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the lesser bourgeoisie-第5节

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her daughter should take possession of everything; securing to her
mother fifteen hundred francs a year and the house at Auteuil。 The
landed property of the old farmer was sold in lots; and brought in
thirty thousand francs。 Lemprun's estate had given as much more; so
that Madame Thuillier's fortune; including her 〃dot;〃 amounted in 1818
to ninety thousand francs。 Joining the revenue of this property to
that of the brother and sister; the Thuillier household had an income;
in 1818; amounting to eleven thousand francs; managed by Brigitte
alone on her sole responsibility。 It is necessary to begin by stating
this financial position; not only to prevent objections but to rid the
drama of difficulties。

Brigitte began; from the first; by allowing her brother five hundred
francs a month; and by sailing the household boat at the rate of five
thousand francs a year。 She granted to her sister…in…law fifty francs
a month; explaining to her carefully that she herself was satisfied
with forty。 To strengthen her despotism by the power of money;
Brigitte laid by the surplus of her own funds。 She made; so it was
said in business offices; usurious loans by means of her brother; who
appeared as a money…lender。 If; between the years 1813 and 1830;
Brigitte had capitalized sixty thousand francs; that sum can be
explained by the rise in the Funds; and there is no need to have
recourse to accusations more or less well founded; which have nothing
to do with our present history。

From the first days of the marriage; Brigitte subdued the unfortunate
Madame Thuillier with a touch of the spur and a jerk of the bit; both
of which she made her feel severely。 A further display of tyranny was
useless; the victim resigned herself at once。 Celeste; thoroughly
understood by Brigitte; a girl without mind or education; accustomed
to a sedentary life and a tranquil atmosphere; was extremely gentle by
nature; she was pious in the fullest acceptation of the word; she
would willingly have expiated by the hardest punishments the
involuntary wrong of giving pain to her neighbor。 She was utterly
ignorant of life; accustomed to be waited on by her mother; who did
the whole service of the house; for Celeste was unable to make much
exertion; owing to a lymphatic constitution which the least toil
wearied。 She was truly a daughter of the people of Paris; where
children; seldom handsome; and of no vigor; the product of poverty and
toil; of homes without fresh air; without freedom of action; without
any of the conveniences of life; meet us at every turn。

At the time of the marriage; Celeste was seen to be a little woman;
fair and faded almost to sickliness; fat; slow; and silly in the
countenance。 Her forehead; much too large and too prominent; suggested
water on the brain; and beneath that waxen cupola her face; noticeably
too small and ending in a point like the nose of a mouse; made some
people fear she would become; sooner or later; imbecile。 Her eyes;
which were light blue; and her lips; always fixed in a smile; did not
contradict that idea。 On the solemn occasion of her marriage she had
the manner; air; and attitude of a person condemned to death; whose
only desire is that it might all be over speedily。

〃She is rather round;〃 said Colleville to Thuillier。

Brigitte was just the knife to cut into such a nature; to which her
own formed the strongest contrast。 Mademoiselle Thuillier was
remarkable for her regular and correct beauty; but a beauty injured by
toil which; from her very childhood; had bent her down to painful;
thankless tasks; and by the secret privations she imposed upon herself
in order to amass her little property。 Her complexion; early
discolored; had something the tint of steel。 Her brown eyes were
framed in brown; on the upper lip was a brown floss like a sort of
smoke。 Her lips were thin; and her imperious forehead was surmounted
by hair once black; now turning to chinchilla。 She held herself as
straight as the fairest beauty; but all things else about her showed
the hardiness of her life; the deadening of her natural fire; the cost
of what she was!

To Brigitte; Celeste was simply a fortune to lay hold of; a future
mother to rule; one more subject in her empire。 She soon reproached
her for being WEAK; a constant word in her vocabulary; and the jealous
old maid; who would strongly have resented any signs of activity in
her sister…in…law; now took a savage pleasure in prodding the languid
inertness of the feeble creature。 Celeste; ashamed to see her sister…
in…law displaying such energy in household work; endeavored to help
her; and fell ill in consequence。 Instantly; Brigitte was devoted to
her; nursed her like a beloved sister; and would say; in presence of
Thuillier: 〃You haven't any strength; my child; you must never do
anything again。〃 She showed up Celeste's incapacity by that display of
sympathy with which strength; seeming to pity weakness; finds means to
boast of its own powers。

But; as all despotic natures liking to exercise their strength are
full of tenderness for physical sufferings; Brigitte took such real
care of her sister…in…law as to satisfy Celeste's mother when she came
to see her daughter。 After Madame Thuillier recovered; however; she
called her; in Celeste's hearing; 〃a helpless creature; good for
nothing!〃 which sent the poor thing crying to her room。 When Thuillier
found her there; drying her eyes; he excused her sister; saying:

〃She is an excellent woman; but rather hasty; she loves you in her own
way; she behaves just so with me。〃

Celeste; remembering the maternal care of her sister…in…law during her
illness; forgave the wound。 Brigitte always treated her brother as the
king of the family; she exalted him to Celeste; and made him out an
autocrat; a Ladislas; an infallible pope。 Madame Thuillier having lost
her father and grandfather; and being well…nigh deserted by her
mother; who came to see her on Thursdays only (she herself spending
Sundays at Auteuil in summer); had no one left to love except her
husband; and she did love him;in the first place; because he was her
husband; and secondly; because he still remained to her 〃that handsome
Thuillier。〃 Besides; he sometimes treated her like a wife; and all
these reasons together made her adore him。 He seemed to her all the
more perfect because he often took up her defence and scolded his
sister; not from any real interest in his wife; but for pure
selfishness; and in order to have peace in the household during the
very few moments that he stayed there。

In fact; that handsome Thuillier was never at home except at dinner;
after which meal he went out; returning very late at night。 He went to
balls and other social festivities by himself; precisely as if he were
still a bachelor。 Thus the two women were always alone together。
Celeste insensibly fell into a passive attitude; and became what
Brigitte wanted her;a helot。 The Queen Elizabeth of the household
then passed from despotism to a sort of pity for the poor victim who
was always sacrificed。 She ended by softening her haughty ways; her
cutting speech; her contemptuous tones; as soon as she was certain
that her sister…in…law was completely under the yoke。 When she saw the
wounds it made on the neck of her victim; she took care of her as a
thing of her own; and Celeste entered upon happier days。 Comparing the
end with the beginning; she even felt a sort of love for her torturer。
To gain some power of self…defence; to become something less a cipher
in the household; supported; unknown to herself; by her own means; the
poor helot had but a single chance; and that chance never came to her。

Celeste had no child。 This barrenness; which; from month to month;
brought floods of tears from her eyes; was long the cause of
Brigitte's scorn; she reproached the poor woman bitterly for being fit
for nothing; not even to bear children。 The old maid; who had longed
to love her brother's child as if it were her own; was unable; for
years; to reconcile herself to this irremediable sterility。

At the time when our history begins; namely; in 1840; Celeste; then
forty…six years old; had ceased to weep; she now had the certainty of
never being a mother。 And here is a strange thing。 After twenty…five
years of this life; in which victory had ended by first dulling and
then breaking its own knife; Brigitte loved Celeste as much as Celeste
loved Brigitte。 Time; ease; and the perpetual rubbing of domestic
life; had worn off the angles and smoothed the asperities; Celeste's
resignation and lamb…like gentleness had brought; at last; a serene
and peaceful autumn。 The two women were still further united by the
one sentiment that lay within them; namely; their adoration for the
lucky and selfish Thuillier。

Moreover; these two women; both childless; had each; like all women
who have vainly desired children; fallen in love with a child。 This
fictitious motherhood; equal in strength to a real motherhood; needs
an explanation which will carry us to the very heart of our drama; and
will show the reason of the new occupation which Mademoiselle
Thuillier provided for her brother。



CHAPTER III

COLLEVILLE

Thuillier 

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