Privately, Bernie Madoff knows that this news will further alarm his institutional investors, especially the overseas hedge funds he is fleecing through his Ponzi scheme. But no one without a crystal ball could know that this epic bailout — detailed under outsize headlines in all the next day’s newspapers and debated on television talk shows as an unwarranted and dangerous intrusion of the federal government into the private sector — will soon look like a mere footnote to the calamity bearing down on Wall Street.

Monday, Sept. 15

September is the perfect time to visit the South of France. The air is sweet and fresh, the vineyards are glowing, and the sea is vivid and clear. Bernie and Ruth Madoff and some friends had come over on the company jet before the weekend. They plan to fly on to Italy after a few days here at the Madoffs’ small stucco town house, tucked into the rear corner of a modest complex called Château des Pins.

But the news from New York is so alarming that the Madoffs and their guests probably just hover inside around the television, ignoring the sunshine on the hills above Cap d’Antibes. Lehman Brothers, one of the most fabled names on Wall Street, filed for bankruptcy this morning, after a frantic weekend of failed negotiations with bank regulators and government officials.

Treasury officials refused to throw a lifeline to Lehman; the Fed did not offer financial backing to attract a willing buyer. This time — after Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — there was no bailout. It is the largest bankruptcy in American history.

Within hours, there are dire predictions that another Wall Street giant, the insurance firm American International Group, is sinking under the weight of its derivatives losses. Beset by fear and seeking capital, executives at Merrill Lynch are rushing into a shotgun wedding with Bank of America. The stock market seems to be in a death spiral, and even seasoned Wall Street veterans are shaken by the faint trace of panic they hear in the voices of customers, regulators and television commentators.

“Let’s go home.” It is the group’s decision, really, not just Bernie’s. Something deep in the bedrock of Wall Street is cracking, and the tremors can be felt even here.

There are calls to the airport to ready the jet. Bags are quickly packed. As the aircraft streaks up to its cruising altitude, perhaps Bernie Madoff takes one last look at the charming landscape dropping away beneath him. He is flying into the financial storm of the century; he will not fly out again.