第23章 FLORINE(4)

But even these mechanical operations are nothing in comparison with the intrigues to be carried on,the pains of wounded vanity to be endured,--preferences shown by authors,parts taken away or given to others,exactions of the male actors,spite of rivals,naggings of the stage manager,struggles with journalists;all of which require another twelve hours to the day.But even so far,nothing has been said of the art of acting,the expression of passion,the practice of positions and gesture,the minute care and watchfulness required on the stage,where a thousand opera-glasses are ready to detect a flaw,--labors which consumed the life and thought of Talma,Lekain,Baron,Contat,Clairon,Champmesle.In these infernal "coulisses"self-love has no sex;the artist who triumphs,be it man or woman,has all the other men and women against him or her.Then,as to money,however many engagements Florine may have,her salary does not cover the costs of her stage toilet,which,in addition to its costumes,requires an immense variety of long gloves,shoes,and frippery;and all this exclusive of her personal clothing.The first third of such a life is spent in struggling and imploring;the next third,in getting a foothold;the last third,in defending it.If happiness is frantically grasped,it is because it is so rare,so long desired,and found at last only amid the odious fictitious pleasures and smiles of such a life.

As for Florine,Raoul's power in the press was like a protecting sceptre;he spared her many cares and anxieties;she clung to him less as a lover than a prop;she took care of him like a father,she deceived him like a husband;but she would readily have sacrificed all she had to him.Raoul could,and did do everything for her vanity as an actress,for the peace of her self-love,and for her future on the stage.Without the intervention of a successful author,there is no successful actress;Champmesle was due to Racine,like Mars to Monvel and Andrieux.Florine could do nothing in return for Raoul,though she would gladly have been useful and necessary to him.She reckoned on the charms of habit to keep him by her;she was always ready to open her salons and display the luxury of her dinners and suppers for his friends,and to further his projects.She desired to be for him what Madame de Pompadour was to Louis XV.All actresses envied Florine's position,and some journalists envied that of Raoul.

Those to whom the inclination of the human mind towards chance,opposition,and contrasts is known,will readily understand that after ten years of this lawless Bohemian life,full of ups and downs,of fetes and sheriffs,of orgies and forced sobrieties,Raoul was attracted to the idea of another love,--to the gentle,harmonious house and presence of a great lady,just as the Comtesse Felix instinctively desired to introduce the torture of great emotions into a life made monotonous by happiness.This law of life is the law of all arts,which exist only by contrasts.A work done without this incentive is the loftiest expression of genius,just as the cloister is the highest expression of the Christian life.

On returning to his lodging from Lady Dudley's ball,Raoul found a note from Florine,brought by her maid,which an invincible sleepiness prevented him from reading at that moment.He fell asleep,dreaming of a gentle love that his life had so far lacked.Some hours later he opened the note,and found in it important news,which neither Rastignac nor de Marsay had allowed to transpire.The indiscretion of a member of the government had revealed to the actress the coming dissolution of the Chamber after the present session.Raoul instantly went to Florine's house and sent for Blondet.In the actress's boudoir,with their feet on the fender,Emile and Raoul analyzed the political situation of France in 1834.On which side lay the best chance of fortune?They reviewed all parties and all shades of party,--pure republicans,presiding republicans,republicans without a republic,constitutionals without a dynasty,ministerial conservatives,ministerial absolutists;also the Right,the aristocratic Right,the legitimist,henriquinquist Right,and the carlest Right.Between the party of resistance and that of action there was no discussion;they might as well have hesitated between life and death.

At this period a flock of newspapers,created to represent all shades of opinion,produced a fearful pell-mell of political principles.

Blondet,the most judicious mind of the day,--judicious for others,never for himself,like some great lawyers unable to manage their own affairs,--was magnificent in such a discussion.The upshot was that he advised Nathan not to apostatize too suddenly.

"Napoleon said it;you can't make young republics of old monarchies.

Therefore,my dear fellow,become the hero,the support,the creator of the Left Centre in the new Chamber,and you'll succeed.Once admitted into political ranks,once in the government,you can be what you like,--of any opinion that triumphs."Nathan was bent on creating a daily political journal and becoming the absolute master of an enterprise which should absorb into it the countless little papers then swarming from the press,and establish ramifications with a review.He had seen so many fortunes made all around him by the press that he would not listen to Blondet,who warned him not to trust to such a venture,declaring that the plan was unsound,so great was the present number of newspapers,all fighting for subscribers.Raoul,relying on his so-called friends and his own courage,was all for daring it;he sprang up eagerly and said,with a proud gesture,--"I shall succeed."

"But you haven't a sou."

"I will write a play."

"It will fail."

"Let it fail!"replied Nathan.