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This woman was, in fact, the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, a daughter of the d'Uxelles; her father-in-law was still alive; she was not to be the Princesse de Cadignan for some years to come.
But they are heroes and heroines in other books, in Les Secrets de la Princesse de Cadignan, Le Père Goriot, and Les Illusions Perdues." Before you even begin to know Balzac, you must have read at least twenty volumes. There is a vulgarity about those who don't know Balzac; we, his worshippers, recognise in each other a refinement of sense and a peculiar comprehension of life.
After the disasters of the revolution of July, which destroyed so many aristocratic fortunes dependent on the court, Madame la Princesse de Cadignan was clever enough to attribute to political events the total ruin she had caused by her own extravagance.
A favor is only for strangers, and to my mind you and I seem old friends; I see in you the brother of Michel." D'Arthez could only press her arm, unable to make other reply. After coffee was served, Diane de Cadignan wrapped herself, with coquettish motions, in a large shawl, and rose.
"I have received a letter from Monsieur de Cadignan," she replied. "However great the wrongs he has done me, I cannot help thinking of his exile without family, without son from his native land." These words, said in a soulful voice, betrayed angelic sensibility. D'Arthez was deeply moved. The curiosity of the lover became, so to speak, a psychological and literary curiosity.
"And yet, here is Monsieur d'Esgrignon of an old family of Alencon, who completely ruined himself for her some twelve years ago, and, if all is true, came very near going to the scaffold." "I know the particulars of that affair," said d'Arthez. "Madame de Cadignan went to Alencon to save Monsieur d'Esgrignon from a trial before the court of assizes; and this is how he rewards her to-day!"
Did the celebrated Diane court the noble provincial house? and was the daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened by the celebrity of Madame de Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous extravagance? In her strong desire not to injure her son's prospects the princess grew devout, shut the door on her former life, and spent the summer season at Geneva in a villa on the lake.
"And the King never thought of that!" exclaimed the Duchess. "He thinks of nothing! Thirion introduced us, the Prince de Cadignan, M. de Vandeness, and me! We shall have it all our own way in this house. Settle everything with M. Camusot while I talk to his wife." The maid, who was washing and dressing the children, showed the visitors into the little fireless dining-room.
As Daniel was in that bent posture, Madame de Cadignan could safely let a malicious smile of triumph flicker on her lips, a smile such as the monkeys wear after playing a sly trick if monkeys smile. "Ah! I have him," thought she; and, indeed, she had him fast. "But you are " he said, raising his fine head and looking at her with eyes of love.
"And the King never thought of that!" exclaimed the Duchess. "He thinks of nothing! Thirion introduced us, the Prince de Cadignan, M. de Vandeness, and me! We shall have it all our own way in this house. Settle everything with M. Camusot while I talk to his wife." The maid, who was washing and dressing the children, showed the visitors into the little fireless dining-room.
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