Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau

H >> Honore de Balzac >> Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau


Birotteau, clothed with the caftan of honor which the speech of the
illustrious _procureur-general_ had cast about him, stood dumb with
joy as he listened to the solemn words of the president, which
betrayed the quiverings of a heart beneath the impassibility of human
justice. He was unable to stir from his place before the bar, and
seemed for a moment nailed there, gazing at the judges with a
wondering air, as though they were angels opening to him the gates of
social life. His uncle took him by the arm and led him from the hall.
Cesar had not as yet obeyed the command of Louis XVIII., but he now
mechanically fastened the ribbon of the Legion of honor to his
button-hole. In a moment he was surrounded by his friends and borne
in triumph down the great stairway to his coach.

"Where are you taking me, my friends?" he said to Joseph Lebas,
Pillerault, and Ragon.

"To your own home."

"No; it is only three o'clock. I wish to go to the Bourse, and use my
rights."

"To the Bourse!" said Pillerault to the coachman, making an expressive
sign to Joseph Lebas, for he saw symptoms in Cesar which led him to
fear he might lose his mind.

The late perfumer re-entered the Bourse leaning on the arms of the two
honored merchants, his uncle and Joseph Lebas. The news of his
rehabilitation had preceded him. The first person who saw them enter,
followed by Ragon, was du Tillet.

"Ah! my dear master," he cried, "I am delighted that you have pulled
through. I have perhaps contributed to this happy ending of your
troubles by letting that little Popinot drag a feather from my wing. I
am as glad of your happiness as if it were my own."

"You could not be otherwise," said Pillerault. "Such a thing can never
happen to you."

"What do you mean by that?" said du Tillet.

"Oh! all in good part," said Lebas, smiling at the malicious meaning
of Pillerault, who, without knowing the real truth, considered the man
a scoundrel.

Matifat caught sight of Cesar, and immediately the most noted
merchants surrounded him and gave him an _ovation boursiere_. He was
overwhelmed with flattering compliments and grasped by the hand, which
roused some jealousy and caused some remorse; for out of every hundred
persons walking about that hall fifty at least had "liquidated" their
affairs. Gigonnet and Gobseck, who were talking together in a corner,
looked at the man of commercial honor very much as a naturalist must
have looked at the first electric-eel that was ever brought to him,--a
fish armed with the power of a Leyden jar, which is the greatest
curiosity of the animal kingdom. After inhaling the incense of his
triumph, Cesar got into the coach to go to his own home, where the
marriage contract of his dear Cesarine and the devoted Popinot was
ready for signature. His nervous laugh disturbed the minds of the
three old friends.

It is a fault of youth to think the whole world vigorous with its own
vigor,--a fault derived from its virtues. Youth sees neither men nor
things through spectacles; it colors all with the reflex glory of its
ardent fires, and casts the superabundance of its own life upon the
aged. Like Cesar and like Constance, Popinot held in his memory a
glowing recollection of the famous ball. Constance and Cesar through
their years of trial had often, though they never spoke of it to each
other, heard the strains of Collinet's orchestra, often beheld that
festive company, and tasted the joys so swiftly and so cruelly
chastised,--as Adam and Eve must have tasted in after times the
forbidden fruit which gave both death and life to all posterity; for
it appears that the generation of angels is a mystery of the skies.

Popinot, however, could dream of the fete without remorse, nay, with
ecstasy. Had not Cesarine in all her glory then promised herself to
him--to him, poor? During that evening had he not won the assurance
that he was loved for himself alone? So when he bought the appartement
restored by Grindot, from Celestin, when he stipulated that all should
be kept intact, when he religiously preserved the smallest things that
once belonged to Cesar and to Constance, he was dreaming of another
ball,--his ball, his wedding-ball! He made loving preparation for it,
imitating his old master in necessary expenses, but eschewing all
follies,--follies that were now past and done with. So the dinner was
to be served by Chevet; the guests were to be mostly the same: the
Abbe Loraux replaced the chancellor of the Legion of honor; the
president of the Court of Commerce, Monsieur Lebas, had promised to be
there; Popinot invited Monsieur Camusot in acknowledgment of the
kindness he had bestowed upon Birotteau; Monsieur de Vandenesse and
Monsieur de Fontaine took the place of Roguin and his wife. Cesarine
and Popinot distributed their invitations with much discretion. Both
dreaded the publicity of a wedding, and they escaped the jar such
scenes must cause to pure and tender hearts by giving the ball on the
evening of the day appointed for signing the marriage-contract.

Constance found in her room the gown of cherry velvet in which she had
shone for a single night with fleeting splendor. Cesarine cherished a
dream of appearing before Popinot in the identical ball-dress about
which, time and time again, he had talked to her. The appartement was
made ready to present to Cesar's eyes the same enchanting scene he had
once enjoyed for a single evening. Neither Constance, nor Cesarine,
nor Popinot perceived the danger to Cesar in this sudden and
overwhelming surprise, and they awaited his arrival at four o'clock
with a delight that was almost childish.

Following close upon the unspeakable emotion his re-entrance at the
Bourse had caused him, the hero of commercial honor was now to meet
the sudden shock of felicity that awaited him in his old home. He
entered the house, and saw at the foot of the staircase (still new as
he had left it) his wife in her velvet robe, Cesarine, the Comte de
Fontaine, the Vicomte de Vandenesse, the Baron de la Billardiere, the
illustrious Vauquelin. A light film dimmed his eyes, and his uncle
Pillerault, who held his arm, felt him shudder inwardly.

"It is too much," said the philosopher to the happy lover; "he can
never carry all the wine you are pouring out to him."

Joy was so vivid in their hearts that each attributed Cesar's emotion
and his stumbling step to the natural intoxication of his feelings,
--natural, but sometimes mortal. When he found himself once more in
his own home, when he saw his salon, his guests, the women in their
ball-dresses, suddenly the heroic measure in the finale of the great
symphony rang forth in his head and heart. Beethoven's ideal music
echoed, vibrated, in many tones, sounding its clarions through the
membranes of the weary brain, of which it was indeed the grand finale.

Oppressed with this inward harmony, Cesar took the arm of his wife and
whispered, in a voice suffocated by a rush of blood that was still
repressed: "I am not well."

Constance, alarmed, led him to her bedroom; he reached it with
difficulty, and fell into a chair, saying: "Monsieur Haudry, Monsieur
Loraux."

The Abbe Loraux came, followed by the guests and the women in their
ball-dresses, who stopped short, a frightened group. In presence of
that shining company Cesar pressed the hand of his confessor and laid
his head upon the bosom of his kneeling wife. A vessel had broken in
his heart, and the rush of blood strangled his last sigh.

"Behold the death of the righteous!" said the Abbe Loraux solemnly,
pointing to Cesar with the divine gesture which Rembrandt gave to
Christ in his picture of the Raising of Lazarus.

Jesus commanded the earth to give up its prey; the priest called
heaven to behold a martyr of commercial honor worthy to receive the
everlasting palm.




ADDENDUM

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

Bianchon, Horace
Father Goriot
The Atheist's Mass
The Commission in Lunacy
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
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 Classes
Cousin Betty
The Country Parson
In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following:
Another Study of Woman
La Grande Breteche

Bidault (known as Gigonnet)
The Government Clerks
Gobseck
The Vendetta
The Firm of Nucingen
A Daughter of Eve

Birotteau, Cesar
A Bachelor's Establishment
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Birotteau, Abbe Francois
The Lily of the Valley
The Vicar of Tours

Braschon
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Camusot
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
Cousin Pons
The Muse of the Department
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Camusot de Marville, Madame
The Vendetta
Jealousies of a Country Town
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Cousin Pons

Cardot, Jean-Jerome-Severin
A Start in Life
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Bachelor's Establishment
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Chaffaroux
A Prince of Bohemia
The Middle Classes

Chiffreville, Monsieur and Madame
The Quest of the Absolute

Claparon, Charles
A Bachelor's Establishment
Melmoth Reconciled
The Firm of Nucingen
A Man of Business
The Middle Classes

Cochin, Emile-Louis-Lucien-Emmanuel
The Government Clerks
The Firm of Nucingen
The Middle Classes

Cochin, Adolphe
The Firm of Nucingen

Crevel, Celestin
Cousin Betty
Cousin Pons

Crottat, Monsieur and Madame
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

Crottat, Alexandre
Colonel Chabert
A Start in Life
A Woman of Thirty
Cousin Pons

Derville, Madame
Gobseck

Desmartes, Jules
The Thirteen

Desmartes, Madame Jules
The Thirteen

Finot, Andoche
A Bachelor's Establishment
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

Fontaine, Comte de
The Chouans
Modeste Mignon
The Ball at Sceaux
The Government Clerks

Gaudissart, Felix
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Cousin Pons
Honorine
Gaudissart the Great

Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van
Gobseck
Father Goriot
The Government Clerks
The Unconscious Humorists

Gobseck, Sarah Van
Gobseck
The Maranas
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
The Member for Arcis

Granville, Vicomte de (later Comte)
The Gondreville Mystery
Honorine
A Second Home
Farewell (Adieu)
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
A Daughter of Eve
Cousin Pons

Grindot
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Start in Life
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Beatrix
The Middle Classes
Cousin Betty

Guillaume
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Haudry (doctor)
The Thirteen
A Bachelor's Establishment
The Seamy Side of History
Cousin Pons

Keller, Francois
Domestic Peace
Eugenie Grandet
The Government Clerks
The Member for Arcis

Keller, Adolphe
The Middle Classes
Pierrette

La Billardiere, Athanase-Jean-Francois-Michel, Baron Flamet de
The Chouans
The Government Clerks

Lebas, Joseph
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
Cousin Betty

Lebas, Madame Joseph (Virginie)
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
Cousin Betty

Lenoncourt, Duc de
The Lily of the Valley
Jealousies of a Country Town
The Gondreville Mystery
Beatrix

Listomere, Baronne de
The Vicar of Tours
The Muse of the Department

Loraux, Abbe
A Start in Life
A Bachelor's Establishment
Honorine

Lourdois
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Matifat (wealthy druggist)
A Bachelor's Establishment
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Firm of Nucingen
Cousin Pons

Matifat, Madame
The Firm of Nucingen

Matifat, Mademoiselle
The Firm of Nucingen
Pierrette

Molineux, Jean-Baptiste
A Second Home
The Purse

Mongenod
The Seamy Side of History

Montauran, Marquis Alphonse de
The Chouans

Nucingen, Baron Frederic de
The Firm of Nucingen
Father Goriot
Pierrette
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Another Study of Woman
The Secrets of a Princess
A Man of Business
Cousin Betty
The Muse of the Department
The Unconscious Humorists

Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de
Father Goriot
The Thirteen
Eugenie Grandet
Melmoth Reconciled
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Commission in Lunacy
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Modeste Mignon
The Firm of Nucingen
Another Study of Woman
A Daughter of Eve
The Member for Arcis

Palma (banker)
The Firm of Nucingen
Gobseck
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Ball at Sceaux

Popinot, Jean-Jules
Honorine
The Commission in Lunacy
The Seamy Side of History
The Middle Classes

Popinot, Anselme
Gaudissart the Great
Cousin Pons
Cousin Betty

Popinot, Madame Anselme
A Prince of Bohemia
Cousin Betty
Cousin Pons

Protez and Chiffreville
The Quest of the Absolute

Rabourdin, Xavier
The Government Clerks
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
The Middle Classes

Ragon, M. and Mme.
An Episode Under the Terror

Roguin
Eugenie Grandet
A Bachelor's Establishment
Pierrette
The Vendetta

Roguin, Madame
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
Pierrette
A Second Home
A Daughter of Eve

Saillard, Madame
The Government Clerks

Sommervieux, Madame Theodore de (Augustine)
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Thirion
The Vendetta
Jealousies of a Country Town

Thouvenin
Cousin Pons

Tillet, Ferdinand du
The Firm of Nucingen
The Middle Classes
A Bachelor's Establishment
Pierrette
Melmoth Reconciled
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Secrets of a Princess
A Daughter of Eve
The Member for Arcis
Cousin Betty
The Unconscious Humorists

Trailles, Comte Maxime de
Father Goriot
Gobseck
Ursule Mirouet
A Man of Business
The Member for Arcis
The Secrets of a Princess
Cousin Betty
Beatrix
The Unconscious Humorists

Vaillant, Madame
Facino Cane

Vandenesse, Marquise Charles de
The Ball at Sceaux
Ursule Mirouet
A Daughter of Eve

Vandenesse, Comte Felix de
The Lily of the Valley
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Letters of Two Brides
A Start in Life
The Marriage Settlement
The Secrets of a Princess
Another Study of Woman
The Gondreville Mystery
A Daughter of Eve

Werbrust
The Firm of Nucingen