At the Sign of the Cat and Racket — Section 4

One evening an idea flashed upon her that lighted up her dark grief like a beam from heaven.

Such an idea could never have smiled on a heart less pure, less virtuous than hers.

She determined to go to the Duchesse de Carigliano, not to ask her to give her back her husband’s heart, but to learn the arts by which it had been captured; to engage the interest of this haughty fine lady for the mother of her lover’s children; to appeal to her and make her the instrument of her future happiness, since she was the cause of her present wretchedness.

So one day Augustine, timid as she was, but armed with supernatural courage, got into her carriage at two in the afternoon to try for admittance to the boudoir of the famous coquette, who was never visible till that hour.

Madame de Sommervieux had not yet seen any of the ancient and magnificent mansions of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

As she made her way through the stately corridors, the handsome staircases, the vast drawing-rooms--full of flowers, though it was in the depth of winter, and decorated with the taste peculiar to women born to opulence or to the elegant habits of the aristocracy, Augustine felt a terrible clutch at her heart; she coveted the secrets of an elegance of which she had never had an idea; she breathed in an air of grandeur which explained the attraction of the house for her husband.

When she reached the private rooms of the Duchess she was filled with jealousy and a sort of despair, as she admired the luxurious arrangement of the furniture, the draperies and the hangings.

Here disorder was a grace, here luxury affected a certain contempt of splendor.

The fragrance that floated in the warm air flattered the sense of smell without offending it.

The accessories of the rooms were in harmony with a view, through plate-glass windows, of the lawns in a garden planted with evergreen trees.

It was all bewitching, and the art of it was not perceptible.

The whole spirit of the mistress of these rooms pervaded the drawing-room where Augustine awaited her.

She tried to divine her rival’s character from the aspect of the scattered objects; but there was here something as impenetrable in the disorder as in the symmetry, and to the simple-minded young wife all was a sealed letter.

All that she could discern was that, as a woman, the Duchess was a superior person.

Then a painful thought came over her.

“Alas!

And is it true,” she wondered, “that a simple and loving heart is not all-sufficient to an artist; that to balance the weight of these powerful souls they need a union with feminine souls of a strength equal to their own?

If I had been brought up like this siren, our weapons at least might have been equal in the hour of struggle.

” “But I am not at home!

” The sharp, harsh words, though spoken in an undertone in the adjoining boudoir, were heard by Augustine, and her heart beat violently.

“The lady is in there,” replied the maid.

“You are an idiot!

Show her in,” replied the Duchess, whose voice was sweeter, and had assumed the dulcet tones of politeness.

She evidently now meant to be heard.

Augustine shyly entered the room.

At the end of the dainty boudoir she saw the Duchess lounging luxuriously on an ottoman covered with brown velvet and placed in the centre of a sort of apse outlined by soft folds of white muslin over a yellow lining.

Ornaments of gilt bronze, arranged with exquisite taste, enhanced this sort of dais, under which the Duchess reclined like a Greek statue.

The dark hue of the velvet gave relief to every fascinating charm.

A subdued light, friendly to her beauty, fell like a reflection rather than a direct illumination.

A few rare flowers raised their perfumed heads from costly Sevres vases.

At the moment when this picture was presented to Augustine’s astonished eyes, she was approaching so noiselessly that she caught a glance from those of the enchantress.

This look seemed to say to some one whom Augustine did not at first perceive, “Stay; you will see a pretty woman, and make her visit seem less of a bore.

” On seeing Augustine, the Duchess rose and made her sit down by her.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, madame?

” she said with a most gracious smile.

“Why all the falseness?

” thought Augustine, replying only with a bow.

Her silence was compulsory.

The young woman saw before her a superfluous witness of the scene.

This personage was, of all the Colonels in the army, the youngest, the most fashionable, and the finest man.

His face, full of life and youth, but already expressive, was further enhanced by a small moustache twirled up into points, and as black as jet, by a full imperial, by whiskers carefully combed, and a forest of black hair in some disorder.

He was whisking a riding whip with an air of ease and freedom which suited his self-satisfied expression and the elegance of his dress; the ribbons attached to his button-hole were carelessly tied, and he seemed to pride himself much more on his smart appearance than on his courage.

Augustine looked at the Duchesse de Carigliano, and indicated the Colonel by a sidelong glance.

All its mute appeal was understood.

“Good-bye, then, Monsieur d’Aiglemont, we shall meet in the Bois de Boulogne.

” These words were spoken by the siren as though they were the result of an agreement made before Augustine’s arrival, and she winged them with a threatening look that the officer deserved perhaps for the admiration he showed in gazing at the modest flower, which contrasted so well with the haughty Duchess.

The young fop bowed in silence, turned on the heels of his boots, and gracefully quitted the boudoir.

At this instant, Augustine, watching her rival, whose eyes seemed to follow the brilliant officer, detected in that glance a sentiment of which the transient expression is known to every woman.

She perceived with the deepest anguish that her visit would be useless; this lady, full of artifice, was too greedy of homage not to have a ruthless heart.

“Madame,” said Augustine in a broken voice, “the step I am about to take will seem to you very strange; but there is a madness of despair which ought to excuse anything.

I understand only too well why Theodore prefers your house to any other, and why your mind has so much power over his.

Alas!

I have only to look into myself to find more than ample reasons.

But I am devoted to my husband, madame.

Two years of tears have not effaced his image from my heart, though I have lost his.

In my folly I dared to dream of a contest with you; and I have come to you to ask you by what means I may triumph over yourself.

Oh, madame,” cried the young wife, ardently seizing the hand which her rival allowed her to hold, “I will never pray to God for my own happiness with so much fervor as I will beseech Him for yours, if you will help me to win back Sommervieux’s regard--I will not say his love.

I have no hope but in you.

Ah!

tell me how you could please him, and make him forget the first days----” At these words Augustine broke down, suffocated with sobs she could not suppress.

Ashamed of her weakness, she hid her face in her handkerchief, which she bathed with tears.

“What a child you are, my dear little beauty!

” said the Duchess, carried away by the novelty of such a scene, and touched, in spite of herself, at receiving such homage from the most perfect virtue perhaps in Paris.

She took the young wife’s handkerchief, and herself wiped the tears from her eyes, soothing her by a few monosyllables murmured with gracious compassion.

After a moment’s silence the Duchess, grasping poor Augustine’s hands in both her own--hands that had a rare character of dignity and powerful beauty--said in a gentle and friendly voice: “My first warning is to advise you not to weep so bitterly; tears are disfiguring.

We must learn to deal firmly with the sorrows that make us ill, for love does not linger long by a sick-bed.

Melancholy, at first, no doubt, lends a certain attractive grace, but it ends by dragging the features and blighting the loveliest face.

And besides, our tyrants are so vain as to insist that their slaves should be always cheerful.

” “But, madame, it is not in my power not to feel.

How is it possible, without suffering a thousand deaths, to see the face which once beamed with love and gladness turn chill, colorless, and indifferent?

I cannot control my heart!

” “So much the worse, sweet child.

But I fancy I know all your story.

In the first place, if your husband is unfaithful to you, understand clearly that I am not his accomplice.

If I was anxious to have him in my drawing-room, it was, I own, out of vanity; he was famous, and he went nowhere.

I like you too much already to tell you all the mad things he has done for my sake.

I will only reveal one, because it may perhaps help us to bring him back to you, and to punish him for the audacity of his behavior to me.

He will end by compromising me.

I know the world too well, my dear, to abandon myself to the discretion of a too superior man.

You should know that one may allow them to court one, but marry them--that is a mistake!

We women ought to admire men of genius, and delight in them as a spectacle, but as to living with them?

Never.

--No, no. It is like wanting to find pleasure in inspecting the machinery of the opera instead of sitting in a box to enjoy its brilliant illusions.

But this misfortune has fallen on you, my poor child, has it not?

Well, then, you must try to arm yourself against tyranny.

” “Ah, madame, before coming in here, only seeing you as I came in, I already detected some arts of which I had no suspicion.

” “Well, come and see me sometimes, and it will not be long before you have mastered the knowledge of these trifles, important, too, in their way.

Outward things are, to fools, half of life; and in that matter more than one clever man is a fool, in spite of all his talent.

But I dare wager you never could refuse your Theodore anything!

” “How refuse anything, madame, if one loves a man?

” “Poor innocent, I could adore you for your simplicity.

You should know that the more we love the less we should allow a man, above all, a husband, to see the whole extent of our passion.

The one who loves most is tyrannized over, and, which is worse, is sooner or later neglected.

The one who wishes to rule should----” “What, madame, must I then dissimulate, calculate, become false, form an artificial character, and live in it?

How is it possible to live in such a way?

Can you----” she hesitated; the Duchess smiled.

“My dear child,” the great lady went on in a serious tone, “conjugal happiness has in all times been a speculation, a business demanding particular attention.

If you persist in talking passion while I am talking marriage, we shall soon cease to understand each other.

Listen to me,” she went on, assuming a confidential tone.

“I have been in the way of seeing some of the superior men of our day.

Those who have married have for the most part chosen quite insignificant wives.

Well, those wives governed them, as the Emperor governs us; and if they were not loved, they were at least respected.

I like secrets--especially those which concern women--well enough to have amused myself by seeking the clue to the riddle.

Well, my sweet child, those worthy women had the gift of analyzing their husbands’ nature; instead of taking fright, like you, at their superiority, they very acutely noted the qualities they lacked, and either by possessing those qualities, or by feigning to possess them, they found means of making such a handsome display of them in their husbands’ eyes that in the end they impressed them.

Also, I must tell you, all these souls which appear so lofty have just a speck of madness in them, which we ought to know how to take advantage of.

By firmly resolving to have the upper hand and never deviating from that aim, by bringing all our actions to bear on it, all our ideas, our cajolery, we subjugate these eminently capricious natures, which, by the very mutability of their thoughts, lend us the means of influencing them.

” “Good heavens!

” cried the young wife in dismay.

“And this is life.

It is a warfare----” “In which we must always threaten,” said the Duchess, laughing.

“Our power is wholly factitious.

And we must never allow a man to despise us; it is impossible to recover from such a descent but by odious manoeuvring.

Come,” she added, “I will give you a means of bringing your husband to his senses.

” She rose with a smile to guide the young and guileless apprentice to conjugal arts through the labyrinth of her palace.

They came to a back-staircase, which led up to the reception rooms.

As Madame de Carigliano pressed the secret springlock of the door she stopped, looking at Augustine with an inimitable gleam of shrewdness and grace.

“The Duc de Carigliano adores me,” said she.

“Well, he dare not enter by this door without my leave.

And he is a man in the habit of commanding thousands of soldiers.

He knows how to face a battery, but before me,--he is afraid!

” Augustine sighed.

They entered a sumptuous gallery, where the painter’s wife was led by the Duchess up to the portrait painted by Theodore of Mademoiselle Guillaume.

On seeing it, Augustine uttered a cry.

“I knew it was no longer in my house,” she said, “but--here!

----” “My dear child, I asked for it merely to see what pitch of idiocy a man of genius may attain to.

Sooner or later I should have returned it to you, for I never expected the pleasure of seeing the original here face to face with the copy.

While we finish our conversation I will have it carried down to your carriage.

And if, armed with such a talisman, you are not your husband’s mistress for a hundred years, you are not a woman, and you deserve your fate.

” Augustine kissed the Duchess’ hand, and the lady clasped her to her heart, with all the more tenderness because she would forget her by the morrow.

This scene might perhaps have destroyed for ever the candor and purity of a less virtuous woman than Augustine, for the astute politics of the higher social spheres were no more consonant to Augustine than the narrow reasoning of Joseph Lebas, or Madame Guillaume’s vapid morality.

Strange are the results of the false positions into which we may be brought by the slightest mistake in the conduct of life!

Augustine was like an Alpine cowherd surprised by an avalanche; if he hesitates, if he listens to the shouts of his comrades, he is almost certainly lost.

In such a crisis the heart steels itself or breaks.

Madame de Sommervieux returned home a prey to such agitation as it is difficult to describe.

Her conversation with the Duchesse de Carigliano had roused in her mind a crowd of contradictory thoughts.

Like the sheep in the fable, full of courage in the wolf’s absence, she preached to herself, and laid down admirable plans of conduct; she devised a thousand coquettish stratagems; she even talked to her husband, finding, away from him, all the springs of true eloquence which never desert a woman; then, as she pictured to herself Theodore’s clear and steadfast gaze, she began to quake.

When she asked whether monsieur were at home her voice shook.

On learning that he would not be in to dinner, she felt an unaccountable thrill of joy.

Like a criminal who has appealed against sentence of death, a respite, however short, seemed to her a lifetime.

She placed the portrait in her room, and waited for her husband in all the agonies of hope.

That this venture must decide her future life, she felt too keenly not to shiver at every sound, even the low ticking of the clock, which seemed to aggravate her terrors by doling them out to her.

She tried to cheat time by various devices.

The idea struck her of dressing in a way which would make her exactly like the portrait.

Then, knowing her husband’s restless temper, she had her room lighted up with unusual brightness, feeling sure that when he came in curiosity would bring him there at once.

Midnight had struck when, at the call of the groom, the street gate was opened, and the artist’s carriage rumbled in over the stones of the silent courtyard.

“What is the meaning of this illumination?

” asked Theodore in glad tones, as he came into her room.

Augustine skilfully seized the auspicious moment; she threw herself into her husband’s arms, and pointed to the portrait.

The artist stood rigid as a rock, and his eyes turned alternately on Augustine, on the accusing dress.

The frightened wife, half-dead, as she watched her husband’s changeful brow--that terrible brow--saw the expressive furrows gathering like clouds; then she felt her blood curdling in her veins when, with a glaring look, and in a deep hollow voice, he began to question her: “Where did you find that picture?

” “The Duchess de Carigliano returned it to me.

” “You asked her for it?

” “I did not know that she had it.

” The gentleness, or rather the exquisite sweetness of this angel’s voice, might have touched a cannibal, but not an artist in the clutches of wounded vanity.

“It is worthy of her!

” exclaimed the painter in a voice of thunder.

“I will be avenged!

” he cried, striding up and down the room.

“She shall die of shame; I will paint her!

Yes, I will paint her as Messalina stealing out at night from the palace of Claudius.

” “Theodore!

” said a faint voice.

“I will kill her!

” “My dear----” “She is in love with that little cavalry colonel, because he rides well----” “Theodore!

” “Let me be!

” said the painter in a tone almost like a roar.

It would be odious to describe the whole scene.

In the end the frenzy of passion prompted the artist to acts and words which any woman not so young as Augustine would have ascribed to madness.

At eight o’clock next morning Madame Guillaume, surprising her daughter, found her pale, with red eyes, her hair in disorder, holding a handkerchief soaked with tears, while she gazed at the floor strewn with the torn fragments of a dress and the broken fragments of a large gilt picture-frame.

Augustine, almost senseless with grief, pointed to the wreck with a gesture of deep despair.

“I don’t know that the loss is very great!

” cried the old mistress of the Cat and Racket.

“It was like you, no doubt; but I am told that there is a man on the boulevard who paints lovely portraits for fifty crowns.

” “Oh, mother!

” “Poor child, you are quite right,” replied Madame Guillaume, who misinterpreted the expression of her daughter’s glance at her.

“True, my child, no one ever can love you as fondly as a mother.

My darling, I guess it all; but confide your sorrows to me, and I will comfort you.

Did I not tell you long ago that the man was mad!

Your maid has told me pretty stories.

Why, he must be a perfect monster!

” Augustine laid a finger on her white lips, as if to implore a moment’s silence.

During this dreadful night misery had led her to that patient resignation which in mothers and loving wives transcends in its effects all human energy, and perhaps reveals in the heart of women the existence of certain chords which God has withheld from men.

An inscription engraved on a broken column in the cemetery at Montmartre states that Madame de Sommervieux died at the age of twenty-seven.

In the simple words of this epitaph one of the timid creature’s friends can read the last scene of a tragedy.

Every year, on the second of November, the solemn day of the dead, he never passes this youthful monument without wondering whether it does not need a stronger woman than Augustine to endure the violent embrace of genius?

“The humble and modest flowers that bloom in the valley,” he reflects, “perish perhaps when they are transplanted too near the skies, to the region where storms gather and the sun is scorching.

” ADDENDUM

The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.

Aiglemont, General, Marquis Victor d’ The Firm of Nucingen A Woman of Thirty Birotteau, Cesar Cesar Birotteau A Bachelor’s Establishment Camusot A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor’s Establishment Cousin Pons The Muse of the Department Cesar Birotteau Cardot, Jean-Jerome-Severin A Start in Life Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Bachelor’s Establishment Cesar Birotteau Carigliano, Marechal, Duc de Father Goriot Sarrasine Carigliano, Duchesse de A Distinguished Provincial at Paris The Peasantry The Member for Arcis Guillaume Cesar Birotteau Lebas, Joseph Cesar Birotteau Cousin Betty Lebas, Madame Joseph (Virginie) Cesar Birotteau Cousin Betty Lourdois Cesar Birotteau Rabourdin, Xavier The Government Clerks Cesar Birotteau The Middle Classes Roguin, Madame Cesar Birotteau Pierrette A Second Home A Daughter of Eve Sommervieux, Theodore de The Government Clerks Modeste Mignon Sommervieux, Madame Theodore de (Augustine) At the Sign of the Cat and Racket Cesar Birotteau *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT THE SIGN OF THE CAT AND RACKET *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U. S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!

) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties.

Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark.

Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark.

If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy.

You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.

Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U. S.

copyright law.

Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at www.

gutenberg.

org/license.

Section 1.

General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg electronic works 1. A.

By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement.

If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your possession.

If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1. E.

8. 1. B.

“Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark.

It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.

See paragraph 1. C below.

There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg electronic works.

See paragraph 1. E below.

1. C.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg electronic works.

Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States.

If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed.

Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg name associated with the work.

You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when you share it without charge with others.

1. D.

The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work.

Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change.

If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg work.

The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1. E.

Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1. E.

1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.

You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online at www.

gutenberg.

org.

If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1. E.

2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U. S.

copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.

If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.

Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1. E.

4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.

1. E.

5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1. E.

1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg License.

1. E.

6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form.

However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website (www.

gutenberg.

org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form.

Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1. E.

1. 1. E.

7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works unless you comply with paragraph 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works provided that: • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.

The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns.

Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

” • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License.

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1. F.

3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1. E.

9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark.

Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1. F.

1. F.

1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U. S.

copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection.

Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1. F.

2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1. F.

3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees.

YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT

LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.

F.

3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE

TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1. F.

3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from.

If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation.

The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund.

If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.

If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1. F.

4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1. F.

3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1. F.

5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.

If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law.

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.