THE LATIN QUARTER =Henri Murger= (“Scénes de la Vie de Bohéme”) A MODERN MAN’S CONFESSION =Alfred and Paul de Musset= HE AND SHE =Alfred and Paul de Musset= THE RIVAL ACTRESSES =Georges Ohnet= THE POISON DEALER =Georges Ohnet= IN DEEP ABYSS =Georges Ohnet= THE WOMAN OF MYSTERY =Georges Ohnet= LIFE’S LAST GIFT =Louis de Robert= THE DESIRE OF LIFE =Matilde Serao= WHEN IT WAS DARK =Guy Thorne= THE KREUTZER SONATA =Leo Tolstoy= SEBASTOPOL =Leo Tolstoy= DRINK =Emile Zola= THE ADVENTURES OF BARON =Anonymous= MUNCHAUSEN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: PAUL BOURGET] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE Blue Duchess By PAUL BOURGET Translated by ERNEST TRISTAN LONDON: GREENING & CO. NEW YORK: BRENTANO’S ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PREFACE Paul Bourget was born in the cathedral city of Amiens about fifty years ago, but there are a number of other interesting things to say about him. Like so many famous authors, he began, in 1873, with verse. Probably the verse did not bring him the instant fame that we all desire with our first book, for he soon turned to prose, which of course as Saltus has hinted, is more difficult. Again, it is probable that verse and prose are not really so very far apart, but are related, as an angel is related to a saint, or a lovely sister to her handsome but very masculine brother. Essays followed Bourget’s lyrics, then a triumphal procession of novels and travels, till, in 1904, he became a poet again by wearing the blue and gold costume of the French Academy.