the vague presence of approaching disaster. But after breakfast, when

his friends gathered round him before a comfortable fire, Birotteau
naively related the history of his troubles. His hearers, who were

beginning to weary of the monotony of a country-house, were keenly
interested in a plot so thoroughly in keeping with the life of the

provinces. They all took sides with the abbe against the old maid.
"Don't you see, my dear friend," said Madame de Listomere, "that the

Abbe Troubert wants your apartment?"
Here the historian ought to sketch this lady; but it occurs to him

that even those who are ignorant of Sterne's system of "cognomology,"
cannot pronounce the three words "Madame de Listomere" without

picturing her to themselves as noble and dignified, softening the
sternness of rigid devotion by the graciouselegance and the courteous

manners of the old monarchical regime; kind, but a little stiff;
slightly nasal in voice; allowing herself the perusal of "La Nouvelle

Heloise"; and still wearing her own hair.
"The Abbe Birotteau must not yield to that old vixen," cried Monsieur

de Listomere, a lieutenant in the navy who was spending a furlough
with his aunt. "If the vicar has pluck and will follow my suggestions

he will soon recover his tranquillity."
All present began to analyze the conduct of Mademoiselle Gamard with

the keen perceptions which characterize" target="_blank" title="v.描绘；具有...特征">characterize provincials, to whom no one
can deny the talent of knowing how to lay bare the most secret motives

of human actions.
"You don't see the whole thing yet," said an old landowner who knew

the region well. "There is something serious behind all this which I
can't yet make out. The Abbe Troubert is too deep to be fathomed at

once. Our dear Birotteau is at the beginning of his troubles. Besides,
would he be left in peace and comfort even if he did give up his

lodging to Troubert? I doubt it. If Caron came here to tell you that
you intended to leave Mademoiselle Gamard," he added, turning to the

bewildered priest, "no doubt Mademoiselle Gamard's intention is to
turn you out. Therefore you will have to go, whether you like it or

not. Her sort of people play a sure game, they risk nothing."
This old gentleman, Monsieur de Bourbonne, could sum up and estimate

provincial ideas as correctly as Voltaire summarized the spirit of his
times. He was thin and tall, and chose to exhibit in the matter of

clothes the quiet indifference of a landowner whose territorial value
is quoted in the department. His face, tanned by the Touraine sun, was

less intellectual than shrewd. Accustomed to weigh his words and
measure his actions, he concealed a profoundvigilance behind a

misleading appearance of simplicity. A very slight observation of him
sufficed to show that, like a Norman peasant, he invariably held the

upper hand in business matters. He was an authority on wine-making,
the leading science of Touraine. He had managed to extend the meadow

lands of his domain by taking in a part of the alluvial soil of the
Loire without getting into difficulties with the State. This clever

proceeding gave him the reputation of a man of talent. If Monsieur de
Bourbonne's conversation pleased you and you were to ask who he was of

a Tourainean, "Ho! a sly old fox!" would be the answer of those who
were envious of him--and they were many. In Touraine, as in many of

the provinces, jealousy is the root of language.
Monsieur de Bourbonne's remark occasioned a momentary silence, during

which the persons who composed the little party seemed to be
reflecting. Meanwhile Mademoiselle Salomon de Villenoix was announced.

She came from Tours in the hope of being useful to the poor abbe, and
the news she brought completely changed the aspect of the affair. As

she entered, every one except Monsieur de Bourbonne was urging
Birotteau to hold his own against Troubert and Gamard, under the

auspices of the aristocractic society of the place, which would
certainly stand by him.

"The vicar-general, to whom the appointments to office are entrusted,
is very ill," said Mademoiselle Salomon, "and the archbishop has

delegated his powers to the Abbe Troubert provisionally. The canonry
will, of course, depend wholly upon him. Now last evening, at

Mademoiselle de la Blottiere's the Abbe Poirel talked about the
annoyances which the Abbe Birotteau had inflicted on Mademoiselle

Gamard, as though he were trying to cast all the blame on our good
abbe. 'The Abbe Birotteau,' he said, 'is a man to whom the Abbe

Chapeloud was absolutely necessary, and since the death of that
venerable man, he has shown'--and then came suggestions, calumnies!

you understand?"
"Troubert will be made vicar-general," said Monsieur de Bourbonne,

sententiously.
"Come!" cried Madame de Listomere, turning to Birotteau, "which do you

prefer, to be made a canon, or continue to live with Mademoiselle
Gamard?"

"To be a canon!" cried the whole company.
"Well, then," resumed Madame de Listomere, "you must let the Abbe

Troubert and Mademoiselle Gamard have things their own way. By sending
Caron here they mean to let you know indirectly that if you consent to

leave the house you shall be made canon,--one good turn deserves
another."

Every one present applauded Madame de Listomere's sagacity, except her
nephew the Baron de Listomere, who remarked in a comic tone to

Monsieur de Bourbonne, "I would like to have seen a fight between the
Gamard and the Birotteau."

But, unhappily for the vicar, forces were not equal between these
persons of the best society and the old maid supported by the Abbe

Troubert. The time soon came when the struggle developed openly, went
on increasing, and finally assumed immense proportions. By the advice

of Madame de Listomere and most of her friends, who were now eagerly
enlisted in a matter which threw such excitement into their vapid

provincial lives, a servant was sent to bring back Monsieur Caron. The
lawyer returned with surprising celerity, which alarmed no one but

Monsieur de Bourbonne.
"Let us postpone all decision until we are better informed," was the

advice of that Fabius in a dressing-gown, whose prudent reflections
revealed to him the meaning of these moves on the Tourainean chess-

board. He tried to enlighten Birotteau on the dangers of his position;
but the wisdom of the old "sly-boots" did not serve the passions of

the moment, and he obtained but little attention.
The conference between the lawyer and Birotteau was short. The vicar

came back quite terrified.
"He wants me to sign a paper stating my relinquishment of domicile."

"That's formidable language!" said the naval lieutenant.
"What does it mean?" asked Madame de Listomere.

"Merely that the abbe must declare in writing his intention of leaving
Mademoiselle Gamard's house," said Monsieur de Bourbonne, taking a

pinch of snuff.
"Is that all?" said Madame de Listomere. "Then sign it at once," she

added, turning to Birotteau. "If you positively decide to leave her
house, there can be no harm in declaring that such is your will."

Birotteau's will!
"That is true," said Monsieur de Bourbonne, closing his snuff-box with

a gesture the significance of which it is impossible to render, for it
was a language in itself. "But writing is always dangerous," he added,

putting his snuff-box on the mantelpiece with an air and manner that
alarmed the vicar.

Birotteau was so bewildered by the upsetting of all his ideas, by the
rapidity of events which found him defenceless, by the ease with which

his friends were settling the most cherished matters of his solitary
life, that he remained silent and motionless as if moonstruck,

thinking of nothing, though listening and striving to understand the
meaning of the rapid sentences the assembled company addressed to him.

He took the paper Monsieur Caron had given him and read it, as if he
were giving his mind to the lawyer's document, but the act was merely

mechanical. He signed the paper, by which he declared that he left
Mademoiselle Gamard's house of his own wish and will, and that he had

been fed and lodged while there according to the terms originally
agreed upon. When the vicar had signed the document, Monsieur Caron

took it and asked where his client was to send the things left by the
abbe in her house and belonging to him. Birotteau replied that they

could be sent to Madame de Listomere's,--that lady making him a sign
that she would receive him, never doubting that he would soon be a

canon. Monsieur de Bourbonne asked to see the paper, the deed of
relinquishment, which the abbe had just signed. Monsieur Caron gave it

to him.