Pichon & Sons, of the Croix Rousse Page #2

"Pichon & Sons, of the Croix Rousse" is a novel by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu that delves into themes of family dynamics, betrayal, and the complexities of human relationships. Set against the backdrop of the Croix Rousse district in Lyon, France, the story follows the Pichon family, who run a successful business but grapple with internal strife and external pressures. Le Fanu's narrative explores the moral dilemmas faced by the characters, illuminating their struggles and aspirations while weaving a tale rich in psychological depth and social commentary. The book highlights the intricate interplay of personal and professional lives, ultimately revealing the fragility of trust and the enduring impact of choices made.

• Horror

								

to reach Marseilles, whence he should be transported to Spain--in which
country the illustrious emigrant was then residing--by a certain named
date. His uncle's communication arrived safely, and the plan proposed
seemed a secure and eligible one. Only in two respects was it calculated
to make Paul de Sénanges thoughtful. The first was, that his uncle
should take any interest in the matter of his safety; the second, what
could be the nature of a certain deposit which the Marquis's letter
directed him to procure, if possible, from the Château de Sénanges. The
fact of this injunction explained, in some measure, the first of the two
difficulties. It was plain that whatever were the contents of this
packet which he was to seek for, according to the indications marked on
a ground-plan drawn by his uncle and enclosed in the letter, the Marquis
wanted them, and could not procure them except by the agency of his
nephew. That the Marquis should venture to direct Paul de Sénanges to
put himself in communication with Prosper Alix, would have been
surprising to any one acquainted only with the external and generally
understood features of the character of the new proprietor of the
Château de Sénanges. But a few people knew Prosper Alix thoroughly, and
the Marquis was one of the number; he was keen enough to know in theory
that, in the case of a man with only one weakness, that is likely to be
a very weak weakness indeed, and to apply the theory to the avocat.
The beautiful, pious, and aristocratic mother of Paul de Sénanges--a
lady to whose superiority the Marquis had rendered the distinguished
testimony of his dislike, not hesitating to avow that she was "much too
good for his taste"--had been very fond of, and very kind to, the
motherless daughter of Prosper Alix, and he held her memory in reverence
which he accorded to nothing beside, human or divine, and taught his
daughter the matchless worth of the friend she had lost. The Marquis
knew this, and though he had little sympathy with the sentiment, he
believed he might use it in the present instance to his own profit, with
safety. The event proved that he was right. Private negotiations, with
the manner of whose transaction we are not concerned, passed between the
avocat and the ci-devant Marquis; and the young man, then leading a
life in which skulking had a large share, in the vicinity of Dijon, was
instructed to present himself at the Maison Alix, under the designation
of Henri Glaire, and in the character of an artist in house-decoration.
The circumstances of his life in childhood and boyhood had led to his
being almost safe from recognition as a man at Lyons; and, indeed, all
the people on the ci-devant visiting-list of the château had been
pretty nearly killed off, in the noble and patriotic ardor of the
revolutionary times.

The ancient Château de Sénanges was proudly placed near the summit of
the "Holy Hill," and had suffered terrible depredations when the church
at Fourvières was sacked, and the shrine desecrated with that ingenious
impiety which is characteristic of the French; but it still retained
somewhat of its former heavy grandeur. The château was much too large
for the needs, tastes, or ambition of its present owner, who was too
wise, if even he had been of an ostentatious disposition, not to have
sedulously resisted its promptings. The jealousy of the nation of
brothers was easily excited, and departure from simplicity and frugality
was apt to be commented upon by domiciliary visits, and the eager
imposition of fanciful fines. That portion of the vast building occupied
by Prosper Alix and the citoyenne Berthe, his daughter, presented an
appearance of well-to-do comfort and modest ease, which contrasted with
the grandiose proportions and the elaborate decorations of the wide
corridors, huge flat staircases, and lofty panelled apartments. The
avocat and his daughter lived quietly in the old place, hoping, after
a general fashion, for better times, but not finding the present very
bad; the father becoming day by day more pleasant with his bargain, the
daughter growing fonder of the great house, and the noble bocages, of
the scrappy little vineyards, struggling for existence on the sunny
hill-side, and the place where the famous shrine had been. They had
done it much damage; they had parted its riches among them; the once
ever-open doors were shut, and the worn flags were untrodden; but
nothing could degrade it, nothing could destroy what had been, in the
mind of Berthe Alix, who was as devout as her father was unconcernedly
unbelieving. Berthe was wonderfully well educated for a Frenchwoman of
that period, and surprisingly handsome for a Frenchwoman of any. Not too
tall to offend the taste of her compatriots, and not too short to be
dignified and graceful, she had a symmetrical figure, and a small,
well-poised head, whose profuse, shining, silken dark-brown hair she
wore as nature intended, in a shower of curls, never touched by the hand
of the coiffeur,--curls which clustered over her brow, and fell far down
on her shapely neck. Her features were fine; the eyes very dark, and the
mouth very red; the complexion clear and rather pale, and the style of
the face and its expression lofty. When Berthe Alix was a child, people
were accustomed to say she was pretty and refined enough to belong to
the aristocracy; nobody would have dared to say so now, prettiness and
refinement, together with all the other virtues admitted to a place on
the patriotic roll, having become national property.

Berthe loved her father dearly. She was deeply impressed with the sense
of her supreme importance to him, and fully comprehended that he would
be influenced by and through her when all other persuasion or argument
would be unavailing. When Prosper Alix wished and intended to do
anything rather mean or selfish, he did it without letting Berthe know;
and when he wished to leave undone something which he knew his daughter
would decide ought to be done, he carefully concealed from her the
existence of the dilemma. Nevertheless, this system did not prevent the
father and daughter being very good and even confidential friends.
Prosper Alix loved his daughter immeasurably, and respected her more
than he respected any one in the world. With regard to her persevering
religiousness, when such things were not only out of fashion and date,
but illegal as well, he was very tolerant. Of course it was weak, and an
absurdity; but every woman, even his beautiful, incomparable Berthe, was
weak and absurd on some point or other; and, after all, he had come to
the conclusion that the safest weakness with which a woman can be
afflicted is that romantic and ridiculous faiblesse called piety. So
these two lived a happy life together, Berthe's share of it being very
secluded, and were wonderfully little troubled by the turbulence with
which society was making its tumultuous way to the virtuous serenity of
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