Finished: The Commission in Lunacy aka The Interdiction (de Balzac). Ahhh, that was a much better de Balzac story. :-) I was very unhappy with the ending, though, and can only hope that justice was served correctly in the end despite the ending twist. The Commission of Lunacy is the second of de Balzac's Le Comedie Humaine works to have Eugene de Rastignac as a character. Though not a main character in this book, as he was in Le Pere Goriot, where I first came to really like him, this book showed just enough to propel him a bit into his future of the six or seven other de Balzac books that he is in! Over time, I'll probably read them all. Anyway, in this story, de Rastignac asks his good friend, Horace Bianchon, a doctor he was friends with in Le Pere Goriot, to appeal to his uncle...a judge who will be handling the case of a society woman who is trying to have her estranged husband declared insane. The woman, Madame d'Espard, is a very cunning and rich woman who is 33, but acts younger. Her husband left her years before and took along their two young sons, now 15 and 13. Not really caring to protest that move, as the youngsters would have hampered her lifestyle, she is now in a position of flirting with all sorts of men, yet feeding them to the wolves at the same time, as she is very powerful in society. For some reason, the ambitious de Rastignac has his sights set on helping her with her cause, and possibly becoming somehow attached to her good graces and he fortune. Madame d'Espard has brought a commission of lunacy to the courts to have her husband declared insane because he is going through his fortune incredibly fast. The petition states that he is squandering away his fortune to where nothing will be left for his sons, and that he's not raising the sons as society  gentleman as he should be. Furthermore, the way he is squandering the money is by giving it to an ugly old woman and her son who he is not related to in any way. Bianchon asks his uncle, Judge Popinot, to go and dine with madame d'Espard to discuss the petition. Popinot declares that supping with anyone on either side of a case he'll be reviewing is highly unethical, and he refuses. Popinot is a good, hard-working lower court judge who gives all his spare time to helping the poor people in his neighborhood. He doesn't live at all high on the hog, and he's smart as a whip! Bianchon tells his uncle that they can just pay an investigatory visit that doesn't involve dining and the judge agrees. Popinot immediately sizes up Madame d'Espard and by her answers to his very shrewd questions deducts that she only brought this case against her estranged husband because she herself has piled up a massive amount of debt managing her own money (the money she brought to the marriage which the husband had insisted she keep and manage for herself). When the judge suggests this to her, but also says that he will be fair in all things and go and interview the husband as well, Madame d'Espard is not happy to have been called on the carpet. When Popinot goes to see the Marquis d'Espard in his very humble, but homey house where he's raising his two sons with love and education, and to be young gentlemen, it doesn't take very long for the judge to realize that d'Espard is not crazy at all. He is, in fact, quite an honorable man. He had discovered years before that his grandfather's wealth was gained illegally off the backs of the family of the old lady and her son who he was now generously giving money to. In fact, he had sought her out and they had settled on a fair price and he had just finished paying off what he considered to be a debt, and what he considered to be honorable to clearing his name for his sons to continue on in society. He had told his wife this years before...that they needed to downsize and move to the country so he could do the right thing by these people, and she had refused, exploding in his face, allowing him to take the boys and move away and leave her to her society. The judge also gets a chance to meet the two sons, who are well-mannered and loving towards their father and each other. The judge assures Marquis d'Espard that his disclosures are safe with him, and that furthermore, he will be writing up a decision to the petition stating that the Marquis is not insane. As Popinot goes to take his written statement to the courts the next morning he is stopped by the president of the courts who says that he met with his superior who is friends with Madame d'Espard. Madame had told the superior that she had tea with Popinot, which of course, would be grounds for a new judge to be assigned. Popinot vehemently denied having the tea and tried to turn in his decision, but the president of the courts told him that he was removed from the case and there was nothing he could do. I'm sure his nephew, Bianchon, would have been mortified to know that he encouraged his uncle to go to Madame d'Espard's with the outcome that ensued! Popinot leaves the court without being able to turn in his decision and sees that the case has been turned over to a young, ambitious hotshot. The end! :-( It, of course, left me wondering how thing would end for Marquis d'Espard and his boys! Pooh...just when I thought I might get a happy ending for once. Perhaps the next de Balzac book I read with de Rastignac in it will make a reference to the outcome. Right now, though, I think I'll switch gears off of the French drama for a bit. :-)