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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34338-8.txt b/34338-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01ca289 --- /dev/null +++ b/34338-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17187 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Monsieur Cherami, by Charles Paul de Kock + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Monsieur Cherami + +Author: Charles Paul de Kock + +Translator: George Burnham Ives + +Release Date: November 16, 2010 [EBook #34338] +[Last updated: May 17, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: _THE EX-BEAU MEETS THE FEATHER-MAKERS + +"What! you are going so soon! I thought--I hoped----" + +The two girls were already in the omnibus._ + +Copyright 1903 by G. Barrie & Son] + + + + +NOVELS + +BY + +Paul de Kock + +VOLUME II + +MONSIEUR CHERAMI + +PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS + +THE JEFFERSON PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK + + + + +I + +AN OMNIBUS OFFICE + + +The office in question stood near Porte Saint-Martin, at the corner of +the Boulevard and Rue de Bondy, in the same building as the Deffieux +restaurant, which was one of the most popular establishments in Paris in +respect of wedding banquets; so that one who passed that way during the +evening, and often after midnight, was likely to find the windows +brilliantly lighted on the first or second floor, on the boulevard or on +the square, and sometimes on both floors and on both sides; for it +happened not infrequently that Deffieux entertained four or five wedding +parties the same evening. That caused him no embarrassment, for he had +room enough for all; indeed, I believe that, at a pinch, he would have +set tables on the boulevard. + +And there was dancing everywhere, on all sides: in this room, a +fashionable ball; in that, a bourgeois affair; on the floor above, +something not far removed from the plebeian; but it is likely that the +latter was not the least enjoyable of the three, to those who took part +in it; certainly, there was more noise made, at any rate. + +What a home of pleasure! It seems to me that those who live in such +places ought to be always in high spirits, and to have one leg in the +air, ready to dance. That would be tiresome perhaps, but how can one +avoid a longing to be merry when one has constantly before one's eyes a +crowd of merry folk, dancing, eating, drinking, singing, making soft +eyes at one another, or shaking hands with all the warmth of the most +sincere regard! Man is so expansive toward the end of a hearty meal! At +such a time, we all attract and love one another. + +You will tell me, perhaps, that these sentiments rarely outlast the time +necessary for digestion; that even those joyous wedding feasts, during +which the newly married pair look at and speak to each other with such a +world of love in their eyes and of tender meaning in their voices, do +not even wait till the end of the year before they become transformed +into gloomy and depressing pictures. There are many people who have gone +so far as to say that there are only two pleasant days in married life: +that on which the husband and wife come together, and that on which they +part; just as there are but two to the traveller: the day of departure, +and the day of return. + +But people say so many things that are not true! I have known many +travellers who have enjoyed travelling; they were never in a hurry to +return to their firesides. + +I love to believe that it is the same with husbands and wives, and that +there are some who enjoy the married state and have no desire to quit +it. + +But what, in heaven's name, am I chattering about, when we ought already +to have entered the omnibus office, whence public conveyances started +for Belleville, La Villette, Saint-Sulpice, Grenelle, and a multitude of +other places, each farther from Paris than the last? + +One could also purchase at the office in question small bottles of +essence, flasks of perfumed vinegar, blacking, and pomade. Commerce +slides in everywhere! There is no harm in that. Commerce is the life of +nations and of individuals. Everybody is engaged in commerce, even +those who do not suspect it. + +It was a beautiful day, in the middle of June, and a Saturday; three +circumstances which could not fail to result in bringing a large crowd +to the omnibus office, as well as to Deffieux's restaurant. That +restaurant attracts me; I keep going back to it, in spite of myself. +That is to say, that I go back to it, not in spite of myself, but with +all my heart, for one is very comfortable there. Now, you know, or you +do not know--but I should be very much surprised if you didn't,--I +resume: you know that Saturday is the day on which more wedding feasts +occur than on any other day in the week. Why? I fancy that I have +already told you, somewhere or other; but, no matter! let us go on as if +I had never told you. Saturday is the day before Sunday, and therein +lies the whole secret; on Sunday, the government clerks do not go to +their offices, and they are great fellows for marrying; on Sunday, the +mechanics do not work, and the mechanic, too, is very fond of taking +unto himself a housekeeper; lastly, Sunday is the day of rest, and +people say that on the day after one's wedding one needs to rest.--Why +so? Go to! do not ask me such questions! This much is certain--that the +night between Saturday and Sunday is one of the finest nights in the +week, even when there is no moon. + +But, sapristi! here I am still at the restaurant!--You will end by +thinking that I am much addicted to such places. Well, frankly, you are +not mistaken. I frequent them not a little. I often hear people say: +"Don't talk to me of restaurant cooking; it's execrable!"--And those +people think that nothing is good but beef stew, a leg of mutton, and +roast beef. True classics those, in the matter of dishes. O Robert! O +Brillat-Savarin! O Berchoux! Not for such as these did ye write and +compound such delicious things! But be comforted, ye men of refined +taste to whom we owe so much! there are still palates which relish your +merit, which appreciate your skill, and which do not make faces at your +succulent conceptions. + +Again, Saturday, in summer, is the day which many people select for a +trip to the country, to remain until Monday. On the day of which we +write, therefore, the omnibuses were largely patronized; for everyone +was in a great hurry to get to some railroad station, or to the point +where they could take stages for some more or less distant destination. + +So that there was a great crowd at the office by Porte Saint-Martin, and +the clerk whose duty it was to distribute tickets did not know which way +to turn; he had to be constantly on the alert, in order to avoid +mistakes, especially as the travellers did not always confine themselves +to asking for an exchange check or a number, but added irrelevant +reflections, questions, and, in many cases, complaints. + +"An exchange check for La Villette." + +"Here you are, monsieur." + +"When do we start?" + +"When the 'bus comes, monsieur." + +"Will it be long before it comes?" + +"I don't think so, monsieur." + +"A ticket for Belleville, please." + +"Here it is, madame." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! number seventy-five! Are there seventy-four ahead of me?" + +"No, madame; we begin at fifty." + +"Then there are twenty-five ahead of me?" + +"Some of them haven't waited; they won't answer the call, and that puts +the others ahead." + +"A check for Saint-Sulpice." + +"Here you are." + +"Where's the 'bus?" + +"It will come along." + +"Oh! I've got to wait; that isn't very pleasant." + +"_Dame_! monsieur, we can't have 'buses ready to start every minute." + +"Why not? It would be much pleasanter for the passengers; but nothing is +ever done to please the passengers; I must complain to the management." + +"Complain, if you choose, monsieur; that's none of our business." + +"Why, yes, it is your business, too; it ought to be your business, as +you're the one we deal with. What sort of a way is that to answer? Is +that the way you treat passengers here? It seems to me that you ought to +show more respect." + +The man who is going to La Villette approaches the clerk once more. + +"Tell me, have I got time to go to the pastry-cook's to buy a cake?" + +"Why, monsieur, no one interferes with your going.--Here's the Grenelle +'bus--passengers for Grenelle--take your places!" + +"I ask you if I have got time to go to get a cake before my 'bus comes?" + +"Place des Victoires! All aboard for Place des Victoires!" + +"Tell me about getting my cake!" + +"Yes, monsieur; yes, yes, go to the pastry-cook's!" + +And the clerk turns to his comrade, muttering: + +"What a nuisance the fellow is with his cake!--Where should we be if +everybody asked questions like that?" + +A woman, of forty years or thereabout, who could not easily have found a +compartment large enough to hold her, entered the office, leading two +small boys, one of eight and one of four years, who were dressed like +the little trained dogs that do tricks on the boulevards, and whose +noses had evidently been overlooked because of their hurried departure +from home. + +A servant, laden with an enormous basket, from which protruded divers +fishes' tails and bunches of leeks, and with an insecurely tied +pasteboard box, bulging as to the sides and split in several places, +sulkily followed her mistress, hitting everybody with her basket and +box, without a word of apology, but apparently rather inclined to make +wry faces at her victims. + +"I want two seats for Romainville, monsieur--for me and my maid; my boys +don't pay, because we hold them in our laps." + +"Madame, this boy is certainly more than five; he must pay." + +"But, monsieur, I tell you, I hold him in my lap; so we only fill one +seat." + +"That must annoy your neighbors." + +"I don't suppose people ride in omnibuses to be +comfortable!--Aristoloche, where are you going? Stay with your nurse, +sir! Adelaide, do look out for the child; you know how fretful he is!" + +Mademoiselle Adelaide, who looked more like a cook than a lady's maid, +had gone with her packages and planted herself on a bench, between an +old gentleman and an old woman, causing them to jump into the air as if +they were elastic. The shock was so violent that the old woman +shrieked, thinking that she had been electrified. The man, irritated +beyond words by the manner in which the servant had plumped down beside +him, and perceiving that the fishes' tails which protruded from her +basket were caressing the sleeves of his coat, pushed the basket away +with his elbow, exclaiming: + +"What sort of way is that to sit down, throwing yourself onto people? +Pay attention to what you are doing, mademoiselle, and be good enough to +move your basket; I have no desire to have your fish rub against my +sleeves and make them smell like poison." + +"What! what do you say? What's the matter with the old fellow?" + +"I tell you to move your basket; I don't want it under my nose." + +"Where do you want me to put my basket, eh? On the floor perhaps, so +that someone can steal it! Oh, yes! we should have a nice time in the +country, where there's never anything to eat. What harm does the basket +do you?" + +"It smells like the devil!" + +"Nonsense, it's yourself!" + +"I pity the passengers in the 'bus with you; they'll have a fine time!" + +"Shut up, you old cucumber! you'd like to be as fresh as my fish!" + +The epithet old cucumber touched the old man to the quick; he got up and +walked away, muttering: + +"If you weren't a woman, I'd stuff your words down your throat!" + +"Oh, indeed! you'd have plenty to do then, for I feel like saying a good +deal more to you." + +"But, Adelaide, I beg you, look out for Aristoloche; he's going out of +the office." + +"Well, I can't help it, madame; I can't attend to everything; I have +quite enough to do with your box and your basket--and with talking back +to this veteran." + +"Veteran! I believe that you had the face to call me _veteran!_" + +"La Villette--all aboard!--Monsieur, you're for La Villette; hurry up!" + +These words were addressed to the old man who was disputing with +Adelaide, and who, as he left, bestowed a crushing glance on the +servant, who laughed in his face and administered a cuff to young +Aristoloche, the child of four, who, despite his mamma's orders, +persisted in trying to leave the office. + + + + +II + +A BLONDE AND A BRUNETTE + + +"Well, monsieur," said the corpulent dame, pulling over her eldest son's +eyes a small gray felt hat, with a Henri IV crown, and surrounded on all +sides by feathers which drooped like palm-leaves; "we can get tickets +for Romainville, I hope?" + +"We don't sell tickets for Romainville, madame, but for Belleville; +there you'll find the Romainville stage." + +"Oh! you don't sell tickets for Romainville here; that's very +unpleasant. Shall we have to pay again when we change?" + +"Yes, madame; but if you take checks, it will be only four sous twenty +centimes." + +"For each?" + +"To be sure." + +"That's very dear. Narcisse, do pull your hat down, or you'll lose it; +you know it fell off just now on the boulevard, and somebody almost +stepped on it; your fine Henri IV hat is very pretty, you know." + +"I hate it; the feathers make me squint." + +"Hold your tongue, bad boy; your aunt bought that hat for you; you won't +get another for two years!" + +"Take off the feathers, then!" + +"Hush! you don't deserve to be so fine!" + +"Fine! oh, yes! all the boys make fun of me and say I look like a +_chienlit_."[A] + +"They're little villains! They say that from envy, for they'd like right +well to have a hat like yours.--Say, monsieur, can you promise me a seat +in the other 'bus?" + +"Oh! I can't promise you; but if there's no room in that, there's sure +to be in the next one." + +"Do they start often?" + +"Every twenty minutes." + +"Wait twenty minutes! why, that's horrible! Oh! how sorry I am I +promised my aunt to dine with her to-day!" + +"Especially," muttered the servant, "as we have to carry our own dinner +when we dine with her.--A pretty kind of invitation! She don't ruin +herself giving dinner parties!" + +"Here, give me two tickets for Belleville." + +"Here they are, madame." + +"Come here, Aristoloche; come here this minute! Oh! how these children +do torment me! They're like little snakes!" + +"All aboard for Belleville!" + +"Belleville, why that's ours! Take Aristoloche's hand, Adelaide." + +"That's very convenient, when I have a basket and a box already!" + +But before the stout woman, with her servant and the two children, had +left the office, the Belleville omnibus had started off; there was but +one vacant seat, and twenty people were waiting for it. You should have +seen the disappointment depicted on all those faces then. Several +persons, tired of waiting, decided to walk. Others remained in the +square; but the majority returned to the office, where all the benches +were already filled. These public carriages are surely an excellent +invention; but let us admit that they are not equal to the most modest +of char-à-bancs, which is entirely at your service, even when you only +hire it. + +Finding no place to sit inside the office, the dame with the little boys +seated herself and them on a bench outside. As for the servant, she +succeeded in finding room inside; the fish in her basket was of much +assistance to her in inducing others to make room; there was a general +rush to get as far away from her as possible. + +The party with the cake returned, and ran up to the clerk. + +"Well! isn't it about time for us to start?" + +"Where are you going, monsieur?" + +"You know perfectly well--to La Villette." + +"The 'bus started three minutes ago." + +"What! it didn't wait for me! I asked you if I had time to go to buy a +cake, and you said _yes_. You ought to have said _no_, if I hadn't." + +"You shouldn't have been so long about it, monsieur." + +"I thought there was a pastry-cook on Carré Saint-Martin, but I couldn't +find anything but pork-shops." + +"You can take the next 'bus." + +"How soon does it start?" + +"In seven minutes." + +"Then I've got time to go to drink a glass of beer to wash down my cake. +Cafés aren't like pastry-cooks--you can find them anywhere." + +"Be careful, monsieur; seven minutes at the outside." + +"You can keep it waiting a minute if I'm not here." + +"They never wait, monsieur." + +Two rather attractive young women entered the office; they were modestly +dressed, and their hats were so small, and set so far back on their +heads, that they looked to be nothing more than caps. Their general +appearance was that of grisettes. Some writers who study present-day +manners in their studies, or at table in a café, claim that there are no +grisettes now; but I assure you that that is not true; if you do not +find any, it is because you have not made a thorough search. There will +always be grisettes in Paris, where the more or less flighty young +work-girl of the Latin quarter does not pass at one bound from her +modest chamber to the boudoir of a kept mistress. + +One of the young women who entered the omnibus office was a brunette, +with a retroussé nose, defiant eye, smiling mouth, teeth a little too +far apart--but that is better than having false teeth; the other was a +blonde, one of those blondes who have received a light touch of fire; +but that color never yet prevented a woman from being pretty. If you +doubt what I say, go to England or Scotland; auburn-haired women are in +the majority there, and, as a general rule, they are very fascinating. +The blonde grisette was pretty; but she had a sort of stupid expression +which might at first sight pass for modesty; but on talking with her, +you soon discovered that it was really stupidity; therein she formed a +striking contrast to her companion, who had a bright, wide-awake manner. + +"Monsieur," said the brunette, addressing the clerk, "have you any seats +for Belleville?" + +"You must take your turn, mademoiselle." + +"But will our turn be long in coming?" + +"Not very; a good many people have gone." + +In truth, the odor exhaled by the whiting stuffed into Mademoiselle +Adelaide's basket, and the fear of having to travel with her, had led +many persons to start for their destinations on foot. + +"Here, mesdemoiselles, take these two tickets; your turn will come." + +"Say, Laurette, suppose we walk?" said the pretty blonde. + +"Thanks, and tire ourselves out, and arrive all drenched--what fun! For +my part, I don't like to sweat; it uncurls my hair. Mon Dieu! what a +crowd! It's all the rage now; no one is willing to go on foot, and there +aren't enough 'buses." + +"Belleville! Faubourg du Temple!" + +"Ah! here it is! here it is!" + +Further evolutions performed by the stout woman, the two boys, and the +servant, but with no greater success; there were four vacant seats, but +there were other numbers before theirs. The two girls also came forward. + +"There's no more room, except on top," said the conductor. + +"All right! we don't care; we'll go on top." + +"Pardon! ladies are not allowed there."--And the conductor added, with a +wink: "It isn't my fault, you know; nothing would suit me better." + +"I believe you," said a man in a blouse; "if women were allowed to climb +up there, there's lots of men who would pay to be conductors." + +"Why do they say that?" the blonde asked her companion; "what good would +it do the conductors to have women ride in the three-sou seats?" + +"Oh! what a fool you are, Lucie! What! don't you understand?" + +"Why, no." + +"Oh! you make me weary." + +"Never mind; tell me why?" + +"My dear girl, it's a matter of the point of view; that's all." + + + + +III + +THE YOUNG MAN FROM PLACE CADET + + +An awkward, loutish youth entered the office. + +"Place Cadet, monsieur?" + +"This isn't the office; it's out on the boulevard, at the left, just at +the corner." + +"Exceedingly obliged; will there be a seat?" + +"How do you expect us to know, when this isn't the office?" + +"Oh! of course; and that is where I must go for a number? Suppose you +give me one, wouldn't that amount to the same thing?" + +"Why, no, monsieur; the 'bus doesn't stop here." + +"The 'bus is what I want to go on." + +"You can go on it or under it; it's none of our affair." + +"Do you mean that one can ride underneath?" + +The clerk concluded to turn his back on the stupid idiot who asked such +questions. Mademoiselle Laurette, having overheard the dialogue, burst +out laughing, as she said: + +"I'd have sent that fellow to the deuce in short measure. What a booby! +You must need a good stock of patience to answer all those questions!" + +"Ah! mademoiselle, if you were employed in an omnibus office, you'd hear +many things like that!" + +"Really! do you mean to say that there are others like him in Paris?" + +"There are everywhere, mademoiselle." + +Meanwhile, the individual who wished to go to Place Cadet had left the +office; then he halted on the square, looking about him with a confused +air. He spied the stout woman sitting on a bench, between Messieurs +Narcisse and Aristoloche, one of whom was trying all the time to push +away the feathers that adorned the front of his hat, while the other +confined his energies to persistently stuffing one of his fingers into +his nose. Our friend went up to the dame and said, touching his hat: + +"A ticket for Place Cadet, madame, if you please." + +"Do you take me for an omnibus clerk, monsieur?" replied the dame, +sourly; "can't you go to the office?" + +"Pardon me, madame; I just went there, and they told me to apply on the +left, in a corner." + +"Well, monsieur, am I a corner, I should like to know?" + +"_Dame!_ I don't know; they told me to go to the left; I don't see the +office; I don't see the 'bus." + +And the youth returned to the office he had just left, crying: + +"Where is that place where you get tickets for Place Cadet? I can't find +it; can't you come and show me the way?" + +"Well, this caps the climax! If we had to act as guides for everybody +who goes astray, then there would have to be a corps of messengers +attached to the office.--Over yonder, I told you, monsieur; on the other +side of Boulevard Saint-Denis." + +"What! have I got to go all the way to Saint-Denis to get to Place +Cadet?" + +"La Villette! all aboard for La Villette!" + +All those who were bound for that destination hurried from the office, +and in the confusion jostled the youth who wished to go to Place Cadet, +and who persisted in remaining in the office where he had no business, +looking at everybody as if he were disposed to weep. + +"Why do you stay here, monsieur," inquired Mademoiselle Laurette, "when +they told you to go to the office on Boulevard Saint-Denis?" + +"I don't know Boulevard Saint-Denis, mademoiselle; and I am afraid of +losing my way." + +"The trouble is that you ought not to have been let go out alone; some +parents are very imprudent! I'll tell you what you ought to do: go to +one of the messengers over by Porte Saint-Martin; take his arm and give +him ten sous, and he'll take you to Place Cadet; he'll carry you even, +if you're tired." + +"Ten sous! oh! that's too much. You're not going to Place Cadet, are +you, mademoiselle?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur; we're going to the country." + +"Ah! do the omnibuses take people to the country too?" + +"They take you everywhere, monsieur." + +"Really! I have such a longing to see the sea; do the omnibuses give +transfer checks for the seashore?" + +"You have only to ask, and you'll find out." + +The tall clown was on the point of returning to the clerks, but he was +pushed aside by the man who had gone to get a glass of beer, and who +returned to the office with a joyous air, saying: + +"Ah! this time I think I haven't been long; is my La Villette 'bus +coming?" + +"La Villette!--it's just started, monsieur." + +"Oh! that is too much. Why couldn't you make it wait?" + +"They never wait, monsieur." + +"When will there be another one now?" + +"In about ten minutes." + +"Oh! then I have time enough to get a cup of coffee--and a glass of +liqueur to wash down the beer." + +With that, he returned to the café, followed by the tall youth, who +shouted to him from afar: + +"Monsieur, a ticket for Place Cadet?" + + + + +IV + +ONLOOKERS AND LOITERERS + + +A line of carriages, with white-gloved coachmen, semi-bourgeois +equipages, had halted on the square in front of the restaurant; still +another wedding party intending to banquet at Deffieux's. + +A number of people had gathered in front of the door, to watch the +bridal couple enter. Inquisitive folk abound in Paris; perhaps it would +be more accurate to say that they abound everywhere. Why this general +desire to see a bride, when she has not as yet performed all the duties +which that title devolves upon her? Is it simply to see whether she is +pretty, and to read upon her features whether or not she is looking +forward joyfully to becoming a wife? This is a simple question that we +ask, but we will not undertake to answer it. + +Among the persons who had halted there, some in passing, others coming +from the omnibus office, others on the way there, was a tall man, in the +neighborhood of forty-five years, standing very straight, even bending +back a little from the hips, with head erect, nose in air, and his hat +on one side, in true roistering style. + +This person, whose chestnut hair was beginning to be sprinkled with +gray, had very irregular features. His eyes were small and deep-set, of +a pale green shade, but full of fire and animation. His nose was +crooked, slightly turned up, and might almost have been called flat. His +mouth was large, but his teeth were fine, and not one was missing; so +that his smile was not unattractive, especially as he was not over +lavish of it. His chin retreated slightly, his cheek-bones, as a +contrast, were exceedingly prominent; his complexion was high-colored +and blotched, although he was thin both in body and face. With this +unpromising exterior, my gentleman seemed none the less to consider +himself an Apollo. He wore bushy mutton-chop whiskers, which almost met +in the middle of his chin, leaving between them only a very narrow +space, cleanly shaven, which he often caressed with affection, and which +he called his dimple. His manners denoted no less self-assurance than +familiarity with the world; and they would even have borne some traces +of refinement, had he not adopted a sort of mincing gait not unlike that +of a drum-major; but, instead of a great baton, this gentleman had a +slender switch, curved at the top, which seemed to have been painted and +gilded long before, but had lost a large part of its decoration. It was +a very pliable switch, with which he constantly tapped his +trousers-legs. + +His costume did not indicate the dandy, although its wearer affected the +manners of one. His linen trousers, of a very large check, seemed to +have been cut from the skirt of some concierge. His waistcoat was also +of a check pattern, but its colors did not harmonize at all with those +of the trousers; nothing was wanting except the plaid to give him +altogether the aspect of a Scotch Highlander; but, instead of the plaid, +he wore a nut-brown frock-coat, with ample skirts, which he often left +unbuttoned the better to display his slender figure, and in which he +sometimes encased himself hermetically, as if it were a cloak. It is +needless to say that this costume was entirely lacking in freshness. + +This personage, who had a habit of speaking always in a very loud tone, +so that everybody could hear what he said and presumably be struck with +admiration by his wit,--a method of attracting attention which enables +you to divine instantly the sort of man with whom you have to do--this +personage pushed and jostled some of the loiterers, exclaiming: + +"What's all this? what's all this? a wedding party, eh? Mon Dieu! is a +wedding party such a very strange thing that everybody must stop and +push and crowd, to see the couple? Triple idiots of Parisians! On my +word, one would think they had never seen such a thing before!" + +"What's that! what makes you push me so hard to get my place, if there's +nothing to look at?" said a youngster in a blouse, whom the other had +pushed away with some violence. + +"Who is it that presumes to speak to me? God forgive me! I believe that +this little turnspit dares to complain! Look out that I don't teach you +whom you are talking to!" + +"In the first place, I ain't a turnspit; do you hear, you long +flag-pole?" + +That epithet caused the gentleman in the Scotch nether garments to +quiver with rage; he threw himself back and raised his cane, and, in the +course of that evolution, trod on the feet of an old woman who stood +behind him leading a small dog, which was doing its best to avoid being +present at the arrival of the wedding party. + +"Ah! monsieur, take care, for heaven's sake! you're treading on me. A +little more, and you'd have crushed Abdallah!" + +"Very sorry, madame; but I have no eyes in my back. Ah! the rascal who +had the effrontery to reply to me has fled. I will not chase him, +because he's only a child; if he had been a man, he'd have felt my +switch on his shoulders before this." + +"Monsieur, do take care; Abdallah is under your feet!" + +"What's that! what, in God's name, is this Abdallah of yours, madame?" + +"My dear little King Charles.--Come here, come, you runaway!" + +"That beast a King Charles? He's a very ugly water-spaniel, and I +wouldn't give two sous for him. How stupid some people are with their +dogs! Ah! there's the bride, no doubt.--Peste! how lightly we jump down! +Very good! I have my cue. She'll wear the breeches; I can see that at a +glance." + +A young woman, in the traditional bridal costume, had, in fact, alighted +from one of the carriages; she did not wait for the arm which a stout, +chubby-faced papa, already perspiring profusely, who, however, was not +one of the groomsmen, was preparing to offer her. + +The bride was apparently about twenty years of age; she was short and +plump, with light hair, a white skin, and a rosy complexion; she was not +a beauty, but her face was piquant and attractive, with a pleasant smile +of the sort that almost always denotes a quick wit; but smiles do not +invariably fulfil their promises. + +The stout papa, who had come forward too late to assist the bride to +alight from her carriage, was also too late for another lady who +followed her; and he missed a third likewise, because he was very busily +occupied in wiping the perspiration from his brow. + +The gentleman with the check trousers, having turned his eyes upon the +stout man, rushed toward the carriage, exclaiming: + +"Pardieu! I am not mistaken, it's my good Blanquette! Dear Monsieur +Blanquette! Holà, there! I say, Père Blanquette! Holà! is it possible +that you don't know your friends? Just turn your eyes this way!" + +The stout papa, being thus noisily addressed, ceased to wipe his brow, +and, looking in the direction of the crowd, speedily distinguished the +person who had hailed him. Thereupon his face assumed an expression +which denoted annoyance rather than pleasure, and he answered his +interlocutor's greetings with cold and constrained courtesy. + +"Oh! good-day, Monsieur Cherami--glad to see you." + +"So you're of the wedding party, Papa Blanquette?--All in full dress, +eh? You were in the same carriage with the bride." + +"Well, it would be a strange thing if I wasn't of the party, when it's +my nephew who's being married!" + +"Your nephew? Oho! then I understand; I have my cue. What! that dear +little Adolphe--who never wanted to do anything--who didn't take to +anything, as I remember." + +"But he has taken to marriage very readily.--Besides, Adolphe is a big +fellow now." + +"What! it is your nephew whose wedding you are celebrating, and I did +not know it? Such an old friend as I am, too--for you know, Papa +Blanquette, how devoted I am to you! You have seen me in an emergency; +and you let me know nothing about it, and I am not invited to the +wedding! Do you know, Monsieur Blanquette, that I might justly be +offended by such actions, if I were sensitive? But I am not--I leave +that foible to idiots." + +For some moments, the stout man had been listening with but one ear to +the individual whose name we now know. The bridegroom's uncle was +watching the carriages, and, another one having taken the place of that +from which the bride had alighted, he was determined not to be +behindhand again in offering his hand to the ladies; so he hurried to +the door, leaving Monsieur Cherami still talking, and confined himself +to an inclination of the head as he muttered: + +"Excuse me, monsieur; but I have no time; there are some ladies whom I +must assist--I cannot talk any longer." + +Monsieur Cherami compressed his lips, frowned, and shrugged his +shoulders, saying: + +"Ah! this is your way of being polite, is it, you old numskull! He puts +on airs because he's made a little money in Elbeuf broadcloth; as if +that were such a wonderful thing! And to think that I have sent him more +than fifty customers,--my tailor, among others!--and he acts as if he +hardly knew me! All because he has money! a lot of merit in that! for +who hasn't money now? It has become so common that persons of +distinction don't want it." + +"In that case, I fancy that tall, lanky fellow must be very +distinguished!" whispered Mademoiselle Laurette to her friend; for the +two girls had left the omnibus office to see the wedding party, and they +were near enough to Monsieur Cherami to hear what he said. That was an +easy matter, by the way, even at a distance, for our friend talked as +_Mangin_ does when he is describing his drawings in public. + +Meanwhile, the four wedding carriages had discharged their freights, who +had entered the restaurant; then the carriages drove away, and the +bystanders dispersed, except those who had business at the omnibus +office. + + + + +V + +THE CAPUCINE FAMILY + + +Monsieur Cherami remained on the square, staring at the porte cochère of +the restaurant, and tapping his legs with his switch, with a nervous, +jerky movement; he seemed undecided as to the course he had better +pursue, and muttered, quite loud enough, however, to be overheard: + +"I don't know what restrains me; I am tempted to join that wedding +party; I have a perfect right to force myself on that crowd. If I were +dressed, I'd do it. On my word of honor, I'd do it! not that I care so +much for the banquet; I know what a feast is; I've had a hand in a few +of them in my time, God knows! and some that this one can't hold a +candle to. Sapristi! what is this that I feel against my legs?" + +"Don't move, monsieur, I beg you! Abdallah's string has got tangled +round your legs; I'll untwist it." + +"Corbleu! madame, that's a most insufferable dog of yours! When you're +leading a dog, you shouldn't give him so much string." + +The old woman, having succeeded in disentangling her spaniel from our +friend's legs, concluded to take Abdallah in her arms, then went away, +glaring fiercely at all those in her neighborhood. + +But Monsieur Cherami, being rid of the dog, turned about and spied the +stout woman and the two small boys, who were still awaiting an +opportunity to go to Belleville. Thereupon he exclaimed anew, saluting +profusely, and shouting so loud that he attracted the attention of +everybody within hearing: + +"God bless me! do I see Madame Capucine? What a fortunate meeting! I +didn't expect such good fortune. What! you have been here all the time, +madame, and I did not see you!" + +"Yes, Monsieur Cherami; here I am, and here I've been a long, long time, +alas! I'm getting pretty impatient, I tell you; think of having to wait +an hour for seats in an omnibus!" + +"Don't speak of it; it's intolerable! That's the reason I always walk, +myself; I can't make up my mind to wait. Ah! there are the two dear +boys, Narcisse and Aristoloche; they improve every day--they'll be +superb men--they're the living portraits of their mother!" + +A smile, to which she strove to give an expression of modesty, played +about Madame Capucine's lips, as she replied affectedly: + +"Oh! there's a look of the father, too!" + +"Do you think so? No, I can't see it; Capucine isn't a handsome man; an +insignificant face; while his wife---- Ah! the rascal showed taste in +his choice, on my word! But I don't understand how you ever made up your +mind to marry him; if I were a woman, I'd never have done it; it's Venus +and Vulcan over again." + +"Oh! you always exaggerate, Monsieur Cherami; to hear you talk, one +would think my husband was hunchbacked." + +"If he isn't, he ought to have been." + +"What! what do you mean by that?" + +"Sh! I know what I mean. Ah! if Capucine wasn't a friend of mine!" + +"Adelaide! Adelaide! I think that's a green 'bus coming; come here, +quick!" + +The servant left the office, with her basket. Monsieur Cherami greeted +her with an affable bow, which she barely acknowledged, muttering: + +"Bah! there goes the rest of our money! I wonder if that man's coming to +dine with us? If he is, there'll never be enough to eat." + +"Are you going into the country, Madame Capucine?" + +"Yes, monsieur; we're going to Romainville." + +"Have you bought a summer house, a villa, in that neighborhood?" + +"No, monsieur; my Aunt Duponceau has a little place there, and we're +going to pass Sunday with her." + +"You begin the day before, I see." + +"She made me promise to come Saturday with the children. Capucine will +join us to-morrow." + +"Ah! he isn't with you?" + +"It wasn't possible; we can't all leave at once, on account of the +business; it's stretching a point for me to go away with my servant." + +"But you have your clerk?" + +"Monsieur Ballot? Oh! yes, he's still with us; we're very lucky to have +him--a very intelligent fellow, and full of ideas." + +Monsieur Cherami smiled maliciously, as he replied: + +"Yes, yes, I saw at once that he attended to your business very well. +I'm sure that you'll push that young man ahead." + +"Oh! he'll push himself all right. He's coming to Romainville to-morrow +with my husband." + +"The party'll be complete, then; but, meanwhile, you are without an +escort to give you his arm, to look out for you." + +"There is no danger on this little trip." + +"A lovely woman is always in danger. All the men are tempted to carry +her off. They don't always yield to the temptation, but they feel it, I +promise you. Pardieu! I have my cue--a charming plan suggests itself to +my mind: suppose I go with you to Romainville? Your Aunt Duponceau won't +be sorry to see me, I'm sure. Indeed, I believe she urged me one day to +go to see her in the country--yes, she certainly did. What do you think +of that plan, lovely creature?" + +Madame Capucine, having carefully scrutinized her friend's costume, +seemed not at all anxious to take with her to the country a cavalier +whose attire would not do her honor; and so, instead of answering his +question, she observed: + +"By the way, Monsieur Cherami, my husband told me, if I should happen to +meet you, to remind you of that little bill--you know, eh? It's for some +flannel vests, and it's been running a long while. You promised to pay +it; I believe it's about a hundred and thirty francs." + +Monsieur Cherami made a wry face, and struck his hat with his hand, +muttering: + +"Oh! madame, I know very well that I owe you a small account, a trifle, +a mere nothing; but I have had much more important matters than that to +think about." + +"It's been running at least three years." + +"What if it were twenty years! it's a trifle, none the less." + +"Madame, madame! they're calling our numbers; there are some seats." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! I must go. Come, Aristoloche; come, I say. Bonjour! +Monsieur Cherami; think of us when you have time. Mon Dieu! I don't say +it to hurry you, you know. Here I am, conductor." + +Madame Capucine and her boys ran after the servant, and soon all four +were in the omnibus. + +"There are two more seats, mesdemoiselles," said the clerk to the two +grisettes, who also had numbers for Belleville; but Mademoiselle +Laurette shook her head. + +"Thanks," she replied; "we'll give up our chance; we'll wait for the +next; I don't travel with fish. In a boat, it's all right; but in a +carriage it scents you up too much." + +As for Monsieur Cherami, he had hardly responded to Madame Capucine's +farewell; he looked after her with a disdainful air, saying: + +"What a beast that haberdasher is! to talk to me about the balance of an +account, in the street, in broad daylight, when I am kind enough to pay +her compliments and to call her two little brats pretty! Go and sell +your cotton nightcaps, you Hottentot Venus! for that woman strikes me as +a caricature of Venus. Fine stuff her flannel vests are made of; I've +only worn them three years, and they're torn already! I see plainly +enough why you don't care to have me go to Aunt Duponceau's--that might +interfere with your little tête-à-têtes with your clerk Ballot. Oh! poor +Capucine! when I told that huge woman that her husband ought to be +hunchbacked, she knew what I meant. However, I'd be glad to know where I +shall dine to-day; indeed, to express my meaning more frankly, for I can +afford to be frank with myself, I would like to know if I shall dine at +all to-day." + + + + +VI + +MONSIEUR CHERAMI + + +It is a very sad thing to have reached the point where one wonders +whether one will have any dinner. And yet there are every day in Paris +people who find themselves in that predicament; but it is comforting to +know that such people generally end by dining; some very meagrely, to be +sure, others moderately well, and others very well indeed and as if they +were still prosperous. Those who succeed in dining well generally +accomplish that end by some stratagem, by some new exertion of the +imagination, which, however, must well-nigh have exhausted its +ingenuity. What seems to me most surprising is that they dine gayly, +with an excellent appetite, and with no concern for the morrow. One +becomes accustomed to everything, they say; if that is philosophy, I do +not envy the philosophers. + +Especially when one has fallen into adversity by his own fault, his +misconduct, his dissipated life, it would seem that adversity must be +most painful, most bitter, most difficult to endure, and that shame must +be his constant companion. + +Those who are really victims of the injustice of fate, or of the +stupidity of their contemporaries, can, at all events, hold their heads +erect and refrain from blushing because of their poverty. Such were +Homer, who was not appreciated during his life; Plautus, who was reduced +to the necessity of turning a potter's wheel; Xylander, who sold his +work on Dion Cassius to obtain a crust of bread; Lelio Girardi, author +of a curious history of the Greek and Latin poets, who was reduced to a +similar extremity; Usserius, too, a learned chronologist; Cornelius +Agrippa, who wrote on the vanity of learning, and the excellent +qualities of womankind; and the illustrious Miguel Cervantes, to whom we +owe the admirable romance of _Don Quixote_. + +We may add to this list Paul Borghese, who died of hunger; Tasso, who +lived a whole week on a crown, which someone loaned him: true, he ceased +to be poor, but only on the eve of his death; Aldus Manutius, who was so +poor that he became bankrupt simply by borrowing money enough to ship +his library from Venice to Rome, whither he had been summoned; Cardinal +Bentivoglio, to whom we owe the history of the civil wars of Flanders: +he did not leave enough to pay for his burial; Baudoin, translator of +almost all the Latin authors; Vauglas, the grammarian; Du Ryer, author +of tragedies, and translator of the Koran; all these lived in indigence. +But we will pause here; examples are not lacking, but they would carry +us too far; and then, they are not cheerful, and are out of our usual +line; it was Monsieur Cherami's plight which induced us to cite so many. +Let us now return to that gentleman. + +Monsieur Cherami, whom we have seen so poorly dressed, and uncertain as +to whether he will have any dinner, had once occupied a brilliant +position, and had been noted for his dress, his bearing, and his gallant +adventures. His father, who had been an eminent figure in the magistracy +during the Consulate, had no other child. Arthur (such was Monsieur +Cherami's baptismal name) had been petted, fondled, worshipped, spoiled, +and his parents had proposed to make a great man of him. Poor parents! +who believe that they can make their son an eminent personage, just as +they would make him a tailor or a bootmaker. Arthur did become great, +but in stature only. They sent him to school and gave him an excellent +education; young Cherami learned readily enough; he was intelligent and +quick-witted; he became especially strong in such elegant +accomplishments as fencing, riding, and gymnastics; but he had the +greatest aversion for serious work of every sort, and when his parents +asked him: "Do you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a man of letters, a +broker, or a general?" Arthur replied: "I prefer to walk on the +boulevards and smoke big eight-sou cigars." + +This reply, which left nothing to be desired in the way of frankness, +indicated a most generous inclination to consume the fortune which his +parents had so laboriously amassed in business, and which, in fact, they +left to their beloved son without undue delay. At the age of twenty-two, +Arthur, who had as yet done nothing else than promenade and smoke, found +himself an orphan and possessed of thirty-five thousand francs a year. + +Thereupon, he abandoned himself to his taste for pleasure, augmented by +a very keen penchant for the fair sex; and the fair sex is never +ungrateful to a rich and open-handed man. Arthur was not handsome: his +crooked nose, his small eyes, and his pointed chin, did not tend to make +him a very attractive youth; however, the women told him again and again +that he was charming, adorable, irresistible, and he believed it. We are +so ready to believe anything that flatters our self-esteem! And yet, +Arthur was no fool; indeed, he had his share of wit; but he was totally +lacking in common sense, and without common sense, wit, as a general +rule, serves no other purpose than to make one do foolish things. La +Rochefoucauld makes this reflection with respect to women; for my part, +I consider it perfectly applicable to both sexes. + +At thirty years, Beau Cherami had spent, consumed, swallowed, his entire +inheritance. But he had been noted for his costumes, his horses, his +conquests, his love affairs. Eight years to run through a fortune worth +thirty-five thousand francs a year--that is not such a very rapid pace; +we often see young men who use up three times as much in much less time; +to be sure, young Arthur did not gamble on the Bourse. + +Being obliged then to sell his furniture, horses, and silverware, +Cherami lived some time longer on the product of the sale; but his +friends already began to find him less clever and amiable, and the women +no longer called him their handsome Arthur. That was because he could no +longer make them beautiful presents; and instead of loaning money to his +friends and paying their shares of the expense of an orgy, he asked them +to pay for him, and often applied to them for loans. + +At thirty-five, Arthur was what these good friends of his called utterly +_dégommé_: in other words, ruined. After he had lived for some time on +credit, his tailor, his shirtmaker, his bootmaker, refused to trust him +any more; whereupon he was obliged to wear garments that were worn and +faded, and eventually threadbare; hats that had turned from black to +rusty; worn boots that were rarely polished. When Cherami, in this garb, +said to one of his former acquaintances: "I have left my purse at home; +lend me twenty francs, will you?" the acquaintance would make a wry face +and loan him five francs instead of twenty, and sometimes nothing at +all; for a man in a threadbare coat does not inspire confidence. We loan +money to the rich, because we think that they will return it. + +After some time, Beau Arthur found that this last source of income was +exhausted. He had said so often to his quondam friends: "I have +forgotten my purse," or: "I have just discovered that there's a hole in +my pocket," that they fled as soon as they saw him; many of them even +ceased to return his bow, and pretended not to know him. Misfortune is +the reef on which friendship is wrecked. + +However, Cherami still possessed a remnant of his handsome fortune; a +very small remnant, but enough to keep him from starving; and chance had +decreed that the ci-devant beau could not dispose of it, otherwise he +would not have failed to make away with it like the rest. + + + + +VII + +THE COAL DEALER + + +The father of our spendthrift had, shortly before his death, obliged one +of his employés by loaning him eleven thousand francs to start in the +coal business. And the creditor, knowing his debtor's probity, had made +the loan subject to no other condition than this: "You will pay my son +the interest on this sum at five per cent. That makes five hundred and +fifty francs a year that you will have to pay him so long as it doesn't +inconvenience you; and, in any event, not more than ten years. After +that time, your debt will be paid. But it must be understood that I +forbid you ever to repay the principal." + +These conditions were witnessed by no written contract; the merchant had +declined to take his debtor's note. But the latter had faithfully +carried out his former employer's intentions. Every three months, he +brought Arthur one hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty centimes, the +stipulated interest of the money he had received. In his prosperous +days, when he still had an income of thirty-five thousand francs, young +Arthur had often said to Bernardin--that was the coal dealer's name: + +"What the devil do you expect me to do with your hundred and +thirty-seven francs, Bernardin? As if I cared for such a trifle! Go and +have a good fish dinner at La Râpée--with some pretty wench. That will +be much better. I consider that you've paid up." + +But the coal dealer, an upright, economical man, scrupulously exact in +all his dealings, always contented himself with replying: + +"I owe you this money, monsieur; it's the interest on what your late +father was kind enough to give me. I say _give_, because my late +excellent master would not even let me pay him the interest." + +"I know all that, Bernardin; I know all that; but, you see, I don't ask +you for the interest either. You are welcome to keep it; buy bonbons for +your children with it." + +"My children have all they need, monsieur; and I make it a point to +fulfil my engagements." + +"There is no real obligation in this case, as I have no note, no +receipt, from you." + +"Between honest men there's no need of any writing, monsieur. I offered +your father a note, and he positively refused; just as he forbade me +ever to repay the principal on which I pay you the interest." + +"And you are to pay the interest only ten years; I know that too." + +"Oh! as to that, monsieur, I made your father no answer when he added +that condition; but I shall do my duty." + +And the honest coal dealer took his departure, leaving with Arthur the +small sum he had brought. + +When the thirty-five thousand francs a year had disappeared, and Arthur +was reduced to the necessity of turning his furniture into cash, he +received less scornfully the hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty +centimes which Bernardin never failed to bring him on the first of each +of the months when rent falls due. + +One day, Cherami, having no more furniture, jewels, or horses to sell, +had taken a furnished lodging, when Bernardin brought him his quarterly +interest. The faithful coal dealer was informed as to the conduct of his +former employer's son; he had watched the young man squander in riotous +living the fortune which his parents had amassed with such unremitting +toil; sell the house they had left him; then move from a fine hôtel to a +more modest apartment, and finally to furnished lodgings. Bernardin had +never ventured to make the slightest comment; but at each new downward +plunge of the young man, he heaved a profound sigh, and said to himself: + +"O my poor master! it's very fortunate that you do not see your son's +conduct!" + +Now, on the day in question, Arthur, being absolutely penniless, was +overjoyed when his paltry income arrived; but as Bernardin, having paid +the money, was about to leave him, he detained him, saying: + +"Look you, Monsieur Bernardin, I have a proposition to make to you." + +"I am listening, monsieur." + +"You bring me regularly the interest on the eleven thousand francs which +you received from my father; you would be perfectly justified, however, +in ceasing to pay it; for more than ten years have passed, and----" + +"I think I have told you, monsieur, that I should continue to pay it; I +should not consider that I had paid my debt, otherwise." + +"Very good! Far be it from me to blame such scrupulous probity; but I am +going to propose to you a method of paying your debt once for all. Give +me a thousand crowns--three thousand francs--cash; that will gratify me, +indeed, it will be a favor to me, because with three thousand francs one +can do something, you know; whereas I can't do anything at all with your +hundred and thirty-seven francs. So give me that amount in cash, and I +will discharge you entirely and you'll have no more interest to pay me. +Is that satisfactory?" + +"No, monsieur; I can't do that." + +"Why not, if I am satisfied?" + +"It wouldn't satisfy me to discharge a life-rent of five hundred and +fifty francs for three thousand francs; that would be usury." + +"What are you talking about with your usury? if it suits me, if I ask it +as a favor----" + +"No, monsieur; I must not accept this proposition." + +"Very well! then give me the eleven thousand francs you received, as +you're so finical in the matter of probity. In that way, your conscience +will be altogether at rest, and we shall both be satisfied." + +"No, monsieur; I will not hand you the principal sum which I received, +because your father expressly forbade me to do it. That was the first +condition on which he let me have the money; and who knows if he didn't +read the future then? if he didn't foresee that the day would come when +this small income would be his son's last resource?" + +"Monsieur Bernardin, you presume to----" + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur; I do not presume at all. But monsieur must +realize that I am aware of his position." + +"My position? Why, pardieu! it's the position of all young men who have +lived well, who have amused themselves, and adored the ladies." + +"True, monsieur; but perhaps you have been too kind, too generous, to +them." + +"I have done what I chose; if I could begin over again, I would do the +same." + +"I don't doubt it, monsieur; and, of course, you are at liberty to +dispose of your own property." + +"Yes, to be sure I am--that is to say, I was. Come, Bernardin, won't you +give me the eleven thousand francs?" + +"No, monsieur; for, from above, your father would blame me." + +"Give me a thousand crowns, then." + +"Not that, either; but I shall continue to pay monsieur the interest; +and if I should die to-morrow, my children would continue to pay it. Oh! +it's a sacred thing, and monsieur can rely upon it." + +"Very good! pay me three years in advance: sixteen hundred and fifty +francs. You can't refuse me that?" + +"Excuse me, monsieur; I do refuse, and in your own interest; for you +would spend the three years' interest in less than six months; and then +you would not have even that trifling resource." + +"Monsieur Bernardin, do you refuse to make me any advance?" + +"I cannot do it, monsieur." + +"Very well! off with you, then; I have my cue!" + +Bernardin saluted his late master's son with the utmost respect, and +took his leave. + +Some time after, when he was in a most desperate plight, Arthur Cherami +had renewed his urgent solicitations to Bernardin, in the hope of +obtaining a little interest in advance or a portion of the principal; +but all his entreaties were of no avail. The old fellow was not to be +moved, and his resolution was the more inflexible because he knew that +by acting thus he was saving a modest income for his benefactor's son. + +The years passed. Far from becoming wiser in the school of adversity, +the ci-devant Beau Arthur retained the same passions, the same faults, +and the same impertinence, as in his prosperous days. Doubtless +forty-six francs a month is a very small allowance; it amounts to about +thirty sous per day; and when with that amount a man must board, lodge, +and clothe himself, he must needs live very sparingly. However, in this +Paris of ours, where living is said to be so expensive, since the +opening of those beneficent establishments for the sale of soup and +cooked beef, and especially since those establishments have conceived +the happy idea of serving their own products, a man may dine for seven +sous; yes, reader, for seven sous! to wit: soup, two sous; beef, three +sous; bread, two sous. And that man will have eaten more healthful and +more nourishing food than he who, for thirty-two sous, regales himself +with soup, his choice of three entrées, dessert, bread at discretion, +and a pint of wine. + +But when Monsieur Cherami received his quarterly interest, instead of +husbanding that small sum, his last resource, paying some few debts, and +dining inexpensively at one of the soup-kitchens, he would betake +himself, with head erect and an arrogant air, to one of the best +restaurants in Paris, take his seat with a great flourish, call the +waiter, and order a sumptuous dinner of the daintiest dishes and the +most expensive wines; and all in such wise that everybody who was in the +room could hear him. In short, he would resume his rôle of dandy, +forgetting that he no longer wore the costume of the rôle, yet imposing +respect on the multitude by his lordly manner. + +Some said: "He's an original, who affects a shabby costume to conceal +the fact that he's a millionaire." Others: "He is some foreigner, some +eminent personage, who desires to remain incognito in Paris." + +And the waiters served promptly and with the utmost respect this party +in a threadbare frock-coat, who ate truffled partridges and drank +champagne frappé; and when he paid his bill, Cherami never took the +change which the waiter brought him, even if it amounted to two or three +francs. + +"All right!" he would cry; "keep that; it's for you!" + +Thereupon, the waiter would bow to the ground before so generous a +patron; and he would stalk forth proudly from the restaurant, enchanted +with the effect he had produced. And the next morning he would have +nothing with which to procure a dinner. + +I beg you not to believe that this character is an imaginary one; that +there are no men foolish enough to act in this way; there are, and many +of them. For our own part, we have known more than one. + +But when naught remained of the small quarterly payment, he had to live +anew on loans and stratagems; he had to content himself with the very +modest fare of a cheap restaurant, where the mistress was willing to +supply him on credit because he flattered her and compared her with +Venus, although she was blear-eyed and had a purple nose. In that place +he could not order champagne and truffles, to be sure; that would have +been a waste of time; but Cherami found a way, none the less, to make a +sensation: shouting louder than anybody else, bewildering everybody with +his chatter, and always having some marvellous adventure to relate, of +which he was the hero, and in which he had performed wonderful exploits. +If one of his auditors seemed to doubt the veracity of his narrative, he +would insult him, threaten him, challenge him, insist on fighting him +instanter, and, in order to pacify my gentleman and restore peace, the +person abused must needs treat him to nothing less than a cup of coffee +followed by a _petit verre_ of liqueur. As for the waiters, as he had +nothing to give them, he treated them like dogs, and threatened them +with his switch when they did not serve him promptly enough. + +If, instead of passing his time in smoking and loitering, Monsieur +Cherami had chosen to do something, he might have increased his income, +and have lived without constantly resorting to loans. He was well +informed; he retained from his early education a superficial idea of +many things; he knew quite a lot, in fact, and might have passed for a +scholar in the eyes of those who knew nothing. His handwriting was so +good that he could have obtained work as a copyist. In his youth, he had +studied music, and he could play the violin a little; he might have made +something of his talent in that direction and have found a place in the +orchestra of a second-class theatre, or played in dance-halls for the +grisette and the mechanic. + +But the ci-devant Beau Arthur considered every sort of work that was +suggested to him very far beneath him; he thought that he would degrade +himself by becoming a copyist or a minstrel, and he was not ashamed to +borrow a hundred sous when he knew that he could not repay them. What do +such people understand by the word _honor_? Let us conclude that they +fashion a kind of honor for their own use, just as some painters paint +scenes from nature in which there is nothing natural, but which by +common consent are called conventional nature. + +One day, when he was without a sou, having been denied by all those from +whom he had sought to borrow, and not daring to go to his cheap +restaurant, because the mistress was absent, Cherami found himself +confronted by the stern necessity of going without a mouthful of dinner, +when it occurred to him to call upon his payer of interest. So he set +out for the abode of the coal dealer, saying to himself on the way: + +"Bernardin always refuses to make me the smallest advance; but, +sacrebleu! when I tell him that I have nothing with which to pay for a +dinner, it isn't possible that he will let me starve to death." + +The modest tradesman was just about to sit down to dinner with his +family when Cherami appeared, crying: + +"The deuce! it would seem that you are about to dine! You're very lucky! +For my part, I haven't the means to pay for a dinner. Lend me a crown, +Bernardin, so that I can satisfy my hunger, too." + +"I never have money to loan," the coal dealer replied respectfully; "but +if monsieur will do us the honor to take a seat at our table, we shall +be happy to offer him a share of our modest dinner." + +"Oho! that's your game! Well, so be it!" rejoined Cherami, taking his +seat without further parley. + +But Bernardin's dinner was very simple; it consisted of soup, beef, and +a dish of potatoes. The wine was Argenteuil, and very new. + +Cherami exclaimed that the soup was watery, the beef tough, and the wine +execrable; for dessert there was nothing but a piece of Géromé cheese, +which he declared to be fit only for masons; and he was much surprised +that they did not take coffee after the meal; in short, he rose from the +table in a vile humor, saying to Bernardin and his wife: + +"You live very badly, my dears; you live like rustics; I shall not dine +with you again." + +That was his only word of thanks to his hosts. + + + + +VIII + +THE RESTAURANT IN PARC SAINT-FARGEAU + + +On the day on which our tale opens, Arthur Cherami found himself anew in +this perplexing plight, which was aggravated by the circumstance that he +had gone without dinner on the preceding day. + +To be sure, he had only to go to Bernardin's, where he was very sure +that they would not refuse to give him a dinner, in default of cash. But +you know that our ex-high-liver was far from satisfied with the meal of +which he had partaken at the coal dealer's board; not only did he find +everything bad, for my gentleman, even in his poverty, was still very +hard to please, but he had discovered that at his debtor's house it +would be of no use for him to try to _blaguer_--that is to say, to put +on airs, to lie, to display his impertinence. The coal dealer's family +did not even smile at the extraordinary tales he told, and it was that +fact which had irritated Cherami even more than the simplicity of the +dinner, perhaps. At the cheap resort to which he was obliged to go +sometimes, he was content with a wretched, ill-cooked dish, because, +while he ate it, he could talk at the top of his voice, speechify, and +force most of the habitués of the place to listen to him. We know how he +compelled those who ventured not to believe all that he said to pay for +his coffee. + +Arthur had no business whatever at the omnibus office, but he knew that +one frequently meets acquaintances at such places. Amid the constant +going and coming, departures and arrivals, it is no uncommon thing to +meet someone whom you have not seen for a long time, and whom you did +not know to be in Paris. So that Arthur, who had nothing to do, +frequently visited the railroad stations, where he walked to and fro in +front of the ticket offices, as if he were expecting someone; and, in +fact, he was always expecting that chance would bring there some +acquaintance from whom he could borrow five francs. + +Or he would go and take his stand in front of an omnibus office, always +with the same hope. On this occasion he had, in fact, met several +acquaintances, but the result had not fulfilled his expectations. Coldly +greeted by Papa Blanquette, repulsed by Madame Capucine, he was +beginning to think that he should not make his expenses, and he said to +himself, but not aloud as usual: + +"Sapristi! what times are these we live in? The world is becoming vile +beyond cleansing! No courtesy, no affability, no good manners! Formerly, +when I met a friend, my first words were: 'You must come to dine with +me.'--He might accept or not, but I had made the offer. To-day, I meet +nobody but cads, who are very careful not to offer me the slightest +thing; indeed, many of them presume to pass me by, and act as if they +didn't know me. There are others who carry their insolence so far as to +dare to ask me for some paltry hundred-sou pieces which they have loaned +me and I have not paid. Pardieu! I've loaned them plenty of 'em in the +old days; and I never asked for them, because I knew it would be of no +use. As if one ever returned money loaned among friends! As if what +belongs to one doesn't belong to the other! That's the way I understand +friendship--that noble, genuine friendship which united Castor and +Pollux, Damon and Pythias, Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades. +Do we find in the _Iliad_ that Patroclus ever said to Achilles: 'I +loaned you a hundred sous, or twenty francs; I want you to pay them'? +Bah! nothing of the sort; there's no instance in history of such a +thing! And I defy all my former companions in pleasure to cite a single +one. However, I am conscious to-day that the need of eating is making +itself felt; I can't go to my little cabaret on Rue Basse-du-Temple, for +the mistress is sick; her husband takes her place at the desk, and he is +always ill-disposed toward me; he presumes to ask me for money! Vile +turnspit! do you suppose I would go to your place for food if I had +money? Ah! there's Bernardin; I am sure of a dinner there; but I am +horribly bored with those good people. And then, it wounds my +self-esteem to dine with one of my father's former clerks. Corbleu! can +it be that, like Titus, I have wasted my day?" + +And Cherami, still tapping his trousers with his switch, cast his eyes +about him. Thereupon he spied the two girls who were waiting to go to +Belleville. + +"There are two little grisettes, whose aspect rather pleases me," he +said to himself, throwing his weight on his left hip; "a blonde and a +brunette--meat for the king's attorney, as we used to say at the club. +They're pretty hussies both; the blonde has a rather stupid look, but +the dark one has wit in her eye.--Suppose I should try to make a +conquest by offering them a good dinner? Ten to one, they'll accept! I +know the sex; these girls are so fond of eating! Yes, but in that +case--they'll have to pay for the dinner; that might embarrass them, and +I don't want to embarrass any woman. But if I did, I should do no more +than avenge myself." + +While making these reflections, Cherami had walked toward the young +women; he struck a pose in front of them, humming a lively tune, and +darted a glance at them into which he put all the seductiveness of which +he was still capable. The young women looked at each other and laughed +heartily; Mademoiselle Laurette went so far as to say, in a bantering +tone: + +"That must be a smoke-pipe from the Opéra-Comique that has a vent in +this neighborhood; however, it's better than an escape of gas." + +"Aha! we are clever and satirical!" said Cherami, addressing +Mademoiselle Laurette; "I had guessed as much, simply by observing your +saucy face." + +"Why, I don't know what you mean, monsieur!" replied the girl, trying to +assume a serious expression. + +"I was simply answering the reflection in which you just indulged on the +subject of a roulade which I ventured to perform, and which, perhaps, +was not rendered with perfect accuracy." + +"But, monsieur, I really didn't know that you were singing; I was saying +to my friend Lucie that we should be very late in getting to the +restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau, and that I didn't know whether there +was dancing there on Saturday." + +"Aha! so the young ladies are going to Parc Saint-Fargeau?--That is just +beyond Belleville, I believe?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"And there's a restaurant there now, where they have dancing? Pardon me, +I ask simply for information, being a great lover of places where one +can dine well--and enjoy one's self; and it's a long while since I have +been in that neighborhood." + +"In that case, you'll find great changes. Yes, monsieur; there is a +restaurant now in Parc Saint-Fargeau, with a large garden where there's +a pond. But it's no toy pond; it's big enough for a boat, and you can go +rowing; it's quite big, and there's an island in it which you can row +around if you're very careful, for the water's quite deep." + +"You can be drowned in it," observed Mademoiselle Lucie. + +"Oho! one has also the right to drown one's self, eh?" + +"Why, yes! if you should fall into the water!" + +"True. And there's a dance-hall, you say?" + +"Yes, monsieur; one out-of-doors, and one inside for rainy days." + +"Good; I see that everything is complete; and if, with all the rest, the +cooking is good----" + +"Very good; and they give you fine _matelotes_, because they catch the +fish on the spot." + +"This rustic restaurant will certainly receive a call from me very soon; +indeed, I would go there to-day--delighted to take the trip with you, +mesdemoiselles--if I were not expecting someone--who, I am beginning to +think, will not come. It's an infernal shame! we are invited to dine at +the Palais-Royal; it's almost five o'clock now, and we shall break our +engagement and they'll dine without us, all on his account!" + +"You'll dine somewhere else; that's all. There's no lack of restaurants +in Paris." + +"Vive Dieu! who knows that better than I! So I have no difficulty on +that score--that is to say, I don't know which to select, and if you +young ladies will do me the honor to accept a little dinner in the +suburbs----" + +"Thanks, monsieur; but we don't accept dinners; besides, we are to meet +someone at Parc Saint-Fargeau." + +"That's just the reason I venture to invite them," said Cherami to +himself.--"Are you young ladies engaged in business?" he asked. + +"Yes, monsieur; we make feathers; we work in one of the best shops on +Rue Saint-Denis; but to-day is the mistress's birthday; that's why we +have the whole day to ourselves." + +"Enchanted to have made your acquaintance. Ah! so you're in feathers--a +charming trade for a woman! They have the same volatility: birds of a +feather flock together." + +"Is he talking nonsense to us?" whispered Mademoiselle Lucie in her +friend's ear. + +"Why, no, stupid; not at all; that's a compliment." + +"Belleville! passengers for Belleville!" + +"Here's the Belleville 'bus, Laurette, and they're making signs that +there are seats for us." + +"Oh! we must run, then. Bonjour! monsieur." + +"What! you are going so soon! I thought--I hoped----" + +The two girls were already in the omnibus, which soon disappeared. +Cherami turned on his heel, muttering: + +"They were shrewd to refuse my dinner. Peste! how should I have got out +of it? I'm not sorry to have had a chat with the little dears--one's +name is Laurette, and the other's Lucie, or Lucile; they may be +desirable acquaintances, on occasion; if I ever want to buy feathers, +for instance." + + + + +IX + +ANOTHER WEDDING PARTY + + +A young man of some twenty-five years, fashionably dressed, but whose +costume was in some disorder, suddenly appeared upon the scene. He was +walking very fast, and did not stop until he reached the porte cochère +of the Deffieux restaurant. There he halted, and gazed under the porte +cochère with every indication of anxiety, not to say distress; then +looked all about him and along the boulevard. From the pallor of his +cheeks, the distortion of his features, the expression of his eyes, it +was easy to see that he was suffering keenly, and that his distress was +augmented by the expectation of some impending event. Cherami had no +sooner espied the young man, than the latter ran to where he stood and +said, in a trembling voice: + +"Have you been here some time, monsieur?" + +"Why, yes, monsieur; quite a long time." + +"I beg your pardon, but in that case you can tell me---- Have you +noticed a wedding party arrive at this restaurant?" + +"A wedding party? Certainly, I have seen one; it's only a short time +since the carriages went away." + +"They have arrived already? I thought I should be here before them." + +"No; you are late." + +"They have gone in?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I had a very good view of the bride." + +"You saw Fanny?" + +"I don't know whether her name's Fanny, I'm sure; but what I do know is +that she's very pretty." + +"Oh! yes, monsieur; she's charming, isn't she?" + +"She's a very pretty bride, without being a beauty." + +"Oh! monsieur, there's no lovelier woman on earth." + +"That's a matter of taste. I don't propose to contradict you." + +"Was she pale, trembling? did she look as if she had been crying?" + +"Why, not at all! She was fresh and rosy and affable; she laughed as she +jumped out of the carriage; then I saw her figure, which isn't so bad, +although she's a little stout." + +"Stout! why, no! she's slender and rather small." + +"I tell you, she's decidedly plump. But that does no harm in a blonde; a +thin blonde is too much like a feather-duster." + +"Blonde? Fanny is dark! You made a mistake, monsieur; it wasn't the +bride that you saw." + +"It wasn't the bride that I saw? Oh! I beg your pardon, monsieur; I +can't be mistaken, for I talked with the groom's uncle, whom I know very +well, Papa Blanquette, wholesale linen-draper." + +"Blanquette! I beg your pardon, monsieur; the party you saw isn't the +one I am expecting." + +"Faith! it's not my fault. You ask me if a wedding party has arrived at +this restaurant, and I tell you what I've seen. It seems that that isn't +the one you are looking for; pray be more explicit, then." + +"Oh! monsieur, pardon me; it's no wonder that I make mistakes, I am in +such agony!" + +"Agony? The deuce! In truth, you are very pale. Where's the pain?" + +"In my heart!" + +"The heart? Why, in that case, you must take something. Come with me to +a café; I know what you need; I often have a pain in my heart." + +"No, no! I won't leave this spot until I have seen her--the perfidious, +faithless creature!" + +"You are waiting for a faithless creature, eh? That ought not to prevent +your taking something to set you up. You are horribly pale; you'll be +ill in a moment. When one is waiting for a perfidious female, one needs +strength, courage, nerve! Come and take a plate of soup; there's a +soup-kitchen close by." + +"Ah! here they are! here they are! Yes, I am sure that these are they; I +know it by the way I feel. Look, monsieur; do you see those carriages on +the boulevard?" + +"Yes, this seems to be another wedding party. Peste! this is evidently a +swell affair." + +"The carriages are coming here--do you see, monsieur?" + +"Glass coaches, with footmen in livery!--this goes away ahead of the +Blanquette party." + +"They are stopping here. Come, let us go nearer." + +"Yes, yes. Oh! never fear; I'll not leave you. Is your unfaithful one +there?" + +"Fanny! She has married another--and I loved her so dearly!" + +"Poor boy! I understand your suffering, now." + +"Oh! I would like to die before her eyes." + +"No nonsense! As if any man ought to die for a woman! Pshaw! there's +nothing so easy to replace!" + +The first carriage of this second wedding party had stopped at the door; +four young men alighted, fashionably dressed all, and of genteel +bearing. One of the four was evidently the hero of the ceremony; it was +he who gave the orders, sent his groomsmen to the other carriages, or +told them to whom they were to offer their arms. He was a little older +than the others, apparently about thirty, and his life had evidently +been well occupied, for his strongly marked, but jaded, features denoted +excess of toil or of dissipation. He was a good-looking fellow, tall and +slender, with an air of distinction; but there were dark rings around +his great, brown eyes, his lips were thin and compressed, his smile was +rather satirical than amiable, his forehead was already furrowed by +numerous wrinkles, and he frowned repeatedly when he spoke with the +slightest animation; his hair, which was of a glossy black and trimmed +close, was already decidedly thin in front, and scarcely plentiful +enough elsewhere to protect the top of his head. + +"That's he! that's Auguste Monléard!" the young man to whom Cherami had +attached himself murmured, with a shudder; and, as he spoke, he gripped +his companion's arm in a sort of frenzy. But Cherami, far from +complaining of that liberty, passed his arm through his new +acquaintance's, saying: + +"Ah! that young man is Auguste Monléard, is he? Wait! wait! Monléard; I +knew a Monléard, twenty years ago, but this can't be the same man. Is he +the groom?" + +"Yes; it is for him that she has forgotten me, thrown me aside." + +"She is wrong. That young man is good-looking, but you are younger; and +then, too, that fellow looks to me as if he had had a devilishly +intimate acquaintance with the joys of life!--I don't impute it to him +as a crime--but he'll soon have to wear a wig." + +"Ah! I am strongly inclined to go and strike him across the face!" + +The young man had already started to attack the bridegroom; but Cherami +detained him, putting his arm about him. + +"What are you going to do? make a fool of yourself? I won't allow it. +Well-bred people don't fight with their fists. If you want to fight with +the groom, very good; I consent, I will even be your second; but you +have plenty of time, and you must agree that this would be an ill-chosen +moment." + +The poor, lovelorn youth was not listening; another carriage had stopped +in front of the restaurant. In that one there were ladies, among them +the bride, who was easily recognizable by her head-dress of orange +blossoms. She was a young woman of small stature, slender and dainty. +Her hair was brown like her eyes, which were large, fringed by long +lashes, and surmounted by slight but perfectly arched eyebrows. Her +mouth was small and intelligent; she rarely showed her teeth, because +they were uneven. She was an attractive woman, nothing more; a man must +have been deeply in love with her to declare that there was no lovelier +creature on earth. But for a man who is deeply enamored, there is but +the one woman on earth; consequently, she must be the fairest. The +bride's most remarkable points were her hands and feet, which were +extraordinarily small, and worthy to be a sculptor's model. + +The groom stepped forward to offer his arm to his wife, to assist her to +alight. She barely rested her hand upon it, and, light as a feather, she +was already on the ground, where she seemed busily occupied in looking +to see if her dress had been rumpled in the carriage. + +"There she is! it is she! it is Fanny!" murmured the young man, leaning +heavily on Cherami. + +"She doesn't look to me at all as if she'd been crying," was the reply. + +"Mon Dieu! can it be that she will not look in this direction?" + +"What's the use? She would see that you are pale and distressed, with +the look of a disinterred corpse; that's no way to appear before a +woman, to make her regret you." + +"She would see how I suffer; she would realize that I shall die of +grief!" + +"I promise you that that wouldn't prevent her dancing this evening. I am +a good judge of faces, and I divine that that woman has a cold +disposition, heart ditto; there's very little feeling under that cover, +or I am immeasurably mistaken." + +Meanwhile, other ladies had left their carriages, and numerous young +women, who flocked about the bride; one fastened a pin; another adjusted +the folds of her veil; another remade her bouquet; and while they +attended to these trivial details of the toilet, which are so momentous +in a woman's eyes, especially a bride's, she glanced here and there, and +soon her eyes fell upon the pale, dishevelled, heart-broken young man; +for he had thrust aside all those who stood in front of him and who +prevented him from gazing at his ease upon her for whom he had come +here. + +A faint tremor of emotion passed over the bride's features; there was in +her eyes a momentary expression of pity, of sympathy; but it did not +indicate suffering on her own part; and as her husband, who had noticed +her preoccupation, hurried toward her at that moment, she speedily +changed her expression, assumed an amiable, joyous manner, and accepted +his arm with pretty, caressing little gestures. + +Thereupon the young man, whom Cherami held by the arm, could not +restrain a paroxysm of rage, crying: + +"Oh! this is frightful! not a glance of regret, of farewell, for me! She +sees my suffering, my despair, and she smiles at that man! and she walks +off on his arm, with joy and happiness in her eyes!" + + + + +X + +THE YOUNGER SISTER + + +At that moment, one of the young women who had arrived in the bride's +carriage ran hastily to him whom the wedding party made so miserable, +and said to him in an undertone, but in a voice overflowing with +kindness and sympathy: + +"Why are you here, Gustave? Why did you come? You promised me to be +brave." + +"I am, mademoiselle; you see that I am--for I did not overwhelm the +false creature with reproaches, here, before her husband's face, before +her new relations!" + +"Ah! that would have been very ill done of you; and how would it have +helped you? I implore you, Gustave, be reasonable.--Do not leave him, +monsieur, will you?" + +The last question was addressed to Cherami, who hastened to reply: + +"I! leave my dear Gustave in the state he's in now! I should think not! +What do you take me for, mademoiselle? I will cling to him as the ivy to +the elm. If he should throw himself into the water, I would follow him! +But, never fear; he won't do it. Oh! I am here to look out for him; he +has no more devoted friend than me." + +At that moment, several voices called: + +"Adolphine! Adolphine! do come!" + +"They are looking for me and calling me," murmured the young woman. +"Adieu! Gustave; but if you have the slightest regard for me, you will +not abandon yourself to your grief. You won't, will you? I implore you!" + +And the amiable young woman, as light of foot as a gazelle, disappeared +under the porte cochère, as did all the other persons whom the carriages +had brought. + +"There's a little woman who pleases me exceedingly!" cried Cherami; "she +must be the bride's sister or cousin, at least. For my part, I think +that she's prettier than the bride. Perhaps her eyes aren't as big; but +they are sweet and tender and kind; and then, they are blue, which +always denotes true feeling: I have studied the subject. Her hair's not +as dark as the other's, but it's of a light shade of chestnut which does +not lack merit. Her mouth isn't so small, but neither are her lips so +thin and tightly shut as the bride's. Distrust thin lips; they're a sure +sign of malignity and hypocrisy. Lastly, she is less dainty than your +faithless Fanny, but she is taller; her figure has more distinction and +elegance. All in all, she is an exceedingly attractive person, this +Mademoiselle Adolphine; I say _mademoiselle,_ for I suppose that she +still is one. Have I guessed right?" + +But Gustave was not listening to his new friend. He stood with his eyes +fixed on the door through which the wedding party had passed, apparently +under the spell of a vague hallucination. + +Cherami shook his arm, saying: + +"Well, my dear Monsieur Gustave--I know your name now, and I shall never +forget it; you probably have another, which you will tell me later. +Come, what do you propose to do? Everybody has gone inside; we two alone +are left at the door; the carriages have gone away, or are waiting on +Rue de Bondy, and you have seen what you wanted to see. I presume that +you do not intend to stay here until the wedding guests go home to bed; +that might carry you too far. Come, sacrebleu my dear friend--allow me +to call you by that name; I merit the privilege by the interest I take +in you--you heard what that fascinating young woman said, who came and +spoke to you with tears in her voice and her eyes--yes, may I be damned +if she hadn't tears in her eyes, too! She begged you, implored you, to +be brave, did the charming Adolphine--I remember her name, too. Well! +won't you do what she asked? What the devil are you waiting for in front +of this door? those people have all gone to dinner, and we must follow +their example and ourselves go and dine. I say _we_ must go, because I +promised the excellent Adolphine not to leave you, and, vive Dieu! I +will keep my promise! I am expected at a certain place, to eat a +truffled turkey; but there are truffled turkeys elsewhere, so that +doesn't trouble me. Well! what do you mean to do? You can't seduce a +woman by starving yourself to death." + +"I want to speak to Fanny's sister." + +"The bride's sister? Oh! I see, that's Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Yes, she's the one I mean. I had many things to say to her, to ask her, +just now. I was so confused, I couldn't think, I had no time." + +"You want to speak to that young lady again; that seems to me rather +difficult, for the whole party has gone in--unless--after all, why not? +This is a restaurant, and although there are several wedding parties +here, that doesn't prevent the restaurateur from entertaining all the +other people who come here to dinner. Come, let's dine here; what do you +think?" + +"Oh! yes, yes! let us go in here and dine. We will ask for a private +room near the wedding party, and during the ball--or before--I can see +her again. I can speak to Adolphine." + +"Pardieu! once there, we are in our castle; we will set up our +batteries, and no one has the right to send us away; we can sup there, +and breakfast to-morrow morning; so long as we eat, they will be +delighted to have us stay." + +"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are to take an interest in my troubles, to +lend me your support, although you do not know me, do not know even who +I am!" + +"Oh! I am a physiognomist, my dear friend. At the very outset, you +aroused my interest; besides, I love to oblige; I do nothing else! Let's +go and dine." + +"We will ask where the Monléard party is, monsieur; we will take a room +on the same floor." + +"Agreed! Let's go and dine." + +"Without any apparent motive, I will question the waiter. Indeed, I can +speedily enlist him in my interest with a five-franc piece." + +"He will be entirely devoted to you. Let's go and dine." + +"I will tell him to place us as near as possible to the room where the +ladies are talking." + +"But, sacrebleu! if we delay much longer, there'll be no vacant room +near your wedding party." + +"You are right! Come, come!" + +"At last!" said Cherami to himself, striding behind young Gustave; "this +time, I have my cue!" + + + + +XI + +A CALCULATING YOUNG WOMAN + + +The five francs given by young Gustave to a waiter instantly produced a +most satisfactory result. He placed the new-comers in a private room on +the first floor, at the end of a corridor; and the large hall in which +Monsieur Monléard's wedding feast was to be given was at the other end +of the same corridor. Gustave would have preferred to be nearer the +scene of festivity, but that was impossible; and his companion persuaded +him that they were much better off at the end of the corridor, where +Mademoiselle Adolphine could, if she chose, come to exchange a few words +with him, unobserved by the wedding guests. + +"And now, let us dine!" cried Cherami, hanging his hat on a hook; "I +will admit that I am hungry. All these events--your distress--your +despair--have moved me deeply, and emotion makes one hollow. You also +must feel the need of refreshment, for you are very pale." + +"I am not at all hungry, monsieur." + +"One isn't hungry at first; but afterward one eats very well. Besides, +we came here to dine, if I'm not mistaken." + +"Look you, monsieur; have the kindness to order--ask for whatever you +choose--whatever you would like; but don't compel me to think about it." + +"Very good; I agree. In truth, I am inclined to think that's the better +way! With your abstraction, your sighs, you would never be able to +order a dinner; you would order veal for fish, and radishes for prawns, +while I excel in that part of the game. You see, I have lived, and lived +well, I flatter myself! Some madeira first of all, waiter--and put some +Moët in the ice; meanwhile, I will make out our menu!" + +The madeira having been brought, Cherami immediately drank two glasses +to restore the tone of his stomach; then he took the bill of fare, and +took pains to order the best of everything. The waiter, who scrutinized +our friend's costume while he was writing, would probably have displayed +less zeal in serving him, had not his companion begun by slipping five +francs into his hand. But that spontaneous generosity had given another +direction to the waiter's ideas, and he concluded that the gentleman +with the check trousers was a Scotchman who had not changed his +travelling costume. + +While Cherami wrote his order, young Gustave was unable to sit still for +a moment; he went constantly to the door and took a few steps in the +corridor, then returned to question the waiter, to whose particular +attention Cherami commended his menu. + +"Waiter, is the wedding party at table yet?" + +"They sat down just a moment ago, monsieur." + +"Above all things, don't have the fillet cooked too much." + +"Never fear, monsieur." + +"Where is the bride sitting?" + +"At the middle of the table, monsieur." + +"And well supplied with truffles." + +"By whose side?" + +"I think her father's on one side, monsieur." + +"And on the other?" + +"A salmon-trout." + +"A lady, monsieur." + +"If it isn't fresh, we won't take it." + +"How is the lady's hair dressed?" + +"She has lilies of the valley on her head." + +"What's that! lilies of the valley on a salmon-trout! I never saw it +served so." + +"Not the trout, monsieur; I was speaking of a lady--one of the wedding +party." + +"And the groom, where is he sitting?" + +"Opposite his wife, monsieur." + +"Next, a capon _au gros sel._" + +"Does he look at her often?" + +"Done to a turn." + +"Faith! monsieur, I didn't have time to notice as to that." + +"What's that! Sapristi! you haven't time to tell the chef to cook it to +a turn?" + +"Pardon, monsieur; monsieur was asking me about the bridegroom.--Now I +am at your service." + +And the waiter, to escape these questions, which confused him, took the +menu and disappeared. Cherami poured out another glass of madeira, +saying to his new friend: + +"Come, come, my dear Gustave; if you persist in imitating the bear of +Berne, by going from this room into the corridor, and returning from the +corridor to this room, you won't do yourself any good. You know that the +wedding party is at the table. Naturally, they will be there some time. +So follow their example. Take a seat opposite me, recover your +tranquillity, and let us dine. See, here's our soup, just in time, +exhaling a delicious odor. Allow me to help you." + +The young man took his seat, and swallowed a few spoonfuls of soup; then +pushed his plate away, crying: + +"No; it's impossible for me to eat anything." + +"Very well! then talk to me. Look you, while I am eating, as you don't +choose to do the same, you have an excellent opportunity to tell me the +story of your loves--with the ungrateful Fanny." + +"Oh! yes, monsieur, gladly. I will tell you all, and you will see if I +am wrong to complain of her inconstancy." + +"Men are hardly ever wrong. Go on, my dear friend; tell me the whole +story; I shall not lose a word of your narrative, because one can listen +splendidly while eating." + +"My name is Gustave Darlemont, and I am twenty-five years old. My +parents lived on their income; but in order to obtain the means to live +more expensively, they invested all their capital in an annuity." + +"The devil! rather selfish parents, I should say. If everyone did the +same, the word _inheritance_ would be superfluous. Here's a fillet that +is worth its weight in gold. Just taste it." + +"No, thanks, monsieur.--For my part, I find no fault with my parents for +doing as they did; they had earned their fortune by their own labor, +they had given me a good education: what more could I ask?" + +"You are delightful! Pardieu! you could ask for money. Let me give you +some of this Château-Léoville.--It's cool and sweet--it will refresh +your ideas. Go on, I beg." + +"My parents died, and from what they left me in furniture, jewels, and +plate, I had an income of twelve hundred francs." + +"A mere trifle! that's not enough to pay one's tailor. To be sure, +there's the alternative of not paying him at all." + +"I was then seventeen; I didn't know just what business to embrace." + +"And, pending your decision, you embraced all the pretty girls who came +to hand. I know all about that." + +"Oh! no, monsieur; I was very virtuous; I have never been what is called +a lady's man." + +"So much the worse, young man; so much the worse! There's nothing like +women for training the young. You may say that they overtrain them +sometimes. But think of the experience they acquire! I might cite myself +as an example; but we haven't come to me yet. Go on, my young +friend--for I am your friend. Although Aristotle said: 'O my friends, +there are no friends!' I maintain that there are. And that's simply a +play upon words by the Greek philosopher, to whom, had I been Philip, I +would not have intrusted the education of my son Alexander, because of +that one assertion.--But I beg your pardon; I am listening." + +"Luckily, I had an uncle, Monsieur Grandcourt, my mother's brother. He +took me into his family. He is rather an original, but kind and +obliging. He is not an old man: only about forty-eight now." + +"So much the worse, so much the worse! You certainly have hard luck in +the matter of inheritances. Is this uncle of yours rich?" + +"Not rich perhaps, but very comfortably fixed, I fancy." + +"What does he do?" + +"He's a banker." + +"Everybody is, more or less." + +"Oh! my uncle is a prudent man, who never risks his money in doubtful +speculations; he is noted for the exactitude with which he fulfils his +engagements, and for his absolute probity." + +"Good! there's a man to whom I will intrust my funds, when I have more +than I can handle." + +"So I entered my uncle's employ as a clerk. I was very happy there. We +often went to the theatre, to concerts, and to the best restaurants; and +my uncle always paid." + +"Pardieu! it would have been a fine thing if the nephew had had to stand +treat! However, I see that your uncle's not a miser; he likes to enjoy +himself. That's the kind of an uncle I like. I shall be glad to make his +acquaintance." + +"I have now arrived, monsieur, at the moment which changed the whole +course of my life, which made me acquainted with a sentiment of whose +power I had thus far been entirely ignorant. For, while I had had a few +amourettes, I had never known a genuine passion. Ah! monsieur! the +instant that I saw Fanny, I felt as if my heart were born to a new life; +I was no longer the same. No, until then I had not lived!" + +"That's a common sort of talk with lovers. They never have lived before +their frantic passion,--the ingrates!--and they often forget the +happiest days of their youth.--Ah! here's our salmon-trout--a delicious +fish! You will surely taste a mouthful?" + +"My uncle had bought some shares in the Orléans railway for Monsieur +Gerbault, Fanny's father. He gave them to me to deliver to him. Monsieur +Gerbault was not at home. Fanny received me, and invited me to wait till +her father returned. We talked; I was amazed to hear that young girl +discuss affairs at the Bourse quite as intelligently as a broker could +do." + +"And that was what fascinated you?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur. But while Fanny was talking to me, I examined her. +Her eyes were bright and intelligent; her smile was charming. Her whole +person was instinct with a childish grace which fascinated me, and a +perfect naturalness which put me at my ease at once. Before I had been +with her half an hour, you would have thought that we were old friends. +I took the greatest pleasure in listening to her, and I think that she +perceived it, for she was never at a loss for something to say. Her +father returned, and I was terribly sorry. Monsieur Gerbault is a very +courteous old man. He smiled at me when he heard his daughter ask me the +prices of all the different securities, and said: + +"'It's very unfortunate for Fanny that women are not allowed on the +Bourse, for I believe she would go there every day; she has a very +pronounced taste for speculation; I dare not say for gambling, for I +hope that it won't go so far as that. However, monsieur, she has five or +six thousand francs, and so has her sister; it comes from their mother. +Adolphine has very wisely invested her funds in government securities; +but Fanny--oh! she's a different sort! she wants to speculate, to buy +stocks, and she will probably lose her money.' + +"'Why so, father, I should like to know?' said Fanny; 'why shouldn't +luck be favorable to me? Besides, I don't mean to buy anything on +margin, but only for cash; I shall keep what I buy, and not sell until I +can sell at a profit. It seems to me that that is easy enough, and that +there's no need of being a clerk in a broker's office to understand the +operation. With my six thousand francs I could only get a miserable +little income; why shouldn't I try to increase my principal?' + +"'As you please,' said Monsieur Gerbault; 'you are perfectly at liberty +to dispose of what belongs to you.' + +"You can understand that I flattered the young woman's hopes, feeling as +I did that I was already in love with her. I offered to keep her posted +as to the general tendency of values on the Bourse and the financial +situation. She accepted my offer; and Monsieur Gerbault, knowing that I +was Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew, gave me free access to his house. In +short, my dear--my dear--monsieur--I beg your pardon, but I don't as yet +know your name." + +"Pardieu! that's true; I had not thought to tell you. My name is Arthur +Cherami, former land-holder, ci-devant premier high-liver of the +capital. I set the fashion, I was the arbiter of style, and all the +women doted on me. Oh! my story is very short: at twenty-two, I had +thirty-five thousand francs a year; at thirty, I had nothing left. When +I say _nothing_, I mean practically nothing; I still have a small +remnant of income, a bagatelle, but my fortune is all eaten up. Well! +young man, I give you my word of honor, that, if I could start afresh, I +believe I would do the same again. I employed my youth to good purpose, +and everybody can't say as much. For God's sake, must a man be old, +infirm, and gouty, to enjoy life? You can't crack nuts when your teeth +are all gone; therefore, you shouldn't wait till you're old to play the +young man. Now, if I add that I am still a lusty fellow, as brave as +Caesar, as gallant as François I, and as philosophical as Socrates, you +will know me as well as if you had been my groom.--I have said." + +"Very good! Your name, you say, is----? I beg your pardon, but I have +forgotten it already." + +"You are absent-minded; I can understand that. My name is Cherami, and I +am yours, which constitutes a pun;[B] but, to avoid mistakes, call me +Arthur; that is my Christian name, and all the ladies call me that. +Sapristi! this is an excellent fish; do eat a bit of it." + +"I prefer to talk to you of my love." + +"So be it!--That won't give you indigestion. Meanwhile, I'll eat for +two--and listen to you. Fire away!" + + + + +XII + +GUSTAVE'S LOVE AFFAIR + + +"I was saying, Monsieur Arthur, that, as I had received permission to go +to Monsieur Gerbault's house, you will divine that I took advantage of +it." + +"Yes, indeed.--This fish is perfect; you make a great mistake not to eat +it." + +"Monsieur Gerbault, formerly a clerk in one of the government offices, +has only a modest fortune; he is a widower with two daughters, to both +of whom he has given an excellent education. Fanny is talented; she is a +good musician, and knows English and Italian." + +"And her sister?" + +"Adolphine plays the piano, too, and sings quite well. She is very sweet +and of a very amiable disposition; but, you see, I didn't pay any +attention to the sister; I had eyes for Fanny alone. Her grace, her wit, +her lovely eyes, all combined to turn my head. She saw it plainly +enough, and, far from repelling me, she seemed to try to redouble her +charms, in order to make me more in love with her than ever." + +"The devil! she's a shrewd coquette!" + +"Oh! no, monsieur! but it's her nature always to make herself +attractive; she can't help it." + +"Here's the capon _au gros sel._--Now's the time for the champagne +frappé. Corbleu! you'll drink some of this." + +"But, monsieur----" + +"It will give you strength, nerve. Nobody knows what may happen +to-night; a man should always be ready for action." + +"A year passed; I had the good fortune to make some lucky turns for +Fanny; she had made nearly three thousand francs in railroad shares; she +was overjoyed, and was already dreaming of an immense fortune. I had +told her that I loved her, and she had replied, with a smile, that she +suspected as much. Thereupon, I asked her if she would marry me, and she +replied: 'My father can give only twenty thousand francs to each of his +daughters, and you know what I have besides. That doesn't make much of +an income.' + +"'What does it matter?' said I; 'I love you with all my heart; if you +had no marriage portion at all, I should none the less consider myself +the happiest of men if I could obtain your hand.--I have twelve hundred +francs a year,' I added, 'and my uncle pays me eighteen hundred; you see +that we shall have enough to live comfortably.' + +"Fanny listened to me, and seemed to reflect; but I had taken her hand +and squeezed it, and she did not take it away. + +"'Are you willing,' I said, 'that I should prefer my suit to your father +to-morrow?' + +"'That's not necessary,' she replied; 'we have time enough; and then, +you need have no fear in that respect; father has told me a hundred +times that he would not interfere with my choice; that he was sure that +I would not marry anyone who would not make me happy.' + +"For my part, I wanted to be married at once, but Fanny desired to add a +little more to her capital before marrying, so that she might have a +more substantial dowry to offer me. It was of no use for me to say that +I cared nothing about that; I could not make her listen to reason." + +"If you took that for love, my dear Gustave, you can hardly claim to be +a connoisseur.--Here's your very good health!" + +"Ah! monsieur; Fanny was always so amiable! her eyes always had such a +sweet look in them when they met mine! she had such pretty, caressing +little ways with me!" + +"Yes, yes, I know. The whole battery of the petticoat file!" + +"Six months more passed, and I implored Fanny to fix a date for our +wedding. Unluckily, her operations in railroads no longer showed a +profit; the shares she had bought had gone down; it was necessary to +wait; and Fanny was angry at the way things were going on the +Bourse.--It was about that time---- Ah! it was then that my misfortunes +began." + +"Courage, dear Gustave!--and another glass of Moët! Do take a wing of +this capon--just a bit of white meat. What! nothing? Well, then, +sapristi! I will sacrifice myself and eat the whole bird. Never mind +what the result may be; but I will drink, too, for I must wash it +down.--Your health!" + +"As I was saying, it was about this time that Monsieur Auguste Monléard +made the acquaintance of the Gerbault family--at a ball, I believe; he +asked and obtained from the father permission to come occasionally and +play and sing with the young ladies. I did not know that until later, +for I did not happen to meet him for some time. The very first time that +I saw him, I had a presentiment that his presence in Monsieur Gerbault's +house would be fatal to my love. This Monléard made a great parade; he +had a cabriolet and a negro footman; indeed, he had, so it was said, +forty thousand francs a year. All that would have been a matter of +indifference to me, if I had not noticed that he was very attentive, +very gallant, to Fanny. However, she continued to smile on me in the +most charming way; but when I said to her: 'Fix a day for our wedding, I +beg you, and let me speak to your father,' she replied: 'Oh! not yet; we +have plenty of time; I must increase my capital first.' + +"One morning, I had escaped from my duties at my uncle's, who scolded me +sometimes because love led me to neglect business." + +"Did your uncle approve your matrimonial plans?" + +"Not very warmly; he had said to me several times: 'You're too young to +marry; wait awhile.' + +"But when he saw how dearly I loved Fanny, he finally said: 'Do as you +please; but if I were in your place, I'd have nothing to do with a young +woman who speculates in railroad stocks.'" + +"I am much of your uncle's opinion." + +"And he added: 'You know that I will not give you a sou to be married +on, don't you?' + +"I replied: 'And you know that I ask you for nothing but your +affection.'" + +"A noble reply! and one that binds you to nothing.--Have a glass of +champagne." + +"I have already had one." + +"So much the more reason for taking another. I say, my boy, order us a +Périgord macaroni, and a _parfait à la vanille."_ + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"Waiter, how is the wedding party getting along?" + +"They're at the second course, monsieur." + +"They have not got beyond that!" + +"What a delightful fellow this dear Gustave is! because he doesn't eat, +he fancies that nobody else has any appetite." + +"Is the bride eating, waiter?" + +"Yes, monsieur; she's eating everything, I may say." + +"Everything!" + +Gustave angrily resumed his seat at the table, and held out his plate, +saying to his companion: + +"Very good! then I will eat, too! Give me some capon, Arthur; give me a +lot of it!" + +"Ah! good, good! spoken like a man! Now you're a man again! There's +nothing left of the capon but one drumstick and the carcass, but they're +the most delicate parts." + +"Give them to me, give them to me! Oh! what a fool, what an idiot, I +have been! To give way to despair for a woman who makes sport of me, who +eats everything, when she knows that I am consumed by grief!" + +"You acted like a fool, and that's just what I've been killing myself +telling you." + +"Give me some wine!" + +"Bravo! let's drink! This champagne is delicious, and I know what I'm +talking about." + +"Yes, I will think no more of her, I will forget everything, I will love +some other woman." + +"Pardieu! that's the true way! In love especially, I believe in +homoeopathy." + +Gustave swallowed his glass of wine at a draught, then ate a few +mouthfuls with a sort of avidity; but he soon pushed his plate away, and +let his head fall on his breast, muttering: + +"Oh! no, I shall never love another woman; I know well enough that it +would be impossible." + +"The deuce! here he is in another paroxysm of his passion! We shall have +some difficulty in curing the dear boy; but we will succeed, even though +that should necessitate our not leaving him for a second for ten years +to come! Be yourself, Gustave, and finish your story, which, I presume, +must be drawing near its end, and which interests me in the highest +degree." + +"Yes, yes; you are right!--I was saying that one morning, having gone to +Monsieur Gerbault's house, I found Mademoiselle Adolphine alone. She +greeted me with such a sorrowful air that I could not refrain from +asking her what caused her sadness, and she replied: 'I suffer for your +sake, I am grieved for you; for I know how dearly you love my sister, +and I foresee how you will suffer when you learn that she is going to be +married, and not to you.' + +"'Great heaven!' I cried; 'can it be possible? Fanny, false to me! +Fanny, give herself to another!' + +"'Yes,' said Adolphine. 'It seems to me that it is especially cruel to +let you hope on, when her marriage to Monsieur Auguste Monléard was +decided on a fortnight ago.' + +"'She is going to marry Monsieur Monléard!' I cried; 'she throws me over +for that man! And she smiled at me only yesterday when I swore to love +her all my life!' + +"'That's the reason I determined to tell you all,' said Adolphine. 'I +did not choose that you should be deceived any longer.' + +"I need not tell you what a state of despair I was in. Adolphine tried +in vain to comfort me; I could not believe in Fanny's treachery, and I +insisted upon seeing her, and learning from her own lips that she +preferred my rival to me. + +"The next day, I found her alone. Can you believe that she greeted me +with the same tranquillity, the same smile, as usual? So much so, that I +cried: 'It isn't true, is it, Fanny, that you are going to marry another +man?'--Thereupon, with a little pout to which she tried to give a +fitting touch of melancholy, she replied: 'Yes, Gustave; it is true. Mon +Dieu! you mustn't be angry with me. At all events, it will do no good, +my friend; I have reflected. We haven't enough money to marry; we should +have had to lead the sort of life in which one is always forced to count +the cost before indulging in any pleasure, to see if it is compatible +with one's means; and, frankly, it is not amusing to figure up whether +one can afford to enjoy one's self a little, to buy a hat or a jewel +which takes one's fancy. So I concluded that it was more sensible to +marry Monsieur Monléard, who has a handsome fortune, and I have accepted +his hand. But it seems to me that you shouldn't bear me a grudge, +because I have acted like a sensible woman, and we can still remain +friends.' + +"'I, your friend!' I exclaimed, bursting into tears; 'when you give +yourself to another, when you make me miserable for life!' + +"I don't know what reply she made; but somebody came to tell her that +the materials for her wedding gown had arrived, and she hurried away. +Her calmness, her indifference, exasperated me. When I was alone, all +sorts of incoherent ideas assailed me, but I know that I was determined +to die. I was about to leave the house, fully resolved not to survive +Fanny's treachery, when suddenly I felt a caressing hand on my arm, +while a sweet voice said to me in an imploring tone: 'Be a man, Gustave, +be brave; resolve to endure this misfortune, which seems to break your +heart to-day. Time will allay your suffering--you will love another +woman, who will love you in return, who will understand your heart; and +later you will be happy--much happier, perhaps, than she, who thinks of +nothing but money! But, I entreat you, promise me that you will live!' + +"It was Adolphine who spoke to me thus. Her tears were flowing freely. +When I found that my grief was shared, I felt a little relieved, for +unhappiness makes a man selfish, and, when we are unhappy, it seems to +us that other people ought to suffer as we do. I promised Fanny's sister +to renounce my thoughts of death, and I left that house, to which I +shall never return!" + +"I drink to good little Adolphine's health! For my part, I love that +feeling heart--I shall never forget her. And our dear uncle, what said +he when he learned the result of your love affair?" + +"My uncle? Oh! he doesn't believe in love, not he!" + +"He was quite right not to believe in your Mademoiselle Fanny's." + +"He has no confidence in women." + +"He has probably made a study of them." + +"In fact, when I told him that Fanny was to marry another, he had the +heartlessness to retort that that was lucky for me." + +"Frankly, I agree with him; for, after all, my boy as the damsel didn't +love you----" + +"Why, yes, she did love me, before she knew this Monléard." + +"She gave you the preference when there was nobody else." + +"He turned her head by his magnificence, his presents." + +"It is much better for you that it happened before your marriage rather +than after.--Here's to your health! Ah! here's the Périgord +macaroni--with truffles on top--that's the checker! Do you know this way +of preparing macaroni?" + +"It seems that he hastened the ceremony after our last interview; for +that was only twelve days ago, and to-day I learned that the wedding was +to take place at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, to be followed by a banquet and +ball here." + +"Yes, and then you lost your head! You said to yourself: 'I will be +there, I want to see what sort of a face the faithless creature will +make when she sees me.'" + +"True, monsieur, true. But they must have misinformed me as to the hour +of the ceremony, for when I reached the church it was all over--they had +gone." + +"So much the better! that saved you one stab." + +"Then I started off like a madman and ran all the way here, saying to +myself: 'I simply must see her!'--And you know the rest, monsieur." + +"I do, indeed; and if I hadn't been here, God knows what would have +happened! But I'm a lucky dog; I almost always turn up when I'm wanted. +Let us water the macaroni! I defy all the wedding parties in the place +to dine better than me!" + + + + +XIII + +A GENTLEMAN WHO HAD DINED WELL + + +Cherami had reached the dessert stage; he had amply repaired the ravages +wrought in his stomach by the privation of the previous day, and he had +watered his food so copiously with madeira, bordeaux, and champagne, +that his face had become very red, his eyes very small, and his tongue +very thick, which fact did not prevent his making constant use of it. + +Gustave had drunk only two glasses of champagne; but, as he had eaten +nothing at all, that had made him slightly tipsy, and he was beginning +anew his trips from the dining-room to the corridor, when the waiter who +served them hurried up to him, saying: + +"The ladies are leaving the table, monsieur; I believe they are going to +dress for the ball, for some of them have already put on their hats." + +"Hurry back, then; take the bride's sister, Mademoiselle Adolphine, +aside, and tell her that--Monsieur Gustave insists upon speaking to +her--that I am waiting for her at the end of the corridor. Tell her that +she simply must come; you understand, she must come! See, here are five +francs more for you." + +"Very good, monsieur. The bride's sister. But I don't know her, do I?" + +"Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Oh! yes, yes. I go, I fly, monsieur." + +Gustave returned to the private room, where Cherami was occupied in +admiring the bubbling of the champagne in his glass. + +"She is coming! I am going to speak to her!" cried the young man. + +"What! Do you mean that she's coming to join us here?" + +"Yes. Oh! I am certain that she'll come. She would not like to drive me +to do some crazy thing." + +"All right! so much the better, sacrebleu! Let her come, and we'll tell +her something. She's a sinner, a flirt." + +"But it's Adolphine who's coming, not Fanny." + +"Adolphine, the good little sister? Oh! that's a different matter. I +will embrace her, I will even make love to her a bit, if she will permit +me." + +"They are going away, to dress for the ball; but first, I am +determined---- Ah! someone is coming--a woman--it's she!" + +It was, in fact, the young Adolphine, who ran along the corridor, +trembling with distress and emotion, and entered the room, crying: + +"What! Monsieur Gustave! you here! Why, in heaven's name, did you come?" + +"Because I knew that she was here--and I hope to see her once more." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! what madness!--And you, monsieur, you promised to take +care of him." + +"Why, mademoiselle, I am doing just that; I haven't lost sight of him a +moment; and if I hadn't been here, to constantly restrain him, he would +have gone twenty times to make trouble at your wedding feast, and to +insult the husband." + +"Oh! Gustave!" + +"No, no, Adolphine; have no fear of that." + +"Don't you trust what he says, mademoiselle; he's lost his head; +luckily, I am here; I am calm and prudent." + +"But why did you come here?" + +"We came here to dine, mademoiselle, which we had a perfect right to do. +For, after all, although a man may not belong to a wedding party, that +need not prevent his dining, and dining very well too, I give you my +word." + +"But I can't stay any longer!--We are going away to dress; I am sure +they are waiting for me. What do you want of me, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"To beg you to give me an opportunity to speak to your sister once +more." + +"To Fanny? Why, it isn't possible! Besides, what would you say to her?" + +"I will say good-bye to her forever; I will tell her that I hope that +she will be happy--although she has wrecked my life." + +"But how do you suppose that she can speak to you in secret? she is +always surrounded; there's always somebody with us. What would people +say? what would they think?" + +"If you refuse, I will go and speak to her during the ball." + +"Well--no---- Wait here, then; and, when we return from dressing, I will +try--I will make her come through this corridor." + +"Oh! thanks, thanks a thousand times! Ah! you are too kind!" + +"I must go; adieu! But, in heaven's name, keep out of sight, don't show +yourself!" + +As she spoke, Adolphine made a sign of intelligence to Cherami, who +imagined that the charming young woman was throwing him a kiss; but she +disappeared just as he left the table to go to embrace her; and as the +waiter entered the room at that moment, the ex-beau bestowed a +resounding smack upon that functionary's cheek. + +"Sacrebleu! what is this?" cried Cherami, roughly pushing back the +waiter, who stood by the door in open-mouthed amazement at the caress he +had received.--"Why the devil do you come up under my nose, waiter? +Plague take the knave! I said to myself: 'Gad! this young lady uses very +cheap soap!'" + +"Pardon, monsieur; it isn't my fault; I was coming in, and you ran into +my arms. I know well enough that it wasn't me you meant to embrace." + +"It's lucky that you understand that." + +"Waiter, what are the ladies doing now?" + +"They are all going away, monsieur." + +"And the men?" + +"Some of them have gone, too; but many stayed, and are playing cards." + +"And the Blanquette party, waiter--what are they doing now?" + +"The Blanquette party are still at table, monsieur, and singing." + +"Ah! I recognize them by that. They'll sit at table till ten o'clock, +those people; the petty bourgeois sing at dessert, which is very bad +form. However, I confess that I have sometimes gone so far as to hum a +ditty myself; I have even composed one on occasion, one which Panard or +Collé wouldn't have been ashamed to father. But I like a touch of smut +myself; don't talk to me of your insipid ballads about roses and zephyrs +and the springtime; no, nor your political ballads either; I abominate +them; and yet, that's the kind of thing that makes great reputations; +and I know men who would have been nothing more than common +ballad-mongers, if they hadn't flattered parties and passions, and who +have reached the very pinnacle of fame because they always end their +couplets with the words _fatherland_ and _liberty_. O Armand Gouffé! O +Désaugiers! you didn't resort to such methods, so very little is heard +of you. You are none the less the real French ballad-makers; your +fruitful and vigorous muse has discovered innumerable varied subjects +and described them in song, which is much more difficult than to keep +harping on the same refrain." + +"But, my dear Monsieur Arthur, now that I am waiting for the return of +the bride, to whom I shall say adieu forever, if your affairs call you +elsewhere, do not hesitate to go. Leave me; I have abused your +good-nature too far already." + +"I, leave you! No, indeed! What do you take me for?--What! after +accepting your suggestion that we should dine together, leave you all of +a sudden at dessert? Fie! Only a cad would do that; and, thank God! I +know what good-breeding is. Tell me, do I annoy you? Is my presence +distasteful to you?" + +"Ah! far from it, my dear sir; you have shown an interest in my affairs, +which I shall never forget." + +"We were born to be friends, and we are; that is settled, your affairs +are mine, what concerns you concerns me. Wherever there is danger for +you, it is my duty to look after you; and, you understand, if, while you +are talking with the bride, her new husband should happen to come +prowling about here, I will just step in front of him and say: 'I am +very sorry, my boy, but you can't pass!'" + +"Oh! a thousand thanks for your devotion to me! Waiter! waiter! our +bill!" + +"Here it is, monsieur." + +"You pay for the dinner; that's all right; but as we are to stay here +some little time perhaps, we must have something to keep us busy." + +"Order whatever you want." + +"Waiter, make us a nice little rum punch; it's excellent for the +digestion; the English eat a great deal, but they drink punch at +dessert, and they're all right. Would you like to play cards, to kill +time?" + +"Thanks, it would be impossible for me to put my mind on the game." + +"I don't insist. I am rather fond of cards, but I don't carry that +passion to excess. Pardieu! I don't say that I may not take a hand by +and by at the Blanquette function. Did I tell you that I knew them? +They're linen-drapers; that sort of people play rather high; but that +doesn't frighten me. Ah! here's our punch! I divine it by the odor; the +table is excellent at this house." + +Cherami lost no time in partaking of the punch. Gustave refused it at +first, but finally consented to take a glass. + +The night had come; the lights were lighted on all sides. With the +darkness, the unhappy lover's thoughts became more gloomy, his suffering +more intense; he buried his face in his hands, muttering: + +"It's all over! O Fanny! Fanny! you will belong to another! Ah! I shall +die of my grief!" + +"Sapristi!" said Cherami to himself, swallowing several glasses of punch +in rapid succession; "this youngster is very lachrymose; he isn't lively +in his cups. With me, it's different; I feel in the mood to dance at all +the wedding parties, and to play cards too--only I shall have to borrow +a few napoleons from my new friend, in order to be able to tempt +fortune. I have an idea that I shall have a vein of luck! I say, my dear +friend, aren't we drinking any more?" + +"Oh! no, thanks, monsieur!" + +"Then I will drink for both of us. This punch is too sweet! Here, +waiter, put in more rum, a lot of it!" + +"But, monsieur, there's no more punch in the bowl." + +"Well! then make another bowl, but make it stronger." + +The other bowl was brought. + +After drinking two more glasses, Cherami tried to rise, but was obliged +to hold on to the table to keep from falling; however, although he felt +that his legs were wavering under him, he determined to maintain his +dignity, and did his best to keep his balance as he walked toward the +door. + + + + +XIV + +THE PUNCH PRODUCES ITS EFFECT + + +"They are a long while coming back, those ladies!" muttered Gustave, +coming and going from the room to the corridor. + +"Oh! my dear fellow, when a woman's at her toilet, one can never be sure +how long a time she'll spend over it. One day, I remember, in the time +of my splendor, I was waiting for my mistress, to go to the theatre, to +see a new play. I believe it was at the Opéra-Comique--but, no matter. +She had finally got dressed,--it had taken her a long while,--when, +happening to look in the mirror, she cried: 'My wreath of blue-bottles +is too far down on my forehead--I must change it--it's just a matter of +putting in a pin.'--'All right,' said I; 'put in your pin. I'll +wait'--My dear fellow, that pin, and all the others that she put in +after it, took an hour and a half! and when we reached the theatre, the +new play was over." + +Observing that his young companion had fallen into abstraction once +more, and was paying no heed to him, Cherami decided to leave the +private room and try his fortunes in the corridor, saying to himself: + +"I feel the need of a little fresh air; it's as hot as the tropics in +these private dining-rooms. Ah! what do I see yonder? Ladies--many +ladies. I must go and cast an eye in that direction. The fair sex +attracts me--it's my magnet." + +The ladies of the Monléard party were beginning to return, arrayed for +the ball. To reach the room where they were to dance, they had to pass +along the corridor to the main staircase. Cherami took his stand at the +head of the staircase, and there ogled the ladies, bowed to them all as +if he knew them, and spoke to each of them as she passed. + +"Charming, on my word! A divine costume!--White shoulders that would +drive Venus to despair!--Ah! how we are going to flirt!--A very pretty +head-dress; bravo!--Ah! here's a mamma who proposes to play the coy +maiden. Dear lady, you will find difficulty in getting partners, I warn +you. There are pretty faces here that will monopolize all the cavaliers. +Oho! what fine eyes! they are like carbuncles. Who will deign to accept +my hand or my arm? I am at your service, fair ladies!" + +But the ladies, instead of accepting the hand which my gentleman offered +them, passed him without replying, or shrank from him, because there +was in his whole aspect a seediness entirely out of harmony with their +ball-dresses; moreover, he smelt so strongly of punch and liquors that +it was impossible to pass him without receiving a whiff of the odor. + +Several ladies put their handkerchiefs to their faces as they hurried +by, and some exclaimed: "Why, who can that man be? Where did he come +from? He is drunk!--Surely he is not one of Monsieur Monléard's wedding +guests. What is he doing there, like a sentinel? He speaks to everybody, +and with an astonishing lack of ceremony. He poisons the air with wine +and liquor. Can't somebody send the horrible creature away?" + +These complaints soon reached the ears of the gentlemen who had remained +to play cards. Some of them rose and walked into the hall, saying: + +"Parbleu! we will find out who this fellow is who takes the liberty of +speaking to ladies whom he doesn't know!" + +Cherami had just offered his hand to a pretty little woman, who had +refused it and instantly put her handkerchief to her nose. This +pantomime, having been frequently repeated in front of the ex-beau, +began to offend him, and he suddenly exclaimed: + +"Deuce take it! what's the matter with all these prudes, that they hide +their faces with their handkerchiefs? Can it be because they think that +I have any desire to kiss them! Ah! I've seen prettier women than +you--who didn't run away from me, my princesses!" + +"To whom are you speaking, monsieur? Is it these ladies to whom you dare +to address such language?" + +"Hallo! who's this? where did he come from? Ah! what a noble head!" + +"It is for you, monsieur, to answer those questions. Off with you, at +once, or I'll put you out-of-doors." + +"Out-of-doors, eh? Understand that I dined here--with my friend +Gustave--Gustave something or other--and that I have as much right as +you to stay here--that I won't go away." + +"I forbid you to speak to these ladies." + +"Thanks! I have my cue." + +The ladies interposed to prevent a dispute, and succeeded in taking +their champions away with them, saying: + +"You can see that the man's drunk. What satisfaction do you expect to +obtain from a man who hasn't his senses? Leave him there, and pay no +more attention to him." + +The men yielded to this request, and they left Cherami standing there +and entered the ballroom. + +Meanwhile, the waiter who had served the dinner in the private room ran +up to Cherami. + +"The gentleman who dined with you is going away; someone has come for +him." + +"What! my friend Gustave going away? Why, it's impossible! He won't go +without me; besides, he's waiting for the bride; we must have the bride; +she's been promised to us." + +"He's going, I tell you." + +The ex-beau decided to return to the private room, and found at the door +his young friend and a man of mature years, short of stature, but with a +cold, stern face which imposed respect. They were on the point of +leaving. + +"Well, well! what does this mean?" cried Cherami. "What! my dear +Gustave, going, and without me--your intimate friend, your Orestes, your +Patroclus?" + +"Who is this new friend of yours, whom I don't know, whom I have never +seen with you?" the short man asked Gustave, whose arm he held fast. + +"It's a gentleman who has been kind enough to take some interest in me, +uncle," faltered Gustave;--"I was so unhappy--and to keep me company." + +"And whose dinner you have paid for, I presume? Your friend did not +spare himself." + +"What do I hear? Monsieur is your uncle?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I am Gustave's uncle." + +"Then you are Monsieur Grandcourt?" + +"Just so." + +"Oh! Delighted to make the acquaintance of my friend's uncle." + +"I am obliged to you, monsieur; but we are going." + +"What! you are going? Pray, do you not know that your dear nephew +desires to speak once more with the bride, the faithless Fanny?" + +"Indeed, I do know it, and it was for the express purpose of preventing +that interview, which might result in a scandalous scene, that I came +here and that I am taking my nephew away." + +"But her little sister, the charming Adolphine, would have obtained an +interview for us in secret." + +"You are mistaken, monsieur; for it was Mademoiselle Adolphine herself +who sent word to me that my nephew was here, and begged me to exert my +authority to take him away and prevent his seeing her sister; that young +woman realized all the impropriety of the proposed interview." + +"What! it was the little sister who sent word to you? Ah! the little +mouse! These women are all leagued together to fool us." + +"On this occasion, monsieur, Mademoiselle Adolphine showed as much good +sense as prudence, and she deserves only praise from us. Come, Gustave, +say adieu to monsieur, thank him for the service which he intended, I +doubt not, to render you, and let's be off." + +"So it's all over, uncle, is it? you drag me away without allowing me to +see her once more?" + +"Really, nephew, you disgust me with your love and your regrets for a +woman who has treated you with contempt, played with you like a child. +Be a man, for God's sake! Repay contempt with contempt, scorn with +scorn! and blush to think that you placed your affections so ill. Let us +go." + +"One moment, dear uncle of my friend: I desire most earnestly to know +you more intimately. Gustave will tell you that I am worthy of your +friendship. I do not accompany you, because I am going to the Blanquette +wedding feast, which is on the second floor. Give me your address, +please; I will call and breakfast with you to-morrow." + +"It is useless, monsieur; to-morrow, we shall be at Havre." + +"At Havre? Very good! it's all the same to me; I will go there with you. +Ah! my dear Gustave, do let go of the dear uncle's arm a moment; I have +a word to say to you in private, just a word; but it's very important." + +But, paying no further heed to Cherami, Monsieur Grandcourt led his +nephew away at a rapid pace, and they left the restaurant while +Gustave's friend was still talking to them in the corridor. + + + + +XV + +THE ÉCARTÉ PLAYERS + + +When he finally discovered that he was alone, Cherami returned to the +private dining-room, sat down at the table, looked into the bowl, where +there was still some punch, and poured out a glass, saying to himself: + +"After all, I shall have no difficulty in finding them again. The uncle +doesn't seem quite so amiable as the nephew; there's a something stiff +and cold in his face. He fell in here like a bombshell. It's a pity; I +felt just in the mood to kidnap the bride before the noses of the +Athenians and of all those hussies who hid their faces with their +handkerchiefs. Suppose I go and clean out the whole crowd? No, they're +not worth the trouble. I prefer to pay a visit to the Blanquette +festivity; there I am known, they won't treat me as an intruder. +Sapristi! what a pity that I hadn't the time to borrow a few napoleons +from my new friend. He would have loaned them to me; there's no doubt +about it. Ah! I waited too long; but I couldn't suspect that an uncle +would arrive all of a sudden--just as they do in vaudevilles, to bring +about an unexpected dénouement. Aha! what do I hear? Music, they're +playing a quadrille. Gad! it seems to me that I could make a pretty +figure at a little contra-dance. That music puts me right in the mood +for it. O power of music! _Emollit mores nec sint esse feros._ I think +I'll go and say that to the bucks who are dancing upstairs! They'd think +I was asking them for a cigar.--Pretty music! Sapristi! it shall not be +said that I remained alone in this room, like a bear in its cage, while +everybody else in the place is enjoying himself. Here goes for a look in +at the Blanquette function." + +And Cherami jumped to his feet, put his hat on his head, took his little +cane, and rushed from the room. When he was in the corridor, he lurched +against the wall more than once; but, with the instinct of a man +accustomed to frequent over-indulgence, he drew himself up and steadied +himself on his legs. + +"What does this mean?" he said.--"You stumble for a glass or two of +punch? Come, come, Arthur, I shouldn't know you, my boy; you're not +drunk, you can't be drunk." + +Thereupon the mind steadied the body, and he walked to the stairway with +a somewhat less uncertain step. There he could plainly hear the +orchestra of the elegant Monléard ball. He paused a moment, saying to +himself: + +"Suppose I should enter abruptly, and make a scene with the perfidious +Fanny, in behalf of my young friend Gustave--what a stunning coup! what +an effect I would produce!--Yes, but those people don't know me; they +don't know that I once had thirty-five thousand francs a year, and that +I have been the most popular man in Paris. They would be quite capable +of treating me as an intruder! I should talk back--and then, duels! +Let's not end in sadness a day so well employed. _Dies fasti_, as the +Romans used to say. It's surprising how the punch brings back my Latin! +Let's go up a floor, and join the Blanquette wedding party; there, at +all events, I know the bridegroom slightly, and the uncle very well. I +owe him four or five hundred francs for cloth--an additional reason why +he should receive me well; a man never closes his door to his debtors." + +Having arrived on the second floor, Cherami heard the strains of another +orchestra; he passed through a large room where he saw nothing but men's +hats hanging on hooks, and immediately hung up his own and placed his +cane beside it. + +"I must show my breeding," he said to himself; "one doesn't appear at a +wedding party as at a messroom. Ah! what do I see in that corner? a very +fine yellow glove, on my word! Pardieu! it arrives most opportunely! +It's for the left hand, but, no matter: I can keep the other in my +pocket. It fits me, it really fits me beautifully! What a pity that the +man who dropped it didn't drop the right-hand one too! No matter; this +one gives a sort of dressed-up, coquettish air, which sets off the +wearer. I will keep my right hand under the tail of my coat--nay, I will +skilfully hold both tails in my hand, and people will think I'm in full +dress. Forward, charge their guns!" + +Cherami passed into a second room, which was occupied by card-players: +there were two tables of whist and one of écarté. With the exception of +two elderly women at one of the whist tables, there were only men in the +room; and as they were all busily engaged in playing, or watching the +play, nobody noticed the arrival of the party in plaid trousers. + +Cherami smiled at everybody, although he saw no one whom he knew; there +were very few persons about the whist tables--only one or two +enthusiasts watching the games--so that one could easily approach them. +It was not the same with the écarté table; there was a crowd of young +men about it, and it was very difficult to see their hands. + +Cherami walked about for some minutes, daintily scratching the end of +his nose with his gloved hand, and holding the other behind his back, +under the skirt of his coat. Suddenly one of the players cried: + +"Twenty francs lacking! Come, gentlemen; who'll make it good?" + +"Not I, by a long shot!" said a young man, turning toward Cherami; +"they're having extraordinary luck! They have passed six times over +there! But I know Minoret; he's a lucky dog! When he sets about it, he's +quite capable of passing twenty times in succession." + +"Still twenty francs lacking," the same voice repeated; "who makes it +good?" + +"I," cried Cherami, in a loud voice. "I make it good; I trust to +Monsieur Minoret's luck." + +This remark attracted general attention to Cherami. The young men +scrutinized him, then smiled, and said to one another: + +"Who the deuce is this fellow?" + +"What an extraordinary figure!" + +"And his dress is even more extraordinary. Who ever heard of going to a +wedding in plaid trousers and waistcoat!" + +"And they're far from new." + +"He wasn't at the supper, I'm sure." + +"No. I would like right well to know who he is. He seems to know +Minoret." + +A moment later, the player addressed as Minoret spoke again: + +"Well! who is it who makes good the twenty francs? Why doesn't he put up +the money?" + +"I am the man, monsieur, who makes it good," replied Cherami, still +louder than before; "and, sapristi! when I say that I make it good, it +seems to me that it's the same thing as if I had put up the money! But +perhaps you'll give me time to find my purse, which has slipped into +the lining of my waistcoat." + +The tone in which Cherami spoke imposed silence upon all those who +surrounded the écarté table. It rarely happens that one cannot, by +talking loud enough, produce that effect on the multitude; and if the +victory on the battlefield almost always remains with the greatest +numbers, so in a discussion it almost always remains with the loudest +voices. + +So the card-players concluded to deal the cards and go on with the game. +Meanwhile, Cherami went through a very curious pantomime. Having decided +to withdraw his right hand from behind his back, he plunged it into one +pocket of his waistcoat, then into the other, then into his +trousers-pockets, pretending to be in search of something which he was +very sure of not finding; but he went about it with a zeal which +deceived the most incredulous, interspersing his investigations with +such ejaculations as: + +"Where the devil have I put my purse! It's inconceivable--as soon as you +begin to look for a thing, you can't remember what you did with it! I +certainly had it just now when I paid my cabman. Can I have dropped it +beside my pocket, thinking that I put it inside? Let's try this side; it +seems to me that I feel something. Yes--I have it at last. Oh! the +devil! it isn't my purse, it's my cigar-case!--I believe I haven't +looked in this pocket." + +But, as our bettor hoped, the game came to an end before he had finished +his search; and ere long these words reached his ears, and filled his +heart with joy: + +"I was sure of it; Minoret has won again!" + +Cherami instantly rushed to the table, extended his left hand, closed, +to the player on whom he had bet, and said: + +"I have just found my purse: here's the twenty francs I bet on you, +monsieur." + +"You don't need to put up the money, monsieur, as we have won," replied +Minoret; "on the contrary, here's twenty francs that belongs to you." + +As he spoke, the player handed Cherami a twenty-franc piece; but in +order to take it, he would have had to open the hand which he held +tightly closed, and then they would have seen that he had nothing in it. +Like the shrewd man he was, he realized the peril of his position, and +boldly solved the difficulty by replying in his turn: + +"Very good, monsieur; keep the twenty francs; I will bet on you again." + +To those who consider that it was very imprudent for a man who had not a +sou, to risk upon one deal the twenty francs he had just won, we reply +that, as a general rule, those who are most in need of money play for +the highest stakes. Moreover, in this instance, Cherami was excused by +the embarrassing position in which he was placed. + +Monsieur Minoret's luck did not change; he won six times more, and was +not beaten until the seventh; and Cherami, who had continued to bet on +the same side, found himself in possession of one hundred and twenty +francs when he left the table, at which he had taken his place without a +sou. There was a fitting occasion to speak Latin; and our gambler, after +the sacramental "I have my cue," did not fail to add: "_Audaces fortuna +juvat!_" Never was maxim more fittingly applied; indeed, one might +perhaps consider that on this occasion Cherami was something more than +audacious. + +"I must confess that I did well to bet!" said Cherami to himself, +jingling in his pockets the gold pieces he had won. "Pardieu! I am +tempted to go and buy a right-hand glove. Bah! what's the use? I may +well have lost the other. The first owner of this one must find himself +in the same predicament. Let's go to the ballroom; I feel in the mood +for a polka, and if there's any susceptible female there, I will +fascinate her by my glances." + + + + +XVI + +THE BLANQUETTE WEDDING BALL + + +The ballroom was long and narrow; a waltz was in progress at the moment +selected by Cherami to make his appearance. He began by running into a +couple who were waltzing in two-time, which means that they were out of +step, as a waltz is always in three-time. Surely they who invented that +style of dancing could not have had a musical ear. Now, waltzers in +two-time always move very rapidly; indeed, that is the main purpose of +the innovation. Cherami, colliding suddenly with the couple as they +passed, stepped back and came in contact with some waltzers in +three-time, who were abandoning themselves voluptuously to the charms of +the waltz; the lady, letting her head hang languidly on one side, and +keeping her eyes half-closed to avoid being dizzy; her partner, holding +himself firm on his legs, pressing his partner's waist with an arm of +iron, and gazing down at her with eyes that flashed fire. + +Being abruptly aroused from their ecstasy by a person who bumped against +them and threw them out of step, they cried: + +"Pray be careful! Mon Dieu! how awkward some people are!" + +"What's that! be careful yourselves!" retorted the man with one glove. +"What the devil! you waltzed into my back." + +"But you should get out of the way, monsieur! The idea of standing in +front of people who are waltzing!" + +"Ah! monsieur, you have torn my dress, and you trod on my foot!" + +"But who is this shabbily dressed individual, who scratches his nose +with a bright yellow glove, and runs into everybody? Do you know him?" + +"No." + +"Nor I." + +"Nor I." + +"Wait; Minoret must know him; he bet on Minoret's hand." + +And a young man went up to Minoret, who had also entered the ballroom, +and said to him: + +"My dear Minoret, tell me who that extraordinary person in the Scotch +trousers is, who bet twenty francs on you just now?" + +"Who? that tall man with the red face, holding his left hand in the +air?" + +"Yes." + +"I don't know him at all." + +"But he called you by name when he bet." + +"I don't know whether he knows me, or not, but I don't know him." + +"That's strange. He acts as if he were a little tipsy. We must find out +who he is. Ah! there's Armand, one of the groomsmen. I say, Armand, come +here a moment; tell us who that man is, whose costume is so +unconventional for a wedding party?" + +"The gentleman in a frock-coat, who runs into everybody?" + +"The same." + +"I have just asked the bride, and she doesn't know him either." + +"And the groom?" + +"He is dancing. But there's his uncle, Monsieur Blanquette; I'll go and +ask him about the fellow; and if nobody knows him, we'll soon show him +the door, I promise you." + +But before the groomsman could reach the bridegroom's uncle, Cherami, +who had spied the linen-draper, hastened to meet him, and said, tapping +him on the stomach: + +"Here I am, my dear friend! You didn't ask me to your party, but I said +to myself: 'I'll go all the same, because, with old acquaintances, one +shouldn't take offence at trifles.'--Then what did I do?--I dined here, +in a private room on the first floor, and dined magnificently, too, I +flatter myself! and then I came up to say bonsoir to you, and to salute +the bride--and to dance with anybody, I don't care who! I'm an obliging +person, you see.--So there you are, my dear Papa Blanquette. Old friends +are always on hand, as the song says." + +Monsieur Blanquette was surprised beyond words to find himself +confronted by the gentleman whom he had met in the afternoon, when he +alighted from his carriage. He did not seem overjoyed to see him at the +ball; but as he did not desire his nephew's wedding party to be +disturbed by any unpleasant scene, he strove to conceal his annoyance, +and rejoined: + +"Faith, Monsieur Cherami, I didn't expect to see you again! So you dined +at this restaurant, did you?" + +"Yes, my estimable friend; and dined deliciously, too, I beg you to +believe." + +"So I perceive!" + +"What! so you perceive! and by what do you perceive it, I pray to know?" + +"Why, because you seem to be much inclined--to laugh." + +"I am always cheerful when I am among my friends. That's my nature, you +know. Pray present me to the bride." + +"But, excuse me--it seems to me that you are hardly in ball dress--and +the ladies are rather particular about that." + +"If you'd invited me, I'd have come in full dress; you didn't invite me, +so I came as a neighbor. All is for the best, as Doctor Pangloss says. +Present me to your niece." + +"Later; they are going to dance now; you see they are forming a +quadrille. Let us go into another room." + +"They are going to dance, eh? Then I'll not go, deuce take me! for I can +dance, you know. I used to be one of the best of La Chaumière's pupils, +and she was a pupil of Chicard. People fought for places to see me dance +the _Tulipe Orageuse._ I propose to show you that I haven't forgotten it +all." + +Thereupon the ex-beau, leaving Monsieur Blanquette, walked toward the +benches on which the ladies were seated, and offered his gloved hand to +one of the younger ones, saying: + +"Will you do me the honor, lovely coryphée, to accept my hand for this +contra-dance?" + +"I am engaged, monsieur." + +Cherami thereupon addressed the same request to one after another, +varying his phrase slightly; but there was no variation in the replies; +it was always the same formula: + +"I am engaged." + +For no young woman, married or unmarried, cared to dance with a person +so red of face, so shabbily dressed, smelling so strongly of rum, and +with his right hand always behind his back. + +"Sapristi! it seems that all the ladies have been engaged beforehand!" +cried Cherami, glaring at the benches in turn; "I am refused all along +the line!" + +But at every ball there is sure to be some elderly woman, ugly, dowdily +dressed, who still has the assurance to take her place among the +dancers. Our Arthur finally espied a lady of that type, sitting in a +corner; on her head was a sort of turban, laden with an appalling mass +of flowers, feathers, and lace. + +"I shall be unlucky indeed, if this creature is engaged!" said Cherami +to himself, boldly directing his steps toward the turbaned dame. + +He had not delivered half of his invitation, when she rose as if +impelled by a spring, and seized his gloved hand, saying: + +"With pleasure; yes, monsieur; I accept. Oh! I will dance as long as you +please." + +"In that case, fair lady, let us take our places." + +Almost all the sets were full. But Cherami was not to be denied; he +planted himself in front of a short youth and his partner; and when the +youth remonstrated: "But, monsieur, this place is taken, we were here +before you," he replied, in a supercilious tone: "I don't know whether +you were before us, my good man; but I do know that I have the honor to +be here now with madame, and that I will not stir except at the point of +the bayonet!" + +The young man dared not make any further resistance; moreover, the +guests were whispering to one another on all sides: + +"That original is dancing with Aunt Merlin!" + +"What! Aunt Merlin dancing?" + +"Yes, with the man in Scotch trousers. This is going to be great fun!" + +And all those who were not dancing ran to watch the set in which Cherami +and Aunt Merlin were to figure. + +"Sapristi! I have lost one of my gloves!" cried Arthur, making a +pretence of feeling in his pocket, and looking on the floor. "Will you +pardon me, fair lady, for dancing with a single glove?" + +"Oh! certainly, monsieur," replied the lady with the turban, in a +simpering tone; "you are forgiven; indeed, the same thing happened to +Monsieur Courbichon; when he arrived here for the ball, he discovered +that he had lost one of his gloves--only it was the left one, in his +case." + +"Ah! that's very amusing! Then we have the pair between us! I shall +laugh a long while over that. It's our turn, fair lady." + +The first figure passed off quietly enough, as the English chain and the +cat's tail gave Cherami no chance to display his talent; but in the +second, in the _avant-deux_, he began to take steps and attitudes of the +cancan in its purest and most unblushing form. The men laughed till they +cried, and the women as well, murmuring: + +"Why, this is frightful! where does that fellow think he is, for +heaven's sake?" + +The most amusing feature of the episode was that Cherami's partner, +spurred on by the strange evolutions and the eccentric steps of her +cavalier, thought that she ought to do as he did, and began to twist and +turn, and throw her legs to right and left, with an ardor which kept all +the flowers on her turban in commotion. + +The laughter became more uproarious. + +"I venture to believe that we are producing some effect," said Cherami +to his partner; "but I am not surprised; whenever I dance, the people +crowd to watch me." + +Meanwhile, from one end of the room to the other, the guests were +saying: + +"The man in the plaid trousers is dancing the cancan with Aunt Merlin; +it's most amusing!" + +Some of the couples ceased dancing, in order to watch the performance of +Aunt Merlin and her partner. The uproar soon reached the ears of +Monsieur Blanquette, the uncle; the bride's mother, a most respectable +woman, said to him: + +"I beg you, Monsieur Blanquette, go and tell my sister not to dance the +cancan. Everybody here is laughing at her, and she doesn't notice it. +Oh! what a mistake you made in inviting that tall man with the red +face!" + +"Mon Dieu! madame, I assure you that I didn't invite him. He's a man who +owes me money--whom I knew when he was rich and well-dressed.--He has +ruined himself completely. He caught sight of me this morning, when we +were getting out of the carriages; and to-night he takes the liberty of +coming to our ball. I didn't dare tell him to leave--because, you +understand, that's an embarrassing thing to do. But if he presumes to +dance indecently--why, then I shan't hesitate." + +Monsieur Blanquette walked toward the quadrille which caused such a +prodigious sensation. Cherami was in the act of executing the _chaloupe_ +with his partner, who continued to second him as best she could. The +bridegroom's uncle sidled up behind her, and said in an undertone: + +"Don't dance like that, Madame Merlin, I beg you; that's the way they +dance at low dance-halls. Decent people don't make such exhibitions of +themselves in a salon." + +"It seems to me that I am dancing very well, monsieur," replied Aunt +Merlin, sourly; "and the way the people crowd to watch us proves it." + +"I assure you, Madame Merlin, that it isn't proper, and your sister is +much annoyed." + +"My sister's annoyed because she's got beyond dancing. Let her leave me +alone! I propose to dance, I tell you!" + +"What is it, my nymph, eh?" cried Cherami; "what did old Père Blanquette +say to you?" + +"He declares that our dance isn't proper." + +"Ah! that's very fine! What box has he just come out of, to be shocked +at our dance? Doesn't he go to the play, I wonder? Hasn't he ever seen +the Spanish dancers? They've been at almost all the theatres. Ah! bigre! +if he'd seen those females do their _fandangos_, their _iotas_, and +their _boleros_, and indulge in all sorts of antics, showing their legs, +yes, and their garters too! that's much worse than the cancan. But that +doesn't prevent those Spaniards from drawing the crowd, wherever they +are. And you don't like it, because I dance the cancan, and yet you rush +to see licentious dances performed by women whose costumes add to the +effect of their dancing! Sapristi! for God's sake, try to make up your +mind what you want!--Our turn, my Terpsichore; attention! this is the +_pastourelle_, and I am saving a little surprise for you in the +_cavalier seul._" + +Aunt Merlin darted off like an arrow, paying no heed to the +remonstrances of Père Blanquette, who heaved sigh upon sigh when he saw +how easy it is to lead a woman on to make a fool of herself, even when +her age should make her sensible. But the time came for Cherami to +perform the _cavalier seul_; excited by all that he had drunk, and +recalling the feats of his younger days, he performed the evolution +called the _araignée_, which consists in throwing yourself flat on your +stomach in front of the opposite couple. This bit of gymnastics was +greeted with frantic laughter; and Aunt Merlin, turning to Papa +Blanquette, cried: + +"What do you say to that? Could you do as much?" + +"No, certainly not, madame; and I wouldn't try," retorted the uncle; +"but I consider it very presumptuous. Your partner must have the devil +in him, to do such crazy things!" + +Aunt Merlin had ceased to listen; the last figure had arrived, that in +which the galop is the leading feature; and said Cherami, as he put his +arm about her waist: + +"We'll just show the others how to galop. Fichtre! they'd better look +out for themselves. They ran into me when they were waltzing, but we'll +pay them back in their own coin." + +With that, he started off with his partner, whirling her about as they +danced. Beau Arthur had been one of the most notable performers in the +formidable galops which are a feature of the masked balls at the Opéra. +The punch renewed the vigor of his youth. Throwing himself headlong into +the midst of the assemblage, dancers and onlookers, he rushed through +the room like a whirlwind or an avalanche, hurling this one aside, +colliding with that one, and sowing confusion everywhere. In vain did +they shout to him: + +"Stop, monsieur; stop at once! you're throwing the ladies down!" + +Cherami kept on; not until Aunt Merlin's turban fell, would he consent +to deposit her upon a bench, with her eyes starting from her head. But +at that moment several gentlemen, boiling over with wrath, surrounded +the terrible galoper. + +"Monsieur, you threw my partner down!" + +"Monsieur, you have crushed my daughter's nose!" + +"Monsieur, you upset my wife; when she fell, her elastic skirt sprang up +over her head, so that everybody could see--what I alone have the right +to see!" + +"Monsieur, you must give me satisfaction!" + +"Monsieur, you haven't seen the end of this!" + +While he was thus apostrophized on all sides, Cherami calmly wiped the +perspiration from his face, and said: + +"Sapristi! what's the matter with them all? They are delightful!--I +consider that you're a delightful lot! You ought to have got out of the +way; that's what I did, when you ran into me while you were waltzing +just now. Is it my fault, if you don't know how to keep on your legs? +What a terrible thing, if your estimable daughter's nose is a little +bruised; and if your wife, monsieur, did show some admirable things! It +seems to me that you ought to be flattered by the accident, for +everybody must envy your good fortune." + +These retorts were far from appeasing the wrath of the husbands, +brothers, and fathers who had been maltreated in the persons of the +objects of their affections. But Uncle Blanquette forced his way through +the crowd, and said to him who had caused all the confusion, assuming a +tone which he strove to make dignified: + +"Monsieur, you have caused a grave perturbation at my nephew's wedding +party----" + +"Ha! ha! _perturbation_ is a pretty word; I must remember it. Never +mind; proceed, Papa Blanquette." + +"People in our society do not indulge in such improper dances as those +you have performed, monsieur." + +"But, if I remember right, Aunt Merlin seemed to enjoy that dance pretty +well." + +"I didn't invite you to our ball, monsieur; so I consider it much +too--much too----" + +"Presumptuous!--you can't find the word, but that's it, I fancy; eh?" + +"Yes, monsieur; too presumptuous, to appear where you're not invited, +and especially in a costume so negligée as yours. You have thrown down +enough persons; we don't care to have any more of it, and I beg you to +go." + +"Ah! that's your idea of politeness, is it? Very good! bonsoir! I will +go! Your party isn't so very fine, after all; I haven't seen a single +glass of punch. And you fancy that you do things in style, do you? No, +no! you're a long way behind the times!" + +"Be good enough to remember also, monsieur, that you owe me four hundred +and ninety-five francs; and, if you don't quit, I will take harsh +measures----" + +"Bravo! I expected that--that's the bouquet! The idea of talking about +your account at a ball! Look you, old Blanquette: you make me sick! +_Adieu, Rome, I go!_--Mesdames, I lay my homage at your feet. I am sorry +to have jostled you a little; but, on my word of honor, it was the fault +of your partners; they didn't know how to hold you." + +This fresh insult to the male portion of the guests renewed their wrath, +and they threatened to attack Cherami. He removed his yellow glove and +threw it at their feet, saying: + +"Here, this is all I can do for you! I expect you all to-morrow morning. +My friend Blanquette[C] of veal will give you my address. Bring pistols, +sabres, swords, what you please. I shall have nothing but a rabbit's +tail, understand, and with that rabbit's tail I defy you all!" + +This heroic challenge seemed to calm the wrath of his adversaries to +some extent. But, while they were staring at one another, a little, bald +man darted forward and picked up the glove. + +"That's my glove," he cried; "I recognize it; it's the left-hand glove +that I lost; it has been mended on the thumb; this is the very one!" + +Cherami did not hear Monsieur Courbichon. He left the ballroom, passed +rapidly through the cardroom, and, taking a hat from a nail and a cane +from a corner, left the last of the rooms and descended the stairs, +saying to himself: + +"I snap my fingers at them. I'm not sorry I went to that party. I have +my cue!" + +And Cherami patted the pocket in which were the gold pieces he had won +at écarté. + +At the foot of the staircase, he saw several ladies standing, waiting +for their carriages; they were guests of the party on the first floor, +just leaving the ball. In a moment, another young couple appeared, and +one of the ladies said to another: + +"What does this mean? the bride going away already?" + +"Yes, I believe she doesn't feel very well." + +"Aha! that's the bride, who goes so early!" cried Cherami, putting his +head forward. "Yes! it's she! it's the faithless Fanny! I recognize +her." + +These words were hardly out of his mouth, when the husband, who had his +wife on his arm, left her abruptly, looked about, and rushed up to +Cherami, to whom he said in a voice that trembled with emotion: + +"Was it you who just spoke, monsieur?" + +"What's that! Suppose it was? Well, yes, I did speak. Do you mean to say +that it isn't my right?" + +"Was it you who said: 'It's the faithless Fanny'?" + +"Yes, pardieu! it was. Oh! I never deny my words." + +"This is neither the time nor the place for an explanation, monsieur; +but I will call on you to-morrow, and, if you're not a coward, you will +give me satisfaction." + +"I, a coward! Arthur Cherami, a coward! Well, well! that's a good one! +And I have just challenged the whole Blanquette wedding party! I am +always ready to fight with whatever anyone chooses--from a pin to a +cannon, I'm your man!" + +"We will see about that to-morrow. Your address?" + +"There it is. I always carry a card about me with a view to affairs of +this sort." + +Monléard took the soiled yellow card which Cherami drew from his pocket, +and hastened after his wife, who was already in the carriage. This +little scene had taken place so rapidly that the persons who were +standing had been able to catch only a few words. + +The carriage which contained the newly married pair drove away. Cherami +looked about for a cab, and having finally found one, jumped in, and +called out to the driver: + +"Rue de l'Orillon, Barrière de Belleville. I will tell you when we reach +my hôtel."--Then he stretched himself out comfortably on the back seat, +with his feet on the other, murmuring: "The day has been complete. An +excellent dinner, punch, cards, a ball, and a duel! And this morning I +hadn't the wherewithal to buy a small loaf! In my place, a fool would +have jumped into the water. But, with clever people, there is always +some resource." + + + + +XVII + +FURNISHED LODGINGS ON RUE DE L'ORILLON + + +Rue de l'Orillon, which is outside the barrier, near the Belleville +theatre, bears not the slightest resemblance to Rue de Rivoli, or to Rue +de la Paix. There is much mud there at almost all seasons, and there are +very few shops of the Magasin du Prophète variety; indeed, I think that +I can safely say that there are none. + +It was in a wretched furnished lodging on this street outside the walls +that the ci-devant Beau Arthur, who had once dwelt in the fashionable +precincts of the Champs-Élysées and the Chaussée d'Antin, had been +compelled to take up his abode. He did not often pay his rent; however, +on the day when he received his quarterly stipend, he sometimes +persuaded himself to give two or three five-franc pieces to his +landlady, and she waited patiently for her arrears, because she was +proud to furnish lodgings to a man who had once had thirty-five thousand +francs a year, and who still retained a trace of his former social +position in his manners and his language. + +The room occupied by Cherami was not furnished like the apartments of +the Hôtel du Louvre. A blue wallpaper, at thirteen sous a roll, took the +place of hangings; but this paper, already old, was torn in several +places, and the breaches were concealed by scraps of paper of a +different design, and, in many instances, of a different color, which +gave to the room a sort of Harlequin aspect which was not altogether +disagreeable--especially to those persons who like that costume. Now, +Harlequins are very popular in Rue de l'Orillon. + +A miserable cot-bed, surmounted by a rod which had never been gilded, +and over which was thrown a curtain of yellow cloth much too narrow to +surround the bed, stood opposite the window. At the foot of the bed was +a screen four feet high, which was supposed to be a protection against +the wind that came in under the ill-fitted door. A Louis XVI commode, an +old Louis XV armchair, and a desk which claimed to be Louis XIII, with a +few common chairs, were all the furniture that the apartment contained. +On the mantel were two kitchen candlesticks, a small box of matches, and +several cigar-butts, but not a single pipe: Arthur would have deemed +himself a dishonored man if he had put a pipe to his lips. + +It was noon, and Cherami lay on his bed, having just waked up. He +stretched his arms, rubbed his eyes, and, glancing at the window, said +to himself: + +"On my word, I believe I've had quite a nap! Yes, if I can judge by the +sun, which is shining in at my window, the morning must be well +advanced. It is often unpleasant not to have a watch; but, at all +events, in a furnished lodging-house there should be a clock on each +mantel. That villainous Madame Louchard, my landlady, promises me every +month that indispensable complement of my furniture, and I am like +Sister Anne, I see nothing coming. _Par la sambleu!_ as they say in +Marivaux's plays, the rest has done me good, for yesterday was a +tiresome day! But it seems to me that I had at least a dozen duels on +hand for this morning; the deuce! and I don't know what time it is." + +Thereupon Cherami began to knock loudly on the thin partition beside his +bed, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Madame Louchard! I say there! Goddess of Cythera! Landlady of the +Loves! Venus of La Courtille! hasten hither, I beseech thee.--Come, lady +fair; I await thee! I await thee!--Damnation! start your boots, will +you!" + +After some five minutes, heavy footsteps were heard in the corridor, and +a tall woman, thin as a lath, whose flat hips indicated a most profound +contempt for every sort of hoop-skirt, entered the room occupied by +Cherami. This woman had a huge nose, huge mouth, huge teeth, huge ears, +and feet and hands to correspond. A child who had heard the tale of +Little Red Riding Hood would inevitably have been afraid of her, +mistaking her for the wolf disguised as the grandmother. + +To complete the portrait, we may add that Madame Louchard had a yellow +complexion, bleared eyes, and a nose always smeared with snuff; that her +costume consisted of a long dressing-gown, shaped like an umbrella case +(a reminder of the style in vogue under the Directory); and, finally, +that her head-dress was a white cap, around which was tied a colored +cotton handkerchief. + +"Well! what's the matter? What are you shouting and hammering for? +Couldn't you get up, Monsieur Lazy-bones? I should think it had been +light long enough." + +Such was this lady's way of bidding her tenant good-morning. + +"You are right as to that point, Queen of Cythera," replied Cherami, +half rising. + +"God forgive me! I believe he intends to get up before me! Was that why +you called me--to let me see that sight? That strikes me as a strange +kind of joke!" + +"Nay, nay, virtuous Louchard; I will not rise in your presence. I know +the rigidity of your morals, and I respect them! I know that with you +Richelieu and Buckingham would have wasted their time." + +"I don't know those gentlemen, but it would be just the same with them +as with others! I have told you a hundred times that, since my husband's +death, the late Louchard, men are nothing to me!" + +"It would seem that the late Louchard was a phoenix, a jewel, the very +pearl of husbands?" + +"On the contrary, he had a lot of hidden drawbacks, and he was always +drunk. That's what made me take a dislike to your sex, in the matter of +love." + +"Very good! I agree with you, on my honor. I think you did well to adopt +that course." + +"Why?" + +"Because it makes you resemble Dido. But let us change the subject; tell +me quickly what time it is." + +"_Dame!_ it's a good half-hour--yes, at least half an hour--since I +heard the clock strike twelve." + +"Then say at once that it's half-past twelve. Bigre! I have been lazy, +and no mistake; but when I came in last night, it was two o'clock in the +morning." + +"No earlier; and you woke me up, too; you always make such a noise on +the stairs!" + +"At all events, I didn't wake your concierge, as you haven't one." + +"What's the good of a concierge?--Everybody knows the secret of the +passageway, and they can come in when they choose." + +"And by feeling their way, which is often very imprudent." + +"But I believe you rode home last night. Do the omnibuses run as late as +that nowadays?" + +"Omnibuses! Understand, Widow Louchard, that when I come home after +midnight, I always come in a coupé or a cab." + +"Peste! so the funds have gone up, have they? You'd better give me +something on account." + +"Don't bother me! I gave you ten francs." + +"That was two months ago." + +"That's not the question. Has anybody called to see me this morning?" + +"No, not a cat." + +"Not a cat! Oh! the cowards!" + +"Why do you say that cats are cowards? Mine would fight a bulldog." + +"I'm not talking about your cat, Widow Louchard; but about a lot of +braggarts, all of whom challenged me yesterday, and who don't dare to +call on me to-day." + +"Do you mean that you wanted to fight again, pray? Good God! is it a +disease with you? It isn't so very long since you were cured of that +bullet in your side." + +"Bah! a trifle, a scratch. I am not quarrelsome; but when a man seems to +look askance at me, that irritates me. After all, I am not particular +about seeing those walking rushlights of the Blanquette wedding party. +But there was another man; if he doesn't come, I shall be surprised. +However, it's not too late yet; he was only married yesterday, and a man +doesn't get up very early on the day after his wedding." + +"What! you expect to fight with someone who was married yesterday?" + +"Why not? We marry, we fight, we kill--or are killed! Such is life, +lovely Artemisia!" + +"What makes you call me Artemisia? that isn't my name." + +"Because she was a widow who profoundly regretted her husband." + +"But I have never regretted mine a single minute." + +"That makes no difference.--So you say it's half-past twelve? Sapristi! +Madame Louchard, when is that clock coming that you've been promising me +so long?" + +"I'm waiting for a good chance. I want something to match the rest of +the furniture." + +"In that case, my dear friend, as I have here a so-called Louis XIII +desk, a Louis XV armchair, and a Louis XVI commode, it seems to me that +you cannot do otherwise than procure a Louis XIV clock, to fill up the +inter-regnum and reestablish the continuity of the dynasty." + +"Yes, yes; I've seen lately a little rococo Pompadour one, second-hand." + +"Take care! you don't go back far enough; I didn't say Pompadour, which +would land you in the middle of Louis XV's reign! I said Louis XIV." + +"Fourteenth or fifteenth! so long as it ain't too dear.--But what's all +this? when I said you were in funds, I wasn't mistaken, was I? You've +bought a new hat! I must say, you did well; for yours wouldn't have +lasted out a storm." + +"A new hat! What are you talking about, my fair hostess? I have thought +of it more than once, but I have not yet carried out my project." + +"Why, what's this, then?" + +Madame Louchard took a hat from the commode and handed it to Cherami, +who stared at it with wide-open eyes; for the hat was quite new and of a +stylish shape. + +"What the devil! is that my hat? That's a surprising thing; it has +changed, much to its advantage; it has grown at least two years younger; +and it fits me, pardieu! Yes, it fits me nicely; it's just the shape of +my head." + +"Of course you bought it yesterday?" + +"Oh! no, I didn't buy it, I tell you again. Ah! I see: when I left that +wedding ball, I was a little excited--a little angry; I seized the first +hat that came under my hand, thinking it was mine." + +"Well, there's no denying that you've got a lucky hand; you haven't lost +by the change." + +"Oh! dear me, such mistakes occur so often at balls and evening parties, +that, frankly, I shall not demand mine back." + +"You will make no mistake; but the man who found your hat in place of +his--he may want his back." + +"Very well! let him come; I am ready for him; I'll return his old tile, +and give him others to boot." + +"Ah! but that isn't all." + +"What else is there, Widow Louchard? Can it be that I came home with two +hats? I admit that that would astonish me." + +"No, it isn't a hat this time; but this cane--this isn't your +clothes-beater, which wasn't worth six sous." + +Madame Louchard picked up a cane which lay in a corner of the room; it +was a genuine rattan, with an agate head surrounded by gold rings, and +cut in very peculiar fashion. She showed it to Cherami, who exclaimed in +admiration: + +"Oho! why, that's a beauty! A charming cane, excellent style--not too +heavy; I like this sort of cameo for a head very much." + +"So you got your cane the same way you did your hat, eh?" + +"Pardieu! that goes without saying. It stood beside the hat. You see, I +had placed my switch beside my beaver--so the joke was complete." + +"Well, you're mighty lucky in your mistakes; that's sure. This cane must +have cost a lot of money." + +"Oh! I have seen much finer ones than this, in the old days. What the +devil are you looking for on the floor and on the furniture, Madame +Louchard?" + +"_Dame!_ I'm looking to see if you haven't brought something else home, +by mistake." + +Cherami instantly sat up in bed, crying: + +"Thunder of Jupiter! Widow Louchard, what do you take me for, I'd like +to know? Do you think I'm a thief, a pickpocket? I had a hat and a cane, +and on leaving a ball I took a hat and a cane. They're not the ones that +belong to me; I made a mistake, I was in error, and that may happen to +anybody--_errare humanum est_, do you understand? No, you don't +understand; never mind. But to carry away anything to which I have no +right--fie! for shame!--To prove that I wouldn't do such a thing--I +found a glove, and I returned it. Let me tell you, madame, that a man +may be without money, have debts, borrow and not pay, and even play +cards on his word--for if I had lost last night, I shouldn't have been +able to pay on the spot; but all those things don't prevent one's being +an honest man." + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Cherami, I don't say they do; you go off all of a +sudden, like a spitfire!" + +"Last night, I confess, I had dined very well. I wasn't drunk; I never +get drunk; I was simply a little confused, which fully explains all +these mistakes; and now, I feel as if I could take something." + +"Would you like to have me make you a nice onion soup, while you're +getting up? There's nothing that'll set you up better, the day after a +spree." + +"Onion soup! I do not disdain that dish; but I am tempted to look +higher, and I believe that a good chicken---- But what's all that noise? +I should say that a carriage was stopping in front of the hôtel! Go and +look, my dear hostess." + +Madame Louchard went to the window. + +"Yes, it is," she said; "a handsome private cabriolet, with a fine +dapple-gray horse, and a groom in livery! And there's a young dandy +getting out; he's looking at the house; he's coming in; it must be for +me." + +"For you? Oh! no, it's for me, by all the devils! It must be that young +husband, and here am I still in bed! I must dress at the double-quick." + +Cherami jumped out of his bed, in his nightshirt; whereupon Madame +Louchard instantly took flight, crying: + +"I don't like this sort of thing, Monsieur Cherami; I told you not to +get up before me. And a man who don't wear drawers, too!" + +"Aha! my dear hostess, it would seem that you risked a glance! Oh! these +women! they are all descended from Lot's wife! It's a pity that they're +not changed into salt nowadays at every indiscretion; that would make a +handsome reduction in the price of that product!" + + + + +XVIII + +A DUEL WITHOUT WITNESSES + + +It was, in fact, Monsieur Monléard who had alighted from the cabriolet, +and, having scrutinized the exterior of the furnished lodging-house, had +ventured into the rather gloomy hall of that establishment. There he +looked in vain for the concierge; but the proprietor often served in +that capacity, and it was she herself who hastily descended the stairs. + +"Do you know a certain Monsieur Cherami in this house, madame?" + +"Yes, monsieur; indeed I know him, as he's my tenant." + +"Ah! very good. Would you kindly direct me to his room?" + +"Second floor, second door on the right." + +"Do you think that I shall find him?" + +"Certainly, monsieur; for I just left him, and he was just going to get +up." + +"Thanks! Pardon me, madame; a word or two more, if you please." + +"As many as you want, monsieur; I'm in no hurry." + +"I would be glad, madame, to obtain some information about this +gentleman: to know who he is, and what he does." + +"Mon Dieu! it won't take long to tell you; he don't do anything, he +lives on his income; he's a man who used to be very rich, and who did as +so many others do--ran through his fortune with fast women; now, he's on +his uppers; for I guess the income isn't very heavy!" + +"Exceedingly obliged, madame." + +Monléard left Madame Louchard, and went up to Cherami's room. That +worthy was dressing behind his screen; but as it barely reached his +shoulders, he was perfectly able to see anybody who came in, and could +converse over the leaves of the article of furniture which encompassed +him. + +"Monsieur Arthur Cherami?" said the fashionably dressed young man as he +entered. + +"Present! here I am, monsieur. A thousand pardons for not being dressed; +but it will take me only a minute. Pray be kind enough to take a seat +while you wait." + +"Thanks, I am not tired." + +"Then, remain standing. You may do as you please.--Where the devil did I +put my false collar?" + +"You divine the motive of my visit, monsieur, I fancy?" + +"What! do I divine it? Why, I have been waiting for you, with some +impatience. But I said to myself: 'That gentleman will not come very +early, because, on the day after his wedding---- ' Ha! ha! I don't think +I need say any more." + +"It has occurred to me, monsieur, that our duel might as well take place +without witnesses. The subject of our dispute is such a delicate one! +There are some things which one doesn't like to make a noise about; for +the world, which is unkind, as a general rule, sometimes makes a +mountain out of what was----" + +"Only a mouse--_parturiens montes._ I am entirely of your opinion.--Ah! +I have my collar." + +"Then, monsieur, you consent to fight with no other witness than my +servant?" + +"Very gladly; I have already fought that way more than once." + +"Thinking that you might have no weapons, monsieur, I brought two swords +and a pair of pistols with me." + +"You did very well; for, as you foresaw, I am without weapons at this +moment. Ah! I used to have some beautiful ones in the old days! My +pistols were made by Devisme; I could bring down a fly at fifty yards; +but I had to let them go. What would you have? _Deus dederat, Deus +abstulit._--I will just put on my coat, and I am at your service." + +"This is a most extraordinary individual," said Auguste Monléard to +himself as he listened. + +The Latin with which Cherami sprinkled his discourse, and his air of +good-breeding, had modified the opinion he had formed of him; and he was +not sorry to learn that he was not about to fight with a man devoid of +breeding and education. + +At last, Arthur came out from behind his screen, and saluted his +adversary with all the ease of a man of the world, saying: + +"Now I am at your service." + +"Very good, monsieur. Doubtless you are well acquainted with this +quarter, this neighborhood. It is entirely unfamiliar to me. Is there +any spot hereabout where we can fight comfortably--without having to +travel a couple of leagues to Vincennes or the Bois de Boulogne?" + +"Wait a moment, while I think. We could go behind the Buttes +Saint-Chaumont; there are some quarries there, where no one would see +us. But it's rather hard to get there in a carriage; and then, too, the +ground's rather uneven, and sometimes there are some low-lived rascals +prowling about. But, pardieu! we have just what we want, close at hand. +In the next street there's a large vacant lot, on which they're going to +build, but the building isn't begun yet. No one ever passes through that +street; we shall be as retired as we should be in our own house." + +"But can we get into the lot?" + +"Yes, indeed. On the street there's nothing but a board fence, and +there's a gate in it. If there's anyone there, we'll say we are +architects; that will make it all right." + +"And it's not far from here?" + +"We shall be there in five minutes." + +"In that case, monsieur, let us go. We will let my cabriolet follow us." + +"That's right; and as we must avoid making a noise and attracting +attention, we will fight with swords, if you choose." + +"With pleasure, monsieur." + +Monléard and Cherami went down the stairs together. Madame Louchard, who +was standing at the hall-door, was very much puzzled when she saw her +tenant leave the house with the fashionably dressed owner of the +cabriolet; but she dared not ask him a question. Instead of turning +toward the main street of Belleville, the two men took a street which +ran behind the theatre of that suburb. + +Walking side by side with the individual with whom he was to fight, +Monléard, more and more amazed by his adversary's courteous manners and +by his use of language which denoted familiarity with good society, said +to him after a while: + +"We are going to fight a duel, monsieur; that is a settled thing, which +neither you nor I, I am sure, have any intention of avoiding." + +"I agree with you, monsieur." + +"But, before the duel takes place, will you not do me the favor to tell +me where you knew the lady whom I have married, and how long you have +known her?" + +"It will give me very great pleasure to answer you. I have not the +slightest acquaintance with your wife, and I never saw her until +yesterday. First, when she alighted from her carriage at Deffieux's +restaurant; and again, when you were taking her away last night, and I +met you." + +"But, in that case, monsieur, how do you explain the words you uttered: +'There's the faithless Fanny'? Was it a bet? Was it an insult?--And, +again, how did you know my wife's Christian name, since you did not know +her?" + +"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I can explain it all to you in a few words, +and you will say that events succeeded one another naturally enough. +When your young wife alighted from her carriage, a young man--a very +pretty fellow, on my word! but a perfect stranger to me--was standing +near me, in front of the restaurant. The poor fellow really made my +heart ache: he was in the depths of despair, he tore his hair--no, he +didn't go so far as that; but, what was worse, he insisted on accosting +the bride and making a scene. I remonstrated with him, I prevented his +doing it, and made him see that it would be in the worst possible taste +to cause such a scandal in the street." + +"I thank you, monsieur. But the young man's name--do you know it?" + +"He told me while we were dining; for we dined together, and he told me +the whole story of his love affair. I must hasten to add that there was +nothing in it which casts the slightest reflection on madame's honor. +But she allowed that young man to pay court to her, she flattered him +with the hope that she would marry him some day. But when you appeared, +the scales were very soon turned in your favor, and my poor lover was +given the mitten." + +"Then the man who told you all this must have been Monsieur Gustave +Darlemont?" + +"The very same; those are his names." + +"Yes, I remember meeting him now and then at Monsieur Gerbault's, in the +first days of my intimacy with that family. You will agree, +monsieur,--for you seem well acquainted with society and its +customs,--that it is indiscreet, to say no more, for a young man who has +been kindly received by a respectable family, to go about telling of his +love affairs, his disappointed hopes, in short, all his affairs, to +someone whom he doesn't know, and whom he meets by chance in the +street." + +"It was, perhaps, a little foolish, I admit; but we must excuse some +foolish performances in a lover. Poor Gustave adored your wife--he +adores her still. She flirted a bit with him." + +"Monsieur!" + +"Oh! bless my soul, all the women do it; I know that well enough; maids, +wives, and widows--before, during, and after--they always do it. It's +their original sin. Eve set the example by flirting with the serpent. To +try to cure them of that failing would be to attempt the impossible: +women are made that way. _Quid levius pluma? pulvis! Quid pulvere? +ventus! Quid vento? mulier! Quid muliere? nihil!_" + +"But, monsieur, how did it happen that it was you, and not this Monsieur +Gustave, who indulged in that insulting exclamation?" + +"For a very simple reason: Gustave wasn't there. After dining with me, +at the same restaurant where you had your wedding banquet, for he was +absolutely determined to speak to your wife, to bid her a last +farewell----" + +"The impertinent wretch! if he had dared!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! you wouldn't have known anything about it. The women do +so many things that we don't know! But a certain uncle made his +appearance--a gentleman who doesn't joke, and who hasn't an amiable +manner every day. He dragged his nephew away, deaf to his prayers and +lamentations--and poor Gustave had to go, without a sight of his +faithless Fanny.--I beg your pardon, but that's the expression he always +used in speaking of madame your wife; and that is why that exclamation +escaped me last night, when I saw her on your arm. Now you know the +whole story. Faith! here we are; see, this is the board fence about the +vacant lot. We can go in here; there's a solution of continuity. Not so +much as a cat, inside or out; this is delightful. You can get the swords +from your servant." + +Monléard, having taken the swords from his groom, ordered him to stay by +the cabriolet; then he and Cherami entered the vacant lot, which had +been made ready for building, but as yet contained nothing but stone. +They soon reached a spot where there was nothing to embarrass them; +there they removed their coats and stood at guard. By the way in which +Cherami stood, the young dandy saw at once that he had to do with an +expert fencer; and, as he was himself well skilled in the use of the +sword, he was not sorry to meet an adversary worthy of his steel. + +But after one or two passes, one or two deftly parried attacks, Monléard +realized that he had before him an antagonist of the first order; and +that he must needs exert his utmost talent and strength to gain the +advantage. He had expected to have done with his opponent in a few +thrusts; his self-esteem was touched by the necessity of defending +himself. He attacked with an impetuosity which sometimes made him forget +to be prudent; and Cherami, who fought as coolly as if he were playing +shuttlecock, said to him from time to time: + +"Take care, you are making mistakes, you'll run on my sword, you strike +down too much! I give you warning; it won't be my fault. Ah! what did I +tell you?" + +Monléard, attacking awkwardly, had received a thrust in the arm, and the +wound was so painful that he had to drop his sword. + +"Enough, I am beaten!" said the young man, struggling to conceal his +suffering. "But you are a skilful fencer, monsieur." + +"Yes, I am somewhat expert with the foils. Wait a moment; let me take +your handkerchief and bind up the wound, to stop the blood. Then we'll +make a sling with your black silk cravat." + +"I am extremely obliged, monsieur; a thousand pardons for the trouble I +am causing you." + +"Why, between honorable men, this is the way it should always be: when +the fight's over, shake hands. It's a pity the sword went in so far, or +we might have breakfasted together." + +"Oh! I am forced to admit that that would be quite impossible." + +"Yes, I understand. You are in for a fortnight of it, perhaps three +weeks. There's a lot of muscles in the arm, that are as obstinate as the +devil about getting well. Are you strong enough to walk to your +cabriolet, leaning on me? Shall I call your groom?" + +"Oh! there's no need; I can walk with your assistance." + +"Take my arm, and don't be afraid to lean on it." + +Monléard succeeded, although suffering intensely, in reaching his +carriage, which Cherami assisted him to enter, after putting the swords +inside. Then, saluting his adversary, who thanked him again, Cherami +walked away, saying: + +"Delighted to have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance!" + + + + +XIX + +A SALON IN THE CHAUSSÉE D'ANTIN + + +Three weeks after the marriage of Fanny Gerbault and the brilliant +Auguste Monléard, the exceedingly handsome salon of a house on Rue +Neuve-des-Mathurins contained, about nine o'clock in the evening, a +company in which, although small in numbers, we shall find several +persons of our acquaintance. + +First of all, this young woman seated on a _causeuse_, beside a lovely +table of Chinese lacquer, and working carelessly upon a piece of +embroidery, is the newly made bride, Fanny, now Madame Monléard, in a +charming gown of the sort one wears at home, to receive a few friends; +she has no other head-dress than her own hair, which is arranged with +much taste, the back hair being braided and wound about the head, like a +crown. + +Marriage has not impaired the young woman's beauty; her complexion is +fresh and rosy, her eyes gleam with greater animation, and about her +lips plays a smile of satisfaction, almost of beatitude, except, +however, when her eyes happen to fall upon a newspaper which lies on the +table, open at the page containing the transactions on the Bourse, and +the stock quotations. At such times, her brows contract slightly, and +her lips close; but that feeling of vexation soon disappears, the +charming Fanny turns her eyes elsewhere, and her face resumes its +amiable and contented expression. + +A short distance away, another young woman is sitting at the piano, +turning over the leaves of a volume of music. It is Adolphine, Fanny's +sister. You know already that her hair is not so black as her sister's, +and that her eyes are a little smaller, which fact does not prevent +Adolphine from being a charming person; above all, there is on her face +a sweet and melancholy expression, which always attracts, and arouses +interest. A little taller than her sister, Adolphine has a slender, +elegant figure; her walk is always graceful. Pretty women have this +peculiarity in common with cats, that there is in their slightest +movements an indefinable fascination; and this quality is not the +attribute of the most coquettish only, but equally of those in whom +grace of movement is entirely natural. + +For some time past, Adolphine's melancholy had almost become sadness; +her eyes were often fixed on the ground, and she would sit for hours +buried in thought, which, if one could judge by the expression of her +features, was not concerned with pleasant memories. Suddenly, she would +emerge from her abstraction, and, as if ashamed of having abandoned +herself to her reveries, would glance hastily about, to see if anyone +had noticed her; and would strive to smile, in order to conceal the +thoughts with which her heart was occupied; but her smile was never very +real, and her merriment was like her smile. + +Beyond the piano was a card-table, at which four persons were playing +the inevitable whist. First, there was a lady evidently on the wrong +side of forty, but who had once been very pretty, and who still produced +a brilliant effect by artificial light, thanks to an extremely careful +toilet, in which were employed all those invaluable cosmetics which help +to prevent a lady from appearing old. Furthermore, Madame de +Mirallon--such was her name--wore diamonds of very great value at her +neck and in her ears. But those who claim that diamonds embellish a +woman are entirely mistaken; we should say simply that they enrich her; +and, in this connection, we may well remember the remark of Apelles: +"You make her rich, because you cannot make her beautiful." + +At this lady's right was a man of about fifty years, with an intelligent +and distinguished face, somewhat cold and reserved in manner, but +unimpeachably courteous, even when, in the course of conversation, he +indulged in a stinging retort. He spoke but little, however, and his +dress and bearing were perfectly consonant with his age. He was Monsieur +Clairval. + +Opposite him was a young man, neither handsome nor ugly, but dressed +with extreme care, and with a head of hair worthy to figure in a +wig-maker's show-window. It should be said that the young dandy was the +proud possessor of a forest of chestnut locks, a fertile field for the +invention of a hair-dresser. Monsieur Anatole de Raincy--such was the +young man's name--played cards in straw-colored gloves, moulded to a +pair of tiny hands of which he seemed to be very proud, and which he +kept always in evidence. To complete the portrait, we must add a small +light chestnut moustache, eyeglasses, and a constant lisp in his speech. + +The fourth whist player, who was the lady's partner, was a man about +forty years old, a faded blonde, with a conceited and idiotic air; a +doll's face, from which protruded a pair of great eyes which were always +rolling from side to side with an astonished expression--an expression +which never varied. He bowed whenever anyone spoke to him, and found a +way to pay compliments to everybody, accompanying his speeches with a +conventional smile, which he retained even when he was listening to +others; all of which may afford you in anticipation an accurate idea of +the ingenuousness of this individual, whose name was Batonnin. + +An old beau, of at least sixty years, but who affected the dress, the +gait, and all the manners of a young man, fluttered about the table, +dancing attendance on the ladies; his face alone persisted in betraying +his age, although its owner did his utmost to avoid the scrutiny of the +curious. But his cheeks, which had fallen in on account of the loss of +his teeth, a very long nose, purple at the end, and an assortment of +wrinkles which streaked his temples, made it impossible for that face to +create an illusion. As for the hair, it was of a fine, glossy black, +which proved that he wore a wig. + +Such was Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière, a venerable dandy, who still +possessed a handsome fortune, although he had consumed a portion of his +means by living like a prince, and paying assiduous court to the fair +sex. Monsieur de la Bérinière's great fault was his obstinate belief +that he was still young and fascinating, and his consequent persistence +in seeking to make conquests. However, being descended from an +illustrious family, and having all the manners of a grand seigneur, the +count, albeit he had not overmuch intelligence, had, at all events, the +merit of being always amiable and cheerful; and, as we see, he had never +chosen to meddle with any but the attractive features of life. We may +add that he had never married. + +The count left the whist table, and, approaching Madame Monléard, +examined her embroidery. + +"Ah! what pretty work that is you are doing, belle dame! Why, you seem +to possess all the talents!" + +"Mon Dieu! I haven't so very many!" + +"Is it a rug you're making?" + +"No; it's a design for a footstool." + +"What a lucky dog Monléard is! He has married a treasure!" + +"You exaggerate, monsieur le comte." + +"No, I say what I think; and if I had known you earlier---- Oh! I know +what I'd have done! Ah! Dieu!" + +"What a sigh! Ha! ha! ha!" + +"It makes you laugh to hear me sigh?" + +"Why, what other effect should it have on me?" + +"Ah! women are cruel sometimes. But, no matter! if I had known you +before Monléard, I would have solicited the honor of making you Comtesse +de la Bérinière." + +"What nonsense!" + +"Oh! I am not joking. But fate willed otherwise. And I say again that +Monléard is a lucky dog.--By the way, how is his arm?" + +"It is improving slowly; he can't use it yet." + +"It's a long while getting well.--And to think that that accident +happened the very day after your wedding!" + +"Yes, the next day." + +"He fell on the stairs, I believe?" + +"Yes, he slipped, and fell on his arm." + +"For heaven's sake, Monsieur de la Bérinière, do come and advise my +partner, Monsieur Batonnin. Upon my word, he's been making mistake after +mistake!" + +"It must be my pleasure in playing with you, madame, that distracts me," +rejoined the little man with the protruding eyes, bowing to his partner. + +"In that case, monsieur, moderate your pleasure, I entreat you, and +don't trump my kings any more." + +The count regretfully quitted the young bride and returned to the +card-table, saying: + +"But monsieur doesn't need my advice; he plays very well." + +"Oh! you are too good, monsieur!" + +"I am well aware that Monsieur de la Bérinière prefers to pay court to +the ladies rather than watch the game!" rejoined Madame de Mirallon, in +a tone which she intended to be ironical, but in which there was a +slight tincture of mortification; "but he can afford to spare us a few +moments." + +"Whatever is agreeable to you, I will do, madame." + +"Indeed! But it did not suit your pleasure to join our game?" + +"Madame, if you would kindly attend to your play----" + +"Oh! Monsieur Clairval is so severe!" + +"No, madame; but we don't usually talk when we're playing whist." + +"Mon Dieu! if one must never say a word---- Ah! Monsieur Batonnin, that +is too cruel! Don't you remember my signal?" + +"I beg your pardon, madame; but no man is required to do the +impossible." + +"I don't understand proverbs." + +"That means," observed the count, with a laugh, "that monsieur has no +club." + +"That makes no difference; his game was to play one." + +"Let us put our cards on the table, and play that way; it will be +simpler," interposed Monsieur Clairval. + +"I had thutht ath lief; I played that way onth, a three-handed game with +a dummy." + +"Monsieur de Raincy, I might justly complain, as well as madame; but I +see that this is an evening of absent-mindedness." + +"Why, what did I do wrong. I don't thee----" + +"Oh! I shall tell you later." + +"I flatter mythelf that I play a fine game of whitht." + +"You are quite right!" + +"Well, Monsieur Batonnin! well! what are you thinking about?" + +"I thought you would trump, madame." + +"We've lost the odd--and it's your fault." + +"We have won." + +"Now for the rubber!" + +"I beg you, Monsieur de la Bérinière, stand behind Monsieur +Batonnin.--Oh! he doesn't listen to me! he has gone to pay his court to +Mademoiselle Adolphine. What a butterfly that man is, and when will he +sober down?" + +"It seems to me," observed Monsieur Clairval, with a smile, "that it +would be rather hard for him to change his habits now." + +The count had, in fact, approached Adolphine, who was still pretending +to be absorbed in the music-books, and who apparently did not see that +anyone was by her side. + +"You are fond of music, mademoiselle?" + +"Ah!--I beg your pardon. Yes, monsieur, very." + +"Do you sing?" + +"A little." + +"Young ladies are never willing to admit that they sing more than a +little. I don't refer to you, mademoiselle. I am told that your voice is +very sweet and true." + +"Your informant flatters me, monsieur." + +"Shall we have the pleasure of hearing you this evening?" + +"I don't know at all, monsieur. But, if it will gratify my sister----" + +"Your sister, of course; but the whole company as well." + +"Oh! whist players care but little for singing." + +"You are more or less right; that game makes savages of +people--ferocious savages, I may say. Whist enthusiasts close the door +when there is singing in the next room. I verily believe, that, if you +told them the house was burning down, they'd insist on finishing their +_rub_ before making their escape." + +"You see that it would be very unkind of me to sing." + +"Pardon me, I am not playing; and what do you care if----" + +"Monsieur de la Bérinière, in the name of your ancestors, come and show +Monsieur Batonnin how to play; it's very important! We are playing the +rub, and I don't want to lose it through my partner's misplay." + +"That Madame de Mirallon is a terrible creature, really! Ah! when women +grow old, they gain in exactingness what they lose in attractions; and +the compensation isn't sufficient." + +Having indulged in this muttered reflection, the count returned to his +station behind Monsieur Batonnin; and Madame de Mirallon bestowed a long +and searching glance upon him as she said: + +"It's very hard to keep you, now!" + +And the _word_ now brought a smile to the lips of Monsieur Clairval, who +said to his partner: + +"Come, Monsieur de Raincy, we must stand to our guns; we are playing +against three." + + + + +XX + +A NEWLY MARRIED PAIR + + +Adolphine left the piano and sat down beside her sister. + +"I am sure that you are annoyed, Fanny, because your husband doesn't +come home." + +"I? Mon Dieu! I wasn't thinking about him at all. If he stays away, it +is probably because he has business to attend to. You don't understand +business, you see, Adolphine; you don't know that, if you want to make a +lot of money, you must sometimes deprive yourself of a little pleasure." + +"No, it's true, I don't understand money matters; but I thought that two +people just married could not be happy apart, that they must be +horribly bored when they're not together." + +"Oh! my dear girl, there's reason in everything. And then, we have +plenty of time to be together." + +"Still, when you marry for love--and Monsieur Monléard certainly seemed +to be in love with you---- Is that all over already?" + +"Why--no--but when two people are once married, they're no longer like +two lovers. You'll find that out some day, my little sister! I still +call you little, although you're taller than I." + +"Ah! I know that I could never love as placidly as you do!--I was afraid +that your husband might be angry with you on account of that duel." + +"Auguste has too much good sense and breeding to charge me with the +folly and extravagance of another, as a crime. It's not my fault that +another man was in love with me!" + +"Oh! that poor Gustave! He did love you so dearly!" + +"Oh, yes! I advise you to pity him! He behaved nobly, didn't he? To go +shouting jeremiads in the street, and end by sending someone to fight in +his place! Fie! it was shameful!" + +"Fanny, you judge Gustave too harshly; do you impute it to him as a +crime, that he didn't insult your husband? Oh! he probably would have +done it, if his uncle hadn't dragged him away, almost by force, from +that restaurant, where he absolutely insisted on speaking to you." + +"How do you know all that?" + +"Because it was I who sent word to Monsieur Grandcourt that his nephew +was at the restaurant where the wedding was being celebrated." + +"Oh! yes, so you told me. That fellow wanted to make a scene--and by +what right? Was I obliged to marry him, I should like to know?" + +"You allowed him to believe that you loved him." + +"Nonsense! because a woman listens to the soft things these men say to +her, because she smiles when they sigh, they instantly assume that she +adores them. A fine position he offered me, didn't he? Three thousand +francs a year--magnificent!" + +"If you had really loved him, you wouldn't have cared about his wealth." + +"Oh! I'm not romantic like you. With Auguste, I have a coupé at my +orders, and I find it very pleasant. I tell you again, your Monsieur +Gustave is an idiot!" + +"Ah! Fanny, it's wicked for you to talk like that; to treat him so, just +because he loved you sincerely." + +"Much I care about his love! His behavior was none the less blamable. +What excuse had he for sending that tall ruffian to insult me when I +left the ball--which, of course, compelled Auguste to fight with the +fellow?" + +"I would take my oath that Monsieur Gustave never told that person, with +whom he had dined, to say a single insulting word to you. Besides, +Monsieur Grandcourt took his nephew away long before you left the ball. +That man, who presumed to address an offensive remark to you, was drunk; +he had already had trouble with some of the gentlemen, for he insisted +on offering his arm to the ladies when they arrived for the ball." + +"Then, my dear girl, you will agree that your Monsieur Gustave has some +very low acquaintances?" + +Adolphine made no reply, but sadly lowered her eyes. A moment later, her +sister continued: "What surprises me is that I haven't once seen +Monsieur Gustave, or met him anywhere, since my wedding. For a man so +dead in love, not to try to see me at my window, at least once---- You +see that he is consoled, so soon." + +"He is not in Paris. His uncle forced him to start for Spain the very +next day." + +"Ah! he's in Spain? that makes a difference! But you seem to know all +about him. From whom, pray?" + +"Father met Monsieur Grandcourt not long ago, and he told him that his +nephew was in Spain." + +"Ah! someone has just rung." + +"It's your husband, no doubt." + +"If it's he, we shall see him in a moment." + +It was not the master of the house who entered the salon, but Monsieur +Gerbault, who, like an affectionate father, began by kissing his +daughters. + +"Good-evening, father," said Fanny. "Why didn't you come to dinner, with +Adolphine? My husband didn't like it." + +"I couldn't, my dear child. Adolphine must have told you that I had +promised a gentleman from the provinces----" + +"A fine reason! You should have sent your gentleman from the provinces +off somewhere to dine by himself." + +"No, when I have promised, I keep my promise. Where is your husband, by +the way?" + +"He had somebody to see to-night. He'll be at home soon." + +"There! we have lost! I knew it!" cried Madame de Mirallon. "Ah! +Monsieur Batonnin, I will never forgive you those six counters!" + +"But, madame, I am well paid by the pleasure of having been your +partner." + +"Luckily, Monsieur Gerbault is here. He knows how to play! Come and take +a hand, Monsieur Gerbault." + +"I do not care to play any more," said De Raincy; "when I have played +two rubberth, I have had enough; it maketh my head ache." + +As he spoke, the nattily-gloved youth left the card-table and joined the +two sisters. + +"Were you at the Bourse to-day, Monsieur de Raincy?" inquired Fanny. + +"Thertainly, madame; I go there every day." + +"How were the Orléans and Lyon Railway shares?" + +"Very thtrong, madame." + +"Do you think they'll go higher?" + +"Why, yeth, I think tho; unleth they go down." + +"That's rather a vague opinion." + +"I never have any definite opinion. At the Bourth one ith tho often +mithtaken! But your huthband can keep you pothted better than I can. He +ith alwayth there; he theemth to be interethted in thome big dealth." + +"Auguste? True, but he doesn't like to have me ask him how the market is +going; he declares that women know nothing about it; that they ought to +attend to spending the money, not to making it." + +"I fanthy that ith the general rule among the ladieth." + +"I think differently. Oh! if I had been a man, I would have been a +stock-broker!" + +"Do you mean it! There are thome of them who have to put up with +lotheth. Ah! here'th our dear Monléard!" + +Fanny's husband had just arrived; he wore his right arm in a sling; he +was very pale, his face was careworn, and his eyes almost sombre. +However, finding guests in his salon, he instantly assumed the affable +manner which a host should always display. Young De Raincy hastened to +go to shake hands with him. + +"Good-evening! dear boy." + +"Good-evening! Anatole. Messieurs, mesdames, your servant!" + +The Comte de la Bérinière also shook hands with Monléard, crying: + +"Ah! here's the lucky man! the fortunate husband! So you still offer +your left hand, eh?" + +"What would you have! it's not my fault that I can't use my right." + +"Why the devil do you want to fall on the stairs? You're too +careless--and the day after your wedding, too! I'll stake my head you +were running to your wife?" + +"Just so!" Auguste replied, with a glance at Fanny, who simply smiled, +without raising her eyes from her embroidery frame. + +"I was sure of it! It was his haste, his love for you, belle dame, which +caused his accident. Ah! your eyes are very dangerous! But, after all, +as love caused the destruction of Troy, it may well make a man slip on +the stairs." + +"Monsieur de la Bérinière, pray come here a moment." + +"Gad! Madame de Mirallon can't seem to get enough of me this evening. +It's a conspiracy! Can she have conceived the idea of monopolizing me?" + +And the count, who had made these remarks in an undertone, added aloud: + +"But, madame, I see that Monsieur Batonnin is no longer your partner; +Monsieur Gerbault has taken his place, so you can have no reason to +complain now." + +"Ah! what a cruel man you are! I wanted to show you an extraordinary +hand." + +"Mon Dieu! she has shown me her hand often enough!" muttered the count, +turning toward young De Raincy; "I don't care to see it any more." + +Auguste, having shaken hands with his father-in-law, and said a word or +two to the different guests, went up to his wife and tapped her gently +on the cheek. + +"You are making me a piece of furniture, I see, madame," he said; "that +is well done of you!" + +"Oh! that would take too long," rejoined Fanny, looking up at her +husband as she would have looked at the merest acquaintance; "it's a +stool, that's all." + +"Mon Dieu! what are you doing with that newspaper spread out before +you?" + +"I am posting myself as to the prices of stocks, my dear." + +"That's a most entertaining occupation for a woman." + +As he spoke, Auguste took the paper, crumpled it in his hands, and +tossed it into a corner of the salon; Fanny watched him while he did it, +then glanced at her sister, and said under her breath: + +"You see, he doesn't want me to look at the market reports. But I shall +look at some other paper--that's all." + +"Does your arm still pain you, brother?" Adolphine asked Monléard, +having observed his thoughtful expression. + +"No, little sister, no. I thank you for being good enough to take some +interest in it. There are people who take more interest in the rise and +fall of stocks than in the wound I received; and yet----" + +He paused, as if he were afraid of saying too much; but Adolphine had +fully grasped the significance of his words, and she whispered to her +sister: + +"Your husband is vexed because you didn't ask him about his wound." + +"Let me alone, pray! Haven't I seen my husband to-day? I fancy that the +condition of his arm hasn't changed in a few hours." + +"No matter; it isn't nice of you not to show more interest; for, after +all, it was on your account that that duel took place." + +"Oh! I beg you, Adolphine, don't talk to me like that; you set my nerves +on edge! For several days, my husband has been in a very disagreeable +mood; as I cannot be the cause of it, I don't worry about it in the +least; indeed, I even pretend not to notice it." + +"If I were in your place, I would ask him the cause of it." + +"Oh! I should be very sorry if I did! My gentleman is capricious, it +seems; so much the worse for him!" + +"If I am not mistaken, you promised to sing for us, mademoiselle," said +Monsieur de la Bérinière, who had once more escaped from Madame de +Mirallon and hastened to Adolphine's side. + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, if it will give you any pleasure, I will gladly +sing; but it will disturb the whist." + +"Sing away!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "we will stuff our ears." + +"Thanks, papa!" + +"There's a father who doesn't say what he thinks, I am sure." + +While Adolphine took her place at the piano, young Anatole said to +Monléard: + +"Ith it true that Morithel hath run away?" + +"Why, yes!" + +"The devil! And he'th carried off thix hundred thouthand francth, they +thay." + +"Something like that." + +"You had thome buthineth relathionth with him; haven't you lotht +anything by him?" + +"No--a trifle--some thirty thousand francs or so." + +"A trifle like that would embarrath me thadly! To be thure, I'm not a +capitalitht like you." + +Auguste bit his lips and took a seat by the piano. Adolphine sang a +lovely romanza by Nadaud. Her voice was sweet and well modulated; in a +word, it was a sympathetic voice, and, furthermore, its possessor had an +agreeable habit of pronouncing distinctly the words she sang; which +increased twofold the pleasure of those who listened to her. + +Auguste's face lighted up a little. Young Anatole ceased to gaze at his +hands; the count seemed fascinated, and did not once remove his eyes +from the singer. At last, Madame de Mirallon exclaimed: + +"It's your play, Monsieur Batonnin; do, for heaven's sake, attend to the +game!" + +"A thousand pardons, madame; I was listening to the singing." + +"But we are not singing, monsieur!" + +"Thank God!" muttered Monsieur Clairval. + +"What's that! Why did you say: 'Thank God!' Monsieur Clairval?" + +"Because, if we were all singing, madame, we should not have the +pleasure of hearing mademoiselle." + +"You see that I am disturbing the game," said Adolphine. + +"No, no; pray go on, mademoiselle! As if people could play whist for two +minutes without a dispute! You are the pretext at this moment, that's +all." + +Adolphine continued to sing. The game of whist came to an end, and +Madame de Mirallon lost again. She left the table in a pet, exclaiming: + +"I certainly will give up playing whist!" + +"Do you know my favorite game?" said Monsieur Gerbault; "it's bézique." + +"Fie, fie! a messroom game!" + +"I don't know anything about that; but piquet is a messroom game, too, +which doesn't prevent its being a very fine game. I've heard people say +of lansquenet: 'It's a footman's game!' the same thing has been said of +écarté--but that doesn't prevent those games from being played in the +salons. For my part, I believe in playing the game that amuses us, +without disturbing ourselves about its origin." + +"I am wild over bézique, too," cried Monsieur de la Bérinière; "and, if +you will allow me, Monsieur Gerbault, I shall take great pleasure in +playing a game with you." + +"Whenever you choose, monsieur le comte, you will be welcome." + +"That's a game I am very fond of, too," said Monsieur Batonnin. + +"I am not thure whether I know it, but I think not." + +"Very well, messieurs," said Fanny; "the next time, we'll have a bézique +table for those who like it.--How is it with you, Auguste; do you play +it?" + +"I? What? what game is that?" replied Monléard, who had not listened to +the conversation. + +"Bézique." + +"No. Oh! yes, I played it yesterday." + +"My son-in-law is distraught this evening." + +They talked a few moments more, then all the guests took leave of the +young husband and wife. But, as she went away, Adolphine could not +resist the desire to say to her sister, in an undertone: + +"Do be more affectionate with your husband. He is unhappy, I assure +you." + +"And I assure you," rejoined Fanny, "that that's none of my affair; as +if a woman must be forever worrying about her husband's looks! That +would not be a very entertaining occupation!" + + + + +XXI + +A MAIDEN'S REVERIES + + +More than a fortnight had elapsed since the Monléard's whist party, at +which Adolphine had sung several romanzas. But her sweet voice had made +a deep impression upon the Comte de la Bérinière, also upon young +Anatole de Raincy; it had even caused a quickening of the heart-beats of +Monsieur Batonnin, the gentleman who played whist so poorly, but who was +said to have a much clearer comprehension of business, which, indeed, +was his profession, for he held himself out as a business agent. + +Adolphine was alone in a small salon, much less sumptuous than her +sister's, but very comfortable none the less. I need not say that there +was a piano in it: that has become an indispensable article of +furniture; we see them even in the domiciles of concierges who have +daughters at the Conservatoire. + +Adolphine held a book in her hand, but she was not reading it; she was +musing, and her face still wore a sad expression. Upon what subject can +a maiden of eighteen muse? Everybody will conclude that her heart was +engrossed by a tender sentiment. And yet, no man had ever paid court to +Adolphine, no one had ever observed any youthful exquisite paying +assiduous attention to her. But all love affairs do not begin in the +same way; they do not all follow the beaten paths; there are secret, +unavowed sentiments which those who inspire them are very far from +suspecting; and when it is a virtuous maiden's heart in which one of +those profound attachments takes root, she suffers all the more because +of the pains she takes to conceal it. + +Adolphine passed her hand across her brow, as if to brush away the +thoughts that made her sad; she took up her book again, and for a few +minutes tried to read; then placed it beside her, saying to herself: + +"It's of no use for me to try to distract my thoughts--I cannot do it. I +used to be so fond of reading! This book is intensely interesting, they +say, and I have no idea what I'm reading; nothing interests me now! even +music no longer has any charm for me; my poor piano is neglected; +everything is a bore. Mon Dieu! shall I always be like this? Oh! no, +that would be ghastly! It will pass away; it must pass away! Father has +already noticed several times that I seemed sad, and it worries him; he +thinks that I am sick. Oh! I don't want to make him uneasy. But it isn't +my fault; I do all that I possibly can to drive out of my mind the +memory of--that person--and it keeps coming back. And yet, I know +perfectly well that there's no sense in it--that I'm a little fool. It's +of no use for me to argue--I cannot cure myself!" + +The door of the salon opened; it was Monsieur Gerbault. The girl +hurriedly wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, and +strove to assume a smiling expression, as she went to meet her father. + +"I have come to tell you, Adolphine, that we shall have two guests at +dinner to-day." + +"You are very late in telling me, father. But, no matter! I will go and +tell Madeleine." + +"I couldn't tell you any earlier; I met Monsieur Batonnin only a moment +ago. He said: 'I am going to play a game of bézique with you this +evening.' I said: 'Come and dine with us, informally.'" + +"Monsieur Batonnin! I don't care much for that young man." + +"Still he is very gallant--and so courteous." + +"He is forever paying compliments--it's a horrible bore! And then, he +always has a smile on his face. Tell me, papa, is that natural? Can +there be anyone in the world who is always satisfied and happy?" + +"I should say that it was rather difficult. However, there are optimists +who look at the bright side of everything." + +"For my part, I believe that those people are not sincere, that they +simply make a point of concealing what they think.--Who is the other +one, father?" + +"Monsieur Clairval." + +"I am very fond of him; he isn't complimentary, at all events, and yet +that doesn't prevent his being agreeable. He has plenty of wit, and +doesn't flaunt it in everybody's face. I do like that so much--wit that +doesn't parade itself!" + +"But, my child, if one has wit without showing it, I should say that it +was precisely equivalent to having none at all." + +"Oh! it always leaks out, father, here and there, even if it's only in +the smile." + +"I just missed inviting Monsieur de la Bérinière, too." + +"Oh! papa, how fortunate it is that you missed it!" + +"Why so, pray? The count is very pleasant. He's a very distinguished man +in all respects." + +"I don't say that he isn't, but for a count we should have had to make +preparations; and then, he has been coming to see us quite often of +late." + +"And that bores you?" + +"It doesn't amuse me overmuch." + +"My dear girl, I hoped, by inviting a friend or two to dinner, to +brighten you up, to give you a little diversion; for you have looked as +if you weren't feeling well for some time. Tell me, are you sick?" + +"Why, no, dear father; I am not sick, I am not in pain. I assure you +that I am in my ordinary condition." + +"Good! so much the better! Still, it seems to me that you're a little +changed." + +"Oh! you know one has days--when the autumn comes.--And you didn't +invite Fanny and her husband, while you were in the mood?" + +"Yes, I did. I was going to their house when I met Auguste. But they +can't come; they are going to a grand dinner. Nothing but festivities, +gorgeous parties!" + +"All the better! it amuses Fanny; she's so fond of all that sort of +thing!" + +"True, true! Fanny is leading the life she used to dream of; she ought +to be happy. But it seems to me that her husband has been in rather a +gloomy mood lately; he always has such a startled, preoccupied manner; +and when you speak to him, he hardly listens to you." + +"I think that you're mistaken, father; Fanny's husband isn't of an +expansive nature; his manner is cold, a little haughty, perhaps." + +"Yes, I know it; but he likes to cut a brilliant figure, to dazzle other +people by his magnificence; and that sometimes carries a man too far." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I have been told that he is speculating heavily on the Bourse." + +"If he has the means to do it, it's all right; he must know what he's +about." + +"Batonnin was telling me just now that Monléard must have lost a great +deal of money by the failure--or the flight, I don't quite know which it +was--of one Morissel." + +"Ah! Monsieur Batonnin told you that? I notice that disagreeable news is +generally brought by smiling faces and honeyed words." + +"I prefer to believe that my son-in-law's fortune has not sustained such +a serious loss." + +"After all, father, in business a man can't always make money, can he?" + +"Hoity-toity! here you are talking almost as well as your sister.--By +the way, I met Monsieur Grandcourt too." + +"Monsieur Grandcourt?" + +"Well, well! what's the matter now? You're as pale as a ghost. Don't you +feel well?" + +"Yes, father. I am all right, I promise you. What did Monsieur +Grandcourt have to say?" + +"Oh! he doesn't speculate! He's a prudent, intelligent man. He does an +excellent business. His house is prosperous and is extending its +connections every day." + +"And his nephew--that poor Monsieur Gustave--did he tell you anything +about him?" + +"He is still in Spain." + +"But when is he coming back? If he should come to see us--would that +annoy you?" + +"My dear Adolphine, in the first place, after what has happened, it's +not at all likely that Gustave will ever come to our house again. That +young man was in love with your sister. For a moment, he hoped that she +would accept him for her husband, then his hopes were disappointed. He +saw Fanny take Monléard in preference to him, and he must have suffered +doubly--in his love and in his self-esteem. What do you suppose he will +come to our house again for?--in search of memories, of regrets? No, our +company would have no charms for him now." + +"Ah! so you think, father, that our company would no longer be agreeable +to him? But he was much attached to you." + +"As the father of the young lady whose husband he wished to be; I know +all about that." + +"But, still, if he should come here, it seems to me that it would be +very discourteous to send him away, to receive him unkindly." + +"Without being unkind to him, you could easily make him understand that +his presence here may be very embarrassing; that he may meet your sister +and her husband here; that Monléard may have learned of his love for +Fanny; and that it would be better, therefore, for him not to come +again. But, I say once more, you will not have to tell him all that; for +I am very certain, myself, that he has no intention of coming here." + +"Poor Gustave!" said Adolphine to herself, as she left the room; "father +doesn't want him to come here any more! What, in heaven's name, would he +say if he knew about that duel? Then it would surely be: 'I don't want +to see him in my house again!'--Luckily he thinks, like everybody else, +that Auguste's injury was the result of a fall on the stairs. But I +suppose father is right, and Gustave will never come here; I shall never +see him again!" + +The girl put her handkerchief to her eyes once more, then went in search +of Madeleine, her maid, a young girl from Picardy, who did not know +Gustave, because she did not enter Monsieur Gerbault's service until +after his eldest daughter's marriage. Madeleine was very fond of her +mistress; she saw that she was unhappy, and often said to her: + +"Mon Dieu! mamzelle, when shall I see you happy and gay, as you ought to +be at your age?" + +"Why, I am very happy, Madeleine," replied Adolphine, forcing back a +sigh. Whereat the Picarde murmured, with a shrug of her shoulders: + +"Oh! nenni! I can see well enough that you always have something inside +that keeps you from laughing!" + + + + +XXII + +A SOFT-SPOKEN GENTLEMAN + + +The guests were punctual; the dinner was voted excellent. Monsieur +Batonnin ate for four, but was not thereby prevented from praising each +dish, adding compliments for the host, for the young lady of the house, +and even for the cook; if there had been a cat or a dog, it is probable +that it would have come in for its share in that distribution of +flattering speeches. + +At dessert, the conversation fell upon the newly married couple, +Monsieur Gerbault expressing his regret that they had been unable to +come to dinner. + +"Yes, they make a charming couple," said Batonnin, with his inevitable +smile. "Can Monsieur Monléard use his right arm now?" + +"Yes; it is entirely well. It took a long while, for a mere fall on the +stairs." + +"Ha! ha! a fall on the stairs! Ha! ha! Monsieur Gerbault says that as if +he really believed it. Ha! ha!" + +"What do you mean by that?" retorted Monsieur Gerbault, who understood +neither Monsieur Batonnin's words nor the malicious tone in which he +uttered them; whereas Adolphine changed color, fearing that her father +might learn the truth. Monsieur Clairval alone seemed indifferent to +what was going on; but he glanced at the soft-spoken guest with an +expression which said plainly enough: + +"In my opinion, that was a very stupid remark of yours." + +Monsieur Batonnin smiled on, as he replied: + +"Come, come, Monsieur Gerbault, you know perfectly well that your +son-in-law's wound was caused by a sword-thrust, which he received in a +duel. He preferred not to tell people that he had fought, especially +because--because---- I know the reason." + +"Why, monsieur, that isn't at all probable!" cried Adolphine. "If my +sister's husband had fought a duel, I should certainly know it, and----" + +"Why so, my dear young lady? If he has concealed it from Monsieur +Gerbault, he may well have concealed it from you, too." + +"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly," said +Monsieur Gerbault, whose face had become very serious; "if my son-in-law +has had a duel, I knew nothing about it, I tell you again; now, if you +have any definite information on the subject, be good enough to impart +it to me; it seems to me that I ought to be at least as well informed as +a stranger, upon such a matter." + +"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I learned of it by chance two days ago. I +met Madame Delbois, who was at your daughter's wedding, and who left the +ball at the same time that she did. So, as you will see, they were in +the hall at the same time, waiting for their carriages." + +"I don't see yet what connection there is between that fact and a duel." + +"One moment--we are coming to it. While the ladies were waiting, a +person of unprepossessing aspect came out of the restaurant. He was just +behind Madame Delbois when she said to one of her friends: 'There goes +the bride; she's going away early.'--Thereupon, this person--of +unprepossessing aspect--had the effrontery to exclaim in a loud +voice---- But, really, if you know nothing of the episode, I am afraid +that, if I go any further, I may say something that it would be +unpleasant for you to hear." + +"If what you have to tell Monsieur Gerbault is likely to be unpleasant +for him to hear," interposed Monsieur Clairval, "it seems to me, +Monsieur Batonnin, that you would have done much better to say nothing +at all on the subject. As Monsieur Monléard concealed the fact that he +had had a duel, it is to be presumed that he feared that it would +displease his father-in-law; and, frankly, it isn't decent of you to +come here and volunteer to tell something that nobody asked you to +tell." + +"I beg your pardon, Monsieur Gerbault just asked me to tell him what I +knew." + +"Go on, Monsieur Batonnin, finish your story, I beg; what did this +person say, whom Madame Delbois overheard?" + +"Your son-in-law heard him, too, and that is what led to the challenge. +However, I simply repeat what Madame Delbois told me. I wasn't there; I +was dancing at that moment." + +"Well, Monsieur Batonnin, this man said----?" + +"I give you my word of honor, my dear Monsieur Gerbault, that it gives +me the greatest pain to repeat his detestable words. I am very sorry +that I mentioned it; I did it quite innocently----" + +"Oh! finish, for heaven's sake!" + +"That man exclaimed, when he caught sight of the bride: 'Ah! there's the +faithless Fanny!'" + +Monsieur Clairval began to laugh, and Monsieur Gerbault deemed it the +wiser plan to do the same; Adolphine decided to imitate them, and +Monsieur Batonnin, who expected to produce a startling effect, looked +very sheepish when he saw them all laughing. + +"Ah! that strikes you as amusing, does it?" he faltered. + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Batonnin, with all your hesitation and holding back, +I thought that you were going to tell us something scandalous. Frankly, +it seems to me that those words, from the mouth of a man who was drunk, +no doubt, and whose tongue may have been twisted, did not deserve such a +long preamble----" + +"Your son-in-law didn't think as you do, apparently; for he rushed after +the fellow, and they exchanged cards." + +"Did Madame Delbois see that also?" + +"Why, yes." + +"How does it happen that that lady, who is evidently very fond of +talking, has not delivered herself before this of things that took place +more than six weeks ago?" + +"That's easily explained: she left Paris for the country the next +morning, and didn't return until the day before yesterday." + +"Oh! you needn't tell me that!--Come, let us go and have some coffee." + +"Look you, my dear Batonnin," said Monsieur Clairval, laughing heartily, +"your news fell rather flat. It's a pity, isn't it?" + +Batonnin bit his lips, and, strange to say, did not smile. + + + + +XXIII + +A GAME OF BÉZIQUE + + +They had just finished their coffee, when the Comte de la Bérinière was +announced. + +"I come early, you see. I made haste to get rid of the person with whom +I dined," said the count, kissing Adolphine's hand, who seemed little +flattered by the attention. + +"That is very good of you; in return, we will have a game of bézique for +your benefit." + +"Oh! by and by; I will venture to request mademoiselle to give us a +little music first. When one has once heard her sing, one has but one +desire, and that is to hear her again." + +"If it will give you any pleasure, monsieur---- I have not enough talent +to require to be asked more than once." + +"That is to say, you are always charming." + +"The rest of us, who are not music-mad like Monsieur de la Bérinière, +will play a three-handed game of bézique. You play, don't you, +Clairval?" + +"I do whatever you please." + +"And you, Monsieur Batonnin?" + +"It will be no less flattering than agreeable to me to have the +privilege of playing with you. But I think that three-handed bézique is +less interesting than two-handed." + +"I beg your pardon; it is even more interesting." + +Adolphine took her place at the piano, and the count seated himself +beside it, darting burning glances at the girl, which she did her utmost +to avoid. + +Batonnin, who had taken a seat at the card-table, kept turning his head +to look toward the piano, in order to see what was going on there, and +to try to hear what was being said. + +"Shall we play with four packs?" + +"Yes; but we must take out two eights, so that the cards will come out +even at the end." + +"Very good; and how many cards do you deal?" + +"Eight to each." + +"Some people deal nine." + +"That makes it too easy." + +"What's the game?" + +"Fifteen hundred." + +"And the stakes?" + +"Whatever you please, messieurs; what shall it be?" + +"We don't want to ruin ourselves; say, two francs each." + +"Two francs it is." + +"I have seen people play for five hundred francs a game," said Batonnin. + +"The deuce! that's flying rather high. But when a man's very rich----" + +"Oh! it isn't always the richest men who play for the biggest +stakes--rather, those who want to pass themselves off for millionaires, +and who are in need of money." + +"Our excellent Monsieur Batonnin, with all his air of indifference, +seems to observe everything." + +"I? Oh! dear me, no! I say that because I've heard someone else say it." + +"I declare four aces!" + +"That's a good beginning." + +"I remember now that it's Monsieur Monléard whom I have seen play +bézique for five hundred francs a game." + +"My son-in-law? Oh! you must be mistaken; he doesn't play so high as +that." + +"I beg a thousand pardons, but it was he. There's nothing remarkable +about that, for he plays whist at his club for a hundred francs a +point." + +"He has assured me that he doesn't go to his club now." + +"I have that fact from someone who played with him, less than a week +ago." + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, its your turn; pray attend to the game." + +"I am attending, my dear Monsieur Gerbault; I am paying the closest +attention. Ah! that's a very pretty thing Mademoiselle Adolphine is +singing!" + +"Double bézique!" + +"There, you have let Monsieur Clairval make five hundred!" + +"I couldn't prevent him, could I?" + +"Certainly you could: there were only three tricks left, and you had two +aces of trumps." + +"Well! that makes only two tricks." + +"I would have taken the third with my ace." + +"Ah! so you think we could have prevented monsieur from counting his +five hundred?" + +"That's plain enough. I don't see that you're any stronger at this game +than at whist." + +"I certainly wouldn't play for five hundred francs a game, like your +son-in-law! But I didn't know that there was any skill in bézique; I +thought it was all luck." + +"You see that it isn't! Indeed, any game can be played well or ill." + +"Even lotto?" + +"Certainly, you can forget to count." + +Adolphine was singing a second selection, when Anatole de Raincy was +announced. + +The arrival of the young man with the lisp interrupted the music, and +seemed greatly to annoy Monsieur de la Bérinière, who decided thereupon +to visit the card-table. The game was finished, and Monsieur Clairval +had won. + +"Take my place," said Monsieur Gerbault to the count. + +"Thanks, but I never play bézique with more than two." + +"Play with Monsieur Batonnin, then; I will play a game of chess with +Clairval, if it's agreeable to him." + +"Anything is agreeable to me." + +"Unless Monsieur de Raincy would like to play whist with a dummy." + +"Oh! I thank you, but I don't care about playing; I much prefer to thing +with Mademoithelle Adolphine, if that ith agreeable to her." + +"It will give me great pleasure, monsieur." + +"I have brought a few thongth, which I thing pathably--tholoth and +dueth.--You play everything at thight, I know?" + +"I will try, at all events, monsieur; and if they're not too hard----" + +"Here'th the aria from _La Dame Blanche_. I can thing that; it ith in +the range of my voith." + +"Very good! I will play your accompaniment." + +"If that young man sings as he talks," muttered Batonnin, with an +affable smile at the count, who had taken his place opposite him, "it +will produce a strange effect." + +"He would do much better to let us listen to Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Oh! yes, she has a voice----" + +"Shall we play for two thousand?" + +"That goes to the heart, monsieur." + +"And we play with four packs." + +"Very well.--But there are some men who have a perfect mania for +singing." + +"And who often sing false--as, for instance---- I declare four queens!" + +While these gentlemen played, Anatole shouted at the top of his voice: + + "'Come, lady fair; I await thee, I await thee, I await thee!'" + +"That is horrible!" said the count. + +"It sounds like the hissing of a railroad train when it stops." + +"I have a sequence!" + +"It seems that we are not to see Madame Monléard and her husband this +evening?" + +"No; they have gone to some grand affair.--I declare a single bézique!" + +"Ah! Monléard doesn't propose that his little wife shall be bored; they +are going to parties all the time." + +"Yes; if only it will last.--I declare four kings--eighty!" + +"And why shouldn't it last?--Mon Dieu! how that fellow makes my ears +ache with his 'I await thee! I await thee!'--I am sorry for Mademoiselle +Adolphine." + +"Haven't you heard, monsieur le comte,--a simple marriage in +diamonds,--that Monsieur Monléard was speculating on the Bourse in +a--another marriage, clubs this time--in a terrific way?" + +"Faith! no.--Why, I am not counting at all. It's that infernal singer's +fault!" + +"I have been told for a fact that he has lost a lot of money lately." + +"We must never believe more than half of what we're told, you know." + +"Double bézique!" + +"Deuce take it! how you are beating me! Ah! they're singing a duet now; +we shall hear Mademoiselle Adolphine, at all events. If she could only +drown that fellow's voice!" + +"I have made eleven hundred on this deal." + +"And I a hundred and twenty. I am a long way behind. Do we count the +fifteen hundred?" + +"To be sure; when you get three béziques, they count fifteen hundred. +But, in order to count them, you must still have the first two in hand." + +"Yes, yes, I know that. What is it they're singing now? Something else +from _La Dame Blanche_, I think." + +"It's your play, monsieur le comte." + +"Yes, so it is; I beg your pardon. It's that man's voice that confuses +me, or rather stuns me. Oh! what a squealer! Poor girl! she has a stock +of patience." + +"I declare a royal marriage!" + +"You are counting all the time, Monsieur Batonnin; you are very lucky to +be able to attend to your game." + +"I try not to listen.--Single bézique!" + +It was difficult not to hear the young singer, who at that moment was +shouting, with all the force of his lungs: + + "'Thith hand, thith hand tho lovely!'" + +At last, the duet being at an end, Adolphine declared that she was +tired, and left the piano. + +"I can well believe that she's tired!" said Monsieur de la Bérinière; +"she might well be, for less than that. To play that fellow's +accompaniments--to sing with him! what a wicked task!" + +"I have won, monsieur le comte!" + +"Very good! give me my revenge. I can pay more attention to the game, +now that I don't hear that hissing voice; he's a veritable serpent, is +that young man." + +But Monsieur de Raincy had seated himself beside Adolphine, and he +talked to her while the others played. Naturally, they spoke in +undertones, in order not to disturb the players. This conversation, of +which he could not catch a single word, seemed to annoy the count even +more than the music; and Batonnin made the most of his opponent's +distraction and misplays, while saying to him in a wheedling tone: + +"Monsieur le comte isn't in luck to-night.--I declare a sequence!" + +"It's true, I am absent-minded.--Well, Mademoiselle Adolphine, have you +stopped singing?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur; I am resting." + +"For heaven's sake, take care," said Batonnin; "you'll suggest to that +young man the idea of beginning again!" + +"Why, no; I am talking to Mademoiselle Gerbault. I am sure that Monsieur +de Raincy is boring her at this moment. I would like to rid her of +him." + +"Bézique!--You think she's bored? But you may be mistaken--he's a very +good-looking fellow, is Monsieur de Raincy.--Four aces!" + +"Ah! upon my word! If he's a good-looking fellow--with that stupid, +idiotic, conceited air!" + +"He has a good figure.--Double bézique!" + +"Sapristi! you never fail to get that.--And that pronunciation of +his--do you think that's pretty, too?" + +"Not in singing, at all events.--Take your card, if you please, monsieur +le comte!" + +"Ah! to be sure.--I was not paying attention. Whose play is it?" + +"Mine.--I have the honor of winning again. I have triple +bézique--fifteen hundred!" + +"Is it possible?" + +"Look for yourself." + +"Well! I am not sorry it's over. I am not at all in the mood for cards +to-night." + + + + +XXIV + +MARRIAGE PROPOSALS + + +Monsieur de la Bérinière left the table and went to talk with Adolphine; +she, no less indifferent to the gallant speeches of the old count than +to young Anatole's compliments, was equally amiable to both; for neither +of them diverted her thoughts for a moment, and it is easy to be amiable +when the heart is not involved. + +The party broke up at last; but, before taking their leave, the count +and Monsieur de Raincy in turn exchanged a few words in undertones with +Monsieur Gerbault; which proceeding aroused Monsieur Batonnin's +curiosity to such an extent, that he went in the direction of the +kitchen instead of toward the street-door. + +"It's your turn to be absent-minded, I see," observed Monsieur Clairval, +satirically. + +"Oh! not at all; I made a mistake in the door; that may happen to +anybody. Perhaps you thought that I had something to whisper to Monsieur +Gerbault, like those two ahead of us?" + +"Ah! so they whispered to our friend Gerbault, did they? I confess that +I didn't notice it, and, furthermore, that it's a matter of indifference +to me." + +"And to me, too, of course; although I have an idea that I can guess +what they had to say to Mademoiselle Adolphine's father." + +"Ah! you have an idea? The deuce! do you possess the art of divination, +then?" + +"One needn't be a sorcerer to divine certain things.--Do you want me to +tell you my conjectures?" + +"No, I thank you, Monsieur Batonnin, keep them to yourself; I don't +appreciate conjectures; I like official facts only. Good-night!" + +"That means that he is vexed because he hasn't guessed it," said +Batonnin to himself, as they separated. "For my part, I would bet--six +francs to twenty--that young De Raincy and old De la Bérinière are in +love with the charming Adolphine; and I would also bet--twenty francs to +thirty--that the girl doesn't care for either of them. So much the +better for me! I have all the more chance. Let us wait, let us let the +mutton boil, as the common saying goes. That's an old proverb; and I am +like Sancho, I love proverbs." + +Adolphine also had noticed her father's brief _aside_ with the count and +with De Raincy. When all the guests had gone, she went to him, and said +with a smile: + +"So those gentlemen have secrets with you, have they, father? for +Monsieur de la Bérinière, and then Monsieur Anatole, whispered to you in +a corner." + +"Faith! my dear girl, as yet I have no more idea than you what they have +to say to me; but each of them asked me for an appointment to-morrow, +having a very important matter to discuss with me. I said to Monsieur de +Raincy: 'I shall expect you at eleven o'clock;' and to Monsieur de la +Bérinière: 'You will find me at home at one;' so I suppose that, at +three or four o'clock to-morrow, I shall be able to gratify your +curiosity, and to tell you what those gentlemen have confided to me---- +Unless it concerns serious matters, which one doesn't tell to little +girls; but I fancy not." + +"You fancy not?--Do you mean that you suspect what it is, father?" + +"Why--bless my soul!--but, after all, as they will tell me to-morrow, +it's useless to indulge in conjectures. Ah! there's something which +interests me much more than that." + +"What is it, father?" + +"The duel that Batonnin told us about. I pretended, before him, not to +put any faith in what he said; but, if all that he told us is true, why, +your sister's husband didn't hurt himself by falling on the stairs--and +it must have been Gustave with whom he fought." + +"Oh, no, father, no; I give you my word that it wasn't Gustave." + +"Aha! so you know the truth, do you? and you never told me anything +about it?" + +"Fanny and her husband didn't want it to become known, and she made me +promise not to mention it to you." + +"But tell me whom Auguste did fight with?" + +"With a man who was drunk, and who didn't know what he was +saying--that's the whole of it. And Auguste didn't attach the slightest +importance to it." + +"Very good! I hope he didn't; but I am convinced, none the less, that +Gustave was mixed up in it in some way, and I repeat what I have said to +you before: that young man must never come here again!--Good-night, my +dear!" + +"Good-night, father!" + +Adolphine retired to her own room; the two appointments with her father, +solicited by two men who had persecuted her with their attentions during +the evening, caused her a vague feeling of uneasiness; a secret +presentiment told her that she would be the subject of the interviews to +be held on the morrow, and she was impatient to know whether her fears +were justified. + +The next day, Adolphine did not leave her room, in order to avoid +meeting the two gentlemen who had appointments with her father. At +precisely eleven o'clock she heard the bell, and honest Madeleine came +and said to her: + +"It's the tall young man who sang with you last night, mamzelle; he +asked for monsieur your father, and he's with him now." + +"Very well, Madeleine; if he should happen to ask for me, you must tell +him that I have a headache and cannot leave my room." + +"I understand, mamzelle." + +"And come and tell me when he has gone." + +"Yes, mamzelle." + +Adolphine counted the minutes; but Anatole had not gone when the clock +struck twelve. She lost her patience; she said to herself: + +"What can that man have to say to father, that takes such a long time? +For a young man, he's very talkative. If he doesn't go soon, he'll meet +the count. But, after all, it makes no difference to me." + +At last, about half-past twelve, Monsieur de Raincy took his leave. +Madeleine came to inform her young mistress, and she was on the point of +going to her father, when the bell rang again. + +It was Monsieur de la Bérinière. He had come ahead of time, but he was +at once ushered into Monsieur Gerbault's study. Madeleine informed +Adolphine of his arrival, and received the same orders as before, in +case the count should ask permission to pay his respects to her +mistress. + +This second interview was much shorter; Monsieur de la Bérinière went +away before one o'clock. Thereupon, Monsieur Gerbault went up to his +daughter's room, with a gratified air, and rubbing his hands--a sign of +satisfaction common to all nations. Why? No one has ever been able to +find out. + +"Well, father?" murmured Adolphine, in a voice which betrayed some +slight emotion; "did both of them come?" + +"Yes, my dear girl. Oh! they were very prompt; indeed the count was a +little ahead of time; that's easily understood: the oldest are always in +the greatest hurry." + +"And what did they say to you? must you keep it secret?" + +"No, indeed; since you were the sole subject of both interviews." + +"I?" + +"Yes; and, frankly, I had some suspicion.--And you?" + +"I--why---- Oh! I beg you, my dear father, tell me at once what they +wanted to say to you?" + +"Well, my dear, the same motive brought them both; they both came to ask +me for your hand." + +"My hand?" + +"In the first place, young De Raincy said: 'I love mademoiselle your +daughter, she is an excellent musician, I adore music, we will sing +together all day; I have no profession, but I have fifteen thousand +francs a year in government securities, and with that one can live +comfortably when one isn't ambitious; and music is a pleasure which +necessitates very small expense. It has seemed to me that Mademoiselle +Adolphine does not care for balls and great parties, like her sister; so +I may hope that she will be happy with me. You will give her a _dot_ of +twenty thousand francs; I know it, and it's enough for me; I don't ask +for any more.'--So much for number one.--Monsieur de la Bérinière was +more eager, more impetuous, in his suit. 'I adore Mademoiselle +Adolphine,' he said, 'I am mad over her; her delightful voice has turned +my head, and I renounce my liberty for her. Indeed, I believe I am +destined to enter your family, for I will not conceal from you that I +was deeply in love with your other daughter; but Monléard was quicker +than I, and stole her away from me.--So, this time I declare myself +promptly, because I don't propose that your younger daughter shall +escape me as her sister did; unless, of course, she will have none of +me; but I venture to hope the contrary; I am no longer in my first +youth, but my heart is as easily touched as it was at twenty. In short, +I offer your daughter thirty thousand francs a year, and the title of +countess--which always flatters a young woman's ear; I lay these at her +feet, with the most ardent love. Be good enough to communicate my offer +to her, and I will come to-morrow for your answer.'" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! And what answer did you make to all that, father?" + +"My dear child, the only answer that a father should make to honorable +men, of good standing in society, who ask him for his daughter's hand: +'Your offer flatters me, does me honor, and, for my part, I will +interpose no obstacle to the fulfilment of your wishes; but, as marriage +is an act which has a decisive influence upon the happiness of one's +whole life, I have determined to allow my daughters absolute freedom in +the matter of choosing a husband, and never to enforce my wishes in +opposition to theirs.'" + +"Oh! my dear, good father! how good it is of you, not to force your +children to marry!" + +"Now, my dear love, it is for you to choose. These two offers are +equally advantageous. Monsieur de la Bérinière makes you a countess, +with thirty thousand francs a year--that is very attractive. To be sure, +he is sixty years old, which lessens the attraction. Monsieur Anatole de +Raincy is not a count; but he is of a very old family; he has only +fifteen thousand francs a year, but he is only twenty-seven, and that's +a valuable asset. Now, you are fully posted as to these two aspirants to +your hand. Reflect and choose." + +"Oh! the reflecting is all done, father! I want neither of them." + +"What! you refuse?" + +"I refuse them both." + +"But you are unreasonable, my child!--Either of the two marriages would +be honorable; it would be hard to find a better match in respect to +fortune; indeed, I am afraid that you'll never do so well." + +"You know, don't you, father, that I care nothing about money?" + +"My dear girl, it isn't well, perhaps, to love money as your sister +loves it; but it isn't well to despise it, either. It is a great help to +happiness. Come, between ourselves, why do you refuse both of these two +offers? The count, I can understand; he's too old for you; but Monsieur +Anatole is young, not a bad-looking fellow----" + +"I refuse them, father, because I want to love my husband, and I shall +never love Monsieur de la Bérinière or Monsieur de Raincy." + +"So you are quite determined, are you?" + +"Absolutely. You can tell them that I don't want to marry now. A +well-bred man understands that that's a polite way of refusing." + +"Very good, since you have made up your mind. Gad! you're not much like +your sister! You see, she is rich, and happy! always at some festivity, +always enjoying herself!" + +"I don't envy her happiness; I should not be happy in the life she +leads." + +"Well, let's say no more about it." + +Monsieur Gerbault left his daughter; but she could read in his eyes that +he was not pleased that she had refused the two eligible husbands who +had offered themselves. As for Adolphine, she said to herself: + +"I cannot marry either of those men, for I love someone else. The man I +love will never marry me,--I know that,--for he never thinks of me! But +I choose to have the right to think of him always." + + + + +XXV + +GUSTAVE'S UNCLE + + +After his duel with Auguste Monléard, Cherami returned to his lodgings, +whistling a polka. He found his hostess where he had left her, standing +in her doorway. + +Madame Louchard was very inquisitive; it had stirred her curiosity to +the highest pitch to see her tenant go away with the young exquisite who +owned a cabriolet; and when the former returned alone, she cried: + +"Well! what have you done with him?" + +"With whom? with what?" + +"Why, with that elegant gentleman who went away with you on foot,--a +strange thing to do when he has a cabriolet at his command. You might +just as well have got into it, both of you, as it followed you." + +"It wasn't worth while to ride; we only went a little way." + +"Oho! where did you go?" + +"To that vacant lot over yonder, by the theatre." + +"What in the world did you go there for? Does your friend think of +buying the lot?" + +"Not at all. We went there to fight. It's a very convenient place for +that." + +"To fight? Is it possible!" + +"As I have the honor to tell you." + +"With your fists?" + +"Madame Louchard, you always imagine that you are talking to the clowns +who are your usual associates. Understand, pray, that a man like me +doesn't fight with his fists! I sometimes send the toe of my boot into +the fleshy part of an upstart who bores me--but when it's a question of +a duel, that's another affair." + +"What did you fight with, then?" + +"With swords." + +"You didn't have any." + +"That gentleman had a whole arsenal in his carriage." + +"Mon Dieu! And which of you was killed?" + +"Why, your question is rather beside the mark. Do I look like a dead +man?" + +"Ah! that's so. It was the other man, then? Poor young man!" + +"Don't be alarmed; he isn't dead, and he won't die. A simple wound--and +I warned him, too; I said: 'You strike down too much!'--He fences rather +well, but he isn't in my class yet." + +"You villain! always in trouble--fighting duels. But what if he had +killed you, eh?" + +"In that case, superb Louchard, I should not, at this moment, have the +pleasure of gazing upon your strongly-marked features." + +"And the cause of your duel?" + +"A trifle--a mere nothing--a jest. But that young man's coming prevented +me from breakfasting, and I feel the need of attending to that important +function. I go to my room to get my pretty cane with the agate head, and +I fly to the Véfour of the Quarter. But, no; there isn't one here, and, +as I wish to breakfast very well indeed, I will go as far as Passoir's." + +"Anyone can see that you're in funds." + +"Indeed, it is true, divine hostess." + +"And you don't leave me a little on account." + +"We will talk of that later." + +Cherami took his new cane, placed his new hat on the side of his head, +and with his pockets lined with the money he had won at écarté the night +before, left the house, saying: + +"I have my cue!" + +According to his custom, Cherami spent his gold pieces freely. But it +seemed that that money had brought him luck. Being a great lover of the +game of billiards, he did not fail, after dinner, to go and play pool at +a café where he knew that there was always a game in progress in the +evening; and for some days fortune favored him so persistently, that all +the frequenters of the café frowned when he appeared, muttering: + +"Here comes the pool-shark!" + +But one evening the luck turned; Cherami left the café with empty +pockets. + +"Palsambleu!" he said to himself; "here I am reduced to extremities +again!--For I shall not receive my quarterly income for a fortnight, and +that stingy Bernardin wouldn't pay me a single day in advance. But why +wouldn't this be a good time to pay a little visit to our young friend +Gustave, in whose behalf I fought a duel, and who has not even come to +thank me? By the way, I think I didn't give him my address, and, on the +other hand, he didn't give me his. But he lives with his Uncle +Grandcourt; he's a banker, or a merchant, no matter which; I ought to +find his address in the _Almanack du Commerce._ To-morrow I will obtain +it, and I will go and bid friend Gustave good-day. And if he is still in +the depths, I'll dine with him again. He will tell me his woes, and I +will order the dinner. And at dessert he certainly will lend me a +hundred francs to carry me to my next quarterly payment--that will be +easy to manage. Indeed, I am convinced that dear Gustave is surprised at +my non-appearance, and that he is looking for me everywhere.--But, to +make up for my neglect, I'll not leave him for a fortnight." + +The next day, Cherami found Monsieur Grandcourt's address, and lost no +time in betaking himself thither. Having arrived at a handsome house in +Faubourg Montmartre, he tapped on the concierge's window with his pretty +cane. + +"Monsieur Grandcourt, the banker?" + +"His offices are on the ground floor, at the rear, right-hand door." + +"Very good. Shall I find Monsieur Gustave Darlemont in the office?" + +"Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, the banker's nephew, who is employed by his uncle." + +"Faith! monsieur, I don't know; there are several clerks; I don't know +their names." + +"You don't seem very well posted, that's a fact. All right; I'll go to +the office, and it's to be hoped that someone will be able to answer me +there." + +Cherami walked to the rear of the building, and entered a room where an +elderly clerk, half reclining on a ledger, was adding columns of +figures. + +"Will you kindly tell me where I can find my friend Gustave?" + +The clerk made no reply, but continued to mutter: + +"Forty-five, fifty-two, four, six, sixty." + +"Is this old fossil afflicted with deafness, I wonder?" said Cherami to +himself.--"I ask you, monsieur," he added aloud, "to direct me to the +desk--the office--the chamber of my friend Gustave; don't you hear me?" + +"Eight and eight are sixteen--and sixteen, thirty-two." + +"Sacrebleu! we've known for a long while that eight and eight are +sixteen! Is it such nonsense as that that keeps you from answering me?" + +As he spoke, Cherami seized the old clerk's collar and shook him +roughly. He turned upon his assailant in a rage, exclaiming: + +"I am adding my balances, monsieur; and when I am adding, no one has any +right to disturb me--do you hear?" + +"Well, well! you are another pretty specimen, you are! They ought to +frame you and hang you up in the water-closet!" + +"Monsieur! What do you mean?" + +"There, there, my old mummy; let's not lose our temper. Where is +Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew?" + +"As if I knew, monsieur! I keep accounts, and nothing else, and I can't +talk. You have put me out; I must begin all over again!" + +"Very well, you shall begin again; nothing trains the youthful mind like +addition. But you must answer my question first." + +"Monsieur Grandcourt's private office is at the end of this passage, +monsieur. Go and tell him what you want, and leave me to my accounts." + +"All right! Do you know, I believe that excessive adding has hindered +you sadly in your growth." + +Cherami followed the passage, and, upon turning the knob of a door at +the end, found himself in the banker's office. Monsieur Grandcourt was +writing at his desk; being accustomed to the frequent coming and going +of his clerks, he went on writing without looking up. + +Cherami closed the door, examined Monsieur Grandcourt for a moment, and +said to himself: + +"That's our uncle--I recognize him. I never saw him but once, but that's +enough. Besides, he has one of those peppery faces which have a certain +_chic_." + +He walked to the desk and removed his hat, saying: + +"Good-morning, dear uncle! You are at work, I see. Bigre! it seems that +dig's the word in your shop; for I found outside here an old pensioner +so buried in his figures that I couldn't see the end of his nose.--Well, +how does it go?--Don't you know me? I am Arthur Cherami." + +Monsieur Grandcourt raised his head, and stared in utter amazement at +the individual before him. + +"Might I know, monsieur," he rejoined, "what you want, what brings you +here? for I probably didn't understand what you said." + +"Ah! you didn't understand, eh? Are you adding figures, too? That +occupation seems to deaden the intellect. But, never mind about that! So +you don't recognize me, dear uncle?" + +"No, monsieur, no; and I confess that I fail to understand this title of +_uncle_ which you persist in giving me." + +"That is a title of affection, because I am a friend of your +nephew--dear Gustave--who was so desperate on the day that his faithless +Fanny married another. And on that same day, I dined with him at +Deffieux's. He was absolutely determined to speak to the lovely bride, +when you fell into our private room like a bombshell, and dragged the +poor fellow away." + +"Ah! very good, monsieur! now I understand, and I recognize you. Yes, it +was you who were at the restaurant with my nephew--and you attempted to +interfere with my taking him away." + +"_Dame!_ he was so anxious to see his Fanny! I have always protected +love affairs." + +"And do you realize, monsieur, all that might have resulted from an +interview between Gustave and that young woman?" + +"Why, no more, I fancy, than did actually happen--a duel, that's all!" + +"What do you mean, monsieur? My nephew fought no duel; that I know; I +didn't leave him until the very moment of his departure." + +"Well, I don't say that it was he who fought; it was I; but it amounts +to the same thing." + +"What! you fought a duel--you?" + +"Just a little, nephew--I mean, uncle. Indeed, I administered to the +young husband a very neat sword-thrust in the arm. However, he's a stout +fellow; but he holds himself back too much in fencing; that's very +dangerous." + +"You fought with Monsieur Monléard?" + +"Why, yes! what of it? You open your eyes like porte cochères! One would +say that it was a most extraordinary thing!" + +"But, monsieur, it's a horrible thing for you to have done! You have +compromised that young woman, you have compromised my nephew, you +have----" + +"Sacrebleu! do you know that you make me tired! Where the devil did I +get an uncle like this, who doesn't appreciate the services I have +rendered his nephew?" + +"A little less noise, monsieur, if you please!" + +"Ah! you don't like that! Very good! but, no! You are Gustave's uncle; I +cannot fight with you; it would grieve him. After all, my business isn't +with you; and if that old baked apple out yonder had told me where I +could find your nephew, you wouldn't have had a call from me. Tell me at +once, and I'll make my bow." + +"You want to see Gustave?" + +"That was my only reason for coming here." + +"My nephew is not now in France, monsieur; he is in Spain." + +"In Spain? Do you mean it? it isn't a sell?" + +Monsieur Grandcourt made a gesture of impatience, whereupon Cherami +continued: + +"Don't you like the word? You surprise me! It is adopted now in the best +society. It's like _balancé._ You say: 'I have _balancé_ So-and-so,' +which means: 'I have sent him about his business.' We have enriched the +French language with a lot of such locutions, more or less picturesque. +Ah! the Latin tongue is much more forcible, much more complete. You can +say things in Latin that you'd never dare to say in French. Look you, +for example, Plautus, in his comedies,--in _Casina_, I believe,--makes +an amorous old man say, when he thinks of his mistress: + + "'Jam, Hercle, amplexari, jam osculari gestio!' + +Ah! they were great jokers, those Latin and Greek authors! Write +comedies now like those of Aristophanes--you'd have a warm reception! +They are beginning already to find Molière too free! We are becoming +very refined, very severe, in the matter of language! Does that mean +that we are growing more virtuous? Frankly, I don't think it. Habits, +customs, and manners change; but passions, vices, absurdities, are +always the same!" + +The banker's brow lost some of its wrinkles as he listened to Cherami. +He scrutinized him more carefully, and said: + +"How does it happen, monsieur, that, having received a good education, +knowing your classics as you do, in short, being a well-informed man, +you do not make use of your knowledge, to----" + +"To do what? To buy a coat? Is that what you mean?" + +"Faith! something like it." + +"I love independence, liberty, monsieur." + +"Those words have been sadly abused of late, monsieur. And if your love +of liberty compels you to go abroad in shabby clothes, it seems to me +that you would do well to prefer love of work to it." + +"Look you, my dear monsieur, I believe that you are undertaking to +preach to me--and I have never stood that from anybody!" + +"Perhaps that is the great mistake you have made." + +"Corbleu! you are lucky to be the uncle of a young man for whom I felt +at once a sincere affection.--Let us say no more. Gustave is in Spain?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"For a long time?" + +"I cannot tell exactly." + +"That's as good a way as any of not telling me. But when he is in Paris, +I promise you that I shall not fail to find him." + +"Have you anything important to say to him, monsieur? if so, tell it to +me, and I will transmit it." + +Cherami reflected a moment, then pulled his hat over his eyes, and said: + +"No, I simply wanted to shake hands with him, to inquire for his health, +and to find out whether he is finally cured of his love for the +faithless Fanny." + +"His letters tell me that his health is good. As for his foolish passion +for a woman who never loved him, I like to believe that it has succumbed +to absence." + +"Say rather to the glances of the Andalusians; for they have terrible +eyes, those Spanish women! I know something of them. I have known three, +who----" + +"Pardon me, monsieur; but I am very busy, and, if you have nothing else +to say to me----" + +"Ah! you dismiss me?--Very good; that's very polite. I have my cue!" + +"You have your cue? What do you mean by that?" + +"Oh! it's of no consequence. It's a little phrase which I often use; +it's as if I said: 'I see where I stand.'" + +"That makes a difference, monsieur. I wish you good-morning!" + +"And I wish you nothing at all!" + +Thereupon Cherami left the banker's office, saying to himself: + +"There's a tough old uncle for you! I think I won't borrow money of +him--I won't do him that honor. No, never! especially as he wouldn't +lend me any." + + + + +XXVI + +A CAFÉ ACQUAINTANCE + + +Cherami strolled about at random for some time, seeking some person of +his acquaintance with whom he could negotiate a small loan. But he saw +few save unfamiliar faces, and if by chance he did espy some former +friend, that friend turned away to avoid meeting him. + +"The devil!" said Cherami to himself; "the day opens badly! I counted on +Gustave for breakfast, and now it's after twelve o'clock, and I'm as +hungry as a cannibal. However, if I must, I will dispose of my new +cane. I shall be sorry to do it, for it's a pretty one--a genuine +rattan. But I should be still more sorry to go without breakfast. It +must have cost at least thirty francs. A dealer will give me six for +it,--they have all the cheek they need, those fellows,--and he'll act as +if he were doing me a favor! I prefer to leave it in pawn for a +beefsteak and its accessories. Come, let us look for a café where we can +get a good breakfast." + +Cherami was then on the boulevard, where there is no lack of cafés; for +one cannot walk thirty feet without passing one. The ex-Beau Arthur +entered the establishment which had the most modern show-front, seated +himself at a table, hung up his hat, laid his cane on the seat, and +summoned the waiter with that resounding voice and in that arrogant tone +which never fail to produce their effect on the waiters in a café. + +"What does monsieur wish?" + +"Radishes, sardines, and butter; then a beefsteak-châteaubriand, rare, +with roquefort and a bottle of bordeaux. After that, we will see. +Go!--That cane is certainly worth all that I have ordered," he said to +himself; "yes, and I can safely add a cup of coffee and a _petit verre._ +At all events, if they are not satisfied, I will do like Bilboquet in +_Les Saltimbanques_, I will pledge my signature.--I am annoyed, all the +same, to find that my young friend Gustave is in Spain. But is he really +in Spain? That is what I must find out." + +Cherami had eaten his hors-d'oeuvre, and was about to attack his +beefsteak-châteaubriand, when a short man, dressed with some pretension, +with a stupid face and a bald head which seemed to beg for a wig, took +his place at the table next to his, and sat down on the cane which +Cherami had laid on the bench. + +The new-comer jumped to his feet, putting his hand to his posterior, and +exclaiming: + +"Great heaven! what am I sitting on?" + +Cherami picked up his cane and stood it on the floor, between himself +and his neighbor. + +"It's lucky for you that you didn't break it," he said; "for it would +have cost you a pretty penny!" + +"I didn't do it purposely, monsieur." + +"No matter! if you had broken it, you'd have paid for it!" + +"And I hurt myself, too." + +"If it had been a blackthorn stick, it would have hurt you much more." + +The gentleman did not seem to be consoled by that reflection; he paid no +attention to the cane, but was intent only upon rubbing the wounded part +of his anatomy. Then he ordered a glass of grog, picked up a newspaper, +and began to read, in evident ill-humor. But Cherami, who loved to +converse, kept on talking while he ate. + +"I went into a public house one day," he said; "I had ridden horseback +six leagues without dismounting, and was naturally very tired. I walked +into the common-room, and threw myself into an easy-chair near the +fireplace. But as I sat down, a piercing shriek escaped me. Everybody +crowded around me: 'What is it, monsieur? what's the matter? what has +happened to you?'--But I could only point to my posterior, saying: 'I +don't know what I sat down on, but I am wounded--badly wounded!'--The +hostess wanted to look and see what it was--she wanted to dress the +wound. She was a bright-eyed hussy, with a buxom figure. I would gladly +have done as much for her, if she had been wounded. But the husband +interposed, considering the location of the wound. He declared that he +was the only one of the family who ought to meddle with it. Well, they +investigated.--I had sat down on a nail, a huge carpenter's nail. How +did it happen to be there--with the point up? That is something nobody +could explain. But the important thing was to remove it. The landlord +couldn't do it. He sent for a locksmith with his pincers, and he had +such hard work pulling the infernal spike out of my rump, that, when he +did get it out, it looked more like a corkscrew than a nail!" + +The bald party made no other comment on this story than a low grunt, and +continued to read his newspaper. + +Cherami scrutinized him for some minutes, saying to himself: "Where in +the devil have I seen that phiz? I can't remember, but this certainly +isn't the first time that I have had the misfortune to meet this +bald-headed boor.--It seems that the story of my nail didn't affect you, +monsieur?" he said aloud to his neighbor, who was stirring his grog. + +"I paid very little attention to it, monsieur. When I am reading the +paper, I am engrossed by my reading." + +"And you believe everything you find in it, I suppose?" + +"Why not, monsieur?" + +"Ah! I should judge that you were quite capable of it!--But you don't +know how to fix your grog, monsieur." + +"What! I don't know how to fix my grog?" + +"No, not at all. You keep stirring and stirring; but you don't crush the +piece of lemon-peel with your spoon and squeeze out the juice." + +"How does it concern you, monsieur, whether I crush my lemon-peel or +not? If it suits me to drink my grog like this, am I not at liberty to +do it?" + +"Oh! to be sure! I give you good advice--you don't want it. As you +please! I'll bet that you're looking through the advertisements in the +paper to find something to make the hair grow?" + +"No, monsieur. Let me tell you that if I wanted hair, I could have as +much as anybody." + +"I don't doubt it, with your money; you could wear three wigs, one on +top of another; that would give you a superb head of hair!" + +"But I don't like artificial things, monsieur; I detest what is false! +The truth before everything!" + +"Ah! I understand, then, why you parade your skull. But if you propose +always to show us the truth, that may carry you rather far! That +goddess's costume is a little scanty, or rather she has none at all. She +appears to the world quite naked! I would like to see you go out in the +street in that condition, for love of the truth. I fancy that a police +officer wouldn't listen to that excuse. Look you, monsieur, it has often +been said that it isn't always well to tell the truth; we might add that +it isn't always well to see it. In general, a man is wise to conceal his +infirmities, his deformities, and whatever he may have that is +unpleasant to look at; he does well to make himself as attractive, or as +little unattractive, as possible. To embellish, to seek to please, such +seems to be the purpose of nature, everywhere and in everything. Look at +a mother with her child: her first care is to dress it up, to try to +embellish it. Women are born with the instinct of coquetry; men have it, +too, although the rush and hurry of business compels them to pay less +heed to their persons. When you take lodgings, your first care is to +make them attractive; if you have a garden, you embellish it by planting +flowers in it; if you give a dinner party, you want it to be stylish, +sumptuous, enriched by handsome plate.--For instance, see this thin +glass from which I am drinking my claret: it improves the wine, +monsieur; it makes it taste better--for the wine would seem much less +delicious to me if it were served in a preserve-jar. And take your own +case--would you have liked it if they had brought you your grog in a +wash-basin, eh?--Deuce take me! I believe the little fellow isn't +listening!" exclaimed Cherami, suddenly interrupting his dissertation. +"Where in the world have I seen that face?--Waiter! my coffee!" + +As he threw himself back on the bench, Cherami knocked his cane against +his neighbor. Whereupon the latter turned, and pushed the cane away, +muttering: + +"Have you made a wager to annoy me?" + +"What's that! a wager--just because my cane slipped against you? I say, +my dear monsieur, who are so attached to the truth, you're very touchy, +aren't you?" + +The bald man made no reply; as he pushed the cane away, he had glanced +at it, and from that moment he kept his eyes fixed upon it. + +"Ah! you are admiring my cane now?" said Arthur; "you begin to +understand that it would have been a pity to break it!--It's very neat." + +Still the bald man made no reply, but raised his eyes and examined the +hat which its owner had hung on a hook. He scrutinized it so carefully +that Cherami lost patience, and said to himself: + +"Well, well! what's the matter with this creature! How much longer is he +going to stare at my hat and cane? He's beginning to make me very +weary." + + + + +XXVII + +THE CANE AND THE HAT + + +At last, the little man made up his mind to speak: + +"That cane, monsieur--with that agate head; it's very singular!" + +"You find that my cane has a singular look? Distinguished, you mean, I +doubt not?" + +"Why, monsieur, the fact is, that that cane--the more I look at it--a +rattan--exactly!--and the hat, too--the same kind of a band--very +broad----" + +"Tell me, monsieur--when you have finished, will you very kindly explain +yourself?" said Cherami. He began to suspect who his companion was, but +he did not choose to let it appear. + +"This is how it is, monsieur: I had a cane exactly like this one--so +much like it that I could swear it was the same one." + +"We see canes that look just alike, every day, monsieur; there's nothing +extraordinary in that; there are many men who are mistaken for one +another, and yet there is an expression, an animation, on a man's face +which you would seek in vain on the head of a cane." + +"Excuse me, monsieur; but all canes haven't an agate head cut like this +one." + +"If they had, they would be too common, and I wouldn't want one." + +"Well, monsieur, I lost my cane and my hat at a wedding party which I +attended about two months ago; that is to say, I didn't positively lose +them, but they were exchanged--and I didn't gain by the change! In place +of my hat, which had a band exactly like this--very broad--and the same +shape--they left a pitiful, disgraceful thing; and I was obliged to buy +a new one the next day; and in place of my cane I found a sort of +switch, of the kind they beat clothes with--not worth six sous!" + +"Corbleu! monsieur, what do you mean to imply by all this? This cane +that you lost, with an agate head--and your hat with a band like +this--do you know that I am beginning to lose my temper? Do you mean to +say that I stole your cane?" + +"No, monsieur--but----" + +"Then you insult me, and I will not brook an insult!--When we leave this +café, we will go and cut each other's throats, like a couple of young +dandies!" + +"Never, monsieur; not by any means! I am mistaken, monsieur; I am wrong. +No, no, it isn't my cane--let it be as if I had said nothing; I beg your +pardon." + +The little bald man, trembling like a leaf, seemed inclined to disappear +under the table at which he was seated. Cherami, having reflected two or +three minutes, looked at him with an affable expression, and said: + +"Didn't you lose something else at the party you mentioned just now." + +"Something else? yes, I did, monsieur; I was in bad luck that night! +When I arrived at the ball, I had lost one of my gloves--a yellow glove. +To be sure, it was returned to me later--but in such a state!" + +"Ah! now I understand! I recognize you now!" + +"You recognize me?" + +"To be sure--you are Monsieur Courbichon." + +"That's my name, sure enough! But how----?" + +"Pardieu! we met at our friend Blanquette's little party. Dear Monsieur +Courbichon! I have been looking for you a long while!" + +"You have been looking for me, monsieur? For what, pray?" + +"For what? Why, to return your cane." + +"But, monsieur, I don't know whether----" + +"And your hat too, if you insist upon it; but, as the one you have now +is newer, you would lose again by the change. But the cane is certainly +yours; do you consider me capable of keeping something that doesn't +belong to me,--that is in my possession only as the result of a +mistake?" + +"Ah! monsieur, I am sensible----" + +"You understand, of course, that before returning this cane, which I +carried away by mistake from my friend Blanquette's party, I wished to +be sure of returning it to its owner and no one else. Have you my +switch?" + +"No, monsieur; I haven't it--I don't even know what has become of it." + +"Bigre! I am very sorry for that. You thought, I suppose, that it was +just a common switch; you didn't see that it was a _nerf de boeuf_, +which came from China, where they make a great many canes of that +material, because it bends and never breaks. You value it at six sous, +but it was worth forty francs." + +"Oh! if I had known that----" + +"You'd have taken more care of it. However, that's a trifling mishap. +You pay for what I have eaten, and we will dine together; then we shall +be quits." + +"What, monsieur, you propose----" + +"Pray take your cane; it's a fascinating thing! Everybody stared at it. +Dear Courbichon! I am delighted to have returned it to you; but I +greatly regret my Chinese switch! Such is very rare in Paris. Very few +like it come here from China.--I say, waiter, how much do I owe?" + +"Seven francs fifty, monsieur." + +"Very good. Monsieur here will attend to it." + +Monsieur Courbichon did not seem overjoyed to pay for his neighbor's +breakfast; however, he did it. They left the café together, and, when +they were on the boulevard, Cherami passed his arm through that of the +owner of the cane, saying: + +"Where shall we go now?" + +"Faith! monsieur, I had intended to go for a stroll on the +Champs-Élysées. It's a fine day, and near the end of September; we must +make the most of these last good days. And then, I am very fond of +watching them play bowls." + +"Very good! that suits me--that suits me to the very tick: let us go to +the Champs-Élysées, and see them play bowls. Walking helps the +digestion; it gives one an appetite. We will dine there; I know all the +good restaurants on the Champs-Élysées. Oh! never fear, Papa Courbichon, +you are with a buck who knows what good living is!" + +"I don't doubt it, monsieur, but----" + +"Sapristi! what a pretty cane! everybody admires it as they pass. It +must have cost a lot?" + +"I cannot tell you, monsieur; it's a present from my nephew." + +"Ah, indeed! I was just saying to myself, that it's a surprising thing +that Monsieur Courbichon should have bought a cane like that. Your +nephew's a man of taste. What does he do?" + +"He's in business. He has gone to America. This was his cane; he gave it +to me, because, as he said, he was going to a country where there are +plenty of canes, and it was useless for him to carry this one." + +"Do you mean that he carries a piece of sugar-cane in his hand when he +goes out to walk?" + +"I can't tell you, I don't know. The cane suited me, because at need I +could use it to defend myself." + +"My Chinese switch was a famous weapon of defence, too." + +"What! a switch?" + +"Remember that it was a _nerf de boeuf._ I could have killed a calf +with it." + +"What a curious idea of those Chinese to make canes with _nerfs de +boeuf!_" + +"An additional proof, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, that the Chinese are +much more advanced than we are--much more progressive! They build houses +of india-rubber." + +"Hard rubber, of course?" + +"I don't know whether it's hard or not--it makes no difference. Pardieu! +Monsieur Courbichon, you must agree that there are lucky chances, and +that we were both happily inspired when we went to that café to-day!" + +"It is certain, monsieur, that otherwise----" + +"You would never have seen your charming cane again. Are you married, +Monsieur Courbichon?" + +"I have been married, monsieur, but I am a widower." + +"A superb position for a man still young and made to please the ladies." + +"Oh! monsieur, I am fifty-five." + +"That is the very prime of life, the age at which a man makes most +conquests, because he knows better how to go about it. Ah! I would like +to be fifty-five! I hope to get there, but I haven't yet. You have some +means?" + +"Five or six thousand francs a year, which I made in dried fruit." + +"A very pretty business!--That isn't a magnificent fortune, but it is +that pleasant mediocrity so highly praised by Horace. Do you know +Horace?" + +"Yes, I have seen it played at the Théâtre-Français." + +"Ah! I guess we will stop there! Have you children, excellent +Courbichon?" + +"I have a daughter, monsieur,--a married daughter; I have set her up in +business." + +"In dried fruit?" + +"No, monsieur; she is in olive oil." + +"Oh! the deuce! that's very different! But it will preserve her longer. +You have no other daughter?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"What a pity!" + +"Why so, monsieur?" + +"Because I feel so strongly attracted to you that I would have asked her +hand in marriage. Faith! yes, I would have renounced my liberty, which I +have never done yet--but there's an end to everything. Does your +son-in-law enjoy good health?" + +"Yes, monsieur, excellent!" + +"So much the worse!" + +"Why so much the worse?" + +"Because, if he should die soon, I might marry his widow." + +"Oh! what an idea, monsieur!" + +"He is in good health, so there's an end of that; let us say no more +about it. Don't be alarmed; I have no idea of killing him. If he had +insulted me, I don't say----" + +"A thousand pardons, monsieur; but I should be very glad to know your +name." + +"My name? So you have forgotten it, have you? But I was called by name +often enough at young Blanquette's wedding party--while I was dancing +with Aunt Merlin." + +"I don't remember it." + +"My name is Arthur Cherami." + +Courbichon, thinking that his companion was addressing him as his dear +friend (_cher ami_), replied: + +"Oh! yes, your name is Arthur---- Nothing more?" + +"What do you say? nothing more? Why, I have just told you--Arthur +Cherami." + +"Yes, I understand--Arthur; that's a very pretty name. Are you in +business?" + +"I don't do anything; I live on my income, like you." + +"Oh! that's different! When one has enough to live on, one certainly has +the right to loaf as much as he pleases." + +"That's so, isn't it, my dear Courbichon? Ah! I am delighted to see that +we agree. We were destined to become close friends; it was written, as +the Arabs say." + +While conversing thus,--that is to say, while Cherami conversed and his +companion listened, with difficulty finding a chance to put in a word or +two from time to time,--they had reached the Champs-Élysées. They +sauntered toward a spot where a game of bowls was in progress, and +looked on for a while. According to his habit, Cherami made his +reflections aloud and gave his opinion on the strokes. He did not +hesitate to say: "That was wretchedly played!" to the face of the +player. The latter, a youngster of sixteen years, came up to him with +an irritated air, crying: + +"What business is it of yours? Perhaps you wouldn't do as well!" + +"No, I flatter myself that I wouldn't do as well, for I would do much +better. And if you don't like what I say, my boy, just come with me. +There's a shooting-gallery yonder. I will take you for my target, and +you take me; we'll see which of us will bring the other down." + +The bowler retired without making any reply. + +"You are too quick, my dear Monsieur Arthur," said Courbichon, putting +his hand on Cherami's shoulder; "you take fire like saltpetre." + +"Ah! that's the way I was made, my dear Courbichon. What would you +have--a man can't make himself over!--But just let anyone presume to +insult you, when you're with me! Bigre! a dwarf, a giant, a +colossus--it's all one to me; I would grind him to powder on the spot, +and it wouldn't take long!" + +Meanwhile, the young bowler, who had returned to his game boiling with +rage, had formed a plan to revenge himself upon the person who had said +that he bowled badly; and when it was his turn to bowl, he threw the +ball with all his force in Cherami's direction, hoping that it would +strike his legs. But a small stone caused it to deviate slightly, and, +instead of striking Beau Arthur, it came in contact with Monsieur +Courbichon's legs. That gentleman staggered, and uttered a piercing +shriek. Cherami saw plainly whence the ball came, and saw the bowler +laughing uproariously. Instantly, snatching the cane from his +companion's hand, he ran toward the author of the assault, shouting: + +"Never fear, my poor Courbichon; I will avenge you, and I'll do it +thoroughly, too. He'll have his rabbit, the villain!" + +The youngster who had thrown the ball fled when he saw Cherami running +toward him. But Cherami pursued him; while Monsieur Courbichon rubbed +his legs, saying: + +"This is the first time such a thing ever happened to me while I was +watching the game; and it's the more surprising, because I wasn't in +line with the pins. So it must have been done on purpose; but why should +the fellow aim at my legs? I didn't make any comment on his play--I +didn't have any dispute with him.--This will certainly leave a mark on +my legs.--Where in the deuce has Monsieur Arthur gone? That man is too +quick-tempered." + +In a few minutes, Cherami returned, flushed and triumphant, crying: + +"You are avenged, my dear Courbichon! yes, what anyone would call +thoroughly avenged; the rascal has had what he deserved; and here's the +proof." + +As he spoke, he handed his new friend his beautiful cane broken in two. + +Monsieur Courbichon was dumfounded, and gazed with an air of +consternation at the pieces of the cane. + +"Ah! mon Dieu!" he faltered; "it is broken!" + +"True--it is broken; but I broke it on the back of the ragamuffin who +threw his ball at your skittles--I mean, your legs." + +"What a pity! You struck him too hard." + +"One cannot strike an enemy too hard." + +"Such a pretty cane!" + +"You still have the pieces--or, at all events, the head; you can have it +put on another stick." + +"It was a genuine rattan." + +"Pardieu! it was genuine enough; the fact that it broke so soon proves +that. But there are other rattans in the shops." + +"I'm very sorry that you broke my cane." + +"If you hadn't lost my Chinese switch, I would have beaten him with +that; and that wouldn't have broken, I promise you!" + +"It makes me feel very bad--my beautiful cane!" + +"Saperlotte! are you going to cry over it? Oughtn't you rather to thank +me for avenging the insult to your legs? Come, take your cane, and let +us go and dine; the walk has given me an appetite." + +Poor Courbichon, with a lachrymose expression, took the pieces of his +cane, and submitted to be led away by Cherami, who took his arm and +conducted him to one of the best restaurants on the Champs-Élysées. They +took their seats out-of-doors, at one of the tables surrounded by hedges +in such wise as to form private rooms with walls of verdure. Courbichon +placed the fragments of his cane on a chair by his side, heaving a +profound sigh; for his new friend intimidated him so that he no longer +dared, in his presence, to betray the chagrin caused by the spectacle of +his broken treasure. + +Cherami ordered the dinner, saying: + +"Rely on me; I will order the dinner; and as we are sensible men and +have no women with us, there's no need of our making fools of ourselves. +We don't want to have a magnificent feast, but simply to dine +comfortably. Is that your idea?" + +"Exactly; still----" + +"You have just the disposition I like! I shall mark with a white +cross--_album dies!_--the day which brought us together and enabled me +to return your cane. I regret that you lost my Chinese switch! but you +have your cane; that's the main thing!" + +Whenever his new friend mentioned his cane, Monsieur Courbichon made a +wry face, but he did not venture to make any complaint. They proceeded +to dine: one, talking constantly as he ate; the other, eating almost +without speaking; and, although Cherami had informed his host that they +would dine like sensible men, when the bill was brought, it amounted to +twenty-two francs. + +"That is not too much," said Cherami, passing the check to his +companion; "for we have had a good dinner and punished our three +bottles." + +The little bald man seemed to be of a different opinion; he turned the +paper over and over in his hand, muttering: + +"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!" + +"Well, my good Courbichon, that won't drain the sea dry! How many times +I have spent ten times as much on a dainty dinner, tête-à-tête with a +pretty woman! To be sure, we used to have all the delicacies of the +season--asparagus at thirty francs the bunch, strawberries at fifteen +francs, pineapples, wine of Constance.--The women adore that wine! they +delight in getting tipsy on Constance--in the bottle!--Have you ever +indulged in that sort of affair, amiable Courbichon? Oh! you must have +done it, many a time! That's where you lost your hair; eh, old boy?" + +"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!" + +"Those figures seem to worry you! Do you find a mistake in the +addition?" + +"No, it isn't that; but I am afraid I haven't enough money with me. I +paid quite a large amount at the café, this morning. I didn't expect to +spend so much to-day. Would you be kind enough to lend me what I need?" + +"I would do so with the most lively satisfaction, my estimable friend; +but, as I was feeling in my pocket just now, I discovered that I have +forgotten my purse; which, by the way, happens quite often, for I am +very absent-minded. I may add that, when I made that discovery, I +intended to borrow a few francs of you--as is often done between good +friends; for what's the use of friendship, if not to oblige? O divine +friendship! gift of the gods!" + +"Mon Dieu! what are we going to do, if we haven't enough money between +us to pay for our dinner?" + +"Don't you be alarmed! I have found myself in that position more than +once. You can leave your cane in pawn." + +"My cane! When it was whole, that might have been--but now I can only +offer some pieces of a cane as a pledge." + +"Then leave your watch, my friend." + +"I haven't worn it since my last one was stolen." + +"But don't worry! They will give us credit on our respectable +appearance." + +"Let me see; with every sou I can find---- Search your pockets, too." + +"Oh! that's useless; I never carry money loose in my pockets. I have my +purse, or I haven't it." + +Monsieur Courbichon, having collected all that he had in his pockets, +could find only twelve francs and two sous. But suddenly, upon renewing +his search, he produced something carefully wrapped in paper, and that +something proved to be a gold piece of ten francs. The bald man's face +lightened. + +"Ah!" he cried; "the ten francs that I loaned to Mathieu, and that he +paid back this morning; I had forgotten them. That makes up the amount +and two sous over--for the waiter." + +"If I were in your place," said Cherami, "I would keep Mathieu's ten +francs, so that we might have something to refresh ourselves with when +we go back; and I would leave my cane for the balance." + +"What! you want me to ask for credit when I have enough money to pay the +bill?" + +"You haven't enough; for with a bill of twenty-two francs, you can't +think of giving the waiter less than twenty sous; if you offer him two, +he'll throw them in your face." + +"If he refuses them, he'll get nothing at all--so much the worse for +him! but I shall pay my bill." + +"And suppose you feel the need of something while we are walking back?" + +"We have dined so well that I shall not want anything." + +"On the contrary, you may have an attack of indigestion--you are very +red already--and then you'll want a glass of sugar and water." + +"I can do without it; I am not in the habit of being sick." + +"There are lots of things we're not in the habit of having, and yet they +come--as, sudden death, for example; certainly one hasn't the habit of +it, and it takes you all of a sudden." + +Cherami's arguments were of no avail; Monsieur Courbichon held his +ground. He called the waiter, paid for his dinner, and told him that he +gave him only two sous because he had nothing but banknotes which he did +not wish to change. + +They left the restaurant. The little bald man carried the pieces of his +cane, but his face wore a very unamiable expression. Cherami, who had +ceased to enjoy his society, soon left him, saying: + +"Give me your address, my dear friend. I will come soon and bid you +good-morning." + +"It is useless, monsieur; I start to-morrow for Touraine, where I expect +to settle." + +"What! you are leaving Paris, too? Very well; if you go to Tours, send +me some plums--Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville, Hôtel du Bel-Air; but +prepay the freight!" + +Monsieur Courbichon saluted Cherami, and hurried off as fast as his +little legs would carry him, thrusting a fragment of his cane into each +pocket. + + + + +XXVIII + +A CONSTANT LOVER + + +Monsieur Gerbault transmitted his daughter's reply to the two suitors +who had asked for her hand. Young Anatole took his rebuff without any +indication of emotion. He said simply: + +"I am very thorry, becauth our two voitheth went very well together. I +am thure that we would have thung beautifully, and I am tho fond of +muthic that we thould have been very happy." + +The Comte de la Bérinière did not accept Adolphine's refusal of his +offer so philosophically. + +"Upon my word, my dear Gerbault," he exclaimed, "I have bad luck with +your daughters! One marries just when I am about to ask for her hand. +This one will have none of me; for I understand perfectly that her reply +is simply a courteously disguised refusal. Well, I must make the best of +it! I will take a trip into Italy, and try to console myself. The +Italian women are not the equals of your daughters, but, at all events, +they will distract my thoughts." + +And, a few days later, the Comte de la Bérinière did, in fact, leave +Paris. + +But there was one person who was entirely unable to understand +Adolphine's conduct: that was her sister Fanny. Learning that she had +refused to marry either Monsieur de Raincy or the count, she went to see +her one morning. + +"Can what father tells me be true? You have refused to marry, when two +magnificent _partis_ have offered themselves? But, no, it can't be true; +you haven't done that! or else you were sick at the time. Surely you +didn't realize what you said, when you gave father that answer?" + +"Indeed I did, my dear love," Adolphine replied, with a smile; "I knew +perfectly well what I was saying; I had considered the matter fully when +I refused to marry those gentlemen." + +"Upon my word, I don't understand you! What reason, what motives, can +have prompted your refusal? The Comte de la Bérinière has thirty +thousand francs a year; and he would make you a countess. Just think of +it--a countess! Isn't it perfectly bewildering to think of being called +Madame la Comtesse?" + +"It tempts me very little." + +"To be sure, the count is no longer young; but, once married, if you +knew, my dear girl, how little you think about your husband's age! +Auguste might be sixty years old, now, and it would be all the same to +me." + +"My ideas are not at all the same as yours, as I have already told you." + +"But I have had experience now, and you ought to listen to me. Come, let +us admit that you refused the count because you thought he was too old, +which is the merest childishness--that reason doesn't apply in the case +of Monsieur de Raincy; he is young, good-looking----" + +"He has a stupid, self-sufficient manner." + +"But what difference does that make? I have always heard it said that a +stupid man makes an excellent husband. I should be glad enough if my +husband was stupid! Then he wouldn't keep flinging little sarcastic +remarks at me when I talk about the state of the market--of the rise or +fall in railway shares. Auguste is clever--yes, very clever. But what +good does it do me to have him clever and agreeable in society? In his +own home, a husband never uses his wit except to make sport of his wife. +Monsieur Anatole de Raincy isn't as rich as the count, but he has a very +good position in society. Where do you expect to find a better match?" + +"I expect nothing." + +"Why do you refuse these offers, then?" + +"Because I do not love either of them." + +"Ah! an excellent reason! How absurd you are, my poor Adolphine! +Happiness in wedlock does not consist in love, but in wealth, in luxury, +in the power to buy whatever we please, to have magnificent dresses +which drive other women mad, to go to balls and parties every day, to +have the best boxes at the theatre; not in having to sit sighing by +your husband while you watch the soup-kettle." + +"I have told you before that my tastes aren't the same as yours." + +"Oh! you say that, but, in reality, you would be very glad to cut as +fine a figure yourself. But you are romantic! perhaps you have a passion +hidden away in your heart. Oh! yes, to refuse two such chances as you +have had, you must be in love with somebody!" + +Adolphine blushed, but made haste to reply: + +"No, you are mistaken. I never think of any man; it is not right of you +to say that." + +"Very well! then, my dear girl, I say again that it was perfectly absurd +of you to refuse those two! Adieu! I am going to select some flowers for +my head, for I am going to a large party to-night, and I propose to +eclipse all the other women." + +Some little time after this interview, Adolphine was alone, thinking of +him whose image was always present in her mind; for she had not told her +sister the truth when she said that she never thought of any man; but +there are passions which one does not choose to confide except to a +heart capable of understanding them, and she was well aware that Fanny +would not understand hers. + +Madeleine suddenly entered her mistress's room, and said: + +"Mamzelle, a young man wants to speak to you." + +"To me? He probably has business with my father." + +"No, mamzelle; it was you he asked to see--and monsieur your father +isn't at home, either." + +"Very well! show him in." + +Soon the door opened anew, and Gustave appeared before Adolphine. The +girl uttered an exclamation, for she recognized him at once; and she +was so disturbed that she had to lean upon a chair. + +"What! is it you, Monsieur Gustave?" she murmured. + +Madeleine retired, for she read in her mistress's eyes that the visit +caused her no displeasure. + +"Yes, Mademoiselle Adolphine," Gustave replied; "yes, my dear sister. +Ah! allow me to call you by that name still, as I used, for we have had +no falling-out; you have not spurned me, and I venture to hope that you +still feel for me a little of that sweet friendship which you seemed to +feel in the old days." + +Adolphine was so perturbed that she could hardly stammer: + +"Of course--yes--I have no reason not to be the same as always with you. +But do sit down, Monsieur Gustave. Mon Dieu!--how strange it is!--it's +only five months since we saw each other--and you seem changed---- Oh! +not for the worse--on the contrary--you have a more serious, more +thoughtful, air than before. Is it the result of your travels?" + +Adolphine was right; the five months which Gustave had passed away from +France had wrought a very considerable change in him, to his advantage; +he had lost that bewildered, hare-brained look which people used to +criticise in him; now he was a man--young, no doubt, but whose serious, +sedate, sensible aspect indicated a person who was accustomed to think +before speaking, and to reflect before acting. His face had gained +vastly by the change; his manner was colder, perhaps, but you realized +that you could rely on what he said. Lastly, the faintest shadow of +melancholy that could still be detected on his brow gave an added charm +to the gentle expression of his eyes and to the tone of his voice. + +Adolphine saw all this at a glance: that is all a woman needs to draw a +man's portrait. With trembling hand she pointed to a chair, and Gustave +sat down beside her with an ease of manner which covered no hidden +motive. + +"I don't know whether my travels have changed me," said the young man; +"they may, perhaps, have matured my mind somewhat; they have made me a +better business man. I realize fully now that I did some things which +lacked common-sense, and I shall not make such a fool of myself again!" + +"Oh! you are cured of your love for Fanny?" cried Adolphine, with an +expression of delight which she could not restrain. + +"No, dear Adolphine, no, that is not what I meant!" replied Gustave, +sadly; "do what I will, I haven't yet been able to drive that love from +my heart. But I meant simply that that unhappy passion will not lead me +into doing any more such absurd, unreasonable things as I once did. I +have become a man; if I suffer, I can at least conceal my suffering. I +have learned to respect the happiness of other people--the desire to +disturb it is very far from my thoughts! I realize, in short, that I +ought, above all things, to avoid the presence of her who cannot, should +not, sympathize with the pain she causes me." + +Adolphine turned her head away to conceal the tears which filled her +eyes, murmuring: + +"Mon Dieu! do you still love her as dearly as ever?" + +"I don't know whether it is less or more--I don't know how much I love +her; and I would give anything in the world to cease thinking of her! +But I cannot--do what I will, her image is always here. I forget that +she flirted with me--that she pretended to love me, only to throw me +over the next minute. I say to myself that all women try to please, and +that they cannot love all the men they have fascinated. I say to myself +that this Monsieur Auguste Monléard offered her a brilliant fortune, and +all the pleasures, all the enjoyment, all the luxury, in which, to a +young woman, the happiness of life consists.--I say all this to myself, +and I understand perfectly how she could have refused the poor clerk's +hand to accept that of the man who was wealthy and distinguished. So +that, if I am unhappy, I can blame nothing but fortune--and Fanny is so +pretty, so fascinating, so well worthy to shine in society! She will +never be mine, and yet I love her--yes, I still love her! They say that +men don't know the meaning of constancy; but you see that that isn't +true, Adolphine; you see that there are some who can love +faithfully--and, unluckily, they are the ones who are not loved." + +Adolphine did not reply for some time; she was suffocating, she could +not keep back the tears which dimmed her sight. Gustave saw them; he +seized her hand and pressed it, crying: + +"You weep--dear sister!--my unhappiness makes you shed tears. Oh! +forgive me for coming here and grieving you by the story of my +suffering." + +"Yes--it does grieve me to know that you are unhappy! But, after all, it +seems to me that you ought to try--that you do not make enough effort to +divert your thoughts; you see, when one has no hope, one ought to +forget." + +"Oh! that makes no difference at all." + +"Yes, it is possible.--How long since you returned to Paris?" + +"Only last evening; and, as you see, I came to you at once this +morning." + +"Yes--to talk to me about her!" + +"I admit it--but to see you, too,--you who have always shown me so much +affection, and whom I am so happy to call my sister still!" + +"Oh! of course--because that was the name you gave me when you were to +marry Fanny! But you don't know--I have not dared to tell you that +father says that you must not come to our house any more!" + +"Not come here any more! Why not, pray?" + +"Why, because of that unfortunate duel----" + +"Duel! What do you mean? What duel?" + +"What! you don't know? Hasn't your uncle told you about it?" + +"I told you that I only arrived last night; my uncle talked about +nothing but matters of business, which are of much more importance in +his eyes than anything else. Tell me what duel you are talking about?" + +"Do you remember the man who dined with you on the day of my sister's +wedding?" + +"Yes, a curious creature whom I happened to meet--and who took pity on +the state of frenzy I was in at that time." + +"Was he a friend of yours?" + +"As I tell you, I had known him only a few hours; but I had lost my head +that day; you know that better than anybody, dear Adolphine, for you +found time, even on that day, to come to me and say a few comforting +words.--But what about that man?" + +"Well, at night, when my sister went away from the ball with her +husband, he was standing near, just as they were entering their +carriage. That man--he was drunk, no doubt, but still he insulted my +sister." + +"The villain! He dared----" + +"Yes, he said: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'--My sister, who heard +the words plainly, told me herself. Was that an insult? Tell me frankly, +Monsieur Gustave, hadn't you yourself applied that name to my sister +more than once that day?" + +"It is quite possible; but I was out of my head, I didn't know what I +was saying. That did not give that fellow, whose very name I don't +remember, the right to repeat my words." + +"Auguste heard him, and the next day he fought a duel with the man." + +"And what was the result?" + +"A sword-thrust in my brother-in-law's forearm, which forced him to +carry his arm in a sling at least six weeks." + +"Mon Dieu! that incident may well have occasioned unfortunate scenes +between the husband and wife; it may have disturbed the domestic +happiness of--your sister. She probably accused me of being the original +cause of the duel! This is maddening!" + +"Don't be alarmed, Monsieur Gustave! you don't know Fanny! The affair +affected her very little, her happiness wasn't disturbed by it for a +single minute. She goes to some festivity, amuses herself in some way, +every day! Oh! she is happy." + +"So much the better! And her husband--he adores her still, I fancy?" + +"As to that, I can't answer. If they adore each other, it hardly appears +on the surface!" + +"What! Fanny doesn't love her husband?" + +"I don't say that she doesn't love him! but my sister isn't capable of +loving like us--like you, I mean. She has so much to take up her time in +the way of gowns, head-dresses, new styles, and so forth! How do you +suppose she can find time to love her husband?" + +"However, I am entirely innocent in this matter of the duel." + +"Oh! that is what I have always told father, who has only known it a few +days, by the way. For, as you can imagine, they didn't publish it. +Monsieur Monléard's injury was supposed to have been caused by a fall on +the stairs." + +"But why doesn't your father want me to come here? It wasn't a crime to +love his elder daughter and to aspire to her hand! It is true, I was +very poor, then; to-day, I could offer her more; my uncle, who is very +well satisfied with the way I attend to business now, said to me at +breakfast this morning: 'From to-day, I give you an interest in my +business, and I guarantee you not less than ten thousand francs a year, +whether there are any profits or not.'" + +"Ah! that is very nice, Monsieur Gustave; I am very glad for you." + +"Dear little sister! If you knew how indifferently I received the news +of this increase in my income! Ah! that isn't what I look to for +happiness!" + +"Nor I, either! But, as so many people think differently, probably we +are wrong." + +"I am thinking about your father, who doesn't want me to come here any +more." + +"In the first place, he was convinced that there would be no need to say +anything to you about it; that you would never have any desire to come +to our house again." + +"Why so, pray?" + +"I don't know why; for my part, I didn't think as he did. Something told +me that you would come--to hear about Fanny--to talk about her. I +guessed right, did I not?" + +"Yes, yes! you read my heart." + +"For I know very well that that was the only reason it occurred to you +to come here." + +"Do you think that I am not fond of you--of you and your father?" + +"Oh! I don't say that; but my father fears--suppose you should meet my +sister here?" + +"I should be able to act with her as with a person who was a total +stranger to me. Does she come to see you often?" + +"No, not often. She has so many other calls to make! She knows so many +people now!" + +At that moment the bell rang. + +"Mon Dieu!" said Adolphine; "if it should be my father!" + +"Why, I will go and offer him my hand, and I am sure that he won't +refuse it." + +"But if it should be----" + +Adolphine had not time to finish her sentence. The door of her chamber +was hastily thrown open, and her sister entered. + + + + +XXIX + +A WOMAN OF FASHION + + +Fanny was resplendent in costume, jewels, and style; and it must be said +that, like all women with whom personal adornment is a special study, +she carried her splendor well, and that it added materially to the +attractions she had received from nature. + +The young woman was nowise perturbed at sight of Gustave Darlemont; she +honored him with an affable smile, and her vanity seemed flattered that +he whose hand she had refused should see her now in all the glory of her +good-fortune and her magnificent toilet. Adolphine, on the contrary, was +pale and trembling. As for Gustave, he could not conceal the emotion he +felt on seeing Fanny again, and especially in such seductive guise. + +"Bonjour, little sister!" said Fanny, kissing Adolphine.--"But, I cannot +be mistaken--this is Monsieur Gustave. I am delighted to see you, +monsieur." + +Gustave barely managed to stammer: + +"Madame--I confess that I did not expect--to meet you here." + +"Why, it seems to me quite natural that I should come to my father's +house. To be sure, it doesn't happen very often: I have so little time +to myself! When one goes much into society, one must make and receive so +many calls, dress, give orders when one entertains. And, by the way, we +give a large party in six days, to inaugurate our winter evenings.--I +came to tell you, Adolphine, so that you may have time to prepare a +bewitching costume, do you hear? I will advise you, of course, for you +don't keep very well abreast of the fashions.--But I thought that you +were abroad, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"I have just come from Spain, mademoiselle--I beg your pardon--madame. I +have been away about five months." + +"Indeed! then that is why you look so brown; but that doesn't do you any +harm--far from it. Did you enjoy yourself?" + +"Enjoy myself? not exactly that, madame; but that wasn't what I went +for." + +"They say that the women are very pretty in Spain; that their eyes, +especially, are dazzlingly bright. Is it true, Monsieur Gustave? Did you +see any eyes in that country that excel those of us Frenchwomen?" + +"I saw none, madame, which could be compared to----" + +The young man checked himself, and added: + +"I saw none which made me forget those of the Parisian women." + +"Good! that is very polite! And you are settled in Paris now?" + +"I do not know, madame; that will depend on--my uncle." + +"Well, monsieur, while you are here, if it will afford you any pleasure +to come to our evenings at home, Monsieur Monléard, I am sure, will be +delighted to see you. At all events, he allows me to invite whom I +choose--and he does the same. I greet his friends courteously, he does +as much for mine; in that way, we always agree. Stay! next Thursday, as +I was saying to my sister, we give a large party; there will be +everything: music, dancing, cards, and supper; it will last all night, +and we shall have lots of fun. You must come. We shall have all +Paris--that is to say, all the best artists, all the celebrities. Will +you come?" + +Gustave was struck dumb by this invitation, and especially by the light, +careless tone in which it was offered; he was more distressed than +gratified, and answered, with a low bow: + +"No, madame; I shall not have the honor of accepting your invitation." + +"Indeed! And why not, may I ask, monsieur?" + +"Why, because--at this party--in your husband's house--it seems to me, +madame, that I should be out of place; and I am sure beforehand that I +should take no pleasure in it. Pray receive, madame, my thanks and my +adieux." + +Thereupon Gustave went up to Adolphine, who had listened without a word, +and pressed her hand, saying in an undertone: + +"Adieu, my only friend! Ah! your father is right: it is much better that +I should not come here again." + +Gustave left the room. Adolphine had difficulty in concealing her grief. +Fanny, meanwhile, looked at herself in a mirror, saying: + +"What is the matter with Monsieur Gustave, I wonder? He had a very +tragic air as he left us. It wasn't polite of him to refuse my +invitation. And I fancied that it would give him the greatest pleasure! +There are so many young men who would be overjoyed to have the +opportunity to come to my evenings!" + +"In your eyes, Monsieur Gustave ought not to be like other young men. +And I cannot conceive how you could have dreamed of urging him to come +to see you," rejoined Adolphine, in a trembling voice. + +"Why not, I should like to know? You seem to be surprised at +everything!" + +"But after all that happened between you before you were married----" + +"All what? Monsieur Gustave was in love with me. Ah! there are many +others who are in love with me to-day--yes, and who pay court to me, +too. But that won't keep them from coming to dance at our ball--quite +the contrary; and they have engaged me beforehand for I don't know how +many contra-dances. But I shall take only those whom I like. I would +have done as much for Gustave; or, rather, I would have given him the +preference--I would have let him have more dances." + +"But don't you see that Gustave still loves you? that he can't accustom +himself to seeing you as another man's wife, and that it would be +impossible for him to meet your husband?" + +"Do you think that that young man still loves me so much as that?" + +"To be sure; he was just telling me so himself when you came." + +"Ah! the poor boy! I am sorry for him, but I thought he had grown +reasonable! A constant lover! Why, the fellow is a perfect phoenix!" + +"A phoenix that you would have none of!" + +"I don't repent. My husband is not a phoenix in love, I admit. At +first, he adored me; then, it suddenly passed away. But I wasn't silly +enough to groan over it. He has continued to lavish on me all the +pleasures and amusements that wealth can procure. What more could I ask? +I consider myself the luckiest woman in Paris. Whereas with that poor +Gustave--that phoenix of constancy!--I should have vegetated; I +should have gone to the play on Sunday, as a treat!" + +"Monsieur Gustave is already in a much better position. His uncle is so +well satisfied with him that he gives him ten thousand francs a year +now." + +"Ten thousand francs! Well, yes, that is something. One can manage to +live with that. But how far he is still from Auguste's position!" + +"And then, too, Fanny, when you invite Monsieur Gustave to your house, +you seem to forget that duel. Your husband knows that it was he who was +in such despair on account of your marriage, and that that was the +cause----" + +"Oh! for heaven's sake, let me alone, Adolphine! My husband has +forgotten all about that. He has much more important things in his head. +When a man is intent on making millions, do you suppose he wastes any +time on trifles of that sort? Oh! mon Dieu! chattering here with you, I +forgot that I have to call on my broker." + +"You have a broker, Fanny?" + +"To be sure. I speculate on the Bourse, too--just to amuse myself a +little, you know. But I do not intrust my affairs to my husband, because +he would ridicule me. Adieu, little sister! Make your preparations for +our grand party on Thursday. Oh! we shall have much sport. I am going to +have a ravishing gown." + +Madame Monléard took her leave; whereupon Adolphine sank into a chair, +saying to herself: + +"Now I can cry at my ease, for he said that he should not come here any +more!" + + + + +XXX + +THE SECOND MEETING + + +On leaving Monsieur Gerbault's house, Gustave did not return at once to +his uncle's office; he felt that he must be by himself, in the open air, +and, although it was winter, he had no fear of the cold; on the +contrary, it seemed to him that the keen north wind would cool his blood +and tranquillize his mind, which the sight of Fanny had overturned anew. + +Having her before his eyes, more bewitching than ever, Gustave had +realized how dearly he still loved her who had refused to be his wife. +And he had already found, in the depths of his heart, innumerable +reasons to excuse her conduct; in his eyes, she was rather frivolous +than guilty. + +Now that he had seen Fanny again, that she had talked with him as +pleasantly as before her marriage, and had urged him to call upon her, +Gustave did not know what to believe, what to think, what to conjecture, +from it all. He asked himself why she wanted to see him. Whether it was +because she still felt some affection for him, whether she derived any +pleasure from his presence, whether she sympathized secretly with his +grief; or was it simply for the purpose of flaunting in his face her +brilliant social position, her superb gowns, and the homage that was +paid to her? + +Gustave walked a long time at random on the boulevard, where he met very +few people, on account of the cold. + +"No," he said to himself; "I will not go to her house! Have I courage to +be a witness of her husband's happiness? Moreover, her husband hasn't +invited me; it seems to me that he is sure to receive me very coldly. +That's what I would do in his place. But Fanny didn't think of what she +was saying; she invited me thoughtlessly--or else from simple courtesy. +Ah! she is very pretty still; she's a hundred times more fascinating +than ever! I did very wrong to go to Monsieur Gerbault's!" + +Suddenly the melancholy lover was roused from his reflections by someone +who threw his arms about him, embraced him, and kissed him on the cheek, +crying: + +"Ah! here he is! it is he! At last I have found him--my dear, good +Gustave! Victory! Castor has found Pollux! I have my cue! + + "'And since I've found my faithful friend, + My luck will take a different trend!'" + +Gustave struggled to free himself, in order to see the face of the +individual who was so lavish of tokens of affection, and he finally +recognized his impromptu friend of Fanny's wedding day, the man with +whom he had dined at Deffieux's. + +Cherami was the same as always. But his costume seemed even shabbier in +the cold weather then prevailing than in summer; for his frock-coat, +more threadbare than ever, was drawn so tightly across his shoulders +that one could see that there was nothing under it; his plaid trousers, +worn thinner than ever, evidently afforded his legs very little +protection against the sharp north wind; and the Courbichon hat, by dint +of being planted on the side of his head, was beginning to resemble the +one it had replaced. But all this did not prevent the ci-devant Beau +Arthur from holding himself erect and eying everybody he met from top to +toe. + +"Why, it is Monsieur----" + +"Arthur Cherami. Yes, my dear fellow; it is I, your faithful friend, +your Pylades, who has been seeking you over hill and dale, and who even +called to inquire for you at your uncle's,--Grandcourt, the +banker,--who, I am bound to say, did not receive me with all the +consideration I deserve! But uncles are not very amiable, as a general +rule. He told me that you were in Spain." + +"He told the truth; I returned only last night." + +"And I have been scouring the four quarters of Paris every day, saying +to myself: 'If Gustave has returned, I cannot help meeting him.'--And +here you are, my dear friend, whose absence seemed so long! Well! don't +we propose to shake hands with our intimate friend, on whose bosom we +poured out our woes?" + +But Gustave hesitated to give his hand to Cherami, and replied in a +serious tone: + +"Before shaking hands with you, monsieur, I must have an explanation +with you. You fought a duel with Monsieur Auguste Monléard, and you made +that duel inevitable by addressing an insulting remark to his bride. By +what right did you take that step? Why did you do it? for what object? +Come, answer me." + +"Ah! par la sambleu! this is a cross-examination which I was far from +expecting! I fight in a friend's cause, I wound his fortunate rival--I +didn't kill him, to be sure; but still, I might have killed him. Then, +your charmer would have been a widow, and you would have married her!" + +"Ah! I thank heaven that Monsieur Monléard got off with a wound in the +arm! If you had killed him, I should have been accused of the murder!" + +"What's that? you? Everybody knows that it wasn't you who fought with +him. I see a young man, miserable, desperate, because the woman he loves +marries another. That young man interests me. I dine with him, and he +pours his sorrows into my bosom. Every instant, he complains of the +perfidy of the woman who has deceived him; and, that same day, when I +chance to meet that faithless creature on her conqueror's arm, you would +not have me try to avenge my friend's wrongs? Damnation! what the devil +do you understand by friendship, I wonder? If that's your idea of it, +why, adieu, bonjour, let's say no more about it! Go and look elsewhere +for friends; but you won't find my sort lying around by the dozen!" + +Gustave detained Cherami as he turned away, and offered him his hand, +saying: + +"Come, come, don't get excited, hot-head! I see that one cannot bear you +a grudge; give me your hand!" + +"This is very fortunate. He realizes at last that I am entirely devoted +to him, and that his happiness alone is my object." + +"My dear monsieur----" + +"Don't call me _monsieur_, or it will be my turn to be angry!" + +"Very well! my dear Arthur, that duel of yours annoyed me very much, +because I was afraid that it would have set Fanny against me altogether. +But, thank heaven! it did nothing of the kind." + +"As if women were ever angry because a man fights for them! You +evidently don't know them; on the contrary, it flatters their +self-esteem--it serves to set them off a little." + +"I have just seen Fanny, I met her at her sister's. I didn't expect to +see her there. Ah! if you knew--I am still all upset by that meeting." + +"Do you mean that you still love that young woman?" + +"Do I love her! Alas! yes, I love her still, and I feel that my passion +will make my whole life miserable." + +"Did the little lady receive you coldly?" + +"Why, no; on the contrary, she gave me a most delicious smile, and +talked to me just as she used to before her marriage. In fact,--can you +believe it?--she invited me to a large party that she gives next +Thursday." + +"And still you have a sad, woe-begone air! why, I should say that you +have every reason to rejoice!" + +"Why so?" + +"Because when this lady, who knows that you once adored her, and who +must have seen that you love her still--when, I say, she asks you to +come and see her, it means that she proposes to reward you for your +constancy--to crown your passion. Pardieu! that's not hard to +understand. Go to her party, my dear friend, and I'll stake my head that +within six weeks the husband has rooms at the sign of the Stag or the +Crescent, as long as you choose." + +"Ah! what do you presume to imply? You imagine that Fanny is capable of +betraying her husband, of forgetting her duty? No, no! she may be +fickle, coquettish, if you please, but she will never be guilty. And I +myself--oh! that is not my conception of love. A woman who shares her +favors--who pretends to feel for one man the love which she really feels +for another--oh! I should soon cease to love such a woman!" + +Cherami shook his head, as he muttered: + +"You are young, my dear Gustave; you are very young! You don't know the +world as I do. You say that you still adore your Fanny, and that you +wouldn't have her deceive her husband for you?" + +"In the first place, she wouldn't do it!" + +"I am strongly inclined to believe the contrary; but let us admit that +you are right. I see but one means of making you happy, and that is to +carry the young woman off. Do you want me to do that? I'll undertake it, +if you do." + +"No, my dear Arthur; I have never had such a thought. Fanny has all that +she wants--she is happy; I shall be very careful to avoid disturbing her +happiness; I have neither the right nor the desire to do so. But, as I +feel that the sight of her intensifies my suffering, by reviving the +passion which I am trying to extinguish; as I do not wish to expose +myself--for some time, at least--to the chance of meeting her at the +theatre or in society, why, I shall leave Paris, and travel once more. +My uncle always has business in other countries, and he will not be +sorry to employ me in that way again." + +"That's a crazy idea of yours! So, if your love happens to hang on, that +little woman will make you do the tour of the world?" + +"Let us hope that time will cure me." + +"There is something that works quicker than time in the cure of love; to +wit, another love. You ought to have had ten mistresses in Spain." + +"Impossible! I thought of nobody but her." + +"You can fairly boast of being a paladin of the good old times. You +could have given _Roland_ and _Amadis_ points. So you are going to leave +Paris again! Would you like me to travel with you?" + +"Thanks! my company is far from agreeable; my sole pleasure consists in +musing by myself--thinking of the happiness to which I looked forward +for some time, but which I am never to know." + +"We would have sought adventures together, aye, and found them too, I +promise you! That would have diverted your thoughts." + +"I do not care to divert my thoughts, as my only pleasure is the thought +of her." + +"Sapristi! yours is a devilishly persistent passion! However, as you're +so obstinate----" + +Cherami paused, and seemed to reflect upon the best means of changing +the subject. + + + + +XXXI + +A NEW SWITCH + + +"In that case, it will be another long while before I see you again?" he +said at last. "That troubles me--especially as there are times when a +friend is very essential!" + +Cherami shook his head, rubbed his chin, and added, between his teeth: + +"I haven't my cue at this moment--I need it damnably!" + +Gustave glanced at the ex-beau, whose piteous expression was even more +noticeable against his wretched costume; then he exclaimed: + +"Can I do anything for you, my dear friend? If so, tell me, I beg; I +should be happy to be of any service to you!" + +"Faith! my dear fellow, I will not conceal from you that I am at this +moment absolutely cleaned out. I counted on some money that was owing +me; my quarterly income isn't due for six weeks." + +"You need money? Why, in heaven's name, didn't you tell me? I am +entirely at your service. How much do you need?" + +"Why, at this moment--it's very cold--my rascal of a tailor broke his +word--so--I ought to have--say, a hundred francs, to furbish me up a +bit." + +"A hundred francs! Why, you couldn't do anything with that. Here, my +good friend, here's five hundred! Take it; I can spare it." + +Gustave took a banknote from his wallet as he spoke, and handed it to +Cherami, who could not restrain a joyful movement when he received that +windfall; he seized the young man's hand and pressed it with all his +strength, crying: + +"Ah! you are the friend I have dreamed about! My dear Gustave, I shall +never forget what you do for me at this moment! Henceforth we are +friends in life and death! I cannot name the exact day when I shall be +able to repay this money----" + +"Eh? who said anything about that? I have more money than I need, and, I +say again, I am delighted to be able to be of service to you." + +"Excellent and worthy friend! You are made on the antique pattern; you +have something of Socrates and of Marcus Aurelius about you. So you +don't want me to kidnap Fanny?" + +"No, I won't have it!" + +"Well, if you change your mind, you have only to write me a line at the +same address: Cherami, Hôtel du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville. +By the way, I will call on your uncle's concierge now and then, to find +out whether you have returned. Sapristi! it pains me to have you go." + +"I shall return--and perhaps I shall be more reasonable." + +"Then we will enjoy ourselves, we will laugh and make merry! Au revoir, +then, my dear Gustave! If you have any commission for me, write me a +line. But prepay your letters, for my hostess has a habit of refusing to +take in those that have to be paid for." + +"What! even when they are for her tenants?" + +"Above all, when they are for her tenants." + +Gustave walked away after shaking hands with Cherami, who looked after +him with a touched expression, saying to himself: + +"Excellent heart! he reconciles me with mankind; clearly, there still +are such things as friends; they are rare, but, still, they do exist, +and it's simply a matter of finding them. Now, I must see about getting +some comfortable duds; that won't be an extravagance. When anyone +brushes against me, I am always afraid he'll carry away a piece of my +coat." + +Cherami soon found one of the great furnishing shops where you can +procure a complete change of raiment, from head to foot. He bought a +pair of trousers, very full, a thickly padded waistcoat, and a roomy +coat; and he put them all on over the clothes he was wearing. + +"I am like Bias, one of the seven sages of Greece," he said; "I carry my +whole wardrobe on my back." + +Cherami made all these purchases for ninety francs. He left the shop +much stouter than he entered, and his double trousers compelled him to +walk with a certain gravity. But he was so content, he considered +himself so comely in his new clothes, that he smiled benignly on +everybody, even on the cabmen who passed him. But something was still +lacking: since he had restored Monsieur Courbichon's cane, he had not +replaced it, for lack of funds; and that was to him a great privation. +Now he could gratify his longing; a man who has four hundred and ten +francs in his pocket, after purchasing a new outfit throughout, can well +afford to humor his fancy for a cane. + +Cherami spied a shop where canes of all sorts were for sale; he examined +a score, among which there were some very expensive ones. After +hesitating for some time between a superb Malacca joint at seventy-five +francs, and a light switch at a hundred sous, he finally decided upon +the latter. "For, after all," he reflected, "I don't need a cane to lean +on! Thank God, I haven't the gout! I will take the switch; it can be +used as a crop when I ride; and then, I like something that bends--one +can play with it." + +Armed with his switch, with which he beat the air in a very unpleasant +fashion for those who passed him, Cherami betook himself to the +Palais-Royal, saying to himself: + +"I think I will dine at Les Frères Provençaux. I like that old-fashioned +house; you are always treated well there. It's a little dear, perhaps, +but one can't pay too much for what is good." + +"Pray be careful, monsieur! you hit me with your cane!" + +"What's the matter, monsieur? what are you complaining about?" + +"You hit me with your cane, I tell you." + +"In the first place, monsieur, it isn't a cane; it's a switch; in the +second place, you have only to walk farther away from me." + +"Monsieur, I am on the sidewalk, as you are. I have a right to be here, +I fancy." + +"What's all this?--Cheap talk? impertinence? If you're not satisfied, +monsieur, say so at once; I'm your man; I won't run away!" + +His interlocutor, who had not left home with the intention of fighting a +duel, quickened his pace and disappeared without making any further +reply. + +Cherami began to wave his switch about as before. + +"These fellows are amazing, on my word!" he muttered. "They want to +frighten me out of playing with this little stick. As if I would put +myself out--as if----" + +But this time he concluded to stop, hearing the crash of broken glass; +he had shattered with his switch a beautiful mirror which formed part of +the show-window of a perfumer's shop. The mistress of the establishment +was already in her doorway, where she said to Cherami in an angry tone: + +"You broke that mirror, monsieur; you broke it!" + +Beau Arthur, with no outward indication of excitement, smiled at the +perfumeress as he rejoined: + +"Very good! my dear woman, if I broke your mirror, I'll pay for it. You +shouldn't lose your temper for a little thing like that. How much will +it cost to replace it?" + +"Twenty francs, monsieur." + +"Twenty francs! here's your money! a mere bagatelle!--I am not sorry to +have christened my switch," he added, as he walked away. + + + + +XXXII + +THE FAREWELLS + + +When he learned that his nephew wished to leave Paris again, Monsieur +Grandcourt did not conceal the regret which he felt at the thought of +another separation; but when he realized that Gustave still loved Madame +Monléard, he placed no obstacle in the way of his departure, and it was +decided that the young man should go to Germany. + +"During your absence," said the banker, "an individual came here to +inquire for you--I say an _individual_, for I don't know how else to +describe the man, whose whole aspect was more than questionable. His +name, I believe, is Arthur Cherami, and he claims to be an intimate +friend of yours, because you paid for his dinner the day Mademoiselle +Fanny was married." + +"Ah! yes, I know whom you mean, uncle; I have seen him; I met him a +couple of days ago." + +"I trust, my dear Gustave, that you will not affect that gentleman's +society. You don't know, perhaps, what he did? He fought a duel with +Monsieur Monléard, after making an insulting remark to his wife." + +"I know it, uncle. But, in the first place, that day, or rather that +night, the poor devil was a little tipsy--he lost his head--he thought +he was avenging me; after all, it only goes to prove that he's a brave +fellow." + +"My dear boy, the gentry who stop public conveyances on the highroad are +generally brave fellows, too, but that doesn't prevent their being +brigands." + +"Oh! uncle, do you mean that you think that that poor Arthur----" + +"I don't say that he's a thief; but I don't advise you to make a +companion of him." + +"He's no fool; he has had a good education, and he knows the world." + +"He is all the more reprehensible for having allowed himself to sink so +low! For he seems to me to be always in search of a dinner. However, as +you are going away again for some time, I trust that your relations with +the fellow will be entirely broken off." + +Gustave hastened the preparations for his journey; but, being obliged to +wait for certain letters which his uncle desired to give him for his +correspondents, he was not ready to leave Paris until the following +Thursday evening. He desired to see Adolphine once more before he went; +she had always been so kind and affectionate to him, that it seemed to +him that it would be ungracious to leave Paris again without bidding her +adieu. But the fear of another meeting with Fanny held him back. He +suddenly remembered, however, that that was the day of the grand affair +to which Madame Monléard had invited him. + +"Surely," he said to himself, "Fanny has too much to do at home to-day, +to find time to go to her sister's. So that I can call on Adolphine with +no fear of meeting her whose presence causes me more pain than pleasure +now." + +Adolphine was at home, engaged in preparations for the ball; for +although she anticipated no pleasure at her sister's magnificent +function, she could not do otherwise than go. She was looking with an +indifferent air at a lovely ball gown which her father had given her, +and which would have delighted most young women of her age beyond +measure. + +"But," thought Adolphine, "what do I care whether people think me +pretty? There will be nobody at the ball whom I care to please. Ah! if +he were going! But he was wise to refuse; he could not, ought not to +go." + +Madeleine noiselessly opened the door, and said: + +"Mamzelle, here's the young man who came the other day--the one who's so +good-looking, and seems so sad-like." + +"Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, that Monsieur Gustave, who was so scared by your sister the other +time, that he went right away." + +"Mon Dieu! Is father at home?" + +"Yes, mamzelle; but he's in his room with Monsieur Batonnin, who came +just a minute ago. They'll probably have a lot to talk about, and you +know your father hardly ever comes into your room. And, to-day, he knows +that you're getting your dress ready." + +"Show Gustave in, quickly." + +Trimmings, flowers, ribbons, all were thrown aside; Adolphine was so +happy at the thought of seeing Gustave. In a moment, he entered the +room, ran to her side, and pressed her hand affectionately. + +"Will you forgive me for disturbing you again, dear Adolphine?" he +asked. + +"Will I forgive you! Why, I am very glad to see you; for, when you went +away the other day, you said that you wouldn't come again, and that +grieved me much." + +"That was because I was so unprepared to meet your sister. I didn't +expect to see her, and I confess that it affected me so deeply that it +revived all my suffering." + +"Oh! I saw that; but it was by the merest chance that you met her; she +comes here very seldom." + +"No matter; I would not have run the risk of a second meeting; but I +remembered that this is the day of her grand ball, and I thought that +she would have no leisure to come here this morning." + +"But I should have said that Fanny was glad to see you." + +"Oh! that makes no difference, my good little sister; her glances, her +voice, her smile, all made my heart ache! You can't imagine what agony +it is to be with a person you love, and who doesn't love you!" + +"Yes, yes, I understand." + +"Especially when you have imagined for some time that you possessed that +person's heart; when you have flattered yourself with the prospect of +passing your life with her! To see that woman again, when she belongs to +another, is the most frightful torture. Fanny smiled at me, she asked me +to call on her. But I would have preferred a cold, harsh greeting a +hundred times over; I would have liked her to avoid my presence as I +meant to avoid hers; for then I would have thought: 'I am not utterly +indifferent to her.'--However, that won't happen again, for I am going +away, and I have come to say good-bye." + +"You are going away again! Mon Dieu! you have only just returned!" + +"Ah! I should have done better not to return so soon. Living in Paris +weighs on me, it recalls the past too vividly." + +"And where are you going now?" + +"To Germany, Austria--as far away as possible!" + +"For a long time?" + +"Oh! yes, for I don't propose to return until I am thoroughly cured of +my unhappy passion." + +Adolphine put her handkerchief to her eyes. + +"But it's not our fault," she stammered,--"if my sister doesn't love +you--and yet, because she doesn't, we--must lose a friend." + +"Dear Adolphine, such woe-begone friends as I am are hardly worth +regretting." + +"Do you think so? But suppose I like them so?" + +"When I return, I shall probably find you married, too." + +"No, no! I shall not be married, I--I am sure of it." + +"What do you know about it? There are certain to be plenty of aspirants +to your hand." + +"I refused two, not long ago. They were both rich, but I am not like my +sister; I want to love my husband!" + +"Do you think, pray, that Fanny doesn't love hers?" + +"Mon Dieu! I know nothing about it. I don't know what I am saying; I am +so disappointed!" + +At that moment, the door opened. Monsieur Gerbault appeared, with +Monsieur Batonnin, who entered first. + +"Pray excuse me, mademoiselle," he began; "I come to engage you for the +first contra-dance that----" + +The soft-spoken gentleman stopped abruptly, seeing a young man seated +beside Adolphine; he rolled his eyes in the direction of the father, +adding: + +"Ah! mademoiselle has a visitor; we disturb her." + +Monsieur Gerbault was no less surprised than he at finding a man in his +daughter's room, and her with her eyes full of tears. But he soon +recognized Gustave, who bowed respectfully to him and said: + +"Forgive me, monsieur, for presuming to call upon your daughter; but I +came to bid her good-bye, and I hoped to have the honor of paying my +respects to you as well before leaving the house." + +"Ah! is it you, Monsieur Gustave? I thought that you were in Spain?" + +"I returned a week ago, monsieur; and to-night I start for Germany." + +"Why, what's the matter, Adolphine? you look as if you had been crying. +But I cannot conceive what reason you can have to be unhappy." + +Monsieur Batonnin thought it advisable to intervene. + +"It always saddens one to say good-bye to one's friends," he murmured. +"Life is so short! When we part, we are never sure of meeting again." + +"What do you say, monsieur?" cried Adolphine, with a pathetic glance at +Gustave. + +"I had no purpose to grieve you, mademoiselle, believe me," Batonnin +made haste to reply; "on the contrary, I came to solicit the honor of +dancing the first contra-dance with you; for you surely have not +forgotten that madame your sister gives a ball this evening?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"I realize," said Gustave, "that I came at a very inopportune moment, +and interrupted mademoiselle in her preparations for that festivity, +diverting her thoughts to a poor traveller who desired to carry away +with him a friendly word or two. Pray forgive my intrusion, +mademoiselle. I am an unlucky mortal, for my sadness constantly casts a +shadow on the happiness of other people. But I am sure that you will +forgive me, in memory of our former friendship.--Monsieur Gerbault, will +you allow me to shake hands with you?" + +The melancholy and at the same time dignified manner in which Gustave +spoke banished the last trace of sternness from Monsieur Gerbault's +face; he took the young man's hand and pressed it warmly, saying to +him: + +"Come, come, my friend, drive away the gloomy thoughts that assail you. +At your age, the future is boundless. Don't submit to be crushed by +fruitless regrets; you may still be happy, and you will be some day, I +am sure. A pleasant journey to you! Study the manners and customs of the +countries you visit, and I am convinced that you will return in an +infinitely more cheerful frame of mind." + +"Thanks for your kind wishes, monsieur; allow me to bid you adieu." + +Gustave pressed Adolphine's hand, bowed to the visitor, whom he did not +know, and left the room. While the young woman escorted him to the door, +Monsieur Batonnin observed to Monsieur Gerbault: + +"That young man is in love with Mademoiselle Adolphine, I see, and you +have refused him her hand. Doubtless he isn't a suitable match for her; +but still it is very good-natured of you to give him encouragement for +the future." + +"My dear Monsieur Batonnin, you are all off the track. It was not +Adolphine, but her sister Fanny, with whom Gustave was in love, and he +flattered himself that he was going to marry her, when Auguste Monléard +came forward. Faith! he had better luck. He offered her a position which +any young woman would have liked, and she accepted him. It was a very +hard blow to this young Gustave." + +"I understand. Then it was he who fought a duel with your son-in-law, +and gave him the wound which made him carry his arm in a sling so long?" + +"You are wrong again. It was not Gustave who fought with Monsieur +Monléard, for Gustave was a long way from Paris when the duel took +place." + +"Whom did your son-in-law fight with, then?" + +"Faith! you ask me too much!" + +Adolphine's return put an end to Monsieur Batonnin's questions. +"Mademoiselle," he said, in his most silvery tones, "I beg your pardon +if I repeat the same thing again and again, like a parrot, but I should +be glad to know if I may obtain from you the favor of the first +contra-dance. I present my request thus early, because I am sure that +you will be beset, overwhelmed with invitations this evening, and it +will be very difficult to obtain a word with you." + +Adolphine seemed to make an effort to throw off her preoccupation, and +replied: + +"But I am not sure yet, monsieur, whether I shall dance at my sister's +this evening, for I have a very severe headache, and, unless it gets +better, I shall cut a very sad figure in a dance." + +"Don't pay any attention to her," said Monsieur Gerbault. "These girls +are forever having headaches, which take them all of a sudden when they +have the least thought of such a thing; but, have no fear, there never +was a headache that didn't surrender at the signal given by the +orchestra at a ball. So, as you've delivered your invitation, you are +certain of being her first partner. And now, let us leave mademoiselle +to her preparations. Come, my dear Monsieur Batonnin." + +The soft-spoken gentleman bestowed a superb smile upon Adolphine, +accompanied by a respectful bow. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "I rest my hopes upon what your father says, +too fortunate if you crown my desires; and if my invitation, albeit a +little premature perhaps, and rather unseasonable----" + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, come." + +The maker of compliments, being led away by Monsieur Gerbault, was +compelled to complete his sentence in the reception-room; and Adolphine, +left alone at last, cursed Monsieur Batonnin for coming, with his +invitation, to interrupt her interview with Gustave. + +"A ball, indeed!" she murmured, angrily tossing her furbelows about; "I +must needs dance this evening, when my heart is full, when I would like +to weep undisturbed! Ah! if these are the pleasures which society has to +offer, they who are debarred from them are the most fortunate!" + + + + +XXXIII + +A GRAND AFFAIR + + +At ten o'clock, Monsieur Monléard's magnificent salons were resplendent +with light, flowers, and new draperies, arranged with an artistic skill +which did honor to the taste of the organizer of the festivity. At +eleven, the guests arrived in swarms. The ladies were superbly dressed, +and the flashing of their diamonds dazzled the eye; some--but by no +means the larger number--were more simply attired, and were content to +attract by the charms of their persons alone. The men admired the +beautiful dresses, but preferred to linger by those whose attractions +depended less upon their costumes. A fine orchestra played quadrilles, +polkas, mazurkas. Its strains seemed to enliven the faces of the guests, +which fairly beamed with pleasure--the pleasure which they already +enjoyed, and that to which they looked forward: the latter is always the +more agreeable. + +At midnight, the number of guests was already so great that it was +becoming very difficult to pass from one room into another. To do so +required an amount of persevering effort which many of the ladies did +not choose to put forth, and which, indeed, the enormous dimensions of +their skirts made almost impossible. + +The ball was at its height. The queen of the fête did the honors with +much grace, and everybody agreed in voting her charming. Fanny was, in +very truth, most bewitchingly and becomingly dressed; her white moire +gown, albeit not overladen with trimming, was studded with bunches of +real flowers, and in her hair there were no jewels save a cluster of +diamonds; but the satisfaction which her vanity experienced in the +giving of such a fête imparted to her eyes an unusual brilliancy, to her +smile more expression, to her voice more feeling. She was surrounded by +men who contended for the honor of dancing a polka or a quadrille with +her, and everyone envied the lucky mortal who was her partner for the +time being, especially as she was a beautiful dancer; she was as light +as a feather, and her feet seemed hardly to touch the floor. + +Auguste Monléard was very far from displaying the same glee and +satisfaction which were so apparent on his wife's features; he did the +honors of his salons with the exquisite courtesy and refinement of a man +in the best society, who is accustomed to party-giving; but there was in +his smile a something forced and constrained, which was better adapted +to freeze than to provoke gayety; at times, too, a dark cloud passed +over his forehead, his eyebrows contracted, his lips tightened, and he +seemed utterly oblivious to what was being said to him. But these +periods of distraction lasted but a moment. Auguste would suddenly come +to himself and struggle to assume a cheerful aspect. + +Adolphine, who came early with her father, did not dazzle the beholder +by the splendor of her costume; but she was charming by virtue of her +natural grace of manner, her perfect figure, the sweet expression of her +lovely eyes, and perhaps, too, by virtue of a touch of melancholy, which +she strove to overcome, but which added to the charm of her face. + +Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to be on hand when the leader of the +orchestra gave the signal for the dancing to begin, and the girl had no +choice but to accept him for her partner; indeed, it mattered little to +her with whom she danced; what she would have liked would have been not +to dance at all; but, as she was the hostess's sister, that was +impossible; too many people would have inquired the reason for her +abstinence, and it would have worried her father and annoyed her sister. +On the contrary, she felt that she must act as if she were enjoying +herself hugely, and that was very difficult; we can do many things to +oblige another, but the eyes never have complaisance enough to hide +thoroughly our real feelings. + +While dancing with Adolphine, Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to +overwhelm her with compliments, scattered among his remarks upon the +party. + +"It's magnificent! it's enchanting! it's delightful! How elegantly these +salons are decorated! and with such taste! Flowers everywhere--to say +nothing of those who are dancing; for women and flowers, you know, are +very much alike. Others have said that before me, to be sure; but there +are things that can't be repeated too often. It must have cost a lot--to +give a party like this! but then, when one has the means! Monsieur +Monléard doesn't look as cheerful as his wife does; he doesn't seem to +be dancing. Still, a host can't dance all the time. I don't suppose he's +sick, although he is very pale; but he's almost always pale." + +To all this Adolphine replied only by monosyllables, and the gentleman +with the doll's face said to himself after the quadrille: + +"That young lady is just about as cheerful as her brother-in-law; it's +of no use for Papa Gerbault to tell me that that young man I saw there +this morning was in love with her sister; that wouldn't make this one +cry. There's something else--yes, there certainly is something else." + +In a salon set aside for card-players, Messieurs Clairval and Gerbault +and young Anatole de Raincy met. + +"How's this? you are not dancing?" they said to the last named. + +"Oh! dear me, no! I wath never mad over danthing," replied the young +dandy, looking at himself in a mirror; "and there'th thuch a crowd! How +can one expect to do anything? When I danth, I like to let mythelf go." + +"Do you mean that you dance the cancan, De Raincy?" queried a young man +with a jovial face, putting his hand on Anatole's shoulder. + +"How thtupid you are, Vauflers! Jutht becauth I like to put a little +grath into my danthing, it dothn't follow that I danth the cancan." + +"Well, you see, I don't dance half lying down, as you do." + +"In the firtht plath, I thtoop, not lie down--a very different thing. +You ought to know that, to danth properly, you mutht thtoop a little. I +learned that from a great danther." + +"From Vestris?" + +"You tire me! Ever thinth thith fellow hath been eighth clerk to a +broker, he maketh fun of everybody." + +"What news from the Bourse to-night?" said Monléard, accosting the young +man whom Anatole had called Vauflers. + +"You know that several firms were sold out this morning. I believe that +we haven't seen the end yet. There's need of a thorough weeding-out. +There are some fellows who have been playing too high for a long time." + +Auguste pressed his lips together and walked away. + +"Shan't we have a game of bouillotte?" said the young man. + +"Bouillotte ith bad form jutht now, my dear fellow; nobody playth it," +replied tall Anatole, gazing admiringly at his gloves. + +"Bézique's the proper thing, I suppose?" + +"No, lanthquenet thtill." + +"Ah, yes! because you can ruin yourself faster at that. Thanks! I think +I'll go and dance. I asked the hostess for a dance, and she put my name +down; but I was twenty-first on the list." + +"In that cath, your turn will come by to-morrow night." + +"Oh! Madame Monléard will make an exception in my favor." + +"Why tho, pray?" + +"Because I am her broker." + +"Oho! do you mean that Madame Monléard gambleth on the Bourth?" + +"Why, yes--moderately; but she's luckier than her husband." + +"Tho he hath been lothing, hath he?" + +"I should say so!--immense sums, of late. Indeed, I will admit that I +was much surprised at his giving a party--although, to be sure, that is +sometimes an excellent way of deceiving people as to one's position and +retaining one's credit." + +"The deuth! what are you talking about?" + +"At this moment, I have an idea that he is staking all to win all, as +they say, on a certain deal; but if he loses----" + +"Look out! here comth hith father-in-law. Come thith way." + +The two young men, arm in arm, walked into another room. + +"Mon Dieu! how beautifully your wife dances!" said Batonnin to Monléard, +as Fanny whirled by them, dancing the mazurka with a partner who guided +her perfectly and executed some novel steps. + +"What! did you say that it's too warm here?" + +"No, I never complain of the heat; I'm a genuine African in that +respect. I was admiring Madame Monléard's dancing--she's dancing the +mazurka at this moment; there they go again! I must say that she has a +partner who does himself credit, too; he holds her so firmly, and she +trusts herself to his guidance with such abandon! a very pretty fellow +that! What is his name? By the way--what! he has gone, and without +answering my question! Hum! They may say what they choose, but Monsieur +Monléard isn't in his usual form to-night; he's too preoccupied, too +distraught. It's a good thing that that doesn't keep his wife from +dancing." + +About two o'clock, the ladies were invited to repair to a table laden +with a magnificent supper; as the company was so large that all could +not sup at once, the ladies took their turn first, and the men waited +until they had finished, except a few impatient individuals, such as +one sees at almost all balls, who found a way to squeeze in at the +table with the ladies, where, on the pretext of waiting on them, they +did not fail to help themselves abundantly to everything that was most +delicate and appetizing. Indeed, it not infrequently happens that, after +they have laid hands upon everything within reach, and eaten +uninterruptedly, while most of the ladies have done nothing but talk, +these same gallant creatures return to the supper table with the men, +and fall to anew, as if they had eaten nothing. There are some worthies +capable of that; we ourselves have seen it done. + +Monsieur Batonnin tried to find a seat at the ladies' table, but, +despite his everlasting smile, no one would make room for him. So he +decided to remain standing, and naturally stationed himself behind +Adolphine, whom he pestered with attentions; for Adolphine had no +appetite, and refused almost everything which he ordered for her, and +which he did not fail to obtain at once by saying: + +"It's for the sister of Madame Monléard, the queen of the fête." + +With these magic words, Batonnin was quite sure to obtain all that he +could possibly want; but if his courtesy was absolutely wasted, it was +not so with the dishes which were refused; for when Adolphine said: +"Thanks, monsieur; but I will not eat anything," the soft-spoken +gentleman invariably adjudged what happened to be on the plate to +himself, saying: + +"Well, since you don't care for it, faith! I'll eat it myself." + +And, thanks to this clever management, he supped quite as well as, +perhaps better than, if he had had a seat among the ladies. To be sure, +he had to eat standing. + +When the ladies had left the table, and the men came to take their +places, Monsieur Batonnin, whether by accident or from absent-mindedness, +imitating the worthies of whom we spoke a moment ago, found himself +seated beside Monsieur Clairval. + +"What! eating another supper?" queried the latter. + +"Why another? I haven't supped yet." + +"But, unless I am very much mistaken, when I looked in just now to +admire the charming picture presented by all the ladies seated at the +table, you were behind Mademoiselle Adolphine, with a plate in your +hand, and eating what was on the plate." + +"That is to say, I was standing behind Mademoiselle Adolphine to wait +upon her, and I passed her whatever she wanted." + +"I saw that you were eating all the time." + +"Tasting, perhaps, but if you call that eating! And then, I was standing +up. What one eats standing never counts." + +"Well, my dear Monsieur Batonnin, I don't undertake to reprove you for +it; on the contrary, you deserve to be congratulated.--Honor to great +talents of all varieties! A good stomach is a blessing of Providence. +The wealthiest of men, if his liver doesn't work right, is, to my mind, +less to be envied than the poor man who can readily digest his +bacon-rind and similar delicacies." + +Auguste Monléard joined his male guests at supper, to do the honors of +his table; he began by pouring down several glasses of champagne; then, +like one who is determined to divert his thoughts at any cost, he drank +glass after glass of different kinds of wine, in rapid succession. This +manoeuvre succeeded; in a quarter of an hour his brow had cleared, +his eyes sparkled; he talked with all his guests, and challenged them to +drink with him; in fact, he was almost gay, and he laughed--a laugh that +was a little nervous, a little forced, perhaps, but which produced a +most excellent effect toward the end of the supper. When the gentlemen +finally left the table, at which they had made quite an extended +sojourn, they did not fail to call for a _cotillon_, the dance which has +become almost the obligatory conclusion of a ball; and Auguste Monléard +proposed to lead it. + +The suggestion was received with delight by the dancing contingent. +Adolphine, greatly surprised by the animation now exhibited by her +brother-in-law, mentioned it to her sister. + +"Your husband seems to be in high spirits now," she said; "and I am very +glad to see him so." + +"Why! did you think that he wasn't in good spirits before?" rejoined +Fanny. "You are wrong, my dear girl! Auguste always enjoys +himself--only, he doesn't look as if he did; that's his way." + +The cotillon came to an end, and the tired dancers began at last to +think of retiring. Batonnin, having supped satisfactorily twice over, +left the house with Anatole de Raincy, humming: + + "'La belle nuit! la belle fête!'" + +"I know that! it ith from a comic opera," said the tall young man. + +"True; but you must agree that it's apropos: _la belle fête!_" + +"Yeth, but I'm afraid--according to what Vauflers thaid----" + +"What did he say?" + +"That Augutht Monléard had lotht enormouth thumth on the Bourth of late, +and that he mutht be in a very bad way." + +"Ah! the devil! that's why I found him so distraught, then. At supper, +he drank a lot to forget himself, I noticed that." + +"After all, he may pull up again--luck may turn. Ah! I thee a cab. +Monthieur, I with you good-night, or rather good-day, for here'th the +light." + +"Your servant, monsieur." + +Batonnin returned to his lodgings alone and on foot, saying to himself: + +"Well, whether Monléard is ruined or not, I had two suppers, all the +same!" + +Our friends and acquaintances almost always welcome our misfortunes in +such wise. + + + + +XXXIV + +AUNT DUPONCEAU + + +Cherami, in accordance with his usual custom, spent very freely the +money Gustave had given him; he still possessed a few francs out of the +five hundred, however; and his appearance was very decent, too, for he +had presented himself with a new hat, and he still had his new switch. +One cold but beautiful morning, about ten o'clock, as he strolled in the +direction of the Madeleine, to give himself an appetite, the ci-devant +Beau Arthur saw coming toward him a woman of enormous size, holding by +each hand a small boy, one of whom wore a hat surrounded by feathers, +which gave him the look of a trained monkey. The children, as well as +their mother, were so enveloped and swaddled in winter garments that +they had not the free use of their limbs. These three living bundles +rolled along the street, lurching against one another; but when they +came face to face with our stroller, they halted, and the stout woman +exclaimed: + +"I cannot be mistaken; it is certainly Monsieur Cherami, out walking so +early!" + +Cherami had already recognized Madame Capucine and her sons, and, being +by no means overjoyed at the meeting, would gladly have turned back to +avoid it, but it was too late; so he courageously made the best of it, +and replied, with a courteous salutation: + +"Myself, fair lady; and I congratulate myself on the good-fortune which +I owe to chance; for you are far from home. Do you happen to be going to +Romainville?" + +"No, monsieur, no; we are not going to Romainville; this isn't the way +there, either," replied Madame Capucine, eying her interlocutor from +head to foot; and the great change which had taken place in the apparel +of her debtor was naturally reflected in her manner of speaking to him. +As the change was altogether to his advantage, she smiled graciously, +and continued: + +"Aunt Duponceau don't live at Romainville any more; she has sold the +house she used to own there." + +"Indeed? why did she do that?" + +"Oh! because--because that neighborhood has such a reputation. You know +the ballad: That _lovely wood, to lovers----"_ + +"_Presents a thousand charms!_--Yes, I know it by heart. But there's no +wood left, except a little bit which has been bought by a novelist of +whom I am very fond, and all surrounded by walls--not the novelist, but +his woods; so I don't see what could have frightened your Aunt Duponceau +so." + +"Mon Dieu! you know how ill-natured people can be! There was always +somebody to say: 'Ah! so you live at Romainville; that's the place for +grisettes, gin-shops, and low dance-halls! one always meets a lot of +drunken people there.'" + +"I should say that you find them everywhere." + +"It isn't the fashionable drive nowadays." + +"The most fashionable resort isn't always the most amusing." + +"You don't see the latest styles there." + +"Oh, well! if you go into the country to see the styles, you would do +better never to go anywhere but the Opéra." + +"But the strongest reason, and the one that finally decided my aunt, is +that there isn't any railroad to Romainville." + +"Surely that must be a great deprivation to a person who, when she is +once settled in her country-house, never goes to Paris at all." + +"And so my aunt bought a house in the opposite direction--at Passy." + +"Passy and Romainville are not exactly side by side, that is true; and +they are not much alike, either." + +"Oh! they're entirely different!--Aristoloche, do keep still!--Passy's a +fashionable, convenient place to live in; you can't go out of the house +unless you're dressed up." + +"That must be very pleasant when one's in the country." + +"The houses all have polished floors from top to bottom. The one my aunt +bought--don't jump about so, Narcisse!--the one my aunt bought is +smaller than her house at Romainville; but it cost a lot more. There's +no fruit in the garden, but it's ever so much smaller." + +"What does grow in the garden--ducks?" + +"There's a little honeysuckle, and ivy, and grass--oh! it's well kept +up." + +"If it satisfies all of you, that's the main point.--Are you going to +the country on such a cold day as this?" + +"Aunt always expects us Saturday, to stay till Monday." + +"Ah, yes! it is Saturday, isn't it?--just as it was when I met you +waiting for an omnibus at Porte Saint-Martin." + +"But, since then--Aristoloche, if you move again, I'll box your +ears!--since then, it seems to me, Monsieur Cherami, that things have +improved a little with you--judging by your dress?" + +"Yes, my dear Madame Capucine; I have collected a little money that was +owing me.--Mon Dieu! that reminds me; twenty times I have had it in my +mind to look you up and settle that little balance I still owe your +husband; but something else has always put it out of my head; it's a +mere trifle, to be sure, but I propose to settle it very soon." + +"Very good! but if you want to see Capucine, there's a very simple way +to do it--that is, unless you are engaged for the day." + +"The day? I can do what I choose with it, I am as free as air." + +"Then come with us to Passy, to my aunt's; she expects us to breakfast, +in fact; we're a little late, and--Narcisse, will you please not pull +the feathers of your beautiful Henri IV hat like that; you'll spoil +them!" + +"The old hat makes me squint; it puts my eyes out." + +"What a bad boy! A hat that your aunt gave you!" + +"You were saying, my dear Madame Capucine?" + +"I was asking you to come with us to Aunt Duponceau's; you know her; and +to-night, at six o'clock, Capucine will join us there, and you can +settle your little account with him. What do you think of my scheme?" + +Cherami reflected a moment, then replied: + +"Your scheme hits me--I mean, it suits me perfectly. The company of a +charming woman--an improvised trip to the country--this breakfast, which +will not detract from the pleasure of the occasion--I am at your +service. Let's be off." + +"Ah! that's very good of you!" + +And the stout lady smiled a smile of lingering sweetness at Cherami, who +was in her eyes a very handsome fellow now that he was well dressed. He +had already formed his plan, into which the payment of his debt did not +enter; but he was certain of a good breakfast, and probably of being +invited to dine as well, with Aunt Duponceau; after dinner, he would +readily find some pretext for escaping from the Capucine family. + +"Here comes the Passy omnibus," said Madame Capucine; "let's not miss +it." + +They entered the omnibus; Madame Capucine took Master Aristoloche on her +lap, in order to avoid paying for a seat for him; she requested Cherami +to do as much for Narcisse, a suggestion which did not seem to tempt the +ex-beau. Luckily for him, the urchin insisted upon having a seat all to +himself, threatening, if they did not humor him, to sit on his Henri IV +hat. This threat produced its effect: Master Narcisse took his seat in a +corner, and Cherami declared that the little fellow deserved to be put +by himself. + +The omnibus started, and they soon arrived at Passy; thereupon Cherami +had no choice but to offer Madame Capucine his arm to her aunt's abode. +The little boys went before them, jumping and frolicking. At Passy they +were in no danger from wagons, and Master Narcisse had seized Cherami's +switch, with which he belabored all the stone posts and benches; a +proceeding which was far from amusing to the owner of the stick, who +expected from moment to moment to see it in the same state as Monsieur +Courbichon's cane. + +"That little fellow promises well!" he exclaimed. + +"Isn't he full of ideas?" + +"I am convinced that he will end by breaking my switch. But how does it +happen that you didn't bring your maid Adelaide?" + +"Oh! don't talk to me about that girl, I beg!" + +"What! can it be that the faithful Adelaide stole from you?" + +"No, it wasn't her honesty that gave out; it was something else. Ah! who +would ever have thought, who would ever have believed---- An ugly, thin, +shapeless creature. Oh! men have very beastly tastes sometimes!" + +"The deuce! do you mean to say that Capucine----" + +"What! oh! no, indeed, monsieur; it wasn't my husband! Ah!" + +And Madame Capucine looked up at the sky with an expression which seemed +to say: + +"If it only had been!" + +Then she added indignantly: + +"Ballot, monsieur; Ballot, our young clerk!" + +"The devil! that young man you liked so well?" + +"To be sure. As if anyone could have dreamed! He behaved very well at +first." + +"And he went astray in the kitchen?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"But was it perfectly certain? People are so ill-natured!" + +"They were caught, monsieur; caught among the bunches of onions." + +"Enough! tell me no more; you would bring tears to my eyes." + +"So, as you can imagine, I purified my house on the instant; I dismissed +Mademoiselle Adelaide." + +"And your clerk too?" + +"He went of his own accord. We might have forgiven him, perhaps; he was +so young!" + +"Of course, and the smell of onions goes to the heart." + +"But Monsieur Ballot chose to lose his head, and away he went." + +"You will find somebody to take his place." + +"That's what I'm looking for at this moment. Ah! Monsieur Cherami, a +young man who had--my whole confidence! You can't rely on anything or +anybody nowadays!" + +"That's the only way to avoid being taken in." + +The stout lady heaved a tremendous sigh and leaned heavily on the arm of +her escort, who said to himself: + +"I wonder if she would like to have me replace Monsieur Ballot?--Thanks! +I have my cue." + +In due time, they arrived at Madame Duponceau's house. She was a little +woman, who shook her head constantly when conversing, so that she seemed +always to reply in the negative to the questions that were asked her. +She received Cherami with cordiality, although she barely knew him; but +she liked company, and was especially eager to have people admire her +house. Cherami was inclined to favor admiring her breakfast first; and, +as the young Capucines supported that idea, they repaired at once to the +dining-room. + +The breakfast consisted of a pie, boiled eggs, ham, and coffee only; but +the pie was succulent, the eggs fresh, the ham tender, and the coffee +very strong, so that they breakfasted satisfactorily; then Aunt +Duponceau cried: + +"You must come and see my house, from cellar to roof." + +Cherami, whose paunch was well filled, was already saying to himself: + +"Sapristi! if I have got to stay here till night, between the aunt and +the niece, with the accompaniment of two little brats who keep wiping +their hands on my trousers, I shall pay dear for my dinner! Let's see if +I can't find a back-door.--We had better begin the inspection of your +house with the garden," he said to Aunt Duponceau; "after such an +excellent breakfast, one feels the need of a breath of fresh air." + +This suggestion was adopted, and they adjourned to the garden, which was +of small dimensions and offered nothing attractive to the eye save four +gillyflowers in pots; for in December there are few leaves on the trees. +The garden presented but slight attraction, therefore, but at the end of +it was a gate opening on the Bois de Boulogne. The ladies and the +children, being stiff with cold, soon had enough of the garden; +whereupon Cherami took a cigar from his pocket, saying: + +"I am going to ask your leave to smoke this cigar outside, in the Bois. +I cannot go without a smoke after breakfast; it's a habit that has +fastened itself on me: a very bad habit, I admit, but it's too late to +cure myself of it." + +"Smoke in the garden," said Madame Duponceau. + +"No, indeed! Your garden's very small, and the smell of tobacco would +sadly impair the perfume of your gillyflowers. I don't choose to turn +your delightful _cottage_ into a barrack." + +"He is very well bred," whispered Madame Duponceau to her niece. + +"Yes," replied Madame Capucine; "I shouldn't know Monsieur Cherami, now +that he's decently dressed." + +Our smoker succeeded, not without difficulty, in rescuing his switch +from the hands of young Narcisse, who insisted on beating his brother +with it; he lighted his cigar, passed through the gate at the end of the +garden, and drew a long breath of relief. + +"Par la sambleu!" he exclaimed; "here I am outside at last; there are +breakfasts which cost a big price. Madame Capucine ogles me in a way +that begins to alarm me. Her aunt always seems to refuse what you ask +her. The little brats are two infernal monkeys, who ought to be kept in +the big cage at the Jardin des Plantes. Ouf! I feel the need of air! I +hardly expected this morning to go for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne, +in such an atmosphere as this. But, since I am here, I must make the +most of my luck. I won't go back to those mummies till dinner time. I'll +tell them that my cigar made me ill." + + + + +XXXV + +THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE + + +Cherami sauntered through the Bois, where, by reason of the season and +the early hour, he met very few people. He had just lighted his second +cigar, when, as he turned from one path into another, he saw a man +coming toward him, very well dressed, walking very rapidly, and turning +from time to time, to look behind him and on both sides, as if he feared +that he was followed. When he saw Cherami walking in his direction, he +stopped, and seemed undecided as to what he should do, being evidently +inclined to retrace his steps. But, meanwhile, our smoker was drawing +nearer, and ere long the two men stood face to face and looked at each +other. Thereupon each of the two uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Pardieu! I am not mistaken. It is Monsieur Auguste Monléard whom I have +the honor of saluting?" + +"And you are the gentleman with whom I fought at Belleville?" + +"Himself--at your service, for anything in my power!--Arthur Cherami." + +"Ah, yes! I had forgotten your name." + +"This is very early for you to be in the Bois de Boulogne. I say early, +although it is after half-past twelve; but in winter people seldom come +for a turn in the Bois until between three o'clock and five." + +"True, very true; but how about yourself?" + +"Oh! I breakfasted at Passy, with certain excellent people, whose +society is not over and above diverting: and, faith! after breakfast I +came here for a smoke. How does it happen that you are not on +horseback?" + +"Why, because it suited me to come on foot, I presume." + +"That was well deserved--excuse my curiosity. For my part, if I still +owned a horse, I certainly wouldn't be on foot. You see, I am very fond +of horses! I used to have some fine ones: that was my passion!" + +While Cherami was speaking, Auguste continued to glance uneasily from +side to side; he was even paler than usual, and his face wore a grave +and gloomy expression. + +"Do you happen to have a meeting on hand for to-day?" continued Cherami, +flicking the ashes from his cigar. "If that's the case, and you need a +second, you know, my dear monsieur, that I am entirely at your service, +and that I should be enchanted to oblige you in any way." + +"No, no, I have no duel this morning," Auguste replied; then, gazing +fixedly at the person before him, he added, in a minute or two: "And +yet, monsieur, you can, none the less, do me a very great favor." + +"I can? Then, speak! I am entirely at your service. I have nothing to +do." + +"Yes, it was a lucky chance that led to my meeting you here. I left +Paris this morning, rather suddenly, and I forgot to write to a certain +person; but it's very important that I should." + +"You want me to carry a letter to someone?" + +"Monsieur Cherami, this is a matter of the utmost gravity; I apply to +you, because I think I have judged you accurately. You are a man capable +of understanding me." + +"The deuce! the deuce! but you have a serious way of talking! It is +plain that this is no joking matter." + +"Are you still disposed to do me a favor?" + +"More so than ever." + +"Very well; then be good enough to come with me. There must be a café +somewhere about here; a restaurant where I can write a letter?" + +"Yes, we have only to turn back a little way, and we shall find what we +want." + +"Let us go. Have you breakfasted?" + +"Why, yes; as I told you just now, I breakfasted at Passy. But that +won't interfere with my taking something more. The air is sharp, and +walking assists in rapid digestion." + +They turned back; Auguste walked so fast that Cherami, despite his long +legs, had difficulty in following him; he tried to continue the +conversation, but his companion seemed absorbed by his thoughts, and did +not answer. + +"There's something wrong with that man," said Arthur to himself, as he +lighted another cigar. "I don't know what it is, but that long face of +his doesn't indicate a man who is trying to make up his mind what sauce +to order for his lobster. However, it's his business. He has confidence +in me, and I'll not betray him, for he's a good fellow. I am only sorry +that I stuffed myself with eggs and pie at Aunt Duponceau's, for I +should have breakfasted much better with him, that's sure. But every man +isn't a sorcerer." + +They found a café-restaurant, and were shown to a private room. + +"Order whatever you choose," said Auguste to Cherami; "I have +breakfasted." + +"You too? In that case, it was hardly worth while to come here." + +"I beg your pardon; I am going to write, I must write, two letters; then +I will leave you. So, eat at your leisure; you have no occasion to +hurry." + +"Very good.--Waiter! Let me see, what can I take--something light, to +give me an appetite? Ah! I have it. Bring me a good slice of pâté de +foie gras, and a bottle of very old Beaune; we will toy with that, and +then we'll see." + +Cherami was duly served. Meanwhile, Auguste had seated himself at +another table and was writing. + +Madame Duponceau's breakfast did not interfere with Cherami's enjoyment +of the foie gras, which he watered with frequent draughts of Beaune, +saying to his neighbor from time to time: + +"Pray drink a glass of this wine; it's old and very good; there won't be +any left in a moment; however, we can remedy that by ordering +another.--Waiter, bring me some kind of cheese and a second bottle of +this Beaune." + +Auguste had ceased to write; he sealed the two letters and handed them +to Cherami. + +"Will you kindly take these letters, my dear monsieur? one is for my +wife, Madame Monléard; the address is written on it." + +"By the way, how is your good wife?" + +"Very well; but allow me to finish. This other letter, without address, +is for you." + +"For me?" + +"Yes; and you must give me your word of honor not to read it until half +an hour after I have left you." + +"Half an hour after you have left me?" + +"Yes; will you promise?" + +"If it will oblige you, I promise." + +"Thanks; I rely upon your word." + +"You may safely do so; I haven't thirty-six words in serious matters; +but the other letter?" + +"When you have read what I have written to you, you will see what I ask +you to do; and I am confident that you will carry out my intentions." + +"I have told you that I am entirely at your service." + +"Here is my purse, for I shall not come back here. You will find enough +inside to pay for whatever you may have ordered." + +"Very good; I will pay, and I will put the change in the purse. It's a +very pretty little thing--very dainty, and in excellent taste." + +"If you like it, pray keep it in memory of--our acquaintance." + +"You are really too kind. I don't stand on ceremony, myself, so I accept +it." + +"And now--pour me a glass of wine, so that I may drink with you." + +"Ah! now you're talking!" + +Cherami filled two glasses; Auguste took one of them with a firm hand, +touched it to the one held by the ex-beau, muttered a few unintelligible +words, and swallowed the wine at a single gulp. + +"Sapristi! how fast you go! one has no time to follow you. I toss +champagne off like that sometimes, but it's a miserable way to drink, as +a rule. I like better to sip. Shall we have another glass, so that I may +drink your health?" + +"No, I haven't time. Adieu, monsieur; I rely on your promise. You will +not read that letter for half an hour." + +"You have my word! Are you going so soon?" + +"I must." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"Impossible to say. Adieu, monsieur!" + +"Au revoir, rather!" + +Auguste took his hat, shook hands with Cherami, pointed again to the two +letters on the table, and rushed from the room. + +Cherami balanced himself on the hind legs of his chair, drank another +glass of wine, and ordered cigars, saying: + +"As I have to stay here another half-hour, I may as well employ my time +to advantage.--Waiter! coffee, brandy, and kirsch. By the way, see what +time it is now by your sundials, and tell me exactly." + +The waiter brought what had been ordered, and said: + +"The clock in the hall has just struck two, monsieur." + +"Very good; when it strikes the half-hour, you are to come and tell me; +do you hear?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I shall not fail. Does monsieur wish anything else?" + +"No; these decanters of brandy and kirsch will help me kill time. If I +want you, I'll ring.--This has been a most extraordinary day!" said +Cherami to himself, as he lighted a fresh cigar. "I hardly suspected, +this morning, when I was pacing the boulevards to get up an appetite, +that I should breakfast at Passy, and then breakfast a second time in +the Bois de Boulogne. This Monsieur Auguste Monléard is concealing some +scheme or other which is not of a cheerful nature. Those two letters he +left with me--one of which is for myself--there's a mystery about the +whole business! This purse he gave me is a very dainty affair; let's see +what there is in it. A hundred-franc note! Damnation! I have my cue! I +shall have enough to pay for my breakfast.--What are these other papers? +Broker's memorandums: 'bought by order of M. Monléard; sold by order of +M. Monléard.'--These are of no importance, and there's nothing else. Can +it be that our young capitalist has been unlucky in speculation, and has +vamosed, as they say?--It's very possible. Well! I shall know all about +it before long; at least ten minutes must have passed. Let's take a +drink of kirsch. That little scamp of a Narcisse has nicked my switch +all up. Children are very nice--when they're well brought up.--I can't +keep my eyes off that letter. Time never dragged so with me! Suppose I +ask for my bill--that's a good idea.--Waiter!" + +"Did monsieur call?" + +"Yes; bring me my check. Add three more kirsches--I shall drink them +before I go--and, when you come back, tell me what time it is." + +"Yes, monsieur." + +The waiter returned with the bill, which he handed to Cherami, saying: + +"It's a quarter past two, monsieur." + +"Only a quarter! Sacrebleu! you make a mistake; it isn't possible that +it's only a quarter past!" + +"I give you my word, monsieur, that that's all it is by the clock in the +hall. If you will come and look for yourself----" + +"All right! Let's see the footing! seventeen francs fifty. Here, change +this note for me, and, when you bring back the change, look at the clock +a little more carefully." + +"Why, monsieur, I can't look at it any different way from----" + +"Go, boy, and don't argue. I don't like arguers." + +"Such is life!" mused Cherami, resorting to the kirsch once more; "when +you're with a woman who pleases you, when you're playing an exciting +game of cards, time doesn't walk; it flies: _hora vita simul!_ At other +times, it crawls like a tortoise; and yet, the time is sure to come when +we find that it has moved altogether too fast! That simply proves that +men are never satisfied with the present. Ah! what a pretty, old fairy +tale that is of _Nourjahad and Cheredin_, which impressed me so when I +read it--in my youth. Monsieur Nourjahad is a young, handsome, and +wealthy Mussulman, who lacks nothing to make him happy, and, of course, +he isn't satisfied; he complains because time doesn't go fast enough to +suit him, because he is to marry his cousin at twenty-five, and to reign +over a great kingdom when he is thirty. Cheredin is an old dervish, +something of a sorcerer; he hears Nourjahad railing at destiny, and says +to him: 'I can grant you the power to make time pass as swiftly as you +wish; but, beware! it is very dangerous. You will shorten your life, if +you do not moderate your desires.'--The young man is overjoyed, he +accepts, and promises to use in moderation the power which is bestowed +on him. But, fiddle-de-dee! When shall we ever see a man resist the +desire of possessing at once what he ought not to have until later? +Nourjahad desires to be twenty-five years old, in order to marry his +cousin; then thirty, in order to be sultan. Soon he desires to be a +father, then to see his child grown up; then, being at war with his +neighbors, he wants the decisive battle to come at once. In a word, that +devil of a Nourjahad goes so fast, in the satisfaction of his desires, +that he finds that he has grown thirty years older in a month; thereupon +he curses the power that was placed in his hands, and Cheredin observes: +'My good friend, that is what all men would do, if they were enabled to +make time move faster.'--And, touching Nourjahad with his wand, he +restores his youth, and advises him to keep it as long as +possible.--That is a very sensible preachment; but if, instead of making +time move faster, one could make it go backward, ah! then we should look +twice before doing it. A man goes through some such infernal +quarter-hours in the course of his life, that he wouldn't like to repeat +them." + +The waiter appeared, panting for breath, and cried: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur, for being so long, but we didn't have the +change for a hundred francs here, and I had to go a long way to get it. +Lord! what a nuisance change is! Count it, monsieur." + +"And the time? Sacrebleu! tell me what time it is, will you?" + +"Oh! I didn't think to look, monsieur." + +"Then go and look now, villain! beast!" + +"Look first and see if the change is right." + +"I don't care a damn about my change. The time, you rascal, the time, at +once!" + +Cherami pushed the waiter out of the room and impatiently awaited his +return, muttering again: + +"Ah! how well I understand Nourjahad's feeling!" + +"Monsieur, it has struck the half-hour; it's three minutes past," cried +the waiter. + +"At last! that's very lucky! Off with you, then!" + +"But is monsieur's change all right? I want to be sure." + +"What's that? yes, blackguard, it's all right; here are two francs for +you; and now, clear out!" + +"Shall I come back and tell monsieur the time again?" + +Cherami half rose from his seat; only half, but the waiter understood, +and fled. + +The two letters were on the table; having thrown away the end of his +cigar, Cherami took the one which was for himself, saying: + +"It's very strange; I really feel a sort of emotion. Come, no nonsense; +let's see what there is inside!" + +He opened the letter and read: + + * * * * * + +"'My dear Monsieur:--When you read these words, I shall be dead---- ' + + * * * * * + +"Dead!" cried Cherami, striking the table violently with his clenched +fist. "Nonsense! it isn't possible; I must have read it wrong! but, no; +that's what it says: 'I shall be dead.' Let's go on: + + * * * * * + +"'I had a very respectable little fortune, but it wasn't enough for me; +I speculated on the Bourse, and I had bad luck; I married, hoping that a +woman's love would change the course of my ideas, and that an attractive +home would satisfy my ambition. Unluckily, I was mistaken. The person +whom I married has one of those emotionless hearts with which it is +impossible to give play to one's feelings; after a week of wedlock, I +found that she had not the slightest love for me, but that she desired +to cut a figure in society, and to eclipse all other women. Thereupon I +speculated more wildly than ever, in order to gratify my vanity, if +nothing more. Ten days ago, I gave a great party, to try to disguise my +condition. I still hoped to extricate myself; I risked all that I had! I +lost, and I am ruined!--and, as I haven't your philosophy, as I could +not determine to live in poverty after having tasted the pleasures of +luxury, I am going to blow out my brains. Be good enough to call upon +my wife and prepare her gently for the news; I do not think, however, +that her heart will suffer most. + +"'I ask your pardon for the trouble I cause you, but I have formed this +judgment of you: that you are a man and will keep the promise you made +me. Receive my last adieu. + +"'AUGUSTE MONLÉARD.'" + + * * * * * + +For a few moments after reading this letter, Cherami was speechless with +dismay. He even put his hand to his eyes to wipe away a tear; then +muttered: + +"What! that handsome young dandy who sat there just now! But, sacrebleu! +perhaps it's not too late yet!" + +Springing to his feet, he seized his hat and cane, put the letters in +his pocket, and left the room. Below, he inquired which direction his +late companion had taken; they told him, and he hastened away toward the +loneliest part of the Bois. But he soon saw a crowd of people, and, +marching toward them, some gendarmes who had been sent for, and who +plunged at once into the underbrush. + +"What has happened?" he inquired of a peasant woman who passed him; +"what are those gendarmes here for?" + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, because someone has killed himself in the woods--a +young man--very well dressed, too, I give you my word. I can't +understand why people who are rich enough to dress like that should do +such things! That little boy there found him." + +"It's all over then; he's dead?" + +"Oh! yes, monsieur.--And his nice new overcoat!" + +"In that case," said Cherami to himself, "I have only to execute the +commission he intrusted to me." + + + + +XXXVI + +A STRONG WOMAN + + +As he returned to Paris, Cherami's reflections took this turn: + +"Well, here's something that changes the state of affairs very +materially. That young Fanny's a widow--she's free--her husband is dead. +I trust that Gustave won't say now that it was I who killed him! At all +events, I have the letter he wrote me, and I will keep it carefully; +otherwise, people would be quite capable of believing that I shot him in +a duel; but, after all, that young woman, whom Gustave still adores--and +who is the cause of his going away from Paris because he's afraid of +meeting her--that Fanny for whom he has a passion such as we seldom see +nowadays; I might say, such as we never see!--However, since she is a +widow now, and since she greeted Gustave so kindly the last time he met +her--for I remember that he told me she even urged him to call--now, +then, or _ergo_, as we used to say at school, since that young woman did +not look upon Gustave with an unfavorable eye when she was married, it +seems to me that she should look upon him even more favorably now that +she's a widow. She gave poor Monléard the preference, because he offered +her everything that attracts a woman. To-day, when she is ruined, it +seems to me that she would be very glad to fall in with my young friend, +who gives me the impression of occupying a very satisfactory position in +life. I really believe that the thing can be arranged--not instantly, +because we must give the little woman time to weep over her husband; but +I foresee that hereafter Gustave's love and constancy will be rewarded. +Ah! I like to think of that; for then Gustave will cease to travel, he +will stay in Paris; and a man is very glad to have such friends as he +is, always at hand. What a pity that he isn't here now! I would have +lost no time in telling him the great news. Oh! but I will find out +where he is, I will find him. Meanwhile, I must think about performing +my mission to the young wife, with all proper precautions. It isn't +precisely an agreeable errand; but if one did only agreeable things, it +would become monotonous." + +Fanny was in her boudoir, trying on some morning caps, and leaving her +mirror from time to time to go to look at the last bulletin from the +Bourse, which was on her toilet table, when her maid appeared and told +her that a gentleman desired to speak to her. + +"A gentleman! What gentleman? Do you know him? Did he give his name?" + +"No, madame; I have never seen him here." + +"Are you sure that he wants to see me, not Monsieur Monléard?" + +"It is certainly you, madame; and he says that it's on very important +business." + +"Is the man respectable? Does he look like a gentleman?" + +"Why, yes, madame." + +"Then show him into the salon; I will go down." + +She hastily finished her toilet, saying to herself: + +"Monsieur Vauflers has probably sent some friend of his to tell me what +he has done on the Bourse. It's after four o'clock; yes, it must be +that." + +Cherami, being ushered into the salon, scrutinized the furniture, +muttering: + +"It's not bad, it's very _chic!_ I used to have such quarters myself. +It's more comfortable than the Widow Louchard's lodgings. But one has +his ups and downs all the same, even in such surroundings." + +Fanny appeared at last; she bowed to her visitor, who seemed to her to +have "a funny look"; for such is the fashionable method of describing +what one does not know how to describe; then she pointed to a chair, and +said: + +"You wish to speak to me, monsieur? about some business at the Bourse, I +presume?" + +Cherami was embarrassed at the sight of the young woman. He realized +that his mission was more difficult to execute than he had thought; +however, he sat down, stammering: + +"Madame--it is--it is on the subject----" + +"Of to-day's market, is it not?" + +"No, not to-day's, madame; but it was the Bourse which caused--which +brought about the event--the calamity----" + +"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly, for I do +not understand you at all." + +Cherami bit his lips, seeking the best method of preparing the young +woman for what he had to tell her; and after reflecting for a +considerable time, he cried: + +"Madame, I came to tell you that your husband is dead!" + +Fanny started from her seat, gazed at the man before her, and rejoined, +with a shrug of her shoulders: + +"If this is a joke, monsieur, allow me to inform you that it is in +execrable taste." + +"Therefore I should not have the hardihood to indulge in it, madame. I +did not come here with any purpose of joking; what I say to you, I say +in all seriousness." + +"But I saw my husband at breakfast this forenoon, monsieur. He was not +ill, not even indisposed. What, in heaven's name, can have happened to +him?" + +"Nothing has happened to him; he himself thought it best to put an end +to his own life; and he blew out his brains in the Bois de Boulogne, +about half-past two o'clock." + +Fanny changed color, but did not lose courage. + +"No, monsieur; it's not possible," she rejoined; "there is some mistake, +it cannot be my husband. Why should Auguste kill himself--young, rich, +and happy as he was?" + +"It would seem, madame, that he was much less happy than you like to +think. And as to being rich, he was so no longer, for he had ruined +himself utterly on the Bourse; he was penniless, and he lacked the +courage to endure these hard blows of fortune." + +"Ruined!" cried the young woman, springing to her feet. "What do you +say, monsieur? Ruined! why, then I am ruined, too! Then I have nothing! +Why, that would be too terrible; it would be ghastly!" + +"Poor Auguste was right," thought Cherami, observing Fanny's despair; +"it isn't his death that grieves his wife most." + +"But, monsieur, how do you know--how did you learn of this event? And +even if my husband is dead, how do you know that he was ruined?" + +"Be good enough to listen a moment, madame. This noon, after +breakfasting at Passy with some worthy people,--who must be expecting me +to dinner at this moment, by the way, but I shall not go,--I had gone to +smoke a cigar in the Bois de Boulogne, where there were very few +people, the cold being so intense. There I met your husband; we were +acquainted, he had seen me on a certain occasion--in short, he knew what +sort of man I am. He came to me and asked me if I would do him an +important service; as you may imagine, madame, I placed myself at his +disposal. We went to a café, where he wrote two letters. One was for me, +which he made me promise not to open until half an hour after he had +left me; then he went away. I waited the half-hour, then opened the +letter. He told me therein of his deplorable determination, and of the +reasons which had led him to it; then he requested me to take the other +letter--to its address." + +"For whom was that other letter?" + +"For you, madame. Here it is." + +Fanny took in a trembling hand the letter which Cherami handed her, and +read in an altered voice: + + "'I thought, madame, that by marrying you I ensured the happiness + of both; I was mistaken; I needed a loving wife to calm and allay + the vivacity of my passions; I found in you simply a woman who + adored money and pleasure above all else.'" + +At that, Fanny paused, and read the remainder of the letter to herself: + + "I make no reproaches, madame; a woman cannot recast her nature, + especially at your age. Feeling is a gift of nature, as selfishness + is a vice of the heart; I judged you ill; it was my fault, not + yours. Being unable to enjoy the domestic happiness of which I had + dreamed, I tried to replace it by all the enjoyments arising from + vanity; I have failed, and I have lost all that I possessed. You, + too, are interested in the Bourse; take my advice, madame, and do + not speculate." + +Again Fanny paused, to heave a tremendous sigh, then read on: + + "But, madame, do not fear that I leave you burdened with debts; I + have met all my obligations; I have paid everything, and my name + will remain without blemish, at all events. You can bear it without + a blush." + +The young woman made a slight movement of the shoulders, which seemed to +indicate that she was not overjoyed because her husband had paid all his +debts; she even muttered between her teeth: + +"That's a valuable thing for him to leave me--his name! and nothing with +it! Ah! there's something more written here." + + "I have not touched your _dot_; you will find it intact in the + notary's hands. With what you obtain from the sale of our + furniture, which is very handsome, and our horses and carriages, + you will have enough to live in a modest way. Adieu, Fanny; be + happy! I cannot be happy again in this world, and that is why I + leave it; adieu!" + +The last paragraph seemed to have soothed Fanny's despair in some +measure; however, she covered her eyes with her handkerchief, and held +it so for some time. Cherami, who had watched her closely while she read +her husband's letter, said to himself at that proceeding: + +"Oh! it's of no use for you to put your handkerchief to your eyes; I'll +bet that you're not crying; and yet--a young husband--to lose him like +that, and after hardly six months of married life! There are some women +who would have fainted; but she's a strong one!" + +Thereupon he rose and took up his hat, saying: + +"Madame, I have carried out the melancholy commission which your husband +intrusted to me. As I imagine that my presence is no longer necessary, I +will retire." + + + + +XXXVII + +A WEAK WOMAN + + +Fanny hastily uncovered her face. + +"Pardon me, monsieur," she said; "but as you were kind enough to carry +out Monsieur Monléard's last wishes, may I hope that you will show +yourself equally obliging to his widow?" + +"I will do whatever you bid me, madame, too happy to be able to be of +some service to you as well as to him." + +"Thanks a thousand times, monsieur! You know now the position in which I +stand. It seems to you, perhaps, that I have taken very coolly the +calamity which has come upon me?" + +"Madame, I do not presume to pass judgment upon your feelings." + +"But put yourself in my place, monsieur; do you think that I can take as +a proof of affection what my husband has done?" + +_"Dame!_ a proof of affection!" said Cherami to himself, scratching his +nose.--"But, madame, if he feared that he should no longer be able to +make you happy, if that thought made him lose his head----" + +"At Monsieur Monléard's age, monsieur, a man should have strength of +mind, courage. People lose their fortunes every day; but when a man is +intelligent and persevering, he makes another." + +"It may be that that's not so easy as you seem to think, madame. I, too, +had a very neat fortune once; I ran through it; which, to my mind, is +much better than gambling it away; it leaves sweeter-smelling memories; +but I have never been able to get rich again." + +"Monsieur Monléard finds fault with me; he says now that I care for +nothing but pleasure; but, when he sought my hand, monsieur, why did he +fascinate me by the prospect of a life of luxury and fêtes, of splendid +equipages and magnificent gowns? in short, of all the things which will +always make a girl's heart beat fast? He married me from caprice, and +when that caprice was gratified he was sorry he had married. Oh! I saw +that more than once, and that is why, monsieur, I bear up so bravely +under the news you have brought me." + +"You had no need to tell me all this, madame; but I do not see----" + +"I beg your pardon! this is what I ask you to do. In my present +position, you can easily understand that I must see my father and +sister; but I do not wish to go to them, or to be compelled to tell them +of this fatal event." + +"I understand, madame: you wish me to undertake to tell them of what has +happened?" + +"Oh! monsieur, if it would not be too great an abuse of your +good-nature." + +"I will go to your father's house, madame. Mon Dieu! while I am in the +way of doing errands, it won't cost me any more." + +"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are! how grateful I am to you!" + +"I have always been at the service of the ladies. Monsieur Gerbault's +address, if you please?" + +"Ah! you know my father's name?" + +"Yes, madame. Indeed, there are many things that I know; but I won't +tell you them at this moment." + +"Here is my father's address." + +"Very good; I will go there at once, madame. If I can be of any further +use to you, command me; Arthur Cherami, Hôtel du Bel-Air, Rue de +l'Orillon, Belleville--but prepay your letters. I present my respects, +madame." + +"I am a sort of dead man's messenger just now," said Cherami to himself, +as he went away; "but, after all, I couldn't refuse that young woman; +she's so pretty, and she's no fool; far from it! Ah! I can understand +how she bewitched Gustave. Never mind; for my part, I prefer a weak +woman to a strong one." + +Monsieur Gerbault was at home, and with his daughter, when Cherami made +his appearance. Fanny's father, who had never seen his visitor, offered +him a chair, and waited for him to explain the object of his visit. But +Adolphine, as soon as he entered the room, recognized Cherami as the +person who had dined with Gustave on the day of her sister's wedding; +and Cherami, on his side, bestowed a graceful salutation upon the young +lady, as upon a person whom he had met before. + +"Do you know my daughter Adolphine, monsieur?" inquired Monsieur +Gerbault, in surprise. + +"Yes, monsieur; I had the pleasure of seeing mademoiselle on the day of +your other daughter's wedding. I dined at Deffieux's that day, with +someone who is not a stranger to you." + +"Monsieur is a friend of Gustave," interposed Adolphine, hastily. +Monsieur Gerbault frowned slightly, for he remembered being told that it +was with a friend of Gustave that his son-in-law had fought a duel on +the day after his wedding; however, he confined himself to saying, in +rather a sharp tone: + +"I am waiting for monsieur to be good enough to let us know the object +of his visit." + +The decidedly unamiable manner in which Monsieur Gerbault said these +words began to irritate Cherami, who threw himself back in his chair, +crying: + +"Faith! my dear monsieur, if you think I came here to amuse myself, +you're most miserably mistaken; my errand isn't a very agreeable one, at +best." + +"Monsieur, I beg you to----" + +"Ah! but, you see, you assumed an air which--look you! that air of yours +doesn't suit me at all, and if you were not this charming young lady's +father, I'd have demanded satisfaction before this." + +"Oh! monsieur, for heaven's sake!" exclaimed Adolphine, clasping her +hands; "father didn't mean to offend you." + +"Your father looked like a bulldog, mademoiselle, when you said that I +was a friend of Gustave. Why was that? am I a friend to be despised, I +pray to know? Friends like me, always ready to risk their lives in order +to prove their devotion, don't grow on every bush, I beg you to +believe. But here I am losing my temper, and I am wrong. I will tell you +in a word what brings me here; it's no use to put on gloves. I come to +inform you of the death of a young man of your acquaintance." + +"O mon Dieu! Gustave is dead!" shrieked Adolphine, and fell back +unconscious, while a ghastly pallor overspread her features. + +"My child! my child! what is it, in God's name?" cried Monsieur +Gerbault, trying to revive Adolphine; but she did not open her eyes. + +Madeleine was summoned, and brought salts and vinegar. They carried the +girl to an open window, while Cherami exclaimed: + +"No, no; it isn't Gustave who's dead.--Poor girl! on my word, I was far +from anticipating this. And it's because she thought Gustave was dead +that she fainted. Well! well! well! Ah! the color's coming back a +little; it will amount to nothing. See! she's opening her eyes; I will +bring her back to life entirely." + +He stooped over Adolphine, who was gazing listlessly about, and said: + +"Let me set your mind at rest, mademoiselle; it's not Gustave who is +dead; I wasn't talking about _Castor_." + +"Is that true, monsieur?" she cried eagerly. + +"I swear it by your head--and I wouldn't for the world endanger such a +charming head!" + +"Pray explain yourself then, monsieur!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "of +whose death did you come to tell us?" + +"Of your son-in-law, Auguste Monléard's; he died about two o'clock +to-day, in the Bois de Boulogne." + +At that, it was Monsieur Gerbault's turn to fly into a rage, and he +strode toward Cherami, saying: + +"Ah! you have killed him this time, shameless villain, and you come in +person to announce his death! And you are not ashamed of your victory! +One duel was not enough; you were bent on having his life!" + +"Ta! ta! ta! now it's papa's turn. Deuce take it! where did I ever get +fathers and uncles of this breed?--No, monsieur; I didn't kill your +son-in-law; he killed himself; and, to speak frankly, it would have been +much better for him to have met his death in the duel we fought; for it +would have been a more honorable end. However, I will show you the +proofs of what I state; for you are quite capable of not believing me: I +expected as much; but you will have to surrender to the evidence." + +Cherami handed Monsieur Gerbault the letter Auguste had written him, +then told him all that we know already: what had happened in the Bois de +Boulogne, and his visit to Fanny. During his narrative, Adolphine wept +profusely, murmuring: + +"Poor Auguste! Oh, dear! how my sister must suffer!" + +The news of the suicide affected Monsieur Gerbault deeply, although +officious friends had already told him that Monléard was speculating +heavily, and in such wise as to risk his fortune. He attempted, +thereupon, to apologize to Cherami for the suspicions he had conceived; +but Cherami offered his hand, saying: + +"Put it there, and let's say no more about it. You are quick, so am I; +besides, when one learns of such an entirely unforeseen catastrophe, one +has the right to get a little bewildered. Now that I have performed all +the commissions that were intrusted to me, you have no further need of +me, and I will go. Adieu, Papa Gerbault! Mademoiselle, your servant!" + +As Adolphine accompanied him to the door, he seized the opportunity to +ask her in an undertone: + +"Do you know where Gustave is?" + +"No, monsieur; but, I think, in Germany." + +"I will unearth him, never fear; I have my cue!" + + + + +XXXVIII + +THE TWO SISTERS + + +A fortnight after her husband's death, Fanny was installed in small and +unpretentious apartments in the upper part of Faubourg Poissonnière. +With her dowry of twenty thousand francs, the proceeds of the sale of +her furniture, horses, and carriages, and the sum which she had made by +speculating in railway and other shares, the young widow had an income +of about twenty-five hundred francs. That was very little, when compared +with the handsome fortune she had enjoyed for a moment, but it was +enough to enable a woman who was a skilful manager to live comfortably. +Monsieur Gerbault had suggested to the young widow that she should come +to live with him and her sister, as she had done before her marriage, +but Fanny had refused; she preferred to remain free; and then, too, in +all probability, she cherished some hopes for the future, and as she +looked at her reflection in her mirror,--for she had retained enough of +her furniture to furnish her new abode handsomely,--the pretty creature +said to herself that plenty of aspirants to the honor of putting an end +to her widowhood would surely come forward; and that, by living alone, +she would be more at liberty and better able to choose. + +As for the deceased, his suicide had been the sensation of the Bourse +and of society for a week; a fortnight later, it was rarely mentioned, +and at the end of a month everybody had forgotten it. + +But, no: there was one person who often thought of him, to deplore his +melancholy end, to regret that fortune had been so cruel to that young +man, who, for his part, had treated fortune too cavalierly when she +smiled on him. That person was not his widow, but her sister Adolphine. +The poor child had at first felt terribly ashamed because she had +betrayed the deep interest she felt in Gustave; but she was unable to +control the emotion which had seized her when she thought that Cherami +had come to inform her of his death. Later, when she knew the truth, she +had wept a long while over Auguste's death; then she had hurried to her +sister, to comfort her, to mingle her own tears with hers; but she had +found Fanny much more engrossed by her pecuniary affairs than by the +loss of her husband. Finally, as the young widow found that her sister +came to see her every day, and that she persisted in talking about +Auguste and shedding abundant tears to his memory, she said to her one +day: + +"My dear girl, if your purpose in coming here is to divert my thoughts, +you go about it very awkwardly. Monsieur Monléard is dead, because he +preferred it so; he left me, because he chose to, without troubling +himself overmuch as to what was to become of me; frankly, it was hardly +worth while to marry me, just to act like this after only six months. He +was responsible for my refusing a young man who, as it turns out, would +have made me much happier--that poor Gustave, who loved me so dearly! +For he really did love me, did Gustave, and, according to what you told +me the other day, he is doing very well indeed now. Ten thousand francs +a year, he earns, I believe?" + +Adolphine wiped her eyes and swallowed her tears, as she replied in a +faltering voice: + +"Yes--I think so." + +"What! you think so? So you're not sure of it now?" + +"Why, yes; he told me so himself." + +"Very good! with ten thousand francs one can live comfortably enough. +One can't have such a stable as I had with Monsieur Monléard; but it's +better never to have a carriage than to have to give it up. In fact, I +don't see why I should cry my eyes out for the dead man. In the first +place, I despise men who kill themselves; everyone is entitled to his +own opinion, but that's mine. A man should be able to endure the blows +of destiny. Do you know where Gustave is now?" + +"No, I don't; he intended to leave Paris again." + +"That's strange. Formerly, he always told you where he was going; and +now that I ask you, you don't know anything about him." + +"He said something about Germany, that's all I know." + +"On his uncle's business, I suppose?" + +"I think so." + +"Well, people don't travel forever; he'll return some time, poor +Gustave! and we shall meet again. Ah! he had changed tremendously for +the better when he came back from Spain; he had acquired ease of manner +and refinement, hadn't he?" + +"I didn't notice." + +"Oh! how angry you make me!--It seems to me, however, that it's more +interesting to talk about the living than the dead." + +"Everybody isn't consoled as quickly as you." + +"Do you propose to give me a lecture?" + +"No, sister; I meant simply that anyone was very fortunate to have such +a temperament as yours." + +"My dear Adolphine, I have been a widow two months now, and I know a +little something of the world. When you have had as much experience as I +have, you will realize that you should be able to find consolation for +anything." + +"I don't think I shall ever be as philosophical as you." + +Whenever the two sisters met, Fanny did not fail to lead the +conversation to the subject of Gustave. That subject, although intensely +interesting to Adolphine, was very painful to her when Fanny introduced +it; but, being accustomed by long practice to conceal the secrets of her +heart, to confine therein a sentiment which she dared not avow to +anyone, Fanny's younger sister contrived to listen with apparent +indifference to the project which Auguste's widow already had in +contemplation. + +One day, while talking with Adolphine, Fanny suddenly asked: + +"By the way, do you know who that man was whom Monsieur Monléard +employed to inform me of his death? I never saw him at the house, and +yet Auguste must have been intimately acquainted with him to intrust him +with such a commission." + +"That was Monsieur Cherami." + +"Yes, that's the name he gave me when he left his address and offered me +his services. He has a most original aspect, that individual. But who is +Monsieur Cherami, anyway? When I asked him to go to tell you, he seemed +to know father's name." + +"Indeed! he probably learned it from Gustave." + +"Does the man know Gustave too? For heaven's sake, does he know +everybody? Was it through Gustave that he knew my husband, also?" + +"Why, yes, in a certain sense; for----" + +"For what? Do go on, Adolphine; I don't know what's the matter with you +nowadays, but I have to tear the words out of your mouth." + +"I thought you knew about it at the time. Your husband fought a duel the +day after your wedding." + +"I know all about that; with a fellow who called out, when I left the +ball that night: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'--Mon Dieu! I remember +it as well as if it were yesterday. But what connection----" + +"The man who made that remark when he saw you leaving the ball was +Monsieur Cherami." + +"That man? nonsense! Do you mean to say that it was he whom my husband +fought with?" + +"Yes, it really was." + +"Ha! ha! ha! that is too funny!" + +"What! you laugh?" + +"Why shouldn't I laugh, pray? Ah! how little idea men have of what they +want, and how richly they deserve, as a general rule, that we should +make sport of their mighty wrath! Think of it! Monsieur Monléard fights +a duel with Monsieur Cherami, and, a few weeks later, selects him as the +confidant of his last wishes! You see that men don't know what they are +doing, and that these lords of creation, who assume to deem themselves +much more reasonable than we, are infinitely less so." + +"There may have been other reasons that we don't know about." + +"Oh! you will always take sides with the men!" + +"Why accuse those who are no longer able to defend themselves?" + +"Oh! that is a superb retort; but, I may ask, why give the dead credit +for qualities which they had not when they were alive? I have heard that +done a hundred times in society. There was some artist or author, of +whom they said things much too bad for hanging: he was ill-natured, +envious; he decried his fellows, he had neither talent, nor style, nor +imagination. But, let him die--the same people all sang the palinode: +the deceased was a most delightful man, kind-hearted, obliging to his +fellow artists, full of talent, gifted with a marvellous imagination. +How many times I have heard all that! and I used to shrug my shoulders +in pitying contempt, thinking: 'For heaven's sake, messieurs, do at +least try to remember to-day what you said yesterday!'--But I would like +right well to know why this Monsieur Cherami called me 'the faithless +Fanny.' Do you know, Adolphine, you, who know so many things without +seeming to?" + +Adolphine blushed, as she replied: + +"That gentleman dined with Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your +wedding supper and ball. Gustave, in all probability, told him of his +love and his disappointment; and then Monsieur Grandcourt, Gustave's +uncle, came there after his nephew and took him away. Monsieur Cherami +stayed at the restaurant, and it seems that he was a little tipsy." + +"And in his devotion to his friend, he reproached me for my perfidy! Ah! +that was very well done! To fight to avenge one's friend is a deed +worthy of the knights of old. When I see Monsieur Cherami again, I will +offer him my compliments." + +"Do you mean that you bear him no ill-will for calling you faithless?" + +"Oh! not the least in the world! If women lost their tempers every time +they were called faithless, they would spend most of their time in +anger." + +While interviews of this sort were constantly taking place between the +two sisters, both of whom were engrossed by the same thought, although +one was compelled to stifle her sighs, while the other made no secret of +her hopes, a certain person was taking much pains to bring back to them +the subject which interested them so deeply. The reader will have +guessed that we refer to Cherami. + + + + +XXXIX + +THE HUNT FOR THE FEATHER-MAKERS + + +After Auguste's death, the ex-Beau Arthur had reflected thus: + +"I must wait until a few weeks have passed; it wouldn't be decent for my +lovelorn Gustave to return at once and throw himself at the pretty +widow's feet; _non est hic locus_; it isn't always best to take active +steps; in order that they may succeed, they must be taken at the +opportune moment. I still have some débris of the five hundred francs my +dear friend loaned me, and I have the change of the hundred-franc note +which poor Monléard left me to pay for the breakfast, which cost only +seventeen francs fifty. With that, and with a passably pretty switch, +and a passably decent costume, one can enjoy this paltry life of ours to +some slight extent. Gad! at this moment I should be very glad to meet +those two grisettes whom I saw one day at an omnibus office at Porte +Saint-Martin. Parbleu! the same day I made the acquaintance of Gustave. +They were both pretty--one was a brunette, the other a blonde--one plump +and one thin--a morsel for an attorney; and, judging from appearances, +one bright and one stupid. Their names were Laurette and Lucie, and they +were feather-girls on Rue Saint-Denis. I have never met them since. Par +la sambleu! it's my fault, I'm a jackass! I had only to go into all the +feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis--to tell the truth, I haven't always +been in a position to play the gallant with young ladies--to invite them +to the play and to supper, and I can't do anything less than that by way +of renewing the acquaintance. But, now that I'm in funds, what prevents +me from looking them up? That idea smiles upon me. It reminds me of +happy days.--My mind is made up: before I begin my search for Gustave, I +will go in quest of Laurette and Lucie; this very evening, after dinner, +I will try my hand at hunting the feather-girls." + +Cherami dined, and acquitted himself of the task like one who had not +breakfasted twice. Then, his head being a little heated by the fumes of +a bottle of old Pommard, he betook himself to Rue Saint-Denis, looking +to right and left in quest of feather-shops. He did not go far without +discovering one. He opened the door and entered with a haughty air, +scrutinizing all the young women in the establishment. + +The forewoman eyed the individual who had struck an attitude _à la_ +Spartacus in the centre of the shop, where he stared at one after +another without speaking, and said to him: + +"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he would like?" + +Cherami, having taken time enough to examine all the shopgirls, of whom +there were ten or twelve, replied in a drawling tone: + +"A thousand pardons, madame; I did come in here in search of something; +there is no doubt of that; but I don't see what I want; no, I don't see +it." + +"If monsieur will tell me what he desires, I can tell him at once +whether he will find it here." + +"Very good, madame; I am looking for children's caps--for a little boy +of five." + +All the girls in the shop laughed aloud; but the forewoman assumed a +sour expression as she rejoined: + +"Did monsieur take this for a hat-shop?" + +"Have I made a mistake? Oh! I beg your pardon; I am distressed; it was +all these feathers that misled me; they put so many feathers on hats +nowadays. Accept my apologies, madame; your humble servant." + +Having executed a graceful bow, Cherami left the shop, saying to +himself: + +"That's one; I did that very well; it wasn't a bit bad. My two young +friends are not there. Let's try another." + +A little farther on, he saw another establishment for the sale of +flowers and feathers. He entered as before, and struck the same +attitude. + +"We are waiting for monsieur to say what he wants," said an old woman. + +"Mon Dieu! madame," said Cherami, examining the girls, of whom there +were not so many as in the first shop, "I would like--I wanted a coat, +either blue or black, but made in the latest style, and, above all +things, becoming to me. I don't care for the price, but I am particular +about being well dressed." + +"You are not in a tailor's shop, monsieur!" retorted the old woman +superciliously, while the workgirls exchanged glances and laughed till +they cried. + +But the old woman bade them be silent, and added: + +"Apparently you didn't look to see what we keep here, monsieur?" + +"What! am I not in a shop of outfitters for both sexes?" + +"No, monsieur; we sell only flowers and feathers." + +"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; but your shop has a sort of resemblance +to the Magasin du Prophète. It isn't so brightly lighted, I agree; but +these flowers, these wreaths--it's all so pretty! and, in Paris, +outfitters' shops look like stage decorations.--Accept my apologies, +madame." + +"Two!" said Cherami, when he was in the street once more. "My pretty +grisettes are not there either. Patience! we shall find them at last. +Ah! I see another feather-shop; they fairly swarm in this street. +Forward!" + +In the third shop, Cherami asked for shirts, while passing in review the +workgirls and apprentices, without finding those whom he sought. He +succeeded, as before, in making the young women laugh and in obtaining a +tart response from the mistress of the place. + +In the fourth shop, after staring about for some time, Cherami +exclaimed: + +"I don't see any; this is very strange; I don't see any, and yet I was +certain that I saw several in the window." + +"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he desires?" said the forewoman. + +"I want to buy a Bayonne ham, madame; the best you have." + +This time the laughter was general, and the mistress shared the +merriment of her workgirls; so that Cherami had an opportunity to +examine them at his leisure. At last, when the hilarity had subsided +somewhat, the forewoman, still smiling, said to him: + +"We don't sell hams here, monsieur; pray, what sort of a place did you +take this for?" + +"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; isn't this a provision shop?" + +"No, monsieur; it's a flower and feather shop." + +"Ah! I am a miserable wretch! But let me tell you what misled me: it was +the birds that I saw in the window. I said to myself: 'That's game; +therefore, they sell provisions.'" + +"Those are birds-of-paradise that you saw, monsieur; they're used to put +on ladies' hats, but not to eat." + +"Birds-of-paradise! Pardon me, but they are in paradise, in very truth, +since they live under the same roof with such charming ladies! I renew +my apologies, and beg you to accept my respects." + +Cherami left the fourth shop, saying to himself: + +"They are not there either; I shan't have my cue this evening. This is +enough for to-day; but I am well pleased with the effect I produced in +that last place: they all laughed, even the mistress herself laughed +like a madwoman! It was very amusing to see the gayety on all those +female faces--and all because I asked for a ham! After all, a ham was +more absurd than a coat, shirts, or children's caps! Well, to-morrow I +must ask for something even more absurd. Oh! I shall think up something; +I'm never at a loss. Meanwhile, let's go and have a game of pool at the +usual place. When my pocket is well lined, I play superbly, I handle my +cue magnificently. I am sure of winning, according to the proverb: +'Water keeps flowing to the river.'" + +The next day, after dinner, Cherami returned to Rue Saint-Denis, saying +to himself: + +"I know how far I went yesterday, and where I must begin to-day. I have +something very amusing to ask for. How I'll make them laugh! Oh! I +propose that not even the forewomen shall succeed in keeping a serious +face. They will fancy they're at the Palais-Royal when Grassot plays _La +Garde-Malade_, or _Le Vieux Loup de Mer_." + +But, since the preceding night, certain things had happened in Rue +Saint-Denis which our grisette-hunter could not divine. + +In a quarter so wholly given over to business, there are brokers and +under-clerks who go about almost every morning inquiring as to the +course of prices, articles most in demand, etc.; this is commonly called +_faire la place_. Now, when one of these brokers entered a certain +feather-shop, the girls asked him laughingly: + +"Have you brought us some children's caps? we had a call for some last +night." + +"Caps? you are joking!" + +"No, indeed!" + +And thereupon they told him about their customer of the night before. +The story made the broker laugh, and that was the end of it. But at +another shop they told him about a man who had wanted to buy a coat. + +"This is a strange thing!" he exclaimed; "over yonder, somebody asked +for a child's cap. Can it be the same man?" + +At that, the proprietor's interest was aroused. + +"I must go to see my confrères, and find out whether they also saw this +person." + +"That is right," said the broker; "we must go to the bottom of this; for +it seems to me as if someone had made up his mind to play a practical +joke on you. I'll go with you." + +They soon learned that Cherami had visited four shops; but they also +satisfied themselves that he had been to no more. The dealers in +feathers took counsel together, and those who had not received a call +from the jocose gentleman said to one another: + +"Perhaps the fellow will begin again to-morrow night; we must prepare to +give him a warm reception." + +The tradesmen, at whose establishments he had asked for caps, a coat, +shirts, and a ham, said to their confrères: + +"Allow us to come to your shops to-night and wait for this man, so that +we can have our share in the reception you propose to give him." + +Everything being agreed upon, in the evening they divided up into groups +and waited impatiently for the party of the night before to appear. + +Our hunter of feather-makers entered Rue Saint-Denis, far from +suspecting all that had been plotted against him; he waved his switch +about, looked to right and left, then said to himself: + +"I went in there--and there. I recognize the shops perfectly. Ah! +there's my number three. There's only one more--the fourth--there it is; +yes, I recognize the forewoman, who had a very amiable expression, +laughing as she did with all the rest of them. Now, I will go into the +next one I see, and we'll have a little laugh. Oh! the question I am +going to ask will be so laughable! the girls will fairly howl. I won't +even answer for it that I can keep a serious face myself.--Ah! there's +a feather-shop. A fine place--forward!" + +Cherami made but one bound to the shop he had discovered; he entered, +struck a graceful attitude, and ogled the workgirls, not noticing +several young men who had stepped behind the doors when he entered. + +The forewoman looked at him in a strange way, but asked him, none the +less, in a polite tone, what he wanted. + +Cherami replied, with a winning smile: + +"What do I want? Mon Dieu! fair lady, a very simple thing. I would +like--I like to think that you keep them--I would like a broomstick." + +"Certainly we keep them, monsieur," the forewoman instantly answered. +"How lucky! we have just laid in a stock. You couldn't go to a better +place." + +While Cherami listened in utter amazement to this reply, which he was +very far from expecting, the young men, who had, as it happened, +provided themselves with broomsticks, came forth from their hiding-place +and fell upon him at close quarters, crying: + +"Ah! you want broomsticks, do you? well! you shall have 'em!--to teach +you to go into shops as you did last night, to make sport of honest +tradesmen! Take that, and that! how do you like broomsticks?" + +Cherami, who was unprepared for this attack, tried to parry the blows +with his switch, but the switch was no match for the weapons of his +opponents; so he thought of nothing but making his escape. + +"I will wait for you in the street, messieurs," he cried; "I challenge +you all, one at a time." + +But they made no reply; they simply pushed him into the street and +closed the door on him. Somewhat ashamed of the result of his jest, our +friend, who had received a too well-aimed blow from a broomstick over +his left eye, walked away, holding his handkerchief to the wound, and +saying to himself: + +"What a damnable idea that was of mine, to ask for a broomstick! This +time, I have my cue!" + + + + +XL + +THE BANKER + + +Cherami's left eye was so badly damaged, and retained so long the marks +of the blow it had received, that the ex-beau was obliged to keep his +room six weeks, because he did not choose to go out with a bandage +across his face. + +Madame Louchard, who was frequently intrusted with the duty of dressing +the wounded organ, said one day to her tenant: + +"How in the world did you get that _trump_?" + +"You call that a _trump_, my amiable hostess! It would be a deuced fine +hand which was full of such trumps!" + +"You fought another duel, did you, hot-head?" + +"I am forced to confess that I was beaten this time; I wasn't strong +enough; there was a whole regiment against me." + +"That wasn't done by a sword, was it?" + +"No, unluckily! A sword puts your eye out, but doesn't force it out of +your head. But I got it for the sake of two girls!" + +"Aha! so you must have two at once! God! what good reason I have to hate +men!" + +"However, this forced retirement has compelled me to be economical; I +have given you a superb payment on account." + +"Twenty-five francs! Do you call that superb?" + +"Everything is comparative; I usually give you only a hundred sous. My +eye is getting well, thank God! I shall soon resume my activity." + +"And run after your girls again, I suppose?" + +"No, on my word as a gentleman, I shan't begin that again; I've had +enough of it! I have my cue. I am going to try to find my friend +Gustave; he may have been in Paris since I have kept my room. My first +visit will be to his uncle, a by no means amiable party, who presumes to +look askance at me; but, so long as he tells me where his nephew is, I +will allow him to make faces at me, if it affords him any pleasure." + +A few days later, Cherami was, in fact, able to go out, and without a +bandage; his eye had resumed its normal appearance. Our man had taken +great pains with his toilet: his boots were polished, his hat and coat +carefully brushed; he took his switch, entered the omnibus from +Belleville, took an exchange check, and, in due time, arrived at the +banker's establishment in Faubourg Montmartre. + +On this occasion, Cherami did not stop to talk with the concierge; he +went straight to the office and found the same clerk still at work on +his figures. It is a fact that there are some clerks in banking-houses +who pass almost the whole day at that work. When they go to sleep, it +would seem that they must always see figures dancing and fluttering +about them; what a pleasant life! and what delightful dreams! + +Cherami stopped in front of the old clerk, who kept his eyes fixed on +his ledger as before, making the same dull sound that some machines +make: "Six--eight--fourteen--twenty-seven--thirty." + +"I say, my good man, haven't you stopped that since the last time I +came?" cried Cherami, tapping on the clerk's desk with his switch. +"Sapristi! you're no common clerk; you're a living logarithm, a +ciphering-machine on which somebody ought to take out a patent! You +ought to fetch a big price." + +The old clerk replied simply, without raising his head: + +"Don't hit my ledger like that; don't you see that you raise the dust?" + +"Yes, to be sure, I see that I raise lots of dust; your office-boys +don't dust here every day, it seems?" + +"Thirty-five--forty-four--fifty-three." + +"Ah! the machine's starting up again. Look you: I would be glad to avoid +applying to your employer, Monsieur Grandcourt, as we're not on the best +of terms. Come, Papa Double-Naught, tell me if the banker's nephew, +Gustave, has returned from Germany. I have something to say to +him--something important, very important; I am anxious to assure his +happiness! Well?" + +"Eighty from a hundred and sixty leaves----" + +"Ah! this is too much! it passes conception! He ought to be sent to the +Exposition!" + +Having brought his switch down on the desk once more, with such violence +that the sand and ink flew up into the clerk's face, Cherami strode +toward the banker's private office, and found that gentleman reading the +newspaper. + +At sight of Cherami, whom he recognized at once, although his apparel +was greatly improved, Monsieur Grandcourt frowned. His visitor, on the +contrary, tried to smile, and said, bowing gracefully: + +"Monsieur, I have the honor to be your servant." + +"Good-morning, monsieur!" + +"Do you remember me, by any chance?" + +"Perfectly, monsieur. Indeed, you are not at all changed, except in +respect to your dress, which I congratulate you upon having renewed." + +"Ah! you notice that? You look at a man's dress, I see?" + +"Why, I should say that it was impossible not to notice it." + +"I mean to say that you attach importance to it, that you judge the man +by his coat." + +"Was it to ascertain my opinion on that subject that you called on me, +monsieur?" + +"No; oh, no! I snap my fingers at other people's opinions. I know my own +value, and that's enough for me." + +"I congratulate you, monsieur, on knowing your own value; it is quite +possible that the world at large doesn't suspect it." + +Cherami bit his lips and twisted his whiskers, muttering: + +"This devil of a fellow hasn't changed, either--still sarcastic, +mocking. I don't despise intellects of that type; they prick and stir +one up. You retort, and the conversation is all the more highly spiced." + +Monsieur Grandcourt repressed a faint smile and leaned back in his +chair, crossing his legs, as if waiting to hear what his caller had to +say. + +"I would be willing to bet that you guess why I have come?" said Cherami +at last. + +"It is quite possible, monsieur; still, I may be mistaken." + +"I have come to ask where your dear nephew is--my friend Gustave." + +"He is travelling, monsieur." + +"Still travelling? But, he must be somewhere." + +"He was at Berlin not long ago." + +"Not long ago--that's rather vague. However, he writes to you, and you +answer him, I presume?" + +"There is no doubt about that." + +"Consequently, he tells you where to send your letters. Very good! be +kind enough to give me his address, so that I may write to Gustave +forthwith. I desire to tell him a piece of news which will make him very +happy, and will probably hasten his return to Paris. When one can give a +friend pleasure, it would seem that one cannot do it too quickly! Don't +you agree with me in that?" + +"Perhaps, monsieur; that depends on the possible results of the pleasure +which you wish to afford your friend. What is this joyous news which you +are in such haste to transmit to my nephew, so as to make him hurry +back? Couldn't you tell me?" + +"I might say that you are very inquisitive; but you are my friend's +uncle, and, for that reason, I excuse you. The little woman whom Gustave +adored, whom he still adores--at least, he told me so before he went +away--that charming Fanny!--and she really is very pretty! I had a +chance to examine her at my ease when I called on her--a refined, +intellectual face, a coaxing voice, a foot just large enough to say that +she has one----" + +"Well, monsieur, this Fanny?" + +"Well, dear uncle, she is a widow!" + +"Oh! monsieur, I have known that a long while. She's a widow because her +husband blew his brains out, which doesn't indicate that he was very +happy at home." + +"I beg your pardon; he killed himself because he was ruined--by unlucky +speculations on the Bourse. Still, I am not talking about the dead man, +but about his widow. Since the woman Gustave adored is free, what is +there to prevent him, later--I don't say now, at once, but when her year +of mourning has passed----" + +"So, monsieur, it is with the purpose of reviving that idiotic passion +of my nephew for a woman who laughed at him, that you insist upon +knowing where he is? You hope that on receipt of your letter he will +drop everything and return to Paris?" + +"I am even capable of going where he is, myself, to fetch him home, if +it isn't too far--and doesn't cost too much! I will travel third class; +I don't mind. One must make some sacrifice to friendship." + +"You will not have that trouble, monsieur; and as I consider that my +nephew will certainly return soon enough, so far as seeing your Fanny is +concerned, and as I flatter myself that he will then have ceased to +think of that young woman, I shall not give you his address." + +"Ah! indeed! so you are still as hard-hearted and tyrannical as ever?" + +"A man is not necessarily a tyrant, monsieur, because he prevents silly +boys from making fools of themselves. I am well aware that, nowadays, it +is customary to give that name to those who insist that laws and customs +and individual rights shall be respected; that old age shall be honored, +that children shall revere their parents and celebrate their birthdays, +and that there shall be no smoking in a room where there are ladies; if +that's what you mean by _tyrant_, why, I am a tyrant, monsieur, and I +am proud of it." + +Cherami paced up and down the room, muttering: + +"You are trying to make me think it's noon at two o'clock! I care +nothing for all that! Once, twice, will you give me Gustave's address?" + +"A hundred times, no!" + +"Good-day, then! I have my cue!" + +And Cherami rushed from the room in a rage, saying to himself: + +"If I had such an uncle as that, I'd disinherit him!" + + + + +XLI + +THE YOUNG WIDOW + + +For several days, Cherami went every morning and inquired of the +banker's concierge if the young traveller had returned; but as he always +received a negative reply, he soon tired of repeating the same trip to +no purpose, and confined himself to going there once a week. + +Meanwhile, time passed, and Cherami, reduced once more to the necessity +of living on his slender income, found himself anew without enough money +in his pocket to buy a cigar. + +But winter had given place to spring, fine weather had returned, and the +ex-beau strolled about in search of acquaintances more persistently than +ever. + +One morning, near the Château d'Eau, he saw two girls, apparently +waiting for an omnibus; he walked toward them, saying to himself: + +"Par la sambleu! I believe those are my pretty feather-makers. Yes, they +certainly are Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie." + +Hearing their names, the young women turned and looked at the stranger, +who bowed low to them. Suddenly Laurette, the dark one, cried: + +"Ah! I recognize monsieur now; he's the one who talked with us at Porte +Saint-Martin last summer." + +"Yes, mesdemoiselles; the same. Are you going up to Belleville again?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"And to the restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau?" + +"No, monsieur; but we have a friend who lives in the village of +L'Avenir." + +"And where might the village of L'Avenir be, if you please?" + +"What! you don't know it?" + +"I have never been able to read the future (_l'avenir_), and I was not +aware that it had a village." + +"It's in Romainville Forest, a little this side, on high land from which +you get a fine view. There have been a lot of houses built there, almost +all alike; small, but very neat and prettily decorated, each with its +little garden. As they don't cost much, and you can pay on very easy +terms, why, the village of L'Avenir sprang up all at once, as if by +magic." + +"Pardieu! I'll go and buy a house there--as soon as I'm in funds. Ah! +mesdemoiselles, I have hunted everywhere for you! If you knew all that I +have done to find you!" + +"Us, monsieur? Why did you want to find us?" + +"To ask you to go to the play and to supper." + +"Ah! what a fine idea! But perhaps we wouldn't have accepted?" + +"That _perhaps_ relieves my mind. There was nothing improper in my +suggestion." + +"Monsieur certainly has too gentlemanly an air for anybody to distrust +him." + +"Damnation!" said Cherami to himself; "what a pity that I haven't a sou! +I'll bet they would accept now." + +"Where did you look for us, monsieur?" + +"Why, in all the feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis." + +"Ah! you would have had to look a long while. We're not in the feather +business now; we have changed." + +"What are you in now?" + +"Pearls; we string pearls." + +"Ah! that's a very pretty trade. I have never worked in pearls myself, +and yet I would have liked----" + +"Here's our 'bus, Laurette--come. Adieu, monsieur!" + +"In what quarter, please?" + +"Rue des Arcis." + +The young women climbed into the omnibus, and Cherami watched them ride +away. He sighed, muttered a malediction against fate, tapped his +trousers with his switch, and continued his promenade. But he had not +walked a hundred yards, when he found himself face to face with a young +lady dressed in mourning, who stopped and bestowed a gracious salutation +upon him. Cherami bowed to the ground, for he had recognized Auguste +Monléard's young widow. + +"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?" said Fanny, with a smile. + +"Ah! madame, I must be short-sighted to the last degree to have +forgotten your enchanting face after I had seen it once!" + +"But this mourning changes one a good deal." + +"Whether you wear black, or pink, or nothing at all, I will answer for +it that you will always be charming. Indeed, I should prefer the last." + +"You are very gallant, Monsieur Cherami!" + +"I am delighted to find that madame remembers my name." + +"I have not forgotten it, monsieur; indeed, I was very anxious to see +you." + +"Really! If I could have dreamed of such a thing, madame, I would have +done myself the honor to call upon you long since." + +"I wanted first of all to thank you for your kindness in going to my +father's to perform an unpleasant errand." + +"Oh! let us say no more of that, I beg! Have you any other commission to +intrust to me? I am at your service, I have nothing to do; command me." + +"I thank you, Monsieur Cherami. Do you know Monsieur Gustave Darlemont?" + +"Do I know him! He is my best friend, my Euryalus, my Orestes, my +Pythias.--Yes, indeed, madame; I do know him and appreciate him; he is a +charming fellow, who deserves to be loved." + +"Tell me frankly, Monsieur Cherami,--surely you have no reason now to +conceal the truth from me,--did Gustave ask you to fight with my +husband?" + +"Ah! so madame knows that it was I who----" + +"Who fought a duel with Monsieur Monléard. To be sure; but have no fear; +I bear you no ill-will at all for that." + +"She's a charming creature," said Cherami to himself; "I fancy that she +would bear me no more ill-will if I had killed her husband." + +"But, monsieur," rejoined Fanny, "be good enough to tell me why you +called me faithless when you saw me pass?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! my dear madame, it's very easy to understand. I had dined +with poor Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your wedding party. +During the whole meal, the dear fellow was in such utter despair that it +was painful to see him. He didn't eat, he didn't drink; I was compelled +to dine for two, and to hold on to him every minute to keep him from +seeking you out in the midst of your party." + +"Really! Poor fellow! was he so broken up as that?" + +"In the evening, he spoke to your sister and made her promise that, when +you came back for the ball, she would arrange it so that he could have +an interview with you." + +"My sister never told me a word of all this. That Adolphine's a strange +creature!" + +"On the contrary, it seems that she sent word to Gustave's uncle, to +come to take him away." + +"What business was it of hers?" + +"The uncle came and compelled his nephew to go with him; I was left +alone. I had drunk quite a lot of punch; I had looked in at a wedding +party on the floor above yours. As I came from that party, heated by +dancing, and still thinking of my disconsolate friend, I caught sight of +you, and I let slip that remark; which I retract to-day, and offer a +thousand apologies for making it." + +"You are freely forgiven. So Gustave had nothing to do with the duel?" + +"He knew absolutely nothing about it until he returned from Spain." + +"Do you know where he is now?" + +"Alas, no! In Prussia, I believe. I have been several times to ask; but +he has an uncle who is the most disagreeable man you can imagine! If he +weren't so closely connected with my friend, I would have run him +through before this. Still, Gustave must return some time; I am on the +watch for him." + +"When you hear anything about him, it will be very kind of you to let me +know. This is my new address." + +"Be sure, madame, that I shall be only too happy to prove my zeal." + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!" + +"Madame, accept my most respectful homage.--I don't know whether she is +sincerely fond of Gustave," thought Cherami, as the charming widow left +him, "but it is certain that she is burning to see him again." + + + + +XLII + +ORESTES AND PYLADES + + +Fanny had been a widow more than six months, when, as Cherami was +approaching Monsieur Grandcourt's abode one morning, he saw Gustave come +out. He uttered a joyful exclamation, and hastened to throw his arms +about the young traveller, crying: + +"_Tandem_! _denique_! here he is at last! this is good luck, indeed! +Damnation! you've been away a long while, but we will hope that it's the +last time." + +"Good-day, my dear Arthur!" said Gustave, as they shook hands. "Were you +coming to see my uncle?" + +"Your uncle! Sapristi! he's a dear creature, is your uncle; let's talk +about something else. Why, I have been here a hundred times; I wanted to +get your address, so that I could write to you or come after you; but it +was impossible to obtain the slightest information from your uncle. When +did you return?" + +"Last night, at nine o'clock. But why were you so anxious to know where +I was? What had you to tell me that was so important?" + +"Hasn't your uncle told you anything?" + +"We had a talk this morning, on business; that's all." + +"Ah! the old fox! there's no danger that he would tell you what +interested you most." + +"Then do you tell me, quickly, Cherami." + +"Your former passion, that little woman you loved so dearly----" + +"Fanny! Great God! is she dead?" + +"No, no! she's not dead; she's in bewitching health, she's just as +pretty as ever, and more than that--she's a widow." + +"A widow! Great heaven! can it be possible?" + +"It's more than possible, it's so. Her husband speculated in stocks, and +ruined himself; then, _crac_! a pistol-shot--you understand." + +"Oh! what a calamity! Why, it's perfectly ghastly; how long ago was it?" + +"Almost immediately after you went away." + +"Poor Fanny! she expected to find her happiness in that marriage; how +she must have grieved! how bitterly she must have wept!" + +"My dear Gustave, you don't know that young woman at all. She has very +great strength of character; she received the news of her husband's +death with a stoical courage worthy of the Spartan women who sent their +sons to war, bidding them to return as victors or not at all." + +"How do you know that, Cherami?" + +"Pardieu! because it was I to whom her husband confided his last wishes +and the mission of informing his wife of his death." + +"To you! you who fought a duel with him?" + +"Precisely! that duel made us the best friends in the world. I will tell +you all about it in detail another time. Let it suffice for the present, +that the young widow, who is already thoroughly consoled, does not cease +to talk about you, to ask about you, and to inquire whether you will +return soon." + +"Is that true? you are not deceiving me? Fanny thinks of me?" + +"It is as I have the honor to tell you, and, between ourselves, I +believe that she never really loved her husband--which explains why she +wasted so little regret on him." + +"All that you tell me surprises me so that I can't collect my thoughts. +Fanny widowed! Fanny free!" + +"Yes, widowed, and more than six months passed already! By the way,--and +this is the first question I should have asked you,--do you still love +her?" + +"Do I still love her! Ah! my dear Arthur, can you doubt it?" + +"It seems to me that you have had plenty of time and a perfect right to +forget her. I seem to recall that that was your hope when you went +away." + +"That may be; but I have not been able to do it. I tried to distract my +thoughts, to fall in love with other women. One day, I fancied that I +was; but the illusion soon vanished; and then, the last time I met +Fanny, she was so sweet with me that the memory of that occasion was not +well calculated to destroy my love." + +"Then you love her? you are sure of it?" + +"Nonsense, my dear fellow! why do you ask me that?" + +"Oh! because I had thought of something else; and if you were no longer +in love with the widow---- But, as you are still daft over her, why, +that's at an end; and I believe that things will go on now to suit you." + +"I am going to see Adolphine, Fanny's sister, to-day." + +"Why shouldn't you go to see Fanny herself? I should say that that would +be the shortest way. I can give you her address." + +"Oh! you can't mean that, my friend! that I should go to that young +widow's house at once--I, who have not been to see her since her +marriage! It wouldn't be proper. She must give me permission first." + +"But, as she urged you to call on her when she was a married woman, it +seems to me that she can afford to receive you now that she's a widow." + +"To be sure, but not right away; I must see her first, at her father's. +She must go there often, now?" + +"I should rather see you go to the little widow's than to her father's." + +"Why so?" + +"Why, indeed! That's the sequel of the idea I spoke about just now. +However, do as you think best; the main point is that you have come in +time, and that you should stay in Paris; because I am horribly bored +while you are away. On my word, I seem to miss something." + +"Dear Arthur! I am really touched by the interest you take in everything +that concerns me.--And yourself, my friend--are you happy, are you doing +well in business?" + +"I can't do badly, because I do no business at all. I am +content--because I am a philosopher! I am happy--when I have my cue; but +I haven't had it for some time." + +"I'll bet that you have no money." + +"You would win very often if you made that bet." + +"And you didn't say a word about it! Am I no longer your friend?" + +"My dear Gustave, you overwhelm me;--but I owe you something now, +and----" + +"What does that matter? Do friends keep accounts with one another? Isn't +he who can oblige the other the happier?" + +"Damme! if all my friends of the old days had been of your way of +thinking!" + +Gustave produced his wallet, took out a banknote, and thrust it into +Cherami's hand, saying: + +"Here, my good friend, take this; and when it's all gone, tell me so. +Now, adieu! I must leave you and go to Monsieur Gerbault's; I dine with +my uncle to-day; but if you will dine with me to-morrow, be in front of +the Passage de l'Opéra at six o'clock." + +"If I will! Par la sambleu! why, it will be a regular fête for me." + +"In that case, adieu, until to-morrow!" + +When Gustave was a long distance away, Cherami continued to look after +him, saying to himself: + +"There goes the pearl of friends; I don't know the pearls upon which +Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie are employed, but a real friend is +worth far more than all the treasures of Golconda, and is much rarer +too. I was on the point of mentioning a certain idea that I have got +into my head relative to little Adolphine, the pretty widow's sister; +but I thought, on reflection, that I should do better to say nothing +about it. What good would it do to tell him that I think poor +Adolphine's in love with him, when he still loves Fanny? It would make +him unhappy, and that's all; he wouldn't dare to go to Papa Gerbault's +to talk about his dear Fanny. I certainly did well to hold my tongue. +Let's see what he slipped into my hand. Generous Gustave! he is quite +capable of loaning me five hundred francs more." + +Cherami unfolded the banknote which he held in his hand, and was +thunderstruck when he saw that it was for a thousand francs. + +Having satisfied himself that he was not mistaken, Cherami stuffed the +note into his cigar-case, muttering: + +"A thousand francs! he gave me a thousand francs, and said: 'When that's +gone, let me know!' Sacrebleu! this unexpected wealth bewilders me. That +young man's behavior touches me; it makes me blush for my own. Come, +Arthur, my good friend, do you propose to continue your dissipation, +your foolish courses? And because you have fallen in with a whole-souled +fellow who gave you money without counting it, are you going to work, as +usual, to waste that money as you wasted your fortune? I say _no_! par +la sambleu! I will not do it; I propose to show myself worthy to be +Gustave's friend. From this day forth, I turn over a new leaf, I become +a reasonable man, I put water in my wine; and, for a beginning, I will +go and dine for thirty-two sous." + +While Cherami was forming these excellent resolutions, Gustave betook +himself, without loss of time, to Monsieur Gerbault's house. + +Adolphine was alone, trying, by dint of practising diligently on the +piano, to forget for a moment the secret pain which was gnawing at her +heart. Fanny's sister had changed perceptibly in the last few months; a +genuine passion does not leave one unscathed; at nineteen years of age, +such a passion occupies one's every moment, obtrudes itself upon one's +every thought. The girl's features bore traces of her suffering; her +face had grown thin and pale, and constantly wore an expression of +sadness, which she strove, but in vain, to hide beneath a smile in the +presence of others; and her sister's company was not likely to afford +her any distraction, because she talked almost incessantly of the man +whom Adolphine would have been glad to forget. + +Madeleine, who had recognized Gustave, did not deem it necessary to +announce him, but allowed him to enter her mistress's apartment, where +he could hear her playing the piano. He went forward softly and stood +behind Adolphine, and several moments passed before she happened to +glance at the mirror over the piano and saw him standing there. A cry +escaped her; she whispered Gustave's name, then a ghastly pallor spread +over her face, and she looked down at the floor. + +"Mon Dieu! my dear Adolphine! what's the matter?" cried the young man, +in dismay; "shall I call somebody?" + +But Adolphine motioned to him not to go, and shook hands with him, +saying in an uncertain voice: + +"It's nothing--the surprise--the excitement; I was so unprepared to see +you! But it's all gone.--So you are at home again, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, my good little sister. So you didn't expect me, eh? You had +forgotten all about me?" + +"Oh! I don't say that; on the contrary, it seemed to me that you were +staying away a long while this time." + +"I have been away nearly seven months; and during that time, I +understand that--many things have happened here." + +"Ah! you know?" + +"Yes, I know that your sister is a widow." + +"Who has told you that, so soon?" + +"Cherami; you know, the man who was with me the day of----" + +"Oh, yes! I know him; it was he, too, who came to tell us the fatal news +of poor Auguste's death; for, I don't know how it happens, but your +Monsieur Cherami succeeds in having his finger in everything; everybody +takes him for a confidant.--When did you return?" + +"Only last evening." + +"It was very nice of you to think of coming here. Father is out, but he +will be at home soon." + +"Good! for I shall be very glad to talk with him. I trust that he won't +think it improper for me to come here now, as he did before?" + +Adolphine could not restrain a nervous gesture as she replied: + +"Ah! so you want to come to see us again? Yes--I understand--you are no +longer afraid to meet Fanny." + +"Do you think that I ought to avoid her presence still? tell me, dear +Adolphine!" + +"I? Oh! I don't think anything about it. Why should you suppose that I +think that? I can't read your heart, you see, and I have no idea whether +it still entertains the same sentiments as before." + +"Ah! I can safely tell you, who have always treated me like a brother; +indeed, why should I make a mystery of it, anyway? Yes, I love Fanny as +dearly as ever, her image has not ceased for a single day to be present +in my thoughts. My love, although hopeless, has never changed. Judge, +then, whether I can cease to love her, now that I am once more at +liberty to anticipate happiness in the future!" + +Adolphine passed her hand across her brow and made an effort to retain +her self-possession, as she replied: + +"Ah! it's a fine thing to love like that, with a constancy which time +and absence have failed to shake! It's a fine thing; and a woman could +not love you too well to recompense a passion as true and pure as +yours!" + +"Now, that we are alone, tell me, dear Adolphine, do you think that +Fanny will receive me kindly? Do you think that my constancy will touch +her? that her heart will be moved by it? Ambition and the wish to cut a +figure in the world caused her to prefer Monsieur Monléard to me. I can +readily forgive her, young as she was, for listening to vanity rather +than love--for I fancy that she never had much love for her husband." + +"Oh, no! I don't think that she had, either." + +"In that case, his death cannot have caused her a very deep grief?" + +"She regretted his fortune, that's all." + +"What are her means now?" + +"Twenty-five hundred francs a year. My father asked her to come to live +with us, but she preferred to have a home of her own." + +"Twenty-five hundred francs! That's very little for one who has kept her +carriage." + +"It's quite enough for one whose happiness doesn't depend on money." + +"You think so, Adolphine, because you haven't your sister's tastes; but +all women aren't like you. Fanny loves society; she's a bit of a +coquette, perhaps--that's a very pardonable fault. Thank heaven! I am so +placed now that I can gratify the tastes of the woman whom I marry. I +earn ten thousand francs a year; she will not be able to have horses in +her stable and carriages in her carriage-house, but she will not be +obliged to walk when she doesn't want to.--You don't answer me, +Adolphine--do you think Fanny will consent to be my wife?" + +"Oh! now that you earn ten thousand francs a year, she will smile on +your suit, no doubt." + +Gustave sighed, as he rejoined in a lower tone: + +"Then, if I couldn't offer her that, she would refuse me again? That's +what you mean to imply, isn't it?" + +"No, no! Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, I didn't mean to hurt you; I did +wrong to say that. Fanny must love you--why shouldn't she love you? It +would be awfully ungrateful of her not to--when you have given her +abundant proof of so much love and constancy--and have forgiven her for +the sorrow she caused you. Certainly she loves you; you will be happy +with her; but--you see--I can't bear to talk about it all the +time--because it worries me--it makes me uneasy--for you. Mon Dieu! I am +all confused." + +Gustave scrutinized the girl more closely, then exclaimed: + +"Why, I hadn't noticed before! How you have changed; how thin you are! +Have you been ill, my little sister?" + +"Ah! you notice it now, do you? Why, no, I am not ill; nothing's the +matter with me; I don't know why I should change." + +"Are you in pain?" + +Adolphine raised her lovely eyes, as if appealing to heaven, as she +replied: + +"No, I have no pain." + +"I can't have you sick! I insist upon your recovering your fine, healthy +color of the old days; and now that I have returned, I will look after +your health." + +"Thanks! thanks! you will come to see us often, then?" + +"I hope to do so; and your sister--does she come here often?" + +"Thursdays, because we receive then; occasionally on other days." + +Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to this conversation. He greeted +Gustave cordially, and the young man made no secret of the pleasure it +would give him to come frequently to the house; he did not mention +Fanny, preferring not to begin to talk of his renewed hopes at their +very first meeting; but he adroitly found a way to make known his +financial position, which would enable him, if he married, to offer an +attractive prospect to the woman who should bear his name. + +Now that his oldest daughter was a widow, Monsieur Gerbault saw no +impropriety in Gustave's meeting her; and he was the first to urge the +young man to come to his house at his pleasure, as before. Gustave was +enchanted; he pressed Monsieur Gerbault's hand, then Adolphine's, and +took his leave without noticing that the latter's depression had become +more marked than ever. + + + + +XLIII + +A COMPLETE REFORMATION + + +The next evening, at six o'clock, Cherami, dressed with an elegance +which made of him once more the stylish beau of former days, was walking +near the Passage de l'Opéra. Several of his former boon companions, who +had ceased to bow to him since he had worn a threadbare coat, had +stopped when they caught sight of him and acted as if they would accost +him; but Cherami at once turned on his heel, saying to himself: + +"Go your way, canaille! I know what you amount to, my fine fellows! You +wouldn't look at me when I was strapped. You recognize me because I am +well dressed. Avaunt! I have had enough of such people!" + +Gustave soon appeared; he could not restrain an exclamation of surprise +as he gazed at the man who could once more call himself Beau Arthur. + +"Sapristi! my dear fellow! Pray excuse these manifestations of +surprise," said Gustave; "but, upon my word, at first glance I didn't +recognize you. You are superb--I don't exaggerate; no one could wear +handsome clothes more gracefully." + +"That's a relic of early habit." + +"Why have you gotten yourself up so finely?" + +"It was the least I could do to show my respect for such a friend as +you." + +"Let us go and dine, and we will talk." + +"I am at your service." + +The gentlemen entered the Café Anglais, and Gustave said to his +companion: + +"Order the dinner; you know how to do it." + +"Pardon me, but I think I won't order again," said Cherami; "I went +about it like a bull in a china-shop; I don't propose to do it any more; +you do the ordering." + +"What does this mean? You, a man who understood life so well!" + +"On the contrary, I understood it very ill; and I have changed all +that--a complete reformation; better late than never." + +Gustave finally decided to order the dinner; but at every moment his +guest said to him: + +"Enough; that's quite enough! and we'll have only one kind of wine." + +"Faith! my dear fellow, you may eat and drink what you choose; but I +propose to order to suit myself; I haven't turned hermit, you see." + +"Go on, you are the master. I will get drunk, if you insist; it's my +duty to obey you." + +Throughout the first course, Cherami put water in his wine, and was very +abstemious. + +"I shouldn't know you," said Gustave. + +"So much the better! I aim to be unrecognizable; but let us talk of your +affairs: have you been to Papa Gerbault's?" + +"Yes; I saw Adolphine, Fanny's younger sister; still, as always, kind +and affectionate and ready to help me." + +"I have an idea that she is very affectionate, in truth." + +"But I found her very much changed--she is thin, and she has lost her +fresh color. One would say that the girl has some secret sorrow." + +"There's nothing impossible in that, poor child! And you told her that +you still love her sister?" + +"To be sure; I confided to her all the hopes which Fanny's present +position justified me in forming. Oh! I made no mystery to her of my +love for her sister." + +"That must have afforded her a great deal of pleasure!" + +"Adolphine takes an interest in my happiness; if she can help me with +Fanny, she will do it, I am sure." + +"She is quite capable of it. But, look you, if you take my advice, you +will go directly to the young widow, and not have the little sister for +a constant witness of your love making; it's a dangerous business for a +heart of nineteen years! When one sees others making love, it may arouse +a longing to make love on one's own account." + +"My dear Arthur, I ask nothing better than to go to Madame Monléard's; +but I must see her first at her father's, and she must give me +permission to call on her." + +"Never fear; she'll give you permission. What about your uncle? have you +spoken to him about the revival of your hopes?" + +"No, indeed! he isn't fond of Fanny. There'll be time enough for that +when affairs come to a head." + +"By the way, if I want to see you now, where shall I find you? I don't +want to apply to your uncle again; he's an old curmudgeon whom I can't +get along with. He has a way of looking at me! If he hadn't been your +uncle, we should have had it out before this, I promise you." + +"My dear fellow, my uncle is a most excellent man, I give you my word; +very just and fair at bottom; a little obstinate when he has formed a +bad opinion of people; but very willing to revise his judgment when you +prove to him that he was wrong." + +"A noble trait, that!" + +"He has a prejudice against Fanny; he believes her to be incapable of +loving; but when she makes me happy, he will be the first to agree that +he was wrong. As for myself, I have accepted a very nice suite of rooms +in his house, where I shall stay till I marry." + +"In your uncle's house! Then no one can see you without his permission?" + +"Not so; my apartments are on the second floor, front, entirely separate +from his." + +"Does the concierge know you now?" + +"Yes, never fear; he knows my name. Come, my good fellow, a glass of +champagne to my love, to my union with Fanny!" + +"You insist on drinking champagne?" + +"Most certainly." + +"Very good, if you insist on it! We might well have been content with +this claret, which is perfect." + +"But what is the meaning of this virtuous conduct? what revolution has +taken place in you? who has wrought this miracle?" + +"Who? Don't you suspect?" + +"Faith, no!" + +"Well, it was you, my dear Gustave." + +"I? Nonsense!" + +"It's the truth, none the less. Twice now, you have obliged me; and with +such tact, such generosity----" + +"Oh! I beg you----" + +"Sacrebleu! let me speak; I am not talking _blague_ now, and you must +believe me, because I have no reason for lying. I brought myself up with +a sharp turn; I said to myself that, although I am no longer young, I am +not old enough yet to live at other people's expense. In short, I don't +propose to throw money out of window any more.--Better still: I am +conscious now of a desire to do something--to work and occupy my mind. I +used to laugh at clerks, at the men employed in offices; but find me +such a place, my friend, and I promise you that I'll fill it in such a +way that they won't turn me away." + +Gustave took Cherami's hand and pressed it warmly. + +"This is very well done of you," he said; "I certainly can't blame you +for such good resolutions. If you keep to them, why, I will look about, +and I will find something for you." + +"Oh! I shall keep to them; my mind is made up." + +"Meanwhile, as one must never carry anything to excess, there's no law +against your drinking champagne, provided you don't get drunk on it." + +"Very good; let us drink it, then." + +"To my love!" + +"To your love! But take my advice, and attend to your business yourself; +don't put it in the little sister's hands any more." + +"Do you think her capable of doing me a bad turn with Fanny?" + +"No, indeed! God forbid! she loves you too well to do you a bad turn +with anybody. But the result of my experience is that, in love, you +should never employ an ambassador. It's a waste of time." + +"I will follow your advice. Thursday, I shall see Fanny at her father's, +and I will ask her permission to call on her." + +"In that way," said Cherami to himself, "that poor girl won't have them +making love under her nose, at all events." + + + + +XLIV + +COQUETRY + + +Thursday arrived, and on that day a few faithful friends and some less +faithful acquaintances were accustomed to meet at Monsieur Gerbault's in +the evening and play cards. Among the faithful friends--faithful in +their attendance, that is--were Messieurs Clairval and Batonnin; among +those who came only occasionally was young Anatole de Raincy, who, like +a well-bred youth, had not taken offence at Adolphine's refusal of his +hand; and, being still a great lover of music, did not, because of that +refusal, renounce the pleasure of singing duets with her. + +Since Fanny had been a widow, she had come regularly to her father's to +dinner on Thursday; her sparkling conversation and her playful humor, +upon which her bereavement had imposed silence for a fortnight at most, +contributed not a little to the success of the evening party. The young +widow, who knew that Anatole de Raincy had sought Adolphine's hand and +had been refused, never failed, when she found herself in that young +gentleman's company, to dart glances at him which might well have turned +his head, but for the fact that, in order to captivate him, a woman must +first of all possess a sweet voice; and Fanny sang very little, and then +her singing was not true. + +So that Monsieur de Raincy did not respond to the glances of the pretty +widow, who soon confided to her sister that that Monsieur Anatole was +nothing but a canary; that he ought to be fed on nothing but chickweed. + +On the day in question, Adolphine, when she was joined by her sister, +whom she had not seen during the week, experienced a feeling of +discomfort which she strove to overcome, saying to her hurriedly: + +"I imagine that you will see someone here this evening whose presence +will not be distasteful to you." + +"Ah! whom do you expect this evening, pray?" + +"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont." + +"Gustave! Is it possible? Gustave has returned, and you haven't told +me?" + +"You have only just come; I couldn't tell you any sooner." + +"But when did he return? When did you see him?" + +"He came to see us on Monday; I believe he arrived in Paris the night +before." + +"What! he has been here since Monday, and I didn't know it! And he's +coming to-night--you are quite sure? Did father invite him for +to-night?" + +"Father didn't actually invite him; but he knows that we receive on +Thursdays, and, as he expressed a wish to visit us anew---- And then, he +knows that he will meet you." + +"Did he talk much about me? Does he act as if he still loved me? Oh! +tell me everything he said, little sister; don't forget a single thing. +It is very important; I must know what to expect." + +Adolphine made an effort, and replied in a voice trembling with emotion: + +"Yes, Monsieur Gustave told me that he still loved you, that he had +never ceased to think of you." + +"Oh! how sweet of him! There's constancy for you! And they say that men +can't be faithful!--The poor fellows: how they are slandered! Dear +Gustave! then he's well pleased that I am a widow, I suppose?" + +"You can understand that he couldn't quite say that." + +"No, no, but he thinks it; that's enough. And he's coming? Mon Dieu! how +does my hair look? it seems to me that this cap hides my forehead too +much." + +"You look very well; and, besides, doesn't a woman always look well to +her lover?" + +"Oh! my dear girl, in order to please, one must always try to look +pretty." + +And Fanny ran to a mirror; she arranged and rearranged her hair, took +off her cap and put it on again; and finally tossed it aside, saying: + +"I certainly look better without a cap." + +"But, sister, I supposed that your mourning required----" + +"My dear girl, I've been a widow more than six months; I have a right to +arrange my head as I please, and when one has fine hair it's never a +crime to show it." + +During dinner, Fanny talked incessantly of Gustave; Adolphine said +nothing; Monsieur Gerbault let his elder daughter talk on, but he kept a +serious countenance and looked frequently at Adolphine. At the time that +she fainted at the idea that Gustave was dead, a sudden light had shone +in upon her father's mind; but he had made no sign; he respected his +younger daughter's secret, although at the bottom of his heart he was +the more deeply touched by her suffering, because he could see no way of +putting an end to it. + +The dinner seemed horribly long to Fanny; she asked for the coffee +before her father had finished his dessert, and kept leaving the table +to look at herself in the mirror. This manoeuvre was repeated so often +that Monsieur Gerbault could not resist the temptation to say to her, +with a smile: + +"My dear, it seems to me that, for a widow, you are rather coquettish." + +"In my opinion, father," she made haste to reply, "a widow is more +excusable for being coquettish than a married woman whose husband is +alive; for, you see, a widow is free." + +"Yes, no doubt that is true, especially when she has been a widow a long +while." + +"Well, do you call six months nothing? And I am in my seventh!" + +"Yes, indeed! yes, indeed!--Never mind; the story of the _Matron of +Ephesus_ no longer seems improbable to me." + +"What's that about the _Matron of Ephesus_? I don't know that story." + +"It's a fable; but it might very well be history, after all." + +"Ah! did someone ring?" + +"I didn't hear anything." + +"How late your people come!" + +"Do you think so? It's only seven o'clock." + +"Nonsense! Your clock is slow." + +"It keeps excellent time." + +"Oh! I don't know what's the matter with me; I can't keep still." + +Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, thinking: + +"It's her love for him that makes her so coquettish and so impatient! +It's very funny; when he used to come before, I never thought of looking +in my mirror; I thought of him, not of myself." + +At last, the bell rang; it was Monsieur Clairval, cold, phlegmatic, +taciturn. Next came Madame Mirallon, who always wore full dress, even at +small parties. Next came a lawyer and a doctor, enthusiastic whist +players, who were constantly disputing, one being a hot partisan of the +short-suit lead, the other declaring that a good player would never +stoop to that. + +At every ring, Fanny gazed eagerly at the door; she made a funny little +wry face when she saw that the person who appeared was not he whom she +expected. + +"My gentleman keeps us waiting a long while!" she murmured; then ran to +her sister.--"Adolphine, are you sure you told him Thursday? Perhaps you +said some other day?" + +"No. At all events, he knows that we have always received on Thursday." + +"He knows, he knows! When a man travels so much, he can easily forget. +It's after eight o'clock, and you see he doesn't come." + +"Eight o'clock isn't late. Never fear; he'll come." + +"You think so?" + +"Oh! I am sure of it." + +"You are quite sure that he still loves me?" + +"If he doesn't, why should he have told me that he did?" + +"Oh! my dear, men say so many things that they don't think!" + +"I can't understand how anyone can lie about love." + +"Ah! you make me laugh; love's just the thing they lie most +about.--There's the bell. This time it must be he." + +Fanny's expectation was deceived once more; Monsieur Batonnin appeared, +with his inevitable smile, and his measured words. + +"What a bore!" muttered the young woman, moving uneasily on her chair; +"it's that wretched Batonnin--the doll-faced man, as we used to call him +at our parties." + +"Don't you like him? Why, he used to go to your house----" + +"Well! what does that prove? Do you imagine that, in society, we are +fond of everybody we receive? On the contrary, three-quarters of the +time the greatest pleasure we have is in passing all our guests in +review and picking them to pieces." + +"Ah! what a pitiful sort of pleasure! But whom can you share it with? +for, if you speak ill of everybody----" + +"You take a new-comer, and go and sit down with him in a corner of the +salon; and there, on the pretext of telling him who people are, you give +everybody a curry-combing. It's awfully amusing!" + +"But the new-comer, if he isn't an idiot, must say to himself: 'As soon +as I have gone, she'll say as much about me.'" + +"Oh! we don't even wait till he's gone to do that." + +Monsieur Batonnin, having paid his respects to Monsieur Gerbault and to +the card-players, joined the two sisters. + +"How are the charming widow and her lovely sister? The rose and the +bud--or, rather, two buds--or two roses; for, both being flowers, and +the flowers being sisters, and having thorns--why----" + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, make up your mind. I want to know whether I am +a rose or a bud," said Fanny, glancing at the guest with a mocking +expression. + +"Madame, being no longer unmarried, you are necessarily a rose." + +"All right; that fixes my status! And my sister is a bud?" + +"Yes, to be sure--but I am pained to observe that this charming bud has +drooped a little on its stalk for some time past." + +"Do you hear, Adolphine? Monsieur Batonnin thinks that you are drooping +on your stalk, which means, I presume, that you are losing your +freshness." + +"That isn't exactly what I meant to say." + +"Don't try to back down, Monsieur Batonnin; besides, you are right; my +sister has changed of late. She assures us that she is not ill, that she +has no pain; for my part, I am convinced that something is the matter, +but she doesn't choose to make me her confidante." + +"Because I have nothing to confide," rejoined Adolphine, in a grave +tone; "and it seems to me that monsieur might very well have avoided +this subject." + +"Excuse me, mademoiselle; I should be much distressed to have offended +you; it was my friendship for you which led me to----" + +"I myself, monsieur, have never been able to understand the kind of +friendship which leads one to say to people point-blank: 'Mon Dieu! how +you have changed! you are deathly pale! are you ill? you look very +poorly!' If the person to whom you say it is really well, then you have +seen awry; if she is really ill, you run the risk of making her worse by +frightening her as to her condition. In either case, you see, it would +be better to say nothing. Such manifestations of interest resemble those +of the friends who can't reach you quickly enough when they have bad +news to tell, but whom you never see when you have had any good fortune +for which congratulations would be in order." + +Monsieur Batonnin bit his lips, and tried to think of an answer; but +they had ceased to pay any heed to him, for the door of the salon opened +once more, and this time it was Gustave who appeared. + + + + +XLV + +JOYS AND TORMENTS OF LOVE + + +The young man, having shaken hands with Monsieur Gerbault, walked toward +Adolphine and her sister; it was easy to see how excited and perturbed +he was; but Adolphine, whose emotion was even greater perhaps, hastily +left her seat and, after responding to Gustave's greeting, went to talk +with Monsieur Clairval, who was not playing cards at that moment; so +that there was no one to interfere with the interview which Gustave +desired to have with her sister. + +As for Fanny, she was absolutely unembarrassed; she smiled sweetly on +Gustave, greeted him as if she had seen him the day before, and said, +pointing to a seat by her side: + +"So here you are at last, monsieur le voyageur! Mon Dieu! you seem to be +imitating the Wandering Jew nowadays; you travel all the time, you are +never at rest. Do you know, monsieur, that your friends are not +reconciled to your long absences, and you surely will put an end to your +peregrinations--unless you have a fancy to discover a new world?" + +Gustave, bewildered by the jocular tone in which the widow addressed +him, was unable for a moment to find words in which to reply. Fanny +interpreted his confusion to her own advantage, and continued, but with +a change of manner, and in an almost sentimental tone: + +"Many things have happened since we met." + +"Yes, madame; I have heard of the--loss you have sustained; and I beg +you to believe that I shared the grief which you must have felt." + +"I don't doubt it; you have so much delicacy of feeling, Monsieur +Gustave! Yes, I had a very cruel experience, although Monsieur Monléard +hardly deserved the tears I shed for him. He was a proud man, +overflowing with vanity, hard-hearted, loving only himself, conceited, +self-sufficient; but he is dead, I don't mean to speak ill of him, +although he left me in a decidedly equivocal position. Ah! if I had +known--if I could have foreseen. I have bitterly regretted +what--what----" Then, suddenly changing her tone again, and becoming +playful once more: "You are just from Berlin, I hear? Is there much fun +there? Are the balls gorgeous? do the women dress well? does everybody +go to the theatre? The Germans are very fond of music; you must have +gone to concerts and evening parties and the play a great deal. Ah! what +fortunate creatures men are! They can do whatever they please, while we +poor women are obliged to stay at home, and, in many cases, never have +anyone come to see us! That's the way I've been living for six months; +and I am terribly bored; oh! terribly!" + +"You had your sister, at least, to share your troubles." + +"My sister! She's a lively creature, isn't she? I don't know what's been +the matter with her lately, but she's a regular extinguisher. And then, +you know, my temperament isn't like Adolphine's; she is melancholy by +nature, and I am very light-headed. Don't you remember, Gustave? +Heavens! what a mad creature I am! here I am calling you Gustave, just +as I used to before I was married! Does that offend you?" + +"Oh! you can't think it; it reminds me of such a happy time!" + +"Why, I don't see but that that time has come back; for we are in the +same position that we were then--almost." + +Gustave could not restrain a sigh at that _almost_. The young widow made +haste to continue: + +"And now that I am free, that I am my own mistress, won't you do me the +favor of coming to see me sometimes, Monsieur Gustave? Won't you have a +little pity on the tedium of a poor widow, who was so anxious for you to +come back, who talked about you every day with Adolphine?" + +"What, madame! can it be true? you have thought sometimes of me?" + +"He asks me if I have thought of him! he doubts it!--Is it because you +had altogether forgotten me?" + +"I, forget you? Ah! that would be impossible! Your lovely features are +engraved on my heart, on my mind. Although far from you, I saw you all +the time. Ah! Fanny, when one has once loved you.--But, pardon me, +madame, I am losing my head; I call you Fanny, as I used." + +"That doesn't offend me in the least; on the contrary, I like it. But +just see what faces Monsieur Batonnin is making at us! One would say +that he was trying to throw his eyes at us. Mon Dieu! how funny he is +when he looks like that! Ha! ha! ha! it's enough to kill one." + +"Madame Monléard is in great spirits to-night," said Monsieur Clairval +to Monsieur Batonnin, who replied: + +"I've noticed that she's been in much better spirits ever since she's +been a widow." + +"That Monsieur Batonnin, with his soft-spoken ways, always has something +unkind to say," muttered Madame de Mirallon. + +"And he smears honey on his words, to make them go down; that's the +custom." + +Adolphine had walked mechanically to the piano; she was suffering +intensely, she would have liked to leave the salon, but she dared not, +because it would have worried her father. To make her misery complete, +Monsieur Batonnin joined her. + +"Are we going to have the pleasure of hearing you sing, mademoiselle?" + +"No, monsieur; I could not possibly sing; I have a very sore throat." + +"I trust, mademoiselle, that you are not still offended with me because +I thought that you looked ill?" + +"Oh! not at all, monsieur; indeed, I think that you must have been +right, for I don't feel very well this evening." + +"Madame your sister is well enough for two, I judge, she is in such good +spirits; she seems to be talking a good deal with that gentleman. Isn't +he the same one who was with you one morning when I came to your room +with your father?" + +"Yes, monsieur; that is he." + +"He was very dismal then; it seems that his gloom has disappeared, for +he is laughing heartily with your sister. Are they acquainted?" + +"Why, to be sure; Monsieur Gustave is an old friend of ours." + +"Very good! I said to myself: 'Madame Monléard doesn't stand much on +ceremony with that young man; he must be an old acquaintance, at +least.'" + +To avoid listening any longer to Monsieur Batonnin, Adolphine seated +herself by the whist table, and pretended to watch the game; but, sit +where she would, she heard her sister's exclamations, whispering, and +laughter, and the evening seemed endless to her. + +At last the clock struck eleven; Fanny rose and prepared to take her +leave. Gustave looked at her, as if undecided as to what he should do, +but the young widow observed: + +"Monsieur Clairval is playing whist; besides, I don't want him always to +have the trouble of going home with me; and as Monsieur Gustave is here, +perhaps he would be willing to escort me as far as my door." + +Gustave's face beamed; he hastened to say that he should be too happy to +offer her his arm. Whereupon, Fanny made haste to say good-night to her +father and sister. + +The young man, in his turn, went to Adolphine, and said to her in an +undertone: + +"Dear little sister, I am a very happy man! She has given me permission +to call on her; she has even given me to understand that she regrets +having refused to marry me; in short, she is touched by my constancy." + +"It is well; be happy, that is my dearest wish; and, above all things, +go to my sister's; that will be much better, believe me, than to come to +court her here." + +Gustave was about to reply, but Fanny called him and took him away. +Thereupon Adolphine went to her room, saying to herself: + +"Such evenings as this are too horrible; I shall not have the courage to +endure them often. Oh! let them be happy together! but I pray that he +may not come here any more, that I may not be forced to be a witness of +his love for another!" + + + + +XLVI + +IN WHICH CHERAMI ACTS LIKE SAINT ANTHONY + + +Gustave did not fail to take advantage of the permission Fanny had +accorded him. Two days after the party at which they had met, he called +upon the young widow, who greeted him thus: + +"I began to think that you were off on your travels again, and that we +shouldn't see you for another six months." + +"Oh! I have no desire to travel now; I am too happy in Paris; especially +if you allow me to come to see you." + +"What good does it do for me to allow it, when you don't come? I +expected you the day before yesterday, I expected you yesterday." + +"I was afraid of being presumptuous if I took advantage too soon of the +permission you gave me." + +"I thought that you wouldn't stand on ceremony, and that we should be on +the same terms together as before my marriage to Monsieur Monléard." + +These words were accompanied by such a soft glance that Gustave no +longer doubted that he was loved. He took Fanny's hand and covered it +with kisses; she did not resist, and her hand responded tenderly to the +pressure of his. Any other than Gustave would probably have carried +further his desires and his acts, but he had long been accustomed to +look upon Fanny as the woman whom he wished to make his wife; and in his +love there was a sort of respect which her widow's dress could not fail +to intensify. + +So Gustave confined himself to repeating that he had never ceased to be +enamored of her whom he had hoped to call his wife, and that he would be +very, very happy if his hopes could be gratified at last. For her part, +Fanny gave him to understand that while she might once have been +ambitious and fickle, those failings should be charged to her age and +consequent giddiness, and that, in reality, her heart had never been in +agreement with her vanity. + +Then the young widow, by a natural transition, adroitly led Gustave on +to speak of his position and prospects. He was assured of ten thousand +francs a year if he remained in his uncle's banking-house; he could hope +for more in the future; to be sure, Monsieur Grandcourt would not be +pleased to have his nephew marry, but he would place no obstacle in the +way of the execution of his project. They would not live in the banker's +house, but would take pleasant apartments not far from his offices; they +would keep no carriage; he would take his wife to the theatre very +often, and to the country; he would not give her diamonds, but she +should have handsome dresses, and, as she was charming in herself, she +would always be the loveliest of women, even if she were not covered +with jewels. + +In such conversation as this, forming the most attractive plans for the +future, the hours which Gustave passed at Fanny's side seemed very +short. Being entirely at liberty to see his love at her own home, he +went much less to Monsieur Gerbault's. As for Adolphine, she did not go +to her sister's at all; for she knew that she would meet Gustave there, +and she avoided his presence as much as possible. + +Two months passed thus, during which time Cherami saw very little of +Gustave, who spent with Fanny all the time that he could spare from his +business. + +But one morning, just as our lover was starting to call on his enslaver, +Cherami caught him on the wing. + +"Par la sambleu! my dear Gustave, is there no way of having a word with +you? Have you nothing to say to your friend? Or am I no longer your +friend? One would say that you avoided me!" + +"No, no, my dear Arthur, far from it; it always gives me great pleasure +to see you; but you are well aware that I am in love, more in love than +ever, and that I pass with Fanny all the time I can steal from my +duties." + +"Very good! and tell me about this love of yours; sapristi! are you +satisfied? Does it go as you want it to this time? Tell me that much, at +least." + +"Ah! my friend, I am the happiest of men! Fanny loves me; I can't +possibly doubt it now. As soon as her mourning is at an end, we are to +be married; we are already making our plans, our projects for the +future; next month, as it will be almost ten months then, we shall begin +to look about for apartments, which I shall have furnished and decorated +in advance. I intend that Fanny shall find them fascinating." + +"Well, I see that everything is going all right. The little woman is +yours this time--and you think so much of her!--And her sister, the good +Adolphine--do you still see her?" + +"I have seen very little of her lately; she never comes to her sister's, +and that surprises me; twice I have tried to talk with Adolphine, to +tell her that my marriage to Fanny was settled; but I couldn't find her, +she had gone out; for I can't believe that she would have refused to +see me--her brother." + +"In all this excitement, you haven't thought about a place for me, I +suppose?" + +"Pardon me, I did mention it to my uncle. He doesn't seem to believe +that you are serious in your desire for employment." + +"Ah! pardieu, if your uncle has got to have a hand in it, I am very +certain that I shall never get a place!" + +"Never fear; I will attend to it myself, but there's no hurry. Are you +in need of money? Tell me." + +"Why, no, I am not in need of money. Do you suppose that I have already +gone through the thousand francs you loaned me?" + +"But that was more than two months ago, and----" + +"True, and formerly I should have seen the last of it in a week; I +should have made only seven mouthfuls of it. But to-day it's different! +I told you that I had reformed. I have discovered, just at the beginning +of Boulevard du Temple, a soup dealer who supplies dinners; and +delicious dinners, too, on my word of honor! you don't have a great +variety of dishes, to be sure; but everything is good. Excellent roast +beef; you would fancy you were in London; and you can dine abundantly +for eighteen sous. Eighteen sous! I used to give more than that to the +waiter." + +"My friend, you shouldn't go to extremes in anything; it seems to me +that you are carrying your reformation too far." + +"I am very well pleased; I believe that I shall end by living on my five +hundred and fifty francs a year; when that time comes, I propose to +parade the streets between two clarionets, to exhibit myself." + +"After I am married, I will find you a suitable place." + +"Make haste and marry, then, that I may have my cue. By the way, I +venture to believe that it won't come off without notice to me? I don't +ask to be invited to the wedding; that would be presumptuous; but I +desire, at least, to salute the bridal couple when they leave the +church." + +"And I propose that you shall be of the wedding party. We shall not give +a ball,--her widowhood is too recent,--but a handsome banquet, and I +hope that, on that day, you will forget your reformation. But, adieu! I +am late, she is expecting me. You will hear from me soon." + +"A mighty good fellow!" said Cherami to himself, as Gustave hurried +away; "he deserves to be happy! But will he be, with his Fanny? Hum! I'm +none too sure of it. For my part, I should prefer the other; but as he's +in love with this one--to be sure, she's a very pretty woman, but I, old +fox that I am, I wouldn't trust her!--Sapristi! what do I see? My two +little pearls, Laurette and Lucie, and I have money in my pocket! But, +no; by Saint Anthony, I will not yield to the temptation! Let's be off +before they see me." + +Laurette and Lucie were, in fact, coming toward Cherami, both dressed +with much coquetry and looking very attractive; but he, after heaving a +profound sigh, retreated with so much precipitation, that he ran into +the door of an omnibus, which had stopped for a lady; and, being urged +by the conductor, he concluded to enter also. + + + + +XLVII + +THE RETURN FROM ITALY + + +Several weeks passed. It was a Thursday; and Fanny, who had not been at +her father's for a long time, said to Gustave when she saw him during +the day: + +"I must go to dine with father to-day, my dear; I trust that you will +come there this evening?" + +"As you will be there, you may be certain that I will come. By the way, +I saw that there was an apartment to rent in a nice house on Rue +Fontaine. Do you like that quarter?" + +"Very much." + +"Very well; I will go some time to-day to look at it, and if it seems to +me to be suitable I will tell you this evening, so that you can go to +see it. For ten months have passed; the time is not very far away when I +shall be able to call you my wife! so it is none too soon for me to see +about getting an apartment ready." + +"Do so, my dear; you can tell me to-night if you have found what we +want." + +About five o'clock, the widow went to her father's. Monsieur Gerbault +always welcomed his daughter kindly, and Adolphine did her utmost to +smile on her sister. + +"So you're really going to marry Gustave this time, are you?" said +Monsieur Gerbault. + +"Why shouldn't I, father? Do you think I shall be doing wrong?" + +"No--but I regret that you didn't marry him a year ago." + +"Why, father, it seems to me that I acted very wisely! Gustave had only +a very modest salary then. Monsieur Monléard offered me a fortune, and I +could not hesitate; the sequel didn't come up to my hopes; but certainly +no one could have foreseen that." + +"But you are very lucky to fall in with a man who still loves you after +you have once cast him off." + +"Mon Dieu! father, if Gustave had not loved me, some other man would +have turned up--that's all there is to that." + +"Possibly; at all events, I see that you have an answer for everything." + +Adolphine listened to her sister with an air of amazement, but she did +not venture to make a single reflection; she kept to herself the +thoughts which Fanny's remarks inspired; and she avoided, so far as she +possibly could, any conversation with her on the subject of her +approaching marriage to Gustave. + +The evening brought to Monsieur Gerbault's salon his faithful whist +players, and Gustave, who shook hands warmly with the man whom he +already looked upon as his father-in-law, and affectionately with +Adolphine. She, by an involuntary movement, withdrew her hand at first; +but the next moment she forced herself to smile, and offered her hand to +Gustave, saying: + +"I beg your pardon. I thought you were Monsieur de Raincy." + +"And she absolutely refuses to give her hand to him," said Fanny, with a +laugh, "although he offers his name in exchange for it. Don't you think, +Gustave, that she makes a great mistake in refusing that young man?" + +"Why so, if she doesn't love him?" + +"As if people married for love!" + +Realizing that she had said something which might distress Gustave, the +young woman hastily added: + +"When a woman has never been married, she ought to be reasonable; with a +widow, it's different; she can afford to obey the dictates of her +heart." + +These words speedily restored the serenity of Gustave's brow, which had +become a little clouded. A moment later, Monsieur Batonnin arrived, and, +having saluted the company, said, with a radiant expression: + +"I have just met someone, whom you will probably see this evening, for +when I said: 'I am going to pass the evening at Monsieur Gerbault's,' he +exclaimed: 'Oh! I mean to go there, too, if only for a moment.'" + +"Who is it?" queried Monsieur Gerbault. + +"Someone who is very agreeable--just back from Italy. What! can't you +guess? Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière." + +"Ah! the dear count! Has he returned?" + +"Only yesterday. He instantly asked me for all the news. When I told him +that Madame Monléard was a widow, he was tremendously surprised; he +couldn't get over it." + +"Mon Dieu! how stupid that man is!" muttered Gustave, glancing at Fanny. + +Since the announcement of the Comte de la Bérinière's return, she seemed +disturbed and preoccupied. In a few moments, she left her seat between +her sister and Gustave, went to the window for a moment, as if to get a +breath of air, and then, instead of returning to her former seat, sat +down near the whist table. + +Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, and did not lose a single +one of her movements. Meanwhile, Gustave, seeing Fanny seat herself at a +distance, drew nearer to Adolphine, and said: + +"Your sister, I see, wishes me to tell you of our delightful plans for +the future; for I have had no chance to talk with you lately, dear +Adolphine; I have been here several times, but have failed to find you." + +"Yes, I know it." + +"I think that you are not indifferent to what interests me, that you +take pleasure in my happiness. You saw me when I was so unhappy! I am +sure that you want to see me happy now." + +"Yes, of course I do. A love like yours well deserves to be +reciprocated." + +Gustave began to lay before Adolphine all the plans he had formed for +the future, when he should be her brother-in-law. Adolphine listened +with only half an ear; she seemed much more interested in watching her +sister, who pretended to take a deep interest in the game of whist; but +soon the arrival of the Comte de la Bérinière caused a general movement. +Everyone congratulated the traveller on the happy influence which the +climate of Italy seemed to have had on his health. + +"Yes, I am very well indeed," said the count, who, after bowing coldly +to Adolphine, eagerly approached her sister. "Italy's a very beautiful +country, but it isn't equal to France, especially Paris! I tell you, +there is nothing like our Parisian women; and what I look at first of +all, in any country, is the women." + +"Still, you have stayed away a long while, monsieur le comte," said the +widow, motioning to Monsieur de la Bérinière to take a seat by her side, +the gesture being accompanied by her most charming smile. + +The count hastened to obey; and said to her, almost in a whisper: + +"I have, in truth, been absent more than a year; and, meanwhile, certain +things have happened which it was impossible to foresee. Permit me to +offer you my condolence on your widowhood." + +"Yes, I am a widow, I have become free again; it is more than ten months +since it happened. Truly, it could hardly have been anticipated! You +must find me greatly changed, do you not? I have grown old and thin--and +then, this costume is so dismal!" + +"In other words, you are still captivating; indeed, if such a thing were +possible, I should say that you are even lovelier than you were. As for +your dress--what does that matter? You adorn whatever you wear." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, you flatter me; you don't mean what you say." + +"Do I not? I mean it and feel it; you are an enchantress!" + +"Italy is where you must have seen the pretty women!" + +"Yes, there are many of them there; but I say again, they can't hold a +candle to Parisian women in general, and to you in particular." + +"Oh! hush! Are you no longer in love with my sister?" + +"Your sister? Faith! no; she refused my hand; I bear her no ill-will for +it; for, frankly, I am very glad of it now." + +"Why so, pray?" + +"Oh! I can't tell you here." + +"Very well! then you must come to see me, and tell me." + +"Do you give me leave to come to pay my respects to you?" + +"More than that, I count upon it." + +"You are adorable." + +It seemed to Gustave that Fanny's conversation with the count was +unconscionably long. He could not see all the coquettish little grimaces +with which the widow accompanied her words, because she had taken pains +to turn her chair so that she was not facing the man she was to marry; +but he thought it very strange that Fanny could pass so long a time +without thinking of him, without wanting him near her. The young man +walked through the salon, gazing at the young widow, and sometimes +stopping beside her. She did not appear to pay the slightest heed to +him. + +Being unable longer to control his impatience, he decided to interrupt +their conversation, and said aloud to Fanny: + +"My dear Fanny, I went to-day to see that apartment on Rue Fontaine--you +know--that I spoke to you about this morning?" + +The widow was perceptibly annoyed. However, she replied, with a +surprised air: + +"What! what apartment? I don't remember. Oh! yes, yes, I know what you +mean." + +"Well, the apartment is very well arranged and very attractive. I am +confident that you will like it; but you must look at it immediately, +for the chances are that it will be let very soon." + +"Very well, very well; I will go to look at it.--Oh! Monsieur de la +Bérinière, you went to Naples, didn't you? Did you see Vesuvius vomit +flame? That is something I am very curious to see. Do tell me what a +volcano is like?" + +Gustave walked away, far from satisfied. It seemed to him that his +future spouse was too deeply interested in Italy. He returned to +Adolphine, lost in thought, and sat down beside her. She said nothing, +but she looked at him and read his thoughts. + +Monsieur Gerbault succeeded at last in talking with the count. Whereupon +Gustave returned to Fanny, and said to her: + +"Aren't we going? You said that you should go home early." + +But the little widow, who did not choose to have the count see her go +away with Gustave, replied: + +"It's too early; my father would be angry if I should go now." + +"But you said----" + +"Mon Dieu! you seem to be in a great hurry to go!" + +Gustave bit his lips and said no more. Monsieur Batonnin joined him, and +said with a smile: + +"You don't seem to be doing anything, Monsieur Gustave. Don't you play +cards?" + +"I don't care for cards, monsieur." + +"You prefer to talk with the ladies--I can understand that. You have +been travelling, too; and the ladies like to hear about travels. Have +you seen any volcanoes?" + +"No, monsieur." + +And Gustave turned his back on Batonnin, who smiled at his own +reflection in a mirror. + +The count soon took his hat, and was about to withdraw, without a word, +as the custom is in society; but Fanny, who had kept her eyes on him, +found an excuse for standing in his path, and said to him in an +undertone: + +"I shall expect you to-morrow." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière replied by a graceful inclination, and +disappeared. + +A few moments later, Fanny said to Gustave: + +"Well, monsieur; if you want to go, I am at your service." + +"I am at yours, rather, madame." + +"Let us go." + +Adolphine went up to Gustave of her own motion, and pressed his hand +affectionately. + +In the street, the young man began: + +"Monsieur de la Bérinière's conversation evidently interested you very +much? You talked with nobody but him; you left your sister and me, and +forgot all about us." + +"Why, I enjoyed listening to what he told me about Italy. He is very +pleasant, and amusing to listen to. I didn't suppose that you would see +any harm in that." + +"I see no harm in the conversation; but I am horribly bored when you +talk to anybody else for long. I am sorry that you don't feel the same +way." + +"Oh! what childishness! As if I were not always there!--How my head does +ache! I shall have a sick headache to-morrow, I am sure." + +"You will go to look at that apartment, won't you?" + +"Yes, if my head doesn't ache; but if it does, I certainly shall not +stir from my bed." + +They arrived at Fanny's door, and the future husband and wife parted +much more coldly than usual. + +The next morning, the young widow gave these orders to her servant: + +"If Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière calls, you will admit him at once. +If Monsieur Gustave comes, you will tell him that I have a sick +headache, that I am asleep; and you will not let him in on any pretext. +Do you understand?" + +"Yes, madame." + +Fanny took the greatest pains with her hair, her dress, and every part +of her toilet; she omitted nothing that was adapted to captivate, to +dazzle, to seduce. + +At one o'clock, Monsieur de la Bérinière was ushered into the pretty +creature's boudoir, where she awaited him, seated in a graceful attitude +on a sofa, and motioned him to a seat by her side. + +"You see, fair lady, that I take advantage of the permission accorded +me," said the count, gallantly kissing Fanny's little hand. + +"It was presumptuous in me, perhaps, to tell you that I expected you; +but I wanted to talk with you, and one has little chance to talk in +society." + +"You give me the most delicious pleasure--a tête-à-tête with you! It is +a priceless favor to me. It is very true that in society it is difficult +to say--all that one thinks; and last night, at your father's, there was +a young man who seemed to be vexed at our conversation." + +"Oh! Gustave.--He's an old play-fellow of mine." + +"An old play-fellow? Isn't he something more than that?" + +"What! what do you mean?" + +"Stay, charming widow, I will explain my meaning without beating about +the bush. Yesterday, when he told me that you were a widow, Monsieur +Batonnin told me also that you were to marry again very soon." + +"Mon Dieu! what a chatterbox that Monsieur Batonnin is! what business is +it of his?" + +"It is quite possible that he's a chatterbox; but, tell me, is it the +truth? Are you going to marry Monsieur Gustave, your old play-fellow?" + +"Yes, it is true that there has been some talk of marriage between us; +but it's a long way from that to an actual marriage." + +"Really--you are not actually engaged to him?" + +"Engaged? Not by any means!" + +"But--that apartment that he spoke about last night, that he asked you +to go to look at?" + +"Why, it's an apartment that he is thinking of renting for himself, and +he wants my advice as to the arrangement of the rooms; because a woman +understands such things better than a man, don't you see? But now it's +your turn, monsieur le comte, to tell me why you are so anxious to know +whether my hand is at my disposition." + +"Why, charming creature! can't you guess why? Don't you remember what I +said to you one day, at your own house, soon after your marriage? I +said: 'Monléard has been smarter than I, he has got ahead of me; for, if +it had not been for him, I would have asked you to be Comtesse de la +Bérinière.'--Very good; what I could not do then, I should be very happy +to do to-day. Now, you see, I don't propose to lose any time and let +some other man get ahead of me; I go straight to the point. If you are +not engaged, I offer you my name and my fortune; I will transform you +into a fascinating countess." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, can I believe you? do you really mean what you +say? I most certainly am not engaged--but my sister--you loved her?" + +"I thought of your sister for a moment, solely with a view of entering +your family. You cannot fear to make her unhappy by accepting my hand, +since she refused it." + +"True, the little fool! I wouldn't have refused it, I can tell you!" + +"Very well; then you accept now--you consent to become a countess? Give +me your hand, as a token of your consent." + +Fanny pretended to be embarrassed, and lowered her eyes; but she gave +her hand to the count, who threw himself at her feet, crying: + +"I am the happiest of men!" + +During this interview, Gustave had called and asked for Fanny; but the +maid said to him: + +"It is impossible for you to see her, monsieur; she has a sick headache; +she is asleep, and told me not to wake her." + +"And her order applies to me too?" + +"Oh! yes, monsieur; you cannot see madame; her headache's very bad." + + + + +XLVIII + +WOMAN CHANGES OFT + + +Gustave returned to his office sadly out of temper. He was surprised +that for a headache Fanny should refuse to see him; he said to himself +that, if he were ill, the presence of his loved one could not fail to do +him good and cure him at once. Then, in spite of himself, he recalled +Fanny's conduct at her father's, her evident pleasure in conversing with +Monsieur de la Bérinière, while she barely listened to what he, Gustave, +said to her. All this distressed and worried him. He could not be +jealous of the count, who was sixty years old, but he was displeased +with Fanny; and while he sought excuses for her, saying to himself that +a young woman was not debarred from being a little coquettish, from +liking to cut a figure in society, he feared, nevertheless, that she was +not capable of loving as he loved. + +We often hear of presentiments; but, in most cases, these presentiments +are simply the assembling of our memories so as to form a new light, +which enlightens our minds, destroys our illusions, undeceives our +hearts. With the aid of this new light, we foresee the treachery that +lies in wait for us, and we say: "I had a presentiment of it." + +Gustave returned to Fanny's that evening; it was natural enough that he +should be anxious to know whether the headache had disappeared. The +servant informed him that madame had gone out. + +"Gone out!" cried Gustave; "she is better, then?" + +"_Dame_! yes, monsieur; it's evident that madame has got rid of her sick +headache." + +"Where has she gone?" + +"I don't know, monsieur." + +"And she left no message for me, if I came?" + +"Not a word." + +"Has she gone to her father's?" + +"I said that I didn't know." + +"Very well; I will come again. Ask her to wait for me, when she +returns." + +The young man hurried to Monsieur Gerbault's. He found Adolphine alone. +She read at once on his face that he was suffering, and asked him as she +took his hand: + +"What has happened, my friend? Something is the matter." + +"Why---- Have you seen your sister to-day?" + +"No." + +"You have not?" + +"No, she hasn't been here. Why do you ask?" + +"Because I haven't seen her to-day, either. This morning, I called on +her; I was told that she had a headache and was asleep. But this evening +I called again, and she had gone out." + +"Well, she has probably gone to see some of her friends. She has +retained some acquaintances from the time when her husband was living, +and she goes to see them sometimes. I can see nothing disturbing in +that." + +"But, after a whole day without seeing each other, to go out in the +evening without saying where she's going--without leaving a word for +me!" + +"Fanny is so thoughtless; she probably forgot." + +"Dear Adolphine! you try to excuse your sister, but I am sure that you +blame her, at the bottom of your heart. Don't you remember how unkind +she was to me last night?" + +"Why, I didn't notice----" + +"Yes, yes, you did notice that she left us to go and talk with that +Monsieur de la Bérinière. Who is that man? wherever did she know him?" + +"He was a friend of her husband, and in that way became acquainted with +father." + +"Is he rich?" + +"He has forty thousand francs a year." + +"Married?" + +"No, he's an old bachelor; he asked father once for my hand." + +"And you refused him?" + +"Yes." + +"You thought him too old, didn't you?" + +"That wasn't the reason; but I refused him." + +"Do you know, Adolphine, I have no idea what is going on in Fanny's +head, but all this isn't natural. At the point we have reached,--we are +to be married in six weeks, and we are both free,--two people don't pass +a whole day without exchanging a glance, or a grasp of the hand. I tell +you, there's something wrong. Could she deceive me again? Oh! no, that +isn't possible; it would be too ghastly! too shameless!--No, I blush for +having had such a thought. I have no doubt that she is at home and +waiting for me. Au revoir, little sister!" + +"Gustave, if anything should happen, you would tell me at once, wouldn't +you?" + +But Gustave did not hear; he was already at the foot of the stairs, and +he hurried away to Fanny's house. She had not returned; he remembered +the apartment he had asked her to inspect, and, although it was hardly +customary to look at apartments in the evening, he said to himself: +"Perhaps she has gone there." And in a few moments he was in Rue +Fontaine. He inquired of the concierge who had the keys to the +apartment, and was told that no lady had come that day to look at it. + +One more hope dashed to the ground: as Fanny had gone out, why had she +not gone to inspect the apartment of which he had spoken so highly the +night before, telling her that they must make haste lest it should be +rented to others? Gustave said all this to himself as he returned to +Madame Monléard's abode. She had not returned; but it was only nine +o'clock; she must return sooner or later, and Gustave was determined not +to go to bed until he had seen her and spoken to her, even if he had to +pass half the night on sentry-go before her door. But a woman, +unattended, was unlikely to stay out late; she could not have gone to a +ball; ladies did not go alone to the theatre; so she must be at some +small party; someone would probably escort her home, but he would find +out who her escort was. + +How many ideas pass through the mind of a jealous, worried lover in a +few seconds! The imagination moves so fast that it does not know where +to stop, or on what to decide. Every moment that passed without bringing +Fanny added to Gustave's anxiety, his suffering, his suspicions. At +last, about half-past ten, a cab stopped in front of the house. Gustave +ran forward and was at the door before the cabman had alighted from his +box. Fanny was in the cab, alone. When she recognized Gustave in the man +who opened the door for her, she laughed heartily and cried: + +"Ah! you open carriage-doors now, do you? Ha! ha! I congratulate you on +your new trade." + +This outburst of merriment seemed untimely, to say the least, to +Gustave, who rejoined: + +"I have no choice but to wait for cabs to arrive, as I fail to find you +at home; as you go out without even leaving a line for me so that I may +know where you are." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! what a terrible crime! Am I no longer my own mistress--to +go where I please without asking your leave? That would be very +amusing!" + +"You know very well, Fanny, that that isn't what I mean; you know that +you are at liberty to do whatever you choose to do. So do not try to +dodge the question. At the point we have reached, it is natural for us +to tell each other what we do; for we ought to have no secrets from each +other. I came here this morning, and you didn't see me on account of +your headache." + +"Well, monsieur, am I no longer allowed to have a headache? Pay the +cabman, will you; I have come from Madame Delabert's.--Can I no longer +visit my friends, I should like to know?" + +"Come, come, Fanny, don't be angry; perhaps I was foolish to be anxious. +But it would have been so easy for you to leave word for me! Remember +that I haven't seen you at all to-day, and a whole day without seeing +you seems very long now!" + +"It isn't my fault if I have a sick headache. I can still feel the +effects of it, so I am going to bed; I am very tired." + +"Mayn't I come up with you for a moment?" + +"Oh! I should think not! it wouldn't be proper, so late." + +"It isn't eleven yet." + +"But I tell you that I still feel the effects of my headache, and that I +am going straight to bed." + +"Why didn't you go to see that apartment I told you about--on Rue +Fontaine, near Place Saint-Georges?" + +"Why didn't I? Because I forgot all about it." + +"How could you forget a thing of such importance? For, if it suits you, +we must rent it at once." + +"Oh! my dear friend, I am not anxious to stand here in the street any +longer. What do we look like--talking like this on a doorstep?" + +"Then let me come up a moment." + +"No; I tell you that I am going to bed!" + +"There's something wrong, Fanny. This isn't natural. You're not the same +with me that you were two days ago." + +"You can tell me all that to-morrow. Good-night!" + +"Very well, until to-morrow, then, madame! I trust that you will be +visible?" + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, I am always visible when I am not sick. But don't +come too early; for I don't rise with the dawn." + +Fanny knocked, and the door opened. She hurried in and closed the door +on Gustave, who remained in the street, poor fellow, unable to make up +his mind to leave his fair one's abode. He did not know what to believe. +He asked himself if he had not done wrong to reproach Fanny; she had +been to see one of her friends, and had returned alone: there was no +great harm in that. And yet, he was ill at ease, he suffered; his heart +told him that something was wrong, and that his love was not the same to +him as before. + +At last, after pacing back and forth in front of Fanny's door for nearly +an hour, gazing at those of her windows which were lighted, he decided +to go away when the lights went out. + +"I wish to-morrow were here," he thought. + +Gustave did not close his eyes that night; where is the lover who could +sleep, in his position? Only a lover who is not in love. At eight +o'clock, the young man went down to the office, where there were as yet +no clerks; but he found his uncle, who was always at his desk early. + +"The deuce!" said Monsieur Grandcourt; "you're on hand in good season! +Was it love of work that woke you?" + +"Yes, uncle; I have some accounts to look over." + +"How pale you look, and exhausted! One would say that you had been up +all night." + +"I am just out of bed." + +"I'll wager that you didn't sleep. Is there anything new in your love +affair?" + +"Why--no, uncle." + +"Your dear Fanny hasn't played you some new trick?" + +"Ah! uncle, at the point we have reached----" + +"It wouldn't surprise me at all." + +"You have a very bad opinion of her." + +"When a woman has made a fool of a man once, she will make a fool of him +again--she will always do it! However, it would be better before +marriage than after. Come and breakfast with me." + +"It's too early, uncle; I am not hungry. By the way, have you thought +about Arthur?" + +"Who's Arthur?" + +"Arthur Cherami; a good, honest fellow who is looking for a place." + +"Ah! your tall swashbuckler, who has such a scampish look--always ready +to fly at you? Upon my word, you are not fortunate in your friendships! +What sort of a place do you suppose anyone would give to that fellow? He +doesn't inspire the slightest confidence in me. He was rich once, and he +squandered his whole property: a fine recommendation!" + +"I believe that you judge him too harshly. A man may have done foolish +things, and have turned over a new leaf. With you, uncle, repentance +counts for nothing." + +"Repentance has one great defect in my eyes: it never comes till after +the wrong-doing. If a man could repent before he went wrong, that is to +say, stop before he fell, then I should have a much higher opinion of +repentance. Well, where are you going? leaving the office already?" + +Gustave could not keep still. He left the office, and ran all the way to +Fanny's house; then stopped and looked at his watch. It was barely nine +o'clock; impossible to call upon her so early. The young man walked up +Faubourg Poissonnière and kept on past the barrier; little he cared +where he went, so long as the time passed. Suddenly he ran into a tree, +which his complete absorption in his thoughts had prevented his seeing. +At that, he halted and looked about him, and was surprised to find that +he was in the open country. But he felt that the air was keener and +purer there, that it refreshed the mind and calmed the beating of the +heart; and he sat down at the foot of the tree. He breathed more freely, +he felt sensibly relieved. Ah! what a skilful physician the air is, and +what marvellous cures we owe to it! + +Gustave sat for a long while at the foot of the tree, which was bare of +leaves; for it was late in October. He reviewed in his mind the whole of +Fanny's conduct during the last two days, and wondered if his uncle were +right after all. At last he rose and returned to Paris. It was nearly +eleven o'clock when he reached the young widow's door. But he could wait +no longer; he rang the bell violently, and the maid ushered him into her +mistress's presence. + + + + +XLIX + +THE SECOND TIME + + +Fanny was sitting by the fire, in a dainty morning gown; for she was a +woman who never allowed herself to be surprised in déshabillé; but her +expression was cold and stern, as of a person who had made up her mind +and was prepared for a rupture. + +"I have come a little early, I fear," said Gustave, taking a seat, and +seeking in vain an affable smile on the widow's features; "but you will +surely forgive my impatience, I was so anxious to see you. I had almost +no chance to speak to you last night, and I had so many things to say!" + +"I, too, wished to speak with you, monsieur. I, too, have several things +to say to you." + +"_Monsieur!_ What! you call me _monsieur?_ What does that mean?" + +"In heaven's name, let us not quibble over words. If I call you +_monsieur_ now, I do so in consequence of certain reflections I have +made since yesterday. Do you know that I don't like to be followed, +spied upon; that a jealous man is an unendurable creature to me?" + +"Ah! you are trying to quarrel with me, madame?" + +"No, I am not; but I am telling you frankly the subject of my +reflections; and the result of those reflections is----" + +"Is what? go on, madame." + +"Is that I am afraid that I shall not make you happy, Gustave. I am +naturally giddy, frivolous,--but I cannot change,--and my temperament +would not harmonize at all with yours. Consequently we shall do much +better not to marry. Oh! I have come to this decision solely in my +solicitude for your happiness." + +Gustave sprang to his feet so suddenly that the little widow could not +restrain a gesture of terror. He took his stand in front of her, with +folded arms, and gazed sternly at her, saying: + +"So this is what you were aiming at--a rupture! And you dare to accuse +me of spying, to try to put me in the wrong! to accuse me, when my +conduct was simply the consequence of your own! Oh! don't think to +deceive me again. Some other motive is behind your action. You have +formed other plans." + +"That does not concern you, monsieur! I believe that I am entirely free! +I trust that you will spare me your reproaches. Well-bred people simply +part--they don't quarrel over it." + +"Never fear, madame; I shall not forget that you are a woman. But to +play this trick upon me again--ah! it is shameful! Fanny, is it true? +did I hear aright? Only two days ago, you were forming plans with me for +our life to come, your hand pressed mine, you asked me if I would always +love you." + +"Justine, bring me some wood; the fire's going out." + +The tone in which the young woman summoned her maid, having apparently +paid no heed to Gustave, capped the climax of his exasperation; he +strode up and down the room two or three times, then went to Fanny as if +to give full vent to his wrath; but he checked himself, and, having +bestowed upon her a glance in which were concentrated all his outraged +feelings, he abruptly left the room without looking back. + +For several hours thereafter, Gustave was like a madman; he was so +unprepared for the blow, that he could hardly believe in its reality. He +returned home and locked himself in his room; he dreaded to meet his +uncle and hear him say: + +"I prophesied what has happened." + +He preferred to be alone, so that he could abandon himself to his grief; +and for some time he could not keep from weeping over his lost +happiness, although he told himself that Fanny did not deserve the tears +she caused him to shed. Then he cudgelled his brain to divine what could +have caused this sudden change in her ideas. + +He determined to leave Paris again, to go away without a word to anyone; +but the next day he went to see Adolphine, to tell her of his new +unhappiness. + +Fanny's sister seemed to be expecting his visit; she held out her hand +as soon as he appeared, saying: + +"Poor Gustave! I know all! My sister has disappointed you again! It is +horribly hard!" + +"What! you know already that she refuses to marry me! Who can have told +you?" + +"Why, she herself; she came here yesterday to tell us that, as soon as +her mourning is at an end, she is going to marry----" + +"She is going to marry, you say?" + +"Why, didn't you know it?" + +"Finish, in God's name! She is going to marry----" + +"The Comte de la Bérinière." + +Gustave dropped upon a chair, repeating between his teeth: + +"The Comte de la Bérinière!" + +But there was more surprise than anger in his tone; for, on learning +that it was a man of sixty to whom Fanny gave the preference, he +realized that it was no newborn passion that had caused the change in +her heart. + +"So," he exclaimed, after a moment, "that woman is always guided by +selfish considerations! it is a fortune, a title, which she prefers to +me! For this man is rich, I suppose?" + +"Yes, very rich! And as Fanny doesn't propose to be left in poverty if +she should be widowed again, it seems that the count settles twenty +thousand francs a year on her when he marries her. But do not believe, +my friend, that we approve her conduct: when she told us of her latest +plan, father told her that the way in which she was treating you was +utterly disgraceful, and that he never wanted to see her again, countess +or no countess." + +"And what did she reply?" + +"She said that she could not imagine how we could blame her, and she +went away repeating that we cared nothing for her happiness. It seems +that the count had courted her before, and declared that he deeply +regretted her marriage to Auguste. That is why, when she saw him +again----" + +"Enough, my dear Adolphine; I don't care to know anything more. I was +mistaken in thinking that she loved me. As if anyone would ever love me! +No; there are some people who were born to love alone, never to meet a +heart that understands them." + +"Why do you say that to me, Gustave?" + +"Well, what does it matter, after all? a man cannot change his destiny. +Adieu, Adolphine!" + +"Are you going away, Gustave? Where are you going?" + +"Oh! I don't know, but I feel that I must leave Paris again. I cannot be +here when she marries the count. I am a fool, I know it perfectly well; +your sister deserves no regret; but one does not lose all one's +illusions without suffering. Adieu! give my respects to your father." + +"But you won't stay away so long this time, will you? and when you +return, you will be able to come to see me without fear; you won't meet +her here again." + +"Yes, you will see me. Adieu!" + +Gustave took leave of Adolphine, whose eyes were full of tears as she +looked after him; but he did not understand their language. He went to +his uncle, told him what had happened, and expressed a desire to go to +England and stay there for some time. + +Monsieur Grandcourt said simply: + +"That woman will end by sending you round the world. But let us hope +that this will be your last trip. Go to England, go where you +please--but don't return unless you are cured of your idiotic passion." + +Gustave soon completed his preparations for departure; he had but a few +hours to remain in Paris, when he met Cherami. + +"Where are we going so fast?" cried Beau Arthur, taking Gustave's hand. +"What has happened? Our countenance is not so cheerful and happy as it +was the last time? Can it be that anything has happened to interrupt the +course of our loves?" + +"My friend," replied Gustave, with a sigh, "there has been a great +change, indeed, in my affairs since we last met. There is to be no +marriage; the love affair is at an end. Fanny has betrayed me again. Ah! +I ought to have expected it! But, no; it is impossible to conceive such +perfidy in a woman who looks at us with a smiling face, who tells us +that she loves us!" + +"What's that you say, my boy? The little widow has slipped out of your +hand again? Nonsense, that can't be so!" + +"It's the truth. She is going to marry the Comte de la Bérinière, an old +man, but very rich. She is to be a countess--she has no further use for +me." + +"Why, this is perfectly frightful! A woman doesn't play skittles like +that with an honest man's heart! And you haven't killed your rival?" + +"No; for that wouldn't make Fanny love me any more. But I am going away; +I don't propose to be here again, as I was at her first wedding. No, +indeed; once was enough." + +"You are going away? where?" + +"To England and Scotland; but I shall not be away so long." + +"Sapristi! my dear fellow, don't go away; the affair can be fixed up, +perhaps." + +"No, no, it's all over, all over! Fanny will never be mine. Adieu, my +friend! it's almost train time. Au revoir!" + +Gustave hurried away, and left Cherami standing there bewildered by his +sudden departure. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then tapped +his leg with his switch and said: + +"Morbleu! my friend Gustave unhappy! the woman he loves snatched away +from him a second time! and I am to endure it! I, his Pylades, to whom +he loans money without taking account of it!--No, par la sambleu! I will +not endure it. Ah! my little widow! you play fast and loose with a fine +fellow like that! You think that you can make fools of people in that +way! But, patience! I am on hand, and I have my cue!" + + + + +L + +A GENTLEMAN IN BED + + +About noon the next day, Cherami was walking in front of Madame +Monléard's house. + +"I don't know where he perches--this Comte de la Bérinière, whom Gustave +told me about yesterday; but by doing sentry duty in front of this +house, I can't fail to find out; this count will undoubtedly come to pay +his respects to the little woman he's going to marry; he's rich, he will +come in his carriage, and I am an awkward fellow if I can't learn the +master's address from a servant." + +Everything happened as Cherami had anticipated: about one o'clock, a +stylish coupé drew up in front of Fanny's door, and a gentleman, who was +no longer young, alighted from it; despite his years, he was dressed in +the latest fashion and exhaled a powerful odor of perfumery. + +"That's my man!" said Cherami to himself; and, having watched the count +enter the house, he accosted the footman, who was yawning against a +post. + +"Wasn't that Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière whom I just saw get out +of this carriage?" + +"Yes, monsieur; it was he." + +"Ah! I said to myself: 'Why, there's an old acquaintance of mine!' yet I +was afraid of making a mistake, so I didn't dare to speak to him; but I +will go and renew my acquaintance with him to-morrow morning. Where does +the dear count live now?" + +"Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, just at the beginning, near the Madeleine." + +"Very good; I can see it from here. How late can I find the count at +home in the morning?" + +"Monsieur gets up late. He seldom goes out before noon." + +"Infinitely obliged. I am sure that the dear count will be delighted to +see me to-morrow morning." + +"If monsieur would tell me his name, I would tell my master." + +"No; bless my soul, no! I want to surprise him; don't say anything to +him about it." + +Cherami returned to his Hôtel du Bel-Air, saying to himself: + +"Gustave doesn't choose to fight with his rival, but I'll wager that +it's from some lingering feeling of delicacy, of kindness for that +little sinner of a Fanny! He says to himself: 'Let her be a countess, if +that will make her happy.'--Infernal nonsense, I call it. And as I have +no reason for being agreeable to that lady, I trust that I shall be able +to prevent her putting this new affront on my young friend." + +The next day, having dressed himself with care, Cherami took the Paris +omnibus and exchanged into one for the Madeleine; at half-past ten, he +arrived at the Comte de la Bérinière's door, recognized the footman of +the preceding day, and said to him: + +"Here I am; take me in to your master." + +"Monsieur le comte is still in bed." + +"Very well! wake him." + +"He's awake, for he has already had his chocolate." + +"As he's awake, there's no need of his getting up to receive me; I can +talk with him perfectly well in bed. Go and tell him that an old friend +of his wishes to see him." + +"Your name, monsieur?" + +"I have already told you that I wanted to surprise him; consequently, I +don't choose to send in my name." + +The servant went to his master and delivered the message. Monsieur de la +Bérinière had not begun to think of rising; he had taken the young widow +to the Opéra the night before, and had played the attentive gallant all +the evening, and he was at an age when such service is very tiresome. So +he was reposing in bed from the fatigues of the night. + +"That young widow is an adorable creature," he mused. "Marriage will +make me settle down; I shall lead a virtuous life, and it will do me +good." + +He was somewhat annoyed, therefore, when his servant announced an old +friend who wished to speak with him. + +"Neither old friends nor new ones ought to come so early," he exclaimed. +"What the devil! they ought to let people sleep in peace. What's the +name of this old friend who's such an early bird?" + +"He refused to send in his name, in order to surprise monsieur." + +"He deserves to be turned away without seeing me." + +"He was in the street last night when monsieur went into Madame +Monléard's. He recognized monsieur when he stepped out of the carriage." + +"Well! let us see this man of surprises." + +The servant ushered Cherami into his master's bedroom, and withdrew. +Monsieur de la Bérinière, with his rumpled silk nightcap on his head, +and his eyes still half-closed, was curled up in bed, covered to his +nose by the bedclothes; and in that position he was entirely destitute +of charms. So that Cherami, after eying him for a few seconds, said to +himself: + +"What! it was this old baked apple who was given the preference over my +good-looking young friend Gustave! Damnation! women care even more for +money than we men do! for our reason for wanting it is to get wives with +it, while they take it to throw us over." + +While Cherami indulged in this reflection, the count scrutinized his +visitor with interest, and said to him at last in a slightly nasal +voice: + +"My dear monsieur, it's of no use for me to examine you from head to +foot, or to search my memory: I do not recall any friend of mine who +resembles you in the least." + +Cherami bowed with an affable smile, and replied: + +"Don't try, monsieur le comte, don't take that trouble; it would be a +waste of time; for the fact is that this is the first time I have had +the pleasure of being in your company." + +"What's that? deuce take me! what does this mean? In that case, you are +not the old friend that you held yourself out to be?" + +"That is to say, monsieur, I ventured to tell that little falsehood in +order to be more certain of obtaining an interview with you this +morning." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière frowned and scowled, which did not add to his +beauty; he scrutinized Cherami with evident suspicion, and rejoined +sharply: + +"What have you so important, so urgent, to say to me, monsieur, that you +presume to disturb me so early, to resort to a trick in order to be +admitted?" + +"You shall know in a moment; but, first, allow me to sit. The matter in +hand deserves that I should take the trouble to be comfortable." + +Without awaiting a reply, Cherami took an armchair, placed it beside the +bed, and stretched himself out in it. The ease of his manners, which did +not lack distinction, began to dispel the suspicions which had assailed +the count's mind for a moment; his curiosity was aroused by the whole +aspect of the strange individual who sat facing him. + +Cherami, being seated to his satisfaction, began thus: + +"Monsieur de la Bérinière, you see before you Arthur Cherami, the +intimate friend of young Gustave Darlemont. You know Gustave Darlemont, +I believe?" + +"Faith! no; but, stay! Gustave---- Do you refer to the young man who was +an old play-fellow of Madame Monléard, and whom I saw at Monsieur +Gerbault's the other evening?" + +"The same; that is, I don't know whether Gustave was Madame Monléard's +play-fellow, but I do know that he had become her heart's fellow. +However, without going into that, he was on the point of marrying the +young widow, when your appearance changed everything. You are a count, +you are rich; the little woman is a flirt of the first order; she +whirled about like a weathercock. By the way, this isn't the first time +she has taken the same turn. King François I said: '_Souvent femme +varie, bien fol est qui s'y fie._'[D] Which proves that that king had +made a careful study of the fair sex--a study which cost him rather +dear! but, never mind that; thus you, monsieur le comte, are the cause +of Madame Monléard's having abruptly given my friend Gustave the mitten, +instead of marrying him. And now, do you begin to suspect what brings me +here?" + +"Why, yes, I fancy so; you are sent by this young Gustave, who desires +to fight with me?" + +"That isn't it exactly. You are burning, but you're not quite there. +This is how it is: Gustave has no thought of fighting; not that he lacks +courage; oh! he's brave enough, I would answer for him as for +myself!--but he has such a soft spot in his heart for the widow that +he's afraid that, by killing you, he might distress her. The poor boy is +in despair; and when he's in despair, he leaves Paris, he goes abroad, +seeks distraction in other climes--and what I don't understand is that +he comes back as dead in love as when he went away; for I must tell you, +monsieur le comte, that you're not the first to cut the grass from under +his feet, as they say; he was to have married Mademoiselle Fanny +Gerbault, when Monsieur Auguste Monléard came upon the scene; he had the +prestige of wealth and fine social position, and poor Gustave was shown +the door. To-day, therefore, we have a second performance of the same +play, with this difference: that now my young friend has an excellent +position in his uncle's banking-house; but that you have a title and a +fine turnout, and are much richer than he." + +"Well, monsieur, as your young friend doesn't think of fighting--which +is very wise of him, by the way, for I fancy that it wouldn't increase +the widow's affection for him; and, between ourselves, as he had been +rejected once, I am a good deal surprised that he came forward a second +time----" + +"I agree with you, par la sambleu! I wouldn't have been the man to act +in that way! A woman who had slighted me for another man--that's much +worse than deceiving! Men are deceived every day, and it's forgiven; but +slighted, disdained! However, what would you have! passions are +passions! Gustave is to be pitied." + +"I pity him with all my heart; but I return to my question: that being +so, what can have brought you here?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! it's easily explained. I am Gustave's devoted friend; he +forgives insult and treachery, but I do not choose that he shall be +insulted or betrayed. The wrong that is done him wounds me, insults me; +and as I have never swallowed an insult, I fight.--I have come, +therefore, to demand satisfaction at your hands for the little widow's +perfidy--of which you are the cause; that is to say, to speak more +accurately, the little widow is the real and the only culprit in this +affair. It was she who made a fool of Gustave in a much too indecent +fashion; but as it's impossible to demand satisfaction of a woman, I +have come to demand it of you, monsieur le comte, as her accomplice and +representative in this affair." + +The count put the whole of his head outside of the bedclothes, in order +to obtain a better view of the person who had made this proposition to +him; and, after scrutinizing him carefully, he replied, in a mocking +tone: + +"It makes no difference how closely I examine you, my dear monsieur, I +do not know you at all." + +"We will make each other's acquaintance by fighting." + +"Why should you expect me to fight with you? You haven't insulted me in +any way." + +"If an insult is all that is necessary to induce you to fight with me, +never fear, I'll insult you; but I confess that I should prefer to have +the affair pass off quietly, courteously, as becomes well-bred people; +and, although I am not, like you, monsieur le comte, of noble birth, I +beg you to believe that you will not cross swords with a churl. I am of +good family, I was well educated, I inherited a very pretty little +fortune; but I made a fool of myself for that charming sex which is +decidedly fond of cashmere shawls and truffles. I have ruined myself, +pretty nearly, but I haven't forgotten how to use a sword; as poor +Auguste Monléard had reason to know." + +"What's that? you fought with my pretty widow's first husband?" + +"The day after the wedding; and I gave him a very neat sword-thrust in +the forearm." + +"Ah! that fall that he claimed to have had on the stairs?" + +"That was the result of our duel." + +"Gad! monsieur, it seems that you have sworn the death of all the +captivating Fanny's husbands." + +"If she had married my friend Gustave, I promise you that I wouldn't +have fought with him!" + +"You will permit me to inform you, monsieur, that your conduct is +utterly absurd." + +"Why so, monsieur, I pray to know?" + +"Because one doesn't take up the cudgels in this way for another man who +is old enough to attend to his own affairs. Your friend Gustave doesn't +see fit to fight; why should you take it into your head to fight for +him?" + +"I explained the reasons of my conduct a moment ago. If you didn't +listen, I will repeat them." + +"It's a waste of time, monsieur; I shall not fight with you." + +With that, the count pulled up the bedclothes, turned his face to the +wall, and curled himself up so that he made but a large-sized ball. + +Cherami rose and paced the floor; then went to the fireplace and warmed +his feet at the fire that burned briskly on the hearth, saying: + +"It's quite sharp this morning; you were very wise to order a fire +lighted in your bedroom; one takes cold so easily. To be sure, this room +is tightly closed, but the least draught does the business so quickly!" + +After a few minutes, annoyed to find that his visitor did not take his +leave, the count turned over and sat up in bed. + +"I say, monsieur," he exclaimed testily, "do you intend to pass the day +in my bedroom? Do me the favor to go away and let me sleep." + +"And do you, monsieur le comte, do me the favor to cover yourself with +the bedclothes again; you'll take cold." + +"A truce to jesting, monsieur! I have told you that I would not fight +with you; I repeat it. There is nothing to keep you here, therefore." + +"O my dear Monsieur de la Bérinière--I believe that is your name, De la +Bérinière, is it not?" + +"Yes, monsieur; that is my name." + +"My dear Monsieur de la Bérinière, when I take it into my head to do a +thing, I assure you that it has to be done. I have promised myself to +fight with you--unless, however, you give me your word of honor to +renounce your project of marrying Auguste Monléard's widow. In that +case, I am content. Does that suit you?" + +"On my word, this is too much!" + +"What is it that's too much?" + +"You disgust me,[E] monsieur!" + +"Do I, indeed? Gad! you are not to be pitied, in such weather as this. +So you won't give her up?" + +"What do you take me for, in God's name?" + +"Then you agree to fight?" + +"Go to the devil!" + +"In that case, I must resort to decisive measures." + +And Cherami, raising his switch, caused it to whistle about the count's +ears, but without touching him; that manoeuvring sufficed, however, to +make Monsieur de la Bérinière straighten himself up and cry, in a +furious rage: + +"You are a villain, monsieur!" + +"Aha! you're awake at last, are you?" + +"You will give me satisfaction for this indecent behavior, monsieur!" + +"That is just what I have been asking you for, for the past hour." + +"Leave your address; my seconds will call upon you to-morrow at eight +o'clock; see that yours are there, also." + +Cherami scratched his ear, muttering: + +"My seconds! Do we need any seconds? Why not settle the business at +once, between ourselves?" + +"Oho! monsieur, so you never have fought a duel?" + +"More than you have, I'll wager." + +"Then you should know that people don't fight without seconds; it is +forbidden." + +"I am very well aware that it is customary to have them; but we don't +always conform to custom. For instance, Monsieur Monléard and I fought +without seconds." + +"But, monsieur, as I have no desire to find myself with a wretched +affair on my hands on your account, I tell you that I will not fight +without seconds." + +"So be it! As you insist upon it, we will have them." + +"Your address, monsieur?" + +"Here it is: Cherami, Hôtel du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville." + +"Belleville! So you don't live in Paris?" + +"I am in the suburbs. Does that disturb you?" + +"It is a matter of absolute indifference to me; but my seconds will not +call on you until ten o'clock, for I don't choose to make them get up at +daylight." + +"At ten o'clock, then, I will expect them. And now, monsieur le comte, +permit me to offer you my respects." + +"Good-day, monsieur, good-day!" + +Monsieur de la Bérinière buried himself anew under the bedclothes, +decidedly put out by the visit he had received. As for Cherami, he said +to himself when he was in the street: + +"I have my cue! He will fight--aye, but my seconds--I must have two; I +absolutely must have them, or no duel. Where shall I find them? It's +damnably embarrassing. I can't think of a solitary soul. Sapristi! where +can I find two seconds? There's nothing to be said; I must have two, and +two passably respectable ones, to-morrow morning!" + + + + +LI + +THE DAY WITH THE RABBITS + + +On leaving Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, Arthur Cherami followed the +boulevard in the direction of the Bastille; he did not take an +omnibus--first, because he was in no hurry; and, secondly, because he +had reflected: + +"If I could happen to meet in the street some old friend, some good +fellow, I would ask him to be my second. On a pinch, if it was +necessary, I would sacrifice myself so far as to pay for his breakfast +or dinner--but at a soup-kitchen only." + +But Cherami arrived at Boulevard du Temple, without falling in with what +he sought. + +"Shall I go home?" he thought; "what's the use? My hôtel is not the +place to find what I want; the poor devils who lodge there seldom wear +coats. I am sure that this Comte de la Bérinière will send me two very +distinguished gentlemen; they will turn up their noses enough when they +see the Widow Louchard's hôtel; I must confront them with men who +represent---- Damnation! I haven't my cue! it's infernally embarrassing! +The devil take the obstinacy of that count, who insists on having +seconds!" + +As he walked on, Cherami saw a short man coming toward him, armed with a +pretty cane of cherry wood. + +"Here comes a grotesque figure which reminds me of a clown I have seen +somewhere or other," he said to himself. "Pardieu! it's Courbichon. I +must catch him on the wing." + +The little bald man was speechless with surprise when he found his +passage barred by a tall man; and he seemed by no means pleased when he +recognized the gentleman with whom he had dined on the Champs-Élysées. + +But Cherami seized his hand and shook it warmly. + +"A lucky meeting!" he said; "it is my dear Monsieur Courbichon! _Bone +Deus!_ So we are no longer in Touraine?" + +"Ah! monsieur, I have the honor--no, as you see, I am in Paris." + +"And fresher and lustier than ever! I am tempted to repeat the fable: +'How pretty you are! how handsome you look to me!'" + +"You don't need to: I know it." + +"That's a pretty cane you have there. It isn't the same one, is it?" + +"No, monsieur; it certainly isn't the one you broke." + +"Didn't you have it mended?" + +"It wasn't mendable, monsieur." + +"Nonsense! why, they even mend porcelain! This is cherry, I see; let me +look at it." + +Cherami put out his hand for the cane, but Monsieur Courbichon hastily +put it behind his back. + +"No, no," he cried; "I have no desire that you should break this one +too; one was quite enough." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! my excellent and worthy friend, who said anything about +breaking your cane? There is nobody throwing skittles at your legs at +this moment, and I fancy that this switch is worth quite as much as your +cherry stick." + +"Did this one come from China, too?" + +"No, my boy. Do not revive my sorrow! My Chinese switch will never be +replaced; but enough about canes. I have a very great favor to ask of +you, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, one of those favors which a man of +honor never refuses to grant." + +"I have no money with me at this moment, monsieur; and it would be +impossible for me----" + +"Who the devil said anything about money? Mordieu! do I look like a man +who borrows money?" + +Monsieur Courbichon examined Cherami, who had made himself as fine as +possible for his visit to Monsieur de la Bérinière; and he took off his +hat, murmuring: + +"I beg your pardon; indeed, I had not noticed---- But what is the favor +you wish to ask me, monsieur?" + +"A nothing, a mere bagatelle--to act as my second in a duel, to-morrow." + +"A duel! it's about a duel! and you dare to propose to me to take part +in it! What have I done to you, monsieur, that you should suggest such a +thing to me?" + +"I tell you, Monsieur Courbichon, it's a mere matter of form; the +seconds don't fight." + +"I, be present at a duel! Understand that I never fought a duel, +monsieur! I would rather die than fight!" + +"You are like Gribouille, then, who jumped into the water for fear of +the rain." + +"It's an outrage, your proposition to me! I will request you, monsieur, +not to speak to me hereafter. I do not consort with men who fight duels, +not I! Don't detain me, or I shall call for help." + +The little bald man almost ran away. Cherami shrugged his shoulders, +saying to himself: + +"Old guinea-hen! I might have guessed that the simple word _duel_ would +frighten him! He won't be my second. Sapristi! I haven't my cue!" + +Cherami was almost at the end of Boulevard Beaumarchais, when he heard a +voice exclaim: + +"Yes, yes, it's him; there he is--the man who keeps us waiting for +dinner, and never comes! God bless my soul! it takes you a long time to +smoke your cigar." + +At the sound of those familiar accents, Beau Arthur turned, and saw +Madame Capucine, attended as always by her two brats; the elder still +wearing his Henri IV hat, with the feathers falling over his eyes; the +younger eating gingerbread, and finding a way to stuff his fingers into +his nose at the same time. + +"Ah! upon my word, it's the lovely Madame Capucine," said Cherami, +joining the group. + +The stout woman, glancing at her debtor's fashionable attire, smiled +amiably, as she rejoined: + +"I ought not to speak to you again, by good rights! That was a very +pretty trick you played us at Passy: to leave us on the pretext of +smoking a cigar! Oh! monsieur would only be gone a few minutes; and it +was eleven months ago!" + +"I was blameworthy, I know it; I treated you badly! But if you knew what +events were in store for me that day in the Bois de Boulogne!" + +"My aunt bears you a grudge! Oh! she's furious with you." + +"I will make my peace with the venerable Madame Duponceau. And the first +time that I go to the Bois de Boulogne----" + +"No, no; you needn't go to the Bois de Boulogne for that. My aunt isn't +at Passy now; she didn't like it there. It's a place where you have to +dress too much; it's enough to ruin you." + +"Ah! so the dear aunt has changed her villa once more? She is just a +little bit fickle. And whither has she transported her sheep--that is to +say, her rural Penates?" + +"To Saint-Mandé. You see, we're just going to take the omnibus to go +there." + +"What! you are going to your aunt's? How funny! It seems to be written +that I shall always meet you, lovely creature, when you are on your way +to your aunt's. But this isn't Saturday?" + +"No; but to-morrow is my aunt's birthday, Saint Élisabeth's day; and +it's our duty to go to wish her many happy returns." + +"Ah! yes, I understand; Madame Duponceau's name is Élisabeth." + +"Do you want to make your peace with her? Here's an excellent chance. +Come with us; you can congratulate my aunt, and dine at Saint-Mandé. My +husband is coming to join us there at five o'clock." + +Cherami reflected for some minutes. He remembered that Capucine was a +corporal in the National Guard, and thought that he might perhaps +consent to act as his second. That hope decided him; he smiled at his +stout friend, and replied: + +"You do whatever you please with me. I had important business in Paris; +but your husband can help me about it, I think. I am at your service. Ho +for Saint-Mandé!" + +"Good! you are very obliging. If you go on as you have begun, I will +forgive you, too." + +These words were accompanied by a languishing glance of immeasurable +length. It made Cherami shudder. + +"I am terribly afraid," he thought, "that she would like me to take up +Ballot's duties." + +Madame Capucine called Jacqueline. An old servant, all twisted and bent, +came limping along, with an enormous basket on her arm. + +"Tudieu!" thought Cherami; "here's a soubrette who will hardly divert +the attention of the haberdasher's young clerk." + +"Is the 'bus there, Jacqueline?" + +"It's just comin', madame." + +"Let's hurry up and get seats, Monsieur Cherami. Will you take +Aristoloche by the hand?" + +"With pleasure." + +"My! what a pleasant surprise this will be for Aunt Duponceau! She's +very fond of you, you fickle man!" + +"She has no ingrate to deal with, in me." + +They entered the omnibus, and Cherami agreed to hold young Aristoloche +on his knees, in order to save his mamma six sous. She tried to provide +for Narcisse in the servant's lap, but the conductor declared that he +must pay, which seemed to cause Jacqueline the keenest satisfaction. At +last they started, and in due time arrived at Saint-Mandé. + +Madame Duponceau's latest purchase was at the entrance to the avenue. +The house was even smaller than that at Passy; and there was no garden: +it was replaced by a courtyard in which naught could be seen, in any +direction, save rabbit-hutches; it was a veritable library of rabbits. + +The aunt appeared, shaking her head as always. She uttered a cry of +surprise when she saw Cherami, then offered him her cheek, saying: + +"Kiss me; I forgive your disappearance at Passy." + +The penalty seemed to Cherami a little severe, but he submitted to it; +and while he was in training, Madame Capucine offered him her cheek. + +"Do the same for me," she said; "I forgive you, too." + +"The devil! this dinner comes pretty high!" said Beau Arthur to himself, +after kissing both ladies. + +"You must come and see what a pretty little place I've got," said Madame +Duponceau; "what a pity that you always come in winter!" + +"I don't see what difference that makes here, as you have no garden." + +"But I have rabbits." + +"Are they finer in summer than in winter?" + +"No; but they show themselves more, because they ain't cold." + +"They show themselves quite enough as it is, in my opinion. I should be +glad of a little refreshment." + +"And then you must tell us what happened to you at Passy that kept you +from coming back to dinner with us." + +Cherami allowed himself to be taken all over the house; he was not even +spared an inspection of the attic. He found everything charming, +admirable, even the lean-to where the servant slept. At last, when the +inspection was at an end, they begged him to tell them his adventures +in the Bois de Boulogne. He told the whole story, taking care not to +mention names; and when he had finished, Madame Duponceau cried: + +"That's what it is to fight a duel with pistols!" + +"Corbleu de mordieu!" thought Cherami; "what an idiot I am to take the +trouble to tell anything to such mummies! This will teach me a lesson; I +ought to have told them about Blue Beard." + +The dinner hour arrived, but Monsieur Capucine did not. They waited +another half-hour; but the two boys complained so loudly of hunger, that +it was decided to adjourn to the table. + +First came a thin soup, then a rabbit-stew, then a roasted rabbit. + +Cherami, seeing nothing but rabbit, made a wry face, and muttered under +his breath: + +"Apparently they are on a rabbit diet here. And that miserable Capucine +doesn't come! To have nothing to eat but rabbit, and not obtain a +second! what, in God's name, did I come to this hole for?" + +By way of vegetables, of which there were none, a dish of minced rabbit, +stuffed with chestnuts, was served. + +"It's very strange that my husband doesn't come!" said the corpulent +dame; "he must have had some order to be filled in a hurry." + +"And then, perhaps he doesn't like rabbit?" suggested Cherami. + +"Oh! yes, he eats it." + +"What's that? Par la sambleu! I eat it, too, and I've been eating it for +an hour, but I don't like it any better for that." + +"You don't like it? What a pity! there's more of it coming!" + +"A rabbit-cream, perhaps?" + +"No, a pie." + +"Thanks; if you will allow me, I will take some cheese, as a pleasant +substitute. Gad! I don't wonder that your yard is carpeted with +rabbit-hutches; they are productive evidently." + +"Much more so than fruit trees." + +"Well, well! I see that you will end by preserving them. But your wine +is good, that's something." + +"Here's my aunt's health!" + +"With great pleasure. Vive Élisabeth!" + +"Aristoloche and Narcisse, now recite your congratulations." + +"What! have the dear children learned something by heart?" + +"Yes, aunt; we'll show you." + +"Oh! the dear loves, how sweet of them! Who wrote them?" + +"My husband, aunt; they are in poetry!" + +"Your husband writes poetry? I didn't know he had that talent; how long +has he been a poet?" + +"Since we have had for a customer a literary man who writes mottoes; he +brings us some every time he comes to the house. Come, Aristoloche, +begin. Go and stand in front of your aunt; and pronounce your words +plain." + + + + +LII + +MADAME CAPUCINE'S LITTLE SONS + + +The little fellow tried first of all to obtain possession of the +visitor's stick, and to gallop round the table astride it; they could +not succeed in making him behave except by promising him that, if he +would repeat his verses nicely, he should play with a rabbit which was +very gentle and which was sometimes brought into the salon to entertain +the company. + +At last, Master Aristoloche took his stand in front of his great-aunt, +and recited without stopping to take breath: + + "'Ah! quel bonheur, en ce beau jour, + De vous prouver tout mon amour! + Du plaisir, je suis dans l'attente, + Quand je dois aller chez ma tante! + En amour comme en amitié + Sachez tout mettre de moitié.'" + +"It is easy to see that our papa knows a maker of mottoes," thought +Cherami. + +"What do you think of my husband's poetry?" asked Madame Capucine. + +"It is the more ingenious in that it can be adapted to any possible +occasion." + +"And you, aunt?" + +Madame Duponceau was delighted with the verses, and said to the boy, +after giving him a kiss: + +"Go and find the maid, and tell her to give you Coco to play with." + +Master Aristoloche disappeared; it was his brother's turn to recite his +congratulations; but young Narcisse was sulky; he rebelled. + +"Well, monsieur," said his mother, "come and repeat your poetry to your +aunt." + +"No, I won't; it makes me sick." + +"What do I hear, Monsieur Narcisse? What is the meaning of that answer?" + +"I mean what I say; you always let Aristoloche play with Coco, and never +let me." + +"Will you hold your tongue--a great tall boy like you! just beginning to +learn to write. You, want to play with the little rabbit!" + +"Yes, I like rabbits, and I want to play with 'em." + +"It seems to me," said Cherami, "that you ought not to be too hard on +the child for liking rabbits; this is a good school for that. By dint of +eating a thing, one sometimes ends by acquiring a taste for it. When I +was a boy, I remember, I could not endure bread-soup, but they made me +eat it every day to force me to like it." + +"And you ended by liking it?" + +"No; I detest it!" + +"Come, Narcisse, come and recite your poetry to your dear aunt--if you +don't, she won't give you another beautiful hat with feathers." + +"I don't want any more of her feathers; they make me blind. Somebody +told me that I looked like a trained dog in that hat." + +"Look out, Monsieur Narcisse, or we shall be cross with you! Your +poetry, this minute!" + +"No, I won't!" + +"Ah! we'll see about that, you little rascal!" + +Madame Capucine left the table, seized Cherami's switch, which was +standing in a corner, and advanced upon her son; but young Narcisse, +when he saw what he was threatened with, began to run around the table, +thus compelling his mother, still armed with the formidable switch, to +run after him, striking blindly in every direction. Thinking that she +was chastising her son, she twice brought the switch down on Cherami's +shoulders, who found the manoeuvre executed by the stout woman and her +son far from amusing, although it reminded him somewhat of a circus +performance. + +At last, seeing that he was on the point of being captured, Narcisse +changed his tactics, and slipped under the table. Madame Capucine, +although disconcerted for a moment by this evolution, soon found a way +to profit by it; she thrust her switch under the table, striking at +random to right and left. Thereupon, the old aunt began to cry out: her +niece was switching her legs. Luckily, Cherami succeeded in pulling +Narcisse out from under the table; he was forced to stand in front of +Madame Duponceau; and his mother stationed herself by his side, with her +stick in the air, saying in a threatening tone: + +"Your poetry, quick!" + +Master Narcisse, although still in the sulks, decided to obey, and +muttered in a drawling voice: + + "'Ah! que je suis--Ah! que je suis donc content! + De vous--de vous--de vous----'" + +"_De vous_, what, idiot?" + +"I forget." + +"You just wait, and I'll freshen your memory, you bad boy!" + + "'De vous fêter, objet charmant----'" + +"It can't be _objet charmant!_ I know that's wrong." + +"Why do you think it can't be _objet charmant_, niece, I should like to +know?" said Madame Duponceau, pursing up her lips. + +"Because, aunt, I am perfectly sure it's something else." + +"In my judgment," interposed Cherami, "_objet charmant_ should be +allowed to remain; the expression is most appropriate." + +The old aunt was so delighted by the compliment, that she left her seat +and embraced her guest again. + +"That will teach me to hold my tongue!" said Cherami to himself. + +"Come, monsieur; go on with your poetry," continued Madame Capucine. + + "'De vous--de vous--fêter en ce moment,'" + +began Narcisse. + +"You see!" cried Madame Capucine; "I knew it wasn't _objet charmant._" + +"It's hardly worth while to interrupt just for that, niece. Go on, my +boy." + +But young Aristoloche had entered the dining-room, holding in his arms a +little white rabbit, which he was tickling with a stick. That spectacle +sadly distracted the attention of Master Narcisse, whom his mother +continued to threaten with the switch to make him finish his lines. But +Narcisse, as he recited, kept turning to look at his brother. + + "'Quand je me trouve à votre table--à votre table----' + +I'll fix you, if you don't give me the rabbit when I get through." + +"No, they gave the rabbit to me--see!" + + "'À votre table--à votre table-- + Ah! que le temps----' + +I'll box your ears---- + + 'est agréable!'" + +"Mamma, brother says he'll lick me!" + +"Don't listen to him, darling; he's the one who'll be licked, if he +doesn't say his poetry better for his aunt. Come, Monsieur Narcisse." + + "'Voulez-vous lire dans mon coeur----' + +Wait till you want my battledore again!" + +"I don't want it; papa'll give me another." + + "'Dans mon coeur----' + +Let Coco go." + +"No, I won't let him go." + +"All right; I'll fix you in a minute---- + + 'Dans mon coeur--vous y verrez mon ardeur.'" + +"You said that as badly as you could, monsieur! but you'll have to say +it better at breakfast to-morrow." + +"Oh! mamma, mamma; he's trying to take Coco away from me." + +Narcisse, having finished his congratulations, had run after his brother +and was trying to obtain possession of the rabbit; Madame Capucine, to +put an end to the dispute, turned her elder son out of the dining-room, +with an accompaniment of kicks in the posterior; then returned to her +seat beside Cherami. + +"And, after all," she said, "my husband didn't come!" + +"And he probably won't come now, for it's almost nine o'clock. I am very +sorry for that; I wanted to speak to him." + +"About that little bill? Oh! there's no hurry about that." + +"It was about something else." + +"Well, I am going to have a very uncomfortable night of it. You must +know that I'm very timid in the country. It's foolish of me, I know that +well enough; for nothing ever happens to my aunt, who lives here alone +with her servant; but what can I do? one can't control those things. +When my husband's in bed beside me, that gives me courage, and I can +sleep a little. But without him--why, I can't close my eyes. If we only +had a man in the house; but nothing but women and children! What would +become of us if we should be attacked?" + +"What's the meaning of this attempt to entrap me?" thought Cherami, +stroking his whiskers; "I can see myself passing the night here, to eat +more rabbit to-morrow morning! On the contrary, I can't be off soon +enough." + +"Well, Monsieur Cherami," continued Madame Capucine, with a tender +glance at her neighbor, "do you refuse to watch over us to-night? You +are your own master; what is there to prevent you from sleeping here? If +you would, I should feel perfectly safe, and I should have a quiet +night. There's a guest-chamber just opposite mine." + +The last words were accompanied by a sidelong glance ending in a sigh. +Cherami began to cough in a significant fashion, and whispered: + +"On the same floor?" + +"Yes; you can understand what a relief it will be to me." + +"I understand perfectly." + +"Then you'll stay with us, won't you? When the children have gone to +bed, we'll play a game of loto." + +"That is a very seductive prospect." + +"You shall draw the numbers." + +"You will see how well I do it!" + +At that moment, Madame Duponceau's servant rushed into the dining-room +and exclaimed in dismay: + +"O madame! madame! if you knew!" + +"What is it, then, Françoise, for heaven's sake? You frighten me!" + +"There's reason enough!" + +"Is the house on fire?" + +"Is it robbers?" + +"No; but your rabbits. That little scamp of a Narcisse has opened all +the hutches, and the rabbits are all loose; they're running +everywhere--into the yard, and the cellar, and upstairs." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! what do you mean? We must catch them! Niece, Monsieur +Cherami, come quick, I beg you! Bring candles! Oh! my poor rabbits!" + +Everybody hurried into the yard. In the confusion, Cherami did not fail +to take his hat and cane; but, instead of going to the yard, he headed +for the front door, crying: + +"There go two of them into the road! I'll run after them." + +"Do you think so?" + +"I saw them." + +"How could they have got out?" + +"Under the gate. They scratched till they made a hole. But don't be +disturbed; I'll catch them, if I have to chase them to Vincennes!" + +And Cherami ran out into the road, leaving the ladies and the servant to +hunt the rabbits. + + + + +LIII + +CHERAMI'S SECONDS + + +Cherami went across fields to the village of Bagnolet, thence to +Belleville, and returned to his domicile, consigning the Capucine family +and its rabbits to the evil one. + +"No seconds," he said to himself, as he went to bed; "and the count's +will be here at ten o'clock to-morrow! No matter; let's go to sleep; it +will be light to-morrow." + +At seven o'clock, Cherami rose, dressed, and went to his window. It was +just daylight, and Rue de l'Orillon was deserted. About eight o'clock, a +water-carrier's cart came along. It stopped in front of Madame +Louchard's house, and the master carrier and his man came upstairs with +their pails. + +Cherami opened his door, and scrutinized the two men closely as they +came up. + +"There are two stout fellows," he mused. "Sapristi! such seconds would +just do for my affair! Why not? Pardieu! by making a slight sacrifice; +and this is no time for economizing, but for going through with my duel +in a dignified way. Gad! I am inclined to think that it's a good idea; I +see no other way of obtaining seconds." + +Cherami waited for the two men to come down the stairs; he stopped them +as they passed, asked them into his room, and said to them: + +"I have a favor to ask of you, messieurs." + +The master, a tall, robust Auvergnat, replied, in the accent of his +province: + +"A pail to fill?" + +"No." + +"Do you want some water?" + +"It is something out of your regular line. It will be a change for you." + +"We must serve our customers." + +"Listen to me first. If your customers should be served a little later +than usual for once, it won't kill them. I have a duel to arrange for. +Do you know what a duel is?" + +"It's a clock that strikes the hours, ain't it?" + +"You are a long way off." + +The apprentice, a young Piedmontese, nearly six feet tall, suddenly +exclaimed: + +"Yes, yes, I know the vendetta, basta! I've seen friends who'd been out +to fight with fists." + +"Your young man understands rather better; yes, a duel's a fight, but +not with fists." + +"Where do you fight?" rejoined the Piedmontese. + +Cherami made a wry face, muttering: + +"Sapristi! I prefer the Auvergnat accent to that jargon.--Look you, +messieurs, I just want you to be my seconds; I expect my opponent's +seconds here at ten o'clock, and you must both be here then. I will give +you a hundred sous each for the morning; and you will be free at +half-past ten; for the fight will not come off till to-morrow, I fancy." + +"All right! five francs; all right!" + +"What have we got to do?" + +"In the first place, my boy, you will be good enough not to speak at +all; for you have a way of pronouncing your t's and s's which will +produce a very bad effect. Your master can say that you're a Pole, and +that you don't know a word of French. That's your rôle, then--to say +nothing. But I must dress you, my friends; I can't have seconds in short +jackets. Do you own a coat, my boy?" + +"No, but I've got a much better jacket." + +"I don't want seconds in jackets. My landlady must have some coats that +belonged to her late husband; we will get one of them. Have you a hat?" + +"I have a new cap." + +"How you run your words together! We'll find a hat somewhere in the +house.--And you, master--what's your name?" + +"Michel." + +"Good! well, Michel, have you any good clothes?" + +"_Dame!_ I should say so; my new frock-coat--only three years old--which +comes down to my heels." + +"Then I'll make an old soldier of you. You must put on a black stock. Go +and dress. Put your cask in a safe place, and come back at once with +your man, whom I will dress. Be here at half-past nine, and I will tell +you what you have to do; it will be very simple. You will agree to +whatever is proposed by the men who come here." + +"We will agree, if they'll pay for something to drink." + +"There's no question of taking anything to drink. However, I shall be +here; I'll prompt you. Go, and make haste." + +"And the five francs?" + +"Here they are; I pay in advance; you see that I have confidence in +you." + +"Oh! never fear; our word's sacred.--Come, Piedmontese. Let's go and +take care of the cask." + +"Where'll you put it?" + +"In the next yard." + +The water-carriers departed, and Cherami went down to his landlady. + +"Have you a man's hat to loan me for this morning and to-morrow?" he +asked her. + +"A man's hat? What do you want it for?" + +"Don't be alarmed; I don't propose to make an omelet in it, as the +prestidigitators do; I want it for someone to wear." + +"Yes, I have a hat that belonged to Louchard, which I am keeping to give +my godson when he grows up." + +"Do me the favor to loan it to me; I will take the best of care of it." + +"I trust you will." + +Madame Louchard left the room, and soon returned with a felt hat in +reasonably good condition. + +"Look; I call that rather fine, myself!" + +"The devil! it's gray." + +"Well! it's all the more stylish." + +"I don't say it isn't, in summer; but in November gray hats are not worn +much." + +"If you don't want it, leave it." + +"Never mind; I'll take it. A Pole may like gray hats at all seasons. +Now, Madame Louchard, I must have either an overcoat or a frock-coat." + +"I have nothing but a green sack-coat of Louchard's, which I also intend +for my godson." + +"A sack-coat! that's risky, because it shows the trousers! But, no +matter! give it to me." + +"You'll be responsible for it?" + +"I'll be responsible for everything." + +Cherami returned to his room with the clothes; at half-past nine, the +water-carriers appeared. The Auvergnat wore a long blue overcoat that +reached to his heels, a collar that came to the bottom of his ears, and +a three-cornered hat. He was a perfect type of a laundryman going out to +dinner. The Piedmontese was still in his jacket; but he had on a white +striped waistcoat and olive-green trousers. Cherami bade him put on the +green coat, which was too short in front and showed half of the +waistcoat. By way of compensation, the late Louchard evidently had an +enormous head, for the gray hat came down so far that it almost +concealed the young water-carrier's eyes. These preparations completed, +Cherami, having examined his two seconds, exclaimed: + +"What in the devil will they take you for? However, damn the odds!--You, +Piedmontese, will bow whenever anyone speaks to you, but you must not +say a word in reply." + +"Never fear! what would I say to them, anyway?" + +"Very good! You are Monsieur de Chamousky, a Polish nobleman." + +"No; for I was born in Piedmont." + +"Hold your tongue; I make you a Pole!--You, Michel, are a wealthy +land-holder from Auvergne; at all events, you will be rightfully +entitled to your accent." + +"Yes, yes, I have some land at home, and all planted with chestnuts." + +"The gentlemen who are coming will tell you what weapons the count +proposes to fight with, also the time and place; to whatever they +propose, you will reply: 'Very well, we agree.'--Do you understand?" + +"Pardi! that ain't very hard: 'Very well; that hits us!'" + +"I didn't say: 'That hits us,' but: 'We agree.'" + +"Bah! it amounts to the same thing." + +"No, no! Sacrebleu! it doesn't amount to the same thing! Don't you go +making mistakes; no foolishness! Ah! mon Dieu! I hear a carriage +stopping in front of the house; two gentlemen are getting out--they are +the ones. Attention! I leave the door unlocked, so that they can open it +themselves. I go into this little dark closet for a moment; I want them +to think that I have more than this one room. Now: a serious face, heads +up, and be cool!" + +Cherami disappeared. The two water-carriers stared at each other in +speechless amazement to see themselves so finely arrayed. Soon there was +a knock at the door; then, as no one answered, the door was opened, and +Monsieur de la Bérinière's two seconds entered the room. + +One was a man of some fifty years, tall and thin, with a decidedly +unamiable manner, a rigid bearing, and a severely simple costume. The +other, who was at least fifteen years younger, with a pleasant face, and +dressed in the height of fashion, had all the manners of a modern Don +Juan. He entered the room first, and, having glanced about, exclaimed: + +"This isn't the place; it can't be; the woman directed us wrong." + +"But there are some people here," said the other; "we had better +inquire.--Monsieur Cherami, if you please?" he continued, addressing the +Auvergnat, who stood in the centre of the room. + +The water-carrier buried his chin in his cravat, and answered, without +hesitation: + +"Very well; we agree." + +The old gentleman turned to his companion, who said: + +"He did not understand you."--Whereupon he, in his turn, addressed the +Auvergnat: "We desire to know, monsieur, if this is where Monsieur +Cherami lives." + +Again Michel replied in his deep voice: + +"Very well; we agree." + +At that, the young man burst out laughing. + +"Gad!" he exclaimed; "this is evidently a joke, a wager! What do you +think about it, Monsieur de Maugrillé?" + +"I think that we did not come here to joke, and if I knew that there was +any purpose to make fools of us----" + +Cherami, who was listening, and saw that his seconds were in a fair way +to wreck the whole business, hastily left the closet, and saluted the +new-comers with much courtesy, saying: + +"Pardon, messieurs, a thousand pardons! I crave a little indulgence for +my seconds,--most respectable persons, by the way,--one of whom, being a +Pole, recently arrived in France, is not able as yet to express his +thoughts in our language. As for the other, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, a +wealthy land-holder in the outskirts of Clermont, in Auvergne--he is not +yet at home in all the details of affairs of this sort. However, +messieurs, as I have determined in advance to agree to what Monsieur de +la Bérinière may suggest, it seems to me that your mission is very much +simplified, and that the affair will settle itself; my seconds are here +only as a matter of form." + +"Ordinarily, monsieur, the details of a meeting are not arranged with +the adversary himself, but with his seconds." + +"I know it, monsieur. Pardieu! you cannot teach me how affairs are +managed in duels; this isn't the first time I have fought." + +"In that case, monsieur," queried the younger man, with a smile, "why +did you select seconds who apparently have no understanding of what is +going on?" + +"Because I found no others at hand, in all probability," retorted +Cherami, biting his lips wrathfully. "Come, messieurs, let us come to +terms. Is it such a difficult matter, pray, to tell us where, when, and +how the count proposes to fight?" + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur," observed Monsieur de Maugrillé; "but, as +I, for my part, insist that everything shall be done in accordance with +the established etiquette of duels, I will tell your seconds, and no one +else." + +"Tell my concierge, if you choose; it makes confounded little difference +to me, after all." + +"What does that tone mean, monsieur?" + +"It means that you make me very weary with all your nonsense; and if +you're not satisfied with the tone I adopt, why, I'll give you +satisfaction as soon as I have done with the count; or before, if you +choose." + +"Monsieur!" + +The discussion was on the verge of ending in a quarrel, when the +Auvergnat, seeing that things seemed to be approaching a crisis, shouted +in stentorian tones: + +"Very well, _fouchtra!_ very well! We agree, I say!" + +This outburst was delivered in such unique fashion by the water-carrier, +that the younger of the count's seconds roared with laughter again, and +Cherami himself could not keep a sober face. He turned his back and put +his handkerchief to his mouth. The old gentleman alone retained an air +of displeasure; but his young companion said to him earnestly: + +"Come, Monsieur de Maugrillé, let us not have trouble over an affair +which really seems to me quite simple.--Monsieur de la Bérinière selects +swords; he wishes to fight to-morrow, about nine o'clock, in Vincennes +Forest; we will meet at the entrance to the forest, near Porte +Saint-Mandé, on the highroad. Those are our conditions, messieurs; are +they satisfactory to you?" + +Then or never was the time for the water-carrier to repeat the phrase he +had been taught; but, just as it frequently happens on the stage, that, +when an actor has begun his lines too soon, he is silent when he ought +to speak, so did the Auvergnat look stolidly at the others and utter +never a word. + +Cherami, who was gazing at him impatiently, at last walked up behind him +and struck him in the side, crying: + +"Well, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, have you suddenly lost your voice?" + +"Ah! bless my soul! what was I thinking about?--Very well, very well! We +agree to everything," said the water-carrier. + +Thereupon the young man took his companion's arm and led him from the +room, laughing still, and saying in his ear: + +"I think that we may retire, now that everything is settled." + +Cherami saluted them, and escorted them to the door. + +"Be sure, monsieur," he said, "that we shall be on hand promptly at the +rendezvous; we shall not keep you waiting. By the way! it will be very +kind of you to bring swords for both, for I broke mine recently and +have not yet replaced it." + +"Very good, monsieur; we will do so." + +The younger man bowed with much affability; his older associate bent his +head almost imperceptibly, retaining his ill-humored expression; then +they left the house and returned to their carriage. + + + + +LIV + +TWO! + + +"Sapristi!" cried Cherami, when the count's witnesses had gone; "I +thought that we weren't going to get out of that hole; they had +difficulty in swallowing my seconds, and I don't wonder." + +"Ain't you satisfied with us?" inquired the water-carrier; "I should say +that I said just what you told me to." + +"That is to say, you said it when you shouldn't have, and held your +tongue when you should have answered." + +"I didn't say a single word," observed the Piedmontese. + +"It's lucky you didn't! That would have been the last straw! Well, +that's all for to-day; you may go back to your cask; but be here +to-morrow at half-past seven sharp, dressed just the same; don't forget +it!" + +"For five francs more apiece?" + +"Of course, as that's what we agreed." + +"We won't fail." + +The next day, the two water-carriers appeared at seven o'clock, each in +his costume of the preceding day: the Piedmontese in the late Louchard's +green sack-coat and gray hat, which he was obliged to push up from his +face every minute, so that he could see where he was going. Cherami +dressed in haste; he paid particular attention to his toilet, which +presented a striking contrast to that of his two seconds; then he +requested his landlady to send for a cab. Madame Louchard was much +disturbed when she recognized the coat and hat of her deceased husband +on the water-carrier. + +"Why have you rigged that fellow up like that?" she asked her tenant. +"He'll just ruin my husband's things. I wouldn't have lent 'em to you, +if I'd known you wanted 'em for him. Are you going to a wedding so early +in the morning?" + +"Widow Louchard, I will be responsible for your chattels--don't bother +us! Your man's cast-off clothes are more fortunate than they deserve, to +be present at such a festivity.--Get in, messieurs." + +Cherami pushed the water-carrier and his man into the cab, and shouted +to the driver to take them to Porte Saint-Mandé; then, taking a seat +beside his seconds, he said to them: + +"Listen carefully to my instructions for this morning, and, ten thousand +cigars! try not to make any mistakes; I am going to fight with a third +gentleman, whom you didn't see yesterday." + +"Ah! you ought to fight with your fists; that's our way; we're good +hands at it; eh, Piedmontese?" + +"Yes, just let me get a crack at 'em! I'd like that better than to stand +and say nothing, like a stuffed goose!" + +"Nevertheless, you must make up your mind to that, my boy. I didn't +bring you with me to fight, but to be my seconds. I am to fight with a +sword. You will simply measure the two swords, to make sure that they're +of the same length." + +"What with? I didn't bring a rule." + +"You measure two swords by putting them side by side. It's simple +enough." + +"And must I say again: 'Very well; we agree'?" + +"No, there's no need of it. You must say: 'Everything is ready, let them +proceed.' If I am wounded, you will bring me back to this cab, which +will wait for us, and take me home. If it's the other who is +wounded,--and it will be,--you will help his seconds to take him to his +carriage. Do you understand?" + +"That's all right." + +They arrived at Porte Saint-Mandé, where they alighted from the cab and +walked into the woods. It was a cold, dull morning; it was not nine +o'clock, and they met nobody. + +"We are ahead of time," said Cherami, "but I prefer to be. Above all +things, my boys, be very polite to the men we are waiting for: take your +hats off and bow, and don't put them on again till after they do." + +"What if they don't put 'em on at all?" + +"Never fear--they will. Now, we have nothing to do but walk back and +forth and wait." + +"Why don't we go and take a glass of wine at the nearest inn, while we +wait?" + +"_Dame!_" said the apprentice; "I'm with you for a glass of wine!" + +"But I am not with you, not by any means, messieurs. After the fight, +you shall drink as much as you please, but not before." + +"We might treat the others to a glass when they come; that's polite, you +know!" + +"The gentlemen who are coming don't drink at wine-shops!--No fool's +tricks, sacrebleu! or you'll compromise me! But, see! that carriage +coming along the road yonder is probably bringing our adversaries. It's +a private carriage--the count's, no doubt. Yes, those are they. +Attention, my seconds! Well, well, what in the devil are you doing? +Taking off your hats before the gentlemen have left their carriage!" + +"You told us to be polite." + +"I didn't tell you to bow to the horses." + +The count and his seconds alighted and came toward Cherami. The +grotesque aspect of the latter's attendants seemed greatly to amuse +Monsieur de la Bérinière, who could not take his eyes from the two +water-carriers. They, at a sign from Cherami, hastily removed their hats +when the new-comers were close at hand. But the Piedmontese, in his +eagerness to uncover, forgot that his hat was too large for him, and +struck Monsieur de Maugrillé in the nose with it, that gentleman +happening to be directly in front of him. + +The old gentleman made an angry gesture. But the tall youth, as he +picked up his hat, cried: + +"Excuse me! I didn't do it a-purpose! it slipped out of my hand." + +The count glanced at his seconds. They looked at Cherami. And he, hardly +able to resist the temptation to plant his foot in the apprentice's +posterior, struggled to restrain himself, as he said: + +"Monsieur is a Pole; he speaks French very badly! indeed, he fairly +murders it." + +"So we observe," rejoined the count, with a smile. "But it's none too +warm here, and I am anxious to have done with this affair. It seems to +me that we shall be very well placed behind this low wall." + +"I agree with you, monsieur le comte." + +They walked a short distance, and halted behind a wall which would serve +to conceal the combatants from any chance passers-by. While the +principals removed their coats, the younger of the count's seconds +handed to the water-carrier two swords which he carried out of sight +under his overcoat. The Auvergnat measured them so long that Cherami +went to him and took one out of his hands. + +"They're all right!" he exclaimed; "they're exactly alike! I will take +this one, unless monsieur le comte prefers it." + +But Monsieur de la Bérinière at once took the other, while his older +second grumbled: + +"In God's name, who are these two idiots of seconds who know absolutely +nothing as to what they are doing?" + +Cherami at once stood on guard, saying: + +"At your service, monsieur le comte, whenever you choose." + +"I am here, monsieur." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière had been a very good fencer in his youth, but +years had impaired his agility and strength. It was easy to see that +Cherami was sparing his adversary, to whom he observed, as he parried +his thrusts: + +"Well done, monsieur le comte! very pretty work, indeed! You must have +been a fine fencer formerly." + +But these compliments, instead of flattering the count, stung and +irritated him, because he saw that his opponent was playing with him; +and he suddenly cried: + +"What the devil! in God's name, monsieur, attack! you confine yourself +to parrying! Do you think you're fighting with a novice?" + +"Is that your wish, monsieur le comte? Solely to comply then----" + +And Cherami, suddenly striking down his adversary's sword, plunged his +own into the count's right side. + +Monsieur de la Bérinière staggered a moment, then fell. + +"_Fouchtra!_ he's got his reckoning!" cried the Auvergnat, while the +count's witnesses ran forward to help him and carry him off the field. +But, at a sign from Cherami, the tall Piedmontese lifted the wounded man +in his arms as if he were a child, and carried him to the elegant +equipage, in which a surgeon was waiting, who had come with the +gentlemen, but whom they had not thought it necessary to take with them +to the field of battle. + +"There's one job done!" said the young water-carrier. + +The count's seconds could hardly keep up with him. In the end, they +seated themselves by the wounded man's side in the carriage, which drove +away at a walk. + +"The wound can't be dangerous," said Cherami to his seconds, when they +were alone; "it's in among the ribs. He will be laid up a fortnight or +three weeks, unless I touched some vital part. Ah! they forgot to take +away their sword. I will carry it back myself, and that will give me an +opportunity to inquire for the count." + +"Ah! _fouchtra!_ you're a smart one! how you run on!" + +"Now it's all over, ain't we going to have a glass of wine at the +nearest wine-shop, to refresh us?" + +"My boys, here's a hundred sous for each of you. Go and refresh +yourselves all you choose; I am going to take the cab and go home. Do +you prefer to ride back?" + +"No, no! Riding makes us sick; eh, Piedmontese?" + +"Yes, yes, I prefer to walk." + +"But don't forget, my boys, to bring that coat and gray hat back to +Madame Louchard." + +"Don't you be afraid; we're just going to have a little fun with our +hundred sous." + +"Have all the fun you can, my boys. Good-day!" + +"Say, Monsieur Cherami, you're satisfied with us, ain't you? We did what +you wanted us to." + +"Yes, my friends, I am very well satisfied.--But God preserve me from +ever having you as seconds again!" added Cherami, as he drove away. + + + + +LV + +CHERAMI CHANGES HIS TACTICS + + +On the day after the duel, Cherami, concealing under his coat the sword +which had been loaned to him the day before, betook himself to the +count's abode and asked the concierge how his master was. The concierge +replied, with a profound sigh: + +"Would you believe, monsieur, that, in spite of his years--for although +monsieur le comte dresses like a young man, it's easy to see that he +isn't one; his valet tells me he's past sixty--well, in spite of his +years, he fought a duel yesterday." + +"A man fights a duel when the occasion arises; there's no prescribed +term for that." + +"No, monsieur; no, a man doesn't fight--and with swords, above all--when +his wrist is no longer firm; and it seems that Monsieur de la +Bérinière's opponent was a great, tall rascal--a professional--one of +those fellows who pass their time fighting. A fine profession!" + +Cherami pushed the sword still farther under his coat, stared at the +concierge as if he would swallow him, and said in a sharp tone: + +"Your reflections tire me; I am going up to the count's apartments." + +"But, monsieur, you can't go up; monsieur le comte is very badly +wounded, so it seems. He is forbidden to read or talk." + +"I don't mean to speak to him, but to his valet, who isn't so much of an +ass as you, I trust." + +And Cherami rapidly ascended the stairs, opened the door of the +reception-room by turning the knob, and found there the valet, who knew +him. He handed him the sword, saying: + +"Here, my friend, is a sword which your master loaned to the person with +whom he fought yesterday, and which that person requested me to return +to him, and at the same time to inquire as to his condition. Is the +count's wound dangerous?" + +"No, monsieur. The surgeon said that it wasn't mortal, and that monsieur +would recover." + +"Ah! so much the better! I am very glad to hear that." + +"But it may take a long time; he'll have to be very careful. Monsieur +has lost a great deal of blood; he is very weak, and, between ourselves, +he's no longer young." + +"Between ourselves, and between all the rest of the world, too." + +"He is forbidden to speak or to receive visits to-day." + +"And I have no intention of asking to be admitted; I simply wanted to +know how he was; he will get well, that's the main point. What does it +matter whether it's a long recovery or not? The count is rich; he can +coddle himself in bed as long as it's necessary." + +"True, monsieur; but, still, this wound comes at a very bad time; for--I +can safely tell you; it's no longer a secret--my master's on the point +of being married." + +"Married!" + +"Yes, it's a fact; and to a young lady, a very pretty one." + +"Well, my boy, to marry, at your master's age, is much more dangerous +than a sword-thrust--especially when the bride is young and +pretty--aggravating circumstances!" + +"Ha! ha! I fancy monsieur is right." + +"Good-morning! I will call again to inquire." + +"And now," said Cherami to himself, "if I knew where Gustave is, I would +tell him that his rival is on his back. I think I will go to his house +to inquire. He has separate apartments; and, at a pinch, if the +concierge can't tell me anything, I will brave once more the uncle's +winning countenance." + +Gustave's concierge knew that he was not in Paris, but he knew no more +than that. Cherami decided to make his way once more into the banker's +private office; he was always sure to find him at his desk in the +morning. + +Monsieur Grandcourt frowned when he recognized his visitor. But Cherami +was even more carefully dressed than on the occasion of his last visit. +With the thousand francs he had received from Gustave, and by virtue of +his newly-adopted system of economy, Beau Arthur had reached the point +where he was no longer an ex-beau, and had almost recovered his former +air of distinction. + +He saluted the banker with the ease of manner which was natural to him, +but to which his dress imparted additional charm. Monsieur Grandcourt +replied with a cool nod. As he did not leave his armchair, Cherami took +a seat and began by making himself comfortable. The two men looked at +each other for several minutes without speaking: the banker retaining +his scowling expression, Cherami smiling as if he were at the Théâtre du +Palais-Royal, listening to Arnal. + +"How are you this morning, my dear Monsieur Grandcourt?" began Cherami, +lolling back in his chair. + +"Very well, I thank you, monsieur. Is it to inquire for my health that +you come to my office to-day?" + +"Oh! if I should say _yes_, you wouldn't believe me." + +"True. But I remember that my nephew told me that you wished to find +employment. You appear, however, monsieur, to be more fortunately placed +than you were when I first saw you?" + +"It is a fact, monsieur, that my condition has improved somewhat. But +that does not interfere with my seeking a--suitable place. I am +beginning to tire of doing nothing. I am really desirous to have +something to occupy my time." + +"That desire comes a little late!" + +"You know the proverb: better late than never. And then, after all, I am +only forty-eight; I am not an old man. You are fully as old as that, and +yet you work!" + +"But I have always worked, monsieur; it's a habit with me, a necessity. +I didn't have to make a study of it--a study which is often repellent +when one begins it late in life." + +"Have you any place to offer me, monsieur?" + +"No, I have not." + +"Well, then, why do you ask me all these questions? I do not imagine +that it is your purpose to make sport of me." + +"Is it yours to pick a quarrel with me?" + +"No, no! sapristi! I am not picking a quarrel with you--Gustave's uncle, +and he my best friend! Oh! if you weren't his uncle, I don't say +that--but you are his uncle.--Let us come to the point; I came to ask +you where your nephew is at this moment." + +"My nephew is travelling: he is in one place to-day, in another +to-morrow." + +"Oh! I see that we are going to have the same old song over again! You +will not give me his address?--But if I want to write to him, to tell +him something which will give him great pleasure, which will make him +happy?" + +"Tell me, and I'll write it to him." + +"That isn't the same thing. But, no matter, I will tell you. You know, I +suppose, that his _passion_, whom he thought he was surely going to +marry this time, has thrown him over again, in favor of a very rich old +count?" + +"I know all that, monsieur." + +"Good! but what you don't know is that I don't propose that my friend +shall be played with with impunity. That is why I hunted up this Comte +de la Bérinière; I insulted him; we fought a duel, and he is now in his +bed with a famous sword-thrust in his right side." + +Monsieur Grandcourt jumped from his chair and struck his desk a violent +blow, crying: + +"Is it possible? You have done that?" + +"As I have the honor to tell you. Do you wish to embrace me?" + +"On the contrary, monsieur, I am much more inclined to throw you out of +the window!" + +"Indeed! well, as we are on the ground floor, if that will give you +pleasure----" + +"Why, monsieur, this is a horrible thing that you've done! And you call +yourself Gustave's friend! You seem to be trying to wreck his life. +Can't you see that this Fanny is an infernal coquette, who cares for +nothing but money and pleasure, and who never had the slightest feeling +of love for my nephew?" + +"As far as that goes, I am entirely of your opinion." + +"Very well! do you think, then, that marriage with such a woman would +make Gustave happy?" + +"_Dame!_ since he adores her----" + +"Why, monsieur, do I need to tell you that love doesn't last forever? +Besides, what purpose does that sentiment serve in a household when it's +not reciprocated? Gustave is kind-hearted, sensitive, affectionate--much +too affectionate. What he needs is a sweet, modest, loving helpmeet." + +"That is true!" murmured Cherami; "and I know one of that sort." + +"And you would have him marry a woman who has spurned him twice? Why, to +miss being this Fanny's husband was the most fortunate thing that could +happen to him! All his true friends ought to congratulate him on it. And +you, monsieur, you set about removing the obstacle which had risen +between my nephew and that widow! You fight with the man she preferred +to Gustave! Ah! monsieur, cease to call yourself his friend; for his +bitterest enemy would not have acted otherwise!" + +Cherami paced the floor of the office with long strides, and bit his +lips, muttering: + +"Sacrebleu! that is all true. There is good sense in what you say. On +the impulse of the moment, I didn't reflect. I saw but one thing to +do--and that was to prevent the little widow's making a fool of +Gustave." + +"Oh! monsieur, she would do it much more effectively if he should marry +her." + +"After all, I didn't kill the count--a sword-thrust in the side is +nothing; he will get well; the doctor said so." + +"That is possible; but who can say that this duel will not change his +plans, his ideas? At the count's age, a wound, an illness, sometimes +ages a man ten years; and then love takes flight, and with it all +thought of marriage." + +"Oh! the count was dead in love, and when a fire gets started in an old +house it burns faster than a new one." + +"Do you still consider, monsieur, that it's very important to tell my +nephew of your fine exploit? Have you any wish to see him rush to that +wretched Fanny's side again?" + +"You have changed my ideas entirely, dear uncle. I'm a hot-headed +creature; but I am not pig-headed. When I feel that I've done a foolish +thing, I admit it." + +"That's something." + +"But, I tell you again, the count's wound is not dangerous; he will +recover." + +"I trust so, monsieur; and above all things that he will marry this +Fanny." + +"In that case, you will no longer feel inclined to throw me out of the +window?" + +"In that case, I will forgive you for this last escapade." + +"Adieu, dear uncle! Look you: you are hard with me; but in my heart I +don't lay it up against you, because I see that you love your nephew." + +"Ah! have you just discovered that?" + +"I shall take pains to keep you informed as to the health of our +venerable lover. As soon as he is on his legs again, I will come to tell +you. And then, if he should try to back out of marrying the little +widow, why, par la sambleu! he will have to draw his sword again." + +"I beg you, monsieur, don't interfere any more; that's the only way to +have the thing end satisfactorily." + +"You haven't much confidence in me, dear uncle; but I will compel you to +do me justice."--And Cherami took leave of the banker, saying to +himself: "That devil of a man is right. I made an ass of myself; but +I'll go to work differently now." + + + + +LVI + +IMPATIENCE WITHOUT LOVE + + +While these things were taking place, Madame Monléard was in a state of +feverish unrest. + +Since the Comte de la Bérinière had definitely offered her his hand, +which she had not refused, he came every day to pay his respects to her. +The ten months of widowhood, which the conventionalities demand, had +passed. The count, who was in haste to witness the coronation of his +flame, was already arranging the preliminaries of his marriage. Among +them were gifts,--jewels and cashmere shawls,--and, on the day preceding +that on which he had received Cherami's visit, he had passed the whole +day taking Fanny about to see the latest styles in gowns and shawls, so +that he might understand her tastes and govern his purchases +accordingly. And the pretty widow had shown no embarrassment about +riding in the carriage which was soon to belong to her. + +During the day following Cherami's challenge, the count, having to seek +seconds for his duel, had had no time to call on Fanny. He did not see +her until evening, and, like the well-bred man he was, had taken care +not to mention the affair which he had on his hands because of her. The +next day, his seconds had called on his adversary, and had then reported +to Monsieur de la Bérinière that the time and place and all the details +of the duel had been agreed upon. That had given the count further food +for thought. He was no coward, and yet the duel was exceedingly +disagreeable to him; his interviews with the pretty widow had shown the +effects of it; he had been less amorous, less affable, and less cheerful +in her presence. + +When the following day came and went without a call from the count, +Fanny was first surprised, then vexed, then alarmed. Twenty times she +went to her mirror, which told her that she was as pretty as ever, and +that her elderly adorer ought to be only too happy that she condescended +to pretend to love him. Meanwhile, the day passed, and the evening, and +the count did not appear. + +"He means to make me some beautiful present," said Fanny to herself; +"and he wants to bring it himself; but all these shopkeepers are so +little to be depended on! He probably waited in vain, and didn't want to +come without his present. I shall have it to-morrow." + +On the morrow, the clock struck twelve, one, two, and no sign of the +count. + +"This isn't natural," thought Fanny. "Something must certainly have +happened. I remember, now, that Monsieur de la Bérinière was +distraught, preoccupied, the last two evenings that he was here. I +charged him with it, and he said I was mistaken. But I was not +mistaken!--Justine, go down and ask the concierge if there isn't a +letter for me; if a message hasn't come from the count. Those people +often forget to tell you when anyone calls." + +Justine soon returned, and informed her mistress that there were no +letters and that no one had called. Fanny placed herself at the window, +and still there was no arrival. + +At five o'clock in the afternoon, unable to remain inactive any longer, +she said to her maid: + +"Take a cab by the hour; here is Monsieur de la Bérinière's address; go +there, and find out from the concierge if anything has happened to him; +if he is ill, ask to see him, and tell him how deeply interested I am in +his health. Go quickly, so that I may know what to think." + +Justine went off in her cab. The pretty widow counted the minutes and +kept looking at the clock. At last her servant returned. Her breathless, +dismayed air made it evident enough that she had something to tell; and +as she entered the room, she cried out, wringing her hands: + +"Ah! madame, indeed there is something new. Oh! the poor count! what a +calamity!" + +"Heavens! Justine, is he dead?" + +"No, madame; he isn't dead yet, but very near it!" + +"What accident has happened to him, then?" + +"No accident, madame; but a fight with swords--a duel, in fact!" + +"The count has been fighting a duel?" + +"Yes, madame; and yesterday morning they brought him home wounded. A bad +sword-wound in the side, which might have been mortal! But it seems +he's going to get well; the doctor hopes he will, but doctors are +mistaken so often!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! Why, this is horrible! With whom did he fight?" + +"His valet doesn't know, madame. The count didn't take him with him." + +"Well, I will find out, I will find out. A duel! Who besides Gustave +could have had the idea of fighting with Monsieur de la Bérinière? That +fellow was born to be the bane of my life.--So you didn't see the +count?" + +"No, madame; the doctor said that nobody must see him to-day; but +to-morrow, perhaps, that order will be changed." + +"The poor count! if only he doesn't die! Just think, Justine, what an +awful nuisance for me!" + +"So it is. But if madame were a countess, it wouldn't be but half bad." + +"You say the doctor promises that he will recover?" + +"So the valet told me." + +"Well, I will go myself to-morrow; but I must see my sister first." + +"I thought that madame did not go to her father's now?" + +"Oh! because in an outburst of anger he told me not to come again. As if +he remembered that! Besides, it isn't my father that I want to see, but +Adolphine." + +The next morning, at eleven o'clock, Madame Monléard was ushered into +the presence of her sister, who uttered a cry of surprise when she saw +her. + +"What! is it you, Fanny?" + +"To be sure; Madeleine told me that father had just gone out; I am glad +of that." + +"Oh! never fear; his anger has passed away. It never lasts long with +him, you know." + +"But I am the one who is angry now." + +"You! with whom?" + +"With everybody. You pretend to be surprised; but you must know what has +happened?" + +"No. What can have happened to irritate you so?" + +"I have good reason for it. Monsieur de la Bérinière fought a duel the +day before yesterday, and was badly wounded; a little more and they'd +have killed him for me!" + +"Mon Dieu! with whom did he fight, in heaven's name?" + +"Do you ask me that? You know well enough; indeed, it's easy enough to +guess." + +"I certainly cannot guess." + +"Who but Gustave, in his rage, because I preferred the count to him?" + +"Gustave? why, that is impossible. He left Paris a week ago; he came to +say good-bye to us, and Monsieur de Raincy, who has just come from +England, met him there." + +"Is it possible that it wasn't Gustave? Then who could it have +been--unless it was that tall swashbuckler who fought with Auguste?" + +"Yes, it must have been he." + +"That's it! that fellow seems to have the very devil in him! As soon as +I am married, or when someone thinks of marrying me, he appears with his +long sword. Why, it's a perfect outrage! Ah! that Monsieur Cherami! And +I have been so polite to him, too--asked him to come to see me!" + +"What! you asked him to come to see you? A man who had fought with your +husband?" + +"Well! what has that to do with it? You know perfectly well that they +made it up. But I must go to inquire for the poor count. Perhaps I can +see him to-day, and find out how this duel came about. Ah! mon Dieu! if +Monsieur de la Bérinière should die, I should be a widow a second time, +and without being a countess!" + +Fanny left Adolphine much disturbed and agitated by what she had heard. +The young widow drove to Monsieur de la Bérinière's house, and found +that the doctor had revoked his orders of the day before; she could see +the count, on condition that she would not let him talk much. + +The young woman entered the sick-room with every manifestation of the +keenest interest; she uttered heartfelt exclamations, sighed profoundly, +and winked her eyes so often that she succeeded in making them very red. +The count smiled at his pretty visitor and held out his hand, which she +seized and pressed to her bosom. + +"If you had been killed," she cried, "I should not have survived you! +But who was the savage? How did this duel come about?" + +"I am forbidden to talk," murmured the count, in a weak voice. + +"Oh! of course, excuse me. My curiosity is very natural, however. Just a +word: was it my old play-fellow with whom you fought?" + +"No; it was a friend of his--named Cherami." + +"Monsieur Cherami? Oh! the miserable wretch! It was he before--with +Auguste. But what, in God's name, have I ever done to that man? or, +rather, what have they whom I love done to him? However, my dear count, +you will recover, there's no doubt of that; and then, by dint of love +and loving attentions, I hope to make you forget an incident of which I +was the first cause." + +"You think it isn't serious?" + +"No, certainly not; it will amount to nothing. God! if the wound had +been dangerous--if I had had reason to fear for your life--I don't know +what would have become of me! Ah! when anything happens to those who are +dear to us, that is the time we feel--how dear they are to us!" + +"You are too kind." + +"Are you in pain?" + +"Only a little; but I am exceedingly weak." + +"I will go, for I am capable of talking to you too much, in spite of +myself, and that would tire you. Au revoir, my dear count! I will come +every day, or send to inquire for you." + +"Thanks a thousand times!" + +"May the thought of me be some company to you, as the thought of you +will be a sweet consolation to me!--Mon Dieu! how hideous he is in bed!" +said the little woman to herself as she left the room. + + + + +LVII + +CHERAMI ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR HIS MISTAKES + + +Three weeks passed. The count was beginning to sit up and to walk about +his room; but he was still very weak, and the blood that he had lost +seemed to have carried away all that he had still retained of +youthfulness, activity, and amiability. Fanny had been to see him almost +every day, although she was sadly bored all the time that she was with +the wounded man; she was very careful, however, to conceal her ennui and +to dissemble her yawns; on the contrary, she feigned to be more +affectionate than ever; but his convalescence seemed to her +interminable, especially because she did not fail to notice the change +that had taken place in the humor of her future spouse, who seemed to +have aged ten years in a fortnight. + +Soon the count was able to drive out; whereupon Fanny murmured, lowering +her eyes: + +"I think that we might now fix the day which is to unite us forever." + +But Monsieur de la Bérinière shook his head. + +"I am not strong enough yet," he replied. + +And the young widow said to herself: + +"I am very much afraid that he never will be strong enough again!" + +Things were at this point, when Madame Monléard's maid informed her +mistress one morning that Monsieur Cherami requested the honor of an +interview with her. + +"Monsieur Cherami!" cried Fanny. "What! that man dares show himself at +my house! my evil genius! But, no matter! I am curious to know what he +can have to say to me.--Show the gentleman in." + +Cherami, who had not omitted to make an elaborate toilet, came forward +with a smiling face, saying: + +"Madame Monléard did not expect a call from me?" + +"No, monsieur, most assuredly not. After what has taken place between +you and Monsieur de la Bérinière, I did not expect to see you here; but, +since you are here, I trust that you will be good enough to tell me why +you challenged a man you did not know, and who had not injured you?" + +"Mon Dieu! madame, surely you can guess. I wished to avenge poor +Gustave, whom you have played with like a macaroon." + +"Great heaven! monsieur, what is the meaning of this frenzy of yours for +taking up the cudgels for Gustave? He doesn't think of fighting duels +himself, you see! he takes things as they come; he's a good boy, and +doesn't lose his head; he goes away, and that's the end of it. But you! +And your conduct is all the more blamable because, when I met you not +long ago, you made me all sorts of offers of your services. You assured +me that you would be overjoyed if you could be agreeable to me in any +way; and, in order to be agreeable to me, you go to work and challenge +Monsieur de la Bérinière, for no reason at all; you compel him to fight; +and you run your sword into him just when he was going to marry me! If +that's the kind of service you meant to offer me, I excuse you from +obliging me hereafter." + +"I begin by confessing, madame, that I realize my mistake. I followed +the first impulse; but I was wrong. I have realized since that I made +an awful blunder; and I have come humbly to beg your pardon." + +"You confess your wrong-doing; that is well enough! but what is done is +done, none the less." + +"The count has recovered; he goes out to drive; I am sure of that." + +"Yes, the count is beginning to go out; but he is not the same man; his +humor has completely changed; he has lost his light, playful tone. He +was a young man, now he's old. When I mention our marriage, he replies: +'My strength doesn't seem to come back.'--In short, he no longer acts as +if he were in love with me; and you, monsieur, you are the cause of it." + +"Very well, madame; as I have done the mischief, I propose to remedy it. +The count shall become amorous again, and of a cheerful humor, and eager +to marry you; for I want him to marry you now, and, par la sambleu! I +will succeed! I have my cue!" + +"You have a cue?" + +"That's just a little phrase I'm in the habit of using; I mean that I +have my scheme." + +"Are you telling me the truth, monsieur? Do you really desire now to see +me marry Monsieur de la Bérinière?" + +"Madame, women have often deceived me; but I have always been honest +with them--in order not to resemble them. I have no reason for lying to +you." + +"And how do you propose to set about making the count what he was?" + +"Rely on me! But it is necessary that Monsieur de la Bérinière should +consent to receive me. If I call on him, it's not certain that he will +see me. You must have the kindness to say a few words to him in my +favor--that I realize my mistake and would be glad to apologize to him; +that I have asked you to intercede for me." + +"If that is all that is necessary, all right. I shall go to see the +count soon; come to-morrow morning, and I will tell you what he says. +Suppose it is favorable?" + +"A week hence, it will all be over, and you will be a countess." + +"Really? but what method do you propose to employ?" + +"Don't you be disturbed; I have my cue, I tell you." + + + + +LVIII + +THE COUSIN'S SPECIFIC + + +About midday, the pretty widow paid her customary visit to Monsieur de +la Bérinière, whom she found installed in his easy-chair _à la_ +Voltaire, drinking herb tea. + +"How are you to-day, my dear count?" she inquired, taking a seat by the +convalescent's side. + +"I am getting on very slowly, thank you, fair lady; the wound has +entirely healed, but my strength doesn't return very fast." + +"What are you drinking there?" + +"An infusion of linden leaves." + +"Do you think that that stuff will ever bring back your strength?" + +"My doctor says that it's an excellent thing. It's very soothing." + +"It seems to me that you are quite calm enough. Look you, count, I +haven't much confidence in your doctor." + +"But, you see, he has cured my wound." + +"Your wound would have healed of itself; that wasn't a disease; but now, +instead of giving you something to build you up, he puts you on herb tea +and slops; he treats you like a child!" + +"Perhaps you are right, dear lady. It's a fact that he is keeping me to +this diet a good while, on the pretext that I must be prudent." + +"If you listen to him, you'll be under the same treatment six months +hence. But enough of that subject; I am intrusted with a singular errand +to you." + +"What is it, dear lady?" + +"The man with whom you fought this duel----" + +"Monsieur Cherami?" + +"Exactly. Monsieur Cherami called on me this morning----" + +"The deuce! did he undertake to challenge you also?" + +"Oh, no! far from it! He came to ask my pardon for his conduct. He +realizes his mistake; he is in despair at what he did; and he wishes, as +a great favor, to be allowed to come to offer you his apologies and tell +you how delighted he is at your recovery." + +"Pardieu! he's an extraordinary mortal! He insists upon fighting for his +friend----" + +"Yes; it was in a moment of exasperation." + +"And now he's sorry for it! But I bear the fellow no ill-will at all. He +fences very well; ah! he's an excellent blade!" + +"And you will allow him to come to offer his apologies?" + +"Willingly; but listen: only on condition that he will tell me who the +two seconds were that he brought with him. You can't form an idea, +madame, of those two men, who certainly had never assisted at such a +performance before! It was enough to make you burst with laughing. De +Gervier was much amused; but De Maugrillé was on the point of losing his +temper; he wanted to fight them. It was altogether funny, I assure you." + +"Then you are willing that Monsieur Cherami should come to see you?" + +"Yes, on the condition I have suggested." + +"He will readily agree to that, I fancy; he is to come to me to-morrow +morning to learn your reply, and I will send him to you." + +"Very good! I must say that this Monsieur Cherami seemed to me no less +clever than original." + +Cherami did not fail to return to Madame Monléard's on the following +day; she told him that Monsieur de la Bérinière consented to receive +him, on condition that he would tell him who his seconds were. + +"And now," said the widow, "how do you propose to restore the count's +health and good-humor?" + +"Never fear, madame," replied Beau Arthur; "that is my business; the +count needs to be set up mentally, as well as physically. He's like an +old clock that won't go; but as long as the mainspring isn't broken, +there's a way out of the difficulty; I'll set him going." + +On leaving Fanny, Cherami took a cab and drove to the Palais-Royal, +where he went into Corselet's and purchased a half-bottle of the finest +chartreuse; then he removed the label, the seal, and everything which +could lead to the identification of the liqueur, put the bottle in his +pocket, and repaired to Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, saying to himself: + +"It comes high; but one cannot make too many sacrifices when it's a +question of ensuring a friend's happiness. I have only a hundred and +fifty francs left of Gustave's thousand; but I will spend them with the +best will in the world, if I can by that means induce our elderly lover +to marry the little widow." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière was informed that Monsieur Cherami craved the +favor of an interview. + +"Show him in," said the count. + +Cherami, fashionably dressed and perfumed as in his halcyon days, +presented himself before the count, who stepped forward to meet him. + +"I beg you, monsieur le comte, do not rise! I understand that you are +still weak; and I am too fortunate in being allowed to pay my respects +to you and to offer my apologies for my insane behavior toward you." + +"Let us say no more about it, Monsieur Cherami; you wanted a duel with +me, and you had it--it's all over with now. Pray be seated, and just +tell me, between ourselves, who those two individuals were who acted as +your seconds? You will agree that their aspect--their whole manner--was +very comical; and I would stake my head that it was the first time they +were ever present at a duel." + +"Faith! that's the truth, monsieur le comte; but what would you have? +Everybody that I relied upon failed me, and I had no choice; I +persuaded, albeit with much difficulty, those two men of business to +attend me on the field of honor." + +"Who were the fellows?" + +"The elder, monsieur le comte, deals in water from Mont-Dore on a large +scale; the younger is his clerk." + +"Are they Auvergnats?" + +"Yes, monsieur le comte." + +"I would have bet anything on it. However, the younger one is as strong +as an ox, apparently, for they tell me that he carried me in his arms to +my carriage." + +"That is true; he is very strong.--Is monsieur le comte's wound entirely +cured?" + +"Yes, it has cicatrized. But our meeting was six weeks ago, and my +strength doesn't come back." + +"Monsieur le comte, will you allow me to make you an offer?" + +"What sort of an offer is it?" + +"I have fought duels quite often in the course of my life." + +"Oh! I believe it." + +"I have been wounded several times." + +"You fence very well, however; but one sometimes thrusts awkwardly." + +"Well, monsieur le comte, a dear old cousin of mine, who was very fond +of me in spite of my escapades, made me a present of a liquid, by the +aid of which I was always on my feet in a very short time, even after +the most severe wound." + +"The deuce you say!" + +"I have used it whenever I have been wounded, and it has never failed me +yet." + +"What is it made of?" + +"I have no idea; that was my old cousin's secret, and she died without +confiding it to me. But it must be very healthful, as it always cured +me." + +"Have you still got any of this liquid?" + +"I have kept a few half-bottles of it, as a priceless treasure; and here +is one of them, which I have taken the liberty of bringing, in the hope +that monsieur le comte will have confidence in me." + +"Faith, why not?" + +"I shall have the honor to taste it first with monsieur le comte, to +make sure that it isn't spoiled." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière ordered liqueur-glasses to be brought. Cherami +filled them with the superfine chartreuse, and swallowed a glass +himself. + +"That's good, very good!" said the count, after drinking his glass. "But +it seems to me that it has just the same taste as chartreuse." + +"It is true, monsieur le comte, that there is a little similarity while +you are drinking it; but afterward the bouquet, the taste, is not the +same at all." + +"Possibly not. I never drank much chartreuse; I take liqueur very +rarely." + +"Then this will have all the more effect. It is a decoction of simples, +of strengthening herbs, I fancy. My old cousin used often to go +botanizing." + +"It smells of liverwort too." + +"It does, and that is very strengthening." + +"It feels very warm in the chest. I seem already to feel stronger, more +lively." + +"It works very quickly." + +"How much must I drink to be entirely cured?" + +"Why, you must take this half-bottle." + +"In how long a time?" + +"In three days." + +"Drink all that in three days!" + +"Oh! this bottle doesn't hold much. Drink four small glasses to-day; +to-morrow, five; the day after to-morrow, six or seven; and that will +take it all. But don't mention my old cousin's remedy to your doctor. He +would be sure to sneer at it; doctors are never willing that you should +be cured with things that they don't prescribe." + +"I know that. But, upon my word, I do feel much better." + +"Take a second glass at once, and the others after dinner." + +"Well, I will submit to your prescription. Yes, it has a very different +taste from chartreuse; it's sweeter." + +"The more you drink of it, the better you will like it." + +"It is delicious; your old cousin left you something of great value." + +"She passed all her time compounding remedies. This will give you an +appetite too. You can eat a lot, and everything; it would digest a +stone." + +"Enchanting! On my word of honor! I feel my legs twitching. It seems to +me that I could dance." + +"The day after to-morrow, you will be in a condition to dance. Permit me +to return a few days hence, monsieur le comte, to inquire for your +health?" + +"Whenever you choose, Monsieur Cherami; you are an excellent doctor, and +I feel better already for your medicine." + +"Au revoir, then, monsieur le comte! follow my prescription carefully." + +"Oh! I shall take good care not to forget it." + +Cherami took his leave, saying to himself: + +"It can't possibly hurt him; it will warm him up a little, that's all; +and he needs it, he was turning to pulp." + + + + +LIX + +WHAT WAS SURE TO HAPPEN + + +The young widow was preparing to call on the count on the day following +that on which she had sent Cherami to him, being very curious to know if +he had already improved her fiancé's health, when her maid announced +Monsieur de la Bérinière. + +Fanny could not restrain a cry of surprise when the count entered her +apartment as briskly as before his duel. It was the second day of the +chartreuse treatment, and the count had taken three glasses before +leaving home; that liqueur, which is really very strengthening when used +with moderation, had restored his vigor; it had revived his mental +powers; and Monsieur de la Bérinière, overjoyed at a change which he +took as evidence of a return to his normal condition, had determined to +go in person to inform the young widow of it. + +Fanny expressed all the joy she felt at finding him restored to health. + +"Yes, I am feeling very well," said Monsieur de la Bérinière. "My +strength is coming back with a rapidity that surprises me. Would you +believe, dear lady, that our good friend Monsieur Cherami is the one to +whom I owe it all?" + +"Can it be? Is he a doctor?" + +"No; but he has a potion left him by an old cousin, which restores +convalescents to full health in a twinkling. I have been taking it only +two days, and I am a different man. To-morrow, Tuesday, I shall finish +the bottle; and at the end of the week, I will lead you to the altar. I +will make all my arrangements accordingly." + +"Oh! how happy I am to have you entirely well again! You have recovered +your former amiability, your merry humor." + +"Yes, I have recovered a lot of things; and when I have taken the rest +of my elixir, you'll have a husband of twenty-five!" + +"Indeed, you seem hardly more than that to-day." + +"Really, you are too kind! I preferred to come myself to tell you of +this blessed change. Now I must leave you, to go to my banker's. I must +make him give me a lot of money, for I propose to cover you with jewelry +and fine clothes." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, don't be foolish, I beg!" + +"It's not foolish, simply to try to please you. Ah! to-morrow, what +quantities of things I will buy, and perhaps I shall not have the +pleasure of seeing you; but expect me the day after to-morrow, about +noon, with all my little gewgaws." + +"You are always welcome, monsieur le comte." + +Monsieur de la Bérinière took his leave after kissing the young widow's +hand; while she abandoned herself without reserve to the most intense +delight. + +"At last," she cried, "I am going to be a countess! Oh! that Monsieur +Cherami is a delightful man! And when I am a countess and have my +carriage and forty thousand francs a year, which I won't lose by +speculating in stocks, then father won't think that I did wrong to +refuse a second time to marry Gustave; for, in this world, it seems to +me that it is one's duty to think of one's self first." + +When the count woke on the third day of the new treatment, he was amazed +to find that he felt almost as weak as before he began to drink the +precious liquid; he did not realize that the strength which it gave him +was purely artificial and vanished with the spirits which it contained. +He summoned his valet, bade him give him the precious bottle, drank two +glasses in quick succession, and soon felt revivified. + +"I will drink it all to-day!" said the count to himself, while his valet +was dressing him.--"How many more glasses are there in the bottle, +François?" + +"I should think there were at least six, monsieur le comte, besides the +two you have drunk." + +"That will make eight; but I shall be as lively as a cricket." + +"Doesn't monsieur think that it may excite him too much?" + +"No, no! Mere herbs! they're very strengthening! Give me a glass." + +"Here it is, monsieur le comte." + +"Ah! it's good! I am beginning to like it much. It's an extraordinary +thing, the good it does me. I feel like pirouetting, François." + +"Don't do it, monsieur; it would make you dizzy." + +"Let us see: I have a lot of errands to do to-day, tradesmen to see, +gifts to buy for my bride that is to be; for I am to be married on +Saturday, François!" + +"Indeed! so much the better, monsieur." + +"I am going to make a list of the things I want to buy. I shall have a +tiresome day. Give me another glass, François." + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"I don't know just where I shall dine to-day. I think I shall not come +back here." + +"At Madame Monléard's, perhaps?" + +"Oh, no! that would embarrass her. I will dine at a restaurant, with the +first friend I happen to meet. Have you ordered the carriage?" + +"Yes, monsieur; it is waiting for you." + +"I am off. Pardieu! another glass before I go." + +"Monsieur is very much flushed now." + +"So much the better! That's my natural color coming back. Just put the +bottle in the carriage; I will finish it while I do my errands." + +The count swallowed his fifth glass of chartreuse, made a +demi-pirouette, and almost fell, because he was very dizzy; but his +valet held him up, and he finally succeeded, after much bumping against +walls, in reaching his carriage, into which he threw himself, saying: + +"Deuce take me! I believe I am quite capable of climbing a greased +pole!" + +The day was passed by the future bridegroom in visiting emporiums of +jewelry, laces, and shawls; he gave his orders, and from the multitude +of those pretty trifles which are said to be necessaries of life, and +with which ladies adorn their whatnots, he made a selection well +calculated to flatter her who was to bear his name. This took a great +deal of time, but he found leisure to finish the bottle he had brought +with him; he had an unfamiliar burning sensation in his breast; he was +tremendously thirsty, and said to himself: + +"I will drink seltzer with my dinner." + +About five o'clock, as he was leaving a famous fancy-goods shop, he +spied his two seconds, Messieurs de Maugrillé and de Gervier, coming +toward him arm in arm. He went forward eagerly to meet them. + +"Good afternoon, messieurs! Where are you going?" + +"Why, we are going to dine." + +"With friends?" + +"No; at the first restaurant we see, provided that it's a good one." + +"Then you will give me the pleasure of dining with me; we will celebrate +my recovery and my approaching marriage." + +"So be it." + +"Get into my carriage; we can sit close together. I will take you to +Philippe's; will that suit you?" + +"Perfectly; one can dine very well there." + +They entered the carriage. As they drove along, Monsieur de Maugrillé +glanced very often at the count. Finally, he said to him: + +"Are you completely cured?" + +"As you see." + +"Your face seems to me very much flushed; your eyes gleam with +supernatural brilliancy." + +"That's the result of the medicine I have been taking; a very agreeable +remedy, I give you my word." + +"Something that your doctor prescribed?" + +"No; I got it from my opponent, Monsieur Cherami." + +"Your opponent! You have seen him again?" + +"To be sure; we are the best of friends. He's a hot-head, but a very +good fellow." + +"Did you ask him who those two Mohicans were who acted as his seconds?" + +"Yes; one was a rich landed proprietor of Auvergne, who sends water here +from Mont-Dore; the other was his clerk." + +"Ah, yes! the so-called Pole, Monsieur de Chamousky. I shall know those +two worthies again." + +They arrived at Philippe's. The count ordered a dainty dinner, with +wines of the finest vintages; and as he felt very thirsty, he deemed it +advisable to begin with champagne frappé. His guests celebrated the +count's recovery, and drank to his future bride; Monsieur de Gervier, +who was in very high spirits, insisted on drinking to Cherami's seconds, +whom he felt sure of meeting some day, when he proposed to buy some +Mont-Dore water of them. The count did not spare himself, but tossed off +glass after glass of champagne, crying: + +"This is the end of my bachelor life!" + +"Be careful, my dear De la Bérinière," said Monsieur de Maugrillé; "for +a convalescent, you go rather fast; you don't spare yourself at all." + +"I have never felt so well." + +Suddenly Monsieur de Gervier, who had gone to the window for a breath of +air, burst into a roar of Homeric laughter, and shouted: + +"There they are; yes, those are they; I recognize them." + +"Who, pray?" + +"The dealers in Mont-Dore water. Come, look at them! they're going along +the street, and their cask with them." + +Monsieur de Maugrillé looked out, and exclaimed in dire wrath: + +"Water-carriers! they were water-carriers!" + +The count, having also looked out, declared that he did not recognize +them; at last, Monsieur de Gervier observed: + +"Oh, well! to be sure, it isn't Mont-Dore water that they sell; but, +after all, it's a kind of water that's even more indispensable. For my +part, this makes the affair all the more amusing, and that duel will be +one of my most delightful recollections." + +Monsieur de Maugrillé made a wry face and held his peace, and the count +returned to the table. + +"Come, messieurs," he said, "this need not prevent our drinking to my +approaching happiness; it's extraordinary how thirsty I am to-night!" + +The dinner lasted until a late hour, but at last they left the table and +parted: Monsieur de Gervier going to see his Dulcineas, Monsieur de +Maugrillé to play his game of whist, and the count to bed; he was very +tired. + +It was Wednesday, and the pretty widow was awaiting all the gifts which +her fiancé had promised her. + +"I flatter myself that it won't be to-day as it was that other time," +she thought; "I shall not wait in vain. He won't have another duel on +his hands; there's nobody to challenge him now. Monsieur Cherami is on +my side; he wants me to marry the count. It's strange how he has turned +about; perhaps he has had a row with Gustave; the main point is that he +has kept his promise; he has restored Monsieur de la Bérinière's health, +and that's a service I shall not forget." + +But the clock struck twelve, and one, and two; and neither the +bridegroom nor his presents appeared. Fanny paced her room impatiently, +muttering: + +"Oh! what a bore it is to wait! It may not be the count's fault, but for +some time past it has seemed as if I were destined to be vexed and +thwarted all the time." + +When the clock struck four, the young woman could restrain her +impatience no longer. + +"Justine," she said to her maid, "you must hurry to Monsieur de la +Bérinière's again and find out what has happened, what prevents him from +coming. I can't pass my whole life waiting for that man. Go quickly, +take a cab by the hour. I am ruining myself in cabs for him; it's to be +hoped that he will make it up to me." + +Justine obeyed her mistress; but when she returned, it was with a +woe-begone face, as before. + +"Mon Dieu! what has happened now?" cried Fanny. + +"Monsieur le comte returned home late last night, about ten o'clock, +madame, with a violent headache; he had been dining at a restaurant. He +was hardly in bed when he had an attack of fever, followed by delirium; +they sent for the doctor, who said that he had indigestion, inflammation +of the intestines, and also of the lungs. In fact, he's very ill." + +"Oh! Justine, what an unlucky creature I am! The idea of having +indigestion just when you are going to be married!" + +"It's inexcusable, madame." + +"And to think that it has come just when everything was ready! There are +people with him, I suppose?" + +"Oh! yes, madame." + +"Do you think that I might go there this evening?" + +"What's the use, madame, when he is delirious? He wouldn't know you." + +"All right! I will go to-morrow. Ah! I am really greatly to be pitied." + +Three days later, on Saturday, Cherami betook himself to Rue de la +Ville-l'Évêque, to see what effect the tonic had had on the count. + +"It was on Sunday that I gave it to him," he reflected; "he must be +vigorous and lively now, or else he never will be." + +According to his custom, Cherami did not stop to speak to the concierge; +he went up to the count's reception-room, and found there the valet de +chambre holding a handkerchief to his eyes. + +"What's the trouble, my friend; how's your master?" + +"Monsieur le comte died last night," the valet replied, with a sigh. + +"Died!" cried Cherami. "What do you mean? Dead so soon! What in the +devil did he die of?" + +"Inflammation, indigestion. He took to his bed on Tuesday night, and the +doctor said at once there was no hope." + +"Poor count! Ah! that really causes me great distress.--It may be," +thought Cherami, as he went away, "that we heated the oven a little too +hot." + + + + +LX + +THE RETURN OF ULYSSES + + +A month had passed since the Comte de la Bérinière's death. Was it from +grief? was it from anger? Madame Monléard had shut herself up in her +apartment ever since, and had been to see no one, not even her father or +her sister. She must have known, however, that Adolphine would be the +first to sympathize with her woes; but unfeeling persons never believe +in the keen sensibility of others; and if anybody seems to pity them, +they are always convinced that, in reality, that person rejoices in +their misfortune. The proverb rightly says that we judge others by +ourselves. + +Monsieur Batonnin, who was always the first to be informed of anything +that happened to disturb his friends or acquaintances, learned of the +count's death very soon after it occurred, and went at once to Monsieur +Gerbault's. + +"Have you heard of the cruel accident, the misfortune that has befallen +your elder daughter?" he said. "The Comte de la Bérinière is dead, and +before he had married her." + +"I should say," rejoined Monsieur Gerbault, "that the misfortune was the +count's, not my daughter's." + +"Oh! of course; but, after all, the count was no longer a young man; +while your daughter was going to be a countess and have forty thousand +francs a year; and I believe that the count agreed to make a will when +he married her, making her his heir. A woman doesn't find such a husband +every day." + +"Monsieur Batonnin, it's a sad business to speculate on the death of the +person one marries!" + +"That is true, it's very sad; but still it's done." + +"You may say what you please; I do not pity my daughter." + +"You astonish me!" + +Adolphine, finding that her sister did not come, went to see her; but +the concierge always said to her: "Madame Monléard has gone out;" and +the girl understood at last that her sister did not choose to see her. + +One morning, Cherami was preparing to go out, when Madame Louchard came +up to his room, and said, with an air of mystery: + +"There's a person below who wants to know if you are visible; and I came +up to make sure that you were dressed from top to toe." + +"Who is this person, pray, who makes so much fuss about coming to my +room?" + +"A pretty young woman." + +"A pretty young woman coming to call on me! Ah! my excellent hostess, +methinks I have returned to the days of my early prowess!" + +"I'll go and tell her to come up." + +"One moment! Let me brush my hair a little, straighten the parting, and +see if my whiskers are well combed." + +"Look at the flirt!" + +"It is never wrong to beautify one's self. Go, show this lady up. I have +my cue!" + +A lady of small stature, very well dressed, and of distinguished +bearing, soon entered Cherami's room; when she was sure that he was +alone, she raised her veil, saying: + +"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?" + +"God bless my soul! it's Madame Monléard, the fascinating widow. Pray be +seated, fair lady; excuse me if I do not receive you in a palace, but +for the moment I have only this hovel at my disposal. To what am I +indebted for the honor of your visit?" + +"I desired to have a little conversation with you. Such a melancholy +thing has happened since we last met." + +"Don't speak of it! The poor count's death upset me completely; I +couldn't believe it." + +"Especially as he seemed to be entirely restored to health. What was it +that you gave him to take, in heaven's name?" + +"Mon Dieu! just plain chartreuse--an excellent, strengthening liqueur. +But it seems that he dined with two friends, that he did not spare +himself, that the champagne made him ill, and----" + +"Well, he's dead; we must make the best of it. But it is doubly +unfortunate for me. I lose a great fortune, a title, which I had in my +grasp." + +"True; you lose all that!" + +"And then I--I also lose--I lose--the husband with whom I broke off +relations--in order to become a countess." + +"True--you lose both. You are almost thrice a widow." + +"And yet, it seems to me that I was excusable for being blinded for a +moment by ambition. Mon Dieu! who in this world has not been? We all +want to raise ourselves." + +"That is the first thing to which we aspire when we are born." + +"Monsieur Cherami, are you still on friendly terms with Gustave?" + +"With Gustave? Oh! ours is a friendship for life and death; there will +never be any break in our friendship. He's a man for whom I would throw +myself into the fire." + +"Ah! that is very fine. And tell me, do you know whether he will return +to Paris soon?" + +"Hum! I see what you are driving at!" thought Cherami, stroking his +whiskers. + +"Why, no, I don't," he replied. "According to what I learned at his +uncle's house, it seems that Gustave, instead of returning to France, is +going to Russia, where he will probably stay a long time--perhaps a year +or two--or four." + +Fanny made a gesture of disgust. + +"What an idea! To go to Russia, where you freeze all the time! When one +can be so comfortable in France--especially in Paris!" + +"Oh! I beg your pardon; the women in Russia aren't frozen. It seems that +there are some very pretty ones there, and some immensely rich! Gustave +is a good-looking fellow, he'll turn some high-born damsel's head there, +and make a marriage set in diamonds." + +The little widow rose abruptly, lowered her veil, and said: + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami! I must leave you." + +"What! already? Had madame nothing else to say to me?" + +"No. Frankly, I came because I wanted to learn something about Gustave; +but what you have told me---- However, perhaps he will change his mind; +he won't stay in Russia, he'll be bored to death there. In any event, if +you learn anything about him, if you find out just where he is, it will +be very good of you to let me know." + +"Madame, I shall always be delighted to be able to gratify you." + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!" + +Cherami looked after Fanny as she went away, saying to himself: + +"I think I see myself telling her where Gustave is, even if I knew! I +believe, God bless me! that she is inclined to go after him, that she +hopes to catch him in her net again! Gad! he must either be stupid or +bewitched. But there are some men, men of intelligence, too, whom love +makes as stupid as earthen pots. I lied to the little widow when I told +her that Gustave was going to Russia. On the contrary, when I went to +ask about him, the day before yesterday, the concierge, who knows me +now, told me that he expected him in a few days. Par la sambleu! I guess +I'll go again; he may have come." + +Cherami lost no time in making his way to the banker's house, where the +concierge said to him: + +"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont returned yesterday; he's at home." + +Thereupon our friend scaled the stairs; in a few seconds he was at his +young friend's door, and began by throwing himself into his arms. That +first outburst of emotion passed, Cherami looked at Gustave and suddenly +ejaculated: + +"Ten thousand devils! What does that mean?" + +That exclamation was drawn from him by the sight of a great scar, which +started from the young man's forehead, crossed his left eyebrow, and +came to an end at the lower part of the cheek. + +"That?" replied Gustave, with a smile. "That is the result of a duel +with swords with an Irish officer. You fought my battles here, my dear +Cherami; the least I could do was to look after my own affairs across +the channel." + +"What! have you heard? But let me embrace you again! That scar is +tremendously becoming to you, and I am delighted that you have had this +duel, in which your adversary evidently didn't fight with a dead arm. +Damnation! what a slash!--Ah! people won't say now that I fight instead +of you; this will put a stopper on all the sneering tongues. But what +did you fight about?" + +"It was the sequel of a breakfast party of artists, business men, and +this one Irish officer. We had plenty to eat and drink. The conversation +fell on women, that inexhaustible subject of conversation among young +men; I said that the French women, even those who were least pretty, +always outdid the women of other countries in dress and carriage; +thereupon the Irishman lost his temper, and called me a greenhorn. I +threw my napkin in his face; after that, a duel with swords--that was +the weapon chosen by my adversary; and this wound healed very slowly and +kept me in bed six weeks; otherwise, I should have come home long ago." + +"Dear Gustave! Ah! what a noble scar! It is very becoming, and I +congratulate you again." + +"But I have no congratulations for you, but reproaches! Pray tell me why +you challenged that poor Comte de la Bérinière? what had he done to +you?" + +"Nothing, to me; but he had done something to you, having stolen your +promised bride from you." + +"Oh! my friend, if you reflect a moment, you certainly must feel that, +on the contrary, he did me a very great service. But for him, I should +have married a woman who never had the slightest affection for me, and +who did not hesitate to toss me aside like a coat which you discard when +you see an opportunity to get a handsomer one at the same price. That +woman, who, as a reward of my constancy and the suffering she had caused +me, did not hesitate to be a traitor to me a second time! Ah! my friend, +I know her now, and I appreciate her at her real worth. A hard, selfish +heart, overflowing with vanity, caring for nothing but money, +recognizing no merit except that of wealth, incapable of the slightest +sacrifice for others, and considering that everything is rightfully due +to her. That's the kind of wife I should have had! Should I not be +profoundly grateful to the man who was the cause of my rupture with +her?" + +"Is it really you that I am listening to, Gustave? You, talking in this +strain of Fanny? Why, then you must be cured at last of your passion for +her?" + +"Oh, yes! radically cured; indeed, Cherami, what would you think of me +if I still loved her after her last outrage?" + +"I should think that she had cast a spell on you, although I haven't +much belief in magic. But you have ceased to love her, that's the main +point. You know that the poor count died before he had married her? but +not of his wound; he had an attack of indigestion." + +"It is very unfortunate for her; but I confess that I don't pity her." + +"There is one thing that you don't suspect--that she is now +contemplating running after you." + +"Let her run, my dear fellow; I promise you that she will never catch +me." + +"You are quite sure of yourself?" + +"Oh, yes! perfectly sure." + +"You see, she is a damnably shrewd little wheedler, is the widow! I +should feel surer of you if you loved somebody else." + +"Somebody else! You must admit, Cherami, that my love for Fanny hasn't +resulted in a way to encourage me." + +"All women are not Fannys; there are some who are tender-hearted, sweet, +affectionate; who would be so happy to be loved by you." + +"Happy to be loved by me! What, in heaven's name, makes you think so?" + +"I think so--because I am sure of it." + +"You are sure that there is someone who would love me?" + +"Oh! better than that; I am sure that someone does love you--cherishes a +secret passion for you--a sentiment which she has always hidden, kept +locked up in the depths of her heart; because it was hopeless, because +she was simply the confidante of your love for another." + +"Mon Dieu! what do you mean?" cried Gustave, as if his eyes were +suddenly opened; "you think that Adolphine----" + +"Ah! you have guessed--so much the better; that proves that you had +thought of the thing before." + +"No, indeed. What makes you think that Adolphine ever gives me a +thought?" + +"If you hadn't been in love with another woman, you would have +discovered it yourself long ago. I had already guessed it from a +multitude of little things: the way she looked at you--for a woman +doesn't look at the man that she loves in the same way as at other men; +I have studied that subject; but what proved conclusively to me that she +loved you was what happened when I went to Monsieur Gerbault's to tell +him of poor Auguste's unhappy end. I was embarrassed about telling the +story, and I didn't make my meaning clear; Mademoiselle Adolphine +thought that it was your death I was trying to tell them of. Instantly +she gave a shriek of despair, and fainted; we had a great deal of +difficulty in reviving her, and I had to keep saying again and again: +'It isn't Gustave who is dead!' before she recovered her senses. So that +I whispered to myself: 'It's this one, and not the other, who cares for +my young friend;' and I have a shrewd idea that Papa Gerbault reasoned +just as I did." + +"Why did you never tell me all this, Cherami?" + +"Because it wasn't worth while to sing a pretty tune to a deaf man; you +were daft then over your Fanny, you wouldn't have listened to me." + +"Thanks, my friend, thank you for having observed it all. You cannot +conceive the emotion it causes me." + +"Why, yes, it's always pleasant to know that one has turned the head of +a pretty young girl." + +"Poor Adolphine! If it were true! If she really does love me!" + +"Why, think of all the offers she has refused! I think I have heard that +the count himself wanted to marry her; and a Monsieur de Raincy, and +many more. What reason had she for refusing everybody who came forward, +if she hadn't love for somebody in her heart? and that somebody was +you--and yet she had no hope of marrying you. Oh! what a difference +between her and her sister! Well, I've told you what I had to tell you; +now, you may act as you please.--But, at all events, you are back again. +I trust that you're not going to start off to-morrow?" + +"Oh! I shall not go away again; I've had enough of travelling; I am +going to settle down in Paris now." + +"Good! _vive la joie!_ But do you know that your uncle is still +unrelenting to me? He received me very coldly when I asked him for +employment." + +"Never fear, my friend; I am here now, I will look about for you, and we +will arrange all that." + +"Very good; I will go, for you must have much to do; when shall I see +you again?" + +"Come in a few days, and I will tell you--yes, I will tell you what I +have done." + +"Agreed. Au revoir! My friend has returned; I have my cue!" + + + + +LXI + +LOVE REWARDED + + +Gustave remained for a long time buried in thought; what Cherami had +said to him on the subject of Adolphine had moved him profoundly. With a +heart so easily touched, a heart made to love, Gustave had as yet met +with nothing but falsehood and perfidy. He remembered now a thousand +occasions on which Fanny's sister had shown the deepest interest in him; +she was always kind to him, always had some consolation to give him; he +recalled, too, her habitual melancholy, her sad smile, and the sighs +which she tried in vain to restrain when he held her hand. Having passed +in review all these memories, the young man hastily left the house, +saying to himself: + +"I will go to see her; I will read in her eyes whether she really loves +me." + +Adolphine was in her room, working at her embroidery frame; Madeleine +was hovering about her mistress, pretending to arrange the furniture. +Madeleine was an excellent girl, who had divined that her mistress was +in love. She had noticed that she never smiled or seemed happy, except +when Gustave came to see her; but she had heard it said that he was +going to marry her mistress's sister, whereupon Adolphine had become +more melancholy than ever. Later, it was said that the marriage was +broken off, and yet Adolphine never smiled; to be sure, the young man +who always brought a smile to her lips had ceased to come. + +Madeleine would have been glad to have her young mistress confide her +secret to her; but she confined in the lowest depths of her heart a +passion which she believed to be well hidden. However, the maid +succeeded occasionally, by dint of beating about the bush, in extorting +a few words, which she made the most of. + +"Mamzelle," said Madeleine, "isn't it very strange that madame your +sister never comes to see you now?" + +"My father was angry with her, you know." + +"That didn't prevent her coming here when she wanted to find out who had +had the audacity to fight with her count. She was sure it was Monsieur +Gustave. But you told her she was mistaken, and you were right. Why +should Monsieur Gustave fight for her, I should like to know, when she +keeps making sport of him? A man doesn't fight, except for a person he +loves; and I am very sure, for my part, that Monsieur Gustave never +gives your sister a thought now." + +"You think not, Madeleine?" + +This question was asked with an eagerness which would have betrayed +Adolphine's secret, if her maid had not already guessed it. + +"But Fanny isn't married!" murmured Adolphine sadly, a moment later. + +"Well, mamzelle, for my part, I am glad of it! She'd have kicked up +altogether too much dust if she had been a countess." + +"But when will Gustave come back?" + +"Why, you don't suppose that he will still want to marry your sister, do +you?" + +"Why not? He loved her so much!" + +"Well, I'll bet that he won't. Think of it, mamzelle, after two such +affronts as that! for you told me it was the second time she had broken +with him. Why, he would have to be a downright fool for that. Is +Monsieur Gustave a fool?" + +"Oh, no! far from it." + +"Well, then----" + +At that moment the bell rang; Adolphine started, without knowing why, +and Madeleine cried: + +"There, suppose it was him? Speak of the devil----" + +It was, in fact, Gustave, and Madeleine's face was wreathed in smiles +when she announced him to her mistress. The young man entered with more +or less embarrassment, caused by Cherami's disclosures. But Adolphine +held out her hand, and he pressed it in his with such force that the +girl was deeply moved; for Gustave had never manifested so much pleasure +at sight of her. + +In a moment she spied the scar, and exclaimed in dismay: + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, you are wounded!" + +"No; it is all healed." + +"But you surely have been terribly wounded. What was it?" + +"A sword-cut." + +"You have had a duel?" + +"Yes, with an Irish officer. I was in London then." + +"And why? For--whom did you fight?" + +"Oh! it was for a mere trifle. A quarrel following a hearty breakfast." + +"Mon Dieu! if you had been killed!" + +"I shouldn't be with you now." + +"Was the wound serious?" + +"Yes, it kept me housed six weeks. But for that, I should have been at +home more than a month ago." + +"More than a month! Ah! then you were anxious to return at once as soon +as you learned--what had happened?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, the thing that caused--oh! surely you know?" + +"No, I do not know. I intended to return, because I had finished my +uncle's business, because I was horribly bored in England, and because I +had no reason for staying away from Paris any longer." + +"Was that all?" + +"To be sure. What other reason are you thinking of, pray?" + +"Don't you know that the Comte de la Bérinière is dead?" + +"Certainly I know it." + +"And that he died before he had married my sister?" + +"I know all that." + +"You do? and that wasn't what brought you home?" + +"Oh! mademoiselle, is it possible that you think that I can love your +sister still! Oh, no! you cannot think it, for you would despise me if +you had such an opinion of me as that." + +"What! can it be possible? Gustave, Monsieur Gustave, you no longer love +my sister? Oh! what joy! Mon Dieu! I don't know what I am saying. I mean +that I think you will be happier now; and you have been sad and unhappy +so long!" + +"Yes, for a long, long time. And don't you think that I deserve to be +rewarded for my constancy by finding at last a heart that does +understand me, a woman who has--a little love for me?" + +"A little? Oh! you will find one who loves you dearly! At least, I +should think so, because you deserve it so well!" + +"Dear Adolphine! Oh! I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, for presuming +still to address you in that way." + +"Why, it doesn't offend me--far from it." + +"You have always been so kind to me! If you knew what pleasure it gives +me at this moment to be sitting beside you again, looking at you, and +reading what is written in your lovely, soft eyes! Oh! do not look away! +Let me seek in them the hope of a sincere affection and an untroubled +happiness!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! you make me tremble. Oh! pray don't say such things to +me, if you don't mean them; for, you see, I too have been unhappy for +such a long time! I have suffered in silence; for I dared not avow my +sentiments; and I had to look on at the happiness of another, who was +loved, adored, although she did not deserve such good-fortune; and I--I +had to conceal all that I felt!" + +Gustave seized Adolphine's hands and fell at her feet. + +"Then it is true!" he cried; "you do love me? Ah! my whole life will be +too short to pay you for this love! How many days of happiness I owe you +in exchange for the torments I have caused you!" + +"But it wasn't your fault, Gustave; you could not guess that I loved +you. Besides, you loved my sister then; but now you don't love her any +more, do you? Oh! tell me again that you don't love her!" + +"As if it were possible for me to love her! Ah! my heart does not divide +its allegiance, and now it is yours, yours only!" + +"Mon Dieu! I must be dreaming, I am so happy!--Madeleine! Madeleine! +come here! It is I whom he loves, it is I whom he wants to marry--and he +knows that I will never refuse him!" + +Madeleine was not far away. Servants are never far from people who are +talking. She came skipping into the room like a crazy person, for she +was really happy in her mistress's happiness. + +"We were just talking about you when you came, monsieur," she said to +Gustave; "I often talk about you to mamzelle, because I have found that +that's the best way to make her listen to me. _Dame!_ I'm from the +country, but I guessed, all the same, what made mamzelle so sad; and now +I'm sure that she'll be happy like me! and that she'll sing and dance +like me!" + +Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to Madeleine's antics. He was +surprised, as usual, to find Gustave in his house; but he was especially +impressed on this occasion by the joy and happiness which he read on +every face. + +"Bless my soul!" he said, shaking hands with Gustave; "are you just back +from the war, my friend? At all events, you have received a wound which +proves that you don't turn your back on the foe." + +"No, monsieur; it's the result of a duel. I am not quarrelsome, as you +know, but a man cannot always be sure of himself." + +"Have you returned to Paris for some time?" + +"For always! I have no further desire to travel. My uncle, who is good +enough to say that I understand the business very well, told me +yesterday that he would make me his partner." + +"The deuce! that's very nice, indeed; for your uncle's business is very +extensive, I believe?" + +"His profits never fall below sixty thousand francs a year." + +"Of which you will have half. That makes you a rich _parti!_--Talking of +_partis_, Adolphine, I have another one to propose to you; and this +time perhaps you will accept, for you surely don't intend to die an old +maid." + +Adolphine looked anxiously at her father; Gustave himself had a vague +feeling of apprehension. Monsieur Gerbault eyed them both with a sly +expression, and continued: + +"Yes, my child; a new suitor has come forward. He will never see +twenty-five again, and he is not very rich; but he has a competence and +an honorable position in society. It is Monsieur Batonnin." + +"Monsieur Batonnin! Oh! I won't marry him. I won't marry anybody--that +is to say--any of those who----" + +Gustave made haste to interrupt Adolphine, and, going up to Monsieur +Gerbault, said to him with the utmost seriousness: + +"Monsieur, a long time ago I was to have been your son-in-law. +Circumstances prevented it, and, if I must confess it, I think that I +have every reason to thank destiny therefor. To-day, I come once more to +ask your permission to become a member of your family. Mademoiselle +Adolphine has consented to be my wife, and something tells me that she +will not retract her word." + +"Yes, father, yes.--Oh! I can't refuse Gustave. And you are willing that +he should be my husband, aren't you?" + +"Especially," replied Monsieur Gerbault, as he embraced his daughter, +"especially as you have loved him for a long time!" + +"What, father! you knew it? How strange! I never told anyone my secret." + +"But a father's eyes are sharp-sighted, dear heart; and now I trust that +you will recover your good spirits." + +"Oh! father, I am so happy!" + +"Take her, Gustave; she will not throw you over for another man. For, +even when she could not possibly hope to be your wife, she refused all +offers in order to be at liberty to love you. As for Monsieur Batonnin, +I was sure beforehand of your reply; but, in order to soften your +refusal, I will tell him that he came too late, because you are going to +marry Gustave." + + + + +LXII + +TERTIA SOLVET + + +The marriage of Gustave and Adolphine had been decided for four days; +and as they were in great haste to be united and to make sure at last of +a happiness which had constantly eluded the grasp of one, and which the +other had never hoped to attain, they were hurrying forward the +indispensable preliminaries to the celebration of their union. + +Monsieur Grandcourt did not make a wry face when his nephew told him of +the new choice he had made; on the contrary, he congratulated him. + +"That one is all right," he said; "she's a charming girl, with all the +good qualities which her sister lacks; therefore, she has a great many." + +More than once, while her young mistress was trying on the gowns and +jewels which were brought to her, Madeleine cried: + +"Oh! mamzelle, how lovely you will look as a bride! But there's your +sister! When she knows who you're going to marry, won't she make a +row?" + +"Hush, Madeleine, don't talk about my sister! I have a sort of feeling +that she is going to interfere with my happiness again." + +"Nonsense! There's no danger of that, mamzelle; I'll answer for Monsieur +Gustave!" + +They were conversing one morning in this same strain, when someone rang +the doorbell violently. + +"Mon Dieu! if it were she!" exclaimed Adolphine. + +"Your sister? Well, if it is, she won't eat us." + +It proved to be Fanny, who entered her sister's room with an insolent +air, crying: + +"What does this mean? Who ever heard of such a thing? Monsieur Gustave +in Paris a whole week, I hear, and no one lets me know! And that tall +scamp of a Cherami assured me that he was going to Russia! Ah! I'll fix +him when I see him! Haven't you seen Gustave? Hasn't he been here?" + +"Why, yes," Adolphine replied, trying to conceal her emotion, "he has +been here. He comes every day." + +"And you couldn't send me word?" + +"I have been to your house several times. You are always out." + +"You might have written me a line." + +"But I could not guess that you were so anxious to see Gustave, after +your treatment of him." + +"Oh! my dear girl, I beg you not to bore me by going all over that! What +has passed is a dream; but what has not been done may still be done." + +"I don't understand you." + +"I understand myself, and that's enough. How is Gustave now? still sad +and depressed?" + +"Oh! not at all. He is cheerful and light-hearted; he's not the same +man. You wouldn't recognize him." + +"Indeed! he's cheerful, is he?" + +"And then, he has a beautiful scar across his face; it gives him a +martial air, it's very becoming to him." + +"Perhaps that is what makes his spirits so good. So he has been fighting +duels, has he?" + +"Yes, with an Irish officer." + +"Everybody seems to be duelling, nowadays! He must have wanted to follow +his friend Cherami's example. What about his business?" + +"His uncle has just made him his partner. Gustave will have at least +forty thousand francs a year for his share." + +"Is it possible! he's a lucky fellow! And he's been in Paris a week, and +I had no idea of it! Hallo! everything seems to be topsy-turvy here! +Have you been buying all these things?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you going to a ball?" + +"Better than that: I am going to a wedding." + +"To a wedding! and I am not invited! Who's to be married, pray?" + +Adolphine was hesitating over her reply, when the door opened and +Gustave appeared. When she saw the man whom she had twice promised to +marry, Fanny dropped into an easy-chair, threw back her head, and +pretended to faint. Adolphine became deathly pale; but a glance from +Gustave reassured her. He went to her side, took her hand, and pressed +it affectionately in his. + +Fanny, seeing that nobody thought of coming to her assistance, decided +to recover; so she straightened herself up, and said in a tremulous +voice: + +"Ah! mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, your presence caused me such a thrill +of emotion! I almost fainted." + +Gustave bowed gravely to Fanny, saying, in an indifferent tone: + +"Madame is well, I trust?" + +"Why, no, I have been ill, I have suffered a great deal. You must find +me changed, do you not?" + +"I fancy we shall have fine weather to-day," said Gustave, turning to +Adolphine, who whispered: + +"She knows nothing." + +"Very well! we will give her a surprise." + +"What does this mean? He doesn't listen to me," thought Fanny. + +She sprang to her feet and went up to the young man, saying: + +"I have a great deal to say to you, monsieur. I have some important +explanations to make to you. I hope that you will be kind enough to +escort me home, where we can talk without disturbing anyone." + +Adolphine clung to Gustave's arm, as he replied with perfect +tranquillity: + +"Madame, I am very sorry to refuse; but I have determined never to enter +your house again, and I do not require any explanation." + +The little widow bit her lips in her wrath, while Adolphine breathed +more freely. + +"What, monsieur! Do you mean that you are afraid to come to my house?" +said Fanny, trying to smile. + +"I know very well, madame, that I have nothing to fear from your +presence now. But I have no reason for calling upon you. Allow me to +say, further, that I have every reason to be surprised at your +invitation." + +Fanny paced the floor, with every indication of the most intense +annoyance; at last she returned to Gustave, and said in a determined +tone: + +"I tell you again, monsieur, that I must speak to you alone, that I have +some things to make known to you, which I can tell only to you. As you +absolutely refuse to come to my house, I will speak to you here. My +sister will be good enough, I trust, to leave us for a moment.--Oh! I +will not abuse monsieur's good-nature." + +Adolphine was sorely disturbed; she seemed not at all inclined to leave +her sister alone with Gustave; but he took her hand and put it to his +lips, saying: + +"Since madame insists upon it, go, my dear Adolphine; but don't go far, +for our interview will not be a long one." + +"How gallant he is to my sister!" said Fanny to herself, as Gustave +escorted Adolphine to the door. "Well! we'll see about it!" + +"We are alone, madame, and I am listening," said Gustave. + +Instantly Fanny threw herself at the young man's feet, crying in a tone +which she tried to make heart-rending: + +"Gustave! forgive me! Oh! in pity's name, forgive me, or I shall die +here at your feet!" + +"Rise, madame, I beg; I do not understand this scene at all." + +"Ah! you do not choose to understand me; but I will not shrink from +accusing myself! Yes, I was guilty, very guilty! Ambition, the longing +to bear a title, had turned my head. I did not know what I was doing; I +was mad. You must know that it was not love which attracted me to the +count. Poor man! No, I have never loved but one man, and that man--was +you; yes, you--despite my idiotic conduct. And then--I don't know--but +the last time that you found fault with me, it seemed to me that you +were jealous. I am too sensitive; I lost my temper all of a sudden. But, +I tell you again, I didn't know what I was doing! Gustave! my dear +Gustave! I will not rise until you have granted my pardon!" + +"Have you said all that you have to say, madame?" rejoined Gustave, with +a calmness which disconcerted the little widow and induced her to rise. + +"Yes, of course. I think that I have fully expressed my regret and my +remorse, at least." + +"Very well, madame, your wish is gratified; I forgive you--all the more +freely, because, by not marrying me, you actually did me a very great +service." + +"What do you mean by that, monsieur? Surely that answer of yours is far +from gallant." + +"Oh! madame, you have given me the right not to be gallant to you. +Observe that I am not reproaching you; God forbid! But, frankly, you +might well have spared yourself this last comedy. I can understand that +you must have a very poor opinion of my sense--I have given you the +right. But, after all, there are bounds to everything; and I didn't +suppose that you considered me an absolute idiot. It seems that I +flattered myself too much." + +"What do you mean by _comedy_, monsieur? What is the significance of +this tone, this satirical air?" + +"Oh! let us not lose patience, madame; and to put an end to the +discussion, allow me to present my wife." + +As he spoke, Gustave stepped to the door and opened it. Adolphine +appeared with a radiant face, for she had heard every word. She gave her +hand to Gustave, and they both bowed to the little widow, who became +white, red, and green, in turn, and who cried at last: + +"Ah! so you are to marry my sister! I might have suspected as much! As +you please, monsieur. In fact, you will suit each other admirably. +Accept my congratulations." + +"Won't you come to my wedding, Fanny?" said Adolphine, offering her +sister her hand. + +"Go to the devil!" she retorted, pushing the hand away. And she rushed +from the room, exclaiming: "I'd much rather you would marry him than I, +for I think the fellow's perfectly frightful with his scar!" + +On returning home from Monsieur Gerbault's, Gustave found Cherami +waiting for him. + +"Well! how is everything?" inquired Beau Arthur, when Gustave appeared. +"Simply by looking at you, my dear fellow, I can see that everything is +satisfactory." + +The young man replied by throwing his arms about Cherami and crying: + +"Ah! you had guessed right. Adolphine loved me; Adolphine still loves +me. In three days she will be my wife, and I shall owe my happiness to +you; for without you I should never have discovered her secret." + +"What a charming fellow! He will be persuading me that he is the one who +owes me gratitude! Dear Gustave! so at last you are going to be as happy +as you deserve! Par la sambleu! I am satisfied! I may fairly say that I +have my cue! And the uncle?" + +"My uncle doesn't laugh at my love now; on the contrary, he approves my +choice." + +"He's a man of sense." + +"He has taken me into partnership." + +"Bravo!" + +"And now, as you may imagine, I am going to look out for you. You must +have a lucrative and agreeable place." + +"Get married first! you can attend to me afterward." + +"No. I have an idea that I want to suggest to my uncle." + +"Your uncle thinks that I am not good for anything." + +"He'll get over his prejudice. I am going to talk with him about you +this very day. Come again, about noon, to-morrow; I shall have a +favorable answer for you, I am sure." + +"All right; noon to-morrow. Here, or at your office?" + +"At my office. By the way, I have changed my office. You pass my uncle's +private room, go to the end of a long corridor leading to the cashier's +office; turn to the left, and my door is in front of you." + +"Very good: a long corridor, then turn to the left. I will find it. +Until to-morrow, my dear Gustave! By the way, shall I be invited to the +wedding?" + +"Will you be? you, who made the match! You, who called my attention to +that angel, whom my idiotic passion had hidden from me! Why, if you were +not there, something would be lacking in my happiness." + +"Ah! that's very prettily said! Never fear; I will do you honor, and I +will make myself agreeable to everybody." + + + + +LXIII + +THE PORTFOLIO + + +As soon as Cherami had left him, Gustave went to Monsieur Grandcourt. + +"Now that I am to be married, my dear uncle," he said, "you can +understand that I don't care about travelling any more. But, in our +business, we always need someone to represent us in foreign countries. +Wouldn't it be possible----" + +"I see what you are coming at," interrupted the banker, shaking his +head; "you are going to talk to me again about your Monsieur Cherami." + +"Well, yes. Am I wrong about it; hasn't he given me proof enough of his +friendship and his devotion? He had shrewdly guessed that Adolphine +loved me." + +"Why didn't he tell you sooner, then?" + +"Would I have listened to him?--Come, uncle, you are so good to me! You +overwhelm me with kindness. You give me an interest in your business. +Will you do nothing for a man who is my friend? He was wild and +dissipated in his youth; now he has reformed." + +"Where's the proof of it?" + +"Why, his most earnest desire is to find a place; and I assure you that +he is capable of filling it." + +"I don't doubt that. The fellow is intelligent and talented, and has +excellent manners when he chooses, but----" + +"But what?" + +"Well, he doesn't inspire me with confidence; and, to represent us, we +must have a man of honor, above all things." + +"You have an erroneous opinion of Cherami. He may have borrowed money, +have incurred debts which he hasn't paid, but solely from lack of means. +In a word, he has been very unfortunate. Do you impute it to him as a +crime that he has endured poverty cheerfully, and has had confidence in +the future? Poor fellow! And I led him to hope for a favorable answer, +and told him to come here for it to-morrow!" + +Monsieur Grandcourt made no reply; he seemed to be lost in thought. +Gustave was distressed by the ill-success of his attempt. Suddenly his +uncle exclaimed: + +"Did you say that Monsieur Cherami was to come here to see you +to-morrow?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"Where are you to meet him, in your room or your office?" + +"At my office." + +"Did you indicate to him exactly that he was to follow the corridor, +then turn to the left?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"At what time is he to be here?" + +"At noon. He will be prompt; he never fails to keep an appointment." + +"Very well; about two o'clock to-morrow, I will give you a definite +answer on the subject of your protégé." + +"And it will be favorable, will it not, uncle?" + +"I can't tell you yet. By the way, I shall be obliged to you if you will +not be in your office at noon." + +"Not be there, uncle? But Cherami is coming!" + +"Don't be disturbed about that; that's my affair. Go to pass the morning +with your fiancée." + +"Oh! I ask nothing better." + +"And return about two o'clock. I will tell you then my decision as to +Monsieur Cherami." + +The clock had just struck twelve when Cherami entered the banking-house +on the following day. He cherished no vain hopes; he did not anticipate +a favorable reply; but, with his customary philosophy, he said to +himself: + +"That won't prevent me from going to Gustave's wedding and enjoying +myself." + +As he was perfectly familiar with the way to the offices, Cherami +entered the vestibule on the street floor; at the right was a door +leading to the general offices, and in front, the door of a long +corridor on which several other doors opened. That was the corridor he +was to take to reach Gustave's office. Cherami passed through the door +and walked straight ahead. He had just passed Monsieur Grandcourt's +private office, when his foot struck something of considerable size; he +stooped, looked to see what it was, and picked up a portfolio. + +His first impulse was to examine what he had found. It was a very simple +portfolio, of green morocco, with no monogram or initials; but in one of +the compartments was a thick package of banknotes. Cherami counted them; +they amounted to twenty-five thousand francs. He looked through all the +other compartments, but found no letters, no papers, nothing to tell him +to whom it belonged. + +"Par la sambleu! this is a find!" said Cherami to himself. "Twenty-five +thousand francs! A very pretty little sum! Who can have lost it? I don't +see anybody; but I mustn't forget that Gustave is waiting for me." + +He put the portfolio in his pocket, and kept on to the end of the +corridor; then turned to the left, took another short corridor, saw a +door in front of him, and turned the knob; but the door did not open. + +"What's this? locked? Yes, it is locked," said Cherami to himself. +"Gustave must have forgotten the appointment. When he's just on the +brink of matrimony, it's quite excusable. I may as well go. But that +portfolio? Let's go and inquire at the cashier's office." + +The counting-room was at the end of the long corridor. Cherami had +passed it once without noticing that it was closed: it was Sunday, a +holiday. + +But as he turned back toward the door of the counting-room, Cherami +exclaimed: + +"Upon my word! everything is closed to-day! It's very strange! One would +say that circumstances conspired to enable me to appropriate this +portfolio with impunity!" + +He walked back along the corridor as far as the banker's door; there he +halted, saying: + +"Let's see if this one is locked, too." + +But that door yielded to his pressure, and Cherami found Monsieur +Grandcourt in his usual seat. He could not master a slight movement as +Cherami appeared, but he instantly repressed it, and greeted him with +the customary cool nod, and without rising. + +"I have come once more to bore you, monsieur," said his visitor; "I had +no intention of doing so, however; but Gustave made an appointment with +me for this noon, and I do not find him." + +"I don't know where he is, monsieur." + +"He was to give me an answer about--about something. I can guess that he +had nothing favorable to tell me; that is why he is not here." + +"In that case, monsieur, what do you want of me?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! nothing, except to hand you this portfolio, which I found +in your corridor; and as the person who lost it will probably come here +in search of it, you will please return it to him. If I had found +anybody in the counting-room, I would not have disturbed you, I promise +you!" + +As he spoke, Cherami took the portfolio from his pocket and placed it on +the banker's desk. The latter's expression had changed completely; the +liveliest satisfaction was depicted on every feature. However, he strove +to conceal his pleasure, as he said: + +"Aha! you found this, you say--near here?" + +"In the corridor. I knocked at several doors, but they are all locked." + +"Do you know what it contains?" + +"Yes; twenty-five thousand francs in banknotes. Count them, and you will +see. Nothing else: no letters, no address, nothing to indicate to whom +it belongs." + +"Do you know, monsieur, that this is very well done of you?" said +Monsieur Grandcourt, turning to Cherami, and looking at him for the +first time with a kindly expression. + +"Well done of me! because I return a portfolio that I found? Tell me, in +God's name, did you take me for a thief, for a man who keeps what +doesn't belong to him? Sapristi! I don't propose that people shall hold +that opinion of me, and you must----" + +"Come, come! cool down, hot-head! I haven't a bad opinion of you. Do you +propose to pick a quarrel with me?" + +"You seem surprised that I do a perfectly simple thing--that I am +honest!" + +"Let us forget that.--Now, do you care to accept the position of our +travelling man? The duties are simply to go to see our correspondents +abroad, and keep us informed as to their orders. As you see, it's by no +means an unpleasant post. We will give you six thousand francs a year +and all your expenses paid. Does that suit you?" + +"Does it suit me! why, it delights me beyond words! Dear uncle of my +friend! Permit me--no, it's foolish for men to kiss--give me your hand, +that's better." + +"There it is, Monsieur Cherami; and henceforth you can number me among +your true friends." + +"Their number isn't very great: you and Gustave, that's all." + +"Permit me also to advance you two thousand francs on your salary; you +may have purchases to make, some troublesome little debts to pay." + +"Faith! I have, indeed. I will pay Capucine and Blanquette, two +creditors of long standing, who have not been very troublesome. I am +sure that they were never anxious; but they have waited long enough. +This evening, I will send them what I owe them. They will be surprised; +but they'll take it." + +A few days later, Gustave married Adolphine, who obtained at last the +reward of the sincere and devoted love which she had hidden so long in +the bottom of her heart. + +Fanny never saw her sister after she became Gustave's wife. The little +widow could not forgive herself for having refused a man who eventually +had more than forty thousand francs a year; especially as nobody else +came forward to take his place. + +Monsieur Batonnin was greatly vexed by the rejection of his hand. When +he learned that it was Gustave who was preferred to him, he was tempted +to make ill-natured remarks, because he, in common with many others, +thought that Gustave must be a coward, as he allowed Cherami to fight +for him. But when he came face to face with Adolphine's beloved, when he +saw the scar of the famous sword-cut, Monsieur Batonnin became smiling +and soft-spoken once more, and congratulated Gustave on his new choice. + +Some months after Gustave's marriage, Cherami, who had become a dandy +once more in respect to dress, happening to pass the omnibus office near +Porte Saint-Martin, met Madame Capucine and her two boys. He greeted the +corpulent dame cordially, saying: + +"Do you happen to be going to your aunt's again? But, no; this isn't the +direction." + +"Excuse me; she isn't at Saint-Mandé now, she's gone back to +Romainville; she feels better there." + +"Does she eat as many rabbits?" + +"No, too many were stolen; she got sick of 'em." + +"Then, I will call again to see dear Madame Duponceau." + +"Oh! yes, as you did before; when you leave the house, that's the last +we see of you. Come now, with us." + +"I can't possibly to-day; I see two young ladies yonder looking for me." + +Cherami had caught sight of Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie at the +corner of the boulevard, where they had stopped to stare at him, and +were saying to each other: + +"Is it really him? How finely he's dressed now!" + +"Yes, it certainly is him. Don't you see, his nose is still crooked." + +"But now he's dressed so fine, that don't look very bad; he has a very +stylish air, I tell you." + +Cherami approached the two friends, and saluted them with a gracious +bow, saying: + +"Really, this square is very good to me; for I remember, mesdemoiselles, +that it was in front of this same omnibus office that I first had the +pleasure of seeing you." + +"That is true, monsieur; but we are still simple working-girls, while +you, monsieur, you seem to have made your fortune." + +"No, mesdemoiselles; I haven't made my fortune. I have just straightened +myself out, reformed a bit, and I have found a place which I am +determined to fill satisfactorily. Twice before, when I met you, I +invited you to dine; and I should have been sadly embarrassed if you had +accepted, for I hadn't a sou in my pocket. To-day, my pocket is well +lined, and yet I shall not repeat my invitation, because I represent the +firm of Grandcourt & Nephew, and, as such representative, I have +determined to change my mode of life. But that will not prevent me from +offering each of you a bouquet, for the most virtuous man is always at +liberty to be gallant." + +With that, Cherami purchased, from a flower-girl at the corner, two +superb bouquets, which he bestowed upon Mesdemoiselles Laurette and +Lucie. Then he saluted them anew and took his leave of them, saying to +himself: + +"I behaved like Cato! And I am the more inclined to congratulate myself, +because, in my new lodgings on Rue de Richelieu, I have, on the same +floor, a charming neighbor--well dressed, with a distinguished air--a +widow with a modest competence--who has responded to my salutations with +the most gracious smiles; and, faith! I have my cue!" + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] Chienlit is the equivalent of the gibing expression "shirt hanging +out" used by urchins among ourselves. It also signifies the strip of +paper surreptitiously fastened to the clothes to render a person a +laughing-stock; or, again, it alludes to the eccentric fashions of +certain Carnival masqueraders. + +[B] _Cher ami_ means "dear friend." + +[C] Blanquette, in its culinary acceptation, signifies a "ragout." + +[D] "Woman is forever changing, and he is a great fool who trusts her." + +[E] Vous me faites suer; literally, "you make me sweat," which explains +Cherami's retort. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Monsieur Cherami, by Charles Paul de Kock + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + +***** This file should be named 34338-8.txt or 34338-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3/34338/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Monsieur Cherami + +Author: Charles Paul de Kock + +Translator: George Burnham Ives + +Release Date: November 16, 2010 [EBook #34338] +[Last updated: May 17, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 407px;"> +<p class="c"><small>Copyright 1903 by G. Barrie & Son</small></p> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img src="images/frontis_sml.jpg" width="407" height="550" alt="THE EX-BEAU MEETS THE FEATHER-MAKERS" title="" /></a> +</div> + +<p class="c"><i>THE EX-BEAU MEETS THE FEATHER-MAKERS<br /><br /> +———<br /> +"What! you are going so soon! I thought—I hoped——"<br /> +The two girls were already in the omnibus.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a></p> + +<h1><small>NOVELS</small><br /><br /> +<small><small>BY</small></small><br /><br /> +P a u l d e K o c k<br /><br /> +<small><small>VOLUME II</small></small><br /><br /><br /> +<small>MONSIEUR CHERAMI</small></h1> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p class="c"><small>PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH +<br /> +GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS</small></p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p class="c">THE JEFFERSON PRESS<br /> +BOSTON NEW YORK</p> + +<p><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a></p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" +style="padding:3%;border: 3px double gray;"> +<tr><td><a href="#I">I, </a> +<a href="#II">II, </a> +<a href="#III">III, </a> +<a href="#IV">IV, </a> +<a href="#V">V, </a> +<a href="#VI">VI, </a> +<a href="#VII">VII, </a> +<a href="#VIII">VIII, </a> +<a href="#IX">IX, </a> +<a href="#X">X, </a> +<a href="#XI">XI, </a> +<a href="#XII">XII, </a> +<a href="#XIII">XIII, </a> +<a href="#XIV">XIV, </a> +<a href="#XV">XV, </a> +<a href="#XVI">XVI, </a> +<a href="#XVII">XVII, </a> +<a href="#XVIII">XVIII, </a> +<a href="#XIX">XIX, </a> +<a href="#XX">XX, </a> +<a href="#XXI">XXI, </a> +<a href="#XXII">XXII, </a> +<a href="#XXIII">XXIII, </a> +<a href="#XXIV">XXIV, </a> +<a href="#XXV">XXV, </a> +<a href="#XXVI">XXVI, </a> +<a href="#XXVII">XXVII, </a> +<a href="#XXVIII">XXVIII, </a> +<a href="#XXIX">XXIX, </a> +<a href="#XXX">XXX, </a> +<a href="#XXXI">XXXI, </a> +<a href="#XXXII">XXXII, </a> +<a href="#XXXIII">XXXIII, </a> +<a href="#XXXIV">XXXIV, </a> +<a href="#XXXV">XXXV, </a> +<a href="#XXXVI">XXXVI, </a> +<a href="#XXXVII">XXXVII, </a> +<a href="#XXXVIII">XXXVIII, </a> +<a href="#XXXIX">XXXIX, </a> +<a href="#XL">XL, </a> +<a href="#XLI">XLI, </a> +<a href="#XLII">XLII, </a> +<a href="#XLIII">XLIII, </a> +<a href="#XLIV">XLIV, </a> +<a href="#XLV">XLV, </a> +<a href="#XLVI">XLVI, </a> +<a href="#XLVII">XLVII, </a> +<a href="#XLVIII">XLVIII, </a> +<a href="#XLIX">XLIX, </a> +<a href="#L">L, </a> +<a href="#LI">LI, </a> +<a href="#LII">LII, </a> +<a href="#LIII">LIII, </a> +<a href="#LIV">LIV, </a> +<a href="#LV">LV, </a> +<a href="#LVI">LVI, </a> +<a href="#LVII">LVII, </a> +<a href="#LVIII">LVIII, </a> +<a href="#LIX">LIX, </a> +<a href="#LX">LX, </a> +<a href="#LXI">LXI, </a> +<a href="#LXII">LXII, </a> +<a href="#LXIII">LXIII </a> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I<br /><br /> +AN OMNIBUS OFFICE</h2> + +<p>The office in question stood near Porte Saint-Martin, at the corner of +the Boulevard and Rue de Bondy, in the same building as the Deffieux +restaurant, which was one of the most popular establishments in Paris in +respect of wedding banquets; so that one who passed that way during the +evening, and often after midnight, was likely to find the windows +brilliantly lighted on the first or second floor, on the boulevard or on +the square, and sometimes on both floors and on both sides; for it +happened not infrequently that Deffieux entertained four or five wedding +parties the same evening. That caused him no embarrassment, for he had +room enough for all; indeed, I believe that, at a pinch, he would have +set tables on the boulevard.</p> + +<p>And there was dancing everywhere, on all sides: in this room, a +fashionable ball; in that, a bourgeois affair; on the floor above, +something not far removed from the plebeian; but it is likely that the +latter was not the least enjoyable of the three, to those who took part +in it; certainly, there was more noise made, at any rate.</p> + +<p>What a home of pleasure! It seems to me that those who live in such +places ought to be always in high spirits, and to have one leg in the +air, ready to dance. That would be tiresome perhaps, but how can one +avoid<a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a> a longing to be merry when one has constantly before one's eyes a +crowd of merry folk, dancing, eating, drinking, singing, making soft +eyes at one another, or shaking hands with all the warmth of the most +sincere regard! Man is so expansive toward the end of a hearty meal! At +such a time, we all attract and love one another.</p> + +<p>You will tell me, perhaps, that these sentiments rarely outlast the time +necessary for digestion; that even those joyous wedding feasts, during +which the newly married pair look at and speak to each other with such a +world of love in their eyes and of tender meaning in their voices, do +not even wait till the end of the year before they become transformed +into gloomy and depressing pictures. There are many people who have gone +so far as to say that there are only two pleasant days in married life: +that on which the husband and wife come together, and that on which they +part; just as there are but two to the traveller: the day of departure, +and the day of return.</p> + +<p>But people say so many things that are not true! I have known many +travellers who have enjoyed travelling; they were never in a hurry to +return to their firesides.</p> + +<p>I love to believe that it is the same with husbands and wives, and that +there are some who enjoy the married state and have no desire to quit +it.</p> + +<p>But what, in heaven's name, am I chattering about, when we ought already +to have entered the omnibus office, whence public conveyances started +for Belleville, La Villette, Saint-Sulpice, Grenelle, and a multitude of +other places, each farther from Paris than the last?</p> + +<p>One could also purchase at the office in question small bottles of +essence, flasks of perfumed vinegar, blacking, and pomade. Commerce +slides in everywhere! There is no harm in that. Commerce is the life of +nations and<a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a> of individuals. Everybody is engaged in commerce, even +those who do not suspect it.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful day, in the middle of June, and a Saturday; three +circumstances which could not fail to result in bringing a large crowd +to the omnibus office, as well as to Deffieux's restaurant. That +restaurant attracts me; I keep going back to it, in spite of myself. +That is to say, that I go back to it, not in spite of myself, but with +all my heart, for one is very comfortable there. Now, you know, or you +do not know—but I should be very much surprised if you didn't,—I +resume: you know that Saturday is the day on which more wedding feasts +occur than on any other day in the week. Why? I fancy that I have +already told you, somewhere or other; but, no matter! let us go on as if +I had never told you. Saturday is the day before Sunday, and therein +lies the whole secret; on Sunday, the government clerks do not go to +their offices, and they are great fellows for marrying; on Sunday, the +mechanics do not work, and the mechanic, too, is very fond of taking +unto himself a housekeeper; lastly, Sunday is the day of rest, and +people say that on the day after one's wedding one needs to rest.—Why +so? Go to! do not ask me such questions! This much is certain—that the +night between Saturday and Sunday is one of the finest nights in the +week, even when there is no moon.</p> + +<p>But, sapristi! here I am still at the restaurant!—You will end by +thinking that I am much addicted to such places. Well, frankly, you are +not mistaken. I frequent them not a little. I often hear people say: +"Don't talk to me of restaurant cooking; it's execrable!"—And those +people think that nothing is good but beef stew, a leg of mutton, and +roast beef. True classics those, in the matter<a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a> of dishes. O Robert! O +Brillat-Savarin! O Berchoux! Not for such as these did ye write and +compound such delicious things! But be comforted, ye men of refined +taste to whom we owe so much! there are still palates which relish your +merit, which appreciate your skill, and which do not make faces at your +succulent conceptions.</p> + +<p>Again, Saturday, in summer, is the day which many people select for a +trip to the country, to remain until Monday. On the day of which we +write, therefore, the omnibuses were largely patronized; for everyone +was in a great hurry to get to some railroad station, or to the point +where they could take stages for some more or less distant destination.</p> + +<p>So that there was a great crowd at the office by Porte Saint-Martin, and +the clerk whose duty it was to distribute tickets did not know which way +to turn; he had to be constantly on the alert, in order to avoid +mistakes, especially as the travellers did not always confine themselves +to asking for an exchange check or a number, but added irrelevant +reflections, questions, and, in many cases, complaints.</p> + +<p>"An exchange check for La Villette."</p> + +<p>"Here you are, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"When do we start?"</p> + +<p>"When the 'bus comes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Will it be long before it comes?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"A ticket for Belleville, please."</p> + +<p>"Here it is, madame."</p> + +<p>"Ah! mon Dieu! number seventy-five! Are there seventy-four ahead of me?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; we begin at fifty."</p> + +<p>"Then there are twenty-five ahead of me?"<a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a></p> + +<p>"Some of them haven't waited; they won't answer the call, and that puts +the others ahead."</p> + +<p>"A check for Saint-Sulpice."</p> + +<p>"Here you are."</p> + +<p>"Where's the 'bus?"</p> + +<p>"It will come along."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I've got to wait; that isn't very pleasant."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame</i>! monsieur, we can't have 'buses ready to start every minute."</p> + +<p>"Why not? It would be much pleasanter for the passengers; but nothing is +ever done to please the passengers; I must complain to the management."</p> + +<p>"Complain, if you choose, monsieur; that's none of our business."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, it is your business, too; it ought to be your business, as +you're the one we deal with. What sort of a way is that to answer? Is +that the way you treat passengers here? It seems to me that you ought to +show more respect."</p> + +<p>The man who is going to La Villette approaches the clerk once more.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, have I got time to go to the pastry-cook's to buy a cake?"</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, no one interferes with your going.—Here's the Grenelle +'bus—passengers for Grenelle—take your places!"</p> + +<p>"I ask you if I have got time to go to get a cake before my 'bus comes?"</p> + +<p>"Place des Victoires! All aboard for Place des Victoires!"</p> + +<p>"Tell me about getting my cake!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; yes, yes, go to the pastry-cook's!"</p> + +<p>And the clerk turns to his comrade, muttering:<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a></p> + +<p>"What a nuisance the fellow is with his cake!—Where should we be if +everybody asked questions like that?"</p> + +<p>A woman, of forty years or thereabout, who could not easily have found a +compartment large enough to hold her, entered the office, leading two +small boys, one of eight and one of four years, who were dressed like +the little trained dogs that do tricks on the boulevards, and whose +noses had evidently been overlooked because of their hurried departure +from home.</p> + +<p>A servant, laden with an enormous basket, from which protruded divers +fishes' tails and bunches of leeks, and with an insecurely tied +pasteboard box, bulging as to the sides and split in several places, +sulkily followed her mistress, hitting everybody with her basket and +box, without a word of apology, but apparently rather inclined to make +wry faces at her victims.</p> + +<p>"I want two seats for Romainville, monsieur—for me and my maid; my boys +don't pay, because we hold them in our laps."</p> + +<p>"Madame, this boy is certainly more than five; he must pay."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, I tell you, I hold him in my lap; so we only fill one +seat."</p> + +<p>"That must annoy your neighbors."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose people ride in omnibuses to be +comfortable!—Aristoloche, where are you going? Stay with your nurse, +sir! Adelaide, do look out for the child; you know how fretful he is!"</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Adelaide, who looked more like a cook than a lady's maid, +had gone with her packages and planted herself on a bench, between an +old gentleman and an old woman, causing them to jump into the air as if +they were elastic. The shock was so violent that the<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a> old woman +shrieked, thinking that she had been electrified. The man, irritated +beyond words by the manner in which the servant had plumped down beside +him, and perceiving that the fishes' tails which protruded from her +basket were caressing the sleeves of his coat, pushed the basket away +with his elbow, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"What sort of way is that to sit down, throwing yourself onto people? +Pay attention to what you are doing, mademoiselle, and be good enough to +move your basket; I have no desire to have your fish rub against my +sleeves and make them smell like poison."</p> + +<p>"What! what do you say? What's the matter with the old fellow?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you to move your basket; I don't want it under my nose."</p> + +<p>"Where do you want me to put my basket, eh? On the floor perhaps, so +that someone can steal it! Oh, yes! we should have a nice time in the +country, where there's never anything to eat. What harm does the basket +do you?"</p> + +<p>"It smells like the devil!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, it's yourself!"</p> + +<p>"I pity the passengers in the 'bus with you; they'll have a fine time!"</p> + +<p>"Shut up, you old cucumber! you'd like to be as fresh as my fish!"</p> + +<p>The epithet old cucumber touched the old man to the quick; he got up and +walked away, muttering:</p> + +<p>"If you weren't a woman, I'd stuff your words down your throat!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed! you'd have plenty to do then, for I feel like saying a good +deal more to you."</p> + +<p>"But, Adelaide, I beg you, look out for Aristoloche; he's going out of +the office."<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a></p> + +<p>"Well, I can't help it, madame; I can't attend to everything; I have +quite enough to do with your box and your basket—and with talking back +to this veteran."</p> + +<p>"Veteran! I believe that you had the face to call me <i>veteran!</i>"</p> + +<p>"La Villette—all aboard!—Monsieur, you're for La Villette; hurry up!"</p> + +<p>These words were addressed to the old man who was disputing with +Adelaide, and who, as he left, bestowed a crushing glance on the +servant, who laughed in his face and administered a cuff to young +Aristoloche, the child of four, who, despite his mamma's orders, +persisted in trying to leave the office.</p> + +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II<br /><br /> +A BLONDE AND A BRUNETTE</h2> + +<p>"Well, monsieur," said the corpulent dame, pulling over her eldest son's +eyes a small gray felt hat, with a Henri IV crown, and surrounded on all +sides by feathers which drooped like palm-leaves; "we can get tickets +for Romainville, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"We don't sell tickets for Romainville, madame, but for Belleville; +there you'll find the Romainville stage."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you don't sell tickets for Romainville here; that's very +unpleasant. Shall we have to pay again when we change?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame; but if you take checks, it will be only four sous twenty +centimes."</p> + +<p>"For each?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure."<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a></p> + +<p>"That's very dear. Narcisse, do pull your hat down, or you'll lose it; +you know it fell off just now on the boulevard, and somebody almost +stepped on it; your fine Henri IV hat is very pretty, you know."</p> + +<p>"I hate it; the feathers make me squint."</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue, bad boy; your aunt bought that hat for you; you won't +get another for two years!"</p> + +<p>"Take off the feathers, then!"</p> + +<p>"Hush! you don't deserve to be so fine!"</p> + +<p>"Fine! oh, yes! all the boys make fun of me and say I look like a +<i>chienlit</i>."<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> + +<p>"They're little villains! They say that from envy, for they'd like right +well to have a hat like yours.—Say, monsieur, can you promise me a seat +in the other 'bus?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I can't promise you; but if there's no room in that, there's sure +to be in the next one."</p> + +<p>"Do they start often?"</p> + +<p>"Every twenty minutes."</p> + +<p>"Wait twenty minutes! why, that's horrible! Oh! how sorry I am I +promised my aunt to dine with her to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Especially," muttered the servant, "as we have to carry our own dinner +when we dine with her.—A pretty kind of invitation! She don't ruin +herself giving dinner parties!"</p> + +<p>"Here, give me two tickets for Belleville."</p> + +<p>"Here they are, madame."</p> + +<p>"Come here, Aristoloche; come here this minute! Oh! how these children +do torment me! They're like little snakes!"</p> + +<p>"All aboard for Belleville!"<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a></p> + +<p>"Belleville, why that's ours! Take Aristoloche's hand, Adelaide."</p> + +<p>"That's very convenient, when I have a basket and a box already!"</p> + +<p>But before the stout woman, with her servant and the two children, had +left the office, the Belleville omnibus had started off; there was but +one vacant seat, and twenty people were waiting for it. You should have +seen the disappointment depicted on all those faces then. Several +persons, tired of waiting, decided to walk. Others remained in the +square; but the majority returned to the office, where all the benches +were already filled. These public carriages are surely an excellent +invention; but let us admit that they are not equal to the most modest +of char-à-bancs, which is entirely at your service, even when you only +hire it.</p> + +<p>Finding no place to sit inside the office, the dame with the little boys +seated herself and them on a bench outside. As for the servant, she +succeeded in finding room inside; the fish in her basket was of much +assistance to her in inducing others to make room; there was a general +rush to get as far away from her as possible.</p> + +<p>The party with the cake returned, and ran up to the clerk.</p> + +<p>"Well! isn't it about time for us to start?"</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"You know perfectly well—to La Villette."</p> + +<p>"The 'bus started three minutes ago."</p> + +<p>"What! it didn't wait for me! I asked you if I had time to go to buy a +cake, and you said <i>yes</i>. You ought to have said <i>no</i>, if I hadn't."</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't have been so long about it, monsieur."<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a></p> + +<p>"I thought there was a pastry-cook on Carré Saint-Martin, but I couldn't +find anything but pork-shops."</p> + +<p>"You can take the next 'bus."</p> + +<p>"How soon does it start?"</p> + +<p>"In seven minutes."</p> + +<p>"Then I've got time to go to drink a glass of beer to wash down my cake. +Cafés aren't like pastry-cooks—you can find them anywhere."</p> + +<p>"Be careful, monsieur; seven minutes at the outside."</p> + +<p>"You can keep it waiting a minute if I'm not here."</p> + +<p>"They never wait, monsieur."</p> + +<p>Two rather attractive young women entered the office; they were modestly +dressed, and their hats were so small, and set so far back on their +heads, that they looked to be nothing more than caps. Their general +appearance was that of grisettes. Some writers who study present-day +manners in their studies, or at table in a café, claim that there are no +grisettes now; but I assure you that that is not true; if you do not +find any, it is because you have not made a thorough search. There will +always be grisettes in Paris, where the more or less flighty young +work-girl of the Latin quarter does not pass at one bound from her +modest chamber to the boudoir of a kept mistress.</p> + +<p>One of the young women who entered the omnibus office was a brunette, +with a retroussé nose, defiant eye, smiling mouth, teeth a little too +far apart—but that is better than having false teeth; the other was a +blonde, one of those blondes who have received a light touch of fire; +but that color never yet prevented a woman from being pretty. If you +doubt what I say, go to England or Scotland; auburn-haired women are in +the majority there, and, as a general rule, they are very fascinating.<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a> +The blonde grisette was pretty; but she had a sort of stupid expression +which might at first sight pass for modesty; but on talking with her, +you soon discovered that it was really stupidity; therein she formed a +striking contrast to her companion, who had a bright, wide-awake manner.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said the brunette, addressing the clerk, "have you any seats +for Belleville?"</p> + +<p>"You must take your turn, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"But will our turn be long in coming?"</p> + +<p>"Not very; a good many people have gone."</p> + +<p>In truth, the odor exhaled by the whiting stuffed into Mademoiselle +Adelaide's basket, and the fear of having to travel with her, had led +many persons to start for their destinations on foot.</p> + +<p>"Here, mesdemoiselles, take these two tickets; your turn will come."</p> + +<p>"Say, Laurette, suppose we walk?" said the pretty blonde.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, and tire ourselves out, and arrive all drenched—what fun! For +my part, I don't like to sweat; it uncurls my hair. Mon Dieu! what a +crowd! It's all the rage now; no one is willing to go on foot, and there +aren't enough 'buses."</p> + +<p>"Belleville! Faubourg du Temple!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! here it is! here it is!"</p> + +<p>Further evolutions performed by the stout woman, the two boys, and the +servant, but with no greater success; there were four vacant seats, but +there were other numbers before theirs. The two girls also came forward.</p> + +<p>"There's no more room, except on top," said the conductor.</p> + +<p>"All right! we don't care; we'll go on top."<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a></p> + +<p>"Pardon! ladies are not allowed there."—And the conductor added, with a +wink: "It isn't my fault, you know; nothing would suit me better."</p> + +<p>"I believe you," said a man in a blouse; "if women were allowed to climb +up there, there's lots of men who would pay to be conductors."</p> + +<p>"Why do they say that?" the blonde asked her companion; "what good would +it do the conductors to have women ride in the three-sou seats?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! what a fool you are, Lucie! What! don't you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you make me weary."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; tell me why?"</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, it's a matter of the point of view; that's all."</p> + +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III<br /><br /> +THE YOUNG MAN FROM PLACE CADET</h2> + +<p>An awkward, loutish youth entered the office.</p> + +<p>"Place Cadet, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"This isn't the office; it's out on the boulevard, at the left, just at +the corner."</p> + +<p>"Exceedingly obliged; will there be a seat?"</p> + +<p>"How do you expect us to know, when this isn't the office?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! of course; and that is where I must go for a number? Suppose you +give me one, wouldn't that amount to the same thing?"<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, no, monsieur; the 'bus doesn't stop here."</p> + +<p>"The 'bus is what I want to go on."</p> + +<p>"You can go on it or under it; it's none of our affair."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that one can ride underneath?"</p> + +<p>The clerk concluded to turn his back on the stupid idiot who asked such +questions. Mademoiselle Laurette, having overheard the dialogue, burst +out laughing, as she said:</p> + +<p>"I'd have sent that fellow to the deuce in short measure. What a booby! +You must need a good stock of patience to answer all those questions!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! mademoiselle, if you were employed in an omnibus office, you'd hear +many things like that!"</p> + +<p>"Really! do you mean to say that there are others like him in Paris?"</p> + +<p>"There are everywhere, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the individual who wished to go to Place Cadet had left the +office; then he halted on the square, looking about him with a confused +air. He spied the stout woman sitting on a bench, between Messieurs +Narcisse and Aristoloche, one of whom was trying all the time to push +away the feathers that adorned the front of his hat, while the other +confined his energies to persistently stuffing one of his fingers into +his nose. Our friend went up to the dame and said, touching his hat:</p> + +<p>"A ticket for Place Cadet, madame, if you please."</p> + +<p>"Do you take me for an omnibus clerk, monsieur?" replied the dame, +sourly; "can't you go to the office?"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, madame; I just went there, and they told me to apply on the +left, in a corner."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, am I a corner, I should like to know?"<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a></p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> I don't know; they told me to go to the left; I don't see the +office; I don't see the 'bus."</p> + +<p>And the youth returned to the office he had just left, crying:</p> + +<p>"Where is that place where you get tickets for Place Cadet? I can't find +it; can't you come and show me the way?"</p> + +<p>"Well, this caps the climax! If we had to act as guides for everybody +who goes astray, then there would have to be a corps of messengers +attached to the office.—Over yonder, I told you, monsieur; on the other +side of Boulevard Saint-Denis."</p> + +<p>"What! have I got to go all the way to Saint-Denis to get to Place +Cadet?"</p> + +<p>"La Villette! all aboard for La Villette!"</p> + +<p>All those who were bound for that destination hurried from the office, +and in the confusion jostled the youth who wished to go to Place Cadet, +and who persisted in remaining in the office where he had no business, +looking at everybody as if he were disposed to weep.</p> + +<p>"Why do you stay here, monsieur," inquired Mademoiselle Laurette, "when +they told you to go to the office on Boulevard Saint-Denis?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know Boulevard Saint-Denis, mademoiselle; and I am afraid of +losing my way."</p> + +<p>"The trouble is that you ought not to have been let go out alone; some +parents are very imprudent! I'll tell you what you ought to do: go to +one of the messengers over by Porte Saint-Martin; take his arm and give +him ten sous, and he'll take you to Place Cadet; he'll carry you even, +if you're tired."</p> + +<p>"Ten sous! oh! that's too much. You're not going to Place Cadet, are +you, mademoiselle?"<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! no, monsieur; we're going to the country."</p> + +<p>"Ah! do the omnibuses take people to the country too?"</p> + +<p>"They take you everywhere, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Really! I have such a longing to see the sea; do the omnibuses give +transfer checks for the seashore?"</p> + +<p>"You have only to ask, and you'll find out."</p> + +<p>The tall clown was on the point of returning to the clerks, but he was +pushed aside by the man who had gone to get a glass of beer, and who +returned to the office with a joyous air, saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! this time I think I haven't been long; is my La Villette 'bus +coming?"</p> + +<p>"La Villette!—it's just started, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that is too much. Why couldn't you make it wait?"</p> + +<p>"They never wait, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"When will there be another one now?"</p> + +<p>"In about ten minutes."</p> + +<p>"Oh! then I have time enough to get a cup of coffee—and a glass of +liqueur to wash down the beer."</p> + +<p>With that, he returned to the café, followed by the tall youth, who +shouted to him from afar:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, a ticket for Place Cadet?"<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV<br /><br /> +ONLOOKERS AND LOITERERS</h2> + +<p>A line of carriages, with white-gloved coachmen, semi-bourgeois +equipages, had halted on the square in front of the restaurant; still +another wedding party intending to banquet at Deffieux's.</p> + +<p>A number of people had gathered in front of the door, to watch the +bridal couple enter. Inquisitive folk abound in Paris; perhaps it would +be more accurate to say that they abound everywhere. Why this general +desire to see a bride, when she has not as yet performed all the duties +which that title devolves upon her? Is it simply to see whether she is +pretty, and to read upon her features whether or not she is looking +forward joyfully to becoming a wife? This is a simple question that we +ask, but we will not undertake to answer it.</p> + +<p>Among the persons who had halted there, some in passing, others coming +from the omnibus office, others on the way there, was a tall man, in the +neighborhood of forty-five years, standing very straight, even bending +back a little from the hips, with head erect, nose in air, and his hat +on one side, in true roistering style.</p> + +<p>This person, whose chestnut hair was beginning to be sprinkled with +gray, had very irregular features. His eyes were small and deep-set, of +a pale green shade, but full of fire and animation. His nose was +crooked, slightly turned up, and might almost have been called flat. His +mouth was large, but his teeth were fine, and not one was<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a> missing; so +that his smile was not unattractive, especially as he was not over +lavish of it. His chin retreated slightly, his cheek-bones, as a +contrast, were exceedingly prominent; his complexion was high-colored +and blotched, although he was thin both in body and face. With this +unpromising exterior, my gentleman seemed none the less to consider +himself an Apollo. He wore bushy mutton-chop whiskers, which almost met +in the middle of his chin, leaving between them only a very narrow +space, cleanly shaven, which he often caressed with affection, and which +he called his dimple. His manners denoted no less self-assurance than +familiarity with the world; and they would even have borne some traces +of refinement, had he not adopted a sort of mincing gait not unlike that +of a drum-major; but, instead of a great baton, this gentleman had a +slender switch, curved at the top, which seemed to have been painted and +gilded long before, but had lost a large part of its decoration. It was +a very pliable switch, with which he constantly tapped his +trousers-legs.</p> + +<p>His costume did not indicate the dandy, although its wearer affected the +manners of one. His linen trousers, of a very large check, seemed to +have been cut from the skirt of some concierge. His waistcoat was also +of a check pattern, but its colors did not harmonize at all with those +of the trousers; nothing was wanting except the plaid to give him +altogether the aspect of a Scotch Highlander; but, instead of the plaid, +he wore a nut-brown frock-coat, with ample skirts, which he often left +unbuttoned the better to display his slender figure, and in which he +sometimes encased himself hermetically, as if it were a cloak. It is +needless to say that this costume was entirely lacking in freshness.<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a></p> + +<p>This personage, who had a habit of speaking always in a very loud tone, +so that everybody could hear what he said and presumably be struck with +admiration by his wit,—a method of attracting attention which enables +you to divine instantly the sort of man with whom you have to do—this +personage pushed and jostled some of the loiterers, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"What's all this? what's all this? a wedding party, eh? Mon Dieu! is a +wedding party such a very strange thing that everybody must stop and +push and crowd, to see the couple? Triple idiots of Parisians! On my +word, one would think they had never seen such a thing before!"</p> + +<p>"What's that! what makes you push me so hard to get my place, if there's +nothing to look at?" said a youngster in a blouse, whom the other had +pushed away with some violence.</p> + +<p>"Who is it that presumes to speak to me? God forgive me! I believe that +this little turnspit dares to complain! Look out that I don't teach you +whom you are talking to!"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, I ain't a turnspit; do you hear, you long +flag-pole?"</p> + +<p>That epithet caused the gentleman in the Scotch nether garments to +quiver with rage; he threw himself back and raised his cane, and, in the +course of that evolution, trod on the feet of an old woman who stood +behind him leading a small dog, which was doing its best to avoid being +present at the arrival of the wedding party.</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, take care, for heaven's sake! you're treading on me. A +little more, and you'd have crushed Abdallah!"</p> + +<p>"Very sorry, madame; but I have no eyes in my back. Ah! the rascal who +had the effrontery to reply to me<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a> has fled. I will not chase him, +because he's only a child; if he had been a man, he'd have felt my +switch on his shoulders before this."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, do take care; Abdallah is under your feet!"</p> + +<p>"What's that! what, in God's name, is this Abdallah of yours, madame?"</p> + +<p>"My dear little King Charles.—Come here, come, you runaway!"</p> + +<p>"That beast a King Charles? He's a very ugly water-spaniel, and I +wouldn't give two sous for him. How stupid some people are with their +dogs! Ah! there's the bride, no doubt.—Peste! how lightly we jump down! +Very good! I have my cue. She'll wear the breeches; I can see that at a +glance."</p> + +<p>A young woman, in the traditional bridal costume, had, in fact, alighted +from one of the carriages; she did not wait for the arm which a stout, +chubby-faced papa, already perspiring profusely, who, however, was not +one of the groomsmen, was preparing to offer her.</p> + +<p>The bride was apparently about twenty years of age; she was short and +plump, with light hair, a white skin, and a rosy complexion; she was not +a beauty, but her face was piquant and attractive, with a pleasant smile +of the sort that almost always denotes a quick wit; but smiles do not +invariably fulfil their promises.</p> + +<p>The stout papa, who had come forward too late to assist the bride to +alight from her carriage, was also too late for another lady who +followed her; and he missed a third likewise, because he was very busily +occupied in wiping the perspiration from his brow.</p> + +<p>The gentleman with the check trousers, having turned his eyes upon the +stout man, rushed toward the carriage, exclaiming:<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a></p> + +<p>"Pardieu! I am not mistaken, it's my good Blanquette! Dear Monsieur +Blanquette! Holà, there! I say, Père Blanquette! Holà! is it possible +that you don't know your friends? Just turn your eyes this way!"</p> + +<p>The stout papa, being thus noisily addressed, ceased to wipe his brow, +and, looking in the direction of the crowd, speedily distinguished the +person who had hailed him. Thereupon his face assumed an expression +which denoted annoyance rather than pleasure, and he answered his +interlocutor's greetings with cold and constrained courtesy.</p> + +<p>"Oh! good-day, Monsieur Cherami—glad to see you."</p> + +<p>"So you're of the wedding party, Papa Blanquette?—All in full dress, +eh? You were in the same carriage with the bride."</p> + +<p>"Well, it would be a strange thing if I wasn't of the party, when it's +my nephew who's being married!"</p> + +<p>"Your nephew? Oho! then I understand; I have my cue. What! that dear +little Adolphe—who never wanted to do anything—who didn't take to +anything, as I remember."</p> + +<p>"But he has taken to marriage very readily.—Besides, Adolphe is a big +fellow now."</p> + +<p>"What! it is your nephew whose wedding you are celebrating, and I did +not know it? Such an old friend as I am, too—for you know, Papa +Blanquette, how devoted I am to you! You have seen me in an emergency; +and you let me know nothing about it, and I am not invited to the +wedding! Do you know, Monsieur Blanquette, that I might justly be +offended by such actions, if I were sensitive? But I am not—I leave +that foible to idiots."</p> + +<p>For some moments, the stout man had been listening with but one ear to +the individual whose name we now<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> know. The bridegroom's uncle was +watching the carriages, and, another one having taken the place of that +from which the bride had alighted, he was determined not to be +behindhand again in offering his hand to the ladies; so he hurried to +the door, leaving Monsieur Cherami still talking, and confined himself +to an inclination of the head as he muttered:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, monsieur; but I have no time; there are some ladies whom I +must assist—I cannot talk any longer."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Cherami compressed his lips, frowned, and shrugged his +shoulders, saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! this is your way of being polite, is it, you old numskull! He puts +on airs because he's made a little money in Elbeuf broadcloth; as if +that were such a wonderful thing! And to think that I have sent him more +than fifty customers,—my tailor, among others!—and he acts as if he +hardly knew me! All because he has money! a lot of merit in that! for +who hasn't money now? It has become so common that persons of +distinction don't want it."</p> + +<p>"In that case, I fancy that tall, lanky fellow must be very +distinguished!" whispered Mademoiselle Laurette to her friend; for the +two girls had left the omnibus office to see the wedding party, and they +were near enough to Monsieur Cherami to hear what he said. That was an +easy matter, by the way, even at a distance, for our friend talked as +<i>Mangin</i> does when he is describing his drawings in public.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the four wedding carriages had discharged their freights, who +had entered the restaurant; then the carriages drove away, and the +bystanders dispersed, except those who had business at the omnibus +office.<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V<br /><br /> +THE CAPUCINE FAMILY</h2> + +<p>Monsieur Cherami remained on the square, staring at the porte cochère of +the restaurant, and tapping his legs with his switch, with a nervous, +jerky movement; he seemed undecided as to the course he had better +pursue, and muttered, quite loud enough, however, to be overheard:</p> + +<p>"I don't know what restrains me; I am tempted to join that wedding +party; I have a perfect right to force myself on that crowd. If I were +dressed, I'd do it. On my word of honor, I'd do it! not that I care so +much for the banquet; I know what a feast is; I've had a hand in a few +of them in my time, God knows! and some that this one can't hold a +candle to. Sapristi! what is this that I feel against my legs?"</p> + +<p>"Don't move, monsieur, I beg you! Abdallah's string has got tangled +round your legs; I'll untwist it."</p> + +<p>"Corbleu! madame, that's a most insufferable dog of yours! When you're +leading a dog, you shouldn't give him so much string."</p> + +<p>The old woman, having succeeded in disentangling her spaniel from our +friend's legs, concluded to take Abdallah in her arms, then went away, +glaring fiercely at all those in her neighborhood.</p> + +<p>But Monsieur Cherami, being rid of the dog, turned about and spied the +stout woman and the two small boys, who were still awaiting an +opportunity to go to Belleville.<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> Thereupon he exclaimed anew, saluting +profusely, and shouting so loud that he attracted the attention of +everybody within hearing:</p> + +<p>"God bless me! do I see Madame Capucine? What a fortunate meeting! I +didn't expect such good fortune. What! you have been here all the time, +madame, and I did not see you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur Cherami; here I am, and here I've been a long, long time, +alas! I'm getting pretty impatient, I tell you; think of having to wait +an hour for seats in an omnibus!"</p> + +<p>"Don't speak of it; it's intolerable! That's the reason I always walk, +myself; I can't make up my mind to wait. Ah! there are the two dear +boys, Narcisse and Aristoloche; they improve every day—they'll be +superb men—they're the living portraits of their mother!"</p> + +<p>A smile, to which she strove to give an expression of modesty, played +about Madame Capucine's lips, as she replied affectedly:</p> + +<p>"Oh! there's a look of the father, too!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so? No, I can't see it; Capucine isn't a handsome man; an +insignificant face; while his wife—— Ah! the rascal showed taste in +his choice, on my word! But I don't understand how you ever made up your +mind to marry him; if I were a woman, I'd never have done it; it's Venus +and Vulcan over again."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you always exaggerate, Monsieur Cherami; to hear you talk, one +would think my husband was hunchbacked."</p> + +<p>"If he isn't, he ought to have been."</p> + +<p>"What! what do you mean by that?"<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a></p> + +<p>"Sh! I know what I mean. Ah! if Capucine wasn't a friend of mine!"</p> + +<p>"Adelaide! Adelaide! I think that's a green 'bus coming; come here, +quick!"</p> + +<p>The servant left the office, with her basket. Monsieur Cherami greeted +her with an affable bow, which she barely acknowledged, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Bah! there goes the rest of our money! I wonder if that man's coming to +dine with us? If he is, there'll never be enough to eat."</p> + +<p>"Are you going into the country, Madame Capucine?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; we're going to Romainville."</p> + +<p>"Have you bought a summer house, a villa, in that neighborhood?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; my Aunt Duponceau has a little place there, and we're +going to pass Sunday with her."</p> + +<p>"You begin the day before, I see."</p> + +<p>"She made me promise to come Saturday with the children. Capucine will +join us to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Ah! he isn't with you?"</p> + +<p>"It wasn't possible; we can't all leave at once, on account of the +business; it's stretching a point for me to go away with my servant."</p> + +<p>"But you have your clerk?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Ballot? Oh! yes, he's still with us; we're very lucky to have +him—a very intelligent fellow, and full of ideas."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Cherami smiled maliciously, as he replied:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I saw at once that he attended to your business very well. +I'm sure that you'll push that young man ahead."</p> + +<p>"Oh! he'll push himself all right. He's coming to Romainville to-morrow +with my husband."<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a></p> + +<p>"The party'll be complete, then; but, meanwhile, you are without an +escort to give you his arm, to look out for you."</p> + +<p>"There is no danger on this little trip."</p> + +<p>"A lovely woman is always in danger. All the men are tempted to carry +her off. They don't always yield to the temptation, but they feel it, I +promise you. Pardieu! I have my cue—a charming plan suggests itself to +my mind: suppose I go with you to Romainville? Your Aunt Duponceau won't +be sorry to see me, I'm sure. Indeed, I believe she urged me one day to +go to see her in the country—yes, she certainly did. What do you think +of that plan, lovely creature?"</p> + +<p>Madame Capucine, having carefully scrutinized her friend's costume, +seemed not at all anxious to take with her to the country a cavalier +whose attire would not do her honor; and so, instead of answering his +question, she observed:</p> + +<p>"By the way, Monsieur Cherami, my husband told me, if I should happen to +meet you, to remind you of that little bill—you know, eh? It's for some +flannel vests, and it's been running a long while. You promised to pay +it; I believe it's about a hundred and thirty francs."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Cherami made a wry face, and struck his hat with his hand, +muttering:</p> + +<p>"Oh! madame, I know very well that I owe you a small account, a trifle, +a mere nothing; but I have had much more important matters than that to +think about."</p> + +<p>"It's been running at least three years."</p> + +<p>"What if it were twenty years! it's a trifle, none the less."</p> + +<p>"Madame, madame! they're calling our numbers; there are some seats."<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! mon Dieu! I must go. Come, Aristoloche; come, I say. Bonjour! +Monsieur Cherami; think of us when you have time. Mon Dieu! I don't say +it to hurry you, you know. Here I am, conductor."</p> + +<p>Madame Capucine and her boys ran after the servant, and soon all four +were in the omnibus.</p> + +<p>"There are two more seats, mesdemoiselles," said the clerk to the two +grisettes, who also had numbers for Belleville; but Mademoiselle +Laurette shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," she replied; "we'll give up our chance; we'll wait for the +next; I don't travel with fish. In a boat, it's all right; but in a +carriage it scents you up too much."</p> + +<p>As for Monsieur Cherami, he had hardly responded to Madame Capucine's +farewell; he looked after her with a disdainful air, saying:</p> + +<p>"What a beast that haberdasher is! to talk to me about the balance of an +account, in the street, in broad daylight, when I am kind enough to pay +her compliments and to call her two little brats pretty! Go and sell +your cotton nightcaps, you Hottentot Venus! for that woman strikes me as +a caricature of Venus. Fine stuff her flannel vests are made of; I've +only worn them three years, and they're torn already! I see plainly +enough why you don't care to have me go to Aunt Duponceau's—that might +interfere with your little tête-à-têtes with your clerk Ballot. Oh! poor +Capucine! when I told that huge woman that her husband ought to be +hunchbacked, she knew what I meant. However, I'd be glad to know where I +shall dine to-day; indeed, to express my meaning more frankly, for I can +afford to be frank with myself, I would like to know if I shall dine at +all to-day."<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI<br /><br /> +MONSIEUR CHERAMI</h2> + +<p>It is a very sad thing to have reached the point where one wonders +whether one will have any dinner. And yet there are every day in Paris +people who find themselves in that predicament; but it is comforting to +know that such people generally end by dining; some very meagrely, to be +sure, others moderately well, and others very well indeed and as if they +were still prosperous. Those who succeed in dining well generally +accomplish that end by some stratagem, by some new exertion of the +imagination, which, however, must well-nigh have exhausted its +ingenuity. What seems to me most surprising is that they dine gayly, +with an excellent appetite, and with no concern for the morrow. One +becomes accustomed to everything, they say; if that is philosophy, I do +not envy the philosophers.</p> + +<p>Especially when one has fallen into adversity by his own fault, his +misconduct, his dissipated life, it would seem that adversity must be +most painful, most bitter, most difficult to endure, and that shame must +be his constant companion.</p> + +<p>Those who are really victims of the injustice of fate, or of the +stupidity of their contemporaries, can, at all events, hold their heads +erect and refrain from blushing because of their poverty. Such were +Homer, who was not appreciated during his life; Plautus, who was reduced +to the necessity of turning a potter's wheel; Xylander,<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> who sold his +work on Dion Cassius to obtain a crust of bread; Lelio Girardi, author +of a curious history of the Greek and Latin poets, who was reduced to a +similar extremity; Usserius, too, a learned chronologist; Cornelius +Agrippa, who wrote on the vanity of learning, and the excellent +qualities of womankind; and the illustrious Miguel Cervantes, to whom we +owe the admirable romance of <i>Don Quixote</i>.</p> + +<p>We may add to this list Paul Borghese, who died of hunger; Tasso, who +lived a whole week on a crown, which someone loaned him: true, he ceased +to be poor, but only on the eve of his death; Aldus Manutius, who was so +poor that he became bankrupt simply by borrowing money enough to ship +his library from Venice to Rome, whither he had been summoned; Cardinal +Bentivoglio, to whom we owe the history of the civil wars of Flanders: +he did not leave enough to pay for his burial; Baudoin, translator of +almost all the Latin authors; Vauglas, the grammarian; Du Ryer, author +of tragedies, and translator of the Koran; all these lived in indigence. +But we will pause here; examples are not lacking, but they would carry +us too far; and then, they are not cheerful, and are out of our usual +line; it was Monsieur Cherami's plight which induced us to cite so many. +Let us now return to that gentleman.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Cherami, whom we have seen so poorly dressed, and uncertain as +to whether he will have any dinner, had once occupied a brilliant +position, and had been noted for his dress, his bearing, and his gallant +adventures. His father, who had been an eminent figure in the magistracy +during the Consulate, had no other child. Arthur (such was Monsieur +Cherami's baptismal name) had been petted, fondled, worshipped, spoiled, +and<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> his parents had proposed to make a great man of him. Poor parents! +who believe that they can make their son an eminent personage, just as +they would make him a tailor or a bootmaker. Arthur did become great, +but in stature only. They sent him to school and gave him an excellent +education; young Cherami learned readily enough; he was intelligent and +quick-witted; he became especially strong in such elegant +accomplishments as fencing, riding, and gymnastics; but he had the +greatest aversion for serious work of every sort, and when his parents +asked him: "Do you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a man of letters, a +broker, or a general?" Arthur replied: "I prefer to walk on the +boulevards and smoke big eight-sou cigars."</p> + +<p>This reply, which left nothing to be desired in the way of frankness, +indicated a most generous inclination to consume the fortune which his +parents had so laboriously amassed in business, and which, in fact, they +left to their beloved son without undue delay. At the age of twenty-two, +Arthur, who had as yet done nothing else than promenade and smoke, found +himself an orphan and possessed of thirty-five thousand francs a year.</p> + +<p>Thereupon, he abandoned himself to his taste for pleasure, augmented by +a very keen penchant for the fair sex; and the fair sex is never +ungrateful to a rich and open-handed man. Arthur was not handsome: his +crooked nose, his small eyes, and his pointed chin, did not tend to make +him a very attractive youth; however, the women told him again and again +that he was charming, adorable, irresistible, and he believed it. We are +so ready to believe anything that flatters our self-esteem! And yet, +Arthur was no fool; indeed, he had his share of wit; but he was totally +lacking in common sense, and<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> without common sense, wit, as a general +rule, serves no other purpose than to make one do foolish things. La +Rochefoucauld makes this reflection with respect to women; for my part, +I consider it perfectly applicable to both sexes.</p> + +<p>At thirty years, Beau Cherami had spent, consumed, swallowed, his entire +inheritance. But he had been noted for his costumes, his horses, his +conquests, his love affairs. Eight years to run through a fortune worth +thirty-five thousand francs a year—that is not such a very rapid pace; +we often see young men who use up three times as much in much less time; +to be sure, young Arthur did not gamble on the Bourse.</p> + +<p>Being obliged then to sell his furniture, horses, and silverware, +Cherami lived some time longer on the product of the sale; but his +friends already began to find him less clever and amiable, and the women +no longer called him their handsome Arthur. That was because he could no +longer make them beautiful presents; and instead of loaning money to his +friends and paying their shares of the expense of an orgy, he asked them +to pay for him, and often applied to them for loans.</p> + +<p>At thirty-five, Arthur was what these good friends of his called utterly +<i>dégommé</i>: in other words, ruined. After he had lived for some time on +credit, his tailor, his shirtmaker, his bootmaker, refused to trust him +any more; whereupon he was obliged to wear garments that were worn and +faded, and eventually threadbare; hats that had turned from black to +rusty; worn boots that were rarely polished. When Cherami, in this garb, +said to one of his former acquaintances: "I have left my purse at home; +lend me twenty francs, will you?" the acquaintance would make a wry face +and loan him five francs<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> instead of twenty, and sometimes nothing at +all; for a man in a threadbare coat does not inspire confidence. We loan +money to the rich, because we think that they will return it.</p> + +<p>After some time, Beau Arthur found that this last source of income was +exhausted. He had said so often to his quondam friends: "I have +forgotten my purse," or: "I have just discovered that there's a hole in +my pocket," that they fled as soon as they saw him; many of them even +ceased to return his bow, and pretended not to know him. Misfortune is +the reef on which friendship is wrecked.</p> + +<p>However, Cherami still possessed a remnant of his handsome fortune; a +very small remnant, but enough to keep him from starving; and chance had +decreed that the ci-devant beau could not dispose of it, otherwise he +would not have failed to make away with it like the rest.</p> + +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII<br /><br /> +THE COAL DEALER</h2> + +<p>The father of our spendthrift had, shortly before his death, obliged one +of his employés by loaning him eleven thousand francs to start in the +coal business. And the creditor, knowing his debtor's probity, had made +the loan subject to no other condition than this: "You will pay my son +the interest on this sum at five per cent. That makes five hundred and +fifty francs a year that you will have to pay him so long as it doesn't +inconvenience you; and, in any event, not more than ten years. After +that<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a> time, your debt will be paid. But it must be understood that I +forbid you ever to repay the principal."</p> + +<p>These conditions were witnessed by no written contract; the merchant had +declined to take his debtor's note. But the latter had faithfully +carried out his former employer's intentions. Every three months, he +brought Arthur one hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty centimes, the +stipulated interest of the money he had received. In his prosperous +days, when he still had an income of thirty-five thousand francs, young +Arthur had often said to Bernardin—that was the coal dealer's name:</p> + +<p>"What the devil do you expect me to do with your hundred and +thirty-seven francs, Bernardin? As if I cared for such a trifle! Go and +have a good fish dinner at La Râpée—with some pretty wench. That will +be much better. I consider that you've paid up."</p> + +<p>But the coal dealer, an upright, economical man, scrupulously exact in +all his dealings, always contented himself with replying:</p> + +<p>"I owe you this money, monsieur; it's the interest on what your late +father was kind enough to give me. I say <i>give</i>, because my late +excellent master would not even let me pay him the interest."</p> + +<p>"I know all that, Bernardin; I know all that; but, you see, I don't ask +you for the interest either. You are welcome to keep it; buy bonbons for +your children with it."</p> + +<p>"My children have all they need, monsieur; and I make it a point to +fulfil my engagements."</p> + +<p>"There is no real obligation in this case, as I have no note, no +receipt, from you."</p> + +<p>"Between honest men there's no need of any writing, monsieur. I offered +your father a note, and he positively<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> refused; just as he forbade me +ever to repay the principal on which I pay you the interest."</p> + +<p>"And you are to pay the interest only ten years; I know that too."</p> + +<p>"Oh! as to that, monsieur, I made your father no answer when he added +that condition; but I shall do my duty."</p> + +<p>And the honest coal dealer took his departure, leaving with Arthur the +small sum he had brought.</p> + +<p>When the thirty-five thousand francs a year had disappeared, and Arthur +was reduced to the necessity of turning his furniture into cash, he +received less scornfully the hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty +centimes which Bernardin never failed to bring him on the first of each +of the months when rent falls due.</p> + +<p>One day, Cherami, having no more furniture, jewels, or horses to sell, +had taken a furnished lodging, when Bernardin brought him his quarterly +interest. The faithful coal dealer was informed as to the conduct of his +former employer's son; he had watched the young man squander in riotous +living the fortune which his parents had amassed with such unremitting +toil; sell the house they had left him; then move from a fine hôtel to a +more modest apartment, and finally to furnished lodgings. Bernardin had +never ventured to make the slightest comment; but at each new downward +plunge of the young man, he heaved a profound sigh, and said to himself:</p> + +<p>"O my poor master! it's very fortunate that you do not see your son's +conduct!"</p> + +<p>Now, on the day in question, Arthur, being absolutely penniless, was +overjoyed when his paltry income arrived; but as Bernardin, having paid +the money, was about to leave him, he detained him, saying:<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a></p> + +<p>"Look you, Monsieur Bernardin, I have a proposition to make to you."</p> + +<p>"I am listening, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"You bring me regularly the interest on the eleven thousand francs which +you received from my father; you would be perfectly justified, however, +in ceasing to pay it; for more than ten years have passed, and——"</p> + +<p>"I think I have told you, monsieur, that I should continue to pay it; I +should not consider that I had paid my debt, otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Very good! Far be it from me to blame such scrupulous probity; but I am +going to propose to you a method of paying your debt once for all. Give +me a thousand crowns—three thousand francs—cash; that will gratify me, +indeed, it will be a favor to me, because with three thousand francs one +can do something, you know; whereas I can't do anything at all with your +hundred and thirty-seven francs. So give me that amount in cash, and I +will discharge you entirely and you'll have no more interest to pay me. +Is that satisfactory?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; I can't do that."</p> + +<p>"Why not, if I am satisfied?"</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't satisfy me to discharge a life-rent of five hundred and +fifty francs for three thousand francs; that would be usury."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about with your usury? if it suits me, if I ask it +as a favor——"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; I must not accept this proposition."</p> + +<p>"Very well! then give me the eleven thousand francs you received, as +you're so finical in the matter of probity. In that way, your conscience +will be altogether at rest, and we shall both be satisfied."<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a></p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; I will not hand you the principal sum which I received, +because your father expressly forbade me to do it. That was the first +condition on which he let me have the money; and who knows if he didn't +read the future then? if he didn't foresee that the day would come when +this small income would be his son's last resource?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Bernardin, you presume to——"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur; I do not presume at all. But monsieur must +realize that I am aware of his position."</p> + +<p>"My position? Why, pardieu! it's the position of all young men who have +lived well, who have amused themselves, and adored the ladies."</p> + +<p>"True, monsieur; but perhaps you have been too kind, too generous, to +them."</p> + +<p>"I have done what I chose; if I could begin over again, I would do the +same."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it, monsieur; and, of course, you are at liberty to +dispose of your own property."</p> + +<p>"Yes, to be sure I am—that is to say, I was. Come, Bernardin, won't you +give me the eleven thousand francs?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; for, from above, your father would blame me."</p> + +<p>"Give me a thousand crowns, then."</p> + +<p>"Not that, either; but I shall continue to pay monsieur the interest; +and if I should die to-morrow, my children would continue to pay it. Oh! +it's a sacred thing, and monsieur can rely upon it."</p> + +<p>"Very good! pay me three years in advance: sixteen hundred and fifty +francs. You can't refuse me that?"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, monsieur; I do refuse, and in your own interest; for you +would spend the three years' interest in less than six months; and then +you would not have even that trifling resource."<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a></p> + +<p>"Monsieur Bernardin, do you refuse to make me any advance?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot do it, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Very well! off with you, then; I have my cue!"</p> + +<p>Bernardin saluted his late master's son with the utmost respect, and +took his leave.</p> + +<p>Some time after, when he was in a most desperate plight, Arthur Cherami +had renewed his urgent solicitations to Bernardin, in the hope of +obtaining a little interest in advance or a portion of the principal; +but all his entreaties were of no avail. The old fellow was not to be +moved, and his resolution was the more inflexible because he knew that +by acting thus he was saving a modest income for his benefactor's son.</p> + +<p>The years passed. Far from becoming wiser in the school of adversity, +the ci-devant Beau Arthur retained the same passions, the same faults, +and the same impertinence, as in his prosperous days. Doubtless +forty-six francs a month is a very small allowance; it amounts to about +thirty sous per day; and when with that amount a man must board, lodge, +and clothe himself, he must needs live very sparingly. However, in this +Paris of ours, where living is said to be so expensive, since the +opening of those beneficent establishments for the sale of soup and +cooked beef, and especially since those establishments have conceived +the happy idea of serving their own products, a man may dine for seven +sous; yes, reader, for seven sous! to wit: soup, two sous; beef, three +sous; bread, two sous. And that man will have eaten more healthful and +more nourishing food than he who, for thirty-two sous, regales himself +with soup, his choice of three entrées, dessert, bread at discretion, +and a pint of wine.<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a></p> + +<p>But when Monsieur Cherami received his quarterly interest, instead of +husbanding that small sum, his last resource, paying some few debts, and +dining inexpensively at one of the soup-kitchens, he would betake +himself, with head erect and an arrogant air, to one of the best +restaurants in Paris, take his seat with a great flourish, call the +waiter, and order a sumptuous dinner of the daintiest dishes and the +most expensive wines; and all in such wise that everybody who was in the +room could hear him. In short, he would resume his rôle of dandy, +forgetting that he no longer wore the costume of the rôle, yet imposing +respect on the multitude by his lordly manner.</p> + +<p>Some said: "He's an original, who affects a shabby costume to conceal +the fact that he's a millionaire." Others: "He is some foreigner, some +eminent personage, who desires to remain incognito in Paris."</p> + +<p>And the waiters served promptly and with the utmost respect this party +in a threadbare frock-coat, who ate truffled partridges and drank +champagne frappé; and when he paid his bill, Cherami never took the +change which the waiter brought him, even if it amounted to two or three +francs.</p> + +<p>"All right!" he would cry; "keep that; it's for you!"</p> + +<p>Thereupon, the waiter would bow to the ground before so generous a +patron; and he would stalk forth proudly from the restaurant, enchanted +with the effect he had produced. And the next morning he would have +nothing with which to procure a dinner.</p> + +<p>I beg you not to believe that this character is an imaginary one; that +there are no men foolish enough to act in this way; there are, and many +of them. For our own part, we have known more than one.<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a></p> + +<p>But when naught remained of the small quarterly payment, he had to live +anew on loans and stratagems; he had to content himself with the very +modest fare of a cheap restaurant, where the mistress was willing to +supply him on credit because he flattered her and compared her with +Venus, although she was blear-eyed and had a purple nose. In that place +he could not order champagne and truffles, to be sure; that would have +been a waste of time; but Cherami found a way, none the less, to make a +sensation: shouting louder than anybody else, bewildering everybody with +his chatter, and always having some marvellous adventure to relate, of +which he was the hero, and in which he had performed wonderful exploits. +If one of his auditors seemed to doubt the veracity of his narrative, he +would insult him, threaten him, challenge him, insist on fighting him +instanter, and, in order to pacify my gentleman and restore peace, the +person abused must needs treat him to nothing less than a cup of coffee +followed by a <i>petit verre</i> of liqueur. As for the waiters, as he had +nothing to give them, he treated them like dogs, and threatened them +with his switch when they did not serve him promptly enough.</p> + +<p>If, instead of passing his time in smoking and loitering, Monsieur +Cherami had chosen to do something, he might have increased his income, +and have lived without constantly resorting to loans. He was well +informed; he retained from his early education a superficial idea of +many things; he knew quite a lot, in fact, and might have passed for a +scholar in the eyes of those who knew nothing. His handwriting was so +good that he could have obtained work as a copyist. In his youth, he had +studied music, and he could play the violin a little; he might have made +something of his talent in that direction and have found a<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> place in the +orchestra of a second-class theatre, or played in dance-halls for the +grisette and the mechanic.</p> + +<p>But the ci-devant Beau Arthur considered every sort of work that was +suggested to him very far beneath him; he thought that he would degrade +himself by becoming a copyist or a minstrel, and he was not ashamed to +borrow a hundred sous when he knew that he could not repay them. What do +such people understand by the word <i>honor</i>? Let us conclude that they +fashion a kind of honor for their own use, just as some painters paint +scenes from nature in which there is nothing natural, but which by +common consent are called conventional nature.</p> + +<p>One day, when he was without a sou, having been denied by all those from +whom he had sought to borrow, and not daring to go to his cheap +restaurant, because the mistress was absent, Cherami found himself +confronted by the stern necessity of going without a mouthful of dinner, +when it occurred to him to call upon his payer of interest. So he set +out for the abode of the coal dealer, saying to himself on the way:</p> + +<p>"Bernardin always refuses to make me the smallest advance; but, +sacrebleu! when I tell him that I have nothing with which to pay for a +dinner, it isn't possible that he will let me starve to death."</p> + +<p>The modest tradesman was just about to sit down to dinner with his +family when Cherami appeared, crying:</p> + +<p>"The deuce! it would seem that you are about to dine! You're very lucky! +For my part, I haven't the means to pay for a dinner. Lend me a crown, +Bernardin, so that I can satisfy my hunger, too."</p> + +<p>"I never have money to loan," the coal dealer replied respectfully; "but +if monsieur will do us the honor to<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> take a seat at our table, we shall +be happy to offer him a share of our modest dinner."</p> + +<p>"Oho! that's your game! Well, so be it!" rejoined Cherami, taking his +seat without further parley.</p> + +<p>But Bernardin's dinner was very simple; it consisted of soup, beef, and +a dish of potatoes. The wine was Argenteuil, and very new.</p> + +<p>Cherami exclaimed that the soup was watery, the beef tough, and the wine +execrable; for dessert there was nothing but a piece of Géromé cheese, +which he declared to be fit only for masons; and he was much surprised +that they did not take coffee after the meal; in short, he rose from the +table in a vile humor, saying to Bernardin and his wife:</p> + +<p>"You live very badly, my dears; you live like rustics; I shall not dine +with you again."</p> + +<p>That was his only word of thanks to his hosts.</p> + +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII<br /><br /> +THE RESTAURANT IN PARC SAINT-FARGEAU</h2> + +<p>On the day on which our tale opens, Arthur Cherami found himself anew in +this perplexing plight, which was aggravated by the circumstance that he +had gone without dinner on the preceding day.</p> + +<p>To be sure, he had only to go to Bernardin's, where he was very sure +that they would not refuse to give him a dinner, in default of cash. But +you know that our ex-high-liver was far from satisfied with the meal of +which he had partaken at the coal dealer's board; not<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> only did he find +everything bad, for my gentleman, even in his poverty, was still very +hard to please, but he had discovered that at his debtor's house it +would be of no use for him to try to <i>blaguer</i>—that is to say, to put +on airs, to lie, to display his impertinence. The coal dealer's family +did not even smile at the extraordinary tales he told, and it was that +fact which had irritated Cherami even more than the simplicity of the +dinner, perhaps. At the cheap resort to which he was obliged to go +sometimes, he was content with a wretched, ill-cooked dish, because, +while he ate it, he could talk at the top of his voice, speechify, and +force most of the habitués of the place to listen to him. We know how he +compelled those who ventured not to believe all that he said to pay for +his coffee.</p> + +<p>Arthur had no business whatever at the omnibus office, but he knew that +one frequently meets acquaintances at such places. Amid the constant +going and coming, departures and arrivals, it is no uncommon thing to +meet someone whom you have not seen for a long time, and whom you did +not know to be in Paris. So that Arthur, who had nothing to do, +frequently visited the railroad stations, where he walked to and fro in +front of the ticket offices, as if he were expecting someone; and, in +fact, he was always expecting that chance would bring there some +acquaintance from whom he could borrow five francs.</p> + +<p>Or he would go and take his stand in front of an omnibus office, always +with the same hope. On this occasion he had, in fact, met several +acquaintances, but the result had not fulfilled his expectations. Coldly +greeted by Papa Blanquette, repulsed by Madame Capucine, he was +beginning to think that he should not make<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> his expenses, and he said to +himself, but not aloud as usual:</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! what times are these we live in? The world is becoming vile +beyond cleansing! No courtesy, no affability, no good manners! Formerly, +when I met a friend, my first words were: 'You must come to dine with +me.'—He might accept or not, but I had made the offer. To-day, I meet +nobody but cads, who are very careful not to offer me the slightest +thing; indeed, many of them presume to pass me by, and act as if they +didn't know me. There are others who carry their insolence so far as to +dare to ask me for some paltry hundred-sou pieces which they have loaned +me and I have not paid. Pardieu! I've loaned them plenty of 'em in the +old days; and I never asked for them, because I knew it would be of no +use. As if one ever returned money loaned among friends! As if what +belongs to one doesn't belong to the other! That's the way I understand +friendship—that noble, genuine friendship which united Castor and +Pollux, Damon and Pythias, Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades. +Do we find in the <i>Iliad</i> that Patroclus ever said to Achilles: 'I +loaned you a hundred sous, or twenty francs; I want you to pay them'? +Bah! nothing of the sort; there's no instance in history of such a +thing! And I defy all my former companions in pleasure to cite a single +one. However, I am conscious to-day that the need of eating is making +itself felt; I can't go to my little cabaret on Rue Basse-du-Temple, for +the mistress is sick; her husband takes her place at the desk, and he is +always ill-disposed toward me; he presumes to ask me for money! Vile +turnspit! do you suppose I would go to your place for food if I had +money? Ah! there's Bernardin; I am sure of a dinner<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> there; but I am +horribly bored with those good people. And then, it wounds my +self-esteem to dine with one of my father's former clerks. Corbleu! can +it be that, like Titus, I have wasted my day?"</p> + +<p>And Cherami, still tapping his trousers with his switch, cast his eyes +about him. Thereupon he spied the two girls who were waiting to go to +Belleville.</p> + +<p>"There are two little grisettes, whose aspect rather pleases me," he +said to himself, throwing his weight on his left hip; "a blonde and a +brunette—meat for the king's attorney, as we used to say at the club. +They're pretty hussies both; the blonde has a rather stupid look, but +the dark one has wit in her eye.—Suppose I should try to make a +conquest by offering them a good dinner? Ten to one, they'll accept! I +know the sex; these girls are so fond of eating! Yes, but in that +case—they'll have to pay for the dinner; that might embarrass them, and +I don't want to embarrass any woman. But if I did, I should do no more +than avenge myself."</p> + +<p>While making these reflections, Cherami had walked toward the young +women; he struck a pose in front of them, humming a lively tune, and +darted a glance at them into which he put all the seductiveness of which +he was still capable. The young women looked at each other and laughed +heartily; Mademoiselle Laurette went so far as to say, in a bantering +tone:</p> + +<p>"That must be a smoke-pipe from the Opéra-Comique that has a vent in +this neighborhood; however, it's better than an escape of gas."</p> + +<p>"Aha! we are clever and satirical!" said Cherami, addressing +Mademoiselle Laurette; "I had guessed as much, simply by observing your +saucy face."<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, I don't know what you mean, monsieur!" replied the girl, trying to +assume a serious expression.</p> + +<p>"I was simply answering the reflection in which you just indulged on the +subject of a roulade which I ventured to perform, and which, perhaps, +was not rendered with perfect accuracy."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, I really didn't know that you were singing; I was saying +to my friend Lucie that we should be very late in getting to the +restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau, and that I didn't know whether there +was dancing there on Saturday."</p> + +<p>"Aha! so the young ladies are going to Parc Saint-Fargeau?—That is just +beyond Belleville, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And there's a restaurant there now, where they have dancing? Pardon me, +I ask simply for information, being a great lover of places where one +can dine well—and enjoy one's self; and it's a long while since I have +been in that neighborhood."</p> + +<p>"In that case, you'll find great changes. Yes, monsieur; there is a +restaurant now in Parc Saint-Fargeau, with a large garden where there's +a pond. But it's no toy pond; it's big enough for a boat, and you can go +rowing; it's quite big, and there's an island in it which you can row +around if you're very careful, for the water's quite deep."</p> + +<p>"You can be drowned in it," observed Mademoiselle Lucie.</p> + +<p>"Oho! one has also the right to drown one's self, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes! if you should fall into the water!"</p> + +<p>"True. And there's a dance-hall, you say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; one out-of-doors, and one inside for rainy days."<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a></p> + +<p>"Good; I see that everything is complete; and if, with all the rest, the +cooking is good——"</p> + +<p>"Very good; and they give you fine <i>matelotes</i>, because they catch the +fish on the spot."</p> + +<p>"This rustic restaurant will certainly receive a call from me very soon; +indeed, I would go there to-day—delighted to take the trip with you, +mesdemoiselles—if I were not expecting someone—who, I am beginning to +think, will not come. It's an infernal shame! we are invited to dine at +the Palais-Royal; it's almost five o'clock now, and we shall break our +engagement and they'll dine without us, all on his account!"</p> + +<p>"You'll dine somewhere else; that's all. There's no lack of restaurants +in Paris."</p> + +<p>"Vive Dieu! who knows that better than I! So I have no difficulty on +that score—that is to say, I don't know which to select, and if you +young ladies will do me the honor to accept a little dinner in the +suburbs——"</p> + +<p>"Thanks, monsieur; but we don't accept dinners; besides, we are to meet +someone at Parc Saint-Fargeau."</p> + +<p>"That's just the reason I venture to invite them," said Cherami to +himself.—"Are you young ladies engaged in business?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; we make feathers; we work in one of the best shops on +Rue Saint-Denis; but to-day is the mistress's birthday; that's why we +have the whole day to ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Enchanted to have made your acquaintance. Ah! so you're in feathers—a +charming trade for a woman! They have the same volatility: birds of a +feather flock together."</p> + +<p>"Is he talking nonsense to us?" whispered Mademoiselle Lucie in her +friend's ear.<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, no, stupid; not at all; that's a compliment."</p> + +<p>"Belleville! passengers for Belleville!"</p> + +<p>"Here's the Belleville 'bus, Laurette, and they're making signs that +there are seats for us."</p> + +<p>"Oh! we must run, then. Bonjour! monsieur."</p> + +<p>"What! you are going so soon! I thought—I hoped——"</p> + +<p>The two girls were already in the omnibus, which soon disappeared. +Cherami turned on his heel, muttering:</p> + +<p>"They were shrewd to refuse my dinner. Peste! how should I have got out +of it? I'm not sorry to have had a chat with the little dears—one's +name is Laurette, and the other's Lucie, or Lucile; they may be +desirable acquaintances, on occasion; if I ever want to buy feathers, +for instance."</p> + +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX<br /><br /> +ANOTHER WEDDING PARTY</h2> + +<p>A young man of some twenty-five years, fashionably dressed, but whose +costume was in some disorder, suddenly appeared upon the scene. He was +walking very fast, and did not stop until he reached the porte cochère +of the Deffieux restaurant. There he halted, and gazed under the porte +cochère with every indication of anxiety, not to say distress; then +looked all about him and along the boulevard. From the pallor of his +cheeks, the distortion of his features, the expression of his eyes, it +was easy to see that he was suffering keenly, and that his distress was +augmented by the expectation of some<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a> impending event. Cherami had no +sooner espied the young man, than the latter ran to where he stood and +said, in a trembling voice:</p> + +<p>"Have you been here some time, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, monsieur; quite a long time."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, but in that case you can tell me—— Have you +noticed a wedding party arrive at this restaurant?"</p> + +<p>"A wedding party? Certainly, I have seen one; it's only a short time +since the carriages went away."</p> + +<p>"They have arrived already? I thought I should be here before them."</p> + +<p>"No; you are late."</p> + +<p>"They have gone in?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; I had a very good view of the bride."</p> + +<p>"You saw Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether her name's Fanny, I'm sure; but what I do know is +that she's very pretty."</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, monsieur; she's charming, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"She's a very pretty bride, without being a beauty."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, there's no lovelier woman on earth."</p> + +<p>"That's a matter of taste. I don't propose to contradict you."</p> + +<p>"Was she pale, trembling? did she look as if she had been crying?"</p> + +<p>"Why, not at all! She was fresh and rosy and affable; she laughed as she +jumped out of the carriage; then I saw her figure, which isn't so bad, +although she's a little stout."</p> + +<p>"Stout! why, no! she's slender and rather small."</p> + +<p>"I tell you, she's decidedly plump. But that does no harm in a blonde; a +thin blonde is too much like a feather-duster."<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a></p> + +<p>"Blonde? Fanny is dark! You made a mistake, monsieur; it wasn't the +bride that you saw."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't the bride that I saw? Oh! I beg your pardon, monsieur; I +can't be mistaken, for I talked with the groom's uncle, whom I know very +well, Papa Blanquette, wholesale linen-draper."</p> + +<p>"Blanquette! I beg your pardon, monsieur; the party you saw isn't the +one I am expecting."</p> + +<p>"Faith! it's not my fault. You ask me if a wedding party has arrived at +this restaurant, and I tell you what I've seen. It seems that that isn't +the one you are looking for; pray be more explicit, then."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, pardon me; it's no wonder that I make mistakes, I am in +such agony!"</p> + +<p>"Agony? The deuce! In truth, you are very pale. Where's the pain?"</p> + +<p>"In my heart!"</p> + +<p>"The heart? Why, in that case, you must take something. Come with me to +a café; I know what you need; I often have a pain in my heart."</p> + +<p>"No, no! I won't leave this spot until I have seen her—the perfidious, +faithless creature!"</p> + +<p>"You are waiting for a faithless creature, eh? That ought not to prevent +your taking something to set you up. You are horribly pale; you'll be +ill in a moment. When one is waiting for a perfidious female, one needs +strength, courage, nerve! Come and take a plate of soup; there's a +soup-kitchen close by."</p> + +<p>"Ah! here they are! here they are! Yes, I am sure that these are they; I +know it by the way I feel. Look, monsieur; do you see those carriages on +the boulevard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, this seems to be another wedding party. Peste! this is evidently a +swell affair."<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a></p> + +<p>"The carriages are coming here—do you see, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Glass coaches, with footmen in livery!—this goes away ahead of the +Blanquette party."</p> + +<p>"They are stopping here. Come, let us go nearer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Oh! never fear; I'll not leave you. Is your unfaithful one +there?"</p> + +<p>"Fanny! She has married another—and I loved her so dearly!"</p> + +<p>"Poor boy! I understand your suffering, now."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I would like to die before her eyes."</p> + +<p>"No nonsense! As if any man ought to die for a woman! Pshaw! there's +nothing so easy to replace!"</p> + +<p>The first carriage of this second wedding party had stopped at the door; +four young men alighted, fashionably dressed all, and of genteel +bearing. One of the four was evidently the hero of the ceremony; it was +he who gave the orders, sent his groomsmen to the other carriages, or +told them to whom they were to offer their arms. He was a little older +than the others, apparently about thirty, and his life had evidently +been well occupied, for his strongly marked, but jaded, features denoted +excess of toil or of dissipation. He was a good-looking fellow, tall and +slender, with an air of distinction; but there were dark rings around +his great, brown eyes, his lips were thin and compressed, his smile was +rather satirical than amiable, his forehead was already furrowed by +numerous wrinkles, and he frowned repeatedly when he spoke with the +slightest animation; his hair, which was of a glossy black and trimmed +close, was already decidedly thin in front, and scarcely plentiful +enough elsewhere to protect the top of his head.<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a></p> + +<p>"That's he! that's Auguste Monléard!" the young man to whom Cherami had +attached himself murmured, with a shudder; and, as he spoke, he gripped +his companion's arm in a sort of frenzy. But Cherami, far from +complaining of that liberty, passed his arm through his new +acquaintance's, saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! that young man is Auguste Monléard, is he? Wait! wait! Monléard; I +knew a Monléard, twenty years ago, but this can't be the same man. Is he +the groom?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is for him that she has forgotten me, thrown me aside."</p> + +<p>"She is wrong. That young man is good-looking, but you are younger; and +then, too, that fellow looks to me as if he had had a devilishly +intimate acquaintance with the joys of life!—I don't impute it to him +as a crime—but he'll soon have to wear a wig."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I am strongly inclined to go and strike him across the face!"</p> + +<p>The young man had already started to attack the bridegroom; but Cherami +detained him, putting his arm about him.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do? make a fool of yourself? I won't allow it. +Well-bred people don't fight with their fists. If you want to fight with +the groom, very good; I consent, I will even be your second; but you +have plenty of time, and you must agree that this would be an ill-chosen +moment."</p> + +<p>The poor, lovelorn youth was not listening; another carriage had stopped +in front of the restaurant. In that one there were ladies, among them +the bride, who was easily recognizable by her head-dress of orange +blossoms. She was a young woman of small stature, slender and dainty. +Her hair was brown like her eyes, which<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> were large, fringed by long +lashes, and surmounted by slight but perfectly arched eyebrows. Her +mouth was small and intelligent; she rarely showed her teeth, because +they were uneven. She was an attractive woman, nothing more; a man must +have been deeply in love with her to declare that there was no lovelier +creature on earth. But for a man who is deeply enamored, there is but +the one woman on earth; consequently, she must be the fairest. The +bride's most remarkable points were her hands and feet, which were +extraordinarily small, and worthy to be a sculptor's model.</p> + +<p>The groom stepped forward to offer his arm to his wife, to assist her to +alight. She barely rested her hand upon it, and, light as a feather, she +was already on the ground, where she seemed busily occupied in looking +to see if her dress had been rumpled in the carriage.</p> + +<p>"There she is! it is she! it is Fanny!" murmured the young man, leaning +heavily on Cherami.</p> + +<p>"She doesn't look to me at all as if she'd been crying," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! can it be that she will not look in this direction?"</p> + +<p>"What's the use? She would see that you are pale and distressed, with +the look of a disinterred corpse; that's no way to appear before a +woman, to make her regret you."</p> + +<p>"She would see how I suffer; she would realize that I shall die of +grief!"</p> + +<p>"I promise you that that wouldn't prevent her dancing this evening. I am +a good judge of faces, and I divine that that woman has a cold +disposition, heart ditto; there's very little feeling under that cover, +or I am immeasurably mistaken."<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a></p> + +<p>Meanwhile, other ladies had left their carriages, and numerous young +women, who flocked about the bride; one fastened a pin; another adjusted +the folds of her veil; another remade her bouquet; and while they +attended to these trivial details of the toilet, which are so momentous +in a woman's eyes, especially a bride's, she glanced here and there, and +soon her eyes fell upon the pale, dishevelled, heart-broken young man; +for he had thrust aside all those who stood in front of him and who +prevented him from gazing at his ease upon her for whom he had come +here.</p> + +<p>A faint tremor of emotion passed over the bride's features; there was in +her eyes a momentary expression of pity, of sympathy; but it did not +indicate suffering on her own part; and as her husband, who had noticed +her preoccupation, hurried toward her at that moment, she speedily +changed her expression, assumed an amiable, joyous manner, and accepted +his arm with pretty, caressing little gestures.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the young man, whom Cherami held by the arm, could not +restrain a paroxysm of rage, crying:</p> + +<p>"Oh! this is frightful! not a glance of regret, of farewell, for me! She +sees my suffering, my despair, and she smiles at that man! and she walks +off on his arm, with joy and happiness in her eyes!"<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X<br /><br /> +THE YOUNGER SISTER</h2> + +<p>At that moment, one of the young women who had arrived in the bride's +carriage ran hastily to him whom the wedding party made so miserable, +and said to him in an undertone, but in a voice overflowing with +kindness and sympathy:</p> + +<p>"Why are you here, Gustave? Why did you come? You promised me to be +brave."</p> + +<p>"I am, mademoiselle; you see that I am—for I did not overwhelm the +false creature with reproaches, here, before her husband's face, before +her new relations!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that would have been very ill done of you; and how would it have +helped you? I implore you, Gustave, be reasonable.—Do not leave him, +monsieur, will you?"</p> + +<p>The last question was addressed to Cherami, who hastened to reply:</p> + +<p>"I! leave my dear Gustave in the state he's in now! I should think not! +What do you take me for, mademoiselle? I will cling to him as the ivy to +the elm. If he should throw himself into the water, I would follow him! +But, never fear; he won't do it. Oh! I am here to look out for him; he +has no more devoted friend than me."</p> + +<p>At that moment, several voices called:</p> + +<p>"Adolphine! Adolphine! do come!"</p> + +<p>"They are looking for me and calling me," murmured the young woman. +"Adieu! Gustave; but if you have the<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> slightest regard for me, you will +not abandon yourself to your grief. You won't, will you? I implore you!"</p> + +<p>And the amiable young woman, as light of foot as a gazelle, disappeared +under the porte cochère, as did all the other persons whom the carriages +had brought.</p> + +<p>"There's a little woman who pleases me exceedingly!" cried Cherami; "she +must be the bride's sister or cousin, at least. For my part, I think +that she's prettier than the bride. Perhaps her eyes aren't as big; but +they are sweet and tender and kind; and then, they are blue, which +always denotes true feeling: I have studied the subject. Her hair's not +as dark as the other's, but it's of a light shade of chestnut which does +not lack merit. Her mouth isn't so small, but neither are her lips so +thin and tightly shut as the bride's. Distrust thin lips; they're a sure +sign of malignity and hypocrisy. Lastly, she is less dainty than your +faithless Fanny, but she is taller; her figure has more distinction and +elegance. All in all, she is an exceedingly attractive person, this +Mademoiselle Adolphine; I say <i>mademoiselle,</i> for I suppose that she +still is one. Have I guessed right?"</p> + +<p>But Gustave was not listening to his new friend. He stood with his eyes +fixed on the door through which the wedding party had passed, apparently +under the spell of a vague hallucination.</p> + +<p>Cherami shook his arm, saying:</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear Monsieur Gustave—I know your name now, and I shall never +forget it; you probably have another, which you will tell me later. +Come, what do you propose to do? Everybody has gone inside; we two alone +are left at the door; the carriages have gone away, or are waiting on +Rue de Bondy, and you have seen<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> what you wanted to see. I presume that +you do not intend to stay here until the wedding guests go home to bed; +that might carry you too far. Come, sacrebleu my dear friend—allow me +to call you by that name; I merit the privilege by the interest I take +in you—you heard what that fascinating young woman said, who came and +spoke to you with tears in her voice and her eyes—yes, may I be damned +if she hadn't tears in her eyes, too! She begged you, implored you, to +be brave, did the charming Adolphine—I remember her name, too. Well! +won't you do what she asked? What the devil are you waiting for in front +of this door? those people have all gone to dinner, and we must follow +their example and ourselves go and dine. I say <i>we</i> must go, because I +promised the excellent Adolphine not to leave you, and, vive Dieu! I +will keep my promise! I am expected at a certain place, to eat a +truffled turkey; but there are truffled turkeys elsewhere, so that +doesn't trouble me. Well! what do you mean to do? You can't seduce a +woman by starving yourself to death."</p> + +<p>"I want to speak to Fanny's sister."</p> + +<p>"The bride's sister? Oh! I see, that's Mademoiselle Adolphine."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's the one I mean. I had many things to say to her, to ask her, +just now. I was so confused, I couldn't think, I had no time."</p> + +<p>"You want to speak to that young lady again; that seems to me rather +difficult, for the whole party has gone in—unless—after all, why not? +This is a restaurant, and although there are several wedding parties +here, that doesn't prevent the restaurateur from entertaining all the +other people who come here to dinner. Come, let's dine here; what do you +think?"<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, yes! let us go in here and dine. We will ask for a private +room near the wedding party, and during the ball—or before—I can see +her again. I can speak to Adolphine."</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! once there, we are in our castle; we will set up our +batteries, and no one has the right to send us away; we can sup there, +and breakfast to-morrow morning; so long as we eat, they will be +delighted to have us stay."</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are to take an interest in my troubles, to +lend me your support, although you do not know me, do not know even who +I am!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I am a physiognomist, my dear friend. At the very outset, you +aroused my interest; besides, I love to oblige; I do nothing else! Let's +go and dine."</p> + +<p>"We will ask where the Monléard party is, monsieur; we will take a room +on the same floor."</p> + +<p>"Agreed! Let's go and dine."</p> + +<p>"Without any apparent motive, I will question the waiter. Indeed, I can +speedily enlist him in my interest with a five-franc piece."</p> + +<p>"He will be entirely devoted to you. Let's go and dine."</p> + +<p>"I will tell him to place us as near as possible to the room where the +ladies are talking."</p> + +<p>"But, sacrebleu! if we delay much longer, there'll be no vacant room +near your wedding party."</p> + +<p>"You are right! Come, come!"</p> + +<p>"At last!" said Cherami to himself, striding behind young Gustave; "this +time, I have my cue!"<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI<br /><br /> +A CALCULATING YOUNG WOMAN</h2> + +<p>The five francs given by young Gustave to a waiter instantly produced a +most satisfactory result. He placed the new-comers in a private room on +the first floor, at the end of a corridor; and the large hall in which +Monsieur Monléard's wedding feast was to be given was at the other end +of the same corridor. Gustave would have preferred to be nearer the +scene of festivity, but that was impossible; and his companion persuaded +him that they were much better off at the end of the corridor, where +Mademoiselle Adolphine could, if she chose, come to exchange a few words +with him, unobserved by the wedding guests.</p> + +<p>"And now, let us dine!" cried Cherami, hanging his hat on a hook; "I +will admit that I am hungry. All these events—your distress—your +despair—have moved me deeply, and emotion makes one hollow. You also +must feel the need of refreshment, for you are very pale."</p> + +<p>"I am not at all hungry, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"One isn't hungry at first; but afterward one eats very well. Besides, +we came here to dine, if I'm not mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Look you, monsieur; have the kindness to order—ask for whatever you +choose—whatever you would like; but don't compel me to think about it."</p> + +<p>"Very good; I agree. In truth, I am inclined to think that's the better +way! With your abstraction, your sighs,<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> you would never be able to +order a dinner; you would order veal for fish, and radishes for prawns, +while I excel in that part of the game. You see, I have lived, and lived +well, I flatter myself! Some madeira first of all, waiter—and put some +Moët in the ice; meanwhile, I will make out our menu!"</p> + +<p>The madeira having been brought, Cherami immediately drank two glasses +to restore the tone of his stomach; then he took the bill of fare, and +took pains to order the best of everything. The waiter, who scrutinized +our friend's costume while he was writing, would probably have displayed +less zeal in serving him, had not his companion begun by slipping five +francs into his hand. But that spontaneous generosity had given another +direction to the waiter's ideas, and he concluded that the gentleman +with the check trousers was a Scotchman who had not changed his +travelling costume.</p> + +<p>While Cherami wrote his order, young Gustave was unable to sit still for +a moment; he went constantly to the door and took a few steps in the +corridor, then returned to question the waiter, to whose particular +attention Cherami commended his menu.</p> + +<p>"Waiter, is the wedding party at table yet?"</p> + +<p>"They sat down just a moment ago, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Above all things, don't have the fillet cooked too much."</p> + +<p>"Never fear, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Where is the bride sitting?"</p> + +<p>"At the middle of the table, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And well supplied with truffles."</p> + +<p>"By whose side?"</p> + +<p>"I think her father's on one side, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And on the other?"<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a></p> + +<p>"A salmon-trout."</p> + +<p>"A lady, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"If it isn't fresh, we won't take it."</p> + +<p>"How is the lady's hair dressed?"</p> + +<p>"She has lilies of the valley on her head."</p> + +<p>"What's that! lilies of the valley on a salmon-trout! I never saw it +served so."</p> + +<p>"Not the trout, monsieur; I was speaking of a lady—one of the wedding +party."</p> + +<p>"And the groom, where is he sitting?"</p> + +<p>"Opposite his wife, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Next, a capon <i>au gros sel.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Does he look at her often?"</p> + +<p>"Done to a turn."</p> + +<p>"Faith! monsieur, I didn't have time to notice as to that."</p> + +<p>"What's that! Sapristi! you haven't time to tell the chef to cook it to +a turn?"</p> + +<p>"Pardon, monsieur; monsieur was asking me about the bridegroom.—Now I +am at your service."</p> + +<p>And the waiter, to escape these questions, which confused him, took the +menu and disappeared. Cherami poured out another glass of madeira, +saying to his new friend:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, my dear Gustave; if you persist in imitating the bear of +Berne, by going from this room into the corridor, and returning from the +corridor to this room, you won't do yourself any good. You know that the +wedding party is at the table. Naturally, they will be there some time. +So follow their example. Take a seat opposite me, recover your +tranquillity, and let us dine. See, here's our soup, just in time, +exhaling a delicious odor. Allow me to help you."<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a></p> + +<p>The young man took his seat, and swallowed a few spoonfuls of soup; then +pushed his plate away, crying:</p> + +<p>"No; it's impossible for me to eat anything."</p> + +<p>"Very well! then talk to me. Look you, while I am eating, as you don't +choose to do the same, you have an excellent opportunity to tell me the +story of your loves—with the ungrateful Fanny."</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, monsieur, gladly. I will tell you all, and you will see if I +am wrong to complain of her inconstancy."</p> + +<p>"Men are hardly ever wrong. Go on, my dear friend; tell me the whole +story; I shall not lose a word of your narrative, because one can listen +splendidly while eating."</p> + +<p>"My name is Gustave Darlemont, and I am twenty-five years old. My +parents lived on their income; but in order to obtain the means to live +more expensively, they invested all their capital in an annuity."</p> + +<p>"The devil! rather selfish parents, I should say. If everyone did the +same, the word <i>inheritance</i> would be superfluous. Here's a fillet that +is worth its weight in gold. Just taste it."</p> + +<p>"No, thanks, monsieur.—For my part, I find no fault with my parents for +doing as they did; they had earned their fortune by their own labor, +they had given me a good education: what more could I ask?"</p> + +<p>"You are delightful! Pardieu! you could ask for money. Let me give you +some of this Château-Léoville.—It's cool and sweet—it will refresh +your ideas. Go on, I beg."</p> + +<p>"My parents died, and from what they left me in furniture, jewels, and +plate, I had an income of twelve hundred francs."</p> + +<p>"A mere trifle! that's not enough to pay one's tailor. To be sure, +there's the alternative of not paying him at all."<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a></p> + +<p>"I was then seventeen; I didn't know just what business to embrace."</p> + +<p>"And, pending your decision, you embraced all the pretty girls who came +to hand. I know all about that."</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, monsieur; I was very virtuous; I have never been what is called +a lady's man."</p> + +<p>"So much the worse, young man; so much the worse! There's nothing like +women for training the young. You may say that they overtrain them +sometimes. But think of the experience they acquire! I might cite myself +as an example; but we haven't come to me yet. Go on, my young +friend—for I am your friend. Although Aristotle said: 'O my friends, +there are no friends!' I maintain that there are. And that's simply a +play upon words by the Greek philosopher, to whom, had I been Philip, I +would not have intrusted the education of my son Alexander, because of +that one assertion.—But I beg your pardon; I am listening."</p> + +<p>"Luckily, I had an uncle, Monsieur Grandcourt, my mother's brother. He +took me into his family. He is rather an original, but kind and +obliging. He is not an old man: only about forty-eight now."</p> + +<p>"So much the worse, so much the worse! You certainly have hard luck in +the matter of inheritances. Is this uncle of yours rich?"</p> + +<p>"Not rich perhaps, but very comfortably fixed, I fancy."</p> + +<p>"What does he do?"</p> + +<p>"He's a banker."</p> + +<p>"Everybody is, more or less."</p> + +<p>"Oh! my uncle is a prudent man, who never risks his money in doubtful +speculations; he is noted for the exactitude with which he fulfils his +engagements, and for his absolute probity."<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a></p> + +<p>"Good! there's a man to whom I will intrust my funds, when I have more +than I can handle."</p> + +<p>"So I entered my uncle's employ as a clerk. I was very happy there. We +often went to the theatre, to concerts, and to the best restaurants; and +my uncle always paid."</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! it would have been a fine thing if the nephew had had to stand +treat! However, I see that your uncle's not a miser; he likes to enjoy +himself. That's the kind of an uncle I like. I shall be glad to make his +acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"I have now arrived, monsieur, at the moment which changed the whole +course of my life, which made me acquainted with a sentiment of whose +power I had thus far been entirely ignorant. For, while I had had a few +amourettes, I had never known a genuine passion. Ah! monsieur! the +instant that I saw Fanny, I felt as if my heart were born to a new life; +I was no longer the same. No, until then I had not lived!"</p> + +<p>"That's a common sort of talk with lovers. They never have lived before +their frantic passion,—the ingrates!—and they often forget the +happiest days of their youth.—Ah! here's our salmon-trout—a delicious +fish! You will surely taste a mouthful?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle had bought some shares in the Orléans railway for Monsieur +Gerbault, Fanny's father. He gave them to me to deliver to him. Monsieur +Gerbault was not at home. Fanny received me, and invited me to wait till +her father returned. We talked; I was amazed to hear that young girl +discuss affairs at the Bourse quite as intelligently as a broker could +do."</p> + +<p>"And that was what fascinated you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, monsieur. But while Fanny was talking to me, I examined her. +Her eyes were bright and intelligent;<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> her smile was charming. Her whole +person was instinct with a childish grace which fascinated me, and a +perfect naturalness which put me at my ease at once. Before I had been +with her half an hour, you would have thought that we were old friends. +I took the greatest pleasure in listening to her, and I think that she +perceived it, for she was never at a loss for something to say. Her +father returned, and I was terribly sorry. Monsieur Gerbault is a very +courteous old man. He smiled at me when he heard his daughter ask me the +prices of all the different securities, and said:</p> + +<p>"'It's very unfortunate for Fanny that women are not allowed on the +Bourse, for I believe she would go there every day; she has a very +pronounced taste for speculation; I dare not say for gambling, for I +hope that it won't go so far as that. However, monsieur, she has five or +six thousand francs, and so has her sister; it comes from their mother. +Adolphine has very wisely invested her funds in government securities; +but Fanny—oh! she's a different sort! she wants to speculate, to buy +stocks, and she will probably lose her money.'</p> + +<p>"'Why so, father, I should like to know?' said Fanny; 'why shouldn't +luck be favorable to me? Besides, I don't mean to buy anything on +margin, but only for cash; I shall keep what I buy, and not sell until I +can sell at a profit. It seems to me that that is easy enough, and that +there's no need of being a clerk in a broker's office to understand the +operation. With my six thousand francs I could only get a miserable +little income; why shouldn't I try to increase my principal?'</p> + +<p>"'As you please,' said Monsieur Gerbault; 'you are perfectly at liberty +to dispose of what belongs to you.'<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a></p> + +<p>"You can understand that I flattered the young woman's hopes, feeling as +I did that I was already in love with her. I offered to keep her posted +as to the general tendency of values on the Bourse and the financial +situation. She accepted my offer; and Monsieur Gerbault, knowing that I +was Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew, gave me free access to his house. In +short, my dear—my dear—monsieur—I beg your pardon, but I don't as yet +know your name."</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! that's true; I had not thought to tell you. My name is Arthur +Cherami, former land-holder, ci-devant premier high-liver of the +capital. I set the fashion, I was the arbiter of style, and all the +women doted on me. Oh! my story is very short: at twenty-two, I had +thirty-five thousand francs a year; at thirty, I had nothing left. When +I say <i>nothing</i>, I mean practically nothing; I still have a small +remnant of income, a bagatelle, but my fortune is all eaten up. Well! +young man, I give you my word of honor, that, if I could start afresh, I +believe I would do the same again. I employed my youth to good purpose, +and everybody can't say as much. For God's sake, must a man be old, +infirm, and gouty, to enjoy life? You can't crack nuts when your teeth +are all gone; therefore, you shouldn't wait till you're old to play the +young man. Now, if I add that I am still a lusty fellow, as brave as +Caesar, as gallant as François I, and as philosophical as Socrates, you +will know me as well as if you had been my groom.—I have said."</p> + +<p>"Very good! Your name, you say, is——? I beg your pardon, but I have +forgotten it already."</p> + +<p>"You are absent-minded; I can understand that. My name is Cherami, and I +am yours, which constitutes a<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> pun;<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> but, to avoid mistakes, call me +Arthur; that is my Christian name, and all the ladies call me that. +Sapristi! this is an excellent fish; do eat a bit of it."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to talk to you of my love."</p> + +<p>"So be it!—That won't give you indigestion. Meanwhile, I'll eat for +two—and listen to you. Fire away!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII<br /><br /> +GUSTAVE'S LOVE AFFAIR</h2> + +<p>"I was saying, Monsieur Arthur, that, as I had received permission to go +to Monsieur Gerbault's house, you will divine that I took advantage of +it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed.—This fish is perfect; you make a great mistake not to eat +it."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gerbault, formerly a clerk in one of the government offices, +has only a modest fortune; he is a widower with two daughters, to both +of whom he has given an excellent education. Fanny is talented; she is a +good musician, and knows English and Italian."</p> + +<p>"And her sister?"</p> + +<p>"Adolphine plays the piano, too, and sings quite well. She is very sweet +and of a very amiable disposition; but, you see, I didn't pay any +attention to the sister; I had eyes for Fanny alone. Her grace, her wit, +her lovely eyes, all combined to turn my head. She saw it plainly +enough, and, far from repelling me, she seemed to try to redouble her +charms, in order to make me more in love with her than ever."<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a></p> + +<p>"The devil! she's a shrewd coquette!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, monsieur! but it's her nature always to make herself +attractive; she can't help it."</p> + +<p>"Here's the capon <i>au gros sel.</i>—Now's the time for the champagne +frappé. Corbleu! you'll drink some of this."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur——"</p> + +<p>"It will give you strength, nerve. Nobody knows what may happen +to-night; a man should always be ready for action."</p> + +<p>"A year passed; I had the good fortune to make some lucky turns for +Fanny; she had made nearly three thousand francs in railroad shares; she +was overjoyed, and was already dreaming of an immense fortune. I had +told her that I loved her, and she had replied, with a smile, that she +suspected as much. Thereupon, I asked her if she would marry me, and she +replied: 'My father can give only twenty thousand francs to each of his +daughters, and you know what I have besides. That doesn't make much of +an income.'</p> + +<p>"'What does it matter?' said I; 'I love you with all my heart; if you +had no marriage portion at all, I should none the less consider myself +the happiest of men if I could obtain your hand.—I have twelve hundred +francs a year,' I added, 'and my uncle pays me eighteen hundred; you see +that we shall have enough to live comfortably.'</p> + +<p>"Fanny listened to me, and seemed to reflect; but I had taken her hand +and squeezed it, and she did not take it away.</p> + +<p>"'Are you willing,' I said, 'that I should prefer my suit to your father +to-morrow?'</p> + +<p>"'That's not necessary,' she replied; 'we have time enough; and then, +you need have no fear in that respect; father has told me a hundred +times that he would<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> not interfere with my choice; that he was sure that +I would not marry anyone who would not make me happy.'</p> + +<p>"For my part, I wanted to be married at once, but Fanny desired to add a +little more to her capital before marrying, so that she might have a +more substantial dowry to offer me. It was of no use for me to say that +I cared nothing about that; I could not make her listen to reason."</p> + +<p>"If you took that for love, my dear Gustave, you can hardly claim to be +a connoisseur.—Here's your very good health!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur; Fanny was always so amiable! her eyes always had such a +sweet look in them when they met mine! she had such pretty, caressing +little ways with me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I know. The whole battery of the petticoat file!"</p> + +<p>"Six months more passed, and I implored Fanny to fix a date for our +wedding. Unluckily, her operations in railroads no longer showed a +profit; the shares she had bought had gone down; it was necessary to +wait; and Fanny was angry at the way things were going on the +Bourse.—It was about that time—— Ah! it was then that my misfortunes +began."</p> + +<p>"Courage, dear Gustave!—and another glass of Moët! Do take a wing of +this capon—just a bit of white meat. What! nothing? Well, then, +sapristi! I will sacrifice myself and eat the whole bird. Never mind +what the result may be; but I will drink, too, for I must wash it +down.—Your health!"</p> + +<p>"As I was saying, it was about this time that Monsieur Auguste Monléard +made the acquaintance of the Gerbault family—at a ball, I believe; he +asked and obtained from<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> the father permission to come occasionally and +play and sing with the young ladies. I did not know that until later, +for I did not happen to meet him for some time. The very first time that +I saw him, I had a presentiment that his presence in Monsieur Gerbault's +house would be fatal to my love. This Monléard made a great parade; he +had a cabriolet and a negro footman; indeed, he had, so it was said, +forty thousand francs a year. All that would have been a matter of +indifference to me, if I had not noticed that he was very attentive, +very gallant, to Fanny. However, she continued to smile on me in the +most charming way; but when I said to her: 'Fix a day for our wedding, I +beg you, and let me speak to your father,' she replied: 'Oh! not yet; we +have plenty of time; I must increase my capital first.'</p> + +<p>"One morning, I had escaped from my duties at my uncle's, who scolded me +sometimes because love led me to neglect business."</p> + +<p>"Did your uncle approve your matrimonial plans?"</p> + +<p>"Not very warmly; he had said to me several times: 'You're too young to +marry; wait awhile.'</p> + +<p>"But when he saw how dearly I loved Fanny, he finally said: 'Do as you +please; but if I were in your place, I'd have nothing to do with a young +woman who speculates in railroad stocks.'"</p> + +<p>"I am much of your uncle's opinion."</p> + +<p>"And he added: 'You know that I will not give you a sou to be married +on, don't you?'</p> + +<p>"I replied: 'And you know that I ask you for nothing but your +affection.'"</p> + +<p>"A noble reply! and one that binds you to nothing.—Have a glass of +champagne."</p> + +<p>"I have already had one."<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a></p> + +<p>"So much the more reason for taking another. I say, my boy, order us a +Périgord macaroni, and a <i>parfait à la vanille."</i></p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Waiter, how is the wedding party getting along?"</p> + +<p>"They're at the second course, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"They have not got beyond that!"</p> + +<p>"What a delightful fellow this dear Gustave is! because he doesn't eat, +he fancies that nobody else has any appetite."</p> + +<p>"Is the bride eating, waiter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; she's eating everything, I may say."</p> + +<p>"Everything!"</p> + +<p>Gustave angrily resumed his seat at the table, and held out his plate, +saying to his companion:</p> + +<p>"Very good! then I will eat, too! Give me some capon, Arthur; give me a +lot of it!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! good, good! spoken like a man! Now you're a man again! There's +nothing left of the capon but one drumstick and the carcass, but they're +the most delicate parts."</p> + +<p>"Give them to me, give them to me! Oh! what a fool, what an idiot, I +have been! To give way to despair for a woman who makes sport of me, who +eats everything, when she knows that I am consumed by grief!"</p> + +<p>"You acted like a fool, and that's just what I've been killing myself +telling you."</p> + +<p>"Give me some wine!"</p> + +<p>"Bravo! let's drink! This champagne is delicious, and I know what I'm +talking about."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will think no more of her, I will forget everything, I will love +some other woman."<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a></p> + +<p>"Pardieu! that's the true way! In love especially, I believe in +homœopathy."</p> + +<p>Gustave swallowed his glass of wine at a draught, then ate a few +mouthfuls with a sort of avidity; but he soon pushed his plate away, and +let his head fall on his breast, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, I shall never love another woman; I know well enough that it +would be impossible."</p> + +<p>"The deuce! here he is in another paroxysm of his passion! We shall have +some difficulty in curing the dear boy; but we will succeed, even though +that should necessitate our not leaving him for a second for ten years +to come! Be yourself, Gustave, and finish your story, which, I presume, +must be drawing near its end, and which interests me in the highest +degree."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; you are right!—I was saying that one morning, having gone to +Monsieur Gerbault's house, I found Mademoiselle Adolphine alone. She +greeted me with such a sorrowful air that I could not refrain from +asking her what caused her sadness, and she replied: 'I suffer for your +sake, I am grieved for you; for I know how dearly you love my sister, +and I foresee how you will suffer when you learn that she is going to be +married, and not to you.'</p> + +<p>"'Great heaven!' I cried; 'can it be possible? Fanny, false to me! +Fanny, give herself to another!'</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' said Adolphine. 'It seems to me that it is especially cruel to +let you hope on, when her marriage to Monsieur Auguste Monléard was +decided on a fortnight ago.'</p> + +<p>"'She is going to marry Monsieur Monléard!' I cried; 'she throws me over +for that man! And she smiled at me only yesterday when I swore to love +her all my life!'<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a></p> + +<p>"'That's the reason I determined to tell you all,' said Adolphine. 'I +did not choose that you should be deceived any longer.'</p> + +<p>"I need not tell you what a state of despair I was in. Adolphine tried +in vain to comfort me; I could not believe in Fanny's treachery, and I +insisted upon seeing her, and learning from her own lips that she +preferred my rival to me.</p> + +<p>"The next day, I found her alone. Can you believe that she greeted me +with the same tranquillity, the same smile, as usual? So much so, that I +cried: 'It isn't true, is it, Fanny, that you are going to marry another +man?'—Thereupon, with a little pout to which she tried to give a +fitting touch of melancholy, she replied: 'Yes, Gustave; it is true. Mon +Dieu! you mustn't be angry with me. At all events, it will do no good, +my friend; I have reflected. We haven't enough money to marry; we should +have had to lead the sort of life in which one is always forced to count +the cost before indulging in any pleasure, to see if it is compatible +with one's means; and, frankly, it is not amusing to figure up whether +one can afford to enjoy one's self a little, to buy a hat or a jewel +which takes one's fancy. So I concluded that it was more sensible to +marry Monsieur Monléard, who has a handsome fortune, and I have accepted +his hand. But it seems to me that you shouldn't bear me a grudge, +because I have acted like a sensible woman, and we can still remain +friends.'</p> + +<p>"'I, your friend!' I exclaimed, bursting into tears; 'when you give +yourself to another, when you make me miserable for life!'</p> + +<p>"I don't know what reply she made; but somebody came to tell her that +the materials for her wedding gown<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a> had arrived, and she hurried away. +Her calmness, her indifference, exasperated me. When I was alone, all +sorts of incoherent ideas assailed me, but I know that I was determined +to die. I was about to leave the house, fully resolved not to survive +Fanny's treachery, when suddenly I felt a caressing hand on my arm, +while a sweet voice said to me in an imploring tone: 'Be a man, Gustave, +be brave; resolve to endure this misfortune, which seems to break your +heart to-day. Time will allay your suffering—you will love another +woman, who will love you in return, who will understand your heart; and +later you will be happy—much happier, perhaps, than she, who thinks of +nothing but money! But, I entreat you, promise me that you will live!'</p> + +<p>"It was Adolphine who spoke to me thus. Her tears were flowing freely. +When I found that my grief was shared, I felt a little relieved, for +unhappiness makes a man selfish, and, when we are unhappy, it seems to +us that other people ought to suffer as we do. I promised Fanny's sister +to renounce my thoughts of death, and I left that house, to which I +shall never return!"</p> + +<p>"I drink to good little Adolphine's health! For my part, I love that +feeling heart—I shall never forget her. And our dear uncle, what said +he when he learned the result of your love affair?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle? Oh! he doesn't believe in love, not he!"</p> + +<p>"He was quite right not to believe in your Mademoiselle Fanny's."</p> + +<p>"He has no confidence in women."</p> + +<p>"He has probably made a study of them."</p> + +<p>"In fact, when I told him that Fanny was to marry another, he had the +heartlessness to retort that that was lucky for me."<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a></p> + +<p>"Frankly, I agree with him; for, after all, my boy as the damsel didn't +love you——"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, she did love me, before she knew this Monléard."</p> + +<p>"She gave you the preference when there was nobody else."</p> + +<p>"He turned her head by his magnificence, his presents."</p> + +<p>"It is much better for you that it happened before your marriage rather +than after.—Here's to your health! Ah! here's the Périgord +macaroni—with truffles on top—that's the checker! Do you know this way +of preparing macaroni?"</p> + +<p>"It seems that he hastened the ceremony after our last interview; for +that was only twelve days ago, and to-day I learned that the wedding was +to take place at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, to be followed by a banquet and +ball here."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and then you lost your head! You said to yourself: 'I will be +there, I want to see what sort of a face the faithless creature will +make when she sees me.'"</p> + +<p>"True, monsieur, true. But they must have misinformed me as to the hour +of the ceremony, for when I reached the church it was all over—they had +gone."</p> + +<p>"So much the better! that saved you one stab."</p> + +<p>"Then I started off like a madman and ran all the way here, saying to +myself: 'I simply must see her!'—And you know the rest, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"I do, indeed; and if I hadn't been here, God knows what would have +happened! But I'm a lucky dog; I almost always turn up when I'm wanted. +Let us water the macaroni! I defy all the wedding parties in the place +to dine better than me!"<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII<br /><br /> +A GENTLEMAN WHO HAD DINED WELL</h2> + +<p>Cherami had reached the dessert stage; he had amply repaired the ravages +wrought in his stomach by the privation of the previous day, and he had +watered his food so copiously with madeira, bordeaux, and champagne, +that his face had become very red, his eyes very small, and his tongue +very thick, which fact did not prevent his making constant use of it.</p> + +<p>Gustave had drunk only two glasses of champagne; but, as he had eaten +nothing at all, that had made him slightly tipsy, and he was beginning +anew his trips from the dining-room to the corridor, when the waiter who +served them hurried up to him, saying:</p> + +<p>"The ladies are leaving the table, monsieur; I believe they are going to +dress for the ball, for some of them have already put on their hats."</p> + +<p>"Hurry back, then; take the bride's sister, Mademoiselle Adolphine, +aside, and tell her that—Monsieur Gustave insists upon speaking to +her—that I am waiting for her at the end of the corridor. Tell her that +she simply must come; you understand, she must come! See, here are five +francs more for you."</p> + +<p>"Very good, monsieur. The bride's sister. But I don't know her, do I?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Adolphine."</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, yes. I go, I fly, monsieur."<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a></p> + +<p>Gustave returned to the private room, where Cherami was occupied in +admiring the bubbling of the champagne in his glass.</p> + +<p>"She is coming! I am going to speak to her!" cried the young man.</p> + +<p>"What! Do you mean that she's coming to join us here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Oh! I am certain that she'll come. She would not like to drive me +to do some crazy thing."</p> + +<p>"All right! so much the better, sacrebleu! Let her come, and we'll tell +her something. She's a sinner, a flirt."</p> + +<p>"But it's Adolphine who's coming, not Fanny."</p> + +<p>"Adolphine, the good little sister? Oh! that's a different matter. I +will embrace her, I will even make love to her a bit, if she will permit +me."</p> + +<p>"They are going away, to dress for the ball; but first, I am +determined—— Ah! someone is coming—a woman—it's she!"</p> + +<p>It was, in fact, the young Adolphine, who ran along the corridor, +trembling with distress and emotion, and entered the room, crying:</p> + +<p>"What! Monsieur Gustave! you here! Why, in heaven's name, did you come?"</p> + +<p>"Because I knew that she was here—and I hope to see her once more."</p> + +<p>"Ah! mon Dieu! what madness!—And you, monsieur, you promised to take +care of him."</p> + +<p>"Why, mademoiselle, I am doing just that; I haven't lost sight of him a +moment; and if I hadn't been here, to constantly restrain him, he would +have gone twenty times to make trouble at your wedding feast, and to +insult the husband."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Gustave!"<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a></p> + +<p>"No, no, Adolphine; have no fear of that."</p> + +<p>"Don't you trust what he says, mademoiselle; he's lost his head; +luckily, I am here; I am calm and prudent."</p> + +<p>"But why did you come here?"</p> + +<p>"We came here to dine, mademoiselle, which we had a perfect right to do. +For, after all, although a man may not belong to a wedding party, that +need not prevent his dining, and dining very well too, I give you my +word."</p> + +<p>"But I can't stay any longer!—We are going away to dress; I am sure +they are waiting for me. What do you want of me, Monsieur Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"To beg you to give me an opportunity to speak to your sister once +more."</p> + +<p>"To Fanny? Why, it isn't possible! Besides, what would you say to her?"</p> + +<p>"I will say good-bye to her forever; I will tell her that I hope that +she will be happy—although she has wrecked my life."</p> + +<p>"But how do you suppose that she can speak to you in secret? she is +always surrounded; there's always somebody with us. What would people +say? what would they think?"</p> + +<p>"If you refuse, I will go and speak to her during the ball."</p> + +<p>"Well—no—— Wait here, then; and, when we return from dressing, I will +try—I will make her come through this corridor."</p> + +<p>"Oh! thanks, thanks a thousand times! Ah! you are too kind!"</p> + +<p>"I must go; adieu! But, in heaven's name, keep out of sight, don't show +yourself!"</p> + +<p>As she spoke, Adolphine made a sign of intelligence to Cherami, who +imagined that the charming young<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a> woman was throwing him a kiss; but she +disappeared just as he left the table to go to embrace her; and as the +waiter entered the room at that moment, the ex-beau bestowed a +resounding smack upon that functionary's cheek.</p> + +<p>"Sacrebleu! what is this?" cried Cherami, roughly pushing back the +waiter, who stood by the door in open-mouthed amazement at the caress he +had received.—"Why the devil do you come up under my nose, waiter? +Plague take the knave! I said to myself: 'Gad! this young lady uses very +cheap soap!'"</p> + +<p>"Pardon, monsieur; it isn't my fault; I was coming in, and you ran into +my arms. I know well enough that it wasn't me you meant to embrace."</p> + +<p>"It's lucky that you understand that."</p> + +<p>"Waiter, what are the ladies doing now?"</p> + +<p>"They are all going away, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And the men?"</p> + +<p>"Some of them have gone, too; but many stayed, and are playing cards."</p> + +<p>"And the Blanquette party, waiter—what are they doing now?"</p> + +<p>"The Blanquette party are still at table, monsieur, and singing."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I recognize them by that. They'll sit at table till ten o'clock, +those people; the petty bourgeois sing at dessert, which is very bad +form. However, I confess that I have sometimes gone so far as to hum a +ditty myself; I have even composed one on occasion, one which Panard or +Collé wouldn't have been ashamed to father. But I like a touch of smut +myself; don't talk to me of your insipid ballads about roses and zephyrs +and the springtime; no, nor your political ballads either;<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> I abominate +them; and yet, that's the kind of thing that makes great reputations; +and I know men who would have been nothing more than common +ballad-mongers, if they hadn't flattered parties and passions, and who +have reached the very pinnacle of fame because they always end their +couplets with the words <i>fatherland</i> and <i>liberty</i>. O Armand Gouffé! O +Désaugiers! you didn't resort to such methods, so very little is heard +of you. You are none the less the real French ballad-makers; your +fruitful and vigorous muse has discovered innumerable varied subjects +and described them in song, which is much more difficult than to keep +harping on the same refrain."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Monsieur Arthur, now that I am waiting for the return of +the bride, to whom I shall say adieu forever, if your affairs call you +elsewhere, do not hesitate to go. Leave me; I have abused your +good-nature too far already."</p> + +<p>"I, leave you! No, indeed! What do you take me for?—What! after +accepting your suggestion that we should dine together, leave you all of +a sudden at dessert? Fie! Only a cad would do that; and, thank God! I +know what good-breeding is. Tell me, do I annoy you? Is my presence +distasteful to you?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! far from it, my dear sir; you have shown an interest in my affairs, +which I shall never forget."</p> + +<p>"We were born to be friends, and we are; that is settled, your affairs +are mine, what concerns you concerns me. Wherever there is danger for +you, it is my duty to look after you; and, you understand, if, while you +are talking with the bride, her new husband should happen to come +prowling about here, I will just step in front of him and say: 'I am +very sorry, my boy, but you can't pass!'"<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! a thousand thanks for your devotion to me! Waiter! waiter! our +bill!"</p> + +<p>"Here it is, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"You pay for the dinner; that's all right; but as we are to stay here +some little time perhaps, we must have something to keep us busy."</p> + +<p>"Order whatever you want."</p> + +<p>"Waiter, make us a nice little rum punch; it's excellent for the +digestion; the English eat a great deal, but they drink punch at +dessert, and they're all right. Would you like to play cards, to kill +time?"</p> + +<p>"Thanks, it would be impossible for me to put my mind on the game."</p> + +<p>"I don't insist. I am rather fond of cards, but I don't carry that +passion to excess. Pardieu! I don't say that I may not take a hand by +and by at the Blanquette function. Did I tell you that I knew them? +They're linen-drapers; that sort of people play rather high; but that +doesn't frighten me. Ah! here's our punch! I divine it by the odor; the +table is excellent at this house."</p> + +<p>Cherami lost no time in partaking of the punch. Gustave refused it at +first, but finally consented to take a glass.</p> + +<p>The night had come; the lights were lighted on all sides. With the +darkness, the unhappy lover's thoughts became more gloomy, his suffering +more intense; he buried his face in his hands, muttering:</p> + +<p>"It's all over! O Fanny! Fanny! you will belong to another! Ah! I shall +die of my grief!"</p> + +<p>"Sapristi!" said Cherami to himself, swallowing several glasses of punch +in rapid succession; "this youngster is very lachrymose; he isn't lively +in his cups. With me, it's different; I feel in the mood to dance at all +the wedding parties, and to play cards too—only I shall have to<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> borrow +a few napoleons from my new friend, in order to be able to tempt +fortune. I have an idea that I shall have a vein of luck! I say, my dear +friend, aren't we drinking any more?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, thanks, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Then I will drink for both of us. This punch is too sweet! Here, +waiter, put in more rum, a lot of it!"</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, there's no more punch in the bowl."</p> + +<p>"Well! then make another bowl, but make it stronger."</p> + +<p>The other bowl was brought.</p> + +<p>After drinking two more glasses, Cherami tried to rise, but was obliged +to hold on to the table to keep from falling; however, although he felt +that his legs were wavering under him, he determined to maintain his +dignity, and did his best to keep his balance as he walked toward the +door.</p> + +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV<br /><br /> +THE PUNCH PRODUCES ITS EFFECT</h2> + +<p>"They are a long while coming back, those ladies!" muttered Gustave, +coming and going from the room to the corridor.</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear fellow, when a woman's at her toilet, one can never be sure +how long a time she'll spend over it. One day, I remember, in the time +of my splendor, I was waiting for my mistress, to go to the theatre, to +see a new play. I believe it was at the Opéra-Comique—but, no matter. +She had finally got dressed,—it had taken her a long while,—when, +happening to look in the mirror,<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a> she cried: 'My wreath of blue-bottles +is too far down on my forehead—I must change it—it's just a matter of +putting in a pin.'—'All right,' said I; 'put in your pin. I'll +wait'—My dear fellow, that pin, and all the others that she put in +after it, took an hour and a half! and when we reached the theatre, the +new play was over."</p> + +<p>Observing that his young companion had fallen into abstraction once +more, and was paying no heed to him, Cherami decided to leave the +private room and try his fortunes in the corridor, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"I feel the need of a little fresh air; it's as hot as the tropics in +these private dining-rooms. Ah! what do I see yonder? Ladies—many +ladies. I must go and cast an eye in that direction. The fair sex +attracts me—it's my magnet."</p> + +<p>The ladies of the Monléard party were beginning to return, arrayed for +the ball. To reach the room where they were to dance, they had to pass +along the corridor to the main staircase. Cherami took his stand at the +head of the staircase, and there ogled the ladies, bowed to them all as +if he knew them, and spoke to each of them as she passed.</p> + +<p>"Charming, on my word! A divine costume!—White shoulders that would +drive Venus to despair!—Ah! how we are going to flirt!—A very pretty +head-dress; bravo!—Ah! here's a mamma who proposes to play the coy +maiden. Dear lady, you will find difficulty in getting partners, I warn +you. There are pretty faces here that will monopolize all the cavaliers. +Oho! what fine eyes! they are like carbuncles. Who will deign to accept +my hand or my arm? I am at your service, fair ladies!"</p> + +<p>But the ladies, instead of accepting the hand which my gentleman offered +them, passed him without replying,<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> or shrank from him, because there +was in his whole aspect a seediness entirely out of harmony with their +ball-dresses; moreover, he smelt so strongly of punch and liquors that +it was impossible to pass him without receiving a whiff of the odor.</p> + +<p>Several ladies put their handkerchiefs to their faces as they hurried +by, and some exclaimed: "Why, who can that man be? Where did he come +from? He is drunk!—Surely he is not one of Monsieur Monléard's wedding +guests. What is he doing there, like a sentinel? He speaks to everybody, +and with an astonishing lack of ceremony. He poisons the air with wine +and liquor. Can't somebody send the horrible creature away?"</p> + +<p>These complaints soon reached the ears of the gentlemen who had remained +to play cards. Some of them rose and walked into the hall, saying:</p> + +<p>"Parbleu! we will find out who this fellow is who takes the liberty of +speaking to ladies whom he doesn't know!"</p> + +<p>Cherami had just offered his hand to a pretty little woman, who had +refused it and instantly put her handkerchief to her nose. This +pantomime, having been frequently repeated in front of the ex-beau, +began to offend him, and he suddenly exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Deuce take it! what's the matter with all these prudes, that they hide +their faces with their handkerchiefs? Can it be because they think that +I have any desire to kiss them! Ah! I've seen prettier women than +you—who didn't run away from me, my princesses!"</p> + +<p>"To whom are you speaking, monsieur? Is it these ladies to whom you dare +to address such language?"</p> + +<p>"Hallo! who's this? where did he come from? Ah! what a noble head!"<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a></p> + +<p>"It is for you, monsieur, to answer those questions. Off with you, at +once, or I'll put you out-of-doors."</p> + +<p>"Out-of-doors, eh? Understand that I dined here—with my friend +Gustave—Gustave something or other—and that I have as much right as +you to stay here—that I won't go away."</p> + +<p>"I forbid you to speak to these ladies."</p> + +<p>"Thanks! I have my cue."</p> + +<p>The ladies interposed to prevent a dispute, and succeeded in taking +their champions away with them, saying:</p> + +<p>"You can see that the man's drunk. What satisfaction do you expect to +obtain from a man who hasn't his senses? Leave him there, and pay no +more attention to him."</p> + +<p>The men yielded to this request, and they left Cherami standing there +and entered the ballroom.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the waiter who had served the dinner in the private room ran +up to Cherami.</p> + +<p>"The gentleman who dined with you is going away; someone has come for +him."</p> + +<p>"What! my friend Gustave going away? Why, it's impossible! He won't go +without me; besides, he's waiting for the bride; we must have the bride; +she's been promised to us."</p> + +<p>"He's going, I tell you."</p> + +<p>The ex-beau decided to return to the private room, and found at the door +his young friend and a man of mature years, short of stature, but with a +cold, stern face which imposed respect. They were on the point of +leaving.</p> + +<p>"Well, well! what does this mean?" cried Cherami. "What! my dear +Gustave, going, and without me—your intimate friend, your Orestes, your +Patroclus?"<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a></p> + +<p>"Who is this new friend of yours, whom I don't know, whom I have never +seen with you?" the short man asked Gustave, whose arm he held fast.</p> + +<p>"It's a gentleman who has been kind enough to take some interest in me, +uncle," faltered Gustave;—"I was so unhappy—and to keep me company."</p> + +<p>"And whose dinner you have paid for, I presume? Your friend did not +spare himself."</p> + +<p>"What do I hear? Monsieur is your uncle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; I am Gustave's uncle."</p> + +<p>"Then you are Monsieur Grandcourt?"</p> + +<p>"Just so."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Delighted to make the acquaintance of my friend's uncle."</p> + +<p>"I am obliged to you, monsieur; but we are going."</p> + +<p>"What! you are going? Pray, do you not know that your dear nephew +desires to speak once more with the bride, the faithless Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I do know it, and it was for the express purpose of preventing +that interview, which might result in a scandalous scene, that I came +here and that I am taking my nephew away."</p> + +<p>"But her little sister, the charming Adolphine, would have obtained an +interview for us in secret."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, monsieur; for it was Mademoiselle Adolphine herself +who sent word to me that my nephew was here, and begged me to exert my +authority to take him away and prevent his seeing her sister; that young +woman realized all the impropriety of the proposed interview."</p> + +<p>"What! it was the little sister who sent word to you? Ah! the little +mouse! These women are all leagued together to fool us."<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a></p> + +<p>"On this occasion, monsieur, Mademoiselle Adolphine showed as much good +sense as prudence, and she deserves only praise from us. Come, Gustave, +say adieu to monsieur, thank him for the service which he intended, I +doubt not, to render you, and let's be off."</p> + +<p>"So it's all over, uncle, is it? you drag me away without allowing me to +see her once more?"</p> + +<p>"Really, nephew, you disgust me with your love and your regrets for a +woman who has treated you with contempt, played with you like a child. +Be a man, for God's sake! Repay contempt with contempt, scorn with +scorn! and blush to think that you placed your affections so ill. Let us +go."</p> + +<p>"One moment, dear uncle of my friend: I desire most earnestly to know +you more intimately. Gustave will tell you that I am worthy of your +friendship. I do not accompany you, because I am going to the Blanquette +wedding feast, which is on the second floor. Give me your address, +please; I will call and breakfast with you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"It is useless, monsieur; to-morrow, we shall be at Havre."</p> + +<p>"At Havre? Very good! it's all the same to me; I will go there with you. +Ah! my dear Gustave, do let go of the dear uncle's arm a moment; I have +a word to say to you in private, just a word; but it's very important."</p> + +<p>But, paying no further heed to Cherami, Monsieur Grandcourt led his +nephew away at a rapid pace, and they left the restaurant while +Gustave's friend was still talking to them in the corridor.<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV<br /><br /> +THE ÉCARTÉ PLAYERS</h2> + +<p>When he finally discovered that he was alone, Cherami returned to the +private dining-room, sat down at the table, looked into the bowl, where +there was still some punch, and poured out a glass, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"After all, I shall have no difficulty in finding them again. The uncle +doesn't seem quite so amiable as the nephew; there's a something stiff +and cold in his face. He fell in here like a bombshell. It's a pity; I +felt just in the mood to kidnap the bride before the noses of the +Athenians and of all those hussies who hid their faces with their +handkerchiefs. Suppose I go and clean out the whole crowd? No, they're +not worth the trouble. I prefer to pay a visit to the Blanquette +festivity; there I am known, they won't treat me as an intruder. +Sapristi! what a pity that I hadn't the time to borrow a few napoleons +from my new friend. He would have loaned them to me; there's no doubt +about it. Ah! I waited too long; but I couldn't suspect that an uncle +would arrive all of a sudden—just as they do in vaudevilles, to bring +about an unexpected dénouement. Aha! what do I hear? Music, they're +playing a quadrille. Gad! it seems to me that I could make a pretty +figure at a little contra-dance. That music puts me right in the mood +for it. O power of music! <i>Emollit mores nec sint esse feros.</i> I think +I'll go and say that to the bucks who are dancing upstairs! They'd think +I was asking them for a cigar.—Pretty<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a> music! Sapristi! it shall not be +said that I remained alone in this room, like a bear in its cage, while +everybody else in the place is enjoying himself. Here goes for a look in +at the Blanquette function."</p> + +<p>And Cherami jumped to his feet, put his hat on his head, took his little +cane, and rushed from the room. When he was in the corridor, he lurched +against the wall more than once; but, with the instinct of a man +accustomed to frequent over-indulgence, he drew himself up and steadied +himself on his legs.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean?" he said.—"You stumble for a glass or two of +punch? Come, come, Arthur, I shouldn't know you, my boy; you're not +drunk, you can't be drunk."</p> + +<p>Thereupon the mind steadied the body, and he walked to the stairway with +a somewhat less uncertain step. There he could plainly hear the +orchestra of the elegant Monléard ball. He paused a moment, saying to +himself:</p> + +<p>"Suppose I should enter abruptly, and make a scene with the perfidious +Fanny, in behalf of my young friend Gustave—what a stunning coup! what +an effect I would produce!—Yes, but those people don't know me; they +don't know that I once had thirty-five thousand francs a year, and that +I have been the most popular man in Paris. They would be quite capable +of treating me as an intruder! I should talk back—and then, duels! +Let's not end in sadness a day so well employed. <i>Dies fasti</i>, as the +Romans used to say. It's surprising how the punch brings back my Latin! +Let's go up a floor, and join the Blanquette wedding party; there, at +all events, I know the bridegroom slightly, and the uncle very well. I +owe him four or five hundred francs for cloth—an additional reason why +he should receive me well; a man never closes his door to his debtors."<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a></p> + +<p>Having arrived on the second floor, Cherami heard the strains of another +orchestra; he passed through a large room where he saw nothing but men's +hats hanging on hooks, and immediately hung up his own and placed his +cane beside it.</p> + +<p>"I must show my breeding," he said to himself; "one doesn't appear at a +wedding party as at a messroom. Ah! what do I see in that corner? a very +fine yellow glove, on my word! Pardieu! it arrives most opportunely! +It's for the left hand, but, no matter: I can keep the other in my +pocket. It fits me, it really fits me beautifully! What a pity that the +man who dropped it didn't drop the right-hand one too! No matter; this +one gives a sort of dressed-up, coquettish air, which sets off the +wearer. I will keep my right hand under the tail of my coat—nay, I will +skilfully hold both tails in my hand, and people will think I'm in full +dress. Forward, charge their guns!"</p> + +<p>Cherami passed into a second room, which was occupied by card-players: +there were two tables of whist and one of écarté. With the exception of +two elderly women at one of the whist tables, there were only men in the +room; and as they were all busily engaged in playing, or watching the +play, nobody noticed the arrival of the party in plaid trousers.</p> + +<p>Cherami smiled at everybody, although he saw no one whom he knew; there +were very few persons about the whist tables—only one or two +enthusiasts watching the games—so that one could easily approach them. +It was not the same with the écarté table; there was a crowd of young +men about it, and it was very difficult to see their hands.</p> + +<p>Cherami walked about for some minutes, daintily scratching the end of +his nose with his gloved hand, and<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a> holding the other behind his back, +under the skirt of his coat. Suddenly one of the players cried:</p> + +<p>"Twenty francs lacking! Come, gentlemen; who'll make it good?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, by a long shot!" said a young man, turning toward Cherami; +"they're having extraordinary luck! They have passed six times over +there! But I know Minoret; he's a lucky dog! When he sets about it, he's +quite capable of passing twenty times in succession."</p> + +<p>"Still twenty francs lacking," the same voice repeated; "who makes it +good?"</p> + +<p>"I," cried Cherami, in a loud voice. "I make it good; I trust to +Monsieur Minoret's luck."</p> + +<p>This remark attracted general attention to Cherami. The young men +scrutinized him, then smiled, and said to one another:</p> + +<p>"Who the deuce is this fellow?"</p> + +<p>"What an extraordinary figure!"</p> + +<p>"And his dress is even more extraordinary. Who ever heard of going to a +wedding in plaid trousers and waistcoat!"</p> + +<p>"And they're far from new."</p> + +<p>"He wasn't at the supper, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"No. I would like right well to know who he is. He seems to know +Minoret."</p> + +<p>A moment later, the player addressed as Minoret spoke again:</p> + +<p>"Well! who is it who makes good the twenty francs? Why doesn't he put up +the money?"</p> + +<p>"I am the man, monsieur, who makes it good," replied Cherami, still +louder than before; "and, sapristi! when I say that I make it good, it +seems to me that it's the same thing as if I had put up the money! But +perhaps you'll<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> give me time to find my purse, which has slipped into +the lining of my waistcoat."</p> + +<p>The tone in which Cherami spoke imposed silence upon all those who +surrounded the écarté table. It rarely happens that one cannot, by +talking loud enough, produce that effect on the multitude; and if the +victory on the battlefield almost always remains with the greatest +numbers, so in a discussion it almost always remains with the loudest +voices.</p> + +<p>So the card-players concluded to deal the cards and go on with the game. +Meanwhile, Cherami went through a very curious pantomime. Having decided +to withdraw his right hand from behind his back, he plunged it into one +pocket of his waistcoat, then into the other, then into his +trousers-pockets, pretending to be in search of something which he was +very sure of not finding; but he went about it with a zeal which +deceived the most incredulous, interspersing his investigations with +such ejaculations as:</p> + +<p>"Where the devil have I put my purse! It's inconceivable—as soon as you +begin to look for a thing, you can't remember what you did with it! I +certainly had it just now when I paid my cabman. Can I have dropped it +beside my pocket, thinking that I put it inside? Let's try this side; it +seems to me that I feel something. Yes—I have it at last. Oh! the +devil! it isn't my purse, it's my cigar-case!—I believe I haven't +looked in this pocket."</p> + +<p>But, as our bettor hoped, the game came to an end before he had finished +his search; and ere long these words reached his ears, and filled his +heart with joy:</p> + +<p>"I was sure of it; Minoret has won again!"</p> + +<p>Cherami instantly rushed to the table, extended his left hand, closed, +to the player on whom he had bet, and said:<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a></p> + +<p>"I have just found my purse: here's the twenty francs I bet on you, +monsieur."</p> + +<p>"You don't need to put up the money, monsieur, as we have won," replied +Minoret; "on the contrary, here's twenty francs that belongs to you."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, the player handed Cherami a twenty-franc piece; but in +order to take it, he would have had to open the hand which he held +tightly closed, and then they would have seen that he had nothing in it. +Like the shrewd man he was, he realized the peril of his position, and +boldly solved the difficulty by replying in his turn:</p> + +<p>"Very good, monsieur; keep the twenty francs; I will bet on you again."</p> + +<p>To those who consider that it was very imprudent for a man who had not a +sou, to risk upon one deal the twenty francs he had just won, we reply +that, as a general rule, those who are most in need of money play for +the highest stakes. Moreover, in this instance, Cherami was excused by +the embarrassing position in which he was placed.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Minoret's luck did not change; he won six times more, and was +not beaten until the seventh; and Cherami, who had continued to bet on +the same side, found himself in possession of one hundred and twenty +francs when he left the table, at which he had taken his place without a +sou. There was a fitting occasion to speak Latin; and our gambler, after +the sacramental "I have my cue," did not fail to add: "<i>Audaces fortuna +juvat!</i>" Never was maxim more fittingly applied; indeed, one might +perhaps consider that on this occasion Cherami was something more than +audacious.</p> + +<p>"I must confess that I did well to bet!" said Cherami to himself, +jingling in his pockets the gold pieces he had<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> won. "Pardieu! I am +tempted to go and buy a right-hand glove. Bah! what's the use? I may +well have lost the other. The first owner of this one must find himself +in the same predicament. Let's go to the ballroom; I feel in the mood +for a polka, and if there's any susceptible female there, I will +fascinate her by my glances."</p> + +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI<br /><br /> +THE BLANQUETTE WEDDING BALL</h2> + +<p>The ballroom was long and narrow; a waltz was in progress at the moment +selected by Cherami to make his appearance. He began by running into a +couple who were waltzing in two-time, which means that they were out of +step, as a waltz is always in three-time. Surely they who invented that +style of dancing could not have had a musical ear. Now, waltzers in +two-time always move very rapidly; indeed, that is the main purpose of +the innovation. Cherami, colliding suddenly with the couple as they +passed, stepped back and came in contact with some waltzers in +three-time, who were abandoning themselves voluptuously to the charms of +the waltz; the lady, letting her head hang languidly on one side, and +keeping her eyes half-closed to avoid being dizzy; her partner, holding +himself firm on his legs, pressing his partner's waist with an arm of +iron, and gazing down at her with eyes that flashed fire.</p> + +<p>Being abruptly aroused from their ecstasy by a person who bumped against +them and threw them out of step, they cried:<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a></p> + +<p>"Pray be careful! Mon Dieu! how awkward some people are!"</p> + +<p>"What's that! be careful yourselves!" retorted the man with one glove. +"What the devil! you waltzed into my back."</p> + +<p>"But you should get out of the way, monsieur! The idea of standing in +front of people who are waltzing!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, you have torn my dress, and you trod on my foot!"</p> + +<p>"But who is this shabbily dressed individual, who scratches his nose +with a bright yellow glove, and runs into everybody? Do you know him?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Nor I."</p> + +<p>"Nor I."</p> + +<p>"Wait; Minoret must know him; he bet on Minoret's hand."</p> + +<p>And a young man went up to Minoret, who had also entered the ballroom, +and said to him:</p> + +<p>"My dear Minoret, tell me who that extraordinary person in the Scotch +trousers is, who bet twenty francs on you just now?"</p> + +<p>"Who? that tall man with the red face, holding his left hand in the +air?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I don't know him at all."</p> + +<p>"But he called you by name when he bet."</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether he knows me, or not, but I don't know him."</p> + +<p>"That's strange. He acts as if he were a little tipsy. We must find out +who he is. Ah! there's Armand, one of the groomsmen. I say, Armand, come +here a<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> moment; tell us who that man is, whose costume is so +unconventional for a wedding party?"</p> + +<p>"The gentleman in a frock-coat, who runs into everybody?"</p> + +<p>"The same."</p> + +<p>"I have just asked the bride, and she doesn't know him either."</p> + +<p>"And the groom?"</p> + +<p>"He is dancing. But there's his uncle, Monsieur Blanquette; I'll go and +ask him about the fellow; and if nobody knows him, we'll soon show him +the door, I promise you."</p> + +<p>But before the groomsman could reach the bridegroom's uncle, Cherami, +who had spied the linen-draper, hastened to meet him, and said, tapping +him on the stomach:</p> + +<p>"Here I am, my dear friend! You didn't ask me to your party, but I said +to myself: 'I'll go all the same, because, with old acquaintances, one +shouldn't take offence at trifles.'—Then what did I do?—I dined here, +in a private room on the first floor, and dined magnificently, too, I +flatter myself! and then I came up to say bonsoir to you, and to salute +the bride—and to dance with anybody, I don't care who! I'm an obliging +person, you see.—So there you are, my dear Papa Blanquette. Old friends +are always on hand, as the song says."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Blanquette was surprised beyond words to find himself +confronted by the gentleman whom he had met in the afternoon, when he +alighted from his carriage. He did not seem overjoyed to see him at the +ball; but as he did not desire his nephew's wedding party to be +disturbed by any unpleasant scene, he strove to conceal his annoyance, +and rejoined:<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a></p> + +<p>"Faith, Monsieur Cherami, I didn't expect to see you again! So you dined +at this restaurant, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my estimable friend; and dined deliciously, too, I beg you to +believe."</p> + +<p>"So I perceive!"</p> + +<p>"What! so you perceive! and by what do you perceive it, I pray to know?"</p> + +<p>"Why, because you seem to be much inclined—to laugh."</p> + +<p>"I am always cheerful when I am among my friends. That's my nature, you +know. Pray present me to the bride."</p> + +<p>"But, excuse me—it seems to me that you are hardly in ball dress—and +the ladies are rather particular about that."</p> + +<p>"If you'd invited me, I'd have come in full dress; you didn't invite me, +so I came as a neighbor. All is for the best, as Doctor Pangloss says. +Present me to your niece."</p> + +<p>"Later; they are going to dance now; you see they are forming a +quadrille. Let us go into another room."</p> + +<p>"They are going to dance, eh? Then I'll not go, deuce take me! for I can +dance, you know. I used to be one of the best of La Chaumière's pupils, +and she was a pupil of Chicard. People fought for places to see me dance +the <i>Tulipe Orageuse.</i> I propose to show you that I haven't forgotten it +all."</p> + +<p>Thereupon the ex-beau, leaving Monsieur Blanquette, walked toward the +benches on which the ladies were seated, and offered his gloved hand to +one of the younger ones, saying:</p> + +<p>"Will you do me the honor, lovely coryphée, to accept my hand for this +contra-dance?"</p> + +<p>"I am engaged, monsieur."<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami thereupon addressed the same request to one after another, +varying his phrase slightly; but there was no variation in the replies; +it was always the same formula:</p> + +<p>"I am engaged."</p> + +<p>For no young woman, married or unmarried, cared to dance with a person +so red of face, so shabbily dressed, smelling so strongly of rum, and +with his right hand always behind his back.</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! it seems that all the ladies have been engaged beforehand!" +cried Cherami, glaring at the benches in turn; "I am refused all along +the line!"</p> + +<p>But at every ball there is sure to be some elderly woman, ugly, dowdily +dressed, who still has the assurance to take her place among the +dancers. Our Arthur finally espied a lady of that type, sitting in a +corner; on her head was a sort of turban, laden with an appalling mass +of flowers, feathers, and lace.</p> + +<p>"I shall be unlucky indeed, if this creature is engaged!" said Cherami +to himself, boldly directing his steps toward the turbaned dame.</p> + +<p>He had not delivered half of his invitation, when she rose as if +impelled by a spring, and seized his gloved hand, saying:</p> + +<p>"With pleasure; yes, monsieur; I accept. Oh! I will dance as long as you +please."</p> + +<p>"In that case, fair lady, let us take our places."</p> + +<p>Almost all the sets were full. But Cherami was not to be denied; he +planted himself in front of a short youth and his partner; and when the +youth remonstrated: "But, monsieur, this place is taken, we were here +before you," he replied, in a supercilious tone: "I don't know whether +you were before us, my good man; but I do know that I<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> have the honor to +be here now with madame, and that I will not stir except at the point of +the bayonet!"</p> + +<p>The young man dared not make any further resistance; moreover, the +guests were whispering to one another on all sides:</p> + +<p>"That original is dancing with Aunt Merlin!"</p> + +<p>"What! Aunt Merlin dancing?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with the man in Scotch trousers. This is going to be great fun!"</p> + +<p>And all those who were not dancing ran to watch the set in which Cherami +and Aunt Merlin were to figure.</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! I have lost one of my gloves!" cried Arthur, making a +pretence of feeling in his pocket, and looking on the floor. "Will you +pardon me, fair lady, for dancing with a single glove?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! certainly, monsieur," replied the lady with the turban, in a +simpering tone; "you are forgiven; indeed, the same thing happened to +Monsieur Courbichon; when he arrived here for the ball, he discovered +that he had lost one of his gloves—only it was the left one, in his +case."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's very amusing! Then we have the pair between us! I shall +laugh a long while over that. It's our turn, fair lady."</p> + +<p>The first figure passed off quietly enough, as the English chain and the +cat's tail gave Cherami no chance to display his talent; but in the +second, in the <i>avant-deux</i>, he began to take steps and attitudes of the +cancan in its purest and most unblushing form. The men laughed till they +cried, and the women as well, murmuring:</p> + +<p>"Why, this is frightful! where does that fellow think he is, for +heaven's sake?"</p> + +<p>The most amusing feature of the episode was that Cherami's partner, +spurred on by the strange evolutions<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> and the eccentric steps of her +cavalier, thought that she ought to do as he did, and began to twist and +turn, and throw her legs to right and left, with an ardor which kept all +the flowers on her turban in commotion.</p> + +<p>The laughter became more uproarious.</p> + +<p>"I venture to believe that we are producing some effect," said Cherami +to his partner; "but I am not surprised; whenever I dance, the people +crowd to watch me."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, from one end of the room to the other, the guests were +saying:</p> + +<p>"The man in the plaid trousers is dancing the cancan with Aunt Merlin; +it's most amusing!"</p> + +<p>Some of the couples ceased dancing, in order to watch the performance of +Aunt Merlin and her partner. The uproar soon reached the ears of +Monsieur Blanquette, the uncle; the bride's mother, a most respectable +woman, said to him:</p> + +<p>"I beg you, Monsieur Blanquette, go and tell my sister not to dance the +cancan. Everybody here is laughing at her, and she doesn't notice it. +Oh! what a mistake you made in inviting that tall man with the red +face!"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! madame, I assure you that I didn't invite him. He's a man who +owes me money—whom I knew when he was rich and well-dressed.—He has +ruined himself completely. He caught sight of me this morning, when we +were getting out of the carriages; and to-night he takes the liberty of +coming to our ball. I didn't dare tell him to leave—because, you +understand, that's an embarrassing thing to do. But if he presumes to +dance indecently—why, then I shan't hesitate."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Blanquette walked toward the quadrille which caused such a +prodigious sensation. Cherami was in the act of executing the <i>chaloupe</i> +with his partner, who<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> continued to second him as best she could. The +bridegroom's uncle sidled up behind her, and said in an undertone:</p> + +<p>"Don't dance like that, Madame Merlin, I beg you; that's the way they +dance at low dance-halls. Decent people don't make such exhibitions of +themselves in a salon."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that I am dancing very well, monsieur," replied Aunt +Merlin, sourly; "and the way the people crowd to watch us proves it."</p> + +<p>"I assure you, Madame Merlin, that it isn't proper, and your sister is +much annoyed."</p> + +<p>"My sister's annoyed because she's got beyond dancing. Let her leave me +alone! I propose to dance, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>"What is it, my nymph, eh?" cried Cherami; "what did old Père Blanquette +say to you?"</p> + +<p>"He declares that our dance isn't proper."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's very fine! What box has he just come out of, to be shocked +at our dance? Doesn't he go to the play, I wonder? Hasn't he ever seen +the Spanish dancers? They've been at almost all the theatres. Ah! bigre! +if he'd seen those females do their <i>fandangos</i>, their <i>iotas</i>, and +their <i>boleros</i>, and indulge in all sorts of antics, showing their legs, +yes, and their garters too! that's much worse than the cancan. But that +doesn't prevent those Spaniards from drawing the crowd, wherever they +are. And you don't like it, because I dance the cancan, and yet you rush +to see licentious dances performed by women whose costumes add to the +effect of their dancing! Sapristi! for God's sake, try to make up your +mind what you want!—Our turn, my Terpsichore; attention! this is the +<i>pastourelle</i>, and I am saving a little surprise for you in the +<i>cavalier seul.</i>"<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a></p> + +<p>Aunt Merlin darted off like an arrow, paying no heed to the +remonstrances of Père Blanquette, who heaved sigh upon sigh when he saw +how easy it is to lead a woman on to make a fool of herself, even when +her age should make her sensible. But the time came for Cherami to +perform the <i>cavalier seul</i>; excited by all that he had drunk, and +recalling the feats of his younger days, he performed the evolution +called the <i>araignée</i>, which consists in throwing yourself flat on your +stomach in front of the opposite couple. This bit of gymnastics was +greeted with frantic laughter; and Aunt Merlin, turning to Papa +Blanquette, cried:</p> + +<p>"What do you say to that? Could you do as much?"</p> + +<p>"No, certainly not, madame; and I wouldn't try," retorted the uncle; +"but I consider it very presumptuous. Your partner must have the devil +in him, to do such crazy things!"</p> + +<p>Aunt Merlin had ceased to listen; the last figure had arrived, that in +which the galop is the leading feature; and said Cherami, as he put his +arm about her waist:</p> + +<p>"We'll just show the others how to galop. Fichtre! they'd better look +out for themselves. They ran into me when they were waltzing, but we'll +pay them back in their own coin."</p> + +<p>With that, he started off with his partner, whirling her about as they +danced. Beau Arthur had been one of the most notable performers in the +formidable galops which are a feature of the masked balls at the Opéra. +The punch renewed the vigor of his youth. Throwing himself headlong into +the midst of the assemblage, dancers and onlookers, he rushed through +the room like<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> a whirlwind or an avalanche, hurling this one aside, +colliding with that one, and sowing confusion everywhere. In vain did +they shout to him:</p> + +<p>"Stop, monsieur; stop at once! you're throwing the ladies down!"</p> + +<p>Cherami kept on; not until Aunt Merlin's turban fell, would he consent +to deposit her upon a bench, with her eyes starting from her head. But +at that moment several gentlemen, boiling over with wrath, surrounded +the terrible galoper.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you threw my partner down!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you have crushed my daughter's nose!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you upset my wife; when she fell, her elastic skirt sprang up +over her head, so that everybody could see—what I alone have the right +to see!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you must give me satisfaction!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you haven't seen the end of this!"</p> + +<p>While he was thus apostrophized on all sides, Cherami calmly wiped the +perspiration from his face, and said:</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! what's the matter with them all? They are delightful!—I +consider that you're a delightful lot! You ought to have got out of the +way; that's what I did, when you ran into me while you were waltzing +just now. Is it my fault, if you don't know how to keep on your legs? +What a terrible thing, if your estimable daughter's nose is a little +bruised; and if your wife, monsieur, did show some admirable things! It +seems to me that you ought to be flattered by the accident, for +everybody must envy your good fortune."</p> + +<p>These retorts were far from appeasing the wrath of the husbands, +brothers, and fathers who had been maltreated in the persons of the +objects of their affections. But Uncle Blanquette forced his way through +the crowd,<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> and said to him who had caused all the confusion, assuming a +tone which he strove to make dignified:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you have caused a grave perturbation at my nephew's wedding +party——"</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! <i>perturbation</i> is a pretty word; I must remember it. Never +mind; proceed, Papa Blanquette."</p> + +<p>"People in our society do not indulge in such improper dances as those +you have performed, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"But, if I remember right, Aunt Merlin seemed to enjoy that dance pretty +well."</p> + +<p>"I didn't invite you to our ball, monsieur; so I consider it much +too—much too——"</p> + +<p>"Presumptuous!—you can't find the word, but that's it, I fancy; eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; too presumptuous, to appear where you're not invited, +and especially in a costume so negligée as yours. You have thrown down +enough persons; we don't care to have any more of it, and I beg you to +go."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's your idea of politeness, is it? Very good! bonsoir! I will +go! Your party isn't so very fine, after all; I haven't seen a single +glass of punch. And you fancy that you do things in style, do you? No, +no! you're a long way behind the times!"</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to remember also, monsieur, that you owe me four hundred +and ninety-five francs; and, if you don't quit, I will take harsh +measures——"</p> + +<p>"Bravo! I expected that—that's the bouquet! The idea of talking about +your account at a ball! Look you, old Blanquette: you make me sick! +<i>Adieu, Rome, I go!</i>—Mesdames, I lay my homage at your feet. I am sorry +to have jostled you a little; but, on my word of honor, it was the fault +of your partners; they didn't know how to hold you."<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a></p> + +<p>This fresh insult to the male portion of the guests renewed their wrath, +and they threatened to attack Cherami. He removed his yellow glove and +threw it at their feet, saying:</p> + +<p>"Here, this is all I can do for you! I expect you all to-morrow morning. +My friend Blanquette<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> of veal will give you my address. Bring pistols, +sabres, swords, what you please. I shall have nothing but a rabbit's +tail, understand, and with that rabbit's tail I defy you all!"</p> + +<p>This heroic challenge seemed to calm the wrath of his adversaries to +some extent. But, while they were staring at one another, a little, bald +man darted forward and picked up the glove.</p> + +<p>"That's my glove," he cried; "I recognize it; it's the left-hand glove +that I lost; it has been mended on the thumb; this is the very one!"</p> + +<p>Cherami did not hear Monsieur Courbichon. He left the ballroom, passed +rapidly through the cardroom, and, taking a hat from a nail and a cane +from a corner, left the last of the rooms and descended the stairs, +saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"I snap my fingers at them. I'm not sorry I went to that party. I have +my cue!"</p> + +<p>And Cherami patted the pocket in which were the gold pieces he had won +at écarté.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the staircase, he saw several ladies standing, waiting +for their carriages; they were guests of the party on the first floor, +just leaving the ball. In a moment, another young couple appeared, and +one of the ladies said to another:</p> + +<p>"What does this mean? the bride going away already?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe she doesn't feel very well."<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a></p> + +<p>"Aha! that's the bride, who goes so early!" cried Cherami, putting his +head forward. "Yes! it's she! it's the faithless Fanny! I recognize +her."</p> + +<p>These words were hardly out of his mouth, when the husband, who had his +wife on his arm, left her abruptly, looked about, and rushed up to +Cherami, to whom he said in a voice that trembled with emotion:</p> + +<p>"Was it you who just spoke, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"What's that! Suppose it was? Well, yes, I did speak. Do you mean to say +that it isn't my right?"</p> + +<p>"Was it you who said: 'It's the faithless Fanny'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, pardieu! it was. Oh! I never deny my words."</p> + +<p>"This is neither the time nor the place for an explanation, monsieur; +but I will call on you to-morrow, and, if you're not a coward, you will +give me satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"I, a coward! Arthur Cherami, a coward! Well, well! that's a good one! +And I have just challenged the whole Blanquette wedding party! I am +always ready to fight with whatever anyone chooses—from a pin to a +cannon, I'm your man!"</p> + +<p>"We will see about that to-morrow. Your address?"</p> + +<p>"There it is. I always carry a card about me with a view to affairs of +this sort."</p> + +<p>Monléard took the soiled yellow card which Cherami drew from his pocket, +and hastened after his wife, who was already in the carriage. This +little scene had taken place so rapidly that the persons who were +standing had been able to catch only a few words.</p> + +<p>The carriage which contained the newly married pair drove away. Cherami +looked about for a cab, and having finally found one, jumped in, and +called out to the driver:</p> + +<p>"Rue de l'Orillon, Barrière de Belleville. I will tell you when we reach +my hôtel."—Then he stretched himself<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> out comfortably on the back seat, +with his feet on the other, murmuring: "The day has been complete. An +excellent dinner, punch, cards, a ball, and a duel! And this morning I +hadn't the wherewithal to buy a small loaf! In my place, a fool would +have jumped into the water. But, with clever people, there is always +some resource."</p> + +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII<br /><br /> +FURNISHED LODGINGS ON RUE DE L'ORILLON</h2> + +<p>Rue de l'Orillon, which is outside the barrier, near the Belleville +theatre, bears not the slightest resemblance to Rue de Rivoli, or to Rue +de la Paix. There is much mud there at almost all seasons, and there are +very few shops of the Magasin du Prophète variety; indeed, I think that +I can safely say that there are none.</p> + +<p>It was in a wretched furnished lodging on this street outside the walls +that the ci-devant Beau Arthur, who had once dwelt in the fashionable +precincts of the Champs-Élysées and the Chaussée d'Antin, had been +compelled to take up his abode. He did not often pay his rent; however, +on the day when he received his quarterly stipend, he sometimes +persuaded himself to give two or three five-franc pieces to his +landlady, and she waited patiently for her arrears, because she was +proud to furnish lodgings to a man who had once had thirty-five thousand +francs a year, and who still retained a trace of his former social +position in his manners and his language.<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a></p> + +<p>The room occupied by Cherami was not furnished like the apartments of +the Hôtel du Louvre. A blue wallpaper, at thirteen sous a roll, took the +place of hangings; but this paper, already old, was torn in several +places, and the breaches were concealed by scraps of paper of a +different design, and, in many instances, of a different color, which +gave to the room a sort of Harlequin aspect which was not altogether +disagreeable—especially to those persons who like that costume. Now, +Harlequins are very popular in Rue de l'Orillon.</p> + +<p>A miserable cot-bed, surmounted by a rod which had never been gilded, +and over which was thrown a curtain of yellow cloth much too narrow to +surround the bed, stood opposite the window. At the foot of the bed was +a screen four feet high, which was supposed to be a protection against +the wind that came in under the ill-fitted door. A Louis XVI commode, an +old Louis XV armchair, and a desk which claimed to be Louis XIII, with a +few common chairs, were all the furniture that the apartment contained. +On the mantel were two kitchen candlesticks, a small box of matches, and +several cigar-butts, but not a single pipe: Arthur would have deemed +himself a dishonored man if he had put a pipe to his lips.</p> + +<p>It was noon, and Cherami lay on his bed, having just waked up. He +stretched his arms, rubbed his eyes, and, glancing at the window, said +to himself:</p> + +<p>"On my word, I believe I've had quite a nap! Yes, if I can judge by the +sun, which is shining in at my window, the morning must be well +advanced. It is often unpleasant not to have a watch; but, at all +events, in a furnished lodging-house there should be a clock on each +mantel. That villainous Madame Louchard, my landlady,<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a> promises me every +month that indispensable complement of my furniture, and I am like +Sister Anne, I see nothing coming. <i>Par la sambleu!</i> as they say in +Marivaux's plays, the rest has done me good, for yesterday was a +tiresome day! But it seems to me that I had at least a dozen duels on +hand for this morning; the deuce! and I don't know what time it is."</p> + +<p>Thereupon Cherami began to knock loudly on the thin partition beside his +bed, shouting at the top of his voice:</p> + +<p>"Madame Louchard! I say there! Goddess of Cythera! Landlady of the +Loves! Venus of La Courtille! hasten hither, I beseech thee.—Come, lady +fair; I await thee! I await thee!—Damnation! start your boots, will +you!"</p> + +<p>After some five minutes, heavy footsteps were heard in the corridor, and +a tall woman, thin as a lath, whose flat hips indicated a most profound +contempt for every sort of hoop-skirt, entered the room occupied by +Cherami. This woman had a huge nose, huge mouth, huge teeth, huge ears, +and feet and hands to correspond. A child who had heard the tale of +Little Red Riding Hood would inevitably have been afraid of her, +mistaking her for the wolf disguised as the grandmother.</p> + +<p>To complete the portrait, we may add that Madame Louchard had a yellow +complexion, bleared eyes, and a nose always smeared with snuff; that her +costume consisted of a long dressing-gown, shaped like an umbrella case +(a reminder of the style in vogue under the Directory); and, finally, +that her head-dress was a white cap, around which was tied a colored +cotton handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"Well! what's the matter? What are you shouting and hammering for? +Couldn't you get up, Monsieur<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> Lazy-bones? I should think it had been +light long enough."</p> + +<p>Such was this lady's way of bidding her tenant good-morning.</p> + +<p>"You are right as to that point, Queen of Cythera," replied Cherami, +half rising.</p> + +<p>"God forgive me! I believe he intends to get up before me! Was that why +you called me—to let me see that sight? That strikes me as a strange +kind of joke!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, virtuous Louchard; I will not rise in your presence. I know +the rigidity of your morals, and I respect them! I know that with you +Richelieu and Buckingham would have wasted their time."</p> + +<p>"I don't know those gentlemen, but it would be just the same with them +as with others! I have told you a hundred times that, since my husband's +death, the late Louchard, men are nothing to me!"</p> + +<p>"It would seem that the late Louchard was a phœnix, a jewel, the very +pearl of husbands?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, he had a lot of hidden drawbacks, and he was always +drunk. That's what made me take a dislike to your sex, in the matter of +love."</p> + +<p>"Very good! I agree with you, on my honor. I think you did well to adopt +that course."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because it makes you resemble Dido. But let us change the subject; tell +me quickly what time it is."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> it's a good half-hour—yes, at least half an hour—since I +heard the clock strike twelve."</p> + +<p>"Then say at once that it's half-past twelve. Bigre! I have been lazy, +and no mistake; but when I came in last night, it was two o'clock in the +morning."<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a></p> + +<p>"No earlier; and you woke me up, too; you always make such a noise on +the stairs!"</p> + +<p>"At all events, I didn't wake your concierge, as you haven't one."</p> + +<p>"What's the good of a concierge?—Everybody knows the secret of the +passageway, and they can come in when they choose."</p> + +<p>"And by feeling their way, which is often very imprudent."</p> + +<p>"But I believe you rode home last night. Do the omnibuses run as late as +that nowadays?"</p> + +<p>"Omnibuses! Understand, Widow Louchard, that when I come home after +midnight, I always come in a coupé or a cab."</p> + +<p>"Peste! so the funds have gone up, have they? You'd better give me +something on account."</p> + +<p>"Don't bother me! I gave you ten francs."</p> + +<p>"That was two months ago."</p> + +<p>"That's not the question. Has anybody called to see me this morning?"</p> + +<p>"No, not a cat."</p> + +<p>"Not a cat! Oh! the cowards!"</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that cats are cowards? Mine would fight a bulldog."</p> + +<p>"I'm not talking about your cat, Widow Louchard; but about a lot of +braggarts, all of whom challenged me yesterday, and who don't dare to +call on me to-day."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you wanted to fight again, pray? Good God! is it a +disease with you? It isn't so very long since you were cured of that +bullet in your side."</p> + +<p>"Bah! a trifle, a scratch. I am not quarrelsome; but when a man seems to +look askance at me, that irritates<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> me. After all, I am not particular +about seeing those walking rushlights of the Blanquette wedding party. +But there was another man; if he doesn't come, I shall be surprised. +However, it's not too late yet; he was only married yesterday, and a man +doesn't get up very early on the day after his wedding."</p> + +<p>"What! you expect to fight with someone who was married yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Why not? We marry, we fight, we kill—or are killed! Such is life, +lovely Artemisia!"</p> + +<p>"What makes you call me Artemisia? that isn't my name."</p> + +<p>"Because she was a widow who profoundly regretted her husband."</p> + +<p>"But I have never regretted mine a single minute."</p> + +<p>"That makes no difference.—So you say it's half-past twelve? Sapristi! +Madame Louchard, when is that clock coming that you've been promising me +so long?"</p> + +<p>"I'm waiting for a good chance. I want something to match the rest of +the furniture."</p> + +<p>"In that case, my dear friend, as I have here a so-called Louis XIII +desk, a Louis XV armchair, and a Louis XVI commode, it seems to me that +you cannot do otherwise than procure a Louis XIV clock, to fill up the +inter-regnum and reestablish the continuity of the dynasty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; I've seen lately a little rococo Pompadour one, second-hand."</p> + +<p>"Take care! you don't go back far enough; I didn't say Pompadour, which +would land you in the middle of Louis XV's reign! I said Louis XIV."</p> + +<p>"Fourteenth or fifteenth! so long as it ain't too dear.—But what's all +this? when I said you were in funds, I wasn't mistaken, was I? You've +bought a new hat!<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> I must say, you did well; for yours wouldn't have +lasted out a storm."</p> + +<p>"A new hat! What are you talking about, my fair hostess? I have thought +of it more than once, but I have not yet carried out my project."</p> + +<p>"Why, what's this, then?"</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard took a hat from the commode and handed it to Cherami, +who stared at it with wide-open eyes; for the hat was quite new and of a +stylish shape.</p> + +<p>"What the devil! is that my hat? That's a surprising thing; it has +changed, much to its advantage; it has grown at least two years younger; +and it fits me, pardieu! Yes, it fits me nicely; it's just the shape of +my head."</p> + +<p>"Of course you bought it yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, I didn't buy it, I tell you again. Ah! I see: when I left that +wedding ball, I was a little excited—a little angry; I seized the first +hat that came under my hand, thinking it was mine."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's no denying that you've got a lucky hand; you haven't lost +by the change."</p> + +<p>"Oh! dear me, such mistakes occur so often at balls and evening parties, +that, frankly, I shall not demand mine back."</p> + +<p>"You will make no mistake; but the man who found your hat in place of +his—he may want his back."</p> + +<p>"Very well! let him come; I am ready for him; I'll return his old tile, +and give him others to boot."</p> + +<p>"Ah! but that isn't all."</p> + +<p>"What else is there, Widow Louchard? Can it be that I came home with two +hats? I admit that that would astonish me."<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a></p> + +<p>"No, it isn't a hat this time; but this cane—this isn't your +clothes-beater, which wasn't worth six sous."</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard picked up a cane which lay in a corner of the room; it +was a genuine rattan, with an agate head surrounded by gold rings, and +cut in very peculiar fashion. She showed it to Cherami, who exclaimed in +admiration:</p> + +<p>"Oho! why, that's a beauty! A charming cane, excellent style—not too +heavy; I like this sort of cameo for a head very much."</p> + +<p>"So you got your cane the same way you did your hat, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! that goes without saying. It stood beside the hat. You see, I +had placed my switch beside my beaver—so the joke was complete."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're mighty lucky in your mistakes; that's sure. This cane must +have cost a lot of money."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have seen much finer ones than this, in the old days. What the +devil are you looking for on the floor and on the furniture, Madame +Louchard?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> I'm looking to see if you haven't brought something else home, +by mistake."</p> + +<p>Cherami instantly sat up in bed, crying:</p> + +<p>"Thunder of Jupiter! Widow Louchard, what do you take me for, I'd like +to know? Do you think I'm a thief, a pickpocket? I had a hat and a cane, +and on leaving a ball I took a hat and a cane. They're not the ones that +belong to me; I made a mistake, I was in error, and that may happen to +anybody—<i>errare humanum est</i>, do you understand? No, you don't +understand; never mind. But to carry away anything to which I have no +right—fie! for shame!—To prove that I wouldn't do such a thing—I +found a glove, and I returned it. Let me tell<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> you, madame, that a man +may be without money, have debts, borrow and not pay, and even play +cards on his word—for if I had lost last night, I shouldn't have been +able to pay on the spot; but all those things don't prevent one's being +an honest man."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Cherami, I don't say they do; you go off all of a +sudden, like a spitfire!"</p> + +<p>"Last night, I confess, I had dined very well. I wasn't drunk; I never +get drunk; I was simply a little confused, which fully explains all +these mistakes; and now, I feel as if I could take something."</p> + +<p>"Would you like to have me make you a nice onion soup, while you're +getting up? There's nothing that'll set you up better, the day after a +spree."</p> + +<p>"Onion soup! I do not disdain that dish; but I am tempted to look +higher, and I believe that a good chicken—— But what's all that noise? +I should say that a carriage was stopping in front of the hôtel! Go and +look, my dear hostess."</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard went to the window.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," she said; "a handsome private cabriolet, with a fine +dapple-gray horse, and a groom in livery! And there's a young dandy +getting out; he's looking at the house; he's coming in; it must be for +me."</p> + +<p>"For you? Oh! no, it's for me, by all the devils! It must be that young +husband, and here am I still in bed! I must dress at the double-quick."</p> + +<p>Cherami jumped out of his bed, in his nightshirt; whereupon Madame +Louchard instantly took flight, crying:</p> + +<p>"I don't like this sort of thing, Monsieur Cherami; I told you not to +get up before me. And a man who don't wear drawers, too!"<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a></p> + +<p>"Aha! my dear hostess, it would seem that you risked a glance! Oh! these +women! they are all descended from Lot's wife! It's a pity that they're +not changed into salt nowadays at every indiscretion; that would make a +handsome reduction in the price of that product!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII<br /><br /> +A DUEL WITHOUT WITNESSES</h2> + +<p>It was, in fact, Monsieur Monléard who had alighted from the cabriolet, +and, having scrutinized the exterior of the furnished lodging-house, had +ventured into the rather gloomy hall of that establishment. There he +looked in vain for the concierge; but the proprietor often served in +that capacity, and it was she herself who hastily descended the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Do you know a certain Monsieur Cherami in this house, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; indeed I know him, as he's my tenant."</p> + +<p>"Ah! very good. Would you kindly direct me to his room?"</p> + +<p>"Second floor, second door on the right."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I shall find him?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, monsieur; for I just left him, and he was just going to get +up."</p> + +<p>"Thanks! Pardon me, madame; a word or two more, if you please."</p> + +<p>"As many as you want, monsieur; I'm in no hurry."</p> + +<p>"I would be glad, madame, to obtain some information about this +gentleman: to know who he is, and what he does."<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a></p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! it won't take long to tell you; he don't do anything, he +lives on his income; he's a man who used to be very rich, and who did as +so many others do—ran through his fortune with fast women; now, he's on +his uppers; for I guess the income isn't very heavy!"</p> + +<p>"Exceedingly obliged, madame."</p> + +<p>Monléard left Madame Louchard, and went up to Cherami's room. That +worthy was dressing behind his screen; but as it barely reached his +shoulders, he was perfectly able to see anybody who came in, and could +converse over the leaves of the article of furniture which encompassed +him.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Arthur Cherami?" said the fashionably dressed young man as he +entered.</p> + +<p>"Present! here I am, monsieur. A thousand pardons for not being dressed; +but it will take me only a minute. Pray be kind enough to take a seat +while you wait."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, I am not tired."</p> + +<p>"Then, remain standing. You may do as you please.—Where the devil did I +put my false collar?"</p> + +<p>"You divine the motive of my visit, monsieur, I fancy?"</p> + +<p>"What! do I divine it? Why, I have been waiting for you, with some +impatience. But I said to myself: 'That gentleman will not come very +early, because, on the day after his wedding—— ' Ha! ha! I don't think +I need say any more."</p> + +<p>"It has occurred to me, monsieur, that our duel might as well take place +without witnesses. The subject of our dispute is such a delicate one! +There are some things which one doesn't like to make a noise about; for +the world, which is unkind, as a general rule, sometimes makes a +mountain out of what was——"<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a></p> + +<p>"Only a mouse—<i>parturiens montes.</i> I am entirely of your opinion.—Ah! +I have my collar."</p> + +<p>"Then, monsieur, you consent to fight with no other witness than my +servant?"</p> + +<p>"Very gladly; I have already fought that way more than once."</p> + +<p>"Thinking that you might have no weapons, monsieur, I brought two swords +and a pair of pistols with me."</p> + +<p>"You did very well; for, as you foresaw, I am without weapons at this +moment. Ah! I used to have some beautiful ones in the old days! My +pistols were made by Devisme; I could bring down a fly at fifty yards; +but I had to let them go. What would you have? <i>Deus dederat, Deus +abstulit.</i>—I will just put on my coat, and I am at your service."</p> + +<p>"This is a most extraordinary individual," said Auguste Monléard to +himself as he listened.</p> + +<p>The Latin with which Cherami sprinkled his discourse, and his air of +good-breeding, had modified the opinion he had formed of him; and he was +not sorry to learn that he was not about to fight with a man devoid of +breeding and education.</p> + +<p>At last, Arthur came out from behind his screen, and saluted his +adversary with all the ease of a man of the world, saying:</p> + +<p>"Now I am at your service."</p> + +<p>"Very good, monsieur. Doubtless you are well acquainted with this +quarter, this neighborhood. It is entirely unfamiliar to me. Is there +any spot hereabout where we can fight comfortably—without having to +travel a couple of leagues to Vincennes or the Bois de Boulogne?"<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a></p> + +<p>"Wait a moment, while I think. We could go behind the Buttes +Saint-Chaumont; there are some quarries there, where no one would see +us. But it's rather hard to get there in a carriage; and then, too, the +ground's rather uneven, and sometimes there are some low-lived rascals +prowling about. But, pardieu! we have just what we want, close at hand. +In the next street there's a large vacant lot, on which they're going to +build, but the building isn't begun yet. No one ever passes through that +street; we shall be as retired as we should be in our own house."</p> + +<p>"But can we get into the lot?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. On the street there's nothing but a board fence, and +there's a gate in it. If there's anyone there, we'll say we are +architects; that will make it all right."</p> + +<p>"And it's not far from here?"</p> + +<p>"We shall be there in five minutes."</p> + +<p>"In that case, monsieur, let us go. We will let my cabriolet follow us."</p> + +<p>"That's right; and as we must avoid making a noise and attracting +attention, we will fight with swords, if you choose."</p> + +<p>"With pleasure, monsieur."</p> + +<p>Monléard and Cherami went down the stairs together. Madame Louchard, who +was standing at the hall-door, was very much puzzled when she saw her +tenant leave the house with the fashionably dressed owner of the +cabriolet; but she dared not ask him a question. Instead of turning +toward the main street of Belleville, the two men took a street which +ran behind the theatre of that suburb.</p> + +<p>Walking side by side with the individual with whom he was to fight, +Monléard, more and more amazed by<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> his adversary's courteous manners and +by his use of language which denoted familiarity with good society, said +to him after a while:</p> + +<p>"We are going to fight a duel, monsieur; that is a settled thing, which +neither you nor I, I am sure, have any intention of avoiding."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"But, before the duel takes place, will you not do me the favor to tell +me where you knew the lady whom I have married, and how long you have +known her?"</p> + +<p>"It will give me very great pleasure to answer you. I have not the +slightest acquaintance with your wife, and I never saw her until +yesterday. First, when she alighted from her carriage at Deffieux's +restaurant; and again, when you were taking her away last night, and I +met you."</p> + +<p>"But, in that case, monsieur, how do you explain the words you uttered: +'There's the faithless Fanny'? Was it a bet? Was it an insult?—And, +again, how did you know my wife's Christian name, since you did not know +her?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I can explain it all to you in a few words, +and you will say that events succeeded one another naturally enough. +When your young wife alighted from her carriage, a young man—a very +pretty fellow, on my word! but a perfect stranger to me—was standing +near me, in front of the restaurant. The poor fellow really made my +heart ache: he was in the depths of despair, he tore his hair—no, he +didn't go so far as that; but, what was worse, he insisted on accosting +the bride and making a scene. I remonstrated with him, I prevented his +doing it, and made him see that it would be in the worst possible taste +to cause such a scandal in the street."<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a></p> + +<p>"I thank you, monsieur. But the young man's name—do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"He told me while we were dining; for we dined together, and he told me +the whole story of his love affair. I must hasten to add that there was +nothing in it which casts the slightest reflection on madame's honor. +But she allowed that young man to pay court to her, she flattered him +with the hope that she would marry him some day. But when you appeared, +the scales were very soon turned in your favor, and my poor lover was +given the mitten."</p> + +<p>"Then the man who told you all this must have been Monsieur Gustave +Darlemont?"</p> + +<p>"The very same; those are his names."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember meeting him now and then at Monsieur Gerbault's, in the +first days of my intimacy with that family. You will agree, +monsieur,—for you seem well acquainted with society and its +customs,—that it is indiscreet, to say no more, for a young man who has +been kindly received by a respectable family, to go about telling of his +love affairs, his disappointed hopes, in short, all his affairs, to +someone whom he doesn't know, and whom he meets by chance in the +street."</p> + +<p>"It was, perhaps, a little foolish, I admit; but we must excuse some +foolish performances in a lover. Poor Gustave adored your wife—he +adores her still. She flirted a bit with him."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! bless my soul, all the women do it; I know that well enough; maids, +wives, and widows—before, during, and after—they always do it. It's +their original sin. Eve set the example by flirting with the serpent. To +try to cure them of that failing would be to attempt the<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> impossible: +women are made that way. <i>Quid levius pluma? pulvis! Quid pulvere? +ventus! Quid vento? mulier! Quid muliere? nihil!</i>"</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, how did it happen that it was you, and not this Monsieur +Gustave, who indulged in that insulting exclamation?"</p> + +<p>"For a very simple reason: Gustave wasn't there. After dining with me, +at the same restaurant where you had your wedding banquet, for he was +absolutely determined to speak to your wife, to bid her a last +farewell——"</p> + +<p>"The impertinent wretch! if he had dared!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! you wouldn't have known anything about it. The women do +so many things that we don't know! But a certain uncle made his +appearance—a gentleman who doesn't joke, and who hasn't an amiable +manner every day. He dragged his nephew away, deaf to his prayers and +lamentations—and poor Gustave had to go, without a sight of his +faithless Fanny.—I beg your pardon, but that's the expression he always +used in speaking of madame your wife; and that is why that exclamation +escaped me last night, when I saw her on your arm. Now you know the +whole story. Faith! here we are; see, this is the board fence about the +vacant lot. We can go in here; there's a solution of continuity. Not so +much as a cat, inside or out; this is delightful. You can get the swords +from your servant."</p> + +<p>Monléard, having taken the swords from his groom, ordered him to stay by +the cabriolet; then he and Cherami entered the vacant lot, which had +been made ready for building, but as yet contained nothing but stone. +They soon reached a spot where there was nothing to embarrass them; +there they removed their coats and stood at guard.<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a> By the way in which +Cherami stood, the young dandy saw at once that he had to do with an +expert fencer; and, as he was himself well skilled in the use of the +sword, he was not sorry to meet an adversary worthy of his steel.</p> + +<p>But after one or two passes, one or two deftly parried attacks, Monléard +realized that he had before him an antagonist of the first order; and +that he must needs exert his utmost talent and strength to gain the +advantage. He had expected to have done with his opponent in a few +thrusts; his self-esteem was touched by the necessity of defending +himself. He attacked with an impetuosity which sometimes made him forget +to be prudent; and Cherami, who fought as coolly as if he were playing +shuttlecock, said to him from time to time:</p> + +<p>"Take care, you are making mistakes, you'll run on my sword, you strike +down too much! I give you warning; it won't be my fault. Ah! what did I +tell you?"</p> + +<p>Monléard, attacking awkwardly, had received a thrust in the arm, and the +wound was so painful that he had to drop his sword.</p> + +<p>"Enough, I am beaten!" said the young man, struggling to conceal his +suffering. "But you are a skilful fencer, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am somewhat expert with the foils. Wait a moment; let me take +your handkerchief and bind up the wound, to stop the blood. Then we'll +make a sling with your black silk cravat."</p> + +<p>"I am extremely obliged, monsieur; a thousand pardons for the trouble I +am causing you."</p> + +<p>"Why, between honorable men, this is the way it should always be: when +the fight's over, shake hands. It's a pity the sword went in so far, or +we might have breakfasted together."<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! I am forced to admit that that would be quite impossible."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I understand. You are in for a fortnight of it, perhaps three +weeks. There's a lot of muscles in the arm, that are as obstinate as the +devil about getting well. Are you strong enough to walk to your +cabriolet, leaning on me? Shall I call your groom?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! there's no need; I can walk with your assistance."</p> + +<p>"Take my arm, and don't be afraid to lean on it."</p> + +<p>Monléard succeeded, although suffering intensely, in reaching his +carriage, which Cherami assisted him to enter, after putting the swords +inside. Then, saluting his adversary, who thanked him again, Cherami +walked away, saying:</p> + +<p>"Delighted to have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX<br /><br /> +A SALON IN THE CHAUSSÉE D'ANTIN</h2> + +<p>Three weeks after the marriage of Fanny Gerbault and the brilliant +Auguste Monléard, the exceedingly handsome salon of a house on Rue +Neuve-des-Mathurins contained, about nine o'clock in the evening, a +company in which, although small in numbers, we shall find several +persons of our acquaintance.</p> + +<p>First of all, this young woman seated on a <i>causeuse</i>, beside a lovely +table of Chinese lacquer, and working carelessly upon a piece of +embroidery, is the newly made<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> bride, Fanny, now Madame Monléard, in a +charming gown of the sort one wears at home, to receive a few friends; +she has no other head-dress than her own hair, which is arranged with +much taste, the back hair being braided and wound about the head, like a +crown.</p> + +<p>Marriage has not impaired the young woman's beauty; her complexion is +fresh and rosy, her eyes gleam with greater animation, and about her +lips plays a smile of satisfaction, almost of beatitude, except, +however, when her eyes happen to fall upon a newspaper which lies on the +table, open at the page containing the transactions on the Bourse, and +the stock quotations. At such times, her brows contract slightly, and +her lips close; but that feeling of vexation soon disappears, the +charming Fanny turns her eyes elsewhere, and her face resumes its +amiable and contented expression.</p> + +<p>A short distance away, another young woman is sitting at the piano, +turning over the leaves of a volume of music. It is Adolphine, Fanny's +sister. You know already that her hair is not so black as her sister's, +and that her eyes are a little smaller, which fact does not prevent +Adolphine from being a charming person; above all, there is on her face +a sweet and melancholy expression, which always attracts, and arouses +interest. A little taller than her sister, Adolphine has a slender, +elegant figure; her walk is always graceful. Pretty women have this +peculiarity in common with cats, that there is in their slightest +movements an indefinable fascination; and this quality is not the +attribute of the most coquettish only, but equally of those in whom +grace of movement is entirely natural.</p> + +<p>For some time past, Adolphine's melancholy had almost become sadness; +her eyes were often fixed on the<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> ground, and she would sit for hours +buried in thought, which, if one could judge by the expression of her +features, was not concerned with pleasant memories. Suddenly, she would +emerge from her abstraction, and, as if ashamed of having abandoned +herself to her reveries, would glance hastily about, to see if anyone +had noticed her; and would strive to smile, in order to conceal the +thoughts with which her heart was occupied; but her smile was never very +real, and her merriment was like her smile.</p> + +<p>Beyond the piano was a card-table, at which four persons were playing +the inevitable whist. First, there was a lady evidently on the wrong +side of forty, but who had once been very pretty, and who still produced +a brilliant effect by artificial light, thanks to an extremely careful +toilet, in which were employed all those invaluable cosmetics which help +to prevent a lady from appearing old. Furthermore, Madame de +Mirallon—such was her name—wore diamonds of very great value at her +neck and in her ears. But those who claim that diamonds embellish a +woman are entirely mistaken; we should say simply that they enrich her; +and, in this connection, we may well remember the remark of Apelles: +"You make her rich, because you cannot make her beautiful."</p> + +<p>At this lady's right was a man of about fifty years, with an intelligent +and distinguished face, somewhat cold and reserved in manner, but +unimpeachably courteous, even when, in the course of conversation, he +indulged in a stinging retort. He spoke but little, however, and his +dress and bearing were perfectly consonant with his age. He was Monsieur +Clairval.</p> + +<p>Opposite him was a young man, neither handsome nor ugly, but dressed +with extreme care, and with a head<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> of hair worthy to figure in a +wig-maker's show-window. It should be said that the young dandy was the +proud possessor of a forest of chestnut locks, a fertile field for the +invention of a hair-dresser. Monsieur Anatole de Raincy—such was the +young man's name—played cards in straw-colored gloves, moulded to a +pair of tiny hands of which he seemed to be very proud, and which he +kept always in evidence. To complete the portrait, we must add a small +light chestnut moustache, eyeglasses, and a constant lisp in his speech.</p> + +<p>The fourth whist player, who was the lady's partner, was a man about +forty years old, a faded blonde, with a conceited and idiotic air; a +doll's face, from which protruded a pair of great eyes which were always +rolling from side to side with an astonished expression—an expression +which never varied. He bowed whenever anyone spoke to him, and found a +way to pay compliments to everybody, accompanying his speeches with a +conventional smile, which he retained even when he was listening to +others; all of which may afford you in anticipation an accurate idea of +the ingenuousness of this individual, whose name was Batonnin.</p> + +<p>An old beau, of at least sixty years, but who affected the dress, the +gait, and all the manners of a young man, fluttered about the table, +dancing attendance on the ladies; his face alone persisted in betraying +his age, although its owner did his utmost to avoid the scrutiny of the +curious. But his cheeks, which had fallen in on account of the loss of +his teeth, a very long nose, purple at the end, and an assortment of +wrinkles which streaked his temples, made it impossible for that face to +create an illusion. As for the hair, it was of a fine, glossy black, +which proved that he wore a wig.<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a></p> + +<p>Such was Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière, a venerable dandy, who still +possessed a handsome fortune, although he had consumed a portion of his +means by living like a prince, and paying assiduous court to the fair +sex. Monsieur de la Bérinière's great fault was his obstinate belief +that he was still young and fascinating, and his consequent persistence +in seeking to make conquests. However, being descended from an +illustrious family, and having all the manners of a grand seigneur, the +count, albeit he had not overmuch intelligence, had, at all events, the +merit of being always amiable and cheerful; and, as we see, he had never +chosen to meddle with any but the attractive features of life. We may +add that he had never married.</p> + +<p>The count left the whist table, and, approaching Madame Monléard, +examined her embroidery.</p> + +<p>"Ah! what pretty work that is you are doing, belle dame! Why, you seem +to possess all the talents!"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! I haven't so very many!"</p> + +<p>"Is it a rug you're making?"</p> + +<p>"No; it's a design for a footstool."</p> + +<p>"What a lucky dog Monléard is! He has married a treasure!"</p> + +<p>"You exaggerate, monsieur le comte."</p> + +<p>"No, I say what I think; and if I had known you earlier—— Oh! I know +what I'd have done! Ah! Dieu!"</p> + +<p>"What a sigh! Ha! ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>"It makes you laugh to hear me sigh?"</p> + +<p>"Why, what other effect should it have on me?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! women are cruel sometimes. But, no matter! if I had known you +before Monléard, I would have solicited the honor of making you Comtesse +de la Bérinière."</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!"<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! I am not joking. But fate willed otherwise. And I say again that +Monléard is a lucky dog.—By the way, how is his arm?"</p> + +<p>"It is improving slowly; he can't use it yet."</p> + +<p>"It's a long while getting well.—And to think that that accident +happened the very day after your wedding!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the next day."</p> + +<p>"He fell on the stairs, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he slipped, and fell on his arm."</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake, Monsieur de la Bérinière, do come and advise my +partner, Monsieur Batonnin. Upon my word, he's been making mistake after +mistake!"</p> + +<p>"It must be my pleasure in playing with you, madame, that distracts me," +rejoined the little man with the protruding eyes, bowing to his partner.</p> + +<p>"In that case, monsieur, moderate your pleasure, I entreat you, and +don't trump my kings any more."</p> + +<p>The count regretfully quitted the young bride and returned to the +card-table, saying:</p> + +<p>"But monsieur doesn't need my advice; he plays very well."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you are too good, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"I am well aware that Monsieur de la Bérinière prefers to pay court to +the ladies rather than watch the game!" rejoined Madame de Mirallon, in +a tone which she intended to be ironical, but in which there was a +slight tincture of mortification; "but he can afford to spare us a few +moments."</p> + +<p>"Whatever is agreeable to you, I will do, madame."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! But it did not suit your pleasure to join our game?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, if you would kindly attend to your play——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Monsieur Clairval is so severe!"<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a></p> + +<p>"No, madame; but we don't usually talk when we're playing whist."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! if one must never say a word—— Ah! Monsieur Batonnin, that +is too cruel! Don't you remember my signal?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, madame; but no man is required to do the +impossible."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand proverbs."</p> + +<p>"That means," observed the count, with a laugh, "that monsieur has no +club."</p> + +<p>"That makes no difference; his game was to play one."</p> + +<p>"Let us put our cards on the table, and play that way; it will be +simpler," interposed Monsieur Clairval.</p> + +<p>"I had thutht ath lief; I played that way onth, a three-handed game with +a dummy."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de Raincy, I might justly complain, as well as madame; but I +see that this is an evening of absent-mindedness."</p> + +<p>"Why, what did I do wrong. I don't thee——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I shall tell you later."</p> + +<p>"I flatter mythelf that I play a fine game of whitht."</p> + +<p>"You are quite right!"</p> + +<p>"Well, Monsieur Batonnin! well! what are you thinking about?"</p> + +<p>"I thought you would trump, madame."</p> + +<p>"We've lost the odd—and it's your fault."</p> + +<p>"We have won."</p> + +<p>"Now for the rubber!"</p> + +<p>"I beg you, Monsieur de la Bérinière, stand behind Monsieur +Batonnin.—Oh! he doesn't listen to me! he has gone to pay his court to +Mademoiselle Adolphine. What a butterfly that man is, and when will he +sober down?"<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a></p> + +<p>"It seems to me," observed Monsieur Clairval, with a smile, "that it +would be rather hard for him to change his habits now."</p> + +<p>The count had, in fact, approached Adolphine, who was still pretending +to be absorbed in the music-books, and who apparently did not see that +anyone was by her side.</p> + +<p>"You are fond of music, mademoiselle?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!—I beg your pardon. Yes, monsieur, very."</p> + +<p>"Do you sing?"</p> + +<p>"A little."</p> + +<p>"Young ladies are never willing to admit that they sing more than a +little. I don't refer to you, mademoiselle. I am told that your voice is +very sweet and true."</p> + +<p>"Your informant flatters me, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Shall we have the pleasure of hearing you this evening?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know at all, monsieur. But, if it will gratify my sister——"</p> + +<p>"Your sister, of course; but the whole company as well."</p> + +<p>"Oh! whist players care but little for singing."</p> + +<p>"You are more or less right; that game makes savages of +people—ferocious savages, I may say. Whist enthusiasts close the door +when there is singing in the next room. I verily believe, that, if you +told them the house was burning down, they'd insist on finishing their +<i>rub</i> before making their escape."</p> + +<p>"You see that it would be very unkind of me to sing."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, I am not playing; and what do you care if——"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de la Bérinière, in the name of your ancestors, come and show +Monsieur Batonnin how to play;<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> it's very important! We are playing the +rub, and I don't want to lose it through my partner's misplay."</p> + +<p>"That Madame de Mirallon is a terrible creature, really! Ah! when women +grow old, they gain in exactingness what they lose in attractions; and +the compensation isn't sufficient."</p> + +<p>Having indulged in this muttered reflection, the count returned to his +station behind Monsieur Batonnin; and Madame de Mirallon bestowed a long +and searching glance upon him as she said:</p> + +<p>"It's very hard to keep you, now!"</p> + +<p>And the <i>word</i> now brought a smile to the lips of Monsieur Clairval, who +said to his partner:</p> + +<p>"Come, Monsieur de Raincy, we must stand to our guns; we are playing +against three."</p> + +<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX<br /><br /> +A NEWLY MARRIED PAIR</h2> + +<p>Adolphine left the piano and sat down beside her sister.</p> + +<p>"I am sure that you are annoyed, Fanny, because your husband doesn't +come home."</p> + +<p>"I? Mon Dieu! I wasn't thinking about him at all. If he stays away, it +is probably because he has business to attend to. You don't understand +business, you see, Adolphine; you don't know that, if you want to make a +lot of money, you must sometimes deprive yourself of a little pleasure."</p> + +<p>"No, it's true, I don't understand money matters; but I thought that two +people just married could not be<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> happy apart, that they must be +horribly bored when they're not together."</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear girl, there's reason in everything. And then, we have +plenty of time to be together."</p> + +<p>"Still, when you marry for love—and Monsieur Monléard certainly seemed +to be in love with you—— Is that all over already?"</p> + +<p>"Why—no—but when two people are once married, they're no longer like +two lovers. You'll find that out some day, my little sister! I still +call you little, although you're taller than I."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I know that I could never love as placidly as you do!—I was afraid +that your husband might be angry with you on account of that duel."</p> + +<p>"Auguste has too much good sense and breeding to charge me with the +folly and extravagance of another, as a crime. It's not my fault that +another man was in love with me!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! that poor Gustave! He did love you so dearly!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I advise you to pity him! He behaved nobly, didn't he? To go +shouting jeremiads in the street, and end by sending someone to fight in +his place! Fie! it was shameful!"</p> + +<p>"Fanny, you judge Gustave too harshly; do you impute it to him as a +crime, that he didn't insult your husband? Oh! he probably would have +done it, if his uncle hadn't dragged him away, almost by force, from +that restaurant, where he absolutely insisted on speaking to you."</p> + +<p>"How do you know all that?"</p> + +<p>"Because it was I who sent word to Monsieur Grandcourt that his nephew +was at the restaurant where the wedding was being celebrated."<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, so you told me. That fellow wanted to make a scene—and by +what right? Was I obliged to marry him, I should like to know?"</p> + +<p>"You allowed him to believe that you loved him."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! because a woman listens to the soft things these men say to +her, because she smiles when they sigh, they instantly assume that she +adores them. A fine position he offered me, didn't he? Three thousand +francs a year—magnificent!"</p> + +<p>"If you had really loved him, you wouldn't have cared about his wealth."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'm not romantic like you. With Auguste, I have a coupé at my +orders, and I find it very pleasant. I tell you again, your Monsieur +Gustave is an idiot!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! Fanny, it's wicked for you to talk like that; to treat him so, just +because he loved you sincerely."</p> + +<p>"Much I care about his love! His behavior was none the less blamable. +What excuse had he for sending that tall ruffian to insult me when I +left the ball—which, of course, compelled Auguste to fight with the +fellow?"</p> + +<p>"I would take my oath that Monsieur Gustave never told that person, with +whom he had dined, to say a single insulting word to you. Besides, +Monsieur Grandcourt took his nephew away long before you left the ball. +That man, who presumed to address an offensive remark to you, was drunk; +he had already had trouble with some of the gentlemen, for he insisted +on offering his arm to the ladies when they arrived for the ball."</p> + +<p>"Then, my dear girl, you will agree that your Monsieur Gustave has some +very low acquaintances?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine made no reply, but sadly lowered her eyes. A moment later, her +sister continued: "What surprises me is that I haven't once seen +Monsieur Gustave, or met<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> him anywhere, since my wedding. For a man so +dead in love, not to try to see me at my window, at least once—— You +see that he is consoled, so soon."</p> + +<p>"He is not in Paris. His uncle forced him to start for Spain the very +next day."</p> + +<p>"Ah! he's in Spain? that makes a difference! But you seem to know all +about him. From whom, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Father met Monsieur Grandcourt not long ago, and he told him that his +nephew was in Spain."</p> + +<p>"Ah! someone has just rung."</p> + +<p>"It's your husband, no doubt."</p> + +<p>"If it's he, we shall see him in a moment."</p> + +<p>It was not the master of the house who entered the salon, but Monsieur +Gerbault, who, like an affectionate father, began by kissing his +daughters.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, father," said Fanny. "Why didn't you come to dinner, with +Adolphine? My husband didn't like it."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't, my dear child. Adolphine must have told you that I had +promised a gentleman from the provinces——"</p> + +<p>"A fine reason! You should have sent your gentleman from the provinces +off somewhere to dine by himself."</p> + +<p>"No, when I have promised, I keep my promise. Where is your husband, by +the way?"</p> + +<p>"He had somebody to see to-night. He'll be at home soon."</p> + +<p>"There! we have lost! I knew it!" cried Madame de Mirallon. "Ah! +Monsieur Batonnin, I will never forgive you those six counters!"</p> + +<p>"But, madame, I am well paid by the pleasure of having been your +partner."<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a></p> + +<p>"Luckily, Monsieur Gerbault is here. He knows how to play! Come and take +a hand, Monsieur Gerbault."</p> + +<p>"I do not care to play any more," said De Raincy; "when I have played +two rubberth, I have had enough; it maketh my head ache."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, the nattily-gloved youth left the card-table and joined the +two sisters.</p> + +<p>"Were you at the Bourse to-day, Monsieur de Raincy?" inquired Fanny.</p> + +<p>"Thertainly, madame; I go there every day."</p> + +<p>"How were the Orléans and Lyon Railway shares?"</p> + +<p>"Very thtrong, madame."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they'll go higher?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yeth, I think tho; unleth they go down."</p> + +<p>"That's rather a vague opinion."</p> + +<p>"I never have any definite opinion. At the Bourth one ith tho often +mithtaken! But your huthband can keep you pothted better than I can. He +ith alwayth there; he theemth to be interethted in thome big dealth."</p> + +<p>"Auguste? True, but he doesn't like to have me ask him how the market is +going; he declares that women know nothing about it; that they ought to +attend to spending the money, not to making it."</p> + +<p>"I fanthy that ith the general rule among the ladieth."</p> + +<p>"I think differently. Oh! if I had been a man, I would have been a +stock-broker!"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it! There are thome of them who have to put up with +lotheth. Ah! here'th our dear Monléard!"</p> + +<p>Fanny's husband had just arrived; he wore his right arm in a sling; he +was very pale, his face was careworn, and his eyes almost sombre. +However, finding guests in his salon, he instantly assumed the affable +manner<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a> which a host should always display. Young De Raincy hastened to +go to shake hands with him.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening! dear boy."</p> + +<p>"Good-evening! Anatole. Messieurs, mesdames, your servant!"</p> + +<p>The Comte de la Bérinière also shook hands with Monléard, crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! here's the lucky man! the fortunate husband! So you still offer +your left hand, eh?"</p> + +<p>"What would you have! it's not my fault that I can't use my right."</p> + +<p>"Why the devil do you want to fall on the stairs? You're too +careless—and the day after your wedding, too! I'll stake my head you +were running to your wife?"</p> + +<p>"Just so!" Auguste replied, with a glance at Fanny, who simply smiled, +without raising her eyes from her embroidery frame.</p> + +<p>"I was sure of it! It was his haste, his love for you, belle dame, which +caused his accident. Ah! your eyes are very dangerous! But, after all, +as love caused the destruction of Troy, it may well make a man slip on +the stairs."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de la Bérinière, pray come here a moment."</p> + +<p>"Gad! Madame de Mirallon can't seem to get enough of me this evening. +It's a conspiracy! Can she have conceived the idea of monopolizing me?"</p> + +<p>And the count, who had made these remarks in an undertone, added aloud:</p> + +<p>"But, madame, I see that Monsieur Batonnin is no longer your partner; +Monsieur Gerbault has taken his place, so you can have no reason to +complain now."</p> + +<p>"Ah! what a cruel man you are! I wanted to show you an extraordinary +hand."<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a></p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! she has shown me her hand often enough!" muttered the count, +turning toward young De Raincy; "I don't care to see it any more."</p> + +<p>Auguste, having shaken hands with his father-in-law, and said a word or +two to the different guests, went up to his wife and tapped her gently +on the cheek.</p> + +<p>"You are making me a piece of furniture, I see, madame," he said; "that +is well done of you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! that would take too long," rejoined Fanny, looking up at her +husband as she would have looked at the merest acquaintance; "it's a +stool, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! what are you doing with that newspaper spread out before +you?"</p> + +<p>"I am posting myself as to the prices of stocks, my dear."</p> + +<p>"That's a most entertaining occupation for a woman."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Auguste took the paper, crumpled it in his hands, and +tossed it into a corner of the salon; Fanny watched him while he did it, +then glanced at her sister, and said under her breath:</p> + +<p>"You see, he doesn't want me to look at the market reports. But I shall +look at some other paper—that's all."</p> + +<p>"Does your arm still pain you, brother?" Adolphine asked Monléard, +having observed his thoughtful expression.</p> + +<p>"No, little sister, no. I thank you for being good enough to take some +interest in it. There are people who take more interest in the rise and +fall of stocks than in the wound I received; and yet——"</p> + +<p>He paused, as if he were afraid of saying too much; but Adolphine had +fully grasped the significance of his words, and she whispered to her +sister:<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a></p> + +<p>"Your husband is vexed because you didn't ask him about his wound."</p> + +<p>"Let me alone, pray! Haven't I seen my husband to-day? I fancy that the +condition of his arm hasn't changed in a few hours."</p> + +<p>"No matter; it isn't nice of you not to show more interest; for, after +all, it was on your account that that duel took place."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I beg you, Adolphine, don't talk to me like that; you set my nerves +on edge! For several days, my husband has been in a very disagreeable +mood; as I cannot be the cause of it, I don't worry about it in the +least; indeed, I even pretend not to notice it."</p> + +<p>"If I were in your place, I would ask him the cause of it."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I should be very sorry if I did! My gentleman is capricious, it +seems; so much the worse for him!"</p> + +<p>"If I am not mistaken, you promised to sing for us, mademoiselle," said +Monsieur de la Bérinière, who had once more escaped from Madame de +Mirallon and hastened to Adolphine's side.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! monsieur, if it will give you any pleasure, I will gladly +sing; but it will disturb the whist."</p> + +<p>"Sing away!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "we will stuff our ears."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, papa!"</p> + +<p>"There's a father who doesn't say what he thinks, I am sure."</p> + +<p>While Adolphine took her place at the piano, young Anatole said to +Monléard:</p> + +<p>"Ith it true that Morithel hath run away?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes!"<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a></p> + +<p>"The devil! And he'th carried off thix hundred thouthand francth, they +thay."</p> + +<p>"Something like that."</p> + +<p>"You had thome buthineth relathionth with him; haven't you lotht +anything by him?"</p> + +<p>"No—a trifle—some thirty thousand francs or so."</p> + +<p>"A trifle like that would embarrath me thadly! To be thure, I'm not a +capitalitht like you."</p> + +<p>Auguste bit his lips and took a seat by the piano. Adolphine sang a +lovely romanza by Nadaud. Her voice was sweet and well modulated; in a +word, it was a sympathetic voice, and, furthermore, its possessor had an +agreeable habit of pronouncing distinctly the words she sang; which +increased twofold the pleasure of those who listened to her.</p> + +<p>Auguste's face lighted up a little. Young Anatole ceased to gaze at his +hands; the count seemed fascinated, and did not once remove his eyes +from the singer. At last, Madame de Mirallon exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It's your play, Monsieur Batonnin; do, for heaven's sake, attend to the +game!"</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, madame; I was listening to the singing."</p> + +<p>"But we are not singing, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" muttered Monsieur Clairval.</p> + +<p>"What's that! Why did you say: 'Thank God!' Monsieur Clairval?"</p> + +<p>"Because, if we were all singing, madame, we should not have the +pleasure of hearing mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"You see that I am disturbing the game," said Adolphine.</p> + +<p>"No, no; pray go on, mademoiselle! As if people could play whist for two +minutes without a dispute! You are the pretext at this moment, that's +all."<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine continued to sing. The game of whist came to an end, and +Madame de Mirallon lost again. She left the table in a pet, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"I certainly will give up playing whist!"</p> + +<p>"Do you know my favorite game?" said Monsieur Gerbault; "it's bézique."</p> + +<p>"Fie, fie! a messroom game!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about that; but piquet is a messroom game, too, +which doesn't prevent its being a very fine game. I've heard people say +of lansquenet: 'It's a footman's game!' the same thing has been said of +écarté—but that doesn't prevent those games from being played in the +salons. For my part, I believe in playing the game that amuses us, +without disturbing ourselves about its origin."</p> + +<p>"I am wild over bézique, too," cried Monsieur de la Bérinière; "and, if +you will allow me, Monsieur Gerbault, I shall take great pleasure in +playing a game with you."</p> + +<p>"Whenever you choose, monsieur le comte, you will be welcome."</p> + +<p>"That's a game I am very fond of, too," said Monsieur Batonnin.</p> + +<p>"I am not thure whether I know it, but I think not."</p> + +<p>"Very well, messieurs," said Fanny; "the next time, we'll have a bézique +table for those who like it.—How is it with you, Auguste; do you play +it?"</p> + +<p>"I? What? what game is that?" replied Monléard, who had not listened to +the conversation.</p> + +<p>"Bézique."</p> + +<p>"No. Oh! yes, I played it yesterday."</p> + +<p>"My son-in-law is distraught this evening."</p> + +<p>They talked a few moments more, then all the guests took leave of the +young husband and wife. But, as she<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> went away, Adolphine could not +resist the desire to say to her sister, in an undertone:</p> + +<p>"Do be more affectionate with your husband. He is unhappy, I assure +you."</p> + +<p>"And I assure you," rejoined Fanny, "that that's none of my affair; as +if a woman must be forever worrying about her husband's looks! That +would not be a very entertaining occupation!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI<br /><br /> +A MAIDEN'S REVERIES</h2> + +<p>More than a fortnight had elapsed since the Monléard's whist party, at +which Adolphine had sung several romanzas. But her sweet voice had made +a deep impression upon the Comte de la Bérinière, also upon young +Anatole de Raincy; it had even caused a quickening of the heart-beats of +Monsieur Batonnin, the gentleman who played whist so poorly, but who was +said to have a much clearer comprehension of business, which, indeed, +was his profession, for he held himself out as a business agent.</p> + +<p>Adolphine was alone in a small salon, much less sumptuous than her +sister's, but very comfortable none the less. I need not say that there +was a piano in it: that has become an indispensable article of +furniture; we see them even in the domiciles of concierges who have +daughters at the Conservatoire.</p> + +<p>Adolphine held a book in her hand, but she was not reading it; she was +musing, and her face still wore a sad expression. Upon what subject can +a maiden of eighteen<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a> muse? Everybody will conclude that her heart was +engrossed by a tender sentiment. And yet, no man had ever paid court to +Adolphine, no one had ever observed any youthful exquisite paying +assiduous attention to her. But all love affairs do not begin in the +same way; they do not all follow the beaten paths; there are secret, +unavowed sentiments which those who inspire them are very far from +suspecting; and when it is a virtuous maiden's heart in which one of +those profound attachments takes root, she suffers all the more because +of the pains she takes to conceal it.</p> + +<p>Adolphine passed her hand across her brow, as if to brush away the +thoughts that made her sad; she took up her book again, and for a few +minutes tried to read; then placed it beside her, saying to herself:</p> + +<p>"It's of no use for me to try to distract my thoughts—I cannot do it. I +used to be so fond of reading! This book is intensely interesting, they +say, and I have no idea what I'm reading; nothing interests me now! even +music no longer has any charm for me; my poor piano is neglected; +everything is a bore. Mon Dieu! shall I always be like this? Oh! no, +that would be ghastly! It will pass away; it must pass away! Father has +already noticed several times that I seemed sad, and it worries him; he +thinks that I am sick. Oh! I don't want to make him uneasy. But it isn't +my fault; I do all that I possibly can to drive out of my mind the +memory of—that person—and it keeps coming back. And yet, I know +perfectly well that there's no sense in it—that I'm a little fool. It's +of no use for me to argue—I cannot cure myself!"</p> + +<p>The door of the salon opened; it was Monsieur Gerbault. The girl +hurriedly wiped away the tears that were<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a> rolling down her cheeks, and +strove to assume a smiling expression, as she went to meet her father.</p> + +<p>"I have come to tell you, Adolphine, that we shall have two guests at +dinner to-day."</p> + +<p>"You are very late in telling me, father. But, no matter! I will go and +tell Madeleine."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't tell you any earlier; I met Monsieur Batonnin only a moment +ago. He said: 'I am going to play a game of bézique with you this +evening.' I said: 'Come and dine with us, informally.'"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Batonnin! I don't care much for that young man."</p> + +<p>"Still he is very gallant—and so courteous."</p> + +<p>"He is forever paying compliments—it's a horrible bore! And then, he +always has a smile on his face. Tell me, papa, is that natural? Can +there be anyone in the world who is always satisfied and happy?"</p> + +<p>"I should say that it was rather difficult. However, there are optimists +who look at the bright side of everything."</p> + +<p>"For my part, I believe that those people are not sincere, that they +simply make a point of concealing what they think.—Who is the other +one, father?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Clairval."</p> + +<p>"I am very fond of him; he isn't complimentary, at all events, and yet +that doesn't prevent his being agreeable. He has plenty of wit, and +doesn't flaunt it in everybody's face. I do like that so much—wit that +doesn't parade itself!"</p> + +<p>"But, my child, if one has wit without showing it, I should say that it +was precisely equivalent to having none at all."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it always leaks out, father, here and there, even if it's only in +the smile."<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a></p> + +<p>"I just missed inviting Monsieur de la Bérinière, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh! papa, how fortunate it is that you missed it!"</p> + +<p>"Why so, pray? The count is very pleasant. He's a very distinguished man +in all respects."</p> + +<p>"I don't say that he isn't, but for a count we should have had to make +preparations; and then, he has been coming to see us quite often of +late."</p> + +<p>"And that bores you?"</p> + +<p>"It doesn't amuse me overmuch."</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, I hoped, by inviting a friend or two to dinner, to +brighten you up, to give you a little diversion; for you have looked as +if you weren't feeling well for some time. Tell me, are you sick?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no, dear father; I am not sick, I am not in pain. I assure you +that I am in my ordinary condition."</p> + +<p>"Good! so much the better! Still, it seems to me that you're a little +changed."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you know one has days—when the autumn comes.—And you didn't +invite Fanny and her husband, while you were in the mood?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did. I was going to their house when I met Auguste. But they +can't come; they are going to a grand dinner. Nothing but festivities, +gorgeous parties!"</p> + +<p>"All the better! it amuses Fanny; she's so fond of all that sort of +thing!"</p> + +<p>"True, true! Fanny is leading the life she used to dream of; she ought +to be happy. But it seems to me that her husband has been in rather a +gloomy mood lately; he always has such a startled, preoccupied manner; +and when you speak to him, he hardly listens to you."</p> + +<p>"I think that you're mistaken, father; Fanny's husband isn't of an +expansive nature; his manner is cold, a little haughty, perhaps."<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it; but he likes to cut a brilliant figure, to dazzle other +people by his magnificence; and that sometimes carries a man too far."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"I have been told that he is speculating heavily on the Bourse."</p> + +<p>"If he has the means to do it, it's all right; he must know what he's +about."</p> + +<p>"Batonnin was telling me just now that Monléard must have lost a great +deal of money by the failure—or the flight, I don't quite know which it +was—of one Morissel."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Monsieur Batonnin told you that? I notice that disagreeable news is +generally brought by smiling faces and honeyed words."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to believe that my son-in-law's fortune has not sustained such +a serious loss."</p> + +<p>"After all, father, in business a man can't always make money, can he?"</p> + +<p>"Hoity-toity! here you are talking almost as well as your sister.—By +the way, I met Monsieur Grandcourt too."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Grandcourt?"</p> + +<p>"Well, well! what's the matter now? You're as pale as a ghost. Don't you +feel well?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father. I am all right, I promise you. What did Monsieur +Grandcourt have to say?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! he doesn't speculate! He's a prudent, intelligent man. He does an +excellent business. His house is prosperous and is extending its +connections every day."</p> + +<p>"And his nephew—that poor Monsieur Gustave—did he tell you anything +about him?"</p> + +<p>"He is still in Spain."<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a></p> + +<p>"But when is he coming back? If he should come to see us—would that +annoy you?"</p> + +<p>"My dear Adolphine, in the first place, after what has happened, it's +not at all likely that Gustave will ever come to our house again. That +young man was in love with your sister. For a moment, he hoped that she +would accept him for her husband, then his hopes were disappointed. He +saw Fanny take Monléard in preference to him, and he must have suffered +doubly—in his love and in his self-esteem. What do you suppose he will +come to our house again for?—in search of memories, of regrets? No, our +company would have no charms for him now."</p> + +<p>"Ah! so you think, father, that our company would no longer be agreeable +to him? But he was much attached to you."</p> + +<p>"As the father of the young lady whose husband he wished to be; I know +all about that."</p> + +<p>"But, still, if he should come here, it seems to me that it would be +very discourteous to send him away, to receive him unkindly."</p> + +<p>"Without being unkind to him, you could easily make him understand that +his presence here may be very embarrassing; that he may meet your sister +and her husband here; that Monléard may have learned of his love for +Fanny; and that it would be better, therefore, for him not to come +again. But, I say once more, you will not have to tell him all that; for +I am very certain, myself, that he has no intention of coming here."</p> + +<p>"Poor Gustave!" said Adolphine to herself, as she left the room; "father +doesn't want him to come here any more! What, in heaven's name, would he +say if he knew about that duel? Then it would surely be:<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> 'I don't want +to see him in my house again!'—Luckily he thinks, like everybody else, +that Auguste's injury was the result of a fall on the stairs. But I +suppose father is right, and Gustave will never come here; I shall never +see him again!"</p> + +<p>The girl put her handkerchief to her eyes once more, then went in search +of Madeleine, her maid, a young girl from Picardy, who did not know +Gustave, because she did not enter Monsieur Gerbault's service until +after his eldest daughter's marriage. Madeleine was very fond of her +mistress; she saw that she was unhappy, and often said to her:</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! mamzelle, when shall I see you happy and gay, as you ought to +be at your age?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I am very happy, Madeleine," replied Adolphine, forcing back a +sigh. Whereat the Picarde murmured, with a shrug of her shoulders:</p> + +<p>"Oh! nenni! I can see well enough that you always have something inside +that keeps you from laughing!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII<br /><br /> +A SOFT-SPOKEN GENTLEMAN</h2> + +<p>The guests were punctual; the dinner was voted excellent. Monsieur +Batonnin ate for four, but was not thereby prevented from praising each +dish, adding compliments for the host, for the young lady of the house, +and even for the cook; if there had been a cat or a dog, it is probable +that it would have come in for its share in that distribution of +flattering speeches.<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a></p> + +<p>At dessert, the conversation fell upon the newly married couple, +Monsieur Gerbault expressing his regret that they had been unable to +come to dinner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they make a charming couple," said Batonnin, with his inevitable +smile. "Can Monsieur Monléard use his right arm now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is entirely well. It took a long while, for a mere fall on the +stairs."</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! a fall on the stairs! Ha! ha! Monsieur Gerbault says that as if +he really believed it. Ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?" retorted Monsieur Gerbault, who understood +neither Monsieur Batonnin's words nor the malicious tone in which he +uttered them; whereas Adolphine changed color, fearing that her father +might learn the truth. Monsieur Clairval alone seemed indifferent to +what was going on; but he glanced at the soft-spoken guest with an +expression which said plainly enough:</p> + +<p>"In my opinion, that was a very stupid remark of yours."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin smiled on, as he replied:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Monsieur Gerbault, you know perfectly well that your +son-in-law's wound was caused by a sword-thrust, which he received in a +duel. He preferred not to tell people that he had fought, especially +because—because—— I know the reason."</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, that isn't at all probable!" cried Adolphine. "If my +sister's husband had fought a duel, I should certainly know it, and——"</p> + +<p>"Why so, my dear young lady? If he has concealed it from Monsieur +Gerbault, he may well have concealed it from you, too."<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a></p> + +<p>"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly," said +Monsieur Gerbault, whose face had become very serious; "if my son-in-law +has had a duel, I knew nothing about it, I tell you again; now, if you +have any definite information on the subject, be good enough to impart +it to me; it seems to me that I ought to be at least as well informed as +a stranger, upon such a matter."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I learned of it by chance two days ago. I +met Madame Delbois, who was at your daughter's wedding, and who left the +ball at the same time that she did. So, as you will see, they were in +the hall at the same time, waiting for their carriages."</p> + +<p>"I don't see yet what connection there is between that fact and a duel."</p> + +<p>"One moment—we are coming to it. While the ladies were waiting, a +person of unprepossessing aspect came out of the restaurant. He was just +behind Madame Delbois when she said to one of her friends: 'There goes +the bride; she's going away early.'—Thereupon, this person—of +unprepossessing aspect—had the effrontery to exclaim in a loud +voice—— But, really, if you know nothing of the episode, I am afraid +that, if I go any further, I may say something that it would be +unpleasant for you to hear."</p> + +<p>"If what you have to tell Monsieur Gerbault is likely to be unpleasant +for him to hear," interposed Monsieur Clairval, "it seems to me, +Monsieur Batonnin, that you would have done much better to say nothing +at all on the subject. As Monsieur Monléard concealed the fact that he +had had a duel, it is to be presumed that he feared that it would +displease his father-in-law; and, frankly, it isn't decent of you to +come here and volunteer to tell something that nobody asked you to +tell."<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a></p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Monsieur Gerbault just asked me to tell him what I +knew."</p> + +<p>"Go on, Monsieur Batonnin, finish your story, I beg; what did this +person say, whom Madame Delbois overheard?"</p> + +<p>"Your son-in-law heard him, too, and that is what led to the challenge. +However, I simply repeat what Madame Delbois told me. I wasn't there; I +was dancing at that moment."</p> + +<p>"Well, Monsieur Batonnin, this man said——?"</p> + +<p>"I give you my word of honor, my dear Monsieur Gerbault, that it gives +me the greatest pain to repeat his detestable words. I am very sorry +that I mentioned it; I did it quite innocently——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! finish, for heaven's sake!"</p> + +<p>"That man exclaimed, when he caught sight of the bride: 'Ah! there's the +faithless Fanny!'"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Clairval began to laugh, and Monsieur Gerbault deemed it the +wiser plan to do the same; Adolphine decided to imitate them, and +Monsieur Batonnin, who expected to produce a startling effect, looked +very sheepish when he saw them all laughing.</p> + +<p>"Ah! that strikes you as amusing, does it?" he faltered.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Batonnin, with all your hesitation and holding back, +I thought that you were going to tell us something scandalous. Frankly, +it seems to me that those words, from the mouth of a man who was drunk, +no doubt, and whose tongue may have been twisted, did not deserve such a +long preamble——"</p> + +<p>"Your son-in-law didn't think as you do, apparently; for he rushed after +the fellow, and they exchanged cards."</p> + +<p>"Did Madame Delbois see that also?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes."<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a></p> + +<p>"How does it happen that that lady, who is evidently very fond of +talking, has not delivered herself before this of things that took place +more than six weeks ago?"</p> + +<p>"That's easily explained: she left Paris for the country the next +morning, and didn't return until the day before yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you needn't tell me that!—Come, let us go and have some coffee."</p> + +<p>"Look you, my dear Batonnin," said Monsieur Clairval, laughing heartily, +"your news fell rather flat. It's a pity, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>Batonnin bit his lips, and, strange to say, did not smile.</p> + +<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII<br /><br /> +A GAME OF BÉZIQUE</h2> + +<p>They had just finished their coffee, when the Comte de la Bérinière was +announced.</p> + +<p>"I come early, you see. I made haste to get rid of the person with whom +I dined," said the count, kissing Adolphine's hand, who seemed little +flattered by the attention.</p> + +<p>"That is very good of you; in return, we will have a game of bézique for +your benefit."</p> + +<p>"Oh! by and by; I will venture to request mademoiselle to give us a +little music first. When one has once heard her sing, one has but one +desire, and that is to hear her again."</p> + +<p>"If it will give you any pleasure, monsieur—— I have not enough talent +to require to be asked more than once."</p> + +<p>"That is to say, you are always charming."<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a></p> + +<p>"The rest of us, who are not music-mad like Monsieur de la Bérinière, +will play a three-handed game of bézique. You play, don't you, +Clairval?"</p> + +<p>"I do whatever you please."</p> + +<p>"And you, Monsieur Batonnin?"</p> + +<p>"It will be no less flattering than agreeable to me to have the +privilege of playing with you. But I think that three-handed bézique is +less interesting than two-handed."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; it is even more interesting."</p> + +<p>Adolphine took her place at the piano, and the count seated himself +beside it, darting burning glances at the girl, which she did her utmost +to avoid.</p> + +<p>Batonnin, who had taken a seat at the card-table, kept turning his head +to look toward the piano, in order to see what was going on there, and +to try to hear what was being said.</p> + +<p>"Shall we play with four packs?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but we must take out two eights, so that the cards will come out +even at the end."</p> + +<p>"Very good; and how many cards do you deal?"</p> + +<p>"Eight to each."</p> + +<p>"Some people deal nine."</p> + +<p>"That makes it too easy."</p> + +<p>"What's the game?"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen hundred."</p> + +<p>"And the stakes?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever you please, messieurs; what shall it be?"</p> + +<p>"We don't want to ruin ourselves; say, two francs each."</p> + +<p>"Two francs it is."</p> + +<p>"I have seen people play for five hundred francs a game," said Batonnin.</p> + +<p>"The deuce! that's flying rather high. But when a man's very rich——"<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! it isn't always the richest men who play for the biggest +stakes—rather, those who want to pass themselves off for millionaires, +and who are in need of money."</p> + +<p>"Our excellent Monsieur Batonnin, with all his air of indifference, +seems to observe everything."</p> + +<p>"I? Oh! dear me, no! I say that because I've heard someone else say it."</p> + +<p>"I declare four aces!"</p> + +<p>"That's a good beginning."</p> + +<p>"I remember now that it's Monsieur Monléard whom I have seen play +bézique for five hundred francs a game."</p> + +<p>"My son-in-law? Oh! you must be mistaken; he doesn't play so high as +that."</p> + +<p>"I beg a thousand pardons, but it was he. There's nothing remarkable +about that, for he plays whist at his club for a hundred francs a +point."</p> + +<p>"He has assured me that he doesn't go to his club now."</p> + +<p>"I have that fact from someone who played with him, less than a week +ago."</p> + +<p>"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, its your turn; pray attend to the game."</p> + +<p>"I am attending, my dear Monsieur Gerbault; I am paying the closest +attention. Ah! that's a very pretty thing Mademoiselle Adolphine is +singing!"</p> + +<p>"Double bézique!"</p> + +<p>"There, you have let Monsieur Clairval make five hundred!"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't prevent him, could I?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly you could: there were only three tricks left, and you had two +aces of trumps."</p> + +<p>"Well! that makes only two tricks."</p> + +<p>"I would have taken the third with my ace."<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! so you think we could have prevented monsieur from counting his +five hundred?"</p> + +<p>"That's plain enough. I don't see that you're any stronger at this game +than at whist."</p> + +<p>"I certainly wouldn't play for five hundred francs a game, like your +son-in-law! But I didn't know that there was any skill in bézique; I +thought it was all luck."</p> + +<p>"You see that it isn't! Indeed, any game can be played well or ill."</p> + +<p>"Even lotto?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, you can forget to count."</p> + +<p>Adolphine was singing a second selection, when Anatole de Raincy was +announced.</p> + +<p>The arrival of the young man with the lisp interrupted the music, and +seemed greatly to annoy Monsieur de la Bérinière, who decided thereupon +to visit the card-table. The game was finished, and Monsieur Clairval +had won.</p> + +<p>"Take my place," said Monsieur Gerbault to the count.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, but I never play bézique with more than two."</p> + +<p>"Play with Monsieur Batonnin, then; I will play a game of chess with +Clairval, if it's agreeable to him."</p> + +<p>"Anything is agreeable to me."</p> + +<p>"Unless Monsieur de Raincy would like to play whist with a dummy."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I thank you, but I don't care about playing; I much prefer to thing +with Mademoithelle Adolphine, if that ith agreeable to her."</p> + +<p>"It will give me great pleasure, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"I have brought a few thongth, which I thing pathably—tholoth and +dueth.—You play everything at thight, I know?"</p> + +<p>"I will try, at all events, monsieur; and if they're not too hard——"<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a></p> + +<p>"Here'th the aria from <i>La Dame Blanche</i>. I can thing that; it ith in +the range of my voith."</p> + +<p>"Very good! I will play your accompaniment."</p> + +<p>"If that young man sings as he talks," muttered Batonnin, with an +affable smile at the count, who had taken his place opposite him, "it +will produce a strange effect."</p> + +<p>"He would do much better to let us listen to Mademoiselle Adolphine."</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, she has a voice——"</p> + +<p>"Shall we play for two thousand?"</p> + +<p>"That goes to the heart, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And we play with four packs."</p> + +<p>"Very well.—But there are some men who have a perfect mania for +singing."</p> + +<p>"And who often sing false—as, for instance—— I declare four queens!"</p> + +<p>While these gentlemen played, Anatole shouted at the top of his voice:</p> + +<p class="c">"'Come, lady fair; I await thee, I await thee, I await thee!'"</p> + +<p>"That is horrible!" said the count.</p> + +<p>"It sounds like the hissing of a railroad train when it stops."</p> + +<p>"I have a sequence!"</p> + +<p>"It seems that we are not to see Madame Monléard and her husband this +evening?"</p> + +<p>"No; they have gone to some grand affair.—I declare a single bézique!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! Monléard doesn't propose that his little wife shall be bored; they +are going to parties all the time."</p> + +<p>"Yes; if only it will last.—I declare four kings—eighty!"<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a></p> + +<p>"And why shouldn't it last?—Mon Dieu! how that fellow makes my ears +ache with his 'I await thee! I await thee!'—I am sorry for Mademoiselle +Adolphine."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you heard, monsieur le comte,—a simple marriage in +diamonds,—that Monsieur Monléard was speculating on the Bourse in +a—another marriage, clubs this time—in a terrific way?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! no.—Why, I am not counting at all. It's that infernal singer's +fault!"</p> + +<p>"I have been told for a fact that he has lost a lot of money lately."</p> + +<p>"We must never believe more than half of what we're told, you know."</p> + +<p>"Double bézique!"</p> + +<p>"Deuce take it! how you are beating me! Ah! they're singing a duet now; +we shall hear Mademoiselle Adolphine, at all events. If she could only +drown that fellow's voice!"</p> + +<p>"I have made eleven hundred on this deal."</p> + +<p>"And I a hundred and twenty. I am a long way behind. Do we count the +fifteen hundred?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure; when you get three béziques, they count fifteen hundred. +But, in order to count them, you must still have the first two in hand."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I know that. What is it they're singing now? Something else +from <i>La Dame Blanche</i>, I think."</p> + +<p>"It's your play, monsieur le comte."</p> + +<p>"Yes, so it is; I beg your pardon. It's that man's voice that confuses +me, or rather stuns me. Oh! what a squealer! Poor girl! she has a stock +of patience."</p> + +<p>"I declare a royal marriage!"</p> + +<p>"You are counting all the time, Monsieur Batonnin; you are very lucky to +be able to attend to your game."<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a></p> + +<p>"I try not to listen.—Single bézique!"</p> + +<p>It was difficult not to hear the young singer, who at that moment was +shouting, with all the force of his lungs:</p> + +<p class="c">"'Thith hand, thith hand tho lovely!'"</p> + +<p>At last, the duet being at an end, Adolphine declared that she was +tired, and left the piano.</p> + +<p>"I can well believe that she's tired!" said Monsieur de la Bérinière; +"she might well be, for less than that. To play that fellow's +accompaniments—to sing with him! what a wicked task!"</p> + +<p>"I have won, monsieur le comte!"</p> + +<p>"Very good! give me my revenge. I can pay more attention to the game, +now that I don't hear that hissing voice; he's a veritable serpent, is +that young man."</p> + +<p>But Monsieur de Raincy had seated himself beside Adolphine, and he +talked to her while the others played. Naturally, they spoke in +undertones, in order not to disturb the players. This conversation, of +which he could not catch a single word, seemed to annoy the count even +more than the music; and Batonnin made the most of his opponent's +distraction and misplays, while saying to him in a wheedling tone:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le comte isn't in luck to-night.—I declare a sequence!"</p> + +<p>"It's true, I am absent-minded.—Well, Mademoiselle Adolphine, have you +stopped singing?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, monsieur; I am resting."</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake, take care," said Batonnin; "you'll suggest to that +young man the idea of beginning again!"</p> + +<p>"Why, no; I am talking to Mademoiselle Gerbault. I am sure that Monsieur +de Raincy is boring her at this moment. I would like to rid her of +him."<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a></p> + +<p>"Bézique!—You think she's bored? But you may be mistaken—he's a very +good-looking fellow, is Monsieur de Raincy.—Four aces!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! upon my word! If he's a good-looking fellow—with that stupid, +idiotic, conceited air!"</p> + +<p>"He has a good figure.—Double bézique!"</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! you never fail to get that.—And that pronunciation of +his—do you think that's pretty, too?"</p> + +<p>"Not in singing, at all events.—Take your card, if you please, monsieur +le comte!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! to be sure.—I was not paying attention. Whose play is it?"</p> + +<p>"Mine.—I have the honor of winning again. I have triple +bézique—fifteen hundred!"</p> + +<p>"Is it possible?"</p> + +<p>"Look for yourself."</p> + +<p>"Well! I am not sorry it's over. I am not at all in the mood for cards +to-night."</p> + +<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV<br /><br /> +MARRIAGE PROPOSALS</h2> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière left the table and went to talk with Adolphine; +she, no less indifferent to the gallant speeches of the old count than +to young Anatole's compliments, was equally amiable to both; for neither +of them diverted her thoughts for a moment, and it is easy to be amiable +when the heart is not involved.</p> + +<p>The party broke up at last; but, before taking their leave, the count +and Monsieur de Raincy in turn exchanged a<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> few words in undertones with +Monsieur Gerbault; which proceeding aroused Monsieur Batonnin's +curiosity to such an extent, that he went in the direction of the +kitchen instead of toward the street-door.</p> + +<p>"It's your turn to be absent-minded, I see," observed Monsieur Clairval, +satirically.</p> + +<p>"Oh! not at all; I made a mistake in the door; that may happen to +anybody. Perhaps you thought that I had something to whisper to Monsieur +Gerbault, like those two ahead of us?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! so they whispered to our friend Gerbault, did they? I confess that +I didn't notice it, and, furthermore, that it's a matter of indifference +to me."</p> + +<p>"And to me, too, of course; although I have an idea that I can guess +what they had to say to Mademoiselle Adolphine's father."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you have an idea? The deuce! do you possess the art of divination, +then?"</p> + +<p>"One needn't be a sorcerer to divine certain things.—Do you want me to +tell you my conjectures?"</p> + +<p>"No, I thank you, Monsieur Batonnin, keep them to yourself; I don't +appreciate conjectures; I like official facts only. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"That means that he is vexed because he hasn't guessed it," said +Batonnin to himself, as they separated. "For my part, I would bet—six +francs to twenty—that young De Raincy and old De la Bérinière are in +love with the charming Adolphine; and I would also bet—twenty francs to +thirty—that the girl doesn't care for either of them. So much the +better for me! I have all the more chance. Let us wait, let us let the +mutton boil, as the common saying goes. That's an old proverb; and I am +like Sancho, I love proverbs."<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine also had noticed her father's brief <i>aside</i> with the count and +with De Raincy. When all the guests had gone, she went to him, and said +with a smile:</p> + +<p>"So those gentlemen have secrets with you, have they, father? for +Monsieur de la Bérinière, and then Monsieur Anatole, whispered to you in +a corner."</p> + +<p>"Faith! my dear girl, as yet I have no more idea than you what they have +to say to me; but each of them asked me for an appointment to-morrow, +having a very important matter to discuss with me. I said to Monsieur de +Raincy: 'I shall expect you at eleven o'clock;' and to Monsieur de la +Bérinière: 'You will find me at home at one;' so I suppose that, at +three or four o'clock to-morrow, I shall be able to gratify your +curiosity, and to tell you what those gentlemen have confided to me—— +Unless it concerns serious matters, which one doesn't tell to little +girls; but I fancy not."</p> + +<p>"You fancy not?—Do you mean that you suspect what it is, father?"</p> + +<p>"Why—bless my soul!—but, after all, as they will tell me to-morrow, +it's useless to indulge in conjectures. Ah! there's something which +interests me much more than that."</p> + +<p>"What is it, father?"</p> + +<p>"The duel that Batonnin told us about. I pretended, before him, not to +put any faith in what he said; but, if all that he told us is true, why, +your sister's husband didn't hurt himself by falling on the stairs—and +it must have been Gustave with whom he fought."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, father, no; I give you my word that it wasn't Gustave."</p> + +<p>"Aha! so you know the truth, do you? and you never told me anything +about it?"<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a></p> + +<p>"Fanny and her husband didn't want it to become known, and she made me +promise not to mention it to you."</p> + +<p>"But tell me whom Auguste did fight with?"</p> + +<p>"With a man who was drunk, and who didn't know what he was +saying—that's the whole of it. And Auguste didn't attach the slightest +importance to it."</p> + +<p>"Very good! I hope he didn't; but I am convinced, none the less, that +Gustave was mixed up in it in some way, and I repeat what I have said to +you before: that young man must never come here again!—Good-night, my +dear!"</p> + +<p>"Good-night, father!"</p> + +<p>Adolphine retired to her own room; the two appointments with her father, +solicited by two men who had persecuted her with their attentions during +the evening, caused her a vague feeling of uneasiness; a secret +presentiment told her that she would be the subject of the interviews to +be held on the morrow, and she was impatient to know whether her fears +were justified.</p> + +<p>The next day, Adolphine did not leave her room, in order to avoid +meeting the two gentlemen who had appointments with her father. At +precisely eleven o'clock she heard the bell, and honest Madeleine came +and said to her:</p> + +<p>"It's the tall young man who sang with you last night, mamzelle; he +asked for monsieur your father, and he's with him now."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Madeleine; if he should happen to ask for me, you must tell +him that I have a headache and cannot leave my room."</p> + +<p>"I understand, mamzelle."</p> + +<p>"And come and tell me when he has gone."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamzelle."<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine counted the minutes; but Anatole had not gone when the clock +struck twelve. She lost her patience; she said to herself:</p> + +<p>"What can that man have to say to father, that takes such a long time? +For a young man, he's very talkative. If he doesn't go soon, he'll meet +the count. But, after all, it makes no difference to me."</p> + +<p>At last, about half-past twelve, Monsieur de Raincy took his leave. +Madeleine came to inform her young mistress, and she was on the point of +going to her father, when the bell rang again.</p> + +<p>It was Monsieur de la Bérinière. He had come ahead of time, but he was +at once ushered into Monsieur Gerbault's study. Madeleine informed +Adolphine of his arrival, and received the same orders as before, in +case the count should ask permission to pay his respects to her +mistress.</p> + +<p>This second interview was much shorter; Monsieur de la Bérinière went +away before one o'clock. Thereupon, Monsieur Gerbault went up to his +daughter's room, with a gratified air, and rubbing his hands—a sign of +satisfaction common to all nations. Why? No one has ever been able to +find out.</p> + +<p>"Well, father?" murmured Adolphine, in a voice which betrayed some +slight emotion; "did both of them come?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear girl. Oh! they were very prompt; indeed the count was a +little ahead of time; that's easily understood: the oldest are always in +the greatest hurry."</p> + +<p>"And what did they say to you? must you keep it secret?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed; since you were the sole subject of both interviews."</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and, frankly, I had some suspicion.—And you?"<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a></p> + +<p>"I—why—— Oh! I beg you, my dear father, tell me at once what they +wanted to say to you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, the same motive brought them both; they both came to ask +me for your hand."</p> + +<p>"My hand?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, young De Raincy said: 'I love mademoiselle your +daughter, she is an excellent musician, I adore music, we will sing +together all day; I have no profession, but I have fifteen thousand +francs a year in government securities, and with that one can live +comfortably when one isn't ambitious; and music is a pleasure which +necessitates very small expense. It has seemed to me that Mademoiselle +Adolphine does not care for balls and great parties, like her sister; so +I may hope that she will be happy with me. You will give her a <i>dot</i> of +twenty thousand francs; I know it, and it's enough for me; I don't ask +for any more.'—So much for number one.—Monsieur de la Bérinière was +more eager, more impetuous, in his suit. 'I adore Mademoiselle +Adolphine,' he said, 'I am mad over her; her delightful voice has turned +my head, and I renounce my liberty for her. Indeed, I believe I am +destined to enter your family, for I will not conceal from you that I +was deeply in love with your other daughter; but Monléard was quicker +than I, and stole her away from me.—So, this time I declare myself +promptly, because I don't propose that your younger daughter shall +escape me as her sister did; unless, of course, she will have none of +me; but I venture to hope the contrary; I am no longer in my first +youth, but my heart is as easily touched as it was at twenty. In short, +I offer your daughter thirty thousand francs a year, and the title of +countess—which always flatters a young woman's ear; I lay these at her +feet, with<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> the most ardent love. Be good enough to communicate my offer +to her, and I will come to-morrow for your answer.'"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! And what answer did you make to all that, father?"</p> + +<p>"My dear child, the only answer that a father should make to honorable +men, of good standing in society, who ask him for his daughter's hand: +'Your offer flatters me, does me honor, and, for my part, I will +interpose no obstacle to the fulfilment of your wishes; but, as marriage +is an act which has a decisive influence upon the happiness of one's +whole life, I have determined to allow my daughters absolute freedom in +the matter of choosing a husband, and never to enforce my wishes in +opposition to theirs.'"</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear, good father! how good it is of you, not to force your +children to marry!"</p> + +<p>"Now, my dear love, it is for you to choose. These two offers are +equally advantageous. Monsieur de la Bérinière makes you a countess, +with thirty thousand francs a year—that is very attractive. To be sure, +he is sixty years old, which lessens the attraction. Monsieur Anatole de +Raincy is not a count; but he is of a very old family; he has only +fifteen thousand francs a year, but he is only twenty-seven, and that's +a valuable asset. Now, you are fully posted as to these two aspirants to +your hand. Reflect and choose."</p> + +<p>"Oh! the reflecting is all done, father! I want neither of them."</p> + +<p>"What! you refuse?"</p> + +<p>"I refuse them both."</p> + +<p>"But you are unreasonable, my child!—Either of the two marriages would +be honorable; it would be hard to<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a> find a better match in respect to +fortune; indeed, I am afraid that you'll never do so well."</p> + +<p>"You know, don't you, father, that I care nothing about money?"</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, it isn't well, perhaps, to love money as your sister +loves it; but it isn't well to despise it, either. It is a great help to +happiness. Come, between ourselves, why do you refuse both of these two +offers? The count, I can understand; he's too old for you; but Monsieur +Anatole is young, not a bad-looking fellow——"</p> + +<p>"I refuse them, father, because I want to love my husband, and I shall +never love Monsieur de la Bérinière or Monsieur de Raincy."</p> + +<p>"So you are quite determined, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely. You can tell them that I don't want to marry now. A +well-bred man understands that that's a polite way of refusing."</p> + +<p>"Very good, since you have made up your mind. Gad! you're not much like +your sister! You see, she is rich, and happy! always at some festivity, +always enjoying herself!"</p> + +<p>"I don't envy her happiness; I should not be happy in the life she +leads."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's say no more about it."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault left his daughter; but she could read in his eyes that +he was not pleased that she had refused the two eligible husbands who +had offered themselves. As for Adolphine, she said to herself:</p> + +<p>"I cannot marry either of those men, for I love someone else. The man I +love will never marry me,—I know that,—for he never thinks of me! But +I choose to have the right to think of him always."<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV<br /><br /> +GUSTAVE'S UNCLE</h2> + +<p>After his duel with Auguste Monléard, Cherami returned to his lodgings, +whistling a polka. He found his hostess where he had left her, standing +in her doorway.</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard was very inquisitive; it had stirred her curiosity to +the highest pitch to see her tenant go away with the young exquisite who +owned a cabriolet; and when the former returned alone, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Well! what have you done with him?"</p> + +<p>"With whom? with what?"</p> + +<p>"Why, with that elegant gentleman who went away with you on foot,—a +strange thing to do when he has a cabriolet at his command. You might +just as well have got into it, both of you, as it followed you."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't worth while to ride; we only went a little way."</p> + +<p>"Oho! where did you go?"</p> + +<p>"To that vacant lot over yonder, by the theatre."</p> + +<p>"What in the world did you go there for? Does your friend think of +buying the lot?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. We went there to fight. It's a very convenient place for +that."</p> + +<p>"To fight? Is it possible!"</p> + +<p>"As I have the honor to tell you."</p> + +<p>"With your fists?"</p> + +<p>"Madame Louchard, you always imagine that you are talking to the clowns +who are your usual associates. Understand, pray, that a man like me +doesn't fight with<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> his fists! I sometimes send the toe of my boot into +the fleshy part of an upstart who bores me—but when it's a question of +a duel, that's another affair."</p> + +<p>"What did you fight with, then?"</p> + +<p>"With swords."</p> + +<p>"You didn't have any."</p> + +<p>"That gentleman had a whole arsenal in his carriage."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! And which of you was killed?"</p> + +<p>"Why, your question is rather beside the mark. Do I look like a dead +man?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's so. It was the other man, then? Poor young man!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed; he isn't dead, and he won't die. A simple wound—and +I warned him, too; I said: 'You strike down too much!'—He fences rather +well, but he isn't in my class yet."</p> + +<p>"You villain! always in trouble—fighting duels. But what if he had +killed you, eh?"</p> + +<p>"In that case, superb Louchard, I should not, at this moment, have the +pleasure of gazing upon your strongly-marked features."</p> + +<p>"And the cause of your duel?"</p> + +<p>"A trifle—a mere nothing—a jest. But that young man's coming prevented +me from breakfasting, and I feel the need of attending to that important +function. I go to my room to get my pretty cane with the agate head, and +I fly to the Véfour of the Quarter. But, no; there isn't one here, and, +as I wish to breakfast very well indeed, I will go as far as Passoir's."</p> + +<p>"Anyone can see that you're in funds."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, it is true, divine hostess."</p> + +<p>"And you don't leave me a little on account."</p> + +<p>"We will talk of that later."<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami took his new cane, placed his new hat on the side of his head, +and with his pockets lined with the money he had won at écarté the night +before, left the house, saying:</p> + +<p>"I have my cue!"</p> + +<p>According to his custom, Cherami spent his gold pieces freely. But it +seemed that that money had brought him luck. Being a great lover of the +game of billiards, he did not fail, after dinner, to go and play pool at +a café where he knew that there was always a game in progress in the +evening; and for some days fortune favored him so persistently, that all +the frequenters of the café frowned when he appeared, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Here comes the pool-shark!"</p> + +<p>But one evening the luck turned; Cherami left the café with empty +pockets.</p> + +<p>"Palsambleu!" he said to himself; "here I am reduced to extremities +again!—For I shall not receive my quarterly income for a fortnight, and +that stingy Bernardin wouldn't pay me a single day in advance. But why +wouldn't this be a good time to pay a little visit to our young friend +Gustave, in whose behalf I fought a duel, and who has not even come to +thank me? By the way, I think I didn't give him my address, and, on the +other hand, he didn't give me his. But he lives with his Uncle +Grandcourt; he's a banker, or a merchant, no matter which; I ought to +find his address in the <i>Almanack du Commerce.</i> To-morrow I will obtain +it, and I will go and bid friend Gustave good-day. And if he is still in +the depths, I'll dine with him again. He will tell me his woes, and I +will order the dinner. And at dessert he certainly will lend me a +hundred francs to carry me to my next quarterly payment—that will be<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> +easy to manage. Indeed, I am convinced that dear Gustave is surprised at +my non-appearance, and that he is looking for me everywhere.—But, to +make up for my neglect, I'll not leave him for a fortnight."</p> + +<p>The next day, Cherami found Monsieur Grandcourt's address, and lost no +time in betaking himself thither. Having arrived at a handsome house in +Faubourg Montmartre, he tapped on the concierge's window with his pretty +cane.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Grandcourt, the banker?"</p> + +<p>"His offices are on the ground floor, at the rear, right-hand door."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Shall I find Monsieur Gustave Darlemont in the office?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the banker's nephew, who is employed by his uncle."</p> + +<p>"Faith! monsieur, I don't know; there are several clerks; I don't know +their names."</p> + +<p>"You don't seem very well posted, that's a fact. All right; I'll go to +the office, and it's to be hoped that someone will be able to answer me +there."</p> + +<p>Cherami walked to the rear of the building, and entered a room where an +elderly clerk, half reclining on a ledger, was adding columns of +figures.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell me where I can find my friend Gustave?"</p> + +<p>The clerk made no reply, but continued to mutter:</p> + +<p>"Forty-five, fifty-two, four, six, sixty."</p> + +<p>"Is this old fossil afflicted with deafness, I wonder?" said Cherami to +himself.—"I ask you, monsieur," he added aloud, "to direct me to the +desk—the office—the chamber of my friend Gustave; don't you hear me?"<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a></p> + +<p>"Eight and eight are sixteen—and sixteen, thirty-two."</p> + +<p>"Sacrebleu! we've known for a long while that eight and eight are +sixteen! Is it such nonsense as that that keeps you from answering me?"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Cherami seized the old clerk's collar and shook him +roughly. He turned upon his assailant in a rage, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"I am adding my balances, monsieur; and when I am adding, no one has any +right to disturb me—do you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Well, well! you are another pretty specimen, you are! They ought to +frame you and hang you up in the water-closet!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"There, there, my old mummy; let's not lose our temper. Where is +Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew?"</p> + +<p>"As if I knew, monsieur! I keep accounts, and nothing else, and I can't +talk. You have put me out; I must begin all over again!"</p> + +<p>"Very well, you shall begin again; nothing trains the youthful mind like +addition. But you must answer my question first."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Grandcourt's private office is at the end of this passage, +monsieur. Go and tell him what you want, and leave me to my accounts."</p> + +<p>"All right! Do you know, I believe that excessive adding has hindered +you sadly in your growth."</p> + +<p>Cherami followed the passage, and, upon turning the knob of a door at +the end, found himself in the banker's office. Monsieur Grandcourt was +writing at his desk; being accustomed to the frequent coming and going +of his clerks, he went on writing without looking up.</p> + +<p>Cherami closed the door, examined Monsieur Grandcourt for a moment, and +said to himself:<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a></p> + +<p>"That's our uncle—I recognize him. I never saw him but once, but that's +enough. Besides, he has one of those peppery faces which have a certain +<i>chic</i>."</p> + +<p>He walked to the desk and removed his hat, saying:</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, dear uncle! You are at work, I see. Bigre! it seems that +dig's the word in your shop; for I found outside here an old pensioner +so buried in his figures that I couldn't see the end of his nose.—Well, +how does it go?—Don't you know me? I am Arthur Cherami."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt raised his head, and stared in utter amazement at +the individual before him.</p> + +<p>"Might I know, monsieur," he rejoined, "what you want, what brings you +here? for I probably didn't understand what you said."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you didn't understand, eh? Are you adding figures, too? That +occupation seems to deaden the intellect. But, never mind about that! So +you don't recognize me, dear uncle?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur, no; and I confess that I fail to understand this title of +<i>uncle</i> which you persist in giving me."</p> + +<p>"That is a title of affection, because I am a friend of your +nephew—dear Gustave—who was so desperate on the day that his faithless +Fanny married another. And on that same day, I dined with him at +Deffieux's. He was absolutely determined to speak to the lovely bride, +when you fell into our private room like a bombshell, and dragged the +poor fellow away."</p> + +<p>"Ah! very good, monsieur! now I understand, and I recognize you. Yes, it +was you who were at the restaurant with my nephew—and you attempted to +interfere with my taking him away."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> he was so anxious to see his Fanny! I have always protected +love affairs."<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a></p> + +<p>"And do you realize, monsieur, all that might have resulted from an +interview between Gustave and that young woman?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no more, I fancy, than did actually happen—a duel, that's all!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, monsieur? My nephew fought no duel; that I know; I +didn't leave him until the very moment of his departure."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't say that it was he who fought; it was I; but it amounts +to the same thing."</p> + +<p>"What! you fought a duel—you?"</p> + +<p>"Just a little, nephew—I mean, uncle. Indeed, I administered to the +young husband a very neat sword-thrust in the arm. However, he's a stout +fellow; but he holds himself back too much in fencing; that's very +dangerous."</p> + +<p>"You fought with Monsieur Monléard?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes! what of it? You open your eyes like porte cochères! One would +say that it was a most extraordinary thing!"</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, it's a horrible thing for you to have done! You have +compromised that young woman, you have compromised my nephew, you +have——"</p> + +<p>"Sacrebleu! do you know that you make me tired! Where the devil did I +get an uncle like this, who doesn't appreciate the services I have +rendered his nephew?"</p> + +<p>"A little less noise, monsieur, if you please!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you don't like that! Very good! but, no! You are Gustave's uncle; I +cannot fight with you; it would grieve him. After all, my business isn't +with you; and if that old baked apple out yonder had told me where I +could find your nephew, you wouldn't have had a call from me. Tell me at +once, and I'll make my bow."</p> + +<p>"You want to see Gustave?"<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a></p> + +<p>"That was my only reason for coming here."</p> + +<p>"My nephew is not now in France, monsieur; he is in Spain."</p> + +<p>"In Spain? Do you mean it? it isn't a sell?"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt made a gesture of impatience, whereupon Cherami +continued:</p> + +<p>"Don't you like the word? You surprise me! It is adopted now in the best +society. It's like <i>balancé.</i> You say: 'I have <i>balancé</i> So-and-so,' +which means: 'I have sent him about his business.' We have enriched the +French language with a lot of such locutions, more or less picturesque. +Ah! the Latin tongue is much more forcible, much more complete. You can +say things in Latin that you'd never dare to say in French. Look you, +for example, Plautus, in his comedies,—in <i>Casina</i>, I believe,—makes +an amorous old man say, when he thinks of his mistress:</p> + +<p class="c">"'Jam, Hercle, amplexari, jam osculari gestio!'</p> + +<p>Ah! they were great jokers, those Latin and Greek authors! Write +comedies now like those of Aristophanes—you'd have a warm reception! +They are beginning already to find Molière too free! We are becoming +very refined, very severe, in the matter of language! Does that mean +that we are growing more virtuous? Frankly, I don't think it. Habits, +customs, and manners change; but passions, vices, absurdities, are +always the same!"</p> + +<p>The banker's brow lost some of its wrinkles as he listened to Cherami. +He scrutinized him more carefully, and said:</p> + +<p>"How does it happen, monsieur, that, having received a good education, +knowing your classics as you do, in<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> short, being a well-informed man, +you do not make use of your knowledge, to——"</p> + +<p>"To do what? To buy a coat? Is that what you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! something like it."</p> + +<p>"I love independence, liberty, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Those words have been sadly abused of late, monsieur. And if your love +of liberty compels you to go abroad in shabby clothes, it seems to me +that you would do well to prefer love of work to it."</p> + +<p>"Look you, my dear monsieur, I believe that you are undertaking to +preach to me—and I have never stood that from anybody!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that is the great mistake you have made."</p> + +<p>"Corbleu! you are lucky to be the uncle of a young man for whom I felt +at once a sincere affection.—Let us say no more. Gustave is in Spain?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"For a long time?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell exactly."</p> + +<p>"That's as good a way as any of not telling me. But when he is in Paris, +I promise you that I shall not fail to find him."</p> + +<p>"Have you anything important to say to him, monsieur? if so, tell it to +me, and I will transmit it."</p> + +<p>Cherami reflected a moment, then pulled his hat over his eyes, and said:</p> + +<p>"No, I simply wanted to shake hands with him, to inquire for his health, +and to find out whether he is finally cured of his love for the +faithless Fanny."</p> + +<p>"His letters tell me that his health is good. As for his foolish passion +for a woman who never loved him, I like to believe that it has succumbed +to absence."<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a></p> + +<p>"Say rather to the glances of the Andalusians; for they have terrible +eyes, those Spanish women! I know something of them. I have known three, +who——"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, monsieur; but I am very busy, and, if you have nothing else +to say to me——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you dismiss me?—Very good; that's very polite. I have my cue!"</p> + +<p>"You have your cue? What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! it's of no consequence. It's a little phrase which I often use; +it's as if I said: 'I see where I stand.'"</p> + +<p>"That makes a difference, monsieur. I wish you good-morning!"</p> + +<p>"And I wish you nothing at all!"</p> + +<p>Thereupon Cherami left the banker's office, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"There's a tough old uncle for you! I think I won't borrow money of +him—I won't do him that honor. No, never! especially as he wouldn't +lend me any."</p> + +<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI<br /><br /> +A CAFÉ ACQUAINTANCE</h2> + +<p>Cherami strolled about at random for some time, seeking some person of +his acquaintance with whom he could negotiate a small loan. But he saw +few save unfamiliar faces, and if by chance he did espy some former +friend, that friend turned away to avoid meeting him.</p> + +<p>"The devil!" said Cherami to himself; "the day opens badly! I counted on +Gustave for breakfast, and now it's after twelve o'clock, and I'm as +hungry as a cannibal. However, if I must, I will dispose of my new +cane.<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> I shall be sorry to do it, for it's a pretty one—a genuine +rattan. But I should be still more sorry to go without breakfast. It +must have cost at least thirty francs. A dealer will give me six for +it,—they have all the cheek they need, those fellows,—and he'll act as +if he were doing me a favor! I prefer to leave it in pawn for a +beefsteak and its accessories. Come, let us look for a café where we can +get a good breakfast."</p> + +<p>Cherami was then on the boulevard, where there is no lack of cafés; for +one cannot walk thirty feet without passing one. The ex-Beau Arthur +entered the establishment which had the most modern show-front, seated +himself at a table, hung up his hat, laid his cane on the seat, and +summoned the waiter with that resounding voice and in that arrogant tone +which never fail to produce their effect on the waiters in a café.</p> + +<p>"What does monsieur wish?"</p> + +<p>"Radishes, sardines, and butter; then a beefsteak-châteaubriand, rare, +with roquefort and a bottle of bordeaux. After that, we will see. +Go!—That cane is certainly worth all that I have ordered," he said to +himself; "yes, and I can safely add a cup of coffee and a <i>petit verre.</i> +At all events, if they are not satisfied, I will do like Bilboquet in +<i>Les Saltimbanques</i>, I will pledge my signature.—I am annoyed, all the +same, to find that my young friend Gustave is in Spain. But is he really +in Spain? That is what I must find out."</p> + +<p>Cherami had eaten his hors-d'œuvre, and was about to attack his +beefsteak-châteaubriand, when a short man, dressed with some pretension, +with a stupid face and a bald head which seemed to beg for a wig, took +his place at the table next to his, and sat down on the cane which +Cherami had laid on the bench.<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a></p> + +<p>The new-comer jumped to his feet, putting his hand to his posterior, and +exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Great heaven! what am I sitting on?"</p> + +<p>Cherami picked up his cane and stood it on the floor, between himself +and his neighbor.</p> + +<p>"It's lucky for you that you didn't break it," he said; "for it would +have cost you a pretty penny!"</p> + +<p>"I didn't do it purposely, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"No matter! if you had broken it, you'd have paid for it!"</p> + +<p>"And I hurt myself, too."</p> + +<p>"If it had been a blackthorn stick, it would have hurt you much more."</p> + +<p>The gentleman did not seem to be consoled by that reflection; he paid no +attention to the cane, but was intent only upon rubbing the wounded part +of his anatomy. Then he ordered a glass of grog, picked up a newspaper, +and began to read, in evident ill-humor. But Cherami, who loved to +converse, kept on talking while he ate.</p> + +<p>"I went into a public house one day," he said; "I had ridden horseback +six leagues without dismounting, and was naturally very tired. I walked +into the common-room, and threw myself into an easy-chair near the +fireplace. But as I sat down, a piercing shriek escaped me. Everybody +crowded around me: 'What is it, monsieur? what's the matter? what has +happened to you?'—But I could only point to my posterior, saying: 'I +don't know what I sat down on, but I am wounded—badly wounded!'—The +hostess wanted to look and see what it was—she wanted to dress the +wound. She was a bright-eyed hussy, with a buxom figure. I would gladly +have done as much for her, if she had been wounded. But the husband +interposed, considering the<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> location of the wound. He declared that he +was the only one of the family who ought to meddle with it. Well, they +investigated.—I had sat down on a nail, a huge carpenter's nail. How +did it happen to be there—with the point up? That is something nobody +could explain. But the important thing was to remove it. The landlord +couldn't do it. He sent for a locksmith with his pincers, and he had +such hard work pulling the infernal spike out of my rump, that, when he +did get it out, it looked more like a corkscrew than a nail!"</p> + +<p>The bald party made no other comment on this story than a low grunt, and +continued to read his newspaper.</p> + +<p>Cherami scrutinized him for some minutes, saying to himself: "Where in +the devil have I seen that phiz? I can't remember, but this certainly +isn't the first time that I have had the misfortune to meet this +bald-headed boor.—It seems that the story of my nail didn't affect you, +monsieur?" he said aloud to his neighbor, who was stirring his grog.</p> + +<p>"I paid very little attention to it, monsieur. When I am reading the +paper, I am engrossed by my reading."</p> + +<p>"And you believe everything you find in it, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Why not, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I should judge that you were quite capable of it!—But you don't +know how to fix your grog, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"What! I don't know how to fix my grog?"</p> + +<p>"No, not at all. You keep stirring and stirring; but you don't crush the +piece of lemon-peel with your spoon and squeeze out the juice."</p> + +<p>"How does it concern you, monsieur, whether I crush my lemon-peel or +not? If it suits me to drink my grog like this, am I not at liberty to +do it?"<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! to be sure! I give you good advice—you don't want it. As you +please! I'll bet that you're looking through the advertisements in the +paper to find something to make the hair grow?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur. Let me tell you that if I wanted hair, I could have as +much as anybody."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it, with your money; you could wear three wigs, one on +top of another; that would give you a superb head of hair!"</p> + +<p>"But I don't like artificial things, monsieur; I detest what is false! +The truth before everything!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I understand, then, why you parade your skull. But if you propose +always to show us the truth, that may carry you rather far! That +goddess's costume is a little scanty, or rather she has none at all. She +appears to the world quite naked! I would like to see you go out in the +street in that condition, for love of the truth. I fancy that a police +officer wouldn't listen to that excuse. Look you, monsieur, it has often +been said that it isn't always well to tell the truth; we might add that +it isn't always well to see it. In general, a man is wise to conceal his +infirmities, his deformities, and whatever he may have that is +unpleasant to look at; he does well to make himself as attractive, or as +little unattractive, as possible. To embellish, to seek to please, such +seems to be the purpose of nature, everywhere and in everything. Look at +a mother with her child: her first care is to dress it up, to try to +embellish it. Women are born with the instinct of coquetry; men have it, +too, although the rush and hurry of business compels them to pay less +heed to their persons. When you take lodgings, your first care is to +make them attractive; if you have a garden, you embellish it by planting +flowers in it; if you<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> give a dinner party, you want it to be stylish, +sumptuous, enriched by handsome plate.—For instance, see this thin +glass from which I am drinking my claret: it improves the wine, +monsieur; it makes it taste better—for the wine would seem much less +delicious to me if it were served in a preserve-jar. And take your own +case—would you have liked it if they had brought you your grog in a +wash-basin, eh?—Deuce take me! I believe the little fellow isn't +listening!" exclaimed Cherami, suddenly interrupting his dissertation. +"Where in the world have I seen that face?—Waiter! my coffee!"</p> + +<p>As he threw himself back on the bench, Cherami knocked his cane against +his neighbor. Whereupon the latter turned, and pushed the cane away, +muttering:</p> + +<p>"Have you made a wager to annoy me?"</p> + +<p>"What's that! a wager—just because my cane slipped against you? I say, +my dear monsieur, who are so attached to the truth, you're very touchy, +aren't you?"</p> + +<p>The bald man made no reply; as he pushed the cane away, he had glanced +at it, and from that moment he kept his eyes fixed upon it.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are admiring my cane now?" said Arthur; "you begin to +understand that it would have been a pity to break it!—It's very neat."</p> + +<p>Still the bald man made no reply, but raised his eyes and examined the +hat which its owner had hung on a hook. He scrutinized it so carefully +that Cherami lost patience, and said to himself:</p> + +<p>"Well, well! what's the matter with this creature! How much longer is he +going to stare at my hat and cane? He's beginning to make me very +weary."<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a>XXVII<br /><br /> +THE CANE AND THE HAT</h2> + +<p>At last, the little man made up his mind to speak:</p> + +<p>"That cane, monsieur—with that agate head; it's very singular!"</p> + +<p>"You find that my cane has a singular look? Distinguished, you mean, I +doubt not?"</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, the fact is, that that cane—the more I look at it—a +rattan—exactly!—and the hat, too—the same kind of a band—very +broad——"</p> + +<p>"Tell me, monsieur—when you have finished, will you very kindly explain +yourself?" said Cherami. He began to suspect who his companion was, but +he did not choose to let it appear.</p> + +<p>"This is how it is, monsieur: I had a cane exactly like this one—so +much like it that I could swear it was the same one."</p> + +<p>"We see canes that look just alike, every day, monsieur; there's nothing +extraordinary in that; there are many men who are mistaken for one +another, and yet there is an expression, an animation, on a man's face +which you would seek in vain on the head of a cane."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, monsieur; but all canes haven't an agate head cut like this +one."</p> + +<p>"If they had, they would be too common, and I wouldn't want one."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, I lost my cane and my hat at a wedding party which I +attended about two months ago; that<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a> is to say, I didn't positively lose +them, but they were exchanged—and I didn't gain by the change! In place +of my hat, which had a band exactly like this—very broad—and the same +shape—they left a pitiful, disgraceful thing; and I was obliged to buy +a new one the next day; and in place of my cane I found a sort of +switch, of the kind they beat clothes with—not worth six sous!"</p> + +<p>"Corbleu! monsieur, what do you mean to imply by all this? This cane +that you lost, with an agate head—and your hat with a band like +this—do you know that I am beginning to lose my temper? Do you mean to +say that I stole your cane?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur—but——"</p> + +<p>"Then you insult me, and I will not brook an insult!—When we leave this +café, we will go and cut each other's throats, like a couple of young +dandies!"</p> + +<p>"Never, monsieur; not by any means! I am mistaken, monsieur; I am wrong. +No, no, it isn't my cane—let it be as if I had said nothing; I beg your +pardon."</p> + +<p>The little bald man, trembling like a leaf, seemed inclined to disappear +under the table at which he was seated. Cherami, having reflected two or +three minutes, looked at him with an affable expression, and said:</p> + +<p>"Didn't you lose something else at the party you mentioned just now."</p> + +<p>"Something else? yes, I did, monsieur; I was in bad luck that night! +When I arrived at the ball, I had lost one of my gloves—a yellow glove. +To be sure, it was returned to me later—but in such a state!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! now I understand! I recognize you now!"</p> + +<p>"You recognize me?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure—you are Monsieur Courbichon."</p> + +<p><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>"That's my name, sure enough! But how——?"</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! we met at our friend Blanquette's little party. Dear Monsieur +Courbichon! I have been looking for you a long while!"</p> + +<p>"You have been looking for me, monsieur? For what, pray?"</p> + +<p>"For what? Why, to return your cane."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, I don't know whether——"</p> + +<p>"And your hat too, if you insist upon it; but, as the one you have now +is newer, you would lose again by the change. But the cane is certainly +yours; do you consider me capable of keeping something that doesn't +belong to me,—that is in my possession only as the result of a +mistake?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, I am sensible——"</p> + +<p>"You understand, of course, that before returning this cane, which I +carried away by mistake from my friend Blanquette's party, I wished to +be sure of returning it to its owner and no one else. Have you my +switch?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; I haven't it—I don't even know what has become of it."</p> + +<p>"Bigre! I am very sorry for that. You thought, I suppose, that it was +just a common switch; you didn't see that it was a <i>nerf de bœuf</i>, +which came from China, where they make a great many canes of that +material, because it bends and never breaks. You value it at six sous, +but it was worth forty francs."</p> + +<p>"Oh! if I had known that——"</p> + +<p>"You'd have taken more care of it. However, that's a trifling mishap. +You pay for what I have eaten, and we will dine together; then we shall +be quits."</p> + +<p>"What, monsieur, you propose——"</p> + +<p>"Pray take your cane; it's a fascinating thing! Everybody stared at it. +Dear Courbichon! I am delighted<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a> to have returned it to you; but I +greatly regret my Chinese switch! Such is very rare in Paris. Very few +like it come here from China.—I say, waiter, how much do I owe?"</p> + +<p>"Seven francs fifty, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Monsieur here will attend to it."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Courbichon did not seem overjoyed to pay for his neighbor's +breakfast; however, he did it. They left the café together, and, when +they were on the boulevard, Cherami passed his arm through that of the +owner of the cane, saying:</p> + +<p>"Where shall we go now?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! monsieur, I had intended to go for a stroll on the +Champs-Élysées. It's a fine day, and near the end of September; we must +make the most of these last good days. And then, I am very fond of +watching them play bowls."</p> + +<p>"Very good! that suits me—that suits me to the very tick: let us go to +the Champs-Élysées, and see them play bowls. Walking helps the +digestion; it gives one an appetite. We will dine there; I know all the +good restaurants on the Champs-Élysées. Oh! never fear, Papa Courbichon, +you are with a buck who knows what good living is!"</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it, monsieur, but——"</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! what a pretty cane! everybody admires it as they pass. It +must have cost a lot?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you, monsieur; it's a present from my nephew."</p> + +<p>"Ah, indeed! I was just saying to myself, that it's a surprising thing +that Monsieur Courbichon should have bought a cane like that. Your +nephew's a man of taste. What does he do?"<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a></p> + +<p>"He's in business. He has gone to America. This was his cane; he gave it +to me, because, as he said, he was going to a country where there are +plenty of canes, and it was useless for him to carry this one."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that he carries a piece of sugar-cane in his hand when he +goes out to walk?"</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you, I don't know. The cane suited me, because at need I +could use it to defend myself."</p> + +<p>"My Chinese switch was a famous weapon of defence, too."</p> + +<p>"What! a switch?"</p> + +<p>"Remember that it was a <i>nerf de bœuf.</i> I could have killed a calf +with it."</p> + +<p>"What a curious idea of those Chinese to make canes with <i>nerfs de +bœuf!</i>"</p> + +<p>"An additional proof, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, that the Chinese are +much more advanced than we are—much more progressive! They build houses +of india-rubber."</p> + +<p>"Hard rubber, of course?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether it's hard or not—it makes no difference. Pardieu! +Monsieur Courbichon, you must agree that there are lucky chances, and +that we were both happily inspired when we went to that café to-day!"</p> + +<p>"It is certain, monsieur, that otherwise——"</p> + +<p>"You would never have seen your charming cane again. Are you married, +Monsieur Courbichon?"</p> + +<p>"I have been married, monsieur, but I am a widower."</p> + +<p>"A superb position for a man still young and made to please the ladies."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, I am fifty-five."</p> + +<p>"That is the very prime of life, the age at which a man makes most +conquests, because he knows better<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a> how to go about it. Ah! I would like +to be fifty-five! I hope to get there, but I haven't yet. You have some +means?"</p> + +<p>"Five or six thousand francs a year, which I made in dried fruit."</p> + +<p>"A very pretty business!—That isn't a magnificent fortune, but it is +that pleasant mediocrity so highly praised by Horace. Do you know +Horace?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have seen it played at the Théâtre-Français."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I guess we will stop there! Have you children, excellent +Courbichon?"</p> + +<p>"I have a daughter, monsieur,—a married daughter; I have set her up in +business."</p> + +<p>"In dried fruit?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; she is in olive oil."</p> + +<p>"Oh! the deuce! that's very different! But it will preserve her longer. +You have no other daughter?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"What a pity!"</p> + +<p>"Why so, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Because I feel so strongly attracted to you that I would have asked her +hand in marriage. Faith! yes, I would have renounced my liberty, which I +have never done yet—but there's an end to everything. Does your +son-in-law enjoy good health?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur, excellent!"</p> + +<p>"So much the worse!"</p> + +<p>"Why so much the worse?"</p> + +<p>"Because, if he should die soon, I might marry his widow."</p> + +<p>"Oh! what an idea, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"He is in good health, so there's an end of that; let us say no more +about it. Don't be alarmed; I have<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> no idea of killing him. If he had +insulted me, I don't say——"</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, monsieur; but I should be very glad to know your +name."</p> + +<p>"My name? So you have forgotten it, have you? But I was called by name +often enough at young Blanquette's wedding party—while I was dancing +with Aunt Merlin."</p> + +<p>"I don't remember it."</p> + +<p>"My name is Arthur Cherami."</p> + +<p>Courbichon, thinking that his companion was addressing him as his dear +friend (<i>cher ami</i>), replied:</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, your name is Arthur—— Nothing more?"</p> + +<p>"What do you say? nothing more? Why, I have just told you—Arthur +Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I understand—Arthur; that's a very pretty name. Are you in +business?"</p> + +<p>"I don't do anything; I live on my income, like you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that's different! When one has enough to live on, one certainly has +the right to loaf as much as he pleases."</p> + +<p>"That's so, isn't it, my dear Courbichon? Ah! I am delighted to see that +we agree. We were destined to become close friends; it was written, as +the Arabs say."</p> + +<p>While conversing thus,—that is to say, while Cherami conversed and his +companion listened, with difficulty finding a chance to put in a word or +two from time to time,—they had reached the Champs-Élysées. They +sauntered toward a spot where a game of bowls was in progress, and +looked on for a while. According to his habit, Cherami made his +reflections aloud and gave his opinion on the strokes. He did not +hesitate to say: "That was wretchedly played!" to the face of the +player.<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> The latter, a youngster of sixteen years, came up to him with +an irritated air, crying:</p> + +<p>"What business is it of yours? Perhaps you wouldn't do as well!"</p> + +<p>"No, I flatter myself that I wouldn't do as well, for I would do much +better. And if you don't like what I say, my boy, just come with me. +There's a shooting-gallery yonder. I will take you for my target, and +you take me; we'll see which of us will bring the other down."</p> + +<p>The bowler retired without making any reply.</p> + +<p>"You are too quick, my dear Monsieur Arthur," said Courbichon, putting +his hand on Cherami's shoulder; "you take fire like saltpetre."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's the way I was made, my dear Courbichon. What would you +have—a man can't make himself over!—But just let anyone presume to +insult you, when you're with me! Bigre! a dwarf, a giant, a +colossus—it's all one to me; I would grind him to powder on the spot, +and it wouldn't take long!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the young bowler, who had returned to his game boiling with +rage, had formed a plan to revenge himself upon the person who had said +that he bowled badly; and when it was his turn to bowl, he threw the +ball with all his force in Cherami's direction, hoping that it would +strike his legs. But a small stone caused it to deviate slightly, and, +instead of striking Beau Arthur, it came in contact with Monsieur +Courbichon's legs. That gentleman staggered, and uttered a piercing +shriek. Cherami saw plainly whence the ball came, and saw the bowler +laughing uproariously. Instantly, snatching the cane from his +companion's hand, he ran toward the author of the assault, shouting:<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a></p> + +<p>"Never fear, my poor Courbichon; I will avenge you, and I'll do it +thoroughly, too. He'll have his rabbit, the villain!"</p> + +<p>The youngster who had thrown the ball fled when he saw Cherami running +toward him. But Cherami pursued him; while Monsieur Courbichon rubbed +his legs, saying:</p> + +<p>"This is the first time such a thing ever happened to me while I was +watching the game; and it's the more surprising, because I wasn't in +line with the pins. So it must have been done on purpose; but why should +the fellow aim at my legs? I didn't make any comment on his play—I +didn't have any dispute with him.—This will certainly leave a mark on +my legs.—Where in the deuce has Monsieur Arthur gone? That man is too +quick-tempered."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, Cherami returned, flushed and triumphant, crying:</p> + +<p>"You are avenged, my dear Courbichon! yes, what anyone would call +thoroughly avenged; the rascal has had what he deserved; and here's the +proof."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he handed his new friend his beautiful cane broken in two.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Courbichon was dumfounded, and gazed with an air of +consternation at the pieces of the cane.</p> + +<p>"Ah! mon Dieu!" he faltered; "it is broken!"</p> + +<p>"True—it is broken; but I broke it on the back of the ragamuffin who +threw his ball at your skittles—I mean, your legs."</p> + +<p>"What a pity! You struck him too hard."</p> + +<p>"One cannot strike an enemy too hard."</p> + +<p>"Such a pretty cane!"</p> + +<p>"You still have the pieces—or, at all events, the head; you can have it +put on another stick."</p> + +<p>"It was a genuine rattan."<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a></p> + +<p>"Pardieu! it was genuine enough; the fact that it broke so soon proves +that. But there are other rattans in the shops."</p> + +<p>"I'm very sorry that you broke my cane."</p> + +<p>"If you hadn't lost my Chinese switch, I would have beaten him with +that; and that wouldn't have broken, I promise you!"</p> + +<p>"It makes me feel very bad—my beautiful cane!"</p> + +<p>"Saperlotte! are you going to cry over it? Oughtn't you rather to thank +me for avenging the insult to your legs? Come, take your cane, and let +us go and dine; the walk has given me an appetite."</p> + +<p>Poor Courbichon, with a lachrymose expression, took the pieces of his +cane, and submitted to be led away by Cherami, who took his arm and +conducted him to one of the best restaurants on the Champs-Élysées. They +took their seats out-of-doors, at one of the tables surrounded by hedges +in such wise as to form private rooms with walls of verdure. Courbichon +placed the fragments of his cane on a chair by his side, heaving a +profound sigh; for his new friend intimidated him so that he no longer +dared, in his presence, to betray the chagrin caused by the spectacle of +his broken treasure.</p> + +<p>Cherami ordered the dinner, saying:</p> + +<p>"Rely on me; I will order the dinner; and as we are sensible men and +have no women with us, there's no need of our making fools of ourselves. +We don't want to have a magnificent feast, but simply to dine +comfortably. Is that your idea?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly; still——"</p> + +<p>"You have just the disposition I like! I shall mark with a white +cross—<i>album dies!</i>—the day which brought us together and enabled me +to return your cane. I regret<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> that you lost my Chinese switch! but you +have your cane; that's the main thing!"</p> + +<p>Whenever his new friend mentioned his cane, Monsieur Courbichon made a +wry face, but he did not venture to make any complaint. They proceeded +to dine: one, talking constantly as he ate; the other, eating almost +without speaking; and, although Cherami had informed his host that they +would dine like sensible men, when the bill was brought, it amounted to +twenty-two francs.</p> + +<p>"That is not too much," said Cherami, passing the check to his +companion; "for we have had a good dinner and punished our three +bottles."</p> + +<p>The little bald man seemed to be of a different opinion; he turned the +paper over and over in his hand, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!"</p> + +<p>"Well, my good Courbichon, that won't drain the sea dry! How many times +I have spent ten times as much on a dainty dinner, tête-à-tête with a +pretty woman! To be sure, we used to have all the delicacies of the +season—asparagus at thirty francs the bunch, strawberries at fifteen +francs, pineapples, wine of Constance.—The women adore that wine! they +delight in getting tipsy on Constance—in the bottle!—Have you ever +indulged in that sort of affair, amiable Courbichon? Oh! you must have +done it, many a time! That's where you lost your hair; eh, old boy?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!"</p> + +<p>"Those figures seem to worry you! Do you find a mistake in the +addition?"</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't that; but I am afraid I haven't enough money with me. I +paid quite a large amount at the café, this morning. I didn't expect to +spend so much<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> to-day. Would you be kind enough to lend me what I need?"</p> + +<p>"I would do so with the most lively satisfaction, my estimable friend; +but, as I was feeling in my pocket just now, I discovered that I have +forgotten my purse; which, by the way, happens quite often, for I am +very absent-minded. I may add that, when I made that discovery, I +intended to borrow a few francs of you—as is often done between good +friends; for what's the use of friendship, if not to oblige? O divine +friendship! gift of the gods!"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! what are we going to do, if we haven't enough money between +us to pay for our dinner?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you be alarmed! I have found myself in that position more than +once. You can leave your cane in pawn."</p> + +<p>"My cane! When it was whole, that might have been—but now I can only +offer some pieces of a cane as a pledge."</p> + +<p>"Then leave your watch, my friend."</p> + +<p>"I haven't worn it since my last one was stolen."</p> + +<p>"But don't worry! They will give us credit on our respectable +appearance."</p> + +<p>"Let me see; with every sou I can find—— Search your pockets, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that's useless; I never carry money loose in my pockets. I have my +purse, or I haven't it."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Courbichon, having collected all that he had in his pockets, +could find only twelve francs and two sous. But suddenly, upon renewing +his search, he produced something carefully wrapped in paper, and that +something proved to be a gold piece of ten francs. The bald man's face +lightened.<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah!" he cried; "the ten francs that I loaned to Mathieu, and that he +paid back this morning; I had forgotten them. That makes up the amount +and two sous over—for the waiter."</p> + +<p>"If I were in your place," said Cherami, "I would keep Mathieu's ten +francs, so that we might have something to refresh ourselves with when +we go back; and I would leave my cane for the balance."</p> + +<p>"What! you want me to ask for credit when I have enough money to pay the +bill?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't enough; for with a bill of twenty-two francs, you can't +think of giving the waiter less than twenty sous; if you offer him two, +he'll throw them in your face."</p> + +<p>"If he refuses them, he'll get nothing at all—so much the worse for +him! but I shall pay my bill."</p> + +<p>"And suppose you feel the need of something while we are walking back?"</p> + +<p>"We have dined so well that I shall not want anything."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, you may have an attack of indigestion—you are very +red already—and then you'll want a glass of sugar and water."</p> + +<p>"I can do without it; I am not in the habit of being sick."</p> + +<p>"There are lots of things we're not in the habit of having, and yet they +come—as, sudden death, for example; certainly one hasn't the habit of +it, and it takes you all of a sudden."</p> + +<p>Cherami's arguments were of no avail; Monsieur Courbichon held his +ground. He called the waiter, paid for his dinner, and told him that he +gave him only two sous because he had nothing but banknotes which he did +not wish to change.<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a></p> + +<p>They left the restaurant. The little bald man carried the pieces of his +cane, but his face wore a very unamiable expression. Cherami, who had +ceased to enjoy his society, soon left him, saying:</p> + +<p>"Give me your address, my dear friend. I will come soon and bid you +good-morning."</p> + +<p>"It is useless, monsieur; I start to-morrow for Touraine, where I expect +to settle."</p> + +<p>"What! you are leaving Paris, too? Very well; if you go to Tours, send +me some plums—Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville, Hôtel du Bel-Air; but +prepay the freight!"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Courbichon saluted Cherami, and hurried off as fast as his +little legs would carry him, thrusting a fragment of his cane into each +pocket.</p> + +<h2><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII<br /><br /> +A CONSTANT LOVER</h2> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault transmitted his daughter's reply to the two suitors +who had asked for her hand. Young Anatole took his rebuff without any +indication of emotion. He said simply:</p> + +<p>"I am very thorry, becauth our two voitheth went very well together. I +am thure that we would have thung beautifully, and I am tho fond of +muthic that we thould have been very happy."</p> + +<p>The Comte de la Bérinière did not accept Adolphine's refusal of his +offer so philosophically.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, my dear Gerbault," he exclaimed, "I have bad luck with +your daughters! One marries<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a> just when I am about to ask for her hand. +This one will have none of me; for I understand perfectly that her reply +is simply a courteously disguised refusal. Well, I must make the best of +it! I will take a trip into Italy, and try to console myself. The +Italian women are not the equals of your daughters, but, at all events, +they will distract my thoughts."</p> + +<p>And, a few days later, the Comte de la Bérinière did, in fact, leave +Paris.</p> + +<p>But there was one person who was entirely unable to understand +Adolphine's conduct: that was her sister Fanny. Learning that she had +refused to marry either Monsieur de Raincy or the count, she went to see +her one morning.</p> + +<p>"Can what father tells me be true? You have refused to marry, when two +magnificent <i>partis</i> have offered themselves? But, no, it can't be true; +you haven't done that! or else you were sick at the time. Surely you +didn't realize what you said, when you gave father that answer?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I did, my dear love," Adolphine replied, with a smile; "I knew +perfectly well what I was saying; I had considered the matter fully when +I refused to marry those gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, I don't understand you! What reason, what motives, can +have prompted your refusal? The Comte de la Bérinière has thirty +thousand francs a year; and he would make you a countess. Just think of +it—a countess! Isn't it perfectly bewildering to think of being called +Madame la Comtesse?"</p> + +<p>"It tempts me very little."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, the count is no longer young; but, once married, if you +knew, my dear girl, how little you think<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a> about your husband's age! +Auguste might be sixty years old, now, and it would be all the same to +me."</p> + +<p>"My ideas are not at all the same as yours, as I have already told you."</p> + +<p>"But I have had experience now, and you ought to listen to me. Come, let +us admit that you refused the count because you thought he was too old, +which is the merest childishness—that reason doesn't apply in the case +of Monsieur de Raincy; he is young, good-looking——"</p> + +<p>"He has a stupid, self-sufficient manner."</p> + +<p>"But what difference does that make? I have always heard it said that a +stupid man makes an excellent husband. I should be glad enough if my +husband was stupid! Then he wouldn't keep flinging little sarcastic +remarks at me when I talk about the state of the market—of the rise or +fall in railway shares. Auguste is clever—yes, very clever. But what +good does it do me to have him clever and agreeable in society? In his +own home, a husband never uses his wit except to make sport of his wife. +Monsieur Anatole de Raincy isn't as rich as the count, but he has a very +good position in society. Where do you expect to find a better match?"</p> + +<p>"I expect nothing."</p> + +<p>"Why do you refuse these offers, then?"</p> + +<p>"Because I do not love either of them."</p> + +<p>"Ah! an excellent reason! How absurd you are, my poor Adolphine! +Happiness in wedlock does not consist in love, but in wealth, in luxury, +in the power to buy whatever we please, to have magnificent dresses +which drive other women mad, to go to balls and parties every day, to +have the best boxes at the theatre; not in having<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a> to sit sighing by +your husband while you watch the soup-kettle."</p> + +<p>"I have told you before that my tastes aren't the same as yours."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you say that, but, in reality, you would be very glad to cut as +fine a figure yourself. But you are romantic! perhaps you have a passion +hidden away in your heart. Oh! yes, to refuse two such chances as you +have had, you must be in love with somebody!"</p> + +<p>Adolphine blushed, but made haste to reply:</p> + +<p>"No, you are mistaken. I never think of any man; it is not right of you +to say that."</p> + +<p>"Very well! then, my dear girl, I say again that it was perfectly absurd +of you to refuse those two! Adieu! I am going to select some flowers for +my head, for I am going to a large party to-night, and I propose to +eclipse all the other women."</p> + +<p>Some little time after this interview, Adolphine was alone, thinking of +him whose image was always present in her mind; for she had not told her +sister the truth when she said that she never thought of any man; but +there are passions which one does not choose to confide except to a +heart capable of understanding them, and she was well aware that Fanny +would not understand hers.</p> + +<p>Madeleine suddenly entered her mistress's room, and said:</p> + +<p>"Mamzelle, a young man wants to speak to you."</p> + +<p>"To me? He probably has business with my father."</p> + +<p>"No, mamzelle; it was you he asked to see—and monsieur your father +isn't at home, either."</p> + +<p>"Very well! show him in."</p> + +<p>Soon the door opened anew, and Gustave appeared before Adolphine. The +girl uttered an exclamation, for<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a> she recognized him at once; and she +was so disturbed that she had to lean upon a chair.</p> + +<p>"What! is it you, Monsieur Gustave?" she murmured.</p> + +<p>Madeleine retired, for she read in her mistress's eyes that the visit +caused her no displeasure.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mademoiselle Adolphine," Gustave replied; "yes, my dear sister. +Ah! allow me to call you by that name still, as I used, for we have had +no falling-out; you have not spurned me, and I venture to hope that you +still feel for me a little of that sweet friendship which you seemed to +feel in the old days."</p> + +<p>Adolphine was so perturbed that she could hardly stammer:</p> + +<p>"Of course—yes—I have no reason not to be the same as always with you. +But do sit down, Monsieur Gustave. Mon Dieu!—how strange it is!—it's +only five months since we saw each other—and you seem changed—— Oh! +not for the worse—on the contrary—you have a more serious, more +thoughtful, air than before. Is it the result of your travels?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine was right; the five months which Gustave had passed away from +France had wrought a very considerable change in him, to his advantage; +he had lost that bewildered, hare-brained look which people used to +criticise in him; now he was a man—young, no doubt, but whose serious, +sedate, sensible aspect indicated a person who was accustomed to think +before speaking, and to reflect before acting. His face had gained +vastly by the change; his manner was colder, perhaps, but you realized +that you could rely on what he said. Lastly, the faintest shadow of +melancholy that could still be detected on his brow gave an added charm +to the gentle expression of his eyes and to the tone of his voice.<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine saw all this at a glance: that is all a woman needs to draw a +man's portrait. With trembling hand she pointed to a chair, and Gustave +sat down beside her with an ease of manner which covered no hidden +motive.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether my travels have changed me," said the young man; +"they may, perhaps, have matured my mind somewhat; they have made me a +better business man. I realize fully now that I did some things which +lacked common-sense, and I shall not make such a fool of myself again!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! you are cured of your love for Fanny?" cried Adolphine, with an +expression of delight which she could not restrain.</p> + +<p>"No, dear Adolphine, no, that is not what I meant!" replied Gustave, +sadly; "do what I will, I haven't yet been able to drive that love from +my heart. But I meant simply that that unhappy passion will not lead me +into doing any more such absurd, unreasonable things as I once did. I +have become a man; if I suffer, I can at least conceal my suffering. I +have learned to respect the happiness of other people—the desire to +disturb it is very far from my thoughts! I realize, in short, that I +ought, above all things, to avoid the presence of her who cannot, should +not, sympathize with the pain she causes me."</p> + +<p>Adolphine turned her head away to conceal the tears which filled her +eyes, murmuring:</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! do you still love her as dearly as ever?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether it is less or more—I don't know how much I love +her; and I would give anything in the world to cease thinking of her! +But I cannot—do what I will, her image is always here. I forget that +she flirted with me—that she pretended to love me, only to throw me +over the next minute. I say to myself that all women<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a> try to please, and +that they cannot love all the men they have fascinated. I say to myself +that this Monsieur Auguste Monléard offered her a brilliant fortune, and +all the pleasures, all the enjoyment, all the luxury, in which, to a +young woman, the happiness of life consists.—I say all this to myself, +and I understand perfectly how she could have refused the poor clerk's +hand to accept that of the man who was wealthy and distinguished. So +that, if I am unhappy, I can blame nothing but fortune—and Fanny is so +pretty, so fascinating, so well worthy to shine in society! She will +never be mine, and yet I love her—yes, I still love her! They say that +men don't know the meaning of constancy; but you see that that isn't +true, Adolphine; you see that there are some who can love +faithfully—and, unluckily, they are the ones who are not loved."</p> + +<p>Adolphine did not reply for some time; she was suffocating, she could +not keep back the tears which dimmed her sight. Gustave saw them; he +seized her hand and pressed it, crying:</p> + +<p>"You weep—dear sister!—my unhappiness makes you shed tears. Oh! +forgive me for coming here and grieving you by the story of my +suffering."</p> + +<p>"Yes—it does grieve me to know that you are unhappy! But, after all, it +seems to me that you ought to try—that you do not make enough effort to +divert your thoughts; you see, when one has no hope, one ought to +forget."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that makes no difference at all."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is possible.—How long since you returned to Paris?"</p> + +<p>"Only last evening; and, as you see, I came to you at once this +morning."<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes—to talk to me about her!"</p> + +<p>"I admit it—but to see you, too,—you who have always shown me so much +affection, and whom I am so happy to call my sister still!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! of course—because that was the name you gave me when you were to +marry Fanny! But you don't know—I have not dared to tell you that +father says that you must not come to our house any more!"</p> + +<p>"Not come here any more! Why not, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Why, because of that unfortunate duel——"</p> + +<p>"Duel! What do you mean? What duel?"</p> + +<p>"What! you don't know? Hasn't your uncle told you about it?"</p> + +<p>"I told you that I only arrived last night; my uncle talked about +nothing but matters of business, which are of much more importance in +his eyes than anything else. Tell me what duel you are talking about?"</p> + +<p>"Do you remember the man who dined with you on the day of my sister's +wedding?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a curious creature whom I happened to meet—and who took pity on +the state of frenzy I was in at that time."</p> + +<p>"Was he a friend of yours?"</p> + +<p>"As I tell you, I had known him only a few hours; but I had lost my head +that day; you know that better than anybody, dear Adolphine, for you +found time, even on that day, to come to me and say a few comforting +words.—But what about that man?"</p> + +<p>"Well, at night, when my sister went away from the ball with her +husband, he was standing near, just as they were entering their +carriage. That man—he was drunk, no doubt, but still he insulted my +sister."</p> + +<p>"The villain! He dared——"<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, he said: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'—My sister, who heard +the words plainly, told me herself. Was that an insult? Tell me frankly, +Monsieur Gustave, hadn't you yourself applied that name to my sister +more than once that day?"</p> + +<p>"It is quite possible; but I was out of my head, I didn't know what I +was saying. That did not give that fellow, whose very name I don't +remember, the right to repeat my words."</p> + +<p>"Auguste heard him, and the next day he fought a duel with the man."</p> + +<p>"And what was the result?"</p> + +<p>"A sword-thrust in my brother-in-law's forearm, which forced him to +carry his arm in a sling at least six weeks."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! that incident may well have occasioned unfortunate scenes +between the husband and wife; it may have disturbed the domestic +happiness of—your sister. She probably accused me of being the original +cause of the duel! This is maddening!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed, Monsieur Gustave! you don't know Fanny! The affair +affected her very little, her happiness wasn't disturbed by it for a +single minute. She goes to some festivity, amuses herself in some way, +every day! Oh! she is happy."</p> + +<p>"So much the better! And her husband—he adores her still, I fancy?"</p> + +<p>"As to that, I can't answer. If they adore each other, it hardly appears +on the surface!"</p> + +<p>"What! Fanny doesn't love her husband?"</p> + +<p>"I don't say that she doesn't love him! but my sister isn't capable of +loving like us—like you, I mean. She has so much to take up her time in +the way of gowns,<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a> head-dresses, new styles, and so forth! How do you +suppose she can find time to love her husband?"</p> + +<p>"However, I am entirely innocent in this matter of the duel."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that is what I have always told father, who has only known it a few +days, by the way. For, as you can imagine, they didn't publish it. +Monsieur Monléard's injury was supposed to have been caused by a fall on +the stairs."</p> + +<p>"But why doesn't your father want me to come here? It wasn't a crime to +love his elder daughter and to aspire to her hand! It is true, I was +very poor, then; to-day, I could offer her more; my uncle, who is very +well satisfied with the way I attend to business now, said to me at +breakfast this morning: 'From to-day, I give you an interest in my +business, and I guarantee you not less than ten thousand francs a year, +whether there are any profits or not.'"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is very nice, Monsieur Gustave; I am very glad for you."</p> + +<p>"Dear little sister! If you knew how indifferently I received the news +of this increase in my income! Ah! that isn't what I look to for +happiness!"</p> + +<p>"Nor I, either! But, as so many people think differently, probably we +are wrong."</p> + +<p>"I am thinking about your father, who doesn't want me to come here any +more."</p> + +<p>"In the first place, he was convinced that there would be no need to say +anything to you about it; that you would never have any desire to come +to our house again."</p> + +<p>"Why so, pray?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know why; for my part, I didn't think as he did. Something told +me that you would come—to hear<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a> about Fanny—to talk about her. I +guessed right, did I not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes! you read my heart."</p> + +<p>"For I know very well that that was the only reason it occurred to you +to come here."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I am not fond of you—of you and your father?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't say that; but my father fears—suppose you should meet my +sister here?"</p> + +<p>"I should be able to act with her as with a person who was a total +stranger to me. Does she come to see you often?"</p> + +<p>"No, not often. She has so many other calls to make! She knows so many +people now!"</p> + +<p>At that moment the bell rang.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu!" said Adolphine; "if it should be my father!"</p> + +<p>"Why, I will go and offer him my hand, and I am sure that he won't +refuse it."</p> + +<p>"But if it should be——"</p> + +<p>Adolphine had not time to finish her sentence. The door of her chamber +was hastily thrown open, and her sister entered.<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX"></a>XXIX<br /><br /> +A WOMAN OF FASHION</h2> + +<p>Fanny was resplendent in costume, jewels, and style; and it must be said +that, like all women with whom personal adornment is a special study, +she carried her splendor well, and that it added materially to the +attractions she had received from nature.</p> + +<p>The young woman was nowise perturbed at sight of Gustave Darlemont; she +honored him with an affable smile, and her vanity seemed flattered that +he whose hand she had refused should see her now in all the glory of her +good-fortune and her magnificent toilet. Adolphine, on the contrary, was +pale and trembling. As for Gustave, he could not conceal the emotion he +felt on seeing Fanny again, and especially in such seductive guise.</p> + +<p>"Bonjour, little sister!" said Fanny, kissing Adolphine.—"But, I cannot +be mistaken—this is Monsieur Gustave. I am delighted to see you, +monsieur."</p> + +<p>Gustave barely managed to stammer:</p> + +<p>"Madame—I confess that I did not expect—to meet you here."</p> + +<p>"Why, it seems to me quite natural that I should come to my father's +house. To be sure, it doesn't happen very often: I have so little time +to myself! When one goes much into society, one must make and receive so +many calls, dress, give orders when one entertains. And, by the way, we +give a large party in six days, to inaugurate our winter evenings.—I +came to tell you, Adolphine, so that you may have time to prepare a +bewitching costume,<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> do you hear? I will advise you, of course, for you +don't keep very well abreast of the fashions.—But I thought that you +were abroad, Monsieur Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"I have just come from Spain, mademoiselle—I beg your pardon—madame. I +have been away about five months."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! then that is why you look so brown; but that doesn't do you any +harm—far from it. Did you enjoy yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Enjoy myself? not exactly that, madame; but that wasn't what I went +for."</p> + +<p>"They say that the women are very pretty in Spain; that their eyes, +especially, are dazzlingly bright. Is it true, Monsieur Gustave? Did you +see any eyes in that country that excel those of us Frenchwomen?"</p> + +<p>"I saw none, madame, which could be compared to——"</p> + +<p>The young man checked himself, and added:</p> + +<p>"I saw none which made me forget those of the Parisian women."</p> + +<p>"Good! that is very polite! And you are settled in Paris now?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know, madame; that will depend on—my uncle."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, while you are here, if it will afford you any pleasure +to come to our evenings at home, Monsieur Monléard, I am sure, will be +delighted to see you. At all events, he allows me to invite whom I +choose—and he does the same. I greet his friends courteously, he does +as much for mine; in that way, we always agree. Stay! next Thursday, as +I was saying to my sister, we give a large party; there will be +everything: music, dancing, cards, and supper; it will last all night, +and we<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a> shall have lots of fun. You must come. We shall have all +Paris—that is to say, all the best artists, all the celebrities. Will +you come?"</p> + +<p>Gustave was struck dumb by this invitation, and especially by the light, +careless tone in which it was offered; he was more distressed than +gratified, and answered, with a low bow:</p> + +<p>"No, madame; I shall not have the honor of accepting your invitation."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! And why not, may I ask, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Why, because—at this party—in your husband's house—it seems to me, +madame, that I should be out of place; and I am sure beforehand that I +should take no pleasure in it. Pray receive, madame, my thanks and my +adieux."</p> + +<p>Thereupon Gustave went up to Adolphine, who had listened without a word, +and pressed her hand, saying in an undertone:</p> + +<p>"Adieu, my only friend! Ah! your father is right: it is much better that +I should not come here again."</p> + +<p>Gustave left the room. Adolphine had difficulty in concealing her grief. +Fanny, meanwhile, looked at herself in a mirror, saying:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with Monsieur Gustave, I wonder? He had a very +tragic air as he left us. It wasn't polite of him to refuse my +invitation. And I fancied that it would give him the greatest pleasure! +There are so many young men who would be overjoyed to have the +opportunity to come to my evenings!"</p> + +<p>"In your eyes, Monsieur Gustave ought not to be like other young men. +And I cannot conceive how you could have dreamed of urging him to come +to see you," rejoined Adolphine, in a trembling voice.<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a></p> + +<p>"Why not, I should like to know? You seem to be surprised at +everything!"</p> + +<p>"But after all that happened between you before you were married——"</p> + +<p>"All what? Monsieur Gustave was in love with me. Ah! there are many +others who are in love with me to-day—yes, and who pay court to me, +too. But that won't keep them from coming to dance at our ball—quite +the contrary; and they have engaged me beforehand for I don't know how +many contra-dances. But I shall take only those whom I like. I would +have done as much for Gustave; or, rather, I would have given him the +preference—I would have let him have more dances."</p> + +<p>"But don't you see that Gustave still loves you? that he can't accustom +himself to seeing you as another man's wife, and that it would be +impossible for him to meet your husband?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think that that young man still loves me so much as that?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure; he was just telling me so himself when you came."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the poor boy! I am sorry for him, but I thought he had grown +reasonable! A constant lover! Why, the fellow is a perfect phœnix!"</p> + +<p>"A phœnix that you would have none of!"</p> + +<p>"I don't repent. My husband is not a phœnix in love, I admit. At +first, he adored me; then, it suddenly passed away. But I wasn't silly +enough to groan over it. He has continued to lavish on me all the +pleasures and amusements that wealth can procure. What more could I ask? +I consider myself the luckiest woman in Paris. Whereas with that poor +Gustave—that phœnix of constancy!—I<a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a> should have vegetated; I +should have gone to the play on Sunday, as a treat!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gustave is already in a much better position. His uncle is so +well satisfied with him that he gives him ten thousand francs a year +now."</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand francs! Well, yes, that is something. One can manage to +live with that. But how far he is still from Auguste's position!"</p> + +<p>"And then, too, Fanny, when you invite Monsieur Gustave to your house, +you seem to forget that duel. Your husband knows that it was he who was +in such despair on account of your marriage, and that that was the +cause——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! for heaven's sake, let me alone, Adolphine! My husband has +forgotten all about that. He has much more important things in his head. +When a man is intent on making millions, do you suppose he wastes any +time on trifles of that sort? Oh! mon Dieu! chattering here with you, I +forgot that I have to call on my broker."</p> + +<p>"You have a broker, Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure. I speculate on the Bourse, too—just to amuse myself a +little, you know. But I do not intrust my affairs to my husband, because +he would ridicule me. Adieu, little sister! Make your preparations for +our grand party on Thursday. Oh! we shall have much sport. I am going to +have a ravishing gown."</p> + +<p>Madame Monléard took her leave; whereupon Adolphine sank into a chair, +saying to herself:</p> + +<p>"Now I can cry at my ease, for he said that he should not come here any +more!"<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXX" id="XXX"></a>XXX<br /><br /> +THE SECOND MEETING</h2> + +<p>On leaving Monsieur Gerbault's house, Gustave did not return at once to +his uncle's office; he felt that he must be by himself, in the open air, +and, although it was winter, he had no fear of the cold; on the +contrary, it seemed to him that the keen north wind would cool his blood +and tranquillize his mind, which the sight of Fanny had overturned anew.</p> + +<p>Having her before his eyes, more bewitching than ever, Gustave had +realized how dearly he still loved her who had refused to be his wife. +And he had already found, in the depths of his heart, innumerable +reasons to excuse her conduct; in his eyes, she was rather frivolous +than guilty.</p> + +<p>Now that he had seen Fanny again, that she had talked with him as +pleasantly as before her marriage, and had urged him to call upon her, +Gustave did not know what to believe, what to think, what to conjecture, +from it all. He asked himself why she wanted to see him. Whether it was +because she still felt some affection for him, whether she derived any +pleasure from his presence, whether she sympathized secretly with his +grief; or was it simply for the purpose of flaunting in his face her +brilliant social position, her superb gowns, and the homage that was +paid to her?</p> + +<p>Gustave walked a long time at random on the boulevard, where he met very +few people, on account of the cold.<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a></p> + +<p>"No," he said to himself; "I will not go to her house! Have I courage to +be a witness of her husband's happiness? Moreover, her husband hasn't +invited me; it seems to me that he is sure to receive me very coldly. +That's what I would do in his place. But Fanny didn't think of what she +was saying; she invited me thoughtlessly—or else from simple courtesy. +Ah! she is very pretty still; she's a hundred times more fascinating +than ever! I did very wrong to go to Monsieur Gerbault's!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly the melancholy lover was roused from his reflections by someone +who threw his arms about him, embraced him, and kissed him on the cheek, +crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! here he is! it is he! At last I have found him—my dear, good +Gustave! Victory! Castor has found Pollux! I have my cue!</p> + + +<p class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"'And since I've found my faithful friend,<br /></span> +<span class="ist"> My luck will take a different trend!'"<br /></span> +</p> + + +<p>Gustave struggled to free himself, in order to see the face of the +individual who was so lavish of tokens of affection, and he finally +recognized his impromptu friend of Fanny's wedding day, the man with +whom he had dined at Deffieux's.</p> + +<p>Cherami was the same as always. But his costume seemed even shabbier in +the cold weather then prevailing than in summer; for his frock-coat, +more threadbare than ever, was drawn so tightly across his shoulders +that one could see that there was nothing under it; his plaid trousers, +worn thinner than ever, evidently afforded his legs very little +protection against the sharp north wind; and the Courbichon hat, by dint +of being planted on the side of his head, was beginning to resemble the +one it had replaced. But all this did not prevent the ci-devant<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a> Beau +Arthur from holding himself erect and eying everybody he met from top to +toe.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is Monsieur——"</p> + +<p>"Arthur Cherami. Yes, my dear fellow; it is I, your faithful friend, +your Pylades, who has been seeking you over hill and dale, and who even +called to inquire for you at your uncle's,—Grandcourt, the +banker,—who, I am bound to say, did not receive me with all the +consideration I deserve! But uncles are not very amiable, as a general +rule. He told me that you were in Spain."</p> + +<p>"He told the truth; I returned only last night."</p> + +<p>"And I have been scouring the four quarters of Paris every day, saying +to myself: 'If Gustave has returned, I cannot help meeting him.'—And +here you are, my dear friend, whose absence seemed so long! Well! don't +we propose to shake hands with our intimate friend, on whose bosom we +poured out our woes?"</p> + +<p>But Gustave hesitated to give his hand to Cherami, and replied in a +serious tone:</p> + +<p>"Before shaking hands with you, monsieur, I must have an explanation +with you. You fought a duel with Monsieur Auguste Monléard, and you made +that duel inevitable by addressing an insulting remark to his bride. By +what right did you take that step? Why did you do it? for what object? +Come, answer me."</p> + +<p>"Ah! par la sambleu! this is a cross-examination which I was far from +expecting! I fight in a friend's cause, I wound his fortunate rival—I +didn't kill him, to be sure; but still, I might have killed him. Then, +your charmer would have been a widow, and you would have married her!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I thank heaven that Monsieur Monléard got off with a wound in the +arm! If you had killed him, I should have been accused of the murder!"<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a></p> + +<p>"What's that? you? Everybody knows that it wasn't you who fought with +him. I see a young man, miserable, desperate, because the woman he loves +marries another. That young man interests me. I dine with him, and he +pours his sorrows into my bosom. Every instant, he complains of the +perfidy of the woman who has deceived him; and, that same day, when I +chance to meet that faithless creature on her conqueror's arm, you would +not have me try to avenge my friend's wrongs? Damnation! what the devil +do you understand by friendship, I wonder? If that's your idea of it, +why, adieu, bonjour, let's say no more about it! Go and look elsewhere +for friends; but you won't find my sort lying around by the dozen!"</p> + +<p>Gustave detained Cherami as he turned away, and offered him his hand, +saying:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, don't get excited, hot-head! I see that one cannot bear you +a grudge; give me your hand!"</p> + +<p>"This is very fortunate. He realizes at last that I am entirely devoted +to him, and that his happiness alone is my object."</p> + +<p>"My dear monsieur——"</p> + +<p>"Don't call me <i>monsieur</i>, or it will be my turn to be angry!"</p> + +<p>"Very well! my dear Arthur, that duel of yours annoyed me very much, +because I was afraid that it would have set Fanny against me altogether. +But, thank heaven! it did nothing of the kind."</p> + +<p>"As if women were ever angry because a man fights for them! You +evidently don't know them; on the contrary, it flatters their +self-esteem—it serves to set them off a little."<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a></p> + +<p>"I have just seen Fanny, I met her at her sister's. I didn't expect to +see her there. Ah! if you knew—I am still all upset by that meeting."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you still love that young woman?"</p> + +<p>"Do I love her! Alas! yes, I love her still, and I feel that my passion +will make my whole life miserable."</p> + +<p>"Did the little lady receive you coldly?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no; on the contrary, she gave me a most delicious smile, and +talked to me just as she used to before her marriage. In fact,—can you +believe it?—she invited me to a large party that she gives next +Thursday."</p> + +<p>"And still you have a sad, woe-begone air! why, I should say that you +have every reason to rejoice!"</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because when this lady, who knows that you once adored her, and who +must have seen that you love her still—when, I say, she asks you to +come and see her, it means that she proposes to reward you for your +constancy—to crown your passion. Pardieu! that's not hard to +understand. Go to her party, my dear friend, and I'll stake my head that +within six weeks the husband has rooms at the sign of the Stag or the +Crescent, as long as you choose."</p> + +<p>"Ah! what do you presume to imply? You imagine that Fanny is capable of +betraying her husband, of forgetting her duty? No, no! she may be +fickle, coquettish, if you please, but she will never be guilty. And I +myself—oh! that is not my conception of love. A woman who shares her +favors—who pretends to feel for one man the love which she really feels +for another—oh! I should soon cease to love such a woman!"</p> + +<p>Cherami shook his head, as he muttered:<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a></p> + +<p>"You are young, my dear Gustave; you are very young! You don't know the +world as I do. You say that you still adore your Fanny, and that you +wouldn't have her deceive her husband for you?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, she wouldn't do it!"</p> + +<p>"I am strongly inclined to believe the contrary; but let us admit that +you are right. I see but one means of making you happy, and that is to +carry the young woman off. Do you want me to do that? I'll undertake it, +if you do."</p> + +<p>"No, my dear Arthur; I have never had such a thought. Fanny has all that +she wants—she is happy; I shall be very careful to avoid disturbing her +happiness; I have neither the right nor the desire to do so. But, as I +feel that the sight of her intensifies my suffering, by reviving the +passion which I am trying to extinguish; as I do not wish to expose +myself—for some time, at least—to the chance of meeting her at the +theatre or in society, why, I shall leave Paris, and travel once more. +My uncle always has business in other countries, and he will not be +sorry to employ me in that way again."</p> + +<p>"That's a crazy idea of yours! So, if your love happens to hang on, that +little woman will make you do the tour of the world?"</p> + +<p>"Let us hope that time will cure me."</p> + +<p>"There is something that works quicker than time in the cure of love; to +wit, another love. You ought to have had ten mistresses in Spain."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! I thought of nobody but her."</p> + +<p>"You can fairly boast of being a paladin of the good old times. You +could have given <i>Roland</i> and <i>Amadis</i> points. So you are going to leave +Paris again! Would you like me to travel with you?"<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a></p> + +<p>"Thanks! my company is far from agreeable; my sole pleasure consists in +musing by myself—thinking of the happiness to which I looked forward +for some time, but which I am never to know."</p> + +<p>"We would have sought adventures together, aye, and found them too, I +promise you! That would have diverted your thoughts."</p> + +<p>"I do not care to divert my thoughts, as my only pleasure is the thought +of her."</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! yours is a devilishly persistent passion! However, as you're +so obstinate——"</p> + +<p>Cherami paused, and seemed to reflect upon the best means of changing +the subject.</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI"></a>XXXI<br /><br /> +A NEW SWITCH</h2> + +<p>"In that case, it will be another long while before I see you again?" he +said at last. "That troubles me—especially as there are times when a +friend is very essential!"</p> + +<p>Cherami shook his head, rubbed his chin, and added, between his teeth:</p> + +<p>"I haven't my cue at this moment—I need it damnably!"</p> + +<p>Gustave glanced at the ex-beau, whose piteous expression was even more +noticeable against his wretched costume; then he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Can I do anything for you, my dear friend? If so, tell me, I beg; I +should be happy to be of any service to you!"<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a></p> + +<p>"Faith! my dear fellow, I will not conceal from you that I am at this +moment absolutely cleaned out. I counted on some money that was owing +me; my quarterly income isn't due for six weeks."</p> + +<p>"You need money? Why, in heaven's name, didn't you tell me? I am +entirely at your service. How much do you need?"</p> + +<p>"Why, at this moment—it's very cold—my rascal of a tailor broke his +word—so—I ought to have—say, a hundred francs, to furbish me up a +bit."</p> + +<p>"A hundred francs! Why, you couldn't do anything with that. Here, my +good friend, here's five hundred! Take it; I can spare it."</p> + +<p>Gustave took a banknote from his wallet as he spoke, and handed it to +Cherami, who could not restrain a joyful movement when he received that +windfall; he seized the young man's hand and pressed it with all his +strength, crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are the friend I have dreamed about! My dear Gustave, I shall +never forget what you do for me at this moment! Henceforth we are +friends in life and death! I cannot name the exact day when I shall be +able to repay this money——"</p> + +<p>"Eh? who said anything about that? I have more money than I need, and, I +say again, I am delighted to be able to be of service to you."</p> + +<p>"Excellent and worthy friend! You are made on the antique pattern; you +have something of Socrates and of Marcus Aurelius about you. So you +don't want me to kidnap Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"No, I won't have it!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you change your mind, you have only to write me a line at the +same address: Cherami, Hôtel<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville. +By the way, I will call on your uncle's concierge now and then, to find +out whether you have returned. Sapristi! it pains me to have you go."</p> + +<p>"I shall return—and perhaps I shall be more reasonable."</p> + +<p>"Then we will enjoy ourselves, we will laugh and make merry! Au revoir, +then, my dear Gustave! If you have any commission for me, write me a +line. But prepay your letters, for my hostess has a habit of refusing to +take in those that have to be paid for."</p> + +<p>"What! even when they are for her tenants?"</p> + +<p>"Above all, when they are for her tenants."</p> + +<p>Gustave walked away after shaking hands with Cherami, who looked after +him with a touched expression, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Excellent heart! he reconciles me with mankind; clearly, there still +are such things as friends; they are rare, but, still, they do exist, +and it's simply a matter of finding them. Now, I must see about getting +some comfortable duds; that won't be an extravagance. When anyone +brushes against me, I am always afraid he'll carry away a piece of my +coat."</p> + +<p>Cherami soon found one of the great furnishing shops where you can +procure a complete change of raiment, from head to foot. He bought a +pair of trousers, very full, a thickly padded waistcoat, and a roomy +coat; and he put them all on over the clothes he was wearing.</p> + +<p>"I am like Bias, one of the seven sages of Greece," he said; "I carry my +whole wardrobe on my back."</p> + +<p>Cherami made all these purchases for ninety francs. He left the shop +much stouter than he entered, and his double trousers compelled him to +walk with a certain<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> gravity. But he was so content, he considered +himself so comely in his new clothes, that he smiled benignly on +everybody, even on the cabmen who passed him. But something was still +lacking: since he had restored Monsieur Courbichon's cane, he had not +replaced it, for lack of funds; and that was to him a great privation. +Now he could gratify his longing; a man who has four hundred and ten +francs in his pocket, after purchasing a new outfit throughout, can well +afford to humor his fancy for a cane.</p> + +<p>Cherami spied a shop where canes of all sorts were for sale; he examined +a score, among which there were some very expensive ones. After +hesitating for some time between a superb Malacca joint at seventy-five +francs, and a light switch at a hundred sous, he finally decided upon +the latter. "For, after all," he reflected, "I don't need a cane to lean +on! Thank God, I haven't the gout! I will take the switch; it can be +used as a crop when I ride; and then, I like something that bends—one +can play with it."</p> + +<p>Armed with his switch, with which he beat the air in a very unpleasant +fashion for those who passed him, Cherami betook himself to the +Palais-Royal, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"I think I will dine at Les Frères Provençaux. I like that old-fashioned +house; you are always treated well there. It's a little dear, perhaps, +but one can't pay too much for what is good."</p> + +<p>"Pray be careful, monsieur! you hit me with your cane!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, monsieur? what are you complaining about?"</p> + +<p>"You hit me with your cane, I tell you."<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a></p> + +<p>"In the first place, monsieur, it isn't a cane; it's a switch; in the +second place, you have only to walk farther away from me."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, I am on the sidewalk, as you are. I have a right to be here, +I fancy."</p> + +<p>"What's all this?—Cheap talk? impertinence? If you're not satisfied, +monsieur, say so at once; I'm your man; I won't run away!"</p> + +<p>His interlocutor, who had not left home with the intention of fighting a +duel, quickened his pace and disappeared without making any further +reply.</p> + +<p>Cherami began to wave his switch about as before.</p> + +<p>"These fellows are amazing, on my word!" he muttered. "They want to +frighten me out of playing with this little stick. As if I would put +myself out—as if——"</p> + +<p>But this time he concluded to stop, hearing the crash of broken glass; +he had shattered with his switch a beautiful mirror which formed part of +the show-window of a perfumer's shop. The mistress of the establishment +was already in her doorway, where she said to Cherami in an angry tone:</p> + +<p>"You broke that mirror, monsieur; you broke it!"</p> + +<p>Beau Arthur, with no outward indication of excitement, smiled at the +perfumeress as he rejoined:</p> + +<p>"Very good! my dear woman, if I broke your mirror, I'll pay for it. You +shouldn't lose your temper for a little thing like that. How much will +it cost to replace it?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty francs, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Twenty francs! here's your money! a mere bagatelle!—I am not sorry to +have christened my switch," he added, as he walked away.<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII"></a>XXXII<br /><br /> +THE FAREWELLS</h2> + +<p>When he learned that his nephew wished to leave Paris again, Monsieur +Grandcourt did not conceal the regret which he felt at the thought of +another separation; but when he realized that Gustave still loved Madame +Monléard, he placed no obstacle in the way of his departure, and it was +decided that the young man should go to Germany.</p> + +<p>"During your absence," said the banker, "an individual came here to +inquire for you—I say an <i>individual</i>, for I don't know how else to +describe the man, whose whole aspect was more than questionable. His +name, I believe, is Arthur Cherami, and he claims to be an intimate +friend of yours, because you paid for his dinner the day Mademoiselle +Fanny was married."</p> + +<p>"Ah! yes, I know whom you mean, uncle; I have seen him; I met him a +couple of days ago."</p> + +<p>"I trust, my dear Gustave, that you will not affect that gentleman's +society. You don't know, perhaps, what he did? He fought a duel with +Monsieur Monléard, after making an insulting remark to his wife."</p> + +<p>"I know it, uncle. But, in the first place, that day, or rather that +night, the poor devil was a little tipsy—he lost his head—he thought +he was avenging me; after all, it only goes to prove that he's a brave +fellow."</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, the gentry who stop public conveyances on the highroad are +generally brave fellows, too, but that doesn't prevent their being +brigands."<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! uncle, do you mean that you think that that poor Arthur——"</p> + +<p>"I don't say that he's a thief; but I don't advise you to make a +companion of him."</p> + +<p>"He's no fool; he has had a good education, and he knows the world."</p> + +<p>"He is all the more reprehensible for having allowed himself to sink so +low! For he seems to me to be always in search of a dinner. However, as +you are going away again for some time, I trust that your relations with +the fellow will be entirely broken off."</p> + +<p>Gustave hastened the preparations for his journey; but, being obliged to +wait for certain letters which his uncle desired to give him for his +correspondents, he was not ready to leave Paris until the following +Thursday evening. He desired to see Adolphine once more before he went; +she had always been so kind and affectionate to him, that it seemed to +him that it would be ungracious to leave Paris again without bidding her +adieu. But the fear of another meeting with Fanny held him back. He +suddenly remembered, however, that that was the day of the grand affair +to which Madame Monléard had invited him.</p> + +<p>"Surely," he said to himself, "Fanny has too much to do at home to-day, +to find time to go to her sister's. So that I can call on Adolphine with +no fear of meeting her whose presence causes me more pain than pleasure +now."</p> + +<p>Adolphine was at home, engaged in preparations for the ball; for +although she anticipated no pleasure at her sister's magnificent +function, she could not do otherwise than go. She was looking with an +indifferent air at a lovely ball gown which her father had given her, +and which would have delighted most young women of her age beyond +measure.<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a></p> + +<p>"But," thought Adolphine, "what do I care whether people think me +pretty? There will be nobody at the ball whom I care to please. Ah! if +he were going! But he was wise to refuse; he could not, ought not to +go."</p> + +<p>Madeleine noiselessly opened the door, and said:</p> + +<p>"Mamzelle, here's the young man who came the other day—the one who's so +good-looking, and seems so sad-like."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that Monsieur Gustave, who was so scared by your sister the other +time, that he went right away."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! Is father at home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamzelle; but he's in his room with Monsieur Batonnin, who came +just a minute ago. They'll probably have a lot to talk about, and you +know your father hardly ever comes into your room. And, to-day, he knows +that you're getting your dress ready."</p> + +<p>"Show Gustave in, quickly."</p> + +<p>Trimmings, flowers, ribbons, all were thrown aside; Adolphine was so +happy at the thought of seeing Gustave. In a moment, he entered the +room, ran to her side, and pressed her hand affectionately.</p> + +<p>"Will you forgive me for disturbing you again, dear Adolphine?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Will I forgive you! Why, I am very glad to see you; for, when you went +away the other day, you said that you wouldn't come again, and that +grieved me much."</p> + +<p>"That was because I was so unprepared to meet your sister. I didn't +expect to see her, and I confess that it affected me so deeply that it +revived all my suffering."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I saw that; but it was by the merest chance that you met her; she +comes here very seldom."<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a></p> + +<p>"No matter; I would not have run the risk of a second meeting; but I +remembered that this is the day of her grand ball, and I thought that +she would have no leisure to come here this morning."</p> + +<p>"But I should have said that Fanny was glad to see you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that makes no difference, my good little sister; her glances, her +voice, her smile, all made my heart ache! You can't imagine what agony +it is to be with a person you love, and who doesn't love you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I understand."</p> + +<p>"Especially when you have imagined for some time that you possessed that +person's heart; when you have flattered yourself with the prospect of +passing your life with her! To see that woman again, when she belongs to +another, is the most frightful torture. Fanny smiled at me, she asked me +to call on her. But I would have preferred a cold, harsh greeting a +hundred times over; I would have liked her to avoid my presence as I +meant to avoid hers; for then I would have thought: 'I am not utterly +indifferent to her.'—However, that won't happen again, for I am going +away, and I have come to say good-bye."</p> + +<p>"You are going away again! Mon Dieu! you have only just returned!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I should have done better not to return so soon. Living in Paris +weighs on me, it recalls the past too vividly."</p> + +<p>"And where are you going now?"</p> + +<p>"To Germany, Austria—as far away as possible!"</p> + +<p>"For a long time?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, for I don't propose to return until I am thoroughly cured of +my unhappy passion."<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine put her handkerchief to her eyes.</p> + +<p>"But it's not our fault," she stammered,—"if my sister doesn't love +you—and yet, because she doesn't, we—must lose a friend."</p> + +<p>"Dear Adolphine, such woe-begone friends as I am are hardly worth +regretting."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so? But suppose I like them so?"</p> + +<p>"When I return, I shall probably find you married, too."</p> + +<p>"No, no! I shall not be married, I—I am sure of it."</p> + +<p>"What do you know about it? There are certain to be plenty of aspirants +to your hand."</p> + +<p>"I refused two, not long ago. They were both rich, but I am not like my +sister; I want to love my husband!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think, pray, that Fanny doesn't love hers?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! I know nothing about it. I don't know what I am saying; I am +so disappointed!"</p> + +<p>At that moment, the door opened. Monsieur Gerbault appeared, with +Monsieur Batonnin, who entered first.</p> + +<p>"Pray excuse me, mademoiselle," he began; "I come to engage you for the +first contra-dance that——"</p> + +<p>The soft-spoken gentleman stopped abruptly, seeing a young man seated +beside Adolphine; he rolled his eyes in the direction of the father, +adding:</p> + +<p>"Ah! mademoiselle has a visitor; we disturb her."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault was no less surprised than he at finding a man in his +daughter's room, and her with her eyes full of tears. But he soon +recognized Gustave, who bowed respectfully to him and said:</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, monsieur, for presuming to call upon your daughter; but I +came to bid her good-bye, and I hoped to have the honor of paying my +respects to you as well before leaving the house."<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! is it you, Monsieur Gustave? I thought that you were in Spain?"</p> + +<p>"I returned a week ago, monsieur; and to-night I start for Germany."</p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter, Adolphine? you look as if you had been crying. +But I cannot conceive what reason you can have to be unhappy."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin thought it advisable to intervene.</p> + +<p>"It always saddens one to say good-bye to one's friends," he murmured. +"Life is so short! When we part, we are never sure of meeting again."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, monsieur?" cried Adolphine, with a pathetic glance at +Gustave.</p> + +<p>"I had no purpose to grieve you, mademoiselle, believe me," Batonnin +made haste to reply; "on the contrary, I came to solicit the honor of +dancing the first contra-dance with you; for you surely have not +forgotten that madame your sister gives a ball this evening?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"I realize," said Gustave, "that I came at a very inopportune moment, +and interrupted mademoiselle in her preparations for that festivity, +diverting her thoughts to a poor traveller who desired to carry away +with him a friendly word or two. Pray forgive my intrusion, +mademoiselle. I am an unlucky mortal, for my sadness constantly casts a +shadow on the happiness of other people. But I am sure that you will +forgive me, in memory of our former friendship.—Monsieur Gerbault, will +you allow me to shake hands with you?"</p> + +<p>The melancholy and at the same time dignified manner in which Gustave +spoke banished the last trace of sternness from Monsieur Gerbault's +face; he took the young man's hand and pressed it warmly, saying to +him:<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a></p> + +<p>"Come, come, my friend, drive away the gloomy thoughts that assail you. +At your age, the future is boundless. Don't submit to be crushed by +fruitless regrets; you may still be happy, and you will be some day, I +am sure. A pleasant journey to you! Study the manners and customs of the +countries you visit, and I am convinced that you will return in an +infinitely more cheerful frame of mind."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for your kind wishes, monsieur; allow me to bid you adieu."</p> + +<p>Gustave pressed Adolphine's hand, bowed to the visitor, whom he did not +know, and left the room. While the young woman escorted him to the door, +Monsieur Batonnin observed to Monsieur Gerbault:</p> + +<p>"That young man is in love with Mademoiselle Adolphine, I see, and you +have refused him her hand. Doubtless he isn't a suitable match for her; +but still it is very good-natured of you to give him encouragement for +the future."</p> + +<p>"My dear Monsieur Batonnin, you are all off the track. It was not +Adolphine, but her sister Fanny, with whom Gustave was in love, and he +flattered himself that he was going to marry her, when Auguste Monléard +came forward. Faith! he had better luck. He offered her a position which +any young woman would have liked, and she accepted him. It was a very +hard blow to this young Gustave."</p> + +<p>"I understand. Then it was he who fought a duel with your son-in-law, +and gave him the wound which made him carry his arm in a sling so long?"</p> + +<p>"You are wrong again. It was not Gustave who fought with Monsieur +Monléard, for Gustave was a long way from Paris when the duel took +place."<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a></p> + +<p>"Whom did your son-in-law fight with, then?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! you ask me too much!"</p> + +<p>Adolphine's return put an end to Monsieur Batonnin's questions. +"Mademoiselle," he said, in his most silvery tones, "I beg your pardon +if I repeat the same thing again and again, like a parrot, but I should +be glad to know if I may obtain from you the favor of the first +contra-dance. I present my request thus early, because I am sure that +you will be beset, overwhelmed with invitations this evening, and it +will be very difficult to obtain a word with you."</p> + +<p>Adolphine seemed to make an effort to throw off her preoccupation, and +replied:</p> + +<p>"But I am not sure yet, monsieur, whether I shall dance at my sister's +this evening, for I have a very severe headache, and, unless it gets +better, I shall cut a very sad figure in a dance."</p> + +<p>"Don't pay any attention to her," said Monsieur Gerbault. "These girls +are forever having headaches, which take them all of a sudden when they +have the least thought of such a thing; but, have no fear, there never +was a headache that didn't surrender at the signal given by the +orchestra at a ball. So, as you've delivered your invitation, you are +certain of being her first partner. And now, let us leave mademoiselle +to her preparations. Come, my dear Monsieur Batonnin."</p> + +<p>The soft-spoken gentleman bestowed a superb smile upon Adolphine, +accompanied by a respectful bow.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," he said, "I rest my hopes upon what your father says, +too fortunate if you crown my desires; and if my invitation, albeit a +little premature perhaps, and rather unseasonable——"</p> + +<p>"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, come."<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a></p> + +<p>The maker of compliments, being led away by Monsieur Gerbault, was +compelled to complete his sentence in the reception-room; and Adolphine, +left alone at last, cursed Monsieur Batonnin for coming, with his +invitation, to interrupt her interview with Gustave.</p> + +<p>"A ball, indeed!" she murmured, angrily tossing her furbelows about; "I +must needs dance this evening, when my heart is full, when I would like +to weep undisturbed! Ah! if these are the pleasures which society has to +offer, they who are debarred from them are the most fortunate!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII<br /><br /> +A GRAND AFFAIR</h2> + +<p>At ten o'clock, Monsieur Monléard's magnificent salons were resplendent +with light, flowers, and new draperies, arranged with an artistic skill +which did honor to the taste of the organizer of the festivity. At +eleven, the guests arrived in swarms. The ladies were superbly dressed, +and the flashing of their diamonds dazzled the eye; some—but by no +means the larger number—were more simply attired, and were content to +attract by the charms of their persons alone. The men admired the +beautiful dresses, but preferred to linger by those whose attractions +depended less upon their costumes. A fine orchestra played quadrilles, +polkas, mazurkas. Its strains seemed to enliven the faces of the guests, +which fairly beamed with pleasure—the pleasure which they already +enjoyed, and that to which they looked forward: the latter is always the +more agreeable.<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a></p> + +<p>At midnight, the number of guests was already so great that it was +becoming very difficult to pass from one room into another. To do so +required an amount of persevering effort which many of the ladies did +not choose to put forth, and which, indeed, the enormous dimensions of +their skirts made almost impossible.</p> + +<p>The ball was at its height. The queen of the fête did the honors with +much grace, and everybody agreed in voting her charming. Fanny was, in +very truth, most bewitchingly and becomingly dressed; her white moire +gown, albeit not overladen with trimming, was studded with bunches of +real flowers, and in her hair there were no jewels save a cluster of +diamonds; but the satisfaction which her vanity experienced in the +giving of such a fête imparted to her eyes an unusual brilliancy, to her +smile more expression, to her voice more feeling. She was surrounded by +men who contended for the honor of dancing a polka or a quadrille with +her, and everyone envied the lucky mortal who was her partner for the +time being, especially as she was a beautiful dancer; she was as light +as a feather, and her feet seemed hardly to touch the floor.</p> + +<p>Auguste Monléard was very far from displaying the same glee and +satisfaction which were so apparent on his wife's features; he did the +honors of his salons with the exquisite courtesy and refinement of a man +in the best society, who is accustomed to party-giving; but there was in +his smile a something forced and constrained, which was better adapted +to freeze than to provoke gayety; at times, too, a dark cloud passed +over his forehead, his eyebrows contracted, his lips tightened, and he +seemed utterly oblivious to what was being said to him. But these +periods of distraction lasted but a moment.<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a> Auguste would suddenly come +to himself and struggle to assume a cheerful aspect.</p> + +<p>Adolphine, who came early with her father, did not dazzle the beholder +by the splendor of her costume; but she was charming by virtue of her +natural grace of manner, her perfect figure, the sweet expression of her +lovely eyes, and perhaps, too, by virtue of a touch of melancholy, which +she strove to overcome, but which added to the charm of her face.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to be on hand when the leader of the +orchestra gave the signal for the dancing to begin, and the girl had no +choice but to accept him for her partner; indeed, it mattered little to +her with whom she danced; what she would have liked would have been not +to dance at all; but, as she was the hostess's sister, that was +impossible; too many people would have inquired the reason for her +abstinence, and it would have worried her father and annoyed her sister. +On the contrary, she felt that she must act as if she were enjoying +herself hugely, and that was very difficult; we can do many things to +oblige another, but the eyes never have complaisance enough to hide +thoroughly our real feelings.</p> + +<p>While dancing with Adolphine, Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to +overwhelm her with compliments, scattered among his remarks upon the +party.</p> + +<p>"It's magnificent! it's enchanting! it's delightful! How elegantly these +salons are decorated! and with such taste! Flowers everywhere—to say +nothing of those who are dancing; for women and flowers, you know, are +very much alike. Others have said that before me, to be sure; but there +are things that can't be repeated too often. It must have cost a lot—to +give a party like this! but then, when one has the means! Monsieur +Monléard<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> doesn't look as cheerful as his wife does; he doesn't seem to +be dancing. Still, a host can't dance all the time. I don't suppose he's +sick, although he is very pale; but he's almost always pale."</p> + +<p>To all this Adolphine replied only by monosyllables, and the gentleman +with the doll's face said to himself after the quadrille:</p> + +<p>"That young lady is just about as cheerful as her brother-in-law; it's +of no use for Papa Gerbault to tell me that that young man I saw there +this morning was in love with her sister; that wouldn't make this one +cry. There's something else—yes, there certainly is something else."</p> + +<p>In a salon set aside for card-players, Messieurs Clairval and Gerbault +and young Anatole de Raincy met.</p> + +<p>"How's this? you are not dancing?" they said to the last named.</p> + +<p>"Oh! dear me, no! I wath never mad over danthing," replied the young +dandy, looking at himself in a mirror; "and there'th thuch a crowd! How +can one expect to do anything? When I danth, I like to let mythelf go."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you dance the cancan, De Raincy?" queried a young man +with a jovial face, putting his hand on Anatole's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"How thtupid you are, Vauflers! Jutht becauth I like to put a little +grath into my danthing, it dothn't follow that I danth the cancan."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, I don't dance half lying down, as you do."</p> + +<p>"In the firtht plath, I thtoop, not lie down—a very different thing. +You ought to know that, to danth properly, you mutht thtoop a little. I +learned that from a great danther."</p> + +<p>"From Vestris?"<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a></p> + +<p>"You tire me! Ever thinth thith fellow hath been eighth clerk to a +broker, he maketh fun of everybody."</p> + +<p>"What news from the Bourse to-night?" said Monléard, accosting the young +man whom Anatole had called Vauflers.</p> + +<p>"You know that several firms were sold out this morning. I believe that +we haven't seen the end yet. There's need of a thorough weeding-out. +There are some fellows who have been playing too high for a long time."</p> + +<p>Auguste pressed his lips together and walked away.</p> + +<p>"Shan't we have a game of bouillotte?" said the young man.</p> + +<p>"Bouillotte ith bad form jutht now, my dear fellow; nobody playth it," +replied tall Anatole, gazing admiringly at his gloves.</p> + +<p>"Bézique's the proper thing, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No, lanthquenet thtill."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! because you can ruin yourself faster at that. Thanks! I think +I'll go and dance. I asked the hostess for a dance, and she put my name +down; but I was twenty-first on the list."</p> + +<p>"In that cath, your turn will come by to-morrow night."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Madame Monléard will make an exception in my favor."</p> + +<p>"Why tho, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am her broker."</p> + +<p>"Oho! do you mean that Madame Monléard gambleth on the Bourth?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes—moderately; but she's luckier than her husband."</p> + +<p>"Tho he hath been lothing, hath he?"</p> + +<p>"I should say so!—immense sums, of late. Indeed, I will admit that I +was much surprised at his giving a<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a> party—although, to be sure, that is +sometimes an excellent way of deceiving people as to one's position and +retaining one's credit."</p> + +<p>"The deuth! what are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"At this moment, I have an idea that he is staking all to win all, as +they say, on a certain deal; but if he loses——"</p> + +<p>"Look out! here comth hith father-in-law. Come thith way."</p> + +<p>The two young men, arm in arm, walked into another room.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! how beautifully your wife dances!" said Batonnin to Monléard, +as Fanny whirled by them, dancing the mazurka with a partner who guided +her perfectly and executed some novel steps.</p> + +<p>"What! did you say that it's too warm here?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never complain of the heat; I'm a genuine African in that +respect. I was admiring Madame Monléard's dancing—she's dancing the +mazurka at this moment; there they go again! I must say that she has a +partner who does himself credit, too; he holds her so firmly, and she +trusts herself to his guidance with such abandon! a very pretty fellow +that! What is his name? By the way—what! he has gone, and without +answering my question! Hum! They may say what they choose, but Monsieur +Monléard isn't in his usual form to-night; he's too preoccupied, too +distraught. It's a good thing that that doesn't keep his wife from +dancing."</p> + +<p>About two o'clock, the ladies were invited to repair to a table laden +with a magnificent supper; as the company was so large that all could +not sup at once, the ladies took their turn first, and the men waited +until they had finished, except a few impatient individuals, such as +one<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a> sees at almost all balls, who found a way to squeeze in at the +table with the ladies, where, on the pretext of waiting on them, they +did not fail to help themselves abundantly to everything that was most +delicate and appetizing. Indeed, it not infrequently happens that, after +they have laid hands upon everything within reach, and eaten +uninterruptedly, while most of the ladies have done nothing but talk, +these same gallant creatures return to the supper table with the men, +and fall to anew, as if they had eaten nothing. There are some worthies +capable of that; we ourselves have seen it done.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin tried to find a seat at the ladies' table, but, +despite his everlasting smile, no one would make room for him. So he +decided to remain standing, and naturally stationed himself behind +Adolphine, whom he pestered with attentions; for Adolphine had no +appetite, and refused almost everything which he ordered for her, and +which he did not fail to obtain at once by saying:</p> + +<p>"It's for the sister of Madame Monléard, the queen of the fête."</p> + +<p>With these magic words, Batonnin was quite sure to obtain all that he +could possibly want; but if his courtesy was absolutely wasted, it was +not so with the dishes which were refused; for when Adolphine said: +"Thanks, monsieur; but I will not eat anything," the soft-spoken +gentleman invariably adjudged what happened to be on the plate to +himself, saying:</p> + +<p>"Well, since you don't care for it, faith! I'll eat it myself."</p> + +<p>And, thanks to this clever management, he supped quite as well as, +perhaps better than, if he had had a seat among the ladies. To be sure, +he had to eat standing.<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a></p> + +<p>When the ladies had left the table, and the men came to take their +places, Monsieur Batonnin, whether by accident or from +absent-mindedness, imitating the worthies of whom we spoke a moment ago, +found himself seated beside Monsieur Clairval.</p> + +<p>"What! eating another supper?" queried the latter.</p> + +<p>"Why another? I haven't supped yet."</p> + +<p>"But, unless I am very much mistaken, when I looked in just now to +admire the charming picture presented by all the ladies seated at the +table, you were behind Mademoiselle Adolphine, with a plate in your +hand, and eating what was on the plate."</p> + +<p>"That is to say, I was standing behind Mademoiselle Adolphine to wait +upon her, and I passed her whatever she wanted."</p> + +<p>"I saw that you were eating all the time."</p> + +<p>"Tasting, perhaps, but if you call that eating! And then, I was standing +up. What one eats standing never counts."</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear Monsieur Batonnin, I don't undertake to reprove you for +it; on the contrary, you deserve to be congratulated.—Honor to great +talents of all varieties! A good stomach is a blessing of Providence. +The wealthiest of men, if his liver doesn't work right, is, to my mind, +less to be envied than the poor man who can readily digest his +bacon-rind and similar delicacies."</p> + +<p>Auguste Monléard joined his male guests at supper, to do the honors of +his table; he began by pouring down several glasses of champagne; then, +like one who is determined to divert his thoughts at any cost, he drank +glass after glass of different kinds of wine, in rapid succession. This +manœuvre succeeded; in a quarter of an<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a> hour his brow had cleared, +his eyes sparkled; he talked with all his guests, and challenged them to +drink with him; in fact, he was almost gay, and he laughed—a laugh that +was a little nervous, a little forced, perhaps, but which produced a +most excellent effect toward the end of the supper. When the gentlemen +finally left the table, at which they had made quite an extended +sojourn, they did not fail to call for a <i>cotillon</i>, the dance which has +become almost the obligatory conclusion of a ball; and Auguste Monléard +proposed to lead it.</p> + +<p>The suggestion was received with delight by the dancing contingent. +Adolphine, greatly surprised by the animation now exhibited by her +brother-in-law, mentioned it to her sister.</p> + +<p>"Your husband seems to be in high spirits now," she said; "and I am very +glad to see him so."</p> + +<p>"Why! did you think that he wasn't in good spirits before?" rejoined +Fanny. "You are wrong, my dear girl! Auguste always enjoys +himself—only, he doesn't look as if he did; that's his way."</p> + +<p>The cotillon came to an end, and the tired dancers began at last to +think of retiring. Batonnin, having supped satisfactorily twice over, +left the house with Anatole de Raincy, humming:</p> + +<p class="c">"'La belle nuit! la belle fête!'"</p> + +<p>"I know that! it ith from a comic opera," said the tall young man.</p> + +<p>"True; but you must agree that it's apropos: <i>la belle fête!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Yeth, but I'm afraid—according to what Vauflers thaid——"</p> + +<p>"What did he say?"<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a></p> + +<p>"That Augutht Monléard had lotht enormouth thumth on the Bourth of late, +and that he mutht be in a very bad way."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the devil! that's why I found him so distraught, then. At supper, +he drank a lot to forget himself, I noticed that."</p> + +<p>"After all, he may pull up again—luck may turn. Ah! I thee a cab. +Monthieur, I with you good-night, or rather good-day, for here'th the +light."</p> + +<p>"Your servant, monsieur."</p> + +<p>Batonnin returned to his lodgings alone and on foot, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Well, whether Monléard is ruined or not, I had two suppers, all the +same!"</p> + +<p>Our friends and acquaintances almost always welcome our misfortunes in +such wise.</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV<br /><br /> +AUNT DUPONCEAU</h2> + +<p>Cherami, in accordance with his usual custom, spent very freely the +money Gustave had given him; he still possessed a few francs out of the +five hundred, however; and his appearance was very decent, too, for he +had presented himself with a new hat, and he still had his new switch. +One cold but beautiful morning, about ten o'clock, as he strolled in the +direction of the Madeleine, to give himself an appetite, the ci-devant +Beau Arthur saw coming toward him a woman of enormous size, holding by +each hand a small boy, one of whom wore<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> a hat surrounded by feathers, +which gave him the look of a trained monkey. The children, as well as +their mother, were so enveloped and swaddled in winter garments that +they had not the free use of their limbs. These three living bundles +rolled along the street, lurching against one another; but when they +came face to face with our stroller, they halted, and the stout woman +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I cannot be mistaken; it is certainly Monsieur Cherami, out walking so +early!"</p> + +<p>Cherami had already recognized Madame Capucine and her sons, and, being +by no means overjoyed at the meeting, would gladly have turned back to +avoid it, but it was too late; so he courageously made the best of it, +and replied, with a courteous salutation:</p> + +<p>"Myself, fair lady; and I congratulate myself on the good-fortune which +I owe to chance; for you are far from home. Do you happen to be going to +Romainville?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur, no; we are not going to Romainville; this isn't the way +there, either," replied Madame Capucine, eying her interlocutor from +head to foot; and the great change which had taken place in the apparel +of her debtor was naturally reflected in her manner of speaking to him. +As the change was altogether to his advantage, she smiled graciously, +and continued:</p> + +<p>"Aunt Duponceau don't live at Romainville any more; she has sold the +house she used to own there."</p> + +<p>"Indeed? why did she do that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! because—because that neighborhood has such a reputation. You know +the ballad: That <i>lovely wood, to lovers——"</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Presents a thousand charms!</i>—Yes, I know it by heart. But there's no +wood left, except a little bit which<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a> has been bought by a novelist of +whom I am very fond, and all surrounded by walls—not the novelist, but +his woods; so I don't see what could have frightened your Aunt Duponceau +so."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! you know how ill-natured people can be! There was always +somebody to say: 'Ah! so you live at Romainville; that's the place for +grisettes, gin-shops, and low dance-halls! one always meets a lot of +drunken people there.'"</p> + +<p>"I should say that you find them everywhere."</p> + +<p>"It isn't the fashionable drive nowadays."</p> + +<p>"The most fashionable resort isn't always the most amusing."</p> + +<p>"You don't see the latest styles there."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well! if you go into the country to see the styles, you would do +better never to go anywhere but the Opéra."</p> + +<p>"But the strongest reason, and the one that finally decided my aunt, is +that there isn't any railroad to Romainville."</p> + +<p>"Surely that must be a great deprivation to a person who, when she is +once settled in her country-house, never goes to Paris at all."</p> + +<p>"And so my aunt bought a house in the opposite direction—at Passy."</p> + +<p>"Passy and Romainville are not exactly side by side, that is true; and +they are not much alike, either."</p> + +<p>"Oh! they're entirely different!—Aristoloche, do keep still!—Passy's a +fashionable, convenient place to live in; you can't go out of the house +unless you're dressed up."</p> + +<p>"That must be very pleasant when one's in the country."</p> + +<p>"The houses all have polished floors from top to bottom. The one my aunt +bought—don't jump about so,<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> Narcisse!—the one my aunt bought is +smaller than her house at Romainville; but it cost a lot more. There's +no fruit in the garden, but it's ever so much smaller."</p> + +<p>"What does grow in the garden—ducks?"</p> + +<p>"There's a little honeysuckle, and ivy, and grass—oh! it's well kept +up."</p> + +<p>"If it satisfies all of you, that's the main point.—Are you going to +the country on such a cold day as this?"</p> + +<p>"Aunt always expects us Saturday, to stay till Monday."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! it is Saturday, isn't it?—just as it was when I met you +waiting for an omnibus at Porte Saint-Martin."</p> + +<p>"But, since then—Aristoloche, if you move again, I'll box your +ears!—since then, it seems to me, Monsieur Cherami, that things have +improved a little with you—judging by your dress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear Madame Capucine; I have collected a little money that was +owing me.—Mon Dieu! that reminds me; twenty times I have had it in my +mind to look you up and settle that little balance I still owe your +husband; but something else has always put it out of my head; it's a +mere trifle, to be sure, but I propose to settle it very soon."</p> + +<p>"Very good! but if you want to see Capucine, there's a very simple way +to do it—that is, unless you are engaged for the day."</p> + +<p>"The day? I can do what I choose with it, I am as free as air."</p> + +<p>"Then come with us to Passy, to my aunt's; she expects us to breakfast, +in fact; we're a little late, and—Narcisse, will you please not pull +the feathers of your beautiful Henri IV hat like that; you'll spoil +them!"</p> + +<p>"The old hat makes me squint; it puts my eyes out."<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a></p> + +<p>"What a bad boy! A hat that your aunt gave you!"</p> + +<p>"You were saying, my dear Madame Capucine?"</p> + +<p>"I was asking you to come with us to Aunt Duponceau's; you know her; and +to-night, at six o'clock, Capucine will join us there, and you can +settle your little account with him. What do you think of my scheme?"</p> + +<p>Cherami reflected a moment, then replied:</p> + +<p>"Your scheme hits me—I mean, it suits me perfectly. The company of a +charming woman—an improvised trip to the country—this breakfast, which +will not detract from the pleasure of the occasion—I am at your +service. Let's be off."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's very good of you!"</p> + +<p>And the stout lady smiled a smile of lingering sweetness at Cherami, who +was in her eyes a very handsome fellow now that he was well dressed. He +had already formed his plan, into which the payment of his debt did not +enter; but he was certain of a good breakfast, and probably of being +invited to dine as well, with Aunt Duponceau; after dinner, he would +readily find some pretext for escaping from the Capucine family.</p> + +<p>"Here comes the Passy omnibus," said Madame Capucine; "let's not miss +it."</p> + +<p>They entered the omnibus; Madame Capucine took Master Aristoloche on her +lap, in order to avoid paying for a seat for him; she requested Cherami +to do as much for Narcisse, a suggestion which did not seem to tempt the +ex-beau. Luckily for him, the urchin insisted upon having a seat all to +himself, threatening, if they did not humor him, to sit on his Henri IV +hat. This threat produced its effect: Master Narcisse took his seat in a +corner, and Cherami declared that the little fellow deserved to be put +by himself.<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a></p> + +<p>The omnibus started, and they soon arrived at Passy; thereupon Cherami +had no choice but to offer Madame Capucine his arm to her aunt's abode. +The little boys went before them, jumping and frolicking. At Passy they +were in no danger from wagons, and Master Narcisse had seized Cherami's +switch, with which he belabored all the stone posts and benches; a +proceeding which was far from amusing to the owner of the stick, who +expected from moment to moment to see it in the same state as Monsieur +Courbichon's cane.</p> + +<p>"That little fellow promises well!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he full of ideas?"</p> + +<p>"I am convinced that he will end by breaking my switch. But how does it +happen that you didn't bring your maid Adelaide?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! don't talk to me about that girl, I beg!"</p> + +<p>"What! can it be that the faithful Adelaide stole from you?"</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't her honesty that gave out; it was something else. Ah! who +would ever have thought, who would ever have believed—— An ugly, thin, +shapeless creature. Oh! men have very beastly tastes sometimes!"</p> + +<p>"The deuce! do you mean to say that Capucine——"</p> + +<p>"What! oh! no, indeed, monsieur; it wasn't my husband! Ah!"</p> + +<p>And Madame Capucine looked up at the sky with an expression which seemed +to say:</p> + +<p>"If it only had been!"</p> + +<p>Then she added indignantly:</p> + +<p>"Ballot, monsieur; Ballot, our young clerk!"</p> + +<p>"The devil! that young man you liked so well?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure. As if anyone could have dreamed! He behaved very well at +first."<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a></p> + +<p>"And he went astray in the kitchen?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"But was it perfectly certain? People are so ill-natured!"</p> + +<p>"They were caught, monsieur; caught among the bunches of onions."</p> + +<p>"Enough! tell me no more; you would bring tears to my eyes."</p> + +<p>"So, as you can imagine, I purified my house on the instant; I dismissed +Mademoiselle Adelaide."</p> + +<p>"And your clerk too?"</p> + +<p>"He went of his own accord. We might have forgiven him, perhaps; he was +so young!"</p> + +<p>"Of course, and the smell of onions goes to the heart."</p> + +<p>"But Monsieur Ballot chose to lose his head, and away he went."</p> + +<p>"You will find somebody to take his place."</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm looking for at this moment. Ah! Monsieur Cherami, a +young man who had—my whole confidence! You can't rely on anything or +anybody nowadays!"</p> + +<p>"That's the only way to avoid being taken in."</p> + +<p>The stout lady heaved a tremendous sigh and leaned heavily on the arm of +her escort, who said to himself:</p> + +<p>"I wonder if she would like to have me replace Monsieur Ballot?—Thanks! +I have my cue."</p> + +<p>In due time, they arrived at Madame Duponceau's house. She was a little +woman, who shook her head constantly when conversing, so that she seemed +always to reply in the negative to the questions that were asked her. +She received Cherami with cordiality, although she barely knew him; but +she liked company, and was especially eager to have people admire her +house. Cherami was<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a> inclined to favor admiring her breakfast first; and, +as the young Capucines supported that idea, they repaired at once to the +dining-room.</p> + +<p>The breakfast consisted of a pie, boiled eggs, ham, and coffee only; but +the pie was succulent, the eggs fresh, the ham tender, and the coffee +very strong, so that they breakfasted satisfactorily; then Aunt +Duponceau cried:</p> + +<p>"You must come and see my house, from cellar to roof."</p> + +<p>Cherami, whose paunch was well filled, was already saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! if I have got to stay here till night, between the aunt and +the niece, with the accompaniment of two little brats who keep wiping +their hands on my trousers, I shall pay dear for my dinner! Let's see if +I can't find a back-door.—We had better begin the inspection of your +house with the garden," he said to Aunt Duponceau; "after such an +excellent breakfast, one feels the need of a breath of fresh air."</p> + +<p>This suggestion was adopted, and they adjourned to the garden, which was +of small dimensions and offered nothing attractive to the eye save four +gillyflowers in pots; for in December there are few leaves on the trees. +The garden presented but slight attraction, therefore, but at the end of +it was a gate opening on the Bois de Boulogne. The ladies and the +children, being stiff with cold, soon had enough of the garden; +whereupon Cherami took a cigar from his pocket, saying:</p> + +<p>"I am going to ask your leave to smoke this cigar outside, in the Bois. +I cannot go without a smoke after breakfast; it's a habit that has +fastened itself on me: a very bad habit, I admit, but it's too late to +cure myself of it."<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a></p> + +<p>"Smoke in the garden," said Madame Duponceau.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! Your garden's very small, and the smell of tobacco would +sadly impair the perfume of your gillyflowers. I don't choose to turn +your delightful <i>cottage</i> into a barrack."</p> + +<p>"He is very well bred," whispered Madame Duponceau to her niece.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Madame Capucine; "I shouldn't know Monsieur Cherami, now +that he's decently dressed."</p> + +<p>Our smoker succeeded, not without difficulty, in rescuing his switch +from the hands of young Narcisse, who insisted on beating his brother +with it; he lighted his cigar, passed through the gate at the end of the +garden, and drew a long breath of relief.</p> + +<p>"Par la sambleu!" he exclaimed; "here I am outside at last; there are +breakfasts which cost a big price. Madame Capucine ogles me in a way +that begins to alarm me. Her aunt always seems to refuse what you ask +her. The little brats are two infernal monkeys, who ought to be kept in +the big cage at the Jardin des Plantes. Ouf! I feel the need of air! I +hardly expected this morning to go for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne, +in such an atmosphere as this. But, since I am here, I must make the +most of my luck. I won't go back to those mummies till dinner time. I'll +tell them that my cigar made me ill."<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXXV" id="XXXV"></a>XXXV<br /><br /> +THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE</h2> + +<p>Cherami sauntered through the Bois, where, by reason of the season and +the early hour, he met very few people. He had just lighted his second +cigar, when, as he turned from one path into another, he saw a man +coming toward him, very well dressed, walking very rapidly, and turning +from time to time, to look behind him and on both sides, as if he feared +that he was followed. When he saw Cherami walking in his direction, he +stopped, and seemed undecided as to what he should do, being evidently +inclined to retrace his steps. But, meanwhile, our smoker was drawing +nearer, and ere long the two men stood face to face and looked at each +other. Thereupon each of the two uttered an exclamation of surprise.</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! I am not mistaken. It is Monsieur Auguste Monléard whom I have +the honor of saluting?"</p> + +<p>"And you are the gentleman with whom I fought at Belleville?"</p> + +<p>"Himself—at your service, for anything in my power!—Arthur Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! I had forgotten your name."</p> + +<p>"This is very early for you to be in the Bois de Boulogne. I say early, +although it is after half-past twelve; but in winter people seldom come +for a turn in the Bois until between three o'clock and five."</p> + +<p>"True, very true; but how about yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I breakfasted at Passy, with certain excellent people, whose +society is not over and above diverting:<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a> and, faith! after breakfast I +came here for a smoke. How does it happen that you are not on +horseback?"</p> + +<p>"Why, because it suited me to come on foot, I presume."</p> + +<p>"That was well deserved—excuse my curiosity. For my part, if I still +owned a horse, I certainly wouldn't be on foot. You see, I am very fond +of horses! I used to have some fine ones: that was my passion!"</p> + +<p>While Cherami was speaking, Auguste continued to glance uneasily from +side to side; he was even paler than usual, and his face wore a grave +and gloomy expression.</p> + +<p>"Do you happen to have a meeting on hand for to-day?" continued Cherami, +flicking the ashes from his cigar. "If that's the case, and you need a +second, you know, my dear monsieur, that I am entirely at your service, +and that I should be enchanted to oblige you in any way."</p> + +<p>"No, no, I have no duel this morning," Auguste replied; then, gazing +fixedly at the person before him, he added, in a minute or two: "And +yet, monsieur, you can, none the less, do me a very great favor."</p> + +<p>"I can? Then, speak! I am entirely at your service. I have nothing to +do."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was a lucky chance that led to my meeting you here. I left +Paris this morning, rather suddenly, and I forgot to write to a certain +person; but it's very important that I should."</p> + +<p>"You want me to carry a letter to someone?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Cherami, this is a matter of the utmost gravity; I apply to +you, because I think I have judged you accurately. You are a man capable +of understanding me."<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a></p> + +<p>"The deuce! the deuce! but you have a serious way of talking! It is +plain that this is no joking matter."</p> + +<p>"Are you still disposed to do me a favor?"</p> + +<p>"More so than ever."</p> + +<p>"Very well; then be good enough to come with me. There must be a café +somewhere about here; a restaurant where I can write a letter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have only to turn back a little way, and we shall find what we +want."</p> + +<p>"Let us go. Have you breakfasted?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; as I told you just now, I breakfasted at Passy. But that +won't interfere with my taking something more. The air is sharp, and +walking assists in rapid digestion."</p> + +<p>They turned back; Auguste walked so fast that Cherami, despite his long +legs, had difficulty in following him; he tried to continue the +conversation, but his companion seemed absorbed by his thoughts, and did +not answer.</p> + +<p>"There's something wrong with that man," said Arthur to himself, as he +lighted another cigar. "I don't know what it is, but that long face of +his doesn't indicate a man who is trying to make up his mind what sauce +to order for his lobster. However, it's his business. He has confidence +in me, and I'll not betray him, for he's a good fellow. I am only sorry +that I stuffed myself with eggs and pie at Aunt Duponceau's, for I +should have breakfasted much better with him, that's sure. But every man +isn't a sorcerer."</p> + +<p>They found a café-restaurant, and were shown to a private room.</p> + +<p>"Order whatever you choose," said Auguste to Cherami; "I have +breakfasted."</p> + +<p>"You too? In that case, it was hardly worth while to come here."<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a></p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; I am going to write, I must write, two letters; then +I will leave you. So, eat at your leisure; you have no occasion to +hurry."</p> + +<p>"Very good.—Waiter! Let me see, what can I take—something light, to +give me an appetite? Ah! I have it. Bring me a good slice of pâté de +foie gras, and a bottle of very old Beaune; we will toy with that, and +then we'll see."</p> + +<p>Cherami was duly served. Meanwhile, Auguste had seated himself at +another table and was writing.</p> + +<p>Madame Duponceau's breakfast did not interfere with Cherami's enjoyment +of the foie gras, which he watered with frequent draughts of Beaune, +saying to his neighbor from time to time:</p> + +<p>"Pray drink a glass of this wine; it's old and very good; there won't be +any left in a moment; however, we can remedy that by ordering +another.—Waiter, bring me some kind of cheese and a second bottle of +this Beaune."</p> + +<p>Auguste had ceased to write; he sealed the two letters and handed them +to Cherami.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly take these letters, my dear monsieur? one is for my +wife, Madame Monléard; the address is written on it."</p> + +<p>"By the way, how is your good wife?"</p> + +<p>"Very well; but allow me to finish. This other letter, without address, +is for you."</p> + +<p>"For me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and you must give me your word of honor not to read it until half +an hour after I have left you."</p> + +<p>"Half an hour after you have left me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; will you promise?"</p> + +<p>"If it will oblige you, I promise."</p> + +<p>"Thanks; I rely upon your word."<a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a></p> + +<p>"You may safely do so; I haven't thirty-six words in serious matters; +but the other letter?"</p> + +<p>"When you have read what I have written to you, you will see what I ask +you to do; and I am confident that you will carry out my intentions."</p> + +<p>"I have told you that I am entirely at your service."</p> + +<p>"Here is my purse, for I shall not come back here. You will find enough +inside to pay for whatever you may have ordered."</p> + +<p>"Very good; I will pay, and I will put the change in the purse. It's a +very pretty little thing—very dainty, and in excellent taste."</p> + +<p>"If you like it, pray keep it in memory of—our acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"You are really too kind. I don't stand on ceremony, myself, so I accept +it."</p> + +<p>"And now—pour me a glass of wine, so that I may drink with you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! now you're talking!"</p> + +<p>Cherami filled two glasses; Auguste took one of them with a firm hand, +touched it to the one held by the ex-beau, muttered a few unintelligible +words, and swallowed the wine at a single gulp.</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! how fast you go! one has no time to follow you. I toss +champagne off like that sometimes, but it's a miserable way to drink, as +a rule. I like better to sip. Shall we have another glass, so that I may +drink your health?"</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't time. Adieu, monsieur; I rely on your promise. You will +not read that letter for half an hour."</p> + +<p>"You have my word! Are you going so soon?"</p> + +<p>"I must."</p> + +<p>"When shall I see you again?"<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a></p> + +<p>"Impossible to say. Adieu, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Au revoir, rather!"</p> + +<p>Auguste took his hat, shook hands with Cherami, pointed again to the two +letters on the table, and rushed from the room.</p> + +<p>Cherami balanced himself on the hind legs of his chair, drank another +glass of wine, and ordered cigars, saying:</p> + +<p>"As I have to stay here another half-hour, I may as well employ my time +to advantage.—Waiter! coffee, brandy, and kirsch. By the way, see what +time it is now by your sundials, and tell me exactly."</p> + +<p>The waiter brought what had been ordered, and said:</p> + +<p>"The clock in the hall has just struck two, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Very good; when it strikes the half-hour, you are to come and tell me; +do you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; I shall not fail. Does monsieur wish anything else?"</p> + +<p>"No; these decanters of brandy and kirsch will help me kill time. If I +want you, I'll ring.—This has been a most extraordinary day!" said +Cherami to himself, as he lighted a fresh cigar. "I hardly suspected, +this morning, when I was pacing the boulevards to get up an appetite, +that I should breakfast at Passy, and then breakfast a second time in +the Bois de Boulogne. This Monsieur Auguste Monléard is concealing some +scheme or other which is not of a cheerful nature. Those two letters he +left with me—one of which is for myself—there's a mystery about the +whole business! This purse he gave me is a very dainty affair; let's see +what there is in it. A hundred-franc note! Damnation! I have my cue! I +shall have enough to pay for my breakfast.—What are these other papers? +Broker's memorandums: 'bought<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a> by order of M. Monléard; sold by order of +M. Monléard.'—These are of no importance, and there's nothing else. Can +it be that our young capitalist has been unlucky in speculation, and has +vamosed, as they say?—It's very possible. Well! I shall know all about +it before long; at least ten minutes must have passed. Let's take a +drink of kirsch. That little scamp of a Narcisse has nicked my switch +all up. Children are very nice—when they're well brought up.—I can't +keep my eyes off that letter. Time never dragged so with me! Suppose I +ask for my bill—that's a good idea.—Waiter!"</p> + +<p>"Did monsieur call?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; bring me my check. Add three more kirsches—I shall drink them +before I go—and, when you come back, tell me what time it is."</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>The waiter returned with the bill, which he handed to Cherami, saying:</p> + +<p>"It's a quarter past two, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Only a quarter! Sacrebleu! you make a mistake; it isn't possible that +it's only a quarter past!"</p> + +<p>"I give you my word, monsieur, that that's all it is by the clock in the +hall. If you will come and look for yourself——"</p> + +<p>"All right! Let's see the footing! seventeen francs fifty. Here, change +this note for me, and, when you bring back the change, look at the clock +a little more carefully."</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, I can't look at it any different way from——"</p> + +<p>"Go, boy, and don't argue. I don't like arguers."</p> + +<p>"Such is life!" mused Cherami, resorting to the kirsch once more; "when +you're with a woman who pleases<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a> you, when you're playing an exciting +game of cards, time doesn't walk; it flies: <i>hora vita simul!</i> At other +times, it crawls like a tortoise; and yet, the time is sure to come when +we find that it has moved altogether too fast! That simply proves that +men are never satisfied with the present. Ah! what a pretty, old fairy +tale that is of <i>Nourjahad and Cheredin</i>, which impressed me so when I +read it—in my youth. Monsieur Nourjahad is a young, handsome, and +wealthy Mussulman, who lacks nothing to make him happy, and, of course, +he isn't satisfied; he complains because time doesn't go fast enough to +suit him, because he is to marry his cousin at twenty-five, and to reign +over a great kingdom when he is thirty. Cheredin is an old dervish, +something of a sorcerer; he hears Nourjahad railing at destiny, and says +to him: 'I can grant you the power to make time pass as swiftly as you +wish; but, beware! it is very dangerous. You will shorten your life, if +you do not moderate your desires.'—The young man is overjoyed, he +accepts, and promises to use in moderation the power which is bestowed +on him. But, fiddle-de-dee! When shall we ever see a man resist the +desire of possessing at once what he ought not to have until later? +Nourjahad desires to be twenty-five years old, in order to marry his +cousin; then thirty, in order to be sultan. Soon he desires to be a +father, then to see his child grown up; then, being at war with his +neighbors, he wants the decisive battle to come at once. In a word, that +devil of a Nourjahad goes so fast, in the satisfaction of his desires, +that he finds that he has grown thirty years older in a month; thereupon +he curses the power that was placed in his hands, and Cheredin observes: +'My good friend, that is what all men would do, if they were enabled to +make time move<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> faster.'—And, touching Nourjahad with his wand, he +restores his youth, and advises him to keep it as long as +possible.—That is a very sensible preachment; but if, instead of making +time move faster, one could make it go backward, ah! then we should look +twice before doing it. A man goes through some such infernal +quarter-hours in the course of his life, that he wouldn't like to repeat +them."</p> + +<p>The waiter appeared, panting for breath, and cried:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur, for being so long, but we didn't have the +change for a hundred francs here, and I had to go a long way to get it. +Lord! what a nuisance change is! Count it, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And the time? Sacrebleu! tell me what time it is, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I didn't think to look, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Then go and look now, villain! beast!"</p> + +<p>"Look first and see if the change is right."</p> + +<p>"I don't care a damn about my change. The time, you rascal, the time, at +once!"</p> + +<p>Cherami pushed the waiter out of the room and impatiently awaited his +return, muttering again:</p> + +<p>"Ah! how well I understand Nourjahad's feeling!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, it has struck the half-hour; it's three minutes past," cried +the waiter.</p> + +<p>"At last! that's very lucky! Off with you, then!"</p> + +<p>"But is monsieur's change all right? I want to be sure."</p> + +<p>"What's that? yes, blackguard, it's all right; here are two francs for +you; and now, clear out!"</p> + +<p>"Shall I come back and tell monsieur the time again?"</p> + +<p>Cherami half rose from his seat; only half, but the waiter understood, +and fled.<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a></p> + +<p>The two letters were on the table; having thrown away the end of his +cigar, Cherami took the one which was for himself, saying:</p> + +<p>"It's very strange; I really feel a sort of emotion. Come, no nonsense; +let's see what there is inside!"</p> + +<p>He opened the letter and read:</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"'My dear Monsieur:—When you read these words, I shall be dead—— '</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Dead!" cried Cherami, striking the table violently with his clenched +fist. "Nonsense! it isn't possible; I must have read it wrong! but, no; +that's what it says: 'I shall be dead.' Let's go on:</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"'I had a very respectable little fortune, but it wasn't enough for me; +I speculated on the Bourse, and I had bad luck; I married, hoping that a +woman's love would change the course of my ideas, and that an attractive +home would satisfy my ambition. Unluckily, I was mistaken. The person +whom I married has one of those emotionless hearts with which it is +impossible to give play to one's feelings; after a week of wedlock, I +found that she had not the slightest love for me, but that she desired +to cut a figure in society, and to eclipse all other women. Thereupon I +speculated more wildly than ever, in order to gratify my vanity, if +nothing more. Ten days ago, I gave a great party, to try to disguise my +condition. I still hoped to extricate myself; I risked all that I had! I +lost, and I am ruined!—and, as I haven't your philosophy, as I could +not determine to live in poverty after having tasted the pleasures of +luxury, I am going to blow out my brains. Be good enough to call upon +my<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a> wife and prepare her gently for the news; I do not think, however, +that her heart will suffer most.</p> + +<p>"'I ask your pardon for the trouble I cause you, but I have formed this +judgment of you: that you are a man and will keep the promise you made +me. Receive my last adieu.</p> + +<p class="r">"'A<small>UGUSTE</small> M<small>ONLÉARD</small>.'"</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>For a few moments after reading this letter, Cherami was speechless with +dismay. He even put his hand to his eyes to wipe away a tear; then +muttered:</p> + +<p>"What! that handsome young dandy who sat there just now! But, sacrebleu! +perhaps it's not too late yet!"</p> + +<p>Springing to his feet, he seized his hat and cane, put the letters in +his pocket, and left the room. Below, he inquired which direction his +late companion had taken; they told him, and he hastened away toward the +loneliest part of the Bois. But he soon saw a crowd of people, and, +marching toward them, some gendarmes who had been sent for, and who +plunged at once into the underbrush.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" he inquired of a peasant woman who passed him; +"what are those gendarmes here for?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! monsieur, because someone has killed himself in the woods—a +young man—very well dressed, too, I give you my word. I can't +understand why people who are rich enough to dress like that should do +such things! That little boy there found him."</p> + +<p>"It's all over then; he's dead?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, monsieur.—And his nice new overcoat!"</p> + +<p>"In that case," said Cherami to himself, "I have only to execute the +commission he intrusted to me."<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XXXVI" id="XXXVI"></a>XXXVI<br /><br /> +A STRONG WOMAN</h2> + +<p>As he returned to Paris, Cherami's reflections took this turn:</p> + +<p>"Well, here's something that changes the state of affairs very +materially. That young Fanny's a widow—she's free—her husband is dead. +I trust that Gustave won't say now that it was I who killed him! At all +events, I have the letter he wrote me, and I will keep it carefully; +otherwise, people would be quite capable of believing that I shot him in +a duel; but, after all, that young woman, whom Gustave still adores—and +who is the cause of his going away from Paris because he's afraid of +meeting her—that Fanny for whom he has a passion such as we seldom see +nowadays; I might say, such as we never see!—However, since she is a +widow now, and since she greeted Gustave so kindly the last time he met +her—for I remember that he told me she even urged him to call—now, +then, or <i>ergo</i>, as we used to say at school, since that young woman did +not look upon Gustave with an unfavorable eye when she was married, it +seems to me that she should look upon him even more favorably now that +she's a widow. She gave poor Monléard the preference, because he offered +her everything that attracts a woman. To-day, when she is ruined, it +seems to me that she would be very glad to fall in with my young friend, +who gives me the impression of occupying a very satisfactory position in +life.<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a> I really believe that the thing can be arranged—not instantly, +because we must give the little woman time to weep over her husband; but +I foresee that hereafter Gustave's love and constancy will be rewarded. +Ah! I like to think of that; for then Gustave will cease to travel, he +will stay in Paris; and a man is very glad to have such friends as he +is, always at hand. What a pity that he isn't here now! I would have +lost no time in telling him the great news. Oh! but I will find out +where he is, I will find him. Meanwhile, I must think about performing +my mission to the young wife, with all proper precautions. It isn't +precisely an agreeable errand; but if one did only agreeable things, it +would become monotonous."</p> + +<p>Fanny was in her boudoir, trying on some morning caps, and leaving her +mirror from time to time to go to look at the last bulletin from the +Bourse, which was on her toilet table, when her maid appeared and told +her that a gentleman desired to speak to her.</p> + +<p>"A gentleman! What gentleman? Do you know him? Did he give his name?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; I have never seen him here."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure that he wants to see me, not Monsieur Monléard?"</p> + +<p>"It is certainly you, madame; and he says that it's on very important +business."</p> + +<p>"Is the man respectable? Does he look like a gentleman?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, madame."</p> + +<p>"Then show him into the salon; I will go down."</p> + +<p>She hastily finished her toilet, saying to herself:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Vauflers has probably sent some friend of his to tell me what +he has done on the Bourse. It's after four o'clock; yes, it must be +that."<a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami, being ushered into the salon, scrutinized the furniture, +muttering:</p> + +<p>"It's not bad, it's very <i>chic!</i> I used to have such quarters myself. +It's more comfortable than the Widow Louchard's lodgings. But one has +his ups and downs all the same, even in such surroundings."</p> + +<p>Fanny appeared at last; she bowed to her visitor, who seemed to her to +have "a funny look"; for such is the fashionable method of describing +what one does not know how to describe; then she pointed to a chair, and +said:</p> + +<p>"You wish to speak to me, monsieur? about some business at the Bourse, I +presume?"</p> + +<p>Cherami was embarrassed at the sight of the young woman. He realized +that his mission was more difficult to execute than he had thought; +however, he sat down, stammering:</p> + +<p>"Madame—it is—it is on the subject——"</p> + +<p>"Of to-day's market, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"No, not to-day's, madame; but it was the Bourse which caused—which +brought about the event—the calamity——"</p> + +<p>"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly, for I do +not understand you at all."</p> + +<p>Cherami bit his lips, seeking the best method of preparing the young +woman for what he had to tell her; and after reflecting for a +considerable time, he cried:</p> + +<p>"Madame, I came to tell you that your husband is dead!"</p> + +<p>Fanny started from her seat, gazed at the man before her, and rejoined, +with a shrug of her shoulders:</p> + +<p>"If this is a joke, monsieur, allow me to inform you that it is in +execrable taste."<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a></p> + +<p>"Therefore I should not have the hardihood to indulge in it, madame. I +did not come here with any purpose of joking; what I say to you, I say +in all seriousness."</p> + +<p>"But I saw my husband at breakfast this forenoon, monsieur. He was not +ill, not even indisposed. What, in heaven's name, can have happened to +him?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing has happened to him; he himself thought it best to put an end +to his own life; and he blew out his brains in the Bois de Boulogne, +about half-past two o'clock."</p> + +<p>Fanny changed color, but did not lose courage.</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; it's not possible," she rejoined; "there is some mistake, +it cannot be my husband. Why should Auguste kill himself—young, rich, +and happy as he was?"</p> + +<p>"It would seem, madame, that he was much less happy than you like to +think. And as to being rich, he was so no longer, for he had ruined +himself utterly on the Bourse; he was penniless, and he lacked the +courage to endure these hard blows of fortune."</p> + +<p>"Ruined!" cried the young woman, springing to her feet. "What do you +say, monsieur? Ruined! why, then I am ruined, too! Then I have nothing! +Why, that would be too terrible; it would be ghastly!"</p> + +<p>"Poor Auguste was right," thought Cherami, observing Fanny's despair; +"it isn't his death that grieves his wife most."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, how do you know—how did you learn of this event? And +even if my husband is dead, how do you know that he was ruined?"</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to listen a moment, madame. This noon, after +breakfasting at Passy with some worthy people,—who must be expecting me +to dinner at this moment, by the way, but I shall not go,—I had gone to +smoke a<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a> cigar in the Bois de Boulogne, where there were very few +people, the cold being so intense. There I met your husband; we were +acquainted, he had seen me on a certain occasion—in short, he knew what +sort of man I am. He came to me and asked me if I would do him an +important service; as you may imagine, madame, I placed myself at his +disposal. We went to a café, where he wrote two letters. One was for me, +which he made me promise not to open until half an hour after he had +left me; then he went away. I waited the half-hour, then opened the +letter. He told me therein of his deplorable determination, and of the +reasons which had led him to it; then he requested me to take the other +letter—to its address."</p> + +<p>"For whom was that other letter?"</p> + +<p>"For you, madame. Here it is."</p> + +<p>Fanny took in a trembling hand the letter which Cherami handed her, and +read in an altered voice:</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"'I thought, madame, that by marrying you I ensured the happiness +of both; I was mistaken; I needed a loving wife to calm and allay +the vivacity of my passions; I found in you simply a woman who +adored money and pleasure above all else.'"</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>At that, Fanny paused, and read the remainder of the letter to herself:</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I make no reproaches, madame; a woman cannot recast her nature, +especially at your age. Feeling is a gift of nature, as selfishness +is a vice of the heart; I judged you ill; it was my fault, not +yours. Being unable to enjoy the domestic happiness of which I had +dreamed, I tried to replace it by all the enjoyments arising from<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a> +vanity; I have failed, and I have lost all that I possessed. You, +too, are interested in the Bourse; take my advice, madame, and do +not speculate."</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>Again Fanny paused, to heave a tremendous sigh, then read on:</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"But, madame, do not fear that I leave you burdened with debts; I +have met all my obligations; I have paid everything, and my name +will remain without blemish, at all events. You can bear it without +a blush."</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>The young woman made a slight movement of the shoulders, which seemed to +indicate that she was not overjoyed because her husband had paid all his +debts; she even muttered between her teeth:</p> + +<p>"That's a valuable thing for him to leave me—his name! and nothing with +it! Ah! there's something more written here."</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I have not touched your <i>dot</i>; you will find it intact in the +notary's hands. With what you obtain from the sale of our +furniture, which is very handsome, and our horses and carriages, +you will have enough to live in a modest way. Adieu, Fanny; be +happy! I cannot be happy again in this world, and that is why I +leave it; adieu!"</p> + +<p><br /> +</p> + +<p>The last paragraph seemed to have soothed Fanny's despair in some +measure; however, she covered her eyes with her handkerchief, and held +it so for some time. Cherami, who had watched her closely while she read +her husband's letter, said to himself at that proceeding:<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! it's of no use for you to put your handkerchief to your eyes; I'll +bet that you're not crying; and yet—a young husband—to lose him like +that, and after hardly six months of married life! There are some women +who would have fainted; but she's a strong one!"</p> + +<p>Thereupon he rose and took up his hat, saying:</p> + +<p>"Madame, I have carried out the melancholy commission which your husband +intrusted to me. As I imagine that my presence is no longer necessary, I +will retire."</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXVII" id="XXXVII"></a>XXXVII<br /><br /> +A WEAK WOMAN</h2> + +<p>Fanny hastily uncovered her face.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, monsieur," she said; "but as you were kind enough to carry +out Monsieur Monléard's last wishes, may I hope that you will show +yourself equally obliging to his widow?"</p> + +<p>"I will do whatever you bid me, madame, too happy to be able to be of +some service to you as well as to him."</p> + +<p>"Thanks a thousand times, monsieur! You know now the position in which I +stand. It seems to you, perhaps, that I have taken very coolly the +calamity which has come upon me?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, I do not presume to pass judgment upon your feelings."</p> + +<p>"But put yourself in my place, monsieur; do you think that I can take as +a proof of affection what my husband has done?"<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a></p> + +<p><i>"Dame!</i> a proof of affection!" said Cherami to himself, scratching his +nose.—"But, madame, if he feared that he should no longer be able to +make you happy, if that thought made him lose his head——"</p> + +<p>"At Monsieur Monléard's age, monsieur, a man should have strength of +mind, courage. People lose their fortunes every day; but when a man is +intelligent and persevering, he makes another."</p> + +<p>"It may be that that's not so easy as you seem to think, madame. I, too, +had a very neat fortune once; I ran through it; which, to my mind, is +much better than gambling it away; it leaves sweeter-smelling memories; +but I have never been able to get rich again."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Monléard finds fault with me; he says now that I care for +nothing but pleasure; but, when he sought my hand, monsieur, why did he +fascinate me by the prospect of a life of luxury and fêtes, of splendid +equipages and magnificent gowns? in short, of all the things which will +always make a girl's heart beat fast? He married me from caprice, and +when that caprice was gratified he was sorry he had married. Oh! I saw +that more than once, and that is why, monsieur, I bear up so bravely +under the news you have brought me."</p> + +<p>"You had no need to tell me all this, madame; but I do not see——"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon! this is what I ask you to do. In my present +position, you can easily understand that I must see my father and +sister; but I do not wish to go to them, or to be compelled to tell them +of this fatal event."</p> + +<p>"I understand, madame: you wish me to undertake to tell them of what has +happened?"<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, if it would not be too great an abuse of your +good-nature."</p> + +<p>"I will go to your father's house, madame. Mon Dieu! while I am in the +way of doing errands, it won't cost me any more."</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are! how grateful I am to you!"</p> + +<p>"I have always been at the service of the ladies. Monsieur Gerbault's +address, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you know my father's name?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame. Indeed, there are many things that I know; but I won't +tell you them at this moment."</p> + +<p>"Here is my father's address."</p> + +<p>"Very good; I will go there at once, madame. If I can be of any further +use to you, command me; Arthur Cherami, Hôtel du Bel-Air, Rue de +l'Orillon, Belleville—but prepay your letters. I present my respects, +madame."</p> + +<p>"I am a sort of dead man's messenger just now," said Cherami to himself, +as he went away; "but, after all, I couldn't refuse that young woman; +she's so pretty, and she's no fool; far from it! Ah! I can understand +how she bewitched Gustave. Never mind; for my part, I prefer a weak +woman to a strong one."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault was at home, and with his daughter, when Cherami made +his appearance. Fanny's father, who had never seen his visitor, offered +him a chair, and waited for him to explain the object of his visit. But +Adolphine, as soon as he entered the room, recognized Cherami as the +person who had dined with Gustave on the day of her sister's wedding; +and Cherami, on his side, bestowed a graceful salutation upon the young +lady, as upon a person whom he had met before.<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a></p> + +<p>"Do you know my daughter Adolphine, monsieur?" inquired Monsieur +Gerbault, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; I had the pleasure of seeing mademoiselle on the day of +your other daughter's wedding. I dined at Deffieux's that day, with +someone who is not a stranger to you."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur is a friend of Gustave," interposed Adolphine, hastily. +Monsieur Gerbault frowned slightly, for he remembered being told that it +was with a friend of Gustave that his son-in-law had fought a duel on +the day after his wedding; however, he confined himself to saying, in +rather a sharp tone:</p> + +<p>"I am waiting for monsieur to be good enough to let us know the object +of his visit."</p> + +<p>The decidedly unamiable manner in which Monsieur Gerbault said these +words began to irritate Cherami, who threw himself back in his chair, +crying:</p> + +<p>"Faith! my dear monsieur, if you think I came here to amuse myself, +you're most miserably mistaken; my errand isn't a very agreeable one, at +best."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, I beg you to——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! but, you see, you assumed an air which—look you! that air of yours +doesn't suit me at all, and if you were not this charming young lady's +father, I'd have demanded satisfaction before this."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, for heaven's sake!" exclaimed Adolphine, clasping her +hands; "father didn't mean to offend you."</p> + +<p>"Your father looked like a bulldog, mademoiselle, when you said that I +was a friend of Gustave. Why was that? am I a friend to be despised, I +pray to know? Friends like me, always ready to risk their lives in order +to prove their devotion, don't grow on every bush, I beg<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a> you to +believe. But here I am losing my temper, and I am wrong. I will tell you +in a word what brings me here; it's no use to put on gloves. I come to +inform you of the death of a young man of your acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"O mon Dieu! Gustave is dead!" shrieked Adolphine, and fell back +unconscious, while a ghastly pallor overspread her features.</p> + +<p>"My child! my child! what is it, in God's name?" cried Monsieur +Gerbault, trying to revive Adolphine; but she did not open her eyes.</p> + +<p>Madeleine was summoned, and brought salts and vinegar. They carried the +girl to an open window, while Cherami exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"No, no; it isn't Gustave who's dead.—Poor girl! on my word, I was far +from anticipating this. And it's because she thought Gustave was dead +that she fainted. Well! well! well! Ah! the color's coming back a +little; it will amount to nothing. See! she's opening her eyes; I will +bring her back to life entirely."</p> + +<p>He stooped over Adolphine, who was gazing listlessly about, and said:</p> + +<p>"Let me set your mind at rest, mademoiselle; it's not Gustave who is +dead; I wasn't talking about <i>Castor</i>."</p> + +<p>"Is that true, monsieur?" she cried eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I swear it by your head—and I wouldn't for the world endanger such a +charming head!"</p> + +<p>"Pray explain yourself then, monsieur!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "of +whose death did you come to tell us?"</p> + +<p>"Of your son-in-law, Auguste Monléard's; he died about two o'clock +to-day, in the Bois de Boulogne."</p> + +<p>At that, it was Monsieur Gerbault's turn to fly into a rage, and he +strode toward Cherami, saying:<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! you have killed him this time, shameless villain, and you come in +person to announce his death! And you are not ashamed of your victory! +One duel was not enough; you were bent on having his life!"</p> + +<p>"Ta! ta! ta! now it's papa's turn. Deuce take it! where did I ever get +fathers and uncles of this breed?—No, monsieur; I didn't kill your +son-in-law; he killed himself; and, to speak frankly, it would have been +much better for him to have met his death in the duel we fought; for it +would have been a more honorable end. However, I will show you the +proofs of what I state; for you are quite capable of not believing me: I +expected as much; but you will have to surrender to the evidence."</p> + +<p>Cherami handed Monsieur Gerbault the letter Auguste had written him, +then told him all that we know already: what had happened in the Bois de +Boulogne, and his visit to Fanny. During his narrative, Adolphine wept +profusely, murmuring:</p> + +<p>"Poor Auguste! Oh, dear! how my sister must suffer!"</p> + +<p>The news of the suicide affected Monsieur Gerbault deeply, although +officious friends had already told him that Monléard was speculating +heavily, and in such wise as to risk his fortune. He attempted, +thereupon, to apologize to Cherami for the suspicions he had conceived; +but Cherami offered his hand, saying:</p> + +<p>"Put it there, and let's say no more about it. You are quick, so am I; +besides, when one learns of such an entirely unforeseen catastrophe, one +has the right to get a little bewildered. Now that I have performed all +the commissions that were intrusted to me, you have no further need of +me, and I will go. Adieu, Papa Gerbault! Mademoiselle, your servant!"<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a></p> + +<p>As Adolphine accompanied him to the door, he seized the opportunity to +ask her in an undertone:</p> + +<p>"Do you know where Gustave is?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; but, I think, in Germany."</p> + +<p>"I will unearth him, never fear; I have my cue!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXVIII" id="XXXVIII"></a>XXXVIII<br /><br /> +THE TWO SISTERS</h2> + +<p>A fortnight after her husband's death, Fanny was installed in small and +unpretentious apartments in the upper part of Faubourg Poissonnière. +With her dowry of twenty thousand francs, the proceeds of the sale of +her furniture, horses, and carriages, and the sum which she had made by +speculating in railway and other shares, the young widow had an income +of about twenty-five hundred francs. That was very little, when compared +with the handsome fortune she had enjoyed for a moment, but it was +enough to enable a woman who was a skilful manager to live comfortably. +Monsieur Gerbault had suggested to the young widow that she should come +to live with him and her sister, as she had done before her marriage, +but Fanny had refused; she preferred to remain free; and then, too, in +all probability, she cherished some hopes for the future, and as she +looked at her reflection in her mirror,—for she had retained enough of +her furniture to furnish her new abode handsomely,—the pretty creature +said to herself that plenty of aspirants to the honor of putting an end +to her widowhood would surely come forward; and that, by living<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a> alone, +she would be more at liberty and better able to choose.</p> + +<p>As for the deceased, his suicide had been the sensation of the Bourse +and of society for a week; a fortnight later, it was rarely mentioned, +and at the end of a month everybody had forgotten it.</p> + +<p>But, no: there was one person who often thought of him, to deplore his +melancholy end, to regret that fortune had been so cruel to that young +man, who, for his part, had treated fortune too cavalierly when she +smiled on him. That person was not his widow, but her sister Adolphine. +The poor child had at first felt terribly ashamed because she had +betrayed the deep interest she felt in Gustave; but she was unable to +control the emotion which had seized her when she thought that Cherami +had come to inform her of his death. Later, when she knew the truth, she +had wept a long while over Auguste's death; then she had hurried to her +sister, to comfort her, to mingle her own tears with hers; but she had +found Fanny much more engrossed by her pecuniary affairs than by the +loss of her husband. Finally, as the young widow found that her sister +came to see her every day, and that she persisted in talking about +Auguste and shedding abundant tears to his memory, she said to her one +day:</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, if your purpose in coming here is to divert my thoughts, +you go about it very awkwardly. Monsieur Monléard is dead, because he +preferred it so; he left me, because he chose to, without troubling +himself overmuch as to what was to become of me; frankly, it was hardly +worth while to marry me, just to act like this after only six months. He +was responsible for my refusing a young man who, as it turns out, would +have<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a> made me much happier—that poor Gustave, who loved me so dearly! +For he really did love me, did Gustave, and, according to what you told +me the other day, he is doing very well indeed now. Ten thousand francs +a year, he earns, I believe?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine wiped her eyes and swallowed her tears, as she replied in a +faltering voice:</p> + +<p>"Yes—I think so."</p> + +<p>"What! you think so? So you're not sure of it now?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; he told me so himself."</p> + +<p>"Very good! with ten thousand francs one can live comfortably enough. +One can't have such a stable as I had with Monsieur Monléard; but it's +better never to have a carriage than to have to give it up. In fact, I +don't see why I should cry my eyes out for the dead man. In the first +place, I despise men who kill themselves; everyone is entitled to his +own opinion, but that's mine. A man should be able to endure the blows +of destiny. Do you know where Gustave is now?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't; he intended to leave Paris again."</p> + +<p>"That's strange. Formerly, he always told you where he was going; and +now that I ask you, you don't know anything about him."</p> + +<p>"He said something about Germany, that's all I know."</p> + +<p>"On his uncle's business, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"Well, people don't travel forever; he'll return some time, poor +Gustave! and we shall meet again. Ah! he had changed tremendously for +the better when he came back from Spain; he had acquired ease of manner +and refinement, hadn't he?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't notice."<a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! how angry you make me!—It seems to me, however, that it's more +interesting to talk about the living than the dead."</p> + +<p>"Everybody isn't consoled as quickly as you."</p> + +<p>"Do you propose to give me a lecture?"</p> + +<p>"No, sister; I meant simply that anyone was very fortunate to have such +a temperament as yours."</p> + +<p>"My dear Adolphine, I have been a widow two months now, and I know a +little something of the world. When you have had as much experience as I +have, you will realize that you should be able to find consolation for +anything."</p> + +<p>"I don't think I shall ever be as philosophical as you."</p> + +<p>Whenever the two sisters met, Fanny did not fail to lead the +conversation to the subject of Gustave. That subject, although intensely +interesting to Adolphine, was very painful to her when Fanny introduced +it; but, being accustomed by long practice to conceal the secrets of her +heart, to confine therein a sentiment which she dared not avow to +anyone, Fanny's younger sister contrived to listen with apparent +indifference to the project which Auguste's widow already had in +contemplation.</p> + +<p>One day, while talking with Adolphine, Fanny suddenly asked:</p> + +<p>"By the way, do you know who that man was whom Monsieur Monléard +employed to inform me of his death? I never saw him at the house, and +yet Auguste must have been intimately acquainted with him to intrust him +with such a commission."</p> + +<p>"That was Monsieur Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's the name he gave me when he left his address and offered me +his services. He has a most original aspect, that individual. But who is +Monsieur Cherami,<a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a> anyway? When I asked him to go to tell you, he seemed +to know father's name."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! he probably learned it from Gustave."</p> + +<p>"Does the man know Gustave too? For heaven's sake, does he know +everybody? Was it through Gustave that he knew my husband, also?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, in a certain sense; for——"</p> + +<p>"For what? Do go on, Adolphine; I don't know what's the matter with you +nowadays, but I have to tear the words out of your mouth."</p> + +<p>"I thought you knew about it at the time. Your husband fought a duel the +day after your wedding."</p> + +<p>"I know all about that; with a fellow who called out, when I left the +ball that night: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'—Mon Dieu! I remember +it as well as if it were yesterday. But what connection——"</p> + +<p>"The man who made that remark when he saw you leaving the ball was +Monsieur Cherami."</p> + +<p>"That man? nonsense! Do you mean to say that it was he whom my husband +fought with?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it really was."</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! ha! that is too funny!"</p> + +<p>"What! you laugh?"</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I laugh, pray? Ah! how little idea men have of what they +want, and how richly they deserve, as a general rule, that we should +make sport of their mighty wrath! Think of it! Monsieur Monléard fights +a duel with Monsieur Cherami, and, a few weeks later, selects him as the +confidant of his last wishes! You see that men don't know what they are +doing, and that these lords of creation, who assume to deem themselves +much more reasonable than we, are infinitely less so."<a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a></p> + +<p>"There may have been other reasons that we don't know about."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you will always take sides with the men!"</p> + +<p>"Why accuse those who are no longer able to defend themselves?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! that is a superb retort; but, I may ask, why give the dead credit +for qualities which they had not when they were alive? I have heard that +done a hundred times in society. There was some artist or author, of +whom they said things much too bad for hanging: he was ill-natured, +envious; he decried his fellows, he had neither talent, nor style, nor +imagination. But, let him die—the same people all sang the palinode: +the deceased was a most delightful man, kind-hearted, obliging to his +fellow artists, full of talent, gifted with a marvellous imagination. +How many times I have heard all that! and I used to shrug my shoulders +in pitying contempt, thinking: 'For heaven's sake, messieurs, do at +least try to remember to-day what you said yesterday!'—But I would like +right well to know why this Monsieur Cherami called me 'the faithless +Fanny.' Do you know, Adolphine, you, who know so many things without +seeming to?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine blushed, as she replied:</p> + +<p>"That gentleman dined with Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your +wedding supper and ball. Gustave, in all probability, told him of his +love and his disappointment; and then Monsieur Grandcourt, Gustave's +uncle, came there after his nephew and took him away. Monsieur Cherami +stayed at the restaurant, and it seems that he was a little tipsy."</p> + +<p>"And in his devotion to his friend, he reproached me for my perfidy! Ah! +that was very well done! To fight<a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a> to avenge one's friend is a deed +worthy of the knights of old. When I see Monsieur Cherami again, I will +offer him my compliments."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you bear him no ill-will for calling you faithless?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! not the least in the world! If women lost their tempers every time +they were called faithless, they would spend most of their time in +anger."</p> + +<p>While interviews of this sort were constantly taking place between the +two sisters, both of whom were engrossed by the same thought, although +one was compelled to stifle her sighs, while the other made no secret of +her hopes, a certain person was taking much pains to bring back to them +the subject which interested them so deeply. The reader will have +guessed that we refer to Cherami.</p> + +<h2><a name="XXXIX" id="XXXIX"></a>XXXIX<br /><br /> +THE HUNT FOR THE FEATHER-MAKERS</h2> + +<p>After Auguste's death, the ex-Beau Arthur had reflected thus:</p> + +<p>"I must wait until a few weeks have passed; it wouldn't be decent for my +lovelorn Gustave to return at once and throw himself at the pretty +widow's feet; <i>non est hic locus</i>; it isn't always best to take active +steps; in order that they may succeed, they must be taken at the +opportune moment. I still have some débris of the five hundred francs my +dear friend loaned me, and I have the change of the hundred-franc note +which poor<a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a> Monléard left me to pay for the breakfast, which cost only +seventeen francs fifty. With that, and with a passably pretty switch, +and a passably decent costume, one can enjoy this paltry life of ours to +some slight extent. Gad! at this moment I should be very glad to meet +those two grisettes whom I saw one day at an omnibus office at Porte +Saint-Martin. Parbleu! the same day I made the acquaintance of Gustave. +They were both pretty—one was a brunette, the other a blonde—one plump +and one thin—a morsel for an attorney; and, judging from appearances, +one bright and one stupid. Their names were Laurette and Lucie, and they +were feather-girls on Rue Saint-Denis. I have never met them since. Par +la sambleu! it's my fault, I'm a jackass! I had only to go into all the +feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis—to tell the truth, I haven't always +been in a position to play the gallant with young ladies—to invite them +to the play and to supper, and I can't do anything less than that by way +of renewing the acquaintance. But, now that I'm in funds, what prevents +me from looking them up? That idea smiles upon me. It reminds me of +happy days.—My mind is made up: before I begin my search for Gustave, I +will go in quest of Laurette and Lucie; this very evening, after dinner, +I will try my hand at hunting the feather-girls."</p> + +<p>Cherami dined, and acquitted himself of the task like one who had not +breakfasted twice. Then, his head being a little heated by the fumes of +a bottle of old Pommard, he betook himself to Rue Saint-Denis, looking +to right and left in quest of feather-shops. He did not go far without +discovering one. He opened the door and entered with a haughty air, +scrutinizing all the young women in the establishment.<a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a></p> + +<p>The forewoman eyed the individual who had struck an attitude <i>à la</i> +Spartacus in the centre of the shop, where he stared at one after +another without speaking, and said to him:</p> + +<p>"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he would like?"</p> + +<p>Cherami, having taken time enough to examine all the shopgirls, of whom +there were ten or twelve, replied in a drawling tone:</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, madame; I did come in here in search of something; +there is no doubt of that; but I don't see what I want; no, I don't see +it."</p> + +<p>"If monsieur will tell me what he desires, I can tell him at once +whether he will find it here."</p> + +<p>"Very good, madame; I am looking for children's caps—for a little boy +of five."</p> + +<p>All the girls in the shop laughed aloud; but the forewoman assumed a +sour expression as she rejoined:</p> + +<p>"Did monsieur take this for a hat-shop?"</p> + +<p>"Have I made a mistake? Oh! I beg your pardon; I am distressed; it was +all these feathers that misled me; they put so many feathers on hats +nowadays. Accept my apologies, madame; your humble servant."</p> + +<p>Having executed a graceful bow, Cherami left the shop, saying to +himself:</p> + +<p>"That's one; I did that very well; it wasn't a bit bad. My two young +friends are not there. Let's try another."</p> + +<p>A little farther on, he saw another establishment for the sale of +flowers and feathers. He entered as before, and struck the same +attitude.</p> + +<p>"We are waiting for monsieur to say what he wants," said an old woman.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! madame," said Cherami, examining the girls, of whom there +were not so many as in the first<a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a> shop, "I would like—I wanted a coat, +either blue or black, but made in the latest style, and, above all +things, becoming to me. I don't care for the price, but I am particular +about being well dressed."</p> + +<p>"You are not in a tailor's shop, monsieur!" retorted the old woman +superciliously, while the workgirls exchanged glances and laughed till +they cried.</p> + +<p>But the old woman bade them be silent, and added:</p> + +<p>"Apparently you didn't look to see what we keep here, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"What! am I not in a shop of outfitters for both sexes?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; we sell only flowers and feathers."</p> + +<p>"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; but your shop has a sort of resemblance +to the Magasin du Prophète. It isn't so brightly lighted, I agree; but +these flowers, these wreaths—it's all so pretty! and, in Paris, +outfitters' shops look like stage decorations.—Accept my apologies, +madame."</p> + +<p>"Two!" said Cherami, when he was in the street once more. "My pretty +grisettes are not there either. Patience! we shall find them at last. +Ah! I see another feather-shop; they fairly swarm in this street. +Forward!"</p> + +<p>In the third shop, Cherami asked for shirts, while passing in review the +workgirls and apprentices, without finding those whom he sought. He +succeeded, as before, in making the young women laugh and in obtaining a +tart response from the mistress of the place.</p> + +<p>In the fourth shop, after staring about for some time, Cherami +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I don't see any; this is very strange; I don't see any, and yet I was +certain that I saw several in the window."</p> + +<p>"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he desires?" said the forewoman.<a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a></p> + +<p>"I want to buy a Bayonne ham, madame; the best you have."</p> + +<p>This time the laughter was general, and the mistress shared the +merriment of her workgirls; so that Cherami had an opportunity to +examine them at his leisure. At last, when the hilarity had subsided +somewhat, the forewoman, still smiling, said to him:</p> + +<p>"We don't sell hams here, monsieur; pray, what sort of a place did you +take this for?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; isn't this a provision shop?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; it's a flower and feather shop."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I am a miserable wretch! But let me tell you what misled me: it was +the birds that I saw in the window. I said to myself: 'That's game; +therefore, they sell provisions.'"</p> + +<p>"Those are birds-of-paradise that you saw, monsieur; they're used to put +on ladies' hats, but not to eat."</p> + +<p>"Birds-of-paradise! Pardon me, but they are in paradise, in very truth, +since they live under the same roof with such charming ladies! I renew +my apologies, and beg you to accept my respects."</p> + +<p>Cherami left the fourth shop, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"They are not there either; I shan't have my cue this evening. This is +enough for to-day; but I am well pleased with the effect I produced in +that last place: they all laughed, even the mistress herself laughed +like a madwoman! It was very amusing to see the gayety on all those +female faces—and all because I asked for a ham! After all, a ham was +more absurd than a coat, shirts, or children's caps! Well, to-morrow I +must ask for something even more absurd. Oh! I shall think up something; +I'm never at a loss. Meanwhile, let's go and have a game<a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a> of pool at the +usual place. When my pocket is well lined, I play superbly, I handle my +cue magnificently. I am sure of winning, according to the proverb: +'Water keeps flowing to the river.'"</p> + +<p>The next day, after dinner, Cherami returned to Rue Saint-Denis, saying +to himself:</p> + +<p>"I know how far I went yesterday, and where I must begin to-day. I have +something very amusing to ask for. How I'll make them laugh! Oh! I +propose that not even the forewomen shall succeed in keeping a serious +face. They will fancy they're at the Palais-Royal when Grassot plays <i>La +Garde-Malade</i>, or <i>Le Vieux Loup de Mer</i>."</p> + +<p>But, since the preceding night, certain things had happened in Rue +Saint-Denis which our grisette-hunter could not divine.</p> + +<p>In a quarter so wholly given over to business, there are brokers and +under-clerks who go about almost every morning inquiring as to the +course of prices, articles most in demand, etc.; this is commonly called +<i>faire la place</i>. Now, when one of these brokers entered a certain +feather-shop, the girls asked him laughingly:</p> + +<p>"Have you brought us some children's caps? we had a call for some last +night."</p> + +<p>"Caps? you are joking!"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed!"</p> + +<p>And thereupon they told him about their customer of the night before. +The story made the broker laugh, and that was the end of it. But at +another shop they told him about a man who had wanted to buy a coat.</p> + +<p>"This is a strange thing!" he exclaimed; "over yonder, somebody asked +for a child's cap. Can it be the same man?"</p> + +<p>At that, the proprietor's interest was aroused.<a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a></p> + +<p>"I must go to see my confrères, and find out whether they also saw this +person."</p> + +<p>"That is right," said the broker; "we must go to the bottom of this; for +it seems to me as if someone had made up his mind to play a practical +joke on you. I'll go with you."</p> + +<p>They soon learned that Cherami had visited four shops; but they also +satisfied themselves that he had been to no more. The dealers in +feathers took counsel together, and those who had not received a call +from the jocose gentleman said to one another:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the fellow will begin again to-morrow night; we must prepare to +give him a warm reception."</p> + +<p>The tradesmen, at whose establishments he had asked for caps, a coat, +shirts, and a ham, said to their confrères:</p> + +<p>"Allow us to come to your shops to-night and wait for this man, so that +we can have our share in the reception you propose to give him."</p> + +<p>Everything being agreed upon, in the evening they divided up into groups +and waited impatiently for the party of the night before to appear.</p> + +<p>Our hunter of feather-makers entered Rue Saint-Denis, far from +suspecting all that had been plotted against him; he waved his switch +about, looked to right and left, then said to himself:</p> + +<p>"I went in there—and there. I recognize the shops perfectly. Ah! +there's my number three. There's only one more—the fourth—there it is; +yes, I recognize the forewoman, who had a very amiable expression, +laughing as she did with all the rest of them. Now, I will go into the +next one I see, and we'll have a little laugh. Oh! the question I am +going to ask will be so laughable! the girls will fairly howl. I won't +even answer for it that I can<a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a> keep a serious face myself.—Ah! there's +a feather-shop. A fine place—forward!"</p> + +<p>Cherami made but one bound to the shop he had discovered; he entered, +struck a graceful attitude, and ogled the workgirls, not noticing +several young men who had stepped behind the doors when he entered.</p> + +<p>The forewoman looked at him in a strange way, but asked him, none the +less, in a polite tone, what he wanted.</p> + +<p>Cherami replied, with a winning smile:</p> + +<p>"What do I want? Mon Dieu! fair lady, a very simple thing. I would +like—I like to think that you keep them—I would like a broomstick."</p> + +<p>"Certainly we keep them, monsieur," the forewoman instantly answered. +"How lucky! we have just laid in a stock. You couldn't go to a better +place."</p> + +<p>While Cherami listened in utter amazement to this reply, which he was +very far from expecting, the young men, who had, as it happened, +provided themselves with broomsticks, came forth from their hiding-place +and fell upon him at close quarters, crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! you want broomsticks, do you? well! you shall have 'em!—to teach +you to go into shops as you did last night, to make sport of honest +tradesmen! Take that, and that! how do you like broomsticks?"</p> + +<p>Cherami, who was unprepared for this attack, tried to parry the blows +with his switch, but the switch was no match for the weapons of his +opponents; so he thought of nothing but making his escape.</p> + +<p>"I will wait for you in the street, messieurs," he cried; "I challenge +you all, one at a time."</p> + +<p>But they made no reply; they simply pushed him into the street and +closed the door on him. Somewhat<a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a> ashamed of the result of his jest, our +friend, who had received a too well-aimed blow from a broomstick over +his left eye, walked away, holding his handkerchief to the wound, and +saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"What a damnable idea that was of mine, to ask for a broomstick! This +time, I have my cue!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XL" id="XL"></a>XL<br /><br /> +THE BANKER</h2> + +<p>Cherami's left eye was so badly damaged, and retained so long the marks +of the blow it had received, that the ex-beau was obliged to keep his +room six weeks, because he did not choose to go out with a bandage +across his face.</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard, who was frequently intrusted with the duty of dressing +the wounded organ, said one day to her tenant:</p> + +<p>"How in the world did you get that <i>trump</i>?"</p> + +<p>"You call that a <i>trump</i>, my amiable hostess! It would be a deuced fine +hand which was full of such trumps!"</p> + +<p>"You fought another duel, did you, hot-head?"</p> + +<p>"I am forced to confess that I was beaten this time; I wasn't strong +enough; there was a whole regiment against me."</p> + +<p>"That wasn't done by a sword, was it?"</p> + +<p>"No, unluckily! A sword puts your eye out, but doesn't force it out of +your head. But I got it for the sake of two girls!"<a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a></p> + +<p>"Aha! so you must have two at once! God! what good reason I have to hate +men!"</p> + +<p>"However, this forced retirement has compelled me to be economical; I +have given you a superb payment on account."</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five francs! Do you call that superb?"</p> + +<p>"Everything is comparative; I usually give you only a hundred sous. My +eye is getting well, thank God! I shall soon resume my activity."</p> + +<p>"And run after your girls again, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No, on my word as a gentleman, I shan't begin that again; I've had +enough of it! I have my cue. I am going to try to find my friend +Gustave; he may have been in Paris since I have kept my room. My first +visit will be to his uncle, a by no means amiable party, who presumes to +look askance at me; but, so long as he tells me where his nephew is, I +will allow him to make faces at me, if it affords him any pleasure."</p> + +<p>A few days later, Cherami was, in fact, able to go out, and without a +bandage; his eye had resumed its normal appearance. Our man had taken +great pains with his toilet: his boots were polished, his hat and coat +carefully brushed; he took his switch, entered the omnibus from +Belleville, took an exchange check, and, in due time, arrived at the +banker's establishment in Faubourg Montmartre.</p> + +<p>On this occasion, Cherami did not stop to talk with the concierge; he +went straight to the office and found the same clerk still at work on +his figures. It is a fact that there are some clerks in banking-houses +who pass almost the whole day at that work. When they go to sleep, it +would seem that they must always see figures dancing and fluttering +about them; what a pleasant life! and what delightful dreams!<a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami stopped in front of the old clerk, who kept his eyes fixed on +his ledger as before, making the same dull sound that some machines +make: "Six—eight—fourteen—twenty-seven—thirty."</p> + +<p>"I say, my good man, haven't you stopped that since the last time I +came?" cried Cherami, tapping on the clerk's desk with his switch. +"Sapristi! you're no common clerk; you're a living logarithm, a +ciphering-machine on which somebody ought to take out a patent! You +ought to fetch a big price."</p> + +<p>The old clerk replied simply, without raising his head:</p> + +<p>"Don't hit my ledger like that; don't you see that you raise the dust?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to be sure, I see that I raise lots of dust; your office-boys +don't dust here every day, it seems?"</p> + +<p>"Thirty-five—forty-four—fifty-three."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the machine's starting up again. Look you: I would be glad to avoid +applying to your employer, Monsieur Grandcourt, as we're not on the best +of terms. Come, Papa Double-Naught, tell me if the banker's nephew, +Gustave, has returned from Germany. I have something to say to +him—something important, very important; I am anxious to assure his +happiness! Well?"</p> + +<p>"Eighty from a hundred and sixty leaves——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! this is too much! it passes conception! He ought to be sent to the +Exposition!"</p> + +<p>Having brought his switch down on the desk once more, with such violence +that the sand and ink flew up into the clerk's face, Cherami strode +toward the banker's private office, and found that gentleman reading the +newspaper.</p> + +<p>At sight of Cherami, whom he recognized at once, although his apparel +was greatly improved, Monsieur<a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a> Grandcourt frowned. His visitor, on the +contrary, tried to smile, and said, bowing gracefully:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, I have the honor to be your servant."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Do you remember me, by any chance?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, monsieur. Indeed, you are not at all changed, except in +respect to your dress, which I congratulate you upon having renewed."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you notice that? You look at a man's dress, I see?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I should say that it was impossible not to notice it."</p> + +<p>"I mean to say that you attach importance to it, that you judge the man +by his coat."</p> + +<p>"Was it to ascertain my opinion on that subject that you called on me, +monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"No; oh, no! I snap my fingers at other people's opinions. I know my own +value, and that's enough for me."</p> + +<p>"I congratulate you, monsieur, on knowing your own value; it is quite +possible that the world at large doesn't suspect it."</p> + +<p>Cherami bit his lips and twisted his whiskers, muttering:</p> + +<p>"This devil of a fellow hasn't changed, either—still sarcastic, +mocking. I don't despise intellects of that type; they prick and stir +one up. You retort, and the conversation is all the more highly spiced."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt repressed a faint smile and leaned back in his +chair, crossing his legs, as if waiting to hear what his caller had to +say.</p> + +<p>"I would be willing to bet that you guess why I have come?" said Cherami +at last.<a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a></p> + +<p>"It is quite possible, monsieur; still, I may be mistaken."</p> + +<p>"I have come to ask where your dear nephew is—my friend Gustave."</p> + +<p>"He is travelling, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Still travelling? But, he must be somewhere."</p> + +<p>"He was at Berlin not long ago."</p> + +<p>"Not long ago—that's rather vague. However, he writes to you, and you +answer him, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"There is no doubt about that."</p> + +<p>"Consequently, he tells you where to send your letters. Very good! be +kind enough to give me his address, so that I may write to Gustave +forthwith. I desire to tell him a piece of news which will make him very +happy, and will probably hasten his return to Paris. When one can give a +friend pleasure, it would seem that one cannot do it too quickly! Don't +you agree with me in that?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, monsieur; that depends on the possible results of the pleasure +which you wish to afford your friend. What is this joyous news which you +are in such haste to transmit to my nephew, so as to make him hurry +back? Couldn't you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"I might say that you are very inquisitive; but you are my friend's +uncle, and, for that reason, I excuse you. The little woman whom Gustave +adored, whom he still adores—at least, he told me so before he went +away—that charming Fanny!—and she really is very pretty! I had a +chance to examine her at my ease when I called on her—a refined, +intellectual face, a coaxing voice, a foot just large enough to say that +she has one——"</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, this Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"Well, dear uncle, she is a widow!"<a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, I have known that a long while. She's a widow because her +husband blew his brains out, which doesn't indicate that he was very +happy at home."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; he killed himself because he was ruined—by unlucky +speculations on the Bourse. Still, I am not talking about the dead man, +but about his widow. Since the woman Gustave adored is free, what is +there to prevent him, later—I don't say now, at once, but when her year +of mourning has passed——"</p> + +<p>"So, monsieur, it is with the purpose of reviving that idiotic passion +of my nephew for a woman who laughed at him, that you insist upon +knowing where he is? You hope that on receipt of your letter he will +drop everything and return to Paris?"</p> + +<p>"I am even capable of going where he is, myself, to fetch him home, if +it isn't too far—and doesn't cost too much! I will travel third class; +I don't mind. One must make some sacrifice to friendship."</p> + +<p>"You will not have that trouble, monsieur; and as I consider that my +nephew will certainly return soon enough, so far as seeing your Fanny is +concerned, and as I flatter myself that he will then have ceased to +think of that young woman, I shall not give you his address."</p> + +<p>"Ah! indeed! so you are still as hard-hearted and tyrannical as ever?"</p> + +<p>"A man is not necessarily a tyrant, monsieur, because he prevents silly +boys from making fools of themselves. I am well aware that, nowadays, it +is customary to give that name to those who insist that laws and customs +and individual rights shall be respected; that old age shall be honored, +that children shall revere their parents and celebrate their birthdays, +and that there shall be no smoking in a room where there are ladies; if +that's<a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a> what you mean by <i>tyrant</i>, why, I am a tyrant, monsieur, and I +am proud of it."</p> + +<p>Cherami paced up and down the room, muttering:</p> + +<p>"You are trying to make me think it's noon at two o'clock! I care +nothing for all that! Once, twice, will you give me Gustave's address?"</p> + +<p>"A hundred times, no!"</p> + +<p>"Good-day, then! I have my cue!"</p> + +<p>And Cherami rushed from the room in a rage, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"If I had such an uncle as that, I'd disinherit him!"</p> + +<h2><a name="XLI" id="XLI"></a>XLI<br /><br /> +THE YOUNG WIDOW</h2> + +<p>For several days, Cherami went every morning and inquired of the +banker's concierge if the young traveller had returned; but as he always +received a negative reply, he soon tired of repeating the same trip to +no purpose, and confined himself to going there once a week.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, time passed, and Cherami, reduced once more to the necessity +of living on his slender income, found himself anew without enough money +in his pocket to buy a cigar.</p> + +<p>But winter had given place to spring, fine weather had returned, and the +ex-beau strolled about in search of acquaintances more persistently than +ever.</p> + +<p>One morning, near the Château d'Eau, he saw two girls, apparently +waiting for an omnibus; he walked toward them, saying to himself:<a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a></p> + +<p>"Par la sambleu! I believe those are my pretty feather-makers. Yes, they +certainly are Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie."</p> + +<p>Hearing their names, the young women turned and looked at the stranger, +who bowed low to them. Suddenly Laurette, the dark one, cried:</p> + +<p>"Ah! I recognize monsieur now; he's the one who talked with us at Porte +Saint-Martin last summer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mesdemoiselles; the same. Are you going up to Belleville again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And to the restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; but we have a friend who lives in the village of +L'Avenir."</p> + +<p>"And where might the village of L'Avenir be, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"What! you don't know it?"</p> + +<p>"I have never been able to read the future (<i>l'avenir</i>), and I was not +aware that it had a village."</p> + +<p>"It's in Romainville Forest, a little this side, on high land from which +you get a fine view. There have been a lot of houses built there, almost +all alike; small, but very neat and prettily decorated, each with its +little garden. As they don't cost much, and you can pay on very easy +terms, why, the village of L'Avenir sprang up all at once, as if by +magic."</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! I'll go and buy a house there—as soon as I'm in funds. Ah! +mesdemoiselles, I have hunted everywhere for you! If you knew all that I +have done to find you!"</p> + +<p>"Us, monsieur? Why did you want to find us?"</p> + +<p>"To ask you to go to the play and to supper."</p> + +<p>"Ah! what a fine idea! But perhaps we wouldn't have accepted?"<a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a></p> + +<p>"That <i>perhaps</i> relieves my mind. There was nothing improper in my +suggestion."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur certainly has too gentlemanly an air for anybody to distrust +him."</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" said Cherami to himself; "what a pity that I haven't a sou! +I'll bet they would accept now."</p> + +<p>"Where did you look for us, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Why, in all the feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you would have had to look a long while. We're not in the feather +business now; we have changed."</p> + +<p>"What are you in now?"</p> + +<p>"Pearls; we string pearls."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's a very pretty trade. I have never worked in pearls myself, +and yet I would have liked——"</p> + +<p>"Here's our 'bus, Laurette—come. Adieu, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"In what quarter, please?"</p> + +<p>"Rue des Arcis."</p> + +<p>The young women climbed into the omnibus, and Cherami watched them ride +away. He sighed, muttered a malediction against fate, tapped his +trousers with his switch, and continued his promenade. But he had not +walked a hundred yards, when he found himself face to face with a young +lady dressed in mourning, who stopped and bestowed a gracious salutation +upon him. Cherami bowed to the ground, for he had recognized Auguste +Monléard's young widow.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?" said Fanny, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Ah! madame, I must be short-sighted to the last degree to have +forgotten your enchanting face after I had seen it once!"</p> + +<p>"But this mourning changes one a good deal."<a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a></p> + +<p>"Whether you wear black, or pink, or nothing at all, I will answer for +it that you will always be charming. Indeed, I should prefer the last."</p> + +<p>"You are very gallant, Monsieur Cherami!"</p> + +<p>"I am delighted to find that madame remembers my name."</p> + +<p>"I have not forgotten it, monsieur; indeed, I was very anxious to see +you."</p> + +<p>"Really! If I could have dreamed of such a thing, madame, I would have +done myself the honor to call upon you long since."</p> + +<p>"I wanted first of all to thank you for your kindness in going to my +father's to perform an unpleasant errand."</p> + +<p>"Oh! let us say no more of that, I beg! Have you any other commission to +intrust to me? I am at your service, I have nothing to do; command me."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Monsieur Cherami. Do you know Monsieur Gustave Darlemont?"</p> + +<p>"Do I know him! He is my best friend, my Euryalus, my Orestes, my +Pythias.—Yes, indeed, madame; I do know him and appreciate him; he is a +charming fellow, who deserves to be loved."</p> + +<p>"Tell me frankly, Monsieur Cherami,—surely you have no reason now to +conceal the truth from me,—did Gustave ask you to fight with my +husband?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! so madame knows that it was I who——"</p> + +<p>"Who fought a duel with Monsieur Monléard. To be sure; but have no fear; +I bear you no ill-will at all for that."</p> + +<p>"She's a charming creature," said Cherami to himself; "I fancy that she +would bear me no more ill-will if I had killed her husband."<a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a></p> + +<p>"But, monsieur," rejoined Fanny, "be good enough to tell me why you +called me faithless when you saw me pass?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! my dear madame, it's very easy to understand. I had dined +with poor Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your wedding party. +During the whole meal, the dear fellow was in such utter despair that it +was painful to see him. He didn't eat, he didn't drink; I was compelled +to dine for two, and to hold on to him every minute to keep him from +seeking you out in the midst of your party."</p> + +<p>"Really! Poor fellow! was he so broken up as that?"</p> + +<p>"In the evening, he spoke to your sister and made her promise that, when +you came back for the ball, she would arrange it so that he could have +an interview with you."</p> + +<p>"My sister never told me a word of all this. That Adolphine's a strange +creature!"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, it seems that she sent word to Gustave's uncle, to +come to take him away."</p> + +<p>"What business was it of hers?"</p> + +<p>"The uncle came and compelled his nephew to go with him; I was left +alone. I had drunk quite a lot of punch; I had looked in at a wedding +party on the floor above yours. As I came from that party, heated by +dancing, and still thinking of my disconsolate friend, I caught sight of +you, and I let slip that remark; which I retract to-day, and offer a +thousand apologies for making it."</p> + +<p>"You are freely forgiven. So Gustave had nothing to do with the duel?"</p> + +<p>"He knew absolutely nothing about it until he returned from Spain."</p> + +<p>"Do you know where he is now?"<a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a></p> + +<p>"Alas, no! In Prussia, I believe. I have been several times to ask; but +he has an uncle who is the most disagreeable man you can imagine! If he +weren't so closely connected with my friend, I would have run him +through before this. Still, Gustave must return some time; I am on the +watch for him."</p> + +<p>"When you hear anything about him, it will be very kind of you to let me +know. This is my new address."</p> + +<p>"Be sure, madame, that I shall be only too happy to prove my zeal."</p> + +<p>"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!"</p> + +<p>"Madame, accept my most respectful homage.—I don't know whether she is +sincerely fond of Gustave," thought Cherami, as the charming widow left +him, "but it is certain that she is burning to see him again."</p> + +<h2><a name="XLII" id="XLII"></a>XLII<br /><br /> +ORESTES AND PYLADES</h2> + +<p>Fanny had been a widow more than six months, when, as Cherami was +approaching Monsieur Grandcourt's abode one morning, he saw Gustave come +out. He uttered a joyful exclamation, and hastened to throw his arms +about the young traveller, crying:</p> + +<p>"<i>Tandem</i>! <i>denique</i>! here he is at last! this is good luck, indeed! +Damnation! you've been away a long while, but we will hope that it's the +last time."</p> + +<p>"Good-day, my dear Arthur!" said Gustave, as they shook hands. "Were you +coming to see my uncle?"<a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a></p> + +<p>"Your uncle! Sapristi! he's a dear creature, is your uncle; let's talk +about something else. Why, I have been here a hundred times; I wanted to +get your address, so that I could write to you or come after you; but it +was impossible to obtain the slightest information from your uncle. When +did you return?"</p> + +<p>"Last night, at nine o'clock. But why were you so anxious to know where +I was? What had you to tell me that was so important?"</p> + +<p>"Hasn't your uncle told you anything?"</p> + +<p>"We had a talk this morning, on business; that's all."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the old fox! there's no danger that he would tell you what +interested you most."</p> + +<p>"Then do you tell me, quickly, Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Your former passion, that little woman you loved so dearly——"</p> + +<p>"Fanny! Great God! is she dead?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! she's not dead; she's in bewitching health, she's just as +pretty as ever, and more than that—she's a widow."</p> + +<p>"A widow! Great heaven! can it be possible?"</p> + +<p>"It's more than possible, it's so. Her husband speculated in stocks, and +ruined himself; then, <i>crac</i>! a pistol-shot—you understand."</p> + +<p>"Oh! what a calamity! Why, it's perfectly ghastly; how long ago was it?"</p> + +<p>"Almost immediately after you went away."</p> + +<p>"Poor Fanny! she expected to find her happiness in that marriage; how +she must have grieved! how bitterly she must have wept!"</p> + +<p>"My dear Gustave, you don't know that young woman at all. She has very +great strength of character; she received the news of her husband's +death with a stoical<a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a> courage worthy of the Spartan women who sent their +sons to war, bidding them to return as victors or not at all."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that, Cherami?"</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! because it was I to whom her husband confided his last wishes +and the mission of informing his wife of his death."</p> + +<p>"To you! you who fought a duel with him?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely! that duel made us the best friends in the world. I will tell +you all about it in detail another time. Let it suffice for the present, +that the young widow, who is already thoroughly consoled, does not cease +to talk about you, to ask about you, and to inquire whether you will +return soon."</p> + +<p>"Is that true? you are not deceiving me? Fanny thinks of me?"</p> + +<p>"It is as I have the honor to tell you, and, between ourselves, I +believe that she never really loved her husband—which explains why she +wasted so little regret on him."</p> + +<p>"All that you tell me surprises me so that I can't collect my thoughts. +Fanny widowed! Fanny free!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, widowed, and more than six months passed already! By the way,—and +this is the first question I should have asked you,—do you still love +her?"</p> + +<p>"Do I still love her! Ah! my dear Arthur, can you doubt it?"</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that you have had plenty of time and a perfect right to +forget her. I seem to recall that that was your hope when you went +away."</p> + +<p>"That may be; but I have not been able to do it. I tried to distract my +thoughts, to fall in love with other women. One day, I fancied that I +was; but the illusion<a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a> soon vanished; and then, the last time I met +Fanny, she was so sweet with me that the memory of that occasion was not +well calculated to destroy my love."</p> + +<p>"Then you love her? you are sure of it?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, my dear fellow! why do you ask me that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! because I had thought of something else; and if you were no longer +in love with the widow—— But, as you are still daft over her, why, +that's at an end; and I believe that things will go on now to suit you."</p> + +<p>"I am going to see Adolphine, Fanny's sister, to-day."</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't you go to see Fanny herself? I should say that that would +be the shortest way. I can give you her address."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you can't mean that, my friend! that I should go to that young +widow's house at once—I, who have not been to see her since her +marriage! It wouldn't be proper. She must give me permission first."</p> + +<p>"But, as she urged you to call on her when she was a married woman, it +seems to me that she can afford to receive you now that she's a widow."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, but not right away; I must see her first, at her father's. +She must go there often, now?"</p> + +<p>"I should rather see you go to the little widow's than to her father's."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, indeed! That's the sequel of the idea I spoke about just now. +However, do as you think best; the main point is that you have come in +time, and that you should stay in Paris; because I am horribly bored +while you are away. On my word, I seem to miss something."</p> + +<p>"Dear Arthur! I am really touched by the interest you take in everything +that concerns me.—And yourself, my friend—are you happy, are you doing +well in business?"<a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a></p> + +<p>"I can't do badly, because I do no business at all. I am +content—because I am a philosopher! I am happy—when I have my cue; but +I haven't had it for some time."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet that you have no money."</p> + +<p>"You would win very often if you made that bet."</p> + +<p>"And you didn't say a word about it! Am I no longer your friend?"</p> + +<p>"My dear Gustave, you overwhelm me;—but I owe you something now, +and——"</p> + +<p>"What does that matter? Do friends keep accounts with one another? Isn't +he who can oblige the other the happier?"</p> + +<p>"Damme! if all my friends of the old days had been of your way of +thinking!"</p> + +<p>Gustave produced his wallet, took out a banknote, and thrust it into +Cherami's hand, saying:</p> + +<p>"Here, my good friend, take this; and when it's all gone, tell me so. +Now, adieu! I must leave you and go to Monsieur Gerbault's; I dine with +my uncle to-day; but if you will dine with me to-morrow, be in front of +the Passage de l'Opéra at six o'clock."</p> + +<p>"If I will! Par la sambleu! why, it will be a regular fête for me."</p> + +<p>"In that case, adieu, until to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>When Gustave was a long distance away, Cherami continued to look after +him, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"There goes the pearl of friends; I don't know the pearls upon which +Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie are employed, but a real friend is +worth far more than all the treasures of Golconda, and is much rarer +too. I was on the point of mentioning a certain idea that I have got +into my head relative to little Adolphine, the<a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a> pretty widow's sister; +but I thought, on reflection, that I should do better to say nothing +about it. What good would it do to tell him that I think poor +Adolphine's in love with him, when he still loves Fanny? It would make +him unhappy, and that's all; he wouldn't dare to go to Papa Gerbault's +to talk about his dear Fanny. I certainly did well to hold my tongue. +Let's see what he slipped into my hand. Generous Gustave! he is quite +capable of loaning me five hundred francs more."</p> + +<p>Cherami unfolded the banknote which he held in his hand, and was +thunderstruck when he saw that it was for a thousand francs.</p> + +<p>Having satisfied himself that he was not mistaken, Cherami stuffed the +note into his cigar-case, muttering:</p> + +<p>"A thousand francs! he gave me a thousand francs, and said: 'When that's +gone, let me know!' Sacrebleu! this unexpected wealth bewilders me. That +young man's behavior touches me; it makes me blush for my own. Come, +Arthur, my good friend, do you propose to continue your dissipation, +your foolish courses? And because you have fallen in with a whole-souled +fellow who gave you money without counting it, are you going to work, as +usual, to waste that money as you wasted your fortune? I say <i>no</i>! par +la sambleu! I will not do it; I propose to show myself worthy to be +Gustave's friend. From this day forth, I turn over a new leaf, I become +a reasonable man, I put water in my wine; and, for a beginning, I will +go and dine for thirty-two sous."</p> + +<p>While Cherami was forming these excellent resolutions, Gustave betook +himself, without loss of time, to Monsieur Gerbault's house.</p> + +<p>Adolphine was alone, trying, by dint of practising diligently on the +piano, to forget for a moment the secret<a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a> pain which was gnawing at her +heart. Fanny's sister had changed perceptibly in the last few months; a +genuine passion does not leave one unscathed; at nineteen years of age, +such a passion occupies one's every moment, obtrudes itself upon one's +every thought. The girl's features bore traces of her suffering; her +face had grown thin and pale, and constantly wore an expression of +sadness, which she strove, but in vain, to hide beneath a smile in the +presence of others; and her sister's company was not likely to afford +her any distraction, because she talked almost incessantly of the man +whom Adolphine would have been glad to forget.</p> + +<p>Madeleine, who had recognized Gustave, did not deem it necessary to +announce him, but allowed him to enter her mistress's apartment, where +he could hear her playing the piano. He went forward softly and stood +behind Adolphine, and several moments passed before she happened to +glance at the mirror over the piano and saw him standing there. A cry +escaped her; she whispered Gustave's name, then a ghastly pallor spread +over her face, and she looked down at the floor.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! my dear Adolphine! what's the matter?" cried the young man, +in dismay; "shall I call somebody?"</p> + +<p>But Adolphine motioned to him not to go, and shook hands with him, +saying in an uncertain voice:</p> + +<p>"It's nothing—the surprise—the excitement; I was so unprepared to see +you! But it's all gone.—So you are at home again, Monsieur Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my good little sister. So you didn't expect me, eh? You had +forgotten all about me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't say that; on the contrary, it seemed to me that you were +staying away a long while this time."<a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a></p> + +<p>"I have been away nearly seven months; and during that time, I +understand that—many things have happened here."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you know?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that your sister is a widow."</p> + +<p>"Who has told you that, so soon?"</p> + +<p>"Cherami; you know, the man who was with me the day of——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I know him; it was he, too, who came to tell us the fatal news +of poor Auguste's death; for, I don't know how it happens, but your +Monsieur Cherami succeeds in having his finger in everything; everybody +takes him for a confidant.—When did you return?"</p> + +<p>"Only last evening."</p> + +<p>"It was very nice of you to think of coming here. Father is out, but he +will be at home soon."</p> + +<p>"Good! for I shall be very glad to talk with him. I trust that he won't +think it improper for me to come here now, as he did before?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine could not restrain a nervous gesture as she replied:</p> + +<p>"Ah! so you want to come to see us again? Yes—I understand—you are no +longer afraid to meet Fanny."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I ought to avoid her presence still? tell me, dear +Adolphine!"</p> + +<p>"I? Oh! I don't think anything about it. Why should you suppose that I +think that? I can't read your heart, you see, and I have no idea whether +it still entertains the same sentiments as before."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I can safely tell you, who have always treated me like a brother; +indeed, why should I make a mystery of it, anyway? Yes, I love Fanny as +dearly as ever, her image has not ceased for a single day to be<a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a> present +in my thoughts. My love, although hopeless, has never changed. Judge, +then, whether I can cease to love her, now that I am once more at +liberty to anticipate happiness in the future!"</p> + +<p>Adolphine passed her hand across her brow and made an effort to retain +her self-possession, as she replied:</p> + +<p>"Ah! it's a fine thing to love like that, with a constancy which time +and absence have failed to shake! It's a fine thing; and a woman could +not love you too well to recompense a passion as true and pure as +yours!"</p> + +<p>"Now, that we are alone, tell me, dear Adolphine, do you think that +Fanny will receive me kindly? Do you think that my constancy will touch +her? that her heart will be moved by it? Ambition and the wish to cut a +figure in the world caused her to prefer Monsieur Monléard to me. I can +readily forgive her, young as she was, for listening to vanity rather +than love—for I fancy that she never had much love for her husband."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! I don't think that she had, either."</p> + +<p>"In that case, his death cannot have caused her a very deep grief?"</p> + +<p>"She regretted his fortune, that's all."</p> + +<p>"What are her means now?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five hundred francs a year. My father asked her to come to live +with us, but she preferred to have a home of her own."</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five hundred francs! That's very little for one who has kept her +carriage."</p> + +<p>"It's quite enough for one whose happiness doesn't depend on money."</p> + +<p>"You think so, Adolphine, because you haven't your sister's tastes; but +all women aren't like you. Fanny<a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a> loves society; she's a bit of a +coquette, perhaps—that's a very pardonable fault. Thank heaven! I am so +placed now that I can gratify the tastes of the woman whom I marry. I +earn ten thousand francs a year; she will not be able to have horses in +her stable and carriages in her carriage-house, but she will not be +obliged to walk when she doesn't want to.—You don't answer me, +Adolphine—do you think Fanny will consent to be my wife?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! now that you earn ten thousand francs a year, she will smile on +your suit, no doubt."</p> + +<p>Gustave sighed, as he rejoined in a lower tone:</p> + +<p>"Then, if I couldn't offer her that, she would refuse me again? That's +what you mean to imply, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, I didn't mean to hurt you; I did +wrong to say that. Fanny must love you—why shouldn't she love you? It +would be awfully ungrateful of her not to—when you have given her +abundant proof of so much love and constancy—and have forgiven her for +the sorrow she caused you. Certainly she loves you; you will be happy +with her; but—you see—I can't bear to talk about it all the +time—because it worries me—it makes me uneasy—for you. Mon Dieu! I am +all confused."</p> + +<p>Gustave scrutinized the girl more closely, then exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, I hadn't noticed before! How you have changed; how thin you are! +Have you been ill, my little sister?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you notice it now, do you? Why, no, I am not ill; nothing's the +matter with me; I don't know why I should change."</p> + +<p>"Are you in pain?"<a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a></p> + +<p>Adolphine raised her lovely eyes, as if appealing to heaven, as she +replied:</p> + +<p>"No, I have no pain."</p> + +<p>"I can't have you sick! I insist upon your recovering your fine, healthy +color of the old days; and now that I have returned, I will look after +your health."</p> + +<p>"Thanks! thanks! you will come to see us often, then?"</p> + +<p>"I hope to do so; and your sister—does she come here often?"</p> + +<p>"Thursdays, because we receive then; occasionally on other days."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to this conversation. He greeted +Gustave cordially, and the young man made no secret of the pleasure it +would give him to come frequently to the house; he did not mention +Fanny, preferring not to begin to talk of his renewed hopes at their +very first meeting; but he adroitly found a way to make known his +financial position, which would enable him, if he married, to offer an +attractive prospect to the woman who should bear his name.</p> + +<p>Now that his oldest daughter was a widow, Monsieur Gerbault saw no +impropriety in Gustave's meeting her; and he was the first to urge the +young man to come to his house at his pleasure, as before. Gustave was +enchanted; he pressed Monsieur Gerbault's hand, then Adolphine's, and +took his leave without noticing that the latter's depression had become +more marked than ever.<a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XLIII" id="XLIII"></a>XLIII<br /><br /> +A COMPLETE REFORMATION</h2> + +<p>The next evening, at six o'clock, Cherami, dressed with an elegance +which made of him once more the stylish beau of former days, was walking +near the Passage de l'Opéra. Several of his former boon companions, who +had ceased to bow to him since he had worn a threadbare coat, had +stopped when they caught sight of him and acted as if they would accost +him; but Cherami at once turned on his heel, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Go your way, canaille! I know what you amount to, my fine fellows! You +wouldn't look at me when I was strapped. You recognize me because I am +well dressed. Avaunt! I have had enough of such people!"</p> + +<p>Gustave soon appeared; he could not restrain an exclamation of surprise +as he gazed at the man who could once more call himself Beau Arthur.</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! my dear fellow! Pray excuse these manifestations of +surprise," said Gustave; "but, upon my word, at first glance I didn't +recognize you. You are superb—I don't exaggerate; no one could wear +handsome clothes more gracefully."</p> + +<p>"That's a relic of early habit."</p> + +<p>"Why have you gotten yourself up so finely?"</p> + +<p>"It was the least I could do to show my respect for such a friend as +you."</p> + +<p>"Let us go and dine, and we will talk."</p> + +<p>"I am at your service."<a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a></p> + +<p>The gentlemen entered the Café Anglais, and Gustave said to his +companion:</p> + +<p>"Order the dinner; you know how to do it."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, but I think I won't order again," said Cherami; "I went +about it like a bull in a china-shop; I don't propose to do it any more; +you do the ordering."</p> + +<p>"What does this mean? You, a man who understood life so well!"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I understood it very ill; and I have changed all +that—a complete reformation; better late than never."</p> + +<p>Gustave finally decided to order the dinner; but at every moment his +guest said to him:</p> + +<p>"Enough; that's quite enough! and we'll have only one kind of wine."</p> + +<p>"Faith! my dear fellow, you may eat and drink what you choose; but I +propose to order to suit myself; I haven't turned hermit, you see."</p> + +<p>"Go on, you are the master. I will get drunk, if you insist; it's my +duty to obey you."</p> + +<p>Throughout the first course, Cherami put water in his wine, and was very +abstemious.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't know you," said Gustave.</p> + +<p>"So much the better! I aim to be unrecognizable; but let us talk of your +affairs: have you been to Papa Gerbault's?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I saw Adolphine, Fanny's younger sister; still, as always, kind +and affectionate and ready to help me."</p> + +<p>"I have an idea that she is very affectionate, in truth."</p> + +<p>"But I found her very much changed—she is thin, and she has lost her +fresh color. One would say that the girl has some secret sorrow."<a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a></p> + +<p>"There's nothing impossible in that, poor child! And you told her that +you still love her sister?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure; I confided to her all the hopes which Fanny's present +position justified me in forming. Oh! I made no mystery to her of my +love for her sister."</p> + +<p>"That must have afforded her a great deal of pleasure!"</p> + +<p>"Adolphine takes an interest in my happiness; if she can help me with +Fanny, she will do it, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"She is quite capable of it. But, look you, if you take my advice, you +will go directly to the young widow, and not have the little sister for +a constant witness of your love making; it's a dangerous business for a +heart of nineteen years! When one sees others making love, it may arouse +a longing to make love on one's own account."</p> + +<p>"My dear Arthur, I ask nothing better than to go to Madame Monléard's; +but I must see her first at her father's, and she must give me +permission to call on her."</p> + +<p>"Never fear; she'll give you permission. What about your uncle? have you +spoken to him about the revival of your hopes?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! he isn't fond of Fanny. There'll be time enough for that +when affairs come to a head."</p> + +<p>"By the way, if I want to see you now, where shall I find you? I don't +want to apply to your uncle again; he's an old curmudgeon whom I can't +get along with. He has a way of looking at me! If he hadn't been your +uncle, we should have had it out before this, I promise you."</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, my uncle is a most excellent man, I give you my word; +very just and fair at bottom; a little obstinate when he has formed a +bad opinion of people; but very willing to revise his judgment when you +prove to him that he was wrong."</p> + +<p>"A noble trait, that!"<a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a></p> + +<p>"He has a prejudice against Fanny; he believes her to be incapable of +loving; but when she makes me happy, he will be the first to agree that +he was wrong. As for myself, I have accepted a very nice suite of rooms +in his house, where I shall stay till I marry."</p> + +<p>"In your uncle's house! Then no one can see you without his permission?"</p> + +<p>"Not so; my apartments are on the second floor, front, entirely separate +from his."</p> + +<p>"Does the concierge know you now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, never fear; he knows my name. Come, my good fellow, a glass of +champagne to my love, to my union with Fanny!"</p> + +<p>"You insist on drinking champagne?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly."</p> + +<p>"Very good, if you insist on it! We might well have been content with +this claret, which is perfect."</p> + +<p>"But what is the meaning of this virtuous conduct? what revolution has +taken place in you? who has wrought this miracle?"</p> + +<p>"Who? Don't you suspect?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, no!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was you, my dear Gustave."</p> + +<p>"I? Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"It's the truth, none the less. Twice now, you have obliged me; and with +such tact, such generosity——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I beg you——"</p> + +<p>"Sacrebleu! let me speak; I am not talking <i>blague</i> now, and you must +believe me, because I have no reason for lying. I brought myself up with +a sharp turn; I said to myself that, although I am no longer young, I am +not old enough yet to live at other people's expense. In short, I don't +propose to throw money out of window any<a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a> more.—Better still: I am +conscious now of a desire to do something—to work and occupy my mind. I +used to laugh at clerks, at the men employed in offices; but find me +such a place, my friend, and I promise you that I'll fill it in such a +way that they won't turn me away."</p> + +<p>Gustave took Cherami's hand and pressed it warmly.</p> + +<p>"This is very well done of you," he said; "I certainly can't blame you +for such good resolutions. If you keep to them, why, I will look about, +and I will find something for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I shall keep to them; my mind is made up."</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile, as one must never carry anything to excess, there's no law +against your drinking champagne, provided you don't get drunk on it."</p> + +<p>"Very good; let us drink it, then."</p> + +<p>"To my love!"</p> + +<p>"To your love! But take my advice, and attend to your business yourself; +don't put it in the little sister's hands any more."</p> + +<p>"Do you think her capable of doing me a bad turn with Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! God forbid! she loves you too well to do you a bad turn +with anybody. But the result of my experience is that, in love, you +should never employ an ambassador. It's a waste of time."</p> + +<p>"I will follow your advice. Thursday, I shall see Fanny at her father's, +and I will ask her permission to call on her."</p> + +<p>"In that way," said Cherami to himself, "that poor girl won't have them +making love under her nose, at all events."<a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XLIV" id="XLIV"></a>XLIV<br /><br /> +COQUETRY</h2> + +<p>Thursday arrived, and on that day a few faithful friends and some less +faithful acquaintances were accustomed to meet at Monsieur Gerbault's in +the evening and play cards. Among the faithful friends—faithful in +their attendance, that is—were Messieurs Clairval and Batonnin; among +those who came only occasionally was young Anatole de Raincy, who, like +a well-bred youth, had not taken offence at Adolphine's refusal of his +hand; and, being still a great lover of music, did not, because of that +refusal, renounce the pleasure of singing duets with her.</p> + +<p>Since Fanny had been a widow, she had come regularly to her father's to +dinner on Thursday; her sparkling conversation and her playful humor, +upon which her bereavement had imposed silence for a fortnight at most, +contributed not a little to the success of the evening party. The young +widow, who knew that Anatole de Raincy had sought Adolphine's hand and +had been refused, never failed, when she found herself in that young +gentleman's company, to dart glances at him which might well have turned +his head, but for the fact that, in order to captivate him, a woman must +first of all possess a sweet voice; and Fanny sang very little, and then +her singing was not true.</p> + +<p>So that Monsieur de Raincy did not respond to the glances of the pretty +widow, who soon confided to her<a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a> sister that that Monsieur Anatole was +nothing but a canary; that he ought to be fed on nothing but chickweed.</p> + +<p>On the day in question, Adolphine, when she was joined by her sister, +whom she had not seen during the week, experienced a feeling of +discomfort which she strove to overcome, saying to her hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"I imagine that you will see someone here this evening whose presence +will not be distasteful to you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! whom do you expect this evening, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont."</p> + +<p>"Gustave! Is it possible? Gustave has returned, and you haven't told +me?"</p> + +<p>"You have only just come; I couldn't tell you any sooner."</p> + +<p>"But when did he return? When did you see him?"</p> + +<p>"He came to see us on Monday; I believe he arrived in Paris the night +before."</p> + +<p>"What! he has been here since Monday, and I didn't know it! And he's +coming to-night—you are quite sure? Did father invite him for +to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Father didn't actually invite him; but he knows that we receive on +Thursdays, and, as he expressed a wish to visit us anew—— And then, he +knows that he will meet you."</p> + +<p>"Did he talk much about me? Does he act as if he still loved me? Oh! +tell me everything he said, little sister; don't forget a single thing. +It is very important; I must know what to expect."</p> + +<p>Adolphine made an effort, and replied in a voice trembling with emotion:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur Gustave told me that he still loved you, that he had +never ceased to think of you."<a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! how sweet of him! There's constancy for you! And they say that men +can't be faithful!—The poor fellows: how they are slandered! Dear +Gustave! then he's well pleased that I am a widow, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"You can understand that he couldn't quite say that."</p> + +<p>"No, no, but he thinks it; that's enough. And he's coming? Mon Dieu! how +does my hair look? it seems to me that this cap hides my forehead too +much."</p> + +<p>"You look very well; and, besides, doesn't a woman always look well to +her lover?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear girl, in order to please, one must always try to look +pretty."</p> + +<p>And Fanny ran to a mirror; she arranged and rearranged her hair, took +off her cap and put it on again; and finally tossed it aside, saying:</p> + +<p>"I certainly look better without a cap."</p> + +<p>"But, sister, I supposed that your mourning required——"</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, I've been a widow more than six months; I have a right to +arrange my head as I please, and when one has fine hair it's never a +crime to show it."</p> + +<p>During dinner, Fanny talked incessantly of Gustave; Adolphine said +nothing; Monsieur Gerbault let his elder daughter talk on, but he kept a +serious countenance and looked frequently at Adolphine. At the time that +she fainted at the idea that Gustave was dead, a sudden light had shone +in upon her father's mind; but he had made no sign; he respected his +younger daughter's secret, although at the bottom of his heart he was +the more deeply touched by her suffering, because he could see no way of +putting an end to it.</p> + +<p>The dinner seemed horribly long to Fanny; she asked for the coffee +before her father had finished his dessert,<a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a> and kept leaving the table +to look at herself in the mirror. This manœuvre was repeated so often +that Monsieur Gerbault could not resist the temptation to say to her, +with a smile:</p> + +<p>"My dear, it seems to me that, for a widow, you are rather coquettish."</p> + +<p>"In my opinion, father," she made haste to reply, "a widow is more +excusable for being coquettish than a married woman whose husband is +alive; for, you see, a widow is free."</p> + +<p>"Yes, no doubt that is true, especially when she has been a widow a long +while."</p> + +<p>"Well, do you call six months nothing? And I am in my seventh!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed! yes, indeed!—Never mind; the story of the <i>Matron of +Ephesus</i> no longer seems improbable to me."</p> + +<p>"What's that about the <i>Matron of Ephesus</i>? I don't know that story."</p> + +<p>"It's a fable; but it might very well be history, after all."</p> + +<p>"Ah! did someone ring?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't hear anything."</p> + +<p>"How late your people come!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so? It's only seven o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Your clock is slow."</p> + +<p>"It keeps excellent time."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't know what's the matter with me; I can't keep still."</p> + +<p>Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, thinking:</p> + +<p>"It's her love for him that makes her so coquettish and so impatient! +It's very funny; when he used to come before, I never thought of looking +in my mirror; I thought of him, not of myself."<a name="page_317" id="page_317"></a></p> + +<p>At last, the bell rang; it was Monsieur Clairval, cold, phlegmatic, +taciturn. Next came Madame Mirallon, who always wore full dress, even at +small parties. Next came a lawyer and a doctor, enthusiastic whist +players, who were constantly disputing, one being a hot partisan of the +short-suit lead, the other declaring that a good player would never +stoop to that.</p> + +<p>At every ring, Fanny gazed eagerly at the door; she made a funny little +wry face when she saw that the person who appeared was not he whom she +expected.</p> + +<p>"My gentleman keeps us waiting a long while!" she murmured; then ran to +her sister.—"Adolphine, are you sure you told him Thursday? Perhaps you +said some other day?"</p> + +<p>"No. At all events, he knows that we have always received on Thursday."</p> + +<p>"He knows, he knows! When a man travels so much, he can easily forget. +It's after eight o'clock, and you see he doesn't come."</p> + +<p>"Eight o'clock isn't late. Never fear; he'll come."</p> + +<p>"You think so?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I am sure of it."</p> + +<p>"You are quite sure that he still loves me?"</p> + +<p>"If he doesn't, why should he have told me that he did?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear, men say so many things that they don't think!"</p> + +<p>"I can't understand how anyone can lie about love."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you make me laugh; love's just the thing they lie most +about.—There's the bell. This time it must be he."</p> + +<p>Fanny's expectation was deceived once more; Monsieur Batonnin appeared, +with his inevitable smile, and his measured words.<a name="page_318" id="page_318"></a></p> + +<p>"What a bore!" muttered the young woman, moving uneasily on her chair; +"it's that wretched Batonnin—the doll-faced man, as we used to call him +at our parties."</p> + +<p>"Don't you like him? Why, he used to go to your house——"</p> + +<p>"Well! what does that prove? Do you imagine that, in society, we are +fond of everybody we receive? On the contrary, three-quarters of the +time the greatest pleasure we have is in passing all our guests in +review and picking them to pieces."</p> + +<p>"Ah! what a pitiful sort of pleasure! But whom can you share it with? +for, if you speak ill of everybody——"</p> + +<p>"You take a new-comer, and go and sit down with him in a corner of the +salon; and there, on the pretext of telling him who people are, you give +everybody a curry-combing. It's awfully amusing!"</p> + +<p>"But the new-comer, if he isn't an idiot, must say to himself: 'As soon +as I have gone, she'll say as much about me.'"</p> + +<p>"Oh! we don't even wait till he's gone to do that."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin, having paid his respects to Monsieur Gerbault and to +the card-players, joined the two sisters.</p> + +<p>"How are the charming widow and her lovely sister? The rose and the +bud—or, rather, two buds—or two roses; for, both being flowers, and +the flowers being sisters, and having thorns—why——"</p> + +<p>"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, make up your mind. I want to know whether I am +a rose or a bud," said Fanny, glancing at the guest with a mocking +expression.<a name="page_319" id="page_319"></a></p> + +<p>"Madame, being no longer unmarried, you are necessarily a rose."</p> + +<p>"All right; that fixes my status! And my sister is a bud?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to be sure—but I am pained to observe that this charming bud has +drooped a little on its stalk for some time past."</p> + +<p>"Do you hear, Adolphine? Monsieur Batonnin thinks that you are drooping +on your stalk, which means, I presume, that you are losing your +freshness."</p> + +<p>"That isn't exactly what I meant to say."</p> + +<p>"Don't try to back down, Monsieur Batonnin; besides, you are right; my +sister has changed of late. She assures us that she is not ill, that she +has no pain; for my part, I am convinced that something is the matter, +but she doesn't choose to make me her confidante."</p> + +<p>"Because I have nothing to confide," rejoined Adolphine, in a grave +tone; "and it seems to me that monsieur might very well have avoided +this subject."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, mademoiselle; I should be much distressed to have offended +you; it was my friendship for you which led me to——"</p> + +<p>"I myself, monsieur, have never been able to understand the kind of +friendship which leads one to say to people point-blank: 'Mon Dieu! how +you have changed! you are deathly pale! are you ill? you look very +poorly!' If the person to whom you say it is really well, then you have +seen awry; if she is really ill, you run the risk of making her worse by +frightening her as to her condition. In either case, you see, it would +be better to say nothing. Such manifestations of interest resemble those +of the friends who can't reach you quickly enough when they have bad +news to tell, but whom you never see when<a name="page_320" id="page_320"></a> you have had any good fortune +for which congratulations would be in order."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin bit his lips, and tried to think of an answer; but +they had ceased to pay any heed to him, for the door of the salon opened +once more, and this time it was Gustave who appeared.</p> + +<h2><a name="XLV" id="XLV"></a>XLV<br /><br /> +JOYS AND TORMENTS OF LOVE</h2> + +<p>The young man, having shaken hands with Monsieur Gerbault, walked toward +Adolphine and her sister; it was easy to see how excited and perturbed +he was; but Adolphine, whose emotion was even greater perhaps, hastily +left her seat and, after responding to Gustave's greeting, went to talk +with Monsieur Clairval, who was not playing cards at that moment; so +that there was no one to interfere with the interview which Gustave +desired to have with her sister.</p> + +<p>As for Fanny, she was absolutely unembarrassed; she smiled sweetly on +Gustave, greeted him as if she had seen him the day before, and said, +pointing to a seat by her side:</p> + +<p>"So here you are at last, monsieur le voyageur! Mon Dieu! you seem to be +imitating the Wandering Jew nowadays; you travel all the time, you are +never at rest. Do you know, monsieur, that your friends are not +reconciled to your long absences, and you surely will put an end to your +peregrinations—unless you have a fancy to discover a new world?"</p> + +<p>Gustave, bewildered by the jocular tone in which the widow addressed +him, was unable for a moment to find<a name="page_321" id="page_321"></a> words in which to reply. Fanny +interpreted his confusion to her own advantage, and continued, but with +a change of manner, and in an almost sentimental tone:</p> + +<p>"Many things have happened since we met."</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame; I have heard of the—loss you have sustained; and I beg +you to believe that I shared the grief which you must have felt."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it; you have so much delicacy of feeling, Monsieur +Gustave! Yes, I had a very cruel experience, although Monsieur Monléard +hardly deserved the tears I shed for him. He was a proud man, +overflowing with vanity, hard-hearted, loving only himself, conceited, +self-sufficient; but he is dead, I don't mean to speak ill of him, +although he left me in a decidedly equivocal position. Ah! if I had +known—if I could have foreseen. I have bitterly regretted +what—what——" Then, suddenly changing her tone again, and becoming +playful once more: "You are just from Berlin, I hear? Is there much fun +there? Are the balls gorgeous? do the women dress well? does everybody +go to the theatre? The Germans are very fond of music; you must have +gone to concerts and evening parties and the play a great deal. Ah! what +fortunate creatures men are! They can do whatever they please, while we +poor women are obliged to stay at home, and, in many cases, never have +anyone come to see us! That's the way I've been living for six months; +and I am terribly bored; oh! terribly!"</p> + +<p>"You had your sister, at least, to share your troubles."</p> + +<p>"My sister! She's a lively creature, isn't she? I don't know what's been +the matter with her lately, but she's a regular extinguisher. And then, +you know, my temperament isn't like Adolphine's; she is melancholy by +nature, and I am very light-headed. Don't you remember,<a name="page_322" id="page_322"></a> Gustave? +Heavens! what a mad creature I am! here I am calling you Gustave, just +as I used to before I was married! Does that offend you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! you can't think it; it reminds me of such a happy time!"</p> + +<p>"Why, I don't see but that that time has come back; for we are in the +same position that we were then—almost."</p> + +<p>Gustave could not restrain a sigh at that <i>almost</i>. The young widow made +haste to continue:</p> + +<p>"And now that I am free, that I am my own mistress, won't you do me the +favor of coming to see me sometimes, Monsieur Gustave? Won't you have a +little pity on the tedium of a poor widow, who was so anxious for you to +come back, who talked about you every day with Adolphine?"</p> + +<p>"What, madame! can it be true? you have thought sometimes of me?"</p> + +<p>"He asks me if I have thought of him! he doubts it!—Is it because you +had altogether forgotten me?"</p> + +<p>"I, forget you? Ah! that would be impossible! Your lovely features are +engraved on my heart, on my mind. Although far from you, I saw you all +the time. Ah! Fanny, when one has once loved you.—But, pardon me, +madame, I am losing my head; I call you Fanny, as I used."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't offend me in the least; on the contrary, I like it. But +just see what faces Monsieur Batonnin is making at us! One would say +that he was trying to throw his eyes at us. Mon Dieu! how funny he is +when he looks like that! Ha! ha! ha! it's enough to kill one."</p> + +<p>"Madame Monléard is in great spirits to-night," said Monsieur Clairval +to Monsieur Batonnin, who replied:</p> + +<p>"I've noticed that she's been in much better spirits ever since she's +been a widow."<a name="page_323" id="page_323"></a></p> + +<p>"That Monsieur Batonnin, with his soft-spoken ways, always has something +unkind to say," muttered Madame de Mirallon.</p> + +<p>"And he smears honey on his words, to make them go down; that's the +custom."</p> + +<p>Adolphine had walked mechanically to the piano; she was suffering +intensely, she would have liked to leave the salon, but she dared not, +because it would have worried her father. To make her misery complete, +Monsieur Batonnin joined her.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to have the pleasure of hearing you sing, mademoiselle?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; I could not possibly sing; I have a very sore throat."</p> + +<p>"I trust, mademoiselle, that you are not still offended with me because +I thought that you looked ill?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! not at all, monsieur; indeed, I think that you must have been +right, for I don't feel very well this evening."</p> + +<p>"Madame your sister is well enough for two, I judge, she is in such good +spirits; she seems to be talking a good deal with that gentleman. Isn't +he the same one who was with you one morning when I came to your room +with your father?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; that is he."</p> + +<p>"He was very dismal then; it seems that his gloom has disappeared, for +he is laughing heartily with your sister. Are they acquainted?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to be sure; Monsieur Gustave is an old friend of ours."</p> + +<p>"Very good! I said to myself: 'Madame Monléard doesn't stand much on +ceremony with that young man; he must be an old acquaintance, at +least.'"<a name="page_324" id="page_324"></a></p> + +<p>To avoid listening any longer to Monsieur Batonnin, Adolphine seated +herself by the whist table, and pretended to watch the game; but, sit +where she would, she heard her sister's exclamations, whispering, and +laughter, and the evening seemed endless to her.</p> + +<p>At last the clock struck eleven; Fanny rose and prepared to take her +leave. Gustave looked at her, as if undecided as to what he should do, +but the young widow observed:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Clairval is playing whist; besides, I don't want him always to +have the trouble of going home with me; and as Monsieur Gustave is here, +perhaps he would be willing to escort me as far as my door."</p> + +<p>Gustave's face beamed; he hastened to say that he should be too happy to +offer her his arm. Whereupon, Fanny made haste to say good-night to her +father and sister.</p> + +<p>The young man, in his turn, went to Adolphine, and said to her in an +undertone:</p> + +<p>"Dear little sister, I am a very happy man! She has given me permission +to call on her; she has even given me to understand that she regrets +having refused to marry me; in short, she is touched by my constancy."</p> + +<p>"It is well; be happy, that is my dearest wish; and, above all things, +go to my sister's; that will be much better, believe me, than to come to +court her here."</p> + +<p>Gustave was about to reply, but Fanny called him and took him away. +Thereupon Adolphine went to her room, saying to herself:</p> + +<p>"Such evenings as this are too horrible; I shall not have the courage to +endure them often. Oh! let them be happy together! but I pray that he +may not come here any more, that I may not be forced to be a witness of +his love for another!"<a name="page_325" id="page_325"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XLVI" id="XLVI"></a>XLVI<br /><br /> +IN WHICH CHERAMI ACTS LIKE SAINT ANTHONY</h2> + +<p>Gustave did not fail to take advantage of the permission Fanny had +accorded him. Two days after the party at which they had met, he called +upon the young widow, who greeted him thus:</p> + +<p>"I began to think that you were off on your travels again, and that we +shouldn't see you for another six months."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have no desire to travel now; I am too happy in Paris; especially +if you allow me to come to see you."</p> + +<p>"What good does it do for me to allow it, when you don't come? I +expected you the day before yesterday, I expected you yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I was afraid of being presumptuous if I took advantage too soon of the +permission you gave me."</p> + +<p>"I thought that you wouldn't stand on ceremony, and that we should be on +the same terms together as before my marriage to Monsieur Monléard."</p> + +<p>These words were accompanied by such a soft glance that Gustave no +longer doubted that he was loved. He took Fanny's hand and covered it +with kisses; she did not resist, and her hand responded tenderly to the +pressure of his. Any other than Gustave would probably have carried +further his desires and his acts, but he had long been accustomed to +look upon Fanny as the woman whom he wished to make his wife; and in his +love there<a name="page_326" id="page_326"></a> was a sort of respect which her widow's dress could not fail +to intensify.</p> + +<p>So Gustave confined himself to repeating that he had never ceased to be +enamored of her whom he had hoped to call his wife, and that he would be +very, very happy if his hopes could be gratified at last. For her part, +Fanny gave him to understand that while she might once have been +ambitious and fickle, those failings should be charged to her age and +consequent giddiness, and that, in reality, her heart had never been in +agreement with her vanity.</p> + +<p>Then the young widow, by a natural transition, adroitly led Gustave on +to speak of his position and prospects. He was assured of ten thousand +francs a year if he remained in his uncle's banking-house; he could hope +for more in the future; to be sure, Monsieur Grandcourt would not be +pleased to have his nephew marry, but he would place no obstacle in the +way of the execution of his project. They would not live in the banker's +house, but would take pleasant apartments not far from his offices; they +would keep no carriage; he would take his wife to the theatre very +often, and to the country; he would not give her diamonds, but she +should have handsome dresses, and, as she was charming in herself, she +would always be the loveliest of women, even if she were not covered +with jewels.</p> + +<p>In such conversation as this, forming the most attractive plans for the +future, the hours which Gustave passed at Fanny's side seemed very +short. Being entirely at liberty to see his love at her own home, he +went much less to Monsieur Gerbault's. As for Adolphine, she did not go +to her sister's at all; for she knew that she would meet Gustave there, +and she avoided his presence as much as possible.<a name="page_327" id="page_327"></a></p> + +<p>Two months passed thus, during which time Cherami saw very little of +Gustave, who spent with Fanny all the time that he could spare from his +business.</p> + +<p>But one morning, just as our lover was starting to call on his enslaver, +Cherami caught him on the wing.</p> + +<p>"Par la sambleu! my dear Gustave, is there no way of having a word with +you? Have you nothing to say to your friend? Or am I no longer your +friend? One would say that you avoided me!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, my dear Arthur, far from it; it always gives me great pleasure +to see you; but you are well aware that I am in love, more in love than +ever, and that I pass with Fanny all the time I can steal from my +duties."</p> + +<p>"Very good! and tell me about this love of yours; sapristi! are you +satisfied? Does it go as you want it to this time? Tell me that much, at +least."</p> + +<p>"Ah! my friend, I am the happiest of men! Fanny loves me; I can't +possibly doubt it now. As soon as her mourning is at an end, we are to +be married; we are already making our plans, our projects for the +future; next month, as it will be almost ten months then, we shall begin +to look about for apartments, which I shall have furnished and decorated +in advance. I intend that Fanny shall find them fascinating."</p> + +<p>"Well, I see that everything is going all right. The little woman is +yours this time—and you think so much of her!—And her sister, the good +Adolphine—do you still see her?"</p> + +<p>"I have seen very little of her lately; she never comes to her sister's, +and that surprises me; twice I have tried to talk with Adolphine, to +tell her that my marriage to Fanny was settled; but I couldn't find her, +she had gone out;<a name="page_328" id="page_328"></a> for I can't believe that she would have refused to +see me—her brother."</p> + +<p>"In all this excitement, you haven't thought about a place for me, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, I did mention it to my uncle. He doesn't seem to believe +that you are serious in your desire for employment."</p> + +<p>"Ah! pardieu, if your uncle has got to have a hand in it, I am very +certain that I shall never get a place!"</p> + +<p>"Never fear; I will attend to it myself, but there's no hurry. Are you +in need of money? Tell me."</p> + +<p>"Why, no, I am not in need of money. Do you suppose that I have already +gone through the thousand francs you loaned me?"</p> + +<p>"But that was more than two months ago, and——"</p> + +<p>"True, and formerly I should have seen the last of it in a week; I +should have made only seven mouthfuls of it. But to-day it's different! +I told you that I had reformed. I have discovered, just at the beginning +of Boulevard du Temple, a soup dealer who supplies dinners; and +delicious dinners, too, on my word of honor! you don't have a great +variety of dishes, to be sure; but everything is good. Excellent roast +beef; you would fancy you were in London; and you can dine abundantly +for eighteen sous. Eighteen sous! I used to give more than that to the +waiter."</p> + +<p>"My friend, you shouldn't go to extremes in anything; it seems to me +that you are carrying your reformation too far."</p> + +<p>"I am very well pleased; I believe that I shall end by living on my five +hundred and fifty francs a year; when that time comes, I propose to +parade the streets between two clarionets, to exhibit myself."<a name="page_329" id="page_329"></a></p> + +<p>"After I am married, I will find you a suitable place."</p> + +<p>"Make haste and marry, then, that I may have my cue. By the way, I +venture to believe that it won't come off without notice to me? I don't +ask to be invited to the wedding; that would be presumptuous; but I +desire, at least, to salute the bridal couple when they leave the +church."</p> + +<p>"And I propose that you shall be of the wedding party. We shall not give +a ball,—her widowhood is too recent,—but a handsome banquet, and I +hope that, on that day, you will forget your reformation. But, adieu! I +am late, she is expecting me. You will hear from me soon."</p> + +<p>"A mighty good fellow!" said Cherami to himself, as Gustave hurried +away; "he deserves to be happy! But will he be, with his Fanny? Hum! I'm +none too sure of it. For my part, I should prefer the other; but as he's +in love with this one—to be sure, she's a very pretty woman, but I, old +fox that I am, I wouldn't trust her!—Sapristi! what do I see? My two +little pearls, Laurette and Lucie, and I have money in my pocket! But, +no; by Saint Anthony, I will not yield to the temptation! Let's be off +before they see me."</p> + +<p>Laurette and Lucie were, in fact, coming toward Cherami, both dressed +with much coquetry and looking very attractive; but he, after heaving a +profound sigh, retreated with so much precipitation, that he ran into +the door of an omnibus, which had stopped for a lady; and, being urged +by the conductor, he concluded to enter also.<a name="page_330" id="page_330"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="XLVII" id="XLVII"></a>XLVII<br /><br /> +THE RETURN FROM ITALY</h2> + +<p>Several weeks passed. It was a Thursday; and Fanny, who had not been at +her father's for a long time, said to Gustave when she saw him during +the day:</p> + +<p>"I must go to dine with father to-day, my dear; I trust that you will +come there this evening?"</p> + +<p>"As you will be there, you may be certain that I will come. By the way, +I saw that there was an apartment to rent in a nice house on Rue +Fontaine. Do you like that quarter?"</p> + +<p>"Very much."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I will go some time to-day to look at it, and if it seems to +me to be suitable I will tell you this evening, so that you can go to +see it. For ten months have passed; the time is not very far away when I +shall be able to call you my wife! so it is none too soon for me to see +about getting an apartment ready."</p> + +<p>"Do so, my dear; you can tell me to-night if you have found what we +want."</p> + +<p>About five o'clock, the widow went to her father's. Monsieur Gerbault +always welcomed his daughter kindly, and Adolphine did her utmost to +smile on her sister.</p> + +<p>"So you're really going to marry Gustave this time, are you?" said +Monsieur Gerbault.</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I, father? Do you think I shall be doing wrong?"</p> + +<p>"No—but I regret that you didn't marry him a year ago."<a name="page_331" id="page_331"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, father, it seems to me that I acted very wisely! Gustave had only +a very modest salary then. Monsieur Monléard offered me a fortune, and I +could not hesitate; the sequel didn't come up to my hopes; but certainly +no one could have foreseen that."</p> + +<p>"But you are very lucky to fall in with a man who still loves you after +you have once cast him off."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! father, if Gustave had not loved me, some other man would +have turned up—that's all there is to that."</p> + +<p>"Possibly; at all events, I see that you have an answer for everything."</p> + +<p>Adolphine listened to her sister with an air of amazement, but she did +not venture to make a single reflection; she kept to herself the +thoughts which Fanny's remarks inspired; and she avoided, so far as she +possibly could, any conversation with her on the subject of her +approaching marriage to Gustave.</p> + +<p>The evening brought to Monsieur Gerbault's salon his faithful whist +players, and Gustave, who shook hands warmly with the man whom he +already looked upon as his father-in-law, and affectionately with +Adolphine. She, by an involuntary movement, withdrew her hand at first; +but the next moment she forced herself to smile, and offered her hand to +Gustave, saying:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon. I thought you were Monsieur de Raincy."</p> + +<p>"And she absolutely refuses to give her hand to him," said Fanny, with a +laugh, "although he offers his name in exchange for it. Don't you think, +Gustave, that she makes a great mistake in refusing that young man?"</p> + +<p>"Why so, if she doesn't love him?"</p> + +<p>"As if people married for love!"<a name="page_332" id="page_332"></a></p> + +<p>Realizing that she had said something which might distress Gustave, the +young woman hastily added:</p> + +<p>"When a woman has never been married, she ought to be reasonable; with a +widow, it's different; she can afford to obey the dictates of her +heart."</p> + +<p>These words speedily restored the serenity of Gustave's brow, which had +become a little clouded. A moment later, Monsieur Batonnin arrived, and, +having saluted the company, said, with a radiant expression:</p> + +<p>"I have just met someone, whom you will probably see this evening, for +when I said: 'I am going to pass the evening at Monsieur Gerbault's,' he +exclaimed: 'Oh! I mean to go there, too, if only for a moment.'"</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" queried Monsieur Gerbault.</p> + +<p>"Someone who is very agreeable—just back from Italy. What! can't you +guess? Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the dear count! Has he returned?"</p> + +<p>"Only yesterday. He instantly asked me for all the news. When I told him +that Madame Monléard was a widow, he was tremendously surprised; he +couldn't get over it."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! how stupid that man is!" muttered Gustave, glancing at Fanny.</p> + +<p>Since the announcement of the Comte de la Bérinière's return, she seemed +disturbed and preoccupied. In a few moments, she left her seat between +her sister and Gustave, went to the window for a moment, as if to get a +breath of air, and then, instead of returning to her former seat, sat +down near the whist table.</p> + +<p>Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, and did not lose a single +one of her movements. Meanwhile, Gustave, seeing Fanny seat herself at a +distance, drew nearer to Adolphine, and said:<a name="page_333" id="page_333"></a></p> + +<p>"Your sister, I see, wishes me to tell you of our delightful plans for +the future; for I have had no chance to talk with you lately, dear +Adolphine; I have been here several times, but have failed to find you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it."</p> + +<p>"I think that you are not indifferent to what interests me, that you +take pleasure in my happiness. You saw me when I was so unhappy! I am +sure that you want to see me happy now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course I do. A love like yours well deserves to be +reciprocated."</p> + +<p>Gustave began to lay before Adolphine all the plans he had formed for +the future, when he should be her brother-in-law. Adolphine listened +with only half an ear; she seemed much more interested in watching her +sister, who pretended to take a deep interest in the game of whist; but +soon the arrival of the Comte de la Bérinière caused a general movement. +Everyone congratulated the traveller on the happy influence which the +climate of Italy seemed to have had on his health.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am very well indeed," said the count, who, after bowing coldly +to Adolphine, eagerly approached her sister. "Italy's a very beautiful +country, but it isn't equal to France, especially Paris! I tell you, +there is nothing like our Parisian women; and what I look at first of +all, in any country, is the women."</p> + +<p>"Still, you have stayed away a long while, monsieur le comte," said the +widow, motioning to Monsieur de la Bérinière to take a seat by her side, +the gesture being accompanied by her most charming smile.</p> + +<p>The count hastened to obey; and said to her, almost in a whisper:<a name="page_334" id="page_334"></a></p> + +<p>"I have, in truth, been absent more than a year; and, meanwhile, certain +things have happened which it was impossible to foresee. Permit me to +offer you my condolence on your widowhood."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am a widow, I have become free again; it is more than ten months +since it happened. Truly, it could hardly have been anticipated! You +must find me greatly changed, do you not? I have grown old and thin—and +then, this costume is so dismal!"</p> + +<p>"In other words, you are still captivating; indeed, if such a thing were +possible, I should say that you are even lovelier than you were. As for +your dress—what does that matter? You adorn whatever you wear."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur le comte, you flatter me; you don't mean what you say."</p> + +<p>"Do I not? I mean it and feel it; you are an enchantress!"</p> + +<p>"Italy is where you must have seen the pretty women!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, there are many of them there; but I say again, they can't hold a +candle to Parisian women in general, and to you in particular."</p> + +<p>"Oh! hush! Are you no longer in love with my sister?"</p> + +<p>"Your sister? Faith! no; she refused my hand; I bear her no ill-will for +it; for, frankly, I am very glad of it now."</p> + +<p>"Why so, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I can't tell you here."</p> + +<p>"Very well! then you must come to see me, and tell me."</p> + +<p>"Do you give me leave to come to pay my respects to you?"</p> + +<p>"More than that, I count upon it."</p> + +<p>"You are adorable."<a name="page_335" id="page_335"></a></p> + +<p>It seemed to Gustave that Fanny's conversation with the count was +unconscionably long. He could not see all the coquettish little grimaces +with which the widow accompanied her words, because she had taken pains +to turn her chair so that she was not facing the man she was to marry; +but he thought it very strange that Fanny could pass so long a time +without thinking of him, without wanting him near her. The young man +walked through the salon, gazing at the young widow, and sometimes +stopping beside her. She did not appear to pay the slightest heed to +him.</p> + +<p>Being unable longer to control his impatience, he decided to interrupt +their conversation, and said aloud to Fanny:</p> + +<p>"My dear Fanny, I went to-day to see that apartment on Rue Fontaine—you +know—that I spoke to you about this morning?"</p> + +<p>The widow was perceptibly annoyed. However, she replied, with a +surprised air:</p> + +<p>"What! what apartment? I don't remember. Oh! yes, yes, I know what you +mean."</p> + +<p>"Well, the apartment is very well arranged and very attractive. I am +confident that you will like it; but you must look at it immediately, +for the chances are that it will be let very soon."</p> + +<p>"Very well, very well; I will go to look at it.—Oh! Monsieur de la +Bérinière, you went to Naples, didn't you? Did you see Vesuvius vomit +flame? That is something I am very curious to see. Do tell me what a +volcano is like?"</p> + +<p>Gustave walked away, far from satisfied. It seemed to him that his +future spouse was too deeply interested in Italy. He returned to +Adolphine, lost in thought, and<a name="page_336" id="page_336"></a> sat down beside her. She said nothing, +but she looked at him and read his thoughts.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault succeeded at last in talking with the count. Whereupon +Gustave returned to Fanny, and said to her:</p> + +<p>"Aren't we going? You said that you should go home early."</p> + +<p>But the little widow, who did not choose to have the count see her go +away with Gustave, replied:</p> + +<p>"It's too early; my father would be angry if I should go now."</p> + +<p>"But you said——"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! you seem to be in a great hurry to go!"</p> + +<p>Gustave bit his lips and said no more. Monsieur Batonnin joined him, and +said with a smile:</p> + +<p>"You don't seem to be doing anything, Monsieur Gustave. Don't you play +cards?"</p> + +<p>"I don't care for cards, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"You prefer to talk with the ladies—I can understand that. You have +been travelling, too; and the ladies like to hear about travels. Have +you seen any volcanoes?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur."</p> + +<p>And Gustave turned his back on Batonnin, who smiled at his own +reflection in a mirror.</p> + +<p>The count soon took his hat, and was about to withdraw, without a word, +as the custom is in society; but Fanny, who had kept her eyes on him, +found an excuse for standing in his path, and said to him in an +undertone:</p> + +<p>"I shall expect you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière replied by a graceful inclination, and +disappeared.</p> + +<p>A few moments later, Fanny said to Gustave:<a name="page_337" id="page_337"></a></p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur; if you want to go, I am at your service."</p> + +<p>"I am at yours, rather, madame."</p> + +<p>"Let us go."</p> + +<p>Adolphine went up to Gustave of her own motion, and pressed his hand +affectionately.</p> + +<p>In the street, the young man began:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de la Bérinière's conversation evidently interested you very +much? You talked with nobody but him; you left your sister and me, and +forgot all about us."</p> + +<p>"Why, I enjoyed listening to what he told me about Italy. He is very +pleasant, and amusing to listen to. I didn't suppose that you would see +any harm in that."</p> + +<p>"I see no harm in the conversation; but I am horribly bored when you +talk to anybody else for long. I am sorry that you don't feel the same +way."</p> + +<p>"Oh! what childishness! As if I were not always there!—How my head does +ache! I shall have a sick headache to-morrow, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"You will go to look at that apartment, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if my head doesn't ache; but if it does, I certainly shall not +stir from my bed."</p> + +<p>They arrived at Fanny's door, and the future husband and wife parted +much more coldly than usual.</p> + +<p>The next morning, the young widow gave these orders to her servant:</p> + +<p>"If Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière calls, you will admit him at once. +If Monsieur Gustave comes, you will tell him that I have a sick +headache, that I am asleep; and you will not let him in on any pretext. +Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame."<a name="page_338" id="page_338"></a></p> + +<p>Fanny took the greatest pains with her hair, her dress, and every part +of her toilet; she omitted nothing that was adapted to captivate, to +dazzle, to seduce.</p> + +<p>At one o'clock, Monsieur de la Bérinière was ushered into the pretty +creature's boudoir, where she awaited him, seated in a graceful attitude +on a sofa, and motioned him to a seat by her side.</p> + +<p>"You see, fair lady, that I take advantage of the permission accorded +me," said the count, gallantly kissing Fanny's little hand.</p> + +<p>"It was presumptuous in me, perhaps, to tell you that I expected you; +but I wanted to talk with you, and one has little chance to talk in +society."</p> + +<p>"You give me the most delicious pleasure—a tête-à-tête with you! It is +a priceless favor to me. It is very true that in society it is difficult +to say—all that one thinks; and last night, at your father's, there was +a young man who seemed to be vexed at our conversation."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Gustave.—He's an old play-fellow of mine."</p> + +<p>"An old play-fellow? Isn't he something more than that?"</p> + +<p>"What! what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Stay, charming widow, I will explain my meaning without beating about +the bush. Yesterday, when he told me that you were a widow, Monsieur +Batonnin told me also that you were to marry again very soon."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! what a chatterbox that Monsieur Batonnin is! what business is +it of his?"</p> + +<p>"It is quite possible that he's a chatterbox; but, tell me, is it the +truth? Are you going to marry Monsieur Gustave, your old play-fellow?"<a name="page_339" id="page_339"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, it is true that there has been some talk of marriage between us; +but it's a long way from that to an actual marriage."</p> + +<p>"Really—you are not actually engaged to him?"</p> + +<p>"Engaged? Not by any means!"</p> + +<p>"But—that apartment that he spoke about last night, that he asked you +to go to look at?"</p> + +<p>"Why, it's an apartment that he is thinking of renting for himself, and +he wants my advice as to the arrangement of the rooms; because a woman +understands such things better than a man, don't you see? But now it's +your turn, monsieur le comte, to tell me why you are so anxious to know +whether my hand is at my disposition."</p> + +<p>"Why, charming creature! can't you guess why? Don't you remember what I +said to you one day, at your own house, soon after your marriage? I +said: 'Monléard has been smarter than I, he has got ahead of me; for, if +it had not been for him, I would have asked you to be Comtesse de la +Bérinière.'—Very good; what I could not do then, I should be very happy +to do to-day. Now, you see, I don't propose to lose any time and let +some other man get ahead of me; I go straight to the point. If you are +not engaged, I offer you my name and my fortune; I will transform you +into a fascinating countess."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur le comte, can I believe you? do you really mean what you +say? I most certainly am not engaged—but my sister—you loved her?"</p> + +<p>"I thought of your sister for a moment, solely with a view of entering +your family. You cannot fear to make her unhappy by accepting my hand, +since she refused it."</p> + +<p>"True, the little fool! I wouldn't have refused it, I can tell you!"<a name="page_340" id="page_340"></a></p> + +<p>"Very well; then you accept now—you consent to become a countess? Give +me your hand, as a token of your consent."</p> + +<p>Fanny pretended to be embarrassed, and lowered her eyes; but she gave +her hand to the count, who threw himself at her feet, crying:</p> + +<p>"I am the happiest of men!"</p> + +<p>During this interview, Gustave had called and asked for Fanny; but the +maid said to him:</p> + +<p>"It is impossible for you to see her, monsieur; she has a sick headache; +she is asleep, and told me not to wake her."</p> + +<p>"And her order applies to me too?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, monsieur; you cannot see madame; her headache's very bad."</p> + +<h2><a name="XLVIII" id="XLVIII"></a>XLVIII<br /><br /> +WOMAN CHANGES OFT</h2> + +<p>Gustave returned to his office sadly out of temper. He was surprised +that for a headache Fanny should refuse to see him; he said to himself +that, if he were ill, the presence of his loved one could not fail to do +him good and cure him at once. Then, in spite of himself, he recalled +Fanny's conduct at her father's, her evident pleasure in conversing with +Monsieur de la Bérinière, while she barely listened to what he, Gustave, +said to her. All this distressed and worried him. He could not be +jealous of the count, who was sixty years old, but he was displeased +with Fanny; and while he sought<a name="page_341" id="page_341"></a> excuses for her, saying to himself that +a young woman was not debarred from being a little coquettish, from +liking to cut a figure in society, he feared, nevertheless, that she was +not capable of loving as he loved.</p> + +<p>We often hear of presentiments; but, in most cases, these presentiments +are simply the assembling of our memories so as to form a new light, +which enlightens our minds, destroys our illusions, undeceives our +hearts. With the aid of this new light, we foresee the treachery that +lies in wait for us, and we say: "I had a presentiment of it."</p> + +<p>Gustave returned to Fanny's that evening; it was natural enough that he +should be anxious to know whether the headache had disappeared. The +servant informed him that madame had gone out.</p> + +<p>"Gone out!" cried Gustave; "she is better, then?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame</i>! yes, monsieur; it's evident that madame has got rid of her sick +headache."</p> + +<p>"Where has she gone?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"And she left no message for me, if I came?"</p> + +<p>"Not a word."</p> + +<p>"Has she gone to her father's?"</p> + +<p>"I said that I didn't know."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I will come again. Ask her to wait for me, when she +returns."</p> + +<p>The young man hurried to Monsieur Gerbault's. He found Adolphine alone. +She read at once on his face that he was suffering, and asked him as she +took his hand:</p> + +<p>"What has happened, my friend? Something is the matter."</p> + +<p>"Why—— Have you seen your sister to-day?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You have not?"<a name="page_342" id="page_342"></a></p> + +<p>"No, she hasn't been here. Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Because I haven't seen her to-day, either. This morning, I called on +her; I was told that she had a headache and was asleep. But this evening +I called again, and she had gone out."</p> + +<p>"Well, she has probably gone to see some of her friends. She has +retained some acquaintances from the time when her husband was living, +and she goes to see them sometimes. I can see nothing disturbing in +that."</p> + +<p>"But, after a whole day without seeing each other, to go out in the +evening without saying where she's going—without leaving a word for +me!"</p> + +<p>"Fanny is so thoughtless; she probably forgot."</p> + +<p>"Dear Adolphine! you try to excuse your sister, but I am sure that you +blame her, at the bottom of your heart. Don't you remember how unkind +she was to me last night?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I didn't notice——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, you did notice that she left us to go and talk with that +Monsieur de la Bérinière. Who is that man? wherever did she know him?"</p> + +<p>"He was a friend of her husband, and in that way became acquainted with +father."</p> + +<p>"Is he rich?"</p> + +<p>"He has forty thousand francs a year."</p> + +<p>"Married?"</p> + +<p>"No, he's an old bachelor; he asked father once for my hand."</p> + +<p>"And you refused him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You thought him too old, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"That wasn't the reason; but I refused him."<a name="page_343" id="page_343"></a></p> + +<p>"Do you know, Adolphine, I have no idea what is going on in Fanny's +head, but all this isn't natural. At the point we have reached,—we are +to be married in six weeks, and we are both free,—two people don't pass +a whole day without exchanging a glance, or a grasp of the hand. I tell +you, there's something wrong. Could she deceive me again? Oh! no, that +isn't possible; it would be too ghastly! too shameless!—No, I blush for +having had such a thought. I have no doubt that she is at home and +waiting for me. Au revoir, little sister!"</p> + +<p>"Gustave, if anything should happen, you would tell me at once, wouldn't +you?"</p> + +<p>But Gustave did not hear; he was already at the foot of the stairs, and +he hurried away to Fanny's house. She had not returned; he remembered +the apartment he had asked her to inspect, and, although it was hardly +customary to look at apartments in the evening, he said to himself: +"Perhaps she has gone there." And in a few moments he was in Rue +Fontaine. He inquired of the concierge who had the keys to the +apartment, and was told that no lady had come that day to look at it.</p> + +<p>One more hope dashed to the ground: as Fanny had gone out, why had she +not gone to inspect the apartment of which he had spoken so highly the +night before, telling her that they must make haste lest it should be +rented to others? Gustave said all this to himself as he returned to +Madame Monléard's abode. She had not returned; but it was only nine +o'clock; she must return sooner or later, and Gustave was determined not +to go to bed until he had seen her and spoken to her, even if he had to +pass half the night on sentry-go before her door. But a woman, +unattended, was unlikely to stay out late; she could not have gone to a +ball; ladies did<a name="page_344" id="page_344"></a> not go alone to the theatre; so she must be at some +small party; someone would probably escort her home, but he would find +out who her escort was.</p> + +<p>How many ideas pass through the mind of a jealous, worried lover in a +few seconds! The imagination moves so fast that it does not know where +to stop, or on what to decide. Every moment that passed without bringing +Fanny added to Gustave's anxiety, his suffering, his suspicions. At +last, about half-past ten, a cab stopped in front of the house. Gustave +ran forward and was at the door before the cabman had alighted from his +box. Fanny was in the cab, alone. When she recognized Gustave in the man +who opened the door for her, she laughed heartily and cried:</p> + +<p>"Ah! you open carriage-doors now, do you? Ha! ha! I congratulate you on +your new trade."</p> + +<p>This outburst of merriment seemed untimely, to say the least, to +Gustave, who rejoined:</p> + +<p>"I have no choice but to wait for cabs to arrive, as I fail to find you +at home; as you go out without even leaving a line for me so that I may +know where you are."</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! what a terrible crime! Am I no longer my own mistress—to +go where I please without asking your leave? That would be very +amusing!"</p> + +<p>"You know very well, Fanny, that that isn't what I mean; you know that +you are at liberty to do whatever you choose to do. So do not try to +dodge the question. At the point we have reached, it is natural for us +to tell each other what we do; for we ought to have no secrets from each +other. I came here this morning, and you didn't see me on account of +your headache."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, am I no longer allowed to have a headache? Pay the +cabman, will you; I have come from<a name="page_345" id="page_345"></a> Madame Delabert's.—Can I no longer +visit my friends, I should like to know?"</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Fanny, don't be angry; perhaps I was foolish to be anxious. +But it would have been so easy for you to leave word for me! Remember +that I haven't seen you at all to-day, and a whole day without seeing +you seems very long now!"</p> + +<p>"It isn't my fault if I have a sick headache. I can still feel the +effects of it, so I am going to bed; I am very tired."</p> + +<p>"Mayn't I come up with you for a moment?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I should think not! it wouldn't be proper, so late."</p> + +<p>"It isn't eleven yet."</p> + +<p>"But I tell you that I still feel the effects of my headache, and that I +am going straight to bed."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you go to see that apartment I told you about—on Rue +Fontaine, near Place Saint-Georges?"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't I? Because I forgot all about it."</p> + +<p>"How could you forget a thing of such importance? For, if it suits you, +we must rent it at once."</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear friend, I am not anxious to stand here in the street any +longer. What do we look like—talking like this on a doorstep?"</p> + +<p>"Then let me come up a moment."</p> + +<p>"No; I tell you that I am going to bed!"</p> + +<p>"There's something wrong, Fanny. This isn't natural. You're not the same +with me that you were two days ago."</p> + +<p>"You can tell me all that to-morrow. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"Very well, until to-morrow, then, madame! I trust that you will be +visible?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! monsieur, I am always visible when I am not sick. But don't +come too early; for I don't rise with the dawn."<a name="page_346" id="page_346"></a></p> + +<p>Fanny knocked, and the door opened. She hurried in and closed the door +on Gustave, who remained in the street, poor fellow, unable to make up +his mind to leave his fair one's abode. He did not know what to believe. +He asked himself if he had not done wrong to reproach Fanny; she had +been to see one of her friends, and had returned alone: there was no +great harm in that. And yet, he was ill at ease, he suffered; his heart +told him that something was wrong, and that his love was not the same to +him as before.</p> + +<p>At last, after pacing back and forth in front of Fanny's door for nearly +an hour, gazing at those of her windows which were lighted, he decided +to go away when the lights went out.</p> + +<p>"I wish to-morrow were here," he thought.</p> + +<p>Gustave did not close his eyes that night; where is the lover who could +sleep, in his position? Only a lover who is not in love. At eight +o'clock, the young man went down to the office, where there were as yet +no clerks; but he found his uncle, who was always at his desk early.</p> + +<p>"The deuce!" said Monsieur Grandcourt; "you're on hand in good season! +Was it love of work that woke you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle; I have some accounts to look over."</p> + +<p>"How pale you look, and exhausted! One would say that you had been up +all night."</p> + +<p>"I am just out of bed."</p> + +<p>"I'll wager that you didn't sleep. Is there anything new in your love +affair?"</p> + +<p>"Why—no, uncle."</p> + +<p>"Your dear Fanny hasn't played you some new trick?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! uncle, at the point we have reached——"</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't surprise me at all."<a name="page_347" id="page_347"></a></p> + +<p>"You have a very bad opinion of her."</p> + +<p>"When a woman has made a fool of a man once, she will make a fool of him +again—she will always do it! However, it would be better before +marriage than after. Come and breakfast with me."</p> + +<p>"It's too early, uncle; I am not hungry. By the way, have you thought +about Arthur?"</p> + +<p>"Who's Arthur?"</p> + +<p>"Arthur Cherami; a good, honest fellow who is looking for a place."</p> + +<p>"Ah! your tall swashbuckler, who has such a scampish look—always ready +to fly at you? Upon my word, you are not fortunate in your friendships! +What sort of a place do you suppose anyone would give to that fellow? He +doesn't inspire the slightest confidence in me. He was rich once, and he +squandered his whole property: a fine recommendation!"</p> + +<p>"I believe that you judge him too harshly. A man may have done foolish +things, and have turned over a new leaf. With you, uncle, repentance +counts for nothing."</p> + +<p>"Repentance has one great defect in my eyes: it never comes till after +the wrong-doing. If a man could repent before he went wrong, that is to +say, stop before he fell, then I should have a much higher opinion of +repentance. Well, where are you going? leaving the office already?"</p> + +<p>Gustave could not keep still. He left the office, and ran all the way to +Fanny's house; then stopped and looked at his watch. It was barely nine +o'clock; impossible to call upon her so early. The young man walked up +Faubourg Poissonnière and kept on past the barrier; little he cared +where he went, so long as the time passed. Suddenly he ran into a tree, +which his complete absorption in his thoughts had prevented his seeing. +At that, he<a name="page_348" id="page_348"></a> halted and looked about him, and was surprised to find that +he was in the open country. But he felt that the air was keener and +purer there, that it refreshed the mind and calmed the beating of the +heart; and he sat down at the foot of the tree. He breathed more freely, +he felt sensibly relieved. Ah! what a skilful physician the air is, and +what marvellous cures we owe to it!</p> + +<p>Gustave sat for a long while at the foot of the tree, which was bare of +leaves; for it was late in October. He reviewed in his mind the whole of +Fanny's conduct during the last two days, and wondered if his uncle were +right after all. At last he rose and returned to Paris. It was nearly +eleven o'clock when he reached the young widow's door. But he could wait +no longer; he rang the bell violently, and the maid ushered him into her +mistress's presence.</p> + +<h2><a name="XLIX" id="XLIX"></a>XLIX<br /><br /> +THE SECOND TIME</h2> + +<p>Fanny was sitting by the fire, in a dainty morning gown; for she was a +woman who never allowed herself to be surprised in déshabillé; but her +expression was cold and stern, as of a person who had made up her mind +and was prepared for a rupture.</p> + +<p>"I have come a little early, I fear," said Gustave, taking a seat, and +seeking in vain an affable smile on the widow's features; "but you will +surely forgive my impatience, I was so anxious to see you. I had almost +no chance to speak to you last night, and I had so many things to say!"<a name="page_349" id="page_349"></a></p> + +<p>"I, too, wished to speak with you, monsieur. I, too, have several things +to say to you."</p> + +<p>"<i>Monsieur!</i> What! you call me <i>monsieur?</i> What does that mean?"</p> + +<p>"In heaven's name, let us not quibble over words. If I call you +<i>monsieur</i> now, I do so in consequence of certain reflections I have +made since yesterday. Do you know that I don't like to be followed, +spied upon; that a jealous man is an unendurable creature to me?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are trying to quarrel with me, madame?"</p> + +<p>"No, I am not; but I am telling you frankly the subject of my +reflections; and the result of those reflections is——"</p> + +<p>"Is what? go on, madame."</p> + +<p>"Is that I am afraid that I shall not make you happy, Gustave. I am +naturally giddy, frivolous,—but I cannot change,—and my temperament +would not harmonize at all with yours. Consequently we shall do much +better not to marry. Oh! I have come to this decision solely in my +solicitude for your happiness."</p> + +<p>Gustave sprang to his feet so suddenly that the little widow could not +restrain a gesture of terror. He took his stand in front of her, with +folded arms, and gazed sternly at her, saying:</p> + +<p>"So this is what you were aiming at—a rupture! And you dare to accuse +me of spying, to try to put me in the wrong! to accuse me, when my +conduct was simply the consequence of your own! Oh! don't think to +deceive me again. Some other motive is behind your action. You have +formed other plans."</p> + +<p>"That does not concern you, monsieur! I believe that I am entirely free! +I trust that you will spare me your reproaches. Well-bred people simply +part—they don't quarrel over it."<a name="page_350" id="page_350"></a></p> + +<p>"Never fear, madame; I shall not forget that you are a woman. But to +play this trick upon me again—ah! it is shameful! Fanny, is it true? +did I hear aright? Only two days ago, you were forming plans with me for +our life to come, your hand pressed mine, you asked me if I would always +love you."</p> + +<p>"Justine, bring me some wood; the fire's going out."</p> + +<p>The tone in which the young woman summoned her maid, having apparently +paid no heed to Gustave, capped the climax of his exasperation; he +strode up and down the room two or three times, then went to Fanny as if +to give full vent to his wrath; but he checked himself, and, having +bestowed upon her a glance in which were concentrated all his outraged +feelings, he abruptly left the room without looking back.</p> + +<p>For several hours thereafter, Gustave was like a madman; he was so +unprepared for the blow, that he could hardly believe in its reality. He +returned home and locked himself in his room; he dreaded to meet his +uncle and hear him say:</p> + +<p>"I prophesied what has happened."</p> + +<p>He preferred to be alone, so that he could abandon himself to his grief; +and for some time he could not keep from weeping over his lost +happiness, although he told himself that Fanny did not deserve the tears +she caused him to shed. Then he cudgelled his brain to divine what could +have caused this sudden change in her ideas.</p> + +<p>He determined to leave Paris again, to go away without a word to anyone; +but the next day he went to see Adolphine, to tell her of his new +unhappiness.</p> + +<p>Fanny's sister seemed to be expecting his visit; she held out her hand +as soon as he appeared, saying:<a name="page_351" id="page_351"></a></p> + +<p>"Poor Gustave! I know all! My sister has disappointed you again! It is +horribly hard!"</p> + +<p>"What! you know already that she refuses to marry me! Who can have told +you?"</p> + +<p>"Why, she herself; she came here yesterday to tell us that, as soon as +her mourning is at an end, she is going to marry——"</p> + +<p>"She is going to marry, you say?"</p> + +<p>"Why, didn't you know it?"</p> + +<p>"Finish, in God's name! She is going to marry——"</p> + +<p>"The Comte de la Bérinière."</p> + +<p>Gustave dropped upon a chair, repeating between his teeth:</p> + +<p>"The Comte de la Bérinière!"</p> + +<p>But there was more surprise than anger in his tone; for, on learning +that it was a man of sixty to whom Fanny gave the preference, he +realized that it was no newborn passion that had caused the change in +her heart.</p> + +<p>"So," he exclaimed, after a moment, "that woman is always guided by +selfish considerations! it is a fortune, a title, which she prefers to +me! For this man is rich, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, very rich! And as Fanny doesn't propose to be left in poverty if +she should be widowed again, it seems that the count settles twenty +thousand francs a year on her when he marries her. But do not believe, +my friend, that we approve her conduct: when she told us of her latest +plan, father told her that the way in which she was treating you was +utterly disgraceful, and that he never wanted to see her again, countess +or no countess."</p> + +<p>"And what did she reply?"<a name="page_352" id="page_352"></a></p> + +<p>"She said that she could not imagine how we could blame her, and she +went away repeating that we cared nothing for her happiness. It seems +that the count had courted her before, and declared that he deeply +regretted her marriage to Auguste. That is why, when she saw him +again——"</p> + +<p>"Enough, my dear Adolphine; I don't care to know anything more. I was +mistaken in thinking that she loved me. As if anyone would ever love me! +No; there are some people who were born to love alone, never to meet a +heart that understands them."</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that to me, Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"Well, what does it matter, after all? a man cannot change his destiny. +Adieu, Adolphine!"</p> + +<p>"Are you going away, Gustave? Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't know, but I feel that I must leave Paris again. I cannot be +here when she marries the count. I am a fool, I know it perfectly well; +your sister deserves no regret; but one does not lose all one's +illusions without suffering. Adieu! give my respects to your father."</p> + +<p>"But you won't stay away so long this time, will you? and when you +return, you will be able to come to see me without fear; you won't meet +her here again."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you will see me. Adieu!"</p> + +<p>Gustave took leave of Adolphine, whose eyes were full of tears as she +looked after him; but he did not understand their language. He went to +his uncle, told him what had happened, and expressed a desire to go to +England and stay there for some time.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt said simply:</p> + +<p>"That woman will end by sending you round the world. But let us hope +that this will be your last trip.<a name="page_353" id="page_353"></a> Go to England, go where you +please—but don't return unless you are cured of your idiotic passion."</p> + +<p>Gustave soon completed his preparations for departure; he had but a few +hours to remain in Paris, when he met Cherami.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going so fast?" cried Beau Arthur, taking Gustave's hand. +"What has happened? Our countenance is not so cheerful and happy as it +was the last time? Can it be that anything has happened to interrupt the +course of our loves?"</p> + +<p>"My friend," replied Gustave, with a sigh, "there has been a great +change, indeed, in my affairs since we last met. There is to be no +marriage; the love affair is at an end. Fanny has betrayed me again. Ah! +I ought to have expected it! But, no; it is impossible to conceive such +perfidy in a woman who looks at us with a smiling face, who tells us +that she loves us!"</p> + +<p>"What's that you say, my boy? The little widow has slipped out of your +hand again? Nonsense, that can't be so!"</p> + +<p>"It's the truth. She is going to marry the Comte de la Bérinière, an old +man, but very rich. She is to be a countess—she has no further use for +me."</p> + +<p>"Why, this is perfectly frightful! A woman doesn't play skittles like +that with an honest man's heart! And you haven't killed your rival?"</p> + +<p>"No; for that wouldn't make Fanny love me any more. But I am going away; +I don't propose to be here again, as I was at her first wedding. No, +indeed; once was enough."</p> + +<p>"You are going away? where?"</p> + +<p>"To England and Scotland; but I shall not be away so long."<a name="page_354" id="page_354"></a></p> + +<p>"Sapristi! my dear fellow, don't go away; the affair can be fixed up, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"No, no, it's all over, all over! Fanny will never be mine. Adieu, my +friend! it's almost train time. Au revoir!"</p> + +<p>Gustave hurried away, and left Cherami standing there bewildered by his +sudden departure. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then tapped +his leg with his switch and said:</p> + +<p>"Morbleu! my friend Gustave unhappy! the woman he loves snatched away +from him a second time! and I am to endure it! I, his Pylades, to whom +he loans money without taking account of it!—No, par la sambleu! I will +not endure it. Ah! my little widow! you play fast and loose with a fine +fellow like that! You think that you can make fools of people in that +way! But, patience! I am on hand, and I have my cue!"</p> + +<h2><a name="L" id="L"></a>L<br /><br /> +A GENTLEMAN IN BED</h2> + +<p>About noon the next day, Cherami was walking in front of Madame +Monléard's house.</p> + +<p>"I don't know where he perches—this Comte de la Bérinière, whom Gustave +told me about yesterday; but by doing sentry duty in front of this +house, I can't fail to find out; this count will undoubtedly come to pay +his respects to the little woman he's going to marry; he's rich, he will +come in his carriage, and I am an awkward fellow if I can't learn the +master's address from a servant."<a name="page_355" id="page_355"></a></p> + +<p>Everything happened as Cherami had anticipated: about one o'clock, a +stylish coupé drew up in front of Fanny's door, and a gentleman, who was +no longer young, alighted from it; despite his years, he was dressed in +the latest fashion and exhaled a powerful odor of perfumery.</p> + +<p>"That's my man!" said Cherami to himself; and, having watched the count +enter the house, he accosted the footman, who was yawning against a +post.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't that Monsieur le Comte de la Bérinière whom I just saw get out +of this carriage?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; it was he."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I said to myself: 'Why, there's an old acquaintance of mine!' yet I +was afraid of making a mistake, so I didn't dare to speak to him; but I +will go and renew my acquaintance with him to-morrow morning. Where does +the dear count live now?"</p> + +<p>"Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, just at the beginning, near the Madeleine."</p> + +<p>"Very good; I can see it from here. How late can I find the count at +home in the morning?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur gets up late. He seldom goes out before noon."</p> + +<p>"Infinitely obliged. I am sure that the dear count will be delighted to +see me to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"If monsieur would tell me his name, I would tell my master."</p> + +<p>"No; bless my soul, no! I want to surprise him; don't say anything to +him about it."</p> + +<p>Cherami returned to his Hôtel du Bel-Air, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Gustave doesn't choose to fight with his rival, but I'll wager that +it's from some lingering feeling of delicacy,<a name="page_356" id="page_356"></a> of kindness for that +little sinner of a Fanny! He says to himself: 'Let her be a countess, if +that will make her happy.'—Infernal nonsense, I call it. And as I have +no reason for being agreeable to that lady, I trust that I shall be able +to prevent her putting this new affront on my young friend."</p> + +<p>The next day, having dressed himself with care, Cherami took the Paris +omnibus and exchanged into one for the Madeleine; at half-past ten, he +arrived at the Comte de la Bérinière's door, recognized the footman of +the preceding day, and said to him:</p> + +<p>"Here I am; take me in to your master."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le comte is still in bed."</p> + +<p>"Very well! wake him."</p> + +<p>"He's awake, for he has already had his chocolate."</p> + +<p>"As he's awake, there's no need of his getting up to receive me; I can +talk with him perfectly well in bed. Go and tell him that an old friend +of his wishes to see him."</p> + +<p>"Your name, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"I have already told you that I wanted to surprise him; consequently, I +don't choose to send in my name."</p> + +<p>The servant went to his master and delivered the message. Monsieur de la +Bérinière had not begun to think of rising; he had taken the young widow +to the Opéra the night before, and had played the attentive gallant all +the evening, and he was at an age when such service is very tiresome. So +he was reposing in bed from the fatigues of the night.</p> + +<p>"That young widow is an adorable creature," he mused. "Marriage will +make me settle down; I shall lead a virtuous life, and it will do me +good."<a name="page_357" id="page_357"></a></p> + +<p>He was somewhat annoyed, therefore, when his servant announced an old +friend who wished to speak with him.</p> + +<p>"Neither old friends nor new ones ought to come so early," he exclaimed. +"What the devil! they ought to let people sleep in peace. What's the +name of this old friend who's such an early bird?"</p> + +<p>"He refused to send in his name, in order to surprise monsieur."</p> + +<p>"He deserves to be turned away without seeing me."</p> + +<p>"He was in the street last night when monsieur went into Madame +Monléard's. He recognized monsieur when he stepped out of the carriage."</p> + +<p>"Well! let us see this man of surprises."</p> + +<p>The servant ushered Cherami into his master's bedroom, and withdrew. +Monsieur de la Bérinière, with his rumpled silk nightcap on his head, +and his eyes still half-closed, was curled up in bed, covered to his +nose by the bedclothes; and in that position he was entirely destitute +of charms. So that Cherami, after eying him for a few seconds, said to +himself:</p> + +<p>"What! it was this old baked apple who was given the preference over my +good-looking young friend Gustave! Damnation! women care even more for +money than we men do! for our reason for wanting it is to get wives with +it, while they take it to throw us over."</p> + +<p>While Cherami indulged in this reflection, the count scrutinized his +visitor with interest, and said to him at last in a slightly nasal +voice:</p> + +<p>"My dear monsieur, it's of no use for me to examine you from head to +foot, or to search my memory: I do not recall any friend of mine who +resembles you in the least."<a name="page_358" id="page_358"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami bowed with an affable smile, and replied:</p> + +<p>"Don't try, monsieur le comte, don't take that trouble; it would be a +waste of time; for the fact is that this is the first time I have had +the pleasure of being in your company."</p> + +<p>"What's that? deuce take me! what does this mean? In that case, you are +not the old friend that you held yourself out to be?"</p> + +<p>"That is to say, monsieur, I ventured to tell that little falsehood in +order to be more certain of obtaining an interview with you this +morning."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière frowned and scowled, which did not add to his +beauty; he scrutinized Cherami with evident suspicion, and rejoined +sharply:</p> + +<p>"What have you so important, so urgent, to say to me, monsieur, that you +presume to disturb me so early, to resort to a trick in order to be +admitted?"</p> + +<p>"You shall know in a moment; but, first, allow me to sit. The matter in +hand deserves that I should take the trouble to be comfortable."</p> + +<p>Without awaiting a reply, Cherami took an armchair, placed it beside the +bed, and stretched himself out in it. The ease of his manners, which did +not lack distinction, began to dispel the suspicions which had assailed +the count's mind for a moment; his curiosity was aroused by the whole +aspect of the strange individual who sat facing him.</p> + +<p>Cherami, being seated to his satisfaction, began thus:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur de la Bérinière, you see before you Arthur Cherami, the +intimate friend of young Gustave Darlemont. You know Gustave Darlemont, +I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Faith! no; but, stay! Gustave—— Do you refer to the young man who was +an old play-fellow of Madame<a name="page_359" id="page_359"></a> Monléard, and whom I saw at Monsieur +Gerbault's the other evening?"</p> + +<p>"The same; that is, I don't know whether Gustave was Madame Monléard's +play-fellow, but I do know that he had become her heart's fellow. +However, without going into that, he was on the point of marrying the +young widow, when your appearance changed everything. You are a count, +you are rich; the little woman is a flirt of the first order; she +whirled about like a weathercock. By the way, this isn't the first time +she has taken the same turn. King François I said: '<i>Souvent femme +varie, bien fol est qui s'y fie.</i>'<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> Which proves that that king had +made a careful study of the fair sex—a study which cost him rather +dear! but, never mind that; thus you, monsieur le comte, are the cause +of Madame Monléard's having abruptly given my friend Gustave the mitten, +instead of marrying him. And now, do you begin to suspect what brings me +here?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I fancy so; you are sent by this young Gustave, who desires +to fight with me?"</p> + +<p>"That isn't it exactly. You are burning, but you're not quite there. +This is how it is: Gustave has no thought of fighting; not that he lacks +courage; oh! he's brave enough, I would answer for him as for +myself!—but he has such a soft spot in his heart for the widow that +he's afraid that, by killing you, he might distress her. The poor boy is +in despair; and when he's in despair, he leaves Paris, he goes abroad, +seeks distraction in other climes—and what I don't understand is that +he comes back as dead in love as when he went away; for I must tell you, +monsieur le comte, that you're not the first to cut the grass from under +his feet, as they say; he was<a name="page_360" id="page_360"></a> to have married Mademoiselle Fanny +Gerbault, when Monsieur Auguste Monléard came upon the scene; he had the +prestige of wealth and fine social position, and poor Gustave was shown +the door. To-day, therefore, we have a second performance of the same +play, with this difference: that now my young friend has an excellent +position in his uncle's banking-house; but that you have a title and a +fine turnout, and are much richer than he."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur, as your young friend doesn't think of fighting—which +is very wise of him, by the way, for I fancy that it wouldn't increase +the widow's affection for him; and, between ourselves, as he had been +rejected once, I am a good deal surprised that he came forward a second +time——"</p> + +<p>"I agree with you, par la sambleu! I wouldn't have been the man to act +in that way! A woman who had slighted me for another man—that's much +worse than deceiving! Men are deceived every day, and it's forgiven; but +slighted, disdained! However, what would you have! passions are +passions! Gustave is to be pitied."</p> + +<p>"I pity him with all my heart; but I return to my question: that being +so, what can have brought you here?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! it's easily explained. I am Gustave's devoted friend; he +forgives insult and treachery, but I do not choose that he shall be +insulted or betrayed. The wrong that is done him wounds me, insults me; +and as I have never swallowed an insult, I fight.—I have come, +therefore, to demand satisfaction at your hands for the little widow's +perfidy—of which you are the cause; that is to say, to speak more +accurately, the little widow is the real and the only culprit in this +affair. It was she who made a fool of Gustave in a much too indecent +fashion; but as it's impossible to demand satisfaction<a name="page_361" id="page_361"></a> of a woman, I +have come to demand it of you, monsieur le comte, as her accomplice and +representative in this affair."</p> + +<p>The count put the whole of his head outside of the bedclothes, in order +to obtain a better view of the person who had made this proposition to +him; and, after scrutinizing him carefully, he replied, in a mocking +tone:</p> + +<p>"It makes no difference how closely I examine you, my dear monsieur, I +do not know you at all."</p> + +<p>"We will make each other's acquaintance by fighting."</p> + +<p>"Why should you expect me to fight with you? You haven't insulted me in +any way."</p> + +<p>"If an insult is all that is necessary to induce you to fight with me, +never fear, I'll insult you; but I confess that I should prefer to have +the affair pass off quietly, courteously, as becomes well-bred people; +and, although I am not, like you, monsieur le comte, of noble birth, I +beg you to believe that you will not cross swords with a churl. I am of +good family, I was well educated, I inherited a very pretty little +fortune; but I made a fool of myself for that charming sex which is +decidedly fond of cashmere shawls and truffles. I have ruined myself, +pretty nearly, but I haven't forgotten how to use a sword; as poor +Auguste Monléard had reason to know."</p> + +<p>"What's that? you fought with my pretty widow's first husband?"</p> + +<p>"The day after the wedding; and I gave him a very neat sword-thrust in +the forearm."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that fall that he claimed to have had on the stairs?"</p> + +<p>"That was the result of our duel."</p> + +<p>"Gad! monsieur, it seems that you have sworn the death of all the +captivating Fanny's husbands."<a name="page_362" id="page_362"></a></p> + +<p>"If she had married my friend Gustave, I promise you that I wouldn't +have fought with him!"</p> + +<p>"You will permit me to inform you, monsieur, that your conduct is +utterly absurd."</p> + +<p>"Why so, monsieur, I pray to know?"</p> + +<p>"Because one doesn't take up the cudgels in this way for another man who +is old enough to attend to his own affairs. Your friend Gustave doesn't +see fit to fight; why should you take it into your head to fight for +him?"</p> + +<p>"I explained the reasons of my conduct a moment ago. If you didn't +listen, I will repeat them."</p> + +<p>"It's a waste of time, monsieur; I shall not fight with you."</p> + +<p>With that, the count pulled up the bedclothes, turned his face to the +wall, and curled himself up so that he made but a large-sized ball.</p> + +<p>Cherami rose and paced the floor; then went to the fireplace and warmed +his feet at the fire that burned briskly on the hearth, saying:</p> + +<p>"It's quite sharp this morning; you were very wise to order a fire +lighted in your bedroom; one takes cold so easily. To be sure, this room +is tightly closed, but the least draught does the business so quickly!"</p> + +<p>After a few minutes, annoyed to find that his visitor did not take his +leave, the count turned over and sat up in bed.</p> + +<p>"I say, monsieur," he exclaimed testily, "do you intend to pass the day +in my bedroom? Do me the favor to go away and let me sleep."</p> + +<p>"And do you, monsieur le comte, do me the favor to cover yourself with +the bedclothes again; you'll take cold."<a name="page_363" id="page_363"></a></p> + +<p>"A truce to jesting, monsieur! I have told you that I would not fight +with you; I repeat it. There is nothing to keep you here, therefore."</p> + +<p>"O my dear Monsieur de la Bérinière—I believe that is your name, De la +Bérinière, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; that is my name."</p> + +<p>"My dear Monsieur de la Bérinière, when I take it into my head to do a +thing, I assure you that it has to be done. I have promised myself to +fight with you—unless, however, you give me your word of honor to +renounce your project of marrying Auguste Monléard's widow. In that +case, I am content. Does that suit you?"</p> + +<p>"On my word, this is too much!"</p> + +<p>"What is it that's too much?"</p> + +<p>"You disgust me,<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Do I, indeed? Gad! you are not to be pitied, in such weather as this. +So you won't give her up?"</p> + +<p>"What do you take me for, in God's name?"</p> + +<p>"Then you agree to fight?"</p> + +<p>"Go to the devil!"</p> + +<p>"In that case, I must resort to decisive measures."</p> + +<p>And Cherami, raising his switch, caused it to whistle about the count's +ears, but without touching him; that manœuvring sufficed, however, to +make Monsieur de la Bérinière straighten himself up and cry, in a +furious rage:</p> + +<p>"You are a villain, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Aha! you're awake at last, are you?"</p> + +<p>"You will give me satisfaction for this indecent behavior, monsieur!"<a name="page_364" id="page_364"></a></p> + +<p>"That is just what I have been asking you for, for the past hour."</p> + +<p>"Leave your address; my seconds will call upon you to-morrow at eight +o'clock; see that yours are there, also."</p> + +<p>Cherami scratched his ear, muttering:</p> + +<p>"My seconds! Do we need any seconds? Why not settle the business at +once, between ourselves?"</p> + +<p>"Oho! monsieur, so you never have fought a duel?"</p> + +<p>"More than you have, I'll wager."</p> + +<p>"Then you should know that people don't fight without seconds; it is +forbidden."</p> + +<p>"I am very well aware that it is customary to have them; but we don't +always conform to custom. For instance, Monsieur Monléard and I fought +without seconds."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, as I have no desire to find myself with a wretched +affair on my hands on your account, I tell you that I will not fight +without seconds."</p> + +<p>"So be it! As you insist upon it, we will have them."</p> + +<p>"Your address, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Here it is: Cherami, Hôtel du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville."</p> + +<p>"Belleville! So you don't live in Paris?"</p> + +<p>"I am in the suburbs. Does that disturb you?"</p> + +<p>"It is a matter of absolute indifference to me; but my seconds will not +call on you until ten o'clock, for I don't choose to make them get up at +daylight."</p> + +<p>"At ten o'clock, then, I will expect them. And now, monsieur le comte, +permit me to offer you my respects."</p> + +<p>"Good-day, monsieur, good-day!"</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière buried himself anew under the bedclothes, +decidedly put out by the visit he had<a name="page_365" id="page_365"></a> received. As for Cherami, he said +to himself when he was in the street:</p> + +<p>"I have my cue! He will fight—aye, but my seconds—I must have two; I +absolutely must have them, or no duel. Where shall I find them? It's +damnably embarrassing. I can't think of a solitary soul. Sapristi! where +can I find two seconds? There's nothing to be said; I must have two, and +two passably respectable ones, to-morrow morning!"</p> + +<h2><a name="LI" id="LI"></a>LI<br /><br /> +THE DAY WITH THE RABBITS</h2> + +<p>On leaving Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, Arthur Cherami followed the +boulevard in the direction of the Bastille; he did not take an +omnibus—first, because he was in no hurry; and, secondly, because he +had reflected:</p> + +<p>"If I could happen to meet in the street some old friend, some good +fellow, I would ask him to be my second. On a pinch, if it was +necessary, I would sacrifice myself so far as to pay for his breakfast +or dinner—but at a soup-kitchen only."</p> + +<p>But Cherami arrived at Boulevard du Temple, without falling in with what +he sought.</p> + +<p>"Shall I go home?" he thought; "what's the use? My hôtel is not the +place to find what I want; the poor devils who lodge there seldom wear +coats. I am sure that this Comte de la Bérinière will send me two very +distinguished gentlemen; they will turn up their noses enough when they +see the Widow Louchard's hôtel; I<a name="page_366" id="page_366"></a> must confront them with men who +represent—— Damnation! I haven't my cue! it's infernally embarrassing! +The devil take the obstinacy of that count, who insists on having +seconds!"</p> + +<p>As he walked on, Cherami saw a short man coming toward him, armed with a +pretty cane of cherry wood.</p> + +<p>"Here comes a grotesque figure which reminds me of a clown I have seen +somewhere or other," he said to himself. "Pardieu! it's Courbichon. I +must catch him on the wing."</p> + +<p>The little bald man was speechless with surprise when he found his +passage barred by a tall man; and he seemed by no means pleased when he +recognized the gentleman with whom he had dined on the Champs-Élysées.</p> + +<p>But Cherami seized his hand and shook it warmly.</p> + +<p>"A lucky meeting!" he said; "it is my dear Monsieur Courbichon! <i>Bone +Deus!</i> So we are no longer in Touraine?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! monsieur, I have the honor—no, as you see, I am in Paris."</p> + +<p>"And fresher and lustier than ever! I am tempted to repeat the fable: +'How pretty you are! how handsome you look to me!'"</p> + +<p>"You don't need to: I know it."</p> + +<p>"That's a pretty cane you have there. It isn't the same one, is it?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; it certainly isn't the one you broke."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you have it mended?"</p> + +<p>"It wasn't mendable, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! why, they even mend porcelain! This is cherry, I see; let me +look at it."</p> + +<p>Cherami put out his hand for the cane, but Monsieur Courbichon hastily +put it behind his back.<a name="page_367" id="page_367"></a></p> + +<p>"No, no," he cried; "I have no desire that you should break this one +too; one was quite enough."</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! my excellent and worthy friend, who said anything about +breaking your cane? There is nobody throwing skittles at your legs at +this moment, and I fancy that this switch is worth quite as much as your +cherry stick."</p> + +<p>"Did this one come from China, too?"</p> + +<p>"No, my boy. Do not revive my sorrow! My Chinese switch will never be +replaced; but enough about canes. I have a very great favor to ask of +you, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, one of those favors which a man of +honor never refuses to grant."</p> + +<p>"I have no money with me at this moment, monsieur; and it would be +impossible for me——"</p> + +<p>"Who the devil said anything about money? Mordieu! do I look like a man +who borrows money?"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Courbichon examined Cherami, who had made himself as fine as +possible for his visit to Monsieur de la Bérinière; and he took off his +hat, murmuring:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; indeed, I had not noticed—— But what is the favor +you wish to ask me, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"A nothing, a mere bagatelle—to act as my second in a duel, to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"A duel! it's about a duel! and you dare to propose to me to take part +in it! What have I done to you, monsieur, that you should suggest such a +thing to me?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Monsieur Courbichon, it's a mere matter of form; the +seconds don't fight."</p> + +<p>"I, be present at a duel! Understand that I never fought a duel, +monsieur! I would rather die than fight!"</p> + +<p>"You are like Gribouille, then, who jumped into the water for fear of +the rain."<a name="page_368" id="page_368"></a></p> + +<p>"It's an outrage, your proposition to me! I will request you, monsieur, +not to speak to me hereafter. I do not consort with men who fight duels, +not I! Don't detain me, or I shall call for help."</p> + +<p>The little bald man almost ran away. Cherami shrugged his shoulders, +saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"Old guinea-hen! I might have guessed that the simple word <i>duel</i> would +frighten him! He won't be my second. Sapristi! I haven't my cue!"</p> + +<p>Cherami was almost at the end of Boulevard Beaumarchais, when he heard a +voice exclaim:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, it's him; there he is—the man who keeps us waiting for +dinner, and never comes! God bless my soul! it takes you a long time to +smoke your cigar."</p> + +<p>At the sound of those familiar accents, Beau Arthur turned, and saw +Madame Capucine, attended as always by her two brats; the elder still +wearing his Henri IV hat, with the feathers falling over his eyes; the +younger eating gingerbread, and finding a way to stuff his fingers into +his nose at the same time.</p> + +<p>"Ah! upon my word, it's the lovely Madame Capucine," said Cherami, +joining the group.</p> + +<p>The stout woman, glancing at her debtor's fashionable attire, smiled +amiably, as she rejoined:</p> + +<p>"I ought not to speak to you again, by good rights! That was a very +pretty trick you played us at Passy: to leave us on the pretext of +smoking a cigar! Oh! monsieur would only be gone a few minutes; and it +was eleven months ago!"</p> + +<p>"I was blameworthy, I know it; I treated you badly! But if you knew what +events were in store for me that day in the Bois de Boulogne!"<a name="page_369" id="page_369"></a></p> + +<p>"My aunt bears you a grudge! Oh! she's furious with you."</p> + +<p>"I will make my peace with the venerable Madame Duponceau. And the first +time that I go to the Bois de Boulogne——"</p> + +<p>"No, no; you needn't go to the Bois de Boulogne for that. My aunt isn't +at Passy now; she didn't like it there. It's a place where you have to +dress too much; it's enough to ruin you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! so the dear aunt has changed her villa once more? She is just a +little bit fickle. And whither has she transported her sheep—that is to +say, her rural Penates?"</p> + +<p>"To Saint-Mandé. You see, we're just going to take the omnibus to go +there."</p> + +<p>"What! you are going to your aunt's? How funny! It seems to be written +that I shall always meet you, lovely creature, when you are on your way +to your aunt's. But this isn't Saturday?"</p> + +<p>"No; but to-morrow is my aunt's birthday, Saint Élisabeth's day; and +it's our duty to go to wish her many happy returns."</p> + +<p>"Ah! yes, I understand; Madame Duponceau's name is Élisabeth."</p> + +<p>"Do you want to make your peace with her? Here's an excellent chance. +Come with us; you can congratulate my aunt, and dine at Saint-Mandé. My +husband is coming to join us there at five o'clock."</p> + +<p>Cherami reflected for some minutes. He remembered that Capucine was a +corporal in the National Guard, and thought that he might perhaps +consent to act as his second. That hope decided him; he smiled at his +stout friend, and replied:<a name="page_370" id="page_370"></a></p> + +<p>"You do whatever you please with me. I had important business in Paris; +but your husband can help me about it, I think. I am at your service. Ho +for Saint-Mandé!"</p> + +<p>"Good! you are very obliging. If you go on as you have begun, I will +forgive you, too."</p> + +<p>These words were accompanied by a languishing glance of immeasurable +length. It made Cherami shudder.</p> + +<p>"I am terribly afraid," he thought, "that she would like me to take up +Ballot's duties."</p> + +<p>Madame Capucine called Jacqueline. An old servant, all twisted and bent, +came limping along, with an enormous basket on her arm.</p> + +<p>"Tudieu!" thought Cherami; "here's a soubrette who will hardly divert +the attention of the haberdasher's young clerk."</p> + +<p>"Is the 'bus there, Jacqueline?"</p> + +<p>"It's just comin', madame."</p> + +<p>"Let's hurry up and get seats, Monsieur Cherami. Will you take +Aristoloche by the hand?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure."</p> + +<p>"My! what a pleasant surprise this will be for Aunt Duponceau! She's +very fond of you, you fickle man!"</p> + +<p>"She has no ingrate to deal with, in me."</p> + +<p>They entered the omnibus, and Cherami agreed to hold young Aristoloche +on his knees, in order to save his mamma six sous. She tried to provide +for Narcisse in the servant's lap, but the conductor declared that he +must pay, which seemed to cause Jacqueline the keenest satisfaction. At +last they started, and in due time arrived at Saint-Mandé.</p> + +<p>Madame Duponceau's latest purchase was at the entrance to the avenue. +The house was even smaller than<a name="page_371" id="page_371"></a> that at Passy; and there was no garden: +it was replaced by a courtyard in which naught could be seen, in any +direction, save rabbit-hutches; it was a veritable library of rabbits.</p> + +<p>The aunt appeared, shaking her head as always. She uttered a cry of +surprise when she saw Cherami, then offered him her cheek, saying:</p> + +<p>"Kiss me; I forgive your disappearance at Passy."</p> + +<p>The penalty seemed to Cherami a little severe, but he submitted to it; +and while he was in training, Madame Capucine offered him her cheek.</p> + +<p>"Do the same for me," she said; "I forgive you, too."</p> + +<p>"The devil! this dinner comes pretty high!" said Beau Arthur to himself, +after kissing both ladies.</p> + +<p>"You must come and see what a pretty little place I've got," said Madame +Duponceau; "what a pity that you always come in winter!"</p> + +<p>"I don't see what difference that makes here, as you have no garden."</p> + +<p>"But I have rabbits."</p> + +<p>"Are they finer in summer than in winter?"</p> + +<p>"No; but they show themselves more, because they ain't cold."</p> + +<p>"They show themselves quite enough as it is, in my opinion. I should be +glad of a little refreshment."</p> + +<p>"And then you must tell us what happened to you at Passy that kept you +from coming back to dinner with us."</p> + +<p>Cherami allowed himself to be taken all over the house; he was not even +spared an inspection of the attic. He found everything charming, +admirable, even the lean-to where the servant slept. At last, when the +inspection was at an end, they begged him to tell them his<a name="page_372" id="page_372"></a> adventures +in the Bois de Boulogne. He told the whole story, taking care not to +mention names; and when he had finished, Madame Duponceau cried:</p> + +<p>"That's what it is to fight a duel with pistols!"</p> + +<p>"Corbleu de mordieu!" thought Cherami; "what an idiot I am to take the +trouble to tell anything to such mummies! This will teach me a lesson; I +ought to have told them about Blue Beard."</p> + +<p>The dinner hour arrived, but Monsieur Capucine did not. They waited +another half-hour; but the two boys complained so loudly of hunger, that +it was decided to adjourn to the table.</p> + +<p>First came a thin soup, then a rabbit-stew, then a roasted rabbit.</p> + +<p>Cherami, seeing nothing but rabbit, made a wry face, and muttered under +his breath:</p> + +<p>"Apparently they are on a rabbit diet here. And that miserable Capucine +doesn't come! To have nothing to eat but rabbit, and not obtain a +second! what, in God's name, did I come to this hole for?"</p> + +<p>By way of vegetables, of which there were none, a dish of minced rabbit, +stuffed with chestnuts, was served.</p> + +<p>"It's very strange that my husband doesn't come!" said the corpulent +dame; "he must have had some order to be filled in a hurry."</p> + +<p>"And then, perhaps he doesn't like rabbit?" suggested Cherami.</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, he eats it."</p> + +<p>"What's that? Par la sambleu! I eat it, too, and I've been eating it for +an hour, but I don't like it any better for that."</p> + +<p>"You don't like it? What a pity! there's more of it coming!"<a name="page_373" id="page_373"></a></p> + +<p>"A rabbit-cream, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"No, a pie."</p> + +<p>"Thanks; if you will allow me, I will take some cheese, as a pleasant +substitute. Gad! I don't wonder that your yard is carpeted with +rabbit-hutches; they are productive evidently."</p> + +<p>"Much more so than fruit trees."</p> + +<p>"Well, well! I see that you will end by preserving them. But your wine +is good, that's something."</p> + +<p>"Here's my aunt's health!"</p> + +<p>"With great pleasure. Vive Élisabeth!"</p> + +<p>"Aristoloche and Narcisse, now recite your congratulations."</p> + +<p>"What! have the dear children learned something by heart?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, aunt; we'll show you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! the dear loves, how sweet of them! Who wrote them?"</p> + +<p>"My husband, aunt; they are in poetry!"</p> + +<p>"Your husband writes poetry? I didn't know he had that talent; how long +has he been a poet?"</p> + +<p>"Since we have had for a customer a literary man who writes mottoes; he +brings us some every time he comes to the house. Come, Aristoloche, +begin. Go and stand in front of your aunt; and pronounce your words +plain."<a name="page_374" id="page_374"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LII" id="LII"></a>LII<br /><br /> +MADAME CAPUCINE'S LITTLE SONS</h2> + +<p>The little fellow tried first of all to obtain possession of the +visitor's stick, and to gallop round the table astride it; they could +not succeed in making him behave except by promising him that, if he +would repeat his verses nicely, he should play with a rabbit which was +very gentle and which was sometimes brought into the salon to entertain +the company.</p> + +<p>At last, Master Aristoloche took his stand in front of his great-aunt, +and recited without stopping to take breath:</p> + + +<p class="poem"><span class="i0">"'Ah! quel bonheur, en ce beau jour,</span> +<span class="i0"> De vous prouver tout mon amour!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Du plaisir, je suis dans l'attente,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Quand je dois aller chez ma tante!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> En amour comme en amitié<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Sachez tout mettre de moitié.'"<br /></span></p> + + +<p>"It is easy to see that our papa knows a maker of mottoes," thought +Cherami.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of my husband's poetry?" asked Madame Capucine.</p> + +<p>"It is the more ingenious in that it can be adapted to any possible +occasion."</p> + +<p>"And you, aunt?"</p> + +<p>Madame Duponceau was delighted with the verses, and said to the boy, +after giving him a kiss:</p> + +<p>"Go and find the maid, and tell her to give you Coco to play with."<a name="page_375" id="page_375"></a></p> + +<p>Master Aristoloche disappeared; it was his brother's turn to recite his +congratulations; but young Narcisse was sulky; he rebelled.</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur," said his mother, "come and repeat your poetry to your +aunt."</p> + +<p>"No, I won't; it makes me sick."</p> + +<p>"What do I hear, Monsieur Narcisse? What is the meaning of that answer?"</p> + +<p>"I mean what I say; you always let Aristoloche play with Coco, and never +let me."</p> + +<p>"Will you hold your tongue—a great tall boy like you! just beginning to +learn to write. You, want to play with the little rabbit!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I like rabbits, and I want to play with 'em."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," said Cherami, "that you ought not to be too hard on +the child for liking rabbits; this is a good school for that. By dint of +eating a thing, one sometimes ends by acquiring a taste for it. When I +was a boy, I remember, I could not endure bread-soup, but they made me +eat it every day to force me to like it."</p> + +<p>"And you ended by liking it?"</p> + +<p>"No; I detest it!"</p> + +<p>"Come, Narcisse, come and recite your poetry to your dear aunt—if you +don't, she won't give you another beautiful hat with feathers."</p> + +<p>"I don't want any more of her feathers; they make me blind. Somebody +told me that I looked like a trained dog in that hat."</p> + +<p>"Look out, Monsieur Narcisse, or we shall be cross with you! Your +poetry, this minute!"</p> + +<p>"No, I won't!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! we'll see about that, you little rascal!"<a name="page_376" id="page_376"></a></p> + +<p>Madame Capucine left the table, seized Cherami's switch, which was +standing in a corner, and advanced upon her son; but young Narcisse, +when he saw what he was threatened with, began to run around the table, +thus compelling his mother, still armed with the formidable switch, to +run after him, striking blindly in every direction. Thinking that she +was chastising her son, she twice brought the switch down on Cherami's +shoulders, who found the manœuvre executed by the stout woman and her +son far from amusing, although it reminded him somewhat of a circus +performance.</p> + +<p>At last, seeing that he was on the point of being captured, Narcisse +changed his tactics, and slipped under the table. Madame Capucine, +although disconcerted for a moment by this evolution, soon found a way +to profit by it; she thrust her switch under the table, striking at +random to right and left. Thereupon, the old aunt began to cry out: her +niece was switching her legs. Luckily, Cherami succeeded in pulling +Narcisse out from under the table; he was forced to stand in front of +Madame Duponceau; and his mother stationed herself by his side, with her +stick in the air, saying in a threatening tone:</p> + +<p>"Your poetry, quick!"</p> + +<p>Master Narcisse, although still in the sulks, decided to obey, and +muttered in a drawling voice:</p> + +<p class="poem"><span class="i0">"'Ah! que je suis—Ah! que je suis donc content!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> De vous—de vous—de vous——'"<br /></span></p> + +<p>"<i>De vous</i>, what, idiot?"</p> + +<p>"I forget."</p> + +<p>"You just wait, and I'll freshen your memory, you bad boy!"</p> + +<p class="c">"'De vous fêter, objet charmant——'"</p> + +<p>"It can't be <i>objet charmant!</i> I know that's wrong."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think it can't be <i>objet charmant</i>, niece, I should like to +know?" said Madame Duponceau, pursing up her lips.</p> + +<p>"Because, aunt, I am perfectly sure it's something else."</p> + +<p>"In my judgment," interposed Cherami, "<i>objet charmant</i> should be +allowed to remain; the expression is most appropriate."</p> + +<p>The old aunt was so delighted by the compliment, that she left her seat +and embraced her guest again.</p> + +<p>"That will teach me to hold my tongue!" said Cherami to himself.</p> + +<p>"Come, monsieur; go on with your poetry," continued Madame Capucine.</p> + +<p class="c">"'De vous—de vous—fêter en ce moment,'"</p> + +<p class="nind">began Narcisse.</p> + +<p>"You see!" cried Madame Capucine; "I knew it wasn't <i>objet charmant.</i>"</p> + +<p>"It's hardly worth while to interrupt just for that, niece. Go on, my +boy."</p> + +<p>But young Aristoloche had entered the dining-room, holding in his arms a +little white rabbit, which he was tickling with a stick. That spectacle +sadly distracted the attention of Master Narcisse, whom his mother +continued to threaten with the switch to make him finish his lines. But +Narcisse, as he recited, kept turning to look at his brother.</p> + +<p class="c">"'Quand je me trouve à votre table—à votre table——'</p> + +<p class="nind">I'll fix you, if you don't give me the rabbit when I get through."<a name="page_378" id="page_378"></a></p> + +<p>"No, they gave the rabbit to me—see!"</p> + +<p class="poem"><span class="i0">"'À votre table—à votre table—<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Ah! que le temps——'<br /></span></p> + +<p class="nind">I'll box your ears——</p> + +<p class="c">'est agréable!'"</p> + +<p>"Mamma, brother says he'll lick me!"</p> + +<p>"Don't listen to him, darling; he's the one who'll be licked, if he +doesn't say his poetry better for his aunt. Come, Monsieur Narcisse."</p> + +<p class="c">"'Voulez-vous lire dans mon cœur——'</p> + +<p class="nind">Wait till you want my battledore again!"</p> + +<p>"I don't want it; papa'll give me another."</p> + +<p class="c">"'Dans mon cœur——'</p> + +<p class="nind">Let Coco go."</p> + +<p>"No, I won't let him go."</p> + +<p>"All right; I'll fix you in a minute——</p> + +<p class="c">'Dans mon cœur—vous y verrez mon ardeur.'"</p> + +<p>"You said that as badly as you could, monsieur! but you'll have to say +it better at breakfast to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Oh! mamma, mamma; he's trying to take Coco away from me."</p> + +<p>Narcisse, having finished his congratulations, had run after his brother +and was trying to obtain possession of the rabbit; Madame Capucine, to +put an end to the dispute, turned her elder son out of the dining-room, +with an accompaniment of kicks in the posterior; then returned to her +seat beside Cherami.</p> + +<p>"And, after all," she said, "my husband didn't come!"<a name="page_379" id="page_379"></a></p> + +<p>"And he probably won't come now, for it's almost nine o'clock. I am very +sorry for that; I wanted to speak to him."</p> + +<p>"About that little bill? Oh! there's no hurry about that."</p> + +<p>"It was about something else."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am going to have a very uncomfortable night of it. You must +know that I'm very timid in the country. It's foolish of me, I know that +well enough; for nothing ever happens to my aunt, who lives here alone +with her servant; but what can I do? one can't control those things. +When my husband's in bed beside me, that gives me courage, and I can +sleep a little. But without him—why, I can't close my eyes. If we only +had a man in the house; but nothing but women and children! What would +become of us if we should be attacked?"</p> + +<p>"What's the meaning of this attempt to entrap me?" thought Cherami, +stroking his whiskers; "I can see myself passing the night here, to eat +more rabbit to-morrow morning! On the contrary, I can't be off soon +enough."</p> + +<p>"Well, Monsieur Cherami," continued Madame Capucine, with a tender +glance at her neighbor, "do you refuse to watch over us to-night? You +are your own master; what is there to prevent you from sleeping here? If +you would, I should feel perfectly safe, and I should have a quiet +night. There's a guest-chamber just opposite mine."</p> + +<p>The last words were accompanied by a sidelong glance ending in a sigh. +Cherami began to cough in a significant fashion, and whispered:</p> + +<p>"On the same floor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you can understand what a relief it will be to me."</p> + +<p>"I understand perfectly."<a name="page_380" id="page_380"></a></p> + +<p>"Then you'll stay with us, won't you? When the children have gone to +bed, we'll play a game of loto."</p> + +<p>"That is a very seductive prospect."</p> + +<p>"You shall draw the numbers."</p> + +<p>"You will see how well I do it!"</p> + +<p>At that moment, Madame Duponceau's servant rushed into the dining-room +and exclaimed in dismay:</p> + +<p>"O madame! madame! if you knew!"</p> + +<p>"What is it, then, Françoise, for heaven's sake? You frighten me!"</p> + +<p>"There's reason enough!"</p> + +<p>"Is the house on fire?"</p> + +<p>"Is it robbers?"</p> + +<p>"No; but your rabbits. That little scamp of a Narcisse has opened all +the hutches, and the rabbits are all loose; they're running +everywhere—into the yard, and the cellar, and upstairs."</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! what do you mean? We must catch them! Niece, Monsieur +Cherami, come quick, I beg you! Bring candles! Oh! my poor rabbits!"</p> + +<p>Everybody hurried into the yard. In the confusion, Cherami did not fail +to take his hat and cane; but, instead of going to the yard, he headed +for the front door, crying:</p> + +<p>"There go two of them into the road! I'll run after them."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?"</p> + +<p>"I saw them."</p> + +<p>"How could they have got out?"</p> + +<p>"Under the gate. They scratched till they made a hole. But don't be +disturbed; I'll catch them, if I have to chase them to Vincennes!"</p> + +<p>And Cherami ran out into the road, leaving the ladies and the servant to +hunt the rabbits.<a name="page_381" id="page_381"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LIII" id="LIII"></a>LIII<br /><br /> +CHERAMI'S SECONDS</h2> + +<p>Cherami went across fields to the village of Bagnolet, thence to +Belleville, and returned to his domicile, consigning the Capucine family +and its rabbits to the evil one.</p> + +<p>"No seconds," he said to himself, as he went to bed; "and the count's +will be here at ten o'clock to-morrow! No matter; let's go to sleep; it +will be light to-morrow."</p> + +<p>At seven o'clock, Cherami rose, dressed, and went to his window. It was +just daylight, and Rue de l'Orillon was deserted. About eight o'clock, a +water-carrier's cart came along. It stopped in front of Madame +Louchard's house, and the master carrier and his man came upstairs with +their pails.</p> + +<p>Cherami opened his door, and scrutinized the two men closely as they +came up.</p> + +<p>"There are two stout fellows," he mused. "Sapristi! such seconds would +just do for my affair! Why not? Pardieu! by making a slight sacrifice; +and this is no time for economizing, but for going through with my duel +in a dignified way. Gad! I am inclined to think that it's a good idea; I +see no other way of obtaining seconds."</p> + +<p>Cherami waited for the two men to come down the stairs; he stopped them +as they passed, asked them into his room, and said to them:</p> + +<p>"I have a favor to ask of you, messieurs."<a name="page_382" id="page_382"></a></p> + +<p>The master, a tall, robust Auvergnat, replied, in the accent of his +province:</p> + +<p>"A pail to fill?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Do you want some water?"</p> + +<p>"It is something out of your regular line. It will be a change for you."</p> + +<p>"We must serve our customers."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me first. If your customers should be served a little later +than usual for once, it won't kill them. I have a duel to arrange for. +Do you know what a duel is?"</p> + +<p>"It's a clock that strikes the hours, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"You are a long way off."</p> + +<p>The apprentice, a young Piedmontese, nearly six feet tall, suddenly +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I know the vendetta, basta! I've seen friends who'd been out +to fight with fists."</p> + +<p>"Your young man understands rather better; yes, a duel's a fight, but +not with fists."</p> + +<p>"Where do you fight?" rejoined the Piedmontese.</p> + +<p>Cherami made a wry face, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Sapristi! I prefer the Auvergnat accent to that jargon.—Look you, +messieurs, I just want you to be my seconds; I expect my opponent's +seconds here at ten o'clock, and you must both be here then. I will give +you a hundred sous each for the morning; and you will be free at +half-past ten; for the fight will not come off till to-morrow, I fancy."</p> + +<p>"All right! five francs; all right!"</p> + +<p>"What have we got to do?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, my boy, you will be good enough not to speak at +all; for you have a way of pronouncing<a name="page_383" id="page_383"></a> your t's and s's which will +produce a very bad effect. Your master can say that you're a Pole, and +that you don't know a word of French. That's your rôle, then—to say +nothing. But I must dress you, my friends; I can't have seconds in short +jackets. Do you own a coat, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I've got a much better jacket."</p> + +<p>"I don't want seconds in jackets. My landlady must have some coats that +belonged to her late husband; we will get one of them. Have you a hat?"</p> + +<p>"I have a new cap."</p> + +<p>"How you run your words together! We'll find a hat somewhere in the +house.—And you, master—what's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Michel."</p> + +<p>"Good! well, Michel, have you any good clothes?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> I should say so; my new frock-coat—only three years old—which +comes down to my heels."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll make an old soldier of you. You must put on a black stock. Go +and dress. Put your cask in a safe place, and come back at once with +your man, whom I will dress. Be here at half-past nine, and I will tell +you what you have to do; it will be very simple. You will agree to +whatever is proposed by the men who come here."</p> + +<p>"We will agree, if they'll pay for something to drink."</p> + +<p>"There's no question of taking anything to drink. However, I shall be +here; I'll prompt you. Go, and make haste."</p> + +<p>"And the five francs?"</p> + +<p>"Here they are; I pay in advance; you see that I have confidence in +you."<a name="page_384" id="page_384"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! never fear; our word's sacred.—Come, Piedmontese. Let's go and +take care of the cask."</p> + +<p>"Where'll you put it?"</p> + +<p>"In the next yard."</p> + +<p>The water-carriers departed, and Cherami went down to his landlady.</p> + +<p>"Have you a man's hat to loan me for this morning and to-morrow?" he +asked her.</p> + +<p>"A man's hat? What do you want it for?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed; I don't propose to make an omelet in it, as the +prestidigitators do; I want it for someone to wear."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have a hat that belonged to Louchard, which I am keeping to give +my godson when he grows up."</p> + +<p>"Do me the favor to loan it to me; I will take the best of care of it."</p> + +<p>"I trust you will."</p> + +<p>Madame Louchard left the room, and soon returned with a felt hat in +reasonably good condition.</p> + +<p>"Look; I call that rather fine, myself!"</p> + +<p>"The devil! it's gray."</p> + +<p>"Well! it's all the more stylish."</p> + +<p>"I don't say it isn't, in summer; but in November gray hats are not worn +much."</p> + +<p>"If you don't want it, leave it."</p> + +<p>"Never mind; I'll take it. A Pole may like gray hats at all seasons. +Now, Madame Louchard, I must have either an overcoat or a frock-coat."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing but a green sack-coat of Louchard's, which I also intend +for my godson."</p> + +<p>"A sack-coat! that's risky, because it shows the trousers! But, no +matter! give it to me."</p> + +<p>"You'll be responsible for it?"<a name="page_385" id="page_385"></a></p> + +<p>"I'll be responsible for everything."</p> + +<p>Cherami returned to his room with the clothes; at half-past nine, the +water-carriers appeared. The Auvergnat wore a long blue overcoat that +reached to his heels, a collar that came to the bottom of his ears, and +a three-cornered hat. He was a perfect type of a laundryman going out to +dinner. The Piedmontese was still in his jacket; but he had on a white +striped waistcoat and olive-green trousers. Cherami bade him put on the +green coat, which was too short in front and showed half of the +waistcoat. By way of compensation, the late Louchard evidently had an +enormous head, for the gray hat came down so far that it almost +concealed the young water-carrier's eyes. These preparations completed, +Cherami, having examined his two seconds, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"What in the devil will they take you for? However, damn the odds!—You, +Piedmontese, will bow whenever anyone speaks to you, but you must not +say a word in reply."</p> + +<p>"Never fear! what would I say to them, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"Very good! You are Monsieur de Chamousky, a Polish nobleman."</p> + +<p>"No; for I was born in Piedmont."</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue; I make you a Pole!—You, Michel, are a wealthy +land-holder from Auvergne; at all events, you will be rightfully +entitled to your accent."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I have some land at home, and all planted with chestnuts."</p> + +<p>"The gentlemen who are coming will tell you what weapons the count +proposes to fight with, also the time and place; to whatever they +propose, you will reply: 'Very well, we agree.'—Do you understand?"<a name="page_386" id="page_386"></a></p> + +<p>"Pardi! that ain't very hard: 'Very well; that hits us!'"</p> + +<p>"I didn't say: 'That hits us,' but: 'We agree.'"</p> + +<p>"Bah! it amounts to the same thing."</p> + +<p>"No, no! Sacrebleu! it doesn't amount to the same thing! Don't you go +making mistakes; no foolishness! Ah! mon Dieu! I hear a carriage +stopping in front of the house; two gentlemen are getting out—they are +the ones. Attention! I leave the door unlocked, so that they can open it +themselves. I go into this little dark closet for a moment; I want them +to think that I have more than this one room. Now: a serious face, heads +up, and be cool!"</p> + +<p>Cherami disappeared. The two water-carriers stared at each other in +speechless amazement to see themselves so finely arrayed. Soon there was +a knock at the door; then, as no one answered, the door was opened, and +Monsieur de la Bérinière's two seconds entered the room.</p> + +<p>One was a man of some fifty years, tall and thin, with a decidedly +unamiable manner, a rigid bearing, and a severely simple costume. The +other, who was at least fifteen years younger, with a pleasant face, and +dressed in the height of fashion, had all the manners of a modern Don +Juan. He entered the room first, and, having glanced about, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"This isn't the place; it can't be; the woman directed us wrong."</p> + +<p>"But there are some people here," said the other; "we had better +inquire.—Monsieur Cherami, if you please?" he continued, addressing the +Auvergnat, who stood in the centre of the room.</p> + +<p>The water-carrier buried his chin in his cravat, and answered, without +hesitation:</p> + +<p>"Very well; we agree."<a name="page_387" id="page_387"></a></p> + +<p>The old gentleman turned to his companion, who said:</p> + +<p>"He did not understand you."—Whereupon he, in his turn, addressed the +Auvergnat: "We desire to know, monsieur, if this is where Monsieur +Cherami lives."</p> + +<p>Again Michel replied in his deep voice:</p> + +<p>"Very well; we agree."</p> + +<p>At that, the young man burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"Gad!" he exclaimed; "this is evidently a joke, a wager! What do you +think about it, Monsieur de Maugrillé?"</p> + +<p>"I think that we did not come here to joke, and if I knew that there was +any purpose to make fools of us——"</p> + +<p>Cherami, who was listening, and saw that his seconds were in a fair way +to wreck the whole business, hastily left the closet, and saluted the +new-comers with much courtesy, saying:</p> + +<p>"Pardon, messieurs, a thousand pardons! I crave a little indulgence for +my seconds,—most respectable persons, by the way,—one of whom, being a +Pole, recently arrived in France, is not able as yet to express his +thoughts in our language. As for the other, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, a +wealthy land-holder in the outskirts of Clermont, in Auvergne—he is not +yet at home in all the details of affairs of this sort. However, +messieurs, as I have determined in advance to agree to what Monsieur de +la Bérinière may suggest, it seems to me that your mission is very much +simplified, and that the affair will settle itself; my seconds are here +only as a matter of form."</p> + +<p>"Ordinarily, monsieur, the details of a meeting are not arranged with +the adversary himself, but with his seconds."<a name="page_388" id="page_388"></a></p> + +<p>"I know it, monsieur. Pardieu! you cannot teach me how affairs are +managed in duels; this isn't the first time I have fought."</p> + +<p>"In that case, monsieur," queried the younger man, with a smile, "why +did you select seconds who apparently have no understanding of what is +going on?"</p> + +<p>"Because I found no others at hand, in all probability," retorted +Cherami, biting his lips wrathfully. "Come, messieurs, let us come to +terms. Is it such a difficult matter, pray, to tell us where, when, and +how the count proposes to fight?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur," observed Monsieur de Maugrillé; "but, as +I, for my part, insist that everything shall be done in accordance with +the established etiquette of duels, I will tell your seconds, and no one +else."</p> + +<p>"Tell my concierge, if you choose; it makes confounded little difference +to me, after all."</p> + +<p>"What does that tone mean, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"It means that you make me very weary with all your nonsense; and if +you're not satisfied with the tone I adopt, why, I'll give you +satisfaction as soon as I have done with the count; or before, if you +choose."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>The discussion was on the verge of ending in a quarrel, when the +Auvergnat, seeing that things seemed to be approaching a crisis, shouted +in stentorian tones:</p> + +<p>"Very well, <i>fouchtra!</i> very well! We agree, I say!"</p> + +<p>This outburst was delivered in such unique fashion by the water-carrier, +that the younger of the count's seconds roared with laughter again, and +Cherami himself could not keep a sober face. He turned his back and put +his handkerchief to his mouth. The old gentleman alone<a name="page_389" id="page_389"></a> retained an air +of displeasure; but his young companion said to him earnestly:</p> + +<p>"Come, Monsieur de Maugrillé, let us not have trouble over an affair +which really seems to me quite simple.—Monsieur de la Bérinière selects +swords; he wishes to fight to-morrow, about nine o'clock, in Vincennes +Forest; we will meet at the entrance to the forest, near Porte +Saint-Mandé, on the highroad. Those are our conditions, messieurs; are +they satisfactory to you?"</p> + +<p>Then or never was the time for the water-carrier to repeat the phrase he +had been taught; but, just as it frequently happens on the stage, that, +when an actor has begun his lines too soon, he is silent when he ought +to speak, so did the Auvergnat look stolidly at the others and utter +never a word.</p> + +<p>Cherami, who was gazing at him impatiently, at last walked up behind him +and struck him in the side, crying:</p> + +<p>"Well, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, have you suddenly lost your voice?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! bless my soul! what was I thinking about?—Very well, very well! We +agree to everything," said the water-carrier.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the young man took his companion's arm and led him from the +room, laughing still, and saying in his ear:</p> + +<p>"I think that we may retire, now that everything is settled."</p> + +<p>Cherami saluted them, and escorted them to the door.</p> + +<p>"Be sure, monsieur," he said, "that we shall be on hand promptly at the +rendezvous; we shall not keep you waiting. By the way! it will be very +kind of you to bring<a name="page_390" id="page_390"></a> swords for both, for I broke mine recently and +have not yet replaced it."</p> + +<p>"Very good, monsieur; we will do so."</p> + +<p>The younger man bowed with much affability; his older associate bent his +head almost imperceptibly, retaining his ill-humored expression; then +they left the house and returned to their carriage.</p> + +<h2><a name="LIV" id="LIV"></a>LIV<br /><br /> +TWO!</h2> + +<p>"Sapristi!" cried Cherami, when the count's witnesses had gone; "I +thought that we weren't going to get out of that hole; they had +difficulty in swallowing my seconds, and I don't wonder."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you satisfied with us?" inquired the water-carrier; "I should say +that I said just what you told me to."</p> + +<p>"That is to say, you said it when you shouldn't have, and held your +tongue when you should have answered."</p> + +<p>"I didn't say a single word," observed the Piedmontese.</p> + +<p>"It's lucky you didn't! That would have been the last straw! Well, +that's all for to-day; you may go back to your cask; but be here +to-morrow at half-past seven sharp, dressed just the same; don't forget +it!"</p> + +<p>"For five francs more apiece?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, as that's what we agreed."</p> + +<p>"We won't fail."</p> + +<p>The next day, the two water-carriers appeared at seven o'clock, each in +his costume of the preceding day: the Piedmontese in the late Louchard's +green sack-coat and gray hat, which he was obliged to push up from his +face<a name="page_391" id="page_391"></a> every minute, so that he could see where he was going. Cherami +dressed in haste; he paid particular attention to his toilet, which +presented a striking contrast to that of his two seconds; then he +requested his landlady to send for a cab. Madame Louchard was much +disturbed when she recognized the coat and hat of her deceased husband +on the water-carrier.</p> + +<p>"Why have you rigged that fellow up like that?" she asked her tenant. +"He'll just ruin my husband's things. I wouldn't have lent 'em to you, +if I'd known you wanted 'em for him. Are you going to a wedding so early +in the morning?"</p> + +<p>"Widow Louchard, I will be responsible for your chattels—don't bother +us! Your man's cast-off clothes are more fortunate than they deserve, to +be present at such a festivity.—Get in, messieurs."</p> + +<p>Cherami pushed the water-carrier and his man into the cab, and shouted +to the driver to take them to Porte Saint-Mandé; then, taking a seat +beside his seconds, he said to them:</p> + +<p>"Listen carefully to my instructions for this morning, and, ten thousand +cigars! try not to make any mistakes; I am going to fight with a third +gentleman, whom you didn't see yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you ought to fight with your fists; that's our way; we're good +hands at it; eh, Piedmontese?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, just let me get a crack at 'em! I'd like that better than to stand +and say nothing, like a stuffed goose!"</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, you must make up your mind to that, my boy. I didn't +bring you with me to fight, but to be my seconds. I am to fight with a +sword. You will simply measure the two swords, to make sure that they're +of the same length."<a name="page_392" id="page_392"></a></p> + +<p>"What with? I didn't bring a rule."</p> + +<p>"You measure two swords by putting them side by side. It's simple +enough."</p> + +<p>"And must I say again: 'Very well; we agree'?"</p> + +<p>"No, there's no need of it. You must say: 'Everything is ready, let them +proceed.' If I am wounded, you will bring me back to this cab, which +will wait for us, and take me home. If it's the other who is +wounded,—and it will be,—you will help his seconds to take him to his +carriage. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"That's all right."</p> + +<p>They arrived at Porte Saint-Mandé, where they alighted from the cab and +walked into the woods. It was a cold, dull morning; it was not nine +o'clock, and they met nobody.</p> + +<p>"We are ahead of time," said Cherami, "but I prefer to be. Above all +things, my boys, be very polite to the men we are waiting for: take your +hats off and bow, and don't put them on again till after they do."</p> + +<p>"What if they don't put 'em on at all?"</p> + +<p>"Never fear—they will. Now, we have nothing to do but walk back and +forth and wait."</p> + +<p>"Why don't we go and take a glass of wine at the nearest inn, while we +wait?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i>" said the apprentice; "I'm with you for a glass of wine!"</p> + +<p>"But I am not with you, not by any means, messieurs. After the fight, +you shall drink as much as you please, but not before."</p> + +<p>"We might treat the others to a glass when they come; that's polite, you +know!"</p> + +<p>"The gentlemen who are coming don't drink at wine-shops!—No fool's +tricks, sacrebleu! or you'll compromise<a name="page_393" id="page_393"></a> me! But, see! that carriage +coming along the road yonder is probably bringing our adversaries. It's +a private carriage—the count's, no doubt. Yes, those are they. +Attention, my seconds! Well, well, what in the devil are you doing? +Taking off your hats before the gentlemen have left their carriage!"</p> + +<p>"You told us to be polite."</p> + +<p>"I didn't tell you to bow to the horses."</p> + +<p>The count and his seconds alighted and came toward Cherami. The +grotesque aspect of the latter's attendants seemed greatly to amuse +Monsieur de la Bérinière, who could not take his eyes from the two +water-carriers. They, at a sign from Cherami, hastily removed their hats +when the new-comers were close at hand. But the Piedmontese, in his +eagerness to uncover, forgot that his hat was too large for him, and +struck Monsieur de Maugrillé in the nose with it, that gentleman +happening to be directly in front of him.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman made an angry gesture. But the tall youth, as he +picked up his hat, cried:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me! I didn't do it a-purpose! it slipped out of my hand."</p> + +<p>The count glanced at his seconds. They looked at Cherami. And he, hardly +able to resist the temptation to plant his foot in the apprentice's +posterior, struggled to restrain himself, as he said:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur is a Pole; he speaks French very badly! indeed, he fairly +murders it."</p> + +<p>"So we observe," rejoined the count, with a smile. "But it's none too +warm here, and I am anxious to have done with this affair. It seems to +me that we shall be very well placed behind this low wall."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you, monsieur le comte."<a name="page_394" id="page_394"></a></p> + +<p>They walked a short distance, and halted behind a wall which would serve +to conceal the combatants from any chance passers-by. While the +principals removed their coats, the younger of the count's seconds +handed to the water-carrier two swords which he carried out of sight +under his overcoat. The Auvergnat measured them so long that Cherami +went to him and took one out of his hands.</p> + +<p>"They're all right!" he exclaimed; "they're exactly alike! I will take +this one, unless monsieur le comte prefers it."</p> + +<p>But Monsieur de la Bérinière at once took the other, while his older +second grumbled:</p> + +<p>"In God's name, who are these two idiots of seconds who know absolutely +nothing as to what they are doing?"</p> + +<p>Cherami at once stood on guard, saying:</p> + +<p>"At your service, monsieur le comte, whenever you choose."</p> + +<p>"I am here, monsieur."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière had been a very good fencer in his youth, but +years had impaired his agility and strength. It was easy to see that +Cherami was sparing his adversary, to whom he observed, as he parried +his thrusts:</p> + +<p>"Well done, monsieur le comte! very pretty work, indeed! You must have +been a fine fencer formerly."</p> + +<p>But these compliments, instead of flattering the count, stung and +irritated him, because he saw that his opponent was playing with him; +and he suddenly cried:</p> + +<p>"What the devil! in God's name, monsieur, attack! you confine yourself +to parrying! Do you think you're fighting with a novice?"<a name="page_395" id="page_395"></a></p> + +<p>"Is that your wish, monsieur le comte? Solely to comply then——"</p> + +<p>And Cherami, suddenly striking down his adversary's sword, plunged his +own into the count's right side.</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière staggered a moment, then fell.</p> + +<p>"<i>Fouchtra!</i> he's got his reckoning!" cried the Auvergnat, while the +count's witnesses ran forward to help him and carry him off the field. +But, at a sign from Cherami, the tall Piedmontese lifted the wounded man +in his arms as if he were a child, and carried him to the elegant +equipage, in which a surgeon was waiting, who had come with the +gentlemen, but whom they had not thought it necessary to take with them +to the field of battle.</p> + +<p>"There's one job done!" said the young water-carrier.</p> + +<p>The count's seconds could hardly keep up with him. In the end, they +seated themselves by the wounded man's side in the carriage, which drove +away at a walk.</p> + +<p>"The wound can't be dangerous," said Cherami to his seconds, when they +were alone; "it's in among the ribs. He will be laid up a fortnight or +three weeks, unless I touched some vital part. Ah! they forgot to take +away their sword. I will carry it back myself, and that will give me an +opportunity to inquire for the count."</p> + +<p>"Ah! <i>fouchtra!</i> you're a smart one! how you run on!"</p> + +<p>"Now it's all over, ain't we going to have a glass of wine at the +nearest wine-shop, to refresh us?"</p> + +<p>"My boys, here's a hundred sous for each of you. Go and refresh +yourselves all you choose; I am going to take the cab and go home. Do +you prefer to ride back?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Riding makes us sick; eh, Piedmontese?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I prefer to walk."</p> + +<p>"But don't forget, my boys, to bring that coat and gray hat back to +Madame Louchard."<a name="page_396" id="page_396"></a></p> + +<p>"Don't you be afraid; we're just going to have a little fun with our +hundred sous."</p> + +<p>"Have all the fun you can, my boys. Good-day!"</p> + +<p>"Say, Monsieur Cherami, you're satisfied with us, ain't you? We did what +you wanted us to."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my friends, I am very well satisfied.—But God preserve me from +ever having you as seconds again!" added Cherami, as he drove away.</p> + +<h2><a name="LV" id="LV"></a>LV<br /><br /> +CHERAMI CHANGES HIS TACTICS</h2> + +<p>On the day after the duel, Cherami, concealing under his coat the sword +which had been loaned to him the day before, betook himself to the +count's abode and asked the concierge how his master was. The concierge +replied, with a profound sigh:</p> + +<p>"Would you believe, monsieur, that, in spite of his years—for although +monsieur le comte dresses like a young man, it's easy to see that he +isn't one; his valet tells me he's past sixty—well, in spite of his +years, he fought a duel yesterday."</p> + +<p>"A man fights a duel when the occasion arises; there's no prescribed +term for that."</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; no, a man doesn't fight—and with swords, above all—when +his wrist is no longer firm; and it seems that Monsieur de la +Bérinière's opponent was a great, tall rascal—a professional—one of +those fellows who pass their time fighting. A fine profession!"<a name="page_397" id="page_397"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami pushed the sword still farther under his coat, stared at the +concierge as if he would swallow him, and said in a sharp tone:</p> + +<p>"Your reflections tire me; I am going up to the count's apartments."</p> + +<p>"But, monsieur, you can't go up; monsieur le comte is very badly +wounded, so it seems. He is forbidden to read or talk."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean to speak to him, but to his valet, who isn't so much of an +ass as you, I trust."</p> + +<p>And Cherami rapidly ascended the stairs, opened the door of the +reception-room by turning the knob, and found there the valet, who knew +him. He handed him the sword, saying:</p> + +<p>"Here, my friend, is a sword which your master loaned to the person with +whom he fought yesterday, and which that person requested me to return +to him, and at the same time to inquire as to his condition. Is the +count's wound dangerous?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur. The surgeon said that it wasn't mortal, and that monsieur +would recover."</p> + +<p>"Ah! so much the better! I am very glad to hear that."</p> + +<p>"But it may take a long time; he'll have to be very careful. Monsieur +has lost a great deal of blood; he is very weak, and, between ourselves, +he's no longer young."</p> + +<p>"Between ourselves, and between all the rest of the world, too."</p> + +<p>"He is forbidden to speak or to receive visits to-day."</p> + +<p>"And I have no intention of asking to be admitted; I simply wanted to +know how he was; he will get well, that's the main point. What does it +matter whether it's a<a name="page_398" id="page_398"></a> long recovery or not? The count is rich; he can +coddle himself in bed as long as it's necessary."</p> + +<p>"True, monsieur; but, still, this wound comes at a very bad time; for—I +can safely tell you; it's no longer a secret—my master's on the point +of being married."</p> + +<p>"Married!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's a fact; and to a young lady, a very pretty one."</p> + +<p>"Well, my boy, to marry, at your master's age, is much more dangerous +than a sword-thrust—especially when the bride is young and +pretty—aggravating circumstances!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! I fancy monsieur is right."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning! I will call again to inquire."</p> + +<p>"And now," said Cherami to himself, "if I knew where Gustave is, I would +tell him that his rival is on his back. I think I will go to his house +to inquire. He has separate apartments; and, at a pinch, if the +concierge can't tell me anything, I will brave once more the uncle's +winning countenance."</p> + +<p>Gustave's concierge knew that he was not in Paris, but he knew no more +than that. Cherami decided to make his way once more into the banker's +private office; he was always sure to find him at his desk in the +morning.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt frowned when he recognized his visitor. But Cherami +was even more carefully dressed than on the occasion of his last visit. +With the thousand francs he had received from Gustave, and by virtue of +his newly-adopted system of economy, Beau Arthur had reached the point +where he was no longer an ex-beau, and had almost recovered his former +air of distinction.<a name="page_399" id="page_399"></a></p> + +<p>He saluted the banker with the ease of manner which was natural to him, +but to which his dress imparted additional charm. Monsieur Grandcourt +replied with a cool nod. As he did not leave his armchair, Cherami took +a seat and began by making himself comfortable. The two men looked at +each other for several minutes without speaking: the banker retaining +his scowling expression, Cherami smiling as if he were at the Théâtre du +Palais-Royal, listening to Arnal.</p> + +<p>"How are you this morning, my dear Monsieur Grandcourt?" began Cherami, +lolling back in his chair.</p> + +<p>"Very well, I thank you, monsieur. Is it to inquire for my health that +you come to my office to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! if I should say <i>yes</i>, you wouldn't believe me."</p> + +<p>"True. But I remember that my nephew told me that you wished to find +employment. You appear, however, monsieur, to be more fortunately placed +than you were when I first saw you?"</p> + +<p>"It is a fact, monsieur, that my condition has improved somewhat. But +that does not interfere with my seeking a—suitable place. I am +beginning to tire of doing nothing. I am really desirous to have +something to occupy my time."</p> + +<p>"That desire comes a little late!"</p> + +<p>"You know the proverb: better late than never. And then, after all, I am +only forty-eight; I am not an old man. You are fully as old as that, and +yet you work!"</p> + +<p>"But I have always worked, monsieur; it's a habit with me, a necessity. +I didn't have to make a study of it—a study which is often repellent +when one begins it late in life."</p> + +<p>"Have you any place to offer me, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"No, I have not."<a name="page_400" id="page_400"></a></p> + +<p>"Well, then, why do you ask me all these questions? I do not imagine +that it is your purpose to make sport of me."</p> + +<p>"Is it yours to pick a quarrel with me?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! sapristi! I am not picking a quarrel with you—Gustave's uncle, +and he my best friend! Oh! if you weren't his uncle, I don't say +that—but you are his uncle.—Let us come to the point; I came to ask +you where your nephew is at this moment."</p> + +<p>"My nephew is travelling: he is in one place to-day, in another +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I see that we are going to have the same old song over again! You +will not give me his address?—But if I want to write to him, to tell +him something which will give him great pleasure, which will make him +happy?"</p> + +<p>"Tell me, and I'll write it to him."</p> + +<p>"That isn't the same thing. But, no matter, I will tell you. You know, I +suppose, that his <i>passion</i>, whom he thought he was surely going to +marry this time, has thrown him over again, in favor of a very rich old +count?"</p> + +<p>"I know all that, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Good! but what you don't know is that I don't propose that my friend +shall be played with with impunity. That is why I hunted up this Comte +de la Bérinière; I insulted him; we fought a duel, and he is now in his +bed with a famous sword-thrust in his right side."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt jumped from his chair and struck his desk a violent +blow, crying:</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? You have done that?"</p> + +<p>"As I have the honor to tell you. Do you wish to embrace me?"<a name="page_401" id="page_401"></a></p> + +<p>"On the contrary, monsieur, I am much more inclined to throw you out of +the window!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed! well, as we are on the ground floor, if that will give you +pleasure——"</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, this is a horrible thing that you've done! And you call +yourself Gustave's friend! You seem to be trying to wreck his life. +Can't you see that this Fanny is an infernal coquette, who cares for +nothing but money and pleasure, and who never had the slightest feeling +of love for my nephew?"</p> + +<p>"As far as that goes, I am entirely of your opinion."</p> + +<p>"Very well! do you think, then, that marriage with such a woman would +make Gustave happy?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dame!</i> since he adores her——"</p> + +<p>"Why, monsieur, do I need to tell you that love doesn't last forever? +Besides, what purpose does that sentiment serve in a household when it's +not reciprocated? Gustave is kind-hearted, sensitive, affectionate—much +too affectionate. What he needs is a sweet, modest, loving helpmeet."</p> + +<p>"That is true!" murmured Cherami; "and I know one of that sort."</p> + +<p>"And you would have him marry a woman who has spurned him twice? Why, to +miss being this Fanny's husband was the most fortunate thing that could +happen to him! All his true friends ought to congratulate him on it. And +you, monsieur, you set about removing the obstacle which had risen +between my nephew and that widow! You fight with the man she preferred +to Gustave! Ah! monsieur, cease to call yourself his friend; for his +bitterest enemy would not have acted otherwise!"</p> + +<p>Cherami paced the floor of the office with long strides, and bit his +lips, muttering:<a name="page_402" id="page_402"></a></p> + +<p>"Sacrebleu! that is all true. There is good sense in what you say. On +the impulse of the moment, I didn't reflect. I saw but one thing to +do—and that was to prevent the little widow's making a fool of +Gustave."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur, she would do it much more effectively if he should marry +her."</p> + +<p>"After all, I didn't kill the count—a sword-thrust in the side is +nothing; he will get well; the doctor said so."</p> + +<p>"That is possible; but who can say that this duel will not change his +plans, his ideas? At the count's age, a wound, an illness, sometimes +ages a man ten years; and then love takes flight, and with it all +thought of marriage."</p> + +<p>"Oh! the count was dead in love, and when a fire gets started in an old +house it burns faster than a new one."</p> + +<p>"Do you still consider, monsieur, that it's very important to tell my +nephew of your fine exploit? Have you any wish to see him rush to that +wretched Fanny's side again?"</p> + +<p>"You have changed my ideas entirely, dear uncle. I'm a hot-headed +creature; but I am not pig-headed. When I feel that I've done a foolish +thing, I admit it."</p> + +<p>"That's something."</p> + +<p>"But, I tell you again, the count's wound is not dangerous; he will +recover."</p> + +<p>"I trust so, monsieur; and above all things that he will marry this +Fanny."</p> + +<p>"In that case, you will no longer feel inclined to throw me out of the +window?"</p> + +<p>"In that case, I will forgive you for this last escapade."</p> + +<p>"Adieu, dear uncle! Look you: you are hard with me; but in my heart I +don't lay it up against you, because I see that you love your nephew."</p> + +<p>"Ah! have you just discovered that?"<a name="page_403" id="page_403"></a></p> + +<p>"I shall take pains to keep you informed as to the health of our +venerable lover. As soon as he is on his legs again, I will come to tell +you. And then, if he should try to back out of marrying the little +widow, why, par la sambleu! he will have to draw his sword again."</p> + +<p>"I beg you, monsieur, don't interfere any more; that's the only way to +have the thing end satisfactorily."</p> + +<p>"You haven't much confidence in me, dear uncle; but I will compel you to +do me justice."—And Cherami took leave of the banker, saying to +himself: "That devil of a man is right. I made an ass of myself; but +I'll go to work differently now."</p> + +<h2><a name="LVI" id="LVI"></a>LVI<br /><br /> +IMPATIENCE WITHOUT LOVE</h2> + +<p>While these things were taking place, Madame Monléard was in a state of +feverish unrest.</p> + +<p>Since the Comte de la Bérinière had definitely offered her his hand, +which she had not refused, he came every day to pay his respects to her. +The ten months of widowhood, which the conventionalities demand, had +passed. The count, who was in haste to witness the coronation of his +flame, was already arranging the preliminaries of his marriage. Among +them were gifts,—jewels and cashmere shawls,—and, on the day preceding +that on which he had received Cherami's visit, he had passed the whole +day taking Fanny about to see the latest styles in gowns and shawls, so +that he might understand her tastes and govern his purchases +accordingly. And the pretty widow<a name="page_404" id="page_404"></a> had shown no embarrassment about +riding in the carriage which was soon to belong to her.</p> + +<p>During the day following Cherami's challenge, the count, having to seek +seconds for his duel, had had no time to call on Fanny. He did not see +her until evening, and, like the well-bred man he was, had taken care +not to mention the affair which he had on his hands because of her. The +next day, his seconds had called on his adversary, and had then reported +to Monsieur de la Bérinière that the time and place and all the details +of the duel had been agreed upon. That had given the count further food +for thought. He was no coward, and yet the duel was exceedingly +disagreeable to him; his interviews with the pretty widow had shown the +effects of it; he had been less amorous, less affable, and less cheerful +in her presence.</p> + +<p>When the following day came and went without a call from the count, +Fanny was first surprised, then vexed, then alarmed. Twenty times she +went to her mirror, which told her that she was as pretty as ever, and +that her elderly adorer ought to be only too happy that she condescended +to pretend to love him. Meanwhile, the day passed, and the evening, and +the count did not appear.</p> + +<p>"He means to make me some beautiful present," said Fanny to herself; +"and he wants to bring it himself; but all these shopkeepers are so +little to be depended on! He probably waited in vain, and didn't want to +come without his present. I shall have it to-morrow."</p> + +<p>On the morrow, the clock struck twelve, one, two, and no sign of the +count.</p> + +<p>"This isn't natural," thought Fanny. "Something must certainly have +happened. I remember, now, that<a name="page_405" id="page_405"></a> Monsieur de la Bérinière was +distraught, preoccupied, the last two evenings that he was here. I +charged him with it, and he said I was mistaken. But I was not +mistaken!—Justine, go down and ask the concierge if there isn't a +letter for me; if a message hasn't come from the count. Those people +often forget to tell you when anyone calls."</p> + +<p>Justine soon returned, and informed her mistress that there were no +letters and that no one had called. Fanny placed herself at the window, +and still there was no arrival.</p> + +<p>At five o'clock in the afternoon, unable to remain inactive any longer, +she said to her maid:</p> + +<p>"Take a cab by the hour; here is Monsieur de la Bérinière's address; go +there, and find out from the concierge if anything has happened to him; +if he is ill, ask to see him, and tell him how deeply interested I am in +his health. Go quickly, so that I may know what to think."</p> + +<p>Justine went off in her cab. The pretty widow counted the minutes and +kept looking at the clock. At last her servant returned. Her breathless, +dismayed air made it evident enough that she had something to tell; and +as she entered the room, she cried out, wringing her hands:</p> + +<p>"Ah! madame, indeed there is something new. Oh! the poor count! what a +calamity!"</p> + +<p>"Heavens! Justine, is he dead?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; he isn't dead yet, but very near it!"</p> + +<p>"What accident has happened to him, then?"</p> + +<p>"No accident, madame; but a fight with swords—a duel, in fact!"</p> + +<p>"The count has been fighting a duel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame; and yesterday morning they brought him home wounded. A bad +sword-wound in the side,<a name="page_406" id="page_406"></a> which might have been mortal! But it seems +he's going to get well; the doctor hopes he will, but doctors are +mistaken so often!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! Why, this is horrible! With whom did he fight?"</p> + +<p>"His valet doesn't know, madame. The count didn't take him with him."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will find out, I will find out. A duel! Who besides Gustave +could have had the idea of fighting with Monsieur de la Bérinière? That +fellow was born to be the bane of my life.—So you didn't see the +count?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; the doctor said that nobody must see him to-day; but +to-morrow, perhaps, that order will be changed."</p> + +<p>"The poor count! if only he doesn't die! Just think, Justine, what an +awful nuisance for me!"</p> + +<p>"So it is. But if madame were a countess, it wouldn't be but half bad."</p> + +<p>"You say the doctor promises that he will recover?"</p> + +<p>"So the valet told me."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will go myself to-morrow; but I must see my sister first."</p> + +<p>"I thought that madame did not go to her father's now?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! because in an outburst of anger he told me not to come again. As if +he remembered that! Besides, it isn't my father that I want to see, but +Adolphine."</p> + +<p>The next morning, at eleven o'clock, Madame Monléard was ushered into +the presence of her sister, who uttered a cry of surprise when she saw +her.</p> + +<p>"What! is it you, Fanny?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure; Madeleine told me that father had just gone out; I am glad +of that."<a name="page_407" id="page_407"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh! never fear; his anger has passed away. It never lasts long with +him, you know."</p> + +<p>"But I am the one who is angry now."</p> + +<p>"You! with whom?"</p> + +<p>"With everybody. You pretend to be surprised; but you must know what has +happened?"</p> + +<p>"No. What can have happened to irritate you so?"</p> + +<p>"I have good reason for it. Monsieur de la Bérinière fought a duel the +day before yesterday, and was badly wounded; a little more and they'd +have killed him for me!"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! with whom did he fight, in heaven's name?"</p> + +<p>"Do you ask me that? You know well enough; indeed, it's easy enough to +guess."</p> + +<p>"I certainly cannot guess."</p> + +<p>"Who but Gustave, in his rage, because I preferred the count to him?"</p> + +<p>"Gustave? why, that is impossible. He left Paris a week ago; he came to +say good-bye to us, and Monsieur de Raincy, who has just come from +England, met him there."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible that it wasn't Gustave? Then who could it have +been—unless it was that tall swashbuckler who fought with Auguste?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it must have been he."</p> + +<p>"That's it! that fellow seems to have the very devil in him! As soon as +I am married, or when someone thinks of marrying me, he appears with his +long sword. Why, it's a perfect outrage! Ah! that Monsieur Cherami! And +I have been so polite to him, too—asked him to come to see me!"</p> + +<p>"What! you asked him to come to see you? A man who had fought with your +husband?"<a name="page_408" id="page_408"></a></p> + +<p>"Well! what has that to do with it? You know perfectly well that they +made it up. But I must go to inquire for the poor count. Perhaps I can +see him to-day, and find out how this duel came about. Ah! mon Dieu! if +Monsieur de la Bérinière should die, I should be a widow a second time, +and without being a countess!"</p> + +<p>Fanny left Adolphine much disturbed and agitated by what she had heard. +The young widow drove to Monsieur de la Bérinière's house, and found +that the doctor had revoked his orders of the day before; she could see +the count, on condition that she would not let him talk much.</p> + +<p>The young woman entered the sick-room with every manifestation of the +keenest interest; she uttered heartfelt exclamations, sighed profoundly, +and winked her eyes so often that she succeeded in making them very red. +The count smiled at his pretty visitor and held out his hand, which she +seized and pressed to her bosom.</p> + +<p>"If you had been killed," she cried, "I should not have survived you! +But who was the savage? How did this duel come about?"</p> + +<p>"I am forbidden to talk," murmured the count, in a weak voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh! of course, excuse me. My curiosity is very natural, however. Just a +word: was it my old play-fellow with whom you fought?"</p> + +<p>"No; it was a friend of his—named Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Cherami? Oh! the miserable wretch! It was he before—with +Auguste. But what, in God's name, have I ever done to that man? or, +rather, what have they whom I love done to him? However, my dear count, +you will recover, there's no doubt of that; and then, by<a name="page_409" id="page_409"></a> dint of love +and loving attentions, I hope to make you forget an incident of which I +was the first cause."</p> + +<p>"You think it isn't serious?"</p> + +<p>"No, certainly not; it will amount to nothing. God! if the wound had +been dangerous—if I had had reason to fear for your life—I don't know +what would have become of me! Ah! when anything happens to those who are +dear to us, that is the time we feel—how dear they are to us!"</p> + +<p>"You are too kind."</p> + +<p>"Are you in pain?"</p> + +<p>"Only a little; but I am exceedingly weak."</p> + +<p>"I will go, for I am capable of talking to you too much, in spite of +myself, and that would tire you. Au revoir, my dear count! I will come +every day, or send to inquire for you."</p> + +<p>"Thanks a thousand times!"</p> + +<p>"May the thought of me be some company to you, as the thought of you +will be a sweet consolation to me!—Mon Dieu! how hideous he is in bed!" +said the little woman to herself as she left the room.<a name="page_410" id="page_410"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LVII" id="LVII"></a>LVII<br /><br /> +CHERAMI ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR HIS MISTAKES</h2> + +<p>Three weeks passed. The count was beginning to sit up and to walk about +his room; but he was still very weak, and the blood that he had lost +seemed to have carried away all that he had still retained of +youthfulness, activity, and amiability. Fanny had been to see him almost +every day, although she was sadly bored all the time that she was with +the wounded man; she was very careful, however, to conceal her ennui and +to dissemble her yawns; on the contrary, she feigned to be more +affectionate than ever; but his convalescence seemed to her +interminable, especially because she did not fail to notice the change +that had taken place in the humor of her future spouse, who seemed to +have aged ten years in a fortnight.</p> + +<p>Soon the count was able to drive out; whereupon Fanny murmured, lowering +her eyes:</p> + +<p>"I think that we might now fix the day which is to unite us forever."</p> + +<p>But Monsieur de la Bérinière shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I am not strong enough yet," he replied.</p> + +<p>And the young widow said to herself:</p> + +<p>"I am very much afraid that he never will be strong enough again!"</p> + +<p>Things were at this point, when Madame Monléard's maid informed her +mistress one morning that Monsieur Cherami requested the honor of an +interview with her.<a name="page_411" id="page_411"></a></p> + +<p>"Monsieur Cherami!" cried Fanny. "What! that man dares show himself at +my house! my evil genius! But, no matter! I am curious to know what he +can have to say to me.—Show the gentleman in."</p> + +<p>Cherami, who had not omitted to make an elaborate toilet, came forward +with a smiling face, saying:</p> + +<p>"Madame Monléard did not expect a call from me?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur, most assuredly not. After what has taken place between +you and Monsieur de la Bérinière, I did not expect to see you here; but, +since you are here, I trust that you will be good enough to tell me why +you challenged a man you did not know, and who had not injured you?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! madame, surely you can guess. I wished to avenge poor +Gustave, whom you have played with like a macaroon."</p> + +<p>"Great heaven! monsieur, what is the meaning of this frenzy of yours for +taking up the cudgels for Gustave? He doesn't think of fighting duels +himself, you see! he takes things as they come; he's a good boy, and +doesn't lose his head; he goes away, and that's the end of it. But you! +And your conduct is all the more blamable because, when I met you not +long ago, you made me all sorts of offers of your services. You assured +me that you would be overjoyed if you could be agreeable to me in any +way; and, in order to be agreeable to me, you go to work and challenge +Monsieur de la Bérinière, for no reason at all; you compel him to fight; +and you run your sword into him just when he was going to marry me! If +that's the kind of service you meant to offer me, I excuse you from +obliging me hereafter."</p> + +<p>"I begin by confessing, madame, that I realize my mistake. I followed +the first impulse; but I was wrong.<a name="page_412" id="page_412"></a> I have realized since that I made +an awful blunder; and I have come humbly to beg your pardon."</p> + +<p>"You confess your wrong-doing; that is well enough! but what is done is +done, none the less."</p> + +<p>"The count has recovered; he goes out to drive; I am sure of that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the count is beginning to go out; but he is not the same man; his +humor has completely changed; he has lost his light, playful tone. He +was a young man, now he's old. When I mention our marriage, he replies: +'My strength doesn't seem to come back.'—In short, he no longer acts as +if he were in love with me; and you, monsieur, you are the cause of it."</p> + +<p>"Very well, madame; as I have done the mischief, I propose to remedy it. +The count shall become amorous again, and of a cheerful humor, and eager +to marry you; for I want him to marry you now, and, par la sambleu! I +will succeed! I have my cue!"</p> + +<p>"You have a cue?"</p> + +<p>"That's just a little phrase I'm in the habit of using; I mean that I +have my scheme."</p> + +<p>"Are you telling me the truth, monsieur? Do you really desire now to see +me marry Monsieur de la Bérinière?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, women have often deceived me; but I have always been honest +with them—in order not to resemble them. I have no reason for lying to +you."</p> + +<p>"And how do you propose to set about making the count what he was?"</p> + +<p>"Rely on me! But it is necessary that Monsieur de la Bérinière should +consent to receive me. If I call on him, it's not certain that he will +see me. You must have the kindness to say a few words to him in my<a name="page_413" id="page_413"></a> +favor—that I realize my mistake and would be glad to apologize to him; +that I have asked you to intercede for me."</p> + +<p>"If that is all that is necessary, all right. I shall go to see the +count soon; come to-morrow morning, and I will tell you what he says. +Suppose it is favorable?"</p> + +<p>"A week hence, it will all be over, and you will be a countess."</p> + +<p>"Really? but what method do you propose to employ?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you be disturbed; I have my cue, I tell you."</p> + +<h2><a name="LVIII" id="LVIII"></a>LVIII<br /><br /> +THE COUSIN'S SPECIFIC</h2> + +<p>About midday, the pretty widow paid her customary visit to Monsieur de +la Bérinière, whom she found installed in his easy-chair <i>à la</i> +Voltaire, drinking herb tea.</p> + +<p>"How are you to-day, my dear count?" she inquired, taking a seat by the +convalescent's side.</p> + +<p>"I am getting on very slowly, thank you, fair lady; the wound has +entirely healed, but my strength doesn't return very fast."</p> + +<p>"What are you drinking there?"</p> + +<p>"An infusion of linden leaves."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that that stuff will ever bring back your strength?"</p> + +<p>"My doctor says that it's an excellent thing. It's very soothing."<a name="page_414" id="page_414"></a></p> + +<p>"It seems to me that you are quite calm enough. Look you, count, I +haven't much confidence in your doctor."</p> + +<p>"But, you see, he has cured my wound."</p> + +<p>"Your wound would have healed of itself; that wasn't a disease; but now, +instead of giving you something to build you up, he puts you on herb tea +and slops; he treats you like a child!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are right, dear lady. It's a fact that he is keeping me to +this diet a good while, on the pretext that I must be prudent."</p> + +<p>"If you listen to him, you'll be under the same treatment six months +hence. But enough of that subject; I am intrusted with a singular errand +to you."</p> + +<p>"What is it, dear lady?"</p> + +<p>"The man with whom you fought this duel——"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Cherami?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly. Monsieur Cherami called on me this morning——"</p> + +<p>"The deuce! did he undertake to challenge you also?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! far from it! He came to ask my pardon for his conduct. He +realizes his mistake; he is in despair at what he did; and he wishes, as +a great favor, to be allowed to come to offer you his apologies and tell +you how delighted he is at your recovery."</p> + +<p>"Pardieu! he's an extraordinary mortal! He insists upon fighting for his +friend——"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it was in a moment of exasperation."</p> + +<p>"And now he's sorry for it! But I bear the fellow no ill-will at all. He +fences very well; ah! he's an excellent blade!"</p> + +<p>"And you will allow him to come to offer his apologies?"<a name="page_415" id="page_415"></a></p> + +<p>"Willingly; but listen: only on condition that he will tell me who the +two seconds were that he brought with him. You can't form an idea, +madame, of those two men, who certainly had never assisted at such a +performance before! It was enough to make you burst with laughing. De +Gervier was much amused; but De Maugrillé was on the point of losing his +temper; he wanted to fight them. It was altogether funny, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"Then you are willing that Monsieur Cherami should come to see you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, on the condition I have suggested."</p> + +<p>"He will readily agree to that, I fancy; he is to come to me to-morrow +morning to learn your reply, and I will send him to you."</p> + +<p>"Very good! I must say that this Monsieur Cherami seemed to me no less +clever than original."</p> + +<p>Cherami did not fail to return to Madame Monléard's on the following +day; she told him that Monsieur de la Bérinière consented to receive +him, on condition that he would tell him who his seconds were.</p> + +<p>"And now," said the widow, "how do you propose to restore the count's +health and good-humor?"</p> + +<p>"Never fear, madame," replied Beau Arthur; "that is my business; the +count needs to be set up mentally, as well as physically. He's like an +old clock that won't go; but as long as the mainspring isn't broken, +there's a way out of the difficulty; I'll set him going."</p> + +<p>On leaving Fanny, Cherami took a cab and drove to the Palais-Royal, +where he went into Corselet's and purchased a half-bottle of the finest +chartreuse; then he removed the label, the seal, and everything which +could lead to the identification of the liqueur, put the bottle in<a name="page_416" id="page_416"></a> his +pocket, and repaired to Rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"It comes high; but one cannot make too many sacrifices when it's a +question of ensuring a friend's happiness. I have only a hundred and +fifty francs left of Gustave's thousand; but I will spend them with the +best will in the world, if I can by that means induce our elderly lover +to marry the little widow."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière was informed that Monsieur Cherami craved the +favor of an interview.</p> + +<p>"Show him in," said the count.</p> + +<p>Cherami, fashionably dressed and perfumed as in his halcyon days, +presented himself before the count, who stepped forward to meet him.</p> + +<p>"I beg you, monsieur le comte, do not rise! I understand that you are +still weak; and I am too fortunate in being allowed to pay my respects +to you and to offer my apologies for my insane behavior toward you."</p> + +<p>"Let us say no more about it, Monsieur Cherami; you wanted a duel with +me, and you had it—it's all over with now. Pray be seated, and just +tell me, between ourselves, who those two individuals were who acted as +your seconds? You will agree that their aspect—their whole manner—was +very comical; and I would stake my head that it was the first time they +were ever present at a duel."</p> + +<p>"Faith! that's the truth, monsieur le comte; but what would you have? +Everybody that I relied upon failed me, and I had no choice; I +persuaded, albeit with much difficulty, those two men of business to +attend me on the field of honor."</p> + +<p>"Who were the fellows?"<a name="page_417" id="page_417"></a></p> + +<p>"The elder, monsieur le comte, deals in water from Mont-Dore on a large +scale; the younger is his clerk."</p> + +<p>"Are they Auvergnats?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur le comte."</p> + +<p>"I would have bet anything on it. However, the younger one is as strong +as an ox, apparently, for they tell me that he carried me in his arms to +my carriage."</p> + +<p>"That is true; he is very strong.—Is monsieur le comte's wound entirely +cured?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it has cicatrized. But our meeting was six weeks ago, and my +strength doesn't come back."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le comte, will you allow me to make you an offer?"</p> + +<p>"What sort of an offer is it?"</p> + +<p>"I have fought duels quite often in the course of my life."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I believe it."</p> + +<p>"I have been wounded several times."</p> + +<p>"You fence very well, however; but one sometimes thrusts awkwardly."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur le comte, a dear old cousin of mine, who was very fond +of me in spite of my escapades, made me a present of a liquid, by the +aid of which I was always on my feet in a very short time, even after +the most severe wound."</p> + +<p>"The deuce you say!"</p> + +<p>"I have used it whenever I have been wounded, and it has never failed me +yet."</p> + +<p>"What is it made of?"</p> + +<p>"I have no idea; that was my old cousin's secret, and she died without +confiding it to me. But it must be very healthful, as it always cured +me."</p> + +<p>"Have you still got any of this liquid?"<a name="page_418" id="page_418"></a></p> + +<p>"I have kept a few half-bottles of it, as a priceless treasure; and here +is one of them, which I have taken the liberty of bringing, in the hope +that monsieur le comte will have confidence in me."</p> + +<p>"Faith, why not?"</p> + +<p>"I shall have the honor to taste it first with monsieur le comte, to +make sure that it isn't spoiled."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière ordered liqueur-glasses to be brought. Cherami +filled them with the superfine chartreuse, and swallowed a glass +himself.</p> + +<p>"That's good, very good!" said the count, after drinking his glass. "But +it seems to me that it has just the same taste as chartreuse."</p> + +<p>"It is true, monsieur le comte, that there is a little similarity while +you are drinking it; but afterward the bouquet, the taste, is not the +same at all."</p> + +<p>"Possibly not. I never drank much chartreuse; I take liqueur very +rarely."</p> + +<p>"Then this will have all the more effect. It is a decoction of simples, +of strengthening herbs, I fancy. My old cousin used often to go +botanizing."</p> + +<p>"It smells of liverwort too."</p> + +<p>"It does, and that is very strengthening."</p> + +<p>"It feels very warm in the chest. I seem already to feel stronger, more +lively."</p> + +<p>"It works very quickly."</p> + +<p>"How much must I drink to be entirely cured?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you must take this half-bottle."</p> + +<p>"In how long a time?"</p> + +<p>"In three days."</p> + +<p>"Drink all that in three days!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! this bottle doesn't hold much. Drink four small glasses to-day; +to-morrow, five; the day after to-morrow,<a name="page_419" id="page_419"></a> six or seven; and that will +take it all. But don't mention my old cousin's remedy to your doctor. He +would be sure to sneer at it; doctors are never willing that you should +be cured with things that they don't prescribe."</p> + +<p>"I know that. But, upon my word, I do feel much better."</p> + +<p>"Take a second glass at once, and the others after dinner."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will submit to your prescription. Yes, it has a very different +taste from chartreuse; it's sweeter."</p> + +<p>"The more you drink of it, the better you will like it."</p> + +<p>"It is delicious; your old cousin left you something of great value."</p> + +<p>"She passed all her time compounding remedies. This will give you an +appetite too. You can eat a lot, and everything; it would digest a +stone."</p> + +<p>"Enchanting! On my word of honor! I feel my legs twitching. It seems to +me that I could dance."</p> + +<p>"The day after to-morrow, you will be in a condition to dance. Permit me +to return a few days hence, monsieur le comte, to inquire for your +health?"</p> + +<p>"Whenever you choose, Monsieur Cherami; you are an excellent doctor, and +I feel better already for your medicine."</p> + +<p>"Au revoir, then, monsieur le comte! follow my prescription carefully."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I shall take good care not to forget it."</p> + +<p>Cherami took his leave, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"It can't possibly hurt him; it will warm him up a little, that's all; +and he needs it, he was turning to pulp."<a name="page_420" id="page_420"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LIX" id="LIX"></a>LIX<br /><br /> +WHAT WAS SURE TO HAPPEN</h2> + +<p>The young widow was preparing to call on the count on the day following +that on which she had sent Cherami to him, being very curious to know if +he had already improved her fiancé's health, when her maid announced +Monsieur de la Bérinière.</p> + +<p>Fanny could not restrain a cry of surprise when the count entered her +apartment as briskly as before his duel. It was the second day of the +chartreuse treatment, and the count had taken three glasses before +leaving home; that liqueur, which is really very strengthening when used +with moderation, had restored his vigor; it had revived his mental +powers; and Monsieur de la Bérinière, overjoyed at a change which he +took as evidence of a return to his normal condition, had determined to +go in person to inform the young widow of it.</p> + +<p>Fanny expressed all the joy she felt at finding him restored to health.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am feeling very well," said Monsieur de la Bérinière. "My +strength is coming back with a rapidity that surprises me. Would you +believe, dear lady, that our good friend Monsieur Cherami is the one to +whom I owe it all?"</p> + +<p>"Can it be? Is he a doctor?"</p> + +<p>"No; but he has a potion left him by an old cousin, which restores +convalescents to full health in a twinkling. I have been taking it only +two days, and I am a different man. To-morrow, Tuesday, I shall finish +the bottle;<a name="page_421" id="page_421"></a> and at the end of the week, I will lead you to the altar. I +will make all my arrangements accordingly."</p> + +<p>"Oh! how happy I am to have you entirely well again! You have recovered +your former amiability, your merry humor."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have recovered a lot of things; and when I have taken the rest +of my elixir, you'll have a husband of twenty-five!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, you seem hardly more than that to-day."</p> + +<p>"Really, you are too kind! I preferred to come myself to tell you of +this blessed change. Now I must leave you, to go to my banker's. I must +make him give me a lot of money, for I propose to cover you with jewelry +and fine clothes."</p> + +<p>"Oh! monsieur le comte, don't be foolish, I beg!"</p> + +<p>"It's not foolish, simply to try to please you. Ah! to-morrow, what +quantities of things I will buy, and perhaps I shall not have the +pleasure of seeing you; but expect me the day after to-morrow, about +noon, with all my little gewgaws."</p> + +<p>"You are always welcome, monsieur le comte."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de la Bérinière took his leave after kissing the young widow's +hand; while she abandoned herself without reserve to the most intense +delight.</p> + +<p>"At last," she cried, "I am going to be a countess! Oh! that Monsieur +Cherami is a delightful man! And when I am a countess and have my +carriage and forty thousand francs a year, which I won't lose by +speculating in stocks, then father won't think that I did wrong to +refuse a second time to marry Gustave; for, in this world, it seems to +me that it is one's duty to think of one's self first."</p> + +<p>When the count woke on the third day of the new treatment, he was amazed +to find that he felt almost as<a name="page_422" id="page_422"></a> weak as before he began to drink the +precious liquid; he did not realize that the strength which it gave him +was purely artificial and vanished with the spirits which it contained. +He summoned his valet, bade him give him the precious bottle, drank two +glasses in quick succession, and soon felt revivified.</p> + +<p>"I will drink it all to-day!" said the count to himself, while his valet +was dressing him.—"How many more glasses are there in the bottle, +François?"</p> + +<p>"I should think there were at least six, monsieur le comte, besides the +two you have drunk."</p> + +<p>"That will make eight; but I shall be as lively as a cricket."</p> + +<p>"Doesn't monsieur think that it may excite him too much?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Mere herbs! they're very strengthening! Give me a glass."</p> + +<p>"Here it is, monsieur le comte."</p> + +<p>"Ah! it's good! I am beginning to like it much. It's an extraordinary +thing, the good it does me. I feel like pirouetting, François."</p> + +<p>"Don't do it, monsieur; it would make you dizzy."</p> + +<p>"Let us see: I have a lot of errands to do to-day, tradesmen to see, +gifts to buy for my bride that is to be; for I am to be married on +Saturday, François!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed! so much the better, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"I am going to make a list of the things I want to buy. I shall have a +tiresome day. Give me another glass, François."</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"I don't know just where I shall dine to-day. I think I shall not come +back here."</p> + +<p>"At Madame Monléard's, perhaps?"<a name="page_423" id="page_423"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, no! that would embarrass her. I will dine at a restaurant, with the +first friend I happen to meet. Have you ordered the carriage?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; it is waiting for you."</p> + +<p>"I am off. Pardieu! another glass before I go."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur is very much flushed now."</p> + +<p>"So much the better! That's my natural color coming back. Just put the +bottle in the carriage; I will finish it while I do my errands."</p> + +<p>The count swallowed his fifth glass of chartreuse, made a +demi-pirouette, and almost fell, because he was very dizzy; but his +valet held him up, and he finally succeeded, after much bumping against +walls, in reaching his carriage, into which he threw himself, saying:</p> + +<p>"Deuce take me! I believe I am quite capable of climbing a greased +pole!"</p> + +<p>The day was passed by the future bridegroom in visiting emporiums of +jewelry, laces, and shawls; he gave his orders, and from the multitude +of those pretty trifles which are said to be necessaries of life, and +with which ladies adorn their whatnots, he made a selection well +calculated to flatter her who was to bear his name. This took a great +deal of time, but he found leisure to finish the bottle he had brought +with him; he had an unfamiliar burning sensation in his breast; he was +tremendously thirsty, and said to himself:</p> + +<p>"I will drink seltzer with my dinner."</p> + +<p>About five o'clock, as he was leaving a famous fancy-goods shop, he +spied his two seconds, Messieurs de Maugrillé and de Gervier, coming +toward him arm in arm. He went forward eagerly to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, messieurs! Where are you going?"<a name="page_424" id="page_424"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, we are going to dine."</p> + +<p>"With friends?"</p> + +<p>"No; at the first restaurant we see, provided that it's a good one."</p> + +<p>"Then you will give me the pleasure of dining with me; we will celebrate +my recovery and my approaching marriage."</p> + +<p>"So be it."</p> + +<p>"Get into my carriage; we can sit close together. I will take you to +Philippe's; will that suit you?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly; one can dine very well there."</p> + +<p>They entered the carriage. As they drove along, Monsieur de Maugrillé +glanced very often at the count. Finally, he said to him:</p> + +<p>"Are you completely cured?"</p> + +<p>"As you see."</p> + +<p>"Your face seems to me very much flushed; your eyes gleam with +supernatural brilliancy."</p> + +<p>"That's the result of the medicine I have been taking; a very agreeable +remedy, I give you my word."</p> + +<p>"Something that your doctor prescribed?"</p> + +<p>"No; I got it from my opponent, Monsieur Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Your opponent! You have seen him again?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure; we are the best of friends. He's a hot-head, but a very +good fellow."</p> + +<p>"Did you ask him who those two Mohicans were who acted as his seconds?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; one was a rich landed proprietor of Auvergne, who sends water here +from Mont-Dore; the other was his clerk."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! the so-called Pole, Monsieur de Chamousky. I shall know those +two worthies again."<a name="page_425" id="page_425"></a></p> + +<p>They arrived at Philippe's. The count ordered a dainty dinner, with +wines of the finest vintages; and as he felt very thirsty, he deemed it +advisable to begin with champagne frappé. His guests celebrated the +count's recovery, and drank to his future bride; Monsieur de Gervier, +who was in very high spirits, insisted on drinking to Cherami's seconds, +whom he felt sure of meeting some day, when he proposed to buy some +Mont-Dore water of them. The count did not spare himself, but tossed off +glass after glass of champagne, crying:</p> + +<p>"This is the end of my bachelor life!"</p> + +<p>"Be careful, my dear De la Bérinière," said Monsieur de Maugrillé; "for +a convalescent, you go rather fast; you don't spare yourself at all."</p> + +<p>"I have never felt so well."</p> + +<p>Suddenly Monsieur de Gervier, who had gone to the window for a breath of +air, burst into a roar of Homeric laughter, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"There they are; yes, those are they; I recognize them."</p> + +<p>"Who, pray?"</p> + +<p>"The dealers in Mont-Dore water. Come, look at them! they're going along +the street, and their cask with them."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Maugrillé looked out, and exclaimed in dire wrath:</p> + +<p>"Water-carriers! they were water-carriers!"</p> + +<p>The count, having also looked out, declared that he did not recognize +them; at last, Monsieur de Gervier observed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, well! to be sure, it isn't Mont-Dore water that they sell; but, +after all, it's a kind of water that's even more indispensable. For my +part, this makes the affair<a name="page_426" id="page_426"></a> all the more amusing, and that duel will be +one of my most delightful recollections."</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Maugrillé made a wry face and held his peace, and the count +returned to the table.</p> + +<p>"Come, messieurs," he said, "this need not prevent our drinking to my +approaching happiness; it's extraordinary how thirsty I am to-night!"</p> + +<p>The dinner lasted until a late hour, but at last they left the table and +parted: Monsieur de Gervier going to see his Dulcineas, Monsieur de +Maugrillé to play his game of whist, and the count to bed; he was very +tired.</p> + +<p>It was Wednesday, and the pretty widow was awaiting all the gifts which +her fiancé had promised her.</p> + +<p>"I flatter myself that it won't be to-day as it was that other time," +she thought; "I shall not wait in vain. He won't have another duel on +his hands; there's nobody to challenge him now. Monsieur Cherami is on +my side; he wants me to marry the count. It's strange how he has turned +about; perhaps he has had a row with Gustave; the main point is that he +has kept his promise; he has restored Monsieur de la Bérinière's health, +and that's a service I shall not forget."</p> + +<p>But the clock struck twelve, and one, and two; and neither the +bridegroom nor his presents appeared. Fanny paced her room impatiently, +muttering:</p> + +<p>"Oh! what a bore it is to wait! It may not be the count's fault, but for +some time past it has seemed as if I were destined to be vexed and +thwarted all the time."</p> + +<p>When the clock struck four, the young woman could restrain her +impatience no longer.</p> + +<p>"Justine," she said to her maid, "you must hurry to Monsieur de la +Bérinière's again and find out what has happened, what prevents him from +coming. I can't pass<a name="page_427" id="page_427"></a> my whole life waiting for that man. Go quickly, +take a cab by the hour. I am ruining myself in cabs for him; it's to be +hoped that he will make it up to me."</p> + +<p>Justine obeyed her mistress; but when she returned, it was with a +woe-begone face, as before.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! what has happened now?" cried Fanny.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le comte returned home late last night, about ten o'clock, +madame, with a violent headache; he had been dining at a restaurant. He +was hardly in bed when he had an attack of fever, followed by delirium; +they sent for the doctor, who said that he had indigestion, inflammation +of the intestines, and also of the lungs. In fact, he's very ill."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Justine, what an unlucky creature I am! The idea of having +indigestion just when you are going to be married!"</p> + +<p>"It's inexcusable, madame."</p> + +<p>"And to think that it has come just when everything was ready! There are +people with him, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, madame."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I might go there this evening?"</p> + +<p>"What's the use, madame, when he is delirious? He wouldn't know you."</p> + +<p>"All right! I will go to-morrow. Ah! I am really greatly to be pitied."</p> + +<p>Three days later, on Saturday, Cherami betook himself to Rue de la +Ville-l'Évêque, to see what effect the tonic had had on the count.</p> + +<p>"It was on Sunday that I gave it to him," he reflected; "he must be +vigorous and lively now, or else he never will be."</p> + +<p>According to his custom, Cherami did not stop to speak to the concierge; +he went up to the count's<a name="page_428" id="page_428"></a> reception-room, and found there the valet de +chambre holding a handkerchief to his eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's the trouble, my friend; how's your master?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le comte died last night," the valet replied, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Died!" cried Cherami. "What do you mean? Dead so soon! What in the +devil did he die of?"</p> + +<p>"Inflammation, indigestion. He took to his bed on Tuesday night, and the +doctor said at once there was no hope."</p> + +<p>"Poor count! Ah! that really causes me great distress.—It may be," +thought Cherami, as he went away, "that we heated the oven a little too +hot."</p> + +<h2><a name="LX" id="LX"></a>LX<br /><br /> +THE RETURN OF ULYSSES</h2> + +<p>A month had passed since the Comte de la Bérinière's death. Was it from +grief? was it from anger? Madame Monléard had shut herself up in her +apartment ever since, and had been to see no one, not even her father or +her sister. She must have known, however, that Adolphine would be the +first to sympathize with her woes; but unfeeling persons never believe +in the keen sensibility of others; and if anybody seems to pity them, +they are always convinced that, in reality, that person rejoices in +their misfortune. The proverb rightly says that we judge others by +ourselves.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin, who was always the first to be informed of anything +that happened to disturb his friends or<a name="page_429" id="page_429"></a> acquaintances, learned of the +count's death very soon after it occurred, and went at once to Monsieur +Gerbault's.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard of the cruel accident, the misfortune that has befallen +your elder daughter?" he said. "The Comte de la Bérinière is dead, and +before he had married her."</p> + +<p>"I should say," rejoined Monsieur Gerbault, "that the misfortune was the +count's, not my daughter's."</p> + +<p>"Oh! of course; but, after all, the count was no longer a young man; +while your daughter was going to be a countess and have forty thousand +francs a year; and I believe that the count agreed to make a will when +he married her, making her his heir. A woman doesn't find such a husband +every day."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Batonnin, it's a sad business to speculate on the death of the +person one marries!"</p> + +<p>"That is true, it's very sad; but still it's done."</p> + +<p>"You may say what you please; I do not pity my daughter."</p> + +<p>"You astonish me!"</p> + +<p>Adolphine, finding that her sister did not come, went to see her; but +the concierge always said to her: "Madame Monléard has gone out;" and +the girl understood at last that her sister did not choose to see her.</p> + +<p>One morning, Cherami was preparing to go out, when Madame Louchard came +up to his room, and said, with an air of mystery:</p> + +<p>"There's a person below who wants to know if you are visible; and I came +up to make sure that you were dressed from top to toe."</p> + +<p>"Who is this person, pray, who makes so much fuss about coming to my +room?"</p> + +<p>"A pretty young woman."<a name="page_430" id="page_430"></a></p> + +<p>"A pretty young woman coming to call on me! Ah! my excellent hostess, +methinks I have returned to the days of my early prowess!"</p> + +<p>"I'll go and tell her to come up."</p> + +<p>"One moment! Let me brush my hair a little, straighten the parting, and +see if my whiskers are well combed."</p> + +<p>"Look at the flirt!"</p> + +<p>"It is never wrong to beautify one's self. Go, show this lady up. I have +my cue!"</p> + +<p>A lady of small stature, very well dressed, and of distinguished +bearing, soon entered Cherami's room; when she was sure that he was +alone, she raised her veil, saying:</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?"</p> + +<p>"God bless my soul! it's Madame Monléard, the fascinating widow. Pray be +seated, fair lady; excuse me if I do not receive you in a palace, but +for the moment I have only this hovel at my disposal. To what am I +indebted for the honor of your visit?"</p> + +<p>"I desired to have a little conversation with you. Such a melancholy +thing has happened since we last met."</p> + +<p>"Don't speak of it! The poor count's death upset me completely; I +couldn't believe it."</p> + +<p>"Especially as he seemed to be entirely restored to health. What was it +that you gave him to take, in heaven's name?"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! just plain chartreuse—an excellent, strengthening liqueur. +But it seems that he dined with two friends, that he did not spare +himself, that the champagne made him ill, and——"</p> + +<p>"Well, he's dead; we must make the best of it. But it is doubly +unfortunate for me. I lose a great fortune, a title, which I had in my +grasp."</p> + +<p>"True; you lose all that!"<a name="page_431" id="page_431"></a></p> + +<p>"And then I—I also lose—I lose—the husband with whom I broke off +relations—in order to become a countess."</p> + +<p>"True—you lose both. You are almost thrice a widow."</p> + +<p>"And yet, it seems to me that I was excusable for being blinded for a +moment by ambition. Mon Dieu! who in this world has not been? We all +want to raise ourselves."</p> + +<p>"That is the first thing to which we aspire when we are born."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Cherami, are you still on friendly terms with Gustave?"</p> + +<p>"With Gustave? Oh! ours is a friendship for life and death; there will +never be any break in our friendship. He's a man for whom I would throw +myself into the fire."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is very fine. And tell me, do you know whether he will return +to Paris soon?"</p> + +<p>"Hum! I see what you are driving at!" thought Cherami, stroking his +whiskers.</p> + +<p>"Why, no, I don't," he replied. "According to what I learned at his +uncle's house, it seems that Gustave, instead of returning to France, is +going to Russia, where he will probably stay a long time—perhaps a year +or two—or four."</p> + +<p>Fanny made a gesture of disgust.</p> + +<p>"What an idea! To go to Russia, where you freeze all the time! When one +can be so comfortable in France—especially in Paris!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I beg your pardon; the women in Russia aren't frozen. It seems that +there are some very pretty ones there, and some immensely rich! Gustave +is a good-looking fellow, he'll turn some high-born damsel's head there, +and make a marriage set in diamonds."<a name="page_432" id="page_432"></a></p> + +<p>The little widow rose abruptly, lowered her veil, and said:</p> + +<p>"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami! I must leave you."</p> + +<p>"What! already? Had madame nothing else to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"No. Frankly, I came because I wanted to learn something about Gustave; +but what you have told me—— However, perhaps he will change his mind; +he won't stay in Russia, he'll be bored to death there. In any event, if +you learn anything about him, if you find out just where he is, it will +be very good of you to let me know."</p> + +<p>"Madame, I shall always be delighted to be able to gratify you."</p> + +<p>"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!"</p> + +<p>Cherami looked after Fanny as she went away, saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"I think I see myself telling her where Gustave is, even if I knew! I +believe, God bless me! that she is inclined to go after him, that she +hopes to catch him in her net again! Gad! he must either be stupid or +bewitched. But there are some men, men of intelligence, too, whom love +makes as stupid as earthen pots. I lied to the little widow when I told +her that Gustave was going to Russia. On the contrary, when I went to +ask about him, the day before yesterday, the concierge, who knows me +now, told me that he expected him in a few days. Par la sambleu! I guess +I'll go again; he may have come."</p> + +<p>Cherami lost no time in making his way to the banker's house, where the +concierge said to him:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont returned yesterday; he's at home."<a name="page_433" id="page_433"></a></p> + +<p>Thereupon our friend scaled the stairs; in a few seconds he was at his +young friend's door, and began by throwing himself into his arms. That +first outburst of emotion passed, Cherami looked at Gustave and suddenly +ejaculated:</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand devils! What does that mean?"</p> + +<p>That exclamation was drawn from him by the sight of a great scar, which +started from the young man's forehead, crossed his left eyebrow, and +came to an end at the lower part of the cheek.</p> + +<p>"That?" replied Gustave, with a smile. "That is the result of a duel +with swords with an Irish officer. You fought my battles here, my dear +Cherami; the least I could do was to look after my own affairs across +the channel."</p> + +<p>"What! have you heard? But let me embrace you again! That scar is +tremendously becoming to you, and I am delighted that you have had this +duel, in which your adversary evidently didn't fight with a dead arm. +Damnation! what a slash!—Ah! people won't say now that I fight instead +of you; this will put a stopper on all the sneering tongues. But what +did you fight about?"</p> + +<p>"It was the sequel of a breakfast party of artists, business men, and +this one Irish officer. We had plenty to eat and drink. The conversation +fell on women, that inexhaustible subject of conversation among young +men; I said that the French women, even those who were least pretty, +always outdid the women of other countries in dress and carriage; +thereupon the Irishman lost his temper, and called me a greenhorn. I +threw my napkin in his face; after that, a duel with swords—that was +the weapon chosen by my adversary; and this wound healed very slowly and +kept me in bed six weeks; otherwise, I should have come home long ago."<a name="page_434" id="page_434"></a></p> + +<p>"Dear Gustave! Ah! what a noble scar! It is very becoming, and I +congratulate you again."</p> + +<p>"But I have no congratulations for you, but reproaches! Pray tell me why +you challenged that poor Comte de la Bérinière? what had he done to +you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, to me; but he had done something to you, having stolen your +promised bride from you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! my friend, if you reflect a moment, you certainly must feel that, +on the contrary, he did me a very great service. But for him, I should +have married a woman who never had the slightest affection for me, and +who did not hesitate to toss me aside like a coat which you discard when +you see an opportunity to get a handsomer one at the same price. That +woman, who, as a reward of my constancy and the suffering she had caused +me, did not hesitate to be a traitor to me a second time! Ah! my friend, +I know her now, and I appreciate her at her real worth. A hard, selfish +heart, overflowing with vanity, caring for nothing but money, +recognizing no merit except that of wealth, incapable of the slightest +sacrifice for others, and considering that everything is rightfully due +to her. That's the kind of wife I should have had! Should I not be +profoundly grateful to the man who was the cause of my rupture with +her?"</p> + +<p>"Is it really you that I am listening to, Gustave? You, talking in this +strain of Fanny? Why, then you must be cured at last of your passion for +her?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! radically cured; indeed, Cherami, what would you think of me +if I still loved her after her last outrage?"</p> + +<p>"I should think that she had cast a spell on you, although I haven't +much belief in magic. But you have ceased to love her, that's the main +point. You know<a name="page_435" id="page_435"></a> that the poor count died before he had married her? but +not of his wound; he had an attack of indigestion."</p> + +<p>"It is very unfortunate for her; but I confess that I don't pity her."</p> + +<p>"There is one thing that you don't suspect—that she is now +contemplating running after you."</p> + +<p>"Let her run, my dear fellow; I promise you that she will never catch +me."</p> + +<p>"You are quite sure of yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! perfectly sure."</p> + +<p>"You see, she is a damnably shrewd little wheedler, is the widow! I +should feel surer of you if you loved somebody else."</p> + +<p>"Somebody else! You must admit, Cherami, that my love for Fanny hasn't +resulted in a way to encourage me."</p> + +<p>"All women are not Fannys; there are some who are tender-hearted, sweet, +affectionate; who would be so happy to be loved by you."</p> + +<p>"Happy to be loved by me! What, in heaven's name, makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"I think so—because I am sure of it."</p> + +<p>"You are sure that there is someone who would love me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! better than that; I am sure that someone does love you—cherishes a +secret passion for you—a sentiment which she has always hidden, kept +locked up in the depths of her heart; because it was hopeless, because +she was simply the confidante of your love for another."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! what do you mean?" cried Gustave, as if his eyes were +suddenly opened; "you think that Adolphine——"<a name="page_436" id="page_436"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! you have guessed—so much the better; that proves that you had +thought of the thing before."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed. What makes you think that Adolphine ever gives me a +thought?"</p> + +<p>"If you hadn't been in love with another woman, you would have +discovered it yourself long ago. I had already guessed it from a +multitude of little things: the way she looked at you—for a woman +doesn't look at the man that she loves in the same way as at other men; +I have studied that subject; but what proved conclusively to me that she +loved you was what happened when I went to Monsieur Gerbault's to tell +him of poor Auguste's unhappy end. I was embarrassed about telling the +story, and I didn't make my meaning clear; Mademoiselle Adolphine +thought that it was your death I was trying to tell them of. Instantly +she gave a shriek of despair, and fainted; we had a great deal of +difficulty in reviving her, and I had to keep saying again and again: +'It isn't Gustave who is dead!' before she recovered her senses. So that +I whispered to myself: 'It's this one, and not the other, who cares for +my young friend;' and I have a shrewd idea that Papa Gerbault reasoned +just as I did."</p> + +<p>"Why did you never tell me all this, Cherami?"</p> + +<p>"Because it wasn't worth while to sing a pretty tune to a deaf man; you +were daft then over your Fanny, you wouldn't have listened to me."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, my friend, thank you for having observed it all. You cannot +conceive the emotion it causes me."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, it's always pleasant to know that one has turned the head of +a pretty young girl."</p> + +<p>"Poor Adolphine! If it were true! If she really does love me!"<a name="page_437" id="page_437"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, think of all the offers she has refused! I think I have heard that +the count himself wanted to marry her; and a Monsieur de Raincy, and +many more. What reason had she for refusing everybody who came forward, +if she hadn't love for somebody in her heart? and that somebody was +you—and yet she had no hope of marrying you. Oh! what a difference +between her and her sister! Well, I've told you what I had to tell you; +now, you may act as you please.—But, at all events, you are back again. +I trust that you're not going to start off to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I shall not go away again; I've had enough of travelling; I am +going to settle down in Paris now."</p> + +<p>"Good! <i>vive la joie!</i> But do you know that your uncle is still +unrelenting to me? He received me very coldly when I asked him for +employment."</p> + +<p>"Never fear, my friend; I am here now, I will look about for you, and we +will arrange all that."</p> + +<p>"Very good; I will go, for you must have much to do; when shall I see +you again?"</p> + +<p>"Come in a few days, and I will tell you—yes, I will tell you what I +have done."</p> + +<p>"Agreed. Au revoir! My friend has returned; I have my cue!"<a name="page_438" id="page_438"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LXI" id="LXI"></a>LXI<br /><br /> +LOVE REWARDED</h2> + +<p>Gustave remained for a long time buried in thought; what Cherami had +said to him on the subject of Adolphine had moved him profoundly. With a +heart so easily touched, a heart made to love, Gustave had as yet met +with nothing but falsehood and perfidy. He remembered now a thousand +occasions on which Fanny's sister had shown the deepest interest in him; +she was always kind to him, always had some consolation to give him; he +recalled, too, her habitual melancholy, her sad smile, and the sighs +which she tried in vain to restrain when he held her hand. Having passed +in review all these memories, the young man hastily left the house, +saying to himself:</p> + +<p>"I will go to see her; I will read in her eyes whether she really loves +me."</p> + +<p>Adolphine was in her room, working at her embroidery frame; Madeleine +was hovering about her mistress, pretending to arrange the furniture. +Madeleine was an excellent girl, who had divined that her mistress was +in love. She had noticed that she never smiled or seemed happy, except +when Gustave came to see her; but she had heard it said that he was +going to marry her mistress's sister, whereupon Adolphine had become +more melancholy than ever. Later, it was said that the marriage was +broken off, and yet Adolphine never smiled; to be sure, the young man +who always brought a smile to her lips had ceased to come.<a name="page_439" id="page_439"></a></p> + +<p>Madeleine would have been glad to have her young mistress confide her +secret to her; but she confined in the lowest depths of her heart a +passion which she believed to be well hidden. However, the maid +succeeded occasionally, by dint of beating about the bush, in extorting +a few words, which she made the most of.</p> + +<p>"Mamzelle," said Madeleine, "isn't it very strange that madame your +sister never comes to see you now?"</p> + +<p>"My father was angry with her, you know."</p> + +<p>"That didn't prevent her coming here when she wanted to find out who had +had the audacity to fight with her count. She was sure it was Monsieur +Gustave. But you told her she was mistaken, and you were right. Why +should Monsieur Gustave fight for her, I should like to know, when she +keeps making sport of him? A man doesn't fight, except for a person he +loves; and I am very sure, for my part, that Monsieur Gustave never +gives your sister a thought now."</p> + +<p>"You think not, Madeleine?"</p> + +<p>This question was asked with an eagerness which would have betrayed +Adolphine's secret, if her maid had not already guessed it.</p> + +<p>"But Fanny isn't married!" murmured Adolphine sadly, a moment later.</p> + +<p>"Well, mamzelle, for my part, I am glad of it! She'd have kicked up +altogether too much dust if she had been a countess."</p> + +<p>"But when will Gustave come back?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you don't suppose that he will still want to marry your sister, do +you?"</p> + +<p>"Why not? He loved her so much!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll bet that he won't. Think of it, mamzelle, after two such +affronts as that! for you told me it was<a name="page_440" id="page_440"></a> the second time she had broken +with him. Why, he would have to be a downright fool for that. Is +Monsieur Gustave a fool?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! far from it."</p> + +<p>"Well, then——"</p> + +<p>At that moment the bell rang; Adolphine started, without knowing why, +and Madeleine cried:</p> + +<p>"There, suppose it was him? Speak of the devil——"</p> + +<p>It was, in fact, Gustave, and Madeleine's face was wreathed in smiles +when she announced him to her mistress. The young man entered with more +or less embarrassment, caused by Cherami's disclosures. But Adolphine +held out her hand, and he pressed it in his with such force that the +girl was deeply moved; for Gustave had never manifested so much pleasure +at sight of her.</p> + +<p>In a moment she spied the scar, and exclaimed in dismay:</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, you are wounded!"</p> + +<p>"No; it is all healed."</p> + +<p>"But you surely have been terribly wounded. What was it?"</p> + +<p>"A sword-cut."</p> + +<p>"You have had a duel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with an Irish officer. I was in London then."</p> + +<p>"And why? For—whom did you fight?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! it was for a mere trifle. A quarrel following a hearty breakfast."</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! if you had been killed!"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be with you now."</p> + +<p>"Was the wound serious?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it kept me housed six weeks. But for that, I should have been at +home more than a month ago."<a name="page_441" id="page_441"></a></p> + +<p>"More than a month! Ah! then you were anxious to return at once as soon +as you learned—what had happened?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the thing that caused—oh! surely you know?"</p> + +<p>"No, I do not know. I intended to return, because I had finished my +uncle's business, because I was horribly bored in England, and because I +had no reason for staying away from Paris any longer."</p> + +<p>"Was that all?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure. What other reason are you thinking of, pray?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that the Comte de la Bérinière is dead?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I know it."</p> + +<p>"And that he died before he had married my sister?"</p> + +<p>"I know all that."</p> + +<p>"You do? and that wasn't what brought you home?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mademoiselle, is it possible that you think that I can love your +sister still! Oh, no! you cannot think it, for you would despise me if +you had such an opinion of me as that."</p> + +<p>"What! can it be possible? Gustave, Monsieur Gustave, you no longer love +my sister? Oh! what joy! Mon Dieu! I don't know what I am saying. I mean +that I think you will be happier now; and you have been sad and unhappy +so long!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, for a long, long time. And don't you think that I deserve to be +rewarded for my constancy by finding at last a heart that does +understand me, a woman who has—a little love for me?"</p> + +<p>"A little? Oh! you will find one who loves you dearly! At least, I +should think so, because you deserve it so well!"<a name="page_442" id="page_442"></a></p> + +<p>"Dear Adolphine! Oh! I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, for presuming +still to address you in that way."</p> + +<p>"Why, it doesn't offend me—far from it."</p> + +<p>"You have always been so kind to me! If you knew what pleasure it gives +me at this moment to be sitting beside you again, looking at you, and +reading what is written in your lovely, soft eyes! Oh! do not look away! +Let me seek in them the hope of a sincere affection and an untroubled +happiness!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! you make me tremble. Oh! pray don't say such things to +me, if you don't mean them; for, you see, I too have been unhappy for +such a long time! I have suffered in silence; for I dared not avow my +sentiments; and I had to look on at the happiness of another, who was +loved, adored, although she did not deserve such good-fortune; and I—I +had to conceal all that I felt!"</p> + +<p>Gustave seized Adolphine's hands and fell at her feet.</p> + +<p>"Then it is true!" he cried; "you do love me? Ah! my whole life will be +too short to pay you for this love! How many days of happiness I owe you +in exchange for the torments I have caused you!"</p> + +<p>"But it wasn't your fault, Gustave; you could not guess that I loved +you. Besides, you loved my sister then; but now you don't love her any +more, do you? Oh! tell me again that you don't love her!"</p> + +<p>"As if it were possible for me to love her! Ah! my heart does not divide +its allegiance, and now it is yours, yours only!"</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! I must be dreaming, I am so happy!—Madeleine! Madeleine! +come here! It is I whom he loves, it is I whom he wants to marry—and he +knows that I will never refuse him!"<a name="page_443" id="page_443"></a></p> + +<p>Madeleine was not far away. Servants are never far from people who are +talking. She came skipping into the room like a crazy person, for she +was really happy in her mistress's happiness.</p> + +<p>"We were just talking about you when you came, monsieur," she said to +Gustave; "I often talk about you to mamzelle, because I have found that +that's the best way to make her listen to me. <i>Dame!</i> I'm from the +country, but I guessed, all the same, what made mamzelle so sad; and now +I'm sure that she'll be happy like me! and that she'll sing and dance +like me!"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to Madeleine's antics. He was +surprised, as usual, to find Gustave in his house; but he was especially +impressed on this occasion by the joy and happiness which he read on +every face.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" he said, shaking hands with Gustave; "are you just back +from the war, my friend? At all events, you have received a wound which +proves that you don't turn your back on the foe."</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur; it's the result of a duel. I am not quarrelsome, as you +know, but a man cannot always be sure of himself."</p> + +<p>"Have you returned to Paris for some time?"</p> + +<p>"For always! I have no further desire to travel. My uncle, who is good +enough to say that I understand the business very well, told me +yesterday that he would make me his partner."</p> + +<p>"The deuce! that's very nice, indeed; for your uncle's business is very +extensive, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"His profits never fall below sixty thousand francs a year."</p> + +<p>"Of which you will have half. That makes you a rich <i>parti!</i>—Talking of +<i>partis</i>, Adolphine, I have another one<a name="page_444" id="page_444"></a> to propose to you; and this +time perhaps you will accept, for you surely don't intend to die an old +maid."</p> + +<p>Adolphine looked anxiously at her father; Gustave himself had a vague +feeling of apprehension. Monsieur Gerbault eyed them both with a sly +expression, and continued:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my child; a new suitor has come forward. He will never see +twenty-five again, and he is not very rich; but he has a competence and +an honorable position in society. It is Monsieur Batonnin."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Batonnin! Oh! I won't marry him. I won't marry anybody—that +is to say—any of those who——"</p> + +<p>Gustave made haste to interrupt Adolphine, and, going up to Monsieur +Gerbault, said to him with the utmost seriousness:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, a long time ago I was to have been your son-in-law. +Circumstances prevented it, and, if I must confess it, I think that I +have every reason to thank destiny therefor. To-day, I come once more to +ask your permission to become a member of your family. Mademoiselle +Adolphine has consented to be my wife, and something tells me that she +will not retract her word."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, yes.—Oh! I can't refuse Gustave. And you are willing that +he should be my husband, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Especially," replied Monsieur Gerbault, as he embraced his daughter, +"especially as you have loved him for a long time!"</p> + +<p>"What, father! you knew it? How strange! I never told anyone my secret."</p> + +<p>"But a father's eyes are sharp-sighted, dear heart; and now I trust that +you will recover your good spirits."</p> + +<p>"Oh! father, I am so happy!"<a name="page_445" id="page_445"></a></p> + +<p>"Take her, Gustave; she will not throw you over for another man. For, +even when she could not possibly hope to be your wife, she refused all +offers in order to be at liberty to love you. As for Monsieur Batonnin, +I was sure beforehand of your reply; but, in order to soften your +refusal, I will tell him that he came too late, because you are going to +marry Gustave."</p> + +<h2><a name="LXII" id="LXII"></a>LXII<br /><br /> +TERTIA SOLVET</h2> + +<p>The marriage of Gustave and Adolphine had been decided for four days; +and as they were in great haste to be united and to make sure at last of +a happiness which had constantly eluded the grasp of one, and which the +other had never hoped to attain, they were hurrying forward the +indispensable preliminaries to the celebration of their union.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt did not make a wry face when his nephew told him of +the new choice he had made; on the contrary, he congratulated him.</p> + +<p>"That one is all right," he said; "she's a charming girl, with all the +good qualities which her sister lacks; therefore, she has a great many."</p> + +<p>More than once, while her young mistress was trying on the gowns and +jewels which were brought to her, Madeleine cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh! mamzelle, how lovely you will look as a bride! But there's your +sister! When she knows who you're going to marry, won't she make a +row?"<a name="page_446" id="page_446"></a></p> + +<p>"Hush, Madeleine, don't talk about my sister! I have a sort of feeling +that she is going to interfere with my happiness again."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! There's no danger of that, mamzelle; I'll answer for Monsieur +Gustave!"</p> + +<p>They were conversing one morning in this same strain, when someone rang +the doorbell violently.</p> + +<p>"Mon Dieu! if it were she!" exclaimed Adolphine.</p> + +<p>"Your sister? Well, if it is, she won't eat us."</p> + +<p>It proved to be Fanny, who entered her sister's room with an insolent +air, crying:</p> + +<p>"What does this mean? Who ever heard of such a thing? Monsieur Gustave +in Paris a whole week, I hear, and no one lets me know! And that tall +scamp of a Cherami assured me that he was going to Russia! Ah! I'll fix +him when I see him! Haven't you seen Gustave? Hasn't he been here?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," Adolphine replied, trying to conceal her emotion, "he has +been here. He comes every day."</p> + +<p>"And you couldn't send me word?"</p> + +<p>"I have been to your house several times. You are always out."</p> + +<p>"You might have written me a line."</p> + +<p>"But I could not guess that you were so anxious to see Gustave, after +your treatment of him."</p> + +<p>"Oh! my dear girl, I beg you not to bore me by going all over that! What +has passed is a dream; but what has not been done may still be done."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand you."</p> + +<p>"I understand myself, and that's enough. How is Gustave now? still sad +and depressed?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! not at all. He is cheerful and light-hearted; he's not the same +man. You wouldn't recognize him."<a name="page_447" id="page_447"></a></p> + +<p>"Indeed! he's cheerful, is he?"</p> + +<p>"And then, he has a beautiful scar across his face; it gives him a +martial air, it's very becoming to him."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that is what makes his spirits so good. So he has been fighting +duels, has he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with an Irish officer."</p> + +<p>"Everybody seems to be duelling, nowadays! He must have wanted to follow +his friend Cherami's example. What about his business?"</p> + +<p>"His uncle has just made him his partner. Gustave will have at least +forty thousand francs a year for his share."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible! he's a lucky fellow! And he's been in Paris a week, and +I had no idea of it! Hallo! everything seems to be topsy-turvy here! +Have you been buying all these things?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to a ball?"</p> + +<p>"Better than that: I am going to a wedding."</p> + +<p>"To a wedding! and I am not invited! Who's to be married, pray?"</p> + +<p>Adolphine was hesitating over her reply, when the door opened and +Gustave appeared. When she saw the man whom she had twice promised to +marry, Fanny dropped into an easy-chair, threw back her head, and +pretended to faint. Adolphine became deathly pale; but a glance from +Gustave reassured her. He went to her side, took her hand, and pressed +it affectionately in his.</p> + +<p>Fanny, seeing that nobody thought of coming to her assistance, decided +to recover; so she straightened herself up, and said in a tremulous +voice:</p> + +<p>"Ah! mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, your presence caused me such a thrill +of emotion! I almost fainted."<a name="page_448" id="page_448"></a></p> + +<p>Gustave bowed gravely to Fanny, saying, in an indifferent tone:</p> + +<p>"Madame is well, I trust?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no, I have been ill, I have suffered a great deal. You must find +me changed, do you not?"</p> + +<p>"I fancy we shall have fine weather to-day," said Gustave, turning to +Adolphine, who whispered:</p> + +<p>"She knows nothing."</p> + +<p>"Very well! we will give her a surprise."</p> + +<p>"What does this mean? He doesn't listen to me," thought Fanny.</p> + +<p>She sprang to her feet and went up to the young man, saying:</p> + +<p>"I have a great deal to say to you, monsieur. I have some important +explanations to make to you. I hope that you will be kind enough to +escort me home, where we can talk without disturbing anyone."</p> + +<p>Adolphine clung to Gustave's arm, as he replied with perfect +tranquillity:</p> + +<p>"Madame, I am very sorry to refuse; but I have determined never to enter +your house again, and I do not require any explanation."</p> + +<p>The little widow bit her lips in her wrath, while Adolphine breathed +more freely.</p> + +<p>"What, monsieur! Do you mean that you are afraid to come to my house?" +said Fanny, trying to smile.</p> + +<p>"I know very well, madame, that I have nothing to fear from your +presence now. But I have no reason for calling upon you. Allow me to +say, further, that I have every reason to be surprised at your +invitation."</p> + +<p>Fanny paced the floor, with every indication of the most intense +annoyance; at last she returned to Gustave, and said in a determined +tone:<a name="page_449" id="page_449"></a></p> + +<p>"I tell you again, monsieur, that I must speak to you alone, that I have +some things to make known to you, which I can tell only to you. As you +absolutely refuse to come to my house, I will speak to you here. My +sister will be good enough, I trust, to leave us for a moment.—Oh! I +will not abuse monsieur's good-nature."</p> + +<p>Adolphine was sorely disturbed; she seemed not at all inclined to leave +her sister alone with Gustave; but he took her hand and put it to his +lips, saying:</p> + +<p>"Since madame insists upon it, go, my dear Adolphine; but don't go far, +for our interview will not be a long one."</p> + +<p>"How gallant he is to my sister!" said Fanny to herself, as Gustave +escorted Adolphine to the door. "Well! we'll see about it!"</p> + +<p>"We are alone, madame, and I am listening," said Gustave.</p> + +<p>Instantly Fanny threw herself at the young man's feet, crying in a tone +which she tried to make heart-rending:</p> + +<p>"Gustave! forgive me! Oh! in pity's name, forgive me, or I shall die +here at your feet!"</p> + +<p>"Rise, madame, I beg; I do not understand this scene at all."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you do not choose to understand me; but I will not shrink from +accusing myself! Yes, I was guilty, very guilty! Ambition, the longing +to bear a title, had turned my head. I did not know what I was doing; I +was mad. You must know that it was not love which attracted me to the +count. Poor man! No, I have never loved but one man, and that man—was +you; yes, you—despite my idiotic conduct. And then—I don't know—but +the last time that you found fault with me,<a name="page_450" id="page_450"></a> it seemed to me that you +were jealous. I am too sensitive; I lost my temper all of a sudden. But, +I tell you again, I didn't know what I was doing! Gustave! my dear +Gustave! I will not rise until you have granted my pardon!"</p> + +<p>"Have you said all that you have to say, madame?" rejoined Gustave, with +a calmness which disconcerted the little widow and induced her to rise.</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. I think that I have fully expressed my regret and my +remorse, at least."</p> + +<p>"Very well, madame, your wish is gratified; I forgive you—all the more +freely, because, by not marrying me, you actually did me a very great +service."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that, monsieur? Surely that answer of yours is far +from gallant."</p> + +<p>"Oh! madame, you have given me the right not to be gallant to you. +Observe that I am not reproaching you; God forbid! But, frankly, you +might well have spared yourself this last comedy. I can understand that +you must have a very poor opinion of my sense—I have given you the +right. But, after all, there are bounds to everything; and I didn't +suppose that you considered me an absolute idiot. It seems that I +flattered myself too much."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by <i>comedy</i>, monsieur? What is the significance of +this tone, this satirical air?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! let us not lose patience, madame; and to put an end to the +discussion, allow me to present my wife."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Gustave stepped to the door and opened it. Adolphine +appeared with a radiant face, for she had heard every word. She gave her +hand to Gustave, and they both bowed to the little widow, who became +white, red, and green, in turn, and who cried at last:<a name="page_451" id="page_451"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah! so you are to marry my sister! I might have suspected as much! As +you please, monsieur. In fact, you will suit each other admirably. +Accept my congratulations."</p> + +<p>"Won't you come to my wedding, Fanny?" said Adolphine, offering her +sister her hand.</p> + +<p>"Go to the devil!" she retorted, pushing the hand away. And she rushed +from the room, exclaiming: "I'd much rather you would marry him than I, +for I think the fellow's perfectly frightful with his scar!"</p> + +<p>On returning home from Monsieur Gerbault's, Gustave found Cherami +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Well! how is everything?" inquired Beau Arthur, when Gustave appeared. +"Simply by looking at you, my dear fellow, I can see that everything is +satisfactory."</p> + +<p>The young man replied by throwing his arms about Cherami and crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah! you had guessed right. Adolphine loved me; Adolphine still loves +me. In three days she will be my wife, and I shall owe my happiness to +you; for without you I should never have discovered her secret."</p> + +<p>"What a charming fellow! He will be persuading me that he is the one who +owes me gratitude! Dear Gustave! so at last you are going to be as happy +as you deserve! Par la sambleu! I am satisfied! I may fairly say that I +have my cue! And the uncle?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle doesn't laugh at my love now; on the contrary, he approves my +choice."</p> + +<p>"He's a man of sense."</p> + +<p>"He has taken me into partnership."</p> + +<p>"Bravo!"</p> + +<p>"And now, as you may imagine, I am going to look out for you. You must +have a lucrative and agreeable place."<a name="page_452" id="page_452"></a></p> + +<p>"Get married first! you can attend to me afterward."</p> + +<p>"No. I have an idea that I want to suggest to my uncle."</p> + +<p>"Your uncle thinks that I am not good for anything."</p> + +<p>"He'll get over his prejudice. I am going to talk with him about you +this very day. Come again, about noon, to-morrow; I shall have a +favorable answer for you, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"All right; noon to-morrow. Here, or at your office?"</p> + +<p>"At my office. By the way, I have changed my office. You pass my uncle's +private room, go to the end of a long corridor leading to the cashier's +office; turn to the left, and my door is in front of you."</p> + +<p>"Very good: a long corridor, then turn to the left. I will find it. +Until to-morrow, my dear Gustave! By the way, shall I be invited to the +wedding?"</p> + +<p>"Will you be? you, who made the match! You, who called my attention to +that angel, whom my idiotic passion had hidden from me! Why, if you were +not there, something would be lacking in my happiness."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's very prettily said! Never fear; I will do you honor, and I +will make myself agreeable to everybody."<a name="page_453" id="page_453"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="LXIII" id="LXIII"></a>LXIII<br /><br /> +THE PORTFOLIO</h2> + +<p>As soon as Cherami had left him, Gustave went to Monsieur Grandcourt.</p> + +<p>"Now that I am to be married, my dear uncle," he said, "you can +understand that I don't care about travelling any more. But, in our +business, we always need someone to represent us in foreign countries. +Wouldn't it be possible——"</p> + +<p>"I see what you are coming at," interrupted the banker, shaking his +head; "you are going to talk to me again about your Monsieur Cherami."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes. Am I wrong about it; hasn't he given me proof enough of his +friendship and his devotion? He had shrewdly guessed that Adolphine +loved me."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he tell you sooner, then?"</p> + +<p>"Would I have listened to him?—Come, uncle, you are so good to me! You +overwhelm me with kindness. You give me an interest in your business. +Will you do nothing for a man who is my friend? He was wild and +dissipated in his youth; now he has reformed."</p> + +<p>"Where's the proof of it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, his most earnest desire is to find a place; and I assure you that +he is capable of filling it."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt that. The fellow is intelligent and talented, and has +excellent manners when he chooses, but——"</p> + +<p>"But what?"<a name="page_454" id="page_454"></a></p> + +<p>"Well, he doesn't inspire me with confidence; and, to represent us, we +must have a man of honor, above all things."</p> + +<p>"You have an erroneous opinion of Cherami. He may have borrowed money, +have incurred debts which he hasn't paid, but solely from lack of means. +In a word, he has been very unfortunate. Do you impute it to him as a +crime that he has endured poverty cheerfully, and has had confidence in +the future? Poor fellow! And I led him to hope for a favorable answer, +and told him to come here for it to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>Monsieur Grandcourt made no reply; he seemed to be lost in thought. +Gustave was distressed by the ill-success of his attempt. Suddenly his +uncle exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Did you say that Monsieur Cherami was to come here to see you +to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle."</p> + +<p>"Where are you to meet him, in your room or your office?"</p> + +<p>"At my office."</p> + +<p>"Did you indicate to him exactly that he was to follow the corridor, +then turn to the left?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle."</p> + +<p>"At what time is he to be here?"</p> + +<p>"At noon. He will be prompt; he never fails to keep an appointment."</p> + +<p>"Very well; about two o'clock to-morrow, I will give you a definite +answer on the subject of your protégé."</p> + +<p>"And it will be favorable, will it not, uncle?"</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you yet. By the way, I shall be obliged to you if you will +not be in your office at noon."</p> + +<p>"Not be there, uncle? But Cherami is coming!"<a name="page_455" id="page_455"></a></p> + +<p>"Don't be disturbed about that; that's my affair. Go to pass the morning +with your fiancée."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I ask nothing better."</p> + +<p>"And return about two o'clock. I will tell you then my decision as to +Monsieur Cherami."</p> + +<p>The clock had just struck twelve when Cherami entered the banking-house +on the following day. He cherished no vain hopes; he did not anticipate +a favorable reply; but, with his customary philosophy, he said to +himself:</p> + +<p>"That won't prevent me from going to Gustave's wedding and enjoying +myself."</p> + +<p>As he was perfectly familiar with the way to the offices, Cherami +entered the vestibule on the street floor; at the right was a door +leading to the general offices, and in front, the door of a long +corridor on which several other doors opened. That was the corridor he +was to take to reach Gustave's office. Cherami passed through the door +and walked straight ahead. He had just passed Monsieur Grandcourt's +private office, when his foot struck something of considerable size; he +stooped, looked to see what it was, and picked up a portfolio.</p> + +<p>His first impulse was to examine what he had found. It was a very simple +portfolio, of green morocco, with no monogram or initials; but in one of +the compartments was a thick package of banknotes. Cherami counted them; +they amounted to twenty-five thousand francs. He looked through all the +other compartments, but found no letters, no papers, nothing to tell him +to whom it belonged.</p> + +<p>"Par la sambleu! this is a find!" said Cherami to himself. "Twenty-five +thousand francs! A very pretty little sum! Who can have lost it? I don't +see anybody; but I mustn't forget that Gustave is waiting for me."<a name="page_456" id="page_456"></a></p> + +<p>He put the portfolio in his pocket, and kept on to the end of the +corridor; then turned to the left, took another short corridor, saw a +door in front of him, and turned the knob; but the door did not open.</p> + +<p>"What's this? locked? Yes, it is locked," said Cherami to himself. +"Gustave must have forgotten the appointment. When he's just on the +brink of matrimony, it's quite excusable. I may as well go. But that +portfolio? Let's go and inquire at the cashier's office."</p> + +<p>The counting-room was at the end of the long corridor. Cherami had +passed it once without noticing that it was closed: it was Sunday, a +holiday.</p> + +<p>But as he turned back toward the door of the counting-room, Cherami +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Upon my word! everything is closed to-day! It's very strange! One would +say that circumstances conspired to enable me to appropriate this +portfolio with impunity!"</p> + +<p>He walked back along the corridor as far as the banker's door; there he +halted, saying:</p> + +<p>"Let's see if this one is locked, too."</p> + +<p>But that door yielded to his pressure, and Cherami found Monsieur +Grandcourt in his usual seat. He could not master a slight movement as +Cherami appeared, but he instantly repressed it, and greeted him with +the customary cool nod, and without rising.</p> + +<p>"I have come once more to bore you, monsieur," said his visitor; "I had +no intention of doing so, however; but Gustave made an appointment with +me for this noon, and I do not find him."</p> + +<p>"I don't know where he is, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"He was to give me an answer about—about something. I can guess that he +had nothing favorable to tell me; that is why he is not here."<a name="page_457" id="page_457"></a></p> + +<p>"In that case, monsieur, what do you want of me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! mon Dieu! nothing, except to hand you this portfolio, which I found +in your corridor; and as the person who lost it will probably come here +in search of it, you will please return it to him. If I had found +anybody in the counting-room, I would not have disturbed you, I promise +you!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Cherami took the portfolio from his pocket and placed it on +the banker's desk. The latter's expression had changed completely; the +liveliest satisfaction was depicted on every feature. However, he strove +to conceal his pleasure, as he said:</p> + +<p>"Aha! you found this, you say—near here?"</p> + +<p>"In the corridor. I knocked at several doors, but they are all locked."</p> + +<p>"Do you know what it contains?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; twenty-five thousand francs in banknotes. Count them, and you will +see. Nothing else: no letters, no address, nothing to indicate to whom +it belongs."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, monsieur, that this is very well done of you?" said +Monsieur Grandcourt, turning to Cherami, and looking at him for the +first time with a kindly expression.</p> + +<p>"Well done of me! because I return a portfolio that I found? Tell me, in +God's name, did you take me for a thief, for a man who keeps what +doesn't belong to him? Sapristi! I don't propose that people shall hold +that opinion of me, and you must——"</p> + +<p>"Come, come! cool down, hot-head! I haven't a bad opinion of you. Do you +propose to pick a quarrel with me?"</p> + +<p>"You seem surprised that I do a perfectly simple thing—that I am +honest!"<a name="page_458" id="page_458"></a></p> + +<p>"Let us forget that.—Now, do you care to accept the position of our +travelling man? The duties are simply to go to see our correspondents +abroad, and keep us informed as to their orders. As you see, it's by no +means an unpleasant post. We will give you six thousand francs a year +and all your expenses paid. Does that suit you?"</p> + +<p>"Does it suit me! why, it delights me beyond words! Dear uncle of my +friend! Permit me—no, it's foolish for men to kiss—give me your hand, +that's better."</p> + +<p>"There it is, Monsieur Cherami; and henceforth you can number me among +your true friends."</p> + +<p>"Their number isn't very great: you and Gustave, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Permit me also to advance you two thousand francs on your salary; you +may have purchases to make, some troublesome little debts to pay."</p> + +<p>"Faith! I have, indeed. I will pay Capucine and Blanquette, two +creditors of long standing, who have not been very troublesome. I am +sure that they were never anxious; but they have waited long enough. +This evening, I will send them what I owe them. They will be surprised; +but they'll take it."</p> + +<p>A few days later, Gustave married Adolphine, who obtained at last the +reward of the sincere and devoted love which she had hidden so long in +the bottom of her heart.</p> + +<p>Fanny never saw her sister after she became Gustave's wife. The little +widow could not forgive herself for having refused a man who eventually +had more than forty thousand francs a year; especially as nobody else +came forward to take his place.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Batonnin was greatly vexed by the rejection of his hand. When +he learned that it was Gustave who<a name="page_459" id="page_459"></a> was preferred to him, he was tempted +to make ill-natured remarks, because he, in common with many others, +thought that Gustave must be a coward, as he allowed Cherami to fight +for him. But when he came face to face with Adolphine's beloved, when he +saw the scar of the famous sword-cut, Monsieur Batonnin became smiling +and soft-spoken once more, and congratulated Gustave on his new choice.</p> + +<p>Some months after Gustave's marriage, Cherami, who had become a dandy +once more in respect to dress, happening to pass the omnibus office near +Porte Saint-Martin, met Madame Capucine and her two boys. He greeted the +corpulent dame cordially, saying:</p> + +<p>"Do you happen to be going to your aunt's again? But, no; this isn't the +direction."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me; she isn't at Saint-Mandé now, she's gone back to +Romainville; she feels better there."</p> + +<p>"Does she eat as many rabbits?"</p> + +<p>"No, too many were stolen; she got sick of 'em."</p> + +<p>"Then, I will call again to see dear Madame Duponceau."</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, as you did before; when you leave the house, that's the last +we see of you. Come now, with us."</p> + +<p>"I can't possibly to-day; I see two young ladies yonder looking for me."</p> + +<p>Cherami had caught sight of Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie at the +corner of the boulevard, where they had stopped to stare at him, and +were saying to each other:</p> + +<p>"Is it really him? How finely he's dressed now!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it certainly is him. Don't you see, his nose is still crooked."</p> + +<p>"But now he's dressed so fine, that don't look very bad; he has a very +stylish air, I tell you."<a name="page_460" id="page_460"></a></p> + +<p>Cherami approached the two friends, and saluted them with a gracious +bow, saying:</p> + +<p>"Really, this square is very good to me; for I remember, mesdemoiselles, +that it was in front of this same omnibus office that I first had the +pleasure of seeing you."</p> + +<p>"That is true, monsieur; but we are still simple working-girls, while +you, monsieur, you seem to have made your fortune."</p> + +<p>"No, mesdemoiselles; I haven't made my fortune. I have just straightened +myself out, reformed a bit, and I have found a place which I am +determined to fill satisfactorily. Twice before, when I met you, I +invited you to dine; and I should have been sadly embarrassed if you had +accepted, for I hadn't a sou in my pocket. To-day, my pocket is well +lined, and yet I shall not repeat my invitation, because I represent the +firm of Grandcourt & Nephew, and, as such representative, I have +determined to change my mode of life. But that will not prevent me from +offering each of you a bouquet, for the most virtuous man is always at +liberty to be gallant."</p> + +<p>With that, Cherami purchased, from a flower-girl at the corner, two +superb bouquets, which he bestowed upon Mesdemoiselles Laurette and +Lucie. Then he saluted them anew and took his leave of them, saying to +himself:</p> + +<p>"I behaved like Cato! And I am the more inclined to congratulate myself, +because, in my new lodgings on Rue de Richelieu, I have, on the same +floor, a charming neighbor—well dressed, with a distinguished air—a +widow with a modest competence—who has responded to my salutations with +the most gracious smiles; and, faith! I have my cue!"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Chienlit is the equivalent of the gibing expression "shirt +hanging out" used by urchins among ourselves. It also signifies the +strip of paper surreptitiously fastened to the clothes to render a +person a laughing-stock; or, again, it alludes to the eccentric fashions +of certain Carnival masqueraders.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> <i>Cher ami</i> means "dear friend."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Blanquette, in its culinary acceptation, signifies a +"ragout."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> "Woman is forever changing, and he is a great fool who +trusts her."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> Vous me faites suer; literally, "you make me sweat," which +explains Cherami's retort.</p></div> + +</div> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Monsieur Cherami, by Charles Paul de Kock + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + +***** This file should be named 34338-h.htm or 34338-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3/34338/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Monsieur Cherami + +Author: Charles Paul de Kock + +Translator: George Burnham Ives + +Release Date: November 16, 2010 [EBook #34338] +[Last updated: May 17, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: _THE EX-BEAU MEETS THE FEATHER-MAKERS + +"What! you are going so soon! I thought--I hoped----" + +The two girls were already in the omnibus._ + +Copyright 1903 by G. Barrie & Son] + + + + +NOVELS + +BY + +Paul de Kock + +VOLUME II + +MONSIEUR CHERAMI + +PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS + +THE JEFFERSON PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK + + + + +I + +AN OMNIBUS OFFICE + + +The office in question stood near Porte Saint-Martin, at the corner of +the Boulevard and Rue de Bondy, in the same building as the Deffieux +restaurant, which was one of the most popular establishments in Paris in +respect of wedding banquets; so that one who passed that way during the +evening, and often after midnight, was likely to find the windows +brilliantly lighted on the first or second floor, on the boulevard or on +the square, and sometimes on both floors and on both sides; for it +happened not infrequently that Deffieux entertained four or five wedding +parties the same evening. That caused him no embarrassment, for he had +room enough for all; indeed, I believe that, at a pinch, he would have +set tables on the boulevard. + +And there was dancing everywhere, on all sides: in this room, a +fashionable ball; in that, a bourgeois affair; on the floor above, +something not far removed from the plebeian; but it is likely that the +latter was not the least enjoyable of the three, to those who took part +in it; certainly, there was more noise made, at any rate. + +What a home of pleasure! It seems to me that those who live in such +places ought to be always in high spirits, and to have one leg in the +air, ready to dance. That would be tiresome perhaps, but how can one +avoid a longing to be merry when one has constantly before one's eyes a +crowd of merry folk, dancing, eating, drinking, singing, making soft +eyes at one another, or shaking hands with all the warmth of the most +sincere regard! Man is so expansive toward the end of a hearty meal! At +such a time, we all attract and love one another. + +You will tell me, perhaps, that these sentiments rarely outlast the time +necessary for digestion; that even those joyous wedding feasts, during +which the newly married pair look at and speak to each other with such a +world of love in their eyes and of tender meaning in their voices, do +not even wait till the end of the year before they become transformed +into gloomy and depressing pictures. There are many people who have gone +so far as to say that there are only two pleasant days in married life: +that on which the husband and wife come together, and that on which they +part; just as there are but two to the traveller: the day of departure, +and the day of return. + +But people say so many things that are not true! I have known many +travellers who have enjoyed travelling; they were never in a hurry to +return to their firesides. + +I love to believe that it is the same with husbands and wives, and that +there are some who enjoy the married state and have no desire to quit +it. + +But what, in heaven's name, am I chattering about, when we ought already +to have entered the omnibus office, whence public conveyances started +for Belleville, La Villette, Saint-Sulpice, Grenelle, and a multitude of +other places, each farther from Paris than the last? + +One could also purchase at the office in question small bottles of +essence, flasks of perfumed vinegar, blacking, and pomade. Commerce +slides in everywhere! There is no harm in that. Commerce is the life of +nations and of individuals. Everybody is engaged in commerce, even +those who do not suspect it. + +It was a beautiful day, in the middle of June, and a Saturday; three +circumstances which could not fail to result in bringing a large crowd +to the omnibus office, as well as to Deffieux's restaurant. That +restaurant attracts me; I keep going back to it, in spite of myself. +That is to say, that I go back to it, not in spite of myself, but with +all my heart, for one is very comfortable there. Now, you know, or you +do not know--but I should be very much surprised if you didn't,--I +resume: you know that Saturday is the day on which more wedding feasts +occur than on any other day in the week. Why? I fancy that I have +already told you, somewhere or other; but, no matter! let us go on as if +I had never told you. Saturday is the day before Sunday, and therein +lies the whole secret; on Sunday, the government clerks do not go to +their offices, and they are great fellows for marrying; on Sunday, the +mechanics do not work, and the mechanic, too, is very fond of taking +unto himself a housekeeper; lastly, Sunday is the day of rest, and +people say that on the day after one's wedding one needs to rest.--Why +so? Go to! do not ask me such questions! This much is certain--that the +night between Saturday and Sunday is one of the finest nights in the +week, even when there is no moon. + +But, sapristi! here I am still at the restaurant!--You will end by +thinking that I am much addicted to such places. Well, frankly, you are +not mistaken. I frequent them not a little. I often hear people say: +"Don't talk to me of restaurant cooking; it's execrable!"--And those +people think that nothing is good but beef stew, a leg of mutton, and +roast beef. True classics those, in the matter of dishes. O Robert! O +Brillat-Savarin! O Berchoux! Not for such as these did ye write and +compound such delicious things! But be comforted, ye men of refined +taste to whom we owe so much! there are still palates which relish your +merit, which appreciate your skill, and which do not make faces at your +succulent conceptions. + +Again, Saturday, in summer, is the day which many people select for a +trip to the country, to remain until Monday. On the day of which we +write, therefore, the omnibuses were largely patronized; for everyone +was in a great hurry to get to some railroad station, or to the point +where they could take stages for some more or less distant destination. + +So that there was a great crowd at the office by Porte Saint-Martin, and +the clerk whose duty it was to distribute tickets did not know which way +to turn; he had to be constantly on the alert, in order to avoid +mistakes, especially as the travellers did not always confine themselves +to asking for an exchange check or a number, but added irrelevant +reflections, questions, and, in many cases, complaints. + +"An exchange check for La Villette." + +"Here you are, monsieur." + +"When do we start?" + +"When the 'bus comes, monsieur." + +"Will it be long before it comes?" + +"I don't think so, monsieur." + +"A ticket for Belleville, please." + +"Here it is, madame." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! number seventy-five! Are there seventy-four ahead of me?" + +"No, madame; we begin at fifty." + +"Then there are twenty-five ahead of me?" + +"Some of them haven't waited; they won't answer the call, and that puts +the others ahead." + +"A check for Saint-Sulpice." + +"Here you are." + +"Where's the 'bus?" + +"It will come along." + +"Oh! I've got to wait; that isn't very pleasant." + +"_Dame_! monsieur, we can't have 'buses ready to start every minute." + +"Why not? It would be much pleasanter for the passengers; but nothing is +ever done to please the passengers; I must complain to the management." + +"Complain, if you choose, monsieur; that's none of our business." + +"Why, yes, it is your business, too; it ought to be your business, as +you're the one we deal with. What sort of a way is that to answer? Is +that the way you treat passengers here? It seems to me that you ought to +show more respect." + +The man who is going to La Villette approaches the clerk once more. + +"Tell me, have I got time to go to the pastry-cook's to buy a cake?" + +"Why, monsieur, no one interferes with your going.--Here's the Grenelle +'bus--passengers for Grenelle--take your places!" + +"I ask you if I have got time to go to get a cake before my 'bus comes?" + +"Place des Victoires! All aboard for Place des Victoires!" + +"Tell me about getting my cake!" + +"Yes, monsieur; yes, yes, go to the pastry-cook's!" + +And the clerk turns to his comrade, muttering: + +"What a nuisance the fellow is with his cake!--Where should we be if +everybody asked questions like that?" + +A woman, of forty years or thereabout, who could not easily have found a +compartment large enough to hold her, entered the office, leading two +small boys, one of eight and one of four years, who were dressed like +the little trained dogs that do tricks on the boulevards, and whose +noses had evidently been overlooked because of their hurried departure +from home. + +A servant, laden with an enormous basket, from which protruded divers +fishes' tails and bunches of leeks, and with an insecurely tied +pasteboard box, bulging as to the sides and split in several places, +sulkily followed her mistress, hitting everybody with her basket and +box, without a word of apology, but apparently rather inclined to make +wry faces at her victims. + +"I want two seats for Romainville, monsieur--for me and my maid; my boys +don't pay, because we hold them in our laps." + +"Madame, this boy is certainly more than five; he must pay." + +"But, monsieur, I tell you, I hold him in my lap; so we only fill one +seat." + +"That must annoy your neighbors." + +"I don't suppose people ride in omnibuses to be +comfortable!--Aristoloche, where are you going? Stay with your nurse, +sir! Adelaide, do look out for the child; you know how fretful he is!" + +Mademoiselle Adelaide, who looked more like a cook than a lady's maid, +had gone with her packages and planted herself on a bench, between an +old gentleman and an old woman, causing them to jump into the air as if +they were elastic. The shock was so violent that the old woman +shrieked, thinking that she had been electrified. The man, irritated +beyond words by the manner in which the servant had plumped down beside +him, and perceiving that the fishes' tails which protruded from her +basket were caressing the sleeves of his coat, pushed the basket away +with his elbow, exclaiming: + +"What sort of way is that to sit down, throwing yourself onto people? +Pay attention to what you are doing, mademoiselle, and be good enough to +move your basket; I have no desire to have your fish rub against my +sleeves and make them smell like poison." + +"What! what do you say? What's the matter with the old fellow?" + +"I tell you to move your basket; I don't want it under my nose." + +"Where do you want me to put my basket, eh? On the floor perhaps, so +that someone can steal it! Oh, yes! we should have a nice time in the +country, where there's never anything to eat. What harm does the basket +do you?" + +"It smells like the devil!" + +"Nonsense, it's yourself!" + +"I pity the passengers in the 'bus with you; they'll have a fine time!" + +"Shut up, you old cucumber! you'd like to be as fresh as my fish!" + +The epithet old cucumber touched the old man to the quick; he got up and +walked away, muttering: + +"If you weren't a woman, I'd stuff your words down your throat!" + +"Oh, indeed! you'd have plenty to do then, for I feel like saying a good +deal more to you." + +"But, Adelaide, I beg you, look out for Aristoloche; he's going out of +the office." + +"Well, I can't help it, madame; I can't attend to everything; I have +quite enough to do with your box and your basket--and with talking back +to this veteran." + +"Veteran! I believe that you had the face to call me _veteran!_" + +"La Villette--all aboard!--Monsieur, you're for La Villette; hurry up!" + +These words were addressed to the old man who was disputing with +Adelaide, and who, as he left, bestowed a crushing glance on the +servant, who laughed in his face and administered a cuff to young +Aristoloche, the child of four, who, despite his mamma's orders, +persisted in trying to leave the office. + + + + +II + +A BLONDE AND A BRUNETTE + + +"Well, monsieur," said the corpulent dame, pulling over her eldest son's +eyes a small gray felt hat, with a Henri IV crown, and surrounded on all +sides by feathers which drooped like palm-leaves; "we can get tickets +for Romainville, I hope?" + +"We don't sell tickets for Romainville, madame, but for Belleville; +there you'll find the Romainville stage." + +"Oh! you don't sell tickets for Romainville here; that's very +unpleasant. Shall we have to pay again when we change?" + +"Yes, madame; but if you take checks, it will be only four sous twenty +centimes." + +"For each?" + +"To be sure." + +"That's very dear. Narcisse, do pull your hat down, or you'll lose it; +you know it fell off just now on the boulevard, and somebody almost +stepped on it; your fine Henri IV hat is very pretty, you know." + +"I hate it; the feathers make me squint." + +"Hold your tongue, bad boy; your aunt bought that hat for you; you won't +get another for two years!" + +"Take off the feathers, then!" + +"Hush! you don't deserve to be so fine!" + +"Fine! oh, yes! all the boys make fun of me and say I look like a +_chienlit_."[A] + +"They're little villains! They say that from envy, for they'd like right +well to have a hat like yours.--Say, monsieur, can you promise me a seat +in the other 'bus?" + +"Oh! I can't promise you; but if there's no room in that, there's sure +to be in the next one." + +"Do they start often?" + +"Every twenty minutes." + +"Wait twenty minutes! why, that's horrible! Oh! how sorry I am I +promised my aunt to dine with her to-day!" + +"Especially," muttered the servant, "as we have to carry our own dinner +when we dine with her.--A pretty kind of invitation! She don't ruin +herself giving dinner parties!" + +"Here, give me two tickets for Belleville." + +"Here they are, madame." + +"Come here, Aristoloche; come here this minute! Oh! how these children +do torment me! They're like little snakes!" + +"All aboard for Belleville!" + +"Belleville, why that's ours! Take Aristoloche's hand, Adelaide." + +"That's very convenient, when I have a basket and a box already!" + +But before the stout woman, with her servant and the two children, had +left the office, the Belleville omnibus had started off; there was but +one vacant seat, and twenty people were waiting for it. You should have +seen the disappointment depicted on all those faces then. Several +persons, tired of waiting, decided to walk. Others remained in the +square; but the majority returned to the office, where all the benches +were already filled. These public carriages are surely an excellent +invention; but let us admit that they are not equal to the most modest +of char-a-bancs, which is entirely at your service, even when you only +hire it. + +Finding no place to sit inside the office, the dame with the little boys +seated herself and them on a bench outside. As for the servant, she +succeeded in finding room inside; the fish in her basket was of much +assistance to her in inducing others to make room; there was a general +rush to get as far away from her as possible. + +The party with the cake returned, and ran up to the clerk. + +"Well! isn't it about time for us to start?" + +"Where are you going, monsieur?" + +"You know perfectly well--to La Villette." + +"The 'bus started three minutes ago." + +"What! it didn't wait for me! I asked you if I had time to go to buy a +cake, and you said _yes_. You ought to have said _no_, if I hadn't." + +"You shouldn't have been so long about it, monsieur." + +"I thought there was a pastry-cook on Carre Saint-Martin, but I couldn't +find anything but pork-shops." + +"You can take the next 'bus." + +"How soon does it start?" + +"In seven minutes." + +"Then I've got time to go to drink a glass of beer to wash down my cake. +Cafes aren't like pastry-cooks--you can find them anywhere." + +"Be careful, monsieur; seven minutes at the outside." + +"You can keep it waiting a minute if I'm not here." + +"They never wait, monsieur." + +Two rather attractive young women entered the office; they were modestly +dressed, and their hats were so small, and set so far back on their +heads, that they looked to be nothing more than caps. Their general +appearance was that of grisettes. Some writers who study present-day +manners in their studies, or at table in a cafe, claim that there are no +grisettes now; but I assure you that that is not true; if you do not +find any, it is because you have not made a thorough search. There will +always be grisettes in Paris, where the more or less flighty young +work-girl of the Latin quarter does not pass at one bound from her +modest chamber to the boudoir of a kept mistress. + +One of the young women who entered the omnibus office was a brunette, +with a retrousse nose, defiant eye, smiling mouth, teeth a little too +far apart--but that is better than having false teeth; the other was a +blonde, one of those blondes who have received a light touch of fire; +but that color never yet prevented a woman from being pretty. If you +doubt what I say, go to England or Scotland; auburn-haired women are in +the majority there, and, as a general rule, they are very fascinating. +The blonde grisette was pretty; but she had a sort of stupid expression +which might at first sight pass for modesty; but on talking with her, +you soon discovered that it was really stupidity; therein she formed a +striking contrast to her companion, who had a bright, wide-awake manner. + +"Monsieur," said the brunette, addressing the clerk, "have you any seats +for Belleville?" + +"You must take your turn, mademoiselle." + +"But will our turn be long in coming?" + +"Not very; a good many people have gone." + +In truth, the odor exhaled by the whiting stuffed into Mademoiselle +Adelaide's basket, and the fear of having to travel with her, had led +many persons to start for their destinations on foot. + +"Here, mesdemoiselles, take these two tickets; your turn will come." + +"Say, Laurette, suppose we walk?" said the pretty blonde. + +"Thanks, and tire ourselves out, and arrive all drenched--what fun! For +my part, I don't like to sweat; it uncurls my hair. Mon Dieu! what a +crowd! It's all the rage now; no one is willing to go on foot, and there +aren't enough 'buses." + +"Belleville! Faubourg du Temple!" + +"Ah! here it is! here it is!" + +Further evolutions performed by the stout woman, the two boys, and the +servant, but with no greater success; there were four vacant seats, but +there were other numbers before theirs. The two girls also came forward. + +"There's no more room, except on top," said the conductor. + +"All right! we don't care; we'll go on top." + +"Pardon! ladies are not allowed there."--And the conductor added, with a +wink: "It isn't my fault, you know; nothing would suit me better." + +"I believe you," said a man in a blouse; "if women were allowed to climb +up there, there's lots of men who would pay to be conductors." + +"Why do they say that?" the blonde asked her companion; "what good would +it do the conductors to have women ride in the three-sou seats?" + +"Oh! what a fool you are, Lucie! What! don't you understand?" + +"Why, no." + +"Oh! you make me weary." + +"Never mind; tell me why?" + +"My dear girl, it's a matter of the point of view; that's all." + + + + +III + +THE YOUNG MAN FROM PLACE CADET + + +An awkward, loutish youth entered the office. + +"Place Cadet, monsieur?" + +"This isn't the office; it's out on the boulevard, at the left, just at +the corner." + +"Exceedingly obliged; will there be a seat?" + +"How do you expect us to know, when this isn't the office?" + +"Oh! of course; and that is where I must go for a number? Suppose you +give me one, wouldn't that amount to the same thing?" + +"Why, no, monsieur; the 'bus doesn't stop here." + +"The 'bus is what I want to go on." + +"You can go on it or under it; it's none of our affair." + +"Do you mean that one can ride underneath?" + +The clerk concluded to turn his back on the stupid idiot who asked such +questions. Mademoiselle Laurette, having overheard the dialogue, burst +out laughing, as she said: + +"I'd have sent that fellow to the deuce in short measure. What a booby! +You must need a good stock of patience to answer all those questions!" + +"Ah! mademoiselle, if you were employed in an omnibus office, you'd hear +many things like that!" + +"Really! do you mean to say that there are others like him in Paris?" + +"There are everywhere, mademoiselle." + +Meanwhile, the individual who wished to go to Place Cadet had left the +office; then he halted on the square, looking about him with a confused +air. He spied the stout woman sitting on a bench, between Messieurs +Narcisse and Aristoloche, one of whom was trying all the time to push +away the feathers that adorned the front of his hat, while the other +confined his energies to persistently stuffing one of his fingers into +his nose. Our friend went up to the dame and said, touching his hat: + +"A ticket for Place Cadet, madame, if you please." + +"Do you take me for an omnibus clerk, monsieur?" replied the dame, +sourly; "can't you go to the office?" + +"Pardon me, madame; I just went there, and they told me to apply on the +left, in a corner." + +"Well, monsieur, am I a corner, I should like to know?" + +"_Dame!_ I don't know; they told me to go to the left; I don't see the +office; I don't see the 'bus." + +And the youth returned to the office he had just left, crying: + +"Where is that place where you get tickets for Place Cadet? I can't find +it; can't you come and show me the way?" + +"Well, this caps the climax! If we had to act as guides for everybody +who goes astray, then there would have to be a corps of messengers +attached to the office.--Over yonder, I told you, monsieur; on the other +side of Boulevard Saint-Denis." + +"What! have I got to go all the way to Saint-Denis to get to Place +Cadet?" + +"La Villette! all aboard for La Villette!" + +All those who were bound for that destination hurried from the office, +and in the confusion jostled the youth who wished to go to Place Cadet, +and who persisted in remaining in the office where he had no business, +looking at everybody as if he were disposed to weep. + +"Why do you stay here, monsieur," inquired Mademoiselle Laurette, "when +they told you to go to the office on Boulevard Saint-Denis?" + +"I don't know Boulevard Saint-Denis, mademoiselle; and I am afraid of +losing my way." + +"The trouble is that you ought not to have been let go out alone; some +parents are very imprudent! I'll tell you what you ought to do: go to +one of the messengers over by Porte Saint-Martin; take his arm and give +him ten sous, and he'll take you to Place Cadet; he'll carry you even, +if you're tired." + +"Ten sous! oh! that's too much. You're not going to Place Cadet, are +you, mademoiselle?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur; we're going to the country." + +"Ah! do the omnibuses take people to the country too?" + +"They take you everywhere, monsieur." + +"Really! I have such a longing to see the sea; do the omnibuses give +transfer checks for the seashore?" + +"You have only to ask, and you'll find out." + +The tall clown was on the point of returning to the clerks, but he was +pushed aside by the man who had gone to get a glass of beer, and who +returned to the office with a joyous air, saying: + +"Ah! this time I think I haven't been long; is my La Villette 'bus +coming?" + +"La Villette!--it's just started, monsieur." + +"Oh! that is too much. Why couldn't you make it wait?" + +"They never wait, monsieur." + +"When will there be another one now?" + +"In about ten minutes." + +"Oh! then I have time enough to get a cup of coffee--and a glass of +liqueur to wash down the beer." + +With that, he returned to the cafe, followed by the tall youth, who +shouted to him from afar: + +"Monsieur, a ticket for Place Cadet?" + + + + +IV + +ONLOOKERS AND LOITERERS + + +A line of carriages, with white-gloved coachmen, semi-bourgeois +equipages, had halted on the square in front of the restaurant; still +another wedding party intending to banquet at Deffieux's. + +A number of people had gathered in front of the door, to watch the +bridal couple enter. Inquisitive folk abound in Paris; perhaps it would +be more accurate to say that they abound everywhere. Why this general +desire to see a bride, when she has not as yet performed all the duties +which that title devolves upon her? Is it simply to see whether she is +pretty, and to read upon her features whether or not she is looking +forward joyfully to becoming a wife? This is a simple question that we +ask, but we will not undertake to answer it. + +Among the persons who had halted there, some in passing, others coming +from the omnibus office, others on the way there, was a tall man, in the +neighborhood of forty-five years, standing very straight, even bending +back a little from the hips, with head erect, nose in air, and his hat +on one side, in true roistering style. + +This person, whose chestnut hair was beginning to be sprinkled with +gray, had very irregular features. His eyes were small and deep-set, of +a pale green shade, but full of fire and animation. His nose was +crooked, slightly turned up, and might almost have been called flat. His +mouth was large, but his teeth were fine, and not one was missing; so +that his smile was not unattractive, especially as he was not over +lavish of it. His chin retreated slightly, his cheek-bones, as a +contrast, were exceedingly prominent; his complexion was high-colored +and blotched, although he was thin both in body and face. With this +unpromising exterior, my gentleman seemed none the less to consider +himself an Apollo. He wore bushy mutton-chop whiskers, which almost met +in the middle of his chin, leaving between them only a very narrow +space, cleanly shaven, which he often caressed with affection, and which +he called his dimple. His manners denoted no less self-assurance than +familiarity with the world; and they would even have borne some traces +of refinement, had he not adopted a sort of mincing gait not unlike that +of a drum-major; but, instead of a great baton, this gentleman had a +slender switch, curved at the top, which seemed to have been painted and +gilded long before, but had lost a large part of its decoration. It was +a very pliable switch, with which he constantly tapped his +trousers-legs. + +His costume did not indicate the dandy, although its wearer affected the +manners of one. His linen trousers, of a very large check, seemed to +have been cut from the skirt of some concierge. His waistcoat was also +of a check pattern, but its colors did not harmonize at all with those +of the trousers; nothing was wanting except the plaid to give him +altogether the aspect of a Scotch Highlander; but, instead of the plaid, +he wore a nut-brown frock-coat, with ample skirts, which he often left +unbuttoned the better to display his slender figure, and in which he +sometimes encased himself hermetically, as if it were a cloak. It is +needless to say that this costume was entirely lacking in freshness. + +This personage, who had a habit of speaking always in a very loud tone, +so that everybody could hear what he said and presumably be struck with +admiration by his wit,--a method of attracting attention which enables +you to divine instantly the sort of man with whom you have to do--this +personage pushed and jostled some of the loiterers, exclaiming: + +"What's all this? what's all this? a wedding party, eh? Mon Dieu! is a +wedding party such a very strange thing that everybody must stop and +push and crowd, to see the couple? Triple idiots of Parisians! On my +word, one would think they had never seen such a thing before!" + +"What's that! what makes you push me so hard to get my place, if there's +nothing to look at?" said a youngster in a blouse, whom the other had +pushed away with some violence. + +"Who is it that presumes to speak to me? God forgive me! I believe that +this little turnspit dares to complain! Look out that I don't teach you +whom you are talking to!" + +"In the first place, I ain't a turnspit; do you hear, you long +flag-pole?" + +That epithet caused the gentleman in the Scotch nether garments to +quiver with rage; he threw himself back and raised his cane, and, in the +course of that evolution, trod on the feet of an old woman who stood +behind him leading a small dog, which was doing its best to avoid being +present at the arrival of the wedding party. + +"Ah! monsieur, take care, for heaven's sake! you're treading on me. A +little more, and you'd have crushed Abdallah!" + +"Very sorry, madame; but I have no eyes in my back. Ah! the rascal who +had the effrontery to reply to me has fled. I will not chase him, +because he's only a child; if he had been a man, he'd have felt my +switch on his shoulders before this." + +"Monsieur, do take care; Abdallah is under your feet!" + +"What's that! what, in God's name, is this Abdallah of yours, madame?" + +"My dear little King Charles.--Come here, come, you runaway!" + +"That beast a King Charles? He's a very ugly water-spaniel, and I +wouldn't give two sous for him. How stupid some people are with their +dogs! Ah! there's the bride, no doubt.--Peste! how lightly we jump down! +Very good! I have my cue. She'll wear the breeches; I can see that at a +glance." + +A young woman, in the traditional bridal costume, had, in fact, alighted +from one of the carriages; she did not wait for the arm which a stout, +chubby-faced papa, already perspiring profusely, who, however, was not +one of the groomsmen, was preparing to offer her. + +The bride was apparently about twenty years of age; she was short and +plump, with light hair, a white skin, and a rosy complexion; she was not +a beauty, but her face was piquant and attractive, with a pleasant smile +of the sort that almost always denotes a quick wit; but smiles do not +invariably fulfil their promises. + +The stout papa, who had come forward too late to assist the bride to +alight from her carriage, was also too late for another lady who +followed her; and he missed a third likewise, because he was very busily +occupied in wiping the perspiration from his brow. + +The gentleman with the check trousers, having turned his eyes upon the +stout man, rushed toward the carriage, exclaiming: + +"Pardieu! I am not mistaken, it's my good Blanquette! Dear Monsieur +Blanquette! Hola, there! I say, Pere Blanquette! Hola! is it possible +that you don't know your friends? Just turn your eyes this way!" + +The stout papa, being thus noisily addressed, ceased to wipe his brow, +and, looking in the direction of the crowd, speedily distinguished the +person who had hailed him. Thereupon his face assumed an expression +which denoted annoyance rather than pleasure, and he answered his +interlocutor's greetings with cold and constrained courtesy. + +"Oh! good-day, Monsieur Cherami--glad to see you." + +"So you're of the wedding party, Papa Blanquette?--All in full dress, +eh? You were in the same carriage with the bride." + +"Well, it would be a strange thing if I wasn't of the party, when it's +my nephew who's being married!" + +"Your nephew? Oho! then I understand; I have my cue. What! that dear +little Adolphe--who never wanted to do anything--who didn't take to +anything, as I remember." + +"But he has taken to marriage very readily.--Besides, Adolphe is a big +fellow now." + +"What! it is your nephew whose wedding you are celebrating, and I did +not know it? Such an old friend as I am, too--for you know, Papa +Blanquette, how devoted I am to you! You have seen me in an emergency; +and you let me know nothing about it, and I am not invited to the +wedding! Do you know, Monsieur Blanquette, that I might justly be +offended by such actions, if I were sensitive? But I am not--I leave +that foible to idiots." + +For some moments, the stout man had been listening with but one ear to +the individual whose name we now know. The bridegroom's uncle was +watching the carriages, and, another one having taken the place of that +from which the bride had alighted, he was determined not to be +behindhand again in offering his hand to the ladies; so he hurried to +the door, leaving Monsieur Cherami still talking, and confined himself +to an inclination of the head as he muttered: + +"Excuse me, monsieur; but I have no time; there are some ladies whom I +must assist--I cannot talk any longer." + +Monsieur Cherami compressed his lips, frowned, and shrugged his +shoulders, saying: + +"Ah! this is your way of being polite, is it, you old numskull! He puts +on airs because he's made a little money in Elbeuf broadcloth; as if +that were such a wonderful thing! And to think that I have sent him more +than fifty customers,--my tailor, among others!--and he acts as if he +hardly knew me! All because he has money! a lot of merit in that! for +who hasn't money now? It has become so common that persons of +distinction don't want it." + +"In that case, I fancy that tall, lanky fellow must be very +distinguished!" whispered Mademoiselle Laurette to her friend; for the +two girls had left the omnibus office to see the wedding party, and they +were near enough to Monsieur Cherami to hear what he said. That was an +easy matter, by the way, even at a distance, for our friend talked as +_Mangin_ does when he is describing his drawings in public. + +Meanwhile, the four wedding carriages had discharged their freights, who +had entered the restaurant; then the carriages drove away, and the +bystanders dispersed, except those who had business at the omnibus +office. + + + + +V + +THE CAPUCINE FAMILY + + +Monsieur Cherami remained on the square, staring at the porte cochere of +the restaurant, and tapping his legs with his switch, with a nervous, +jerky movement; he seemed undecided as to the course he had better +pursue, and muttered, quite loud enough, however, to be overheard: + +"I don't know what restrains me; I am tempted to join that wedding +party; I have a perfect right to force myself on that crowd. If I were +dressed, I'd do it. On my word of honor, I'd do it! not that I care so +much for the banquet; I know what a feast is; I've had a hand in a few +of them in my time, God knows! and some that this one can't hold a +candle to. Sapristi! what is this that I feel against my legs?" + +"Don't move, monsieur, I beg you! Abdallah's string has got tangled +round your legs; I'll untwist it." + +"Corbleu! madame, that's a most insufferable dog of yours! When you're +leading a dog, you shouldn't give him so much string." + +The old woman, having succeeded in disentangling her spaniel from our +friend's legs, concluded to take Abdallah in her arms, then went away, +glaring fiercely at all those in her neighborhood. + +But Monsieur Cherami, being rid of the dog, turned about and spied the +stout woman and the two small boys, who were still awaiting an +opportunity to go to Belleville. Thereupon he exclaimed anew, saluting +profusely, and shouting so loud that he attracted the attention of +everybody within hearing: + +"God bless me! do I see Madame Capucine? What a fortunate meeting! I +didn't expect such good fortune. What! you have been here all the time, +madame, and I did not see you!" + +"Yes, Monsieur Cherami; here I am, and here I've been a long, long time, +alas! I'm getting pretty impatient, I tell you; think of having to wait +an hour for seats in an omnibus!" + +"Don't speak of it; it's intolerable! That's the reason I always walk, +myself; I can't make up my mind to wait. Ah! there are the two dear +boys, Narcisse and Aristoloche; they improve every day--they'll be +superb men--they're the living portraits of their mother!" + +A smile, to which she strove to give an expression of modesty, played +about Madame Capucine's lips, as she replied affectedly: + +"Oh! there's a look of the father, too!" + +"Do you think so? No, I can't see it; Capucine isn't a handsome man; an +insignificant face; while his wife---- Ah! the rascal showed taste in +his choice, on my word! But I don't understand how you ever made up your +mind to marry him; if I were a woman, I'd never have done it; it's Venus +and Vulcan over again." + +"Oh! you always exaggerate, Monsieur Cherami; to hear you talk, one +would think my husband was hunchbacked." + +"If he isn't, he ought to have been." + +"What! what do you mean by that?" + +"Sh! I know what I mean. Ah! if Capucine wasn't a friend of mine!" + +"Adelaide! Adelaide! I think that's a green 'bus coming; come here, +quick!" + +The servant left the office, with her basket. Monsieur Cherami greeted +her with an affable bow, which she barely acknowledged, muttering: + +"Bah! there goes the rest of our money! I wonder if that man's coming to +dine with us? If he is, there'll never be enough to eat." + +"Are you going into the country, Madame Capucine?" + +"Yes, monsieur; we're going to Romainville." + +"Have you bought a summer house, a villa, in that neighborhood?" + +"No, monsieur; my Aunt Duponceau has a little place there, and we're +going to pass Sunday with her." + +"You begin the day before, I see." + +"She made me promise to come Saturday with the children. Capucine will +join us to-morrow." + +"Ah! he isn't with you?" + +"It wasn't possible; we can't all leave at once, on account of the +business; it's stretching a point for me to go away with my servant." + +"But you have your clerk?" + +"Monsieur Ballot? Oh! yes, he's still with us; we're very lucky to have +him--a very intelligent fellow, and full of ideas." + +Monsieur Cherami smiled maliciously, as he replied: + +"Yes, yes, I saw at once that he attended to your business very well. +I'm sure that you'll push that young man ahead." + +"Oh! he'll push himself all right. He's coming to Romainville to-morrow +with my husband." + +"The party'll be complete, then; but, meanwhile, you are without an +escort to give you his arm, to look out for you." + +"There is no danger on this little trip." + +"A lovely woman is always in danger. All the men are tempted to carry +her off. They don't always yield to the temptation, but they feel it, I +promise you. Pardieu! I have my cue--a charming plan suggests itself to +my mind: suppose I go with you to Romainville? Your Aunt Duponceau won't +be sorry to see me, I'm sure. Indeed, I believe she urged me one day to +go to see her in the country--yes, she certainly did. What do you think +of that plan, lovely creature?" + +Madame Capucine, having carefully scrutinized her friend's costume, +seemed not at all anxious to take with her to the country a cavalier +whose attire would not do her honor; and so, instead of answering his +question, she observed: + +"By the way, Monsieur Cherami, my husband told me, if I should happen to +meet you, to remind you of that little bill--you know, eh? It's for some +flannel vests, and it's been running a long while. You promised to pay +it; I believe it's about a hundred and thirty francs." + +Monsieur Cherami made a wry face, and struck his hat with his hand, +muttering: + +"Oh! madame, I know very well that I owe you a small account, a trifle, +a mere nothing; but I have had much more important matters than that to +think about." + +"It's been running at least three years." + +"What if it were twenty years! it's a trifle, none the less." + +"Madame, madame! they're calling our numbers; there are some seats." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! I must go. Come, Aristoloche; come, I say. Bonjour! +Monsieur Cherami; think of us when you have time. Mon Dieu! I don't say +it to hurry you, you know. Here I am, conductor." + +Madame Capucine and her boys ran after the servant, and soon all four +were in the omnibus. + +"There are two more seats, mesdemoiselles," said the clerk to the two +grisettes, who also had numbers for Belleville; but Mademoiselle +Laurette shook her head. + +"Thanks," she replied; "we'll give up our chance; we'll wait for the +next; I don't travel with fish. In a boat, it's all right; but in a +carriage it scents you up too much." + +As for Monsieur Cherami, he had hardly responded to Madame Capucine's +farewell; he looked after her with a disdainful air, saying: + +"What a beast that haberdasher is! to talk to me about the balance of an +account, in the street, in broad daylight, when I am kind enough to pay +her compliments and to call her two little brats pretty! Go and sell +your cotton nightcaps, you Hottentot Venus! for that woman strikes me as +a caricature of Venus. Fine stuff her flannel vests are made of; I've +only worn them three years, and they're torn already! I see plainly +enough why you don't care to have me go to Aunt Duponceau's--that might +interfere with your little tete-a-tetes with your clerk Ballot. Oh! poor +Capucine! when I told that huge woman that her husband ought to be +hunchbacked, she knew what I meant. However, I'd be glad to know where I +shall dine to-day; indeed, to express my meaning more frankly, for I can +afford to be frank with myself, I would like to know if I shall dine at +all to-day." + + + + +VI + +MONSIEUR CHERAMI + + +It is a very sad thing to have reached the point where one wonders +whether one will have any dinner. And yet there are every day in Paris +people who find themselves in that predicament; but it is comforting to +know that such people generally end by dining; some very meagrely, to be +sure, others moderately well, and others very well indeed and as if they +were still prosperous. Those who succeed in dining well generally +accomplish that end by some stratagem, by some new exertion of the +imagination, which, however, must well-nigh have exhausted its +ingenuity. What seems to me most surprising is that they dine gayly, +with an excellent appetite, and with no concern for the morrow. One +becomes accustomed to everything, they say; if that is philosophy, I do +not envy the philosophers. + +Especially when one has fallen into adversity by his own fault, his +misconduct, his dissipated life, it would seem that adversity must be +most painful, most bitter, most difficult to endure, and that shame must +be his constant companion. + +Those who are really victims of the injustice of fate, or of the +stupidity of their contemporaries, can, at all events, hold their heads +erect and refrain from blushing because of their poverty. Such were +Homer, who was not appreciated during his life; Plautus, who was reduced +to the necessity of turning a potter's wheel; Xylander, who sold his +work on Dion Cassius to obtain a crust of bread; Lelio Girardi, author +of a curious history of the Greek and Latin poets, who was reduced to a +similar extremity; Usserius, too, a learned chronologist; Cornelius +Agrippa, who wrote on the vanity of learning, and the excellent +qualities of womankind; and the illustrious Miguel Cervantes, to whom we +owe the admirable romance of _Don Quixote_. + +We may add to this list Paul Borghese, who died of hunger; Tasso, who +lived a whole week on a crown, which someone loaned him: true, he ceased +to be poor, but only on the eve of his death; Aldus Manutius, who was so +poor that he became bankrupt simply by borrowing money enough to ship +his library from Venice to Rome, whither he had been summoned; Cardinal +Bentivoglio, to whom we owe the history of the civil wars of Flanders: +he did not leave enough to pay for his burial; Baudoin, translator of +almost all the Latin authors; Vauglas, the grammarian; Du Ryer, author +of tragedies, and translator of the Koran; all these lived in indigence. +But we will pause here; examples are not lacking, but they would carry +us too far; and then, they are not cheerful, and are out of our usual +line; it was Monsieur Cherami's plight which induced us to cite so many. +Let us now return to that gentleman. + +Monsieur Cherami, whom we have seen so poorly dressed, and uncertain as +to whether he will have any dinner, had once occupied a brilliant +position, and had been noted for his dress, his bearing, and his gallant +adventures. His father, who had been an eminent figure in the magistracy +during the Consulate, had no other child. Arthur (such was Monsieur +Cherami's baptismal name) had been petted, fondled, worshipped, spoiled, +and his parents had proposed to make a great man of him. Poor parents! +who believe that they can make their son an eminent personage, just as +they would make him a tailor or a bootmaker. Arthur did become great, +but in stature only. They sent him to school and gave him an excellent +education; young Cherami learned readily enough; he was intelligent and +quick-witted; he became especially strong in such elegant +accomplishments as fencing, riding, and gymnastics; but he had the +greatest aversion for serious work of every sort, and when his parents +asked him: "Do you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a man of letters, a +broker, or a general?" Arthur replied: "I prefer to walk on the +boulevards and smoke big eight-sou cigars." + +This reply, which left nothing to be desired in the way of frankness, +indicated a most generous inclination to consume the fortune which his +parents had so laboriously amassed in business, and which, in fact, they +left to their beloved son without undue delay. At the age of twenty-two, +Arthur, who had as yet done nothing else than promenade and smoke, found +himself an orphan and possessed of thirty-five thousand francs a year. + +Thereupon, he abandoned himself to his taste for pleasure, augmented by +a very keen penchant for the fair sex; and the fair sex is never +ungrateful to a rich and open-handed man. Arthur was not handsome: his +crooked nose, his small eyes, and his pointed chin, did not tend to make +him a very attractive youth; however, the women told him again and again +that he was charming, adorable, irresistible, and he believed it. We are +so ready to believe anything that flatters our self-esteem! And yet, +Arthur was no fool; indeed, he had his share of wit; but he was totally +lacking in common sense, and without common sense, wit, as a general +rule, serves no other purpose than to make one do foolish things. La +Rochefoucauld makes this reflection with respect to women; for my part, +I consider it perfectly applicable to both sexes. + +At thirty years, Beau Cherami had spent, consumed, swallowed, his entire +inheritance. But he had been noted for his costumes, his horses, his +conquests, his love affairs. Eight years to run through a fortune worth +thirty-five thousand francs a year--that is not such a very rapid pace; +we often see young men who use up three times as much in much less time; +to be sure, young Arthur did not gamble on the Bourse. + +Being obliged then to sell his furniture, horses, and silverware, +Cherami lived some time longer on the product of the sale; but his +friends already began to find him less clever and amiable, and the women +no longer called him their handsome Arthur. That was because he could no +longer make them beautiful presents; and instead of loaning money to his +friends and paying their shares of the expense of an orgy, he asked them +to pay for him, and often applied to them for loans. + +At thirty-five, Arthur was what these good friends of his called utterly +_degomme_: in other words, ruined. After he had lived for some time on +credit, his tailor, his shirtmaker, his bootmaker, refused to trust him +any more; whereupon he was obliged to wear garments that were worn and +faded, and eventually threadbare; hats that had turned from black to +rusty; worn boots that were rarely polished. When Cherami, in this garb, +said to one of his former acquaintances: "I have left my purse at home; +lend me twenty francs, will you?" the acquaintance would make a wry face +and loan him five francs instead of twenty, and sometimes nothing at +all; for a man in a threadbare coat does not inspire confidence. We loan +money to the rich, because we think that they will return it. + +After some time, Beau Arthur found that this last source of income was +exhausted. He had said so often to his quondam friends: "I have +forgotten my purse," or: "I have just discovered that there's a hole in +my pocket," that they fled as soon as they saw him; many of them even +ceased to return his bow, and pretended not to know him. Misfortune is +the reef on which friendship is wrecked. + +However, Cherami still possessed a remnant of his handsome fortune; a +very small remnant, but enough to keep him from starving; and chance had +decreed that the ci-devant beau could not dispose of it, otherwise he +would not have failed to make away with it like the rest. + + + + +VII + +THE COAL DEALER + + +The father of our spendthrift had, shortly before his death, obliged one +of his employes by loaning him eleven thousand francs to start in the +coal business. And the creditor, knowing his debtor's probity, had made +the loan subject to no other condition than this: "You will pay my son +the interest on this sum at five per cent. That makes five hundred and +fifty francs a year that you will have to pay him so long as it doesn't +inconvenience you; and, in any event, not more than ten years. After +that time, your debt will be paid. But it must be understood that I +forbid you ever to repay the principal." + +These conditions were witnessed by no written contract; the merchant had +declined to take his debtor's note. But the latter had faithfully +carried out his former employer's intentions. Every three months, he +brought Arthur one hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty centimes, the +stipulated interest of the money he had received. In his prosperous +days, when he still had an income of thirty-five thousand francs, young +Arthur had often said to Bernardin--that was the coal dealer's name: + +"What the devil do you expect me to do with your hundred and +thirty-seven francs, Bernardin? As if I cared for such a trifle! Go and +have a good fish dinner at La Rapee--with some pretty wench. That will +be much better. I consider that you've paid up." + +But the coal dealer, an upright, economical man, scrupulously exact in +all his dealings, always contented himself with replying: + +"I owe you this money, monsieur; it's the interest on what your late +father was kind enough to give me. I say _give_, because my late +excellent master would not even let me pay him the interest." + +"I know all that, Bernardin; I know all that; but, you see, I don't ask +you for the interest either. You are welcome to keep it; buy bonbons for +your children with it." + +"My children have all they need, monsieur; and I make it a point to +fulfil my engagements." + +"There is no real obligation in this case, as I have no note, no +receipt, from you." + +"Between honest men there's no need of any writing, monsieur. I offered +your father a note, and he positively refused; just as he forbade me +ever to repay the principal on which I pay you the interest." + +"And you are to pay the interest only ten years; I know that too." + +"Oh! as to that, monsieur, I made your father no answer when he added +that condition; but I shall do my duty." + +And the honest coal dealer took his departure, leaving with Arthur the +small sum he had brought. + +When the thirty-five thousand francs a year had disappeared, and Arthur +was reduced to the necessity of turning his furniture into cash, he +received less scornfully the hundred and thirty-seven francs fifty +centimes which Bernardin never failed to bring him on the first of each +of the months when rent falls due. + +One day, Cherami, having no more furniture, jewels, or horses to sell, +had taken a furnished lodging, when Bernardin brought him his quarterly +interest. The faithful coal dealer was informed as to the conduct of his +former employer's son; he had watched the young man squander in riotous +living the fortune which his parents had amassed with such unremitting +toil; sell the house they had left him; then move from a fine hotel to a +more modest apartment, and finally to furnished lodgings. Bernardin had +never ventured to make the slightest comment; but at each new downward +plunge of the young man, he heaved a profound sigh, and said to himself: + +"O my poor master! it's very fortunate that you do not see your son's +conduct!" + +Now, on the day in question, Arthur, being absolutely penniless, was +overjoyed when his paltry income arrived; but as Bernardin, having paid +the money, was about to leave him, he detained him, saying: + +"Look you, Monsieur Bernardin, I have a proposition to make to you." + +"I am listening, monsieur." + +"You bring me regularly the interest on the eleven thousand francs which +you received from my father; you would be perfectly justified, however, +in ceasing to pay it; for more than ten years have passed, and----" + +"I think I have told you, monsieur, that I should continue to pay it; I +should not consider that I had paid my debt, otherwise." + +"Very good! Far be it from me to blame such scrupulous probity; but I am +going to propose to you a method of paying your debt once for all. Give +me a thousand crowns--three thousand francs--cash; that will gratify me, +indeed, it will be a favor to me, because with three thousand francs one +can do something, you know; whereas I can't do anything at all with your +hundred and thirty-seven francs. So give me that amount in cash, and I +will discharge you entirely and you'll have no more interest to pay me. +Is that satisfactory?" + +"No, monsieur; I can't do that." + +"Why not, if I am satisfied?" + +"It wouldn't satisfy me to discharge a life-rent of five hundred and +fifty francs for three thousand francs; that would be usury." + +"What are you talking about with your usury? if it suits me, if I ask it +as a favor----" + +"No, monsieur; I must not accept this proposition." + +"Very well! then give me the eleven thousand francs you received, as +you're so finical in the matter of probity. In that way, your conscience +will be altogether at rest, and we shall both be satisfied." + +"No, monsieur; I will not hand you the principal sum which I received, +because your father expressly forbade me to do it. That was the first +condition on which he let me have the money; and who knows if he didn't +read the future then? if he didn't foresee that the day would come when +this small income would be his son's last resource?" + +"Monsieur Bernardin, you presume to----" + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur; I do not presume at all. But monsieur must +realize that I am aware of his position." + +"My position? Why, pardieu! it's the position of all young men who have +lived well, who have amused themselves, and adored the ladies." + +"True, monsieur; but perhaps you have been too kind, too generous, to +them." + +"I have done what I chose; if I could begin over again, I would do the +same." + +"I don't doubt it, monsieur; and, of course, you are at liberty to +dispose of your own property." + +"Yes, to be sure I am--that is to say, I was. Come, Bernardin, won't you +give me the eleven thousand francs?" + +"No, monsieur; for, from above, your father would blame me." + +"Give me a thousand crowns, then." + +"Not that, either; but I shall continue to pay monsieur the interest; +and if I should die to-morrow, my children would continue to pay it. Oh! +it's a sacred thing, and monsieur can rely upon it." + +"Very good! pay me three years in advance: sixteen hundred and fifty +francs. You can't refuse me that?" + +"Excuse me, monsieur; I do refuse, and in your own interest; for you +would spend the three years' interest in less than six months; and then +you would not have even that trifling resource." + +"Monsieur Bernardin, do you refuse to make me any advance?" + +"I cannot do it, monsieur." + +"Very well! off with you, then; I have my cue!" + +Bernardin saluted his late master's son with the utmost respect, and +took his leave. + +Some time after, when he was in a most desperate plight, Arthur Cherami +had renewed his urgent solicitations to Bernardin, in the hope of +obtaining a little interest in advance or a portion of the principal; +but all his entreaties were of no avail. The old fellow was not to be +moved, and his resolution was the more inflexible because he knew that +by acting thus he was saving a modest income for his benefactor's son. + +The years passed. Far from becoming wiser in the school of adversity, +the ci-devant Beau Arthur retained the same passions, the same faults, +and the same impertinence, as in his prosperous days. Doubtless +forty-six francs a month is a very small allowance; it amounts to about +thirty sous per day; and when with that amount a man must board, lodge, +and clothe himself, he must needs live very sparingly. However, in this +Paris of ours, where living is said to be so expensive, since the +opening of those beneficent establishments for the sale of soup and +cooked beef, and especially since those establishments have conceived +the happy idea of serving their own products, a man may dine for seven +sous; yes, reader, for seven sous! to wit: soup, two sous; beef, three +sous; bread, two sous. And that man will have eaten more healthful and +more nourishing food than he who, for thirty-two sous, regales himself +with soup, his choice of three entrees, dessert, bread at discretion, +and a pint of wine. + +But when Monsieur Cherami received his quarterly interest, instead of +husbanding that small sum, his last resource, paying some few debts, and +dining inexpensively at one of the soup-kitchens, he would betake +himself, with head erect and an arrogant air, to one of the best +restaurants in Paris, take his seat with a great flourish, call the +waiter, and order a sumptuous dinner of the daintiest dishes and the +most expensive wines; and all in such wise that everybody who was in the +room could hear him. In short, he would resume his role of dandy, +forgetting that he no longer wore the costume of the role, yet imposing +respect on the multitude by his lordly manner. + +Some said: "He's an original, who affects a shabby costume to conceal +the fact that he's a millionaire." Others: "He is some foreigner, some +eminent personage, who desires to remain incognito in Paris." + +And the waiters served promptly and with the utmost respect this party +in a threadbare frock-coat, who ate truffled partridges and drank +champagne frappe; and when he paid his bill, Cherami never took the +change which the waiter brought him, even if it amounted to two or three +francs. + +"All right!" he would cry; "keep that; it's for you!" + +Thereupon, the waiter would bow to the ground before so generous a +patron; and he would stalk forth proudly from the restaurant, enchanted +with the effect he had produced. And the next morning he would have +nothing with which to procure a dinner. + +I beg you not to believe that this character is an imaginary one; that +there are no men foolish enough to act in this way; there are, and many +of them. For our own part, we have known more than one. + +But when naught remained of the small quarterly payment, he had to live +anew on loans and stratagems; he had to content himself with the very +modest fare of a cheap restaurant, where the mistress was willing to +supply him on credit because he flattered her and compared her with +Venus, although she was blear-eyed and had a purple nose. In that place +he could not order champagne and truffles, to be sure; that would have +been a waste of time; but Cherami found a way, none the less, to make a +sensation: shouting louder than anybody else, bewildering everybody with +his chatter, and always having some marvellous adventure to relate, of +which he was the hero, and in which he had performed wonderful exploits. +If one of his auditors seemed to doubt the veracity of his narrative, he +would insult him, threaten him, challenge him, insist on fighting him +instanter, and, in order to pacify my gentleman and restore peace, the +person abused must needs treat him to nothing less than a cup of coffee +followed by a _petit verre_ of liqueur. As for the waiters, as he had +nothing to give them, he treated them like dogs, and threatened them +with his switch when they did not serve him promptly enough. + +If, instead of passing his time in smoking and loitering, Monsieur +Cherami had chosen to do something, he might have increased his income, +and have lived without constantly resorting to loans. He was well +informed; he retained from his early education a superficial idea of +many things; he knew quite a lot, in fact, and might have passed for a +scholar in the eyes of those who knew nothing. His handwriting was so +good that he could have obtained work as a copyist. In his youth, he had +studied music, and he could play the violin a little; he might have made +something of his talent in that direction and have found a place in the +orchestra of a second-class theatre, or played in dance-halls for the +grisette and the mechanic. + +But the ci-devant Beau Arthur considered every sort of work that was +suggested to him very far beneath him; he thought that he would degrade +himself by becoming a copyist or a minstrel, and he was not ashamed to +borrow a hundred sous when he knew that he could not repay them. What do +such people understand by the word _honor_? Let us conclude that they +fashion a kind of honor for their own use, just as some painters paint +scenes from nature in which there is nothing natural, but which by +common consent are called conventional nature. + +One day, when he was without a sou, having been denied by all those from +whom he had sought to borrow, and not daring to go to his cheap +restaurant, because the mistress was absent, Cherami found himself +confronted by the stern necessity of going without a mouthful of dinner, +when it occurred to him to call upon his payer of interest. So he set +out for the abode of the coal dealer, saying to himself on the way: + +"Bernardin always refuses to make me the smallest advance; but, +sacrebleu! when I tell him that I have nothing with which to pay for a +dinner, it isn't possible that he will let me starve to death." + +The modest tradesman was just about to sit down to dinner with his +family when Cherami appeared, crying: + +"The deuce! it would seem that you are about to dine! You're very lucky! +For my part, I haven't the means to pay for a dinner. Lend me a crown, +Bernardin, so that I can satisfy my hunger, too." + +"I never have money to loan," the coal dealer replied respectfully; "but +if monsieur will do us the honor to take a seat at our table, we shall +be happy to offer him a share of our modest dinner." + +"Oho! that's your game! Well, so be it!" rejoined Cherami, taking his +seat without further parley. + +But Bernardin's dinner was very simple; it consisted of soup, beef, and +a dish of potatoes. The wine was Argenteuil, and very new. + +Cherami exclaimed that the soup was watery, the beef tough, and the wine +execrable; for dessert there was nothing but a piece of Gerome cheese, +which he declared to be fit only for masons; and he was much surprised +that they did not take coffee after the meal; in short, he rose from the +table in a vile humor, saying to Bernardin and his wife: + +"You live very badly, my dears; you live like rustics; I shall not dine +with you again." + +That was his only word of thanks to his hosts. + + + + +VIII + +THE RESTAURANT IN PARC SAINT-FARGEAU + + +On the day on which our tale opens, Arthur Cherami found himself anew in +this perplexing plight, which was aggravated by the circumstance that he +had gone without dinner on the preceding day. + +To be sure, he had only to go to Bernardin's, where he was very sure +that they would not refuse to give him a dinner, in default of cash. But +you know that our ex-high-liver was far from satisfied with the meal of +which he had partaken at the coal dealer's board; not only did he find +everything bad, for my gentleman, even in his poverty, was still very +hard to please, but he had discovered that at his debtor's house it +would be of no use for him to try to _blaguer_--that is to say, to put +on airs, to lie, to display his impertinence. The coal dealer's family +did not even smile at the extraordinary tales he told, and it was that +fact which had irritated Cherami even more than the simplicity of the +dinner, perhaps. At the cheap resort to which he was obliged to go +sometimes, he was content with a wretched, ill-cooked dish, because, +while he ate it, he could talk at the top of his voice, speechify, and +force most of the habitues of the place to listen to him. We know how he +compelled those who ventured not to believe all that he said to pay for +his coffee. + +Arthur had no business whatever at the omnibus office, but he knew that +one frequently meets acquaintances at such places. Amid the constant +going and coming, departures and arrivals, it is no uncommon thing to +meet someone whom you have not seen for a long time, and whom you did +not know to be in Paris. So that Arthur, who had nothing to do, +frequently visited the railroad stations, where he walked to and fro in +front of the ticket offices, as if he were expecting someone; and, in +fact, he was always expecting that chance would bring there some +acquaintance from whom he could borrow five francs. + +Or he would go and take his stand in front of an omnibus office, always +with the same hope. On this occasion he had, in fact, met several +acquaintances, but the result had not fulfilled his expectations. Coldly +greeted by Papa Blanquette, repulsed by Madame Capucine, he was +beginning to think that he should not make his expenses, and he said to +himself, but not aloud as usual: + +"Sapristi! what times are these we live in? The world is becoming vile +beyond cleansing! No courtesy, no affability, no good manners! Formerly, +when I met a friend, my first words were: 'You must come to dine with +me.'--He might accept or not, but I had made the offer. To-day, I meet +nobody but cads, who are very careful not to offer me the slightest +thing; indeed, many of them presume to pass me by, and act as if they +didn't know me. There are others who carry their insolence so far as to +dare to ask me for some paltry hundred-sou pieces which they have loaned +me and I have not paid. Pardieu! I've loaned them plenty of 'em in the +old days; and I never asked for them, because I knew it would be of no +use. As if one ever returned money loaned among friends! As if what +belongs to one doesn't belong to the other! That's the way I understand +friendship--that noble, genuine friendship which united Castor and +Pollux, Damon and Pythias, Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades. +Do we find in the _Iliad_ that Patroclus ever said to Achilles: 'I +loaned you a hundred sous, or twenty francs; I want you to pay them'? +Bah! nothing of the sort; there's no instance in history of such a +thing! And I defy all my former companions in pleasure to cite a single +one. However, I am conscious to-day that the need of eating is making +itself felt; I can't go to my little cabaret on Rue Basse-du-Temple, for +the mistress is sick; her husband takes her place at the desk, and he is +always ill-disposed toward me; he presumes to ask me for money! Vile +turnspit! do you suppose I would go to your place for food if I had +money? Ah! there's Bernardin; I am sure of a dinner there; but I am +horribly bored with those good people. And then, it wounds my +self-esteem to dine with one of my father's former clerks. Corbleu! can +it be that, like Titus, I have wasted my day?" + +And Cherami, still tapping his trousers with his switch, cast his eyes +about him. Thereupon he spied the two girls who were waiting to go to +Belleville. + +"There are two little grisettes, whose aspect rather pleases me," he +said to himself, throwing his weight on his left hip; "a blonde and a +brunette--meat for the king's attorney, as we used to say at the club. +They're pretty hussies both; the blonde has a rather stupid look, but +the dark one has wit in her eye.--Suppose I should try to make a +conquest by offering them a good dinner? Ten to one, they'll accept! I +know the sex; these girls are so fond of eating! Yes, but in that +case--they'll have to pay for the dinner; that might embarrass them, and +I don't want to embarrass any woman. But if I did, I should do no more +than avenge myself." + +While making these reflections, Cherami had walked toward the young +women; he struck a pose in front of them, humming a lively tune, and +darted a glance at them into which he put all the seductiveness of which +he was still capable. The young women looked at each other and laughed +heartily; Mademoiselle Laurette went so far as to say, in a bantering +tone: + +"That must be a smoke-pipe from the Opera-Comique that has a vent in +this neighborhood; however, it's better than an escape of gas." + +"Aha! we are clever and satirical!" said Cherami, addressing +Mademoiselle Laurette; "I had guessed as much, simply by observing your +saucy face." + +"Why, I don't know what you mean, monsieur!" replied the girl, trying to +assume a serious expression. + +"I was simply answering the reflection in which you just indulged on the +subject of a roulade which I ventured to perform, and which, perhaps, +was not rendered with perfect accuracy." + +"But, monsieur, I really didn't know that you were singing; I was saying +to my friend Lucie that we should be very late in getting to the +restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau, and that I didn't know whether there +was dancing there on Saturday." + +"Aha! so the young ladies are going to Parc Saint-Fargeau?--That is just +beyond Belleville, I believe?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"And there's a restaurant there now, where they have dancing? Pardon me, +I ask simply for information, being a great lover of places where one +can dine well--and enjoy one's self; and it's a long while since I have +been in that neighborhood." + +"In that case, you'll find great changes. Yes, monsieur; there is a +restaurant now in Parc Saint-Fargeau, with a large garden where there's +a pond. But it's no toy pond; it's big enough for a boat, and you can go +rowing; it's quite big, and there's an island in it which you can row +around if you're very careful, for the water's quite deep." + +"You can be drowned in it," observed Mademoiselle Lucie. + +"Oho! one has also the right to drown one's self, eh?" + +"Why, yes! if you should fall into the water!" + +"True. And there's a dance-hall, you say?" + +"Yes, monsieur; one out-of-doors, and one inside for rainy days." + +"Good; I see that everything is complete; and if, with all the rest, the +cooking is good----" + +"Very good; and they give you fine _matelotes_, because they catch the +fish on the spot." + +"This rustic restaurant will certainly receive a call from me very soon; +indeed, I would go there to-day--delighted to take the trip with you, +mesdemoiselles--if I were not expecting someone--who, I am beginning to +think, will not come. It's an infernal shame! we are invited to dine at +the Palais-Royal; it's almost five o'clock now, and we shall break our +engagement and they'll dine without us, all on his account!" + +"You'll dine somewhere else; that's all. There's no lack of restaurants +in Paris." + +"Vive Dieu! who knows that better than I! So I have no difficulty on +that score--that is to say, I don't know which to select, and if you +young ladies will do me the honor to accept a little dinner in the +suburbs----" + +"Thanks, monsieur; but we don't accept dinners; besides, we are to meet +someone at Parc Saint-Fargeau." + +"That's just the reason I venture to invite them," said Cherami to +himself.--"Are you young ladies engaged in business?" he asked. + +"Yes, monsieur; we make feathers; we work in one of the best shops on +Rue Saint-Denis; but to-day is the mistress's birthday; that's why we +have the whole day to ourselves." + +"Enchanted to have made your acquaintance. Ah! so you're in feathers--a +charming trade for a woman! They have the same volatility: birds of a +feather flock together." + +"Is he talking nonsense to us?" whispered Mademoiselle Lucie in her +friend's ear. + +"Why, no, stupid; not at all; that's a compliment." + +"Belleville! passengers for Belleville!" + +"Here's the Belleville 'bus, Laurette, and they're making signs that +there are seats for us." + +"Oh! we must run, then. Bonjour! monsieur." + +"What! you are going so soon! I thought--I hoped----" + +The two girls were already in the omnibus, which soon disappeared. +Cherami turned on his heel, muttering: + +"They were shrewd to refuse my dinner. Peste! how should I have got out +of it? I'm not sorry to have had a chat with the little dears--one's +name is Laurette, and the other's Lucie, or Lucile; they may be +desirable acquaintances, on occasion; if I ever want to buy feathers, +for instance." + + + + +IX + +ANOTHER WEDDING PARTY + + +A young man of some twenty-five years, fashionably dressed, but whose +costume was in some disorder, suddenly appeared upon the scene. He was +walking very fast, and did not stop until he reached the porte cochere +of the Deffieux restaurant. There he halted, and gazed under the porte +cochere with every indication of anxiety, not to say distress; then +looked all about him and along the boulevard. From the pallor of his +cheeks, the distortion of his features, the expression of his eyes, it +was easy to see that he was suffering keenly, and that his distress was +augmented by the expectation of some impending event. Cherami had no +sooner espied the young man, than the latter ran to where he stood and +said, in a trembling voice: + +"Have you been here some time, monsieur?" + +"Why, yes, monsieur; quite a long time." + +"I beg your pardon, but in that case you can tell me---- Have you +noticed a wedding party arrive at this restaurant?" + +"A wedding party? Certainly, I have seen one; it's only a short time +since the carriages went away." + +"They have arrived already? I thought I should be here before them." + +"No; you are late." + +"They have gone in?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I had a very good view of the bride." + +"You saw Fanny?" + +"I don't know whether her name's Fanny, I'm sure; but what I do know is +that she's very pretty." + +"Oh! yes, monsieur; she's charming, isn't she?" + +"She's a very pretty bride, without being a beauty." + +"Oh! monsieur, there's no lovelier woman on earth." + +"That's a matter of taste. I don't propose to contradict you." + +"Was she pale, trembling? did she look as if she had been crying?" + +"Why, not at all! She was fresh and rosy and affable; she laughed as she +jumped out of the carriage; then I saw her figure, which isn't so bad, +although she's a little stout." + +"Stout! why, no! she's slender and rather small." + +"I tell you, she's decidedly plump. But that does no harm in a blonde; a +thin blonde is too much like a feather-duster." + +"Blonde? Fanny is dark! You made a mistake, monsieur; it wasn't the +bride that you saw." + +"It wasn't the bride that I saw? Oh! I beg your pardon, monsieur; I +can't be mistaken, for I talked with the groom's uncle, whom I know very +well, Papa Blanquette, wholesale linen-draper." + +"Blanquette! I beg your pardon, monsieur; the party you saw isn't the +one I am expecting." + +"Faith! it's not my fault. You ask me if a wedding party has arrived at +this restaurant, and I tell you what I've seen. It seems that that isn't +the one you are looking for; pray be more explicit, then." + +"Oh! monsieur, pardon me; it's no wonder that I make mistakes, I am in +such agony!" + +"Agony? The deuce! In truth, you are very pale. Where's the pain?" + +"In my heart!" + +"The heart? Why, in that case, you must take something. Come with me to +a cafe; I know what you need; I often have a pain in my heart." + +"No, no! I won't leave this spot until I have seen her--the perfidious, +faithless creature!" + +"You are waiting for a faithless creature, eh? That ought not to prevent +your taking something to set you up. You are horribly pale; you'll be +ill in a moment. When one is waiting for a perfidious female, one needs +strength, courage, nerve! Come and take a plate of soup; there's a +soup-kitchen close by." + +"Ah! here they are! here they are! Yes, I am sure that these are they; I +know it by the way I feel. Look, monsieur; do you see those carriages on +the boulevard?" + +"Yes, this seems to be another wedding party. Peste! this is evidently a +swell affair." + +"The carriages are coming here--do you see, monsieur?" + +"Glass coaches, with footmen in livery!--this goes away ahead of the +Blanquette party." + +"They are stopping here. Come, let us go nearer." + +"Yes, yes. Oh! never fear; I'll not leave you. Is your unfaithful one +there?" + +"Fanny! She has married another--and I loved her so dearly!" + +"Poor boy! I understand your suffering, now." + +"Oh! I would like to die before her eyes." + +"No nonsense! As if any man ought to die for a woman! Pshaw! there's +nothing so easy to replace!" + +The first carriage of this second wedding party had stopped at the door; +four young men alighted, fashionably dressed all, and of genteel +bearing. One of the four was evidently the hero of the ceremony; it was +he who gave the orders, sent his groomsmen to the other carriages, or +told them to whom they were to offer their arms. He was a little older +than the others, apparently about thirty, and his life had evidently +been well occupied, for his strongly marked, but jaded, features denoted +excess of toil or of dissipation. He was a good-looking fellow, tall and +slender, with an air of distinction; but there were dark rings around +his great, brown eyes, his lips were thin and compressed, his smile was +rather satirical than amiable, his forehead was already furrowed by +numerous wrinkles, and he frowned repeatedly when he spoke with the +slightest animation; his hair, which was of a glossy black and trimmed +close, was already decidedly thin in front, and scarcely plentiful +enough elsewhere to protect the top of his head. + +"That's he! that's Auguste Monleard!" the young man to whom Cherami had +attached himself murmured, with a shudder; and, as he spoke, he gripped +his companion's arm in a sort of frenzy. But Cherami, far from +complaining of that liberty, passed his arm through his new +acquaintance's, saying: + +"Ah! that young man is Auguste Monleard, is he? Wait! wait! Monleard; I +knew a Monleard, twenty years ago, but this can't be the same man. Is he +the groom?" + +"Yes; it is for him that she has forgotten me, thrown me aside." + +"She is wrong. That young man is good-looking, but you are younger; and +then, too, that fellow looks to me as if he had had a devilishly +intimate acquaintance with the joys of life!--I don't impute it to him +as a crime--but he'll soon have to wear a wig." + +"Ah! I am strongly inclined to go and strike him across the face!" + +The young man had already started to attack the bridegroom; but Cherami +detained him, putting his arm about him. + +"What are you going to do? make a fool of yourself? I won't allow it. +Well-bred people don't fight with their fists. If you want to fight with +the groom, very good; I consent, I will even be your second; but you +have plenty of time, and you must agree that this would be an ill-chosen +moment." + +The poor, lovelorn youth was not listening; another carriage had stopped +in front of the restaurant. In that one there were ladies, among them +the bride, who was easily recognizable by her head-dress of orange +blossoms. She was a young woman of small stature, slender and dainty. +Her hair was brown like her eyes, which were large, fringed by long +lashes, and surmounted by slight but perfectly arched eyebrows. Her +mouth was small and intelligent; she rarely showed her teeth, because +they were uneven. She was an attractive woman, nothing more; a man must +have been deeply in love with her to declare that there was no lovelier +creature on earth. But for a man who is deeply enamored, there is but +the one woman on earth; consequently, she must be the fairest. The +bride's most remarkable points were her hands and feet, which were +extraordinarily small, and worthy to be a sculptor's model. + +The groom stepped forward to offer his arm to his wife, to assist her to +alight. She barely rested her hand upon it, and, light as a feather, she +was already on the ground, where she seemed busily occupied in looking +to see if her dress had been rumpled in the carriage. + +"There she is! it is she! it is Fanny!" murmured the young man, leaning +heavily on Cherami. + +"She doesn't look to me at all as if she'd been crying," was the reply. + +"Mon Dieu! can it be that she will not look in this direction?" + +"What's the use? She would see that you are pale and distressed, with +the look of a disinterred corpse; that's no way to appear before a +woman, to make her regret you." + +"She would see how I suffer; she would realize that I shall die of +grief!" + +"I promise you that that wouldn't prevent her dancing this evening. I am +a good judge of faces, and I divine that that woman has a cold +disposition, heart ditto; there's very little feeling under that cover, +or I am immeasurably mistaken." + +Meanwhile, other ladies had left their carriages, and numerous young +women, who flocked about the bride; one fastened a pin; another adjusted +the folds of her veil; another remade her bouquet; and while they +attended to these trivial details of the toilet, which are so momentous +in a woman's eyes, especially a bride's, she glanced here and there, and +soon her eyes fell upon the pale, dishevelled, heart-broken young man; +for he had thrust aside all those who stood in front of him and who +prevented him from gazing at his ease upon her for whom he had come +here. + +A faint tremor of emotion passed over the bride's features; there was in +her eyes a momentary expression of pity, of sympathy; but it did not +indicate suffering on her own part; and as her husband, who had noticed +her preoccupation, hurried toward her at that moment, she speedily +changed her expression, assumed an amiable, joyous manner, and accepted +his arm with pretty, caressing little gestures. + +Thereupon the young man, whom Cherami held by the arm, could not +restrain a paroxysm of rage, crying: + +"Oh! this is frightful! not a glance of regret, of farewell, for me! She +sees my suffering, my despair, and she smiles at that man! and she walks +off on his arm, with joy and happiness in her eyes!" + + + + +X + +THE YOUNGER SISTER + + +At that moment, one of the young women who had arrived in the bride's +carriage ran hastily to him whom the wedding party made so miserable, +and said to him in an undertone, but in a voice overflowing with +kindness and sympathy: + +"Why are you here, Gustave? Why did you come? You promised me to be +brave." + +"I am, mademoiselle; you see that I am--for I did not overwhelm the +false creature with reproaches, here, before her husband's face, before +her new relations!" + +"Ah! that would have been very ill done of you; and how would it have +helped you? I implore you, Gustave, be reasonable.--Do not leave him, +monsieur, will you?" + +The last question was addressed to Cherami, who hastened to reply: + +"I! leave my dear Gustave in the state he's in now! I should think not! +What do you take me for, mademoiselle? I will cling to him as the ivy to +the elm. If he should throw himself into the water, I would follow him! +But, never fear; he won't do it. Oh! I am here to look out for him; he +has no more devoted friend than me." + +At that moment, several voices called: + +"Adolphine! Adolphine! do come!" + +"They are looking for me and calling me," murmured the young woman. +"Adieu! Gustave; but if you have the slightest regard for me, you will +not abandon yourself to your grief. You won't, will you? I implore you!" + +And the amiable young woman, as light of foot as a gazelle, disappeared +under the porte cochere, as did all the other persons whom the carriages +had brought. + +"There's a little woman who pleases me exceedingly!" cried Cherami; "she +must be the bride's sister or cousin, at least. For my part, I think +that she's prettier than the bride. Perhaps her eyes aren't as big; but +they are sweet and tender and kind; and then, they are blue, which +always denotes true feeling: I have studied the subject. Her hair's not +as dark as the other's, but it's of a light shade of chestnut which does +not lack merit. Her mouth isn't so small, but neither are her lips so +thin and tightly shut as the bride's. Distrust thin lips; they're a sure +sign of malignity and hypocrisy. Lastly, she is less dainty than your +faithless Fanny, but she is taller; her figure has more distinction and +elegance. All in all, she is an exceedingly attractive person, this +Mademoiselle Adolphine; I say _mademoiselle,_ for I suppose that she +still is one. Have I guessed right?" + +But Gustave was not listening to his new friend. He stood with his eyes +fixed on the door through which the wedding party had passed, apparently +under the spell of a vague hallucination. + +Cherami shook his arm, saying: + +"Well, my dear Monsieur Gustave--I know your name now, and I shall never +forget it; you probably have another, which you will tell me later. +Come, what do you propose to do? Everybody has gone inside; we two alone +are left at the door; the carriages have gone away, or are waiting on +Rue de Bondy, and you have seen what you wanted to see. I presume that +you do not intend to stay here until the wedding guests go home to bed; +that might carry you too far. Come, sacrebleu my dear friend--allow me +to call you by that name; I merit the privilege by the interest I take +in you--you heard what that fascinating young woman said, who came and +spoke to you with tears in her voice and her eyes--yes, may I be damned +if she hadn't tears in her eyes, too! She begged you, implored you, to +be brave, did the charming Adolphine--I remember her name, too. Well! +won't you do what she asked? What the devil are you waiting for in front +of this door? those people have all gone to dinner, and we must follow +their example and ourselves go and dine. I say _we_ must go, because I +promised the excellent Adolphine not to leave you, and, vive Dieu! I +will keep my promise! I am expected at a certain place, to eat a +truffled turkey; but there are truffled turkeys elsewhere, so that +doesn't trouble me. Well! what do you mean to do? You can't seduce a +woman by starving yourself to death." + +"I want to speak to Fanny's sister." + +"The bride's sister? Oh! I see, that's Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Yes, she's the one I mean. I had many things to say to her, to ask her, +just now. I was so confused, I couldn't think, I had no time." + +"You want to speak to that young lady again; that seems to me rather +difficult, for the whole party has gone in--unless--after all, why not? +This is a restaurant, and although there are several wedding parties +here, that doesn't prevent the restaurateur from entertaining all the +other people who come here to dinner. Come, let's dine here; what do you +think?" + +"Oh! yes, yes! let us go in here and dine. We will ask for a private +room near the wedding party, and during the ball--or before--I can see +her again. I can speak to Adolphine." + +"Pardieu! once there, we are in our castle; we will set up our +batteries, and no one has the right to send us away; we can sup there, +and breakfast to-morrow morning; so long as we eat, they will be +delighted to have us stay." + +"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are to take an interest in my troubles, to +lend me your support, although you do not know me, do not know even who +I am!" + +"Oh! I am a physiognomist, my dear friend. At the very outset, you +aroused my interest; besides, I love to oblige; I do nothing else! Let's +go and dine." + +"We will ask where the Monleard party is, monsieur; we will take a room +on the same floor." + +"Agreed! Let's go and dine." + +"Without any apparent motive, I will question the waiter. Indeed, I can +speedily enlist him in my interest with a five-franc piece." + +"He will be entirely devoted to you. Let's go and dine." + +"I will tell him to place us as near as possible to the room where the +ladies are talking." + +"But, sacrebleu! if we delay much longer, there'll be no vacant room +near your wedding party." + +"You are right! Come, come!" + +"At last!" said Cherami to himself, striding behind young Gustave; "this +time, I have my cue!" + + + + +XI + +A CALCULATING YOUNG WOMAN + + +The five francs given by young Gustave to a waiter instantly produced a +most satisfactory result. He placed the new-comers in a private room on +the first floor, at the end of a corridor; and the large hall in which +Monsieur Monleard's wedding feast was to be given was at the other end +of the same corridor. Gustave would have preferred to be nearer the +scene of festivity, but that was impossible; and his companion persuaded +him that they were much better off at the end of the corridor, where +Mademoiselle Adolphine could, if she chose, come to exchange a few words +with him, unobserved by the wedding guests. + +"And now, let us dine!" cried Cherami, hanging his hat on a hook; "I +will admit that I am hungry. All these events--your distress--your +despair--have moved me deeply, and emotion makes one hollow. You also +must feel the need of refreshment, for you are very pale." + +"I am not at all hungry, monsieur." + +"One isn't hungry at first; but afterward one eats very well. Besides, +we came here to dine, if I'm not mistaken." + +"Look you, monsieur; have the kindness to order--ask for whatever you +choose--whatever you would like; but don't compel me to think about it." + +"Very good; I agree. In truth, I am inclined to think that's the better +way! With your abstraction, your sighs, you would never be able to +order a dinner; you would order veal for fish, and radishes for prawns, +while I excel in that part of the game. You see, I have lived, and lived +well, I flatter myself! Some madeira first of all, waiter--and put some +Moet in the ice; meanwhile, I will make out our menu!" + +The madeira having been brought, Cherami immediately drank two glasses +to restore the tone of his stomach; then he took the bill of fare, and +took pains to order the best of everything. The waiter, who scrutinized +our friend's costume while he was writing, would probably have displayed +less zeal in serving him, had not his companion begun by slipping five +francs into his hand. But that spontaneous generosity had given another +direction to the waiter's ideas, and he concluded that the gentleman +with the check trousers was a Scotchman who had not changed his +travelling costume. + +While Cherami wrote his order, young Gustave was unable to sit still for +a moment; he went constantly to the door and took a few steps in the +corridor, then returned to question the waiter, to whose particular +attention Cherami commended his menu. + +"Waiter, is the wedding party at table yet?" + +"They sat down just a moment ago, monsieur." + +"Above all things, don't have the fillet cooked too much." + +"Never fear, monsieur." + +"Where is the bride sitting?" + +"At the middle of the table, monsieur." + +"And well supplied with truffles." + +"By whose side?" + +"I think her father's on one side, monsieur." + +"And on the other?" + +"A salmon-trout." + +"A lady, monsieur." + +"If it isn't fresh, we won't take it." + +"How is the lady's hair dressed?" + +"She has lilies of the valley on her head." + +"What's that! lilies of the valley on a salmon-trout! I never saw it +served so." + +"Not the trout, monsieur; I was speaking of a lady--one of the wedding +party." + +"And the groom, where is he sitting?" + +"Opposite his wife, monsieur." + +"Next, a capon _au gros sel._" + +"Does he look at her often?" + +"Done to a turn." + +"Faith! monsieur, I didn't have time to notice as to that." + +"What's that! Sapristi! you haven't time to tell the chef to cook it to +a turn?" + +"Pardon, monsieur; monsieur was asking me about the bridegroom.--Now I +am at your service." + +And the waiter, to escape these questions, which confused him, took the +menu and disappeared. Cherami poured out another glass of madeira, +saying to his new friend: + +"Come, come, my dear Gustave; if you persist in imitating the bear of +Berne, by going from this room into the corridor, and returning from the +corridor to this room, you won't do yourself any good. You know that the +wedding party is at the table. Naturally, they will be there some time. +So follow their example. Take a seat opposite me, recover your +tranquillity, and let us dine. See, here's our soup, just in time, +exhaling a delicious odor. Allow me to help you." + +The young man took his seat, and swallowed a few spoonfuls of soup; then +pushed his plate away, crying: + +"No; it's impossible for me to eat anything." + +"Very well! then talk to me. Look you, while I am eating, as you don't +choose to do the same, you have an excellent opportunity to tell me the +story of your loves--with the ungrateful Fanny." + +"Oh! yes, monsieur, gladly. I will tell you all, and you will see if I +am wrong to complain of her inconstancy." + +"Men are hardly ever wrong. Go on, my dear friend; tell me the whole +story; I shall not lose a word of your narrative, because one can listen +splendidly while eating." + +"My name is Gustave Darlemont, and I am twenty-five years old. My +parents lived on their income; but in order to obtain the means to live +more expensively, they invested all their capital in an annuity." + +"The devil! rather selfish parents, I should say. If everyone did the +same, the word _inheritance_ would be superfluous. Here's a fillet that +is worth its weight in gold. Just taste it." + +"No, thanks, monsieur.--For my part, I find no fault with my parents for +doing as they did; they had earned their fortune by their own labor, +they had given me a good education: what more could I ask?" + +"You are delightful! Pardieu! you could ask for money. Let me give you +some of this Chateau-Leoville.--It's cool and sweet--it will refresh +your ideas. Go on, I beg." + +"My parents died, and from what they left me in furniture, jewels, and +plate, I had an income of twelve hundred francs." + +"A mere trifle! that's not enough to pay one's tailor. To be sure, +there's the alternative of not paying him at all." + +"I was then seventeen; I didn't know just what business to embrace." + +"And, pending your decision, you embraced all the pretty girls who came +to hand. I know all about that." + +"Oh! no, monsieur; I was very virtuous; I have never been what is called +a lady's man." + +"So much the worse, young man; so much the worse! There's nothing like +women for training the young. You may say that they overtrain them +sometimes. But think of the experience they acquire! I might cite myself +as an example; but we haven't come to me yet. Go on, my young +friend--for I am your friend. Although Aristotle said: 'O my friends, +there are no friends!' I maintain that there are. And that's simply a +play upon words by the Greek philosopher, to whom, had I been Philip, I +would not have intrusted the education of my son Alexander, because of +that one assertion.--But I beg your pardon; I am listening." + +"Luckily, I had an uncle, Monsieur Grandcourt, my mother's brother. He +took me into his family. He is rather an original, but kind and +obliging. He is not an old man: only about forty-eight now." + +"So much the worse, so much the worse! You certainly have hard luck in +the matter of inheritances. Is this uncle of yours rich?" + +"Not rich perhaps, but very comfortably fixed, I fancy." + +"What does he do?" + +"He's a banker." + +"Everybody is, more or less." + +"Oh! my uncle is a prudent man, who never risks his money in doubtful +speculations; he is noted for the exactitude with which he fulfils his +engagements, and for his absolute probity." + +"Good! there's a man to whom I will intrust my funds, when I have more +than I can handle." + +"So I entered my uncle's employ as a clerk. I was very happy there. We +often went to the theatre, to concerts, and to the best restaurants; and +my uncle always paid." + +"Pardieu! it would have been a fine thing if the nephew had had to stand +treat! However, I see that your uncle's not a miser; he likes to enjoy +himself. That's the kind of an uncle I like. I shall be glad to make his +acquaintance." + +"I have now arrived, monsieur, at the moment which changed the whole +course of my life, which made me acquainted with a sentiment of whose +power I had thus far been entirely ignorant. For, while I had had a few +amourettes, I had never known a genuine passion. Ah! monsieur! the +instant that I saw Fanny, I felt as if my heart were born to a new life; +I was no longer the same. No, until then I had not lived!" + +"That's a common sort of talk with lovers. They never have lived before +their frantic passion,--the ingrates!--and they often forget the +happiest days of their youth.--Ah! here's our salmon-trout--a delicious +fish! You will surely taste a mouthful?" + +"My uncle had bought some shares in the Orleans railway for Monsieur +Gerbault, Fanny's father. He gave them to me to deliver to him. Monsieur +Gerbault was not at home. Fanny received me, and invited me to wait till +her father returned. We talked; I was amazed to hear that young girl +discuss affairs at the Bourse quite as intelligently as a broker could +do." + +"And that was what fascinated you?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur. But while Fanny was talking to me, I examined her. +Her eyes were bright and intelligent; her smile was charming. Her whole +person was instinct with a childish grace which fascinated me, and a +perfect naturalness which put me at my ease at once. Before I had been +with her half an hour, you would have thought that we were old friends. +I took the greatest pleasure in listening to her, and I think that she +perceived it, for she was never at a loss for something to say. Her +father returned, and I was terribly sorry. Monsieur Gerbault is a very +courteous old man. He smiled at me when he heard his daughter ask me the +prices of all the different securities, and said: + +"'It's very unfortunate for Fanny that women are not allowed on the +Bourse, for I believe she would go there every day; she has a very +pronounced taste for speculation; I dare not say for gambling, for I +hope that it won't go so far as that. However, monsieur, she has five or +six thousand francs, and so has her sister; it comes from their mother. +Adolphine has very wisely invested her funds in government securities; +but Fanny--oh! she's a different sort! she wants to speculate, to buy +stocks, and she will probably lose her money.' + +"'Why so, father, I should like to know?' said Fanny; 'why shouldn't +luck be favorable to me? Besides, I don't mean to buy anything on +margin, but only for cash; I shall keep what I buy, and not sell until I +can sell at a profit. It seems to me that that is easy enough, and that +there's no need of being a clerk in a broker's office to understand the +operation. With my six thousand francs I could only get a miserable +little income; why shouldn't I try to increase my principal?' + +"'As you please,' said Monsieur Gerbault; 'you are perfectly at liberty +to dispose of what belongs to you.' + +"You can understand that I flattered the young woman's hopes, feeling as +I did that I was already in love with her. I offered to keep her posted +as to the general tendency of values on the Bourse and the financial +situation. She accepted my offer; and Monsieur Gerbault, knowing that I +was Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew, gave me free access to his house. In +short, my dear--my dear--monsieur--I beg your pardon, but I don't as yet +know your name." + +"Pardieu! that's true; I had not thought to tell you. My name is Arthur +Cherami, former land-holder, ci-devant premier high-liver of the +capital. I set the fashion, I was the arbiter of style, and all the +women doted on me. Oh! my story is very short: at twenty-two, I had +thirty-five thousand francs a year; at thirty, I had nothing left. When +I say _nothing_, I mean practically nothing; I still have a small +remnant of income, a bagatelle, but my fortune is all eaten up. Well! +young man, I give you my word of honor, that, if I could start afresh, I +believe I would do the same again. I employed my youth to good purpose, +and everybody can't say as much. For God's sake, must a man be old, +infirm, and gouty, to enjoy life? You can't crack nuts when your teeth +are all gone; therefore, you shouldn't wait till you're old to play the +young man. Now, if I add that I am still a lusty fellow, as brave as +Caesar, as gallant as Francois I, and as philosophical as Socrates, you +will know me as well as if you had been my groom.--I have said." + +"Very good! Your name, you say, is----? I beg your pardon, but I have +forgotten it already." + +"You are absent-minded; I can understand that. My name is Cherami, and I +am yours, which constitutes a pun;[B] but, to avoid mistakes, call me +Arthur; that is my Christian name, and all the ladies call me that. +Sapristi! this is an excellent fish; do eat a bit of it." + +"I prefer to talk to you of my love." + +"So be it!--That won't give you indigestion. Meanwhile, I'll eat for +two--and listen to you. Fire away!" + + + + +XII + +GUSTAVE'S LOVE AFFAIR + + +"I was saying, Monsieur Arthur, that, as I had received permission to go +to Monsieur Gerbault's house, you will divine that I took advantage of +it." + +"Yes, indeed.--This fish is perfect; you make a great mistake not to eat +it." + +"Monsieur Gerbault, formerly a clerk in one of the government offices, +has only a modest fortune; he is a widower with two daughters, to both +of whom he has given an excellent education. Fanny is talented; she is a +good musician, and knows English and Italian." + +"And her sister?" + +"Adolphine plays the piano, too, and sings quite well. She is very sweet +and of a very amiable disposition; but, you see, I didn't pay any +attention to the sister; I had eyes for Fanny alone. Her grace, her wit, +her lovely eyes, all combined to turn my head. She saw it plainly +enough, and, far from repelling me, she seemed to try to redouble her +charms, in order to make me more in love with her than ever." + +"The devil! she's a shrewd coquette!" + +"Oh! no, monsieur! but it's her nature always to make herself +attractive; she can't help it." + +"Here's the capon _au gros sel._--Now's the time for the champagne +frappe. Corbleu! you'll drink some of this." + +"But, monsieur----" + +"It will give you strength, nerve. Nobody knows what may happen +to-night; a man should always be ready for action." + +"A year passed; I had the good fortune to make some lucky turns for +Fanny; she had made nearly three thousand francs in railroad shares; she +was overjoyed, and was already dreaming of an immense fortune. I had +told her that I loved her, and she had replied, with a smile, that she +suspected as much. Thereupon, I asked her if she would marry me, and she +replied: 'My father can give only twenty thousand francs to each of his +daughters, and you know what I have besides. That doesn't make much of +an income.' + +"'What does it matter?' said I; 'I love you with all my heart; if you +had no marriage portion at all, I should none the less consider myself +the happiest of men if I could obtain your hand.--I have twelve hundred +francs a year,' I added, 'and my uncle pays me eighteen hundred; you see +that we shall have enough to live comfortably.' + +"Fanny listened to me, and seemed to reflect; but I had taken her hand +and squeezed it, and she did not take it away. + +"'Are you willing,' I said, 'that I should prefer my suit to your father +to-morrow?' + +"'That's not necessary,' she replied; 'we have time enough; and then, +you need have no fear in that respect; father has told me a hundred +times that he would not interfere with my choice; that he was sure that +I would not marry anyone who would not make me happy.' + +"For my part, I wanted to be married at once, but Fanny desired to add a +little more to her capital before marrying, so that she might have a +more substantial dowry to offer me. It was of no use for me to say that +I cared nothing about that; I could not make her listen to reason." + +"If you took that for love, my dear Gustave, you can hardly claim to be +a connoisseur.--Here's your very good health!" + +"Ah! monsieur; Fanny was always so amiable! her eyes always had such a +sweet look in them when they met mine! she had such pretty, caressing +little ways with me!" + +"Yes, yes, I know. The whole battery of the petticoat file!" + +"Six months more passed, and I implored Fanny to fix a date for our +wedding. Unluckily, her operations in railroads no longer showed a +profit; the shares she had bought had gone down; it was necessary to +wait; and Fanny was angry at the way things were going on the +Bourse.--It was about that time---- Ah! it was then that my misfortunes +began." + +"Courage, dear Gustave!--and another glass of Moet! Do take a wing of +this capon--just a bit of white meat. What! nothing? Well, then, +sapristi! I will sacrifice myself and eat the whole bird. Never mind +what the result may be; but I will drink, too, for I must wash it +down.--Your health!" + +"As I was saying, it was about this time that Monsieur Auguste Monleard +made the acquaintance of the Gerbault family--at a ball, I believe; he +asked and obtained from the father permission to come occasionally and +play and sing with the young ladies. I did not know that until later, +for I did not happen to meet him for some time. The very first time that +I saw him, I had a presentiment that his presence in Monsieur Gerbault's +house would be fatal to my love. This Monleard made a great parade; he +had a cabriolet and a negro footman; indeed, he had, so it was said, +forty thousand francs a year. All that would have been a matter of +indifference to me, if I had not noticed that he was very attentive, +very gallant, to Fanny. However, she continued to smile on me in the +most charming way; but when I said to her: 'Fix a day for our wedding, I +beg you, and let me speak to your father,' she replied: 'Oh! not yet; we +have plenty of time; I must increase my capital first.' + +"One morning, I had escaped from my duties at my uncle's, who scolded me +sometimes because love led me to neglect business." + +"Did your uncle approve your matrimonial plans?" + +"Not very warmly; he had said to me several times: 'You're too young to +marry; wait awhile.' + +"But when he saw how dearly I loved Fanny, he finally said: 'Do as you +please; but if I were in your place, I'd have nothing to do with a young +woman who speculates in railroad stocks.'" + +"I am much of your uncle's opinion." + +"And he added: 'You know that I will not give you a sou to be married +on, don't you?' + +"I replied: 'And you know that I ask you for nothing but your +affection.'" + +"A noble reply! and one that binds you to nothing.--Have a glass of +champagne." + +"I have already had one." + +"So much the more reason for taking another. I say, my boy, order us a +Perigord macaroni, and a _parfait a la vanille."_ + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"Waiter, how is the wedding party getting along?" + +"They're at the second course, monsieur." + +"They have not got beyond that!" + +"What a delightful fellow this dear Gustave is! because he doesn't eat, +he fancies that nobody else has any appetite." + +"Is the bride eating, waiter?" + +"Yes, monsieur; she's eating everything, I may say." + +"Everything!" + +Gustave angrily resumed his seat at the table, and held out his plate, +saying to his companion: + +"Very good! then I will eat, too! Give me some capon, Arthur; give me a +lot of it!" + +"Ah! good, good! spoken like a man! Now you're a man again! There's +nothing left of the capon but one drumstick and the carcass, but they're +the most delicate parts." + +"Give them to me, give them to me! Oh! what a fool, what an idiot, I +have been! To give way to despair for a woman who makes sport of me, who +eats everything, when she knows that I am consumed by grief!" + +"You acted like a fool, and that's just what I've been killing myself +telling you." + +"Give me some wine!" + +"Bravo! let's drink! This champagne is delicious, and I know what I'm +talking about." + +"Yes, I will think no more of her, I will forget everything, I will love +some other woman." + +"Pardieu! that's the true way! In love especially, I believe in +homoeopathy." + +Gustave swallowed his glass of wine at a draught, then ate a few +mouthfuls with a sort of avidity; but he soon pushed his plate away, and +let his head fall on his breast, muttering: + +"Oh! no, I shall never love another woman; I know well enough that it +would be impossible." + +"The deuce! here he is in another paroxysm of his passion! We shall have +some difficulty in curing the dear boy; but we will succeed, even though +that should necessitate our not leaving him for a second for ten years +to come! Be yourself, Gustave, and finish your story, which, I presume, +must be drawing near its end, and which interests me in the highest +degree." + +"Yes, yes; you are right!--I was saying that one morning, having gone to +Monsieur Gerbault's house, I found Mademoiselle Adolphine alone. She +greeted me with such a sorrowful air that I could not refrain from +asking her what caused her sadness, and she replied: 'I suffer for your +sake, I am grieved for you; for I know how dearly you love my sister, +and I foresee how you will suffer when you learn that she is going to be +married, and not to you.' + +"'Great heaven!' I cried; 'can it be possible? Fanny, false to me! +Fanny, give herself to another!' + +"'Yes,' said Adolphine. 'It seems to me that it is especially cruel to +let you hope on, when her marriage to Monsieur Auguste Monleard was +decided on a fortnight ago.' + +"'She is going to marry Monsieur Monleard!' I cried; 'she throws me over +for that man! And she smiled at me only yesterday when I swore to love +her all my life!' + +"'That's the reason I determined to tell you all,' said Adolphine. 'I +did not choose that you should be deceived any longer.' + +"I need not tell you what a state of despair I was in. Adolphine tried +in vain to comfort me; I could not believe in Fanny's treachery, and I +insisted upon seeing her, and learning from her own lips that she +preferred my rival to me. + +"The next day, I found her alone. Can you believe that she greeted me +with the same tranquillity, the same smile, as usual? So much so, that I +cried: 'It isn't true, is it, Fanny, that you are going to marry another +man?'--Thereupon, with a little pout to which she tried to give a +fitting touch of melancholy, she replied: 'Yes, Gustave; it is true. Mon +Dieu! you mustn't be angry with me. At all events, it will do no good, +my friend; I have reflected. We haven't enough money to marry; we should +have had to lead the sort of life in which one is always forced to count +the cost before indulging in any pleasure, to see if it is compatible +with one's means; and, frankly, it is not amusing to figure up whether +one can afford to enjoy one's self a little, to buy a hat or a jewel +which takes one's fancy. So I concluded that it was more sensible to +marry Monsieur Monleard, who has a handsome fortune, and I have accepted +his hand. But it seems to me that you shouldn't bear me a grudge, +because I have acted like a sensible woman, and we can still remain +friends.' + +"'I, your friend!' I exclaimed, bursting into tears; 'when you give +yourself to another, when you make me miserable for life!' + +"I don't know what reply she made; but somebody came to tell her that +the materials for her wedding gown had arrived, and she hurried away. +Her calmness, her indifference, exasperated me. When I was alone, all +sorts of incoherent ideas assailed me, but I know that I was determined +to die. I was about to leave the house, fully resolved not to survive +Fanny's treachery, when suddenly I felt a caressing hand on my arm, +while a sweet voice said to me in an imploring tone: 'Be a man, Gustave, +be brave; resolve to endure this misfortune, which seems to break your +heart to-day. Time will allay your suffering--you will love another +woman, who will love you in return, who will understand your heart; and +later you will be happy--much happier, perhaps, than she, who thinks of +nothing but money! But, I entreat you, promise me that you will live!' + +"It was Adolphine who spoke to me thus. Her tears were flowing freely. +When I found that my grief was shared, I felt a little relieved, for +unhappiness makes a man selfish, and, when we are unhappy, it seems to +us that other people ought to suffer as we do. I promised Fanny's sister +to renounce my thoughts of death, and I left that house, to which I +shall never return!" + +"I drink to good little Adolphine's health! For my part, I love that +feeling heart--I shall never forget her. And our dear uncle, what said +he when he learned the result of your love affair?" + +"My uncle? Oh! he doesn't believe in love, not he!" + +"He was quite right not to believe in your Mademoiselle Fanny's." + +"He has no confidence in women." + +"He has probably made a study of them." + +"In fact, when I told him that Fanny was to marry another, he had the +heartlessness to retort that that was lucky for me." + +"Frankly, I agree with him; for, after all, my boy as the damsel didn't +love you----" + +"Why, yes, she did love me, before she knew this Monleard." + +"She gave you the preference when there was nobody else." + +"He turned her head by his magnificence, his presents." + +"It is much better for you that it happened before your marriage rather +than after.--Here's to your health! Ah! here's the Perigord +macaroni--with truffles on top--that's the checker! Do you know this way +of preparing macaroni?" + +"It seems that he hastened the ceremony after our last interview; for +that was only twelve days ago, and to-day I learned that the wedding was +to take place at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, to be followed by a banquet and +ball here." + +"Yes, and then you lost your head! You said to yourself: 'I will be +there, I want to see what sort of a face the faithless creature will +make when she sees me.'" + +"True, monsieur, true. But they must have misinformed me as to the hour +of the ceremony, for when I reached the church it was all over--they had +gone." + +"So much the better! that saved you one stab." + +"Then I started off like a madman and ran all the way here, saying to +myself: 'I simply must see her!'--And you know the rest, monsieur." + +"I do, indeed; and if I hadn't been here, God knows what would have +happened! But I'm a lucky dog; I almost always turn up when I'm wanted. +Let us water the macaroni! I defy all the wedding parties in the place +to dine better than me!" + + + + +XIII + +A GENTLEMAN WHO HAD DINED WELL + + +Cherami had reached the dessert stage; he had amply repaired the ravages +wrought in his stomach by the privation of the previous day, and he had +watered his food so copiously with madeira, bordeaux, and champagne, +that his face had become very red, his eyes very small, and his tongue +very thick, which fact did not prevent his making constant use of it. + +Gustave had drunk only two glasses of champagne; but, as he had eaten +nothing at all, that had made him slightly tipsy, and he was beginning +anew his trips from the dining-room to the corridor, when the waiter who +served them hurried up to him, saying: + +"The ladies are leaving the table, monsieur; I believe they are going to +dress for the ball, for some of them have already put on their hats." + +"Hurry back, then; take the bride's sister, Mademoiselle Adolphine, +aside, and tell her that--Monsieur Gustave insists upon speaking to +her--that I am waiting for her at the end of the corridor. Tell her that +she simply must come; you understand, she must come! See, here are five +francs more for you." + +"Very good, monsieur. The bride's sister. But I don't know her, do I?" + +"Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Oh! yes, yes. I go, I fly, monsieur." + +Gustave returned to the private room, where Cherami was occupied in +admiring the bubbling of the champagne in his glass. + +"She is coming! I am going to speak to her!" cried the young man. + +"What! Do you mean that she's coming to join us here?" + +"Yes. Oh! I am certain that she'll come. She would not like to drive me +to do some crazy thing." + +"All right! so much the better, sacrebleu! Let her come, and we'll tell +her something. She's a sinner, a flirt." + +"But it's Adolphine who's coming, not Fanny." + +"Adolphine, the good little sister? Oh! that's a different matter. I +will embrace her, I will even make love to her a bit, if she will permit +me." + +"They are going away, to dress for the ball; but first, I am +determined---- Ah! someone is coming--a woman--it's she!" + +It was, in fact, the young Adolphine, who ran along the corridor, +trembling with distress and emotion, and entered the room, crying: + +"What! Monsieur Gustave! you here! Why, in heaven's name, did you come?" + +"Because I knew that she was here--and I hope to see her once more." + +"Ah! mon Dieu! what madness!--And you, monsieur, you promised to take +care of him." + +"Why, mademoiselle, I am doing just that; I haven't lost sight of him a +moment; and if I hadn't been here, to constantly restrain him, he would +have gone twenty times to make trouble at your wedding feast, and to +insult the husband." + +"Oh! Gustave!" + +"No, no, Adolphine; have no fear of that." + +"Don't you trust what he says, mademoiselle; he's lost his head; +luckily, I am here; I am calm and prudent." + +"But why did you come here?" + +"We came here to dine, mademoiselle, which we had a perfect right to do. +For, after all, although a man may not belong to a wedding party, that +need not prevent his dining, and dining very well too, I give you my +word." + +"But I can't stay any longer!--We are going away to dress; I am sure +they are waiting for me. What do you want of me, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"To beg you to give me an opportunity to speak to your sister once +more." + +"To Fanny? Why, it isn't possible! Besides, what would you say to her?" + +"I will say good-bye to her forever; I will tell her that I hope that +she will be happy--although she has wrecked my life." + +"But how do you suppose that she can speak to you in secret? she is +always surrounded; there's always somebody with us. What would people +say? what would they think?" + +"If you refuse, I will go and speak to her during the ball." + +"Well--no---- Wait here, then; and, when we return from dressing, I will +try--I will make her come through this corridor." + +"Oh! thanks, thanks a thousand times! Ah! you are too kind!" + +"I must go; adieu! But, in heaven's name, keep out of sight, don't show +yourself!" + +As she spoke, Adolphine made a sign of intelligence to Cherami, who +imagined that the charming young woman was throwing him a kiss; but she +disappeared just as he left the table to go to embrace her; and as the +waiter entered the room at that moment, the ex-beau bestowed a +resounding smack upon that functionary's cheek. + +"Sacrebleu! what is this?" cried Cherami, roughly pushing back the +waiter, who stood by the door in open-mouthed amazement at the caress he +had received.--"Why the devil do you come up under my nose, waiter? +Plague take the knave! I said to myself: 'Gad! this young lady uses very +cheap soap!'" + +"Pardon, monsieur; it isn't my fault; I was coming in, and you ran into +my arms. I know well enough that it wasn't me you meant to embrace." + +"It's lucky that you understand that." + +"Waiter, what are the ladies doing now?" + +"They are all going away, monsieur." + +"And the men?" + +"Some of them have gone, too; but many stayed, and are playing cards." + +"And the Blanquette party, waiter--what are they doing now?" + +"The Blanquette party are still at table, monsieur, and singing." + +"Ah! I recognize them by that. They'll sit at table till ten o'clock, +those people; the petty bourgeois sing at dessert, which is very bad +form. However, I confess that I have sometimes gone so far as to hum a +ditty myself; I have even composed one on occasion, one which Panard or +Colle wouldn't have been ashamed to father. But I like a touch of smut +myself; don't talk to me of your insipid ballads about roses and zephyrs +and the springtime; no, nor your political ballads either; I abominate +them; and yet, that's the kind of thing that makes great reputations; +and I know men who would have been nothing more than common +ballad-mongers, if they hadn't flattered parties and passions, and who +have reached the very pinnacle of fame because they always end their +couplets with the words _fatherland_ and _liberty_. O Armand Gouffe! O +Desaugiers! you didn't resort to such methods, so very little is heard +of you. You are none the less the real French ballad-makers; your +fruitful and vigorous muse has discovered innumerable varied subjects +and described them in song, which is much more difficult than to keep +harping on the same refrain." + +"But, my dear Monsieur Arthur, now that I am waiting for the return of +the bride, to whom I shall say adieu forever, if your affairs call you +elsewhere, do not hesitate to go. Leave me; I have abused your +good-nature too far already." + +"I, leave you! No, indeed! What do you take me for?--What! after +accepting your suggestion that we should dine together, leave you all of +a sudden at dessert? Fie! Only a cad would do that; and, thank God! I +know what good-breeding is. Tell me, do I annoy you? Is my presence +distasteful to you?" + +"Ah! far from it, my dear sir; you have shown an interest in my affairs, +which I shall never forget." + +"We were born to be friends, and we are; that is settled, your affairs +are mine, what concerns you concerns me. Wherever there is danger for +you, it is my duty to look after you; and, you understand, if, while you +are talking with the bride, her new husband should happen to come +prowling about here, I will just step in front of him and say: 'I am +very sorry, my boy, but you can't pass!'" + +"Oh! a thousand thanks for your devotion to me! Waiter! waiter! our +bill!" + +"Here it is, monsieur." + +"You pay for the dinner; that's all right; but as we are to stay here +some little time perhaps, we must have something to keep us busy." + +"Order whatever you want." + +"Waiter, make us a nice little rum punch; it's excellent for the +digestion; the English eat a great deal, but they drink punch at +dessert, and they're all right. Would you like to play cards, to kill +time?" + +"Thanks, it would be impossible for me to put my mind on the game." + +"I don't insist. I am rather fond of cards, but I don't carry that +passion to excess. Pardieu! I don't say that I may not take a hand by +and by at the Blanquette function. Did I tell you that I knew them? +They're linen-drapers; that sort of people play rather high; but that +doesn't frighten me. Ah! here's our punch! I divine it by the odor; the +table is excellent at this house." + +Cherami lost no time in partaking of the punch. Gustave refused it at +first, but finally consented to take a glass. + +The night had come; the lights were lighted on all sides. With the +darkness, the unhappy lover's thoughts became more gloomy, his suffering +more intense; he buried his face in his hands, muttering: + +"It's all over! O Fanny! Fanny! you will belong to another! Ah! I shall +die of my grief!" + +"Sapristi!" said Cherami to himself, swallowing several glasses of punch +in rapid succession; "this youngster is very lachrymose; he isn't lively +in his cups. With me, it's different; I feel in the mood to dance at all +the wedding parties, and to play cards too--only I shall have to borrow +a few napoleons from my new friend, in order to be able to tempt +fortune. I have an idea that I shall have a vein of luck! I say, my dear +friend, aren't we drinking any more?" + +"Oh! no, thanks, monsieur!" + +"Then I will drink for both of us. This punch is too sweet! Here, +waiter, put in more rum, a lot of it!" + +"But, monsieur, there's no more punch in the bowl." + +"Well! then make another bowl, but make it stronger." + +The other bowl was brought. + +After drinking two more glasses, Cherami tried to rise, but was obliged +to hold on to the table to keep from falling; however, although he felt +that his legs were wavering under him, he determined to maintain his +dignity, and did his best to keep his balance as he walked toward the +door. + + + + +XIV + +THE PUNCH PRODUCES ITS EFFECT + + +"They are a long while coming back, those ladies!" muttered Gustave, +coming and going from the room to the corridor. + +"Oh! my dear fellow, when a woman's at her toilet, one can never be sure +how long a time she'll spend over it. One day, I remember, in the time +of my splendor, I was waiting for my mistress, to go to the theatre, to +see a new play. I believe it was at the Opera-Comique--but, no matter. +She had finally got dressed,--it had taken her a long while,--when, +happening to look in the mirror, she cried: 'My wreath of blue-bottles +is too far down on my forehead--I must change it--it's just a matter of +putting in a pin.'--'All right,' said I; 'put in your pin. I'll +wait'--My dear fellow, that pin, and all the others that she put in +after it, took an hour and a half! and when we reached the theatre, the +new play was over." + +Observing that his young companion had fallen into abstraction once +more, and was paying no heed to him, Cherami decided to leave the +private room and try his fortunes in the corridor, saying to himself: + +"I feel the need of a little fresh air; it's as hot as the tropics in +these private dining-rooms. Ah! what do I see yonder? Ladies--many +ladies. I must go and cast an eye in that direction. The fair sex +attracts me--it's my magnet." + +The ladies of the Monleard party were beginning to return, arrayed for +the ball. To reach the room where they were to dance, they had to pass +along the corridor to the main staircase. Cherami took his stand at the +head of the staircase, and there ogled the ladies, bowed to them all as +if he knew them, and spoke to each of them as she passed. + +"Charming, on my word! A divine costume!--White shoulders that would +drive Venus to despair!--Ah! how we are going to flirt!--A very pretty +head-dress; bravo!--Ah! here's a mamma who proposes to play the coy +maiden. Dear lady, you will find difficulty in getting partners, I warn +you. There are pretty faces here that will monopolize all the cavaliers. +Oho! what fine eyes! they are like carbuncles. Who will deign to accept +my hand or my arm? I am at your service, fair ladies!" + +But the ladies, instead of accepting the hand which my gentleman offered +them, passed him without replying, or shrank from him, because there +was in his whole aspect a seediness entirely out of harmony with their +ball-dresses; moreover, he smelt so strongly of punch and liquors that +it was impossible to pass him without receiving a whiff of the odor. + +Several ladies put their handkerchiefs to their faces as they hurried +by, and some exclaimed: "Why, who can that man be? Where did he come +from? He is drunk!--Surely he is not one of Monsieur Monleard's wedding +guests. What is he doing there, like a sentinel? He speaks to everybody, +and with an astonishing lack of ceremony. He poisons the air with wine +and liquor. Can't somebody send the horrible creature away?" + +These complaints soon reached the ears of the gentlemen who had remained +to play cards. Some of them rose and walked into the hall, saying: + +"Parbleu! we will find out who this fellow is who takes the liberty of +speaking to ladies whom he doesn't know!" + +Cherami had just offered his hand to a pretty little woman, who had +refused it and instantly put her handkerchief to her nose. This +pantomime, having been frequently repeated in front of the ex-beau, +began to offend him, and he suddenly exclaimed: + +"Deuce take it! what's the matter with all these prudes, that they hide +their faces with their handkerchiefs? Can it be because they think that +I have any desire to kiss them! Ah! I've seen prettier women than +you--who didn't run away from me, my princesses!" + +"To whom are you speaking, monsieur? Is it these ladies to whom you dare +to address such language?" + +"Hallo! who's this? where did he come from? Ah! what a noble head!" + +"It is for you, monsieur, to answer those questions. Off with you, at +once, or I'll put you out-of-doors." + +"Out-of-doors, eh? Understand that I dined here--with my friend +Gustave--Gustave something or other--and that I have as much right as +you to stay here--that I won't go away." + +"I forbid you to speak to these ladies." + +"Thanks! I have my cue." + +The ladies interposed to prevent a dispute, and succeeded in taking +their champions away with them, saying: + +"You can see that the man's drunk. What satisfaction do you expect to +obtain from a man who hasn't his senses? Leave him there, and pay no +more attention to him." + +The men yielded to this request, and they left Cherami standing there +and entered the ballroom. + +Meanwhile, the waiter who had served the dinner in the private room ran +up to Cherami. + +"The gentleman who dined with you is going away; someone has come for +him." + +"What! my friend Gustave going away? Why, it's impossible! He won't go +without me; besides, he's waiting for the bride; we must have the bride; +she's been promised to us." + +"He's going, I tell you." + +The ex-beau decided to return to the private room, and found at the door +his young friend and a man of mature years, short of stature, but with a +cold, stern face which imposed respect. They were on the point of +leaving. + +"Well, well! what does this mean?" cried Cherami. "What! my dear +Gustave, going, and without me--your intimate friend, your Orestes, your +Patroclus?" + +"Who is this new friend of yours, whom I don't know, whom I have never +seen with you?" the short man asked Gustave, whose arm he held fast. + +"It's a gentleman who has been kind enough to take some interest in me, +uncle," faltered Gustave;--"I was so unhappy--and to keep me company." + +"And whose dinner you have paid for, I presume? Your friend did not +spare himself." + +"What do I hear? Monsieur is your uncle?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I am Gustave's uncle." + +"Then you are Monsieur Grandcourt?" + +"Just so." + +"Oh! Delighted to make the acquaintance of my friend's uncle." + +"I am obliged to you, monsieur; but we are going." + +"What! you are going? Pray, do you not know that your dear nephew +desires to speak once more with the bride, the faithless Fanny?" + +"Indeed, I do know it, and it was for the express purpose of preventing +that interview, which might result in a scandalous scene, that I came +here and that I am taking my nephew away." + +"But her little sister, the charming Adolphine, would have obtained an +interview for us in secret." + +"You are mistaken, monsieur; for it was Mademoiselle Adolphine herself +who sent word to me that my nephew was here, and begged me to exert my +authority to take him away and prevent his seeing her sister; that young +woman realized all the impropriety of the proposed interview." + +"What! it was the little sister who sent word to you? Ah! the little +mouse! These women are all leagued together to fool us." + +"On this occasion, monsieur, Mademoiselle Adolphine showed as much good +sense as prudence, and she deserves only praise from us. Come, Gustave, +say adieu to monsieur, thank him for the service which he intended, I +doubt not, to render you, and let's be off." + +"So it's all over, uncle, is it? you drag me away without allowing me to +see her once more?" + +"Really, nephew, you disgust me with your love and your regrets for a +woman who has treated you with contempt, played with you like a child. +Be a man, for God's sake! Repay contempt with contempt, scorn with +scorn! and blush to think that you placed your affections so ill. Let us +go." + +"One moment, dear uncle of my friend: I desire most earnestly to know +you more intimately. Gustave will tell you that I am worthy of your +friendship. I do not accompany you, because I am going to the Blanquette +wedding feast, which is on the second floor. Give me your address, +please; I will call and breakfast with you to-morrow." + +"It is useless, monsieur; to-morrow, we shall be at Havre." + +"At Havre? Very good! it's all the same to me; I will go there with you. +Ah! my dear Gustave, do let go of the dear uncle's arm a moment; I have +a word to say to you in private, just a word; but it's very important." + +But, paying no further heed to Cherami, Monsieur Grandcourt led his +nephew away at a rapid pace, and they left the restaurant while +Gustave's friend was still talking to them in the corridor. + + + + +XV + +THE ECARTE PLAYERS + + +When he finally discovered that he was alone, Cherami returned to the +private dining-room, sat down at the table, looked into the bowl, where +there was still some punch, and poured out a glass, saying to himself: + +"After all, I shall have no difficulty in finding them again. The uncle +doesn't seem quite so amiable as the nephew; there's a something stiff +and cold in his face. He fell in here like a bombshell. It's a pity; I +felt just in the mood to kidnap the bride before the noses of the +Athenians and of all those hussies who hid their faces with their +handkerchiefs. Suppose I go and clean out the whole crowd? No, they're +not worth the trouble. I prefer to pay a visit to the Blanquette +festivity; there I am known, they won't treat me as an intruder. +Sapristi! what a pity that I hadn't the time to borrow a few napoleons +from my new friend. He would have loaned them to me; there's no doubt +about it. Ah! I waited too long; but I couldn't suspect that an uncle +would arrive all of a sudden--just as they do in vaudevilles, to bring +about an unexpected denouement. Aha! what do I hear? Music, they're +playing a quadrille. Gad! it seems to me that I could make a pretty +figure at a little contra-dance. That music puts me right in the mood +for it. O power of music! _Emollit mores nec sint esse feros._ I think +I'll go and say that to the bucks who are dancing upstairs! They'd think +I was asking them for a cigar.--Pretty music! Sapristi! it shall not be +said that I remained alone in this room, like a bear in its cage, while +everybody else in the place is enjoying himself. Here goes for a look in +at the Blanquette function." + +And Cherami jumped to his feet, put his hat on his head, took his little +cane, and rushed from the room. When he was in the corridor, he lurched +against the wall more than once; but, with the instinct of a man +accustomed to frequent over-indulgence, he drew himself up and steadied +himself on his legs. + +"What does this mean?" he said.--"You stumble for a glass or two of +punch? Come, come, Arthur, I shouldn't know you, my boy; you're not +drunk, you can't be drunk." + +Thereupon the mind steadied the body, and he walked to the stairway with +a somewhat less uncertain step. There he could plainly hear the +orchestra of the elegant Monleard ball. He paused a moment, saying to +himself: + +"Suppose I should enter abruptly, and make a scene with the perfidious +Fanny, in behalf of my young friend Gustave--what a stunning coup! what +an effect I would produce!--Yes, but those people don't know me; they +don't know that I once had thirty-five thousand francs a year, and that +I have been the most popular man in Paris. They would be quite capable +of treating me as an intruder! I should talk back--and then, duels! +Let's not end in sadness a day so well employed. _Dies fasti_, as the +Romans used to say. It's surprising how the punch brings back my Latin! +Let's go up a floor, and join the Blanquette wedding party; there, at +all events, I know the bridegroom slightly, and the uncle very well. I +owe him four or five hundred francs for cloth--an additional reason why +he should receive me well; a man never closes his door to his debtors." + +Having arrived on the second floor, Cherami heard the strains of another +orchestra; he passed through a large room where he saw nothing but men's +hats hanging on hooks, and immediately hung up his own and placed his +cane beside it. + +"I must show my breeding," he said to himself; "one doesn't appear at a +wedding party as at a messroom. Ah! what do I see in that corner? a very +fine yellow glove, on my word! Pardieu! it arrives most opportunely! +It's for the left hand, but, no matter: I can keep the other in my +pocket. It fits me, it really fits me beautifully! What a pity that the +man who dropped it didn't drop the right-hand one too! No matter; this +one gives a sort of dressed-up, coquettish air, which sets off the +wearer. I will keep my right hand under the tail of my coat--nay, I will +skilfully hold both tails in my hand, and people will think I'm in full +dress. Forward, charge their guns!" + +Cherami passed into a second room, which was occupied by card-players: +there were two tables of whist and one of ecarte. With the exception of +two elderly women at one of the whist tables, there were only men in the +room; and as they were all busily engaged in playing, or watching the +play, nobody noticed the arrival of the party in plaid trousers. + +Cherami smiled at everybody, although he saw no one whom he knew; there +were very few persons about the whist tables--only one or two +enthusiasts watching the games--so that one could easily approach them. +It was not the same with the ecarte table; there was a crowd of young +men about it, and it was very difficult to see their hands. + +Cherami walked about for some minutes, daintily scratching the end of +his nose with his gloved hand, and holding the other behind his back, +under the skirt of his coat. Suddenly one of the players cried: + +"Twenty francs lacking! Come, gentlemen; who'll make it good?" + +"Not I, by a long shot!" said a young man, turning toward Cherami; +"they're having extraordinary luck! They have passed six times over +there! But I know Minoret; he's a lucky dog! When he sets about it, he's +quite capable of passing twenty times in succession." + +"Still twenty francs lacking," the same voice repeated; "who makes it +good?" + +"I," cried Cherami, in a loud voice. "I make it good; I trust to +Monsieur Minoret's luck." + +This remark attracted general attention to Cherami. The young men +scrutinized him, then smiled, and said to one another: + +"Who the deuce is this fellow?" + +"What an extraordinary figure!" + +"And his dress is even more extraordinary. Who ever heard of going to a +wedding in plaid trousers and waistcoat!" + +"And they're far from new." + +"He wasn't at the supper, I'm sure." + +"No. I would like right well to know who he is. He seems to know +Minoret." + +A moment later, the player addressed as Minoret spoke again: + +"Well! who is it who makes good the twenty francs? Why doesn't he put up +the money?" + +"I am the man, monsieur, who makes it good," replied Cherami, still +louder than before; "and, sapristi! when I say that I make it good, it +seems to me that it's the same thing as if I had put up the money! But +perhaps you'll give me time to find my purse, which has slipped into +the lining of my waistcoat." + +The tone in which Cherami spoke imposed silence upon all those who +surrounded the ecarte table. It rarely happens that one cannot, by +talking loud enough, produce that effect on the multitude; and if the +victory on the battlefield almost always remains with the greatest +numbers, so in a discussion it almost always remains with the loudest +voices. + +So the card-players concluded to deal the cards and go on with the game. +Meanwhile, Cherami went through a very curious pantomime. Having decided +to withdraw his right hand from behind his back, he plunged it into one +pocket of his waistcoat, then into the other, then into his +trousers-pockets, pretending to be in search of something which he was +very sure of not finding; but he went about it with a zeal which +deceived the most incredulous, interspersing his investigations with +such ejaculations as: + +"Where the devil have I put my purse! It's inconceivable--as soon as you +begin to look for a thing, you can't remember what you did with it! I +certainly had it just now when I paid my cabman. Can I have dropped it +beside my pocket, thinking that I put it inside? Let's try this side; it +seems to me that I feel something. Yes--I have it at last. Oh! the +devil! it isn't my purse, it's my cigar-case!--I believe I haven't +looked in this pocket." + +But, as our bettor hoped, the game came to an end before he had finished +his search; and ere long these words reached his ears, and filled his +heart with joy: + +"I was sure of it; Minoret has won again!" + +Cherami instantly rushed to the table, extended his left hand, closed, +to the player on whom he had bet, and said: + +"I have just found my purse: here's the twenty francs I bet on you, +monsieur." + +"You don't need to put up the money, monsieur, as we have won," replied +Minoret; "on the contrary, here's twenty francs that belongs to you." + +As he spoke, the player handed Cherami a twenty-franc piece; but in +order to take it, he would have had to open the hand which he held +tightly closed, and then they would have seen that he had nothing in it. +Like the shrewd man he was, he realized the peril of his position, and +boldly solved the difficulty by replying in his turn: + +"Very good, monsieur; keep the twenty francs; I will bet on you again." + +To those who consider that it was very imprudent for a man who had not a +sou, to risk upon one deal the twenty francs he had just won, we reply +that, as a general rule, those who are most in need of money play for +the highest stakes. Moreover, in this instance, Cherami was excused by +the embarrassing position in which he was placed. + +Monsieur Minoret's luck did not change; he won six times more, and was +not beaten until the seventh; and Cherami, who had continued to bet on +the same side, found himself in possession of one hundred and twenty +francs when he left the table, at which he had taken his place without a +sou. There was a fitting occasion to speak Latin; and our gambler, after +the sacramental "I have my cue," did not fail to add: "_Audaces fortuna +juvat!_" Never was maxim more fittingly applied; indeed, one might +perhaps consider that on this occasion Cherami was something more than +audacious. + +"I must confess that I did well to bet!" said Cherami to himself, +jingling in his pockets the gold pieces he had won. "Pardieu! I am +tempted to go and buy a right-hand glove. Bah! what's the use? I may +well have lost the other. The first owner of this one must find himself +in the same predicament. Let's go to the ballroom; I feel in the mood +for a polka, and if there's any susceptible female there, I will +fascinate her by my glances." + + + + +XVI + +THE BLANQUETTE WEDDING BALL + + +The ballroom was long and narrow; a waltz was in progress at the moment +selected by Cherami to make his appearance. He began by running into a +couple who were waltzing in two-time, which means that they were out of +step, as a waltz is always in three-time. Surely they who invented that +style of dancing could not have had a musical ear. Now, waltzers in +two-time always move very rapidly; indeed, that is the main purpose of +the innovation. Cherami, colliding suddenly with the couple as they +passed, stepped back and came in contact with some waltzers in +three-time, who were abandoning themselves voluptuously to the charms of +the waltz; the lady, letting her head hang languidly on one side, and +keeping her eyes half-closed to avoid being dizzy; her partner, holding +himself firm on his legs, pressing his partner's waist with an arm of +iron, and gazing down at her with eyes that flashed fire. + +Being abruptly aroused from their ecstasy by a person who bumped against +them and threw them out of step, they cried: + +"Pray be careful! Mon Dieu! how awkward some people are!" + +"What's that! be careful yourselves!" retorted the man with one glove. +"What the devil! you waltzed into my back." + +"But you should get out of the way, monsieur! The idea of standing in +front of people who are waltzing!" + +"Ah! monsieur, you have torn my dress, and you trod on my foot!" + +"But who is this shabbily dressed individual, who scratches his nose +with a bright yellow glove, and runs into everybody? Do you know him?" + +"No." + +"Nor I." + +"Nor I." + +"Wait; Minoret must know him; he bet on Minoret's hand." + +And a young man went up to Minoret, who had also entered the ballroom, +and said to him: + +"My dear Minoret, tell me who that extraordinary person in the Scotch +trousers is, who bet twenty francs on you just now?" + +"Who? that tall man with the red face, holding his left hand in the +air?" + +"Yes." + +"I don't know him at all." + +"But he called you by name when he bet." + +"I don't know whether he knows me, or not, but I don't know him." + +"That's strange. He acts as if he were a little tipsy. We must find out +who he is. Ah! there's Armand, one of the groomsmen. I say, Armand, come +here a moment; tell us who that man is, whose costume is so +unconventional for a wedding party?" + +"The gentleman in a frock-coat, who runs into everybody?" + +"The same." + +"I have just asked the bride, and she doesn't know him either." + +"And the groom?" + +"He is dancing. But there's his uncle, Monsieur Blanquette; I'll go and +ask him about the fellow; and if nobody knows him, we'll soon show him +the door, I promise you." + +But before the groomsman could reach the bridegroom's uncle, Cherami, +who had spied the linen-draper, hastened to meet him, and said, tapping +him on the stomach: + +"Here I am, my dear friend! You didn't ask me to your party, but I said +to myself: 'I'll go all the same, because, with old acquaintances, one +shouldn't take offence at trifles.'--Then what did I do?--I dined here, +in a private room on the first floor, and dined magnificently, too, I +flatter myself! and then I came up to say bonsoir to you, and to salute +the bride--and to dance with anybody, I don't care who! I'm an obliging +person, you see.--So there you are, my dear Papa Blanquette. Old friends +are always on hand, as the song says." + +Monsieur Blanquette was surprised beyond words to find himself +confronted by the gentleman whom he had met in the afternoon, when he +alighted from his carriage. He did not seem overjoyed to see him at the +ball; but as he did not desire his nephew's wedding party to be +disturbed by any unpleasant scene, he strove to conceal his annoyance, +and rejoined: + +"Faith, Monsieur Cherami, I didn't expect to see you again! So you dined +at this restaurant, did you?" + +"Yes, my estimable friend; and dined deliciously, too, I beg you to +believe." + +"So I perceive!" + +"What! so you perceive! and by what do you perceive it, I pray to know?" + +"Why, because you seem to be much inclined--to laugh." + +"I am always cheerful when I am among my friends. That's my nature, you +know. Pray present me to the bride." + +"But, excuse me--it seems to me that you are hardly in ball dress--and +the ladies are rather particular about that." + +"If you'd invited me, I'd have come in full dress; you didn't invite me, +so I came as a neighbor. All is for the best, as Doctor Pangloss says. +Present me to your niece." + +"Later; they are going to dance now; you see they are forming a +quadrille. Let us go into another room." + +"They are going to dance, eh? Then I'll not go, deuce take me! for I can +dance, you know. I used to be one of the best of La Chaumiere's pupils, +and she was a pupil of Chicard. People fought for places to see me dance +the _Tulipe Orageuse._ I propose to show you that I haven't forgotten it +all." + +Thereupon the ex-beau, leaving Monsieur Blanquette, walked toward the +benches on which the ladies were seated, and offered his gloved hand to +one of the younger ones, saying: + +"Will you do me the honor, lovely coryphee, to accept my hand for this +contra-dance?" + +"I am engaged, monsieur." + +Cherami thereupon addressed the same request to one after another, +varying his phrase slightly; but there was no variation in the replies; +it was always the same formula: + +"I am engaged." + +For no young woman, married or unmarried, cared to dance with a person +so red of face, so shabbily dressed, smelling so strongly of rum, and +with his right hand always behind his back. + +"Sapristi! it seems that all the ladies have been engaged beforehand!" +cried Cherami, glaring at the benches in turn; "I am refused all along +the line!" + +But at every ball there is sure to be some elderly woman, ugly, dowdily +dressed, who still has the assurance to take her place among the +dancers. Our Arthur finally espied a lady of that type, sitting in a +corner; on her head was a sort of turban, laden with an appalling mass +of flowers, feathers, and lace. + +"I shall be unlucky indeed, if this creature is engaged!" said Cherami +to himself, boldly directing his steps toward the turbaned dame. + +He had not delivered half of his invitation, when she rose as if +impelled by a spring, and seized his gloved hand, saying: + +"With pleasure; yes, monsieur; I accept. Oh! I will dance as long as you +please." + +"In that case, fair lady, let us take our places." + +Almost all the sets were full. But Cherami was not to be denied; he +planted himself in front of a short youth and his partner; and when the +youth remonstrated: "But, monsieur, this place is taken, we were here +before you," he replied, in a supercilious tone: "I don't know whether +you were before us, my good man; but I do know that I have the honor to +be here now with madame, and that I will not stir except at the point of +the bayonet!" + +The young man dared not make any further resistance; moreover, the +guests were whispering to one another on all sides: + +"That original is dancing with Aunt Merlin!" + +"What! Aunt Merlin dancing?" + +"Yes, with the man in Scotch trousers. This is going to be great fun!" + +And all those who were not dancing ran to watch the set in which Cherami +and Aunt Merlin were to figure. + +"Sapristi! I have lost one of my gloves!" cried Arthur, making a +pretence of feeling in his pocket, and looking on the floor. "Will you +pardon me, fair lady, for dancing with a single glove?" + +"Oh! certainly, monsieur," replied the lady with the turban, in a +simpering tone; "you are forgiven; indeed, the same thing happened to +Monsieur Courbichon; when he arrived here for the ball, he discovered +that he had lost one of his gloves--only it was the left one, in his +case." + +"Ah! that's very amusing! Then we have the pair between us! I shall +laugh a long while over that. It's our turn, fair lady." + +The first figure passed off quietly enough, as the English chain and the +cat's tail gave Cherami no chance to display his talent; but in the +second, in the _avant-deux_, he began to take steps and attitudes of the +cancan in its purest and most unblushing form. The men laughed till they +cried, and the women as well, murmuring: + +"Why, this is frightful! where does that fellow think he is, for +heaven's sake?" + +The most amusing feature of the episode was that Cherami's partner, +spurred on by the strange evolutions and the eccentric steps of her +cavalier, thought that she ought to do as he did, and began to twist and +turn, and throw her legs to right and left, with an ardor which kept all +the flowers on her turban in commotion. + +The laughter became more uproarious. + +"I venture to believe that we are producing some effect," said Cherami +to his partner; "but I am not surprised; whenever I dance, the people +crowd to watch me." + +Meanwhile, from one end of the room to the other, the guests were +saying: + +"The man in the plaid trousers is dancing the cancan with Aunt Merlin; +it's most amusing!" + +Some of the couples ceased dancing, in order to watch the performance of +Aunt Merlin and her partner. The uproar soon reached the ears of +Monsieur Blanquette, the uncle; the bride's mother, a most respectable +woman, said to him: + +"I beg you, Monsieur Blanquette, go and tell my sister not to dance the +cancan. Everybody here is laughing at her, and she doesn't notice it. +Oh! what a mistake you made in inviting that tall man with the red +face!" + +"Mon Dieu! madame, I assure you that I didn't invite him. He's a man who +owes me money--whom I knew when he was rich and well-dressed.--He has +ruined himself completely. He caught sight of me this morning, when we +were getting out of the carriages; and to-night he takes the liberty of +coming to our ball. I didn't dare tell him to leave--because, you +understand, that's an embarrassing thing to do. But if he presumes to +dance indecently--why, then I shan't hesitate." + +Monsieur Blanquette walked toward the quadrille which caused such a +prodigious sensation. Cherami was in the act of executing the _chaloupe_ +with his partner, who continued to second him as best she could. The +bridegroom's uncle sidled up behind her, and said in an undertone: + +"Don't dance like that, Madame Merlin, I beg you; that's the way they +dance at low dance-halls. Decent people don't make such exhibitions of +themselves in a salon." + +"It seems to me that I am dancing very well, monsieur," replied Aunt +Merlin, sourly; "and the way the people crowd to watch us proves it." + +"I assure you, Madame Merlin, that it isn't proper, and your sister is +much annoyed." + +"My sister's annoyed because she's got beyond dancing. Let her leave me +alone! I propose to dance, I tell you!" + +"What is it, my nymph, eh?" cried Cherami; "what did old Pere Blanquette +say to you?" + +"He declares that our dance isn't proper." + +"Ah! that's very fine! What box has he just come out of, to be shocked +at our dance? Doesn't he go to the play, I wonder? Hasn't he ever seen +the Spanish dancers? They've been at almost all the theatres. Ah! bigre! +if he'd seen those females do their _fandangos_, their _iotas_, and +their _boleros_, and indulge in all sorts of antics, showing their legs, +yes, and their garters too! that's much worse than the cancan. But that +doesn't prevent those Spaniards from drawing the crowd, wherever they +are. And you don't like it, because I dance the cancan, and yet you rush +to see licentious dances performed by women whose costumes add to the +effect of their dancing! Sapristi! for God's sake, try to make up your +mind what you want!--Our turn, my Terpsichore; attention! this is the +_pastourelle_, and I am saving a little surprise for you in the +_cavalier seul._" + +Aunt Merlin darted off like an arrow, paying no heed to the +remonstrances of Pere Blanquette, who heaved sigh upon sigh when he saw +how easy it is to lead a woman on to make a fool of herself, even when +her age should make her sensible. But the time came for Cherami to +perform the _cavalier seul_; excited by all that he had drunk, and +recalling the feats of his younger days, he performed the evolution +called the _araignee_, which consists in throwing yourself flat on your +stomach in front of the opposite couple. This bit of gymnastics was +greeted with frantic laughter; and Aunt Merlin, turning to Papa +Blanquette, cried: + +"What do you say to that? Could you do as much?" + +"No, certainly not, madame; and I wouldn't try," retorted the uncle; +"but I consider it very presumptuous. Your partner must have the devil +in him, to do such crazy things!" + +Aunt Merlin had ceased to listen; the last figure had arrived, that in +which the galop is the leading feature; and said Cherami, as he put his +arm about her waist: + +"We'll just show the others how to galop. Fichtre! they'd better look +out for themselves. They ran into me when they were waltzing, but we'll +pay them back in their own coin." + +With that, he started off with his partner, whirling her about as they +danced. Beau Arthur had been one of the most notable performers in the +formidable galops which are a feature of the masked balls at the Opera. +The punch renewed the vigor of his youth. Throwing himself headlong into +the midst of the assemblage, dancers and onlookers, he rushed through +the room like a whirlwind or an avalanche, hurling this one aside, +colliding with that one, and sowing confusion everywhere. In vain did +they shout to him: + +"Stop, monsieur; stop at once! you're throwing the ladies down!" + +Cherami kept on; not until Aunt Merlin's turban fell, would he consent +to deposit her upon a bench, with her eyes starting from her head. But +at that moment several gentlemen, boiling over with wrath, surrounded +the terrible galoper. + +"Monsieur, you threw my partner down!" + +"Monsieur, you have crushed my daughter's nose!" + +"Monsieur, you upset my wife; when she fell, her elastic skirt sprang up +over her head, so that everybody could see--what I alone have the right +to see!" + +"Monsieur, you must give me satisfaction!" + +"Monsieur, you haven't seen the end of this!" + +While he was thus apostrophized on all sides, Cherami calmly wiped the +perspiration from his face, and said: + +"Sapristi! what's the matter with them all? They are delightful!--I +consider that you're a delightful lot! You ought to have got out of the +way; that's what I did, when you ran into me while you were waltzing +just now. Is it my fault, if you don't know how to keep on your legs? +What a terrible thing, if your estimable daughter's nose is a little +bruised; and if your wife, monsieur, did show some admirable things! It +seems to me that you ought to be flattered by the accident, for +everybody must envy your good fortune." + +These retorts were far from appeasing the wrath of the husbands, +brothers, and fathers who had been maltreated in the persons of the +objects of their affections. But Uncle Blanquette forced his way through +the crowd, and said to him who had caused all the confusion, assuming a +tone which he strove to make dignified: + +"Monsieur, you have caused a grave perturbation at my nephew's wedding +party----" + +"Ha! ha! _perturbation_ is a pretty word; I must remember it. Never +mind; proceed, Papa Blanquette." + +"People in our society do not indulge in such improper dances as those +you have performed, monsieur." + +"But, if I remember right, Aunt Merlin seemed to enjoy that dance pretty +well." + +"I didn't invite you to our ball, monsieur; so I consider it much +too--much too----" + +"Presumptuous!--you can't find the word, but that's it, I fancy; eh?" + +"Yes, monsieur; too presumptuous, to appear where you're not invited, +and especially in a costume so negligee as yours. You have thrown down +enough persons; we don't care to have any more of it, and I beg you to +go." + +"Ah! that's your idea of politeness, is it? Very good! bonsoir! I will +go! Your party isn't so very fine, after all; I haven't seen a single +glass of punch. And you fancy that you do things in style, do you? No, +no! you're a long way behind the times!" + +"Be good enough to remember also, monsieur, that you owe me four hundred +and ninety-five francs; and, if you don't quit, I will take harsh +measures----" + +"Bravo! I expected that--that's the bouquet! The idea of talking about +your account at a ball! Look you, old Blanquette: you make me sick! +_Adieu, Rome, I go!_--Mesdames, I lay my homage at your feet. I am sorry +to have jostled you a little; but, on my word of honor, it was the fault +of your partners; they didn't know how to hold you." + +This fresh insult to the male portion of the guests renewed their wrath, +and they threatened to attack Cherami. He removed his yellow glove and +threw it at their feet, saying: + +"Here, this is all I can do for you! I expect you all to-morrow morning. +My friend Blanquette[C] of veal will give you my address. Bring pistols, +sabres, swords, what you please. I shall have nothing but a rabbit's +tail, understand, and with that rabbit's tail I defy you all!" + +This heroic challenge seemed to calm the wrath of his adversaries to +some extent. But, while they were staring at one another, a little, bald +man darted forward and picked up the glove. + +"That's my glove," he cried; "I recognize it; it's the left-hand glove +that I lost; it has been mended on the thumb; this is the very one!" + +Cherami did not hear Monsieur Courbichon. He left the ballroom, passed +rapidly through the cardroom, and, taking a hat from a nail and a cane +from a corner, left the last of the rooms and descended the stairs, +saying to himself: + +"I snap my fingers at them. I'm not sorry I went to that party. I have +my cue!" + +And Cherami patted the pocket in which were the gold pieces he had won +at ecarte. + +At the foot of the staircase, he saw several ladies standing, waiting +for their carriages; they were guests of the party on the first floor, +just leaving the ball. In a moment, another young couple appeared, and +one of the ladies said to another: + +"What does this mean? the bride going away already?" + +"Yes, I believe she doesn't feel very well." + +"Aha! that's the bride, who goes so early!" cried Cherami, putting his +head forward. "Yes! it's she! it's the faithless Fanny! I recognize +her." + +These words were hardly out of his mouth, when the husband, who had his +wife on his arm, left her abruptly, looked about, and rushed up to +Cherami, to whom he said in a voice that trembled with emotion: + +"Was it you who just spoke, monsieur?" + +"What's that! Suppose it was? Well, yes, I did speak. Do you mean to say +that it isn't my right?" + +"Was it you who said: 'It's the faithless Fanny'?" + +"Yes, pardieu! it was. Oh! I never deny my words." + +"This is neither the time nor the place for an explanation, monsieur; +but I will call on you to-morrow, and, if you're not a coward, you will +give me satisfaction." + +"I, a coward! Arthur Cherami, a coward! Well, well! that's a good one! +And I have just challenged the whole Blanquette wedding party! I am +always ready to fight with whatever anyone chooses--from a pin to a +cannon, I'm your man!" + +"We will see about that to-morrow. Your address?" + +"There it is. I always carry a card about me with a view to affairs of +this sort." + +Monleard took the soiled yellow card which Cherami drew from his pocket, +and hastened after his wife, who was already in the carriage. This +little scene had taken place so rapidly that the persons who were +standing had been able to catch only a few words. + +The carriage which contained the newly married pair drove away. Cherami +looked about for a cab, and having finally found one, jumped in, and +called out to the driver: + +"Rue de l'Orillon, Barriere de Belleville. I will tell you when we reach +my hotel."--Then he stretched himself out comfortably on the back seat, +with his feet on the other, murmuring: "The day has been complete. An +excellent dinner, punch, cards, a ball, and a duel! And this morning I +hadn't the wherewithal to buy a small loaf! In my place, a fool would +have jumped into the water. But, with clever people, there is always +some resource." + + + + +XVII + +FURNISHED LODGINGS ON RUE DE L'ORILLON + + +Rue de l'Orillon, which is outside the barrier, near the Belleville +theatre, bears not the slightest resemblance to Rue de Rivoli, or to Rue +de la Paix. There is much mud there at almost all seasons, and there are +very few shops of the Magasin du Prophete variety; indeed, I think that +I can safely say that there are none. + +It was in a wretched furnished lodging on this street outside the walls +that the ci-devant Beau Arthur, who had once dwelt in the fashionable +precincts of the Champs-Elysees and the Chaussee d'Antin, had been +compelled to take up his abode. He did not often pay his rent; however, +on the day when he received his quarterly stipend, he sometimes +persuaded himself to give two or three five-franc pieces to his +landlady, and she waited patiently for her arrears, because she was +proud to furnish lodgings to a man who had once had thirty-five thousand +francs a year, and who still retained a trace of his former social +position in his manners and his language. + +The room occupied by Cherami was not furnished like the apartments of +the Hotel du Louvre. A blue wallpaper, at thirteen sous a roll, took the +place of hangings; but this paper, already old, was torn in several +places, and the breaches were concealed by scraps of paper of a +different design, and, in many instances, of a different color, which +gave to the room a sort of Harlequin aspect which was not altogether +disagreeable--especially to those persons who like that costume. Now, +Harlequins are very popular in Rue de l'Orillon. + +A miserable cot-bed, surmounted by a rod which had never been gilded, +and over which was thrown a curtain of yellow cloth much too narrow to +surround the bed, stood opposite the window. At the foot of the bed was +a screen four feet high, which was supposed to be a protection against +the wind that came in under the ill-fitted door. A Louis XVI commode, an +old Louis XV armchair, and a desk which claimed to be Louis XIII, with a +few common chairs, were all the furniture that the apartment contained. +On the mantel were two kitchen candlesticks, a small box of matches, and +several cigar-butts, but not a single pipe: Arthur would have deemed +himself a dishonored man if he had put a pipe to his lips. + +It was noon, and Cherami lay on his bed, having just waked up. He +stretched his arms, rubbed his eyes, and, glancing at the window, said +to himself: + +"On my word, I believe I've had quite a nap! Yes, if I can judge by the +sun, which is shining in at my window, the morning must be well +advanced. It is often unpleasant not to have a watch; but, at all +events, in a furnished lodging-house there should be a clock on each +mantel. That villainous Madame Louchard, my landlady, promises me every +month that indispensable complement of my furniture, and I am like +Sister Anne, I see nothing coming. _Par la sambleu!_ as they say in +Marivaux's plays, the rest has done me good, for yesterday was a +tiresome day! But it seems to me that I had at least a dozen duels on +hand for this morning; the deuce! and I don't know what time it is." + +Thereupon Cherami began to knock loudly on the thin partition beside his +bed, shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Madame Louchard! I say there! Goddess of Cythera! Landlady of the +Loves! Venus of La Courtille! hasten hither, I beseech thee.--Come, lady +fair; I await thee! I await thee!--Damnation! start your boots, will +you!" + +After some five minutes, heavy footsteps were heard in the corridor, and +a tall woman, thin as a lath, whose flat hips indicated a most profound +contempt for every sort of hoop-skirt, entered the room occupied by +Cherami. This woman had a huge nose, huge mouth, huge teeth, huge ears, +and feet and hands to correspond. A child who had heard the tale of +Little Red Riding Hood would inevitably have been afraid of her, +mistaking her for the wolf disguised as the grandmother. + +To complete the portrait, we may add that Madame Louchard had a yellow +complexion, bleared eyes, and a nose always smeared with snuff; that her +costume consisted of a long dressing-gown, shaped like an umbrella case +(a reminder of the style in vogue under the Directory); and, finally, +that her head-dress was a white cap, around which was tied a colored +cotton handkerchief. + +"Well! what's the matter? What are you shouting and hammering for? +Couldn't you get up, Monsieur Lazy-bones? I should think it had been +light long enough." + +Such was this lady's way of bidding her tenant good-morning. + +"You are right as to that point, Queen of Cythera," replied Cherami, +half rising. + +"God forgive me! I believe he intends to get up before me! Was that why +you called me--to let me see that sight? That strikes me as a strange +kind of joke!" + +"Nay, nay, virtuous Louchard; I will not rise in your presence. I know +the rigidity of your morals, and I respect them! I know that with you +Richelieu and Buckingham would have wasted their time." + +"I don't know those gentlemen, but it would be just the same with them +as with others! I have told you a hundred times that, since my husband's +death, the late Louchard, men are nothing to me!" + +"It would seem that the late Louchard was a phoenix, a jewel, the very +pearl of husbands?" + +"On the contrary, he had a lot of hidden drawbacks, and he was always +drunk. That's what made me take a dislike to your sex, in the matter of +love." + +"Very good! I agree with you, on my honor. I think you did well to adopt +that course." + +"Why?" + +"Because it makes you resemble Dido. But let us change the subject; tell +me quickly what time it is." + +"_Dame!_ it's a good half-hour--yes, at least half an hour--since I +heard the clock strike twelve." + +"Then say at once that it's half-past twelve. Bigre! I have been lazy, +and no mistake; but when I came in last night, it was two o'clock in the +morning." + +"No earlier; and you woke me up, too; you always make such a noise on +the stairs!" + +"At all events, I didn't wake your concierge, as you haven't one." + +"What's the good of a concierge?--Everybody knows the secret of the +passageway, and they can come in when they choose." + +"And by feeling their way, which is often very imprudent." + +"But I believe you rode home last night. Do the omnibuses run as late as +that nowadays?" + +"Omnibuses! Understand, Widow Louchard, that when I come home after +midnight, I always come in a coupe or a cab." + +"Peste! so the funds have gone up, have they? You'd better give me +something on account." + +"Don't bother me! I gave you ten francs." + +"That was two months ago." + +"That's not the question. Has anybody called to see me this morning?" + +"No, not a cat." + +"Not a cat! Oh! the cowards!" + +"Why do you say that cats are cowards? Mine would fight a bulldog." + +"I'm not talking about your cat, Widow Louchard; but about a lot of +braggarts, all of whom challenged me yesterday, and who don't dare to +call on me to-day." + +"Do you mean that you wanted to fight again, pray? Good God! is it a +disease with you? It isn't so very long since you were cured of that +bullet in your side." + +"Bah! a trifle, a scratch. I am not quarrelsome; but when a man seems to +look askance at me, that irritates me. After all, I am not particular +about seeing those walking rushlights of the Blanquette wedding party. +But there was another man; if he doesn't come, I shall be surprised. +However, it's not too late yet; he was only married yesterday, and a man +doesn't get up very early on the day after his wedding." + +"What! you expect to fight with someone who was married yesterday?" + +"Why not? We marry, we fight, we kill--or are killed! Such is life, +lovely Artemisia!" + +"What makes you call me Artemisia? that isn't my name." + +"Because she was a widow who profoundly regretted her husband." + +"But I have never regretted mine a single minute." + +"That makes no difference.--So you say it's half-past twelve? Sapristi! +Madame Louchard, when is that clock coming that you've been promising me +so long?" + +"I'm waiting for a good chance. I want something to match the rest of +the furniture." + +"In that case, my dear friend, as I have here a so-called Louis XIII +desk, a Louis XV armchair, and a Louis XVI commode, it seems to me that +you cannot do otherwise than procure a Louis XIV clock, to fill up the +inter-regnum and reestablish the continuity of the dynasty." + +"Yes, yes; I've seen lately a little rococo Pompadour one, second-hand." + +"Take care! you don't go back far enough; I didn't say Pompadour, which +would land you in the middle of Louis XV's reign! I said Louis XIV." + +"Fourteenth or fifteenth! so long as it ain't too dear.--But what's all +this? when I said you were in funds, I wasn't mistaken, was I? You've +bought a new hat! I must say, you did well; for yours wouldn't have +lasted out a storm." + +"A new hat! What are you talking about, my fair hostess? I have thought +of it more than once, but I have not yet carried out my project." + +"Why, what's this, then?" + +Madame Louchard took a hat from the commode and handed it to Cherami, +who stared at it with wide-open eyes; for the hat was quite new and of a +stylish shape. + +"What the devil! is that my hat? That's a surprising thing; it has +changed, much to its advantage; it has grown at least two years younger; +and it fits me, pardieu! Yes, it fits me nicely; it's just the shape of +my head." + +"Of course you bought it yesterday?" + +"Oh! no, I didn't buy it, I tell you again. Ah! I see: when I left that +wedding ball, I was a little excited--a little angry; I seized the first +hat that came under my hand, thinking it was mine." + +"Well, there's no denying that you've got a lucky hand; you haven't lost +by the change." + +"Oh! dear me, such mistakes occur so often at balls and evening parties, +that, frankly, I shall not demand mine back." + +"You will make no mistake; but the man who found your hat in place of +his--he may want his back." + +"Very well! let him come; I am ready for him; I'll return his old tile, +and give him others to boot." + +"Ah! but that isn't all." + +"What else is there, Widow Louchard? Can it be that I came home with two +hats? I admit that that would astonish me." + +"No, it isn't a hat this time; but this cane--this isn't your +clothes-beater, which wasn't worth six sous." + +Madame Louchard picked up a cane which lay in a corner of the room; it +was a genuine rattan, with an agate head surrounded by gold rings, and +cut in very peculiar fashion. She showed it to Cherami, who exclaimed in +admiration: + +"Oho! why, that's a beauty! A charming cane, excellent style--not too +heavy; I like this sort of cameo for a head very much." + +"So you got your cane the same way you did your hat, eh?" + +"Pardieu! that goes without saying. It stood beside the hat. You see, I +had placed my switch beside my beaver--so the joke was complete." + +"Well, you're mighty lucky in your mistakes; that's sure. This cane must +have cost a lot of money." + +"Oh! I have seen much finer ones than this, in the old days. What the +devil are you looking for on the floor and on the furniture, Madame +Louchard?" + +"_Dame!_ I'm looking to see if you haven't brought something else home, +by mistake." + +Cherami instantly sat up in bed, crying: + +"Thunder of Jupiter! Widow Louchard, what do you take me for, I'd like +to know? Do you think I'm a thief, a pickpocket? I had a hat and a cane, +and on leaving a ball I took a hat and a cane. They're not the ones that +belong to me; I made a mistake, I was in error, and that may happen to +anybody--_errare humanum est_, do you understand? No, you don't +understand; never mind. But to carry away anything to which I have no +right--fie! for shame!--To prove that I wouldn't do such a thing--I +found a glove, and I returned it. Let me tell you, madame, that a man +may be without money, have debts, borrow and not pay, and even play +cards on his word--for if I had lost last night, I shouldn't have been +able to pay on the spot; but all those things don't prevent one's being +an honest man." + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Cherami, I don't say they do; you go off all of a +sudden, like a spitfire!" + +"Last night, I confess, I had dined very well. I wasn't drunk; I never +get drunk; I was simply a little confused, which fully explains all +these mistakes; and now, I feel as if I could take something." + +"Would you like to have me make you a nice onion soup, while you're +getting up? There's nothing that'll set you up better, the day after a +spree." + +"Onion soup! I do not disdain that dish; but I am tempted to look +higher, and I believe that a good chicken---- But what's all that noise? +I should say that a carriage was stopping in front of the hotel! Go and +look, my dear hostess." + +Madame Louchard went to the window. + +"Yes, it is," she said; "a handsome private cabriolet, with a fine +dapple-gray horse, and a groom in livery! And there's a young dandy +getting out; he's looking at the house; he's coming in; it must be for +me." + +"For you? Oh! no, it's for me, by all the devils! It must be that young +husband, and here am I still in bed! I must dress at the double-quick." + +Cherami jumped out of his bed, in his nightshirt; whereupon Madame +Louchard instantly took flight, crying: + +"I don't like this sort of thing, Monsieur Cherami; I told you not to +get up before me. And a man who don't wear drawers, too!" + +"Aha! my dear hostess, it would seem that you risked a glance! Oh! these +women! they are all descended from Lot's wife! It's a pity that they're +not changed into salt nowadays at every indiscretion; that would make a +handsome reduction in the price of that product!" + + + + +XVIII + +A DUEL WITHOUT WITNESSES + + +It was, in fact, Monsieur Monleard who had alighted from the cabriolet, +and, having scrutinized the exterior of the furnished lodging-house, had +ventured into the rather gloomy hall of that establishment. There he +looked in vain for the concierge; but the proprietor often served in +that capacity, and it was she herself who hastily descended the stairs. + +"Do you know a certain Monsieur Cherami in this house, madame?" + +"Yes, monsieur; indeed I know him, as he's my tenant." + +"Ah! very good. Would you kindly direct me to his room?" + +"Second floor, second door on the right." + +"Do you think that I shall find him?" + +"Certainly, monsieur; for I just left him, and he was just going to get +up." + +"Thanks! Pardon me, madame; a word or two more, if you please." + +"As many as you want, monsieur; I'm in no hurry." + +"I would be glad, madame, to obtain some information about this +gentleman: to know who he is, and what he does." + +"Mon Dieu! it won't take long to tell you; he don't do anything, he +lives on his income; he's a man who used to be very rich, and who did as +so many others do--ran through his fortune with fast women; now, he's on +his uppers; for I guess the income isn't very heavy!" + +"Exceedingly obliged, madame." + +Monleard left Madame Louchard, and went up to Cherami's room. That +worthy was dressing behind his screen; but as it barely reached his +shoulders, he was perfectly able to see anybody who came in, and could +converse over the leaves of the article of furniture which encompassed +him. + +"Monsieur Arthur Cherami?" said the fashionably dressed young man as he +entered. + +"Present! here I am, monsieur. A thousand pardons for not being dressed; +but it will take me only a minute. Pray be kind enough to take a seat +while you wait." + +"Thanks, I am not tired." + +"Then, remain standing. You may do as you please.--Where the devil did I +put my false collar?" + +"You divine the motive of my visit, monsieur, I fancy?" + +"What! do I divine it? Why, I have been waiting for you, with some +impatience. But I said to myself: 'That gentleman will not come very +early, because, on the day after his wedding---- ' Ha! ha! I don't think +I need say any more." + +"It has occurred to me, monsieur, that our duel might as well take place +without witnesses. The subject of our dispute is such a delicate one! +There are some things which one doesn't like to make a noise about; for +the world, which is unkind, as a general rule, sometimes makes a +mountain out of what was----" + +"Only a mouse--_parturiens montes._ I am entirely of your opinion.--Ah! +I have my collar." + +"Then, monsieur, you consent to fight with no other witness than my +servant?" + +"Very gladly; I have already fought that way more than once." + +"Thinking that you might have no weapons, monsieur, I brought two swords +and a pair of pistols with me." + +"You did very well; for, as you foresaw, I am without weapons at this +moment. Ah! I used to have some beautiful ones in the old days! My +pistols were made by Devisme; I could bring down a fly at fifty yards; +but I had to let them go. What would you have? _Deus dederat, Deus +abstulit._--I will just put on my coat, and I am at your service." + +"This is a most extraordinary individual," said Auguste Monleard to +himself as he listened. + +The Latin with which Cherami sprinkled his discourse, and his air of +good-breeding, had modified the opinion he had formed of him; and he was +not sorry to learn that he was not about to fight with a man devoid of +breeding and education. + +At last, Arthur came out from behind his screen, and saluted his +adversary with all the ease of a man of the world, saying: + +"Now I am at your service." + +"Very good, monsieur. Doubtless you are well acquainted with this +quarter, this neighborhood. It is entirely unfamiliar to me. Is there +any spot hereabout where we can fight comfortably--without having to +travel a couple of leagues to Vincennes or the Bois de Boulogne?" + +"Wait a moment, while I think. We could go behind the Buttes +Saint-Chaumont; there are some quarries there, where no one would see +us. But it's rather hard to get there in a carriage; and then, too, the +ground's rather uneven, and sometimes there are some low-lived rascals +prowling about. But, pardieu! we have just what we want, close at hand. +In the next street there's a large vacant lot, on which they're going to +build, but the building isn't begun yet. No one ever passes through that +street; we shall be as retired as we should be in our own house." + +"But can we get into the lot?" + +"Yes, indeed. On the street there's nothing but a board fence, and +there's a gate in it. If there's anyone there, we'll say we are +architects; that will make it all right." + +"And it's not far from here?" + +"We shall be there in five minutes." + +"In that case, monsieur, let us go. We will let my cabriolet follow us." + +"That's right; and as we must avoid making a noise and attracting +attention, we will fight with swords, if you choose." + +"With pleasure, monsieur." + +Monleard and Cherami went down the stairs together. Madame Louchard, who +was standing at the hall-door, was very much puzzled when she saw her +tenant leave the house with the fashionably dressed owner of the +cabriolet; but she dared not ask him a question. Instead of turning +toward the main street of Belleville, the two men took a street which +ran behind the theatre of that suburb. + +Walking side by side with the individual with whom he was to fight, +Monleard, more and more amazed by his adversary's courteous manners and +by his use of language which denoted familiarity with good society, said +to him after a while: + +"We are going to fight a duel, monsieur; that is a settled thing, which +neither you nor I, I am sure, have any intention of avoiding." + +"I agree with you, monsieur." + +"But, before the duel takes place, will you not do me the favor to tell +me where you knew the lady whom I have married, and how long you have +known her?" + +"It will give me very great pleasure to answer you. I have not the +slightest acquaintance with your wife, and I never saw her until +yesterday. First, when she alighted from her carriage at Deffieux's +restaurant; and again, when you were taking her away last night, and I +met you." + +"But, in that case, monsieur, how do you explain the words you uttered: +'There's the faithless Fanny'? Was it a bet? Was it an insult?--And, +again, how did you know my wife's Christian name, since you did not know +her?" + +"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I can explain it all to you in a few words, +and you will say that events succeeded one another naturally enough. +When your young wife alighted from her carriage, a young man--a very +pretty fellow, on my word! but a perfect stranger to me--was standing +near me, in front of the restaurant. The poor fellow really made my +heart ache: he was in the depths of despair, he tore his hair--no, he +didn't go so far as that; but, what was worse, he insisted on accosting +the bride and making a scene. I remonstrated with him, I prevented his +doing it, and made him see that it would be in the worst possible taste +to cause such a scandal in the street." + +"I thank you, monsieur. But the young man's name--do you know it?" + +"He told me while we were dining; for we dined together, and he told me +the whole story of his love affair. I must hasten to add that there was +nothing in it which casts the slightest reflection on madame's honor. +But she allowed that young man to pay court to her, she flattered him +with the hope that she would marry him some day. But when you appeared, +the scales were very soon turned in your favor, and my poor lover was +given the mitten." + +"Then the man who told you all this must have been Monsieur Gustave +Darlemont?" + +"The very same; those are his names." + +"Yes, I remember meeting him now and then at Monsieur Gerbault's, in the +first days of my intimacy with that family. You will agree, +monsieur,--for you seem well acquainted with society and its +customs,--that it is indiscreet, to say no more, for a young man who has +been kindly received by a respectable family, to go about telling of his +love affairs, his disappointed hopes, in short, all his affairs, to +someone whom he doesn't know, and whom he meets by chance in the +street." + +"It was, perhaps, a little foolish, I admit; but we must excuse some +foolish performances in a lover. Poor Gustave adored your wife--he +adores her still. She flirted a bit with him." + +"Monsieur!" + +"Oh! bless my soul, all the women do it; I know that well enough; maids, +wives, and widows--before, during, and after--they always do it. It's +their original sin. Eve set the example by flirting with the serpent. To +try to cure them of that failing would be to attempt the impossible: +women are made that way. _Quid levius pluma? pulvis! Quid pulvere? +ventus! Quid vento? mulier! Quid muliere? nihil!_" + +"But, monsieur, how did it happen that it was you, and not this Monsieur +Gustave, who indulged in that insulting exclamation?" + +"For a very simple reason: Gustave wasn't there. After dining with me, +at the same restaurant where you had your wedding banquet, for he was +absolutely determined to speak to your wife, to bid her a last +farewell----" + +"The impertinent wretch! if he had dared!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! you wouldn't have known anything about it. The women do +so many things that we don't know! But a certain uncle made his +appearance--a gentleman who doesn't joke, and who hasn't an amiable +manner every day. He dragged his nephew away, deaf to his prayers and +lamentations--and poor Gustave had to go, without a sight of his +faithless Fanny.--I beg your pardon, but that's the expression he always +used in speaking of madame your wife; and that is why that exclamation +escaped me last night, when I saw her on your arm. Now you know the +whole story. Faith! here we are; see, this is the board fence about the +vacant lot. We can go in here; there's a solution of continuity. Not so +much as a cat, inside or out; this is delightful. You can get the swords +from your servant." + +Monleard, having taken the swords from his groom, ordered him to stay by +the cabriolet; then he and Cherami entered the vacant lot, which had +been made ready for building, but as yet contained nothing but stone. +They soon reached a spot where there was nothing to embarrass them; +there they removed their coats and stood at guard. By the way in which +Cherami stood, the young dandy saw at once that he had to do with an +expert fencer; and, as he was himself well skilled in the use of the +sword, he was not sorry to meet an adversary worthy of his steel. + +But after one or two passes, one or two deftly parried attacks, Monleard +realized that he had before him an antagonist of the first order; and +that he must needs exert his utmost talent and strength to gain the +advantage. He had expected to have done with his opponent in a few +thrusts; his self-esteem was touched by the necessity of defending +himself. He attacked with an impetuosity which sometimes made him forget +to be prudent; and Cherami, who fought as coolly as if he were playing +shuttlecock, said to him from time to time: + +"Take care, you are making mistakes, you'll run on my sword, you strike +down too much! I give you warning; it won't be my fault. Ah! what did I +tell you?" + +Monleard, attacking awkwardly, had received a thrust in the arm, and the +wound was so painful that he had to drop his sword. + +"Enough, I am beaten!" said the young man, struggling to conceal his +suffering. "But you are a skilful fencer, monsieur." + +"Yes, I am somewhat expert with the foils. Wait a moment; let me take +your handkerchief and bind up the wound, to stop the blood. Then we'll +make a sling with your black silk cravat." + +"I am extremely obliged, monsieur; a thousand pardons for the trouble I +am causing you." + +"Why, between honorable men, this is the way it should always be: when +the fight's over, shake hands. It's a pity the sword went in so far, or +we might have breakfasted together." + +"Oh! I am forced to admit that that would be quite impossible." + +"Yes, I understand. You are in for a fortnight of it, perhaps three +weeks. There's a lot of muscles in the arm, that are as obstinate as the +devil about getting well. Are you strong enough to walk to your +cabriolet, leaning on me? Shall I call your groom?" + +"Oh! there's no need; I can walk with your assistance." + +"Take my arm, and don't be afraid to lean on it." + +Monleard succeeded, although suffering intensely, in reaching his +carriage, which Cherami assisted him to enter, after putting the swords +inside. Then, saluting his adversary, who thanked him again, Cherami +walked away, saying: + +"Delighted to have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance!" + + + + +XIX + +A SALON IN THE CHAUSSEE D'ANTIN + + +Three weeks after the marriage of Fanny Gerbault and the brilliant +Auguste Monleard, the exceedingly handsome salon of a house on Rue +Neuve-des-Mathurins contained, about nine o'clock in the evening, a +company in which, although small in numbers, we shall find several +persons of our acquaintance. + +First of all, this young woman seated on a _causeuse_, beside a lovely +table of Chinese lacquer, and working carelessly upon a piece of +embroidery, is the newly made bride, Fanny, now Madame Monleard, in a +charming gown of the sort one wears at home, to receive a few friends; +she has no other head-dress than her own hair, which is arranged with +much taste, the back hair being braided and wound about the head, like a +crown. + +Marriage has not impaired the young woman's beauty; her complexion is +fresh and rosy, her eyes gleam with greater animation, and about her +lips plays a smile of satisfaction, almost of beatitude, except, +however, when her eyes happen to fall upon a newspaper which lies on the +table, open at the page containing the transactions on the Bourse, and +the stock quotations. At such times, her brows contract slightly, and +her lips close; but that feeling of vexation soon disappears, the +charming Fanny turns her eyes elsewhere, and her face resumes its +amiable and contented expression. + +A short distance away, another young woman is sitting at the piano, +turning over the leaves of a volume of music. It is Adolphine, Fanny's +sister. You know already that her hair is not so black as her sister's, +and that her eyes are a little smaller, which fact does not prevent +Adolphine from being a charming person; above all, there is on her face +a sweet and melancholy expression, which always attracts, and arouses +interest. A little taller than her sister, Adolphine has a slender, +elegant figure; her walk is always graceful. Pretty women have this +peculiarity in common with cats, that there is in their slightest +movements an indefinable fascination; and this quality is not the +attribute of the most coquettish only, but equally of those in whom +grace of movement is entirely natural. + +For some time past, Adolphine's melancholy had almost become sadness; +her eyes were often fixed on the ground, and she would sit for hours +buried in thought, which, if one could judge by the expression of her +features, was not concerned with pleasant memories. Suddenly, she would +emerge from her abstraction, and, as if ashamed of having abandoned +herself to her reveries, would glance hastily about, to see if anyone +had noticed her; and would strive to smile, in order to conceal the +thoughts with which her heart was occupied; but her smile was never very +real, and her merriment was like her smile. + +Beyond the piano was a card-table, at which four persons were playing +the inevitable whist. First, there was a lady evidently on the wrong +side of forty, but who had once been very pretty, and who still produced +a brilliant effect by artificial light, thanks to an extremely careful +toilet, in which were employed all those invaluable cosmetics which help +to prevent a lady from appearing old. Furthermore, Madame de +Mirallon--such was her name--wore diamonds of very great value at her +neck and in her ears. But those who claim that diamonds embellish a +woman are entirely mistaken; we should say simply that they enrich her; +and, in this connection, we may well remember the remark of Apelles: +"You make her rich, because you cannot make her beautiful." + +At this lady's right was a man of about fifty years, with an intelligent +and distinguished face, somewhat cold and reserved in manner, but +unimpeachably courteous, even when, in the course of conversation, he +indulged in a stinging retort. He spoke but little, however, and his +dress and bearing were perfectly consonant with his age. He was Monsieur +Clairval. + +Opposite him was a young man, neither handsome nor ugly, but dressed +with extreme care, and with a head of hair worthy to figure in a +wig-maker's show-window. It should be said that the young dandy was the +proud possessor of a forest of chestnut locks, a fertile field for the +invention of a hair-dresser. Monsieur Anatole de Raincy--such was the +young man's name--played cards in straw-colored gloves, moulded to a +pair of tiny hands of which he seemed to be very proud, and which he +kept always in evidence. To complete the portrait, we must add a small +light chestnut moustache, eyeglasses, and a constant lisp in his speech. + +The fourth whist player, who was the lady's partner, was a man about +forty years old, a faded blonde, with a conceited and idiotic air; a +doll's face, from which protruded a pair of great eyes which were always +rolling from side to side with an astonished expression--an expression +which never varied. He bowed whenever anyone spoke to him, and found a +way to pay compliments to everybody, accompanying his speeches with a +conventional smile, which he retained even when he was listening to +others; all of which may afford you in anticipation an accurate idea of +the ingenuousness of this individual, whose name was Batonnin. + +An old beau, of at least sixty years, but who affected the dress, the +gait, and all the manners of a young man, fluttered about the table, +dancing attendance on the ladies; his face alone persisted in betraying +his age, although its owner did his utmost to avoid the scrutiny of the +curious. But his cheeks, which had fallen in on account of the loss of +his teeth, a very long nose, purple at the end, and an assortment of +wrinkles which streaked his temples, made it impossible for that face to +create an illusion. As for the hair, it was of a fine, glossy black, +which proved that he wore a wig. + +Such was Monsieur le Comte de la Beriniere, a venerable dandy, who still +possessed a handsome fortune, although he had consumed a portion of his +means by living like a prince, and paying assiduous court to the fair +sex. Monsieur de la Beriniere's great fault was his obstinate belief +that he was still young and fascinating, and his consequent persistence +in seeking to make conquests. However, being descended from an +illustrious family, and having all the manners of a grand seigneur, the +count, albeit he had not overmuch intelligence, had, at all events, the +merit of being always amiable and cheerful; and, as we see, he had never +chosen to meddle with any but the attractive features of life. We may +add that he had never married. + +The count left the whist table, and, approaching Madame Monleard, +examined her embroidery. + +"Ah! what pretty work that is you are doing, belle dame! Why, you seem +to possess all the talents!" + +"Mon Dieu! I haven't so very many!" + +"Is it a rug you're making?" + +"No; it's a design for a footstool." + +"What a lucky dog Monleard is! He has married a treasure!" + +"You exaggerate, monsieur le comte." + +"No, I say what I think; and if I had known you earlier---- Oh! I know +what I'd have done! Ah! Dieu!" + +"What a sigh! Ha! ha! ha!" + +"It makes you laugh to hear me sigh?" + +"Why, what other effect should it have on me?" + +"Ah! women are cruel sometimes. But, no matter! if I had known you +before Monleard, I would have solicited the honor of making you Comtesse +de la Beriniere." + +"What nonsense!" + +"Oh! I am not joking. But fate willed otherwise. And I say again that +Monleard is a lucky dog.--By the way, how is his arm?" + +"It is improving slowly; he can't use it yet." + +"It's a long while getting well.--And to think that that accident +happened the very day after your wedding!" + +"Yes, the next day." + +"He fell on the stairs, I believe?" + +"Yes, he slipped, and fell on his arm." + +"For heaven's sake, Monsieur de la Beriniere, do come and advise my +partner, Monsieur Batonnin. Upon my word, he's been making mistake after +mistake!" + +"It must be my pleasure in playing with you, madame, that distracts me," +rejoined the little man with the protruding eyes, bowing to his partner. + +"In that case, monsieur, moderate your pleasure, I entreat you, and +don't trump my kings any more." + +The count regretfully quitted the young bride and returned to the +card-table, saying: + +"But monsieur doesn't need my advice; he plays very well." + +"Oh! you are too good, monsieur!" + +"I am well aware that Monsieur de la Beriniere prefers to pay court to +the ladies rather than watch the game!" rejoined Madame de Mirallon, in +a tone which she intended to be ironical, but in which there was a +slight tincture of mortification; "but he can afford to spare us a few +moments." + +"Whatever is agreeable to you, I will do, madame." + +"Indeed! But it did not suit your pleasure to join our game?" + +"Madame, if you would kindly attend to your play----" + +"Oh! Monsieur Clairval is so severe!" + +"No, madame; but we don't usually talk when we're playing whist." + +"Mon Dieu! if one must never say a word---- Ah! Monsieur Batonnin, that +is too cruel! Don't you remember my signal?" + +"I beg your pardon, madame; but no man is required to do the +impossible." + +"I don't understand proverbs." + +"That means," observed the count, with a laugh, "that monsieur has no +club." + +"That makes no difference; his game was to play one." + +"Let us put our cards on the table, and play that way; it will be +simpler," interposed Monsieur Clairval. + +"I had thutht ath lief; I played that way onth, a three-handed game with +a dummy." + +"Monsieur de Raincy, I might justly complain, as well as madame; but I +see that this is an evening of absent-mindedness." + +"Why, what did I do wrong. I don't thee----" + +"Oh! I shall tell you later." + +"I flatter mythelf that I play a fine game of whitht." + +"You are quite right!" + +"Well, Monsieur Batonnin! well! what are you thinking about?" + +"I thought you would trump, madame." + +"We've lost the odd--and it's your fault." + +"We have won." + +"Now for the rubber!" + +"I beg you, Monsieur de la Beriniere, stand behind Monsieur +Batonnin.--Oh! he doesn't listen to me! he has gone to pay his court to +Mademoiselle Adolphine. What a butterfly that man is, and when will he +sober down?" + +"It seems to me," observed Monsieur Clairval, with a smile, "that it +would be rather hard for him to change his habits now." + +The count had, in fact, approached Adolphine, who was still pretending +to be absorbed in the music-books, and who apparently did not see that +anyone was by her side. + +"You are fond of music, mademoiselle?" + +"Ah!--I beg your pardon. Yes, monsieur, very." + +"Do you sing?" + +"A little." + +"Young ladies are never willing to admit that they sing more than a +little. I don't refer to you, mademoiselle. I am told that your voice is +very sweet and true." + +"Your informant flatters me, monsieur." + +"Shall we have the pleasure of hearing you this evening?" + +"I don't know at all, monsieur. But, if it will gratify my sister----" + +"Your sister, of course; but the whole company as well." + +"Oh! whist players care but little for singing." + +"You are more or less right; that game makes savages of +people--ferocious savages, I may say. Whist enthusiasts close the door +when there is singing in the next room. I verily believe, that, if you +told them the house was burning down, they'd insist on finishing their +_rub_ before making their escape." + +"You see that it would be very unkind of me to sing." + +"Pardon me, I am not playing; and what do you care if----" + +"Monsieur de la Beriniere, in the name of your ancestors, come and show +Monsieur Batonnin how to play; it's very important! We are playing the +rub, and I don't want to lose it through my partner's misplay." + +"That Madame de Mirallon is a terrible creature, really! Ah! when women +grow old, they gain in exactingness what they lose in attractions; and +the compensation isn't sufficient." + +Having indulged in this muttered reflection, the count returned to his +station behind Monsieur Batonnin; and Madame de Mirallon bestowed a long +and searching glance upon him as she said: + +"It's very hard to keep you, now!" + +And the _word_ now brought a smile to the lips of Monsieur Clairval, who +said to his partner: + +"Come, Monsieur de Raincy, we must stand to our guns; we are playing +against three." + + + + +XX + +A NEWLY MARRIED PAIR + + +Adolphine left the piano and sat down beside her sister. + +"I am sure that you are annoyed, Fanny, because your husband doesn't +come home." + +"I? Mon Dieu! I wasn't thinking about him at all. If he stays away, it +is probably because he has business to attend to. You don't understand +business, you see, Adolphine; you don't know that, if you want to make a +lot of money, you must sometimes deprive yourself of a little pleasure." + +"No, it's true, I don't understand money matters; but I thought that two +people just married could not be happy apart, that they must be +horribly bored when they're not together." + +"Oh! my dear girl, there's reason in everything. And then, we have +plenty of time to be together." + +"Still, when you marry for love--and Monsieur Monleard certainly seemed +to be in love with you---- Is that all over already?" + +"Why--no--but when two people are once married, they're no longer like +two lovers. You'll find that out some day, my little sister! I still +call you little, although you're taller than I." + +"Ah! I know that I could never love as placidly as you do!--I was afraid +that your husband might be angry with you on account of that duel." + +"Auguste has too much good sense and breeding to charge me with the +folly and extravagance of another, as a crime. It's not my fault that +another man was in love with me!" + +"Oh! that poor Gustave! He did love you so dearly!" + +"Oh, yes! I advise you to pity him! He behaved nobly, didn't he? To go +shouting jeremiads in the street, and end by sending someone to fight in +his place! Fie! it was shameful!" + +"Fanny, you judge Gustave too harshly; do you impute it to him as a +crime, that he didn't insult your husband? Oh! he probably would have +done it, if his uncle hadn't dragged him away, almost by force, from +that restaurant, where he absolutely insisted on speaking to you." + +"How do you know all that?" + +"Because it was I who sent word to Monsieur Grandcourt that his nephew +was at the restaurant where the wedding was being celebrated." + +"Oh! yes, so you told me. That fellow wanted to make a scene--and by +what right? Was I obliged to marry him, I should like to know?" + +"You allowed him to believe that you loved him." + +"Nonsense! because a woman listens to the soft things these men say to +her, because she smiles when they sigh, they instantly assume that she +adores them. A fine position he offered me, didn't he? Three thousand +francs a year--magnificent!" + +"If you had really loved him, you wouldn't have cared about his wealth." + +"Oh! I'm not romantic like you. With Auguste, I have a coupe at my +orders, and I find it very pleasant. I tell you again, your Monsieur +Gustave is an idiot!" + +"Ah! Fanny, it's wicked for you to talk like that; to treat him so, just +because he loved you sincerely." + +"Much I care about his love! His behavior was none the less blamable. +What excuse had he for sending that tall ruffian to insult me when I +left the ball--which, of course, compelled Auguste to fight with the +fellow?" + +"I would take my oath that Monsieur Gustave never told that person, with +whom he had dined, to say a single insulting word to you. Besides, +Monsieur Grandcourt took his nephew away long before you left the ball. +That man, who presumed to address an offensive remark to you, was drunk; +he had already had trouble with some of the gentlemen, for he insisted +on offering his arm to the ladies when they arrived for the ball." + +"Then, my dear girl, you will agree that your Monsieur Gustave has some +very low acquaintances?" + +Adolphine made no reply, but sadly lowered her eyes. A moment later, her +sister continued: "What surprises me is that I haven't once seen +Monsieur Gustave, or met him anywhere, since my wedding. For a man so +dead in love, not to try to see me at my window, at least once---- You +see that he is consoled, so soon." + +"He is not in Paris. His uncle forced him to start for Spain the very +next day." + +"Ah! he's in Spain? that makes a difference! But you seem to know all +about him. From whom, pray?" + +"Father met Monsieur Grandcourt not long ago, and he told him that his +nephew was in Spain." + +"Ah! someone has just rung." + +"It's your husband, no doubt." + +"If it's he, we shall see him in a moment." + +It was not the master of the house who entered the salon, but Monsieur +Gerbault, who, like an affectionate father, began by kissing his +daughters. + +"Good-evening, father," said Fanny. "Why didn't you come to dinner, with +Adolphine? My husband didn't like it." + +"I couldn't, my dear child. Adolphine must have told you that I had +promised a gentleman from the provinces----" + +"A fine reason! You should have sent your gentleman from the provinces +off somewhere to dine by himself." + +"No, when I have promised, I keep my promise. Where is your husband, by +the way?" + +"He had somebody to see to-night. He'll be at home soon." + +"There! we have lost! I knew it!" cried Madame de Mirallon. "Ah! +Monsieur Batonnin, I will never forgive you those six counters!" + +"But, madame, I am well paid by the pleasure of having been your +partner." + +"Luckily, Monsieur Gerbault is here. He knows how to play! Come and take +a hand, Monsieur Gerbault." + +"I do not care to play any more," said De Raincy; "when I have played +two rubberth, I have had enough; it maketh my head ache." + +As he spoke, the nattily-gloved youth left the card-table and joined the +two sisters. + +"Were you at the Bourse to-day, Monsieur de Raincy?" inquired Fanny. + +"Thertainly, madame; I go there every day." + +"How were the Orleans and Lyon Railway shares?" + +"Very thtrong, madame." + +"Do you think they'll go higher?" + +"Why, yeth, I think tho; unleth they go down." + +"That's rather a vague opinion." + +"I never have any definite opinion. At the Bourth one ith tho often +mithtaken! But your huthband can keep you pothted better than I can. He +ith alwayth there; he theemth to be interethted in thome big dealth." + +"Auguste? True, but he doesn't like to have me ask him how the market is +going; he declares that women know nothing about it; that they ought to +attend to spending the money, not to making it." + +"I fanthy that ith the general rule among the ladieth." + +"I think differently. Oh! if I had been a man, I would have been a +stock-broker!" + +"Do you mean it! There are thome of them who have to put up with +lotheth. Ah! here'th our dear Monleard!" + +Fanny's husband had just arrived; he wore his right arm in a sling; he +was very pale, his face was careworn, and his eyes almost sombre. +However, finding guests in his salon, he instantly assumed the affable +manner which a host should always display. Young De Raincy hastened to +go to shake hands with him. + +"Good-evening! dear boy." + +"Good-evening! Anatole. Messieurs, mesdames, your servant!" + +The Comte de la Beriniere also shook hands with Monleard, crying: + +"Ah! here's the lucky man! the fortunate husband! So you still offer +your left hand, eh?" + +"What would you have! it's not my fault that I can't use my right." + +"Why the devil do you want to fall on the stairs? You're too +careless--and the day after your wedding, too! I'll stake my head you +were running to your wife?" + +"Just so!" Auguste replied, with a glance at Fanny, who simply smiled, +without raising her eyes from her embroidery frame. + +"I was sure of it! It was his haste, his love for you, belle dame, which +caused his accident. Ah! your eyes are very dangerous! But, after all, +as love caused the destruction of Troy, it may well make a man slip on +the stairs." + +"Monsieur de la Beriniere, pray come here a moment." + +"Gad! Madame de Mirallon can't seem to get enough of me this evening. +It's a conspiracy! Can she have conceived the idea of monopolizing me?" + +And the count, who had made these remarks in an undertone, added aloud: + +"But, madame, I see that Monsieur Batonnin is no longer your partner; +Monsieur Gerbault has taken his place, so you can have no reason to +complain now." + +"Ah! what a cruel man you are! I wanted to show you an extraordinary +hand." + +"Mon Dieu! she has shown me her hand often enough!" muttered the count, +turning toward young De Raincy; "I don't care to see it any more." + +Auguste, having shaken hands with his father-in-law, and said a word or +two to the different guests, went up to his wife and tapped her gently +on the cheek. + +"You are making me a piece of furniture, I see, madame," he said; "that +is well done of you!" + +"Oh! that would take too long," rejoined Fanny, looking up at her +husband as she would have looked at the merest acquaintance; "it's a +stool, that's all." + +"Mon Dieu! what are you doing with that newspaper spread out before +you?" + +"I am posting myself as to the prices of stocks, my dear." + +"That's a most entertaining occupation for a woman." + +As he spoke, Auguste took the paper, crumpled it in his hands, and +tossed it into a corner of the salon; Fanny watched him while he did it, +then glanced at her sister, and said under her breath: + +"You see, he doesn't want me to look at the market reports. But I shall +look at some other paper--that's all." + +"Does your arm still pain you, brother?" Adolphine asked Monleard, +having observed his thoughtful expression. + +"No, little sister, no. I thank you for being good enough to take some +interest in it. There are people who take more interest in the rise and +fall of stocks than in the wound I received; and yet----" + +He paused, as if he were afraid of saying too much; but Adolphine had +fully grasped the significance of his words, and she whispered to her +sister: + +"Your husband is vexed because you didn't ask him about his wound." + +"Let me alone, pray! Haven't I seen my husband to-day? I fancy that the +condition of his arm hasn't changed in a few hours." + +"No matter; it isn't nice of you not to show more interest; for, after +all, it was on your account that that duel took place." + +"Oh! I beg you, Adolphine, don't talk to me like that; you set my nerves +on edge! For several days, my husband has been in a very disagreeable +mood; as I cannot be the cause of it, I don't worry about it in the +least; indeed, I even pretend not to notice it." + +"If I were in your place, I would ask him the cause of it." + +"Oh! I should be very sorry if I did! My gentleman is capricious, it +seems; so much the worse for him!" + +"If I am not mistaken, you promised to sing for us, mademoiselle," said +Monsieur de la Beriniere, who had once more escaped from Madame de +Mirallon and hastened to Adolphine's side. + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, if it will give you any pleasure, I will gladly +sing; but it will disturb the whist." + +"Sing away!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "we will stuff our ears." + +"Thanks, papa!" + +"There's a father who doesn't say what he thinks, I am sure." + +While Adolphine took her place at the piano, young Anatole said to +Monleard: + +"Ith it true that Morithel hath run away?" + +"Why, yes!" + +"The devil! And he'th carried off thix hundred thouthand francth, they +thay." + +"Something like that." + +"You had thome buthineth relathionth with him; haven't you lotht +anything by him?" + +"No--a trifle--some thirty thousand francs or so." + +"A trifle like that would embarrath me thadly! To be thure, I'm not a +capitalitht like you." + +Auguste bit his lips and took a seat by the piano. Adolphine sang a +lovely romanza by Nadaud. Her voice was sweet and well modulated; in a +word, it was a sympathetic voice, and, furthermore, its possessor had an +agreeable habit of pronouncing distinctly the words she sang; which +increased twofold the pleasure of those who listened to her. + +Auguste's face lighted up a little. Young Anatole ceased to gaze at his +hands; the count seemed fascinated, and did not once remove his eyes +from the singer. At last, Madame de Mirallon exclaimed: + +"It's your play, Monsieur Batonnin; do, for heaven's sake, attend to the +game!" + +"A thousand pardons, madame; I was listening to the singing." + +"But we are not singing, monsieur!" + +"Thank God!" muttered Monsieur Clairval. + +"What's that! Why did you say: 'Thank God!' Monsieur Clairval?" + +"Because, if we were all singing, madame, we should not have the +pleasure of hearing mademoiselle." + +"You see that I am disturbing the game," said Adolphine. + +"No, no; pray go on, mademoiselle! As if people could play whist for two +minutes without a dispute! You are the pretext at this moment, that's +all." + +Adolphine continued to sing. The game of whist came to an end, and +Madame de Mirallon lost again. She left the table in a pet, exclaiming: + +"I certainly will give up playing whist!" + +"Do you know my favorite game?" said Monsieur Gerbault; "it's bezique." + +"Fie, fie! a messroom game!" + +"I don't know anything about that; but piquet is a messroom game, too, +which doesn't prevent its being a very fine game. I've heard people say +of lansquenet: 'It's a footman's game!' the same thing has been said of +ecarte--but that doesn't prevent those games from being played in the +salons. For my part, I believe in playing the game that amuses us, +without disturbing ourselves about its origin." + +"I am wild over bezique, too," cried Monsieur de la Beriniere; "and, if +you will allow me, Monsieur Gerbault, I shall take great pleasure in +playing a game with you." + +"Whenever you choose, monsieur le comte, you will be welcome." + +"That's a game I am very fond of, too," said Monsieur Batonnin. + +"I am not thure whether I know it, but I think not." + +"Very well, messieurs," said Fanny; "the next time, we'll have a bezique +table for those who like it.--How is it with you, Auguste; do you play +it?" + +"I? What? what game is that?" replied Monleard, who had not listened to +the conversation. + +"Bezique." + +"No. Oh! yes, I played it yesterday." + +"My son-in-law is distraught this evening." + +They talked a few moments more, then all the guests took leave of the +young husband and wife. But, as she went away, Adolphine could not +resist the desire to say to her sister, in an undertone: + +"Do be more affectionate with your husband. He is unhappy, I assure +you." + +"And I assure you," rejoined Fanny, "that that's none of my affair; as +if a woman must be forever worrying about her husband's looks! That +would not be a very entertaining occupation!" + + + + +XXI + +A MAIDEN'S REVERIES + + +More than a fortnight had elapsed since the Monleard's whist party, at +which Adolphine had sung several romanzas. But her sweet voice had made +a deep impression upon the Comte de la Beriniere, also upon young +Anatole de Raincy; it had even caused a quickening of the heart-beats of +Monsieur Batonnin, the gentleman who played whist so poorly, but who was +said to have a much clearer comprehension of business, which, indeed, +was his profession, for he held himself out as a business agent. + +Adolphine was alone in a small salon, much less sumptuous than her +sister's, but very comfortable none the less. I need not say that there +was a piano in it: that has become an indispensable article of +furniture; we see them even in the domiciles of concierges who have +daughters at the Conservatoire. + +Adolphine held a book in her hand, but she was not reading it; she was +musing, and her face still wore a sad expression. Upon what subject can +a maiden of eighteen muse? Everybody will conclude that her heart was +engrossed by a tender sentiment. And yet, no man had ever paid court to +Adolphine, no one had ever observed any youthful exquisite paying +assiduous attention to her. But all love affairs do not begin in the +same way; they do not all follow the beaten paths; there are secret, +unavowed sentiments which those who inspire them are very far from +suspecting; and when it is a virtuous maiden's heart in which one of +those profound attachments takes root, she suffers all the more because +of the pains she takes to conceal it. + +Adolphine passed her hand across her brow, as if to brush away the +thoughts that made her sad; she took up her book again, and for a few +minutes tried to read; then placed it beside her, saying to herself: + +"It's of no use for me to try to distract my thoughts--I cannot do it. I +used to be so fond of reading! This book is intensely interesting, they +say, and I have no idea what I'm reading; nothing interests me now! even +music no longer has any charm for me; my poor piano is neglected; +everything is a bore. Mon Dieu! shall I always be like this? Oh! no, +that would be ghastly! It will pass away; it must pass away! Father has +already noticed several times that I seemed sad, and it worries him; he +thinks that I am sick. Oh! I don't want to make him uneasy. But it isn't +my fault; I do all that I possibly can to drive out of my mind the +memory of--that person--and it keeps coming back. And yet, I know +perfectly well that there's no sense in it--that I'm a little fool. It's +of no use for me to argue--I cannot cure myself!" + +The door of the salon opened; it was Monsieur Gerbault. The girl +hurriedly wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, and +strove to assume a smiling expression, as she went to meet her father. + +"I have come to tell you, Adolphine, that we shall have two guests at +dinner to-day." + +"You are very late in telling me, father. But, no matter! I will go and +tell Madeleine." + +"I couldn't tell you any earlier; I met Monsieur Batonnin only a moment +ago. He said: 'I am going to play a game of bezique with you this +evening.' I said: 'Come and dine with us, informally.'" + +"Monsieur Batonnin! I don't care much for that young man." + +"Still he is very gallant--and so courteous." + +"He is forever paying compliments--it's a horrible bore! And then, he +always has a smile on his face. Tell me, papa, is that natural? Can +there be anyone in the world who is always satisfied and happy?" + +"I should say that it was rather difficult. However, there are optimists +who look at the bright side of everything." + +"For my part, I believe that those people are not sincere, that they +simply make a point of concealing what they think.--Who is the other +one, father?" + +"Monsieur Clairval." + +"I am very fond of him; he isn't complimentary, at all events, and yet +that doesn't prevent his being agreeable. He has plenty of wit, and +doesn't flaunt it in everybody's face. I do like that so much--wit that +doesn't parade itself!" + +"But, my child, if one has wit without showing it, I should say that it +was precisely equivalent to having none at all." + +"Oh! it always leaks out, father, here and there, even if it's only in +the smile." + +"I just missed inviting Monsieur de la Beriniere, too." + +"Oh! papa, how fortunate it is that you missed it!" + +"Why so, pray? The count is very pleasant. He's a very distinguished man +in all respects." + +"I don't say that he isn't, but for a count we should have had to make +preparations; and then, he has been coming to see us quite often of +late." + +"And that bores you?" + +"It doesn't amuse me overmuch." + +"My dear girl, I hoped, by inviting a friend or two to dinner, to +brighten you up, to give you a little diversion; for you have looked as +if you weren't feeling well for some time. Tell me, are you sick?" + +"Why, no, dear father; I am not sick, I am not in pain. I assure you +that I am in my ordinary condition." + +"Good! so much the better! Still, it seems to me that you're a little +changed." + +"Oh! you know one has days--when the autumn comes.--And you didn't +invite Fanny and her husband, while you were in the mood?" + +"Yes, I did. I was going to their house when I met Auguste. But they +can't come; they are going to a grand dinner. Nothing but festivities, +gorgeous parties!" + +"All the better! it amuses Fanny; she's so fond of all that sort of +thing!" + +"True, true! Fanny is leading the life she used to dream of; she ought +to be happy. But it seems to me that her husband has been in rather a +gloomy mood lately; he always has such a startled, preoccupied manner; +and when you speak to him, he hardly listens to you." + +"I think that you're mistaken, father; Fanny's husband isn't of an +expansive nature; his manner is cold, a little haughty, perhaps." + +"Yes, I know it; but he likes to cut a brilliant figure, to dazzle other +people by his magnificence; and that sometimes carries a man too far." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I have been told that he is speculating heavily on the Bourse." + +"If he has the means to do it, it's all right; he must know what he's +about." + +"Batonnin was telling me just now that Monleard must have lost a great +deal of money by the failure--or the flight, I don't quite know which it +was--of one Morissel." + +"Ah! Monsieur Batonnin told you that? I notice that disagreeable news is +generally brought by smiling faces and honeyed words." + +"I prefer to believe that my son-in-law's fortune has not sustained such +a serious loss." + +"After all, father, in business a man can't always make money, can he?" + +"Hoity-toity! here you are talking almost as well as your sister.--By +the way, I met Monsieur Grandcourt too." + +"Monsieur Grandcourt?" + +"Well, well! what's the matter now? You're as pale as a ghost. Don't you +feel well?" + +"Yes, father. I am all right, I promise you. What did Monsieur +Grandcourt have to say?" + +"Oh! he doesn't speculate! He's a prudent, intelligent man. He does an +excellent business. His house is prosperous and is extending its +connections every day." + +"And his nephew--that poor Monsieur Gustave--did he tell you anything +about him?" + +"He is still in Spain." + +"But when is he coming back? If he should come to see us--would that +annoy you?" + +"My dear Adolphine, in the first place, after what has happened, it's +not at all likely that Gustave will ever come to our house again. That +young man was in love with your sister. For a moment, he hoped that she +would accept him for her husband, then his hopes were disappointed. He +saw Fanny take Monleard in preference to him, and he must have suffered +doubly--in his love and in his self-esteem. What do you suppose he will +come to our house again for?--in search of memories, of regrets? No, our +company would have no charms for him now." + +"Ah! so you think, father, that our company would no longer be agreeable +to him? But he was much attached to you." + +"As the father of the young lady whose husband he wished to be; I know +all about that." + +"But, still, if he should come here, it seems to me that it would be +very discourteous to send him away, to receive him unkindly." + +"Without being unkind to him, you could easily make him understand that +his presence here may be very embarrassing; that he may meet your sister +and her husband here; that Monleard may have learned of his love for +Fanny; and that it would be better, therefore, for him not to come +again. But, I say once more, you will not have to tell him all that; for +I am very certain, myself, that he has no intention of coming here." + +"Poor Gustave!" said Adolphine to herself, as she left the room; "father +doesn't want him to come here any more! What, in heaven's name, would he +say if he knew about that duel? Then it would surely be: 'I don't want +to see him in my house again!'--Luckily he thinks, like everybody else, +that Auguste's injury was the result of a fall on the stairs. But I +suppose father is right, and Gustave will never come here; I shall never +see him again!" + +The girl put her handkerchief to her eyes once more, then went in search +of Madeleine, her maid, a young girl from Picardy, who did not know +Gustave, because she did not enter Monsieur Gerbault's service until +after his eldest daughter's marriage. Madeleine was very fond of her +mistress; she saw that she was unhappy, and often said to her: + +"Mon Dieu! mamzelle, when shall I see you happy and gay, as you ought to +be at your age?" + +"Why, I am very happy, Madeleine," replied Adolphine, forcing back a +sigh. Whereat the Picarde murmured, with a shrug of her shoulders: + +"Oh! nenni! I can see well enough that you always have something inside +that keeps you from laughing!" + + + + +XXII + +A SOFT-SPOKEN GENTLEMAN + + +The guests were punctual; the dinner was voted excellent. Monsieur +Batonnin ate for four, but was not thereby prevented from praising each +dish, adding compliments for the host, for the young lady of the house, +and even for the cook; if there had been a cat or a dog, it is probable +that it would have come in for its share in that distribution of +flattering speeches. + +At dessert, the conversation fell upon the newly married couple, +Monsieur Gerbault expressing his regret that they had been unable to +come to dinner. + +"Yes, they make a charming couple," said Batonnin, with his inevitable +smile. "Can Monsieur Monleard use his right arm now?" + +"Yes; it is entirely well. It took a long while, for a mere fall on the +stairs." + +"Ha! ha! a fall on the stairs! Ha! ha! Monsieur Gerbault says that as if +he really believed it. Ha! ha!" + +"What do you mean by that?" retorted Monsieur Gerbault, who understood +neither Monsieur Batonnin's words nor the malicious tone in which he +uttered them; whereas Adolphine changed color, fearing that her father +might learn the truth. Monsieur Clairval alone seemed indifferent to +what was going on; but he glanced at the soft-spoken guest with an +expression which said plainly enough: + +"In my opinion, that was a very stupid remark of yours." + +Monsieur Batonnin smiled on, as he replied: + +"Come, come, Monsieur Gerbault, you know perfectly well that your +son-in-law's wound was caused by a sword-thrust, which he received in a +duel. He preferred not to tell people that he had fought, especially +because--because---- I know the reason." + +"Why, monsieur, that isn't at all probable!" cried Adolphine. "If my +sister's husband had fought a duel, I should certainly know it, and----" + +"Why so, my dear young lady? If he has concealed it from Monsieur +Gerbault, he may well have concealed it from you, too." + +"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly," said +Monsieur Gerbault, whose face had become very serious; "if my son-in-law +has had a duel, I knew nothing about it, I tell you again; now, if you +have any definite information on the subject, be good enough to impart +it to me; it seems to me that I ought to be at least as well informed as +a stranger, upon such a matter." + +"Mon Dieu! my dear monsieur, I learned of it by chance two days ago. I +met Madame Delbois, who was at your daughter's wedding, and who left the +ball at the same time that she did. So, as you will see, they were in +the hall at the same time, waiting for their carriages." + +"I don't see yet what connection there is between that fact and a duel." + +"One moment--we are coming to it. While the ladies were waiting, a +person of unprepossessing aspect came out of the restaurant. He was just +behind Madame Delbois when she said to one of her friends: 'There goes +the bride; she's going away early.'--Thereupon, this person--of +unprepossessing aspect--had the effrontery to exclaim in a loud +voice---- But, really, if you know nothing of the episode, I am afraid +that, if I go any further, I may say something that it would be +unpleasant for you to hear." + +"If what you have to tell Monsieur Gerbault is likely to be unpleasant +for him to hear," interposed Monsieur Clairval, "it seems to me, +Monsieur Batonnin, that you would have done much better to say nothing +at all on the subject. As Monsieur Monleard concealed the fact that he +had had a duel, it is to be presumed that he feared that it would +displease his father-in-law; and, frankly, it isn't decent of you to +come here and volunteer to tell something that nobody asked you to +tell." + +"I beg your pardon, Monsieur Gerbault just asked me to tell him what I +knew." + +"Go on, Monsieur Batonnin, finish your story, I beg; what did this +person say, whom Madame Delbois overheard?" + +"Your son-in-law heard him, too, and that is what led to the challenge. +However, I simply repeat what Madame Delbois told me. I wasn't there; I +was dancing at that moment." + +"Well, Monsieur Batonnin, this man said----?" + +"I give you my word of honor, my dear Monsieur Gerbault, that it gives +me the greatest pain to repeat his detestable words. I am very sorry +that I mentioned it; I did it quite innocently----" + +"Oh! finish, for heaven's sake!" + +"That man exclaimed, when he caught sight of the bride: 'Ah! there's the +faithless Fanny!'" + +Monsieur Clairval began to laugh, and Monsieur Gerbault deemed it the +wiser plan to do the same; Adolphine decided to imitate them, and +Monsieur Batonnin, who expected to produce a startling effect, looked +very sheepish when he saw them all laughing. + +"Ah! that strikes you as amusing, does it?" he faltered. + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Batonnin, with all your hesitation and holding back, +I thought that you were going to tell us something scandalous. Frankly, +it seems to me that those words, from the mouth of a man who was drunk, +no doubt, and whose tongue may have been twisted, did not deserve such a +long preamble----" + +"Your son-in-law didn't think as you do, apparently; for he rushed after +the fellow, and they exchanged cards." + +"Did Madame Delbois see that also?" + +"Why, yes." + +"How does it happen that that lady, who is evidently very fond of +talking, has not delivered herself before this of things that took place +more than six weeks ago?" + +"That's easily explained: she left Paris for the country the next +morning, and didn't return until the day before yesterday." + +"Oh! you needn't tell me that!--Come, let us go and have some coffee." + +"Look you, my dear Batonnin," said Monsieur Clairval, laughing heartily, +"your news fell rather flat. It's a pity, isn't it?" + +Batonnin bit his lips, and, strange to say, did not smile. + + + + +XXIII + +A GAME OF BEZIQUE + + +They had just finished their coffee, when the Comte de la Beriniere was +announced. + +"I come early, you see. I made haste to get rid of the person with whom +I dined," said the count, kissing Adolphine's hand, who seemed little +flattered by the attention. + +"That is very good of you; in return, we will have a game of bezique for +your benefit." + +"Oh! by and by; I will venture to request mademoiselle to give us a +little music first. When one has once heard her sing, one has but one +desire, and that is to hear her again." + +"If it will give you any pleasure, monsieur---- I have not enough talent +to require to be asked more than once." + +"That is to say, you are always charming." + +"The rest of us, who are not music-mad like Monsieur de la Beriniere, +will play a three-handed game of bezique. You play, don't you, +Clairval?" + +"I do whatever you please." + +"And you, Monsieur Batonnin?" + +"It will be no less flattering than agreeable to me to have the +privilege of playing with you. But I think that three-handed bezique is +less interesting than two-handed." + +"I beg your pardon; it is even more interesting." + +Adolphine took her place at the piano, and the count seated himself +beside it, darting burning glances at the girl, which she did her utmost +to avoid. + +Batonnin, who had taken a seat at the card-table, kept turning his head +to look toward the piano, in order to see what was going on there, and +to try to hear what was being said. + +"Shall we play with four packs?" + +"Yes; but we must take out two eights, so that the cards will come out +even at the end." + +"Very good; and how many cards do you deal?" + +"Eight to each." + +"Some people deal nine." + +"That makes it too easy." + +"What's the game?" + +"Fifteen hundred." + +"And the stakes?" + +"Whatever you please, messieurs; what shall it be?" + +"We don't want to ruin ourselves; say, two francs each." + +"Two francs it is." + +"I have seen people play for five hundred francs a game," said Batonnin. + +"The deuce! that's flying rather high. But when a man's very rich----" + +"Oh! it isn't always the richest men who play for the biggest +stakes--rather, those who want to pass themselves off for millionaires, +and who are in need of money." + +"Our excellent Monsieur Batonnin, with all his air of indifference, +seems to observe everything." + +"I? Oh! dear me, no! I say that because I've heard someone else say it." + +"I declare four aces!" + +"That's a good beginning." + +"I remember now that it's Monsieur Monleard whom I have seen play +bezique for five hundred francs a game." + +"My son-in-law? Oh! you must be mistaken; he doesn't play so high as +that." + +"I beg a thousand pardons, but it was he. There's nothing remarkable +about that, for he plays whist at his club for a hundred francs a +point." + +"He has assured me that he doesn't go to his club now." + +"I have that fact from someone who played with him, less than a week +ago." + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, its your turn; pray attend to the game." + +"I am attending, my dear Monsieur Gerbault; I am paying the closest +attention. Ah! that's a very pretty thing Mademoiselle Adolphine is +singing!" + +"Double bezique!" + +"There, you have let Monsieur Clairval make five hundred!" + +"I couldn't prevent him, could I?" + +"Certainly you could: there were only three tricks left, and you had two +aces of trumps." + +"Well! that makes only two tricks." + +"I would have taken the third with my ace." + +"Ah! so you think we could have prevented monsieur from counting his +five hundred?" + +"That's plain enough. I don't see that you're any stronger at this game +than at whist." + +"I certainly wouldn't play for five hundred francs a game, like your +son-in-law! But I didn't know that there was any skill in bezique; I +thought it was all luck." + +"You see that it isn't! Indeed, any game can be played well or ill." + +"Even lotto?" + +"Certainly, you can forget to count." + +Adolphine was singing a second selection, when Anatole de Raincy was +announced. + +The arrival of the young man with the lisp interrupted the music, and +seemed greatly to annoy Monsieur de la Beriniere, who decided thereupon +to visit the card-table. The game was finished, and Monsieur Clairval +had won. + +"Take my place," said Monsieur Gerbault to the count. + +"Thanks, but I never play bezique with more than two." + +"Play with Monsieur Batonnin, then; I will play a game of chess with +Clairval, if it's agreeable to him." + +"Anything is agreeable to me." + +"Unless Monsieur de Raincy would like to play whist with a dummy." + +"Oh! I thank you, but I don't care about playing; I much prefer to thing +with Mademoithelle Adolphine, if that ith agreeable to her." + +"It will give me great pleasure, monsieur." + +"I have brought a few thongth, which I thing pathably--tholoth and +dueth.--You play everything at thight, I know?" + +"I will try, at all events, monsieur; and if they're not too hard----" + +"Here'th the aria from _La Dame Blanche_. I can thing that; it ith in +the range of my voith." + +"Very good! I will play your accompaniment." + +"If that young man sings as he talks," muttered Batonnin, with an +affable smile at the count, who had taken his place opposite him, "it +will produce a strange effect." + +"He would do much better to let us listen to Mademoiselle Adolphine." + +"Oh! yes, she has a voice----" + +"Shall we play for two thousand?" + +"That goes to the heart, monsieur." + +"And we play with four packs." + +"Very well.--But there are some men who have a perfect mania for +singing." + +"And who often sing false--as, for instance---- I declare four queens!" + +While these gentlemen played, Anatole shouted at the top of his voice: + + "'Come, lady fair; I await thee, I await thee, I await thee!'" + +"That is horrible!" said the count. + +"It sounds like the hissing of a railroad train when it stops." + +"I have a sequence!" + +"It seems that we are not to see Madame Monleard and her husband this +evening?" + +"No; they have gone to some grand affair.--I declare a single bezique!" + +"Ah! Monleard doesn't propose that his little wife shall be bored; they +are going to parties all the time." + +"Yes; if only it will last.--I declare four kings--eighty!" + +"And why shouldn't it last?--Mon Dieu! how that fellow makes my ears +ache with his 'I await thee! I await thee!'--I am sorry for Mademoiselle +Adolphine." + +"Haven't you heard, monsieur le comte,--a simple marriage in +diamonds,--that Monsieur Monleard was speculating on the Bourse in +a--another marriage, clubs this time--in a terrific way?" + +"Faith! no.--Why, I am not counting at all. It's that infernal singer's +fault!" + +"I have been told for a fact that he has lost a lot of money lately." + +"We must never believe more than half of what we're told, you know." + +"Double bezique!" + +"Deuce take it! how you are beating me! Ah! they're singing a duet now; +we shall hear Mademoiselle Adolphine, at all events. If she could only +drown that fellow's voice!" + +"I have made eleven hundred on this deal." + +"And I a hundred and twenty. I am a long way behind. Do we count the +fifteen hundred?" + +"To be sure; when you get three beziques, they count fifteen hundred. +But, in order to count them, you must still have the first two in hand." + +"Yes, yes, I know that. What is it they're singing now? Something else +from _La Dame Blanche_, I think." + +"It's your play, monsieur le comte." + +"Yes, so it is; I beg your pardon. It's that man's voice that confuses +me, or rather stuns me. Oh! what a squealer! Poor girl! she has a stock +of patience." + +"I declare a royal marriage!" + +"You are counting all the time, Monsieur Batonnin; you are very lucky to +be able to attend to your game." + +"I try not to listen.--Single bezique!" + +It was difficult not to hear the young singer, who at that moment was +shouting, with all the force of his lungs: + + "'Thith hand, thith hand tho lovely!'" + +At last, the duet being at an end, Adolphine declared that she was +tired, and left the piano. + +"I can well believe that she's tired!" said Monsieur de la Beriniere; +"she might well be, for less than that. To play that fellow's +accompaniments--to sing with him! what a wicked task!" + +"I have won, monsieur le comte!" + +"Very good! give me my revenge. I can pay more attention to the game, +now that I don't hear that hissing voice; he's a veritable serpent, is +that young man." + +But Monsieur de Raincy had seated himself beside Adolphine, and he +talked to her while the others played. Naturally, they spoke in +undertones, in order not to disturb the players. This conversation, of +which he could not catch a single word, seemed to annoy the count even +more than the music; and Batonnin made the most of his opponent's +distraction and misplays, while saying to him in a wheedling tone: + +"Monsieur le comte isn't in luck to-night.--I declare a sequence!" + +"It's true, I am absent-minded.--Well, Mademoiselle Adolphine, have you +stopped singing?" + +"Oh! no, monsieur; I am resting." + +"For heaven's sake, take care," said Batonnin; "you'll suggest to that +young man the idea of beginning again!" + +"Why, no; I am talking to Mademoiselle Gerbault. I am sure that Monsieur +de Raincy is boring her at this moment. I would like to rid her of +him." + +"Bezique!--You think she's bored? But you may be mistaken--he's a very +good-looking fellow, is Monsieur de Raincy.--Four aces!" + +"Ah! upon my word! If he's a good-looking fellow--with that stupid, +idiotic, conceited air!" + +"He has a good figure.--Double bezique!" + +"Sapristi! you never fail to get that.--And that pronunciation of +his--do you think that's pretty, too?" + +"Not in singing, at all events.--Take your card, if you please, monsieur +le comte!" + +"Ah! to be sure.--I was not paying attention. Whose play is it?" + +"Mine.--I have the honor of winning again. I have triple +bezique--fifteen hundred!" + +"Is it possible?" + +"Look for yourself." + +"Well! I am not sorry it's over. I am not at all in the mood for cards +to-night." + + + + +XXIV + +MARRIAGE PROPOSALS + + +Monsieur de la Beriniere left the table and went to talk with Adolphine; +she, no less indifferent to the gallant speeches of the old count than +to young Anatole's compliments, was equally amiable to both; for neither +of them diverted her thoughts for a moment, and it is easy to be amiable +when the heart is not involved. + +The party broke up at last; but, before taking their leave, the count +and Monsieur de Raincy in turn exchanged a few words in undertones with +Monsieur Gerbault; which proceeding aroused Monsieur Batonnin's +curiosity to such an extent, that he went in the direction of the +kitchen instead of toward the street-door. + +"It's your turn to be absent-minded, I see," observed Monsieur Clairval, +satirically. + +"Oh! not at all; I made a mistake in the door; that may happen to +anybody. Perhaps you thought that I had something to whisper to Monsieur +Gerbault, like those two ahead of us?" + +"Ah! so they whispered to our friend Gerbault, did they? I confess that +I didn't notice it, and, furthermore, that it's a matter of indifference +to me." + +"And to me, too, of course; although I have an idea that I can guess +what they had to say to Mademoiselle Adolphine's father." + +"Ah! you have an idea? The deuce! do you possess the art of divination, +then?" + +"One needn't be a sorcerer to divine certain things.--Do you want me to +tell you my conjectures?" + +"No, I thank you, Monsieur Batonnin, keep them to yourself; I don't +appreciate conjectures; I like official facts only. Good-night!" + +"That means that he is vexed because he hasn't guessed it," said +Batonnin to himself, as they separated. "For my part, I would bet--six +francs to twenty--that young De Raincy and old De la Beriniere are in +love with the charming Adolphine; and I would also bet--twenty francs to +thirty--that the girl doesn't care for either of them. So much the +better for me! I have all the more chance. Let us wait, let us let the +mutton boil, as the common saying goes. That's an old proverb; and I am +like Sancho, I love proverbs." + +Adolphine also had noticed her father's brief _aside_ with the count and +with De Raincy. When all the guests had gone, she went to him, and said +with a smile: + +"So those gentlemen have secrets with you, have they, father? for +Monsieur de la Beriniere, and then Monsieur Anatole, whispered to you in +a corner." + +"Faith! my dear girl, as yet I have no more idea than you what they have +to say to me; but each of them asked me for an appointment to-morrow, +having a very important matter to discuss with me. I said to Monsieur de +Raincy: 'I shall expect you at eleven o'clock;' and to Monsieur de la +Beriniere: 'You will find me at home at one;' so I suppose that, at +three or four o'clock to-morrow, I shall be able to gratify your +curiosity, and to tell you what those gentlemen have confided to me---- +Unless it concerns serious matters, which one doesn't tell to little +girls; but I fancy not." + +"You fancy not?--Do you mean that you suspect what it is, father?" + +"Why--bless my soul!--but, after all, as they will tell me to-morrow, +it's useless to indulge in conjectures. Ah! there's something which +interests me much more than that." + +"What is it, father?" + +"The duel that Batonnin told us about. I pretended, before him, not to +put any faith in what he said; but, if all that he told us is true, why, +your sister's husband didn't hurt himself by falling on the stairs--and +it must have been Gustave with whom he fought." + +"Oh, no, father, no; I give you my word that it wasn't Gustave." + +"Aha! so you know the truth, do you? and you never told me anything +about it?" + +"Fanny and her husband didn't want it to become known, and she made me +promise not to mention it to you." + +"But tell me whom Auguste did fight with?" + +"With a man who was drunk, and who didn't know what he was +saying--that's the whole of it. And Auguste didn't attach the slightest +importance to it." + +"Very good! I hope he didn't; but I am convinced, none the less, that +Gustave was mixed up in it in some way, and I repeat what I have said to +you before: that young man must never come here again!--Good-night, my +dear!" + +"Good-night, father!" + +Adolphine retired to her own room; the two appointments with her father, +solicited by two men who had persecuted her with their attentions during +the evening, caused her a vague feeling of uneasiness; a secret +presentiment told her that she would be the subject of the interviews to +be held on the morrow, and she was impatient to know whether her fears +were justified. + +The next day, Adolphine did not leave her room, in order to avoid +meeting the two gentlemen who had appointments with her father. At +precisely eleven o'clock she heard the bell, and honest Madeleine came +and said to her: + +"It's the tall young man who sang with you last night, mamzelle; he +asked for monsieur your father, and he's with him now." + +"Very well, Madeleine; if he should happen to ask for me, you must tell +him that I have a headache and cannot leave my room." + +"I understand, mamzelle." + +"And come and tell me when he has gone." + +"Yes, mamzelle." + +Adolphine counted the minutes; but Anatole had not gone when the clock +struck twelve. She lost her patience; she said to herself: + +"What can that man have to say to father, that takes such a long time? +For a young man, he's very talkative. If he doesn't go soon, he'll meet +the count. But, after all, it makes no difference to me." + +At last, about half-past twelve, Monsieur de Raincy took his leave. +Madeleine came to inform her young mistress, and she was on the point of +going to her father, when the bell rang again. + +It was Monsieur de la Beriniere. He had come ahead of time, but he was +at once ushered into Monsieur Gerbault's study. Madeleine informed +Adolphine of his arrival, and received the same orders as before, in +case the count should ask permission to pay his respects to her +mistress. + +This second interview was much shorter; Monsieur de la Beriniere went +away before one o'clock. Thereupon, Monsieur Gerbault went up to his +daughter's room, with a gratified air, and rubbing his hands--a sign of +satisfaction common to all nations. Why? No one has ever been able to +find out. + +"Well, father?" murmured Adolphine, in a voice which betrayed some +slight emotion; "did both of them come?" + +"Yes, my dear girl. Oh! they were very prompt; indeed the count was a +little ahead of time; that's easily understood: the oldest are always in +the greatest hurry." + +"And what did they say to you? must you keep it secret?" + +"No, indeed; since you were the sole subject of both interviews." + +"I?" + +"Yes; and, frankly, I had some suspicion.--And you?" + +"I--why---- Oh! I beg you, my dear father, tell me at once what they +wanted to say to you?" + +"Well, my dear, the same motive brought them both; they both came to ask +me for your hand." + +"My hand?" + +"In the first place, young De Raincy said: 'I love mademoiselle your +daughter, she is an excellent musician, I adore music, we will sing +together all day; I have no profession, but I have fifteen thousand +francs a year in government securities, and with that one can live +comfortably when one isn't ambitious; and music is a pleasure which +necessitates very small expense. It has seemed to me that Mademoiselle +Adolphine does not care for balls and great parties, like her sister; so +I may hope that she will be happy with me. You will give her a _dot_ of +twenty thousand francs; I know it, and it's enough for me; I don't ask +for any more.'--So much for number one.--Monsieur de la Beriniere was +more eager, more impetuous, in his suit. 'I adore Mademoiselle +Adolphine,' he said, 'I am mad over her; her delightful voice has turned +my head, and I renounce my liberty for her. Indeed, I believe I am +destined to enter your family, for I will not conceal from you that I +was deeply in love with your other daughter; but Monleard was quicker +than I, and stole her away from me.--So, this time I declare myself +promptly, because I don't propose that your younger daughter shall +escape me as her sister did; unless, of course, she will have none of +me; but I venture to hope the contrary; I am no longer in my first +youth, but my heart is as easily touched as it was at twenty. In short, +I offer your daughter thirty thousand francs a year, and the title of +countess--which always flatters a young woman's ear; I lay these at her +feet, with the most ardent love. Be good enough to communicate my offer +to her, and I will come to-morrow for your answer.'" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! And what answer did you make to all that, father?" + +"My dear child, the only answer that a father should make to honorable +men, of good standing in society, who ask him for his daughter's hand: +'Your offer flatters me, does me honor, and, for my part, I will +interpose no obstacle to the fulfilment of your wishes; but, as marriage +is an act which has a decisive influence upon the happiness of one's +whole life, I have determined to allow my daughters absolute freedom in +the matter of choosing a husband, and never to enforce my wishes in +opposition to theirs.'" + +"Oh! my dear, good father! how good it is of you, not to force your +children to marry!" + +"Now, my dear love, it is for you to choose. These two offers are +equally advantageous. Monsieur de la Beriniere makes you a countess, +with thirty thousand francs a year--that is very attractive. To be sure, +he is sixty years old, which lessens the attraction. Monsieur Anatole de +Raincy is not a count; but he is of a very old family; he has only +fifteen thousand francs a year, but he is only twenty-seven, and that's +a valuable asset. Now, you are fully posted as to these two aspirants to +your hand. Reflect and choose." + +"Oh! the reflecting is all done, father! I want neither of them." + +"What! you refuse?" + +"I refuse them both." + +"But you are unreasonable, my child!--Either of the two marriages would +be honorable; it would be hard to find a better match in respect to +fortune; indeed, I am afraid that you'll never do so well." + +"You know, don't you, father, that I care nothing about money?" + +"My dear girl, it isn't well, perhaps, to love money as your sister +loves it; but it isn't well to despise it, either. It is a great help to +happiness. Come, between ourselves, why do you refuse both of these two +offers? The count, I can understand; he's too old for you; but Monsieur +Anatole is young, not a bad-looking fellow----" + +"I refuse them, father, because I want to love my husband, and I shall +never love Monsieur de la Beriniere or Monsieur de Raincy." + +"So you are quite determined, are you?" + +"Absolutely. You can tell them that I don't want to marry now. A +well-bred man understands that that's a polite way of refusing." + +"Very good, since you have made up your mind. Gad! you're not much like +your sister! You see, she is rich, and happy! always at some festivity, +always enjoying herself!" + +"I don't envy her happiness; I should not be happy in the life she +leads." + +"Well, let's say no more about it." + +Monsieur Gerbault left his daughter; but she could read in his eyes that +he was not pleased that she had refused the two eligible husbands who +had offered themselves. As for Adolphine, she said to herself: + +"I cannot marry either of those men, for I love someone else. The man I +love will never marry me,--I know that,--for he never thinks of me! But +I choose to have the right to think of him always." + + + + +XXV + +GUSTAVE'S UNCLE + + +After his duel with Auguste Monleard, Cherami returned to his lodgings, +whistling a polka. He found his hostess where he had left her, standing +in her doorway. + +Madame Louchard was very inquisitive; it had stirred her curiosity to +the highest pitch to see her tenant go away with the young exquisite who +owned a cabriolet; and when the former returned alone, she cried: + +"Well! what have you done with him?" + +"With whom? with what?" + +"Why, with that elegant gentleman who went away with you on foot,--a +strange thing to do when he has a cabriolet at his command. You might +just as well have got into it, both of you, as it followed you." + +"It wasn't worth while to ride; we only went a little way." + +"Oho! where did you go?" + +"To that vacant lot over yonder, by the theatre." + +"What in the world did you go there for? Does your friend think of +buying the lot?" + +"Not at all. We went there to fight. It's a very convenient place for +that." + +"To fight? Is it possible!" + +"As I have the honor to tell you." + +"With your fists?" + +"Madame Louchard, you always imagine that you are talking to the clowns +who are your usual associates. Understand, pray, that a man like me +doesn't fight with his fists! I sometimes send the toe of my boot into +the fleshy part of an upstart who bores me--but when it's a question of +a duel, that's another affair." + +"What did you fight with, then?" + +"With swords." + +"You didn't have any." + +"That gentleman had a whole arsenal in his carriage." + +"Mon Dieu! And which of you was killed?" + +"Why, your question is rather beside the mark. Do I look like a dead +man?" + +"Ah! that's so. It was the other man, then? Poor young man!" + +"Don't be alarmed; he isn't dead, and he won't die. A simple wound--and +I warned him, too; I said: 'You strike down too much!'--He fences rather +well, but he isn't in my class yet." + +"You villain! always in trouble--fighting duels. But what if he had +killed you, eh?" + +"In that case, superb Louchard, I should not, at this moment, have the +pleasure of gazing upon your strongly-marked features." + +"And the cause of your duel?" + +"A trifle--a mere nothing--a jest. But that young man's coming prevented +me from breakfasting, and I feel the need of attending to that important +function. I go to my room to get my pretty cane with the agate head, and +I fly to the Vefour of the Quarter. But, no; there isn't one here, and, +as I wish to breakfast very well indeed, I will go as far as Passoir's." + +"Anyone can see that you're in funds." + +"Indeed, it is true, divine hostess." + +"And you don't leave me a little on account." + +"We will talk of that later." + +Cherami took his new cane, placed his new hat on the side of his head, +and with his pockets lined with the money he had won at ecarte the night +before, left the house, saying: + +"I have my cue!" + +According to his custom, Cherami spent his gold pieces freely. But it +seemed that that money had brought him luck. Being a great lover of the +game of billiards, he did not fail, after dinner, to go and play pool at +a cafe where he knew that there was always a game in progress in the +evening; and for some days fortune favored him so persistently, that all +the frequenters of the cafe frowned when he appeared, muttering: + +"Here comes the pool-shark!" + +But one evening the luck turned; Cherami left the cafe with empty +pockets. + +"Palsambleu!" he said to himself; "here I am reduced to extremities +again!--For I shall not receive my quarterly income for a fortnight, and +that stingy Bernardin wouldn't pay me a single day in advance. But why +wouldn't this be a good time to pay a little visit to our young friend +Gustave, in whose behalf I fought a duel, and who has not even come to +thank me? By the way, I think I didn't give him my address, and, on the +other hand, he didn't give me his. But he lives with his Uncle +Grandcourt; he's a banker, or a merchant, no matter which; I ought to +find his address in the _Almanack du Commerce._ To-morrow I will obtain +it, and I will go and bid friend Gustave good-day. And if he is still in +the depths, I'll dine with him again. He will tell me his woes, and I +will order the dinner. And at dessert he certainly will lend me a +hundred francs to carry me to my next quarterly payment--that will be +easy to manage. Indeed, I am convinced that dear Gustave is surprised at +my non-appearance, and that he is looking for me everywhere.--But, to +make up for my neglect, I'll not leave him for a fortnight." + +The next day, Cherami found Monsieur Grandcourt's address, and lost no +time in betaking himself thither. Having arrived at a handsome house in +Faubourg Montmartre, he tapped on the concierge's window with his pretty +cane. + +"Monsieur Grandcourt, the banker?" + +"His offices are on the ground floor, at the rear, right-hand door." + +"Very good. Shall I find Monsieur Gustave Darlemont in the office?" + +"Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, the banker's nephew, who is employed by his uncle." + +"Faith! monsieur, I don't know; there are several clerks; I don't know +their names." + +"You don't seem very well posted, that's a fact. All right; I'll go to +the office, and it's to be hoped that someone will be able to answer me +there." + +Cherami walked to the rear of the building, and entered a room where an +elderly clerk, half reclining on a ledger, was adding columns of +figures. + +"Will you kindly tell me where I can find my friend Gustave?" + +The clerk made no reply, but continued to mutter: + +"Forty-five, fifty-two, four, six, sixty." + +"Is this old fossil afflicted with deafness, I wonder?" said Cherami to +himself.--"I ask you, monsieur," he added aloud, "to direct me to the +desk--the office--the chamber of my friend Gustave; don't you hear me?" + +"Eight and eight are sixteen--and sixteen, thirty-two." + +"Sacrebleu! we've known for a long while that eight and eight are +sixteen! Is it such nonsense as that that keeps you from answering me?" + +As he spoke, Cherami seized the old clerk's collar and shook him +roughly. He turned upon his assailant in a rage, exclaiming: + +"I am adding my balances, monsieur; and when I am adding, no one has any +right to disturb me--do you hear?" + +"Well, well! you are another pretty specimen, you are! They ought to +frame you and hang you up in the water-closet!" + +"Monsieur! What do you mean?" + +"There, there, my old mummy; let's not lose our temper. Where is +Monsieur Grandcourt's nephew?" + +"As if I knew, monsieur! I keep accounts, and nothing else, and I can't +talk. You have put me out; I must begin all over again!" + +"Very well, you shall begin again; nothing trains the youthful mind like +addition. But you must answer my question first." + +"Monsieur Grandcourt's private office is at the end of this passage, +monsieur. Go and tell him what you want, and leave me to my accounts." + +"All right! Do you know, I believe that excessive adding has hindered +you sadly in your growth." + +Cherami followed the passage, and, upon turning the knob of a door at +the end, found himself in the banker's office. Monsieur Grandcourt was +writing at his desk; being accustomed to the frequent coming and going +of his clerks, he went on writing without looking up. + +Cherami closed the door, examined Monsieur Grandcourt for a moment, and +said to himself: + +"That's our uncle--I recognize him. I never saw him but once, but that's +enough. Besides, he has one of those peppery faces which have a certain +_chic_." + +He walked to the desk and removed his hat, saying: + +"Good-morning, dear uncle! You are at work, I see. Bigre! it seems that +dig's the word in your shop; for I found outside here an old pensioner +so buried in his figures that I couldn't see the end of his nose.--Well, +how does it go?--Don't you know me? I am Arthur Cherami." + +Monsieur Grandcourt raised his head, and stared in utter amazement at +the individual before him. + +"Might I know, monsieur," he rejoined, "what you want, what brings you +here? for I probably didn't understand what you said." + +"Ah! you didn't understand, eh? Are you adding figures, too? That +occupation seems to deaden the intellect. But, never mind about that! So +you don't recognize me, dear uncle?" + +"No, monsieur, no; and I confess that I fail to understand this title of +_uncle_ which you persist in giving me." + +"That is a title of affection, because I am a friend of your +nephew--dear Gustave--who was so desperate on the day that his faithless +Fanny married another. And on that same day, I dined with him at +Deffieux's. He was absolutely determined to speak to the lovely bride, +when you fell into our private room like a bombshell, and dragged the +poor fellow away." + +"Ah! very good, monsieur! now I understand, and I recognize you. Yes, it +was you who were at the restaurant with my nephew--and you attempted to +interfere with my taking him away." + +"_Dame!_ he was so anxious to see his Fanny! I have always protected +love affairs." + +"And do you realize, monsieur, all that might have resulted from an +interview between Gustave and that young woman?" + +"Why, no more, I fancy, than did actually happen--a duel, that's all!" + +"What do you mean, monsieur? My nephew fought no duel; that I know; I +didn't leave him until the very moment of his departure." + +"Well, I don't say that it was he who fought; it was I; but it amounts +to the same thing." + +"What! you fought a duel--you?" + +"Just a little, nephew--I mean, uncle. Indeed, I administered to the +young husband a very neat sword-thrust in the arm. However, he's a stout +fellow; but he holds himself back too much in fencing; that's very +dangerous." + +"You fought with Monsieur Monleard?" + +"Why, yes! what of it? You open your eyes like porte cocheres! One would +say that it was a most extraordinary thing!" + +"But, monsieur, it's a horrible thing for you to have done! You have +compromised that young woman, you have compromised my nephew, you +have----" + +"Sacrebleu! do you know that you make me tired! Where the devil did I +get an uncle like this, who doesn't appreciate the services I have +rendered his nephew?" + +"A little less noise, monsieur, if you please!" + +"Ah! you don't like that! Very good! but, no! You are Gustave's uncle; I +cannot fight with you; it would grieve him. After all, my business isn't +with you; and if that old baked apple out yonder had told me where I +could find your nephew, you wouldn't have had a call from me. Tell me at +once, and I'll make my bow." + +"You want to see Gustave?" + +"That was my only reason for coming here." + +"My nephew is not now in France, monsieur; he is in Spain." + +"In Spain? Do you mean it? it isn't a sell?" + +Monsieur Grandcourt made a gesture of impatience, whereupon Cherami +continued: + +"Don't you like the word? You surprise me! It is adopted now in the best +society. It's like _balance._ You say: 'I have _balance_ So-and-so,' +which means: 'I have sent him about his business.' We have enriched the +French language with a lot of such locutions, more or less picturesque. +Ah! the Latin tongue is much more forcible, much more complete. You can +say things in Latin that you'd never dare to say in French. Look you, +for example, Plautus, in his comedies,--in _Casina_, I believe,--makes +an amorous old man say, when he thinks of his mistress: + + "'Jam, Hercle, amplexari, jam osculari gestio!' + +Ah! they were great jokers, those Latin and Greek authors! Write +comedies now like those of Aristophanes--you'd have a warm reception! +They are beginning already to find Moliere too free! We are becoming +very refined, very severe, in the matter of language! Does that mean +that we are growing more virtuous? Frankly, I don't think it. Habits, +customs, and manners change; but passions, vices, absurdities, are +always the same!" + +The banker's brow lost some of its wrinkles as he listened to Cherami. +He scrutinized him more carefully, and said: + +"How does it happen, monsieur, that, having received a good education, +knowing your classics as you do, in short, being a well-informed man, +you do not make use of your knowledge, to----" + +"To do what? To buy a coat? Is that what you mean?" + +"Faith! something like it." + +"I love independence, liberty, monsieur." + +"Those words have been sadly abused of late, monsieur. And if your love +of liberty compels you to go abroad in shabby clothes, it seems to me +that you would do well to prefer love of work to it." + +"Look you, my dear monsieur, I believe that you are undertaking to +preach to me--and I have never stood that from anybody!" + +"Perhaps that is the great mistake you have made." + +"Corbleu! you are lucky to be the uncle of a young man for whom I felt +at once a sincere affection.--Let us say no more. Gustave is in Spain?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"For a long time?" + +"I cannot tell exactly." + +"That's as good a way as any of not telling me. But when he is in Paris, +I promise you that I shall not fail to find him." + +"Have you anything important to say to him, monsieur? if so, tell it to +me, and I will transmit it." + +Cherami reflected a moment, then pulled his hat over his eyes, and said: + +"No, I simply wanted to shake hands with him, to inquire for his health, +and to find out whether he is finally cured of his love for the +faithless Fanny." + +"His letters tell me that his health is good. As for his foolish passion +for a woman who never loved him, I like to believe that it has succumbed +to absence." + +"Say rather to the glances of the Andalusians; for they have terrible +eyes, those Spanish women! I know something of them. I have known three, +who----" + +"Pardon me, monsieur; but I am very busy, and, if you have nothing else +to say to me----" + +"Ah! you dismiss me?--Very good; that's very polite. I have my cue!" + +"You have your cue? What do you mean by that?" + +"Oh! it's of no consequence. It's a little phrase which I often use; +it's as if I said: 'I see where I stand.'" + +"That makes a difference, monsieur. I wish you good-morning!" + +"And I wish you nothing at all!" + +Thereupon Cherami left the banker's office, saying to himself: + +"There's a tough old uncle for you! I think I won't borrow money of +him--I won't do him that honor. No, never! especially as he wouldn't +lend me any." + + + + +XXVI + +A CAFE ACQUAINTANCE + + +Cherami strolled about at random for some time, seeking some person of +his acquaintance with whom he could negotiate a small loan. But he saw +few save unfamiliar faces, and if by chance he did espy some former +friend, that friend turned away to avoid meeting him. + +"The devil!" said Cherami to himself; "the day opens badly! I counted on +Gustave for breakfast, and now it's after twelve o'clock, and I'm as +hungry as a cannibal. However, if I must, I will dispose of my new +cane. I shall be sorry to do it, for it's a pretty one--a genuine +rattan. But I should be still more sorry to go without breakfast. It +must have cost at least thirty francs. A dealer will give me six for +it,--they have all the cheek they need, those fellows,--and he'll act as +if he were doing me a favor! I prefer to leave it in pawn for a +beefsteak and its accessories. Come, let us look for a cafe where we can +get a good breakfast." + +Cherami was then on the boulevard, where there is no lack of cafes; for +one cannot walk thirty feet without passing one. The ex-Beau Arthur +entered the establishment which had the most modern show-front, seated +himself at a table, hung up his hat, laid his cane on the seat, and +summoned the waiter with that resounding voice and in that arrogant tone +which never fail to produce their effect on the waiters in a cafe. + +"What does monsieur wish?" + +"Radishes, sardines, and butter; then a beefsteak-chateaubriand, rare, +with roquefort and a bottle of bordeaux. After that, we will see. +Go!--That cane is certainly worth all that I have ordered," he said to +himself; "yes, and I can safely add a cup of coffee and a _petit verre._ +At all events, if they are not satisfied, I will do like Bilboquet in +_Les Saltimbanques_, I will pledge my signature.--I am annoyed, all the +same, to find that my young friend Gustave is in Spain. But is he really +in Spain? That is what I must find out." + +Cherami had eaten his hors-d'oeuvre, and was about to attack his +beefsteak-chateaubriand, when a short man, dressed with some pretension, +with a stupid face and a bald head which seemed to beg for a wig, took +his place at the table next to his, and sat down on the cane which +Cherami had laid on the bench. + +The new-comer jumped to his feet, putting his hand to his posterior, and +exclaiming: + +"Great heaven! what am I sitting on?" + +Cherami picked up his cane and stood it on the floor, between himself +and his neighbor. + +"It's lucky for you that you didn't break it," he said; "for it would +have cost you a pretty penny!" + +"I didn't do it purposely, monsieur." + +"No matter! if you had broken it, you'd have paid for it!" + +"And I hurt myself, too." + +"If it had been a blackthorn stick, it would have hurt you much more." + +The gentleman did not seem to be consoled by that reflection; he paid no +attention to the cane, but was intent only upon rubbing the wounded part +of his anatomy. Then he ordered a glass of grog, picked up a newspaper, +and began to read, in evident ill-humor. But Cherami, who loved to +converse, kept on talking while he ate. + +"I went into a public house one day," he said; "I had ridden horseback +six leagues without dismounting, and was naturally very tired. I walked +into the common-room, and threw myself into an easy-chair near the +fireplace. But as I sat down, a piercing shriek escaped me. Everybody +crowded around me: 'What is it, monsieur? what's the matter? what has +happened to you?'--But I could only point to my posterior, saying: 'I +don't know what I sat down on, but I am wounded--badly wounded!'--The +hostess wanted to look and see what it was--she wanted to dress the +wound. She was a bright-eyed hussy, with a buxom figure. I would gladly +have done as much for her, if she had been wounded. But the husband +interposed, considering the location of the wound. He declared that he +was the only one of the family who ought to meddle with it. Well, they +investigated.--I had sat down on a nail, a huge carpenter's nail. How +did it happen to be there--with the point up? That is something nobody +could explain. But the important thing was to remove it. The landlord +couldn't do it. He sent for a locksmith with his pincers, and he had +such hard work pulling the infernal spike out of my rump, that, when he +did get it out, it looked more like a corkscrew than a nail!" + +The bald party made no other comment on this story than a low grunt, and +continued to read his newspaper. + +Cherami scrutinized him for some minutes, saying to himself: "Where in +the devil have I seen that phiz? I can't remember, but this certainly +isn't the first time that I have had the misfortune to meet this +bald-headed boor.--It seems that the story of my nail didn't affect you, +monsieur?" he said aloud to his neighbor, who was stirring his grog. + +"I paid very little attention to it, monsieur. When I am reading the +paper, I am engrossed by my reading." + +"And you believe everything you find in it, I suppose?" + +"Why not, monsieur?" + +"Ah! I should judge that you were quite capable of it!--But you don't +know how to fix your grog, monsieur." + +"What! I don't know how to fix my grog?" + +"No, not at all. You keep stirring and stirring; but you don't crush the +piece of lemon-peel with your spoon and squeeze out the juice." + +"How does it concern you, monsieur, whether I crush my lemon-peel or +not? If it suits me to drink my grog like this, am I not at liberty to +do it?" + +"Oh! to be sure! I give you good advice--you don't want it. As you +please! I'll bet that you're looking through the advertisements in the +paper to find something to make the hair grow?" + +"No, monsieur. Let me tell you that if I wanted hair, I could have as +much as anybody." + +"I don't doubt it, with your money; you could wear three wigs, one on +top of another; that would give you a superb head of hair!" + +"But I don't like artificial things, monsieur; I detest what is false! +The truth before everything!" + +"Ah! I understand, then, why you parade your skull. But if you propose +always to show us the truth, that may carry you rather far! That +goddess's costume is a little scanty, or rather she has none at all. She +appears to the world quite naked! I would like to see you go out in the +street in that condition, for love of the truth. I fancy that a police +officer wouldn't listen to that excuse. Look you, monsieur, it has often +been said that it isn't always well to tell the truth; we might add that +it isn't always well to see it. In general, a man is wise to conceal his +infirmities, his deformities, and whatever he may have that is +unpleasant to look at; he does well to make himself as attractive, or as +little unattractive, as possible. To embellish, to seek to please, such +seems to be the purpose of nature, everywhere and in everything. Look at +a mother with her child: her first care is to dress it up, to try to +embellish it. Women are born with the instinct of coquetry; men have it, +too, although the rush and hurry of business compels them to pay less +heed to their persons. When you take lodgings, your first care is to +make them attractive; if you have a garden, you embellish it by planting +flowers in it; if you give a dinner party, you want it to be stylish, +sumptuous, enriched by handsome plate.--For instance, see this thin +glass from which I am drinking my claret: it improves the wine, +monsieur; it makes it taste better--for the wine would seem much less +delicious to me if it were served in a preserve-jar. And take your own +case--would you have liked it if they had brought you your grog in a +wash-basin, eh?--Deuce take me! I believe the little fellow isn't +listening!" exclaimed Cherami, suddenly interrupting his dissertation. +"Where in the world have I seen that face?--Waiter! my coffee!" + +As he threw himself back on the bench, Cherami knocked his cane against +his neighbor. Whereupon the latter turned, and pushed the cane away, +muttering: + +"Have you made a wager to annoy me?" + +"What's that! a wager--just because my cane slipped against you? I say, +my dear monsieur, who are so attached to the truth, you're very touchy, +aren't you?" + +The bald man made no reply; as he pushed the cane away, he had glanced +at it, and from that moment he kept his eyes fixed upon it. + +"Ah! you are admiring my cane now?" said Arthur; "you begin to +understand that it would have been a pity to break it!--It's very neat." + +Still the bald man made no reply, but raised his eyes and examined the +hat which its owner had hung on a hook. He scrutinized it so carefully +that Cherami lost patience, and said to himself: + +"Well, well! what's the matter with this creature! How much longer is he +going to stare at my hat and cane? He's beginning to make me very +weary." + + + + +XXVII + +THE CANE AND THE HAT + + +At last, the little man made up his mind to speak: + +"That cane, monsieur--with that agate head; it's very singular!" + +"You find that my cane has a singular look? Distinguished, you mean, I +doubt not?" + +"Why, monsieur, the fact is, that that cane--the more I look at it--a +rattan--exactly!--and the hat, too--the same kind of a band--very +broad----" + +"Tell me, monsieur--when you have finished, will you very kindly explain +yourself?" said Cherami. He began to suspect who his companion was, but +he did not choose to let it appear. + +"This is how it is, monsieur: I had a cane exactly like this one--so +much like it that I could swear it was the same one." + +"We see canes that look just alike, every day, monsieur; there's nothing +extraordinary in that; there are many men who are mistaken for one +another, and yet there is an expression, an animation, on a man's face +which you would seek in vain on the head of a cane." + +"Excuse me, monsieur; but all canes haven't an agate head cut like this +one." + +"If they had, they would be too common, and I wouldn't want one." + +"Well, monsieur, I lost my cane and my hat at a wedding party which I +attended about two months ago; that is to say, I didn't positively lose +them, but they were exchanged--and I didn't gain by the change! In place +of my hat, which had a band exactly like this--very broad--and the same +shape--they left a pitiful, disgraceful thing; and I was obliged to buy +a new one the next day; and in place of my cane I found a sort of +switch, of the kind they beat clothes with--not worth six sous!" + +"Corbleu! monsieur, what do you mean to imply by all this? This cane +that you lost, with an agate head--and your hat with a band like +this--do you know that I am beginning to lose my temper? Do you mean to +say that I stole your cane?" + +"No, monsieur--but----" + +"Then you insult me, and I will not brook an insult!--When we leave this +cafe, we will go and cut each other's throats, like a couple of young +dandies!" + +"Never, monsieur; not by any means! I am mistaken, monsieur; I am wrong. +No, no, it isn't my cane--let it be as if I had said nothing; I beg your +pardon." + +The little bald man, trembling like a leaf, seemed inclined to disappear +under the table at which he was seated. Cherami, having reflected two or +three minutes, looked at him with an affable expression, and said: + +"Didn't you lose something else at the party you mentioned just now." + +"Something else? yes, I did, monsieur; I was in bad luck that night! +When I arrived at the ball, I had lost one of my gloves--a yellow glove. +To be sure, it was returned to me later--but in such a state!" + +"Ah! now I understand! I recognize you now!" + +"You recognize me?" + +"To be sure--you are Monsieur Courbichon." + +"That's my name, sure enough! But how----?" + +"Pardieu! we met at our friend Blanquette's little party. Dear Monsieur +Courbichon! I have been looking for you a long while!" + +"You have been looking for me, monsieur? For what, pray?" + +"For what? Why, to return your cane." + +"But, monsieur, I don't know whether----" + +"And your hat too, if you insist upon it; but, as the one you have now +is newer, you would lose again by the change. But the cane is certainly +yours; do you consider me capable of keeping something that doesn't +belong to me,--that is in my possession only as the result of a +mistake?" + +"Ah! monsieur, I am sensible----" + +"You understand, of course, that before returning this cane, which I +carried away by mistake from my friend Blanquette's party, I wished to +be sure of returning it to its owner and no one else. Have you my +switch?" + +"No, monsieur; I haven't it--I don't even know what has become of it." + +"Bigre! I am very sorry for that. You thought, I suppose, that it was +just a common switch; you didn't see that it was a _nerf de boeuf_, +which came from China, where they make a great many canes of that +material, because it bends and never breaks. You value it at six sous, +but it was worth forty francs." + +"Oh! if I had known that----" + +"You'd have taken more care of it. However, that's a trifling mishap. +You pay for what I have eaten, and we will dine together; then we shall +be quits." + +"What, monsieur, you propose----" + +"Pray take your cane; it's a fascinating thing! Everybody stared at it. +Dear Courbichon! I am delighted to have returned it to you; but I +greatly regret my Chinese switch! Such is very rare in Paris. Very few +like it come here from China.--I say, waiter, how much do I owe?" + +"Seven francs fifty, monsieur." + +"Very good. Monsieur here will attend to it." + +Monsieur Courbichon did not seem overjoyed to pay for his neighbor's +breakfast; however, he did it. They left the cafe together, and, when +they were on the boulevard, Cherami passed his arm through that of the +owner of the cane, saying: + +"Where shall we go now?" + +"Faith! monsieur, I had intended to go for a stroll on the +Champs-Elysees. It's a fine day, and near the end of September; we must +make the most of these last good days. And then, I am very fond of +watching them play bowls." + +"Very good! that suits me--that suits me to the very tick: let us go to +the Champs-Elysees, and see them play bowls. Walking helps the +digestion; it gives one an appetite. We will dine there; I know all the +good restaurants on the Champs-Elysees. Oh! never fear, Papa Courbichon, +you are with a buck who knows what good living is!" + +"I don't doubt it, monsieur, but----" + +"Sapristi! what a pretty cane! everybody admires it as they pass. It +must have cost a lot?" + +"I cannot tell you, monsieur; it's a present from my nephew." + +"Ah, indeed! I was just saying to myself, that it's a surprising thing +that Monsieur Courbichon should have bought a cane like that. Your +nephew's a man of taste. What does he do?" + +"He's in business. He has gone to America. This was his cane; he gave it +to me, because, as he said, he was going to a country where there are +plenty of canes, and it was useless for him to carry this one." + +"Do you mean that he carries a piece of sugar-cane in his hand when he +goes out to walk?" + +"I can't tell you, I don't know. The cane suited me, because at need I +could use it to defend myself." + +"My Chinese switch was a famous weapon of defence, too." + +"What! a switch?" + +"Remember that it was a _nerf de boeuf._ I could have killed a calf +with it." + +"What a curious idea of those Chinese to make canes with _nerfs de +boeuf!_" + +"An additional proof, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, that the Chinese are +much more advanced than we are--much more progressive! They build houses +of india-rubber." + +"Hard rubber, of course?" + +"I don't know whether it's hard or not--it makes no difference. Pardieu! +Monsieur Courbichon, you must agree that there are lucky chances, and +that we were both happily inspired when we went to that cafe to-day!" + +"It is certain, monsieur, that otherwise----" + +"You would never have seen your charming cane again. Are you married, +Monsieur Courbichon?" + +"I have been married, monsieur, but I am a widower." + +"A superb position for a man still young and made to please the ladies." + +"Oh! monsieur, I am fifty-five." + +"That is the very prime of life, the age at which a man makes most +conquests, because he knows better how to go about it. Ah! I would like +to be fifty-five! I hope to get there, but I haven't yet. You have some +means?" + +"Five or six thousand francs a year, which I made in dried fruit." + +"A very pretty business!--That isn't a magnificent fortune, but it is +that pleasant mediocrity so highly praised by Horace. Do you know +Horace?" + +"Yes, I have seen it played at the Theatre-Francais." + +"Ah! I guess we will stop there! Have you children, excellent +Courbichon?" + +"I have a daughter, monsieur,--a married daughter; I have set her up in +business." + +"In dried fruit?" + +"No, monsieur; she is in olive oil." + +"Oh! the deuce! that's very different! But it will preserve her longer. +You have no other daughter?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"What a pity!" + +"Why so, monsieur?" + +"Because I feel so strongly attracted to you that I would have asked her +hand in marriage. Faith! yes, I would have renounced my liberty, which I +have never done yet--but there's an end to everything. Does your +son-in-law enjoy good health?" + +"Yes, monsieur, excellent!" + +"So much the worse!" + +"Why so much the worse?" + +"Because, if he should die soon, I might marry his widow." + +"Oh! what an idea, monsieur!" + +"He is in good health, so there's an end of that; let us say no more +about it. Don't be alarmed; I have no idea of killing him. If he had +insulted me, I don't say----" + +"A thousand pardons, monsieur; but I should be very glad to know your +name." + +"My name? So you have forgotten it, have you? But I was called by name +often enough at young Blanquette's wedding party--while I was dancing +with Aunt Merlin." + +"I don't remember it." + +"My name is Arthur Cherami." + +Courbichon, thinking that his companion was addressing him as his dear +friend (_cher ami_), replied: + +"Oh! yes, your name is Arthur---- Nothing more?" + +"What do you say? nothing more? Why, I have just told you--Arthur +Cherami." + +"Yes, I understand--Arthur; that's a very pretty name. Are you in +business?" + +"I don't do anything; I live on my income, like you." + +"Oh! that's different! When one has enough to live on, one certainly has +the right to loaf as much as he pleases." + +"That's so, isn't it, my dear Courbichon? Ah! I am delighted to see that +we agree. We were destined to become close friends; it was written, as +the Arabs say." + +While conversing thus,--that is to say, while Cherami conversed and his +companion listened, with difficulty finding a chance to put in a word or +two from time to time,--they had reached the Champs-Elysees. They +sauntered toward a spot where a game of bowls was in progress, and +looked on for a while. According to his habit, Cherami made his +reflections aloud and gave his opinion on the strokes. He did not +hesitate to say: "That was wretchedly played!" to the face of the +player. The latter, a youngster of sixteen years, came up to him with +an irritated air, crying: + +"What business is it of yours? Perhaps you wouldn't do as well!" + +"No, I flatter myself that I wouldn't do as well, for I would do much +better. And if you don't like what I say, my boy, just come with me. +There's a shooting-gallery yonder. I will take you for my target, and +you take me; we'll see which of us will bring the other down." + +The bowler retired without making any reply. + +"You are too quick, my dear Monsieur Arthur," said Courbichon, putting +his hand on Cherami's shoulder; "you take fire like saltpetre." + +"Ah! that's the way I was made, my dear Courbichon. What would you +have--a man can't make himself over!--But just let anyone presume to +insult you, when you're with me! Bigre! a dwarf, a giant, a +colossus--it's all one to me; I would grind him to powder on the spot, +and it wouldn't take long!" + +Meanwhile, the young bowler, who had returned to his game boiling with +rage, had formed a plan to revenge himself upon the person who had said +that he bowled badly; and when it was his turn to bowl, he threw the +ball with all his force in Cherami's direction, hoping that it would +strike his legs. But a small stone caused it to deviate slightly, and, +instead of striking Beau Arthur, it came in contact with Monsieur +Courbichon's legs. That gentleman staggered, and uttered a piercing +shriek. Cherami saw plainly whence the ball came, and saw the bowler +laughing uproariously. Instantly, snatching the cane from his +companion's hand, he ran toward the author of the assault, shouting: + +"Never fear, my poor Courbichon; I will avenge you, and I'll do it +thoroughly, too. He'll have his rabbit, the villain!" + +The youngster who had thrown the ball fled when he saw Cherami running +toward him. But Cherami pursued him; while Monsieur Courbichon rubbed +his legs, saying: + +"This is the first time such a thing ever happened to me while I was +watching the game; and it's the more surprising, because I wasn't in +line with the pins. So it must have been done on purpose; but why should +the fellow aim at my legs? I didn't make any comment on his play--I +didn't have any dispute with him.--This will certainly leave a mark on +my legs.--Where in the deuce has Monsieur Arthur gone? That man is too +quick-tempered." + +In a few minutes, Cherami returned, flushed and triumphant, crying: + +"You are avenged, my dear Courbichon! yes, what anyone would call +thoroughly avenged; the rascal has had what he deserved; and here's the +proof." + +As he spoke, he handed his new friend his beautiful cane broken in two. + +Monsieur Courbichon was dumfounded, and gazed with an air of +consternation at the pieces of the cane. + +"Ah! mon Dieu!" he faltered; "it is broken!" + +"True--it is broken; but I broke it on the back of the ragamuffin who +threw his ball at your skittles--I mean, your legs." + +"What a pity! You struck him too hard." + +"One cannot strike an enemy too hard." + +"Such a pretty cane!" + +"You still have the pieces--or, at all events, the head; you can have it +put on another stick." + +"It was a genuine rattan." + +"Pardieu! it was genuine enough; the fact that it broke so soon proves +that. But there are other rattans in the shops." + +"I'm very sorry that you broke my cane." + +"If you hadn't lost my Chinese switch, I would have beaten him with +that; and that wouldn't have broken, I promise you!" + +"It makes me feel very bad--my beautiful cane!" + +"Saperlotte! are you going to cry over it? Oughtn't you rather to thank +me for avenging the insult to your legs? Come, take your cane, and let +us go and dine; the walk has given me an appetite." + +Poor Courbichon, with a lachrymose expression, took the pieces of his +cane, and submitted to be led away by Cherami, who took his arm and +conducted him to one of the best restaurants on the Champs-Elysees. They +took their seats out-of-doors, at one of the tables surrounded by hedges +in such wise as to form private rooms with walls of verdure. Courbichon +placed the fragments of his cane on a chair by his side, heaving a +profound sigh; for his new friend intimidated him so that he no longer +dared, in his presence, to betray the chagrin caused by the spectacle of +his broken treasure. + +Cherami ordered the dinner, saying: + +"Rely on me; I will order the dinner; and as we are sensible men and +have no women with us, there's no need of our making fools of ourselves. +We don't want to have a magnificent feast, but simply to dine +comfortably. Is that your idea?" + +"Exactly; still----" + +"You have just the disposition I like! I shall mark with a white +cross--_album dies!_--the day which brought us together and enabled me +to return your cane. I regret that you lost my Chinese switch! but you +have your cane; that's the main thing!" + +Whenever his new friend mentioned his cane, Monsieur Courbichon made a +wry face, but he did not venture to make any complaint. They proceeded +to dine: one, talking constantly as he ate; the other, eating almost +without speaking; and, although Cherami had informed his host that they +would dine like sensible men, when the bill was brought, it amounted to +twenty-two francs. + +"That is not too much," said Cherami, passing the check to his +companion; "for we have had a good dinner and punished our three +bottles." + +The little bald man seemed to be of a different opinion; he turned the +paper over and over in his hand, muttering: + +"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!" + +"Well, my good Courbichon, that won't drain the sea dry! How many times +I have spent ten times as much on a dainty dinner, tete-a-tete with a +pretty woman! To be sure, we used to have all the delicacies of the +season--asparagus at thirty francs the bunch, strawberries at fifteen +francs, pineapples, wine of Constance.--The women adore that wine! they +delight in getting tipsy on Constance--in the bottle!--Have you ever +indulged in that sort of affair, amiable Courbichon? Oh! you must have +done it, many a time! That's where you lost your hair; eh, old boy?" + +"Twenty-two francs! twenty-two francs!" + +"Those figures seem to worry you! Do you find a mistake in the +addition?" + +"No, it isn't that; but I am afraid I haven't enough money with me. I +paid quite a large amount at the cafe, this morning. I didn't expect to +spend so much to-day. Would you be kind enough to lend me what I need?" + +"I would do so with the most lively satisfaction, my estimable friend; +but, as I was feeling in my pocket just now, I discovered that I have +forgotten my purse; which, by the way, happens quite often, for I am +very absent-minded. I may add that, when I made that discovery, I +intended to borrow a few francs of you--as is often done between good +friends; for what's the use of friendship, if not to oblige? O divine +friendship! gift of the gods!" + +"Mon Dieu! what are we going to do, if we haven't enough money between +us to pay for our dinner?" + +"Don't you be alarmed! I have found myself in that position more than +once. You can leave your cane in pawn." + +"My cane! When it was whole, that might have been--but now I can only +offer some pieces of a cane as a pledge." + +"Then leave your watch, my friend." + +"I haven't worn it since my last one was stolen." + +"But don't worry! They will give us credit on our respectable +appearance." + +"Let me see; with every sou I can find---- Search your pockets, too." + +"Oh! that's useless; I never carry money loose in my pockets. I have my +purse, or I haven't it." + +Monsieur Courbichon, having collected all that he had in his pockets, +could find only twelve francs and two sous. But suddenly, upon renewing +his search, he produced something carefully wrapped in paper, and that +something proved to be a gold piece of ten francs. The bald man's face +lightened. + +"Ah!" he cried; "the ten francs that I loaned to Mathieu, and that he +paid back this morning; I had forgotten them. That makes up the amount +and two sous over--for the waiter." + +"If I were in your place," said Cherami, "I would keep Mathieu's ten +francs, so that we might have something to refresh ourselves with when +we go back; and I would leave my cane for the balance." + +"What! you want me to ask for credit when I have enough money to pay the +bill?" + +"You haven't enough; for with a bill of twenty-two francs, you can't +think of giving the waiter less than twenty sous; if you offer him two, +he'll throw them in your face." + +"If he refuses them, he'll get nothing at all--so much the worse for +him! but I shall pay my bill." + +"And suppose you feel the need of something while we are walking back?" + +"We have dined so well that I shall not want anything." + +"On the contrary, you may have an attack of indigestion--you are very +red already--and then you'll want a glass of sugar and water." + +"I can do without it; I am not in the habit of being sick." + +"There are lots of things we're not in the habit of having, and yet they +come--as, sudden death, for example; certainly one hasn't the habit of +it, and it takes you all of a sudden." + +Cherami's arguments were of no avail; Monsieur Courbichon held his +ground. He called the waiter, paid for his dinner, and told him that he +gave him only two sous because he had nothing but banknotes which he did +not wish to change. + +They left the restaurant. The little bald man carried the pieces of his +cane, but his face wore a very unamiable expression. Cherami, who had +ceased to enjoy his society, soon left him, saying: + +"Give me your address, my dear friend. I will come soon and bid you +good-morning." + +"It is useless, monsieur; I start to-morrow for Touraine, where I expect +to settle." + +"What! you are leaving Paris, too? Very well; if you go to Tours, send +me some plums--Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville, Hotel du Bel-Air; but +prepay the freight!" + +Monsieur Courbichon saluted Cherami, and hurried off as fast as his +little legs would carry him, thrusting a fragment of his cane into each +pocket. + + + + +XXVIII + +A CONSTANT LOVER + + +Monsieur Gerbault transmitted his daughter's reply to the two suitors +who had asked for her hand. Young Anatole took his rebuff without any +indication of emotion. He said simply: + +"I am very thorry, becauth our two voitheth went very well together. I +am thure that we would have thung beautifully, and I am tho fond of +muthic that we thould have been very happy." + +The Comte de la Beriniere did not accept Adolphine's refusal of his +offer so philosophically. + +"Upon my word, my dear Gerbault," he exclaimed, "I have bad luck with +your daughters! One marries just when I am about to ask for her hand. +This one will have none of me; for I understand perfectly that her reply +is simply a courteously disguised refusal. Well, I must make the best of +it! I will take a trip into Italy, and try to console myself. The +Italian women are not the equals of your daughters, but, at all events, +they will distract my thoughts." + +And, a few days later, the Comte de la Beriniere did, in fact, leave +Paris. + +But there was one person who was entirely unable to understand +Adolphine's conduct: that was her sister Fanny. Learning that she had +refused to marry either Monsieur de Raincy or the count, she went to see +her one morning. + +"Can what father tells me be true? You have refused to marry, when two +magnificent _partis_ have offered themselves? But, no, it can't be true; +you haven't done that! or else you were sick at the time. Surely you +didn't realize what you said, when you gave father that answer?" + +"Indeed I did, my dear love," Adolphine replied, with a smile; "I knew +perfectly well what I was saying; I had considered the matter fully when +I refused to marry those gentlemen." + +"Upon my word, I don't understand you! What reason, what motives, can +have prompted your refusal? The Comte de la Beriniere has thirty +thousand francs a year; and he would make you a countess. Just think of +it--a countess! Isn't it perfectly bewildering to think of being called +Madame la Comtesse?" + +"It tempts me very little." + +"To be sure, the count is no longer young; but, once married, if you +knew, my dear girl, how little you think about your husband's age! +Auguste might be sixty years old, now, and it would be all the same to +me." + +"My ideas are not at all the same as yours, as I have already told you." + +"But I have had experience now, and you ought to listen to me. Come, let +us admit that you refused the count because you thought he was too old, +which is the merest childishness--that reason doesn't apply in the case +of Monsieur de Raincy; he is young, good-looking----" + +"He has a stupid, self-sufficient manner." + +"But what difference does that make? I have always heard it said that a +stupid man makes an excellent husband. I should be glad enough if my +husband was stupid! Then he wouldn't keep flinging little sarcastic +remarks at me when I talk about the state of the market--of the rise or +fall in railway shares. Auguste is clever--yes, very clever. But what +good does it do me to have him clever and agreeable in society? In his +own home, a husband never uses his wit except to make sport of his wife. +Monsieur Anatole de Raincy isn't as rich as the count, but he has a very +good position in society. Where do you expect to find a better match?" + +"I expect nothing." + +"Why do you refuse these offers, then?" + +"Because I do not love either of them." + +"Ah! an excellent reason! How absurd you are, my poor Adolphine! +Happiness in wedlock does not consist in love, but in wealth, in luxury, +in the power to buy whatever we please, to have magnificent dresses +which drive other women mad, to go to balls and parties every day, to +have the best boxes at the theatre; not in having to sit sighing by +your husband while you watch the soup-kettle." + +"I have told you before that my tastes aren't the same as yours." + +"Oh! you say that, but, in reality, you would be very glad to cut as +fine a figure yourself. But you are romantic! perhaps you have a passion +hidden away in your heart. Oh! yes, to refuse two such chances as you +have had, you must be in love with somebody!" + +Adolphine blushed, but made haste to reply: + +"No, you are mistaken. I never think of any man; it is not right of you +to say that." + +"Very well! then, my dear girl, I say again that it was perfectly absurd +of you to refuse those two! Adieu! I am going to select some flowers for +my head, for I am going to a large party to-night, and I propose to +eclipse all the other women." + +Some little time after this interview, Adolphine was alone, thinking of +him whose image was always present in her mind; for she had not told her +sister the truth when she said that she never thought of any man; but +there are passions which one does not choose to confide except to a +heart capable of understanding them, and she was well aware that Fanny +would not understand hers. + +Madeleine suddenly entered her mistress's room, and said: + +"Mamzelle, a young man wants to speak to you." + +"To me? He probably has business with my father." + +"No, mamzelle; it was you he asked to see--and monsieur your father +isn't at home, either." + +"Very well! show him in." + +Soon the door opened anew, and Gustave appeared before Adolphine. The +girl uttered an exclamation, for she recognized him at once; and she +was so disturbed that she had to lean upon a chair. + +"What! is it you, Monsieur Gustave?" she murmured. + +Madeleine retired, for she read in her mistress's eyes that the visit +caused her no displeasure. + +"Yes, Mademoiselle Adolphine," Gustave replied; "yes, my dear sister. +Ah! allow me to call you by that name still, as I used, for we have had +no falling-out; you have not spurned me, and I venture to hope that you +still feel for me a little of that sweet friendship which you seemed to +feel in the old days." + +Adolphine was so perturbed that she could hardly stammer: + +"Of course--yes--I have no reason not to be the same as always with you. +But do sit down, Monsieur Gustave. Mon Dieu!--how strange it is!--it's +only five months since we saw each other--and you seem changed---- Oh! +not for the worse--on the contrary--you have a more serious, more +thoughtful, air than before. Is it the result of your travels?" + +Adolphine was right; the five months which Gustave had passed away from +France had wrought a very considerable change in him, to his advantage; +he had lost that bewildered, hare-brained look which people used to +criticise in him; now he was a man--young, no doubt, but whose serious, +sedate, sensible aspect indicated a person who was accustomed to think +before speaking, and to reflect before acting. His face had gained +vastly by the change; his manner was colder, perhaps, but you realized +that you could rely on what he said. Lastly, the faintest shadow of +melancholy that could still be detected on his brow gave an added charm +to the gentle expression of his eyes and to the tone of his voice. + +Adolphine saw all this at a glance: that is all a woman needs to draw a +man's portrait. With trembling hand she pointed to a chair, and Gustave +sat down beside her with an ease of manner which covered no hidden +motive. + +"I don't know whether my travels have changed me," said the young man; +"they may, perhaps, have matured my mind somewhat; they have made me a +better business man. I realize fully now that I did some things which +lacked common-sense, and I shall not make such a fool of myself again!" + +"Oh! you are cured of your love for Fanny?" cried Adolphine, with an +expression of delight which she could not restrain. + +"No, dear Adolphine, no, that is not what I meant!" replied Gustave, +sadly; "do what I will, I haven't yet been able to drive that love from +my heart. But I meant simply that that unhappy passion will not lead me +into doing any more such absurd, unreasonable things as I once did. I +have become a man; if I suffer, I can at least conceal my suffering. I +have learned to respect the happiness of other people--the desire to +disturb it is very far from my thoughts! I realize, in short, that I +ought, above all things, to avoid the presence of her who cannot, should +not, sympathize with the pain she causes me." + +Adolphine turned her head away to conceal the tears which filled her +eyes, murmuring: + +"Mon Dieu! do you still love her as dearly as ever?" + +"I don't know whether it is less or more--I don't know how much I love +her; and I would give anything in the world to cease thinking of her! +But I cannot--do what I will, her image is always here. I forget that +she flirted with me--that she pretended to love me, only to throw me +over the next minute. I say to myself that all women try to please, and +that they cannot love all the men they have fascinated. I say to myself +that this Monsieur Auguste Monleard offered her a brilliant fortune, and +all the pleasures, all the enjoyment, all the luxury, in which, to a +young woman, the happiness of life consists.--I say all this to myself, +and I understand perfectly how she could have refused the poor clerk's +hand to accept that of the man who was wealthy and distinguished. So +that, if I am unhappy, I can blame nothing but fortune--and Fanny is so +pretty, so fascinating, so well worthy to shine in society! She will +never be mine, and yet I love her--yes, I still love her! They say that +men don't know the meaning of constancy; but you see that that isn't +true, Adolphine; you see that there are some who can love +faithfully--and, unluckily, they are the ones who are not loved." + +Adolphine did not reply for some time; she was suffocating, she could +not keep back the tears which dimmed her sight. Gustave saw them; he +seized her hand and pressed it, crying: + +"You weep--dear sister!--my unhappiness makes you shed tears. Oh! +forgive me for coming here and grieving you by the story of my +suffering." + +"Yes--it does grieve me to know that you are unhappy! But, after all, it +seems to me that you ought to try--that you do not make enough effort to +divert your thoughts; you see, when one has no hope, one ought to +forget." + +"Oh! that makes no difference at all." + +"Yes, it is possible.--How long since you returned to Paris?" + +"Only last evening; and, as you see, I came to you at once this +morning." + +"Yes--to talk to me about her!" + +"I admit it--but to see you, too,--you who have always shown me so much +affection, and whom I am so happy to call my sister still!" + +"Oh! of course--because that was the name you gave me when you were to +marry Fanny! But you don't know--I have not dared to tell you that +father says that you must not come to our house any more!" + +"Not come here any more! Why not, pray?" + +"Why, because of that unfortunate duel----" + +"Duel! What do you mean? What duel?" + +"What! you don't know? Hasn't your uncle told you about it?" + +"I told you that I only arrived last night; my uncle talked about +nothing but matters of business, which are of much more importance in +his eyes than anything else. Tell me what duel you are talking about?" + +"Do you remember the man who dined with you on the day of my sister's +wedding?" + +"Yes, a curious creature whom I happened to meet--and who took pity on +the state of frenzy I was in at that time." + +"Was he a friend of yours?" + +"As I tell you, I had known him only a few hours; but I had lost my head +that day; you know that better than anybody, dear Adolphine, for you +found time, even on that day, to come to me and say a few comforting +words.--But what about that man?" + +"Well, at night, when my sister went away from the ball with her +husband, he was standing near, just as they were entering their +carriage. That man--he was drunk, no doubt, but still he insulted my +sister." + +"The villain! He dared----" + +"Yes, he said: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'--My sister, who heard +the words plainly, told me herself. Was that an insult? Tell me frankly, +Monsieur Gustave, hadn't you yourself applied that name to my sister +more than once that day?" + +"It is quite possible; but I was out of my head, I didn't know what I +was saying. That did not give that fellow, whose very name I don't +remember, the right to repeat my words." + +"Auguste heard him, and the next day he fought a duel with the man." + +"And what was the result?" + +"A sword-thrust in my brother-in-law's forearm, which forced him to +carry his arm in a sling at least six weeks." + +"Mon Dieu! that incident may well have occasioned unfortunate scenes +between the husband and wife; it may have disturbed the domestic +happiness of--your sister. She probably accused me of being the original +cause of the duel! This is maddening!" + +"Don't be alarmed, Monsieur Gustave! you don't know Fanny! The affair +affected her very little, her happiness wasn't disturbed by it for a +single minute. She goes to some festivity, amuses herself in some way, +every day! Oh! she is happy." + +"So much the better! And her husband--he adores her still, I fancy?" + +"As to that, I can't answer. If they adore each other, it hardly appears +on the surface!" + +"What! Fanny doesn't love her husband?" + +"I don't say that she doesn't love him! but my sister isn't capable of +loving like us--like you, I mean. She has so much to take up her time in +the way of gowns, head-dresses, new styles, and so forth! How do you +suppose she can find time to love her husband?" + +"However, I am entirely innocent in this matter of the duel." + +"Oh! that is what I have always told father, who has only known it a few +days, by the way. For, as you can imagine, they didn't publish it. +Monsieur Monleard's injury was supposed to have been caused by a fall on +the stairs." + +"But why doesn't your father want me to come here? It wasn't a crime to +love his elder daughter and to aspire to her hand! It is true, I was +very poor, then; to-day, I could offer her more; my uncle, who is very +well satisfied with the way I attend to business now, said to me at +breakfast this morning: 'From to-day, I give you an interest in my +business, and I guarantee you not less than ten thousand francs a year, +whether there are any profits or not.'" + +"Ah! that is very nice, Monsieur Gustave; I am very glad for you." + +"Dear little sister! If you knew how indifferently I received the news +of this increase in my income! Ah! that isn't what I look to for +happiness!" + +"Nor I, either! But, as so many people think differently, probably we +are wrong." + +"I am thinking about your father, who doesn't want me to come here any +more." + +"In the first place, he was convinced that there would be no need to say +anything to you about it; that you would never have any desire to come +to our house again." + +"Why so, pray?" + +"I don't know why; for my part, I didn't think as he did. Something told +me that you would come--to hear about Fanny--to talk about her. I +guessed right, did I not?" + +"Yes, yes! you read my heart." + +"For I know very well that that was the only reason it occurred to you +to come here." + +"Do you think that I am not fond of you--of you and your father?" + +"Oh! I don't say that; but my father fears--suppose you should meet my +sister here?" + +"I should be able to act with her as with a person who was a total +stranger to me. Does she come to see you often?" + +"No, not often. She has so many other calls to make! She knows so many +people now!" + +At that moment the bell rang. + +"Mon Dieu!" said Adolphine; "if it should be my father!" + +"Why, I will go and offer him my hand, and I am sure that he won't +refuse it." + +"But if it should be----" + +Adolphine had not time to finish her sentence. The door of her chamber +was hastily thrown open, and her sister entered. + + + + +XXIX + +A WOMAN OF FASHION + + +Fanny was resplendent in costume, jewels, and style; and it must be said +that, like all women with whom personal adornment is a special study, +she carried her splendor well, and that it added materially to the +attractions she had received from nature. + +The young woman was nowise perturbed at sight of Gustave Darlemont; she +honored him with an affable smile, and her vanity seemed flattered that +he whose hand she had refused should see her now in all the glory of her +good-fortune and her magnificent toilet. Adolphine, on the contrary, was +pale and trembling. As for Gustave, he could not conceal the emotion he +felt on seeing Fanny again, and especially in such seductive guise. + +"Bonjour, little sister!" said Fanny, kissing Adolphine.--"But, I cannot +be mistaken--this is Monsieur Gustave. I am delighted to see you, +monsieur." + +Gustave barely managed to stammer: + +"Madame--I confess that I did not expect--to meet you here." + +"Why, it seems to me quite natural that I should come to my father's +house. To be sure, it doesn't happen very often: I have so little time +to myself! When one goes much into society, one must make and receive so +many calls, dress, give orders when one entertains. And, by the way, we +give a large party in six days, to inaugurate our winter evenings.--I +came to tell you, Adolphine, so that you may have time to prepare a +bewitching costume, do you hear? I will advise you, of course, for you +don't keep very well abreast of the fashions.--But I thought that you +were abroad, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"I have just come from Spain, mademoiselle--I beg your pardon--madame. I +have been away about five months." + +"Indeed! then that is why you look so brown; but that doesn't do you any +harm--far from it. Did you enjoy yourself?" + +"Enjoy myself? not exactly that, madame; but that wasn't what I went +for." + +"They say that the women are very pretty in Spain; that their eyes, +especially, are dazzlingly bright. Is it true, Monsieur Gustave? Did you +see any eyes in that country that excel those of us Frenchwomen?" + +"I saw none, madame, which could be compared to----" + +The young man checked himself, and added: + +"I saw none which made me forget those of the Parisian women." + +"Good! that is very polite! And you are settled in Paris now?" + +"I do not know, madame; that will depend on--my uncle." + +"Well, monsieur, while you are here, if it will afford you any pleasure +to come to our evenings at home, Monsieur Monleard, I am sure, will be +delighted to see you. At all events, he allows me to invite whom I +choose--and he does the same. I greet his friends courteously, he does +as much for mine; in that way, we always agree. Stay! next Thursday, as +I was saying to my sister, we give a large party; there will be +everything: music, dancing, cards, and supper; it will last all night, +and we shall have lots of fun. You must come. We shall have all +Paris--that is to say, all the best artists, all the celebrities. Will +you come?" + +Gustave was struck dumb by this invitation, and especially by the light, +careless tone in which it was offered; he was more distressed than +gratified, and answered, with a low bow: + +"No, madame; I shall not have the honor of accepting your invitation." + +"Indeed! And why not, may I ask, monsieur?" + +"Why, because--at this party--in your husband's house--it seems to me, +madame, that I should be out of place; and I am sure beforehand that I +should take no pleasure in it. Pray receive, madame, my thanks and my +adieux." + +Thereupon Gustave went up to Adolphine, who had listened without a word, +and pressed her hand, saying in an undertone: + +"Adieu, my only friend! Ah! your father is right: it is much better that +I should not come here again." + +Gustave left the room. Adolphine had difficulty in concealing her grief. +Fanny, meanwhile, looked at herself in a mirror, saying: + +"What is the matter with Monsieur Gustave, I wonder? He had a very +tragic air as he left us. It wasn't polite of him to refuse my +invitation. And I fancied that it would give him the greatest pleasure! +There are so many young men who would be overjoyed to have the +opportunity to come to my evenings!" + +"In your eyes, Monsieur Gustave ought not to be like other young men. +And I cannot conceive how you could have dreamed of urging him to come +to see you," rejoined Adolphine, in a trembling voice. + +"Why not, I should like to know? You seem to be surprised at +everything!" + +"But after all that happened between you before you were married----" + +"All what? Monsieur Gustave was in love with me. Ah! there are many +others who are in love with me to-day--yes, and who pay court to me, +too. But that won't keep them from coming to dance at our ball--quite +the contrary; and they have engaged me beforehand for I don't know how +many contra-dances. But I shall take only those whom I like. I would +have done as much for Gustave; or, rather, I would have given him the +preference--I would have let him have more dances." + +"But don't you see that Gustave still loves you? that he can't accustom +himself to seeing you as another man's wife, and that it would be +impossible for him to meet your husband?" + +"Do you think that that young man still loves me so much as that?" + +"To be sure; he was just telling me so himself when you came." + +"Ah! the poor boy! I am sorry for him, but I thought he had grown +reasonable! A constant lover! Why, the fellow is a perfect phoenix!" + +"A phoenix that you would have none of!" + +"I don't repent. My husband is not a phoenix in love, I admit. At +first, he adored me; then, it suddenly passed away. But I wasn't silly +enough to groan over it. He has continued to lavish on me all the +pleasures and amusements that wealth can procure. What more could I ask? +I consider myself the luckiest woman in Paris. Whereas with that poor +Gustave--that phoenix of constancy!--I should have vegetated; I +should have gone to the play on Sunday, as a treat!" + +"Monsieur Gustave is already in a much better position. His uncle is so +well satisfied with him that he gives him ten thousand francs a year +now." + +"Ten thousand francs! Well, yes, that is something. One can manage to +live with that. But how far he is still from Auguste's position!" + +"And then, too, Fanny, when you invite Monsieur Gustave to your house, +you seem to forget that duel. Your husband knows that it was he who was +in such despair on account of your marriage, and that that was the +cause----" + +"Oh! for heaven's sake, let me alone, Adolphine! My husband has +forgotten all about that. He has much more important things in his head. +When a man is intent on making millions, do you suppose he wastes any +time on trifles of that sort? Oh! mon Dieu! chattering here with you, I +forgot that I have to call on my broker." + +"You have a broker, Fanny?" + +"To be sure. I speculate on the Bourse, too--just to amuse myself a +little, you know. But I do not intrust my affairs to my husband, because +he would ridicule me. Adieu, little sister! Make your preparations for +our grand party on Thursday. Oh! we shall have much sport. I am going to +have a ravishing gown." + +Madame Monleard took her leave; whereupon Adolphine sank into a chair, +saying to herself: + +"Now I can cry at my ease, for he said that he should not come here any +more!" + + + + +XXX + +THE SECOND MEETING + + +On leaving Monsieur Gerbault's house, Gustave did not return at once to +his uncle's office; he felt that he must be by himself, in the open air, +and, although it was winter, he had no fear of the cold; on the +contrary, it seemed to him that the keen north wind would cool his blood +and tranquillize his mind, which the sight of Fanny had overturned anew. + +Having her before his eyes, more bewitching than ever, Gustave had +realized how dearly he still loved her who had refused to be his wife. +And he had already found, in the depths of his heart, innumerable +reasons to excuse her conduct; in his eyes, she was rather frivolous +than guilty. + +Now that he had seen Fanny again, that she had talked with him as +pleasantly as before her marriage, and had urged him to call upon her, +Gustave did not know what to believe, what to think, what to conjecture, +from it all. He asked himself why she wanted to see him. Whether it was +because she still felt some affection for him, whether she derived any +pleasure from his presence, whether she sympathized secretly with his +grief; or was it simply for the purpose of flaunting in his face her +brilliant social position, her superb gowns, and the homage that was +paid to her? + +Gustave walked a long time at random on the boulevard, where he met very +few people, on account of the cold. + +"No," he said to himself; "I will not go to her house! Have I courage to +be a witness of her husband's happiness? Moreover, her husband hasn't +invited me; it seems to me that he is sure to receive me very coldly. +That's what I would do in his place. But Fanny didn't think of what she +was saying; she invited me thoughtlessly--or else from simple courtesy. +Ah! she is very pretty still; she's a hundred times more fascinating +than ever! I did very wrong to go to Monsieur Gerbault's!" + +Suddenly the melancholy lover was roused from his reflections by someone +who threw his arms about him, embraced him, and kissed him on the cheek, +crying: + +"Ah! here he is! it is he! At last I have found him--my dear, good +Gustave! Victory! Castor has found Pollux! I have my cue! + + "'And since I've found my faithful friend, + My luck will take a different trend!'" + +Gustave struggled to free himself, in order to see the face of the +individual who was so lavish of tokens of affection, and he finally +recognized his impromptu friend of Fanny's wedding day, the man with +whom he had dined at Deffieux's. + +Cherami was the same as always. But his costume seemed even shabbier in +the cold weather then prevailing than in summer; for his frock-coat, +more threadbare than ever, was drawn so tightly across his shoulders +that one could see that there was nothing under it; his plaid trousers, +worn thinner than ever, evidently afforded his legs very little +protection against the sharp north wind; and the Courbichon hat, by dint +of being planted on the side of his head, was beginning to resemble the +one it had replaced. But all this did not prevent the ci-devant Beau +Arthur from holding himself erect and eying everybody he met from top to +toe. + +"Why, it is Monsieur----" + +"Arthur Cherami. Yes, my dear fellow; it is I, your faithful friend, +your Pylades, who has been seeking you over hill and dale, and who even +called to inquire for you at your uncle's,--Grandcourt, the +banker,--who, I am bound to say, did not receive me with all the +consideration I deserve! But uncles are not very amiable, as a general +rule. He told me that you were in Spain." + +"He told the truth; I returned only last night." + +"And I have been scouring the four quarters of Paris every day, saying +to myself: 'If Gustave has returned, I cannot help meeting him.'--And +here you are, my dear friend, whose absence seemed so long! Well! don't +we propose to shake hands with our intimate friend, on whose bosom we +poured out our woes?" + +But Gustave hesitated to give his hand to Cherami, and replied in a +serious tone: + +"Before shaking hands with you, monsieur, I must have an explanation +with you. You fought a duel with Monsieur Auguste Monleard, and you made +that duel inevitable by addressing an insulting remark to his bride. By +what right did you take that step? Why did you do it? for what object? +Come, answer me." + +"Ah! par la sambleu! this is a cross-examination which I was far from +expecting! I fight in a friend's cause, I wound his fortunate rival--I +didn't kill him, to be sure; but still, I might have killed him. Then, +your charmer would have been a widow, and you would have married her!" + +"Ah! I thank heaven that Monsieur Monleard got off with a wound in the +arm! If you had killed him, I should have been accused of the murder!" + +"What's that? you? Everybody knows that it wasn't you who fought with +him. I see a young man, miserable, desperate, because the woman he loves +marries another. That young man interests me. I dine with him, and he +pours his sorrows into my bosom. Every instant, he complains of the +perfidy of the woman who has deceived him; and, that same day, when I +chance to meet that faithless creature on her conqueror's arm, you would +not have me try to avenge my friend's wrongs? Damnation! what the devil +do you understand by friendship, I wonder? If that's your idea of it, +why, adieu, bonjour, let's say no more about it! Go and look elsewhere +for friends; but you won't find my sort lying around by the dozen!" + +Gustave detained Cherami as he turned away, and offered him his hand, +saying: + +"Come, come, don't get excited, hot-head! I see that one cannot bear you +a grudge; give me your hand!" + +"This is very fortunate. He realizes at last that I am entirely devoted +to him, and that his happiness alone is my object." + +"My dear monsieur----" + +"Don't call me _monsieur_, or it will be my turn to be angry!" + +"Very well! my dear Arthur, that duel of yours annoyed me very much, +because I was afraid that it would have set Fanny against me altogether. +But, thank heaven! it did nothing of the kind." + +"As if women were ever angry because a man fights for them! You +evidently don't know them; on the contrary, it flatters their +self-esteem--it serves to set them off a little." + +"I have just seen Fanny, I met her at her sister's. I didn't expect to +see her there. Ah! if you knew--I am still all upset by that meeting." + +"Do you mean that you still love that young woman?" + +"Do I love her! Alas! yes, I love her still, and I feel that my passion +will make my whole life miserable." + +"Did the little lady receive you coldly?" + +"Why, no; on the contrary, she gave me a most delicious smile, and +talked to me just as she used to before her marriage. In fact,--can you +believe it?--she invited me to a large party that she gives next +Thursday." + +"And still you have a sad, woe-begone air! why, I should say that you +have every reason to rejoice!" + +"Why so?" + +"Because when this lady, who knows that you once adored her, and who +must have seen that you love her still--when, I say, she asks you to +come and see her, it means that she proposes to reward you for your +constancy--to crown your passion. Pardieu! that's not hard to +understand. Go to her party, my dear friend, and I'll stake my head that +within six weeks the husband has rooms at the sign of the Stag or the +Crescent, as long as you choose." + +"Ah! what do you presume to imply? You imagine that Fanny is capable of +betraying her husband, of forgetting her duty? No, no! she may be +fickle, coquettish, if you please, but she will never be guilty. And I +myself--oh! that is not my conception of love. A woman who shares her +favors--who pretends to feel for one man the love which she really feels +for another--oh! I should soon cease to love such a woman!" + +Cherami shook his head, as he muttered: + +"You are young, my dear Gustave; you are very young! You don't know the +world as I do. You say that you still adore your Fanny, and that you +wouldn't have her deceive her husband for you?" + +"In the first place, she wouldn't do it!" + +"I am strongly inclined to believe the contrary; but let us admit that +you are right. I see but one means of making you happy, and that is to +carry the young woman off. Do you want me to do that? I'll undertake it, +if you do." + +"No, my dear Arthur; I have never had such a thought. Fanny has all that +she wants--she is happy; I shall be very careful to avoid disturbing her +happiness; I have neither the right nor the desire to do so. But, as I +feel that the sight of her intensifies my suffering, by reviving the +passion which I am trying to extinguish; as I do not wish to expose +myself--for some time, at least--to the chance of meeting her at the +theatre or in society, why, I shall leave Paris, and travel once more. +My uncle always has business in other countries, and he will not be +sorry to employ me in that way again." + +"That's a crazy idea of yours! So, if your love happens to hang on, that +little woman will make you do the tour of the world?" + +"Let us hope that time will cure me." + +"There is something that works quicker than time in the cure of love; to +wit, another love. You ought to have had ten mistresses in Spain." + +"Impossible! I thought of nobody but her." + +"You can fairly boast of being a paladin of the good old times. You +could have given _Roland_ and _Amadis_ points. So you are going to leave +Paris again! Would you like me to travel with you?" + +"Thanks! my company is far from agreeable; my sole pleasure consists in +musing by myself--thinking of the happiness to which I looked forward +for some time, but which I am never to know." + +"We would have sought adventures together, aye, and found them too, I +promise you! That would have diverted your thoughts." + +"I do not care to divert my thoughts, as my only pleasure is the thought +of her." + +"Sapristi! yours is a devilishly persistent passion! However, as you're +so obstinate----" + +Cherami paused, and seemed to reflect upon the best means of changing +the subject. + + + + +XXXI + +A NEW SWITCH + + +"In that case, it will be another long while before I see you again?" he +said at last. "That troubles me--especially as there are times when a +friend is very essential!" + +Cherami shook his head, rubbed his chin, and added, between his teeth: + +"I haven't my cue at this moment--I need it damnably!" + +Gustave glanced at the ex-beau, whose piteous expression was even more +noticeable against his wretched costume; then he exclaimed: + +"Can I do anything for you, my dear friend? If so, tell me, I beg; I +should be happy to be of any service to you!" + +"Faith! my dear fellow, I will not conceal from you that I am at this +moment absolutely cleaned out. I counted on some money that was owing +me; my quarterly income isn't due for six weeks." + +"You need money? Why, in heaven's name, didn't you tell me? I am +entirely at your service. How much do you need?" + +"Why, at this moment--it's very cold--my rascal of a tailor broke his +word--so--I ought to have--say, a hundred francs, to furbish me up a +bit." + +"A hundred francs! Why, you couldn't do anything with that. Here, my +good friend, here's five hundred! Take it; I can spare it." + +Gustave took a banknote from his wallet as he spoke, and handed it to +Cherami, who could not restrain a joyful movement when he received that +windfall; he seized the young man's hand and pressed it with all his +strength, crying: + +"Ah! you are the friend I have dreamed about! My dear Gustave, I shall +never forget what you do for me at this moment! Henceforth we are +friends in life and death! I cannot name the exact day when I shall be +able to repay this money----" + +"Eh? who said anything about that? I have more money than I need, and, I +say again, I am delighted to be able to be of service to you." + +"Excellent and worthy friend! You are made on the antique pattern; you +have something of Socrates and of Marcus Aurelius about you. So you +don't want me to kidnap Fanny?" + +"No, I won't have it!" + +"Well, if you change your mind, you have only to write me a line at the +same address: Cherami, Hotel du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville. +By the way, I will call on your uncle's concierge now and then, to find +out whether you have returned. Sapristi! it pains me to have you go." + +"I shall return--and perhaps I shall be more reasonable." + +"Then we will enjoy ourselves, we will laugh and make merry! Au revoir, +then, my dear Gustave! If you have any commission for me, write me a +line. But prepay your letters, for my hostess has a habit of refusing to +take in those that have to be paid for." + +"What! even when they are for her tenants?" + +"Above all, when they are for her tenants." + +Gustave walked away after shaking hands with Cherami, who looked after +him with a touched expression, saying to himself: + +"Excellent heart! he reconciles me with mankind; clearly, there still +are such things as friends; they are rare, but, still, they do exist, +and it's simply a matter of finding them. Now, I must see about getting +some comfortable duds; that won't be an extravagance. When anyone +brushes against me, I am always afraid he'll carry away a piece of my +coat." + +Cherami soon found one of the great furnishing shops where you can +procure a complete change of raiment, from head to foot. He bought a +pair of trousers, very full, a thickly padded waistcoat, and a roomy +coat; and he put them all on over the clothes he was wearing. + +"I am like Bias, one of the seven sages of Greece," he said; "I carry my +whole wardrobe on my back." + +Cherami made all these purchases for ninety francs. He left the shop +much stouter than he entered, and his double trousers compelled him to +walk with a certain gravity. But he was so content, he considered +himself so comely in his new clothes, that he smiled benignly on +everybody, even on the cabmen who passed him. But something was still +lacking: since he had restored Monsieur Courbichon's cane, he had not +replaced it, for lack of funds; and that was to him a great privation. +Now he could gratify his longing; a man who has four hundred and ten +francs in his pocket, after purchasing a new outfit throughout, can well +afford to humor his fancy for a cane. + +Cherami spied a shop where canes of all sorts were for sale; he examined +a score, among which there were some very expensive ones. After +hesitating for some time between a superb Malacca joint at seventy-five +francs, and a light switch at a hundred sous, he finally decided upon +the latter. "For, after all," he reflected, "I don't need a cane to lean +on! Thank God, I haven't the gout! I will take the switch; it can be +used as a crop when I ride; and then, I like something that bends--one +can play with it." + +Armed with his switch, with which he beat the air in a very unpleasant +fashion for those who passed him, Cherami betook himself to the +Palais-Royal, saying to himself: + +"I think I will dine at Les Freres Provencaux. I like that old-fashioned +house; you are always treated well there. It's a little dear, perhaps, +but one can't pay too much for what is good." + +"Pray be careful, monsieur! you hit me with your cane!" + +"What's the matter, monsieur? what are you complaining about?" + +"You hit me with your cane, I tell you." + +"In the first place, monsieur, it isn't a cane; it's a switch; in the +second place, you have only to walk farther away from me." + +"Monsieur, I am on the sidewalk, as you are. I have a right to be here, +I fancy." + +"What's all this?--Cheap talk? impertinence? If you're not satisfied, +monsieur, say so at once; I'm your man; I won't run away!" + +His interlocutor, who had not left home with the intention of fighting a +duel, quickened his pace and disappeared without making any further +reply. + +Cherami began to wave his switch about as before. + +"These fellows are amazing, on my word!" he muttered. "They want to +frighten me out of playing with this little stick. As if I would put +myself out--as if----" + +But this time he concluded to stop, hearing the crash of broken glass; +he had shattered with his switch a beautiful mirror which formed part of +the show-window of a perfumer's shop. The mistress of the establishment +was already in her doorway, where she said to Cherami in an angry tone: + +"You broke that mirror, monsieur; you broke it!" + +Beau Arthur, with no outward indication of excitement, smiled at the +perfumeress as he rejoined: + +"Very good! my dear woman, if I broke your mirror, I'll pay for it. You +shouldn't lose your temper for a little thing like that. How much will +it cost to replace it?" + +"Twenty francs, monsieur." + +"Twenty francs! here's your money! a mere bagatelle!--I am not sorry to +have christened my switch," he added, as he walked away. + + + + +XXXII + +THE FAREWELLS + + +When he learned that his nephew wished to leave Paris again, Monsieur +Grandcourt did not conceal the regret which he felt at the thought of +another separation; but when he realized that Gustave still loved Madame +Monleard, he placed no obstacle in the way of his departure, and it was +decided that the young man should go to Germany. + +"During your absence," said the banker, "an individual came here to +inquire for you--I say an _individual_, for I don't know how else to +describe the man, whose whole aspect was more than questionable. His +name, I believe, is Arthur Cherami, and he claims to be an intimate +friend of yours, because you paid for his dinner the day Mademoiselle +Fanny was married." + +"Ah! yes, I know whom you mean, uncle; I have seen him; I met him a +couple of days ago." + +"I trust, my dear Gustave, that you will not affect that gentleman's +society. You don't know, perhaps, what he did? He fought a duel with +Monsieur Monleard, after making an insulting remark to his wife." + +"I know it, uncle. But, in the first place, that day, or rather that +night, the poor devil was a little tipsy--he lost his head--he thought +he was avenging me; after all, it only goes to prove that he's a brave +fellow." + +"My dear boy, the gentry who stop public conveyances on the highroad are +generally brave fellows, too, but that doesn't prevent their being +brigands." + +"Oh! uncle, do you mean that you think that that poor Arthur----" + +"I don't say that he's a thief; but I don't advise you to make a +companion of him." + +"He's no fool; he has had a good education, and he knows the world." + +"He is all the more reprehensible for having allowed himself to sink so +low! For he seems to me to be always in search of a dinner. However, as +you are going away again for some time, I trust that your relations with +the fellow will be entirely broken off." + +Gustave hastened the preparations for his journey; but, being obliged to +wait for certain letters which his uncle desired to give him for his +correspondents, he was not ready to leave Paris until the following +Thursday evening. He desired to see Adolphine once more before he went; +she had always been so kind and affectionate to him, that it seemed to +him that it would be ungracious to leave Paris again without bidding her +adieu. But the fear of another meeting with Fanny held him back. He +suddenly remembered, however, that that was the day of the grand affair +to which Madame Monleard had invited him. + +"Surely," he said to himself, "Fanny has too much to do at home to-day, +to find time to go to her sister's. So that I can call on Adolphine with +no fear of meeting her whose presence causes me more pain than pleasure +now." + +Adolphine was at home, engaged in preparations for the ball; for +although she anticipated no pleasure at her sister's magnificent +function, she could not do otherwise than go. She was looking with an +indifferent air at a lovely ball gown which her father had given her, +and which would have delighted most young women of her age beyond +measure. + +"But," thought Adolphine, "what do I care whether people think me +pretty? There will be nobody at the ball whom I care to please. Ah! if +he were going! But he was wise to refuse; he could not, ought not to +go." + +Madeleine noiselessly opened the door, and said: + +"Mamzelle, here's the young man who came the other day--the one who's so +good-looking, and seems so sad-like." + +"Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, that Monsieur Gustave, who was so scared by your sister the other +time, that he went right away." + +"Mon Dieu! Is father at home?" + +"Yes, mamzelle; but he's in his room with Monsieur Batonnin, who came +just a minute ago. They'll probably have a lot to talk about, and you +know your father hardly ever comes into your room. And, to-day, he knows +that you're getting your dress ready." + +"Show Gustave in, quickly." + +Trimmings, flowers, ribbons, all were thrown aside; Adolphine was so +happy at the thought of seeing Gustave. In a moment, he entered the +room, ran to her side, and pressed her hand affectionately. + +"Will you forgive me for disturbing you again, dear Adolphine?" he +asked. + +"Will I forgive you! Why, I am very glad to see you; for, when you went +away the other day, you said that you wouldn't come again, and that +grieved me much." + +"That was because I was so unprepared to meet your sister. I didn't +expect to see her, and I confess that it affected me so deeply that it +revived all my suffering." + +"Oh! I saw that; but it was by the merest chance that you met her; she +comes here very seldom." + +"No matter; I would not have run the risk of a second meeting; but I +remembered that this is the day of her grand ball, and I thought that +she would have no leisure to come here this morning." + +"But I should have said that Fanny was glad to see you." + +"Oh! that makes no difference, my good little sister; her glances, her +voice, her smile, all made my heart ache! You can't imagine what agony +it is to be with a person you love, and who doesn't love you!" + +"Yes, yes, I understand." + +"Especially when you have imagined for some time that you possessed that +person's heart; when you have flattered yourself with the prospect of +passing your life with her! To see that woman again, when she belongs to +another, is the most frightful torture. Fanny smiled at me, she asked me +to call on her. But I would have preferred a cold, harsh greeting a +hundred times over; I would have liked her to avoid my presence as I +meant to avoid hers; for then I would have thought: 'I am not utterly +indifferent to her.'--However, that won't happen again, for I am going +away, and I have come to say good-bye." + +"You are going away again! Mon Dieu! you have only just returned!" + +"Ah! I should have done better not to return so soon. Living in Paris +weighs on me, it recalls the past too vividly." + +"And where are you going now?" + +"To Germany, Austria--as far away as possible!" + +"For a long time?" + +"Oh! yes, for I don't propose to return until I am thoroughly cured of +my unhappy passion." + +Adolphine put her handkerchief to her eyes. + +"But it's not our fault," she stammered,--"if my sister doesn't love +you--and yet, because she doesn't, we--must lose a friend." + +"Dear Adolphine, such woe-begone friends as I am are hardly worth +regretting." + +"Do you think so? But suppose I like them so?" + +"When I return, I shall probably find you married, too." + +"No, no! I shall not be married, I--I am sure of it." + +"What do you know about it? There are certain to be plenty of aspirants +to your hand." + +"I refused two, not long ago. They were both rich, but I am not like my +sister; I want to love my husband!" + +"Do you think, pray, that Fanny doesn't love hers?" + +"Mon Dieu! I know nothing about it. I don't know what I am saying; I am +so disappointed!" + +At that moment, the door opened. Monsieur Gerbault appeared, with +Monsieur Batonnin, who entered first. + +"Pray excuse me, mademoiselle," he began; "I come to engage you for the +first contra-dance that----" + +The soft-spoken gentleman stopped abruptly, seeing a young man seated +beside Adolphine; he rolled his eyes in the direction of the father, +adding: + +"Ah! mademoiselle has a visitor; we disturb her." + +Monsieur Gerbault was no less surprised than he at finding a man in his +daughter's room, and her with her eyes full of tears. But he soon +recognized Gustave, who bowed respectfully to him and said: + +"Forgive me, monsieur, for presuming to call upon your daughter; but I +came to bid her good-bye, and I hoped to have the honor of paying my +respects to you as well before leaving the house." + +"Ah! is it you, Monsieur Gustave? I thought that you were in Spain?" + +"I returned a week ago, monsieur; and to-night I start for Germany." + +"Why, what's the matter, Adolphine? you look as if you had been crying. +But I cannot conceive what reason you can have to be unhappy." + +Monsieur Batonnin thought it advisable to intervene. + +"It always saddens one to say good-bye to one's friends," he murmured. +"Life is so short! When we part, we are never sure of meeting again." + +"What do you say, monsieur?" cried Adolphine, with a pathetic glance at +Gustave. + +"I had no purpose to grieve you, mademoiselle, believe me," Batonnin +made haste to reply; "on the contrary, I came to solicit the honor of +dancing the first contra-dance with you; for you surely have not +forgotten that madame your sister gives a ball this evening?" + +"No, monsieur." + +"I realize," said Gustave, "that I came at a very inopportune moment, +and interrupted mademoiselle in her preparations for that festivity, +diverting her thoughts to a poor traveller who desired to carry away +with him a friendly word or two. Pray forgive my intrusion, +mademoiselle. I am an unlucky mortal, for my sadness constantly casts a +shadow on the happiness of other people. But I am sure that you will +forgive me, in memory of our former friendship.--Monsieur Gerbault, will +you allow me to shake hands with you?" + +The melancholy and at the same time dignified manner in which Gustave +spoke banished the last trace of sternness from Monsieur Gerbault's +face; he took the young man's hand and pressed it warmly, saying to +him: + +"Come, come, my friend, drive away the gloomy thoughts that assail you. +At your age, the future is boundless. Don't submit to be crushed by +fruitless regrets; you may still be happy, and you will be some day, I +am sure. A pleasant journey to you! Study the manners and customs of the +countries you visit, and I am convinced that you will return in an +infinitely more cheerful frame of mind." + +"Thanks for your kind wishes, monsieur; allow me to bid you adieu." + +Gustave pressed Adolphine's hand, bowed to the visitor, whom he did not +know, and left the room. While the young woman escorted him to the door, +Monsieur Batonnin observed to Monsieur Gerbault: + +"That young man is in love with Mademoiselle Adolphine, I see, and you +have refused him her hand. Doubtless he isn't a suitable match for her; +but still it is very good-natured of you to give him encouragement for +the future." + +"My dear Monsieur Batonnin, you are all off the track. It was not +Adolphine, but her sister Fanny, with whom Gustave was in love, and he +flattered himself that he was going to marry her, when Auguste Monleard +came forward. Faith! he had better luck. He offered her a position which +any young woman would have liked, and she accepted him. It was a very +hard blow to this young Gustave." + +"I understand. Then it was he who fought a duel with your son-in-law, +and gave him the wound which made him carry his arm in a sling so long?" + +"You are wrong again. It was not Gustave who fought with Monsieur +Monleard, for Gustave was a long way from Paris when the duel took +place." + +"Whom did your son-in-law fight with, then?" + +"Faith! you ask me too much!" + +Adolphine's return put an end to Monsieur Batonnin's questions. +"Mademoiselle," he said, in his most silvery tones, "I beg your pardon +if I repeat the same thing again and again, like a parrot, but I should +be glad to know if I may obtain from you the favor of the first +contra-dance. I present my request thus early, because I am sure that +you will be beset, overwhelmed with invitations this evening, and it +will be very difficult to obtain a word with you." + +Adolphine seemed to make an effort to throw off her preoccupation, and +replied: + +"But I am not sure yet, monsieur, whether I shall dance at my sister's +this evening, for I have a very severe headache, and, unless it gets +better, I shall cut a very sad figure in a dance." + +"Don't pay any attention to her," said Monsieur Gerbault. "These girls +are forever having headaches, which take them all of a sudden when they +have the least thought of such a thing; but, have no fear, there never +was a headache that didn't surrender at the signal given by the +orchestra at a ball. So, as you've delivered your invitation, you are +certain of being her first partner. And now, let us leave mademoiselle +to her preparations. Come, my dear Monsieur Batonnin." + +The soft-spoken gentleman bestowed a superb smile upon Adolphine, +accompanied by a respectful bow. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "I rest my hopes upon what your father says, +too fortunate if you crown my desires; and if my invitation, albeit a +little premature perhaps, and rather unseasonable----" + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, come." + +The maker of compliments, being led away by Monsieur Gerbault, was +compelled to complete his sentence in the reception-room; and Adolphine, +left alone at last, cursed Monsieur Batonnin for coming, with his +invitation, to interrupt her interview with Gustave. + +"A ball, indeed!" she murmured, angrily tossing her furbelows about; "I +must needs dance this evening, when my heart is full, when I would like +to weep undisturbed! Ah! if these are the pleasures which society has to +offer, they who are debarred from them are the most fortunate!" + + + + +XXXIII + +A GRAND AFFAIR + + +At ten o'clock, Monsieur Monleard's magnificent salons were resplendent +with light, flowers, and new draperies, arranged with an artistic skill +which did honor to the taste of the organizer of the festivity. At +eleven, the guests arrived in swarms. The ladies were superbly dressed, +and the flashing of their diamonds dazzled the eye; some--but by no +means the larger number--were more simply attired, and were content to +attract by the charms of their persons alone. The men admired the +beautiful dresses, but preferred to linger by those whose attractions +depended less upon their costumes. A fine orchestra played quadrilles, +polkas, mazurkas. Its strains seemed to enliven the faces of the guests, +which fairly beamed with pleasure--the pleasure which they already +enjoyed, and that to which they looked forward: the latter is always the +more agreeable. + +At midnight, the number of guests was already so great that it was +becoming very difficult to pass from one room into another. To do so +required an amount of persevering effort which many of the ladies did +not choose to put forth, and which, indeed, the enormous dimensions of +their skirts made almost impossible. + +The ball was at its height. The queen of the fete did the honors with +much grace, and everybody agreed in voting her charming. Fanny was, in +very truth, most bewitchingly and becomingly dressed; her white moire +gown, albeit not overladen with trimming, was studded with bunches of +real flowers, and in her hair there were no jewels save a cluster of +diamonds; but the satisfaction which her vanity experienced in the +giving of such a fete imparted to her eyes an unusual brilliancy, to her +smile more expression, to her voice more feeling. She was surrounded by +men who contended for the honor of dancing a polka or a quadrille with +her, and everyone envied the lucky mortal who was her partner for the +time being, especially as she was a beautiful dancer; she was as light +as a feather, and her feet seemed hardly to touch the floor. + +Auguste Monleard was very far from displaying the same glee and +satisfaction which were so apparent on his wife's features; he did the +honors of his salons with the exquisite courtesy and refinement of a man +in the best society, who is accustomed to party-giving; but there was in +his smile a something forced and constrained, which was better adapted +to freeze than to provoke gayety; at times, too, a dark cloud passed +over his forehead, his eyebrows contracted, his lips tightened, and he +seemed utterly oblivious to what was being said to him. But these +periods of distraction lasted but a moment. Auguste would suddenly come +to himself and struggle to assume a cheerful aspect. + +Adolphine, who came early with her father, did not dazzle the beholder +by the splendor of her costume; but she was charming by virtue of her +natural grace of manner, her perfect figure, the sweet expression of her +lovely eyes, and perhaps, too, by virtue of a touch of melancholy, which +she strove to overcome, but which added to the charm of her face. + +Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to be on hand when the leader of the +orchestra gave the signal for the dancing to begin, and the girl had no +choice but to accept him for her partner; indeed, it mattered little to +her with whom she danced; what she would have liked would have been not +to dance at all; but, as she was the hostess's sister, that was +impossible; too many people would have inquired the reason for her +abstinence, and it would have worried her father and annoyed her sister. +On the contrary, she felt that she must act as if she were enjoying +herself hugely, and that was very difficult; we can do many things to +oblige another, but the eyes never have complaisance enough to hide +thoroughly our real feelings. + +While dancing with Adolphine, Monsieur Batonnin did not fail to +overwhelm her with compliments, scattered among his remarks upon the +party. + +"It's magnificent! it's enchanting! it's delightful! How elegantly these +salons are decorated! and with such taste! Flowers everywhere--to say +nothing of those who are dancing; for women and flowers, you know, are +very much alike. Others have said that before me, to be sure; but there +are things that can't be repeated too often. It must have cost a lot--to +give a party like this! but then, when one has the means! Monsieur +Monleard doesn't look as cheerful as his wife does; he doesn't seem to +be dancing. Still, a host can't dance all the time. I don't suppose he's +sick, although he is very pale; but he's almost always pale." + +To all this Adolphine replied only by monosyllables, and the gentleman +with the doll's face said to himself after the quadrille: + +"That young lady is just about as cheerful as her brother-in-law; it's +of no use for Papa Gerbault to tell me that that young man I saw there +this morning was in love with her sister; that wouldn't make this one +cry. There's something else--yes, there certainly is something else." + +In a salon set aside for card-players, Messieurs Clairval and Gerbault +and young Anatole de Raincy met. + +"How's this? you are not dancing?" they said to the last named. + +"Oh! dear me, no! I wath never mad over danthing," replied the young +dandy, looking at himself in a mirror; "and there'th thuch a crowd! How +can one expect to do anything? When I danth, I like to let mythelf go." + +"Do you mean that you dance the cancan, De Raincy?" queried a young man +with a jovial face, putting his hand on Anatole's shoulder. + +"How thtupid you are, Vauflers! Jutht becauth I like to put a little +grath into my danthing, it dothn't follow that I danth the cancan." + +"Well, you see, I don't dance half lying down, as you do." + +"In the firtht plath, I thtoop, not lie down--a very different thing. +You ought to know that, to danth properly, you mutht thtoop a little. I +learned that from a great danther." + +"From Vestris?" + +"You tire me! Ever thinth thith fellow hath been eighth clerk to a +broker, he maketh fun of everybody." + +"What news from the Bourse to-night?" said Monleard, accosting the young +man whom Anatole had called Vauflers. + +"You know that several firms were sold out this morning. I believe that +we haven't seen the end yet. There's need of a thorough weeding-out. +There are some fellows who have been playing too high for a long time." + +Auguste pressed his lips together and walked away. + +"Shan't we have a game of bouillotte?" said the young man. + +"Bouillotte ith bad form jutht now, my dear fellow; nobody playth it," +replied tall Anatole, gazing admiringly at his gloves. + +"Bezique's the proper thing, I suppose?" + +"No, lanthquenet thtill." + +"Ah, yes! because you can ruin yourself faster at that. Thanks! I think +I'll go and dance. I asked the hostess for a dance, and she put my name +down; but I was twenty-first on the list." + +"In that cath, your turn will come by to-morrow night." + +"Oh! Madame Monleard will make an exception in my favor." + +"Why tho, pray?" + +"Because I am her broker." + +"Oho! do you mean that Madame Monleard gambleth on the Bourth?" + +"Why, yes--moderately; but she's luckier than her husband." + +"Tho he hath been lothing, hath he?" + +"I should say so!--immense sums, of late. Indeed, I will admit that I +was much surprised at his giving a party--although, to be sure, that is +sometimes an excellent way of deceiving people as to one's position and +retaining one's credit." + +"The deuth! what are you talking about?" + +"At this moment, I have an idea that he is staking all to win all, as +they say, on a certain deal; but if he loses----" + +"Look out! here comth hith father-in-law. Come thith way." + +The two young men, arm in arm, walked into another room. + +"Mon Dieu! how beautifully your wife dances!" said Batonnin to Monleard, +as Fanny whirled by them, dancing the mazurka with a partner who guided +her perfectly and executed some novel steps. + +"What! did you say that it's too warm here?" + +"No, I never complain of the heat; I'm a genuine African in that +respect. I was admiring Madame Monleard's dancing--she's dancing the +mazurka at this moment; there they go again! I must say that she has a +partner who does himself credit, too; he holds her so firmly, and she +trusts herself to his guidance with such abandon! a very pretty fellow +that! What is his name? By the way--what! he has gone, and without +answering my question! Hum! They may say what they choose, but Monsieur +Monleard isn't in his usual form to-night; he's too preoccupied, too +distraught. It's a good thing that that doesn't keep his wife from +dancing." + +About two o'clock, the ladies were invited to repair to a table laden +with a magnificent supper; as the company was so large that all could +not sup at once, the ladies took their turn first, and the men waited +until they had finished, except a few impatient individuals, such as +one sees at almost all balls, who found a way to squeeze in at the +table with the ladies, where, on the pretext of waiting on them, they +did not fail to help themselves abundantly to everything that was most +delicate and appetizing. Indeed, it not infrequently happens that, after +they have laid hands upon everything within reach, and eaten +uninterruptedly, while most of the ladies have done nothing but talk, +these same gallant creatures return to the supper table with the men, +and fall to anew, as if they had eaten nothing. There are some worthies +capable of that; we ourselves have seen it done. + +Monsieur Batonnin tried to find a seat at the ladies' table, but, +despite his everlasting smile, no one would make room for him. So he +decided to remain standing, and naturally stationed himself behind +Adolphine, whom he pestered with attentions; for Adolphine had no +appetite, and refused almost everything which he ordered for her, and +which he did not fail to obtain at once by saying: + +"It's for the sister of Madame Monleard, the queen of the fete." + +With these magic words, Batonnin was quite sure to obtain all that he +could possibly want; but if his courtesy was absolutely wasted, it was +not so with the dishes which were refused; for when Adolphine said: +"Thanks, monsieur; but I will not eat anything," the soft-spoken +gentleman invariably adjudged what happened to be on the plate to +himself, saying: + +"Well, since you don't care for it, faith! I'll eat it myself." + +And, thanks to this clever management, he supped quite as well as, +perhaps better than, if he had had a seat among the ladies. To be sure, +he had to eat standing. + +When the ladies had left the table, and the men came to take their +places, Monsieur Batonnin, whether by accident or from absent-mindedness, +imitating the worthies of whom we spoke a moment ago, found himself +seated beside Monsieur Clairval. + +"What! eating another supper?" queried the latter. + +"Why another? I haven't supped yet." + +"But, unless I am very much mistaken, when I looked in just now to +admire the charming picture presented by all the ladies seated at the +table, you were behind Mademoiselle Adolphine, with a plate in your +hand, and eating what was on the plate." + +"That is to say, I was standing behind Mademoiselle Adolphine to wait +upon her, and I passed her whatever she wanted." + +"I saw that you were eating all the time." + +"Tasting, perhaps, but if you call that eating! And then, I was standing +up. What one eats standing never counts." + +"Well, my dear Monsieur Batonnin, I don't undertake to reprove you for +it; on the contrary, you deserve to be congratulated.--Honor to great +talents of all varieties! A good stomach is a blessing of Providence. +The wealthiest of men, if his liver doesn't work right, is, to my mind, +less to be envied than the poor man who can readily digest his +bacon-rind and similar delicacies." + +Auguste Monleard joined his male guests at supper, to do the honors of +his table; he began by pouring down several glasses of champagne; then, +like one who is determined to divert his thoughts at any cost, he drank +glass after glass of different kinds of wine, in rapid succession. This +manoeuvre succeeded; in a quarter of an hour his brow had cleared, +his eyes sparkled; he talked with all his guests, and challenged them to +drink with him; in fact, he was almost gay, and he laughed--a laugh that +was a little nervous, a little forced, perhaps, but which produced a +most excellent effect toward the end of the supper. When the gentlemen +finally left the table, at which they had made quite an extended +sojourn, they did not fail to call for a _cotillon_, the dance which has +become almost the obligatory conclusion of a ball; and Auguste Monleard +proposed to lead it. + +The suggestion was received with delight by the dancing contingent. +Adolphine, greatly surprised by the animation now exhibited by her +brother-in-law, mentioned it to her sister. + +"Your husband seems to be in high spirits now," she said; "and I am very +glad to see him so." + +"Why! did you think that he wasn't in good spirits before?" rejoined +Fanny. "You are wrong, my dear girl! Auguste always enjoys +himself--only, he doesn't look as if he did; that's his way." + +The cotillon came to an end, and the tired dancers began at last to +think of retiring. Batonnin, having supped satisfactorily twice over, +left the house with Anatole de Raincy, humming: + + "'La belle nuit! la belle fete!'" + +"I know that! it ith from a comic opera," said the tall young man. + +"True; but you must agree that it's apropos: _la belle fete!_" + +"Yeth, but I'm afraid--according to what Vauflers thaid----" + +"What did he say?" + +"That Augutht Monleard had lotht enormouth thumth on the Bourth of late, +and that he mutht be in a very bad way." + +"Ah! the devil! that's why I found him so distraught, then. At supper, +he drank a lot to forget himself, I noticed that." + +"After all, he may pull up again--luck may turn. Ah! I thee a cab. +Monthieur, I with you good-night, or rather good-day, for here'th the +light." + +"Your servant, monsieur." + +Batonnin returned to his lodgings alone and on foot, saying to himself: + +"Well, whether Monleard is ruined or not, I had two suppers, all the +same!" + +Our friends and acquaintances almost always welcome our misfortunes in +such wise. + + + + +XXXIV + +AUNT DUPONCEAU + + +Cherami, in accordance with his usual custom, spent very freely the +money Gustave had given him; he still possessed a few francs out of the +five hundred, however; and his appearance was very decent, too, for he +had presented himself with a new hat, and he still had his new switch. +One cold but beautiful morning, about ten o'clock, as he strolled in the +direction of the Madeleine, to give himself an appetite, the ci-devant +Beau Arthur saw coming toward him a woman of enormous size, holding by +each hand a small boy, one of whom wore a hat surrounded by feathers, +which gave him the look of a trained monkey. The children, as well as +their mother, were so enveloped and swaddled in winter garments that +they had not the free use of their limbs. These three living bundles +rolled along the street, lurching against one another; but when they +came face to face with our stroller, they halted, and the stout woman +exclaimed: + +"I cannot be mistaken; it is certainly Monsieur Cherami, out walking so +early!" + +Cherami had already recognized Madame Capucine and her sons, and, being +by no means overjoyed at the meeting, would gladly have turned back to +avoid it, but it was too late; so he courageously made the best of it, +and replied, with a courteous salutation: + +"Myself, fair lady; and I congratulate myself on the good-fortune which +I owe to chance; for you are far from home. Do you happen to be going to +Romainville?" + +"No, monsieur, no; we are not going to Romainville; this isn't the way +there, either," replied Madame Capucine, eying her interlocutor from +head to foot; and the great change which had taken place in the apparel +of her debtor was naturally reflected in her manner of speaking to him. +As the change was altogether to his advantage, she smiled graciously, +and continued: + +"Aunt Duponceau don't live at Romainville any more; she has sold the +house she used to own there." + +"Indeed? why did she do that?" + +"Oh! because--because that neighborhood has such a reputation. You know +the ballad: That _lovely wood, to lovers----"_ + +"_Presents a thousand charms!_--Yes, I know it by heart. But there's no +wood left, except a little bit which has been bought by a novelist of +whom I am very fond, and all surrounded by walls--not the novelist, but +his woods; so I don't see what could have frightened your Aunt Duponceau +so." + +"Mon Dieu! you know how ill-natured people can be! There was always +somebody to say: 'Ah! so you live at Romainville; that's the place for +grisettes, gin-shops, and low dance-halls! one always meets a lot of +drunken people there.'" + +"I should say that you find them everywhere." + +"It isn't the fashionable drive nowadays." + +"The most fashionable resort isn't always the most amusing." + +"You don't see the latest styles there." + +"Oh, well! if you go into the country to see the styles, you would do +better never to go anywhere but the Opera." + +"But the strongest reason, and the one that finally decided my aunt, is +that there isn't any railroad to Romainville." + +"Surely that must be a great deprivation to a person who, when she is +once settled in her country-house, never goes to Paris at all." + +"And so my aunt bought a house in the opposite direction--at Passy." + +"Passy and Romainville are not exactly side by side, that is true; and +they are not much alike, either." + +"Oh! they're entirely different!--Aristoloche, do keep still!--Passy's a +fashionable, convenient place to live in; you can't go out of the house +unless you're dressed up." + +"That must be very pleasant when one's in the country." + +"The houses all have polished floors from top to bottom. The one my aunt +bought--don't jump about so, Narcisse!--the one my aunt bought is +smaller than her house at Romainville; but it cost a lot more. There's +no fruit in the garden, but it's ever so much smaller." + +"What does grow in the garden--ducks?" + +"There's a little honeysuckle, and ivy, and grass--oh! it's well kept +up." + +"If it satisfies all of you, that's the main point.--Are you going to +the country on such a cold day as this?" + +"Aunt always expects us Saturday, to stay till Monday." + +"Ah, yes! it is Saturday, isn't it?--just as it was when I met you +waiting for an omnibus at Porte Saint-Martin." + +"But, since then--Aristoloche, if you move again, I'll box your +ears!--since then, it seems to me, Monsieur Cherami, that things have +improved a little with you--judging by your dress?" + +"Yes, my dear Madame Capucine; I have collected a little money that was +owing me.--Mon Dieu! that reminds me; twenty times I have had it in my +mind to look you up and settle that little balance I still owe your +husband; but something else has always put it out of my head; it's a +mere trifle, to be sure, but I propose to settle it very soon." + +"Very good! but if you want to see Capucine, there's a very simple way +to do it--that is, unless you are engaged for the day." + +"The day? I can do what I choose with it, I am as free as air." + +"Then come with us to Passy, to my aunt's; she expects us to breakfast, +in fact; we're a little late, and--Narcisse, will you please not pull +the feathers of your beautiful Henri IV hat like that; you'll spoil +them!" + +"The old hat makes me squint; it puts my eyes out." + +"What a bad boy! A hat that your aunt gave you!" + +"You were saying, my dear Madame Capucine?" + +"I was asking you to come with us to Aunt Duponceau's; you know her; and +to-night, at six o'clock, Capucine will join us there, and you can +settle your little account with him. What do you think of my scheme?" + +Cherami reflected a moment, then replied: + +"Your scheme hits me--I mean, it suits me perfectly. The company of a +charming woman--an improvised trip to the country--this breakfast, which +will not detract from the pleasure of the occasion--I am at your +service. Let's be off." + +"Ah! that's very good of you!" + +And the stout lady smiled a smile of lingering sweetness at Cherami, who +was in her eyes a very handsome fellow now that he was well dressed. He +had already formed his plan, into which the payment of his debt did not +enter; but he was certain of a good breakfast, and probably of being +invited to dine as well, with Aunt Duponceau; after dinner, he would +readily find some pretext for escaping from the Capucine family. + +"Here comes the Passy omnibus," said Madame Capucine; "let's not miss +it." + +They entered the omnibus; Madame Capucine took Master Aristoloche on her +lap, in order to avoid paying for a seat for him; she requested Cherami +to do as much for Narcisse, a suggestion which did not seem to tempt the +ex-beau. Luckily for him, the urchin insisted upon having a seat all to +himself, threatening, if they did not humor him, to sit on his Henri IV +hat. This threat produced its effect: Master Narcisse took his seat in a +corner, and Cherami declared that the little fellow deserved to be put +by himself. + +The omnibus started, and they soon arrived at Passy; thereupon Cherami +had no choice but to offer Madame Capucine his arm to her aunt's abode. +The little boys went before them, jumping and frolicking. At Passy they +were in no danger from wagons, and Master Narcisse had seized Cherami's +switch, with which he belabored all the stone posts and benches; a +proceeding which was far from amusing to the owner of the stick, who +expected from moment to moment to see it in the same state as Monsieur +Courbichon's cane. + +"That little fellow promises well!" he exclaimed. + +"Isn't he full of ideas?" + +"I am convinced that he will end by breaking my switch. But how does it +happen that you didn't bring your maid Adelaide?" + +"Oh! don't talk to me about that girl, I beg!" + +"What! can it be that the faithful Adelaide stole from you?" + +"No, it wasn't her honesty that gave out; it was something else. Ah! who +would ever have thought, who would ever have believed---- An ugly, thin, +shapeless creature. Oh! men have very beastly tastes sometimes!" + +"The deuce! do you mean to say that Capucine----" + +"What! oh! no, indeed, monsieur; it wasn't my husband! Ah!" + +And Madame Capucine looked up at the sky with an expression which seemed +to say: + +"If it only had been!" + +Then she added indignantly: + +"Ballot, monsieur; Ballot, our young clerk!" + +"The devil! that young man you liked so well?" + +"To be sure. As if anyone could have dreamed! He behaved very well at +first." + +"And he went astray in the kitchen?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"But was it perfectly certain? People are so ill-natured!" + +"They were caught, monsieur; caught among the bunches of onions." + +"Enough! tell me no more; you would bring tears to my eyes." + +"So, as you can imagine, I purified my house on the instant; I dismissed +Mademoiselle Adelaide." + +"And your clerk too?" + +"He went of his own accord. We might have forgiven him, perhaps; he was +so young!" + +"Of course, and the smell of onions goes to the heart." + +"But Monsieur Ballot chose to lose his head, and away he went." + +"You will find somebody to take his place." + +"That's what I'm looking for at this moment. Ah! Monsieur Cherami, a +young man who had--my whole confidence! You can't rely on anything or +anybody nowadays!" + +"That's the only way to avoid being taken in." + +The stout lady heaved a tremendous sigh and leaned heavily on the arm of +her escort, who said to himself: + +"I wonder if she would like to have me replace Monsieur Ballot?--Thanks! +I have my cue." + +In due time, they arrived at Madame Duponceau's house. She was a little +woman, who shook her head constantly when conversing, so that she seemed +always to reply in the negative to the questions that were asked her. +She received Cherami with cordiality, although she barely knew him; but +she liked company, and was especially eager to have people admire her +house. Cherami was inclined to favor admiring her breakfast first; and, +as the young Capucines supported that idea, they repaired at once to the +dining-room. + +The breakfast consisted of a pie, boiled eggs, ham, and coffee only; but +the pie was succulent, the eggs fresh, the ham tender, and the coffee +very strong, so that they breakfasted satisfactorily; then Aunt +Duponceau cried: + +"You must come and see my house, from cellar to roof." + +Cherami, whose paunch was well filled, was already saying to himself: + +"Sapristi! if I have got to stay here till night, between the aunt and +the niece, with the accompaniment of two little brats who keep wiping +their hands on my trousers, I shall pay dear for my dinner! Let's see if +I can't find a back-door.--We had better begin the inspection of your +house with the garden," he said to Aunt Duponceau; "after such an +excellent breakfast, one feels the need of a breath of fresh air." + +This suggestion was adopted, and they adjourned to the garden, which was +of small dimensions and offered nothing attractive to the eye save four +gillyflowers in pots; for in December there are few leaves on the trees. +The garden presented but slight attraction, therefore, but at the end of +it was a gate opening on the Bois de Boulogne. The ladies and the +children, being stiff with cold, soon had enough of the garden; +whereupon Cherami took a cigar from his pocket, saying: + +"I am going to ask your leave to smoke this cigar outside, in the Bois. +I cannot go without a smoke after breakfast; it's a habit that has +fastened itself on me: a very bad habit, I admit, but it's too late to +cure myself of it." + +"Smoke in the garden," said Madame Duponceau. + +"No, indeed! Your garden's very small, and the smell of tobacco would +sadly impair the perfume of your gillyflowers. I don't choose to turn +your delightful _cottage_ into a barrack." + +"He is very well bred," whispered Madame Duponceau to her niece. + +"Yes," replied Madame Capucine; "I shouldn't know Monsieur Cherami, now +that he's decently dressed." + +Our smoker succeeded, not without difficulty, in rescuing his switch +from the hands of young Narcisse, who insisted on beating his brother +with it; he lighted his cigar, passed through the gate at the end of the +garden, and drew a long breath of relief. + +"Par la sambleu!" he exclaimed; "here I am outside at last; there are +breakfasts which cost a big price. Madame Capucine ogles me in a way +that begins to alarm me. Her aunt always seems to refuse what you ask +her. The little brats are two infernal monkeys, who ought to be kept in +the big cage at the Jardin des Plantes. Ouf! I feel the need of air! I +hardly expected this morning to go for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne, +in such an atmosphere as this. But, since I am here, I must make the +most of my luck. I won't go back to those mummies till dinner time. I'll +tell them that my cigar made me ill." + + + + +XXXV + +THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE + + +Cherami sauntered through the Bois, where, by reason of the season and +the early hour, he met very few people. He had just lighted his second +cigar, when, as he turned from one path into another, he saw a man +coming toward him, very well dressed, walking very rapidly, and turning +from time to time, to look behind him and on both sides, as if he feared +that he was followed. When he saw Cherami walking in his direction, he +stopped, and seemed undecided as to what he should do, being evidently +inclined to retrace his steps. But, meanwhile, our smoker was drawing +nearer, and ere long the two men stood face to face and looked at each +other. Thereupon each of the two uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Pardieu! I am not mistaken. It is Monsieur Auguste Monleard whom I have +the honor of saluting?" + +"And you are the gentleman with whom I fought at Belleville?" + +"Himself--at your service, for anything in my power!--Arthur Cherami." + +"Ah, yes! I had forgotten your name." + +"This is very early for you to be in the Bois de Boulogne. I say early, +although it is after half-past twelve; but in winter people seldom come +for a turn in the Bois until between three o'clock and five." + +"True, very true; but how about yourself?" + +"Oh! I breakfasted at Passy, with certain excellent people, whose +society is not over and above diverting: and, faith! after breakfast I +came here for a smoke. How does it happen that you are not on +horseback?" + +"Why, because it suited me to come on foot, I presume." + +"That was well deserved--excuse my curiosity. For my part, if I still +owned a horse, I certainly wouldn't be on foot. You see, I am very fond +of horses! I used to have some fine ones: that was my passion!" + +While Cherami was speaking, Auguste continued to glance uneasily from +side to side; he was even paler than usual, and his face wore a grave +and gloomy expression. + +"Do you happen to have a meeting on hand for to-day?" continued Cherami, +flicking the ashes from his cigar. "If that's the case, and you need a +second, you know, my dear monsieur, that I am entirely at your service, +and that I should be enchanted to oblige you in any way." + +"No, no, I have no duel this morning," Auguste replied; then, gazing +fixedly at the person before him, he added, in a minute or two: "And +yet, monsieur, you can, none the less, do me a very great favor." + +"I can? Then, speak! I am entirely at your service. I have nothing to +do." + +"Yes, it was a lucky chance that led to my meeting you here. I left +Paris this morning, rather suddenly, and I forgot to write to a certain +person; but it's very important that I should." + +"You want me to carry a letter to someone?" + +"Monsieur Cherami, this is a matter of the utmost gravity; I apply to +you, because I think I have judged you accurately. You are a man capable +of understanding me." + +"The deuce! the deuce! but you have a serious way of talking! It is +plain that this is no joking matter." + +"Are you still disposed to do me a favor?" + +"More so than ever." + +"Very well; then be good enough to come with me. There must be a cafe +somewhere about here; a restaurant where I can write a letter?" + +"Yes, we have only to turn back a little way, and we shall find what we +want." + +"Let us go. Have you breakfasted?" + +"Why, yes; as I told you just now, I breakfasted at Passy. But that +won't interfere with my taking something more. The air is sharp, and +walking assists in rapid digestion." + +They turned back; Auguste walked so fast that Cherami, despite his long +legs, had difficulty in following him; he tried to continue the +conversation, but his companion seemed absorbed by his thoughts, and did +not answer. + +"There's something wrong with that man," said Arthur to himself, as he +lighted another cigar. "I don't know what it is, but that long face of +his doesn't indicate a man who is trying to make up his mind what sauce +to order for his lobster. However, it's his business. He has confidence +in me, and I'll not betray him, for he's a good fellow. I am only sorry +that I stuffed myself with eggs and pie at Aunt Duponceau's, for I +should have breakfasted much better with him, that's sure. But every man +isn't a sorcerer." + +They found a cafe-restaurant, and were shown to a private room. + +"Order whatever you choose," said Auguste to Cherami; "I have +breakfasted." + +"You too? In that case, it was hardly worth while to come here." + +"I beg your pardon; I am going to write, I must write, two letters; then +I will leave you. So, eat at your leisure; you have no occasion to +hurry." + +"Very good.--Waiter! Let me see, what can I take--something light, to +give me an appetite? Ah! I have it. Bring me a good slice of pate de +foie gras, and a bottle of very old Beaune; we will toy with that, and +then we'll see." + +Cherami was duly served. Meanwhile, Auguste had seated himself at +another table and was writing. + +Madame Duponceau's breakfast did not interfere with Cherami's enjoyment +of the foie gras, which he watered with frequent draughts of Beaune, +saying to his neighbor from time to time: + +"Pray drink a glass of this wine; it's old and very good; there won't be +any left in a moment; however, we can remedy that by ordering +another.--Waiter, bring me some kind of cheese and a second bottle of +this Beaune." + +Auguste had ceased to write; he sealed the two letters and handed them +to Cherami. + +"Will you kindly take these letters, my dear monsieur? one is for my +wife, Madame Monleard; the address is written on it." + +"By the way, how is your good wife?" + +"Very well; but allow me to finish. This other letter, without address, +is for you." + +"For me?" + +"Yes; and you must give me your word of honor not to read it until half +an hour after I have left you." + +"Half an hour after you have left me?" + +"Yes; will you promise?" + +"If it will oblige you, I promise." + +"Thanks; I rely upon your word." + +"You may safely do so; I haven't thirty-six words in serious matters; +but the other letter?" + +"When you have read what I have written to you, you will see what I ask +you to do; and I am confident that you will carry out my intentions." + +"I have told you that I am entirely at your service." + +"Here is my purse, for I shall not come back here. You will find enough +inside to pay for whatever you may have ordered." + +"Very good; I will pay, and I will put the change in the purse. It's a +very pretty little thing--very dainty, and in excellent taste." + +"If you like it, pray keep it in memory of--our acquaintance." + +"You are really too kind. I don't stand on ceremony, myself, so I accept +it." + +"And now--pour me a glass of wine, so that I may drink with you." + +"Ah! now you're talking!" + +Cherami filled two glasses; Auguste took one of them with a firm hand, +touched it to the one held by the ex-beau, muttered a few unintelligible +words, and swallowed the wine at a single gulp. + +"Sapristi! how fast you go! one has no time to follow you. I toss +champagne off like that sometimes, but it's a miserable way to drink, as +a rule. I like better to sip. Shall we have another glass, so that I may +drink your health?" + +"No, I haven't time. Adieu, monsieur; I rely on your promise. You will +not read that letter for half an hour." + +"You have my word! Are you going so soon?" + +"I must." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"Impossible to say. Adieu, monsieur!" + +"Au revoir, rather!" + +Auguste took his hat, shook hands with Cherami, pointed again to the two +letters on the table, and rushed from the room. + +Cherami balanced himself on the hind legs of his chair, drank another +glass of wine, and ordered cigars, saying: + +"As I have to stay here another half-hour, I may as well employ my time +to advantage.--Waiter! coffee, brandy, and kirsch. By the way, see what +time it is now by your sundials, and tell me exactly." + +The waiter brought what had been ordered, and said: + +"The clock in the hall has just struck two, monsieur." + +"Very good; when it strikes the half-hour, you are to come and tell me; +do you hear?" + +"Yes, monsieur; I shall not fail. Does monsieur wish anything else?" + +"No; these decanters of brandy and kirsch will help me kill time. If I +want you, I'll ring.--This has been a most extraordinary day!" said +Cherami to himself, as he lighted a fresh cigar. "I hardly suspected, +this morning, when I was pacing the boulevards to get up an appetite, +that I should breakfast at Passy, and then breakfast a second time in +the Bois de Boulogne. This Monsieur Auguste Monleard is concealing some +scheme or other which is not of a cheerful nature. Those two letters he +left with me--one of which is for myself--there's a mystery about the +whole business! This purse he gave me is a very dainty affair; let's see +what there is in it. A hundred-franc note! Damnation! I have my cue! I +shall have enough to pay for my breakfast.--What are these other papers? +Broker's memorandums: 'bought by order of M. Monleard; sold by order of +M. Monleard.'--These are of no importance, and there's nothing else. Can +it be that our young capitalist has been unlucky in speculation, and has +vamosed, as they say?--It's very possible. Well! I shall know all about +it before long; at least ten minutes must have passed. Let's take a +drink of kirsch. That little scamp of a Narcisse has nicked my switch +all up. Children are very nice--when they're well brought up.--I can't +keep my eyes off that letter. Time never dragged so with me! Suppose I +ask for my bill--that's a good idea.--Waiter!" + +"Did monsieur call?" + +"Yes; bring me my check. Add three more kirsches--I shall drink them +before I go--and, when you come back, tell me what time it is." + +"Yes, monsieur." + +The waiter returned with the bill, which he handed to Cherami, saying: + +"It's a quarter past two, monsieur." + +"Only a quarter! Sacrebleu! you make a mistake; it isn't possible that +it's only a quarter past!" + +"I give you my word, monsieur, that that's all it is by the clock in the +hall. If you will come and look for yourself----" + +"All right! Let's see the footing! seventeen francs fifty. Here, change +this note for me, and, when you bring back the change, look at the clock +a little more carefully." + +"Why, monsieur, I can't look at it any different way from----" + +"Go, boy, and don't argue. I don't like arguers." + +"Such is life!" mused Cherami, resorting to the kirsch once more; "when +you're with a woman who pleases you, when you're playing an exciting +game of cards, time doesn't walk; it flies: _hora vita simul!_ At other +times, it crawls like a tortoise; and yet, the time is sure to come when +we find that it has moved altogether too fast! That simply proves that +men are never satisfied with the present. Ah! what a pretty, old fairy +tale that is of _Nourjahad and Cheredin_, which impressed me so when I +read it--in my youth. Monsieur Nourjahad is a young, handsome, and +wealthy Mussulman, who lacks nothing to make him happy, and, of course, +he isn't satisfied; he complains because time doesn't go fast enough to +suit him, because he is to marry his cousin at twenty-five, and to reign +over a great kingdom when he is thirty. Cheredin is an old dervish, +something of a sorcerer; he hears Nourjahad railing at destiny, and says +to him: 'I can grant you the power to make time pass as swiftly as you +wish; but, beware! it is very dangerous. You will shorten your life, if +you do not moderate your desires.'--The young man is overjoyed, he +accepts, and promises to use in moderation the power which is bestowed +on him. But, fiddle-de-dee! When shall we ever see a man resist the +desire of possessing at once what he ought not to have until later? +Nourjahad desires to be twenty-five years old, in order to marry his +cousin; then thirty, in order to be sultan. Soon he desires to be a +father, then to see his child grown up; then, being at war with his +neighbors, he wants the decisive battle to come at once. In a word, that +devil of a Nourjahad goes so fast, in the satisfaction of his desires, +that he finds that he has grown thirty years older in a month; thereupon +he curses the power that was placed in his hands, and Cheredin observes: +'My good friend, that is what all men would do, if they were enabled to +make time move faster.'--And, touching Nourjahad with his wand, he +restores his youth, and advises him to keep it as long as +possible.--That is a very sensible preachment; but if, instead of making +time move faster, one could make it go backward, ah! then we should look +twice before doing it. A man goes through some such infernal +quarter-hours in the course of his life, that he wouldn't like to repeat +them." + +The waiter appeared, panting for breath, and cried: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur, for being so long, but we didn't have the +change for a hundred francs here, and I had to go a long way to get it. +Lord! what a nuisance change is! Count it, monsieur." + +"And the time? Sacrebleu! tell me what time it is, will you?" + +"Oh! I didn't think to look, monsieur." + +"Then go and look now, villain! beast!" + +"Look first and see if the change is right." + +"I don't care a damn about my change. The time, you rascal, the time, at +once!" + +Cherami pushed the waiter out of the room and impatiently awaited his +return, muttering again: + +"Ah! how well I understand Nourjahad's feeling!" + +"Monsieur, it has struck the half-hour; it's three minutes past," cried +the waiter. + +"At last! that's very lucky! Off with you, then!" + +"But is monsieur's change all right? I want to be sure." + +"What's that? yes, blackguard, it's all right; here are two francs for +you; and now, clear out!" + +"Shall I come back and tell monsieur the time again?" + +Cherami half rose from his seat; only half, but the waiter understood, +and fled. + +The two letters were on the table; having thrown away the end of his +cigar, Cherami took the one which was for himself, saying: + +"It's very strange; I really feel a sort of emotion. Come, no nonsense; +let's see what there is inside!" + +He opened the letter and read: + + * * * * * + +"'My dear Monsieur:--When you read these words, I shall be dead---- ' + + * * * * * + +"Dead!" cried Cherami, striking the table violently with his clenched +fist. "Nonsense! it isn't possible; I must have read it wrong! but, no; +that's what it says: 'I shall be dead.' Let's go on: + + * * * * * + +"'I had a very respectable little fortune, but it wasn't enough for me; +I speculated on the Bourse, and I had bad luck; I married, hoping that a +woman's love would change the course of my ideas, and that an attractive +home would satisfy my ambition. Unluckily, I was mistaken. The person +whom I married has one of those emotionless hearts with which it is +impossible to give play to one's feelings; after a week of wedlock, I +found that she had not the slightest love for me, but that she desired +to cut a figure in society, and to eclipse all other women. Thereupon I +speculated more wildly than ever, in order to gratify my vanity, if +nothing more. Ten days ago, I gave a great party, to try to disguise my +condition. I still hoped to extricate myself; I risked all that I had! I +lost, and I am ruined!--and, as I haven't your philosophy, as I could +not determine to live in poverty after having tasted the pleasures of +luxury, I am going to blow out my brains. Be good enough to call upon +my wife and prepare her gently for the news; I do not think, however, +that her heart will suffer most. + +"'I ask your pardon for the trouble I cause you, but I have formed this +judgment of you: that you are a man and will keep the promise you made +me. Receive my last adieu. + +"'AUGUSTE MONLEARD.'" + + * * * * * + +For a few moments after reading this letter, Cherami was speechless with +dismay. He even put his hand to his eyes to wipe away a tear; then +muttered: + +"What! that handsome young dandy who sat there just now! But, sacrebleu! +perhaps it's not too late yet!" + +Springing to his feet, he seized his hat and cane, put the letters in +his pocket, and left the room. Below, he inquired which direction his +late companion had taken; they told him, and he hastened away toward the +loneliest part of the Bois. But he soon saw a crowd of people, and, +marching toward them, some gendarmes who had been sent for, and who +plunged at once into the underbrush. + +"What has happened?" he inquired of a peasant woman who passed him; +"what are those gendarmes here for?" + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, because someone has killed himself in the woods--a +young man--very well dressed, too, I give you my word. I can't +understand why people who are rich enough to dress like that should do +such things! That little boy there found him." + +"It's all over then; he's dead?" + +"Oh! yes, monsieur.--And his nice new overcoat!" + +"In that case," said Cherami to himself, "I have only to execute the +commission he intrusted to me." + + + + +XXXVI + +A STRONG WOMAN + + +As he returned to Paris, Cherami's reflections took this turn: + +"Well, here's something that changes the state of affairs very +materially. That young Fanny's a widow--she's free--her husband is dead. +I trust that Gustave won't say now that it was I who killed him! At all +events, I have the letter he wrote me, and I will keep it carefully; +otherwise, people would be quite capable of believing that I shot him in +a duel; but, after all, that young woman, whom Gustave still adores--and +who is the cause of his going away from Paris because he's afraid of +meeting her--that Fanny for whom he has a passion such as we seldom see +nowadays; I might say, such as we never see!--However, since she is a +widow now, and since she greeted Gustave so kindly the last time he met +her--for I remember that he told me she even urged him to call--now, +then, or _ergo_, as we used to say at school, since that young woman did +not look upon Gustave with an unfavorable eye when she was married, it +seems to me that she should look upon him even more favorably now that +she's a widow. She gave poor Monleard the preference, because he offered +her everything that attracts a woman. To-day, when she is ruined, it +seems to me that she would be very glad to fall in with my young friend, +who gives me the impression of occupying a very satisfactory position in +life. I really believe that the thing can be arranged--not instantly, +because we must give the little woman time to weep over her husband; but +I foresee that hereafter Gustave's love and constancy will be rewarded. +Ah! I like to think of that; for then Gustave will cease to travel, he +will stay in Paris; and a man is very glad to have such friends as he +is, always at hand. What a pity that he isn't here now! I would have +lost no time in telling him the great news. Oh! but I will find out +where he is, I will find him. Meanwhile, I must think about performing +my mission to the young wife, with all proper precautions. It isn't +precisely an agreeable errand; but if one did only agreeable things, it +would become monotonous." + +Fanny was in her boudoir, trying on some morning caps, and leaving her +mirror from time to time to go to look at the last bulletin from the +Bourse, which was on her toilet table, when her maid appeared and told +her that a gentleman desired to speak to her. + +"A gentleman! What gentleman? Do you know him? Did he give his name?" + +"No, madame; I have never seen him here." + +"Are you sure that he wants to see me, not Monsieur Monleard?" + +"It is certainly you, madame; and he says that it's on very important +business." + +"Is the man respectable? Does he look like a gentleman?" + +"Why, yes, madame." + +"Then show him into the salon; I will go down." + +She hastily finished her toilet, saying to herself: + +"Monsieur Vauflers has probably sent some friend of his to tell me what +he has done on the Bourse. It's after four o'clock; yes, it must be +that." + +Cherami, being ushered into the salon, scrutinized the furniture, +muttering: + +"It's not bad, it's very _chic!_ I used to have such quarters myself. +It's more comfortable than the Widow Louchard's lodgings. But one has +his ups and downs all the same, even in such surroundings." + +Fanny appeared at last; she bowed to her visitor, who seemed to her to +have "a funny look"; for such is the fashionable method of describing +what one does not know how to describe; then she pointed to a chair, and +said: + +"You wish to speak to me, monsieur? about some business at the Bourse, I +presume?" + +Cherami was embarrassed at the sight of the young woman. He realized +that his mission was more difficult to execute than he had thought; +however, he sat down, stammering: + +"Madame--it is--it is on the subject----" + +"Of to-day's market, is it not?" + +"No, not to-day's, madame; but it was the Bourse which caused--which +brought about the event--the calamity----" + +"Be kind enough, monsieur, to explain yourself more clearly, for I do +not understand you at all." + +Cherami bit his lips, seeking the best method of preparing the young +woman for what he had to tell her; and after reflecting for a +considerable time, he cried: + +"Madame, I came to tell you that your husband is dead!" + +Fanny started from her seat, gazed at the man before her, and rejoined, +with a shrug of her shoulders: + +"If this is a joke, monsieur, allow me to inform you that it is in +execrable taste." + +"Therefore I should not have the hardihood to indulge in it, madame. I +did not come here with any purpose of joking; what I say to you, I say +in all seriousness." + +"But I saw my husband at breakfast this forenoon, monsieur. He was not +ill, not even indisposed. What, in heaven's name, can have happened to +him?" + +"Nothing has happened to him; he himself thought it best to put an end +to his own life; and he blew out his brains in the Bois de Boulogne, +about half-past two o'clock." + +Fanny changed color, but did not lose courage. + +"No, monsieur; it's not possible," she rejoined; "there is some mistake, +it cannot be my husband. Why should Auguste kill himself--young, rich, +and happy as he was?" + +"It would seem, madame, that he was much less happy than you like to +think. And as to being rich, he was so no longer, for he had ruined +himself utterly on the Bourse; he was penniless, and he lacked the +courage to endure these hard blows of fortune." + +"Ruined!" cried the young woman, springing to her feet. "What do you +say, monsieur? Ruined! why, then I am ruined, too! Then I have nothing! +Why, that would be too terrible; it would be ghastly!" + +"Poor Auguste was right," thought Cherami, observing Fanny's despair; +"it isn't his death that grieves his wife most." + +"But, monsieur, how do you know--how did you learn of this event? And +even if my husband is dead, how do you know that he was ruined?" + +"Be good enough to listen a moment, madame. This noon, after +breakfasting at Passy with some worthy people,--who must be expecting me +to dinner at this moment, by the way, but I shall not go,--I had gone to +smoke a cigar in the Bois de Boulogne, where there were very few +people, the cold being so intense. There I met your husband; we were +acquainted, he had seen me on a certain occasion--in short, he knew what +sort of man I am. He came to me and asked me if I would do him an +important service; as you may imagine, madame, I placed myself at his +disposal. We went to a cafe, where he wrote two letters. One was for me, +which he made me promise not to open until half an hour after he had +left me; then he went away. I waited the half-hour, then opened the +letter. He told me therein of his deplorable determination, and of the +reasons which had led him to it; then he requested me to take the other +letter--to its address." + +"For whom was that other letter?" + +"For you, madame. Here it is." + +Fanny took in a trembling hand the letter which Cherami handed her, and +read in an altered voice: + + "'I thought, madame, that by marrying you I ensured the happiness + of both; I was mistaken; I needed a loving wife to calm and allay + the vivacity of my passions; I found in you simply a woman who + adored money and pleasure above all else.'" + +At that, Fanny paused, and read the remainder of the letter to herself: + + "I make no reproaches, madame; a woman cannot recast her nature, + especially at your age. Feeling is a gift of nature, as selfishness + is a vice of the heart; I judged you ill; it was my fault, not + yours. Being unable to enjoy the domestic happiness of which I had + dreamed, I tried to replace it by all the enjoyments arising from + vanity; I have failed, and I have lost all that I possessed. You, + too, are interested in the Bourse; take my advice, madame, and do + not speculate." + +Again Fanny paused, to heave a tremendous sigh, then read on: + + "But, madame, do not fear that I leave you burdened with debts; I + have met all my obligations; I have paid everything, and my name + will remain without blemish, at all events. You can bear it without + a blush." + +The young woman made a slight movement of the shoulders, which seemed to +indicate that she was not overjoyed because her husband had paid all his +debts; she even muttered between her teeth: + +"That's a valuable thing for him to leave me--his name! and nothing with +it! Ah! there's something more written here." + + "I have not touched your _dot_; you will find it intact in the + notary's hands. With what you obtain from the sale of our + furniture, which is very handsome, and our horses and carriages, + you will have enough to live in a modest way. Adieu, Fanny; be + happy! I cannot be happy again in this world, and that is why I + leave it; adieu!" + +The last paragraph seemed to have soothed Fanny's despair in some +measure; however, she covered her eyes with her handkerchief, and held +it so for some time. Cherami, who had watched her closely while she read +her husband's letter, said to himself at that proceeding: + +"Oh! it's of no use for you to put your handkerchief to your eyes; I'll +bet that you're not crying; and yet--a young husband--to lose him like +that, and after hardly six months of married life! There are some women +who would have fainted; but she's a strong one!" + +Thereupon he rose and took up his hat, saying: + +"Madame, I have carried out the melancholy commission which your husband +intrusted to me. As I imagine that my presence is no longer necessary, I +will retire." + + + + +XXXVII + +A WEAK WOMAN + + +Fanny hastily uncovered her face. + +"Pardon me, monsieur," she said; "but as you were kind enough to carry +out Monsieur Monleard's last wishes, may I hope that you will show +yourself equally obliging to his widow?" + +"I will do whatever you bid me, madame, too happy to be able to be of +some service to you as well as to him." + +"Thanks a thousand times, monsieur! You know now the position in which I +stand. It seems to you, perhaps, that I have taken very coolly the +calamity which has come upon me?" + +"Madame, I do not presume to pass judgment upon your feelings." + +"But put yourself in my place, monsieur; do you think that I can take as +a proof of affection what my husband has done?" + +_"Dame!_ a proof of affection!" said Cherami to himself, scratching his +nose.--"But, madame, if he feared that he should no longer be able to +make you happy, if that thought made him lose his head----" + +"At Monsieur Monleard's age, monsieur, a man should have strength of +mind, courage. People lose their fortunes every day; but when a man is +intelligent and persevering, he makes another." + +"It may be that that's not so easy as you seem to think, madame. I, too, +had a very neat fortune once; I ran through it; which, to my mind, is +much better than gambling it away; it leaves sweeter-smelling memories; +but I have never been able to get rich again." + +"Monsieur Monleard finds fault with me; he says now that I care for +nothing but pleasure; but, when he sought my hand, monsieur, why did he +fascinate me by the prospect of a life of luxury and fetes, of splendid +equipages and magnificent gowns? in short, of all the things which will +always make a girl's heart beat fast? He married me from caprice, and +when that caprice was gratified he was sorry he had married. Oh! I saw +that more than once, and that is why, monsieur, I bear up so bravely +under the news you have brought me." + +"You had no need to tell me all this, madame; but I do not see----" + +"I beg your pardon! this is what I ask you to do. In my present +position, you can easily understand that I must see my father and +sister; but I do not wish to go to them, or to be compelled to tell them +of this fatal event." + +"I understand, madame: you wish me to undertake to tell them of what has +happened?" + +"Oh! monsieur, if it would not be too great an abuse of your +good-nature." + +"I will go to your father's house, madame. Mon Dieu! while I am in the +way of doing errands, it won't cost me any more." + +"Ah! monsieur, how kind you are! how grateful I am to you!" + +"I have always been at the service of the ladies. Monsieur Gerbault's +address, if you please?" + +"Ah! you know my father's name?" + +"Yes, madame. Indeed, there are many things that I know; but I won't +tell you them at this moment." + +"Here is my father's address." + +"Very good; I will go there at once, madame. If I can be of any further +use to you, command me; Arthur Cherami, Hotel du Bel-Air, Rue de +l'Orillon, Belleville--but prepay your letters. I present my respects, +madame." + +"I am a sort of dead man's messenger just now," said Cherami to himself, +as he went away; "but, after all, I couldn't refuse that young woman; +she's so pretty, and she's no fool; far from it! Ah! I can understand +how she bewitched Gustave. Never mind; for my part, I prefer a weak +woman to a strong one." + +Monsieur Gerbault was at home, and with his daughter, when Cherami made +his appearance. Fanny's father, who had never seen his visitor, offered +him a chair, and waited for him to explain the object of his visit. But +Adolphine, as soon as he entered the room, recognized Cherami as the +person who had dined with Gustave on the day of her sister's wedding; +and Cherami, on his side, bestowed a graceful salutation upon the young +lady, as upon a person whom he had met before. + +"Do you know my daughter Adolphine, monsieur?" inquired Monsieur +Gerbault, in surprise. + +"Yes, monsieur; I had the pleasure of seeing mademoiselle on the day of +your other daughter's wedding. I dined at Deffieux's that day, with +someone who is not a stranger to you." + +"Monsieur is a friend of Gustave," interposed Adolphine, hastily. +Monsieur Gerbault frowned slightly, for he remembered being told that it +was with a friend of Gustave that his son-in-law had fought a duel on +the day after his wedding; however, he confined himself to saying, in +rather a sharp tone: + +"I am waiting for monsieur to be good enough to let us know the object +of his visit." + +The decidedly unamiable manner in which Monsieur Gerbault said these +words began to irritate Cherami, who threw himself back in his chair, +crying: + +"Faith! my dear monsieur, if you think I came here to amuse myself, +you're most miserably mistaken; my errand isn't a very agreeable one, at +best." + +"Monsieur, I beg you to----" + +"Ah! but, you see, you assumed an air which--look you! that air of yours +doesn't suit me at all, and if you were not this charming young lady's +father, I'd have demanded satisfaction before this." + +"Oh! monsieur, for heaven's sake!" exclaimed Adolphine, clasping her +hands; "father didn't mean to offend you." + +"Your father looked like a bulldog, mademoiselle, when you said that I +was a friend of Gustave. Why was that? am I a friend to be despised, I +pray to know? Friends like me, always ready to risk their lives in order +to prove their devotion, don't grow on every bush, I beg you to +believe. But here I am losing my temper, and I am wrong. I will tell you +in a word what brings me here; it's no use to put on gloves. I come to +inform you of the death of a young man of your acquaintance." + +"O mon Dieu! Gustave is dead!" shrieked Adolphine, and fell back +unconscious, while a ghastly pallor overspread her features. + +"My child! my child! what is it, in God's name?" cried Monsieur +Gerbault, trying to revive Adolphine; but she did not open her eyes. + +Madeleine was summoned, and brought salts and vinegar. They carried the +girl to an open window, while Cherami exclaimed: + +"No, no; it isn't Gustave who's dead.--Poor girl! on my word, I was far +from anticipating this. And it's because she thought Gustave was dead +that she fainted. Well! well! well! Ah! the color's coming back a +little; it will amount to nothing. See! she's opening her eyes; I will +bring her back to life entirely." + +He stooped over Adolphine, who was gazing listlessly about, and said: + +"Let me set your mind at rest, mademoiselle; it's not Gustave who is +dead; I wasn't talking about _Castor_." + +"Is that true, monsieur?" she cried eagerly. + +"I swear it by your head--and I wouldn't for the world endanger such a +charming head!" + +"Pray explain yourself then, monsieur!" said Monsieur Gerbault; "of +whose death did you come to tell us?" + +"Of your son-in-law, Auguste Monleard's; he died about two o'clock +to-day, in the Bois de Boulogne." + +At that, it was Monsieur Gerbault's turn to fly into a rage, and he +strode toward Cherami, saying: + +"Ah! you have killed him this time, shameless villain, and you come in +person to announce his death! And you are not ashamed of your victory! +One duel was not enough; you were bent on having his life!" + +"Ta! ta! ta! now it's papa's turn. Deuce take it! where did I ever get +fathers and uncles of this breed?--No, monsieur; I didn't kill your +son-in-law; he killed himself; and, to speak frankly, it would have been +much better for him to have met his death in the duel we fought; for it +would have been a more honorable end. However, I will show you the +proofs of what I state; for you are quite capable of not believing me: I +expected as much; but you will have to surrender to the evidence." + +Cherami handed Monsieur Gerbault the letter Auguste had written him, +then told him all that we know already: what had happened in the Bois de +Boulogne, and his visit to Fanny. During his narrative, Adolphine wept +profusely, murmuring: + +"Poor Auguste! Oh, dear! how my sister must suffer!" + +The news of the suicide affected Monsieur Gerbault deeply, although +officious friends had already told him that Monleard was speculating +heavily, and in such wise as to risk his fortune. He attempted, +thereupon, to apologize to Cherami for the suspicions he had conceived; +but Cherami offered his hand, saying: + +"Put it there, and let's say no more about it. You are quick, so am I; +besides, when one learns of such an entirely unforeseen catastrophe, one +has the right to get a little bewildered. Now that I have performed all +the commissions that were intrusted to me, you have no further need of +me, and I will go. Adieu, Papa Gerbault! Mademoiselle, your servant!" + +As Adolphine accompanied him to the door, he seized the opportunity to +ask her in an undertone: + +"Do you know where Gustave is?" + +"No, monsieur; but, I think, in Germany." + +"I will unearth him, never fear; I have my cue!" + + + + +XXXVIII + +THE TWO SISTERS + + +A fortnight after her husband's death, Fanny was installed in small and +unpretentious apartments in the upper part of Faubourg Poissonniere. +With her dowry of twenty thousand francs, the proceeds of the sale of +her furniture, horses, and carriages, and the sum which she had made by +speculating in railway and other shares, the young widow had an income +of about twenty-five hundred francs. That was very little, when compared +with the handsome fortune she had enjoyed for a moment, but it was +enough to enable a woman who was a skilful manager to live comfortably. +Monsieur Gerbault had suggested to the young widow that she should come +to live with him and her sister, as she had done before her marriage, +but Fanny had refused; she preferred to remain free; and then, too, in +all probability, she cherished some hopes for the future, and as she +looked at her reflection in her mirror,--for she had retained enough of +her furniture to furnish her new abode handsomely,--the pretty creature +said to herself that plenty of aspirants to the honor of putting an end +to her widowhood would surely come forward; and that, by living alone, +she would be more at liberty and better able to choose. + +As for the deceased, his suicide had been the sensation of the Bourse +and of society for a week; a fortnight later, it was rarely mentioned, +and at the end of a month everybody had forgotten it. + +But, no: there was one person who often thought of him, to deplore his +melancholy end, to regret that fortune had been so cruel to that young +man, who, for his part, had treated fortune too cavalierly when she +smiled on him. That person was not his widow, but her sister Adolphine. +The poor child had at first felt terribly ashamed because she had +betrayed the deep interest she felt in Gustave; but she was unable to +control the emotion which had seized her when she thought that Cherami +had come to inform her of his death. Later, when she knew the truth, she +had wept a long while over Auguste's death; then she had hurried to her +sister, to comfort her, to mingle her own tears with hers; but she had +found Fanny much more engrossed by her pecuniary affairs than by the +loss of her husband. Finally, as the young widow found that her sister +came to see her every day, and that she persisted in talking about +Auguste and shedding abundant tears to his memory, she said to her one +day: + +"My dear girl, if your purpose in coming here is to divert my thoughts, +you go about it very awkwardly. Monsieur Monleard is dead, because he +preferred it so; he left me, because he chose to, without troubling +himself overmuch as to what was to become of me; frankly, it was hardly +worth while to marry me, just to act like this after only six months. He +was responsible for my refusing a young man who, as it turns out, would +have made me much happier--that poor Gustave, who loved me so dearly! +For he really did love me, did Gustave, and, according to what you told +me the other day, he is doing very well indeed now. Ten thousand francs +a year, he earns, I believe?" + +Adolphine wiped her eyes and swallowed her tears, as she replied in a +faltering voice: + +"Yes--I think so." + +"What! you think so? So you're not sure of it now?" + +"Why, yes; he told me so himself." + +"Very good! with ten thousand francs one can live comfortably enough. +One can't have such a stable as I had with Monsieur Monleard; but it's +better never to have a carriage than to have to give it up. In fact, I +don't see why I should cry my eyes out for the dead man. In the first +place, I despise men who kill themselves; everyone is entitled to his +own opinion, but that's mine. A man should be able to endure the blows +of destiny. Do you know where Gustave is now?" + +"No, I don't; he intended to leave Paris again." + +"That's strange. Formerly, he always told you where he was going; and +now that I ask you, you don't know anything about him." + +"He said something about Germany, that's all I know." + +"On his uncle's business, I suppose?" + +"I think so." + +"Well, people don't travel forever; he'll return some time, poor +Gustave! and we shall meet again. Ah! he had changed tremendously for +the better when he came back from Spain; he had acquired ease of manner +and refinement, hadn't he?" + +"I didn't notice." + +"Oh! how angry you make me!--It seems to me, however, that it's more +interesting to talk about the living than the dead." + +"Everybody isn't consoled as quickly as you." + +"Do you propose to give me a lecture?" + +"No, sister; I meant simply that anyone was very fortunate to have such +a temperament as yours." + +"My dear Adolphine, I have been a widow two months now, and I know a +little something of the world. When you have had as much experience as I +have, you will realize that you should be able to find consolation for +anything." + +"I don't think I shall ever be as philosophical as you." + +Whenever the two sisters met, Fanny did not fail to lead the +conversation to the subject of Gustave. That subject, although intensely +interesting to Adolphine, was very painful to her when Fanny introduced +it; but, being accustomed by long practice to conceal the secrets of her +heart, to confine therein a sentiment which she dared not avow to +anyone, Fanny's younger sister contrived to listen with apparent +indifference to the project which Auguste's widow already had in +contemplation. + +One day, while talking with Adolphine, Fanny suddenly asked: + +"By the way, do you know who that man was whom Monsieur Monleard +employed to inform me of his death? I never saw him at the house, and +yet Auguste must have been intimately acquainted with him to intrust him +with such a commission." + +"That was Monsieur Cherami." + +"Yes, that's the name he gave me when he left his address and offered me +his services. He has a most original aspect, that individual. But who is +Monsieur Cherami, anyway? When I asked him to go to tell you, he seemed +to know father's name." + +"Indeed! he probably learned it from Gustave." + +"Does the man know Gustave too? For heaven's sake, does he know +everybody? Was it through Gustave that he knew my husband, also?" + +"Why, yes, in a certain sense; for----" + +"For what? Do go on, Adolphine; I don't know what's the matter with you +nowadays, but I have to tear the words out of your mouth." + +"I thought you knew about it at the time. Your husband fought a duel the +day after your wedding." + +"I know all about that; with a fellow who called out, when I left the +ball that night: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'--Mon Dieu! I remember +it as well as if it were yesterday. But what connection----" + +"The man who made that remark when he saw you leaving the ball was +Monsieur Cherami." + +"That man? nonsense! Do you mean to say that it was he whom my husband +fought with?" + +"Yes, it really was." + +"Ha! ha! ha! that is too funny!" + +"What! you laugh?" + +"Why shouldn't I laugh, pray? Ah! how little idea men have of what they +want, and how richly they deserve, as a general rule, that we should +make sport of their mighty wrath! Think of it! Monsieur Monleard fights +a duel with Monsieur Cherami, and, a few weeks later, selects him as the +confidant of his last wishes! You see that men don't know what they are +doing, and that these lords of creation, who assume to deem themselves +much more reasonable than we, are infinitely less so." + +"There may have been other reasons that we don't know about." + +"Oh! you will always take sides with the men!" + +"Why accuse those who are no longer able to defend themselves?" + +"Oh! that is a superb retort; but, I may ask, why give the dead credit +for qualities which they had not when they were alive? I have heard that +done a hundred times in society. There was some artist or author, of +whom they said things much too bad for hanging: he was ill-natured, +envious; he decried his fellows, he had neither talent, nor style, nor +imagination. But, let him die--the same people all sang the palinode: +the deceased was a most delightful man, kind-hearted, obliging to his +fellow artists, full of talent, gifted with a marvellous imagination. +How many times I have heard all that! and I used to shrug my shoulders +in pitying contempt, thinking: 'For heaven's sake, messieurs, do at +least try to remember to-day what you said yesterday!'--But I would like +right well to know why this Monsieur Cherami called me 'the faithless +Fanny.' Do you know, Adolphine, you, who know so many things without +seeming to?" + +Adolphine blushed, as she replied: + +"That gentleman dined with Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your +wedding supper and ball. Gustave, in all probability, told him of his +love and his disappointment; and then Monsieur Grandcourt, Gustave's +uncle, came there after his nephew and took him away. Monsieur Cherami +stayed at the restaurant, and it seems that he was a little tipsy." + +"And in his devotion to his friend, he reproached me for my perfidy! Ah! +that was very well done! To fight to avenge one's friend is a deed +worthy of the knights of old. When I see Monsieur Cherami again, I will +offer him my compliments." + +"Do you mean that you bear him no ill-will for calling you faithless?" + +"Oh! not the least in the world! If women lost their tempers every time +they were called faithless, they would spend most of their time in +anger." + +While interviews of this sort were constantly taking place between the +two sisters, both of whom were engrossed by the same thought, although +one was compelled to stifle her sighs, while the other made no secret of +her hopes, a certain person was taking much pains to bring back to them +the subject which interested them so deeply. The reader will have +guessed that we refer to Cherami. + + + + +XXXIX + +THE HUNT FOR THE FEATHER-MAKERS + + +After Auguste's death, the ex-Beau Arthur had reflected thus: + +"I must wait until a few weeks have passed; it wouldn't be decent for my +lovelorn Gustave to return at once and throw himself at the pretty +widow's feet; _non est hic locus_; it isn't always best to take active +steps; in order that they may succeed, they must be taken at the +opportune moment. I still have some debris of the five hundred francs my +dear friend loaned me, and I have the change of the hundred-franc note +which poor Monleard left me to pay for the breakfast, which cost only +seventeen francs fifty. With that, and with a passably pretty switch, +and a passably decent costume, one can enjoy this paltry life of ours to +some slight extent. Gad! at this moment I should be very glad to meet +those two grisettes whom I saw one day at an omnibus office at Porte +Saint-Martin. Parbleu! the same day I made the acquaintance of Gustave. +They were both pretty--one was a brunette, the other a blonde--one plump +and one thin--a morsel for an attorney; and, judging from appearances, +one bright and one stupid. Their names were Laurette and Lucie, and they +were feather-girls on Rue Saint-Denis. I have never met them since. Par +la sambleu! it's my fault, I'm a jackass! I had only to go into all the +feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis--to tell the truth, I haven't always +been in a position to play the gallant with young ladies--to invite them +to the play and to supper, and I can't do anything less than that by way +of renewing the acquaintance. But, now that I'm in funds, what prevents +me from looking them up? That idea smiles upon me. It reminds me of +happy days.--My mind is made up: before I begin my search for Gustave, I +will go in quest of Laurette and Lucie; this very evening, after dinner, +I will try my hand at hunting the feather-girls." + +Cherami dined, and acquitted himself of the task like one who had not +breakfasted twice. Then, his head being a little heated by the fumes of +a bottle of old Pommard, he betook himself to Rue Saint-Denis, looking +to right and left in quest of feather-shops. He did not go far without +discovering one. He opened the door and entered with a haughty air, +scrutinizing all the young women in the establishment. + +The forewoman eyed the individual who had struck an attitude _a la_ +Spartacus in the centre of the shop, where he stared at one after +another without speaking, and said to him: + +"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he would like?" + +Cherami, having taken time enough to examine all the shopgirls, of whom +there were ten or twelve, replied in a drawling tone: + +"A thousand pardons, madame; I did come in here in search of something; +there is no doubt of that; but I don't see what I want; no, I don't see +it." + +"If monsieur will tell me what he desires, I can tell him at once +whether he will find it here." + +"Very good, madame; I am looking for children's caps--for a little boy +of five." + +All the girls in the shop laughed aloud; but the forewoman assumed a +sour expression as she rejoined: + +"Did monsieur take this for a hat-shop?" + +"Have I made a mistake? Oh! I beg your pardon; I am distressed; it was +all these feathers that misled me; they put so many feathers on hats +nowadays. Accept my apologies, madame; your humble servant." + +Having executed a graceful bow, Cherami left the shop, saying to +himself: + +"That's one; I did that very well; it wasn't a bit bad. My two young +friends are not there. Let's try another." + +A little farther on, he saw another establishment for the sale of +flowers and feathers. He entered as before, and struck the same +attitude. + +"We are waiting for monsieur to say what he wants," said an old woman. + +"Mon Dieu! madame," said Cherami, examining the girls, of whom there +were not so many as in the first shop, "I would like--I wanted a coat, +either blue or black, but made in the latest style, and, above all +things, becoming to me. I don't care for the price, but I am particular +about being well dressed." + +"You are not in a tailor's shop, monsieur!" retorted the old woman +superciliously, while the workgirls exchanged glances and laughed till +they cried. + +But the old woman bade them be silent, and added: + +"Apparently you didn't look to see what we keep here, monsieur?" + +"What! am I not in a shop of outfitters for both sexes?" + +"No, monsieur; we sell only flowers and feathers." + +"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; but your shop has a sort of resemblance +to the Magasin du Prophete. It isn't so brightly lighted, I agree; but +these flowers, these wreaths--it's all so pretty! and, in Paris, +outfitters' shops look like stage decorations.--Accept my apologies, +madame." + +"Two!" said Cherami, when he was in the street once more. "My pretty +grisettes are not there either. Patience! we shall find them at last. +Ah! I see another feather-shop; they fairly swarm in this street. +Forward!" + +In the third shop, Cherami asked for shirts, while passing in review the +workgirls and apprentices, without finding those whom he sought. He +succeeded, as before, in making the young women laugh and in obtaining a +tart response from the mistress of the place. + +In the fourth shop, after staring about for some time, Cherami +exclaimed: + +"I don't see any; this is very strange; I don't see any, and yet I was +certain that I saw several in the window." + +"Will monsieur kindly tell us what he desires?" said the forewoman. + +"I want to buy a Bayonne ham, madame; the best you have." + +This time the laughter was general, and the mistress shared the +merriment of her workgirls; so that Cherami had an opportunity to +examine them at his leisure. At last, when the hilarity had subsided +somewhat, the forewoman, still smiling, said to him: + +"We don't sell hams here, monsieur; pray, what sort of a place did you +take this for?" + +"Oh! a thousand pardons, madame; isn't this a provision shop?" + +"No, monsieur; it's a flower and feather shop." + +"Ah! I am a miserable wretch! But let me tell you what misled me: it was +the birds that I saw in the window. I said to myself: 'That's game; +therefore, they sell provisions.'" + +"Those are birds-of-paradise that you saw, monsieur; they're used to put +on ladies' hats, but not to eat." + +"Birds-of-paradise! Pardon me, but they are in paradise, in very truth, +since they live under the same roof with such charming ladies! I renew +my apologies, and beg you to accept my respects." + +Cherami left the fourth shop, saying to himself: + +"They are not there either; I shan't have my cue this evening. This is +enough for to-day; but I am well pleased with the effect I produced in +that last place: they all laughed, even the mistress herself laughed +like a madwoman! It was very amusing to see the gayety on all those +female faces--and all because I asked for a ham! After all, a ham was +more absurd than a coat, shirts, or children's caps! Well, to-morrow I +must ask for something even more absurd. Oh! I shall think up something; +I'm never at a loss. Meanwhile, let's go and have a game of pool at the +usual place. When my pocket is well lined, I play superbly, I handle my +cue magnificently. I am sure of winning, according to the proverb: +'Water keeps flowing to the river.'" + +The next day, after dinner, Cherami returned to Rue Saint-Denis, saying +to himself: + +"I know how far I went yesterday, and where I must begin to-day. I have +something very amusing to ask for. How I'll make them laugh! Oh! I +propose that not even the forewomen shall succeed in keeping a serious +face. They will fancy they're at the Palais-Royal when Grassot plays _La +Garde-Malade_, or _Le Vieux Loup de Mer_." + +But, since the preceding night, certain things had happened in Rue +Saint-Denis which our grisette-hunter could not divine. + +In a quarter so wholly given over to business, there are brokers and +under-clerks who go about almost every morning inquiring as to the +course of prices, articles most in demand, etc.; this is commonly called +_faire la place_. Now, when one of these brokers entered a certain +feather-shop, the girls asked him laughingly: + +"Have you brought us some children's caps? we had a call for some last +night." + +"Caps? you are joking!" + +"No, indeed!" + +And thereupon they told him about their customer of the night before. +The story made the broker laugh, and that was the end of it. But at +another shop they told him about a man who had wanted to buy a coat. + +"This is a strange thing!" he exclaimed; "over yonder, somebody asked +for a child's cap. Can it be the same man?" + +At that, the proprietor's interest was aroused. + +"I must go to see my confreres, and find out whether they also saw this +person." + +"That is right," said the broker; "we must go to the bottom of this; for +it seems to me as if someone had made up his mind to play a practical +joke on you. I'll go with you." + +They soon learned that Cherami had visited four shops; but they also +satisfied themselves that he had been to no more. The dealers in +feathers took counsel together, and those who had not received a call +from the jocose gentleman said to one another: + +"Perhaps the fellow will begin again to-morrow night; we must prepare to +give him a warm reception." + +The tradesmen, at whose establishments he had asked for caps, a coat, +shirts, and a ham, said to their confreres: + +"Allow us to come to your shops to-night and wait for this man, so that +we can have our share in the reception you propose to give him." + +Everything being agreed upon, in the evening they divided up into groups +and waited impatiently for the party of the night before to appear. + +Our hunter of feather-makers entered Rue Saint-Denis, far from +suspecting all that had been plotted against him; he waved his switch +about, looked to right and left, then said to himself: + +"I went in there--and there. I recognize the shops perfectly. Ah! +there's my number three. There's only one more--the fourth--there it is; +yes, I recognize the forewoman, who had a very amiable expression, +laughing as she did with all the rest of them. Now, I will go into the +next one I see, and we'll have a little laugh. Oh! the question I am +going to ask will be so laughable! the girls will fairly howl. I won't +even answer for it that I can keep a serious face myself.--Ah! there's +a feather-shop. A fine place--forward!" + +Cherami made but one bound to the shop he had discovered; he entered, +struck a graceful attitude, and ogled the workgirls, not noticing +several young men who had stepped behind the doors when he entered. + +The forewoman looked at him in a strange way, but asked him, none the +less, in a polite tone, what he wanted. + +Cherami replied, with a winning smile: + +"What do I want? Mon Dieu! fair lady, a very simple thing. I would +like--I like to think that you keep them--I would like a broomstick." + +"Certainly we keep them, monsieur," the forewoman instantly answered. +"How lucky! we have just laid in a stock. You couldn't go to a better +place." + +While Cherami listened in utter amazement to this reply, which he was +very far from expecting, the young men, who had, as it happened, +provided themselves with broomsticks, came forth from their hiding-place +and fell upon him at close quarters, crying: + +"Ah! you want broomsticks, do you? well! you shall have 'em!--to teach +you to go into shops as you did last night, to make sport of honest +tradesmen! Take that, and that! how do you like broomsticks?" + +Cherami, who was unprepared for this attack, tried to parry the blows +with his switch, but the switch was no match for the weapons of his +opponents; so he thought of nothing but making his escape. + +"I will wait for you in the street, messieurs," he cried; "I challenge +you all, one at a time." + +But they made no reply; they simply pushed him into the street and +closed the door on him. Somewhat ashamed of the result of his jest, our +friend, who had received a too well-aimed blow from a broomstick over +his left eye, walked away, holding his handkerchief to the wound, and +saying to himself: + +"What a damnable idea that was of mine, to ask for a broomstick! This +time, I have my cue!" + + + + +XL + +THE BANKER + + +Cherami's left eye was so badly damaged, and retained so long the marks +of the blow it had received, that the ex-beau was obliged to keep his +room six weeks, because he did not choose to go out with a bandage +across his face. + +Madame Louchard, who was frequently intrusted with the duty of dressing +the wounded organ, said one day to her tenant: + +"How in the world did you get that _trump_?" + +"You call that a _trump_, my amiable hostess! It would be a deuced fine +hand which was full of such trumps!" + +"You fought another duel, did you, hot-head?" + +"I am forced to confess that I was beaten this time; I wasn't strong +enough; there was a whole regiment against me." + +"That wasn't done by a sword, was it?" + +"No, unluckily! A sword puts your eye out, but doesn't force it out of +your head. But I got it for the sake of two girls!" + +"Aha! so you must have two at once! God! what good reason I have to hate +men!" + +"However, this forced retirement has compelled me to be economical; I +have given you a superb payment on account." + +"Twenty-five francs! Do you call that superb?" + +"Everything is comparative; I usually give you only a hundred sous. My +eye is getting well, thank God! I shall soon resume my activity." + +"And run after your girls again, I suppose?" + +"No, on my word as a gentleman, I shan't begin that again; I've had +enough of it! I have my cue. I am going to try to find my friend +Gustave; he may have been in Paris since I have kept my room. My first +visit will be to his uncle, a by no means amiable party, who presumes to +look askance at me; but, so long as he tells me where his nephew is, I +will allow him to make faces at me, if it affords him any pleasure." + +A few days later, Cherami was, in fact, able to go out, and without a +bandage; his eye had resumed its normal appearance. Our man had taken +great pains with his toilet: his boots were polished, his hat and coat +carefully brushed; he took his switch, entered the omnibus from +Belleville, took an exchange check, and, in due time, arrived at the +banker's establishment in Faubourg Montmartre. + +On this occasion, Cherami did not stop to talk with the concierge; he +went straight to the office and found the same clerk still at work on +his figures. It is a fact that there are some clerks in banking-houses +who pass almost the whole day at that work. When they go to sleep, it +would seem that they must always see figures dancing and fluttering +about them; what a pleasant life! and what delightful dreams! + +Cherami stopped in front of the old clerk, who kept his eyes fixed on +his ledger as before, making the same dull sound that some machines +make: "Six--eight--fourteen--twenty-seven--thirty." + +"I say, my good man, haven't you stopped that since the last time I +came?" cried Cherami, tapping on the clerk's desk with his switch. +"Sapristi! you're no common clerk; you're a living logarithm, a +ciphering-machine on which somebody ought to take out a patent! You +ought to fetch a big price." + +The old clerk replied simply, without raising his head: + +"Don't hit my ledger like that; don't you see that you raise the dust?" + +"Yes, to be sure, I see that I raise lots of dust; your office-boys +don't dust here every day, it seems?" + +"Thirty-five--forty-four--fifty-three." + +"Ah! the machine's starting up again. Look you: I would be glad to avoid +applying to your employer, Monsieur Grandcourt, as we're not on the best +of terms. Come, Papa Double-Naught, tell me if the banker's nephew, +Gustave, has returned from Germany. I have something to say to +him--something important, very important; I am anxious to assure his +happiness! Well?" + +"Eighty from a hundred and sixty leaves----" + +"Ah! this is too much! it passes conception! He ought to be sent to the +Exposition!" + +Having brought his switch down on the desk once more, with such violence +that the sand and ink flew up into the clerk's face, Cherami strode +toward the banker's private office, and found that gentleman reading the +newspaper. + +At sight of Cherami, whom he recognized at once, although his apparel +was greatly improved, Monsieur Grandcourt frowned. His visitor, on the +contrary, tried to smile, and said, bowing gracefully: + +"Monsieur, I have the honor to be your servant." + +"Good-morning, monsieur!" + +"Do you remember me, by any chance?" + +"Perfectly, monsieur. Indeed, you are not at all changed, except in +respect to your dress, which I congratulate you upon having renewed." + +"Ah! you notice that? You look at a man's dress, I see?" + +"Why, I should say that it was impossible not to notice it." + +"I mean to say that you attach importance to it, that you judge the man +by his coat." + +"Was it to ascertain my opinion on that subject that you called on me, +monsieur?" + +"No; oh, no! I snap my fingers at other people's opinions. I know my own +value, and that's enough for me." + +"I congratulate you, monsieur, on knowing your own value; it is quite +possible that the world at large doesn't suspect it." + +Cherami bit his lips and twisted his whiskers, muttering: + +"This devil of a fellow hasn't changed, either--still sarcastic, +mocking. I don't despise intellects of that type; they prick and stir +one up. You retort, and the conversation is all the more highly spiced." + +Monsieur Grandcourt repressed a faint smile and leaned back in his +chair, crossing his legs, as if waiting to hear what his caller had to +say. + +"I would be willing to bet that you guess why I have come?" said Cherami +at last. + +"It is quite possible, monsieur; still, I may be mistaken." + +"I have come to ask where your dear nephew is--my friend Gustave." + +"He is travelling, monsieur." + +"Still travelling? But, he must be somewhere." + +"He was at Berlin not long ago." + +"Not long ago--that's rather vague. However, he writes to you, and you +answer him, I presume?" + +"There is no doubt about that." + +"Consequently, he tells you where to send your letters. Very good! be +kind enough to give me his address, so that I may write to Gustave +forthwith. I desire to tell him a piece of news which will make him very +happy, and will probably hasten his return to Paris. When one can give a +friend pleasure, it would seem that one cannot do it too quickly! Don't +you agree with me in that?" + +"Perhaps, monsieur; that depends on the possible results of the pleasure +which you wish to afford your friend. What is this joyous news which you +are in such haste to transmit to my nephew, so as to make him hurry +back? Couldn't you tell me?" + +"I might say that you are very inquisitive; but you are my friend's +uncle, and, for that reason, I excuse you. The little woman whom Gustave +adored, whom he still adores--at least, he told me so before he went +away--that charming Fanny!--and she really is very pretty! I had a +chance to examine her at my ease when I called on her--a refined, +intellectual face, a coaxing voice, a foot just large enough to say that +she has one----" + +"Well, monsieur, this Fanny?" + +"Well, dear uncle, she is a widow!" + +"Oh! monsieur, I have known that a long while. She's a widow because her +husband blew his brains out, which doesn't indicate that he was very +happy at home." + +"I beg your pardon; he killed himself because he was ruined--by unlucky +speculations on the Bourse. Still, I am not talking about the dead man, +but about his widow. Since the woman Gustave adored is free, what is +there to prevent him, later--I don't say now, at once, but when her year +of mourning has passed----" + +"So, monsieur, it is with the purpose of reviving that idiotic passion +of my nephew for a woman who laughed at him, that you insist upon +knowing where he is? You hope that on receipt of your letter he will +drop everything and return to Paris?" + +"I am even capable of going where he is, myself, to fetch him home, if +it isn't too far--and doesn't cost too much! I will travel third class; +I don't mind. One must make some sacrifice to friendship." + +"You will not have that trouble, monsieur; and as I consider that my +nephew will certainly return soon enough, so far as seeing your Fanny is +concerned, and as I flatter myself that he will then have ceased to +think of that young woman, I shall not give you his address." + +"Ah! indeed! so you are still as hard-hearted and tyrannical as ever?" + +"A man is not necessarily a tyrant, monsieur, because he prevents silly +boys from making fools of themselves. I am well aware that, nowadays, it +is customary to give that name to those who insist that laws and customs +and individual rights shall be respected; that old age shall be honored, +that children shall revere their parents and celebrate their birthdays, +and that there shall be no smoking in a room where there are ladies; if +that's what you mean by _tyrant_, why, I am a tyrant, monsieur, and I +am proud of it." + +Cherami paced up and down the room, muttering: + +"You are trying to make me think it's noon at two o'clock! I care +nothing for all that! Once, twice, will you give me Gustave's address?" + +"A hundred times, no!" + +"Good-day, then! I have my cue!" + +And Cherami rushed from the room in a rage, saying to himself: + +"If I had such an uncle as that, I'd disinherit him!" + + + + +XLI + +THE YOUNG WIDOW + + +For several days, Cherami went every morning and inquired of the +banker's concierge if the young traveller had returned; but as he always +received a negative reply, he soon tired of repeating the same trip to +no purpose, and confined himself to going there once a week. + +Meanwhile, time passed, and Cherami, reduced once more to the necessity +of living on his slender income, found himself anew without enough money +in his pocket to buy a cigar. + +But winter had given place to spring, fine weather had returned, and the +ex-beau strolled about in search of acquaintances more persistently than +ever. + +One morning, near the Chateau d'Eau, he saw two girls, apparently +waiting for an omnibus; he walked toward them, saying to himself: + +"Par la sambleu! I believe those are my pretty feather-makers. Yes, they +certainly are Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie." + +Hearing their names, the young women turned and looked at the stranger, +who bowed low to them. Suddenly Laurette, the dark one, cried: + +"Ah! I recognize monsieur now; he's the one who talked with us at Porte +Saint-Martin last summer." + +"Yes, mesdemoiselles; the same. Are you going up to Belleville again?" + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"And to the restaurant in Parc Saint-Fargeau?" + +"No, monsieur; but we have a friend who lives in the village of +L'Avenir." + +"And where might the village of L'Avenir be, if you please?" + +"What! you don't know it?" + +"I have never been able to read the future (_l'avenir_), and I was not +aware that it had a village." + +"It's in Romainville Forest, a little this side, on high land from which +you get a fine view. There have been a lot of houses built there, almost +all alike; small, but very neat and prettily decorated, each with its +little garden. As they don't cost much, and you can pay on very easy +terms, why, the village of L'Avenir sprang up all at once, as if by +magic." + +"Pardieu! I'll go and buy a house there--as soon as I'm in funds. Ah! +mesdemoiselles, I have hunted everywhere for you! If you knew all that I +have done to find you!" + +"Us, monsieur? Why did you want to find us?" + +"To ask you to go to the play and to supper." + +"Ah! what a fine idea! But perhaps we wouldn't have accepted?" + +"That _perhaps_ relieves my mind. There was nothing improper in my +suggestion." + +"Monsieur certainly has too gentlemanly an air for anybody to distrust +him." + +"Damnation!" said Cherami to himself; "what a pity that I haven't a sou! +I'll bet they would accept now." + +"Where did you look for us, monsieur?" + +"Why, in all the feather-shops on Rue Saint-Denis." + +"Ah! you would have had to look a long while. We're not in the feather +business now; we have changed." + +"What are you in now?" + +"Pearls; we string pearls." + +"Ah! that's a very pretty trade. I have never worked in pearls myself, +and yet I would have liked----" + +"Here's our 'bus, Laurette--come. Adieu, monsieur!" + +"In what quarter, please?" + +"Rue des Arcis." + +The young women climbed into the omnibus, and Cherami watched them ride +away. He sighed, muttered a malediction against fate, tapped his +trousers with his switch, and continued his promenade. But he had not +walked a hundred yards, when he found himself face to face with a young +lady dressed in mourning, who stopped and bestowed a gracious salutation +upon him. Cherami bowed to the ground, for he had recognized Auguste +Monleard's young widow. + +"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?" said Fanny, with a smile. + +"Ah! madame, I must be short-sighted to the last degree to have +forgotten your enchanting face after I had seen it once!" + +"But this mourning changes one a good deal." + +"Whether you wear black, or pink, or nothing at all, I will answer for +it that you will always be charming. Indeed, I should prefer the last." + +"You are very gallant, Monsieur Cherami!" + +"I am delighted to find that madame remembers my name." + +"I have not forgotten it, monsieur; indeed, I was very anxious to see +you." + +"Really! If I could have dreamed of such a thing, madame, I would have +done myself the honor to call upon you long since." + +"I wanted first of all to thank you for your kindness in going to my +father's to perform an unpleasant errand." + +"Oh! let us say no more of that, I beg! Have you any other commission to +intrust to me? I am at your service, I have nothing to do; command me." + +"I thank you, Monsieur Cherami. Do you know Monsieur Gustave Darlemont?" + +"Do I know him! He is my best friend, my Euryalus, my Orestes, my +Pythias.--Yes, indeed, madame; I do know him and appreciate him; he is a +charming fellow, who deserves to be loved." + +"Tell me frankly, Monsieur Cherami,--surely you have no reason now to +conceal the truth from me,--did Gustave ask you to fight with my +husband?" + +"Ah! so madame knows that it was I who----" + +"Who fought a duel with Monsieur Monleard. To be sure; but have no fear; +I bear you no ill-will at all for that." + +"She's a charming creature," said Cherami to himself; "I fancy that she +would bear me no more ill-will if I had killed her husband." + +"But, monsieur," rejoined Fanny, "be good enough to tell me why you +called me faithless when you saw me pass?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! my dear madame, it's very easy to understand. I had dined +with poor Gustave at the restaurant where you gave your wedding party. +During the whole meal, the dear fellow was in such utter despair that it +was painful to see him. He didn't eat, he didn't drink; I was compelled +to dine for two, and to hold on to him every minute to keep him from +seeking you out in the midst of your party." + +"Really! Poor fellow! was he so broken up as that?" + +"In the evening, he spoke to your sister and made her promise that, when +you came back for the ball, she would arrange it so that he could have +an interview with you." + +"My sister never told me a word of all this. That Adolphine's a strange +creature!" + +"On the contrary, it seems that she sent word to Gustave's uncle, to +come to take him away." + +"What business was it of hers?" + +"The uncle came and compelled his nephew to go with him; I was left +alone. I had drunk quite a lot of punch; I had looked in at a wedding +party on the floor above yours. As I came from that party, heated by +dancing, and still thinking of my disconsolate friend, I caught sight of +you, and I let slip that remark; which I retract to-day, and offer a +thousand apologies for making it." + +"You are freely forgiven. So Gustave had nothing to do with the duel?" + +"He knew absolutely nothing about it until he returned from Spain." + +"Do you know where he is now?" + +"Alas, no! In Prussia, I believe. I have been several times to ask; but +he has an uncle who is the most disagreeable man you can imagine! If he +weren't so closely connected with my friend, I would have run him +through before this. Still, Gustave must return some time; I am on the +watch for him." + +"When you hear anything about him, it will be very kind of you to let me +know. This is my new address." + +"Be sure, madame, that I shall be only too happy to prove my zeal." + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!" + +"Madame, accept my most respectful homage.--I don't know whether she is +sincerely fond of Gustave," thought Cherami, as the charming widow left +him, "but it is certain that she is burning to see him again." + + + + +XLII + +ORESTES AND PYLADES + + +Fanny had been a widow more than six months, when, as Cherami was +approaching Monsieur Grandcourt's abode one morning, he saw Gustave come +out. He uttered a joyful exclamation, and hastened to throw his arms +about the young traveller, crying: + +"_Tandem_! _denique_! here he is at last! this is good luck, indeed! +Damnation! you've been away a long while, but we will hope that it's the +last time." + +"Good-day, my dear Arthur!" said Gustave, as they shook hands. "Were you +coming to see my uncle?" + +"Your uncle! Sapristi! he's a dear creature, is your uncle; let's talk +about something else. Why, I have been here a hundred times; I wanted to +get your address, so that I could write to you or come after you; but it +was impossible to obtain the slightest information from your uncle. When +did you return?" + +"Last night, at nine o'clock. But why were you so anxious to know where +I was? What had you to tell me that was so important?" + +"Hasn't your uncle told you anything?" + +"We had a talk this morning, on business; that's all." + +"Ah! the old fox! there's no danger that he would tell you what +interested you most." + +"Then do you tell me, quickly, Cherami." + +"Your former passion, that little woman you loved so dearly----" + +"Fanny! Great God! is she dead?" + +"No, no! she's not dead; she's in bewitching health, she's just as +pretty as ever, and more than that--she's a widow." + +"A widow! Great heaven! can it be possible?" + +"It's more than possible, it's so. Her husband speculated in stocks, and +ruined himself; then, _crac_! a pistol-shot--you understand." + +"Oh! what a calamity! Why, it's perfectly ghastly; how long ago was it?" + +"Almost immediately after you went away." + +"Poor Fanny! she expected to find her happiness in that marriage; how +she must have grieved! how bitterly she must have wept!" + +"My dear Gustave, you don't know that young woman at all. She has very +great strength of character; she received the news of her husband's +death with a stoical courage worthy of the Spartan women who sent their +sons to war, bidding them to return as victors or not at all." + +"How do you know that, Cherami?" + +"Pardieu! because it was I to whom her husband confided his last wishes +and the mission of informing his wife of his death." + +"To you! you who fought a duel with him?" + +"Precisely! that duel made us the best friends in the world. I will tell +you all about it in detail another time. Let it suffice for the present, +that the young widow, who is already thoroughly consoled, does not cease +to talk about you, to ask about you, and to inquire whether you will +return soon." + +"Is that true? you are not deceiving me? Fanny thinks of me?" + +"It is as I have the honor to tell you, and, between ourselves, I +believe that she never really loved her husband--which explains why she +wasted so little regret on him." + +"All that you tell me surprises me so that I can't collect my thoughts. +Fanny widowed! Fanny free!" + +"Yes, widowed, and more than six months passed already! By the way,--and +this is the first question I should have asked you,--do you still love +her?" + +"Do I still love her! Ah! my dear Arthur, can you doubt it?" + +"It seems to me that you have had plenty of time and a perfect right to +forget her. I seem to recall that that was your hope when you went +away." + +"That may be; but I have not been able to do it. I tried to distract my +thoughts, to fall in love with other women. One day, I fancied that I +was; but the illusion soon vanished; and then, the last time I met +Fanny, she was so sweet with me that the memory of that occasion was not +well calculated to destroy my love." + +"Then you love her? you are sure of it?" + +"Nonsense, my dear fellow! why do you ask me that?" + +"Oh! because I had thought of something else; and if you were no longer +in love with the widow---- But, as you are still daft over her, why, +that's at an end; and I believe that things will go on now to suit you." + +"I am going to see Adolphine, Fanny's sister, to-day." + +"Why shouldn't you go to see Fanny herself? I should say that that would +be the shortest way. I can give you her address." + +"Oh! you can't mean that, my friend! that I should go to that young +widow's house at once--I, who have not been to see her since her +marriage! It wouldn't be proper. She must give me permission first." + +"But, as she urged you to call on her when she was a married woman, it +seems to me that she can afford to receive you now that she's a widow." + +"To be sure, but not right away; I must see her first, at her father's. +She must go there often, now?" + +"I should rather see you go to the little widow's than to her father's." + +"Why so?" + +"Why, indeed! That's the sequel of the idea I spoke about just now. +However, do as you think best; the main point is that you have come in +time, and that you should stay in Paris; because I am horribly bored +while you are away. On my word, I seem to miss something." + +"Dear Arthur! I am really touched by the interest you take in everything +that concerns me.--And yourself, my friend--are you happy, are you doing +well in business?" + +"I can't do badly, because I do no business at all. I am +content--because I am a philosopher! I am happy--when I have my cue; but +I haven't had it for some time." + +"I'll bet that you have no money." + +"You would win very often if you made that bet." + +"And you didn't say a word about it! Am I no longer your friend?" + +"My dear Gustave, you overwhelm me;--but I owe you something now, +and----" + +"What does that matter? Do friends keep accounts with one another? Isn't +he who can oblige the other the happier?" + +"Damme! if all my friends of the old days had been of your way of +thinking!" + +Gustave produced his wallet, took out a banknote, and thrust it into +Cherami's hand, saying: + +"Here, my good friend, take this; and when it's all gone, tell me so. +Now, adieu! I must leave you and go to Monsieur Gerbault's; I dine with +my uncle to-day; but if you will dine with me to-morrow, be in front of +the Passage de l'Opera at six o'clock." + +"If I will! Par la sambleu! why, it will be a regular fete for me." + +"In that case, adieu, until to-morrow!" + +When Gustave was a long distance away, Cherami continued to look after +him, saying to himself: + +"There goes the pearl of friends; I don't know the pearls upon which +Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie are employed, but a real friend is +worth far more than all the treasures of Golconda, and is much rarer +too. I was on the point of mentioning a certain idea that I have got +into my head relative to little Adolphine, the pretty widow's sister; +but I thought, on reflection, that I should do better to say nothing +about it. What good would it do to tell him that I think poor +Adolphine's in love with him, when he still loves Fanny? It would make +him unhappy, and that's all; he wouldn't dare to go to Papa Gerbault's +to talk about his dear Fanny. I certainly did well to hold my tongue. +Let's see what he slipped into my hand. Generous Gustave! he is quite +capable of loaning me five hundred francs more." + +Cherami unfolded the banknote which he held in his hand, and was +thunderstruck when he saw that it was for a thousand francs. + +Having satisfied himself that he was not mistaken, Cherami stuffed the +note into his cigar-case, muttering: + +"A thousand francs! he gave me a thousand francs, and said: 'When that's +gone, let me know!' Sacrebleu! this unexpected wealth bewilders me. That +young man's behavior touches me; it makes me blush for my own. Come, +Arthur, my good friend, do you propose to continue your dissipation, +your foolish courses? And because you have fallen in with a whole-souled +fellow who gave you money without counting it, are you going to work, as +usual, to waste that money as you wasted your fortune? I say _no_! par +la sambleu! I will not do it; I propose to show myself worthy to be +Gustave's friend. From this day forth, I turn over a new leaf, I become +a reasonable man, I put water in my wine; and, for a beginning, I will +go and dine for thirty-two sous." + +While Cherami was forming these excellent resolutions, Gustave betook +himself, without loss of time, to Monsieur Gerbault's house. + +Adolphine was alone, trying, by dint of practising diligently on the +piano, to forget for a moment the secret pain which was gnawing at her +heart. Fanny's sister had changed perceptibly in the last few months; a +genuine passion does not leave one unscathed; at nineteen years of age, +such a passion occupies one's every moment, obtrudes itself upon one's +every thought. The girl's features bore traces of her suffering; her +face had grown thin and pale, and constantly wore an expression of +sadness, which she strove, but in vain, to hide beneath a smile in the +presence of others; and her sister's company was not likely to afford +her any distraction, because she talked almost incessantly of the man +whom Adolphine would have been glad to forget. + +Madeleine, who had recognized Gustave, did not deem it necessary to +announce him, but allowed him to enter her mistress's apartment, where +he could hear her playing the piano. He went forward softly and stood +behind Adolphine, and several moments passed before she happened to +glance at the mirror over the piano and saw him standing there. A cry +escaped her; she whispered Gustave's name, then a ghastly pallor spread +over her face, and she looked down at the floor. + +"Mon Dieu! my dear Adolphine! what's the matter?" cried the young man, +in dismay; "shall I call somebody?" + +But Adolphine motioned to him not to go, and shook hands with him, +saying in an uncertain voice: + +"It's nothing--the surprise--the excitement; I was so unprepared to see +you! But it's all gone.--So you are at home again, Monsieur Gustave?" + +"Yes, my good little sister. So you didn't expect me, eh? You had +forgotten all about me?" + +"Oh! I don't say that; on the contrary, it seemed to me that you were +staying away a long while this time." + +"I have been away nearly seven months; and during that time, I +understand that--many things have happened here." + +"Ah! you know?" + +"Yes, I know that your sister is a widow." + +"Who has told you that, so soon?" + +"Cherami; you know, the man who was with me the day of----" + +"Oh, yes! I know him; it was he, too, who came to tell us the fatal news +of poor Auguste's death; for, I don't know how it happens, but your +Monsieur Cherami succeeds in having his finger in everything; everybody +takes him for a confidant.--When did you return?" + +"Only last evening." + +"It was very nice of you to think of coming here. Father is out, but he +will be at home soon." + +"Good! for I shall be very glad to talk with him. I trust that he won't +think it improper for me to come here now, as he did before?" + +Adolphine could not restrain a nervous gesture as she replied: + +"Ah! so you want to come to see us again? Yes--I understand--you are no +longer afraid to meet Fanny." + +"Do you think that I ought to avoid her presence still? tell me, dear +Adolphine!" + +"I? Oh! I don't think anything about it. Why should you suppose that I +think that? I can't read your heart, you see, and I have no idea whether +it still entertains the same sentiments as before." + +"Ah! I can safely tell you, who have always treated me like a brother; +indeed, why should I make a mystery of it, anyway? Yes, I love Fanny as +dearly as ever, her image has not ceased for a single day to be present +in my thoughts. My love, although hopeless, has never changed. Judge, +then, whether I can cease to love her, now that I am once more at +liberty to anticipate happiness in the future!" + +Adolphine passed her hand across her brow and made an effort to retain +her self-possession, as she replied: + +"Ah! it's a fine thing to love like that, with a constancy which time +and absence have failed to shake! It's a fine thing; and a woman could +not love you too well to recompense a passion as true and pure as +yours!" + +"Now, that we are alone, tell me, dear Adolphine, do you think that +Fanny will receive me kindly? Do you think that my constancy will touch +her? that her heart will be moved by it? Ambition and the wish to cut a +figure in the world caused her to prefer Monsieur Monleard to me. I can +readily forgive her, young as she was, for listening to vanity rather +than love--for I fancy that she never had much love for her husband." + +"Oh, no! I don't think that she had, either." + +"In that case, his death cannot have caused her a very deep grief?" + +"She regretted his fortune, that's all." + +"What are her means now?" + +"Twenty-five hundred francs a year. My father asked her to come to live +with us, but she preferred to have a home of her own." + +"Twenty-five hundred francs! That's very little for one who has kept her +carriage." + +"It's quite enough for one whose happiness doesn't depend on money." + +"You think so, Adolphine, because you haven't your sister's tastes; but +all women aren't like you. Fanny loves society; she's a bit of a +coquette, perhaps--that's a very pardonable fault. Thank heaven! I am so +placed now that I can gratify the tastes of the woman whom I marry. I +earn ten thousand francs a year; she will not be able to have horses in +her stable and carriages in her carriage-house, but she will not be +obliged to walk when she doesn't want to.--You don't answer me, +Adolphine--do you think Fanny will consent to be my wife?" + +"Oh! now that you earn ten thousand francs a year, she will smile on +your suit, no doubt." + +Gustave sighed, as he rejoined in a lower tone: + +"Then, if I couldn't offer her that, she would refuse me again? That's +what you mean to imply, isn't it?" + +"No, no! Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, I didn't mean to hurt you; I did +wrong to say that. Fanny must love you--why shouldn't she love you? It +would be awfully ungrateful of her not to--when you have given her +abundant proof of so much love and constancy--and have forgiven her for +the sorrow she caused you. Certainly she loves you; you will be happy +with her; but--you see--I can't bear to talk about it all the +time--because it worries me--it makes me uneasy--for you. Mon Dieu! I am +all confused." + +Gustave scrutinized the girl more closely, then exclaimed: + +"Why, I hadn't noticed before! How you have changed; how thin you are! +Have you been ill, my little sister?" + +"Ah! you notice it now, do you? Why, no, I am not ill; nothing's the +matter with me; I don't know why I should change." + +"Are you in pain?" + +Adolphine raised her lovely eyes, as if appealing to heaven, as she +replied: + +"No, I have no pain." + +"I can't have you sick! I insist upon your recovering your fine, healthy +color of the old days; and now that I have returned, I will look after +your health." + +"Thanks! thanks! you will come to see us often, then?" + +"I hope to do so; and your sister--does she come here often?" + +"Thursdays, because we receive then; occasionally on other days." + +Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to this conversation. He greeted +Gustave cordially, and the young man made no secret of the pleasure it +would give him to come frequently to the house; he did not mention +Fanny, preferring not to begin to talk of his renewed hopes at their +very first meeting; but he adroitly found a way to make known his +financial position, which would enable him, if he married, to offer an +attractive prospect to the woman who should bear his name. + +Now that his oldest daughter was a widow, Monsieur Gerbault saw no +impropriety in Gustave's meeting her; and he was the first to urge the +young man to come to his house at his pleasure, as before. Gustave was +enchanted; he pressed Monsieur Gerbault's hand, then Adolphine's, and +took his leave without noticing that the latter's depression had become +more marked than ever. + + + + +XLIII + +A COMPLETE REFORMATION + + +The next evening, at six o'clock, Cherami, dressed with an elegance +which made of him once more the stylish beau of former days, was walking +near the Passage de l'Opera. Several of his former boon companions, who +had ceased to bow to him since he had worn a threadbare coat, had +stopped when they caught sight of him and acted as if they would accost +him; but Cherami at once turned on his heel, saying to himself: + +"Go your way, canaille! I know what you amount to, my fine fellows! You +wouldn't look at me when I was strapped. You recognize me because I am +well dressed. Avaunt! I have had enough of such people!" + +Gustave soon appeared; he could not restrain an exclamation of surprise +as he gazed at the man who could once more call himself Beau Arthur. + +"Sapristi! my dear fellow! Pray excuse these manifestations of +surprise," said Gustave; "but, upon my word, at first glance I didn't +recognize you. You are superb--I don't exaggerate; no one could wear +handsome clothes more gracefully." + +"That's a relic of early habit." + +"Why have you gotten yourself up so finely?" + +"It was the least I could do to show my respect for such a friend as +you." + +"Let us go and dine, and we will talk." + +"I am at your service." + +The gentlemen entered the Cafe Anglais, and Gustave said to his +companion: + +"Order the dinner; you know how to do it." + +"Pardon me, but I think I won't order again," said Cherami; "I went +about it like a bull in a china-shop; I don't propose to do it any more; +you do the ordering." + +"What does this mean? You, a man who understood life so well!" + +"On the contrary, I understood it very ill; and I have changed all +that--a complete reformation; better late than never." + +Gustave finally decided to order the dinner; but at every moment his +guest said to him: + +"Enough; that's quite enough! and we'll have only one kind of wine." + +"Faith! my dear fellow, you may eat and drink what you choose; but I +propose to order to suit myself; I haven't turned hermit, you see." + +"Go on, you are the master. I will get drunk, if you insist; it's my +duty to obey you." + +Throughout the first course, Cherami put water in his wine, and was very +abstemious. + +"I shouldn't know you," said Gustave. + +"So much the better! I aim to be unrecognizable; but let us talk of your +affairs: have you been to Papa Gerbault's?" + +"Yes; I saw Adolphine, Fanny's younger sister; still, as always, kind +and affectionate and ready to help me." + +"I have an idea that she is very affectionate, in truth." + +"But I found her very much changed--she is thin, and she has lost her +fresh color. One would say that the girl has some secret sorrow." + +"There's nothing impossible in that, poor child! And you told her that +you still love her sister?" + +"To be sure; I confided to her all the hopes which Fanny's present +position justified me in forming. Oh! I made no mystery to her of my +love for her sister." + +"That must have afforded her a great deal of pleasure!" + +"Adolphine takes an interest in my happiness; if she can help me with +Fanny, she will do it, I am sure." + +"She is quite capable of it. But, look you, if you take my advice, you +will go directly to the young widow, and not have the little sister for +a constant witness of your love making; it's a dangerous business for a +heart of nineteen years! When one sees others making love, it may arouse +a longing to make love on one's own account." + +"My dear Arthur, I ask nothing better than to go to Madame Monleard's; +but I must see her first at her father's, and she must give me +permission to call on her." + +"Never fear; she'll give you permission. What about your uncle? have you +spoken to him about the revival of your hopes?" + +"No, indeed! he isn't fond of Fanny. There'll be time enough for that +when affairs come to a head." + +"By the way, if I want to see you now, where shall I find you? I don't +want to apply to your uncle again; he's an old curmudgeon whom I can't +get along with. He has a way of looking at me! If he hadn't been your +uncle, we should have had it out before this, I promise you." + +"My dear fellow, my uncle is a most excellent man, I give you my word; +very just and fair at bottom; a little obstinate when he has formed a +bad opinion of people; but very willing to revise his judgment when you +prove to him that he was wrong." + +"A noble trait, that!" + +"He has a prejudice against Fanny; he believes her to be incapable of +loving; but when she makes me happy, he will be the first to agree that +he was wrong. As for myself, I have accepted a very nice suite of rooms +in his house, where I shall stay till I marry." + +"In your uncle's house! Then no one can see you without his permission?" + +"Not so; my apartments are on the second floor, front, entirely separate +from his." + +"Does the concierge know you now?" + +"Yes, never fear; he knows my name. Come, my good fellow, a glass of +champagne to my love, to my union with Fanny!" + +"You insist on drinking champagne?" + +"Most certainly." + +"Very good, if you insist on it! We might well have been content with +this claret, which is perfect." + +"But what is the meaning of this virtuous conduct? what revolution has +taken place in you? who has wrought this miracle?" + +"Who? Don't you suspect?" + +"Faith, no!" + +"Well, it was you, my dear Gustave." + +"I? Nonsense!" + +"It's the truth, none the less. Twice now, you have obliged me; and with +such tact, such generosity----" + +"Oh! I beg you----" + +"Sacrebleu! let me speak; I am not talking _blague_ now, and you must +believe me, because I have no reason for lying. I brought myself up with +a sharp turn; I said to myself that, although I am no longer young, I am +not old enough yet to live at other people's expense. In short, I don't +propose to throw money out of window any more.--Better still: I am +conscious now of a desire to do something--to work and occupy my mind. I +used to laugh at clerks, at the men employed in offices; but find me +such a place, my friend, and I promise you that I'll fill it in such a +way that they won't turn me away." + +Gustave took Cherami's hand and pressed it warmly. + +"This is very well done of you," he said; "I certainly can't blame you +for such good resolutions. If you keep to them, why, I will look about, +and I will find something for you." + +"Oh! I shall keep to them; my mind is made up." + +"Meanwhile, as one must never carry anything to excess, there's no law +against your drinking champagne, provided you don't get drunk on it." + +"Very good; let us drink it, then." + +"To my love!" + +"To your love! But take my advice, and attend to your business yourself; +don't put it in the little sister's hands any more." + +"Do you think her capable of doing me a bad turn with Fanny?" + +"No, indeed! God forbid! she loves you too well to do you a bad turn +with anybody. But the result of my experience is that, in love, you +should never employ an ambassador. It's a waste of time." + +"I will follow your advice. Thursday, I shall see Fanny at her father's, +and I will ask her permission to call on her." + +"In that way," said Cherami to himself, "that poor girl won't have them +making love under her nose, at all events." + + + + +XLIV + +COQUETRY + + +Thursday arrived, and on that day a few faithful friends and some less +faithful acquaintances were accustomed to meet at Monsieur Gerbault's in +the evening and play cards. Among the faithful friends--faithful in +their attendance, that is--were Messieurs Clairval and Batonnin; among +those who came only occasionally was young Anatole de Raincy, who, like +a well-bred youth, had not taken offence at Adolphine's refusal of his +hand; and, being still a great lover of music, did not, because of that +refusal, renounce the pleasure of singing duets with her. + +Since Fanny had been a widow, she had come regularly to her father's to +dinner on Thursday; her sparkling conversation and her playful humor, +upon which her bereavement had imposed silence for a fortnight at most, +contributed not a little to the success of the evening party. The young +widow, who knew that Anatole de Raincy had sought Adolphine's hand and +had been refused, never failed, when she found herself in that young +gentleman's company, to dart glances at him which might well have turned +his head, but for the fact that, in order to captivate him, a woman must +first of all possess a sweet voice; and Fanny sang very little, and then +her singing was not true. + +So that Monsieur de Raincy did not respond to the glances of the pretty +widow, who soon confided to her sister that that Monsieur Anatole was +nothing but a canary; that he ought to be fed on nothing but chickweed. + +On the day in question, Adolphine, when she was joined by her sister, +whom she had not seen during the week, experienced a feeling of +discomfort which she strove to overcome, saying to her hurriedly: + +"I imagine that you will see someone here this evening whose presence +will not be distasteful to you." + +"Ah! whom do you expect this evening, pray?" + +"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont." + +"Gustave! Is it possible? Gustave has returned, and you haven't told +me?" + +"You have only just come; I couldn't tell you any sooner." + +"But when did he return? When did you see him?" + +"He came to see us on Monday; I believe he arrived in Paris the night +before." + +"What! he has been here since Monday, and I didn't know it! And he's +coming to-night--you are quite sure? Did father invite him for +to-night?" + +"Father didn't actually invite him; but he knows that we receive on +Thursdays, and, as he expressed a wish to visit us anew---- And then, he +knows that he will meet you." + +"Did he talk much about me? Does he act as if he still loved me? Oh! +tell me everything he said, little sister; don't forget a single thing. +It is very important; I must know what to expect." + +Adolphine made an effort, and replied in a voice trembling with emotion: + +"Yes, Monsieur Gustave told me that he still loved you, that he had +never ceased to think of you." + +"Oh! how sweet of him! There's constancy for you! And they say that men +can't be faithful!--The poor fellows: how they are slandered! Dear +Gustave! then he's well pleased that I am a widow, I suppose?" + +"You can understand that he couldn't quite say that." + +"No, no, but he thinks it; that's enough. And he's coming? Mon Dieu! how +does my hair look? it seems to me that this cap hides my forehead too +much." + +"You look very well; and, besides, doesn't a woman always look well to +her lover?" + +"Oh! my dear girl, in order to please, one must always try to look +pretty." + +And Fanny ran to a mirror; she arranged and rearranged her hair, took +off her cap and put it on again; and finally tossed it aside, saying: + +"I certainly look better without a cap." + +"But, sister, I supposed that your mourning required----" + +"My dear girl, I've been a widow more than six months; I have a right to +arrange my head as I please, and when one has fine hair it's never a +crime to show it." + +During dinner, Fanny talked incessantly of Gustave; Adolphine said +nothing; Monsieur Gerbault let his elder daughter talk on, but he kept a +serious countenance and looked frequently at Adolphine. At the time that +she fainted at the idea that Gustave was dead, a sudden light had shone +in upon her father's mind; but he had made no sign; he respected his +younger daughter's secret, although at the bottom of his heart he was +the more deeply touched by her suffering, because he could see no way of +putting an end to it. + +The dinner seemed horribly long to Fanny; she asked for the coffee +before her father had finished his dessert, and kept leaving the table +to look at herself in the mirror. This manoeuvre was repeated so often +that Monsieur Gerbault could not resist the temptation to say to her, +with a smile: + +"My dear, it seems to me that, for a widow, you are rather coquettish." + +"In my opinion, father," she made haste to reply, "a widow is more +excusable for being coquettish than a married woman whose husband is +alive; for, you see, a widow is free." + +"Yes, no doubt that is true, especially when she has been a widow a long +while." + +"Well, do you call six months nothing? And I am in my seventh!" + +"Yes, indeed! yes, indeed!--Never mind; the story of the _Matron of +Ephesus_ no longer seems improbable to me." + +"What's that about the _Matron of Ephesus_? I don't know that story." + +"It's a fable; but it might very well be history, after all." + +"Ah! did someone ring?" + +"I didn't hear anything." + +"How late your people come!" + +"Do you think so? It's only seven o'clock." + +"Nonsense! Your clock is slow." + +"It keeps excellent time." + +"Oh! I don't know what's the matter with me; I can't keep still." + +Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, thinking: + +"It's her love for him that makes her so coquettish and so impatient! +It's very funny; when he used to come before, I never thought of looking +in my mirror; I thought of him, not of myself." + +At last, the bell rang; it was Monsieur Clairval, cold, phlegmatic, +taciturn. Next came Madame Mirallon, who always wore full dress, even at +small parties. Next came a lawyer and a doctor, enthusiastic whist +players, who were constantly disputing, one being a hot partisan of the +short-suit lead, the other declaring that a good player would never +stoop to that. + +At every ring, Fanny gazed eagerly at the door; she made a funny little +wry face when she saw that the person who appeared was not he whom she +expected. + +"My gentleman keeps us waiting a long while!" she murmured; then ran to +her sister.--"Adolphine, are you sure you told him Thursday? Perhaps you +said some other day?" + +"No. At all events, he knows that we have always received on Thursday." + +"He knows, he knows! When a man travels so much, he can easily forget. +It's after eight o'clock, and you see he doesn't come." + +"Eight o'clock isn't late. Never fear; he'll come." + +"You think so?" + +"Oh! I am sure of it." + +"You are quite sure that he still loves me?" + +"If he doesn't, why should he have told me that he did?" + +"Oh! my dear, men say so many things that they don't think!" + +"I can't understand how anyone can lie about love." + +"Ah! you make me laugh; love's just the thing they lie most +about.--There's the bell. This time it must be he." + +Fanny's expectation was deceived once more; Monsieur Batonnin appeared, +with his inevitable smile, and his measured words. + +"What a bore!" muttered the young woman, moving uneasily on her chair; +"it's that wretched Batonnin--the doll-faced man, as we used to call him +at our parties." + +"Don't you like him? Why, he used to go to your house----" + +"Well! what does that prove? Do you imagine that, in society, we are +fond of everybody we receive? On the contrary, three-quarters of the +time the greatest pleasure we have is in passing all our guests in +review and picking them to pieces." + +"Ah! what a pitiful sort of pleasure! But whom can you share it with? +for, if you speak ill of everybody----" + +"You take a new-comer, and go and sit down with him in a corner of the +salon; and there, on the pretext of telling him who people are, you give +everybody a curry-combing. It's awfully amusing!" + +"But the new-comer, if he isn't an idiot, must say to himself: 'As soon +as I have gone, she'll say as much about me.'" + +"Oh! we don't even wait till he's gone to do that." + +Monsieur Batonnin, having paid his respects to Monsieur Gerbault and to +the card-players, joined the two sisters. + +"How are the charming widow and her lovely sister? The rose and the +bud--or, rather, two buds--or two roses; for, both being flowers, and +the flowers being sisters, and having thorns--why----" + +"Come, Monsieur Batonnin, make up your mind. I want to know whether I am +a rose or a bud," said Fanny, glancing at the guest with a mocking +expression. + +"Madame, being no longer unmarried, you are necessarily a rose." + +"All right; that fixes my status! And my sister is a bud?" + +"Yes, to be sure--but I am pained to observe that this charming bud has +drooped a little on its stalk for some time past." + +"Do you hear, Adolphine? Monsieur Batonnin thinks that you are drooping +on your stalk, which means, I presume, that you are losing your +freshness." + +"That isn't exactly what I meant to say." + +"Don't try to back down, Monsieur Batonnin; besides, you are right; my +sister has changed of late. She assures us that she is not ill, that she +has no pain; for my part, I am convinced that something is the matter, +but she doesn't choose to make me her confidante." + +"Because I have nothing to confide," rejoined Adolphine, in a grave +tone; "and it seems to me that monsieur might very well have avoided +this subject." + +"Excuse me, mademoiselle; I should be much distressed to have offended +you; it was my friendship for you which led me to----" + +"I myself, monsieur, have never been able to understand the kind of +friendship which leads one to say to people point-blank: 'Mon Dieu! how +you have changed! you are deathly pale! are you ill? you look very +poorly!' If the person to whom you say it is really well, then you have +seen awry; if she is really ill, you run the risk of making her worse by +frightening her as to her condition. In either case, you see, it would +be better to say nothing. Such manifestations of interest resemble those +of the friends who can't reach you quickly enough when they have bad +news to tell, but whom you never see when you have had any good fortune +for which congratulations would be in order." + +Monsieur Batonnin bit his lips, and tried to think of an answer; but +they had ceased to pay any heed to him, for the door of the salon opened +once more, and this time it was Gustave who appeared. + + + + +XLV + +JOYS AND TORMENTS OF LOVE + + +The young man, having shaken hands with Monsieur Gerbault, walked toward +Adolphine and her sister; it was easy to see how excited and perturbed +he was; but Adolphine, whose emotion was even greater perhaps, hastily +left her seat and, after responding to Gustave's greeting, went to talk +with Monsieur Clairval, who was not playing cards at that moment; so +that there was no one to interfere with the interview which Gustave +desired to have with her sister. + +As for Fanny, she was absolutely unembarrassed; she smiled sweetly on +Gustave, greeted him as if she had seen him the day before, and said, +pointing to a seat by her side: + +"So here you are at last, monsieur le voyageur! Mon Dieu! you seem to be +imitating the Wandering Jew nowadays; you travel all the time, you are +never at rest. Do you know, monsieur, that your friends are not +reconciled to your long absences, and you surely will put an end to your +peregrinations--unless you have a fancy to discover a new world?" + +Gustave, bewildered by the jocular tone in which the widow addressed +him, was unable for a moment to find words in which to reply. Fanny +interpreted his confusion to her own advantage, and continued, but with +a change of manner, and in an almost sentimental tone: + +"Many things have happened since we met." + +"Yes, madame; I have heard of the--loss you have sustained; and I beg +you to believe that I shared the grief which you must have felt." + +"I don't doubt it; you have so much delicacy of feeling, Monsieur +Gustave! Yes, I had a very cruel experience, although Monsieur Monleard +hardly deserved the tears I shed for him. He was a proud man, +overflowing with vanity, hard-hearted, loving only himself, conceited, +self-sufficient; but he is dead, I don't mean to speak ill of him, +although he left me in a decidedly equivocal position. Ah! if I had +known--if I could have foreseen. I have bitterly regretted +what--what----" Then, suddenly changing her tone again, and becoming +playful once more: "You are just from Berlin, I hear? Is there much fun +there? Are the balls gorgeous? do the women dress well? does everybody +go to the theatre? The Germans are very fond of music; you must have +gone to concerts and evening parties and the play a great deal. Ah! what +fortunate creatures men are! They can do whatever they please, while we +poor women are obliged to stay at home, and, in many cases, never have +anyone come to see us! That's the way I've been living for six months; +and I am terribly bored; oh! terribly!" + +"You had your sister, at least, to share your troubles." + +"My sister! She's a lively creature, isn't she? I don't know what's been +the matter with her lately, but she's a regular extinguisher. And then, +you know, my temperament isn't like Adolphine's; she is melancholy by +nature, and I am very light-headed. Don't you remember, Gustave? +Heavens! what a mad creature I am! here I am calling you Gustave, just +as I used to before I was married! Does that offend you?" + +"Oh! you can't think it; it reminds me of such a happy time!" + +"Why, I don't see but that that time has come back; for we are in the +same position that we were then--almost." + +Gustave could not restrain a sigh at that _almost_. The young widow made +haste to continue: + +"And now that I am free, that I am my own mistress, won't you do me the +favor of coming to see me sometimes, Monsieur Gustave? Won't you have a +little pity on the tedium of a poor widow, who was so anxious for you to +come back, who talked about you every day with Adolphine?" + +"What, madame! can it be true? you have thought sometimes of me?" + +"He asks me if I have thought of him! he doubts it!--Is it because you +had altogether forgotten me?" + +"I, forget you? Ah! that would be impossible! Your lovely features are +engraved on my heart, on my mind. Although far from you, I saw you all +the time. Ah! Fanny, when one has once loved you.--But, pardon me, +madame, I am losing my head; I call you Fanny, as I used." + +"That doesn't offend me in the least; on the contrary, I like it. But +just see what faces Monsieur Batonnin is making at us! One would say +that he was trying to throw his eyes at us. Mon Dieu! how funny he is +when he looks like that! Ha! ha! ha! it's enough to kill one." + +"Madame Monleard is in great spirits to-night," said Monsieur Clairval +to Monsieur Batonnin, who replied: + +"I've noticed that she's been in much better spirits ever since she's +been a widow." + +"That Monsieur Batonnin, with his soft-spoken ways, always has something +unkind to say," muttered Madame de Mirallon. + +"And he smears honey on his words, to make them go down; that's the +custom." + +Adolphine had walked mechanically to the piano; she was suffering +intensely, she would have liked to leave the salon, but she dared not, +because it would have worried her father. To make her misery complete, +Monsieur Batonnin joined her. + +"Are we going to have the pleasure of hearing you sing, mademoiselle?" + +"No, monsieur; I could not possibly sing; I have a very sore throat." + +"I trust, mademoiselle, that you are not still offended with me because +I thought that you looked ill?" + +"Oh! not at all, monsieur; indeed, I think that you must have been +right, for I don't feel very well this evening." + +"Madame your sister is well enough for two, I judge, she is in such good +spirits; she seems to be talking a good deal with that gentleman. Isn't +he the same one who was with you one morning when I came to your room +with your father?" + +"Yes, monsieur; that is he." + +"He was very dismal then; it seems that his gloom has disappeared, for +he is laughing heartily with your sister. Are they acquainted?" + +"Why, to be sure; Monsieur Gustave is an old friend of ours." + +"Very good! I said to myself: 'Madame Monleard doesn't stand much on +ceremony with that young man; he must be an old acquaintance, at +least.'" + +To avoid listening any longer to Monsieur Batonnin, Adolphine seated +herself by the whist table, and pretended to watch the game; but, sit +where she would, she heard her sister's exclamations, whispering, and +laughter, and the evening seemed endless to her. + +At last the clock struck eleven; Fanny rose and prepared to take her +leave. Gustave looked at her, as if undecided as to what he should do, +but the young widow observed: + +"Monsieur Clairval is playing whist; besides, I don't want him always to +have the trouble of going home with me; and as Monsieur Gustave is here, +perhaps he would be willing to escort me as far as my door." + +Gustave's face beamed; he hastened to say that he should be too happy to +offer her his arm. Whereupon, Fanny made haste to say good-night to her +father and sister. + +The young man, in his turn, went to Adolphine, and said to her in an +undertone: + +"Dear little sister, I am a very happy man! She has given me permission +to call on her; she has even given me to understand that she regrets +having refused to marry me; in short, she is touched by my constancy." + +"It is well; be happy, that is my dearest wish; and, above all things, +go to my sister's; that will be much better, believe me, than to come to +court her here." + +Gustave was about to reply, but Fanny called him and took him away. +Thereupon Adolphine went to her room, saying to herself: + +"Such evenings as this are too horrible; I shall not have the courage to +endure them often. Oh! let them be happy together! but I pray that he +may not come here any more, that I may not be forced to be a witness of +his love for another!" + + + + +XLVI + +IN WHICH CHERAMI ACTS LIKE SAINT ANTHONY + + +Gustave did not fail to take advantage of the permission Fanny had +accorded him. Two days after the party at which they had met, he called +upon the young widow, who greeted him thus: + +"I began to think that you were off on your travels again, and that we +shouldn't see you for another six months." + +"Oh! I have no desire to travel now; I am too happy in Paris; especially +if you allow me to come to see you." + +"What good does it do for me to allow it, when you don't come? I +expected you the day before yesterday, I expected you yesterday." + +"I was afraid of being presumptuous if I took advantage too soon of the +permission you gave me." + +"I thought that you wouldn't stand on ceremony, and that we should be on +the same terms together as before my marriage to Monsieur Monleard." + +These words were accompanied by such a soft glance that Gustave no +longer doubted that he was loved. He took Fanny's hand and covered it +with kisses; she did not resist, and her hand responded tenderly to the +pressure of his. Any other than Gustave would probably have carried +further his desires and his acts, but he had long been accustomed to +look upon Fanny as the woman whom he wished to make his wife; and in his +love there was a sort of respect which her widow's dress could not fail +to intensify. + +So Gustave confined himself to repeating that he had never ceased to be +enamored of her whom he had hoped to call his wife, and that he would be +very, very happy if his hopes could be gratified at last. For her part, +Fanny gave him to understand that while she might once have been +ambitious and fickle, those failings should be charged to her age and +consequent giddiness, and that, in reality, her heart had never been in +agreement with her vanity. + +Then the young widow, by a natural transition, adroitly led Gustave on +to speak of his position and prospects. He was assured of ten thousand +francs a year if he remained in his uncle's banking-house; he could hope +for more in the future; to be sure, Monsieur Grandcourt would not be +pleased to have his nephew marry, but he would place no obstacle in the +way of the execution of his project. They would not live in the banker's +house, but would take pleasant apartments not far from his offices; they +would keep no carriage; he would take his wife to the theatre very +often, and to the country; he would not give her diamonds, but she +should have handsome dresses, and, as she was charming in herself, she +would always be the loveliest of women, even if she were not covered +with jewels. + +In such conversation as this, forming the most attractive plans for the +future, the hours which Gustave passed at Fanny's side seemed very +short. Being entirely at liberty to see his love at her own home, he +went much less to Monsieur Gerbault's. As for Adolphine, she did not go +to her sister's at all; for she knew that she would meet Gustave there, +and she avoided his presence as much as possible. + +Two months passed thus, during which time Cherami saw very little of +Gustave, who spent with Fanny all the time that he could spare from his +business. + +But one morning, just as our lover was starting to call on his enslaver, +Cherami caught him on the wing. + +"Par la sambleu! my dear Gustave, is there no way of having a word with +you? Have you nothing to say to your friend? Or am I no longer your +friend? One would say that you avoided me!" + +"No, no, my dear Arthur, far from it; it always gives me great pleasure +to see you; but you are well aware that I am in love, more in love than +ever, and that I pass with Fanny all the time I can steal from my +duties." + +"Very good! and tell me about this love of yours; sapristi! are you +satisfied? Does it go as you want it to this time? Tell me that much, at +least." + +"Ah! my friend, I am the happiest of men! Fanny loves me; I can't +possibly doubt it now. As soon as her mourning is at an end, we are to +be married; we are already making our plans, our projects for the +future; next month, as it will be almost ten months then, we shall begin +to look about for apartments, which I shall have furnished and decorated +in advance. I intend that Fanny shall find them fascinating." + +"Well, I see that everything is going all right. The little woman is +yours this time--and you think so much of her!--And her sister, the good +Adolphine--do you still see her?" + +"I have seen very little of her lately; she never comes to her sister's, +and that surprises me; twice I have tried to talk with Adolphine, to +tell her that my marriage to Fanny was settled; but I couldn't find her, +she had gone out; for I can't believe that she would have refused to +see me--her brother." + +"In all this excitement, you haven't thought about a place for me, I +suppose?" + +"Pardon me, I did mention it to my uncle. He doesn't seem to believe +that you are serious in your desire for employment." + +"Ah! pardieu, if your uncle has got to have a hand in it, I am very +certain that I shall never get a place!" + +"Never fear; I will attend to it myself, but there's no hurry. Are you +in need of money? Tell me." + +"Why, no, I am not in need of money. Do you suppose that I have already +gone through the thousand francs you loaned me?" + +"But that was more than two months ago, and----" + +"True, and formerly I should have seen the last of it in a week; I +should have made only seven mouthfuls of it. But to-day it's different! +I told you that I had reformed. I have discovered, just at the beginning +of Boulevard du Temple, a soup dealer who supplies dinners; and +delicious dinners, too, on my word of honor! you don't have a great +variety of dishes, to be sure; but everything is good. Excellent roast +beef; you would fancy you were in London; and you can dine abundantly +for eighteen sous. Eighteen sous! I used to give more than that to the +waiter." + +"My friend, you shouldn't go to extremes in anything; it seems to me +that you are carrying your reformation too far." + +"I am very well pleased; I believe that I shall end by living on my five +hundred and fifty francs a year; when that time comes, I propose to +parade the streets between two clarionets, to exhibit myself." + +"After I am married, I will find you a suitable place." + +"Make haste and marry, then, that I may have my cue. By the way, I +venture to believe that it won't come off without notice to me? I don't +ask to be invited to the wedding; that would be presumptuous; but I +desire, at least, to salute the bridal couple when they leave the +church." + +"And I propose that you shall be of the wedding party. We shall not give +a ball,--her widowhood is too recent,--but a handsome banquet, and I +hope that, on that day, you will forget your reformation. But, adieu! I +am late, she is expecting me. You will hear from me soon." + +"A mighty good fellow!" said Cherami to himself, as Gustave hurried +away; "he deserves to be happy! But will he be, with his Fanny? Hum! I'm +none too sure of it. For my part, I should prefer the other; but as he's +in love with this one--to be sure, she's a very pretty woman, but I, old +fox that I am, I wouldn't trust her!--Sapristi! what do I see? My two +little pearls, Laurette and Lucie, and I have money in my pocket! But, +no; by Saint Anthony, I will not yield to the temptation! Let's be off +before they see me." + +Laurette and Lucie were, in fact, coming toward Cherami, both dressed +with much coquetry and looking very attractive; but he, after heaving a +profound sigh, retreated with so much precipitation, that he ran into +the door of an omnibus, which had stopped for a lady; and, being urged +by the conductor, he concluded to enter also. + + + + +XLVII + +THE RETURN FROM ITALY + + +Several weeks passed. It was a Thursday; and Fanny, who had not been at +her father's for a long time, said to Gustave when she saw him during +the day: + +"I must go to dine with father to-day, my dear; I trust that you will +come there this evening?" + +"As you will be there, you may be certain that I will come. By the way, +I saw that there was an apartment to rent in a nice house on Rue +Fontaine. Do you like that quarter?" + +"Very much." + +"Very well; I will go some time to-day to look at it, and if it seems to +me to be suitable I will tell you this evening, so that you can go to +see it. For ten months have passed; the time is not very far away when I +shall be able to call you my wife! so it is none too soon for me to see +about getting an apartment ready." + +"Do so, my dear; you can tell me to-night if you have found what we +want." + +About five o'clock, the widow went to her father's. Monsieur Gerbault +always welcomed his daughter kindly, and Adolphine did her utmost to +smile on her sister. + +"So you're really going to marry Gustave this time, are you?" said +Monsieur Gerbault. + +"Why shouldn't I, father? Do you think I shall be doing wrong?" + +"No--but I regret that you didn't marry him a year ago." + +"Why, father, it seems to me that I acted very wisely! Gustave had only +a very modest salary then. Monsieur Monleard offered me a fortune, and I +could not hesitate; the sequel didn't come up to my hopes; but certainly +no one could have foreseen that." + +"But you are very lucky to fall in with a man who still loves you after +you have once cast him off." + +"Mon Dieu! father, if Gustave had not loved me, some other man would +have turned up--that's all there is to that." + +"Possibly; at all events, I see that you have an answer for everything." + +Adolphine listened to her sister with an air of amazement, but she did +not venture to make a single reflection; she kept to herself the +thoughts which Fanny's remarks inspired; and she avoided, so far as she +possibly could, any conversation with her on the subject of her +approaching marriage to Gustave. + +The evening brought to Monsieur Gerbault's salon his faithful whist +players, and Gustave, who shook hands warmly with the man whom he +already looked upon as his father-in-law, and affectionately with +Adolphine. She, by an involuntary movement, withdrew her hand at first; +but the next moment she forced herself to smile, and offered her hand to +Gustave, saying: + +"I beg your pardon. I thought you were Monsieur de Raincy." + +"And she absolutely refuses to give her hand to him," said Fanny, with a +laugh, "although he offers his name in exchange for it. Don't you think, +Gustave, that she makes a great mistake in refusing that young man?" + +"Why so, if she doesn't love him?" + +"As if people married for love!" + +Realizing that she had said something which might distress Gustave, the +young woman hastily added: + +"When a woman has never been married, she ought to be reasonable; with a +widow, it's different; she can afford to obey the dictates of her +heart." + +These words speedily restored the serenity of Gustave's brow, which had +become a little clouded. A moment later, Monsieur Batonnin arrived, and, +having saluted the company, said, with a radiant expression: + +"I have just met someone, whom you will probably see this evening, for +when I said: 'I am going to pass the evening at Monsieur Gerbault's,' he +exclaimed: 'Oh! I mean to go there, too, if only for a moment.'" + +"Who is it?" queried Monsieur Gerbault. + +"Someone who is very agreeable--just back from Italy. What! can't you +guess? Monsieur le Comte de la Beriniere." + +"Ah! the dear count! Has he returned?" + +"Only yesterday. He instantly asked me for all the news. When I told him +that Madame Monleard was a widow, he was tremendously surprised; he +couldn't get over it." + +"Mon Dieu! how stupid that man is!" muttered Gustave, glancing at Fanny. + +Since the announcement of the Comte de la Beriniere's return, she seemed +disturbed and preoccupied. In a few moments, she left her seat between +her sister and Gustave, went to the window for a moment, as if to get a +breath of air, and then, instead of returning to her former seat, sat +down near the whist table. + +Adolphine followed her sister with her eyes, and did not lose a single +one of her movements. Meanwhile, Gustave, seeing Fanny seat herself at a +distance, drew nearer to Adolphine, and said: + +"Your sister, I see, wishes me to tell you of our delightful plans for +the future; for I have had no chance to talk with you lately, dear +Adolphine; I have been here several times, but have failed to find you." + +"Yes, I know it." + +"I think that you are not indifferent to what interests me, that you +take pleasure in my happiness. You saw me when I was so unhappy! I am +sure that you want to see me happy now." + +"Yes, of course I do. A love like yours well deserves to be +reciprocated." + +Gustave began to lay before Adolphine all the plans he had formed for +the future, when he should be her brother-in-law. Adolphine listened +with only half an ear; she seemed much more interested in watching her +sister, who pretended to take a deep interest in the game of whist; but +soon the arrival of the Comte de la Beriniere caused a general movement. +Everyone congratulated the traveller on the happy influence which the +climate of Italy seemed to have had on his health. + +"Yes, I am very well indeed," said the count, who, after bowing coldly +to Adolphine, eagerly approached her sister. "Italy's a very beautiful +country, but it isn't equal to France, especially Paris! I tell you, +there is nothing like our Parisian women; and what I look at first of +all, in any country, is the women." + +"Still, you have stayed away a long while, monsieur le comte," said the +widow, motioning to Monsieur de la Beriniere to take a seat by her side, +the gesture being accompanied by her most charming smile. + +The count hastened to obey; and said to her, almost in a whisper: + +"I have, in truth, been absent more than a year; and, meanwhile, certain +things have happened which it was impossible to foresee. Permit me to +offer you my condolence on your widowhood." + +"Yes, I am a widow, I have become free again; it is more than ten months +since it happened. Truly, it could hardly have been anticipated! You +must find me greatly changed, do you not? I have grown old and thin--and +then, this costume is so dismal!" + +"In other words, you are still captivating; indeed, if such a thing were +possible, I should say that you are even lovelier than you were. As for +your dress--what does that matter? You adorn whatever you wear." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, you flatter me; you don't mean what you say." + +"Do I not? I mean it and feel it; you are an enchantress!" + +"Italy is where you must have seen the pretty women!" + +"Yes, there are many of them there; but I say again, they can't hold a +candle to Parisian women in general, and to you in particular." + +"Oh! hush! Are you no longer in love with my sister?" + +"Your sister? Faith! no; she refused my hand; I bear her no ill-will for +it; for, frankly, I am very glad of it now." + +"Why so, pray?" + +"Oh! I can't tell you here." + +"Very well! then you must come to see me, and tell me." + +"Do you give me leave to come to pay my respects to you?" + +"More than that, I count upon it." + +"You are adorable." + +It seemed to Gustave that Fanny's conversation with the count was +unconscionably long. He could not see all the coquettish little grimaces +with which the widow accompanied her words, because she had taken pains +to turn her chair so that she was not facing the man she was to marry; +but he thought it very strange that Fanny could pass so long a time +without thinking of him, without wanting him near her. The young man +walked through the salon, gazing at the young widow, and sometimes +stopping beside her. She did not appear to pay the slightest heed to +him. + +Being unable longer to control his impatience, he decided to interrupt +their conversation, and said aloud to Fanny: + +"My dear Fanny, I went to-day to see that apartment on Rue Fontaine--you +know--that I spoke to you about this morning?" + +The widow was perceptibly annoyed. However, she replied, with a +surprised air: + +"What! what apartment? I don't remember. Oh! yes, yes, I know what you +mean." + +"Well, the apartment is very well arranged and very attractive. I am +confident that you will like it; but you must look at it immediately, +for the chances are that it will be let very soon." + +"Very well, very well; I will go to look at it.--Oh! Monsieur de la +Beriniere, you went to Naples, didn't you? Did you see Vesuvius vomit +flame? That is something I am very curious to see. Do tell me what a +volcano is like?" + +Gustave walked away, far from satisfied. It seemed to him that his +future spouse was too deeply interested in Italy. He returned to +Adolphine, lost in thought, and sat down beside her. She said nothing, +but she looked at him and read his thoughts. + +Monsieur Gerbault succeeded at last in talking with the count. Whereupon +Gustave returned to Fanny, and said to her: + +"Aren't we going? You said that you should go home early." + +But the little widow, who did not choose to have the count see her go +away with Gustave, replied: + +"It's too early; my father would be angry if I should go now." + +"But you said----" + +"Mon Dieu! you seem to be in a great hurry to go!" + +Gustave bit his lips and said no more. Monsieur Batonnin joined him, and +said with a smile: + +"You don't seem to be doing anything, Monsieur Gustave. Don't you play +cards?" + +"I don't care for cards, monsieur." + +"You prefer to talk with the ladies--I can understand that. You have +been travelling, too; and the ladies like to hear about travels. Have +you seen any volcanoes?" + +"No, monsieur." + +And Gustave turned his back on Batonnin, who smiled at his own +reflection in a mirror. + +The count soon took his hat, and was about to withdraw, without a word, +as the custom is in society; but Fanny, who had kept her eyes on him, +found an excuse for standing in his path, and said to him in an +undertone: + +"I shall expect you to-morrow." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere replied by a graceful inclination, and +disappeared. + +A few moments later, Fanny said to Gustave: + +"Well, monsieur; if you want to go, I am at your service." + +"I am at yours, rather, madame." + +"Let us go." + +Adolphine went up to Gustave of her own motion, and pressed his hand +affectionately. + +In the street, the young man began: + +"Monsieur de la Beriniere's conversation evidently interested you very +much? You talked with nobody but him; you left your sister and me, and +forgot all about us." + +"Why, I enjoyed listening to what he told me about Italy. He is very +pleasant, and amusing to listen to. I didn't suppose that you would see +any harm in that." + +"I see no harm in the conversation; but I am horribly bored when you +talk to anybody else for long. I am sorry that you don't feel the same +way." + +"Oh! what childishness! As if I were not always there!--How my head does +ache! I shall have a sick headache to-morrow, I am sure." + +"You will go to look at that apartment, won't you?" + +"Yes, if my head doesn't ache; but if it does, I certainly shall not +stir from my bed." + +They arrived at Fanny's door, and the future husband and wife parted +much more coldly than usual. + +The next morning, the young widow gave these orders to her servant: + +"If Monsieur le Comte de la Beriniere calls, you will admit him at once. +If Monsieur Gustave comes, you will tell him that I have a sick +headache, that I am asleep; and you will not let him in on any pretext. +Do you understand?" + +"Yes, madame." + +Fanny took the greatest pains with her hair, her dress, and every part +of her toilet; she omitted nothing that was adapted to captivate, to +dazzle, to seduce. + +At one o'clock, Monsieur de la Beriniere was ushered into the pretty +creature's boudoir, where she awaited him, seated in a graceful attitude +on a sofa, and motioned him to a seat by her side. + +"You see, fair lady, that I take advantage of the permission accorded +me," said the count, gallantly kissing Fanny's little hand. + +"It was presumptuous in me, perhaps, to tell you that I expected you; +but I wanted to talk with you, and one has little chance to talk in +society." + +"You give me the most delicious pleasure--a tete-a-tete with you! It is +a priceless favor to me. It is very true that in society it is difficult +to say--all that one thinks; and last night, at your father's, there was +a young man who seemed to be vexed at our conversation." + +"Oh! Gustave.--He's an old play-fellow of mine." + +"An old play-fellow? Isn't he something more than that?" + +"What! what do you mean?" + +"Stay, charming widow, I will explain my meaning without beating about +the bush. Yesterday, when he told me that you were a widow, Monsieur +Batonnin told me also that you were to marry again very soon." + +"Mon Dieu! what a chatterbox that Monsieur Batonnin is! what business is +it of his?" + +"It is quite possible that he's a chatterbox; but, tell me, is it the +truth? Are you going to marry Monsieur Gustave, your old play-fellow?" + +"Yes, it is true that there has been some talk of marriage between us; +but it's a long way from that to an actual marriage." + +"Really--you are not actually engaged to him?" + +"Engaged? Not by any means!" + +"But--that apartment that he spoke about last night, that he asked you +to go to look at?" + +"Why, it's an apartment that he is thinking of renting for himself, and +he wants my advice as to the arrangement of the rooms; because a woman +understands such things better than a man, don't you see? But now it's +your turn, monsieur le comte, to tell me why you are so anxious to know +whether my hand is at my disposition." + +"Why, charming creature! can't you guess why? Don't you remember what I +said to you one day, at your own house, soon after your marriage? I +said: 'Monleard has been smarter than I, he has got ahead of me; for, if +it had not been for him, I would have asked you to be Comtesse de la +Beriniere.'--Very good; what I could not do then, I should be very happy +to do to-day. Now, you see, I don't propose to lose any time and let +some other man get ahead of me; I go straight to the point. If you are +not engaged, I offer you my name and my fortune; I will transform you +into a fascinating countess." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, can I believe you? do you really mean what you +say? I most certainly am not engaged--but my sister--you loved her?" + +"I thought of your sister for a moment, solely with a view of entering +your family. You cannot fear to make her unhappy by accepting my hand, +since she refused it." + +"True, the little fool! I wouldn't have refused it, I can tell you!" + +"Very well; then you accept now--you consent to become a countess? Give +me your hand, as a token of your consent." + +Fanny pretended to be embarrassed, and lowered her eyes; but she gave +her hand to the count, who threw himself at her feet, crying: + +"I am the happiest of men!" + +During this interview, Gustave had called and asked for Fanny; but the +maid said to him: + +"It is impossible for you to see her, monsieur; she has a sick headache; +she is asleep, and told me not to wake her." + +"And her order applies to me too?" + +"Oh! yes, monsieur; you cannot see madame; her headache's very bad." + + + + +XLVIII + +WOMAN CHANGES OFT + + +Gustave returned to his office sadly out of temper. He was surprised +that for a headache Fanny should refuse to see him; he said to himself +that, if he were ill, the presence of his loved one could not fail to do +him good and cure him at once. Then, in spite of himself, he recalled +Fanny's conduct at her father's, her evident pleasure in conversing with +Monsieur de la Beriniere, while she barely listened to what he, Gustave, +said to her. All this distressed and worried him. He could not be +jealous of the count, who was sixty years old, but he was displeased +with Fanny; and while he sought excuses for her, saying to himself that +a young woman was not debarred from being a little coquettish, from +liking to cut a figure in society, he feared, nevertheless, that she was +not capable of loving as he loved. + +We often hear of presentiments; but, in most cases, these presentiments +are simply the assembling of our memories so as to form a new light, +which enlightens our minds, destroys our illusions, undeceives our +hearts. With the aid of this new light, we foresee the treachery that +lies in wait for us, and we say: "I had a presentiment of it." + +Gustave returned to Fanny's that evening; it was natural enough that he +should be anxious to know whether the headache had disappeared. The +servant informed him that madame had gone out. + +"Gone out!" cried Gustave; "she is better, then?" + +"_Dame_! yes, monsieur; it's evident that madame has got rid of her sick +headache." + +"Where has she gone?" + +"I don't know, monsieur." + +"And she left no message for me, if I came?" + +"Not a word." + +"Has she gone to her father's?" + +"I said that I didn't know." + +"Very well; I will come again. Ask her to wait for me, when she +returns." + +The young man hurried to Monsieur Gerbault's. He found Adolphine alone. +She read at once on his face that he was suffering, and asked him as she +took his hand: + +"What has happened, my friend? Something is the matter." + +"Why---- Have you seen your sister to-day?" + +"No." + +"You have not?" + +"No, she hasn't been here. Why do you ask?" + +"Because I haven't seen her to-day, either. This morning, I called on +her; I was told that she had a headache and was asleep. But this evening +I called again, and she had gone out." + +"Well, she has probably gone to see some of her friends. She has +retained some acquaintances from the time when her husband was living, +and she goes to see them sometimes. I can see nothing disturbing in +that." + +"But, after a whole day without seeing each other, to go out in the +evening without saying where she's going--without leaving a word for +me!" + +"Fanny is so thoughtless; she probably forgot." + +"Dear Adolphine! you try to excuse your sister, but I am sure that you +blame her, at the bottom of your heart. Don't you remember how unkind +she was to me last night?" + +"Why, I didn't notice----" + +"Yes, yes, you did notice that she left us to go and talk with that +Monsieur de la Beriniere. Who is that man? wherever did she know him?" + +"He was a friend of her husband, and in that way became acquainted with +father." + +"Is he rich?" + +"He has forty thousand francs a year." + +"Married?" + +"No, he's an old bachelor; he asked father once for my hand." + +"And you refused him?" + +"Yes." + +"You thought him too old, didn't you?" + +"That wasn't the reason; but I refused him." + +"Do you know, Adolphine, I have no idea what is going on in Fanny's +head, but all this isn't natural. At the point we have reached,--we are +to be married in six weeks, and we are both free,--two people don't pass +a whole day without exchanging a glance, or a grasp of the hand. I tell +you, there's something wrong. Could she deceive me again? Oh! no, that +isn't possible; it would be too ghastly! too shameless!--No, I blush for +having had such a thought. I have no doubt that she is at home and +waiting for me. Au revoir, little sister!" + +"Gustave, if anything should happen, you would tell me at once, wouldn't +you?" + +But Gustave did not hear; he was already at the foot of the stairs, and +he hurried away to Fanny's house. She had not returned; he remembered +the apartment he had asked her to inspect, and, although it was hardly +customary to look at apartments in the evening, he said to himself: +"Perhaps she has gone there." And in a few moments he was in Rue +Fontaine. He inquired of the concierge who had the keys to the +apartment, and was told that no lady had come that day to look at it. + +One more hope dashed to the ground: as Fanny had gone out, why had she +not gone to inspect the apartment of which he had spoken so highly the +night before, telling her that they must make haste lest it should be +rented to others? Gustave said all this to himself as he returned to +Madame Monleard's abode. She had not returned; but it was only nine +o'clock; she must return sooner or later, and Gustave was determined not +to go to bed until he had seen her and spoken to her, even if he had to +pass half the night on sentry-go before her door. But a woman, +unattended, was unlikely to stay out late; she could not have gone to a +ball; ladies did not go alone to the theatre; so she must be at some +small party; someone would probably escort her home, but he would find +out who her escort was. + +How many ideas pass through the mind of a jealous, worried lover in a +few seconds! The imagination moves so fast that it does not know where +to stop, or on what to decide. Every moment that passed without bringing +Fanny added to Gustave's anxiety, his suffering, his suspicions. At +last, about half-past ten, a cab stopped in front of the house. Gustave +ran forward and was at the door before the cabman had alighted from his +box. Fanny was in the cab, alone. When she recognized Gustave in the man +who opened the door for her, she laughed heartily and cried: + +"Ah! you open carriage-doors now, do you? Ha! ha! I congratulate you on +your new trade." + +This outburst of merriment seemed untimely, to say the least, to +Gustave, who rejoined: + +"I have no choice but to wait for cabs to arrive, as I fail to find you +at home; as you go out without even leaving a line for me so that I may +know where you are." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! what a terrible crime! Am I no longer my own mistress--to +go where I please without asking your leave? That would be very +amusing!" + +"You know very well, Fanny, that that isn't what I mean; you know that +you are at liberty to do whatever you choose to do. So do not try to +dodge the question. At the point we have reached, it is natural for us +to tell each other what we do; for we ought to have no secrets from each +other. I came here this morning, and you didn't see me on account of +your headache." + +"Well, monsieur, am I no longer allowed to have a headache? Pay the +cabman, will you; I have come from Madame Delabert's.--Can I no longer +visit my friends, I should like to know?" + +"Come, come, Fanny, don't be angry; perhaps I was foolish to be anxious. +But it would have been so easy for you to leave word for me! Remember +that I haven't seen you at all to-day, and a whole day without seeing +you seems very long now!" + +"It isn't my fault if I have a sick headache. I can still feel the +effects of it, so I am going to bed; I am very tired." + +"Mayn't I come up with you for a moment?" + +"Oh! I should think not! it wouldn't be proper, so late." + +"It isn't eleven yet." + +"But I tell you that I still feel the effects of my headache, and that I +am going straight to bed." + +"Why didn't you go to see that apartment I told you about--on Rue +Fontaine, near Place Saint-Georges?" + +"Why didn't I? Because I forgot all about it." + +"How could you forget a thing of such importance? For, if it suits you, +we must rent it at once." + +"Oh! my dear friend, I am not anxious to stand here in the street any +longer. What do we look like--talking like this on a doorstep?" + +"Then let me come up a moment." + +"No; I tell you that I am going to bed!" + +"There's something wrong, Fanny. This isn't natural. You're not the same +with me that you were two days ago." + +"You can tell me all that to-morrow. Good-night!" + +"Very well, until to-morrow, then, madame! I trust that you will be +visible?" + +"Mon Dieu! monsieur, I am always visible when I am not sick. But don't +come too early; for I don't rise with the dawn." + +Fanny knocked, and the door opened. She hurried in and closed the door +on Gustave, who remained in the street, poor fellow, unable to make up +his mind to leave his fair one's abode. He did not know what to believe. +He asked himself if he had not done wrong to reproach Fanny; she had +been to see one of her friends, and had returned alone: there was no +great harm in that. And yet, he was ill at ease, he suffered; his heart +told him that something was wrong, and that his love was not the same to +him as before. + +At last, after pacing back and forth in front of Fanny's door for nearly +an hour, gazing at those of her windows which were lighted, he decided +to go away when the lights went out. + +"I wish to-morrow were here," he thought. + +Gustave did not close his eyes that night; where is the lover who could +sleep, in his position? Only a lover who is not in love. At eight +o'clock, the young man went down to the office, where there were as yet +no clerks; but he found his uncle, who was always at his desk early. + +"The deuce!" said Monsieur Grandcourt; "you're on hand in good season! +Was it love of work that woke you?" + +"Yes, uncle; I have some accounts to look over." + +"How pale you look, and exhausted! One would say that you had been up +all night." + +"I am just out of bed." + +"I'll wager that you didn't sleep. Is there anything new in your love +affair?" + +"Why--no, uncle." + +"Your dear Fanny hasn't played you some new trick?" + +"Ah! uncle, at the point we have reached----" + +"It wouldn't surprise me at all." + +"You have a very bad opinion of her." + +"When a woman has made a fool of a man once, she will make a fool of him +again--she will always do it! However, it would be better before +marriage than after. Come and breakfast with me." + +"It's too early, uncle; I am not hungry. By the way, have you thought +about Arthur?" + +"Who's Arthur?" + +"Arthur Cherami; a good, honest fellow who is looking for a place." + +"Ah! your tall swashbuckler, who has such a scampish look--always ready +to fly at you? Upon my word, you are not fortunate in your friendships! +What sort of a place do you suppose anyone would give to that fellow? He +doesn't inspire the slightest confidence in me. He was rich once, and he +squandered his whole property: a fine recommendation!" + +"I believe that you judge him too harshly. A man may have done foolish +things, and have turned over a new leaf. With you, uncle, repentance +counts for nothing." + +"Repentance has one great defect in my eyes: it never comes till after +the wrong-doing. If a man could repent before he went wrong, that is to +say, stop before he fell, then I should have a much higher opinion of +repentance. Well, where are you going? leaving the office already?" + +Gustave could not keep still. He left the office, and ran all the way to +Fanny's house; then stopped and looked at his watch. It was barely nine +o'clock; impossible to call upon her so early. The young man walked up +Faubourg Poissonniere and kept on past the barrier; little he cared +where he went, so long as the time passed. Suddenly he ran into a tree, +which his complete absorption in his thoughts had prevented his seeing. +At that, he halted and looked about him, and was surprised to find that +he was in the open country. But he felt that the air was keener and +purer there, that it refreshed the mind and calmed the beating of the +heart; and he sat down at the foot of the tree. He breathed more freely, +he felt sensibly relieved. Ah! what a skilful physician the air is, and +what marvellous cures we owe to it! + +Gustave sat for a long while at the foot of the tree, which was bare of +leaves; for it was late in October. He reviewed in his mind the whole of +Fanny's conduct during the last two days, and wondered if his uncle were +right after all. At last he rose and returned to Paris. It was nearly +eleven o'clock when he reached the young widow's door. But he could wait +no longer; he rang the bell violently, and the maid ushered him into her +mistress's presence. + + + + +XLIX + +THE SECOND TIME + + +Fanny was sitting by the fire, in a dainty morning gown; for she was a +woman who never allowed herself to be surprised in deshabille; but her +expression was cold and stern, as of a person who had made up her mind +and was prepared for a rupture. + +"I have come a little early, I fear," said Gustave, taking a seat, and +seeking in vain an affable smile on the widow's features; "but you will +surely forgive my impatience, I was so anxious to see you. I had almost +no chance to speak to you last night, and I had so many things to say!" + +"I, too, wished to speak with you, monsieur. I, too, have several things +to say to you." + +"_Monsieur!_ What! you call me _monsieur?_ What does that mean?" + +"In heaven's name, let us not quibble over words. If I call you +_monsieur_ now, I do so in consequence of certain reflections I have +made since yesterday. Do you know that I don't like to be followed, +spied upon; that a jealous man is an unendurable creature to me?" + +"Ah! you are trying to quarrel with me, madame?" + +"No, I am not; but I am telling you frankly the subject of my +reflections; and the result of those reflections is----" + +"Is what? go on, madame." + +"Is that I am afraid that I shall not make you happy, Gustave. I am +naturally giddy, frivolous,--but I cannot change,--and my temperament +would not harmonize at all with yours. Consequently we shall do much +better not to marry. Oh! I have come to this decision solely in my +solicitude for your happiness." + +Gustave sprang to his feet so suddenly that the little widow could not +restrain a gesture of terror. He took his stand in front of her, with +folded arms, and gazed sternly at her, saying: + +"So this is what you were aiming at--a rupture! And you dare to accuse +me of spying, to try to put me in the wrong! to accuse me, when my +conduct was simply the consequence of your own! Oh! don't think to +deceive me again. Some other motive is behind your action. You have +formed other plans." + +"That does not concern you, monsieur! I believe that I am entirely free! +I trust that you will spare me your reproaches. Well-bred people simply +part--they don't quarrel over it." + +"Never fear, madame; I shall not forget that you are a woman. But to +play this trick upon me again--ah! it is shameful! Fanny, is it true? +did I hear aright? Only two days ago, you were forming plans with me for +our life to come, your hand pressed mine, you asked me if I would always +love you." + +"Justine, bring me some wood; the fire's going out." + +The tone in which the young woman summoned her maid, having apparently +paid no heed to Gustave, capped the climax of his exasperation; he +strode up and down the room two or three times, then went to Fanny as if +to give full vent to his wrath; but he checked himself, and, having +bestowed upon her a glance in which were concentrated all his outraged +feelings, he abruptly left the room without looking back. + +For several hours thereafter, Gustave was like a madman; he was so +unprepared for the blow, that he could hardly believe in its reality. He +returned home and locked himself in his room; he dreaded to meet his +uncle and hear him say: + +"I prophesied what has happened." + +He preferred to be alone, so that he could abandon himself to his grief; +and for some time he could not keep from weeping over his lost +happiness, although he told himself that Fanny did not deserve the tears +she caused him to shed. Then he cudgelled his brain to divine what could +have caused this sudden change in her ideas. + +He determined to leave Paris again, to go away without a word to anyone; +but the next day he went to see Adolphine, to tell her of his new +unhappiness. + +Fanny's sister seemed to be expecting his visit; she held out her hand +as soon as he appeared, saying: + +"Poor Gustave! I know all! My sister has disappointed you again! It is +horribly hard!" + +"What! you know already that she refuses to marry me! Who can have told +you?" + +"Why, she herself; she came here yesterday to tell us that, as soon as +her mourning is at an end, she is going to marry----" + +"She is going to marry, you say?" + +"Why, didn't you know it?" + +"Finish, in God's name! She is going to marry----" + +"The Comte de la Beriniere." + +Gustave dropped upon a chair, repeating between his teeth: + +"The Comte de la Beriniere!" + +But there was more surprise than anger in his tone; for, on learning +that it was a man of sixty to whom Fanny gave the preference, he +realized that it was no newborn passion that had caused the change in +her heart. + +"So," he exclaimed, after a moment, "that woman is always guided by +selfish considerations! it is a fortune, a title, which she prefers to +me! For this man is rich, I suppose?" + +"Yes, very rich! And as Fanny doesn't propose to be left in poverty if +she should be widowed again, it seems that the count settles twenty +thousand francs a year on her when he marries her. But do not believe, +my friend, that we approve her conduct: when she told us of her latest +plan, father told her that the way in which she was treating you was +utterly disgraceful, and that he never wanted to see her again, countess +or no countess." + +"And what did she reply?" + +"She said that she could not imagine how we could blame her, and she +went away repeating that we cared nothing for her happiness. It seems +that the count had courted her before, and declared that he deeply +regretted her marriage to Auguste. That is why, when she saw him +again----" + +"Enough, my dear Adolphine; I don't care to know anything more. I was +mistaken in thinking that she loved me. As if anyone would ever love me! +No; there are some people who were born to love alone, never to meet a +heart that understands them." + +"Why do you say that to me, Gustave?" + +"Well, what does it matter, after all? a man cannot change his destiny. +Adieu, Adolphine!" + +"Are you going away, Gustave? Where are you going?" + +"Oh! I don't know, but I feel that I must leave Paris again. I cannot be +here when she marries the count. I am a fool, I know it perfectly well; +your sister deserves no regret; but one does not lose all one's +illusions without suffering. Adieu! give my respects to your father." + +"But you won't stay away so long this time, will you? and when you +return, you will be able to come to see me without fear; you won't meet +her here again." + +"Yes, you will see me. Adieu!" + +Gustave took leave of Adolphine, whose eyes were full of tears as she +looked after him; but he did not understand their language. He went to +his uncle, told him what had happened, and expressed a desire to go to +England and stay there for some time. + +Monsieur Grandcourt said simply: + +"That woman will end by sending you round the world. But let us hope +that this will be your last trip. Go to England, go where you +please--but don't return unless you are cured of your idiotic passion." + +Gustave soon completed his preparations for departure; he had but a few +hours to remain in Paris, when he met Cherami. + +"Where are we going so fast?" cried Beau Arthur, taking Gustave's hand. +"What has happened? Our countenance is not so cheerful and happy as it +was the last time? Can it be that anything has happened to interrupt the +course of our loves?" + +"My friend," replied Gustave, with a sigh, "there has been a great +change, indeed, in my affairs since we last met. There is to be no +marriage; the love affair is at an end. Fanny has betrayed me again. Ah! +I ought to have expected it! But, no; it is impossible to conceive such +perfidy in a woman who looks at us with a smiling face, who tells us +that she loves us!" + +"What's that you say, my boy? The little widow has slipped out of your +hand again? Nonsense, that can't be so!" + +"It's the truth. She is going to marry the Comte de la Beriniere, an old +man, but very rich. She is to be a countess--she has no further use for +me." + +"Why, this is perfectly frightful! A woman doesn't play skittles like +that with an honest man's heart! And you haven't killed your rival?" + +"No; for that wouldn't make Fanny love me any more. But I am going away; +I don't propose to be here again, as I was at her first wedding. No, +indeed; once was enough." + +"You are going away? where?" + +"To England and Scotland; but I shall not be away so long." + +"Sapristi! my dear fellow, don't go away; the affair can be fixed up, +perhaps." + +"No, no, it's all over, all over! Fanny will never be mine. Adieu, my +friend! it's almost train time. Au revoir!" + +Gustave hurried away, and left Cherami standing there bewildered by his +sudden departure. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then tapped +his leg with his switch and said: + +"Morbleu! my friend Gustave unhappy! the woman he loves snatched away +from him a second time! and I am to endure it! I, his Pylades, to whom +he loans money without taking account of it!--No, par la sambleu! I will +not endure it. Ah! my little widow! you play fast and loose with a fine +fellow like that! You think that you can make fools of people in that +way! But, patience! I am on hand, and I have my cue!" + + + + +L + +A GENTLEMAN IN BED + + +About noon the next day, Cherami was walking in front of Madame +Monleard's house. + +"I don't know where he perches--this Comte de la Beriniere, whom Gustave +told me about yesterday; but by doing sentry duty in front of this +house, I can't fail to find out; this count will undoubtedly come to pay +his respects to the little woman he's going to marry; he's rich, he will +come in his carriage, and I am an awkward fellow if I can't learn the +master's address from a servant." + +Everything happened as Cherami had anticipated: about one o'clock, a +stylish coupe drew up in front of Fanny's door, and a gentleman, who was +no longer young, alighted from it; despite his years, he was dressed in +the latest fashion and exhaled a powerful odor of perfumery. + +"That's my man!" said Cherami to himself; and, having watched the count +enter the house, he accosted the footman, who was yawning against a +post. + +"Wasn't that Monsieur le Comte de la Beriniere whom I just saw get out +of this carriage?" + +"Yes, monsieur; it was he." + +"Ah! I said to myself: 'Why, there's an old acquaintance of mine!' yet I +was afraid of making a mistake, so I didn't dare to speak to him; but I +will go and renew my acquaintance with him to-morrow morning. Where does +the dear count live now?" + +"Rue de la Ville-l'Eveque, just at the beginning, near the Madeleine." + +"Very good; I can see it from here. How late can I find the count at +home in the morning?" + +"Monsieur gets up late. He seldom goes out before noon." + +"Infinitely obliged. I am sure that the dear count will be delighted to +see me to-morrow morning." + +"If monsieur would tell me his name, I would tell my master." + +"No; bless my soul, no! I want to surprise him; don't say anything to +him about it." + +Cherami returned to his Hotel du Bel-Air, saying to himself: + +"Gustave doesn't choose to fight with his rival, but I'll wager that +it's from some lingering feeling of delicacy, of kindness for that +little sinner of a Fanny! He says to himself: 'Let her be a countess, if +that will make her happy.'--Infernal nonsense, I call it. And as I have +no reason for being agreeable to that lady, I trust that I shall be able +to prevent her putting this new affront on my young friend." + +The next day, having dressed himself with care, Cherami took the Paris +omnibus and exchanged into one for the Madeleine; at half-past ten, he +arrived at the Comte de la Beriniere's door, recognized the footman of +the preceding day, and said to him: + +"Here I am; take me in to your master." + +"Monsieur le comte is still in bed." + +"Very well! wake him." + +"He's awake, for he has already had his chocolate." + +"As he's awake, there's no need of his getting up to receive me; I can +talk with him perfectly well in bed. Go and tell him that an old friend +of his wishes to see him." + +"Your name, monsieur?" + +"I have already told you that I wanted to surprise him; consequently, I +don't choose to send in my name." + +The servant went to his master and delivered the message. Monsieur de la +Beriniere had not begun to think of rising; he had taken the young widow +to the Opera the night before, and had played the attentive gallant all +the evening, and he was at an age when such service is very tiresome. So +he was reposing in bed from the fatigues of the night. + +"That young widow is an adorable creature," he mused. "Marriage will +make me settle down; I shall lead a virtuous life, and it will do me +good." + +He was somewhat annoyed, therefore, when his servant announced an old +friend who wished to speak with him. + +"Neither old friends nor new ones ought to come so early," he exclaimed. +"What the devil! they ought to let people sleep in peace. What's the +name of this old friend who's such an early bird?" + +"He refused to send in his name, in order to surprise monsieur." + +"He deserves to be turned away without seeing me." + +"He was in the street last night when monsieur went into Madame +Monleard's. He recognized monsieur when he stepped out of the carriage." + +"Well! let us see this man of surprises." + +The servant ushered Cherami into his master's bedroom, and withdrew. +Monsieur de la Beriniere, with his rumpled silk nightcap on his head, +and his eyes still half-closed, was curled up in bed, covered to his +nose by the bedclothes; and in that position he was entirely destitute +of charms. So that Cherami, after eying him for a few seconds, said to +himself: + +"What! it was this old baked apple who was given the preference over my +good-looking young friend Gustave! Damnation! women care even more for +money than we men do! for our reason for wanting it is to get wives with +it, while they take it to throw us over." + +While Cherami indulged in this reflection, the count scrutinized his +visitor with interest, and said to him at last in a slightly nasal +voice: + +"My dear monsieur, it's of no use for me to examine you from head to +foot, or to search my memory: I do not recall any friend of mine who +resembles you in the least." + +Cherami bowed with an affable smile, and replied: + +"Don't try, monsieur le comte, don't take that trouble; it would be a +waste of time; for the fact is that this is the first time I have had +the pleasure of being in your company." + +"What's that? deuce take me! what does this mean? In that case, you are +not the old friend that you held yourself out to be?" + +"That is to say, monsieur, I ventured to tell that little falsehood in +order to be more certain of obtaining an interview with you this +morning." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere frowned and scowled, which did not add to his +beauty; he scrutinized Cherami with evident suspicion, and rejoined +sharply: + +"What have you so important, so urgent, to say to me, monsieur, that you +presume to disturb me so early, to resort to a trick in order to be +admitted?" + +"You shall know in a moment; but, first, allow me to sit. The matter in +hand deserves that I should take the trouble to be comfortable." + +Without awaiting a reply, Cherami took an armchair, placed it beside the +bed, and stretched himself out in it. The ease of his manners, which did +not lack distinction, began to dispel the suspicions which had assailed +the count's mind for a moment; his curiosity was aroused by the whole +aspect of the strange individual who sat facing him. + +Cherami, being seated to his satisfaction, began thus: + +"Monsieur de la Beriniere, you see before you Arthur Cherami, the +intimate friend of young Gustave Darlemont. You know Gustave Darlemont, +I believe?" + +"Faith! no; but, stay! Gustave---- Do you refer to the young man who was +an old play-fellow of Madame Monleard, and whom I saw at Monsieur +Gerbault's the other evening?" + +"The same; that is, I don't know whether Gustave was Madame Monleard's +play-fellow, but I do know that he had become her heart's fellow. +However, without going into that, he was on the point of marrying the +young widow, when your appearance changed everything. You are a count, +you are rich; the little woman is a flirt of the first order; she +whirled about like a weathercock. By the way, this isn't the first time +she has taken the same turn. King Francois I said: '_Souvent femme +varie, bien fol est qui s'y fie._'[D] Which proves that that king had +made a careful study of the fair sex--a study which cost him rather +dear! but, never mind that; thus you, monsieur le comte, are the cause +of Madame Monleard's having abruptly given my friend Gustave the mitten, +instead of marrying him. And now, do you begin to suspect what brings me +here?" + +"Why, yes, I fancy so; you are sent by this young Gustave, who desires +to fight with me?" + +"That isn't it exactly. You are burning, but you're not quite there. +This is how it is: Gustave has no thought of fighting; not that he lacks +courage; oh! he's brave enough, I would answer for him as for +myself!--but he has such a soft spot in his heart for the widow that +he's afraid that, by killing you, he might distress her. The poor boy is +in despair; and when he's in despair, he leaves Paris, he goes abroad, +seeks distraction in other climes--and what I don't understand is that +he comes back as dead in love as when he went away; for I must tell you, +monsieur le comte, that you're not the first to cut the grass from under +his feet, as they say; he was to have married Mademoiselle Fanny +Gerbault, when Monsieur Auguste Monleard came upon the scene; he had the +prestige of wealth and fine social position, and poor Gustave was shown +the door. To-day, therefore, we have a second performance of the same +play, with this difference: that now my young friend has an excellent +position in his uncle's banking-house; but that you have a title and a +fine turnout, and are much richer than he." + +"Well, monsieur, as your young friend doesn't think of fighting--which +is very wise of him, by the way, for I fancy that it wouldn't increase +the widow's affection for him; and, between ourselves, as he had been +rejected once, I am a good deal surprised that he came forward a second +time----" + +"I agree with you, par la sambleu! I wouldn't have been the man to act +in that way! A woman who had slighted me for another man--that's much +worse than deceiving! Men are deceived every day, and it's forgiven; but +slighted, disdained! However, what would you have! passions are +passions! Gustave is to be pitied." + +"I pity him with all my heart; but I return to my question: that being +so, what can have brought you here?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! it's easily explained. I am Gustave's devoted friend; he +forgives insult and treachery, but I do not choose that he shall be +insulted or betrayed. The wrong that is done him wounds me, insults me; +and as I have never swallowed an insult, I fight.--I have come, +therefore, to demand satisfaction at your hands for the little widow's +perfidy--of which you are the cause; that is to say, to speak more +accurately, the little widow is the real and the only culprit in this +affair. It was she who made a fool of Gustave in a much too indecent +fashion; but as it's impossible to demand satisfaction of a woman, I +have come to demand it of you, monsieur le comte, as her accomplice and +representative in this affair." + +The count put the whole of his head outside of the bedclothes, in order +to obtain a better view of the person who had made this proposition to +him; and, after scrutinizing him carefully, he replied, in a mocking +tone: + +"It makes no difference how closely I examine you, my dear monsieur, I +do not know you at all." + +"We will make each other's acquaintance by fighting." + +"Why should you expect me to fight with you? You haven't insulted me in +any way." + +"If an insult is all that is necessary to induce you to fight with me, +never fear, I'll insult you; but I confess that I should prefer to have +the affair pass off quietly, courteously, as becomes well-bred people; +and, although I am not, like you, monsieur le comte, of noble birth, I +beg you to believe that you will not cross swords with a churl. I am of +good family, I was well educated, I inherited a very pretty little +fortune; but I made a fool of myself for that charming sex which is +decidedly fond of cashmere shawls and truffles. I have ruined myself, +pretty nearly, but I haven't forgotten how to use a sword; as poor +Auguste Monleard had reason to know." + +"What's that? you fought with my pretty widow's first husband?" + +"The day after the wedding; and I gave him a very neat sword-thrust in +the forearm." + +"Ah! that fall that he claimed to have had on the stairs?" + +"That was the result of our duel." + +"Gad! monsieur, it seems that you have sworn the death of all the +captivating Fanny's husbands." + +"If she had married my friend Gustave, I promise you that I wouldn't +have fought with him!" + +"You will permit me to inform you, monsieur, that your conduct is +utterly absurd." + +"Why so, monsieur, I pray to know?" + +"Because one doesn't take up the cudgels in this way for another man who +is old enough to attend to his own affairs. Your friend Gustave doesn't +see fit to fight; why should you take it into your head to fight for +him?" + +"I explained the reasons of my conduct a moment ago. If you didn't +listen, I will repeat them." + +"It's a waste of time, monsieur; I shall not fight with you." + +With that, the count pulled up the bedclothes, turned his face to the +wall, and curled himself up so that he made but a large-sized ball. + +Cherami rose and paced the floor; then went to the fireplace and warmed +his feet at the fire that burned briskly on the hearth, saying: + +"It's quite sharp this morning; you were very wise to order a fire +lighted in your bedroom; one takes cold so easily. To be sure, this room +is tightly closed, but the least draught does the business so quickly!" + +After a few minutes, annoyed to find that his visitor did not take his +leave, the count turned over and sat up in bed. + +"I say, monsieur," he exclaimed testily, "do you intend to pass the day +in my bedroom? Do me the favor to go away and let me sleep." + +"And do you, monsieur le comte, do me the favor to cover yourself with +the bedclothes again; you'll take cold." + +"A truce to jesting, monsieur! I have told you that I would not fight +with you; I repeat it. There is nothing to keep you here, therefore." + +"O my dear Monsieur de la Beriniere--I believe that is your name, De la +Beriniere, is it not?" + +"Yes, monsieur; that is my name." + +"My dear Monsieur de la Beriniere, when I take it into my head to do a +thing, I assure you that it has to be done. I have promised myself to +fight with you--unless, however, you give me your word of honor to +renounce your project of marrying Auguste Monleard's widow. In that +case, I am content. Does that suit you?" + +"On my word, this is too much!" + +"What is it that's too much?" + +"You disgust me,[E] monsieur!" + +"Do I, indeed? Gad! you are not to be pitied, in such weather as this. +So you won't give her up?" + +"What do you take me for, in God's name?" + +"Then you agree to fight?" + +"Go to the devil!" + +"In that case, I must resort to decisive measures." + +And Cherami, raising his switch, caused it to whistle about the count's +ears, but without touching him; that manoeuvring sufficed, however, to +make Monsieur de la Beriniere straighten himself up and cry, in a +furious rage: + +"You are a villain, monsieur!" + +"Aha! you're awake at last, are you?" + +"You will give me satisfaction for this indecent behavior, monsieur!" + +"That is just what I have been asking you for, for the past hour." + +"Leave your address; my seconds will call upon you to-morrow at eight +o'clock; see that yours are there, also." + +Cherami scratched his ear, muttering: + +"My seconds! Do we need any seconds? Why not settle the business at +once, between ourselves?" + +"Oho! monsieur, so you never have fought a duel?" + +"More than you have, I'll wager." + +"Then you should know that people don't fight without seconds; it is +forbidden." + +"I am very well aware that it is customary to have them; but we don't +always conform to custom. For instance, Monsieur Monleard and I fought +without seconds." + +"But, monsieur, as I have no desire to find myself with a wretched +affair on my hands on your account, I tell you that I will not fight +without seconds." + +"So be it! As you insist upon it, we will have them." + +"Your address, monsieur?" + +"Here it is: Cherami, Hotel du Bel-Air, Rue de l'Orillon, Belleville." + +"Belleville! So you don't live in Paris?" + +"I am in the suburbs. Does that disturb you?" + +"It is a matter of absolute indifference to me; but my seconds will not +call on you until ten o'clock, for I don't choose to make them get up at +daylight." + +"At ten o'clock, then, I will expect them. And now, monsieur le comte, +permit me to offer you my respects." + +"Good-day, monsieur, good-day!" + +Monsieur de la Beriniere buried himself anew under the bedclothes, +decidedly put out by the visit he had received. As for Cherami, he said +to himself when he was in the street: + +"I have my cue! He will fight--aye, but my seconds--I must have two; I +absolutely must have them, or no duel. Where shall I find them? It's +damnably embarrassing. I can't think of a solitary soul. Sapristi! where +can I find two seconds? There's nothing to be said; I must have two, and +two passably respectable ones, to-morrow morning!" + + + + +LI + +THE DAY WITH THE RABBITS + + +On leaving Rue de la Ville-l'Eveque, Arthur Cherami followed the +boulevard in the direction of the Bastille; he did not take an +omnibus--first, because he was in no hurry; and, secondly, because he +had reflected: + +"If I could happen to meet in the street some old friend, some good +fellow, I would ask him to be my second. On a pinch, if it was +necessary, I would sacrifice myself so far as to pay for his breakfast +or dinner--but at a soup-kitchen only." + +But Cherami arrived at Boulevard du Temple, without falling in with what +he sought. + +"Shall I go home?" he thought; "what's the use? My hotel is not the +place to find what I want; the poor devils who lodge there seldom wear +coats. I am sure that this Comte de la Beriniere will send me two very +distinguished gentlemen; they will turn up their noses enough when they +see the Widow Louchard's hotel; I must confront them with men who +represent---- Damnation! I haven't my cue! it's infernally embarrassing! +The devil take the obstinacy of that count, who insists on having +seconds!" + +As he walked on, Cherami saw a short man coming toward him, armed with a +pretty cane of cherry wood. + +"Here comes a grotesque figure which reminds me of a clown I have seen +somewhere or other," he said to himself. "Pardieu! it's Courbichon. I +must catch him on the wing." + +The little bald man was speechless with surprise when he found his +passage barred by a tall man; and he seemed by no means pleased when he +recognized the gentleman with whom he had dined on the Champs-Elysees. + +But Cherami seized his hand and shook it warmly. + +"A lucky meeting!" he said; "it is my dear Monsieur Courbichon! _Bone +Deus!_ So we are no longer in Touraine?" + +"Ah! monsieur, I have the honor--no, as you see, I am in Paris." + +"And fresher and lustier than ever! I am tempted to repeat the fable: +'How pretty you are! how handsome you look to me!'" + +"You don't need to: I know it." + +"That's a pretty cane you have there. It isn't the same one, is it?" + +"No, monsieur; it certainly isn't the one you broke." + +"Didn't you have it mended?" + +"It wasn't mendable, monsieur." + +"Nonsense! why, they even mend porcelain! This is cherry, I see; let me +look at it." + +Cherami put out his hand for the cane, but Monsieur Courbichon hastily +put it behind his back. + +"No, no," he cried; "I have no desire that you should break this one +too; one was quite enough." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! my excellent and worthy friend, who said anything about +breaking your cane? There is nobody throwing skittles at your legs at +this moment, and I fancy that this switch is worth quite as much as your +cherry stick." + +"Did this one come from China, too?" + +"No, my boy. Do not revive my sorrow! My Chinese switch will never be +replaced; but enough about canes. I have a very great favor to ask of +you, my dear Monsieur Courbichon, one of those favors which a man of +honor never refuses to grant." + +"I have no money with me at this moment, monsieur; and it would be +impossible for me----" + +"Who the devil said anything about money? Mordieu! do I look like a man +who borrows money?" + +Monsieur Courbichon examined Cherami, who had made himself as fine as +possible for his visit to Monsieur de la Beriniere; and he took off his +hat, murmuring: + +"I beg your pardon; indeed, I had not noticed---- But what is the favor +you wish to ask me, monsieur?" + +"A nothing, a mere bagatelle--to act as my second in a duel, to-morrow." + +"A duel! it's about a duel! and you dare to propose to me to take part +in it! What have I done to you, monsieur, that you should suggest such a +thing to me?" + +"I tell you, Monsieur Courbichon, it's a mere matter of form; the +seconds don't fight." + +"I, be present at a duel! Understand that I never fought a duel, +monsieur! I would rather die than fight!" + +"You are like Gribouille, then, who jumped into the water for fear of +the rain." + +"It's an outrage, your proposition to me! I will request you, monsieur, +not to speak to me hereafter. I do not consort with men who fight duels, +not I! Don't detain me, or I shall call for help." + +The little bald man almost ran away. Cherami shrugged his shoulders, +saying to himself: + +"Old guinea-hen! I might have guessed that the simple word _duel_ would +frighten him! He won't be my second. Sapristi! I haven't my cue!" + +Cherami was almost at the end of Boulevard Beaumarchais, when he heard a +voice exclaim: + +"Yes, yes, it's him; there he is--the man who keeps us waiting for +dinner, and never comes! God bless my soul! it takes you a long time to +smoke your cigar." + +At the sound of those familiar accents, Beau Arthur turned, and saw +Madame Capucine, attended as always by her two brats; the elder still +wearing his Henri IV hat, with the feathers falling over his eyes; the +younger eating gingerbread, and finding a way to stuff his fingers into +his nose at the same time. + +"Ah! upon my word, it's the lovely Madame Capucine," said Cherami, +joining the group. + +The stout woman, glancing at her debtor's fashionable attire, smiled +amiably, as she rejoined: + +"I ought not to speak to you again, by good rights! That was a very +pretty trick you played us at Passy: to leave us on the pretext of +smoking a cigar! Oh! monsieur would only be gone a few minutes; and it +was eleven months ago!" + +"I was blameworthy, I know it; I treated you badly! But if you knew what +events were in store for me that day in the Bois de Boulogne!" + +"My aunt bears you a grudge! Oh! she's furious with you." + +"I will make my peace with the venerable Madame Duponceau. And the first +time that I go to the Bois de Boulogne----" + +"No, no; you needn't go to the Bois de Boulogne for that. My aunt isn't +at Passy now; she didn't like it there. It's a place where you have to +dress too much; it's enough to ruin you." + +"Ah! so the dear aunt has changed her villa once more? She is just a +little bit fickle. And whither has she transported her sheep--that is to +say, her rural Penates?" + +"To Saint-Mande. You see, we're just going to take the omnibus to go +there." + +"What! you are going to your aunt's? How funny! It seems to be written +that I shall always meet you, lovely creature, when you are on your way +to your aunt's. But this isn't Saturday?" + +"No; but to-morrow is my aunt's birthday, Saint Elisabeth's day; and +it's our duty to go to wish her many happy returns." + +"Ah! yes, I understand; Madame Duponceau's name is Elisabeth." + +"Do you want to make your peace with her? Here's an excellent chance. +Come with us; you can congratulate my aunt, and dine at Saint-Mande. My +husband is coming to join us there at five o'clock." + +Cherami reflected for some minutes. He remembered that Capucine was a +corporal in the National Guard, and thought that he might perhaps +consent to act as his second. That hope decided him; he smiled at his +stout friend, and replied: + +"You do whatever you please with me. I had important business in Paris; +but your husband can help me about it, I think. I am at your service. Ho +for Saint-Mande!" + +"Good! you are very obliging. If you go on as you have begun, I will +forgive you, too." + +These words were accompanied by a languishing glance of immeasurable +length. It made Cherami shudder. + +"I am terribly afraid," he thought, "that she would like me to take up +Ballot's duties." + +Madame Capucine called Jacqueline. An old servant, all twisted and bent, +came limping along, with an enormous basket on her arm. + +"Tudieu!" thought Cherami; "here's a soubrette who will hardly divert +the attention of the haberdasher's young clerk." + +"Is the 'bus there, Jacqueline?" + +"It's just comin', madame." + +"Let's hurry up and get seats, Monsieur Cherami. Will you take +Aristoloche by the hand?" + +"With pleasure." + +"My! what a pleasant surprise this will be for Aunt Duponceau! She's +very fond of you, you fickle man!" + +"She has no ingrate to deal with, in me." + +They entered the omnibus, and Cherami agreed to hold young Aristoloche +on his knees, in order to save his mamma six sous. She tried to provide +for Narcisse in the servant's lap, but the conductor declared that he +must pay, which seemed to cause Jacqueline the keenest satisfaction. At +last they started, and in due time arrived at Saint-Mande. + +Madame Duponceau's latest purchase was at the entrance to the avenue. +The house was even smaller than that at Passy; and there was no garden: +it was replaced by a courtyard in which naught could be seen, in any +direction, save rabbit-hutches; it was a veritable library of rabbits. + +The aunt appeared, shaking her head as always. She uttered a cry of +surprise when she saw Cherami, then offered him her cheek, saying: + +"Kiss me; I forgive your disappearance at Passy." + +The penalty seemed to Cherami a little severe, but he submitted to it; +and while he was in training, Madame Capucine offered him her cheek. + +"Do the same for me," she said; "I forgive you, too." + +"The devil! this dinner comes pretty high!" said Beau Arthur to himself, +after kissing both ladies. + +"You must come and see what a pretty little place I've got," said Madame +Duponceau; "what a pity that you always come in winter!" + +"I don't see what difference that makes here, as you have no garden." + +"But I have rabbits." + +"Are they finer in summer than in winter?" + +"No; but they show themselves more, because they ain't cold." + +"They show themselves quite enough as it is, in my opinion. I should be +glad of a little refreshment." + +"And then you must tell us what happened to you at Passy that kept you +from coming back to dinner with us." + +Cherami allowed himself to be taken all over the house; he was not even +spared an inspection of the attic. He found everything charming, +admirable, even the lean-to where the servant slept. At last, when the +inspection was at an end, they begged him to tell them his adventures +in the Bois de Boulogne. He told the whole story, taking care not to +mention names; and when he had finished, Madame Duponceau cried: + +"That's what it is to fight a duel with pistols!" + +"Corbleu de mordieu!" thought Cherami; "what an idiot I am to take the +trouble to tell anything to such mummies! This will teach me a lesson; I +ought to have told them about Blue Beard." + +The dinner hour arrived, but Monsieur Capucine did not. They waited +another half-hour; but the two boys complained so loudly of hunger, that +it was decided to adjourn to the table. + +First came a thin soup, then a rabbit-stew, then a roasted rabbit. + +Cherami, seeing nothing but rabbit, made a wry face, and muttered under +his breath: + +"Apparently they are on a rabbit diet here. And that miserable Capucine +doesn't come! To have nothing to eat but rabbit, and not obtain a +second! what, in God's name, did I come to this hole for?" + +By way of vegetables, of which there were none, a dish of minced rabbit, +stuffed with chestnuts, was served. + +"It's very strange that my husband doesn't come!" said the corpulent +dame; "he must have had some order to be filled in a hurry." + +"And then, perhaps he doesn't like rabbit?" suggested Cherami. + +"Oh! yes, he eats it." + +"What's that? Par la sambleu! I eat it, too, and I've been eating it for +an hour, but I don't like it any better for that." + +"You don't like it? What a pity! there's more of it coming!" + +"A rabbit-cream, perhaps?" + +"No, a pie." + +"Thanks; if you will allow me, I will take some cheese, as a pleasant +substitute. Gad! I don't wonder that your yard is carpeted with +rabbit-hutches; they are productive evidently." + +"Much more so than fruit trees." + +"Well, well! I see that you will end by preserving them. But your wine +is good, that's something." + +"Here's my aunt's health!" + +"With great pleasure. Vive Elisabeth!" + +"Aristoloche and Narcisse, now recite your congratulations." + +"What! have the dear children learned something by heart?" + +"Yes, aunt; we'll show you." + +"Oh! the dear loves, how sweet of them! Who wrote them?" + +"My husband, aunt; they are in poetry!" + +"Your husband writes poetry? I didn't know he had that talent; how long +has he been a poet?" + +"Since we have had for a customer a literary man who writes mottoes; he +brings us some every time he comes to the house. Come, Aristoloche, +begin. Go and stand in front of your aunt; and pronounce your words +plain." + + + + +LII + +MADAME CAPUCINE'S LITTLE SONS + + +The little fellow tried first of all to obtain possession of the +visitor's stick, and to gallop round the table astride it; they could +not succeed in making him behave except by promising him that, if he +would repeat his verses nicely, he should play with a rabbit which was +very gentle and which was sometimes brought into the salon to entertain +the company. + +At last, Master Aristoloche took his stand in front of his great-aunt, +and recited without stopping to take breath: + + "'Ah! quel bonheur, en ce beau jour, + De vous prouver tout mon amour! + Du plaisir, je suis dans l'attente, + Quand je dois aller chez ma tante! + En amour comme en amitie + Sachez tout mettre de moitie.'" + +"It is easy to see that our papa knows a maker of mottoes," thought +Cherami. + +"What do you think of my husband's poetry?" asked Madame Capucine. + +"It is the more ingenious in that it can be adapted to any possible +occasion." + +"And you, aunt?" + +Madame Duponceau was delighted with the verses, and said to the boy, +after giving him a kiss: + +"Go and find the maid, and tell her to give you Coco to play with." + +Master Aristoloche disappeared; it was his brother's turn to recite his +congratulations; but young Narcisse was sulky; he rebelled. + +"Well, monsieur," said his mother, "come and repeat your poetry to your +aunt." + +"No, I won't; it makes me sick." + +"What do I hear, Monsieur Narcisse? What is the meaning of that answer?" + +"I mean what I say; you always let Aristoloche play with Coco, and never +let me." + +"Will you hold your tongue--a great tall boy like you! just beginning to +learn to write. You, want to play with the little rabbit!" + +"Yes, I like rabbits, and I want to play with 'em." + +"It seems to me," said Cherami, "that you ought not to be too hard on +the child for liking rabbits; this is a good school for that. By dint of +eating a thing, one sometimes ends by acquiring a taste for it. When I +was a boy, I remember, I could not endure bread-soup, but they made me +eat it every day to force me to like it." + +"And you ended by liking it?" + +"No; I detest it!" + +"Come, Narcisse, come and recite your poetry to your dear aunt--if you +don't, she won't give you another beautiful hat with feathers." + +"I don't want any more of her feathers; they make me blind. Somebody +told me that I looked like a trained dog in that hat." + +"Look out, Monsieur Narcisse, or we shall be cross with you! Your +poetry, this minute!" + +"No, I won't!" + +"Ah! we'll see about that, you little rascal!" + +Madame Capucine left the table, seized Cherami's switch, which was +standing in a corner, and advanced upon her son; but young Narcisse, +when he saw what he was threatened with, began to run around the table, +thus compelling his mother, still armed with the formidable switch, to +run after him, striking blindly in every direction. Thinking that she +was chastising her son, she twice brought the switch down on Cherami's +shoulders, who found the manoeuvre executed by the stout woman and her +son far from amusing, although it reminded him somewhat of a circus +performance. + +At last, seeing that he was on the point of being captured, Narcisse +changed his tactics, and slipped under the table. Madame Capucine, +although disconcerted for a moment by this evolution, soon found a way +to profit by it; she thrust her switch under the table, striking at +random to right and left. Thereupon, the old aunt began to cry out: her +niece was switching her legs. Luckily, Cherami succeeded in pulling +Narcisse out from under the table; he was forced to stand in front of +Madame Duponceau; and his mother stationed herself by his side, with her +stick in the air, saying in a threatening tone: + +"Your poetry, quick!" + +Master Narcisse, although still in the sulks, decided to obey, and +muttered in a drawling voice: + + "'Ah! que je suis--Ah! que je suis donc content! + De vous--de vous--de vous----'" + +"_De vous_, what, idiot?" + +"I forget." + +"You just wait, and I'll freshen your memory, you bad boy!" + + "'De vous feter, objet charmant----'" + +"It can't be _objet charmant!_ I know that's wrong." + +"Why do you think it can't be _objet charmant_, niece, I should like to +know?" said Madame Duponceau, pursing up her lips. + +"Because, aunt, I am perfectly sure it's something else." + +"In my judgment," interposed Cherami, "_objet charmant_ should be +allowed to remain; the expression is most appropriate." + +The old aunt was so delighted by the compliment, that she left her seat +and embraced her guest again. + +"That will teach me to hold my tongue!" said Cherami to himself. + +"Come, monsieur; go on with your poetry," continued Madame Capucine. + + "'De vous--de vous--feter en ce moment,'" + +began Narcisse. + +"You see!" cried Madame Capucine; "I knew it wasn't _objet charmant._" + +"It's hardly worth while to interrupt just for that, niece. Go on, my +boy." + +But young Aristoloche had entered the dining-room, holding in his arms a +little white rabbit, which he was tickling with a stick. That spectacle +sadly distracted the attention of Master Narcisse, whom his mother +continued to threaten with the switch to make him finish his lines. But +Narcisse, as he recited, kept turning to look at his brother. + + "'Quand je me trouve a votre table--a votre table----' + +I'll fix you, if you don't give me the rabbit when I get through." + +"No, they gave the rabbit to me--see!" + + "'A votre table--a votre table-- + Ah! que le temps----' + +I'll box your ears---- + + 'est agreable!'" + +"Mamma, brother says he'll lick me!" + +"Don't listen to him, darling; he's the one who'll be licked, if he +doesn't say his poetry better for his aunt. Come, Monsieur Narcisse." + + "'Voulez-vous lire dans mon coeur----' + +Wait till you want my battledore again!" + +"I don't want it; papa'll give me another." + + "'Dans mon coeur----' + +Let Coco go." + +"No, I won't let him go." + +"All right; I'll fix you in a minute---- + + 'Dans mon coeur--vous y verrez mon ardeur.'" + +"You said that as badly as you could, monsieur! but you'll have to say +it better at breakfast to-morrow." + +"Oh! mamma, mamma; he's trying to take Coco away from me." + +Narcisse, having finished his congratulations, had run after his brother +and was trying to obtain possession of the rabbit; Madame Capucine, to +put an end to the dispute, turned her elder son out of the dining-room, +with an accompaniment of kicks in the posterior; then returned to her +seat beside Cherami. + +"And, after all," she said, "my husband didn't come!" + +"And he probably won't come now, for it's almost nine o'clock. I am very +sorry for that; I wanted to speak to him." + +"About that little bill? Oh! there's no hurry about that." + +"It was about something else." + +"Well, I am going to have a very uncomfortable night of it. You must +know that I'm very timid in the country. It's foolish of me, I know that +well enough; for nothing ever happens to my aunt, who lives here alone +with her servant; but what can I do? one can't control those things. +When my husband's in bed beside me, that gives me courage, and I can +sleep a little. But without him--why, I can't close my eyes. If we only +had a man in the house; but nothing but women and children! What would +become of us if we should be attacked?" + +"What's the meaning of this attempt to entrap me?" thought Cherami, +stroking his whiskers; "I can see myself passing the night here, to eat +more rabbit to-morrow morning! On the contrary, I can't be off soon +enough." + +"Well, Monsieur Cherami," continued Madame Capucine, with a tender +glance at her neighbor, "do you refuse to watch over us to-night? You +are your own master; what is there to prevent you from sleeping here? If +you would, I should feel perfectly safe, and I should have a quiet +night. There's a guest-chamber just opposite mine." + +The last words were accompanied by a sidelong glance ending in a sigh. +Cherami began to cough in a significant fashion, and whispered: + +"On the same floor?" + +"Yes; you can understand what a relief it will be to me." + +"I understand perfectly." + +"Then you'll stay with us, won't you? When the children have gone to +bed, we'll play a game of loto." + +"That is a very seductive prospect." + +"You shall draw the numbers." + +"You will see how well I do it!" + +At that moment, Madame Duponceau's servant rushed into the dining-room +and exclaimed in dismay: + +"O madame! madame! if you knew!" + +"What is it, then, Francoise, for heaven's sake? You frighten me!" + +"There's reason enough!" + +"Is the house on fire?" + +"Is it robbers?" + +"No; but your rabbits. That little scamp of a Narcisse has opened all +the hutches, and the rabbits are all loose; they're running +everywhere--into the yard, and the cellar, and upstairs." + +"Oh! mon Dieu! what do you mean? We must catch them! Niece, Monsieur +Cherami, come quick, I beg you! Bring candles! Oh! my poor rabbits!" + +Everybody hurried into the yard. In the confusion, Cherami did not fail +to take his hat and cane; but, instead of going to the yard, he headed +for the front door, crying: + +"There go two of them into the road! I'll run after them." + +"Do you think so?" + +"I saw them." + +"How could they have got out?" + +"Under the gate. They scratched till they made a hole. But don't be +disturbed; I'll catch them, if I have to chase them to Vincennes!" + +And Cherami ran out into the road, leaving the ladies and the servant to +hunt the rabbits. + + + + +LIII + +CHERAMI'S SECONDS + + +Cherami went across fields to the village of Bagnolet, thence to +Belleville, and returned to his domicile, consigning the Capucine family +and its rabbits to the evil one. + +"No seconds," he said to himself, as he went to bed; "and the count's +will be here at ten o'clock to-morrow! No matter; let's go to sleep; it +will be light to-morrow." + +At seven o'clock, Cherami rose, dressed, and went to his window. It was +just daylight, and Rue de l'Orillon was deserted. About eight o'clock, a +water-carrier's cart came along. It stopped in front of Madame +Louchard's house, and the master carrier and his man came upstairs with +their pails. + +Cherami opened his door, and scrutinized the two men closely as they +came up. + +"There are two stout fellows," he mused. "Sapristi! such seconds would +just do for my affair! Why not? Pardieu! by making a slight sacrifice; +and this is no time for economizing, but for going through with my duel +in a dignified way. Gad! I am inclined to think that it's a good idea; I +see no other way of obtaining seconds." + +Cherami waited for the two men to come down the stairs; he stopped them +as they passed, asked them into his room, and said to them: + +"I have a favor to ask of you, messieurs." + +The master, a tall, robust Auvergnat, replied, in the accent of his +province: + +"A pail to fill?" + +"No." + +"Do you want some water?" + +"It is something out of your regular line. It will be a change for you." + +"We must serve our customers." + +"Listen to me first. If your customers should be served a little later +than usual for once, it won't kill them. I have a duel to arrange for. +Do you know what a duel is?" + +"It's a clock that strikes the hours, ain't it?" + +"You are a long way off." + +The apprentice, a young Piedmontese, nearly six feet tall, suddenly +exclaimed: + +"Yes, yes, I know the vendetta, basta! I've seen friends who'd been out +to fight with fists." + +"Your young man understands rather better; yes, a duel's a fight, but +not with fists." + +"Where do you fight?" rejoined the Piedmontese. + +Cherami made a wry face, muttering: + +"Sapristi! I prefer the Auvergnat accent to that jargon.--Look you, +messieurs, I just want you to be my seconds; I expect my opponent's +seconds here at ten o'clock, and you must both be here then. I will give +you a hundred sous each for the morning; and you will be free at +half-past ten; for the fight will not come off till to-morrow, I fancy." + +"All right! five francs; all right!" + +"What have we got to do?" + +"In the first place, my boy, you will be good enough not to speak at +all; for you have a way of pronouncing your t's and s's which will +produce a very bad effect. Your master can say that you're a Pole, and +that you don't know a word of French. That's your role, then--to say +nothing. But I must dress you, my friends; I can't have seconds in short +jackets. Do you own a coat, my boy?" + +"No, but I've got a much better jacket." + +"I don't want seconds in jackets. My landlady must have some coats that +belonged to her late husband; we will get one of them. Have you a hat?" + +"I have a new cap." + +"How you run your words together! We'll find a hat somewhere in the +house.--And you, master--what's your name?" + +"Michel." + +"Good! well, Michel, have you any good clothes?" + +"_Dame!_ I should say so; my new frock-coat--only three years old--which +comes down to my heels." + +"Then I'll make an old soldier of you. You must put on a black stock. Go +and dress. Put your cask in a safe place, and come back at once with +your man, whom I will dress. Be here at half-past nine, and I will tell +you what you have to do; it will be very simple. You will agree to +whatever is proposed by the men who come here." + +"We will agree, if they'll pay for something to drink." + +"There's no question of taking anything to drink. However, I shall be +here; I'll prompt you. Go, and make haste." + +"And the five francs?" + +"Here they are; I pay in advance; you see that I have confidence in +you." + +"Oh! never fear; our word's sacred.--Come, Piedmontese. Let's go and +take care of the cask." + +"Where'll you put it?" + +"In the next yard." + +The water-carriers departed, and Cherami went down to his landlady. + +"Have you a man's hat to loan me for this morning and to-morrow?" he +asked her. + +"A man's hat? What do you want it for?" + +"Don't be alarmed; I don't propose to make an omelet in it, as the +prestidigitators do; I want it for someone to wear." + +"Yes, I have a hat that belonged to Louchard, which I am keeping to give +my godson when he grows up." + +"Do me the favor to loan it to me; I will take the best of care of it." + +"I trust you will." + +Madame Louchard left the room, and soon returned with a felt hat in +reasonably good condition. + +"Look; I call that rather fine, myself!" + +"The devil! it's gray." + +"Well! it's all the more stylish." + +"I don't say it isn't, in summer; but in November gray hats are not worn +much." + +"If you don't want it, leave it." + +"Never mind; I'll take it. A Pole may like gray hats at all seasons. +Now, Madame Louchard, I must have either an overcoat or a frock-coat." + +"I have nothing but a green sack-coat of Louchard's, which I also intend +for my godson." + +"A sack-coat! that's risky, because it shows the trousers! But, no +matter! give it to me." + +"You'll be responsible for it?" + +"I'll be responsible for everything." + +Cherami returned to his room with the clothes; at half-past nine, the +water-carriers appeared. The Auvergnat wore a long blue overcoat that +reached to his heels, a collar that came to the bottom of his ears, and +a three-cornered hat. He was a perfect type of a laundryman going out to +dinner. The Piedmontese was still in his jacket; but he had on a white +striped waistcoat and olive-green trousers. Cherami bade him put on the +green coat, which was too short in front and showed half of the +waistcoat. By way of compensation, the late Louchard evidently had an +enormous head, for the gray hat came down so far that it almost +concealed the young water-carrier's eyes. These preparations completed, +Cherami, having examined his two seconds, exclaimed: + +"What in the devil will they take you for? However, damn the odds!--You, +Piedmontese, will bow whenever anyone speaks to you, but you must not +say a word in reply." + +"Never fear! what would I say to them, anyway?" + +"Very good! You are Monsieur de Chamousky, a Polish nobleman." + +"No; for I was born in Piedmont." + +"Hold your tongue; I make you a Pole!--You, Michel, are a wealthy +land-holder from Auvergne; at all events, you will be rightfully +entitled to your accent." + +"Yes, yes, I have some land at home, and all planted with chestnuts." + +"The gentlemen who are coming will tell you what weapons the count +proposes to fight with, also the time and place; to whatever they +propose, you will reply: 'Very well, we agree.'--Do you understand?" + +"Pardi! that ain't very hard: 'Very well; that hits us!'" + +"I didn't say: 'That hits us,' but: 'We agree.'" + +"Bah! it amounts to the same thing." + +"No, no! Sacrebleu! it doesn't amount to the same thing! Don't you go +making mistakes; no foolishness! Ah! mon Dieu! I hear a carriage +stopping in front of the house; two gentlemen are getting out--they are +the ones. Attention! I leave the door unlocked, so that they can open it +themselves. I go into this little dark closet for a moment; I want them +to think that I have more than this one room. Now: a serious face, heads +up, and be cool!" + +Cherami disappeared. The two water-carriers stared at each other in +speechless amazement to see themselves so finely arrayed. Soon there was +a knock at the door; then, as no one answered, the door was opened, and +Monsieur de la Beriniere's two seconds entered the room. + +One was a man of some fifty years, tall and thin, with a decidedly +unamiable manner, a rigid bearing, and a severely simple costume. The +other, who was at least fifteen years younger, with a pleasant face, and +dressed in the height of fashion, had all the manners of a modern Don +Juan. He entered the room first, and, having glanced about, exclaimed: + +"This isn't the place; it can't be; the woman directed us wrong." + +"But there are some people here," said the other; "we had better +inquire.--Monsieur Cherami, if you please?" he continued, addressing the +Auvergnat, who stood in the centre of the room. + +The water-carrier buried his chin in his cravat, and answered, without +hesitation: + +"Very well; we agree." + +The old gentleman turned to his companion, who said: + +"He did not understand you."--Whereupon he, in his turn, addressed the +Auvergnat: "We desire to know, monsieur, if this is where Monsieur +Cherami lives." + +Again Michel replied in his deep voice: + +"Very well; we agree." + +At that, the young man burst out laughing. + +"Gad!" he exclaimed; "this is evidently a joke, a wager! What do you +think about it, Monsieur de Maugrille?" + +"I think that we did not come here to joke, and if I knew that there was +any purpose to make fools of us----" + +Cherami, who was listening, and saw that his seconds were in a fair way +to wreck the whole business, hastily left the closet, and saluted the +new-comers with much courtesy, saying: + +"Pardon, messieurs, a thousand pardons! I crave a little indulgence for +my seconds,--most respectable persons, by the way,--one of whom, being a +Pole, recently arrived in France, is not able as yet to express his +thoughts in our language. As for the other, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, a +wealthy land-holder in the outskirts of Clermont, in Auvergne--he is not +yet at home in all the details of affairs of this sort. However, +messieurs, as I have determined in advance to agree to what Monsieur de +la Beriniere may suggest, it seems to me that your mission is very much +simplified, and that the affair will settle itself; my seconds are here +only as a matter of form." + +"Ordinarily, monsieur, the details of a meeting are not arranged with +the adversary himself, but with his seconds." + +"I know it, monsieur. Pardieu! you cannot teach me how affairs are +managed in duels; this isn't the first time I have fought." + +"In that case, monsieur," queried the younger man, with a smile, "why +did you select seconds who apparently have no understanding of what is +going on?" + +"Because I found no others at hand, in all probability," retorted +Cherami, biting his lips wrathfully. "Come, messieurs, let us come to +terms. Is it such a difficult matter, pray, to tell us where, when, and +how the count proposes to fight?" + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur," observed Monsieur de Maugrille; "but, as +I, for my part, insist that everything shall be done in accordance with +the established etiquette of duels, I will tell your seconds, and no one +else." + +"Tell my concierge, if you choose; it makes confounded little difference +to me, after all." + +"What does that tone mean, monsieur?" + +"It means that you make me very weary with all your nonsense; and if +you're not satisfied with the tone I adopt, why, I'll give you +satisfaction as soon as I have done with the count; or before, if you +choose." + +"Monsieur!" + +The discussion was on the verge of ending in a quarrel, when the +Auvergnat, seeing that things seemed to be approaching a crisis, shouted +in stentorian tones: + +"Very well, _fouchtra!_ very well! We agree, I say!" + +This outburst was delivered in such unique fashion by the water-carrier, +that the younger of the count's seconds roared with laughter again, and +Cherami himself could not keep a sober face. He turned his back and put +his handkerchief to his mouth. The old gentleman alone retained an air +of displeasure; but his young companion said to him earnestly: + +"Come, Monsieur de Maugrille, let us not have trouble over an affair +which really seems to me quite simple.--Monsieur de la Beriniere selects +swords; he wishes to fight to-morrow, about nine o'clock, in Vincennes +Forest; we will meet at the entrance to the forest, near Porte +Saint-Mande, on the highroad. Those are our conditions, messieurs; are +they satisfactory to you?" + +Then or never was the time for the water-carrier to repeat the phrase he +had been taught; but, just as it frequently happens on the stage, that, +when an actor has begun his lines too soon, he is silent when he ought +to speak, so did the Auvergnat look stolidly at the others and utter +never a word. + +Cherami, who was gazing at him impatiently, at last walked up behind him +and struck him in the side, crying: + +"Well, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, have you suddenly lost your voice?" + +"Ah! bless my soul! what was I thinking about?--Very well, very well! We +agree to everything," said the water-carrier. + +Thereupon the young man took his companion's arm and led him from the +room, laughing still, and saying in his ear: + +"I think that we may retire, now that everything is settled." + +Cherami saluted them, and escorted them to the door. + +"Be sure, monsieur," he said, "that we shall be on hand promptly at the +rendezvous; we shall not keep you waiting. By the way! it will be very +kind of you to bring swords for both, for I broke mine recently and +have not yet replaced it." + +"Very good, monsieur; we will do so." + +The younger man bowed with much affability; his older associate bent his +head almost imperceptibly, retaining his ill-humored expression; then +they left the house and returned to their carriage. + + + + +LIV + +TWO! + + +"Sapristi!" cried Cherami, when the count's witnesses had gone; "I +thought that we weren't going to get out of that hole; they had +difficulty in swallowing my seconds, and I don't wonder." + +"Ain't you satisfied with us?" inquired the water-carrier; "I should say +that I said just what you told me to." + +"That is to say, you said it when you shouldn't have, and held your +tongue when you should have answered." + +"I didn't say a single word," observed the Piedmontese. + +"It's lucky you didn't! That would have been the last straw! Well, +that's all for to-day; you may go back to your cask; but be here +to-morrow at half-past seven sharp, dressed just the same; don't forget +it!" + +"For five francs more apiece?" + +"Of course, as that's what we agreed." + +"We won't fail." + +The next day, the two water-carriers appeared at seven o'clock, each in +his costume of the preceding day: the Piedmontese in the late Louchard's +green sack-coat and gray hat, which he was obliged to push up from his +face every minute, so that he could see where he was going. Cherami +dressed in haste; he paid particular attention to his toilet, which +presented a striking contrast to that of his two seconds; then he +requested his landlady to send for a cab. Madame Louchard was much +disturbed when she recognized the coat and hat of her deceased husband +on the water-carrier. + +"Why have you rigged that fellow up like that?" she asked her tenant. +"He'll just ruin my husband's things. I wouldn't have lent 'em to you, +if I'd known you wanted 'em for him. Are you going to a wedding so early +in the morning?" + +"Widow Louchard, I will be responsible for your chattels--don't bother +us! Your man's cast-off clothes are more fortunate than they deserve, to +be present at such a festivity.--Get in, messieurs." + +Cherami pushed the water-carrier and his man into the cab, and shouted +to the driver to take them to Porte Saint-Mande; then, taking a seat +beside his seconds, he said to them: + +"Listen carefully to my instructions for this morning, and, ten thousand +cigars! try not to make any mistakes; I am going to fight with a third +gentleman, whom you didn't see yesterday." + +"Ah! you ought to fight with your fists; that's our way; we're good +hands at it; eh, Piedmontese?" + +"Yes, just let me get a crack at 'em! I'd like that better than to stand +and say nothing, like a stuffed goose!" + +"Nevertheless, you must make up your mind to that, my boy. I didn't +bring you with me to fight, but to be my seconds. I am to fight with a +sword. You will simply measure the two swords, to make sure that they're +of the same length." + +"What with? I didn't bring a rule." + +"You measure two swords by putting them side by side. It's simple +enough." + +"And must I say again: 'Very well; we agree'?" + +"No, there's no need of it. You must say: 'Everything is ready, let them +proceed.' If I am wounded, you will bring me back to this cab, which +will wait for us, and take me home. If it's the other who is +wounded,--and it will be,--you will help his seconds to take him to his +carriage. Do you understand?" + +"That's all right." + +They arrived at Porte Saint-Mande, where they alighted from the cab and +walked into the woods. It was a cold, dull morning; it was not nine +o'clock, and they met nobody. + +"We are ahead of time," said Cherami, "but I prefer to be. Above all +things, my boys, be very polite to the men we are waiting for: take your +hats off and bow, and don't put them on again till after they do." + +"What if they don't put 'em on at all?" + +"Never fear--they will. Now, we have nothing to do but walk back and +forth and wait." + +"Why don't we go and take a glass of wine at the nearest inn, while we +wait?" + +"_Dame!_" said the apprentice; "I'm with you for a glass of wine!" + +"But I am not with you, not by any means, messieurs. After the fight, +you shall drink as much as you please, but not before." + +"We might treat the others to a glass when they come; that's polite, you +know!" + +"The gentlemen who are coming don't drink at wine-shops!--No fool's +tricks, sacrebleu! or you'll compromise me! But, see! that carriage +coming along the road yonder is probably bringing our adversaries. It's +a private carriage--the count's, no doubt. Yes, those are they. +Attention, my seconds! Well, well, what in the devil are you doing? +Taking off your hats before the gentlemen have left their carriage!" + +"You told us to be polite." + +"I didn't tell you to bow to the horses." + +The count and his seconds alighted and came toward Cherami. The +grotesque aspect of the latter's attendants seemed greatly to amuse +Monsieur de la Beriniere, who could not take his eyes from the two +water-carriers. They, at a sign from Cherami, hastily removed their hats +when the new-comers were close at hand. But the Piedmontese, in his +eagerness to uncover, forgot that his hat was too large for him, and +struck Monsieur de Maugrille in the nose with it, that gentleman +happening to be directly in front of him. + +The old gentleman made an angry gesture. But the tall youth, as he +picked up his hat, cried: + +"Excuse me! I didn't do it a-purpose! it slipped out of my hand." + +The count glanced at his seconds. They looked at Cherami. And he, hardly +able to resist the temptation to plant his foot in the apprentice's +posterior, struggled to restrain himself, as he said: + +"Monsieur is a Pole; he speaks French very badly! indeed, he fairly +murders it." + +"So we observe," rejoined the count, with a smile. "But it's none too +warm here, and I am anxious to have done with this affair. It seems to +me that we shall be very well placed behind this low wall." + +"I agree with you, monsieur le comte." + +They walked a short distance, and halted behind a wall which would serve +to conceal the combatants from any chance passers-by. While the +principals removed their coats, the younger of the count's seconds +handed to the water-carrier two swords which he carried out of sight +under his overcoat. The Auvergnat measured them so long that Cherami +went to him and took one out of his hands. + +"They're all right!" he exclaimed; "they're exactly alike! I will take +this one, unless monsieur le comte prefers it." + +But Monsieur de la Beriniere at once took the other, while his older +second grumbled: + +"In God's name, who are these two idiots of seconds who know absolutely +nothing as to what they are doing?" + +Cherami at once stood on guard, saying: + +"At your service, monsieur le comte, whenever you choose." + +"I am here, monsieur." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere had been a very good fencer in his youth, but +years had impaired his agility and strength. It was easy to see that +Cherami was sparing his adversary, to whom he observed, as he parried +his thrusts: + +"Well done, monsieur le comte! very pretty work, indeed! You must have +been a fine fencer formerly." + +But these compliments, instead of flattering the count, stung and +irritated him, because he saw that his opponent was playing with him; +and he suddenly cried: + +"What the devil! in God's name, monsieur, attack! you confine yourself +to parrying! Do you think you're fighting with a novice?" + +"Is that your wish, monsieur le comte? Solely to comply then----" + +And Cherami, suddenly striking down his adversary's sword, plunged his +own into the count's right side. + +Monsieur de la Beriniere staggered a moment, then fell. + +"_Fouchtra!_ he's got his reckoning!" cried the Auvergnat, while the +count's witnesses ran forward to help him and carry him off the field. +But, at a sign from Cherami, the tall Piedmontese lifted the wounded man +in his arms as if he were a child, and carried him to the elegant +equipage, in which a surgeon was waiting, who had come with the +gentlemen, but whom they had not thought it necessary to take with them +to the field of battle. + +"There's one job done!" said the young water-carrier. + +The count's seconds could hardly keep up with him. In the end, they +seated themselves by the wounded man's side in the carriage, which drove +away at a walk. + +"The wound can't be dangerous," said Cherami to his seconds, when they +were alone; "it's in among the ribs. He will be laid up a fortnight or +three weeks, unless I touched some vital part. Ah! they forgot to take +away their sword. I will carry it back myself, and that will give me an +opportunity to inquire for the count." + +"Ah! _fouchtra!_ you're a smart one! how you run on!" + +"Now it's all over, ain't we going to have a glass of wine at the +nearest wine-shop, to refresh us?" + +"My boys, here's a hundred sous for each of you. Go and refresh +yourselves all you choose; I am going to take the cab and go home. Do +you prefer to ride back?" + +"No, no! Riding makes us sick; eh, Piedmontese?" + +"Yes, yes, I prefer to walk." + +"But don't forget, my boys, to bring that coat and gray hat back to +Madame Louchard." + +"Don't you be afraid; we're just going to have a little fun with our +hundred sous." + +"Have all the fun you can, my boys. Good-day!" + +"Say, Monsieur Cherami, you're satisfied with us, ain't you? We did what +you wanted us to." + +"Yes, my friends, I am very well satisfied.--But God preserve me from +ever having you as seconds again!" added Cherami, as he drove away. + + + + +LV + +CHERAMI CHANGES HIS TACTICS + + +On the day after the duel, Cherami, concealing under his coat the sword +which had been loaned to him the day before, betook himself to the +count's abode and asked the concierge how his master was. The concierge +replied, with a profound sigh: + +"Would you believe, monsieur, that, in spite of his years--for although +monsieur le comte dresses like a young man, it's easy to see that he +isn't one; his valet tells me he's past sixty--well, in spite of his +years, he fought a duel yesterday." + +"A man fights a duel when the occasion arises; there's no prescribed +term for that." + +"No, monsieur; no, a man doesn't fight--and with swords, above all--when +his wrist is no longer firm; and it seems that Monsieur de la +Beriniere's opponent was a great, tall rascal--a professional--one of +those fellows who pass their time fighting. A fine profession!" + +Cherami pushed the sword still farther under his coat, stared at the +concierge as if he would swallow him, and said in a sharp tone: + +"Your reflections tire me; I am going up to the count's apartments." + +"But, monsieur, you can't go up; monsieur le comte is very badly +wounded, so it seems. He is forbidden to read or talk." + +"I don't mean to speak to him, but to his valet, who isn't so much of an +ass as you, I trust." + +And Cherami rapidly ascended the stairs, opened the door of the +reception-room by turning the knob, and found there the valet, who knew +him. He handed him the sword, saying: + +"Here, my friend, is a sword which your master loaned to the person with +whom he fought yesterday, and which that person requested me to return +to him, and at the same time to inquire as to his condition. Is the +count's wound dangerous?" + +"No, monsieur. The surgeon said that it wasn't mortal, and that monsieur +would recover." + +"Ah! so much the better! I am very glad to hear that." + +"But it may take a long time; he'll have to be very careful. Monsieur +has lost a great deal of blood; he is very weak, and, between ourselves, +he's no longer young." + +"Between ourselves, and between all the rest of the world, too." + +"He is forbidden to speak or to receive visits to-day." + +"And I have no intention of asking to be admitted; I simply wanted to +know how he was; he will get well, that's the main point. What does it +matter whether it's a long recovery or not? The count is rich; he can +coddle himself in bed as long as it's necessary." + +"True, monsieur; but, still, this wound comes at a very bad time; for--I +can safely tell you; it's no longer a secret--my master's on the point +of being married." + +"Married!" + +"Yes, it's a fact; and to a young lady, a very pretty one." + +"Well, my boy, to marry, at your master's age, is much more dangerous +than a sword-thrust--especially when the bride is young and +pretty--aggravating circumstances!" + +"Ha! ha! I fancy monsieur is right." + +"Good-morning! I will call again to inquire." + +"And now," said Cherami to himself, "if I knew where Gustave is, I would +tell him that his rival is on his back. I think I will go to his house +to inquire. He has separate apartments; and, at a pinch, if the +concierge can't tell me anything, I will brave once more the uncle's +winning countenance." + +Gustave's concierge knew that he was not in Paris, but he knew no more +than that. Cherami decided to make his way once more into the banker's +private office; he was always sure to find him at his desk in the +morning. + +Monsieur Grandcourt frowned when he recognized his visitor. But Cherami +was even more carefully dressed than on the occasion of his last visit. +With the thousand francs he had received from Gustave, and by virtue of +his newly-adopted system of economy, Beau Arthur had reached the point +where he was no longer an ex-beau, and had almost recovered his former +air of distinction. + +He saluted the banker with the ease of manner which was natural to him, +but to which his dress imparted additional charm. Monsieur Grandcourt +replied with a cool nod. As he did not leave his armchair, Cherami took +a seat and began by making himself comfortable. The two men looked at +each other for several minutes without speaking: the banker retaining +his scowling expression, Cherami smiling as if he were at the Theatre du +Palais-Royal, listening to Arnal. + +"How are you this morning, my dear Monsieur Grandcourt?" began Cherami, +lolling back in his chair. + +"Very well, I thank you, monsieur. Is it to inquire for my health that +you come to my office to-day?" + +"Oh! if I should say _yes_, you wouldn't believe me." + +"True. But I remember that my nephew told me that you wished to find +employment. You appear, however, monsieur, to be more fortunately placed +than you were when I first saw you?" + +"It is a fact, monsieur, that my condition has improved somewhat. But +that does not interfere with my seeking a--suitable place. I am +beginning to tire of doing nothing. I am really desirous to have +something to occupy my time." + +"That desire comes a little late!" + +"You know the proverb: better late than never. And then, after all, I am +only forty-eight; I am not an old man. You are fully as old as that, and +yet you work!" + +"But I have always worked, monsieur; it's a habit with me, a necessity. +I didn't have to make a study of it--a study which is often repellent +when one begins it late in life." + +"Have you any place to offer me, monsieur?" + +"No, I have not." + +"Well, then, why do you ask me all these questions? I do not imagine +that it is your purpose to make sport of me." + +"Is it yours to pick a quarrel with me?" + +"No, no! sapristi! I am not picking a quarrel with you--Gustave's uncle, +and he my best friend! Oh! if you weren't his uncle, I don't say +that--but you are his uncle.--Let us come to the point; I came to ask +you where your nephew is at this moment." + +"My nephew is travelling: he is in one place to-day, in another +to-morrow." + +"Oh! I see that we are going to have the same old song over again! You +will not give me his address?--But if I want to write to him, to tell +him something which will give him great pleasure, which will make him +happy?" + +"Tell me, and I'll write it to him." + +"That isn't the same thing. But, no matter, I will tell you. You know, I +suppose, that his _passion_, whom he thought he was surely going to +marry this time, has thrown him over again, in favor of a very rich old +count?" + +"I know all that, monsieur." + +"Good! but what you don't know is that I don't propose that my friend +shall be played with with impunity. That is why I hunted up this Comte +de la Beriniere; I insulted him; we fought a duel, and he is now in his +bed with a famous sword-thrust in his right side." + +Monsieur Grandcourt jumped from his chair and struck his desk a violent +blow, crying: + +"Is it possible? You have done that?" + +"As I have the honor to tell you. Do you wish to embrace me?" + +"On the contrary, monsieur, I am much more inclined to throw you out of +the window!" + +"Indeed! well, as we are on the ground floor, if that will give you +pleasure----" + +"Why, monsieur, this is a horrible thing that you've done! And you call +yourself Gustave's friend! You seem to be trying to wreck his life. +Can't you see that this Fanny is an infernal coquette, who cares for +nothing but money and pleasure, and who never had the slightest feeling +of love for my nephew?" + +"As far as that goes, I am entirely of your opinion." + +"Very well! do you think, then, that marriage with such a woman would +make Gustave happy?" + +"_Dame!_ since he adores her----" + +"Why, monsieur, do I need to tell you that love doesn't last forever? +Besides, what purpose does that sentiment serve in a household when it's +not reciprocated? Gustave is kind-hearted, sensitive, affectionate--much +too affectionate. What he needs is a sweet, modest, loving helpmeet." + +"That is true!" murmured Cherami; "and I know one of that sort." + +"And you would have him marry a woman who has spurned him twice? Why, to +miss being this Fanny's husband was the most fortunate thing that could +happen to him! All his true friends ought to congratulate him on it. And +you, monsieur, you set about removing the obstacle which had risen +between my nephew and that widow! You fight with the man she preferred +to Gustave! Ah! monsieur, cease to call yourself his friend; for his +bitterest enemy would not have acted otherwise!" + +Cherami paced the floor of the office with long strides, and bit his +lips, muttering: + +"Sacrebleu! that is all true. There is good sense in what you say. On +the impulse of the moment, I didn't reflect. I saw but one thing to +do--and that was to prevent the little widow's making a fool of +Gustave." + +"Oh! monsieur, she would do it much more effectively if he should marry +her." + +"After all, I didn't kill the count--a sword-thrust in the side is +nothing; he will get well; the doctor said so." + +"That is possible; but who can say that this duel will not change his +plans, his ideas? At the count's age, a wound, an illness, sometimes +ages a man ten years; and then love takes flight, and with it all +thought of marriage." + +"Oh! the count was dead in love, and when a fire gets started in an old +house it burns faster than a new one." + +"Do you still consider, monsieur, that it's very important to tell my +nephew of your fine exploit? Have you any wish to see him rush to that +wretched Fanny's side again?" + +"You have changed my ideas entirely, dear uncle. I'm a hot-headed +creature; but I am not pig-headed. When I feel that I've done a foolish +thing, I admit it." + +"That's something." + +"But, I tell you again, the count's wound is not dangerous; he will +recover." + +"I trust so, monsieur; and above all things that he will marry this +Fanny." + +"In that case, you will no longer feel inclined to throw me out of the +window?" + +"In that case, I will forgive you for this last escapade." + +"Adieu, dear uncle! Look you: you are hard with me; but in my heart I +don't lay it up against you, because I see that you love your nephew." + +"Ah! have you just discovered that?" + +"I shall take pains to keep you informed as to the health of our +venerable lover. As soon as he is on his legs again, I will come to tell +you. And then, if he should try to back out of marrying the little +widow, why, par la sambleu! he will have to draw his sword again." + +"I beg you, monsieur, don't interfere any more; that's the only way to +have the thing end satisfactorily." + +"You haven't much confidence in me, dear uncle; but I will compel you to +do me justice."--And Cherami took leave of the banker, saying to +himself: "That devil of a man is right. I made an ass of myself; but +I'll go to work differently now." + + + + +LVI + +IMPATIENCE WITHOUT LOVE + + +While these things were taking place, Madame Monleard was in a state of +feverish unrest. + +Since the Comte de la Beriniere had definitely offered her his hand, +which she had not refused, he came every day to pay his respects to her. +The ten months of widowhood, which the conventionalities demand, had +passed. The count, who was in haste to witness the coronation of his +flame, was already arranging the preliminaries of his marriage. Among +them were gifts,--jewels and cashmere shawls,--and, on the day preceding +that on which he had received Cherami's visit, he had passed the whole +day taking Fanny about to see the latest styles in gowns and shawls, so +that he might understand her tastes and govern his purchases +accordingly. And the pretty widow had shown no embarrassment about +riding in the carriage which was soon to belong to her. + +During the day following Cherami's challenge, the count, having to seek +seconds for his duel, had had no time to call on Fanny. He did not see +her until evening, and, like the well-bred man he was, had taken care +not to mention the affair which he had on his hands because of her. The +next day, his seconds had called on his adversary, and had then reported +to Monsieur de la Beriniere that the time and place and all the details +of the duel had been agreed upon. That had given the count further food +for thought. He was no coward, and yet the duel was exceedingly +disagreeable to him; his interviews with the pretty widow had shown the +effects of it; he had been less amorous, less affable, and less cheerful +in her presence. + +When the following day came and went without a call from the count, +Fanny was first surprised, then vexed, then alarmed. Twenty times she +went to her mirror, which told her that she was as pretty as ever, and +that her elderly adorer ought to be only too happy that she condescended +to pretend to love him. Meanwhile, the day passed, and the evening, and +the count did not appear. + +"He means to make me some beautiful present," said Fanny to herself; +"and he wants to bring it himself; but all these shopkeepers are so +little to be depended on! He probably waited in vain, and didn't want to +come without his present. I shall have it to-morrow." + +On the morrow, the clock struck twelve, one, two, and no sign of the +count. + +"This isn't natural," thought Fanny. "Something must certainly have +happened. I remember, now, that Monsieur de la Beriniere was +distraught, preoccupied, the last two evenings that he was here. I +charged him with it, and he said I was mistaken. But I was not +mistaken!--Justine, go down and ask the concierge if there isn't a +letter for me; if a message hasn't come from the count. Those people +often forget to tell you when anyone calls." + +Justine soon returned, and informed her mistress that there were no +letters and that no one had called. Fanny placed herself at the window, +and still there was no arrival. + +At five o'clock in the afternoon, unable to remain inactive any longer, +she said to her maid: + +"Take a cab by the hour; here is Monsieur de la Beriniere's address; go +there, and find out from the concierge if anything has happened to him; +if he is ill, ask to see him, and tell him how deeply interested I am in +his health. Go quickly, so that I may know what to think." + +Justine went off in her cab. The pretty widow counted the minutes and +kept looking at the clock. At last her servant returned. Her breathless, +dismayed air made it evident enough that she had something to tell; and +as she entered the room, she cried out, wringing her hands: + +"Ah! madame, indeed there is something new. Oh! the poor count! what a +calamity!" + +"Heavens! Justine, is he dead?" + +"No, madame; he isn't dead yet, but very near it!" + +"What accident has happened to him, then?" + +"No accident, madame; but a fight with swords--a duel, in fact!" + +"The count has been fighting a duel?" + +"Yes, madame; and yesterday morning they brought him home wounded. A bad +sword-wound in the side, which might have been mortal! But it seems +he's going to get well; the doctor hopes he will, but doctors are +mistaken so often!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! Why, this is horrible! With whom did he fight?" + +"His valet doesn't know, madame. The count didn't take him with him." + +"Well, I will find out, I will find out. A duel! Who besides Gustave +could have had the idea of fighting with Monsieur de la Beriniere? That +fellow was born to be the bane of my life.--So you didn't see the +count?" + +"No, madame; the doctor said that nobody must see him to-day; but +to-morrow, perhaps, that order will be changed." + +"The poor count! if only he doesn't die! Just think, Justine, what an +awful nuisance for me!" + +"So it is. But if madame were a countess, it wouldn't be but half bad." + +"You say the doctor promises that he will recover?" + +"So the valet told me." + +"Well, I will go myself to-morrow; but I must see my sister first." + +"I thought that madame did not go to her father's now?" + +"Oh! because in an outburst of anger he told me not to come again. As if +he remembered that! Besides, it isn't my father that I want to see, but +Adolphine." + +The next morning, at eleven o'clock, Madame Monleard was ushered into +the presence of her sister, who uttered a cry of surprise when she saw +her. + +"What! is it you, Fanny?" + +"To be sure; Madeleine told me that father had just gone out; I am glad +of that." + +"Oh! never fear; his anger has passed away. It never lasts long with +him, you know." + +"But I am the one who is angry now." + +"You! with whom?" + +"With everybody. You pretend to be surprised; but you must know what has +happened?" + +"No. What can have happened to irritate you so?" + +"I have good reason for it. Monsieur de la Beriniere fought a duel the +day before yesterday, and was badly wounded; a little more and they'd +have killed him for me!" + +"Mon Dieu! with whom did he fight, in heaven's name?" + +"Do you ask me that? You know well enough; indeed, it's easy enough to +guess." + +"I certainly cannot guess." + +"Who but Gustave, in his rage, because I preferred the count to him?" + +"Gustave? why, that is impossible. He left Paris a week ago; he came to +say good-bye to us, and Monsieur de Raincy, who has just come from +England, met him there." + +"Is it possible that it wasn't Gustave? Then who could it have +been--unless it was that tall swashbuckler who fought with Auguste?" + +"Yes, it must have been he." + +"That's it! that fellow seems to have the very devil in him! As soon as +I am married, or when someone thinks of marrying me, he appears with his +long sword. Why, it's a perfect outrage! Ah! that Monsieur Cherami! And +I have been so polite to him, too--asked him to come to see me!" + +"What! you asked him to come to see you? A man who had fought with your +husband?" + +"Well! what has that to do with it? You know perfectly well that they +made it up. But I must go to inquire for the poor count. Perhaps I can +see him to-day, and find out how this duel came about. Ah! mon Dieu! if +Monsieur de la Beriniere should die, I should be a widow a second time, +and without being a countess!" + +Fanny left Adolphine much disturbed and agitated by what she had heard. +The young widow drove to Monsieur de la Beriniere's house, and found +that the doctor had revoked his orders of the day before; she could see +the count, on condition that she would not let him talk much. + +The young woman entered the sick-room with every manifestation of the +keenest interest; she uttered heartfelt exclamations, sighed profoundly, +and winked her eyes so often that she succeeded in making them very red. +The count smiled at his pretty visitor and held out his hand, which she +seized and pressed to her bosom. + +"If you had been killed," she cried, "I should not have survived you! +But who was the savage? How did this duel come about?" + +"I am forbidden to talk," murmured the count, in a weak voice. + +"Oh! of course, excuse me. My curiosity is very natural, however. Just a +word: was it my old play-fellow with whom you fought?" + +"No; it was a friend of his--named Cherami." + +"Monsieur Cherami? Oh! the miserable wretch! It was he before--with +Auguste. But what, in God's name, have I ever done to that man? or, +rather, what have they whom I love done to him? However, my dear count, +you will recover, there's no doubt of that; and then, by dint of love +and loving attentions, I hope to make you forget an incident of which I +was the first cause." + +"You think it isn't serious?" + +"No, certainly not; it will amount to nothing. God! if the wound had +been dangerous--if I had had reason to fear for your life--I don't know +what would have become of me! Ah! when anything happens to those who are +dear to us, that is the time we feel--how dear they are to us!" + +"You are too kind." + +"Are you in pain?" + +"Only a little; but I am exceedingly weak." + +"I will go, for I am capable of talking to you too much, in spite of +myself, and that would tire you. Au revoir, my dear count! I will come +every day, or send to inquire for you." + +"Thanks a thousand times!" + +"May the thought of me be some company to you, as the thought of you +will be a sweet consolation to me!--Mon Dieu! how hideous he is in bed!" +said the little woman to herself as she left the room. + + + + +LVII + +CHERAMI ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR HIS MISTAKES + + +Three weeks passed. The count was beginning to sit up and to walk about +his room; but he was still very weak, and the blood that he had lost +seemed to have carried away all that he had still retained of +youthfulness, activity, and amiability. Fanny had been to see him almost +every day, although she was sadly bored all the time that she was with +the wounded man; she was very careful, however, to conceal her ennui and +to dissemble her yawns; on the contrary, she feigned to be more +affectionate than ever; but his convalescence seemed to her +interminable, especially because she did not fail to notice the change +that had taken place in the humor of her future spouse, who seemed to +have aged ten years in a fortnight. + +Soon the count was able to drive out; whereupon Fanny murmured, lowering +her eyes: + +"I think that we might now fix the day which is to unite us forever." + +But Monsieur de la Beriniere shook his head. + +"I am not strong enough yet," he replied. + +And the young widow said to herself: + +"I am very much afraid that he never will be strong enough again!" + +Things were at this point, when Madame Monleard's maid informed her +mistress one morning that Monsieur Cherami requested the honor of an +interview with her. + +"Monsieur Cherami!" cried Fanny. "What! that man dares show himself at +my house! my evil genius! But, no matter! I am curious to know what he +can have to say to me.--Show the gentleman in." + +Cherami, who had not omitted to make an elaborate toilet, came forward +with a smiling face, saying: + +"Madame Monleard did not expect a call from me?" + +"No, monsieur, most assuredly not. After what has taken place between +you and Monsieur de la Beriniere, I did not expect to see you here; but, +since you are here, I trust that you will be good enough to tell me why +you challenged a man you did not know, and who had not injured you?" + +"Mon Dieu! madame, surely you can guess. I wished to avenge poor +Gustave, whom you have played with like a macaroon." + +"Great heaven! monsieur, what is the meaning of this frenzy of yours for +taking up the cudgels for Gustave? He doesn't think of fighting duels +himself, you see! he takes things as they come; he's a good boy, and +doesn't lose his head; he goes away, and that's the end of it. But you! +And your conduct is all the more blamable because, when I met you not +long ago, you made me all sorts of offers of your services. You assured +me that you would be overjoyed if you could be agreeable to me in any +way; and, in order to be agreeable to me, you go to work and challenge +Monsieur de la Beriniere, for no reason at all; you compel him to fight; +and you run your sword into him just when he was going to marry me! If +that's the kind of service you meant to offer me, I excuse you from +obliging me hereafter." + +"I begin by confessing, madame, that I realize my mistake. I followed +the first impulse; but I was wrong. I have realized since that I made +an awful blunder; and I have come humbly to beg your pardon." + +"You confess your wrong-doing; that is well enough! but what is done is +done, none the less." + +"The count has recovered; he goes out to drive; I am sure of that." + +"Yes, the count is beginning to go out; but he is not the same man; his +humor has completely changed; he has lost his light, playful tone. He +was a young man, now he's old. When I mention our marriage, he replies: +'My strength doesn't seem to come back.'--In short, he no longer acts as +if he were in love with me; and you, monsieur, you are the cause of it." + +"Very well, madame; as I have done the mischief, I propose to remedy it. +The count shall become amorous again, and of a cheerful humor, and eager +to marry you; for I want him to marry you now, and, par la sambleu! I +will succeed! I have my cue!" + +"You have a cue?" + +"That's just a little phrase I'm in the habit of using; I mean that I +have my scheme." + +"Are you telling me the truth, monsieur? Do you really desire now to see +me marry Monsieur de la Beriniere?" + +"Madame, women have often deceived me; but I have always been honest +with them--in order not to resemble them. I have no reason for lying to +you." + +"And how do you propose to set about making the count what he was?" + +"Rely on me! But it is necessary that Monsieur de la Beriniere should +consent to receive me. If I call on him, it's not certain that he will +see me. You must have the kindness to say a few words to him in my +favor--that I realize my mistake and would be glad to apologize to him; +that I have asked you to intercede for me." + +"If that is all that is necessary, all right. I shall go to see the +count soon; come to-morrow morning, and I will tell you what he says. +Suppose it is favorable?" + +"A week hence, it will all be over, and you will be a countess." + +"Really? but what method do you propose to employ?" + +"Don't you be disturbed; I have my cue, I tell you." + + + + +LVIII + +THE COUSIN'S SPECIFIC + + +About midday, the pretty widow paid her customary visit to Monsieur de +la Beriniere, whom she found installed in his easy-chair _a la_ +Voltaire, drinking herb tea. + +"How are you to-day, my dear count?" she inquired, taking a seat by the +convalescent's side. + +"I am getting on very slowly, thank you, fair lady; the wound has +entirely healed, but my strength doesn't return very fast." + +"What are you drinking there?" + +"An infusion of linden leaves." + +"Do you think that that stuff will ever bring back your strength?" + +"My doctor says that it's an excellent thing. It's very soothing." + +"It seems to me that you are quite calm enough. Look you, count, I +haven't much confidence in your doctor." + +"But, you see, he has cured my wound." + +"Your wound would have healed of itself; that wasn't a disease; but now, +instead of giving you something to build you up, he puts you on herb tea +and slops; he treats you like a child!" + +"Perhaps you are right, dear lady. It's a fact that he is keeping me to +this diet a good while, on the pretext that I must be prudent." + +"If you listen to him, you'll be under the same treatment six months +hence. But enough of that subject; I am intrusted with a singular errand +to you." + +"What is it, dear lady?" + +"The man with whom you fought this duel----" + +"Monsieur Cherami?" + +"Exactly. Monsieur Cherami called on me this morning----" + +"The deuce! did he undertake to challenge you also?" + +"Oh, no! far from it! He came to ask my pardon for his conduct. He +realizes his mistake; he is in despair at what he did; and he wishes, as +a great favor, to be allowed to come to offer you his apologies and tell +you how delighted he is at your recovery." + +"Pardieu! he's an extraordinary mortal! He insists upon fighting for his +friend----" + +"Yes; it was in a moment of exasperation." + +"And now he's sorry for it! But I bear the fellow no ill-will at all. He +fences very well; ah! he's an excellent blade!" + +"And you will allow him to come to offer his apologies?" + +"Willingly; but listen: only on condition that he will tell me who the +two seconds were that he brought with him. You can't form an idea, +madame, of those two men, who certainly had never assisted at such a +performance before! It was enough to make you burst with laughing. De +Gervier was much amused; but De Maugrille was on the point of losing his +temper; he wanted to fight them. It was altogether funny, I assure you." + +"Then you are willing that Monsieur Cherami should come to see you?" + +"Yes, on the condition I have suggested." + +"He will readily agree to that, I fancy; he is to come to me to-morrow +morning to learn your reply, and I will send him to you." + +"Very good! I must say that this Monsieur Cherami seemed to me no less +clever than original." + +Cherami did not fail to return to Madame Monleard's on the following +day; she told him that Monsieur de la Beriniere consented to receive +him, on condition that he would tell him who his seconds were. + +"And now," said the widow, "how do you propose to restore the count's +health and good-humor?" + +"Never fear, madame," replied Beau Arthur; "that is my business; the +count needs to be set up mentally, as well as physically. He's like an +old clock that won't go; but as long as the mainspring isn't broken, +there's a way out of the difficulty; I'll set him going." + +On leaving Fanny, Cherami took a cab and drove to the Palais-Royal, +where he went into Corselet's and purchased a half-bottle of the finest +chartreuse; then he removed the label, the seal, and everything which +could lead to the identification of the liqueur, put the bottle in his +pocket, and repaired to Rue de la Ville-l'Eveque, saying to himself: + +"It comes high; but one cannot make too many sacrifices when it's a +question of ensuring a friend's happiness. I have only a hundred and +fifty francs left of Gustave's thousand; but I will spend them with the +best will in the world, if I can by that means induce our elderly lover +to marry the little widow." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere was informed that Monsieur Cherami craved the +favor of an interview. + +"Show him in," said the count. + +Cherami, fashionably dressed and perfumed as in his halcyon days, +presented himself before the count, who stepped forward to meet him. + +"I beg you, monsieur le comte, do not rise! I understand that you are +still weak; and I am too fortunate in being allowed to pay my respects +to you and to offer my apologies for my insane behavior toward you." + +"Let us say no more about it, Monsieur Cherami; you wanted a duel with +me, and you had it--it's all over with now. Pray be seated, and just +tell me, between ourselves, who those two individuals were who acted as +your seconds? You will agree that their aspect--their whole manner--was +very comical; and I would stake my head that it was the first time they +were ever present at a duel." + +"Faith! that's the truth, monsieur le comte; but what would you have? +Everybody that I relied upon failed me, and I had no choice; I +persuaded, albeit with much difficulty, those two men of business to +attend me on the field of honor." + +"Who were the fellows?" + +"The elder, monsieur le comte, deals in water from Mont-Dore on a large +scale; the younger is his clerk." + +"Are they Auvergnats?" + +"Yes, monsieur le comte." + +"I would have bet anything on it. However, the younger one is as strong +as an ox, apparently, for they tell me that he carried me in his arms to +my carriage." + +"That is true; he is very strong.--Is monsieur le comte's wound entirely +cured?" + +"Yes, it has cicatrized. But our meeting was six weeks ago, and my +strength doesn't come back." + +"Monsieur le comte, will you allow me to make you an offer?" + +"What sort of an offer is it?" + +"I have fought duels quite often in the course of my life." + +"Oh! I believe it." + +"I have been wounded several times." + +"You fence very well, however; but one sometimes thrusts awkwardly." + +"Well, monsieur le comte, a dear old cousin of mine, who was very fond +of me in spite of my escapades, made me a present of a liquid, by the +aid of which I was always on my feet in a very short time, even after +the most severe wound." + +"The deuce you say!" + +"I have used it whenever I have been wounded, and it has never failed me +yet." + +"What is it made of?" + +"I have no idea; that was my old cousin's secret, and she died without +confiding it to me. But it must be very healthful, as it always cured +me." + +"Have you still got any of this liquid?" + +"I have kept a few half-bottles of it, as a priceless treasure; and here +is one of them, which I have taken the liberty of bringing, in the hope +that monsieur le comte will have confidence in me." + +"Faith, why not?" + +"I shall have the honor to taste it first with monsieur le comte, to +make sure that it isn't spoiled." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere ordered liqueur-glasses to be brought. Cherami +filled them with the superfine chartreuse, and swallowed a glass +himself. + +"That's good, very good!" said the count, after drinking his glass. "But +it seems to me that it has just the same taste as chartreuse." + +"It is true, monsieur le comte, that there is a little similarity while +you are drinking it; but afterward the bouquet, the taste, is not the +same at all." + +"Possibly not. I never drank much chartreuse; I take liqueur very +rarely." + +"Then this will have all the more effect. It is a decoction of simples, +of strengthening herbs, I fancy. My old cousin used often to go +botanizing." + +"It smells of liverwort too." + +"It does, and that is very strengthening." + +"It feels very warm in the chest. I seem already to feel stronger, more +lively." + +"It works very quickly." + +"How much must I drink to be entirely cured?" + +"Why, you must take this half-bottle." + +"In how long a time?" + +"In three days." + +"Drink all that in three days!" + +"Oh! this bottle doesn't hold much. Drink four small glasses to-day; +to-morrow, five; the day after to-morrow, six or seven; and that will +take it all. But don't mention my old cousin's remedy to your doctor. He +would be sure to sneer at it; doctors are never willing that you should +be cured with things that they don't prescribe." + +"I know that. But, upon my word, I do feel much better." + +"Take a second glass at once, and the others after dinner." + +"Well, I will submit to your prescription. Yes, it has a very different +taste from chartreuse; it's sweeter." + +"The more you drink of it, the better you will like it." + +"It is delicious; your old cousin left you something of great value." + +"She passed all her time compounding remedies. This will give you an +appetite too. You can eat a lot, and everything; it would digest a +stone." + +"Enchanting! On my word of honor! I feel my legs twitching. It seems to +me that I could dance." + +"The day after to-morrow, you will be in a condition to dance. Permit me +to return a few days hence, monsieur le comte, to inquire for your +health?" + +"Whenever you choose, Monsieur Cherami; you are an excellent doctor, and +I feel better already for your medicine." + +"Au revoir, then, monsieur le comte! follow my prescription carefully." + +"Oh! I shall take good care not to forget it." + +Cherami took his leave, saying to himself: + +"It can't possibly hurt him; it will warm him up a little, that's all; +and he needs it, he was turning to pulp." + + + + +LIX + +WHAT WAS SURE TO HAPPEN + + +The young widow was preparing to call on the count on the day following +that on which she had sent Cherami to him, being very curious to know if +he had already improved her fiance's health, when her maid announced +Monsieur de la Beriniere. + +Fanny could not restrain a cry of surprise when the count entered her +apartment as briskly as before his duel. It was the second day of the +chartreuse treatment, and the count had taken three glasses before +leaving home; that liqueur, which is really very strengthening when used +with moderation, had restored his vigor; it had revived his mental +powers; and Monsieur de la Beriniere, overjoyed at a change which he +took as evidence of a return to his normal condition, had determined to +go in person to inform the young widow of it. + +Fanny expressed all the joy she felt at finding him restored to health. + +"Yes, I am feeling very well," said Monsieur de la Beriniere. "My +strength is coming back with a rapidity that surprises me. Would you +believe, dear lady, that our good friend Monsieur Cherami is the one to +whom I owe it all?" + +"Can it be? Is he a doctor?" + +"No; but he has a potion left him by an old cousin, which restores +convalescents to full health in a twinkling. I have been taking it only +two days, and I am a different man. To-morrow, Tuesday, I shall finish +the bottle; and at the end of the week, I will lead you to the altar. I +will make all my arrangements accordingly." + +"Oh! how happy I am to have you entirely well again! You have recovered +your former amiability, your merry humor." + +"Yes, I have recovered a lot of things; and when I have taken the rest +of my elixir, you'll have a husband of twenty-five!" + +"Indeed, you seem hardly more than that to-day." + +"Really, you are too kind! I preferred to come myself to tell you of +this blessed change. Now I must leave you, to go to my banker's. I must +make him give me a lot of money, for I propose to cover you with jewelry +and fine clothes." + +"Oh! monsieur le comte, don't be foolish, I beg!" + +"It's not foolish, simply to try to please you. Ah! to-morrow, what +quantities of things I will buy, and perhaps I shall not have the +pleasure of seeing you; but expect me the day after to-morrow, about +noon, with all my little gewgaws." + +"You are always welcome, monsieur le comte." + +Monsieur de la Beriniere took his leave after kissing the young widow's +hand; while she abandoned herself without reserve to the most intense +delight. + +"At last," she cried, "I am going to be a countess! Oh! that Monsieur +Cherami is a delightful man! And when I am a countess and have my +carriage and forty thousand francs a year, which I won't lose by +speculating in stocks, then father won't think that I did wrong to +refuse a second time to marry Gustave; for, in this world, it seems to +me that it is one's duty to think of one's self first." + +When the count woke on the third day of the new treatment, he was amazed +to find that he felt almost as weak as before he began to drink the +precious liquid; he did not realize that the strength which it gave him +was purely artificial and vanished with the spirits which it contained. +He summoned his valet, bade him give him the precious bottle, drank two +glasses in quick succession, and soon felt revivified. + +"I will drink it all to-day!" said the count to himself, while his valet +was dressing him.--"How many more glasses are there in the bottle, +Francois?" + +"I should think there were at least six, monsieur le comte, besides the +two you have drunk." + +"That will make eight; but I shall be as lively as a cricket." + +"Doesn't monsieur think that it may excite him too much?" + +"No, no! Mere herbs! they're very strengthening! Give me a glass." + +"Here it is, monsieur le comte." + +"Ah! it's good! I am beginning to like it much. It's an extraordinary +thing, the good it does me. I feel like pirouetting, Francois." + +"Don't do it, monsieur; it would make you dizzy." + +"Let us see: I have a lot of errands to do to-day, tradesmen to see, +gifts to buy for my bride that is to be; for I am to be married on +Saturday, Francois!" + +"Indeed! so much the better, monsieur." + +"I am going to make a list of the things I want to buy. I shall have a +tiresome day. Give me another glass, Francois." + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"I don't know just where I shall dine to-day. I think I shall not come +back here." + +"At Madame Monleard's, perhaps?" + +"Oh, no! that would embarrass her. I will dine at a restaurant, with the +first friend I happen to meet. Have you ordered the carriage?" + +"Yes, monsieur; it is waiting for you." + +"I am off. Pardieu! another glass before I go." + +"Monsieur is very much flushed now." + +"So much the better! That's my natural color coming back. Just put the +bottle in the carriage; I will finish it while I do my errands." + +The count swallowed his fifth glass of chartreuse, made a +demi-pirouette, and almost fell, because he was very dizzy; but his +valet held him up, and he finally succeeded, after much bumping against +walls, in reaching his carriage, into which he threw himself, saying: + +"Deuce take me! I believe I am quite capable of climbing a greased +pole!" + +The day was passed by the future bridegroom in visiting emporiums of +jewelry, laces, and shawls; he gave his orders, and from the multitude +of those pretty trifles which are said to be necessaries of life, and +with which ladies adorn their whatnots, he made a selection well +calculated to flatter her who was to bear his name. This took a great +deal of time, but he found leisure to finish the bottle he had brought +with him; he had an unfamiliar burning sensation in his breast; he was +tremendously thirsty, and said to himself: + +"I will drink seltzer with my dinner." + +About five o'clock, as he was leaving a famous fancy-goods shop, he +spied his two seconds, Messieurs de Maugrille and de Gervier, coming +toward him arm in arm. He went forward eagerly to meet them. + +"Good afternoon, messieurs! Where are you going?" + +"Why, we are going to dine." + +"With friends?" + +"No; at the first restaurant we see, provided that it's a good one." + +"Then you will give me the pleasure of dining with me; we will celebrate +my recovery and my approaching marriage." + +"So be it." + +"Get into my carriage; we can sit close together. I will take you to +Philippe's; will that suit you?" + +"Perfectly; one can dine very well there." + +They entered the carriage. As they drove along, Monsieur de Maugrille +glanced very often at the count. Finally, he said to him: + +"Are you completely cured?" + +"As you see." + +"Your face seems to me very much flushed; your eyes gleam with +supernatural brilliancy." + +"That's the result of the medicine I have been taking; a very agreeable +remedy, I give you my word." + +"Something that your doctor prescribed?" + +"No; I got it from my opponent, Monsieur Cherami." + +"Your opponent! You have seen him again?" + +"To be sure; we are the best of friends. He's a hot-head, but a very +good fellow." + +"Did you ask him who those two Mohicans were who acted as his seconds?" + +"Yes; one was a rich landed proprietor of Auvergne, who sends water here +from Mont-Dore; the other was his clerk." + +"Ah, yes! the so-called Pole, Monsieur de Chamousky. I shall know those +two worthies again." + +They arrived at Philippe's. The count ordered a dainty dinner, with +wines of the finest vintages; and as he felt very thirsty, he deemed it +advisable to begin with champagne frappe. His guests celebrated the +count's recovery, and drank to his future bride; Monsieur de Gervier, +who was in very high spirits, insisted on drinking to Cherami's seconds, +whom he felt sure of meeting some day, when he proposed to buy some +Mont-Dore water of them. The count did not spare himself, but tossed off +glass after glass of champagne, crying: + +"This is the end of my bachelor life!" + +"Be careful, my dear De la Beriniere," said Monsieur de Maugrille; "for +a convalescent, you go rather fast; you don't spare yourself at all." + +"I have never felt so well." + +Suddenly Monsieur de Gervier, who had gone to the window for a breath of +air, burst into a roar of Homeric laughter, and shouted: + +"There they are; yes, those are they; I recognize them." + +"Who, pray?" + +"The dealers in Mont-Dore water. Come, look at them! they're going along +the street, and their cask with them." + +Monsieur de Maugrille looked out, and exclaimed in dire wrath: + +"Water-carriers! they were water-carriers!" + +The count, having also looked out, declared that he did not recognize +them; at last, Monsieur de Gervier observed: + +"Oh, well! to be sure, it isn't Mont-Dore water that they sell; but, +after all, it's a kind of water that's even more indispensable. For my +part, this makes the affair all the more amusing, and that duel will be +one of my most delightful recollections." + +Monsieur de Maugrille made a wry face and held his peace, and the count +returned to the table. + +"Come, messieurs," he said, "this need not prevent our drinking to my +approaching happiness; it's extraordinary how thirsty I am to-night!" + +The dinner lasted until a late hour, but at last they left the table and +parted: Monsieur de Gervier going to see his Dulcineas, Monsieur de +Maugrille to play his game of whist, and the count to bed; he was very +tired. + +It was Wednesday, and the pretty widow was awaiting all the gifts which +her fiance had promised her. + +"I flatter myself that it won't be to-day as it was that other time," +she thought; "I shall not wait in vain. He won't have another duel on +his hands; there's nobody to challenge him now. Monsieur Cherami is on +my side; he wants me to marry the count. It's strange how he has turned +about; perhaps he has had a row with Gustave; the main point is that he +has kept his promise; he has restored Monsieur de la Beriniere's health, +and that's a service I shall not forget." + +But the clock struck twelve, and one, and two; and neither the +bridegroom nor his presents appeared. Fanny paced her room impatiently, +muttering: + +"Oh! what a bore it is to wait! It may not be the count's fault, but for +some time past it has seemed as if I were destined to be vexed and +thwarted all the time." + +When the clock struck four, the young woman could restrain her +impatience no longer. + +"Justine," she said to her maid, "you must hurry to Monsieur de la +Beriniere's again and find out what has happened, what prevents him from +coming. I can't pass my whole life waiting for that man. Go quickly, +take a cab by the hour. I am ruining myself in cabs for him; it's to be +hoped that he will make it up to me." + +Justine obeyed her mistress; but when she returned, it was with a +woe-begone face, as before. + +"Mon Dieu! what has happened now?" cried Fanny. + +"Monsieur le comte returned home late last night, about ten o'clock, +madame, with a violent headache; he had been dining at a restaurant. He +was hardly in bed when he had an attack of fever, followed by delirium; +they sent for the doctor, who said that he had indigestion, inflammation +of the intestines, and also of the lungs. In fact, he's very ill." + +"Oh! Justine, what an unlucky creature I am! The idea of having +indigestion just when you are going to be married!" + +"It's inexcusable, madame." + +"And to think that it has come just when everything was ready! There are +people with him, I suppose?" + +"Oh! yes, madame." + +"Do you think that I might go there this evening?" + +"What's the use, madame, when he is delirious? He wouldn't know you." + +"All right! I will go to-morrow. Ah! I am really greatly to be pitied." + +Three days later, on Saturday, Cherami betook himself to Rue de la +Ville-l'Eveque, to see what effect the tonic had had on the count. + +"It was on Sunday that I gave it to him," he reflected; "he must be +vigorous and lively now, or else he never will be." + +According to his custom, Cherami did not stop to speak to the concierge; +he went up to the count's reception-room, and found there the valet de +chambre holding a handkerchief to his eyes. + +"What's the trouble, my friend; how's your master?" + +"Monsieur le comte died last night," the valet replied, with a sigh. + +"Died!" cried Cherami. "What do you mean? Dead so soon! What in the +devil did he die of?" + +"Inflammation, indigestion. He took to his bed on Tuesday night, and the +doctor said at once there was no hope." + +"Poor count! Ah! that really causes me great distress.--It may be," +thought Cherami, as he went away, "that we heated the oven a little too +hot." + + + + +LX + +THE RETURN OF ULYSSES + + +A month had passed since the Comte de la Beriniere's death. Was it from +grief? was it from anger? Madame Monleard had shut herself up in her +apartment ever since, and had been to see no one, not even her father or +her sister. She must have known, however, that Adolphine would be the +first to sympathize with her woes; but unfeeling persons never believe +in the keen sensibility of others; and if anybody seems to pity them, +they are always convinced that, in reality, that person rejoices in +their misfortune. The proverb rightly says that we judge others by +ourselves. + +Monsieur Batonnin, who was always the first to be informed of anything +that happened to disturb his friends or acquaintances, learned of the +count's death very soon after it occurred, and went at once to Monsieur +Gerbault's. + +"Have you heard of the cruel accident, the misfortune that has befallen +your elder daughter?" he said. "The Comte de la Beriniere is dead, and +before he had married her." + +"I should say," rejoined Monsieur Gerbault, "that the misfortune was the +count's, not my daughter's." + +"Oh! of course; but, after all, the count was no longer a young man; +while your daughter was going to be a countess and have forty thousand +francs a year; and I believe that the count agreed to make a will when +he married her, making her his heir. A woman doesn't find such a husband +every day." + +"Monsieur Batonnin, it's a sad business to speculate on the death of the +person one marries!" + +"That is true, it's very sad; but still it's done." + +"You may say what you please; I do not pity my daughter." + +"You astonish me!" + +Adolphine, finding that her sister did not come, went to see her; but +the concierge always said to her: "Madame Monleard has gone out;" and +the girl understood at last that her sister did not choose to see her. + +One morning, Cherami was preparing to go out, when Madame Louchard came +up to his room, and said, with an air of mystery: + +"There's a person below who wants to know if you are visible; and I came +up to make sure that you were dressed from top to toe." + +"Who is this person, pray, who makes so much fuss about coming to my +room?" + +"A pretty young woman." + +"A pretty young woman coming to call on me! Ah! my excellent hostess, +methinks I have returned to the days of my early prowess!" + +"I'll go and tell her to come up." + +"One moment! Let me brush my hair a little, straighten the parting, and +see if my whiskers are well combed." + +"Look at the flirt!" + +"It is never wrong to beautify one's self. Go, show this lady up. I have +my cue!" + +A lady of small stature, very well dressed, and of distinguished +bearing, soon entered Cherami's room; when she was sure that he was +alone, she raised her veil, saying: + +"Good-morning, monsieur! do you recognize me?" + +"God bless my soul! it's Madame Monleard, the fascinating widow. Pray be +seated, fair lady; excuse me if I do not receive you in a palace, but +for the moment I have only this hovel at my disposal. To what am I +indebted for the honor of your visit?" + +"I desired to have a little conversation with you. Such a melancholy +thing has happened since we last met." + +"Don't speak of it! The poor count's death upset me completely; I +couldn't believe it." + +"Especially as he seemed to be entirely restored to health. What was it +that you gave him to take, in heaven's name?" + +"Mon Dieu! just plain chartreuse--an excellent, strengthening liqueur. +But it seems that he dined with two friends, that he did not spare +himself, that the champagne made him ill, and----" + +"Well, he's dead; we must make the best of it. But it is doubly +unfortunate for me. I lose a great fortune, a title, which I had in my +grasp." + +"True; you lose all that!" + +"And then I--I also lose--I lose--the husband with whom I broke off +relations--in order to become a countess." + +"True--you lose both. You are almost thrice a widow." + +"And yet, it seems to me that I was excusable for being blinded for a +moment by ambition. Mon Dieu! who in this world has not been? We all +want to raise ourselves." + +"That is the first thing to which we aspire when we are born." + +"Monsieur Cherami, are you still on friendly terms with Gustave?" + +"With Gustave? Oh! ours is a friendship for life and death; there will +never be any break in our friendship. He's a man for whom I would throw +myself into the fire." + +"Ah! that is very fine. And tell me, do you know whether he will return +to Paris soon?" + +"Hum! I see what you are driving at!" thought Cherami, stroking his +whiskers. + +"Why, no, I don't," he replied. "According to what I learned at his +uncle's house, it seems that Gustave, instead of returning to France, is +going to Russia, where he will probably stay a long time--perhaps a year +or two--or four." + +Fanny made a gesture of disgust. + +"What an idea! To go to Russia, where you freeze all the time! When one +can be so comfortable in France--especially in Paris!" + +"Oh! I beg your pardon; the women in Russia aren't frozen. It seems that +there are some very pretty ones there, and some immensely rich! Gustave +is a good-looking fellow, he'll turn some high-born damsel's head there, +and make a marriage set in diamonds." + +The little widow rose abruptly, lowered her veil, and said: + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami! I must leave you." + +"What! already? Had madame nothing else to say to me?" + +"No. Frankly, I came because I wanted to learn something about Gustave; +but what you have told me---- However, perhaps he will change his mind; +he won't stay in Russia, he'll be bored to death there. In any event, if +you learn anything about him, if you find out just where he is, it will +be very good of you to let me know." + +"Madame, I shall always be delighted to be able to gratify you." + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!" + +Cherami looked after Fanny as she went away, saying to himself: + +"I think I see myself telling her where Gustave is, even if I knew! I +believe, God bless me! that she is inclined to go after him, that she +hopes to catch him in her net again! Gad! he must either be stupid or +bewitched. But there are some men, men of intelligence, too, whom love +makes as stupid as earthen pots. I lied to the little widow when I told +her that Gustave was going to Russia. On the contrary, when I went to +ask about him, the day before yesterday, the concierge, who knows me +now, told me that he expected him in a few days. Par la sambleu! I guess +I'll go again; he may have come." + +Cherami lost no time in making his way to the banker's house, where the +concierge said to him: + +"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont returned yesterday; he's at home." + +Thereupon our friend scaled the stairs; in a few seconds he was at his +young friend's door, and began by throwing himself into his arms. That +first outburst of emotion passed, Cherami looked at Gustave and suddenly +ejaculated: + +"Ten thousand devils! What does that mean?" + +That exclamation was drawn from him by the sight of a great scar, which +started from the young man's forehead, crossed his left eyebrow, and +came to an end at the lower part of the cheek. + +"That?" replied Gustave, with a smile. "That is the result of a duel +with swords with an Irish officer. You fought my battles here, my dear +Cherami; the least I could do was to look after my own affairs across +the channel." + +"What! have you heard? But let me embrace you again! That scar is +tremendously becoming to you, and I am delighted that you have had this +duel, in which your adversary evidently didn't fight with a dead arm. +Damnation! what a slash!--Ah! people won't say now that I fight instead +of you; this will put a stopper on all the sneering tongues. But what +did you fight about?" + +"It was the sequel of a breakfast party of artists, business men, and +this one Irish officer. We had plenty to eat and drink. The conversation +fell on women, that inexhaustible subject of conversation among young +men; I said that the French women, even those who were least pretty, +always outdid the women of other countries in dress and carriage; +thereupon the Irishman lost his temper, and called me a greenhorn. I +threw my napkin in his face; after that, a duel with swords--that was +the weapon chosen by my adversary; and this wound healed very slowly and +kept me in bed six weeks; otherwise, I should have come home long ago." + +"Dear Gustave! Ah! what a noble scar! It is very becoming, and I +congratulate you again." + +"But I have no congratulations for you, but reproaches! Pray tell me why +you challenged that poor Comte de la Beriniere? what had he done to +you?" + +"Nothing, to me; but he had done something to you, having stolen your +promised bride from you." + +"Oh! my friend, if you reflect a moment, you certainly must feel that, +on the contrary, he did me a very great service. But for him, I should +have married a woman who never had the slightest affection for me, and +who did not hesitate to toss me aside like a coat which you discard when +you see an opportunity to get a handsomer one at the same price. That +woman, who, as a reward of my constancy and the suffering she had caused +me, did not hesitate to be a traitor to me a second time! Ah! my friend, +I know her now, and I appreciate her at her real worth. A hard, selfish +heart, overflowing with vanity, caring for nothing but money, +recognizing no merit except that of wealth, incapable of the slightest +sacrifice for others, and considering that everything is rightfully due +to her. That's the kind of wife I should have had! Should I not be +profoundly grateful to the man who was the cause of my rupture with +her?" + +"Is it really you that I am listening to, Gustave? You, talking in this +strain of Fanny? Why, then you must be cured at last of your passion for +her?" + +"Oh, yes! radically cured; indeed, Cherami, what would you think of me +if I still loved her after her last outrage?" + +"I should think that she had cast a spell on you, although I haven't +much belief in magic. But you have ceased to love her, that's the main +point. You know that the poor count died before he had married her? but +not of his wound; he had an attack of indigestion." + +"It is very unfortunate for her; but I confess that I don't pity her." + +"There is one thing that you don't suspect--that she is now +contemplating running after you." + +"Let her run, my dear fellow; I promise you that she will never catch +me." + +"You are quite sure of yourself?" + +"Oh, yes! perfectly sure." + +"You see, she is a damnably shrewd little wheedler, is the widow! I +should feel surer of you if you loved somebody else." + +"Somebody else! You must admit, Cherami, that my love for Fanny hasn't +resulted in a way to encourage me." + +"All women are not Fannys; there are some who are tender-hearted, sweet, +affectionate; who would be so happy to be loved by you." + +"Happy to be loved by me! What, in heaven's name, makes you think so?" + +"I think so--because I am sure of it." + +"You are sure that there is someone who would love me?" + +"Oh! better than that; I am sure that someone does love you--cherishes a +secret passion for you--a sentiment which she has always hidden, kept +locked up in the depths of her heart; because it was hopeless, because +she was simply the confidante of your love for another." + +"Mon Dieu! what do you mean?" cried Gustave, as if his eyes were +suddenly opened; "you think that Adolphine----" + +"Ah! you have guessed--so much the better; that proves that you had +thought of the thing before." + +"No, indeed. What makes you think that Adolphine ever gives me a +thought?" + +"If you hadn't been in love with another woman, you would have +discovered it yourself long ago. I had already guessed it from a +multitude of little things: the way she looked at you--for a woman +doesn't look at the man that she loves in the same way as at other men; +I have studied that subject; but what proved conclusively to me that she +loved you was what happened when I went to Monsieur Gerbault's to tell +him of poor Auguste's unhappy end. I was embarrassed about telling the +story, and I didn't make my meaning clear; Mademoiselle Adolphine +thought that it was your death I was trying to tell them of. Instantly +she gave a shriek of despair, and fainted; we had a great deal of +difficulty in reviving her, and I had to keep saying again and again: +'It isn't Gustave who is dead!' before she recovered her senses. So that +I whispered to myself: 'It's this one, and not the other, who cares for +my young friend;' and I have a shrewd idea that Papa Gerbault reasoned +just as I did." + +"Why did you never tell me all this, Cherami?" + +"Because it wasn't worth while to sing a pretty tune to a deaf man; you +were daft then over your Fanny, you wouldn't have listened to me." + +"Thanks, my friend, thank you for having observed it all. You cannot +conceive the emotion it causes me." + +"Why, yes, it's always pleasant to know that one has turned the head of +a pretty young girl." + +"Poor Adolphine! If it were true! If she really does love me!" + +"Why, think of all the offers she has refused! I think I have heard that +the count himself wanted to marry her; and a Monsieur de Raincy, and +many more. What reason had she for refusing everybody who came forward, +if she hadn't love for somebody in her heart? and that somebody was +you--and yet she had no hope of marrying you. Oh! what a difference +between her and her sister! Well, I've told you what I had to tell you; +now, you may act as you please.--But, at all events, you are back again. +I trust that you're not going to start off to-morrow?" + +"Oh! I shall not go away again; I've had enough of travelling; I am +going to settle down in Paris now." + +"Good! _vive la joie!_ But do you know that your uncle is still +unrelenting to me? He received me very coldly when I asked him for +employment." + +"Never fear, my friend; I am here now, I will look about for you, and we +will arrange all that." + +"Very good; I will go, for you must have much to do; when shall I see +you again?" + +"Come in a few days, and I will tell you--yes, I will tell you what I +have done." + +"Agreed. Au revoir! My friend has returned; I have my cue!" + + + + +LXI + +LOVE REWARDED + + +Gustave remained for a long time buried in thought; what Cherami had +said to him on the subject of Adolphine had moved him profoundly. With a +heart so easily touched, a heart made to love, Gustave had as yet met +with nothing but falsehood and perfidy. He remembered now a thousand +occasions on which Fanny's sister had shown the deepest interest in him; +she was always kind to him, always had some consolation to give him; he +recalled, too, her habitual melancholy, her sad smile, and the sighs +which she tried in vain to restrain when he held her hand. Having passed +in review all these memories, the young man hastily left the house, +saying to himself: + +"I will go to see her; I will read in her eyes whether she really loves +me." + +Adolphine was in her room, working at her embroidery frame; Madeleine +was hovering about her mistress, pretending to arrange the furniture. +Madeleine was an excellent girl, who had divined that her mistress was +in love. She had noticed that she never smiled or seemed happy, except +when Gustave came to see her; but she had heard it said that he was +going to marry her mistress's sister, whereupon Adolphine had become +more melancholy than ever. Later, it was said that the marriage was +broken off, and yet Adolphine never smiled; to be sure, the young man +who always brought a smile to her lips had ceased to come. + +Madeleine would have been glad to have her young mistress confide her +secret to her; but she confined in the lowest depths of her heart a +passion which she believed to be well hidden. However, the maid +succeeded occasionally, by dint of beating about the bush, in extorting +a few words, which she made the most of. + +"Mamzelle," said Madeleine, "isn't it very strange that madame your +sister never comes to see you now?" + +"My father was angry with her, you know." + +"That didn't prevent her coming here when she wanted to find out who had +had the audacity to fight with her count. She was sure it was Monsieur +Gustave. But you told her she was mistaken, and you were right. Why +should Monsieur Gustave fight for her, I should like to know, when she +keeps making sport of him? A man doesn't fight, except for a person he +loves; and I am very sure, for my part, that Monsieur Gustave never +gives your sister a thought now." + +"You think not, Madeleine?" + +This question was asked with an eagerness which would have betrayed +Adolphine's secret, if her maid had not already guessed it. + +"But Fanny isn't married!" murmured Adolphine sadly, a moment later. + +"Well, mamzelle, for my part, I am glad of it! She'd have kicked up +altogether too much dust if she had been a countess." + +"But when will Gustave come back?" + +"Why, you don't suppose that he will still want to marry your sister, do +you?" + +"Why not? He loved her so much!" + +"Well, I'll bet that he won't. Think of it, mamzelle, after two such +affronts as that! for you told me it was the second time she had broken +with him. Why, he would have to be a downright fool for that. Is +Monsieur Gustave a fool?" + +"Oh, no! far from it." + +"Well, then----" + +At that moment the bell rang; Adolphine started, without knowing why, +and Madeleine cried: + +"There, suppose it was him? Speak of the devil----" + +It was, in fact, Gustave, and Madeleine's face was wreathed in smiles +when she announced him to her mistress. The young man entered with more +or less embarrassment, caused by Cherami's disclosures. But Adolphine +held out her hand, and he pressed it in his with such force that the +girl was deeply moved; for Gustave had never manifested so much pleasure +at sight of her. + +In a moment she spied the scar, and exclaimed in dismay: + +"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, you are wounded!" + +"No; it is all healed." + +"But you surely have been terribly wounded. What was it?" + +"A sword-cut." + +"You have had a duel?" + +"Yes, with an Irish officer. I was in London then." + +"And why? For--whom did you fight?" + +"Oh! it was for a mere trifle. A quarrel following a hearty breakfast." + +"Mon Dieu! if you had been killed!" + +"I shouldn't be with you now." + +"Was the wound serious?" + +"Yes, it kept me housed six weeks. But for that, I should have been at +home more than a month ago." + +"More than a month! Ah! then you were anxious to return at once as soon +as you learned--what had happened?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, the thing that caused--oh! surely you know?" + +"No, I do not know. I intended to return, because I had finished my +uncle's business, because I was horribly bored in England, and because I +had no reason for staying away from Paris any longer." + +"Was that all?" + +"To be sure. What other reason are you thinking of, pray?" + +"Don't you know that the Comte de la Beriniere is dead?" + +"Certainly I know it." + +"And that he died before he had married my sister?" + +"I know all that." + +"You do? and that wasn't what brought you home?" + +"Oh! mademoiselle, is it possible that you think that I can love your +sister still! Oh, no! you cannot think it, for you would despise me if +you had such an opinion of me as that." + +"What! can it be possible? Gustave, Monsieur Gustave, you no longer love +my sister? Oh! what joy! Mon Dieu! I don't know what I am saying. I mean +that I think you will be happier now; and you have been sad and unhappy +so long!" + +"Yes, for a long, long time. And don't you think that I deserve to be +rewarded for my constancy by finding at last a heart that does +understand me, a woman who has--a little love for me?" + +"A little? Oh! you will find one who loves you dearly! At least, I +should think so, because you deserve it so well!" + +"Dear Adolphine! Oh! I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, for presuming +still to address you in that way." + +"Why, it doesn't offend me--far from it." + +"You have always been so kind to me! If you knew what pleasure it gives +me at this moment to be sitting beside you again, looking at you, and +reading what is written in your lovely, soft eyes! Oh! do not look away! +Let me seek in them the hope of a sincere affection and an untroubled +happiness!" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! you make me tremble. Oh! pray don't say such things to +me, if you don't mean them; for, you see, I too have been unhappy for +such a long time! I have suffered in silence; for I dared not avow my +sentiments; and I had to look on at the happiness of another, who was +loved, adored, although she did not deserve such good-fortune; and I--I +had to conceal all that I felt!" + +Gustave seized Adolphine's hands and fell at her feet. + +"Then it is true!" he cried; "you do love me? Ah! my whole life will be +too short to pay you for this love! How many days of happiness I owe you +in exchange for the torments I have caused you!" + +"But it wasn't your fault, Gustave; you could not guess that I loved +you. Besides, you loved my sister then; but now you don't love her any +more, do you? Oh! tell me again that you don't love her!" + +"As if it were possible for me to love her! Ah! my heart does not divide +its allegiance, and now it is yours, yours only!" + +"Mon Dieu! I must be dreaming, I am so happy!--Madeleine! Madeleine! +come here! It is I whom he loves, it is I whom he wants to marry--and he +knows that I will never refuse him!" + +Madeleine was not far away. Servants are never far from people who are +talking. She came skipping into the room like a crazy person, for she +was really happy in her mistress's happiness. + +"We were just talking about you when you came, monsieur," she said to +Gustave; "I often talk about you to mamzelle, because I have found that +that's the best way to make her listen to me. _Dame!_ I'm from the +country, but I guessed, all the same, what made mamzelle so sad; and now +I'm sure that she'll be happy like me! and that she'll sing and dance +like me!" + +Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to Madeleine's antics. He was +surprised, as usual, to find Gustave in his house; but he was especially +impressed on this occasion by the joy and happiness which he read on +every face. + +"Bless my soul!" he said, shaking hands with Gustave; "are you just back +from the war, my friend? At all events, you have received a wound which +proves that you don't turn your back on the foe." + +"No, monsieur; it's the result of a duel. I am not quarrelsome, as you +know, but a man cannot always be sure of himself." + +"Have you returned to Paris for some time?" + +"For always! I have no further desire to travel. My uncle, who is good +enough to say that I understand the business very well, told me +yesterday that he would make me his partner." + +"The deuce! that's very nice, indeed; for your uncle's business is very +extensive, I believe?" + +"His profits never fall below sixty thousand francs a year." + +"Of which you will have half. That makes you a rich _parti!_--Talking of +_partis_, Adolphine, I have another one to propose to you; and this +time perhaps you will accept, for you surely don't intend to die an old +maid." + +Adolphine looked anxiously at her father; Gustave himself had a vague +feeling of apprehension. Monsieur Gerbault eyed them both with a sly +expression, and continued: + +"Yes, my child; a new suitor has come forward. He will never see +twenty-five again, and he is not very rich; but he has a competence and +an honorable position in society. It is Monsieur Batonnin." + +"Monsieur Batonnin! Oh! I won't marry him. I won't marry anybody--that +is to say--any of those who----" + +Gustave made haste to interrupt Adolphine, and, going up to Monsieur +Gerbault, said to him with the utmost seriousness: + +"Monsieur, a long time ago I was to have been your son-in-law. +Circumstances prevented it, and, if I must confess it, I think that I +have every reason to thank destiny therefor. To-day, I come once more to +ask your permission to become a member of your family. Mademoiselle +Adolphine has consented to be my wife, and something tells me that she +will not retract her word." + +"Yes, father, yes.--Oh! I can't refuse Gustave. And you are willing that +he should be my husband, aren't you?" + +"Especially," replied Monsieur Gerbault, as he embraced his daughter, +"especially as you have loved him for a long time!" + +"What, father! you knew it? How strange! I never told anyone my secret." + +"But a father's eyes are sharp-sighted, dear heart; and now I trust that +you will recover your good spirits." + +"Oh! father, I am so happy!" + +"Take her, Gustave; she will not throw you over for another man. For, +even when she could not possibly hope to be your wife, she refused all +offers in order to be at liberty to love you. As for Monsieur Batonnin, +I was sure beforehand of your reply; but, in order to soften your +refusal, I will tell him that he came too late, because you are going to +marry Gustave." + + + + +LXII + +TERTIA SOLVET + + +The marriage of Gustave and Adolphine had been decided for four days; +and as they were in great haste to be united and to make sure at last of +a happiness which had constantly eluded the grasp of one, and which the +other had never hoped to attain, they were hurrying forward the +indispensable preliminaries to the celebration of their union. + +Monsieur Grandcourt did not make a wry face when his nephew told him of +the new choice he had made; on the contrary, he congratulated him. + +"That one is all right," he said; "she's a charming girl, with all the +good qualities which her sister lacks; therefore, she has a great many." + +More than once, while her young mistress was trying on the gowns and +jewels which were brought to her, Madeleine cried: + +"Oh! mamzelle, how lovely you will look as a bride! But there's your +sister! When she knows who you're going to marry, won't she make a +row?" + +"Hush, Madeleine, don't talk about my sister! I have a sort of feeling +that she is going to interfere with my happiness again." + +"Nonsense! There's no danger of that, mamzelle; I'll answer for Monsieur +Gustave!" + +They were conversing one morning in this same strain, when someone rang +the doorbell violently. + +"Mon Dieu! if it were she!" exclaimed Adolphine. + +"Your sister? Well, if it is, she won't eat us." + +It proved to be Fanny, who entered her sister's room with an insolent +air, crying: + +"What does this mean? Who ever heard of such a thing? Monsieur Gustave +in Paris a whole week, I hear, and no one lets me know! And that tall +scamp of a Cherami assured me that he was going to Russia! Ah! I'll fix +him when I see him! Haven't you seen Gustave? Hasn't he been here?" + +"Why, yes," Adolphine replied, trying to conceal her emotion, "he has +been here. He comes every day." + +"And you couldn't send me word?" + +"I have been to your house several times. You are always out." + +"You might have written me a line." + +"But I could not guess that you were so anxious to see Gustave, after +your treatment of him." + +"Oh! my dear girl, I beg you not to bore me by going all over that! What +has passed is a dream; but what has not been done may still be done." + +"I don't understand you." + +"I understand myself, and that's enough. How is Gustave now? still sad +and depressed?" + +"Oh! not at all. He is cheerful and light-hearted; he's not the same +man. You wouldn't recognize him." + +"Indeed! he's cheerful, is he?" + +"And then, he has a beautiful scar across his face; it gives him a +martial air, it's very becoming to him." + +"Perhaps that is what makes his spirits so good. So he has been fighting +duels, has he?" + +"Yes, with an Irish officer." + +"Everybody seems to be duelling, nowadays! He must have wanted to follow +his friend Cherami's example. What about his business?" + +"His uncle has just made him his partner. Gustave will have at least +forty thousand francs a year for his share." + +"Is it possible! he's a lucky fellow! And he's been in Paris a week, and +I had no idea of it! Hallo! everything seems to be topsy-turvy here! +Have you been buying all these things?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you going to a ball?" + +"Better than that: I am going to a wedding." + +"To a wedding! and I am not invited! Who's to be married, pray?" + +Adolphine was hesitating over her reply, when the door opened and +Gustave appeared. When she saw the man whom she had twice promised to +marry, Fanny dropped into an easy-chair, threw back her head, and +pretended to faint. Adolphine became deathly pale; but a glance from +Gustave reassured her. He went to her side, took her hand, and pressed +it affectionately in his. + +Fanny, seeing that nobody thought of coming to her assistance, decided +to recover; so she straightened herself up, and said in a tremulous +voice: + +"Ah! mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, your presence caused me such a thrill +of emotion! I almost fainted." + +Gustave bowed gravely to Fanny, saying, in an indifferent tone: + +"Madame is well, I trust?" + +"Why, no, I have been ill, I have suffered a great deal. You must find +me changed, do you not?" + +"I fancy we shall have fine weather to-day," said Gustave, turning to +Adolphine, who whispered: + +"She knows nothing." + +"Very well! we will give her a surprise." + +"What does this mean? He doesn't listen to me," thought Fanny. + +She sprang to her feet and went up to the young man, saying: + +"I have a great deal to say to you, monsieur. I have some important +explanations to make to you. I hope that you will be kind enough to +escort me home, where we can talk without disturbing anyone." + +Adolphine clung to Gustave's arm, as he replied with perfect +tranquillity: + +"Madame, I am very sorry to refuse; but I have determined never to enter +your house again, and I do not require any explanation." + +The little widow bit her lips in her wrath, while Adolphine breathed +more freely. + +"What, monsieur! Do you mean that you are afraid to come to my house?" +said Fanny, trying to smile. + +"I know very well, madame, that I have nothing to fear from your +presence now. But I have no reason for calling upon you. Allow me to +say, further, that I have every reason to be surprised at your +invitation." + +Fanny paced the floor, with every indication of the most intense +annoyance; at last she returned to Gustave, and said in a determined +tone: + +"I tell you again, monsieur, that I must speak to you alone, that I have +some things to make known to you, which I can tell only to you. As you +absolutely refuse to come to my house, I will speak to you here. My +sister will be good enough, I trust, to leave us for a moment.--Oh! I +will not abuse monsieur's good-nature." + +Adolphine was sorely disturbed; she seemed not at all inclined to leave +her sister alone with Gustave; but he took her hand and put it to his +lips, saying: + +"Since madame insists upon it, go, my dear Adolphine; but don't go far, +for our interview will not be a long one." + +"How gallant he is to my sister!" said Fanny to herself, as Gustave +escorted Adolphine to the door. "Well! we'll see about it!" + +"We are alone, madame, and I am listening," said Gustave. + +Instantly Fanny threw herself at the young man's feet, crying in a tone +which she tried to make heart-rending: + +"Gustave! forgive me! Oh! in pity's name, forgive me, or I shall die +here at your feet!" + +"Rise, madame, I beg; I do not understand this scene at all." + +"Ah! you do not choose to understand me; but I will not shrink from +accusing myself! Yes, I was guilty, very guilty! Ambition, the longing +to bear a title, had turned my head. I did not know what I was doing; I +was mad. You must know that it was not love which attracted me to the +count. Poor man! No, I have never loved but one man, and that man--was +you; yes, you--despite my idiotic conduct. And then--I don't know--but +the last time that you found fault with me, it seemed to me that you +were jealous. I am too sensitive; I lost my temper all of a sudden. But, +I tell you again, I didn't know what I was doing! Gustave! my dear +Gustave! I will not rise until you have granted my pardon!" + +"Have you said all that you have to say, madame?" rejoined Gustave, with +a calmness which disconcerted the little widow and induced her to rise. + +"Yes, of course. I think that I have fully expressed my regret and my +remorse, at least." + +"Very well, madame, your wish is gratified; I forgive you--all the more +freely, because, by not marrying me, you actually did me a very great +service." + +"What do you mean by that, monsieur? Surely that answer of yours is far +from gallant." + +"Oh! madame, you have given me the right not to be gallant to you. +Observe that I am not reproaching you; God forbid! But, frankly, you +might well have spared yourself this last comedy. I can understand that +you must have a very poor opinion of my sense--I have given you the +right. But, after all, there are bounds to everything; and I didn't +suppose that you considered me an absolute idiot. It seems that I +flattered myself too much." + +"What do you mean by _comedy_, monsieur? What is the significance of +this tone, this satirical air?" + +"Oh! let us not lose patience, madame; and to put an end to the +discussion, allow me to present my wife." + +As he spoke, Gustave stepped to the door and opened it. Adolphine +appeared with a radiant face, for she had heard every word. She gave her +hand to Gustave, and they both bowed to the little widow, who became +white, red, and green, in turn, and who cried at last: + +"Ah! so you are to marry my sister! I might have suspected as much! As +you please, monsieur. In fact, you will suit each other admirably. +Accept my congratulations." + +"Won't you come to my wedding, Fanny?" said Adolphine, offering her +sister her hand. + +"Go to the devil!" she retorted, pushing the hand away. And she rushed +from the room, exclaiming: "I'd much rather you would marry him than I, +for I think the fellow's perfectly frightful with his scar!" + +On returning home from Monsieur Gerbault's, Gustave found Cherami +waiting for him. + +"Well! how is everything?" inquired Beau Arthur, when Gustave appeared. +"Simply by looking at you, my dear fellow, I can see that everything is +satisfactory." + +The young man replied by throwing his arms about Cherami and crying: + +"Ah! you had guessed right. Adolphine loved me; Adolphine still loves +me. In three days she will be my wife, and I shall owe my happiness to +you; for without you I should never have discovered her secret." + +"What a charming fellow! He will be persuading me that he is the one who +owes me gratitude! Dear Gustave! so at last you are going to be as happy +as you deserve! Par la sambleu! I am satisfied! I may fairly say that I +have my cue! And the uncle?" + +"My uncle doesn't laugh at my love now; on the contrary, he approves my +choice." + +"He's a man of sense." + +"He has taken me into partnership." + +"Bravo!" + +"And now, as you may imagine, I am going to look out for you. You must +have a lucrative and agreeable place." + +"Get married first! you can attend to me afterward." + +"No. I have an idea that I want to suggest to my uncle." + +"Your uncle thinks that I am not good for anything." + +"He'll get over his prejudice. I am going to talk with him about you +this very day. Come again, about noon, to-morrow; I shall have a +favorable answer for you, I am sure." + +"All right; noon to-morrow. Here, or at your office?" + +"At my office. By the way, I have changed my office. You pass my uncle's +private room, go to the end of a long corridor leading to the cashier's +office; turn to the left, and my door is in front of you." + +"Very good: a long corridor, then turn to the left. I will find it. +Until to-morrow, my dear Gustave! By the way, shall I be invited to the +wedding?" + +"Will you be? you, who made the match! You, who called my attention to +that angel, whom my idiotic passion had hidden from me! Why, if you were +not there, something would be lacking in my happiness." + +"Ah! that's very prettily said! Never fear; I will do you honor, and I +will make myself agreeable to everybody." + + + + +LXIII + +THE PORTFOLIO + + +As soon as Cherami had left him, Gustave went to Monsieur Grandcourt. + +"Now that I am to be married, my dear uncle," he said, "you can +understand that I don't care about travelling any more. But, in our +business, we always need someone to represent us in foreign countries. +Wouldn't it be possible----" + +"I see what you are coming at," interrupted the banker, shaking his +head; "you are going to talk to me again about your Monsieur Cherami." + +"Well, yes. Am I wrong about it; hasn't he given me proof enough of his +friendship and his devotion? He had shrewdly guessed that Adolphine +loved me." + +"Why didn't he tell you sooner, then?" + +"Would I have listened to him?--Come, uncle, you are so good to me! You +overwhelm me with kindness. You give me an interest in your business. +Will you do nothing for a man who is my friend? He was wild and +dissipated in his youth; now he has reformed." + +"Where's the proof of it?" + +"Why, his most earnest desire is to find a place; and I assure you that +he is capable of filling it." + +"I don't doubt that. The fellow is intelligent and talented, and has +excellent manners when he chooses, but----" + +"But what?" + +"Well, he doesn't inspire me with confidence; and, to represent us, we +must have a man of honor, above all things." + +"You have an erroneous opinion of Cherami. He may have borrowed money, +have incurred debts which he hasn't paid, but solely from lack of means. +In a word, he has been very unfortunate. Do you impute it to him as a +crime that he has endured poverty cheerfully, and has had confidence in +the future? Poor fellow! And I led him to hope for a favorable answer, +and told him to come here for it to-morrow!" + +Monsieur Grandcourt made no reply; he seemed to be lost in thought. +Gustave was distressed by the ill-success of his attempt. Suddenly his +uncle exclaimed: + +"Did you say that Monsieur Cherami was to come here to see you +to-morrow?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"Where are you to meet him, in your room or your office?" + +"At my office." + +"Did you indicate to him exactly that he was to follow the corridor, +then turn to the left?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"At what time is he to be here?" + +"At noon. He will be prompt; he never fails to keep an appointment." + +"Very well; about two o'clock to-morrow, I will give you a definite +answer on the subject of your protege." + +"And it will be favorable, will it not, uncle?" + +"I can't tell you yet. By the way, I shall be obliged to you if you will +not be in your office at noon." + +"Not be there, uncle? But Cherami is coming!" + +"Don't be disturbed about that; that's my affair. Go to pass the morning +with your fiancee." + +"Oh! I ask nothing better." + +"And return about two o'clock. I will tell you then my decision as to +Monsieur Cherami." + +The clock had just struck twelve when Cherami entered the banking-house +on the following day. He cherished no vain hopes; he did not anticipate +a favorable reply; but, with his customary philosophy, he said to +himself: + +"That won't prevent me from going to Gustave's wedding and enjoying +myself." + +As he was perfectly familiar with the way to the offices, Cherami +entered the vestibule on the street floor; at the right was a door +leading to the general offices, and in front, the door of a long +corridor on which several other doors opened. That was the corridor he +was to take to reach Gustave's office. Cherami passed through the door +and walked straight ahead. He had just passed Monsieur Grandcourt's +private office, when his foot struck something of considerable size; he +stooped, looked to see what it was, and picked up a portfolio. + +His first impulse was to examine what he had found. It was a very simple +portfolio, of green morocco, with no monogram or initials; but in one of +the compartments was a thick package of banknotes. Cherami counted them; +they amounted to twenty-five thousand francs. He looked through all the +other compartments, but found no letters, no papers, nothing to tell him +to whom it belonged. + +"Par la sambleu! this is a find!" said Cherami to himself. "Twenty-five +thousand francs! A very pretty little sum! Who can have lost it? I don't +see anybody; but I mustn't forget that Gustave is waiting for me." + +He put the portfolio in his pocket, and kept on to the end of the +corridor; then turned to the left, took another short corridor, saw a +door in front of him, and turned the knob; but the door did not open. + +"What's this? locked? Yes, it is locked," said Cherami to himself. +"Gustave must have forgotten the appointment. When he's just on the +brink of matrimony, it's quite excusable. I may as well go. But that +portfolio? Let's go and inquire at the cashier's office." + +The counting-room was at the end of the long corridor. Cherami had +passed it once without noticing that it was closed: it was Sunday, a +holiday. + +But as he turned back toward the door of the counting-room, Cherami +exclaimed: + +"Upon my word! everything is closed to-day! It's very strange! One would +say that circumstances conspired to enable me to appropriate this +portfolio with impunity!" + +He walked back along the corridor as far as the banker's door; there he +halted, saying: + +"Let's see if this one is locked, too." + +But that door yielded to his pressure, and Cherami found Monsieur +Grandcourt in his usual seat. He could not master a slight movement as +Cherami appeared, but he instantly repressed it, and greeted him with +the customary cool nod, and without rising. + +"I have come once more to bore you, monsieur," said his visitor; "I had +no intention of doing so, however; but Gustave made an appointment with +me for this noon, and I do not find him." + +"I don't know where he is, monsieur." + +"He was to give me an answer about--about something. I can guess that he +had nothing favorable to tell me; that is why he is not here." + +"In that case, monsieur, what do you want of me?" + +"Oh! mon Dieu! nothing, except to hand you this portfolio, which I found +in your corridor; and as the person who lost it will probably come here +in search of it, you will please return it to him. If I had found +anybody in the counting-room, I would not have disturbed you, I promise +you!" + +As he spoke, Cherami took the portfolio from his pocket and placed it on +the banker's desk. The latter's expression had changed completely; the +liveliest satisfaction was depicted on every feature. However, he strove +to conceal his pleasure, as he said: + +"Aha! you found this, you say--near here?" + +"In the corridor. I knocked at several doors, but they are all locked." + +"Do you know what it contains?" + +"Yes; twenty-five thousand francs in banknotes. Count them, and you will +see. Nothing else: no letters, no address, nothing to indicate to whom +it belongs." + +"Do you know, monsieur, that this is very well done of you?" said +Monsieur Grandcourt, turning to Cherami, and looking at him for the +first time with a kindly expression. + +"Well done of me! because I return a portfolio that I found? Tell me, in +God's name, did you take me for a thief, for a man who keeps what +doesn't belong to him? Sapristi! I don't propose that people shall hold +that opinion of me, and you must----" + +"Come, come! cool down, hot-head! I haven't a bad opinion of you. Do you +propose to pick a quarrel with me?" + +"You seem surprised that I do a perfectly simple thing--that I am +honest!" + +"Let us forget that.--Now, do you care to accept the position of our +travelling man? The duties are simply to go to see our correspondents +abroad, and keep us informed as to their orders. As you see, it's by no +means an unpleasant post. We will give you six thousand francs a year +and all your expenses paid. Does that suit you?" + +"Does it suit me! why, it delights me beyond words! Dear uncle of my +friend! Permit me--no, it's foolish for men to kiss--give me your hand, +that's better." + +"There it is, Monsieur Cherami; and henceforth you can number me among +your true friends." + +"Their number isn't very great: you and Gustave, that's all." + +"Permit me also to advance you two thousand francs on your salary; you +may have purchases to make, some troublesome little debts to pay." + +"Faith! I have, indeed. I will pay Capucine and Blanquette, two +creditors of long standing, who have not been very troublesome. I am +sure that they were never anxious; but they have waited long enough. +This evening, I will send them what I owe them. They will be surprised; +but they'll take it." + +A few days later, Gustave married Adolphine, who obtained at last the +reward of the sincere and devoted love which she had hidden so long in +the bottom of her heart. + +Fanny never saw her sister after she became Gustave's wife. The little +widow could not forgive herself for having refused a man who eventually +had more than forty thousand francs a year; especially as nobody else +came forward to take his place. + +Monsieur Batonnin was greatly vexed by the rejection of his hand. When +he learned that it was Gustave who was preferred to him, he was tempted +to make ill-natured remarks, because he, in common with many others, +thought that Gustave must be a coward, as he allowed Cherami to fight +for him. But when he came face to face with Adolphine's beloved, when he +saw the scar of the famous sword-cut, Monsieur Batonnin became smiling +and soft-spoken once more, and congratulated Gustave on his new choice. + +Some months after Gustave's marriage, Cherami, who had become a dandy +once more in respect to dress, happening to pass the omnibus office near +Porte Saint-Martin, met Madame Capucine and her two boys. He greeted the +corpulent dame cordially, saying: + +"Do you happen to be going to your aunt's again? But, no; this isn't the +direction." + +"Excuse me; she isn't at Saint-Mande now, she's gone back to +Romainville; she feels better there." + +"Does she eat as many rabbits?" + +"No, too many were stolen; she got sick of 'em." + +"Then, I will call again to see dear Madame Duponceau." + +"Oh! yes, as you did before; when you leave the house, that's the last +we see of you. Come now, with us." + +"I can't possibly to-day; I see two young ladies yonder looking for me." + +Cherami had caught sight of Mesdemoiselles Laurette and Lucie at the +corner of the boulevard, where they had stopped to stare at him, and +were saying to each other: + +"Is it really him? How finely he's dressed now!" + +"Yes, it certainly is him. Don't you see, his nose is still crooked." + +"But now he's dressed so fine, that don't look very bad; he has a very +stylish air, I tell you." + +Cherami approached the two friends, and saluted them with a gracious +bow, saying: + +"Really, this square is very good to me; for I remember, mesdemoiselles, +that it was in front of this same omnibus office that I first had the +pleasure of seeing you." + +"That is true, monsieur; but we are still simple working-girls, while +you, monsieur, you seem to have made your fortune." + +"No, mesdemoiselles; I haven't made my fortune. I have just straightened +myself out, reformed a bit, and I have found a place which I am +determined to fill satisfactorily. Twice before, when I met you, I +invited you to dine; and I should have been sadly embarrassed if you had +accepted, for I hadn't a sou in my pocket. To-day, my pocket is well +lined, and yet I shall not repeat my invitation, because I represent the +firm of Grandcourt & Nephew, and, as such representative, I have +determined to change my mode of life. But that will not prevent me from +offering each of you a bouquet, for the most virtuous man is always at +liberty to be gallant." + +With that, Cherami purchased, from a flower-girl at the corner, two +superb bouquets, which he bestowed upon Mesdemoiselles Laurette and +Lucie. Then he saluted them anew and took his leave of them, saying to +himself: + +"I behaved like Cato! And I am the more inclined to congratulate myself, +because, in my new lodgings on Rue de Richelieu, I have, on the same +floor, a charming neighbor--well dressed, with a distinguished air--a +widow with a modest competence--who has responded to my salutations with +the most gracious smiles; and, faith! I have my cue!" + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] Chienlit is the equivalent of the gibing expression "shirt hanging +out" used by urchins among ourselves. It also signifies the strip of +paper surreptitiously fastened to the clothes to render a person a +laughing-stock; or, again, it alludes to the eccentric fashions of +certain Carnival masqueraders. + +[B] _Cher ami_ means "dear friend." + +[C] Blanquette, in its culinary acceptation, signifies a "ragout." + +[D] "Woman is forever changing, and he is a great fool who trusts her." + +[E] Vous me faites suer; literally, "you make me sweat," which explains +Cherami's retort. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Monsieur Cherami, by Charles Paul de Kock + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONSIEUR CHERAMI *** + +***** This file should be named 34338.txt or 34338.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3/34338/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images at The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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