? The clerk laid down
a bundle of moist papers on the table.

" Ha ! the placards," exclaimed the picture-dealer.
" I am not ready to dine this evening."

Regimbart took up his hat.

" What, are you leaving? "

" Seven o'clock," said Regimbart.

Frederick followed him.

At the corner of the Rue Montmartre, he looked
back. He glanced toward the windows of the first

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 53

fioor, and he laughed internally with self-pity as he re-
called to mind with what love he had so often contem-
plated them. Where, then, did she reside? How would
he ever meet her now? Once more the object of his
desire was encompassed by a solitude more immense
than ever!

" Are you going to take it ? " asked Regimbart.

" To take what ? "

" The absinthe."

And, yielding to his importunities, Frederick allowed
himself to be led toward the Bordelais smoking-divan.
Whilst his companion, leaning on his elbow, was star-
ing at the decanter, he was turning his eyes to the right
and to the left. He caught a glimpse of Pellerin's pro-
file on the footpath outside ; the painter gave a quick
tap at the window-pane, and he had scarcely sat down
when Regimbart asked him why they no longer saw
him at the office of L'Art Industriel.

" May I perish before ever I go back there again.
The fellow is a brute a mere tradesman, a wretch, a
downright rogue ! "

These insulting words harmonised with Frederick's
present angry mood. Nevertheless, he was wounded,
for it seemed to him that they hit at Madame Arnoux
more or less.

" Why, what has Arnoux done to you ? " said Re-
gimbart.

Pellerin stamped with his foot on the ground, and his
only response was an energetic puff.

He had been devoting himself to artistic work of a
kind that he did not care to connect his name with, such
as portraits for two crayons, or pasticcios from the
great masters for amateurs of limited knowledge ; and,
as he felt humiliated by these inferior productions, he
preferred usually to hold his tongue on the subject.

54 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

But " Arnoux's dirty conduct " exasperated him. He
had to relieve his feelings.

In accordance with an order, which had been given
in Frederick's very presence, he had brought Arnoux
two pictures. Thereupon the dealer took the liberty of
criticising them. He found fault with the composition,
the colouring, and the drawing — above all, the draw-
ing; he would not, in short, take them at any price.
But, driven to extremities by a bill falling due, Pellerin
had to give them to the Jew Isaac ; and, a fortnight
later, Arnoux himself sold them to a Spaniard for two
thousand francs.

" Not a sou less ! What rascality ! and, faith, he is
always doing things just as bad. One of these morn-
ings we'll see him in the dock ! "

" How you exaggerate ! " said Frederick, in a timid
voice.

" Come, now, that's good ; I exaggerate ! " exclaimed
the artist, giving the table a great blow with his fist.

This violence completely restored the young man's
self-command. No doubt he might have acted more
generously ; still, if Arnoux found these two pic-
tures—

" Bad, say it! Are you then a judge of them? Is
that your profession ? Now, you know, my boy, I don't
allow this sort of thing on the part of mere amateurs."

" Ah, well, it's none of my business," said Frederick.

" Then, what interest have you in defending him ? "
returned Pellerin, coldly.

The young man faltered :

" Well — since I am his friend —

" Go, and give him a hug for me. Good evening ! "

And the painter rushed away in a rage, and, of
course, without paying for his drink.

Frederick, whilst defending Arnoux, had convinced

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 55

himself. In the heat of his eloquence, he was filled with
tenderness toward this man, so intelligent and kind,
whom his friends calumniated, and who was now aban-
doned by them. He could not resist a strange impulse
to go at once and see him again. Ten minutes later he
pushed open the door of the picture-warehouse.

Arnoux was preparing, with the assistance of his
clerks, some huge placards for an exhibition of pic-
tures.

" Halloa ! what brings you back again ? "

This question, simple though it was, embarrassed
Frederick, and, at a loss for an answer, he asked
whether they had happened to find a notebook of his
— a little notebook with a blue leather cover.

" The one that you put your letters to women in ? "
said Arnoux.

Frederick, blushing like a young girl, protested
against such an assumption.

" Your verses, then ? " returned the picture-dealer.

He was handling the pictures that were to be ex-
hibited, examining their form, colouring, and frames ;
and Frederick felt more and more irritated by his air
of abstraction, and particularly by the appearance of
his hands — large hands, rather soft, with flat nails. At
length, M. Arnoux arose, and saying, " That's disposed
of ! " he chucked the young man familiarly under the
chin. Frederick was offended at this liberty, and re-
coiled a pace or two ; then he made a dash for the shop-
door, and passed out through it, as he imagined, for the
last time in his life. Madame Arnoux herself had been
lowered in his mind by the vulgarity of her husband.

During the same week he got a letter from Des-
lauriers', informing him that the clerk would be in Paris
on the following Thursday. Then he flung himself
back violently on this affection as one of a more solid

56 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

and lofty character. A man of this sort was worth all
the women in the world. He would no longer have any
need of Regimbart, of Pellerin, of Hussonnet, of any-
one ! In order to provide his friend with as comfort-
able quarters as possible, he bought an iron bedstead
and a second armchair, stripping off some of his own
bed-covering to furnish the new one properly. On
Thursday morning he was dressing himself to go to
meet Deslauriers when there was a ring at the door.

Arnoux entered.

" Just a word. Yesterday I got a fine trout from
Geneva. We expect you to-night — at seven o'clock
sharp. The address is the Rue de Choiseul 24 bis.
Don't forget ! "

Frederick was obliged to sit down ; his knees were
tottering under him. He repeated to himself, " At
last ! at last ! " Then he wrote to his tailor, to his
hatter, and to his bootmaker ; and he despatched these
three notes by three different messengers.

The key turned in the lock, and the door-keeper
appeared with a trunk on his shoulder.

Frederick, on seeing Deslauriers, began to tremble
like an adulteress before her husband.

" What has happened to you ? " said Deslauriers.
" Surely you got my letter ? "

Frederick had not enough energy left to lie. He
flung himself on his friend's breast.

Then the clerk told his story. His father tried to
avoid giving an account of the expense of tutelage,
thinking that the period limited for rendering such ac-
counts was ten years ; but, well versed in legal pro-
cedure, Deslauriers had managed to get the share
coming to him from his mother into his own posses-
sion— seven thousand francs clear — which he had there
with him in an old pocket-book.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 57

" 'Tis a reserve fund, in case of misfortune. I must
think over the best way of investing it, and find quar-
ters for myself to-morrow morning. To-day I'm per-
fectly free, and am entirely at your service, my old
friend."

" Oh, don't put yourself about," said Frederick. " If
you had anything of importance to attend to this even-
ing »

" Come, now ! I would be a selfish wretch "

This epithet, flung out at random, touched Freder-
ick to the quick, like a reproach.

The door-keeper had placed on the table close to the
fire some chops, cold meat, a large lobster, some sweets
for dessert, and two bottles of Bordeaux.

Deslauriers was touched by these excellent prepara-
tions to welcome his arrival.

" Upon my word, you are treating me like a king ! "

They talked about the past and about the future;
and, from time to time, they grasped each other's
hands across the table, gazing at each other tenderly.

But a messenger came with a new hat. Deslauriers,
in a loud tone, remarked that it was very showy. Next
came the tailor himself to fit on the coat, to which he
had given a touch with the smoothing-iron.

" One would imagine you were about to be mar-
ried," said Deslauriers.

An hour later, a third individual appeared on the
scene, and drew forth from a big black bag a pair of
shining patent leather boots. While Frederick was
trying them on, the bootmaker indirectly drew atten-
tion to the shoes of the young man from the country.

" Does Monsieur require anything ? "

" No, thanks," replied the clerk, drawing behind his
chair his old shoes fastened with strings.

This humiliating incident annoyed Frederick. At

58 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

length he exclaimed, as if the idea had suddenly taken
possession of him :

" Ha! deuce take it! I was forgetting."

" What is it, pray ? "

" I have to dine in the city this evening."

" At the Dambreuses' ? Why did you never say
anything to me about them in your letters ? "

" It is not at the Dambreuses', but at the Arnoux's."

" You should have let me know beforehand," said
Deslauriers. " I would have come a day later."

" Impossible," returned Frederick, abruptly. " I
only received the invitation this morning."

And to redeem his error and distract his friend's
mind from the occurrence, he proceeded to unfasten
the tangled cords around the trunk, and to arrange the
contents in the chest of drawers, expressing his will-
ingness to give him his owrn bed, and offering to sleep
himself in the dressing-room bedstead. Then, at four
o'clock, he began the preparations for his toilet.

" You have plenty of time," said the other.

At last he was dressed and off he went.

" That's the way with the rich," thought Deslauriers.

And he went to dine in the Rue Saint-Jacques, at a
little restaurant kept by a man he knew.

Frederick stopped several times while going up the
stairs, so violently did his heart beat. Arnoux, who
was mounting the stairs behind him, took him by the
arm and led him in.

Mademoiselle Marthe came to announce that her
mamma was dressing. Arnoux raised her in his arms
and kissed her; then, as he wished to select certain
bottles of wine from the cellar himself, he left Freder-
ick with the little girl.

She had grown considerably since the trip in the
steamboat. Her dark hair descended in long ringlets,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 59

which curled over her bare arms. Her dress, more
fluffed out than the petticoat of a danseusc, disclosed
her rosy calves, and her pretty childlike form had all
the fresh odour of a bunch of flowers. She received
the young gentleman's compliments with a coquettish
air, fixed on him her large, dreamy eyes, then slipping
on the carpet, disappeared like a cat.

After this he no longer felt ill at ease. The globes
of the lamps, covered with a paper lace-work, sent
forth a white light, softening the colour of the walls,
hung with mauve satin. It was altogether a peaceful
sight, suggesting the idea of propriety and innocent
family life.

Arnoux returned, and at the same moment Madame
Arnoux appeared at the other doorway. As she was
enveloped in shadow, the young man could at first
distinguish only her head. She wore a black velvet
gown, and in her hair she had fastened a long Al-
gerian cap, in a red silk net, which coiling round her
comb, fell over her left shoulder.

Arnoux introduced Frederick.

" Oh ! I remember Monsieur perfectly," she re-
sponded.

Then the guests arrived, nearly all at the same time
— Dittmer, Lovarias, Burrieu, the composer Rosen-
wald, the poet Theophile Lorris, two art critics, col-
leagues of Hussonnet, a paper manufacturer, and in
the rear the illustrious Pierre Paul Meinsius, the last
representative of the grand school of painting, who
blithely carried along with his glory his forty-five years
and his big paunch.

When they were passing into the dining-room,
Madame Arnoux took his arm. A chair had been left
vacint fo- Pellerin. Arnoux, though he took advan-
tage of him in business, was fond of him. Besides, he

60 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

was afraid of his terrible tongue, so much so that, in
order to soften him, he had printed a portrait of him
in L'Art Industricl, accompanied by exaggerated eu-
logies ; and Pellerin, more sensitive about distinction
than about money, made a breathless appearance about
eight o'clock. Frederick judged that they had been a
long time reconciled.

He liked the company, the dishes, everything. He
had to make his choice between ten sorts of mustard.
He partook of daspachio, of curry, of ginger, of Cor-
sican blackbirds, and a species of Roman macaroni
called lasagna ; he drank extraordinary wines, lip-f raeli
and tokay. Arnoux indeed prided himself on enter-
taining people in good style. With an eye to the pro-
curement of eatables, he paid court to mail-coach
drivers, and was in league with the cooks of great
houses, who divulged to him the secrets of rare sauces.

But Frederick was particularly entertained by the
conversation. His taste for travelling was tickled by
Dittmer, who talked about the East ; he gratified his
curiosity about theatrical matters by listening to Rosen-
wald's chat about the opera ; and the atrocious existence
of Bohemia assumed for him a droll aspect when pre-
sented through the gaiety of Hussonnet, who related,
in a picturesque fashion, how he had spent an entire
winter with no food except Dutch cheese. Then a dis-
cussion between Lovarias and Burrieu about the
Florentine School gave him new ideas with regard to
masterpieces and widened his horizon. He found dif-
ficulty in restraining his enthusiasm when Pellerin
exclaimed :

" Don't talk to me about your hideous reality !
What does it mean — reality? Some see things black,
others blue — the multitude sees them brute-fashion.
There is nothing less natural than Michael Angelo ;

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 61

there is nothing more powerful ! The anxiety about
eternal truth is a mark of contemporary baseness ; and
art will become, if things go on in that way, a sort
of poor joke as much below religion as it is below
poetry, and as much below politics as it is below busi-
ness. You will never reach its end — yes, its end!
— which is to cause within us an impersonal exalta-
tion, with petty works, in spite of all your finished
execution. Look, for instance, at Bassolier's pictures :
they are pretty coquettish, spruce, and by no means
dull. You might put them into your pocket, carry
them with you when you are travelling. Notaries buy
them for twenty thousand francs, while pictures of the
ideal type bring three sous. But, without ideality,
there is no grandeur ; without grandeur there is no
beauty. Olympus is a mountain. The most effective
monument will always be the Pyramids. Exuberance
is better than taste ; the desert is better than a street-
pavement, and a savage is surely better than a hair-
dresser ! "

Frederick, as these words fell upon his ear, glanced
towards Madame Arnoux. They sank into his soul
like metals falling into a furnace, added to his passion,
and supplied the material of love.

His chair was three seats below hers on the same
side. From time to time, she bent forward a little,
turning aside her head to address a few words to her
little daughter ; and as she smiled on these occasions,
a dimple appeared in her cheek, giving to her face an
expression of dainty good-nature.

As soon as the time came for the gentlemen to take
their wine, she disappeared. The conversation became
more free and easy. M. Arnoux shone in it, and
Frederick was amazed at the cynicism of men. How-
ever, their preoccupation with women established be-

62 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tween them and him, as it were, an equality, which
raised him in his own estimation.

When they had returned to the drawing-room, he
took up, to keep himself in countenance, one of the
albums which lay about on the table. The great artists
of the day had illustrated them with drawings, had
written in them snatches of verse or prose, or simply
their signatures. In the midst of famous names he
found many that he had never heard of before, and
original thoughts appeared only underneath a flood of
nonsense. All these effusions contained a more or
less direct expression of homage toward Madame
Arnoux. Frederick would have been afraid to write
a line beside them.

She went into her boudoir to look at the little chest
with silver clasps which he had noticed on the mantel-
shelf. It was a present from her husband, a work of
the Renaissance. Arnoux's friends complimented him,
and his wife thanked him. His tender emotions were
aroused, and before all the guests he kissed her.

After this they chatted in groups here and there.
The worthy Meinsius was beside Madame Arnoux in
an easy chair close by the fire. She was leaning for-
ward toward his ear; their heads were almost touch-
ing, and Frederick would have been glad to become
deaf, infirm, and ugly if he might thereby gain an
illustrious name and white hair — in short, if he only
happened to possess something which would justify
such intimate association with her. He began once
more to eat out his heart, furious at the idea of being
so young a man.

But at last she came into the corner of the drawing-
room where he was sitting, and asked him whether he
was acquainted with any of the guests, whether he
was fond of painting, how long he had been a student

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 63

in Paris. Every word that came out of her mouth
seemed to Frederick something entirely new, an ex-
clusive appendage of her personality. He gazed at
the fringes of her head-dress, the ends of which car-
essed her bare shoulder, and he was unable to remove
his eyes ; he plunged his soul into the whiteness of
that feminine flesh, and yet he did not venture to raise
his eyes to glance at her higher, face to face.

Rosenwald interrupted them, begging of Madame
Arnoux to sing something. He played a prelude, she
waited, her lips opened slightly, and a sound, pure,
long-continued, silvery, ascended into the air.

Frederick did not understand a single one of the
Italian words. The song began with a grave meas-
ure, something like church music, then in a more ani-
mated strain, with a crescendo movement, it broke
into repeated bursts of sound, then suddenly subsided,
and the melody came back again in a tender fashion
with a wide and rhythmic swing.

She stood beside the keyboard, her arms hanging
down and a far-off look on her face. Sometimes, in
order to read the music, she advanced her forehead
for a moment and her eyelashes moved to and fro.
Her contralto voice in the low notes took a mournful
intonation which had a chilling effect on the listener,
and then her beautiful head, with those great brows
of hers, bent over her shoulder ; her bosom swelled ;
her eyes widened ; her neck, from which roulades made
their escape, fell back as if under aerial kisses. She
flung out three sharp notes, came down again, sent
forth one higher still, and, after a silence, finished with
an organ-point.

Rosenwald did not leave the piano. He continued
playing, to amuse himself. From time to time a guest
stole away. At eleven o'clock, as the last of them were

64 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

departing, Arnoux went out along with Pellerin, under
the pretext of seeing him home. He was one of those
people who claim to be ill when they do not " take
a turn " after dinner. Madame Arnoux had made her
way toward the anteroom. Dittmer and Hussonnet
bowed to her. She stretched out her hand to them.
She did the same to Frederick; and he felt, as it were,
something penetrating every particle of his skin.

He left his friends. He wished to be alone. His
heart was overflowing. Why had she offered him
her hand ? Was it a thoughtless act, or an encourage-
ment ? " Come now ! I am mad ! " Besides, what
did it matter, now that he could visit her entirely at
his ease, live in the very atmosphere she breathed?

The streets were deserted. Now and then a heavy
wagon would roll past, shaking the pavements. Sud-
denly he felt himself in the midst of a circle of damp
air, and found that he was on the edge of the quays.

He stopped in the middle of the Pont Neuf, and,
taking off his hat and exposing his chest, he drank in
the air. He felt as if something that was inexhaustible
were ascending from the very depths of his being, an
afflux of tenderness that enervated him, like the mo-
tion of the waves under his eyes. A church-clock
slowly struck one, and had the effect of a voice calling
out to him.

Then, he was seized with one of those shuddering
sensations of the soul in which one seems to be trans-
ported into a higher world. He felt, as it were, en-
dowed with some extraordinary faculty, the purpose
of which he could not determine. He seriously ques-
tioned himself whether he would be a great painter
or a great poet ; and he decided in favour of painting,
for this profession would bring him into closer contact
with Madame Arnoux. At last, he had found his

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 65

vocation ! The goal of his life was now perfectly clear,
and there could be no mistake about the future.

When he had closed his door, he heard some one
snoring in the dark closet near his apartment. It was
his friend. He no longer wasted a thought on him.

Looking in the glass he contemplated his own face.
It appeared to him handsome. For a whole minute
he stood gazing at himself.

CHAPTER V

A CONSUMING LOVE

FREDERICK had purchased an easel, a box of
paints, and brushes before twelve o'clock the
following day. Pellerin agreed to give him
lessons, and Frederick brought him to his lodgings
to see whether anything more was needed among his
painting utensils.

Deslauriers was in, and the second armchair was
occupied by a young man. The clerk said, pointing
towards him :

"-'Tis he ! There he is ! Senecal ! " Frederick did
not like this young man. His forehead was heightened
by the manner in which he wore his hair, cut straight
like a brush. There was a certain hard, cold look in
his grey eyes ; and his long black coat, his entire
costume, savoured of the pedagogue and the ecclesi-
astic.

They first discussed topics of the moment, amongst
others the Stabat of Rossini. Senecal, in answer to
a question, stated that he never went to the theatre.

Pellerin opened the box of colours.

"Are these all yours?" said the clerk.

" Why, certainly ! "

" Well, really ! What a notion ! " And he leaned
across the table, at which the mathematical tutor was
turning over the leaves of a volume of Louis Blanc.
He had brought it with him, and was reading passages
from it in low tones, while Pellerin and Frederick

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 67

examined together the palette, the knife, and the
bladders ; then the talk came round to the dinner at
Arnoux's.

" The picture-dealer, is it? " asked Senecal. "A nice
gentleman, truly ! "

" Why, now ? " said Pellerin. Senecal replied :

" A man who makes money by political turpitude ! "

And he went on to talk about a well-known litho-
graph, in which all the Royal Family were represented
as being engaged in edifying occupations: Louis
Philippe had a copy of the Code in his hand ; the Queen
had a Catholic prayer-book; the Princesses were em-
broidering ; the Due de Nemours was girding on a
sword ; M. de Joinville was showing a map to his
young brothers ; and at one end of the apartment could
be seen a bed with two divisions. This picture, which
was entitled " A Good Family," was a source of de-
light to commonplace middle-class people, but of grief
to patriots.

Pellerin, in a tone of annoyance, as if he had been
himself the producer of this work, observed by way of
answer that every opinion had some value. Senecal
protested : Art should aim exclusively at promoting
morality amongst the masses! The only subjects that
ought to be reproduced were those which incited to
virtuous actions ; all others were injurious.

" But that depends on the execution," cried Pellerin.
" I might produce masterpieces."

" So much the worse of you, then ; you have no
right "

"What?"

" No, Monsieur, you have no right to excite my
interest in matters of which I disapprove. What need
have we of laborious trifles, from which it is impos-
sible to derive any benefit — those Venuses, for instance.

68 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

with all your landscapes ? They contain no instruction
for the people ! Show us rather their miseries ! arouse
enthusiasm in us for their sacrifices ! Ah, my God !
there is no lack of subjects — the farm, the work-
shop—

Pellerin stammered forth his indignation at this,
and, imagining that he had found an argument :

" Moliere, do you accept him ? "

" Certainly ! " said Senecal. " I admire him as the
precursor of the French Revolution."

" Ha ! the Revolution ! What art ! Never was there
a more pitiable epoch ! "

" None greater, Monsieur ! "

Pellerin folded his arms, and looking at him straight
in the face :

" You have the appearance of a famous member of
the National Guard ! "

His opponent, accustomed to discussions, responded :

" I am not, and I abhor it just as much as you. But
with such principles we corrupt the crowd. This sort
of thing, however, is profitable to the Government. It
would not be so powerful but for the complicity of
rogues of that sort."

The painter commenced to defend the picture-dealer,
for Senecal's opinions exasperated him. He even went
so far as to maintain that Arnoux was really a man
with a heart of gold, devoted to his friends, deeply
attached to his wife.

" Oho ! if you offered him a sufficient sum, he would
not refuse to let her serve as a model."

Frederick turned pale.

" So then, he has done you some great harm, Mon-
sieur? "

" Me? no! I saw him once at a cafe with a friend.
That's all."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 69

Senecal had spoken truly. But he had his teeth
daily set on edge by the announcements in L 'Art In-
dustricl. Arnoux to him represented a world which
he considered antagonistic to democracy. An austere
Republican, he suspected something corrupt in every
form of elegance, and the more so as he wanted noth-
ing himself and was inflexible in his integrity.

They found some difficulty in resuming the con-
versation. The painter soon recalled to mind his ap-
pointment, the tutor his pupils ; and, when they had
gone, after a long silence, Deslauriers asked a number
of questions about Arnoux.

" You will introduce me there later, will you not,
old fellow ? "

" Certainly," said Frederick. Then they talked about
settling themselves. • Deslauriers had without much
trouble obtained the post of second clerk in a solicitor's
office ; he had also entered his name for the terms at
the Law School, and bought the indispensable books.
The life of which they had dreamed for so long now
began.

It was delightful, owing to their youth, which made
everything assume a favourable aspect. As Deslauriers
had said nothing relative to any pecuniary arrange-
ment, Frederick did not refer to the subject. He
helped to defray all the expenses, kept the cupboard
well stocked, and attended to all the household require-
ments ; but if it happened to be necessary to give the
doorkeeper a rating, the clerk took that on his own
shoulders, still maintaining the part, which he had
assumed in their college days, of protector and senior.

Separated all day long, they met in the evenings.
Each took his place at the fireside and set about his
work. But ere long it would be interrupted. Then
would follow endless outpourings, unaccountable

70 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

bursts of merriment, and occasional disputes about
the lamp flaring too much or a book being mislaid,
momentary manifestations of anger which subsided in
hearty laughter.

While in bed they left open the door of the little
room where Deslauriers slept, and kept chattering to
each other.

When it was not raining on Sunday they went out
together, and, arm in arm, sauntered through the
streets. The same ideas nearly always occurred to
them simultaneously. Sometimes they would go on
chatting without noticing anything around them. Des-
lauriers longed for riches, as a means for gaining
power over men.

Frederick's ideal was to furnish for himself a palace
in the Moorish fashion, to spend his life reclining on
cashmere divans, listening to the murmur of a jet of
water, and attended by negro pages. And these things,
of which he had only dreamed, became in time so
definite that he felt as dejected as if he had lost them.

" What is the use of talking about all these things,"
said he, " when we'll never have them? "

"Who knows?" returned Deslauriers.

Despite his democratic views, he urged Frederick
to get an introduction into the Dambreuses' house.

The other, by way of objection, pointed to the failure
of his previous attempts.

" Bah ! go back there. They'll give you an invi-
tation ! "

Toward the close of the month of March, they re-
ceived amongst other bills that of the restaurant-
keeper who supplied them with dinners. Frederick,
not having the entire amount, borrowed a hundred
crowns from Deslauriers. A fortnight afterward, he
renewed the same request, and the clerk lectured him

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 71

on the extravagant habits he was contracting in the
Arnoux's society.

As a matter of fact, he put no restraint upon him-
self in this respect. A view of Venice, a view of
Naples, and another of Constantinople occupying the
centre of three walls respectively, equestrian subjects
by Alfred de Dreux here and there, a group by Pra-
dier over the mantelpiece, numbers of L'Art Industriel
lying on the piano, and works in boards on the floor
in the corners, encumbered the apartment to such an
extent that it was difficult to find a place to lay a book
on, or to move one's elbows about freely. Frederick
maintained that he needed all this for his painting.

He pursued his art-studies under Pellerin. But
when he called on the artist, the latter was often out,
being accustomed to attend at every funeral and pub-
lic occurrence of which an account was given in the
newspapers, and so it was that Frederick spent hours
alone in the studio. His eyes wandering from the task
at which he was engaged, roamed over the shell-work
on the wall, around the objects of virtu, and, like a
traveller who has lost his way in the middle of a
wood, and whom every path brings back to the same
spot, continually, he found underlying every idea in
his mind the recollection of Madame Arnoux.

He selected days for calling on her. When he had
reached the second floor, he would pause on the
threshold, doubtful as to whether he ought to ring
or not. Steps drew nigh, the door opened, and at the
announcement " Madame is out," a sense of relief
would come upon him, as if a weight had been lifted
from his heart. He met her, however. On the first
occasion there were three other ladies with her ; the
next time it was in the afternoon, and Mademoiselle
Marthe's writing-master was present. The men whom

72 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Madame Arnoux received were not very punctilious
about paying visits. For the sake of prudence he
deemed it better not to call again.

But he did not fail to appear regularly at the office
of L 'Art Industricl every Wednesday in order to get
an invitation to the Thursday dinners, and he remained
there later than all the others, even than Regimbart,
right up to the last moment, pretending to be looking
at an engraving or to be running his eye over a news-
paper. At last Arnoux would say to him, " Shall you
be disengaged to-morrow evening?" and, before the
sentence was finished, he would give an affirmative
answer. Arnoux appeared to have taken a fancy, to
him.

During these dinners he scarcely uttered a word ; he
kept gazing at her. She had a little mole close to her
temple. Her head-bands were darker than the rest of
her hair, and were always a little moist at the edges ;
from time to time she stroked them with only two
fingers. He was familiar with the shape of each of
her nails. He took delight in listening to the rustle of
her silk skirt as she swept past doors ; he stealthily in-
haled the perfume that came from her handkerchief;
her comb, her gloves, her rings were for him things of
special interest, important as works of art, almost en-
dowed with human life ; all took possession of his
heart and strengthened his passion.

He had not sufficient self-control to conceal it from
Deslauriers. When he came home from Madame
Arnoux's, he would wake up his friend, as if inad-
vertently, in order to have an opportunity to talk about
her.

Deslauriers, who slept in the little closet-room, close
to where they had their water-supply, would give great
yawns. Frederick seated himself on the side of the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 73

bed. At first he spoke about the dinner; then he re-
ferred to a thousand petty details, in which he saw
marks of contempt or of affection. On one occasion,
for instance, she had refrsed his arm, in order to take
Dittmer's ; and Frederick gave vent to his humiliation :

" Ah ! how stupid ! "

Or else she had called him her " dear friend."

" Then go after her gaily ! "

" But I dare not," said Frederick.

" Well, then, think no more about her ! Good
night ! "

Deslauriers thereupon turned on his side, and fell
asleep. He felt utterly unable to comprehend this love,
which seemed to him the last weakness of adolescence ;
and, as his own society was apparently not enough to
satisfy Frederick, he conceived the idea of bringing
together, once a week, those whom they both recog-
nised as friends.

They came on Saturday about nine o'clock. The
three Algerine curtains were carefully drawn. The
lamp and four wax-lights were burning. In the mid-
dle of the table the tobacco-pot, filled with pipes, dis-
played itself between the beer-bottles, the tea-pot, a
flagon of rum, and some fancy biscuits.

They discussed the immortality of the soul, and drew
comparisons between the different professors.

One evening Hussonnet introduced a tall young
man, wearing a frock-coat, too short in the wrists, and
with a look of embarrassment on his face. It was the
young fellow whom they had tried to release from
the guard-house the year before.

As he had been unable to restore the box of lace
lost in the scuffle, his employer had accused him of
theft, and threatened to prosecute him. He was now
a clerk in a wagon-office. Hussonnet had come across

74 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

him that morning at the corner of the street, and
brought him along, for Dussardier, in a spirit of grati-
tude, had expressed a wish to see " the other."

He held out toward Frederick the cigar-holder,
which he had religiously preserved, still full, in the
hope of being able to give it back. The young men
invited him to pay them a second visit; and he was
not slow in doing so.

They all had sympathies in common. Their hatred
of the Government reached the height of an unques-
tionable dogma. Martinon alone attempted to defend
Louis Philippe. They overwhelmed him with the com-
monplaces rampant in the newspapers — the " Bastilli-
zation " of Paris, the September laws, Pritchard, Lord
Guizot — so that Martinon decided to hold his tongue
for fear of giving offence to somebody. During his
seven years at college he had never incurred the
penalty of an imposition, and at the Law School he
knew how to make himself agreeable to the professors.
He usually wore a big putty-colored frock-coat, with
india-rubber goloshes ; but one evening he presented
himself arrayed like a bridegroom, in a velvet roll-
collar waistcoat, a white tie, and a gold chain.

The astonishment of the other young men was still
greater when they learned that he had just come away
from M. Dambreuse's house. In fact, the banker
Dambreuse had just bought a portion of an extensive
wood from Martinon senior ; and, when the worthy
man introduced his son, the other had invited them
both to dinner.

"Were there plenty of truffles there?" asked Des-
lauriers. " And did you take his wife by the waist
between the two doors, sicut decet?"

Hereupon the conversation turned on women. Pel-
lerin would not admit that there were beautiful women

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 75

(he preferred tigers) ; besides, the human female was
an inferior creature in the aesthetic hierarchy:

" What fascinates you physically is just the very
thing that degrades her as an idea ; I mean her breasts,
her hair "

" Nevertheless," urged Frederick, " long black hair
and large dark eyes —

" Oh ! we know all about that," cried Hussonnet.
" Enough of Andalusian beauties on the lawn. Those
things are out of date ; no, thank you ! For the fact
is, honour bright ! a fast woman is more amusing
than the Venus of Milo. Let us be Gallic, in Heaven's
name, and after the Regency style, if we can !

'Flow, generous wines; ladies, deign to smile!'

We must pass from the dark to the fair. Do you agree,
Father Dussardier?"

Dussardier did not reply. They all pressed him to
state what his tastes were.

" Well," said he, colouring, " for my part, I would
like to love the same one always ! "

This was said in such a way that there was a mo-
ment of silence, some of them being surprised at this
candour, and others finding in his words, perhaps, the
secret yearning of their souls.

Senecal placed his glass of beer on the mantelpiece,
declaring dogmatically that, as prostitution was tyran-
nical and marriage immoral, it was better to practise
abstinence. Deslauriers regarded women as a source
of amusement — nothing more. M. de Cisy looked
upon them with the utmost dread.

Brought up under the eyes of a grandmother who
was a devotee, he found the society of these young
fellows as alluring as a place of ill-repute and as in-
structive as the Sorbonne. Frederick showed him the

76 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

greatest attention. He admired the shade of his cravat,
the fur on his overcoat, and especially his boots, as
thin as gloves, and so very neat and fine that they had
a look of insolent superiority. His carriage used to
wait for him below in the street.

One evening, after his departure, when there was
a fall of snow, Senecal began to complain about his
having a coachman. He declaimed against kid-gloved
exquisites and against the Jockey Club. He had more
respect for a workman than for these fine gentlemen.

" For my part, I work for my livelihood ! I am a
poor man ! "

:' That's quite evident/' said Frederick, at length,
losing patience.

The tutor held a grudge against him for this remark.

But, as Regimbart said he knew Senecal pretty well,
Frederick, wishing to be civil to a friend of the Ar-
noux, invited him to the Saturday meetings ; and the
two patriots were glad to be brought together in this
way.

However, they took opposite views of most things.

Senecal — whose skull was of the angular type —
fixed his attention entirely on systems, whereas Reg-
imbart, on the contrary, saw in facts nothing more than
facts. The thing that chiefly troubled him was the
Rhine frontier. He claimed to be an authority on the
subject of artillery, and got his clothes made by a
tailor of the Polytechnic School.

The first day, when they offered him some cakes,
he disdainfully shrugged his shoulders, saying that
they might suit women; and on following occasions
his manner was not much more gracious. Whenever
speculative ideas had reached a certain elevation, he
would mutter: "Oh! no Utopias, no dreams!" On
the subject of Art (though he used to visit the studios,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 77

and occasionally, out of complaisance, give a lesson in
fencing) his opinions were not remarkable for their
excellence. He compared the style of M. Marast to
that of Voltaire, and Mademoiselle Vatnaz to Madame
de Stae'l, on account of an Ode on Poland in which
" there was some spirit." In short, Regimbart bored
everyone, and especially Deslauriers, for the Citizen
was a friend of the Arnoux family. Now the clerk
was most anxious to visit those people in the hope
that he might there make acquaintances who would
be of advantage to him.

" When are you going to take me there with you ? "
he would say. Arnoux was either overburdened with
business, or else starting on a journey. Then it was
not worth while, as the dinners were soon coming to
an end.

If he had been called on to risk his life for his friend,
Frederick would have done so. But, as he was de-
sirous of presenting as good a figure as possible, and
with this in view was most careful about his language
and manners, and so attentive to his costume that he
always appeared at the office of L 'Art Industriel irre-
proachably gloved, he was afraid that Deslauriers, with
his shabby black coat, his attorney-like exterior, and
his swaggering kind of talk, might not be agreeable
to Madame Arnoux, and thus compromise him and
lower him in her estimation. The other results would
have been bad enough, but the last one would have an-
noyed him immeasurably.

The clerk realised that his friend did not wish to
keep his promise, and Frederick's silence seemed to
him an aggravation of the insult. Moreover, Fred-
erick, with his thoughts full of Madame Arnoux, fre-
quently talked about her husband ; and Deslauriers now
began an intolerable course of boredom by repeating

78 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the name a hundred times a day, at the end of each re-
mark, like the parrot-cry of an idiot.

When there was a knock at the door he would call
out, " Come in, Arnoux ! " At the restaurant he would
order a Brie cheese " a la Arnoux," and at night, pre-
tending to wake up from a bad dream, he would rouse
his comrade by howling out, " Arnoux ! Arnoux ! "
At last Frederick, worn out, said to him one day, in a
piteous voice :

" Oh ! don't bother me any more about Arnoux ! "

" Never ! " replied the clerk :

"He always, everywhere, burning or icy cold,
The pictured form of Arnoux "

" Hold your tongue, I tell you ! " exclaimed Fred-
erick, raising his fist.

Then less angrily he added:

" You know very well that this is a painful subject
to me."

" Oh ! forgive me, old fellow," returned Deslauriers
with a very low bow. " From this time forth we will
be considerate toward Mademoiselle's nerves. Again,
I say, forgive me. A thousand pardons ! "

And so this little joke came to an end.

But, three weeks later, one evening, Deslauriers said
to him :

" Well, I have just seen Madame Arnoux."

"Where, pray?"

" At the Palais, with Balandard, the solicitor. A
dark woman, is she not, of middle height ? "

Frederick made a gesture of assent. He waited for
Deslauriers to speak further. At the least expression
of admiration he would have been most effusive, and
would have fairly hugged the other. However, Des-
lauriers said nothing. At last, unable to contain him-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 79

self any longer, Frederick, with assumed indifference,
asked him what he thought of her.

Deslauriers considered that " she was not so bad,
but still nothing extraordinary."

" Ha ! you think so," said Frederick.

They soon reached the month of August, the time
when he was to present himself for his second exam-
ination. According to the prevailing opinion, the sub-
jects could be prepared for in a fortnight. Frederick,
having full confidence in his own powers, swallowed
up in a trice the first four books of the Code of Pro-
cedure, the first three of the Penal Code, fragments
of the system of criminal investigation, and a part of
the Civil Code, with the annotations of Monsieur
Poncelet.

As several examinations were taking place at the
same time, there were many persons in the precincts,
and among others Hussonnet and Cisy : young men
never failed to come and watch these ordeals when the
fortunes of their comrades were at stake.

Frederick put on the traditional black gown ; then,
followed by the throng, with three other students, he
entered a spacious apartment, into which the light
penetrated through uncurtained windows. There were
benches ranged along the walls, and in the centre of
the room leather chairs were set round a table adorned
with a green cover. This separated the candidates
from the examiners in their red gowns, and ermine
shoulder-knots, the head examiners wearing gold-laced
flat caps. •

Frederick found himself the last but one in the series
— an unfortunate place. In answer to the first ques-
tion, as to the difference between a convention and a
contract, he defined the one as if it were the other ; and
the professor, who was a fair sort of man, said to him,

80 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Don't be agitated. Monsieur ! Compose yourself ! "
Then, having asked two easy questions, which were an-
swered in a doubtful fashion, he passed on at last to the
fourth. This wretched beginning caused Frederick to
lose his head. Deslauriers, who was facing him
amongst the spectators, made an encouraging sign to
him to indicate that it was not a hopeless case yet ; and
at the second series of questions, dealing with the crim-
inal law, he came out tolerably well. But after the
third, with reference to the " mystic will," the examiner
having remained impassive the whole time, his mental
distress redoubled ; for Hussonnet brought his hands
together as if to applaud, whilst Deslauriers liberally
indulged in shrugs of the shoulders. Finally, the mo-
ment was reached for the examination on Procedure.
The professor, displeased at listening to theories op-
posed to his own, presently asked him in a churlish
tone:

"And so this is your view, Monsieur? How do
you reconcile the principle of Article 1351 of the Civil
Code with this application by a third party to set aside
a judgment by default? "

Frederick had a bad headache from not having slept
the night before. A ray of sunlight, penetrating
through one of the slits in a Venetian blind, fell on his
face. Standing behind the seat, he kept wriggling
about and tugging at his moustache.

" I am still awaiting your answer," the man with the
gold-edged cap observed.

And as Frederick's movements, no doubt, irritated
him:

" You won't find it in that moustache of yours ! "

This sarcasm made the spectators laugh. The pro-
fessor, feeling flattered, adopted a coaxing tone. He
put two more questions with reference to adjournment

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 81

and summary jurisdiction, then nodded his head by
way of approval. The examination was over. Fred-
erick retired into the vestibule.

While an usher was taking off his gown, to put it on
some other person immediately afterward, his friends
gathered around him and succeeded in fairly worry-
ing him with their conflicting opinions as to the result
of his examination. Presently the announcement was
made in a sonorous voice at the entrance of the hall:
" The third was — put off ! "

" Sent packing ! " said Hussonnet. " Let us go
away ! "

In front of the doorkeeper's lodge they met Marti-
non, flushed, excited, with a smile on his face and the
halo of victory around his brow. He had just passed
his final examination without any impediment. All he
had now to do was the thesis. Before a fortnight was
over he would be a licentiate. His family enjoyed the
acquaintance of a Minister ; " a beautiful career " was
opening before him .

" All the same, this puts you into a mess," said Des-
lauriers.

There is nothing so humiliating as to see blockheads
succeed in undertakings in which we ourselves fail.
Frederick, filled with vexation, replied that he did not
care a straw about the matter. He had higher pre-
tensions ; and as Hussonnet made a move to leave,
Frederick took him aside, and said to him :

" Not a word about this to them, mind ! "

It was easy to keep it secret, since Arnoux was
starting the next morning for Germany.

When he returned in the evening the clerk found his
friend singularly altered.: he was dancing about and
whistling; the other was astonished at this capricious
change of mood. Frederick declared that he did not in-

82 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tend to go home to his mother, as he meant to spend
his holidays working.

At the news of Arnoux's departure, a feeling of joy
had taken possession of him. He might present him-
self at the house whenever he liked without any fear
of having his visits interrupted. The consciousness of
absolute security would give him confidence. Now he
would not stand aloof, he would not be separated from
her! Something more powerful than an iron chain
attached him to Paris ; a voice from the depths of his
heart told him to remain.

There were certain obstacles in his path. These he
overcame by writing to his mother: first of all he ad-
mitted that he had failed to pass, owing to alterations
made in the course — a mere mischance — an unfair
thing; besides, all the great advocates (he referred to
them by name) had been rejected at their examina-
tions. But he planned to present himself again in the
month of November. Now, having no time to lose, he
would not go home this year; and he asked, in addi-
tion to the quarterly allowance, for two hundred and
fifty francs, to enable him to get coached in law by a
private tutor, which would be of great assistance to
him ; and he threw around the entire epistle a garland
of regrets, condolences, expressions of affection, and
protestations of filial love.

Madame Moreau, who had been expecting him the
following day, was doubly grieved. She threw a veil
over her son's misadventure, and in answer told him
to " come all the same." Frederick would not give
way, and the result was a falling out between them.
However, at the end of the week he received the
amount of the quarter's allowance, together with the
sum required for the payment of the private tutor.
This helped to pay for a pair of pearl-grey trousers, a

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 83

white felt hat, and a gold-headed switch. When he
had procured all these things he thought :

" Perhaps this is only a hairdresser's fancy on my
part ! "

And a feeling of considerable hesitation took pos-
session of him.

In order to decide as to whether he ought to call
on Madame Arnoux, he tosed three coins into the air
in succession. On each occasion luck was in his favour.
Surely Fate must have ordained it. He hailed a cab
and drove to the Rue de Choiseul.

He quickly ascended the staircase and drew the bell-
pull, but without effect. He felt as if he were about
to faint.

Then, with fierce energy, he pulled the heavy silk
tassel. There was a resounding peal which gradually
died away till no further sound was heard. Frederick
got rather frightened.

He laid his ear to the door — not a breath ! He
looked in through the key-hole and only saw two
reed-points on the wall-paper in the midst of designs
of flowers. At last he was on the point of going away
when he thought he would try once more. This time
he gave a timid little ring. The door flew open, and
Arnoux himself appeared on the threshold, with his
hair all in disorder, his face crimson, and his features
distorted by an expression of sullen embarrassment.

" Hallo ! What the deuce brings you here ? Come
in!"

He led Frederick, not into the boudoir or into the
bed-room, but into the dining-room, where on the
table was a bottle of champagne and two glasses ; and,
in an abrupt tone :

" There is something you want to ask me, my dear
friend?"

84 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" No ! nothing ! nothing ! " stammered the young
man, trying to think of some excuse for his visit. At
length he said that he had called to enquire if there
were any news from him, as Hussonnet had announced
that he had gone to Germany.

" Not at all ! " returned Arnoux. " What a feather-
headed fellow that is to misunderstand everything ! "

In order to conceal his agitation, Frederick kept
walking from right to left in the dining-room. Hap-
pening to come into contact with a chair, he knocked
down a parasol which had been laid across it, and the
ivory handle broke.

" Good heavens ! " he exclaimed. " How sorry I am
for having broken Madame Arnoux's parasol ! "

At this remark, the picture-dealer raised his head
and smiled in a very peculiar fashion. Frederick,
taking advantage of the opportunity thus offered to
talk about her, added shyly:

"Could I not see her?"

No. She had gone to the country to see her mother,
who was ill.

He did not venture to ask any questions as to the
length of time that she would be away. He merely
inquired what was Madame Arnoux's native place.

" Chartres. Does this astonish you ? "

" Astonish me ? Oh, no ! Why should it ? Not in
the least ! "

After that they could find absolutely nothing to
talk about. Arnoux, having made a cigarette for him-
self, kept walking round the table, puffing. Frederick,
standing near the stove, stared at the walls, the what-
not, and the floor; and the delightful pictures flitted
through his memory, or, rather, before his eyes. Then
he left the apartment.

.A piece of a newspaper, rolled up into a ball, lay on

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 85

the floor in the anteroom. Arnoux snatched it up,
and, raising himself on the tips of his toes, he stuck
it into the bell, in order, as he said, that he might be
able to go and finish his interrupted siesta. Then, as
he grasped Frederick's hand :

" Kindly tell the porter that I am not in."

And he shut the door after him with a bang.

Frederick descended the staircase slowly. The fail-
ure of this first attempt discouraged him as to the pos-
sible results of those that might follow. Then began
three months of absolute boredom.

He went back to his bedchamber ; then, throwing
himself on the sofa, he abandoned himself to a con-
fused succession of thoughts — plans of work, schemes
for the guidance of his conduct, attempts to penetrate
the future. At last, in order to shake off broodings
which were all about himself, he went out into the open
air.

He plunged at random into the Latin Quarter,
usually so noisy, but deserted at this particular time,
for the students had gone back to their families.

Every day he went to the office of L'Art Industrie!;
and in order to ascertain when Madame Arnoux would
be back, he made elaborate enquiries about her mother.
Arnoux's answer never varied — " the change for the
better was continuing " — his wife, with his little
daughter, would be returning the following week.
The longer she remained away the more uneasiness
Frederick exhibited, so that Arnoux, touched by so
much affection, took him five or six times a week to
dine at a restaurant.

In the long talks which they had together on these
occasions Frederick discovered that the picture-dealer
was not a particularly intellectual type of a man. Ar-
noux might, however, take notice of his chilling man-

86 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ner ; and Frederick deemed it advisable to pay back, in
a small measure, his polite attentions.

Being anxious to do things on a good scale, the
young man sold all his new clothes to a second-hand
clothes-dealer for the sum of eighty francs, and having
added it to the hundred francs which he still had left,
he called at Arnoux's house to bring him out to dine.
Regimbart happened to be there, and all three of them
set forth for Les Trois Freres Provengaux.

The Citizen began by taking off his surtout, and,
knowing that the two others would defer to his gastro-
nomic tastes, he drew up the menu. But in vain did
he make his way to the kitchen to speak himself to the
chef, go down to the cellar, with every corner of which
he was familiar, and send for the master of the estab-
lishment, to whom he gave " a blowing up." He was
not pleased with the dishes, the wines, or the attend-
ance. At each new dish, at each fresh bottle, as soon
as he had swallowed the first mouthful, the first
draught, he threw down his fork or pushed his glass
some distance away from him ; then, with his elbows
on the table-cloth, and stretching out his arms, he de-
clared in a loud tone that it was no longer possible to
dine in Paris ! Finally, not knowing what to put into
his mouth, Regimbart ordered kidney-beans dressed
with oil, " quite plain," which, though only a partial
success, slightly appeased him. Then he had a talk
with the waiter about the latter's predecessors at the
" Provengaux" : — " What had become of Antoine ?
And a fellow named Eugene ? And Theodore, the lit-
tle fellow who always used to attend down stairs?
There was much better fare in those days, and Bur-
gundy vintages the like of which they would never see
again."

They went out to get coffee in the smoking-divan

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 87

on the ground-floor in the Passage du Saumon. Fred-
erick had to stand around while interminable games
of billiards were being played, drenched in innumer-
able glasses of beer ; and he lingered on there till mid-
night without knowing why, merely through want of
energy, through sheer senselessness, in the vague ex-
pectation that something might happen which would
give a favourable turn to his love.

When, then, would he see her again ? Frederick was
in a state of despair. But one evening, toward the
close of November, Arnoux said to him :

" My wife, you know, came back yesterday ! "

Next day, at five o'clock, he made his way to her
house. He began by congratulating her on her moth-
er's recovery from such a serious illness.

" Why, no ! Who told you that ? "

" Arnoux ! "

She gave vent to a slight " Ah ! " then added that
she had grave fears at first, which, however, were now
entirely dispelled. She was seated close beside the
fire in an upholstered easy-chair. He was on the sofa,
with his hat between his knees ; and the conversation
was difficult to carry on, as it was broken off nearly
every minute, so he got no chance of giving utterance
to his sentiments. But when he began to complain of
having to study legal quibbles, she answered, " Oh ! I
understand — business ! " and she let her face fall,
buried suddenly in her own reflections.

He was eager to know what they were, and thought
of nothing else. The twilight shadows gathered
around them.

She rose, having to do some shopping; then she
reappeared in a bonnet trimmed with velvet, and a
black mantle edged with minever. He plucked up
enough courage to offer to accompany her.

88 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

It was now so dark that one could scarcely see any-
thing. The air was cold, and had an unpleasant odour,
owing to a heavy fog, which partially blotted out the
fronts of the houses. Frederick breathed it with de-
light ; for he could feel through the wadding of his
coat the form of her arm ; and her hand, cased in a
chamois glove with two buttons, her little hand which
he would have liked to cover with kisses, leaned on
his sleeve. Owing to the slipperiness of the pavement,
they lost their balance a little ; it seemed to him as if
they were both rocked by the wind in the midst of a
cloud.

The glitter of the lamps on the boulevard awoke,
him to the realities of existence. The opportunity was
a good one, there was no time to lose. He allowed
himself as far as the Rue de Richelieu to declare his
love. But almost at that very moment, in front of a
china-shop, she stopped abruptly and said to him :

" This is the place. Thanks. On Thursday — is it
not? — as usual."

The dinners were now renewed ; and the more he
visited at Madame Arnoux's the more his love-sick-
ness increased. The contemplation of this woman had
an enervating effect upon him, like the use of a per-
fume that is too strong. It penetrated into the very
depths of his nature, and became almost a kind of ha-
bitual sensation, a new mode of existence.

The prostitutes whom he brushed past under the gas-
light, the female ballad-singers breaking into bursts of
melody, the ladies rising on horseback at full gallop,
the shopkeepers' wives on foot, the grisettes at their
windows, all women brought her before his mental
vision, either by their resemblance to her or through
the violent contrast they presented.

When he went into the Jardin des Plantes the sight

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 89

of a palm-tree directed his thoughts to distant coun-
tries. They were travelling together on the backs of
dromedaries, under the awnings of elephants, in the
cabin of a yacht amongst the blue archipelagoes, or
side by side on mules with little bells attached to them
who went stumbling through the grass against broken
columns. Then he saw her descending some wide por-
phyry staircase in the midst of senators under a dais of
ostriches' feathers, clad in a robe of brocade. At an-
other time he dreamed of her in yellow silk trousers on
the cushions of a harem.

As for attempting to make her his mistress, he was
sure that it would be futile.

One evening Dittmer, on his arrival, kissed her on
the forehead ; Lovarias did the same, observing :

" You give me permission — don't you ? — as it is a
friend's privilege ? "

Frederick stammered out :

" It seems to me that we are all friends."

" Not all old friends ! " she returned.

This was repulsing him beforehand indirectly.

Besides, what could he do? Tell her that he loved
her? No doubt, she would decline to listen to him
or else she would feel indignant and order him out of
the house. He preferred to submit to even the most
painful ordeal rather than run the horrible risk of
seeing her no more. He envied pianists for their
talents and soldiers for their scars. He longed for a
dangerous attack of sickness, hoping in this way to
arouse her interest.

One thing caused astonishment to himself, that he
felt in no way jealous of Arnoux; and he could not
picture her in his imagination undressed, so natural
did her modesty appear, and so far did her sex recede
into a mysterious background.

90 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Nevertheless, he dreamed of the happiness of living
with her, of " theeing " and *' thouing " her, of pass-
ing his hand lingeringly over her head-bands, or re-
maining in a kneeling posture on the floor, with both
arms clasped round her waist, so as to drink in her
soul through his eyes. To accomplish this it would
be necessary to overcome Fate ; and so, incapable of
action, cursing God, and accusing himself of being a
coward, he kept moving restlessly within the confines
of his passion just as a prisoner keeps moving about in
his dungeon. The pangs which he was perpetually en-
during were choking him. For hours he would remain
quite motionless, or else he would burst into tears ; and
one day when he had not the strength to control his
emotion, Deslauriers said to him :

" Why, goodness gracious ! what's the matter with
you ? "

Frederick's nerves were unstrung. Deslauriers did
not believe a word of it. At the sight of so much men-
tal anguish he felt all his old affection reawakening,
and he tried to cheer up his friend. A man like him
to allow himself to get depressed, what folly ! It was
all very well whilst one was yoi.ng; but as one grows
older, it is only waste of time.

" You are spoiling my Frederick for me ! I want
him whom I knew in bygone days. The same boy as
ever ! I liked him ! Come, smoke a pipe, old chap !
Shake yourself up a little ! You drive me mad ! "

" It is true," said Frederick, " I am a fool ! "

The clerk replied-:

" Ah ! old troubadour, I know very well what's troub-
ling you! A little affair of the heart? Confess it!
Bah ! One lost, four found to replace the one ! We
console ourselves for virtuous women with the other
sort. Would you like me to introduce you to some

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 91

women? You have only to come to the Alhambra."

(This was a place for public balls recently opened
at the top of the Champs-Elysees, which had gone
down owing to a display of licentiousness somewhat
more extreme than is usual in establishments of the
kind.)

" That's a place where there seems to be good fun.
You may take your friends, if you like. I can even
pass in Regimbart for you."

Frederick did not think fit to ask the Citizen to go.
Deslauriers deprived himself of the pleasure of Sene-
cal's society. They took only Hussonnet and Cisy
along with Dussardier; and the same hackney-coach
set the group of five down at the entrance of the Al-
hambra.

Two Moorish galleries extended on the right and
on the left, parallel to one another. The wall of a
house opposite filled the entire background ; and the
fourth side (that in which the restaurant was) repre-
sented a Gothic cloister with stained-glass windows.
A sort of Chinese roof screened the platform reserved
for the musicians, and the numerous walks, garnished
with sand of a deep yellow, carefully raked, made the
garden look much larger than it really was.

Stvidents were escorting their mistresses to and fro ;
drapers' clerks strutted about with canes in their
hands ; lads fresh from college were smoking their re-
galias ; old men had dyed beards, carefully combed.
There were English, Russians, men from South Amer-
ica, and three Orientals in tarbooshes. Lorettes, gri-
settes, and girls of the town were there in the hope of
finding a protector, a lover, a gold coin, or simply for
the pleasure of dancing.

Hussonnet was acquainted with a number of the
women through his connection with the fashion-jour-

92 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

nals and the smaller theatres. He sent them kisses
with the tips of his fingers, and from time to time he
left his friends to go and chat with them.

Deslauriers felt jealous of these playful familiarities.
He accosted in a cynical manner a tall, fair-haired girl
in a nankeen costume. After looking him over with a
certain air of sullenness, she said :

" No ! I wouldn't trust you, my good fellow ! " and
turned on her heel.

His next attempt was on a stout brunette, who ap-
parently was a little mad ; for she gave a bounce at
the very first word he spoke to her, threatening, if he
went any further, to call the police. Deslauriers pre-
tended to laugh ; then, coming across a little woman
sitting by herself under a gas-lamp, he asked her to be
his partner in a quadrille.

The musicians, perched on the platform in the at-
titude of apes, kept scraping and blowing away with
desperate energy. The conductor, standing up, kept
beating time automatically. The dancers were much
crowded and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The
bonnet-strings, getting loose, rubbed against the cra-
vats ; the boots sank under the petticoats ; and all this
bouncing went on to the accompaniment of the music.
Deslauriers hugged the little woman, and, seized with
the delirium of the cancan, whirled about, like a big
marionette, in the midst of the dancers. Cisy and Dus-
sardier were still walking up and down. The young
aristocrat kept ogling the girls, but, in spite of the
clerk's persuasions, he did not venture to talk to them,
having an idea in his head that in the resorts of these
women there was always " a man hidden in the cup-
board with a pistol who would come out of it and force
you to sign a bill of exchange."

They came back and joined Frederick. Deslauriers

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 93

had stopped dancing; and they were all asking them-
selves how they were to finish up the evening, when
Hussonnet exclaimed :

" Look ! Here's the Marquise d'Amaegui ! "

The person referred to was a pale woman with a
retrousse nose, mittens up to her elbows, and big black
earrings hanging down her cheeks, like two dog's ears.
Hussonnet said to her :

" We should organise a little fete at your house —
a sort of Oriental rout. Try to collect some of your
friends here for these French cavaliers. Well, what is
the matter ? Are you going to wait for your hidalgo ? "

The Andalusian hung down her head : being well
aware of the by no means generous habits of her
friend, she was afraid of having to pay for any re-
freshments he ordered. When, at length, she let the
word " money " slip from her, Cisy offered five na-
poleons— all he had in his purse ; and so it was settled
that the thing should come off.

But Frederick was absent. He fancied that he had
recognised the voice of Arnoux, and suddenly got a
glimpse of a woman's hat ; he hastened toward an ar-
bour which was not far off.

Mademoiselle Vatnaz was alone there with Arnoux.

" Excuse me ! I am in the way ? "

" Not in the least ! " returned the picture-merchant.

Frederick, from the concluding words of their con-
versation, understood that Arnoux had come to the
Alhambra to talk over an important matter of business
with Mademoiselle Vatnaz; and it was evident that he
was not completely reassured, for he said to her, with
some uneasiness in his manner :

" You are quite sure ? "

" Perfectly certain ! You are loved. Ah ! what a
man you are ! "

94 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

And she assumed a pouting look, putting out her
big lips, so red that they seemed tinged with blood.
But she had wonderful eyes, of a tawny hue, with
specks of gold in the pupils, full of vivacity, amorous-
ness, and sensuality. They lit up, like lamps, the
rather yellow tint of her thin face. Arnoux seemed
to relish her exhibition of pique. He stooped over
her, saying :

" You are nice — give me a kiss! "

She caught hold of his two ears, and pressed her
lips against his forehead.

At that moment the dancing stopped ; and in the
conductor's place appeared a handsome young man,
rather fat, with a waxen complexion. He had long
black hair, which he wore in the same fashion as
Christ, and a blue velvet waistcoat embroidered with
large gold palm-branches. He looked as proud as a
peacock, and as stupid as a turkey-cock; and, having
bowed to the audience, he began a ditty. A villager
was supposed to be giving an account of his journey
to the capital. The singer used the dialect of Lower
Normandy, and played the part of a drunken man.
The refrain —

"Ah! I laughed at you there, I laughed at you there,
In that rascally city of Paris!"

was greeted with prolonged applause. Delmas, " a
vocalist who sang with expression," was too clever to
let the excitement of his listeners cool. A guitar was
quickly handed to him and he moaned forth a ballad
entitled " The Albanian Girl's Brother."

The words recalled to Frederick those which had
been sung by the man in rags between the paddle-
boxes of the steamboat. His eyes involuntarily rested
on the hem of the dress spread out before him.

After each couplet there was a long pause, and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 95

the blowing of the wind through the trees resembled
the sound of waves.

Mademoiselle Vatnaz blushed -the moment she saw
Dussardier. She soon rose, and stretching out her
hand toward him :

" You do not remember me, Monsieur Auguste ? "

" How do you know her?" asked Frederick.

" We have been in the same house," he replied.

Cisy pulled him by the sleeve ; they went out ; and,
scarcely had they disappeared, when Madame Vatnaz
began to pronounce a eulogy on his character. She
even went so far as to say that he possessed " the
genius of the heart."

Then they chatted about Delmas, admitting that as
a mimic he might be a success on the stage ; and a
discussion followed in which Shakespeare, the Censor-
ship, Style, the People, the receipts of the Porte Saint-
Martin, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Dumer-
san were all mixed up together.

Arnoux had known many celebrated actresses ; the
young men listened eagerly to what he had to say about
these ladies. But his words were lost in the noise of
the music; and, as soon as the quadrille or the polka
was over, they all sat round the tables, called the
waiter, and laughed. Behind the mediaeval cloister
could be heard crackling sounds ; squibs went off ; arti-
ficial suns began revolving; the gleam of the Bengal
fires, like emeralds in colour, lighted up for the space
of a minute the entire garden ; and, with the last rocket,
a great sigh escaped from the assembled throng.

It slowly died away. A cloud of gunpowder floated
into the air. Frederick and Deslauriers were walking
side by side through the midst of the crowd, when
they happened to see something that made them
suddenly stop: Martinon was in the act of paying

96 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

some money at the place where umbrellas were left;
and he had with him a woman of fifty, plain-look-
ing, magnificently dressed, and of problematic social
rank.

" That sly dog," said Deslauriers, " is not so simple
as we imagine. But where in the world is Cisy ? "

Dussardier pointed toward the smoking-divan,
where they perceived the knightly youth, with a bowl
of punch before him, and a pink hat by his side, to
keep him company. Hussonnet, who had been away
for the past few minutes, reappeared at the same mo-
ment with a young girl leaning on his arm, who ad-
dressed him in a loud voice as " My little cat."

" Oh, no ! " said he to her — " not in public ! Call
me rather ' Vicomte.' That gives you a cavalier style
— Louis XIII and dainty boots — the sort of thing I
like! Yes, my good friends, one of the old regime! —
nice, isn't she ? " — and he chucked her under the chin
— " Salute these gentlemen ! they are all the sons of
peers of France. I associate with them in order that
they may get an appointment for me as an ambassa-
dor."

" How insane you are ! " sighed Mademoiselle Vat-
naz. She asked Dussardier to see her as far as her
own door.

Arnoux watched them going off; then, turning
toward Frederick :

" Did you like the Vatnaz ? At any rate, you're not
quite frank about these affairs. I believe you keep
your amours secret."

Frederick, turning pale, swore that he kept nothing
hidden.

" Can it be possible you don't know what it is to
have a mistress ? " said Arnoux.

Frederick felt a longing to mention some woman's

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 97

name at random. But the story might be repeated to
her. So he replied that as a matter of fact he had no
mistress.

The picture-dealer reproached him for this.

" This evening you had a good opportunity ! Why
didn't you do like the others, each of whom went off
with a woman ? "

"Well, and what about yourself?" said Frederick,
irritated by his persistency.

" Oh ! myself — that's quite another matter, my lad !
I go home to my own one ! "

Then he called a cab, and disappeared.

The two friends walked homeward. An east wind
was blowing. They did not exchange a word. Des-
lauriers was regretting that he had not succeeded in
making a shine before a certain newspaper-manager,
and Frederick was lost once more in his melancholy
broodings. At length, breaking the silence, he re-
marked that this public-house ball appeared to him a
stupid affair.

"Whose fault is that? If you had not left us, to
join that Arnoux of yours "

" Bah ! anything I could have done would have been
utterly useless ! "

But the clerk had theories of his own. All that was
necessary in order to get a thing was to desire it
strongly.

" Nevertheless, you yourself, a little while ago "

" I don't care a straw about that sort of thing ! " re-
turned Deslauriers, cutting short Frederick's allusion.
" Am I going to get entangled with women ? "

And he declaimed against their affectations, their
silly ways — in short, he disliked them.

" Don't be acting, then ! " said Frederick.

Deslauriers was silent. Then, all at once :

98 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Will you bet me a hundred francs that I won't
catch the first woman that passes? "

" Yes — it's a bet! "

The first who passed was a hideous-looking beggar-
woman, and they were giving up all hope of a chance
presenting itself when, in the middle of the Rue de
Rivoli, they saw a tall girl with a little bandbox in her
hand.

Deslauriers accosted her under the arcades. She
turned up abruptly by the Tuileries, and soon diverged
into the Place du Carrousel. She looked to the right
and to the left. She ran after a hackney-coach ; Des-
lauriers overtook her. He walked by her side, talking
to her with expressive gestures. At length, she ac-
cepted his arm, and they walked on together along the
quays. Then, when they reached the rising ground in
front of the Chatelet, they kept tramping up and down
for at least twenty minutes, like two sailors keeping
watch. But, all of a sudden, they passed over the
Pont-au-Change, through the Flower Market, and
along the Quai Napoleon. Frederick came up behind
them. Deslauriers gave him to understand that he
would be in their way, and had better follow his ex-
ample.

" How much have you got left ? "

" Two hundred sous pieces."

' That's enough — good night to you ! "

Frederick was seized with the astonishment one feels
at seeing a piece of foolery coming to a successful
issue.

" He has the laugh at me," was his reflection.
" Suppose I went back again ? "

Perhaps Deslauriers imagined that he was envious of
this paltry love ! " As if I had not one a hundred times
more satisfying, more noble, more absorbing." He felt

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 99

a sort of angry feeling impelling him onward. He ar-
rived in front of Madame Arnoux's door.

None of the outer windows belonged to her apart-
ment. Nevertheless, he remained with his eyes fixed
on the front of the house — as if he fancied he could,
by his contemplation, penetrate the walls. No doubt,
she was now sunk in repose, tranquil as a sleeping
flower, with her beautiful black hair resting on the lace
of the pillow, her lips slightly parted, and one arm
under her head. Then Arnoux's face rose before him,
and he rushed away to escape from this vision.

The advice which Deslauriers had given to him came
back to his memory. It only filled him with horror.
Then he walked about the streets in a vagabond
fashion. He found himself on the Pont de la Con-
corde.

Then he recalled that evening in the previous winter,
when, as he left her house for the first time, he was
forced to stand still, so rapidly did his heart beat with
the hopes that filled him. And now they had all with-
ered !

He resumed his walk. But, as he was exceedingly
hungry, and none of the restaurants were open, he
went to get a " snack " at a tavern by the fish-markets ;
after which, thinking it too soon to return home, he
kept wandering about the Hotel de Ville till a quarter
past eight.

Deslauriers had long since got rid of his wench ; and
he was writing at the table in the middle of his room.
About four o'clock that afternoon, Monsieur de Cisy
came in.

Thanks to Dussardier, he had enjoyed the society of
a lady the night before ; and he had even accompanied
her home in the carriage with her husband to the very
threshold of their house, where she had given him an

100 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

assignation. He parted with her without even finding
out her name.

" And what do you propose that I should do in that
way? " said Frederick.

Thereupon the young gentleman began to cudgel his
brains to think of a suitable woman ; he mentioned
Mademoiselle Vatnaz, the Andalusian, and all the
others. At length, with much circumlocution, he came
to the object of his visit. Relying on the discretion of
his friend, he came to aid him in taking an important
step, after which he might definitely regard himself as
a man ; and Frederick showed no reluctance. He told
the story to Deslauriers without relating the facts with
reference to himself personally.

The clerk was of opinion that he was now progres-
sing very well. This respect for his advice increased
his good humour. He owed to that quality his success,
on the very first night he met her, with Mademoiselle
Clemence Daviou, embroideress in gold for military
outfits, the sweetest creature that ever lived, as slender
as a reed, with large blue eyes, perpetually staring with
wonder. The clerk had taken advantage of her cred-
ulity to such an extent as to make her believe that he
had been decorated. At their private meetings he had
his frock-coat adorned with a red ribbon, but divested
himself of it on public occasions in order, as he put it,
not to humiliate his master. However, he kept her at
a distance, allowed himself to be fawned upon, like a
pasha, and, in a laughing sort of way, called her
" daughter of the people." Every time they met, she
brought him little bunches of violets. Frederick
would not have enjoyed a love affair of this sort.

Meanwhile, whenever they set forth arm-in-arm to
visit Pinson's or Barillot's circulating library, he ex-
perienced a feeling of singular depression. Frederick

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 101

did not realise how much pain he had caused Deslau-
riers for the past year, while brushing his nails pre-
paratory to dining in the Rue de Choiseul !

One evening, when from the commanding position
in which his balcony stood, he had just been watching
them as they went out together, he saw Hussonnet,
some distance off, on the Pont d'Arcole. The Bo-
hemian made signals to him, and, when Frederick had
descended the five flights of stairs :

" Here is the thing — it is next Saturday, the 24th,
Madame Arnoux's feast-day."

" How is that, when her name is Marie? "

" And Angele.also — no matter! They will entertain
their guests at their country-house at Saint-Cloud. I
was told to give you due notice about it. You'll find
a vehicle waiting at the magazine-office at three o'clock.
So that makes matters all right ! Excuse me for hav-
ing disturbed you ! But I have such a number of calls
to make ! "

Frederick had scarcely turned round when his door-
keeper placed a letter in his hand :

" Monsieur and Madame Dambreuse beg of Mon-
sieur F. Moreau to do them the honour to come and
dine with them on Saturday the 24th inst. — R.S.V.P."

" Too late ! " he said to himself. Nevertheless, he
showed the letter to Deslauriers, who exclaimed :

" Ha ! at last ! But you don't look as if you were
pleased. Why?"

After some little hesitation, Frederick said that he
had another invitation for the same day.

" Be kind enough to let me run across to the Rue de
Choiseul. I'm not joking! I'll answer this for you
If it disturbs you."

And the clerk wrote an acceptance of the invitation
In the third person.

102 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Having seen nothing of the social world save
through the fever of his desires, he pictured it to him-
self as an artificial creation discharging its functions by
virtue of mathematical laws. A dinner in the city, an
accidental meeting with a man in office, a smile from a
pretty woman, might, by a series of actions deducing
themselves from one another, have gigantic results.
Certain Parisian drawing-rooms were similar to those
machines which take a material in the rough and ren-
der it a hundred times more valuable. He believed in
courtesans advising diplomatists, in wealthy marriages
brought about by intrigues, in the cleverness of con-
victs, in the capacity of strong men for getting the bet-
ter of fortune. In short, he considered it so important
to visit the Dambreuses, and talked about it so plausi-
bly, that Frederick was at a loss to know what to do.

The least attention he could show, as it was Madame
Arnoux's feast-day, was to make her a present. He
naturally thought of a parasol, in order to replace the
one he had broken. He came across a shot-silk parasol
with a little carved ivory handle, which had come all
the way from China. But the price of it was a hun-
dred and seventy-five francs, and he had not a sou,
having in fact to live on the credit of his next quar-
ter's allowance. However, he wished to get it ; he was
determined to have it; and in spite of his repugnance
to doing so, he had recourse to Deslauriers.

Deslauriers answered Frederick's first question by
saying that he had no money.

" I need some," said Frederick — " I need some very
badly ! "

As the other made the same excuse again, he flew
into a passion.

" You might find it to your advantage some
time "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 103

" What do you mean by that ? "

"Oh! nothing."

The clerk understood. He took the sum required
out of his reserve-fund, and when he had counted out
the money, coin by coin :

"' I am not asking you for a receipt, as I see you
have a lot of expense ! "

Frederick threw himself on his friend's neck with a
thousand affectionate protestations. Deslauriers re-
ceived this display of emotion frigidly. Then, next
morning, noticing the parasol on the top of the piano :

" Ah ! it was for that ! "

" I may send it, perhaps/' said Frederick, with an
air of carelessness.

Good fortune was on his side, for that evening he
received a note with a black border from Madame
Dambreuse announcing that she had lost an uncle, and
excusing herself for having to defer till a later period
the pleasure of making his acquaintance.

At two o'clock, he reached the office of the art jour-
nal. Instead of waiting to drive him in his carriage,
Arnoux had left the city the night before, unable to
resist the opportunity of getting some fresh air.

Every year it had been his custom, as soon as the
leaves were budding forth, to start early in the morn-
ing and to remain away several days, making long
journeys across the fields, drinking milk at the farm-
houses, romping with the village girls, asking ques-
tions about the harvest, and carrying back home with
him stalks of salad in his pocket-handkerchief. At
length, he realised a long-cherished dream of his, by
buying a country -house.

While Frederick was talking to the picture-dealer's
clerk, Mademoiselle Vatnaz suddenly made her appear-
ance, and expressed herself disappointed at not seeing

104 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Arnoux. He would, perhaps, be remaining away two
days longer. The clerk advised her " to go there " —
she could not ; to write a letter — she was afraid that it
might get lost. Frederick offered to be the bearer of
it himself. She rapidly scribbled off a letter, and im-
plored him to let nobody see him delivering it.

Forty minutes later, he found himself at Saint-
Cloud. The house, which was about a hundred paces
farther away than the bridge, stood half-way up the
hill. The garden-walls were hidden by two rows of
linden-trees, and a wide lawn sloped to the bank of
the river. The railed entrance before the door was
open, and Frederick went in.

Arnoux, stretched on the grass, was playing with a
litter of kittens. This amusement appeared to absorb
him completely. Mademoiselle Vatnaz's letter aroused
him out of his sleepy idleness.

" The deuce ! the deuce ! — this is a bore ! She is
right, though ; I must go."

Then, having stuck the missive into his pocket, he
showed the young man through the grounds with evi-
dent delight. Presently a few harmonious notes burst
forth above their heads: Madame Arnoux, fancying
that there was nobody near, was singing to amuse her-
self. She ceased all at once, when M. and Madame
Oudry, two neighbours, presented themselves.

Then she appeared herself at the top of the steps in
front of the house ; and, as she descended, he caught a
glimpse of her foot. She wore little open shoes of red-
dish-brown leather, with three straps crossing each
other so as to draw just above her stockings a wire-
work of gold.

Those who had been invited arrived. With the ex-
ception of Maitre Lefaucheur, an advocate, they were
the same guests who came to the Thursday dinners.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 105

Each had brought some present — Dittmer a Syrian
scarf, Rosenwald a scrap-book of ballads, Burieu a
water-colour painting, Sombary one of his own cari-
catures, and Pellerin a charcoal-drawing, representing
a kind of dance of death, a hideous fantasy, poorly
executed. Hussonnet dispensed with the formality
of making a present.

Frederick was waiting to offer his gift.

She thanked him very much for it. Thereupon, he
said :

" Why, 'tis nothing more than a debt. I have been
so much annoyed "

" At what, pray ? " she returned. " I don't under-
stand."

" Come! dinner is waiting! " said Arnoux, catching
hold of his arm ; then in a whisper : " You are not very
knowing, certainly ! "

Nothing could well be prettier than the dining-room,
decorated in water-green. Through the open windows
the entire garden could be seen with the long lawn
flanked by an old Scotch fir.

They chatted first about the view before them, then
about scenery in general ; and they were beginning to
plunge into discussions when Arnoux, at half-past
nine o'clock, ordered the carriage to be brought round.

" Would you like me to go back with you ? " said
Madame Arnoux.

" Why, certainly ! " and, making her a graceful bow :
" You know well, Madame, that it is impossible to live
without you ! "

Everyone congratulated her on having so good a
husband.

" Ah ! it is because I am not the only one," she re-
plied quietly, pointing toward her little daughter.

Then, the conversation having turned once more on

106 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

painting, there was some talk about a Ruysdael, for
which Arnoux expected a big sum, and Pellerin asked
him if it were true that the celebrated Saul Mathias
from London had come over during the past month
to make him an offer of twenty-three thousand francs
for it.

" 'Tis an absolute fact ! " and turning to\vard Fred-
erick : " That was the very same gentleman I brought
with me a few days ago to the Alhambra, much against
my will, I assure you, for these English are by no
means congenial companions."

Frederick, who suspected that Mademoiselle Vat-
naz's letter contained some reference to an intrigue,
was amazed at the facility with which my lord Ar-
noux found a way of passing it off as a perfectly
honourable transaction ; but this new lie, which was
quite unnecessary, made the young man open his eyes
in speechless astonishment.

The picture-dealer added, with an air of simplicity:

" What's the name, by-the-by, of that young fellow,
your friend ? "

" Deslauriers," said Frederick quickly.

And, in order to repair the injustice which he felt
he had done to his comrade, he praised him as one
who possessed exceptional ability.

" Ah ! indeed ? But he doesn't look such a fine fel-
low as the other — the clerk in the waggon office."

Frederick bestowed a mental imprecation on Dus-
sardier. She would now be thinking that he asso-
ciated with the common herd.

Then they began to talk about the decorating of the
capital — the new districts of the city — and the worthy
Oudry happened to refer to M. Dambreuse as one of
the big speculators.

Frederick, taking advantage of the opportunity to

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 107

make a good figure, remarked that he was acquainted
with that gentleman. But Pellerin launched into a
harangue against shopkeepers — he saw no difference
between them, whether they were sellers of candles or
of money.

When they had taken their coffee, while they
smoked, under the linden-trees, and strolled about the
garden for some time, they went for a walk along the
river.

The party stopped before a fishmonger's shop, where
a man was washing eels. Mademoiselle Marthe wished
to look at them. He emptied the box out on the grass ;
and the little girl threw herself on her knees in order
to catch them, laughed with delight, and then began to
scream with terror. They all got spoiled, and Arnoux
paid for them.

He next took it into his head to go out for a sail in
the cutter.

One side of the horizon was beginning to assume a
pale aspect, while on the other side a wide strip of
orange colour appeared, deepening into purple at the
summits of the hills, which were steeped in shadow.
Madame Arnoux seated herself on a big stone, this
glittering splendour forming a background. The other
ladies sauntered about. Hussonnet, at the lower end
of the river's bank, made ducks and drakes over the
water.

Arnoux presently returned, followed by a weather-
beaten long boat, into which, in spite of the most pru-
dent remonstrances, he packed his guests. The boat
got upset, and they had to go ashore again.

By this time wax tapers were burning in the draw-
ing-room, all hung with chintz, and with branched can-
dlesticks of crystal fixed close to the walls. Mere
Oudry was sleeping comfortably in an armchair, and

108 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the others were listening to M. Lefaucheux expatiating
on the glories of the Bar. Madame Arnoux was seated
by herself near the window. Frederick went over to
her.

They chatted about the remarks which were being
made in their vicinity. She admired oratory ; he pre-
ferred the renown gained by writing. But, she ven-
tured to suggest, it must give a man greater pleasure
to move crowds directly by addressing them in person,
face to face, than it does to infuse into their souls by
his pen all the sentiments that animate his own. Such
triumphs as these did not tempt Frederick much, as
he lacked ambition.

Then he broached the subject of sentimental ad-
ventures. She spoke pityingly of the havoc wrought
by passion, but expressed indignation at hypocritical
vileness, and this rectitude of spirit harmonised so well
with the regular beauty of her face that it seemed in-
deed as if her physical beauty were the outcome of
her moral nature.

She smiled, every now and then, letting her eyes
rest on him for a moment. Then he felt her glances
penetrating his soul like those great rays of sunlight
which descend into the depths of the water. He loved
her without a single mental reservation, without any
hope of his love being reciprocated, unconditionally ;
and in those silent transports, which were like out-
bursts of gratitude, he would fain have covered her
forehead with a rain of kisses. An inspiration from
within carried him beyond himself — he felt moved by
a longing for self-sacrifice, an imperative impulse
toward immediate self-devotion, and it was all the
stronger because he could not gratify it.

He did not leave with the others. Neither did Hus-
sonnet. They were to go back in the carriage; and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 109

the vehicle was waiting just in front of the steps when
Arnoux rushed into the garden to gather some flowers.
Then the bouquet having been tied round with a
thread, as the stems were uneven, he searched in his
pocket, which was full of papers, took out a piece at
random, wrapped them up, completed his handiwork
with the aid of a strong pin, and then offered the flow-
ers to his wife with a certain amount of gallant ten-
derness.

"Look here, my darling! Forgive me for having
forgotten you ! "

But she uttered a little scream : the pin, having been
awkwardly fixed, had scratched her, and she hastened
up to her room. They waited nearly a quarter of an
hour for her. At last, she reappeared, picked up
Marthe, and threw herself into the carriage.

" And your bouquet? " said Arnoux.

" No ! no — it is not worth while ! " Frederick was
running off to fetch it for her ; she called out to him :

" I don't want it ! "

But he speedily brought it to her, saying that he had
just put it into an envelope again, as he had found the
flowers lying on the floor. She thrust them behind
the leathern apron of the carriage close to the seat, and
off they started.

Frederick, seated by her side, noticed that she was
trembling frightfully. Then, when they had passed
the bridge, as Arnoux was turning to the left :

"Why, no! you are making a mistake !— the other
way, to the right ! "

She seemed irritated ; everything annoyed her. At
length, Marthe having closed her eyes, Madame Ar-
noux drew forth the bouquet, and flung it out through
the carriage-door, then caught Frederick's arm, mak-
ing a sign to him with the other hand to say nothing.

110 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

After this, she pressed her handkerchief to her lips,
and sat quite motionless.

The two others, on the dickey, kept talking about
printing and about subscribers. Arnoux, who was
driving recklessly, lost his way in the middle of the
Bois de Boulogne. Then they plunged into narrow
paths. The horse proceeded along at a walking pace ;
the branches of the trees grazed the hood. Frederick
could see nothing of Madame Arnoux save her two
eyes. Marthe lay stretched across her lap while he
supported the child's head.

" She is tiring you ! " said her mother.

He replied :

" No ! Oh, no ! "

Whirlwinds of dust rose up slowly. They passed
through Auteuil. All the houses were closed ; a gas-
lamp here and there lighted up the angle of a wall;
then again they were surrounded by darkness. At one
time he noticed that she was shedding tears.

Was this from remorse or passion? What in the
world was it? This grief, of whose exact cause he was
ignorant, interested him like a personal matter. There
was now a new bond between them, as if, in a sense,
they were accomplices ; and he said to her in the most
caressing voice he could assume :

"You are ill?"

" Yes, a little," she returned.

The carriage rolled on, and the honeysuckles and
the syringas trailed over the garden fences, sending
forth an enervating odour into the night air. He bent
over the little girl, and spreading out her pretty brown
tresses, kissed her softly on the forehead.

" You are good ! " said Madame Arnoux.

"Why?"

" Because you are fond of children."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 111

" Not of all children ! "

He said no more, but he let his left hand hang down
by her side wide open, fancying that she might do
likewise, and that he would find her palm touching his.
Then he felt ashamed and withdrew it. They soon
reached the paved street. The carriage advanced more
quickly ; the number of gaslights increased — it was
Paris.

Next morning he began working as hard as ever
he could.

He fancied himself in an Assize Court, on a winter's
evening, at the close of the advocates' speeches, when
the jurymen are looking pale, and when the panting
audience make the partitions of the praetorium creak;
and after having being four hours speaking, he was
recapitulating all his proofs, feeling with every phrase,
with every word, with every gesture, the chopper of
the guillotine; which was suspended behind him, ready
to fall ; then in the tribune of the Chamber, an orator
who bears on his lips the safety of an entire people,
drowning his opponents under his figures of rhetoric,
crushing them under a repartee, with thunders and
musical intonations in his voice, ironical, pathetic, fiery,
sublime. She would be there somewhere amidst the
others, hiding beneath her veil her enthusiastic tears.

Deslauriers, who had found it so troublesome to
coach him once more for the second examination at
the close of December, and for the third in February,
was astonished at his enthusiasm. Then the great ex-
pectations of former days returned. In ten years Fred-
erick might be deputy ; in fifteen a minister. Why not?
With his patrimony, which would soon be in his own
hands, he might at first start a newspaper ; this would
be the first step in his career; after that they would
see what the future would bring. As for himself, he

112 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

was still ambitious of obtaining a chair in the Law
School ; and he sustained his thesis for the degree of
Doctor with such remarkable ability that it won for
him the compliments of the professors.

Three days afterward, Frederick took his own de-
gree. Before leaving for his holidays, he conceived the
idea of getting up a picnic to bring to a close their
Saturday reunions.

He displayed the utmost gaiety on the occasion.
Madame Arnoux was at the time with her mother at
Chartres. But he would soon see her again, and
would end by being her lover.

Deslauriers, admitted the same day to the young ad-
vocates' pleading rehearsals at Orsay, had made a
speech which was greatly applauded. Although he
was sober, he drank a little more wine than was good
for him, and said to Dussardier at dessert :

" You are an honest fellow ! — and when I'm a rich
man I'll make you my manager."

All were delighted. Cisy did not intend to finish his
law-course. Martinon planned to remain during the
period before his admission to the Bar, in the provinces,
where he would be nominated a deputy-magistrate.
Pellerin was devoting himself to the production of a
large picture representing " The Genius of the Revolu-
tion." Hussonnet was, in the following week, to sub-
mit to the Director of Public Amusements the scheme
of a play, and had no doubt as to its success :

" As for the framework of the drama, they may rely
on me! As for the passions, I have knocked about
enough to comprehend them thoroughly; and as for
witticisms, they're entirely in my line ! "

He gave a spring, fell on his two hands, and thus
moved for some time around the table with his legs
in the air. This performance, worthy of a street-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 113

urchin, did not banish Senecal's frowns. He had just
been dismissed from the boarding-school, in which he
had been a teacher, for having given a whipping to an
aristocrat's son. His straitened circumstances had got
worse in consequence : he laid the blame of this on the
inequalities of society, and cursed the wealthy. He
poured out his grievances into the sympathetic ears of
Regimbart, who every day became more and more dis-
illusioned, saddened, and disgusted. The Citizen had
now turned his attention toward questions arising out
of the Budget, and blamed the Court party for the loss
of millions in Algeria.

As he could not sleep without first paying a visit to
the Alexandre smoking-divan, he disappeared at eleven
o'clock. The rest went away some time afterward ;
and Frederick, as he was parting with Hussonnet,
learned that Madame Arnoux had been due the night
before.

He accordingly went to the coach-office to change
his time for starting to the next day and at about six
o'clock in the evening presented himself at her house.
Her return, the doorkeeper said, had been postponed
for a week. Frederick dined alone, and then lounged
about the boulevards.

He stopped in front of the theatre of the Porte Saint-
Martin to look at the bill ; and, for want of something
to occupy him, paid for a seat and went in.

An old-fashioned dramatic version of a fairy-tale
was being played. There was a very small audience ;
and through the skylights of the top gallery the vault
of heaven seemed cut up into little blue squares, whilst
the stage lamps above the orchestra formed a single
line of yellow illuminations.

He had just got to his seat when, glancing at the
balcony, he saw a lady and a gentleman enter the first

114 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

box in front of the stage. The husband had a pale face
with a narrow strip of grey beard round it, the rosette
of a Government official, and that frigid look which is
supposed to characterise diplomatists.

His wife, who was at least twenty years younger,
and who was neither tall nor under-sized, neither ugly
nor pretty, wore her fair hair in corkscrew curls in the
English fashion, and displayed a long-bodiced dress
and a large black lace fan. Frederick could not recall
to mind where he had seen that face.

In the next interval between the acts, while passing
through one of the lobbies, he came face to face with
both of them. As he bowed in an undecided manner,
M. Dambreuse, at once recognising him, came up and
apologised for having treated him with unpardonable
neglect. This was an allusion to the numerous visit-
ing-cards he had sent in accordance with the clerk's
advice. However, he confused the periods, supposing
that Frederick was in the second year of his law-
course. Then he said he envied the young man the
opportunity of going into the country. He sadly
needed a little rest himself, but business kept him in
Paris.

Madame Dambreuse, leaning on his arm, nodded her
head slightly, and the agreeable sprightliness of her
face contrasted with its gloomy expression of a short
time before.

" One finds charming diversions in it, nevertheless,"
she said, after her husband's last remark. " What a
stupid play that was — was it not, Monsieur ? " And
all three of them remained there chatting about
theatres and new pieces.

Frederick, accustomed to the grimaces of provincial
dames, had not seen in any woman such ease of man-
ner combined with that simplicity which is the es-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 115

sence of refinement, and in which ingenuous souls
imagine the expression of instantaneous sympathy.

They would anticipate seeing him as soon as he re-
turned. M. Dambreuse asked him to give his kind
remembrances to Pere Roque.

Frederick, when he reached his lodgings, did not
fail to inform his friend Deslauriers of their hospitable
invitation.

" Splendid ! " was the clerk's reply ; " and don't let
your mamma get round you ! Come back without de-
lay ! "

On the day after his arrival, when breakfast was
over, Madame Moreau brought her son out into the
garden.

She said she was happy to see him in a profession,
for they were not as rich as people thought. The land
brought in little ; the people who farmed it paid badly.
She had even been compelled to part with her carriage.
Finally, she placed their situation in its true colours
before him.

During the first embarrassments which followed the
death of her late husband, M. Roque, a man of great
cunning, had made her loans of money which had been
renewed, and left long unpaid, in spite of her desire to
clear them off. He had suddenly made a demand for
immediate payment, and she had gone beyond the strict
terms of the agreement by giving up to him, at an un-
reasonable figure, the farm of Presles. Ten years
later her capital was lost through the failure of a
banker at Alelun. Because of a horror which she had
of mortgages, and to keep up appearances, which might
be necessary in view of her son's future, she had,
when Pere Roque presented himself again, listened to
him once more. But now she was free from debt. In
short, there was left them an income of only about

116 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ten thousand francs, of which two thousand three hun-
dred belonged to him — his entire patrimony.

" It isn't possible ! " exclaimed Frederick.

She nodded her head, as if to declare that it was
perfectly possible.

But he would inherit something from his uncle?

That was by no means positive!

And they took a turn around the garden without
exchanging a word. At last she pressed him to her
heart, and in a voice choked with rising tears :

" Ah ! my poor boy ! I have had to relinquish all
my dreams ! "

He seated himself on a bench beneath a large acacia.

Her advice was that he should become a clerk to
M. Prouharam, solicitor, who would assign over his
office to him ; if he increased its value, he might sell it
again and find a better practice.

Frederick was no longer listening to her. He was
gazing automatically across the hedge into the other
garden opposite.

A little girl of about twelve with red hair was there
all alone. She had made earrings for herself with the
berries of the service-tree. Her bodice, made of grey
linen, allowed her shoulders, slightly burned by the
hot sun, to be seen. Her short white petticoat was
spotted with berry stains ; and there was, so to speak,
the grace of a young wild animal about her entire per-
son, which was at the same time nervous and thin.
Apparently, the presence of a stranger astonished her,
for she had stopped abruptly with her watering-pot in
her hand darting glances at him with her large bright
eyes, which were of a limpid greenish-blue colour.

" That is Monsieur Roque's little girl," said Madame
Moreau. " He has married his servant after all and le-
gitimised their child."

CHAPTER VI

HOPES DEFERRED

STILL seated on the bench, as if stunned, he cursed
Fate — stripped of everything, ruined. He would
have liked to beat somebody ; and, to increase
his despair, he felt a kind of outrage, a sense of dis-
grace, oppressing him ; for Frederick had been under
the impression that the fortune coming to him through
his father would mount up one day to an income of
fifteen thousand livres, and he had so informed the
Arnoux' in an indirect sort of way. So now he would
be looked upon as a braggart, a rogue, an obscure
blackguard, who had forced himself upon them in the
expectation of making some profit out of them ! And
as for her — Madame Arnoux — how could he ever see
her again ?

Moreover, all that he had hoped was completely
impossible when he had only a yearly income of three
thousand francs. He could not always lodge on the
fourth floor, have the doorkeeper as a servant, and
make his appearance with wretched black gloves turn-
ing blue at the ends, a greasy hat, and the same frock-
coat for a whole year. No, no ! never ! And yet with-
out her existence was intolerable. Some people were
able to live without any fortune, Deslauriers amongst
the rest ; and he thought himself a coward to attach
so much importance to matters of trifling conse-
quence. Necessity would perhaps multiply his facul-
ties a hundredfold. He tried to inspire himself by

118 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

thinking of the great men who had worked in garrets.
A soul like that of Madame Arnoux ought to be
touched at such a spectacle, and moved by it to sym-
pathetic tenderness. So, after all, this catastrophe was
a piece of good fortune ; like those earthquakes which
unveil treasures, it had revealed to him the hidden
wealth of his nature. But there was only one place
in the world where this could be utilised — Paris ; for
to his mind, art, science, and love (those three faces
of God, as Pellerin would have said) were associated
exclusively with the capital. That evening, he in-
formed his mother of his intention to go back there.
Madame Moreau was surprised and indignant. She
regarded it as a foolish and absurd course. It would
be far better to follow her advice, namely, to remain
near her in an office. Frederick shrugged his shoul-
ders, " Come now " — looking on this proposal as an
insult to himself.

Thereupon, the good lady followed another course.
In a tender voice broken by sobs she began to speak
of her solitude, her old age, and the sacrifices she had
made for him. Now that she was more unhappy
than ever, he was abandoning her. Then, alluding to
the anticipated close of her life :

"A little patience — good heavens! you will soon
be free ! "

These lamentations were renewed twenty times a
day for three months ; and at the same time the lux-
uries of a home made him effeminate. He found it
enjoyable to have a softer bed and napkins that were
not torn ; so that, weary, enervated, overcome by the
insinuating force of comfort, Frederick allowed him-
self to be brought to Maitre Prouharam's office.

He displayed neither knowledge nor aptitude. Up
to this time, he had been regarded as a young man of

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 119

great means who would probably be the shining light
of the Department. The public would now come to
the conclusion that he was an impostor.

At first, he said to himself:

" It is necessary to inform Madame Arnoux about
it : " and for a whole week he kept formulating in
his own mind dithyrambic letters and short notes in
an eloquent and sublime style. The fear of avowing
his actual position restrained him. Then he thought
that it might be better to write to the husband. Ar-
noux knew life and could appreciate the true state of
the case. At length, after a fortnight's hesitation :

" Bah ! I ought not to see them any more : let them
forget me ! At any rate, I shall be cherished in her
memory without having grown less in her estimation!
She will believe that I am dead, and will regret me —
perhaps."

As extravagant resolutions cost him little, he swore
in his own mind that he would never return to Paris,
and that he would not even make inquiries about
Madame Arnoux.

He arose very late, and looked through the window
at the passing teams of waggoners. The first six
months especially were hateful.

On certain days, however, he was possessed by a
feeling of indignation even against her. Then he
would wander through the meadows, half covered in
winter time by the inundations of the Seine. They
were divided up by rows of poplar-trees. Here and
there was a little bridge. He tramped about till even-
ing, rolling the yellow leaves under his feet, inhaling
the fog, and jumping over the ditches. As his arteries
began to throb more vigorously, he felt himself car-
ried away by a desire to do something wild ; he longed
to become a trapper in America, to attend on a pasha

120 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

in the East, to take ship as a sailor ; and he gave vent
to his melancholy in long letters to Deslauriers.

The latter was struggling to get on. The idleness
of his friend and his eternal jeremiads appeared to
him simply stupid. Their correspondence soon became
a mere form. Frederick had left all his furniture
with Deslauriers, who stayed on in the same lodgings.
From time to time his mother mentioned it. One day
he told her about the present he had made, and she
was giving him a rating for it, when a letter was placed
in his hands.

" What is the matter now ? " she said, " you are
trembling."

;' There is nothing the matter with me," replied
Frederick.

Deslauriers informed him that he had taken Senecal
under his protection, and that for the past fortnight
they had been living together. So now Senecal was
settled in the midst of things that had come from the
Arnoux's shop. He might sell them, criticise, make
jokes about them. Frederick was wounded in the
depths of his soul. He went up to his own apartment.
He felt a yearning for death.

His mother called him to consult him about some
plants in the garden.

This garden was, after the fashion of an English
park, divided in the middle by a stick fence ; and the
half of it belonged to Pere Roque, who had another
garden for vegetables on the bank of the river. The
two neighbours, having disagreed, abstained from mak-
ing their appearance there at the same hour. But since
Frederick's return the old gentlemen used to walk
about them more frequently, and was not stinted in
his courtesies towards Madame Moreau's son. He
sympathised with the young man for having to live

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 121

in a country town. One day he told him that Madame
Dambreuse had been anxious to hear from him. On
another occasion he expatiated on the custom of Cham-
pagne, where the stomach conferred nobility.

" At that time you would have been a lord, since
your mother's name was De Fouvens. And 'tis all
very well to talk — never mind ! there's something in
a name. After all," he added, with a sly glance at
Frederick, " that depends on the Keeper of the Seals."

This pretension to aristocracy contrasted strangely
with his personal appearance. As he was small, his
big chestnut-coloured frock-coat exaggerated the
length of his bust. When he removed his hat, a face
almost like that of a woman with an extremely sharp
nose could be seen ; his hair, which was of a yellow
colour, resembled a wig. He saluted people with a
very low bow, brushing against the wall.

Up to his fiftieth year he had been content with the
domestic services of Catherine, a native of Lorraine, of
the same age as himself and strongly marked with
smallpox. But in the year 1834, he brought back with
him from Paris a handsome blonde with a sheep-like
type of countenance and a " queenly carriage." Ere
long, she was noticed strutting about with large ear-
rings ; and everything was explained by the birth of
a daughter who was introduced to the world under
the name of Elisabeth Olympe Louise Roque.

Catherine, in her first ebullition of jealousy, ex-
pected that she would hate this child. On the con-
trary, she became fond of the little girl, and treated
her with the utmost care, consideration, and tender-
ness, in order to win her affections from her mother
and render her odious — an easy task, inasmuch as
Madame Eleonore entirely neglected the little one,
preferring to gossip at the tradesmen's shops. On

122 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the day after her marriage, she paid a visit at the Sub-
prefecture, no longer " thee'd " and " thou'd " the
servants, and took it into her head that, as a matter
of good form, she ought to exhibit a certain severity
toward the child. She was present while the little
one was at her lessons. The teacher, an old clerk who
had been employed at the Mayor's office, did not know
how to set about instructing the girl. The pupil re-
belled, got her ears boxed, and rushed away to shed
tears on the lap of Catherine, who always took her
part. After this the two women wrangled, and M.
Roque ordered them to hold their tongues. He had
married only out of tender regard for his little daugh-
ter, and did not wish to be annoyed by them.

Louise wore a white dress with ribbons, and
pantalettes trimmed with lace ; and on great festival-
days she would leave the house attired like a princess,
in order to mortify the matrons of the town, who
forbade their children to associate with her on account
of her illegitimate birth.

She passed her life mostly by herself in the garden,
went see-sawing in the swing, chased butterflies, then
suddenly stopped to watch the floral beetles swooping
down on the rose-trees. It was, no doubt, these
habits which imparted to her face an expression at the
same time of audacity and dreaminess. She had, more-
over, a figure like Marthe, so that at their second in-
terview Frederick said to her:

" Will you permit me to kiss you, Mademoiselle ? "

The little girl lifted up her head and replied :

"I will!"

But the stick-hedge separated them.

" We must climb over," said Frederick.

" No, lift me up ! "

He stooped over the hedge, and raising her off the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 123

ground, kissed her on both cheeks ; then he put her
back on her own side ; and this performance was re-
peated on the next occasions when they met.

With less reserve than a child of four, as soon as
she heard her friend coming, she sprang forward to
meet him, or else, hiding behind a tree, she began
yelping like a dog to frighten him.

One day, when Madame Moreau was out, he
brought her up to his own room. She opened all the
scent-bottles, and pomaded her hair plentifully ; then,
without the slightest embarrassment, she lay down on
the bed, where she remained stretched out at full
length, wide awake.

" I fancy myself your wife," she said to him.

Next day he found her in tears. She confessed
that she had been " weeping for her sins ; " and, when
he wished to know what they were, she hung down
her head, and answered :

" Ask me no more ! "

The time for first communion was at hand. She
had been taken to confession in the morning. The
sacrament scarcely made her wiser. Occasionally, she
flew into a real passion ; and Frederick was sent for
to appease her.

He often took her with him in his walks. While
he indulged in day-dreams as he walked along, she
would gather wild poppies at the edges of the corn-
fields ; and, when she saw him more melancholy than
usual, she tried to cheer him with her pretty childish
prattle. His heart, bereft of love, fell back on this
friendship inspired by a little girl. He gave her
sketches of old fogies, told her stories, and read books
to her.

He began with the Annalcs Romantiques, a collec-
tion of prose and verse popular at the period. Then,

124 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

forgetting her age, so much was he charmed by her
intelligence, he read for her in succession, Atala, Cinq-
Mars, and Lcs Fcuillcs d'Automnc. One night (she
had that very evening heard Macbeth in Letourneur's
simple translation) she woke up, exclaiming:

" The spot ! the spot ! " Her teeth chattered, she
shivered, and, fixing terrified glances on her right
hand, she kept rubbing it, saying:

" Always a spot ! "

At last a doctor was brought, who ordered that
she should be kept free from violent emotions.

The townsfolk saw in all this only an unfavourable
prognostic for her morals. It was said that " young
Moreau " wished to make an actress of her later.

Soon another event became the subject of discus-
sion— namely, the arrival of Uncle Barthelemy. Ma-
dame Moreau gave up her sleeping-apartment to him,
and was so gracious as to serve up meat to him on
fast-days.

The old man was not very amiable. He was per-
petually making comparisons between Havre and
Nogent, the air of which he considered heavy, the
bread bad, the streets ill-paved, the food indifferent,
and the inhabitants very lazy. " How miserable trade
is with you in this place ! " He blamed his deceased
brother for his extravagance, pointing out by way of
contrast how he had himself accumulated an income
of twenty-seven thousand livres a year. He left at
the end of the week, and on the footboard of the car-
riage gave utterance to these by no means reassuring
words :

" I am always very glad to feel that you are in a
comfortable position."

" You will get nothing," said Madame Moreau as
they reentered the dining-room.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 125

He had come only at her urgent request, and for
eight days she had been seeking for an opening — only
too obviously perhaps. She repented now of having
done so, and remained seated in her armchair with
her head bent and her lips tightly pressed together.
Frederick sat opposite, staring at her; and they were
both silent, as they had been five years before on his
return home by the Montereau steamboat. This coin-
cidence, which presented itself even to her mind, re-
called Madame Arnoux to his recollection.

At that moment the crack of a whip outside the
window reached their ears, while a voice was heard
calling out to him.

It was Pere Roque, who was alone in his tilted cart.
He was going to spend the whole day at La Fortelle
with M. Dambreuse, and cordially offered to take
Frederick with him.

" You have no need of an invitation as long as you
are with me. Don't be afraid ! "

Frederick felt inclined to accept this offer. But how
would he explain his fixed sojourn at Nogent? He
had no proper summer suit. Finally, what would his
mother say? He accordingly decided not to go.

From that time, their neighbour exhibited less
friendliness. Louise was growing tall ; Madame
Eleonore fell dangerously ill ; and the intimacy was
broken, to the great delight of Madame Moreau, who
feared lest her son's prospects of being settled in life
might be affected by association with such people.

She was thinking of purchasing for him the regis-
trarship of the Court of Justice. Frederick raised no
particular objection to this scheme. He now accom-
panied her to mass; in the evening he took a hand
hi a game of " all fours." He had become accus-
tomed to provincial habits of life, and allowed himself

126 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

to slide into them; and even his love had assumed a
character of mournful sweetness, a kind of soporific
charm.

One day, the i2th of December, 1845, about nine
o'clock in the morning, the cook brought up a letter
to his room. The address, which was in big charac-
ters, was written in a hand he was not familiar with ;
and Frederick, feeling sleepy, was in no great haste
to break the seal. At length, when he did so, he read :

"Justice of the Peace at Havre,

i nth Arrondissement.

"MONSIEUR, — Monsieur Moreau, your uncle, having died in-
testate "

He had fallen in for the inheritance ! As if a con-
flagration had burst out behind the wall, he jumped
out of bed, and flung the window wide open.

He read the letter over three times in succession.
Could there be anything more certain? His uncle's
entire fortune ! A yearly income more than a thou-
sand pounds ! And he was overwhelmed with frantic
joy at the thought of seeing Madame Arnoux once
more. Then he thought of his mother; and he de-
scended the stairs with the letter in his hand.

Madame Moreau made an effort to control her emo-
tion, but could not keep herself from swooning. Fred-
erick caught her in his arms and kissed her on the
forehead.

" Dear mother, you can now buy back your car-
riage— laugh then ! shed no more tears ! be happy ! "

Ten minutes later the news had travelled as far as
the faubourgs. Then M. Benoist, M. Gamblin, M.
Chambion, and other friends hurried toward the
house. Frederick left them a minute in order to write
to Deslauriers. Then other visitors arrived. The
afternoon passed in congratulations. They had for-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 127

gotten all about " Roque's wife," who was declared
to be " very low."

When they were alone, the same evening, Madame
Moreau advised her son to set up as an advocate at
Troyes. As he was better known in his own part of
the country than in any other, he would more easily
find there a profitable connection.

" Ah, it is too hard ! " exclaimed Frederick. He
had scarcely grasped his good fortune in his hands
when he yearned to carry it to Madame Arnoux. He
announced his express determination to live in Paris.

" And what are you going to do there ? "

" Nothing ! "

Madame Moreau, astonished at his manner, asked
what he intended to become.

" A minister," was Frederick's reply. And he de-
clared that he was not joking, that he meant to plunge
at once into diplomacy, and that his studies and
his instincts impelled him in that direction. He would
first enter the Council of State under M. Dambreuse's
patronage.

" So then, you are acquainted with him ? "

" Oh, yes — through M. Roque."

" That is singular," said Madame Moreau. He had
stirred in her heart her former ambitious dreams.
She internally abandoned herself to them, and said
no more about other matters.

If he had yielded to his impatience, Frederick would
have left that very instant. Next morning every seat
in the diligence had been engaged ; and so he kept
eating out his heart till seven o'clock in the evening.

They were seated at dinner when three prolonged
tolls of the church-bell fell on their ears ; and the
housemaid, coming in, informed them that Madame
Eleonore had just died.

128 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

This death, after all, was not a misfortune for any-
one, not even for her child. The young girl would
only find it advantageous for herself afterward.

As the two houses were close to each other, a great
coming and going and a clatter of tongues could be
heard ; and the idea of this corpse being so near threw
a certain funereal gloom over their parting. Madame
Moreau wiped her eyes two or three times. Frederick
felt his heart oppressed.

When the meal was over, Catherine stopped him
between two doors. Mademoiselle had expressed a
wish to see him. She was waiting for him in the
garden. He went out there, strode over the hedge,
and knocking more or less against the trees, directed
his steps toward M. Roque's house. Lights glittered
through a window in the second story, then a form
appeared in the midst of the darkness and a voice
whispered :

"Tis I!"

She seemed to him taller than usual, probably owing
to her black dress. Not knowing what to say to her,
he contented himself with catching her hands, and
sighing :

" Ah ! my poor Louise ! "

She did not reply. She gazed at him for a long
time with an expression of sad, deep earnestness.

Frederick was afraid of missing the coach ; he
fancied that he could hear the rolling of wheels some
distance away, and, in order to put an end to the
interview :

" Catherine told me that you had something —

" Yes — 'tis true ! I wanted to tell you "

He was astonished to find that she addressed him
in the plural ; and, as she again stopped :

"Well, what?"

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 129

" I don't know. I cannot remember ! Is it true that
you're going away ? "

" Yes, I'm starting now."

She repeated : " Ah, now ? — for good ? — we'll never
meet again ? "

She was choking with sobs.

" Good-bye ! good-bye ! embrace me then ! "

And passionately she threw her arms about him.

CHAPTER VII

PARIS AGAIN

FREDERICK plunged into an intoxicating dream
of the future, after he had seated himself be-
hind the other passengers in the front of the
diligence and the five horses had started off at a brisk
trot. As an architect draws up the plan of a palace,
so he mapped out his future life. He filled it with
dainties and with splendours; it rose up to the sky;
there was a profuse display of allurements; and so
deeply was he buried in the contemplation of these
things that he became oblivious to all external objects.

At the foot of the hill of Sourdun his attentions
were directed to the stage which they had reached in
their journey. They had not travelled more than five
kilometres * at the most. He was annoyed at this
tardy rate of travelling. He pulled down the coach-
window in order to get a view of the road. He asked
the conductor several times at what hour they were
due at their destination. However, he eventually re-
gained his composure, and remained seated in his
corner of the vehicle with wide-open eyes.

At Mormans, the clocks struck a quarter past one.

" So then we are in another day," he thought, " we
have been in it for some time ! "

Gradually his hopes and his recollections, Nogent,
the Rue de Choiseul, Madame Arnoux, and his
mother, were all confused together.

* A little over three miles.— TRANSLATOR. '

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 131

He was awakened by the dull sound of wheels pass-
ing over planks : they were crossing the Pont de
Charenton — it was Paris. Then his two travelling
companions, the first taking off his cap, and the second
his silk handkerchief, put on their hats, and began 'to
chat.

The first, a big, red-faced man in a velvet frock-
coat, was a merchant; the second was coming up to
the capital to consult a physician ; and, fearing that
he had disturbed this gentleman during the night,
Frederick spontaneously apologised to him, so much
had the young man's heart been softened by the happi-
ness that possessed" it. They turned into Ivry, then
drove up a street: all at once, he saw before him the
dome of the Pantheon.

They were kept waiting a long time at the barrier,
for vendors of poultry, waggoners, and a flock of sheep
caused an obstruction there. The conductor uttered
his sonorous shout:

" Look alive ! look alive ! oho ! " and the scavengers
drew out of the way, the pedestrians sprang back, the
mud gushed against the coach-windows ; they passed
dung-carts, cabs, and omnibuses. At length, the iron
gate of the Jardin des Plantes came into sight.

They once more crossed the Seine over the Pont-
Neuf, descended in the direction of the Louvre ; and,
having traversed the Rues Saint-Honore, Croix des
Petits-Champs, and Du Bouloi, reached the Rue Coq-
Heron, and entered the courtyard of the hotel.

So that his enjoyment might last the longer, Fred-
erick dressed himself as slowly as possible, and even
walked as far as the Boulevard Montmarte. He smiled
at the thought of presently beholding once more the
beloved name on the marble plate.

He hastened to the Rue de Choiseul. M. and Ma-

132 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

dame Arnoux no longer lived there, and a woman next
door was keeping an eye on the porter's lodge. Fred-
erick waited to see the porter himself. After some
time he made his appearance — it was no longer the
same man. He did not know their address.

Frederick went into a cafe, and, while at breakfast,
consulted the Commercial Directory. There were
three hundred Arnoux in it, but not one Jacques Ar-
noux. Where, then, could they be living? Pellerin
ought to know.

He made his way to the top of the Faubourg Pois-
sonniere, to the artist's studio. As the door had neither
a bell nor a knocker, he rapped loudly on it with his
knuckles, and then called out — shouted. But the only
response was the echo of his voice from the empty
house.

Then he thought of Hussonnet ; but where could
one discover a man of that sort? On one occasion he
had waited on Hussonnet when the latter was paying
a visit at his mistress's house in the Rue de Fleurus.
Frederick had just reached the Rue de Fleurus when
he realised that he did not even know the young
woman's name.

He had recourse to the Prefecture of Police. He
wandered from staircase to staircase, from office to
office. He found that the Intelligence Department was
closed for the day, and was told to come back again
next morning.

Then he called at all the picture-dealers' shops that
he could find, and inquired whether they could give
him any information as to Arnoux's whereabouts. The
only answer he got was that M. Arnoux was no longer
in the trade.

At last, discouraged, weary, sickened, he returned
to his hotel, and went to bed. Just as he was stretch-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 133

ing himself between the sheets, an idea flashed upon
him which made him leap up with delight :

"Regimbart! what a stupid I was not to think of
him before ! "

Next morning, at seven o'clock, he arrived in the
Rue Notre Dame des Victoires, in front of a dram-
shop, where Regimbart habitually drank white wine.
It was not yet open. He walked about the neighbour-
hood, and at the end of about half-an-hour, presented
himself at the place again. Regimbart had left.

Frederick rushed out into the street. He fancied
that he could see Regimbart's hat some distance away.
A hearse and some mourning coaches intercepted his
progress. When they had got out of the way, the
vision had disappeared.

Fortunately, he recalled to mind that the Citizen
breakfasted every day at eleven o'clock sharp, at a
little restaurant in the Place Gaillon. All he had to do
was to wait patiently till then ; and, after wandering
about from the Bourse to the Madeleine, and from the
Madeleine to the Gymnase; so long that it seemed un-
ending, Frederick, just as the clocks were striking
eleven, entered the restaurant in the Rue Gaillon, con-
vinced that he would find Regimbart there.

" Don't know ! " said the restaurant-keeper, in an
unceremonious tone.

Frederick persisted : the man replied :

" I have no longer any acquaintance with him, Mon-
sieur " — and, as he spoke, he raised his eyebrows ma-
jestically and shook his head in a mysterious fashion.

But in their last interview, the Citizen had men-
tioned the Alexandre smoking-divan. Frederick swal-
lowed a cake, jumped into a cab, and asked the driver
whether there happened to be anywhere on the heights
of Sainte-Genevieve a certain Cafe Alexandre. The

134 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

cabman drove him to the Rue des Francs Bourgeois
Saint-Michel, where there was an establishment of that
name, and in answer to his question :

" Monsieur Regimbart, if you please? " the keeper of
the cafe said with an unusually gracious smile:

" He has not arrived as yet, Monsieur," while he
directed toward his wife, who sat behind the counter,
a look of intelligence. And the next moment, turning
toward the clock :

" But he'll be here, I hope, in ten minutes, or at most
a quarter of an hour. Celestin, hurry with the news-
papers ! What would Monsieur like to take ? "

Though he did not desire anything, Frederick swal-
lowed a glass of rum, then a glass of kirsch, then a
glass of curagoa, then several glasses of grog, both
cold and hot. He read through that day's Siecle, and
then re-read it ; he examined the caricatures in the
Charii'ari down to the very tissue of the paper. When
he had finished, he knew the advertisements by heart.

What in the world could Regimbart be doing?
Frederick waited in an exceedingly miserable frame of
mind.

At length when it was half-past four, Frederick,
who had been there since about twelve, sprang to his
feet, and declared that he would not wait any longer.

" I can't understand it at all myself," replied the
cafe-keeper, in a straightforward tone. " This is the
first time that M. Ledoux has failed to come ! "

" What ! Monsieur Ledoux ? "

" Why, yes, Monsieur ! "

" I said Regimbart," exclaimed Frederick, exas-
perated.

" Ah ! a thousand pardons ! You are making a mis-
take ! Madame Alexandre, did not Monsieur say Mon-
sieur Ledoux ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 135

And, questioning the waiter : " You heard him your-
self, just as I did ? "

No doubt, to pay his master off for old scores, the
waiter contented himself with smiling.

Frederick drove back to the boulevards, furious at
having his time wasted, raging against the Citizen,
but longing for his presence as if for that of a god,
and firmly resolved to drag him forth, if necessary,
from the depths of the most remote cellars. In one
cafe he was told that Regimbart had just gone out;
in another, that he might perhaps call at a later hour;
in a third, that they had not seen him for six months ;
and, in another place, that he had the day before or-
dered a leg of mutton for Saturday. Finally, at Vau-
tier's dining-rooms, Frederick, on opening the door,
knocked against the waiter.

" Do you know Monsieur Regimbart ? "

" What, Monsieur ! do I know him ? Tis I who
have the honour of attending on him. He's upstairs
— he is just finishing his dinner ! "

And, with a napkin under his arm, the master of
the establishment himself accosted him :

" You're asking for Monsieur Regimbart, Monsieur ?
He was here a moment ago."

Frederick gave vent to an oath, but the proprietor
of the dining-rooms stated that he would certainly find
the gentleman at Bouttevilain's.

" I assure you, on my honour, he left a little earlier
than usual, for he had a business appointment with
some gentlemen. But you'll find him, I tell you again,
at Bouttevilain's, Rue Saint-Martin, Number Ninety-
two, the second row of steps at the left at the end of
the courtyard — first floor — door to the right ! "

At last, he saw Regimbart, in a cloud of tobacco-
smoke, at the lower end of the refreshment-room.

136 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Ah ! I have been a long time trying to find you ! "

Without rising, Regimbart extended toward him
only two fingers, and, as if he had seen Frederick the
day before, he gave utterance to a number of common-
place remarks about the opening of the session.

Frederick interrupted him, saying in the least con-
cerned tone he could assume :

" Is Arnoux going on well ? "

The reply was a long time coming, as Regimbart
was gargling the liquor in his throat :

" Yes, not badly."

" Where is he living now ? "

" Why, in the Rue Paradis Poissonniere," the Citi-
zen returned with astonishment.

"What number?"

' Thirty-seven — confound it ! what an odd fellow
you are ! "

Frederick rose.

" What! are you going? "

" Yes, yes ! I have to make a call — some business
matter I had forgotten ! Good-bye ! "

Frederick covered the distance from the smoking-
divan to the Arnoux's residence, as if carried along by
a tepid wind, with the sensation of extreme ease that
people experience in dreams.

He soon found himself on the second floor in fror.t
of a door, at the ringing of whose bell a servant ap-
peared. A second door was flung open. Madame Ar-
noux was seated near the fire. Arnoux jumped up,
and rushed across to embrace Frederick. She had on
her lap a little boy not quite three years old. Her
daughter, now as tall as herself, was standing at the
opposite side of the mantelpiece.

" Allow me to present this gentleman to you," said
Arnoux, taking his son up in his arms. And he

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 137

amused himself for some minutes by throwing the
child high up in the air, and then catching him with
both hands as he came down.

" You'll kill him ! — ah ! good heavens, have done ! "
exclaimed Madame Arnoux.

But Arnoux, declaring that there was not the slight-
est danger, still kept tossing up the child, and even
addressed him in words of endearment such as nurses
use in the Marseillaise dialect, his natal tongue : " Ah !
my fine picheoun ! my ducksy of a little nightingale ! "

Then, he asked Frederick why he had been so long
without writing to them, what he had been doing down
in the country, and why he had returned.

" As for me, I am at present, my dear friend, a
dealer in faience. But let us talk about yourself ! "

Frederick gave as reasons for his absence a pro-
tracted lawsuit and the condition of his mother's
health. He laid special stress on the latter subject in
order to make himself interesting. He ended by say-
ing that this time he was to settle in Paris for good ;
but he did not mention the inheritance, lest it might be
prejudicial to his past.

Madame Arnoux wore a large blue merino dressing-
gown. With her face turned toward the fire and one
hand on the shoulder of the little boy, she unfastened
with the other his bodice. The youngster in his shirt
began to cry, while scratching his head, like the son of
M. Alexandre.

Frederick expected to experience spasms of joy ; but
the passions grow pale when we find ourselves in an
altered situation ; and, as he no longer saw Madame
Arnoux in the environment wherein he had known her,
she seemed to him to have lost some of her fascination ;
to have degenerated in some way that he could not
comprehend — in fact, not to be the same. He was sur-

138 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

prised at the serenity of his own heart. He made en-
quiries about some old friends, Pellerin, amongst
others.

" I don't see him often," said Arnoux. She added :

" We no longer entertain as we used to do for-
merly ! "

Was the object of this remark to let him know that
he would get no invitation from them? But Arnoux,
continuing to exhibit the same cordiality, reproached
him for not having come to dine with them uninvited ;
and he explained the reason why he had changed his
business.

" What can be done in an age of decadence like
ours ? Great painting is gone out of fashion ! Be-
sides, we may import art into everything. You know
that, for my part, I am a lover of the beautiful. I must
bring you one of these days to see my earthenware
works."

And he wanted to show Frederick at once some of
his productions in the store which he had between the
ground-floor and the first floor. Frederick, who was
cold and hungry, was bortd with Arnoux's display of
his wares. He hurried off to the Cafe Anglais, where
he ordered a sumptuous supper, and while eating, said
to himself:

" I was well off enough below there with all my
troubles ! She scarcely noticed me ! How like a shop-
keeper's wife ! "

And in an abrupt expansion of healthfulness, he
formed egoistic resolutions. He felt his heart as hard
as the table on which his elbows rested. So then he
could this time plunge fearlessly into the vortex of
society. The thought of the Dambreuses recurred to
his mind. He would make use of them. Then he re-
called Deslauriers. " Ah ! faith, so much the worse ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 139

Nevertheless, he sent him a note by a messenger, mak-
ing a breakfast appointment with him for the follow-
ing day.

Fortune had not been so kind to the other.

He had presented himself at the examination for a
fellowship with a thesis on the law of wills, in which
he held that the powers of testators ought tt be re-
stricted as much as possible; and, as his adversary
provoked him in such a way as to cause him to say
foolish things, he gave utterance to many of these ab-
surdities without in any way inducing the examiners
to falter in deciding that he was wrong. Then fate so
willed it that he should choose by lot, as a subject for
a lecture, Prescription. Thereupon, Deslauriers gave
vent to some lamentable theories : the questions in dis-
pute in former times ought to be brought forward as
well as those which had recently arisen ; why should
the proprietor be deprived of his estate because he
could furnish his title-deeds only after the lapse of
thirty-one years ? This was giving the security of the
honest man- to the inheritor of the enriched thief.
Every injustice was consecrated by extending this law,
which was a form of tyranny, the abuse of force ! He
had even exclaimed : " Abolish it ; and the Franks will
no longer oppress the Gauls, the English oppress the
Irish, the Yankee oppress the Redskins, the Turks op-
press the Arabs, the whites oppress the blacks, Po-
land "

The President interrupted him : " Well ! well !
Monsieur, we have no interest in your political
opinions — you will have them represented in your be-
half by-and-by! "

Deslauriers did not desire to have his opinions rep-
resented ; but this unfortunate Title XX. of the Third
Book of the Civil Code had become a sort of moun-

140 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tain over which he stumbled. He was elaborating a
great work on " Prescription considered as 'the Basis
of the Civil Law and of the Law of Nature amongst
Peopies " ; and he got lost in Dunod, Rogerius, Balbus,
Merlin, Vazeille, Savigny, Traplong, and other weighty
authorities on the subject. In order to have more time
for devoting himself to this task, he had resigned his
post of head-clerk. He lived by giving private tui-
tions and preparing theses.

He came to keep the appointment in a big paletot,
lined with red flannel, like the one Senecal used to wear
in former days.

Only respect for the passers-by prevented them from
straining one another in an embrace of friendship ; and
they made their way to Vefour's arm-in-arm, laughing
happily, though with tear-drops lingering in the depths
of their eyes. Then, as soon as they were free from
observation, Deslauriers exclaimed :

" Ah ! damn it ! we'll have a jolly time now ! "

Frederick was not quite pleased to find Deslauriers
all at once associating himself in this way with his
own newly-acquired inheritance. His friend mani-
fested too much pleasure on account of them both, and
not enough on his account alone.

After this, Deslauriers gave details about the re-
verses he had met with, and gradually told Frederick
all about his occupations and his daily existence, speak-
ing of himself in a stoical fashion, and of others in
tones of intense bitterness. He found fault with every-
thing ; every man in office was an idiot or a rascal. He
flew into a passion against the waiter because a glass
was badly rinsed, and when Frederick uttered a re-
proach with a view to mitigating his wrath : " As if I
were going to annoy myself with such numbskulls, who,
you must know, can earn as much as six and even

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 141

eight thousand francs a year, who are electors, perhaps
eligible as candidates. Ah ! no, no! "

Then, with a sprightly air, " But I've forgotten that
I'm talking to a capitalist, to a Mondor,* for you are
a Mondor now ! "

And, returning to the question of the inheritance, he
gave expression to this view — that collateral successor-
ship (a thing unjust in itself, though in the present
case he was glad it was possible) would be abolished
one of these days during the approaching revolution.

"Do you believe in that?" said Frederick.

" I am sure of it ! " he replied. " This sort of thing
cannot last. There is too much suffering. When I see
into the wretchedness of men like Senecal ''

" Always Senecal ! " thought Frederick.

" But at all events, tell me the news ? Are you still
in love with Madame Arnoux ? Or is it all over — eh ? "

Frederick, not knowing what to answer, closed his
eyes and hung down his head.

With regard to Arnoux, Deslauriers told him that
the journal was now the property of Hussonnet, who
had transformed it. It was called " L 'Art, a literary
institution — a company with shares of one hundred
francs each ; capital of the firm, forty thousand francs,"
each shareholder having the privilege of putting into
it his own contributions ; for " the company has for its
object to publish the works of beginners, to spare
talent, perchance genius, the sad crises which drench,"
etc.

" You see the trick ! " There was, however, some-
thing to be effected by the change — the tone of the
journal could be elevated ; then, without any delay,
while retaining the same writers, and promising a con-

*A notorious Italian charlatan, who, in the seventeenth cent-
ury, settled in Paris and made a large fortune.

142 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tinuation of the feuilleton, to supply the subscribers
with a political organ : the amount to be advanced
would not be very great.

" What do you think of it ? Come ! would you like
to have an interest in it ? "

Frederick did not reject the proposal ; but he pointed
out that it was necessary for him to attend to the reg-
ulation of his affairs.

" After that, if you require anything —

" Thanks, my boy ! " said Deslauriers.

Then they smoked puros, leaning with their elbows
on the shelf covered with velvet beside the window.
Deslauriers, with half-closed eyes, was staring vacantly
into the distance. His breast heaved, and he broke out :

" Ah ! those were better days when Camille Des-
moulins, standing below there on a table, drove the
people on to the Bastille. Men really lived in those
times ; they could assert themselves, and prove their
power! Simple advocates commanded generals.
Kings were beaten by beggars ; whilst now "

He stopped, then added all of a sudden :

" Pooh ! the future is big with great things ! "

And, drumming a battle-march on the window-
panes, he declaimed some verses of Barthelemy, which
ran thus :

" 'That dread Assembly shall again appear,
Which, after forty years, fills you with fear
Marching with giant stride and dauntless soul,'

— I don't know any more of it ! But 'tis late ; suppose
we go ? "

And he continued setting forth his theories in the
street.

Frederick, without heeding him, was looking at cer-
tain materials and articles of furniture in the shop-win-
dows which would be suitable for his new residence in

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 143

Paris; and it was, perhaps, the thought of Madame
Arnoux that made him stop before a second-hand deal-
er's window, where three plates made of fine ware were
exposed to view. They were decorated with yellow
arabesques with metallic reflections, and were worth a
hundred crowns apiece. He ordered them put aside
for him.

" For my part, if I were in your place," said Des-
lauriers, " I would rather buy silver plate," revealing
by this love of substantial things the man of mean ex-
traction.

As soon as he was alone, Frederick went to the es-
tablishment of the celebrated Pomadere, where he or-
dered three pairs of trousers, two coats, a p'elisse
trimmed with fur, and five waistcoats. Then he visited
a bootmaker's, shirtmaker's, and hatter's, giving them
directions in each shop to be as speedy as possible.
Three days later, on the evening of his return from
Havre, he found his complete wardrobe awaiting him
in his Parisian abode ; and impatient to make use of it,
he resolved to pay an immediate visit to the Dam-
breuses. But it was too early yet — scarcely eight
o'clock.

" Suppose I go to see the others ? " said he to him-
self.

He found Arnoux, all alone, in the act of shaving in
front of his glass. The latter proposed to drive him
to a place where they could amuse themselves, and
when M. Dambreuse was mentioned, " Ah, that's just
lucky! You'll see some of his friends there. Come
on ! It will be good fun ! "

Frederick asked to be excused. Madame Arnoux
recognised his voice, and wished him good-day,
through the partition, for her daughter was indisposed,
and she was not feeling well herself. The noise of a

144 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

soup-ladle against a glass could be heard from within,
and all those sounds made by things being lightly
moved about, which are usual in a sick-room. Then
Arnoux left his dressing-room to say good-bye to his
wife. He brought forward many reasons for going
out:

" You know well that it is a serious matter ! I really
must go there ; 'tis a case of necessity. They'll be
waiting for me ! "

" Go, go, my dear ! Amuse yourself ! "

Arnoux hailed a hackney-coach :

" Palais Royal. Number Seven Montpensier Gal-
lery."

And, as he let himself sink back in the cushions :

" Ah ! how tired I am, my dear fellow ! It will be
the death of me ! However, I can tell it to you — to
you ! "

He whispered in Frederick's ear in a mysterious
fashion :

" I am trying to re-discover the red of Chinese cop-
per!"

And he explained the nature of the glaze and the
little fire.

On their arrival at Chevet's shop, a large hamper
was brought to him, which he stowed away in the
hackney-coach. Then he ordered for his " poor wife "
pine-apples and various dainties, and directed that they
should be sent early next morning.

After this, they called at a costumer's establishment ;
it was to a ball they were going.

Arnoux selected blue velvet breeches, a vest of the
same material, and a red wig; Frederick a domino,
after which they went down the Rue de Laval toward
a house the second floor of which was illuminated by
coloured lanterns.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 145

At the foot of the stairs they heard the sound of vio-
lins from above.

"Where the deuce are you bringing me to?" said
Frederick.

" To see a pretty girl ! don't be afraid ! "

The door was opened for them by a groom; and
they entered the anteroom, where paletots, mantles,
and shawls were thrown together in a heap on some
chairs. A young woman in the costume of a dragoon
in the reign of Louis XIV was passing at that moment.
It was Mademoiselle Rosanette Bron, the mistress of
the place.

"Well?" said Arnoux.

'"Tis done! " she replied.

" Ah ! thanks, my angel ! "

And he tried to kiss her.

" Take care, now, you foolish man ! You'll spoil the
paint on my face ! "

Arnoux introduced Frederick.

" Step in there, Monsieur ; you are very welcome ! "

She drew aside a door-curtain, and cried out with
a certain emphasis :

" Here's my lord Arnoux, girls, and a princely friend
of his ! "

Frederick was at first dazzled by the lights. He
could distinguish nothing save some silk and velvet
dresses, naked shoulders, a mass of colours swaying to
and fro to the accompaniment of an orchestra hidden
behind green foliage, between walls hung with yellow
silk, with pastel portraits here and there and crystal
chandeliers in Louis XVI style.

The dancing stopped, and there were bursts of ap-
plause, a general hubbub of delight, as Arnoux ad-
vanced with his hamper on his head ; the eatables con-
tained in it made a lump in the centre.

146 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Make way for the lustre ! "

Frederick raised his eyes : it was the lustre of old
Saxe that had adorned the shop attached to the office
of L'Art Indnstricl. The memory of former days came
back to his mind. But a foot-soldier of the line in un-
dress, with that silly expression of countenance
ascribed by tradition to conscripts, planted himself
right in front of him. Frederick recognised his old
friend Hussonnet. In a half-Alsatian, half-negro kind
of gibberish, the Bohemian loaded him with congratu-
lations, addressing him as " colonel." Frederick, em-
barrassed by the crowd of personages assembled
around him, was at a loss for an answer. At a tap
on the desk from a fiddlestick, the partners in the
dance fell into place.

They numbered about sixty, the women being for
the most part dressed either as village-girls or march-
ionesses, and the men, who were nearly all of mature
age, appeared as waggoners, 'longshoremen, or sailors.

Frederick having placed himself close to the wall,
stared at those who were going through the quadrille.

An old beau, dressed like a Venetian Doge in a
long gown of purple silk, was dancing with Mademoi-
selle Rosanette, who wore a green coat, laced breeches,
and boots of soft leather with gold spurs. In front of
them were an Albanian laden with yataghans and a
Swiss girl with blue eyes and skin white as milk, who
looked as plump as a quail with her chemise-sleeves
and red corset exposed to view. In order to display
her hair, which fell down to her hips, a tall blonde, a
walking lady in the opera, had assumed the part of a
female savage; and over her brown swaddling-cloth
she wore nothing save leathern breeches, glass brace-
lets, and a tinsel diadem, from which rose a large sheaf
of peacock's feathers. In front of her, a gentleman

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 147

intended to represent Pritchard, muffled up in a gro-
tesquely big black coat, was beating time with his el-
bow on his snuff-box. A little Watteau shepherd in
blue-and-silver, like moonlight, dashed his crook
against the thyrsus of a Bacchante crowned with
grapes, who wore a leopard's skin over her left side,
and buskins with gold ribbons. On the other side, a
Polish lady, in a spencer of nacarat-coloured velvet,
wore a gauze petticoat, which fluttered over her pearl-
grey stockings and fashionable pink boots bordered
with white fur. She was smiling on a big-paunched
man of forty, robed as a choir-boy, who was skipping
very high, raising his surplice with one hand, and with
the other his red clerical cap. But the queen, the star,
was Mademoiselle Loulou, a celebrated dancer at pub-
lic halls. As she had lately become wealthy, she wore
a large lace collar over her vest of smooth black vel-
vet; and her gay trousers of poppy-coloured silk,
clinging closely to her figure, and drawn tight round
her waist by a cashmere scarf, had all over their seams
little natural white camellias. Her pale face, a little
puffed, and with the nose somewhat retrousse, looked
all the more pert from the disordered appearance of
her wig, over which she had clapped a man's grey felt
hat, so that it covered her right ear ; and, with every
kick she gave, her pumps, adorned with diamond
buckles, nearly reached the nose of her neighbour, a
big mediaeval baron, who was continually getting en-
tangled in his steel armour. There was also an angel,
with a gold sword in her hand, and two swan's wings
over her back, who kept running up and down, every
minute losing her partner, who appeared as Louis XIV,
and who was in utter ignorance of the figures and con-
fused the quadrille.

Frederick, as he gazed at these people, experienced

148 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

a sense of forlornness, a feeling of uneasiness. He was
still thinking of Madame Arnoux, and it seemed to him
as if he were furthering some plot that was being
hatched against her.

When the quadrille was over, Mademoiselle Rosa-
nette accosted him. She was slightly out of breath,
and her gorget, polished like a mirror, swelled up
softly under her chin.

" And you, Monsieur," said she, " don't you dance ? "

Frederick excused himself; he did not know how
to dance.

"Really! but with me? Are you quite sure?"
And, poising herself on one hip, with her other knee
a little drawn back, while she stroked with her left hand
the mother-of-pearl pommel of her sword, she kept
looking up at him for a minute with a half-beseeching,
half-teasing air. At last she said " Good-night, then ! "
made a pirouette, and disappeared.

Frederick, dissatisfied with himself, and not well
knowing what to do, wandered through the rooms.

He entered the boudoir padded with pale blue silk,
with bouquets of flowers from the fields, whilst on
the ceiling, in a circle of gilt wood, Cupids, emerging
out of an azure sky, played over the clouds. This dis-
play of luxuries, which would now-a-days be only
trifles to persons like Rosanette, dazzled him, and he
admired everything — the artificial convolvuli decorat-
ing the surface of the mirror, the curtains on the man-
telpiece, the Turkish divan, and a sort of tent in a
recess in the wall, with pink silk hangings and a cov-
ering of white muslin. Furniture made of dark wood
with inlaid work of copper filled the sleeping apart-
ment, where, on a platform covered with swan's-down,
stood a large canopied bedstead trimmed with ostrich-
feathers.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 149

Here were surroundings specially calculated to fas-
cinate him. In a sudden revolt of his youthful blood
he swore that he would enjoy such things; he grew
bold ; then, coming back to the place opening into the
drawing-room, where there was now a larger gathering
— it kept moving about in a kind of luminous pulveru-
lence — he stood to watch the quadrilles, blinking his
eyes to see better, and inhaling* the soft perfumes of
the women, which floated through the atmosphere like
an all-pervading kiss.

But, close to him, on the other side of the door, was
Pellerin — Pellerin, in full dress, his left hand over
his breast, his hat and a torn white glove in his right.

" Halloa ! 'Tis a long time since we saw you !
Where the deuce have you been ? Travelling in Italy ?
'Tis a commonplace country enough — Italy, eh? not
so unique as people say it is? No matter! Will you
bring me your sketches one of these days ? "

And, without allowing him time to answer, the artist
began talking about himself. He had made consider-
able progress, having definitely satisfied himself as to
the stupidity of studying the line. We ought not to
look so much for beauty and unity in a work as for
character and diversity of subject.

" For everything exists in nature ; therefore, every-
thing is legitimate ; everything is plastic. It is only a
question of catching the mood, mind you ! I have dis-
covered the secret," and giving him a nudge, he re-
peated several times, " I have discovered the secret,
you see ! Just look at that little woman with the head-
dress of a sphinx who is dancing with a Russian pos-
tilion— that's neat, dry, fixed, all in flats and in stiff
tones — indigo under the eyes, a patch of vermilion on
the cheek, and bistre on the temples — pif ! paf ! " And
with his thumb he drew, as it were, pencil-strokes in

150 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the air. " Whilst the big one over there," he continued,
pointing toward a fishwife in a cherry gown with a
gold cross hanging from her neck, and a lawn fichu
fastened round her shoulders, " is nothing but curves.
The nostrils are spread out just like the borders of her
cap ; the corners of the mouth are rising up ; the chin
sinks : all is fleshy, melting, abundant, tranquil, and
sunshiny — a true Rubens ! Nevertheless, both are per-
fect ! Where, then, is the type ? " He grew warm with
the subject "What is this but a beautiful woman?
What is it but the beautiful ? Ah ! the beautiful— tell
me what that is —

Frederick interrupted him to inquire who was the
merry-andrew with the face of a he-goat, who was in
the act of blessing all the dancers in the middle of a
pastourelle.

" Oh ! he's not anybody ! — a widower, the father of
three boys. He leaves them without breeches, spends
all his time at the club, and lives with the servant ! "

" And who is that dressed like a bailiff talking in the
recess of the window to a Marquise de Pompadour ? "

" The Marquise is Mademoiselle Vandael, at one
time an actress at the Gymnase, the mistress of the
Doge, the Comte de Palazot. They have now been
twenty years living together — nobody can tell why.
Had she fine eyes at one time, that woman? As for
the citizen beside her, his name is Captain d'Herbigny,
an old man of the hurdy-gurdy sort that you can play
on, with nothing in the world except, his Cross of the
Legion of Honour and his pension. He passes for the
uncle of the grisettes at festival times, arranges duels,
and dines in the city."

" A rascal ? " said Frederick.

" No ! an honest man ! "

"Ha!"

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 151

The artist was about to mention the names of others,
when, perceiving a gentleman who, like Moliere's phy-
sician, wore a big black serge gown opening very wide
as it descended in order to display all his trinkets:

" The person there is Doctor Des Rogis, who, full
of bitterness at not having become famous, has written
a book of medical pornography, and willingly blacks
people's boots in society, while he is at the same time
discreet. These ladies adore him. He and his wife
(that lean chatelaine in the grey dress) are seen to-
gether at every public place — aye, and at other places
too. In spite of domestic embarrassments, they have
a da\ — artistic teas, at which verses are recited. Atten-
tion !"

Between two quadrilles, Rosanette went toward the
mantelpiece, where an obese little old man, in a ma-
roon coat with gold buttons, was seated in an arm-
chair. In spite of his withered cheeks, which hung
over his white cravat, his hair, still fair, and curling
naturally like that of a poodle, gave him a frivolous
appearance.

She was listening to him with her face bent close to
his. Presently, she handed him a little glass of syrup ;
and nothing could be more dainty than her hands under
their laced sleeves, which passed over the facings of
her green coat. When the old man had swallowed it,
he kissed them.

" Why, that's Monsieur Oudry, a neighbour of Ar-
noux ! "

" He has lost her ! " said Pellerin, smiling.

A Longjumeau postilion caught her by the waist. A
waltz was beginning. Then all the women, seated
round the drawing-room on benches, rose up quickly ;
and their petticoats, their scarfs, and their head-dresses
went whirling round.

152 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

They whirled so close to him that Frederick could
see the beads of perspiration on their foreheads ; and
this gyral movement, more and more lively, regular,
provocative of dizzy sensations, communicated to his
mind a sort of intoxication, which made other images
surge up within it, while each woman passed with the
same dazzling effect, and with a special kind of excit-
ing influence, according to her style of beauty.

The Polish lady, surrendering herself in a languor-
ous fashion, inspired him with a longing to clasp her
to his heart while they were both spinning forward
on a sledge along a plain covered with snow. Hori-
zons of tranquil voluptuousness in a chalet at the side
of a lake opened out under the footsteps of the Swiss
girl, who waltzed with her bust erect and her eye-
lashes drooping. Then, suddenly, the Bacchante,
bending back her head with its dark locks, made him
dream of devouring caresses in a wood of oleanders,
in the midst of a storm, to the confused accompani-
ment of tabours. The fishwife, who was panting
from the rapidity of the music, which was far too
great for her, gave vent to bursts of laughter ; and he
would have liked, while drinking with her in some
tavern in the " Porcherons," to rumple her fichu
with both hands, as in the good old times. But the
'longshorewoman, whose light toes barely skimmed
the floor, seemed to conceal under the suppleness of
her limbs and the seriousness of her face all the re-
finements of modern love, which possesses the ex-
actitude of a science and the mobility of a bird.
Rosanette was whirling with arms akimbo; her wig,
in an awkward position, bobbed over her collar, and
flung iris-powder around her ; and, at every turn, she
was near catching hold of Frederick by the ends of
her gold spurs.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 153

During the closing bar of the waltz, Mademoiselle
Yatnaz made her appearance.

Behind her came a tall fellow in the classical cos-
tume of Dante, who happened to be — she now made no
concealment of it — the ex-singer of the Alhambra, and
who, though his name was Auguste Delamare, had first
called himself Antenor Delamarre, then Delmas, then
Belmar, and at last Delmar, thus modifying and per-
fecting his name, as his celebrity increased, for he had
forsaken the public-house concert for the theatre, and
had just made his debut in a noisy fashion at the Am-
bigu in Gaspardo Ic Pccheur.

Hussonnet, on noticing him, knitted his brows.
Since his play had been rejected, he hated actors. It
was impossible to conceive the vanity of individuals of
this sort, and above all of this fellow. " What a prig !
Just look at him ! "

After a slight bow toward Rosanette, Delmar leaned
against the mantelpiece ; and there he remained, mo-
tionless, with one hand over his heart, his left foot
thrust forward, his eyes raised toward heaven, with
his wreath of gilt laurels above his cowl, while he
strove to put a poetical expression on his face in order
to fascinate the ladies. They made, at some distance,
a circle around him.

The Yatnaz, having given Rosanette a prolonged
embrace, came to beg of Hussonnet to revise, with a
view to the improvement of the style, an educational
work which she intended to publish, under the title
of The Young Ladies' Garland, a collection of lit-
erary and moral philosophy.

The man of letters agreed to assist her in the prepa-
ration of the work. Then she asked him whether he
could not in one of the publications to which he had
access give her friend a slight puff, and even assign

154 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

to him some employment. Hussonnet in his interest
had forgotten to take a glass of punch.

It was Arnoux who had brewed the beverage ; and,
followed by the Comte's groom carrying an empty tray,
he offered it to the ladies with a self-satisfied air.

When he was passing in front of M. Oudry, Rosa-
nette stopped him.

"Well — and this little business?"

He coloured slightly; finally, addressing the old
man :

" Our fair friend tells me that you would have the
kindness —

" What of that, neighbour ? I am quite at your ser-
vice ! "

And M. Dambreuse's name was pronounced. As
they were talking in low tones, Frederick could
only hear indistinctly ; and he made his way to the
other side of the mantelpiece, where Rosanette and
Delmar were chatting.

The mummer had a vulgar countenance, made, like
the scenery of the stage, to be viewed from a distance
— coarse hands, big feet, and a heavy jaw; and he
spoke slightingly of the most distinguished actors, and
of poets with patronising contempt, making use of the
expressions " my organ," " my physique," " my pow-
ers," enamelling his conversation with words that were
scarcely intelligible even to himself, and for which he
had quite an affection, such as " morbidezza" "ana-
logue," and " homogeneity."

Rosanette listened to him with little nods of ap-
proval. One could see her enthusiasm burning under
the paint on her cheeks, and a touch of moisture ap-
peared like a veil over her bright eyes of an indefinable
colour. How could such a man as this fascinate her?
Frederick internally excited himself to still greater con-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 155

tempt for him, in order to banish, perhaps, a species
of envy which he felt with regard to him.

Mademoiselle Vatnaz was now with Arnoux, and,
while laughing from time to time very loudly, she cast
glances toward Rosanette, whom Monsieur Oudry kept
in sight.

Then Arnoux and the Vatnaz disappeared. The old
man began talking in a subdued voice to Rosanette.

" Well, yes, 'tis settled then ! Leave me alone ! "

And she asked Frederick to give a glance into the
kitchen to see whether Arnoux happened to be there.

A battalion of half-full glasses covered the floor;
and the saucepans, the pots, the turbot-kettle, and the
frying-stove were all in a state of confusion. Arnoux
was giving directions to the servants, whom he
" thee'd " and " thou'd," beating up the mustard, tast-
ing the sauces, and flirting with the housemaid.

" All right," he said ; " tell them 'tis ready ! I'm
going to have it served up."

The dancing had ceased. The women sat down;
the men were walking about.

Where could Rosanette be? Frederick went on
further to find her, even into her boudoir and her bed-
room. Some, in order to be alone, or in pairs, had
retreated into the corners. Whisperings intermingled
with the shade. There were little laughs stifled under
handkerchiefs, and at the sides of women's corsages
one could catch glimpses of fans quivering with slow,
gentle movements, like the beating of a wounded bird's
wings.

As he entered the conservatory, he saw under the
large leaves of a caladium near the fountain, Delmar
lying at length on the linen-covered sofa. Rosanette,
seated beside him, was passing her fingers through his
hair ; and they were gazing into each other's faces. At

156 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the same moment, Arnotix came in at the opposite side
— that which was near the aviary. Delmar sprang to
his feet ; then he went out at a rapid pace, without
turning round ; but he paused close to the door to
gather a hibiscus flower, with which he adorned his
button-hole. Rosanette hung her head ; Frederick, who
caught sight of her profile, saw that she was in tears.

" I say ! What's the matter with you ? " exclaimed
Arnoux.

She shrugged her shoulders without replying.

" Is it on his account ? " he went on.

She threw her arms round his neck, and kissing him
on the forehead, slowly :

" You should know that I will always love you, my
big fellow ! Think no more about it ! Let us go to
supper ! "

A copper chandelier with forty wax tapers lighted
up the dining-room, the walls of which were hidden
from view under some fine old earthenware that was
hung up there. With a rustle of garments, the women
took their seats beside one another ; the men, standing
up, posted themselves at the corners. Pellerin and
M. Oudry were placed near Rosanette, Arnoux was
facing her. Palazot and his female companion had
just gone out.

" Good-bye to them ! " said she. " Now let us begin
the attack ! "

And the choir-boy, a facetious man, with a big sign
of the cross, said grace.

The ladies were scandalised, and especially the fish-
wife, who was the mother of a young girl of whom
she wished to make an honest woman. Neither did
Arnoux care for " that sort of thing," as he considered
that religion ought to be respected.

A German clock with a cock attached to it happening

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 157

to chime out the hour of two, gave rise to a number
of jokes about the cuckoo. All kinds of talk followed
— puns, anecdotes, bragging remarks, bets, lies taken
for truth, improbable assertions, a tumult of words,
which soon became dispersed in the form of conversa-
tion between particular individuals. The wines went
round; the dishes succeeded one another; the doctor
carved. The angel poised on the piano-stool — the only
place on which her wings permitted her to sit — was
placidly masticating without stopping.

" What an appetite ! " the choir-boy kept repeating
in amazement, " what an appetite ! "

And a sphinx drank brandy, screamed out with her
mouth full, and wriggled like a demon. Suddenly her
jaws swelled, and no longer being able to keep down
the blood which rushed to her head and nearly choked
her, she pressed her napkin against her lips and threw
herself under the table.

Frederick had seen her falling : " Tis nothing ! "
And at his request to be allowed to go and look after
her, she replied slowly :

" Pooh ! what's the use? That's just as pleasant as
anything else. Life is not so amusing ! "

Then, he shivered, a feeling of icy sadness taking
possession of him, as if he had caught a glimpse of
whole worlds of wretchedness and despair — a chafing-
dish of charcoal beside a folding-bed, the corpses of
the Morgue in leathern aprons, with the stream of cold
water flowing over their heads.

Meanwhile Hussonnet, seated at the feet of the fe-
male savage, was howling in a hoarse voice in imi-
tation of the actor Grassot :

" Be not cruel, O Celuta ! this little family fete is
charming ! Intoxicate me with delight, my loves ! Let
us be gay ! let us be gay ! "

158 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

And he began kissing the women on the shoulders.
They quivered under the tickling of his moustaches.
Then he conceived the idea of breaking a plate over
his head. Others followed his example. The broken
earthenware flew about in bits like slates in a storm;
and the 'longshore-woman exclaimed :

" Don't bother yourselves about that ; they cost noth-
ing. We get a present of them from the merchant
who makes them ! "

Every eye was riveted on Arnoux. He replied :

" Ha ! about the invoice — allow me ! " desiring, no
doubt, to pass for not being, or for no longer being, Ro-
sanette's lover.

But two angry voices here interrupted :

"Idiot!"

" Rascal ! "

" I am at your command ! "

" So am I at yours ! "

It was the mediaeval knight and the Russian postilion
who were disputing, the latter having stated that ar-
mour dispensed with bravery, while the other regarded
this view as an insult. He desired to fight; all inter-
posed to prevent him, and in the midst of the uproar
the captain tried to make himself heard.

" Listen to me, Messieurs ! One word ! I have some
experience, Messieurs ! "

Rosanette, by tapping with her knife on a glass,
succeeded eventually in restoring silence, and, address-
ing the knight, who had his helmet on, and then the
postilion, whose head was covered with a large hairy
cap:

" Take off that saucepan of yours ! and you, there,
your wolf's head ! Are you going to obey me, damn
you ? Show respect to my epaulets ! I am your com-
manding officer ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 159

They complied, and everyone applauded, exclaim-
ing-, " Long- live the Marechale ! long live the Mare-
chale ! " Then she took a bottle of champagne off the
stove, and poured its contents into the cups which they
successively stretched out to her.

The little birds of the aviary, the door of which had
been left open, flew into the apartment, quite scared ;
they flew round the chandelier, knocking against the
window-panes and against the furniture, and some of
them, alighting on the heads of the guests, looked like
large flowers.

The musicians had gone. The piano had been drawn
out of the anteroom. The Vatnaz seated herself before
it, and, accompanied by the choir-boy, who thumped
his tambourine, she wildly dashed into a quadrille,
striking the keys like a horse pawing the ground, and
wriggling her waist, the better to mark the time. The
Marechale dragged out Frederick ; Hussonnet took the
windmill ; the 'longshore-woman worked her joints like
a circus-clown ; the merry-andrew acted after the man-
ner of an orang-outang; the female savage, with out-
spread arms, imitated the swaying motion of a boat.
At last, unable to keep it up any longer, they all
stopped ; and a window was flung open.

The broad daylight penetrated the apartment with
the cool breath of morning. There was an exclamation
of astonishment, followed by silence. ' The hangings
were soiled, the dresses rumpled and dusty. The plaits
of the women's hair hung loose over their shoulders,
and the paint, trickling down with the perspiration,
revealed pallid faces and red, blinking eyelids.

The Marechale, fresh as if she had just stepped out
of a bath, had rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes. She
flung her wig away, and her hair fell around her like
fleece, allowing none of her uniform to be seen ex-

160 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

cept her breeches, the effect thus produced being at the
same time comical and pretty.

The Sphinx, whose teeth chattered as if she had
the ague, asked for a shawl.

Rosanette rushed up to her own room to look for
one, and, as the other came after her, she quickly shut
the door in her face.

The Turk remarked, in a loud tone, that M. Oudry
had not been seen going out. Nobody paid any
attention to the maliciousness of this observation, so
worn out were they all.

Then, while waiting for vehicles, they managed to
get on their broad-brimmed hats and cloaks. It struck
seven. The angel was still in the dining-room, with
a plate of sardines and fruit stewed in melted butter in
front of her, and close beside her was the fishwife,
smoking cigarettes, while giving her advice as to the
right way to live.

At last, the cabs having arrived, the guests took
their departure. But the angel, attacked by the pre-
liminary symptoms of indigestion, was unable to rise.
A mediaeval baron carried her to a cab.

" Take care of her wings ! " cried the 'longshore-
woman through the window.

At the head of the stairs, Mademoiselle Vatnaz said
to Rosanette:

" Good-bye, darling ! It has been a very nice party."

Then, bending close to her ear : " Take care of
him!"

" Till better times come," returned the Marechale, in
drawling tones, as she turned her back.

Arnoux and Frederick returned together, just as
the^ had come. The dealer in faience looked so gloomy
that his companion asked if he were ill.

"I? Not at all!"

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 161

He bit his moustache, knitted his brows ; and Fred-
erick inquired if it were his business that annoyed him.

" By no means ! "

Then all of a sudden :

" You know him — Pere Oudry — don't you ? "

And, with a spiteful expression on his countenance:

" He's rich, the old scoundrel ! "

After this, Arnoux spoke about an important piece
of ware-making, which had to be finished that day
at his works. He wished to see it ; the train was start-
ing in an hour.

" Meantime, I must go and embrace my wife."

" Ha ! his wife ! " thought Frederick. Then he
made his way home to go to bed, with his head aching
terribly ; and, to appease his thirst, he swallowed a
whole carafe of water.

Another thirst had come to him — the thirst for
women, for licentious pleasure, for all that Parisian life
permitted him to enjoy. Then, two large black eyes,
which had not been at the ball, appeared ; and, light as
butterflies, burning as torches, they came and went,
ascended to the cornice and descended to his very
mouth.

Frederick strove desperately to recognise those eyes,
but could not do so. Already the dream had taken hold
of him. It seemed to him that he was yoked beside
Arnoux to the pole of a hackney-coach, and that the
Marechale sat astride of him, and disembowelled him
with her gold spurs.

CHAPTER VIII

FREDERICK ENTERTAINS AND IS ENTERTAINED

AT the corner of the Rue Rumfort was a small
mansion which was just what Frederick
needed. He purchased it, along with the
horse, the brougham, the furniture, and a couple of
flower stands which were taken from the Arnoux's
house to be placed on each side of his drawing-room
door. In the rear of the apartment were a bedroom
and a closet. The idea occurred to his mind to take
in Deslauriers with him. But how could he receive
her — her, his future mistress? The presence of a
friend would be inconvenient. He knocked down the
partition-wall in order to enlarge the drawing-room,
and converted the closet into a smoking-room.

He bought the works of the poets whom he loved,
books of travel, atlases, and dictionaries, for he had
innumerable plans of study. He hurried on the work-
men, rushed about to the different shops, and in his
impatience to enjoy, carried off everything without
even bargaining beforehand.

From the tradesmen's bills, Frederick calculated
that he would have to expend very soon forty thou-
sand francs, not including the succession duties, which
would exceed thirty-seven thousand. As his fortune
was in landed property, he wrote to the notary at
Havre to sell a portion of it that he might pay off
his debts and have some money at his disposal. Then,
anxious to become acquainted at last with that vague

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 163

entity, glittering and indefinable, which is known as
" society," he sent a note to the Dambreuses to know
whether he might call upon them. Madame, in reply,
said she would expect a visit from him the following
day.

This happened to be their reception-day. Carriages
were standing in the courtyard. Two footmen rushed
forward under the marquee, and a third at the head
of the stairs walked before him.

Frederick smiled with pleasure in spite of himself.

At last he reached an oval apartment wainscoted in
cypress-wood, full of dainty furniture, and letting
in the light through a single sheet of plate-glass, which
looked out on a garden. Madame Dambreuse was
seated at the fireside, with a dozen persons gathered
round her in a circle, With a polite greeting, she
signed to him to take a seat, without, however, ex-
hibiting any surprise at not having seen him for so
long a time.

Just at the moment he was entering the room, they
had been praising the eloquence of the Abbe Coeur.
Then they deplored the immorality of servants, a
topic suggested by a theft which a valet-de-chambre
had committed, and they began to indulge in tittle-
tattle. Old Madame de Sommery had a cold ; Made-
moiselle de Turvisot had married ; the Montcharrons
were not expected before the end of January ; neither
would the Bretancourts return for some time, now
that people remained in the country till late in the
year.

Madame Dambreuse received all of them graciously.
When it was mentioned that anyone was ill, she
knitted her brows with a pained expression, and when
balls or evening parties were discussed, assumed a
joyous air. She would ere long be compelled to de-

164 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

prive herself of these pleasures, for she was going
to take away from a boarding-school a niece of her
husband, an orphan. The guests extolled her de-
votedness: this was behaving like a true mother of
a family.

Frederick gazed at her attentively. The dull skin
of her face looked as if it had been stretched out, and
had a bloom in which there was no brilliancy, like
that of preserved fruit. But her hair, which she wore
in corkscrew curls, after the English fashion, was
finer than silk ; her eyes were of a sparkling blue ; and
all her movements were dainty. Seated at the lower
end of the apartment, on a small sofa, she kept brush-
ing off the red flock from a Japanese screen, probably
to let her hands be seen to greater advantage — long
narrow hands, a trifle thin, with fingers tilting up at
the points. She wore a grey moire gown with a high-
necked body, like a Puritan lady.

Frederick inquired whether she intended to go to
La Fortelle this year. Madame Dambreuse was un-
able to say. He was sure, however, of one thing, that
one would be bored to death in Nogent.

Then the visitors thronged in more quickly. It
soon became impossible to follow the conversation; as
Frederick withdrew Madame Dambreuse said to him :

" Every Wednesday, is it not, Monsieur Moreau ? "
making up for her previous apparent indifference by
these simple words.

He was satisfied. Nevertheless, he took a deep
breath when he got out into the open air; and, crav-
ing a less artificial environment, Frederick recalled to
mind that he owed the Marechale a visit.

The door of the anteroom was open. Two Hava-
nese lapdogs rushed forward. A voice exclaimed :

" Delphine ! Delphine ! Is that you, Felix ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 165

He stood there without advancing a step. The two
little dogs kept up a continuous yelping. At length
Rosanette appeared, wrapped up in a sort of dressing-
gown of white muslin trimmed with lace, and with
her stockingless feet in Turkish slippers.

" Ah ! excuse me, Monsieur ! I thought it was the
hairdresser. One minute ; I am coming back ! "

And he was left alone in the dining-room. The
Venetian blinds were closed. Frederick, as he glanced
round, was beginning to recall the hubbub of the other
night, when he noticed on the table, in the middle of
the room, a man's hat, an old felt hat, bruised, greasy,
dirty. To whom did this hat belong? Impudently
displaying its torn lining, it seemed to say:

" I have the laugh, after all ! I am the master! "

The Marechale suddenly reappeared on the scene.
She picked up the hat?> opened the conservatory, flung
it in there, shut the door again (other doors flew open
and closed again at the same moment), and, having
brought Frederick through the kitchen, she introduced
him into her dressing-room.

It was evident that this was the most frequented
room in the house, and, so to speak, its true moral
centre. The walls, the armchairs, and a big divan
with a spring were adorned with a chintz pattern on
which was traced a great deal of foliage. On a white
marble table stood two large washhand-basins of fine
blue earthenware. Crystal shelves, forming a what-
not, were laden with phials, brushes, combs, sticks of
cosmetic, and powder-boxes. The fire was reflected
in a high cheval-glass. A sheet was hanging outside
a bath, and odours of almond-paste and of benzoin
were exhaled.

" You'll excuse the disorder. I'm dining out this
evening."

166 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

As she turned on her heel, she nearly crushed one
of the little dogs. Frederick declared that they were
charming. She lifted up the pair of them, and raising
their black snouts up to her face :

" Come ! do a laugh — kiss the gentleman ! "

A man dressed in a dirty overcoat with a fur collar
entered abruptly.

" Felix, my worthy fellow," said she, " you'll have
that business of yours attended to next Sunday with-
out fail."

The man proceeded to dress her hair. Frederick
told her he had heard news of her friends, Madame
de Rochegune, Madame de Saint-Florentin, and Ma-
dame Lombard, every woman being noble, just as
it might be at the mansion of the Dambreuses. Then
he talked about the theatres. An extraordinary per-
formance was to be given that evening at the Ambigu.

"Shall you be there?"

" Faith, no! I'm staying at home."

Delphine appeared. Her mistress scolded her for
having gone out without permission.

The other vowed that she was " just returning from
market."

" Well, bring me your book. You have no objec-
tion, isn't that so ? "

And, reading the pass-book in a low tone, Rosanette
made remarks on every item. The different sums
were not added up correctly.

" Hand me four sous ! "

Delphine handed the amount over to her, and, when
she had sent the maid away :

" Ah ! Holy Virgin ! could I be more unfortunate
than I am with these creatures ? "

Frederick was shocked at this grumbling about ser-
vants. It recalled the others too vividly to his mind,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 167

and established between the two houses a kind of
irritating- equality.

When Delphine came back again, she drew close
to the Marechale's side in order to whisper something
in her ear.

" Ah. no ! I don't want her ! "

Delphine presented herself once more.

" Madame, she insists."

" Ah, what a nuisance! Throw her out! "

At the same moment, an old lady, dressed in black,
pushed open the door. Frederick heard nothing, saw
nothing. Rosanette rushed into the other room to
meet her.

When she reappeared her cheeks were flushed, and
she dropped into one of the armchairs without saying
a word. A tear fell down her face ; then, turning to-
ward the young man softly :

" What is your first name ? "

'' Frederick."

" Ha ! Frederico ! It doesn't annoy you when I
address you in that way?"

And she gazed at him coaxingly, almost amorously.

All of a sudden she uttered an exclamation of de-
light at the entrance of Mademoiselle Vatnaz.

The lady-artist had no time to spare before presid-
ing at her table d'hote at six o'clock sharp ; and she
was panting for breath, being completely exhausted.
She first took out of her pocket a gold chain in a
paper, then various objects that she had bought.

" You should know that there are in the Rue Jou-
bert splendid Suede gloves at thirty-six sous. Your
dyer requires eight days more. As for the guipure,
I told you that they would dye it again. Bugneaux has
received the instalment you paid. That's all, I think.
You owe me a hundred and eighty-five francs."

168 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Rosanette went to a drawer to get ten napoleons.
Neither of the pair had any money. Frederick offered
some.

" I'll pay you back," said the Vatnaz, as she stuffed
the fifteen francs into her handbag. " But you are
a naughty boy ! I don't love you any longer — you
didn't ask me to dance with you even once the other
evening ! Ah ! my dear, I came across a case of
stuffed humming-birds which are perfect loves at a
shop in the Quai Voltaire. If I were in your place,
I would make myself a present of them. Look here!
What do you think of it ? "

And she exhibited an old remnant of pink silk which
she had purchased at the Temple to make a mediaeval
doublet for Delmar.

" He was here to-day, wasn't he ? "

" No."

" That's strange.

And, after a minute's silence :

" Where are you going this evening? "

' To Alphonsine's," said Rosanette, this being the
third version given by her as to the way in which she
was going to pass the evening.

Mademoiselle Vatnaz went on : " And what news
about the old man of the mountain ? "

But, with an abrupt wink, the Marechale bade her
hold her tongue; and she accompanied Frederick out
as far as the anteroom to find out how soon he would
see Arnoux.

" Pray ask him to come — not before his wife,
mind ! '

At the top of the stairs an umbrella was standing
against the wall near a pair of goloshes.

" Vatnaz's goloshes," said Rosanette. " What a
foot, eh ? My little friend is rather strongly built ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 169

And, in a melodramatic tone, making the final letter
of the word roll :

" Don't tru-us-st her ! "

Frederick, emboldened by this confidence, tried to
kiss her on the neck.

" Oh, do it ! It costs nothing ! "

He felt light-hearted as he left her, having no doubt
but that ere long the Marechale would be his mistress.
This desire awakened another, and, in spite of the
species of grudge that he owed her, he felt a longing
to see Madame Arnoux.

Besides, he would have to call at her house in order
to execute the commission with which he had been
entrusted by Rosanette.

"But now," thought he (it had just struck six),
" Arnoux is probably at home."

So he postponed his visit till the following day.

She was seated in the same attitude as on the former
day, and was sewing a little boy's shirt.

The child, at her feet, was playing with a wooden
toy menagerie. Marthe, a short distance away, was
writing.

He began by complimenting her on her children.
She replied without any exaggeration of maternal
silliness.

The room had a peaceful aspect. A glow of sun-
shine crept in through the window-panes, lighting up
the angles of the furniture, and, as Madame Arnoux
sat close beside the window, a large ray, falling on the
curls over the nape of her neck, penetrated with liquid
gold her skin, which appeared like amber.

Then he said:

" This young lady has grown very tall during the
past three years ! Do you remember, Mademoiselle,
when you slept on my knees in the carriage ? "

170 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Marthe did not remember.

"One evening, returning from Saint-Cloud?"

There was a look of peculiar sadness in Madame
Arnoux's face. Did she wish to prevent any allusion
on his part to the memories they possessed in common ?

Her beautiful black eyes glistened as they moved
gently under their somewhat drooping lids, and her
pupils revealed in their depths an inexpressible kindness
of heart. He was seized with a love stronger than ever,
a passion that knew no bounds. It enervated him to
contemplate the object of his attachment ; with an
effort, he shook off this feeling. How was he to make
the most of himself? by what means? And, having
turned the matter over thoroughly in his mind, Fred-
erick could think of none more effectual than money.

He began talking about the weather, which was less
cold than it had been at Havre.

" You have been there ? "

" Yes ; about a family matter — an inheritance."

" Ah ! I am very glad," she said, with an air of
such genuine pleasure that he felt as touched as if
she had rendered him a great service.

She asked him what he intended to do, as it was
necessary for a man to occupy himself with something.

He recalled to mind his false position, and said
that he hoped to reach the Council of State with the
help of M. Dambreuse, the secretary.

" You are acquainted with him, then ? "

" Merely by name."

Then, in a low tone:

"He brought you to the ball the other night, did
he not?"

Frederick remained silent.

;< That was all I wanted to know ; thanks ! "

After that she put two or three discreet questions

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 171

to him about his family and the part of the country
in which he lived. It was very kind of him not to
have forgotten them after having lived so long away
from Paris.

" But could that be possible? " he rejoined. " Have
you any doubt about it ? "

Madame Arnoux arose : " I believe that you enter-
tain toward us a true and steadfast affection. Au
revoirl"

And she extended her hand toward him in a sincere
and virile fashion.

Was this not an engagement, a promise ? Frederick
felt a sense of delight at merely living; he had to re-
strain himself to keep from singing. He wanted to
do generous deeds, to give alms.

Then he remembered his friends. The first of
whom he thought was Hussonnet, the second Pel-
lerin. The humble position of Dussardier naturally
claimed consideration. As for Cisy, he was not un-
willing to let that young aristocrat get a slight glimpse
of the extent of his fortune. He wrote accordingly
to all four to come to a housewarming the following
Sunday at eleven o'clock sharp ; and he invited Deslau-
riers to bring Senecal.

The tutor had been dismissed from the third board-
ing-school in which he had been employed for not
having given his consent to the distribution of prizes
— a custom which he looked upon as dangerous to
equality. He was now with an engine-builder, and
for the past six months had not lived with Deslauriers.
There had been nothing unpleasant about their parting.

Senecal had been visited by men in blouses — all
patriots, all workmen, honest fellows no doubt, but
at the same time men whose society was distasteful
to the advocate. Besides, he disliked certain ideas of

172 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

his friend, excellent though they might be as weapons
of warfare. He held his tongue through motives of
ambition, deeming it prudent to pay deference to him
in order to exercise control over him, for he looked
forward impatiently to a revolutionary movement, in
which he calculated on making an opening for himself
and occupying a prominent position.

Senecal's convictions were more disinterested.
Every evening, when his work was finished, he re-
turned to his garret and sought in books for some-
thing that might justify his dreams. He had annotated
the Control Social; he had crammed himself with the
Revue Indepcndante; he was acquainted with Mably,
Morelly, Fourier, Saint-Simon, Comte, Cabet, Louis
Blanc — 'the heavy cartload of Socialistic writers —
those who claim for humanity the dead level of bar-
racks, who would like to amuse it in a brothel or to
bend it over a counter ; and from a medley of all these
things he constructed an ideal of virtuous democracy,
with the double aspect of a farm in which the land-
lord was to receive a share of the produce, and a
spinning-mill, a sort of American Lacedaemon, in
which the individual would only exist for the benefit
of the community, which was to be more omnipotent,
absolute, infallible, and divine than the Grand Lamas
and the Nebuchadnezzars. He had no doubt as to
the early realisation of this ideal; and Senecal raged
against everything that he considered hostile to it
with the logic of a geometrician and the zeal of an
Inquisitor. Titles of nobility, crosses, plumes, liveries
especially, and even reputations that were too loud-
sounding, scandalised him, his studies as well as his
sufferings intensifying day by day, his essential hatred
of every kind of distinction and every form of social
superiority.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 173

" What do I owe to this gentleman that I should
be polite to him ? If he wants me, he can come to me."

Deslauriers, however, induced him to go to Fred-
erick's reunion.

They found their friend in his bedroom. Spring-
roller blinds and double curtains, Venetian mirrors —
nothing was wanting there. Frederick, in a velvet
vest, was lying back on an easy-chair, smoking cigar-
ettes of Turkish tobacco.

Senecal wore the stern look of a bigot arriving in
the midst of a pleasure-party.

Deslauriers gave him a single comprehensive glance ;
then, with a very low bow :

" Monseigneur, permit me to pay my respects to
you ! "

Dussardier leaped on his neck. " So you are a rich
man now. Ah ! upon my soul, so much the better ! "

Cisy appeared with crape on his hat. Since the
death of his grandmother, he was in the enjoyment
of a considerable fortune, and was less bent on amus-
ing himself than on being distinguished from others
— not being the same as everyone else — in short, on
" having the proper stamp." This was his favourite
phrase.

However, it was now midday, and they were all
yawning.

Frederick was waiting for some one.

At the mention of Arnoux's name, Pellerin made
a wry face. He considered him a renegade since he
had abandoned the fine arts.

" Suppose we pass over him — what do you all say
to that?"

They all approved of this suggestion.

The door was opened by a man-servant in long
gaiters; and the dining-room could be seen with its

174 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

lofty oak plinths relieved with gold, and its two side-
boards laden with plate.

These luxuries were lost on Senecal. He began by
asking for household bread (the hardest that could
be got), and in connection with this subject, spoke
of the murders of Buzangais and the crisis arising
from lack of the means of subsistence.

Nothing of this sort could have happened if agri-
culture had been better protected, if everything had
not been given up to competition, to anarchy, and to
the deplorable system of " Let things alone ! let things
go their own way ! " It was in this manner that the
feudalism of money was established — the worst form
of feudalism. But let them beware ! The people in
the end will get tired of it, and may make the capitalist
pay for their sufferings either by bloody proscriptions
or by the plunder of their houses.

Frederick saw, as if by a lightning-flash, a mob
of men with bare arms invading Madame Dambreuse's
drawing-room, and smashing the mirrors with blows
of pikes.

Senecal went on to say that the workman, owing
to the insufficiency of wages, was more unfortunate
than the helot, the negro, and the pariah, especially
if he has children.

" Ought he to get rid of them by asphyxia, as some
English doctor, whose name I don't remember — a
disciple of Malthus — advises ? "

And, turning towards Cisy : " Are we to be forced
to follow the advice of the infamous Malthus ? "

Cisy, who was ignorant of the infamy and even of
the existence of Malthus, said by way of reply, that
after all, much human misery was relieved, and that
the higher classes

" Ha ! the higher classes ! " said the Socialist, with

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 175

a sneer. " To commence with, there are no higher
classes. 'Tis the heart alone that makes anyone higher
than another. We want no alms, understand ! but
equality, the fair division of what is produced."

What he required was that the workman might be-
come a capitalist, just as thfe soldier might become
a colonel. The trade-wardenships, at least, in limit-
ing the number of apprentices, prevented workmen
from growing inconveniently numerous, and the sen-
timent of fraternity was kept up by means of the fetes
and the banners.

Hussonnet, as a poet, regretted the banners ; so did
Pellerin, too — a predilection which had taken pos-
session of him at the Cafe Dagneaux, while listening
to the Phalansterians talking. He expressed the
opinion that Fourier was a great man.

" Come now ! " said Deslauriers. " An old fool
who sees in the overthrow of governments the effects
of Divine vengeance. He is just like my lord Saint-
Simon and his church, with his hatred of the French
Revolution — a set of buffoons who would fain re-
establish Catholicism."

M. de Cisy, no doubt in order to get information
or to make a good impression, broke in with this re-
mark, which he uttered in a mild tone:

" These two men of science are not, then, of the
same way of thinking as Voltaire ? "

" That fellow ! I make you a present of him ! "

"How is that? Why, I thought—

" Oh ! no, he did not love the people ! "

Then the conversation came down to contemporary
events: the Spanish marriages, the dilapidations of
Rochefort, the new chapter-house of Saint-Denis,
which had led to the taxes being doubled. But, accord-
ing to Senecal, they were not high enough !

176 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" And why are they paid ? My God ! to erect the
palace for apes at the Museum, to allow showy staff-
officers to parade along our squares, or to maintain
a Gothic etiquette among the flunkeys of the Chateau !"

" I read in the Mode," said Cisy, " that at the Tuil-
eries ball on the feast of Saint-Ferdinand, everyone
was disguised as a miser."

" How pitiable ! " said the Socialist, with a shrug
of his shoulders, as if to indicate his disgust.

" And the Museum of Versailles ! " exclaimed Pel-
lerin. " Let us talk about that ! These idiots have
foreshortened a Delacroix and lengthened a Gros!
At the Louvre they have so well restored, scratched,
and made a jumble of all the canvases, that in ten
years probably not one will be left. As for the mis-
takes in the catalogue, a German has written a whole
volume on the subject. Upon my word, the foreigners
are laughing at. us."

" Yes, we are the laughing-stock of Europe," said
Senecal.

" Tis because Art is conveyed in fee-simple to the
Crown."

" As long as we haven't universal suffrage "

" Allow me ! " — for the artist, having been rejected
at every salon for the last twenty years, was filled
with bitterness against Power.

" Ah ! why let them bother us ? As for me, I ask for
nothing. Only the Chambers ought to pass enactments
in the interests of Art. A chair of aesthetics should be
established with a professor who, being a practical
man as well as a philosopher, would succeed, I hope,
in grouping the multitude. You would do well, Hus-
sonnet, to touch on this matter with a word or two
in your newspaper ! "

" Are the newspapers free ? are we ourselves free ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 177

said Deslauriers in an angry tone. " When one re-
flects that there might be as many as twenty-eight
different formalities to set up a boat on the river, it
makes me feel a longing to go and live amongst the
cannibals ! The Government is eating us up. Every-
thing belongs to it — philosophy, law, the arts, the
very air of heaven ; and France, bereft of all energy,
lies under the boot of the gendarme and the cassock
of the devil-dodger with the death-rattle in her
throat ! "

The future Mirabeau thus poured out his bile in
abundance. Finally he raised his glass in his right
hand, and with his other arm akimbo, and his eyes
flashing:

" I drink to the utter destruction of the existing
order of things — that is to say, of everything included
in the words Privilege, Monopoly, Regulation, Hier-
archy, Authority, State ! " — and in a louder voice —
" which I would like to smash as I do this ! " dashing
on the table the beautiful wine-glass, which broke into
a thousand pieces.

They all applauded, and especially Dussardier.

Frederick was a little surprised at these views.
They probably bored Cisy, for he changed the con-
versation to the tableaux vivants at the Gymnase,
which at that time were very popular.

Senecal regarded them with disfavour. Such ex-
hibitions demoralised the daughters of the proletariat.
Then, it was noticeable that they went in for a display
of shameless luxury. He approved of the conduct of
the Bavarian students who insulted Lola Montes. In
imitation of Rousseau, he expressed more esteem for
the wife of a coal-porter than for the mistress of a
king.

" You don't appreciate dainties," retorted Hussonnet

178 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

in a majestic tone. And he took up the championship
of ladies of this class in order to praise Rosanette.
Then, as he happened to make an allusion to the ball
at her house and to Arnoux's costume, Pellerin
remarked :

" It is rumoured that he is becoming shaky."

The picture-dealer had just been engaged in a law-
suit with reference to his grounds at Belleville, and
he was actually in a kaolin company in Lower Brit-
tany with other rogues of the same sort.

Dussardier knew still more about him, for his own
master, M. Moussinot, having made inquiries about
Arnoux from the banker, Oscar Lefebvre, the latter
had said that he considered him by no means solvent,
as he knew that bills of his had been renewed.

Dessert was over; they passed into the drawing-
room, which was hung, like that of the Marechale,
in yellow damask in the style of Louis XVI.

Pellerin criticised Frederick for not having chosen
in preference the Neo-Greek style ; Senecal rubbed
matches against the hangings ; Deslauriers said
nothing.

There was a bookcase set up there, which he referred
to as " a little girl's library." The principal contem-
porary writers were to be found there. It was impos-
sible to speak about their works, for Hussonnet im-
mediately began relating anecdotes with reference to
their personal characteristics, criticising their faces,
their habits, their dress, glorifying fifth-rate intellects
and disparaging the greater ones ; and all the while
making it clear that he deplored and despised modern
decadence.

He instanced some village ditty as containing in
itself alone more poetry than all the lyrics of the nine-
teenth century. He maintained that Balzac was over-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 179

rated, that Byron was effaced, and that Hugo knew
nothing about the stage.

" Why, then," said Senecal, " have you not got the
volumes of the working-men poets ? "

And M. de Cisy, who devoted his attention to lit-
erature, was astonished at not seeing on Frederick's
table some of those new physiological studies — the
physiology of the smoker, of the angler, of the man
employed at the barrier.

They irritated him to such an extent that he would
have liked to shove them out by the shoulders.

' They are making me appear quite stupid ! " And
he drew Dussardier aside, and wished to know whether
he could do him any service.

The honest fellow was moved. He answered that
his post of cashier entirely sufficed for his wants.

After that, Frederick led Deslauriers into his own
apartment, and, taking out of his escritoire two thou-
sand francs :

" Look here, old boy, put this money in your pocket.
Tis the balance of my old debts to you."

" But — what about the journal? " said the advocate.
" You know, of course, that I spoke about it to Hus-
sonnet."

And, when Frederick replied that he was " a little
short of cash just now," the other smiled in a sinister
fashion.

After the liqueurs they drank beer, and after the
beer, grog ; then they lighted their pipes once more.
At last they left, at five o'clock in the evening. They
were walking along at each other's side without speak-
ing, when Dussardier broke the silence by saying
that Frederick had entertained them in excellent style.
They all agreed with him on that point.

Then Hussonnet remarked that his luncheon was

180 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

too heavy. Senecal complained of the trivial char-
acter of his household arrangements. Cisy took the
same view. It was absolutely devoid of the " proper
stamp."

" For my part, I think," said Pellerin, " he might
have had the grace to give me an order for a picture?'

Deslauriers held his tongue, as he had the bank-
notes that had been given to him in his breeches' pocket.

Frederick was left by himself. He thought about his
friends, and it seemed to him as if a huge, dark ditch
separated him from them. He had held out his hand
to them, and they had not responded to the sincerity of
his heart.

He recalled what Pellerin and Dussardier had said
about Arnoux. Surely it must be an invention, a cal-
umny? But why? And he had a vision of Madame
Arnoux, ruined, weeping, selling her furniture. This
idea tormented him all night long. Next day he pre-
sented himself at her house.

At a loss to find any way of telling her what he had
heard, he asked, as if in casual conversation, whether
Arnoux still held possession of his building grounds
at Belleville.

" Yes, he has them still."

" He is now, I believe, a shareholder in a kaolin
company in Brittany."

" That is so."

" His earthenware-works are going on very well,
are they not ? "

" Well— I suppose so—

And, as he hesitated :

" What is the matter ? You alarm me ! "

He told her the story about the renewals. She hung
down her head, and said :

" I thought so ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 181

In fact, Arnoux, thinking them a good speculation,
had refused to sell his grounds, had borrowed money
extensively on them, and finding no purchasers, had
thought of rehabilitating himself by establishing the
earthenware manufactory. The expense of this had
exceeded his calculations. She knew nothing more.
He evaded all her questions, and declared repeatedly
that everything was going on very well.

Frederick tried to reassure her. These in all prob-
ability were mere temporary embarrassments. How-
ever, if he got any information, he would impart it to
her.

" Oh ! yes, will you not ? " said she, clasping her two
hands with an air of charming supplication.

So thus he had it in his power to be useful to her.
He was now entering into her existence — occupying a
place in her heart

Arnoux appeared.

" Ha ! how nice of you to come to take me out to
dine ! "

Frederick was silent.

Arnoux spoke about general topics, then informed
his wife that he would be home very late, as he had an
appointment with Monsieur Oudry.

"At his house?"

" Why, certainly, at his house."

As they went down the stairs, he confessed that, as
the Marechale had no engagement at home, they were
going on a secret pleasure-party to the Moulin Rouge ;
and, as he always needed somebody to be the recipient
of his outpourings, he got Frederick to drive him to
the door.

Instead of entering, he walked about on the footpath,
looking up at the windows on the second floor. Sud-
denly the curtains parted.

182 GU STAVE FLAUBERT

" Ha ! bravo ! Oudry is gone ! Good evening ! "

Frederick did not know what to think.

From this day forth, Arnoux was still more cordial
than before ; he invited the young man to dine with
his mistress ; and ere long Frederick frequented both
houses.

Rosanette's residence furnished him with amusement.
He used to call there of an evening on his way back
from the club or the play. He would take a cup of
tea, or play a game of loto. On Sundays they played
charades; Rosanette, more noisy than the rest, made
herself conspicuous by funny tricks, such as running
on all-fours or muffling her head in a cotton cap, so
that she might watch the passers-by through the win-
dow, she had a hat of waxed leather ; she smoked chi-
bouks and sang Tyrolese airs. In the afternoon, to
kill time, she cut out flowers in a piece of chintz and
pasted them against the window-panes, smeared her
two little dogs with varnish, burned pastilles, or drew
cards to tell her fortune. Incapable of resisting a de-
sire, she became infatuated about some trinket which
she happened to see, and could not sleep till she had
bought it, then bartered it for another, sold costly
dresses for little or nothing, lost her jewellery, wasted
money, and would have sold her chemise for a stage-
box at the theatre. Often she asked Frederick to ex-
plain to her some word she came across when reading
a book, but paid no attention to his answer ; she jumped
quickly to another idea, while heaping questions on top
of each other. After periods of gaiety came childish
outbursts of rage, or sometimes she sat on the ground
dreaming before the fire with her head bent and her
hands clasping her knees, more inert than a torpid
adder. Quite indifferently, she made her toilet in his
presence, drew on her silk stockings, then washed her

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 183

face with great splashes of water, throwing back her
figure as if she were a shivering naiad ; her laughing
white teeth, her sparkling eyes, her beauty, her gaiety,
dazzled Frederick, and made his nerves tingle under
the lash of desire.

Usually he found Madame Arnoux teaching her lit-
tle boy to read, or standing behind Marthe's chair while
she played her scales on the piano. When she was
sewing, it was a great source of delight to him to pick
up her scissors now and then. In all her movements
there was a tranquil majesty. Her little hands seemed
made to scatter alms and to wipe away tears, and her
voice, naturally rather hollow, had caressing intona-
tions and a sort of breezy lightness.

She was not very enthusiastic about literature ; but
her intelligence exercised a charm by the use of a few
simple and penetrating words. She loved travelling,
the sound of the wind in the woods, and to walk with
uncovered head under the rain.

Frederick listened to these confidences with rapture,
fancying that he saw in them the beginning of a cer-
tain self-abandonment on her part.

His association with these two women made, as it
were, two different strains of music in his life, the one
playful, passionate, diverting, the other grave and al-
most religious, and vibrating both at the same time,
they increased in volume and gradually blended with
one another; for if Madame Arnoux happened merely
to touch him with her ringer, the image of the other
immediately presented itself to him as an object of
desire, because from that quarter a better opportunity
was thrown in his way, and when his heart happened to
be touched by Rosanette, he was immediately reminded
of the woman for whom he felt such a consuming
passion.

184 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

This confusion was occasioned, in some measure, by
a similarity which existed between the interiors of the
two houses. One of the cabinets which was formerly
in the Boulevard Montmartre now adorned Rosanette's
dining-room. The same courses were served up for
dinner in both places, and even the same velvet cap
was to be found trailing over the easy-chairs ; then, a
heap of little presents — screens, boxes, fans — went to
the mistress's house from the wife's and returned
again, for Arnoux, without the slightest embarrass-
ment, often took from the one some thing he had given
her in order to make a present of it to the other.

The Marechale laughed with Frederick at the utter
lack of propriety which his habits exhibited. One Sun-
day, after dinner, she led him behind the door, and
showed him in Arnoux's overcoat a bag of cakes which
he had just pilfered from the table, in order, no doubt,
to regale his little family at home. Monsieur Arnoux
lent himself to some rogueries which bordered on vile-
ness. It seemed to him a duty to practise fraud with
regard to the city dues ; he never paid when he went to
the theatre, or if he took a ticket for the second seats
always tried to make his way into the first; and he
used to tell, as an excellent joke, that it was his custom
at the cold baths to put into the waiters' collection-box
a breeches' button instead of a ten-sous piece — and
this did not prevent the Marechale from loving him.

One day, however, she said, while talking about him :

" Ah ! he's becoming a nuisance to me, at last ! I've
had enough of him! Faith, so much the better — I'll
find some one else instead ! "

Frederick believed that the other had already been
found, and that his name was Monsieur Oudry.

" Well," said Rosanette, " what does that signify ? "

Then, in a voice choked with rising tears :

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 185

" I ask him for very little, however, and he won't
give me that."

He had even promised a fourth of his profits in the
famous kaolin mines. No profit made its appearance
any more than the cashmere with which he had been
luring her on for the last six months.

Frederick thought of making her a present himself.
Arnoux might regard it as a reproof, and be annoyed
at it.

For all that, he was good-natured, his wife herself
said so, but so foolish ! Instead of bringing people to
dine every day at his house, he now entertained at a
restaurant. He bought things that were utterly use-
less, such as gold chains, timepieces, and household
articles. Madame Arnoux even pointed out to Fred-
erick in the lobby an enormous number of tea-kettles,
foot-warmers, and samovars. Finally, she one day
confessed that a certain matter caused her much anxi-
ety. Arnoux had made her sign a promissory note
payable to Monsieur Dambreuse.

Meanwhile Frederick still cherished his literary
projects as if it were a point of honour with himself
to do so. He wished to write a history of aesthetics, a
result of his conversations with Pellerin ; next, to write
dramas dealing with different epochs of the French
Revolution, and to compose a great comedy, an idea
resulting from the indirect influence of Deslauriers and
Hussonnet. In the midst of his work her face or that
of the other passed before his mental vision. He corn-
batted the longing to see her, but always yielded to it ;
and he felt sadder as he returned from Madame Ar-
noux's house.

On morning, while he was brooding over his melan-
choly thoughts by the fireside, Deslauriers came in.
The incendiary speeches of Senecal had filled his mas-

186 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ter with uneasiness, and once more he was without
resources.

" What do you want me to do ? " said Frederick.

" Nothing ! I know you have no money. But it
will be no trouble for you to get him a post either
through Monsieur Dambreuse or else through Arnoux.
The latter is sure to have need of engineers in his es-
tablishment."

Frederick had an inspiration. Senecal would let him
know when the husband was away, carry letters for
him and assist him on a thousand occasions when op-
portunities presented themselves. Services of this sort
are always rendered between man and man. Besides,
he would find means of using him without arousing any
suspicion on his part. Chance offered him an auxili-
ary ; it was a circumstance that omened well for the
future, and he hastened to take advantage of it ; with
an affectation of indifference, he replied that the thing
was feasible perhaps, and that he would attend to it.

And he did so at once. Arnoux devoted a great deal
of time to his earthenware works. He was endeavour-
ing to discover the copper-red of the Chinese, but his
colours evaporated in the process of baking. In order
to prevent cracks in his ware, he mixed lime with his
potter's clay; but the articles got broken for the most
part; the enamel of his paintings on the raw material
boiled away ; his large plates became bulged ; and, at-
tributing these mischances to the inferior plant of his
manufactory, he was anxious to start other grinding-
mills and other drying-rooms. Frederick recalled some
of these things to mind, and, when he met Arnoux,
said that he knew a very able man, who would be cap-
able of finding his famous red. Arnoux gave a jump;
then, having listened to what the young man had to tell
him, replied that he wanted assistance from nobody.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 187

Frederick spoke in a very laudatory style about
Senecal's prodigious attainments, pointing out that he
was at the same time an engineer, a chemist, and an
accountant, being a mathematician of the first rank.

The earthenware-dealer agreed to see him.

But they squabbled over the emoluments. Frederick
interposed, and, at the end of a week, succeeded in get-
ting them to come to terms.

But as the works were situated at Creil, Senecal
could not assist him in any way. This thought alone
was enough to make his courage flag, as if he had
met with some misfortune. His idea was that the more
Arnoux could be kept apart from his wife the better
would be his own chance with her. Then he proceeded
to make repeated apologies for Rosanette. He re-
ferred to all the wrongs she had sustained at the other's
hands, referred to the vague threats which she had ut-
tered a few days before, and even mentioned the cash-
mere without concealing the fact that she had accused
Arnoux of avarice.

Arnoux, nettled at the word (and, furthermore, feel-
ing some uneasiness), brought Rosanette the cashmere,
but scolded her for having complained to Frederick.
When she told him that she had reminded him a hun-
dred times of his promise, he pretended that, owing to
pressure of business, he had forgotten all about it.

The next day Frederick presented himself at her
abode, and found the Marechale still in bed, though it
was two o'clock, with Delmar beside her finishing a
pate de foie gras at a little round table. She broke out
into a cry of delight, saying : " I have him ! I have
him ! " Then she seized him by the ears, kissed him
on the forehead, thanked him effusively, " thee'd " and
" thou'd " him, and even wanted him to sit down on the
bed. Her fine eyes, full of tender emotion, were

188 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

sparkling with pleasure. There was a smile on her
humid mouth. Her two round arms emerged through
the sleeveless opening of her night-dress, and, from
time to time, he could feel through the cambric the
well-rounded outlines of her form.

All this time Delmar kept rolling his eyeballs.

" But really, my dear, my own pet . . ."

It was the same way on the occasion when he saw
her next. As soon as Frederick entered, she sat up
on a cushion in order to embrace him with more ease,
called him a darling, a " dearie," put a flower in his
button-hole, and settled his cravat. These attentions
were redoubled when Delmar happened to be there.
Were they advances on her part? So it seemed to
Frederick.

As for deceiving a friend, Arnoux, in his place,
would have had no scruples on that score, and he could
not be expected to adhere to rigidly virtuous principles
with regard to this man's mistress, seeing that his re-
lations with the wife had been strictly honourable, for
so he thought — or rather he would have liked Arnoux
to think so, in any event, as a sort of justification of
his own prodigious cowardice. Nevertheless he felt
somewhat bewildered ; presently he made up his mind
to lay siege boldly to the Marechale.

So one afternoon, just as she was stooping down in
front of her chest of drawers, he went across to her,
and repeated his overtures without a pause.

Thereupon she began to cry, saying that she was
very unfortunate, but that she should not be despised
on that account.

He only made fresh advances. She now adopted a
different plan, namely, to laugh at his attempts without
stopping. He thought it a clever thing to answer her
sarcasms with repartees in the same strain, in which

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 189

there was even a touch of exaggeration. But he made
too great a display of gaiety to convince her that he
was in earnest ; and their comradeship was an impedi-
ment to any expression of serious feeling. At last,
when she said one day, in reply to his amorous whis-
pers, that she would not take another woman's leav-
ings, he answered.

" What other woman ? "

" Ah ! yes, go and meet Madame Arnoux again ! "

For Frederick used to talk about her continually.
Arnoux, on his side, had the same mania. At last she
lost patience at always hearing this woman's praises
sung, and her insinuation was a kind of revenge.

Frederick resented it. However, Rosanette was be-
ginning to excite his love to an unusual degree. Some-
times, pretending to be a woman of experience, she
spoke lightly of love with a sceptical smile that made
him feel inclined to box her ears. A quarter of an
hour afterward, it was the only thing that mattered in
the world, and, with her arms crossed over her breast,
as if she were clasping some one close to her : " Oh,
yes, 'tis good ! 'tis good ! " and her eyelids would
quiver in a kind of rapturous swoon. It was impos-
sible to understand her, to know, for instance, whether
she loved Arnoux, for she ridiculed him, and yet
seemed jealous of him. So likewise with the Vatnaz,
whom she would sometimes call a wretch, and at other
times her best friend. In short, there was about her
entire person, even to the arrangement of her chignon
upon her head an inexpressible something which
seemed like a challenge ; and he desired her for the
satisfaction, above all, of conquering her and being her
master.

How was he to accomplish this? for she often dis-
missed him unceremoniously, appearing only for a mo-

190 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ment between two doors in order to say in a subdued
voice, " I'm engaged — for the evening ; " or else he
found her surrounded by a dozen persons; and when
they were alone, so many impediments presented them-
selves one after the other, that one would have sworn
there was a bet to keep matters from going any further.
He invited her to dinner ; as a rule, she declined the in-
vitation. On one occasion, she accepted it, but did not
come.

A Machiavellian idea arose in his mind.

Having heard from Dussardier about Pellerin's com-
plaints against himself, he thought of giving the artist
an order to paint the Marechale's portrait, a life-sized
portrait, which would necessitate a number of sittings.
He would be present at all of them. The habitual in-
correctness of the painter would facilitate their private
conversations. So then he would urge Rosanette to get
the picture executed in order to make a present of her
face to her dear Arnoux. She consented, for she saw
herself in the midst of the Grand Salon in the most
prominent position with a crowd of people staring at
her picture, and the newspapers would all talk about
it, which at once would set her afloat.

As for Pellerin, he eagerly snatched at the offer.
This portrait might be the making of him ; it ought to
be a masterpiece. He reviewed in his memory all the
portraits by great masters with which he was ac-
quainted, and decided finally in favour of a Titian,
which would be set off with ornaments in the style of
Veronese. Therefore, he would carry out his design
without artificial backgrounds in a bold light, which
would illuminate the flesh-tints with a single tone, and
make the accessories glitter.

" Suppose I were to put on her," he thought, " a
pink silk dress with an Oriental bournous? Oh, no!

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 191

the bournous is only a cheap thing! Or suppose,
rather, I were to make her wear blue velvet with a grey
background, richly coloured ? We might likewise give
her a white guipure collar with a black fan and a scar-
let curtain behind." And thus, seeking for ideas, his
conception grew ,and he regarded it with great admira-
tion.

He felt his heart beating when Rosanette, accom-
panied by Frederick, arrived at his house for the first
sitting. He placed her standing up on a sort of plat-
form in the centre of the apartment, and, finding fault
with the light and expressing regret at the loss of his
former studio, he first made her lean on her elbow
against a pedestal, then sit down in an armchair, and,
drawing away from her and coming near her again
by turns in order to adjust with a fillip the folds of her
dress, he observed her with eyes half-closed, and ap-
pealed to Frederick's taste with a passing word.

" Well, no," he exclaimed ; " I return to my own
idea. I will paint you in the Venetian style."

She would have a poppy-coloured velvet gown with
a jewelled girdle ; and her wide sleeve lined with er-
mine would afford a glimpse of her bare arm, which
was to touch the balustrade of a staircase rising behind
her. At her left, a large column would rise to the top
of the canvas to meet certain structures so as to form
an arch. Underneath would vaguely be distinguishable
groups of orange-trees almost black, through which
the blue sky, with its streaks of white cloud, would
seem cut into fragments. On the baluster, covered
with a carpet, there would be, on a silver dish, a bou-
quet of flowers, a chaplet of amber, a poniard, and a
little chest of antique ivory, rather yellow with age,
which would appear to be disgorging gold sequins.
Some of them, falling on the ground here and there,

192 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

would form brilliant splashes, as it were, in -such a
way as to direct one's glance toward the tip of her foot,
for she would be standing on the last step but one in
a natural position, as if in the act of moving under the
glow of the broad sunlight.

He went to look for a picture-case, which he had laid
on the platform to represent the step. Then he ar-
ranged as accessories, on a stool by way of balustrade,
his pea-jacket, a buckler, a sardine-box, a bundle of
pens, and a knife; and when he had flung in front of
Rosanette a dozen big sous, he got her to assume the
attitude he required.

" Just imagine that these things are riches, mag-
nificent presents. The head a little on one side ! Per-
fect! and don't stir! This majestic pose exactly suits
your style of beauty."

She wore a plaid dress and carried a big muff, and
only kept from laughing outright by an effort.

" As regards the headdress, we will mingle with it a
circle of pearls. It always produces a striking effect
with red hair."

The Marechale burst out into an exclamation, deny-
ing that she had red hair.

" Nonsense ! The red of painters is not that of or-
dinary people."

He began to sketch the position of the masses; and
he was so much preoccupied with the great artists of
the Renaissance that he kept talking about them per-
sistently.

" You were made to live in those days. A creature
of your calibre would have deserved a monseigneur."

Rosanette thought the compliments he paid her very
pretty. The day was fixed for the next sitting. Fred-
erick took it on himself to bring the accessories.

As the heat of the stove had stupefied her a little,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 193

they returned home on foot through the Rue du Bac,
and reached the Pont Royal.

It was fine weather, piercingly bright and warm.
The windows of some houses in the city shone in the
distance, like plates of gold, whilst behind them at the
right the turrets of Notre Dame showed their outlines
in black against the blue sky, softly bathed at the hori-
zon in grey vapours.

The wind began to swell ; and Rosanette, having de-
clared that she felt hungry, they entered the " Patis-
serie Anglaise."

Young women with their children stood eating in
front of the marble buffet, where plates of little cakes
were under glass covers. Rosanette ate two cream-
tarts. The powdered sugar formed moustaches at the
sides of her mouth. From time to time she drew out
her handkerchief from her muff, and her face, under
her green silk hood, looked like a full-blown rose in
the midst of its leaves. "

They resumed their walk. In the Rue de la Paix
she paused before a goldsmith's shop to look at a brace-
let. Frederick immediately wished to make her a pres-
ent of it.

" No ! " said she ; " keep your money ! "

He was hurt by these words.

" What's the matter now with the ducky ? We are
melancholy ? "

And, the conversation having been renewed, he re-
peated the same protestations of love to her as usual.

" You know well 'tis impossible ! "

"Why?"

" Ah ! because—

They went on, she leaning on his arm, and the
flounces of her gown kept flapping against his legs.
Then, he recalled to mind one winter twilight when on

194 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the same footpath Madame Arnoux walked thus by
his side, and he became so much absorbed in this recol-
lection that he no longer noticed Rosanette, and did not
bestow a thought upon her.

She looked straight before her in a careless fashion,
lagging a little, like a lazy child. It was the hour when
people were returning from their promenade, and
equipages were making their way at a quick trot over
the hard pavement.

Pellerin's flatteries having probably recurred to her
mind, she heaved a sigh.

" Ah ! there are some lucky women in the world.
Decidedly, I was made for a rich man ! "

He replied, with a certain brutality in his tone :

" Well, you have one ! " for Monsieur Oudry was
looked upon as a man that could count a million three
times over.

She wished nothing better than to get free from
him.

" What prevents you from doing so ? " And he gave
utterance to bitter jests about this old bewigged citi-
zen, pointing out to her that such an intrigue was un-
worthy of her, and that she ought to break it off.

" Yes," replied the Marechale, as if talking to her-
self. " Tis what I shall end by doing, no doubt ! "

Frederick was charmed by this disinterestedness.
She slackened her pace, and he suggested that she was
fatigued. She obstinately refused to let him take a
cab, and she parted with him at her door, sending him
a kiss with her finger-tips.

" Ah ! what a pity ! and to think that imbeciles take
me for a man of wealth ! "

He reached home in a gloomy frame of. mind.

Hussonnet and Deslauriers were awaiting him.
The Bohemian, seated before the table, made sketches

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 195

of Turks' heads ; and the advocate, in dirty boots, lay
asleep on the sofa.

" Ha ! at last," he exclaimed. " But how solemn you
look ! Listen to me ! "

His vogue as a tutor had fallen off, for he crammed
his pupils with theories unfavourable for their exam-
inations. He had appeared in two or three unsuccess-
ful cases, and each new disappointment flung him back
with greater force on the dream of his earlier days —
a journal in which he could display himself, avenge
himself, and spit forth his bile and his opinions. For-
tune and reputation, moreover, would follow as a nec-
essary consequence. It was in this hope that he had
won over the Bohemian, Hussonnet happening to be
the possessor of a press.

At present, he printed it on pink paper. He in-
vented hoaxes, composed rebuses, tried to engage in
polemics, and even intended, in spite of the location of
the premises, to get up concerts. A year's subscription
was to include admittance to a place in the orchestra in
one of the principal theatres of Paris. Besides, the
board of management took on itself to furnish foreign-
ers with all necessary ability, artistic and otherwise.
But the printer gave vent to threats ; there were three
quarters' rent due to the landlord. All sorts of em-
barrassments arose; and Hussonnet would have al-
lowed L'Art to perish, were it not for the exhortations
of the advocate, who kept every day exciting his mind.
He had brought the other with him, in order to give
more weight to the proposition he was now making.

" We've come about the journal," said he.

" What ! are you still thinking about that ? " said
Frederick, in an absent tone.

" Certainly, I am thinking about it ! "

And he explained his plan anew. By means of the

196 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Bourse returns, they would get into communication
with financiers, and would thus obtain the hundred
thousand francs indispensable as security. But, in or-
der that the print might be transformed into a political
journal, it was necessary beforehand to have a large
clientele, and for that purpose to make up their minds
to go to some expense — so much for the cost of paper
and printing, and for outlay at the office ; in short, a
sum of about fifteen thousand francs.

" I have no funds," said Frederick.

" Then what are we to do? " said Deslauriers, fold-
ing his arms.

Frederick, hurt by the attitude which Deslauriers
was assuming, replied :

"Is it my fault?"

" Ah ! very fine. A man has wood in his fire, truffles
on his table, a good bed, a library, a carriage, every
kind of comfort. But let another man shiver under
the slates, dine at twenty sous, work like a convict,
and sprawl through want in the mire — is it the rich
man's fault ? "

And he repeated, " Is it the rich man's fault ? " with
a Ciceronian irony which smacked of the law-courts.

Frederick tried to speak.

" Certainly, I understand one has certain wants —
aristocratic wants; for, no doubt, some woman "

" Well, even if that were so? Am I not free ? "

" Oh ! quite free ! "

And, after a minute's silence :

" Promises are so convenient ! "

" Good God ! I don't deny that I gave them ! " said
Frederick.

The advocate went on :

" At college we take oaths ; we are going to set up a
phalanx ; we are going to be as Balzac's Thirteen.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 19?

Then, on meeting a friend after a separation : ' Good
night, old fellow ! go about your business ! ' For the
one who might help the other carefully 'keeps every-
thing for himself alone."

" How is that? "

" Yes, you have not even given one an introduction
to the Dambreuses."

Frederick cast a scrutinising glance at him. With
his shabby frock-coat, his spectacles of rough glass,
and his sallow face, the advocate seemed to him such
a typical specimen of the penniless pedant that he
could not prevent his lips from curling with a disdain-
ful smile.

Deslauriers saw this, and reddened.

He had already taken his hat to leave. Hussonnet,
filled with uneasiness, tried to mollify him with ap-
pealing looks, and, as Frederick was turning his back
on him :

" Look here, my boy, become my Maecenas ! Pro-
tect the arts ! "

Frederick, with an abrupt movement of resignation,
took a sheet of paper, and, having scrawled some lines
on it, handed it to him. The Bohemian's face lighted
up.

Then, handing the sheet of paper to Deslauriers:

" Apologise, my fine fellow ! "

Their friend requested his notary to send him fifteen
thousand francs as quickly as possible.

" Ah ! I recognise you in that," said Deslauriers.

" On the faith of a gentleman," added the Bohemian,
" you are a noble fellow, you deserve a place in the
gallery of useful men ! "

The advocate remarked :

" You'll lose nothing by it, 'tis an excellent specu-
lation."

198 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Faith," exclaimed Hussonnet, " I'd stake my head
at the scaffold on its success ! "

And he talked so foolishly, and promised so many
extravagant things, in which perhaps he believed, that
Frederick did not know whether he did this in order
to laugh at others or at him.

The same evening he received a letter from his
mother. She expressed astonishment at not seeing him
yet a minister, while indulging in a little banter at his
expense. Then she spoke of her health, and informed
him that Monsieur Roque had now become one of her
visitors.

" Since he is a widower, I thought there would be
no objection to inviting him to the house. Louise is
greatly changed for the better." And in a postscript :
" You have written me nothing about your fine ac-
quaintance, Monsieur Dambreuse ; if I were you, I
would make use of him."

Why not? His intellectual ambitions had left him,
and his fortune (he saw it clearly) was insufficient, for
when his debts had been paid, and the sum agreed on
remitted to the others, his income would be diminished
by four thousand at least! Moreover, he felt that he
must give up this sort of life, and attach himself to
some pursuit. So next day, when dining at Madame
Arnoux's, he said that his mother was tormenting him
to take up a profession.

" But I understood," she said, " that Monsieur Dam-
breuse was going to get you into the Council of State ?
That would suit you very well."

So, then, she desired him to take this course. He
regarded her wish as a command.

The banker, as on the first occasion, was seated at
his desk, and, with a gesture, intimated that Frederick
was to wait a few minutes ; for a gentleman who was

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 199

standing at the door with his back turned had been dis-
cussing some serious topic with him.

The subject of their conversation was the proposed
amalgamation of the different coal-mining companies.

Frederick noticed particularly two chests of pro-
digious size which stood in the corners. He wondered
how many millions they might contain. The banker
unlocked one of them, and as the iron plate swung
back, it disclosed to view nothing inside but blue
paper books full of entries.

At last, the person who had been talking to Monsieur
Dambreuse passed in front of Frederick. It was Pere
Oudry. They saluted each other, their faces colour-
ing— a circumstance which surprised Monsieur Dam-
breuse. However, he exhibited the utmost affability,
observing that nothing would be easier than to recom-
mend the young man to the Keeper of the Seals. They
would be delighted to have him, he added, concluding
his polite attentions by inviting him to an evening
party which he would be giving in a few days.

Frederick was stepping into a brougham on his way
to this party when a note from the Marechale reached
him. By the light of the carriage-lamps he read :

" Darling, I have followed your advice: I have just
expelled my savage. After to-morrow evening, liberty !
Say whether I have not courage ! "

Nothing more. But it was clearly an invitation to
him to take the vacant place. He uttered an exclama-
tion, squeezed the note into his pocket, and set forth
at once.

Two municipal guards on horseback were stationed
in the street. A row of lamps burned on the two front
gates, and servants were calling out in the courtyard
for the carriages to come up to the end of the steps be-
fore the house under the marquee.

200 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Then suddenly the noise in the handsome vestibule
ceased.

Large trees filled up the space in front of the stair-
case. The porcelain globes shed a light which waved
like white moire satin on the walls.

Frederick ascended the steps in a joyous frame of
mind. An usher announced his name. Monsieur Dam-
breuse extended his hand. Almost at the very same
moment, Madame Dambreuse appeared. She wore a
mauve dress trimmed with lace. The ringlets of her
hair were more abundant than usual, and she wore
not a single jewel.

She complained of his coming so seldom to visit
them, and seized the opportunity to exchange a few
confidential words with him.

The guests began to arrive. When they bowed they
twisted their bodies on one side or bent in two, or
merely lowered their heads a little.

The crowd of men who were standing with their
hats in their hands seemed, at some distance, like one
black mass, into which the ribbons in the button-holes
introduced red points here and there, and rendered all
the duller the monotonous whiteness of their cravats.
With the exception of the very young men with the
down on their faces, all appeared to be bored.

A large number of men-servants, with fine gold-
laced livery, kept moving about on every side. The
large branched candlesticks, like bouquets of flame,
threw a glow over the hangings. They were reflected
in the mirrors ; and at the bottom of the dining-room,
which was adorned with trailing jessamine, the side-
board resembled the high altar of a cathedral or an
exhibition of jewellery, there were so many dishes,
bells, knives and forks, silver and silver-gilt spoons.

The three other reception-rooms overflowed with

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 201

artistic objects — landscapes by great masters on the
walls, ivory and porcelain at the sides of the tables,
and Chinese ornaments on the brackets. Lacquered
screens were displayed in front of the windows, clus-
ters of camelias rose above the mantel-shelves, and
music could be heard in the distance, like the humming
of bees.

There were few quadrilles, and the dancers, judging
by the indifferent fashion in which they dragged their
pumps after them, seemed to be going through the
performance of a duty.

Behind Frederick, three greybeards, who had placed
themselves in the recess of a window, were whisper-
ing some risque remarks. A sportsman told a hunt-
ing story, while a Legitimist carried on an argument
with an Orleanist. And, wandering about from one
group to another, he reached the card-room, where,
in the midst of grave-looking men gathered in a
circle, he recognised Martinon, now attached to the
Bar of the capital.

His big face with its waxen complexion, filled up
the space encircled by his collar-like beard, which was
a marvel with its even surface of black hair ; and, ob-
serving the golden mean between the elegance which
his age might yearn for and the dignity which his
profession exacted from him, he kept his thumbs
stuck under the armpits, according to the custom of
beaux, and then put his hands into his waistcoat
pockets after the manner of learned personages.
Though his boots were polished to excess, he kept
his temples shaved in order to have the forehead of
a thinker.

After he had addressed a few chilling words to
Frederick, he turned once more toward those who
were chatting around him. A landowner was say-

202 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ing: "This is a class of men that dreams of upset-
ting society."

" They are calling for the organisation of labour,"
said another : " Can this be conceived ? "

" What could you expect," said a third, " when
we see M. de Genoude giving his assistance to the
Siecle? "

" And even Conservatives style themselves Pro-
gressives. To lead us to what ? To the Republic !
as if such a thing were possible in France ! "

Everyone declared that the Republic was impos-
sible in France.

" No matter ! " remarked one gentleman in a loud
tone. " People take too much interest in the Revolu-
tion. A heap of histories, of different kinds of works,
are published concerning it ! "

" Without taking into account," said Martinon,
" that there are probably subjects of far more im-
portance which might be studied."

A gentleman occupying a minsterial office laid the
blame on the scandals associated with the stage:

'' Thus, for instance, this new drama of La Reinc
Margot really goes beyond the proper limits. What
need was there for telling us about the Valois? All
this exhibits loyalty in an unfavourable light. 'Tis
just like your press ! There is no use in talking, the
September laws are altogether too mild. For my
part, I would like to have court-martials, to gag the
journalists! At the slightest display of insolence,
drag them before a council of war, and then make an
end of the business!"

" Oh, take care, Monsieur ! take care ! " said a pro-
fessor. " Don't attack the precious boons we gained
in 1830 ! Respect our liberties ! " It would be better
he contended, to adopt a policy of decentralisation,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 203

and to distribute the surplus populations of the towns
through the country districts.

" But they are gangrened ! " exclaimed a Catholic.
" Let religion be more firmly established ! "

Martinon hastened to observe:

" As a matter of fact, it is a restraining force."

All the evil lay in this modern longing to rise above
one's class and to possess luxuries.

" However," urged a manufacturer, " luxury aids
commerce. Therefore, I approve of the Due de Ne-
mours' action in insisting on having short breeches at
his evening parties."

" M. Thiers came to one of them in a pair of trou-
sers. You know his joke on the subject?"

" Yes ; charming ! But he turned round to the
demagogues, and his speech on the question of in-
compatibilities was not without its influence in bring-
ing about the attempt of the twelfth of May."

" Oh, pooh ! "

"Ay, ay!"

The circle had to make a little opening to give a
passage to a man-servant carrying a tray, who was
trying to make his way into the card-room.

Under the green shades of the wax-lights the tables
were covered with two rows of cards and gold coins.
Frederick stopped at one corner of the table, lost the
fifteen napoleons which he had in his pocket, whirled
lightly about, and found himself on the threshold of
the boudoir in which Madame Dambreuse happened to
be at the moment.

It was filled with women sitting close to one another
in little groups on seats without backs. Their long
skirts, swelling round them, seemed like waves, from
which their waists emerged ; and their breasts were
clearly outlined by the slope of their corsages. Nearly

204 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

every one had a bouquet of violets in her hand. The
dull shades of their gloves showed off the whiteness
of their arms, which formed a contrast with the human
flesh tints. Over the shoulders of some of them hung
fringe or mourning-weeds, and, every now and then,
as they quivered with emotion, it seemed as if their
bodices were about to fall down.

But the decorum of their countenances tempered the
exciting effect of their costumes. Several had a placid-
ity almost like that of animals ; and this resemblance
to the brute creation in these half-nude women made
him think of the interior of a harem — indeed, a grosser
comparison suggested itself to the young man's mind.

Every variety of beauty was to be found there —
some English ladies with the profile familiar in
" keepsakes " ; an Italian, whose .black eyes shot forth
lava-like flashes, like a Vesuvius ; three sisters, dressed
in blue ; three Normans, fresh as April apples ; a tall
red-haired girl, with a set of amethysts. And the
bright scintillation of diamonds, which trembled in
aigrettes worn over their hair, the luminous spots of
precious stones laid over their breasts, and the de-
lightful radiance of pearls which adorned their fore-
heads, mingled with the glitter of gold rings, as well
as with the lace, powder, feathers, the vermilion of
dainty mouths, and the mother-of-pearl hue of teeth.
The ceiling, rounded like a cupola, gave to the
boudoir the form of a flower-basket, and a current of
perfumed air circulated under the flapping of frns.

Frederick, standing behind them, put up his eye-
glass and scanned their shoulders, not all of which did
he consider irreproachable. He thought about the Ma-
rechale, and this dispelled the temptations that beset
him or consoled him for not yielding to them.

He gazed long, however, at Madame Dambreuse,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 205

and he considered her charming, in spite of her mouth
being rather large and her nostrils too dilated. But
she was remarkably graceful in appearance. There
was, as it were, an expression of passionate languor in
the ringlets of her hair, and her forehead, which was
like agate, seemed to cover a great deal, and to indi-
cate a masterful intelligence.

She had placed beside her her husband's niece, a
rather plain-looking young person. From time to
time she left her seat to receive those who had just
arrived ; and the murmur of feminine voices, made, as
it were, a cackling like that of birds.

They were talking about the Tunisian ambassadors
and their costumes. One lady had been present at
the last reception of the Academy. Another referred
to the Don Juan of Moliere, which had recently been
performed at the Theatre Frangais.

But with a significant glance toward her niece, Ma-
dame Dambreuse laid a finger on her lips, while her
smile contradicted this display of austerity.

Suddenly, Martinon, who was now attached to the
Bar of the Capital, appeared at the door directly in
front of her. She arose at once. He offered her his
arm. Frederick, in order to watch the progress of
these gallantries on Martinon's part, walked past the
card-table, and came up with them in the large draw-
ing-room. Madame Dambreuse very soon left her
cavalier, and began chatting with Frederick himself
in a very familiar tone.

She understood that he did not play cards, and did
not dance.

" Young people are apt to be melancholy ! " Then,
with a single comprehensive glance around :

" Besides, this sort of thing is not amusing — at
least to certain natures ! "

206 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

And she drew up in front of the row of armchairs,
uttering a few polite remarks here and there, while
some old men with double eyeglasses came to pay court
to her. • She introduced Frederick to some of them.
M. Dambreuse touched him lightly on the elbow, and
led him out on the terrace.

He had seen the Minister. The thing was not easy
to manage. Before he could be qualified for the post
of auditor to the Council of State, he would have to
pass an examination. Frederick, seized with an unac-
countable self-confidence, replied that he had a knowl-
edge of the subjects prescribed for it.

The financier was not surprised at this, after all the
eulogies M. Roque had pronounced on his abilities.

At the mention of this name, a vision of little Louise,
her house and her room, passed through his mind, and
he remembered how he had on nights like this stood at
her window listening to the waggoners driving past.
This recollection of his griefs brought back the thought
of Madame Arnoux, and he relapsed into silence as
he paced up and down the terrace. The windows
blazed amid the darkness like slabs of flame. The buzz
of the ball gradually grew fainter; the carriages were
beginning to leave.

" Why in the world," M. Dambreuse went on, " are
you so extremely anxious to be attached to the Council
of State?"

And he declared in the tone of a man of broad views,
that the public functions led nowhere — he could speak
with some authority on that point — business was much
preferable.

Frederick urged as an objection the difficulty of
grappling with all the details of business.

" Pooh ! I could post you up well in them in a very
short time."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 207

Would he care to be a partner in any of his own
undertakings ?

The young man saw, as by a lightning-flash, an enor-
mous fortune coming into his hands.

" Let us go in again," said the banker. " You are
remaining for supper with us, are you not ? "

It was three o'clock. They left the terrace.

In the dining-room, a table at which supper was
served up awaited the guests.

M. Dambreuse perceived Martinon, and, drawing
near his wife, in a low tone :

" Did you invite him ? "

She answered dryly :

" Yes, of course."

The niece was not present.

The guests drank a quantity of wine, and laughed
very loudly ; risky jokes did not give any offence, all
present experiencing that sense of relief which follows
a somewhat prolonged period of constraint.

Martinon alone displayed anything like gravity.
Thinking it good form, he refused to drink champagne,
and, moreover, assumed an air of tact and politeness,
for when M. Dambreuse, who had a contracted chest,
complained of an oppression, he made repeated en-
quiries about that gentleman's health, and then let his
blue eyes wander in the direction of Madame Dam-
breuse.

She questioned Frederick in order to find out which
of the young ladies he liked best. He had noticed none
of them in particular, and besides, he preferred the
women of thirty.

" There, perhaps, you show good sense," she re-
turned.

Then, as they were putting on their pelisses and
paletots, M. Dambreuse said to him :

208 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Come and see me one of these mornings and we'll
have a chat."

Martinon, at the foot of the stairs, was lighting a
cigar, and, as he puffed it, he presented such a heavy
profile that his companion could not help remarking:

" Upon my word, you have a fine head ! "

" It has turned a few other heads," replied the young
magistrate, with an air of mingled self-complacency
and annoyance.

As soon as Frederick was in bed, he summed up
the main features of the evening party. In the first
place, his own toilet (he had looked at himself several
times in the mirrors), from the cut of his coat to the
knot of his pumps left nothing to be desired. He had
spoken to influential men, and seen wealthy ladies at
close quarters. M. Dambreuse had proved himself
to be an admirable type of man, and Madame Dam-
breuse an almost bewitching type of woman. He
weighed one by one her slightest words, her looks, a
thousand things incapable of being analysed. It would
be a splendid thing to have such a mistress. And,
after all, why not? He would have as good a chance
with her as any other man. Perhaps she was not so
difficult to win? Then Martinon came back to his
recollection ; and, as he fell asleep, he smiled with pity
for this worthy fellow.

He woke up with the thought of the Marechale in
his mind. Those words of her note, " After to-morrow
evening," were without doubt an appointment for the
very same day.

He waited until nine o'clock, and then hurried to
her house.

Some one, going up the stairs before him, shut the
door. He rang the bell ; Delphine came and told him
that " Madame " was not there.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 209

Frederick persisted, begging of her to admit him.
lie had something of a very serious nature to com-
municate to her ; only a word would suffice. At length,
the hundred-sous-piece argument proved successful,
and the maid let him into the anteroom.

Rosanette appeared. She was in a negligee, with
her hair loose, and, shaking her head, she waved her
arms when she was some paces away from him to
indicate that she could not receive him then.

Frederick descended the stairs slowly. This ca-
price was worse than any of the others she had in-
dulged in. He could not understand the situation at
all.

In front of the porter's lodge Mademoiselle Vatnaz
stopped him.

" Has she received you? "

" No."

" You've been put out? "

" How do you know that ? "

" Tis quite plain. But come ; let us go away. I am
suffocating ! "

She made him accompany her along the street; she
panted for breath ; he could feel her thin arm trem-
bling on his own. Suddenly, she broke out :

" Ah ! the wretch ! "

" Who, pray ? "

" Why, he— he— Delmar ! "

This revelation humiliated Frederick. He next
asked :

" Are you quite sure of it? "

" Why, I tell you I followed him ! " exclaimed the
Vatnaz. " I saw him enter! Now do you understand?
I ought to have expected it for that matter — 'twas I,
in my stupidity, that introduced him to her. And if
you only knew all — my God ! Why, I picked him up,

210 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

supported him, clothed him ! And then all the para-
graphs I got into the newspapers about him! I loved
him like a mother ! "

Then, with a sneer:

" Ha ! Monsieur craves velvet robes ! You may
be sure 'tis a speculation on his part. And as for her !
— to think that I knew her when she earned her liv-
ing as a seamstress ! If it were not for me, she would
have fallen into the mire twenty times over? But I
will plunge her into it yet ! I'll see her dying "in a
hospital — and everything about her will be known ! "

And, like a torrent of dirty water from a vessel full
of refuse, her rage poured out in a tumultuous fashion
into Frederick's ear the recital of her rival's disgrace-
ful acts.

" She lived with Jumillac, with Flacourt, with little
Allard, with Bertinaux, with Saint- Valery, the pock-
marked fellow ! No, 'twas the other ! They are two
brothers — it makes no difference. And when she was
in difficulties, I settled everything. She is avaricious !
And then, you will agree with me, 'twas generous of
me to visit her, for we are not persons of the same
grade! Am I a fast woman — I? Do I sell myself?
She is as stupid as a head of cabbage. She writes
' category ' with a ' th.' After all, they are well met.
They make a precious couple, though he styles him-
self an artist and thinks himself a man of genius. But,
my God ! if he had only intelligence, he would not
have done such an infamous thing ! Men don't, as a
rule, leave a superior woman for a hussy ! What do
I care about him after all? He is becoming ugly. I
hate him ! If I met him, mind you, I'd spit in his face."
She spat out as she uttered the words. " Yes, that is
what I think about him now. And Arnoux, eh ? Isn't
it abominable? He has forgiven her again and again.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 211

You can't conceive the sacrifices he has made for her.
She ought to kiss his feet! He is so generous, so
good ! "

Frederick was delighted at hearing Delmar dispar-
aged. He had taken sides with Arnoux. This perfidy
on Rosanette's part seemed to him an abnormal and
inexcusable thing; and, infected with this elderly spin-
ster's emotion, he felt a sort of tenderness toward her.
Suddenly he found himself in front of Arnoux's door.
Mademoiselle Vatnaz, without his having noticed it,
had led him down toward the Rue Poissonniere.

" Here we are ! " said she. " As for me, I can't go
up ; but you, surely there is nothing to prevent you ?

" From doing what ? "

" From telling him everything, of course ! "

Frederick, as if waking up with a start, saw the base-
ness towards which she was urging him.

" Well ? " she said after a pause.

He raised his eyes towards the second floor. Ma-
dame Arnoux's lamp was burning. There was, cer-
tainly, nothing to prevent him from going up.

" I shall wait for you here. Go on, then ! "

This direction had the effect of chilling him, and
he said:

" I shall be a long time ; you would do better to
return home. I will call on you to-morrow."

" No, no ! " replied the Vatnaz, stamping with her
foot. " Take him with you ! Bring him there ! Let
him catch them together ! "

" But Delmar will no longer be there."

She hung down her head.

" Yes ; that's true, perhaps."

And she stood without speaking, in the middle of
the street, with vehicles all around her; then, fixing
on him her wild-cat's eyes:

212 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" I may rely on you, may I not? There is now a
sacred bond between us. Do what you say, then ;
we'll talk about it to-morrow."

Frederick in passing through the lobby heard two
voices responding to one another.

Madame Arnoux's voice was saying:

"Don't lie! don't lie, pray!"

He entered. The voices suddenly ceased.

Arnoux was walking from one end of the apart-
ment tc the other, and Madame was seated on the little
chair near the fire, extremely pale and staring straight
before her. Frederick stepped back, and was about
to retire, when Arnoux grasped his hand, glad that
some one had come to his rescue.

" But I fear — " said Frederick.

" Stay, I beg of you ! " he whispered in his ear.

Madame remarked :

" You must make some allowance for this scene,
Monsieur Moreau. Such things sometimes unfor-
tunately occur in households."

" They do when we introduce them there ourselves,"
said Arnoux in a jolly tone. " Women have crotchets,
I assure you. This, for instance, is not a bad one — see !
No ; quite the contrary. Well, she has been amusing
herself for the last hour by teasing me with a lot of
idle stories."

" They are true," retorted Madame Arnoux, losing
patience; "for, in fact, you bought it yourself."

"I?"

" Yes, you yourself, at the Persian House."

'' The cashmere," thought Frederick.

He was filled with a consciousness of guilt, and
got quite alarmed.

She quickly added :

" It was on Saturdav, the fourteenth."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 213

" The fourteenth," said Arnoux, looking up, as if
he were searching his mind for a date.

" And, furthermore, the clerk who sold it to you
was a fair-haired young man."

" How could you expect me to remember what sort
of man the clerk was? "

" And yet it was at your dictation he wrote the ad-
dress, 18 Rue de Laval."

" How do you know ? " said Arnoux in amazement.

She shrugged her shoulders.

" Oh ! tis very simple : I went to get my cashmere
altered, and the superintendent of the millinery de-
partment told me that they had just sent another of
the same sort to Madame Arnoux."

" Is it my fault if there is a Madame Arnoux in the
same street ? "

" Yes ; but not Jacques Arnoux," she returned.

Thereupon he began to talk incoherently, protest-
ing that he was innocent. It was some misapprehen-
sion, some accident, one of those things that happen
in an utterly unaccountable way. Men should not be
condemned on mere suspicion, vague probabilities ; and
he referred to the case of the unfortunate Lesurques.

" In short, I say you are wrong. Do you want me
to take my oath on it ? "

" 'Tis not worth while,"

" Why ? "

She looked him straight in the face without speak-
ing, then stretched out her hand, took down the little
silver chest from the mantelpiece, and handed him
a bill which was spread open.

Arnoux coloured up to his ears, and his swollen and
distorted features betrayed his confusion.

" But," he said in faltering tones, " what does this
prove ? "

214 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Ah ! " she said, with a peculiar ring in her voice,
in which sorrow and irony were blended. " Ah ! "

Arnoux turned the bill round in his hands without
removing his eyes from it, as if he were going to find
in it the solution of a great problem.

" Ah ! yes, yes ; I remember," said he at length.
*' 'Twas a commission. You ought to know about that
matter, Frederick." Frederick remained silent. " A
commission that Pere Oudry entrusted to me."

" And for whom ? "

" For his mistress."

" For your own ! " exclaimed Madame Arnoux,
springing to her feet and standing erect before him.

" I swear to you ! "

" Don't begin again. I know all."

" Ha ! quite right. So you're spying on me ! "

She returned coldly :

" Perhaps that wounds your delicacy ? "

" Since you are in a passion," said Arnoux, look-
ing for his hat, " and can't be reasoned with "

Then, with a big sigh :

" Don't marry, my poor friend, don't, if you take
my advice ! "

And he took himself off, finding it absolutely neces-
sary to get into the open air.

Then there was a deep silence, and it seemed as if
everything in the room had become stiller than before.

Madame Arnoux had just seated herself in the arm-
chair at the opposite side of the chimney-piece. She
bit her lip and shivered. Putting her hands up to her
face, a sob broke from her, and she began to weep.

He sat down on the little couch, and in the soothing
tone in which one addresses a sick person:

" You don't suspect me of having anything to do
with ?"

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 215

She made no reply. But, continuing presently to
give utterance to her own thoughts :

" I leave him perfectly free ! There was no necessity
for lying ! "

" That is quite true," said Frederick. " No doubt,"
he added, " it was the result of Arnoux's habits ; he
had acted thoughtlessly, but perhaps in matters of a
graver character "

" What do you know of, then, that can be graver? "

" Oh, nothing ! "

Frederick bent his head with a smile of acquiescence.
Nevertheless, he urged, Arnoux possessed certain good
qualities ; he was fond of his children.

" Ay, and he does all he can to ruin them ! "

Frederick urged that this was caused by an excess-
ively easy-going disposition, for indeed he was a good
fellow ?

She exclaimed :

" But what does that mean — a good fellow ! "

And he proceeded to defend Arnoux in the vaguest
kind of language he could think of, and, while express-
ing his sympathy with her, he rejoiced, he was de-
lighted, at the bottom of his heart. Through desire
for retaliation or need of affection she would fly to
him for refuge. His love was intensified by the hope
which had now grown immeasurably stronger in his
breast.

Never had she appeared to him so captivating, so
absolutely, perfectly beautiful. From time to time a
deep breath made her bosom swell. Her eyes, gazing
fixedly into space, seemed dilated by a vision in the
depths of her consciousness, and her lips were slightly
parted, as if to let her soul escape through them.
Sometimes she pressed her handkerchief to them
tightly. He would have liked to be this dainty little

216 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

piece of cambric moistened with her tears. In spite
of himself, he cast a glance at the bed at the end of
the alcove, picturing to himself her head lying on the
pillow, and so vividly did this present itself to his
imagination that he had to restrain himself from clasp-
ing her in his arms. She closed her eyelids, and be-
came quiescent and languid. Then he drew closer,
and, bending over her, he eagerly scanned her face.
At that moment, he heard the noise of boots in the
lobby outside — it was the other. They heard him
shutting the door of his own room. Frederick made
a sign to Madame Arnoux to ascertain from her
whether he ought to go to him.

She signified " Yes," in the same voiceless fashion,
and this mute exchange of thoughts between them
was, as it were, an assent — the preliminary step in
adultery.

Arnoux was just removing his coat to go to bed.

" Well, how is she now ? "

" Oh ! better," said Frederick ; " this will pass off.':

But Arnoux was in an anxious state of mind.

" You don't know her ; she has got hysterical now !
Idiot of a clerk ! This is what comes of being too
good. If I had not given that cursed shawl to Rosa-
nette ! "

" Don't regret having done so. Nobody could be
more grateful to you than she is."

" Do you really think so ? "

Frederick had not a doubt of it. The best proof
of it was her dismissal of Pere Oudry.

" Ah ! poor little thing ! "

And in the excess of his emotion, Arnoux wanted
to rush off to her at once.

; 'Tisn't worth while. I am calling to see her. She
is not well."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 217

" All the more reason for my going."

He quickly put on his coat again, and took up his
candlestick. Frederick cursed his own stupidity, and
insisted that for decency's sake he ought to remain
this night with his wife. He could not leave her; it
would be very unjust.

" I tell you frankly you would be doing wrong.
There is no hurry over there. You will go to-morrow.
Come ; do this for my sake."

Arnoux put back his candlestick, and, embracing
him, said:

" You are a fine fellow ! "

CHAPTER IX

THE. FAMILY FRIEND

FREDERICK became the parasite of the house of
Arnoux, and a miserable existence stretched out
before him.

If anyone were ill, he called several times a day to
know how the patient was, went to the piano-tuner's,
contrived to do a thousand acts of kindness; and he
suffered with an air of contentment Mademoiselle
Marthe's poutings and the caresses of little Eugene,
who was always running his dirty hands over the young
man's face. He was present at dinners at which Mon-
sieur and Madame, facing each other, did not exchange
a word, unless it happened that Arnoux provoked his
wife with the ridiculous remarks he made. When the
meal was finished, he would play about the room with
his son, conceal himself behind the furniture, or carry
the little boy on his back, walking about on all fours.
At last, he would go out, and she would at once plunge
into the eternal subject of complaint — Arnoux.

It was not that his misconduct excited her indigna-
tion, but her pride appeared to be wounded, and she
made no effort to hide her repugnance toward this
man, who showed neither delicacy, dignity, nor honour.

" It must be that he is mad ! " she said.

Frederick artfully induced her to confide in him.
Ere long he knew all the details of her life. Her par-
ents were people of humble rank at Chartres. One
day, Arnoux, while sketching on the bank of the river

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 219

(at this period he believed himself to be a painter),
saw her leaving the church, and made her an offer
of marriage. On account of his wealth, he was im-
mediately accepted. Besides, he was desperately in
love with her. She added:

" Good heavens ! he loves me still, after his fashion !"

They spent the few months immediately after their
marriage in travelling through Italy.

Arnoux, in spite of his enthusiasm over the scenery
and the masterpieces, did nothing but groan over the
wine, and, to find some kind of amusement, organised
picnics along with some English people. The profit
which he had made by reselling some pictures tempted
him to take up the fine arts as a commercial specula-
tion. Then, he became infatuated about pottery. Just
now other branches of commerce attracted him ; and
as he became more and more vulgarised, he contracted
coarse and extravagant habits. It was not so much
for his vices she reproached him as for his entire con-
duct. No change could be expected in him, and her
unhappiness was irreparable.

Frederick declared that his own life in the same
way was a failure.

He was still a young man, however. Why should
he be melancholy? And she gave him good advice:
" Work and marry ! " He answered her with bitter
smiles ; for instead of telling the real cause of his
grief, he pretended that it was of a different character,
a sublime feeling, and he assumed the part of an
Antony, the man accursed by fate — language which
did not, however, change very materially the com-
plexion of his thoughts.

For certain men action becomes more difficult as
desire becomes stronger. They are embarrassed by
self-distrust, and terrified by the fear of making them-

220 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

selves disliked. Besides,' deep attachments resemble
virtuous women : they are afraid of being discovered,
and pass through life with downcast eyes.

Though he was now better acquainted with Madame
Arnoux (for that very reason perhaps), he wras still
more faint-hearted than before. Each morning he
swore to himself that he would take a bold course.
He was prevented from doing so by an unconquerable
feeling of bashfulness ; and he had no example to
guide him, inasmuch as she was different from other
women. From the force of his imaginings, he had
placed her outside the ordinary pale of humanity.
When beside her he felt himself of less importance in
the world than the sprigs of silk that escaped from
her scissors.

Then he thought of monstrous and absurd devices,
such as surprises at night, with narcotics and false keys
— anything appearing easier to him than to face her
disdain.

Besides, the children, the two servant-maids, and
the relative position of the rooms were insurmountable
obstacles. Then he made up his mind to possess her
himself alone, and to bring her to live with him far
away in the depths of some solitude. He even ques-
tioned himself what lake would be blue enough, what
seashore would be delightful enough for her, whether
it would be in Spain, Switzerland, or the East ; and ex-
pressly fixing on days when she seemed more irritated
than usual, he told her that it would be necessary for
her to leave the house, to find some justification for
such a step, and that he saw no way out of it but a
separation. However, for the sake of the children
whom she loved, she would never resort to such an
extreme course. So much virtue served to increase
his respect for her.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 221

He spent each afternoon in thinking over the visit
he had paid the night before, and in longing for the
evening to come in order that he might call again.
When he did not dine with them, he posted himself
about nine o'clock at the corner of the street, and, as
soon as Arnoux had slammed the hall-door behind
him, Frederick quickly went up the two flights of
stairs, and asked the servant-girl in an ingenuous
fashion :

" Is Monsieur in ? "

Then he would exhibit surprise at rinding that Ar-
noux was out.

The latter frequently came back unexpectedly. Then
Frederick had to accompany him to the little cafe in
the Rue Sainte-Anne, which Regimbart now fre-
quented.

The Citizen would give vent to some fresh griev-
ance which he had against the Crown. Then they
would chat, pouring out friendly abuse on each other,
for the earthenware manufacturer took Regimbart
for a thinker of a high order, and, vexed at seeing
him neglecting so many chances of winning distinc-
tion, chaffed the Citizen about his laziness. It seemed
to Regimbart that Arnoux was a man full of heart
and imagination, but of decidedly lax morals ; there-
fore he was quite unceremonious toward a personage
he respected so little, refusing even to dine at his
house on the ground that " such formality was a bore."

Sometimes, at the moment of parting, Arnoux would
be seized with hunger. He would order an omelet or
some roasted apples ; and, as there was never anything
to eat in the establishment, he sent out for something.
They would wait. Regimbart did not leave, and usu-
ally ended by consenting in a grumbling fashion to
have something himself. He was nevertheless gloomy,

222 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

for he remained for hours seated before a half-filled
glass. As Providence did not regulate things in har-
mony with his ideas, he v/as becoming a hypochondriac,
no longer cared even to read the newspapers, and at
the mere mention of England began to bellow with
rage. On one occasion, referring to a waiter who
attended on him carelessly, he exclaimed :

" Have we not enough insults from the foreigner?"

Except at these critical periods he remained taciturn,
contemplating "' an infallible stroke of business that
would burst up the whole shop."

Whilst he was lost in these reflections, Arnoux in
a monotonous voice and with a mild look of intoxica-
tion, related incredible anecdotes of which he was al-
ways the hero; and Frederick (this was, no doubt,
due to some deep-rooted resemblances) felt more or
less attracted toward him. He blamed himself for this
weakness, believing that he ought to hate this man.

Arnoux, in Frederick's presence, complained of his
wife's ill-temper, her obstinacy, her unjust accusations.
She had never been like this in former days.

" If I were you," said Frederick, " I would make
her an allowance and live alone."

Arnoux made no reply ; but the next moment he
began to sound her praises. She was good, devoted,
intelligent, and virtuous ; and, passing to her personal
beauty, he made some revelations on the subject with
the thoughtlessness of people who display their treas-
ures at taverns.

His equilibrium was much disturbed by a catas-
trophe.

He had been appointed one of the Board of Super-
intendence in a kaolin company. But placing reliance
on all that he was told, he had signed inaccurate re-
ports and approved, without verification, of the annuaJ

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 223

inventories fraudulently prepared by the manager. The
company had now failed, and Arnoux, being legally
responsible, was, along with the others who were liable
under the guaranty, condemned to pay damages, mean-
ing a loss to him of thirty thousand francs, not to speak
of the costs of the judgment.

Frederick saw the report of the case in a newspaper,
and at once hurried off to the Rue de Paradis.

He was ushered into Madame's apartment. It was
breakfast-time. A round table close to the fire was
laden with bowls of cafe au lait. Slippers trailed over
the carpet, and clothes over the armchairs. Arnoux
was attired in trousers and a knitted vest, with his eyes
bloodshot and his hair in disorder. Little Eugene was
crying at the pain caused by an attack of mumps, while
nibbling at a slice of bread and butter. His sister was
eating quietly. Madame Arnoux, a little paler than
usual, was attending on all three of them.

" Well," said Arnoux, heaving a deep sigh, " you
know all about it ? "

And, as Frederick gave him a sympathetic look:
" There, you see, I have been the victim of my own
trustfulness ! "

Then he relapsed into silence, and so great was his
distress, that he pushed his breakfast away from him.
Madame Arnoux raised her eyes as she shrugged her
shoulders. He passed his hand across his forehead.

" After all, I am not guilty. I have nothing to re-
proach myself with. 'Tis a misfortune. It will be
overcome — ay, and so much the worse, faith ! "

He took a piece of cake, however, in obedience to
his wife's entreaties.

That evening he invited her to dine with him alone
in a private room at the Maison d'Or. Madame Ar-
noux did not understand this emotional impulse, tak-

224 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ing offence, in fact, at being treated as if she were a
light woman. Arnoux, on the contrary, meant it as
a proof of affection. Then, as he was beginning to
feel dull, he paid the Marechale a visit in order to
amuse himself.

Up to this time, he had been pardoned for many
things owing to his reputation for good-fellowship.
His lawsuit placed him amongst men of bad repute.
No one visited his house.

Frederick, however, considered that he was bound
in honour to go there more frequently than ever. He
hired a box at the Italian opera, and took them with
him every week. Meanwhile, the pair had reached
that stage in unsuitable unions when an invincible
lassitude springs from concessions which people get
into the habit of making, and which render existence
intolerable. Madame Arnoux restrained her pent-up
feelings ; Arnoux became gloomy ; and Frederick grew
sad at witnessing the unhappiness of these two ill-
fated beings.

She had imposed on him the obligation, since she
had given him her confidence, of making inquiries
into her husband's affairs. But shame prevented him
from doing so. It was painful to him to reflect that
he coveted the wife of this man, at whose dinner-table
he constantly sat. Nevertheless, he continued his vis-
its, excusing himself on the ground that he was bound
to protect her, and that an occasion might present
itself for being of service to her.

Eight days after the ball, he had paid a visit to M.
Dambreuse. The financier had offered him twenty
shares in a coal-mining speculation ; Frederick did not
return there again. Deslauriers had written' letters
to him, which he left unanswered. Pellerin had invited
him to go and see the portrait ; he always excused him-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 226

self. He gave way, however, to Cisy's persistent
appeals to be introduced to Rosanette.

She received him very kindly, but without spring-
ing on his neck as she used to do formerly. His com-
rade was delighted at being received by a woman of
easy virtue, and above all at having a chat with an
actor. Delmar was there when he called. A drama
in which he appeared as a peasant lecturing Louis XIV
and prophesying the events of '89 had made him so
conspicuous that similar parts were continually as-
signed to him ; and now his function consisted of
attacks on the monarchs of all nations. As an English
brewer, he inveighed against Charles I ; as a student
at Salamanca, he cursed Philip II; or, as a sensitive
father, he expressed indignation against the Pompa-
dour— this was the most beautiful bit of acting!

All this had fascinated Rosanette ; and she had got
rid of Pere Oudry, without caring one jot about con-
sequences, as she was not covetous.

Arnoux, who knew her disposition, had taken ad-
vantage of the state of affairs for some time past to
spend very little money on her. M. Roque appeared
occasionally, and all three of them carefully avoided
anything like a candid explanation. Then, fancying
that she had got rid of the other solely on his account,
Arnoux increased her allowance, for she was living
very expensively. She had even sold her cashmere
in her anxiety to pay off her old debts, as she said ; and
he was continually giving her money, whilst she be-
witched him and imposed upon him pitilessly. There-
fore, bills and stamped paper rained all over the house.
Frederick felt that a crisis was approaching.

One day he called to see Madame Arnoux. She
was out. Monsieur was at work below stairs in the
shop. In fact, Arnoux, in the midst of his Japanese

226 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

vases, was trying to impress a newly-married pair who
happened to be well-to-do people from the provinces.

When the customers had gone, he told Frederick
that he had that very morning been engaged in a little
altercation with his wife. In order to obviate any
remarks about expense, he had declared that the Mare-
chale was no longer his mistress. " I even told her
that she was yours."

Frederick was annoyed at this ; but to utter re-
proaches might only betray him. He faltered : " Ah !
you were in the wrong — greatly in the wrong ! "

" What does that matter? " said Arnoux. " Where
is the disgrace of passing for her lover? I am really
so myself. Would you not be flattered at being in such
a position? "

Had she spoken ? Was this a hint ? Frederick has-
tened to reply :

" No ! not at all ! on the contrary ! "

" Well, what then ? "

" Yes, 'tis true ; it makes no difference so far as
that's concerned."

Arnoux next asked : " And why don't you call there
oftener ? "

Frederick promised that he would do so.

" Ah ! I forgot ! you ought, when talking about
Rosanette, to admit in some way to my wife that you
are her lover. I can't suggest how you can best do
this, but you'll find that out. I ask this of you as a
special favour — eh ? "

The young man's only answer was an equivocal
grimace. This calumny had undone him. He called
on her that evening, and swore that Arnoux's accusa-
tion was false.

"Is that really so?"

He appeared to be speaking sincerely, and, when

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 227

she had taken a long breath of relief, she said to him :

" I believe you/' with a beautiful smile. Then, with
bent head, and, without looking at him :

" Besides, nobody has any claim on you! "

So then she had divined nothing; and she despised
him, seeing that she did not think he could love her
well enough to remain faithful to her ! Frederick, for-
getting his overtures while with the other, looked on
the permission accorded to him as an insult.

After this she suggested that he ought now and then
to visit Rosanette, to get a little glimpse of what she
was like.

Arnoux presently made his appearance, and, five
minutes later, wished to carry him off to Rosanette's.

The situation was becoming intolerable.

His attention was diverted by a letter from the
notary, announcing that he would send him fifteen
thousand francs the following day ; and, in order to
make up for his neglect of Deslauriers, he went forth-
with to tell him this good news.

The advocate was lodging in the Rue des Trois-
Maries, on the fifth floor, over a courtyard. His study,
a little tiled apartment, chilly, and with a grey paper
on the walls, had as its principal decoration a gold
medal, the prize awarded him when he took his degree
as a Doctor of Laws. It was his consultation-hour, and
the advocate had on a white cravat.

The news as to the fifteen thousand francs (he had,
no doubt, given up all hope of getting the amount)
made him chuckle with delight.

" That's right, old fellow, that's right — that's quite
right ! "

He threw some wood into the fire, sat down again,
and immediately began talking about the journal. The
first thing to do was to get rid of Hussonnet.

228 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" I'm tired of that idiot ! As for officially professing
opinions, my own idea is that the most equitable and
forcible position is to have no opinions at all."

Frederick appeared astonished.

" Why, the thing is perfectly plain. It is time that
politics should be dealt with scientifically. The old
men of the eighteenth century began it when Rousseau
and the men of letters introduced into the political
sphere philanthropy, poetry, and other fudge, to the
great delight of the Catholics — a natural alliance, how-
ever, since the modern reformers (I can prove it) all
believe in Revelations. But, if you sing high masses for
Poland, if, in place of the God of the Dominicans, who
was an executioner, you take the God of the Romanti-
cists, w-ho is an upholsterer, if, in fact, you have not
a wider conception of the Absolute than your ancestors,
Monarchy will penetrate underneath your Republican
forms, and your red cap will never be other than the
headpiece of a priest. The only difference will be that
the cell system will take the place of torture, the out-
rageous treatment of Religion that of sacrilege, and
the European Concert that of the Holy Alliance ; and
in this beautiful order which we admire, composed of
the wreckage of the followers of Louis XIV, the rem-
nants of the Voltaireans, with some Imperial white-
wash on top, and some fragments of the British Con-
stitution, you will see the municipal councils trying to
give trouble to the Mayor, the general councils to their
Prefect, the Chambers to the King, the Press to Power,
and the Administration to everybody. But simple-
minded people get enthusiastic about the Civil Code, a
work fabricated — let them say what they like — in a
mean and tyrannical spirit, for the legislator, instead of
doing his duty to the State, which simply means to
observe customs in a regular fashion, claims to model

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 229

society like another Lycurgus. Why does the law im-
pede fathers of families with regard to the making of
wills? Why does it place shackles on the compulsory
sale of real estate? Why does it punish as a misde-
meanour vagrancy, which ought not even to be re-
garded as a technical contravention of the Code. And
there are other things ! I know all about them ! and
so I am going to write a little novel, entitled The His-
tory of the Idea of Justice, which will be amusing.
But I am infernally thirsty! And you?"

He leaned out of the window, and called to the por-
ter to bring them two glasses of grog from the public-
house over the way.

" To sum up, I see three parties — no ! three groups
— in none of which do I take the slightest interest:
those who have, those who have nothing, and those
who are trying to have. All agree in their idiotic
worship of Authority ! For example, Mably recom-
mends that philosophers should be prevented from pub-
lishing their doctrines ; M. Wronsky, the geometrician,
describes the censorship as the ' critical expression of
speculative spontaneity ' ; Pere Enfantin gives his bles-
sing to the Hapsburgs for having passed a hand across
the Alps to keep Italy down ; Pierre Leroux wishes peo-
ple to be compelled to listen to an orator; and Loui?
Blanc inclines toward a State religion — so much ragp
for government have these vassals whom we call the
people ! Nevertheless, there is not a single legitimate
government, in spite of their sempiternal principles,
' Principle ' signifies ' origin.' It is always necessary
to go back to a revolution, to an act of violence, to a
transitory fact. Thus, our principle is the national
sovereignty embodied in the Parliamentary form,
though the Parliament does not agree to this ! But in
what way could the sovereignty of the people be more

230 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

sacred than the Divine Right ? They are both fictions.
Enough of metaphysics ; no more phantoms ! Dogmas
are not required in order to get the streets swept! It
may be said that I am turning society upside down.
Well, after all, where would be the harm of that? It
is, indeed, a nice thing — this society of yours."

Frederick could have said much. But, seeing that
his theories were far less advanced than those of Sene-
cal, he was full of indulgence toward Deslauriers. He
contented himself with arguing that such a system
would make them generally hated.

" On the contrary, as we should have given to each
party a pledge of hatred against his neighbour, all will
reckon on us. You are about to come into it yourself,
and to furnish us with some transcendent criticism ! "

It was necessary to attack accepted ideas — the
Academy, the Normal School, the Conservatoire, the
Comedie Franchise, everything that resembled an insti-
tution. It was in that way that they would give con-
sistency to the doctrines taught in their review. Then,
as soon as it had been thoroughly well-established, it
would suddenly be converted into a daily publication.
Upon which they could find fault with individuals.

" And they will respect us, you may be sure ! "

Deslauriers referred to that old dream of his — the
position of editor-in-chief, so that he might have the
unutterable happiness of directing others, of cutting
down their articles, of ordering them to be written or
declining them. His eyes twinkled under his goggles ;
he worked himself into a state of excitement, and
drank a few glasses of brandy, one after the other, in
an automatic fashion.

" You'll have to stand me a dinner once a week.
That's indispensable, even though you should have to
squander half your income on it. People would feel

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 231

pleasure in going to it ; it would be a centre for the
others, a lever for yourself ; and by manipulating pub-
lic opinion at its two ends — literature and politics — you
will see how, before six months have passed, we shall
occupy the first rank in Paris."

Frederick, as he listened to Deslauriers, experienced
a sensation of rejuvenescence, like a man who, after
having been confined in a room for a long time, is sud-
denly taken into the open air. The enthusiasm of his
friend was contagious.

" Yes, I have been an idler, an idiot — you are right ! "

" All in good time," said Deslauriers. " I have
found my Frederick again ! "

And, holding up his jaw with closed fingers :

" Ah ! you have made me suffer ! Never mind, I
love you all the same."

They stood gazing into each other's faces, both
deeply affected, and were on the point of embracing
each other.

A woman's cap appeared on the threshold of the
anteroom.

"What do you want?" said Deslauriers.

It was Mademoiselle Clemence, his mistress.

She replied that, as she happened to be passing, she
could not resist the desire to come in to see him, and
in order that they might have a little repast together,
she had brought some cakes, which she laid on the
table.

" Take care of my papers ! " said the advocate,
sharply. " Besides, this is the third time that I have
forbidden you to come at my consultation-hours."

She wished to embrace him.

" Very well ! Now be off ! "

He repelled her; she sighed heavily.

" Ah ! you are plaguing me again ! "

232 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" 'Tis because I love you ! "

" I don't want you to love me, but to oblige me ! "

This harsh remark stopped Clemence's tears. She
went over to the window, and remained there motion-
less, with her forehead against the pane.

Her attitude and her silence irritated Deslauriers.

" When you have quite finished, you will order your
carriage, will you not ? "

She turned round with a start.

" You are sending me away ? "

" Exactly."

She fixed on him her large blue eyes, no doubt as a
last appeal, then drew the two ends of her tartan across
each other, lingered for a minute, then went away.

" You ought to call her back," said Frederick.

" Come, now ! "

And, as he wished to go out, Deslauriers went into
the kitchen, which also served as his dressing-room.
On the stone floor, beside a pair of boots, were to be
seen the remains of a meagre breakfast, and a mattress
with a coverlid was rolled up on the floor in a corner.
' This will show you," said he, " that I receive few
marchionesses. 'Tis easy to get enough of them, ay,
faith ! and others, too ! Those who cost nothing take
up your time — 'tis money under another form. Now,
I'm not rich ! And then they are all so silly, so silly !
Can you converse with a woman yourself ? "

As they parted, at the corner of the Pont Neuf, Des-
lauriers said : " It's settled, then ; you'll bring the thing
to me to-morrow as soon as you have it ! "

" Agreed ! " said Frederick.

When he awoke next morning, he received through
the post a cheque on the bank for fifteen thousand
francs.

This scrap of paper represented to him fifteen large

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 233

bags of money; and he thought to himself that, with
such a sum he could, first of all, keep his carriage for
three years instead of selling it, as he would soon be
forced to do, or buy for himself two beautiful damas-
keened pieces of armour, which he had seen on the
Ouai Voltaire, then a quantity of other things, pictures,
books and what numerous bouquets of flowers, presents
for Madame Arnoux! anything, in short, was prefer-
able to risking losing all in that journal! Deslauriers
seemed to him presumptuous, his insensibility on the
night before had chilled Frederick's affection for him ;
the young man was indulging in these feelings of re-
gret, when he was surprised by the sudden appear-
ance of Arnoux, who sat down heavily on the side of
the bed, like a man overwhelmed with trouble.

" What is the matter now? "

" I am ruined ! "

He had to deposit that very day at the office of
Maitre Beaumont, notary, in the Rue Saint-Anne,
eighteen thousand francs lent him by one Vanneroy.

" Tis an unaccountable disaster. I have given him
a mortgage, which ought to keep him quiet. But he
threatens me with a writ if it is not paid this after-
noon promptly."

" And what next ? "

" Oh ! the next step is easy enough ; he will take pos-
session of my real estate. Once the thing is publicly
announced, it means ruin to me — that's all ! Ah ! if I
could find anyone to advance me this cursed sum, he
might take Vanneroy's place, and I should be saved!
You don't happen to have it yourself ? "

The cheque was still on the night-table near a book.
Frederick picked up a volume, and placed it on the
cheque, while he replied :

" Good heavens, my dear friend, no ! "

234 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

But it was painful to him to say " no " to Arnoux.

" Don't you know anyone who would ? "

" Nobody ! and to think that in eight days I should
be getting in money ! There is owing to me probably
fifty thousand francs at the end of the month ! "

" Couldn't you ask some of the persons in your debt
to make you an advance ? "

" Ah ! well, so I did ! "

" But have you any bills or promissory notes ? "

" Not one ! "

" What is to be done ? " said Frederick.
' That's \vhat I'm asking myself," said Arnoux.
" 'Tisn't for myself, my God ! but for my children and
my poor wife! "

Then, each phrase falling from his lips in a broken
fashion :

" In fact — I could rough it — I could pack off all I
have — and go and seek my fortune — I don't know
where ! "

" Impossible ! " exclaimed Frederick.

Arnoux replied with an air of calmness :

" How do you think I could remain in Paris now ? "

There was a long silence. Frederick broke it by say-
ing:

" When could you pay back this money? "

Not that he himself had it ; quite the contrary ! But
there was nothing to prevent him from seeing some
friends, and making an application to them.

And he rang for his servant to get himself dressed.

Arnoux thanked him.

' The amount you need is eighteen thousand francs
—isn't it?"

" Oh ! I could manage with sixteen thousand ! For
I could make two thousand five hundred out of it, or
get three thousand on my silver plate, if Vanneroy

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 235

meanwhile would give me till to-morrow ; and, I re-
peat to you, you may inform the lender, give him a
solemn promise, that in eight days, perhaps even in
five or six, the money will be returned. Besides, the
mortgage will be security for it. So there is no risk,
you understand ? "

Frederick assured him that he thoroughly under-
stood the state of affairs, and added that he was going
out immediately.

He would be sure on his return to bestow hearty
maledictions on Deslauriers, for he wished to keep his
word, and in the meantime, to oblige Arnoux.

" Suppose I applied to Monsieur Dambreuse ? But
on what pretext could I ask for money ? 'Tis I, on the
contrary, that owe him some for the shares I took in
his coal-mining company. Ah! let him go hang him-
self— his shares! After all, I am not actually liable
for them ! "

And Frederick approved himself for his own inde-
pendence, as if he had refused to do some service for
M. Dambreuse.

" Ah, well," said he to himself afterward, " since I'm
going to meet with a loss in this way — for with fifteen
thousand francs I might gain a hundred thousand!
such things happen on the Bourse — well, then, since I
am breaking my promise to one of them, am I not free ?
Besides, Deslauriers might wait? No, no; that's
wrong; let us go there."

He looked at his watch.

" Ah ! there's no hurry. The bank does not close
till five o'clock."

And, at half-past four, when he had cashed the
cheque :

' 'Tis useless now ; he would not be in. I'll go this
evening." Thus giving himself the opportunity of

236 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

changing his mind, for there always remain in the con-
science some of those sophistries which we pour into
it ourselves. It preserves the after-taste of them, like
unwholesome liquor.

He walked along the boulevards, and dined alone at
a restaurant. Then he listened to one act of a play at
the Vaudeville, in order to divert his thoughts. But
his bank-notes caused him as much uneasiness as if he
had stolen them. He would not have been very sorry
if he had lost them.

When he reached home he found a letter containing
these words :

"What news? My wife joins me, dear friend, in
the hope, etc. — Yours."

And then there was a flourish after his signature.

" His wife ! She appeals to me ! "

At the same moment Arnoux appeared, anxious to
know whether he had been able to obtain the sum so
sorely needed.

" Wait a moment ; here it is," said Frederick.

And, twenty-four hours later, he gave this reply to
Deslauriers :

" I have no money."

The advocate called three days, one after the other,
and urged Frederick to write to the notary. He even
offered to take a trip to Havre himself in connection
with the matter.

At the end of the week, Frederick nervously asked
the worthy Arnoux for his fifteen thousand francs.
Arnoux put it off till the following day, and then till
the day after. Frederick ventured out late at night,
fearing lest Deslauriers might come on him by sur-
prise.

One evening, somebody ran against him at the corner
of the Madeleine. It was he.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 237

And Deslauriers accompanied Frederick as far as
the door of a house in the Faubourg Poissonniere.

" Wait for me ! "

He waited. At last, after three quarters of an hour,
Frederick came out, accompanied by Arnoux, and
made signs to him to have patience a little longer.
The two men went up the Rue de Hauteville arm-in-
arm, and presently they turned down the Rue de Cha-
brol.

The night was dark, with gusts of tepid wind. Ar-
noux walked on slowly, talking about the Galleries of
Commerce — a succession of covered passages leading
from the Boulevard Saint-Denis to the Chatelet, a mar-
vellous speculation, into which he was very anxious to
enter.

Frederick could hear Deslauriers' steps behind him
like reproachful blows falling on his conscience. But
he did not venture to claim his money, through a
feeling of bashfulness, and also through a fear that it
would be useless. The other was drawing nearer.
He made up his mind to ask.

Arnoux, in a very flippant tone, said that, as he
had not got in his outstanding debts, he was really
unable to pay back the fifteen thousand francs.

" You have no need of money, I fancy ? "

At that moment Deslauriers came up to Frederick,
and, taking him aside :

" Be honest. Have you got the amount ? Yes or
no?"

" Well, then, no," said Frederick ; " I've lost it."

" Ah ! and in what way ? "

" At play."

Deslauriers, without saying another word, made a
very low bow, and went away. Arnoux had taken ad-
vantage of the opportunity to light a cigar in a tobac-

238 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

conist's shop. When he came back, he inquired, " Who
was that young man ? "

"Oh! nobody — a friend."

Then, three minutes later, in front of Rosanette's
door:

" Come on up," said Arnoux ; " she'll be pleased to
see you. What a savage you are just now ! "

A gas-lamp, which \vas directly opposite, <~hrew its
light on him ; and, with his cigar between his white
teeth and his air of contentment, there was something
intolerable about him. .

" Ha ! now that I think of it, my notary has been at
your place this morning about that mortgage-registry
matter. My wife reminded me about it."

" A wife with brains ! " returned Frederick auto-
matically.

" I believe you."

And once more Arnoux began to sing his wife's
praises. There was no one like her for spirit, tender-
ness, and thrift; he added in a low tone, rolling his
eyes about : " And a woman with so many charms,
too!"

" Good-bye ! " said Frederick.

Arnoux made a step closer to him.

"Hold on! Why are you going?" And, with his
hand half-stretched out toward Frederick, he stared at
the young man, quite abashed by the look of anger in
his face.

Frederick repeated in a dry tone, " Good-bye ! "

He hurried down the Rue de Breda like a stone
rolling headlong, raging against Arnoux, swearing in
his own mind that he would never see him again, nor
her either, so broken-hearted and desolate did he feel.

Deslauriers descended the Rue des Martyrs, swear-
ing aloud in his indignation ; for his project, like an

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 239

obelisk that has fallen, now assumed extraordinary pro-
portions. He considered himself robbed, and felt as
if he had suffered a great loss. His affection for Fred-
erick was dead, and he experienced a feeling of joy
at it — it was a sort of compensation to him ! A hatred
of all rich people took possession of him. He leaned
toward Senecal's opinions, and resolved to make every
effort to propagate them.

All this time, Arnoux was comfortably seated in an
easy-chair near the fire, sipping his cup of tea, with
the Marechale on his knee.

Frederick did not go back there ; and, in order to dis-
tract his attention from his unhappy passion, he de-
termined to write a History of the Renaissance. He
piled up confusedly on his table the humanists, the phi-
losophers, and the poets, and he went to inspect some
engravings of Mark Antony, and tried to study Mach-
iavelli. Gradually, the serenity of intellectual work had
a soothing effect upon him. While his mind was
steeped in the personality of others, he lost sight of
his own — which is the only way, perhaps, to get rid
of suffering.

One day, while he was quietly taking notes, the door
opened, and the man-servant announced Madame Ar-
noux.

It was she, indeed ! and alone ? But, no ! for she
was holding little Eugene by the hand, followed by a
nurse in a white apron. She sat down, and after a
preliminary cough :

" It is a long time since you came to see us."

As Frederick could think of no excuse at the mo-
ment, she added:

" It was delicacy on your part ! "

He asked in return :

" Delicacv about what ? "

240 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" About all you have done for Arnoux ! " said she.

Frederick made a significant gesture. " What do I
care about him, indeed? It was for your sake I did
it!"

She sent off the child to play with his nurse in the
drawing-room. Two or three words passed between
them as to their state of health ; then the conversation
hung fire.

She wore a brown silk gown, the colour of Spanish
wine, with a paletot of black velvet bordered with
sable. He yearned to pass his hand over the fur ; and
her headbands, so long and so exquisitely smooth,
seemed to draw his lips toward them. But he was
agitated by emotion, and, turning his eyes toward the
door:

" It is rather warm here ! "

Frederick understood what her discreet glance
meant.

" Ah ! excuse me ! the two leaves of the door are
merely drawn together."

" Yes, that's true ! "

And she smiled, as much as to say :

" I'm not the least afraid ! "

He asked her presently what was the object of her
visit.

" My husband," she replied with an effort, " has
urged me to call on you, not venturing to do so him-
self!"

"And why?"

"You know Monsieur Dambreuse, don't you?"

" Yes, slightly."

"Ah! slightly."

She relapsed into silence.

" No matter ! finish what you were about to say."

Thereupon she told him that, two days before, Ar-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 241

noux had found himself unable to meet four bills of
a thousand francs, made payable at the banker's order
and with his signature attached to them. She felt
sorry for having compromised her children's fortune.
But anything was preferable to dishonour; and, if
Monsieur Dambreuse stopped the proceedings, they
would certainly pay him soon, for she was going to sell
a little house which she had at Chartres.

" Poor woman ! " murmured Frederick. " I will
surely go. Rely on me ! "

"Thanks!"

And she arose to leave.

" Oh ! do not hurry away."

She remained standing, examining the trophy of
Mongolian arrows suspended from the ceiling, the
bookcase, the bindings, all the utensils for writing.
She lifted up the bronze bowl which held his pens.
Her feet rested on different portions of the carpet.
She had visited Frederick several times, but always
accompanied by Arnoux. They were now alone to-
gether— alone in his own house. It was a wonderful
event — almost a successful issue of his love.

She wished to see his little garden. He offered her
his arm to show her his property — thirty feet of ground
enclosed by some houses, adorned with shrubs at the
corners and flower-borders in the middle. The early
days of April had arrived. The leaves of the lilacs
were already showing their borders of green. A breath
of pure air was diffused around, and the little birds
chirped, their song alternating with the distant sounds
that came from a coachmaker's forge.

Frederick procured a fire-shovel; and, while they
walked on side by side, the child made sand-pies on the
walk.

Madame Arnoux did not think that, as he grew

242 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

older, he would have a great imagination ; but he had
a winning disposition. His sister, on the other hand,
possessed a caustic humour that sometimes wounded
her.

" That will change/' said Frederick. " We must
never despair."

She returned :

" We must never despair ! "

This automatic repetition of the phrase he had used
appeared to him a sort of encouragement; he plucked
a rose, the only one in the garden.

" Do you remember a certain bouquet of roses one
evening, in a carriage ? "

She coloured a little ; and, with an air of bantering
pity :

" Ah, but I was very young then ! "

" And this one," continued Frederick, in a low tone,
" will it be treated the same way ? "

She replied, while turning about the stem between
her fingers, like the thread of a spindle :

" No, I will preserve it."

She called the nurse, who took the child in her arms ;
then, on the threshold of the door in the street, Madame
Arnoux inhaled the odour of the rose, leaning her head
on her shoulder with a look as sweet as a kiss.

When he returned to his study, he gazed at the arm-
chair in which she had sat, and every object which she
had touched. Some portion of her was diffused around
him. The sweet caress of her presence lingered there
still.

" So, then, she has been here," said he to himself.

And his soul was bathed in waves of infinite tender-
ness.

Next morning, at eleven o'clock, he presented him-
self at M. Dambreuse's house. He was received in the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 243

dining-room. The banker was seated opposite his wife
at breakfast. Beside her sat his niece, and at the other
side of the table was the governess, an English woman,
strongly pitted with smallpox.

M. Dambreuse invited Frederick to take his place
amongst them, and when he declined :

" What can I do for you ? I am all attention."

Frederick confessed, while affecting indifference,
that he had come to make a request in behalf of one
Arnoux.

" Ha ! ha ! the ex-picture-dealer," said the banker,
with a noiseless laugh which exposed his gums.
" Oudry formerly gave security for him ; he has given
a lot of trouble."

And he proceeded to read the letters and newspapers
which lay beside him on the table.

Madame noticed that Frederick was embarrassed.

" Do you sometimes see our friend Martinon ? "

" He will be here this evening," said the young girl
in a lively tone.

" Ha ! so you know him ? " said her aunt, turning on
her a freezing look.

At that moment one of the men-servants, bending
forward, whispered in her ear.

" Your dressmaker, Mademoiselle — Miss John ! "

And the governess, in obedience to this summons,
left the room with her pupil.

M. Dambreuse, annoyed at the disarrangement of
the chairs by this movement, asked what was the mat-
ter.

" It is Madame Regimbart."

" Wait a moment ! Regimbart ! I know that name.
I have seen his signature."

Frederick at length broached the question. Arnoux
deserved some consideration ; he was even going, for

244 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the sole purpose of fulfilling his engagements, to sell a
house belonging to his wife.

" She is thought very pretty," said Madame Dam-
breuse.

The banker added, with a display of good-nature :

" Are you on friendly terms with them — on intimate
terms ? "

Frederick, without giving an explicit reply, said that
he would appreciate it if he would consider the matter.

" Well, since it pleases you, be it so ; we will wait.
I have some time to spare yet ; suppose we go down to
my office. Would you mind ? "

They had finished breakfast. Madame Dambreuse
bowed slightly toward Frederick, smiling in a singular
fashion, with a mingling of politeness and irony.
Frederick had no time to reflect about it, for M. Dam-
breuse, as soon as they were alone :

" You did not come for your shares ? "

And, without permitting him to make any excuses :

" Well ! well ! 'tis right that you should know a lit-
tle more about the business."

He offered Frederick a cigarette, and began his
statement.

The General Union of French Coal Mines had been
constituted. All that they were waiting for was the
order for its incorporation. The mere fact of the
amalgamation had lessened the cost of superintendence,
and of manual labour, and increased the profits. Be-
sides, the company had conceived a new idea, which
was to interest the workmen in its undertaking. It
would erect houses for them, healthful dwellings; fi-
nally, it would constitute itself the purveyor of its
employes, and would have everything supplied to them
at net prices.

" And they will be the gainers by it, Monsieur :

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 245

that's true progress! that's the way to answer effec-
tively certain Republican brawlings. We have on our
Board " — he showed the prospectus — " a peer of
France, a scholar who is a member of the Institute, a
retired field-officer of genius. Such elements reassure
the timid, and appeal to intelligent capitalists ! "

The company would have in its favour the sanction
of the State, then the railways, the steam service, the
metallurgical establishments, the gas companies, and
ordinary households.

" Thus we heat, we light, we penetrate to the very
hearth of the humblest home. But how, you will ask,
can we be sure of selling? By the aid of protective
laws, dear Monsieur, and we shall get them! — that is
a matter that concerns us ! For my part, however, I
am a downright prohibitionist! The country before
anything ! "

He had been appointed a director; but he had not
the time to occupy himself with certain details, amongst
other things with the editing of their publications.

" I find myself rather muddled with my authors. I
have forgotten my Greek. I should need some one to
put my ideas into shape."

And suddenly : " Will you be the man to perform
those duties, with the title of general secretary ? "

Frederick did not know what to say.

" Well, what is there to prevent you ? "

His functions would be confined to writing a report
every year for the shareholders. He would be day
by day in communication with the most notable men in
Paris. Representing the company with the workmen,
he would ere long be worshipped by them as a natural
consequence, and by this means he would be able, later,
to push his way into the General Council, and into the
position of a deputy.

246 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Frederick's ears tingled. Whence came this good-
will? He became confused in returning thanks. It
was not necessary, the banker said, that he should be
dependent on anyone. The best course was to take
some shares, " a splendid investment besides, for your
capital guarantees your position, as your position does
your capital."

" About how much should it amount to? " said Fred-
erick.

" Oh, well ! whatever you please — from forty to
sixty thousand francs, I suppose."

This sum was so trifling in M. Dambreuse's eyes,
and his authority was so great, that the young man de-
termined immediately to sell a farm.

He accepted the offer. M. Dambreuse was to select
one of his disengaged days for an appointment when
they might finish their arrangements.

" So I can say to Jacques Arnoux ? "

" Anything you like — the poor chap — anything you
like ! "

Frederick wrote to the Arnoux to make their minds
easy, and he despatched the letter by a man-servant,
who brought back the answer : " All right ! " His
action in the matter deserved fuller recognition. He
expected a visit, or, at least, a letter. He did not re-
ceive either.

Was it thoughtlessness on their part, or was it inten-
tional? Since Madame Arnoux had come once, what
was to prevent her from coming again ? The species of
confidence, of avowal, of which she had made him the
recipient on that occasion, was nothing better, then,
than a manoeuvre, executed through interested motives.

" Are they playing on me ? and is she an accomplice
of her husband ? " A sort of shame, in spite of his
desire, prevented him from going to their house.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 247

One morning (three weeks after their interview),
M. Dambreuse wrote to him, saying that he would ex-
pect him the same day in an hour's time.

On the way, the thought of Arnoux oppressed him
once more, and, not having been able to discover any
reason for his conduct, he was seized with a feeling of
wretchedness, a melancholy presentiment. In order
to get rid of it, he hailed a cab, and drove to the Rue
de Paradis.

Arnoux was away travelling.

" And Madame ?"

" In the country, at the works."

" When is Monsieur expected back ? "

" To-morrow, without fail."

He would find her alone ; this was the opportune
moment. Something imperious seemed to cry out in
the depths of his consciousness : " Go, then, and see
her!"

But M. Dambreuse ? " Ah ! well, so much the worse.
I'll say that I was ill."

He rushed to the railway-station, and, as soon as he
was in the carriage :

" Perhaps I have done wrong. Pshaw ! what does
it matter ? "

Frederick, through sheer weariness, was lost in that
languor which is produced by the very excess of im-
patience. Cranes and warehouses presently appeared.
They had reached Creil.

After crossing the bridge, he found himself in an
avenue, on his right the ruins of an abbey. A mill with
its wheels revolving barred up the entire width of
the second arm of the Oise, over which the factory
projected. Frederick was greatly surprised by the im-
posing character of this structure. He felt more re-
spect for Arnoux on account of it. Three paces further

248 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

on, he turned up an alley, which had a grating at its
lower end.

He went in. The doorkeeper called him back, ask-
ing:

" Have you a permit? "

" For what purpose ? "

" For the purpose of visiting the establishment."

Frederick said in a rather curt tone that he had
come to see M. Arnoux.

" Who is Monsieur Arnoux ? "

" Why, the chief, the master, the proprietor, in
fact!"

" No, Monsieur ! These are Messieurs Lebceuf and
Milliet's works ! "

Frederick left the premises, staggering like a
drunken man; and he had such a look of perplexity,
that on the Pont de la Boucherie an inhabitant of the
town, who was smoking his pipe, asked whether he was
looking for anything. This man knew where Arnoux's
factory was. It was situated at Montataire.

Frederick asked whether a vehicle was to be got.
He was told that the only place where he could find
one was at the station. He went back there. A shaky-
looking calash, to which was yoked an old horse, with
torn harness hanging over the shafts, stood in front of
the luggage office. An urchin who was looking on of-
fered to go and find Pere Pilon. In ten minutes' time
he came back, and announced that Pere Pilon was at
his breakfast. Frederick, unable to bear this any
longer, walked away. But the gates of the thorough-
fare across the line were closed. He would have to
wait till two trains had passed. At last, he made a
dash into the open country.

The monotonous greenery made it look like the cover
of an immense billiard-table. A little further on, some

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 249

factory chimneys were smoking close beside each other.
Long walls formed irregular lines past the trees ; and,
further down, the houses of the village could be seen.

They had only a single story, with staircases con-
sisting of three steps made of uncemented blocks.

Frederick pursued his way along the middle of the
street. Then, he saw on his left, at the opening of a
pathway, a large wooden arch, whereon was traced, in
letters of gold, the word, " Faiences."

It was not without an object that Jacques Arnoux
had selected the vicinity of Creil. By locating his
works as close as possible to the other works (which
had long borne a high reputation), he had created a
certain confusion in the public mind, with a favour-
able result so far as his own interests were concerned.

Heaps of white clay were drying under sheds. There
were others in the open air ; and in the midst of the
yard stood Senecal with his everlasting blue paletot
lined with red.

The ex-tutor extended toward Frederick his cold
hand.

" You've come to see the master ? He's not here."

Frederick, nonplussed, replied in a stupefied fashion :

" I know it." But the next moment correcting him-
self : .

" It is about a matter that concerns Madame Arnoux.
Can she see me ? "

" Ha ! I have not seen her for the last three days,"
said Senecal.

And he broke into a long string of complaints.
When he accepted the post of manager, he understood
that he would have been able to reside in Paris, and
not be forced to bury himself in this country district,
far from his friends, deprived of newspapers. No
matter! he had overlooked all that. But Arnoux did

250 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

not recognise his merits. He was, moreover, shallow
and retrograde — no one could be more ignorant. In-
stead of seeking for artistic improvements, it would
have been better to introduce firewood instead of coal
and gas. The shopkeeping spirit thrust itself in — Sen-
ecal laid stress on the last words. In short, he disliked
his present occupation, and he all but appealed to
Frederick to say a word in his behalf that he might get
an increase of salary.

" Make your mind easy," said the other.

He met nobody on the staircase. On the first floor,
he pushed his way into an empty room. It was the
drawing-room. He called out at the top of his voice.
There was no reply. No doubt, the cook had gone
out, and so had the housemaid. At length, having
reached the second floor, he pushed another door open.
Madame Arnoux was alone in this room, before a
press with a mirror attached. The belt of her dressing-
gown hung down her hips ; one entire half of her hair
fell in a dark wave over her right shoulder; and she
had raised both arms in order to hold up her chignon
with one hand and to put a pin through it with the
other. She gave an exclamation and disappeared.

Then she came back again properly dressed. Her
waist, her eyes, the rustle of her dress, her entire ap-
pearance, charmed him. Frederick had to restrain
himself to keep from covering her with kisses.

" I beg your pardon," said she, " but I could
not—

He had the boldness to interrupt her with these
words :

" Nevertheless — you looked very nice — just now."

She probably thought this compliment a little coarse,
for her cheeks reddened. He was afraid that he might
have offended her. She went on:

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 251

" What lucky chance has brought you here ? "

He did not know what reply to make ; and, after a
slight chuckle, which gave him time for reflection :

" If I told you, would you believe me?"

" Why not ? "

Frederick said to her that he had had a frightful
dream a few nights before.

" I dreamt that you were seriously ill — almost dy-
ing."

" Oh ! my husband and I are never ill."

"I dreamt only of you," said he.

She gazed at him calmly: "Dreams are not always
realised."

Frederick stammered, sought to find appropriate
words to express himself in, and then plunged into a
flowing period about the affinity of souls.

She listened to him with downcast face, while she
smiled that beautiful smile of hers. He watched her
out of the corner of his eye with delight, and poured
out his love all the more freely through the easy chan-
nel of a commonplace remark.

She offered to show him the works ; and, as she per-
sisted, he made no objection.

To divert his attention with something of an amus-
ing nature, she drew his attention to the species of
museum that decorated the staircase. The specimens,
hung up against the wall or laid on shelves, bore wit-
ness to the efforts and the successive fads of Arnoux.
After seeking vainly for the red of Chinese copper, he
had wished to manufacture majolicas, faience, Etrus-
can and Oriental ware, and had, in fact, attempted all
the improvements which were realised at a later period.

So it was that one could observe in the series big
vfses covered with figures of mandarins, porringers of
shot reddish-brown, pots adorned with Arabian in-

252 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

scriptions, drinking-vessels in the style of the Renais-
sance, and large plates on which two personages were
outlined as it were on bloodstone, in a delicate, aerial
fashion. He now made letters for sign-boards and
wine-labe1s ; but his intelligence was not high enough
to attain to art, nor commonplace enough to desire
merely profit ; so without satisfying anyone, he had
ruined himself.

They were both looking at these things when Made-
moiselle Marthe passed.

" So, then, you do not recognise our friend?" said
her mother to her.

" Yes, indeed," she replied, bowing to him, while her
clear and sceptical glance — the glance of a virgin —
seemed to say in a whisper : " What are you coming
here for ? " and she ran up the steps with her head
slightly bent over her shoulder.

Madame Arnoux led Frederick into the yard at-
tached to the works, and then explained to him in a
grave tone how different clays were ground, cleaned,
and sifted.

" The most important item is the preparation of
pastes."

And she brought him into a hall filled with vats,
in which a vertical axis with horizontal arms kept
turning. Frederick regretted that he had not flatly de-
clined her offer a little while before.

" These things are merely the slobberings," said she.

He thought the word grotesque, and, in a measure,
unbecoming on her lips.

They left the spot, and passed close to a ruined hut,
which had formerly been used as a repository for gar-
dening implements.

" It is no longer of any use," said Madame Arnoux.

He replied in a tremulous voice :

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 253

" Happiness may have once been associated with it ! "

The clacking of the fire-pump drowned his words,
and they entered the workshop where rough drafts
were made.

Men, seated at a narrow table, placed, each in front
of himself on a revolving disc, a piece of paste. Then
each man with his left hand scooped out the insides of
his own piece while smoothing its surface with the
right ; and vases could be seen bursting into shape like
blossoming flowers.

Madame Arnoux had the moulds for more difficult
works shown to him.

In another portion of the building, the threads, the
necks, and the projecting lines were being formed. On
the floor above, they removed the seams, and stopped
up with plaster the little holes that had been left by
the preceding operations.

At every opening in the walls, in corners, in the
middle of the corridor, everywhere, earthenware ves-
sels stood side by side.

Frederick began to feel bored.

" Perhaps these things are wearisome to you ? " said
she.

Fearing lest this might mean the termination of his
visit, he affected, on the contrary, a tone of great en-
thusiasm. He even expressed regret at not having de-
voted himself to this branch of industry.

She appeared surprised.

" Certainly ! I should have been able to live near
you."

And as he endeavoured to catch her eye, Madame
Arnoux, in order to avoid him, removed off a bracket
little balls of paste, which had come from abortive re-
adjustments, flattened them out into a thin cake, and
pressed her hand over them.

254 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Might I take these away with me? " said Frederick.

" Good heavens ! are you so childish ? "

He was about to reply when Senecal came in.

Frederick, annoyed by his presence, asked Madame
Arnoux in a low tone whether they would have an op-
portunity of seeing the kilns. They descended to the
ground-floor; and she was just explaining the use of
caskets, when Senecal, who had followed close behind,
placed himself between them.

He continued the explanation of his own motion,
expatiated on the various kinds of combustibles, the
process of placing in the kiln, the pyroscopes, the cylin-
drical furnaces ; the instruments for rounding, the
lustres, and the metals, making a prodigious display of
chemical terms, such as " chloride," " sulphuret,"
" borax," and " carbonate." Frederick did not under-
stand a single word, and kept turning round every
minute toward Madame Arnoux.

" You are not listening," said she. " Monsieur Sene-
cal, however, is very clear. He understands all these
things much better than I."

The mathematician, flattered by this eulogy, pro-
posed to show the way in which colours were laid on.
Frederick gave Madame Arnoux an anxious, question-
ing look. She remained impassive, not caring to be
alone with him, very probably, and yet unwilling to
leave him.

He offered her his arm.

" No — many thanks ! the staircase is too narrow ! "

And, when they had reached the top, Senecal opened
the door of an apartment filled with women.

They were handling brushes, phials, shells, and
plates of glass. Along the cornice, close to the wall,
extended boards with figures engraved on them ; scraps
of thin paper floated about, and a melting-stove emitted

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 255

fumes that made the temperature oppressive, while
there mingled with it the odour of turpentine.

The workwomen were nearly all poorly dressed. It
was noticeable, however, that one of them wore a Mad-
ras handkerchief and long earrings. Of slight frame,
and yet plump, she had large black eyes and the fleshy
lips of a negress. Her ample bosom projected from
under her chemise, which was fastened round her waist
by the string of her petticoat; and, with one elbow on
the board of the work-table and the other arm hanging
down, she gazed vaguely at the open country, a long
distance away. Beside her were a bottle of wine and
some pork chops.

The regulations forbade eating in the work-shops, a
rule intended to secure cleanliness at work and to keep
the hands in a healthy condition.

Senecal, through a sense of duty or a desire to ex-
ercise despotic authority, shouted out to her, while
pointing toward a framed placard :

" I say, you girl from Bordeaux over there ! read
out for me Article Nine ! "

" Well, what then ? "

" What then, Mademoiselle ? You'll have to pay a
fine of three francs."

She looked him straight in the face in an impudent
way.

" What does that matter to me ? The roaster will
take off your fine when he comes back ! I laugh at you,
my good man ! "

Senecal, who was walking with his hands behind his
back, like an usher in the study-room, contented him-
self with smiling.

" Article Thirteen, insubordination, ten francs ! "

The girl from Bordeaux resumed her work. Ma-
dame Arnoux, through a sense of propriety, said noth-

256 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ing ; but her brows contracted. Frederick murmured :
" Ha ! you are very severe for a democrat ! "
The other replied in a magisterial tone :
" Democracy is not the unbounded license of indi-
vidualism. It is the equality of all belonging to the
same community before the law, the distribution of
work, order."

" You are forgetting humanity ! " said Frederick.
Madame Arnoux took his arm. Senecal, perhaps
offended by this token of silent approbation, went away.
Frederick felt an immense relief. Since morning he
had been looking for the opportunity to declare itself;
now it had arrived. Besides, Madame Arnoux's spon-
taneous movements seemed to him to contain promises ;
and he asked her, as if on the pretext of warming their
feet, to come up to her room. But, when he was seated
close beside her, he began once more to feel embar-
rassed. He was at a loss for a starting-point. Senecal,
luckily, suggested an idea to his mind.

" Nothing could be more stupid," said he, " than
this punishment ! "

Madame Arnoux replied : " There are certain severe
measures which are unavoidable ! "

" What ! you who are so good ! Oh ! I am mis-
taken, for you sometimes take pleasure in making other
people suffer ! "

" I don't understand riddles, my friend ! "
And her stern look, still more than the words she
used, checked him. Frederick was determined to go
on. A volume of De Musset chanced to be on the
chest of drawers ; he turned over some pages, then be-
gan to talk about love, about his hopes and his trans-
ports.

All this, according to Madame Arnoux, was criminal
or factitious. The young man felt wounded by this

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 257

negative attitude with regard to his passion, and, in
order to combat it, he cited, by way of proof, the sui-
cides which they read about every day in the newspa-
pers, extolled the great literary types, Phedre, Dido,
Romeo, Desgrieux. He talked as if he meant to do
away with himself.

He wanted to cast himself at her feet. There was a
creaking sound in the lobby, and he did not dare to
carry out his intention.

He was, moreover, restrained by a kind of religious
awe. That robe, mingling with the surrounding
shadows, appeared to him boundless, infinite, impos-
sible to touch ; and for this very reason his desire be-
came intensified. But the fear of doing too much, and,
again, of not doing enough, deprived him of all judg-
ment.

" If she dislikes me," he thought, " let her drive me
away ; if she cares for me, let her encourage me."

He said, with a sigh :

" So, then, you don't admit that a man may love —
a woman ? "

Madame Arnoux replied :

" Assuming that she is at liberty to marry, he may
marry her ; when she belongs to another, he should
keep away from her."

" So happiness is impossible ? "

" No ! But it is never to be found in falsehood,
mental anxiety, and remorse."

" What does it matter, if one is compensated by the
enjoyment of supreme bliss?"

" The experience is too costly."

Then he sought to assail her with satire.

" Would not virtue in that case be merely cow-
ardice? "

" Say rather, clear-sightedness. Even for those

258 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

women who might forget duty or religion, simple good
sense is sufficient. A solid foundation for wisdom may
be found in self-love."

" Ah, what shopkeeping maxims these are of
yours ! "

" But I don't pretend to be a fine lady."

At that moment the little boy rushed in.

" Mamma, are you coming to dinner ? "

" Yes, in a moment."

Frederick arose. At the same instant, Marthe made
her appearance.

He could not make up his mind to go away, and,
with a look of entreaty :

" These women you speak of are very unfeeling,
then ? "

" No, but deaf when it is necessary to be so."

And she stood on the threshold of her room with
her two children beside her. He bowed without saying
a word. She mutely returned his salutation.

His first feeling was an unspeakable astonishment.
He felt crushed by this mode of impressing on him the
emptiness of his hopes. It seemed to him as if he were
lost, like a man who has fallen to the bottom of an
abyss and knows that no help will come, and that he
must die. He walked on, however, but at random,
without looking before him.

The railway lamps traced on the horizon a line of
flames. He arrived just as the train was starting, let
himself be pushed into a carriage, and very soon fell
asleep.

An hour later on the boulevards, the gaiety of Paris
by night made his journey all at once recede into an
already far-distant past. He resolved to be strong,
and relieved his heart by vilifying Madame Arnoux
with insulting epithets.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 259

" She is an idiot, a goose, a mere animal ; let us not
waste another thought on her ! "

When he got home, he found in his study a letter of
eight pages on blue glazed paper, with the initials
" R. A."

It began with friendly reproaches.

" What has become of you, my dear ? I am getting
quite bored."

But the handwriting was so illegible that Frederick
was about to fling away the entire bundle of sheets,
when he noticed in the postscript the following words :

" I count on you to come to-morrow and drive me
to the races."

What was the meaning of this invitation? Was it
another trick of the Marechale? But a woman does
not make a fool of the same man twice without some
object; and, seized with curiosity, he read the letter
over again attentively.

Frederick was able to distinguish " Misunderstand-
ing— to have taken a wrong path — disillusions — poor
children that we are ! — like two rivers that join each
other ! " etc.

He held the sheets for a long time between his fin-
gers. They had the odour of orris ; and there was in
the form of the characters and the irregular spaces be-
tween the 'lines something suggestive, as it were, of a
disorderly toilet, that fired his blood.

"What reason have I for not going?" he said to
himself at length. " But if Madame Arnoux were to
know about it ? Well ! let her know ! So much the
better! and let her feel jealous over it! I shall thus be
avenged ! "

CHAPTER X

A PLEASANT LITTLE DINNER

ROSANETTE was eagerly waiting for him.
" This is nice of you ! " she said, fixing her fine
eyes on his face, with an expression at once
tender and mirthful.

When she had fastened her bonnet-strings, she sat
down on the divan, and remained silent.

" Shall we go ? " said Frederick. She looked at the
clock on the mantelpiece.

" Not yet ! not before half-past one ! " as if she had
imposed this limit to her indecision.

At last, when the hour had struck :

"Ah! well, andiamo, caro inio!" And she gave a
final touch to her headbands, and left directions for
Delphine.

" Will Madame be home to dinner? "

" Why should we, indeed ? Let us dine together
somewhere — at the Cafe Anglais, wherever you wish."

"Beit so!"

Her little dogs began yelping around her.

" We can take them with us, can't we ? "

Frederick carried them himself to the vehicle. It
was a hired berlin with two post-horses and a postilion.
His man-servant was in the back seat. The Marechale
appeared satisfied with his attentions. Then, as soon
as she had seated herself, she asked him whether he
had been recently at the Arnoux'.

" Not for the past month," said Frederick.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 261

" As for me, I met him the day before yesterday.
He would have even come to-day, but he has all sorts
of troubles — another lawsuit — I don't know what. He
is a queer man ! "

Frederick inquired with an air of indirference :

" Now that I think of it, do you still see — what's
that his name is ? — 'that ex-vocalist — Delinar ? "

She replied dryly :

" No ; that's all over."

So it w-as evident that there had been a rupture be-
tween them. Frederick derived some hope from this
circumstance.

They descended the Quartier Breda at an easy pace.
Frederick let himself jog up and down with the rock-
ing of the carriage-straps. The Marechale turned her
head to the right and to the left with a smile on her
face.

Her straw hat of mother-of-pearl colour was
trimmed with black lace. The hood of her bournous
floated in the wind, and she sheltered herself from the
rays of the sun under a parasol of lilac satin pointed
at the top like a pagoda.

" What dear little fingers ! " said Frederick, softly
taking her other hand, her left being adorned with a
gold bracelet in the form of a curb-chain.

" I say ! that's pretty ! Where did it come from ? "

" Oh ! I have had that a very long time," said the
Marechale.

The young man did not challenge this hypocritical
answer in any way. He preferred to profit by the cir-
cumstance. And still holding the wrist, he pressed his
lips on it between the glove and the cuff.

" Stop ! People will see us ! "

" Pooh ! What does that signify ? "

After passing by the Place de la Concorde, they

262 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

drove along the Quai de la Conference and the Quai
de Billy, where they noticed a cedar of Lebanon in a
garden. Rosanette believed that Lebanon was situated
in China ; she laughed herself at her own ignorance,
and asked Frederick to give her lessons in geography.
Then, leaving the Trocadero at the right, they crossed
the Pont de Jena, and drew up in the middle of the
Champ de Mars, near some other vehicles already in
the Hippodrome.

The grass hillocks were covered with working
people. Some spectators might be seen on the balcony
of the Military School ; and the two pavilions outside
the weighing-room, the two galleries contained within
its enclosure, and another in front of that of the king,
were filled with a fashionably dressed crowd whose de-
portment showed their regard for this as yet novel
form of amusement.

The public around the course, more select at this
period, had a less vulgar aspect. It was the era of
trouser-straps, velvet collars, and white gloves. The
ladies, attired in brilliant colours, displayed long-
waisted gowns; and seated on the tiers of the stands,
they formed, so to speak, immense groups of flowers,
spotted here and there with the black of the men's
costumes. But every glance was directed toward the
celebrated Algerian Bou-Maza, who sat, impassive,
between two staff officers in one of the private gal-
leries. That of the Jockey Club contained none but
grave-looking gentlemen.

On every side was a great murmur. The municipal
guards passed to and fro. A bell, hung from a post
covered with figures, began ringing. Five horses ap-
peared, and the spectators in the galleries resumed
their seats.

Meanwhile, big clouds descended with their winding

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 263

outlines on the tops of the elms opposite. Rosanette
was afraid that it would rain.

" I have umbrellas," said Frederick, " and every-
thing that we need for our diversion," he added, lifting
up the chest, in which there was a stock of provisions
in a basket.

" Bravo ! we understand each other ! "

" And we'll understand each other still better, shall
we not ? "

" That may be," she said, colouring.

A red flag was lowered. Then five jockeys bent over
the bristling manes, and off they went. At first they
pressed close to one another in a single mass ; this pres-
ently stretched out and became cut up. The jockey in
the yellow jacket came near falling in the middle of
the first round; for a long time it was uncertain
whether Filly or Tibi should take the lead ; then Tom
Thumb shot in front. But Clubstick, who had been in
the rear since the start, came up with the others and
outstripped them, reaching the winning-post first, and
beating Sir Charles by two lengths. It was a surprise.
There was a shout of applause ; the planks shook with
the stamping of feet.

" This is amusing," said the Marechale. " I love
you, darling ! "

Frederick no longer doubted that his happiness was
secure. Rosanette's words were a confirmation of it.

A hundred paces away from him, in a four-wheeled
cabriolet, a lady could be seen. She stretched her head
out of the carriage-door, and then quickly drew .it in
again. This movement was repeated several times.
Frederick could not distinguish her face. He had a
strong suspicion, however, that it was Madame Ar-
noux. And yet this seemed impossible! Why should
she be there?

264 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

He stepped out of his own vehicle on the pretence
of strolling into the weighing-room.

" You are not very gallant ! " said Rosanette.

He paid no heed to her, and went on. The four-
wheeled cabriolet, turning back, broke into a trot.

Frederick at the same moment found himself but-
ton-holed by Cisy.

" Good-morrow, my dear boy ! how are you getting
on ? Hussonnet is over there ! Don't you hear me ? "

Frederick tried to shake him off in order to get up
with the four-wheeled cabriolet. The Marechale beck-
oned to him to come to her. Cisy saw her, and obsti-
nately persisted in wishing her good-day.

Since the termination of the regular period of
mourning for his grandmother, he had realised his
ideal, succeeded in " getting the proper stamp." A
Scotch plaid waistcoat, a short coat, large bows over
the pumps, and an entrance-card stuck in the ribbon of
his hat ; nothing, in fact, was wanting to produce what
he described as chic — a chic characterised by Anglo-
mania and the swagger of the musketeer. Leaning
against the Marechale's carriage-door on one elbow, he
kept talking nonsense, with the handle of his walking-
stick in his mouth, his legs wide apart, and his back
stretched out. Frederick, standing beside him, smoked,
while endeavouring to make out what had become of
the cabriolet.

The bell having rung, Cisy took himself off, to the
great delight of Rosanette, who said he bored her to
death.

The second race had nothing special about it ;
neither had the third, save that a man was thrown
over the shaft of a cart while it was taking place.
The fourth, in which eight horses contested the City
Stakes, was more interesting.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 26£

The spectators in the gallery had clambered to the
top of their seats. The others, standing up in the
vehicles, followed with opera-glasses in their hands
the movements of the jockeys. They started out like
red, yellow, white, or blue spots across the entire
space occupied by the crowd that had gathered around
the ring of the hippodrome. At a distance, their speed
did not appear to be very great; at the opposite side
of the Champ de Mars, they seemed even to be slack-
ening their pace, and to be merely slipping along in
such a way that the horses' bellies touched the ground
without their outstretched legs bending at all. But,
coming back at a more rapid stride, they looked
bigger; they cut the air in their wild gallop. The
sun's rays quivered ; pebbles went flying about under
their hoofs. The wind, blowing out the jockeys'
jackets, made them flutter like veils. Each of them
lashed the animal he rode with great blows of his
whip to spur him on to the goal. One swept away
the figures, another was hoisted off his saddle, and, in
the midst of a burst of applause, the victorious horse
dragged his feet to the weighing-room, all covered
with sweat, his knees stiffened, his neck and shoulders
bent down, while his rider, looking as if he were ex-
piring in his saddle, clung to the animal's flanks.

The final start was retarded by a dispute which had
arisen. The crowd, getting tired, began to scatter.
Groups of men were chatting at the lower end of each
gallery. The talk was of a free-and-easy description.
Some fashionable ladies left, scandalised by seeing fast
women in their immediate vicinity.

There were also some ladies who appeared at public
balls, some light-comedy actresses of the boulevards,
and it was not the best-looking that got the most ap-
preciation. Madame de Remoussat. who had become

266 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

fashionable by means of a notorious trial in which she
figured, sat enthroned on the seat of a brake in com-
pany with some Americans ; and Therese Bachelu, with
her look of a Gothic virgin, filled with her dozen fur-
belows the interior of a trap which had, in place of an
apron, a flower-stand filled with roses. The Marechale
was jealous of these magnificent displays. In order to
attract attention, she began to make vehement gestures
and speak in a very loud voice.

Gentlemen, recognising her, bowed. She returned
their salutations while telling Frederick their names.
They were all counts, viscounts, dukes, and marquises,
and he carried a high head, for in all eyes he could read
a certain respect for his good fortune.

Cisy had a no less happy air in the midst of the
circle of mature men that surrounded him. Their faces
wore cynical smiles above their cravats, as if they were
laughing at him. At length he gave a tap to the hand
of the oldest of them, and made his way toward the
Marechale.

She was eating, with an affectation of gluttony, a
slice of pate de foie gras. Frederick, in order to please
her, followed her example, with a bottle of wine on
his knees.

The four-wheeled cabriolet reappeared. It was Ma-
dame Arnoux ! Her face was startlingly pale.

" Give me some champagne," said Rosanette.

And, lifting up her glass, full to the brim, as high
as possible, she exclaimed :

" Look over there ! See my protector's wife, one of
the virtuous women ! "

There was a great burst of laughter all round her;
and the cabriolet disappeared from view. Frederick
tugged impatiently at her dress, and was on the point
of flying into a passion. But Cisy was there, in the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 267

same attitude as before, and, with increased assurance,
he invited Rosanette to dine with him that very
evening.

" Impossible ! " she replied ; " we're going together
to the Cafe Anglais."

Frederick, as if he had heard nothing, kept silent;
and Cisy quitted the Marechale with, a look of disap-
pointment on his face.

While he had been talking to her at the right-hand
door of the carriage, Hussonnet appeared at the oppo-
site side, 'and, catching the words " Cafe Anglais ":

" It's a nice establishment ; suppose we have a bite
there, eh ? "

" Just as you like," said Frederick, who, sunk in the
corner of the berlin, was gazing at the horizon as the
four-wheeled cabriolet vanished from his sight, feel-
ing that an irreparable thing had happened, and his
great love ended. And the other woman was there
beside him, the gay and easy love ! But, worn out, full
of conflicting desires, and no longer even knowing what
he wanted, he was possessed by a feeling of infinite
sadness, a longing to die.

The crush of vehicles increased, and Hussonnet got
lost in it.

" Well ! so much the better ! " said Frederick.

" We like to be alone better — don't we ? " said the
Marechale, as she placed her hand in his.

Then there swept past him with a glitter of copper
and steel a magnificent landau to which were yoked
four horses driven in the Daumont style by two jockeys
in velvet vests with gold fringes. Madame Dam-
breuse was by her husband's side, and Martinon was
on the seat facing them. All three gazed at Frederick
in astonishment.

" They have recognised me ! " said he to himself.

268 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Rosanette wished to stop in order to get a better
view of the people driving away from the course. Ma-
dame Arnotix might again make her appearance ! He
called out to the postilion :

" Go on ! go on ! forward ! " And the berlin dashed
toward the Champs-Elysees in the midst of the other
vehicles — calashes, britzkas, wurths, tandems, tilburies,
dog-carts, tilted carts with leather curtains, in which
workmen in a jovial mood were singing, or one-horse
chaises driven by fathers of families.

Frederick and Rosanette did not say a word to each
other, feeling a sort of dizziness at seeing all these
wheels continually revolving close to them.

At times, the rows of carriages, too closely pressed
together, stopped all at the same time in several lines.
Then they remained side by side, and their occupants
scanned one another. Over the sides of panels adorned
with coat-of-arms indifferent glances were cast on
the crowd. Eyes full of envy gleamed from the in-
teriors of hackney-coaches. Depreciatory smiles re-
sponded to the haughty manner in the carriage of a
head. Mouths gaping wide expressed idiotic admira-
tion ; and, here and there, some lounger, in the middle
of the road, jumped back with a bound, in order to
avoid a rider who had been galloping through the
midst of the vehicles, and had succeeded in getting
away from them. Then, everything set itself in mo-
tion once more; the coachmen let go the reins, and
lowered their long whips ; the horses, excited, shook
their curb-chains, and flung foam around them ; and
the cruppers and the harness getting moist, were
smoking with the watery evaporation, through which
struggled the rays of the sinking sun. Passing under
the Arc de Triomphe, there stretched out at the height
of a man a reddish light, which shed a glittering

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 269

lustre on the naves of the wheels, the handles of the
carriage-doors, the ends of the shafts, and the rings
of the carriage-beds ; and on the two sides of the great
avenue — like a river in which manes, garments, and
human heads were undulating — the trees, all glitter-
ing with r?in, rose up like two green walls. The blue
of the sky overhead, reappearing in certain places, had
the soft hue of satin.

Then Frederick recalled the days, already far dis-
tant, when he yearned for the inexpressible happiness
of finding himself in one of these carriages by the side
of one of these women. He had attained to this bliss,
and yet he was not thereby one jot the happier.

When they reached the Chinese Baths, as there were
holes in the pavement, the berlin slackened its pace.
A man in a hazel-coloured paletot was walking on the
edge of the footpath. A splash, spurting out from un-
der the springs, showed itself on his back. The man
turned round in a rage. Frederick grew pale ; it was
Deslauriers.

At the door of the Cafe Anglais he dismissed the
carriage. Rosanette had gone in before him while he
was paying the postilion.

He found her subsequently on the stairs chatting
with a gentleman. Frederick took her arm ; but in the
lobby a second gentleman stopped her.

" Go on," said she ; " I am at your service."

And he entered the private room alone. Through
the two open windows people could be seen at the case-
ments of the other houses opposite. Large watery
masses were glistening on the pavement as it began to
dry, and a magnolia, on the side of a balcony, shed a
perfume through the apartment. This fragrance and
freshness had a relaxing effect on his nerves. He sank
down on the red divan underneath the glass.

270 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The Marechale entered the room, and, kissing him
on the forehead :

" Poor pet ! something is annoying you ! "

" Perhaps so," was his reply.

" You are not alone ; take heart ! " — which was as
much as to say : " Let us each forget our own troubles
in a bliss which we shall enjoy in common."

Then she placed the petal of a flower between her
lips and extended it toward him so that he might peck
at it. This movement, full of grace and of almost
voluptuous gentleness, had a softening effect on Fred-
erick.

" Why do you give me pain ? " said he, thinking of
Madame Arnoux.

" I give you pain ? "

And, standing before him, she gazed at him with her
lashes drawn close together and her two hands resting
on his shoulders.

All his virtue, all his rancour gave way before the
utter weakness of his will.

He continued :

" Because you won't love me," and he took her on his
knees.

She yielded to him. He pressed his two hands round
her waist. The crackling sound of her silk dress in-
flamed him.

" Where are they ? " said Hussonnet's voice in the
lobby outside.

The Marechale rose abruptly, and walked across to
the other side of the room, where she sat down with her
back to the door.

She ordered oysters, and they seated themselves at
table.

Hussonnet was not amusing. By dint of writing
every day on all sorts of subjects, reading many news-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 271

papers, listening to a great number of discussions, and
uttering paradoxes for the purpose of dazzling people,
he had in the end lost the exact idea of things, deluding
himself with his own feeble fireworks. The embarrass-
ments of a life which had formerly been frivolous, but
which was now full of difficulty, kept him in a state of
perpetual agitation ; and his impotency, which he did
not wish to avow, rendered him snappish and sarcastic.
Referring to a new ballet entitled Ozdi, he gave a thor-
ough blowing-up to the dancing, and then, when the
opera was in question, he attacked the Italians, now re-
placed by a company of Spanish actors.

Frederick was quite bored. In an outburst of im-
patience he pushed his foot under the table, and pressed
it on one of the little dogs.

Thereupon both animals began barking in a horrible
fashion.

" You ought to have them sent home ! " said he, ab-
ruptly.

Rosanette did not know anyone to whom she could
intrust them.

Then, he turned round to the Bohemian :

" Look here, Hussonnet ; sacrifice yourself ! "

" Certainly, my boy ! "

Hussonnet set off, without even requiring to have
an appeal made to him.

How could they repay him for his kindness ? Fred-
erick did not bestow a thought on it. He was begin-
ning to rejoice at finding himself alone with her, when
a waiter entered.

" Madame, somebody is asking for you! "

" What ! again ? "

" However, I must see who it is," said Rosanette.

He was thirsting for her ; he wanted her. This dis-
appearance seemed to him an act of prevarication, al-

272 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

most a piece of rudeness. What, then, did she mean?
Was it not enough to have insulted Madame Arnoux ?
So much for the latter, all the same ! Now he hated
all women ; and he felt the tears choking him, for his
love had been misunderstood and his desire eluded.

The Marechale returned, and presented Cisy.

" I have invited Monsieur. I have done right, have
I not?"

" Oh ! certainly."

Frederick, with the smile of a criminal about to be
executed, requested the gentleman to take a seat.

The Marechale began to run her eye over the bill of
fare, stopping at every fantastic name.

" Suppose we eat a turban of rabbits a la Richelieu
and a pudding a la d 'Orleans? "

" Oh ! not Orleans, pray ! " exclaimed Cisy, who was
\ Legitimist, and thought of making a pun.

"Would you prefer a turbot d la Chambord?" she
next inquired.

Frederick was disgusted with this display of polite-
ness.

The Marechale finally decided to order a simple filet
of beef cut up into steaks, some crayfishes, truffles, a
pine-apple salad, and vanilla ices.

" We'll see what next. That will do for the present !
Ah! I was forgetting! Bring me a sausage! — not
with garlic !"

And she called the waiter " young man," struck her
glass with her knife, and flung up the crumbs of her
bread to the ceiling. She wished to have some Bur-
gundy immediately.

" It is not taken in the beginning," said Frederick.

It was sometimes done, according to the Vicomte.

" Oh ! no. Never ! "

" Yes, indeed ; I assure you ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 273

" Ha ! you see ! "

The look with which she accompanied these words
meant : " This is a rich man — pay attention to what
he says ! "

Meantime, the door was opening every moment ; the
waiters kept shouting; and on an infernal piano in
the adjoining room some one was strumming a waltz.
The races led to a discussion about horsemanship and
the two rival systems. Cisy was upholding Baucher
and Frederick the Comte d'Aure when Rosanette
shrugged her shoulders :

" Enough — my God ! — he is a better judge of these
things than you are — come now ! "

She kept nibbling at a pomegranate, with her elbow
resting on the table. The wax-candles of the candela-
brum in front of her flickered in the wind. This white
light penetrated her skin with mother-of-pearl tones,
gave a pink hue to her lids, and made her eyeballs glit-
ter. The red colour of the fruit blended with the
purple of her lips ; her thin nostrils dilated ; and there
was about her entire person an air of insolence, intoxi-
cation, and recklessness that exasperated Frederick,
and yet filled his heart with wild desires.

She asked, in a calm voice, who owned that big
landau with chestnut-coloured livery.

Cisy replied that it was " the Comtesse Dambreuse."

" They're very rich — aren't they ? "

" Oh ! very rich ! although Madame Dambreuse, who
was merely a Mademoiselle Boutron and the daughter
of a prefect, had a very modest fortune."

Her husband, on the other hand, must have inherited
several estates — Cisy enumerated them : as he visited
the Dambreuses, he knew their family history.

Frederick, in order to make himself disagreeable to
the other, took a uleasure in contradicting him. He

274 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

maintained that Madame Dambreuse's maiden name
was De Boutron, which proved that she was of noble
family.

"No matter! I'd like to have her equipage!" said
the Marechale, throwing herself back on the armchair.

And the sleeve of her dress, slipping up a little, dis-
covered on her left wrist a bracelet adorned with three
opals.

Frederick noticed it.

" Look here ! why-
All three looked into one another's faces, and red-
dened.

The door was cautiously half-opened ; the brim of a
hat could be seen, and then Hussonnet's profile ap-
peared.

" Pray excuse me if I disturb the lovers ! "

Then he stopped, astonished at seeing Cisy, who had
taken his seat.

Another cover was brought; and, as he was very
hungry, he snatched up at random from what remained
of the dinner, some meat which was in a dish, fruit out
of a basket, and drank with one hand while he helped
himself with the other, all the time telling them the
result of his mission. The two bow-wows had been
taken home. Nothing fresh at the house. He had
found the cook in the company of a soldier — a fictitious
story which he had invented on the way for the sake of
effect.

The Marechale took down her cloak from the win-
dow-screw. Frederick rushed toward the bell, calling
out to the waiter, who was some distance away :

" A carriage ! "

" I have one of my own," said Cisy.

" But, Monsieur ! "

" Nevertheless, Monsieur ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 275

And they looked into each other's eyes, both pale and
their hands trembling.

At last, the Marechale took Cisy's arm, and pointing
toward the Bohemian seated at the table :

" Pray mind him ! He's choking himself. I
wouldn't like his devotion to my pugs to be the cause
of his death."

The door closed behind them.

" Well ? " said Hussonnet.

"Well, what?"

" I thought—

"What did you think?"

"Were you not ?"

He completed the sentence with a gesture.

" Oh ! no — never in all my life ! "

Hussonnet did not press the matter further.

He had a motive in inviting himself to dinner. His
journal — which was no longer called L'Art, but Le
Flambart, with this epigraph, " Gunners, to your can-
nons ! " — not being at all in a flourishing condition, he
had a mind to change it into a weekly review, con-
ducted by himself, without any assistance from Des-
lauriers. He again referred to the old project and ex-
plained his latest plan.

Frederick, probably not understanding what he was
talking about, replied with some vague words. Hus-
sonnet snatched up several cigars from the tables, said
" Good-bye, old chap," and disappeared.

Frederick called for the bill. It had a long list of
items ; and the waiter, with his napkin under his arm,
was waiting to be paid, when another, a sallow-faced
individual, who resembled Martinon, came and said to
him:

" Excuse me ; they forgot at the bar to add in the
charge for the cab."

276 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" What cab ? "

" The cab the gentleman took a short time ago for
the little dogs."

The waiter looked grave, as if he pitied the poor
young man. Frederick would have liked to box the
fellow's ears. He gave the waiter the twenty francs'
change as a pour-boirc.

The man bowed low, murmuring, " Thanks, Mon-
seigneur ! "

CHAPTER XI

A DUEL

THE whole of the next day Frederick brooded over
his humiliation. He blamed himself for not
having slapped Cisy in the face. As for the
Marechale, he swore never to see her again. Others
as good-looking could be easily found ; and, as money
was necessary in order to possess these women, he
would speculate on the Bourse with the purchase-
money of his farm. He would get rich ; he would
crush the Marechale and everyone else with his wealth.
When the evening had come, he was surprised at not
having thought of Madame Arnoux.

" So much the better. What's the use of it?"

Two days later, at eight o'clock, Pellerin came to
pay him a visit. He began by expressing his admira-
tion of the furniture and talked in a wheedling tone.
Then, abruptly:

" You were at the races on Sunday? "

"Yes, alas!"

Thereupon the painter criticised the anatomy of
the English horses, and praised the horses of Gericourt
and the Parthenon.

" Rosanette was with you? "

And he artfully proceeded to speak in flattering
terms about her.

Frederick's icy manner put him a little out of coun-
tenance.

He did not know how to introduce the question of
her portrait. His first idea had been to do it in the

278 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

style of Titian. But gradually the varied colouring of
his model had bewitched him ; he had gone on boldly
with the work, heaping up paste on paste and light on
light. Rosanette, at first, was enchanted. Her ap-
pointments with Delmar interrupted the sittings, and
left Pellerin all the time to get bedazzled. Then, as
his admiration began to subside, he asked himself
whether the picture might not be on a larger scale.
He had gone to have another look at the Titians, real-
ised how the great artist had filled in his por-
traits with such finish, and saw wherein his own de-
ficiencies lay ; and then he began to go over the out-
lines again in the most simple fashion. After that, he
sought, by scraping them off, to lose, or to mingle, all
the tones of the head and those of the background;
the face assumed consistency and the shades vigour —
the whole work had a look of greater firmness. At
length the Marechale came back again. She indulged
in some hostile criticisms. The painter naturally per-
severed in his own course. After getting into a violent
passion at her silliness, he thought to himself that,
after all, perhaps she was right. Then began an era
of doubts, twinges of reflection which brought about
cramps in the stomach, insomnia, feverishness and dis-
gust with himself. He had the courage to make some
retouchings, but without much heart, and with a feel-
ing that his work was bad.

He complained merely of having been refused a
place in the Salon; then he reproached Frederick for
not having come to see the Marechale's portrait.

" What do I care about the Marechale ? "

Such an expression of indifference emboldened the
artist.

" Would you believe that this brute has no interest
in the thing any longer ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 279

What he did not mention was that he had asked
her for a thousand crowns. Now the Marechale did
not bother herself about ascertaining who was going
to pay, and, preferring to screw money out of Arnoux
for more urgent requirements, she had not even
spoken to him on the subject.

"Well, and Arnoux?"

She had thrown it on him. The ex-picture-dealer
wished to have nothing to do with the portrait.

" He maintains that it belongs to Rosanette."

" In fact, it is hers."

" How is that? Tis she that sent me to you," was
Pellerin's answer.

If he had been thinking of the excellence of his
work, he would not have dreamed perhaps of making
capital out of it. But a sum — and a big sum — would
be an effective reply to the critics, and would
strengthen his own position. Finally, to get rid of his
importunities, Frederick courteously inquired his
terms.

The extravagant figure named by Pellerin quite took
away his breath, and he replied :

"Oh! no— no!"

" You, however, are her lover — you gave me the
order ! "

" Excuse me, I was only an agent."

" But I can't remain with this on my hands ! "

The artist lost his temper.

" Ha ! I didn't know you were so covetous ! "

" Nor I that you were so stingy ! I wish you good
morning ! "

He had just gone when Senecal made his appear-
ance.

Frederick was in a state of great agitation.

"What's the matter?"

280 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Senecal told this story :

" On Saturday, at nine o'clock, Madame Arnoux
received a letter which summoned her back to Paris.
As there happened to be nobody in the place at the
time to go to Creil for a vehicle, she asked me to at-
tend to it. I refused, for this was no part of my
duties. She left, and came back on Sunday evening.
Yesterday morning, Arnoux came down to the works.
The girl from Bordeaux made a complaint to him.
I don't know what passed between them ; but he took
off, before everyone, the fine I had imposed on her.
Some sharp words passed between us. In short, he
closed accounts with me, and here I am ! "

Then, with a pause between every word :

" Furthermore, I am not sorry. I have done my
duty. No matter — you were the cause of it."

" In what way ? " exclaimed Frederick, alarmed
lest Senecal might have guessed his secret.

Senecal had not, however, guessed anything about
it, for he replied :

" I mean that but for you I might have done bet-
ter."

Frederick was seized with a kind of remorse.

" In what way can I help you now ? "

Senecal wanted some employment, a situation.

" That is an easy thing for you to manage. You
know many people of good position, Monsieur Dam-
breuse amongst others ; at least, so Deslauriers told
me."

This allusion to Deslauriers was by no means agree-
able to his friend. He scarcely cared to call on the
Dambreuses again after his unfortunate meeting with
them in the Champ de Mars.

" I am not on sufficiently intimate terms with them
to recommend anyone."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 281

The democrat bore this refusal stoically, and after a
minute's silence:

" All this, I am sure, is due to the girl from Bor-
deaux, and to your Madame Arnoux."

This " your " had the effect of killing the slight
modicum of regard he entertained for Senecal.
Nevertheless, he stretched out his hand toward the
key of his escritoire through delicacy.

Senecal anticipated him :

" Thanks ! "

Then, forgetting his own troubles, he talked about
the affairs of the nation, the crosses of the Legion of
Honour wasted at the Royal Fete, the rumour of a
change of ministry, the Drouillard case and the Be-
nier case — scandals of the day — declaimed against the
middle class, and predicted a revolution.

His eyes were attracted by a Japanese dagger hang-
ing on the wall. He took hold of it ; then he flung it
on the sofa with an air of disgust.

" Well, then ! good-bye ! I must go to Notre Dame
de Lorette."

"Hold on! Why?"

" The anniversary service for Godefroy Cavaignac
is taking place there to-day. He died at work — that
man ! But all is not over. Who knows ? "

And Senecal, with a show of fortitude, put out his
hand:

" Perhaps we shall never meet again ! Good-bye ! "

This " good-bye," repeated several times, his knitted
brows as he gazed at the dagger, his resignation, and
the solemnity of his manner, above, all, plunged Fred-
erick into a thoughtful mood, but very soon he forgot
about Senecal.

During the same week, his notary at Havre sent him
the sum realised by the sale of his farm — one hun-

282 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

dred and seventy-four thousand francs. He divided
it into two portions, invested half in the Funds, and
brought the second half to a stock-broker to take his
chance of making money by it on the Bourse.

He dined at fashionable taverns, went to the thea-
tres, and was trying to amuse himself as best he could,
when Hussonnet addressed a letter to him announcing
in a gay fashion that the Marechale had got rid of
Cisy the very day after the races. Frederick was de-
lighted at this intelligence, without troubling to as-
certain what the Bohemian's motive was in giving him
the information.

It so happened that he met Cisy, three days later.
That aristocratic young gentleman kept his counte-
nance, and even invited Frederick to dine on the fol-
lowing Wednesday.

On the morning of that day, the latter received a
notification from a process-server, in which M.
Charles Jean Baptiste Oudry informed him that by the
terms of a legal judgment he had become the pur-
chaser of a property situated at Belleville, belonging
to M. Jacques Arnoux, and that he was ready to pay
the two hundred and twenty-three thousand for which
it had been sold. But, as it appeared by the same de-
cree that the amount of the mortgages with which the
estate was encumbered exceeded the purchase-money,
Frederick's claim would in consequence be completely
forfeited.

The entire mischief arose from not having renewed
the registration of the mortgage within the proper
time. Arnoux had undertaken to attend to this mat-
ter himself, and had then forgotten all about it.
Frederick was furious, and when the young man's an-
ger had passed off, he said to himself:

"Well, afterward — what? If this can save him, so

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 283

much the better. It won't kill me ! Let us think no
more about it ! "

But, while moving about his papers on the table,
he came across Hussonnet's letter, and saw the post-
script, which he had not at first noticed. The Bohe-
mian wanted just five thousand francs to give the jour-
nal a start.

" Ah ! this fellow is worrying me to death ! "

And he sent a curt answer, unceremoniously refus-
ing the application. After that, he dressed him-
self and went to the Maison d'Or.

Cisy introduced his guests, beginning with the most
important of them, a big, white-haired gentleman.

" The Marquis Gilbert des Aulnays, my godfather.
Monsieur Anselme de Forchambeaux," he said next —
(a thin, fair-haired young man, already bald) ; then,
pointing toward a simple-mannered man of forty :
" Joseph Boffreu, my cousin ; and here is my old tutor,
Monsieur Vezou " — a person who seemed a mixture of
a ploughman and a seminarist, with large whiskers
and a long frock-coat fastened at the end by a single
button, so that it fell over his chest like a shawl.

Cisy was awaiting some one else — the Baron de
Comaing, who " might perhaps come, but it was not
certain." He left the room every minute, and appeared
to be in a restless frame of mind. Finally, at eight
o'clock, they proceeded toward an apartment splendidly
lighted up and much more spacious than the num-
ber of guests required. Cisy had selected it so as to
make a display.

A vermilion epergne laden with flowers and fruit
occupied the centre of the table, which was covered
with silver dishes, after the old French fashion ; glass
bowls full of salt meats and spices formed a border
all around. Jars of iced red wine stood at regular

284 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

distances from one another. Five glasses of different
sizes were before each plate, with other things of
which the use could not be divined — a thousand din-
ner utensils of an ingenious description. For the first
course alone, there was a sturgeon's jowl moistened
with champagne, a Yorkshire ham with tokay,
thrushes with sauce, roast quail, a bechamel vol-au-
vent, a stew of red-legged partridges ; at both ends of
all this were fringes of potatoes mingled with
truffles. The apartment was illuminated by a lustre
and some girandoles, and it was hung with red dam-
ask curtains.

Four men-servants in black coats stood behind the
armchairs, which were upholstered in morocco. At
this sight the guests uttered an exclamation — the
tutor more emphatically than the rest.

" Upon my word, our host has indulged in a fool-
ishly lavish display of luxury. It is altogether too
beautiful ! "

" Is that so ? " said the Vicomte de Cisy ; " Come on,
then ! "

And, as they were swallowing the first spoonful :

" Well, my dear old friend Aulnays, have you been
to the Palais-Royal to see Pcre et Portier? "

" You know well that I have no time to go ! " re-
plied the Marquis.

His mornings were occupied with a course of ar-
boriculture, his evenings were spent at the Agricul-
tural Club, and all his afternoons were engaged by a
study of the implements of husbandry in manufacto-
ries. As he resided at Saintonge for three fourths of
the year, he took advantage of his visits to the capital
to get new information; and his large-brimmed hat,
which lay on a side-table, was crammed with pamph-
lets.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 285

But Cisy, observing that M. de Forchambeaux re-
fused wine :

" Go on, damn it, drink ! You're not in good form
for your last bachelor's meal ! "

At this remark all bowed and congratulated him.

" And the young lady," said the tutor, " is doubt-
less charming ? "

" Faith, she is ! " exclaimed Cisy. " No matter, he
is making a great mistake ; marriage is such a stupid
thing ! "

" You talk in a thoughtless fashion, my friend ! "
returned Monsieur des Aulnays, while tears gathered
in his eyes at the recollection of his own dead wife.

And Forchambeaux repeated several times in suc-
cession :

" It will sometime be your own case — it will be
your own case ! "

Cisy protested. He preferred to enjoy himself — to
" live in the free-and-easy style of the Regency days."
He hoped to learn the shoe-trick, in order to visit the
thieves' taverns of the city, like Rodolphe in the Mys-
teries of Paris; he drew out of his pocket a dirty clay
pipe, abused the servants, and drank freely ; then, in
order to create a good impression, he disparaged all
the dishes. He even sent away the truffles ; and the
tutor, who was exceedingly fond of them, said through
servility ;

" These are not as good as your grandmother's
snow-white eggs."

Then he began to chat with the person sitting next
to him, the agriculturist, who found many advan-
tages from his sojourn in the country, if it were only
to be able to bring up his daughters with simple tastes.
The tutor approved of his ideas and toadied to him,
supposing that this gentleman possessed influence over

286 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

his former pupil, whose man of business he was anx-
ious to become.

Frederick had come rilled with hostility to Cisy ;
but the young aristocrat's idiocy disarmed him. How-
ever, as the other's gestures, face, and entire person
brought back to his mind the dinner at the Cafe An-
glais, he got more and more irritated ; and he lent his
ears to the complimentary remarks made in a low tone
by Joseph, the cousin, a fine young fellow without any
money, who was a lover of the chase and a University
prizeman. Cisy, for the sake of a laugh, called him
a " catcher " * several times ; then suddenly :

" Ha ! here comes the Baron ! "

At that moment, there entered a jovial blade of
thirty, with somewhat rough-looking features and
active limbs, wearing his hat over his ear and display-
ing a flower in his button-hole. He was the Vicomte's
ideal. The young aristocrat was delighted to see him ;
and stimulated by his presence, he even attempted a
pun ; for he said, as they passed a fine, roasted heath-
cock :

" There's the best of La Bruyere's characters ! " f

After that, he put a number of questions to M. de
Comaing about persons unknown to society ; then, as
if an idea had suddenly seized him :

"Tell me, pray! have you thought about me?"

The other shrugged his shoulders :

" You are not old enough, my little man. It is im-
possible ! "

Cisy had begged of the Baron to get him admitted
into his club. But the other having, no doubt, taken
pity on his vanity :

* Voleur. May be translated as "hunter" or "thief," hence the
joke. — TRANSLATOR.

f Coq de bruyere means a heath-cock or grouse; hence the pun on
the name of La Bruyere, author of Caracteres. — EDITOR.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 287

" Ha ! I was forgetting ! A thousand congratula-
tions on having won your bet, my dear fellow ! "

"What bet?"

" The bet you made at the races to effect an en-
trance the same evening into that lady's house."

Frederick felt as if he had had a lash with a whip.
He was speedily appeased by the expression of utter
confusion in Cisy's face.

In fact, the Marechale, next morning, was filled
with regret when Arnoux, her first lover, her good
friend, presented himself that very day. Both gave
the Vicomte to understand that he was in the way, and
kicked him out without much ceremony.

He pretended not to have heard the remark.

The Baron went on :

"What has become of her, this fine Rose? Is she
as charming as ever?" showing by his manner that
he had been on terms of intimacy with her.

Frederick was chagrined by the discovery.

" There's nothing to blush at," said the Baron, pur-
suing the topic, " 'tis a good thing ! "

Cisy smacked his tongue.

" Whew ! not so good ! "

" Ha ! "

" Oh, dear, yes ! In the first place, I found her
nothing extraordinary, and then, you pick up that
sort as often as you please ; in fact, she is for sale ! "

" Not for everyone ! " remarked Frederick, with
some bitterness.

" He thinks that he is different from the others,"
was Cisy's comment. " What a good joke ! "

And a laugh ran round the table.

Frederick felt as if the palpitations of his heart
would suffocate him. He swallowed two glasses of
water one after the other.

288 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

But the Baron had preserved a lively recollection of
Rosanette.

" Is she still interested in a fellow in trade named
Arnoux ? "

"I haven't the faintest idea," said Cisy, " I don't
know the gentleman ! "

Nevertheless, he suggested that he believed Arnoux
was a sort of swindler.

" A moment ! " exclaimed Frederick.

" Oh, there is no doubt about it ! Legal proceed-
ings have been taken against him."

" That is not true ! "

Frederick began to defend Arnoux, vouched for his
honesty, ended by convincing himself of it, and con-
cocted figures and proofs. The Vicomte, full of spite,
and tipsy in addition, persisted in his assertions, so
that Frederick said to him gravely :

" Is the object of this to give offence to me, Mon-
sieur? "

And he looked Cisy full in the face, with eyeballs
as red as his cigar.

" Oh ! not at all. I acknowledge that he possesses
something very nice — his wife."

" Do you know her ? "

" Faith, I do ! Sophie Arnoux ; everyone knows
her."

" You mean to tell me that ? "

Cisy, who had staggered to his feet, hiccoughed:

" Everyone — knows — her."

" Hold your tongue. It is not with women of her
class you keep company ! "

" I— flatter myself — it is."

Frederick flung a plate at his face. It passed like
a flash of lightning over the table, knocked down two
bottles, demolished a fruit-dish, and breaking into

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 289

three pieces, by knocking against the epergne, hit the
Vicomte in the stomach.

All the other guests arose to hold him back. He
struggled and shrieked, possessed by a kind of frenzy.

M. des Aulnays kept repeating:

" Come, be calm, my dear boy ! "

" Why, this is awful ! " shouted the tutor.

Forchambeaux, livid as a plum, was trembling.
Joseph indulged in repeated outbursts of laughter.
The attendants sponged out the traces of the wine,
and gathered up the remains of the dinner from the
floor; and the Baron shut the window, for the up-
roar, in spite of the noise of carriage-wheels, could be
heard on the boulevard.

As all present at the moment the plate had been
flung had been talking at the same time, it was im-
possible to discover the cause of the attack— whether
it was on account of Arnoux, Madame Arnoux, Ro-
sanette, or somebody else. One thing only they were
certain of, that Frederick had acted with indescrib-
able brutality. On his part, he refused positively to
express the slightest regret for what he had done.

M. des Aulnays tried to soften him. Cousin Jo-
seph, the tutor, and Forchambeaux himself joined in
the effort. The Baron, all this time, was encouraging
Cisy, who, yielding to nervous weakness, began to
shed tears.

Frederick, on the contrary, was getting more and
more angry, and they would have remained there till
daybreak if the Baron had not said :

" The Vicomte, Monsieur, will send his seconds to
call on you to-morrow."

"Your hour?"

" Twelve, if it suits you."

" Perfectly, Monsieur."

290 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Frederick, as soon as he was in the open air, drew
a deep breath. He had been keeping his feelings too
long under restraint ; he had satisfied them at last.
He felt, so to speak, the pride of virility, a super-
abundance of energy within him which intoxicated
him. He required two seconds. The first person he
thought of for the purpose was Regimbart, and he
immediately directed his steps toward the Rue Saint-
Denis. The shop-front was closed, but a light shone
through a pane of glass over the door. It opened and
he went in, stooping very low as he passed under the
penthouse.

A candle at the side of the bar lighted up the de-
serted smoking-room. All the stools, with their feet
in the air, were piled on the table. The master and
mistress, with their waiter, were at supper in a cor-
ner near the kitchen ; and Regimbart, with his hat on
his head, was sharing their meal, and even disturbed
the waiter, wrho was compelled every moment to turn
aside a little. Frederick, having briefly explained the
matter, asked Regimbart to assist him. The Citizen
at first made no reply. He rolled his eyes about,
looked as if he were plunged in reflection, took several
strides around the room, and at last said:

" Yes, by all means ! " and a homicidal smile
smoothed his brow when he learned that the adversary
was a nobleman.

" Make your mind easy ; we'll rout him with flying
colours ! In the first place, with the sword "

" But perhaps," broke in Frederick, " I have not the
right."

" I tell you 'tis necessary to take the sword," the
Citizen replied roughly. " Do you know how to make
passes ? "

" A little."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 291

" Oh ! a little. That is the way with you all ; and
yet you have a mania for committing assaults. What
does the fencing-school teach? Listen to me: keep a
good distance off, always confining yourself in circles,
and parry — parry as you retire ; that is permitted.
Tire him out. Then boldly make a lunge on him ! and,
above all, no malice, no strokes of the La Fougere
kind. No ! a simple one-two, and some disengage-
ments. Look here ! do you see ? while you turn your
wrist as if opening a lock. Pere Vauthier, give me
your cane. Ha ! that will do. Now, my friends, ob-
serve me carefully."

He grasped the rod which was used for lighting
the gas, rounded his left arm, bent his right, and be-
gan to make thrusts against the partition. He
stamped with his foot, got animated, and pretended
to be encountering difficulties, while he exclaimed:
"Are you there? Is that it? Are you there?" and
his enormous silhouette projected itself on the wall
while his hat apparently touched the ceiling. The
owner of the cafe shouted from time to time : " Bravo !
very good ! " His wife, though a little unnerved, was
likewise filled with admiration ; and Theodore, who
had been in the army, remained riveted to the spot
with amazement, the fact being that he regarded M.
Regimbart with an enthusiastic degree of hero-wor-
ship.

Next morning, at an early hour, Frederick hurried
to the establishment in which Dussardier was em-
ployed. After having passed through a succession of
departments all full of clothing-materials, either piled
on the shelves or lying on tables, while here and there
shawls were fixed on wooden racks shaped like toad-
stools, he saw the young man, in a sort of railed
cage, surrounded by account-books, and standing in

292 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

front of a desk at which he was writing. The honest
fellow left his work.

The seconds arrived before twelve o'clock.

Frederick, as a matter of good taste, was absent at
the conference.

The Baron and M. Joseph declared that they would
be satisfied with the simplest apology. But Regim-
bart's principle being never to yield, and his conten-
tion being that Arnoux's honour should be vindicated
(Frederick had not spoken to him about anything
else), he asked that the Vicomte should apologise. M.
de Comaing was indignant at this presumption. The
Citizen would not give way an inch. As all concilia-
tion proved impracticable, there was nothing for it
but to fight.

Other difficulties arose, for the choice of weapons
lay with Cisy, as the person to whom the insult had
been offered. But Regimbart maintained that by send-
ing the challenge he had constituted himself the offend-
ing party. His seconds loudly protested that a buffet
was the most cruel of offences. The Citizen carped
at the words, pointing out that a buffet was not a
blow. Finally, they decided to take the advice of a
military man ; and the four seconds went off to con-
sult the officers in some of the barracks.

They drew up at the barracks on the Ouai d'Orsay.
M. de Comaing, having accosted two captains, ex-
plained to them the question in dispute.

The captains did not understand a word of what
he was saying, owing to the confusion caused by the
Citizen's incidental remarks. In short, they advised
the gentlemen who consulted them to draw up a
minute of the proceedings ; after which they would
give their decision. Thereupon, they repaired to a
cafe; where they, in order to do things with more

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 293

circumspection, referred to Cisy as H, and to Freder-
ick as K.

Then they returned to the barracks. The officers
were out. They reappeared, and declared that the
choice of arms manifestly belonged to H.

They all returned to Cisy's abode. Regimbart and
Dussardier remained on the footpath outside.

The Vicomte, when he was informed of the solu-
tion of the case, was seized with such extreme agi-
tation that they had to repeat for him several times the
decision of the officers; and, when M. de Comaing
came to deal with Regimbart's contention, he mur-
mured "Nevertheless," not being very reluctant him-
self to yield to it. Then he sank into an armchair, and
declared that he would not fight.

"Eh? What?" said the Baron. Then Cisy in-
dulged in a confused flood of mouthings. He wished
to fight with firearms — to discharge a single pistol at
close quarters.

" Or else we will put arsenic into a glass, and draw
lots to see who must drink it. That's sometimes done."

The Baron, naturally rather impatient, addressed
him harshly:

" These gentlemen are waiting for your answer.
This is indecent, to put it shortly.- What weapons do
you prefer ? Come ! is it the sword ? "

The Vicomte gave an affirmative reply by merely
nodding his head ; and it was arranged that the meet-
ing should take place next morning at seven o'clock
sharp at the Maillot gate.

Dussardier, having to go back to his business,
Regimbart went to inform Frederick of the arrange-
ment. He had been left all day without any news,
and his impatience was becoming intolerable.

" So much the better ! " he exclaimed.

294 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The Citizen was satisfied with his courageous de-
portment.

" Would you believe it ? They wanted an apology
from us. It was nothing — a mere word ! But I
knocked them off their beam-ends nicely. The right
thing to do, wasn't it? "

" Undoubtedly," said Frederick, thinking that it
might have been better to choose another second.

Then, when he was alone, he repeated several times
in a very loud tone :

" I am going to fight ! Hold on, I am going to
fight ! Tis funny ! "

And, as he walked up and down his room, while
passing in front of the mirror, he noticed that he was
pale.

" Have I any reason to be afraid ? "

He was seized with a feeling of intolerable misery
at the prospect of exhibiting fear on the ground.

" And yet, suppose I am killed ? My father met
his death thus. Yes, I shall probably be killed ! "

And, suddenly, his mother rose up before him in
a black dress ; incoherent images floated before his
mind. His own cowardice exasperated him. A par-
oxysm of courage, a thirst for human blood, took
possession of him. A battalion could not have made
him retreat. When this feverish excitement had
cooled down, he was overjoyed to feel that his nerves
were perfectly steady. To divert his thoughts, he went
to the opera, where a ballet was being performed. He
listened to the music, looked at the danseuscs through
his opera-glass, and drank a glass of punch between
the acts. But when he got home again, the sight of
his study, of his furniture, in the midst of which he
found himself for the last time, made him feel ready
to swoon.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 295

He went down to the garden. The stars were shin-
ing ; he gazed up at them. The idea of fighting about a
woman gave him a greater importance in his own eyes,
and surrounded him with a halo of nobility. He re-
tired in a tranquil frame of mind.

It was otherwise with Cisy. After the Baron's de-
parture, Joseph had tried to revive his drooping spirits,
and, as the Vicomte remained in the same dull mood :

" However, old boy, if you prefer to remain at
home, I'll go and say so."

Cisy durst not answer " Certainly ; " but he would
have liked his cousin to do him this service without
speaking to him about it.

He wished that Frederick would die during the
night of an attack of apoplexy, or that a riot would
break out so that next morning all the approaches to
the Bois de Boulogne would be barricaded, or that
some emergency might prevent one of the seconds
from being present, for in the absence of seconds the
duel would fall through. He felt a longing to save
himself by taking an express train — no matter where.
He regretted that he did not understand medicine so
as to be able to take something which, without en-
dangering his life, would cause it to be believed that
he was dead. He finally wished to be ill in earnest.

In order to get advice and assistance from some-
one, he sent for M. des Aulnays. That worthy man
had gone back to Saintonge on receiving a letter ad-
vising him of the illness of one of his daughters. This
appeared an ominous circumstance to Cisy. Luckily,
M. Vezou, his tutor, came to see him. Then he un-
bosomed himself.

" What am I to do ? my God ! what am I to do ? "
he wailed.

" If I were in your place, Monsieur, I should pay

296 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

some strapping fellow from the market-place to go
and give him a drubbing."

" He would still know who was responsible for it,"
replied Cisy.

And from time to time he uttered a groan; then:
" But is a man bound to fight a duel ? "
" Tis a relic of barbarism ! What is a gentleman
to do?"

Out of complaisance the pedagogue invited himself
to dinner. His pupil did not eat anything, but, after
the meal, took a short walk.

As they were passing a church, he said :
" Suppose we go in for a little while — to look? "
M. Vezou asked nothing better, and even offered
him holy water.

It was the month of May. The altar was a mass
of flowers; voices were chanting; the organ was re-
sounding through the church. But he found it im-
possible to pray, as the pomps of religion inspired
him merely with thoughts of funerals. He fancied
that he could hear the murmurs of the De Profundis.
" Let us go away. I don't feel well."
They passed the whole night playing cards. The
Vicomte endeavoured to lose in order to exorcise ill-
luck, a thing which M. Vezou turned to his own ad-
vantage. At last, at the first streak of dawn, Cisy,
who could bear up no longer, sank down on the green
cloth, and was soon plunged in a sleep which was
disturbed by unpleasant dreams.

If courage, however, consists in wishing to get
the better of one's own weakness, the Vicomte was
courageous, for in the presence of his seconds, who
came to seek him, he stiffened himself up with all
the strength he could command, vanity making him
realise that to attempt to draw back now would

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 297

ruin him. M. de Comaing congratulated him on
his good appearance.

But the jolting of the cab and the heat of the
morning sun made him languish. His energy
weakened again. He could not even distinguish any
longer where they were. The Baron amused him-
self by increasing his terror, talking about the
" corpse," and of the way they intended to get back
clandestinely to the city. Joseph gave the rejoin-
der; both, considering the affair ridiculous, were
certain that it would be settled.

Cisy kept his head on his breast ; he lifted it up
slowly, and drew attention to the fact that they had
not taken a doctor with them.

" Tis unnecessary," said the Baron.

"Then there's no danger?"

Joseph answered in a grave tone :

" Let us hope so! "

And nobody in the carriage made any further
remark.

At ten minutes past seven they arrived in front
of the Maillot gate. Frederick and his seconds were
there, the entire group being dressed in black.
Regimbart, instead of a cravat, wore a stiff horse-
hair collar, like a trooper; and he carried a long
violin-case adapted for adventures of this kind.
They exchanged frigid bows. Then they all
plunged into the Bois de Boulogne, taking the Ma-
drid road, in order to find a suitable place.

Regimbart said to Frederick, who was walking
between him and Dussardier:

"Well, and this scare — what does that matter?
If you want anything, don't annoy yourself about
it ; I know what to do. Fear is natural to man ! "

Then, in a low tone :

298 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Don't smoke any more; it has a weakening ef-
fect."

Frederick threw away his cigar, which was only
disturbing his brain, and went on with a firm step.
The Vicomte advanced behind, leaning on the
arms of his two seconds. Occasional wayfarers
crossed their path. The sky was blue, and from
time to time they heard rabbits skipping about. At
the turn of a path, a woman in a Madras handker-
chief was chatting with a man in a blouse ; and in
the large avenue under the chestnut-trees some
grooms in vests of linen-cloth were walking horses
up and down.

Cisy recalled the happy days when, mounted on
his own chestnut horse, and with his glass stuck in
his eye, he rode up to carriage-doors. These recol-
lections intensified his wretchedness. An intoler-
able thirst parched his throat. The buzzing of
flies mingled with the throbbing of his arteries.
His feet sank into the sand. It seemed to him as
if he had been walking during a period which had
neither beginning nor end.

The seconds examined with keen glances each
side of the path they were traversing. They hesi-
tated as to whether they would go to the Catelan
Cross or under the walls of the Bagatelle. At last
they took a turn to the right, drawing up in a kind
of quincunx in the midst of the pine-trees.

The spot was chosen in such a way that the level
ground was cut equally into two divisions. The
places at which the principals in the duel were to
take their stand were marked out. Then Regimbart
opened his case. It was lined with red sheep's
leather, and contained four charming swords hol-
lowed in the centre, with highly ornamented han-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 299

dies, which were adorned with filigree. A ray of
light, passing through the leaves, fell on them, and
they appeared to Cisy to glitter like silver vipers
on a sea of blood.

The Citizen showed that they were of equal
length. He took one himself, in order to separate
the combatants in case of necessity. M. de Coma-
ing held a walking-stick. There was an interval of
silence. They looked at each other. All the faces
appeared either fierce or cruel.

Frederick had taken off his coat and his waist-
coat. Joseph aided Cisy to do the same. When his
cravat was removed a blessed medal could be seen
on his neck. This made Regimbart smile con-
temptuously.

Then M. de Comaing (in order to allow Frederick
another moment for reflection) tried to raise some
quibbles. He demanded the right to put on a glove,
and to catch hold of his adversary's sword with the
left hand. Regimbart, who was in a hurry, made no
objection to this. At last the Baron, addressing
Frederick :

" Everything depends on you, Monsieur ! There
is never any dishonour in acknowledging one's
mistakes."

Dussardier made a gesture of approval. The
Citizen gave vent to his indignation :

" Do you think we came here as a mere sham,
damn it! Be on your guard, each of you! "

The combatants were facing each other, with
their seconds by their sides.

He uttered the single word : " Come ! "

Cisy became dreadfully pale. The end of his
blade was quivering like a horsewhip. His head
fell back, his hands dropped helplessly, and he sank

300 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

unconscious on the ground. Joseph raised him up
and while holding a scent-bottle to his nose, gave
him a good shaking.

The Vicomte reopened his eyes, then suddenly
grasped at his sword like a madman. Frederick
had held his in readiness, and now awaited him
with steady eye and uplifted hand.

" Stop ! stop ! " cried a voice, which came from
the road simultaneously with the sound of a horse
at full gallop, and the hood of a cab broke the
branches. A man bending out his head waved a
handkerchief, still shouting:

"Stop! stop!"

M. de Comaing, believing that this meant the in-
tervention of the police, lifted up his walking-stick.

"Make an end of it. The Vicomte is bleeding!"

"I?" said Cisy.

In fact, he had in his fall taken the skin off his
left thumb.

" But this was done by falling," observed the Cit-
izen.

The Baron pretended not to understand.

Arnoux jumped out of the cab.

" I have arrived too late ? No ! Thanks be to
God ! "

H'e threw his arms around Frederick, felt him,
and covered his face with kisses.

" I am the cause of it. You were defending your
old friend ! That's right — that's right ! Never shall
I forget it ! How good you are ! Ah ! my own dear
boy ! "

He gazed at Frederick and shed tears, while he
chuckled with delight. The Baron turned toward
Joseph :

" I believe we are in the way at this little family

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 301

party. It is over, Messieurs, is it not? Vicomte,
put your arm into a sling. Hold on! here is my
silk handkerchief."

Then, with an imperious gesture: "Come! no
spite ! This is as it should be ! "

The two adversaries shook hands in a very luke-
warm fashion. The Vicomte, M. de Comaing, and
Joseph went off in one direction, and Frederick left
with his friends in the opposite direction.

As the Madrid Restaurant was not far off, Arnoux
proposed that they should go and drink a glass of
beer there.

" We might even have breakfast."

But, as Dussardier had no time to lose, they con-
fined themselves to taking some refreshment in the
garden.

They all felt that sense of satisfaction which fol-
lows happy denouements. The Citizen, neverthe-
less, was annoyed at the duel having been inter-
rupted at the most critical stage.

Arnoux had been apprised of it by a person
named Compain, a friend of Regimbart; and with
an irrepressible outburst of emotion he had rushed
to the spot to prevent it, under the impression that
he was the occasion of it. He begged Frederick to
furnish him wtih the details. Frederick, touched
by these proofs of affection, felt some scruples at
the idea of increasing his misapprehension of the
facts.

" For mercy's sake, don't say any more about it ! "

Arnoux thought that this reserve showed great
delicacy. Then, with his habitual levity, he passed
on to another subject.

"What news, Citizen?"

And they began talking about banking transac-

302 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tions, and the number of bills that were falling due.
In order to be more private, they went to another
table, where they exchanged whispered confidences.

Frederick could overhear the following words :
" You are going to back me up with your signa-
ture,." " Yes, but you, mind ! " " I have negotiated
it for three hundred ! " " A nice commission, faith ! "

In short, it was evident that Arnoux was mixed
up in a great many shady transactions with the
Citizen.

Frederick thought of mentioning the fifteen thou-
sand francs. But his last step forbade the utterance
of any reproachful words even of the mildest de-
scription. Besides, he felt tired himself, and this
was not a convenient place for talking about such
a thing. He put it off till some future day.

Arnoux, seated in the shade of an evergreen, was
smoking, and with a look of joviality in his face. He
raised his eyes toward the doors of private rooms
that looked out on the garden, remarking that he
had often paid visits to the house in former days.

"Probably not alone?" returned the Citizen.

" Faith, you're right there ! "

" What blackguardism you do indulge in I you,
a married man ! "

"Well, and what about yourself?" retorted Ar-
noux ; and, with an indulgent smile : " I am sure
that even this rascal here has a room of his own
somewhere into which he takes his friends."

The Citizen acknowledged this by simply shrug-
ging his shoulders. Then these two gentlemen
compared their respective tastes with regard to
the sex : Arnoux now preferred youth, work-girls ;
Regimbart hated affected women, and went in for
the genuine article before anything else. The

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 303

opinion which the earthenware-dealer expressed at the
close of this discussion was that women were not to
be taken seriously.

" Nevertheless, he is fond of his own wife," thought
Frederick, as he made his way home ; and he looked
on Arnoux as a coarse-grained man. He had a
grudge against him on account of the duel, as if it
had been for his sake that he had risked his life a lit-
tle while before.

But he felt grateful to Dussardier for his devotion.
Ere long the book-keeper came at his invitation to pay
him a visit every day.

Frederick lent him books — Thiers, Dulaure, Ba-
rante, and Lamartine's Girondins.

The honest fellow listened to everything the other
said with a thoughtful air, and accepted his opinions
as those of a master.

One evening he arrived looking quite alarmed.

That morning, on the boulevard, a man who was
running so quickly that he was almost breathless, had
jostled against him, and having recognised him as a
friend of Senecal, had said to him:

" He has just been arrested ! I am making my es-
cape ! "

There was no doubt about it. Dussardier had
spent the day making inquiries. Senecal was in jail
charged with an attempted crime of a political nature.

The son of an overseer, he was born at Lyons, and
having had as his teacher a former disciple of Chalier,
he had, on his arrival in Paris, obtained admission into
the " Society of Families." His ways were known,
and the police kept a watch on him. He was one of
those who fought in the outbreak of May, 1839, and
since then he had remained in the background ; but, his
self-importance increasing, he became a fanatical fol-

304 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

lower of Alibaud, mixing up his own grievances
against society with those of the people against mon-
archy, and waking up every morning in the hope of a
revolution which in a fortnight or a month would
turn the world upside down. At last, discouraged at
the inactivity of his brethren, enraged at the obstacles
that retarded the realisation of his dreams, and de-
spairing of the country, he entered in his capacity of
chemist into a conspiracy for the use of incendiary
bombs ; and he had been caught carrying gunpowder,
of which he was going to make a trial at Montmartre
— a supreme effort to establish the Republic.

Dussardier was no less attached to the Republican
idea, for, from his point of view, it meant enfranchise-
ment and universal happiness. One day — at the age
of fifteen — in the Rue Transonain, in front of a gro-
cer's shop, he had seen soldiers' bayonets reddened
with blood and they showed human hairs pasted to
the butt-ends of their guns. Since that time, the Gov-
ernment had filled him with rage as the very incarna-
tion of injustice. He frequently confused the assas-
sins with the gendarmes ; and in his eyes a police-spy
was just as bad as a parricide. All the evil scattered
over the earth he ingeniously attributed to Power;
and he hated it with a deep-rooted, undying hatred
that held possession of his heart and made his sensi-
bility all the more acute. He had been dazzled by
Senecal's declamations. It was irrelevant whether he
happened to be guilty or not, or whether the attempt
with which he was charged could be characterised as
an odious proceeding! Since he was the victim of
Authority, it was only right to support him.

11 The Peers will condemn him, certainly ! Then
he will be conveyed in a prison-van, like a convict, to
Mont Saint-Michel, where the Government lets people

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 305

die ! Austen went mad ! Steuben killed himself ! In
order to transfer Barbes to a dungeon, soldiers had
dragged him by the legs and by the hair. They tram-
pled on his body, and his head rebounded along the
staircase at every step they took. How abominable ! "

He was choking with angry sobs, and he walked
about the apartment excitedly.

" In the meantime, something must be done ! For
my part, I don't know what to do ! Suppose we tried
to rescue him, eh? While they are bringing him to
the Luxembourg, we could throw ourselves on the es-
cort in the passage ! A dozen resolute men — that some-
times is enough to accomplish it ! "

There was so much fire in his eyes that Frederick
was startled. He recalled Senecal's sufferings and his
austere life. Without feeling the same enthusiasm
about him as Dussardier, he experienced nevertheless
that admiration which is inspired by every man who
sacrifices himself for an idea. He felt that, if he had
helped this man, he would not be in his present posi-
tion ; and the two friends anxiously sought to devise
some plan whereby they could set him free.

It was impossible for them to get access to him.

Frederick read the newspapers to try to find out
what had become of him, and for three weeks he was
a constant visitor at the reading-rooms.

One day several numbers of the Flambard fell into
his hands. The leading article was invariably de-
voted to cutting up some distinguished man. After
that came some society gossip and scandals. Then
there were some chaffing observations about the
Odeon Carpentras, pisciculture, and prisoners under
sentence of death, when there happened to be any.
The disappearance of a packet-boat furnished mate-
rial for a whole year's jokes. In the third column a

306 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

picture-canvasser, under the form of anecdotes or ad-
vice, gave some tailors' announcements, together with
accounts of evening parties, advertisements as to auc-
tions, and analysis of artistic productions, writing in
the same strain about a volume of verse and a pair
of boots. The only serious portion of it was the criti-
cism of the small theatres, in which fierce attacks were
made on two or three managers ; and the interests of
art were invoked on the subjects of the decorations of
the Rope-dancers' Gymnasium and of the actress who
played the part of the heroine at the Delassements.

Frederick was glancing over all these items when
his eyes alighted on an article entitled A Lass between
three Lads. It was the story of his duel related in a
lively Gallic style. He had no difficulty in recognising
himself, for he was constantly referred to as : "A
young man from the College of Sens who has no
sense." He was even represented as a poor devil
from the provinces, an obscure booby trying to rub
against persons of high rank. As for the Vicomte, he
was made to play a fascinating part, first by having
forced his way into the supper-room, then by having
carried off the lady, and, finally, by having behaved
throughout like a perfect gentleman.

Frederick's courage was not denied exactly, but it
was pointed out that an intermediary — the protector
himself — had arrived on the scene just in the nick of
time. The article concluded with this phrase, preg-
nant perhaps with sinister meaning:

" What is the cause of their affection ? A problem !
and, as Bazile says, who the deuce is it that is de-
ceived here ? "

This was, beyond all doubt, Hussonnet's revenge
against Frederick for having refused him five thou-
sand francs.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 307

What was he to do? If he demanded an explana-
tion, the Bohemian would protest that he was inno-
cent, and nothing would be gained. The best course
was to swallow the affront in silence. Nobody, after
all, read the Flambard.

As he left the reading-room, he saw some people
standing in front of a picture-dealer's shop. They
were looking at the portrait of a woman, with this
line traced underneath in black 4etters : " Mademoi-
selle Rosanette Bron, belonging to Monsieur Frederick
Moreau of Nogent."

It was indeed she — or at least, like her — her full
face displayed, her bosom uncovered, her hair hang-
ing loose, and a purse of red velvet in her hand, while
behind her a peacock leaned his beak over her shoul-
der, covering the wall with his immense plumage in
the shape of a fan.

Pellerin had got up this exhibition in order to com-
pel Frederick to pay, persuaded that he was a celeb-
rity, and that all Paris, roused to take his part, would
be interested in this wretched piece of work.

Was this a conspiracy? Had the painter and the
journalist maliciously agreed to attack him at the same
time?

His duel had not put a stop to anything. He had
become an object of ridicule, and everyone had been
laughing at him.

Three days afterward, at the end of June, the North-
ern shares having risen fifteen francs, and he having
bought two thousand of them within the past month,
he found that he had made thirty thousand francs.
This caress of fortune gave him renewed self-confi-
dence. He said to himself that he needed nobody's
help, and that all his embarrassments were the result
of his timidity and indecision. He ought to have be-

308 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

gun his intrigue with the Marechale with brutal di-
rectness and refused Hussonnet the very first day.
He should not have compromised himself with Pelle-
rin. And, in order to show that he was not at all
embarrassed, he presented himself at one of Madame
Dambreuse's ordinary evening parties.

In the middle of the anteroom, Martinon, who had
arrived at the same time, turned round :

" What ! you are* visiting here ? " with a look of
surprise and displeasure.

"Why not?"

And, while wondering what could be the cause of
such a display of hostility on Martinon's part, Fred-
erick made his way into the drawing-room.

The light was dim, in spite of the lamps placed in
the corners, for the three windows, which were wide
open, made three squares of black shadows parallel
with each other. Under the pictures, flower-stands
occupied, at a man's height, the spaces on the walls,
and a silver teapot with a samovar cast their reflec-
tions in a mirror on the background. There was a
murmur of hushed voices. Pumps could be heard
creaking on the carpet. He could distinguish a num-
ber of black coats, then a round table lighted up by
a large shaded lamp, seven or eight ladies in summer
toilets, and at some little distance Madame Dam-
breuse in a rocking armchair. Her dress of lilac taf-
feta had slashed sleeves, from which fell muslin puffs,
the charming tint of the material harmonising with
the shade of her hair; and she sat slightly back with
the tip of her foot on a cushion.

M. Dambreuse and an old gentleman with a white
head were walking from one end of the drawing-room
to the other. Some of the guests chatted here and
there, sitting on the edges of little sofas, while others,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 309

standing up, formed a circle in the centre of the apart-
ment.

They were talking- about votes, amendments, coun-
ter-amendments, M. Grandin's speech, and M. Be-
noist's reply. The third party had decidedly gone too
far. The Left Centre ought to have had a better rec-
ollection of its origin. Serious attacks had been made
on the ministry. It must be reassuring, however, to
see that it had no successor. In short, the situation
was completely analogous to that of 1834.

As these things bored Frederick, he drew near the
ladies. Martinon was with them, standing up, with
his hat under his arm, showing himself in three-quar-
ter profile, and looking so neat that he resembled a
piece of Sevres porcelain. He took up a copy of the
Revue des Deux Mondes which was lying on the
table between an Imitation and an Almanack de Gotha,
and spoke of a distinguished poet in a contemptuous
tone, remarked he was going to the " conferences of
Saint-Francis," complained of his larynx, swallowed
from time to time a pellet of gummatum, and in the
meantime kept talking about music, and played the
part of the elegant trifler. Mademoiselle Cecile, M.
Dambreuse's niece, who happened to be embroidering
a pair of ruffles, gazed at him with her pale blue eyes ;
and Miss John, the governess, who had a flat nose,
laid aside her tapestry on his account. Both of them
appeared to be exclaiming internally:

" How handsome he is ! "

Madame Dambreuse turned toward him.

" Please give me my fan ; it is on that pier-table
over there. You are taking the wrong- one! the
other ! "

She rose, and as he came across to her, they met in
the middle of the drawing-room face to face. She

310 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

addressed a few sharp words to him, no doubt of a
reproachful character, judging by the haughty ex-
pression of her face. Martinon tried to smile ; then
he joined the circle in which grave men were holding
discussions. Madame Dambreuse resumed her seat,
and, bending over the arm of her chair, said to Fred-
erick :

" I saw somebody the day before yesterday who
was speaking about you — Monsieur de Cisy. You
know him, don't you?"

" Yes, slightly."

Suddenly Madame Dambreuse uttered an exclama-
tion:

" Oh ! Duchesse, what a pleasure to see you ! "

And she advanced toward the door to meet a little
old lady in a Carmelite taffeta gown and a cap of gui-
pure with long borders. The daughter of a compan-
ion in exile of the Comte d'Artois, and the widow
of a marshal of the Empire, who had been created a
peer of France in 1830, she adhered to the court of a
former generation as well as to the new court, and
possessed sufficient influence to procure many things.
Those who stood talking stepped aside, and then re-
sumed their conversation.

It had now turned on pauperism, of which, accord-
ing to these gentlemen, all the descriptions that had
been given were grossly exaggerated.

" However," urged Martinon, " let us confess that
there is such a thing as poverty ! But the remedy de-
pends neither on science nor on power. It is purely
an individual question. When the lower classes are
willing to give up their vices, they will free them-
selves from their necessities. Let the people be more
moral, and they will be less poor ! "

According to M. Dambreuse, nothing could be at-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 31 1

tainecl without a superabundance of capital. There-
fore, the only practicable method was to intrust, " as
the Saint- Simonians, however, proposed (good heav-
ens ! there was some merit in their views — let us be
just to everybody) — to intrust, I say, the cause of
progress to those who can increase the public wealth."
By degrees they began to touch on great industrial
undertakings — the railways, the coal-mines. And M.
Dambreuse, addressing Frederick, said to him in a
low whisper:

" You have not called to see me about that busi-
ness of ours? "

Frederick pleaded illness ; but, feeling that this ex-
cuse was too absurd, added:

" Besides, I need my ready money."

"Is it to buy a carriage?" asked Madame Dam-
breuse, who was brushing past him with a cup of tea
in her hand, and for a minute she looked him in the
face with her head inclined slightly over her shoul-
der.

She believed that he was Rosanette's lover — the
allusion was obvious. It seemed to Frederick that all
the ladies were staring at him and whispering to one
another.

In order to get a better idea as to what they were
thinking, he once more approached them. On the
opposite side of the table, Martinon, seated near Ma-
demoiselle Cecile, was turning over the leaves of an
album. It contained lithographs representing Span-
ish costumes. He read the descriptive titles aloud :
A Lady of Seville, A Valencia Gardener, An Andalu-
sian Picador ; and once, when he had reached the bot-
tom of the page, he continued all in one breath :

" Jacques Arnoux, publisher. One of your friends,
no doubt ? "

312 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" That is so," said Frederick, hurt by the tone he
had assumed.

Madame Dambreuse again interposed:

" In fact, you called here one morning — about a
house, I believe — a house belonging to his wife."
(This meant: "She is your mistress.")

He blushed up to his ears ; and M. Dambreuse, who
joined them at the same moment, made this additional
remark :

" You appear to be deeply interested in them."

These last words had the effect of putting Fred-
erick entirely out of countenance. His confusion,
which, he could not help feeling, was evident to them,
and was on the point of confirming their suspicions,
when M. Dambreuse drew close to him, and, in a tone
of great seriousness, said :

" I suppose you don't do business together? "

He protested by repeated shakes of the head, with-
out realising the exact meaning of the capitalist, who
wished to give him advice.

He felt a desire to leave ; a servant removed the
teacups. Madame Dambreuse was talking to a diplo-
matist in a blue coat. Two young girls, putting their
heads close together, showed each other their jewellery.
The others, seated in a semicircle on armchairs, kept
gently moving their white faces crowned with black
or fair hair. Nobody, in fact, minded them. Freder-
ick turned ; and, by a succession of long zigzags, had
almost reached the door, when, passing close to a
bracket, he remarked on the top of it a journal folded
in two. He drew it out a little, and read these words —
The Flambard.

Who had brought it there? Cisy. Obviously no
one else. What did it matter, however? They would
believe — already, perhaps, everyone believed — in the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 313

article. What was the cause of this bitterness? He
wrapped himself up in ironical silence. He felt as if
lost in a desert. Suddenly he heard Martinon's voice :
' Talking of Arnoux, I saw in the newspapers,
amongst the names of those accused of preparing in-
cendiary bombs, that of one of his employes, Senecal.
Is that our Senecal ? "

" The very same ! "

Martinon repeated several times very loudly:

" What ? our Senecal ! our Senecal ! "

Then questions were asked him about the conspir-
acy. It was assumed that his connection with the
prosecutor's office ought to enable him to give some
information on the subject.

He declared that he knew nothing. He had seen
him only two or three times. He positively regarded
him as a very ill-conditioned fellow. Frederick ex-
claimed indignantly:

" Not at all ! he is a very honest fellow."

" All the same, Monsieur," said a landowner, " no
conspirator can be an honest man."

Most of the men present had served at least four
governments ; and they would have sold France or
the human race in order to preserve their own incomes,
to save themselves from any discomfort or embarrass-
ment, or even through sheer baseness, through wor-
ship of force. They all insisted that political crimes
were inexcusable. It would be less harmful to pardon
those which were provoked by want. And they did
not fail to put forward the eternal illustration of the
father of a family stealing the eternal loaf of bread
from the eternal baker.

A gentleman occupying an administrative office even
went so far as to exclaim :

" For my part, Monsieur, if I were told that my

314 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

own brother were a conspirator I would denounce
him ! "

Frederick invoked the right of resistance, and re-
calling some phrases that Deslatiriers had used in
their conversations, he referred to Delosmes, Black-
stone, the English Bill of Rights, and Article 2 of
the Constitution of '91. It was by virtue of this law
that the fall of Napoleon had been proclaimed. It
had been recognised in 1830, and inscribed at the head
of the Charter. Besides, when the sovereign fails to
fulfil his contract, justice requires that he should be
overthrown.

"Why, this is abominable ! " exclaimed a prefect's
wife.

The others remained silent, filled with vague ter-
ror, as if they had heard the noise of bullets. Madame
Dambreuse rocked herself in her chair, and smilingly
listened to him.

A manufacturer, who had formerly been a member
of the Carbonari, tried to show that the Orleans fam-
ily possessed good qualities. No doubt there were
some abuses.

"Well, what then?"

" But we should not talk abort them, my dear Mon-
sieur ! If you knew how all these clamourings of
the Opposition injure business ! "

" What do I care about business ? " said Frederick.

Frederick was exasperated by the rottenness of these
old men ; and, carried away by the recklessness which
sometimes takes possession of even the most timid,
he attacked the financiers, the deputies, the govern-
ment, the king, defended the Arabs, and gave vent to
a great deal of abusive language. A few of those
around him encouraged him in a spirit of irony:

" Go on, pray ! continue ! " whilst others muttered :

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 315

'• The deuce ! what enthusiasm ! " At last he thought
it was time to retire ; and, as he was going away, M.
Dambreuse said to him, alluding to the post of secre-
tary :

" Xo definite arrangement has been yet arrived at ;
but make haste ! "

And Madame Dambreuse :

"You'll call again soon, will you not?"

Frederick considered their parting words a last
mockery. He had resolved never to come back to this
house, or to visit any of these people again. He imag-
ined that he had offended them, not realising what
vast funds of indifference society possesses. These
women especially excited his indignation. Not a sin-
gle one of them had supported him even with a look
of sympathy. He felt angry with them for not having
been moved by his words. As for Madame Dam-
breuse, he found in her something at the same time
languid and cold, which prevented him from defining
her character by a phrase. Had she a lover? and, if
so, who was her lover? Was it the diplomatist or
some other ? Perhaps it was Martinon ? Impossible !
Nevertheless, he experienced a sort of jealousy against
Martinon, and an unaccountable ill-feeling against her.

Dussardier, having called this evening as usual, was
awaiting him. Frederick's heart was swelling with
bitterness ; he unburdened it, and his grievances,
though vague and hard to understand, saddened the
honest shop -assistant. He even complained of his
isolation. Dussardier, after some hesitation, suggested
that they might call on Deslauriers.

Frederick, at the mention of the advocate's name,
was seized with a longing to see him again. He was
now living in the midst of profound intellectual soli-
tude, and found Dussardier's company insufficient. In

316 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

reply to the latter's question, Frederick told him to
arrange matters any way he liked.

Deslauriers had likewise, since their quarrel, felt a
void in his life. He yielded without much reluctance
to the cordial advances which were made to him. The
pair embraced each other, then began chatting about
matters of no consequence.

Frederick's heart was touched by Deslauriers' re-
serve, and in order to make him a sort of reparation,
he told the other next day how he had lost the fifteen
thousand francs, without mentioning that these fif-
teen thousand francs had been originally intended for
him. The advocate, nevertheless, had a shrewd sus-
picion of the truth; and this misadventure, which jus-
tified, in his own mind, his prejudices against Arnoux,
entirely disarmed his rancour ; and he did not again
refer to the promise made by his friend on a former
occasion.

Frederick, misled by his silence, thought he had
forgotten all about it. A few days later, he asked Des-
lauriers whether there was any way in which he couid
get back his money.

They might raise the point that the prior mortgage
was fraudulent, and might take proceedings against
the wife personally.

" No ! no ! not against her ! " exclaimed Frederick,
and, yielding to the ex-law clerk's questions, he con-
fessed the truth. Deslauriers was convinced that
Frederick had not told him everything, no doubt
through a feeling of delicacy. He was hurt by this
want of confidence.

They were, however, on the same intimate terms
as before, and they found so much pleasure in each
other's society that Dussardier's presence was an ob-
stacle to their free intercourse. Under the pretence

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 317

that they had appointments, they gradually got rid
of him.

There are some men whose only mission amongst
their fellow-men is to serve as go-betweens; people
use them as if they were bridges, by stepping over
them and going on farther.

Frederick concealed nothing from his old friend.
He told him about the coal-mine speculation and M.
Dambreuse's proposal. The advocate grew somewhat
thoughtful.

" That's queer ! For such a post a man with a thor-
ough knowledge of law would be required ! "

" But you could assist me," returned Frederick.

" Yes ! hold on ! faith, yes ! certainly."

During the same week Frederick showed Deslau-
riers a letter from his mother.

Madame Moreau accused herself of having mis-
judged M. Roque, who had given a satisfactory ex-
planation of his conduct. Then she spoke of his
wealth, and of the possibility, later, of a marriage
with Louise.

'' That would not be a bad match," said Deslauriers.

Frederick said it was entirely out of the question.
Besides, Pere Roque was an old trickster. That in
no way affected the matter, in the advocate's opinion.

At the end of July, an unaccountable diminution in
value made the Northern shares fall. Frederick had
not sold his. He lost sixty thousand francs in one
day. His income was considerably reduced. He
would be forced to curtail his expenditure, or take up
some calling, or make a brilliant catch in the matri-
monial market.

Then Deslauriers spoke of Mademoiselle Roque.
There was nothing to prevent him from judging of
things by seeing for himself. Frederick was rather

318 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

tired of city life. Provincial existence and the ma-
ternal roof would be a sort of recreation for him.

The appearance of the streets of Nogent, as he
passed through them in the moonlight, brought back
old memories to his mind ; and he experienced a kind
of pang, like persons who have just returned home
after a long period of travel.

At his mother's house, all the country visitors had
assembled as in former days — MM. Gamblin, Heudras,
and Chambrion, the Lebrun family, " those young la-
dies, the Augers," and, in addition, Pere Roque, and,
seated opposite Madame Moreau at a card-table, Ma-
demoiselle Louise. She was now a woman. She
sprang to her feet with a cry of delight. They were
all in a flutter of excitement. She remained standing
motionless, and the pallor of her face was intensified
by the light issuing from four silver candlesticks.

When she resumed play, her hand was trembling.
This emotion was exceedingly flattering to Frederick,
whose pride had been sorely wounded of late. He
said to himself : " You, at any rate, will love me ! "
and, as if he were thus taking his revenge for the hu-
miliations he had endured in the capital, he began to
affect the Parisian lion, retailed all the theatrical gos-
sip, told anecdotes as to the doings of society, which
he had learned from the columns of the cheap news-
papers, and, in short, dazzled his fellow-townspeople.

Next morning, Madame Moreau expatiated on
Louise's fine qualities ; then she enumerated the woods
and farms of which she would be the owner. Pere
Roque's wealth was considerable.

He had acquired it while making investments for
M. Dambreuse ; for he had lent money to persons who
were able to give good security in the shape of mort-
gages, whereby he was enabled to demand additional

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 319

sums or commissions. The capital, owing to his ener-
getic vigilance, was in no danger of being lost. Be-
sides, Pere Roque never hesitated to make a seizure.
He bought up the mortgaged property at a low price,
and M. Dambreuse, having got back his money, found
his affairs in very good order.

But this manipulation of business matters in a way
which was not strictly legal compromised M. Dam-
breuse with his agent. He could refuse Pere Roque
nothing, and it was owing to the latter's solicitations
that he had received Frederick so cordially.

The truth was that in the depths of his soul Pere
Roque cherished a deep-rooted ambition. He wished
his daughter to be a countess ; and for the purpose of
gaining this object, without imperilling the happiness
of his child, he knew no other young man so suitable
as Frederick.

Through the influence of M. Dambreuse, he could
obtain the title of his maternal grandfather, Madame
Moreau being the daughter of a Comte de Fouvens,
and besides, being connected with the oldest families
in Champagne, the Lavernades and the D'Etrignys.
As for the Moreaus, a Gothic inscription near the
mills of Villeneuve-rArcheveque referred to one Ja-
cob Moreau, who had rebuilt them in 1596; and the
tomb of his own son, Pierre Moreau, first esquire of
the King under Louis XIV, was to be seen in the
chapel of Saint-Nicholas.

So much family distinction fascinated M. Roque,
the son of an old servant. If the coronet of a count
could not be had, he would console himself with some-
thing else ; Frederick might get a deputyship when
M. Dambreuse had been raised to the peerage, and
would then assist him in his commercial pursuits, and
obtain for him supplies and grants. He liked the

320 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

young man personally. In short, he desired Frederick
for a son-in-law, because for a long time past he had
been smitten with this notion, which grew stronger
clay by day. Now he went to religious services, and
had won Madame Moreau over to his views, especially
by holding before her the prospect of a title.

So, eight days later, without there being any for-
mal engagement, Frederick was regarded as Mademoi-
selle Roque's " intended," and Pere Roque, not being
troubled with scruples, often left them together.

CHAPTER XII

LITTLE LOUISE BECOMES A WOMAN

FREDERICK had given Deslauriers the copy of
the deed of subrogation, with a power of at-
torney, giving him full authority to act ; but,
when he had ascended his own five flights of stairs and
sat alone in the midst of his dismal room, in his arm-
chair upholstered in sheep-leather, the very sight of
the stamped paper disgusted him.

He was sick of these things, and of restaurants at
thirty-two sous, of travelling in omnibuses, of en-
during want and making futile efforts. He picked up
the papers again ; there were others with them. They
were prospectuses of the coal-mining company, with
a list of the mines and the particulars as to their con-
tents, Frederick having given all these matters to him
in order to have his opinion on them.

An idea occurred to him — that of presenting himself
at M. Dambreuse's house and applying for the post
of secretary. This post, it was perfectly certain, could
not be obtained without purchasing a certain number
of shares. Recognising the folly of his project, he
said to himself:

" Oh ! no, that would be a wrong step."

Then he ransacked his brains to think of the best
way in which he could set about recovering the fif-
teen thousand francs. Such an amount was a mere
trifle to Frederick. But, if he had it, what a power it
would be in his hands! And the ex-law clerk was
indignant at the other being so well off.

322 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" He makes a miserable use of it. He is a selfish
fellow. Ah ! what do I care for his fifteen thousand
francs ! "

Why had he lent the money? For the sake of
Madame Arnoux's bright eyes. She was his mis-
tress ! Deslauriers had no doubt about it. " That was
another way in which money was useful ! "

And he was assailed by malignant thoughts.

Then he allowed his mind to dwell on Frederick's
personal appearance. It had always exercised over him
an almost feminine charm ; and he soon came to admire
it for a success which he realised that he was himself
incapable of achieving.

" Nevertheless, was not the will the main element
in every enterprise? and, since by its means we may
triumph over everything "

" Ha ! that would be droll ! "

But he felt ashamed of such treachery, and the next
moment :

" Pooh ! am I afraid ? "

Madame Arnoux — from having heard her spoken
about so often — was pictured in his imagination as
something extraordinary. The persistency of this pas-
sion had irritated him like a problem. Her austerity,
which seemed a little theatrical, now annoyed him.
Besides, the woman of the world — or, rather, his own
conception of her — dazzled the advocate as a symbol
and the epitome of a thousand pleasures. Poor though
he was, he hankered after luxury in its more glittering
form.

" After all, if he should get angry, so much the
worse! He has behaved too badly to me to call for
any anxiety about him on my part! I have no assur-
ance that she is his mistress ! He has denied it.
Therefore, I am free to act as I please ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 323

He could no longer abandon the desire of taking this
step. He wished to make a trial of his own strength,
so that one day, all of a sudden, he polished his boots
himself, bought white gloves, and set out, substituting
himself for Frederick, and almost imagining that he
was the other by a singular intellectual evolution, in
which there was, at the same time, vengeance and sym-
pathy, imitation and audacity.

He announced himself as " Doctor Deslauriers."

Madame Arnoux expressed surprise, as she had not
sent for any physician.

" Ha ! a thousand apologies ! — 'tis a doctor of law !
I have come in Monsieur Moreau's interest."

This name appeared to produce a disquieting ef-
fect on her mind.

" So much the better ! " thought the ex-law clerk.

" Since she has a fancy for him, she will like me,
too ! " buoying up his courage with the accepted idea
that it is much easier to supplant a lover than a hus-
band.

He referred to the fact that he had the pleasure of
meeting her on one occasion at the law-courts ; he
even mentioned the date. This remarkable memory as-
tonished Madame Arnoux. He went on in a tone of
mild affectation :

" You have already found your affairs a little em-
barrassing? "

She made no reply.

" Then it must be true."

He began to chat about one thing or another, her
house, the works ; then, noticing some medallions at
the sides of the mirror :

" Ha! family portraits, no doubt?"

He indicated that of an old lady, Madame Ar-
noux's mother.

324 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" She has the appearance of an excellent woman, a
southern type."

And, on being met with the objection that she was
from Chartres :

" Chartres ! pretty town ! "

He praised its cathedrals and public buildings, and
coming back to the portrait, traced resemblances be-
tween it and Madame Arnoux, flattering her indi-
rectly. She did not appear to be offended at this. He
took confidence, and said that he had known Arnoux
a long time.

" He is a fine fellow, but one who compromises
himself. Take this mortgage, for example — one can't
imagine such a reckless act —

" Yes, I know," said she, shrugging her shoulders.

This involuntary evidence of contempt encouraged
Deslauriers to continue. " That kaolin business of
his was near turning out very badly, a thing you may
not be aware of, and even his reputation '

A contraction of her brows made him pause.

Then, falling back on generalities, he expressed his
sympathy for the " poor women whose husbands frit-
tered away their means."

" But in this case, Monsieur, the means belong to
him. As for me, I have nothing ! "

No matter, one never knows. A woman of expe-
rience might be useful. He made offers of devotion,
exalted his own merits, while he looked into her face
through his shining spectacles.

She was seized with a vague torpor ; but suddenly
said:

" Let us look into the matter, I beg of you."

He opened a bundle of papers.

" This is Frederick's letter of attorney. With such
a document in the hands of a process-server, who

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 325

would make out an order, nothing could be easier;
in twenty-four hours — " (She remained impassive;
he changed his manoeuvre.)

" As for me, however, I don't understand what
causes him to demand this sum, for, in fact, he doesn't
need it."

" How is that ? Monsieur Moreau has been very
kind."

" Oh ! granted ! "

And Deslauriers began by eulogising him, then in
a mild fashion disparaged him, stating that he was a
forgetful individual, and over-fond of money.

"I thought he was your friend, Monsieur?"

' That does not prevent me from seeing his de-
fects. Thus, he showed very little recognition of —
how shall I put it? — the sympathy —

Madame Arnoux was turning over the leaves of a
large manuscript book.

She interrupted him in order to ask him to explain
a certain word.

He bent over her shoulder, and his face came so
close to hers that he grazed her cheek. She blushed.
This heightened colour inflamed Deslauriers ; he hun-
grily kissed her head.

"What do you mean, Monsieur?" And, standing
against the wall, she compelled him to remain per-
fectly quiet under the glance of her large blue eyes,
glowing writh anger.

" Listen to me ! I love you ! "

She broke into a laugh, a shrill, contemptuous
laugh. Deslauriers felt himself suffocating with an-
ger. He restrained his feelings, and, with the expres-
sion of a vanquished person imploring mercy :

" Ha ! you are wrong ! As for me. I would not
leave you as he has left."

326 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

"Of whom, pray, are you talking?"

" Of Frederick."

" Ah ! Monsieur Moreau troubles me little. I told
you that ! "

" Oh ! forgive me ! forgive me ! " Then, drawling
his words, in a sarcastic tone:

" I even fancied that you were sufficiently interested
in him personally to learn with pleasure "

She grew pale. The ex-law clerk added:

" He is about to be married."

" He ! "•

" In a month at latest, to Mademoiselle Roque, the
daughter of Monsieur Dambreuse's agent. He has
gone down to Nogent for that purpose."

She placed her hand over her heart, as if at the
shock of a great blow ; then immediately rang the bell.
Deslauriers did not wait to be ordered out. When
she turned round he had disappeared.

Madame Arnoux was gasping a little from the strain
of her emotions. She drew near the window to get a
breath of air.

On the opposite side of the street, on the foot-path,
a packer in his shirt-sleeves was nailing down a trunk.
Hackney-coaches passed. She closed the window-
blinds and then came and sat down. As the high
houses in the vicinity intercepted the sun's rays, the
light of day stole coldly into the apartment. Her
children had gone out ; there was not a stir around
her. It seemed as if she were utterly deserted.

" He is going to be married ! Is it possible? "

And she was seized with a fit of nervous trembling.

" Why is this ? Does it mean that I love him ? "

Then all of a sudden :

" Yes ; I love him— I love him ! "

It seemed to her as if she were sinking into end-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 327

less depths. The clock struck three. She listened to
the vibrations of the sounds as they died away. And
she remained on the edge of the armchair, with her
eyeballs fixed and an unchanging smile on her face.

The same afternoon, at the same moment, Fred-
erick and Mademoiselle Louise were walking in M.
Roque's garden at the end of the island.

Old Catherine was watching them, some distance
away. They walked side by side and Frederick said:

" You remember when I brought you into the
country? "

" How good you were to me ! " she replied. " You
helped me in making sand-pies, in filling my watering-
pot, and you rocked me in the swing ! "

" All your dolls, who had the names of queens and
marchionesses — what has become of them? "

" Really, I don't know ! "

" And your pug Moricaud ? "

" He's drowned, poor darling ! "

" And the Don Quixote of which we coloured the
engravings together?"

" I have it still ! "

He recalled to her mind the day of her first com-
munion, and how pretty she had been at vespers, with
her white veil and her large wax-taper, whilst the
girls were all taking their places in a row around the
choir, and the bell was tinkling.

These memories had but little charm for Mademoi-
selle Roque. She had not a word to say; and, a
minute later :

" Naughty fellow ! never to have written me a line,
even once ! "

Frederick urged by way of excuse his numerous
occupations.

"What, then, are you doing?"

328 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

He was embarrassed by the question ; then he said
that he was studying politics.

"Ha!"

And without questioning him further :

' That gives you occupation ; while as for me ! "

Then she spoke about the barrenness of her exist-
ence, as there was nobody she could go to see, and
nothing to amuse her or distract her thoughts. She
wished to ride on horseback.

" The vicar maintains that this is improper for a
young lady ! How stupid these proprieties are ! Long
ago I could do whatever I pleased ; now, they won't
let me do anything ! "

" Your father, however, is fond of you ! "

" Yes ; but—

She heaved a sigh, which meant : " That is not suf-
ficient to make me happy."

Then there was silence, except for the noise made
by their boots in the sand, and the murmur of falling
water; for the Seine, above Nogent, is cut into two
arms. That which turns the mills discharges in this
place the superabundance of its waves in order to
unite further down with the natural course of the
stream ; and coming from the bridge one could see at
the right, on the other bank of the river, a grassy
slope overlooked by a white house. At the left, in the
meadow, a row of poplar-trees extended, and the hori-
zon in front was bounded by a curve of the river. It
was flat, like a mirror. Large insects hovered over
the noiseless water. Tufts of reeds and rushes formed
an uneven border ; all kinds of plants which happened
to spring up there bloomed out in buttercups, caused
yellow clusters to hang down, raised trees in distaff-
shape with amaranth-blossoms, and made green rock-
ets spring up at random. In an inlet of the river white

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 329

water-lilies displayed themselves ; and a row of an-
cient willows, in which wolf-traps were hidden, consti-
tuted, on that side of the island, the sole protection
of the garden.

In the interior, on this side, four walls with a slate
coping enclosed the kitchen-garden, in which the
square patches, recently dug up, looked like brown
plates. The bell-glasses of the melons shone in a row
on the narrow hotbed. The artichokes, the kidney-
beans, the spinach, the carrots and the tomatoes suc-
ceeded each other to a background where asparagus
grew so profusely that it resembled a little wood of
feathers.

This piece of land had been under the Directory
what is called " a folly." The trees had, since then,
grown enormously. Clematis obstructed the horn-
beams, the walks were covered with moss, brambles
abounded on every side. Fragments of plaster statues
crumbled in the grass. The feet of anyone walking
through the place got entangled in iron-wire work.
There now remained of the 'pavilion only two apart-
ments on the ground floor, with some blue paper hang-
ing in shreds. Before the fagade extended an arbour
in the Italian style, in which a vine-tree was supported
on columns of brick by a rail-work of sticks.

Soon they arrived at this spot; and, as the light
fell through the irregular gaps on the green herbage,
Frederick, turning his head to speak to Louise, no-
ticed the shadow of the leaves on her face.

Louise had in her red hair, stuck in her chignon, a
needle, terminated by a glass bell in imitation of emer-
ald, and, despite her mourning, she wore (so artless
was her bad taste) straw slippers trimmed with pink
satin — a vulgar trifle probably bought at some fair.

He remarked this, and ironically congratulated her.

330 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Don't laugh at me ! " she replied.

Then surveying him altogether, from his grey felt
hat to his silk stockings:

" What an exquisite you are ! "

After this, she asked him to mention some books
which she might read. He named several ; and she
said:

" Oh ! how learned you are ! "

While yet very young, she had been smitten with
one of those childish passions which have, at the
same time, the purity of a religion and the violence
of a natural instinct. He had been her comrade, her
brother, her master, had diverted her mind, made her
heart beat more quickly, and, without any desire for
such a result, had poured into the very depths of her
being a latent and continuous intoxication. Then he
had left her at the moment of a tragic crisis in her
existence, when her mother had only just died, and
these two separations had been mingled together. Ab-
sence had idealised him in her memory. He had come
back with a sort of halo 'round his head ; and she gave
herself up ingenuously to the feelings of bliss she
experienced at seeing him again.

For the first time in his life Frederick felt himself
beloved; and this new pleasure, which did not tran-
scend the ordinary run of agreeable sensations, made
his breast swell with so much emotion that he spread
out his two arms and flung back his head.

A large cloud passed across the sky.

" It is going toward Paris," said Louise. " You'd
like to follow it — wouldn't you ? "

"I? Why?"

"Who knows?"

And giving him a sharp look:

" Perhaps you have there " (she searched her mind

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 331

for the appropriate phrase) " something to engage
your affections."

" Oh ! I have nothing to engage my affections
there."

"Are you perfectly certain?"

" Why, yes, Mademoiselle, perfectly certain ! "

In less than a year there had taken place in the
young girl an extraordinary transformation, which as-
tonished Frederick. After a minute's silence he added
softly :

" We should ' thee ' and ' thou ' each other, as we
used to do long ago — shall we ? "

" No."

"Why?"

" Because "

He persisted. She answered, with downcast face:

" I dare not ! "

They had reached the end of the garden, which was
close to the shell-bank. Frederick, in a spirit of boy-
ish fun, sent pebbles skimming over the water. She
bade him sit down. He obeyed; then, looking at the
waterfall :

" Tis like Niagara ! " He began talking about dis-
tant countries and long voyages. The idea of travel-
ling herself exercised a fascination over her mind.
She would not have been afraid either of tempests or
of lions.

Seated close to each other, they collected in front
of them handfuls of sand, then, while they were chat-
ting, they let it slip through their fingers, and the
hot wind, which rose from the plains, carried to them
in puffs odours of lavender, together with the smell
of tar from a boat behind the lock. The sun's rays
glittered on the cascade. The greenish blocks of
stone in the little wall over whhh the water slipped

332 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

looked as if they were covered with a silver gauze
that was perpetually unfolding itself. A long strip
of foam gushed forth at the foot with a harmonious
murmur. Then it bubbled up, forming whirlpools and
a thousand opposing currents, which ended by inter-
mingling in a single limpid stream of water.

Louise said in a musing tone that she envied the
existence of fishes:

" It must be glorious to tumble about down there
at your ease, and to feel yourself caressed on every
side."

She shivered with sensuously enticing movements ;
a voice called :

" Where are you ? "

" Your maid is calling you," said Frederick.

" All right ! all right ! " Louise did not disturb
herself.

" She may be angry," he suggested.

" It is all the same to me ! and besides " Ma-
demoiselle Roque gave him to understand by a gesture
that the girl was entirely subject to her will.

She arose, however, and complained of a headache.
As they were passing in front of a large cart-shed
containing some faggots :

"Suppose we sat down there, under shelter ?"

He pretended not to understand this dialectic ex-
pression, and even chaffed her about her accent.
Gradually the corners of her mouth were compressed,
she bit her lips and stepped aside to sulk.

Frederick came over to her, swore he did not mean
to annoy her, and that he was very fond of her.

" Is that true ? " she exclaimed, looking at him with
a smile which lighted up her entire face, smeared
here and there with patches of bran.

He could not resist the sentiment of gallantry which

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 333

was stirred in him by her fresh youthfulness, and
he replied :

" Why should I tell you a lie ? Have you any
doubt about it, eh ? " and, as he spoke, he passed his
left hand round her waist.

A cry, soft as the cooing of a dove, leaped up from
her throat. Her head fell back, she was going to
faint ; he held her up. And his virtuous scruples were
futile. At the sight of this maiden offering herself
to him he was seized with fear. He assisted her to
take a few steps slowly. He had ceased to address
her in soothing words, and no longer caring to speak
of anything save the most trifling subjects, he talked
about some of the principal figures in the society of
Nogent.

Suddenly she repelled him, and in a bitter tone:

" You would not dare to run away with me ! "

He remained motionless, with a look of absolute
amazement in his face. She burst into sobs, and hid-
ing her face in his breast:

" Can I live without you?"

He tried to calm her emotion. She placed her two
hands on his shoulders in order to get a better view
of his face, and fixing her green eyes on his with an
almost fierce tearfulness :

" Will you be my husband ? "

" But," Frederick began, casting about in his inner
consciousness for a reply — " Of course, I ask for noth-
ing better."

At that moment M. Roque's cap appeared from be-
hind a lilac-tree.

He took his young friend on a trip through the
district in order to show off his property ; and when
Frederick returned, after two cHys' absence, he found
three letters awaiting him at his mother's house.

334 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The first was a note from M. Dambreuse, inviting
him to dinner for the previous Tuesday. What was
the reason of this politeness? So, then, they had for-
given his prank.

The second was from Rosanette. She thanked him
for having risked his life in her behalf. Frederick
did not at first understand what she meant ; finally,
after a considerable amount of circumlocution, while
appealing to his friendship, relying on his delicacy,
as she put it, and going on her knees to him on ac-
count of the pressing necessity of the case, as she was
in want of bread, she asked him for a loan of five
hundred francs. He at once made up his mind to sup-
ply her with the amount.

The third letter, which was from Deslauriers, spoke
of the letter of attorney, and was long and obscure.
The advocate had not yet decided on any definite ac-
tion. He urged his friend not to disturb himself :
' 'Tis useless for you to come back ! " even laying
particular stress on this point.

Frederick got lost in conjectures of every sort, and
felt anxious to return to Paris. This assumption of
a right to control him excited a feeling of revolt.

Moreover, he experienced that nostalgia of the
boulevard; and then, his mother was pressing him so
much, M. Roque kept revolving about him so con-
stantly, and Mademoiselle Louise was so affectionate,
that it was not possible for him to delay speedily
declaring his intentions.

He wanted to think, and he would be better able
to exercise a clear judgment of things at a distance.

In order to assign a motive for his journey, Fred-
erick invented a story ; and as he left home, he told
everyone, and believed himself, that he would soon be
back again.

CHAPTER XIII

ROSANETTE IN A NEW ROLE

HE felt no pleasure as he entered Paris at the
close of an August evening. The boulevards
seemed empty. The passers-by looked at each
other with scowling faces. Here and there a boiler of
asphalt was smoking; several houses had their blinds
down. He made his way to his own residence. The
hangings were covered with dust; and, while dining
all alone, Frederick was seized with a strange feeling
of forlornness; then his thoughts reverted to Made-
moiselle Roque. The idea of being married no longer
appeared to him preposterous. They might travel ;
they might go to Italy, to the East. And he saw her
standing on a hillock, or gazing at a landscape, or
leaning on his arm in a Florentine gallery while she
looked at the pictures. What a pleasure it would be
to him merely to watch this little creature developing
under the splendours of Art and Nature ! When she
had got free from the commonplace atmosphere in
which she lived, she would, in a little while, become a
charming companion. M. Roque's wealth, moreover,
tempted him. And yet he shrank from taking this
step, regarding it as a weakness, a degradation.

But he was determined (whatever he might do) on
changing his mode of life — that is to say, to waste
himself no more in fruitless passions ; and he even
hesitated about executing the commission with which
he had been intrusted by Louise. This was to buy

336 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

for her at Jacques Arnoux's establishment two large-
sized statues of many colours representing negroes,
like those which were at the Prefecture at Troves.
She knew the manufacturer's number, and would not
have any other. Frederick feared that, if he went
back to their house, he might once again fall a victim
to his old passion.

These reflections occupied his mind during the en-
tire evening; and he was just about to go to bed when
a woman presented herself.

; 'Tis I," said Mademoiselle Vatnaz, with a laugh.
" I have come in behalf of Rosanette."

So, then, they were reconciled?

" Good heavens, yes ! I am not ill-natured, as you
are well aware. And besides, the poor girl — it would
take too long to tell you all about it."

In short, the Marechale was anxious to see him ; she
was waiting for an answer, her letter having travelled
from Paris to Nogent. Mademoiselle Vatnaz did not
know its contents.

Then Frederick asked how the Marechale was get-
ting on.

She was now with a very rich man, a Russian,
Prince Tzernoukoff, who had seen her at the races
in the Champ de Mars last summer.

" He has three carriages, a saddle-horse, livery
servants, a groom got up in the English style, a coun-
try-house, a box at the Italian opera,, and a heap of
other things. There you are, my dear friend ! "

And the Vatnaz, as if she had profited by this
change of fortune, appeared prosperous and happier.
She took off her gloves and examined the furniture
and the objects of virtu in the room. She guessed,
their exact prices like a second-hand dealer. He
ought to have consulted her in order to get them

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 337

cheaper. Then she complimented him on his good
taste :

" Ha ! this is pretty, exceedingly nice ! There's no-
body like you for these ideas."

The next moment, as her eyes fell on a door close
to the pillar of the alcove:

" That's the way you let your friends out, eh?"

And, in a familiar fashion, she laid her finger on
his chin. He trembled at the touch of her long hands,
at the same time thin and soft. Round her wrists she
wore an edging of lace, and on the body of her green
dress lace embroidery, like a hussar. Her bonnet of
black tulle, with borders hanging down, concealed her
forehead a little. Her eyes shone underneath ; an
odour of patchouli escaped from her head-bands.
The carcel-lamp on the round table, shining down on
her like the footlights of a theatre, made her jaw
protrude.

She said to him, in an unctuous tone, while she drew
from her purse three square slips of paper :

" You will take these from me ? "

They were three tickets for Delmar's benefit per-
formance.

"What! for him?"

" Certainly."

Mademoiselle Vatnaz, without explanation further,
said that she adored him more than ever. If she were
to be believed, the comedian was now definitely classed
amongst " the leading celebrities of the age." And it
was not such or such a personage that he represented,
but the very genius of France, the People. He had
" the humanitarian spirit ; he understood the priest-
hood of Art." Frederick, in order to put an end to
these eulogies, paid her for the three seats.

" You need not mention this over the way. How

338 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

late it is, good heavens ! I must leave. Ah ! I was
forgetting the address — 'tis the Rue Grange-Batelier,
number fourteen."

And, at the door:

" Good-bye, beloved man ! "

"Beloved by whom?" asked Frederick. "What a
strange woman ! "

• And he remembered that Dussardier had said to
him one day:

" Oh, she's not much ! " as if alluding to stories of
a disparaging character.

Next morning he repaired to the Marechale's abode.
It was a new house, the spring-roller blinds of which
projected into the street. At the head of each flight
of stairs there was a mirror against the wall ; before
each window there was a flower-stand, and all over
the steps extended a carpet of oilcloth ; when one
got inside the door, the coolness of the staircase was
refreshing.

A man-servant opened the door, a footman in a red
waistcoat. On a bench in the anteroom a woman and
two men, tradespeople, no doubt, were waiting as if
in a minister's vestibule. At the left, the door of the
dining-room, slightly ajar, afforded a glimpse of
empty bottles on the sideboards, and napkins on the
backs of chairs ; and parallel with it ran a corridor in
which gold-coloured sticks supported an espalier of
roses. In the courtyard below, two boys with bare
arms were scrubbing a landau. Their voices rose to
Frederick's ears, mingled with the intermittent sounds
made by a currycomb knocking against a stone.

The man-servant returned. " Madame will receive
Monsieur," and he conducted Frederick through a
second anteroom, and then into a large drawing-room
hung with yellow brocatel with twisted fringes at the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 339

corners which were joined at the ceiling, and which
seemed to be continued by flowerings of lustre re-
sembling cables. No doubt there had been an enter-
tainment there the night before. Some cigar-ashes
still remained on the pier-tables.

At last he found his way into a kind of boudoir
with stained-glass windows, through which the sun
shed a dim light. Trefoils of carved wood adorned
the upper portions of the doors.

Rosanette appeared, attired in a pink satin vest with
white cashmere trousers, a necklace of piasters, and a
red cap encircled with a branch of jasmine.

Frederick started back in surprise, then said he had
brought the thing she had been speaking about, and
he handed her the bank-note. She gazed at him in
astonishment ; and, as he still kept the note in his hand,
without knowing where to put it :

" Pray take it ! "

She seized it ; then, as she flung it on the divan :

" You are very kind."

She wanted it to meet the rent of a piece of ground
at Bellevue, which she paid in this way every year.
Her unceremoniousness wounded Frederick's sensi-
bility. However, it was as well ! this would avenge
him for the past.

" Sit down," said she. " There — closer." And in
a grave tone : " In the first place, I have to thank you,
my dear friend, for having risked your life."

" Oh ! that's nothing ! "

" What ! Why, 'tis a very noble act ! "—and the
Marechale showed an embarrassing sense of grati-
tude ; for it must have been impressed upon her mind
that the duel was entirely on account of Arnoux, as
the latter, who believed this himself, was not likely
to have resisted the temptation of telling her so.

340 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" She is probably laughing at me," thought Fred-
erick.

He had nothing further to detain him, and, plead-
ing that he had an appointment, he rose.

" Oh ! no, stay ! "

He resumed his seat and presently complimented
her on her costume.

She replied, with an air of dejection :

' The Prince likes me to dress in this fashion ! And
one must smoke such machines as that, too ! " Ro-
sanette added, pointing toward the narghileh. " Sup-
pose we try the taste of it? Have you any objection? "

She procured a light, and finding it hard to set fire
to the tobacco, she stamped impatiently with her foot.
Then a feeling of languor took possession of her ; and
she sat motionless on the divan, wyith a cushion under
her arm and her body twisted a little on one side, one
knee bent and the other leg straight out.

The long serpent of red morocco, which formed
rings on the floor, rolled itself over her arm. She
put the amber mouthpiece between her lips, and
gazed at Frederick while she blinked her eyes in the
midst of the cloud of smoke that enveloped her. A
gurgling sound came from her throat as she inhaled
the fumes, and from time to time she murmured :

" The poor darling ! the poor pet ! "

Frederick tried to think of something agreeable to
talk about. The thought of Vatnaz recurred to his
memory.

He remarked that she appeared to him very lady-
like.

" Yes, upon my word," replied the Marechale.
" She is very lucky in having me, that same lady ! " —
without adding another word, so much reserve was
there in their conversation.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 341

Each felt a sense of constraint, something that
formed a barrier to confidential relations between
them. In fact, Rosanette's vanity had been flattered
by the duel, of which she believed herself to be the
occasion. Then, she was astonished that he did not
hasten to take advantage of his achievement ; and, in
order to compel him to return to her, she had in-
vented this story that she wanted five hundred francs.
How was it that Frederick did not expect a little love
from her in return? This was a piece of refinement
that filled her with amazement, and, with a gush of
emotion, she said to him :

" Will you come with us to the sea-baths?"

"What does 'us' mean?"

11 Myself and my bird. I'll pass you off for a cousin
of mine, as in the old comedies."

" A thousand thanks ! "

" Well, then, you will take lodgings near ours."

The idea of hiding himself from a rich man humili-
ated him.

" No ! that is impossible."

" Just as you please ! "

Rosanette turned away with tears in her eyes.
Frederick noticed this, and in order to prove what an
interest he took in her, he said that he was delighted
to see her at last in a comfortable position.

She shrugged her shoulders. What, then, was
troubling her? Was it, perchance, that she was not
loved ?

" Oh ! I have always some one to love me ! "

She added :

" It remains to be seen in what way."

Complaining that she was " suffocating with the
heat," the Marechale unfastened her vest; and, with-
out any other garment round her body, save her silk

342 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

chemise, she leaned her head on his shoulder so as
to arouse his tenderness.

A man of less introspective egoism would not have
given a thought at such a moment to the possibility
of the Vicomte, M. de Comaing, or anyone else ap-
pearing on the scene. But Frederick had too often
been the dupe of these very glances to subject himself
to a fresh humiliation.

She wished to know all about his relationships and
his amusements. She even inquired about his finan-
cial affairs, and offered to lend him money if he wanted
it. Frederick, unable to stand it any longer, took up
his hat.

"I'm off, my dear! I hope you'll enjoy yourself
thoroughly down there. An revoir!"

She opened her eyes wide ; then, in a dry tone :

"An revoir!"

He made his way out through the yellow drawing-
room, and through the second anteroom. There was
on the table, between a vase full of visiting-cards and
an inkstand, a chased silver chest. It was Madame
Arnoux's. Then he experienced a feeling of tender-
ness, and, at the same time, as it were, the scandal of
a profanation. He felt a longing to raise his hands
toward it, and open it. He was afraid of being seen,
and went away.

Frederick was virtuous. He did not go back to
the Arnouxs' house. He sent his man-servant to buy
the two negroes, having given him all the necessary
directions ; and the case containing them started the
same evening for Nogent. Next morning, as he was
repairing to Deslauriers' lodgings, at the turn where
the Rue Vivienne opened out on the boulevard, he met
Madame Arnoux face to face.

The first movement of each of them was to draw

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 343

back ; then the same smile came to the lips of both,
and they advanced toward each other. For a min-
ute neither uttered a single word.

The sunlight fell round her, and her oval face, her
long eyelashes, her black lace shawl, which showed
the outline of her shoulders, her gown of shot silk,
the bunch of violets at the corner of her bonnet; all
seemed to him to possess extraordinary magnificence.
An infinite softness poured itself out of her beautiful
eyes ; and in a faltering voice, uttering at random the
first words that came to his lips :

"How is Arnoux?"

" Well, I thank you ! "

"And the children?"

" They are very well ! "

" Ah ! ah ! What fine weather we are having, are
we not ? "

" Splendid, indeed ! "

" You are out shopping? "

And, with a slow inclination of the head :

" Good-bye ! "

She put out her hand, without having spoken one
affectionate word, and did not even invite him to din-
ner at her house. No matter! He would not have
missed this interview for the most delightful of ad-
ventures ; and he pondered over its sweetness as he
proceeded on his way.

Deslauriers, surprised at seeing him, dissembled his
spite ; for he cherished still some hope with regard to
Madame Arnoux ; and he had written to Frederick to
prolong his stay in the country, that he might be free
in his manoeuvres.

He informed Frederick, however, that he had pre-
sented himself at her house in order to ascertain if
their contract stipulated for a community of property

344 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

between husband and wife : in that case, proceedings
might be taken against the wife ; " and she looked
queer when I told her about your marriage."

" Now, why such an invention ? "

" It was necessary in order to show that you must
have your own capital ! A person who was indifferent
would not have been attacked with the species of faint-
ing fit that she had."

" Really ? " exclaimed Frederick.

" Ha ! my fine fellow, you are betraying yourself !
Come ! be honest ! "

A feeling of nervous weakness stole over Madame
Arnoux's lover.

" Why, no ! I assure you ! upon my word of hon-
our ! "

These weak denials ended by convincing Deslauriers.
He congratulated his friend, and asked him for de-
tails. Frederick gave him none, and even resisted a
secret yearning to concoct a few. As for the mort-
gage, he told the other to do nothing about it, but to
wait. Deslauriers thought he was wrong on this point,
and remonstrated with him in rather a churlish fash-
ion.

He was more gloomy, malignant, and irascible than
ever. In a year, if fortune did not change, he would
embark for America or blow out his brains. Indeed,
he appeared to be so furious against everything, and
so uncompromising in his radicalism, that Frederick
could not refrain from saying:

" Here you are going on in the same way as Sene-
cal ! "

Deslauriers, at this remark, informed him that Sen-
ecal had been discharged from Saint-Pelagie, the
magisterial investigation having failed to supply suf-
ficient evidence to justify his being sent for trial.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 345

Dussardier was so much overjoyed at his release
that he wanted to invite his friends to come and take
punch with him, and begged of Frederick to be one
of the party, giving the latter, at the same time, to
understand that he would be found in the company of
Hussonnet, who had proved himself a very good friend
to Senecal.

In fact, the Flambard had just become associated
with a business establishment whose prospectus con-
tained the following references : " Vineyard Agency.
Office of Publicity. Debt Recovery and Intelligence
Office, etc." But the Bohemian was afraid that his
connection with trade might injure his literary repu-
tation, and he had accordingly taken the mathemati-
cian to keep the accounts. Although the situation was
a poor one, Senecal would, but for it, have died of
starvation. Not wishing to offend the worthy shop-
man, Frederick accepted his invitation.

Dussardier, three days beforehand, had himself
waxed the red floor of his garret, beaten the arm-
chair, and dusted the chimney-piece, on which might
be seen under a globe an alabaster timepiece between
a stalactite and a cocoanut. As his two chandeliers
and his chamber candlestick were not sufficient, he had
borrowed two more candlesticks from the doorkeeper ;
and these five lights shone on the top of the chest of
drawers, which was covered with three napkins in or-
der that it might serve as a stand for some macaroons,
biscuits, a fancy cake, and a dozen bottles of beer.
At the opposite side, close to the wall, which was
hung with yellow paper, there was a little mahogany
bookcase containing the Fables of Lachambeaudie, the
Mysteries of Paris, and Norvins' Napoleon — and, in
the middle of the alcove, the face of Beranger was
smiling out of a rosewood frame.

346 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The guests (in addition to Deslauriers and Senecal)
were an apothecary who had just been admitted, but
who had not enough capital to start in business for
himself, a young man of his own house, a town-trav-
eller in wines, an architect, and a gentleman employed
in an insurance office. Regimbart had been unable
to come. Regret was expressed at his absence.

They welcomed Frederick with enthusiasm, as they
all knew through Dussardier what he had said at M.
Dambreuse's house. Senecal contented himself with
putting out his hand in a dignified manner.

He remained standing near the chimney-piece. The
others seated, with their pipes in their mouths, lis-
tened to him, while he held forth on universal suf-
frage, from which he predicted the triumph of De-
mocracy and the practical application of the principles
of the Gospel. The hour was at hand. The banquets
of the reform party were becoming more numerous in
the provinces. Piedmont, Naples, Tuscany

' 'Tis true," said Deslauriers, interrupting him
abruptly. " This cannot last much longer ! "

And he began to draw a picture of the situation.
We had sacrificed Holland to obtain from England
the recognition of Louis Philippe ; and this precious
English alliance was lost, owing to the Spanish mar-
riages. In Switzerland, M. Guizot, in tow with the
Austrian, maintained the treaties of 1815. Prussia,
with her Zollverein, was preparing trouble for us.
The Eastern question was still pending.

" The fact that the Grand Duke Constantine sends
presents to M. d'Aumale is no reason for placing con-
fidence in Russia. As for home affairs, never have
there been so many blunders, such stupidity. The
Government no longer even keeps up its majority.
Everywhere, indeed, according to the well-known ex-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 347

pression, it is naught! naught! naught! And in the
teeth of such public scandals," continued the advocate,
with his arms akimbo, " they express themselves sat-
isfied ! "

The allusion to a notorious vote called forth ap-
plause. Dussardier uncorked a bottle of beer; the
froth splashed on the curtains. He did not mind it.
He filled the pipes, cut the cake, passed it round, and
several times went downstairs to see about the punch ;
and ere long they lashed themselves into a state of
excitement, as they all felt equally exasperated against
Power. Their rage was of a violent character for no
other reason save that they hated injustice, and they
mixed up with legitimate grievances the most idiotic
complaints.

The apothecary groaned over the pitiable condition
of our fleet. The insurance agent could not tolerate
Marshal Soult's two sentinels. Deslauriers denounced
the Jesuits, who had just installed themselves publicly
at Lille. Senecal execrated M. Cousin ; for eclecticism,
by teaching that certitude can be deduced from reason,
developed selfishness and destroyed solidarity. The
traveller in wines, knowing very little about these
matters, remarked loudly that he had forgotten many
infamies :

" The royal carriage on the Northern line must have
cost eighty thousand francs. Who'll pay it?"

" Aye, who'll pay it? " repeated the clerk, as angrily
as if this amount had been drawn out of his own
pocket.

Then followed recriminations against the lynxes of
the Bourse and the corruption of officials. According
to Senecal they ought to go higher up, and hold re-
sponsible, first of all, the princes who had revived
the morals of the Regency period.

348 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Have you not lately seen the Due de Montpen-
sier's friends coming back from Vincennes, no doubt
in a state of intoxication, and disturbing with their
songs the workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine ? "

" There was even a cry of ' Down with the
thieves ! ' " said the apothecary. " I was there, and I
joined in the cry ! "

" So much the better ! The people are at last wak-
ing up."

" For my part, that case caused me some pain,"
said Dussardier, " because it imputed dishonour to an
old soldier!"

" Do you know," Senecal went on, " what they have
discovered at the Duchesse de Praslin's house ?"

Here the door was sent flying open with a kick.
Hussonnet entered.

" Hail, Messeigneurs," said he, as he seated himself
on the bed.

No allusion was made to his article, which he was
sorry for having written, as the Marechale had sharply
reprimanded him on account of it.

He had just seen at the Theatre de Dumas the
Chevalier de Maison-Rouge, and said that it seemed
to him a stupid play.

Such a criticism surprised the democrats, as this
drama by its tendency, or rather by its scenery, flat-
tered their passions. They protested. Senecal, in or-
der to bring the discussion to a close, asked whether
the play served the cause of Democracy.

" Yes, perhaps ; but it is written in a style "

" Well, then, 'tis a good play. What does style
matter? 'Tis the idea!"

And, without allowing Frederick to say a word:

" Now, I was pointing out that in the Praslin
case "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 349

Husonnet interrupted him with his usual brusque-
ness:

" Ha ! here's another played-out trick ! I'm dis-
gusted at it ! "

" And others as well as you," returned Deslauriers.

" It has only got five papers taken. Listen, while I
read this paragraph."

Drawing his note-book from his pocket, he read:

' We have, since the establishment of the best of
republics, been subjected to twelve hundred and
twenty-nine press prosecutions, from which the results
to the writers have been imprisonment extending over
a period of three thousand one hundred and forty-
one years, and the light sum of seven million one hun-
dred and ten thousand five hundred francs by way of
fine.' That's pleasant, eh ?"

They all sneered bitterly.

Frederick, incensed against the others, broke in :

" The Democratic Pacifique has had proceedings
taken against it on account of its feuilleton, a novel
entitled The Woman's Share."

" Come ! that's good," said Hussonnet. " Suppose
they objected to our having our share of the women ! "

" But what is it that's not prohibited ? " exclaimed
Deslauriers. " To smoke in the Luxembourg is pro-
hibited ; to sing the Hymn to Pius IX is prohibited ! "

" And the typographers' banquet has been inter-
dicted," a voice cried, with a thick articulation.

It was that of an architect, who had sat concealed
in the shade of the alcove, and who had remained
silent up to that moment. He added that, the week
before, a man named Rouget had been convicted of
offering insults to the king.

" That gurnet * is fried," said Hussonnet.

* Rouget means a gurnet. — EDITOR.

350 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

This joke appeared so out of place to Senecal that
he reproached Hussonnet for defending the Juggler of
the Hotel de Ville, the friend of the traitor Dumouriez.

" I ? quite the contrary ! "

Senecal considered Louis Philippe commonplace,
one of the National Guard types of men, all that sa-
voured most of the provision-shop and the cotton
night-cap ! And laying his hand on his heart, the Bo-
hemian gave utterance to the rhetorical phrases :

" It is always with a new pleasure. . . . Polish
nationality will not perish. . . . Our great works will
be pursued. . . . Give me some money for my little
family. . . ."

They all laughed loudly, declaring that he was a
delightful fellow, full of wit. Their joy was redoubled
at the sight of the bowl of punch which was brought in
from a nearby cafe.

The flames of the alcohol and those of the wax-
candles soon heated the apartment, and the light from
the garret, passing across the courtyard, illuminated
the side of an opposite roof, where the outlines of the
flue of a chimney could be traced through the darkness
of night. They talked in very loud tones all at the
same time. They had taken off their coats ; they gave
blows to the furniture ; they touched glasses.

Hussonnet exclaimed:

" Send up some great ladies, in order that this may
be more Tour de Nesles, have more local colouring,
and be more Rembrandtesque, by Jove ! "

And the apothecary, who kept stirring the punch in-
definitely, began to sing with expanded chest :

" I've two big oxen in my stable,
Two big white oxen "

Senecal laid his hand on the apothecary's mouth;
he did not like disorderly conduct; and the lodgers

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 351

pressed their faces against the window-panes, sur-
prised at the unwonted uproar in Dussardier's room.
The honest fellow was happy, and said that this re-
called to his mind their little parties on the Quai Na-
poleon in days gone by; however, they missed many
who used to be present at these reunions, " Pellerin,
for instance."

" We can do without him," observed Frederick.

And Deslauriers inquired about Martinon.

" What has become of that interesting gentleman? "

Frederick immediately giving vent to the ill-will
which he bore to Martinon, attacked his mental ca-
pacity, his character, his false elegance, his entire per-
sonality. He was a perfect specimen of an upstart
peasant ! The new aristocracy, the mercantile class,
was not equal to the old — the nobility. He maintained
this, and the democrats expressed their approval, as
if he were a member of the one class, and they were
on visiting terms with the other. They were charmed
with him. The apothecary compared him to M. d'Al-
ton Shee, who, though a peer of France, defended the
cause of the people.

At last the time had come for taking their departure.
They all separated with great handshakings. Dus-
sardier, in a spirit of affectionate solicitude, saw Fred-
erick and Deslauriers home. As soon as they were in
the street, the advocate assumed a thoughtful air, and,
after a moment's silence :

" You have a great grudge, then, against Pellerin ? "

Frederick did not hide his bitterness.

The painter, in the meantime, had withdrawn 'the
notorious picture from the show-window. A person
should not let himself be put out by trifles. What
was the good of making an enemy?

" He has given way to a burst of ill-temper, excus-

352 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

able in a man who hasn't a sou. You, of course, can't
appreciate that ! "

And, when Deslauriers had gone up to his own
apartments, the shopman did not part with Frederick.
He urged his friend to buy the portrait. In fact, Pel-
lerin, abandoning the hope of being able to intimidate
him, had induced them to use their influence to ar-
range the matter for him.

Deslauriers spoke about it again, and pressed him
on the point, urging that the artist's claims were rea-
sonable.

" I am sure that for a sum of, perhaps, five hun-
dred francs —

"Oh, give it to him! Wait! here it is!" said
Frederick.

The picture arrived the same evening. It appeared
to him a still more atrocious daub than when he had
seen it first. The half-tints and the shades were dark-
ened under the excessive retouchings, and they seemed
obscured when brought into relation with the lights,
which, having remained very brilliant here and there,
destroyed the harmony of the picture.

Frederick revenged himself for having had to pay
for it by bitterly disparaging it. Deslauriers believed
Frederick's statement on the point, and expressed ap-
proval of his conduct, for he had always been ambi-
tious of constituting a phalanx of which he would be
the leader. Certain men take delight in persuading
their friends to do things which are disagreeable to
them.

Meanwhile, Frederick did not renew his visits to
the Dambreuses. He lacked the capital for the invest-
ment. He would have to enter into endless explana-
tions on the subject; he hesitated about coming to a
decision. Perhaps he was in the right. Nothing was

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 353

certain now, the coal-mining speculation any more than
other things. He would have to give up society of
that sort. The end of the matter was that Deslau-
riers was dissuaded from having anything further to
do with the undertaking.

From sheer force of hatred he had grown virtuous,
and again he preferred Frederick in a position of me-
diocrity. In this way he remained his friend's equal
and in more intimate relationship with him.

Mademoiselle Roque's commission had been very
badly executed. Her father wrote to him, supplying
him with the most precise directions, concluding his
letter with this piece of foolery: "At the risk of giv-
ing you nigger on the brain!"

Frederick could not do otherwise than call upon the
Arnouxs', once more. He went to the warehouse, but
could find nobody. The firm being in a tottering con-
dition, the clerks were as careless as their master.

He brushed against the shelves laden with earthen-
ware, which filled up the entire space in the centre of
the establishment; then, when he reached the lower
end, facing the counter, he walked with a more noisy
tread in order to make himself heard.

The portieres parted, and Madame Arnoux ap-
peared.

" What ! you here ! you ! "

" Yes," she faltered, with some agitation. " I was
looking for "

He saw her handkerchief near the desk, and con-
cluded that she had come down to her husband's ware-
house to have an account given her as to the business,
in order to clear up some matter that caused her anx-
iety.

" But perhaps there is something you want?" said
she.

354 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" A mere nothing, Madame."

" These shop-assistants are intolerable ! they are al-
ways out of the way."

They should not be blamed. On the contrary, he
congratulated himself on the circumstance.

She looked at him in an ironical fashion.

" Well, and this marriage ? "

"What marriage?"

" Your own ! "

" Mine? I'll never marry as long as I live! "

She made a gesture as if to contradict his words.

' Though, indeed, such things must be, after all !
We take refuge in the commonplace, despairing of ever
realising the beautiful existence of which we have
dreamed."

" All your dreams, however, are not so — candid ! "

" What do you mean ? "

" When you drive to races with women ! "

He cursed the Marechale. Then something re-
curred to his memory.

" But it was you who begged of me yourself to
visit her at one time in the interest of Arnoux."

She replied with a shake of her head :

" And you take advantage of it to amuse yourself? "

" Good God ! let us forget all these foolish things ! "

' 'Tis right, since you are about to be married."

And she stifled a sigh, while she bit her lips.

Then he exclaimed:

" But I tell you again I am not ! Can you believe
that I, with my intellectual requirements, my habits,
am going to bury myself in the provinces, playing
cards, looking after masons, and walking about in
wooden shoes? What object, pray, could I have for
taking such a step? You've been told that she was
rich, haven't you ? Ah ! what do I care about money ?

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 355

Could I, after yearning so long for that which is most
lovely, tender,. enchanting, a sort of Paradise under a
human form, and having found this sweet ideal at
last, when this vision hides every other from my
view "

And taking her head between his two hands, he
kissed her on the eyelids, repeating :

" No ! no ! no ! never will I marry ! never ! never ! "

She submitted to these caresses, her mingled amaze-
ment and delight having bereft her of the power of
motion.

The door of the storeroom above the staircase fell
back, and she remained with outstretched arms, as if
to bid him keep silence. Steps draw near. Then
some one said from behind the door:

" Is Madame there?"

" Come in ! "

Madame Arnoux had her elbow on the counter
and was twisting a pen between her fingers quietly
when the book-keeper drew aside the portiere.

Frederick started up, as if on the point of leaving.

" Madame, I have the honour to salute you. The set
will be ready — will it not? I may rely on this?"

She made no reply. But by thus silently becoming
his accomplice in the deception, she made his face flush
with the crimson glow of adultery.

On the following day he called again. She re-
ceived him ; and, in order to follow up the advantage
he had gained, Frederick, without any preamble, at-
tempted to offer some justification for the accidental
meeting in the Champ de Mars. It was the merest
chance that led to his being in that woman's company.
While admitting that she was pretty — which really was
not the case — how could she for even a moment ab-
sorb his thoughts, seeing that he loved another woman ?

356 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" You know it well — I told you it was so ! "

Madame Arnoux hung- down her head.

" I regret that you said such a thing."

"Why?"

" The most ordinary proprieties now demand that
I should see you no more ! "

He protested the innocence of his love. The past
ought to be a guaranty as to his future conduct. He
had of his own accord made it a point of honour with
himself not to disturb her existence, not to annoy her
with his complaints.

" But yesterday my heart overflowed."

" We ought not to let our thoughts dwell on that
moment, my friend ! "

And yet, where would be the harm in two unhappy
beings mingling their griefs ?

" For, indeed, you are not happy any more than I
am ! Oh ! I know you. You have no one who re-
sponds to your craving for affection, for devotion.
I will do anything you wish ! I will not offend you !
I swear to you that I will not ! "

And he fell on his knees, in spite of himself, giv-
ing way beneath the weight of the feelings that op-
pressed his heart.

" Rise ! " she said ; " I implore you to do so ! "

And she declared in an imperious tone that if he
did not comply with her wish, she would never see him
again.

" Ha ! I defy you to do it ! " returned Frederick.
" What is there for me in the world ? Other men
strive for riches, celebrity, power! But I have no
profession ; you are my exclusive occupation, my whole
wealth, the object, the centre of my existence and of
my thoughts. I can no more live without you than
without the air of heaven ! Do you not feel the as-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 357

piration of my soul ascending toward yours, and that
they must intermingle, and that I am dying on your
account ? "

Madame Arnoux trembled in every limb.

"Oh! leave me, I beg of you?"

The look of utter confusion in her face made him
pause. Then he advanced a step. But she drew back,
with her two hands clasped.

" Leave me in the name of Heaven, for mercy's
sake!"

And Frederick loved her so much that he went.

Soon afterward he was filled with rage against him-
self, declared that he must be an idiot, and, after the
lapse of twenty-four hours, returned.

Madame was gone. He stood at the head
of the stairs, stupefied with anger and indignation.
Arnoux appeared, and informed Frederick that his
wife had, that very morning, taken up her residence at
a little country-house of which he had become tenant
at Auteuil, as he had given up the house at Saint-Cloud.

" This is another of her whims. No matter, as
she is settled at last; and myself, too, for that mat-
ter, so much the better. Let us dine together this
evening, will you ? "

Frederick pleaded as an excuse some urgent busi-
ness ; then he hurried away to Auteuil.

Madame Arnoux permitted an exclamation of joy
to escape her lips. Then all his bitterness vanished.

He did not say one word about his love. In order
to inspire her with confidence in him, he even exag-
gerated his reserve ; and on his asking whether he
might call again, she replied : " Why, of course ! " put-
ting out her hand, which she withdrew the next mo-
ment.

From that time forth, Frederick increased his visits.

358 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

He promised extra fares to the cabman who drove him.
But often he grew impatient at the slow pace of the
horse, and, alighting, he would make a dash after an
omnibus, and climb to the top of it out of breath.
Then with what disdain he surveyed the faces of
those around him, who were not going to see her!

He could recognise her house at a distance, with
an enormous honeysuckle covering, on one side, the
planks of the roof. It was a kind of Swiss chalet,
painted red, with a balcony. In the garden there
were three old chestnut-trees, and on a rising ground
in the centre might be seen a parasol made of thatch,
held up by the trunk of a tree. Under the slatework
lining the walls, a big vine-tree, badly fastened, hung
from one place to another after the fashion of a rot-
ten cable. The gate-bell, which it was rather difficult
to pull, was slow in ringing, and a long time always
elapsed before it was answered. On each occasion
he experienced a pang of suspense, a fear born of
irresolution.

Then his ears would be greeted with the pattering
of the servant-maid's slippers over the gravel, or else
Madame Arnoux herself would come. One day he
came up behind her just as she was stooping down
to gather violets.

Her daughter's capricious disposition had made it
necessary to send the girl to a convent. Her little
son was at school every afternoon. Arnoux made a
habit of taking prolonged luncheons at the Palais-
Royal with Regimbart and their friend Compain.
They did not trouble themselves about anything that
occurred, no matter how disagreeable it might be.

It was clearly understood between Frederick and
her that they should not belong to each other. By
this convention they were preserved from danger, and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 359

they found it easier to unburden their hearts to each
other.

She told him all about her early life at Chartres,
which she spent with her mother, her devotion when
she had reached her twelfth year, then her passion for
music, when she used to sing till nightfall in her little
room, from which the ramparts could be seen.

He related to her how melancholy breedings had
haunted him at college, and how a woman's face shone
brightly in the cloudland of his imagination, so that,
when he first laid eyes upon her, he felt that her
features were familiar to him.

These conversations, as a rule, covered only the
years during which they had been acquainted with
each other. He recalled to her insignificant details —
the colour of her dress at a certain period, a woman
whom they had met on a particular day, what she
had said on another occasion ; and she replied, quite
astonished :

" Yes, I remember ! "

Their tastes, their judgments, were the same. Often
one of them, when listening to the other, exclaimed :

" That's just the way with me."

And the other replied :

" And with me, too ! "

Then there were endless complaints about Provi-
dence :

" Why had it not been the will of Heaven ? If we
had only met ! "

" Ah ! if I had been younger ! " she sighed.

" No, but if I had been a little older."

And they pictured to themselves a life entirely
given up to love, sufficiently rich to fill up the vastest
solitudes, surpassing all other joys, defying all forms
of wretchedness, in which the hours would glide away

360 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

in a continual outpouring' of their own emotions, and
which would be as bright and glorious as the palpi-
tating splendour of the stars.

They often stood at the top of the stairs exposed
to the free air of heaven. The tops of trees yellowed
by the autumn raised their crests in front of them
at unequal heights up to the edge of the pale sky ; or
else they walked on to the end of the avenue into a
summer-house whose only furniture was a couch of
grey canvas. Black specks stained the glass ; the walls
exhaled a mouldy smell ; and they remained there
chatting freely about all sorts of topics — anything that
happened to arise — in a spirit of hilarity. Sometimes
the rays of the sun, passing through the Venetian
blind, extended from the ceiling down to the flag-
stones like the strings of a lyre. Particles of dust
whirled amid these luminous bars. She amused her-
self by dividing them with her hand. Frederick
gently caught hold of it; and he gazed on the twin-
ings of her veins, the grain of her skin, and the form
of her fingers. Each of those ringers of hers was for
him more than a thing — almost a person.

She gave him her gloves, and, the week after, her
handkerchief. She called him " Frederick ; " he
called her " Marie," adoring the name, which, he said,
was expressly made to be uttered with a sigh of ec-
stasy, and which seemed to contain clouds of incense
and scattered heaps of roses.

They soon came to an understanding as to the days
on which he might see her; and, leaving the house
as if by mere chance, she would walk along the road
to meet him.

She made no effort whatever to excite his love, lost
in that listlessness which is characteristic of intense
happiness. During the whole season she wore a

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 361

brown silk dressing-gown with velvet borders of the
same colour, a large garment, which harmonised
with the indolence of her attitudes and her grave
physiognomy. Besides, she had just reached the au-
tumnal period of womanhood, in which reflection is
combined with tenderness, in which the beginning of
maturity colours the face with a more intense flame,
when strength of feeling mingles with experience of
life, and when, having completely expanded, the en-
tire being overflows with a richness in unison with
its beauty. Never had she possessed more sweetness,
more leniency. Secure in the thought that she would
not err, she abandoned herself to a sentiment which
seemed to her justified by her sorrows. And, more-
over, it was so innocent and fresh ! What an abyss
lay between the coarseness of Arnoux and the adora-
tion of Frederick!

He trembled at the thought that by an imprudent
word he might lose all that he had gained, saying to
himself that an opportunity might come again, but a
foolish step could never be repaired. He wished that
she should give herself rather than that he should
take her. The assurance of being loved by her de-
lighted him like a foretaste of possession, and then the
charm of her person stirred his heart more than his
senses. It was an indefinable feeling of bliss, a sort
of intoxication that made him lose sight of the pos-
sibility of having his happiness completed. When
away from her, he was consumed with longing.

Soon the conversations were interrupted by long
spells of silence. Sometimes a sort of sexual shame
made them blush in each other's presence. All the
precautions they took to hide their love only served
to unveil it ; the stronger it grew, the more constrained
they became. The effect of this dissimulation was to

362 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

intensify their sensibility. They experienced a sensa-
tion of delight at the odour of moist leaves; they
could not endure the east wind ; they got irritated
without apparent cause, and had melancholy fore-
bodings. The sound of a footstep, the creaking of
the wainscoting, filled them with as much terror as
if they had been guilty. They felt as if they were
being pushed toward the edge of a chasm. They were
surrounded by a tempestuous atmosphere ; and when
complaints escaped Frederick's lips, she accused her-
self.

" Yes, I am doing wrong. I am acting as if I were
a coquette ! Don't come any more ! "

Then he would repeat the same oaths, to which
on each occasion she listened with renewed pleasure.

His return to Paris, and the fuss occasioned by
New Year's Day, interrupted their meetings for a
time. When he returned, he had an air of greater
self-confidence. Every moment she went out to give
orders, and in spite of his entreaties she received all
visitors that called during the evening.

After this, they conversed about Leotade, M. Gui-
zot, the Pope, the insurrection at Palermo, and the
banquet of the Twelfth Arrondissement, which had
caused some disquietude. Frederick eased his mind
by railing against Power, for he longed, like Des-
lauriers, to turn the whole world upside down, so
soured had he now become. Madame Arnoux, on her
side, had become sad.

Her husband, indulging in displays of wild folly,
was flirting with one of the girls in his pottery works,
the one who was known as " the girl from Bordeaux."
Madame Arnoux was informed of it by Frederick.
He wanted to make use of it as an argument, " inas-
much as she was the victim of deception."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 363

" Oh ! I'm not much troubled about it," she said.

This admission on her part seemed to him to
strengthen the intimacy between them. Would Ar-
noux be suspicious with regard to them ?

" No ! not now ! "

It seemed that, one evening, he had left them talk-
ing together, and had afterward come back and lis-
tened behind the door, and as they both were chat-
ting at the time of matters that were of no conse-
quence, he had lived since in a state of complete se-
curity.

"With good reason, too — is that not so?" said
Frederick bitterly.

" Yes, no doubt ! "

It would have been better for him not to have given
so risky an answer.

One day she was out at the hour when he usually
called. To him there seemed to be a sort of treason
in this.

He was next displeased at seeing the flowers which
he used to bring her always placed in a glass of fresh
water.

"Where, then, would you have me put them?"

" Oh ! not there ! However, they are not so cold
there as they would be near your heart ! "

Not long afterward he reproached her for having
been at the Italian opera the night before without tell-
ing him previously of her intention to go there. Oth-
ers had seen, admired, fallen in love with her, perhaps ;
Frederick was fastening on those suspicions of his
merely in order to pick a quarrel with her, to tor-
ment her ; for he was beginning to hate her, and the
very least he might expect was that she should share
in his sufferings !

One afternoon, toward the middle of February, he

364 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

found her in a state of great mental excitement. Eu-
gene had been complaining about his sore throat.
The doctor had told her that it was a trifling ailment —
a bad cold, an attack of influenza. Frederick was as-
tonished at the child's stupefied look. Nevertheless,
he reassured the mother, and brought forward the
cases of several children of the same age who had
been attacked with similar ailments, and had been
speedily cured.

"Really?"

" Why, yes, assuredly ! "

" Oh ! how good you are ! "

And she caught his hand. He clasped hers tightly
in his.

"Oh! let it go!"

" What does it matter, when it is to one who sym-
pathises with you that you offer it? You place every
confidence in me when I speak of these things, but
you distrust me when I talk about my love ! "

" I don't doubt you on that point, my poor friend ! "

" Why this distrust, as if I were a wretch capable
of abusing "

"Oh! no! "

"If I had only a proof! "

"What proof?"

" The proof that might be given to the first comer
— what you have granted to myself ! "

And he recalled to her how, on one occasion, they
had gone out together, on a winter's twilight, when
there was a fog. This seemed now a long time ago.
What, then, was to prevent her from showing her-
self on his arm before the whole world without any
fear on her part, and without any mental reservation
on his, not having anyone around them who could
importune them?

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 365

" Be it so ! " she said, with a promptness of deci-
sion that at first astonished Frederick.

But he replied, in a lively fashion:

" Would you like me to wait at the corner of the
Rue Tronchet and the Rue de la Ferme?"

" Good heavens, my friend ! " faltered Madame Ar •
noux.

Without giving her time to think, he added:

" Next Tuesday, I suppose ? "

"Tuesday?"

" Yes, between two and three o'clock."

" I will be there ! "

And she turned aside her face with a movement of
shame. Frederick placed his lips on the nape of her
neck.

" Oh ! this is not right," she said. " You will make
me repent."

He turned away, dreading the fickleness which is
usual with women. Then, on the threshold, he mur-
mured softly, as if it were a thing that was thoroughly
understood :

" On Tuesday ! "

She lowered her beautiful eyes in a cautious and
resigned fashion.

Frederick had a plan in his mind.

He hoped that, owing to the rain or the sun, he
might get her to stop under some doorway, and that,
once there, she would enter some house. The diffi-
culty was to find one that would suit.

He made a search, and about the middle of the Rue
Tronchet he read, on a signboard, " Furnished apart-
ments."

The waiter, divining his object, showed him im-
mediately above the ground-floor a room and a closet
with two exits. Frederick took it for a month, and

366 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

paid in advance. Then he went into three shops to
buy the rarest perfumery. He got a piece of imita-
tion guipure, to replace the horrible red cotton cov-
erlet ; he selected a pair of blue satin slippers, and only
the fear of appearing coarse checked the amount of
his purchases. He came back with them ; and with
more devotion than those show who erect processional
altars, he altered the position of the furniture, ar-
ranged the curtains himself, put heather in the fire-
place, and covered the chest of drawers with vio-
lets. He would have liked to pave the entire apart-
ment with gold. " To-morrow is the time," said he to
himself. "Yes, to-morrow! I am not dreaming!"
and his heart throbbed violently under the delirious
excitement begotten by his anticipations. Then,
when everything was ready, he carried off the key in
his pocket, as if the happiness which slept there might
have flown away along with it.

A letter from his mother was awaiting him :

" Why such a long absence ? Your conduct is be-
ginning to look ridiculous. I understand your hesi-
tating more or less with regard to this union. How-
ever, think well upon it."

And she placed the matter before him with the ut-
most clearness : an income of forty-five thousand
francs. However, " people were talking about it ; "
and M. Roque was expecting a definite answer. As
for the young girl, her position was truly most embar-
rassing.

" She is deeply attached to you."

Frederick threw aside the letter even before he had
finished reading it, and opened an epistle from Des-
lauriers.

" DEAR OLD BOY — The pear is ripe. In accordance
with your promise, we may count on you. We meet

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 367

to-morrow at daybreak in the Place du Pantheon.
Drop into the Cafe Soufflot. It is necessary for me
to talk with you before the manifestation takes place."

" Oh ! I know them, with their manifestations ! A
thousand thanks! I have a more agreeable appoint-
ment."

And on the following morning, at eleven o'clock,
Frederick left the house. He wanted to give one
last glance at the preparations. Then,- who could tell
but that, by some chance or other, she might be at
the place of meeting before him? As he emerged
from the Rue Tronchet, he heard a great clamour be-
hind the Madeleine. He pressed forward, and saw at
the far end of the square, to the left, a number of
men in blouses and well-dressed people.

A manifesto published in the newspapers had sum-
moned to this spot all who had subscribed to the ban-
quet of the Reform Party. The Ministry had, almost
without a moment's delay, posted up a proclamation
prohibiting the meeting. The Parliamentary Opposi-
tion had, on the previous evening, disclaimed any con-
nection with it ; but the patriots, who were unaware
of this resolution on the part of their leaders, had
come to the meeting-place, followed by a great crowd
of spectators. A deputation from the schools had
made its way, a little earlier, to the house of Odillon
Barrot. It was now at the residence of the Minister
for Foreign Affairs ; and nobody could tell whether
the banquet would take place, whether the Government
would carry out its threat, and whether the National
Guards would make their appearance. People were as
furious against the deputies as against Power. The
crowd was growing bigger and bigger, when sud-
denly the strains of the Marseillaise rang through
the air.

368 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

It was the students' column which had just arrived
on the scene. They marched at an ordinary walking
pace, in double file and in good order, with angry
faces, bare hands, and all shouting at intervals :

" Long live Reform ! Down with Guizot ! "

Frederick's friends were there, sure enough. They
would have seen him and dragged him along with
them. He quickly sought refuge in the Rue de 1'Ar-
cade.

When the students had taken two turns round the
Madeleine, they went in the direction of the Place de
la Concorde. It was full of people ; and, at a distance,
the crowd pressed close together, had the appearance
of a field of dark ears of corn swaying to and fro.

At the same moment, some soldiers of the line
ranged themselves in battle-array at the left-hand side
of the church.

The groups remained standing there, however. In
order to scatter them, some police-officers in civilian
dress seized the most riotous in a brutal fashion, and
carried them off to the guard-house. Frederick, in
spite of his indignation, remained silent ; he feared
being arrested along with the others, and thus miss-
ing Madame Arnoux.

A little while afterward the helmets of the Mu-
nicipal Guards appeared. They kept striking about
them with the flat side of their sabres. A horse fell.
The people made a rush forward to save him, and as
soon as the rider was in the saddle, they all ran away.

Then there was a great silence. The thin rain,
which had moistened the asphalt, was no longer fall-
ing. Clouds floated past, gently swept on by the wind.

Frederick began running through the Rue Tronchet.
looking before and behind him*

At length it struck two o'clock.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 369

" Ha ! now is the time ! " said he to himself. " She
is leaving- her house; she is approaching," and a
minute after, " she has had plenty of time to be
here."

Up to three he tried to keep quiet. " No, she is
not going to be late — a little patience ! "

And for want of something to do he examined the
.most interesting shops that he passed — a bookseller's,
a saddler's and a mourning ware-house. Soon he
knew the names of the different books, the various
kinds of harness, and every sort of material. The
persons who were in attendance in these establish-
ments, from seeing him continually going to and fro,
were at first surprised, and then alarmed, and finally
they closed up their shop-fronts.

No doubt she had met with some obstacle, and
must be enduring pain at the delay. But what de-
light would be afforded in a very short time ! For
she would come — that was certain. " She has given
me her promise ! " In the meantime an intolerable
feeling of anxiety was gradually seizing hold of him.
Impelled by an absurd idea, he returned to his hotel,
as if he expected to find her there. At the same mo-
ment, she might have reached the street in which
their meeting was to take place. He rushed out.
There was no one. And he resumed his tramp up and
down the footpath.

He stared at the gaps in the pavement, the mouths
of the gutters, the candelabra, and the numbers above
the doors. The most trifling objects became for him
companions, or rather, ironical spectators, and the
uniform fronts of the houses seemed to him to have a
pitiless aspect. He was suffering from cold feet. He
felt as if he were about to succumb to the dejection
which was crushing: him. The reverberation of his

370 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

footsteps vibrated through his brain as he tramped to
and fro.

When he saw by his watch that it was four o'clock,
he experienced, as it were, a sense of vertigo, a feel-
ing of despair. He tried to repeat some verses to him-
self, to make a calculation, no matter of what sort,
to invent some kind of story. Impossible ! He was
beset by the image of Madame Arnoux ; he felt a
longing to run in order to meet her. But what road
ought he to take so that they might not pass each
other?

He went up to a messenger, put five francs into his
hand, and told him to go to the Rue de Paradis to
Jacques Arnoux's residence and inquire " if Madame
were at home." Then he took up his post at the cor-
ner of the Rue de la Ferme and of the Rue Tronchet,
so as to be able to look down both of them at the same
time. On the boulevard, in the background of the
scene before him, confused masses of people were
gliding past. He could distinguish, every now and
then, the aigrette of a dragoon or a woman's hat ; and
he strained his eyes in an effort to recognise the
wearer. A child in rags, exhibiting a jack-in-the-box,
asked him, with a smile, for alms.

The man with the velvet vest reappeared. " The
porter had not seen her going out." What had kept
her in? If she were ill he would have been told about
it. Was it a visitor? Nothing was easier than to
say that she was not at home. He struck his forehead.

" Ah ! I am stupid ! Of course, this political out-
break prevented her from coming ! "

He was relieved by this apparently natural explan-
ation. Then, suddenly : " But her quarter of the city
is quiet." And a horrible doubt seized hold of his
mind: " Suppose she never intended coming at all, and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 371

merely gave me a promise in order to get rid of me?
No, no ! " What had prevented her from coming was,
no doubt, some extraordinary mischance, one of those
occurrences that baffled all one's anticipations. In
that case she would have written to him.

He sent the hotel errand-boy to his residence in the
Rue Rum fort to find out whether there was a letter
waiting for him there.

No letter had been brought. This absence of news
reassured him.

He drew omens from the number of coins which he
took out of his pocket by chance, from the physiog-
nomies of the passers-by, and from the colour of dif-
ferent horses ; and when the augury was unfavourable,
he forced himself to disbelieve it. In his sudden out-
bursts of rage against Madame Arnoux, he abused her
in muttering tones. Then came fits of weakness that
nearly made him swoon, followed, all of a sudden, by
fresh rebounds of hopefulness. She would appear
presently ! She was there, behind his back ! He turned
round — there was nobody there ! Once he saw, about
thirty paces away, a woman of the same height, with
a dress of the same kind. He came up to her — it
was not she. It struck five — half-past five — six. The
gas-lamps were lighted. Madame Arnoux had not
come.

The night before, she had dreamed that she had
been, for some time, on the footpath in the Rue
Tronchet. She was waiting for something the nature
of which she was not quite clear about, but which,
nevertheless, was of great importance ; and, without
knowing why, she was afraid of being seen. But a
pestiferous little dog kept barking at her furiously
and biting at the hem of her dress. Every time she
shook him off he returned stubbornly to the attack,

372 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

always barking more violently than before. Madame
Arnoux woke up. The dog's barking continued. She
strained her ears to listen. It came from her son's
room. She rushed to the spot in her bare feet. It was
the child himself who was coughing. His hands were
burning, his face flushed, and his voice singularly
hoarse. Every minute he found it more difficult to
breathe. She remained there till daybreak, bent over
the coverlet watching him.

At eight o'clock the drum of the National Guard
reminded M. Arnoux that his comrades were expect-
ing his arrival. He dressed himself quickly and
went out, promising that he would immediately send
their doctor, M. Colot, whose house he would be
passing.

At ten o'clock, when M. Colot did not make his
appearance, Madame Arnoux despatched her chamber-
maid for him. The doctor was away in the country;
and the young man who was taking his place had gone
out on some business.

Eugene kept his head on one side on the bolster
with contracted eyebrows and dilated nostrils. His
pale little face was whiter than the sheets; and there
escaped from his larynx a wheezing caused by his
oppressed breathing, which gradually grew shorter,
dryer, and more metallic. His cough resembled the
noise made by those barbarous mechanical inventions
known as barking toy-dogs.

Madame Arnoux was seized with terror. She rang
the bell violently, calling out for help, and exclaiming :

" A doctor ! a doctor ! "

Ten minutes later came an elderly gentleman in a
white tie, and with grey whiskers well trimmed. He
put several questions as to the habits, the age, and the
constitution of the young patient, and studied the case

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 373

with his head thrown back. Then he wrote out a
prescription.

The calm manner of this old man was intolerable.
He smelt of aromatics. She would have liked to beat
him. He said he would return in the evening.

The horrible coughing soon began again. Some-
times the child sat up suddenly. Convulsive move-
ments shook the muscles of his breast; and in his ef-
forts to breathe his stomach shrank in as if he were
suffocating after running too hard. Then he sank
down, with his head thrown back and his mouth wide
open. With infinite pains, Madame Arnoux tried to
make him swallow the contents of the phials, hippo
wine, and a potion containing trisulphate of antimony.
But he pushed away the spoon, groaning in a feeble
panting voice. He seemed to be blowing out his
words.

At intervals she re-read the prescription. The ob-
servations of the formulary frightened her. Perhaps
the apothecary had made some mistake. Her power-
lessness filled her with despair. M. Colot's pupil ar-
rived.

He was a young man of modest demeanour, new to
medical work, and he made no attempt to disguise his
opinion about the case. He was at first undecided as
to what should be done, for fear of compromising
himself, and finally he ordered pieces of ice to be ap-
plied to the sick child. It took a long time to get ice.
The bladder containing it burst. It was necessary to
change the little boy's shirt. This disturbance brought
on an attack of even a more dreadful character than
any of the previous ones.

The child began tearing off the linen round his
neck, as if he were trying to remove the obstacle that
was choking him; and he scratched the walls and

374 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

seized the curtains of his bedstead, trying to get a
point of support to assist him in breathing.

His face was now of a bluish hue, and his entire
body, bathed in a cold perspiration, appeared to be
growing lean. His haggard eyes were fixed with ter-
ror on his mother. He threw his arms round her
neck, and hung there desperately ; and repressing her
rising sobs, she gave utterance in a broken voice to
loving words :

" Yes, my pet, my angel, my treasure ! "

Then came intervals of calm.

She went to look for playthings — a punchinello, a
collection of images, and spread them out on the bed
in an effort to amuse him. She even attempted to
sing.

She began a little ballad which she used to sing
years before, when she was nursing him, wrapped up
in swaddling-clothes in this same little upholstered
chair. But a shiver ran all over his frame, just as
when a wave is agitated by the wind. The balls of
his eyes protruded. She thought he was about to
die, and turned away her eyes to avoid seeing him.

The next moment she felt strength enough in her to
look at him. He was still living. The hours suc-
ceeded each other — dull, mournful, interminable, hope-
less, and she no longer counted the minutes, save by
the progress of this mental anguish. The shakings of
his chest threw him forward as if to shatter his body.
Finally, he vomited something strange, which was
like a parchment tube. What could it be? She fan-
cied that he had evacuated one end of his entrails.
But he now began to breathe freely and regularly.
This improved appearance alarmed her more than
anything else that had happened. She was sitting like
one petrified, her arms hanging by her sides, her eyes

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 375

fixed, when M. Colot suddenly entered. The child, in
his opinion, was saved.

She did not realise what he meant at first, and made
him repeat the words. Was not this one of those
consoling phrases which were customary with medi-
cal men? The doctor departed with an air of tran-
quillity. Then it seemed as if the cords that pressed
round her heart were loosened.

" Saved! Is it possible?"

Suddenly the thought of Frederick presented itself
to her mind in a clear and inexorable fashion. This
was a warning sent to her by Providence. But the
Lord in His mercy had not completed her chastise-
ment. What expiation could she offer at another time
if she were to persevere in this love-affair? No doubt
insults would be cast at her son on her account; and
Madame Arnoux saw him a young man, wounded in a
combat, carried off on a litter, dying. At one spring
she threw herself on the little chair, and, letting her
soul escape toward the heights of heaven, she vowed
to God that she would sacrifice, as a holocaust, her
first real passion, her only weakness as a woman.

Frederick had returned home. He remained in his
armchair, without energy enough to curse her. A sort
of slumber fell upon him, and, in the midst of his
nightmare, he could hear the rain falling, still under
the impression that he was there outside on the foot-
path.

Next morning, unable to resist the temptation which
assailed him, he again sent a messenger to Madame
Arnoux's house.

Whether the true explanation happened to be that
the fellow did not deliver his message or that she had
too many things to say to explain herself in a word
or two, the same answer was brought back. This in-

376 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

science was too great ! A feeling of angry pride took
possession of him. He swore to himself that he would
never again cherish even a desire ; and, like a group
of leaves swept away by a hurricane, his love disap-
peared. He experienced a sense of relief, a feeling of
stoical joy, then a need of violent action ; and he
walked at random through the streets.

Men from the faubourgs were marching past armed
with guns and old swords, some of them wearing red
caps, and all singing the Marseillaise or the Girondins.
Here and there a National Guard was hurrying to
join his mayoral department. Drums could be heard
rolling in the distance. A conflict was going on at
Porte Saint-Martin. There was something lively and
warlike in the air. Frederick kept continuously walk-
ing on. The excitement of the great city made him

gay.

On the Frascati hill he got a glimpse of the Mare-
chale's windows : a wild idea occurred to him, a re-
action of youthfulness. He crossed the boulevard.

The yard-gate was just being closed ; and Delphine,
who was in the act of writing on it with a piece of
charcoal, " Arms given," said to Frederick in an eager
tone :

" Ah ! Madame is in a nice state ! She discharged
a groom who insulted her this morning. She thinks
there's going to be pillage everywhere. She is fright-
ened to death ! and the more so as Monsieur has
gone ! "

"What Monsieur?"

" The Prince ! "

Frederick entered the boudoir. The Marechale was
there, in her petticoat, her hair hanging down her back
in disorder.

" Ah ! thanks ! You are going to save me ! 'tis the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 377

second time ! You are one of those who never count
the cost ! "

" A thousand pardons ! " said Frederick, catching
her round the waist with both hands.

"How now? What are you doing?" stammered
the Marechale, at the same time surprised and cheered
by his manner.

He replied:

" I am in the fashion ! I'm reformed ! "

She let herself fall back on the divan, and continued
laughing under his kisses.

They spent the afternoon looking out of the window
at the people in the street. Then he took her to dine
at the Trois Freres Provengaux. The meal was a
long and dainty one. They returned on foot for want
of a vehicle.

At the announcement of a new Ministry, Paris had
changed. Everyone was in a state of delight. People
promenaded about the streets, and every floor was
illuminated with lamps, so that it seemed as if it were
broad daylight. The soldiers returned to their bar-
racks, worn out and looking quite depressed. The
people saluted them with exclamations of " Long live
the Line ! "

They continued on their way without making any
response. Among the National Guard, on the con-
trary, the officers, flushed with enthusiasm, brandished
their sabres, vociferating:

" Long live Reform ! "

And every time the two lovers heard this word
they laughed.

Frederick told droll stories, and was quite gay.

Passing through the Rue Duphot, they reached the
boulevards. Venetian lanterns hanging from the
houses formed wreaths of flame. Underneath, a con-

378 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

fused swarm of people kept in constant motion. In the
midst of those moving shadows could be seen, here
and there, the steely glitter of bayonets. There was a
great uproar. The crowd was so compact that it was
impossible to make one's way back in a straight line.
They were entering the Rue Caumartin, when sud-
denly behind them burst forth a noise like the crack-
ling of an immense piece of silk being torn across. It
was the discharge of musketry on the Boulevard des
Capucines.

" Ha ! a few of the citizens are getting a crack,"
said Frederick calmly ; for there are situations in which
a man of the least cruel disposition is so much de-
tached from his fellow-men that he would see the
entire human race exterminated without a single throb
of the heart.

The Marechale was clinging to his arm with her
teeth chattering. She declared that she could not walk
twenty steps farther. Then, by a refinement of hatred,
in order the better to offer an outrage in his own soul
to Madame Arnoux, he took Rosanette to the hotel in
the Rue Tronchet, and brought her up to the room
which he had got ready for the other.

The flowers were still fresh. The guipure was
spread out on the bed. He drew out from the cup-
board the little slippers. Rosanette considered this
forethought on his part a great proof of his delicacy
of sentiment. About one o'clock she was awakened
by distant rolling sounds, and she found that he was
sobbing bitterly with his head buried in the pillow.

" What is troubling you, darling ? "

" 'Tis the extreme joy," said Frederick. " I have
been too long waiting for you ! "

BOOK II

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION

[Concluded]
CHAPTER XIV

REVOLUTIONARY DAYS

A DISCHARGE of musketry aroused Frederick
from sleep; and, in spite of Rosanette's en-
treaties, he determined to go and see what was
happening. He hurried down to the Champs-Elysees,
where shots were being fired. At the corner of the
Rue Saint-Honore some men in blouses ran past him,
exclaiming :

" No ! not that way ! to the Palais-Royal ! "
Frederick followed them. The grating of the Con-
vent of the Assumption had been torn away. A little
farther on there were three paving-stones in the mid-
dle of the street, the beginning of a barricade, no
doubt; then fragments of bottles and bundles of iron-
wire, to obstruct the cavalry; and there rushed sud-
denly out of a lane a tall young man of pale com-
plexion, with his black hair flowing over his shoulders,
and with an odd sort of pea-coloured swaddling-cloth
thrown round him. In his hand he held a long mili-
tary musket, and he dashed along on the tips of his
slippers with the air of a somnambulist and the nimble-
ness of a tiger. At intervals a detonation could be
heard.
On the evening of the day before, the sight of a wag-

2 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

gon containing five corpses picked up from amongst
those that were lying on the Boulevard des Capucines
had changed the disposition of the people ; and, while
at the Tuileries the aides-de-camp succeeded each
other, and M. Mole, having set about the composition
of a new Cabinet, did not come back, and M. Thiers
was making efforts to constitute another, and while
the King was cavilling and hesitating, and finally as-
signed the post of commander-in-chief to Bugeaud in
order to prevent him from making use of it, the in-
surrection was organising itself in a formidable man-
ner, as if it were directed by a single arm.

Men inspired with a kind of frantic eloquence were
engaged in haranguing the populace at the street-
corners, others were in the churches ringing the toc-
sin as loudly as ever they could. Lead was cast for
bullets, cartridges were rolled about. The trees on
the boulevards, the urinals, the benches, the gratings,
the gas-burners, everything was torn off and thrown
about. Paris, that morning, was covered with barri-
cades. The resistance which was offered was of short
duration, so that at eight o'clock the people, by volun-
tary surrender or by force, had got possession of five
barracks, nearly all the municipal buildings, the most
favourable strategic points. Of its own accord, with-
out any effort, the monarchy was rapidly dissolving,
and now an attack was made on the guard-house of
the Chateau d'Eau, in order to liberate fifty prisoners,
who were not there.

Frederick was forced to stop at the entrance to the
square. It was filled with groups of armed men. The
Rue Saint-Thomas and the Rue Fromanteau were oc-
cupied by companies of the Line. The Rue de Valois
Was choked up by an enormous barricade. The smoke
which fluttered about at the top of it partly opened.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 3

Men kept running overhead, making violent gestures ;
they vanished from sight; then the firing was again
renewed. It was answered from the guard-house
without anyone being visible. Its windows, protected
by oaken window-shutters, were pierced with loop-
holes ; and the monument with its two stories, its two
wings, its fountain on the first floor and its little door
in the centre, was beginning to be speckled with white
spots under the shock of the bullets. The three steps
in front of it remained unoccupied.

At his side a man in a Greek cap, with a cartridge-
box over his knitted vest, was disputing with a woman
with a Madras neckerchief round her shoulders. She
said to him :

" Come back now ! Come back ! "

" Leave me alone ! " replied the husband. " You
can easily mind the porter's lodge by yourself. I ask,
citizen, is this fair? I have on every occasion done
my duty — in 1830, in '32, in '34, and in '39! Now
they're fighting again. I must fight ! Go away ! "

And the porter's wife ended by yielding to his re-
monstrances and to those of a National Guard near
them — a man of forty, whose simple face was adorned
with a circle of white beard. He loaded his gun and
fired while talking to Frederick, as calm in the midst
of the outbreak as a horticulturist in his garden. A
young lad with a packing-cloth thrown over him was
trying to coax this man to give him a few caps, so that
he might make use of a gun he had, a fine fowling-
piece which a " gentleman " had made him a present
of.

" Catch on behind my back," said the good man,
" and keep yourself from being seen, or you'll get your-
self killed ! "

The drums sounded for the charge. Sharp cries,

4 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

hurrahs of triumph burst forth. A continual ebbing
to and fro made the multitude sway backward and
forward. Frederick, caught between two thick masses
of people, did not move an inch, all the time fasci-
nated and entertained by the scene around him. The
wounded who sank to the ground, the dead lying at
his feet, did not seem like persons really wounded or
really dead. The impression left on him was that he
was looking on at a show.

In the midst of the surging throng, above the sea
of heads, could be seen an old man in a black coat,
mounted on a white horse with a velvet saddle. He
held in one hand a green bough, in the other a pa-
per, and he kept shaking them continuously ; but at
length, abandoning all hope of obtaining a hearing,
he withdrew from the scene.

The soldiers of the Line had gone, and only the
municipal troops were left to defend the guard-house.
A wave of dauntless spirits dashed up the steps; they
were flung down ; others came on to replace them,
and the gate resounded under blows from iron bars.
The municipal guards did not give way. A waggon,
stuffed full of hay, and burning like a gigantic torch,
was dragged against the walls. Faggots were speedily
brought, then straw, and a barrel of spirits of wine.
The fire mounted up to the stones along the wall ; the
building began to send forth smoke on all sides like
the crater of a volcano ; and at its summit, between
the balustrades of the terrace, huge flames escaped
with a harsh noise. The first story of the Palais-
Royal was occupied by National Guards. Shots were
fired through every window in the square ; the bul-
lets whizzed, the water of the fountain, which had
burst, mingled with the blood, forming little pools on
the ground. People slipped in the mud over clothes,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION '5

shakos, and weapons. Frederick felt something soft
under his foot. It was the hand of a sergeant in a
grey great-coat, stretched on his face in the stream
that ran along the street. Fresh bands of people con-
tinually came up, pushing on the combatants at the
guard-house. The firing became quicker. The wine-
shops were open ; people went into them from time to
time to smoke a pipe and drink a glass of beer, and
then came back again to fight. A lost dog began to
howl. This made the people laugh.

Frederick was shaken by the impact of a man fall-
ing on his shoulder with a bullet through his back ; he
could hear the death-rattle in his throat. At this shot,
perhaps directed against himself, he felt stirred up to
rage ; and he was plunging forward when a National
Guard stopped him.

" Tis useless ! the King has just gone ! If you
don't believe me, go and see for yourself ! "

This assurance calmed Frederick. The Place du
Carrousel had a tranquil aspect. The Hotel de Nantes
stood there as firm as ever; and the houses in the
rear; the dome of the Louvre in front, the long gal-
lery of wood at the right, and the waste plot of ground
that ran unevenly as far as the sheds of the stall-
keepers were, so to speak, steeped in the grey hues of
the atmosphere, where indistinct murmurs seemed to
mingle with the fog; while, at the other side of the
square, a stiff light, falling through the parting of
the clouds on the faqade of the Tuileries, outlined all
its windows in white patches. Near the Arc de Tri-
omphe a dead horse lay on the ground. Behind the
gratings groups consisting of five or six persons were
chatting. The doors leading into the chateau were
open, and the servants at the entrances allowed the
people to enter.

6' GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Below stairs, in a kind of little parlour, bowls of
cafe an lait were passed round. A few sat down to
the table and made merry; others remained standing,
and amongst the latter was a hackney-coachman. He
snatched up with both hands a glass vessel full of
powdered sugar, cast a restless glance right and left,
and then began to eat voraciously, with his nose stuck
into the mouth of the vessel.

At the foot of the great staircase a man was writ-
ing his name in a register.

Frederick recognised him by his back.

" Hallo, Hussonnet ! "

" Yes, 'tis I," replied the Bohemian. " I am in-
troducing myself at court. This is a nice joke, isn't
it?"

" Suppose we go upstairs ? "

And they reached presently the Salle des Mare-
chaux. The portraits of those illustrious generals,
save that of Bugeaud, which had been pierced through
the stomach, were all intact. They were represented
leaning on their sabres with a gun-carriage behind
each of them, and in formidable attitudes in contrast
with the occasion. A large timepiece indicated that it
was twenty minutes past one.

Suddenly the Marseillaise resounded. Hussonnet
and Frederick looked over the balusters. It was the
people. They rushed up the stairs, shaking with a
dizzying, wave-like motion bare heads, or helmets, or
red caps, or else bayonets or human shoulders with
such impetuosity that somebody disappeared even-
now and then in the swarming mass, which was mount-
ing up without a moment's pause, like a river com-
pressed by an equinoctial tide, with a continuous roar
under an irresistible impulse. When they reached the
top of the stairs, they were scattered, and their chant

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 7

died away. Nothing could any longer be heard but
the tramp of feet intermingled with the chopping
sound of many voices. The crowd not being in a mis-
chievous mood, contented themselves with looking
about them. But, from time to time, an elbow, press-
ing too hard, broke through a pane of glass, or else
a vase or a statue fell from a bracket down on the
floor. The wainscotings cracked under the pressure
of people against them. Every face was flushed ; the
perspiration was rolling down their features in large
beads. Hussonnet remarked :

" Heroes have not a good smell."

" Ah ! you are provoking," returned Frederick.

And, pushed forward in spite of themselves, they
entered an apartment in which a dais of red velvet
rose as far as the ceiling. On the throne below sat
a representative of the proletariat in effigy with a
black beard, his shirt gaping open, a jolly air, and the
stupid look of a baboon. Some climbed up the plat-
form to sit in his place.

" What a myth ! " said Hussonnet. " There you
see the sovereign people ! "

The armchair was raised up on the hands of a num-
ber of persons and passed across the hall, swaying
from side to side.

" By Jove, 'tis like a boat ! The Ship of State is
tossing about in a stormy sea! Let it dance the can-
can ! Let it dance the cancan ! "

They had drawn it toward a window, and in the
midst of hisses, they launched it out.

" Poor old chap ! " said Hussonnet, as he saw the
effigy falling into the garden, where it was speedily
picked up, in order to be afterward carried to the Bas-
tile to be burned.

Then a mad joy burst forth, as if, in place of the

8 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

throne, a future of boundless happiness had arrived ;
and the people, less through a spirit of vindictiveness
than to enjoy their right of possession, broke or tore
the glasses, the curtains, the lustres, the tapers, the
tables, the chairs, the stools, the entire furniture, in-
cluding the very albums and engravings, and the cor-
bels of the tapestry. Since they were the victors,
they must needs amuse themselves ! The common
herd ironically wrapped themselves up in laces and
cashmeres. Gold fringes were rolled round the sleeves
of blouses. Hats with ostriches' feathers ' adorned
blacksmiths' heads, and ribbons of the Legion of
Honour supplied waistbands for prostitutes. Each
person satisfied his or her caprice ; some danced, oth-
ers drank. In the queen's apartment a woman glossed
her hair with pomatum. Behind a folding-screen two
lovers played cards. Hussonnet drew Frederick's at-
tention to an individual who was smoking a dirty pipe
with his elbows resting on a balcony ; and the popu-
lar frenzy redoubled with the continuous crash of
broken porcelain and pieces of crystal, which, as they
rebounded, made sounds resembling those produced
by the plates of musical glasses.

Then their fury was overshadowed. A vulgar
curiosity made them rummage all the dressing-rooms,
all the recesses. Liberated convicts thrust their arms
into the beds of princesses, and rolled themselves on
the top of them, to console themselves for not being
able to embrace their owners. Others, with sinister
faces, wandered about silently, looking for something
to steal, but too great a multitude was there. Through
the bays of the doors could be seen in the suite of
apartments only the dark mass of people between the
gilding of the walls under a cloud of dust. Every
breast was beating-. The heat became more and more

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 9

suffocating; and the two friends, afraid of being sti-
fled, seized the opportunity of escaping, making their
way out.

In the antechamber, standing on a heap of gar-
ments, appeared a girl of the town as a statue of
Liberty, motionless, her grey eyes wide open — a fear-
ful sight.

They had taken about three steps outside the cha-
teau when a company of the National Guards, in
great-coats, advanced toward them, and, removing
their foraging-caps from their slightly bald heads,
they bowed very low to the people. At this testi-
mony of respect, the ragged victors bridled up. Hus-
sonnet and Frederick experienced a certain pleasure
from it as well as the rest.

They were filled with ardour. They went back to
the Palais-Royal. In front of the Rue Fromanteau,
soldiers' corpses were heaped up on the straw. They
passed close to the dead without a single quiver of
emotion, feeling a certain pride in being able to con-
trol themselves.

The Palais overflowed with people. In the inner
courtyard seven piles of wood were burning. Pianos,
chests of drawers, and clocks were hurled out through
the windows. Fire-engines sent streams of water up
to the roofs. Some vagabonds tried to cut the hose
with their sabres. Frederick urged a pupil of the Poly-
technic School to interfere. The latter did not under-
stand him, and, moreover, appeared to be idiotic. All
around, in the two galleries, the populace, having got
possession of the cellars, gave themselves up to a hor-
rible carouse. Wine flowed in streams around peo-
ple's feet; the mudlarks drank out of the tail-ends of
the bottles, and shouted songs and oaths as they stag-
gered along.

10 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Come out of this," said Hussonnet ; " I am dis-
gusted with the people."

All over the Orleans Gallery the wounded lay on
mattresses on the ground, with purple curtains over
them as coverlets; and the small shopkeepers' wives
and daughters from the quarter brought them broth
and linen.

" No matter ! " said Frederick ; " after all, the peo-
ple are sublime."

The great vestibule was filled with a whirlwind of
furious individuals. Men tried to ascend to the up-
per stories in order to continue the work of whole-
sale destruction. National Guards, on the steps, strove
to keep them back. The most intrepid was a chas-
seur, who stood with bare head, his hair bristling,
and his straps in pieces. His shirt caused a swelling
between his trousers and his coat, and he struggled
desperately in the midst of the others. Hussonnet,
who had a sharp sight, recognised Arnoux.

Then they went into the Tuileries garden, so as to
be able to breathe more freely. They sat down on a
bench and remained for some minutes with their eyes
closed, so stunned that they had not the energy to
say a word. The people who were passing stopped
to inform them that the Duchesse d'Orleans had been
appointed Regent, and that it was all over. They were
feeling that species of comfort which follows rapid
denouements, when at the windows of the attics in
the chateau appeared men-servants tearing their liv-
eries to pieces. They flung their torn clothes into
the garden, as a token of renunciation. The people
hooted at them, and then they retired.

The attention of Frederick and Hussonnet was dis-
tracted by a tall fellow who was walking quickly be-
tween the trees with a musket on his shoulder. A

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 11

cartridge-box was pressed against his pea-jacket; a
handkerchief was wound round his forehead under
his cap. He turned his head to one side. It was
Dussardier ; and casting himself into their arms :

" Ah ! what good fortune, my dear old friends ! "
without being able to say another word, so breathless
was he from fatigue.

He had been on his feet for the last twenty-four
hours. He had been engaged at the barricades of
the Latin Quarter, had fought in the Rue Rabuteau,
had saved three dragoons' lives, had entered the Tuil-
eries with Colonel Dunoyer, and, after that, had re-
paired to the Chamber, and then had gone to the Hotel
de Ville.

" I have come right from it ! all goes well ! the
people are victorious ! the workmen and the employ-
ers are embracing one another ! Ha ! if you knew
what I have seen ! what brave fellows ! what a fine
sight it was ! "

And without noticing that they had no arms :

" I was quite certain of finding you there ! This
has been a bit rough — no matter ! "

A drop of blood ran down his cheek, and in answer
to the questions put to him by the two others:

" Oh ! 'tis nothing ! a slight scratch from a bayo-
net ! "

" Still, you ought to take care of yourself."

"Pooh! I am substantial! What does this matter?
The Republic is proclaimed! We'll be happy hence-
forth ! Some journalists, who were talking near me
just now, said they were going to liberate Poland and
Italy! No more kings! You understand? The en-
tire land free ! the entire land free ! "

And with one comprehensive glance at the horizon,
he spread out his arms triumphantly. Just then a

12 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

long file of men rushed over the terrace on the
water's edge.

• " Ah, deuce take it ! I was forgetting. I must be
off. Good-bye ! "

He went off shouting with them, while brandishing
his musket :

" Long live the Republic ! "

From the chimneys of the chateau escaped enor-
mous whirlwinds of black smoke which bore sparks
along with them. The ringing of the bells sent out
over the city a wild and startling alarm. Right and
left, in every direction, the conquerors discharged
their weapons.

Frederick, though he was not a warrior, felt the
Gallic blood bounding in his veins. The magnetism
of the public enthusiasm had seized hold of him. He
inhaled with a voluptuous delight the stormy atmos-
phere filled with the odour of gunpowder ; and he quiv-
ered under the effluvium of an immense love, a su-
preme and universal tenderness, as if the heart of all
humanity were throbbing in his breast.

Hussonnet said, with a yawn :

" It might be time, perhaps, to go and instruct the
populace."

Frederick accompanied him to his correspondence-
ofifice in the Place de la Bourse ; and he began to com-
pose for the Troves newspaper an account of recent
events in a lyric style — a veritable tit-bit — to which he
attached his signature. Then they dined together at
a tavern. Hussonnet was pensive ; the eccentricities
of the Revolution surpassed his own.

After leaving the cafe, they repaired to the Hotel
de Ville to learn the news, and the boyish impulses
which were natural to him had got the upper hand
once more. He scaled the barricades like a chamois,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 13

and answered the sentinels with broad jokes of a patri-
otic flavour.

They heard the Provisional Government proclaimed
by torchlight. At last, Frederick got back to his house
at midnight, overcome with fatigue.

"Well," said he to 'his man-servant, while the lat-
ter was undressing him, "are you satisfied?"

" Yes, no doubt, Monsieur ; but I don't like to see
the people dancing to music."

Xext morning, when he awoke, Frederick thought
of Deslauriers. lie hastened to his friend's lodgings.
He ascertained that the advocate had just left Paris,
having been appointed a provincial commissioner. At
the soiree given the night before, he had come into
contact with Ledru-Rollin, and laying siege to him in
the name of the Law Schools, had snatched from him
a post, a mission. However, the doorkeeper explained,
he had promised to write giving his address the fol-
lowing week.

After this, Frederick went to see the Marechale.
She received him. She resented his desertion of her.
Her bitterness disappeared when he repeatedly as-
sured her that peace was restored.

All was quiet now. There was no reason to be
alarmed. He kissed her, and she declared herself in
favour of the Republic, as his lordship the Archbishop
of Paris had already done, and as the magistracy, the
Council of State, the Institute, the marshals of France,
Changarnier, M. de Falloux, all the Bonapartists, all
the Legitimists, and a considerable number of Orlean-
ists were about to do with a swiftness indicative of
marvellous zeal.

The overthrow of the monarchy had been so rapid
that, as soon as the first stupefaction that succeeded it
had passed away, there was amongst the middle, class

14 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

a feeling of astonishment at the fact that they were
still alive. The summary execution of some thieves,
who were shot without a trial, was regarded as an
act of signal justice. For a month Lamartine's phrase
was repeated with reference to the red flag, " which
had only gone the round of the "Champ de Mars, while
the tricoloured flag," etc. ; and all placed themselves
under its shade, each party seeing amongst the three
colours only its own, and firmly determined, as soon
as it gained the most power, to tear away the two
others.

As business was suspended, anxiety and love of
gaping drove everyone into the open air. The care-
less style of costume generally adopted lessened dif-
ferences of social position. Hatred disguised itself;
expectations were openly indulged in ; the multitude
seemed full of good-nature. The pride of having
maintained their rights shone in the people's faces.
They displayed the gaiety of a carnival, the man-
ners of a bivouac. Nothing could be more amusing
than the aspect of Paris during the first days that fol-
lowed the Revolution.

Frederick gave the Marechale his arm, and they
strolled along through the streets. She was highly di-
verted by the display of rosettes in every buttonhole,
by the banners hung from every window, and the bills
of various colours that were posted upon the walls;
she threw some money here and there into the collec-
tion-boxes for the wounded, which were placed on
chairs in the middle of the pathway. Then she stopped
before some caricatures representing Louis Philippe
as a pastry-cook, as a mountebank, as a dog, or as a
leech. But she was a little frightened at the sight of
Caussidiere's men with their sabres and scarfs. At
other times it was a tree of Liberty that was being

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 15

planted. The clergy vied with each other in blessing
the Republic ; they were escorted by servants in gold
lace ; and the populace thought this very fine. The
most frequent sight was that of deputations from no
matter what, going to demand something at the Hotel
de Ville — every trade, every industry, was looking
to the Government to put a complete end to its mis-
eries. Some, it is true, went to offer advice or con-
gratulate, or merely to pay a little visit, and to see the
Government machine performing its functions.

One day, about the middle of the month of
March, as they were passing the Pont d'Arcole, do-
ing some commission for Rosanette in the Latin Quar-
ter, Frederick saw approaching a column of indivi-
duals with oddly-shaped hats and long beards. At its
head, beating a drum, walked a negro who had for-
merly been an artist's model ; and the man who bore
the banner, on which this inscription floated in the
wind, " Artist-Painters," was no other than Pellerin.

He signed to Frederick to wait for him, and then
reappeared five minutes afterward, having some time
before him ; for the Government was, at that moment,
receiving a deputation from the stone-cutters. He
was going with his colleagues to ask for the creation
of a Forum of Art, a kind of Exchange where the
interests of ^Esthetics would be discussed. Sublime
masterpieces would be produced, as a result of the
workers amalgamating their talents. Ere long Paris
would be covered with gigantic monuments. He
would decorate them. He had even begun a figure
of the Republic. One of his comrades had come to
take it, for they were closely followed by the deputa-
tion from the poulterers.

" What stupidity ! " growled a voice in the crowd.
" Always some humbug, nothing strong ! "

16 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

It was Regimbart. He did not salute Frederick,
but took advantage of the occasion to give vent to his
own bitterness.

The Citizen spent his days wandering about the
streets, pulling his moustache, rolling his eyes about,
accepting and spreading any dismal news that was
communicated to him ; and he had only two phrases :
" Take care ! we're going to be run over ! " or else,
" Why, confound it ! they're juggling with the Re-
public ! " He was dissatisfied with everything, and
especially with the fact that we had not regained our
natural frontiers.

The very name of Lamartine made him shrug his
shoulders. He did not consider Ledru-Rollin " suffi-
cient for the problem," referred to Dupont (of the
Eure) as an old numbskull, Albert as an idiot, Louis
Blanc as an Utopist, and Blanqui as an exceedingly
dangerous man ; and when Frederick asked him what
he would advise as the best thing to do, he replied,
pressing his arm till he nearly bruised it:

" To take the Rhine, I tell you ! to take the Rhine,
damn it ! "

Then he blamed the Reactionaries. They were tak-
ing off the mask. The sack of the Chateau of Neuilly
and Suresne, the fire at Batignolles, the troubles at
Lyons, all the excesses and all the grievances, were
just now being exaggerated by having superadded to
them Ledru-Rollin's circular, the forced currency of
bank-notes, the fall of the funds to sixty francs, and,
to crown all, as the supreme wrong, a final blow, a
culminating horror, the duty of forty-five centimes !
And over and above all these things, there was So-
cialism ! Although these theories, as new as the game
of goose, had been discussed sufficiently for forty years
to fill a number of libraries, they terrified the wealth-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 17

ier citizens, as if they had been a hailstorm of aerolites ;
and they expressed indignation at them by reason of
that hatred which the advent of every idea provokes,
simply because it is an idea — an odium from which it
derives subsequently its glory, and which causes its
enemies to be always beneath it, however lowly it may
be.

Then Property attained in the public regard the
level of Religion, and was confounded with God. The
attacks made on it appeared to them a sacrilege; al-
most a species of cannibalism. In spite of the most
humane legislation that ever existed, the spectre of
'93 reappeared, and the chopper of the guillotine vi-
brated in every syllable of the word " Republic," which
did nofprevent them from despising it for its weak-
ness. France, no longer feeling herself in command
of the situation, was beginning to shriek with terror,
like a blind man without his stick or an infant that
has lost its nurse.

Of all Frenchmen, M. Dambreuse was the most
alarmed. The new condition of things threatened his
fortune, but, more than anything else, it deceived his
experience. A system so good ! a king so wise ! was
it possible? The ground was tottering beneath their
feet! Next morning he dismissed three of his ser-
vants, sold his horses, bought a soft hat to go out into
the streets, considered even letting his beard grow ;
and he remained at home, prostrated, reading over and
over again newspapers most hostile to his own ideas;
he was plunged into such gloomy reflections that even
the jokes about the pipe of Flocon had not the power
to make him smile.

As a supporter of the late reign, he was dreading
the vengeance of the people on his estates in Cham-
pagne, when Frederick's lucubration fell into his

18 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

hands. Then it occurred to his mind that his young
friend was a very useful personage, and that he might
be able, if not to serve him, at least to protect him ;
so, one morning, M. Dambreuse presented himself at
Frederick's residence, accompanied by Martinon.

This visit, he said, had no purpose save that of see-
ing him for a little while, and having a chat. He re-
joiced at the events that had happened, and with his
whole heart adopted " our sublime motto, Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity," having always been at heart
a Republican. If he voted under the other regime with
the Ministry, it was simply in order to accelerate an
inevitable downfall. He even inveighed against M.
Guizot, " who has got us into a nice hobble, we must
admit ! " By way of retaliation, he spoke enthusiasti-
cally about Lamartine, who had shown himself " mag-
nificent, upon my word of honour, when, with ref-
erence to the red flag "

" Yes, I know," said Frederick. After which he de-
clared that his sympathies were on the side of the
working-men.

" For, in fact, more or less, we are all working-
men ! " And he carried his impartiality so far as to
admit that Proudhon had a certain amount of logic
in his views. " Oh, a great deal of logic, deuce take
it!"

Then, with the disinterestedness of a superior mind,
he chatted about the exhibition of pictures, at which
he had seen Pellerin's work. He considered it origi-
nal and well-painted.

Martinon supported all he said with expressions of
approval; and likewise was of his opinion that it was
necessary to rally boldly to the side of the Republic.
And he talked about the husbandman, his father, and
assumed the part of the peasant, the man of the peo-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 19

pie. They soon came to the question of the elections
for the National Assembly, and the candidates in
the arrondissement of La Fortelle. The Opposition
candidate had no chance.

" You should take his place ! " said M. Dambreuse.

Frederick protested.

"But why not?" For he would obtain the suf-
frages of the Extremists owing to his personal opin-
ions, and that of the Conservatives on account of his
family ; " And perhaps also," added the banker, with
a smile, " thanks to my influence, in some measure."

Frederick urged as an obstacle that he did not know
how to set about the matter.

Nothing was easier if he only got himself recom-
mended to the patriots of the Aube by one of the clubs
of the capital. All he had to do was to read out,
not a profession of faith such as might be seen every
day, but a serious statement of principles.

" Bring it to me ; I am familiar with what goes
down in the locality ; and you can, I say again, render
great services to the country — to us all — to myself."

In such times people ought to assist each other,
and, if Frederick had need of anything, he or his
friends —

"Oh, a thousand thanks, my dear Monsieur!"

" You'll do as much for me in return, mind ! "

Decidedly, the banker was a decent man.

Frederick could not refrain from pondering over
his advice; and soon he was dazzled by a kind of
dizziness.

The great figures of the Convention passed before
his mental vision. It seemed to him that a splendid
dawn was about to rise. Rome, Vienna and Berlin
were in a state of insurrection, and the Austrians had
been driven out of Venice. All Europe was agitated.

20 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Now was the time to make a plunge into the move-
ment, and perhaps to accelerate it ; and then he was
fascinated by the costume which it was said the depu-
ties would wear. Already he could see himself in a
waistcoat with lapels and a tricoloured sash ; and this
itching, this hallucination, became so violent that he
talked the matter over with Dambreuse.

The honest fellow's enthusiasm had not abated.

" Certainly — sure enough. Offer yourself."

Frederick, nevertheless, consulted Deslauriers.

The idiotic opposition which trammelled the com-
missioner in his province had augmented his Liberal-
ism. He at once replied, exhorting Frederick with
the utmost vehemence to present himself as a candi-
date. However, as the latter was desirous of having
the approval of a great number of persons, he con-
fided the thing to Rosanette one day, when Mademoi-
selle Vatnaz happened to be present.

She was one of those Parisian spinsters who, every
evening, when they have given their lessons or tried
to sell little sketches, or to dispose of poor manu-
scripts, return to their own homes with mud on their
petticoats, prepare their own dinner, which they eat
by themselves, and then, with their soles resting on
a foot-warmer, by the light of a filthy lamp, dream of
love, a family, a hearth, wealth— all that they lack.
So it was that, like many others, she had hailed in the
Revolution the advent of vengeance, and she deliv-
ered herself up to a Socialistic propaganda of the most
extreme description.

The enfranchisement of the proletariat, according
to the Vatnaz, was only possible by the enfranchise-
ment of woman. She wished to have her own sex
admitted to every kind of employment, to have strict
inquiry made into the paternity of children, a different

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 21

code, the abolition, or at least a more intelligent reg-
ulation, of marriage. In that case every French-
woman would be bound to marry a Frenchman, or
to adopt an old man. Nurses and midwives should
be State paid officials.

There should be a jury to examine the works of
women, special editors for women, a polytechnic
school for women, a National Guard for women,
everything for women ! And since the Government
ignored their rights, they ought to overcome force by
force. Ten thousand citizenesses with good guns
could make the Hotel de Ville quake !

Frederick's candidature appeared to her favourable
to the carrying out of her ideas. She encouraged him,
pointing out the glory that shone on the horizon.
Rosanette was delighted at the notion of having a
lover who would make speeches at the Chamber.

" And then, perhaps, they'll give you a good place? "

Frederick, a man prone to every kind of weakness,
was infected by the universal mania. He wrote an
address and took it to M. Dambreuse.

At the sound made by the great door falling back,
a curtain gaped open a little behind a casement, and
a woman appeared at it. He had not time to find out
who she was ; but, in the anteroom, a picture arrested
his attention — Pellerin's picture — which lay on a chair,
no doubt provisionally.

It represented the Republic, or Progress, or Civili-
sation, under the form of Jesus Christ driving a loco-
motive, which was passing through a virgin forest.
Frederick, after a minute's contemplation, exclaimed:

" What a vile thing ! "

" Is it not, eh ? " said M. Dambreuse, entering un-
expectedly just at the moment when the other was
giving utterance to this opinion, and fancying that it

22 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

had reference, not so much to the picture as to the
doctrine it glorified. Martinon presented himself at
the same time. They made their way into the study,
and Frederick was drawing a paper out of his pocket,
when Mademoiselle Cecile, entering suddenly, said,
articulating her words in an ingenuous fashion :

" Is my aunt here ? "

" You know perfectly well she is not," replied the
banker. " No matter ! act as if you were at home,
Mademoiselle."

" Oh, thanks ! I am going away ! "

Scarcely had she left when Martinon seemed to be
searching for his handkerchief.

" I forgot to take it out of my coat — excuse me ! "

" All right ! " said M. Dambreuse.

Evidently he was not deceived by this manoeuvre,
and even seemed to regard it with favour. Why?
But Martinon soon reappeared, and Frederick began
reading his address.

At the second page, which pointed toward the pre-
ponderance of financial interests as a disgraceful fact,
the banker made a grimace. Then, touching on re-
forms, Frederick demanded free trade.

" What ? Allow me, now ! "

The other paid no attention, and continued. He
favoured a tax on yearly incomes, a progressive tax,
a European federation, and the education of the peo-
ple, the encouragement of the fine arts on a liberal
scale.

" When the country could provide men like Dela-
croix or Hugo with incomes of a hundred thousand
francs, where would be the harm? "

At the close of the address advice was given to
the upper classes.

" Spare nothing, ye rich ; but give ! give ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 23

He stopped, and remained standing. His two listen-
ers did not utter a word. Martinon opened his eyes
wide ; M. Dambreuse was quite pale. At last, conceal-
ing his emotion under a bitter smile :

" That address of yours is simply perfect ! " And
he praised the style highly in order to avoid giving his
opinion as to the matter of the address.

This virulence on the part of an inoffensive young
man frightened him, especially as a dangerous sign
of the times.

Martinon tried to reassure him. The Conservative
party, in a little while, would certainly be in a position,
to take its revenge. In several cities the commission-
ers of the provisional government had been driven
away; the elections were not due till the twenty-third
of April ; there was plenty of time. In short, it was
necessary for M. Dambreuse to present himself per-
sonally in the Aube ; and from that time forth, Mar-
tinon remained by his side, became his secretary, and
was as attentive to him as a son.

Frederick arrived at Rosanette's house in a very
self-complacent mood. Delmar happened to be there,
and told him of his intention to stand as a candidate
at the Seine elections. In a placard to the people, in
which he addressed them in the familiar manner which
one adopts toward an individual, the actor boasted of
being able to understand them, and of having, in or-
der to save them, got himself " crucified for the sake
of art," so that he was the incarnation, the ideal of the
popular spirit, believing that he had, in fact, such
enormous power over the masses that he proposed by-
and-by, when he occupied a ministerial office, to quell
any outbreak alone ; and, when asked what means he
would employ, he gave this answer : " Never fear ! I'll
show them my head ! "

24 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Frederick, in order to mortify him, gave him to
understand that he was himself a candidate. The
mummer, from the moment that his future colleague
aspired to represent the province, pronounced himself
his servant, and offered to be his guide to the various
clubs.

They visited them, or nearly all, the red and the
blue, the furious and the tranquil, the puritanical and
the licentious, the mystical and the intemperate, those
that had voted for the death of kings, and those in
which the frauds in the grocery trade had been de-
nounced ; and everywhere the tenants cursed the land-
lords ; the blouse was full of spite against broadcloth ;
and the rich conspired against the poor. Many
wanted indemnities on the ground that they had for-
merly been martyrs of the police ; others appealed for
money to carry out certain inventions, or else there
were plans of phalansteria, projects for cantonal ba-
zaars, systems of public felicity ; then, here and there a
flash of genius amid these clouds of folly, sudden as
splashes, the law formulated by an oath, and flowers of
eloquence on the lips of some soldier-boy, with a
shoulder-belt strapped over his bare, shirtless chest.
Sometimes, too, a gentleman made his appearance — an
aristocrat of humble demeanour, talking in a plebeian
strain, and with his hands unwashed, so as to make
them look hard. A patriot would recognise him ; the
most virtuous would mob him ; and he would go off
with rage in his soul. On the pretext of good sense,
it was desirable to be always disparaging the advo-
cates, and to reiterate as often as possible these ex-
pressions : " To carry his stone to the building," " so-
cial problem," " workshop."

Delmar did not miss any opportunity for getting in a
word ; and when he no longer found anything to say,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 25

he would plant himself in some conspicuous position
with one of his arms akimbo and the other in his waist-
coat, turning himself round abruptly in profile, so as
to give a good view of his head. Then there were
outbursts of applause, led by Mademoiselle Vatnaz at
the lower end of the hall.

Frederick, in spite of the weakness of orators, did
not dare to try the experiment of speaking. All the
people around seemed to him too unpolished or too
hostile.

Dussardier made inquiries, and informed him that
there existed in the Rue Saint-Jacques a club which
bore the name of the " Club of Intellect." Such a
name sounded hopeful. Besides, he would bring some
friends of his own there.

He brought those whom he had invited to take
punch with him — the bookkeeper, the traveller in
wines, and the architect; even Pellerin had agreed to
come, and Hussonnet would probably form one of the
party, and on the footpath before the door stood Re-
gimbart, with two men, the first of whom was his
faithful Compain, a rather thick-set man marked with
smallpox and with bloodshot eyes ; and the second,
an ape-like negro, exceedingly hairy, and whom he
knew only in the character of " a patriot from Barce-
lona."

They passed through a passage, leading into a large
room, probably used by a joiner, with walls still fresh
and smelling of plaster. Four argand lamps hung par-
allel to each other, and shed an unpleasant light. On
a platform, at the end of the room, there was a desk
on which was a bell ; underneath it a table, represent-
ing the rostrum, and on each side two others, some-
what lower, for the secretaries. The audience that
occupied the benches consisted of old painters of

26 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

daubs, ushers, and literary men who could not get
their works published.

In the midst of those lines of paletots with greasy
collars might be seen here and there a woman's cap
or a workman's linen smock. The end of the apart-
ment was full of workmen, who had in all likelihood
come there to pass away an idle hour, and who had
been invited by some of the speakers in order that they
might applaud.

Frederick took care to place himself between Dus-
sardier and Regimbart, who was scarcely seated be-
fore he leaned both hands on his walking-stick and
his chin on his hands and shut his eyes, whilst at the
other end of the room Delmar stood looking down at
the crowd. Senecal appeared at the president's desk.

The worthy bookkeeper thought Frederick would
be pleased at this. It only annoyed him.

The meeting manifested great respect for the presi-
dent. He was one who, on the twenty-fifth of Feb-
ruary, had advised an immediate organisation of la-
bour. On the following day, at the Prado, he had
declared himself in favour of attacking the Hotel de
Ville; and, as every person at that period took some
model for imitation, one copied Saint- Just, another
Danton, another Marat; he tried to be like Blanqui,
who imitated Robespierre. His black gloves, and his
straight hair brushed back, gave him a rigid aspect
exceedingly becoming.

He opened the proceedings with the declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen — a customary
act of faith. Then, a vigorous voice struck up Be-
ranger's Souvenirs du Peuple.

Other voices were raised : " No ! no ! not that ! "

"La Casquette!" the patriots at the end of the
apartment began to howl.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 27

And they sang in chorus the favourite lines of the

Deriod :

"Doff your hat before my cap —
Kneel before the working-man!"

At a word from the president the audience became
>ilent.

One of the secretaries proceeded to inspect the let-
:ers.

Some young- men announced that they burned a
lumber of copies of the Assemblee Nationale every
evening in front of the Pantheon, and they urged on
ill patriots to follow their example.

" Bravo ! adopted ! " responded the audience.

The Citizen Jean Jacques Langreneux, a printer in
:he Rue Dauphin, suggested that a monument should
)e raised to the memory of the martyrs of Thermi-
ior.

Michel Evariste Nepomucene, ex-professor, gave
expression to the wish that the European democracy
;hould adopt unity of language. A dead language
night be used for that purpose — as, for example, im-
)roved Latin.

" No ; no Latin ! " exclaimed the architect.

" Why ? " said the college-usher.

And these two gentlemen engaged in a discussion,
n which the others joined, each putting in a word of
lis own for effect; and the conversation on this topic
soon became so tedious that many left. A little old
nan, who wore at the top of his prodigiously high
rorehead a pair of green spectacles, asked permission
o speak in order to make an important communica-
ion.

It was a memorandum on the assessment of taxes.
Fhe figures flowed on in a continuous stream, as if
:hey were never going to end. The impatience of the

28 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

audience was shown at first in murmurs, in whispered
talk. He allowed nothing to stop him. Then they
began hissing ; they catcalled him. Senecal called the
persons who were interrupting to order. The speaker
went on like a machine. It was necessary to catch1 him
by the shoulder in order to make him cease. The old
fellow looked as if he were waking out of a dream,
and, placidly lifting his spectacles, said :

" Pardon me, citizens ! pardon me ! I am going —
a thousand excuses ! "

Frederick was disconcerted with the failure of the
old man's attempts to read this written statement.
He had his own address in his pocket, but an extem-
poraneous speech w^ould have been preferable.

Finally the president announced that they were
about to pass on to the important matter, the elec-
toral question. They would not discuss the big Re-
publican lists. However, the " Club of Intellect " had
every right, like every other, to form one, " with all re-
spect for the pachas of the Hotel de Ville, and the
citizens who solicited the popular mandate might now
set forth their claims.

" Go on, now ! " said Dussardier.

A man in a cassock, with woolly hair and a petu-
lant expression on his face, had raised his hand. He
said, with a stutter, that his name was Ducretot,
priest and agriculturist, and that he was the author
of a work entitled Manures. He was advised to send
it to a horticultural club.

Then a patriot in a blouse climbed to the rostrum.
He was a plebeian, with broad shoulders, a big face,
very mild-looking, with long black hair. He cast on
the assembly an almost voluptuous glance, flung back
his head, and, finally, spreading out his arms:

" You have repelled Ducretot, O my brothers ! and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 29

you have done right; but it was not through irre-
Hgion, for we are all religious."

Many of those present listened open-mouthed, with
the air of catechumens and in ecstatic attitudes.

" It is not either because he is a priest, for we, too,
are priests ! The workman is a priest, just as the
founder of Socialism was — the Master of us all, Jesus
Christ ! "

The time had arrived to inaugurate the Kingdom
of God. The Gospel led directly to '89. After the
abolition of slavery, the abolition of the proletariat.
They had had the age of hate — the age of love was
about to begin.

" Christianity is the keystone and the foundation of
the new edifice "

" You are making game of us ! " exclaimed the
traveller in wines. " Who has given me a priest's
cap? "

This interruption gave great offence. Nearly all
the audience got on benches, and, shaking their fists,
shouted : " Atheist ! aristocrat ! low rascal ! " whilst the
president's bell kept ringing continuously, and the
cries of " Order ! order ! " redoubled. But, aimless,
and, moreover, fortified by three cups of coffee which
he had swallowed before coming to the meeting, he
struggled in the -midst of the others:

"What? I an aristocrat? Come, now!"

When, at length, he was permitted to explain, he
declared that he would never be at peace with the
priests ; and, since something had just been said about
economical measures, it would be a splendid begin-
ning to put an end to the churches, the sacred pyxes,
and finally all creeds.

Somebody raised the objection that he was going
very far.

30 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Yes ! I am going very far ! But, when a vessel is
caught suddenly in a storm —

Without waiting for the conclusion of this simile,
another said :

" Granted ! But this is to demolish at a single stroke,
like a mason devoid of judgment —

" You are insulting the masons ! " yelled a citizen
covered with plaster. And persisting in the belief that
provocation had been offered to him, he poured forth
insults, and wished to fight, clinging tightly to the
bench whereon he sat. It took no less than three men
to put him out.

Meanwhile the workman still remained on the ros-
trum. The two secretaries gave him an intimation
that he should descend. He protested against the
injustice done to him.

" You shall not prevent me from crying out, ' Eter-
nal love to our dear France ! eternal love to the Re-
public ! ' :

" Citizens ! " said Compain, after this — " Citizens ! "

And, by dint of repeating " Citizens," having ob-
tained a little silence, he leaned on the rostrum with
his two red hands, which looked like stumps, bent
forward his body, and blinking his eyes :

" I believe that it would be necessary to give a larger
extension to the calf's head."

All who heard him kept silent, fancying that they
had misunderstood his words.

" Yes ! the calf's head ! "

Three hundred laughs burst forth at the same mo-
ment. The ceiling shook.

At the sight of all these faces convulsed with mirth,
Compain shrank back. He continued in an angry
tone:

" What ! you don't know what the calf's head is ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 31

It was a paroxysm, a delirium. They held their
sides. Some of them even tumbled off the benches
to the ground in convulsions of laughter. Compain,
not being able to bear it any longer, took refuge be-
side Regimbart, and wanted to drag him away.

" No ! I shall remain till 'tis all over ! "said the Cit-
izen.

This reply caused Frederick to come to a decision;
and, as he looked about to the right and the left to
see whether his friends were prepared to support him,
he saw Pellerin standing on the rostrum in front of
him.

The artist assumed a haughty tone in addressing
the meeting.

" I would like to get some notion as to who is the
candidate amongst all these that represent art. For
my part, I have painted a picture."

" We have nothing to do with painting pictures ! "
was the churlish remark of a thin man with red spots
on his cheek-bones.

Pellerin protested against this interruption.

But the other, in a tragic tone :

" Ought not the Government to make an ordinance
abolishing prostitution and want?"

And this phrase having at once won the popular
favour, he thundered against the corruption of great
cities.

" Shame and infamy ! We ought to catch hold of
wealthy citizens on their way out of the Maison d'Or
and spit in their faces — unless it be that the Govern-
ment justifies debauchery! The collectors of the
city dues exhibit toward our daughters and our sis-
ters an amount of indecency "

A voice exclaimed, some distance away:

" This is blackguard language ! Turn him out ! "

32 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

' They extract taxes from us to pay for licentious-
ness! Thus, the high salaries paid to actors "

" Help ! " cried Pellerin.

He leaped from the rostrum, pushed everybody
aside, and declaring- that he regarded such stupid ac-
cusations with disgust, expatiated on the civilising
mission of the player. Inasmuch as the theatre was
the focus of national education, he would record his
vote for the reform of the theatre ; and to begin with,
no more managements, no more privileges !

" Yes ; of any sort ! "

The actor's manner excited the audience, and peo-
ple moved backward and forward knocking each other
down.

" No more academies ! No more institutes ! "

" No missions ! "

" No more bachelorships ! Down with the Univer-
sity degrees ! "

" Let us preserve them," said Senecal ; " but let
them be conferred by universal suffrage, by the peo-
ple, the only true judge ! "

Besides, these things were not the most important.
It was necessary to find a level which would be above
the heads of the wealthy. And he represented them
as gorging themselves with crimes under their gilded
ceilings ; while the starving poor, writhing in their
garrets, cultivated every virtue. The applause became
so vehement that it interrupted his discourse. For
several minutes he remained with his eyes closed, his
head thrown back, and, as it were, lulling himself to
sleep over the fury which he had aroused.

Then he began to talk in a dogmatic way, in phrases
as imperious as laws. The State should take pos-
session of the banks and the insurance offices. In-
heritances should be abolished. A social fund should

33

be established for the workers. Many other measures
were desirable in the future. For the time being,
these would suffice, and, returning to the question of
the elections : " We need pure citizens, men entirely
fresh. Let some one offer himself."

Frederick arose. There was a buzz of approval
made by his friends. Senecal, assuming the attitude
of a Fouquier-Tinville, began to ask questions as to
his first name and surname, his antecedents, life, and
morals.

Frederick answered succinctly, and bit his lips.
Senecal asked whether anyone saw any impediment
to this candidature.

" No ! no ! "

But, for his part, he saw some. All around him
bent forward and strained their ears to listen. The
citizen who was seeking for their support had not de-
livered a certain sum promised by him for the found-
ing of a democratic journal. Moreover, on the
twenty-second of February, though he had had due no-
tice, he had failed to be at the meeting-place in the
Place de Pantheon.

" I swear that he was at the Tuileries ! " exclaimed
Dussardier.

" Can you swear to having seen him at the Pan-
theon ? "

Dussardier hung down his head. Frederick was
silent. His friends, scandalised, regarded him anx-
iously.

" In any case," Senecal went on, " do you know
any patriot who will answer to us for your princi-
ples ? "

" I will ! " said Dussardier.

" Oh ! that is not enough ; another ! "

Frederick turned round to Pellerin. The artist re-

34 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

plied to him with a number of gestures, which meant :

"Ah! my dear boy, they have rejected myself!
The deuce ! What would you have ? "

Thereupon Frederick gave Regimbart a nudge.

"Yes, all right; 'tis time! I'm going."

And Regimbart stepped upon the platform; then,
pointing toward the Spaniard, who had followed him:

" Allow me, citizens, to present to you a patriot
from Barcelona ! "

The patriot made a low bow, rolled his gleaming
eyes about, and with his hand on his heart :

" Ciudadanos! mucho aprecio el honour that you
have bestowed on me ! however, great may be vuestra
bondad, mayor vuestra atention!"

" I claim the right to speak ! " cried Frederick.

" Desde que se proclamo la constitution de Cadiz,
ese pacto fundamental de las libertades Espanolas,
hasta la ultima revolution, nuestra patria cuenta num-
eros y heroicos mdrtires."

Frederick once more endeavoured to obtain a hear-
ing:

" But, citizens ! '

The Spaniard continued :'f El martes proximo ten-
dra lugar en la iglesia de la Magdelcna un scrvicio
funebre."

" This is ridiculous ! Nobody understands him ! "

This observation exasperated the audience.

" Turn him out ! Turn him out ! "

"Who? I?" asked Frederick.

" Yourself! " said Senecal, majestically. " Out with
you!"

He rose to leave, and the voice of the Iberian pur-
sued him:

" Y todos los Espanoles descarien ver alii reunidas
las disputaciones de los clubs y de la militia national.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 35

An oracion fiinebre en honour of the libertad Espanola
y del mundo entcro will be prononciado por un miem-
bro del clcro of Paris en la sala Bonne Xouvelle.
Honour al pueblo franccs qne llamaria yo el primero
pueblo del mundo, sino fnese ciudadano de otra na-
cion! "

" Aristo!" screamed one blackguard, shaking his
fist at Frederick, as the latter, boiling with indignation,
rushed out into the yard adjoining the place where
the meeting was held.

He blamed himself for his devotedness, without re-
flecting that, after all, the accusations brought against
him were just.

What fatal idea was this candidature ! But what
asses ! what idiots ! He drew comparisons between
himself and these men, and soothed his wounded
pride with the thought of their stupidity.

Then he sought Rosanette. After such an exhibi-
tion of ugly traits, and so much magniloquence, her
dainty person would be a relaxation. She was aware
that he had intended to present himself at a club that
evening. However, she did not ask a single question
when he came in. She was seated near the fire, rip-
ping open the lining of a dress. He was surprised
to find her thus occupied.

" Hallo! what are you doing?"

" You can see for yourself," said she, dryly. " I
am mending my clothes ! So much for this Republic
of yours ! "

" Why do you call it mine? "

" Perhaps you want to make out that it's mine ! "

And she began to reproach him for everything that
had happened in France for the last two months, ac-
cusing him of having brought about the Revolution
and with having ruined her prospects by making

36 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

everybody with money leave Paris, and that she would
by-and-by be dying in a hospital.

" It is easy for you to talk lightly about it, with
your yearly income ! However, at the rate at which
things are happening, you won't have your yearly in-
come long."

:' That may be," said Frederick. " The most de-
voted are always misunderstood, and if one were not
sustained by one's conscience, the brutes that you mix
yourself up with would disgust you with your own
self-denial ! "

Rosanctte gazed at him with knitted brows.

"Eh? What? What self-denial? Monsieur has
not been successful, it would seem? So much the
better ! It will teach you to make patriotic donations.
Oh, don't lie! I know you have given them three
hundred francs, for this Republic of yours has to be
kept. Well, amuse yourself with it, my good man ! "

Under this avalanche of abuse, Frederick passed
from his former disappointment to a more painful
disillusion.

He withdrew to the lower end of the apartment.
She came after him.

" Listen to me ! Think it out a bit ! In a country as
in a house, there must be a master, otherwise, every-
one pockets something out of the money spent. Every-
body knows that Ledru-Rollin is head over ears in
debt. As for Lamartine, how can you expect a poet
to understand politics ? Ah ! 'tis all very well for you
to shake your head and to think that you have more
brains than others; all the same, what I say is true!
But you are always cavilling ; one can't get in a word
with you! For instance, there's Fournier- Fontaine,
who had stores at Saint-Roch ! do you know how
much he failed for ? Eight hundred thousand francs !

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 37

And Corner, the packer opposite to him — another Re-
publican, that one — he smashed the tongs on his wife's
head, and he drank so much absinthe that he is going
to be put into a private asylum. That's the way with
the lot of them — the Republicans ! A Republic at
twenty-five per cent. Ah ! plume yourself upon it ! "

Frederick took himself off. He was disgusted at
the foolishness of this girl, which revealed itself all at
once in the language of the populace. He felt himself
becoming a little patriotic once more.

The ill-temper of Rosanette only increased. Made-
moiselle Vatnaz irritated him with her enthusiasm.
Believing that she had a mission, she felt a furious
desire to make speeches, to carry on discussions, and
— sharper than Rosanette in matters of this sort — over-
whelmed her with arguments.

One day she made her appearance burning with in-
dignation against Hussonnet, who had just indulged
in some blackguard remarks at the Woman's Club.
Rosanette approved of his conduct, declaring that
she would take to men's clothes herself to go and
" give them a bit of her mind, the entire lot of them,
and to whip them."

Frederick entered at the same moment.

" You'll accompany me — won't you ? "

And, in spite of his presence, there was a bickering
match, one of them playing the part of a citizen's wife
and the other of a female philosopher.

According to Rosanette, women were born exclu-
sively for love, or in order to bring up children, to
be housekeepers.

According to Mademoiselle Vatnaz, women were en-
titled to a position in the Government. In former
times, the Gaulish women, and also the Anglo-Saxon
women, took part in the legislation ; the squaws of the

38 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Hurons formed a portion of the Council. The work of
civilisation was common to both. It was necessary
that all should contribute toward it, and that frater-
nity should be substituted for egoism, association for
individualism, and cultivation on a large scale for
minute subdivision of land.

" Come, that is good ! you know a great deal about
culture just now! "

" Why not ? " Besides, it is a question of the future
of humanity ! "

" Attend to your own business ! "

' This is my business ! "

They got into a passion. Frederick interposed. The
Vatnaz became very heated, and went so far as to up-
hold Communism.

" What nonsense ! " said Rosanette. " How could
such a thing ever come to pass ? "

The other brought forward in support of her theory
the examples of the Essenes, the Moravian Brethren,
the Jesuits of Paraguay, the family of the Pingons
near Thiers in Auvergne ; and, as she gesticulated
wildly, her gold chain became entangled in her bun-
dle of trinkets, to which was attached a gold orna-
ment in the form of a sheep.

Suddenly, Rosanette turned exceedingly pale.

Madame Vatnaz continued extricating her trinkets.

" Don't give yourself so much trouble," said Rosa-
nette. " Now, I know your political opinions."

" What ? " replied the Vatnaz, with a blush on her
face, like that of a virgin.

" Oh ! oh ! you understand me."

Frederick did not understand. Something had evi-
dently taken place between them of a more important
and intimate character than Socialism.

" And even though it should be so," said the Vat-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 39

naz in reply, rising up unflinchingly. " 'Tis a loan,
my dear — set off one debt against the other."

" Faith, I never deny my own debts. I owe some
thousands of francs — a nice sum. I borrow, at least;
I don't rob anyone."

Mademoiselle Vatnaz made an effort to laugh.

" Oh ! I would put my hand in the fire for him."

" Take care ! it is dry enough to burn."

The spinster extended her right hand, and keeping
it raised in front of her :

" But there are friends of yours who find it con-
venient to use."

" Andalusians, I suppose? as castanets?"

"You beggar!"

The Marechale made her a low bow.

" There's nobody so charming ! "

Mademoiselle Vatnaz did not reply. Beads of per-
spiration stood on her temples. Her eyes fixed them-
selves on the carpet. She panted for breath. At last
she reached the door, and slamming it vigorously:
" Good night ! You'll hear from me ! "

" Much I care ! " said Rosanette. The effort of
self-control had shattered her nerves. She sank down
on the divan, shaking all over, stammering forth words
of abuse, shedding tears. Was it this threat on the
part of the Vatnaz that had agitated her mind? Oh,
no ! what did she care, indeed, about that one ? It
was the golden sheep, a present, and in the midst of
her tears the name of Delmar escaped her lips. So,
then, she was still in love with the mummer?

" In that case, why did she take on with me ? "
Frederick asked himself. " How is it that he has
returned • again ? Who compels her to keep me ?
Where is the sense of this sort of thing? "

Rosanette was still sobbing. She lay all the time

40 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

on the edge of the divan, with her right cheek rest-
ing on her two hands, and she seemed a being so
dainty, so free from self-consciousness, and so sorely
troubled, that he drew closer to her and softly kissed
her on the forehead.

Thereupon she gave him assurances of her affec-
tion for him ; the Prince had just left her, they would
be free. But she was for the time being short of
money. " You saw yourself that this was so, the
other day, when I was trying to turn my old linings
to use." No more equipages now ! And this was
not all; the upholsterer was threatening to take pos-
session of the bedroom and the large drawing-room
furniture. She did not know what to do.

Frederick felt disposed to answer :

" Don't annoy yourself about it. I will pay."

But the lady knew how to lie. Experience had
enlightened him. He confined himself to mere ex-
pressions of sympathy.

Rosanette's fears were not unfounded. It was nec-
essary to give up the furniture and to quit the hand-
some apartment in the Rue Drouot. She took another
on the Boulevard Poissonniere, on the fourth floor.

The curiosities of her old boudoir were quite suf-
ficient to give to the three rooms a coquettish air.
There were Chinese blinds, a tent on the terrace, and
in the drawing-room a second-hand carpet still per-
fectly new, with ottomans covered with pink silk.
Frederick had contributed largely to these purchases.
He had felt the joy of a newly-married man who pos-
sesses at last a house of his own, a wife of his own —
and, being much pleased with the place, he slept there
nearly every evening.

One morning, as he was passing out through the
ante-room, he saw, on the third floor, on the stair-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 41

case, the shako of a National Guard who was as-
cending it. Where in the world was he going?

Frederick waited. The man continued his prog-
ress up the stairs, with his head slightly bent. He
raised his eyes. It was my lord Arnoux !

The situation was obvious. They both reddened
simultaneously, overcome by a feeling of embarrass-
ment common to both.

Arnoux was the first to find a way out of the diffi-
culty.

" She is better — is she not?" as if Rosanette were
ill, and he had come to inquire how she was.

Frederick took advantage of this opening.

" Yes, certainly ! at least, so I was told by her
maid," wishing to convey that he had not been al-
lowed to see her.

Then they stood facing each other, both unde-
cided as to what to do next, and eyeing each other
intently. The question now was, which of the two
would remain. Arnoux once more solved the prob-
lem.

" Pshaw ! I'll come back later. Where are you go-
ing ? I will go with you ! "

And, when they were in the street, he chatted as
naturally as usual. Unquestionably he was not a man
of jealous disposition, or else he was too good-natured
to get angry. Besides, his time was devoted to serv-
ing his country. He was never out of his uniform
now. On the twenty-ninth of March he had defended
the offices of the Presse. When the Chamber was in-
vaded, he distinguished himself by his courage, and
he was at the banquet given to the National Guard
at Amiens.

Hussonnet, who was still on duty with him, availed
himself of his flask and his cigars; but, irreverent by

42 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

nature, he delighted in contradicting him, disparaging
the somewhat inaccurate style of the decrees ; and de-
crying the conferences at the Luxembourg, the women
known as the " Vesuviennes," the political section
bearing the name of '" Tyroliens " ; everything, in fact,
down to the Car of Agriculture, drawn by horses to
the ox-market, and escorted by ill-favoured young
girls. Arnoux, on the other hand, upheld authority,
and dreamed of uniting the different parties. How-
ever, his own affairs had taken an unfavourable turn,
and he was more or less troubled about them.

He was not disturbed about Fredrick's relations
with the Marechale ; for this disocvery made him
feel justified (in his conscience) in withdrawing the
allowance which he had renewed since the Prince had
left her. He pleaded by way of excuse for this step
the embarrassed condition in which he found himself,
uttered many lamentations — and Rosanette was gen-
erous. The result was that M. Arnoux regarded him-
self as the lover who appealed entirely to the heart,
an idea that raised him in his own estimation and
made him feel young again. Having no doubt that
Frederick was paying the Marechale, he flattered him-
self that he was " playing a nice trick " on" the young
man. He called at the house in such a stealthy fash-
ion as to keep the other in ignorance of the fact, and
when they happened to meet, left the coast clear for
him.

Frederick was not pleased with this partnership,
and his rival's politeness seemed only an elaborate piece
of sarcasm. But by taking offence at it, he would
have removed every opportunity of ever finding his
way back to Madame Arnoux; and then, this was
the only means whereby he could hear about her move-
ments. The earthenware-dealer, in accordance with

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 43

his usual practice, or perhaps with some cunning de-
sign, mentioned her readily in the course of conver-
sation, and asked him why he no longer came to see
her.

Frederick, having exhausted every excuse he could
think of, assured him that he had called several times
to see Madame Arnoux, but without success. Ar-
noux believed this, for he had often referred in an
eager tone at home to the absence of their friend, and
she had invariably replied that she was out when he
called, so that these two lies, in place of contradict-
ing, corroborated each other.

The young man's gentle ways and the pleasure of
finding a dupe in him made Arnoux like him all the
better. He carried familiarity to its extreme limits,
not through disdain, but through assurance. One day
he wrote saying that urgent business compelled him
to be away in the country for twenty-four hours. He
begged of the young man to mount guard in his stead.
Frederick dared not refuse, so he repaired to the
guard-house in the Place du Carrousel.

He had to put up with the society of the National
Guards, and, with the exception of a sugar-refiner,
a witty fellow who drank to an inordinate extent,
they all appeared to him more stupid than their car-
tridge-boxes. The principal subject of conversation
amongst them was the 'substitution of sashes for belts.
Others declaimed against the national work-shops.

One man said :

"What is this leading to?"

The man to whom the words had been addressed
opened his eyes as if he were on the verge of an abyss.

" Where are we going ? "

Then, one who was more daring than the rest ex-
claimed :

44 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" It cannot last ! It must come to an end ! "

And as similar talk went on till night, Frederick
was bored to death.

Great was his surprise when, at eleven o'clock, he
suddenly beheld Arnoux, who explained that he had
hurried back to set him at liberty, having disposed of
his business.

The fact was that he had no business to transact.
The whole thing was made up to enable him to spend
twenty-four hours alone with Rosanette. But the
worthy Arnoux had placed too much confidence in
his own powers, so that, now in the state of lassitude
which was the result, he was seized with remorse. He
had come to thank Frederick, and to invite him to
supper.

" A thousand thanks ! I'm not hungry. All I want
is to go to bed."

" A reason the more for having a snack together.
How flabby you are ! One does not go home at such
an hour as this. It is too late! It would be dan-
gerous ! "

Frederick once more yielded. Arnoux was quite a
favourite with his brethren-in-arms, who had not ex-
pected to see him — and he was a particular crony of
the refiner. They all liked him, and he was such a
good fellow that he was sorry Hussonnet was not
there. But he wanted to shut -his eyes for one min-
ute, no longer.

" Sit down beside me ! " said he to Frederick,
stretching himself on the camp-bed without removing
his belt and straps. Through fear of an alarm, in
spite of the regulation, he even kept his gun in his
hand. He stammered out some words:

" My darling ! my little angel ! " and ere long was
fast asleep.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 45

Those who had been conversing became silent ; and
gradually there was a deep silence in the guard-house.
Frederick, tormented by the fleas, kept staring about
him. The wall, painted yellow, had, half-way up, a
long shelf, on which the knapsacks formed a suc-
cession of little humps, while underneath, the lead-
coloured muskets rose up side by side ; and there could
be heard a succession of snores, produced by the Na-
tional Guards, whose stomachs were outlined through
the darkness in a confused fashion. On the top of
the stove stood an empty bottle and some plates.
Three straw chairs were ranged around the table, on
which a pack of cards was displayed. A drum, in the
middle of the bench, had its strap hanging down.

A warm breath of air making its way through the
door caused the lamp to smoke. Arnoux slept with
his two arms wide apart ; and, as his gun was in a
slightly crooked position, with the butt-end downward,
the mouth of the barrel came up right under his arm.
Frederick noticed this, and was alarmed.

" But, no, it's impossible, there's nothing to be
afraid of ! And yet, suppose he met his death ! "

And immediately pictures unrolled themselves be-
fore his mind in endless succession.

He saw himself with her at night in a post-chaise,
then on a river's bank on a summer's evening, and
again, under the reflection of a lamp at home in their
own house. He even thought of household expenses
and domestic arrangements, contemplating, feeling al-
ready his happiness between his hands ; and in order
to realise it, all that was needed was that the cock of
the gun should rise. The end of it could be pushed
with one's toe, the gun would go off — it would be a
mere accident — nothing more !

Frederick brooded over this idea like a playwright

46 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

in the agonies of composition. Suddenly it seemed
to him that it was about to be carried into practical
operation, and that he was going to contribute to that
result — that, in fact, he was yearning for it; and then
a feeling of absolute terror took possession of him.
In the midst of this mental distress he experienced
a sense of pleasure, and he allowed himself to sink
deeper and deeper into it, with a dreadful conscious-
ness all the time that his scruples were weakening. In
the wildness of his reverie the rest of the world be-
come effaced, and he only realised that he was still
alive by the intolerable oppression on his chest.

" Let us take a drop of white wine ! " said the re-
finer, as he awoke.

Arnoux sprang to his feet, and, as soon as the white
wine was swallowed, he offered to relieve Frederick of
his sentry duty.

Then he took him to breakfast in the Rue de
Chartres, at Parly's, and as he required to recuperate
his energies, he ordered two dishes of meat, a lobster,
an omelet with rum, a salad, etc., and finished this
off with a brand of Sauterne of 1819 and one of '42
Romance, not to speak of the champagne at dessert
and the liqueurs.

Frederick did not in any way gainsay him. He
was disturbed in mind as if by the thought that the
other might somehow detect on his countenance the
idea that had lately flitted before his imagination.
With both elbows on the table and his head bent for-
ward, so that Frederick felt annoyed by his fixed stare,
he confided some of his hobbies to the young man.

He wanted to obtain for farming purposes all the
embankments on the Northern line, in order to plant
potatoes there, or else to organise on the boulevards
a monster cavalcade in which the celebrities of the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 47

period would figure. He would let all the windows,
which would, at the rate of three francs for each per-
son, produce a handsome profit. In short, he dreamed
of making a great fortune by means of a monopoly.
He assumed a moral tone, nevertheless, found fault
with excesses and all sorts of misconduct, spoke about
his " poor father," and every evening, as he said, made
an examination of his conscience before offering his
soul to God.

" A little curacao, eh ? "

" Just as you please."

As for the Republic, things would adjust them-
selves ; in fact, he considered himself the happiest man
on earth ; and forgetting himself, he exalted Rosa-
nette's attractive qualities, and even compared her
with his wife. It was quite a different thing, of
course. You could not imagine a lovelier person !

" Your health ! "

Frederick touched glasses with him. He had, out
of complaisance, drunk a little too much. Besides,
the strong sunlight dazzled him ; and when they
walked up the Rue Vivienne together again, their
shoulders touched in a fraternal fashion.

When he got home, Frederick slept till seven
o'clock. Then he called on the Marechale. She was
out with somebody — with Arnoux, perhaps ! Not
knowing what to do with himself, he continued his
promenade along the boulevard, but could not pass
the Porte Saint-Martin, owing to the immense crowd
that blocked the way.

Want had abandoned to their own resources a con-
siderable number of workmen, and they came there
every evening, no doubt for the purpose of holding
a review and awaiting a signal.

In spite of the law against riotous assemblies, these

48 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

clubs of despair increased to a frightful extent. Many
citizens repaired every day to the spot through bra-
vado, and because it was the fashion.

All of a sudden Frederick caught a glimpse, three
paces away, of M. Dambreuse along with Martinon.
He turned his head away, for on account of M. Dam-
breuse having got himself nominated as a representa-
tive of the people, he cherished a secret spite against
him. But the capitalist stopped him.

" One word, my dear Monsieur ! I have some ex-
planations to make to you."

" I am not asking for any."

" Pray listen to me ! "

It was not his fault in any way. Appeals haa been
made to him ; pressure had, to a 'certain extent, been
placed on him. Martinon immediately endorsed all
that he said. Some of the electors of Nogent had pre-
sented themselves in a deputation at his house.

" Besides, I expected to be free as soon as —

A crush of people on the footpath forced M. Dam-
breuse to get out of the way. A minute after he re-
gained his place, saying to Martinon:

" This is a genuine service, really, and you won't
have any reason to regret "

All three stood with their backs against a shop in
order to be able to chat more at their ease.

From time to time there was a cry of, " Long live
Napoleon ! Long live Barbes ! Down with Marie ! "

The countless throng kept talking very loudly ; and
all these voices, echoing through the houses, made
so to speak, the continuous ripple of waves in a har-
bour. At intervals they ceased; and then could be
heard voices singing the Marseillaise.

Under the court-gates, men of mysterious appear-
ance offered sword-sticks to those who passed. Some-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 49

times two individuals, one of whom preceded the
other, would wink, and then quickly hurry away. The
footpaths were filled with groups of staring idlers. A
dense crowd swayed to and fro on the pavement. En-
tire bands of police-officers, emerging from the alleys,
had scarcely made their way into the midst of the
multitude when they were swallowed up in the mass
of people. Little red flags here and there looked like
flames. Coachmen, from their high seats, gesticulated
energetically, and then turned to go back. It was a
scene of perpetual movement — one of the strangest
sights that could be conceived.

" How all this," said Martinon, " would have
amused Mademoiselle Cecile ! "

" My wife, as you know, does not like my niece to
come with us," returned M. Dambreuse with a smile.

One could scarcely recognise in him the same man.
For the past three months he had been crying, " Long
live the Republic ! " and he had even voted in favour
of the banishment of Orleans. But there should be
an end of concessions. He exhibited his indignation
so far as to carry a tomahawk in his pocket.

Martinon had one, too. The magistracy not being
any longer irremovable, he had withdrawn from Par-
quet, so that he surpassed M. Dambreuse in his dis-
play of violence.

The banker had a special antipathy to Lamartine
(for having supported Ledru-Rollin) and, at the same
time, to Pierre Leroux, Proudhon, Considerant, La-
mennais, and all the cranks, all the Socialists.

" For, in fact, what is it they want ? The duty on
meat and arrest for debt have been abolished. Now
the project of a bank for mortgages is under consid-
eration ; the other day it was a national bank ; and
there are five millions in the Budget for the working-

50 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

men ! But luckily, it is over, thanks to Monsieur de
Falloux ! Good-bye to them ! let them go ! "

Not knowing how to maintain the three hundred
thousand men in the national workshops, the Minis-
ter of Public Works had that very day signed an
order inviting all citizens between the ages of eighteen
and twenty to take service as soldiers, or else to go to
the provinces and cultivate the ground there.

They were indignant at the alternative thus put be-
fore them, convinced that the object was to destroy
the Republic. They were aggrieved at having to live
at a distance from the capital, as if it were a kind of
exile. They pictured themselves dying of fevers in
desolate parts of the country. To many of them, more-
over, who had been accustomed to work of a refined
description, agriculture seemed a degradation ; it was,
in short, a mockery, a decisive breach of all the prom-
ises which had been made to them. If they offered
any resistance, force would be employed against them.
They had no doubt of this, and made preparations to
anticipate it.

About nine o'clock the riotous assemblies which
had gathered at the Bastille and at the Chatelet ebbed
back toward the boulevard. From the Porte Saint-
Denis to the Porte Saint-Martin nothing could be dis-
cerned save an enormous swarm of people, a single
mass of a dark blue shade, nearly black. The men
of whom one caught a glimpse all had glowing eyes,
pale complexions, faces emaciated with hunger and
excited with a sense of injustice.

Meanwhile clouds had gathered. The tempestuous
sky roused the electricity that was in the people, and
they kept whirling about of their own accord with
the great swaying movements of a swelling sea, and
one felt that there was an incalculable force in the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 51

depths of this excited throng, and as it were, the en-
ergy of an element. Then they all began shouting:
" Lamps ! lamps ! " Many windows had no illumina-
tion, and stones were flung at the panes. M. Dam-
breuse deemed it prudent to withdraw from the scene.
The two young men accompanied him home. He pre-
dicted great disasters. The people might once more
invade the Chamber, and he told them how he should
have been killed on the fifteenth of May had it not
been for the devotion of a National Guard.

" But I had forgotten ! he is a friend of yours — the
earthenware manufacturer — Jacques Arnoux ! " The
rioters had been actually throttling him, when that
brave citizen caught him in his arms and dragged him
out of their reach.

Since then, there had been a kind of intimacy be-
tween them.

" One of these days they would dine together, and,
since you often see him, give him the assurance that
I like him very much. He is an excellent man, and
has, in my opinion, been slandered ; and he has his wits
about him in the morning. My compliments once
more ! A very good evening ! "

Frederick, after he had left M. Dambreuse, went
back to the Marechale, and in a very gloomy fashion,
said that she could choose between him and Arnoux.
She replied that she did not understand " dumps of
this sort," that she did not care about Arnoux, and
had no desire to be with ihm. Frederick was thirst-
ing to fly from Paris. She offered no opposition to
this whim ; and next morning they set out for Fon-
tainebleau.

The hotel at which they stayed could be distin-
guished from others by a fountain that rippled in the
middle of the courtyard attached to it. The doors of

52 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the various apartments opened out on a corridor, as
in monasteries. The room assigned to them was large,
well-furnished, hung with print, and noiseless, owing
to the scarcity of tourists. Alongside the houses, peo-
ple who had nothing to do passed up and down ; then,
under their windows, at the close of the day, children
in the street would engage in a game of base. This
tranquillity, following so soon the tumult they had
witnessed in Paris, filled them with astonishment and
exercised over them a soothing influence.

Every morning at an early hour, they paid a visit
to the Chateau. As they passed in through the gate,
they had a view of its entire front, with the five pa-
vilions covered with sharp-pointed roofs, and its stair-
case of horseshoe-shape opening into the end of the
courtyard, which is hemmed in, to right and left, by
two main portions of the building further down. On
the paved ground lichens blended their colours here
and there with the tawny hue of bricks, and the en-
tire appearance of the palace, rust-coloured like old
armour, had about it something of the impassive-
ness of royalty — a sort of warlike, melancholy gran-
deur.

At last, a man-servant would make his appearance
with a bunch of keys. He first showed them the
apartments of the queens, the Pope's oratory, the gal-
lery of Francis I, the mahogany table on which the
Emperor signed his abdication, and in one of the
rooms cut in two the old Galerie des Cerfs, the place
where Christine got Monaldeschi assassinated. Rosa-
nette listened to this narrative attentively, then, turn-
ing toward Frederick :

" No doubt it was through jealousy ! Mind your-
self ! " After this they passed through the Council
Chamber, the Guards' Room, the Throne Room, and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 53

the drawing-room of Louis XIII. The uncurtained
windows admitted a white light. The handles of the
window- fastenings and the copper feet of the pier-
tables were slightly tarnished with dust. The arm-
chairs were covered with coarse linen covers. Above
the doors could be seen reliquaries of Louis XIV, and
here and there hangings representing the gods of
Olympus, Psyche, or the battles of Alexander.

As she was passing in front of the mirrors, Rosa-
nette stopped for a moment to smooth her head-bands.

After going through the donjon-court and the Saint-
Saturnin Chapel, they reached the Festal Hall.

They were dazzled by the magnificence of the ceil-
ing, which was divided into octagonal sections set off
with gold and silver, more finely chiselled than a jewel,
and by the vast number of paintings covering the
wralls, from the immense chimney-piece, where the
arms of France were surrounded by crescents and
quivers, down to the musicians' gallery, which had
been erected at the other end along the entire width
of the hall. The ten arched windows were wide open ;
the sun threw its lustre on the pictures, so that they
glowed beneath its rays ; the blue sky continued in an
endless curve the ultramarine of the arches ; and from
the depths of the woods, where the lofty summits of
the trees filled up the horizon, there seemed to come
an echo of flourishes from ivory trumpets, and myth-
ological ballets, together under the foliage princesses
and nobles disguised as nymphs or fauns — an epoch
of ingenuous science, of violent passions, and sumptu-
ous art, \vhen the ideal was to eliminate the world in
a vision of the Hesperides, and when the mistresses
of kings mingled their glory with the stars. There
was a portrait of one of the most beautiful of these
celebrated women in the form of Diana the hunt-

54 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ress, and even as the Infernal Diana, on doubt in
order to indicate the power which she wielded even be-
yond the limits of the tomb. All these symbols con-
firmed her glory, and there hovered about the spot
something of her, an indistinct voice, a radiation that
stretched out indefinitely. A feeling of mysterious
retrospective voluptuousness took possession of Fred-
erick.

In order to divert these passionate longings into
another channel, he gazed tenderly on Rosanette, and
asked her would she not like to have been this woman ?

" What woman? "

" Diane de Poitiers ! "

He repeated :

" Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry the Second."

She gave utterance to a little " Ah ! " that was all.

Her silence demonstrated that she knew nothing
about the matter, and did not comprehend his mean-
ing, so that out of complaisance he said to her:

" Perhaps you are getting tired of this ? "

" No, no — quite the reverse." And lifting up her
chin, and casting around her a vague glance, Rosa-
nette said :

" It recalls some memories to me ! "

Meanwhile, it was easy to trace on her counte-
nance a strained expression, a certain sense of awe;
and, as this air of gravity made her look all the pret-
tier, Frederick enjoyed it.

The carps' pond amused her more. For a quarter
of an hour she kept flinging pieces of bread into the
water in order to see the fishes jumping about.

Frederick had seated himself by her side under the
linden-trees. He saw in imagination all the person-
ages who had haunted these walls — Charles V, the
Valois kings, Henry IV, Peter the Great, Jean

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 55

Jacques Rousseau, and " the fair mourners of the
stage-boxes," Voltaire, Napoleon, Pius VII, and
Louis Philippe; and he felt himself surrounded, el-
bowed, by these tumultuous dead people. He was
stunned by such a confusion of historic figures, even
though he found a certain fascination in contem-
plating them, nevertheless.

Presently they descended into the flower-garden.

It is a vast rectangle, which presents to the spec-
tator, at the first glance, its wide yellow walks, its
square grass-plots, its ribbons of box-wood, its yew-
trees shaped like pyramids, its low-lying greenswards,
and its narrow borders, in which thinly-sown flowers
edge the grey soil. At the end of the garden may
be seen a park through whose entire length a canal
makes its way.

Royal residences have connected with them a pecu-
liar kind of melancholy, due, no doubt, to their dimen-
sions being much too large for the limited number of
guests entertained within them, to the silence which
one feels astonished to find in them after so many
flourishes of trumpets, to the immobility of their lux-
urious furniture, which symbolises by its age and de-
cay the transitory character of dynasties, the eternal
wretchedness of all things ; and this exhalation of the
centuries, enervating and funereal, like the perfume
of a mummy, impresses even untutored brains. Rosa-
nette yawned immoderately. They went back to the
hotel.

After breakfast an open carriage came round for
them. They set out from Fontainebleau at a point
where several roads diverged, then ascended at a walk-
ing pace a gravelly road leading toward a little pine-
wood. The trees became larger, and, from time to
time, the driver would say, " This is the Freres Sia-

56 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

mois, the Pharamond, the Bouquet de Roi," not for-
getting- a single one of these notable sites, sometimes
even drawing up to enable them to admire the view.

They entered the forest of Franchard. The car-
riage glided over the grass like a sledge ; pigeons
which were not in sight began cooing. Suddenly, the
waiter of a cafe made his appearance, and they alighted
before the railing of a garden in which a number of
round tables were placed. Then, passing on the left
by the walls of a ruined abbey, they made their way
over big boulders of stone and soon reached the
lower part of the gorge.

It is covered on one side with sandstones and juni-
per-trees tangled together, while on the other side
the ground, almost bare, inclines toward the hollow of
the valley, where a foot-track makes a pale line
through the brown heather; and far above could be
distinguished a flat cone-shaped summit with a tele-
graph-tower behind it.

Half an hour later they stepped out of the vehicle
once more, to climb the heights of Aspremont.

The roads form zigzags between the thick-set pine-
trees under rocks with angular faces. All this cor-
ner of the forest has a sort of choked-up look — a wild
and solitary aspect. One is reminded of hermits —
companions of huge stags with fiery crosses between
their horns, who were wont to welcome with paternal
smiles the good kings of France when they knelt be-
fore their grottoes. The warm air was filled with a
resinous odour, and roots of trees crossed one another
like veins close to the soil. Rosanette stumbled over
them, grew dejected, and felt inclined to shed tears.

But, at the very top, she became joyous once more
on finding, under a roof made of branches, a sort of
tavern where carved wood was sold. She drank a bot-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 57

tie of lemonade, and bought a holly-stick; and, with-
out one glance toward the landscape which disclosed
itself from the plateau, she entered the Brigands' Cave,
with a waiter carrying a torch in front of her. Their
carriage awaited them in the Bas Breau.

A painter in a blue blouse was working at the foot
of an oak-tree with his box of colours on his knees.
He raised his head and watched them as they passed.

In the middle of the hill of Chailly, the sudden
breaking of a cloud necessitated the turning up of the
hoods of their cloaks. Almost immediately the rain
stopped, and the paving-stones of the street glistened
under the sun as they reentered the town.

Some travellers, who had recently arrived, informed
them that a terrible battle had stained Paris with
blood. Rosanette and her lover were not surprised.
Then everybody left; the hotel became quiet, the gas
was put out, and they were lulled to sleep by the
murmur of the fountain in the courtyard.

On the following day they went to see the Wolf's
Gorge, the Fairies' Pool, the Long Rock, and the
Marlottc. Two days later, they began driving again
at random, just where their coachman thought fit to
take them, without asking where they were, and often
even neglecting the famous sites.

They felt so comfortable in their old landau, low
as a sofa, and covered with a rug made of a striped
material which was quite faded. The moats, filled
with brushwood, stretched out under their eyes with
a gentle, continuous movement. White rays gleamed
like arrows through the tall ferns. Sometimes a road
no longer in use presented itself before them, in a
straight line, and here and there might be seen a
feeble growth of weeds. In the centre between four
cross-roads, a crucifix extended its four arms. In

58 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

other places, stakes were bending down like dead
trees, and little curved paths, which were hidden under
the leaves, made them feel a longing to pursue them.
At the same moment the horse turned round ; they
entered there; they plunged into the mire. Further
down moss had sprouted out at the sides of the deep
ruts.

They believed that they were far away from every-
body, quite alone. But suddenly a game-keeper with
his gun, or a band of ragged women, with big bun-
dles of faggots strapped on their backs, would hurry
past them.

When the carriage stopped, there was a universal
silence. The only sounds were the blowing of the
horse in the shafts or the faint cry of a bird more
than once repeated.

The light at certain points illuminating the out-
skirts of the wood, left the interior in deep shadow,
or else, attenuated in the foreground by a sort of twi-
light, it exhibited in the background violet vapours, a
white radiance. The midday sun, falling directly on
wide tracts of greenery, made splashes of light over
them, hung gleaming drops of silver from the ends
of the branches, streaked the grass with long lines of
emeralds, and flung golden spots on the beds of dead
leaves. Looking upward, they could distinguish the
sky through the tops of the trees. Some of them,
which were enormously high, looked like patriarchs
or emperors, or, touching one another at their ex-
tremities formed with their long shafts, as it were,
triumphal arches; others springing forth obliquely
from below, seemed like falling columns. This heap
of big vertical lines gaped open. Then, enormous
green billows unrolled themselves in unequal emboss-
ments as far as the surface of the valleys, toward

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 59

which advanced the brows of other hills looking down
on white plains, which finally lost themselves in an
undefined pale tinge.

Standing side by side, on some rising ground, they
felt, as they drank in the air, the pride of a fuller life
penetrating into the depths of their souls, with a sup-
erabundance of energy, a joy which they could not
explain.

The variety of trees furnished a spectacle of the
most diversified character. The smooth, white-barked
beeches twisted their tops together. Ash trees softly
curved their bluish branches. In the tufts of the
hornbeams rose up holly stiff as bronze. Then came
a row of thin birches, bent into elegiac attitudes; and
the pine-trees, symmetrical as organ pipes, seemed to
be singing as they swayed to and fro. There were gi-
gantic oaks with knotted forms, which had been vio-
lently shaken, stretched out from the soil and pressed
close against each other, and with firm trunks re-
sembling torsos, launched forth to heaven despairing
appeals with their bare arms and furious threats, like
a group of Titans struck rigid in the midst of their
rage. An atmosphere of gloom, a feverish languor,
brooded over the pools, whose sheets of water were
cut into flakes by the overshadowing thorn-trees. The
lichens on their banks, where the wolves come to
drink, are of the colour of sulphur, burnt, as it were,
by the footprints of witches, and the incessant croak-
ing of the frogs responds to the cawing of the crows
as they wheel through the air. Then they passed
through the monotonous glades planted here and
there with a staddle. The sound of iron falling with
a succession of rapid blows could be heard. On the
side of the hill a group of quarrymen were breaking
the rocks. These rocks became more and more nu-

60 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

merous and finally filled up the entire landscape, cube-
shaped like houses, flat like flag-stones, propping up,
overhanging, and becoming intermingled with each
other, as if they were the ruins, unrecognisable and
monstrous, of some vanished city. But this wild chaos
reminded one rather of volcanoes, of deluges, of great
unknown cataclysms. Frederick said they had been
there since the beginning of the world, and would re-
main so till the end. Rosanette turned aside her head,
declaring that it would drive her out of her mind, and
went off to collect sweet heather. The little violet
blossoms, heaped up near one another, formed un-
equal surfaces, and the soil, which was giving way
underneath, formed soft dark fringes on the sand
spangled with mica.

One day they reached a point half-way up a hill,
where the soil was full of sand. Its surface, untrod-
den till now, was streaked, and resembled symmetrical
waves. Here and there, like promontories on the dry
bed of an ocean, rose up rocks with the vague out-
lines of animals, tortoises thrusting forward their
heads, crawling seals, hippopotami, and bears. Not
a soul near them. Not a single sound. The shingle
glowed under the dazzling rays of the sun, and all at
once in this vibration of light these specimens of the
brute creation began to move before their eyes. They
returned home quickly, flying from the dizziness that
had seized hold of them, almost dismayed at their own
fancies.

The gravity of the forest influenced them, and
hours passed in silence, during which, allowing them-
selves to yield to the lulling effects of springs, they
remained as it were sunk in the torpor of a calm in-
toxication. With his arm around her waist, he listened
to her talking while the birds were warbling, noticed

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 61

with the same glance the black grapes on her bonnet
and the juniper-berries, the draperies of her veil, and
the spiral forms assumed by the clouds, and when he
bent toward her the freshness of her skin blended
with the strong perfume of the woods. Everything
amused them. They showed one another, as a curi-
osity, gossamer threads of the Virgin hanging from
bushes, holes full of water in the middle of stones, a
squirrel on the branches, the way in which two but-
terflies kept following them ; or else, at twenty paces
from them, under the trees, a hind strode on peace-
fully, with an air of nobility and gentleness, its doe
walking by its side.

Rosanette would have liked to run after it to em-
brace it. . '

She got very much alarmed once, when a man, sud-
denly presenting himself, showed her three vipers in
a box. She wildly flung herself on Frederick's breast.
He felt happy at the thought that she was weak and
that he was strong enough to protect her.

One evening they dined at an inn on the banks of
the Seine. The table was near the window ; Rosa-
nette sat opposite him, and he contemplated her little
well-shaped white nose, her turned-up lips, her bright
eyes, the swelling bands of her nut-brown hair, and
her pretty oval face. Her dress of raw silk clung to
her somewhat drooping shoulders, and her two hands,
emerging from their sleeves, joined close together as
if they were one — carved, poured out wine, moved
over the table-cloth. The waiter placed before them
a chicken with its four limbs stretched out, a stew of
eels in a dish of pipe-clay, wine that had got spoiled,
bread that was too hard, and knives with notches in
them. All these things made the repast more enjoy-
able and heightened the illusion. They fancied them-

62 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

selves in the middle of a journey in Italy on their
honeymoon. Before starting again they went for a
walk along the bank of the river.

The soft blue dome-like sky, touched at the horizon
on the indentations of the woods. On the opposite
side, at the end of the meadow, was a village steeple ;
and further away, to the left, the roof of a house made
a red splash on the river, which wound its way with-
out any apparent motion. Some rushes bent over it,
and the water lightly shook some poles fixed at its
edge in order to hold nets. An osier bow-net and
two or three old fishing-boats were to be seen. Near
the inn a girl in a straw hat was drawing buckets out
of a well. Every time they came up, Frederick heard
the grating sound of the chain with a feeling of in-
expressible delight.

He had no doubt that he would be happy till the
end of his days, so natural did his felicity appear to
him, so much a part of his life, and so intimately as-
sociated with this woman's being. He was irresist-
ibly impelled to address her with words of endear-
ment. She answered with pretty little speeches, gentle
taps on the shoulder, displays of tenderness that
charmed him by their unexpectedness. He discovered
in her quite a new sort of beauty, which, perhaps, was
only the reflection of surrounding things, unless in-
deed it happened to bud forth from hidden poten-
tialities.

Sometimes they lay down in the middle of the
field, and he would stretch himself out with his head
on her lap, under the shelter of her parasol ; or else
with their faces turned toward the greensward, in the
centre of which they rested, they gazed, toward each
other till their pupils seemed to intermingle, thirst-
ing for each other and ever satiating their thirst, and

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 63

then with half-closed eyelids they lay side by side
without uttering a single word.

Xow and then the distant rolling of a drum reached
their ears. It was the signal-drum which was being
beaten in the different villages calling on people to go
to the defence of Paris.

" Oh ! 'tis the rising ! " said Frederick, with a dis-
dainful pity, all this excitement now presenting to his
mind a pitiful aspect by comparison with their love and
eternal nature.

And they talked about whatever happened to come
into their heads, things that were perfectly familiar to
them, persons in whom they took no interest, a thou-
sand trifles. She chatted about her chambermaid and
her hairdresser. One day she was so self-forgetful
that she told him her age — twenty-nine years. She
was becoming quite an old woman.

Several times, almost unconsciously, she gave him
some particulars with reference to her own life. She
had been a " shop girl," had taken a trip to England,
and had begun studying for the stage ; all this she
told without any explanation of how these changes
had come about ; and he found it impossible to recon-
struct her entire history.

She related still more about herself one day when
they were seated side by side under a plane-tree at
the back of a meadow. At the road-side, further
down, a little barefooted girl, standing amid a heap
of dust, was driving a cow to pasture. As soon as
she caught sight of them she came up to beg, and
while with one hand she held up her tattered petti-
coat, she kept scratching with the other her black
hair, which, like a wig of Louis XIV's time, curled
round her dark face, lighted by a magnificent pair
of eves.

64 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" She will be very pretty later," said Frederick.

" How lucky she is if she has no mother ! " re-
marked Rosanette.

"Eh? How is that?"

" Certainly. I, if it were not for mine "

She sighed, and began to talk about her childhood.
Her parents were weavers in the Croix Rousse. She
acted as an apprentice to her father. In vain did the
poor man wear himself out with hard work; his wife
was continually abusing him, and sold everything for
drink. Rosanette could see, as if it were yesterday,
the room they occupied, with the looms ranged length-
wise against the windows, the pot boiling on the
stove, the bed painted to represent mahogany, a cup-
board facing it, and the obscure loft where she used
to sleep up to the time when she was fifteen years old.
A length a gentleman made his appearance on the
scene — a fat man with a face the colour of boxwood,
the manners of a devotee, and a suit of black clothes.
Her mother and this man had a conversation to-
gether, with the result that three days afterward —
Rosanette stopped, and with a look in which there was
as much bitterness as shamelessness :

" It was done ! "

Then, in response to a gesture of Frederick:

" As he was married (he would have been afraid
of compromising himself in his own house), I was
brought to a private room in a restaurant, and told
that I would be very happy, and would get a hand-
some present.

"At the door, the first thing that struck me was
a candelabrum of vermilion on a table, on which
there were two covers. A mirror on the ceiling re-
flected them, and the blue silk hangings on the walls
made the entire apartment resemble an alcove ; I was

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 65

overcome with astonishment. You understand — a
poor creature who had never seen anything before.
In spite of my dazed condition of mind, I got fright-
ened. I wanted to go away. However, I remained.

" The only seat in the room was a sofa close be-
side the table. It was so soft that it yielded under me.
The mouth of the hot-air stove in the middle of the
carpet emitted toward me a warm breath, and there I
sat without taking anything. The waiter, who was
standing near me, urged me to eat. He poured out
for me a large glass of wine. My head began to
swim, I wanted to open the window. He said to me:

" ' No, Mademoiselle ! that is forbidden.' "

" And he left me.

'' The table was laden with a heap of things that I
had no knowledge of. Nothing there seemed to me
good. Then I fell back on a pot of jam, and patiently
waited. I did not know what prevented him from
coming. It was very late — midnight at last — I
couldn't bear the fatigue any longer. While pushing
aside one of the pillows, in order to hear better, I
found under my hand a kind of album — a book of en-
gravings, they were vulgar pictures. I was asleep
on top of it when he entered the room."

She hung down her head and remained pensive.

The leaves rustled around them. Amid the tangled
grass a great foxglove swayed to and fro. The sun-
light swept like a wave over the green expanse, and
the silence was interrupted at intervals only by the
browsing of the cow, which they could no longer see.

Rosanette kept her eyes fixed on a particular spot,
three paces away from her, her nostrils heaving, and
her mind absorbed in thought. Frederick caught hold
of her hand.

" How you suffered, poor darling ! "

66 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Yes," said she, " more than you imagine ! So
much so that I tried to make an end of it — they had
to fish me up ! "

"What?"

" Ah ! think no more about it ! I love you, I am
happy ! kiss me ! "

And she picked off, one by one, the sprigs of the
thistles which clung to her gown.

Frederick was thinking more than all on what she
had not told him. By what means had she gradually
emerged from wretchedness? To what lover did she
owe her education? What had occurred in her life
down to the day when he first came to her house?
Her latest avowal was a bar to these questions. All
he asked her was how she had made Arnoux's ac-
quaintance.

" Through the Vatnaz."

" Wasn't it you that I once saw with both of them
at the Palais-Royal ? "

He mentioned the exact date. Rosanette made a
movement which showed a sense of deep pain.

" Yes, it is true ! I was not gay at that time ! "

But Arnoux had proved himself a very good fel-
low. Frederick had no doubt of it. However, their
friend was a queer character, full of faults. He took
care to recall them all. She quite agreed with him
on this point.

" Never mind ! One likes him, all the same, this
camel ! "

" Still — even now ? " said Frederick.

She reddened, half smiling, half angry.

" Oh, no ! that's an old story. I don't keep any-
thing hidden from you. Even though it might be so,
with him it is different. Besides, I don't think you
are nice toward your victim ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 67

" My victim ! "

Rosanette caught hold of his chin.

" No doubt ! "

And in the lisping fashion in which nurses talk to
babies :

" Have always been so good ! Never went a-by-
by with his wife? "

" I ! never at any time ! "

Rosanette smiled. He felt hurt by that smile of hers,
which seemed to him an evidence of indifference.

But she went on gently, and with one of those looks
which seem to appeal for a denial of the truth:

" Are you perfectly certain ? "

" Not a doubt abo'ut it ! "

Frederick solemnly declared on his word of honour
that he had never bestowed a thought on Madame
Arnoux, as he was far too much in love with another
woman.

" With whom, pray?"

" Why, with you, my beautiful one ! "

" Ah ! don't laugh at me ! You only annoy me ! "

He thought it a prudent course to invent a story
— to pretend that he was swayed by a passion. He
made up some circumstantial details. This woman,
however, had rendered him very unhappy.

" Decidedly, you have not been lucky," said Rosa-
nette.

" Oh ! oh ! I may have been ! " wishing to convey
that he had been often fortunate in his love-affairs,
so that she might have a better opinion of him, just
as Rosanette did not confess how many lovers she had
had, in order that he might have more respect for her
— for there will always be found in the midst of the
most intimate confidences restrictions, false shame,
delicacy, and pity. You divine either in the other or

68 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

in yourself precipices or miry paths which deter you
from penetrating any farther ; moreover, you feel that
you will not be understood. It is difficult to express
accurately the thing you mean, whatever it may be;
and this is the reason why perfect unions are rare.

The poor Marechale had never known one better
than this. Often, when she gazed at Frederick, tears
came into her eyes ; then she would raise them or
cast a glance toward the horizon, as if she saw there
some bright dawn, perspectives of boundless felicity.
At last, she confessed one day to him that she would
like to have a mass said, " so that it might bring a
blessing on our love."

How was it, then, that she had resisted him so
long? She could not tell herself. He repeated his
question a great many times; and she replied, as she
clasped him in her arms :

" It was because I was afraid, my darling, of lov-
ing you too well ! "

On Sunday morning, Frederick read, amongst the
list of the wounded in the newspaper, the name of
Dussardier. He uttered a cry, and showing the paper
to Rosanette, declared that he would start at once for
Paris.

"For what purpose?"

" In order to see him, to nurse him ! "

" You are not going, I'm sure, to leave me by my-
self?"

" Come with me ! "

" Ha ! to poke my nose in a squabble of that sort ?
Oh, no, thanks ! "

" However, I cannot "

" Ta ! ta ! ta ! as if they had need of nurses in the
hospitals ! And then, what concern is he of yours
now ? Everyone for himself ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 69

He was roused to indignation by this egoism on her
part, and he reproached himself for not being in Paris
with the others. Such indifference to the misfortunes
of the nation had in it something shabby, and only
worthy of a small shopkeeper. And now, all of a sud-
den, his intrigue with Rosanette weighed on his mind
as if it were a crime. For an hour they were quite
cool toward each other.

Then she implored him to wait, and not expose him-
self to danger.

" Suppose you happen to be killed?"

" Well, I should only have done my duty ! "

Rosanette gave a jump. His first duty was to love
her ; but perhaps he did not care about her any longer.
There was no common sense in what he was going to
do. Good heavens ! what an idea !

Frederick rang for his bill. But to return to Paris
was no easy matter. The Leloir stage-coach had just
left ; the Lecomte berlins would not be starting ; the
diligence from Bourbonnais would not be passing till
a late hour that night, and perhaps it might be full,
one could never tell. When he had lost a great deal
of time in making inquiries about the various modes of
conveyance, the idea occurred to him to travel post.
The master of the post-house refused to supply him
with horses, as Frederick had no passport. Finally,
he hired an open carriage — the same one in which they
had driven about the country — and at about five o'clock
they reached the Hotel du Commerce at Melun.

The market-place was covered with piles of arms.
The prefect had forbidden the National Guards to
proceed toward Paris. Those who did not belong to
his department wished to go on. There was a great
deal of shouting, and the inn was packed with a noisy
crowd.

70 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Rosanette, terrified, said she would not go a step
further, and once more begged of him to stay. The
innkeeper and his wife joined in her entreaties. A
decent sort of man who happened to be dining there
interposed, and said that the fighting would be
over in a very short time. Besides, each man ought
to do his duty. Thereupon the Marechale redoubled
her sobs. Frederick got exasperated. He handed her
his purse, kissed her quickly, and disappeared.

On reaching Corbeil, he learned at the station that
the insurgents had cut the rails at regular distances,
and the coachman refused to drive him any farther;
he said that his horses were " overspent."

Frederick managed to procure an indifferent cabrio-
let, which, for the sum of sixty francs, without taking
into account the price of a drink for the driver, was to
convey him as far as the Italian barrier. But at a
hundred paces from the barrier his coachman made
him descend and turn back. Frederick was walking
along the pathway, when suddenly a sentinel thrust
out his bayonet. Four men seized him, exclaiming:

" This is one of them ! Look out ! Search him !
Brigand ! scoundrel ! "

And he was so thoroughly stunned that he let him-
self be dragged to the guard-house of the barrier, at
the very point where the Boulevards des Gobelins and
de 1'Hopital and Rues Godefroy and Mauffetard con-
verge.

Four barricades formed at the ends of four differ-
eiit ways enormous sloping ramparts of paving-stones.
Torches glimmered here and there. In spite of the
rising clouds of dust he could distinguish foot-soldiers
of the Line and National Guards, all with their faces
blackened, their chests uncovered, and an appearance
of wild excitement. They had just captured the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 71

square, and had shot down a number of men. Their
rage had not yet cooled. Frederick said he had come
from Fontainebleau to the relief of a wounded com-
rade who lodged in the Rue Bellefond. Not one of
them would believe him at first. They examined his
hands ; they even put their noses to his ear to make
sure that he did not smell of powder.

However, by dint of repeating the same thing, he
finally convinced a captain, who directed two fusiliers
to conduct him to the guard-house of the Jardin des
Plantes. They descended the Boulevard de 1'Hopital.
A strong breeze was blowing. It restored him to
animation.

After this they turned up the Rue du Marche aux
Chevaux. The Jardin des Plantes at the right formed
a long black mass, whilst at the left the entire front
of the Pitie, illuminated at every window, blazed like
a conflagration, and shadows passed rapidly across
the window-panes.

Two of the men in charge of Frederick left him.
Another accompanied him to the Polytechnic School.
The Rue Saint- Victor was quite dark, without a gas-
lamp or a light at any window to relieve the gloom.
Every ten minutes could be heard the words:

" Sentinels ! mind yourselves ! "

And this exclamation, cast into the midst of the
silence, was prolonged like the repeated striking of a
stone against the side of a chasm as it falls through
space.

Every now and then the stamp of heavy footsteps
could be heard coming nearer. This was nothing less
than a patrol consisting of about a hundred men.
From this confused mass escaped whisperings and
the dull clanking of iron ; and, moving along with
a rhythmic swing, it melted into the darkness.

72 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

In the middle of the crossing, where several streets
met, a dragoon sat motionless on his horse. Occa-
sionally an express rider passed at a rapid gallop;
then the silence was renewed. Cannons, which were
being drawn along the streets, made, on the pavement,
a heavy rolling sound that seemed full of menace — a
sound different from every ordinary sound — which
oppressed the heart. These interruptions served to
intensify the silence, which was profound, unlimited —
a black abyss. Men in white blouses accosted the sol-
diers, spoke one or two words to them, and then
vanished like phantoms.

The guard-house of the Polytechnic School was
crowded. The threshold was blocked up with women,
who had come to see their sons or their husbands.
They were sent on to the Pantheon, which was being
utilised as a dead-house ; and no attention was paid
to Frederick. He pressed forward resolutely, sol-
emnly declaring that his friend Dussardier was wait-
ing for him, that he was at death's door. At last they
sent a corporal to accompany him to the top of the
Rue Saint- Jacques, to the Mayor's office in the twelfth
arrondissement.

The Place du Pantheon was filled with soldiers ly-
ing asleep on straw. The day was breaking; the
bivouac-fires were extinguished.

The insurrection had left terrible traces in this quar-
ter. The soil of the streets, from end to end, was
covered with piles of various sizes. On the wrecked
barricades had been piled up omnibuses, gas-pipes,
and cart-wheels. In certain places there were little
dark pools, which must have been blood. The houses
were riddled with projectiles, and their framework
could be seen under the plaster that was peeled off.
Window-blinds, attached by a single nail, hung like

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 73

rags. The staircases having fallen in, doors opened
on vacancy. The interiors of rooms could be seen with
their papers in strips. In some instances dainty ob-
jects had remained quite intact. Frederick noticed a
timepiece, a parrot-stick, and some engravings.

When he entered the Mayor's office, the National
Guards were chattering without a moment's pause
about the deaths of Brea and Negrier, about the
Deputy Charbonnel, and about the Archbishop of
Paris. He heard them saying that the Due d'Aumale
had landed at Boulogne, that Barbes had fled from
Vincennes, that the artillery were due from Bourges,
and that abundant aid was arriving from the provinces.
About three o'clock some one brought good news.

Truce-bearers from the insurgents were in confer-
ence with the President of the Assembly.

Thereupon they all made merry; and as he had a
dozen francs left, Frederick sent for a dozen bottles
of wine, hoping in this way to hasten his deliverance.
Suddenly a discharge of musketry was heard. The
drinking stopped. The men peered with distrustful
eyes into the unknown — it might be Henry V.

In order to shift responsibility, they took Frederick
to the Mayor's office in the eleventh arrondissement,
which he was not permitted to leave till nine o'clock
in the morning.

He started at a running pace from the Quai Vol-
taire. At an open window an old man in his shirt-
sleeves was crying, with his eyes raised. The Seine
glided peacefully along. The sky was of a clear blue ;
and in the trees round the Tuileries birds were singing.

Frederick was just crossing the Place du Carrousel
when a litter happened to pass by. The soldiers at
the guard-house immediately presented arms; and the
officer, putting his hand to his shako, said : " Honour

74 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

to unfortunate bravery ! " This phrase seemed to have
almost become a matter of duty. He who pronounced
it appeared to be, on each occasion, filled with pro-
found emotion. A group of people in a state of fierce
excitement followed the litter, exclaiming :

" We will avenge you ! we will avenge you ! "

The vehicles kept moving about on the boulevard,
and women were making lint before the doors. Mean-
while, the outbreak had been quelled, or very nearly
so. A proclamation from Cavaignac, just posted up,
announced the fact. At the top of the Rue Vivienne,
a company of the Garde Mobile appeared. Then the
citizens uttered enthusiastic shouts. They raised their
hats, applauded, danced, wished to embrace them, and
to invite them to drink; and flowers, flung by ladies,
fell from the balconies.

At last, at ten o'clock, just at the moment when the
booming of the cannon announced that an attack was
being made on the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Frederick
reached the abode of Dussardier. He found the book-
keeper in his garret, lying asleep on his back. From
the adjoining apartment a woman came forth with
silent tread — Mademoiselle Vatnaz.

She led Frederick aside and told him how Dussar-
dier had got wounded.

On Saturday, on the top of a barricade in the Rue
Lafayette, a young fellow wrapped in a tricoloured
flag cried out to the National Guards : " Are you go-
ing to shoot your brothers ? " As they advanced
Dussardier flung down his gun, pushed away the
others, sprang over the barricade, and, with a blow of
an old shoe, knocked down the insurgent, from whom
he tore the flag. He had afterward been found under
a heap of rubbish with a slug of copper in his thigh.
It was found necessary to make an incision in order

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 75

to extract the projectile. Mademoiselle Vatnaz ar-
rived the same evening, and since then had not left
his side.

She prepared intelligently everything that was
needed for the dressings, assisted him in taking his
medicine or other liquids, attended to his slightest
wishes, left and returned again with footsteps lighter
than those of a fly, and gazed at him with eyes full of
tenderness.

Frederick, during the two following weeks, did not
fail to call every morning. One day, while he was
speaking about the devotion of the Vatnaz, Dussar-
dier shrugged his shoulders :

"' Oh, no ! she does this through interested motives."

" Do you think so ? "

He replied . " I am sure of it ! " without attempting
to give any further explanation.

She had loaded him with kindnesses, carrying her
attentions so far as to bring him the newspapers in
which his gallant action was extolled. He confessed
to Frederick that he felt uneasy in his conscience.

Perhaps he ought to have put himself on the other
side with the men in blouses ; for, indeed, a heap of
promises had been made to them which had not been
fulfilled. Those who had vanquished them hated the
Republic ; and, in the next place, they had treated
them very harshly. No doubt they were in the wrong
— not quite, however; and the honest fellow was tor-
mented by the thought that he might have fought
against the righteous cause. Senecal, who was im-
prisoned in the Tuileries, under the terrace at the
water's edge, suffered none of this mental anguish.

There were nine hundred men in the place, hud-
dled together in the midst of filth, with no attempt at
order, their faces blackened with powder and clotted

76 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

blood, shivering with ague and breaking out into cries
of rage ; those who were brought there to die were not
separated from the rest. Sometimes, on hearing the
sound of a detonation, they believed that they were all
going to be shot. Then they dashed themselves
against the \valls, and after that fell back again into
their places, so much stupefied by suffering that it
seemed to them that they were living in a nightmare,
an awful hallucination. The lamp, suspended from
the arched roof, looked like a stain of blood, and little
green and yellow flames fluttered about, caused by the
emanations from the vault. Through fear of epi-
demics, a commission was appointed. When he had
advanced a few steps, the President recoiled, fright-
ened by the stench from the excrements and from the
corpses.

As soon as the prisoners drew near a vent-hole,
the National Guards who were on sentry, in order to
prevent them from shaking the bars of the grating,
prodded them indiscriminately with their bayonets.

As a rule they showed no pity. Those who were
not beaten wished to signalise themselves. There was
a regular panic of fear. They avenged themselves at
the same time on newspapers, clubs, mobs, speech-
making — everything that had exasperated them during
the last three months, and in spite of the victory that
had been gained, equality (as if for the punishment
of its defenders and the exposure of its enemies to
ridicule) manifested itself in a triumphal fashion —
an equality of brute beasts, a dead level of sangui-
nary vileness ; for the fascination of self-interest
equalled the madness of want, aristocracy had the same
fits of fury as low debauchery, and the cotton cap did
not show itself less hideous than the red cap. The
public mind was agitated just as it would be after

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 77

great convulsions of nature. Sensible men were ren-
dered imbeciles by it for the rest of their lives.

Pere Roque had become very courageous, almost
foolhardy. Having arrived on the 26th at Paris with
some of the inhabitants of Xogent, instead of return-
ing with them, he had offered his assistance to the Na-
tional Guard encamped at the Tuileries ; and he was
quite satisfied to be placed on sentry in front of the
terrace at the water's side. There, at any rate, he had
these brigands under his feet ! He was delighted to
see them beaten and humiliated, and he could not re-
frain from uttering invectives against them.

One, a young lad with long fair hair, pressed his
face to the bars, and asked for bread. M. Roque or-
dered him to hold his tongue. But the young man
repeated in a mournful tone:

" Bread ! "

"Have I any to give you?"

Other prisoners presented themselves at the vent-
hole, with their bristling beards, their burning eye-
balls, all pushing forward, and yelling:

" Bread ! "

Pere Roque was indignant at seeing his authority
slighted. In order to frighten them he took aim at
them ; and, borne backward into the vault by the crush
that nearly smothered him, the young man, with his
eyes staring upward, once more exclaimed:

" Bread ! "

" Hold on ! here it is ! " said Pere Roque, firing a
shot from his gun. There was a fearful howl — then,
silence. At the side of the trough something white
could be seen lying.

After this, M. Roque returned to his abode, for he
had a house in the Rue Saint-Martin, which he used
as a temporary residence; and the injury done to the

78 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

front of the building during the riots had in no slight
degree contributed to his rage. It seemed to him,
when he next looked at it, that he had exaggerated
the amount of damage. His recent act had a sooth-
ing effect on him, as if it indemnified him for his loss.

His daughter opened the door for him. She imme-
diately made the remark that she had felt uneasy at
his excessively prolonged absence. She was afraid
that he had met with some misfortune.

This manifestation of filial love softened Pere
Roque. He was astonished that she should have set
out on a journey without Catherine.

" I sent her out on a message," was Louise's reply.

And she inquired about his health, about one thing
or another ; then, with an air of indifference, she asked
him whether he had come across Frederick:

" No ; I have not seen him ! "

It was on his account alone that she had come up
from the country.

Some one was heard walking in the lobby.

" Oh ! excuse me "

And she disappeared.

Catherine had not found Frederick. He had been
several days away, and his intimate friend, M. Des-
lauriers, was now living in the provinces.

Louise once more presented herself, trembling all
over, unable to speak. She leaned against the furniture.

" What's the matter with you ? Tell me — what's
the matter with you ? " exclaimed her father.

She indicated by a wave of her hand that it was
nothing, and with a great effort she regained her com-
posure.

The keeper of the restaurant at the opposite side
of the street brought them soup. But Pere Roque
had passed through too exciting an ordeal to be able

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 79

to control his emotions. " He is not likely to die ; "
and at dessert he had a sort of fainting fit. A doctor
came, and he prescribed a potion. Then, when M.
Roque was in bed, he was well wrapped up in order
to bring on perspiration. He gasped ; he moaned.

" Thanks, my good Catherine ! Kiss your poor
father, my dear ! Ah ! those revolutions ! "

And, when his daughter scolded him for making
himself ill by worrying over her, he replied:

" Yes ! perhaps so ! But I couldn't help it. I am
verv sensitive ! "

CHAPTER XV

LOUISE IS DISILLUSIONED

MROQUE described the severe military duties
he had performed to Madame Dambreuse, in
* her boudoir, as she sat between her niece and
Miss John.

She was biting her lips, as if in pain.

" Oh ! 'tis nothing ! it will pass away ! "

And, with a gracious air:

" We are going to have an acquaintance of yours
to dine with us — Monsieur Moreau."

Louise gave a start.

" Oh ! we'll just have a few intimate friends there
— amongst others, Alfred de Cisy."

And she spoke in terms of high praise about his
manners, his personal appearance, and especially his
moral character.

Madame Dambreuse was nearer to a correct esti-
mate of the state of affairs than she imagined; the
•Vicomte was contemplating marriage. He said so
to Martinon, adding that Mademoiselle Cecile would
surely like him, and that her parents would be agree-
able.

To justify him in going so far as to confide to an-
other his intentions on the point, he required satisfac-
tory information with regard to her dowry. Now
Martinon suspected that Cecile was M. Dambreuse's
natural daughter ; and it is probable that it would have
been a very daring step on his part to ask for her hand

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION gl

at any risk. Such audacity, of course, was not unac-
companied by danger; and for this reason Martinon
had, so far, acted in a way that could not compromise
him. Besides, he did not see how he could well get
rid of the aunt. Cisy's confidence induced him to
make up his mind ; and he had formally made his
proposal to the banker, who, seeing no objection to
it, had just informed Madame Dambreuse about the
matter.

Cisy presently made his appearance. She arose and
said :

'"' You have been forgetting us. Cecile, shake
hands ! "

At the same moment Frederick entered the room.

" Ha ! at last we have found you again ! " exclaimed
Pere Roque. " I called with Cecile on you three times
this week ! "

Frederick had carefully avoided them. He pleaded
by way of excuse that he had been spending all his
days beside a wounded comrade.

For a long time, however, a heap of misfortunes
had happened to him, and he tried to invent stories
to explain his conduct. Luckily the guests arrived in
the midst of his explanation. First of all M. Paul de
Gremonville, the diplomatist whom he rnet at the ball ;
then Fumichon, that manufacturer whose conservative
zeal had scandalised him one evening. After them
came the old Duchesse de Montreuil Nantua.

Two loud voices in the anteroom reached his
ears. They were that of M. de Nonancourt, an old
beau with the air of a mummy preserved in cold
cream, and that of Madame de Larsillois, the wife of
a prefect of Louis Philippe. She was terribly fright-
ened, for she had just heard an organ playing a polka
which was known to be a signal amongst the insur-

82 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

gents. Many of the wealthy class of citizens had
similar apprehensions; they thought that men in the
catacombs were going to blow up the Faubourg Saint-
Germain. Noises escaped from cellars, and suspicious
looking things were passed up to windows.

Everyone in the meantime made an effort to calm
Madame de Larsillois. Order was reestablished.
There was no longer cause for fear.

" Cavaignac has saved us ! "

As if the horrors of the insurrection had not been
sufficiently numerous, they exaggerated them. There
had been twenty-three thousand convicts on the side
of the Socialists — no less !

They were certain that food had been poisoned,
that Gardes Mobiles had been sawn between two
planks, and that there had been inscriptions on flags in-
citing the people to pillage and incendiarism.

" Aye, and more than that ! " added the ex-prefect.

" Oh, dear ! " said Madame Dambreuse, whose
modesty was shocked, while she indicated the three
young girls with a glance.

M. Dambreuse came forth from his study accom-
panied by Martinon. She turned her head and re-
sponded to a bow from Pellerin, who was advancing
toward her. The artist gazed in a restless fashion
toward the walls. The banker took him aside, and
told him that it was desirable for the present to con-
ceal his revolutionary picture.

" No doubt," said Pellerin, the rebuff which he re-
ceived at the Club of Intellect having modified his
opinions.

M. Dambreuse hinted very politely that he would
give him orders for other works.

" But excuse me. Ah ! my dear friend, what a
pleasure ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 83

Arnoux and Madame Arnoux stood before Fred-
erick.

He had a sort of vertigo. Rosanette had been irri-
tating him all the afternoon with her display of ad-
miration for soldiers, and the old passion was re-
awakened.

The steward announced that dinner was on the
table. With a look she directed the Vicomte to take
in Cecile, while she said in a low tone to Martinon,
" You wretch! " And then they passed into the din-
ing-room.

Under the green leaves of a pineapple, in the centre
of the table-cloth, a dorado stood, with its snout reach-
inging toward a quarter of roebuck and its tail just
grazing a bushy dish of crayfish. Figs, huge cherries,
pears, and grapes (the first fruits of Parisian culti-
vation) rose like pyramids in baskets of old Saxe.
Here and there a bunch of flowers mingled with the
shining silver plate. The white silk blinds, in front
of the windows, filled the apartment with a mellow
light. It was cooled by two fountains, in which there
were pieces of ice ; and tall men-servants, in short
breeches, waited on them. All these luxuries seemed
the more precious for the emotion of the past few
days. There was a fresh delight at possessing things
which they had been afraid of losing ; and Nonancourt
voiced the general sentiment when he said:

" Ah ! let us hope that these Republican gentle-
men will allow us to dine ! "

" In spite of their fraternity ! " Pere Roque added,
with an attempt at wit.

These two personages were placed respectively at
the right and at the left of Madame Dambreuse, her
husband being exactly opposite her, between Madame
Larsillois, at whose side was the diplomatist and the

84 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

old Duchesse, whom Fumichon elbowed. Then came
the painter, the dealer in faience, and Mademoiselle
Louise ; and, thanks to Martinon, who had carried her
chair to enable her to take a seat near Louise, Fred-
erick found himself beside Madame Arnoux.

She wore a black barege gown, a gold hoop en-
circled her wrist, and, as on the first day that he dined
at her house, there was something red in her hair,
a branch of fuchsia twisted round her chignon. He
could not help saying:

" It is a long time since we saw each other."

" Ah ! " she returned coldly.

He continued, in a mild tone, which mitigated the
impertinence of his question :

"Have you thought of me now and then?"

" Why should I think of you ? "

Frederick was hurt by these words.

" You are right, perhaps, after all."

But very soon, regretting what he had said, he
swore that he had not lived a single day without be-
ing ravaged by the remembrance of her.

" I don't believe a single word you are saying, Mon-
sieur."

"H owever, you know that I love you ! "

Madame Arnoux made no reply.

" You know that I love you ! "

She still remained silent.

" Well, then, go be hanged ! " said Frederick to
himself.

And, as he raised his eyes, he perceived Mademoi-
selle Roque at the other side of Madame Arnoux.

She imagined it gave her a coquettish look to dress
entirely in green, a colour which contrasted horribly
with her red hair. The buckle of her belt was too
large and her collar cramped her neck. This lack

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 85

of elegance had, no doubt, contributed to the coldness
which Frederick at first displayed toward her. She
watched him from where she sat, some distance away,
with curious glances; and Arnoux, by her side, in
vain lavished his gallantries — he could not get her to
utter three words, so that, finally abandoning all hope
of making himself agreeable to her, he listened to the
conversation. She now began rolling about a slice
of Luxembourg pine-apple in her pea-soup.

Louis Blanc, according to Fumichon, owned a large
house in the Rue Saint-Dominique, which he refused
to let to the workmen.

" I think it rather a funny thing," said Nonancourt,
" to see Ledru-Rollin hunting over the Crown lands."

" He owes twenty thousand francs to a goldsmith ! "
Cisy interposed, " and 'tis maintained "

Madame Dambreuse interrupted him.

" Ah ! how nasty it is to be getting hot about poli-
tics ! and for such a young man, too ! fie, fie ! Pay
attention rather to your fair neighbour ! "

After this, those who were of a grave turn of mind
attacked the newspapers. Arnoux took it on himself
to defend them. Frederick mixed himself up in the
discussion, describing them as commercial establish-
ments just like any other house of business. Those
who wrote for them were, as a rule, imbeciles or
humbugs ; he led his listeners to believe that he was
acquainted with journalists, and he combated with
sarcasms his friend's generous sentiments.

Madame Arnoux did not realise that this was said
through a feeling of spite against her.

Meanwhile the Vicomte was torturing his brain in
the effort to make a conquest of Mademoiselle Cecile.
He commenced by criticising the shape of the de-
canters and the graving of the knives, in order to

86 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

show his artistic tastes. Then he talked about his
stable, his tailor and his shirtmaker. Finally, he took
up the subject of religion, and seized the opportunity
of conveying to her that he fulfilled all his duties.

Martinon set to work in a better fashion. With
his eyes fixed on her continually, he praised, in a
monotonous fashion, her birdlike profile, her dull fair
hair, and her hands, which were unusually short. The
plain-looking young girl was charmed at this shower
of flatteries.

It was impossible to hear anything, as all present
were talking at the tops of their voices. M. Roque
wanted " an iron hand " to govern France. Nonan-
court regretted that the political scaffold was abol-
ished. All these scoundrels should be put to death to-
gether.

" Now that I think of it, what about Dussardier ? "
said M. Dambreuse, turning toward Frederick.

The worthy shopman was now a hero, like Sallesse,
the brothers Jeanson, the wife of Pequillet, etc.

Frederick, without waiting to be asked, related his
friend's history ; it threw around him a kind of halo.

This naturally led to a discussion on different traits
of courage.

According to the diplomatist, it was not hard to
face death, witness the case of men who fight duels.

" We might take the Vicomte's testimony on that
point," said Martinon.

The Vicomte's face got very red.

The guests stared at him, and Louise, more aston-
ished than the rest, murmured :

" What is it, pray ? "

" He sank before Frederick," returned Arnoux, in
a very low tone.

" Do you know anything of rt, Mademoiselle ? " said

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 87

Nonancourt presently, and he repeated her answer to
Madame Dambreuse, who, bending forward a little,
fixed her gaze on Frederick.

Martinon did not wait for Cecile's questions. He
informed her that the affair had reference to a woman
of improper character. The young girl drew back
slightly in her chair, as if to escape from contact
with such a libertine.

The conversation was renewed. The great wines of
Bordeaux were passed round, and the guests became
animated. Pellerin had a dislike to the Revolution,
because he attributed to it the loss of the Spanish
Museum.

This is what grieved him most as a painter.

As he made the latter remark, M. Roque asked:

" Are you not yourself the painter of a very nota-
ble picture? "

"Perhaps! What is it?"

" It depicts a lady in a costume — faith ! — a little
light, with a purse, and a peacock in the background."

Frederick, in his turn, reddened. Pellerin pre-
tended that he did not understand.

" Nevertheless, it is certainly by you ! For your
name is written at the bottom of it, and there is also
a line on it stating that it is Monsieur Moreau's prop-
erty."

One day, when Pere Roque and his daughter were
waiting for him at his residence, they saw the Mare-
chale's portrait. The old gentleman had taken it for
" a Gothic painting."

" No," said Pellerin rudely, " 'tis a woman's por-
trait."

Martinon added :

" And a living woman's, too, and no mistake ! Isn't
that so, Cisy ? "

88 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Oh ! I know nothing about it."

" I thought you were acquainted with her. But,
since it causes you pain, I must beg a thousand par-
dons ! "

Cisy lowered his eyes, proving by his embarrass-
ment that he must have played a discreditable part in
connection with this portrait. As for Frederick, the
model could only be his mistress. It was one of those
convictions which are immediately formed, and the
faces of the assembly revealed it with the utmost
clearness.

" How he lied to me ! " said Madame Arnoux to
herself.

" It is for that woman, then, that he left me,"
thought Louise.

Frederick had an idea that these two stories might
compromise him ; and when they were in the garden,
he reproached Martinon. Mademoiselle Cecile's wooer
laughed in his face.

"Oh, not at all! 'twill benefit you! Go ahead!"

What did he mean? Besides, what was the cause
of this good nature, so contrary to his usual conduct?
Without giving any explanation, he proceeded toward
the lower end, where the ladies were seated. The
men were standing round them, and, in their midst,
Pellerin was giving vent to his ideas. The form of
government most favourable for the arts was an en-
lightened monarchy. He was disgusted with modern
times, " if it were only on account of the National
Guard " — he regretted the Middle Ages and the days
of Louis XIV. M. Roque congratulated him on his
opinions, acknowledging that they overcame all his
prejudices against artists. But almost without a mo-
ment's delay he went off when he heard the voice of
Fumichon.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 89

Arnoux tried to prove that there were two Social-
isms— a good and a bad. The manufacturer saw no
difference whatever between them, his head becoming
dizzy with rage at the utterance of the word " prop-
erty."

" Tis a law written on the face of Nature ! Chil-
dren cling to their toys. AH peoples, all animals have
the same instinct. The lion even, if he were able to
speak, would declare himself a proprietor! I myself,
messieurs, began with a capital of fifteen thousand
francs. Would you be surprised to hear that for
thirty years I used to get up at four o'clock every
morning? I've had as much pain as five hundred
devils in making my fortune ! And people want to
tell me I'm not the master, that my money is not my
money ; in short, that property is theft ! "

" But Proudhon

" Don't bother me with your Proudhon ! if he were
here I think I'd strangle him ! "

He would have strangled him. After the intoxica-
ting drink he had swallowed Fumichon did not know
what he was talking about any longer, and his apoplec-
tic face was on the point of bursting like a bombshell.

" Good morrow, Arnoux," said Hussonnet, who
was walking briskly over the grass.

He brought M. Dambreuse the first leaf of a
pamphlet, entitled The Hydra, the Bohemian defend-
ing the interests of a reactionary club, and in that ca-
pacity he was presently introduced by the banker to his
guests.

Hussonnet amused them by relating how the dealers

in tallow hired three hundred and ninety-two street

boys to bawl out every evening " Lamps," * and then

turning into ridicule the principles of '89, the emanci-

*The word may also be translated "grease-pots.— TRANSLATOR.

90 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

pation of the negroes, and the orators of the Left;
he even went so far as to do Prudhomme on a Barri-
cade, perhaps under the influence of a kind of jeal-
ousy of these rich people who had enjoyed a good
dinner. The caricature did not appeal to them. Their
faces grew long.

This was no time for joking, so Nonancourt ob-
served, as he recalled the death of Monseigneur Afire
and that of General de Brea. These events were being
constantly alluded to, and arguments were constructed
out of them. M. Roque described the archbishop's end
as " everything that one could call sublime." Fumi-
chon gave the palm to the military personage, and
instead of simply expressing regret for these two mur-
ders, they disputed with a view to determining which
ought to excite the greatest indignation. A second
comparison was next instituted, namely, between La-
moriciere and Cavaignac, M. Dambreuse glorifying
Cavaignac, and Nonancourt, Lamoriciere.

Not one of those present, with the exception of
Arnoux, had ever seen either of them engaged in the
exercise of his profession. None the less, everyone
spoke decisively with reference to their operations.

Frederick, however, declined to express an opinion
on the matter, confessing that he had not served as a
soldier. The diplomatist and M. Dambreuse gave him
an approving nod of the head. In fact, to have fought
against the insurrection was to have defended the
Republic. The result, although favourable, consoli-
dated it ; and now they had rid themselves of the van-
quished, they wanted to be conquerors.

As soon as they got out into the garden, Madame
Dambreuse, taking Cisy aside, chided him for his awk-
wardness. When she caught sight of Martinon, she
sent him away, and then tried to find out from her

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 91

future nephew the cause of his witticisms at the Vi-
comte's expense.

" There's nothing of the kind."

" And all this, as it were, for the glory of Monsieur
Moreau. What is the object of it?"

" There's no object. Frederick is a delightful fel-
low. I am very fond of him."

" And so am I, too. Let him come here. Go and
bring him ! "

After a few commonplace phrases, she began by
lightly disparaging her guests, and in this way she
placed him on a higher level than the others. He did
not omit to sneer at the ladies more or less, which
was an ingenious way of paying her compliments.
She left his side from time to time, as it was a re-
ception-night, and ladies were every moment arriving;
then she returned to her seat, and the entirely acci-
dental arrangement of the chairs prevented their being
overheard.

She was playful and yet grave, melancholy and yet
quite rational. Her daily occupations interested her
very little — there were depths of sentiments of a less
transitory kind. She complained of the poets, who
misrepresent the facts of life, then she raised her eyes
toward heaven, asking him what was the name of a
certain star.

Two or three Chinese lanterns had been suspended
from the trees; the wind shook them, and lines of
coloured light quivered on her white dress. She sat
after her usual style, a little back in her armchair,
with a footstool in front of her. The tip of a black
satin shoe could be seen ; and at intervals Madame
Dambreuse allowed a louder word than usual, and
sometimes even a laugh, to escape her.

These coquetries did not disturb Martinon, who was

92 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

occupied with Cecile ; but they were bound to make
an impression on M. Roque's daughter, who was chat-
ting with Madame Arnoux. She was the only member
of her own sex present whose manners were not dis-
dainful. Louise came and sat beside her; then, yield-
ing to the desire to give an immediate vent to her
emotions :

" Does he not talk well — Frederick Moreau, I
mean ? "

" Do you know him ? "

" Oh ! very well ! We are neighbours ; he used to
amuse himself with me when I was quite a little girl."

Madame Arnoux cast at her a sidelong glance,
which meant:

" I suppose you are not in love with him ? "

The young girl's face replied with an untroubled
look:

" Yes."

" You see him quite often, then ? "

" Oh, no ! only when he comes to his mother's house.
'Tis ten months now since he was there. He prom-
ised, however, to be more particular."

" The promises of men are not to be too much re-
lied on, my child."

" But he has never deceived me ! "

" As he has others ! "

Louise shivered : " Could it be by any chance that
he promised something to her ; " and her features be-
came distracted with distrust and hate.

Madame Arnoux felt almost afraid of her; she
would have gladly withdrawn what she had said.
Then both became silent.

As Frederick was seated opposite them on a fold-
ing-stool, they kept looking at him, the one with pro-
priety out of the corner of her eye, the other boldly,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 93

with parted lips, so that Madame Dambreuse said to
him:

'' Come, now, turn round, and let her have a good
look at you ! "

" Whom do you mean ? "

" Why, Monsieur Roque's daughter ! "

And she chaffed him on having won the heart of
this young girl from the provinces. He denied that
it was so, and tried to make a laugh of it.

" Is it likely, I ask you? Such an ugly creature
as that ! "

However, he experienced an intense feeling of grati-
fied vanity. He recalled to mind the reunion from
which he had returned one night, some time before,
his heart filled with bitter humiliation, and he drew a
long breath, for it seemed to him that he was now
in the environment that really suited him ; he felt as if
all these things, including the Dambreuse mansion, be-
longed to himself. The ladies formed a semicircle
around him while they listened to what he was saying,
and in order to create an effect, he declared that he
was in favor of the reestablishment of divorce, which
he maintained should be easily procurable, so as to
enable people to leave one another and come back to
one another without any limit and as often as they
liked. They uttered loud protests ; a few of them be-
gan to talk in whispers. Little exclamations every
now and then burst forth from the place where the
wall was overshadowed with aristolochia. It sounded
like a mirthful cackling of hens ; and he developed his
theory with that self-complacency which is generated
by the consciousness of success. A man-servant
brought into the arbour a tray laden with ices. The
gentlemen drew close together and began to chat about
the recent arrests.

94 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Thereupon Frederick revenged himself on the Vi-
comte by making him believe that he might be prose-
cuted as a Legitimist. The other urged by way of
reply that he had not stirred - outside his own room.
His adversary enumerated in a heap the possible mis-
chances. MM. Dambreuse and Gremonville were
much amused at the discussion. Then they paid Fred-
erick compliments, expressing regret at the same time
that he did not employ his abilities in the defence of or-
der. They grasped his hand with the utmost warmth ;
he might for the future count on their support. At
last, just as everyone was leaving, the Vicomte made a
low bow to Cecile :

" Mademoiselle, I have the honour of wishing you a
very good evening."

She replied coldly:

" Good evening." But she gave Martinon a parting
smile.

Pere Roque, desiring to continue his conversation
with Arnoux, offered to see him home, " as well as
Madame " — they were going the same way. Louise
and Frederick walked in front of them. She had taken
his arm ; and, when she was some distance away from
the others she said :

"Ah!, at last! at last! I've had enough to bear all
the evening ! How nasty those women were ! What
haughty airs they had ! "

He made an effort to defend them.

" First of all, you might certainly have spoken to
me the moment you came in, after being away a whole
year!"

" It was not a year," said Frederick, glad to be able
to make some sort of rejoinder on this point in order
to avoid the other questions.

" Be it so ; the time appeared very long to me, that's

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 95

all. But, during- this horrid dinner, one would think
you were ashamed of me. Ah ! I understand — I don't
possess what is necessary to please as they do."

" You are mistaken," said Frederick.

" Really ! Swear to me that you don't love any-
one else ! "

He did swear.

" You love nobody but me alone ? "

" I assure you, I do not."

This assurance filled her with delight. She would
have liked to lose her way in the streets, so that they
might walk about together the whole night.

" I have been so much tormented down there !
Nothing was talked about but barricades. I imagined
I say you lying on your back covered with blood !
Your mother was confined to her bed with rheumatism.
She knew nothing about what was happening. I had
to hold my tongue. I could bear it no longer, so I
came with Catherine."

And she related to him all about her departure, her
journey, and the lie she told her father.

" He's taking me back in two days. Come to-mor-
row evening, as if you were merely paying a casual
visit, and take advantage of the opportunity to ask
for my hand in marriage."

Never had Frederick been further from the idea of
marriage. Besides, Mademoiselle Roque appeared to
him a rather absurd young person. How unlike she
was to a woman like Madame Dambreuse ! A very
different future was in store for him. He had found
reason to-day to feel perfectly certain on that point ;
and, therefore, this was not the time to involve himself,
from mere sentimental motives, in a step of such mo-
mentous importance. It was necessary now to be de-
cisive— and then he had seen Madame Arnoux again.

96 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Nevertheless he was rather embarrassed by Louise's
candour.

He said in reply to her last words :

" Have you thoroughly considered this matter ? "

" How is that ? " she exclaimed, frozen with aston-
ishment and indignation.

He said that to marry at such a time as this would
be absolute folly.

" So you don't want to have me? "

" Nay, you don't understand me ! "

And he plunged into a confused mass of verbiage
in order to impress upon her that he was kept back
by serious considerations ; that he had business on
hand which it would take a long time to dispose of;
that even his inheritance had been placed in jeopardy
(Louise cut all this explanation short with one plain
word) ; that, last of all, the present political situation
made the thing undesirable. So, then, the most rea-
sonable course was to wait patiently. Matters would,
no doubt, right themselves — at least, he hoped so;
and, as he could think of no further excuses to offer
just at that moment, he pretended to have suddenly
remembered that he should have been with Dussar-
dier two hours ago.

Then, bowing to the others, he darted down the Rue
Hauteville, took a turn round the Gymnase, returned
to the boulevard, and quickly rushed up Rosanette's
four flights of stairs.

M. and Madame Arnoux left Pere Roque and his
daughter at the entrance of the Rue Saint-Denis.
Husband and wife returned home without exchanging
a word, as he was worn out and unable to continue
chattering any longer. She even leaned against his
shoulder. He was the only man who had displayed
any honourable sentiments during the evening. She

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 97

entertained toward him feelings of the utmost indul-
gence. Meanwhile, he cherished a certain degree of
spite against Frederick.

" Did you notice his face when a question was asked
about the portrait? When I told you that he was
her lover, you would not believe what I said ! "

" Oh ! yes, I was wrong ! "

Arnoux, gratified with his triumph, pressed the mat-
ter even further.

" I'd even make a bet that when he left us, a little
while ago, he went straight to see her. He's with
her at this moment, you may be sure ! He's finishing
the evening with her ! "

Madame Arnoux had pulled down her hat very low.

" Why, you're trembling all over ! "

" I feel cold ! " was her reply.

As soon as her father was asleep, Louise made her
way into Catherine's room, and catching her by the
shoulders, shook her.

" Get up — quick, as quick as ever you can ! and go
and fetch a cab for me ! "

Catherine replied that there was not one to be had
at such an hour.

"Will you come with me yourself there, then?"

"Where, might I ask?"

" To Frederick's house ! "

" Impossible ! Why do you want to go there ? "

It was in order to have a talk with him. She could
not wait. She must see him at once.

*' Just think of what you're about to do ! To pre-
sent yourself this way at a house in the middle of the
night ! Besides, he's asleep by this time ! "

" I'll wake him up ! "

" But this is not a proper thing for a young girl
to do ! "

98 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" I am not a young girl — I'm his wife ! I love him !
Come — put on your shawl ! "

Catherine, standing at the side of the bed, was try-
ing to decide how to act. She said at last:

" No ! I won't go ! "

" Well, stay behind then! I'll go by myself! "

Louise glided like an adder toward the staircase.
Catherine rushed after her, and came up with her on
the footpath outside the house. Her remonstrances
were fruitless ; so she followed the girl, fastening her
undervest as she hurried along in the rear. The walk
appeared to her exceedingly tedious. She complained
that her legs were getting weak from age.

" I'll go on after you — faith, I haven't the same
thing to drive me on that you have ! "

Then she softened.

" Pool soul ! You haven't anyone now but your
Catau, don't you see ? "

From time to time scruples took hold of her mind.

" Ah, this is a nice thing you're making me do !
Suppose your father happened to miss you ! Lord
God, let us hope no misfortune will happen ! "

In front of the Theatre des Varietes, a patrol of
National Guards stopped them.

Louise immediately explained that she was going
with her servant to look for a doctor in the Rue Rum-
fort. The patrol allowed them to pass.

At the corner of the Madeleine they met a second
patrol, and, Louise having given the same explanation,
one of the National Guards asked:

"Is it for a nine months' ailment, ducky?"

" Oh, damn it ! " exclaimed the captain, " no black-
guardisms in the ranks ! Pass on, ladies ! "

Despite the captain's orders, they still kept cracking
jokes.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 99

" I wish you much joy ! "

" My respects to the doctor ! "

"Mind the wolf!"

;< They like laughing," Catherine remarked in a loud
tone. " That's what it is to be young."

At length they reached Frederick's house.

Louise gave the bell a vigorous pull, which she re-
peated several times. The door opened a little, and,
in answer to her inquiry, the porter said :

" No ! "

" But he must be in bed ! "

" I tell you he's not. Why, for nearly three months
he has not slept at home ! "

And the little pane of the lodge fell down sharply,
like the blade of a guillotine.

They stood in the darkness under the archway.

An angry voice cried out to them:

"Be off!"

The door was again opened ; they went away.

Louise sat down on a boundary-stone; and clasp-
ing her face with her hands, she wept copious tears
welling up from her full heart. The day was break-
ing, and market carts were making their way into the
city.

Catherine led her back home, holding her up, kiss-
ing her, and offering every sort of consolation that
she could extract from her own experience. Why
trouble so much about one lover? There were plenty
more.

CHAPTER XVI

THREE CHARMING WOMEN

ROSANETTE became more charming than ever
when her enthusiasm for the Gardes Mobiles
had died down, and Frederick gradually fell
into the habit of living with her.

The best part of the day was the morning on the
terrace. In a light cambric dress, and with her stock-
ingless feet thrust into slippers, she kept moving about
him — cleaned her canaries' cage, gave her gold-fishes
some water, and, with a fire-shovel did a little amateur
gardening in the box filled with clay, from which arose
a trellis of nasturtiums, brightening the wall. Then,
resting, with their elbows on the balcony, they stood
side by side, gazing at the vehicles and the passers-
by; and they basked in the sunlight, and made plans
for spending the evening. He absented himself only
for two hours at most, and, after that, they would go
to some theatre, where they would get seats near the
stage ; and Rosanette, with a large bouquet of flowers
in her hand, would listen to the instruments, while
Frederick, leaning close to her ear, would tell her
comic or amatory stories. At other times they would
drive in an open carriage to the Bois de Boulogne.
They walked about slowly until the middle of the
night. At last they made their way home through the
Arc de Triomphe and the grand avenue, inhaling the
breeze, with the stars above their heads, and with all
the gas-lamps ranged in the background of the per-
spective like a double string of luminous pearls.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 101

Frederick always waited for her when they were
going out together. She took a very long time fas-
tening the two ribbons of her bonnet; and she smiled
at herself in the mirror set in the wardrobe ; then she
would draw her arm through his, and, making him
look at himself in the glass beside her:

" We look well this way, the two of us side by side.
Ah ! my darling, I could eat you ! "

He was now her chattel, her property. She wore
on her face a continuous radiance, while at the same
time she appeared more languishing in manner, more
rounded in figure ; and, without being able to explain
the difference, he found her altered.

One day she informed him, as if it were a very im-
portant bit of news, that my lord Arnoux had lately
set up a linen-draper's shop for a woman who was
formerly employed in his pottery-works. He used
to go there every evening — " he spent a lot on it no
later than a week ago; he had even given her a set
of rosewood furniture."

" How do you know that ? " said Frederick.

" Oh ! I'm 'sure of it."

Delphine, while carrying out some orders for her,
had made enquiries about the matter. She must, then,
be much attached to Arnoux to take such a deep in-
terest in his movements. He contented himself with
saying to her in reply:

"What does this signify to you?"

Rosanette looked surprised at the question.

" Why, the rascal owes me money. Isn't it atro-
cious to see him supporting beggars ? "

Then, with a look of triumphant hate in her face:

" Besides, she is only laughing at him. She has
three others on hand. So much the better; and I'll
be glad if she eats him up, even to the last farthing ! "

102 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Arnoux had, in fact, let himself be used by the girl
from Bordeaux with the indulgence which charac-
terises senile attachments. His manufactory no longer
existed. The entire state of his affairs was pitiable ; so
that, in order to set them afloat again, he projected
the establishment of a cafe chantant, at which only
patriotic pieces would be sung. With a grant from
the Minister, this establishment would become at the
same time a focus for the purpose of propagandism
and a source of profit. Now that power had been di-
rected into a different channel, the thing was impos-
sible.

His next idea was a big military hat-making busi-
ness. He lacked capital, however, to open it.

He was not more fortunate in his domestic life.
Madame Arnoux was less agreeable in manner toward
him, sometimes even a little rude. Berthe always took
her father's part. This increased the discord, and
the house was becoming intolerable. He often set
forth in the morning, passed his day in making long
excursions out of the city, in order to divert his
thoughts, then dined at a rustic tavern, abandoning
himself to his reflections.

The prolonged absence of Frederick disturbed his
habits. He presented himself one afternoon, begged
of him to come and see him as in former days, and
obtained from him a promise to do so.

Frederick did not feel sufficient courage within him
to go back to Madame Arnoux's house. He felt as
if he had betrayed her. But this conduct was very
pusillanimous. There was no excuse for it. There
was only one way of ending the matter, and so, one
evening, he set out for her house.

As the rain was falling, he had just turned up the
Passage Jouffroy, when, under the light shed from the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 103

shop-windows, a fat little man accosted him. Fred-
erick had no difficulty in recognising Compain, that
orator whose motion had excited so much laughter
at the club. He was leaning on the arm of an indi-
vidual whose head was muffled in a zouave's red
cap, with a very long upper lip, a complexion as yel-
low as an orange, a tuft of beard under his jaw, and
big staring eyes glistening with wonder.

Compain seemed to be proud of him, for he said i

" Let me introduce you to this jolly dog ! He is
a bootmaker whom I include amongst my friends.
Come and let us take something ! "

Frederick having thanked him, he immediately thun-
dered against Rateau's motion, which he described as
a manoeuvre of the aristocrats. In order to put an
end to it, it would be necessary to begin '93 over again !
Then he inquired about Regimbart and some others,
who were also well known, such as Masselin, Sonson,
Lecornu, Marechal, and a certain Deslauriers, who
had been inplicated in the case of the carbines lately
intercepted at Troyes.

All this was new to Frederick. Compain knew
nothing further about the subject. He left the young
man with these words :

"You'll come soon, will you not? for you belong
to it."

"To what?"

"The calf's head!"

"What calf's head?"

" Ha, you rogue ! " returned Compain, giving him
a nudge in the ribs.

And the two terrorists plunged into a cafe.

Ten minutes later Frederick had forgotten Deslau-
riers. He was on the footpath of the Rue de Para-
dis in front of a house ; and he was staring at the

104 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

light which came from a lamp in the second floor be-
hind a curtain.

At length he ascended the stairs.

" Is Arnoux in ? "

The chambermaid answered:

" No ; but come in all the same."

And, abruptly opening a door :

" Madame, it is Monsieur Moreau ! "

She arose, whiter than the collar round her neck.

'' To what do I owe the honour — of a visit — so un-
expected ? "

" Merely the pleasure of seeing old friends once
more."

And as he took a seat:

" How is the worthy Arnoux ? "

" Very well. He has gone out."

" Ah, I understand ! still following his old nightly
practices. A little distraction ! "

" And why not ? After a day spent in making cal-
culations, the head needs a rest."

She even praised her husband as a hard-working
man. Frederick was irritated at this eulogy ; and
pointing toward a piece of black cloth with a nar-
row blue braid which lay on her lap :

" What is it you are doing there ? "

" A jacket which I am trimming for my daughter."

" Now that you remind me of it, I have not seen her.
Where is she, pray ? "

" At a boarding-school," was the reply.

Tears came into her eyes. She held them back,
while she rapidly plied her needle. To compose him-
self, he took up a number of L' Illustration which had
been lying on the table close to where she sat.

" These caricatures of Cham are very funny, are
they not ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 105

" Yes."

Then they relapsed into silence once more.

All of a sudden a fierce gust of wind shook the
window-panes.

" What weather ! " said Frederick.

" It was very good of you; indeed, to come here
in the midst of this dreadful rain."

"Oh! what do I care about that? I'm not like
some, whom it prevents, no doubt, from keeping their
appointments."

"What appointments?" she asked ingenuously.

" Don't you remember? "

A shudder ran through her frame and she hung
down her head.

He gently laid his hand on her arm.

" You have given me great pain."

She replied, with a sort of wail in her voice:

" But I was frightened about my child."

She told him about Eugene's illness, and all the
tortures \vhich she had suffered on that day.

" Thanks ! thanks ! I doubt you no longer. I love
you as much as ever."

" Ah ! no ; that is not true ! "

"Why so?"

She glanced at him coldly.

" You forget the other ! the one you took with you
to the races ! the woman whose portrait you have —
your mistress ! "

" Well, yes ! " exclaimed Frederick, " I don't deny
anything ! I am a wretch ! Just listen to me ! "

He had done this through despair, as one commits
suicide. However, he had made her very unhappy in
order to avenge himself on her with his own shame.

" What mental anguish ! Do you not realise what
it means ? "

106 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Madame Arnoux turned away her beautiful face
while she held out her hand to him; and they closed
their eyes, absorbed in an intoxication that was like
a sweet, ceaseless rocking. Then they stood face to
face, gazing at each other.

" Could you believe it possible that I no longer loved
you ? "

She replied in a low voice, full of caressing ten-
derness :

" No ! in spite of everything, I felt at the bottom of
my heart that it was impossible, and that some day
the obstacle between us two would be removed ! "

" So did I ; and I was dying to see you again."

" I once passed close to you in the Palais-Royal ! "

"Did you really?"

And he spoke to her of the happiness he experi-
enced at meeting her again at the Dambreuses' house.

" But how I hated you that evening as I was leav-
ing the place ! "

" Poor boy ! "

" My life is so sad ! "

" And mine, too. If it were only the vexations, the
anxieties, the humiliations, all that I endure as wife
and as mother, seeing that one must die, I would not
complain ; the frightful part of it is my solitude, with-
out anyone."

" But you have me here with you ! "

"Oh! yes!"

A sob of deep emotion made her bosom swell. She
opened her arms, and they strained each other, while
their lips met in a long kiss.

A creaking sound on the floor not far from them
reached their ears. There was a woman standing
close to them; it was Rosanette. Madame Arnoux
recognised her. Her eyes, opened to their widest,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 107

scanned this woman, full of astonishment and in-
dignation. At length Rosanette said to her :

" I have come to see Monsieur Arnoux about a
matter of business."

" You see he is not here."

" Ah ! that's true," returned the Marechale. " Your
nurse was right ! A thousand apologies ! "

And turning toward Frederick:

" So here you are — you? "

The familiar tone in which she addressed him, and
in her own presence, too, made Madame Arnoux
flush as if she had received a slap right across the face.

" I tell you once more, he is not here ! "

Then the Marechale, who was looking around, said
quietly :

" Let us go back together ! I have a cab waiting
below."

He pretended not to hear.

" Come ! let us go ! "

" Ah ! yes ! this is a good opportunity ! Go ! go ! "
said Madame Arnoux.

They left together, and she stooped over the head
of the stairs in order to see them once more, and a
laugh — piercing, heart-rending, reached them from
the place where she stood. Frederick pushed Rosa-
nette into the cab, sat down opposite her, and during
the entire drive did not utter a word.

The infamy, which it outraged him to see once more
flowing back on him, had been occasioned by himself
alone. He experienced at the same time the dis-
honour of a crushing humiliation and the remorse
caused by the loss of his new-found happiness. Just
when, at last, he had it in his grasp, it had for ever
more become impossible, and that through the fault
of this girl of the town, this harlot. He would have

108 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

liked to strangle her. He was choking with rage.
When they got into the house he flung his hat on a
piece of furniture and tore off his cravat.

" Ha ! you have just done a nice thing — confess it ! "

She planted herself boldly in front of him.

" Well, what of that ? Where's the harm ? "

"What! You are playing the spy on me?"

" Is that my fault? Why do you go to amuse your-
self with virtuous women ? "

" Never mind ! I don't wish you to insult them."

" How have I insulted them ? "

He could not answer this, and in a more spiteful
tone :

" But on the other occasion, at the Champ de
Mars —

" Ah ! you bore me to death with your old women ! "

" Wretch ! "

He raised his fist.

" Don't kill me ! I'm pregnant ! "

Frederick staggered back.

" You are lying ! "

" Wny, just look at me! "

She seized a candlestick, and pointing at her face :

" Don't you recognise the fact there ? "

Little yellow spots dotted her skin, which was
strangely swollen. Frederick could not deny the evi-
dence. He opened the window, took a few steps up
and down the room, and then sank into an armchair.

This event was a calamity which, in the first place,
put off their rupture, and, in the next place, upset all
his plans. The notion of being a father, moreover,
appeared to him grotesque, inadmissible. But why?
If, in place of the Marechale And his reverie be-
came so deep that he had a kind of hallucination. He
could see, on the carpet, in front of the chimney-piece,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 109

a little girl. She resembled Madame Arnoux and
himself a little — dark, and yet fair, with black eyes,
very thick eyebrows, and a red ribbon in her curling
hair. (Oh, how he would have loved her!) And he
seemed to hear her voice saying : " Papa ! papa ! "

Rosanette, who had just undressed herself, came
across to him, and seeing a tear in his eyelids, kissed
him gravely on the forehead.

He arose, saying:

" By Jove, we mustn't kill this little one ! "

Then she talked a lot of nonsense. To be sure, it
would be a boy, and its name would be Frederick. She
must begin making its clothes ; and, seeing her so
happy, a feeling of pity took possession of him. As
he no longer cherished any anger against her, he de-
sired to know the reason of the step she had recently
taken. She said it was because Mademoiselle Vatnaz
had sent her that day a bill which had been protested
for some time past ; and so she hastened to Arnoux
to get the money from him.

" I'd have given it to you ! " said Frederick.

" It is a simpler course for me to get over there
what belongs to me, and to pay back to the other one
her thousand francs."

"Is that really all you owe her?"

She answered:

" Certainly ! "

On the following day, at nine o'clock in the evening
(the hour specified by the doorkeeper), Frederick re-
paired to Mademoiselle Vatnaz's residence.

In the anteroom, he jostled against the furniture,
which was heaped together. But the sound of voices
and of music guided him. He opened a door, and
found himself in the middle of a rout. Standing up
before a piano, which a young lady in spectacles was

110 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

playing, Delmar, as serious as a pontiff, was declaim-
ing a humanitarian poem on prostitution ; and his hol-
low voice rolled to the accompaniment of the metallic
chords. A row of women sat close to the wall, at-
tired, as a rule, in dark colours without neckbands or
cuffs. Five or six men, all people of culture, occu-
pied seats here and there. In an armchair was seated
a former writer of fables, a mere wreck now ; and the
pungent odour of the two lamps was intermingled with
the aroma of the chocolate which filled a number of
bowls placed on the card-table.

Mademoiselle Vatnaz, with an Oriental shawl
thrown over her shoulders, was seated at one side of
the chimney-piece. Dussardier faced her at the other
side. He seemed to feel himself in an embarrassing
position. Besides, he was rather intimidated by his
artistic surroundings. Had the Vatnaz, then, broken
off with Delmar ? Perhaps not. However, she seemed
jealous of the worthy shopman ; and Frederick, having
asked permission to exchange a word with her, she
made a sign to him to go with them into her own
apartment. When the thousand francs were paid, she
asked, in addition, for interest.

" 'Tisn't worth while," said Dussardier.

" Pray hold your tongue ! "

This want of moral courage on the part of so brave
a man was agreeable to Frederick as a justification of
his own conduct. He took away the bill with him, and
never again referred to the scandal at Madame Ar-
noux's house. But from that time forth he observed
clearly all the defects in the Marechale's character.

She had incurable bad taste, incomprehensible lazi-
ness, the ignorance of a savage, so much so that she
regarded Dr. Derogis as a person of great celebrity,
and she felt proud of entertaining himself and his

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION HI

wife, because they were " married people." She lec-
tured with a pedantic air on the affairs of daily life
to Mademoiselle Irma, a helpless little creature en-
dowed with a weak voice, who had as a protector a
gentleman " very well off," an ex-clerk in the Custom-
house, who had a rare talent for card tricks. Rosa-
nette used to call him " My big- Loulou." Frederick
could no longer endure the repetition of her stupid
words, such as " Some custard," " To Chaillot," " One
could nevei know," etc. ; and she insisted on wiping
off the dust in the morning from her trinkets with a
pair of old white gloves. He was above all disgusted
by her treatment of her servant, whose wages were
constantly in arrears, and from whom she even bor-
rowed money. On the days when they settled their
accounts, they used to wrangle like two fish-women ;
and then, on becoming reconciled, used to embrace
each other. It was a relief to him when Madame Dam-
breuse's evening parties began again.

There, at any rate, he found something to amuse
him. She was well versed in the intrigues of society,
the changes of ambassadors, the personal character
of dressmakers; and, if commonplaces escaped her
lips, they did so in such a becoming fashion, that her
language might be regarded as the expression of re-
spect for propriety or of polite irony. It was interest-
ing to watch the way in which, in the midst of twenty
persons chatting around her, she would, without ne-
glecting any of them, bring about the answers she de-
sired and avoid those that were dangerous. Things
of a very simple nature, when related by her, assumed
the aspect of confidences. Her slightest smile gave
rise to dreams ; in short, her charm, like the exquisite
scent which she usually carried about with her, was
complex and indefinable.

112 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

While he was in her presence, Frederick experi-
enced on each occasion the pleasure of a new discov-
ery, nevertheless, he always found her equally serene
the next time they met, like the reflection of limpid
waters.

But why was there such coldness in her manner
toward her niece? At times she even darted strange
looks at her.

As soon as the question of marriage was started,
she had urged as an objection to it, when discussing
the matter with M. Dambreuse, the condition of " the
dear child's " health, and had at once taken her off
to the baths of Balaruc. On her return fresh obsta-
cles were raised by her — that the young man was not
in a good position, that this ardent passion did not
appear to be a very serious attachment, and that no
risk would be run by waiting. Martinon had replied,
when the suggestion was made to him, that he would
wait. His conduct was sublime. He lectured Fred-
erick. He did more. He enlightened him as to the
best method of pleasing Madame Dambreuse, even
giving him to understand that he had ascertained from
the niece the sentiments of her aunt.

As for M. Dambreuse, far from exhibiting jealousy,
he treated his young friend with the utmost attention,
consulted him about different things, and even ex-
pressed anxiety about his future, so that one day,
when they were talking about Pere Roque, he whis-
pered with a sly air:

" You have done well."

Cecile, Miss John, the servants and the porter, every
one of them exercised a fascination over him in this
house. He came there every evening, leaving Rosa-
nette for that purpose. Her approaching maternity
rendered her graver in manner, and even a little mel-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 113

ancholy, as if she were troubled by anxieties. To
every question put to her she replied :

" You are mistaken ; I am quite well."

She had, as a matter of fact, signed five notes in
her previous transactions, and not having the courage
to tell Frederick after the first had been paid, she had
returned to the abode of Arnoux, who had promised
her, in writing, the third part of his profits in the light-
ing of the towns of Languedoc by gas (a marvellous
undertaking!), while requesting her not to make use
of this letter at the meeting of shareholders. The
meeting was postponed from week to week.

Meanwhile the Marechale wanted money. She
would have died sooner than ask Frederick for any.
She did not wish to get it from him; it would have
spoiled their love. He contributed a great deal to the
household expenses ; but a little carriage, which he
hired by the month, and other sacrifices, which were
indispensable since he had begun to visit the Dam-
breuses, prevented him from doing more for his mis-
tress. On two or three occasions, when he got back
to the house at a different hour from his usual time,
he fancied he could see men's backs disappearing be-
hind the door, and she often went out without saying
where she was going. Frederick did not attempt to
inquire minutely into these matters. One of these days
he would make up his mind as to his future course of
action. He dreamed of another life which would be
more amusing and more noble. It was having such
an ideal before his mind that rendered him indulgent
toward the Dambreuse mansion.

It was an establishment in the neighbourhood of the
Rue de Poitiers. There he met the great M. A.,
the illustrious B., the profound C, the eloquent Z.,
the immense Y., the old terrors of the Left Centre,

114 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the paladins of the Right, the burgraves of the golden
mean ; the eternal good old men of the comedy. He
was astonished at their abominable style of talking,
their meannesses, their rancours, their dishonesty — all
these personages, after voting for the Constitution,
were now striving to destroy it; a-nd they got into a
state of great agitation, and launched forth mani-
festoes, pamphlets, and biographies. Hussonnet's bi-
ography of Fumichon was a masterpiece. Nonancourt
confined himself to the work of propagandism in the
country districts; M. de Gremonville worked up the
clergy ; and Martinon brought together the young men
of the wealthy class. Each exerted himself accord-
ing to his resources, including Cisy. With his
thoughts now all day long absorbed in matters of
grave moment, he kept making excursions here and
there in a cab in the interests of the party.

M. Dambreuse, like a barometer, constantly gave
expression to its latest variation. Lamartine could
not be mentioned without eliciting from this gentle-
man the quotation of a famous phrase of the man of
the people : " Enough of poetry ! " Cavaignac was,
from this time forth, nothing better in his eyes than a
traitor. The President, whom he had admired for a
period of three months, was beginning to fall off in
his esteem (as he did not appear to exhibit the " nec-
essary energy ") ; and, as he always wanted a saviour,
his gratitude, since the affair of the Conservatoire,
belonged to Changarnier : " Thank God for Chan-
garnier. . . Let us place our hope on Changarnier.
. . . Oh, there's nothing to fear as long as Chan-
garnier "

M. Thiers was lauded, above all, for his book
against Socialism, in which he showed that he was
quite as much of a thinker as a writer. There was an

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 115

Immense laugh at Pierre Leroux, who had quoted
passages from the philosophers in the Chamber. Jokes
were made about the phalansterian tail. The " Mar-
ket of Ideas " came in for a measure of applause,
and its authors were compared to Aristophanes.
Frederick patronised the work as well as the rest.

Political verbiage and good living had an enervating
effect on his morality. Mediocre in capacity as these
persons appeared to him, he felt proud of knowing
them, and internally longed for the respectability that
attached to a wealthy citizen. A mistress like Madame
Dambreuse would assure him a position.

He set about taking the necessary steps for achiev-
ing that object.

He made it his business to cross her path, never
failed to greet her with a bow in her box at the theatre,
and, knowing the hours she went to church, he would
plant himself behind a pillar in a melancholy attitude.
There was a continual interchange of little notes be-
tween them with regard to items to which they drew
each other's attention, preparations for a concert, or
the borrowing of books or reviews. In addition to
his visit each evening, he sometimes made a call just
as the day was closing; and he experienced a pro-
gressive succession of pleasures in passing through
the large front entrance, through the courtyard,
through the anteroom, and through the two reception-
rooms. Finally, he reached her boudoir, which was as
still as a tomb, as warm as an alcove, and in which
one jostled against the upholstered edging of furni-
ture in the midst of numerous objects placed here and
there — chiffoniers, screens, bowls, and trays made of
lacquer, or shell, or ivory, or malachite, expensive
trifles, to which fresh additions were frequently made.
Amongst single specimens of these rarities might be

116 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

noticed three Etretat rollers which were used as pa-
per-presses, and a Frisian cap hung from a Chinese
folding-screen. Nevertheless, all these things har-
monised, and one was impressed* by the noble aspect
of the entire place, due, no doubt, to the loftiness of
the ceiling, the richness of the portieres, and the long
fringes that floated over the gold legs of the stools.

She invariably sat on a little sofa, close to the flower-
stand, which garnished the recess of the window.
Frederick, seating himself on the edge of a large
wheeled ottoman, addressed to her compliments of
the most appropriate kind that he could conceive ; and
she looked at him, with her head a little on one side,
and a smile playing round her mouth.

He read aloud to her poetry, into which he threw
his whole soul in order to move her and excite her
admiration. She would now and then interrupt him
with a disparaging remark or a practical comment;
and their conversation relapsed incessantly into the
eternal question of Love. They discussed the cir-
cumstances that produced it, whether women felt it
more than men, and what was the difference of feel-
ing between them. Frederick tried to express his
opinion, and, at the same time, avoid anything like
coarseness or insipidity. This became at length a
species of contest between them, sometimes agreeable
and at other times tedious.

While at her side, he did not experience that rav-
ishment of his entire being which drew him toward
Madame Arnoux, nor the feeling of voluptuous de-
light with which Rosanette had, at first, inspired him.
But he felt a passion for her as a thing that was ab-
normal and difficult of attainment, because she was of
aristocratic rank, because she was wealthy, because
she was a devotee — imagining that she had a delicacy

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION H7

of sentiment as rare as the lace and the amulets she
wore, and instincts of modesty even in her depravity.

He made some use of his old passion for Madame
Arnoux, uttering in his new flame's hearing all those
amorous sentiments which the other had caused him
to feel earnestly, and pretending that it was Madame
Dambreuse herself who had occasioned them. She
received these avowals like one accustomed to such
things, and, without giving him a formal repulse, did
not yield in the slightest degree; and he came no
nearer to seducing her than Martinon did to being
married. In order to end matters with her niece's
suitor, she accused him of having money for his ob-
ject, and even begged of her husband to put the young
man to the test. M. Dambreuse then declared to him
that Cecile, being the orphan child of poor parents,
had neither expectations nor a dowry.

Martinon, not believing this, or feeling that he had
gone too far to draw back, or through one of those
outbursts of idiotic infatuation which may be described
as acts of genius, replied that his patrimony, amount-
ing to fifteen thousand francs a year, would be suffi-
cient for both of them. The banker was touched by
this unexpected display of disinterestedness. He
promised the young man a tax-collectorship, under-
taking to obtain the post for him; and in the month
of May, 1850, Martinon married Mademoiselle Cecile.
There was no ball to celebrate the event. The young
people left the same evening for Italy. Frederick
came next day to visit Madame Dambreuse. She ap-
peared to him paler than usual. She sharply contra-
dicted him about several matters of no importance.
However, she observed, all men were egoists.

There were, however, some devoted men, though
he might happen himself to be the only one.

118 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Pooh, pooh! you're just like the rest of them!"

Her eyelids were red ; she had been weeping.

Then, forcing a smile :

" Pardon me ; 1 am in the wrong. Sad thoughts
have taken possession of my mind."

He could not understand what she meant to con-
vey by the last words.

" No matter ! she is not so difficult to overcome as
I imagined," he thought.

She rang for a glass of water, drank a mouthful,
sent it away again, and then began to complain of
the wretched way in which her servant attended on
her. In order to amuse her, he offered to become her
servant himself, pretending that he knew how to hand
round plates, dust furniture, and announce visitors —
in fact, to do the duties of a valet-de-chambre, or,
rather, of a running-footman, although the latter was
now out of fashion. He would be charmed to cling
on behind her carriage wearing a hat adorned with
cock's feathers.

" And how I would follow you with majestic stride,
carrying your pug on my arm ! "

" You are facetious," said Madame Dambreuse.

Was it not folly, he returned, to take everything
seriously? There were enough miseries in the world
without creating fresh ones. Nothing was worth the
cost of a single pang. Madame Dambreuse raised her
eyes with a sort of vague appproval.

This agreement in their views of life encouraged
Frederick to take a bolder course. His former mis-
calculations now gave him insight. He went on:

" Our grandsires lived better. Why not obey the
impulse that urges us onward? After all, love is
not of such importance in itself."

" But that is immoral ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION H9

She had resumed her seat on the little sofa. He
sat at the side of it, near her feet.

" Don't you see that I am lying? For in order to
please women, one must exhibit the thoughtlessness
of a buffoon or all the wild passion of tragedy ! They
only laugh at us when we simply tell them that we
love them ! For my part. I consider those hyperboli-
cal phrases which tickle their fancy a profanation of
true love, so that it is no longer possible to thus ex-
press oneself, especially when addressing women who
possess more than ordinary intelligence."

She gazed at him from under her drooping eyelids.
He lowered his voice, while he bent his head closer to
her face.

" Yes ! you frighten me ! Perhaps I am offending
you? Forgive me! I did not intend to say all that
I have said ! 'Tis not my fault ! You are so beauti-
ful ! "

Madame Dambreuse closed her eyes, and he was
astonished at his easy victory. The tall trees in the
garden ceased their gentle quivering. Motionless
clouds streaked the sky with long strips of red, and
on every side there seemed to be a suspension of vital
movements. Then he recalled to mind, in a confused
sort of way, evenings like this, filled with the same un-
broken silence. Where was it that he had known
them?

He sank upon his knees, seized her hand, and s\vore
that he would love her for ever. Then, as he was leav-
ing, she beckoned to him to come back, and said to
him in a low tone:

" Come by-and-by and dine with us ! We shall be
all alone."

It seemed to Frederick, as he descended the stairs,
that he had become a different man, that he was surT

120 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

rounded by the balmy temperature of hot-houses, and
that he was now entering into the higher sphere of
patrician adulteries and lofty intrigues. In order to
occupy the first rank there all he required was a
woman of this stamp. Greedy, no doubt, of power
and of success, and married to a man of inferior cal-
ibre, for whom she had done prodigious services, she
longed for some one of ability to guide. Nothing was
impossible now. He felt himself capable of riding
two hundred leagues on horseback, of travelling for
several nights in succession without fatigue. His
heart overflowed with pride.

Just in front of him, on the footpath, a man
wrapped in a seedy overcoat was walking with down-
cast eyes, and w'ith such an air of dejection that Fred-
erick, as he passed, turned to have a better look at him.
The other raised his head. It was Deslauriers. He
hesitated. Frederick fell upon his neck.

" Ah ! my poor old friend ! 'Tis you ! "

And he dragged Deslauriers into his house, at the
same time asking him a heap of questions.

Ledru-Rollin's ex-commissioner began by describing
the tortures to which he had been subjected. As he
preached fraternity to the Conservatives, and respect
for the laws to the Socialists, the former tried to shoot
him, and the latter brought cords to hang him with.
After June he had been brutally dismissed. He found
himself involved in a charge of conspiracy — that which
was connected with the seizure of arms at Troyes. He
had subsequently been released for want of evidence
to sustain the charge. Then the acting committee had
sent him to London, where his ears had been boxed
during a banquet at which he and his colleagues were
being entertained. On his return to Paris

" Why did you not call here, then, to see me ? "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 121

" You were always out ! Your porter had myste-
rious airs — I did not know what to think; and, then,
I had no desire to reappear before you in the charac-
ter of a defeated man."

He had knocked at the portals of Democracy, offer-
ing to serve it with his pen, with his tongue, with all
his energies. He had been everywhere repelled. They
had mistrusted him. He had sold his watch, his book-
case, and even his linen.

" It would be better to be breaking one's back on
the pontoons of Belle Isle with Senecal ! "

Frederick, who had been fastening his cravat, did
not appear to be much affected by this news.

"Ha! so he is transported, this good Senecal?"

Deslauriers replied, while he surveyed the walls
with an envious air:

" Not everybody has your luck ! "

" Excuse me," said Frederick, without noticing the
allusion to his own circumstances, " but I am dining
in the city. You must have something to eat; order
whatever you like. Take even my bed ! "

This cordial reception dissipated Deslauriers' bitter-
ness.

"Your bed? But that might inconvenience you!"

" Oh, no ! I have others ! "

" Oh, all right ! " returned the advocate, with a
laugh. " Pray, where are you dining ? "

" At Madame Dambreuse's."

" Can it be that you are — perhaps ? "

" You are too inquisitive," said Frederick, with a
smile, which confirmed this hypothesis.

Then, after a glance at the clock, he resumed his
seat.

" So that's how it is ! but we mustn't despair, my
ex-defender of the people ! "

122 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Pardon me ; let others bother themselves about the
people henceforth ! "

The advocate detested the working-men, because
he had suffered so much on their account in his prov-
ince, a coal-mining district. Every pit had appointed
a provisional government, from which he received
orders.

'' Besides, their conduct has been everywhere charm-
ing— at Lyons, at Lille, at Havre, at Paris ! For, in
imitation of the manufacturers, who would fain ex-
clude the products of the foreigner, these gentlemen
call on us to banish the English, German, Belgian, and
Savoyard workmen. As for their intelligence, what
was the use of that precious trades' union of theirs
which they established under the Restoration? In
1830 they joined the National Guard, without having
the common sense to get in control of it. Was it not a
fact that, since the morning when 1848 dawned, the
various trade-bodies had not reappeared with their
banners? They have even demanded popular repre-
sentatives for themselves, who are not to speak ex-
cept in their own behalf. All this is the same as if
the deputies who represent beetroot were to concern
themselves about nothing save beetroot. Ah ! I've had
enough of these dodgers who in turn prostrate them-
selves before the scaffold of Robespierre, the boots of
the Emperor, and the umbrella of Louis Philippe — a
rabble yielding allegiance to the person that flings
bread into their mouths. They cry out against the
venality of Talleyrand and Mirabeau ; but the messen-
ger down below there would sell his country for fifty
centimes if they'd only promise to fix a tariff of three
francs on his walk. Ah ! what a wretched state of
affairs ! We ought to set the four corners of Europe
on fire ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 123

Frederick said in reply to the bitter tirade of his
friend :

' The spark is what you lack ! You were simply a
lot of shopboys, and even the best of you were noth-
ing better than penniless students. As for the work-
men, no wonder they complain ; for, with the exception
of a million taken out of the civil list, and of which
you made a grant to them with the meanest expressions
of flattery, you have done nothing for them, save to
talk in stilted phrases ! The workman's certificate re-
mains in^the hands of the employer, and the person
who" is paid wages remains (even in the eye of the
law), the inferior of his master, because his word is
not credited. In short, the Republic seems to me a
worn-out institution. Who knows? Perhaps Prog-
ress can be realised only through an aristocracy or
through a single man? The initiative always comes
from the top, and whatever may be the people's pre-
tensions, they are always lower than those placed over
them ! "

According to Frederick, the vast majority of citi-
zens aimed only at a life of peace (he had been im-
proved by his visits to the Dambreuses), and the
chances were all on the side of the Conservatives.
That party, however, needed new men.

" If you came forward, I am sure "

He did not complete the sentence. Deslauriers saw
what Frederick meant, and passed his two hands over
his head; then, all of a sudden:

"But what about yourself? Is there anything to
prevent you presenting yourself? Why would you
not be a deputy ? "

In consequence of a double election there was in the
Aube a vacancy for a candidate. M. Dambreuse, who
had been reflected as a member of the Legislative As-

124 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

sembly, lived in and belonged to a different arrondis-
sement.

" \Yould you like me to interest myself on your be-
half?" He was acquainted with many publicans,
schoolmasters, doctors, notaries' clerks and their mas-
ters. " Besides, you can make the peasants believe
anything you like ! "

Frederick felt his ambition rekindling.

Deslauriers added :

" You would have no difficulty in getting a situa-
tion for me in Paris."

" Oh ! I could manage that through Monsieur Dam-
breuse."

" Talking of coal-mines," the advocate went on,
" what has become of his big company ? This is the
sort of employment that would suit me, and I could
make myself useful to them while preserving my own
independence."

Frederick promised that he would introduce him to
the banker before three days had passed.

The dinner, which he enjoyed alone with Madame
Dambreuse, was a delightful affair. She sat opposite
him with a smile on her countenance. On the table
was a basket of flowers, while a lamp suspended above
their heads shed its light on the scene ; and, as the
window was open, they could see the stars. They
talked very little, distrusting themselves, no doubt ;
but, the moment the servants had turned their backs,
they sent a kiss across to each other from the tips
of their lips. He told her about his idea of becoming
a candidate. She approved of the project, promising
even to get M. Dambreuse to use every effort in his
behalf.

As the evening advanced, some of her friends called
to congratulate her, at the same time expressing sym-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 125

pathy with her; she must be so much pained at the
loss of her niece. It was all very well for newly-mar-
ried people to go on a trip; by-and-by would come
incumbrances, children. But really, Italy did not real-
ise one's expectations. They had not as yet passed
the age of illusions ; and, of course, the honeymoon
made everything look beautiful. The last two who
remained behind were M. de Gremonville and Fred-
erick. The diplomatist was not inclined to leave. At
last he departed at midnight. Madame Dambreuse
signed to Frederick to go with him, and thanked him
for this compliance with her wishes by giving him a
gentle pressure with her hand more delightful than
anything that had gone before.

The Marechale uttered an exclamation of joy on
seeing him again. She had been expecting him for
the last five hours. He gave as an excuse for the
delay an indispensable step which he had to take in
the interests of Deslauriers. His face wore a look of
triumph, and was surrounded by an aureole which daz-
zled Rosanette.

" It is perhaps because of your black coat, which
fits you well ; but I never have seen you look so hand-
some ! How handsome you are ! "

In a transport of tenderness, she vowed internally
never again to belong to any other man, no matter
what might be the consequence, even if she were to
die of starvation.

Her pretty eyes sparkled with such intense passion
that Frederick taking her upon his knees thought to
himself that he was playing a very rascally part. All
the same, he admired his own perversity.

CHAPTER XVII
FREDERICK'S BETROTHAL

DESLAURIERS presented himself to M. Dam-
breuse, who was thinking of reviving his coal-
mining speculation. But this fusion of all the
companies into one was looked upon unfavourably ;
there was prejudice against monopolies, as if immense
capital were not necessary for carrying out enterprises
of this kind !

Deslauriers, who had studied for the purpose the
work of Gobet and the articles of M. Chappe in the
Journal des Mines, understood the question perfectly.
He demonstrated that the law of 1810 established for
the benefit of the guarantee a privilege which could
not be transferred. Besides, a democratic colour
might be given to the transaction. To interfere with
the formation of coal-mining companies was against
the principle even of association.

M. Dambreuse intrusted to him some notes for the
purpose of drawing up a memorandum. As for the
way in which he meant to pay for the work, he was
all the more profuse in his promises from the fact that
they were not very definite.

Deslauriers called again at Frederick's house, and
gave him an account of the interview. Moreover, he
had caught a glimpse of Madame Dambreuse at the
foot of the stairs, just as he was going out.

" I wish you joy — upon my soul, I do! "

Then they had a chat about the election. They
would have to plan how to carry it.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 127

Three days later Deslauriers reappeared with a sheet
of paper covered with handwriting, intended for the
Paris newspapers, which was nothing less than a
friendly letter from M. Dambreuse, expressing ap-
proval of their friend's candidature. Supported by a
Conservative and praised by a Red, he ought to suc-~
ceed. How had the capitalist come to put his signa-
ture to such a lucubration? The advocate had, of his
own motion, and without the least appearance of em-
barrassment, gone and shown it to Madame Dam-
breuse, who, thinking it quite appropriate, had taken
the rest of the business on her own shoulders.

Frederick was astonished at this proceeding. Nev-
ertheless, he approved of it; then, as Deslauriers was
to have an interview with M. Roque, his friend ex-
plained to him his delicate position with regard to
Louise.

;< Tell them anything you like ; that my affairs are
in an unsettled state, that I am putting them in order.
She is young enough to wait ! "

Ueslauriers set forth, and Frederick looked upon
himself as a very able man. He experienced, more-
over, a feeling of gratification, a profound satisfac-
tion. His delight at being the possessor of a rich
woman was not spoiled by any contrast. The senti-
ment harmonised with the surroundings. His life now
would be full of happiness in every sense.

Perhaps the most delicious sensation of all was to
gaze at Madame Dambreuse in the midst of a num-
ber of other ladies in her drawing-room. The pro-
priety of her manners made him dream of other situa-
tions. While she was talking in a tone of coldness, he
would recall the loving words which she had mur-
mured in his ear. All the respect which he felt for her
virtue gave him a thrill of pleasure, as if it were a

128 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

homage which was reflected back on himself; and at
times he felt a longing to exclaim :

" But I know her better than yon ! She is mine ! "

It was not long ere their relations came to be so-
cially recognised as an established fact. Madame
Dambreuse, during the whole winter, had Frederick
accompany her into fashionable society.

He nearly always arrived before her; and he
watched her as she entered with her arms uncovered, a
fan in her hand, and pearls in her hair. She would
pause on the threshold (the lintel of the door formed a
framework round her head), and she would open and
close her eyes with a certain air of indecision, in or-
der to see whether he was there.

She drove him back in her carriage ; the rain lashed
the carriage-blinds. The passers-by seemed merely
shadows wavering in the mire of the street ; and,
pressed close to each other, they observed all these
things vaguely with a calm disdain. Under various
pretexts, he would linger in her room for an addi-
tional hour.

It was chiefly through a feeling of ennui that Ma-
dame Dambreuse had yielded. But this latest ex-
perience was not to be wasted. She desired to give
herself up to an absorbing passion ; and so she be-
gan to heap on his head adulations and caresses.

She sent him flowers ; she had an upholstered chair
made for him. She presented him with a cigar-holder,
an inkstand, a thousand little things for daily use,
so that every act of his life should recall her to his
memory. These kind attentions charmed him at first,
and in a little while appeared to him quite natural.

She would step into a cab, discharge it at the open-
ing into a by-way, and come out at the other end ; and
then, gliding along by the walls, with a double veil

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 129

on her face, she would reach the street where Fred-
erick, who had been keeping watch, would take her
arm quickly and lead her toward his house. His two
men-servants would have gone out for a walk, and
the doorkeeper been sent on some errand. She would
throw a glance around her — nothing to fear! — and
she would breathe forth the sigh of an exile who be-
holds his country once more. Their good fortune em-
boldened them. Their appointments became more fre-
quent. One evening, she presented herself, suddenly,
in full ball-dress. These surprises might have perilous
consequences. He reproached her for her impru-
dence. He was not taken with her appearance. The
low-cut waist of her dress exposed her thinness too
much.

It was then that he discovered what had hitherto
been hidden from him — the disillusion of his senses.
None the less did he make professions of ardent love ;
but in order to call up the necessary emotions he had
to evoke the images of Rosanette and Madame Ar-
noux.

This sentimental atrophy left his intellect entirely
untrammelled ; and he was more ambitious than ever
of attaining a high position in society. Inasmuch as
he had such a stepping-stone, the very least he could
do was to make use of it.

One morning, about the middle of January, Sene-
cal entered his study, and in response to his exclama-
tion of astonishment, announced that he was Deslau-
riers' secretary. He brought Frederick a letter. It
contained good news, and yet it took him to task for
his negligence ; he would have to appear on the scene
of action at once. The future deputy said he would set
out on his way there in two days' time.

Senecal gave no opinion on the other's merits as a

130 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

candidate. He spoke about his own concerns and the
affairs of the country.

Miserable as the state of things was, it gave him
pleasure to see that they were advancing in the di-
rection of Communism. In the first place, the Admin-
istration led toward it of its own accord, since every
day a greater number of things were under Govern-
ment control. As for Property, the Constitution of '48,
in spite of its weaknesses, had not spared it. The State
might, in the name of public utility, henceforth take
whatever it thought suitable. Senecal declared him-
self in favour of authority ; and Frederick noticed in
his remarks the exaggeration which characterised
what he had said himself to Deslauriers. The Repub-
lican even inveighed against the masses for their in-
adequacy.

" Robespierre, by upholding the right of the minor-
ity had brought Louis XVI to acknowledge the Na-
tional Convention, and saved the people. Things were
rendered legitimate by the end toward which they
were directed. A dictatorship is sometimes indispen-
sable. Long live tyranny, provided that the tyrant
promotes the public welfare ! "

Their discussion lasted a long time ; and, as he took
his departure, Senecal confessed (perhaps it was the
real object of his visit) that Deslauriers was getting
very impatient at the silence of M. Dambreuse.

But M. Dambreuse was ill. Frederick saw him
every day, his character of an intimate friend enabling
him to obtain admission to the invalid's bedside.

General Changarnier's recall had strongly affected
the capitalist's mind. He was, on the evening of the
occurrence, seized with a burning sensation in his
chest, together with an oppression that prevented
him from lying down. The application of leeches gave

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 131

him immediate relief. The dry cough disappeared;
the respiration became easier; and, eight days later,
he said, while swallowing some broth:

" Ah ! I'm better now — but I was near going on
the last long journey ! "

" Xot without me ! " exclaimed Madame Dam-
breuse, intending by this remark to convey that she
would not be able to outlive him.

Instead of replying, he cast upon her and upon her
lover a singular smile, indicating at the same time,
resignation, indulgence, irony, and even, as it were,
a touch of humour, a sort of secret satisfaction al-
most amounting to actual joy.

Frederick wished to start for Nogent. Madame
Dambreuse objected to this ; and he unpacked and re-
packed his luggage by turns according to the varia-
tions in the invalid's condition.

One day M. Dambreuse spat forth considerable
blood. The " princes of medical science," on being
consulted, could not think of any fresh remedy. His
legs swelled, and his weakness increased. He had
several times expressed a desire to see Cecile, who
was at the other end of France with her husband, now
a collector of taxes, a position to which he had been
appointed a month ago. M. Dambreuse gave orders
to send for her. Madame Dambreuse wrote three
letters, which she showed him.

Without trusting him even to the care of the nun,
she did not leave him for one second, and no longer
went to bed. The ladies who had their names en-
tered at the door-lodge made inquiries about her with
feelings of admiration, and the passers-by were filled
with respect on seeing the quantity of straw which
was placed on the street under the windows.

On the 1 2th of February, at five o'clock, a fright-

132 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

ful haemoptysis came on. The doctor who had charge
of the case pointed out that it had assumed a dan-
gerous aspect. They sent in hot haste for a priest.

While M. Dambreuse was making his confession,
Madame gazed curiously at him from some distance.
After this, the young doctor applied a blister, and
awaited the result.

The flame of the lamps, obscured by some of the
furniture, lighted up the apartment irregularly. Fred-
erick and Madame Dambreuse, at the foot of the bed,
watched the dying man. In the recess of a window
the priest and the doctor chatted in low tones. The
good sister on her knees kept mumbling prayers.

At last came a rattling in the throat. The hands
grew cold ; the face began to turn white. Now and
then he drew a deep breath ; but gradually this became
rarer and rarer. Two or three confused words escaped
him. He turned his eyes upward, and at the same
moment his respiration became so feeble that it was
almost imperceptible. Then his head sank on one
side on the pillow.

For a minute, all present remained motionless.

Madame Dambreuse advanced toward the dead
body of her husband, and, without an effort — with
the unaffectedness of one discharging a duty — she
drew down the eyelids. Then she spread out her
two arms, her figure writhing as if in a spasm of re-
pressed despair, and left the room, supported by the
physician and the nun.

A quarter of an hour afterward, Frederick entered
her apartment.

There was in it an indefinable odour, emanating
from some delieate substances with which it was filled.
In the middle of the bed lay a black dress, which
formed a glaring contrast with the pink coverlet.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 133

Madame Dambreuse was standing at the corner of
the mantelpiece. Without attributing to her any pas-
sionate regret, he thought she looked a little sad; and,
in a mournful voice, he said :

" You are suffering pain ? "

"I? No— not at all."

As she turned, her eyes fell on the dress, which
she inspected. Then she told him not to stand on
ceremony.

" Smoke, if you like ! You can make yourself at
home here ! "

And, with a great sigh :

" Ah ! Blessed Virgin ! — what a riddance ! "

Frederick was astonished at this exclamation. He
replied, as he kissed her hand :

" All the same, you were free ! "

This allusion to the ease with which the intrigue
between them had been carried on hurt Madame Dam-
breuse.

" Ah ! you don't know all I did for him, or the mis-
ery in which I lived ! "

" What ! "

" Why, certainly ! Was it a safe thing to have always
near him that bastard, a daughter, whom he brought
into the house at the end of five years of married life,
and who, were it not for me, might have led him into
some act of folly ? "

Then she explained how her affairs stood. The ar-
rangement on the occasion of her marriage was that
the property of each party should be separate and
under his and her own control. The amount of her
inheritance was three hundred thousand francs. M.
Dambreuse had guaranteed by the marriage contract
that in the event of her surviving him, she should
have an income of fifteen thousand francs a year, to-

134 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

gather with the ownership of the mansion. But later
he had made a will by which he gave her all he pos-
sessed, and this she estimated, so far as it was possible
to ascertain just at present, at over three millions of
francs.

Frederick's eyes opened widely.

" It was worth the trouble, wasn't it? However, I
contributed to it! It was my own property I was
protecting; Cecile would have unjustly robbed me of
it."

"Why did she not come to see her father?"

As he asked her this question Madame Dambreuse
eyed him attentively ; then, in a dry tone :

" I have'n't the least idea ! Want of affection, prob-
ably ! Oh ! I know what she is ! And for that reason
she won't get a farthing from me ! "

She had not been very troublesome, he pointed out;
at any rate, since her marriage.

" Ha ! her marriage ! " said Madame Dambreuse,
with a sneer. And she repented having treated only
too well this stupid creature, who was jealous, self-
interested, and hypocritical. "All the faults of her
father ! " She disparaged him more and more. There
was never a person with such profound duplicity, and
with such a merciless disposition into the bargain, as
hard as a stone — " a bad man, a bad man ! "

Even the wisest people fall into errors. Madame
Dambreuse had just made a serious one by this over-
flow of hatred. Frederick, sitting opposite her in an
easy chair, was reflecting deeply, scandalised by the
language she had used.

She arose and knelt down beside him.

'' To be with you is my only real pleasure ! You
are the only one I love ! "

While she gazed at him her heart softened, a nerv-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 135

ous reaction brought tears into her eyes, and she mur-
mured :

"Will you marry me?"

For a moment he thought he had not understood
what she said. He was stunned by this wealth.

She repeated in a louder tone:

" Will you marry me? "

He answered with a smile:

" Have you any doubt about it ? "

Then the thought forced itself on his mind that his
conduct was infamous, and in order to make some
kind of reparation to the dead man, he offered to
watch by his side himself. But, feeling ashamed of
this pious sentiment, he added, in a flippant tone:

" It would be perhaps more seemly."

" Perhaps so, indeed," she said, " on account of the
servants."

The bed had been drawn completely out of the al-
cove. The nun was near the foot of it, and at the
head of it sat a priest, a different one, a tall, spare
man, with the look of a fanatical Spaniard. On the
night-table, covered with a white cloth, three wax-
tapers were burning.

Frederick seated himself, and gazed at the corpse.

The face was as yellow as straw. At the corners
of the mouth there were traces of blood-stained foam.
A silk handkerchief was tied around the head, and
on the breast, covered with a knitted waistcoat, lay a
silver crucifix between the two crossed hands.

It was over, this life of anxieties. How many jour-
neys had he not made? How many rows of figures
had he not added together? How many speculations
had he not hatched? How many reports had he not
heard read? What quackeries, what smiles and cur-
vets! For he had acclaimed Napoleon, the Cossacks,

136 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Louis XVIII, 1830, the working-men, every regime,
loving power so dearly that he would have paid, if
necessary, to have the opportunity of selling himself.

He had left behind him the estate of La Fortelle,
three factories in Picardy, the woods of Crance in
the Yonne, a farm near Orleans, and much personal
property in the form of bills and papers.

Frederick thus estimated her fortune; and it would
soon belong to him ! First of all, he thought of " what
people would say " ; then he asked himself what pres-
ent he ought to make to his mother, and he was con-
cerned about his future equipages, and about employ-
ing an old coachman belonging to his own family as
the doorkeeper. Of course, the livery would not re-
main the same. He would convert the large reception-
room into his own study. There was nothing to pre-
vent him, by knocking down three walls, from making
a picture-gallery on the second-floor. Perhaps there
might be an opportunity for introducing into the lower
portion of the house a hall for Turkish baths. As for
M. Dambreuse's office, a disagreeable place, what use
could he make of it?

These reflections were from time to time rudely in-
terrupted by the sounds made by the priest in blow-
ing his nose, or by the good sister in settling the fire.

But the actual facts showed that his thoughts rested
on a solid foundation. The corpse was there. The
eyelids had reopened, and the pupils, although steeped
in clammy gloom, had an enigmatic, intolerable ex-
pression.

Frederick fancied that he saw there a judgment di-
rected against himself, and he experienced a sort of
remorse, for he had never any grievance against this
man, who, on the contrary —

" Come, now ! an old wretch ! " and he looked at

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 137

the dead man more closely in order to strengthen his
mind, mentally addressing him thus:

"Well, what? Have I killed you?"

The priest still read his breviary; the nun, who sat
motionless, had fallen asleep. The wicks of the three
wax-tapers had grown longer.

For two houirs nothing could be hfeard but the
heavy rolling of carts making their way to the mar-
kets. The window-panes began to admit streaks of
white. A cab passed ; then a group of donkeys trotted
over the pavement. Then came strokes of hammers,
cries of itinerant vendors of wood and blasts of horns.
Already every other sound was blended with the
great voice of awakening Paris.

Frederick went out to perform the duties assigned
to him. He first repaired to the Mayor's office to make
the necessary declaration ; then, when the medical of-
ficer had given him a certificate of death, he called a
second time at the municipal buildings in order to
name the cemetery which the family had selected, and
to make the final arrangements for the funeral cere-
monies.

The clerk in the office showed him a plan which
indicated the mode of interment adopted for the vari-
ous classes, and a programme giving full particulars
respecting the spectacular portion of the funeral.
Would he like to have an open funeral-car or a hearse
with plumes, plaits on the horses, and aigrettes on
the footmen, initials or a coat-of-arms, funeral-lamps,
a man to display the family distinctions? and what
number of carriages would he require?

Frederick did not economise in the slightest detail.
Madame Dambreuse was determined to spare no ex-
pense.

After this he made his way to the church.

138 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The curate who had charge of burials criticised the
waste of money on funeral pomps. For instance,
the officer for the display of armorial distinctions was
really useless. It would be far more satisfactory to
have a goodly display of wax-tapers. A low mass ac-
companied by music would be appropriate.

Frederick gave written directions on everything
agreed upon, with a joint undertaking to defray all
the expenses.

He went next to the Hotel de Ville to purchase a
piece of ground. A grant of a piece two metres in
length and one in breadth cost five hundred francs.
Did he want a grant for fifty years or forever?

" Oh, forever ! " said Frederick.

He took the whole thing seriously and got into a
state of intense anxiety about it. In the courtyard of
the mansion a marble-cutter was waiting to show
him estimates and plans of Greek, Egyptian, and
Moorish tombs; but the family architect had already
been in consultation with Madame; and on the table
in the vestibule there were all sorts of prospectuses
with reference to the cleaning of mattresses, the dis-
infection of rooms, and the various processes of em-
balming.

After dining, he went to the tailor's shop to order
mourning for the servants; and he had still to dis-
charge another function, for the gloves that he had
ordered were of beaver, whereas the right kind for a
funeral were floss-silk.

When he arrived next morning, at ten o'clock, the
large reception-room was crowded with people, and
nearly everyone said, on encountering the others, in
a melancholy tone :

" It is only a month ago since I saw him ! Good
heavens ! it will be the same way with us all ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 139

" Yes ; but let us try to keep it as far away from us
as possible ! "

Then there were little smiles of satisfaction ; and
they even engaged in conversations entirely unsuited
to the occasion. At length, the master of the cere-
monies, in a black coat and short breeches, with a
cloak, cambric mourning-bands, a long sword by his
side, and a three-cornered hat under his arm, gave ut-
terance, with a bow, to the customary words :

" Messieurs, when it shall be your pleasure."

The funeral procession started. It was the market-
day for flowers on the Place de la Madeleine. It was
a fine day with brilliant sunshine ; and the breeze,
which shook the canvas tents, swelled out at the edges
the enormous black cloth which was hung over the
church-gate. The escutcheon of M. Dambreuse,
which covered a square piece of velvet, was repeated
there three times. It was: Sable, ztrith an arm sin-
ister or and a clenched hand with a glove argent; with
the coronet of a count, and this device : By every path.

The bearers lifted the heavy coffin to the top of the
staircase, and they entered the church. The six
chapels, the hemicycles, and the seats were hung with
black. The catafalque at the end of the choir formed,
with its large wax-tapers, a single point of yellow
lights. At the two corners, over the candelabra,
flames of spirits of wine were burning.

The persons of highest rank occupied places in the
sanctuary, and the rest in the nave; and then the
Office for the Dead began.

With a few exceptions, the religious ignorance of
all was so profound that the master of the ceremonies
had, from time to time, to make signs to them to rise,
to kneel, or to resume their seats. The organ and
the two double-basses could be heard alternately with

140 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the voices. In the intervals of silence, the only
sounds that reached the ear were the mumblings of
the priest at the altar; then the music and the chant-
ing began again.

The light of day shone dimly through the three
cupolas, but the open door let in, as it were, a stream
of white radiance, which, entering in a horizontal di-
rection, fell on every uncovered head; and in the air,
half-way toward the ceiling of the church, floated
a shadow, which was penetrated by the reflection of
the gildings that decorated the ribbing of the penden-
tives and the foliage of the capitals.

Frederick, in an effort to distract his attention, lis-
tened to the Dies iroc. He gazed at those around
him, or tried to catch a glimpse of the pictures hang-
ing far above his head, wherein the life of the Mag-
dalen was represented. Luckily, Pellerin came to sit
down beside him, and immediately plunged into a long
dissertation on the subject of frescoes. The bell be-
gan to toll. They left the church.

The hearse, adorned with hanging draperies and
tall plumes, set out for Pere-Lachaise drawn by four
black horses, with their manes plaited, their heads
decked with tufts of feathers, and with large trap-
pings embroidered with silver flowing down to their
shoes. The driver of the vehicle, in Hessian boots,
wore a three-cornered hat with a long piece of crape
hanging down from it. The cords were held by four
personages: a questor of the Chamber of Deputies, a
member of the General Council of the Aube, a dele-
gate from the coal-mining company, and Fumichon, as
a friend. The carriage of the deceased and a dozen
mourning-coaches followed. The persons attending
at the funeral followed in the rear, rilling up the mid-
dle of the boulevard.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 141

The passers-by stopped to look at the mournful
procession. Women, with their children in their
arms, got up on chairs, and people, who had been
drinking beer in the cafes, presented themselves at
the windows with billiard-cues in their hands.
. The way was long, and, as at formal meals at which
people are at first reserved and then expansive, the
general deportment speedily relaxed. They all talked
of the refusal of an allowance by the Chamber to the
President. M. Piscatory had shown him'self harsh ;
Montalembert had been " magnificent, as usual/' and
MM. Chamballe, Pidoux, Creton, in short, the entire
committee would probably be compelled to follow the
advice of MM. Quentin-Bauchard and Dufour.

This conversation was continued as they passed
through the Rue de la Roquette, with shops on each
side, in which could be seen only chains of coloured
glass and black circular tablets covered with drawings
and letters of gold — making them resemble grottoes
full of stalactites and crockery-ware shops. When
they had reached the cemetery-gate, everyone ceased
speaking.

The tombs stood among the trees : broken columns,
pyramids, temples, dolmens, obelisks, and Etruscan
vaults with doors of bronze. In some of them might
be seen funereal boudoirs, so to speak, with rustic
arm-chairs and folding-stools. Spiders' webs hung
like rags from the little chains of the urns ; and the
bouquets of satin ribbons and the crucifixes were cov-
ered with dust. Everywhere, between the balusters on
the tombstones, wrere crowns of immortelles and chan-
deliers, vases, flowers, black discs set off with gold
letters, and plaster statuettes — little boys or little girls
or angels suspended in the air by brass wires ; sev-
eral of them having even a roof of zinc overhead.

142 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Huge cables made of glass strung together, black,
white, or azure, descended from the tops of the monu-
ments to the ends of the flagstones with long folds,
like boas. The rays of the sun, striking on them,
made them scintillate in the midst of the black wooden
crosses. The hearse advanced along the broad paths,
paved like the streets of a city. From time to time the
axletrees cracked. Women, kneeling down, with their
dresses trailing in the grass, addressed the dead in
tones of tenderness. Little white fumes arose from
the green leaves of the yew trees. These came from
offerings that had been left behind, waste material that
had been burnt.

M. Dambreuse's grave was close to the graves of
Manuel and Benjamin Constant. The soil in this
part slopes with an abrupt decline. Beneath one are
the tops of green trees, further down the chimneys of
steam-pumps, then the entire great city.

Frederick found an opportunity of admiring the
scene while the various addresses were being deliv-
ered.

The first was in the name of the Chamber of
Deputies, the second in the name of the General Coun-
cil of the Aube, the third in the name of the coal-
mining company of Saone-et-Loire, the fourth in the
name of the Agricultural Society of the Yonne, and
there was another in the name of a Philanthropic So-
ciety. Finally, just as everyone was departing, a
stranger began reading a sixth address, in the name of
the Amiens Society of Antiquaries.

They all took advantage of the occasion to denounce
Socialism, of which M. Dambreuse had died a victim.
It was the effect produced on his mind by the exhi-
bitions of anarchic violence, together with his devo-
tion to order, that had shortened his days. They

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 143

praised his intellectual powers, his integrity, his gen-
erosity, and even his silence as a representative of the
people, '' for, if he was not an orator, he possessed in-
stead those solid qualities a thousand times more use-
ful," etc., with all the requisite phrases — " Premature
end ; eternal regrets ; the better land ; farewell, or
rather no, au revoir!"

The clay, mingled with stones, fell on the coffin,
and he would never again be a subject for discussion
in society.

However, there were a few allusions to him as the
persons who had followed his remains left the ceme-
tery. Hussonnet, who would have to give an account
of the interment in the newspapers, spoke of all the
addresses in a chaffing style, for, in truth, the worthy
Dambreuse had been one of the most notable pots-de-
vin of the last reign. Then the mourners were driven
in the coaches to their various places of business ; the
ceremony had not lasted very long; they congratu-
lated themselves on the circumstance.

Frederick returned to his own abode quite worn
out.

When he presented himself next day at Madame
Dambreuse's residence, he was informed that she was
below stairs in the room where M. Dambreuse had
kept his papers.

The cardboard receptacles and the different drawers
had been hurriedly opened, and the account-books
had been flung about right and left A roll of papers
on which were endorsed the words " Repayment hope-
less " lay on the ground. He was near falling over it,
and picked it up. Madame Dambreuse had sunk back
in the armchair, so that he did not see her.

" Well? where are you? • What is the matter? "

She jumped to her feet with a bound.

144 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

"What is the matter? I am ruined, ruined! do
you understand ? "

M. Adolphe Langlois, the notary, had sent her a
message to call at his office, and had informed her of
the contents of a will made by her husband before
their marriage. He had bequeathed everything to Ce-
cile ; and the other will could not be found. Frederick
turned very pale. No doubt she had not made suffi-
cient search.

"Well, then, look for yourself!" said Madame
Dambreuse, pointing at the various objects in the
room.

The two strong-boxes were gaping wide, having
been broken open with blows of a cleaver, and she had
turned up the desk, rummaged in the cupboards, and
shaken the straw-mattings. All of a sudden, utter-
ing a piercing cry, she dashed into a corner where she
had just noticed a little box with a brass lock. She
opened it — nothing!

" Ah ! the wretch ! I, who took such devoted care
of him!"

Then she burst into tears.

" Perhaps it is somewhere else ? " said Frederick.

" Oh ! no ! it was there ! in that strong-box. I saw
it there recently. It is burned ! I'm certain of it ! "

One day, in the early stage of his illness, M. Dam-
breuse had gone down to this room to sign some doc-
uments.

" It was then he must have done the trick ! "

And she fell back on a chair, crushed. A mother
grieving beside an empty cradle could not be more
woeful than Madame Dambreuse at the sight of the
open strong-boxes. Indeed, her sorrow, in spite of
the baseness of the motive which inspired it, appeared
so deep that he tried to console her by reminding her

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 145

that, after all, she was not reduced to sheer poverty.

" It is poverty, when I am not in a position to offer
you a large fortune ! "

She had not more than thirty thousand lires a year,
without taking into account the mansion, which was
worth from eighteen to twenty thousand, perhaps.

Although to Frederick this would have been opu-
lence, he felt, none the less, a certain amount of dis-
appointment. Farewell to his dreams and to the
splendid life on which he had intended to enter!
Honour compelled him to marry Madame Dambreuse.
For a minute he reflected; then, in a tone of tender-
ness:

" I shall always have yourself ! "

She threw herself into his arms, and he clasped her
to his breast with an emotion in which there was a
certain element of admiration for himself.

Madame Dambreuse, whose tears had ceased to
flowr, raised her face, beaming all over with happi-
ness, and seizing his hand :

" Ah ! I never doubted you ! I knew I could rely
on you ! "

The young man did not like this tone of anticipated
certainty with regard to what he was pluming him-
self on as a noble action.

Then she brought him into her own apartment, and
they began to arrange their plans for the future.
Frederick should now consider the best way of ad-
vancing himself in life. She even gave him excellent
advice with reference to his candidature.

The first step was to be familiar with two or three
phrases borrowed from political economy. It was
necessary to take up a specialty, such as the stud sys-
tem, for example ; to write a number of notes on ques-
tions of local interest, to have always at his disposal

146 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

post-offices or tobacconists' shops, and to do numer-
ous little services. In this respect M. Dambreuse had
shown himself a true model. Thus, on one occasion,
in the country, he had drawn up his waggonette, full
of friends of his, in front of a cobbler's stall, and had
bought a dozen pairs of shoes for his guests, and for
himself a dreadful pair of boots, which he had not
the courage to wear even for a fortnight. This anec-
dote restored their good humour. She related others,
and that with a renewal of grace, youthfulness, and
wit.

She approved of his idea of taking a trip immedi-
ately to Nogent. Their parting was an affectionate
one ; then, on the threshold, she murmured once more :

" You love me — do you not ? "

" Eternally," was his reply.

A messenger was waiting for him at his own house
with a line written in lead-pencil informing him that
Rosanette was about to be confined. He had been
so much preoccupied for the past few days that he
had not given a thought to the matter.

She had been placed in a special establishment at
Chaillot.

Frederick took a cab and set out for this institution.

At the corner of the Rue de Marbeuf he read on a
board in big letters : " Private Lying-in-Hospital, kept
by Madame Alessandri, first-class midwife, ex-pupil
of the Maternity, author of various works, etc."
Then, in the centre of the street, over the door — a
little side-door — there was another sign-board : " Pri-
vate Hospital of Madame Alessandri," with all her
titles.

Frederick knocked. A chambermaid, with the
figure of an Abigail led him into the reception-room,
which was adorned with a mahogany table and arm-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 147

chairs of garnet velvet, and with a clock under a globe.

Almost immediately Madame appeared. She was
a tall brunette of forty, with a slender waist, fine eyes,
and the manners of good society. She apprised
Frederick of the mother's happy delivery, and brought
him up to her apartment.

Rosanette gave him a smile of unutterable bliss, and,
as if drowned in the floods of love that were suffocat-
ing her, she said in a low tone :

" A boy — there, there ! " pointing toward a cradle
close to her bed.

He opened the curtains, and saw, wrapped up in
linen, a yellowish-red object, exceedingly shrivelled-
looking, which had a bad smell, and was bawling lust-
ily.

" Embrace him ! "

He replied, in order to hide his repugnance :

" But I am afraid of hurting him."

"No! no!"

Then, with the tips of his lips, he kissed his child.

" How like you he is ! "

And with her two weak arms, she clung to his neck
with an outburst of feeling which he had never' wit-
nessed on her part before.

The remembrance of Madame Dambreuse came
back to him. He reproached himself as a brute for
having deceived this poor creature, who loved and
suffered with all the sincerity of her nature. For
several days he remained with her till night.

She was happy in this quiet place ; the window -
shutters in front of it remained always closed. Her
room, hung with bright chintz, looked out on a large
garden. Madame Alessandri, whose only weakness
was that she liked to talk about her intimate acquaint-
anceship with eminent physicians, showed her the tit-

148 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

most attention. Her associates, nearly all provincial
young ladies, were exceedingly bored, as nobody came
to see them. Rosanette saw that they regarded her
with envy, and told this proudly to Frederick. It was
desirable to speak low, nevertheless. The partitions
were thin, and everyone was listening at hiding-
places, in spite of the constant thrumming of the
pianos.

At last, he was about to take his departure for
Nogent, when he got a letter from Deslauriers. Two
new candidates had offered themselves, the one a Con-
servative, the other a Red ; a third, whoever he might
be, would have no chance. It was all Frederick's
fault ; he had let the lucky moment pass by ; he should
have come sooner and stirred himself.

" You have not even been seen at the agricultural
assembly ! " The advocate blamed him for not having
any newspaper connection.

" Ah ! if you had only followed my advice long ago !
If we had only a public print of our own ! "

He laid special stress on this point. However, many
who would have voted for him out of consideration
for M. Dambreuse, abandoned him now. Deslauriers
was one of the number. Not having anything more
to expect from the capitalist, he had deserted his pro-
tege.

Frederick showed the letter to Madame Dambreuse.

" You have not been to Nogent, then ? " said she.

" Why do you ask ? "

" Because I saw Deslauriers three days ago."

Having learned that her husband was dead, the
advocate had come to make a report about the coal-
mines, and to offer his services to her as a man of
business. This seemed strange to Frederick ; and what
was his friend doing down there ?

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 149

Madame Dambreuse wanted to know what he had
been doing since they parted.

" I have been ill," he replied.

" You ought at least to have told me about it."

" Oh ! it wasn't worth while ; " besides, he had to
settle a heap of things, to keep appointments, and to
pay visits.

From that time forth he led a double life, sleeping
religiously at the Marechale's abode and spending the
afternoon with Madame Dambreuse, so that there was
scarcely a single hour of freedom left to him in the
middle of the day.

The infant was in the country at Andilly. They
went to see it once a week.

The wet-nurse's house was on rising ground in
the village, at the end of a little yard as dark as a pit,
with straw on the ground, hens here and there, and a
vegetable-cart under the shed.

Rosanette would frantically kiss her baby, and,
seized with a kind of delirium, would keep moving to
and fro, trying to milk the goat, eating big pieces of
bread, and inhaling the odour of manure ; she even
wanted to put a little of it into her handkerchief.

Then they took long walks, in the course of which
she went into the nurseries, tore off branches from
the lilac-trees which hung down over the walls, and
exclaimed, " Gee ho, donkey ! " to the asses that were
drawing cars along, and stopped to gaze through the
gate into the interior of one of the lovely gardens ; or
else the wet-nurse would take the child and place it
under the shade of a walnut-tree ; and for hours the
two women would talk the most tiresome nonsense.

Frederick, not far away, gazed at the beds of vines
on the slopes, with here and there a clump of trees;
at the dusty paths resembling strips of grey ribbon ;

150 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

at the houses, which showed white and red spots in
the midst of the greenery; and sometimes the smoke
of a locomotive stretched out horizontally to the bases
of the hills, covered with foliage, like a gigantic os-
trich's feather, the thin end of which was disappearing
from view.

Frederick's eyes would rest on his son. He imag-
ined the child grown into a young man; he would
make a companion of him ; but perhaps he would be
a blockhead, a wretched creature, in any event. He
felt oppressed by the illegality of the infant's birth ; it
would have been better if he never had been born !
And Frederick would murmur, " Poor child ! " his
heart throbbing with feelings of unutterable sadness.

They often missed the last train. Then Madame
Dembreuse would scold him for his want of punctu-
ality. He would invent some falsehood.

It was necessary to make explanations, too, to sat-
isfy Rosanette. She could not understand where he
spent all his evenings ; and when she sent a messen-
ger to his house, he was never there ! One day, when
he chanced to be at home, the two women made their
appearance almost at the same time. He persuaded
the Marechale to go away, and concealed Madame
Dambreuse, pretending that his mother was coming up
to Paris.

Ere long, he found these lies amusing. He would
repeat to one the oath which he had just uttered to
the other, send them bouquets of the same sort, write
to them at the same time, and then would institute a
comparison between them. There was a third always
present in his thoughts. The impossibility of posses-
sing her seemed to him a justification of his perfidies,
which were intensified by the fact that he had to
practise them alternately; and the more he deceived,

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 151

no matter which of the two, the fonder of him she
grew, as if the love of one of them added heat to
that of the other, and, as if by a sort of emulation,
each was seeking to make him forget the other.

" Admire my confidence in you ! " said Madame
Dambreuse one day to him, opening a sheet of pa-
per, in which she was informed that M. Moreau and
a certain Rose Bron were living together as husband
and wife.

" Can it be that this is the lady of the races ? "

" How absurd ! " he returned. " Let me have a
look at it ! "

The letter, written in Roman characters, had no sig-
nature. Madame Dambreuse, in the beginning, had
tolerated this mistress, who furnished a cloak for their
adultery. But, as her passion became stronger, she
had insisted on a rupture — a thing which had been
effected long since, according to Frederick's account ;
and when he had ceased to protest, she said, half
closing her eyes, in which shone a look like the point
of a stiletto under a muslin robe:

"Well— and the other?"

"What other?"

" The earthenware-dealer's wife ! "

He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. She did
not press the matter.

But, a month later, while they were talking about
honour and loyalty, and he was boasting about his
own (in a casual sort of way, for the sake of pre-
caution), she said to him:

" It 'is true — you are acting uprightly — you don't
go there any more ? "

Frederick, who was at the moment thinking of the
Marechale, stammered :

"Where, pray?"

152 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" To Madame Arnoux's."

He implored her to tell him from whom she got
the information. It was through her second dress-
maker, Madame Regimbart.

So, she knew all about his life, and he knew noth-
ing about hers !

He had found in her dressing-room the miniature
of a gentleman with long moustaches — was this the
same person about whose suicide a vague story had
been told him at one time? But there was no way
of learning any more about it ! However, what did
it matter? The hearts of women are like little pieces
of furniture wherein things are secreted, full of
drawers fitted into each other; one hurts himself,
breaks his nails in opening them, and then finds with-
in only some withered flower, a few grains of dust — or
emptiness ! And perhaps he feared to learn too much
about the matter.

She made him refuse invitations where she was un-
able to accompany him, stuck to his side, was afraid
of losing him ; and, in spite of this union which was
every day becoming stronger, all of a sudden, abysses
would disclose themselves between the pair about the
most trifling questions — an estimate of an individual
or a work of art.

She had a style of playing on the piano which was
correct but hard. Her spiritualism (Madame Dam-
breuse believed in the transmigration of souls into
the stars) did not prevent her from taking the utmost
care of her cash-box. She was haughty toward her
servants; her eyes remained dry at the sight -of the
rags of the poor. Amongst her habitual expressions
were : " What concern is that of mine ? I should be
very silly ! What need have I ? " and a thousand little
acts incapable of analysis revealed hateful qualities in

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 153

her. She would have listened behind doors ; she could
not help lying to her confessor. Through a spirit of
despotism, she made Frederick accompany her to
church on Sunday. He obeyed, and carried her
prayer-book.

The loss of the property she had expected to inherit
had changed her considerably. These marks of grief,
which people attributed to the death of M. Dambreuse,
rendered her interesting, and, as in former times,
she had a great number of visitors. Since Frederick's
defeat at the election, she was ambitious of obtaining
for both of them an embassy in Germany ; therefore,
it was important that they should submit to the reign-
ing ideas.

Some persons favoured the Empire, others the Or-
leans family, and others the Comte de Chambord ; but
they were all of one opinion as to the importance of
decentralisation, and several expedients were pro-
posed with that view, such as to cut up Paris into
many large streets in order to establish villages there,
to transfer the seat of government to Versailles, to
have the schools set up at Bourges, to suppress the
libraries, and to entrust everything to the generals of
division ; and they glorified a rustic existence on the
assumption that the uneducated man had naturally
more sense than other men ! Hatreds increased —
hatred of primary teachers and wine-merchants, of
the classes of philosophy, of the courses of lectures
on history, of novels, red waistcoats, long beards, of
independence in any shape, or any manifestation of
individuality, for it was necessary " to restore the
principle of authority " — let it be exercised in the
name of no matter whom ; let it come from no matter
where, as long as it was Force, Authority ! The Con-
servatives now talked on the very same lines as Sene-

154 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

cal. Frederick was no longer able to understand their
drift, and once more he found at the house of his
former mistress the same remarks uttered by the same
men.

The salons of the unmarried women (it was from
this period that their importance dates) were a sort of
neutral ground where reactionaries of all kinds met.
Hussonnet, who depreciated contemporary glories (a
good thing for the restoration of Order), inspired
Rosanette with a longing to have evening parties like
the others. He undertook to publish accounts of
them, and first of all he brought a man of grave de-
portment, Fumichon ; then came Nonancourt, M. de
Gremonville, the Sieur de Larsilloix, ex-prefect, and
Cisy, who was now an agriculturist in Lower Brit-
tany, and more Christian than ever.

In addition, men who had at one time been the
Marechale's lovers, such as the Baron de Comaing,
the Comte de Jumillac, and others, presented them-
selves ; and Frederick was resentful of their free-and-
easy behaviour.

In order that he might assume the attitude of mas-
ter in the house, he increased the rate of expenditure
there. Then he went in for keeping a groom, took
a new habitation, and got a fresh supply of furniture.
These displays of extravagance were for the purpose
of making his alliance appear less out of proportion
with his pecuniary position. As a result his means
were soon terribly reduced — and Rosanette was en-
tirely ignorant of the fact!

One of the lower middle-class, who had lost caste,
she adored a domestic life, a quiet little home. How-
ever, it gave her pleasure to have an " at home day."
In speaking of persons of her own class, she called
them " Those women ! " She wished to be a society

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 155

lady, and believed herself to be one. She requested
him not to smoke in the drawing-room any more, and
for the sake of good form she tried to make herself
look thin.

She played her part badly, after all ; for she grew
serious, and even before going to bed always ex-
hibited a little melancholy, just as there are cypress
trees at the door of a tavern.

He found out the cause of it ; she was dreaming of
marriage — she, too ! Frederick was exasperated at
this. Besides, he had not forgotten her appearance
at Madame Arnoux's house, and then he cherished a
certain spite against her for having held out against
him so long.

He inquired none the less as to who her lovers had
been. She denied having had any relations with any
of the persons he mentioned. A sort of jealous feel-
ing took possession of him. He irritated her by ask-
ing questions about presents that had been made to
her, and were still being made to her; and in propor-
tion to the exciting effect which the lower portion of
her nature produced upon him, he was drawn toward
her by momentary illusions which ended in hate.

Her words, her voice, her smile, all had an antag-
onistic effect on him, and especially her glances with
that woman's eye forever limpid and foolish. Some-
times he felt so tired of her that he would have wil-
lingly seen her die. But how could he get into a pas-
sion with her? She was so mild that there was no
hope of quarrelling.

Deslauriers reappeared, and explained his sojourn at
Nogent by saying that he was making arrangements
to buy a lawyer's office. Frederick was glad to see
him again. It was somebody! and as a third person
in the house, he helped to break the monotony.

156 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

The advocate dined with them occasionally, and
whenever any little disputes arose, always took Rosa-
nette's part, so that Frederick, on one occasion, said
to him :

" Ah ! you may have her, if it amuses you ! " so
much did he desire some chance of getting rid of her.

About the middle of the month of June, she was
served with an order made by the law courts by which
Maitre Athanase Gautherot, sheriff's officer, called on
her to pay him four thousand francs due to Mademoi-
selle Clemence Vatnaz; if not, he would make a seiz-
ure on her.

Of the four bills which she had at various times
signed, only one had been paid ; the money which she
happened to get since then having been spent on other
things that she required.

She rushed off at once to see Arnoux. He lived
now in the Fauborg Saint-Germain, and the porter
was unable to tell her the name of the street. She
went next to the houses of several friends of hers,
but did not find one of them at home, and came back
in a state of utter despair.

She did not wish to tell Frederick anything about it,
fearing lest this new trouble might prejudice the
chance of a marriage between them.

On the following morning, M. Athanase Gautherot
presented himself with two assistants close behind
him, one of them sallow with a mean-looking face and
an expression of devouring envy in his glance, the
other wearing a collar and straps drawn very tightly,
with a sort of thimble of black taffeta on his index-
finger — and both ignobly dirty, with greasy necks, and
the sleeves of their coats too short.

Their employer, a very good-looking man, on the
contrary, began by apologising for the disagreeable

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 157

duty he had to perform, while at the same time he
glanced round the room, " full of pretty things, upon
my word of honour ! " he added, " Not to speak of
the things that can't be seized." At a gesture the
two bailiff's men disappeared.

Then he redoubled his politeness. Could anyone
believe that a lady so charming would not have a gen-
uine friend ! A sale of her goods under an order of
the courts would be a real misfortune. One does not
get over a thing like that. He tried to excite her
fears ; then, seeing that she was very much agitated,
suddenly assumed a paternal tone. He knew the
world. He had been brought into business relations
with all these ladies — and as he mentioned their names,
he examined the frames of the pictures on the walls.
They were old pictures of the worthy Arnoux,
sketches by Sombary, water-colours by Burieu, and
three landscapes by Dittmer. It was evident that
Rosanette knew nothing of their value. Maitre Gauth-
erot turned round to her:

" Look here ! to show that I am a decent fellow ; give
me up those Dittmers here — and I am ready to pay all.
Do you agree ? "

At that moment Frederick, who had been informed
about the matter by Delphine in the anteroom, and
who had just seen the two assistants, came in with
his hat on his head, in a rude fashion. Maitre Gauth-
erot resumed his dignity; and, as the door had been
left open:

" Come on, gentlemen — write down ! In the second
room, let us say — an oak table with its two leaves,
two sideboards '

Frederick here stopped him, asking whether there
was not some way of preventing the seizure.

"Oh! certainly! Who paid for the furniture?"

158 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" I did."

" Well, draw up a claim — there is still time for you
to do it."

Maitre Gautherot did not take long in writing out
his official report, wherein he directed that Mademoi-
selle Bron should attend at an inquiry in chambers
with reference to the ownership of the furniture, and
having done this he withdrew.

Frederick uttered no reproach. He gazed at the
traces of mud left on the floor by the bailiff's shoes,
and, speaking to himself :

" It will soon be necessary to make some money ! "

" Ah ! my God, how stupid I am ! " said the Mare-
chale.

She ransacked a drawer, took out a letter, and
made her way rapidly to the Languedoc Gas Lighting
Company, in order to get the transfer of her shares
of stock.

She returned an hour later. The interest in the
shares had been sold to another. The clerk had said,
in answer to her demand, while examining the sheet
of paper containing Arnoux's written promise to her:
" This document in no way constitutes you the pro-
prietor of the shares. The company has no cogni-
sance of the matter." In short, he dismissed her un-
ceremoniously, while she choked with rage ; and Fred-
erick must go to Arnoux's house at once to have the
matter cleared up.

But Arnoux would perhaps imagine that he had
come to recover in an indirect fashion the fifteen
thousand francs due on the mortgage which he had
lost; and then this claim on a man who had been his
mistress's lover seemed to him a piece of baseness.

Selecting a middle course, he went to the Dambreuse
mansion to get Madame Regimbart's address, sent a

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 159

messenger to her residence, and in this way ascer-
tained the name of the cafe which the Citizen now
haunted.

It was the little cafe on the Place de la Bastille,
where he sat all day in the corner to the right at
the lower end of the establishment, as motionless as
if he were a portion of the building.

After having gone successively through the half-
cup of coffee, the glass of grog, the " bishop," the
glass of mulled wine, and even the red wine and
water, he fell back on beer, and every half hour he
called out, " Bock ! " having reduced his language to
what was actually indispensable. Frederick asked him
if he ever saw Arnoux.

" No ! "

"Look here— why?"

" An imbecile ! "

Politics, perhaps, kept them apart, and so Frederick
thought it a judicious thing to inquire about Corn-
pain.

" What a brute ! " said Regimbart.

"How is that?"

" His calf's head ! "

" Ha ! explain to me what the calf's head is ! "

Regimbart's face took on a contemptuous smile.

" Some tomfoolery ! "

After a long interval of silence, Frederick said:

" So, then, he has changed his address ? "

"Who?"

" Arnoux ! "

" Yes— Rue de Fleurus ! "

"What number?"

" Do I associate with the Jesuits ? "

" What, Jesuits ! "

The Citizen replied angrily:

160 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" With the money of a patriot whom I introduced
to him, this pig has set up as a dealer in beads ! "

" It isn't possible ! "

" Go there, and find out for yourself ! "

It was perfectly true ; Arnoux, enfeebled by a fit
of sickness, had become religious ; besides, he had
always had a stock of religion in his composition, and
(with that mixture of commercialism and ingenuity
which was natural to him), in order to obtain salva-
tion and fortune at the same time, he had begun to
traffic in religious objects.

Frederick had no difficulty in discovering his estab-
lishment, on whose signboard appeared these words:
"Emporium of Gothic Art — Restoration of articles
used in ecclesiastical ceremonies — Church ornaments —
Polychromatic sculpture — Frankincense of the Magi,
Kings, &c., &c."

At the two corners of the shop-window were two
wooden statues, streaked with gold, cinnabar, and
azure, a Saint John the Baptist with his sheepskin, and
a Saint Genevieve with roses in her apron and a dis-
taff under her arm ; next, groups in plaster, a sister
teaching a little girl, a mother on her knees beside a
little bed, and three collegians before the holy table.
The prettiest object there 'was a kind of chalet repre-
senting the interior of a crib with the ass, the ox, and
the child Jesus stretched on straw — real straw. From
the top to the bottom of the shelves were medals by
the dozen, every variety of beads, holy-water basins
in the form of shells, and portraits of ecclesiastical
dignitaries, amongst whom Monsignor Affre and our
Holy Father appeared with smiling faces.

Arnoux sat at his counter asleep, with his head
bent. He had aged terribly. He had round his tem-
ples a wreath of rosebuds, and the reflection of the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 161

gold crosses touched by the rays of the sun fell over
him.

Frederick was filled with sadness at this spectacle
of decay. Through devotion to the Marechale he,
however, submitted to the ordeal, and stepped for-
ward. At the end of the shop Madame Arnoux sud-
denly stepped forward ; thereupon, he turned on his
heel.

" I couldn't see him," he said, when -he came back
to Rosanette.

And in vain he promised that he would write at
once to his notary at Havre for some money — she
flew into a rage. She had never seen a man so weak,
so flabby. While she was enduring a thousand pri-
vations, other people were enjoying themselves.

Frederick was thinking about poor Madame Ar-
noux, and picturing to himself the heart-rending im-
poverishment of her surroundings. He had seated
himself before the writing-desk; and, as Rosanette's
voice still kept up its bitter railing:

" Ah ! in the name of Heaven, hold your tongue ! "

" Perhaps you are going to defend them ? "

" Well, yes ! " he exclaimed ; " for what's the cause
of this fury?"

" But why is it that you don't want to make them
pay up? Tis for fear of vexing your old flame —
confess it ! "

He felt an inclination to smash her head with the
timepiece. Words failed him. He relapsed into si-
lence.

Rosanette, as she walked up and down the room,
continued :

" I am going to hurl a writ at this Arnoux of yours.
Oh! I shall not need your assistance. I'll get legal
advice."

162 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Three days later, Delphine rushed abruptly into the
room where her mistress sat.

" Madame ! Madame ! there's a man here with a pot
of paste who has given me such a fright ! "

Rosanette went clown to the kitchen, and saw there
a vagabond whose face was pitted with smallpox.
Moreover, one of his arms was paralysed, and he was
three fourths drunk, and hiccoughed every time he
attempted to speak.

This was Maitre Gautherot's bill-sticker. The ob-
jections raised against the seizure having been over-
ruled, the sale followed as a matter of course .

For his trouble in getting up the stairs he de-
manded, in the first place, a half-glass of brandy ;
then he wanted another favour, namely, tickets for the
theatre, assuming that the lady of the house was an
actress. After this he indulged for some minutes in
winks, whose import was perfectly incomprehensible.
Finally, he declared that for forty sous he would tear
off the corners of the poster which he had already
affixed to the door below stairs. Rosanette found her-
self referred to by name in it — a piece of harshness
which showed the spite of the Vatnaz.

She had at one time exhibited sensibility, and had
even, while suffering from thte effects of a heartache,
written to Beranger for his advice. But under the
ravage of life's storms, her spirit had soured, for she
had been forced, in turn, to give lessons on the piano,
to act as manageress of a table d'hvte, to assist others
in writing for the fashion journals, to sublet apart-
ments, and to traffic in lace in the world of light
women, her relations with whom enabled her to make
herself useful to many persons, and amongst others
to Arnoux. She had at one time been employed in
a commercial establishment.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 163

There it was one of her duties to pay the work-
women ; and for each of them there were two livres,
one of which always remained in her hands. Dussar-
dier, who, through kindness, kept the amount pay-
able to a girl named Hortense Baslin, presented him-
self one day at the cash-office at the moment when
Mademoiselle Vatnaz was presenting this girl's ac-
count, 1,682 francs, which the cashier paid her. Now,
on the same evening, Dussardier had entered down
the sum as 1,082 in the girl Baslin's book. He made
some pretext for having it given back to him; then,
anxious to bury out of sight the story of this theft, he
stated that he had lost it. The workgirl ingenuously
repeated this falsehood to Mademoiselle Vatnaz, and
the latter, to satisfy her mind about the matter, came
with a show of indifference to talk to the shopman on
the subject. He contented himself with the answer:
" I have burned it ! " — that was all. She left the
house, without believing that the book had been really
destroyed, and filled with the idea that Dussardier had
kept it.

On hearing that he had been wounded, she rushed
to his abode, with the object of getting the book.
Then, having discovered nothing, in spite of the
closest search, she was seized with respect, and pre-
ently with love, for his youth, so loyal, so gentle, so
heroic and so strong! At her age such good fortune
in an affair of the heart was unusual. She threw her-
self into it with the appetite of an ogress ; and she
had given up literature, Socialism, " the consoling
doctrines and the generous Utopias," the course of
lectures which she had organised on the " Desubal-
ternisation of Woman " — everything, even Delmar
himself; finally she offered to unite herself to Dus-
sardier in marriage.

164 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Although she was his mistress, he was not at all
in love with her. Besides, he had not forgotten her
theft. Then she was too wealthy for him. He re-
fused her offer. Thereupon, with tears in her eyes,
she told him what she had hoped — it was to have for
both of them a confectioner's shop. She possessed
the capital that was required for the purpose, and next
week this would be increased to the extent of four
thousand francs. By way of explanation, she referred
to the proceedings she had taken against the Mare-
chale.

Dussardier was annoyed at this on account of his
friend. He remembered the cigar-holder that had
been presented to him at the guard-house, the even-
ings spent in the Quai Napoleon, the many pleasant
chats, the books lent to him, the thousand acts of
kindness which Frederick had done in his behalf. He
begged of Mademoiselle Vatnaz to abandon the pro-
ceedings.

She rallied him on his good nature, while exhibiting
an antipathy against Rosanette which he could not un-
derstand. She longed for wealth, in order to crush
her, by-and-by, with her four-wheeled carriage.

Dussardier was terrified by these black abysses of
hate, and when he had ascertained the exact day fixed
for the sale, he hurried out. On the following mor-
ning he made his appearance at Frederick's house with
an embarrassed countenance.

" I owe you an apology."

" For what, pray ? "

" You must take me for an ingrate, I, whom she
is the " He faltered.

" Oh ! I'll see no more of her. I am not going to
be her accomplice ! " And as the other gazed at him
in astonishment:

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION ''

" Isn't your mistress's furniture to be sold in three
days' time ? "

"Who told you that?"

" Herself — the Vatnaz ! But I am afraid of offend-
ing you

" Impossible, my dear friend ! "

" Ah ! that is true — you are so good ! "

And he held out to him, nervously, a hand in which
he clasped a little pocket-book made of sheep-leather.

It contained four thousand francs — all his savings.

"What! Oh! no! no!—

" I knew well I should wound your feelings," re-
turned Dussardier, with a tear in the corner of his
eye.

Frederick pressed his hand, and the honest fellow
went on in a piteous tone:

" Take the money ! Give me that much happiness !
I am in such a state of despair. Can it be that all is
over? I thought we should be happy when the Rev-
olution had come. Do you remember what a beautiful
thing it was ? how freely we breathed ! But here we ^
are flung back into a worse condition of things than
ever.

" Now, they are destroying our Republic, just as
they destroyed the other one — the Roman ! ay, and -
poor Venice ! poor Poland ! poor Hungary ! What
abominable deeds ! First of all, they knocked down
the trees of Liberty, then they restricted the right to
vote, shut up the clubs, reestablished the censorship
and surrendered to the priests the power of teaching,
so that we might look out for the inquisition. Why
not? The Conservatives want to give us a taste of
the stick. The newspapers are fined merely for print-
ing an opinion in favour of abolishing the death-
penalty. Paris is overflowing with bayonets ; sixteen

166 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

departments are in a state of siege ; and then the de-
mand for amnesty is again rejected ! "

He placed both hands on his forehead, then, spread
out his arms as if his mind were in a distracted state:

" If, however, we only made the effort! if we were
only sincere, we might understand each other. But
no ! The workmen are as bad as the capitalists, you
see ! At Elboeuf recently they refused to help at a
fire ! There are wretches who profess to regard
Barbes as an aristocrat ! In order to make the people
ridiculous, they want Nadaud nominated for the pres-
idency, a mason — just imagine ! And there is no way
out of it — no remedy ! Everybody is against us !
I have never done any harm ; and yet this is like
a weight pressing down on my stomach. If this state
of things continues, I'll go mad. I have a mind to
do away with myself. I tell you I want no money for
myself! You'll pay it back to me, deuce take it! I
am lending it to you."

Frederick, who felt himself constrained by neces-
sity, ended by taking the four thousand francs from
him. And so they had no more disquietude so far as
the Vatnaz was concerned.

But it was not long ere Rosanette was defeated in
her action against Arnoux; and through sheer obsti-
nacy she wished to appeal.

Deslauriers exhausted his energies in trying to con-
vince her that Arnoux's promise constituted neither a
gift nor a regular transfer. She did not pay the
slightest attention to him, her notion being that the
law was unjust — it was because she was a woman ;
men supported one another among themselves. In the
end, however, she followed his advice.

He made himself so much at home in the house,
that on several occasions he brought Senecal to dine

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 167

there. Frederick, who had advanced him money, and
even got his own tailor to supply him with clothes, did
not like this unceremoniousness ; and the advocate
gave his old clothes to the Socialist, whose means of
existence were now of an exceedingly precarious
character.

He was, however, anxious to be of service to Rosa-

nette. One day, when she showed him a dozen shares

in the Kaolin Company (that enterprise which led to

Arnoux being cast in damages to the extent of thirty

•thousand francs), he said to her:

" But this is a shady transaction, and you have now
a grand chance ! "

She would be justified in calling on him to pay her
debts. In the first place, she could prove that he was
jointly bound to pay all the company's liabilities, since
he had certified personal debts as collective debts —
in short, he had embezzled sums which were payable
only to the company.

" All this renders him guilty of fraudulent bank-
ruptcy under articles 586 and 587 of the Commercial
Code, and you may be sure, my pet, we'll send him
packing."

Rosanette threw herself on his neck. He entrusted
her case next day to his former master, not having
time to devote to it himself, as he had business at
Nogent. In case of any urgency, Senecal could write
to him.

His negotiations for the purchase of an office were
a mere pretext. He spent his time at M. Roque's
house, where he had begun not only by sounding the
praises of Frederick, but by imitating his manners
and language as much as possible ; and in this way he
had gained Louise's confidence, while he won over
her father by attacking Ledru-Rollin.

168 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

If Frederick did not return, it was because he
mingled in aristocratic society, and gradually Deslau-
riers gave them to understand that he was in love,
that he had a child, and that he was keeping a fallen
creature.

Louise's despair was intense. The indignation of
Madame Moreau was not less strong. She saw her
son whirling toward the bottom of a gulf the depth
of which could not be determined, was wounded in
her religious ideas as to propriety, and as it were, ex-
perienced a sense of personal dishonour; then all of.
a sudden her attitude underwent a change. To the
questions which people put to her with regard to
Frederick, she replied in a sly fashion :

" He is well, quite well."

She was aware that he was about to be married to
Madame Dambreuse.

The date of the event had been fixed, and he was
trying to think of some way of making Rosanette
swallow the thing.

About the middle of autumn she won her action
with reference to the kaolin shares. Frederick was
told about it by Senecal, whom he met at his own
door, on his way back from the courts.

It had been held that M. Arnoux was privy to all
the frauds, and the ex-tutor had such an air of making
merry over it that Frederick stopped him from coming
further, informing Senecal that he would convey the
intelligence to Rosanette. He presented himself be-
fore her with a look of irritation on his face.

" Well, now you are satisfied ! "

But, without minding what he had said :

" Look there ! "

And she pointed toward her child, which was lying
in a cradle close to the fire. She had found it so ill

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 169

at the house of the wet-nurse that morning that she
had brought it back with her to Paris.

The infant's limbs were exceedingly thin, and the
lips were covered with white specks, which in the in-
terior of the mouth became, so to speak, clots of blood-
stained milk.

" What did the doctor say? "

" Oh ! the doctor ! He pretends that the journey
has increased his — I don't know what it is, some name
in ' ite ' — in short, that he has the thrush. Do you
know what that is ? "

Frederick replied without hesitation: "Certainly,"
adding that it was not serious.

But in the evening he was alarmed by the child's
debilitated look and by the progress of these whitish
spots, resembling mould, as if life, already abandon-
ing the little frame, had left nothing but matter from
which vegetation was sprouting. His hands were
cold ; he was no longer able to drink ; and the nurse,
another woman, whom the porter had taken on chance
from an office, kept repeating:

" It seems to me he's very low, very low ! "

Rosanette was up all night with the child.

In the morning she went for Frederick.

" Just come and look at him. He doesn't move any
longer."

He was dead. She took him up, shook him, clasped
him in her arms, calling him most tender names, cov-
ered him with kisses, broke into sobs, rocked from
side to side in a state of distraction, tore her hair, ut-
tered a number of shrieks, and then sank on the edge
of the divan, where she lay with her mouth open and
a flood of tears rushing from her wildly-glaring eyes.

Then a torpor fell upon her, and all became still in
the apartment. The furniture was overturned. Two

170 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

or three napkins were lying on the floor. It struck six.
The night-light had gone out.

Frederick, as he gazed at the scene, could almost
believe that he was dreaming. His heart was op-
pressed with anguish. It seemed to him that this
death was only a beginning, and that behind it was a
worse calamity, which was just about to overwhelm
him.

Suddenly, Rosanette said in an appealing tone:

" We'll preserve the body — shall we not ? "

She wished to have the dead child embalmed.
There were many objections to this. The principal
one, in Frederick's opinion, was that the thing was
impracticable in the case of children so young. A
portrait would be better. She adopted this idea. He
wrote a line to Pellerin, and Delphine hastened to de-
liver it.

Pellerin arrived at once, anxious by this display of
zeal to efface all recollection of his former conduct.
The first thing he said was :

" Poor little angel ! Ah, my God, what a misfor-
tune ! "

But gradually (the artist in him getting the upper
hand) he declared that nothing could be made out of
those yellowish eyes, that livid face, that it was a real
case of still-life, and would, therefore, require very
great talent to treat it effectively; and so he mur-
mured :

" Oh, it isn't easy — it isn't easy ! "

" No matter, as long as it is life-like," urged Rosa-
nette.

Pooh! what do I care about a picture being life-
like ? Down with Realism ! Tis the spirit that must
be portrayed by the painter! Let me alone! I am
going to try to conjure up what it ought to be ! "

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 171

He reflected, with his left hand clasping his brow,
and his right hand clutching his elbow ; then, all of a
sudden :

" Ha, I have an idea ! a pastel ! With coloured
mezzotints, almost spread out flat, a lovely model
could be obtained with the outer surface alone ! "

He sent the chambermaid for his box of colours ;
then, having a chair under his feet and another by his
side, he began to make great touches with as much
complacency as if he had drawn them in accordance
with the bust. He praised the little Saint John of
Correggio, the Infanta Rosa of Velasquez, the milk-
white flesh-tints of Reynolds, the distinction of Law-
rence, and especially the child with long hair that sits
in Lady Gower's lap.

" Besides, could you find anything more charming
than these little toads? The type of the sublime (Ra-
phael has proved it by his Madonnas) is probably a
mother with her child ! "

Rosanette, who felt herself stifling, went away ; and
presently Pellerin said:

" Well, about Arnoux ; you know what has hap-
pened? "

"No! What?"

" It was bound to end that way ! "

" What has happened, might I ask? "

" Perhaps by this time he is Excuse me ! "

The artist got up in order to raise the head of the
little corpse higher.

" You were saying " Frederick resumed.

And Pellerin, half-closing his eyes, in order to take
his dimensions better:

" I was saying that our friend Arnoux is probably
by this time locked up ! "

Then, in a tone of satisfaction:

172 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

"Just give a glance at it. Is that the thing?"

"Yes, 'tis quite right. But about Arnoux?"

Pellerin laid down his pencil.

" As far as I could understand, he was sued by one
Mignot, an intimate friend of Regimbart — a long-
headed fellow that, eh? What an idiot! Just imag-
ine ! one day "

" What ! it's not Regimbart that's in question, is it? "

" It is, indeed ! Well, yesterday evening, Arnoux
had to produce twelve thousand francs ; if not, he was
a ruined man."

" Oh ! that must be exaggerated," said Frederick.

" Not a bit. It looked to me a very serious business."

At that moment Rosanette reappeared, with red
spots under her eyes, which glowed like dabs of paint.
She seated herself near the drawing and gazed at it.
Pellerin made a sign to the other to hold his tongue
on account of her. But Frederick said :

" Nevertheless, I can't believe "

" I tell you I met him yesterday," said the artist,
" at seven o'clock in the evening, in the Rue Jacob.
He had even taken the precaution to have his pass-
port with him; and he spoke about embarking from
Havre, he and his whole camp."

"What! with his wife?"

" No doubt. He is too much of a family man to
live by himself."

"And are you certain of this?"

" Certain, faith ! WTiere do you suppose he would
find twelve thousand francs ? "

Frederick took two or three turns round the room.
He panted for breath, bit his lips, and then snatched
up his hat.

" Where are you off to now ? " said Rosanette.

He made no reply as he left the room.

CHAPTER XVIII

UNDER THE HAMMER

BETWEEN Frederick and Madame Arnoux stood
twelve thousand francs. Without that amount
he would see her no more — and there yet lin-
gered in his heart an unconquerable hope. Did she
not, as it were, constitute the very substance of his
heart, the very foundation of his life? For some
minutes he went staggering along the footpath, his
mind tortured with anxiety, and nevertheless glad-
dened by the thought that he was away from the other.

Where was he to get the money? Frederick was
well aware from his own experience how hard it was
to obtain it immediately, no matter at what cost.
There was only one person who could help him in the
matter — Madame Dambreuse. She always kept a
good supply of bank-notes in her escritoire. He called
at her house : and in an unblushing fashion :

"Have you twelve thousand francs to lend me?"

"What for?"

That was another person's secret. She asked who
this person was. He would not give way on this point.
They were equally determined not to yield. Finally,
she declared that she would give nothing until she
knew the purpose for which it was intended.

Frederick's face became very flushed ; and he stated
that one of his comrades had committed a theft. It
was necessary to replace the sum this very day.

"' Let me know his name ? His name ? Come !
what's his name ? "

174 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Dussardier ! "

And he threw himself on his knees, imploring of
her not to say a word about it.

" What idea have you got into your head about
me?" Madame Dambreuse replied. "One would im-
agine that you were the guilty party yourself. Pray,
have done with your tragic airs ! Hold on ! here's the
money ! and much good may it do him ! "

He hurried off to see Arnoux. That worthy mer-
chant was not in his shop. But he was still residing
in the Rue de Paradis, for he had two domiciles.

In the Rue de Paradis, the porter said that M. Ar-
noux had been away since the evening before. As
for Madame, he could say nothing ; and Frederick,
having rushed like an arrow up the stairs, laid his
ear against the keyhole. At length, the door was
opened. Madame had gone out with Monsieur. The
servant did not know when they would be back; her
wages had been paid, and she was leaving herself.

Suddenly he heard the door creaking.

" But is anyone in the room ? "

" Oh, no, Monsieur ! it is the wind."

Thereupon he withdrew. There was something in-
explicable in such a rapid disappearance.

Regimbart, being Mignot's intimate friend, could
perhaps enlighten him? And Frederick got himself
driven to that gentleman's house at Montmartre in the
Rue 1'Empereur.

In front of the house there was a small garden shut
in by a grating which was stopped up with iron plates.
Three steps before the hall-door set off the white
front ; and a person passing along the foot-path could
see the two rooms on the ground-floor, the first of
which was a parlour with ladies' dresses lying on
the furniture, and the second the workshop in which

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 175

Madame Regimbart's female assistants were accus-
tomed to sit.

They were all convinced that Monsieur had im-
portant occupations, distinguished connections, that
he was a man altogether beyond comparison. When
he passed through the lobby with his hat cocked up
at the sides, his long grave face, and his green frock-
coat, the girls stopped in the midst of their work. He
never failed to address to them a few words of encour-
agement, some observation which showed his cere-
monious courtesy; and afterward in their own homes
they felt unhappy at not having been able to preserve
him as their ideal.

No one, however, was so devoted to him as Ma-
dame Regimbart, an intelligent little woman, who
maintained him by her handicraft.

As soon as M. Moreau had sent in his name, she
came out quickly to meet him, knowing through the
servants what his relations were with Madame Dam-
breuse. Her husband would be back in a moment;
and Frederick, while he followed her, admired the
appearance of the house and the profusion of oil-cloth
that was displayed in it. Then he waited a few min-
utes in a kind of office, into which the Citizen was in
the habit of retiring, in order to be alone with his
thoughts.

When they met Regimbart's manner was less ec-
centric than usual.

He related Arnoux's recent history. The ex-manu-
facturer of earthenware had excited the vanity of
Mignot, a patriot who owned a hundredd shares in the
Siccle, by professing to show that it would be neces-
sary from the democratic standpoint to change the
management and the editorship of the newspaper.
Under the pretext of making his views prevail in

176 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the next meeting of shareholders, he had given the
other fifty shares, telling him that he could pass them
on to reliable friends who would back up his vote.
Mignot wrould have no personal responsibility, and
need not worry himself about anyone ; then, when he
had achieved success, he would be able to secure a
good place in the administration of at least from five
to six thousand francs. The shares had been de-
livered. But Arnoux had at once sold them, and with
the money had entered into partnership with a dealer
in religious articles. Thereupon came complaints
from Mignot, to which Arnoux sent evasive answers.
At last the patriot had threatened to bring against
him a charge of cheating if he did not restore his
share-certificates or pay an equivalent sum — fifty thou-
sand francs.

Frederick's expression was despondent.

" That is not all," said the Citizen. " Mignot, who
is an honest fellow, has reduced his claim to one
fourth. New promises on the part of the other, and,
of course, new evasions. In short, on the morning of
the day before yesterday Mignot sent him a written
application to pay up, within twenty-four hours, twelve
thousand francs, without prejudice to the balance."

" I have the amount ! " said Frederick.

The Citizen slowly turned round:

"Humbug!"

" Excuse me ! I have the money in my pocket. I
brought it with me."

" How you do go at it ! By Jove, you do ! How-
ever, 'tis too late now— the complaint has been lodged,
and Arnoux is gone."

"Alone?"

" No, with his w;fe. They were seen at the Havre
terminus."

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 177

Frederick grew exceedingly pale. Madame Regim-
bart thought he was going to faint. He regained his
composure with an effort, and had . even sufficient
presence of mind to ask two or three questions about
the matter. Regimbart was grieved at the affair, con-
sidering that it would injure the cause of Democ-
racy. Arnoux had always been lax in his conduct and
disorderly in' his life.

" A regular hare-brained fellow ! He burned the
candle at both ends. The petticoat has ruined him!
Tis not himself that I pity, but his poor wife ! " For
the Citizen admired virtuous women, and held Ma-
dame Arnoux in high esteem.

" She must have suffered much ! "

Frederick felt grateful to him for his sympathy ;
and, as if Regimbart had done him a service, pressed
his hand effusively.

" Have you done all that's necessary in the mat-
ter?" was Rosanette's greeting to him when he re-
turned.

He replied that he had not been able to pluck up
courage to do it, and he walked about the streets at
random to divert his thoughts.

At eight o'clock, they went into the dining-room;
but they remained seated face to face in silence, giv-
ing vent each to a deep sigh every now and then, and
finally pushed away their plates.

Frederick drank some brandy. He felt quite shat-
tered, crushed, annihilated, no longer conscious of any-
thing save a sensation of extreme fatigue.

She went to look at the portrait. The red, the
yellow, the green, and the indigo made glaring stains
that jarred with each other, so that it looked a hide-
ous thing — almost ridiculous.

The dead child was now unrecognisable. The

178 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

purple hue of his lips made the whiteness of his skin
more remarkable. His nostrils were drawn, his eyes
hollow ; and his head rested on a pillow of blue taf-
feta, surrounded by petals of camelias, autumn roses,
and violets. This was an idea suggested by the cham-
bermaid, and both of them had thus with pious care
decorated the little corpse. The mantelpiece, covered
with a cloth of guipure, supported silver-gilt candle-
sticks with bunches of consecrated box in the spaces
between them. At the corners were a pair of vases
in which pastilles were burning. All these things,
viewed in conjunction with the cradle, presented the
aspect of an altar; and Frederick recalled to mind
the night when he had watched beside M. Dambreuse's
death-bed.

Nearly every quarter of an hour Rosanette drew
aside the curtains to take a look at her child. She
saw him in imagination, a few months hence, begin-
ning to walk; then at college, in the middle of the
recreation-ground, playing a game of base; then at
twenty years a full-grown young man; and all these
pictures conjured up by her brain created for her,
as it were, the son she would have had, if only he
had lived, the excess of her grief intensifying in her
maternal instinct.

Frederick, sitting silent in another armchair, was
thinking of Madame Arnoux.

Probably, at that moment, she was in a train, with
her face leaning against a carriage window, while she
watched the country disappearing behind her in the
direction of Paris ; or else on the deck of a steamboat,
as on the occasion when they first met; but this ves-
sel was carrying her away into distant countries, from
which she would never return. He next saw her in
a room at an inn, with trunks covering the floor, the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 179

wallpaper hanging in shreds, and the door shaking in
the wind. And after that — to what would she be
compelled to turn ? Would she have to become a
school-mistress or a lady's companion, or perhaps a
chambermaid? She was exposed to all the vicissi-
tudes of poverty. His utter ignorance as to what
might become of her tortured his mind. He ought
either to have prevented her departure or to have
followed her. Was he not her real husband? And
as the thought impressed itself on his consciousness
that he would never meet her again, that it was all
over forever, that she was lost to him beyond recall,
he felt a rending of his entire being, and the tears
that had been gathering since morning in his heart
overflowed.

Rosanette noticed this.

" Ah! you are crying just like me! You are griev-
ing, too? "

" Yes ! yes ! I am "

He pressed her to his heart, and they both sobbed,
locked in each other's arms.

Madame Dambreuse was weeping too, as she lay,
face downward, on her bed, with her hands clasped
over her head.

Olympe Regimbart having come that evening to
try on her first coloured gown after mourning, had
told her about Frederick's visit, and about the twelve
thousand francs which he had with him ready to trans-
fer to M. Arnoux.

So, then, this money, the very money which he had
got from her, was intended to be used simply for the
purpose of keeping the other in Paris — for the pur-
pose, in fact, of preserving a mistress !

At first, she broke into a violent rage, and deter-
mined to drive him from her door, as she would have

180 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

driven a lackey. A copious flow of tears had a sooth-
ing effect upon her. It was better to keep it all to
herself, and say nothing about it.

Frederick brought her back the twelve thousand
francs on the following day.

She begged of him to keep the money lest he might
require it for his friend, and she asked a number of
questions about this gentleman. Who, then, had
tempted him to such a breach of trust? A woman,
no doubt! Women drag men into every kind of
crime.

This bantering tone discomposed Frederick. He
felt deep remorse for the calumny he had invented.
He was reassured by the reflection that Madame Dam-
breuse could not be aware of the facts. All the same,
she was very persistent about the subject; for, two
days later, she again made inquiries about his young
friend, and, after that, about another — Deslauriers.

"Is this young man trustworthy and intelligent?"

Frederick spoke highly of him.

" Ask him to call on me one of these mornings ;
I want to consult him about a matter of business."

She had found a roll of old papers in which there
were some bills of Arnoux, which had been duly pro-
tested, and which had been signed by Madame Ar-
noux. It was relative to these very bills Frederick
had called on M. Dambreuse on one occasion while
the latter was at breakfast; and, although the capi-
talist had not enforced repayment of this outstanding
debt, he had not only got judgment on foot of them
from the Tribunal of Commerce against Arnoux, but
also against his wife, who knew nothing about the
matter, as her husband had not given her any infor-
mation on the point.

Here was a weapon placed in Madame Dambreuse's

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 181

hands — she had no doubt about it. But her notary
advised her to take no step in the affair. She would
have preferred to act through some obscure person,
and she thought of that big fellow with such an im-
pudent expression of face, who had offered her his
services.

Frederick ingenuously performed this commission
for her.

The advocate was enchanted at the idea of having
business relations with such an aristocratic lady.

He hurried to Madame Dambreuse's house.

She informed him that the inheritance belonged to
her niece, a further reason for liquidating those debts
which she should repay, her object being to over-
whelm Martinon's wife by a display of greater at-
tention to the deceased's affairs.

Deslauriers surmised that there was some hidden
design underlying all this. He reflected while he was
examining the bills. Madame Arnoux's name, writ-
ten by her own hand, brought once more before his
eyes her entire person, and the insult which he had
received from her. Since vengeance was offered to
him, why should he not snatch at. it ?

He accordingly advised Madame Dambreuse to have
the bad debts which went with the inheritance sold
by auction. A man of straw, whose name would not
be divulged, would buy them up, and would exercise
the legal rights thus given him to realise them. He
would undertake to provide a man to discharge this
function.

Toward the end of the month of November, Fred-
erick, happening to pass through the street in which
Madame Arnoux had lived, raised his eyes toward the
windows of her house, and saw posted on the door a
placard on which was printed in large letters:

182 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Sale of valuable furniture, consisting of kitchen
utensils, body and table linen, shirts and chemises,
lace, petticoats, trousers, French and Indian cash-
meres, an Erard piano, two Renaissance oak chests,
Venetian mirrors, Chinese and Japanese pottery."

" Tis their furniture ! " said Frederick to himself,
and his suspicions were confirmed by the door-keeper.

As for who had given instructions for the sale, he
could get no information on that matter. But per-
haps the auctioneer, Maitre Berthelmot, might be able
to throw light on the subject.

The functionary did not at first want to tell what
creditor was having the sale carried out. Frederick
pressed him on the point. It was a gentleman named
Senecal, an agent ; and Maitre Berthelmot even car-
ried his politeness so far as to lend his newspaper —
the Petit cs Affiches — to Frederick.

The latter, on reaching Rosanette's house, flung
down this paper wide open on the table.

" Read that ! "

" Well, what ? " said she \vith a face so calm that
it roused up in him a feeling of revolt.

" Ah ! keep up that air of innocence ! "

" I don't understand what you are talking about."

" It is you who are selling out Madame Arnoux
yourself ! "

She re-read the announcement.

" Where is her name ? "

" Oh ! 'tis her furniture. You know that as well
as I do."

"What does that signify to me?" said Rosanette,
shrugging her shoulders.

"What does it signify to you? You are taking
your revenge, that's all. This is the consequence of
your persecutions. Haven't you outraged her suffi-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 183

ciently by calling at her house? — you, a worthless
creature ! and this the most saintly, the most charm-
ing, the best woman that ever lived ! Why do you
set your heart on ruining her ? "

" I assure you, you are mistaken ! "

" Come now ! As if you had not incited Senecal to
do this ! "

" What nonsense ! "

Then he was carried away with rage.

" You lie ! you lie ! you wretch ! You are jealous of
her! You have got a judgment against her husband!
Senecal is already mixed up in your affairs. He de-
tests Arnoux; and your two hatreds have combined.
I saw how delighted he was when you won that action
of yours about the kaolin shares. Are you going to
deny this ? "

" I give you my word "

" Oh, I know what that's worth — your word ! "

And Frederick reminded her of her lovers, giving
their names and circumstantial details. Rosanette
drew back, all the colour fading from her face.

" You are astonished at this. You thought I was
blind because I kept my eyes shut. Now I have had
enough of it. We do not die through the treacheries
of a woman of your sort. W'hen they become too
monstrous we get out of the way. To inflict punish-
ment on account of them would be only to degrade
oneself."

She twisted her arms about.

" My God, who can it be that has changed him ? "

" Nobody but yourself."

" And all this for Madame Arnoux ! " exclaimed
Rosanette, weeping.

He replied coldly:

" I have never loved any other woman ! "

184 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

At this insult her tears ceased to flow.

" That shows your good taste ! A woman of ma-
ture years, with a complexion like liquorice, a thick
waist, big eyes like the ventholes of a cellar, and just
as empty ! As you think so much of her, go and join
her!"

"This is just what I expected. Thank you!"

Rosanette remained motionless, stupefied by this
extraordinary behaviour.

She even allowed the door to be shut ; then, with a
bound, she pulled him back into the anteroom, and
flinging her arms around him:

" Why, you are mad ! you are mad ! this is absurd !
I love you ! " Then she changed her tone to one of
entreaty :

" Good heavens ! for the sake of our dead infant ! "

" Acknowledge that it was you who did this trick ! "
said Frederick.

She still protested that she was innocent.

" You will not acknowledge it? "

" No ! "

" Well, then, farewell ! and forever ! "

" Listen to me ! "

Frederick turned round :

" If you understood me better, you would Know
that my decision is irrevocable ! "

" Oh ! oh ! you will come back to me again ! "

" Never as long as I live ! "

And he slammed the door behind him violently.

Rosanette wrote to Deslauriers saying that she
wished to see him at once.

He called one evening, about five days later; and,
when she told him about the rupture :

'" That's all ! A nice piece of bad luck ! "

She thought at first that he would have been able

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 185

to bring back Frederick ; but now all was lost. She
learned through the doorkeeper that he was about to
be married to Madame Dambreuse.

Deslauriers gave her a lecture, and showed him-
self an exceedingly gay fellow, quite a jolly dog; and,
as it was very late, asked permission to pass the night
in an armchair.

Then, next morning, he set out again for Nogent,
telling her that he was unable to say when they would
meet again. In a little while, there would perhaps
be a great change in his life.

Two hours after his return, the town was in a
state of revolution. The news went round that M.
Frederick was going to marry Madame Dambreuse.
At length the three Mesdemoiselles Auger, unable to
stand it any longer, made their way to the house of
Madame Moreau, who with an air of pride confirmed
this intelligence. Pere Roque became quite ill when
he heard it. Louise locked herself up; it was even
rumoured that she had gone mad.

Meanwhile, Frederick was unable to hide his de-
jection.. Madame Dambreuse, in order to divert his
mind from gloomy thoughts, redoubled her attentions.
Every afternoon they went driving in her carriage ;
and, on one occasion, as they were passing along the
Place de la Bourse, she took the idea into her head
to pay a visit to the public auction-rooms for the sake
of amusement.

It was the first day of December, the very day on
which the sale of Madame Arnoux's furniture was to
take place. He remembered the date, and expressed
repugnance, declaring that this place was intolerable
on account of the crush and the noise. She only
wanted to get a peep at it. The brougham drew up.
He had no alternative but to accompany her.

186 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

In the open space could be seen washhand-stands
without basins, the wooden portions of armchairs, old
hampers, pieces of porcelain, empty bottles, mattresses ;
and men in blouses or in dirty frock-coats, all grey
with dust, and mean-looking faces, some with can-
vas sacks over their shoulders, were chatting in sep-
arate groups or hailing each other in a disorderly
fashion.

Frederick urged that they had better not go any
further.

" Pooh ! "

They ascended the stairs. In the first room, at the
right, gentlemen, with catalogues in their hands, were
examining pictures ; in another, a collection of Chi-
nese weapons were being sold. Madame Dambreuse
wanted to go down again. She looked at the numbers
over the doors, and led him to the end of the corridor
toward an apartment which was blocked up with
people.

Frederick immediately noticed the two whatnots be-
longing to the office of L 'Art Industriel, her work-
table, all her furniture. Heaped up at the end of the
room according to their respective heights, they
formed a long slope from the floor to the windows, and
at the other sides of the apartment, the carpets and the
curtains hung straight along the walls. There were,
underneath, steps occupied by old men who had fallen
asleep. At the left rose a sort of counter at which the
auctioneer, in a white cravat, was Hghtly swinging a
little hammer. By his side a young man was writing,
and below him stood a sturdy fellow, between a com-
mercial traveller and a vendor of countermarks, cry-
ing out : " Furniture for sale." Three attendants
placed the articles on a table, at the sides of which sat
in a row second-hand dealers and old-clothes women.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 187

The general public at the auction kept walking in a
circle behind them.

As Frederick entered, the petticoats, the necker-
chiefs, and even the chemises were being passed on
from hand to hand, and then given back. Sometimes
they were flung some distance, and strips of white-
ness went flying through the air. After that her
gowns were sold, and then one of her hats, the broken
feather of which was hanging down, then her furs,
and then three pairs of boots ; and the selling of these
relics, wherein he could trace in a confused sort of way
the very outlines of her form, appeared to him an
atrocity, as if he had seen carrion crows mangling her
corpse. The atmosphere of the room, heavy with so
many breaths, made him feel sick. Madame Dam-
breuse offered him her smelling-bottle. She said that
she found the sale of this strange collection highly
amusing.

The bedroom furniture was now exhibited. Maitre
Berthelmot named a price. The crier immediately re-
peated it in a louder voice, and the three auctioneer's
assistants quietly waited for the stroke of the ham-
mer, and then removed the article sold to an adjoining
apartment. In this way disappeared, one after the
other, the large blue carpet spangled with camellias,
which her dainty feet used to touch so lightly as she
advanced to meet him, the little upholstered easy-
chair, in which he used to sit facing her when they
were alone together, the two screens belonging to the
mantelpiece, the ivory of which had been rendered
smoother by the touch of her hands, and a velvet pin-
cushion, which was still bristling with pins. It was as
if portions of his heart had been carried away with
these things ; and the monotony of the same voices and
the same gestures benumbed him with fatigue, and

188 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

caused within him a mournful torpor, a sensation like
that of death itself.

There was a rustle of silk near by. Rosanette
touched him.

It \vas through Frederick himself that she had
learned about this auction. When her first feelings of
vexation were over, the idea of profiting by it occurred
to her mind. She had come to see it in a white satin
vest with pearl buttons, a furbelowed gown, tight-fit-
ting gloves on her hands, and a look of triumph on her
face.

He grew pale with anger. She stared at the woman
who was by his side.

Madame Dambreuse had recognised her, and for a
minute each examined the other from head to foot
minutely, in order to discover the defect, the blemish
— the one perhaps envying the other's youth, and the
other filled with spite at the extreme good form, the
aristocratic simplicity of her rival.

At last Madame Dambreuse turned her head away
with a smile of inexpressible insolence.

The crier had opened a piano — her piano ! While
he remained standing before it he ran the fingers of
his right hand over the keys, and put up the instru-
ment at twelve hundred francs ; then he brought down
the figures to one thousand, then to eight hundred, and
finally to seven hundred.

Madame Dambreuse laughed at the appearance of
some socket that was out of gear.

The next thing placed before the second-hand
dealers was a little chest with medallions and silver
corners and clasps, the same one which he had seen
at the first dinner in the Rue de Choiseul, which had
subsequently been 'in Rosanette's house, and again
transferred to Madame Arnoux's residence. Often

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 189

during their conversations his eyes had wandered
toward it. He was bound to it by the dearest memo-
ries, and his soul was melting with tender emotions
about it, when suddenly Madame Dambreuse said :

" I am going to buy that ! "

" But it is not a very rare article," he returned.

She considered it, on the contrary, very pretty, and
the appraiser commended its delicacy.

" A gem of the Renaissance ! Eight hundred francs,
Messieurs ! Almost entirely of silver ! With a little
whiting it can be made to shine brilliantly."

And, as she was pushed forward through the crush
of people :

" What an odd idea ! " said Frederick.

" Does it annoy you ? "

. " No ! But what use can be made of a fancy article
of that sort ? "

" Who knows ? Love-letters might be kept in it,
perhaps ! "

She gave him a look which made the significance
very clear.

" A reason the more for not robbing the dead of
their secrets."

" I did not imagine she was dead." And then in a
loud voice she went on to bid:

" Eight hundred and eighty francs ! "

" What you're doing is not right," murmured Fred-
erick.

She began to laugh.

" But this is the first favour, dear, that I have ever
asked from you."

" Come, now ! doesn't it strike you that at this rate
you won't be a very considerate husband?"

Some one had just at that moment made a higher
bid.

190 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

" Nine hundred francs ! "

" Nine hundred francs ! " repeated Maitre Berthel-
mot.

" Nine hundred and ten — fifteen — twenty — thirty ! "
squeaked the auctioneer's crier, with jerks of his head
as he cast a sweeping glance at those assembled around
him.

" Show me that I am to have a wife who is amen-
able to reason/' said Frederick.

And he gently drew her toward the door.

The auctioneer proceeded :

" Come, come, Messieurs ; nine hundred and thirty.
Is there any bidder at nine hundred and thirty?"

Madame Dambreuse, who had just reached the door,
stopped, and raising her voice to a high pitch :

" One thousand francs ! "

There was a murmur of astonishment, and then a
dead silence.

" A thousand francs, Messieurs, a thousand francs !
Is nobody advancing on this bid ? Is that clear? Very
well, then — one thousand francs ! going ! — gone ! "

And down came the ivory hammer. She passed in
her card, and the little chest was handed to her. She
thrust it into her muff.

Frederick felt a great chill penetrating his heart.

Madame Dambreuse was still holding his arm ; and
she had not the courage to look up at his face in the
street, where her carriage was awaiting her.

She flung herself into it, like a thief flying away
after a robbery, and then turned toward Frederick.
He had his hat in his hand.

" Are you not coming? "

" No, Madame ! "

And, bowing to her frigidly, he shut the carriage-
door, and signed to the coachman to drive away.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 191

The first feeling that he experienced was one of
joy at having regained his independence. He was
filled with pride at the thought that he had avenged
Madame Arnoux by sacrificing a fortune to her ; then,
he was astounded at his own act, and he felt doubled
up with extreme physical exhaustion.

Next morning his man-servant brought him the
news.

The city had been declared to be in a state of siege ;
the Assembly had been dissolved ; and a number of
the representatives of the people had been imprisoned
at Mazas. Public affairs had become utterly unim-
portant to him, so deeply preoccupied was he by his
private troubles.

He wrote to several tradesmen countermanding
various orders which he had given for the purchase of
articles in connection with his projected marriage,
which now appeared to him in the light of a rather
mean speculation ; and he execrated Madame Dam-
breuse, because, on her account, he had been very
near perpetrating a vile action. He had forgotten the
Marechale, and did not even bother himself about Ma-
dame Arnoux — absorbed only in one thought — lost
amid the wreck of his dreams, sick at heart, full of
grief and disappointment, and in his abhorrence of the
artificial atmosphere wherein he had suffered so much,
he longed for the freshness of green fields, the repose
of provincial life, a sleeping existence spent beneath
his natal roof in the midst of ingenuous hearts. When
Wednesday evening arrived, he made his way out
into the open air.

On the boulevard numerous groups had gathered.
From time to time a patrol came and dispersed them ;
they got together again in regular order behind it.
They talked freelv and in loud tones, made chaffing

192 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

remarks. about the soldiers, without anything further
happening.

" What ! are they not going to fight ? " said Fred-
erick to a workman.

" They're not such fools as to get themselves killed
for the well-off people ! Let them look after them-
selves ! "

And a gentleman muttered, as he glanced across at
the inhabitants of the faubourgs:

" Socialist rascals ! If it were only possible, this
time, to exterminate them ! "

Frederick could not, for the life of him, understand
the necessity of so much rancour and vituperative
language. His feeling of disgust against Paris was in-
tensified by these occurrences. Two days later he
set out for Nogent by the first train.

The houses were soon lost to view ; the country
stretched out before his gaze. Alone in his carriage,
with his feet on the seat in front of him, he pondered
over the events of the last few days, and then on his
entire past. The recollection of Louise came back
to his mind.

" She, indeed, loved me truly ! I was wrong not
to grasp at that chance of happiness. Pooh! let us
not think any more about it ! "

Then, five minutes afterward : " Who knows, after
all? Why not, later?"

His reverie, like his eyes, wandered afar toward
vague horizons.

" She was artless, a peasant girl, almost a savage ;
but so good ! "

As he drew nearer to Nogent, her image seemed
closer to him. As they were passing through the
meadows of Sourdun, he saw her once more in imag-
ination under the poplar-trees, as in the old days, cut-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 193

ting rushes on the edges of the pools. He reached
his destination and stepped out of the train.

Then he leaned with his elbows on the bridge, to
gaze again at the isle and the garden where they had
walked together one sunshiny day, and the dizzy sen-
sation caused by travelling, together with the weak-
ness engendered by his recent emotions, arousing in
his breast a sort of exaltation, he said to himself:

" She has gone out, perhaps ; suppose I were to
go and meet her ! "

The bell of Saint-Laurent was ringing, and in the
square in front of the church there was a crowd of
poor people around an open carriage, the only one in
the district — the one which was always hired for wed-
dings. All of a sudden, under the church-gate, ac-
companied by a number of well-dressed persons in
white cravats, a newly-married couple appeared.

He thought he must be labouring under some delu-
sion. But no ! It was, indeed, Louise ! covered with
a white veil which flowed from her red hair down to
her heels; and with her was no other than Deslau-
riers, attired in a blue coat embroidered with silver —
the costume of a prefect.

How was this?

Frederick concealed himself behind the corner of a
house to let the procession pass.

Shamefaced, vanquished, crushed, he retraced his
steps to the railway-station, and returned to Paris.

The cabman who drove him assured him that the
barricades were erected from the Chateau d'Eau to
the Gymnase, and turned down the Faubourg Saint-
Martin. At the corner of the Rue de Provence, Fred-
erick stepped out in order to reach the boulevards.

It was five o'clock. A thin shower was falling. A
number of citizens blocked up the footpath close to

194 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the Opera House. The houses opposite were closed.
Not a face at any of the windows. All along the
boulevard, dragoons were galloping behind a row of
waggons, leaning with drawn swords over their
horses ; and the plumes of their helmets, and their
large white cloaks, rising up behind them, could be
seen under the glare of the gas-lamps, which shook
in the wind in the midst of a haze. The crowd, mute
with fear, gazed at them.

In the intervals between the cavalry-charges, squads
of policemen arrived to keep back the people in the
streets.

But on the steps of Tortoni's, a man — Dussardier —
who could be recognised at a distance by his great
height, remained standing as motionless as a carya-
tide.

One of the police-officers, marching at the head of
his men, with his three-cornered hat drawn over his
eyes, threatened him with his sword.

The other thereupon advancing one step, shouted :

" Long live the Republic ! "

The next instant he fell on his back with his arms
crossed.

A yell of horror arose from the crowd. The police-
officer, with a look of command, made a circle around
him ; and Frederick, gazing up at him in open-mouthed
astonishment, recognised Senecal.

CHAPTER XIX

AFTER MANY YEARS

FREDERICK travelled a long time.
He experienced the melancholy associated with
packet-boats, the chill feeling on waking up
under tents, the dizzy effect of mountains and ruins,
and the bitterness of broken sympathies.

He returned home.

He mingled in society, and he conceived attach-
ments to many women. But the constant recollection
of his first love made them all appear insipid ; and
besides, the vehemence of desire, the bloom of the
sensation had gone. In like manner, his intellectual
ambitions had grown weaker. Years passed ; and he
was merely supporting the burthen of a life in which
his mind was unoccupied and his heart bereft of
energy.

Toward the end of March, 1867, just as the day
was drawing to a close, he was sitting all alone in
his study, when a woman suddenly entered.

" Madame Arnoux ! "

" Frederick ! "

She caught hold of his hands, and drew him gently
toward the window. As she gazed into his face, she
kept repeating:

" 'Tis he ! Yes, indeed^-'tis he ! "

In the lengthening shadows of the twilight, only
her eyes were visible under the black lace veil that
hid her face.

196 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

She laid down on the edge of the mantelpiece a
little pocket-book bound in garnet velvet; she seated
herself in front of him, and they both remained silent,
unable to utter a word, smiling at each other.

At last he asked her a number of questions about
herself and her husband.

They were living in a remote part of Brittany for
the sake of economy, so as to be able to pay their
debts. Arnoux, now almost a chronic invalid, had
become quite an old man. Her daughter had been
married and was living at Bordeaux, and her son was
in garrison at Mostaganem.

Then she raised her head to look at him again :

" But I see you once more ! I am happy ! "

He did not fail to let her know that, as soon as he
heard of their misfortune, he had hastened to their
house.

" I knew it ! "

"How?"

She had seen him in the street outside the house,
and had hidden herself.

"Why did you do that?"

Then, in a trembling voice, and with long pauses
between her words :

" I was afraid ! Yes — afraid of you and of my-
self!"

This confession gave him a shock of voluptuous
joy. His heart began to throb wildly. She went on :

" Forgive me for not having come sooner." And,
pointing toward the little pocket-book covered with
golden palm-branches:

" I embroidered it on your account expressly. It
contains the amount for which the Belleville property
was given as security."

Frederick thanked her, while chiding her at the

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 197

same time for having given herself any trouble about
it.

" No ! 'tis not for this I came ! I was determined
to pay you this visit — then I would go back there
again."

And she spoke about the place where they had
taken up their abode.

It was a low-built house of only one story; and
there was a garden full of huge box-trees, and a
double avenue of chestnut-trees, reaching up to the
top of the hill, from which there was a view of the
sea.

" I go there and sit on a bench, which I have called
' Frederick's bench.' "

Then she gazed at the furniture, the objects of
virtu, the pictures, with eager intentness, so that she
might be able to carry away the impressions of them
in her memory. The Marechale's portrait was almost
hidden behind a curtain. But the gilding and the
white spaces of the picture, which showed their out-
lines through the midst of the surrounding darkness,
attracted her attention.

" It seems to me I knew that woman ? "

" Impossible ! " said Frederick. " It is an old Italian
painting."

She said that she would like to take a walk through
the streets on his arm.

They went out.

The light from the shop-windows fell, now and
then, on her pale profile ; then once more she was
wrapped in shadow, and in the midst of the carriages,
the crowd, and the din, they walked on heedless to
what was happening around them, hearing nothing,
like those who walk across the fields over beds of dead
leaves.

198 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

They talked about the days which they had for-
merly spent in each other's society, the dinners at the
time when L' Art Industricl flourished, Arnoux's fads,
his habit of drawing up the ends of his collar and of
using cosmetic on his moustache, and other matters
of a more intimate and serious character. What de-
light he experienced when he first heard her sing-
ing ! How lovely she looked on her feast-day at Saint-
Cloud ! He recalled to her memory the little garden
at Auteuil, evenings at the theatre, a chance meeting
on the boulevard, and some of her old servants, includ-
ing the ne'gress.

She was astonished at his vivid recollection of
these things.

" Sometimes your words come back to me like a
distant echo, like the sound of a bell carried by the
wind, and when I read love passages in books, it
seems to me that it is you about whom I am reading."

" All that people have criticised as exaggerated in
fiction you have made me feel," said Frederick. " I
can understand Werther, who felt no disgust at his
Charlotte for eating bread and butter."

" Poor, dear friend ! "

She heaved a sigh; and, after a prolonged silence:

" No matter ; we shall have loved each other truly ! "

"And still without having ever belonged to each
other ! "

'' That perhaps is all the better," she replied.

" No, no ! What happiness we might have en-
joyed ! "

And it must have been very strong to endure after
so long a separation.

Frederick wished to know how she first discovered
that he loved her.

" It was when you kissed my wrist one evening

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 199

between the glove and the cuff. I said to myself,
' Ah ! yes, he loves me — he loves me ; ' nevertheless, I
was afraid of being assured of it. So charming- was
your reserve, that I felt myself the object, as it were,
of an involuntary and continuous homage."

He regretted nothing now. He was compensated
for all he had suffered in the past.

When they returned to the house, Madame Arnoux
removed her bonnet. The lamp, placed on a bracket,
threw its light on her white hair. Frederick felt as
if some one had struck him in the middle of the chest.

In order to conceal from her his sense of disillusion,
he flung himself on the floor at her feet, and seizing
her hands, whispered in her ear words of tenderness :

" Your person, your slightest movements, seemed
to me to have a more than human importance in the
world. My heart was like dust under your feet. You
produced on me the effect of moonlight on a summer's
night, when around us we find nothing but perfumes,
soft shadows, gleams of whiteness, infinity; and all
the delights of the flesh and of the spirit were for me
embodied in your name, which I kept repeating to
myself while I tried to kiss it with my lips. I thought
of nothing else. It was Madame Arnoux such as you
were with your two children, tender, grave, dazzingly
beautiful, and yet so good ! This image effaced
every other. Did I not dream of it alone ? for always,
in the very depths of my soul, were the music of your
voice and the brightness of your eyes ! "

She accepted with transports of joy these tributes
of adoration to the woman whom she could no longer
claim to be. Frederick, becoming intoxicated with
his own words, came to believe himself in the reality
of what he said. Madame Arnoux, with her back to
the light of the lamp, stooped toward him. He felt

200 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

the caress of her breath on his forehead, and the un-
defined touch of her entire body through the garments
that kept them apart. Their hands were clasped ; the
tip of her shoe peeped out from beneath her gown,
and he said to her, as if ready to faint :

" The sight of your foot makes me lose my self-
possession."

An impulse of modesty caused her to rise. Then,
without any further movement, she said, with the
strange intonation of a sonambulist:

" At my age ! — he — Frederick ! Ah ! no woman
has ever been loved as I have been. No! Where is
the use in being young? What do I care about them,
indeed? I despise them — all those women who come
here ! "

" Oh ! very few women come to this place," he re-
turned, in a complaisant fashion.

Her face brightened, and then she asked him
whether he ever meant to marry.

He swore that he never would.

" Are you perfectly sure ? Why should you not ? "
! 'Tis on your account ! " said Frederick, clasping
her in his arms.

She remained thus pressed to his heart, with her
head thrown back, her lips parted, and her eyes raised.
Suddenly she pushed him away from her with a look
of despair, and when he implored of her to say some-
thing to him in reply, she whispered :

" I would have liked to make you happy ! "

Frederick had a suspicion that Madame Arnoux
had come to offer herself to him, and once more he
was seized with a desire to possess her — stronger,
fiercer, more desperate than he had ever experienced
before. And yet he felt, the next moment, an unac-
countable repugnance to the thought of such a thing.

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 201

and, as it were, a dread of incurring the guilt of incest.
Another fear, too, affected him — lest disgust might
afterward take possession of him. Besides, how em-
barrassing it would be! — and, abandoning the idea,
partly through prudence, and partly through a resolve
not to degrade his ideal, he walked away and pro-
ceeded to roll a cigarette between his fingers.

She watched him with admiration.

" How dainty you are ! There is no one like you !
No one ! "

It struck eleven.

" Already ! " she exclaimed ; " at a quarter-past I
must go."

She sat down again, but she kept looking at the
clock, and he walked up and down the room, puffing
at his cigarette. Neither could think of anything
further to say. There is a moment at the hour of part-
ing when the person that we love is with us no longer.

At last, When the hands of the clock passed the
twenty-five minutes, she slowly took up her bonnet,
holding it by the strings.

" Good-bye, my friend — my dear friend ! I shall
never see you again ! This is the last page in my
life as a woman. My soul shall remain with you even
when you see me no more. May all the blessings of
Heaven be yours ! "

And she kissed him on the forehead, like a mother.

But she appeared to be looking for something, and
presently she asked him for a pair of scissors.

She unfastened her comb, and all her white hair
fell down.

With a quick movement of the scissors, she cut off
a long lock from the roots.

" Keep it ! Good-bye ! "

When she was gone, Frederick rushed to the win-

202 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

dovv and threw it open. On the footpath he saw Ma-
dame Arnoux beckoning a passing cab. She stepped
into it. The vehicle was soon out of sight.
And all was over.

CHAPTER XX

WHEN A MAN'S FORTY

FREDERICK and Deslauriers were talking by the
fireside one evening about the beginning oi
winter. They were once more reconciled by
the fatality of their nature, which seemed to force
them to reunite and be friends again.

Frederick briefly explained his quarrel with Ma-
dame Dambreuse, who had married again, her second
husband being an Englishman.

Deslauriers, without telling how he had come to
marry Mademoiselle Roque, related how his wife had
one day eloped with a singer. In order to expunge
to some extent the ridicule that this brought upon
him, he had compromised himself by an excess of gov-
ernmental zeal in the exercise of his functions as
prefect. He had been dismissed. After that, he had
been an agent for colonisation in Algeria, secretary
to a pasha, editor of a newspaper, and canvasser for
advertisements, his latest employment being the set-
tling of disputed cases for a manufacturing company.

Frederick, having squandered two thirds of his
means, was now living like a citizen of comparatively
humble rank.

Then they questioned each other about their mutual
friends.

Martinon was now a member of the Senate.

Hussonnet occupied a high position, in which he
was fortunate enough to have all the theatres and en-
tire press dependent upon him.

204 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Cisy, given up to religion, and the father of eight
children, was living in the chateau of his ancestors.

Pellerin, after turning his hand to Fourierism,
homoeopathy, table-turning, Gothic art, and humani-
tarian painting, had become a photographer; and he
might be seen on every dead wall in Paris, where he
was represented in a black coat with a very small body
and a big head.

" And what about your chum, Senecal ? " asked
Frederick.

" Disappeared — I don't know where ! And your-
self— what about the woman you were so passionately
attached to, Madame Arnoux ? "

" She is probably at Rome with her son, a lieu-
tenant of chasseurs."

"And her husband?"

" He died a year ago."

" You don't say so ? " exclaimed the advocate.
Then, striking his forehead:

" Now that I think of it, the other day, in a shop,
I met that worthy Marechale, holding by the hand a
little boy whom she has adopted. She is the widow
of a certain Monsieur Oudry, and is now very stout.
What a change! — she who formerly had such a slen-
der waist ! "

Deslauriers acknowledged that he had taken ad-
vantage of the other's despair to satisfy himself of
that fact by personal experience.

" As you gave me permission, however."

This avowal was a compensation for the silence he
had maintained with reference to his attempt with
Madame Arnoux.

Frederick would have forgiven him, inasmuch as he
had not succeeded.

Although a little annoyed at the discovery, he pre-

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 205

tended to laugh at it ; and the allusion to the Mare-
chale recalled the Vatnaz.

Deslauriers had not seen her, nor any of the others
who used to come to the Arnoux's house; but he re-
membered Regimbart perfectly.

" Is he still living? "

" He is barely alive. Every evening regularly he
drags himself from the Rue de Grammont to the Rue
Montmartre, to the cafes, enfeebled, bent in two, ema-
ciated, a spectre ! "

"Well, and what about Compain?"

Frederick uttered a cry of joy, and begged of the
ex-delegate of the provisional government to explain
to him the mystery of the calf's head.

"' 'Tis an English importation. In order to parody
the ceremony which the Royalists celebrated on the
thirtieth of January, some Independents founded an
annual banquet, at which they have been accustomed
to eat calves' head, and at which they drank red wine
out of calves' skulls while giving toasts in favour of
the extermination of the Stuarts. After Thermidor,
the Terrorists organised a brotherhood of a similar
description, which proves how universally prolific
folly is."

" You appear to be dispassionate about politics? "

" Effect of age," said the advocate.

Then they each proceeded to summarise their lives.

They had both failed in their objects — the one who
dreamed only of love, and the other of power.

What was the reason of this ?

" 'Tis perhaps on account of not having taken up
the proper line," said Frederick.

" In your case that may be so. I, on the contrary,
have sinned through excess of rectitude, without giv-
ing due weight to a thousand secondary things more

206 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

important than any. I had too much logic, and you
too much sentiment."

Then they blamed luck, circumstances, the epoch
at which they were born.

Frederick went on :

" We have never done what we thought of doing
long ago at Sens, when you wished to write a critical
history of Philosophy and I a great mediaeval ro-
mance about Nogent, the subject of which I had
found in Froissart : ' How Messire Brokars de Fene-
stranges and the Archbishop of Troyes attacked Mes-
sire Eustache d'Ambrecicourt.' Do you remember?"

And, exhuming their youth with every sentence,
they continually said to each other:

" Do you remember ? "

They saw once more the college playground, the
chapel, the parlour, the fencing-school at the bottom
of the staircase, the faces of the ushers and of the
pupils — one named Angelmare, from Versailles, who
used to cut off trousers-straps from old boots, M. Mir-
bal and his red whiskers, the two professors of linear
drawing and large drawing, who were always wran-
gling, and the Pole, the fellow-countryman of Coper-
nicus, with his planetary system on pasteboard, an
itinerant astronomer whose lecture had been paid for
by a dinner in the refectory, then a terrible debauch
while they were out on a walking excursion, the first
pipes they had smoked, the distribution of prizes, and
the delightful sensation of going home for the holi-
days.

It was during the vacation of 1837 that they had
called at the house of the Turkish woman.

This was a phrase used to designate a woman whose
real name was Zoraide Turc ; and many persons be-
lieved her to be a Mohammedan, a Turk; this added

SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION 207

to the poetic character of her establishment, situated
at the water's edge behind the rampart. Even in the
middle of summer there was a shadow around her
house, which was distinguished by a glass bowl of
goldfish near a pot of mignonette at a window.
Women in white negligees, with painted cheeks and
long earrings, used to tap at the panes as the stu-
dents passed; and as it grew dark, their custom was
to hum softly in their hoarse voices as they stood on
the doorsteps.

This home of perdition spread its fantastic notoriety
over all the arrondissement. References were made
to it in a circumlocutory style : " The place you know
— a certain street — at the bottom of the Bridges." It
made the farmers' wives of the district tremble for
their husbands, and the ladies grow apprehensive as
to their servants' virtue, inasmuch as the sub-prefect's
cook had been found there ; and, of course, it exercised
a fascination over the minds of all the young lads of
the place.

One Sunday, during vesper-time, Frederick and
Deslauriers, having previously curled their hair, gath-
ered some flowers in Madame Moreau's garden, then
went out through the gate leading into the fields, and,
after taking a wide circuit round the vineyards, came
back through the Fishery, and stole into the Turkish
woman's house with their big bouquets in their hands.

Frederick presented his as a lover does to his be-
trothed. But the heat, the fear of the unknown, and
even the very pleasure of seeing at one glance so
many women at his disposal, excited him so strangely
that he turned exceedingly pale, and stood there with-
out advancing a single step or uttering a word. All
the girls burst out laughing, amused at his embar-
rassment. Fancying that they were ridiculing him,

208 GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

he ran away; and, as Frederick had the money, Des-
lauriers was obliged to follow him.

They were observed leaving the house ; and the epi-
sode furnished material for a bit of local gossip which
was remembered three years later.

They related the story to each other in a proh>
fashion, each supplementing the narrative where the
other's memory failed ; and, when they had finished

the tale : . „

" I believe that was the best time we ever had !

said Frederick.

" Well, perhaps ! Yes, I, too, believe that was the
best time we ever had," said Deslauriers.

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