WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:06.160 The conscript by Honore de Balzac. The inner self, by 2 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.279 a phenomenon of vision or of locomotion, has been known 3 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.679 at times to abolish space in its two modes of 4 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:17.760 time and distance, the one intellectual, the other physical history 5 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:22.000 of Louis Lambert. On a November evening in the year 6 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:26.719 seventeen ninety three, the principal citizens of Carentan were assembled 7 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:30.480 in Madame de Day's drawing room. Madame de Day held 8 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.240 this recipsion every night of the week, but an unwonted 9 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.679 interest attached to this evening's gathering, owing to certain circumstances 10 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.799 which would have passed altogether unnoticed in a great city, 11 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:45.799 though in a small country town they excited the greatest curiosity. 12 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.679 For two days before, Madame de Day had not been 13 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.439 at home to her visitors, and on the previous evening 14 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.000 her door had been shut on the ground of indisposition. 15 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:59.200 Two such events at any ordinary time would have produced 16 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.600 in Carentan the same sensation that Paris knows on nights 17 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.200 when there is no performance at the theatre's existence is 18 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:09.879 in some sort incomplete. But in those times when the 19 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.879 least indiscretion on the part of an aristocrat might be 20 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.079 a matter of life and death. This conduct of Madame 21 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:18.879 de Day's was likely to bring about the most disastrous 22 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:22.840 consequences for her. Her position in Carentan ought to be 23 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:26.159 made clear if the reader is to appreciate the expression 24 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.319 of keen curiosity and cunning fanaticism on the countenances of 25 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:34.480 these Norman citizens, and what is of most importance the 26 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.680 part that the lady played among them many a one 27 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.519 during the days of the revolution has doubtless passed through 28 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.680 a crisis as difficult as hers at that moment, and 29 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:46.159 the sympathies of more than one reader will fill in 30 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.760 all the coloring of the picture. Madame de Day was 31 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:52.200 the widow of a lieutenant general, a Knight of the 32 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:55.280 Orders of Saint Michael and of the Holy Ghost. She 33 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:58.159 had left the court when the emigration began and taken 34 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.799 refuge in the neighborhood of Carenti, where she had large estates, 35 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.760 hoping that the influence of the Reign of Terror would 36 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:08.599 be but little felt there. Her calculations, based on a 37 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:13.000 thorough knowledge of the district, proved correct. The revolution made 38 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:17.280 little disturbance in Lower Normandy. Formerly, when Madame de Day 39 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.000 had spent any time in the country. Her circle of 40 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.159 acquaintance had been confined to the noble families of the district, 41 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:27.319 but now from politic motives, she opened her house to 42 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.960 the principal citizens and to the revolutionary authorities of the town, 43 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.560 endeavoring to touch and gratify their social pride without arousing 44 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:40.159 either hatred or jealousy. Gracious and kindly, possessed of the 45 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.840 indescribable charm that wins good will, without loss of dignity 46 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.000 or effort to pay court to any she had succeeded 47 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:51.919 in gaining universal esteem. The discreet warnings of exquisite tact 48 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.360 enabled her to steer a difficult course among the exacting 49 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:59.960 claims of this mixed society, without wounding the overweening self 50 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:03.840 love of Parvenus on the one hand, or the susceptibilities 51 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.479 of her old friends on the other. She was about 52 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:11.400 thirty eight years of age and still preserved not the fresh, 53 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.680 high colored beauty of the Bais normand, but a fragile 54 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:18.639 loveliness of what may be called an aristocratic type. Her 55 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.840 figure was lissome and slender, her features delicate and clearly cut. 56 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:25.680 The pale face seemed to light up and live when 57 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.479 she spoke, But there was a quiet and devout look 58 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:32.159 in the great dark eyes, for all their graciousness of expression, 59 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.759 a look that seemed to say that the springs of 60 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.960 her life lay without her own existence. In her early 61 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.360 girlhood she had been married to an elderly and jealous soldier. 62 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.479 Her false position in the midst of a gay court 63 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.599 had doubtless done something to bring a veil of sadness 64 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:51.080 over a face that must once have been bright with 65 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:54.439 the charms of quick, pulsed life and love. She had 66 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.319 been compelled to set constant restraint upon her frank impulses 67 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.319 and emotions at an age when a woman feels rather 68 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.240 than thinks, and the depths of passion in her heart 69 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.680 had never been stirred. In this lay the secret of 70 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:12.159 her greatest charm, a youthfulness of the inmost soul, betrayed 71 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:15.039 at times by her face, and a certain tinge of 72 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:19.199 innocent wistfulness in her ideas. She was reserved in her demeanor, 73 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.480 but in her bearing and in the tones of her 74 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.160 voice there was still something that told of girlish longings 75 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:29.360 directed toward a vague future. Before very long, the least 76 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.680 susceptible fell in love with her, and yet stood somewhat 77 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:35.639 in awe of her dignity and high bred manner. Her 78 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:39.360 great soul, strengthened by the cruel ordeals through which she 79 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.399 had passed, seemed to set her too far above the 80 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:46.959 ordinary level. And these men weighed themselves and instinctively felt 81 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.279 that they were found wanting such a nature demanded an 82 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:56.279 exalted passion. Moreover, Madame de Dey's affections were concentrated in 83 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.480 one sentiment, a mother's love for her son. All the 84 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:03.279 happiness and joy that she had not known as a wife, 85 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.519 she had found later in her boundless love for him, 86 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:10.160 the coquetry of a mistress, the jealousy of a wife, 87 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:12.720 mingled with the pure and deep affection of a mother. 88 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.639 She was miserable when they were apart, and nervous about 89 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.360 him while he was away. She could never see enough 90 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.839 of him, and lived through and for him alone. Some 91 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:25.720 idea of the strength of this type may be conveyed 92 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:29.079 to the masculine understanding by adding that this was not 93 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:32.439 only Madame de Day's only son, but all she had 94 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.199 of kith or kin in the world, the one human 95 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:38.040 being on earth bound to her by all the fears 96 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:42.079 and hopes and joys of her life. The late Comte 97 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.600 de Dey was the last of his race, and she, 98 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.480 his wife, was the sole heiress and descendant of her house. 99 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:53.519 So worldly ambitions and family considerations, as well as the 100 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.759 noblest cravings of the soul, combined to heighten in the 101 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.759 countess a sentiment that is strong in every woman's heart. 102 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.720 The child was all the dearer because only with infinite 103 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.959 care had she succeeded in rearing him to man's estate. 104 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:10.800 Medical science had predicted his death a score of times, 105 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:14.040 but she had held fast to her presentiments and her hopes, 106 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.600 and had known the inexpressible joy of watching him pass 107 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:21.439 safely through the perils of infancy, of seeing his constitution 108 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.000 strengthen in spite of the decrees of the faculty. Thanks 109 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.000 to her constant care, the boy had grown up and 110 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.480 developed so favorably that at twenty years of age, he 111 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:35.439 was regarded as one of the most accomplished gentlemen at 112 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.199 the court of Versailles. One final happiness that does not 113 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:43.079 always crown a mother's efforts was hers Her son worshiped her, 114 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.120 and between these two there was the deep sympathy of 115 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.480 kindred souls. If they had not been bound to each 116 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.839 other already by a natural and sacred tie, they would 117 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.600 instinctively have felt for each other, a friendship that is 118 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:59.600 rarely met with between two men. At the age of eighteen, 119 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.439 the young count had received an appointment as a sub 120 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.560 lieutenant in a regiment of dragoons, and had made it 121 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.800 a point of honor to follow the emigrant princes into exile. 122 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.759 Then Madame de Day faced the dangers of her cruel position. 123 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.720 She was rich, noble, and the mother of an emigrant, 124 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.839 with the one desire to look after her son's great fortune. 125 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:24.000 She had denied herself the happiness of being with him, 126 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.560 And when she read the rigorous laws in virtue of 127 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.439 which the Republic was daily confiscating the property of emigrants 128 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:35.639 at Carentan, she congratulated herself on the courageous course that 129 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.920 she had taken. Was she not keeping watch over the 130 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.040 wealth of her son at the risk of her life? Later, 131 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:46.040 when news came of the horrible executions ordered by the Convention, 132 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.560 she slept happy in the knowledge that her own treasure 133 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.920 was in safety, out of reach of peril, far from 134 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:56.519 the scaffolds of the revolution. She loved to think that 135 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.759 she had followed the best course, that she had saved 136 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.240 her darling and her darling's fortunes. And to this secret 137 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.639 thought she made such concessions as the misfortunes of the 138 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:11.600 times demanded, without compromising her dignity or her aristocratic tenets, 139 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.920 and enveloped her sorrows in reserve and mystery. She had 140 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.720 foreseen the difficulties that would beset her at Carentan. Did 141 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:22.360 she not tempt the scaffold by the very fact of 142 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:26.319 going thither to take a prominent place. Yet, sustained by 143 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:29.600 a mother's courage, she succeeded in winning the affection of 144 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.879 the poor, ministering without distinction to everyone in trouble, and 145 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.360 made herself necessary to the well to do by providing 146 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.000 amusements for them. The procureur of the commune might be 147 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:46.320 seen at her house, the mayor, the president of the district, 148 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.399 and the public prosecutor, and even the judges of the 149 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:54.559 revolutionary tribunals went there. The four first named gentlemen were 150 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.080 none of them married, and each paid court to her 151 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.519 in the hope that Madame de Deay would take him 152 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:02.639 for her husban, either from fear of making an enemy 153 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.240 or from a desire to find a protector. The public prosecutor, 154 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:11.480 once an attorney at Cannes, and the countess's man of business, 155 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:14.559 did what he could to inspire love by a system 156 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.639 of devotion and generosity, a dangerous game of cunning. He 157 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.840 was the most formidable of all her suitors. He alone 158 00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:25.080 knew the amount of the large fortune of his sometime client, 159 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:29.360 and his fervor was inevitably increased by the cupidity of greed, 160 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.000 and by the consciousness that he wielded an enormous power, 161 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.080 the power of life and death in the district. He 162 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.639 was still a young man, and owing to the generosity 163 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.879 of his behavior, Madame de Day was unable as yet 164 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:46.480 to estimate him truly. But in despite of the danger 165 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:50.360 of matching herself against Norman cunning, she used all the 166 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.879 craft and inventiveness that nature has bestowed on women to 167 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.840 play off the rival suitors one against another. She hoped, 168 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.000 by gaining time to emerge, sin and sound from her 169 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:04.639 difficulties at last. For at that time, royalists in the 170 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:08.879 provinces flattered themselves with a hope daily renewed that the 171 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.879 morrow would see the end of the revolution, a conviction 172 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:16.279 that proved fatal to many of them. In spite of difficulties, 173 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:21.200 the countess had maintained her independence with considerable skill, until 174 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:25.120 the day when, by an inexplicable want of prudence, she 175 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:29.399 took occasion to close her salon. So deep and sincere 176 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.679 was the interest that she inspired that those who usually 177 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.720 filled her drawing room felt a lively anxiety when the 178 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:40.320 news was spread. Then, with the frank curiosity characteristic of 179 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:44.399 provincial manners, they went to inquire into the misfortune, grief, 180 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:48.399 or illness that had befallen Madame de Day. To all 181 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:52.639 these questions, Brigitte the housekeeper answered with the same formula. 182 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:56.440 Her mistress was keeping her room and would see no one, 183 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.720 not even her own servants. The almost close lives of 184 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.399 dwellers in small towns fosters a habit of analysis and 185 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:08.720 conjectural explanation of the business of everybody else. So strong 186 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:12.159 is it that when everyone had exclaimed over poor Madame 187 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.240 de Day, without knowing whether the lady was overcome by 188 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.639 joy or sorrow, each one began to inquire into the 189 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.559 causes of her sudden seclusion. If she were ill, she 190 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.559 would have sent for the doctor, said Gossip Number one. 191 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.480 Now the doctor has been playing chess in my house 192 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.600 all day. He said to me, laughing, that in these 193 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.360 days there is only one disease, and that unluckily, it 194 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:40.120 is incurable. The joke was hazarded discreetly. Women and men, 195 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:44.399 elderly folk and young girls forthwith betook themselves to the 196 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:48.399 vast fields of conjecture. Everyone imagined that there was some 197 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.679 secret in it, and every head was busy with the secret. 198 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:56.799 Next day the suspicions became malignant. Everyone lives in public 199 00:11:56.840 --> 00:11:59.720 in a small town, and the womenkind were the first 200 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.679 find out that Brigitte had laid in an extra stock 201 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:06.879 of provisions. The thing could not be disputed. Brigitte had 202 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:10.200 been seen in the market place Betimes that morning, and 203 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.600 wonderful to relate, she had bought the one hare to 204 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.600 be had. The whole town knew that Madame de Day 205 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:19.519 did not care for game. The hare had become a 206 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:26.039 starting point for endless conjectures. Elderly gentlemen taking their constitutional 207 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.879 noticed a sort of suppressed bustle in the Countess's house. 208 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.480 The symptoms were the more apparent because the servants were 209 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.279 at evident pains to conceal them. The man servant was 210 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.879 beating a carpet in the garden. Only yesterday no one 211 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:44.200 would have remarked the fact. But today everybody began to 212 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:48.840 build romances upon that harmless piece of household stuff. Everyone 213 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:53.279 had a version. On the following day, that on which 214 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.039 Madame de Day gave out that she was not well, 215 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.440 the magnets of Carentan went to spend the evening at 216 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:03.200 the mayor's brother's house. He was a retired merchant, a 217 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:08.120 married man, a strictly honorable soul. Everyone respected him, and 218 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.679 the countess held him in high regard. There all the 219 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:14.840 rich widow's suitors were fain to invent more or less 220 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.480 probable fictions, each one thinking the while how to turn 221 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:21.399 to his own advantage the secret that compelled her to 222 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.200 compromise herself in such a manner. The public prosecutor spun 223 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.840 out a whole drama to bring Madame de Day's son 224 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.440 to her house. Of a knight. The mayor had a 225 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.480 belief in a priest who had refused the oath a 226 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:38.720 refugee from Lavender, but this left him not a little embarrassed. 227 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:40.759 How to account for the purchase of a hare on 228 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.720 a Friday, The President of the district had strong leanings 229 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:48.799 toward a Chouan chief or a Vandean leader hotly pursued. 230 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.960 Others voted for a noble escaped from the prisons of Paris. 231 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.720 In short, one and all suspected that the Countess had 232 00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:59.559 been guilty of some piece of generosity that the law 233 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.799 of those days defined as a crime, an offense that 234 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.519 was likely to bring her to the scaffold. The public prosecutor, 235 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:10.799 moreover said in a low voice that they must hush 236 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:13.960 the matter up and try to save the unfortunate lady 237 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.240 from the abyss toward which she was hastening. If you 238 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.960 spread reports about, he added, I shall be obliged to 239 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.919 take cognizance of the matter and to search the house. 240 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.120 And then he said no more. But everyone understood what 241 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.159 was left unsaid. The countess's real friends were so much 242 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.000 alarmed for her that on the morning of the third day, 243 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:38.600 the procureur Syndic of the commune made his wife write 244 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.080 a few lines to persuade Madame de Day to hold 245 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:45.000 her reception as usual. That evening, the old merchant took 246 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.279 a bolder step. He called that morning upon the lady. 247 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.200 Strong in the thought of the service, he meant to 248 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:54.679 do her. He insisted that he must see Madame de Day, 249 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.080 and was amazed beyond expression to find her out in 250 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:02.159 the garden, busy gathering last autumn flowers in her borders 251 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:06.039 to fill the vases. She has given refuge to her lover. 252 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.919 No doubt, thought the old man, struck with pity for 253 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.039 the charming woman before him. The Countess's face wore a 254 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:17.480 strange look that confirmed his suspicions. Deeply moved by the 255 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.919 devotion so natural to women, but that always touches us, 256 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.799 because all men are flattered by the sacrifices that any 257 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:26.320 woman makes for any one of them. The merchant told 258 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.080 the Countess of the gossip that was circulating in the town, 259 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.559 and showed her the danger that she was running. He 260 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.840 wound up at last with saying that if there are 261 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:39.159 some of our public functionaries who are sufficiently ready to 262 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.320 pardon a piece of heroism on your part, so long 263 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:44.240 as it is a priest that you wish to save, 264 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:47.080 no one will show you any mercy if it is 265 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.200 discovered that you are sacrificing yourself to the dictates of 266 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.120 your heart. At these words, Madame de Day gazed at 267 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:57.080 her visitor with a wild excitement in her manner that 268 00:15:57.159 --> 00:16:01.200 made him tremble. Old though he was come in, she said, 269 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.799 taking him by the hand to bring him to her room. 270 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:07.039 And as soon as she had assured herself that they 271 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.879 were alone, she drew a soiled, torn letter from her bodice. 272 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.320 Read it, she cried with a violent effort to pronounce 273 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:18.120 the words. She dropped as if exhausted, into her arm chair, 274 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.720 while the old Merchant looked for his spectacles and wiped them. 275 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:24.879 She raised her eyes and for the first time, looked 276 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:29.399 at him with curiosity. Then, in an uncertain voice, I 277 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:33.480 trust in you, she said, softly. Why did I come 278 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.200 but to share in your crime? The old merchant said simply. 279 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.080 She trembled for the first time since she had come 280 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:43.120 to the little town. Her soul found sympathy in another soul. 281 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:47.240 A sudden light dawned meantime on the old merchant. He 282 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:52.799 understood the Countess's joy and her prostration. Her son had 283 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:56.240 taken part in the Granville expedition. He wrote to his 284 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.600 mother from his prison, and the letter brought her a sad, 285 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.840 sweet hope. Feeling no doubts as to his means of escape, 286 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:06.519 he wrote that within three days, he was sure to 287 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.759 reach her disguised. The same letter that brought these weighty 288 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.200 tidings was full of heartrending farewells in case the writers 289 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.440 should not be in Carentan by the evening of the 290 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:19.519 third day, and he implored his mother to send a 291 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.680 considerable sum of money by the bearer, who had gone 292 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:26.359 through dangers innumerable to deliver it. The paper shook in 293 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:29.880 the old man's hands. And to day is the third day, 294 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.359 cried Madame de Day. She sprang to her feet, took 295 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.599 back the letter, and walked up and down. You have 296 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:41.079 set to work imprudently, the merchant remarked, addressing her, Why 297 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.880 did you buy provisions? Why he may come in dying 298 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.960 of hunger, worn out with fatigue, and she broke off. 299 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:52.519 I am sure of my brother, the old merchant went on, 300 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:57.440 I will engage him in your interests. The merchant in 301 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:01.720 this crisis recovered his old business Shreekdeness, and the advice 302 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.279 that he gave Madame de Day was full of prudence 303 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.880 and wisdom. After the two had agreed together as to 304 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:10.599 what they were to do and say, the old merchant 305 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.319 went on various ingenious pretexts to pay visits to the 306 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:18.079 principal houses of Carentan, announcing wherever he went that he 307 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.839 had just been to see Madame de Day and that, 308 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.200 in spite of her indisposition, she would receive that evening. 309 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.920 Matching his shrewdness against Norman wits in the cross examination 310 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:32.519 he underwent in every family as to the Countess's complaint, 311 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:36.079 he succeeded in putting almost everyone who took an interest 312 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:40.599 in the mysterious affair upon the wrong scent. His very 313 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:44.119 first call worked wonders. He told, in the hearing of 314 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.680 a gouty old lady, how that Madame de Deay had 315 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.519 all but died of an attack of gout in the stomach, 316 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.200 how that the illustrious Tronchin had recommended her, in such 317 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.440 a case to put the skin from a live hair 318 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:01.119 on her chest, to stop in bed and keep perfectly still. 319 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.440 The Countess, he said, had lain in danger of her 320 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.960 life for the past two days, but after carefully following 321 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:12.440 out Tronchin's singular prescription, she was now sufficiently recovered to 322 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.519 receive visitors that evening. This tale had an immense success 323 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:21.519 in Carentan. The local doctor, a royalist ant Petaut, added 324 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:26.279 to its effect by gravely discussing the specific suspicion nevertheless, 325 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.440 had taken too deep root in a few perverse or 326 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:33.799 philosophical minds to be entirely dissipated. So it fell out 327 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:36.720 that those who had the right of entry into Madame 328 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:40.200 de Dey's drawing room hurried thither at an early hour, 329 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.920 some to watch her face, some out of friendship, but 330 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.000 the more part attracted by the fame of the marvelous cure. 331 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:50.240 They found the Countess seated in a corner of the 332 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.240 great chimney piece in her room, which was almost as 333 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:57.240 modestly furnished as similar apartments in Carentan. For she had 334 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.720 given up the enjoyment of luxuries to which she had 335 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:03.160 formed only been accustomed, for fear of offending the narrow 336 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.359 prejudices of her guests. And she had made no changes 337 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.119 in her house. The floor was not even polished. She 338 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.480 had left the old somber hangings on the walls, had 339 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:18.240 kept the old fashioned country furniture, burned tallow candles, had 340 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:20.799 fallen in with the ways of the place, and adopted 341 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:25.319 provincial life without flinching before its cast iron narrowness, its 342 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.599 most disagreeable hardships, but knowing that her guests would forgive 343 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:33.319 her for any prodigality that conduced to their comfort, she 344 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:37.839 left nothing undone where their personal enjoyment was concerned. Her dinners, 345 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:41.160 for instance, were excellent. She even went so far as 346 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.839 to affect avarice to recommend herself to these sordid natures, 347 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.960 and had the ingenuity to make it appear that certain 348 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:51.440 concessions to luxury had been made at the instance of others, 349 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:57.079 to whom she had graciously yielded towards seven o'clock that evening. Therefore, 350 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:01.119 the nearest approach to polite society that Tarentine could boast 351 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.279 was assembled in Madame de Day's drawing room in a 352 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:09.079 wide circle about the fire. The old merchant's sympathetic glances 353 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:12.599 sustained the Mistress of the house through this ordeal. With 354 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:16.559 wonderful strength of mind, she underwent the curious scrutiny of 355 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:21.000 her guests and bore with their trivial prosings every time 356 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.480 there was a knock at the door, at every sound 357 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:27.000 of footsteps in the street. She hid her agitation by 358 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:31.559 raising questions of absorbing interest to the countryside. She led 359 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:34.559 the conversation on to the burning topic of the quality 360 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.640 of various sighters, and was so well seconded by her friend, 361 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.680 who shared her secret, that her guests almost forgot to 362 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.319 watch her, and her face wore its wonted look. Her 363 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:49.720 self possession was unshaken. The public prosecutor and one of 364 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:54.079 the judges of the Revolutionary Tribunal kept silence, however, noting 365 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:58.160 the slightest change that flickered over her features. Listening through 366 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:02.480 the noisy talk to every sound in the several times 367 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:06.480 they put awkward questions, which the Countess answered with wonderful 368 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:11.559 presence of mind. So brave is a mother's heart. Madame 369 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:14.960 de Day had drawn her visitors into little groups, had 370 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.480 made parties of Whist Boston or Reversus, and sat talking 371 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:22.200 with some of the young people. She seemed to be 372 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:25.400 living completely in the present moment and played her part 373 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.519 like a consummate actress. She elicited a suggestion of lotto, 374 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:32.359 and saying that no one else knew where to find 375 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:35.839 the game, she left the room. My good Brigitte, I 376 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.359 cannot breathe down there, she cried, brushing away the tears 377 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.359 that sprang to her eyes that glittered with fever, sorrow 378 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.480 and impatience. She had gone up to her son's room 379 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.720 and was looking round it. He does not come, She said, Here, 380 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.559 I can breathe and live a few minutes more, and 381 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.160 he will be here, for he is alive. I am 382 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.519 sure that he is alive. My heart tells me so. 383 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.200 Do you hear nothing, Brigitte, Oh, I would give the 384 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:03.400 rest of my life to know whether he is still 385 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.559 in prison or tramping across the country. I would rather 386 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:10.680 not think once more. She looked to see that everything 387 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:13.920 was in order. A bright fire blazed on the hearth. 388 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:18.400 The shutters were carefully closed, the furniture shone with cleanliness. 389 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:21.480 The bed had been made after a fashion that showed 390 00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:24.039 that Brigitte and the Countess had given their minds to 391 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:28.200 every trifling detail. It was impossible not to read her 392 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.240 hopes in the dainty and thoughtful preparations about the room. 393 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:35.480 Love and a mother's tenderest caresses seemed to pervade the air, 394 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:38.400 in the scent of flowers. None but a mother could 395 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:41.720 have foreseen the requirements of a soldier and arranged so 396 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.599 completely for their satisfaction. A dainty meal, the best of wine, 397 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:51.920 clean linen, slippers, no necessary. No comfort was lacking for 398 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:55.559 the weary traveler, and all the delights of home heaped 399 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:59.880 upon him should reveal his mother's love. Oh, Brigitte, cried 400 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:03.200 the countess, with a heart rending inflection in her voice. 401 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:05.839