Chapter 37 Chapter 7 Gout attack
The reader may be surprised at this casual, almost friendly tone, and we forgot to say that for six weeks the Marquis had been confined at home, suffering from attacks of gout.
De.Mademoiselle La Mole was at Hyères with her mother, with the Marchioness's mother.Count Nobel came to visit his father from time to time. The relationship between father and son was very good, but they had nothing to say to each other.De.M. Larmor, who had to stay with Julien, was surprised to find him thinking.He asked Julien to read the newspaper to him.The young secretary was quick to pick out interesting passages.There was a new newspaper which the Marquis hated so much that he swore he would never read it, but he talked about it every day.Julien smiled.The Marquis, angry at the times, sounded happy to have Julien read him Livy, improvising the Latin translation.
One day the Marquis said in the overly polite tone which often annoyed Julien:
My dear Sorel, allow me to give you a blue dress as a present.When you are happy to wear it to see me, in my eyes, you are De.Brother of the Earl of Shawna, that is to say, the son of my friend the old Duke.
Julien did not quite understand the message, and that night he tried to put on a blue coat to see the Marquis.The Marquis really treated him as an equal.Julien's heart could feel the real politeness, but he still couldn't distinguish the subtle difference.He could have sworn that the Marquis had treated him as well as he could have, before the Marquis had this whim, what an ingenuity!Julien said to himself.When he rose to take his leave, the Marquis apologized for not being able to see him off because of a fit of gout.
A strange thought came to Julien: is he mocking me?He couldn't figure it out, so he went to ask Father Pilar for advice.The abbe was not as polite as the Marquis, and he just whistled, and went on to talk about other things.The next morning, when Julien went to the Marquis in his trench coat, with the folder and the letters to be signed, he was received as before.In the evening, when he changed into a blue dress, he received him in a completely different tone, just as polite as the night before.
Since you have the kindness to visit a poor, sick old man without being too weary, the Marquis said to him, you must tell him about the little things in your life, but frankly, without thinking of anything else. Be clear and interesting.Because we have to have fun, continued the Marquis, and that's the only truth in life.A man can't save my life in war every day, or send me a million; if here, by my bench, I had Rivarol, he'd relieve me of pain and boredom for an hour a day .I got to know him well in Hamburg in exile.
Then the Marquis told Julien some anecdote about Rivarol and the Hamburgers, and it was only by four Hamburgers that they could understand one of his witticisms.
The Marquis was obliged to keep the little priest company, and wanted to cheer him up.He stimulated Julien's pride with honor.Since he was asked to tell the truth, Julien resolved to tell everything; but two things he would not say: his adoration of a name, at which the Marquis would lose his temper; and his utter disbelief. God, that doesn't quite suit a would-be curate.He and De.The little dispute with the Chevalier de Boissier came at just the right time.The Marquis laughed and cried when he heard the scene in the café in the Rue Saint-Honoré where the coachman cursed him with obscenities.
De.Mr. Larmor took an interest in this unique character.At first, he liked Julien's absurdity, just for fun; soon, he felt that it was more meaningful to slowly correct the young man's wrong way of seeing people, and other provincials came to Paris to praise everything. , thought the Marquis, and the provincial hated everything.They had too much affectation and his not enough, and fools took him for a fool.
The onset of gout was delayed by the severe winter and lasted for several months.
Some people like beautiful spaniels, thought the Marquis, why am I so ashamed of liking the little priest?He is different.I treat him like a son, so what!What's wrong?If this whim persists, I will pay in my will a diamond worth five hundred louis.
The Marquis, once he had learned the strength of his protege, sent him daily to new affairs.
Julien noticed that the great nobleman was sometimes afraid of making contradictory decisions on the same matter.
This could seriously damage him.Therefore, when Julien worked with him, he always carried a register in which his decisions were written, and the Marquis signed it.Julien used a clerk by which he would transcribe the decisions concerning each matter in a special register.This register also transcribes all correspondence.
At first the idea seemed utterly absurd, utterly boring.Within two months, however, the Marquis felt its benefits.Julien suggested that he hire a clerk who had worked as a banker, and enter into a double-entry account all the income and expenditure of the fields that Julien was in charge of.
These measures gave the Marquis a clear view of his affairs, and he was even able to carry on two or three occasions with pleasure, without the need for false hands, who so often deceived him.
Take the three thousand francs yourself.One day, he said to his young assistant.
Sir, my character may be defamed.
What do you want?said the Marquis angrily.
Please make a decision and write it down in the register with your own hand; write me three thousand francs for this decision.Besides, it was Father Pilar who thought of keeping the accounts.The Marquis took De.The Marquis of Montcader wrote down his decision with the annoyance with which his steward M. Poisson reported his account.
In the evening, when Julien appeared in his blue dress, they said nothing of business.The marquis's care so comforted our hero's ever-tormenting self-esteem that he soon involuntarily developed a feeling of nostalgia for the dear old man.This is not to say that Julien was sensitive, as Parisians understand; but Julien was not heartless, and since the death of the old surgeon, no one had spoken to him with the same kindness as the Marquis.He noticed with surprise that the Marquis took care of his pride with a courtesy he had never seen at the old surgeon's corpsman.He finally understood why the doctor was more proud of his cross than the Marquis of his blue ribbon.The marquis's father was a great nobleman.
One morning, Julien, dressed in black, came to see the Marquis on business. At the end of the conversation, the Marquis was very happy to stay with him for two more hours, and made sure to give him some of the banknotes that the presenter had just brought from the exchange.
I hope, Monsieur the Marquis, that you will allow me to say a word that will not divert me from the deep respect I owe you.
Speak, my friend.
I refuse this gift, and I hope M. Marquis will accept it.This gift should not be given to the man in black, it will stain the attitudes of the man in blue that you kindly tolerate.He saluted respectfully and left without even looking at him.
This move pleased the Marquis.In the evening he told the Abbe Pirard.
There is one thing I must confess to you, my dear priest.I know Julien's parentage, and I promise you not to keep this secret secret.
His manner this morning is noble, thought the Marquis, and I will make him a nobleman.
Soon, the Marquis was finally able to go out.
After staying in London for two months, he told Lian that special couriers and other couriers will send you the letters I have received together with my comments.You write a reply letter and send it back to me together with the original letter.I calculated that the delay would only take five days.
From stop to stop on the main road to Calais, Julien wondered that the so-called business he was asked to do was of little importance.
With what kind of hatred, almost disgust, Julien set foot on English soil, we will not go into details.We know that he had a wild passion for Bonaparte.He regarded every officer as Hudson.Lord Lowe, who regarded every great man as Lord Bathursteller, who ordered all the mean things on St. Helena, and whose reward was ten years as Cabinet Secretary.
In London, he finally learned what aristocratic pretentiousness is.He made the acquaintance of several young Russian noblemen who gave him advice.
You were born, my dear Sorel, they told him, you were born with a cold face, a thousand miles away from the present feeling, and we have tried everything to get it.
You do not understand your times, Prince Korasov told him, and you will always be contrary to what people expect of you.On my honor, this is the only religion of the age.Don't be crazy, don't be fake, because that's what people expect from you, and that adage doesn't come true.
One day, Fitz.Prince Falk invited Julien and Prince Korasov to dinner, and he made a big show in the drawing room.People waited an hour.Julien's manner in the midst of the twenty waiting persons, which the young secretaries of the embassy in London still fondly recount, had an air of wonder.
In spite of the objections of his rambunctious friends, he must go to see the famous Philip.Vane, the only philosopher in England since Locke.He was finishing his seventh year in prison when he met him.Aristocrats are no joke in this country, thought Julien, and Vann was already discredited and vilified.
Julien found him in good spirits, and the aristocratic fury relieved his boredom. See, Julien said to himself as he came out of the prison, this is the only happy man I have ever seen in England.
The idea most useful to a tyrant is that of God.Vann had said to him.
We omit the rest of his system of cynicism.
After his return, De.Mr. Lamour asked: What interesting thoughts did you bring back to me from England?He doesn't talk, what thoughts do you bring back, interesting or not?The Marquis asked anxiously again.
First, says Julien, that the wisest Englishman is mad for an hour every day; he is patronized by the devil of suicide, the god of the state.
Second, both wit and brilliance are devalued by twenty per cent when they come ashore in England.
Thirdly, there is nothing in the world more beautiful, more moving, and more admirable than the English landscape.
My turn, said the Marquis, first, why do you go to the Russian ambassador's ball and say that there are three hundred thousand twenty-five-year-olds in France yearning for war?Do you think this is what kings like to hear?
It is difficult to know what to do with our great diplomats, said Julien, who are prone to serious discussions.You'll be taken for a fool if you say something commonplace in the newspaper.If you dare to say something real and new, they will be astonished, they will not know what to answer, and at seven o'clock the next morning, they will send you the first secretary of the embassy to tell you that you are rude.
Not bad, said the Marquis, laughing, though, I bet, Mr Deep Thinking, you haven't guessed why you went to England.
Excuse me, said Julien, but once a week I dine with the king's ambassador, who is a most polite man.
You are looking for the medal, said the Marquis, I don't want you to take off your black suit, and I am used to speaking in a more amusing tone to people in blue suits.Before there are new orders, please listen: when I see this medal, you are the youngest son of my friend the Duke of Shauner, who was employed in the diplomatic service six months ago without knowing it.Please note, added the Marquis, with a serious look, and interrupted Julien's expression of gratitude, that I have no intention of changing your identity.It was a mistake and a misfortune for both patron and protected.Whenever my lawsuits tire you, or you no longer suit me, I will ask for a good parish for you, like that of our friend the Abbe Pirard, and nothing more.The Marquis added in a very stiff tone.
The medal satisfied Julien's self-esteem, and he talked a lot more.He fancied himself less often offended by, or made the object of, words which might provoke an impolite interpretation, the meaning of which was not immediately apparent in lively conversation.
The medal brought him an unusual visit, and Ded.Monsieur Valenod, who came to Paris to thank the Ministry for making him a baron, and to be on good terms with him.He will soon replace De.Monsieur Rainer has been appointed mayor of Verrières.
De.M. Valenod told him that they had just discovered deM. Rainer was a Jacobin, which Julien thought very amused to himself.The fact is this: the election is being prepared, the new baron is the candidate recommended by the cabinet, but the Liberal Party has recommended de.Mr Rainer.
Julien wanted to know something about De.Madame Rainer's case, but in vain; the baron seemed to be keeping their old grievances to heart, without revealing anything.Finally, he begged Julien to let his father vote for him in the upcoming election, and Julien agreed to write.
Mr. Knight, you should introduce me to De.Monsieur Larmor.
Indeed, I must, thought Julien, but such a scoundrel as he is!
To tell the truth, he replied, I am in Germany.Lamour House is too young to be introduced.
Julien told the Marquis everything, and that night he told the Marquis what Valenod wanted and what he had done since 1814.
Not only will you introduce the new baron to me tomorrow, said the Marquis very seriously, but I will also invite him to dinner the day after tomorrow.He will be one of our new premiers.
In that case, said Julien coldly, I will ask my father for the position of director of the beggar's asylum.
Well, said the Marquis, looking cheerful again, agreeing.I'm waiting for a sermon.You are starting to mature.
De.M. Valenod told Julien that the Director of the Lottery Bureau in Verrières had recently passed away, and Julien felt that he should give this position to de.Mr. Xiao Lan is very interesting. He used to work in Germany.The old fool's request was found in the room where Mr. Larmor lived.While Julien was reciting the request, the Marquis laughed heartily as he made the Marquis sign the letter asking for the position at the Ministry of Finance.
De.As soon as M. Chaulin was appointed, Julien learned that the deputies of the province had requested the position for the famous geometer M. Gero: this noble man had only fourteen hundred francs annuity, which he lent every year to the recently deceased lottery ticket. Six hundred francs for the bureau chief to help support his family.
Julien was taken aback by what he had done, it was all right, he said to himself, if I want to make a fortune, I have to do a lot of injustice, and I have to cover it up with beautiful words: Poor Gero gentlemen!He deserved the medal, but I got it, and I was supposed to do the will of the government that gave it to me.