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The Commission in Lunacy-Part8_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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whether the petitioner may not have been prompted by passion, by a

desire for money, which is unfortunately too common----"



The Marquise was on Saint Laurence's gridiron.

"And I must have explanations on this point. Madame, I have no wish to



call you to account; I only want to know how you have managed to live

at the rate of sixty thousand francs a year, and that for some years



past. There are plenty of women who achieve this in their

housekeeping, but you are not one of those. Tell me, you may have the



most legitimate resources, a royal pension, or some claim on the

indemnities lately granted; but even then you must have had your



husband's authority to receive them."

The Marquise did not speak.



"You must remember," Popinot went on, "that M. d'Espard may wish to

enter a protest, and his counsel will have a right to find out whether



you have any creditors. This boudoir is newly furnished, your rooms

are not now furnished with the things left to you by M. d'Espard in



1816. If, as you did me the honor of informing me, furniture is costly

for the Jeanrenauds, it must be yet more so for you, who are a great



lady. Though I am a judge, I am but a man; I may be wrong--tell me so.

Remember the duties imposed on me by the law, and the rigorous



inquiries it demands, when the case before it is the suspension from

all his functions of the father of a family in the prime of life. So



you will pardon me, Madame la Marquise, for laying all these

difficulties before you; it will be easy for you to give me an



explanation.

"When a man is pronouncedincapable of the control of his own affairs,



a trustee has to be appointed. Who will be the trustee?"

"His brother," said the Marquise.



The Chevalier bowed. There was a short silence, very uncomfortable for

the five persons who were present. The judge, in sport as it were, had



laid open the woman's sore place. Popinot's countenance of common,

clumsy good-nature, at which the Marquise, the Chevalier, and



Rastignac had been inclined to laugh, had gained importance in their

eyes. As they stole a look at him, they discerned the various



expressions of that eloquent mouth. The ridiculousmortal was a judge

of acumen. His studious notice of the boudoir was accounted for: he



had started from the gilt elephant supporting the chimney-clock,

examining all this luxury, and had ended by reading this woman's soul.



"If the Marquis d'Espard is mad about China, I see that you are not

less fond of its products," said Popinot, looking at the porcelain on



the chimney-piece. "But perhaps it was from M. le Marquis that you had

these charming Oriental pieces," and he pointed to some precious



trifles.

This irony, in very good taste, made Bianchon smile, and petrified



Rastignac, while the Marquise bit her thin lips.

"Instead of being the protector of a woman placed in a cruel dilemma--



an alternative between losing her fortune and her children, and being

regarded as her husband's enemy," she said, "you accuse me, monsieur!



You suspect my motives! You must own that your conduct is strange!"

"Madame," said the judge eagerly, "the caution exercised by the Court



in such cases as these might have given you, in any other judge, a

perhaps less indulgent critic than I am.--And do you suppose that M.



d'Espard's lawyer will show you any great consideration? Will he not

be suspicious of motives which may be perfectly pure and



disinterested? Your life will be at his mercy; he will inquire into it

without qualifying his search by the respectful deference I have for



you."

"I am much obliged to you, monsieur," said the Marquise satirically.



"Admitting for the moment that I owe thirty thousand or fifty thousand

francs, in the first place, it would be a mere trifle to the d'Espards



and the Blamont-Chauvrys. But if my husband is not in the possession

of his mental faculties, would that prevent his being pronounced



incapable?"

"No, madame," said Popinot.



"Although you have questioned me with a sort of cunning which I should

not have suspected in a judge, and under circumstances where



straightforwardness would have answered your purpose," she went on, "I

will tell you without subterfuge that my position in the world, and



the efforts I have to make to keep up my connection, are not in the

least to my taste. I began my life by a long period of solitude; but



my children's interest appealed to me; I felt that I must fill their




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