Jean Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 5, 1831
My dear M. Prouvaire,
What a pleasure it was to make your acquaintance last evening. I had begun to despair, in recent times, that young men of your age could be as sensible and sensitive as you are, but it seems that my dolorous worries were premature. You are a most witty young man.
Ah, but I write to you in vain, for surely you've a young lady hanging onto your arm every afternoon but last night, and you've no time for an ancient of the Ancien Regime, however charming he finds your blithe presence. If I but had the time to have my own salon, ah, this would be an invitation to it rather than a simple letter that you will tuck in among the adoring missives from whomever she is and forget until you are as old as I. When you find it again, perhaps you will have some vague memory of the hour we spent talking, and perhaps you will smile.
However, if I am mistaken and you are between beloveds and therefore have half a moment to spare, perhaps you would like to meet for dinner. I am terribly reluctant to have you call on me at home; my daughter would think you were paying court to her, and that would be horribly embarrassing for all concerned.
If you've a mistress, give her a kiss for me. If you haven't, write me a line to warm an old man's heart.
Sincerely,
M. Gillenormand
* * * * *
Monsieur Gillenormand
Rue des Filles de Calvaire, No. 6
May 7, 1831
My dear sir,
It was with great pleasure that I received your letter only a day after we had spoken, as I had admittedly spared many a thought to our conversation the previous night and had hoped to write to you first myself, had I not felt it too presumptuous of me to do so. It would pain me greatly to bring you any trouble and I am most blissfully relived that you found the company of one as young as myself stimulating rather than simply the silly chatter of a poetically minded boy.
You are too kind to offer your invitation and I am too eager to accept, I shan't deny that it would please me all the more to speak with you further on the topics which we discussed only two nights ago. It is so rare to find someone as well versed in the subject of Monsieur Chénier, who has always been a source of great inspiration to me since my discovery of his works.
You asked me if I had a mistress, I shall answer your question by telling you that my attentions are not presently demanded by anything more charming than the potted flowers in my windowsill and I hardly think that they should be troubled if I deigned spend an evening with you, perhaps next week? I await your answer.
Sincerely,
Jean-Cyriac Prouvaire
* * * * *
Jean-Cyriac Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 8, 1831
My dear young man,
If I had written with anything less than alacrity, I feel sure you would have forgotten our conversation, not from being a "poetically minded boy," for I have found that the finest poets forget nothing that might serve them in the future, but rather from the sheer joy of being young as you are. Let me assure you outright that I do not find your age a barrier to friendship; you are wiser than your years, unlike several young men of my acquaintance -- and several old men whose age has not brought them knowledge.
Speaking of the young fellows I know reminds me to ask -- have you any particular political convictions? If you do, I shall resolve to either discuss them with you or change your mind, depending on how strongly you hold to them. I have spoken with several young men who are adamantly devoted to the oddest ideologies for reasons I cannot fathom. I hope this is not the case with you.
Whether you have a tendency to shout "Vive le roi!" or "Death to royalty!", you will be welcome in my house for dinner this coming Tuesday, should you care to accept the invitation. I rather expect that you will have found more charming company than mine by that late date, considering the state of young men and the speed of the world. However, I shall not change sufficiently to retract the invitation, for I am not quite as young as you, and more set in my ways. Moreover, I found your company charming and would quite like to appreciate it again.
Sincerely,
M. Gillenormand
* * * * *
M. Gillenormand
Rue des Filles de Calvaire, No. 6
May 9, 1831
If you are implying that as a poet that I should have forgotten our encounter were it not fated to serve me in the future, I most fervently hope that you are correct, if only in the prediction that we shall both surely stand to benefit from one another in times to come. It should take more than a charming distraction to cause me to dismiss your kind invitation, as one can only assume that you meant a distraction in skirts and I fear that I am presently plagued with no such distraction.
The matter of political convictions, such a source of heated conversation these days (if not always) are, in my humble opinion, best unraveled face to face. I should be delighted to speak with you further on the matter, despite my being hardly the most politically mindful of creatures traipsing about Paris these days. I consider my convictions to be no more or less than befit a civilized man owning any sense of compassion. Unless I have misjudged you, monsieur, we may have less to disagree over than you suspect.
Am I to expect other guests in attendance on Tuesday evening next, or am I fortunate enough to receive your undivided attentions the evening through? I fear that I can be terribly awkward around strangers and should only want not to be taken by surprise, I do hope that you will not find this peculiarity of mine foolish, whether it is or not.
With gratitude,
Jean Prouvaire
* * * * *
Jean-Cyriac Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 9, 1831
My dear young man,
I have fewer friends left in this world than I might like to have, and so you are the only person whom I have invited to dine with me on Tuesday. I hope that this does not perturb you particularly. The servants will eat afterward, and I can send my daughter away if necessary. She is quite capable of keeping herself company for the evening, especially if her presence would discomfit you.
When I speak of my daughter, let me assure you that I am not attempting to coerce you into any sort of romance with her. She is a fine if somewhat stupid girl, but for a lad of your age, she is wholly unsuitable and uncouth. She keeps my house for me, and does it well, but other than that has little to recommend her, nothing to call to the poetic spirit. A pity, perhaps, but then again, perhaps not.
A civilized man with a sense of compassion may find many political passions to his taste if he is improperly educated. I know several young men who have truly odd political notions; if I discover that you are possessed of any of these, I may well as you to leave after dessert. But you are quite right to be mysterious, inasmuch as you would like to visit me, for if you disclosed your heart's convictions, I might reply that I would rather you did not come at all. As it is, I shall have to tease the secrets out of you. A fine occupation over dinner.
If you are at the door by eight, the entree should be less than burnt and the wine less than boiling. If you are here much later than that, I make no promises. I have lost some of my sense of taste, you see, and so I do not always notice when my faithful servants give me things that might be less than prime. For you, however, only the best will suffice, and I shall inform them of that in no uncertain terms.
When you wrote earlier, you had no mistress. I can only hope that Tuesday will find you in similar sad straits. The selfishness of the elderly, my young friend, is an ugly and pitiable thing.
Sincerely,
M. Gillenormand
* * * * *
M. Gillenormand
Rue des Filles de Calvaire, No. 6
May 10, 1831
My dear M. Gillenormand,
It is with great anticipation that I await our next meeting, I humbly admit that the days between our fortuitous meeting in the Luxembourg and the very moment that I write this letter, have been so bleak that I have been offered very little distraction that might cause the prospect of your company to pale in comparison. The frivolities of youth to which you allude are not so well-timed as other chance encounters, as I'm sure you recall.
I see no reason why you daughter should not lend her company to the dining table this coming Tuesday, as I should be quite pleased to meet any of your household so long as their wit matches your own. Though had I any suspicion that you speculated or so much as dared to hope that your daughter may capture my fancy, I would have had to decline your invitation. It would simply not be fair to any of the parties involved, including myself.
You see? Selfishness is not only the vice of the elderly. It does rather flatter me that you might wish to keep my company for yourself, I am not above such vanity despite my wishes that I might be. Perhaps vanity is the vice of the young and the foolish.
In your past two letters, you have inquired as to my politics and I apologize for failing to offer you any more than a vague answer, such was not my intention. I am likely not so resolute in my conviction as these other young men that you have in your acquaintance, as I often find it difficult to agree one way or another with the current vogue politics which so many of my friends are quick to adopt as their own. I shall say no more until I have you in my sight, for fear of finding your door closed to me.
Sincerely,
Jean Prouvaire
* * * * *
Jehan-Cyriac Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 11, 1831
My dear Jehan,
I had wondered over the days between our meeting and last night whether I might have exaggerated your charms in my mind. Not in the least, dear boy; you are enchanting, and it is entirely to my credit that you were willing to share an evening with me. Then again, it may be to your discredit, but I am loathe to point that out to you for fear you will decide that one agonizing dinner in my company was too much time. Granted, it was the conversation afterward that was truly pleasant, but dinner was joy enough to warm an old man's heart.
I apologize for my daughter's conduct. If you will accept another invitation from me -- shall we say Friday? -- I am sure I shall send her away. I do not understand that girl, though I ought to, for I have known her all her life. Perhaps she was merely jealous of your company.
I do apologize for worrying so about your political leanings. I ought to have trusted my first impression of you as a sensible if somewhat romantic boy, but the last such lad I knew well decided between one night and the next that there was nothing better for our country than an Emperor. As long as you continue in your current methods of thought, I doubt we shall have anything to quarrel about on that score.
Again, thank you for visiting me. It has been too long since a young person laughed in my house; I had forgotten how it brightens the day, no, the month. I feel more alive today even in your absence than I can remember feeling in quite some time.
If you were bored by me, I apologize for that. I assure you that I found you the very opposite of dull and would cherish your company again as soon as you are willing to grant it.
Bisous,
Luc-Esprit Gillenormand
* * * * *
M. Gillenormand
Rue des Filles de Calvaire, No. 6
May 11, 1831
Dear Luc-Esprit,
To suggest that it was an agony for me to spend yesterday evening in your most amiable company is such an absurd thought that even my fanciful imagination could not begin to entertain the possibility. The only agony that shall visit me this week will be during those long days that must pass before I am in your company again. You must promise me to cease this unfounded worry that I am bound to become bored of your company, as your conversation is as lively and your heart as young as a man of my own years. It should be a good long time before I am forced to graciously decline an invitation to share your table.
It is indeed a great relief to me that, having learned every one of my occasionally feeble ideals, you find none of them so unforgivable as offend. As for your opinion of other young men that you say you have known in the past, I sincerely hope that my own presence should serve to redeem your view of the young in general. I am almost certain that we are not always so misguided as it may appear and simply have not yet had a chance to become as disheartened with the world as those with more years of experience and of disappointment.
I will not pretend to be at all saddened by hearing that your daughter will not be joining us during my next visit, as I have already explained to you my preference for more intimate discussions than can be had at a table with too many heads around it. Words are so often lost when spoken in a crowd and I should hate to squander words when I might instead simply make a gift of them directly to the one person for whom they are intended, as I do right now with this letter.
You may expect me to pay you another visit on Friday; will eight o'clock again suffice? I anticipate your reply most eagerly.
Affectionately,
Jehan
* * * * *
Jehan-Cyriac Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 11, 1831
My charming Jehan,
I am deeply flattered that you think of me as possessing a fraction of your youth and vigor. I am not sure how I convinced you that this is so, but I am loathe to contradict you lest you decide I am too dull to keep your attention. Rest assured that you have renewed my faith in the sweet idealism of youth; it was that which my other acquaintance had injured. Heaven forbid you should be bourgeois before you are twenty-five, and yet he was. Truly sad, my friend.
If I am to see you at eight-o'clock on Friday, I shall spend the days between now and then looking forward to that happy hour. And if you are interrupted in your way here, tomorrow or Friday evening itself, by the lovely laugh of a young lady, kiss her for me and drop me a note in the morning.
I shall close this letter now and advise my household of our plans. I expect this shall give my daughter enough time to absent herself, that she might refrain from making you uncomfortable.
Happily anticipating Friday,
Luc-Esprit Gillenormand
* * * * *
M. Gillenormand
Rue des Filles de Calvaire, No. 6
May 14, 1831
Dear Luc-Esprit,
It is with great shame that I must begin this letter already begging for your forgiveness, though I am of good faith that you will understand my reasons for failing to arrive at your door yesterday evening, as I had so devoutly promised. You must understand by this point in our friendship that I am of an impulsive nature and I confess that it was a whim of the heart that prevented me from keeping my word and keeping your company last night.
It would be far more comforting to me if I could convince myself and lie to you, claiming that I had fallen ill, but I respect you far too much to indulge in such petty falsehoods. Indeed, my happiness is too great to keep to myself and it would be selfish of me not to admit that I had the good fortune to meet a charming young lady this past week who has delighted in preventing me from fulfilling nearly all of my social engagements, our supper on Friday included.
Write me quickly and let me known that I am forgiven, I should not be able to enjoy myself for a single moment until I am certain that I have not fallen from your good graces.
In ecstasy and despair,
Jehan
* * * * *
Jean-Cyriac Prouvaire
Rue St. Germain, No. 405, Flat 2
May 15, 1831
Dear Jean,
I assure you that if I were in your situation, I would have behaved quite as you are behaving, and as such I can hardly fault you for doing what you have.
If you ever have a moment to spare, do feel free to write to me again. Until then, may your conscience not pain you; I shall go on quite as I ever have, but with the fond memory of you, besides.
Sincerely,
Luc-Esprit Gillenormand
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