Fruitfulness

mise to Marianne, found himself so busy that he scarcely caught sight of Beauchene. This was a relief, for the secret which he had discovered by chance annoyed him, and he feared le

fatigue he had felt in the morning had passed away, and he talked and laughed

ghtly amounted to three hundred and fifty francs; but as five hundred had been advanced to him in January, which he paid back by instalmen

money's welcome, for I left my wife

er of the leading clubs, and, while passionately fond of horses, affected also a taste for art and literature, going for fashion's sake to extreme opinions. He had proudly married an almost portionless girl of a very ancient aristocratic race, the last of the Vaugelades, whose blood was poor and whose mind was narrow. Her mother, an ardent Catholic, had only succeeded in making o

ed him away. Almost the whole of this estate had come to Seguin in his share of the paternal inheritance, and he had turned the shooting rights to some account by dividing them into shares of five hundred francs value, which his friends eagerly purchased. The income derived from this source was, however, but a meagre one. Apart from the woods there was only uncultivated land on the estate, marshes, patches of sand, and fields of stones;

aunched her into the feverish life of literary, artistic, and social Paris, hurrying her to gatherings, studios, exhibitions, theatres, and other pleasure resorts-all those brasier-like places where weak heads and wavering hearts are lost. He himself, amid all his passion for show, felt bored to death everywhere, and was at ease only among his horses; and this despite his pretensions with respect to advanced literature and philosophy, his collections of curios, such as the bourgeois of to-day does not yet understand, his furniture, his pottery, his pewter-work, and particularly his bookbindings

of its ornate Renaissance facade, he laughed lightly as he thought: "These folks don't ha

broad staircase, was Seguin's so-called "cabinet," a vast apartment, sixteen feet high, forty feet long, and six-and-twenty feet wide, which occupied all the central part of the house; while the husband's bed and dre

ts, the lofty windows of old stained glass, the hangings of old Genoese velvet and brocaded silk, the oak bookcases showing the highly ornamented backs of the volumes they contained; the tables laden with bibelots, bronzes, marbles, goldsmith's work, g

he table allotted to the pewter curios. And thereupon a tall young man of thirty, whom

a moment's hesitation, "

er pretext of studying them, but whom he was resolved to use as instruments of fortune. As a matter of calculation and principle he had remained a bachelor and generally installed himself in the nests of others. In literature feminine frailty was his stock subject he had made it his specialty to depict scenes of guilty love amid elegant, refined surroundings. At first he had no illusions as to the literary value of his

take him and his wife to dine at a restaurant this evening, before going to a certain

oman, stretched full-length, with her hair streaming around her. She seemed to be sobbing as she lay there, and Santerre declared the conception to be a masterpiece. The figure symbolized the end of woman, reduced to despair and

nterre, but was taller and slimmer, with fair hair, an aquiline nose, gray ey

ich he affected, "Valentine is determined to put on a new g

s visit-the leak in the zinc roof of the little pavilion at Janville-he at once consented to let the local plumber do any necessary soldering. But when, after fresh explanations, he understood that the roofing was so worn and damaged tha

the plumber." And wishing to change the subject he added: "Oh! wait a moment, M

t that he would not leave the place until he had obtained the promise of a new roof. He took hold of a book, clad in a marvellous binding, which Seguin had fetched from a bookcase and tendered with religious care.

ieu, who was really charmed. "Some bindings nowadays are perfect gems." The

it here this morning, and I was awaiting an opportunity to surprise you with it. It is the pearl of my collection! What do you think of the idea-that lily which symbolizes triumphant purity, and those thi

poil me; you will en

Anne-Marie, who, to escape a rough-mannered husband of extreme masculinity, had sought a refuge in Brittany in the company of a young painter endowed with divine inspiration, one Norbert, who had undertaken to decorate a convent chapel with paintings that depicted his various visions. And for thirty years he went on painting there, ever in colloquy with the angels, and ever having Anne-Marie beside him. And during those thirty years of love the Countess's beaut

ere not to be found in the New Testament, which was the true basis of the Christian religion. The first Christians, he declared, had held marriage in horror, and with them the Holy Virgin had become the ideal of wom

Raffaelle, and you will see that their women were of robust build. Even their Virgin Marys have a motherly air. To my thinking, moreover, if we reverted to some such natural type of beauty, if women were not encouraged b

population an evil!" exclaimed Seguin; "can you, my dear sir, intelligent as you

th his belief in fruitfulness, remained convinced that the nation which no longer had faith in life must be dangerously ill. True, there were hours when he doubted the expediency of numerous families and asked himself if ten thousand happy people were not preferable to a

are so far away that it is impossible to make any calculation on a basis of scientific certainty. In France, too, instead of contributing to any such danger, we are going backward, we are marching towards annihilation. The population of France wa

in the world. The more nations advance in civilization the smaller becomes their birth-rate. We are simply giving the world an example of high culture, superior inte

same symptoms, and are decreasing in numbers, or will decrease as soon as they become civilized. Japan i

ion, by the sudden shifting of oceans, the invasion of fierce rough races coming to endow weakened nations with new blood. And after each such occurrence civilization flowered afresh, more broadly and freely than ever. How was it that Babylon, Nineveh, and Memphis fell into dust with their populations, who seem to have died on the spot? How is it that Athens and Rome still agonize to-day, unable to spring afresh from their ashes and renew the splendor of their ancient glory? How is it that death has already laid its hand upon Paris, which, whateve

e of an elegant pessimist, "if she wishes to die, I shan

t, sensible course is to check any i

ncrease of population, the whole ending in final equilibrium, by the very effect of culture's victory when the world shall be entirely populated and civilized. But who can foretell what road will be followed, through what disasters and sufferings one may have to go? More and more

s faith in the good powers of life, and at a loss as to who was

g and making an exhibition of masculine ways,

any malice, you know. That girl Cele

d very free and easy in her ways; for not only did her husband take her about with him to all sorts of objectionable places, but she had become quite familiar with the artists and writers who frequented the ho

ards Mathieu and shaking his hand in cavalier fashion. "Is Madam

ne of those horribly rude fits which burst forth at times amid all his great affectation of politeness. "What! h

ace darkened and assumed an expression of haughty, vindictive revolt. Then she slowly turned her eyes towards the friend

!" he murmured; "th

irdlike gayety, and such free and easy conversation ensued between the trio that Mathieu felt both stupefied and embarrassed. In fact

her husband; "I told Celeste to bring the child

e even went further in her opinions than they did, displaying the wildest pessimism, and such extreme views on literature and art that they themselves could not forbear laughing. Wagner was greatly over-estimated, in her opinion; she asked for invertebrate music, the free harmony of the passing wind. As for her moral views, they were enough to make one shudder. She had got past the argumentative amours of Ibsen

xclaimed the novelist in desp

is to raise our hearts she ought to be like spotless mar

roses blooming in the shade. Like their mother, they were fair. The lad's hair was inclined to be carroty, while that of the girl suggested the color of oats. And they also had their mother's blue eyes, but their faces were elongated like that of their fa

ou wish anybod

n the face. If they made little haste, it was because they were naturally indolent and di

g, good frie

had to remind them of the gentleman's name, though

ng, Monsieu

tifled them with caresses. She seemed to adore them, but as

ut again, mamma?" a

s and mammas, you know, hav

ave dinner all

ut turned towards the maid,

go into the kitchen. I can never come home without finding them in the kitchen. It is exasperating

le expressed the cunning of a Norman peasant who had been five years in Paris already and was harde

way, "Mademoiselle Lucie is p

ways being sick! And it always happens when we are going out! It is very disagreeable, my

ften poorly. They had experienced every childish ailment, they were always catching cold or getting feverish. And t

ild. "You aren't poorly now, are you? No, no, it's nothing, nothing at all. Kiss me, my

d gay again; and, noticing that Mathi

, so far as there is happiness in life, it would perhaps be better for them never to have been b

that she was jesting, ve

. Boutan. He declares that to make the country prospe

er while Celeste stood there unmoved and the children listened without understanding. But at last Santerre led the Seguins away. It was only in the hall that Mathieu obtained

ved Celeste standing between the two children, intent, no doubt, on assuring herself that Monsieur and Madame were really going. The young man recalled Reine's departu