With Zola in England | Page 5

was concerned) were those of two English newspapers, but even they
were inaccurate in several matters of detail. For instance, the lady
currently spoken of as Mme. Zola was my own wife, who, it so
happens, is a Frenchwoman. At a later stage the 'Daily Mail' hit the nail
on the head by signalling M. Zola's presence at the Oatlands Park Hotel;
but so many reports having already proved erroneous, the 'Mail' was by
no means certain of the accuracy of its information, and the dubitative
form in which its statement was couched prevented the matter from
going further.
At last a period of comparative quiet set in, and though gentlemen of
the Press were still anxious to extract information from me, nothing
further appeared in print as to M. Zola's whereabouts until the 'Times'
Paris correspondent, M. de Blowitz, contributed to his paper, early in
the present year, a most detailed and amusing account of M. Zola's
flight from France and his subsequent movements in exile. In this
narrative one found Mme. Zola equipping her husband with a
nightgown for his perilous journey abroad, and secreting bank notes in
the lining of his garments. Then, carrying a slip of paper in his hand,
the novelist had been passed on through London from policeman to
policeman, until he took train to a village in Warwickshire, where the
little daughter of an innkeeper had recognised him from seeing his
portrait in one of the illustrated newspapers.
There was something also about his acquaintance with the vicar of the
locality and a variety of other particulars, all of which helped to make
up as pretty a romance as the 'Times' readers had been favoured with

for many a day. But excellent as was M. de Blowitz's narrative from the
romantic standpoint his information was sadly inaccurate. Of his bona
fides there can be no doubt, but some of M. Zola's friends are rather
partial to a little harmless joking, and it is evident that a trap was laid
for the shrewd correspondent of the 'Times,' and that he, in an
unguarded moment, fell into it.
On the incidents which immediately preceded M. Zola's departure from
France I shall here be brief; these incidents are only known to me by
statements I have had from M. and Mme. Zola themselves. But the rest
is well within my personal knowledge, as one of the first things which
M. Zola did on arriving in England was to communicate with me and in
certain respects place himself in my hands.
This, then, is a plain unvarnished narrative--firstly, of the steps that I
took in the matter, in conjunction with a friend, who is by profession a
solicitor; and, secondly, of the principal incidents which marked M.
Zola's views on some matters of interest, as imparted by him to me at
various times. But, ultimately, M. Zola will himself pen his own private
impressions, and on these I shall not trespass. It is because, according
to his own statements to me, his book on his English impressions
(should he write it) could not possibly appear for another twelve
months, that I have put these notes together.
The real circumstances, then, of M. Zola's departure from France are
these: On July 18, the day fixed for his second trial at Versailles, he left
Paris in a livery-stable brougham hired for the occasion at a cost of fifty
francs. His companion was his _fidus Achates_, M. Fernand Desmoulin,
the painter, who had already acted as his bodyguard at the time of the
great trial in Paris. Versailles was reached in due course, and the
judicial proceedings began under circumstances which have been
chronicled too often to need mention here. When M. Zola had retired
from the court, allowing judgment to go against him by default, he was
joined by Maitre Labori, his counsel, and the pair of them returned to
Paris in the vehicle which had brought M. Zola from the city in the
morning. M. Desmoulin found a seat in another carriage.
The brougham conveying Messrs. Zola and Labori was driven to the
residence of M. Georges Charpentier, the eminent publisher, in the
Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, and there they were presently joined by
M. Georges Clemenceau, Mme. Zola, and a few others. It was then that

the necessity of leaving France was pressed upon M. Zola, who, though
he found the proposal little to his liking, eventually signified his
acquiescence.
The points urged in favour of his departure abroad were as follows: He
must do his utmost to avoid personal service of the judgment given
against him by default, as the Government was anxious to cast him into
prison and thus stifle his voice. If such service were effected the law
would only allow him a few days