The park of Boisguilbault was thrown open for the first time in its history to a party invited by the owner. The chalet too was thrown open, with the exception of the study, the door of which was securely fastened, thanks to Jappeloup.
The imposing melancholy of the château, the curious beauty of the furniture, the magnificence of the park, and the noticeable air of good breeding in the service, caused Monsieur Cardonnet some vexation. He had done his utmost at Gargilesse to exclude parvenu manners from his household, and amid the ruins of Châteaubrun, where he had felt that he was a personage of consequence, he had not been very ill at ease. But he seemed very small indeed amid the mixture of opulence and severe simplicity that characterized Boisguilbault. He tried, by liberal reflections, to prevent the marquis from thinking that he was dazzled by his old-fashioned splendor. Monsieur de Boisguilbault, who did not lack cunning beneath his awkwardness, and who had waited until that moment to put before him the most distasteful of his demands, answered him calmly and coincided with his opinions. Cardonnet expressed great surprise, for, in common with everybody else, he supposed that the marquis had retained all the pride of his caste and clung to the absurd principles of the Restoration. As he could not refrain from expressing his astonishment, Monsieur de Boisguilbault said to him gently:
"You do not know me, Monsieur Cardonnet; I am as much opposed to distinctions and privileges as yourself. I believe that all men are equal in rights and in worth, when they are honorable and virtuous."
At that moment, dinner was announced, and, as they were about to take their places, Master Jean Jappeloup, cleanly shaved and in his Sunday clothes, came out of the chalet, and playfully pushing Emile aside, took Gilberte's hand to lead her to the table.
"It is my right," he said; "you know I promised to be your witness and your best man, Emile."
Everybody welcomed the carpenter joyfully, except Monsieur Cardonnet, who dared not however display less liberality under the circumstances than the old marquis; so he contented himself with a satirical smile as he saw him take his place at the family banquet. He submitted to everything, promising himself that he would change his tone when the marriage was consummated.
The dinner, served under the old trees in the park, was magnificent with flowers and exquisite in respect to the dishes; and old Martin, whom his master had forewarned early in the morning, surpassed himself in superintending the service. Sylvain Charasson was admitted to the honor of working under his orders that day, and he will talk about it all his life.
The first moments were rather constrained. But little by little the faction of the contented and happy triumphed over that of the discontented,—which consisted of Monsieur Cardonnet alone and he was half reconciled,—the table became more animated, and at dessert Monsieur Cardonnet said to Emile, with a smile: "We marquises——"
Shall we speak of the happiness of Emile and Gilberte? Happiness cannot be described, and even lovers themselves lack words with which to depict it. When it was night, Monsieur and Madame de Cardonnet took their leave, graciously authorizing Emile to escort his fiancée to Châteaubrun, on condition that he should keep his father's cabriolet, and not ride again that day. Monsieur Antoine, absorbed in a joyful conversation with his friend Jean, wandered about the park, and Janille, beginning to tire of playing the lady, satisfied her craving for action by assisting Martin to put everything in order. Thereupon, Monsieur de Boisguilbault took Emile's arm and Gilberte's and led them to the cliff where he had first opened his heart to his young friend.
"My children," he said to them, "I have made you rich, because it was necessary to do it in order to overcome the obstacles that separated you, and because it was the only means of making you happy. My will was made a long while ago, but last night I rewrote it. My purpose remains what it was: I believe that Emile knows it and that Gilberte will respect it. I have determined that, in the future, this great estate shall be used to found a commune, and in my first will I tried to provide a plan for it, and to lay its foundations. But the plan might well be defective and the foundations unsubstantial; I do not regret my work, because I have always felt that it was weak and that I am of all men on earth the man least capable of planning and carrying out. Providence came to my aid by sending Emile to me to take my place in realizing my plans, and I had recently made him my sole trustee and the executor of my will. But such a disposition of my property would have made it impossible to obtain Monsieur Cardonnet's consent, and I destroyed it when I determined that you two should marry. Official documents have not the value commonly attributed to them, and the law has never found the means of fettering the conscience. That is why I am much more tranquil in my mind when I simply tell you what I wish and receive your promise, than I should be if I bound you by chains so fragile as those of the provisions of a will. Do not answer, my children! I know your thoughts, I know your hearts. You have been subjected to the harshest of all tests, that of abandoning the idea of being united or of abjuring your opinions; you have come out of it triumphantly; I rely absolutely upon you and I leave the future in your hands. It is your intention to put your opinions in practice, Emile, and I furnish you with the instruments; but that does not mean that you have the ability as yet. For that you need knowledge of social science, and that is the result of long-continued labor to which you will apply yourself with the aid of the forces which your generation, not mine, will develop more or less successfully, as God wills. It may be that you will not see my plans come to maturity, my children; perhaps your children will; but, in bequeathing you my wealth, I bequeath you my heart and my faith. You will bequeath it to others, if you have to pass through a phase in the existence of mankind which makes it impracticable for you to found the establishment advantageously. But Emile once said something that impressed me. One day when I asked him what he would do with an estate like mine, he answered: 'I would try!' Let him try then, and, after careful reflection, after a careful study of reality, may he who has always dreamed of the salvation of mankind in the organization and development of agricultural science, find the means of transition which will prevent a deplorable break in the chain between the past and the future!