A Start in Life | Page 9

her home. She received all Paris; she went into
the country; she returned from it precisely as though she were still a
widow. He took care of her fortune and supplied her luxury as a
steward might have done. The countess had the utmost respect for her
husband. She even admired his turn of mind; she knew how to make
him happy by approbation; she could do what she pleased with him by
simply going to his study and talking for an hour with him. Like the
great seigneurs of the olden time, the count protected his wife so
loyally that a single word of disrespect said of her would have been to
him an unpardonable injury. The world admired him for this; and
Madame de Serizy owed much to it. Any other woman, even though
she came of a family as distinguished as the Ronquerolles, might have
found herself degraded in public opinion. The countess was ungrateful,
but she mingled a charm with her ingratitude. From time to time she
shed a balm upon the wounds of her husband's heart.
Let us now explain the meaning of this sudden journey, and the
incognito maintained by a minister of State.

A rich farmer of Beaumont-sur-Oise, named Leger, leased and
cultivated a farm, the fields of which projected into and greatly injured
the magnificent estate of the Comte de Serizy, called Presles. This farm
belonged to a burgher of Beaumont-sur-Oise, named Margueron. The
lease made to Leger in 1799, at a time when the great advance of
agriculture was not foreseen, was about to expire, and the owner of the
farm refused all offers from Leger to renew the lease. For some time
past, Monsieur de Serizy, wishing to rid himself of the annoyances and
petty disputes caused by the inclosure of these fields within his land,
had desired to buy the farm, having heard that Monsieur Margueron's
chief ambition was to have his only son, then a mere tax-gatherer, made
special collector of finances at Beaumont. The farmer, who knew he
could sell the fields piecemeal to the count at a high price, was ready to
pay Margueron even more than he expected from the count.
Thus matters stood when, two days earlier than that of which we write,
Monsieur de Serizy, anxious to end the matter, sent for his notary,
Alexandre Crottat, and his lawyer, Derville, to examine into all the
circumstances of the affair. Though Derville and Crottat threw some
doubt on the zeal of the count's steward (a disturbing letter from whom
had led to the consultation), Monsieur de Serizy defended Moreau, who,
he said, had served him faithfully for seventeen years.
"Very well!" said Derville, "then I advise your Excellency to go to
Presles yourself, and invite this Margueron to dinner. Crottat will send
his head-clerk with a deed of sale drawn up, leaving only the necessary
lines for description of property and titles in blank. Your Excellency
should take with you part of the purchase money in a check on the
Bank of France, not forgetting the appointment of the son to the
collectorship. If you don't settle the thing at once that farm will slip
through your fingers. You don't know, Monsieur le comte, the trickery
of these peasants. Peasants against diplomat, and the diplomat
succumbs."
Crottat agreed in this advice, which the count, if we may judge by the
valet's statements to Pierrotin, had adopted. The preceding evening he
had sent Moreau a line by the diligence to Beaumont, telling him to

invite Margueron to dinner in order that they might then and there close
the purchase of the farm of Moulineaux.
Before this matter came up, the count had already ordered the chateau
of Presles to be restored and refurnished, and for the last year, Grindot,
an architect then in fashion, was in the habit of making a weekly visit.
So, while concluding his purchase of the farm, Monsieur de Serizy also
intended to examine the work of restoration and the effect of the new
furniture. He intended all this to be a surprise to his wife when he
brought her to Presles, and with this idea in his mind, he had put some
personal pride and self-love into the work. How came it therefore that
the count, who intended in the evening to drive to Presles openly in his
own carriage, should be starting early the next morning incognito in
Pierrotin's coucou?
Here a few words on the life of the steward Moreau become
indispensable.
Moreau, steward of the state of Presles, was the son of a provincial
attorney who became during the Revolution syndic-attorney at
Versailles. In that position, Moreau the father had been the means of
almost saving both the lives and property of the Serizys, father and son.
Citizen Moreau