The Celibates Part 66

"How much money must a man have to marry a demoiselle de Grandlieu?"

asked Philippe of de Marsay.

"You? They wouldn't give you the ugliest of the six for less than ten millions," answered de Marsay insolently.

"Bah!" said Rastignac. "With an income of two hundred thousand francs you can have Mademoiselle de Langeais, the daughter of the marquis; she is thirty years old, and ugly, and she hasn't a sou; that ought to suit you."

"I shall have ten millions two years from now," said Philippe Bridau.

"It is now the 16th of January, 1829," cried du Tillet, laughing. "I have been hard at work for ten years and I have not made as much as that yet."

"We'll take counsel of each other," said Bridau; "you shall see how well I understand finance."

"How much do you really own?" asked Nucingen.

"Three millions, excluding my house and my estate, which I shall not sell; in fact, I cannot, for the property is now entailed and goes with the t.i.tle."

Nucingen and du Tillet looked at each other; after that sly glance du Tillet said to Philippe, "My dear count, I shall be delighted to do business with you."

De Marsay intercepted the look du Tillet had exchanged with Nucingen, and which meant, "We will have those millions." The two bank magnates were at the centre of political affairs, and could, at a given time, manipulate matters at the Bourse, so as to play a sure game against Philippe, when the probabilities might all seem for him and yet be secretly against him.

The occasion came. In July, 1830, du Tillet and Nucingen had helped the Comte de Brambourg to make fifteen hundred thousand francs; he could therefore feel no distrust of those who had given him such good advice. Philippe, who owed his rise to the Restoration, was misled by his profound contempt for "civilians"; he believed in the triumph of the Ordonnances, and was bent on playing for a rise; du Tillet and Nucingen, who were sure of a revolution, played against him for a fall. The crafty pair confirmed the judgment of the Comte de Brambourg and seemed to share his convictions; they encouraged his hopes of doubling his millions, and apparently took steps to help him. Philippe fought like a man who had four millions depending on the issue of the struggle. His devotion was so noticeable, that he received orders to go to Saint-Cloud with the Duc de Maufrigneuse and attend a council.

This mark of favor probably saved Philippe's life; for when the order came, on the 25th of July, he was intending to make a charge and sweep the boulevards, when he would undoubtedly have been shot down by his friend Giroudeau, who commanded a division of the a.s.sailants.

A month later, nothing was left of Colonel Bridau's immense fortune but his house and furniture, his estates, and the pictures which had come from Issoudun. He committed the still further folly, as he said himself, of believing in the restoration of the elder branch, to which he remained faithful until 1834. The not imcomprehensible jealousy Philippe felt on seeing Giroudeau a colonel drove him to re-enter the service. Unluckily for himself, he obtained, in 1835, the command of a regiment in Algiers, where he remained three years in a post of danger, always hoping for the epaulets of a general. But some malignant influence--that, in fact, of General Giroudeau,--continually balked him. Grown hard and brutal, Philippe exceeded the ordinary severity of the service, and was hated, in spite of his bravery a la Murat.

At the beginning of the fatal year 1839, while making a sudden dash upon the Arabs during a retreat before superior forces, he flung himself against the enemy, followed by only a single company, and fell in, unfortunately, with the main body of the enemy. The battle was b.l.o.o.d.y and terrible, man to man, and only a few hors.e.m.e.n escaped alive. Seeing that their colonel was surrounded, these men, who were at some distance, were unwilling to perish uselessly in attempting to rescue him. They heard his cry: "Your colonel! to me! a colonel of the Empire!" but they rejoined the regiment. Philippe met with a horrible death, for the Arabs, after hacking him to pieces with their scimitars, cut off his head.

Joseph, who was married about this time, through the good offices of the Comte de Serizy, to the daughter of a millionaire farmer, inherited his brother's house in Paris and the estate of Brambourg, in consequence of the entail, which Philippe, had he foreseen this result, would certainly have broken. The chief pleasure the painter derived from his inheritance was in the fine collection of paintings from Issoudun. He now possesses an income of sixty thousand francs, and his father-in-law, the farmer, continues to pile up the five-franc pieces. Though Joseph Bridau paints magnificent pictures, and renders important services to artists, he is not yet a member of the Inst.i.tute. As the result of a clause in the deed of entail, he is now Comte de Brambourg, a fact which often makes him roar with laughter among his friends in the atelier.

ADDENDUM

The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.

Note: The Two Brothers is also known as A Bachelor's Establishment and The Black Sheep. In other Addendum appearances it is referred to as A Bachelor's Establishment.

Bianchon, Horace Father Goriot The Atheist's Ma.s.s Cesar Birotteau The Commission in Lunacy Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris The Secrets of a Princess The Government Clerks Pierrette A Study of Woman Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Honorine The Seamy Side of History The Magic Skin A Second Home A Prince of Bohemia Letters of Two Brides The Muse of the Department The Imaginary Mistress The Middle Cla.s.ses Cousin Betty The Country Parson In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following: Another Study of Woman La Grande Breteche

Birotteau, Cesar Cesar Birotteau At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Bixiou, Jean-Jacques The Purse The Government Clerks Modeste Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Firm of Nucingen The Muse of the Department Cousin Betty The Member for Arcis Beatrix A Man of Business Gaudissart II.

The Unconscious Humorists Cousin Pons

Brambourg, Comte de (t.i.tle of Philippe Bridau, later Joseph) The Unconscious Humorists

Bridau, Philippe Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Bridau, Joseph The Purse A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Start in Life Modeste Mignon Another Study of Woman Pierre Gra.s.sou Letters of Two Brides Cousin Betty The Member for Arcis

Bruel, Jean Francois du The Government Clerks A Start in Life A Prince of Bohemia The Middle Cla.s.ses A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Daughter of Eve

Bruel, Claudine Chaffaroux, Madame du A Prince of Bohemia A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Letters of Two Brides The Middle Cla.s.ses

Cabirolle, Madame A Start in Life

Cabirolle, Agathe-Florentine A Start in Life Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

Camusot A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Cousin Pons The Muse of the Department Cesar Birotteau At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Cardot, Jean-Jerome-Severin A Start in Life Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris At the Sign of the Cat and Racket Cesar Birotteau

Chaulieu, Henri, Duc de Letters of Two Brides Modest Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Thirteen

Chrestien, Michel A Distinguished Provincial at Paris The Secrets of a Princess

Claparon, Charles Cesar Birotteau Melmoth Reconciled The Firm of Nucingen A Man of Business The Middle Cla.s.ses

Coloquinte A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

Coralie, Mademoiselle A Start in Life A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

Desplein The Atheist's Ma.s.s Cousin Pons Lost Illusions The Thirteen The Government Clerks Pierrette The Seamy Side of History Modest Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Honorine

Desroches (son) Colonel Chabert A Start in Life A Woman of Thirty The Commission in Lunacy The Government Clerks A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Firm of Nucingen A Man of Business The Middle Cla.s.ses

Finot, Andoche Cesar Birotteau A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Government Clerks A Start in Life Gaudissart the Great The Firm of Nucingen

Gaillard, Madame Theodore Jealousies of a Country Town A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Beatrix The Unconscious Humorists

Gerard, Francois-Pascal-Simon, Baron Beatrix

Giraud, Leon A Distinguished Provincial at Paris The Secrets of a Princess The Unconscious Humorists

Giroudeau A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Start in Life

Gobseck, Esther Van Gobseck The Firm of Nucingen Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

G.o.deschal, Francois-Claude-Marie Colonel Chabert A Start in Life The Commission in Lunacy The Middle Cla.s.ses Cousin Pons

G.o.deschal, Marie A Start in Life Scenes from a Courtesan's Life Cousin Pons

Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de The Gondreville Mystery The Thirteen Modeste Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Grandlieu, Mademoiselle de Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Gra.s.sou, Pierre Pierre Gra.s.sou Cousin Betty The Middle Cla.s.ses Cousin Pons