OSCAR'S LAST BLUNDER
Some years after the affair at Makta, an old lady, dressed in black,leaning on the arm of a man about thirty-four years of age, in whomobservers would recognize a retired officer, from the loss of an armand the rosette of the Legion of honor in his button-hole, wasstanding, at eight o'clock, one morning in the month of May, under theporte-cochere of the Lion d'Argent, rue de Faubourg Saint-Denis,waiting, apparently, for the departure of a diligence. UndoubtedlyPierrotin, the master of the line of coaches running through thevalley of the Oise (despatching one through Saint-Leu-Taverny andIsle-Adam to Beaumont), would scarcely have recognized in this bronzedand maimed officer the little Oscar Husson he had formerly taken toPresles. Madame Husson, at last a widow, was as little recognizable asher son. Clapart, a victim of Fieschi's machine, had served his wifebetter by death than by all his previous life. The idle lounger washanging about, as usual, on the boulevard du Temple, gazing at theshow, when the explosion came. The poor widow was put upon the pensionlist, made expressly for the families of the victim, at fifteenhundred francs a year.
The coach, to which were harnessed four iron-gray horses that wouldhave done honor to the Messageries-royales, was divided into threecompartments, coupe, interieur, and rotonde, with an imperiale above.It resembled those diligences called "Gondoles," which now ply, inrivalry with the railroad, between Paris and Versailles. Both solidand light, well-painted and well-kept, lined with fine blue cloth, andfurnished with blinds of a Moorish pattern and cushions of redmorocco, the "Swallow of the Oise" could carry, comfortably, nineteenpassengers. Pierrotin, now about fifty-six years old, was littlechanged. Still dressed in a blue blouse, beneath which he wore a blacksuit, he smoked his pipe, and superintended the two porters in livery,who were stowing away the luggage in the great imperiale.
"Are your places taken?" he said to Madame Clapart and Oscar, eyeingthem like a man who is trying to recall a likeness to his memory.
"Yes, two places for the interieur in the name of my servant,Bellejambe," replied Oscar; "he must have taken them last evening."
"Ah! monsieur is the new collector of Beaumont," said Pierrotin. "Youtake the place of Monsieur Margueron's nephew?"
"Yes," replied Oscar, pressing the arm of his mother, who was about tospeak.
The officer wished to remain unknown for a time.
Just then Oscar thrilled at hearing the well-remembered voice ofGeorges Marest calling out from the street: "Pierrotin, have you oneseat left?"
"It seems to me you could say 'monsieur' without cracking yourthroat," replied the master of the line of coaches of the Valley ofthe Oise, sharply.
Unless by the sound of the voice, Oscar could never have recognizedthe individual whose jokes had been so fatal to him. Georges, almostbald, retained only three or four tufts of hair above his ears; butthese were elaborately frizzed out to conceal, as best they could, thenakedness of the skull. A fleshiness ill-placed, in other words, apear-shaped stomach, altered the once elegant proportions of theex-young man. Now almost ignoble in appearance and bearing, Georgesexhibited the traces of disasters in love and a life of debauchery inhis blotched skin and bloated, vinous features. The eyes had lost thebrilliancy, the vivacity of youth which chaste or studious habits havethe virtue to retain. Dressed like a man who is careless of hisclothes, Georges wore a pair of shabby trousers, with straps intendedfor varnished boots; but his were of leather, thick-soled, ill-blacked,and of many months' wear. A faded waistcoat, a cravat, pretentiouslytied, although the material was a worn-out foulard, bespoke the secretdistress to which a former dandy sometimes falls a prey. Moreover,Georges appeared at this hour of the morning in an evening coat,instead of a surtout; a sure diagnostic of actual poverty. This coat,which had seen long service at balls, had now, like its master, passedfrom the opulent ease of former times to daily work. The seams of theblack cloth showed whitening lines; the collar was greasy; long usagehad frayed the edges of the sleeves into fringes.
And yet, Georges ventured to attract attention by yellow kid gloves,rather dirty, it is true, on the outside of which a signet ringdefined a large dark spot. Round his cravat, which was slipped into apretentious gold ring, was a chain of silk, representing hair, which,no doubt, held a watch. His hat, though worn rather jauntily,revealed, more than any of the above symptoms, the poverty of a manwho was totally unable to pay sixteen francs to a hat-maker, beingforced to live from hand to mouth. The former admirer of Florentinetwirled a cane with a chased gold knob, which was horribly battered.The blue trousers, the waistcoat of a material called "Scotch stuff,"a sky-blue cravat and a pink-striped cotton shirt, expressed, in themidst of all this ruin, such a latent desire to SHOW-OFF that thecontrast was not only a sight to see, but a lesson to be learned.
"And that is Georges!" said Oscar, in his own mind,--"a man I left inpossession of thirty thousand francs a year!"
"Has Monsieur de Pierrotin a place in the coupe?" asked Georges,ironically replying to Pierrotin's rebuff.
"No; my coupe is taken by a peer of France, the son-in-law of MonsieurMoreau, Monsieur le Baron de Canalis, his wife, and his mother-in-law.I have nothing left but one place in the interieur."
"The devil! so peers of France still travel in your coach, do they?"said Georges, remembering his adventure with the Comte de Serizy."Well, I'll take that place in the interieur."
He cast a glance of examination on Oscar and his mother, but did notrecognize them.
Oscar's skin was now bronzed by the sun of Africa; his moustache wasvery thick and his whiskers ample; the hollows in his cheeks and hisstrongly marked features were in keeping with his military bearing.The rosette of an officer of the Legion of honor, his missing arm, thestrict propriety of his dress, would all have diverted Georgesrecollections of his former victim if he had had any. As for MadameClapart, whom Georges had scarcely seen, ten years devoted to theexercise of the most severe piety had transformed her. No one wouldever have imagined that that gray sister concealed the Aspasia of1797.
An enormous old man, very simply dressed, though his clothes were goodand substantial, in whom Oscar recognized Pere Leger, here came slowlyand heavily along. He nodded familiarly to Pierrotin, who appeared byhis manner to pay him the respect due in all lands to millionaires.
"Ha! ha! why, here's Pere Leger! more and more preponderant!" criedGeorges.
"To whom have I the honor of speaking?" asked old Leger, curtly.
"What! you don't recognize Colonel Georges, the friend of Ali pacha?We travelled together once upon a time, in company with the Comte deSerizy."
One of the habitual follies of those who have fallen in the world isto recognize and desire the recognition of others.
"You are much changed," said the ex-farmer, now twice a millionaire.
"All things change," said Georges. "Look at the Lion d'Argent andPierrotin's coach; they are not a bit like what they were fourteenyears ago."
"Pierrotin now controls the whole service of the Valley of the Oise,"replied Monsieur Leger, "and sends out five coaches. He is thebourgeois of Beaumont, where he keeps a hotel, at which all thediligences stop, and he has a wife and daughter who are not a bad helpto him."
An old man of seventy here came out of the hotel and joined the groupof travellers who were waiting to get into the coach.
"Come along, Papa Reybert," said Leger, "we are only waiting now foryour great man."
"Here he comes," said the steward of Presles, pointing to JosephBridau.
Neither Georges nor Oscar recognized the illustrious artist, for hisface had the worn and haggard lines that were now famous, and hisbearing was that which is given by success. The ribbon of the Legionof honor adorned his black coat, and the rest of his dress, which wasextremely elegant, seemed to denote an expedition to some rural fete.
At this moment a clerk, with a paper in his hand, came out of theoffice (which was now in the former kitchen of the Lion d'Argent), andstood before the empty coupe.
"Monsieur and Madame de Canalis, three places," he said. Then, movingto the door of the interieur, he named, consecutively, "MonsieurBellejambe, two places; Monsieur de Reybert, three places; Monsieur--your name, if you please?" he said to Georges.
"Georges Marest," said the fallen man, in a low voice.
The clerk then moved to the rotunde, before which were grouped anumber of nurses, country-people, and petty shopkeepers, who werebidding each other adieu. Then, after bundling in the six passengers,he called to four young men who mounted to the imperial; after whichhe cried: "Start!" Pierrotin got up beside his driver, a young man ina blouse, who called out: "Pull!" to his animals, and the vehicle,drawn by four horses brought at Roye, mounted the rise of the faubourgSaint-Denis at a slow trot.
But no sooner had it got above Saint-Laurent than it raced like amail-cart to Saint-Denis, which it reached in forty minutes. No stopwas made at the cheese-cake inn, and the coach took the road throughthe valley of Montmorency.
It was at the turn into this road that Georges broke the silence whichthe travellers had so far maintained while observing each other.
"We go a little faster than we did fifteen years ago, hey, PereLeger?" he said, pulling out a silver watch.
"Persons are usually good enough to call me Monsieur Leger," said themillionaire.
"Why, here's our blagueur of the famous journey to Presles," criedJoseph Bridau. "Have you made any new campaigns in Asia, Africa, orAmerica?"
"Sacrebleu! I've made the revolution of July, and that's enough forme, for it ruined me."
"Ah! you made the revolution of July!" cried the painter, laughing."Well, I always said it never made itself."
"How people meet again!" said Monsieur Leger, turning to Monsieur deReybert. "This, papa Reybert, is the clerk of the notary to whom youundoubtedly owe the stewardship of Presles."
"We lack Mistigris, now famous under his own name of Leon de Lora,"said Joseph Bridau, "and the little young man who was stupid enough totalk to the count about those skin diseases which are now cured, andabout his wife, whom he has recently left that he may die in peace."
"And the count himself, you lack him," said old Reybert.
"I'm afraid," said Joseph Bridau, sadly, "that the last journey thecount will ever take will be from Presles to Isle-Adam, to be presentat my marriage."
"He still drives about the park," said Reybert.
"Does his wife come to see him?" asked Leger.
"Once a month," replied Reybert. "She is never happy out of Paris.Last September she married her niece, Mademoiselle du Rouvre, on whom,since the death of her son, she spends all her affection, to a veryrich young Pole, the Comte Laginski."
"To whom," asked Madame Clapart, "will Monsieur de Serizy's propertygo?"
"To his wife, who will bury him," replied Georges. "The countess isstill fine-looking for a woman of fifty-four years of age. She is veryelegant, and, at a little distance, gives one the illusion--"
"She will always be an illusion to you," said Leger, who seemedinclined to revenge himself on his former hoaxer.
"I respect her," said Georges. "But, by the bye, what became of thatsteward whom the count turned off?"
"Moreau?" said Leger; "why, he's the deputy from the Oise."
"Ha! the famous Centre man; Moreau de l'Oise?" cried Georges.
"Yes," returned Leger, "Moreau de l'Oise. He did more than you for therevolution of July, and he has since then bought the beautiful estateof Pointel, between Presles and Beaumont."
"Next to the count's," said Georges. "I call that very bad taste."
"Don't speak so loud," said Monsieur de Reybert, "for Madame Moreauand her daughter, the Baronne de Canalis, and the Baron himself, theformer minister, are in the coupe."
"What 'dot' could he have given his daughter to induce our greatorator to marry her?" said Georges.
"Something like two millions," replied old Leger.
"He always had a taste for millions," remarked Georges. "He began hispile surreptitiously at Presles--"
"Say nothing against Monsieur Moreau," cried Oscar, hastily. "Youought to have learned before now to hold your tongue in publicconveyances."
Joseph Bridau looked at the one-armed officer for several seconds;then he said, smiling:--
"Monsieur is not an ambassador, but his rosette tells us he has madehis way nobly; my brother and General Giroudeau have repeatedly namedhim in their reports."
"Oscar Husson!" cried Georges. "Faith! if it hadn't been for yourvoice I should never have known you."
"Ah! it was monsieur who so bravely rescued the Vicomte Jules deSerizy from the Arabs?" said Reybert, "and for whom the count hasobtained the collectorship of Beaumont while awaiting that ofPontoise?"
"Yes, monsieur," said Oscar.
"I hope you will give me the pleasure, monsieur," said the greatpainter, "of being present at my marriage at Isle-Adam."
"Whom do you marry?" asked Oscar, after accepting the invitation.
"Mademoiselle Leger," replied Joseph Bridau, "the granddaughter ofMonsieur de Reybert. Monsieur le comte was kind enough to arrange themarriage for me. As an artist I owe him a great deal, and he wished,before his death, to secure my future, about which I did not think,myself."
"Whom did Pere Leger marry?" asked Georges.
"My daughter," replied Monsieur de Reybert, "and without a 'dot.'"
"Ah!" said Georges, assuming a more respectful manner toward MonsieurLeger, "I am fortunate in having chosen this particular day to do thevalley of the Oise. You can all be useful to me, gentlemen."
"How so?" asked Monsieur Leger.
"In this way," replied Georges. "I am employed by the 'Esperance,' acompany just formed, the statutes of which have been approved by anordinance of the King. This institution gives, at the end of tenyears, dowries to young girls, annuities to old men; it pays theeducation of children, and takes charge, in short, of the fortunes ofeverybody."
"I can well believe it," said Pere Leger, smiling. "In a word, you area runner for an insurance company."
"No, monsieur. I am the inspector-general; charged with the duty ofestablishing correspondents and appointing the agents of the companythroughout France. I am only operating until the agents are selected;for it is a matter as delicate as it is difficult to find honestagents."
"But how did you lose your thirty thousand a year?" asked Oscar.
"As you lost your arm," replied the son of Czerni-Georges, curtly.
"Then you must have shared in some brilliant action," remarked Oscar,with a sarcasm not unmixed with bitterness.
"Parbleu! I've too many--shares! that's just what I wanted to sell."
By this time they had arrived at Saint-Leu-Taverny, where all thepassengers got out while the coach changed horses. Oscar admired theliveliness which Pierrotin displayed in unhooking the traces from thewhiffle-trees, while his driver cleared the reins from the leaders.
"Poor Pierrotin," thought he; "he has stuck like me,--not far advancedin the world. Georges has fallen low. All the others, thanks tospeculation and to talent, have made their fortune. Do we breakfasthere, Pierrotin?" he said, aloud, slapping that worthy on theshoulder.
"I am not the driver," said Pierrotin.
"What are you, then?" asked Colonel Husson.
"The proprietor," replied Pierrotin.
"Come, don't be vexed with an old acquaintance," said Oscar, motioningto his mother, but still retaining his patronizing manner. "Don't yourecognize Madame Clapart?"
It was all the nobler of Oscar to present his mother to Pierrotin,because, at that moment, Madame Moreau de l'Oise, getting out of thecoupe, overheard the name, and stared disdainfully at Oscar and hismother.
"My faith! madame," said Pierrotin, "I should never have known you;nor you, either, monsieur; the sun burns black in Africa, doesn't it?"
The species of pity which Oscar thus felt for Pierrotin was the lastblunder that vanity ever led our hero to commit, and, like his otherfaults, it was punished, but very gently, thus:--
Two months after his official installation at Beaumont-sur-Oise, Oscarwas paying his addresses to Mademoiselle Georgette Pierrotin, whose'dot' amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand francs, and hemarried the pretty daughter of the proprietor of the stage-coaches ofthe Oise, toward the close of the winter of 1838.
The adventure of the journey to Presles was a lesson to Oscar Hussonin discretion; his disaster at Florentine's card-party strengthenedhim in honesty and uprightness; the hardships of his military careertaught him to understand the social hierarchy and to yield obedienceto his lot. Becoming wise and capable, he was happy. The Comte deSerizy, before his death, obtained for him the collectorship atPontoise. The influence of Monsieur Moreau de l'Oise and that of theComtesse de Serizy and the Baron de Canalis secured, in after years, areceiver-generalship for Monsieur Husson, in whom the Camusot familynow recognize a relation.
Oscar is a commonplace man, gentle, without assumption, modest, andalways keeping, like his government, to a middle course. He excitesneither envy nor contempt. In short, he is the modern bourgeois.
THE END.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
ADDENDUM
The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
Beaupre, Fanny Modest Mignon The Muse of the Department Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Bridau, Joseph The Purse A Bachelor's Establishment A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Modeste Mignon Another Study of Woman Pierre Grassou Letters of Two Brides Cousin Betty The Member for Arcis
Bruel, Jean Francois du A Bachelor's Establishment The Government Clerks A Prince of Bohemia The Middle Classes A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Daughter of Eve
Cabirolle, Madame A Bachelor's Establishment
Cabirolle, Agathe-Florentine Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor's Establishment
Canalis, Constant-Cyr-Melchior, Baron de Letters of Two Brides A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Modeste Mignon The Magic Skin Another Study of Woman Beatrix The Unconscious Humorists The Member for Arcis
Cardot, Jean-Jerome-Severin Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor's Establishment At the Sign of the Cat and Racket Cesar Birotteau
Coralie, Mademoiselle A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor's Establishment
Crottat, Alexandre Cesar Birotteau Colonel Chabert A Woman of Thirty Cousin Pons
Derville Gobseck The Gondreville Mystery Father Goriot Colonel Chabert Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Desroches (son) A Bachelor's Establishment Colonel Chabert A Woman of Thirty The Commission in Lunacy The Government Clerks A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Firm of Nucingen A Man of Business The Middle Classes
Finot, Andoche Cesar Birotteau A Bachelor's Establishment A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Government Clerks Gaudissart the Great The Firm of Nucingen
Gaudron, Abbe The Government Clerks Honorine
Giroudeau A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor's Establishment
Godeschal, Francois-Claude-Marie Colonel Chabert A Bachelor's Establishment The Commission in Lunacy The Middle Classes Cousin Pons
Godeschal, Marie A Bachelor's Establishment Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Cousin Pons
Gondreville, Malin, Comte de The Gondreville Mystery Domestic Peace The Member for Arcis
Grevin The Gondreville Mystery The Member for Arcis
Grindot Cesar Birotteau Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Beatrix The Middle Classes Cousin Betty
Lora, Leon de The Unconscious Humorists A Bachelor's Establishment Pierre Grassou Honorine Cousin Betty Beatrix
Loraux, Abbe A Bachelor's Establishment Cesar Birotteau Honorine
Lupin, Amaury The Peasantry
Marest, Frederic The Seamy Side of History The Member for Arcis
Marest, Georges The Peasantry
Maufrigneuse, Duc de The Secrets of a Princess A Bachelor's Establishment Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Poiret, the elder The Government Clerks Father Goriot Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Middle Classes
Rouvre, Marquis du The Imaginary Mistress Ursule Mirouet
Schinner, Hippolyte The Purse A Bachelor's Establishment Pierre Grassou Albert Savarus The Government Clerks Modeste Mignon The Imaginary Mistress The Unconscious Humorists
Serizy, Comte Hugret de A Bachelor's Establishment Honorine Modeste Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Serizy, Comtesse de The Thirteen Ursule Mirouet A Woman of Thirty Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Another Study of Woman The Imaginary Mistress
Serizy, Vicomte de Modeste Mignon The Imaginary Mistress
Vandenesse, Marquis Charles de A Woman of Thirty A Daughter of Eve
Vandenesse, Comte Felix de The Lily of the Valley Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Cesar Birotteau Letters of Two Brides The Marriage Settlement The Secrets of a Princess Another Study of Woman The Gondreville Mystery A Daughter of Eve