The Wandering Jew — Complete
stuff dress of the Carmelite tan color, and wearing a long rosary at her
waist; a white cap tied under the chin, and a long black veil, closely
encircled her thin, sallow face. A number of deep wrinkles had impressed
their transverse furrows in her forehead of yellow ivory; her marked and
prominent nose was bent like the beak of a bird of prey; her black eye
was knowing and piercing; the expression of her countenance was at once
intelligent, cold and firm.
In the general management of the pecuniary affairs of the community,
Mother Sainte-Perpetue would have been a match for the most cunning
attorney. When women are possessed of what is called a talent for
business, and apply to it their keen penetration, their indefatigable
perseverance, their prudent dissimulation, and, above all, that quick
and exact insight, which is natural to them, the results are often
prodigious. To Mother Sainte-Perpetue, a woman of the coolest and
strongest intellect, the management of the vast transactions of the
community was mere child's play. No one knew better how to purchase a
depreciated property, to restore it to its former value, and then sell
it with advantage; the price of stock, the rate of exchange, the current
value of the shares in the different companies, were all familiar to
her; she had yet never been known to make bad speculation, when the
question was to invest any of the funds which were given by pious souls
for the purposes of the convent. She had established in the house the
utmost order and discipline, and, above all, an extreme economy. The
constant aim of all her efforts was to enrich, not herself, but the
community she directed; for the spirit of association, when become a
collective egotism, gives to corporations the faults and vices of an
individual. Thus a congregation may dote upon power and money, just as
a miser loves them for their own sake. But it is chiefly with regard to
estates that congregations act like a single man. They dream of landed
property; it is their fixed idea, their fruitful monomania. They pursue
it with their most sincere, and warm, and tender wishes.
The first estate is to a rising little community what the wedding
trousseau is to a young bride, his first horse to a youth, his first
success to a poet, to a gay girl her first fifty-guinea shawl; because,
after all, in this material age, an estate gives a certain rank to a
society on the Religious Exchange, and has so much the more effect upon
the simple-minded, that all these partnerships in the work of salvation,
which end by becoming immensely rich, begin with modest poverty as
social stock-in-trade, and charity towards their neighbors as security
reserve fund. We may therefore imagine what bitter and ardent rivalry
must exist between the different congregations with regard to the
various estates that each can lay claim to; with what ineffable
satisfaction the richer society crushes the poorer beneath its inventory
of houses, and farms and paper securities! Envy and hateful jealousy,
rendered still more irritable by the leisure of a cloistered life, are
the necessary consequences of such a comparison; and yet nothing is less
Christian--in the adorable acceptation of that divine word--nothing has
less in common with the true, essential, and religiously social spirit
of the gospel, than this insatiable ardor to acquire wealth by every
possible means--this dangerous avidity, which is far from being atoned
for, in the eyes of public opinion, by a few paltry alms, bestowed in
the narrow spirit of exclusion and intolerance.
Mother Sainte-Perpetue was seated before a large cylindrical-fronted
desk in the centre of an apartment simply but comfortably furnished.
An excellent fire burned within the marble chimney, and a soft carpet
covered the floor. The superior, to whom all letters addressed to the
sisters or the boarders were every day delivered, had just been opening
she first, according to her acknowledged right, and carefully unsealing
the second, without their knowing it, according to a right that she
ascribed to herself, of course, with a view to the salvation of those
dear creatures; and partly, perhaps, a little to make herself acquainted
with their correspondence, for she also had imposed on herself the duty
of reading all letters that were sent from the convent, before they were
put into the post. The traces of this pious and innocent inquisition
were easily effaced, for the good mother possessed a whole arsenal of
steel tools, some very sharp, to cut the pager imperceptibly round the
seal--others, pretty little rods, to be slightly heated and rolled round
the edge of the seal, when the letter had been read and replaced in its
envelope, so that the wax, spreading as it melted, might cover the first
incision. Moreover, from a praiseworthy feeling of justice and equality,
there was in the arsenal of the good mother a little fumigator of the
most ingenious construction, the damp and dissolving vapor of which was
reserved for the letters humbly and modestly secured with wafers, thus
softened, they yielded to the least efforts, without any tearing of the
paper. According to the importance of the revelations, which she thus
gleaned from the writers of the letters, the superior took notes more or
less extensive. She was interrupted in this investigation by two gentle
taps at the bolted door. Mother Sainte-Perpetue immediately let down the
sliding cylinder of her cabinet, so as to cover the secret arsenal, and
went to open the door with a grave and solemn air. A lay sister came to
announce to her that the Princess de Saint-Dizier was waiting for her
in the parlor, and that Mdlle. Florine, accompanied by a young girl,
deformed and badly dressed, was waiting at the door of the little
corridor.
"Introduce the princess first," said Mother Sainte Perpetue. And, with
charming forethought, she drew an armchair to the fire. Mme. de Saint
Dizier entered.
Without pretensions to juvenile coquetry, still the princess was
tastefully and elegantly dressed. She wore a black velvet bonnet of the
most fashionable make, a large blue cashmere shawl, and a black satin
dress, trimmed with sable, to match the fur of her muff.
"To what good fortune am I again to-day indebted for the honor of your
visit, my dear daughter?" said the superior, graciously.
"A very important recommendation, my dear mother, though I am in a
great hurry. I am expected at the house of his Eminence, and have,
unfortunately, only a few minutes to spare. I have again to speak of the
two orphans who occupied our attention so long yesterday."
"They continue to be kept separate, according to your wish; and this
separation has had such an effect upon them that I have been obliged
to send this morning for Dr. Baleinier, from his asylum. He found much
fever joined to great depression, and, singular enough, absolutely the
same symptoms in both cases. I have again questioned these unfortunate
creatures, and have been quite confounded and terrified to find them
perfect heathens."
"It was, you see, very urgent to place them in your care. But to the
subject of my visit, my dear mother: we have just learned the unexpected
return of the soldier who brought these girls to France, and was thought
to be absent for some days; but he is in Paris, and, notwithstanding his
age, a man of extraordinary boldness, enterprise and energy. Should he
discover that the girls are here (which, however, is fortunately
almost impossible), in his rage at seeing them removed from his impious
influence, he would be capable of anything. Therefore let me entreat
you, my dear mother, to redouble your precautions, that no one may
effect an entrance by night. This quarter of the town is so deserted!"
"Be satisfied, my dear daughter; we are sufficiently guarded. Our porter
and gardeners, all well armed, make a round every night on the side
of the Boulevard de l'Hopital. The walls are high, and furnished with
spikes at the more accessible places. But I thank you, my dear daughter,
for having warned me. We will redouble our precautions."
"Particularly this night, my dear mother."
"Why so?"
"Because if this infernal soldier has the audacity to attempt such a
thing, it will be this very night."
"How do you know, my dear daughter?"
"We have information which makes us certain of it," replied the
princess, with a slight embarrassment, which did not escape the notice
of the Superior, though she was too crafty and reserved to appear to see
it; only she suspected that many things were concealed from her.
"This night, then," resumed Mother Sainte-Perpetue, "we will be more
than ever on our guard. But as I have the pleasure of seeing you, my
dear daughter, I will take the opportunity to say a word or two on the
subject of that marriage we mentioned."
"Yes, my dear mother," said the princess, hastily, "for it is very
important. The young Baron de Brisville is a man full of ardent devotion
in these times of revolutionary impiety; he practises openly, and is
able to render us great services. He is listened to in the Chamber, and
does not want for a sort of aggressive and provoking eloquence; I know
not any one whose tone is more insolent with regard to his faith, and
the plan is a good one, for this cavalier and open manner of speaking
of sacred things raises and excites the curiosity of the indifferent.
Circumstances are happily such that he may show the most audacious
violence towards our enemies, without the least danger to himself,
which, of course, redoubles his ardor as a would-be martyr. In a
word, he is altogether ours, and we, in return, must bring about this
marriage. You know, besides, my dear mother, that he proposes to offer
a donation of a hundred thousand francs to St. Mary's the day he gains
possession of the fortune of Mdlle. Baudricourt."
"I have never doubted the excellent intentions of M. de Brisville
with regard to an institution which merits the sympathy of all pious
persons," answered the superior, discreetly; "but I did not expect to
meet with so many obstacles on the part of the young lady."
"How is that?"
"This girl, whom I always believed a most simple, submissive, timid,
almost idiotic person--instead of being delighted with this proposal of
marriage, asks time to consider!"
"It is really pitiable!"
"She opposes to me an inert resistance. It is in vain for me to speak
severely, and tell her that, having no parents or friends, and being
absolutely confided to my care, she ought to see with my eyes, hear with
my ears, and when I affirm that this union is suitable in all respects,
give her adhesion to it without delay or reflection."
"No doubt. It would be impossible to speak more sensibly."
"She answers that she wishes to see M. de Brisville, and know his
character before being engaged."
"It is absurd--since you undertake to answer for his morality, and
esteem this a proper marriage."
"Therefore, I remarked to Mdlle. Baudricourt, this morning, that till
now I had only employed gentle persuasion, but that, if she forced me
to it, I should be obliged, in her own interest, to act with rigor, to
conquer so much obstinacy that I should have to separate her from her
companions, and to confine her closely in a cell, until she made up her
mind, after all, to consult her own happiness, and--marry an honorable
man."
"And these menaces, my dear mother?"
"Will, I hope, have a good effect. She kept up a correspondence with
an old school-friend in the country. I have put a stop to this, for it
appeared to me dangerous. She is now under my sole influence, and I hope
we shall attain our ends; but you see, my dear daughter, it is never
without crosses and difficulties that we succeed in doing good!"