In Search of Lost Time, Volume IV (77 page)

The race of men-women
. The curse that weighs upon it
; its freemasonry
; varieties of invert
; the solitaries
. The Charlus-Jupien conjunction a miracle of nature
. M. de Charlus becomes Jupien’s patron, to Françoise’s sentimental delight
. Numerous progeny of the original Sodomites
.

PART TWO

Chapter One

Reception at the Princesse de Guermantes’s
. My fear of not having been invited
. The Duc de Châtellerault and the usher
. The Princess’s social technique
. Her welcome
. I look for someone to introduce me to the Prince
. M. de Charlus’s chattering
. Professor E——
. M. de Vaugoubert
; his amatory tastes
; Mme de Vaugoubert
. M. de Charlus “on show”
. Mme de Souvré and the cowardice of society people
. Mme d’Arpajon, whose name escapes me for a moment
, pretends not to hear my request to be introduced to the Prince
. Failure of my clumsy request to M. de Charlus
. M. de Bréauté effects the introduction
. The Prince’s reserved but unaffected welcome
. He takes Swann into the garden
. The Hubert Robert fountain
. Mme d’Arpajon gets a soaking, much to the hilarity of the Grand Duke Vladimir
. A chat with the Princess
. The Turkish Ambassadress
. The Duchesse de Guermantes’s eyes
. My progress in worldly diplomacy
. Diplomatic Sodoms; references to
Esther
. Mme d’Amoncourt and her offers to Mme de Guermantes
. Mme de Saint-Euverte recruiting for her garden-party
. A slightly tarnished duchess
. Mme de Guermantes’s rudeness to Mme de Chaussepierre
. Different conjectures about Swann’s conversation with the Prince de Guermantes
. The Duc de Guermantes’s strictures on Swann’s Dreyfusism
. Mme de Guermantes refuses to meet his wife and daughter
. Mme de Lambresac’s smile
. Mme de Guermantes intends to forgo the Saint-Euverte garden-party
, much to the delight of M. de Froberville
. Beauty of Mme de Surgis-le-Duc’s two sons
. Mme de Citri and her nihilism
. M. de Charlus absorbed in contemplation of the Surgis boys
. Swann: signs of his approaching death
. Arrival of Saint-Loup
, who expresses approval of his uncle Charlus’s womanising
, sings the praises of bawdy-houses
, and tells me of a house of assignation frequented by Mlle d’Orgeville and Mme Putbus’s chambermaid
. M. de Charlus is presented to the Surgis boys by their mother
. Saint-Loup’s changed attitude towards the Dreyfus case
.

Curious conversation between Swann and the Prince de Guermantes
. M. de Charlus exercises his insolent wit at the expense of Mme de Saint-Euverte
. Swann’s concupiscent stares at Mme de Surgis’s bosom
. His account of the Prince de Guermantes’s conversion to Dreyfusism
, and also his wife’s
. Swann invites me to visit Gilberte
. The Princesse de Guermantes’s secret passion for M. de Charlus
.

Departure and return home
. M. de Guermantes takes leave of his brother: affectionate reminiscences and a gaffe
. I leave with the Duke and Duchess: scene on the staircase
. Mme de Gallardon
. Mme d’Orvillers
. Return home in the Guermantes’ coupé
. The Duchess’s refusal to introduce me to Baroness Putbus
. The Guermantes prepare for their fancy-dress ball in spite of the death of their cousin d’Osmond
.

Visit from Albertine
. Françoise and her daughter
. Linguistic geography
. I await Albertine’s arrival with growing anxiety
. A telephone call from Albertine
. “This terrible need of a person”: my mother and Albertine
. How Françoise announces Albertine
; the latter’s visit
. Afterwards I write to Gilberte Swann, with none of the emotion of old
. The Duc de Guermantes’s conversion to Dreyfusism
.

Social visiting before my second trip to Balbec
. I continue to see other fairies and their dwellings
. Changes in the social picture
; the Verdurin salon
and the rise of Odette’s salon, centred round Bergotte
. Mme de Montmorency
.

The Intermittencies of the Heart

My second stay in Balbec
. The hotel manager’s malapropisms
. Principal motive for coming to Balbec: the hope of meeting at the Verdurins’ Mme de Putbus’s maid
and other unknown beauties
. Upheaval of my entire being
: the living presence of my grandmother is restored to me
; at the same time I discover that I have lost her for ever
. My dream, my awakening and my heart-rending memories
. A message from Albertine: I have no desire to see her, or anyone
. An invitation from Mme de Cambremer, which I decline
. My grief, however, is less profound than my mother’s
. Her resemblance to my grandmother
. Meeting with Mme Poussin
. The new young page at the hotel
and the domestic staff from the chorus of
Athalie
. Françoise’s revelations about the circumstances in which Saint-Loup’s photograph of my grandmother had been taken
. Further revelations, from the manager: my grandmother’s syncopes
. Another dream about her
. I suddenly decide to see Albertine
. Apple-trees in blossom
.

Chapter Two

Resumption of intimacy with Albertine, and first suspicions
. My grief at the death of my grandmother wanes and Albertine begins to inspire me with a desire for happiness
. Sudden return of my grief in the little train
. Albertine’s visit to Balbec
. The Princesse de Parme
. My links with Albertine’s friends
. The lift-boy goes to fetch her
: his manners and his speech
. Beginnings of my mistrust of Albertine
: Cottard’s remark while she is dancing with Andrée
. Albertine fails to turn up one evening
. Painful curiosity about her secret life
. Her lies about her proposed visit to a lady in Infreville
. In the casino at Balbec: the girls she sees in the mirror
. The memory of Odette’s character applied to Albertine
.

Visit from Mme de Cambremer while I am on the esplanade with Albertine and her friends
. Her paraphernalia
. Her daughter-in-law’s two forms of politeness
. Etymological curiosities
. Aesthetic prejudices and snobbery of the young Mme de Cambremer
; evolution of artistic theories
; her pronunciation of Chenouville
. She has forgotten her Legrandin origins
. The Cambremers’ friend, a worshipper at the shrine of Le Sidaner
.

Albertine comes up to my room
. The lift-boy’s anxious and despondent air
; its cause: the absence of the customary tip
. The hotel staff and money
. My calculated protestations of coldness towards Albertine and love for Andrée
. Albertine denies having had relations with Andrée
. Reconciliation and caresses
. Excursions with Albertine
. Brief desires for other girls
. Jealousy
.

Scandal in the Grand Hotel provoked by Bloch’s sister and an actress
, hushed up through the good offices of M. Nissim Bernard
. Why the latter likes the hotel
. My friendship with two young “couriers”
; their language
. Renewed suspicions about Albertine’s Gomorrhan proclivities
: the unknown woman in the casino
; suspect rudeness to a friend of her aunt’s
. M. Nissim Bernard and the tomatoes
. I go to Doncières with Albertine
. A fat, vulgar, pretentious lady on the train
. Albertine and Saint-Loup
. M. de Charlus appears on the platform at Doncières
. His first meeting with Morel
.

An evening with the Verdurins at La Raspelière
. The little train
and its “habitués”: Cottard, Ski, Brichot
. Social development of the Verdurin salon
. Saniette
; Ski
. Princess Sherbatoff
. Cottard and the Verdurin “Wednesdays”
. The handsome unknown girl with the cigarette
. Mme Verdurin has invited the Cambremers, whose tenant she is
. Remarks of the “faithful” about the Cambremers
. Brichot’s etymologies
. I recognise Princess Sherbatoff as the fat lady in the train to Doncières
. News of the death of Dechambre, formerly Mme Verdurin’s favourite pianist
. Mme Verdurin and the death of the faithful
. Beauty of the countryside
. Dechambre disowned
in the interests of Morel, who is coming with Charlus
. The latter’s sexual proclivities better known among the “faithful” than in the Faubourg Saint-Germain
. The Verdurins’ indifference to the beauties of nature
.

Arrival of Morel and M. de Charlus
; evidence of the latter’s femininity
. Morel’s request to me
; his rudeness once he has obtained satisfaction
. Arrival of the Cambremers
, he vulgarly ugly
, she haughty and morose
; introductions
. Mme Verdurin and social etiquette
. The Cambremers’ garden
. M. de Charlus’s momentary mistake about Cottard
. The name Chantepie
. Combination of culture and snobbery in Mme de Cambremer
. M. de Cambremer takes an interest in my fits of breathlessness
. My mother and Albertine
.

More etymology from Brichot
. The Norwegian philosopher
. M. Verdurin bullies Saniette
. Conversation about Elstir
. A letter from the dowager Marquise de Cambremer: the rule of the three adjectives
. M. de Charlus’s claim to the rank of Highness
. The Verdurins’ attitude to Brichot
. M. de Charlus’s historical anecdotes
. Mme de Cambremer’s musical snobbery
. Brichot holds forth
. M. de Charlus and the Archangel Michael
. M. de Cambremer discovers the identity of Professor Cottard
. Mme Cottard dozes off
. Sleeping draughts
. A game of cards
. The arms of the Arrachepels
. M. de Charlus expresses a preference for strawberry-juice
. His first skirmish with Mme Verdurin
. She invites me to her next “Wednesday” with my “cousin”
and even suggests that I should bring her to stay
. Renewed outburst by M. Verdurin against Saniette
. Cottard and du Boulbon
. M. de Cambremer’s tip
. Mme de Cambremer’s good-bye
.

Chapter Three

The squinting page
. Sleep after a visit to La Raspelière
; reflections on sleep
. M. de Charlus dines at the Grand Hotel with a footman
. His strange letter to Aimé
.

Excursions with Albertine
. Through the forest of Chantepie
. Presents for Albertine
. Virtues of the motor-car
. Visit to the Verdurins
. The “views” from La Raspelière
. Charm of social life in the country
. Other customers of our chauffeur: Charlus and Morel
. One of their luncheons on the coast
. Morel’s cynical projects and the Baron’s sensual excitement
. My obsession with Albertine
. Norman churches
. A loving couple
. My increasing jealousy: the Rivebelle waiter
. Remonstrances from my mother and their negative effect
. Evening assignations with Albertine
followed by morning anxiety about her day-time activities
. A lesson in the use of words from the lift-boy
. Weariness of life with Albertine
. The aeroplane
.

Morel, the chauffeur, and Mme Verdurin’s coachman
. Morel’s change of attitude towards me
; his composite character
. Charm of setting out for La Raspelière on late summer evenings
. M. de Charlus in the little train
. He becomes temporarily the faithfullest of the faithful
. Princess Sherbatoff gives me the cold shoulder after a meeting on the train with Mme de Villeparisis
. M. de Charlus’s blindness
. Discussion between Brichot and Charlus about Chateaubriand and Balzac
. M. de Charlus’s discretion about his favourite subject in Morel’s presence
. Albertine’s clothes, inspired by Elstir’s taste, admired by M. de Charlus
. Morel’s admiration for my great-uncle and his house
. M. de Charlus’s “Balzacian” melancholy
. Morel reminds me of Rachel
.

M. de Charlus’s fictitious duel
. Morel dissuades him
. Cottard, an alarmed but disappointed second
. Morel’s demands for money
.

The stations on the “Transatlantic.”
The
de luxe
brothel at Maineville
. Morel’s assignation there with the Prince de Guermantes, of which M. de Charlus gets wind
. Discomfiture of the Prince de Guermantes
. Grattevast: the Comte de Crécy
. The turkeys carved by the hotel manager
. Origins of the Crécy family: Odette’s first husband
. Hermenonville: M. de Chevregny: a provincial with a passion for Paris
. Mme de Cambremer’s three adjectives again
. Unsatisfactory relations between the Verdurins and the Cambremers
. Brichot’s secret passion for Mme de Cambremer junior
. M. and Mme Féré
. The long drive between the station and La Raspelière
. More Brichot etymologies
. Brief visits from friends at various stations
. A misunderstanding with Bloch
. M. de Charlus’s interest in Bloch
. Familiarity and social relations rob these places of their poetry and mystery
. I feel it would be madness to marry Albertine
.

Chapter Four

Albertine’s revelation about Mlle Vinteuil and her friend
. Recollection of Montjouvain
. I take her back to the Grand Hotel
. Solitary misery until dawn
. Albertine consoles me
. I ask her to accompany me to Paris
. Her objections
, then her sudden decision to come with me that very day
. Reflections on love
. I tell my mother that I must marry Albertine
.

T
HE
M
ODERN
L
IBRARY
E
DITORIAL
B
OARD

Daniel J. Boorstin

·

Christopher Cerf

·

Shelby Foote

·

Vartan Gregorian

·

Larry McMurtry

·

Edmund Morris

·

John Richardson

·

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

·

Susan Sontag

·