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f names; in such a manner as to form; for example; phrases like the following: Damas。
Sabran。
Gouvion…Saint…Cyr。All this was done merrily。 In that society; they parodied the Revolution。
They used I know not what desires to give point to the same wrath in inverse sense。 They sang their little Ca ira: Ah! ca ira ca ira ca ira!
Les Bonapartistes a la lanterne!
Songs are like the guillotine; they chop away indifferently; to…day this head; to…morrow that。
It is only a variation。
In the Fualdes affair; which belongs to this epoch; 1816; they took part for Bastide and Jausion; because Fualdes was 〃a Buonapartist。〃 They designated the liberals as friends and brothers; this constituted the most deadly insult。
Like certain church towers; Madame de T。's salon had two cocks。 One of them was M。 Gillenormand; the other was te de Lamothe…Valois; of whom it was whispered about; with a sort of respect:
〃Do you know? That is the Lamothe of the affair of the necklace。〃
These singular amnesties do occur in parties。
Let us add the following:
in the bourgeoisie; honored situations decay through too easy relations; one must beware whom one admits; in the same way that there is a loss of caloric in the vicinity of those who are cold; there is a diminution of consideration in the approach of despised persons。
The ancient society of the upper classes held themselves above this law; as above every other。
Marigny; the brother of the Pompadour; had his entry with M。 le Prince de Soubise。 In spite of?
No; because。
Du Barry; the god…father of the Vaubernier; was very wele at the house of M。 le Marechal de Richelieu。 This society is Olympus。
Mercury and the Prince de Guemenee are at home there。
A thief is admitted there; provided he be a god。
The te de Lamothe; who; in 1815; was an old man seventy…five years of age; had nothing remarkable about him except his silent and sententious air; his cold and angular face; his perfectly polished manners; his coat buttoned up to his cravat; and his long legs always crossed in long; flabby trousers of the hue of burnt sienna。 His face was the same color as his trousers。
This M。 de Lamothe was 〃held in consideration〃 in this salon on account of his 〃celebrity〃 and; strange to say; though true; because of his name of Valois。
As for M。 Gillenormand; his consideration was of absolutely first…rate quality。
He had; in spite of his levity; and without its interfering in any way with his dignity; a certain manner about him which was imposing; dignified; honest; and lofty; in a bourgeois fashion; and his great age added to it。
One is not a century with impunity。 The years finally produce around a head a venerable dishevelment。
In addition to this; he said things which had the genuine sparkle of the old rock。
Thus; when the King of Prussia; after having restored Louis XVIII。; came to pay the latter a visit under the name of the Count de Ruppin; he was received by the descendant of Louis XIV。 somewhat as though he had been the Marquis de Brandebourg; and with the most delicate impertinence。
M。 Gillenormand approved:
〃All kings who are not the King of France;〃 said he; 〃are provincial kings。〃 One day; the following question was put and the following answer returned in his presence:
〃To what was the editor of the Courrier Francais condemned?〃
〃To be suspended。〃
〃Sus is superfluous;〃 observed M。 Gillenormand。'22' Remarks of this nature found a situation。
'22' Suspendu; suspended; pendu; hung。
At the Te Deum on the anniversary of the return of the Bourbons; he said; on seeing M。 de Talleyrand pass by:
〃There goes his Excellency the Evil One。〃
M。 Gillenormand was always acpanied by his daughter; that tall mademoiselle; who was over forty and looked fifty; and by a handsome little boy of seven years; white; rosy; fresh; with happy and trusting eyes; who never appeared in that salon without hearing voices murmur around him:
〃How handsome he is! What a pity!
Poor child!〃
This child was the one of whom we dropped a word a while ago。
He was called 〃poor child;〃 because he had for a father 〃a brigand of the Loire。〃
This brigand of the Loire was M。 Gillenormand's son…in…law; who has already been mentioned; and whom M。 Gillenormand called 〃the disgrace of his family。〃
BOOK THIRD。THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON
CHAPTER II
ONE OF THE RED SPECTRES OF THAT EPOCH
Any one who had chanced to pass through the little town of Vernon at this epoch; and who had happened to walk across that fine monumental bridge; which will soon be succeeded; let us hope; by some hideous iron cable bridge; might have observed; had he dropped his eyes over the parapet; a man about fifty years of age wearing a leather cap; and trousers and a waistcoat of coarse gray cloth; to which something yellow which had been a red ribbon; was sewn; shod with wooden sabots; tanned by the sun; his face nearly black and his hair nearly white; a large scar on his forehead which ran down upon his cheek; bowed; bent; prematurely aged; who walked nearly every day; hoe and sickle in hand; in one of those partments surrounded by walls which abut on the bridge; and border the left bank of the Seine like a chain of terraces; charming enclosures full of flowers of which one could say; were they much larger:
〃these are gardens;〃 and were they a little smaller: 〃these are bouquets。〃
All these enclosures abut upon the river at one end; and on a house at the other。
The man in the waistcoat and the wooden shoes of whom we have just spoken; inhabited the smallest of these enclosures and the most humble of these houses about 1817。
He lived there alone and solitary; silently and poorly; with a woman who was neither young nor old; neither homely nor pretty; neither a peasant nor a bourgeoise; who served him。 The plot of earth which he called his garden was celebrated in the town for the beauty of the flowers which he cultivated there。 These flowers were his occupation。
By dint of labor; of perseverance; of attention; and of buckets of water; he had succeeded in creati