UC-NRLF ^B 317 71E ^ / f. / /V ■>-'-M- 0-. .,.<;>J^'^'^--'- f'* f^v UU^ /-^M-^u^ ^^'-''^^ ni-i^ /^^^^ y^/fy Digitized by tine Internet Arcinive in 2008 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/faenceviolinOOclnamricli r ' / The Faience Violin i 9 5 « • » TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH HELEN B. DOLE TEW [YORK : 46 East 14TH Street 'HOMAS^. CROWELL & COMPANY BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street Copyright, 1S95 THOMAS Y. CROWEI.L & CO. PRESS or IttOiktodI ana Churcljill BOSTON LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Chapter Page Frontispiece. Preface Bastard Title I. The Old Bridge at Nevers Sometimes Gardilanne even lighted a candle . • . II. The Rag-picker's Shop . . One of the Nevers specimens presented by Gardilanne . III. Dal^gre's First Consignment He looked to see if some impor- tant piece were not fastened above the fireplace .... IV. The Infirmary 39 The faience bottle discovered by Dal^gre 55 V. The Faience Violin and the Plate with Ballads . . 56 The box containing unimpor- tant specimens 64 VI. The Ducal Palace at Nevers, 65 Dal^gre's game-bag .... 75 ill 38 ivj91992 iv List of Ilhistrations, Chapter Page VII. Bara's Shop 77 He took down his faience speci- mens at Gardilanne's arrival, 93 VIII. The drumming up of FaYences ON THE Market of Nevers, 95 Eggs were served for his break- fast 119 IX. The Old Roofs of Nevers . 120 At the door of the junk-shop were displayed odd volumes . 137 X. The Cupboard containing the Violin 138 Gardilanne had wrapped up the violin in paper 148 XI. The Plates on the Ceiling . 149 The ballads of Mondonville . 156 XII. The Collector's Ideal . . . 157 The Henri ii. thimble from the Rattier sale . . . . 174 XIII. The Dutch Stable decorated with FaYence Plaques . . 175 The special room of the Gardi- lanne Collection . . . 188 XIV. Dal^gre's Garden . . . . 190 The broken violin, — destruc- tion of pottery 200 XV. Dalegre's Nightmare . . . 202 The cradle of Dal^gre's chil- dren 205 PREFACE. The little romance here republished first appeared in 1861 in "La Presse," a journal having a very wide circulation at that time. "The Faience Violin" caused no sub- scriptions to be withdrawn — a remarka- ble fact, considering the forty thousand subscribers, representing forty thousand different tastes. vi Preface. Journalism was at that time undergo- ing a great transformation, and was to create a large number of readers count- ing several hundred thousand diges- tions more robust than intellectual, capable of devouring and assimilating stories blacker than the ink in which they were printed. Just then the situation was advanta- geous to all who aspired to ** write for the papers." The composing a novel, its development, its management, had be- come details of luxury, and I have else- where related how I unexpectedly made the acquaintance of a little scullion, sent to me by a pastry-cook, his master, and how he left on my table a voluminous manuscript entitled, " What becomes of Bastards." This little scullion, who, without doubt, had leisure, understood his time, and his story was not inferior Preface, vii to those of other literary scullions whom it is useless to mention. . If I might be allowed to be my own critic, — not too severe a one, how- ever, — I should gladly acknowledge that, from the nature of the subject, "The Faience Violin " ought to pass for something exceptional, the passion for ceramics not having reached, in 1861, the development which has since been increasing from year to year. It may well be admitted that this love for fa'ience was only the setting of the drama, and that the hobby for collect- ing carried to such a degree of enthusi- asm deserves to be studied almost as much as the passion for women and gambling, ambition or avarice. The favorable criticisms that the most unimportant work brings to its author are numerous, and there are few writers viii Preface. who, out of complacency, are not ready to speak of them to their readers. Sainte-Beuve, in his " Monday Conver- sations," spoke in sympathetic terms of " The Faience VioHn ; " but his criticism was only incidental in a general study of my investigations in the domain of arts and popular poetry. I was touched the most deeply by a subsequent notice in a Boston review,^ in which the story was analyzed and studied with a minuteness to which we, in France, are unaccustomed. To sketch a little provincial drama, to drop into it, as into a waffle-iron, ex- ceptional matter, which is connected with the popular train of thought only by a slight thread of interest, to be un- derstood by a writer beyond the sea, ^ W. H. Bishop, " The Faience Violin," in the " Atlan- tic Monthly," Boston, 1879. Preface. ix who calls the attention of his fellow- countrymen to a foreign work, — this is the most pleasing reward that the author of a book can attain, one that makes him forget the labor of its com- position. Not that *' The Faience Violin " cost me any great pains — it flowed quite spontaneously from my pen, as a stream of clear water springs from the crevices of a rock. For ten years I travelled through France, impelled by an idea which led me later on to undertake the ** History of Patriotic FaTence in the Time of the Revolution." Having per- sonally visited a number of collectors, I was enabled to gather a quantity of materials of ceramic interest about men and things. Endowed by nature, rather than by X Preface. effort, with the gift of regarding serious matters lightly and considering trifling matters seriously, I was able, without trouble or exertion, to draw from my memory an accumulation of facts, and thus to communicate pleasing impres- sions to the public ; for the reader is not touched in the least by the elabo- rate and studied effects considered as the brightest gems in their crown by some writers who make great pretence and boast of them. He expects the mirror of the comedy presented to him to be clear and bright, free from lights and shadows. " The Faience Violin," a spontaneous effort, does not belong in the least to the category of works for which authors tear their hair, when they have any left to tear. It is the fashion at the present time Preface. xi to make great account of the realism of a story. In the majority of modern romances the author lets it be under- stood that he could give the key to it. They believe in piquing the curiosity by giving out that they have only painted characters frequenting the Bou- levard, the Bois, or the Opera. If in- tellectual realism were reduced to this process, the '' Gazette des Tribunaux " would surpass the important creations of the masters. What does the public care whether a portrait is painted after nature, if it is badly painted ! or whether facts are real, if they are not logically dis- posed ? Would you have the declaration of a man who has followed, as closely as possible, this realism with which criti- cism has found so much fault? It is xii Preface, wholly a matter of choice, an arrange- ment, a result of the imagination always seeking by induction to make the truth stand out, a hammer knocking at the writer's heart, and if it fails to bring forth an answering vibration it may be treated like a poor clock, to be rele- gated to the garret. In what ministerial ante-chambers, in what taverns, what green-rooms, did Lesage meet his grand lords, his swindlers, his lackeys, his actresses? The critics know nothing about it; they have tried in vain, with more than one bunch of keys, to open the lock of " Gil Bias." All the characters taking part in this remarkable comedy have remained unknown ; nevertheless they constitute actors in the finest, the most vivid French romance extant. I feel some embarrassment, after Preface. xiii giving so lofty an example, in saying that in " The Faience Violin " I made use of two types, one of which was very prominent in the little world of amateur collectors of curiosities, and which I have never met with ; the other, a modest scholar, living in the country: if I should tell his name, would the strangers who read stories be any more interested? They de- mand that Gardilanne and Dalegre be substantial enough to take part in the fictitious civil state made use of by romancers, *' The Faience Violin " was planned in this way. Perhaps a word ought to be said about the author's preferences in regard to form : it is not conspicu- ous and can serve no one as a model ; its sole ambition is to be modest, simply adorned, and thus to escape xiv Preface, getting out of fashion, as too often happens to works brilHant in appear- ance. In spite of the interesting investiga- tions for enriching the language, pro- duced from 1820 to 1880, in spite of the passionate words branded into it, the use of which, it seems to me, has been particularly advantageous to poe- try, if I turn to the masters of prose I do not believe that I shall appear mad over the classics if I say that Moliere, La Fontaine, and Saint-Simon in the seventeenth century, Lesage, Voltaire, and Diderot in the eighteenth, offer sufficient resources for modern thought, and that all passion, however profound, can be expressed by this language es- tablished for a long time. Such is the Pantheon of the gods whom I admire, and whose names I Preface. xv write without fear of calling forth a crushing comparison. On a less prominent plane I shall place the Abbe Prevost, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Sedaine, Xavier de Maistre, who fortunately are not " impeccable " masters, but the ingenuity of whose stories must be enjoyed in their inmost essence rather than studied ; they wrote impelled by " sentiment" rather than by ambitious theories. To these men may be added many other writers who care for their stories, and only incidentally consider the form. The exclusive worship of fine phraseol- ogy, the art of rhetoric too often con- cealing the emptiness of the thought, render them, perhaps, indifferent to sensational works. The eyes of these "lakeists" turn more gladly to the white house with green blinds, which xvi Preface. only accidentally conforms to architect- ural laws, and it seems that from one of these little modest cottages, built at little expense to its owner, a poet, M. Paul Arene, has been willing to speak, saying with great friendly good-will that " The Faience Violin " was written very frankly, ''which," he adds, '' is perhaps, as the etymology suggests, the best way of writing French." Let me erase best and accept the defi- nition. I am making too much of a story a new edition of which the publisher has charged me with introducing to the public. I must add a word with regard to the illustrations of this book. A skilful engraver, M. J. Adeline, has kindly consented to my wish to have the text illustrated solely with subjects from still life. Preface. xvii It is not a caprice. It seems to me almost impossible for an artist to render with all their exterior expression, their similitude, the characters seen by the writer and delineated by him with a sometimes annoying precision ; possibly the Berlin Chodowiecki, possibly Henry Monnier, might have been able to trans- late the author's thought. The present time, which counts so many talented artists, has not brought to my notice the painter I desired, trans- parent as the little drama is, to render the action of the characters ; that is why, leaving to the engraver the interpretation of old shops, ancient country houses, wonderful objects found in the city and country, the painter could still draw from his memory various motifs worthy of his etching-needle, to serve as deco- rative settings for the headings of chap- xviii Preface. ters, or to end them with deHcately elaborated tail-pieces. In this kind of illustration curiosity collaborates in a certain way with the work thus presented. Around *' The Faience Violin " the reader's imagina- tion will create for him the moving characters, their gestures, their joys, their covetousness, their misfortunes. Do not these details, these profiles, mentally drawn as a help to the text, form a varied, manifold, and personal illustration, of more value than inaccu- rate faces, false gestures, and conven- tional clothes? Champfleury. Sevres, December, 1884. THE FAIENCE VIOLIN. CHAMPFLEURY. ^vAu \^l\^\:,_^ THE FAIENCE Vil.QUN." Who, in Nevers, has not heard of Dalegre, one of the most pronounced examples of the Nivernian type — that is to say, a man small of stature, gay, smiling, affable, with a highly colored face, bearing traces of the wine of the coun- try, just as a chevalier in old times used to bear the colors of his lady? «!5|f|gj^ '' ' '^Tke Faience Violin, \\ pa^^^^e w^s A^ne oi the best of corn- fades' in a tdwri'fich in boon compan- ions, sound in body and mind, choice in their selection of words, not afraid of a witty remark, and enjoying hfe Hke gay fellows, prudent enough not to consume it all at once. From the age of twenty to thirty- five Dalegre filled the country with his name. No festival was a success with- out him ; he was a fine dancer, and mothers never failed to inquire of their daughters: ''Have you been asked by M. Dalegre?" So, for fifteen years, Dalegre was king of the town. With a little ambi- tion, he might have made a greater name for himself; but as the round of pleasures carried him along, he let him- self go till one day this perpetual life of hunting, dining, balls, and fetes began The Faience Violin, 5 to weary him, and he made a trip to Paris. Unfortunately for him, Dalegre met there an old college friend, Gardilanne, whose character was as opposite from his as could be imagined. Gardilanne, chief clerk to the minis- ter of foreign affairs, was thin, sickly, generally low-spirited. Gardilanne had a miserable stomach ; Dalegre had a digestion of iron. The two friends understood each other nevertheless, as the Nivernian was naturally inclined, on account of his happy disposition, to accept the habits of those with whom he came in contact, provided they would leave him to his own caprices. At the restaurant where Gardilanne took Dalegre, he brought out of his pocket a little vial holding a finger of 6 The Faience Violin, wine, the only kind that agreed with him; it did not prevent his companion, however, from drinking an excellent bottle of Gorton. Dalegre went to the theatre. Gardi- lanne went home, for the chief clerk made it a rule to go to bed at nine o'clock ; he said he could preserve his frail health only by taking incessant precautions, such as eating at regular hours, taking little food at a time, but often, having neither wife, children, nor passions, nor anxieties of any kind. Amazed at this sort of life, Dalegre wondered what pleasures could be en- joyed in Paris by a bachelor of forty, whose only society was a crabbed serv- ing woman, and he really believed that Gardilanne had no passions. In this respect he was a poor observer, as his stay in Paris proved to him later on. The Faience Violin, Every morning Gardilanne rose at six o'clock, and partook of a modest meal. Whether it was windy, whether it hailed, rained, or snowed, the chief clerk paced the streets for three hours, beginning at the faubourg Saint-Antoine and the rue de Lappe and ending at the quai Vol- taire. Gardilanne thought himself passion- less : he was an excessively passionate being, as restless as a lover going to his first meeting with his sweetheart ! more subjected to tyranny than the most ambitious, as nervous as a gambler, with eyes as full of fire as a Corsican lying in wait for his enemy, as spark- ling as those of a gourmand at a feast, with hands as convulsive as those of a man whose last card represents ruin or fortune. No passions ! Gardilanne possessed 8 The Faience Violin, them all melted into one alone, the most tyrannical of all, the passion for collecting ! Gardilanne loved beautiful furniture, choice pictures, just as a woman takes pleasure in handling old laces. India and Japan appeared to him In the shape of sacred elephants or fantastic crabs in precious metals ; Limoges enamel, artists' proofs of rare engrav- ings, ivories, Venetian glass, Italian bas-reliefs of the sixteenth century, at- tracted his admiration as well as sump- tuous Eastern stuffs, Henry II. fa'ience, miniatures, arms, snuff-boxes, chests, and credences. To satisfy his thirst as a collector coveting every priceless object, Gardi- lanne was avaricious enough to mal- treat his body within and without, depriving himself of proper food and The Faience Violin. g clothing, in order to save each day a few francs to throw to the monster bric- a-brac. The chief clerk could hardly sleep at night, always dreaming of objects more marvellous than the treasures of the " Arabian Nights." The Hghtning might have struck in the street without disturbing Gardilanne when he was gaz- ing at a shop window, casting his eye over a heap of worthless objects, in the hope of finding a chance prize. No passions ! Gardilanne could have taught a cat watching for a mouse. When, looking as cool as a judge, he was bargaining for a lot of medicine bottles, in the mean stall of a second- hand dealer in rue Mouffetard, who would have thought that the frame of an emblazoned arm-chair hanging from the ceiling was the prey which attracted lo 77?^ Faience Violin. Gardilanne, calling himself a dealer in broken glass in order to get possession of the seat in which, perhaps, the great Conde sat? No passions ! What was the mean- ing of those greenish wrinkles in a yel- low, glossy skin, that parchment drawn tightly over protruding cheek-bones, those hollow eyes incessantly gleaming with a feverish light, those shoulders prematurely bent, that anticipated old age? Deep poverty could not have emaci- ated the chief clerk so much : although but three years older than Dalegre, he might have passed for his father, a miserly father too, his face was so drawn, his clothing so threadbare. Dalegre found Gardilanne very much aged, for he had lost sight of his friend since they were in college ; but he The Faience Violin. ii made no allusion to this, for such ob- servations are not usually well received. Moreover, he was dazzled by the quan- tity of precious objects with which Gardilanne's apartment was filled, so crowded with wonderful things that it might have been taken for the queen of Sheba's storehouse. There was n't a place to set one's foot in these rooms ! The customary furniture was wanting; the place was overflowing with marquetry cabinets, 'etageres with heavy twisted columns, ponderous chests, which would have threatened the stability of a Parisian flooring, if Gardilanne had not happened to live on the solidly constructed ground floor of an old hotel. A suite of rooms solidly tiled with marble slabs enabled him to amass in them ancient wainscoting, works of 12 The Faience Violin. wrought iron, great frieze panels taken away, by the Black Band, from old manor houses in Auvergne. Gardi- lanne's apartments were large, but full to overflowing. You had to be careful of your elbows, or your hat, whenever you made the slightest movement. It was a disorderly museum, which, in its conglomeration of objects, nevertheless displayed riches of every sort. Yet Gardilanne's sole income was from a position which brought him only five thousand francs ; but he supplied lack of money with patience, endless activity, unequalled perspicacity, and deep cunning, which made him the king of barterers among collectors, for his patience, his activity, his instinct, and his salary of five thousand francs, a maximum which he had only received during the past year, would have been The Faience Violin. 13 insufficient to allow him to keep this in- comparable collection. Gardilanne's secret (he did not tell this to his friend) consisted in supply- ing various amateur collectors with whatever curiosities they wanted. Rising very early in the morning, Gardilanne swept away everything from the shops that he knew would suit one person and another. By dint of observ- ing and comparing, since he was thor- oughly acquainted with the complicated science of bric-a-brac, he was the best man in Paris to consult about a mark, an authorship, a genealogy, and the various peregrinations of a work of art. Gardilanne could have taught the most crafty auctioneers a lesson, and the best argument, among amateurs, in re- gard to a doubtful object was to quote 14 The Faience Violin, the opinion of this celebrated collector, who was an authority in the place. So fine a tact enabled him to detect valuable objects through the mould that covered them, and he obtained them with very little money ; and, as knowl- edge in any direction is as good as capital, at the end of fifteen years Gar- dilanne had succeeded in becoming- the owner of a number of works of art to which fashion had not yet taken a fancy, and which he caused to be recog- nized later on, not only as rare, but also as works of real value. So Gardilanne was happy, happier without a stomach than Delegre in the midst of a feast. The Nivernian admired with assur- ance the collection of splendors which filled the apartment; but he could not guess the secret joy of his friend, who, The Faience Violin. 15 as soon as he entered the house, saw the gates of paradise open. In these cold rooms, without fire, Gardilanne began to walk about at day- break, looking affectionately at each of the objects he had saved from destruction. Imagine the joy of a mother whose child has been snatched from the jaws of death by a skilful physician ! Such were Gardilanne's rapturous feelings. He had found the larger part of his curiosities cracked, nicked, or broken, and he had given them a second life with their pristine glory. The bachelor, without children, had thus created a family. There was not an object which did not remind him of a long research, profound contriv- ances, schemes, — a drama ! Sometimes Gardilanne would even rise in the night and light a candle to 1 6 The Faience Violin. satisfy his ardent curiosity and feed on the sight of a new acquisition. When he awoke there were still new joys, ecstasies equal to those of the miser counting and recounting his gold, for Gardilanne united to his taste for art a material satisfaction which made him exclaim at every turn : " This collection represents millions ! " Perhaps Gardilanne happened to specify his collection in this positive way because he was certain that this manner of speaking would strike most effectively on the ears of the ignorant. He said it to others without fear of boring them, repeated it to himself, and made no mystery of it to Dalegre, who opened his eyes in surprise. How could a clerk with a salary of five thousand francs have accumulated millions? Dalegre could not explain The Faience Violin. 17 this, even when Gardilanne invited him one morning to go with him on one of his customary expeditions through alleys, lanes, and even the wretched holes of the Jewish quarter. This ex- pedition lasted no less than four hours, at the end of which Dalegre came back worn out; he who was accustomed to every sort of physical exercise ; but the Nivernian had not the passion for bric-a-brac. Running from one faubourg to another in Paris did not much interest him, and he could not help showing his disgust in a rag-picker's shop in the rue de I'Epee-de-Bois, where Gar- dilanne hunted out some fragments of antique tapestries from under a heap of rabbit skins and bones of all sorts giving forth nauseous odors. If Dalegre had been endowed with 1 8 The Faience Violin. the power of observation he would have noticed the man's emotion, his gleaming eyes, a tension of the nerves which made Gardilanne's hand suddenly grow long like a violin-player's; his fingers, assuming Jewish positions, needed only the hooked nails. The chief clerk rummaged about in this mass of rags with the instinct of the miser and the coolness of a surgeon hastening to shorten a painful opera- tion. He fumbled with both hands, while his eyes, like a police officer's, assumed the singular faculty of looking in different directions, allowing Gar- dilanne to see in front of him, beside him, and almost behind his back. Dalegre was lacking in that sense of the beautiful which grants its acolytes the power of detecting a pure and spotless work of art, hidden like gold The Faience Violin, 19 in the crucible under the drpss of the molten metal ; that is why, caring little for such discoveries, and not taking the slightest interest in them, Dalegre, sick at his stomach, stood on one foot. hardly daring to place the other on the dirty floor of this mean little shop. The memory of the smiling fields of Nevers came back to him in the miser- able rue de I'Epee-de-Bois; the hares coming out of their burrows appeared 20 The Faience Violin. to him along the road, within gunshot, and he came to the conclusion that Gardilanne was subject to the same passion as himself for hunting, only it was applied to antiques. When Dalegre was about to return to the country Gar- dilanne said to him : ** Are you familiar with the faience of Nevers?" ''No," reph'ed Da- legre. Gardilanne shrugged his shoulders. 22 The Faience Violin, " What ! " he exclaimed ; *' you Hve in in a country where they make the most beautiful French faience, and you are not even aware of its existence ! I pity you ! " Dalegre smiled. " To-morrow morning," continued Gardilanne, *' come early and take your first lesson ; it is absolutely necessary for a man like you to know about faience. It is Nevers's chief claim to glory." " Of what use would it be for me to become a connoisseur?" said Dalegre, whose bump of local enthusiasm was not very well developed. *' Not to pass for an ignoramus." *' Pooh ! " said Dalegre. But Gardilanne returned to the charge and made his friend promise that he would try to be instructed ; at the same time he explained his idea to him. The Faience Violin. 23 '* In Paris," he said, " we have no fine specimens of the potteries of Nevers, because porcelain up to the present time has the advantage over faience ; but the day will come when the latter will triumph and take the precedency before its rival. A revolu- tion is going to take place in ceramics like that which broke out in '89. Fa'ience is the bourgeoisie which de- mands a recognition of its rights, and the fate of the nobility is reserved for porcelain. It will not be persecuted ; but it will fall into oblivion, and only snobs, in order to give themselves airs of great lords, will care for this cold, pretentious ware." Dalegre did . not understand the lesson ; he cared little for the declara- tion of the Third Estate, and the Abbe Sieyes's little book had never filled him 24 The Faience Violin, with dreams. He was above all a man of pleasure, but he was a devoted friend, as he proved in this case. Seeing that Gardilanne was exceed- ingly anxious for specimens of the fa'ience of Nevers, he tried to under- stand his friend's lessons, although he had difficulty to fix in his mind the yellows, the blues, and th.Q greens which form the base of Nivernian decoration. He listened abstractedly to the his- tory of the production of his province : for instance, that Italian artists came to settle in Nevers at the end of the six- teenth century, attracted thither by the dukes, and that they had modelled and painted objects of a certain shape. At the same time Gardilanne placed before him a valuable specimen, a sort of ewer with handles in the form of twisted cords. But what the chief The Faience Violin. 25 clerk desired above everything was specimens of ivJiite on bine, the only ex- ample of which in the collector's cabinet consisted of an enamelled tile from the palace of the dukes of Nevers. " A marvel of ornamentation rivalling the sopra bianco of the Italian schools ! " he exclaimed. Gardilanne put the marvel into Dalegre's hand, and he looked at it with as much amazement as a bat at an exhibition of fireworks. " My dear Dalegre," said the chief clerk, *' the potters of your province at that time almost equalled the admirable workmen of Persia." Dalegre made no reply, but still held the enamelled tile, which he found rather heavy. " Notice the quality of this tile ! " continued Gardilanne, annoyed by his 26 The Faience Violin, friend's indifference. " The enamel is thick, and at the same time transparent, is it not? How harmonious to the eye are these birds and flowers im- pasted in white ! " He seized Dalegre's hand and pressed it tightly, to communicate his convic- tions to him. "Well, my dear friend, there exist in Nevers great basins decorated with the same white over blue." If a book of geometry were placed in the hands of a little peasant who had spent his childhood in hunting for birds' nests, he would not be more taken aback than was Dalegre when he heard his friend speak of glaze, crackled enamel^ manganese, Japanese influence, Franco-Italian style. It was an entirely new language, and in spite of his efforts to grasp the meaning of these technical The Faience Violin. 27 terms, he only succeeded in getting a violent headache, for until this time he had given himself up entirely to the pleasures of life, and had prudently avoided all study and all reflection. Gardilanne came to the conclusion that his friend was not quick enough to digest the fruits of ceramics all at once. *' It is not necessary for you to know all the details," he said to him ; " I am wrong in confusing your mind with them. But look attentively at the pieces which I am going to show you, and try to re- member their shapes and colorings." Then he brought out, one by one, different specimens of faience, laying stress on their proportions. " A really beautiful pottery," he said, " is of an undeniable character, even to the ignorant, when it assumes a certain form. You will pick up small pieces 28 The Faience Violin. easily enough, but look out especially for large specimens ; for there will cer- tainly be some among them which the caprice of the firing has not harmed with cracks or imperfections, which the potters call die gauche. Dalegre came very near understand- ing this new lesson, promised to scour the Nivernian fields during the autumn hunting-season, and soon left Gardi- lanne. The collector was happy to have placed a watchful sentinel in the midst of one of the most important focuses of antique ceramics. HI. A MONTH later Gardi- 1 a n n e received a case which he opened in great ex- citement. Dalegre had not forgotten the collector, and had sent him vari- ous pieces of faience, two of which were especially remarka- ble on account of their perfect preservation. 30 The Faience Violin. The same evening, Gardilanne, in his enthusiasm, paid Dalegre by conferring upon him the title of connoisseur; without losing a moment he replied with an effusive letter, every line of which teemed with unmistakable ex- pressions of gratitude. As Dalegre had handled these ob- jects, the head clerk felt certain their form would remain impressed upon his friend's mind ; nevertheless, Gardilanne deemed it proper to add to his thanks a few words of explanation about these pieces of faience, their approximate date, the marks painted on the re- verse sides, and certain exact details which ought to be fixed in Dalegre's thoughts. Without doubt (wrote Gardilanne) the amateur is born, but one may become a col- lector. The ewer you have sent me would The Faience Violin. 31 make a Rothschild jealous ; the faience prayer- book enclosed in the package is also a unique specimen. It would make me anxious to go to mass if I had time for it. It is a hand-warmer for the devout ; they formerly carried this large book filled with boiling water, under the arm, to church ; a fashion dating from the sixteenth century, with this difference : that then the monastic order, if Rabelais is to be believed, employed it as a stomach-warmer ; that is to say, in the capacity of a flask. I shall not put into this prayer-book, my dear friend, either good wine or boiling water. The sight alone of the enamel warms my old blood. Ah ! Dal^gre ! What a beautiful gift you have sent me ! I have placed it beside a little Byzantine shrine as a worthy companion to a mar- vellous religious relic. While I am speak- ing of this, I recommend your visiting the vestries of the village churches ; the country cur6s understand nothing about archaeology, fortunately ! Look carefully in the dark cor- ners ; look with my eyes, if you possibly can ! 32 The Faience J^iolin. Old statues, antique tapestries, wood carvings, are thrown into out of the way places. I would willingly make a present of twelve biblical pictures in chromo-lithography, representing the stations of the cross, to the church-wardens who would consent to give you these dilapi- dated objects in exchange. Do not forget the details — twelve beautiful colored pictures, in new gilt frames ! This gift will certainly be of use to you among the priests ; we always have need of the clergy, my dear friend. If, by chance, there are no curiosities in the churches, — but I am sure of the contrary, — look around in the hospitals. There, my dear Daldgre, you will find a plentiful harvest to gather. The Italians considered chemistry undoubtedly as the queen of arts, to judge by the sumptuous compositions which decorate their pharmaceutical vessels. I have been told that many a sister superior in the hospitals had her portrait on the theriac bottles ; I have not yet proved the fact ; however, I feel sure of it. The French potters have followed the Italian fashion. The artisans of Lun6ville, of The Faience Violin, 33 Haguenau, and of Niderviller have decorated whole laboratories, and I never fail, every week, to go for my supply of magnesia to a little apothecary shop in rue du Pas-de-la- Mule, which has preserved its entire series of pottery decorated with charming pink knots twining around the necks of symbolical ser- pents Would you believe it, the selfish creature who keeps this shop has refused me, — me, a faithful patron of the house, one of those pots, of which I asked but one specimen. There are people too hard-hearted to sympathize with the desires of connois- seurs ! The sisters of charity are of a kinder nature. Since, by their profession, they escape the vanities of this world, they know nothing about the cursed tortures with which collectors are affected ; if they were aware of it they would be eager to alleviate them. It is better, however, to gain admittance to their labora- tories casually ; you can be wounded in hunt- ing, have strained your back or sprained your foot — If you have grazed the skin, the 34 The Faience Violin. doors of the hospital will open to you \ a backache, a sprain, can be summoned at will. You ring at the door, dragging yourself along ; you are taken to the dispensary. The sisters of charity have every remedy to cure your pains There you are in the heart of the place Attention! If there is no faience there, your sprain disappears at once — If the dresser is filled with decorate bottles, your sprain grows worse. You establish yourself in the dispensary ; you are taken care of, and you carry away the remedy with the bottle which contains it — Such, my dear Dal^gre, is the plan of a campaign full of strange experiences — Ah! if my office did not keep me in Paris, I would be coddled in all the hospitals of Nevers, sure to carry away from them a cart-load of curious faience. I have let myself run on, my dear , friend ; but you understand me. As proof of it I have the slender ewer outlined against my wall, and the priceless faience prayer-book with a glaze as pure as crystal. Hoping to hear from you The Fdieme Violin, 35 soon, thank you. Thank you, hoping to hear from you soon. Your grateful Gardilanne. Thus passed a year during which Dalegre, having taken a fancy to this new kind of hunting, sent four suc- cessive packages to Gardilanne, who never failed to show his gratitude, and paid his friend in information about ceramics. Singular experience in the life of a huntsman ! In spite of the enthusiasm which he put into the pursuit of hares and roebucks, Dalegre did not forget Gardilanne, and ransacked every village with the daring of an old soldier to whom pillage is allowable. This was a new occupation for Dalegre. Naturally obliging, he was 36 The Faience Violin. happy in the head clerk's Httle happi- nesses, and exhibited his letters in the town, thereby showing, without being aware of it, the least bit of vanity ; for Gardilanne, the master in regard to works of art, treated him as a devoted pupil, overwhelmed him with compli- ments for his fortunate discoveries, and dubbed him connoisseur emeritus. There are some innocent passions which are like frail plants clinging to an oak-tree, surrounding the trunk, growing, climbing out on the branches, attracting numerous animalculae, and finally conquering the superb giant- king of the forest. Dalegre did not notice at first that the pursuit of deer and small game filled him with less enthusiasm than formerly, and that his eyes were gradu- ally becoming accustomed to impress The Faience Violiyi. 37 the pleasing colors of the different kinds of faience on his mind. Now he took a great interest in glancing into every cottage, at every dresser, to assure himself that some important piece, perhaps from the pillage of a castle during the Revolu- tion, was not hanging above the fire- place. Thus he had sent to Gardilanne, without taking any great pains, a pot decorated with armorial bearings, which caused the collector to write two en- thusiastic pages, and after that Dalegre devoted himself to searching for em- blazoned vessels, all the more eagerly because this sort of bargain with the peasants required a diplomacy in which the townsman needed to display all his shrewdness. Dalegre was gradually attacked with the Parisian malady of bric-a-brac. 38 The Faience Violin. Gardilanne had sown a seed of his own passion in his friend's mind, where other passions had held sway hitherto. The seed had germinated, was begin- ning to sprout, and putting forth large leaves which would suffocate all neigh- boring passions. IV. At that time there were two brothers in Nevers who collected old things that came in their way from one quarter and another ; not e x- actly from the stand- point of art (they did not know of the word). They had a craze for accumula- tion. 40 The Faience Violin. They had the privilege of hunting about in the houses of their acquaint- ances, and rarely came out of them without carrying away some old, di- lapidated object. The Messrs. Matra resembled the magpie in their passion for filling their garret with everything useless: broken screens, worm-eaten wainscotings, old snuffers, incomplete books, family por- traits gnawed by rats, and other objects of like value. Impelled by an instinct of greed, they were ready to pick up nutshells if they had the least idea that the material might afford patient beings a surface for carving. No matter how broken, injured, and mouldy a thing was, the term antique in the eyes of the Matra brothers commanded respect, and was a reason for its preservation. The Faience Violin, 41 The greater part of their treasures consisted naturally in fragments of broken Nivernian faience. Dalegre went to visit them, and displayed so varied a knowledge of the matter that he astonished the two brothers, who had seen him only as a man of pleasure. Dalegre did not conceal the source of his information, and ascribed all the honor to Gardilanne, who, whenever he sent him specimens, told him their origin, and made him notice the differ- ent details, which would escape an igno- rant person. The Matra brothers, annoyed by such learning, made up faces. *' Am I mistaken in my judgment?" asked Dalegre, who desired nothing better than to have his errors pointed out. "No, but.... " 42 The Faience yiolin. *'What?" " For how much do you sell your specimens of faience to Monsieur Gar- dilanne? " '' Sell them ! " exclaimed Dalegre, in surprise; *' I make him a present of them. Is he not my friend?" "Yes, but...." " It gives pleasure to Gardilanne." " Certainly, you give him pleasure," continued the brothers; "there is no doubt about that. But do not trust Parisians ; they are the most ungrateful people in the world ! " "It is evident," said Dalegre, "that you have not read Gardilanne's letters." " Your friend, the collector, pays you in compliments, and laughs behind your back, Monsieur Dalegre; for it's a new thing to see a man ruin his own prov- ince to give pleasure to a Parisian." The Faience Violin, 43 " Ruin his own province ! " exclaimed Dalegre. " Then you are not aware of what is said in the town, and it is well to inform you of it, Monsieur Dalegre. Monsieur Boscus, the honorable president of the tribunal, who also collects fine pieces of faience, called you a spoiler, the other evening, at the prefect's party." ** Spoiler ! " replied Dalegre. ** The term is hard, but just ; and, as all the blows of Judge Boscus tell, will it please you, in a town only too ready to adopt* derisive names, to be known in future by the title of Dalegre- the-Spoiler? " "What a joke!" replied Dalegre, uneasily, for he was neighbor to an old maid named Hermine, a sharp- tongued creature, who had made some remarks concerning Judge Boscus, and 44 77z^ Faience Violin. was adorned by the revengeful magis- trate with the nickname of Vermine. No amiability on the part of the old maid could remove this nickname from her. Hermine she was born, Vermine she would die. The Matra brothers saw that Dalegre was scratching his ear, where an invisi- ble flea had bitten it, and went on : '* Monsieur Boscus said besides : that if Monsieur Dalegre were collecting for himself, it would be quite right ; but to despoil his native town of its riches in order to send them away to a Parisian who would sell them is not the part of a good citizen." " Gardilanne sell his faience ! Never ! " The Parisians have no love for keep- ing anything. Monsieur Boscus re- marked in regard to this that they change kings like shirts. People who The Faience l^iolin. 45 show no attachment for their sovereigns will not be any more eager to keep their fa'ience. This conversation with the Messrs. Matra struck home, and left Dalegre undecided what course to pursue hence- forth with Gardilanne, to whom he had announced his intention of sending him more specimens of greater importance than the preceding ones. Dalegre, now familiar with the best places, had discovered new pieces of faience, and was preparing to get pos- session of them by all sorts of diplo- macy ; but as he feared public opinion, which had treated him until now like a spoiled child, he went to make a call on Judge Boscus. The magistrate did not speak either of faience or of Gardilanne to the col- lector, and Dalegre, as a well-bred man, 46 77?^ Faience Violin. waited for a more formal accusation before defending himself. Out of the corner of his eye he searched for the famous pieces, with which the magistrate had surrounded himself, hoping in some way to mani- fest his regret for having sacrificed too much to friendship; but the judge's collection was not displayed on the walls. Just as he was taking his leave, the judge asked: " Are you not going to marry, Mon- sieur Dalegre? " *'I have not yet thought of it, mon- sieur." *' Nevertheless, you make havoc with the hearts of our pretty young wo- men." This word havoc struck Dalegre. He thought it had a double meaning. The Faience Violin. 47 ** I am really taken up with faience," he said, hoping that the bait would make the judge speak. " Yes, yes," said Judge Boscus, in a tone denoting a sort of reserve. *' And I am going to arrange my house to accommodate my collection." "Very good, Monsieur Dalegre." " I have been rather idle in the past, but henceforth I shall have an object in life." " I congratulate you, monsieur." Dalegre thought the judge polite, but cold. " Monsieur Boscus is too well-bred to overwhelm me with reproaches," he thought; ** at heart he bears me ill- will." The idea of being exposed to the hostilities of so important a person worried Dalegre until he was obliged 48 The Faience Violin. to find some alleviation. From that time he attended the sittings of the police court assiduously to attract the notice of Judge Boscus. While the lawyers were pleading, Dalegre pretended to be asleep ; but his eyes were wide open, his face all attention, his nostrils dilated, when he took in like manna the verbose judge's charge. It was a painful comedy which the experience of Hermine-Vermine seemed to demand of him ; it was especially irksome for a man loving independence, the open air, a man whose passion for hunting had developed a taste for long walks in the country. The windows of the tribunal looked out on an esplanade shaded by fine trees. Dalegre stood sentinel in this place for hours, hoping that Judge The Faience Violin. 49 Boscus would come there to rest from the fatigue of the court-room. Whenever Dalegre met the magis- trate "■ by chance " he would skilfully turn the conversation to the subject of faience. Monsieur Boscus had not re- turned Dalegre's last call! — a circum- stance which in small towns is equiva- lent to a declaration of hostility and gives rise to bitter enmity. Dalegre's mind had never worked so hard before. The man felt that he was becoming as shrewd as a lawyer. Perhaps the cases that he had heard tried during the past three months drove him into the path of ambiguity where the right sense of things is lost. However, tired of attending the weari- some sittings of the police court, Dalegre thought it would be well to seek the bosom of nature for fresh 50 The Faience Violin. vigor, and he set forth, happy to shake off the nauseating odor of the court- room from his clothes. The thought of Gardilanne suddenly coming into his mind made him feel happy. One day, while resting at an inn, after a long morning walk, Dalegre noticed on the mantel-piece above the fireplace an antique bottle of faience, of a delightful coloring. The blues, the yellows, and the greens formed a union of colors as gay as the trio of an old-fashioned minuet. On the belly of the bottle were rep- resented two women of the common people who were tearing each other's hair and fighting desperately, appar- ently for the pleasure of a huntsman in an apple-green coat, who, accompanied by his yellow dog, was watching the scene. The Fdieme Violin. 51 Epigraphical science had lent its aid to the ornamentation of the bottle. ** Look out for your wig ! " — '* There, take that, you codfish ! " was the lovely conversation the two gossips were in- dulging in, without paying any heed to the ** There, there, be still, ladies!" uttered by the peaceable huntsman in a blue cap with a visor. Under other circumstances Dalegre would have paid little attention to this painting of popular customs; but, strangely enough, Gardilanne's face, outlined in his brain, gradually melted away, and Judge Boscus appeared in the place of the fading contour of the Parisian collector. The sight of the bottle, suggesting the magistrate to his thoughts, by some mysterious connection, was almost as real a signal as the footprint of a deer in the moist earth. 52 The Faience Violin. Dalegre followed the track. Would not the judge, the supreme arbiter in the quarrels of women com- ing under his jurisdiction, understand better than any one else the symbolism of this bottle, and appreciate the deli- cate homage of one of his fellow-citi- zens who should make him a gift of it to add to his collection of faience? That same evening Dalegre sent the piece of faience to the judge by his servant, without adding a word. " I shall see at the next sitting," he said to himself, " what effect my present has produced." The next day Judge Boscus took his seat, and passed a just sentence, but one which Dalegre thought severe. The gift of the bottle did not seem to have humanized the magistrate. Most certainly the judge must have The Faience Violin, 53 noticed Dalegre sitting in one of the seats most plainly visible to the judge's bench ; no look of recognition gave evidence that Monsieur Boscus was grateful for the gift made to justice in the person of its chief. Dalegre felt uneasy, not knowing how to fasten the link in the broken chain of his relations with the judge. Fortunately, some time afterwards, one of his farmers, who was behind- hand in his payments, found him in a state of irritation which makes the best natures bitter. Dalegre flew into a pas- sion. The peasant treated his landlord with so little respect that Dalegre brought action against him. This cir- cumstance very naturally brought him into relations with the judge. Dalegre went to see him, and ex- cused himself for having sent a remem- 54 The Faience Violin. brance to the chief magistrate, called to become supreme arbiter in his cause. *' Are you the one," asked the judge, "who sent me that bottle? What was your object? " Dalegre said that he had wished to add to the collection of a man for whom he felt unusual esteem. " But I have no collection ! " ex- claimed Monsieur Boscus. Dalegre then became aware that he was the victim of the Matra brothers, who had set a trap to prevent him in future from collecting curios and com- ing into competition with them. But it was difficult to oppose this absorbing passion. Dalegre, having be- come an infatuated collector, now heard a voice constantly commanding him to sacrifice Gardilanne. The Parisian appeared in a sort of magic mirror, The Faience Violin. 55 magnifying the evil instincts of the people of the capital. Then again, Dalegre felt himself wrapped in a cloud of vanity. His knowledge, if turned to account by making a collection, would attract tourists, and, without doubt, win him the honor of mention in the year-book of the department. Men have at their command a thousand plausible reasons for coloring their passions, taking back a promise, breaking a compact, and sacrificing their best friends. 56 The Faience Violin, V. Three months passed, during which Gardilanne, surprised at not receiving any more specimens from Dalegre, wrote letter after letter to arouse his friend's enthusi- asm. Was the coun- try entirely exhausted ? This last reason made a great impres- sion on Dalegre, and impelled him to employ a decep- t i o n common among collectors. The Faience Violin. 57 Not only was the faience not ex- hausted, but, on the contrary, it seemed to be coming out of the earth in pro- fusion. Dalegre had sounded the alarm in every direction, so that never a day passed without some peasant bringing a rare specimen, which the new col- lector paid generously for, with the idea, familiar to certain amateurs, of putting his money at large interest in this way. Among the number were some un- important pieces of faience, of cheap, popular pottery. Dalegre sorted them, divided them into two lots, and sent the worst to Gardilanne. Gardilanne unnailed the box with feverish impatience, took infinite pre- caution in unpacking the things, and made a wry face when he saw such 58 The Faience Violin. miserable trash. It was almost like coarse boiled beef to this epicure who was anticipating the pleasure of tasting dainty delicacies. However, it was necessary to put a good face on the matter, and not be fastidious. In thanking his friend for having thought of him, Gardilanne could not refrain from hinting at his disappoint- ment; however, he still hoped that chance would lead him, in the future, to discover some rare curiosity, and he begged Dalegre not to forget him, whenever it should happen. " Monsieur Sauvageot informs me," added Gardilanne, *' of the existence of a faience violin which an old man claims to have seen formerly in Nevers. It would be a unique specimen of ce- ramic art. Have you ever heard of this singular thing? Bestir yourself, for the The Faience Violin, 59 love of art, I beseech you ! I admit that the revelation of a fa'ience violin has prevented me from sleeping. I heard Paganini draw tones from it as clear as the glaze itself. Speak about the faience violin everywhere, my dear friend ; see the old people of the coun- try ; awaken their memory. If this marvellous instrument exists, you ought to find it. You will find it." ** I will play you a tune on the faience violin ! " exclaimed Dalegre, who was growing more treacherous than lago. And he replied at once with a hypo- critical letter, in which he deplored the worthlessness of the last specimens he had sent, and said that he only wished to show some proof of his good- will. As to the faience violin, Dalegre had 6o The Faience Violin. never heard of it; but he had been told in the town that there existed at an amateur's house some plates be- longing to the end of the seventeenth century on which was written, in the style of pastoral love songs, a sort of ballad. Unfortunately, this collector, who was a surly fellow, would allow nobody to enter his house. Dalegre spoke knowingly about these plates, for he had recently obtained two of them, one of which was devoted to a drinking song, the other to a pastoral with music by Mondonville. As he looked at them, the Nivernian laughed slyly at the good trick he had played on Gardilanne ; the pupil was all the more proud because he had deceived his master. Dalegre rubbed his hands as he The Faience Violin, 6i walked around his room, which was growing richer every day in rare faience, and he considered himself a simple fel- low for having sent so much away to Paris ; but all knowledge is paid for with sacrifice. Gardilanne had compelled him to accomplish this education, and Dalegre would not have understood the charm of these pieces if he had not searched for them, bargained for them, and handled them. However, he was now very anxious to obtain the faience violin, the idea of which had been communicated to him by Gardilanne ; it was rare for a day to pass without his asking the people of Nevers and the neighboring country if they had ever had any knowledge of so rare an instrument. 62 The Faience Violin. Some people regarded Dalegre as a mischievous wag; others pitied him for feeding on such fooHsh fancies. Dalegre threw himself into the craze for collecting with the ardor of a man of thirty-five, seizing hold of a reality, after having exhausted artificial pleas- ures. So the Nivernian, never minding wheh he met with ill success, patiently pursued his researches, kept up his incessant inquiries, and cared nothing for the opinion people expressed about him. Finally he came across one of the oldest patoiiilloiix in the country, a man who had long followed the pro- fession of a faience potter. *' Although I have no knowledge of a faience violin," said the old potter, " it is not impossible that such a thing may exist." 77?^ Faience Violin, 63 The good man looked thoughtful. " It was probably a show-piece made by clever workmen to prove their skill." " Ah ! " said Dalegre, snapping at the bait. ** But you will be lucky, monsieur, if you find such a piece." Dalegre was carried away by the information. At last he had put his hand on a person who did not wholly doubt the existence of the faience violin. To relieve his mind, he told Gardi- lanne the result of his conversation with the old workman. Continuing his machiavellian policy, Dalegre sent the chief clerk a second lot of common- place pottery, cracked and mended, in short, only broken fragments, for he felt 64 The hdience Violin. sure that this miserable earthenware would prevent his friend henceforth from persisting in his unreasonable demands. VI Although he was not hard- hearted, Dalegre laughed in his sleeve to think of Gardilanne's discomfiture on opening the box; for the craze for collect- ing makes people selfish, and Dalegre's happy disposi- tion was gradually be- coming tinged with this 66 The Faience Violin. A week later, Dalegre began to have some misgivings because he received no reply from Gardilanne, who was usually so polite. Had the chief clerk seen in it the trick of a rival? Was he not hurt by the proceeding? Sending these wretched fragments fastened together with coarse wire, had possibly caused Dalegre to lose one of those old friendships which, in spite of everything, it pained him to break. Whatever the Nivernian did to forget this rupture, his conscience was bur- dened with remorse. However, he went on with his investigations and scoured the country round, deserving hence- forth the title of Dalegre-aux-Faiences, which the people of the town applied to him as much out of mischief as to distinguish him from the other Dalegres in the region. The Faience Violin, 67 One evening, on his return from one of his expeditions, his bag filled with faience, old Marguerite, his maid, said : " Monsieur, I forgot to give you a letter which came this morning." *' In a moment," replied Dalegre, very busy arranging on an etagere the specimens he had brought home, so that he might have them before his eyes while he was at supper. "Very good!" he exclaimed, after having disposed his treasures against the wall ; " very good ! " Standing back to enjoy the effect produced by the specimens of faience, he said : ** Marguerite, what do you think of these fine pieces?" "Monsieur, I don't know anything about them." ** You are jealous, Marguerite, you 68 The Faience Violin. would like to have plates like these in your kitchen." The old woman shrugged her shoul- ders and smiled. " How can you spend your money for such things? " '* Stupid ! " "Monsieur knows very well that I am not educated." Dalegre walked up and down the room, while the servant was putting the supper on the table. " The idea of calling noble works of art things/ " "What shall I say, then, monsieur? My people prefer the white porcelain." " Your peasants are ignoramuses ; but they made me pay dear for their faience to-day, all the same." While Dalegre was eating with a lively appetite, sharpened as well by The Faience Violin. 69 his walk in the country as by the joy he felt at his discoveries, Marguerite said : "And the letter, monsieur?" " Really, I forgot all about it ; give it to me. At last Gardilanne sees fit to answer me. He will reproach me, I am sure." Dalegre turned the letter over in his hands without opening it, looking at the writing and the address as though the characters ought to reveal the contents. " I shall find reproaches here," said he, ''which will spoil my supper. Surely, Gardilanne will overwhelm me with his scorn." " Well, monsieur, you don't read Monsieur Gardilanne's letter," said the old servant, who had served her master since he was a child, and, therefore, liked to concern herself in his affairs. JO The Faience Violin. '' I shall read it after a little, Margue- rite ; I am afraid..." " That good Monsieur Gardilanne has met with some misfortune?" '' Why can't you read, Marguerite?" said Dalegre, eating a piece of pie. ''That is my parents' fault, monsieur; I am ashamed of it every day." " You should have read the letter first." "Me!" exclaimed Marguerite, touched by this proof of confidence. " And if it contained anything to give me pain, you would tell me cau- tiously." " Monsieur makes me out of pa- tience ; in his place I should decide at once. I should want to know immedi- ately whether there was good news or bad in it. Come, monsieur, read it quickly," said Marguerite, who, going The Faience Violin, 71 beyond her privileges, had torn open the envelope, and was holding out the letter to her master. With his fork in one hand, and the letter in the other, Dalegre swallowed an enormous piece of pie, while his eyes vaguely followed the written characters. " Oh dear ! " he exclaimed, suddenly, uttering a loud cry, and dropping his fork. ''What is the matter, monsieur?" Dalegre rose from the table. "■ Marguerite, I am lost! " He ran to the sideboard and took down the pieces of faience in a hurry. ** Quick, Marguerite, hide that ! " At the same time he pulled out the nails, which served to hold the objects in place. "What shall I do?" exclaimed Da- legre ; " what shall I do ? " 'ji The Faience Violin, He took a candle and climbed the stairs, saying, ** The blue-room is full of them." The old servant followed him quite dumbfounded. They both went into the room. Da- legre drew a deep sigh. *' I can never conceal the traces of these specimens, Marguerite. What time is it? " " The cuckoo-clock in the kitchen has just struck ten, monsieur." *' It is impossible, it cannot be thought of! " exclaimed Dalegre, almost beside himself, running from the blue- room to the parlor, from the parlor to his own room, looking everywhere in bewilderment. ** But, monsieur, "...said the old woman, without being able to get any explanation. The Faience Violin, 73 Suddenly Dalegre stopped. " Marguerite, Gardilanne is coming to Nevers ! " ** Is that what puts you in such a flurry? Oh, how glad I shall be to see your friend ! " "I am lost, Marguerite ! " " One would suppose that you had committed some crime." " Why didn't you give me that letter this morning?" asked Dalegre. •* Monsieur had gone to look for relics." ** Oh, this faience ! this faience ! " ex- claimed Dalegre ; " Gardilanne mustn't have a suspicion of it ; he would never forgive me." "Why do you want to hide them from your friend?" asked Marguerite. ** I cannot explain it to you," replied Dalegre with irritation. '* Gardilanne 74 The Faience Violin. will be here before we know it.... Everything must be taken away." "All the pots? There are enough to fill two wagons." "Don't let a trace of them be left when Gardilanne arrives." " But, monsieur, the stage will be here in an hour." " Make haste, then." " Lord ! If I only knew where to begin ! " sighed Marguerite. " Take away everything out of the blue-room, where Gardilanne will sleep; be quick about it, for we haven't a moment to lose." " Where shall I put the faience? " " Wherever you like." Meanwhile, Dalegre, recovering his presence of mind, was putting the blue- room in order, and told his servant to carry the faience to the drawing-room ; The Faience Violin, 75 at any rate, Gardilanne would not need to go in there the evening that he ar- rived, nor into any of the other rooms, where he had curios arranged along the walls. That night, while Gardilanne, wearied by the journey, should be fast asleep, Dalegre would help Marguerite to ar- range all his treasures in the cellar, and he made her swear, under penalty of being dismissed immediately, not to reveal the secret to Gardilanne„ 76 The Faience Violin. " Surely, monsieur, it will make me ill/' exclaimed the old servant, who really, since the invasion of the faience, felt the care almost too much for her. VII. Just on the hour, the bell rang, and Gar- dilanne threw his arms around Dalegre's neck, and the latter, ashamed to give his friend a Judas' kiss, of- fered his cheek to him. ** Y o u are surprised to see me, are you not, my dear friend?" .-•:/>'^<< ^.<^. f'.^^^ 7^f 78 The Faience Violin, " I have only just received your let- ter. Wouldn't you like some sup- per?" " I should be very glad to have a bit of something to eat." While at supper Gardilanne said : " At last I have been allowed a vaca- tion of six weeks each year, thanks to my collection, which my minister has been to see. During the vacation he has commissioned me to visit the differ- ent countries which have been the seat of artistic industries. I shall begin with Nevers, and, first of all, I want to thank you, my dear friend, for the treasures you have added to my " cabinet." " The last pieces I sent were rather poor," stammered Dalegre, only anx- ious to justify himself. " On the contrary, they were very important, and that is what brought The Faience Fiolin. 79 me to see you. You sent me a jewel without knowing it." " A jewel ! " said Dalegre uneasily. '* A marvellous relic, dated and signed by an Italian, undoubtedly the chief of the workmen attracted here by the Duke of Nevers." " Ah ! " replied Dalegre anxiously. " A wonderful discovery ! Give me your hand and let me press it again." Dalegre hardly dared to place his damp hand in Gardilanne's. " This fragment, the importance ot which you couldn't have imagined, made a sensation among the amateurs in Paris.... It is evidently the finest specimen in my collection.... If the rest of the pieces were of no consequence, such a one places you henceforth among people of discrimination." *' Confound discrimination ! " thought Dalegre. 8o The Faience Violin, •' But I am not ungrateful, and when you come to Paris you will see under- neath this delightful specimen a little placard bearing this inscription : " Pre- sented by my excellent friend, Dalegre, of Nevers." " How wise I was ! " thought Dalegre, " to put my faience out of the sight of this monopolist." After supper Gardilanne said : " To-morrow we will search the town." Dalegre shuddered. ** There is nothing to be found in Nevers," he said. '' How about the merchants? " ** With the exception of the hatter, Bara, who adds to his own trade a few worthless relics, we have no real curi- osity shop." " And the amateurs? " The Faience Violin. 8i *• We have no collectors here." " I believe, in one of your letters, you mentioned a person who possessed some musical plates." '* Yes.... I had forgotten.... That amateur is dead," said Dalegre, enter- ing the path of untruthfulness. " Good ! " exclaimed Gardilanne ; "then his collection will be for sale." " I do not think so.... The collection has naturally fallen to his heirs." " They will be glad to dispose of them.... Who are the heirs?" Dalegre would have found an alibi to avert a charge of murder hanging over his head, if he had not been a prey to a livelier anxiety." " I do not know the heirs," he said ; " I only know that they have taken everything away." " Couldn't we obtain their address?... 82 The Faience Violin. Isn't there some lawyer in charge of their interests? " " Quite likely ; but as they did not belong to this part of the country, they went away as soon as their affairs were settled.... I have been told that they live in a small village among the Pyrenees." '* And you let these ignorant moun- taineers go away with their precious faience ! What a mistake ! If you had only been a collector ! " Dalegre drew a long breath. His friend had not suspected him in the least. *' To-morrow," continued Gardilanne, " perhaps you will be able to spare a few moments to take me over the museum." '' Pooh ! It's a very poor museum." " I have heard that it was curious." 77?^ Faience Violin, 83 ** You Parisians are so enthusiastic. But you must be tired." ** I could talk about faience all night." ** I am going to take you to your room," said Dalegre, rising, to give his friend a hint to go to bed. When they reached the blue-room, Dalegre said : " Good-night, my dear friend. Sleep well." *' So I am really in Nevers ! " ex- claimed Gardilanne, throwing himself into an easy-chair. ** Good-night." " Sit down a moment.... Can you see the ducal palace from here?" asked Gardilanne. " No, my house is at the other end of the town." " I am sorry for that. I should have 84 The Fdiefice Violin. liked when I opened the window in the morning, to let my first thought be directed to the home of the Gonzagues, who endowed France with the wonder- ful industry of fa'ience.... Your maid seems like a worthy person...." Dalegre tried to make out what con- nection there could be between the Duke of Nevers and old Marguerite. " I have no fault to find with her," said Dalegre. *' Does Marguerite belong to this place?" continued Gardilanne. "She was born at Ligny-le-Chatel." *' Oh, my friend, how fortunate it is that I decided to come here ! To find, the very first thing after my arrival, some one born at Ligny-le-Chatel.... The place is marked on my map.... I want to show it to you." Although Dalegre assured him that The Faience Violin, 85 it was very late, Gardilanne opened his trunk, and took out a map, which he spread out on the table. ** All the red points indicate the seats of ceramic industries.... There is Ligny- le-Chatel. In 1760 a manufactory of faience was established there. Surely curious specimens ought to be found in the houses in the vicinity.... If you would call Marguerite ! " ** Marguerite has gone to bed." '' You think of nothing but sleeping in this country," said Gardilanne, rising from the easy-chair. Surveying the room, he added : " To-morrow send Marguerite to me as early as possible.... I have some- thing to say to her...." '' She will not be able to answer you," said Dalegre, shivering with un- easiness.... ** Did you not notice that Marguerite is deaf? " 86 The Faience Violin. "Deaf! Her face does not indicate such an infirmity...." " I should not keep the poor woman if I were not guided by a feehng of humanity.... Besides," added Dalegre, " my maid has a Hmited capacity, and knows nothing about ceramics.... If you should see the scorn with which Marguerite looks at the faience I bring home.... Oh ! " Dalegre ex- claimed. He had betrayed his secret. Gardi- lanne looked at him in surprise. " I mean the faience that I bring home for you," said Dalegre, with his mouth twisted out of shape by the falsehood. " This will not prevent me from re- turning to Paris by way of Ligny-le- Chatel." *' My dear friend, for the last time, The Faience Violin, 87 good-night," said Dalegre, opening the door. He remained for a moment at the head of the stair, listening to Gardi- lanne as he walked about the room, and did not go away until the thread of light ceased to come from under the troublesome guest's door. However, there was danger in the air. He must lay out a line of action. ** To-morrow Gardilanne will call you, as soon as it is light," said Dalegre to his servant. '' What will monsieur's friend take in the morning? " •' He will take the air." " What, not even a cup of coffee? " " I will tell you about that by and by.... I want you to make no reply to Gardilanne when he calls you...." The old servant listened in amazement. 88 The Faience Violin, " If Gardilanne makes signs to you, you are to do whatever he wishes. If he speaks, you will not hear him." ** It would be better to be deaf, mon- sieur." *' That is what you are, y ou are deaf! " Marguerite looked at her master as wildly as some unfortunate who sees a sorcerer casting a spell over him. She carried her hand instinctively to her ears. "■ You love to talk, I know.... Well, in the evening we will talk as much as you please, but only in the evening.... In the daytime, I intrust you with the oversight of Gardilanne.... Pay close attention to his actions, his gestures, his hands, his pockets.... But do not speak, pretend to be indifferent.... Don't let Gardilanne suspect that he is noticed." The Faience yiolin. 89 Never before had so many interroga- tion-points entered the old servant's understanding. Dalegre was delighted with her stupefaction, and took pleasure in in- creasing it. " A creature," he said, " with designs on my peace of mind, on my property ! And pays for his hospitality by dis- turbing my home where I live so quietly with my good housekeeper ! A miserly character who knows how to plunder all the people of Nevers and Burgundy to his own advantage.... But we are all right, aren't we, Mar- guerite? " The old servant was ready to curse Gardilanne. " To-morrow, child," said Dalegre, flattering Marguerite, '' wake with the idea that you are stone deaf; on 90 The Faience Violin. this depends the future welfare of your master." Then Dalegre motioned to the woman to follow him into the drawing- room, where the faience, taken so hur- riedly from the dining-room, had been piled up. Each one taking a large basket, filled it with the principal pieces, \Yhich they busied themselves with car- rying into the cellar, out of the sight of Gardilanne's eyes. " Above all, do n't let him suspect anything ! " exclaimed Dalegre in a low voice. The master and his servant, taking a thousand precautions, went up and down the stairs like thieves entering a house by night. A peculiar nervous tension had seized Dalegre, and, walking cautiously on tip-toe, he felt his muscles revolt The Faience Violin. 91 against the movements of their master, who till then had never made them the accomplices of such stratagems; they seemed to refuse their usual coopera- tion, and his limbs become soft and flabby. Dalegre, with a guilty conscience, feared that Providence would punish him by making him roll from the top of the stairs to the bottom with the large pieces which he had already taken so much trouble to keep from "breaking while on the road ; but he could not smother that particular click- ing of the faience, which would have wakened Gardilanne quicker than a thunder-clap, for collectors, like misers, are light sleepers. Then Dalegre went to the blue- room and held his ear to the door, listening to see whether his friend was asleep, 92 The Faience Violin. feeling ashamed Oif the sight he pre- sented to old Marguerite, who, till now, had always considered her master as the most loyal of men. The removal of the fa'ience lasted till three o'clock in the morning. Dalegre threw himself on his bed, exhausted by emotions which he had never experienced before. The love of possession had awak- ened in him since Gardilanne's arrival. The countryman felt both wounded in his vanity and also devoured by jealousy; jealous of Gardilanne's riches, and ashamed of having sent him, among worthless fragments, a precious specimen of faience, over which his friend made so much ado, and which he himself had not understood. Numberless questions rushed into his mind. The Faience Violin. 93 How long a visit did Gardilanne intend to make in Nevers? What a series of critical situations he would put Dalegre into ! Any turn that Gardilanne might make in the town was likely to divulge the truth to Gardilanne, that is, that Dalegre possessed an important collec- tion. So he must follow every step of his guest, never leave him any more than his shadow, avert a thousand in- discreet revelations, in order to hide his secret. 94 The Faience Violin. The more Dalegre thought about these schemes, the more he feared that his passion for fa'ience would be dis- covered. If Gardilanne should ask to see his specimens, was it possible for him to refuse a few curious pieces? VIII. His cares and anxi- eties preyed upon the Nivernian's mind to such an extent, that he grew a year older that night. If Dalegre had at times tasted some pleasure in the midst of his collection, he -^-v..\^..V^ 96 The Faience Violin, now knew the sad reverse of these soli- tary joys, and the next morning when he went to knock at Gardilanne's door, he presented himself with a feigned ex- pression of composure in his face, won- dering whether some subtle suspicions did not linger about the blue-room. " Come in, my dear friend," Gardi- lanne called out to him. With his dressing-gown wrapped about him, he had thrown the window wide open and was looking at the old houses in the town. ** What ! already up ! " *' I smell faience in the air," said Gardilanne, in a tone which made Dalegre turn pale. He had a mind to throw himself at his friend's feet and confess that he was deceiving him ; but Gardilanne had his happy moments when he The Faience Violin. 97 ventured to jest, and his " I smell faience " was only an idle remark. '' As I look at your old town," con- tinued Gardilanne, " these antique hotels and gable-roofed houses, I envy the crippled devil who was able to lift up the roof and see what was hid- den away in the garrets. What a col- lection must be there of paintings, tapestries, antique furniture, gay fa'ience, the value of which the people do not know, and which would make me happy ! " " Do not deceive yourself, my dear friend," said Dalegre ; ** Parisian mer- chants have passed through Nevers, and have plundered it of everything." ** Bah ! The hope of gain is the only thing that attracts sharpers, who are, without doubt, full of craftiness; but the aim of the true collector being 98 The Faience Violin. more noble, Providence rewards him by making his faculties serve some- thing better than mean bargaining. I assure you that I would find something to glean where the king of chineurs had passed, not merely something of no importance, but a marvellous speci- men." Dalegre shook his head doubtfully. '* Happy man, not to trouble yourself about curiosities," said Gardilanne. "Do you know what a fixed idea is? Do you dream about faience?" '' I have never dreamed about faience," replied Dalegre. *' I lay my head on my pillow, and sleep without waking from night till morning." Gardilanne was tempted to treat his host like a provincial. " So much the worse for you," he added, " if you lack this noble pas- The Faience Violin. 99 sion.... Oh ! to awake with your mind filled with the idea of making dis- coveries, to go to sleep with eyes de- lighted by the brilliancy of an invisible fa'ience !... Have you never bored those about you, strangers whom you have met, by talking to them about faience ? " Gardilanne was growing excited, and Dalegre's face began to assume a tran- quil expression. His friend's words had just suggested a means of escape. " Here in the town I am called Dale- gre-aux-Fa'iences," he said ; "■ you are the cause of this nickname.... I have obeyed your program so literally, that every one thinks I am an ardent collector." Gardilanne shrugged his shoulders, thinking how simple-minded country- people were. lOO The Faience Violin. " I have asked for so much informa- tion of the people in the town as well as the peasants," continued Dalegre, " that they have imagined that the specimens bought solely for you are hidden in my house, and that all sorts of priceless faience is collected in some corner." " My poor friend, how much harm I have done you ! " ** Do not mention it.... I have scoured the town and the suburbs, as well as the country round ; there is actually nothing left." '' Nothing, do you think? " " Nothing, nothing, nothing." "That is a shame," said Gardilanne, in a tone of apparent indifference.... ** So I must not dream of obtaining even the smallest specimen?" " Some ordinary piece, perhaps. If The Faience l^idm. iDi you like, I will take you- info- the h^'SghV boring villages ; we will beat up the game." Dalegre thought to himself that he would take Gardilanne to the places he had recently drained, hoping that fail- ure in these would discourage his friend from further search. " What are the market days in Nevers?" asked Gardilanne. ** Wednesday and Saturday." " Good ! I have a plan.... You are a hunter, and have probably caught larks with a mirror." " Sometimes," said Dalegre. " Well, on my way here, I thought of a mirror to catch faience." "Really! " " It is simply this : to get a few dishes, some antique Nivernian plates. I will exhibit them on a table in the 102 V Th^ ; Pdience Violin . rtlar'kqtf 'besicje,'' mc, the public crier shall beat the drum every quarter of an hour, collect the peasants, and an- nounce that if they will bring their old fa'ience from their cupboards the next market-day, they can exchange it for ready money." " Oh ! " exclaimed Dalegre in dis- may. ** You do not seem to approve of my plan." " You are jesting, are you not? " " No ; nothing could be more seri- ous." " My dear Gardilanne, give up this idea, I beg of you." "Why?" " I should lose my reputation forever in Nevers." *' What a strange fear ! " " In Paris you live free and inde- The Fdiefice Violin, 103 pendent, doing whatever you choose, and your neighbor pays no attention to your actions ; in the country, dear Gar- dilanne, such eccentricity in a man who is my guest would reflect upon me...." " I think you exaggerate the extent of my plan...." "Without doubt it is a bright idea; but after you had gone, I should be amply repaid for this singularity by practical jokers. I should have to en- dure endless sarcastic remarks for years to come.... Tell me that you will not do this, for friendship's sake." Gardilanne gave up his plan, which was a mere whim, and asked if he might visit the museum of antiquities. '* A little later," said Dalegre ; '* it is only nine o'clock now. The museum does n't open till noon." " How does it happen that a citizen 104 77/^ Faience Violin. as prominent as yourself cannot com- mand the keys? " " No ; and now I think of it, we couldn't even go in before next Thurs- day." '* Three days to wait ! " exclaimed Gardilanne ; " why, I shall probably have gone by that time." *' Ah, ha ! " exclaimed Dalegre, speaking too quickly, and careless about masking his voice. Collectors are keen observers. That " Ah, ha ! " escaping from Dalegre, expressed a sort of delight, causing Gardilanne to glance at his host's face. He noticed his drawn features, his rest- less mouth, his shifting eyes, and that about his whole person there was a sort of embarrassment, the result of a guilty conscience. Gardilanne's eyes penetrated like The Faience Violin. 105 gimlets ; they had acquired this faculty by searching for works of art. Besides, Dalegre was not a new example. Col- lectors are ready to deceive one an- other. In the beginning of his career as col- lector, Gardilanne had more than once been put on the wrong track by ama- teurs, his rivals, who, instead of inform- ing him about the good places, were only anxious to keep him away from them. Gardilanne, once married, suspected his wife. Dalegre's ** ah ! " impressed him ex- actly as a particle of arsenic discovered by a chemist in the body of a man whose sudden death has aroused the suspicions of the law. But as he kept this first suspicion to himself, Dalegre did not suspect that his exclamation io6 The Fciieme Violin, had been put in a retort to undergo different analyses. From this time forth, anxious to find out the countryman's secret intentions, the Parisian acted his part very cau- tiously. *' Certainly, I shall not stay longer in Nevers, if there is nothing to be found." *' Nevertheless, I should like to keep you awhile," said Dalegre ; '' but give up all hope in regard to faience." " After all ! " said Gardilanne, pre- tending to be indifferent. " Stay here with me," said Dalegre, trying to show some cordiality; "you know how glad I am to have you here. If you do not care to stay in the town, we will go a few miles out to a place kept by one of my farmers, where you will breathe fine air, which will do you 77?^ Faience Violin, 107 good, after spending your whole life shut up in an office." ** I like Nevers wonderfully well," said Gardilanne, afraid of being buried in the country, where he should be un- able to continue his researches. It was decided that he was to re- main in the town, and a secret combat, in which much stratagem was displayed, was henceforth carried on between the two collectors. It seemed as if Dalegre was con- stantly laying some snare with the guilty intention of entrapping the chief clerk. Gardilanne tried to escape from his friend, who was, so to speak, glued to him. They formed but a single body, but with opposite wills. Two convicts, fastened by the same chain, and meditating different means of es- io8 The Faience Violin. cape, would not have been more hostile. And they were obliged to be polite to each other, to shake hands every morn- ing, when Dalegre had been walking the halls all night, for fear his friend would try to escape ! This house, which Gardilanne had thought so hospitable when he first arrived, now seemed like a prison to him. He no longer had any freedom to act; when he rose Dalegre rose also, or he sat down when Gardilanne sat down. Gardilanne possessed two shadows. If he looked into a mirror, Dalegre's face was reflected there. A policeman on the watch could not have devised a more tyrannical supervision. In com- ing to Nevers, Gardilanne seemed to have broken his ban. Like a jailer who must not leave for The Faience Violin. 109 a second the prisoner intrusted to his care, Dalegre himself brought his friend the warm water for shaving. Mistrust- ing Marguerite, he took her place in the most careful attentions, and forgot that he had told Gardilanne that he went to bed early. Every night they now held long conversations by Gardilanne's bedside, and he was obliged to restrain himself from crying out : ** Go away ! Leave me alone ! " Both suffered from this constraint, from the masks they wore over their feelings and over their faces. The cordial hospitality which Dalegre was obliged to parade, was sharp and had the effect of hair-cloth. An incident which happened proved to Gardilanne that his suspicions were not groundless. no The Faience Violin. Having asked for the mustard at breakfast, the old servant ran to the kitchen and came back with a Httle Nivernian pot decorated with pretty paintings. Gardilanne exclaimed in admiration, Dalegre allowed himself to cry out in anger, and Marguerite, fright- ened at the consequence of her blun- der, exclaimed in terror. For a moment, the three actors in this scene, ashamed of having given way to the expression of their secret feelings, remained speechless; Gardi- lanne broke the silence. "There," he said, reaching out his hand, " is a mustard-pot unequalled for its elegance." ** Pshaw ! " said Dalegre, reaching out his arm to protect the object. *' Charming ! fine ! and so well pre- served ! "... The Faience Violin. in " It is not bad," replied Dalegre. " You said there was nothing to be found here ! " " This is a mere accident ! "... ** But if I should carry away nothing from Nevers but such a mustard-pot, I should think that my journey had not been in vain." Gardilanne took the pot in hand, turned it round, making the enamel glisten, exclaimed over it, was silent, closed his eyes, opened them again, clacking his tongue as if he had tasted generous wine. Dalegre now ventured to look his guest in the face and watched every gesture, as though he feared Gardilanne would put the mustard-pot in his pocket. ** It is a little piece, which I am fool- ish enough to wish to keep," he said; 112 The Faience Violin. *' it came to me from my great-grand- father." ''All!" said Gardilanne coldly, as he put the mustard-pot back on the table. " Really," added Dalegre, addressing his servant, " this woman does not know what she is doing to use so frail a piece of faience every day." Marguerite, holding up her hands, looked at her master beseechingly, like a dog fearing punishment. " Go, take the mustard-pot back to the kitchen, you old fool ! Wash it carefully, and put it away in the closet in my room for fear it may be broken. If the slightest harm comes to it, I will dismiss you." *' How you treat that poor Mar- guerite!"... Fortunately she doesn't hear you," said Gardilanne, surprised The Faience Violin. 113 that a simple mustard-pot should cause his friend to become so irritated, when he was naturally so even-tempered. Dalegre referred to the attachment he felt for an object which had come to him from his grandparents, and Gardilanne, familiar with this sort of reasoning, used by the peasants when making a bargain, said to himself: " He has pretended to be angry, so that he will not have to give me his fa'ience pot." However, Gardilanne made the best of the matter, and having locked up the mustard-pot in the mental armory where he kept his suspicions, the chief clerk experienced a sort of satisfaction similar to that of a magistrate who has put his hand on an important piece of evidence. The mustard-pot was fixed in Gar- 114 The Faience Violin. dilanne's mind, if it did not receive a place in his collection. It had been examined by a collector's eyes, which exceed those of the lynx in keenness, because they are endowed with the power of induction refused to the understanding of animals. This little pot, the only work of art Gardilanne had been allowed to see thus far in his host's house, assumed a special radiancy on account of its isolation. It seemed a rare and price- less object, a monument in this provin- cial home, so cold and neglected in appearance. The easy-chairs of Utrecht velvet, the family portraits in pastel, the empire furniture in mahogany, failed to interest Gardilanne. The large yard adjoining the house, the stable, the poultry yard, the garden The Faience Violin. 115 beyond the yard, the absolute quiet which reigned in-doors, seemed tiresome to a man accustomed, in Paris, to start early in the morning in search of works of art in the midst of a busy crowd of people. When the unhappy man opened his windows he did not enjoy the morning odors coming from the garden, the verdure of the trees, the peeping of the fowls as Marguerite brought them their grain. At breakfast Gardilanne was served with eggs laid five minutes before,. with butter wrapped in leaves still wet with dew, and vegetables of delicious flavor ; these pleasures, so exquisite to any other Parisian, aroused no particular relish in the palate of a being whose only sensations were turned towards things of a purely archaic nature. ii6 The Faience Violin. One morning, while they were at breakfast, Dalegre was called to his office. " I shan't be gone more than five minutes, my dear friend," he said to Gardilanne. *' Then I am at your dis- posal." Marguerite, who was waiting on the table, looked with commiseration at the chief clerk, always so meditative, dipping a thin piece of bread mechani- cally into his boiled Qgg. " You have n't a famous appetite, monsieur," said the servant, forgetting her master's orders. " No, my poor Marguerite," replied Gardilanne, absorbed in his thoughts. *' You are not like monsieur," con- tinued the servant.... " I assure you, his jaws work when he is at the table." Gardilanne tapped his forehead to The Faience Violin, 117 indicate that there was the seat of his great labor. ** Do you sleep well, monsieur?" asked Marguerite. *' I rest fairly well," said Gardilanne. " If your bed is not made to suit you, you mustn't hesitate to speak about it." Gardilanne shook his head. •* Perhaps you would like to have me tuck up the bed in the evening? " A sudden thought flashed through Gardilanne's mind. " You are no longer deaf ? " he ex- claimed. Marguerite cried out with terror. At the same time she instinctively carried her hands to her ears. " Yes ! yes ! " she said, with her face full of fear. And approaching Gardilanne, she ii8 The Faience Violin. cried out in a voice loud enough to knock him over : " I am deaf ! I am deaf ! " Gardilanne's plate fell to the floor. Recovering his presence of mind, he looked attentively at the old servant, who stood nailed to the spot, her hands held tightly over her ears. " Surely there is something strange going on in this house," thought the chief clerk. Just then Dalegre came back, and Marguerite, all confusion, took the op- portunity to escape. Not wishing to give any evidence of the discovery he had just made, and summoning the most natural tones of his voice, Gardilanne said : " My dear friend, the time certainly passes very pleasantly here with you ; but I must not lose sight of my mis- The Faience Violin. 119 sion. I am anxious to begin my re- searches.... I really must." ** Well, to-morrow we will run through the town," said Dalegre. x«til5»*;wv7 A DAY was spent in visiting the sec- ond-hand shops in the town, where, indeed, there was nothing to be found but wretched furni- ture, frieze-panels painted by glaziers, and other things of like value. Dalegre took his friend to The Faience Violin. 121 the places where he had been himself, hoping to baffle his ardent determina- tion to find something worth buying. He made him spend three days in this way, all to no purpose, in the sub- urbs and outskirts of the town, without showing him anything but the popular ware of Nevers, which is not worth, at a reasonable price, more than four sous a plate. Gardilanne, in despair, secretly cursed his journey, but a new occurrence re- doubled his suspicions. Having asked Dalegre for some writing materials, he took him into his private room, which he thought had been cleared of every specimen that would betray him; he forgot that on his table lay a little faience desk which caused Gardilanne to exclaim enthusi- astically ; 122 The Faience Fiolin, " Bless me ! " he said.... *' Ah, how I should like to write on such a desk ! " Although containing himself, Da- legre tapped his foot; his exasperated muscles were writhing in his boots. He looked anxiously first at his judge and then at the damning piece of evi- dence. Of a white enamel, almost as pure as a delicate Sevres paste, it was the most fascinating desk ever seen. Over this soft white background ran fanciful arabesques, among which cupids were playing in the manner of Callot, while on the side hump- backed lovers were telling their woes to beautiful ladies, whose graceful atti- tudes recalled the figures of the Re- naissance. The whole desk was covered with fanciful yellow and green figures 77?^ Faience Violin. 123 attached to elegant scallops, which stood out on the delicate milky glaze of the background. Gardilanne, without saying a word, slowly raised the cover of the desk. An ingenious painter had scattered a profusion of amusing dwarfs over the ex- terior and interior surfaces of the article. " It is really a royal specimen," said Gardilanne, who would have been will- ing to live shut up in the desk to enjoy it better. Dalegre, quite pallid, exclaimed : " It came to me also...." " From your grandmother," inter- rupted Gardilanne, ironically. An icy coldness followed this first skirmish. The two adversaries re- coiled, as if to find the best attitude for combat. Gardilanne was the first to break the silence. 124 T^^^ Faience Violin, " How did such a masterpiece happen to be found in Nevers? It is one of the finest specimens of the Moustiers pottery." "■ The Nivernian potters," said Da- legre, "wished to have some specimens of the work of rival potteries under their eyes...." "Do you believe it?" said Gar- dilanne. " There is no doubt of it. I have found two very curious soup-tureens of the Niderviller ware." " Where are they? " Dalegre was terrified. He had spoken too hastily. •* I ... I gave ... them ... away." "To whom?" asked the chief clerk, authoritatively, letting his friend plainly understand that he was not willing to have him make presents to any one but The Faience Violin . 125 himself, Gardilanne, the amateur emeri- tus, the distinguished collector. " So there are amateurs in Nevers," he added. Dalegre, under the stress of these imperative questions, was at a loss for a crafty reply. " I am surprised," said Gardilanne, moderating his voice, '* that you have become so learned ; you talk about faience like a true connoisseur, and I never believed that I should be hon- ored by having such a pupil." Dalegre muttered something, plead- ing his ignorance. " Not at all ; you know as much about it as I do ; a man who possesses such a piece as this is one of the cleverest amateurs.... Now, let us speak frankly. This desk is adorable. I say it without the least hesitation.... Will 126 The Faience Violin, you let me have it for five hundred francs ? " Gardilanne unbuttoned his coat and drew out a pocket-book. Dalegre reached out his hand, signi- fying his refusal. '' See ! " said the tempter, *' five new bank-notes ! You will give me pleas- ure, and I shall owe you much grati- tude, besides." " It is almost a family relic, my dear friend. It would cost me too much to part with it." '* Well... we will say no more about it," said Gardilanne, drily. " I would give it to you gladly if it did not remind me of my poor grand- mother." " A very good reason," said Gardi- lanne. in a changed voice. " Five hundred francs is a large The Faience Violin. 127 price," added Dalegre, '' but money is no temptation to me, and I wish that 1 could present the desk to you." " I understand your motives," said Gardilanne, in a tone betraying great vexation. ** We provincials only live by the memory of our ancestors," exclaimed Dalegre, sighing and trying to show some emotion. The result of this conversation be- tween the two friends was like damp air on the steel of their feelings ; rust seemed to tarnish its polished surface. Although secret and restrained, nevertheless a sharp jealousy was smouldering between the two collec- tors ; they now decided that friendship and a passion for bric-a-brac could not exist in perfect union. However, Dalegre, in his capacity as 128 The Faience Violin. master of the house, tried to make his friend forget this unfortunate occur- rence by offering him, at breakfast, a kind of Burgundy wine twenty years old ; but collectors care little for the enjoyments of the table. Gardilanne would have fasted for a week to gain possession of the elegant Moustiers desk. " I shall leave you to-morrow," he said to Dalegre. ''So soon?" "What can I do here any longer?" added Gardilanne with bitterness. The hardness of the remark affected the breakfast. Dalegre felt some re- morse ; but he could not make up his mind, in spite of all, to give up the famous faience desk. When the meal was over, Gardilanne expressed a desire to make a last expe- The Faience Violin. 129 dition through the town at random. He even desired Dalegre not to follow him ; but Dalegre took care not to comply with this request, having prom- ised himself not to leave the Parisian for a moment. Although Gardilanne seemed annoyed by this determination to accompany him, Dalegre kept to it. Usually the two friends went out to- gether arm-in-arm. To-day, Gardilanne, to show his in- tention of recovering his independence, tried to walk a few steps away from Dalegre ; as he had long, thin, nervous legs, he shot through the town with an eagerness unpleasant to the Nivernian, who was stoutly built, with a chest better developed than his legs. He went up the steep streets like a soldier climbing a barricade, and down them like a runaway horse. He crossed 130 The Faience Violin. the large squares in the broad sunlight without winking. Dalegre panted for breath ; great beads of perspiration dropped from his forehead. In spite of this violent course, Gardi- lanne scrutinized the interiors of the houses, and sniffed at every old build- ing, moving his nostrils in a way which disturbed his friend. In this manner they reached the wharves, near the large bridge, the place chosen by the faience potters to paint the Nievre, its boats, and the warm sunlight so dear to the vine- dressers. The banks of the river are inhabited by workmen and boatmen. At this place, Gardilanne slackened his pace to give a passing glance into every open door, and at the walls on The Fdieme Violin. 131 which were generally found some pieces of commonplace ware ; plates decorated with large cocks, shaving- dishes with comic, old-fashioned de- signs, salad-bowls on which the boat- men's ancestors were represented with faces of their patron saints. These were not what Gardilanne was looking for. " You see ! " said Dalegre, " nothing but trash," Gardilanne went on his way without replying. At the extreme end of the wharf stood a shed crammed with the rub- bish from old buildings : old doors, remnants of windows, worm-eaten furniture, heaps of rags for paper- manufacturers, odd volumes, the usual contents of all junk-shops. At the back of the shed, reaching to 132 The Faience Violin. the beams, stood a peasant's cupboard, of immense size, one door of which was open and showed a varied assortment of rags. Gardilanne suddenly stopped as if to get his breath, and squinting, said to a man who was leaning over a bench in front of his house, and planing a board : *' That 's a fine chest." Dalegre looked at the piece of furni- ture and was surprised at his friend's exclamation. '* Too large, unfortunately," said Gardilanne to the dealer, " or I should like to take it away with me." *' You are from Paris?" asked the dealer. '* Will you allow me to measure the height of the chest, to see if it would go into my apartment? If you are The Faience Violin, 133 reasonable, perhaps we can make a bargain." Having examined the piece of furni- ture, Gardilanne asked : ** How much is your cupboard? " " Monsieur, such a piece of furniture as that is worth fifty francs, if it is worth anything at all." ** Fifty francs !... You are joking." ** Think of it, monsieur, the piece of furniture is of solid oak with ironwork such as cannot be made in these days." ** I would be glad to take it for forty francs." *' Are you mad? " Dalegre whispered in Gardilanne's ear. " I can get you as many as you want, and better, for half the price." *' Ah ! the Parisians know what they are about!" exclaimed the dealer. "They are shrewd; they buy for fifty 134 Th^ Faience Violin. francs what is worth a hundred crowns. Look at the mouldings, monsieur, and tell me if workmen would be able to do such work in wood to-day." As he went on talking the dealer left his task, took two chairs and offered them to his visitors, saying, like a scep- tical Burgundian : *' You are not in church ; you do not have to pay to sit down here." " Do n't trouble yourself," said Gardi- lanne. " I see perfectly well ; I will not give more than forty francs for the cupboard." ** It cost me forty-one, without the expense of moving it.... Monsieur is just enough to admit that every one must live." ** The cupboard would be well paid for at twenty-five francs," insisted Dalegre. The Faience Violin, 135 '* Oh, monsieur, how can you say so ! " exclaimed the shopkeeper, dis- pleased to have one of his own towns- men prevent him from making a sale. '* Forty francs and the freight will bring it up to sixty francs," said Gar- dilanne. And he walked slowly out of the shop. " Come, monsieur, let us split the difference ; you will give me forty-five francs." " I will think it over," said Gardi- lanne. The two collectors started back to Dalegre's house. " Honestly, why do you want to burden yourself with this dreadful piece of furniture?" asked Dalegre, on the way back. " I need a cupboard to keep my en- 136 The Faience Violin. gravings in," said Gardilanne ; ''this one would be very useful to me." "If you will stay in Nevers two days longer I will promise to find you a far more curious one in the country." As they went on discussing, they reached Dalegre's door, when Gardi- lanne suddenly took to his heels and ran off, calling out to his friend : *' I am really going to get the cup- board." And he disappeared, evidently bent on some mad course, for with one stroke he pulled his hat down over his head. '' Gc.rdilanne, wait for me ! " ex- claimed Dalegre, as astounded as a policeman seeing a criminal intrusted to his care escape through the door of a railway car." Gardilanne, without reply, made the The Faience Violin. 137 dust fly, and gradually became a mere dot on the horizon. Dalegre watched this dot for some time, as it moved away, and he shrugged his shoulders. " As Gardilanne has found nothing to carry away from Nevers," he thought, *' his mania for buying things has brought him to burden himself with that wretched cupboard." X. Whoever saw the collect o r fly i n g through Nevers like a mad mare must have been frightened at his vehemence, so unfamiliar to the country people. His large coat flut- tering in the wind, his long legs part- ing like a com- The Faience Violin. 139 pass, his gray hair floating out from under his broad-brimmed hat, did not seem in harmony with the chief clerk's formal nature ; but Gardilanne cared httle for what people might think of his speed. In less than ten minutes he reached the junk-shop on the quay. "I shall leave here this evening," said Gardilanne. ''I may possibly buy your cupboard ; let me look at the inside, first." " Solid as a prison door, monsieur." ** Well, take all this mass of stuff out of it." In the lower part there was old iron and cooking utensils, and on the upper shelves a heap of worthless rubbish. In the corner of the last shelf shone a piece of faience, curiously fashioned, possibly a fragment of no importance. I40 The Faience Violin. The dealer, while clearing out the cupboard, said : "■ You are not a musician, by any- chance, are you, monsieur?" -Why?" ** Because there is a plaything here in this cupboard, a foolish toy, a china violin." Gardilanne felt as if his heart would burst. However, not a muscle of his face moved. *' A child's violin, probably," he said, pretending to smile indifferently. "No; I would not let the scamps play on so frail a violin, for it is worth at least a crown." The dealer raised his arm and offered the instrument to Gardilanne, who took it without looking at it. Feeling his eyes twitch, he turned away his head, for fear the shopkeeper The Faience Violin. 141 would notice the change in his face. He was just able to restrain himself and utter a />oo/i / of disdain, and went to open the doors of the cupboard again, as if to assure himself of their solidity. His feelings were too much for him ! A strange sensation passed through Gardilanne's brain. As soon as he felt it, he thought it prudent to sit down. Six francs for the wonderful violin, which was perhaps worth six thousand ! This is the kind of luck which shortens collectors' lives, their medulla oblongata being exposed to too great a shock. "■ Let us see," said Gardilanne. ** I will take the cupboard for forty-five francs, on condition that you will throw in the faience toy. I have a little nephew, and I should like to make him a present of it." 142 The Faience l^iolin. '•You may have it for forty-five francs," said the dealer; *' but you will get a famous cupboard, monsieur."" All of a tremble, for his nervous system was strained beyond all meas- ure, Gardilanne counted out the money with a feverish hand, and took the violin under his arm. *' Monsieur !" exclaimed the dealer, " I will wrap it up in some paper for you." " You need not take the trouble," said Gardilanne, performing the opera- tion himself, for fear the shopkeeper would take back the violin. *' You have not told me where to send the cupboard." '• To the bottom of the river ! " ex- claimed Gardilanne, as soon as he had crossed the threshold of the shop. On his way back to Dalegre's house, the chief clerk wondered how he ought The Faience Violin, 143 to behave with regard to his friend. Should he show him the precious violin, and be revenged for the bad grace with which the Nivernian had refused to give up the faience desk to him? But Gardilanne, now satisfied, lost all feeling of spite. Too happy in his treasure-trove, he waited for the meeting with his host to suggest some proper means of explaining the incident. It happened that Dalegre was at a window looking out on the street by which Gardilanne was approaching. From a distance, Gardilanne cried out: " Is there a packer in the neighbor- hood?" *' Did he want to have the cupboard packed?" asked Dalegre, concerned about the little package which his friend was carrying under his arm. '' Ah, my dear Dalegre," exclaimed 144 The Faience Violin, Gardilanne, in a voice full of emotion, '' let me hug you ! " At the same time the chief clerk fell into Dalegre's arms. '' Do explain to me.... " Gardilanne excitedly unfolded the wrapping which concealed his treasure. *' I have found the violin ! " "What violin?" " Wait, see ! " Then appeared a marvellous instru- ment with curves fit to make Stradi- varius himself jealous. The glaze was of an incomparable purity, and the deep blue of the designs reminded one of the skies of Spain. Never was the art of the fa'ience worker carried farther. Not a crack, not a scratch, even in the delicate turn- ing of the neck. Dalegre grew green ; but when Gar- The Faience Fiolin. 145 dilanne turned the violin over to show- its back, a veil passed over the Niver- nian's eyes, for he thought he could not bear the sight of the paintings on the masterpiece. Angels in the clouds were playing on the viola and floating a streamer on which were the words : Musica et gloria in aer ; underneath, people in fine cos- tumes surrounded a pretty woman at the harpsichord. "Is it splendid enough?" exclaimed Gardilanne, who would have liked as many eyes as Argus, with which to look at his new acquisition. Dalegre could not control his feel- ings. A cold sweat stood out on his forehead. He tried to speak ; the words stuck in his throat. If Gardi- lanne had struck him on the skull with the faience violin, he would have 146 The Faience Violin. preferred the blow to the moral wound which completely paralyzed him. Wholly crushed, he fell into a chair. *' What a return to Paris I shall make day after to-morrow ! " said Gardilanne, more proud at this moment than a vic- torious general received by a people covering him with flowers. "Where... did... you find... the vio- lin? " asked Dalegre, after he had recov- ered himself a little. " At the junk-shop on the quay, where I bought the cupboard." *'Is it possible? " exclaimed Dalegre, trembling in every limb. ''Why, didn't you see the violin? It fairly put my eyes out in the shop." " While I was with you ? " " Yes, my dear friend. Ah, you have n't the American eye yet ! Did n't you understand, when I was bargaining The Faience Violin. 147 for that abominable cupboard, that in the grove there was concealed a won- derful bird that I was trying to charm with sweet words? ... And yet I gave you lessons in Paris.. . Tell me where the best packer in the town is to be found." ''For the violin?" *' Yes ; I want to make arrangements immediately with a workman to do up the instrument in wadding first, then Hi hair and bran." ** Why are you in such a hurry? " ** Because I really want to go away to-morrow." Dalegre was as much distressed now by the announcement of Gardilanne's departure as he would have been de- lighted the day before. It broke his heart to have the violin discovered under his very eyes ; but what should have separated the two collectors for- 148 The Faience Violin. ever, on the contrary, formed a sort of union between them, Ahhough profoundly exasperated, Dalegre became all honey for his guest; at table he coddled him like a millionaire uncle, and seemed almost offended by Gardilanne's short stay in Nevers. He had n't seen anything, he was n't even rested. Why shouid he not defer his departure? Gardilanne did not relish these tardy attentions. If he could have taken the stage that same evening, he would have gone away, thinking of nothing but ex- posing a priceless trophy in the most conspicuous place in his museum. -"•aUv, A MONTH after Gar- dilanne's departure, Dale- gre could not have been recognized. The gay Nivernian, with his round, rosy cheeks, had grown into a careworn creature, whose face was assuming more and more each day the bih'ous Hvery of envy. Dalegre, consumed with 150 The Faience Violin. jealousy, was hardly able to eat; dreams filled with the faience violin haunted him constantly. It seemed as if an avenging demon sent nightmares every night, which were all the more terrible because they began in the form of sweet illusions. Dalegre would hardly close his eyes before he would hear seraphic music : angels singing and accompanying Saint Cecilia, who drew from the faience violin vibrations clearer than those of a crystal bell. Deeply agitated, Dalegre would give himself up to a sweet rapture, when suddenly the blue clouds would disap- pear to give place to pestilential flames ; at the same time a terrible gnome, crouching on the sleeper's breast and stifling him, would tear epileptic melo- dies from the soul of the instrument. The Faience Violin, 151 Dalegre would awaken terrified. In order not to repeat this painful night- mare, he would rise, open the window, and not venture back into bed again till he felt sure the diabolical visions had fled. In the daytime, if the nightmares dis- appeared, the fixed idea of the violin was constantly before him. ** It would have looked so well against this panel ! " Dalegre said to himself as he looked at a bare wain- scoting. Or else he would think that his repu- tation would have been established for- ever if he could have gained possession of the priceless faience. One day, while arranging some plates in piles, he came upon the very brunettes of Mondonville, which had formerly delighted him so much, and now almost 152 77?^ Faience Violin. made him weep. One of these songs, with its solemn chant, seemed so thor- oughly in harmony with his former gay character; the song began Hke this : Povr passer dovce?ne7it ma vie Avec ) 1 10 11 petit revenu, A?ms, je fonde vne abbaye^ Et je la consacre a Bacchvsl How sweet it would be to puzzle out with the violin this melody engraved under the glaze ! The serenity of character which formed the basis of Dalegre's nature had disappeared. Once he had been proud to add a specimen to his collection of faience, and now, losing the opportunity of obtaining a masterpiece, snatched from under his very eyes, seemed to make a corresponding void in this collection of precious objects, regarded by their The Faience Violin. 153 possessor with something more than indifference. This dissatisfaction with the sole passion which held sway in Dalegre's heart completely changed his manner of life. The soul losing its energy, his face assumed a morose aspect and his body suddenly began to be affected. So in Nevers, people were beginning to be concerned about the strange de- jection of a man who had been the life of the town for so long ; the mothers of young marriageable daughters were especially surprised at the sudden mel- ancholy of the once so gay bachelor, whom each family had aspired to have as a son-in-law. But how far Dalegre v/as from marry- ing ! He had never dreamed of it except casually ; the pleasure of hunt- ing had taken his mind from it at first, 154 T^he Faience Violin. and then came faience, which was an exacting mistress of a very different sort. His collection was a kind of union such as people often form when, having coasted along the shores of matrimony, they have recognized its shoals, and afterwards do not dare to risk making for that port, though it is protected from the passions. Dalegre lived with faience ; he had expected to find peace of mind in this union. It has already been seen what storms awaited him there. Now, in days gone by, a matrimonial plan had presented itself which was far from being unpleasant. The lady was a pretty cousin of Dalegre's in the town ; they had known each other as children, and had played together as little hus- band and wife. They soon grew up, and these childish ties were left loosely The Faience Violin. 155 knotted, without being tightened and without being severed. Dalegre saw his cousin from time to time at her mother's house, but she did not urge him on, for his aunt, with her good provincial sense, thought that a man ought to get rid of his foohsh passions before having a family of his own ; but since he had become ab- sorbed in his collections, Dalegre made less frequent visits to his relatives. Having neglected to go there for three months, he was afraid of being reproached, and finally did not dare to go to see his aunt at all. This was the state of things even before Gardi- lanne's arrival in Nevers. The affair of the faience violin caused Dalegre to be consumed with morbid jealousy, but one day having somewhat recovered his calmness of mind, his reason momentarily gaining 156 The Faience Violin. the ascendency reminded him that he had two relatives in the town who had a right to complain of his lack of good- breeding, and he went there hoping to find some consolation in a peaceful home where all passions were rigor- ously restrained. The ladies received their relative af- fectionately, as usual ; but they showed so much anxiety about the sudden change which had taken place in his appearance that Dalegre felt concerned about himself, considered the matter seriously, and decided that it was wise to apply an immediate remedy. XII. Two days later Dalegre was on his way to Paris. His first visit was to Gardilanne ; he wished to surprise him be- tween six and seven o'clock in the even- ing, just at the time when the collector, X- — 158 The Faience Violin. sitting in his cushioned arm-chair, after finishing a modest repast, would be bhssfully contemplating his works of art arranged about him. Dalegre knew that the sight of the faience violin would stab him in the heart; but during the journey he pre- pared himself for this cruel blow, and to assure himself, he brought a sort of coat of mail : this was — to have a last explanation with his old friend. Dalegre came to Paris to see Gardi- lanne, as an invalid goes to consult a celebrated practitioner ; he would show him what damage had been done to him, and would say to his friend : " I cannot live any longer without the fa'ience violin , if I cannot have it, I shall die for it ! " This sort of determination is of the kind that blunts the griefs of timid, sol- The Faience Violin, 159 itary natures ; they are continually building these scaffoldings, which seem simple enough in theory although com- plicated in practice. All along the journey Dalegre tor- mented his mind in search of a petition to address to Gardilanne ; his pro- ceeding seemed to him a very natural thing. When he found himself face to face with his friend he did not know what to say. His tongue became paralyzed, and Dalegre felt that such a demand was out of the question from one who had so plainly refused to give up the faience desk to the collector. *' My dear friend, you have come just in time," said Gardilanne to him; ** the violin is furnished with strings. In three days you will witness a curious spectacle ; the Faience Club give an en- i6o The Faience Violin. tertainment, in which a musician from the Opera is going to play an air on my vioHn." Dalegre bent his head without breathing a word. "■ To-morrow I will take you to the Faience Club, and you will thank me for it, I am sure, because we are very par- ticular about the selection of guests.... To gain admittance to our circle, it is necessary to possess a collection of curios, and a certain amount of familiar- ity with ceramic affairs." Dalegre's face failed to express what his friend expected. "You know," continued Gardilanne, " that faience is the fad of the present day. We here in Paris live only for faience ; strangers of note come from all parts of Europe asking to be re- ceived into our club." The Faience Violin, i6i Gardilanne strode up and down his room, with his head bent forward, his right hand extended, as if he had really- received a visit from a prince. "The first Friday in every month," he added, "we have a club dinner, served in the most beautiful fa"ience that ever was seen ; a prize is awarded, in the course of the evening, to the amateur producing an unknown speci- men.... To give you an idea of it, last month we had a whole service of vege- tables, flowers, and fruits in faience. A physician from the Boulevard Beaumar- chais had spent his life collecting these beautiful products, — asparagus, pears, nuts, peaches, etc. ; the illusion was carried so far that we did not notice until we were about to eat them that these fruits were glazed. We gave a medal, as you would suppose, to this 1 62 The Faience Violin. doctor to reward him for his labor and his researches." " I shall do well to consult such a practitioner," thought Dalegre, attacked with the malady of faience. Gardilanne was struck by his friend's appearance, and asked him the cause of it. '* I have not been very well for a long time. ..ever since you went away," said Dalegre, beginning to play his cards. But Gardilanne did not seem dis- posed to take the hint. ** You must come to the club," he said, " you will see there a complete service of Rouen a la corne. It came into our hands at a low price, as a consequence of a divorce granted by the Court in favor of a collector's wife, whose hus- band, in his pursuit of faience, neglected her a little too much. Imagining that the The Faience Violiyi. 163 horns had brought him misfortune, this man, who was not philosophical, got rid of his service the very next day; the club profited by it." Dalegre did not care for the horn of Rouen, and hardly followed the disserta- tions of Gardilanne, who was growing enthusiastic without suspecting that his friend was not listening. " If you have a few days to spare," he said, " I will present you to an amateur who has the oddest collec- tion imaginable. He collects only the faience of the Revolution of 1789: plates of the Federation, jugs in mem- ory of constitutional priests, sauce-boats singing the virtues of M. Necker, soup- tureens representing the taking of the Bastille. This strange creature has filled his house from top to bottom with seditious specimens, covered with 164 The Faience Violin. incendiary cries, with brutal songs, which debased the nobility and the clergy at the same time that they led the king to his destruction. Do n't ask me how one can collect vile pottery recalling such a bloody period. This amateur is in ill-favor with all of us, for so odious a collection of revolutionary faience suggests the destruction and the pillage of works of art of every sort." Really, Gardilanne's mobile face, dur- ing this discourse, showed a profound hatred for the excesses of the Terreur ; to efface this sorry impression, a smile suddenly rested on the collector's lips. " Monsieur de Baudricourt, a member of our club, has a more refined taste, and collects only fleurs-de-lis applied to plates, the faces of clocks, fountains, hare-forms, and even warming-pans. It is an interesting collection which can but The Faience Violin. 165 become famous in the future.... If you prefer, I will take you to rue de Ven- d6me, to the house of an actor who is devoted to cocks on the bottom of plates.... He possesses seventeen thou- sand of them. He is not guided by any political idea, but by the variety of pose, plumage, and coloring, which is remarkable in such decorations ; they say that these seventeen thousand cocks painted on faience have already cost him a considerable sum." Such details, which would perhaps have interested Dalegre once, did not turn his mind from his fixed idea; neither the Fa'ience Club, nor the Rouen a la corne, nor the sauce-boat in memory of M. Necker's disinter- estedness, nor the fleurs-de-lis, nor the cocks could keep him from thinking of the faience violin. [66 77?^ Faience Violin, Gardilanne took him to the house of the Messrs. Crauk Brothers. Attacked by the epidemic, these rich bankers took pleasure in showing to amateurs a thimble of the time of Henry II. which had cost thirty-seven thousand francs at the late Rattler's sale ; this specimen, which endangered the lives of the Messrs. Crauk, — for there were those who envied them, — left Dalegre in- different. The crystalline tone of the violin was constantly sounding in his ears. "■ Would you like to see the faience coach which belonged to Madame Du- barry?" asked Gardilanne. But Dalegre could find no compliment- ary words for those plaques, though they were covered with elegant designs from the pottery of the Marquis de Custine. He saw, also, without looking at The Faience Violin. 167 them, the faience from the banks of the Rhine, of a pink color, rosy enough to make a hypochondriac happy ; nor could the colorings of the Strasbourg and Niderviller faience change the course of his ideas poisoned by the violin. Gardilanne obtained permission for his friend to visit a menagerie belong- ing to a collector from the lie Saint Louis. The court-yard and the garden were filled with faience animals of natural size, — lions, dogs, furious-looking drag- ons, which seemed ready to devour every one that came near them. Dalegre went into this menagerie as Orpheus went into the lower regions, holding Gardilanne's violin, which, alas! was not there, under his arm, and defy- ing the anger of these faience monsters. In the neighborhood of the Luxem- 1 68 77?^ Fateme Violin. bourg palace lived a specialist who collected faience chairs solely. This ingenious amateur possessed only thirty-seven of them ; but they were royal pieces. In looking at them, one could think of nothing but passing one's leisure moments philosophically in these seats from the pottery of Rouen at a period when Norman art was a delight to the eyes. Dalegre still preferred the violin to the sumptuous seats. He was present at lively debates between the amateurs of faience and the amateurs of porcelain. Every- where he heard nothing but a scornful outcry against antique Chinese, Japan- ese, and Saxony ware ; even the deli- cate Sevres paste could obtain no favor with the collectors of faience. The Faience Violin. 169 These discussions did not make Da- legre forget the aim of his journey. Every day he said to himself that he would confess to Gardilanne the cause of his misery, although he felt that his friend would never give up, for his sake, the famous violin which was the envy of all Paris ; for there was not a collector who did not inquire about the extraordinary instrument the mo- ment Gardilanne appeared. Dalegre went back to Nevers without revealing the secret which was slowly bringing him to the grave ; but a new idea occurred to him, and that was to acknowledge by letter to Gardilanne the cause of his woe, and to put so much sincerity into it that if his friend had a heart of stone he would be touched by it. Dalegre's letter, read at the Faience I70 The Faience yiolin. Club, because it was too strong a con- firmation of the violin's value for Gar- dilanne to keep it to himself, was truly heart-rending. In it the Nivernian de- scribed the shock he received from the discovery of the violin by his rival, the importance he attached to its posses- sion, and the frightful torments which had taken away his gayety, his appe- tite, sleep, and the pleasure of living. The club pitied Dalegre in a meas- ure. Each one of the members was suffering from similar maladies in dif- ferent degrees, and invalids are some- what interested in people having the same afflictions ; but it was none the less a curious case, and if the Faience Club had possessed a Bulletin, no doubt Dalegre would have figured in it as large as life. Gardilanne's glory was as much en- The Faience l^iolin. 171 hanced by it as that of a pretty woman for love of whom a number of adorers blow their brains out. "■ What will you say in reply to your provincial?" asked the collector, with- out pity for Dalegre. Gardilanne shrugged his shoulders, for his friend's desire was so out of all proportion, and impossible to satisfy; however, as the collector had a pleasant recollection of Nevers, for it was really through Dalegre's hospitality that Gar- dilanne had discovered the violin, he replied that he would promise to leave the instrument to him after his death. His letter, he said, had made him think of the necessity of making a will, and Dalegre should be named as the appro- priate heir to the violin, if he survived his friend. What joy, what delight to the Niver- 1/2 The Faience Violin. nian ! It had been so long since his heart had been open to cheerfulness ! He imagined himself already in pos- session of the violin, and wished to tell every one about it. He ran to his cousin's and surprised her with the return of his good-humor. Dalegre had come back like the Dalegre of old, — gay, lively, with his mind turned to agreeable things ; he himself en- joyed the unexpected return of that happy serenity so much prized in life. He talked, told stories, he laughed, and every time he laughed, his mind, so long deprived of pleasant thoughts, was comforted. Dalegre felt that he was growing old before his time ; the perfume of a second youth filled his brain. He went into his garden, which he had neglected, and which would have 77?^ Fdieme Violin. 173 been inaccessible if the old Marguerite had not seen to the pruning of the trees. Dalegre was surprised at the tender color of the roses, at their sweet perfume. The fresh air coming from the Nievre was refreshing to his brow. Dalegre thought of the flowers, the water, the trees. If it had been the time for hunting, he would have gone into the woods again ; if the winter evenings had not been over, he would have shown himself as an indefatigable dancer. The Nivernian happened to take a look at himself; he grew quite ashamed of his clothes, for they had not been changed for a long time, and he hurried to his wardrobe, took out an elegant waistcoat, a pair of spring trousers, a fancy coat, and fastened a rose in 174 The Faience Violin. his button-hole. In this way he went through the town. This sudden revolution was caused by Gardilanne's promise. *' I shall have the violin ! " exclaimed Dalegre, taking the old Marguerite into his confidence ; and she was happy to see this transformation, because she had borne with difficulty her master's ill- nature since his fatal mania for collect- ing had begun. XIII. Such enthusiasm could not last. At the end of a week Dalegre felt the reaction from the in- toxication, and now thought of nothing but succeeding Gardilanne, rr i and consequently of his death. -^. 1/6 The Faience Violin. Gardilanne had a hardy constitution, with legs Hke a stag, spare and thin ; his passion induced him to take exercise, the best hygiene. He was not a man to grow torpid in an easy-chair, to let his Hmbs waste away in contemplation, like a Turk. Who could foretell the end of a col- lector in all the strength of his prime, wise enough, moreover, to refrain from the consuming pleasures of life in Paris ? Life in the country passes peacefully. But how burdensome it can become when a passionate being lives with the inseparable idea of a distant inheritance ! If Gardilanne had acted maliciously, he could not have invented a more cruel torture to chastise a rival. The violin was changed to a ball and chain fastened to Dalegre's leg. The Faience Violin, 17 j In the first moment of hope, he had overturned the arrangement of his col- lection, and kept a place in which to put the violin. This empty space he was obliged to fill, it oppressed his heart so much whenever his eyes rested on it. Formerly Dalegre felt flattered by having visitors come to see his col- lection ; it was burdensome to him now, because it was so inferior to the treasures accumulated by the diff'erent Parisian specialists, whose choice speci- mens of faience he had been allowed to touch. Dalegre was still on the look-out for rare specimens, and occasionally found them ; but no province, however rich in works of art, can compare with the treasures pouring into the H6tel Drouot of the auctioneers', who, during eight 78 The Faience I^iolin. months of the year, heap up mountains of unequalled curiosities coming from the most distant places in Europe. Not to be out of the current, Dalegre occasionally went to dine at the Hotel des Voyageurs, sure to fall in there with some chineiir^ such as go into the country, force their way into the houses, are put out at the door by the distrustful bourgeois women, but get in again at the window, and rummage about the house from cellar to garret, hunting for antique objects. When he met one of these mer- chants, Dalegre escaped from his ennuiy because the man brought, so to speak, the dust and smell of Paris with him. Dalegre would invite him to see his collection, he would talk ceramics, and kept his hand in by bringing up the subject of his beloved faience violin. The Fdiaice Violin, 179 The instrument had attained a genu- ine popularity in Europe, and one day Dalegre received from Gardilanne a monograph pubHshed about the pre- cious object. A Dutchman, a member of the Amicitia society of Amsterdam, had come to find out about the famous specimen, and as he possessed the national characteristics developed to the highest degree, he had the audacity to attribute the origin of the violin to the potteries of Delft. The Faience Club was greatly exer- cised by this assertion, based solely on two little crossed hooks, seen through the opening of the ff, the mark of the celebrated Bisbroock, according to the Dutchman. The club immediately subscribed to have a monograph printed to put down i8o The Faience Violin, the Dutchman, and the opponents who had held heated discussions every day among themselves in favor of Rouen, or Niderviller, Nevers, Marseilles, les Ilettes, or Sinceny, now forgot their grievances and united against their rival. It was a matter of the utmost importance to defend the ceramics of France against a nation, which, because it had received inspiration from China and Japan, was so proud as to pretend to make all Europe admit the superiority of its potteries. The ruin of Delft was decreed, and a skilful pen was charged with dealing hard blows at the conceited Hollander. An exact drawing of the faience violin was added to the pamphlet, to- gether with different sections and posi- tions, in order that connoisseurs could judge whether the elegant designs and The Faience Violin. i8i delicately drawn figures bore any re- semblance to the customary subjects of Delft painters. The monograph contained, besides, the opinion of a learned chemist from the Sevres manufactory, who had studied with a microscope the character of the paste, a spot having been found where the paste was not covered with the glaze. The author of the monograph did not hesitate to place the cradle of the violin in Nevers ; but it was especially on the polemical side that he tri- umphed. What material for raillery was furnished by the plaques of Delft ware, so numerous that the Dutch, not knowing what to do with them, went so far as to put representations of princes of the House of Orange even into their stables to entertain the ani- 1 82 The Faience Violin, mals, believing it would fill their brains with pleasing images, and interest the large-eyed oxen crouching on their beds of hay. Dalegre was both delighted and grieved as he read this monograph, which was to make the faience violin distinguished, and arouse all Europe with its ardent polemics. Would such a marvellous thing ever have a place in his collection? Would not Gardilanne forget his promise? Had he really willed it to Dalegre? It was possible that some day a fancy would impel him to tear up this will and make another of an opposite pur- port to his first intentions ! The Nivernian's life was tinged more than ever with gray. The tones of the violin, which he heard constantly, so sweet and crystalline, instead of work- The Faience Violin. 183 ing the charm attributed to music, fur- rowed his face with a thousand wrinkles where perplexity, uneasiness, jealousy, and even hatred dwelt. Dalegre was surprised to find himself wishing Gardilanne dead, and his soul expanded at the thought. Collectors have no heart ! But these wrong feelings were pun- ished immediately by the sufferings Dalegre created for himself. A year after the publication of the monograph against Delft, Dalegre, while reading the newspaper, received a blow as severe as a butcher gives to an ox in the slaughter-house. It was only two lines among the mis- cellaneous items, but two lines, each letter of which was full of poison. Gardilanne had offered his collection to the Cluny Museum. The minister 184 The Faience Violin. accepted the gift, and ordered a special room to be opened, to bear the name of the Gardilanne Collection. As a re- ward for this sacrifice, the ex-chief clerk was named curator of his own treasures. If a blood-vessel had burst in Da- legre's chest he would not have suffered more. The thought of the violin, the rarest specimen in Gardilanne's collec- tion, came immediately to his mind. Was it probable that he would sepa- rate it from the rest in order to make a present of it to a simple country col- lector? It seemed a delicate matter to write about it to Gardilanne, and to remind him of his promise ; however, ought he not to make sure of it before the collection should be placed in the Cluny Museum. Dalegre found an expedient; it was to send his friend a few words of hearty The Faience Violin, 185 approval concerning his generosity. Dalegre even offered to increase Gardi- lanne's gift by adding some rare speci- mens which he said he had recently discovered. The truth was that Dalegre would gladly have given up, at this time, all his faience in exchange for the violin, which he saw escaping from his grasp. Like most collectors, he had become satiated with the sight of his treasures, from having looked at the principal specimens too much ; he had grown in- different to them. Contrary to all expectation, Gar- dilanne did not reply to the friendly offers of Dalegre, whose anxiety was consequently greatly increased. No thanks at all for his disinterestedness. It was the greatest mortification a sen- sitive man could feel. 1 86 77?^ Fdieme Violin. Dalegre was very much hurt about it, because he felt that not to reply to his letter meant a rupture on Gardi- lanne's part; not caring to fulfil his promise, he had probably taken this way of showing plainly that he had changed his former plans. Dalegre had a mind to go to Paris to reproach his friend for destroying the illusions which had sustained him for so many years, to move him to pity, to make him touch the bleeding wounds caused by the violin ; but, judging other collectors by himself, Dalegre knew their hearts were unfeel- ing and hard, covered with glaze as cold as that of porcelain; blame and reproach would slide off this glaze and make no impression. Shut up in a little town without a horizon, and yet with no retirement, The Faience Violin. 187 fearing that he would be commiserated, suffering from inconsiderate questions, Dalegre became a veritable martyr to faience. He passed long sleepless nights, and prayed Death to relieve him from his woes. Death did not come to the house of the Nivernian. As he heard nothing but faience talked about, perhaps he mistook the door; for he seized Gardilanne ab- ruptly, and carried him away before he had established his collection in the Cluny Museum. One morning the celebrated amateur was found lifeless in his easy-chair, surrounded by the rich objects, in the midst of which he had suddenly passed away. The same day a telegram, sent by a notary, informed Dalegre of the event. i88 The Faience Violin. and the mention of a special gift in Gardilanne's estate. Dalegre was beside himself, and started at once for Paris to attend his friend's funeral. As soon as he left the coach he went directly to the notary's to assure himself that the faience violin was the object mentioned in the last will of the testator. Gardilanne had kept his word. Now The Faience Violin, 189 the famous instrument was to pass into the hands of the man whose life it had tormented. During the funeral service, Dalegre felt a single tear run down his cheek. It would have required study to make out just exactly what different senti- ments it was composed of; but these are the very elements which chemistry is incapable of analyzing. XIV. The violin was not only a unique speci- men, but also it pos- sessed an unusual quality in the ce- ramic art, that is to say, a very rare regu- larity of form and coloring. n The Faience Violin, 191 The fire had left It without a blemish ; the colors were nowhere blotted by spreading- beyond the limits laid out for them. It was a perfect specimen of priceless worth, for pieces mended with rivets, touched up with paint, varnish substi- tuted for glaze, plaster for baked clay, are things too often found in the col- lections of some amateurs who care more for appearance than real worth. Except the bridge and the keys for holding the strings, the instrument was entirely of faience. Dalegre remem- bered the excessive care Gardilanne formerly took about packing it, and the violin, softly wrapped in its case, made the journey from Paris to Nevers on its new owner's knees. Dalegre's fellow-citizens recognized by his appearance that his troubles had 192 The Faience Violin. taken flight and left him in a more cheerful frame of mind. Gardilanne's death added ten years to Dalegre's life. He was not the same man ; his journey had made him young again, it was a pleasure to look at his face. As soon as he left the coach, after giving a maternal look at the precious thing warmly hidden in its bed of cotton, he went through the town telling of the good news and inviting every one he met to come the next day to see the violin reinstated forever in its birthplace. It was the very day on which Danel's Feiiille d' Avis appeared. Dalegre went in search of the printer and told him about the return to Nevers of the faience violin, the loss of which all the Parisian newspapers were mourning over. The Faience Violin. 193 Danel listened attentively to the story in order to take it all in, promised to have an article in his paper under the local news, went to the cafe to play his usual game of piquet, complaining of the absorbing profession of journalism, which kept one's imagination incessantly at work. Dalegre went home about four o'clock, in order to have time to give the violin a place of honor in his collection and enjoy it while at dinner. Those who have never studied a col- lector can have no idea what goes on in his mind at certain times. Nothing in a collection of curios is sacrificed to chance ; it takes profound meditation to decide whether a Chinese pipe should be placed above a dried toad from Malabar, or whether a tunic of gold cloth does not make too rich a back- 194 The Faience Violin, ground for the dim colors of a mummy case. Dalegre was full of tact in such a matter. He took care not to spoil the effect of the violin by surrounding it with incongruous faience. As the in- strument was decorated in monochrome, good taste demanded to have it away from all pottery of a brilliant coloring. Everything in the room was to be sacrificed to the violin ; Dalegre was quite right in thinking that it would be wise to change the hangings to make the faience violin stand out against a background of a neutral tone ; then, the marvellous thing must be placed high enough to be out of the way of profane fingers, and at the same time low enough that its owner, standing on a stool, could admire the perfectly ad- mirable specimen from all sides. The Faience Violin, 195 At six o'clock old Marguerite had twice - announced dinner and did not dare to appear again, for Dalegre's abrupt wave of the hand had sent her away, as though the collector had been disturbed just when he was about to change the face of Europe. He was rearranging his faience. His hair pushed back, the light in his eyes, the color in his cheeks, showed what importance Dalegre attached to the arrangement of his collection. He had just placed the three curious musical plates in a triangle underneath the empty space reserved for the violin, and Dalegre could not help admiring his cleverness in placing the *' canons " of Monsieur de Mondonville near the instrument; he wondered, however, whether the ladies who would be likely to visit his collection would not be 196 The Faience Violin. shocked by the rather pointed words of the brunette beginning merrily: Croyez-vovs qu''A7tiovr m^attrape De m^avoij' oste Catin ? But are not collectors allowed some license? This brunette was really so lively that Dalegre, who had a little smatter- ing of music, could not refrain from trying to play the air at once on the marvellous violin, the tones of which he had never heard except in his dreams. The daylight was beginning to fade. Dalegre called his servant, who hast- ened to him, thinking that he was ready to have the dinner served. It was not a question of dining. Dalegre only wished to treat himself to some music ; a little light just at that moment was all he thought of. The Faience Violin, 197 Grumbling all the while about the faience, Marguerite brought a lamp and went out saying that the dinner would not be fit to eat. Dalegre had something else to think about. He had to string the violin, for he had taken the precaution to loosen the keys so as not to stretch the strings un- necessarily during the journey, and he began to tune it like an ordinary instrument. When the strings were adjusted, Dalegre took the bow and tried to play some chords, but the muffled tone showed that the bridge was not prop- erly placed. In order to remedy this, Dalegre was obliged to turn the pegs of the violin again. Suddenly an ominous cracking was heard. The faience belly broke, fell, 198 The Faience Violin. was shivered into twenty pieces, and Dalegre stood bewildered with the neck of the instrument in his hand ! For a moment he was speechless. Dalegre was wild with rage. He gave a frightful scream, angrily threw down the only piece that was left of the wonder, and full of fury rushed at the faience on the walls. The servant, hearing the noise, ran into the room, found her master beside himself, his eyes blood-shot, convulsed with rage, dealing blows on all sides with increasing violence, and working fresh destruction with every blow. Marguerite tried to seize hold of him. Dalegre did not know her, fought against her, and coming in con- tact with a chest filled with rare pot- tery, pushed the woman against it, so that it fell with a deafening noise. The Fdie7ice Violin, 199 The room looked out on the street. Marguerite's cries brought the neigh- bors in crowds, and they crushed under their feet the last scattered frag- ments of the precious collection ; and when, after repeated efforts, they suc- ceeded in checking Dalegre's mad career, not a trace was left of what had been his delight, his sole thought for five years. It can be imagined what a sensation this event occasioned in the town. The alarm was given. The firemen arrived on the scene. A little more and the tocsin would have sounded. The details of this disaster were re- corded in Danel's Feuille d' Avis} in which historians of ceramic art will find valuable information. Danel was put to his wit's ends to 1 Year i860, March 15, No. 29, first page, second column. 200 The Faience Violin, supply the technical terms of which he had not the slightest inkling. Dalegre was spoken of as *' one of our most estimable fellow-citizens," suddenly attacked with a high fever, which, at first, caused great anxiety, but which '* a skilful practitioner from the city" hoped to dispel. Although for five years Dalegre had renounced the world and the pleasures of society, the people in the town felt The Faience yiolin. 201 sorry for him, all except the lawyer Balandrau, who, unable to resist the temptation of making a joke, one even- ing at the cafe ventured this remark about the accident: ** Dalegre," he said, " has fallen in de faience! "^ Wits are heartless. ^ Meaning defaillance — a swoon or collapse. At the end of a month, Dalegre, pale and emaciated, awoke as from a frightful dream, dur- ing which he had seen before him, in a panorama of strange pictures, the thoughts and deeds which for the last five years had absorbed his mind. The Faience Violin, 203 Faience had appeared to him in the shape of a horrible mandrake rising above France, with its feet resting at the same time on Rouen, Strasbourg, Moustiers, and Nevers, which it held under its dominion. The inhabitants of these towns were themselves beings of fa'ience, shining and polished, but forbidden to hold intercourse with each other, lest they should spoil their glaze. They were cold creatures, condemned to selfish- ness, never speaking, living absolutely motionless, and fearing the mandrake. In consequence of difficulties arising daily between empires the most united in appearance, the different towns quar- relled together, and a jealous rival, Delft, took advantage of it to impose its laws upon them. A thousand queer pictures thus un- 204 77/^ Faience Violin. folded in Dalegre's mind, until the day when these care-born nightmares were followed by returning health, a call back to life, the aid of two women, full of devotion, the younger of whom did not conceal the tender interest she felt in her dear patient. Dalegre's aunt and cousin came at once to watch by his bedside, during the long period that these troubles tor- mented his brain ; they really feared insanity. Six months later, Dalegre, completely restored to health, married his cousin, and became a model husband. Children came to bless the happy pair, and Dalegre, as he looked affec- tionately at their transparent com- plexions and the bright color in their cheeks, often declared to his beloved wife, that the happiness which collectors The Faience Violin, 205 found among the old relics of the past was only an illusion. " Deprived of the tetider joys of domestic life," he would say, '* they must feel their souls daily growing hard, their best feelings turning to stone." 'til;' ^- :TURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT }a«i#- 202 Main Library )AN PERIOD 1 lOME USE 2 3 5 ( b ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW LitJHARYUSEON lY ■ FEB n ^ 199 k CIRCULATION DE ^T. B^caFBli**" I imi\/f:p<;ity nF rAI IFOPMIA RFPK'FI f\ U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES ^C M^'^V C0HbD14D'=13 U^, t'^** ^. iy|91992 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY >^^^^ \ i I ' ,