Monsieur Antoine

“ Madame Thierry was speechless with surprise. She looked at Marcel, who, unseen by Monsieur Antoine, urged her by most energetic pantomime to yield to the old fellow's whim. The poor woman had a sinking at the heart, but she did not hesitate; she slipped from the chair to her hassock, on which she knelt, and said, taking both Monsieur Antoine's hands:
"You are right, brother, you teach me my duty. I surrender. Be the noblest of men, forgive everything and grant everything."
"At last! Good!" cried Monsieur Antoine, rising; "and when people are reconciled, they embrace, don't they?" ”

“ Here am I, to make peace. Good-day, ma mie Janille; good-day, my Gilberte du bon Dieu; good-day, friend Emile; good-day, Antoine, my master: and good-day, you," he said to Galuchet; "I don't know you, but it's all the same. Ah! it's Père Cardonnet's man of business!—Ah! good-day to you, my dear Monsieur Sacripant; I didn't notice your greeting."
"Vive Dieu!" cried Antoine, "better late than never; but do you know, Jean, you are going wrong? When we only have one day a week to see you,—and God knows how long the week is without you!—you get here at noon on Sunday!" ”

“ If I ventured to give Monsieur Antoine a piece of advice, it would be to give you a glass of water when you come to breakfast with him, otherwise you might make remarks before his daughter that would force me to put you out of doors. You thought, when you saw us all so merry and so unceremonious with one another, that we were vulgar folk and that you must become vulgar to descend to our level. You made a mistake. Whoever has nothing evil in his heart or unclean in his mind can let himself go ”

“ I can't live on my income, and I don't propose to be a burden to you during the thirty years that I still have to live, it may be. Even if you were rich enough to support me, I should die of ennui. It's all right for you, Monsieur Antoine, you were brought up to do nothing. Although you're no sluggard and you have proved it—it costs you nothing to resume the habit of living like a monsieur ”

“ You, Monsieur Cardonnet," he said, rising and eying the manufacturer from head to foot, "are at liberty to sneer at what you cannot understand; but I do not offer my bare breast and my arm without a weapon to everybody, as you will soon know."
Monsieur Cardonnet also had risen, darting threatening glances at Monsieur Antoine. The marquis placed himself between them and said to Antoine:
"Monsieur le comte, I do not know what has taken place between Monsieur Cardonnet and you; but you have offered me a reparation which I reject. ”

“ He fell asleep in that position.
"You have a delightful secretary there," said Gilberte to Emile. "I trust, dear papa, that you won't invite him to breakfast again."
"Oh! bless my soul, it's not his fault," replied Monsieur Antoine, "but Jean's, who made him drink more than he wanted."
"What does a man amount to who can't drink without getting drunk?" said Jean; "he's worse than nobody." ”

“ If Julien and his mother are as brave and self-sacrificing as you, I shall admire the sacrifice instead of dissuading them. And first of all do not exaggerate the future consequences of your action. Monsieur Antoine is a man of his word, that is certain; in good as in evil, he does what he promises. But the matter of his last will is a great problem, because he is now on the downward slope of marriage. Surely it is a most extraordinary thing to see that old bachelor, a confirmed foe of women and of love, rush headlong into this matrimonial caprice in his declining years ”

“ Very well, madame; let us suppose that, despite his anger, Monsieur Antoine outbids the marchioness; see how straitened your circumstances will be; two or three thousand francs a year! You marry Julien, who has nothing in the world but his arms, and soon you will be a mother, with Madame Thierry to support and care for, a servant for her, and a nurse for yourself, and a manservant, unless Julien lays aside his brushes when the heavy work of the household is to be done, however modest it may be. You will certainly live honorably, for he will work ”

“ Happiness cannot be described, and even lovers themselves lack words with which to depict it. When it was night, Monsieur and Madame de Cardonnet took their leave, graciously authorizing Emile to escort his fiancée to Châteaubrun, on condition that he should keep his father's cabriolet, and not ride again that day. Monsieur Antoine, absorbed in a joyful conversation with his friend Jean, wandered about the park, and Janille, beginning to tire of playing the lady, satisfied her craving for action by assisting Martin to put everything in order. ”

“ I cannot love her! In any event I should love her to no purpose! It is not she who attracts me any more than her worthy father, his romantic château, his environment of repose, happiness and freedom from care. I long to see people who are happy, so that I may forget that I am not and never shall be!"
He met Sylvain Charasson, who was engaged in stretching cloth in the Creuse. The child ran to meet him with an eager delighted air.
"You won't find Monsieur Antoine," he said. "He's gone to market to sell six sheep; but Mademoiselle Janille's at home, and Mademoiselle Gilberte, too." ”

“ You are young and rich, you are well educated and a thinking man; therefore you have no reason to envy other people; but I wish you as pleasant an old age as mine and as tender affections in your heart. But we have talked enough of ourselves," he added, putting his glass on the table, "and we mustn't forget our other friends. Let us talk about the best of them all, after Janille; let us talk about old Jean Jappeloup and his affairs."
"Yes, let us talk about him!" cried a loud voice which made everybody start; and Monsieur Antoine, turning his head, saw Jean Jappeloup in the doorway. ”

“ Before the peasant, who had continued to nibble at his bread with a thoughtful expression, was prepared to begin, the young man thanked Monsieur Antoine warmly for his narrative and for his generous interpretation of Monsieur Cardonnet's course. Without admitting that he was in any way connected with that gentleman, he seemed to be deeply touched by the judgment of his character which the Comte de Châteaubrun expressed, and he added:
"Yes, monsieur, I believe that by seeking the best side of things one goes astray less often than by doing the opposite. ”

“ Emile wondered what would be the end of this jest, which Monsieur Antoine seemed determined to carry on to the end with a sober face, and, when Gilberte had gone to her room, he followed Monsieur Antoine to his to find out whether he would persuade his page to make the best of the straw.
The count amused himself by causing himself to be waited on like a man of quality. "Come," he said, "pull off my boots, give me my nightcap and put out the lights. You can stretch yourself on the bricks here, and look out for yourself if you are unlucky enough to snore! Good-night, Emile. Go to bed ”

“ Putting their knives alternately to that appetizing morsel, the odor of which was devoid of any agreeable quality, they cut it into small pieces, which they placed carefully on their earthenware plates and ate crumb by crumb on their rye bread. Between every two mouthfuls they took a swallow of the native wine, after touching their glasses and exchanging such compliments as: "Here's to you, comrade!" "Here's to you, Monsieur Antoine!" or: "Here's your good health, old fellow!" ”

“ Will you have a pinch of snuff?"
"I don't use it," replied Galuchet, haughtily. "With Monsieur Antoine's permission, I will leave the table."
"At your pleasure, young man, at your pleasure," said the châtelain. "Monsieur Emile doesn't enjoy long sessions either, and you can stroll about a bit. Janille will show you the château, or, if you prefer to go down to the brook, get your lines ready. We will join you directly, and take you where you will find good sport."
"Oh! yes," said the carpenter, "he's a fisher of small fry! ”

“ He must have felt about in the dark and made a mistake. He meant to give me some trifle and he has given me the wedding presents he gave his wife."
"Yes," said the carpenter, "he made a mistake, for sure; for a man doesn't give his dead wife's things to a stranger. He was so excited, poor man! You're not the only man whose wits go wool gathering, Monsieur Antoine."
"No, he made no mistake," said Monsieur Antoine. "He knows what he is doing, and Gilberte can keep these presents."
"Yes, yes, of course," cried Janille. "They are hers, aren't they, Monsieur Antoine? ”

“ The count's embrace was passionate and enthusiastic; the marquis's calm and constrained. He was playing a part beyond his strength; he turned pale, trembled, and was forced to sit down. Antoine sat beside him, his breast shaken with sobs. Gilberte knelt in front of the marquis and covered his hands with kisses, weeping with joy and gratitude.
All this display and emotion disgusted the manufacturer, who looked on with a cold, supercilious eye, awaiting the means of reconciliation. ”

“ If not, we shall consider that you have a soured mind and an evil tongue."
"I have nothing to say more than everybody knows," replied the peasant calmly, and with no sign of being intimidated by the sermon. "We see things and judge them as we see them; but as this young man doesn't know Monsieur Cardonnet," he added, with a penetrating glance at the traveller, "and since he is so anxious to know what sort of man he is, do you tell him yourself, Monsieur Antoine ”

“ He learned that they had set out to visit a relative at La Clavière before going to Argenton for two days, and that, finding no one at that château, they had determined to make a detour to Crozant and remain there until evening; and it was only midday! Emile imagined that he had all eternity before him. Monsieur Antoine lay down in the shade after luncheon and slept soundly. The two lovers, followed by Charasson, undertook to make the circuit of the fortress. ”

“ Let's see you guess, Emile; there's something to divert your thoughts."
"I can't guess. For Monsieur Antoine?"
"No, Antoine hasn't much work to be done, poor fellow, and he can do it alone; but he has a neighbor who has plenty of it, and who doesn't haggle over the time of his workmen."
"Who is it? Has Monsieur de Boisguilbault become reconciled to your features?"
"Not so far as I know; but he never forbade his farmers giving me work. He is not the man to try to injure me, and almost nobody outside of his house knows that he has a grudge against me, if indeed he has ”

“ If I should talk to her long, I would show her that I am no blockhead of a provincial."
"Well," said Emile to Gilberte, while Constant hunted for worms under the stones, in order to bait his hook, "you have seen the features of a perfect idiot."
"I am afraid he is more conceited than foolish," she replied.
"Come, come, children, you are not indulgent," observed honest Antoine. "That young man is not handsome, I agree, but he seems to be a good fellow, and Monsieur Cardonnet is well satisfied with him. He is very obliging and has offered several times to do little favors for me. ”

“ I was carpenter's apprentice, journeyman carpenter, and in a few years carpenter's assistant, and not more than two years ago you could have seen me with a blouse on my back and a hatchet over my shoulder, going out for my day's work with Jappeloup."
"That is the reason, then," said Emile, sorely embarrassed, "that——" He paused, not daring to finish.
"That is the reason, yes, I understand," rejoined Monsieur Antoine; "that is the reason that you have heard some one say: 'Old Antoine degenerated terribly during his poverty; he lived with workingmen ”

“ That name, which Emile had heard before, for somebody had mentioned it in his presence at Gargilesse as that of one of the richest landed proprietors in the neighborhood, produced the effect of an electric shock on the inhabitants of Châteaubrun: Gilberte jumped; Antoine and Janille stared at each other, unable to utter a word.
"That surprises you a little, does it?" continued the carpenter.
"It seems impossible," replied Janille. "Are you joking? Monsieur de Boisguilbault, the enemy of all of us?"
"Why say so?" said Monsieur Antoine. "That man is nobody's enemy intentionally ”

“ Monsieur de Boisguilbault, having closed the gate behind him, bade the carpenter take the reins and follow him at a foot-pace to a sort of gardener's shed where Emile often hitched Corbeau when he came late or expected to stay late; and while Jean busied himself putting poor Lanterne and Monsieur Antoine's barrow under cover, the marquis offered Gilberte his arm, saying: "I am distressed to ask you to walk a few steps on the gravel ”

“ That is understood; I shall be at home all day; don't fail to come. Good-night, Monsieur Emile, we will have a good friendly talk. Oh! you see I too am very fond of you!"
There was no longer any doubt in Emile's mind; the housekeeper at Châteaubrun had opened her eyes to his love. Some officious neighbor was beginning to be surprised to see him so often on the road to the ruins. Antoine knew nothing as yet, nor Gilberte; for the latter, when she told him that her father was going away for a few days, could not have foreseen that Janille would arrange for her to go with him. ”

“ When the night was far advanced the men rose from their knees, and Monsieur the Viscount persuaded Antoine to lie down on his pallet, and when the gaoler's heavy breathing told that he was asleep, Monsieur the Viscount felt relieved to be alone once more—alone, except for Monsieur Crapaud, whose round fiery eyes were open as usual. ”