Michel Eugène Chevreul

“ Michel never seems to have the slightest suspicion of the remorse and anxiety and fears that assail me every day, for in order that I may be able to spend several hours and sometimes even an entire day with him, I am obliged to tell falsehood after falsehood, to place myself almost at the mercy of my servants, and to devise new pretexts for my frequent absences. ”

“ But is not your influence sufficiently strong to overcome this unfortunate indolence?"
"My influence!" repeated Valentine, smiling bitterly. "What influence can one have over a character like his. Arguments, prayers, entreaties, and warnings do not disturb his serenity in the least. No harsh or unkind word ever falls from Michel's lips, oh, no, but he shrinks from anger and impatience, precisely as he shrinks from fatigue. Always calm, smiling, and affectionate, the most vehement remonstrances, the most despairing supplications, receive no other answer than a smile or a kiss. ”

“ Chevreul is the only one of these celebrated men who now lives, and he has lately published, in the Comptes Rendus, a very remarkable paper on the changes which are produced in the power of thinking and observing by age. ”

“ Madame de Chevreuse in truth [2] possessed almost all the qualities of a great politician, a single one was wanting, and it was the one precisely without which all the others ran to waste—she did not know how to propose to herself a just aim, or rather she never chose one for herself; it was another that chose for her. Madame de Chevreuse was a woman in the fullest sense—in this was her strength, and also her weakness. Her first impulse was love, or rather gallantry, and the interests of the one whom she loved became her chief aim. ”

“ He has had a little quarrel with me, for he has been so intimidated by the insolence of the cardinal that he wishes to persecute me into a base endurance of him. I esteem your courage and affection so highly that I wish you to know all the interests of Madame de Chevreuse. She confides so entirely in you that she believes them to be as safe in your hands as in her own. Love your master faithfully, and however persecuted he may be, believe that in all his actions he will prove himself worthy of love. ”

“ The contrast between the stern, piercing glance and the corpse-like face impressed Michel so strongly that he could not avoid a feeling of respect, and he instinctively bared his head before that feeble remnant of a powerful will. Everything that indicated a forceful, imperious nature produced its effect upon that young man's imagination, because he was himself ambitious of power and authority, and, except for the gleam of those tyrannical eyes, it is doubtful if it would have occurred to him to remove his straw hat. ”

“ Cheveril remarked into the darkness. "But, anyhow, they can't make her marry against her will."
"Can't they?" returned the other fiercely. "I don't know what you call it, then. They can make her life so positively unbearable that she will have to give in, if it is only to get away from them. It's perfectly fiendish; but they will do it. I know they will do it. She hasn't a single friend to stand by her."
"Except you," said Cheveril.
They had nearly reached the water. The rush and splash of the waves held something solemn in their harmonies, like the chords of a splendid symphony. ”

“ Now, when Madame de Chevreuse loved, as Retz himself affirms, she loved faithfully and exclusively. At the age of twenty-four, one does not trifle with a first attachment to the extent of giving one's own lover to another, and the rôle which the poor woman already plays in this affair is not so honorable as to make us delight to vilify her still more. Madame de Chevreuse fell ill, it is true, on hearing the news of the assassination of Buckingham. Nothing was more natural; she lost in him a tried friend, the confidant of her first love, and the chief and the hope of the enemies of Richelieu. ”

“ Madame de Chevreuse having come from Brussels without the Queen's leave, her Majesty sent her orders to quit Paris in twenty-four hours upon which I went to her house and found the lovely creature at her toilet bathed in tears. My heart yearned towards her, but I bid her not obey till I had the honour of seeing her again. I consulted with M. de Beaufort to get the order revoked, upon which he said, "I see you are against her going; she shall stay. She has very fine eyes!" ”

“ Peyrol helped Michel to haul aft the sheets and then went back to the tiller. The pretty spick-and-span craft that had been lying idle for so long began to glide into the wide world. Michel gazed at the shore as if lost in admiration. Citizen Scevola’s head had fallen on his knees while his nerveless hands clasped his legs loosely. He was the very image of dejection.
“Hé, Michel! Come here and cast loose the citizen. It is only fair that he should be untied for a little excursion at sea.” ”

“ You are getting worse and worse. Out you go.”
Peyrol extinguished the lamp and, going out, closed the door without the slightest noise. The intelligence about Scevola being on the move did not please him very much, but he reflected that probably the sans-culotte had fallen asleep again, and after waking up was on his way to bed when Michel caught sight of him. He had his own view of the patriot’s psychology and did not think the women were in any danger. Nevertheless he went to the shed and heard the rustling of straw as Michel settled himself for the night. ”

“ ROGUIN (Madame) , born Chevrel between the years 1770 and 1780; only daughter of Chevrel, the banker; wife of the preceding; cousin of Madame Guillaume of The Cat and Racket, and fifteen years her junior; aided her relative's daughter, Augustine, in her love affair with the painter, Sommervieux; pretty and coquettish; for a long time the mistress of Tillet, the banker; was present with her husband at the famous ball given by Cesar Birotteau, December 17, 1818. She had a country-house at Nogent-sur-Marne, in which she lived with her lover after Roguin's departure. ”

“ He considered investments a "waste of money." Nearly twenty years later his portrait was still hanging in the hall of Felix Grandet's house at Saumur. [Eugenie Grandet.]
LA BILLARDIERE (Anthanase-Jean-Francoise-Michel, Baron Flamet de) , son of a counselor in the Parliament of Bretagne, took part in the Vendean wars as a captain under the name of Nantais, and as negotiator played a singular part at Quiberon. The Restoration rewarded the services of this unintelligent member of the petty nobility, whose Catholicism was more lukewarm than his love of monarchy. ”

“ A wild desire sprang into the Chevalier's heart to mount and ride to Paris that very night. The storm was nothing; his heart was warm, sending a heat into his cheeks and a sparkle into his dull eyes.
"Horns of Panurge! you weep?" cried Victor jestingly. "Good! You are maudlin. What is this news which makes you weep?"
"Ah, lad," said the Chevalier, standing, "you have brought me more than exoneration; you have brought me life, life and love. France is small when a beloved voice calls. I shall learn who she is, this glorious creature. ”

“ I should not be the friend to you that I am, if I failed to tell you that if you love Madame de Chevreuse, you will prevent her ruin, which is inevitable in France, where they only wish her for her destruction. This is not merely an opinion; there is no other remedy than that of following this advice whereby to save Madame de Chevreuse, of whose connections with Spain and M. de Lorraine, the cardinal has already spoken too ill to permit him to be silent in the future. ”

“ But as often as Michel fells a pine in the forest during a boisterous night, one of his old ones starts from its joints, the water enters, and the ship is lost, men and all. So far goes the legend of the Dutchman Michel; and true it is that all the evil in the Schwarzwald dates from him. Oh! he can make one rich,” added the old man mysteriously ”

“ But first a word of the beauty of Madame de Chevreuse, for this beauty had a great share in her destiny. All her cotemporaries unite in celebrating it. A portrait nearly of life-size, which is in the possession of the Duke de Luynes, and which he has courteously shown to us, [5] gives her an enchanting figure, a charming face, large blue eyes, fine and luxuriant chestnut-hair, a beautiful bust, and a piquant mingling of refinement and vivacity, grace and passion in her whole person. This indeed was the character of the beauty of Madame de Chevreuse ”

“ Once, it was long ago, the shop had belonged to the Egsons, but speculation had swamped them. Then Cheevers. as he occasionally reminded them, rescued them. As the business spread, Mr. Cheevers took himself more and more seriously. He joined every available committee. He spoke in public whenever he had the chance, and sometimes when he had not. The affairs of his suburb were deep in his heart. One day, possibly, he might rise to higher things; but only to his wife, who was a good woman, did he darkly hint of his ambition. ”

“ Madame de Chevreuse wished also to hear the counsels of another of her friends—less illustrious but more devoted—that Alexandre de Campion, whom she had known two years before at Brussels, and who, after the death of the Count de Soissons, had entered the service of the Vendômes, together with his brother Henri, an officer of tried courage. ”

“ Never did person care less for perils, and never had woman more contempt for scruples and for duties,—she knew no duty but that of pleasing her lover." Of this sketch, which might have moved Tallemant to envy, retain at least these striking and faithful traits—the prompt and sure penetration of Madame de Chevreuse, her indomitable courage, and her loyalty and devotion in love. Besides, Retz is entirely mistaken as to the order of her adventures, he forgets some, and he invents others ”

“ Alas! her daughters are like her."
"Come, sir," said Chevillere, with some exasperation, "let us put a stop to this discourse; it is not pleasing to me, and I feel sure it is not useful to you."
"Be it so," said the intruder, drawing up his long goat's-hair cloak, and pulling a flat cloth cap closely over his gray locks, as they for a moment became visible by the reflection of the long horizontal rays of a lamp from the deck of a neighbouring vessel; "be it so, sir; there is no convincing a child that a beautiful candle will burn until it scorches its fingers." ”

“ The Squire was made more uncomfortable by them than was due even from the general discomfort of the situation.
He raised troubled eyes to those of his questioner. "I suppose you are not ignorant," he said, "of what is being said of us?"
"Of 'us'?" queried Lord Cheviot.
"Of me and my family. All the world seems to be talking of us."
Lord Cheviot dropped his eyes. He may not have liked to be put into the position of questioned, instead of questioner. ”

“ Michel followed his father, but they were no sooner outside the city than the old man stopped.
"My boy," he said, "I am going to the villa alone, for I must talk a moment with the princess about that infernal abbé, who disguises himself as a monk to spy upon something or somebody in her house. Do you walk about two miles to the northwest, following the path that begins here, and turning neither to right nor left. In an hour you will reach the Capuchin convent of Bel Passo, where your uncle Fra Angelo told me that he would wait for you till sunset. ”

“ Ferrier's carriage, this time by her side, instead of in the dicky.
Everybody smiled except Honora Pembroke. She alone, perfectly polite, and refraining from all interference, felt haughtily indignant at the marriage. It was in vain that F. Chevreuse tried to reason away her prejudices.
“I do not object because he was poor,” she said. “Riches are less a distinction than a difference. But he has been a servant, and that is irreparable.”
[pg 684] The priest began to hum a tune:
“Ah! ”

“ In the grave, upraised eyes of his prisoner, Chivers saw the certainty that he could trust him, even far more than he could trust any one within the house he had just quitted. But this very certainty, for all its assurance of safety to himself, filled him, not with remorse, which might have been an evanescent emotion, but with a sudden alarming and terrible consciousness of being in the presence of a hitherto unknown and immeasurable power! He had no pity for man who trusted him ”

“ Egson, she found out that Mr. Cheevers was once more neglecting his business. Once he came down as usual in the morning, remained for ten minutes, and then dashed out of the shop and into a hansom. Egson had actually heard the words "National Gallery" addressed to the driver. As the fascination of the gin-shop for the drunkard, so was the fascination of the National Gallery for Cheevers in his new and absorbing love for beauty. He brought home fresh purchases every night. He broke some really good furniture. ”

“ I feel that something must instantly be done, but what—what, my good Chewkle, cannot you devise something?—you are cooler than I am.”
“Well, you see, if the wust comes to the wust, sir,” responded Mr. Chewkle, calculatingly, “I shan’t be hit so hard as you; I can afford to be cooler; now my notion is, that the first thing to be done is to get hold of that jeuced dockyment, and when got hold on, to drop it quietly into the fire.”
“A good thought; I’ll send for it at once to my solicitor——”
“They won’t be at the hoffice now,” interposed Chewkle. “You must let me manage it. ”

“ The invitation had been seconded by a letter from Lady Sherwood,—Chev's mother,—and after a few days sight-seeing in London, he had come down to Bishopsthorpe, very eager to know his friend's family, feeling as he did about Chev himself. "He's the finest man that ever went up in the air," he had written home; and to his own family's disgust, his letters had been far more full of Chev Sherwood than they had been of Skipworth Cary. ”