THE MYSTERY SOLVED
The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as thoseof his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the ruede Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support ofthe title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, whichhad often troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchasethe marquise, who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her ownaccount for her children, spent her winters in Paris,--all the morewillingly because her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of anage when their education required the resources of Paris.
Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband couldnot be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but heshowed her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having lovedno other woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period oftime but to which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned inhis last years as true a love as that he gave to her, was completelyhappy in his married life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. Nowoman has ever been more cherished by her friends or more respected.To be received in her house is an honor. Gentle, indulgent,intellectual, above all things simple and natural, she pleases choicesouls and draws them to her in spite of her saddened aspect; eachlongs to protect this woman, inwardly so strong, and that sentiment ofsecret protection counts for much in the wondrous charm of herfriendship. Her life, so painful during her youth, is beautiful andserene towards evening. Her sufferings are known, and no one asks whowas the original of that portrait by Lefebvre which is the chief andsacred ornament of her salon. Her face has the maturity of fruits thathave ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies that long-tried brow.
At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house,her fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some twohundred thousand francs a year, not counting her husband's salary;besides this, Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu forhis young masters. From that time forth she made a practice ofspending half her income and of laying by the rest for her daughterBerthe.
Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warriornerve; she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,--"more a woman,"Laurence says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry herdaughter until she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciouslyinvested in the Funds by old Monsieur d'Hauteserre at the moment whenconsols fell in 1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs ayear in 1833, when she was twenty.
About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marryher son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relationswith Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with themarquise three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter tothe Opera, and curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when theydrove out. It was evident to all the world of the FaubourgSaint-Germain that Georges loved Berthe. But no one could discover toa certainty whether Madame de Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making herdaughter a duchess, to become a princess later, or whether it was onlythe princess who coveted for her son the splendid dowry. Did thecelebrated Diane court the noble provincial house? and was thedaughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened by the celebrity of Madame deCadignan, her tastes and her ruinous extravagance? In her strongdesire not to injure her son's prospects the princess grew devout,shut the door on her former life, and spent the summer season atGeneva in a villa on the lake.
One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse deCadignan, the Marquise d'Espard, and de Marsay, then president of theCouncil (on this occasion the princess saw her former lover for thelast time, for he died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac,under-secretary of State attached to de Marsay's ministry, twoambassadors, two celebrated orators from the Chamber of Peers, the olddukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, the Comte de Vandenesse and hisyoung wife, and d'Arthez,--who formed a rather singular circle, thecomposition of which can be thus explained. The princess was anxiousto obtain from the prime minister of the crown a permit for the returnof the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not choose to take uponhimself the responsibility of granting it came to tell the princessthe matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a certainpolitical manager had promised to bring her the result in the courseof that evening.
Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whoseprinciples were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to seethe most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking andlaughing in a friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whomshe never called anything but Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans. De Marsay,like an expiring lamp, shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside forthe moment his political anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne enduredhim, as they say the Court of Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; theman of the world effaced the minister of the citizen-king. But sherose to her feet as though her chair were of red-hot iron when thename was announced of "Monsieur le Comte de Gondreville."
"Adieu, madame," she said to the princess in a curt tone.
She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoidencountering that fatal being.
"You may have caused the loss of Georges' marriage," said the princessto de Marsay, in a low voice. "Why did you not tell me your agent'sname?"
The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien,tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer ofthe Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servilebow to the princess.
"Fear nothing, madame," he said; "we have ceased to make war onprinces. I bring you an assurance of the permit," he added, seatinghimself beside her.
Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his variedexperience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes,and had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldlyreceived by Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand.He was now in high favor under the twelfth government he had servedsince 1789, and which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the lastfifteen months he had broken the long friendship which had bound himfor thirty-six years to our greatest diplomat, the Prince deTalleyrand. It was in the course of this very evening that he madeanswer to some one who asked why the Prince showed such hostility tothe Duc de Bordeaux, "The Pretender is too young!"
"Singular advice to give young men," remarked Rastignac.
De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan's reproachfulspeech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance atGondreville and was evidently biding his time until that now old man,who went to bed early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessedthe abrupt departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons werewell-known to them), imitated de Marsay's conduct and kept silence.Gondreville, who had not recognized the marquise, was ignorant of thecause of the general reticence, but the habit of dealing with publicmatters had given him a certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; hesaw that his presence was embarrassing to the company and he tookleave. De Marsay, standing with his back to the fire, watched the slowdeparture of the old man in a manner which revealed the gravity of histhoughts.
"I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator," saidthe prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin's wheels as theyrolled away. "But I will redeem my fault and give you the means ofmaking your peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years sincethe affair I am about to speak of took place; it is as old to thepresent day as the death of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and inspite of the proverb is still a mystery, like so many other historicalcatastrophes). I can, however, assure you that even if this affair didnot concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne it would be none the less curious andinteresting. Moreover, it throws light on a celebrated exploit in ourmodern annals,--I mean that of the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs lesAmbassadeurs," he added, bowing to the two diplomats, "will see thatin the element of profound intrigue the political men of the presentday are far behind the Machiavellis whom the waves of the popular willlifted, in 1793, above the storm,--some of whom have 'found,' as theold song says, 'a haven.' To be anything in France in these days a manmust have been tossed in those tempests."
"It seems to me," said the princess, smiling, "that from that point ofview the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing tobe desired."
A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime ministerhimself could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient forthe tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained.
"On a June night in 1800," began the minister, "about three in themorning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of thewax candles, two men tired of playing at bouillotte (or who wereplaying merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministryof foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apartinto a boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other hasone foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equallyextraordinary. Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; bothwere married. One had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn themitre of a bishop. The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell youthe name of the second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens--withvery little simplicity. When they were seen to leave the salon andenter the boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certaincuriosity. A third person followed them,--a man who thought himselffar stronger than the other two. His name was Sieyes, and you all knowthat he too had been a priest before the Revolution. The one whowalked with difficulty was then the minister of foreign affairs;Fouche was minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate.
[*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these circumstances.
"A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followedthe three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whomI have the information, 'I mistrust the gambling of priests.' This manwas Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the twoconsuls who were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrunwere then at the mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitelystronger than they.
"Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to them.They belong to history; and the history of that night and itsconsequences has been terrible. I tell it to you now because I aloneknow it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poorMadame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serveis wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world ornot.
"All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame manundoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thoughtthat he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who payattention to such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassiblefaces which you all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the firstto speak. 'What is the point to be discussed?' he asked. 'France,'must have been the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of themost extraordinary men of our time). 'The Republic,' undoubtedly saidFouche. 'Power,' probably said Sieyes."
All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture deMarsay had wonderfully represented the three men.
"The three priests fully understood one another," he continued,resuming his narrative. "Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues andthe ex-consul in a dignified manner. He must, however, have feltbewildered in his own mind.
"'Do you believe in the success of the army?' Sieyes said to him.
"'We may expect everything from Bonaparte,' replied the minister ofwar; 'he has crossed the Alps.'
"'At this moment,' said the minister of foreign affairs, withdeliberate slowness, 'he is playing his last stake.'
"'Come, let's speak out,' said Fouche; 'what shall we do if the FirstConsul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must wecontinue his humble servants?'
"'There is no republic now,' remarked Sieyes; 'Bonaparte is consul forten years.'
"'He has more power than ever Cromwell had,' said the former bishop,'and he did not vote for the death of the king.'
"'We have a master,' said Fouche; 'the question is, shall we continueto keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a purerepublic?'
"'France,' replied Carnot, sententiously, 'cannot resist except shereverts to the old Conventional energy.'
"'I agree with Carnot,' said Sieyes; 'if Bonaparte returns defeated wemust put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during thelast seven months.'
"'The army is for him,' remarked Carnot, thoughtfully.
"'And the people for us!' cried Fouche.
"'You go fast, monsieur,' said the Prince, in that deep bass voicewhich he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself.
"'Be frank,' said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a cornerof the boudoir and showed himself; 'if Bonaparte returns a victor, weshall adore him; if vanquished, we'll bury him!'
"'So you were there, Malin, were you?' said the Prince, withoutbetraying the least feeling. 'Then you must be one of us; sit down';and he made him a sign to be seated.
"It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of smallrepute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, thatin which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and theministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of themachine and the cat's-paw of the machination. To return to my tale.
"'Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,' cried Carnot, in a tone ofconviction, 'and he has just surpassed Hannibal.'
"'If the worst happens, here is the Directory,' said Sieyes, artfully,indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present.
"'And,' added the Prince, 'we are all committed to the maintenance ofthe French republic; we three priests have literally unfrockedourselves; the general, here, voted for the death of the king; andyou,' he said, turning to Malin, 'have got possession of the propertyof emigres.'
"'Yes, we have all the same interests,' said Sieyes, dictatorially,'and our interests are one with those of the nation.'
"'A rare thing,' said the Prince, smiling.
"'We must act,' interrupted Fouche. 'In all probability the battle isnow going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered;Massena has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; itis very doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reducedto his own resources.'
"'Who gave you that news?' asked Carnot.
"'It is sure,' replied Fouche. 'You will have the courier when theBourse opens.'
"Those men didn't mince their words," said de Marsay, smiling, andstopping short for a moment.
"'Remember,' continued Fouche, 'it is not when the news of a disastercomes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people,and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be preparedbeforehand.'
"'Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,' said thePrince, bowing to Fouche, 'and beware ourselves of Lucien.' (LucienBonaparte was then minister of the interior.)
"'I'll arrest him,' said Fouche.
"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, 'our Directory ought not to be subject toanarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senatefor life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in ourhands; for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.'
"'With such a system, there would be peace for me,' remarked theex-bishop.
"'Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of theRhine will be our sole resource,' cried Carnot, who had been plungedin meditation.
"Ah!" said de Marsay, pausing, "those men were right. They were grandin this crisis. I should have done as they did"; then he resumed hisnarrative.
"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone.
"That word 'Messieurs!' was perfectly understood by all present; alleyes expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolutesilence, and unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consulreturned triumphant.
"'We all know what we have to do,' added Fouche.
"Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him.Lucien entered the room.
"'Good news!' he said. 'A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte aline from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory atMontebello.'
"The three ministers exchanged looks.
"'Was it a general engagement?' asked Carnot.
"'No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. Theaffair was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteenthousand, he was only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott isin full retreat. The Austrian line is broken.'
"'When did the fight take place?' asked Carnot.
"'On the 8th,' replied Lucien.
"'And this is the 13th,' said the sagacious minister. 'Well, if thatis so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment weare speaking.'"
(In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.)
"'Four days of fatal uncertainty!' said Lucien.
"'Fatal?' said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly andinterrogatively.
"'Four days,' echoed Fouche.
"An eye-witness told me," said de Marsay, continuing the narrative inhis own person, "that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothingof this momentous news until after the six personages returned to thesalon. It was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man ofdark and mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and littleunderstood, but who undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second,a Tiberius and a Borgia, went at once to work with an infernal andsecret activity. His conduct at the time of the affair at Walcherenwas that of a consummate soldier, a great politician, a far-seeingadministrator. He was the only real minister that Napoleon ever had.And you all know how he then alarmed him.
"Fouche, Massena and the Prince," continued de Marsay, reflectively,"are the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, andgovernment, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly alliedthem with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vastFrench Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleonuntil he saw Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside.
"He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the handthat stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that generalagitation which then arose all over France and revived therepublicanism of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain thisobscure corner of our history, I must tell you that this agitation,starting from Fouche's own hand (which held the wires of the formerMontagne), produced republican plots against the life of the FirstConsul, which was in peril from this cause long after the victory ofMarengo. It was Fouche's sense of the evil he had thus brought aboutwhich led him to warn Napoleon, who held a contrary opinion, thatrepublicans were more concerned than royalists in the variousconspiracies.
"Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because ofhis thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a greatseigneur, on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreadedwas the one whom you have seen here this evening. I will now tell howhe entangled that man in his meshes.
"Malin was only Malin in those days,--a secret agent and correspondentof Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to writing all theproclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, its warrantsand edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An accompliceagainst his own will, Malin was required to have these documentssecretly printed, and the copies held ready in his own house fordistribution if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequentlyimprisoned and detained two months; he died in 1816, and alwaysbelieved he had been employed by a Montagnard conspiracy.
"One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche's police wascaused by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to afamous banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo.Victory, you will remember, did not declare itself for Napoleon untilseven o'clock in the evening of the battle. At midday the banker'sagent, considering the day lost and the French army about to beannihilated, hastened to despatch the courier. On receipt of that newsFouche was about to put into motion a whole army of bill-posters andcries, with a truck full of proclamations, when the second courierarrived with the news of the triumph which put all France besideitself with joy. There were heavy losses at the Bourse, of course. Butthe criers and posters who were gathered to announce the politicaldeath of Bonaparte and to post up the new proclamations were only keptwaiting awhile till the news of the victory could be struck off!
"Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he hadbeen the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, wasso terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers incarts and took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where nodoubt they were hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he hadbought in the name of another man--who was it, by the bye? he had himmade chief-justice of an Imperial court--Ah! Marion. Having thusdisposed of these damning proofs he returned to Paris to congratulatethe First Consul on his victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed fromItaly to Paris after the battle of Marengo with alarming celerity.Those who know the secret history of that time are well aware that amessage from Lucien brought him back. The minister of the interior hadforeseen the attitude of the Montagnard party, and though he had noidea of the quarter from which the wind really blew, he feared astorm. Incapable of suspecting the three ministers and Carnot, heattributed the movement which stirred all France to the hatred hisbrother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, and to the confident beliefof the men of 1793 that defeat was certain in Italy.
"The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardyuntil the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July.Imagine the faces of the five conspirators as they met the FirstConsul at the Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Foucheon that very occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, forall was not over yet. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both heldthat Bonaparte was not as much bound to the principles of theRevolution as they were, and as he ought to be; and for this reason,as well as for their own safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckledhim irrevocably, as they believed, to its cause by the affair of theDuc d'Enghien. The execution of that prince is connected by a seriesof discoverable ramifications with the plot which was laid on thatJune evening in the boudoir of the ministry of foreign affairs, thenight before the battle of Marengo. Those who have the means ofjudging, and who have known persons who were well-informed, are fullyaware that Bonaparte was handled like a child by Talleyrand andFouche, who were determined to alienate him irrevocably from the Houseof Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at the last moment,endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul."
"Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes," saida personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay'snarrative. "It was about three o'clock in the morning, when he pulledout his watch, looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his threecompanions abruptly and without any preface whether the Prince deConde had any other children than the Duc d'Enghien. Such an absurdinquiry from the lips of Talleyrand caused the utmost surprise. 'Whydo you ask us what you know perfectly well yourself?' they said tohim. 'Only to let you know that the House of Conde comes to an end atthis moment.' Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been at the hotel deLuynes the entire evening, and he must have known that Bonaparte wasabsolutely unable to grant the pardon."
"But," said Eugene de Rastignac, "I don't see in all this anyconnection with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles."
"Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot toexplain the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction ofthe Comte de Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which theSimeuse brothers and the two d'Hauteserres were condemned to thegalleys,--an affair which did, in fact, lead to their death."
De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom thecircumstances were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that themysterious abductors were five sharks of the secret service of theministry of the police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamationsof the would-be Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken fromhis house in Paris, and which he had himself come to Gondreville forthe express purpose of destroying, being convinced at last that theEmpire was on a sure foundation and could not be overthrown. "I haveno doubt," added de Marsay, "that Fouche took the opportunity to havethe house searched for the correspondence between Malin and LouisXVIII., which was always kept up, even during the Terror. But in thiscruel affair there was a private element, a passion of revenge in themind of the leader of the party, a man named Corentin, who is stillliving, and who is one of those subaltern agents whom nothing canreplace and who makes himself felt by his amazing ability. It appearsthat Madame, then Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had ill-treated him on aformer occasion when he attempted to arrest the Simeuse brothers. Whathappened afterwards in connection with the senator's abduction was theresult of his private vengeance.
"These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to LouisXVIII. You may therefore," added de Marsay, turning to the Princessede Cadignan, "explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne,and show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence."
THE END.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
ADDENDUM
The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
Beauvisage The Member for Arcis
Berthier, Alexandre The Chouans
Bonaparte, Lucien The Vendetta
Bordin The Seamy Side of History The Commission in Lunacy Jealousies of a Country Town
Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) The Secrets of a Princess The Seamy Side of History The Member for Arcis
Corentin The Chouans Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Middle Classes
Derville Gobseck A Start in Life Father Goriot Colonel Chabert Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel A Woman of Thirty
Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d' The Commission in Lunacy A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Letters of Two Brides Another Study of Woman The Secrets of a Princess A Daughter of Eve Beatrix
Fouche, Joseph The Chouans Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Giguet, Colonel The Member for Arcis
Gondreville, Malin, Comte de A Start in Life Domestic Peace The Member for Arcis
Gothard The Member for Arcis
Goujet, Abbe The Member for Arcis
Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de The Thirteen A Bachelor's Establishment Modeste Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Granville, Vicomte de A Second Home Farewell (Adieu) Cesar Birotteau Scenes from a Courtesan's Life A Daughter of Eve Cousin Pons
Grevin A Start in Life The Member for Arcis
Hauteserre, D' The Member for Arcis
Lefebvre, Robert Cousin Betty
Lenoncourt, Duc de The Lily of the Valley Cesar Birotteau Jealousies of a Country Town Beatrix
Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier The Chouans The Seamy Side of History Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Ball at Sceaux The Lily of the Valley Colonel Chabert The Government Clerks
Marion (of Arcis) The Member for Arcis
Marion (brother) The Member for Arcis
Marsay, Henri de The Thirteen The Unconscious Humorists Another Study of Woman The Lily of the Valley Father Goriot Jealousies of a Country Town Ursule Mirouet A Marriage Settlement Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Letters of Two Brides The Ball at Sceaux Modeste Mignon The Secrets of a Princess A Daughter of Eve
Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de The Secrets of a Princess Modeste Mignon Jealousies of a Country Town The Muse of the Department Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Letters of Two Brides Another Study of Woman The Member for Arcis
Maufrigneuse, Georges de The Secrets of a Princess Beatrix The Member for Arcis
Maufrigneuse, Berthe de Beatrix The Member for Arcis
Michu, Francois Jealousies of a Country Town The Member for Arcis
Michu, Madame Francois The Member for Arcis
Murat, Joachim, Prince The Vendetta Colonel Chabert Domestic Peace The Country Doctor
Navarreins, Duc de A Bachelor's Establishment Colonel Chabert The Muse of the Department The Thirteen Jealousies of a Country Town The Peasantry Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Country Parson The Magic Skin The Secrets of a Princess Cousin Betty
Peyrade Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Rapp The Vendetta
Rastignac, Eugene de Father Goriot A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Ball at Sceaux The Commission in Lunacy A Study of Woman Another Study of Woman The Magic Skin The Secrets of a Princess A Daughter of Eve The Firm of Nucingen Cousin Betty The Member for Arcis The Unconscious Humorists
Regnier, Claude-Antoine A Second Home
Simeuse, Admiral de Beatrix Jealousies of a Country Town
Steingel The Peasantry
Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de The Chouans The Thirteen Letters of Two Brides Gaudissart II.
Vandenesse, Comte Felix de The Lily of the Valley Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Cesar Birotteau Letters of Two Brides A Start in Life The Marriage Settlement The Secrets of a Princess Another Study of Woman A Daughter of Eve
Varlet The Gondreville Mystery The Member for Arcis