Author: Honoré de Balzac

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-01-16

Total Pages: 894

ISBN-13: 9780483188112

Excerpt from The Works of Honore De Balzac, Vol. 15: The Deputy of Arcis; An Historical Mystery; Episode Under the Terror Before beginning to describe an election in the provinces, it is proper to state that the town of Arcis sur-aube was not the theatre of the events here related. The arrondissement Of Arcis votes at bar-sur-aube, which is forty miles from Arcis; consequently there is no deputy from Arcis in the Chamber. Discretion, required in a history of contemporaneous manners and morals, dictates this precautionary word. It is rather an ingenious contrivance to make the description of one town the frame for events which happened in another; and several times already in the course of the Comedy of Human Life, this means has been employed in Spite Of its disadvantages, which consist chiefly in making the frame of as much impor tance as the canvas. Toward the end of the month Of April, 1839, about ten O'clock in the morning, the salon of Madame Marion, widow Of a former receiver-general Of the department Of the Aube, presented a singular appearance. All the furniture had been removed except the curtains to the windows, the ornaments on the fireplace, the chan delier, and the tea-table. An Aubusson carpet, taken up two weeks before the usual time, Obstructed the steps of the portico, and the floor had been violently rubbed and polished, though without increasing its usual brightness. All this was a Species of domestic premonition concerning the result Of the elections which were about to take place over the whole surface Of France. Often things are as spiritually intelligent as men, an argument in favor of the Occult Sciences. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.