Part 9

Formal proof of Lucien’s inability to pay was obtained in the following manner:

On the 5th of May, Métivier’s process-server gave Lucien notice of the protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to appear before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to hear a vast number of things: this, among others, that he was liable to imprisonment as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed and hunted down on all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of judgment against him by default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of the whole matter, imagined that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, and handed him all the documents together--too late. An actress sees so much of bailiffs, duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks on all stamped paper as a farce.

Tears filled Lucien’s eyes; he was unhappy on Séchard’s account, he was ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the clutches of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard which leaves its reflection on the porter’s countenance, and exercises a most astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the heart of the smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins of a poet susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken rags, dyed woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled furniture.

When the broker’s men came for Coralie’s furniture, the author of the Marguerites fled to a friend of Bixiou’s, one Desroches, a barrister, who burst out laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about nothing at all.

“That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?”

“Yes, as much possible.”

“Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is a solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known enough. If they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, that will be my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy the fair Coralie about his business.”

On the 28th of May, Lucien’s case came on in the civil court, and judgment was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien’s creditor was pushing on the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, and again Coralie’s pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches felt rather foolish; a colleague had “caught him napping,” to use his own expression. He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture belonged to Mlle. Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded an order for inquiry. Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the registrar for inquiry, the furniture was proved to belong to the actress, and judgment was entered accordingly. Métivier appealed, and judgment was confirmed on appeal on the 30th of June.

On the 7th of August, Maître Cachan received by the coach a bulky package endorsed, “Métivier versus Séchard and Lucien Chardon.”

The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy guaranteed) is here given for the reader’s benefit:--

To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by Séchard, junior, to order of Lucien de Rubempré, together with expenses of fr. c. protest and return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 May 5th--Serving notice of protest and summons to appear before the Tribunal of Commerce in Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 “ 7th--Judgment by default and warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 -- “ 10th--Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 “ 12th--Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 “ 14th--Inventory and appraisement previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 -- “ 18th--Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 “ 19th--Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- “ 24th--Verification of inventory, and application for stay of execution on the part of the said Lucien de Rubempré, objecting to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 -- “ 27th--Order of the Court upon application duly repeated, and transfer of of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 -- ___ ___ Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45

fr. c. Brought forward 1177 45 May 28th--Notice of summary proceedings in the Civil Court at the instance of Métivier, represented by counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 June 2nd--Judgment, after hearing both parties, condemning Lucien for expenses of protest and return; the plaintiff to bear costs of proceedings in the Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 -- “ 6th--Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 --

“ 15th--Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 “ 19th--Inventory and appraisement preparatory to execution; interpleader summons by the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods and chattels taken in execution; demand for immediate special inquiry before further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 -- “ “ --Judge’s order referring matter to registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 -- “ “ --Judgment in favor of the said Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 -- “ 20th--Appeal by Métivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -- “ 30th--Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 -- ___ __ Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 _________

Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 ___ ___ Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20

Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 ___ __ Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 _________

This document was accompanied by a letter from Métivier, instructing Maître Cachan, notary of Angoulême, to prosecute David Séchard with the utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maître Victor-Ange-Herménégilde Doublon summoned David Séchard before the Tribunal of Commerce in Angoulême for the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs eighty-five centimes, the amount of the three bills and expenses already incurred. On the morning of the very day when Doublon served the writ upon Eve, requiring her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, there came a letter like a thunderbolt from Métivier:--

To Monsieur Séchard, Junior, Printer, Angoulême.

“SIR,--Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills and the expenses to which I have been put.--Yours, etc., “METIVIER.”

Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her ignorance of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for his sins by meeting the forged bills.

“Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear,” she said; “tell him about it, and ask his advice.”

David hurried to his schoolfellow’s office.

“When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your services, I did not think that I should need them so soon,” he said.

Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in the office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, for he knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw Séchard’s anxiety, he said to himself, “The trick has succeeded.”

This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney’s office. “Why are the Cointets persecuting him?” Petit-Claud wondered within himself, for the attorney can use his wit to read his clients’ thoughts as clearly as the ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see both sides of the judicial web.

“You want to gain time,” he said at last, when Séchard had come to an end. “How long do you want? Something like three or four months?”

“Oh! four months! that would be my salvation,” exclaimed David. Petit-Claud appeared to him as an angel.

“Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no one shall arrest you for four months----But it will cost you a great deal,” said Petit-Claud.

“Eh! what does that matter to me?” cried Séchard.