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Madame de Treymes

Edith Wharton

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    Last year, as my contribution to my Henry James Index Page, I read his 1877 novel, The American. Well, as I read this novelette by Edith Wharton for my 2021 contribution to her Index Page, I felt like I was reading the James novel all over again! No, I'm not saying she plagiarized James, who was her friend, by the way, but she chose the same subject matter, confirming that there, indeed, were some quite nasty aristocrats in Paris. Imagine that.
    Wharton and James had other things in common. They both left America to live in Europe. James lived in Paris for a short time and travelled a lot, but eventually made his home in England, becoming a British subject shortly before he died. Wharton moved to France when her marriage broke up, and ended up remaining in Paris when WWI broke out, working tirelessly for the war effort in France, especially for charitable causes.
    Both authors also frequently wrote comparisons of American society to European, and the really stark differences in attitudes and behavior. Both this story and the one mentioned above by James concern a man who wishes to marry a woman in Paris, but discovers the hard way, what power and control the aristocratic clans have over all their members. And they use that power treacherously to assure that no one interferes.
    In James' novel, the wealthy American wishes to marry a young widow, whose family is relatively poor, but titled. And though the American is wealthy, it is the fact that he made his fortune in manufacturing, which is much too vulgar for a family of class, that repulsed them. And though he is led to believe the family accepts him, he finds he has been duped in the most underhanded way.
    In Wharton's story, the American, also wealthy, is John Durham, visiting Paris with his mother and two sisters. But the lady he loves, Madame de Malrive, is a former American family friend, Fanny Frisbee, before her marriage. She is separated from her husband for good reasons, but believes the family will never allow a divorce, being Catholic, of course, plus the fact that it is socially unacceptable. And in the end, John, though he believes he has overcome the obstacles, discovers that the family has created an even worse situation through the deceitful scheming of Madame de Treymes.
    This work is too long to be a short story, but it is a short novelette. Therefore the review will also be short. After Fanny's visit with the Durham ladies, she wishes to walk with John rather than take the carriage home. She wants to marry him, but has an eight-year-old son, and it is the agreement that she may have custody, provided she remains in Paris. At that point, she is not even pursuing divorce because she believes she cannot fight the family alone. Durham is more than willing to step in and take charge. Here is a quote describing the situation from Fanny's perspective.

Everything is prepared in advance—his political and religious convictions, his judgments of people, his sense of honour, his ideas of women, his whole view of life. He is taught to see vileness and corruption in every one not of his own way of thinking, and in every idea that does not directly serve the religious and political purposes of his class. The truth isn't a fixed thing: it's not used to test actions by, it's tested by them, and made to fit in with them. And this forming of the mind begins with the child's first consciousness; it's in his nursery stories, his baby prayers, his very games with his playmates! Already he is only half mine, because the Church has the other half, and will be reaching out for my share as soon as his education begins. But that other half is still mine, and I mean to make it the strongest and most living half of the two, so that, when the inevitable conflict begins, the energy and the truth and the endurance shall be on my side and not on theirs!"

    Durham promises to do all he can to free Fanny, beginning with becoming acquainted with her sister-in-law, Madame de Treymes. Madame de Malrive invites John and his family to her home. As in James' novel, it is antiquated and uncomfortable. His sister, Katy, exclaims: "Well, if this is all she got by marrying a Marquis!" the young lady summed up as they paused before the small sober hotel in its high-walled court; and Katy, following her mother through the stone-vaulted and stone-floored vestibule, murmured: "It must be simply freezing in winter." Madame de Treymes is present, as planned and John makes her acquaintance.
    Also, as in James' novel there is an American couple that play a part, in this case, the Boykins, cousins of John. They, however, shun French society and find ways to criticize it. But they are still well-off and recognized, so, under the pretense of having an interest in Madame de Treymes, John persuades Mrs. Boykin to invite her to a dinner gathering.
    Here's a bit about the Boykins.

It was a part of the Boykins' uncomfortable but determined attitude—and perhaps a last expression of their latent patriotism—to live in active disapproval of the world about them, fixing in memory with little stabs of reprobation innumerable instances of what the abominable foreigner was doing; so that they reminded Durham of persons peacefully following the course of a horrible war by pricking red pins in a map. To Mrs. Durham, with her gentle tourist's view of the European continent, as a vast Museum in which the human multitudes simply furnished the element of costume, the Boykins seemed abysmally instructed, and darkly expert in forbidden things; and her son, without sharing her simple faith in their omniscience, credited them with an ample supply of the kind of information of which he was in search.

    And here's what she thinks of the Malrives: "That Malrive set is the worst in the Faubourg. Of course you know what he is; even the family, for decency's sake, had to back her up, and urge her to get a separation. And Christiane de Treymes—" John is also informed that she is not only having an affair with Prince d'Armillac, but paying off his gambling debts, secretly, with her husband's and brother's money. In any case, John does have an opportunity to speak with her in private, and bluntly tells her why. She, in turn, asks a "favor." That is, she wants money from him to support her lover, in exchange for the favor. John is appalled, says "NO," also bluntly, and returns to tell Fanny he has failed. But, he does not tell her why. He also plans to leave Paris, because the ladies wish to see Italy. He would then return to Paris in July for a final good-bye before sailing back to America.
    However, before his departure to Italy, he gets a frantic request from Fanny that she must see him. As it turns out, the Malrive family has agreed to a divorce, with no opposition. What neither John nor Fanny knows is what has been going on in the background, which will leave them shocked.
    I am a big fan of Edith Wharton and have read a great many of her works. There are some which are funny and end happily, but all or most contain a sharp sting. Really, we do not know how this one turns out, ultimately, because it ends with the dilemma still to be faced. Anyways, I really liked the story, and recommend it. It is FREE from Project Gutenberg.