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PREFACE
.. NOTES sing Sage 50 Accounting 2018 provides full coverage of Sage 50 Accounting
Sage 50 Accounting, 2018 (Pro and Premium versions). The Student version (Release 2018.0) is
Canadian Edition, was formerly also a Premium version program, so all users can learn the program with the same
named Sage Simply Accounting.
release used to create the data files, screens and keystrokes. Although we do not
address the Quantum version of Sage 50, the book is also compatible with this
version. We provide detailed instructions for downloading, installing and
activating the Student version in Appendix A of this text.
As in last year’s edition, the keystrokes and source documents are integrated
throughout each chapter, printed in colour with check boxes. All source
documents are numbered.
No topics were added in this edition, but we created one new application:
Binh’s Bins (General Journal in Chapter 3).
But we maintained aspects of previous editions that have been well received:
• a diversity of companies and business situations, including non-profit,
se口rice and inventory businesses
• comprehensive and current tax coverage for different provinces,
including GST, HST, PST and QST, and tax remittances
• a realistic approach
• easy-to-follow, step-by-step keystroke instructions and screen
illustrations, updated for Version 2018
• current information that has been updated to reflect the business
realities in 2018
• several company setup chapters increasing in complexity and a
separate setup for payroll, all with keystroke instructions
• separate chapters for basic and advanced Accounts Receivable and
Payable topics
• comprehensive company profiles and realistic source documents
throughout the text to give you the “ feel" of real companies
The Student DVD with Data Files for the text has the following resources:
• Pro and Premium version data files for all applications ( except for the
setup chapters: Chapters 7, 16 and 17)
• review questions and cases for each chapter (Appendix D)
• supplementary materials in Appendices E - M
• the interactive Acco旧1ting Cycle Tutorial, which introduces basic
accounting terms and concepts
We continue to provide options for automatically installing data from the
Student DVD: backup data files for Premium and Pro versions, and full Premium
version data files for the source document applications in the text. Supplementary
files are provided only as backup files. Of course, we still include detailed
instructions on restoring backups. These alternatives have additional advantages:
if computer speed and time permit, users can install the full data files; otherwise,
the smaller backup files can be copied quickly, or backup files can be restored to
your hard disk directly from the DVD one at a time. Premium version users can
install both the full and backup sets of files. Backup files may be restored as
often as needed without reinstalling.
The removable page-length bookmark attached to the back cover has a mini
index and a ruler-marked edge to help you refer to specific lines on a page. This
PREFACE IX
Student Resources
The Student DVD with Data Files
The Student DVD has an autorun feature that should open the Student DVD
home page automatically when you insert the DVD into your DVD drive. From
this home page you can choose to install data files , view the supplementary
appendices (PDF format), run the Accounting Cycle Tutorial or browse the DVD.
The Student DVD home page will remain open for you to make another selection
until you close it.
Complete instructions for installing and accessing the files on the Student
DVD are provided in Chapter 1.
Separate data sets with separate installation programs will help you install
the data set you need and make it easy for all users to follow the text. To choose
the correct data set, you must know what version of Sage 50 you are using. You
‘ NOTES
can get this information from the Welcome and Select Company window in the
If you have the retail version
of Sage 50, the program version
program (see page 8). SAGE 50 PRO ACCOUNTING or SAGE 50 PREMIUM
will be on the program package ACCOUNTING appears in the Home window for all data files. You can open the
or CD. Sample file to find this information. If you accepted the default installation
The Sage 50 desktop settings, the program folder name in Program Files also matches the version. The
shortcut label also includes the Student version is a Premium version program, Release 2018.0.
version.
All installation programs create a data folder named SageDatal8 on drive C
(Local Disk C: or [OS] C:). If you need to work with another location for your data,
refer to page 6 in this text. You can install the data as often as you need to. We
recommend renarr山1g the previous folder to prevent overwriting all your previous
USING TH IS BOOK XI
files that may include data you want to keep. If you started by installing the
backup files, you will not need to reinstall them because they remain unchanged.
You can restore backup files directly from the Student DVD to your hard disk.
However, we recommend installing the backup files to your hard disk and keeping
the original DVD safe for later use.
The follow让1g chart will help you install the data set you need from the Install
Data screen:
FOR VERSION Pro Version 2018
CLICK INSTALL BUTTON Install Pro Version Backup Files
DATA SET (FOLDER ON DVD) Pro_Backup_Version
Passwords
We have not added passwords to a口y data files to ensure maximum accessibility.
However, if you are using the program in a multi-user or network environment
that includes users and passwords, you will need to enter your user name and
password before you can open the data files . Ask your instructor or site
administrator for the user 丑ame and password that you should use. Refer to
Chapter 16, page 688, and Appendix G on the Student DVD for instructions on
worki且g with passwords.
xii USING THIS BOOK
The differences between the Student version and the retail Premium version
are very small, but we have identified them with margin notes as shown here:
Earlier Versions
If you tηr to access the data files with earlier versions of Sage 50 Accounting
(2018.0 and earlier), Sage 50 displays an error message. In this case, you should
download and install the Student version. Refer to Appendix A for information on
downloading and installing the Student version.
Later Versions
Although the data files can be used with later versions of the software, you may
see changes in screens, keystrokes and payroll tax amounts. Before you open a
data file with a later version, the Sage 50 conversion wizard will update the data
file to match the later version you are using. Always refer to the manuals and
update notices for later versions. Once the file has been updated, you w诅 no
longer be able to use it with the earlier version or release, unless you reinstall the
data files from the Student DVD.
For this reason, we recommend that you not install updates until you have
finished working with the data files in the text. For the 2018 program, the option
to modi乌r your update settings, that is, to turn automatic updates off or on, is
located on the Support Info screen (Home window, Help menu, About Sage 50).
Automatic updates are not available for the Student version.
Quantum Version
This text can be used with Sage 50 Quantum Accounting. All the features covered
in the text are available in the Quantum version, though you may see small
variations in the screens. The Quantum version includes features that are not
available in the Premium version - these advanced feat旧es are not covered in
this text. If you are using the Quantum version, the Sage 50 data conversion
wizard will convert the Premium data files when you open them or restore them.
Because the DVD files remain unchanged, you can install and use the same files
later with the Premium version.
Press ~ or press the Add button to start the Add Account wizard.
(Keystroke command line - command word is in bold and the object of the command,
what you press, is in colour. Commands are indented and spaced apart. Additional text or
information for the line is shown in plain text.)
Or, you can click the Comment field to advance the cursor, or press
~ repeatedly until the cursor is in the Comment field.
(Alternative keystroke sequence that you may want to use later. Paragraph is indented in
block style and plain text style is used.)
Reg吐ar text is presented in normal paragraphs, like this one. Key words are
shown in colour to make it easy to identi句r the topics. Names of icons, fields, text
and tool buttons that you will see on-screen have all initial letters capitalized (for
example, Adjust A Previously Posted Invoice tool or E-mail Confirmation Of
Invoices And Quotes). Account names included in regular text paragraphs are
italicized (for example, Revenue 户om Sαles or Cost of Goods Sold) .
··· FU
N
N
R
同呵
Order of Applications
Setup applications are introduced early in the text. Advanced users should have
no difficulty working through the applications in the order given and may choose
to skip some applications. However, at a minimum, we reco日旧1end working
through all keystroke transactions (the ones with a .I in the check box beside
them) so that you become fam出ar with all the journals before starting the more
comprehensive applications.
There are alternative ways of using the text for introductory and advanced
level courses. Students ca口 complete the General, basic Payables, basic
USIN G THI S BOOK xv
Ge忧ing
Started (1)
<>
Groen Fields
(5 Payables)
<>
<>
<>
<>
Andersson Tesses Tresses
Chiropractic Clinic (15 Account Air Care Services
Flabuless Fitness I Reconciliation) (7 General, Payables,
(10 Inventory)。
(11 Advanced
A/P & A/R) Receivables)
Ryder's Routes
<>
I (18 Premium 一 <>
Supplements
The Student Text Enrichment Site
A text enrichment site accompanies this text: pearsoncanada.ca/text/
purbhoo2018. This site has an online banking simulation for VeloCity in
Chapter 16, including the bank statement that you can download for
reconciliation. Instructions for accessing the site and completing the
simulation are in Appendix I on the Student DVD.
Instructor Supplements
• Solutions Solutions for all applications in the text are available as Sage 50
Premium Accounting backup files. These files have all the source document
transactions in the text completed. The files must be restored with the
Sage 50 program and all reports may be displayed or printed.
• Additional Setup Files Backup files for the setup chapters (Chapters 4, 7, 9,
16 and 17) are provided with setup completed and ready for entry of source
documents. 古NO additional files are provided for Chapter 16 - for journal
entries beginning in the second and third month of the applications. Files for
bank reconciliation are also included: February bank reconciliation for
Tesses Tresses; Case 8 in Appendix D for VeloCity; and Case 3 in Appendix D
for Stratford Count巧r Inn. Appendix D is on the Student DVD. These
additional files are provided with the Solutions.
• Instructor’s Manual The Instructor's Manual is a file in PDF format with
information about all the instructor resource materials, teaching and testing
suggestions and some troubleshooting tips.
• Answers to Review Questions and Cases includes answers to all the end-of-
chapter questions and cases (Appendix D on the Student DVD). It is
available as a PDF and a Microsoft Word document so that instructors may
choose or modify individual answers.
• Test Bank Multiple-choice tests (with over 500 questions) organized by
textbook chapter and several applied tests that requ让e students to set up
company files and enter so盯ce documents using Sage 50 are provided. The
applied tests have alternate versions and may be completed as intermediate
or end-of-course tests. All test files are provided in Microsoft Word format
and may be modified by instructors. Solutions are included for all test items.
For increased flexibility, the applied test solutions are Sage 50 backup files at
two stages of completion: with the setup completed but history not finished
and with all source transactions completed. The setup solution files may be
given as separate tests ( entering source transactions only) or they may be
modified to create your own tests.
• Source Documents Source document files for all chapters are available.
These PDF-formatted source document files do not include any keystrokes.
All instructor supplements except the source document files are available for
download from a password-protected section of Pearson Canada's online
catalogue catalogue.pearsoned.ca. Navigate to the catalogue page for this text to
view a list of the supplements that are available. Contact your local sales
representative for details and access.
XVIII
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
riting can be a lonely job, but it helps to know that there are people to
support you. Although no colleagues share my office, a large team stands
behind this project, and I have been fortunate to have a team that I can count on.
We have managed to get this book to press on time every year because of them.
Some have worked with me for a long time and deserve special mention.
Avinash Chandra, I hope you know how much I have appreciated your commitment
to the Purbhoo book. As you move on to your new responsibilities, I trust you
when you tell me that you will st山 be there 江 Jessica Hellen, who replaces you, or
I, need your assistance. And Anthony Leung, senior designer at Pearson - yo旧
dedication is truly appreciated and your turnaround times always amaze me.
Anthony has worked on all the Purbhoo books, and his creativity never wanes.
Kiera Emmett, acquisitions editor, has been a welcome new member of the
team. She negotiated the contracts with Sage and liaises with sales representatives
and instructors - their questions and the errors they find provide important
feedback.
Many also serve in background support positions. Emily Dill was the content
manager; Joanne Tang keeps us out of legal hot water by securi口g permissions
from many sources. I know this requires her to make many follow up calls to busy
people for whom our deadlines do not seem critical. Michael Kelley and Carol严1
Sebestyen have, once aga让1, assisted with technical advice and support. Alanna
Ferguson ensures that corrected pages make it to reprint.
Leanne Rancourt - developmental editor, copy editor and production
editor - you wear so many hats and I can count on you in each and every one of
them. As in the past, I have enjoyed working with you. Susan Bindernagel, who
carefully proofread the entire manuscript, provided an independent look at the
text. Together, they continue to find ways to make this a better book.
Several individuals at Sage - Jim Collins, Melissa Lutman and others - have
been helpful throughout this project, providing access to Sage reso盯ces needed
to create this text and technical support.
I am also grateful for the cooperation of Sage Payment Solutions and
Bambora- by allowing access to these programs, they make it possible for the
students to see how Sage 50 reaches further into the real world of business.
There have been many editions of this book, and I want to thank eve巧rone
involved for making my job manageable. But in the end, the content and the
errors remain my responsibility.
This book is dedicated to my parents, who taught me the value of education
and hard work. Their hard work provided me with opportunities.
Mary Purbhoo
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OBJECTIVES
After completing • start the Sage 50 program
• open a working copy to access the data files for a business
this chapte几 you
• restore backup files to access data files for a business
should be able to
• understand the Help feature in Sage 50
• save your work
• back up your data files
• finish your session
• change default date format settings
[ WARNING!
GETTING STARTED
Prior to 2014, Sage so was
named Sage Simply Accounting.
You will be unable to open
Data Files and Abbreviations
the data files with Sage 50
h e applications in this workbook were prepared using Windows 10 and the
Accounting 2017 or earlier
releases of Sage 50 Accounting. Sage 50 Premium Accounting and Sage 50 Pro Accounting (Release 2018.0)
The Student DVD with Data software packages produced by Sage. Formerly, this program was named Sage
Files will be referred to as the Simply Accounting. You will be unable to open the data files with any version or
Student DVD throughout the text. release of Sage 50 Accounting earlier than 2018, Release 0. Do not install updates
for the Sage 50 program while working through this text. Later releases and
versions of the software use later income tax tables and may have changes in
‘ NOTES screens or keystrokes. If you have a version other than Release 2018.0, you can
The instructions in this
download and install the Sage 50 Premium Accounting - Student Version program
chapter for starting the program
and copying files refer to
to work through the applications. Refer to Appendix A if you are installing the
Windows 10 procedures. If you Student version.
are using a different version of The instructions in this workbook have been 飞iVfitten for a stand-alone PC with
Windows, please refer to Sage so a DVD drive and a hard drive with Windows correctly installed. Your printer(s)
and Windows Help and manuals should be installed and accessible through the Windows program. Refer to the
for assistance with these
corresponding manuals for assistance with these procedures.
procedures.
Sage 50 works best when This workbook reflects the author’s approach to working with Sage 50. There
you keep your Internet connection are alternative approaches to setting up company accou日ts and working with the
open. software. Refer to Sage 50 and Windows Help for further details.
2
GETTING STARTE D 一 l NTRODUCT I ON TO SAGE 50 3
DATA APPLICATION FILE NAMES AND LOCATIONS (All folders and files are located in C:\SageData 18\) .. NOTES
Company Full File Installation Backup File Installation Chapter Applications in Chapters 1
Getting Started STARl\START.SAI STARTl.CAB through 17 日n be completed with
Binh ’s Bins BINS\BINS.SAI BINSl.CAB 3 both the Pro and the Premium
Love It Again TEM PLATt\SKEL盯ON.SAi plus user setup SKELETONl.CAB plus user setup 4 versions. For the applications in
Groen Fields FIELD叭FIELDS.SAi FIELDSl.CAB 5 Chapters 18 and 19 you must use
Phoebe’s Photo Studio PHOTO\PHOTO.SAI PHOTOl.CAB 6 the Premium version.
Air Care Services user setup required user setup required 7 Data files for the applications
Helena ’s Academy HELENA\H ELENA.SAi HELENAl.CAB 8 inζhapters 4, 7, 9, 16 and 17 - the
Northern Lights NORTHERN\NORTHERN.SAI plus user setup NORTHERNl.CAB plus user setup 9 setup chapters - are not set up in
Flabuless Fitness FLABULES叭FLAB ULESS.SAi FLABULESSl.CAB 10 advance. You must complete these
Andersson Chiropractic Clinic AN DERSSON\AN DERSSON.SAI ANDERSSONl.CAB 11 setups on your own.
Maple Leaf Rags MAPL队MAPLE.SAi MAPLEl.CAB 12 In addition to the data files,
Shady Corners SHADt\SHADE.SAI SHADEl.CAB 13 the Student DVD includes data files
Sound Inc. SOUND\SOUND.SAI SOUNDl.CAB 14 for cash-basis accounting in
Tesses Tresses TESS\TESS.SAi TESSl.CAB 15 Appendix H (CASH folder or
VeloCity user setup required user setup required 16 CASHl.ζAB backup file) and a
Stratford Country Inn user setup required user setup required 17 backup file VELOBANKl.CAB (Bank
Ryder's Routes (Prem.) RYDE时YD ER.SAi RYDERl.CAB 18 folder) for online banking in
Able & Associates Inc. (Prem.) ABLt\ABLE.SAI ABLEl.CAB 19 Appendix I. Appendices H and I are
Phoebe’s Photo Studio on the Student DVD as PDF files.
(Cash-Basis) CASH\PHOTO-CASH.SAI CASHl.CAB Appendix H
The applications increase in complexity. Each one introduces new ledgers, setups or
features as indicated in the following chart:
DATA APPLICATION LEDGER USED OTHER
GL AP AR PAY INV DIV
Binh ’s Bins *
Love It Again * 2
Groen Fields * *
Northern Lights * * * * 2
Flabuless Fitness * * * * * 3
Andersson Chiropractic Clinic * * *
一回
Insert the Student DVD into yo旧 DVD drive. The home page appears:
‘ NOTES
Pearson If you are working with the
Using Sage 50 Accou ntin g 2018 Quantum version, you should
Stu dent DVD with Data Files install the Premium version files.
M. Purbhoo Your program will automatically
upgrade the files to the Quantum
” 肘。”’e Welcome to the Student DVD with Data 问 les for H ’ UR&H0-0 version when you open or restore
Install Data
Using Sage 50 Ac;counting 2018. Using Sage 50 them.
Account ing 2018
Here you will find t he following reso u 「ces : …c......._….伽…‘……··
Appendices D- M “m阳南、,... ..._曲叩叫r 栅,.
,...”·幡脚嗨脚,.四例’””
·回国-
国
Student DVD, ‘ NOTES
Keystroke instructions that
Click th e Type Here To Search field beside the Windows Start icon
you must use have highlighted text
your desktop task bar. in indented paragraphs, like the
Type d : \start . exe (where D: is the drive letter for your DVD drive)一
ones on this page starting with
Click, Type and Close.
this file should be available on your DVD. The command words are in
Click D:\STABT.EXE to ope丑 the installation options O丑 the previous page. bold black type and the object
of the command is in colour.
Click Install Data to open yo盯 data installation options: Text you should type or key
uses the Courier f o 口 t
after the command word Type.
Hom e Sage 50 Premium Accounting® 2018 Data 萨iles and
Additional key words are also
.,. Install Data Sage so
Pro Aα。unti ng® 2018 Data Fil es
in colour.
Append ices D -”. To set up the data files, select the version of the Sage 50 Accou nting 2018 data files
thatγou wou ld Hke to install on your compute「 and click on the button below.
All data installation options will create the SageData18 folder on your hard drive -
This PC - OS C: or Local Disk C:, and all files will be placed in this new folder.
The Install Premium Version Full Files option (~ 2 GBytes) will copy folders and ‘ NOTES
files for each company data set in the primary keystroke chapters. In addition, you will Windows 10 uses the name
” This PC '’ for the computer, so this
have backup files for online banking and importing entries from an accountant . This term will be used in this text. This
installation requires substantially more time for copying the files. name may be customized on your
The Install Premium Version Backup Files option (~ 60 MBytes) w山 install backup own computer, but we have not
files for all the applications in the text except the setup chapters. When you restore done so.
6 CHAPTER 1
these with Sage 50, the default location will be the same as that for the Full File
‘ NOTES Installation option. If you are working on a slower computer, we recommend this option.
A black DOS Command
The Install Pro Version Backup Files option will install backup files for the
screen will scroll through all the
files as they are being copied to applications for Pro users. Pro version files are provided only in backup format.
your hard drive. There are Instructions for restoring backup files begin on page 25.
thousands of individual files in the
full version data set so this will
Click Install Pro Version Backup Files to copy the data set for Pro 2018.
take some time. The Premium, Student Premium and Quantum versions use the same data files.
All data files will be copied to
C:\SageData 1 叭, the starting point Click Install Premium Version Full Files, or
we use throughout the text.
If you reinstall the files, you Click Install Premium Version Backup Files.
will be prompted to replace the
While the files are being copied, a black DOS window w诅 ope且, scrolling through all
older files. Your options are to
replace all (type A), replace just the files being copied. This will take some time if you are installing the Premium Version
this one file (type Y) or do not Full F且es, so please be patient. (Read the margin Notes.)
replace this one file (type N). Press When all the files have been copied, you get a confirmation message:
~ after making your choice. Windows Script Host ×
Choosing All (typing A) will Installed files can be foun d in
C气5a g eDatil18
automatically replace all the files
and you will not get this same
prompt for each of the thousands
of individual files. Click OK. The data files are located in C:\SageDatal 8. The DOS window closes.
If you installed the backup
files initially, you can start again You can also view the supplementary Appendix files on the DVD. You can save these
without reinstalling the files by PDF files to your hard drive or print them if you want.
restoring a backup.
Click Appendices D-M in the left navigation bar and then click the file you
want.
Close the PDF file when you have finished viewing or printing it.
Click Exit to close the Student DVD window.
All the data files for the book are now located in the 口ew SageData18 folder in drive
C:. We will use the shorthand C: instead of This PC\C:, Local Disk C: or OS C:. We w让l
open files and restore backups from this folder and use it as our working data folder.
Starting Sage 50
A Sage 50 shortcut icon was added to your desktop when you installed the program.
Double-click
。
Saoe SO Premium
IAccou7i问阳ion201sl , the Sage 50 program shortcut on your desktop.
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when she had given up all hopes of interesting anyone. During six whole
weeks, growing the while more and more perplexed, Arnica relished with a
mild intoxication her two suitors’ parallel wooing. And while, during their
midnight walks, the Blafafoires calculated together the rate of their
respective progress, describing to each other lengthily and undisguisedly
every word, look and smile she had bestowed on them, Arnica, in the
seclusion of her bedroom, spent the time writing on bits of paper (which she
afterwards carefully burnt in the flame of the candle) or else in repeating
indefatigably, turn and turn about: Arnica Blafaphas?... Arnica Fleurissoire?
—incapable of deciding between the equal horror of these two atrocious
names.
Then, suddenly, on the evening of a little dance, she had chosen
Fleurissoire; had not Amédée just called her Arnica, putting the accent on
the penultimate in a way that seemed to her Italian? (As a matter of fact, he
had done it without reflection, carried away, no doubt, by Mademoiselle
Semène’s piano, with whose rhythm the atmosphere was throbbing.) And
this name of Arnica—her own name—had there and then seemed to her
fraught with unexpected music—as capable as any other of expressing
poetry and love.... They were alone together in a little sitting-room next-
door to the drawing-room, and so close to each other that when Arnica,
almost swooning with emotion and gratitude, let fall her drooping head, it
touched Amédée’s shoulder; and then, very gravely, he had taken Arnica’s
hand and kissed the tips of her fingers.
When, during their walk home that night, Amédée had announced his
happiness to his friend, Gaston, contrary to his custom, had said nothing,
and as they were passing a street lamp, Fleurissoire thought he saw him
crying. Could Amédée really have been simple enough to suppose that his
friend would share his happiness to this last degree? Abashed and
remorseful, he took Blafaphas in his arms (the street was empty) and swore
that however great his love might be, his friendship was greater still, that he
had no intention of letting his marriage interfere with it, and, finally, that
rather than feel that Blafaphas was suffering from jealousy, he was ready to
promise on his honour never to claim his conjugal rights.
Neither Blafaphas nor Fleurissoire possessed a very ardent temperament;
Gaston, however, whose manhood troubled him a little more, kept silence
and allowed Amédée to promise.
Shortly after Amédée’s marriage, Gaston, who, in order to console
himself, had plunged over head and ears into work, discovered his Plastic
Plaster. The first consequence of this invention, which, to begin with, had
seemed of very little importance, was that it brought about the revival of
Lévichon’s friendship for the Blafafoires—a friendship which for some
time past had been allowed to lapse. Eudoxe Lévichon immediately divined
the services which this composition would render to religious statuary. With
a remarkable eye to contingencies, he at once christened it Roman Plaster.
[F] The firm of Blafaphas, Fleurissoire and Lévichon was founded.
The undertaking was launched with a capital of sixty thousand francs, of
which the Blafafoires modestly subscribed ten thousand. Lévichon,
unwilling that his two friends should be pressed, generously provided the
other fifty thousand. It is true that of these fifty thousand, forty were
advanced by Fleurissoire out of Arnica’s marriage portion; the sum was
repayable in ten years with compound interest at 4½ per cent—which was
more than Arnica had ever hoped for—and Amédée’s small fortune was
thus guaranteed from the risks which such an undertaking must necessarily
incur. The Blafafoires, on their side, brought as an asset their family
connexions and those of the Baragliouls, which meant, when once Roman
Plaster had proved its reliability, the patronage of several influential
members of the clergy; these latter (besides giving one or two important
orders themselves) persuaded several small parishes to supply the growing
needs of the faithful from the firm of B., F. & L., the increasing
improvement of artistic education having created a demand for works of
more exquisite finish than those which satisfied the ruder faith of our
ancestors. To supply this demand a few artists of acknowledged value in the
Church’s eyes, were enlisted by the firm of Roman Plaster, and were at last
placed in the position of seeing their works accepted by the jury of the
Salon. Leaving the Blafafoires at Pau, Lévichon established himself in
Paris, where, with his social facility, the business soon developed
considerably.
What could be more natural than that the Countess Valentine de Saint-
Prix should endeavour, through Arnica, to interest the firm of Blafaphas &
Co. in the secret cause of the Pope’s deliverance, and that she should
confidently hope that the Fleurissoires’ extreme piety would reimburse her a
portion of what she had subscribed? Unfortunately, the Blafafoires, owing
to the minuteness of the amount which they had originally invested in the
business, got very little out of it—two-twelfths of the disclosed profits and
none at all of the others. The Countess could not be aware of this, for
Arnica, like Amédée, was modestly shy of talking about their money
matters.
III
“Dear Madame de Saint-Prix, what is the matter? Your letter frightened
me.”
The Countess dropped into the arm-chair which Arnica pushed towards
her.
“Oh, Madame Fleurissoire!... Oh! mayn’t I call you Arnica?... this
trouble—it is yours as well as mine—will draw us together. Oh! if you only
knew!...”
“Speak! Speak! don’t leave me in suspense!”
“I’ve only just heard it myself. I’ll tell you directly, but mind, it must be
a secret between you and me.”
“I have never betrayed anyone’s confidence,” said Arnica, plaintively—
not that anyone had ever confided in her.
“You’ll not believe it.”
“Yes, yes,” wailed Arnica.
“Ah!” wailed the Countess. “Oh, would you be kind enough to get me a
cup of ... anything ... it doesn’t matter what.... I feel as if I were fainting.”
“What would you like? Cowslip? Lime-flower? Camomile?”
“It doesn’t matter.... Tea, I think.... I wouldn’t believe it myself at first.”
“There’s some boiling water in the kitchen. It won’t take a minute.”
While Arnica busied herself about the tea, the Countess appraised the
drawing-room and its contents with a calculating eye. They were
depressingly modest. A few green rep chairs; one red velvet arm-chair; one
other arm-chair (in which she was seated) in common tapestry; one table;
one mahogany console; in front of the fire-place, a woolwork rug; on the
chimney-piece, on each side of the alabaster clock (which was in a glass
case), two large vases in alabaster fretwork, also in glass cases; on the table,
a photograph album for the family photographs; on the console, a figure of
Our Lady of Lourdes in her grotto, in Roman Plaster (a small-sized model)
—there was not a thing in the room that was not discouraging, and the
Countess felt her heart sink within her.
But after all they were perhaps only shamming poverty—perhaps they
were merely miserly....
Arnica came back with the tea-pot, the sugar and a cup on a tray.
“I’m afraid I’m giving you a great deal of trouble.”
“Oh, not at all!... I’d rather do it now—before; afterwards, I mightn’t be
able to.”
“Well, then, listen!” began Valentine, after Arnica had sat down. “The
Pope——”
“No, no, don’t tell me! don’t tell me!” exclaimed Madame Fleurissoire
instantly, stretching out her hand in front of her; then, uttering a faint cry,
she fell back with her eyes closed.
“My poor dear! My poor dear!” said the Countess, patting her on the
wrist. “I felt sure it would be too much for you.”
Arnica at last feebly opened half an eye and murmured sadly:
“Dead?”
Then Valentine, bending towards her, slipped into her ear the single
word:
“Imprisoned!”
Sheer stupefaction brought Madame Fleurissoire back to her senses; and
Valentine began her long story, stumbling over the dates, mixing up the
names and muddling the chronology; one fact, however, stood out, certain
and indisputable—our Holy Father had fallen into the hands of the infidel—
a crusade was being secretly organised to deliver him, and in order to
conduct it successfully a large sum of money was necessary.
“What will Amédée say?” moaned Arnica in dismay.
He was not expected home before evening, having gone out for a walk
with his friend Blafaphas....
“Mind you impress on him the necessity of secrecy,” repeated Valentine
several times over as she took her leave of Arnica. “Give me a kiss, my
dear, and courage!”
Arnica nervously presented her damp forehead to the Countess.
“I will look in to-morrow to hear what you think of doing. Consult
Monsieur Fleurissoire, but remember that the Church is at stake!... It’s
agreed, then—only to your husband! You promise, don’t you? Not a word!
Not a word!”
The Comtesse de Saint-Prix left Arnica in a state of depression bordering
on faintness. When Amédée came in from his walk:
“My dear,” she said to him at once, “I have just heard something
extremely sad. The Holy Father has been imprisoned.”
“No, not really?” said Amédée, as if he were saying “pooh!”
Arnica burst into sobs:
“I knew, I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Come, come, darling,” went on Amédée, taking off his overcoat,
without which he never went out for fear of a sudden change of
temperature. “Just think! Everyone would know if anything had happened
to the Holy Father. It would be in all the papers. And who could have
imprisoned him?”
“Valentine says it’s the Lodge.”
Amédée looked at Arnica under the impression that she had taken leave
of her senses. He said, however:
“The Lodge? What Lodge?”
“How can I tell? Valentine has promised not to say anything about it.”
“Who told her?”
“She forbade me to say.... A canon, who was sent by a cardinal, with his
card——”
Arnica understood nothing of public affairs and Madame de Saint-Prix’s
story had left but a confused impression on her. The words “captivity” and
“imprisonment” conjured up before her eyes dark and semi-romantic
images; the word “crusade” thrilled her unspeakably, and when, at last,
Amédée’s disbelief wavered and he talked of setting out at once, she
suddenly saw him on horseback, in a helmet and breastplate.... As for him,
he had begun by now to pace up and down the room.
“In the first place,” he said, “it’s no use talking about money—we
haven’t got any. And do you think I could be satisfied with merely giving
money? Do you think I should be able to sleep in peace merely because I
had sacrificed a few bank-notes?... Why, my dear, if this is true that you’ve
been telling me, it’s an appalling thing and we mustn’t rest till we’ve done
something. Appalling, do you understand me?”
“Yes, yes, I quite understand, appalling!... But all the same, do explain
why.”
“Oh, if now I’ve got to explain!” and Amédée raised discouraged arms to
Heaven.
“No, no,” he went on, “this isn’t an occasion for giving money; it’s
oneself that one must give. I’ll consult Blafaphas; we’ll see what he says.”
“Valentine de Saint-Prix made me promise not to tell anyone,” put in
Arnica, timidly.
“Blafaphas isn’t anyone; and we’ll impress on him that he must keep it
strictly to himself.”
Then, turning towards her, he implored pathetically:
“Arnica, my dearest, let me go!”
She was sobbing. It was she now who insisted on Blafaphas coming to
the rescue. Amédée was starting to fetch him, when he turned up of his own
accord, knocking first at the drawing-room window, as was his habit.
“Well! that’s the most singular story I ever heard in my life!” he cried
when they had told him all about it. “No, really! Who would ever have
thought of such a thing?” And then, before Fleurissoire had said anything of
his intentions, he went on abruptly:
“My dear fellow, there’s only one thing for us to do—set out at once.”
“You see,” said Amédée, “it’s his first thought.”
“Unfortunately I’m kept at home by my poor father’s health,” was his
second.
“After all, it’s better that I should go by myself,” went on Amédée. “Two
of us together would attract attention.”
“But will you know how to manage?”
At this, Amédée raised his shoulders and eyebrows, as much as to say: “I
can but do my best!”
“Will you know whom to appeal to?... where to go?... And, as a matter of
fact, what exactly do you mean to do when you get there?”
“First of all, find out the facts.”
“Supposing, after all, there were no truth in the story?”
“Exactly! I can’t rest till I know.”
And Gaston immediately exclaimed: “No more can I!”
“Do take a little more time to think it over, dear,” protested Arnica
feebly.
“I have thought it over. I shall go—secretly—but I shall go.”
“When? Nothing is ready.”
“This evening. What do I need so much?”
“But you haven’t ever travelled. You won’t know how to.”
“You’ll see, my love, you’ll see! When I come back, I’ll tell you my
adventures,” said he, with an engaging little chuckle which set his Adam’s
apple shaking.
“You’re certain to catch cold.”
“I’ll wear your comforter.” He stopped in his pacing to raise Arnica’s
chin with the tip of his forefinger, as one does a baby’s, when one wants to
make it smile. Gaston’s attitude was one of reserve. Amédée went up to
him:
“I count upon you to look up my trains. Find me a good train to
Marseilles with thirds. Yes, yes, I insist upon travelling third. Anyhow,
make me out a time-table in detail and mark the places where I shall have to
change—and where I can get refreshments—at any rate, as far as the
frontier; after that, when I’ve got a start, I shall be able to look after myself,
and with God’s guidance I shall get to Rome. You must write to me there
poste restante.”
The importance of his mission was exciting his brain dangerously. After
Gaston had gone, he continued to pace the room; from time to time he
murmured, his heart melting with wonder and gratitude:
“To think that such a thing should be reserved for me!” So at last he had
his raison d’être. Ah! for pity’s sake, dear lady, let him go! To how many
beings on God’s earth is it given to find their function?
All that Arnica obtained was that he should pass this one night with her,
Gaston, indeed, having pointed out in the time-table which he brought
round in the evening, that the most convenient train was the one that left at
8 A.M.
The next morning it poured with rain. Amédée would not allow Arnica
or Gaston to go with him to the station; so that the quaint traveller with his
cod-fish eyes, his neck muffled in a dark crimson comforter, holding in his
right hand a grey canvas portmanteau, on to which his visiting-card had
been nailed, in his left an old umbrella, and on his arm a brown and green
check shawl, was carried off by the train to Marseilles, without a farewell
glance from anyone.
IV
About this time an important sociological congress summoned Count
Julius de Baraglioul back to Rome. He was not perhaps specially invited
(his opinions on such subjects being founded more on conviction than
knowledge), but he was glad to have this opportunity of getting into touch
with one or two illustrious personages. And as Milan lay conveniently on
his road—Milan where, as we know, the Armand-Dubois had gone to live
on the advice of Father Anselm—he determined to take advantage of the
circumstance in order to see his brother-in-law.
On the same day that Fleurissoire left Pau, Julius knocked at Anthime’s
door. He was shown into a wretched apartment consisting of three rooms—
if the dark closet where Veronica herself cooked the few vegetables which
formed their chief diet, may be counted as a room. The little light there was
came from a narrow court-yard and shone down dismally from a hideous
metal reflector; Julius preferred to keep his hat in his hand rather than set it
down on the oval table with its covering of doubtfully clean oilcloth, and
remained standing because of the horror with which the horsehair chairs
inspired him.
He seized Anthime by the arm and exclaimed:
“My poor fellow, you can’t stay here.”
“What are you pitying me for?” asked Anthime.
Veronica came hurrying up at the sound of their voices.
“Would you believe it, my dear Julius?—that is the only thing he finds to
say in spite of the grossly unjust and unfair way in which we have been
treated.”
“Who suggested your coming to Milan?”
“Father Anselm; but in any case we couldn’t have kept on the Via in
Lucina apartment.”
“There was no need for us to keep it on,” said Anthime.
“That’s not the point. Father Anselm promised you compensation. Is he
aware of your distress?”
“He pretends not to be,” said Veronica.
“You must complain to the Bishop of Tarbes.”
“Anthime has done so.”
“What did he say?”
“He is a worthy man; he earnestly encouraged me in my faith.”
“But since you have been here, haven’t you complained to anyone?”
“I just missed seeing Cardinal Pazzi, who had shown some interest in my
case and to whom I had written; he did come to Milan, but he sent me word
by his footman....”
“That a fit of the gout unfortunately kept him to his room.”
“But it’s abominable! Rampolla must be told!” cried Julius.
“Told what, my dear friend? It is true that I am somewhat reduced—but
what need have we of more? In the time of my prosperity I was astray; I
was a sinner; I was ill. Now, you see, I am cured. Formerly you had good
cause to pity me. And yet you know well enough that worldly goods turn us
aside from God.”
“Yes, but those worldly goods were yours by rights. It’s all very well that
the Church should teach you to despise them, but not that she should cheat
you of them.”
“That’s the way to talk,” said Veronica. “What a relief it is to hear you,
Julius! His resignation makes me boil with rage; it’s impossible to get him
to defend himself. He has let himself be plucked like a goose and said
‘thank you’ to everyone who robbed him, as long as they did it in the Lord’s
name.”
“Veronica! it grieves me to hear you talk like that. Whatever is done in
the Lord’s name is well done.”
“If you think it’s agreeable to be made a fool of!” said Julius.
“God’s fool, dear Julius!”
“Just listen to him! That’s what he’s like the whole time! Nothing but
Scripture texts in his mouth from morning to night! And after I’ve toiled
and slaved and done the marketing and the cooking and the housemaiding,
my good gentleman quotes the Gospel and says I’m being busy about many
things and tells me to look at the lilies of the field.”
“I help you to the best of my power, dear,” said Anthime in a seraphic
voice. “Now that I’ve got the use of my legs again, I’ve many a time
offered to do the marketing or the housework for you.”
“That’s not a man’s business. Content yourself with writing your
homilies, only try to get a little better pay for them.” And then, her voice
getting more and more querulous (hers, who used to be so smiling!): “Isn’t
it a disgrace?” she exclaimed. “When one thinks of what he used to get for
his infidel articles in the Dépêche! And now when the Pilgrim pays him a
miserable two-pence halfpenny for his religious meditations, he somehow
or other contrives to give three quarters of it to the poor!”
“Then he’s a complete saint!” cried Julius, aghast.
“Oh! how he irritates me with his saintliness!... Look here! Do you know
what this is?” and she fetched a small wicker cage from a dark corner of the
room. “These are the two rats whose eyes my scientific friend put out in the
old days.”
“Oh, Veronica, why will you harp on it? You used to feed them yourself
when I was experimenting on them—and then I blamed you for it.... Yes,
Julius, in my unregenerate days I blinded those poor creatures, out of vain
scientific curiosity; it’s only natural I should look after them now.”
“I wish the Church thought it equally natural to do for you what you do
for these rats—after having blinded you in the same way.”
“Blinded, do you say! Such words from you? Illumined, my dear brother,
illumined!”
“My words were plain matter-of-fact. It seems to me inadmissible that
you should be abandoned in such a state as this. The Church entered into an
engagement with you; she must keep it—for her own honour—for our
faith’s sake.” Then, turning to Veronica: “If you have obtained nothing so
far, you must appeal higher still—and still higher. Rampolla, did I say? It’s
to the Pope himself that I shall present a petition—to the Pope. He is
acquainted with your story. He ought to be informed of such a miscarriage
of justice. I am returning to Rome to-morrow.”
“You’ll stop to dinner, won’t you?” asked Veronica, somewhat
apprehensively.
“Please excuse me—but really my digestion is so poor....” (and Julius,
whose nails were very carefully kept, glanced at Anthime’s large, stumpy,
square-tipped fingers). “On my way back from Rome I shall be able to stop
longer, and then I want to tell you about the new book I’m now at work on,
my dear Anthime.”
“I have just been re-reading On the Heights and it seems to me better
than I thought it at first.”
“I am sorry for you! It’s a failure. I’ll explain why when you’re in a fit
state to listen and to appreciate the strange preoccupations which beset me
now. But there’s too much to say. Mum’s the word for the present!”
He bade the Armand-Dubois keep up their spirits, and left them.
BOOK IV: THE MILLIPEDE
“Et je ne puis approuver que ceux qui cherchent en
gémissant.”
—Pascal, 3421.
I
Amédée Fleurissoire had left Pau with five hundred francs in his pocket.
This, he thought, would certainly suffice him for his journey,
notwithstanding the extra expenses, to which the Lodge’s wickedness
would no doubt put him. And if, after all, this amount proved insufficient—
if he found himself obliged to prolong his stay, he would have recourse to
Blafaphas, who was keeping a small sum in reserve for him.
As no one at Pau was to know where he was going, he had not taken his
ticket further than Marseilles. From Marseilles to Rome a third-class ticket
cost only thirty-eight francs, forty centimes, and left him free to break his
journey if he chose—an option of which he took advantage, to satisfy, not
his curiosity for foreign parts, which had never been lively, but his desire
for sleep, which was inordinately strong. There was nothing he feared so
much as insomnia, and as it was important to the Church that he should
arrive at Rome in good trim, he would not consider the two days’ delay or
the additional expense of the hotel bills.... What was that in comparison to
spending a night in the train?—a night that would certainly be sleepless,
and particularly dangerous to health on account of the other travellers’
breaths; and then if one of them wanted to renew the air and took it into his
head to open a window, that meant catching a cold for certain.... He would
therefore spend the first night at Marseilles and the second at Genoa, in one
of those hotels that are found in the neighbourhood of the station, and are
comfortable without being over-grand.
For the rest he was amused by the journey and at making it by himself—
at last! For, at the age of forty-seven, he had never lived but in a state of
tutelage, escorted everywhere by his wife and his friend Blafaphas. Tucked
up in his corner of the carriage, he sat with a faint goat-like smile on his
face, wishing himself Godspeed. All went well as far as Marseilles.
On the second day he made a false start. Absorbed in the perusal of the
Baedeker for Central Italy which he had just bought, he got into the wrong
train and headed straight for Lyons; it was only at Arles that he noticed his
mistake, just as the train was starting, so that he was obliged to go on to
Tarascon and come back over the same ground for the second time; then he
took an evening train as far as Toulon rather than spend another night at
Marseilles, where he had been pestered with bugs.
And yet the room which looked on to the Cannebière had not been
uninviting, nor the bed either, for that matter; he had got into it without
misgivings, after having folded his clothes, done his accounts and said his
prayers. He was dropping with sleep and went off at once.
The manners and customs of bugs are peculiar; they wait till the candle
is out, and then, as soon as it is dark, sally forth—not at random; they make
straight for the neck, the place of their predilection; sometimes they select
the wrists; a few rare ones prefer the ankles. It is not exactly known for
what reason they inject into the sleeper’s skin an exquisitely irritating oily
substance, the virulence of which is intensified by the slightest rubbing....
The irritation which awoke Fleurissoire was so violent that he lit his
candle again and hurried to the looking-glass to gaze at his lower jaw,
where there appeared an irregular patch of red dotted with little white spots;
but the smoky dip gave a bad light; the silver of the glass was tarnished and
his eyes were blurred with sleep.... He went back to bed still rubbing and
put out his light; five minutes later he lit it again, for the itching had
become intolerable, sprang to the wash-hand-stand, wetted his handkerchief
in his water jug and applied it to the inflamed zone, which had greatly
extended and now reached as far as his collar-bone. Amédée thought he was
going to be ill and offered up a prayer; then he put out his candle once
more. The respite which the cool compress had granted him lasted too short
a time to permit the sufferer to go to sleep; and there was added now to the
agony of the itching, the discomfort of having the collar of his night-shirt
drenched with water; he drenched it, too, with his tears. And suddenly he
started with horror—bugs! it was bugs!... He was surprised that he had not
thought of them sooner; but he knew the insect only by name, and how was
it possible to imagine that a definite bite could result in this indefinable
burning? He shot out of his bed and for the third time lit his candle.
Being of a nervous and theoretical disposition, his ideas about bugs, like
many other people’s, were all wrong; cold with disgust, he began by
searching for them on himself—found ne’er a one—thought he had made a
mistake—again believed that he must be falling ill. There was nothing on
his sheets either; but nevertheless, before getting into bed again, it occurred
to him to lift up his bolster. He then saw three tiny blackish pastilles, which
tucked themselves nimbly away into a fold of the sheet. It was they, sure
enough!
Setting his candle on the bed, he tracked them down, opened out the fold
and discovered five of them. Not daring to squash them with his finger-nail,
he flung them in disgust into his chamber-pot and watered them copiously.
He watched them struggling for a few moments—pleased and ferocious. It
soothed his feelings. Then he got back into bed and blew out his candle.
The bites began again almost immediately with redoubled violence.
There were new ones now on the back of his neck. He lighted his candle
once more in a rage and took his night-shirt right off this time so as to
examine the collar at his leisure. At last he perceived four or five minute
light red specks running along the edge of the seam; he crushed them on the
linen, where they left a stain of blood—horrid little creatures, so tiny that he
could hardly believe that they were bugs already; but a little later, on raising
his bolster again, he unearthed an enormous one—their mother for certain;
at that, encouraged, excited, amused almost, he took off the bolster, undid
the sheets and began a methodical search. He fancied now that he saw them
everywhere, but as a matter of fact caught only four; he went back to bed
and enjoyed an hour’s peace.
Then the burning and itching began again. Once more he started the
hunt; then, worn out at last with disgust and fatigue, gave it up, and noticed
that if he did not scratch, the itching subsided pretty quickly. At dawn the
last of the creatures, presumably gorged, let him be. He was sleeping
heavily when the waiter called him in time for his train.
Fleurissoire was just going off to sleep when a faint humming reminded
him that he had failed to take the precaution of putting out his light before
opening his window; for light attracts mosquitoes. He remembered, too, that
he had somewhere read praises of the Lord, who has bestowed on this
winged insect a special musical instrument, designed to warn the sleeper the
moment before he is going to be stung. Then he let down the impenetrable
muslin barrier all round him. “After all,” thought he to himself as he was
dropping off, “how much better this is than those little felt cones of dried
hay, which old Blafaphas sells under the quaint name of ‘fidibus’; one lights
them on a little metal saucer; as they burn they give out a quantity of
narcotic fumes; but before they stupefy the mosquitoes, they half stifle the
sleeper. Fidibus! What a funny name! Fidibus....” He was just going off,
when suddenly a sharp sting on the left side of his nose awoke him. He put
his hand to the place and as he was softly stroking the raised and burning
flesh—another sting on his wrist. Then right against his ear there sounded
the mock of an impertinent buzzing.... Horror! he had shut the enemy up
within the citadel! He reached out to the switch and turned on the light.
Yes! the mosquito was there, settled high up on the net. Amédée was
long-sighted and made him out distinctly; a creature that was wisp-like to
absurdity, planted on four legs, with the other pair sticking out insolently
behind him, long and curly; Amédée sat up on his bed. But how could he
crush the insect against such flimsy, yielding material? No matter! He gave
a hit with the palm of his hand, so hard and so quick that he thought he had
burst a hole in the net. Not the shadow of a doubt but the mosquito was
done for; he glanced down to look for its corpse; there was nothing—but he
felt a fresh sting on the calf of his leg.
At that, in order to get as much as possible of his person into shelter, he
crept between the sheets and stayed there perhaps a quarter of an hour,
without daring to turn out the light; then, all the same, somewhat reassured
at catching neither sight nor sound of the enemy, he switched it off. And
instantly the music began again.
Then he put out one arm, keeping his hand close to his face, and from
time to time when he thought he felt one well settled on his forehead or
cheek, he would give himself a huge smack. But the second after, he heard
the insect’s sing-song once more.
After this it occurred to him to wrap his head round with his comforter,
which considerably interfered with the pleasure of his respiratory organs,
and did not prevent him from being stung on the chin.
Then the mosquito, gorged, no doubt, lay low; at any rate, Amédée,
vanquished by slumber, ceased to hear it; he had taken off his comforter and
was tossing in a feverish sleep; he scratched as he slept. The next morning,
his nose, which was by nature aquiline, looked like the nose of a drunkard;
the spot on the calf of his leg was budding like a boil and the one on his
chin had developed an appearance that was volcanic—he recommended it
to the particular solicitude of the barber when, before leaving Genoa, he
went to be shaved, so as to be respectable when he arrived in Rome.
II
At Rome, as he was lingering outside the station, so tired, so lost, so
perplexed that he could not decide what to do, and had only just strength
enough left to repel the advances of the hotel porters, Fleurissoire was lucky
enough to come upon a facchino who spoke French. Baptistin was a native
of Marseilles, a young man with bright eyes and a chin that was still
smooth; he recognised a fellow-countryman in Fleurissoire, and offered to
guide him and carry his portmanteau.
Fleurissoire had spent the long journey mugging up his Baedeker. A kind
of instinct—a presentiment—an inward warning—turned his pious
solicitude aside from the Vatican to concentrate it on the Castle of St.
Angelo (in ancient days Hadrian’s Mausoleum), the celebrated jail which
had sheltered so many illustrious prisoners of yore, and which, it seems, is
connected with the Vatican by an underground passage.
He gazed upon the map. “That is where I must find a lodging,” he had
decided, setting his forefinger on the Tordinona quay, opposite the Castle of
St. Angelo. And by a providential coincidence, that was the very place
where Baptistin proposed to take him; not, that is, exactly on the quay,
which is in reality nothing but an embankment, but quite near it—Via dei
Vecchierelli (of the little old men), which is the third street after the Ponte
Umberto, and leads straight on to the river bank; he knew of a quiet house
(from the windows of the third floor, by craning forward a little, one can see
the Mausoleum) where there were some very obliging ladies, who talked
every language, and one in particular who knew French.
“If the gentleman is tired, we can take a carriage; yes, it’s a long way....
Yes, the air is cooler this evening; it’s been raining; a little walk after a long
railway journey does one good.... No, the portmanteau is not too heavy; I
can easily carry it so far.... The gentleman’s first visit to Rome? He comes
from Toulouse, perhaps?... No; from Pau. I ought to have recognised the
accent.”
Thus chatting, they walked along. They took the Via Viminale; then the
Via Agostino Depretis, which runs into the Viminale at the Pincio; then by
way of the Via Nazionale they got into the Corso, which they crossed; after
this their way lay through a number of little streets without any names. The
portmanteau was not so heavy as to prevent the facchino from stepping out
briskly; and Fleurissoire could hardly keep up with him. He trotted along
beside Baptistin, dropping with fatigue and dripping with heat.
“Here we are!” said Baptistin at last, just as Amédée was going to beg
for quarter.
The street, or rather the alley of the Vecchierelli, was dark and narrow—
so much so that Fleurissoire hesitated to enter it. Baptistin, in the meantime,
had gone into the second house on the right, the door of which was only a
few yards from the quay; at the same moment, Fleurissoire saw a
bersagliere come out; the smart uniform which he had noticed at the
frontier, reassured him—for he had confidence in the army. He advanced a
few steps. A lady appeared on the threshold (the landlady of the inn
apparently) and smiled at him affably. She wore an apron of black satin,
bracelets, and a sky-blue silk ribbon round her neck; her jet-black hair was
piled in an edifice on the top of her head and sat heavily on an enormous
tortoise-shell comb.
“Your portmanteau has been carried up to the third floor,” said she to
Amédée in French, using the intimate “thou,” which he imagined must be
an Italian custom, or must else be set down to want of familiarity with the
language.
“Grazia!” he replied, smiling in his turn. “Grazia!—thank you!”—the
only Italian word he could say, and which he considered it polite to put into
the feminine when he was talking to a lady.
He went upstairs, stopping to gather breath and courage at every landing,
for he was worn out with fatigue, and the sordidness of the staircase
contributed to sink his spirits still lower. The landings succeeded each other
every ten steps; the stairs hesitated, tacked, made three several attempts
before they managed to reach a floor. From the ceiling of the first landing
hung a canary cage which could be seen from the street. On to the second
landing a mangy cat had dragged a haddock skin, which she was preparing
to bolt. On the third landing the door of the closet stood wide open and
revealed to view the seat, and beside it a yellow earthenware vase, shaped
like a top-hat, from whose cup protruded the stick of a small mop; on this
landing Amédée refrained from stopping.
On the first floor a smoky gasolene lamp was hanging beside a large
glass door, on which the word Salone was written in frosted letters; but the
room was dark, and Amédée could barely make out through the glass panes
of the door a mirror in a gold frame hanging on the wall opposite.
He was just reaching the seventh landing, when another soldier—an
artillery man this time—who had come out of a room on the second floor,
bumped up against him; he was running downstairs very fast and, after
setting Amédée on his feet again, passed on, muttering a laughing excuse in
Italian, for Fleurissoire was stumbling from fatigue and looked as if he were
drunk. The first uniform had reassured him, but the second made him
uneasy.
“These soldiers are a noisy lot,” thought he. “Fortunately my room is on
the third floor. I prefer to have them below me.”
He had no sooner passed the second floor than a woman in a gaping
dressing-gown, with her hair undone, came running from the other end of
the passage and hailed him.
“She takes me for someone else,” thought he, and hurried on, turning his
eyes away so as not to embarrass her by noticing the scantiness of her attire.
He arrived panting on the third floor, where he found Baptistin; he was
talking Italian to a woman of uncertain age, who reminded him
extraordinarily—though she was not so fat—of the Blafaphas’ cook.
“Your portmanteau is in No. sixteen—the third door. Take care as you
pass of the pail which is in the passage.”
“I put it outside because it was leaking,” explained the woman in French.
The door of No. sixteen was open; outside No. fifteen a tin slop-pail was
standing in the middle of a shiny repugnant-looking puddle, which
Fleurissoire stepped across. An acrid odour emanated from it. The
portmanteau was placed in full view on a chair. As soon as he got inside the
stuffy room, Amédée felt his head swim, and flinging his umbrella, his
shawl and his hat on to the bed, he sank into an arm-chair. His forehead was
streaming; he thought he was going to faint.
“This is Madame Carola, the lady who talks French,” said Baptistin.
They had both come into the room.
“Open the window a little,” sighed Fleurissoire, who was incapable of
movement.
“Goodness! how hot he is!” said Madame Carola, sponging his pallid
and perspiring countenance with a little scented handkerchief, which she
took out of her bodice.
“Let’s push him nearer the window.”
Both together lifted the arm-chair, in which Amédée swung helpless and
half unconscious, and put it down where he was able to inhale—in
exchange for the tainted atmosphere of the passage—the varied stenches of
the street. The coolness, however, revived him. Feeling in his waistcoat
pocket, he pulled out the screw of five lire which he had prepared for
Baptistin:
“Thank you very much. Please leave me now.”
The facchino went out.
“You oughtn’t to have given him such a lot,” said Carola.
She too used the familiar “thou,” which Amédée accepted as a custom of
the country; his one thought now was to go to bed; but Carola showed no
signs of leaving; then, carried away by politeness, he began to talk.
“You speak French as well as a Frenchwoman.”
“No wonder. I come from Paris. And you?”
“I come from the south.”
“I guessed as much. When I saw you, I said to myself, that gentleman
comes from the provinces. Is it your first visit to Italy?”
“My first.”
“Have you come on business?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a lovely place, Rome. There’s a lot to be seen.”
“Yes ... but this evening I’m rather tired,” he ventured; and as though
excusing himself: “I’ve been travelling for three days.”
“It’s a long journey to get here.”
“And I haven’t slept for three nights.”
At those words, Madame Carola, with a sudden Italian familiarity, which
Amédée still couldn’t help being astounded at, chucked him under the chin.
“Naughty!” said she.
This gesture brought a little blood back into Amédée’s face, and in his
desire to repudiate the unfair insinuation, he at once began to expatiate on
fleas, bugs and mosquitoes.
“You’ll have nothing of that kind here, dearie; you see how clean it is.”
“Yes; I hope I shall sleep well.”
But still she didn’t go. He rose with difficulty from his arm-chair, raised
his hand to the top button of his waistcoat and said tentatively:
“I think I’ll go to bed.”
Madame Carola understood Fleurissoire’s embarrassment.
“You’d like me to leave you for a bit, I see,” said she tactfully.
As soon as she had gone, Fleurissoire turned the key in the lock, took his
night-shirt out of his portmanteau and got into bed. But apparently the catch
of the lock was not working, for before he had time to blow out his candle,
Carola’s head reappeared in the half-opened door—behind the bed—close
to the bed—smiling....
An hour later, when he came to himself, Carola was lying against him, in
his arms, naked.
He disengaged his left arm, which had “fallen asleep,” and then drew
away. She was asleep. A light from the alley below filled the room with its
feeble glimmer, and not a sound was to be heard but the woman’s regular
breathing. An unwonted languor lay heavy on Amédée’s body and soul; he
drew out his thin legs from between the sheets; and sitting on the edge of
the bed, he wept.
As first his sweat, so now his tears washed his face and mingled with the
dust of the railway carriage; they welled up—silently, uninterruptedly, in a
slow and steady stream, coming from his inmost depths, as from a hidden
spring. He thought of Arnica, of Blafaphas, alas! Ah! if they could see him
now! Never again would he dare to take his place beside them. Then he
thought of his august mission, for ever compromised; he groaned below his
breath:
“It’s over! I’m no longer worthy! Oh! it’s over! It’s all over!”
The strange sounds of his sobbing and sighing had in the meantime
awakened Carola. There he was, kneeling now, at the foot of the bed,
hammering on his weakly chest with little blows of his fist; and Carola, lost
in amazement, heard him repeat, as his teeth chattered and his sobs shook
him:
“Save us! Save us! The Church is crumbling!”
At last, unable to contain herself any longer:
“You poor old dear, what’s wrong with you? Have you gone crazy?”
He turned towards her:
“Please, Madame Carola, leave me. I must—I absolutely must be alone.
I’ll see you to-morrow morning.”
Then, as after all it was only himself that he blamed, he kissed her gently
on the shoulder:
“Ah! you don’t know what a dreadful thing we’ve done. No, no! You
don’t know. You can never know.”
III
The swindling concern that went under the pompous name of Crusade
for the Deliverance of the Pope, extended its shady ramifications through
more than one of the French departments; Protos, the false monk of
Virmontal, was not its only agent, nor the Comtesse de Saint-Prix its only
victim. All its victims, however, were not equally accommodating, even if
all the agents proved equally dexterous. Even Protos, Lafcadio’s old school-
mate, was obliged, after this exploit of his, to keep the sharpest possible
look-out; he lived in continual apprehension that the clergy (the real clergy)
would get wind of the affair, and expended as much ingenuity in covering
his rear as in pushing his attack; but his versatility was great, and,
moreover, he was admirably seconded; from one end to the other of the
band (which went by the name of the Millipede) there reigned extraordinary
harmony and discipline.
Protos was informed that same evening by Baptistin of the stranger’s
arrival, and no little alarmed at hearing that he came from Pau, he hurried
off at seven o’clock the next morning to see Carola. She was still in bed.
The information which he gathered from her, the confused account that
she gave of the events of the previous night, the anguish of the pilgrim (this
was what she called Amédée), his protestations, his tears, left no further
doubt in his mind. Decidedly his Pau preachifying had brought forth fruit—
but not precisely the kind of fruit which Protos might have wished for; he
would have to keep an eye on this simple-minded crusader, whose clumsy
blunderings might give the whole show away....
“Come! let me pass,” said he abruptly to Carola.
This expression might seem peculiar, because Carola was lying in bed;
but Protos was never one to be stopped by the peculiar. He put one knee on
the bed, passed the other over the woman’s body and pirouetted so cleverly
that, with a slight push of the bed, he found himself between it and the wall.
Carola was no doubt accustomed to this performance, for she asked simply:
“What are you going to do?”
“Make up as a curé,” answered Protos, no less simply.
“Will you come back this way?”
Protos hesitated a moment, and then:
“You’re right; it’s more natural.”
So saying, he stooped and touched the spring of a secret door, which was
concealed in the thickness of the wall and was so low that the bed hid it
completely. Just as he was passing through the door, Carola seized him by
the shoulder.
“Listen,” she said with a kind of gravity, “you’re not to hurt this one. I
won’t have it.”
“I tell you I’m going to make up as a curé.”
As soon as he had disappeared, Carola got up and began to dress.
I cannot exactly tell what to think of Carola Venitequa. This exclamation
of hers leads me to suppose that her heart at that time was not altogether
fundamentally corrupt. Thus sometimes, in the very midst of abjection, the
strangest delicacies of feelings suddenly reveal themselves, just as an azure
tinted flower will grow in the middle of a dung-heap. Essentially
submissive and devoted, Carola, like so many other women, had need of
guidance. When Lafcadio had abandoned her, she had immediately rushed
off to find her old lover, Protos—out of spite—out of self-assertion—to
revenge herself. She had once more gone through hard times—and Protos
had no sooner recovered her than he had once more made her his tool. For
Protos liked being master.
Another man than Protos might have raised, rehabilitated this woman.
But first of all, he must have had the wish to. Protos, on the contrary,
seemed bent on degrading her. We have seen what shameful services the
ruffian demanded of her; it is true that she apparently submitted to them
without much reluctance; but the first impulses of a soul in revolt against
the ignominy of its lot, often pass unperceived by that very soul itself. It is
only in the light of love that the secret kicking against the pricks is revealed.
Was Carola falling in love with Amédée? It would be rash to affirm it; but,
corrupt as she was, she had been touched to emotion by the contact of his
purity, and the exclamation which I have recorded came indubitably from
her heart.
Protos returned. He had not changed his dress. He carried in his hand a
bundle of clothes, which he put down on a chair.
“Well! and now what?” she asked.
“I’ve reflected. I must first go round to the post and look at his letters. I
won’t change till this afternoon. Pass me your looking-glass.”
He went to the window, and bending towards his reflection in the glass,
he fastened to his lip a pair of short brown moustaches, a trifle lighter than
his hair.
“Call Baptistin.”
Carola had finished dressing. She went to the door and pulled a string
hanging near it.
“I’ve already told you I can’t bear to see you in those sleeve-links. They
attract attention.”
“You know very well who gave them to me.”
“Precisely.”
“You aren’t jealous, are you?”
“Silly fool!”
At this moment Baptistin knocked at the door and came in.
“Here! Try and get up in the world a peg or two,” said Protos, pointing to
a coat, collar and tie, which were lying on the chair and which he had
brought back with him from his expedition to the other side of the wall.
“You’re to keep your client company in his walks abroad. I shan’t take him
off your hands till this evening. Until then, don’t lose sight of him.”
IV
When he found himself in front of the Castle of St. Angelo, Fleurissoire
was filled with bitter disappointment. The huge mass of building rose from
the middle of an inner court-yard, access to which was forbidden to the
public, and into which only such visitors as were provided with cards were
allowed to enter. It was even specified that they must be accompanied by
one of the guardians.
These excessive precautions, to be sure, confirmed Amédée’s suspicions,
but they also enabled him to estimate the extravagant difficulty of his task.
Fleurissoire then, having at last got rid of Baptistin, was wandering up and
down the quay, which was almost deserted at that hour of the evening, and
alongside the outer wall which defends the approach to the castle.
Backwards and forwards in front of the drawbridge, he passed and repassed,
with gloomy and despondent thoughts; then he would retreat once more to
the bank of the Tiber and endeavour from there to get a better view of the
building over the top of the first enclosure.
He had not hitherto paid any particular attention to a priest (there are so
many of them in Rome) who was sitting on a bench not far from there, and
who, though apparently plunged in his breviary, had been observing him for
some time past. The worthy ecclesiastic had long and abundant locks of
silver, and the freshness of his youthful complexion—the sure sign of purity
of life—contrasted curiously with that apanage of old age. From the face
alone one would have recognised a priest, and from that peculiarly
respectable something which distinguishes him—a French priest. As
Fleurissoire was about to pass by the bench for the third time, the abbé
suddenly rose, came towards him, and in a voice which had in it something
of a sob:
“What!” he said, “I am not the only one! You too are seeking him!”
So saying, he hid his face in his hands and the sobs which he had been
too long controlling burst forth. Then suddenly recovering himself:
“Imprudent! Imprudent that I am! Hide your tears! Stifle your sighs!” ...
Then, seizing Amédée by the arm: “We must not stay here, Sir. We are
observed. The emotion I am unable to master has been remarked already.”
Amédée by this time was following him in a state of stupefaction.
“But how,” he at last managed to ask, “how could you guess what I am
here for?”
“Pray Heaven that no one else has been permitted to suspect it! But how
could your anxious face, your sorrowful looks, as you examined this spot,
escape the notice of one who has haunted it day and night for the last three
weeks? Alas! my dear sir, as soon as I saw you, some presentiment, some
warning from on high, told me that a sister soul.... Hush! Someone is
coming. For Heaven’s sake, pretend complete unconcern.”
A man carrying vegetables was coming along the quay from the opposite
direction. Immediately, without changing his tone of voice, but speaking in
a slightly more animated manner, and as if he were continuing a sentence:
“And that is why Virginia cigars, which some smokers appreciate so
highly, can be lighted only at the flame of a candle, after you have removed
the thin straw, that goes through the middle of them, and whose object is to
keep open a little channel in which the smoke can circulate freely. A
Virginia that doesn’t draw well is fit for nothing but to be thrown away. I
have seen smokers who are particular as to what they smoke, throw away as
many as six, my dear sir, before finding one that suits them....”
And as soon as the man had passed them:
“Did you see how he looked at us? It was essential to put him off the
scent.”
“What!” cried Fleurissoire, flabbergasted, “is it possible that a common
market gardener can be one of the persons of whom we must beware?”
“I cannot certify that it is so, sir, but I imagine it. The neighbourhood of
this castle is watched with particular care; agents of a special police are
continually patrolling it. In order not to arouse suspicion, they assume the
most varied disguises. The people we have to deal with are so clever—so
clever! And we so credulous, so naturally confiding! But if I were to tell
you, sir, that I was within an ace of ruining everything simply because I
gave my modest luggage to an ordinary-looking facchino to carry from the
station to the lodging where I am staying! He spoke French, and though I
have spoken Italian fluently ever since I was a child ... you yourself, I am
persuaded, would have felt the same emotion.... I couldn’t help giving way
to it when I heard someone speaking my mother tongue in a foreign land....
Well! This facchino....”
“Was he one of them?”
“He was one of them. I was able to make practically sure of it.
Fortunately I had said very little.”
“You fill me with alarm,” said Fleurissoire; “the same thing happened to
me the evening I arrived—yesterday, that is—I fell in with a guide to whom
I entrusted my portmanteau, and who talked French.”
“Good heavens!” cried the curé, struck with terror; “could his name have
been Baptistin?”
“Baptistin! That was it!” wailed Amédée, who felt his knees giving way
beneath him.
“Unhappy man! What did you say to him?” The curé pressed his arm.
“Nothing that I can remember.”
“Think! Think! Try to remember, for Heaven’s sake!”
“No, really!” stammered Amédée, terrified; “I don’t think I said anything
to him.”
“What did you let out?”
“No, nothing, I assure you. But you do well to warn me.”
“What hotel did he take you to?”
“I’m not in a hotel. I’m in private lodgings.”
“God save us! But you must be somewhere.”
“Oh, I’m in a little street which you certainly don’t know,” stuttered
Fleurissoire, in great confusion. “It’s of no consequence. I won’t stay on
there.”
“Be very careful! If you leave suddenly, it’ll look as if you suspected
something.”
“Yes, perhaps it will. You’re right. I had better not leave at once.”
“How I thank a merciful Heaven that you arrived in Rome to-day! One
day later and I should have missed you! To-morrow—no later than to-
morrow—I’m obliged to leave for Naples in order to see a saintly and
important personage, who is secretly devoting himself to the cause.”
“Could it be the Cardinal San-Felice?” asked Fleurissoire, trembling
with emotion.
The curé took a step or two back in amazement:
“How did you know?” Then drawing nearer: “But why should I be
astonished? He is the only person in Naples who is in the secret.”
“Do you ... know him?”
“Do I know him? Alas! my dear sir, it is to him I owe.... But no matter!
Were you thinking of going to see him?”
“I suppose so; if I must.”
“He is the best of men....” With a rapid whisk of his hand, he wiped the
corner of his eye. “You know where to find him, of course?”
“I suppose anyone could tell me. Everyone knows him in Naples.”
“Naturally! But I don’t suppose you are going to inform all Naples of
your visit. Surely, you can’t have been told of his participation in ... you
know what, and perhaps entrusted with some message for him, without
having been instructed at the same time how to gain access to him.”
“Pardon me,” said Fleurissoire timidly, for Arnica had given him no such
instructions.
“What! were you meaning to go and see him straight off—in the
archbishop’s palace, perhaps!—and speak to him point-blank?”
“I confess that....”
“But are you aware, sir,” went on the other severely, “are you aware that
you run the risk of getting him imprisoned too?”
He seemed so deeply vexed that Fleurissoire did not dare to speak.
“So sacred a cause confided to such imprudent hands!” murmured
Protos, and he took the end of a rosary out of his pocket, then put it back
again, then crossed himself feverishly; then turning to his companion:
“Pray tell me, sir, who asked you to concern yourself with this matter.
Whose instructions are you obeying?”
“Forgive me, Monsieur l’abbé,” said Fleurissoire in some confusion, “I
was given no instructions by anyone. I am just a poor distraught soul
seeking on my own behalf.”
These humble words disarmed the curé; he held out his hand to
Fleurissoire:
“I spoke to you roughly.... But such dangers surround us.” Then, after a
short hesitation:
“Look here! Will you come with me to-morrow? We will go and see my
friend together....” and raising his eyes to Heaven: “Yes, I dare to call him
my friend,” he repeated in a heartfelt voice. “Let’s sit down for a minute on
this bench. I will write him a line which we will both sign, to give him
notice of our visit. If it is posted before six o’clock (eighteen o’clock, as
they say here), he will get it to-morrow morning in time for him to be ready
to receive us by twelve; we might even, I dare say, have lunch with him.”
They sat down. Protos took a note-book from his pocket, and under
Amédée’s haggard eyes began on a virgin sheet as follows:
“Dear old cock....”
Then, seeing the other’s stupefaction, he smiled very calmly:
“So, it’s the Cardinal you’d have addressed if you’d had your way?”
After that he became more amicable and consented to explain things to
Amédée: once a week the Cardinal San-Felice was in the habit of leaving
the archbishop’s palace in the dress of a simple abbé; he became plain
chaplain Bardolotti and made his way to a modest villa on the slopes of
Mount Vomero, where he received a few intimate friends, and the secret
letters which the initiated addressed him under his assumed name. But even
in this vulgar disguise, he could feel no security—he could not be sure that
his letters were not opened in the post, and begged therefore that nothing of
any significance should be said in any letter and that the tone of a letter
should in no way suggest his Eminence, or have in it the slightest trace of
respect.
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