La Grande Breteche | Page 5

Vendome.'
" 'I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,' I exclaimed. 'But I am not in a
position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.'
" 'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence.
'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you sometimes go
to walk in the garden of la Grande Breteche.'
" 'Yes, monsieur.'
" 'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a
misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late
Comtesse de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the
practice. One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a
crime of it. And besides, you are free to be ignorant of the
circumstances which compel me to leave the finest mansion in
Vendome to fall into ruin. Nevertheless, monsieur, you must be a man
of education, and you should know that the laws forbid, under heavy
penalties, any trespass on enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a
wall. But, the state in which the place is left may be an excuse for your
curiosity. For my part, I should be quite content to make you free to
come and go in the house; but being bound to respect the will of the
testatrix, I have the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go into the
garden no more. I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never
set foot in the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, is part
of the estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing there
but verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have
to pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late

Madame de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion
in the town.'
"The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility,
perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret's
estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, his
glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my beautiful
reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on official
authority.
" 'Monsieur,' said I, 'would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the
reasons for such eccentricity?'
"At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which
men feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer's
countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took out
his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, he
took a large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not
know all the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium
between a passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the
whole bearing of Sterne's charming passion, and had a perfect idea of
the delight with which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode
his hobby-horse.
" 'Monsieur,' said Monsieur Regnault, 'I was head-clerk in Monsieur
Roguin's office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have heard
mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.--Not
having money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to
which they were run up in 1816, I came here and bought my
predecessor's business. I had relations in Vendome; among others, a
wealthy aunt, who allowed me to marry her daughter.--Monsieur,' he
went on after a little pause, 'three months after being licensed by the
Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I was going to bed--it was before
my marriage--I was sent for by Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to her
Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who is now a servant in this
inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess' own carriage. Ah! one
moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte de Merret had
gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came to a
miserable end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You
understand?
" 'On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand

Breteche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had
burnt all the furniture, the hangings--in short, all the chattels and
furniture whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said
M.--(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was
dictating a lease.)--In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow at
Merret. Have you been to Merret, monsieur?--No,' said he, answering
himself, 'Ah, it is a very fine place.'
" 'For about three months previously,' he went on,