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Passage Illustrated: Mademoiselle de Lacostellerie's Fascination and Revealing Fashion

It is only by referring to the sensations experienced by those who see a ballet at the Opera for the first time that I can at all convey my own on entering the salle de danse. My first feeling was that of absolute shame. Never before had I seen that affectation of stage costume which then was the rage in society. The short and floating jupe — formed of some light and gauzy texture, which, even where it covered the figure, betrayed the form and proportions of the wearer — was worn low on the bosom and shoulders, and attached at the waist by a ribbon, whose knot hung negligently down in seeming disorder. The hair fell in long and floating masses loose upon the neck, waving in free tresses with every motion of the figure, and adding to that air of “abandon” which seemed so studiously aimed at. But more than anything in mere costume was the look and expression, in which a character of languid voluptuousness was written, and made to harmonize with the easy grace of floating movements, and sympathize with gestures full of passionate fascination.

“Now, Burke,” said Duchesne, as he threw his eyes over the room, “shall I find a partner for you? for I believe I know most of the people here. That pretty blonde yonder, with the diamond buckles in her shoes, is Mademoiselle de Rancy, with a dowry of some millions of francs; what say you to pushing your fortune there? Don't forget the officier d'élite is a trump card just now; and there's no time to lose, for there will soon be a new deal.”

“Not if she had the throne of France in reversion,” said I; turning away in disgust from a figure which, though perfectly beautiful, outraged at every movement that greatest charm of womanhood, — her inborn modesty.

“Ah, then, you don't fancy a blonde!” said he, carelessly, whether wilfully misunderstanding me or not I could not say. “Nor I either,” added he. “There, now, is something far more to my taste; is she not a lovely girl?”

She to whom he now directed my attention was standing at the side of the room, and leaning on her partner's arm; her head slightly turned, so that we could not see her features, but her figure was actually faultless. Hers was not one of those gossamer shapes which flitted around and about us, balancing on tiptoe, or gracefully floating with extending arms. Rather strongly built than otherwise, she stood with the firm foot and the straight ankle of a marble statue; her arms, well rounded, hung easily from her full, wide shoulders; while her head, slightly thrown back, was balanced on her neck with an air at once dignified and easy. Her dress well suited the character of her figure: it was entirely of black, covered with a profusion of deep lace, — the jupe looped up in Andalusian fashion to display the leg, whose symmetry was perfect. Even her costume, however, had something about it too theatrical for my taste; but there was a stamp of firmness, fierté even, in her carriage and her attitude, that at once showed hers was no vulgar desire of being remarkable, but the womanly consciousness of being dressed as became her. She suddenly turned her head around, and we both exclaimed in the same breath, “How lovely!” Her features were of that brilliant character only seen in southern blood: eyes large, black, and lustrous, fringed with lashes that threw their shadow on the very cheek; full lips, curled with an air of almost saucy expression; while the rich olive tint of her transparent skin was scarce coloured with the pink flush of exercise, and harmonized perfectly with the proud repose of her countenance. [Chapter LV, "The 'Hộtel de Clichy'," pp. 42-43 in the 1844 edition; Chapter XI, pp. 83-84, in the 1869 edition]

Commentary: Among the New Elite of Paris after Delivering the Standards of Austerlitz

Pleased that Tom's diligence has resulted in the negotiation of an armistice between France and Austria, Napoleon promotes Tom to the rank of Captain. However, rather than take a posting with Murat's suite, Tom elects to remain with General Auvergne when he returns to Paris in triumph as a member of the Compagnie d'Elite, the officers whom Napoleon has empowered to carry to the French Senate the spoils of victory, the forty-five battle standards just captured. Thus, Tom enters the highest level of Parisian society, attending such exclusive functions as receptions at the Hộtel de Clichy. To add to Tom's delight General Auvergene asks him to deliver a letter to “À Madame la Comtesse d'Auvergne, née Comtesse de Meudon, dame d'honneur de S. M. l'Impératrice” ("The Compagnie D'Elite'," 70). However, his honorific posting him prevents him from delivering the missive in person to De Meudon's sister in the Empress's suite at Versailles.

This picture signals Tom's changed social status and a departure from scenes of battle. The scene in the salon of Madame de Lacostellerie also underscores an indelicate censoriousness in Tom's attitudes towards fashionable women among the "new aristocracy" that we have not previously encountered. He is aghast at the revealing fashions, perhaps owing to his provincial upbringing. His interlocutor (the dark-haired young officer to left) is a new "best friend," a haughty Bourbonist turned Napoleonist, the Chevalier Duchesne, who is no stranger to the delights of the capital, whether of the the Rue St. Denis, the opera, the ballet, the Rue St. Honoré or the salle de danse here in the luxurious noveau riche mansion in the Faubourg. The desiccated voluptuary sharing his perceptions of the Adalusian beauty, Mademoiselle de L acostellerie, is the Baron de Trève, "a withered-looking, dried-up old man, rouged to the eyes, and dressed in the extravagance of the last fashion; the high collar of his coat rising nearly to the back of his head, as his deep cravat in front entirely concealed his mouth, and formed a kind of barrier around his features" (84). Phiz has captured precisely the old admirer of the effects of money from trade: "Mines of rubies and emeralds; continents of coffee, rice, and sandal-wood; spice islands and sugar plantations, to make one's mouth water.” Hidden behind the Baron and the Chevalier (left), Tom is impressed by her beauty, but is miffed when she refuses his offer to dance.

Further Information

• Charles Lever's Fourth Novel, Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843 — September 1844)
• Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (February 1843)
• Instalment-by-instalment Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters: Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (March 1843)
• Synopsis of the Novel's Plot and Characters for Tom Burke's Adventures in France in Lever's Tom Burke of "Ours" (April 1843 through June 1844)

Bibliography

Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.

Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Chapter 11: "'Give Me Back the Freshness of the Morning!'" Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004. Pp. 108-127.

Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Dublin: William Curry, Jun., 1844. Illustrated by H. K. Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. Serialised February 1843 through September 1844. 2 vols.

Lever, Charles. Tom Burke of "Ours." Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 24 February 2021.

Steig, Michael. Chapter Four: "Dombey and Son: Iconography of Social and Sexual Satire." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 86-112.

Stevenson, Lionel. Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939.

_______. "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.

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Created 13 November 2023