The Brotherhood of Consolation

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He is notorious. His youth and name were degraded by vices so
imperative, an immorality so profound, conduct so criminal, that
his infamous life must have ended on the scaffold if he had not
possessed the ability to play a double part, as indicated by his
names. Hereafter, as his passions rule him more and more, he will
end by falling to the depths of infamy in spite of his
incontestable ability and a remarkable mind.

When the Comte de Lille became aware of this man's character he no
longer permitted him to take part in the royalist councils or to
handle the money sent to France; he thus lost the resources
derived from these masters, whose service had been profitable to
him.

It was then that he returned to his country home, crippled with
debt.

His traitorous connection with the intrigues of England and the
Comte de Lille, won him the confidence of the old families
attached to the cause now vanquished by the genius of our immortal
Emperor. He there met one of the former leaders of the rebellion,
with whom at the time of the expedition to Quberon, and later, at
the time of the last uprising of the Chouans, he had held certain
relations as an envoy from England. He encouraged the schemes of
this young agitator, Rifoel, who has since paid with his life on
the scaffold for his plots against the State. Through him Bryond
was able to penetrate once more into the secrets of that party
which has misunderstood both the glory of H.M. the Emperor
Napoleon I. and the true interests of the nation united in his
august person.

At the age of thirty-five, this man, then known under his true
name of des Tours-Minieres, affecting a sincere piety, professing
the utmost devotion to the interests of the Comte de Lille and a
reverence for the memory of the insurgents who lost their lives at
the West, disguising with great ability the secrets of his
exhausted youth, and powerfully protected by the silence of
creditors, and by the spirit of caste which exists among all
country /ci-devants/,--this man, truly a whited sepulchre, was
introduced, as possessing every claim for consideration, to Madame
Lechantre, who was supposed to be the possessor of a large
fortune.

All parties conspired to promote a marriage between the young
Henriette, only daughter of Madame Lechantre, and this protege of
the /ci-devants/. Priests, nobles, creditors, each with a
different interest, loyal in some, selfish in others, blind for
the most part, all united in furthering the union of Bernard
Bryond des Tours-Minieres with Henriette Lechantre.

The good sense of the notary who had charge of Madame Lechantre's
affairs, and perhaps his distrust, were the actual cause of the
disaster of this young girl. The Sieur Chesnel, notary at Alencon,
put the estate of Saint-Savin, the sole property of the bride,
under the dower system, reserving the right of habitation and a
modest income to the mother.

The creditors, who supposed, from Madame Lechantre's orderly and
frugal way of living, that she had capital laid by, were deceived
in their expectations, and they then began suits which revealed
the precarious financial condition of Bryond.

Serious differences now arose between the newly married pair, and
the young wife had occasion to know the depraved habits, the
political and religious atheism and--shall I say the word?--the
infamy of the man to whom her life had been so fatally united.
Bryond, forced to let his wife into the secret of the royalist
plots, gave a home in his house to their chief agent, Rifoel du
Vissard.

The character of Rifoel, adventurous, brave, generous, exercised a
charm on all who came in contact with him, as was abundantly
proved during his trials before three successive criminal courts.

The irresistible influence, the absolute empire he acquired over
the mind of a young woman who saw herself suddenly cast into the
abyss of a fatal marriage, is but too visible in this catastrophe
which now brings her a suppliant to the foot of the Throne. But
that which the Chancellor of His Imperial and Royal Majesty can
easily verify is the infamous encouragement given by Bryond to
this intimacy. Far from fulfilling his duty as guide and
counsellor to a child whose poor deceived mother had trusted her
to him, he took pleasure in drawing closer still the bonds that
united the young Henriette to the rebel leader.

The plan of this odious being, who takes pride in despising all
things and considers nothing but the satisfaction of his passions,
admitting none of the restraints imposed by civil or religious
morality, was as follows:--

We must first remark, however, that such plotting was familiar to
a man who, ever since 1794 has played a double part, who for eight
years deceived the Comte de Lille and his adherents, and probably
deceived at the same time the police of the Republic and the
Empire: such men belong only to those who pay them most.

Bryond pushed Rifoel to crime; he instigated the attacks of armed
men upon the mail-coaches bearing the moneys of the government,
and the levying of a heavy tribute from the purchasers of the
National domain; a tax he enforced by means of tortures invented
by him which carried terror through five departments. He then
demanded that a sum of three hundred thousand francs derived from
these plunderings be paid to him for the liquidation of his debts.

When he met with resistance on the part of his wife and Rifoel,
and saw the contempt his proposal inspired in upright minds who
were acting only from party spirit, he determined to bring them
both under the rigor of the law in the next occasion of their
committing a crime.

He disappeared, and returned to Paris, taking with him all
information as to the then condition of the departments of the
West.

The brothers Chaussard and Vauthier were, as the chancellor knows,
Bryond's correspondents.

As soon as the attack was made on the diligence from Caen, Bryond
returned secretly and in disguise, under the name of Le Marchand.
He put himself into secret communication with the prefect and the
magistrates. What was the result? Never was any conspiracy, in
which a great number of persons took part, so rapidly discovered
and dealt with. Within six days after the committal of the crime
all the guilty persons were followed and watched with an
intelligence which showed the most accurate knowledge of the
plans, and of the individuals concerned in them. The immediate
arrest, trial, and execution of Rifoel and his accomplices are the
proof of this. We repeat, the chancellor knows even more than we
do on this subject.

If ever a condemned person had a right to appeal to the
Sovereign's mercy it is Henriette Lechantre.

Though led astray by love, by ideas of rebellion which she sucked
in with the milk that fed her, she is, most certainly, inexcusable
in the eyes of the law; but in the eyes of the most magnanimous of
emperors, will not her misfortunes, the infamous betrayal of her
husband, and a rash enthusiasm plead for her?

The greatest of all captains, the immortal genius which pardoned
the Prince of Hatzfeldt and is able to divine the reasons of the
heart, will he not admit the fatal power of love, invincible in
youth, which extenuates this crime, great as it was?

Twenty-two heads have fallen under the blade of the law; only one
of the guilty persons is now left, and she is a young woman, a
minor, not twenty years of age. Will not the Emperor Napoleon the
Great grant her life, and give her time in which to repent? Is not
that to share the part of God?

For Henriette Lechantre, wife of Bryond des Tour-Minieres,--



Her defender, Bordin,
Barrister of the Lower Court of the Department
of the Seine.



This dreadful drama disturbed the little sleep that Godefroid took. He
dreamed of that penalty of death such as the physician Guillotin has
made it with a philanthropic object. Through the hot vapors of a
nightmare he saw a young woman, beautiful, enthusiastic, enduring the
last preparations, drawn in that fatal tumbril, mounting the scaffold,
and crying out, "Vive le roi!"

Eager to know the whole, Godefroid rose at dawn, dressed, and paced
his room; then stood mechanically at his window gazing at the sky,
while his thoughts reconstructed this drama in many volumes. Ever, on
that darksome background of Chouans, peasants, country gentlemen,
rebel leaders, spies, and officers of justice, he saw the vivid
figures of the mother and the daughter detach themselves; the daughter
misleading the mother; the daughter victim of a monster; victim, too,
of her passion for one of those bold men whom, later, we have
glorified as heroes, and to whom even Godefroid's imagination lent a
likeness to the Charettes and the Georges Cadoudals,--those giants of
the struggle between the Republic and the Monarchy.

As soon as Godefroid heard the goodman Alain stirring in the room
above him, he went there; but he had no sooner opened the door than he
closed it and went back to his own apartment. The old man, kneeling by
his chair, was saying his morning prayer. The sight of that whitened
head, bowed in an attitude of humble reverence, reminded Godefroid of
his own forgotten duties, and he prayed fervently.

"I expected you," said the kind old man, when Godefroid entered his
room some fifteen minutes later. "I got up earlier than usual, for I
felt sure you would be impatient."

"Madame Henriette?" asked Godefroid, with visible anxiety.

"Was Madame's daughter!" replied Monsieur Alain. "Madame's name is
Lechantre de la Chanterie. Under the Empire none of the nobiliary
titles were allowed, nor any of the names added to the patronymic or
original names. Therefore, the Baronne des Tours-Minieres was called
Madame Bryond. The Marquis d'Esgrignon took his name of Carol (citizen
Carol); later he was called the Sieur Carol. The Troisvilles became
the Sieurs Guibelin."

"But what happened? Did the Emperor pardon her?"

"Alas, no!" replied Alain. "The unfortunate little woman, not
twenty-one years old, perished on the scaffold. After reading Bordin's
appeal, the Emperor answered very much in these terms: 'Why be so
bitter against the spy? A spy is no longer a man; he ought not to have
feelings; he is a wheel of the machinery; Bryond did his duty. If
instruments of that kind were not what they are,--steel bars,--and
intelligent only in the service of the power employing them,
government would not be possible. The sentences of criminal courts
must be carried out, or the judges would cease to have confidence in
themselves or in me. Besides, the women of the West must be taught not
to meddle in plots. It is precisely in the case of a woman that
justice should not be interfered with. There is no excuse possible for
an attack on power?' This was the substance of what the Emperor said,
as Bordin repeated it to me. Learning a little later that France and
Russia were about to measure swords against each other, and that the
Emperor was to go two thousand miles from Paris to attack a vast and
desert country, Bordin understood the secret reason of the Emperor's
harshness. To insure tranquillity at the West, now full of
refractories, Napoleon believed it necessary to inspire terror. Bordin
could do no more."

"But Madame de la Chanterie?" said Godefroid.

"Madame de la Chanterie was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment,"
replied Alain. "As she was already transferred to Bicetre, near Rouen,
to undergo her punishment, nothing was attempted on her behalf until
every effort had been made to save Henriette, who had grown dearer
than ever to her mother during this time of anxiety. Indeed, if it had
not been for Bordin's assurance that he could obtain Henriette's
pardon, it is doubtful if Madame could have survived the shock of the
sentence. When the appeal failed, they deceived the poor mother. She
saw her daughter once after the execution of the other prisoners, not
knowing that Madame Bryond's respite was due to a false declaration of
pregnancy, made to gain time for the appeal."

"Ah! I understand it all now," exclaimed Godefroid.

"No, my dear child, there are things that no one can imagine. Madame
thought her daughter living for a long time."

"How was that?"

"When Madame des Tours-Minieres learned from Bordin that her appeal
was rejected and that nothing could save her, that sublime little
woman had the courage to write twenty letters, dating them month by
month after the time of her execution, so as to make her poor mother
in her prison believe she was alive. In those letters she told of a
gradual illness which would end in death. They covered a period of two
years. Madame de la Chanterie was therefore prepared for the news of
her daughter's death, but she thought it a natural one. She did not
know until 1814 that Henriette had died on the scaffold. For two years
Madame was herded among the most depraved of her sex, but thanks to
the urgency of the Champignelles and the Beauseants she was, after the
second year, placed in a cell by herself, where she lived like a
cloistered nun."

"And the others?" asked Godefroid.

"The notary Leveille, Herbomez, Hiley, Cibot, Grenier, Horeau, Cabot,
Minard, and Mallet were condemned to death, and executed the same day.
Pannier, condemned to hard labor for twenty years, was branded and
sent to the galleys. The Chaussards and Vauthier received the same
sentence, but were pardoned by the Emperor. Melin, Laraviniere and
Binet, were condemned to five years' imprisonment. The woman Bourget
to twenty years' imprisonment. Chargegrain and Rousseau were
acquitted. Those who escaped were all condemned to death, except the
girl Godard, who was no other, as you have probably guessed, than our
poor Manon--"

"Manon!" exclaimed Godefroid.

"Oh! you don't know Manon yet," replied the kind old Alain. "That
devoted creature, condemned to twelve years' imprisonment, gave
herself up that she might take care of Madame de la Chanterie, and
wait upon her. Our dear vicar was the priest at Mortagne who gave the
last sacraments to the Baronne des Tours-Minieres; he had the courage
to go with her to the scaffold, and to him she gave her farewell kiss.
That courageous, noble priest had also accompanied the Chevalier du
Vissard. Our dear Abbe de Veze has therefore known all the secrets of
those days."

"I see why his hair is so white," said Godefroid.

"Alas! yes," said Alain. "He received from Amedee du Vissard a
miniature of Madame des Tours-Minieres, the only portrait of her that
exists; therefore, the abbe became almost sacred in Madame de la
Chanterie's eyes when she re-entered social existence."

"When did that happen?" asked Godefroid.

"Why, at the restoration of Louis XVIII., in 1814. The Marquis du
Vissard, eldest brother of the Chevalier, was created peer of France
and loaded with honors by the king. The brother of Monsieur d'Herbomez
was made a count and receiver-general. The poor banker Pannier died of
grief at the galleys. Boislaurier died without children, a
lieutenant-general and governor of a royal chateau. Messieurs de
Champignelles, de Beauseant, the Duc de Verneuil, and the Keeper of the
Seals presented Madame de la Chanterie to the king. 'You have suffered
greatly for me, madame la baronne; you have every right to my favor
and gratitude,' he said to her. 'Sire,' she replied, 'your Majesty has
so many sorrows to console that I do not wish that mine, which is
inconsolable, should be a burden upon you. To live forgotten, to mourn
my daughter, and do some good, that is my life. If anything could
soften my grief, it is the kindness of my king, it is the pleasure of
seeing that Providence has not allowed our long devotion to be
useless.'"

"And what did Louis XVIII. do?" asked Godefroid.

"He restored two hundred thousand francs in money to Madame de la
Chanterie, for the estate of Saint-Savin had been sold to pay the
costs of the trial. In the decree of pardon issued for Madame la
baronne and her servant the king expressed regret for the suffering
borne in his cause, adding that 'the zeal of his servants had gone too
far in its methods of execution.' But--and this is a horrible thing;
it will serve to show you a curious trait in the character of that
monarch--he employed Bryond in his detective police throughout his
reign."

"Oh, kings! kings!" cried Godefroid; "and is the wretch still living?"

"No; the wretch, as you justly call him, who concealed his real name
under that of Contenson, died about the close of the year 1829 or the
beginning of 1830. In trying to arrest a criminal who escaped over a
roof, he fell into the street. Louis XVIII. shared Napoleon's ideas as
to spies and police. Madame de la Chanterie is a saint; she prays
constantly for the soul of that man and has two masses said yearly for
him. As I have already told you, Madame de la Chanterie knew nothing
of the dangers her daughter was incurring until the day when the money
was carried to Alencon; nevertheless she was unable to establish her
innocence, although defended by one of the greatest lawyers of that
time. The president, du Ronceret, and the vice-president, Blondet, of
the court of Alencon did their best to save our poor lady. But the
influence of the councillor of the Imperial Court who presided at her
trial before the Criminal and Special Court, the famous Mergi, and
that of Bourlac the attorney-general was such over the other judges
that they obtained her condemnation. Both Bourlac and Mergi showed
extraordinary bitterness against mother and daughter; they called the
Baronne des Tours-Minieres 'the woman Bryond,' and Madame 'the woman
Lechantre.' The names of accused persons in those days were all
brought to one republican level, and were sometimes unrecognizable.
The trial had several very extraordinary features, which I cannot now
recall; one piece of audacity remains in my memory which will serve to
show you what sort of men those Chouans were. The crowd which
assembled to hear the trial was immense; it even filled the corridors
and the square before the court-house. One morning, after the opening
of the court-room and before the arrival of the judges, Pille-Miche, a
famous Chouan, sprang over the balustrade into the middle of the
crowd, elbowing right and left, 'charging like a wild boar,' as Bordin
told me, through the frightened people. The guards and the gendarmes
dashed after him and caught him just as he reached the square; after
that the guards were doubled. A picket of gendarmerie was stationed in
the square, for they feared there were Chouans on the ground ready to
rescue the prisoners. As it was, three persons were crushed to death
on this occasion. It was afterwards discovered that Contenson (neither
my friend Bordin nor I could ever bring ourselves to call him the
Baron des Tours-Minieres, nor Bryond which is the name of an old
family),--it was, I say, discovered that this wretch Contenson had
obtained sixty thousand francs of the stolen money from the
Chaussards; he gave ten thousand to the younger Chaussard, whom he
took with him into the detective police and innoculated with his
vices; his other accomplices got nothing from him. Madame de la
Chanterie invested the money restored to her by the king in the public
Funds, and bought this house to please her uncle, Monsieur de
Boisfrelon, who gave her the money for the purpose, and died in the
rooms you now occupy. This tranquil neighborhood is near the
archbishop's palace, where our dear abbe has duties with the cardinal.
That was one of the chief reasons why Madame agreed to her uncle's
wish. Here, in this cloistral life, the fearful misfortunes which
overwhelmed her for twenty-six years have been brought to a close. Now
you can understand the majesty, the grandeur of this victim--august, I
venture to call her."

"Yes," said Godefroid, "the imprint of all the blows she has received
remains and gives her something, I can scarcely describe it, that is
grand and majestic."

"Every wound, every fresh blow, has increased her patience, her
resignation," continued Alain; "but if you knew her as we know her you
would see how keen is her sensibility, how active the inexhaustible
tenderness of her heart, and you would almost stand in awe of the
tears she had shed, and the fervent prayers she had made to God. Ah!
it was necessary to have known, as she did, a brief period of
happiness to bear up as she has done under such misfortunes. Here is a
tender heart, a gentle soul in a steel body hardened by privations, by
toil, by austerities."

"Her life explains why hermits live so long," said Godefroid.

"There are days when I ask myself what is the meaning of a life like
hers? Can it be that God reserves such trials, such cruel tests, for
those of his creatures who are to sit on the morrow of their death at
his right hand?" said the good Alain, quite unconscious that he was
artlessly expressing the whole doctrine of Swedenborg on the angels.

"And you tell me," said Godefroid, "that in prison Madame de la
Chanterie was put with--"

"Madame was sublime in her prison," said Alain. "For three whole years
she realized the story of the Vicar of Wakefield, and was able to
convert many of the worst women about her. During her imprisonment she
observed the habits and customs of these women, and was seized with
that great pity for the sorrows of the people which has since filled
her soul and made her the angel of Parisian charity. In that dreadful
Bicetre of Rouen, she conceived the plan to the realization of which
we are now devoted. It was, she has often told us, a delightful dream,
an angelic inspiration in the midst of hell; though she never thought
she should realize it. When, in 1819, peace and quietude seemed really
to return to Paris, her dream came back to her. Madame la Duchesse
d'Angouleme, afterwards the dauphine, the Duchesse de Berry, the
archbishop, later the chancellor, and several pious persons
contributed liberally the first necessary sums. These funds have been
increased by the addition of our own available property, from which we
take only enough for our actual needs."

Tears came into Godefroid's eyes.

"We are the ministers of a Christian idea; we belong body and soul to
its work, the spirit of which, the founder of which, is the Baronne de
la Chanterie, whom you hear us so respectfully call 'Madame.'"

"Ah! let me belong to you!" cried Godefroid, stretching out his hands
to the kind old man.

"Now you understand why there are some subjects of conversation which
are never mentioned here, nor even alluded to. You can now see the
obligations of delicacy that all who live in this house contract
towards one who seems to us a saint. You comprehend--do you not?--the
influence of a woman made sacred by such sorrows, who knows so many
things, to whom anguish has said its utmost word; who from each
adversity has drawn instruction, in whom all virtues have the double
strength of cruel trial and of constant practice; whose soul is
spotless and without reproach, whose motherhood knew only grief, whose
married love knew only bitterness; on whom life smiled for a brief
time only, but for whom heaven reserves a palm, the reward of
resignation and of loving-kindness under sorrow. Ah! does she not even
triumph over Job in never murmuring? Can you wonder that her words are
so powerful, her old age so young, her soul so communicative, her
glance so convincing? She has obtained extraordinary powers in dealing
with sufferers, for she has suffered all things."

"She is the living image of Charity!" cried Godefroid, fervently. "Can
I ever be one of you?"

"You must first endure the tests, and above all BELIEVE!" said the old
man, gently. "So long as you have no faith, so long as you have not
absorbed into your heart and mind the divine meaning of Saint Paul's
epistle upon Charity, you cannot share our work."




SECOND EPISODE

THE INITIATE



XI

THE POLICE OF THE GOOD GOD

Like evil, good is contagious. Therefore when Madame de la Chanterie's
lodger had lived in that old and silent house for some months after
the worthy Alain's last confidence, which gave him the deepest respect
for the religious lives of those among whom his was cast, he
experienced that well-being of the soul which comes of a regulated
existence, gentle customs, and harmony of nature in those who surround
us. At the end of four months, during which time Godefroid heard
neither a loud voice nor an argument, he could not remember that he
had ever been, if not as happy, at least as tranquil and contented. He
now judged soundly of the world, seeing it from afar. At last, the
desire he had felt for months to be a sharer in the work of these
mysterious persons became a passion. Without being great philosophers
we can all understand the force which passions acquire in solitude.