The Collection of Antiquities by Honoré de Balzac (important of reading books TXT) 📕

/> "As for Mlle. d'Esgrignon," said Emile Blondet, to whom all the detail of the story is due, "if she is no longer like the divinely fair woman whom I saw by glimpses in my childhood, she is decidedly, at the age of sixty-seven, the most pathetic and interesting figure in the Collection of Antiquities. She queens it among them still. I saw her when I made my last journey to my native place in search of the necessary papers for my marriage. When my father knew who it was that I had married, he was struck dumb with amazement; he had not a word to say until I told him that I was a prefect.

"'You were born to it,' he said, with a smile.

"As I took a walk around the town, I met Mlle. Armande. She looked taller than ever. I looked at her, and thought of Marius among the ruins of Carthage. Had she not outlived her creed, and the beliefs that had been destroyed? She is a sad and silent woman, with nothing of her old beauty left except the eyes, that shine with an unearthly light. I watched her on her way to mass, with her book in her hand, and could not help thinking that she prayed to God to take her out of the world."

LES JARDIES, July 1837.


ADDENDUM

The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.

Note: The Old Maid is a companion piece to The Collection of Antiquities. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of The Jealousies of a Country Town.

Blondet (Judge)
Beatrix

Blondet, Emile
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Modeste Mignon
Another Study of Woman
The Secrets of a Princess
A Daughter of Eve
The Firm of Nucingen
The Peasantry

Blondet, Virginie
The Secrets of a Princess
The Peasantry
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Another Study of Woman
The Member for Arcis
A Daughter of Eve

Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier)
The Old Maid
The Middle Classes

Bousquier, Madame du (or du Croisier)
The Old Maid

Camusot de Marville
Cousin Pons
The Commission in Lunacy
Scenes from a Cuortesan's Life

Camusot de Marville, Madame
The Vendetta
Cesar Birotteau
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Cousin Pons

Cardot (Parisian notary)
The Muse of the Department
A Man of Business
Pierre Grassou
The Middle Classes
Cousin Pons

Casteran, De
The Chouans
The Seamy Side of History
The Old Maid
Beatrix
The Peasantry

Chesnel (or Choisnel)
The Seamy Side of History
The Old Maid

Coudrai, Du
The Old Maid

Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d' (or Des Grignons)
The Chouans
The Old Maid

Esgrignon, Victurnien, Comte (then Marquis d')
Letters of Two Brides
A Man of Business
The Secrets of a Princess
Cousin Betty

Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d'
The Old Maid

Herouville, Duc d'
The Hated Son
Modeste Mignon
Cousin Betty

Lenoncourt, Duc de
The Lily of the Valley
Cesar Birotteau
The Old Maid
The Gondreville Mystery
Beatrix

Leroi, Pierre
The Chouans
The Seamy Side of History

Marsay, Henri de
The Thirteen
The Unconscious Humorists
Another Study of Woman
The Lily of the Valley
Father Goriot
Ursule Mirouet
A Marriage Settlement
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Letters of Two Brides
The Ball at Sceaux
Modest Mignon
The Secrets of a Princess
The Gondreville Mystery
A Daughter of Eve

Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de
The Secrets of a Princess
Modeste Mignon
The Muse of the Department
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
Letters of Two Brides
Another Study of Woman
The Gondreville Mystery
The Member for Arcis

Michu, Francois
The Gondreville Mystery
The Member for Arcis

Pamiers, Vidame de
The Thirteen

Ronceret, Du
The Old Maid
Beatrix

Ronceret, Madame du
The Old Maid

Ronceret, Fabien-Felicien du (or Duronceret)
Beatrix
Gaudissart II

Scherbelloff, Princesse (or Scherbellof or Sherbelloff)
The Peasantry

Thirion
The Vendetta
Cesar Birotteau

Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de
The Seamy Side of History
The Chouans
The Old Maid
The Peasantry

Valois, Chevalier de
The Chouans
The Old Maid

Verneuil, Duc de
The Chouans
The Old Maid

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Publication Date: 07-16-2010

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