Customer Reviews

Gabrielle de Bergerac

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In payment of a debt, our narrator selects a painting from the collection of an impoverished French nobleman. The painting is a portrait of an attractive young woman, an aunt of the debtor. He asks the nephew to tell us about her. We are then told a story, which the now old man witnessed as a little boy of 10. The story takes us back to pre-revolutionary times.
Gabrielle was the younger sister of the baron, the boy's father. She lived with her brother's family in limited circumstances. Her prospects to escape noble poverty were limited, until a noble and potentially prosperous suitor turns up. His prosperity depends on an as yet unconfirmed inheritance. For the time being he is as poor as she. She tells him frankly that she is not in love with him, but would wait for him to sort out his pecuniary prospects with his uncle. She tells him with surprising frankness that marriage without love and without wealth is not preferable to an old spinster's life in a convent.
Meanwhile, she gets exposed to another, but entirely unsuitable and equally unwealthy lover, the teacher of her nephew. That young man has embarrassed himself and her when he gets `caught' with having painted a romantic portrait of her. As we expect from experience, a quite improper love affair develops, witnessed by the boy.

The story was published in 1869, but never included in a story collection. That must mean that it was not highly appreciated. I wonder why, as I find it pleasant and likable. Possibly there were just too many stories about painters in love with unsuitable or unwilling ladies in the market, and too many treacherous portraits.
The story has one major logical or maybe rather practical flaw: the observations of the witness are entirely incredible for a ten year old boy. The old man says himself that he did not understand much of what happened while it happened. In view of that, the narrative concept is not convincing and I deduct a star, despite the story's charm.