The sun., 1910-06-12

lAN anu NnflaA tNauheaF AuH NN1AN"a
is tho oh ject Of our study. IN the solution
Of Il Rea the interest, the drama and the
less0n oi George Sands destiny
%.
When the ariato,ratic grandmother died
s1s loft the guardianship Of Aurore 10 a
cousin. man who belonged TO the world
Of the odd Colnteses. detested by the
mother The mother accordingly deaed
the legal clause and took her daughter to
live with her In Paris: but AurOre's eyes
Wers now opened and she could no, longer
feel the old passionate affection and indul-
Eence for her mother. whom she nov saW
in her true light. a. a light woman oi the
people. who could not resign herself to
getting old. wanted 10 change her abode
and the color u her hair every day,
quarrelled with people one day only TO
make Il up che newt. revelled in police news
and the shilling shOcksrs Of the day. and
was most sarcastic about Aurore's fine
eduoatiOn- and her literary aspirations.
The situation finally became intOlerabls.
Accordingly whsn sophie VictOire TOOK
her daughter 20 spend two or three days
With some friends of hers who lived near
Melun. and then left her there. the girl
made no objection TO being temporarily
adopted into her amiabls hosts fam
lily OG Ave daughters. II was while with
them that shs made the acquaintance
oi Casimir Dudsvart. natural sou 1but
recOGnizsdl Of Col Baron Dudevsni. and
shortly became Baronne Dldevant. az the
age of ~. M Doumic in view q the sequel
Aurore ever loved her husband. and de-
cides that she never did In fact the huz-
hand never realized that he Bee,ied n
win her love He had nothing 20 dis
tingHish him from the ordinary man. Ne
was selfish without being disagrseable.
rather IDLE. rather vain and rather foolish
Hs Was just an ordinary man But the
wife be- had married was not an ordinary
woman. aud that vas their misfortune
Casimir was soon considerably dis
oOncsrted f- was incapable of under
standing her psychology aud a. Il seemed
impossible 70 him that q woman vas not
his inferior. he came 70 the logical con-
cliisiOn that his wife vas -idlOtio That
was hia prsciae expression. While readily
admitting that N Didsvant selected the
wrong word. the reader of the present
day 10 inclined 20 believe that he was not
wholly 20 blAme for not understanding
her psychology; but then the reader has
the advantage u . comprehensive birds
eye view over her whole extraordinary
career. which was denied this ordinary
man. and which even an extraordinary
man might well have needed Before
thsy had been married two years they
we're bored 10 death and blamed NOhant
for Il. whereas the trouble lay Ia them
selves. Finally Caaimir struck her. which
Was certainly impOlite. says N DOumic:
but AurOrs's . grievances wsre les tangible
and much more deeply felt, 20 she was not
very indignant about the blow az the time.
though she found Il excellent literary
material later on. as ahs did the intangible
things Evidently. though she always
lOnE@d ~ 10 dominated Casimir chose
the wrong way; - shs constituted a
young magistrate of the vicinity her
spiritual director. and the magistrate took
the role Of cOnhdAnt 20 this soul very
seriously II was q purely plat0nic in
fatuation on both sides. and when AuFOre
passed the crisis II her enthusiasm she
WsaFisd Of the correspondence and per
formed what she regarded A. her duty by
writing up the whole cAse for the perisai
of her husband. who endeav0red eleven
years later TO make Jlse of extracts from
the letter 10 incriminats her when she
sued for separation The platonic friend
ship lasted three years longer at any rate.
unfOrbidden; and in these years Cast
mir fell into the vices ~ certain country
squirrs. and took 70 drink. in company
with Hippolyte Chatiron. his Wife's ille-
Ultimate brother. One day she happened
upon her husbands will. a mcre diatrbe
giving utterance 10 all his past grievances
against his -idiOtic- spouse Her mind
was made up from that moment Shs
determined 10 leave her son and daughter
to the care q a young tutor from the
south q France and live in Paris. Casi-
mir made no objections All that hap
pened later On in this existence. which
was henoefOrth stormy. happencd with
his knOWlsdge and consent,
AurOrs Dudsvant arrived in Paris az
the very beginning II the year 1891 The
woman Who vas rebellOus 10 marriage
vas nov In a city which had just had a
revolution and was In an extraordinary
state u eGerveacsBce There was tenn
pest IN the air. bound 20 break out sOODsF
or later in an insurrectiOn. Every one vas
ieveriEhly anxious 10 destroy everything
in order 10 create all things anew The
extraordinary aslf-concsit % this attitude
which IL common 20 all revolutions IL
worthy % note Raronns Dudevant en-
juyed herself immensely. Every day
some fresh system u government was
born, some new method % philosophy. an
infallbls recipe for bringing about uni
vsrsal Happiness, an unheard of idea for
manufacturing masterpieces. some inven-
ton for dressing up and having q per
petuhl carnival In the streets. The younR
wife who had snapped her bonds asunder
breathsd voluptuously In this atmosphere
She belonged TO the rOmantio school and
vas imbusd With the principle that an
artist must SO everything. know every
thing and himseh have experienced
everything that hs puts into his books
With a hand of young men apprsntiosd
10 literature. the laW oT medicine. ahe
lived . students life. and In order n facil-
itate her various svolutons she adopted
masculine dFess. She vas free. and shs
fanoisd shs was happy Her happiness