1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: 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 She drew a chair to the table, as if to 402 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,359 strengthen her illusions and realize her longings. Ah, Madame, he 403 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,079 is coming. He is not far off. I haven't a 404 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,000 doubt that he is living and on his way, Brigitte answered. 405 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:18,759 I put a key in the Bible and held it 406 00:24:18,839 --> 00:24:21,759 on my fingers while Cotton read the Gospel of Saint John, 407 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,720 and the key did not turn. Madame, Is that a 408 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,000 certain sign? The countess asked, why, Yes, Madame, everybody knows 409 00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:32,480 that he is still alive. I would stake my salvation 410 00:24:32,599 --> 00:24:36,359 on it. God cannot be mistaken. If only I could 411 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,799 see him here in the house. In spite of the danger, 412 00:24:39,319 --> 00:24:43,640 poor Monsieur August, cried Brigitte, I expect he is tramping 413 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,400 along the lanes, and that is eight o'clock striking now, 414 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,960 cried the Countess in terror. She was afraid that she 415 00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:53,119 had been too long in the room where she felt 416 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,880 sure that her son was alive. All those preparations made 417 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,880 for him meant that he was alive. She went down, 418 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,799 but she lingered a moment in the peristyle for any 419 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,559 sound that might waken the sleeping echoes of the town. 420 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,960 She smiled at Brigitte's husband, who was standing there on guard. 421 00:25:10,559 --> 00:25:13,640 The man's eyes looked stupid with the strain of listening 422 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,599 to the faint sounds of the night. She stared into 423 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,720 the darkness, seeing her son in every shadow everywhere, but 424 00:25:20,759 --> 00:25:23,279 it was only for a moment. Then she went back 425 00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:25,799 to the drawing room with an assumption of high spirits, 426 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,480 and began to play latto with the little girls. But 427 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,720 from time to time she complained of feeling unwell and 428 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:35,480 went to sit in her great chair by the fireside. 429 00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:38,599 So things went in Madame de Dey's house and in 430 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,319 the minds of those beneath her roof. Meanwhile, on the 431 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,319 road from Paris to Cherbourg, a young man dressed in 432 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,839 the inevitable brown carmagnole of those days, was plodding his 433 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,279 way toward Carentan. When the first levies were made, there 434 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:59,359 was little or no discipline kept up. The exigencies of 435 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,119 the moment. Scarcely admitted of soldiers being equipped at once, 436 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,039 and it was no uncommon thing to see the roads 437 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,559 thronged with conscripts in their ordinary clothes. The young fellows 438 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,200 went ahead of their company to the next halting place, 439 00:26:13,559 --> 00:26:16,599 or lagged behind it. It depended upon their fitness to 440 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,519 bear the fatigues of a long march. This particular wayfarer 441 00:26:20,799 --> 00:26:23,480 was some considerable way in advance of a company of 442 00:26:23,519 --> 00:26:26,720 conscripts on the way to Cherbourg, whom the mayor was 443 00:26:26,759 --> 00:26:30,240 expecting to arrive every hour, for it was his duty 444 00:26:30,279 --> 00:26:34,079 to distribute their billets. The young man's footsteps were still 445 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,240 firm as he trudged along, and his bearings seemed to 446 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,759 indicate that he was no stranger to the rough life 447 00:26:39,799 --> 00:26:42,960 of a soldier. The moon shone on the pasture land 448 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,799 about Carentan, but he had noticed great masses of white 449 00:26:46,839 --> 00:26:49,640 cloud that were about to scatter showers of snow over 450 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,000 the country, and doubtless the fear of being overtaken by 451 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,079 a storm had quickened his pace. In spite of his weariness, 452 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,519 the wallet on his back was almost empty, and he 453 00:27:00,599 --> 00:27:02,839 carried a stick in his hand cut from one of 454 00:27:02,839 --> 00:27:06,000 the high, thick box hedges that surround most of the 455 00:27:06,079 --> 00:27:11,119 farms in Lower Normandy. As the solitary wayfarer came into Carentan. 456 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,039 The gleaming moonlit outlines of its towers stood out for 457 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:19,079 a moment with the ghostly effect against the sky. He 458 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,599 met no one in the silent streets that rang with 459 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,920 the echoes of his own footsteps, and was obliged to 460 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,119 ask the way to the mayor's house of a weaver 461 00:27:27,279 --> 00:27:31,279 who was working late. The magistrate was not far to seek, 462 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,240 and in a few minutes the conscript was sitting on 463 00:27:34,279 --> 00:27:37,400 a stone bench in the mayor's porch, waiting for his billet. 464 00:27:38,079 --> 00:27:41,839 He was sent for, however, and confronted with that functionary 465 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,160 who scrutinized him closely. The foot soldier was a good 466 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,880 looking young man who appeared to be of gentle birth. 467 00:27:49,559 --> 00:27:53,119 There was something aristocratic in his bearing, and signs in 468 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,920 his face of intelligence developed by a good education. What 469 00:27:58,079 --> 00:28:03,079 is your name, asked the mayor, eyeing him shrewdly. Julien Mosieu, 470 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:09,000 answered the conscript from queried the official, and an incredulous 471 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,839 smile stole over his features. From Paris. Your comrades must 472 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,039 be a good way behind, remarked the Norman, in sarcastic tones. 473 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,839 I am three leagues ahead of the battalion. Some sentiment 474 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,440 attracts you to Carentan. Of course, citizen, conscript, said the 475 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,759 mayor astutely. All right, all right, he added, with a 476 00:28:30,799 --> 00:28:33,480 wave of the hand, seeing that the young man was 477 00:28:33,519 --> 00:28:37,039 about to speak, we know where to send you there. 478 00:28:37,079 --> 00:28:41,799 Off with you, citizensieur, and he handed over the billet. 479 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,720 There was a tinge of irony in the stress. The 480 00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:47,880 magistrate laid on the last two words while he held 481 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,160 out a billet on Madame de Day. The conscript read 482 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:55,240 the direction curiously. He knows quite well that he has 483 00:28:55,319 --> 00:28:58,160 not far to go, and when he gets outside, he 484 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,799 will very soon cross the market place. The mayor said 485 00:29:00,799 --> 00:29:04,440 to himself, as the other went out. He is uncommonly bold. 486 00:29:04,599 --> 00:29:09,079 God guide him. He has an answer ready for everything. Yes, 487 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,759 but if somebody else had asked to see his papers, 488 00:29:11,759 --> 00:29:14,640 it would have been all up with him. The clocks 489 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,559 in Carentan struck half past nine. As he spoke. Lanterns 490 00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:22,079 were being lit in Madame de Day's ante chamber. Servants 491 00:29:22,119 --> 00:29:26,440 were helping their masters and mistresses into sabout greatcoats and calashes. 492 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,359 The card players settled their accounts, and everybody went out 493 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,519 together after the fashion of all little country towns. It 494 00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:37,319 looks as if the prosecutor meant to stop, said a 495 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,480 lady who noticed that that important personage was not in 496 00:29:40,519 --> 00:29:43,039 the group in the market place where they all took 497 00:29:43,119 --> 00:29:45,680 leave of one another before going their separate ways home. 498 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,559 And as a matter of fact, that redoubtable functionary was 499 00:29:50,599 --> 00:29:53,920 alone with the Countess, who waited trembling till he should go. 500 00:29:54,559 --> 00:29:59,079 There was something appalling in their long silence. Citoyenne, he said, 501 00:29:59,079 --> 00:30:02,000 at last, I am here to see that the laws 502 00:30:02,039 --> 00:30:05,799 of the republic are carried out. Madame de Daz shuddered, 503 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,759 Have you nothing to tell me? Nothing? She answered in amazement. 504 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,160 Ah Madame, cried the prosecutor, sitting down beside her and 505 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,200 changing his tone. At this moment, for lack of a word, 506 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,920 one of us, you or I may carry our heads 507 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,559 to the scaffold. I have watched your character, your soul, 508 00:30:26,799 --> 00:30:29,799 your manner too closely to share the error into which 509 00:30:29,799 --> 00:30:32,759 you have managed to lead your visitors. To night. You 510 00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:37,400 are expecting your son, I could not doubt it. The 511 00:30:37,519 --> 00:30:41,039 Countess made an involuntary sign of denial, but her face 512 00:30:41,079 --> 00:30:43,759 had grown white and drawn with the struggle to maintain 513 00:30:43,799 --> 00:30:46,799 the composure. That she did not feel, and no tremor 514 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:51,440 was lost on the merciless prosecutor. Very well, the revolutionary 515 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,960 official went on, receive him, but do not let him 516 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,880 stay under your roof after seven o'clock tomorrow morning. For tomorrow, 517 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,960 as soon as it is light, I shall come with 518 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,559 a denunciation that I will have made out. And she 519 00:31:04,599 --> 00:31:07,200 looked at him, and the dull misery in her eyes 520 00:31:07,279 --> 00:31:10,599 would have softened a tiger. I will make it clear 521 00:31:10,799 --> 00:31:14,000 that the denunciation was false by making a thorough search. 522 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,480 He went on, in a gentle voice. My report shall 523 00:31:17,519 --> 00:31:20,720 be such that you will be safe from any subsequent suspicion. 524 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,119 I shall make mention of your patriotic gifts, your civicism, 525 00:31:25,519 --> 00:31:28,920 and all of us will be safe. Madame de Day, 526 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,200 fearful of a trap, sat motionless, her face afire, her 527 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:38,160 tongue frozen. A knock at the door rang through the house. Oh, 528 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,839 cried the terrified mother, falling upon her knees. Save him, 529 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:47,000 save him, Yes, let us save him, returned the public prosecutor, 530 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,319 and his eyes grew bright as he looked at her. 531 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,799 If it costs us our lives lost, she wailed. The 532 00:31:54,839 --> 00:31:59,720 prosecutor raised her politely, madame, he said, with a flourish 533 00:31:59,759 --> 00:32:04,839 of eloquence, to your own free will alone, I would, Oh, Madame, 534 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,559 he is, cried Brigitte, thinking that her mistress was alone. 535 00:32:09,359 --> 00:32:12,599 At the sight of the public prosecutor, the old servant's 536 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:17,519 joy flushed countenance became haggard and impassive. Who is it, Brigitte, 537 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,440 The prosecutor asked, kindly, as if he too were in 538 00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:25,039 the secret of the household, a conscript that the mayor 539 00:32:25,079 --> 00:32:27,720 has sent here for a night's lodging. The woman replied, 540 00:32:28,119 --> 00:32:31,559 holding out the billet. So it is, said the prosecutor, 541 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,799 when he had read the slip of paper. A battalion 542 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,960 is coming here to night, and he went. The Countess's 543 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,960 need to believe in the faith of her some time 544 00:32:41,039 --> 00:32:44,599 attorney was so great that she dared not entertain any 545 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:49,160 suspicion of him. She fled upstairs. She felt scarcely strength 546 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,200 enough to stand. She opened the door and sprang, half 547 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,279 dead with fear, into her son's arms. Oh, my child, 548 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,960 my child, she sobbed, covering him with almost frenzied kisses. 549 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:04,319 Madame said a stranger's voice, Oh it is not he, 550 00:33:04,519 --> 00:33:08,000 she cried, shrinking away in terror and She stood face 551 00:33:08,039 --> 00:33:13,039 to face with the conscript, gazing at him with haggard eyes. Oh, 552 00:33:13,119 --> 00:33:18,000 Saint bon dieu, how like he is, cried Brigitte. There 553 00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:21,480 was silence for a moment. Even the stranger trembled at 554 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,559 the sight of Madame de Der's face. Ah monsieur, she said, 555 00:33:26,119 --> 00:33:29,240 leaning on the arm of Brigitte's husband, feeling for the 556 00:33:29,319 --> 00:33:31,880 first time the full extent of a sorrow that had 557 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,519 all but killed her at its first threatening Ah, monsieur, 558 00:33:36,079 --> 00:33:39,000 I cannot stay to see you any longer. Permit my 559 00:33:39,039 --> 00:33:41,640 servants to supply my place and to see that you 560 00:33:41,759 --> 00:33:44,640 have all that you want. She went down to her 561 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,119 own room, Brigitte and the old serving man half carrying 562 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:51,519 her between them. The housekeeper set her mistress in a 563 00:33:51,599 --> 00:33:54,799 chair and broke out, what, Madame, is that man to 564 00:33:54,839 --> 00:33:58,720 sleep in Monsieur Auguste's bed and wear Monsieur August's slippers 565 00:33:59,039 --> 00:34:01,839 and eat the pasty that I made for Monsieur Auguste. 566 00:34:02,599 --> 00:34:05,519 Why if they were to guillotine me for it, I, 567 00:34:05,839 --> 00:34:11,400 Brigitte cried. Madame de de Brigitte said no more, hold 568 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,960 your tongue, chatterbox, said her husband in a low voice. 569 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,119 Do you want to kill Madame. A sound came from 570 00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:21,840 the conscript's room as he drew his chair to the table. 571 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,880 I shall not stay here, cried Madame de Dey. I 572 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,239 shall go into the conservatory. I shall hear better there 573 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,199 if any one passes in the night. She still wavered 574 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,719 between the fear that she had lost her son and 575 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,880 the hope of seeing him once more. That night was 576 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:44,519 hideously silent. Once for the countess. There was an awful 577 00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:48,639 interval when the battalion of conscripts entered the town, and 578 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,800 the men went by one by one to their lodgings. 579 00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:56,119 Every footfall, every sound in the street raised hopes to 580 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:59,800 be disappointed. But it was not for long. The dreadful 581 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,079 why it succeeded again toward morning, the Countess was forced 582 00:35:04,079 --> 00:35:08,360 to return to her room. Brigitte, ever keeping watch over 583 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,679 her mistress's movements, did not see her come out again, 584 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,320 and when she went she found the Countess lying there dead. 585 00:35:17,079 --> 00:35:20,760 I expect she heard that conscript, cried Brigitte walking about 586 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:24,679 Monsieur Auguste's room, whistling that accursed marseies of there, while 587 00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:27,320 he dressed as if he had been in a stable. 588 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,400 That must have killed her. But it was a deeper 589 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:34,559 and more solemn emotion, and doubtless some dreadful vision, that 590 00:35:34,679 --> 00:35:37,960 had caused Madame de Day's death, for at the very 591 00:35:38,039 --> 00:35:41,400 hour when she died at Carentan, her son was shot 592 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:47,159 in ler Morbihan. This tragical story may be added to 593 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,559 all the instances on record of the workings of sympathies 594 00:35:50,639 --> 00:35:55,159 uncontrolled by the laws of time and space. These observations, 595 00:35:55,719 --> 00:36:01,119 collected with scientific curiosity by a few isolated indibi, will 596 00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:03,679 one day serve as documents on which to base the 597 00:36:03,679 --> 00:36:07,079 foundations of a new science which hitherto has lacked its 598 00:36:07,159 --> 00:36:08,039 man of genius.