10 One of the oldest names in France, Bouillon is also a homonym for bouillon, broth.
Chapter Four: The De La Mole Mansion
mercy, Count Chalvet rehearsed all these matters. Soon, there was a circle of thirty people around them. They were all smiling, even the serious young men—the great hope of the century. "Why does he come here?" thought Julien. "At Monsieur de La Mole's, he's everybody's target." He went over to Father Pirard, to ask him. Monsieur Balland slunk away. "Good!" said Norbert. "There's one of my father's spies gone. The only one left is little lame Napier." "Is that the answer to the riddle?" wondered Julien. "But if it is, why does Monsieur de La Mole have Monsieur Balland in the house?" Harsh Father Pirard was in a corner of the room, listening to new arrivals being announced, and frowning. "It's a regular smugglers' den," he said, sounding like Basilio11 in Rossini's Barber of Seville. "Everyone I see coming here is a degenerate." Stern-faced Father Pirard knew nothing about high society. But he'd acquired, from his Jansenist friends, very accurate notions about men who got into aristocratic drawing rooms only because they maneuvered so very deftly, in the service of any political party whatever, or because their fortunes were of scandalous origin. For several minutes, that night, he spoke from the heart, answering questions Julien put to him, and then suddenly broke off, deeply contrite for having spoken ill of so many people. He felt himself guilty of having sinned. Fretful, Jansenist, and convinced of the duty of Christian charity, his life in society was a perpetual struggle. "What a face on that Father Pirard!" said Mademoiselle de La Mole as Julien returned to her little group. Julien was annoyed, but she was right. Certainly, no one could deny that Father Pirard was the most respectable man in the entire room, but his blotchy complexion, racked by his pangs of conscience, at that moment did make him hideous. "Better believe what faces tell you!" thought Julien. "It's precisely when Father Pirard's scrupulousness scolds him for some little sin that he looks atrocious, while on Napier's face—that universally recognized spy—all you see is pure, calm happiness." But Father Pirard had made some large concessions to his new role: he had hired a manservant, and he dressed very well. Julien noticed something odd: every eye was turned toward the door, and the great room was almost silent. The servant was announcing famous Baron de Tully, on whom the elections had just focused universal attention. Julien stepped forward and saw him very well. The baron had been in charge of one of the electoral districts, and had had the bright idea of spiriting off the little slips of paper bearing every vote belonging to one of the parties. In compensation, however, he had replaced them, in proper proportion, with other little scraps of paper, bearing a name that better suited him. This peremptory maneuver had been noticed by a number of voters, who promptly congratulated Baron de Tully. The good man was still pallid from this great affair. A few wicked tongues had talked about jail cells. Monsieur de La Mole welcomed him with an intense coldness. The poor baron left in rather a hurry. "If he's leaving us so quickly, he must be going to see that magician, Monsieur Comte,"12 said Count Chalvet, and everyone laughed.