The Deputy of Arcis by Honoré de Balzac

In provincial France, politics becomes a public performance staged in salons, family homes, and election halls, where ambition, marriage, and money are inseparable. In Arcis-sur-Aube during the heated election season of 1839, Simon Giguet emerges as an anxious, self-important young lawyer, mocked for his speeches yet sustained by family influence, local alliances, and hopes of winning both a nomination and Cécile Beauvisage. Around him, Colonel Giguet's blunt honesty, Madame Marion's liberal salon, and the town's resentment of outside control expose a community alive with vanity, faction, and old grudges. Beneath the comic satire lies a deeper web of political inheritance: the rivalries of Gondreville and Cinq-Cygne, the lingering shadow of the Simeuse trial, and the way Arcis turns elections into tests of honor and status. At the same time, the narrative widens into a mystery of identity and birth, as the speaker learns that a hidden noble connection has placed money in his name and leads him toward the Marquis de Sallenauve, his secret father. Raised in secrecy by Jacques Bricheteau through the upheavals of Empire and Restoration, he confronts a world where class resentment, concealed lineage, and political power shape every destiny. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.