he curé of saint-exupère, the arch-priest laprune, had been invited to déjeuner by abbé guitrel. they were now both seated at the little round table on which joséphine had just set a flaming rum omelette.
m. guitrel’s maid had reached the canonical age some years ago; she wore a moustache; and assuredly bore no resemblance to the imaginary portrait of her which set the town guffawing in the ribald tales of the old gallic type that were bandied about. her face gave the lie to the jovial slanders which circulated from the café du commerce to paillot’s shop, and from the pharmacy of the radical m. mandar, to the jansenist salon of m. lerond, the retired judge. even if it were true that the professor of rhetoric used to allow his servant to sit at table with him when he was dining alone, if he was in the habit of sharing with her the little cakes that he chose with such anxious care at dame magloire’s, it was only because116 of his pure and innocent regard for a poor old woman, who was, in truth, both illiterate and rough, but at the same time full of crafty wisdom and devoted to her master. she was, in fact, filled with ambition for him and ready in her loyalty to betray the whole world for his sake.
unfortunately abbé lantaigne, the principal of the high seminary, paid too much heed to these prurient tales about guitrel and his domestic, which everyone repeated and which no one believed, not even m. mandar, the chemist of the rue culture, the most rabid of the town councillors. he had, in fact, added too much out of his own stock-in-trade to these merry tales not to suspect in his own mind the authenticity of the whole collection. for quite a voluminous cycle of romance had grown up round these two prosaic people. had he only known the decameron, the heptameron and the cent nouvelles nouvelles better, m. lantaigne would frequently have discovered the source of this droll adventure, or of that weird anecdote, which the county town generously added to the legend of m. guitrel and his servant joséphine. m. mazure, the keeper of the municipal archives, never failed for his part, whenever he had found some lewd story of a churchman in an old book, to assign it117 to m. guitrel. only m. lantaigne actually swallowed what everyone else said without believing.
“patience, monsieur l’abbé!” said joséphine; “i will go and fetch a spoon to baste it with.”
so saying she took a long-handled pewter spoon from the sideboard drawer and handed it to m. guitrel. whilst the priest poured the flaming spirit over the frizzling sugar, which gave out a smell of caramel, the servant leant against the sideboard with her arms crossed and stared at the musical clock which hung on the wall in a gilt frame; a swiss landscape, with a train coming out of a tunnel, a balloon in the air, and the enamelled dial affixed to a little church tower. the observant woman was really watching her master, for his short arm was beginning to ache with wielding the hot spoon. she began to spur him on:
“look sharp, monsieur l’abbé! don’t let it go out.”
“this dish,” said the arch-priest, “really gives out a most delicious odour. the last time i had one like it made for me, the dish split on account of the heat and the rum ran over the table-cloth. i was much vexed, and what annoyed me still more was to see the consternation on118 m. tabarit’s face, for it happened when he was dining with me.”
“that’s just it!” exclaimed the servant. “m. l’archiprêtre had it served on a dish of fine porcelain. of course, nothing could be too fine for monsieur. but the finer the china is, the worse it stands fire. this dish here is of earthenware, and heat or cold makes no odds to it. when my master is a bishop he’ll have his omelettes soufflées served on a silver dish.”
all of a sudden the flame flickered out in the pewter spoon and m. guitrel stopped basting the omelette. then he turned towards the woman and said with a stern glance:
“joséphine, you must never, in future, let me hear you talk in that fashion.”
“but, my dear guitrel,” said the curé of saint-exupère, “it is only you yourself who can take exception to such words, for to others it would seem only natural. you have been endowed with the precious gift of intelligence. your knowledge is profound and, were you raised to a bishopric, it would only seem a fitting thing. who knows whether this simple woman has not uttered a true prophecy? has not your name been mentioned among those of the priests considered eligible for the episcopal chair of tourcoing?”
119 m. guitrel pricked up his ears and gave a side-long glance, with one eye full on the other’s profile.
he was, indeed, feeling very anxious, for his affairs were by no means in a promising state. at the nunciature he had been obliged to content himself with vague promises and he was beginning to be afraid of their roman caution. it seemed to him that m. lantaigne was in good odour at the department of religion, and, in short, his visit to paris had only filled him with disquieting fancies. and now, if he was giving a lunch to the curé of saint-exupère, it was merely because the latter had the key to all the wire-pulling in m. lantaigne’s party. m. guitrel hoped, therefore, to worm out of the worthy curé all his opponent’s secrets.
“and why,” continued the arch-priest, “should you not be a bishop one of these days, like m. lantaigne?”
in the silence that followed the utterance of this name, the musical clock struck out a shrill little tune of the olden days. it was the hour of noon.
the hand with which abbé guitrel passed the earthenware dish to the arch-priest trembled a little.
“there is,” said the latter, “a mellowness about120 this dish, a mellowness that is not insipid. your servant is a first-rate cook.”
“you were speaking of m. lantaigne?” queried abbé guitrel.
“i was,” replied the arch-priest. “i don’t mean to say that at this precise moment m. lantaigne is the bishop-designate of tourcoing, for to say that would be to anticipate the course of events. but i heard this very morning from someone who is very intimate with the vicar-general that the nunciature and the ministry are practically in agreement as to the appointment of m. lantaigne. but this, of course, still lacks confirmation and it is quite possible that m. de goulet may have taken his hopes for accomplished facts, for, as you know, he ardently desires m. lantaigne’s success. but that the principal will be successful seems quite probable. it is true that some time ago a certain uncompromising attitude, which it was believed might be justly attributed to m. lantaigne’s opinions, may perchance have given offence to the powers that be, inspired as they were with a harassing distrust of the clergy. but times are changed. these heavy clouds of mistrust have rolled away. certain influences, too, that were formerly considered outside the sphere of politics are beginning to work now, even in governmental circles. they tell me, in fact, that general121 cartier de chalmot’s support of m. lantaigne’s candidature has been all-powerful. this is the gossip, the still unauthenticated report, that i have heard.”
the servant joséphine had left the room, but her anxious shadow still flashed from moment to moment through the half-open door.
m. guitrel neither spoke nor ate.
“this omelette,” said the arch-priest, “has a curious mixture of flavours which tickles the palate without allowing one to distinguish just what it is that is so delightful. will you permit me to ask your servant for the recipe?”
an hour later m. guitrel bade farewell to his guest, and set out, with shoulders bent low, for the seminary. buried in thought, he descended the winding, slanting street of the chantres, crossing his great-coat over his chest against the icy wind which was buffeting the gable of the cathedral. it was the coldest, darkest corner of the town. he hastened his pace as far as the rue du marché, and there he stopped before the butcher’s shop kept by lafolie.
it was barred like a lion’s cage. under the quarters of mutton hung up by hooks, the butcher lay asleep on the ground, close against the board used for cutting up the meat. his brawny limbs were now relaxed in utter weariness, for his day’s122 work had begun at daybreak. with his bare arms crossed, he lay slowly nodding his head. his steel was still hanging at his side and his legs were stretched out under a blood-stained white apron. his red face was shining, and under the turned-down collar of his pink shirt the veins of his neck swelled up. from the recumbent figure breathed a sense of quiet power. m. bergeret, indeed, always used to say of lafolie that from him one could gather some idea of the homeric heroes, because his manner of life resembled theirs since, like them, he shed the blood of victims.
butcher lafolie slept. near him slept his son, tall and strong like his father, and with ruddy cheeks. the butcher’s boy, with his head in his hands, was asleep on the marble slab, with his hair dangling among the spread-out joints of meat. behind her glazed partition at the entrance of the shop sat madame lafolie, bolt upright, but with heavy eyes weighed down by sleep. she was a fat woman, with a huge bosom, her flesh saturated with the blood of beasts. the whole family had a look of brutal, yet masterly, power, an air of barbaric royalty.
with his quick glance shifting from one to the other, m. guitrel stood watching them for a long while. again and again he turned with special123 interest towards the master, the colossus whose purpled cheeks were barred by a long reddish moustache, and who, now that his eyes were shut, showed on his temples the little wrinkles that speak of cunning. then, surfeited of the sight of this violent, crafty brute, and gripping his old umbrella under his arm, he crossed his great-coat over his chest once more, and continued his way. he was quite in good spirits once more, as he thought to himself:
“eight thousand, three hundred and twenty-five francs last year. one thousand, nine hundred and six this year. abbé lantaigne, principal of the high seminary, owes ten thousand, two hundred and thirty-one francs to lafolie the butcher, who is by no means an easy-going creditor. abbé lantaigne will not be a bishop.”
for a long while he had been aware that m. lantaigne was in financial straits, and that the college was heavily in debt. to-day his servant joséphine had just informed him that lafolie was showing his teeth and talking of suing the seminary and the archbishopric for debt. trotting along with his mincing step, m. guitrel murmured:
“m. lantaigne will never be a bishop. he is honest enough, but he is a bad manager. now a bishopric is just an administration. bossuet said so in express terms when he was124 delivering the funeral oration of the prince de condé.”
and in mentally recalling the horrible face of lafolie the butcher, m. guitrel felt no repugnance whatever.
