LES MISERABLES (Illustrated Edition). Victor Hugo

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CHAPTER IX—THE BROTHER AS DEPICTED BY THE SISTER

      In order to furnish an idea of the private establishment of the Bishop of D——, and of the manner in which those two sainted women subordinated their actions, their thoughts, their feminine instincts even, which are easily alarmed, to the habits and purposes of the Bishop, without his even taking the trouble of speaking in order to explain them, we cannot do better than transcribe in this place a letter from Mademoiselle Baptistine to Madame the Vicomtess de Boischevron, the friend of her childhood. This letter is in our possession.

      D——, Dec. 16, 18—.

       MY GOOD MADAM: Not a day passes without our speaking of you. It is our

       established custom; but there is another reason besides. Just imagine,

       while washing and dusting the ceilings and walls, Madam Magloire has

       made some discoveries; now our two chambers hung with antique paper

       whitewashed over, would not discredit a chateau in the style of yours.

       Madam Magloire has pulled off all the paper. There were things beneath.

       My drawing-room, which contains no furniture, and which we use for

       spreading out the linen after washing, is fifteen feet in height,

       eighteen square, with a ceiling which was formerly painted and gilded,

       and with beams, as in yours. This was covered with a cloth while this

       was the hospital. And the woodwork was of the era of our grandmothers.

       But my room is the one you ought to see. Madam Magloire has discovered,

       under at least ten thicknesses of paper pasted on top, some paintings,

       which without being good are very tolerable. The subject is Telemachus

       being knighted by Minerva in some gardens, the name of which escapes

       me. In short, where the Roman ladies repaired on one single night. What

       shall I say to you? I have Romans, and Roman ladies [here occurs an

       illegible word], and the whole train. Madam Magloire has cleaned it all

       off; this summer she is going to have some small injuries repaired, and

       the whole revarnished, and my chamber will be a regular museum. She has

       also found in a corner of the attic two wooden pier-tables of ancient

       fashion. They asked us two crowns of six francs each to regild them, but

       it is much better to give the money to the poor; and they are very ugly

       besides, and I should much prefer a round table of mahogany.