Clarkson
- What do you mean?
Warner - World's Best Literature - v09 - Dra to Eme
One day I had
lost a large sum at play, - a hundred and fifty thousand francs,-
which I did not have, and tried in vain to procure; for at that
time I was completely ruined. Mrs. Clarkson very generously
lent me the sum, and I repaid it, with interest equivalent to the
capital.
Clarkson - But as you were ruined, duke, how could you pay
this large capital and this large interest ? Did your father or
mother die ? In France the death of parents is a great resource,
I know.
Septmonts — No. I was an orphan, and I had no expecta-
tions. I married.
Clarkson - Ah, true!
Ah, true! You French people make much of mar-
riages for money! It's a great advantage over us Americans,
who only marry for love. Now with us, in such a case as yours,
a man goes into some business or other; he goes to mining; he
works. But every country has its own customs.
I beg your
pardon for interrupting you. After all, it doesn't concern me.
Come back to our duel.
Septmonts — I have a letter here in my hands -
Clarkson Ah! You have a letter in your hands —
Septmonts - A letter which compromises my wife -
Clarkson - Ah! I am completely at your service. I belong
to the sort of men who do not admit any compromises in mat-
ters of that kind.
Septmonts -I may be killed - one has to look ahead. If I
lose my life, I lose it by having been so injured by my wife that
I intend to be revenged on her.
Clarkson And how ?
Septmonts — I wish that the contents of this letter, which I
have in my possession, shall become public property if I am
killed.
Clarkson [coldly) — Ah! And how can I serve you as to that ?
Septmonts - I will intrust this sealed letter to you. [He takes
the letter from his pocket. ] Here it is.
## p. 5034 (#202) ###########################################
5034
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
Clarkson [still more coldly] – Very well.
Septmonts — Now, if I survive, you will restore it to me as it
is. If not, then in the trial which will follow, you will read it
in a court. I wish the letters to become public. Then it will be
known that I avenged my honor under a feigned pretext; and M.
Gérard and the duchess will be so situated that they will never
be able to see each other again.
Clarkson Nonsense! Once dead, what does it matter to you?
Septmonts — I am firm there. Will you kindly accept the com-
mission ?
Clarkson [in a formal tone] — Surely.
Septmonts - Here is the letter.
Clarkson [takes it and holds it as he speaks] — Butduke,
now that I think about it, when this trial occurs it is probable,
even certain, that I shall not be in France. I was expecting
to leave Paris on business to-morrow morning at the latest. I
can wait until to-morrow evening to please you, and to help
you with this duel of yours; but that is really all the time I can
spare.
Septmonts - Very well; then you will have the goodness to
give this letter to Mrs. Clarkson with the instructions I have just
given you, and it will be in equally good hands.
Clarkson [looking at the letter] – All right. A blank envelope.
What is there to indicate that this letter was addressed to M.
Gérard ?
Septmonts - The envelope with his name on it is inside.
Clarkson - You found this letter?
Septmonts — I found it — before it was mailed.
Clarkson -- And as you had your suspicions you -- opened it?
Septmonts — Yes.
Clarkson - I beg your pardon for questioning you so, but you
yourself did me the honor to say that you wished me to be fully
informed. Do
you
know whether the sentiments between M.
Gérard and the duchess were of long standing ?
Septmonts — They date from before my marriage.
Clarkson [looking toward the apartment of the duchess] — Oh,
That is serious!
Septmonts — They loved each other, they wanted to marry
each other, but my wife's father would not consent.
Clarkson [reflectively] – M. Gérard wanted to marry her, did
he ?
I see.
## p. 5035 (#203) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5035
Septmonts - Yes; but when he learned that Mademoiselle
Mauriceau was a millionaire, as he had nothing and had no title
other than his plain name Gérard, he withdrew his pretensions.
Clarkson That was a very proper thing for the young man
to do. It doesn't surprise me!
Septmonts - Yes; but now, Mr. Clarkson, this young gentleman
has come back
Clarkson - And is too intimate a friend to your wife?
Septmonts — Ah, I do not say that!
Clarkson - What do you say, then ?
Septmonts — That as the letter in question gives that impres-
sion, the situation amounts to the same thing as far as a legal
process is concerned.
Clarkson [thoughtfully and coldly]-Oh-h-h!
Septmonts - Don't you agree with me, Mr. Clarkson ?
Clarkson - No, not at all.
No, not at all. I can understand revenge on those
who have injured us, but not on those who haven't done so.
And I don't like vengeance on a woman anyway, even when she
is guilty; and certainly not when she is innocent; and you owe
your wife a great deal — between ourselves, you owe your wife a
great deal, duke. I understand now why, for once, your father-
in-law M. Mauriceau sides with his daughter and M. Gérard
against you. He is sure they both are innocent. By-the-by, does
M. Mauriceau also know of this letter ?
Septmonts — Yes. He even tried to take it from me by force.
Clarkson Why did he not ke it?
Sept monts - Ah, because you see, I had the presence of mind
to tell him that I did not have it any longer — that I had sent it
to you!
Clarkson (ironically] — That was very clever!
Sept monts — And then when M. Gérard had challenged me, M.
Mauriceau thought he would make an impression by saying to
him before me, “I will be your second. ”
Clarkson - Well, is that the whole story?
Septmonts -- Yes.
Clarkson - Very well, my dear sir: to speak frankly, all those
people whom you characterize so slightingly seem to me the right
kind of people - excellent people. Your little wife seems to be
the victim of prejudices, of morals, and of combinations about
which we mere American savages don't know anything at all. In
our American society, which of course I can't compare with
## p. 5036 (#204) ###########################################
5036
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
yours, as we only date from yesterday,- if Mademoiselle Mau-
riceau had loved a fine young fellow like M. Gérard, her father
would have given her to the man she loved; or if he had refused
that, why she would have gone quite simply and been married
before the justice of the peace! Perhaps her father wouldn't
have portioned her; but then the husband would have worked,
gone into business, and the two young people would have been
happy all the same. As to your M. Gérard here, he is an honest
man and a clever one. We like people who work, we Americans,
and to whatever country they belong, we hold them as compatri-
ots — because we are such savages,
I
suppose. So you under-
stand that I don't at all share your opinion of this question.
Septmonts — And so speaking, you mean — ?
Clarkson - That if I give you this explanation, it is because I
think I understand that in paying me the honor of choosing me
as a second, you thought that the men of my country were less
clear-sighted, less scrupulous than the men of yours. In short,
duke, you thought I would lend my hand to all these social pet-
tinesses, these little vilenesses which you have just recounted with
a candor that honors you.
Septmonts-Do you happen to remember, Mr. Clarkson, that
you are talking to me - in this way?
Clarkson - To you. Because there are only two of us here!
But if you like, we will call in other people to listen.
Septmonts — Then, sir, you tell me to my face —
Clarkson - I tell you to your face that to squander your in-
heritance— to have gambled away money you did not have — to
borrow it from a woman without knowing when or how you
could return it — to marry in order to pay your debts and con-
tinue your dissipations— to revenge yourseif now on an innocent
woman – to steal letters — to misapply your skill in arms by kill-
ing a brave man — why, I tell you to your face that all that is
the work of a rascal, and that therefore a rascal you are. Oh,
what astonishes me is that fifty people haven't told you so
already, and that I have had to travel three thousand leagues
to inform you on the subject ! For you don't seem to have
ever suspected it, and you don't look thoroughly convinced even
now.
Septmonts [controlling himself with the greatest difficulty]-
Mr. Clarkson, you know that I cannot call you to account until
I have settled with your friend M. Gérard. You take a strange
## p. 5037 (#205) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5037
advantage of the fact, sir. But we shall meet again. Please re-
turn me the paper you have had from me.
Clarkson - Your wife's letter ? Never in the world! As it was
addressed to M. Gérard, it belongs to M. Gérard. I intend to
give it to M. Gérard. If he wants to return it to you, I won't
stand in the way; but I doubt whether he will return it.
Septmonts — You will fight me, then, you mean?
Clarkson — Oh! as for that; yes, fight as much as you like.
Septmonts - Very well; when I have finished with the other,
you and I will have our business together.
Clarkson - Say the day after to-morrow, then ?
Septmonts - The day after to-morrow.
Clarkson - Stop; I must start off by to-morrow night, at the
latest.
Septmonts -- You can wait. And while waiting, leave me!
Clarkson — Duke, do I look like a man to whom to say “leave”
in that tone, and who goes ? Now look at me; it isn't hard to
see what I have decided. I don't mean you to fight with Gérard
before you have fought with me. If Gérard kills you, I shan't
have the pleasure of crossing swords with “one of the first
fencers in Paris,” which it will amuse me to do.
If you kill
him, you cause irreparable misfortunes. If you think I'm going
to let you kill a man who has saved me twenty-five per cent. in
the cost of washing gold, you are mistaken! Come, prove you
are brave, even when you aren't sure of being the stronger! Go
and get a good pair of swords from your room (since the sword
is your favorite weapon - mine, too, for the matter of that), and
follow me to those great bare grounds back of your house. On
my way here I was wondering why in goodness's name they were
not utilized. In the heart of the city they must be worth a good
deal! We will prove it. As for seconds, umpires of the point
of honor, we'll have the people who pass by in the street - if
any do pass.
(Septmonts rushes in a fury toward the door, but when there stretches his
hand toneard the bell. Clarkson throws himself between him and the
bell. ]
Clarkson - Ah! no ringing, please! Don't play the Louis XV.
gentleman, and order your servants to cudgel a poor beggar! or
as sure as my name is Clarkson, I'll slap your face, sir, before
all your lackeys!
## p. 5038 (#206) ###########################################
5038
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
Septmonts - Very well, so be it! I will begin with you.
[Angrily hastens from the room for the weapons. ]
Clarkson - Quite right! [Looking coolly at his watch. ] Let me
see; why, perhaps I can get away from Paris this evening after
all. [He goes calmly out at the back toward the darkened garden. ]
(The Duchess of Septmonts has pulled aside the portière and looks toward
the door by which her husband and Mr. Clarkson have gone out. She
is very much agitated, and can hardly walk. She rings the bell, and
then makes an effort to appear calm. The servant comes in. ]
Catherine [tremulously, to the servant] — Ask my father to
come here, immediately. [The servant goes out. Catherine looks
toward the window and makes a movement to go to it. ] No, I
will not look out! I will not know anything! I do not know
anything; I have heard nothing; the minutes that that hand
marks upon the clock, no one knows what they say to me. One
of them will decide my life! Even if I had heard nothing,
things would take the turn that they have, and I should merely
be amazed in knowing of them. Instead of knowing nothing, I
have merely to remember nothing. But no, no,- I am trying in
vain to smother the voice of my own conscience! What I am
doing is wicked. From the moment that I have known anything
about this, I am an accomplice; and if one of these two men is
killed he has been killed with my consent. No, I cannot and
I will not. [She runs toward the door. As she docs So Mrs.
Clarkson enters hastily. ] You, you, madam!
Mrs. Clarkson — Were you not really expecting me to-day,
madam ? My husband sends me a note to say that you — and
he-wish to speak to me immediately.
Catherine - Madam, since Mr. Clarkson has written you, there
has occurred a thing which neither your husband, nor I, nor you
yourself could foresce.
Mrs.
Clarkson - What do you mean?
Catherine — While my husband the duke has been explaining
to Mr. Clarkson the reasons of the duel, — which you, you, madam,
have provoked, - your husband, who did not find these reasons
either sufficient or honorable, has undertaken to defend us
Gérard, yes, Gérard, and me, -- and so very forcibly, that at this
instant-
Mrs. Clarkson — They are fighting ?
Catherine — Yes, yes, only a few steps away from here!
## p. 5039 (#207) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5039
Mrs. Clarkson — Ah! That sounds like Clarkson! [She takes
a step toward the door. ]
Catherine — Madam, that duel must not go on.
Mrs. Clarkson - Why not?
Catherine - I will not permit these two men to lose their
lives on my account.
Mrs. Clarkson - You? What difference does it make to you?
They are not doing anything but what they chose to do. « Hands
off," as the officials at the gaming-tables say when the ball has
stopped rolling. You have wished to be free, haven't you ? and
you are perfectly right; you never said so to anybody, but you
begged it all the same of One who can do anything. He has
heard your prayer, and he has made use of me to save you; of
me, who have been anxious to destroy you! That is justice; and
do you think that I object
-I who am to be the loser ? In the
game that I play with Destiny, every time I make up my mind
that God is against me, I bow my head and throw up the game.
I don't fear any one except God. He is on your side.
Let us
talk no more about it.
He is very
[Just as she is speaking the last words, Clarkson comes in.
grave. ]
Mrs. Clarkson - See there. You are a widow.
Clarkson [to Mrs. Clarkson] — My dear Noémi, will you be so
kind as to hand that paper to our friend the duchess. She will
perhaps feel some embarrassment in taking it directly from my
hand — and it is a thing that must be returned to her. Such was
the last wish of her husband; he really did not have time to tell
me as much, but I fancy that I guess it right.
[Mrs. Clarkson calmly takes the letter and goes to Catherine. ]
Mrs. Clarkson - I once said to your friend M. Rémonin that
if I lost my game I would lose like one who plays fair. Madam,
it was through me that your marriage came to pass; and now it
is through me that your marriage—is dissolved. [Turning to
Clarkson. ] And now, Clarkson, my dear, let us get out of this.
You are a good and a brave fellow. I will go anywhere with
you. I have had enough of Europe - things here are too small.
Do you know, I really believe I am going to find myself in love
with you! Come, let us go! I am positively smothering.
Clarkson — Yes, let us go.
## p. 5040 (#208) ###########################################
5040
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
(At the moment that Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson are going out, servants and
police officials, accompanied by a commissioner of the police service,
appear in the door. Clarkson is pointed out. ]
Commissioner -- I beg your pardon, monsieur,- there seems to
have been a murder here.
Clarkson - Oh no, monsieur, not at all a murder -- only a duel.
Commissioner - And am I to understand, monsieur, that it is
you who
Clarkson - Oh yes, monsieur, it is I. You have come to take
me into custody ?
Commissioner — Yes, monsieur.
Clarkson — What a ridiculous country! I am ready to follow
you, monsieur. But I am an American citizen.
I shall give you
bail — but of course, the law before anything.
Mrs. Clarkson Reckon on me, Clarkson. I shall take charge
of this matter.
Clarkson How are you going to do that?
Mrs. Clarkson --Oh, that's my affair.
[Mrs. Clarkson crosses the stage and whispers a word to the commis-
sioner. The commissioner bows very respectfully. Mrs. Clarkson
goes out. ]
Commissioner [to Dr. Rémonin]- You are a doctor, monsieur ?
Rémonin - Yes, monsieur.
Commissioner — Will you have the goodness to give a certifi-
cate of death?
Rémonin [significantly) - With great pleasure!
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature, by E. Irenæus
Stevenson
## p. 5041 (#209) ###########################################
5041
GEORGE DU MAURIER
(1834-1896)
EORGE Louis PALMELLA BUSSON DU MAURIER was born in Paris
on March 6th, 1834, and his early life was passed there. His
father was a Frenchman, who had married an English woman
in Paris. The Du Mauriers came of an old family in Brittany, Du
Maurier's grandfather having been a small rentier, who derived his
living from glass-works. During Du Maurier's childhood his parents
removed to Belgium and thence to London. At seventeen years of age
he tried for a degree at the Sorbonne in Paris, but was not success-
ful; and he was put, much against his will,
to study chemistry under Dr. Williamson at
University College, London. Du Maurier's
father, whose characteristics are described
in Peter Ibbetson,' was an amateur of sci-
ence.
It has been hinted by the son that
certain unlucky experiments, which were
the result of the elder Du Maurier's fancy
for the natural sciences, considerably im-
paired the family fortunes. The father had
bent his heart on the son's being a man of
science, but the son's tastes were all for art.
He did therefore little good in his chemical
studies.
GEORGE DU MAURIER
Du Maurier's father died in 1856, and he
then devoted himself definitely to art. He worked at the British Mu-
seum, and made considerable progress there. He next went to Paris,
and lived the life which he has described in "Trilby. ' In 1857 he at-
tended the Academy at Antwerp, and studied under De Kaiser and
Van Lerius. His severe studies at Antwerp had the result that his
sight was seriously impaired, and he lost the use of his left eye.
After two years of enforced idleness he went to London to seek his
fortune. An old acquaintance of his student life in Paris introduced
him to Charles Reade, who in turn introduced him to Mark Lemon,
the editor of Punch. Through these acquaintances he obtained em-
ployment in drawing for Once a Week, Punch, and the Cornhill Maga-
zine. On the death of Leech in 1864 he was regularly attached to
the staff of Punch, and till the time of his death continued to work
IX-316
## p. 5042 (#210) ###########################################
5042
GEORGE DU MAURIER
for that periodical with ever-increasing success. It is not too much
to say that for many years Punch was chiefly and mainly Du Maurier.
He early marked out for himself an entirely new path, which was not
in the direction of caricature or broad comedy; grace, sentiment, and
wit, rather than fun, were the characteristics of his work.
He con-
fined himself almost entirely to society, so that his field was a nar-
rower one than that of some of his coadjutors. He had not, for
instance, the masculine breadth of Leech, who represented with great
strength and humor the chief characters of English life, — the parson,
the soldier, the merchant, the farmer, etc.
Du Maurier was almost entirely a carpet knight. He drew Lon-
don society, and a certain phase of London society. The particular
society which he represented is of very recent existence. Thirty
years ago there was but one society in London. This was simply the
ancient aristocratic society of England, which gathered in London in
the season. It is true that there was an artistic society in London
at that time, but it was quite apart and of little general recognition
or influence. But since then there has come up in London a society
made up chiefly of artists, professional people, and successful mer-
chants (having moreover its points of contact with the old society),
which is very strong and influential. It is this which Du Maurier
knew, and which he represented. Even here, however, the types he
has selected for description were very special. But they were pre-
sented with so much grace and charm that the public never tired of
them. To his type of woman he was especially faithful: the tall
woman with long throat and well-defined chin, much resembling the
figures of Burne-Jones and Rossetti, only somewhat more mundane.
We have the same woman in the heroine of "Trilby. '
Though Du Maurier, before beginning Peter Ibbetson, had never
written a book, he had had considerable literary experience, for he
is said to have spent as much time upon the construction of the dia-
logues which accompanied his pictures as upon the pictures them-
selves. The story of Peter Ibbetson? he had often related to his
friends, who had urged him to write it down. This he finally did, -
at the special instance, it is said, of Henry James. It appeared in
Harper's Magazine in 1891. Trilby) was published in 1894 in Har-
per's Magazine, and at once attained a great popular success. The
publishers estimate that about 250,000 copies of the book have been
sold. Du Maurier had sold the book outright for £2,000, but when it
became apparent that the work was to be a success, the publishers
admitted the author to a royalty, paying at one time $40,000. They
also shared with him the large sums paid for the dramatization of
the work. For The Martian, his last novel, he received £10,000
outright. This also was published in Harper's Magazine.
## p. 5043 (#211) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5043
It is perhaps too early to pass judgment upon the merits of these
works. They have, no doubt, grave faults. The story of Peter
Ibbetson) has been completed when it is but two-thirds told. The
remaining portion of the book is a dream. This is of course a dan-
gerous reversal of the usual method of the story-teller, which is to
make dreams seem like facts. The hypnotic part of Trilby) is said
by the professional authorities on the subject to be bad science. The
hypnotism in Trilby) was perhaps a journalist's idea, that subject
being much talked of at the time the book was written. ) Du Maurier,
it need hardly be said, was by training a journalist, although the
training had been of the pencil rather than of the pen. The literary
style of the novels is curious. It makes no pretensions to finish; the
grammar even is sometimes at fault. But on the other hand, it has
decided merits. It is particularly easy, Aowing, and simple. These
are not the qualities we should have expected from the nature of Du
Maurier's literary training. The brief dialogues which he has for so
many years appended to his sketches in Punch would have edu-
cated, we should have thought, the qualities of brevity and point
rather than those of ease and fullness, Certain peculiarities of the
style cannot be defended, but the author produces his effects in spite
of such solecisms. This is true of the matter of his stories as well
as of the style. They are at many points inartistically constructed:
but the stuff is good, and the works therefore hold their own in spite
of these drawbacks. >They certainly have one virtue, which is most
necessary to the success of any work of the imagination: they have
reality. We believe as we read, and continue to believe after we
have ceased reading, that the Major and Mimsey and Taffy and
Trilby are real persons. They are real to us because they have in
the first case been real to their creator. It is possible, however, that
the pictures which accompany the text may increase the strength of
the illusion.
No book, in recent years at any rate, has had so instantaneous
and prodigious a popular success as "Trilby Popularity is always
hard to explain with any certainty. It seems to be a quality in the
warp and woof of the mind of the man that has it. One condition
appears to be that he shall be in sympathy with the minds of the
mass of his fellow-beings. >There was such a sympathy in Du Mau-
rier's case; and to be more particular, his kindly and friendly enthu-
siasm was a quality to commend him to men. He had a power of
enjoying beauty in his fellow-beings. Then he had had a long edu.
cation in the qualities that make popularity. He had long studied
the art of pleasing. It is not improbable that in these novels, which
were intended for the American public, he may have played upon
certain of our national susceptibilities. We in this country like to
## p. 5044 (#212) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5044
have our literature taken seriously by the European. It may be that
Du Maurier may have had an inkling of this, for it is curious to note
how much of our poetry appears in these novels. Du Maurier had a
very nice taste in poetry, a genuine enthusiasm for it which it is
heartily to be wished were shared by all college professors of English
literature. Thus, he could not have chosen better lines than those
which Peter Ibbetson was in the habit of reciting to Mimsey, (The
Water-fowl' of Bryant, - perhaps the most perfect poem ever pro-
duced in this country,-a poem so beautifully carried,” as Matthew
Arnold once described it to the present writer. Poe's beautiful and
musical lines, written by him at fourteen, -Helen, thy beauty is to
me,' — are also made use of. We have a good deal of Longfellow and
other American writers. (Ben Bolt) is of course an American song.
These appeals to our national predilections may have influenced us.
But the interest and curiosity of our practical and hard-working
American public in the Bohemian art life of the Latin Quarter was
also, no doubt, a chief cause of the popularity of Trilby. '
Du Maurier did not live long to enjoy his success. He had always
been known to his friends as a sensitive man, this quality being
ascribed to ill health. Ill health was no doubt a chief cause of the
vexation with which he received certain comments upon his books,
in some cases inspired by envy of his success. Many of his recent
contributions to Punch have been at the expense of the unsuccessful
author, and have supported the thesis that ill success was not an
indubitable proof of genius. When Lord Wolseley asked him what
would be the title of his next novel, he said (Soured by Success. '
He died in London on October 8th, 1896.
AT THE HEART OF BOHEMIA
From Trilby) Copyright 1894, by Harper & Brothers
ND then — well, I happen to forget what sort of a day this
particular day turned into, about six of the clock.
If it was decently fine, the most of them went off to dine at
the Restaurant de la Couronne, kept by the Père Trin, in the
Rue de Monsieur, who gave you of his best to eat and drink for
twenty sols Parisis, or one franc in the coin of the empire.
Good distending soups, omelets that were only too savory, lentils,
red and white beans, meat so dressed and sauced and seasoned
that you didn't know whether it was beef or mutton, flesh, fowl,
or good red herring,— or even bad, for that matter,- nor very
greatly care.
## p. 5045 (#213) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5045
And just the same lettuce, radishes, and cheese of Gruyère or
Brie as you got at the Trois Frères Provençaux (but not the
same butter! ). And to wash it all down, generous wine in
wooden brocs,” that stained a lovely æsthetic blue everything it
was spilled over.
And you hobnobbed with models, male and female, students
of law and medicine, painters and sculptors, workmen and blan-
chisseuses and grisettes, and found them very good company, and
most improving to your French, if your French was of the usual
British kind, and even to some of your manners, if these were
very British indeed.
And the evening was innocently wound
with billiards, cards, or dominoes at the Café du Luxembourg
opposite; or at the Théâtre du Luxembourg, in the Rue de
Madame, to see funny farces with screamingly droll Englishmen
in them; or still better, at the Jardin Bullier (la Closerie des
Lilas), to see the students dance the cancan, or try and dance it
yourself, which is not so easy as it seems; or best of all, at the
Théâtre de l'Odéon, to see Fechter and Madame Doche in the
Dame aux Camélias. '
Or if it were not only fine, but a Saturday afternoon into the
bargain, the Laird would put on a necktie and a few other neces-
sary things, and the three friends would walk arm-in-arm to
Taffy's hotel in the Rue de Seine, and wait outside till he had
made himself as presentable as the Laird, which did not take
very long. And then (Little Billee was always presentable) they
would, arm-in-arm, the huge Taffy in the middle, descend the
Rue de Seine and cross a bridge to the Cité, and have a look in
at the Morgue. Then back again to the quays on the Rive
Gauche by the Pont Neuf, to wend their way westward; now on
one side to look at the print and picture shops and the magasins
of bric-à-brac, and haply sometimes buy thereof, now on the
other to finger and cheapen the second-hand books for sale on
the parapet, and even pick one or two utterly unwanted bargains,
never to be read or opened again.
When they reached the Pont des Arts they would cross it,
stopping in the middle to look up the river towards the old Cité
and Notre Dame, eastward, and dream unutterable things and
try to utter them. Then turning westward, they would gaze at
the glowing sky and all it glowed upon — the corner of the Tui-
leries and the Louvre, the many bridges, the Chamber of Depu-
ties, the golden river narrowing its perspective and broadening
## p. 5046 (#214) ###########################################
5046
GEORGE DU MAURIER
its bed, as it went flowing and winding on its way between
Passy and Grenelle to St. Cloud, to Rouen, to the Havre, to
England perhaps — where they didn't want to be just then; and
they would try and express themselves to the effect that life was
uncommonly well worth living in that particular city at that par-
ticular time of the day and year and century, at that particular
epoch of their own mortal and uncertain lives.
Then, still arm-in-arm and chatting gayly, across the court-
yard of the Louvre, through gilded gates well guarded by reck-
less imperial Zouaves, up the arcaded Rue de Rivoli as far as
the Rue Castiglione, where they would stare with greedy eyes at
the window of the great corner pastry-cook, and marvel at the
beautiful assortment of bonbons, pralines, dragées, marrons glacés
saccharine, crystalline substances of all kinds and colors, as
charming to look at as an illumination; precious stones, delicately
frosted sweets, pearls and diamonds so arranged as to melt in
the mouth; especially, at this particular time of the year, the
monstrous Easter eggs of enchanting hue, enshrined like costly
jewels in caskets of satin and gold; and the Laird, who was well
read in his English classics and liked to show it, would opine
that they managed these things better in France. ”
Then across the street by a great gate into the Allée des
Feuillants, and up to the Place de la Concorde - to gaze, but
quite without base envy, at the smart people coming back from
the Bois de Boulogne. For even in Paris “carriage people have
a way of looking bored, of taking their pleasure sadly, of having
nothing to say to each other, as though the vibration of so many
wheels all rolling home the same way every afternoon had hyp-
notized them into silence, idiocy, and melancholia.
And our three musketeers of the brush would speculate on
the vanity of wealth and rank and fashion; on the satiety that
follows in the wake of self-indulgence and overtakes it; on the
weariness of the pleasures that become a toil - as if they knew
all about it, had found it all out for themselves, and nobody else
had ever found it out before!
Then they found out something else — namely, that the sting
of healthy appetite was becoming intolerable; so they would
betake themselves to an English eating-house in the Rue de la
Madeleine (on the left-hand side near the top), where they would
renovate their strength and their patriotism on British beef and
beer, and household bread, and bracing, biting, stinging yellow
## p. 5047 (#215) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5047
mustard, and horseradish, and noble apple-pie, and Cheshire
cheese; and get through as much of these in an hour or so as
they could for talking, talking, talking; such happy talk! as full
of sanguine hope and enthusiasm, of cocksure commendation or
condemnation of all painters, dead or alive, of modest but firm
belief in themselves and each other, as a Paris Easter egg is full
of sweets and pleasantness (for the young).
And then a stroll on the crowded, well-lighted boulevards,
and a bock at the café there, at a little three-legged marble table
right out on the genial asphalt pavement, still talking nineteen
to the dozen.
Then home by dark old silent streets and some deserted
bridge to their beloved Latin Quarter, the Morgue gleaming
cold and still and fatal in the pale lamplight, and Notre Dame
pricking up its watchful twin towers, which have looked down
for so many centuries on so many happy, sanguine, expansive
youths walking arm-in-arm by twos and threes, and forever talk-
ing, talking, talking.
lost a large sum at play, - a hundred and fifty thousand francs,-
which I did not have, and tried in vain to procure; for at that
time I was completely ruined. Mrs. Clarkson very generously
lent me the sum, and I repaid it, with interest equivalent to the
capital.
Clarkson - But as you were ruined, duke, how could you pay
this large capital and this large interest ? Did your father or
mother die ? In France the death of parents is a great resource,
I know.
Septmonts — No. I was an orphan, and I had no expecta-
tions. I married.
Clarkson - Ah, true!
Ah, true! You French people make much of mar-
riages for money! It's a great advantage over us Americans,
who only marry for love. Now with us, in such a case as yours,
a man goes into some business or other; he goes to mining; he
works. But every country has its own customs.
I beg your
pardon for interrupting you. After all, it doesn't concern me.
Come back to our duel.
Septmonts — I have a letter here in my hands -
Clarkson Ah! You have a letter in your hands —
Septmonts - A letter which compromises my wife -
Clarkson - Ah! I am completely at your service. I belong
to the sort of men who do not admit any compromises in mat-
ters of that kind.
Septmonts -I may be killed - one has to look ahead. If I
lose my life, I lose it by having been so injured by my wife that
I intend to be revenged on her.
Clarkson And how ?
Septmonts — I wish that the contents of this letter, which I
have in my possession, shall become public property if I am
killed.
Clarkson [coldly) — Ah! And how can I serve you as to that ?
Septmonts - I will intrust this sealed letter to you. [He takes
the letter from his pocket. ] Here it is.
## p. 5034 (#202) ###########################################
5034
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
Clarkson [still more coldly] – Very well.
Septmonts — Now, if I survive, you will restore it to me as it
is. If not, then in the trial which will follow, you will read it
in a court. I wish the letters to become public. Then it will be
known that I avenged my honor under a feigned pretext; and M.
Gérard and the duchess will be so situated that they will never
be able to see each other again.
Clarkson Nonsense! Once dead, what does it matter to you?
Septmonts — I am firm there. Will you kindly accept the com-
mission ?
Clarkson [in a formal tone] — Surely.
Septmonts - Here is the letter.
Clarkson [takes it and holds it as he speaks] — Butduke,
now that I think about it, when this trial occurs it is probable,
even certain, that I shall not be in France. I was expecting
to leave Paris on business to-morrow morning at the latest. I
can wait until to-morrow evening to please you, and to help
you with this duel of yours; but that is really all the time I can
spare.
Septmonts - Very well; then you will have the goodness to
give this letter to Mrs. Clarkson with the instructions I have just
given you, and it will be in equally good hands.
Clarkson [looking at the letter] – All right. A blank envelope.
What is there to indicate that this letter was addressed to M.
Gérard ?
Septmonts - The envelope with his name on it is inside.
Clarkson - You found this letter?
Septmonts — I found it — before it was mailed.
Clarkson -- And as you had your suspicions you -- opened it?
Septmonts — Yes.
Clarkson - I beg your pardon for questioning you so, but you
yourself did me the honor to say that you wished me to be fully
informed. Do
you
know whether the sentiments between M.
Gérard and the duchess were of long standing ?
Septmonts — They date from before my marriage.
Clarkson [looking toward the apartment of the duchess] — Oh,
That is serious!
Septmonts — They loved each other, they wanted to marry
each other, but my wife's father would not consent.
Clarkson [reflectively] – M. Gérard wanted to marry her, did
he ?
I see.
## p. 5035 (#203) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5035
Septmonts - Yes; but when he learned that Mademoiselle
Mauriceau was a millionaire, as he had nothing and had no title
other than his plain name Gérard, he withdrew his pretensions.
Clarkson That was a very proper thing for the young man
to do. It doesn't surprise me!
Septmonts - Yes; but now, Mr. Clarkson, this young gentleman
has come back
Clarkson - And is too intimate a friend to your wife?
Septmonts — Ah, I do not say that!
Clarkson - What do you say, then ?
Septmonts — That as the letter in question gives that impres-
sion, the situation amounts to the same thing as far as a legal
process is concerned.
Clarkson [thoughtfully and coldly]-Oh-h-h!
Septmonts - Don't you agree with me, Mr. Clarkson ?
Clarkson - No, not at all.
No, not at all. I can understand revenge on those
who have injured us, but not on those who haven't done so.
And I don't like vengeance on a woman anyway, even when she
is guilty; and certainly not when she is innocent; and you owe
your wife a great deal — between ourselves, you owe your wife a
great deal, duke. I understand now why, for once, your father-
in-law M. Mauriceau sides with his daughter and M. Gérard
against you. He is sure they both are innocent. By-the-by, does
M. Mauriceau also know of this letter ?
Septmonts — Yes. He even tried to take it from me by force.
Clarkson Why did he not ke it?
Sept monts - Ah, because you see, I had the presence of mind
to tell him that I did not have it any longer — that I had sent it
to you!
Clarkson (ironically] — That was very clever!
Sept monts — And then when M. Gérard had challenged me, M.
Mauriceau thought he would make an impression by saying to
him before me, “I will be your second. ”
Clarkson - Well, is that the whole story?
Septmonts -- Yes.
Clarkson - Very well, my dear sir: to speak frankly, all those
people whom you characterize so slightingly seem to me the right
kind of people - excellent people. Your little wife seems to be
the victim of prejudices, of morals, and of combinations about
which we mere American savages don't know anything at all. In
our American society, which of course I can't compare with
## p. 5036 (#204) ###########################################
5036
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
yours, as we only date from yesterday,- if Mademoiselle Mau-
riceau had loved a fine young fellow like M. Gérard, her father
would have given her to the man she loved; or if he had refused
that, why she would have gone quite simply and been married
before the justice of the peace! Perhaps her father wouldn't
have portioned her; but then the husband would have worked,
gone into business, and the two young people would have been
happy all the same. As to your M. Gérard here, he is an honest
man and a clever one. We like people who work, we Americans,
and to whatever country they belong, we hold them as compatri-
ots — because we are such savages,
I
suppose. So you under-
stand that I don't at all share your opinion of this question.
Septmonts — And so speaking, you mean — ?
Clarkson - That if I give you this explanation, it is because I
think I understand that in paying me the honor of choosing me
as a second, you thought that the men of my country were less
clear-sighted, less scrupulous than the men of yours. In short,
duke, you thought I would lend my hand to all these social pet-
tinesses, these little vilenesses which you have just recounted with
a candor that honors you.
Septmonts-Do you happen to remember, Mr. Clarkson, that
you are talking to me - in this way?
Clarkson - To you. Because there are only two of us here!
But if you like, we will call in other people to listen.
Septmonts — Then, sir, you tell me to my face —
Clarkson - I tell you to your face that to squander your in-
heritance— to have gambled away money you did not have — to
borrow it from a woman without knowing when or how you
could return it — to marry in order to pay your debts and con-
tinue your dissipations— to revenge yourseif now on an innocent
woman – to steal letters — to misapply your skill in arms by kill-
ing a brave man — why, I tell you to your face that all that is
the work of a rascal, and that therefore a rascal you are. Oh,
what astonishes me is that fifty people haven't told you so
already, and that I have had to travel three thousand leagues
to inform you on the subject ! For you don't seem to have
ever suspected it, and you don't look thoroughly convinced even
now.
Septmonts [controlling himself with the greatest difficulty]-
Mr. Clarkson, you know that I cannot call you to account until
I have settled with your friend M. Gérard. You take a strange
## p. 5037 (#205) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5037
advantage of the fact, sir. But we shall meet again. Please re-
turn me the paper you have had from me.
Clarkson - Your wife's letter ? Never in the world! As it was
addressed to M. Gérard, it belongs to M. Gérard. I intend to
give it to M. Gérard. If he wants to return it to you, I won't
stand in the way; but I doubt whether he will return it.
Septmonts — You will fight me, then, you mean?
Clarkson — Oh! as for that; yes, fight as much as you like.
Septmonts - Very well; when I have finished with the other,
you and I will have our business together.
Clarkson - Say the day after to-morrow, then ?
Septmonts - The day after to-morrow.
Clarkson - Stop; I must start off by to-morrow night, at the
latest.
Septmonts -- You can wait. And while waiting, leave me!
Clarkson — Duke, do I look like a man to whom to say “leave”
in that tone, and who goes ? Now look at me; it isn't hard to
see what I have decided. I don't mean you to fight with Gérard
before you have fought with me. If Gérard kills you, I shan't
have the pleasure of crossing swords with “one of the first
fencers in Paris,” which it will amuse me to do.
If you kill
him, you cause irreparable misfortunes. If you think I'm going
to let you kill a man who has saved me twenty-five per cent. in
the cost of washing gold, you are mistaken! Come, prove you
are brave, even when you aren't sure of being the stronger! Go
and get a good pair of swords from your room (since the sword
is your favorite weapon - mine, too, for the matter of that), and
follow me to those great bare grounds back of your house. On
my way here I was wondering why in goodness's name they were
not utilized. In the heart of the city they must be worth a good
deal! We will prove it. As for seconds, umpires of the point
of honor, we'll have the people who pass by in the street - if
any do pass.
(Septmonts rushes in a fury toward the door, but when there stretches his
hand toneard the bell. Clarkson throws himself between him and the
bell. ]
Clarkson - Ah! no ringing, please! Don't play the Louis XV.
gentleman, and order your servants to cudgel a poor beggar! or
as sure as my name is Clarkson, I'll slap your face, sir, before
all your lackeys!
## p. 5038 (#206) ###########################################
5038
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
Septmonts - Very well, so be it! I will begin with you.
[Angrily hastens from the room for the weapons. ]
Clarkson - Quite right! [Looking coolly at his watch. ] Let me
see; why, perhaps I can get away from Paris this evening after
all. [He goes calmly out at the back toward the darkened garden. ]
(The Duchess of Septmonts has pulled aside the portière and looks toward
the door by which her husband and Mr. Clarkson have gone out. She
is very much agitated, and can hardly walk. She rings the bell, and
then makes an effort to appear calm. The servant comes in. ]
Catherine [tremulously, to the servant] — Ask my father to
come here, immediately. [The servant goes out. Catherine looks
toward the window and makes a movement to go to it. ] No, I
will not look out! I will not know anything! I do not know
anything; I have heard nothing; the minutes that that hand
marks upon the clock, no one knows what they say to me. One
of them will decide my life! Even if I had heard nothing,
things would take the turn that they have, and I should merely
be amazed in knowing of them. Instead of knowing nothing, I
have merely to remember nothing. But no, no,- I am trying in
vain to smother the voice of my own conscience! What I am
doing is wicked. From the moment that I have known anything
about this, I am an accomplice; and if one of these two men is
killed he has been killed with my consent. No, I cannot and
I will not. [She runs toward the door. As she docs So Mrs.
Clarkson enters hastily. ] You, you, madam!
Mrs. Clarkson — Were you not really expecting me to-day,
madam ? My husband sends me a note to say that you — and
he-wish to speak to me immediately.
Catherine - Madam, since Mr. Clarkson has written you, there
has occurred a thing which neither your husband, nor I, nor you
yourself could foresce.
Mrs.
Clarkson - What do you mean?
Catherine — While my husband the duke has been explaining
to Mr. Clarkson the reasons of the duel, — which you, you, madam,
have provoked, - your husband, who did not find these reasons
either sufficient or honorable, has undertaken to defend us
Gérard, yes, Gérard, and me, -- and so very forcibly, that at this
instant-
Mrs. Clarkson — They are fighting ?
Catherine — Yes, yes, only a few steps away from here!
## p. 5039 (#207) ###########################################
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
5039
Mrs. Clarkson — Ah! That sounds like Clarkson! [She takes
a step toward the door. ]
Catherine — Madam, that duel must not go on.
Mrs. Clarkson - Why not?
Catherine - I will not permit these two men to lose their
lives on my account.
Mrs. Clarkson - You? What difference does it make to you?
They are not doing anything but what they chose to do. « Hands
off," as the officials at the gaming-tables say when the ball has
stopped rolling. You have wished to be free, haven't you ? and
you are perfectly right; you never said so to anybody, but you
begged it all the same of One who can do anything. He has
heard your prayer, and he has made use of me to save you; of
me, who have been anxious to destroy you! That is justice; and
do you think that I object
-I who am to be the loser ? In the
game that I play with Destiny, every time I make up my mind
that God is against me, I bow my head and throw up the game.
I don't fear any one except God. He is on your side.
Let us
talk no more about it.
He is very
[Just as she is speaking the last words, Clarkson comes in.
grave. ]
Mrs. Clarkson - See there. You are a widow.
Clarkson [to Mrs. Clarkson] — My dear Noémi, will you be so
kind as to hand that paper to our friend the duchess. She will
perhaps feel some embarrassment in taking it directly from my
hand — and it is a thing that must be returned to her. Such was
the last wish of her husband; he really did not have time to tell
me as much, but I fancy that I guess it right.
[Mrs. Clarkson calmly takes the letter and goes to Catherine. ]
Mrs. Clarkson - I once said to your friend M. Rémonin that
if I lost my game I would lose like one who plays fair. Madam,
it was through me that your marriage came to pass; and now it
is through me that your marriage—is dissolved. [Turning to
Clarkson. ] And now, Clarkson, my dear, let us get out of this.
You are a good and a brave fellow. I will go anywhere with
you. I have had enough of Europe - things here are too small.
Do you know, I really believe I am going to find myself in love
with you! Come, let us go! I am positively smothering.
Clarkson — Yes, let us go.
## p. 5040 (#208) ###########################################
5040
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JUNIOR
(At the moment that Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson are going out, servants and
police officials, accompanied by a commissioner of the police service,
appear in the door. Clarkson is pointed out. ]
Commissioner -- I beg your pardon, monsieur,- there seems to
have been a murder here.
Clarkson - Oh no, monsieur, not at all a murder -- only a duel.
Commissioner - And am I to understand, monsieur, that it is
you who
Clarkson - Oh yes, monsieur, it is I. You have come to take
me into custody ?
Commissioner — Yes, monsieur.
Clarkson — What a ridiculous country! I am ready to follow
you, monsieur. But I am an American citizen.
I shall give you
bail — but of course, the law before anything.
Mrs. Clarkson Reckon on me, Clarkson. I shall take charge
of this matter.
Clarkson How are you going to do that?
Mrs. Clarkson --Oh, that's my affair.
[Mrs. Clarkson crosses the stage and whispers a word to the commis-
sioner. The commissioner bows very respectfully. Mrs. Clarkson
goes out. ]
Commissioner [to Dr. Rémonin]- You are a doctor, monsieur ?
Rémonin - Yes, monsieur.
Commissioner — Will you have the goodness to give a certifi-
cate of death?
Rémonin [significantly) - With great pleasure!
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature, by E. Irenæus
Stevenson
## p. 5041 (#209) ###########################################
5041
GEORGE DU MAURIER
(1834-1896)
EORGE Louis PALMELLA BUSSON DU MAURIER was born in Paris
on March 6th, 1834, and his early life was passed there. His
father was a Frenchman, who had married an English woman
in Paris. The Du Mauriers came of an old family in Brittany, Du
Maurier's grandfather having been a small rentier, who derived his
living from glass-works. During Du Maurier's childhood his parents
removed to Belgium and thence to London. At seventeen years of age
he tried for a degree at the Sorbonne in Paris, but was not success-
ful; and he was put, much against his will,
to study chemistry under Dr. Williamson at
University College, London. Du Maurier's
father, whose characteristics are described
in Peter Ibbetson,' was an amateur of sci-
ence.
It has been hinted by the son that
certain unlucky experiments, which were
the result of the elder Du Maurier's fancy
for the natural sciences, considerably im-
paired the family fortunes. The father had
bent his heart on the son's being a man of
science, but the son's tastes were all for art.
He did therefore little good in his chemical
studies.
GEORGE DU MAURIER
Du Maurier's father died in 1856, and he
then devoted himself definitely to art. He worked at the British Mu-
seum, and made considerable progress there. He next went to Paris,
and lived the life which he has described in "Trilby. ' In 1857 he at-
tended the Academy at Antwerp, and studied under De Kaiser and
Van Lerius. His severe studies at Antwerp had the result that his
sight was seriously impaired, and he lost the use of his left eye.
After two years of enforced idleness he went to London to seek his
fortune. An old acquaintance of his student life in Paris introduced
him to Charles Reade, who in turn introduced him to Mark Lemon,
the editor of Punch. Through these acquaintances he obtained em-
ployment in drawing for Once a Week, Punch, and the Cornhill Maga-
zine. On the death of Leech in 1864 he was regularly attached to
the staff of Punch, and till the time of his death continued to work
IX-316
## p. 5042 (#210) ###########################################
5042
GEORGE DU MAURIER
for that periodical with ever-increasing success. It is not too much
to say that for many years Punch was chiefly and mainly Du Maurier.
He early marked out for himself an entirely new path, which was not
in the direction of caricature or broad comedy; grace, sentiment, and
wit, rather than fun, were the characteristics of his work.
He con-
fined himself almost entirely to society, so that his field was a nar-
rower one than that of some of his coadjutors. He had not, for
instance, the masculine breadth of Leech, who represented with great
strength and humor the chief characters of English life, — the parson,
the soldier, the merchant, the farmer, etc.
Du Maurier was almost entirely a carpet knight. He drew Lon-
don society, and a certain phase of London society. The particular
society which he represented is of very recent existence. Thirty
years ago there was but one society in London. This was simply the
ancient aristocratic society of England, which gathered in London in
the season. It is true that there was an artistic society in London
at that time, but it was quite apart and of little general recognition
or influence. But since then there has come up in London a society
made up chiefly of artists, professional people, and successful mer-
chants (having moreover its points of contact with the old society),
which is very strong and influential. It is this which Du Maurier
knew, and which he represented. Even here, however, the types he
has selected for description were very special. But they were pre-
sented with so much grace and charm that the public never tired of
them. To his type of woman he was especially faithful: the tall
woman with long throat and well-defined chin, much resembling the
figures of Burne-Jones and Rossetti, only somewhat more mundane.
We have the same woman in the heroine of "Trilby. '
Though Du Maurier, before beginning Peter Ibbetson, had never
written a book, he had had considerable literary experience, for he
is said to have spent as much time upon the construction of the dia-
logues which accompanied his pictures as upon the pictures them-
selves. The story of Peter Ibbetson? he had often related to his
friends, who had urged him to write it down. This he finally did, -
at the special instance, it is said, of Henry James. It appeared in
Harper's Magazine in 1891. Trilby) was published in 1894 in Har-
per's Magazine, and at once attained a great popular success. The
publishers estimate that about 250,000 copies of the book have been
sold. Du Maurier had sold the book outright for £2,000, but when it
became apparent that the work was to be a success, the publishers
admitted the author to a royalty, paying at one time $40,000. They
also shared with him the large sums paid for the dramatization of
the work. For The Martian, his last novel, he received £10,000
outright. This also was published in Harper's Magazine.
## p. 5043 (#211) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5043
It is perhaps too early to pass judgment upon the merits of these
works. They have, no doubt, grave faults. The story of Peter
Ibbetson) has been completed when it is but two-thirds told. The
remaining portion of the book is a dream. This is of course a dan-
gerous reversal of the usual method of the story-teller, which is to
make dreams seem like facts. The hypnotic part of Trilby) is said
by the professional authorities on the subject to be bad science. The
hypnotism in Trilby) was perhaps a journalist's idea, that subject
being much talked of at the time the book was written. ) Du Maurier,
it need hardly be said, was by training a journalist, although the
training had been of the pencil rather than of the pen. The literary
style of the novels is curious. It makes no pretensions to finish; the
grammar even is sometimes at fault. But on the other hand, it has
decided merits. It is particularly easy, Aowing, and simple. These
are not the qualities we should have expected from the nature of Du
Maurier's literary training. The brief dialogues which he has for so
many years appended to his sketches in Punch would have edu-
cated, we should have thought, the qualities of brevity and point
rather than those of ease and fullness, Certain peculiarities of the
style cannot be defended, but the author produces his effects in spite
of such solecisms. This is true of the matter of his stories as well
as of the style. They are at many points inartistically constructed:
but the stuff is good, and the works therefore hold their own in spite
of these drawbacks. >They certainly have one virtue, which is most
necessary to the success of any work of the imagination: they have
reality. We believe as we read, and continue to believe after we
have ceased reading, that the Major and Mimsey and Taffy and
Trilby are real persons. They are real to us because they have in
the first case been real to their creator. It is possible, however, that
the pictures which accompany the text may increase the strength of
the illusion.
No book, in recent years at any rate, has had so instantaneous
and prodigious a popular success as "Trilby Popularity is always
hard to explain with any certainty. It seems to be a quality in the
warp and woof of the mind of the man that has it. One condition
appears to be that he shall be in sympathy with the minds of the
mass of his fellow-beings. >There was such a sympathy in Du Mau-
rier's case; and to be more particular, his kindly and friendly enthu-
siasm was a quality to commend him to men. He had a power of
enjoying beauty in his fellow-beings. Then he had had a long edu.
cation in the qualities that make popularity. He had long studied
the art of pleasing. It is not improbable that in these novels, which
were intended for the American public, he may have played upon
certain of our national susceptibilities. We in this country like to
## p. 5044 (#212) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5044
have our literature taken seriously by the European. It may be that
Du Maurier may have had an inkling of this, for it is curious to note
how much of our poetry appears in these novels. Du Maurier had a
very nice taste in poetry, a genuine enthusiasm for it which it is
heartily to be wished were shared by all college professors of English
literature. Thus, he could not have chosen better lines than those
which Peter Ibbetson was in the habit of reciting to Mimsey, (The
Water-fowl' of Bryant, - perhaps the most perfect poem ever pro-
duced in this country,-a poem so beautifully carried,” as Matthew
Arnold once described it to the present writer. Poe's beautiful and
musical lines, written by him at fourteen, -Helen, thy beauty is to
me,' — are also made use of. We have a good deal of Longfellow and
other American writers. (Ben Bolt) is of course an American song.
These appeals to our national predilections may have influenced us.
But the interest and curiosity of our practical and hard-working
American public in the Bohemian art life of the Latin Quarter was
also, no doubt, a chief cause of the popularity of Trilby. '
Du Maurier did not live long to enjoy his success. He had always
been known to his friends as a sensitive man, this quality being
ascribed to ill health. Ill health was no doubt a chief cause of the
vexation with which he received certain comments upon his books,
in some cases inspired by envy of his success. Many of his recent
contributions to Punch have been at the expense of the unsuccessful
author, and have supported the thesis that ill success was not an
indubitable proof of genius. When Lord Wolseley asked him what
would be the title of his next novel, he said (Soured by Success. '
He died in London on October 8th, 1896.
AT THE HEART OF BOHEMIA
From Trilby) Copyright 1894, by Harper & Brothers
ND then — well, I happen to forget what sort of a day this
particular day turned into, about six of the clock.
If it was decently fine, the most of them went off to dine at
the Restaurant de la Couronne, kept by the Père Trin, in the
Rue de Monsieur, who gave you of his best to eat and drink for
twenty sols Parisis, or one franc in the coin of the empire.
Good distending soups, omelets that were only too savory, lentils,
red and white beans, meat so dressed and sauced and seasoned
that you didn't know whether it was beef or mutton, flesh, fowl,
or good red herring,— or even bad, for that matter,- nor very
greatly care.
## p. 5045 (#213) ###########################################
GEORGE DU MAURIER
5045
And just the same lettuce, radishes, and cheese of Gruyère or
Brie as you got at the Trois Frères Provençaux (but not the
same butter! ). And to wash it all down, generous wine in
wooden brocs,” that stained a lovely æsthetic blue everything it
was spilled over.
And you hobnobbed with models, male and female, students
of law and medicine, painters and sculptors, workmen and blan-
chisseuses and grisettes, and found them very good company, and
most improving to your French, if your French was of the usual
British kind, and even to some of your manners, if these were
very British indeed.
And the evening was innocently wound
with billiards, cards, or dominoes at the Café du Luxembourg
opposite; or at the Théâtre du Luxembourg, in the Rue de
Madame, to see funny farces with screamingly droll Englishmen
in them; or still better, at the Jardin Bullier (la Closerie des
Lilas), to see the students dance the cancan, or try and dance it
yourself, which is not so easy as it seems; or best of all, at the
Théâtre de l'Odéon, to see Fechter and Madame Doche in the
Dame aux Camélias. '
Or if it were not only fine, but a Saturday afternoon into the
bargain, the Laird would put on a necktie and a few other neces-
sary things, and the three friends would walk arm-in-arm to
Taffy's hotel in the Rue de Seine, and wait outside till he had
made himself as presentable as the Laird, which did not take
very long. And then (Little Billee was always presentable) they
would, arm-in-arm, the huge Taffy in the middle, descend the
Rue de Seine and cross a bridge to the Cité, and have a look in
at the Morgue. Then back again to the quays on the Rive
Gauche by the Pont Neuf, to wend their way westward; now on
one side to look at the print and picture shops and the magasins
of bric-à-brac, and haply sometimes buy thereof, now on the
other to finger and cheapen the second-hand books for sale on
the parapet, and even pick one or two utterly unwanted bargains,
never to be read or opened again.
When they reached the Pont des Arts they would cross it,
stopping in the middle to look up the river towards the old Cité
and Notre Dame, eastward, and dream unutterable things and
try to utter them. Then turning westward, they would gaze at
the glowing sky and all it glowed upon — the corner of the Tui-
leries and the Louvre, the many bridges, the Chamber of Depu-
ties, the golden river narrowing its perspective and broadening
## p. 5046 (#214) ###########################################
5046
GEORGE DU MAURIER
its bed, as it went flowing and winding on its way between
Passy and Grenelle to St. Cloud, to Rouen, to the Havre, to
England perhaps — where they didn't want to be just then; and
they would try and express themselves to the effect that life was
uncommonly well worth living in that particular city at that par-
ticular time of the day and year and century, at that particular
epoch of their own mortal and uncertain lives.
Then, still arm-in-arm and chatting gayly, across the court-
yard of the Louvre, through gilded gates well guarded by reck-
less imperial Zouaves, up the arcaded Rue de Rivoli as far as
the Rue Castiglione, where they would stare with greedy eyes at
the window of the great corner pastry-cook, and marvel at the
beautiful assortment of bonbons, pralines, dragées, marrons glacés
saccharine, crystalline substances of all kinds and colors, as
charming to look at as an illumination; precious stones, delicately
frosted sweets, pearls and diamonds so arranged as to melt in
the mouth; especially, at this particular time of the year, the
monstrous Easter eggs of enchanting hue, enshrined like costly
jewels in caskets of satin and gold; and the Laird, who was well
read in his English classics and liked to show it, would opine
that they managed these things better in France. ”
Then across the street by a great gate into the Allée des
Feuillants, and up to the Place de la Concorde - to gaze, but
quite without base envy, at the smart people coming back from
the Bois de Boulogne. For even in Paris “carriage people have
a way of looking bored, of taking their pleasure sadly, of having
nothing to say to each other, as though the vibration of so many
wheels all rolling home the same way every afternoon had hyp-
notized them into silence, idiocy, and melancholia.
And our three musketeers of the brush would speculate on
the vanity of wealth and rank and fashion; on the satiety that
follows in the wake of self-indulgence and overtakes it; on the
weariness of the pleasures that become a toil - as if they knew
all about it, had found it all out for themselves, and nobody else
had ever found it out before!
Then they found out something else — namely, that the sting
of healthy appetite was becoming intolerable; so they would
betake themselves to an English eating-house in the Rue de la
Madeleine (on the left-hand side near the top), where they would
renovate their strength and their patriotism on British beef and
beer, and household bread, and bracing, biting, stinging yellow
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GEORGE DU MAURIER
5047
mustard, and horseradish, and noble apple-pie, and Cheshire
cheese; and get through as much of these in an hour or so as
they could for talking, talking, talking; such happy talk! as full
of sanguine hope and enthusiasm, of cocksure commendation or
condemnation of all painters, dead or alive, of modest but firm
belief in themselves and each other, as a Paris Easter egg is full
of sweets and pleasantness (for the young).
And then a stroll on the crowded, well-lighted boulevards,
and a bock at the café there, at a little three-legged marble table
right out on the genial asphalt pavement, still talking nineteen
to the dozen.
Then home by dark old silent streets and some deserted
bridge to their beloved Latin Quarter, the Morgue gleaming
cold and still and fatal in the pale lamplight, and Notre Dame
pricking up its watchful twin towers, which have looked down
for so many centuries on so many happy, sanguine, expansive
youths walking arm-in-arm by twos and threes, and forever talk-
ing, talking, talking.
