Les Misérables. Виктор Мари Гюго

In short, where the Roman ladies repaired on one single night. What

      shall I say to you? I have Romans, and Roman ladies [here occurs an

      illegible word], and the whole train. Madam Magloire has cleaned it all

      off; this summer she is going to have some small injuries repaired, and

      the whole revarnished, and my chamber will be a regular museum. She has

      also found in a corner of the attic two wooden pier-tables of ancient

      fashion. They asked us two crowns of six francs each to regild them, but

      it is much better to give the money to the poor; and they are very ugly

      besides, and I should much prefer a round table of mahogany.

      I am always very happy. My brother is so good. He gives all he has to

      the poor and sick. We are very much cramped. The country is trying in

      the winter, and we really must do something for those who are in need.

      We are almost comfortably lighted and warmed. You see that these are

      great treats.

      My brother has ways of his own. When he talks, he says that a bishop

      ought to be so. Just imagine! the door of our house is never fastened.

      Whoever chooses to enter finds himself at once in my brother’s room. He

      fears nothing, even at night. That is his sort of bravery, he says.

      He does not wish me or Madame Magloire feel any fear for him. He exposes

      himself to all sorts of dangers, and he does not like to have us even

      seem to notice it. One must know how to understand him.

      He goes out in the rain, he walks in the water, he travels in winter. He

      fears neither suspicious roads nor dangerous encounters, nor night.

      Last year he went quite alone into a country of robbers. He would

      not take us. He was absent for a fortnight. On his return nothing had

      happened to him; he was thought to be dead, but was perfectly well, and

      said, “This is the way I have been robbed!” And then he opened a trunk

      full of jewels, all the jewels of the cathedral of Embrun, which the

      thieves had given him.

      When he returned on that occasion, I could not refrain from scolding him

      a little, taking care, however, not to speak except when the carriage

      was making a noise, so that no one might hear me.

      At first I used to say to myself, “There are no dangers which will stop

      him; he is terrible.” Now I have ended by getting used to it. I make a

      sign to Madam Magloire that she is not to oppose him. He risks himself

      as he sees fit. I carry off Madam Magloire, I enter my chamber, I pray

      for him and fall asleep. I am at ease, because I know that if anything

      were to happen to him, it would be the end of me. I should go to the

      good God with my brother and my bishop. It has cost Madam Magloire

      more trouble than it did me to accustom herself to what she terms his

      imprudences. But now the habit has been acquired. We pray together, we

      tremble together, and we fall asleep. If the devil were to enter this

      house, he would be allowed to do so. After all, what is there for us

      to fear in this house? There is always some one with us who is stronger

      than we. The devil may pass through it, but the good God dwells here.

      This suffices me. My brother has no longer any need of saying a word to

      me. I understand him without his speaking, and we abandon ourselves to

      the care of Providence. That is the way one has to do with a man who

      possesses grandeur of soul.

      I have interrogated my brother with regard to the information which you

      desire on the subject of the Faux family. You are aware that he knows

      everything, and that he has memories, because he is still a very

      good royalist. They really are a very ancient Norman family of the

      generalship of Caen. Five hundred years ago there was a Raoul de Faux, a

      Jean de Faux, and a Thomas de Faux, who were gentlemen, and one of whom

      was a seigneur de Rochefort. The last was Guy-Étienne-Alexandre, and was

      commander of a regiment, and something in the light horse of Bretagne.

      His daughter, Marie-Louise, married Adrien-Charles de Gramont, son of

      the Duke Louis de Gramont, peer of France, colonel of the French guards,

      and lieutenant-general of the army. It is written Faux, Fauq, and

      Faoucq.

      Good Madame, recommend us to the prayers of your sainted relative,

      Monsieur the Cardinal. As for your dear Sylvanie, she has done well in

      not wasting the few moments which she passes with you in writing to me.

      She is well, works as you would wish, and loves me.

      That is all that I desire. The souvenir which she sent through you

      reached me safely, and it makes me very happy. My health is not so very

      bad, and yet I grow thinner every day. Farewell; my paper is at an end,

      and this forces me to leave you. A thousand good wishes.

      BAPTISTINE.

      P.S. Your grand nephew is charming. Do you know that he will soon be

      five years old? Yesterday he saw some one riding by on horseback who

      had on knee-caps, and he said, “What has he got on his knees?” He is a

      charming child! His little brother is dragging an old broom about the

      room, like a carriage, and saying, “Hu!”

      As will be perceived from this letter, these two women understood how to mould themselves to the Bishop’s ways with that special feminine genius which comprehends the man better than he comprehends himself. The Bishop of D——, in spite of the gentle and candid air which never deserted him, sometimes did things that were grand, bold, and magnificent, without seeming to have even a suspicion of the fact. They trembled, but they let him alone. Sometimes Madame Magloire essayed a remonstrance in advance, but never at the time, nor afterwards. They never interfered with him by so much as a word or sign, in any action once entered upon. At certain moments, without his having occasion to mention it, when he was not even conscious of it himself in all probability, so perfect was his simplicity, they vaguely felt that he was acting as a bishop; then they were nothing more than two shadows in the house. They served him passively; and if obedience consisted in disappearing, they disappeared. They understood, with an admirable delicacy of instinct, that certain cares may be put under constraint. Thus, even when believing him to be in peril, they understood, I will not say his thought, but his nature, to such a degree that they no longer watched over him. They confided him to God.

      Moreover, Baptistine said, as we have just read, that her brother’s end would prove her own. Madame Magloire did not say this, but she knew it.

       CHAPTER X—THE BISHOP IN THE PRESENCE OF AN UNKNOWN LIGHT

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