The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac (freenovel24 TXT) 📖

to

do with a man of your calibre--"

 

"Charles Crochard's first object on being liberated was vengeance on

Toupillier, and his first step was to denounce him to the police as

receiver of the stolen property. Taken in hand by the law, Toupillier

defended himself with such singular good-humor, being able to show

that no proof whatever existed against him, that the examining judge

let him off. He lost his place, however, as giver of holy water,

obtaining, with great difficulty, permission to beg at the door of the

church. For my part, I was certain of his guilt; and I managed to have

the closest watch kept upon him; though I relied far more upon myself.

Being a man of means and leisure, I stuck, as you may say, to the skin

of my thief, and did, in order to unmask him, one of the cleverest

things of my career. He was living at that time in the rue du

Coeur-Volant. I succeeded in becoming the tenant of the room adjoining

his; and one night, through a gimlet hole I had drilled in the partition,

I saw my man take the case of diamonds from a very cleverly contrived

hiding-place. He sat for an hour gazing at them and fondling them; he

made them sparkle in the light, he pressed them passionately to his

lips. The man actually loved those diamonds for themselves, and had

never thought of turning them to money."

 

"I understand," said Cerizet,--"a mania like that of Cardillac, the

jeweller, which has now been dramatized."

 

"That is just it," returned du Portail; "the poor wretch was in love

with that casket; so that when, shortly after, I entered his room and

told him I knew all, he proposed to me to leave him the life use of

what he called the consolation of his old age, pledging himself to

make Mademoiselle de la Peyrade his sole heir, revealing to me at the

same time the existence of a hoard of gold (to which he was adding

every day), and also the possession of a house and an investment in

the Funds."

 

"If he made that proposal in good faith," said Cerizet, "it was a

desirable one. The interest of the capital sunk in the diamonds was

more than returned by that from the other property."

 

"You now see, my dear sir," said du Portail, "that I was not mistaken

in trusting him. All my precautions were well taken; I exacted that he

should occupy a room in the house I lived in, where I could keep a

close eye upon him. I assisted him in making that hiding-place, the

secret of which you discovered so cleverly; but what you did not find

out was that in touching the spring that opened the iron safe you rang

a bell in my apartment, which warned me of any attempt that was made

to remove our treasure."

 

"Poor Madame Cardinal!" cried Cerizet, good-humoredly, "how far she

was from suspecting it!"

 

"Now here's the situation," resumed du Portail. "On account of the

interest I feel in the nephew of my old friend, and also, on account

of the relationship, this marriage seems to me extremely desirable; in

short, I unite Theodose to his cousin and her 'dot.' As it is possible

that, considering the mental state of his future wife, Theodose may

object to sharing my views, I have not thought it wise to make this

proposal directly to himself. You have suddenly turned up upon my

path; I know already that you are clever and wily, and that knowledge

induces me to put this little matrimonial negotiation into your hands.

Now, I think, you understand the matter thoroughly; speak to him of a

fine girl, with one little drawback, but, on the other hand, a

comfortable fortune. Do not name her to him; and come here and let me

know how the proposal has been taken."

 

"Your confidence delights me as much as it honors me," replied

Cerizet, "and I will justify it the best I can."

 

"We must not expect too much," said du Portail. "Refusal will be the

first impulse of a man who has an affair on hand elsewhere; but we

need not consider ourselves beaten. I shall not easily give up a plan

which I know to be just, even if I push my zeal so far as to put la

Peyrade under lock and key in Clichy. I am resolved not to take no for

his answer to a proposal of which, in the end, he cannot fail to see

the propriety. Therefore, in any case, buy up those notes from

Monsieur Dutocq."

 

"At par?" asked Cerizet.

 

"Yes, at par, if you cannot do better; we are not going to haggle over

a few thousand francs; only, when this transaction is arranged,

Monsieur Dutocq must pledge us either his assistance, or, at the very

least, his neutrality. After what you have said of the other marriage,

it is unnecessary for me to warn you that there is not a moment to

lose in putting our irons into the fire."

 

"Two days hence I have an appointment with la Peyrade," said Cerizet.

"We have a little matter of business of our own to settle. Don't you

think it would be best to wait till then, when I can introduce the

proposal incidentally? In case of resistance, I think that arrangement

would best conduce to OUR dignity."

 

"So be it," said du Portail; "it isn't much of a delay. Remember,

monsieur, that if you succeed you have, in place of a man able to

bring you to a stern account for your _imprudent assistance_ to Madame

Cardinal, a greatly obliged person, who will be ready at all times to

serve you, and whose influence is greater than is generally supposed."

 

After these friendly words, the pair separated with a thoroughly good

understanding, and well satisfied with each other. 

CHAPTER XVII (IN WHICH THE LAMB DEVOURS THE WOLF)

The evening before the day already agreed upon, Theodose received from

Cerizet the following note:--

 

"To-morrow, lease or no lease, Rocher de Cancale, half-past six

o'clock."

 

As for Dutocq, Cerizet saw him every day, for he was still his copying

clerk; he therefore gave him his invitation by word of mouth; but the

attentive reader must remark a difference in the hour named:

"Quarter-past-six, Rocher de Cancale," said Cerizet. It was evident,

therefore, that he wanted that fifteen minutes with Dutocq before the

arrival of la Peyrade.

 

These minutes the usurer proposed to employ in jockeying Dutocq in the

purchase of the notes; he fancied that if the proposition to buy them

were suddenly put before him without the slightest preparation it

might be more readily received. By not leaving the seller time to

bethink himself, perhaps he might lead him to loosen his grasp, and

the notes once bought below par, he could consider at his leisure

whether to pocket the difference or curry favor with du Portail for

the discount he had obtained. Let us say, moreover, that apart from

self-interest, Cerizet would still have endeavored to scrape a little

profit out of his friend; 'twas an instinct and a need of his nature.

He had as great a horror for straight courses as the lovers of English

gardens show in the lines of their paths.

 

Dutocq, having still a portion of the cost of his practice to pay off,

was forced to live very sparingly, so that a dinner at the Rocher de

Cancale was something of an event in the economy of his straitened

existence. He arrived, therefore, with that punctuality which

testifies to an interest in the occasion, and precisely at a quarter

past six he entered the private room of the restaurant where Cerizet

awaited him.

 

"It is queer," he said; "here we are returned to precisely the

situation in which we began our business relationship with la Peyrade,

--except, to be sure, that this present place of meeting of the three

emperors is more comfortable; I prefer the Tilsit of the rue

Montgorgeuil to the Tilsit of the Cheval Rouge."

 

"Faith!" said Cerizet, "I don't know that the results justify the

change, for, to be frank, where are the profits to _us_ in the scheme

of our triumvirate?"

 

"But," said Dutocq, "it was a bargain with a long time limit. It can't

be said that la Peyrade has lost much time in getting installed

--forgive the pun--at the Thuilleries. The scamp has made his way

pretty fast, you must own that."

 

"Not so fast but what his marriage," said Cerizet, "is at the present

moment a very doubtful thing."

 

"Doubtful!" cried Dutocq; "why doubtful?"

 

"Well, I am commissioned to propose to him another wife, and I'm not

sure that any choice is left to him."

 

"What the devil are you about, my dear fellow, lending your hand in

this way to another marriage when you know we have a mortgage on the

first?"

 

"One isn't always master of circumstances, my friend; I saw at once

when the new affair was laid before me that the one we had settled on

must infallibly go by the board. Consequently, I've tried to work it

round in our interests, yours and mine."

 

"Ah ca! do you mean they are pulling caps for this Theodose? Who is

the new match? Has she money?"

 

"The 'dot' is pretty good; quite as much as Mademoiselle

Colleville's."

 

"Then I wouldn't give a fig for it. La Peyrade has signed those notes

and he will pay them."

 

"Will he pay them? that's the question. You are not a business man,

neither is Theodose; it may come into his head to dispute the validity

of those notes. What security have we that if the facts about their

origin should come out, and the Thuillier marriage shouldn't come off,

the court of commerce mightn't annul them as 'obligations without

cause.' For my part, I should laugh at such a decision; I can stand

it; and, moreover, my precautions are taken; but you, as clerk to a

justice-of-peace, don't you see that such an affair would give the

chancellor a bone to pick with you?"

 

"But, my good fellow," said Dutocq, with the ill-humor of a man who

sees himself face to face with an argument he can't refute, "you seem

to have a mania for stirring up matters and meddling with--"

 

"I tell you again," said Cerizet, "this came to me; I didn't seek it;

but I saw at once that there was no use struggling against the

influence that is opposing us; so I chose the course of saving

ourselves by a sacrifice."

 

"A sacrifice! what sort of sacrifice?"

 

"Parbleu! I've sold my share of those notes, leaving those who bought

them to fight it out with Master barrister."

 

"Who is the purchaser?"

 

"Who do you suppose would step into my shoes unless it were the

persons who have an interest in this other marriage, and who want to

hold a power over Theodose, and control him by force if necessary."

 

"Then my share of the notes is equally important to them?"

 

"No doubt; but I couldn't speak for you until I had consulted you."

 

"What do they offer?"

 

"Hang it! my dear fellow, the same that I accepted. Knowing better

than you the danger of their competition I sold out to them on very

bad terms."

 

"Well, but what are they, those terms?"

 

"I gave up my shares for fifteen thousand francs."

 

"Come, come!" said Dutocq, shrugging his shoulders, "what you are

after is to recover a loss (if you made it) by a commission on my

share--and perhaps, after all, the whole thing is only a plot between

you and la Peyrade--"

 

"At any rate, my good friend, you don't mince your words; an infamous

thought comes into your head and you state it with charming frankness.

Luckily you shall presently hear me make the proposal to Theodose, and

you are clever enough to know by his manner if there has been any

connivance between us."

 

"So be it!" said Dutocq. "I withdraw the insinuation; but I must say

your employers are pirates; I call their proposal throttling people. I

have not, like you, something to fall back upon."

 

"Well, you poor fellow, this is how I reasoned: I said to myself, That

good