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TITLE: CAPTAIN FRACASSE
AUTHOR: THEOPHILE GAUTIER
EBOOK: E01595 (O'Briens Book Cellar)

Captain Fracasse by Theophile Gautier

CONTENTS

I.     Castle Misery
II.    The chariot of Thespis
III.   The Blue Sun Inn
IV.    An adventure with brigands
V.     At the Chateau de Bruyeres
VI.    A snow-storm and its consequences
VII.   Captain Fracasse
VIII.  The Duke of Vallombreuse
IX.    A melee and a duel
X.     A midnight adventure
XI.    The Pont-Neuf
XII.   The Crowned Radish
XIII.  A double attack
XIV.   Lampourde's delicacy
XV.    Malartic at work
XVI.   Vallombreuse
XVII.  The amethyst ring
XVIII. A family party
XIX.   Nettles and cobwebs
XX.    Chiquita's declaration of love
XXI.   "Hymen! Oh Hymen!"
XXII.  The castle of happiness

CAPTAIN FRACASSE

CHAPTER I. CASTLE MISERY

Upon the southern slope of one of those barren hills that rise
abruptly here and there in the desolate expanse of the Landes, in
South-western France, stood, in the reign of Louis XIII, a
gentleman's residence, such as abound in Gascony, and which the
country people dignify by the name of chateau.

Two tall towers, with extinguisher tops, mounted guard at the
angles of the mansion, and gave it rather a feudal air. The deep
grooves upon its facade betrayed the former existence of a
draw-bridge, rendered unnecessary now by the filling up of the
moat, while the towers were draped for more than half their
height with a most luxuriant growth of ivy, whose deep, rich
green contrasted happily with the ancient gray walls.

A traveller, seeing from afar the steep pointed roof and lofty
towers standing out against the sky, above the furze and heather
that crowned the hill-top, would have pronounced it a rather
imposing chateau--the residence probably of some provincial
magnate; but as he drew near would have quickly found reason to
change his opinion.  The road which led to it from the highway
was entirely  overgrown with moss and weeds, save a narrow
pathway in the centre, though two deep ruts, full of water, and
inhabited by a numerous family of frogs, bore mute witness to the
fact that carriages had once passed that way.

The roof, of dark red tiles, was disfigured by many large,
leprous-looking, yellow patches, while in some places the decayed
rafters had given way, leaving formidable gaps. The numerous
weather-cocks that surmounted the towers and chimneys were so
rusted that they could no longer budge an inch, and pointed
persistently in various directions. The high dormer windows were
partially closed by old wooden shutters, warped, split, and in
every stage of dilapidation; broken stones filled up the
loop-holes and openings in the towers; of the twelve large
windows in the front of the house, eight were boarded up; the
remaining four had small diamond-shaped panes of thick, greenish
glass, fitting so loosely in their leaden frames that they shook
and rattled at every breath of wind; between these windows a
great deal of the stucco had fallen off, leaving the rough wall
exposed to view.

Above the grand old entrance door, whose massive stone frame and
lintel retained traces of rich ornamentation, almost obliterated
by time and neglect, was sculptured a coat of arms, now so
defaced that the most accomplished adept in heraldry would not be
able to decipher it. Only one leaf of the great double door was
ever opened now, for not many guests were received or entertained
at the chateau in these days of its decadence. Swallows had built
their nests in every available nook about it, and but for a
slender thread of smoke rising spirally from a chimney at the
back of this dismal, half-ruined mansion, the traveller would
have surely believed it to be uninhabited. This was the only sign
of life visible about the whole place, like the little cloud upon
the mirror from the breath of a dying man, which alone gives
evidence that he still lives.

Upon pushing open the practicable leaf of the great worm-eaten
door, which yielded reluctantly, and creaked dolefully as it
turned upon its rusty hinges, the curious visitor entered a sort
of portico, more ancient than the rest of the building, with
fine, large columns of bluish granite, and a lofty vaulted roof.
At the point of intersection of the arches was a stone shield,
bearing the same coat of arms that was sculptured over the
entrance without. This one was in somewhat better preservation
than the other, and seemed to bear something resembling three
golden storks (cigognes) on an azure field; though it was so much
in shadow, and so faded and dingy, that it was impossible to make
it out clearly. Fastened to the wall, at a convenient height from
the ground, were great iron extinguishers, blackened by the smoke
from torches in long by-gone years, and also iron rings, to which
the guests' horses were made fast in the olden times, when the
castle was in its glory. The dust that lay thick upon them now
showed that it was long since they had been made use of.

From this portico--whence a door on either side opened into the
main building; one leading into a long suite of apartments on
the ground floor, and the other into what had probably been a
guard-room--the explorer passed into an interior court, dismal,
damp, and bare. In the corners nettles and various rank weeds
were growing riotously amid the great heaps of rubbish fallen
from the crumbling cornice high above, and grass had sprung up
everywhere in the crevices of the stone pavement. Opposite the
entrance a flight of dilapidated, shaky steps, with a heavy stone
balustrade, led down into a neglected garden, which was gradually
becoming a perfect thicket. Excepting in one small bed, where a
few cabbages were growing, there was no attempt at cultivation,
and nature had reasserted her rights everywhere else in this
abandoned spot, taking, apparently, a fierce delight in effacing
all traces of man's labour. The fruit trees threw out
irregular branches without fear of the pruning knife; the box,
intended to form a narrow border to the curiously shaped
flower-beds and grass-plots, had grown up unchecked into huge,
bushy shrubs, while a great variety of sturdy weeds had usurped
the places formerly devoted to choice plants and beautiful,
fragrant flowers. Brambles, bristling with sharp thorns, which
had thrown their long, straggling arms across the paths, caught
and tried to hold back any bold adventurer who attempted to
penetrate into the mysterious depths of this desolate wilderness.
Solitude is averse to being surprised in dishabille, and
surrounds herself with all sorts of defensive obstacles.

However, the courageous explorer who persisted in following the
ancient, overgrown alley, and was not to be daunted by formidable
briers that tore his hands and clothing, nor low-hanging, closely
interlaced branches that struck him smart blows in the face as he
forced his way through them, would have reached at last a sort of
rocky niche, fancifully arranged as a grotto. Besides the masses
of ivy, iris and gladiolus, that had been carefully planted long
ago in the interstices of the rock, it was draped with a
profusion of graceful wild vines and feathery ferns, which
half-veiled the marble statue, representing some mythological
divinity, that still stood in this lonely retreat. It must have
been intended for Flora or Pomona, but now there were tufts of
repulsive, venomous-looking mushrooms in the pretty, graceful,
little basket on her arm, instead of the sculptured fruit or
flowers that should have filled it. Although her nose was broken,
and her fair body disfigured by many dark stains, and overgrown
in part with clinging mosses, it could still plainly be seen that
she had once been very lovely. At her feet was a marble basin,
shaped like a shell, half full of discoloured, stagnant water;
the lion's head just above it, now almost entirely concealed by a
thick curtain of leaves, no longer poured forth the sparkling
stream that used to fall into it with a musical murmur. This
little grotto, with its fountain and statue, bore witness to
former wealth; and also to the aesthetic taste of some long-dead
owner of the domain. The marble goddess was in the Florentine
style of the Renaissance, and probably the work of one of those
Italian sculptors who followed in the train of del Rosso or
Primaticcio, when they came to France at the bidding of that
generous patron of the arts, Francis I; which time was also,
apparently, the epoch of the greatest prosperity of this noble
family, now so utterly fallen into decay.

Behind the grotto rose a high wall, built of stone, crumbling and
mouldy now, but still bearing some broken remains of
trellis-work, evidently intended to be covered with creepers that
would entirely conceal the wall itself with a rich tapestry of
verdure. This was the limit of the garden; beyond stretched the
wide expanse of the sandy, barren Landes, flecked here and there
with patches of scanty heather, and scattered groves of pine
trees.

Turning back towards the chateau it became apparent that this
side of it was even more neglected and ruinous than the one we
have already described; the recent poverty-stricken owners having
tried to keep up appearances as far as possible, and concentrated
their efforts upon the front of their dilapidated abode. In the
stable, where were stalls for twenty horses, a miserable, old,
white pony stood at an empty manger, nibbling disconsolately at a
scanty truss of hay, and frequently turning his sunken,
lack-lustre eyes expectantly towards the door. In front of an
extensive kennel, where the lord of the manor used to keep a
whole pack of hounds, a single dog, pathetically thin, lay
sleeping tranquilly and soundly, apparently so accustomed to the
unbroken solitude of the place that he had abandoned all habits
of watchfulness.

Entering the chateau the visitor found himself in a broad and
lofty hall, containing a grand old staircase, with a richly
carved, wooden balustrade--a good deal broken and defaced now,
like everything else in this doleful Castle Misery. The walls had
been elaborately frescoed, representing colossal figures of
Hercules supporting brackets upon which rested the heavily
ornamented cornice. Springing from it fantastic vines climbed
upward on the arched ceiling, and above them the blue sky, faded
and dingy, was grotesquely variegated with dark spots, caused by

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