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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pride, by Eugene Sue
+
+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: Pride
+       one of the seven cardinal sins
+
+Author: Eugene Sue
+
+Illustrator: Adrian Marcel
+
+Release Date: November 16, 2010 [EBook #34345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRIDE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: 'Here Is a Very Important Letter']
+
+
+
+
+Pride
+
+One of the Seven Cardinal Sins
+
+By Eugene Sue
+
+Illustrated with Etchings by
+Adrian Marcel
+
+In Two Volumes
+
+Dana Estes & Company
+Publishers
+
+Boston
+
+_Copyright, 1899_
+
+BY FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS & CO.
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVEN CARDINAL SINS
+
+PRIDE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+Vol. I.
+
+CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+  I.   THE OLD COMMANDER                                     13
+
+ II.   THE BRAVE DUKE                                        24
+
+III.   THE DINNER IN THE ARBOUR                              32
+
+IV.   THE DUCHESS                                            41
+
+ V.   THE LION OF THE BALL                                   54
+
+VI.   THE DUEL                                               66
+
+VII.   THE PRETTY MUSICIAN                                   73
+
+VIII.   THE UNHAPPY SECRET                                   79
+
+IX.   THE PRIVATE INTERVIEW                                  89
+
+ X.   REVELATIONS                                            96
+
+XI.   THE PURSE OF MONEY                                    106
+
+XII.   A VAIN INTERVIEW                                     115
+
+XIII.   UNEXPECTED CONSOLATION                              125
+
+XIV.   THE SOLEMN COMPACT                                   136
+
+XV.   A GLORIOUS DREAM                                      145
+
+XVI.   AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE REFUSAL                          154
+
+XVII.   PRESUMPTION AND INDIGNATION                         161
+
+XVIII.   A PURELY BUSINESS TRANSACTION                      171
+
+XIX.   IN M. DE MORNAND'S STUDY                             177
+
+XX.   ATTENTIONS TO THE HEIRESS                             185
+
+XXI.   THE HUNCHBACK MEETS THE HEIRESS                      195
+
+XXII.   AN ORGY OF SINCERITY                                204
+
+XXIII.   AN INVOLUNTARY AVERSION                            213
+
+XXIV.   AN UNWELCOME VISITOR                                224
+
+XXV.   MATRIMONIAL INTENTIONS DISCLOSED                     232
+
+XXVI.   THE COMMANDER'S ADVICE                              242
+
+XXVII.   THE ABODE OF THE DUCHESS                           251
+
+XXVIII.   A SACRED MISSION                                  261
+
+XXIX.   HUMILIATION AND CONSOLATION                         273
+
+XXX.   AN APOLOGY ACCEPTED                                  283
+
+XXXI.   THE PRIVATE STAIRWAY                                293
+
+XXXII.   UNBURDENING THE HEART                              302
+
+XXXIII.   THE THREE RIVALS                                  310
+
+XXXIV.    TORMENTED BY DOUBTS                               321
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+PAGE
+
+"'HERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT LETTER'" _Frontispiece_
+
+"RAN HIS BLADE THROUGH HIS ANTAGONIST'S RIGHT ARM" 69
+
+"SHE HELD OUT THE BANK-NOTE" 130
+
+"'I WILL GO AND TRY TO FIND THAT YOUNG COXCOMB'" 278
+
+
+
+
+PRIDE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE OLD COMMANDER.
+
+
+Elle avait un vice, l'orgueil, qui lui tenait lieu de toutes les
+qualites.[A]
+
+[A] She had one fault, pride, which, in her, answered in place of all
+the virtues.
+
+COMMANDER BERNARD, a resident of Paris, after having served under the
+Empire in the Marine Corps, and under the Restoration as a lieutenant in
+the navy, was retired about the year 1830, with the brevet rank of
+captain.
+
+Honourably mentioned again and again for his daring exploits in the
+maritime engagements of the East Indian war, and subsequently recognised
+as one of the bravest soldiers in the Russian campaign, M. Bernard, the
+most unassuming and upright of men, with the kindest heart in the world,
+lived quietly and frugally upon his modest pension, in a little
+apartment on one of the least frequented streets of the Batignolles.
+
+An elderly woman, named Madame Barbancon, had kept house for him ten
+years or more, and, though really very fond of him, led him a rather
+hard life at times, for the worthy female, who had an extremely high
+temper and a very despotic disposition, was very fond of reminding her
+employer that she had sacrificed an enviable social position to serve
+him.
+
+The real truth was, Madame Barbancon had long acted as assistant in the
+establishment of a well-known midwife,--an experience which furnished
+her with material for an inexhaustible stock of marvellous stories, her
+great favourite being her adventure with a masked lady who, with her
+assistance, had brought a lovely girl baby into the world, a child
+Madame Barbancon had taken care of for two years, but which had been
+claimed by a stranger at the expiration of that time.
+
+Four or five years after this memorable event, Madame Barbancon decided
+to resign her practice and assume the twofold functions of nurse and
+housekeeper.
+
+About this time Commander Bernard, who was suffering greatly from the
+reopening of several old wounds, needed a nurse, and was so well pleased
+with Madame Barbancon's skill that he asked her to enter his service.
+
+"You will have a pretty easy time of it, Mother Barbancon," the veteran
+said to her. "I am not hard to live with, and we shall get along
+comfortably together."
+
+Madame Barbancon promptly accepted the offer, elevated herself forthwith
+to the position of Commander Bernard's _dame de confiance_, and slowly
+but surely became a veritable servant-mistress. Indeed, seeing the
+angelic patience with which the commander endured this domestic tyranny,
+one would have taken the old naval officer for some meek-spirited
+_rentier_, instead of one of the bravest soldiers of the Empire.
+
+Commander Bernard was passionately fond of gardening, and lavished any
+amount of care and attention upon a little arbour, constructed by his
+own hands and covered with clematis, hop-vines, and honeysuckle, where
+he loved to sit after his frugal dinner and smoke his pipe and think of
+his campaigns and his former companions in arms. This arbour marked the
+limits of the commander's landed possessions, for though very small, the
+garden was divided into two parts. The portion claimed by Madame
+Barbancon aspired only to be useful; the other, of which the veteran
+took entire charge, was intended to please the eye only.
+
+The precise boundaries of these two plats of ground had been, and were
+still, the cause of a quiet but determined struggle between the
+commander and his housekeeper.
+
+Never did two nations, anxious to extend their frontiers, each at the
+expense of the other, resort to more trickery or display greater
+cleverness and perseverance in concealing and maintaining their mutual
+attempts at invasion.
+
+We must do the commander the justice to say that he fought only for his
+rights, having no desire to extend, but merely to preserve his territory
+intact,--territory upon which the bold and insatiable housekeeper was
+ever trying to encroach by establishing her thyme, savory, parsley, and
+camomile beds among her employer's roses, tulips, and peonies.
+
+Another cause of heated controversy between the commander and Madame
+Barbancon was the implacable hatred the latter felt for Napoleon, whom
+she had never forgiven for the death of a young soldier,--the only lover
+she had ever been able to boast of, probably. She carried this rancour
+so far, in fact, as to style the Emperor that "Corsican ogre," and even
+to deny him the possession of any military genius, an asseveration that
+amused the veteran immensely.
+
+Nevertheless, in spite of these diverse political sentiments, and the
+ever recurring and annoying question of the boundaries of the two
+gardens, Madame Barbancon was, at heart, sincerely devoted to her
+employer, and attended assiduously to his every want, while the
+veteran, for his part, would have sorely missed his irascible
+housekeeper's care and attentions.
+
+The spring of 1844 was fast drawing to a close. The May verdure was
+shining in all its freshness; three o'clock in the afternoon had just
+sounded; and though the day was warm, and the sun's rays ardent, the
+pleasant scent of freshly watered earth, combined with the fragrant
+odour of several small clumps of lilacs and syringas, testified to the
+faithful care the commander bestowed upon his garden, for from a
+frequently and laboriously filled wash-tub sunk in the earth, and
+dignified with the name of reservoir, the veteran had just treated his
+little domain to a refreshing shower; nor had he, in his generous
+impartiality, excluded his housekeeper's vegetable beds and kitchen
+herbs from the benefits of his ministrations.
+
+The veteran, in his gardening costume of gray linen jacket and big straw
+hat, was now resting from his labours in the arbour, already nearly
+covered with a vigorous growth of clematis and honeysuckle. His
+sunburned features were characterised by an expression of unusual
+frankness and kindness, though a heavy moustache, as white as his
+bristling white hair, imparted a decidedly martial air to his
+physiognomy.
+
+After wiping the sweat from his forehead with a blue checked
+handkerchief and returning it to his pocket, the veteran picked up his
+pipe from a table in the arbour, filled and lighted it, then,
+establishing himself in an old cane-bottomed armchair, began to smoke
+and enjoy the beauty of the day, the stillness of which was broken only
+by the occasional twitter of a few birds and the humming of Madame
+Barbancon, who was engaged in gathering some lettuce and parsley for the
+supper salad. If the veteran had not been blessed with nerves of steel,
+his _dolce far niente_ would have been sadly disturbed by the monotonous
+refrain of the old-fashioned love song entitled "Poor Jacques," which
+the worthy woman was murdering in the most atrocious manner.
+
+    "Mais a present que je suis loin de toi,
+        Je mange de tout sur la terre,"[B]
+
+she sang in a voice as false as it was nasal, and the lugubrious,
+heart-broken expression she gave to the words, shaking her head sadly
+the while, made the whole thing extremely ludicrous.
+
+[B] Instead of "Je manque de tout sur la terre."
+
+For ten years Commander Bernard had endured this travesty without a
+murmur, and without taking the slightest notice of the ridiculous
+meaning Madame Barbancon gave to the last line of the chorus.
+
+It is quite possible that to-day the meaning of the words struck him
+more forcibly, and that a desire to devour everything upon the surface
+of the earth did not seem to him to be the natural consequence of
+separation from one's beloved, for, after having lent an impartial and
+attentive ear a second time to his housekeeper's doleful ditty, he
+exclaimed, laying his pipe on the table:
+
+"What the devil is that nonsense you are singing, Madame Barbancon?"
+
+"It is a very pretty love song called 'Poor Jacques,'" snapped Madame
+Barbancon, straightening herself up. "Every one to his taste, you know,
+monsieur, and you have a perfect right to make fun of it, if you choose,
+of course. This isn't the first time you have heard me sing it, though."
+
+"No, no, you're quite right about that!" responded the commander,
+satirically.
+
+"I learned the song," resumed the housekeeper, sighing heavily, "in
+days--in days--but enough!" she exclaimed, burying her regrets in her
+capacious bosom. "I sang it, I remember, to that masked lady who came--"
+
+"I'd rather hear the song," hastily exclaimed the veteran, seeing
+himself threatened with the same tiresome story. "Yes, I much prefer the
+song to the story. It isn't so long, but the deuce take me if I
+understand you when you say:
+
+    "'Mais a present que je suis loin de toi,
+           Je mange de tout sur la terre.'"
+
+"What, monsieur, you don't understand?"
+
+"No, I don't."
+
+"It is very plain it seems to me, but soldiers are so unfeeling."
+
+"But think a moment, Mother Barbancon; here is a girl who, in her
+despair at poor Jacques's absence, sets about eating everything on the
+face of the earth."
+
+"Of course, monsieur, any child could understand that."
+
+"But I do not, I must confess."
+
+"What! you can't understand that this unfortunate young girl is so
+heart-broken, after her lover's departure, that she is ready to eat
+anything and everything--even poison, poor thing! Her life is of so
+little value to her,--she is so wretched that she doesn't even know what
+she is doing, and so eats everything that happens to be within
+reach--and yet, her misery doesn't move you in the least."
+
+The veteran listened attentively to this explanation, which did not seem
+to him so entirely devoid of reason, now, after all.
+
+"Yes, yes, I understand," he responded, nodding his head; "but it is
+like all love songs--extremely far-fetched."
+
+"'Poor Jacques' far-fetched? The idea!" cried Madame Barbancon,
+indignantly.
+
+"'Every one to his taste,' as you remarked a moment ago," answered the
+veteran. "I like our old sea songs very much better. A man knows what he
+is singing about when he sings them."
+
+And in a voice as powerful as it was discordant, the old captain began
+to sing:
+
+    "Pour aller a Lorient pecher des sardines,
+        Pour aller a Lorient pecher des harengs--"
+
+"Monsieur!" exclaimed Madame Barbancon, interrupting her employer, with
+a highly incensed and prudish air, for she knew the end of the ditty,
+"you forget there are ladies present."
+
+"Is that so?" demanded the veteran, straining his neck to see outside of
+the arbour.
+
+"There is no need to make such an effort as that, it seems to me,"
+remarked the housekeeper, with great dignity. "You can see me easy
+enough, I should think."
+
+"That is true, Mother Barbancon. I always forget that you belong to the
+other sex, but for all that I like my song much better than I do yours.
+It was a great favourite on the _Armide_, the frigate on which I shipped
+when I was only fourteen, and afterwards we sang it many a time on dry
+land when I was in the Marine Corps. Oh, those were happy days! I was
+young then."
+
+"Yes, and then Bu-u-onaparte"--it is absolutely necessary to spell and
+accent the word in this way, to give the reader any idea of the
+disdainful and sneering manner in which Mother Barbancon uttered the
+name of the great man who had been the cause of her brave soldier boy's
+death--"Bu-u-onaparte was your leader."
+
+"Yes, the Emperor, that 'Corsican ogre,' the Emperor you revile so,
+wasn't far off, I admit."
+
+"Yes, monsieur, your Emperor was an ogre, and worse than an ogre."
+
+"What! worse than an ogre?"
+
+"Yes, yes, laugh as much as you like, but he was. Do you know, monsieur,
+that when that Corsican ogre had the Pope in his power at Fontainebleau,
+do you know how grossly he insulted our Holy Father, your beast of a
+Bu-u-onaparte?"
+
+"No, Mother Barbancon, I never heard of it, upon my word of honour."
+
+"It is of no use for you to deny it; I heard it from a young man in the
+guards--"
+
+"Who must be a pretty old customer by this time, but let us hear the
+story."
+
+"Ah, well, monsieur, your Bu-u-onaparte was mean enough, in his longing
+to humiliate the Pope, to harness him to the little King of Rome's
+carriage, then get into it and make the poor Holy Father drag him across
+the park at Fontainebleau, in order that he might go in this fashion to
+announce his divorce to the Empress Josephine--that poor, dear, good
+woman!"
+
+"What, Mother Barbancon," exclaimed the old sailor, almost choking with
+laughter, "that scoundrel of an Emperor made the Pope drag him across
+the park in the King of Rome's carriage to tell the Empress Josephine of
+his divorce?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, in order to torment her on account of her religion, just
+as he forced her to eat a big ham every Good Friday in the presence of
+Roustan, that dreadful mameluke of his, who used to boast of being a
+Mussulman and talk about his harem before the priests, just to insult
+the clergy, until they blushed with shame. There is nothing to laugh at
+in all this, monsieur. At one time, everybody knew and talked about it,
+even--"
+
+But, unfortunately, the housekeeper was unable to continue her tirade.
+Her recriminations were just then interrupted by a vigorous peal of the
+bell, and she hurried off to open the door.
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary before the introduction of a
+new character, Olivier Raymond, Commander Bernard's nephew.
+
+The veteran's sister had married a copyist in the Interior Department,
+and after several years of wedded life the clerk died, leaving a widow
+and one son, then about eight years of age; after which several friends
+of the deceased interested themselves in the fatherless boy's behalf,
+and secured him a scholarship in a fairly good school.
+
+The widow, left entirely without means, and having no right to a
+pension, endeavoured to support herself by her needle, but after a few
+years of pinched and laborious existence she left her son an orphan. His
+uncle Bernard, his sole relative, was then a lieutenant in command of a
+schooner attached to one of our naval stations in the Southern Pacific.
+Upon his return to France, the captain found that his nephew's last year
+in college was nearing an end. Olivier, though his college course had
+been marked by no particularly brilliant triumphs, had at least
+thoroughly profited by his gratuitous education, but unfortunately, this
+education being, as is often the case, far from practical, his future on
+leaving college was by no means assured.
+
+After having reflected long and seriously upon his nephew's precarious
+position, and being unable to give him any pecuniary assistance by
+reason of the smallness of his own pay, Commander Bernard said to
+Olivier:
+
+"My poor boy, there is but one thing for you to do. You are strong,
+brave, and intelligent. You have received an education which renders you
+superior to most of the poor young men who enlist in the army. The
+conscription is almost sure to catch you next year. Get ahead of it.
+Enlist. In that case, you will at least be able to select the branch of
+the service you will enter. There is fighting in Africa, and in five or
+six years you are likely to be made an officer. This will give you some
+chance of a career. Still, if the idea of a military life is distasteful
+to you, my dear boy, we will try to think of something else. We can get
+along on my pay, as a retired officer, until something else offers. Now
+think the matter over."
+
+Olivier was not long in making up his mind. Three months afterward he
+enlisted, on condition that he should be assigned to the African
+Chasseurs. A year later he was a quartermaster's sergeant; one year
+afterward a quartermaster. Attacked with one of those stubborn fevers,
+which a return to a European climate alone can cure, Olivier,
+unfortunately, was obliged to leave Africa just as he had every reason
+to expect an officer's epaulettes. After his recovery he was assigned to
+a regiment of hussars, and, after eighteen months' service in that, he
+had recently come to spend a six months' furlough in Paris, with his
+uncle.
+
+The old sailor's flat consisted of a tiny kitchen, into which Madame
+Barbancon's room opened, of a sort of hall-way, which served as a
+dining-room, and another considerably larger room, in which the
+commander and his nephew slept. Olivier, knowing how little his uncle
+had to live on, would not consent to remain idle. He wrote a remarkably
+good hand, and this, together with the knowledge of accounts acquired
+while acting as quartermaster, enabled him to secure several sets of
+books to keep among the petty merchants in the neighbourhood; so,
+instead of being a burden upon the veteran, the young officer, with
+Madame Barbancon's connivance, secretly added his mite to the
+forty-eight francs' pay the commander received each month, besides
+treating his uncle now and then to agreeable surprises, which both
+delighted and annoyed the worthy man, knowing, as he did, the assiduous
+labour Olivier imposed upon himself to earn this money.
+
+Accustomed from childhood to privations of every kind, first by his
+experience as a charity pupil, and subsequently by the vicissitudes of
+army life in Africa, kind-hearted, genial, enthusiastic, and brave,
+Olivier had but one fault, that is, if an excessive delicacy in all
+money matters, great and small, can be called a fault. As a common
+soldier, he even carried his scruples so far that he would refuse the
+slightest invitation from his comrades, if he was not allowed to pay
+his own score. This extreme sensitiveness having been at first ridiculed
+and considered mere affectation, two duels, in which Olivier quite
+covered himself with glory, caused this peculiarity in the character of
+the young soldier to be both accepted and respected.
+
+Olivier, cheerful, obliging, quick-witted, and delighted with
+everything, enlivened his uncle's modest home immensely by his gay
+spirits. In his rare moments of leisure the young man cultivated his
+taste by reading the great poets, or else he spaded and watered and
+gardened with his uncle, after which they smoked their pipes, and talked
+of foreign lands and of war. At other times, calling into play the
+culinary knowledge acquired in African camps, Olivier initiated Madame
+Barbancon into the mysteries of _brochettes de mouton_ and other viands,
+the cooking lessons being enlivened with jokes and all sorts of teasing
+remarks about Bu-u-onaparte, though the housekeeper scolded and snubbed
+Olivier none the less because she loved him with her whole heart. In
+short, the young man's presence had cheered the monotonous existence of
+the veteran and his housekeeper so much that their hearts quite failed
+them when they recollected that two months of Olivier's leave had
+already expired.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE BRAVE DUKE.
+
+
+OLIVIER RAYMOND was not more than twenty-four years of age, and
+possessed a singularly expressive and attractive face. His short, white
+hussar jacket, trimmed with red and decorated with yellow frogs, his
+well-cut, light blue trousers, that fitted his well-formed supple limbs
+perfectly, and his blue kepi, perched upon one side of a head covered
+with hair of the same bright chestnut hue as his moustache, imparted an
+extremely dashing and martial air to his appearance, only, instead of a
+sabre, Olivier carried that day under his left arm a big roll of papers,
+and in his right hand a formidable bundle of pens.
+
+As the young man deposited these eminently peaceful implements upon a
+table, he turned, and exclaimed gaily, "How are you, Mamma Barbancon?"
+
+In fact, he even had the audacity to put his long arms about the
+housekeeper's bony waist, and give her a slight squeeze as he spoke.
+
+"Will you never have done with your nonsense, you rascal?" snapped the
+delighted housekeeper.
+
+"Oh, this is only the beginning. I've got to make a complete conquest of
+you, Mamma Barbancon."
+
+"Of me?"
+
+"Unquestionably. It is absolutely necessary. I'm compelled to do it."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"In order to induce you to grant me a favour."
+
+"We'll see about that. What is it?"
+
+"Tell me first where my uncle is."
+
+"Smoking his pipe out under the arbour."
+
+"All right! Wait for me here, Mamma Barbancon, and prepare your mind for
+something startling."
+
+"Something startling, M. Olivier?"
+
+"Yes, something monstrous--unheard-of--impossible!"
+
+"Monstrous--unheard-of--" repeated Madame Barbancon, wonderingly, as she
+watched the young soldier dash off in pursuit of his uncle.
+
+"How are you, my lad? I didn't expect you so early," said the old
+captain, holding out his hand to his nephew in pleased surprise. "Home
+so soon! But so much the better!"
+
+"So much the better!" retorted Olivier, gaily. "On the contrary, you
+little know what is in store for you. Courage, uncle, courage!"
+
+"Stop your nonsense, you young scoundrel!"
+
+"Close your eyes, and now, 'forward march!'"
+
+"Forward march? Against whom?"
+
+"Against Mother Barbancon, my brave uncle."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"To break the news that--that--that I have invited--some one to dinner."
+
+"The devil!" exclaimed the veteran, recoiling a step or two in evident
+dismay.
+
+"To dinner--to-day," continued the young lieutenant.
+
+"The devil!" reiterated the veteran, recoiling three steps this time.
+
+"Moreover, my guest--is a duke," continued Olivier.
+
+"A duke! We are lost!" faltered the veteran.
+
+And this time he entirely vanished from sight in his verdant refuge,
+where he seemed as resolved to maintain his stand as if in some
+impregnable fortress. "May the devil and all his imps seize me if I
+undertake to announce any such fact as this to Mother Barbancon!"
+
+"What, uncle,--an officer of marines--afraid?"
+
+"But you've no idea what a scrape you've got yourself into, young man!
+It's a desperate case, I tell you. You don't know Madame Barbancon. But,
+good heavens, here she comes now!"
+
+"Our retreat is cut off, uncle," laughed the young man, as Madame
+Barbancon, whose curiosity had been excited to such a degree that she
+could wait no longer, appeared in the entrance to the arbour. "My guest
+will be here in an hour at the very latest, and we needs must conquer or
+perish of hunger,--you and I and my guest, whose name, I ought to tell
+you, is the Duc de Senneterre."
+
+"It's no affair of mine, unhappy boy," responded the commander. "Tell
+her yourself; here she is."
+
+But Olivier only laughed, and, turning to the dreaded housekeeper,
+exclaimed:
+
+"My uncle has something to tell you, Madame Barbancon."
+
+"There's not a word of truth in what he says," protested the veteran,
+wiping the sweat from his brow with his checked handkerchief. "It is
+Olivier who has something to tell you."
+
+"Come, come, uncle, Mother Barbancon is not as dangerous as she looks.
+Make a clean breast of it."
+
+"It is your affair, my boy. Get out of the scrape as best you can."
+
+The housekeeper, after having glanced first at the uncle and then at the
+nephew with mingled curiosity and anxiety, at last asked, turning to her
+employer:
+
+"What is it, monsieur?"
+
+"Ask Olivier, my dear woman. As for me, I've nothing whatever to do with
+it; I wash my hands of the whole affair."
+
+"Ah, well, Mamma Barbancon," said the young soldier, bravely, "you are
+to lay three covers instead of two at dinner, that is all."
+
+"Three covers, M. Olivier, and why?"
+
+"Because I have invited a former comrade to dine with us."
+
+"_Bon Dieu!_" exclaimed the housekeeper, evidently more terrified than
+angry, "a guest, and this is not even _pot au feu_ day. We have only an
+onion soup, a vinaigrette made out of yesterday's beef, and a salad."
+
+"And what more could you possibly want, Mamma Barbancon?" cried Olivier,
+joyously, for he had not expected to find the larder nearly so well
+supplied. "An onion soup concocted by you, a vinaigrette and a salad
+seasoned by you, make a banquet for the gods, and my comrade, Gerald,
+will dine like a king. Take notice that I do not say like an emperor,
+Mamma Barbancon."
+
+But this delicate allusion to madame's anti-Bonapartist opinions passed
+unnoticed. For the moment the worshipper of the departed guardsman was
+lost in the anxious housewife.
+
+"To think that you couldn't have selected a _pot au feu_ day when it
+would have been such an easy matter, M. Olivier," she exclaimed,
+reproachfully.
+
+"It was not I but my comrade who chose the day, Mamma Barbancon."
+
+"But in polite society, M. Olivier, it is a very common thing to say
+plainly: 'Don't come to-day; come to-morrow. We shall have the _pot au
+feu_ then.' But, after all, I don't suppose we've got dukes and peers to
+deal with."
+
+Olivier was strongly tempted to excite the worthy housewife's
+perturbation to the highest pitch by telling her that it was indeed a
+duke that was coming to eat her vinaigrette, but scarcely daring to
+subject Madame Barbancon's culinary self-love to this severe test, he
+contented himself with saying:
+
+"The mischief is done, Mamma Barbancon, so all I ask is that you will
+not put me to shame in the presence of an old African comrade."
+
+"Great heavens! Is it possible you fear that, M. Olivier? Put you to
+shame--I? Quite the contrary, for I would like--"
+
+"It is getting late," said Olivier, "and my friend will soon be here, as
+hungry as a wolf, so, Mamma Barbancon, take pity on us!"
+
+"True, I haven't a minute to lose."
+
+And the worthy woman bustled away, repeating dolefully, "To think he
+couldn't have chosen _pot au feu_ day."
+
+"Well, she took it much better than I expected," remarked the veteran.
+"It is evident that she is very fond of you. But now, between ourselves,
+my dear nephew, you ought to have warned me of your intentions, so your
+friend might have found, at least, a passable dinner, but you just ask
+him to come and take pot-luck; and he is a duke into the bargain. But,
+tell me, how the deuce did you happen to have a duke for a comrade in
+the African Chasseurs?"
+
+"I'll explain, my dear uncle, for I'm sure you'll take a great fancy to
+my friend Gerald. There are not many of his stamp to be found nowadays,
+I assure you. We were classmates at the college of Louis le Grand. I
+left for Africa. Six months afterward my friend Gerald was in the ranks
+beside me."
+
+"A private?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But why didn't he enter the army by way of St. Cyr? It was merely a
+whim or caprice on his part, I suppose, this enlisting?"
+
+"No, uncle; on the contrary, Gerald's conduct in the matter has been the
+result of profound reflection. He is a grand seigneur by birth, being,
+as I told you just now, the Duc de Senneterre."
+
+"That is a name that has figured prominently in the history of France,"
+remarked the old sailor.
+
+"Yes, the house of Senneterre is as ancient as it is illustrious,
+uncle, but Gerald's family has lost the greater part of the immense
+fortune it once possessed. There remains now, I think, an income of
+barely forty thousand francs a year. That is a good deal of money for
+the generality of people, but not for persons of noble birth; besides,
+Gerald has two sisters who must be provided with dowries."
+
+"But tell me how and why your young duke happened to join the army as a
+private?"
+
+"In the first place, my friend Gerald is very original in his ideas, and
+has all kinds of odd notions about life. When he found himself within
+the conscription age, on leaving college, his father--he had a father
+then--remarked one day, as if it were the most natural thing in the
+world, that arrangements must be made to secure a substitute if any such
+contingency should arise, and do you know what this peculiar friend of
+mine replied?"
+
+"Tell me."
+
+"'Father,' said Gerald, 'this is a duty that every right-minded man owes
+to his country. It is an obligation of race, particularly when a war is
+actually going on, and I consider it an ignoble act to endeavour to
+escape the dangers of war by hiring some poor devil to leave his farm or
+work-bench and go and run the risk of being killed in your stead. To do
+this is to confess oneself a coward, and, as I am not desirous of such a
+reputation, I shall serve, if my name is drawn.'"
+
+"Zounds! I'm in love with your young duke, already!" exclaimed the
+veteran.
+
+"He stated the case pretty correctly, didn't he?" replied Olivier, with
+friendly complacency. "Though this resolution seemed very strange to his
+father, that gentleman had too keen a sense of honour to oppose it.
+Gerald's name was drawn, and that is the way he happened to be a private
+in the African Chasseurs, currying his horse, doing his share of the
+stable and kitchen work like the rest of us, and even going to the
+guard-house without a word of complaint if he absented himself without
+permission. In short, there wasn't a better soldier in the regiment."
+
+"Nor a braver, too, I'll be bound," said the veteran, more and more
+interested.
+
+"Brave as a lion, and so gay and enthusiastic when he charged upon the
+enemy that he would have fired the hearts of a whole battalion!"
+
+"But with his name and connections, I should think he would soon have
+been made an officer."
+
+"And so he would, doubtless, though he cared nothing about it, for when
+his term of service expired, and he had paid his debt to his country, as
+he expressed it, he said he wanted to return and again enjoy the
+pleasures of Paris life of which he was passionately fond. After three
+years of service Gerald had become a quartermaster like myself. About
+this time he was severely wounded in the shoulder during a bold charge
+upon quite a large body of Arabs. Fortunately, I was able to extricate
+him and carry him off the field,--lifeless to all appearance,--on my
+horse. The result was he was furloughed, and on leaving the service he
+went back to Paris. We had become quite intimate, and after his return
+to France we kept up quite a brisk correspondence. I hoped to meet him
+again upon my arrival here, but I learned that he was travelling in
+England. This morning, as I was walking along the boulevard, I heard
+some one call me at the top of his voice, and, turning, I saw Gerald
+jump out of a handsome cabriolet, and a second later we were embracing
+each other as two friends embrace each other on the battlefield after a
+warm engagement."
+
+"'We must dine and spend the evening together,' he said.' Where are you
+staying?'
+
+"'With my uncle,' I replied.' I have told him about you a hundred times,
+and he loves you almost as much as I do.'
+
+"'Very well, then I will come and take dinner with you,' said Gerald.
+'I want to see your uncle. I have a thousand things to say to him.'
+
+"And knowing what a kind-hearted, unassuming fellow Gerald is, I
+assented to his proposal, warning him, however, that I should be obliged
+to leave him at seven o'clock, exactly as if I were clerk of the court,
+or was obliged to return to quarters," concluded Olivier, gaily.
+
+"Good lad that you are!" said the commander, affectionately.
+
+"It will give me great pleasure to introduce Gerald to you, uncle, for I
+know that you will feel at ease with him at once; besides," continued
+the young soldier, colouring a little, "Gerald is rich, I am poor. He
+knows my scruples, and as he is aware that I could not afford to pay my
+share of the bill at any fashionable restaurant, he preferred to invite
+himself here."
+
+"I understand," said the veteran, "and your young duke shows both
+delicacy of feeling and kindness of heart in acting thus. Let us at
+least hope that Madame Barbancon's vinaigrette won't disagree with him,"
+added the commander, laughing.
+
+He had scarcely given utterance to this philanthropical wish when the
+door-bell gave another loud peal, and a moment afterwards the uncle and
+nephew saw the young Duc de Senneterre coming down the garden walk
+preceded by Madame Barbancon, who was in such a state of mental
+perturbation that she had entirely forgotten to remove her big kitchen
+apron.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE DINNER IN THE ARBOUR.
+
+
+The Duc de Senneterre, who was about Olivier Raymond's age, had a
+distinguished bearing, and an exceedingly handsome and attractive face,
+with black hair and moustache, and eyes of a deep rich blue. His attire
+was marked with an elegant simplicity.
+
+"Uncle, this is Gerald, my best friend, of whom I have so often spoken,"
+said Olivier.
+
+"I am delighted to see you, monsieur," said the veteran, cordially
+offering his hand to his nephew's friend.
+
+"And I, commander," rejoined Gerald, with that deference to age which is
+imbibed from prolonged military service, "am sincerely glad to have the
+honour of pressing your hand. I know all your goodness to Olivier, and
+as I regard him almost as a brother, you must understand how thoroughly
+I have always appreciated your devotion to him."
+
+"Gentlemen, will you have your soup in the house or under the arbour, as
+you usually do when the weather is fine?" inquired Madame Barbancon.
+
+"We will dine in the arbour--if the commander approves, my dear Madame
+Barbancon," responded Gerald; "it will be charming; the afternoon is
+perfect."
+
+"Monsieur knows me?" exclaimed the housekeeper, looking first at
+Olivier, and then at the duke, in great astonishment.
+
+"Know you, Madame Barbancon?" exclaimed Gerald, gaily. "Why, hasn't
+Olivier spoken of you a hundred times while we were in camp, and
+haven't we had more than one quarrel all on your account?"
+
+"On my account?"
+
+"Most assuredly. That rascal of an Olivier is a great Bonapartist, you
+know. He cannot forgive any one for detesting that odious tyrant, and I
+took your part, for I, too, abhor the tyrant--that vile Corsican ogre!"
+
+"Corsican ogre! You are a man after my own heart, monsieur. Let us shake
+hands--we understand each other," cried the housekeeper, triumphantly.
+
+And she extended her bony hand to Gerald, who shook it heartily, at the
+same time remarking to the commander:
+
+"Upon my word, sir, you had better take care, and you, too, Olivier,
+will have to look out now. Madame Barbancon had no one to help her
+before, now she will have a sturdy auxiliary in me."
+
+"Look here, Madame Barbancon," exclaimed Olivier, coming to the rescue
+of his friend whom the housekeeper seemed inclined to monopolise,
+"Gerald must be nearly famished, you forget that. Come, I'll help you
+bring the table out here."
+
+"True, I had forgotten all about dinner," cried the housekeeper,
+hastening towards the house.
+
+Seeing Olivier start after her, as if to aid her, Gerald said:
+
+"Wait a moment, my dear fellow, do you suppose I'm going to leave all
+the work to you?"
+
+Then turning to the commander:
+
+"You don't object, I trust, commander. I am making very free, I know,
+but when we were in the army together Olivier and I set the mess-table
+more than once, so you will find that I'm not as awkward as you might
+suppose."
+
+It was a pleasure to see how cleverly and adroitly and gaily Gerald
+assisted his former comrade in setting the table under the arbour. The
+task was accomplished so quickly and neatly that one would have
+supposed that the young duke, like his friend, must have been used to
+poverty all his life.
+
+To please his friend, Gerald, in half an hour, made a complete conquest
+of the veteran and his housekeeper, who was delighted beyond expression
+to see her anti-Bonapartist ally partake with great apparent enjoyment
+of her onion soup, salad, and vinaigrette, to which Gerald even asked to
+be helped twice.
+
+It is needless to say that, during this cheerful repast, the veteran,
+delicately led on by Gerald, was induced to talk of his campaigns; then,
+this tribute of respect paid to their companion's superior years, the
+two young men related all sorts of episodes of their college and army
+life.
+
+The veteran had lighted his pipe, and Gerald and Olivier their cigars,
+when the latter happened to inquire of his friend:
+
+"By the way, what has become of that scoundrel, Macreuse, who used to
+play the spy on us at college? You remember him?--a big, light-haired
+fellow, who used to cuff us soundly as he passed, just because he dared
+to, being twice as big as we were."
+
+At the name of Macreuse, Gerald's face took on an expression of mingled
+contempt and aversion, and he replied:
+
+"You speak rather slightingly,--M. Celestin de Macreuse, it seems to
+me."
+
+"_De_ Macreuse!" cried Olivier. "He must have treated himself to the
+_de_ since we knew him, then. In those days his origin was shrouded in
+mystery. Nobody knew anything about his parents. He was so poor that he
+once ate half a dozen wood-lice to earn a sou."
+
+"And then he was so horribly cruel," added Gerald; "do you remember his
+putting those little birds' eyes out with a pin to see if they would fly
+afterwards?"
+
+"The scoundrel!" exclaimed the indignant commander. "Such a man as that
+ought to be flayed alive."
+
+"It would rejoice my heart to see your prediction fulfilled, commander,"
+said Gerald, laughing. Then, turning to Olivier, he continued: "It will
+surprise you very much, I think, when I tell you what I know of M.
+Celestin de Macreuse. I have told you, I believe, how very exclusive the
+society is in which my mother has always moved, so you can judge of my
+astonishment when one evening, shortly after my return to Paris, I heard
+the name of M. de Macreuse announced in my mother's drawing-room. It was
+the very man. I had retained such an unpleasant recollection of the
+fellow, that I went to my mother and said:
+
+"'Why do you receive that man who just spoke to you,--that big,
+light-haired, sallow man?'
+
+"'Why, that is M. de Macreuse,' my mother replied, in tones indicative
+of the profoundest respect.
+
+"'And who is M. de Macreuse, my dear mother? I never saw him in your
+house before.'
+
+"'No, for he has just returned from his travels,' she answered. 'He is a
+very distinguished and highly exemplary young man,--the founder of the
+St. Polycarpe Mission.'
+
+"'The deuce! And what is the St. Polycarpe Mission, my dear mother?'
+
+"'It is a society that strives to make the poor resigned to their misery
+by teaching them that the more they suffer here, the happier they will
+be hereafter.'
+
+"'_Se non e vero, e ben trovato_,' I laughingly remarked. 'But it seems
+to me that this fellow has a very plump face to be advocating the good
+effects of starvation.'
+
+"'My son, I meant every word that I just said to you,' replied my
+mother, gravely. 'Many highly esteemed persons have connected themselves
+with M. de Macreuse's work,--a work to which he devotes himself with
+truly evangelical zeal. But here he comes. I would like to introduce you
+to him.'
+
+"'Pray do nothing of the kind, mother,' I retorted, quickly. 'I am sure
+to be impolite; I do not like the gentleman's looks; besides, what I
+already know of him makes my antipathy to his acquaintance
+insurmountable. We were at college together, and--'
+
+"But I was unable to say any more; Macreuse was now close to my mother,
+and I was standing beside her. 'My dear M. de Macreuse,' she said to her
+protege, in the most amiable manner, after casting a withering look at
+me, 'I wish to introduce my son, one of your former classmates, who will
+be charmed to renew his acquaintance with you.'
+
+"Macreuse bowed profoundly, then said, in a rather condescending way, 'I
+have been absent from Paris some time, monsieur, and was consequently
+ignorant of your return to France, so I did not expect to have the
+honour of meeting you at your mother's house this evening. We were at
+college together, and--'
+
+"'That is true,' I interrupted, 'and I recollect perfectly well how you
+played the spy on us to ingratiate yourself with the teachers; how you
+would stoop to any dirty trick to make a penny; and how you put out the
+eyes of little birds with pins. Possibly this last was in the charitable
+hope that their sufferings here would profit them hereafter.'"
+
+"A clever thrust that!" exclaimed the commander, with a hearty laugh.
+
+"And what did Macreuse say?" asked Olivier.
+
+"The scoundrel's big moon face turned scarlet. He tried to smile and
+stammer out a few words, but suddenly my mother, looking at me with a
+reproachful air, rose, and to rescue our friend from his embarrassment,
+I suppose, said, 'M. de Macreuse, may I ask you to take me to get a cup
+of tea?'"
+
+"But how did this man gain an entrance into such an exclusive circle as
+that of the Faubourg St Germain?" inquired Olivier.
+
+"Nobody knows exactly," replied Gerald. "This much is true, however. If
+one door in our circle opens, all the others soon do the same. But this
+first door is hard to open, and who opened it for Macreuse nobody knows,
+though some persons seem to think that it was Abbe Ledoux, a favourite
+spiritual director in our set. This seems quite probable, and I have
+taken almost as strong a dislike to the abbe as to Macreuse. If this
+dislike needed any justification, it would have it, so far as I am
+concerned, in the estimate of Macreuse's character formed by a singular
+man who is rarely deceived in his judgment of persons."
+
+"And who is this infallible man, pray?" inquired Olivier, smiling.
+
+"A hunchback no taller than that," replied Gerald, indicating with his
+hand a height of about four and a half feet.
+
+"A hunchback?" repeated Olivier, greatly surprised.
+
+"Yes, a hunchback, as quick-witted and determined as his satanic majesty
+himself,--stiff as an iron bar to those whom he dislikes and despises,
+but full of affection and devotion to those whom he honours--though such
+persons, I am forced to admit, are rare--and never making the slightest
+attempt to conceal from any individual the liking or aversion he or she
+inspires."
+
+"It is fortunate for him that his infirmity gives him this privilege of
+plain speaking," remarked the commander. "But for that, your hunchback
+would be likely to have a hard time of it."
+
+"His infirmity?" said Gerald, laughing. "Though a hunchback, the Marquis
+de Maillefort is, I assure you--"
+
+"He is a marquis?" interrupted Olivier.
+
+"Yes, a marquis, and an aristocrat of the old school. He is a scion of
+the ducal house of Haut-martel, the head of which has resided in Germany
+since 1830. But though he is a hunchback, M. de Maillefort, as I was
+about to remark before, is as alert and vigorous as any young man, in
+spite of his forty-five years. And, by the way, you and I consider
+ourselves pretty good swordsmen, do we not?"
+
+"Well, yes."
+
+"Very well; the marquis could touch us eight times out of twelve. He
+rivals the incomparable Bertrand. His movements are as light as a
+bird's, and as swift as lightning itself."
+
+"This brave little hunchback interests me very much," said the veteran.
+"If he has fought any duels his adversaries must have cut strange
+figures."
+
+"The marquis has fought several duels, in all of which he evinced the
+greatest coolness and courage, at least so my father, who was a personal
+friend of the marquis, once told me."
+
+"And he goes into society in spite of his infirmity?" inquired Olivier.
+
+"Sometimes he frequents it assiduously; then absents himself for months
+at a time. His is a very peculiar nature. My father told me that for
+many years the marquis seemed to be in a state of profound melancholy,
+but I have never seen him other than gay and amusing."
+
+"But with his courage, his skill in the use of weapons, and his quick
+wit, he is certainly a man to be feared."
+
+"Yes, and you can easily imagine how greatly his presence disquiets
+certain persons whom society continues to receive on account of their
+birth, in spite of their notorious villainies. Macreuse, for instance,
+as soon as he sees the marquis enter by one door, makes his escape by
+another."
+
+The conversation was here interrupted by an incident which would have
+been unworthy even of comment in some parts of the town, but rare enough
+in the Batignolles.
+
+The arbour in which the little party had dined skirted the garden wall,
+and at the farther end of it was a latticed gate, which afforded the
+occupants a view of the street beyond. A handsome carriage, drawn by two
+superb horses stopped exactly in front of this gate.
+
+This carriage was empty.
+
+The footman on the box beside the driver, and, like him, dressed in rich
+livery, descended from his seat, and drawing from his pocket a letter
+that evidently bore an address, looked from side to side as if in search
+of a number, then disappeared, after motioning the coachman to follow
+him.
+
+"This is the first vehicle of that kind I've seen in the Batignolles in
+ten years," remarked the old sailor. "It is very flattering to the
+neighbourhood."
+
+"I never saw finer horses," said Olivier, with the air of a connoisseur.
+"Do they belong to you, Gerald?"
+
+"Do you take me for a millionaire?" responded the young duke, gaily. "I
+keep a saddle-horse, and I put one of my mother's horses in my
+cabriolet, when she is not using them. That is my stable. This does not
+prevent me from loving horses, or from being something of a sporting
+man. But, speaking of horses, do you remember that dunce, Mornand,
+another of our college mates?"
+
+"And still another of our mutual antipathies,--of course I do. What has
+become of him?"
+
+"He is quite a distinguished personage now."
+
+"He! Nonsense!"
+
+"But I tell you he is. He is a member of the Chamber of Peers. He
+discourses at length, there. People even listen to him. In short, he is
+a minister in embryo."
+
+"De Mornand?"
+
+"Yes, my worthy friend. He is as dull as ever, and twice as arrogant and
+self-complacent. He doubts everything except his own merit. He possesses
+an insatiable ambition, and he belongs to a coterie of jealous and
+spiteful individuals,--spiteful because they are mediocre, or, rather,
+mediocre because they are spiteful. Such men rise in the world with,
+marvellous rapidity, though Mornand has a broad back and supple
+loins,--he will succeed, one aiding the other."
+
+Just then the footman who had disappeared with the carriage returned,
+and, seeing through the latticed gate the little party in the arbour,
+approached, and, raising his hand to his hat, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, will you be so kind as to tell me if this garden belongs to
+No. 7?"
+
+"Yes," replied the commander.
+
+"And to the apartment on the ground floor of that house?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I rang that bell three times, but no one answered it."
+
+"I occupy that apartment," said the commander, greatly surprised. "What
+do you want?"
+
+"Here is a very important letter for a Madame Barbancon, who, I am told,
+lives here."
+
+"Yes, she does live here," replied the veteran, more and more surprised.
+
+Then, seeing the housekeeper at the other end of the garden, he called
+out to her:
+
+"Mother Barbancon, the door-bell has rung three times, unanswered, while
+you've been trespassing upon my preserves. Come quick! Here is a letter
+for you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE DUCHESS.
+
+
+Madame Barbancon promptly responded to this peremptory summons, and,
+after a hasty apology to her employer, said to the waiting servant:
+
+"You have a letter for me? From whom?"
+
+"From the Comtesse de Beaumesnil, madame," replied the man, handing
+Madame Barbancon the letter through the lattice.
+
+"Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil?" exclaimed the astonished
+housekeeper; "I do not know her. I not only don't know her, but I
+haven't the slightest idea who she is--not the slightest," the worthy
+woman repeated, as she opened the letter.
+
+"The Comtesse de Beaumesnil?" inquired Gerald, evidently much
+interested.
+
+"Do you know her?" asked Olivier.
+
+"I met her two or three years ago," replied Gerald. "She was wonderfully
+beautiful, then, but the poor woman has not left her bed for a year. I
+understand that hers is a hopeless case. Worse still, M. de Beaumesnil,
+who had gone to Italy with their only child, a daughter, who was ordered
+south by the physicians,--M. de Beaumesnil died quite recently in
+Naples, in consequence of having been thrown from his horse, so if
+Madame de Beaumesnil dies, as they apprehend, her daughter will be left
+an orphan at the age of fifteen or sixteen years."
+
+"Poor child! This is really very sad," said the commander,
+sympathisingly.
+
+"Nevertheless, Mlle. de Beaumesnil has a brilliant future before her,"
+continued Gerald, "for she will be the richest heiress in France. The
+Beaumesnil property yields an income of over three million francs!"
+
+"Three million francs!" exclaimed Olivier, laughing. "Can it be that
+there are people who really have an income of three million francs? Do
+such people come and go, and move about and talk, just like other
+people? I should certainly like to be brought face to face with one of
+these wonderful creatures, Gerald."
+
+"I'll do my best to gratify you, but I warn you that as a general thing
+they are not pleasant to contemplate. I am not referring to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, however; she may be as beautiful as her mother."
+
+"I should like very much to know how one can spend such an income as
+that," said the commander, in all sincerity, emptying the ashes from his
+pipe.
+
+"Great Heavens! is it possible?" exclaimed Madame Barbancon, who, in the
+meantime, had read the letter handed to her. "I am to go in a
+carriage--in a carriage like that?"
+
+"What is the matter, Mother Barbancon?" inquired the veteran.
+
+"I must ask you to let me go away for a little while."
+
+"Certainly, but where are you going, may I ask?"
+
+"To the house of Madame de Beaumesnil," replied the good woman, in a
+very important tone. "She desires some information which I alone can
+give, it seems. May I turn Bonapartist if I know what to make of all
+this!"
+
+But the next instant the former midwife uttered an exclamation, as if a
+new and startling idea had just occurred to her, and, turning to her
+employer, she said:
+
+"Monsieur, will you step out into the garden a moment with me? I want to
+say a word to you in private."
+
+"Oh," replied the veteran, following the lady out of the arbour, "it is
+an important matter, it seems. Go on; I am listening, Madame
+Barbancon."
+
+The housekeeper, having led her employer a short distance from the
+arbour, turned to him and said, with a mysterious air:
+
+"Monsieur, do you know Madame Herbaut, who lives on the second floor and
+has two daughters? The lady to whom I introduced M. Olivier about a
+fortnight ago, you recollect."
+
+"I don't know her, but you have often spoken to me about her. Well, what
+of it?"
+
+"I recollect now that one of her particular friends, Madame Laine, is
+now in Italy, acting as governess to the daughter of a countess whose
+name sounds something like Beaumesnil. In fact, it may be this very same
+countess."
+
+"It may be, I admit, Mother Barbancon. Well, go on."
+
+"And she may have heard about me through Madame Laine, whom I have met
+at Madame Herbaut's."
+
+"That, too, is very possible, Madame Barbancon. You will soon know for a
+certainty, however, as you are going to Madame Beaumesnil's."
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_ monsieur, another idea has just occurred to me."
+
+"Let us hear it," said the veteran, with infinite patience.
+
+"I have told you about that masked lady who--"
+
+"You're not going to tell that story again, surely!" cried the
+commander, with the evident intention of beating a retreat.
+
+"No, monsieur, but what if all this should have some connection with
+that young lady?"
+
+"The quickest way to ascertain, Mother Barbancon, is to get off as soon
+as possible. We shall both be the gainers by it."
+
+"You are right, monsieur. I will go at once."
+
+And following her employer, who had returned to his guests in the
+arbour, the housekeeper said to the footman, who was still standing a
+few feet from the gate:
+
+"Young man, as soon as I can get my bonnet and shawl on I shall be at
+your service."
+
+And a few minutes afterwards Madame Barbancon, triumphantly passing the
+gate in her carriage, felt that the deference due her employer made it
+incumbent upon her to rise to her feet in the vehicle, and bow low to
+the commander and his guests.
+
+Just then the clock in a neighbouring church struck seven.
+
+"Seven o'clock!" exclaimed Olivier, evidently much annoyed. "I am very
+sorry, my dear Gerald, but I shall have to leave you."
+
+"Already! And why?"
+
+"I promised a worthy mason in the neighbourhood that I would go over his
+accounts with him this evening, and you have no idea what a task it is
+to straighten out books like his!"
+
+"True, you did warn me that you would only be at liberty until seven
+o'clock," replied Gerald. "I had forgotten the fact, I was enjoying my
+visit so much."
+
+"Olivier," remarked the veteran, whose spirits seemed to have undergone
+a sudden decline since his nephew's allusion to the work to which he
+intended to devote his evening, "Olivier, as Madame Barbancon is absent,
+will you do me the favour to bring from the cellar the last bottle of
+that Cyprian wine I brought from the Levant? M. Gerald must take a glass
+of it with us before we separate. The mason's accounts won't suffer if
+they do have to wait half an hour."
+
+"An excellent idea, uncle, for I do not have to be as punctual now as if
+it were the week before pay-day. I'll get the wine at once. Gerald shall
+taste your nectar, uncle."
+
+And Olivier hastened away.
+
+"M. Gerald," began the commander, with no little embarrassment, "it was
+not merely to give you a taste of my Cyprian wine that I sent Olivier
+away. It was in order that I might be able to speak to you, his best
+friend, very plainly in regard to him, and to tell you how kind and
+thoughtful and generous he is."
+
+"I know all that, commander. I know it well, but I like to hear it from
+your lips,--the lips of one who knows and loves Olivier."
+
+"No, M. Gerald, no, you do not know all. You have no idea of the
+arduous, distasteful labour the poor boy imposes upon himself, not only
+that he may be no expense to me during his furlough, but that he may be
+able to make me little presents now and then, which I dare not refuse
+for fear of paining him. This handsome pipe, it was he who gave it to
+me. I am very fond of roses. He has just presented me with two superb
+new varieties. I had long wanted a big easy chair, for when my wounds
+reopen, which happens only too often, I am sometimes obliged to sit up
+several nights in succession. But a large armchair cost too much. Still,
+about a week ago, what should I see some men bringing in but that much
+desired article of furniture! I might have known it, for Olivier had
+spent I don't know how many nights in copying documents. Excuse these
+confidential disclosures on the part of poor but honest people, M.
+Gerald," said the old sailor, in a voice that trembled with emotion,
+while a tear stole down his cheek, "but my heart is full. I must open it
+to some one, and it is a twofold pleasure to be able to tell all this to
+you."
+
+Gerald seemed about to speak, but the commander interrupted him.
+
+"Pardon me, M. Gerald, you will think me too garrulous, I fear, but
+Olivier will be here in a minute, and I have a favour to ask of you. By
+reason of your exalted position, you must have many grand acquaintances,
+M. Gerald. My poor Olivier has no influence, and yet his services, his
+education, and his conduct alike entitle him to promotion. But he has
+never been willing, or he has never dared to approach any of his
+superiors on this subject. I can understand it, for if I had been a
+'hustler'--as you call it--I should hold a much higher rank to-day. It
+seems to be a family failing. Olivier is like me. We both do our best,
+but when it is a question of asking favours our tongues cleave to the
+roof of our mouths, and we're ashamed to look anybody in the face. But
+take care! Here comes Olivier," hastily exclaimed the old sailor,
+picking up his pipe and beginning to puff at it with all his might; "try
+to look unconcerned, M. Gerald, for heaven's sake try to look
+unconcerned, or Olivier will suspect something."
+
+"Olivier must be a lieutenant before his leave expires, commander, and I
+believe he will be," said Gerald, deeply touched by these revelations on
+the part of the veteran. "I have very little influence myself, but I
+will speak to the Marquis de Maillefort. His word carries great weight
+everywhere, and strongly urged by him, Olivier's promotion--which is
+only just and right--is assured. I will attend to the matter. You need
+give yourself no further anxiety on the subject."
+
+"Ah, M. Gerald, I was not mistaken in you, I see," said the commander,
+hurriedly. "You are kind as a brother to my poor boy--but here he
+is--don't let him suspect anything."
+
+And the good man began to smoke his pipe with the most unconcerned air
+imaginable, though he was obliged furtively to dash a tear from out the
+corner of his eye, while Gerald to divert his former comrade's
+suspicions still more effectually, cried:
+
+"So you've got here at last, slow-coach! I'm strongly inclined to think
+you must have fallen in with some pretty barmaid like that handsome
+Jewess at Oran. Do you remember her, you gay Lothario?"
+
+"She was a beauty, that's a fact," replied the young soldier, smiling at
+the recollection thus evoked, "but she couldn't hold a candle to the
+young girl I just met in the courtyard," replied Olivier, setting the
+dusty bottle of Cyprian wine carefully on the table.
+
+"Ah, your prolonged stay is easily explained now!" retorted Gerald.
+
+"Just hear the coxcomb," chimed in the veteran. "And who is this
+beauty?"
+
+"Yes, yes, do give us the particulars of your conquest."
+
+"She would suit you wonderfully well, M. le duc," laughed Olivier,
+"wonderfully well, for she is a duchess."
+
+"A duchess?" queried Gerald.
+
+"A duchess here!" exclaimed the commander. "The locality is indeed
+honoured, to-day. This is something new."
+
+"I was only trying to gratify your vanity a little,--the vanity of a
+Batignollais, you know. My conquest, as that harebrained Gerald is
+pleased to call it, is no conquest at all; besides, the lady in question
+is not really a duchess, though people call her so."
+
+"And why, pray?" inquired Gerald.
+
+"Because they say she is as proud and beautiful as any duchess."
+
+"But who is she? In my character of duke, my curiosity on this point
+should be gratified," insisted Gerald.
+
+"She is a music teacher," replied Olivier. "She is degrading herself
+terribly, you see."
+
+"Say rather the piano is becoming ennobled by the touch of her taper
+fingers,--for she must have the hands of a duchess, of course. Come now,
+tell us all about it. If you're in love, whom should you take into your
+confidence if not your uncle and your former comrade?"
+
+"I sincerely wish I had the right to take you into my confidence," said
+Olivier, laughing; "but to tell the truth, this is the first time I ever
+saw the young girl."
+
+"But tell us all you know about her."
+
+"There is a Madame Herbaut who has rooms on the second floor of the
+house," replied Olivier, "and every Sunday this excellent woman invites
+a number of young girls, friends of her daughters, to spend the evening
+with her. Some are bookkeepers or shop girls, others are drawing
+teachers, or music teachers, like the duchess. There are several very
+charming girls among them, I assure you, though they work hard all day
+to earn an honest living. And how intensely they enjoy their Sunday with
+kind Madame Herbaut! They play games, and dance to the music of the
+piano. It is very amusing to watch them, and twice when Madame Barbancon
+took me up to Madame Herbaut's rooms--"
+
+"I demand an introduction to Madame Herbaut,--an immediate introduction,
+do you hear?" cried the young duke.
+
+"You demand--you demand. So you think you have only to ask, I suppose,"
+retorted Olivier, gaily. "Understand, once for all, that the Batignolles
+are quite as exclusive as the Faubourg St. Germain."
+
+"Ah, you are jealous! You make a great mistake, though, for real or
+supposed duchesses have very little charm for me. One doesn't come to
+the Batignolles to fall in love with a duchess, so you need have no
+fears on that score; besides, if you refuse my request, I'm on the best
+possible terms with Mother Barbancon, and I'll ask her to introduce me
+to Madame Herbaut."
+
+"Try it, and see if you succeed in securing admittance," responded
+Olivier, with a laughable air of importance. "But to return to the
+subject of the duchess," he continued, "Madame Herbaut, who is evidently
+devoted to her, remarked to me the other day, when I was going into
+ecstasies over this company of charming young girls: 'Ah, what would you
+say if you could see the duchess? Unfortunately, she has failed us these
+last two Sundays, and we miss her terribly, for all the other girls
+simply worship her; but some time ago she was summoned to the bedside of
+a very wealthy lady who is extremely ill, and whose sufferings are so
+intense, as well as so peculiar in character, that her physician, at
+his wit's end, conceived the idea that soft and gentle music might
+assuage her agony at least to some extent.'"
+
+"How singular!" exclaimed Gerald. "This invalid, whose sufferings they
+are endeavouring to mitigate in every conceivable way, and to whom your
+duchess must have been summoned, is Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil."
+
+"The same lady who just sent for Madame Barbancon?" inquired the
+veteran.
+
+"Yes, monsieur, for I had heard before of this musical remedy resorted
+to in the hope of assuaging that lady's terrible sufferings."
+
+"A strange idea," said Olivier, "but one that has not proved entirely
+futile, I should judge, as the duchess, who is a fine musician, goes to
+the house of Madame de Beaumesnil every evening. That is the reason I
+did not see her at either of Madame Herbaut's soirees. She had just been
+calling on that lady, probably, when I met her just now. Struck by her
+regal bearing and her extraordinary beauty, I asked the porter if he
+knew who she was. 'It was the duchess I'm sure, M. Olivier,' he
+answered."
+
+"This is all very interesting and charming, but it is rather too
+melancholy to suit my taste," said Gerald. "I prefer those pretty and
+lively girls who grace Madame Herbaut's entertainments. If you don't
+take me to one, you're an ingrate. Remember that pretty shop-girl in
+Algiers, who had an equally pretty sister!"
+
+"What!" exclaimed the veteran, "I thought you were talking a moment ago
+of a pretty Jewess at Oran!"
+
+"But, uncle, when one is at Oran one's sweetheart is at Oran. When one
+is at Algiers, one's sweetheart is there."
+
+"So you're trying to outdo Don Juan, you naughty boy!" cried the
+veteran, evidently much flattered by his nephew's popularity with the
+fair sex.
+
+"But what else could you expect, commander?" asked Gerald. "It is not a
+matter of inconstancy, you see, but simply of following one's regiment,
+that is all. That is the reason Olivier and I were obliged to desert the
+beauties of Oran for the pretty shop-girls of Algiers."
+
+"Just as a change of station compelled us to desert the bronze-cheeked
+maidens of Martinique for the fisher maids of St. Pierre Miquelon,"
+remarked the old sailor, who was becoming rather lively under the
+influence of the Cyprian wine which had been circulating freely during
+the conversation.
+
+"A very sudden change of zone, commander," remarked Gerald, nudging the
+veteran with his elbow. "It must have been leaving fire for ice."
+
+"No, no, you're very much mistaken there," protested the veteran,
+vehemently. "I don't know what to make of it, but those fisher maidens,
+fair as albinos, had the very deuce in them. There was one little
+roly-poly with white lashes, particularly, whom they called the
+Whaler--"
+
+"About the temperature of Senegambia, eh, uncle?"
+
+"I should say so," ejaculated the veteran. And as he replaced his glass
+upon the table, he made a clucking sound with his tongue, but it was
+hard to say whether this significant sound had reference to his
+recollection of the fair Whaler or to the pleasant flavour of the
+Cyprian wine. Then suddenly recollecting himself, the worthy man
+exclaimed:
+
+"Well, well, what am I thinking of? It ill becomes an old fellow like me
+to be talking on such subjects to youths like you! Go on, talk of your
+Jewesses and your duchesses as much as you please, boys. It suits your
+years."
+
+"Very well, then, I insist that Olivier shall take me to Madame
+Herbaut's," said the persistent Gerald.
+
+"See the result of satiety. You go in the most fashionable and
+aristocratic society, and yet envy us our poor little Batignollais
+entertainments."
+
+"Fashionable society is not at all amusing," said Gerald. "I frequent it
+merely to please my mother. To-morrow, for example, will be a
+particularly trying day to me, for my mother gives an afternoon dance.
+By the way, why can't you come, Olivier?"
+
+"Come where?"
+
+"Why, to this dance my mother gives."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, you! Why not?"
+
+"I, Olivier Raymond, a private in the hussars, attend a dance given in
+the Faubourg St. Germain!"
+
+"It would be very strange if I could not take my dearest friend to my
+mother's house merely because he has the honour to be one of the bravest
+soldiers in the French army. Olivier, you must come. I insist upon it."
+
+"In jacket and kepi, I suppose," said Olivier, smilingly, referring to
+his poverty, which did not permit him to indulge in citizen's clothing.
+
+Knowing how this worthy fellow spent the proceeds of his arduous toil,
+and knowing, too, his extreme sensitiveness in money matters, Gerald
+could only say in reply:
+
+"True, I did not think of that. It is a pity, for we might have had a
+very pleasant time together. I could have shown you some of our
+fashionable beauties, though I feel sure that, so far as young and
+pretty faces are concerned, Madame Herbaut's entertainments have the
+advantage."
+
+"Do you see, uncle, how cleverly he returns to the charge?"
+
+The clock in the neighbouring steeple struck eight.
+
+"Eight o'clock!" cried Olivier. "The deuce! My master mason has been
+waiting for me for an hour. I've got to go, Gerald. I promised to be
+punctual,--an hour late is a good deal. Good night, uncle."
+
+"You're going to work half the night, again," remarked the veteran,
+casting a meaning look at Gerald. "I shall wait up for you, though."
+
+"No, no, uncle, go to bed. Tell Madame Barbancon to leave the key with
+the porter, and some matches in the kitchen. I won't wake you, I'll come
+in quietly."
+
+"Good-bye, M. Gerald," said the veteran, taking the young duke's hand,
+and pressing it in a very significant manner, as if to remind him of his
+promise in regard to Olivier's promotion.
+
+"Good-bye, commander," said Gerald, returning the pressure, and
+indicating by a gesture that he read the veteran's thought. "You will
+permit me to come and see you again, will you not?"
+
+"It would give me great pleasure, you may be sure of that, M. Gerald."
+
+"Yes, commander, for I judge you by myself. Good-bye. Come, Olivier, I
+will accompany you to the door of your master mason."
+
+"I shall have the pleasure of your company a quarter of an hour longer,
+then. Good night, uncle."
+
+"Good night, my dear boy."
+
+And Olivier, taking up his bundle of papers and pens, left the house arm
+in arm with Gerald. At the master mason's door they separated, promising
+to see each other again at an early day.
+
+About an hour after Olivier left his uncle, Madame Barbancon was brought
+back to the Batignolles in Madame de Beaumesnil's carriage.
+
+The veteran, amazed at the silence of his housekeeper, and at the gloomy
+expression of her face, addressed her several times in vain, and finally
+begged her to help herself to the small portion of Cyprian wine that
+remained. Madame Barbancon took the bottle and started towards the door,
+then stopped short and crossed her arms with a meditative air, a
+movement that caused the wine-bottle to fall with a crash upon the
+floor.
+
+"The deuce take you!" cried the veteran. "Look at the Cyprian wine
+you've wasted."
+
+"True, I've broken the bottle," replied the housekeeper, with the air of
+a person just waking from a dream. "It is not surprising. Since I saw
+and heard Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil,--for I have just seen her,
+and in such a pitiable state, poor woman!--I have been racking my brain
+to remember something I can not remember, and I know very well that I
+shall be absolutely good for nothing for a long time."
+
+"It is a good thing to know this in advance," replied the veteran, with
+his usual placidity of manner on seeing Madame Barbancon again relapse
+into a deeply preoccupied frame of mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE LION OF THE BALL.
+
+
+On the day following Olivier Raymond's chance meeting with Gerald, the
+mother of the latter gave a dancing party.
+
+The Duchesse de Senneterre, both by birth and by marriage, was connected
+with the oldest and most illustrious families of France, and though her
+fortune was insignificant and her house small, she gave every year four
+or five small but extremely elegant and exclusive dancing receptions, of
+which she and her two young daughters did the honours with perfect
+grace. The Duc de Senneterre, dead for two years, had held a high office
+under the Restoration.
+
+The three windows of the salon where the guests danced opened into a
+very pretty garden, and the day being superb, many ladies and gentlemen
+stepped out for a chat or a stroll through the paths bordered with
+flowering shrubs during the intervals between the dances.
+
+Four or five men, chancing to meet near a big clump of lilacs, had
+paused to exchange the airy nothings that generally compose the
+conversation at such a gathering.
+
+Among this group were two men that merit attention. One, a man about
+thirty-five years of age, but already obese, with an extremely pompous,
+indolent, and supercilious manner and a lack-lustre eye, was the Comte
+de Mornand, the same man who had been mentioned at Commander Bernard's
+the evening before, when Olivier and Gerald were comparing their
+reminiscences of college life.
+
+M. de Mornand occupied a hereditary seat in the Chamber of Peers.
+
+The other, an intimate friend of the count, was a man of about the same
+age,--tall, slim, angular, a trifle round-shouldered, and also a little
+bald,--whose flat head, prominent and rather bloodshot eyes imparted an
+essentially reptilian character to his visage. This was the Baron de
+Ravil. Though his means of support were problematical in the extreme
+when compared with his luxurious style of living, the baron was still
+received in the aristocratic society in which his birth entitled him to
+a place, but never did any intriguer--we use the word in its lowest,
+most audacious sense--display more brazen effrontry or daring impudence.
+
+"Have you seen the lion of the ball?" inquired one of the men of the
+party, addressing M. de Mornand.
+
+"I have but just arrived, and have no idea to whom you refer," replied
+the count.
+
+"Why, the Marquis de Maillefort."
+
+"That cursed hunchback!" exclaimed M. de Ravil; "it is all his fault
+that this affair seems so unconscionably dull. His hideous presence is
+enough to cast a damper over any festivity."
+
+"How strange it is that the marquis appears in society for a few weeks,
+now and then, and then suddenly disappears again," remarked another
+member of the group.
+
+"I believe he is a manufacturer of counterfeit money and emerges from
+his seclusion, now and then, to put his spurious coin in circulation,"
+remarked M. de Ravil. "This much is certain--incomprehensible as it
+appears--he actually loaned me a thousand franc note, which I shall
+never return, the other night, at the card-table. And what do you
+suppose the impertinent creature said as he handed it to me? 'It will
+afford me so much amusement to dun you for it, baron.' He need have no
+fears. He will amuse himself in that way a long time."
+
+"But all jesting aside, this marquis is a very peculiar man," remarked
+another member of the party. "His mother, the old Marquise de
+Maillefort, left him a very handsome fortune, but no one can imagine
+what he does with his money, for he lives very modestly."
+
+"I used to meet him quite frequently at poor Madame de Beaumesnil's."
+
+"By the way, do you know they say she is said to be lying at the point
+of death?"
+
+"Madame de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Yes; she is about to receive the last sacrament. At least that is what
+they told Madame de Mirecourt, who stopped to inquire for her on her way
+here."
+
+"Her case must, indeed, have been incurable, then, for her physician is
+that famous Doctor Gasterini, who is as great a savant as he is a
+gourmand, which is certainly saying a good deal."
+
+"Poor woman! she is young to die."
+
+"And what an immense fortune her daughter will have," exclaimed M. de
+Mornand. "She will be the richest heiress in France, and an orphan
+besides. What a rare titbit for a fortune-hunter!"
+
+As he uttered these words, M. de Mornand's eyes encountered those of his
+friend Ravil.
+
+Both started slightly, as if the same idea had suddenly occurred to both
+of them. With a single look they must have read each other's thoughts.
+
+"The richest heiress in France!"
+
+"And an orphan!"
+
+"And an immense landed property besides!" exclaimed the three other men
+in accents of undisguised covetousness.
+
+After which, one of them, without noticing the interchange of glances
+between M. de Mornand and his friend, continued:
+
+"And how old is this Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Not over fifteen," replied M. de Ravil, "and exceedingly
+unprepossessing in appearance, sickly and positively insignificant
+looking, in fact."
+
+"Sickly,--that is not objectionable, by any means, quite the contrary,"
+said one of the party, reflectively.
+
+"And homely?" remarked another, turning to Ravil. "You have seen her,
+then?"
+
+"Not I, but one of my aunts saw the girl at the Convent of the Sacred
+Heart before Beaumesnil took her to Italy by the physician's order."
+
+"Poor Beaumesnil, to die in Naples from a fall from his horse!"
+
+"And you say that Mlle. de Beaumesnil is very homely?" he continued,
+while M. de Mornand seemed to grow more and more thoughtful.
+
+"Hideous! I think it more than likely that she's going into a decline,
+too, from what I hear," responded Ravil, disparagingly; "for, after
+Beaumesnil's death, the physician who had accompanied them to Naples
+declared that he would not be responsible for the result if Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil returned to France. She is a consumptive, I tell you, a
+hopeless consumptive."
+
+"A consumptive heiress!" exclaimed another man ecstatically. "Can any
+one conceive of a more delightful combination!"
+
+"Ah, yes, I understand," laughed Ravil, "but it is absolutely necessary
+that the girl should live long enough for a man to marry her, which
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil is not likely to do. She is doomed. I heard this
+through M. de la Rochaigue, her nearest relative. And he ought to know,
+as the property comes to him at her death, if she doesn't marry. Perhaps
+that accounts for his being so sanguine."
+
+"What a lucky thing it would be for Madame de la Rochaigue, who is so
+fond of luxury and society!"
+
+"Yes, in other people's houses."
+
+"It is very strange, but it seems to me I have heard that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil strongly resembles her mother, who used to be one of the
+prettiest women in Paris," remarked another gentleman.
+
+"This girl is atrociously ugly, I tell you," said M. de Ravil. "In fact,
+I'm not sure that she isn't deformed as well."
+
+"Yes," remarked M. de Mornand, awakening from his reverie, "several
+other persons have said the very same thing about the girl that Ravil
+does."
+
+"But why didn't her mother accompany her to Italy?"
+
+"Because the poor woman had already been attacked by the strange malady
+to which she is about to succumb, it seems. People say that it was a
+terrible disappointment to her because she could not follow her daughter
+to Naples, and that this disappointment has contributed not a little to
+her present hopeless state."
+
+"It would seem, then, that Doctor Dupont's musical cure has proved a
+failure."
+
+"What musical cure?"
+
+"Knowing Madame de Beaumesnil's passionate love of music, the doctor, to
+mitigate his patient's sufferings and arouse her from her langour,
+ordered that soft and soothing music should be played or sung to her."
+
+"Not a bad idea, though revived from the times of Saul and David,"
+commented Ravil.
+
+"Well, what was the result?"
+
+"Madame de Beaumesnil seemed benefited at first, they say, but her
+malady soon regained the ascendency."
+
+"I have heard that poor Beaumesnil's sudden death was a terrible shock
+to her."
+
+"Bah!" exclaimed M. de Mornand, with a contemptuous shrug of the
+shoulders, "she never cared a straw for Beaumesnil. She only married him
+for his millions of millions. Besides, as a young girl she had any
+number of lovers. In short," continued M. de Mornand, puffing out his
+cheeks with an air of supercilious dignity, "Madame de Beaumesnil is
+really a woman of no reputation whatever, and, in spite of the enormous
+fortune she will leave, no honourable man would ever be willing to marry
+the daughter of such a mother."
+
+"Scoundrel!" exclaimed a voice which seemed to respond indignantly to M.
+de Mornand's last words from behind the clump of lilacs.
+
+There was a moment of amazed silence; then M. de Mornand, purple with
+anger, made a hasty circuit of the clump of shrubbery. He found no one
+there, however. The path at this place making an abrupt turn, the person
+who uttered the opprobrious epithet could make his escape with
+comparative ease.
+
+"There are no more infamous scoundrels than the persons who insult
+others without daring to show themselves," cried M. de Mornand, in a
+loud voice.
+
+This strange incident had scarcely taken place before the sound of the
+orchestra drew the promenaders back to the salon.
+
+M. de Mornand being left alone with Ravil, the latter said to him:
+
+"Somebody who dared not show himself called you a scoundrel. We had
+better say no more about it. But did you understand me?"
+
+"Perfectly. The same idea suddenly, I might almost say simultaneously,
+occurred to me, and for an instant I was dazzled--even dazed by it."
+
+"An income of over three millions! What an incorruptible minister you
+will be, eh?"
+
+"Hush! It is enough to turn one's brain."
+
+The conversation was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a third
+party, who, addressing M. de Mornand, said, with the most scrupulous
+politeness:
+
+"Monsieur, will you do me the favour to act as my vis-a-vis?"
+
+M. de Mornand's surprise was so great that he started back without
+uttering a word on hearing this request, for the person who had just
+made it was no other than the Marquis de Maillefort, the singular
+hunchback, of whom frequent mention has already been made in these
+pages.
+
+There was also another feeling that prevented M. de Mornand from
+immediately replying to this strange proposition, for, in the full,
+vibrating voice of the speaker, M. de Mornand fancied, for an instant,
+that he recognised the voice of the unseen person who had called him a
+scoundrel when he spoke in such disparaging terms of Madame de
+Beaumesnil.
+
+The Marquis de Maillefort, pretending not to notice the air of
+displeased surprise with which M. de Mornand had greeted the proposal,
+repeated in the same tone of scrupulous politeness:
+
+"Monsieur, will you do me the favour to act as my vis-a-vis in the next
+quadrille?"
+
+On hearing this request on the part of the deformed man thus reiterated,
+M. de Mornand, without concealing his desire to laugh, exclaimed:
+
+"Act as your vis-a-vis,--yours, monsieur?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur," replied the marquis, with the most innocent air
+imaginable.
+
+"But,--but what you ask is--is--permit me to say--very remarkable."
+
+"And very dangerous, my dear marquis," added the Baron de Ravil, with
+his usual sneer.
+
+"As for you, baron, I might put a no less offensive and, perhaps, even
+more dangerous question to you," retorted the marquis, smiling. "When
+will you return the thousand francs I had the pleasure of loaning to you
+the other evening?"
+
+"You are too inquisitive, marquis."
+
+"Come, come, baron, don't treat M. de Talleyrand's _bon mots_ as you
+treat thousand franc notes."
+
+"What do you mean by that, marquis?"
+
+"I mean that it costs you no more to put one in circulation than the
+other."
+
+M. de Ravil bit his lip.
+
+"This explanation is not altogether satisfactory, M. le marquis," he
+said, coldly.
+
+"You have an unquestionable right to be very exacting in the matter of
+explanations, baron," retorted the marquis, in the same tone of
+contemptuous persiflage; "but you have no right to be indiscreet, as you
+certainly are at this moment. I had the honour to address M. de Mornand,
+and you intrude yourself into our conversation, which is exceedingly
+annoying to me."
+
+Then, turning to M. de Mornand, the hunchback continued:
+
+"You did me the honour, just now, to say that my request that you would
+act as my vis-a-vis was very remarkable, I believe."
+
+"Yes, monsieur," replied M. de Mornand, quite gravely this time, for he
+began to suspect that this singular proposal was only a pretext, and the
+longer he listened to the voice, the more certain he became that it was
+the same which had styled him a scoundrel. "Yes, monsieur," he
+continued, with mingled hauteur and assurance, "I did say, and I repeat
+it, that this request to act as your vis-a-vis was very remarkable on
+your part."
+
+"And why, may I ask, if you do not think me too inquisitive?"
+
+"Because--why--because it is--it is, I think, very singular that--"
+
+Then as M. de Mornand did not finish the sentence:
+
+"I have a rather peculiar habit, monsieur," the marquis said, lightly.
+
+"What is it, monsieur?"
+
+"Having the misfortune to be a hunchback and consequently an object of
+ridicule, I have reserved for myself the exclusive right to ridicule my
+deformity, and as I flatter myself I do that to the satisfaction of
+people in general--excuse my conceit, monsieur, I beg--I do not permit
+any one to do badly what I do so well myself."
+
+"Monsieur!" exclaimed M. de Mornand, vehemently.
+
+"Permit me to give you an example," continued the marquis in the same
+airy tone, "I just asked you to do me the favour to act as my vis-a-vis.
+Ah, well, instead of answering, 'Yes, monsieur,' or 'No, monsieur,' in a
+polite manner, you respond in a voice choked with laughter, 'Your
+request for me to act as your vis-a-vis is very remarkable.' And when I
+ask you to finish the sentence, you hesitate and stammer and say
+nothing."
+
+"But, monsieur--"
+
+"But, monsieur," hastily exclaimed the hunchback, interrupting his
+companion afresh; "if, instead of being polite, you are disposed to
+enjoy yourself at my expense, you ought to say something decidedly
+impertinent, as, for example: 'M. de Maillefort, I have a horror of
+deformities and really cannot bear the idea of seeing you dance;' or
+'Really, M. de Maillefort, I have too much pride to show myself in the
+back to back figure with you.' So you see, my dear M. de Mornand,"
+continued the hunchback, with increasing jovialness, "that, as I can
+ridicule myself better than any one else can, I am perfectly right not
+to allow any one else to do clumsily what I can do so admirably myself."
+
+"You say that you will not allow," began M. de Mornand, impatiently--
+
+"Come, come, Mornand, this is all nonsense," exclaimed Ravil. "And, you,
+marquis, are much too sensible a man--"
+
+"That is not the question," replied Mornand, hotly. "This gentleman says
+he will not allow--"
+
+"Any person to ridicule me," interrupted the marquis. "No, I will not
+tolerate it for a single instant; I repeat it."
+
+"But Mornand certainly never thought for a single instant of ridiculing
+you, I am sure, marquis," cried Ravil.
+
+"Is that true, baron?"
+
+"Yes, certainly, certainly."
+
+"Then the gentleman will do me the favour to explain what he meant by
+his reply."
+
+"That is very simple. I will volunteer--"
+
+"My dear Ravil," interposed M. de Mornand, firmly, "you are going
+entirely too far. As M. de Maillefort descends to sarcasm and threats, I
+deem it proper to refuse him any explanation whatever, and M. de
+Maillefort is at perfect liberty to impute any meaning he pleases to my
+words."
+
+"Impute any meaning to your words?" exclaimed the hunchback, laughing.
+"Really, I could not take any such task as that upon myself. That is the
+business of your honourable colleagues in the Chamber of Peers when you
+treat them to one of those superb speeches--which you alone have the
+ability to understand--"
+
+"Let us put an end to this," exclaimed M. de Mornand, exasperated beyond
+endurance. "Consider my words as insulting as any words could possibly
+be, monsieur."
+
+"You are mad," cried Ravil. "All this is, or will be, supremely
+ridiculous if taken seriously."
+
+"You are right, my poor baron," said the marquis, with a contrite air;
+"it will become supremely ridiculous as you say, but, monsieur, see what
+a good fellow I am, I will be content with the following apology made
+verbally by M. de Mornand in the presence of three or four witnesses of
+my own choosing: 'M. le Marquis de Maillefort, I very humbly and
+contritely ask your pardon for having dared--'"
+
+"Enough, monsieur!" exclaimed M. de Mornand. "You must believe me either
+a coward or an egregious fool."
+
+"So you refuse the reparation I demand?" asked the marquis; "you refuse
+it, absolutely?"
+
+"Absolutely, monsieur, absolutely."
+
+"Then I feel obliged to terminate this interview as I began it, by again
+having the honour to say to you: 'Will you do me the favour to act as my
+vis-a-vis?'"
+
+"What, monsieur, as your vis-a-vis?" repeated M. de Mornand, in profound
+astonishment.
+
+"My vis-a-vis in a _danse a deux_," added the hunchback, with a meaning
+gesture. "Do you understand me?"
+
+"A duel--with you?" cried M. de Mornand, who, in his first transport of
+anger, had forgotten the high social position of the hunchback, and the
+ridicule which would be heaped upon him if he engaged in a personal
+encounter with such an adversary. "A duel with you, monsieur? Really--"
+
+"Are you going to plead as an excuse that such a position would be
+too--too remarkable or too dangerous, as your friend Ravil would say?"
+
+"No, monsieur, I do not consider it too dangerous--but too ridiculous."
+
+"Yes, frightfully ridiculous to you, as I remarked to your honest friend
+here a moment ago."
+
+"Really, gentlemen," exclaimed Ravil, "I will never permit--"
+
+Then seeing Gerald de Senneterre passing through the garden, he added:
+
+"Here comes the Duc de Senneterre, the son of the house. I shall ask him
+to assist me in putting a stop to this foolish quarrel."
+
+"Yes, gentlemen, the duke's coming is most opportune," replied the
+hunchback. And turning towards the young man, he called out:
+
+"Gerald, my friend, we need your assistance."
+
+"What is the matter, marquis?" asked Gerald, in a manner that was both
+deferential and affectionate.
+
+"Have you any cigars?"
+
+"Plenty of them, marquis."
+
+"Well, my dear Gerald, these gentlemen and I are dying to smoke. Won't
+you take us up to your rooms?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Gerald, gaily. "I have no engagement for this
+dance, so I have a quarter of an hour at my disposal."
+
+"That is all the time we shall need," said the hunchback, with a meaning
+look at Mornand and Ravil. "Come, gentlemen," he added, taking Gerald's
+arm and walking on ahead of the future minister and his friend.
+
+A minute or two afterwards the four gentlemen reached Gerald's
+apartments, which consisted of three rooms,--one, extremely large, on
+the third floor of the house.
+
+The young duke having politely begged Messieurs de Mornand and de Ravil
+to pass in first, M. de Maillefort, locking the door and slipping the
+key in his pocket, remarked to Gerald:
+
+"Allow me, my friend."
+
+"But why do you lock the door, M. le marquis," asked Gerald, greatly
+surprised.
+
+"So we shall not be disturbed," answered the hunchback, "but be able to
+smoke in peace."
+
+"You are certainly a very cautious man, M. le marquis," said Gerald,
+laughing, as he ushered the party into the furthermost room, which,
+being much larger than the others, served both as a sitting-room and
+study for the young duke.
+
+Upon one of the panels in this room hung a large shield covered with
+crimson velvet, on which quite a number of weapons were displayed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE DUEL.
+
+
+On seeing the Marquis de Maillefort lock the door of the apartment, M.
+de Mornand partially divined the hunchback's intentions, and any
+lingering doubts he may have felt were promptly dispelled when the
+marquis untied his cravat and hastily divested himself of both coat and
+waistcoat, to the great astonishment of Gerald, who had just turned to
+approach him with an open box of cigars in his hand.
+
+Almost at the same instant, the marquis, pointing to two swords hanging
+with the other weapons on the shield, said to the young man:
+
+"My dear Gerald, have the goodness to measure those swords with M. de
+Ravil, and give the longest to my adversary if there is any difference
+in them. You know the proverb, 'Hunchbacks have long arms.'"
+
+"What!" exclaimed Gerald, in profound astonishment, "those swords?"
+
+"Certainly, my friend. This is the situation in two words. That
+gentleman (pointing to Mornand) has just been extremely impertinent to
+me. He refused to apologise, and the time has now passed when I would
+accept any apology, even if he would consent to make it. There is
+consequently nothing for us to do but fight. You will act as my second;
+M. de Ravil will act in the same capacity for M. de Mornand, and we will
+settle our differences here and now."
+
+Then, turning to his antagonist, the marquis added:
+
+"Come, monsieur, off with your coat. Gerald has only a quarter of an
+hour to spare, and we must make the most of it."
+
+"What a pity Olivier could not witness this scene!" thought Gerald, who
+had recovered from his astonishment, and who now began to regard the
+adventure as extremely piquant, the more so as he had very little
+sympathy for Messieurs Mornand and Ravil, and a very warm affection for
+the marquis.
+
+But though the hunchback had made this open declaration of war, M. de
+Ravil turned to Gerald, and said, in a tone of profound conviction:
+
+"You must feel that such a duel as this is entirely out of the question,
+M. le duc?"
+
+"And why, monsieur?" inquired Gerald, dryly.
+
+"Thanks, Gerald," exclaimed the marquis. "The swords, my friend, quick,
+the swords!"
+
+"But think of permitting such an encounter in your mother's house! It
+must not be, M. le duc. Think of it, a duel, in a room in your house,
+and for the most trivial cause," insisted Ravil, as he saw Gerald walk
+to the panel and take down the swords.
+
+"I consider myself the sole judge of the propriety of what occurs in my
+apartments," retorted Gerald. "There are numerous instances of similar
+duels, are there not, M. de Mornand?"
+
+"Any place is suitable for avenging an affront, M. le duc," was the
+prompt and angry reply.
+
+"Bravo! the Cid never made a better retort!" exclaimed the hunchback.
+"Come, my dear M. de Mornand, off with your coat! It is hardly fair that
+I, who am not exactly modelled after the Apollo Belvedere, should be the
+first to strip."
+
+M. de Mornand, at his wit's end, pulled off his coat.
+
+"I absolutely refuse to act as second in such a duel," shouted M. de
+Ravil.
+
+"You can do as you please about that," responded the hunchback. "I have
+the key of the door in my pocket, but you can look out of the window, or
+beat a tattoo upon the pane, if you prefer. That little act of bravado
+might have a good effect on M. de Mornand, perhaps."
+
+"De Ravil, measure the swords, I beg of you," cried the other principal
+in the affair.
+
+"You insist?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"So be it,--but you are mad."
+
+Then, turning to Gerald, he added, "You are taking a great
+responsibility upon yourself, monsieur."
+
+"That will do, monsieur," replied Gerald, coldly.
+
+The proverb the marquis had quoted seemed a true one, for, when that
+gentleman rolled his shirt-sleeve up above his elbow, there was
+disclosed to view a long, thin, but sinewy arm, upon which the muscles
+stood out like whipcords, while his opponent's arm was plump and soft.
+
+The outcome of the encounter was apparent from the manner in which the
+antagonists fell into position, and in which they crossed blades, when
+Gerald, after having exchanged glances with Ravil, gave the signal for
+the combat to begin.
+
+Not that M. de Mornand evinced any signs of cowardice! On the contrary,
+he manifested the courage which any well-bred man is almost sure to
+display, but he was unmistakably nervous, and, though he showed a fair
+knowledge of fencing, his play was characterised by excessive prudence.
+He held himself out of reach as much as possible, and always upon the
+defensive, parrying his antagonist's thrusts skilfully enough, but never
+attacking.
+
+[Illustration: Ran His Blade Through His Antagonist's Right Arm]
+
+For a single instant Ravil, and even Gerald, were terrified at the
+expression of ferocious hatred that overspread the features of the
+marquis when he confronted his adversary, but, suddenly recovering
+himself, he became the same gay, mocking cynic as at the beginning
+of this strange scene, and, as the look of sullen rage he had
+concentrated upon M. de Mornand softened, his thrusts became less
+violent and murderous, and, at last, wishing doubtless to end the
+affair, he made a feint. M. de Mornand responded ingenuously, whereupon
+his opponent, with a quick, upward thrust, ran his blade through his
+antagonist's right arm.
+
+At the sight of blood, Gerald and Ravil both sprang forward, exclaiming:
+
+"Enough, gentlemen, enough!"
+
+Both men lowered their swords on hearing this exclamation, and the
+marquis said, in a clear voice:
+
+"I declare myself satisfied; I will even humbly beg your pardon--for
+being a hunchback, M. de Mornand. It is the only excuse I can reasonably
+offer you."
+
+"It is sufficient, monsieur," said M. de Mornand, with a bitter smile,
+while Gerald and De Ravil bound up the wounded arm with the aid of a
+handkerchief.
+
+This done, the two men re-dressed themselves, after which M. de
+Maillefort said to M. de Mornand:
+
+"Will you grant me the favour of a moment's conversation in another
+room?"
+
+"I am at your service."
+
+"Will you permit it, Gerald?"
+
+"Certainly," replied the young duke.
+
+The two gentlemen having stepped into Gerald's bedroom, the hunchback
+said, in his usual mocking way:
+
+"Though it may be in very poor taste to speak of one's generosity, my
+dear sir, I am obliged to admit that for a minute or two I felt strongly
+inclined to kill you, and that it would have been a very easy matter for
+me to do it."
+
+"You should have availed yourself of the opportunity, monsieur."
+
+"But I reflected--"
+
+"And with what object?"
+
+"You will excuse me, I am sure, for not opening my whole heart to you,
+but permit me to beg that you will consider the slight wound you have
+just received merely an aid to memory."
+
+"I do not understand you in the least, monsieur."
+
+"You know, of course, that one often places a bit of paper in one's
+snuff-box, or ties a knot in the corner of one's handkerchief, to remind
+one of a rendezvous or a promise."
+
+"Yes, monsieur; and what of it, may I ask?"
+
+"I am strongly in hopes that the slight wound which I have just given
+you in the arm will serve as such an effectual reminder that the date of
+this little episode will never be effaced from your memory."
+
+"And why are you so desirous that this date should be indelibly engraved
+upon my memory?"
+
+"The explanation is very simple. I wish to fix the date in your memory
+in an ineffaceable manner,--because it is quite possible that I shall
+some time have occasion to remind you of _all you have said_ this
+afternoon."
+
+"Remind me of all I have said this afternoon?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, and in the presence of irrefutable witnesses that I
+shall summon in case of need."
+
+"I understand you less and less, monsieur."
+
+"I see no particular advantage in your understanding me any better just
+at this time, my dear sir, so you must permit me to take leave of you,
+and go and bid my friend Gerald good-bye."
+
+It is easy to comprehend that the real cause of M. de Maillefort's
+challenge to M. de Mornand was the insulting manner in which that
+gentleman had spoken of Madame de Beaumesnil, for the latter's
+suspicions were correct, and it was the hunchback who, unseen, had
+cried, "Scoundrel!" on hearing M. de Mornand's coarse words.
+
+But why had M. de Maillefort, who was usually so frank and outspoken,
+taken this roundabout way to secure a pretext for avenging the insult
+offered to Madame de Beaumesnil? And what could be his object in wishing
+to remind M. de Mornand of this special day, and in perhaps calling him
+to account for all he had just said in the presence of reliable
+witnesses?
+
+These questions will be satisfactorily answered as the story proceeds.
+
+The Marquis de Maillefort had just bidden Gerald good-bye, when one of
+the servants brought the young duke the following letter, written by
+Olivier that same morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"MY GOOD GERALD:--'Man proposes and God disposes,' and last night,
+Providence, in the shape of my worthy master mason, decided that I must
+absent myself from Paris for a fortnight or three weeks, and I am truly
+sorry, for there can be no repetition of our pleasant dinner-party of
+yesterday for a long time to come.
+
+"The fact is, my master mason is a very poor arithmetician, and he has
+become so mixed up in his specifications for some work he is to do in a
+chateau near Luzarches that it is impossible for me to make head or tail
+of his figures. For me to be able to cast any light on this portentous
+gloom, I shall be obliged to go through a host of measurements which I
+shall have to take myself, if I would avoid more puzzles, and this will
+necessitate a prolonged absence, I fear. I never told you, did I? that
+my master mason was formerly a sergeant in the engineer corps, a brave,
+honest, plain, kind-hearted man, and you know that life with people of
+that sort is easy and pleasant. One of my chief reasons, too, for going
+to his assistance is that, so far as I am able to judge, he is cheating
+himself badly,--such a rare thing in these days that I shall not be
+sorry to verify the fact.
+
+"I leave my uncle--what a heart of gold he has, hasn't he?--with no
+little anxiety. Ever since Madame Barbancon was brought back to us in
+Madame de Beaumesnil's superb equipage she has been in a truly alarming
+frame of mind, and I tremble for my uncle's digestion. She has not so
+much as mentioned Bonaparte's name, and seems to be in a brown study all
+the time,--pauses thoughtfully in the garden, and every now and then
+stands stock-still in her kitchen with eyes fixed upon vacancy. She gave
+us sour milk this morning, and the eggs were like leather. So take heed,
+my dear Gerald, if you should happen to drop in at meal-time. It is
+evident, too, that Madame Barbancon is burning with a desire to be
+questioned concerning the particulars of her recent visit, but very
+naturally my uncle and I avoid the subject, as there is really something
+strange and even incomprehensible about the affair.
+
+"If you have time, drop in and see my uncle. It would please him very
+much, for he will miss me sadly, I fear, and he has taken a great fancy
+to you. What ineffable kindness of heart and unswerving uprightness of
+soul are concealed beneath his plain exterior! Ah, my dear Gerald, I
+have never craved wealth for myself, but I tremble to think that, at his
+age and with his infirmities, my uncle will have more and more
+difficulty in living on his modest pay, in spite of all the little
+privations he endures so courageously. And if he should become really
+ill,--for two of his wounds reopen frequently,--sickness is so hard upon
+the poor? Ah, Gerald, the thought is a cruel one to me.
+
+"Forgive me, my friend and brother. I began this letter cheerfully, and
+it has become really funereal in tone. Good-bye, Gerald, good-bye. Write
+me at Luzarches.
+
+"Yours devotedly,
+
+"OLIVIER RAYMOND."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE PRETTY MUSICIAN.
+
+
+About seven o'clock on the evening of the same day on which M. de
+Maillefort's duel took place, and just as the sun was beginning to
+vanish from sight in a bank of dark clouds that indicated a stormy
+night,--for occasional big drops of rain were already falling,--a young
+girl was crossing the Place de la Concorde, in the direction of the
+Faubourg Ste. Honore.
+
+This girl carried under her left arm two large music books whose shabby
+bindings attested to long and faithful service; in her right hand she
+held a small umbrella. Her attire, which was modest in the extreme,
+consisted of a plain black silk dress with a small mantle of the same
+material, and, though the spring was already far advanced, she wore on
+her head a gray felt hat tied under the chin with broad ribbons of the
+same quiet hue. A few soft, curling tresses of golden hair, which the
+wind had loosened from their confinement, caressed her low, broad
+forehead, and made a lovely frame for her sweet, youthful face, which
+wore an expression of profound sadness, but which was also instinct with
+refinement, modesty, and quiet dignity. This same natural dignity
+manifested itself in the thoughtful and rather proud expression of the
+girl's large blue eyes. Her bearing was graceful and distinguished, and
+though her mantle concealed her figure, one instinctively felt that it
+was not only lithe, but perfect in contour, for her garments were worn
+with such an air of distinction that one forgot their shabbiness.
+
+As she lifted her dress slightly in crossing a gutter, a pretty foot,
+clad in a neat, well-fitting, though rather thick-soled shoe, was
+disclosed to view, and one also caught a glimpse of a petticoat of
+dazzling whiteness, edged with a narrow lace-trimmed ruffle.
+
+At the corner of the Rue des Champs Elysees, a beggar woman, with a
+child in her arms, addressed a few words to her in an imploring voice,
+whereupon the girl paused, and after a moment's embarrassment,--for
+having both hands occupied, one with her music books and the other with
+her umbrella, she could not get at her pocket,--she solved the
+difficulty by confiding the music books temporarily to the poor woman's
+care, and transferring her umbrella to her other hand. This done, the
+girl drew out her purse, which contained barely four francs in small
+change, and, taking from it a two sous piece, said hurriedly, but in
+tones of entrancing sweetness:
+
+"Forgive me, good mother, forgive me for being unable to offer you
+more."
+
+Then, with a compassionate glance at the pale face of the infant which
+the woman was pressing to her breast, she added:
+
+"Poor little thing! May God preserve it to you!" Then resuming
+possession of her music books, and casting another glance of tender
+commiseration on the poor creatures, she continued on her way down the
+Champs Elysees.
+
+We have dwelt upon the apparently trivial details of this act of
+charity, merely because they seem to us so significant. The gift, though
+trifling in value, had not been given haughtily or thoughtlessly; nor
+was the young girl content with dropping a bit of money into the
+outstretched hand. There was also another circumstance which, though
+trivial, was highly significant: the young girl had removed her glove
+before proffering her alms--as she would have done before touching the
+hand of a friend and equal.
+
+It so happened that M. de Ravil, who had just escorted his wounded
+friend to his home on the Rue de Madeleine, met the young girl on the
+pavement of the Rue des Champs Elysees, and, struck by her beauty and by
+the distinguished bearing which contrasted so strongly with the
+excessive plainness of her attire, he paused a moment directly in front
+of her and eyed her cynically, then, as she walked quickly on, he turned
+and followed her.
+
+As she turned into the Rue de l'Arcade, a street little frequented at
+that hour of the day, he quickened his pace, and, overtaking the fair
+unknown, said, insolently:
+
+"Mademoiselle gives music lessons, I judge? Will she be kind enough to
+come and give me one--at my house?"
+
+As he spoke he laid his hand upon the arm of the girl, who turned
+quickly with a faint cry; then, though her cheeks were crimson with
+terror and emotion, she cast such a look of withering scorn on Ravil
+that, in spite of his natural impudence, his eyes fell, and bowing low
+before the unknown with an air of ironical deference, he said:
+
+"Pardon me, madame la princesse, I was mistaken in the person."
+
+The girl continued on her way, forcing herself to walk quietly in spite
+of her painful anxiety, for the house to which she going was only a
+short distance off now.
+
+"All the same, I intend to follow her and see who this shabbily dressed
+girl who gives herself the airs of a duchess is," Ravil said to himself.
+
+The comparison was an eminently just one, though he did not know it, for
+Herminie--that was the girl's name; in fact, being a foundling, she had
+no other--for Herminie was indeed a duchess, if one means by that word
+a charming combination of beauty, grace, and natural refinement,
+accompanied by that indomitable pride which is inherent in every
+fastidious and sensitive nature.
+
+It has been truly said that many duchesses, both as regards appearance
+and instincts, were born _lorettes_; while, on the other hand, many poor
+creatures of the most obscure origin were born duchesses.
+
+Herminie herself was certainly a living example of the truth of this
+assertion, for the friends she had made in her humble role of singing
+and piano teacher always called her the duchess,--a few from jealousy,
+for even the most generous and unassuming of people have their
+detractors, others, on the contrary, because the term best expressed the
+impression Herminie's manner and appearance made upon them. It is hardly
+necessary to say that the young lady in question was no other than the
+duchess of whom Olivier had made frequent mention during the dinner at
+Commander Bernard's house.
+
+Herminie, still closely followed by Ravil, soon left the Rue de l'Arcade
+for the Rue d'Anjou, where she entered an imposing mansion, thus
+escaping the annoying pursuit of that cynical personage.
+
+"How strange!" he exclaimed, pausing a few yards off. "Why the devil is
+that girl going into the Hotel de Beaumesnil with her music books under
+her arm. She certainly cannot live there."
+
+Then, after a moment's reflection, he added, "But now I think of it,
+this must be the female David who is trying to assuage Madame de
+Beaumesnil's sufferings by the charm of her music. That lady might well
+be likened to good King Saul by reason of her great wealth, which will
+all go to that young girl in whom my friend Mornand already feels such
+an interest. As for me, that pretty musician who has just entered the
+home of the countess suits my fancy. I mean to wait until she comes
+out, for I must find out where she lives."
+
+The expression of melancholy on Herminie's charming face deepened as she
+crossed the threshold, and, passing the porter without speaking, as any
+member of the household might have done, entered the magnificent hall of
+this sumptuous abode.
+
+It was still daylight, but the entire lower floor was brilliantly
+lighted. As she noted this fact, her surprise changed to anguish, which
+increased when she saw none of the footmen who were usually in
+attendance.
+
+A profound stillness pervaded the mansion as the young girl, with her
+heart throbbing almost to bursting, mounted the handsome stairway to a
+broad landing, which commanded a view of a long line of large and
+magnificently furnished apartments.
+
+These rooms, too, were brilliantly lighted but also deserted, and the
+pale light of the candles, contending with the glowing rays of the
+setting sun, produced a very strange and most unnatural effect.
+
+Herminie, unable to account for the poignant anxiety to which she was a
+prey, hurried breathlessly on through several rooms, then paused
+suddenly.
+
+It seemed to her that she could hear stifled sobs in the distance.
+
+At last she reached a door leading into a long picture-gallery, and at
+the farther end of this gallery Herminie saw all the inmates of the
+mansion kneeling just outside the threshold of an open door.
+
+A terrible presentiment seized the young girl. When she left Madame de
+Beaumesnil the evening before, that lady was alarmingly, though not
+hopelessly ill; but now, these lights, this lugubrious silence, broken
+only by smothered sobs, indicated beyond a doubt that Madame de
+Beaumesnil was receiving the last sacrament.
+
+The young girl, overcome with grief and terror, felt that her strength
+was deserting her, and instinctively clutched at one of the consoles
+for support; then, endeavouring to conceal her emotion and her tears,
+again hastened on with tottering steps towards the group of servants in
+the open doorway of Madame de Beaumesnil's chamber, and knelt there in
+the midst of them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE UNHAPPY SECRET.
+
+
+Through the open doorway before which Herminie had just knelt, she could
+see by the wan light of an alabaster lamp Madame de Beaumesnil, a woman
+only about thirty-eight years of age, but frightfully pale and
+emaciated. The countess, who was sitting up in bed, supported by
+pillows, had her hands clasped devoutly. Her features, once of rare
+beauty, were drawn and haggard, her large eyes, formerly of a clear,
+bright blue, had lost their lustre, though they were riveted with
+mingled anxiety and anguish upon the face of Abbe Ledoux, her parish
+priest, who had just administered the last sacrament.
+
+A minute before Herminie's arrival, Madame de Beaumesnil, lowering her
+voice still more, though weakness and suffering had already reduced it
+to little more than a faint whisper, had said to the priest:
+
+"Ah, my father, forgive me, but even at this solemn hour I cannot help
+thinking with even more bitterness of heart of that poor child,--my
+other daughter,--the unhappy fruit of a sin which has burdened my life
+with the most poignant remorse."
+
+"Hush, madame," replied the priest, who, as he cast a furtive glance at
+the kneeling servants, had just seen Herminie take her place in their
+midst; "hush, madame, she is here."
+
+"She is?"
+
+"Yes, she came in a moment ago, and is now kneeling with your people."
+
+As he spoke, the priest turned and walked towards the door to close it,
+after having first intimated by a gesture that the sad ceremony was
+over.
+
+"I remember now--that yesterday--when Herminie left me--I begged her to
+return to-day at this very hour. The physician was right,--the angelic
+voice of the dear child, her tender melodies, have often assuaged my
+sufferings."
+
+"Take care, madame. Be more prudent, I beg of you," pleaded the priest,
+alone now with the invalid.
+
+"Oh, I am. My daughter suspects nothing," answered Madame de Beaumesnil,
+with a bitter smile.
+
+"That is quite probable," said the priest, "for it was only chance, or,
+rather, the inscrutable will of Providence, that brought this young
+woman to your notice a short time ago. Doubtless it is the Saviour's
+will that you should be subjected to a still harder test."
+
+"Hard, indeed, my father, since I shall be obliged to depart from this
+life without ever having said 'my daughter' to this unfortunate girl.
+Alas! I shall carry my wretched secret with me to the grave."
+
+"Your vow imposes this sacrifice upon you, madame. It is a sacred
+obligation," said the priest, severely. "To break your vow, to thus
+perjure yourself, would be sacrilege."
+
+"I have never thought of perjuring myself, my father," replied Madame de
+Beaumesnil, despondently; "but God is punishing me cruelly. I am dying,
+and yet I am forced to treat as a stranger my own child,--who is
+there--only a few feet from me, kneeling among my people, and who must
+never know that I am her mother."
+
+"Your sin was great, madame. The expiation must be correspondingly
+great."
+
+"But how long it has lasted for me, my father. Faithful to my vow, I
+never even tried to discover what had become of my unfortunate child.
+Alas! but for the chance which brought her to my notice a few days ago,
+I should have died without having seen her for seventeen years."
+
+"These thoughts are very sinful, my daughter," said the priest, sternly.
+"They caused you to take a most imprudent step yesterday."
+
+"Have no fears, my father. It is impossible that the woman I sent for
+yesterday, openly, in order to avert any suspicion, should suspect my
+motive in asking for information which she alone could give."
+
+"And this information?"
+
+"Confirmed--as I anticipated--in the most irrefutable manner--what I
+already knew--that Herminie is my daughter."
+
+"But why do you feel so sure of this woman's discretion?"
+
+"Because she lost all trace of my daughter after their separation
+sixteen years ago."
+
+"But are you sure this woman did not recognise you?"
+
+"I confessed to you, my father, that I had a mask on my face when I
+brought Herminie into the world with this woman's aid, and yesterday, in
+my interview with her, I found it easy to convince her that the mother
+of the child I was inquiring about had been dead for several years."
+
+"It is necessary that I should grant you absolution for this act of
+deception," answered Abbe Ledoux, with great severity. "You can see now
+the fatal consequences of your criminal solicitude for a person who,
+after your vow, should always have remained a stranger to you."
+
+"Ah, that oath which remorse and gratitude for the most generous
+forgiveness extorted from me! I have often cursed it,--but I have always
+kept it, my father."
+
+"And yet, my sister, even at such an hour as this, your every thought is
+given to that young girl."
+
+"No, not my every thought, my father, for I have another child. But
+alas! I cannot prevent my heart from throbbing faster at the approach of
+Herminie, who is also my daughter. Can I prevent my heart from going out
+to her? I may have courage to control my lips, to guard my eyes, and to
+conceal my feelings when Herminie is with me, but I cannot prevent
+myself from feeling a mother's tenderness for her."
+
+"Then you must forbid the girl the house," said the priest, sternly.
+"You can easily invent a plausible pretext for that, I am sure. Thank
+her for her services, and--"
+
+"No, no, I should never have the courage to do that," said the countess,
+quickly. "Is it not hard enough for me that my other daughter, whose
+affection would have been so consoling in this trying hour, is in a
+foreign land, mourning the loss of the father of whom she was so
+suddenly bereft? And who knows, perhaps Ernestine, too, is dying as I
+am. Poor child! She was so weak and frail when she went away! Oh, was
+there ever a mother as much to be pitied as I am?"
+
+And two burning tears fell from Madame de Beaumesnil's eyes.
+
+"Calm yourself, my sister," said the abbe, soothingly; "do not grieve
+so. Put your trust in Heaven. Our Saviour's mercy is great. He has
+sustained you through this solemn ceremony, which was, as I told you,
+merely a precaution, for, God be praised! your condition, though
+alarming, is by no means hopeless."
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil shook her head sadly, as she replied:
+
+"I am growing weaker fast, my father, but now that my last duties are
+performed I feel much calmer. Ah, if I did not have my children to think
+of, I could die in peace."
+
+"I understand you, my sister," said the priest, soothingly. Then
+watching Madame de Beaumesnil's face closely all the while, he
+continued:
+
+"I understand you, my sister. The future of your child, your legitimate
+child,--I cannot and must not speak of the other,--her future excites
+your liveliest apprehensions--and you are right--an orphan--and so
+young, poor child!"
+
+"Alas! yes, a mother's place can never be filled."
+
+"Then why do you hesitate, my sister?" said the abbe, slowly and
+impressively, "why do you hesitate to assure this beloved daughter's
+future happiness? Why have you never permitted me--though I have long
+desired the favour--to introduce to you that good and devout young man,
+that model of wisdom and virtue, of whom I have so often spoken. Your
+mother's heart would long since have appreciated this paragon of
+Christian virtues; and sure, in advance, of your daughter's obedience to
+your last wishes, you could have recommended him to her by a few lines,
+which I myself would have delivered to the poor child. You could easily
+have advised her to take for her husband M. Celestin de Macreuse. Your
+daughter would then be sure of a most estimable and devout husband,
+for--"
+
+"My father," interrupted Madame de Beaumesnil, without making any effort
+to conceal the painful feelings that this conversation was awakening. "I
+have told you that I do not doubt the great worth of this gentleman you
+have so often mentioned to me, but my daughter Ernestine is not sixteen
+yet, and I am not willing to insist upon her marrying a man she does not
+even know, for the dear child has so much affection for me that she
+would be quite capable of sacrificing herself to please me."
+
+"We will say no more about it, then, my dear sister," said the abbe,
+with a contrite air. "In calling your attention to M. Celestin de
+Macreuse, I had but one object in view. That was to save you from the
+slightest anxiety concerning your dear Ernestine's future. You speak of
+sacrifices, my sister, but permit me to say that the great danger is
+that your poor child will be sacrificed some day to some man who is
+unworthy of her,--to some irreligious, dissipated spendthrift. You are
+unwilling to influence your daughter in her choice of a husband, you
+say. But alas! who will guide her in her choice if she has the
+misfortune to lose you? Will it be her selfish, worldly relatives, or
+will your too artless and credulous child blindly yield to the
+promptings of her heart. Ah, my sister, think of the dangers and the
+deception to which she will inevitably be exposed! Think of the crowd of
+suitors which her immense fortune is sure to attract! Ah, believe me, my
+sister, it would be wiser to save her from these perils in advance by a
+prudent and sensible choice."
+
+"Forgive me, my father," said Madame de Beaumesnil, greatly agitated,
+and evidently desirous of putting an end to this painful conversation;
+"but I am feeling very weak and tired. I appreciate and am truly
+grateful for the interest you take in my daughter. I shall do my duty
+faithfully by her so long as I am spared. Your words will not be
+forgotten, I assure you, my father, and may Heaven give me the strength
+and the time to act."
+
+Too shrewd and crafty to press the claims of his protege further, Abbe
+Ledoux said, benignly:
+
+"May Heaven inspire you, my sister. I doubt not that our gracious Lord
+will make your duty as a mother clear to you. Courage, my sister,
+courage. And now farewell until to-morrow."
+
+"The morrow belongs to God."
+
+"I can at least implore him to prolong your days, my sister," answered
+the priest, bowing low.
+
+He left the room.
+
+The door had scarcely closed behind him before the countess rang for one
+of her attendants.
+
+"Is Mlle. Herminie here?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, madame la comtesse."
+
+"Ask her to come in. I wish to see her."
+
+"Yes, madame la comtesse," replied the maid, hastening off to fulfil her
+employer's instructions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few minutes afterwards, Herminie, pale and sad, though apparently
+calm, entered Madame de Beaumesnil's chamber, with her music books in
+her hand.
+
+"I was told that madame la comtesse wished to see me," she said, with
+marked deference.
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle. I have--I have a favour to ask of you," replied
+Madame de Beaumesnil, who was racking her brain to devise some way of
+bringing her daughter closer to her.
+
+"I am entirely at madame's service," Herminie answered, promptly but
+quietly.
+
+"I have a letter to write, mademoiselle,--only a few lines, but I am not
+sure that I shall have the strength to write it. There is no one here
+that I can ask to do it in my stead. Should it be necessary, would you
+be willing to act as my secretary?"
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, madame," was the ready response.
+
+"I thank you for your willingness to oblige me."
+
+"Does madame la comtesse wish me to get the necessary writing materials
+for her?"
+
+"A thousand thanks, mademoiselle," replied the poor mother, though she
+longed to accept her daughter's offer so she might keep her with her as
+long as possible. "I will ring for some one. I am loath to give you so
+much trouble."
+
+"It is no trouble to me, madame. I will gladly get the necessary
+materials if you will tell me where to find them."
+
+"Over there, on that table near the piano, mademoiselle. I must also ask
+you to have the goodness to light a candle,--the light from the lamp is
+not enough. But really I am trespassing entirely too much upon your good
+nature," added Madame de Beaumesnil, as her daughter lighted a candle
+and brought the necessary writing materials to the bedside.
+
+The countess having taken a sheet of paper and laid it upon a
+blotting-case placed upon her knees, accepted a pen from the hand of
+Herminie, who was holding the candle in the other.
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil tried to write a few words, but her extreme
+weakness, together with her failing sight, compelled her to desist from
+her efforts; the pen dropped from her trembling fingers, and, sinking
+back upon her pillows, the countess said to Herminie, with a forced
+smile:
+
+"I am not as strong as I thought, so I shall be obliged to accept your
+kind offer, mademoiselle."
+
+"Madame la comtesse has been in bed so long that she should not be
+surprised to find herself a little weak," responded Herminie, anxious to
+reassure Madame de Beaumesnil and herself as well.
+
+"You are right, mademoiselle. It was very foolish in me to try to write.
+I will dictate to you, if you have no objections."
+
+Herminie had not felt at liberty to remove her hat, and the countess,
+from whom the brim concealed a part of her child's face, said, with some
+embarrassment:
+
+"If you would take off your hat, mademoiselle, you would find it more
+convenient to write, I think."
+
+Herminie removed her hat, and the countess, who was fairly devouring the
+girl with her eyes, had an opportunity to admire at her ease, with true
+maternal pride, the charming face and golden tresses of her child.
+
+"I am at your service now, madame la comtesse," said Herminie, seating
+herself at a table.
+
+"Then will you kindly write this." And the countess proceeded to dictate
+as follows:
+
+"Madame de Beaumesnil would be greatly obliged to M. le Marquis de
+Maillefort if he would come to her house as soon as possible, even
+should that be at a late hour of the night.
+
+"Madame de Beaumesnil, being very weak, is obliged to have recourse to
+the hand of another person in order to write to M. de Maillefort, to
+whom she reiterates the assurance of her very highest regard."
+
+As Madame de Beaumesnil dictated this note she was assailed by one of
+those puerile, but no less poignant, fears that only a mother can
+understand.
+
+Delighted by the refinement of manner and language she noticed in her
+daughter, and aware that she was a musical artiste of a high order, the
+countess asked herself, with a mother's jealous solicitude, if
+Herminie's education was all it should be, and if her child's great
+musical talent might not have been cultivated at the expense of other
+and less showy accomplishments.
+
+And strange as it may seem,--so important are the merest trifles to a
+mother's pride,--at that moment, and in spite of all her grave
+anxieties, Madame de Beaumesnil was saying to herself:
+
+"What if my daughter did not spell well? What if her handwriting should
+prove execrable?"
+
+This fear was so keen that for a minute or two the countess dared not
+ask Herminie to show her the letter she had written, but, finally,
+unable to endure the suspense any longer, she asked:
+
+"Have you finished, mademoiselle?"
+
+"Yes, madame la comtesse."
+
+"Then will you have the goodness to hand me the letter so--so I can see
+if M. de Maillefort's name is spelled correctly. I neglected to tell you
+how it was spelled," added the countess, unable to invent any better
+excuse for her curiosity.
+
+Herminie placed the letter in Madame de Beaumesnil's hand. And how proud
+and delighted that lady was when she saw that the spelling was not only
+absolutely perfect, but that the chirography was both graceful and
+distinguished.
+
+"Wonderful! I never saw more beautiful writing!" exclaimed Madame de
+Beaumesnil, hastily.
+
+Then, fearing her companion would notice her emotion, she added, more
+calmly:
+
+"Will you kindly address the letter now, mademoiselle, to--
+
+    "_M. le Marquis de Maillefort,_
+            _"No. 45 Rue des Martyrs._"
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil then summoned a trusty maid who waited upon her
+exclusively, and as soon as she came in, said to her:
+
+"Madame Dupont, you will take a carriage and deliver this letter
+yourself to the person to whom it is addressed. In case M. de Maillefort
+is not at home, you are to wait for him."
+
+"But what if madame la comtesse should need anything during my absence?"
+said the maid, evidently much surprised at this order.
+
+"Attend to my commission," replied Madame de Beaumesnil. "Mademoiselle
+here will, I am sure, be kind enough to perform any service I may
+require."
+
+Herminie bowed her assent.
+
+The countess proceeded to repeat her instructions to her attendant, and
+while she was thus engaged, Herminie feeling comparatively safe from
+observation, gazed at Madame de Beaumesnil with a world of love and
+anxiety in her eyes, saying to herself the while, with touching
+resignation:
+
+"I dare not gaze at her except by stealth, and yet she is my mother. Ah,
+may she never suspect that I know the unhappy secret of my birth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE PRIVATE INTERVIEW.
+
+
+It was with an expression of almost triumphant satisfaction that Mme. de
+Beaumesnil watched her maid depart.
+
+The poor mother felt sure now of at least an hour alone with her
+daughter.
+
+Thanks to this happiness, a faint flush overspread her pallid cheeks,
+her dim eyes began to sparkle with a feverish light, and the intense
+prostration gave place to an unnatural excitement, for the countess was
+making an almost superhuman effort to profit by this opportunity to talk
+with her daughter alone.
+
+The door had scarcely closed upon the attendant when Madame de
+Beaumesnil said:
+
+"Mademoiselle, will you have the goodness to pour into a cup five or six
+spoonfuls of that cordial there on the mantel?"
+
+"But, madame, you forget that the physician ordered you to take this
+medicine only in small doses," protested Herminie, anxiously. "At least,
+it seems to me I heard him give those directions yesterday."
+
+"Yes, but I am feeling much better now, and this potion will do me a
+wonderful amount of good, I think--will give me new strength, in fact."
+
+"Madame la comtesse is really feeling better?" asked Herminie, divided
+between a desire to believe Madame de Beaumesnil and a fear of seeing
+her deceived as to the gravity of her situation.
+
+"You can scarcely credit the improvement I speak of, perhaps. The sad
+rites you witnessed a few minutes ago frightened you, I suppose, and
+very naturally. But it was only a precaution on my part, for the
+consciousness of having fulfilled my religious duties, and of being
+ready to appear before God, gives me a serenity of soul to which the
+improved condition of which I speak is doubtless due, at least in some
+measure. I feel sure, too, that the cordial I asked you for just now,
+but which you refuse to give me," added Madame de Beaumesnil, smiling,
+"would do me a great deal of good, and enable me to listen once again to
+one of the songs which have so often assuaged my sufferings."
+
+"As madame insists, I will give her the cordial," said Herminie.
+
+And the young girl, reflecting that a larger or smaller dose of the
+cordial would probably make very little difference, after all, poured
+four spoonfuls into a cup and handed it to Madame de Beaumesnil.
+
+The countess, as she took the cup from Herminie, managed to touch her
+hand, then, rejoiced to have her daughter so near her, sipped the
+cordial very slowly and then gave such a sigh of weariness as to almost
+compel Herminie to ask:
+
+"Is madame la comtesse fatigued?"
+
+"Rather. It seems to me that if I could sit bolt upright for a little
+while I should be more comfortable, but I am hardly strong enough to do
+that."
+
+"If madame la comtesse would--would lean upon me," said the young girl,
+hesitatingly, "it might rest her a little."
+
+"I would accept your offer if I did not feel that I was imposing upon
+your kindness," replied Madame de Beaumesnil, delighted at the success
+of her little ruse.
+
+Herminie's heart swelled almost to bursting as she seated herself upon
+the side of the bed and pillowed the invalid's head upon her daughter's
+bosom.
+
+As they found themselves for the first time in each others' arms, so to
+speak, the mother and daughter both trembled with emotion. Their
+position prevented them from seeing each others' faces; but for that
+Mme. de Beaumesnil, in spite of her vow, might not have been able to
+guard her secret any longer.
+
+"No, no, there must be no guilty weakness on my part," thought Madame de
+Beaumesnil. "My poor child shall never know this sad secret, I have
+sworn it. Is it not a piece of unlooked-for good fortune for me to be
+the recipient of her affectionate care, which I owe to her kindness of
+heart rather than to filial instinct, of course?"
+
+"Oh, I would rather die than allow my mother to suspect that I know I am
+her daughter," thought Herminie, in her turn. "Possibly she is ignorant
+of the fact herself. Perhaps it was chance, and chance alone, that
+brought about my present relations with Madame de Beaumesnil; perhaps I
+am really only a stranger in her eyes."
+
+"I thank you, mademoiselle," said Madame de Beaumesnil, after a while,
+but without venturing a glance at Herminie. "I feel more comfortable,
+now."
+
+"Will madame la comtesse allow me to arrange her pillows for her before
+she lies down again?"
+
+"If you will be so good," replied Madame de Beaumesnil, for would not
+this little service keep her daughter beside her a few seconds longer?
+
+Mademoiselle and madame la comtesse! If one could but have heard the
+tone in which the mother and daughter interchanged these cold and
+ceremonious appellations which had never before seemed so icy in
+character!
+
+"I have to thank you once again, mademoiselle," said the countess, after
+she had lain down. "I find myself more and more comfortable, thanks to
+your kind attentions. The cordial, too, seems to have done me good, and
+I feel sure that I shall have a very comfortable night."
+
+Herminie glanced dubiously at her hat and mantle. She feared that she
+would be dismissed on the maid's return, for it was quite likely that
+Madame de Beaumesnil would not care to hear any music that evening.
+
+Unwilling to renounce her last hope, the young girl said, timidly:
+
+"Madame la comtesse asked me to bring some selections from 'Oberon' this
+evening, but perhaps she does not care to listen to them."
+
+"Quite the contrary, mademoiselle," said Madame de Beaumesnil, quickly.
+"You know how often your singing has mitigated my sufferings, and this
+evening I am feeling so well that music will prove, not an anodyne, but
+a genuine pleasure."
+
+Herminie cast a quick glance at Madame de Beaumesnil, and was struck by
+the change in that lady's usually drawn and pallid countenance. A slight
+colour tinged her cheeks now, and her expression was calm, even smiling.
+
+On beholding this metamorphosis, the girl's gloomy presentiments
+vanished. Hope revived in her heart, and she almost believed that her
+mother had been saved by one of those sudden changes so common in
+nervous maladies.
+
+So inexpressibly pleased and relieved, Herminie took her music and
+walked to the piano.
+
+Directly over the instrument hung a portrait of a little girl five or
+six years of age, playing with a magnificent greyhound. She was not
+pretty, but the childish face had a remarkably sweet and ingenuous
+expression. This portrait, painted about ten years before, was that of
+Ernestine de Beaumesnil, the Comtesse de Beaumesnil's legitimate child.
+
+Herminie had not needed to ask who the original of this portrait was,
+and more than once she had cast a timid, loving glance at this little
+sister whom she did not know, and whom she would never know, perhaps.
+
+On seeing this portrait now, Herminie, still under the influence of her
+late emotion, felt even more deeply moved than usual, and for a minute
+or two she could not take her eyes off the picture. Meanwhile, Madame de
+Beaumesnil was tenderly watching the girl's every movement, and noted
+her contemplation of Ernestine's portrait with keen delight.
+
+"Poor Herminie!" thought the countess. "She has a mother and a sister,
+and yet she will never know the sweetness of those words: my sister--my
+mother."
+
+And furtively wiping away a tear, Madame de Beaumesnil said aloud to
+Herminie, whose eyes were still riveted upon the portrait:
+
+"That is my daughter. She has a sweet face, has she not?"
+
+Herminie started as if she had been detected in some grievous crime, and
+blushed deeply as she timidly replied:
+
+"Pardon me, madame; I--I--"
+
+"Oh, look at it, look at it all you please," exclaimed Madame de
+Beaumesnil, hastily. "Though she is nearly grown now, and has changed
+very much in some respects, she still retains that same sweet, ingenuous
+expression. She is not nearly as handsome as you are," said the poor
+mother, with secret pride, and well pleased to be able to thus unite her
+two daughters in the same comparison, "but Ernestine's face, like yours,
+possesses a wonderful charm."
+
+Then, fearing she had gone too far, Madame de Beaumesnil added, sadly:
+
+"Poor child! Heaven grant she may be better now!"
+
+"Are you really very anxious about her health, madame la comtesse?"
+
+"She has not been at all well for some months past. She grew so rapidly
+that we were very anxious about her. The physicians advised us to take
+her to Italy, but my own health would not permit me to accompany her.
+Fortunately, the latest reports from her are very encouraging. Poor,
+dear child! She writes every day a sort of journal for me. You can not
+imagine anything more touching than her artless confessions. I will let
+you read some extracts from these letters. You will love Ernestine,
+then; you could not help loving her."
+
+"I am sure of that, madame, and I thank you a thousand times for your
+promise," said Herminie. "As the last news received from your daughter
+is so reassuring, pray do not worry any more about her. Youth has so
+many chances in its favour anywhere, and under the beautiful skies of
+Italy she is sure to recover her health."
+
+A bitter thought flitted through Madame de Beaumesnil's mind.
+
+Remembering the expensive journey, the constant care, and the heavy
+outlay Ernestine's feeble health had necessitated, the countess asked
+herself with something closely akin to terror what Herminie would have
+done--poor, deserted creature that she was!--if she had found herself in
+Ernestine's position, and if her life could have been saved only by the
+assiduous care and expensive travel which the wealthy alone can command.
+
+This thought excited in Madame de Beaumesnil's breast a still keener
+desire to know how Herminie had overcome the many difficulties of her
+precarious position, for the countess had known absolutely nothing in
+regard to the girl's life up to the time when a mere chance had brought
+the mother and daughter together.
+
+But how could she solicit these revelations without betraying herself?
+To what agony she might subject herself by asking her daughter for the
+story of her life!
+
+This reflection had always prevented Madame de Beaumesnil from
+questioning Herminie, heretofore, but that evening, either because the
+countess felt that the apparent improvement in her condition was a
+precursor of the end, or because a feeling of tenderness, increased by
+the events of the evening, proved too strong for her powers of
+resistance, Madame de Beaumesnil resolved to question Herminie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+REVELATIONS.
+
+
+While Madame de Beaumesnil was silently revolving in her mind the surest
+means of inducing Herminie to tell the story of her past life, the girl
+stood turning the pages of her music book, waiting for the countess to
+ask her to begin.
+
+"You will think me very changeable, I fear, mademoiselle," said the
+countess, at last; "but if it is all the same to you, I would prefer to
+postpone the music until about ten o'clock. That is usually my worst
+time, though perhaps I shall escape it to-night. If I do not, I should
+regret having exhausted a resource which has so often relieved me. Nor
+is this all; after having admitted that I am whimsical, I fear that you
+will now accuse me of having entirely too much curiosity."
+
+"And why, madame?"
+
+"Come and seat yourself here beside me," said the countess,
+affectionately, "and tell me how it is that you who can not be more than
+seventeen or eighteen years of age--"
+
+"Eighteen years and six months, madame la comtesse."
+
+"Well, then, how it is that you are such an accomplished musician at
+your age?"
+
+"Madame la comtesse judges me too flatteringly. I have always had a
+great love for music, and I had very little trouble in learning it."
+
+"But who was your instructor? Where did you learn music?"
+
+"I was taught in the school I attended, madame la comtesse."
+
+"In Paris, then, I suppose?"
+
+"No; I have attended school in other places besides Paris."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In Beauvais. I lived there until I was ten years old."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"I was placed in a Parisian school."
+
+"And how long did you remain there?"
+
+"Until I was sixteen and a half."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"I left school and began to give lessons in singing and on the piano."
+
+"And ever since that time you have--?"
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil hastily checked herself, then added, with no little
+embarrassment:
+
+"I am really ashamed of my inquisitiveness--nothing but the deep
+interest I take in you could excuse it, mademoiselle."
+
+"The questions madame la comtesse deigns to address to me are evidently
+so kindly meant that I am only too glad to answer them in all
+sincerity."
+
+"Well, then, with whom did you make your home after leaving school?"
+
+"With whom did I make my home, madame?"
+
+"Yes; I mean with what persons?"
+
+"I had no one to go to, madame."
+
+"No one?" exclaimed Madame de Beaumesnil, with truly heroic courage.
+"You had no relatives? No family?"
+
+"I have no relatives, madame la comtesse," replied Herminie, with a
+courage equal to that of her mother. "I have no relatives."
+
+"I am sure now that she does not know that I am her daughter," Herminie
+said to herself. "If she did, she certainly would not have had the
+courage to ask me such a question."
+
+"Then with whom have you lived since that time?" asked the countess.
+
+"I have lived alone."
+
+"Entirely alone?"
+
+"Yes, madame."
+
+"Forgive me this one more question, for at your age--such a position is
+so unusual--and so very interesting--have you always had scholars enough
+to support you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, madame la comtesse," replied poor Herminie, bravely.
+
+"And you live entirely alone, though you are so young?"
+
+"What else could I do, madame? One can not choose one's lot; one can
+only accept it, and by the aid of industry and courage try to make one's
+existence, if not brilliant, at least happy."
+
+"Happy!" exclaimed Madame de Beaumesnil, in accents of irrepressible
+delight; "you are really happy?"
+
+As she uttered these words her countenance, as well as her voice,
+betrayed such intense joy and relief that Herminie's doubts returned,
+and she said to herself:
+
+"Perhaps she does know that I am her daughter. If she does not, why
+should she be so pleased to learn that I am happy. It matters little,
+however. If she does know that I am her daughter, I must reassure her so
+as to save her from vain regrets, and perhaps remorse. If I am a
+stranger to her, it is no less necessary for me to reassure her, else
+she may think I wish to excite her commiseration, and my pride revolts
+at the idea of that."
+
+Meanwhile, Madame de Beaumesnil, longing to hear Herminie repeat an
+assurance so precious to a mother's heart, exclaimed:
+
+"And you say you are happy--really and truly happy?"
+
+"Yes, madame," answered Herminie, almost gaily, "very happy."
+
+Seeing her daughter's charming face thus radiant with innocent joy and
+youthful beauty, the countess was obliged to make a violent effort to
+keep from betraying herself, and it was with a fair imitation of
+Herminie's gaiety that she replied:
+
+"Don't laugh at my question, mademoiselle, but to us, who are
+unfortunately accustomed to all the luxuries and superfluities of
+wealth, there are many things that seem incomprehensible. When you left
+school, however modest your wants may have been, how did you manage to
+supply them?"
+
+"Oh, I was rich, then, madame la comtesse," said Herminie, smiling.
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"Two years after I was placed at a Parisian school, the remittances
+which had, up to that time, been received for my schooling ceased. I was
+then twelve years old, and the principal of the school was very fond of
+me. 'My child,' she said to me one day, 'your friends have ceased to pay
+for you, but that makes no difference; you shall stay on just the
+same.'"
+
+"Noble woman!"
+
+"She was the best woman that ever lived, madame la comtesse, but,
+unfortunately, she is dead now," said Herminie, sadly.
+
+Then, unwilling to leave the countess under a painful impression, she
+added, smilingly:
+
+"But the kind-hearted woman had not taken my greatest fault into
+consideration in making these plans. For, as you ask me to be perfectly
+frank with you, madame, I am forced to admit that I have one great and
+deplorable fault."
+
+"And what is it, may I ask?"
+
+"Alas! madame, it is _pride_."
+
+"Pride?"
+
+"Yes; so when our kind-hearted principal offered to keep me out of
+charity, my pride revolted, and I told her I would accept her offer only
+upon condition that I was allowed to pay by my work for what she offered
+me gratuitously."
+
+"You said that at the age of twelve. What a little braggart she must
+have thought you. And how did you propose to pay her, pray?"
+
+"By superintending the practising of the younger music pupils, for I was
+very far advanced for my age, having always had a passion for music."
+
+"And did she accept your proposal?"
+
+"Gladly, madame la comtesse. My determination to be independent seemed
+to touch her deeply."
+
+"I can readily understand that."
+
+"Thanks to her, I soon had a large number of pupils, several of them
+much older than myself,--my pride is continually cropping out, you see,
+madame. In this way, what was at first child's play became a vocation,
+and, later on, a valuable resource. At the age of fourteen, I was the
+second piano teacher, with a salary of twelve hundred francs, so you can
+form some estimate of the wealth I must have amassed at the age of
+sixteen and a half."
+
+"Poor child! So young, and yet so full of indomitable energy and noble
+pride!" exclaimed the countess, unable to restrain her tears.
+
+"Then why did you leave the school?" she continued, after she had
+conquered her emotion.
+
+"Our noble-hearted principal died, and another lady--who unfortunately
+did not resemble my benefactress in the least--took her place. The
+newcomer, however, proposed that I should remain in the institution upon
+the same terms. I accepted her offer, but, at the end of two months, my
+great fault--and my hot head--caused me to sever my connection with the
+school."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"My new employer was as hard and tyrannical as the other had been kind
+and affectionate, and one day--"
+
+Herminie's beautiful face turned a vivid scarlet at the recollection,
+and she hesitated a moment.
+
+"One day," she continued, at last, "this lady made a remark to me that
+cut me to the quick."
+
+"What did the wicked creature say to you?" demanded Madame de
+Beaumesnil, for Herminie had paused again, unwilling to wound the
+countess by repeating the insulting and heartless words:
+
+"You are very proud for a bastard that was reared by charity in this
+very house."
+
+"What did that wicked woman say to you?" insisted Madame de Beaumesnil.
+
+"I beg that you will not insist upon my repeating her heartless words,"
+replied Herminie. "Though I have not forgotten, I have at least forgiven
+them. But the very next day I left the house with my little savings.
+With these I fitted up my modest _menage_, for since that time I have
+lived alone, in a home of my own."
+
+Herminie uttered the words, "in a home of my own," with such a proud and
+satisfied air, that Madame de Beaumesnil, with tears in her eyes,
+despite the smile upon her lips, pressed the young girl's hand
+affectionately, and said:
+
+"I am sure this home of yours must be charming."
+
+"Oh, yes, madame, there is nothing too elegant for me."
+
+"Come, tell me all about it. How many rooms are there in your
+apartment?"
+
+"Only one, besides a tiny hall; but it is on the ground floor, and looks
+out upon a garden. The room is small, so I could afford a pretty carpet
+and curtains. I have only one armchair, but that is velvet. I have but
+little furniture, it is true, but that little is in very good taste, I
+think. There is one thing more that I aspire to, however, and that
+ambition will soon be realised."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"It is to have a little maid,--a child thirteen or fourteen years of
+age, whom I shall rescue from misery and want, and who will be as happy
+as the day is long with me. I have heard of an orphan girl, about twelve
+years old, a dear, obedient, affectionate child, they say, so you can
+judge how pleased I shall be when I am able to take her into my service.
+It will not be a useless expense, either, madame la comtesse, for then I
+shall not be obliged to go out alone to give my lessons,--and that is so
+unpleasant, for, as you must know, madame, a young girl who is obliged
+to go out alone--"
+
+Herminie's voice faltered, and tears of shame filled her eyes as she
+thought of the insult she had just received from M. de Ravil, as well as
+other annoyances of a like nature to which she had often been subjected
+in spite of her modest and dignified bearing.
+
+"I understand, my child, and I approve your plan," said Madame de
+Beaumesnil, more and more deeply touched. "But your pupils--who procures
+them for you? And do you always have as many as you need?"
+
+"Generally, madame la comtesse. In summer, when several of my pupils go
+to the country, I follow other pursuits. I can embroider very well;
+sometimes I copy music--I have even composed several pieces. I have
+maintained friendly relations, too, with several of my former
+schoolmates, and it was through one of them that I was recommended to
+the wife of your physician, who was looking for a young person, a good
+musician, to play and sing for you."
+
+Herminie, who had begun her story seated in an armchair near the
+bedside, now found herself half reclining on the bed, clasped in her
+mother's arms.
+
+Both had unconsciously yielded to the promptings of filial and maternal
+love, for Madame de Beaumesnil, after placing Herminie near her, had
+ventured to retain one of her daughter's hands during the narration of
+this simple yet touching story, and as Herminie recounted the principal
+incidents of her past life to her mother, she felt Madame de
+Beaumesnil's hand draw her closer and closer, until she found herself
+leaning over the bed with her mother's arms around her neck.
+
+Then seized with a sort of maternal frenzy, Madame de Beaumesnil,
+instead of continuing the conversation and answering her daughter,
+seized Herminie's lovely face in her two hands, and, without uttering a
+word, covered it with tears and impassioned kisses, after which the
+mother and daughter remained for several minutes clasped in a convulsive
+embrace. It is well-nigh certain that the secret which it had been so
+difficult to guard, and which had more than once been upon their lips,
+would have escaped them this time if they had not been suddenly recalled
+to consciousness by a knock at the door.
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil, terrified at the thought of the act of perjury she
+had been on the verge of committing, but unable to explain this wild
+transport of tenderness on her part, exclaimed incoherently, as she
+gently released Herminie from her embrace:
+
+"Forgive me, forgive me, my child! I am a mother,--my own child is far
+away--and her absence causes me the deepest regret. My poor brain is so
+weak--now--and for a moment--I laboured under the delusion--the strange
+delusion that it was--that it was my absent daughter I was pressing to
+my heart. Pardon the strange hallucination--you cannot but pity a poor
+mother who realises that she is dying without being able to embrace her
+child for the last time."
+
+"Dying!" exclaimed the girl, raising her tear-stained face and gazing
+wildly at her mother.
+
+But hearing the knock repeated, Herminie hastily dried her tears, and,
+forcing herself to appear calm, said to her mother:
+
+"This is the second time some one has knocked, madame la comtesse."
+
+"Admit the person," murmured Madame de Beaumesnil, faintly, quite
+overcome by the painful scene. It proved to be the confidential maid of
+the countess. She entered, and said:
+
+"I went to M. le Marquis de Maillefort as madame directed."
+
+"Well?" demanded Madame de Beaumesnil, eagerly.
+
+"And M. le marquis is waiting below until madame la comtesse is ready to
+see him."
+
+"Heaven be praised!" murmured Madame de Beaumesnil, fervently. "God is
+rewarding me for having had the strength to keep my vow!"
+
+Then, turning to the maid, she added:
+
+"Bring M. de Maillefort here at once."
+
+Herminie, quite overcome by so many conflicting emotions, and feeling
+that her presence was no longer desired, took her hat and mantle with
+the intention of departing at once.
+
+The countess never took her eyes from the young girl's face. She was
+gazing at her daughter for the last time, perhaps, for the poor mother
+felt her life was nearly over now. Nevertheless she had the courage to
+say to Herminie in an almost unconcerned voice in order to deceive the
+girl as to her real condition:
+
+"We will have our selections from 'Oberon' to-morrow, mademoiselle. You
+will have the goodness to come early, will you not?"
+
+"Yes, madame la comtesse," replied Herminie.
+
+"Show mademoiselle out, Madame Dupont, and then bring M. de Maillefort,"
+the countess said to her maid. But as she watched her daughter move
+towards the door she could not help saying to her for the last time:
+
+"Farewell, mademoiselle."
+
+"Farewell, madame la comtesse," answered Herminie.
+
+And it was in these formal words that these two poor, heart-broken
+creatures gave vent to their grief and despair at this final hour of
+parting.
+
+Madame Dupont showed Herminie to the street door without taking her past
+the drawing-room in which M. de Maillefort was waiting. Just as the
+young girl was leaving, Madame Dupont said, kindly:
+
+"You have forgotten your umbrella, mademoiselle, and you will need it,
+for it is a dreadful night. The rain is falling in torrents."
+
+"Thank you, madame," said Herminie, recollecting now that she had left
+her umbrella just outside the door of the reception-room, and hastening
+back for it.
+
+It was indeed, raining in torrents, but Herminie, absorbed in grief, did
+not even notice that the night was dark and stormy as she left the Hotel
+de Beaumesnil, and wended her solitary way homeward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE PURSE OF MONEY.
+
+
+M. de Maillefort was waiting alone in one of the drawing-rooms when
+Madame Dupont came to conduct him into Madame de Beaumesnil's presence.
+
+The hunchback's countenance had lost its usual expression of cynical
+raillery. Profound sadness, mingled with an intense anxiety and
+surprise, could be easily discerned upon his features.
+
+Standing with one elbow resting on the mantel, and his head supported on
+his hand, the marquis seemed lost in thought. One might almost have
+fancied that he was seeking the solution of some difficult enigma; but
+now and then he would wake from his reverie and gaze around him with
+eyes glittering with tears, then hurriedly passing his hand across his
+forehead, as if to drive away painful thoughts, he began to pace the
+room with hasty strides.
+
+Only a few minutes had elapsed, however, when Madame Dupont came to say:
+
+"If M. le marquis will be kind enough to follow me, madame la comtesse
+will see him now."
+
+Stepping in front of the marquis, Madame Dupont opened the door leading
+into Madame de Beaumesnil's apartment and announced:
+
+"M. le Marquis de Maillefort!"
+
+The countess had made an invalid's toilet. Her blonde hair, somewhat
+dishevelled by the passionate embraces bestowed upon her daughter, had
+been smoothed afresh, a dainty cap of Valenciennes lace surmounted the
+pale face, from which every tinge of colour had now fled. Her eyes, so
+brilliant with maternal tenderness a few moments before, had lost their
+lustre, and the hands that burned so feverishly when they pressed
+Herminie's were fast growing cold.
+
+Noting the appalling change in the features of the countess, whom he had
+seen but a comparatively short time before radiant with youth and
+beauty, M. de Maillefort started violently, then paused a moment in
+spite of himself.
+
+"You find me greatly changed, do you not, M. de Maillefort?" asked
+Madame de Beaumesnil, with a sad smile.
+
+The hunchback made no reply. His head drooped, and when he raised it
+again, after a minute or two, he was as pale as death.
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil motioned the marquis to seat himself in an armchair
+near the bedside, saying as she did so, in a grave but affectionate
+voice:
+
+"I fear my moments even are numbered, M. de Maillefort, and I shall
+therefore endeavour to make this interview as brief as possible."
+
+The marquis silently took the seat designated by the countess, who
+added:
+
+"My note must have surprised you."
+
+"Yes, madame."
+
+"But kind and generous as ever, you hastened to comply with my request."
+
+The marquis bowed, and, in a voice full of emotion, the countess went
+on:
+
+"M. de Maillefort, you have loved me devotedly," she said.
+
+The hunchback started visibly, and gazed at the countess with mingled
+dismay and astonishment.
+
+"Do not be surprised that I should have discovered a secret that no one
+else has even suspected," continued the countess, "for love, true love,
+always betrays itself to the person loved."
+
+"So you knew," stammered the hunchback.
+
+"I knew all," replied the countess, extending her ice-cold hand to M. de
+Maillefort, who pressed it reverently, while tears which he could no
+longer repress streamed down his cheeks.
+
+"Yes, I knew all," continued the countess, "your noble, though carefully
+concealed, devotion, and the suffering so heroically endured."
+
+"You knew all?" repeated M. de Maillefort, hesitatingly; "you knew all,
+and yet your greeting was always kind and gracious when we chanced to
+meet. You knew all, and yet I never detected a mocking smile upon your
+lips or a gleam of disdainful pity in your eye."
+
+"M. de Maillefort," the countess answered, with touching dignity, "it is
+in the name of the love you have borne me, it is in the name of the
+affectionate esteem with which your character has always inspired me,
+that I now, at the hour of death, beg that you will allow me to entrust
+to your keeping the interests I hold most dear."
+
+"Forgive me, madame, forgive me," said the marquis, with even greater
+emotion, "for having even for an instant fancied that a heart like yours
+could scorn or ridicule an unconquerable but carefully concealed love.
+Speak on, madame, I believe I am worthy of the confidence you show in
+me."
+
+"M. de Maillefort, this night will be my last."
+
+"Madame!"
+
+"I am not deceiving myself. It is only by a strong effort of will and a
+powerful stimulant that I have managed to hold death at bay for several
+hours past. Listen, then, for, as I just told you, my moments are
+numbered."
+
+The hunchback dried his tears and listened with breathless attention.
+
+"You have heard of the frightful accident of which M. de Beaumesnil was
+the victim. By reason of his death--and mine--my daughter Ernestine will
+soon be an orphan in a strange land, with no one to care for her but a
+governess. Nor is this all. Ernestine is an angel of goodness and
+ingenuousness, but she is exceedingly timid. Tenderly guarded both by
+her father and myself, she is as ignorant of the world as only a
+sixteen-year-old girl who has been jealously watched over by her
+parents, and who naturally prefers quiet and simplicity, can be. On some
+accounts one might suppose that I need feel no anxiety in regard to her
+future, for she will be the richest heiress in France, but I cannot
+overcome my uneasiness when I think of the persons who will probably
+have charge of my daughter when I am gone, for it is M. and Madame de la
+Rochaigue who, as her nearest relatives, will doubtless be selected as
+her guardians. This being the case, you can easily understand my
+apprehensions, I think."
+
+"It would, indeed, be desirable that your daughter should have more
+judicious guardians, but Mlle. de Beaumesnil is sixteen. Her minority
+will not last long; besides, the persons to whom you allude are erratic
+and ridiculous rather than dangerous."
+
+"I know that, still, Ernestine's hand will be so strongly coveted--I
+have already had convincing proofs of that"--added Madame de Beaumesnil,
+remembering her confessor's persistent efforts in M. de Macreuse's
+behalf, "the poor child will be the victim of such persecution that I
+shall not feel entirely reassured unless she has a faithful and devoted
+friend of superior character, willing and capable of guiding her in her
+choice. Will you be this faithful friend to my child, M. de Maillefort?
+Consent, I beseech you, and I shall leave the world satisfied that my
+daughter's lot in life will be as happy as it will be brilliant."
+
+"I will endeavour to be such a friend to your daughter, madame.
+Everything that I can do for her, I will do."
+
+"Ah, I can breath freely now, I no longer feel any anxiety in regard to
+Ernestine. I know what such a promise means from you, M. de Maillefort,"
+exclaimed the countess, her face beaming with hope and serenity.
+
+But almost immediately a consciousness of increasing weakness, together
+with other unfavourable symptoms, convinced Madame de Beaumesnil that
+her end was fast approaching. Her countenance, which had beamed for a
+moment with the hope and serenity M. de Maillefort's promise had
+inspired, became troubled again, and in a hurried, almost entreating
+voice, she continued:
+
+"But this is not all, M. de Maillefort, I have a still greater favour to
+ask of you. Aided by your counsels, my daughter Ernestine will be as
+happy as she is rich. Her future is as bright and as well assured as any
+person's can be, but it is very different concerning the future of a
+poor but noble-hearted creature, whom--I--I wish that you--"
+
+Madame de Beaumesnil paused. Say more she dared not--could not.
+
+Though she had resolved to tell M. de Maillefort the secret of
+Herminie's birth, in the hope of ensuring her child the protection of
+this generous man, she shrank from the shame of such a confession,--a
+confession which would also have been a violation of the solemn oath she
+had taken years before, and faithfully kept.
+
+The marquis, seeing her hesitate, said, gently:
+
+"What is it, madame? Will you not be kind enough to tell me what other
+service I can render you? Do you not know that you can depend upon me as
+one of the most devoted of your friends?"
+
+"I know that! I know that!" gasped Madame de Beaumesnil, "but I dare
+not--I am afraid--"
+
+The marquis, deeply touched by her distress, endeavoured to make it
+easier for her to prefer her request by saying:
+
+"When you checked yourself just now, madame, you were speaking, I think,
+of the uncertain future of a poor but noble-hearted creature. Who is
+she? And in what way can I be of service to her?"
+
+Overcome with grief and increasing weakness, Madame de Beaumesnil buried
+her face in her hands, and burst into tears; then, after a brief
+silence, riveting her weeping eyes on the marquis, and endeavouring to
+appear more calm, she said, brokenly:
+
+"Yes, you might be of the greatest possible service to a poor
+girl--worthy in every respect--of your interest, for she, too, is an
+orphan--a most unfortunate orphan,--for she is both friendless and
+penniless, but, oh, so brave, and so proud! In short, she is an angel,"
+cried the countess, with a vehemence at which M. de Maillefort marvelled
+greatly. "Yes," continued Madame de Beaumesnil, sobbing violently, "Yes,
+she is an angel of courage and of virtue, and it is for this angel that
+I ask the same fatherly interest I asked for my daughter Ernestine. Oh,
+M. de Maillefort, do not refuse my request, I beseech you!"
+
+The excitement and embarrassment Madame de Beaumesnil manifested in
+speaking of this orphan, together with the almost frenzied appeal in her
+behalf, excited the Marquis de Maillefort's profound astonishment.
+
+For a moment he was too amazed to speak; then, all of a sudden, he
+started violently, for a terrible suspicion darted through his mind. He
+recollected some of the scandalous (up to this time he had always styled
+them infamous) reports, which had been rife in former years, concerning
+Madame de Beaumesnil, and which he had avenged by challenging M. de
+Mornand that very day.
+
+Could it be that there had really been a foundation for these rumours?
+Was this orphan, in whom Madame de Beaumesnil seemed to take such a
+profound interest, bound to the countess by a secret tie? Was she,
+indeed, the child of her shame?
+
+But almost immediately the marquis, full of confidence in Madame de
+Beaumesnil's virtue, drove away these odious suspicions, and bitterly
+reproached himself for having entertained them even for a moment.
+
+The countess, terrified by the hunchback's silence, said to him, in
+trembling tones:
+
+"Forgive me, M. de Maillefort. I see that I have presumed too much upon
+your generous kindness. Not content with having secured your fatherly
+protection for my daughter, Ernestine, I must needs seek to interest you
+in an unfortunate stranger. Pardon me, I beseech you."
+
+The tone in which Madame de Beaumesnil uttered these words was so
+heart-broken and full of despair that M. de Maillefort's suspicions
+revived. One of his dearest illusions was being ruthlessly destroyed.
+Madame de Beaumesnil was no longer the ideal woman he had so long
+adored.
+
+But taking pity on this unhappy mother, and understanding how terribly
+she must suffer, M. de Maillefort felt his eyes fill with tears, and it
+was in an agitated voice that he replied:
+
+"You need have no fears, madame, I shall keep my promise, and the orphan
+girl you commend to my care will be as dear to me as Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil. I shall have two daughters instead of one."
+
+And he pressed the hand of Madame de Beaumesnil affectionately, as if to
+seal his promise.
+
+"Now I can die in peace!" exclaimed the countess. And before the marquis
+could prevent it, she had pressed her cold lips upon the hand he had
+offered her; and, from this manifestation of ineffable gratitude, M. de
+Maillefort was convinced that the person in question was indeed Madame
+de Beaumesnil's illegitimate child.
+
+All at once, either because so much violent emotion had exhausted the
+invalid's strength, or because her malady--concealed for a time by an
+apparent improvement in the sufferer's condition--had attained its
+height, Madame de Beaumesnil made a sudden movement, at the same time
+uttering a cry of agony.
+
+"Good God, madame, what is it?" cried the marquis, terrified at the
+sudden alteration in Madame de Beaumesnil's features.
+
+"It is nothing," she answered, heroically, "a slight pain, that is all.
+But here, take this key,--quick, I beg of you," she added, drawing out a
+key from under her pillow and handing it to him.
+
+"Open--that--secretary," she gasped.
+
+The marquis obeyed.
+
+"There is a purse in the middle drawer. Do you see it?"
+
+"Yes, here it is."
+
+"Keep it, I beg of you. It contains a sum of money which I have a
+perfect right to dispose of. It will at least save the young girl I
+commended to your care from want. Only promise me," continued the poor
+mother, her voice becoming more and more feeble each moment,--"promise
+me that you will never mention my name to--to this orphan--nor tell her
+who it was that asked you to place this money in her hands. But tell
+her, oh, tell this unfortunate child that she was tenderly loved until
+the last, and that--that it was absolutely necessary--"
+
+The countess was so weak now that the conclusion of the sentence was
+inaudible.
+
+"But this purse--to whom am I to give it, madame? Where shall I find
+this young girl, and what is her name?" exclaimed M. de Maillefort,
+alarmed by the sudden change in Madame de Beaumesnil's condition, and by
+her laboured breathing.
+
+But instead of answering M. de Maillefort's question Madame de
+Beaumesnil sank back on her pillows with a despairing moan, and clasped
+her hands upon her breast.
+
+"Speak to me, madame," cried the marquis, bending over the countess in
+the utmost terror and alarm. "This young girl, tell me where I can find
+her, and who she is."
+
+"I am dying--dying--" murmured Madame de Beaumesnil, lifting her eyes
+heavenward.
+
+Then with a last supreme effort, she faltered:
+
+"Don't forget--your promise--my child--the orphan!"
+
+In another moment the countess was no more; and M. de Maillefort,
+overcome with grief and chagrin, could no longer doubt that this orphan,
+whose name and place of abode were alike unknown to him, was Madame de
+Beaumesnil's illegitimate child.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The funeral rites of Madame de Beaumesnil were conducted with great
+splendour.
+
+The Baron de la Rochaigue acted as chief mourner. M. de Maillefort,
+invited by letter to take part in the ceremonial, joined the funeral
+cortege.
+
+In an obscure corner of the church, kneeling as if crushed by the weight
+of her despair, a young girl prayed and sobbed, unheeded by any one.
+
+It was Herminie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A VAIN INTERVIEW.
+
+
+Several days after Madame de Beaumesnil's funeral, M. de Maillefort,
+arousing himself from the gloomy lethargy into which the death of the
+countess had plunged him, resolved to carry out that unfortunate lady's
+last wishes in regard to the unknown orphan, though he fully realised
+all the difficulties of the mission intrusted to him.
+
+How should he go to work to find the young girl whom Madame de
+Beaumesnil had so urgently commended to his care?
+
+To whom could he apply for information that would give him the necessary
+clue to her identity?
+
+Above all, how could he secure this information without compromising
+Madame de Beaumesnil's good name and the secrecy with which she had
+wished him to carry out her intentions with regard to this mysterious
+daughter,--her illegitimate child, as M. de Maillefort could no longer
+doubt.
+
+The hunchback recollected that on the evening of her death the countess
+had sent a confidential servant to beg him to come to the Hotel de
+Beaumesnil without delay.
+
+"This woman has been in Madame de Beaumesnil's service a long time,"
+thought the marquis. "She may be able to give me some information."
+
+So M. de Maillefort's valet, a trustworthy and devoted man, was sent to
+bring Madame Dupont to the house of the marquis.
+
+"I know how devotedly you were attached to your mistress, my dear Madame
+Dupont," the marquis began.
+
+"Ah, monsieur, madame la comtesse was so good and kind!" exclaimed
+Madame Dupont, bursting into tears. "How could one help being devoted to
+her in life and in death?"
+
+"It is because I am so sure of this devotion, as well as of your respect
+for the memory of your deceased mistress, that I requested you to come
+to my house, my dear Madame Dupont. I wish to speak to you on a very
+delicate subject."
+
+"I am listening, M. le marquis."
+
+"The proof of confidence which Madame de Beaumesnil gave by sending for
+me just before her death must convince you that any questions I may put
+to you are of an almost sacred nature, so I can safely count upon your
+frankness and discretion."
+
+"You can, indeed, M. le marquis."
+
+"I am sure of it. Now the state of affairs is just this: Madame de
+Beaumesnil has for a long time, as nearly as I can learn,--at the
+request of a friend,--taken charge of a young orphan girl who, by the
+death of her protectress, is now deprived of the means of support. I am
+ignorant of this young girl's name, as well as of her place of
+residence, and I am anxious to ascertain both as soon as possible. Can
+you give me any information on the subject?"
+
+"A young orphan girl?" repeated Madame Dupont, thoughtfully.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"During the ten years I have been in the service of madame la comtesse,
+I have never known any young girl who came regularly to the house or who
+seemed to be a protegee of hers."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Perfectly sure, M. le marquis."
+
+"And Madame de Beaumesnil never entrusted you with any commission in
+connection with the young girl of whom I speak?"
+
+"Never, M. le marquis. Many persons applied to madame for aid, for she
+was very liberal, but I never noticed that she gave any particular
+person the preference or interested herself any more in one person than
+in another, and I feel sure that if madame had wished any confidential
+mission performed, she would certainly have entrusted it to me."
+
+"That is exactly what I thought, and it was for that very reason I felt
+confident of securing some information from you. Come now, try and think
+if you can not remember some young girl in whom Madame de Beaumesnil has
+seemed to take a special interest for some time past."
+
+"I can remember no one, absolutely no one," answered Madame Dupont after
+several minutes of profound reflection.
+
+The thought of Herminie did occur to her, but was instantly dismissed,
+for there had been nothing in Madame de Beaumesnil's manner towards the
+young musician that indicated any special interest; besides, she and the
+countess had met for the first time less than a fortnight before the
+latter's death, while the marquis declared that the young girl of whom
+he was in search had been under Madame de Beaumesnil's protection for a
+long time.
+
+"Then I must endeavour to secure my information elsewhere," said the
+marquis, with a sigh.
+
+"Wait a moment, M. le marquis," exclaimed Madame Dupont. "What I am
+going to tell you may have no connection with the young girl of whom you
+speak, but it will do no harm to mention it."
+
+"Let me hear what it is."
+
+"The day before her death, madame la comtesse sent for me, and said:
+'Take a cab and carry this letter to a woman who lives in the
+Batignolles. Do not tell her who sent you, but bring her back with you,
+and show her up to my room immediately upon her arrival.'"
+
+"And this woman's name?"
+
+"Was a very peculiar one, M. le marquis, and I have not forgotten it.
+She is called Madame Barbancon."
+
+"Was she a frequent visitor at Madame de Beaumesnil's house?"
+
+"She was never there except that once."
+
+"And did you bring this woman to Madame de Beaumesnil's?"
+
+"I did not."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"After giving me the order I just spoke of, madame seemed to change her
+mind, for she said to me: 'All things considered, Madame Dupont, you had
+better not take a cab. It would give the affair an air of mystery. Order
+out the carriage, give this letter to the footman, and tell him to
+deliver it to the person to whom it is addressed.'"
+
+"And he found the woman?"
+
+"Yes, M. le marquis."
+
+"And did Madame de Beaumesnil have a conversation with her?"
+
+"The interview lasted at least two hours, M. le marquis."
+
+"How old was this woman?"
+
+"Fifty years of age at the very least, and a very ordinary person."
+
+"And after her interview with the countess?"
+
+"She was taken back to her home in madame's carriage."
+
+"And you say she has never been at the Hotel de Beaumesnil since?"
+
+"No, M. le marquis."
+
+After remaining silent for some time, the hunchback turned to Madame
+Dupont, and asked:
+
+"What did you say this woman's name was?"
+
+"Madame Barbancon."
+
+The hunchback wrote down the name in his note-book, then asked:
+
+"And she lives where?"
+
+"In the Batignolles."
+
+"The street and number, if you please."
+
+"I do not know, M. le marquis. I only remember that the footman told us
+that the house where she lived was in a very quiet street, and that
+there was a garden, into which one could look through a small latticed
+gate."
+
+The hunchback, after jotting down these items in his note-book, said:
+
+"I thank you very much for this information, though it may be of little
+or no assistance to me in my search. If you should at any time recall
+other facts which you think may be of service, I hope you will notify me
+at once."
+
+"I will not fail to do so, M. le marquis."
+
+M. de Maillefort, having rewarded Madame Dupont handsomely, called a cab
+and ordered the coachman to drive him to the Batignolles.
+
+After two hours of persistent inquiry and assiduous search the marquis
+at last discovered Commander Bernard's house, where he found only Madame
+Barbancon at home.
+
+Olivier had left Paris several days before in company with his master
+mason, and the veteran had just gone out for his daily walk.
+
+The housekeeper on opening the door was so unpleasantly impressed by the
+visitor's deformity, that, instead of inviting him in, she remained
+standing upon the threshold, thus barring M. de Maillefort's passage.
+
+That gentleman, noting the unfavourable impression he was making upon
+the housekeeper, bowed very politely, and said:
+
+"Have I the honour of speaking to Madame Barbancon?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur; and what do you want of Madame Barbancon?"
+
+"I am desirous that you should grant me the honour of a few minutes'
+conversation."
+
+"And why, monsieur?" demanded the housekeeper, eyeing the stranger
+distrustfully.
+
+"I wish to confer with you, madame, on a very important matter."
+
+"But I do not even know you."
+
+"I have the advantage of knowing you, though only by name, it is true."
+
+"A fine story that! I, too, know the Grand Turk by name."
+
+"My dear Madame Barbancon, will you permit me to say that we could talk
+very much more at our ease inside, than out here on the doorstep."
+
+"I only care to be at ease with persons I like, monsieur," retorted the
+housekeeper, tartly.
+
+"I can understand your distrust, my dear madame," replied the marquis,
+concealing his impatience, "so I will vouch for myself by a name that is
+not entirely unknown to you."
+
+"What name is that?"
+
+"That of Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Do you come at her request, monsieur?" asked the housekeeper, quickly.
+
+"At her request? No, madame," sadly replied the hunchback, shaking his
+head, "Madame de Beaumesnil is dead."
+
+"Dead! And when did the poor, dear lady die?"
+
+"Let us step inside and I will then answer your question," said the
+marquis, in an authoritative manner that rather awed Madame Barbancon;
+besides, she was very anxious to hear the particulars of Madame de
+Beaumesnil's death.
+
+"And you say that Madame de Beaumesnil is dead?" exclaimed the
+housekeeper, as soon as they had entered the house.
+
+"She died several days ago--the very next day after her interview with
+you."
+
+"What, monsieur, you know?"
+
+"I know that Madame de Beaumesnil had a long conversation with you, and
+I am fulfilling her last wishes in asking you to accept these
+twenty-five napoleons from her."
+
+And the hunchback showed Madame Barbancon a small silk purse filled with
+shining gold.
+
+The words "twenty-five napoleons" grievously offended the housekeeper's
+ears. Had the marquis said twenty-five louis the effect would probably
+have been entirely different.
+
+So instead of taking the proffered gold, Madame Barbancon, feeling all
+her former doubts revive, answered majestically, as she waved aside the
+purse with an expression of superb disdain:
+
+"I do not accept napoleons," accenting the detested name strongly; "no,
+I do not accept napoleons from the first person that happens to come
+along--without knowing--do you understand, monsieur?"
+
+"Without knowing what, my dear madame?"
+
+"Without knowing who these people are who say napoleons as if it would
+scorch their mouths if they should utter the word louis. But it is all
+plain enough now," she added, sardonically. "Tell me who you go with and
+I will tell you who you are. Now what do you want with me? I have my
+soup pot to watch."
+
+"As I told you before, madame, I came to bring you a slight token of
+Madame de Beaumesnil's gratitude for the discretion and reserve you
+displayed in a certain affair."
+
+"What affair?"
+
+"You know very well."
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea what you mean."
+
+"Come, come, my dear Madame Barbancon, why will you not be perfectly
+frank with me? I was one of Madame de Beaumesnil's most intimate
+friends, and I know all about that orphan--you know--that orphan."
+
+"That orphan?"
+
+"Yes, that young girl, I need say no more. You see I know all about it."
+
+"Then if you know all about it, why do you come here to question me?"
+
+"I come in the interest of the young girl--you know who I mean--to ask
+you to give me her address, as I have a very important communication to
+make to her."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Really."
+
+"Well, well, did anybody ever hear the equal of that?" snorted the
+housekeeper, indignantly.
+
+"But my dear Madame Barbancon, what is there so very extraordinary in
+what I am saying to you?"
+
+"This," yelled the housekeeper, "this--that you are nothing more or less
+than a miserable old roue!"
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, a miserable scoundrel who is trying to bribe me, and make me blab
+all I know by promises of gold."
+
+"But, my dear madame, I assure you--"
+
+"But understand me once for all: if that hump of yours was stuffed with
+napoleons, and you authorised me to help myself to all I wanted, I
+wouldn't tell you a word more than I chose to. That is the kind of a
+woman I am!"
+
+"But, Madame Barbancon, do pray listen to me. You are a worthy and
+honest woman."
+
+"Yes, I flatter myself that I am."
+
+"And very justly, I am sure. That being the case, if you would only
+hear me to the end you would answer very differently, I am sure, for--"
+
+"I should do nothing of the kind. Oh, I understand, you came here
+intending to pump me and get all you could out of me, but, thank Heaven,
+I was smart enough to see through you from the very first, and now I
+tell you once for all you had better let me alone."
+
+"But one word, I beg, my dear friend," pleaded the marquis, trying to
+take his irascible companion's hand.
+
+"Don't touch me, you vile libertine," shrieked the housekeeper,
+springing back in prudish terror. "I know you now for the serpent that
+you are! First it was 'madame,' and then 'my dear madame,' and now 'my
+dear friend,' and you'll wind up with 'my treasure,' I suppose!"
+
+"But Madame Barbancon, I do assure you--"
+
+"I have always heard it said that humpbacked people were worse than
+monkeys," exclaimed the housekeeper, recoiling still further. "If you
+don't take yourself off, sir, and at once, I'll call the neighbours;
+I'll yell for the police; I'll cry fire!"
+
+"You must be crazy, woman," exclaimed the marquis, exasperated by the
+complete failure of his efforts so far as Madame Barbancon was
+concerned. "What the devil do you mean by all this pretended indignation
+and prudery? You are very nearly as ugly as I am, and we are not
+calculated to tempt each other. I say once more, and for the last time,
+and you had better weigh my words well, I came here in the hope of being
+of assistance to a poor and worthy young girl whom you must know. And if
+you do know her, you are doing her an irreparable wrong--do you
+understand me?--by refusing to tell me where she is and to assist me in
+finding her. Consider well--the future of this young girl is in your
+hands, and I am sure you are really too kind-hearted to wish to injure a
+worthy girl who has never harmed you."
+
+M. de Maillefort spoke with so much feeling, his tone was so earnest and
+sincere, that Madame Barbancon began to feel that there was really no
+just cause for her distrust, after all.
+
+"Well, monsieur, I may have been mistaken in thinking that you were
+trying to make love to me," she began.
+
+"You certainly were."
+
+"But as for telling you anything I oughtn't to tell you, you won't make
+me do that, however hard you may try. It is quite possible that you're a
+respectable man, and that your intentions are good, but I'm an honest
+woman, too, and I know what I ought and what I ought not to tell; so,
+though you might cut me in pieces, you wouldn't get a treacherous word
+out of me. That is the kind of a woman I am!"
+
+"Where the devil can one hope to find a woman of sense?" M. de
+Maillefort said to himself as he left Madame Barbancon, quite despairing
+of getting any information out of the worthy housekeeper, and realising
+only too well the futility of his first efforts to discover Madame de
+Beaumesnil's illegitimate child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+UNEXPECTED CONSOLATION.
+
+
+Two months had elapsed since the death of Madame de Beaumesnil, and
+great activity reigned in the house of M. le Baron de la Rochaigue, who
+had been appointed guardian of Ernestine de Beaumesnil at a family
+council convoked shortly after the demise of the countess.
+
+The servants of the household were hurrying to and fro arranging
+articles of furniture, under the superintendence of the baron, his wife,
+and his sister, Mlle. Helena de la Rochaigue, an old maid about
+forty-five years of age, whose plain black dress, downcast eyes, white,
+pinched face, and severely arranged white hair made her look very much
+like a _religieuse_, though she had never taken monastic vows.
+
+M. de la Rochaigue, a very tall, thin man, between sixty and seventy
+years of age, was quite bald. He had a receding forehead and chin,
+prominent blue eyes, and a long nose. His lips were wreathed in a
+perpetual smile, which displayed exceedingly white, but unusually long,
+teeth, that imparted a decidedly sheep-like character to his
+physiognomy. He had an excellent figure, and by holding himself rigidly
+erect and buttoning his long black coat straight up to his white cravat,
+he managed to make himself a living copy of the portrait of Canning,
+"the perfect type of a gentleman statesman," as the baron often
+remarked.
+
+M. de la Rochaigue was not a statesman, however, though he had long
+aspired to become one. In fact, this ambition had developed into a sort
+of mania with him. Believing himself an unknown Canning, and being
+unable to air his eloquence in the councils of the nation, he took
+advantage of each and every opportunity to make a speech, and always
+assumed a parliamentary tone and attitude in discussing the most trivial
+matter.
+
+One of the most salient characteristics of the baron's oratory was a
+redundancy of adjectives and adverbs, which seemed to him to treble the
+effect of his finest thoughts, though if we might venture to adopt the
+baron's phraseology, we could truly say that nothing could be more
+insignificant, more commonplace, and more void of meaning than what he
+styled his thoughts.
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue, who was now about forty-five, had been extremely
+pretty, coquettish, and charming. Her figure was still slender and
+graceful, but the youthfulness and elaborateness of her toilets seemed
+ill-suited to one of her mature years.
+
+The baroness was passionately fond of luxury and display. There was
+nothing that she loved better than to organise and preside at
+magnificent entertainments, but unfortunately, her fortune, though
+considerable, did not correspond with her very expensive tastes.
+Besides, she had no intention of impoverishing herself; so being an
+extremely shrewd and economical woman, she managed to enjoy the prestige
+which lavish expenditure imparts to one by frequently acting as the
+patroness of the many obscure but enormously rich foreigners or
+provincials--meteors--who, after dazzling Paris a few years, vanish for
+ever in darkness and oblivion.
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue in such cases did not allow her proteges the
+slightest liberty, even in the selection of their guests. She gave them
+a list of the persons they were to entertain, not even granting them
+permission to invite such of their friends or compatriots as she did not
+consider worthy to appear in aristocratic society.
+
+The baroness, holding a high social position herself, could easily
+launch her clients in the best society, but in the meantime she was
+really the mistress of their house. It was she alone who planned their
+entertainments, and it was to her that persons applied for a place on
+the list of guests bidden to these sumptuous and exclusive reunions.
+
+It is needless to say that she considered a box at the opera and other
+fashionable places of amusement an absolute necessity, and, in this box,
+the best seat was always reserved for her. It was the same at the races,
+and in the frequent visits to the seashore and other fashionable
+watering-places. Her proteges rented a house, and sent down chefs,
+servants, and horses and carriages, and in these admirably appointed
+establishments Madame de la Rochaigue kept open house for her friends.
+
+So insatiable is the longing for pleasure in society, even the most
+fashionable society, that, instead of revolting at the idea of a woman
+of noble birth devoting herself to the shameful robbing of these
+unfortunate people whose foolish vanity was leading them on to ruin,
+society flattered Madame de la Rochaigue, the dispenser of all this
+lavish hospitality, and the lady herself was not a little proud of the
+advantages she derived from her patronage; besides being clever, witty,
+shrewd, and remarkably self-possessed, Madame de la Rochaigue was one of
+the seven or eight brilliant women who exerted a real influence over
+what is known as Parisian society.
+
+The three persons above referred to were engaged in adding the finishing
+touches to a spacious suite of superbly appointed apartments that
+occupied the entire first floor of a mansion in the Faubourg St.
+Germain.
+
+M. and Madame de la Rochaigue had relinquished these rooms and
+established themselves on the second floor, a part of which was occupied
+by Mlle. de la Rochaigue, while the rest had heretofore served as
+quarters for the baron's daughter and son-in-law, when they left their
+estates, where they resided most of the year, for a two months' sojourn
+in Paris.
+
+These formerly rather dilapidated and very parsimoniously furnished
+apartments had been entirely renovated and superbly decorated for Mlle.
+Ernestine de Beaumesnil, whose health had become sufficiently restored
+to admit of her return to France, and who was expected to arrive from
+Italy that very day, accompanied by her governess, and a sort of steward
+or courier whom M. de la Rochaigue had despatched to Naples to bring the
+orphan home.
+
+The extreme care which the baron and his wife and sister were bestowing
+on the arrangement of the rooms was almost ludicrous, so plainly did it
+show the intense eagerness and obsequiousness with which Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil was awaited, though there was something almost depressing in
+the thought that all this splendour was for a mere child of sixteen, who
+seemed likely to be almost lost in these immense rooms.
+
+After a final survey of the apartments, M. de la Rochaigue summoned all
+the servants, and, seeing a fine opportunity for a speech, uttered the
+following memorable words with all his wonted majesty of demeanour:
+
+"I here assemble my people together, to say, declare, and signify to
+them that Mlle. de Beaumesnil, my cousin and ward, is expected to arrive
+this evening. I desire also to say to them that Madame de la Rochaigue
+and myself intend, desire, and wish that our people should obey Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's orders even more scrupulously than our own. In other words,
+I desire to say to our people that anything and everything Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil may say, order, or command, they are to obey as implicitly,
+unhesitatingly, and blindly as if the order had been given by Madame de
+la Rochaigue or myself. I count upon the zeal, intelligence, and
+exactitude of my people in this particular, and we shall reward
+handsomely all who manifest hearty good-will, solicitude, and
+unremitting zeal in Mlle. de Beaumesnil's service."
+
+After this eloquent adjuration the servants were dismissed, and the
+cooks were ordered to have everything in readiness to serve either a hot
+or cold repast in case Mlle. de Beaumesnil should desire something to
+eat on her arrival.
+
+These preparations concluded, Madame de la Rochaigue suggested to her
+husband that they go up to their own apartments.
+
+"I was about to make the same proposition to you," responded M. de la
+Rochaigue, smiling, and showing his long teeth with the most affable air
+imaginable.
+
+As the baron and baroness and Mlle. de la Rochaigue were leaving the
+apartment, a servant stepped up to M. de la Rochaigue, and said:
+
+"There is a young woman here who wishes to speak with madame."
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"She did not give her name. She came to return something belonging to
+the late Comtesse de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Admit her," said the baroness.
+
+Then, turning to her husband and sister-in-law, she said:
+
+"I wonder who it can be?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea, but we shall soon know."
+
+"Some claim on the estate, probably," remarked the baroness. "It should
+have been sent to the notary."
+
+Almost at the same instant the servant opened the door, and announced:
+
+"Mademoiselle Herminie."
+
+Though beautiful under any and all circumstances, the lovely face of the
+"duchess," wan from the profound grief caused by the death of her
+mother, wore an expression of intense sadness. Her lovely golden hair,
+which she usually wore in long curls, was wound smoothly around her
+head, for, in her bitter sorrow, the poor child for the last two months
+had entirely forgotten the innocent vanities of youth. Another trivial
+but highly significant detail,--Herminie's white and beautifully shaped
+hands were bare; the shabby little gloves so often and carefully mended
+were no longer wearable, and her increasing poverty would not permit her
+to purchase others.
+
+Yes, her poverty, for, wounded to the heart by her mother's death, and
+dangerously ill for six weeks, the young girl had been unable to give
+the music lessons which were her only means of support, and her little
+store of savings had been swallowed up in the expenses of her illness,
+so, while waiting for the pay for the lessons resumed only a few days
+before, Herminie had been obliged to pawn some silver purchased in an
+hour of affluence, and on the paltry sum thus obtained she was now
+living with a parsimony which want alone can teach.
+
+On seeing this pale but beautiful girl, whose clothing indicated extreme
+poverty, in spite of its scrupulous neatness, the baron and his wife
+exchanged glances of surprise.
+
+"I am Madame de la Rochaigue, mademoiselle," said the baroness. "What
+can I do for you?"
+
+"I came, madame, to rectify a mistake," replied Herminie, blushing
+deeply, "and return this five hundred franc note which was sent to me
+by--by the late Madame de Beaumesnil's notary."
+
+In spite of her courage, Herminie felt the tears rush to her eyes on
+uttering her mother's name, but making a violent effort to conquer her
+emotion, she held out the bank-note enclosed in an envelope, bearing
+this address:
+
+    _For Mlle. Herminie,_
+                  _Singing Teacher._
+
+[Illustration: "She Held Out the Bank-note."]
+
+"Ah, yes, it was you, mademoiselle, who used to play and sing for Madame
+de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Yes, madame."
+
+"I recollect now that the family council decided that five hundred
+francs should be sent to you for your services. It was considered that
+this amount--"
+
+"Would be a suitable, sufficient, and satisfactory remuneration," added
+the baron, sententiously.
+
+"And if it is not, the complaint should be made to the notary, not to
+us," added the baroness.
+
+"I have come, madame," said Herminie, gently but proudly, "to return the
+money. I have been paid."
+
+No one present realised or could realise the bitter sorrow hidden in
+these words:
+
+"I have been paid."
+
+But Herminie's dignity and disinterestedness, a disinterestedness which
+the shabby garments of the young girl rendered the more remarkable, made
+a deep impression on Madame de la Rochaigue, and she said:
+
+"Really, mademoiselle, I can not praise too highly this delicacy and
+keen sense of honour on your part. The family did not know that you had
+been paid, but," added the baroness, hesitatingly, for Herminie's air of
+quiet dignity impressed her not a little,--"but I--I feel that I may, in
+the name of the family, beg you to keep this five hundred francs--as--as
+a gift."
+
+And the baroness held out the bank-note to the young girl, casting
+another quick glance at her shabby garments as she did so.
+
+Again a blush of wounded pride mounted to Herminie's brow, but it is
+impossible to describe the perfect courtesy and proud simplicity with
+which the girl replied:
+
+"Will you, madame, kindly reserve this generous gift for the many
+persons who must appeal to you for charity."
+
+Then, without another word, Herminie bowed to Madame de la Rochaigue,
+and turned towards the door.
+
+"Excuse me, mademoiselle," cried the baroness, "one word more, just
+one."
+
+The young girl, unable to entirely conceal the tears of humiliation
+repressed with such difficulty until now, turned, and said to Madame de
+la Rochaigue, who seemed to have been suddenly struck with a new idea:
+
+"What do you wish, madame?"
+
+"I must ask you first to pardon an insistence which seems to have
+wounded your delicacy, and made you think, perhaps, that I wished to
+humiliate you, but I assure you--"
+
+"I never suppose that any one desires to humiliate me, madame," replied
+Herminie, gently and firmly, but without allowing Madame de la Rochaigue
+to finish her sentence.
+
+"And you are right, mademoiselle," responded the baroness, "for it is an
+entirely different sentiment that you inspire. Now, I have a service, I
+might even say a favour, to ask of you."
+
+"Of me?"
+
+"Do you still give piano lessons, mademoiselle?"
+
+"Yes, madame."
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue," said the baroness, pointing to her husband, who
+was smiling according to his custom, "is the guardian of Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, who is expected to arrive here this evening."
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil!" exclaimed Herminie, with a violent start; "she is
+coming here--to-day?"
+
+"As madame has just had the honour to say to you, we expect Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, my much loved cousin and ward, will arrive this evening,"
+said the baron. "These apartments are intended for her," he added,
+casting a complacent glance around the magnificent room, "apartments
+worthy in every respect of the richest heiress in France, for whom
+nothing is too good--"
+
+But the baroness, unceremoniously interrupting her husband, said to
+Herminie:
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil is only sixteen, and her education is not yet
+entirely completed. She will need instruction in several branches, and
+if you can make it convenient to give Mlle. de Beaumesnil lessons in
+music we should be delighted to entrust her to you."
+
+Though the possibility of such an offer had gradually dawned upon
+Herminie's mind as the baroness proceeded, the thought that a most lucky
+chance was about to bring her in contact with her sister so overcame her
+that she would doubtless have betrayed herself if the baron, eager to
+improve this fresh opportunity to pose as an orator, had not slipped his
+left hand in the breast of his tightly buttoned coat, and, with his
+right hand oscillating like a pendulum, said:
+
+"Mademoiselle, though we feel it a sacred duty to select our dear ward's
+instructors with the most scrupulous care, it is also an infinite
+satisfaction, pleasure, and happiness to us to occasionally meet
+persons, who, like yourself, are endowed with all the necessary
+attributes for the noble vocation to which they have dedicated
+themselves in the sacred interest of education."
+
+This speech, or rather this tirade, which the baron uttered in a single
+breath, fortunately afforded Herminie time to recover her composure, and
+it was with comparative calmness that she turned to Madame de la
+Rochaigue, and said:
+
+"I am deeply touched, madame, by the confidence you manifest in me. I
+shall try to prove that I am worthy of it."
+
+"Very well, mademoiselle, as you accept my offer I will notify you as
+soon as Mlle. de Beaumesnil is ready to begin her lessons, for she will
+probably need several days in which to recover from the fatigue of her
+journey."
+
+"I will wait, then, until I hear from you before coming to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil," said Herminie. Then she bowed and withdrew.
+
+It was in an ecstasy of delight that the girl returned to her humble
+home.
+
+Delicacy, a truly laudable pride, and filial love of the purest and most
+elevated kind would prevent Herminie from ever revealing to her sister
+the bond of union between them, even as these same sentiments had given
+her strength to keep silence before Madame de Beaumesnil; but the
+prospect of this speedy meeting plunged the young artiste into a
+transport of delight, and brought her the most unexpected consolation.
+
+Moreover, her natural sagacity, together with a vague distrust of both
+M. and Madame de la Rochaigue, whom she had just seen for the first
+time, told Herminie that this child of sixteen summers, this sister whom
+she loved without even knowing her, should have been entrusted to the
+care of very different persons; and if her expectations did not deceive
+her, the affection she hoped to arouse in her sister's heart might be
+made to exert a very beneficial influence.
+
+It is almost unnecessary to say that, in spite of her very straitened
+circumstances, it never once occurred to Herminie to compare the almost
+fabulous wealth of her sister with her own condition, which was that of
+a poor artiste exposed to all the trying vicissitudes of sickness and
+poverty.
+
+Proud and generous natures diffuse around them a radiance which not
+unfrequently melts even the thick ice of selfishness and egotism, as in
+the preceding interview, when Herminie's dignity, exquisite grace, and
+simplicity of manner had awakened so much interest and extorted such
+respect from M. and Madame de la Rochaigue,--worldly-minded and
+unsympathising though they were,--that they had entirely of their own
+accord made the young girl the offer that so rejoiced her heart.
+
+The baron and his wife and sister, left alone after Herminie's
+departure, went up to their own apartments to hold a conference on the
+subject of Ernestine de Beaumesnil's arrival and the tactics that should
+be pursued.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE SOLEMN COMPACT.
+
+
+They had scarcely reached the drawing-room on the floor above before
+Helena de la Rochaigue, who had seemed very thoughtful ever since
+Herminie's arrival, remarked to the baroness:
+
+"I think, sister, that you did wrong to select that girl for Ernestine's
+music-teacher."
+
+"Wrong? And why?" demanded the baroness.
+
+"The girl seems to me to be very proud," replied Helena, placidly. "Did
+you notice how haughtily she returned that bank-note, though the
+shabbiness of her clothing showed conclusively that she was in great
+need?"
+
+"It was that very thing that influenced me," answered the baroness.
+"There is something so interesting in such a proud refusal on the part
+of a poor person; besides, this young girl had such a charming dignity
+of manner that I was forced, even against my better judgment, to make
+her the offer you censure, my dear sister."
+
+"Pride should never be considered other than reprehensible," said
+Helena, sanctimoniously. "It is the worst of the seven great sins. Pride
+is the exact opposite of Christian humility, without which there is no
+salvation," she added, "and I fear this girl will exert a most
+pernicious influence over Ernestine de Beaumesnil."
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue smiled faintly as she stole a furtive glance at
+her husband, who gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, which indicated
+pretty plainly how little respect he felt for Helena's opinions.
+
+Long accustomed to regard this devotee as a nonentity, the baron and his
+wife never for a moment supposed that this narrow-minded, bigoted old
+maid, who never lost her temper, no matter how great the provocation
+might be, and who did not utter a dozen words in the course of a day,
+could ever have a thought beyond those connected with the performance of
+her religious duties.
+
+"We will think over your suggestion, my dear sister," said the baroness,
+suavely. "After all, we have made no binding contract with this young
+person. Your remarks, however, seem to form a natural introduction to
+the subject of this conference."
+
+Instantly the baron sprang up, and turned his chair around so he could
+rest his hands upon the back of it, and also ensure himself the ample
+space which his parliamentary attitudes and oratorical gestures
+demanded. Already, slipping his hand in the breast of his coat, and
+swaying his right arm to and fro, he was preparing to speak, when his
+wife said, impatiently:
+
+"Pardon me, M. de la Rochaigue, but you must really do me the favour to
+let your chair alone and sit down. You can express your opinion without
+any flights of oratory. It will be much better to talk this matter over
+in a plain matter-of-fact way without indulging in any perorations.
+Reserve your oratorical powers for the tribune which you are sure to
+reach sooner or later, and resign yourself to-day to talking like a man
+of tact and common sense. If you do not, I shall interrupt you every
+other minute."
+
+The baron knew by experience how deeply his wife loathed a speech, so he
+turned his chair around again and subsided into it with a sigh.
+
+"Ernestine will arrive this evening, so we must decide upon the course
+we are to pursue," began the baroness.
+
+"Yes, that is absolutely necessary," replied the baron, "for everything
+depends upon our harmonious action. We must have the blindest, most
+entire, most implicit confidence in each other."
+
+"Otherwise we shall lose all the advantages we ought to derive from this
+guardianship," added the baroness.
+
+"For of course one does not act as guardian merely for the pleasure of
+it," interpolated the baron.
+
+"On the contrary, we ought to derive both pleasure and profit from the
+connection," said the baroness.
+
+"That is precisely what I meant," retorted the baron.
+
+"I do not doubt it," replied the baroness. Then she added: "Let us agree
+in the first place that, in all matters relating to Ernestine, we will
+never act without a full understanding with one another."
+
+"That resolution is adopted!" cried the baron.
+
+"And is eminently just," remarked Helena.
+
+"As we long ago broke off all connection with the Comtesse de
+Beaumesnil,--a woman I never could tolerate,"--continued the baroness,
+"we know absolutely nothing about Ernestine's character, but fortunately
+she is barely sixteen, and in a couple of days we shall be able to read
+her like a book."
+
+"You may trust to my sagacity for that," said the baron, with a truly
+Machiavelian air.
+
+"I shall trust to your penetration, of course, but just a little to my
+own as well," responded the baroness. "But whatever kind of a girl
+Ernestine may be, there is but one course for us to pursue. We must
+lavish every attention upon her, gratify her slightest wish, try to
+ascertain her tastes; in short, flatter her, satisfy her every whim,
+please her in every possible way. We must do all this if we would
+succeed. As for the means, they will be found when we become acquainted
+with Ernestine's habits and tastes."
+
+"The sum and substance of the whole matter is this," began the baron,
+rising majestically from his chair.
+
+But at a glance from his wife, he reseated himself, and continued, much
+more modestly:
+
+"Ernestine must think and see and act only through us. That is the main
+thing."
+
+"The end justifies the means," added Helena, devoutly.
+
+"We are perfectly agreed upon the proper course of action," remarked the
+baroness. "Ernestine cannot but feel grateful to us for going up-stairs
+and giving her possession of the entire lower floor, which it has cost
+nearly fifty thousand francs to renovate, decorate, and furnish for her
+use."
+
+"And the improvements and furniture will revert to us, of course, as the
+house is ours," added the baron; "and you know it was decided in the
+family council that the richest heiress in France must be suitably
+housed."
+
+"But a much more important and delicate question remains to be
+discussed," continued the baroness, "the question as to what is to be
+done in regard to the suitors who are sure to spring up on every side."
+
+"Certain to," said the baron, avoiding his wife's eye.
+
+Helena said never a word, but listened with all her ears.
+
+"Ernestine is sixteen, nearly old enough to be married," continued the
+baroness, "so the relation we hold to her will give us a prodigious
+amount of influence, for people will think--and rightly--that we shall
+virtually decide her in her choice of a husband. This fact is already
+apparent, for, since you were appointed guardian to Ernestine, any
+number of persons of high position and noble birth have made, and are
+still making, all sorts of advances and friendly overtures to me in
+order to get into my good graces, as the saying is."
+
+"And I, too, have noticed that people I haven't seen for ages, and with
+whom I was never on particularly friendly terms, are endeavouring to
+renew their acquaintance. The other day, at Madame de Mirecourt's, I
+had a crowd around me, I was literally surrounded, beset on every
+side," said the baron, complacently.
+
+"And even the Marquis de Maillefort, whom I have always hated, is no
+exception to the rule," added the baroness.
+
+"And you are right," exclaimed the baron. "There is no one in the whole
+world I hate as I hate that infernal hunchback!"
+
+"I have seen him twice," Helena said, piously, in her turn. "Every vice
+seems to be written on his face. He looks like Satan himself."
+
+"Well, one day this Satan suddenly dropped down from the clouds, as cool
+as you please, though he hadn't set foot in my house for five or six
+years, and he has called several times since."
+
+"If he has taken to flattering you and paying court to you it can hardly
+be on his own account."
+
+"Evidently not, so I am convinced that M. de Maillefort has some
+ulterior motive, and I am resolved to discover this motive."
+
+"I'm sorry to learn that he's coming here again," said M. de la
+Rochaigue. "He is my greatest antipathy, my _bete noire_."
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense," exclaimed the baroness, impatiently; "we have
+got to put up with the marquis, there's no help for it. Besides, if a
+man of his position makes such advances to you, how will it be with
+others? This is an incontestable proof of our influence. Let us
+endeavour to profit by it in every possible way, and by and by, when the
+girl is ready to settle down, we shall be stupid indeed if we cannot
+induce her to make a choice that will be very advantageous to us."
+
+"You state the case admirably, my dear," said the baron, apparently much
+impressed, while Helena, who was evidently no less deeply interested,
+drew her chair closer to that of her brother and his wife.
+
+"And now had we better hasten or retard the moment when Ernestine makes
+her choice?" asked the baroness.
+
+"A very important question," said the baron.
+
+"My advice would be to defer any decision upon this subject for six
+months," said the baroness.
+
+"That is my opinion, too," exclaimed the baron, as if this statement of
+his wife's views had given him great inward satisfaction.
+
+"I agree with you perfectly, my brother, and with you, my sister," said
+Helena, who had listened silently and with downcast eyes to every word
+of the conversation.
+
+"Very well," said the baroness, evidently well pleased with this harmony
+of feeling. "And now there can be no doubt that we shall be able to
+conduct the affair to a successful termination, for we will all take a
+solemn oath, by all we hold most dear, to accept no suitor for
+Ernestine's hand, without warning and consulting one another."
+
+"To act alone or secretly would be an act of infamous, shameless, and
+horrible treachery," exclaimed the baron, as if shocked at the mere idea
+of such an atrocity.
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_" murmured Helena, clasping her hands. "Who could ever think
+of acting such a treacherous part?"
+
+"It would be an infamous act," said the baroness, in her turn, "and
+worse,--it would be a fatal blunder. We shall be strong if we act in
+unison, but weak, if we act independently of one another."
+
+"In union there is strength!" said the baron, sententiously.
+
+"So, unless we mutually agree upon a change of plan, we will defer all
+action on the subject of Ernestine's marriage for six months, in order
+that we may have time to strengthen our influence over her."
+
+"This question decided, there is another important matter to be
+considered," continued the baroness. "Is Ernestine to be allowed to
+retain her governess or not? This Madame Laine, as nearly as I can
+ascertain, is only a little above the ordinary maid. She has been with
+Ernestine two years, though, and must, consequently, have some influence
+over her."
+
+"In that case, we had better oust the governess, or prejudice Ernestine
+against her," volunteered the baron, with an air of profound wisdom.
+"That would be the thing to do."
+
+"A very silly thing," retorted the baroness.
+
+"But, my dear--"
+
+"The only sensible thing to do in such a contingency is to win the
+governess over to our side, and then see that she acts according to our
+instructions. In that case, this woman's influence, instead of being
+dangerous, would prove of the greatest possible service to us."
+
+"That is true," said Helena.
+
+"Yes, considered from this point of view, the governess might be very
+useful, very serviceable, and very advantageous," said the baron,
+thoughtfully; "but if she should refuse to ally herself with our
+interests,--if our attempts to conciliate this woman should excite
+Ernestine's suspicions, what then?"
+
+"We must first see what can be done, and I'll attend to that," said the
+baroness. "If we find that the woman cannot be won over, then we will
+adopt M. de la Rochaigue's first suggestion, and get rid of the
+governess."
+
+The conference was here interrupted by a servant, who came to announce
+that the courier who preceded Mlle. de Beaumesnil's carriage had just
+ridden into the courtyard, and said that he was but a half hour in
+advance of the others.
+
+"Quick--quick--to our toilets," said the baroness, as soon as the
+servant left the room. Then she added, as if the thought had just
+occurred to her:
+
+"But, now I think of it, being cousins, we wore mourning six weeks for
+the countess. It would be a good idea, perhaps, to put it on again. All
+Ernestine's servants are in black, and by our order her carriages will
+be draped in black. Don't you think that if I should be dressed in
+colours the first time she sees me, the child would think hard of it?"
+
+"You are right, my dear," said the baron. "Resume your mourning, if only
+for a fortnight."
+
+"I hate the idea," said the baroness, "for black is frightfully
+unbecoming to me. But this is one of the many sacrifices a person is
+obliged to make. Now, as to our compact," added the baroness. "No secret
+or independent step is to be taken in regard to Ernestine. We will all
+make a solemn promise to that effect. I, for one, swear it."
+
+"And I," said the baron.
+
+"And I," murmured Helena.
+
+All three then hurried off to dress for the evening.
+
+The baroness had no sooner locked herself in her own room, however, than
+she seated herself at her desk, and hastily penned the following note:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"MY DEAREST JULIE:--The child arrives this evening. I shall be at your
+house to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. We haven't a minute to lose.
+Notify a certain person at once. We must come to a full understanding
+without delay. Silence and prudence,
+
+"L. DE L. R."
+
+The baroness addressed this note to--
+
+    _Madame la Vicomtesse de Mirecourt._
+
+Then, calling her maid, and handing her the missive, she said:
+
+"While we are at table you must take this to Madame de Mirecourt. You
+will take a box with you when you go out, as if you were going on an
+errand."
+
+Almost at the same moment the baron was affixing his signature to the
+following note:
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue begs that M. le Baron de Ravil will see him
+to-morrow at his house between one and two o'clock in the afternoon. The
+matter is urgent.
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue counts upon seeing M. de Ravil at the time and place
+named, and assures him of his most distinguished consideration."
+
+The baron addressed this note to--
+
+    _M. le Baron de Ravil,_
+        _No. 7 Rue Godot-de-Mauroy._
+
+Then he said to his valet:
+
+"Call some one to post this letter at once."
+
+And last, but not least, Mlle. Helena, after taking the same precautions
+as the baron and baroness, penned the following note:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"MY DEAR ABBE:--Do not fail to call to-morrow morning at ten o'clock.
+
+"May God be with you. The hour has come.
+
+"Pray for me as I pray for you.
+
+"H. DE L. R."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This note Helena addressed to--
+
+    _M. l' Abbe Ledoux,_
+        _Rue de la Plaushe._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+A GLORIOUS DREAM.
+
+
+On the day following this conference in the Rochaigue family, three
+important scenes took place in the homes of as many different persons.
+
+The first occurred in the house of Abbe Ledoux, the priest we saw
+administering the last sacrament to Madame de Beaumesnil.
+
+The abbe was a small man, with an insinuating smile, a sharp,
+penetrating eye, ruddy complexion, and gray hair.
+
+He was pacing his bedroom in a restless, agitated manner, glancing every
+now and then at the clock, and seemed to be waiting for some one.
+
+Suddenly the sound of the door-bell was heard; the door opened, and a
+servant, who looked very much like a sacristan, announced:
+
+"M. Celestin de Macreuse."
+
+This pious founder of the St. Polycarpe mission was a tall, rather stout
+young man with excellent manners, rather faded light hair, regular
+features, and fine complexion. In fact, he might easily have passed for
+a handsome man, had it not been for the expression of treacherous
+sweetness and extreme self-complacency that characterised his
+countenance.
+
+When he entered the room M. de Macreuse kissed Abbe Ledoux in a
+Christianlike manner on both cheeks, and the abbe returned the salute in
+the same apostolic fashion.
+
+"You have no idea how impatiently I have been waiting for you, my dear
+Celestin," he said.
+
+"There was a meeting at the mission to-day, M. l'abbe, and a very stormy
+meeting it was. You cannot conceive what a blind spirit of rebellion
+those miserable creatures display. Ah, how much suffering is needed to
+make these coarse natures understand how essential to their salvation is
+the poverty in which they are now living! But no, instead of being
+content with a chance of salvation, instead of living with their gaze
+directed heavenward, they persist in keeping their eyes on their earthly
+surroundings, in comparing their condition with that of more favoured
+mortals, and in prating of their right to employment and to happiness.
+To happiness! What heresy! It is truly disheartening!"
+
+The abbe listened to Celestin's tirade with a half smile, thinking the
+while of the pleasant surprise he had in store for his visitor.
+
+"And what do you suppose has been going on while you were talking wisdom
+to those miserable wretches down there, my dear Celestin?" asked the
+abbe. "I have been talking to Mlle. de la Rochaigue about you. Another
+subject of conversation, too, was the arrival of the little Beaumesnil."
+
+"What!" exclaimed M. de Macreuse, colouring with surprise and delight,
+"do you mean to say that Mlle. de Beaumesnil--"
+
+"Returned to Paris last evening."
+
+"And Mlle. de la Rochaigue?"
+
+"Is still of the same mind in regard to you,--ready to do anything, in
+fact, to prevent this immense fortune from falling into evil hands. I
+saw the dear lady this morning; we have decided upon our course of
+action, and it will be no fault of ours if you do not marry Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil."
+
+"Ah, if that glorious dream is ever realised it will be to you that I
+shall owe this immense, this incalculable fortune!" exclaimed M. de
+Macreuse, seizing the abbe's hands and pressing them fervently.
+
+"It is thus that pious young men who are living examples of all the
+Christian virtues are rewarded in this day and generation," answered the
+abbe, jovially.
+
+"And such a fortune! Such a golden future! Is it not enough to dazzle
+any one?" cried Celestin, with an expression of intense cupidity on his
+face.
+
+"How ardently the dear boy loves money," said the abbe, with a paternal
+air, pinching Celestin's plump cheek as he spoke. "Well, we must do our
+very best to secure it for him, then. Unfortunately, I could not
+persuade that hard-headed Madame de Beaumesnil to make a will
+designating you as her daughter's future husband. If she had done that
+we should not have had the slightest trouble. Armed with this request of
+a dying mother, Mlle. de la Rochaigue and I could have appealed to the
+girl, who would have consented to anything out of respect for her
+mother's memory. It would have been a fine thing; besides, there could
+have been no opposition then, you see, but of course that is not to be
+thought of now."
+
+"And why is it not to be thought of?" asked M. de Macreuse, with some
+hesitation, but looking the abbe straight in the eye.
+
+That gentleman returned the gaze with the same intentness.
+
+Celestin averted his eyes, but it was with a faint smile that he
+replied:
+
+"When I said that it might not be absolutely necessary for us to
+renounce the assistance of such a statement of Madame de Beaumesnil's
+wishes--"
+
+"In writing?" demanded the abbe, casting down his eyes in his turn,
+before the bold assent Celestin's look conveyed.
+
+There was a moment's silence, after which the abbe said, as calmly as if
+no such incident had interrupted the conversation:
+
+"Consequently, we must begin a new campaign, Circumstances favour us;
+besides, we are the first in the field, the baron and his wife having no
+one in view as yet; at least, Mlle. de Rochaigue, who is entirely
+devoted to us, says so. As for her brother and his wife, they are
+extremely selfish and avaricious persons, so it is quite possible that,
+if we seem likely to succeed, they will side with us, that is, if they
+feel that it will be to their interest to do so. But we must first place
+ourselves in a position that will enable us to make our own terms."
+
+"And when, and in what way, am I to make Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+acquaintance, my dear abbe?"
+
+"We have not yet decided that very important question. A formal
+introduction is evidently out of the question, as the baron and his wife
+would be sure to suspect our intentions. Besides, a slight air of
+mystery and secrecy would be much more likely to excite Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's curiosity and interest. It is necessary, too, if we wish to
+produce the best possible effect, that this introduction should be
+managed with an eye to the young girl's character."
+
+Celestin cast a glance of mingled surprise and inquiry at his companion.
+
+"So you had better allow us to attend to all that," continued the abbe,
+in a tone of affectionate superiority. "We understand human nature
+thoroughly. From what I have been able to learn, the little Beaumesnil
+must be exceedingly religious and devout. It is also an excellent thing
+to know that Mlle. de Beaumesnil has a decided preference for the altar
+of Mary--a very natural predilection in a young girl."
+
+"Permit me to interrupt you an instant, my dear abbe," said Celestin,
+hastily.
+
+"What is it, my dear boy?"
+
+"M. and Madame de la Rochaigue are not very regular in the performance
+of their religious duties, but Mlle. Helena never misses a service."
+
+"That is true."
+
+"It will be only natural, then, that she should take Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+to the Church of St. Thomas d'Aquin, that being the church she always
+attends."
+
+"Evidently."
+
+"It would be well, then, for her to perform her devotions at the altar
+of the Virgin, where she will also conduct her young friend to-morrow
+morning at nine o'clock. I would also suggest that the ladies take their
+places to the left of the altar."
+
+"To the left of the altar! and why, Celestin?"
+
+"Because I shall be performing my devotions at the same altar."
+
+"Excellent!" cried the abbe, "no better plan could be devised. Mlle.
+Helena shall call the girl's attention to you, and you will make an
+admirable impression from the very first. A very clever idea, my dear
+Celestin, a very clever idea!"
+
+"Don't give me the credit of it, my dear abbe," replied Celestin, with
+ironical modesty. "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's."
+
+"And to what Caesar am I to attribute this admirable idea for a first
+interview?"
+
+"To the author of these lines, my dear abbe." And in a sardonic tone, M.
+de Macreuse repeated:
+
+    "'Ah, if you had but seen him as I first saw him,
+      You would feel for him the same fondness that I feel.
+      Each day to church he came with gentle air,
+      To kneel devoutly right before me,
+      And attracted the gaze of all assembled there,
+      By the sincerity and ardour of his prayer.'
+
+"You see everything has been planned for me, even to offering the holy
+water on leaving the church," added Macreuse. "And yet, people persist
+in declaring that the writings of this impious playwright are immoral
+and reprehensible."
+
+"That's pretty good, upon my word!" cried the abbe, laughing heartily.
+"Well, Heaven speed the good cause, whatever may be the weapons used!
+You have everything to hope for, my dear Celestin. You are clever and
+persevering, and more likely to make a favourable impression on the
+orphan than any one I know. I would advise, however, that you be
+extremely careful about your dress. Let it be rich, but not gaudy, and
+characterised always by that elegant simplicity which is the perfection
+of good taste. Let me look at you a minute, Yes," continued the abbe,
+after scrutinising the young man closely for a moment, "you had better
+give a slight wave to your hair instead of wearing it smooth. It takes
+something more than fine talk to captivate a young girl's fancy."
+
+"Oh, you need feel no uneasiness, my dear abbe, I understand all those
+little matters. I know, too, that the greatest victories are often won
+by trivial means. And success in this instance means the most delightful
+and blissful future of which man ever dreamed," exclaimed Celestin, his
+eyes sparkling joyously.
+
+"And you will attain this success, for all the resources at our
+disposal--and they are immense--will be employed, if need be."
+
+"Ah, my indebtedness to you will be immeasurable."
+
+"And your success will not benefit you alone!"
+
+"What do you mean by that, my dear abbe?"
+
+"I mean that your success will have an enormous, an incalculable
+influence. Yes, all those fine young gentlemen who pose as freethinkers,
+all the lukewarm, all the indifferent, who uphold us but weakly, will
+see what one gains by being with us, for us, and of us. These advantages
+have also been demonstrated to some extent, I think, by the very
+enviable position--especially for one of your years and of--of
+your--obscure birth--" added the abbe, blushing a little, and Celestin
+somehow seemed to share this embarrassment.
+
+"So, my dear Celestin," the priest continued, "while envious and
+insolent aristocrats squander their wealth and their health in vile
+orgies and senseless dissipation, you, my dear child,--come from nobody
+knows where, aided and pushed forward by nobody knows whom,--will
+quietly make your way in the world, and soon every one will be petrified
+with amazement at your marvellous good fortune."
+
+"Ah, my dear abbe, you may rest assured that my gratitude--"
+
+But the abbe again interrupted him by saying, with a peculiar smile:
+
+"Do not persist in talking of your gratitude. No one has a chance to be
+ungrateful to us. We are not children; we take our precautions; besides,
+our best guarantee is the love and good-will of those who are indebted
+to us."
+
+And the abbe, again pinching the young man's ear in a paternal way,
+continued:
+
+"Now let me mention another no less important matter. You know the
+saying, 'He who hears only one bell hears but one note.' You may rest
+assured that Mlle. Helena will descant eloquently upon your many virtues
+to the little Beaumesnil. Your goodness, your piety, the angelic
+sweetness of your face, the dignified modesty of your demeanour, will be
+her constant theme. She will do everything she can to make the girl fall
+madly in love with you; but it would be an excellent thing if these
+praises were echoed by somebody else, and particularly if they were
+repeated by persons of such prominence that the words would exert a
+great influence upon the mind of the little Beaumesnil."
+
+"That would be a great help, I admit, my dear abbe."
+
+"Let us see, then, my dear Celestin. Among your fashionable friends is
+there no lady who could be entrusted with this delicate mission? How
+about Madame de Francville?"
+
+"She is too silly."
+
+"Madame de Bonrepos, then?"
+
+"She is too indiscreet and too garrulous."
+
+"Madame Lefebure?"
+
+"She is too much of a plebeian. There is but one lady upon whose
+friendship and discretion I can rely sufficiently to make such a
+request," continued Celestin, after quite a long pause. "That is Madame
+la Duchesse de Senneterre."
+
+"And you couldn't possibly do better, for the duchess has an immense
+amount of influence in society," said the abbe, thoughtfully. "I think,
+too, that you are not mistaken in your assertion, for I have heard her
+praise you very warmly on several occasions, and have even heard her
+express great regret that her son Gerald was not more like you."
+
+On hearing Gerald's name, M. de Macreuse's face darkened ominously, and
+it was in a tone of positive hatred that he exclaimed:
+
+"That man insulted me before everybody not very long ago. I will have my
+revenge, you may be sure of that."
+
+"My dear boy, did you never hear the Roman proverb, 'Vengeance should be
+eaten cold.' It is a true one. My advice to you is to remember--and
+wait. Haven't you a good deal of influence over his mother already?"
+
+"Yes," replied Celestin, "and the longer I think about it, the more
+convinced I am that it is to Madame de Senneterre that I ought to apply
+in this matter. I have had convincing proof of the interest she takes in
+me more than once; and the confidence I now show in her will please her,
+I am sure. I will consult with her, too, I think, as to the best means
+of establishing friendly relations between her and Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+That will be a comparatively easy matter, I think."
+
+"In that case, you had better see the duchess as soon as possible,"
+replied the abbe.
+
+"It is only half past twelve," said Celestin, glancing at the clock,
+"and Madame de Senneterre is generally at home to her intimate friends
+from one to two o'clock. I will go there at once."
+
+"On your way you had better consider well if any inconveniences are
+likely to result from these overtures on your part. I can see only
+advantages."
+
+"It is the same with me. Nevertheless, I will think the matter over. As
+for the rest, that is decided, you know. To-morrow morning at nine
+o'clock, a little to the left of the altar, in the Chapel of the Virgin,
+in the Church of St. Thomas d'Aquin, remember."
+
+"That is understood," answered the abbe. "I will go and inform Mlle.
+Helena of our arrangements. She will be at the chapel with Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil to-morrow morning at nine o'clock. I can vouch for that. Now
+go at once to Madame de Senneterre's. You have no time to lose."
+
+So, after an affectionate leave-taking, Celestin hastened to the Hotel
+de Senneterre.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE REFUSAL.
+
+
+On the morning of the same day on which the foregoing conversation
+between Abbe Ledoux and M. de Macreuse took place, Madame la Duchesse de
+Senneterre, having received an important letter, went out at ten
+o'clock, as usual. On her return, at half past eleven, she immediately
+asked for her son Gerald; but that young gentleman's valet reported to
+madame's maid that M. le duc had not slept at home the night before.
+
+About noon there came another and very peremptory message from the
+duchess, but her son had not yet returned. At last, about half past
+twelve, Gerald entered his mother's room, and was about to embrace her
+with affectionate gaiety, when the duchess, pushing him away, said,
+reproachfully:
+
+"This is the third time I have sent for you, my son."
+
+"I have but just returned home, and here I am! What do you wish, my dear
+mother?"
+
+"You have but just returned home at this hour? What scandalous
+behaviour!"
+
+"What scandalous behaviour?"
+
+"Listen to me, my son: there are some things I will not discuss; but do
+not mistake my aversion to speaking of them for either tolerance or
+blindness."
+
+"My dear mother," said Gerald, firmly, but deferentially, "you have
+always found me, and you will always find me, the most affectionate and
+respectful of sons; and it is hardly necessary for me to add that my
+name, which is also yours, shall be always and everywhere honoured and
+worthy of honour. But what else can you expect? I am twenty-four, and I
+live and amuse myself like a man of twenty-four."
+
+"But, Gerald, you know that the life you are leading has troubled me
+very much for a long time, both on your account and my own. You shun
+society, though your name and talents entitle you to a distinguished
+place in its ranks, and you keep very bad company."
+
+"Well, so far as women are concerned, I am forced to say that what you
+call bad company is the best, in my opinion. Come, come, mother, don't
+be angry! You know I'm still a soldier, so far as plain speaking is
+concerned. I consequently admit that I have a slight weakness for pretty
+girls in the lower walks of life. So far as men are concerned, I have
+friends of whom any man might be proud; but one of the dearest among
+them is a former soldier in my regiment. If you knew him, mother, you
+would have a better opinion of me," added Gerald, smiling, "for you
+judge a man by his friends, you know."
+
+"Is there anybody in the world but you who chooses his intimate friends
+from among common soldiers?" exclaimed the duchess, shrugging her
+shoulders disdainfully.
+
+"I think so, my dear mother, though it isn't everybody who has a chance
+to select his friends on the battle-field."
+
+"But I am not talking of your relations with men, my son, I am
+reproaching you for compromising yourself as you do with those common
+girls."
+
+"But they are so amusing."
+
+"My son!"
+
+"Pardon me, my dear mother," said Gerald, kissing his mother in spite of
+her strenuous efforts to prevent it. "I was wrong, yes, I was wrong. The
+truth is, though,--but, oh, dear! what shall I say? I don't want to
+horrify you again--but really, mother, vestal virgins are not to my
+taste, and you surely wouldn't like to see me carrying ruin and
+desolation into happy households, would you, mother?" he continued, in
+half tragic tones. "Besides, the truth is,--for virtue's sake,
+perhaps,--I like girls of the people better. The sanctity of marriage
+isn't outraged, you see, and then, as I said before, they're infinitely
+more amusing."
+
+"You will excuse me from expressing any opinion on your choice of
+mistresses," retorted the duchess, angrily; "but it is certainly my duty
+to censure in the severest manner the strange frivolity of your conduct.
+You do not realise how you are injuring yourself."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Do you suppose that if the question of a marriage was broached--"
+
+"A marriage?" cried Gerald; "but I've no intention of marrying, not the
+slightest."
+
+"You will do me the favour to listen to me, I hope."
+
+"I am listening."
+
+"You know Madame de Mirecourt?"
+
+"Yes; but fortunately she is married, so you can't offer me to her. I'm
+glad of it, for she's the worst plotter and schemer on earth."
+
+"Possibly she is, but she is an intimate friend of Madame de la
+Rochaigue, who is also one of my friends."
+
+"How long since, may I ask? Haven't I often heard you say that that
+woman was the very personification of meanness?"
+
+"That is neither here nor there," said the duchess, hastily interrupting
+him, "Madame de la Rochaigue has now for a ward Mlle. de Beaumesnil, the
+richest heiress in France."
+
+"Who is now in Italy."
+
+"Who is now in Paris."
+
+"She has returned?"
+
+"Yes, last evening; and this morning, at ten o'clock, I had a long and
+very satisfactory interview with Madame de Rochaigue at Madame de
+Mirecourt's house. I have been devoting my time and attention to a
+certain matter for nearly a month, but knowing your habitual levity, I
+would not say a word about it to you. Fortunately, everything has been
+kept such a close secret between Madame de la Rochaigue, Madame de
+Mirecourt, and myself, that we are very hopeful--"
+
+"Hopeful of what?"
+
+"Why, of bringing about a marriage between Mlle. de Beaumesnil and
+yourself."
+
+"A marriage!" cried Gerald, bounding out of his chair.
+
+"Yes, a marriage--with the richest heiress in France," replied Madame de
+Senneterre.
+
+Then, without making any effort to conceal her uneasiness, she
+continued:
+
+"If it were not for your conduct, we should have every chance in our
+favour, though suitors and rivals will soon be pouring in on every side.
+There will be a hard struggle for the prize, and Heaven knows even the
+truth will be terribly damaging to you. Ah, if with your name, your
+talents, and your face you were a model of virtue and propriety like
+that excellent M. de Macreuse, for example--"
+
+"But are you really thinking seriously of this marriage, mother?" asked
+Gerald, more and more astonished.
+
+"Am I thinking of it seriously? You ask me that?"
+
+"My dear mother, I am infinitely grateful to you for your kind
+intentions, but I repeat that I have no desire to marry."
+
+"What is that you say?"
+
+"I say, my dear mother, that I have no intention of marrying anybody."
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_ he is mad!" cried Madame de Senneterre. "He refuses the
+richest heiress in France!"
+
+"Listen, mother," said Gerald, gravely, but tenderly; "I am an honest
+man, and being such, I confess that I love pleasure above all things,
+consequently I should make a detestable husband, even for the richest
+heiress in France."
+
+"A colossal fortune--an unheard-of fortune!" faltered Madame de
+Senneterre, stupefied by this refusal on the part of her son. "An income
+of over three million francs! Think of it!"
+
+"But I love pleasure and my liberty more!"
+
+"What you say is abominable!" cried Madame de Senneterre, almost beside
+herself. "Why, you are an idiot, and worse than an idiot!"
+
+"But, my dear mother, I love independence, and gay suppers and good
+times, generally,--in short, the life of a bachelor. I still have six
+years of such joyous existence before me, and I wouldn't sacrifice them
+for all the money in the world; besides," added Gerald, more seriously,
+"I really couldn't be mean enough to make a poor girl I had married for
+her money as miserable as she was ridiculous. Besides, mother, you know
+very well that I absolutely refused to buy a substitute to go and be
+killed in my stead, so you can not wonder that I refuse to sell myself
+for any woman's millions."
+
+"But, my son--"
+
+"My dear mother, it is just this. Your M. de Macreuse,--and if you
+really have any regard for him, don't hold him up to me again as a
+model, or I shall break all the canes I possess over his back,--your M.
+de Macreuse, who is so devout, would probably not have the same scruples
+that I, a mere pagan, have. But such as I am, such I shall remain, and
+love you even more than ever, my dear mother," added Gerald, kissing the
+hand of the duchess respectfully.
+
+There are strange coincidences in this life of ours.
+
+Gerald had scarcely uttered M. de Macreuse's name before a servant
+rapped at the door, and, on being told to enter, announced that M. de
+Macreuse wished to see the duchess in regard to a very important matter.
+
+"Did you tell him that I was at home?" asked Madame de Senneterre.
+
+"Madame la duchesse gave no order to the contrary."
+
+"Very well,--ask M. de Macreuse to wait a moment."
+
+Then turning to her son, she said, no longer with severity, but with
+deep sadness:
+
+"Your incomprehensible refusal grieves and disappoints me more than I
+can express, so I beg and implore that you will remain here. I will
+return almost immediately. Ah, my son, my dear son, you can not imagine
+the terrible chagrin you are causing me."
+
+"Pray, mother, do not say that," pleaded Gerald, touched by his mother's
+grief. "You know how much I love you."
+
+"You are always saying that, Gerald. I wish I could believe it."
+
+"Then send that brute of a Macreuse away, and let me try to convince you
+that my conduct is at least loyal and honest. What, you insist upon
+going?" he added, seeing his mother moving towards the door.
+
+"M. de Macreuse is waiting for me," replied the duchess.
+
+"Then let me send him word to take himself off. There is no necessity of
+bothering with him."
+
+But as M. de Senneterre started towards the bell with the evident
+intention of giving the order, his mother checked him by saying:
+
+"Really, Gerald, another of my great annoyances is the intense
+aversion--I will not say jealousy--you seem to entertain for a worthy
+young man whose exemplary life, modesty, and piety ought to be an
+example to you. Ah, would to Heaven that you had his principles and
+virtues! If that were the case, you would not prefer low company and a
+life of dissipation to a brilliant marriage which would assure your
+happiness and mine."
+
+With this parting thrust Madame de Senneterre went to join M. de
+Macreuse, leaving her son alone, but not without making him promise that
+he would wait for her return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+PRESUMPTION AND INDIGNATION.
+
+
+When the duchess returned to her son, her cheeks were flushed, and
+intense indignation was depicted on her visage.
+
+"Who ever would have believed it? Did any one ever hear of such
+audacity?" she exclaimed, on entering the room.
+
+"What is the matter, mother?"
+
+"M. de Macreuse is a scoundrel,--a vile scoundrel!" cried Madame de
+Senneterre, in a tempest of wrath.
+
+Gerald could not help bursting into a hearty laugh, despite his mother's
+agitation; then, regretting this unseemly hilarity, he said:
+
+"Forgive me, mother, but this revulsion of feeling is so sudden and so
+very remarkable! But tell me, has this man failed in respect to you?"
+demanded Gerald, very seriously, this time.
+
+"Such a person as he is never forgets his manners," answered the
+duchess, spitefully.
+
+"Then what is the meaning of this anger? You were swearing by your M. de
+Macreuse a minute ago!"
+
+"Don't call him my M. de Macreuse, if you please," cried Madame de
+Senneterre, interrupting her son, impetuously. "Do you know the object
+of his visit? He came to ask me to say all I could in his praise,--in
+his praise, indeed!"
+
+"But to whom, and for what purpose?"
+
+"Did any one ever hear of such audacity!"
+
+"But tell me his object in making this request, mother."
+
+"His object! Why, the man wants to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil!"
+
+"He!"
+
+"Did any one ever hear of such presumption?"
+
+"Macreuse?"
+
+"A mere nobody! A common vagrant!" cried the duchess. "Really, it is
+hard to imagine who could have had the audacity to introduce a creature
+like that into our circle."
+
+"But how did he happen to reveal his projects to you?"
+
+"Because I have always treated him with consideration, I suppose;
+because, like so many other fools I took him up, without knowing why,
+until the fellow thought he had a right to come and say to me that, by
+reason of the friendly interest I had always taken in him, and the
+eulogiums I had lavished upon him, he really felt it his duty to confide
+to me, under the pledge of secrecy, his intentions with regard to Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil; not doubting, he had the audacity to remark that I would
+say a few words in his favour to that young lady, adding that he would
+trust to--to my friendly interest. I do believe he had the impudence to
+say--to find an opportunity to do him this favour at the earliest
+possible moment. Really, effrontery is no name for assurance like his!"
+
+"But really, my dear mother, you must confess that it is your own fault.
+Haven't I heard you praise and flatter this Macreuse in the most
+outrageous manner, again and again?"
+
+"Praise him--flatter him!" exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, naively. "Did
+I suppose then that he would have the impudence to take it into his head
+to marry the richest heiress in France, or to think of such a thing as
+competing with my son? Besides, with all his boasted shrewdness, the
+man is nothing more or less than a fool to apply to me for assistance in
+his schemes! He will be surprised when he finds out how I will serve his
+interests. His pretensions are ridiculous, positively ridiculous! He is
+an adventurer, a scoundrel! He hasn't even a name, and looks like a
+sacristan who has just been to dine with his parish priest. He is a
+hypocrite, a pedant, and a most unmitigated bore, with all his pretended
+virtues. Besides, he hasn't the slightest chance, for, from what Madame
+de la Rochaigue tells me, Mlle. de Beaumesnil would be delighted to
+become a duchess. Quite a woman of the world, though so young, she has a
+full appreciation of all the pleasures and advantages which a large
+fortune combined with a high social position gives, and it certainly is
+not a plebeian like M. de Macreuse who can give her this high social
+position."
+
+"And what reply did you make to his request?"
+
+"Enraged at his audacity, I was on the point of telling him that his
+pretensions were as absurd as they were insolent, and of forbidding him
+to ever set foot in my house again; but I reflected that I might be able
+to circumvent him most successfully by pretending that I was willing to
+assist him, so I promised that I would speak of him, as he deserved--and
+I certainly shall not fail to do so. Oh, I will urge his claims in an
+effectual manner, I'll vouch for that."
+
+"Do you know, my dear mother, that it is not at all unlikely that
+Macreuse will attain his end?"
+
+"He marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil, he?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Nonsense! Are you, too, mad?"
+
+"Don't deceive yourself, mother. The coterie that sustains him is
+all-powerful. He has on his side,--I don't mind telling you now you
+detest him so thoroughly,--he has on his side all the women who have
+become bigots, because they are old, all the young women who are prudes,
+because they are ugly, all the male devotees, because they make capital
+out of their religion, and all the serious-minded men, because they are
+so stupid; so you see the name of his supporters is legion."
+
+"But with my social standing, my opinion will have some weight, I
+think," retorted the duchess.
+
+"But you have been one of his warmest champions and admirers up to the
+present time, and no one will be able to explain your sudden change of
+feeling, or, rather, every one will be able to explain it; and, instead
+of injuring Macreuse, the war you wage against him will aid him. The
+fellow is an unmitigated scoundrel and arrant hypocrite. You have no
+idea with whom you have to deal, my dear mother."
+
+"Really, you take this very calmly--with truly heroic self-abnegation, I
+might say," exclaimed the duchess, bitterly.
+
+"No, I assure you, his presumption excites my deepest indignation. A
+fellow like Macreuse to have such pretensions and perhaps be able to
+realise them, a man who from my school-days has always inspired me with
+both loathing and aversion! And this poor Mlle. de Beaumesnil whom I do
+not even know, but who becomes interesting in my eyes the minute she is
+in danger of becoming the wife of that rascal,--really I have half a
+mind to marry her myself, if only to spoil Macreuse's plans and save the
+poor little thing from that villain's clutches."
+
+"Oh, Gerald, my son," cried the duchess, "your marriage would make me
+the happiest of mothers!"
+
+"But--my liberty--my precious liberty!"
+
+"But, Gerald, think of it,--with one of the most illustrious names in
+France, and then to become the richest and greatest landowner in France!
+Think of the power this immense fortune will give combined with a
+position like yours, my dear Gerald."
+
+"Yes, that is so," answered Gerald, reflectively, "but think of me,
+too, condemned to a life of ennui, and silk hose every evening
+henceforth and for ever. Besides, remember those dear girls who love me
+so devotedly; for, having the good fortune to be young and poor, I am
+forced to believe that their love is entirely disinterested."
+
+"But, my dear," insisted the duchess, urged on in spite of herself by
+her ambition to see her son make this wealthy marriage, "perhaps you
+exaggerate the requirements of duty too much. Because you are married is
+no reason--"
+
+"Oh, mother, mother, to think I should ever hear you recommending laxity
+of morals after marriage!"
+
+"You misunderstand my meaning entirely, my son," replied Madame de
+Senneterre, considerably embarrassed. "I didn't say anything of the
+kind. If I insist, it is not only to inspire you with a desire to
+supplant this abominable man, but also for humanity's sake, so to
+speak."
+
+"Humanity's sake?"
+
+"Certainly, that poor little Mlle. de Beaumesnil would positively die of
+grief and despair if she is forced to live with such a monster. It would
+be a most generous and commendable act to save her from him."
+
+"Really, mother, I expect to hear you say in a minute or two that I
+shall deserve the Monthyon prize, if I contract this marriage."
+
+"Yes, if the Monthyon prize is to be awarded to the son who makes his
+mother the happiest of women," replied Madame de Senneterre, looking up
+at Gerald with eyes full of tears.
+
+Gerald loved his mother so devotedly that the emotion she manifested
+touched the young duke deeply, and he said, with a smile:
+
+"Ah, what a dangerous thing a mother is! She seems to be quite capable
+of marrying you to the heiress of millions, even against your will,
+especially when there is danger that a scoundrel like Macreuse may be
+converted into a millionaire. The fact is, the more I think of it the
+more pleased I am at the idea of circumventing this hypocrite. What a
+blow it would be to him! But there is one difficulty, my dear mother,
+and it strikes me that I am a little late in thinking of it."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I am by no means sure that I should please Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"You will only have to try to succeed in doing it, I am sure, my dear
+Gerald."
+
+"A true mother's view of the matter."
+
+"I know you better than most people, perhaps."
+
+"You are not capable of giving an opinion on the matter, I see. Your
+affection blinds you, but I forgive you."
+
+"Leave the matter to me, Gerald. Only consent to be guided by me, and
+see if I don't conduct the affair to a successful termination."
+
+"Do you know that one would take you for an inveterate match-maker if
+one didn't know you," said Gerald, gaily. "But all mothers are alike in
+one respect, when their children's interests are at stake they become
+positive tigresses and lionesses. Very well, whatever your will may be I
+resign myself to it blindly."
+
+"My dear, good Gerald," cried the delighted duchess, positively weeping
+with joy; "you cannot imagine how happy you have made me. That wretched
+Macreuse will die of spite."
+
+"That is so, mother. I shall give him the jaundice instead of the
+sword-thrust he would have declined to take."
+
+"Now, Gerald, let us talk the matter over sensibly."
+
+"So be it. I am listening."
+
+"As you have made up your mind, it is of the utmost importance that you
+should see Mlle. de Beaumesnil as soon as possible."
+
+"Very well."
+
+"This first interview, you must understand, is of great importance."
+
+"Unquestionably."
+
+"The fact is so apparent that I had a long talk with Mesdames de
+Mirecourt and de la Rochaigue upon the subject this morning. From what
+the latter lady is able to judge of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's character,
+this is the plan we think most expedient; but you shall judge for
+yourself, Gerald."
+
+"Very well, let me hear it."
+
+"We recognised from the first the impossibility of representing you as a
+serious-minded and settled man--"
+
+"And you showed your good sense, for I should have proved you a set of
+base deceivers only too soon," retorted Gerald, laughing.
+
+"Of course there is no hope of avoiding the many censorious remarks
+which the frivolity of your conduct seems to justify, my poor Gerald, so
+the best thing we can do is to make everything that is said against you
+redound to your credit as much as possible."
+
+"Only mothers could show themselves such clever diplomatists as that."
+
+"Fortunately, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, judging from what Madame de la
+Rochaigue says,--she talked with the girl awhile last evening, and the
+mind of a child of sixteen is not difficult to read,--fortunately,
+Ernestine de Beaumesnil seems to be very fond of luxury, splendour, and
+display, so we think it advisable that you should first appear before
+her in the character of one of the most elegant young men in Paris."
+
+"If you are clever enough to find such an opportunity, I consent, I am
+sure."
+
+"It is to-morrow afternoon, is it not, that you are to take part in that
+race in the Bois de Boulogne?"
+
+"Yes, I promised that ninny, De Courville, who has a number of fine
+horses he is afraid to mount himself, that I would ride his horse,
+'Young Emperor,' in the hurdle race."
+
+"Capital! Madame de la Rochaigue shall take Mlle. de Beaumesnil to the
+race. They will call for me, and as soon as we reach the Bois it will
+seem the most natural thing in the world that you should come up and
+talk with us before the racing begins. Your jockey costume of orange
+satin with black velvet trimmings is extremely becoming to you."
+
+"One word, if you please, my dear mother."
+
+"Let me finish, please. Mlle. de Beaumesnil will see you among a crowd
+of fashionable young men, in which you shine preeminent, every one must
+admit. And, then, I don't doubt that you will win the race. It is
+absolutely necessary that you should win it, Gerald."
+
+"It is the general opinion, mother, that the 'Young Emperor' and I will
+come out ahead, but--"
+
+"You certainly ride superbly," said the duchess, again interrupting her
+son; "and when Ernestine sees you excelling your competitors in the
+midst of frantic applause, there can be very little doubt that, upon one
+with the tastes and character she seems to have, the impression produced
+will be excellent; and if, after this first meeting, you make yourself
+as agreeable as you can be when you choose, that impudent Macreuse will
+appear odious in her eyes even if he should have the audacity to enter
+the lists."
+
+"May I be allowed to say a word now, my dear mother?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I see no objection to being introduced by you to Mlle. de Beaumesnil at
+a race in the Bois de Boulogne; but do you really think it advisable
+that the presentation should take place on a day that I am arrayed in
+the garb of a jockey?"
+
+"But why not? I am sure the costume is extremely becoming to you."
+
+"It seems to me to savour too much of an actor."
+
+"Really, Gerald, you have the most peculiar ideas."
+
+"No, no, my dear mother, it is you who have such ideas, without
+suspecting it. But, seriously, you can present me to Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+where you please, when you please, and as you please, either afoot or on
+horseback,--you are at liberty to choose, you see. But I will not have
+recourse to the fascinations of a jockey's costume. I don't need them,"
+added Gerald, with a comical affectation of extreme complacency. "I
+shall dazzle and fascinate Mlle. de Beaumesnil by a host of admirable
+moral and conjugal qualities."
+
+"Really, Gerald, you are incorrigible. You can not treat even the most
+important things seriously."
+
+"What does that matter, provided the things are accomplished?"
+
+The conversation between the duchess and her son was interrupted a
+second time by a valet who announced that the Baron de Ravil wished to
+see M. le duc on very important business, and that he was now waiting in
+the apartments of M. le duc.
+
+"Very well," said Gerald, though he was greatly surprised at this visit.
+
+After the valet withdrew, the duchess said to her son:
+
+"What business can you have with M. de Ravil? I can not bear the man. He
+is received everywhere, though, and I must confess that I set the
+example as much as any one, without really knowing why I do it."
+
+"The explanation is very simple. His father was a very popular man. He
+introduced his son into the same social circle in which he himself
+moved, and, once admitted, Ravil, the younger, continued to be received.
+I, too, dislike him thoroughly. I have not seen him since the day of
+that strange duel between the marquis and M. de Mornand, and I have no
+idea what he can want with me. By the way, I heard an anecdote yesterday
+that shows his real character, perfectly. A poor fellow who is not very
+well off in this world's goods obligingly opened his purse to Ravil, and
+this is the way Ravil repaid him for his kindness: 'Where the devil did
+the fool steal that two hundred louis he loaned to me?' he exclaimed in
+the presence of a number of acquaintances afterward."
+
+"How shameful!" cried the duchess.
+
+"I will go and see what he has to say," remarked Gerald. "The man always
+seems to know everything that is going on. Wait for me, though, my dear
+mother. In a few minutes I may return as enthusiastic in regard to this
+cynical personage as you were exasperated against Macreuse."
+
+"That is very ungenerous in you, Gerald."
+
+"Well, at least admit that you and I are not very fortunate in our
+callers, this morning, my dear mother."
+
+And M. de Senneterre hurried off to join the baron.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A PURELY BUSINESS TRANSACTION.
+
+
+Gerald greeted M. de Ravil with a cold politeness which did not
+disconcert his guest in the least, however.
+
+"To what am I to attribute the honour of your visit?" asked Gerald,
+dryly, without sitting down himself or requesting his visitor to be
+seated.
+
+The baron, apparently entirely indifferent to this cool reception,
+replied:
+
+"M. le duc, I came to call your attention to a very promising business
+matter."
+
+"I am not in business."
+
+"Would you like to marry, M. le duc?"
+
+"Monsieur," said Gerald, haughtily, "this question--"
+
+"Excuse me, M. le duc, I called here in your interest, and necessarily,
+also, in my own. Will you consequently have the kindness to listen to
+me? What do you risk by doing so? I ask only ten minutes."
+
+"I am listening, monsieur," replied Gerald, whose curiosity had been
+aroused by the baron's question.
+
+"I ask once more, then, M. le duc: 'Would you like to marry?' I must
+have a reply before continuing the conversation."
+
+"But monsieur, I--"
+
+"Pardon me, I did not make my question explicit enough. Would you like
+to make a fabulously rich marriage, M. le duc?"
+
+"Has M. de Ravil any particular person in view?"
+
+"Possibly."
+
+"But you are a bachelor and a society man. Why do you not marry the lady
+yourself?"
+
+"I have no fortune, monsieur; my name is comparatively insignificant; my
+appearance by no means prepossessing. In short, there isn't the
+slightest chance of my making such a marriage, so I thought of you, M.
+le duc."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you for your generosity, monsieur, but before
+we go any further, permit me to ask you a rather delicate question. I
+would not like to wound your feelings, you know, but--"
+
+"I'm not at all sensitive."
+
+"I thought as much. Ah, well, what remuneration do you expect for your
+generous interest?"
+
+"I ask one and a half per cent. of the dowry," answered the cynic,
+boldly.
+
+And perceiving the disgust and contempt which his words had excited, the
+baron said, coolly:
+
+"I thought I gave you clearly to understand that it was a purely
+business transaction."
+
+"That is true, monsieur."
+
+"Then what is the use of mincing matters?"
+
+"None at all," replied Gerald, controlling himself; "so I will say very
+plainly that this charge of one and a half per cent. of the dowry seems
+to me quite reasonable."
+
+"Yes, isn't it?"
+
+"Certainly, but I must know to whom you think of marrying me, and how
+you will manage to bring the match about."
+
+"You are very fond of hunting, I believe, M. le duc."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you are an adept at it, I am told."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, when your pointer or your setter have made a sure stand, they
+have done their duty, have they not? The rest depends upon the accuracy
+of your aim and the quickness of your fire."
+
+"If you mean by that, monsieur, that, when you have once told me there
+is a rich heiress in the market, your one and a half per cent. is
+earned, I--"
+
+"Pardon me, M. le duc, I am too good a business man to come to you with
+any such proposition as that. In short, I stand ready to place you in a
+position which is not only admirable in every respect, but entirely
+inaccessible to any other person. Your own personal attractions and your
+illustrious name will easily do the rest."
+
+"And this position?"
+
+"You must know, M. le duc, that I am not green enough to tell you my
+secret before you have given me your word as a gentleman that--"
+
+"M. de Ravil," said Gerald, interrupting the scoundrel whom he was
+strongly tempted to kick out of the house, "this jesting has lasted
+quite long enough."
+
+"What jesting, M. le duc?"
+
+"You must understand that I cannot consider such a proposition
+seriously. Wed under your auspices,--that would be a little too
+ridiculous."
+
+"You refuse, then!"
+
+"I have that honour."
+
+"Reflect, M. le duc. Remember that saying of Talleyrand--"
+
+"You quote Talleyrand very often."
+
+"He is my teacher, M. le duc."
+
+"And you do him honour. But to what saying of the great diplomatist do
+you refer?"
+
+"This, M. le duc: 'One should always distrust one's first impulse,
+because it is usually a good one.' The saying is a wise one. Profit by
+it."
+
+"Ah, monsieur, you little know how much truth there is in what you say,
+and how extremely apropos it is, so far as you are concerned."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"I accepted your counsel in advance, for if I had yielded to the first
+impulse which your proposition inspired, I--I should have--"
+
+"Should have done what, M. le duc?"
+
+"You are too shrewd not to suspect what it was, my dear baron, and I am
+too polite--to tell you--in my own house."
+
+"Pardon me, M. le duc, but I have no time to waste in guessing riddles.
+So you refuse my offer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"One word more, M. le duc. I feel it my duty to warn you that to-night
+it will be too late,--in case you should change your mind,--for I have
+somebody else to put in your place. I will even admit that I thought of
+this other person first, but, upon reflection, I decided that you would
+have a much better chance of success than the other man. To make the
+match and get my one and a half per cent. is what I am after, so if you
+decline my offer, I shall return to my first combination."
+
+"You are certainly a very cautious man, my dear baron, and it is a
+relief to know I shall not have the chagrin of seeing you lose, by
+reason of my refusal--for I still refuse--the honest gains you are
+endeavouring to secure by such honourable means. But are you not afraid
+that I may be so indiscreet as to noise your new industry abroad?"
+
+"I should be only too delighted, M. le duc. Such a revelation would be a
+splendid advertisement for me, and bring me hosts of clients. _Au
+revoir_, then, M. le duc. I shall be none the less at your service
+another time."
+
+With a low bow to Gerald, the baron left the room as cool and
+unconcerned as he had entered it, and wended his way towards the Rue de
+la Madeleine, where his friend, Mornand, lived.
+
+"This dukeling, doubtless, suspected that Mlle. de Beaumesnil is the
+lady in question, and means to rob me of my profits by winning the
+prize without my assistance," the cynic said to himself as he walked
+along. "It is contemptible in him, but he hasn't got her yet, and he
+won't get her without a pretty hard fight, that is certain. But it is a
+great pity! The fellow is a duke, and handsome and clever, too. I was
+sure of success with him, and now I've got to fall back on that ass,
+Mornand. I was wise not to say anything about my intentions in relation
+to the Duc de Senneterre, to that old sneak, Rochaigue. There was plenty
+of time to do that, if this handsome gosling responded to my call, as
+well as to take back all I had said in Mornand's favour, and give the
+necessary instructions to that old female rake of a Laine, the
+governess. Whatever I want done, she will do, and she can be of
+incalculable assistance to me--self-interest will ensure her devotion
+and prudence. Fortunately, too, I have managed to get on the right side
+of Rochaigue, so now I have nothing to do but state the case to Mornand,
+who must be waiting very impatiently to hear the result of my interview
+with the baron."
+
+Pursuing this train of thought, M. de Ravil had reached the corner of
+the Rue Champs Elysees, where he had first met Herminie when the latter
+was on her way to the house of Madame de Beaumesnil.
+
+"It was here I met that young girl on the day of Mornand's duel with the
+hunchback," Ravil said to himself. "She spent the night at the Hotel de
+Beaumesnil, and the next day I ascertained from the servants that she
+was a singing teacher, and lived on the Rue de Monceau in the
+Batignolles. I've haunted that locality, but have never been able to
+catch a glimpse of her. Why the devil that pretty blonde took such a
+hold on me I can't imagine! If I had my percentage of the little
+Beaumesnil's dowry I would certainly gratify my fancy for that pretty
+musician, who carries herself like a duchess, in spite of her shabby
+attire. I am quite sure she wouldn't decline my offer of a neat little
+establishment, for she must be nearly starving on her music lessons. Now
+I must set to work to stir up Mornand. He is stupid, but perseveres when
+you once get him started. Rochaigue is all right, so our chances are
+good."
+
+And Ravil entered the abode of his intimate friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IN M. DE MORNAND'S STUDY.
+
+
+"Well!" exclaimed M. de Mornand, as soon as he saw Ravil enter his
+modest study filled with huge piles of printed reports and all sorts of
+communications from members of the Chamber of Deputies; "well, have you
+seen M. de Rochaigue?"
+
+"Yes, I have seen him, and everything looks very promising."
+
+"You may rest assured that I shall never forget your kindness in the
+matter. It is evident that it is quite as much a matter of friendship as
+of money with you, and I am all the more grateful from the fact that
+your heart is not supposed to be particularly vulnerable."
+
+"It is vulnerable enough to you, and that is all that is necessary in
+the present instance."
+
+"And the governess, have you spoken to her?"
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because several little matters must be settled between us. I'll explain
+what they are presently; besides, there is no hurry. Madame Laine, the
+governess, will do whatever I wish, and whenever I wish it done."
+
+"Whatever did Rochaigue say? Is he satisfied with the information he has
+secured in regard to me. Have my colleagues and political supporters
+spoken a good word for me? Do you think--?"
+
+"You give me no chance to answer any of your questions."
+
+"But you see ever since the possibility of this marriage first occurred
+to me--and I have good reason to remember the date, for that ridiculous
+duel with that miserable hunchback will always remind me of it," added
+M. de Mornand, with a bitter smile--"ever since the possibility first
+occurred to me, as I said before, this marriage has been a fixed idea
+with me. Situated as I am, it means more than wealth to me,--power--the
+highest diplomatic positions--will all be within my reach."
+
+"Have you finished?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I am listening."
+
+"That is fortunate. Very well, all the information M. de la Rochaigue
+has received corroborates what I had already told him. He is firmly
+convinced that you will attain the position of minister or ambassador
+sooner or later, but that the time would be greatly hastened by your
+marriage with Mlle. de Beaumesnil, for men who are immensely rich are
+preferred for such positions, their wealth being considered a guarantee
+against all sorts of villainies. The good man is also certain that, if
+he brings about your marriage with his ward, you will as soon as you
+rise to power have him made a peer of France, for if persons who are
+hung could be restored to life, this man would willingly be hung to
+secure a seat in the Luxembourg. It is an infirmity, a positive mania
+with him, and you may rest assured that I have made the most of it."
+
+"If he brings about the marriage, his elevation to the peerage is
+assured. He has been president of one of the commissions for years, and
+I will nominate him at once."
+
+"He hasn't the slightest doubt of it, and, being an old-fashioned sort
+of a man, he relies upon your promise, and is willing to do anything in
+his power to further your interests with his ward at once."
+
+"Bravo! and Mlle. de Beaumesnil, what does he say about her? Being so
+young and so entirely alone in the world, she isn't likely to offer
+much opposition, so I should think he would feel pretty confident of
+success."
+
+"He never saw her until last evening, you recollect, but, thanks to a
+few judicious questions, he fancies he has been able to discover that
+this young woman is strongly inclined to be ambitious, and that her head
+would be quite turned by the prospect of marrying a future minister or
+ambassador, so she could have a crowd of other women under her feet."
+
+"That is truly providential!" cried M. de Mornand, almost beside himself
+with joy. "And when can I see her?"
+
+"I have an idea about that, but I concluded to say nothing to Rochaigue
+on the subject until after I had spoken to you."
+
+"Well, well, let us hear the idea!" said M. de Mornand, rubbing his
+hands, jubilantly.
+
+"In the first place, you must understand that you are not handsome, that
+you are much too fat, that you have entirely too large an abdomen, and
+anything but a distinguished air. Pardon my sincerity, it is a friend
+who speaks."
+
+"That is all right!" responded Mornand, trying hard to conceal the
+annoyance which his friend's plain speaking caused. "Between friends one
+can say and hear anything."
+
+"That is an excellent maxim. I will therefore add that you are neither
+attractive, clever, nor good-tempered, but fortunately you have, or seem
+to have, a very considerable amount of political tact. You have made a
+careful study of the best means of corrupting consciences; you were born
+a corrupter as one is born a singer. Moreover, you are endowed with an
+eloquence of the continuous flow sort, capable of extinguishing and
+bewildering the best orators--on the other side. In a drawing-room you
+are heavy, clumsy, and awkward, like all big men; but in the tribune,
+with the railing concealing your abdomen, and your chest swelling out
+majestically under your embroidered coat, you are quite imposing, and
+can even be said to have some pretensions to good looks."
+
+"Of what earthly use is all this?" retorted Mornand, impatiently; "you
+know very well that we politicians, we men of mark, care nothing in the
+world about being considered handsome."
+
+"Oh, that is all nonsense! Don't interrupt me. I was about to say that
+so much depends upon a first impression that it is by all means
+advisable that you should appear before Mlle. de Beaumesnil in your most
+attractive guise, so you may fascinate and magnetise her, so to speak.
+Do you understand?"
+
+"That is an excellent idea, but how is it to be managed?"
+
+"You are to make a speech three days hence in the Chamber, are you not?"
+
+"Yes, upon the cod fisheries,--a speech full of dry statistics."
+
+"Ah, well, you must be flowery, poetical, pathetic, pastoral, anything
+but statistical, and this is an easy matter if you will only confine
+yourself to one side of the question. You can talk of the fishermen and
+their interesting families, the surf that breaks in thunder upon the
+beach, the pale moonlight on the dunes, our gallant navy, and all that
+kind of stuff."
+
+"But I have considered the question from a purely financial point of
+view."
+
+"Then tear up that speech and write another, for you must devote all the
+powers of your eloquence to dazzling the little Beaumesnil."
+
+"What on earth do you mean?"
+
+"Listen to me, innocent! Rochaigue shall be notified, and day after
+to-morrow the young lady will hear everybody around her saying: 'On
+Thursday the eloquent M. Mornand, the future minister, is to speak in
+the House of Peers. All Paris will be there. They are issuing tickets of
+admission, for when M. de Mornand speaks it is an event!'"
+
+"I understand. You are certainly nothing more or less than a genius,
+Ravil!" exclaimed M. de Mornand.
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue will naturally inquire if Mlle. de Beaumesnil would
+not like to attend the session, and we will arrange it so that Rochaigue
+will amuse the girl with things outside until the time comes for you to
+ascend the tribune and unloose the fountains of your eloquence. I will
+then run out and warn the guardian, who will come in with his ward to
+witness your triumph."
+
+"Admirably planned!"
+
+"And if you can organise a claque from among your colleagues to
+interlard your speech with exclamations of 'Good! Bravo! Admirable!' our
+success is assured."
+
+"The plan is admirable, as I said before. There is but one thing that
+worries me."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"Why, as soon as my speech is ended that fool Montdidier will begin to
+contradict all I said. He isn't much of a politician, and he is not at
+all practical, but he's as witty and sarcastic as the devil, and doesn't
+hesitate to say aloud what other people scarcely dare to think in their
+most secret hearts. If he should begin that before Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil--"
+
+"Oh, you need have no fears on that score. As soon as you have finished
+your speech, and while you are receiving the congratulations of your
+colleagues, we will exclaim: 'A magnificent effort, truly! He is a
+Mirabeau, a Fox, a Sheridan, a Canning! It is not worth while to remain
+any longer. There will be nothing worth listening to after that!' So we
+will hurry out with the girl, after which Montdidier can ascend the
+tribune and tear you to pieces and ridicule you as much as he likes. But
+there is another means which I have not mentioned before,--an effectual
+means which I have reserved until the last, but which will not only win
+you the prize, but make it possible for you to retire from political
+life if you like, and also to tell Rochaigue in so many words that you
+cannot make him a peer of France, for, thanks to a brilliant idea that
+has occurred to me, the baron will not only do everything in his power
+to further your marriage, but you will also have Madame de la Rochaigue
+and her sister-in-law on your side, though the most we can hope for now
+is that they will remain neutral."
+
+"Then why do you not employ this means, and at once?"
+
+"I have hazarded a few words, thrown out a few hints, but I have
+ventured nothing decisive."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"You see I am not positive that--that you will like it. You might have
+scruples--and yet the most honest and highly respected men, even kings
+themselves--"
+
+"Kings themselves? May I be hanged if I have the slightest idea what you
+are driving at."
+
+"But men are sometimes so absurdly sensitive on the subject."
+
+"Sensitive?"
+
+"Still, one is not responsible for it. Can one fight against nature?"
+
+"Against nature? Really, Ravil, you must be losing your wits. What do
+you mean by all this?"
+
+"You are fortunate, too, inasmuch as appearances are in your favour. You
+are stout, you have rather a shrill voice, and scarcely any beard--"
+
+"And what of that?"
+
+"You don't understand me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And he calls himself a politician?"
+
+"What the devil do you mean by prating about my shrill voice, my sparse
+beard, and my political astuteness?"
+
+"Mornand, you make me doubt your sagacity. Think, what did you say to
+me only day before yesterday concerning the marriage of the young Queen
+of Spain?"
+
+"Day before yesterday?"
+
+"Yes, that state secret, you know."
+
+"Hush, hush!"
+
+"Oh, you needn't be afraid,--I shall be as silent as the grave. Do you
+recollect now?"
+
+"Yes, I told you that if we could only marry a French prince to the
+sister of the Queen of Spain, it would be one of the most brilliant of
+diplomatic triumphs to give the aforesaid queen, for a husband, a prince
+who offered sufficient guarantees--through his antecedents--that the
+queen would never have any children. The throne would then pass
+eventually into the possession of her sister's children, that is to say,
+into the possession of French princes. A magnificent combination," added
+the future minister, enthusiastically. "It would be a continuation of
+the policy of the Great Monarch!"
+
+"Well, the illustration is apt. Profit by it," retorted Ravil, shrugging
+his shoulders.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Answer me this: Who are Mlle. de Beaumesnil's only remaining
+relatives?"
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue, his sister, and, after them, M. de la Rochaigue's
+daughter, who is married and resides in the provinces."
+
+"Exactly; so if Mlle. de Beaumesnil should die without issue--?"
+
+"It is the Rochaigue family that would inherit the fortune. That is as
+plain as daylight. But what the devil are you driving at?"
+
+"Wait; now suppose that the Rochaigue family can persuade Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil to marry a man who can furnish those same guarantees,--those
+same reassuring antecedents you spoke of as desirable in the Queen of
+Spain's husband? Would not the Rochaigues find it greatly to their
+interest to bring about a marriage that would ensure them the
+possession of their young relative's wealth at some future day?"
+
+"I understand, Ravil," said M. de Mornand, thoughtfully, and as if
+deeply impressed by the grandeur of the scheme.
+
+"Tell me, then, are you willing that I should pose you before the eyes
+of the Rochaigues as a man (except for royal lineage) perfectly adapted
+to be the husband of a Queen of Spain who has a French prince for a
+brother-in-law? It will ensure you the support of the baron's wife and
+sister, remember."
+
+After a prolonged silence, the Comte de Mornand said, with a both
+diplomatic and majestic air:
+
+"De Ravil,--I give you _carte blanche_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+ATTENTIONS TO THE HEIRESS.
+
+
+Near the close of the day in which Ernestine de Beaumesnil had
+unconsciously been the object of so much avaricious envy, and of so many
+more or less perfidious machinations, the young girl was alone in one of
+her sumptuous apartments, awaiting the dinner hour.
+
+The richest heiress in France was far from being beautiful or even
+pretty. Her high forehead, prominent cheekbones, and rather long chin
+imparted considerable irregularity to her features, but this was soon
+forgotten in the charm of the young girl's face and expression; for the
+forehead, fair as alabaster, and surrounded with a wealth of rich
+chestnut hair, surmounted blue eyes of infinite sweetness, while rich
+scarlet lips, pearl white teeth, and a smile that was both ingenuous and
+melancholy seemed to implore forgiveness for the imperfections of the
+face.
+
+Ernestine de Beaumesnil, who was now only sixteen, had grown very
+rapidly, so, although her tall figure was perfectly straight and
+symmetrical, the young girl, who had but just regained her health, still
+held herself slightly bent, an attitude which made the graceful lines of
+her remarkably beautiful throat all the more noticeable.
+
+In short, antiquated and common as the comparison is, the expression, a
+lily bending upon its stem, described Ernestine de Beaumesnil's
+appearance exactly.
+
+Poor orphan, crushed by the sorrow which her mother's death had caused
+her!
+
+Poor child, overwhelmed by the, to her, crushing weight of her colossal
+wealth!
+
+Strange contrast, indeed! It was pity, an even tender pity which the
+face and eyes and attitude of this heiress of almost royal wealth seemed
+to invoke!
+
+The plain black dress which Ernestine wore enhanced the remarkable
+brilliancy of her complexion; but as she sat there with her hands folded
+upon her knees, and her head bowed upon her breast, the young orphan
+looked very sad and thoughtful.
+
+It was half past five when the girl's governess stole softly into the
+room and said:
+
+"Will mademoiselle see Mlle. de la Rochaigue?"
+
+"Certainly, my good Laine," replied the girl, startled out of her
+reverie. "Why doesn't Mlle. de la Rochaigue come in?"
+
+The governess went out and returned almost immediately, followed by
+Mlle. Helena de la Rochaigue, who made two profound and very ceremonious
+bows, which the poor child instantly returned, surprised and pained to
+see a woman of Mlle. Helena's age approach her with such obsequiousness.
+
+"I thank Mlle. de Beaumesnil for having kindly granted me a moment's
+conversation," said Mlle. Helena, in a formal but extremely deferential
+tone, making another low bow, which Ernestine returned as before, after
+which she said, with evident embarrassment:
+
+"I, too, have a favour to ask of you, Mlle. Helena."
+
+"Of me? How glad I am!" exclaimed M. Macreuse's protectress, quickly.
+
+"I beg you will have the goodness to call me Ernestine instead of Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil. If you knew how it overawes me, mademoiselle."
+
+"I feared I should displease you, mademoiselle, by being more familiar."
+
+"Once more I beseech you to say 'Ernestine' and not mademoiselle. Are we
+not relatives? And after a little, if you find I am deserving of your
+love, you will say 'My dear Ernestine,' will you not?"
+
+"Ah, my affection was won the moment I saw you, my dear Ernestine,"
+replied Helena, with effusion. "I could see that all the Christian
+graces, so adorable in one of your years, flourished in your heart. I
+will not speak of your beauty, though it is so charmingly spirituelle in
+its type, for you look like one of Raphael's madonnas. Beauty,"
+continued the devotee, casting down her eyes, "beauty is a fleeting gift
+and valueless in the eyes of the Saviour, while the noble qualities with
+which you are endowed will ensure your eternal salvation."
+
+Overwhelmed by this avalanche of extravagant praise, the orphan did not
+know what to say in reply, and could only stammer a feeble protest:
+
+"I do not deserve such praise, mademoiselle," she said, "and--and--"
+
+Then, well pleased to discover a means of escaping this flattery which
+made a singularly unpleasant impression upon her in spite of her
+inexperience, she added:
+
+"But you said you wished to ask me something, did you not,
+mademoiselle?"
+
+"Yes," responded Helena, "I came to ask your wishes in regard to service
+to-morrow."
+
+"What service, mademoiselle?"
+
+"Why, the holy office we attend every day."
+
+Then, seeing that Ernestine evinced some surprise, Mlle. Helena added,
+sanctimoniously:
+
+"We go every day to pray an hour for the souls of your father and
+mother."
+
+Until then the young girl had never had any fixed hour to pray for her
+father and mother. The orphan prayed nearly all day; that is to say,
+almost every minute she was thinking with pious respect and ineffable
+tenderness of the parents whose loss she so deeply deplored. Now,
+scarcely daring to decline mademoiselle's invitation, Ernestine sadly
+replied:
+
+"I thank you for the kind thought, mademoiselle. I will accompany you,
+of course."
+
+"The nine o'clock mass would be most suitable, I think," said the
+devotee, "and that is said in the Chapel of the Virgin, for whom you
+have a special preference, I think you remarked last evening,
+Ernestine."
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, every Sunday in Italy I attended mass in the Chapel
+of the Madonna. She, too, was a mother, so it seemed most fitting that I
+should address my prayers for my mother to her."
+
+"They will certainly prove efficacious, Ernestine, and as you have
+commenced your devotions under the invocation of the mother of our
+blessed Saviour, it would be well to continue them under the same
+protection, so we will perform our devotions in the Chapel of the Virgin
+every morning at nine o'clock."
+
+"I will be ready, mademoiselle."
+
+"Then will you authorise me to give the necessary orders so your
+carriage and servants will be ready at that hour?"
+
+"My carriage,--my servants?"
+
+"Certainly," said the devotee, with emphasis. "Your carriage, with your
+own coat of arms emblazoned upon it, and draped in mourning. One of the
+footmen will follow us into the church, carrying a black velvet bag
+containing our prayer-books. You know, of course, that is the custom
+followed by all people of fashion and position."
+
+"Forgive me, mademoiselle, but I really do not see the use of so much
+pomp. I go to church only to pray, so can we not go afoot? The weather
+is so delightful at this season of the year."
+
+"What an admirable example of modesty in the midst of opulence, and
+simplicity in the midst of grandeur!" cried the devotee. "Ah, Ernestine,
+you have indeed been blessed by the Saviour. Not a single virtue is
+lacking. You possess the rarest of all, saintly, divine humility,--you
+who are, nevertheless, the richest heiress in France."
+
+Ernestine gazed at Mlle. Helena with increasing astonishment.
+
+The artless girl did not feel that she was expressing any remarkably
+laudable sentiments in saying that she preferred to walk to church on a
+delightful summer morning; so her surprise increased on hearing the
+devotee continue to laud her to the skies in almost ecstatic tones.
+
+"The grace of Heaven has indeed touched your heart, my dear Ernestine,"
+she exclaimed. "Yes, yes, everything indicates beyond a doubt that the
+Saviour has blessed you by inspiring you with the most profoundly
+religious sentiments, by giving you a taste for an exemplary life, spent
+in the exercise of a piety which does not forbid those harmless
+diversions which may be found in society. May God protect and watch over
+you, my dear Ernestine, and soon, perhaps, he will give you a still more
+unmistakable sign of his all-powerful protection."
+
+The loquacity of the usually silent and reserved devotee was interrupted
+by the appearance of Madame de la Rochaigue, who, less discreet than her
+sister-in-law, entered unannounced.
+
+The baroness, greatly surprised to find Ernestine tete-a-tete with
+Helena, eyed the latter rather suspiciously, but the devotee assumed
+such a vacant and sanctimonious expression that the lady's suspicions
+were instantly dispelled.
+
+The orphan rose and advanced to meet Madame de la Rochaigue who,
+bustling in, bright and sparkling and smiling, said to the girl in the
+tenderest manner, seizing both her hands:
+
+"My dearest child, I have come--if you will permit me--to keep you
+company until the dinner hour, for I am really jealous of my dear
+sister-in-law's good fortune."
+
+"How very kind you all are to me, madame!" replied Ernestine, grateful
+for the kind attentions of the baroness.
+
+Helena rose to go, and, with the intention of anticipating any possible
+question Madame de la Rochaigue's curiosity might prompt, said to the
+young girl:
+
+"To-morrow morning at nine o'clock, that is understood, is it not?"
+
+Then, after an affectionate nod of the head to the baroness, Helena
+departed, escorted to the door by Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+As she was returning to Madame de la Rochaigue, that lady drew back a
+few steps in proportion as Ernestine approached, and said to her, in
+tones of tender reproach:
+
+"Ah, my dear, sweet child, you are incorrigible!"
+
+"And why, madame, do you say that?"
+
+"I am terribly, pitilessly, brutally plain-spoken as I have told you. It
+is one of my greatest faults, so I shall scold you, scold you every day
+of your life, if you don't hold yourself straighter."
+
+"It is true, madame, though I certainly try my best not to bend over
+so."
+
+"But I shall not allow it, my darling child. I shall show you no mercy.
+What is the use of having such a lovely figure if you do not show it off
+any better? What is the use of having such a charming face, with such
+delicate features, and such an air of distinction, if you keep your head
+always bowed?"
+
+"But, madame!" exclaimed the orphan, no less embarrassed by these
+worldly eulogiums than by those which the devotee had lavished upon her.
+
+"Nor is this all," continued Madame de la Rochaigue, with affectionate
+gaiety. "I have a good scolding in store for that excellent Madame
+Laine. You have beautiful hair, and you would look a thousand times
+better if you wore it in curls. The carriage of your head is naturally
+so graceful and distinguished,--when you hold yourself erect, I mean of
+course,--that long curls would be wonderfully becoming to you."
+
+"I have always worn my hair in this way, madame, and have never thought
+of changing my style of coiffure, it being, I confess, a matter of very
+little consequence to me."
+
+"And that is very wrong in you, my dearest, for I want you to be
+attractive, very attractive. I am so proud of my charming ward that I
+want her to outshine everybody, even our greatest beauties."
+
+"I could never hope to do that, madame," replied Ernestine, with a
+gentle smile.
+
+"But you must and shall, mademoiselle," laughingly replied the baroness.
+"I want you to understand, once for all, that my ambition for you knows
+no bounds. In short, I mean that you shall be considered the prettiest
+and most charming of young girls, as you will by and by be known as the
+most elegant of women. It is true I saw you first only yesterday, but
+from certain traits and tendencies which I have noticed in you, I am
+sure, as I remarked just now, that you were born to be a brilliant star
+in the fashionable world."
+
+"I, madame?" exclaimed the orphan, wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, I am positive of it, for to be the rage it is not absolutely
+necessary to possess beauty or wealth or aristocratic lineage, or to be
+a marquise or a duchess, though it must be admitted that this last title
+aids one very materially. No, no, the one essential, I assure you, is a
+certain _je ne sais quoi!_ You have it; it is the easiest thing in the
+world to discern it in you."
+
+"Really, madame, you amaze me," exclaimed the poor child, utterly
+abashed.
+
+"That is very natural, for you, of course, cannot understand this, my
+dear child; but I, who am studying you with the proud but jealous eye
+of a mother, do understand it. I can foresee what you will become, and I
+rejoice at it. No life can be half as delightful as that of one of
+society's favourites. Queen of every fete, her life is a continual
+enchantment. And, now I think of it, to give you some idea of the world
+of fashion over which you are certainly destined to reign some day, I
+will take you to the races in the Bois de Boulogne, where you will see
+the _creme de la creme_ of Parisian society. It is a diversion entirely
+compatible with your mourning."
+
+"Excuse me, madame, but such crowds always frighten me, and--and--"
+
+"My darling child!" exclaimed the baroness, interrupting her ward, "it
+is useless to oppose me. I am the most obstinate creature in the world.
+Besides, I insist upon being treated as well as my good sister-in-law.
+By the way, my dear, tell me right here and now what you two have been
+plotting to do so early to-morrow morning."
+
+"Mlle. Helena wishes to take me with her to church, madame."
+
+"She is right, my dearest child. One should never neglect one's
+religious duties; but nine o'clock--that is frightfully early. Women of
+fashion never go before noon; then one at least has time to make a
+handsome morning toilet, and one also meets many of one's acquaintances
+there."
+
+"I am in the habit of rising early, madame, and as Mlle. Helena seemed
+to prefer going at nine o'clock, it made no difference to me."
+
+"My dear child, I told you a little while ago that I should be
+appallingly frank with you."
+
+"And I shall thank you very much for it, madame."
+
+"Of course, you ought not to be proud and arrogant because you are the
+richest heiress in France, but though you should not abuse your power to
+impose your wishes and caprices upon others, there is certainly no need
+of your going so far as to gratify the caprices of others. Do not forget
+that your immense wealth--"
+
+"Alas! madame," said Ernestine, unable to repress two big tears that
+rose to her eyes and then rolled slowly down her cheeks, "on the
+contrary, I am doing my very best to forget this wealth, for it reminds
+me that I am an orphan."
+
+"My poor dear little darling!" exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue,
+embracing Ernestine effusively, "how angry I am with myself for having
+unintentionally grieved you. Dry those lovely eyes, I beg of you. It
+makes me wretched to see you weep!"
+
+Ernestine wiped away her tears, and the baroness continued,
+affectionately:
+
+"Come, my child, you must be brave and sensible. Of course it is a
+terrible, an irreparable misfortune to be an orphan, but as the
+misfortune is irreparable you should make the best of it, and say to
+yourself that you at least are blessed with some devoted relatives and
+friends, and that, though the past is sad and gloomy, the future may be
+most brilliant."
+
+As Madame de la Rochaigue was thus consoling the orphan, a deprecating
+rap was heard at the door.
+
+"Who is it?" inquired the baroness.
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil's majordomo, who solicits the honour of throwing
+himself at her feet."
+
+Ernestine evinced so much surprise that the baroness said, smilingly:
+
+"It is only one of M. de la Rochaigue's jokes. It is he who is at the
+door."
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil also tried to smile as the baroness said, in a loud
+voice:
+
+"Come in, M. majordomo, come in!"
+
+Whereupon the baron entered, showing his long teeth more than ever in
+the broad smile his joke had inspired. Approaching Ernestine with great
+deference, he bowed low before her and even kissed her hand, saying as
+he did so:
+
+"Is my charming ward still content with me? Is anything lacking for her
+comfort? Does she find her establishment on a suitable footing? Has she
+discovered any inconveniences in her apartments? Is she satisfied with
+her servants?"
+
+"There is nothing with which I can find the slightest fault," answered
+Ernestine; "quite the contrary, indeed, for this magnificent suite of
+rooms, exclusively for my use, is--"
+
+"Nothing can be too handsome or too luxurious for the richest heiress in
+France," interrupted the baron, in his most peremptory tones.
+
+"I am deeply gratified and touched by the affectionate welcome I have
+received from your family," said Ernestine; "and I assure you that
+everything else is of very little importance to me."
+
+Just then the folding doors opened, and the butler announced, in a loud
+voice: "Mademoiselle is served."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE HUNCHBACK MEETS THE HEIRESS.
+
+
+The baron offered his arm to Ernestine, and conducted her into the
+dining-room. Helena came in a few minutes afterwards, a trifle late by
+reason of having despatched a letter to Abbe Ledoux, announcing her
+plans for the morrow.
+
+During the entire repast Ernestine was the object of the most obsequious
+attentions, not only from the baron and his wife and sister, but also
+from the servants, who were as deeply impressed as their employers by
+the magical power of those words, "the richest heiress in France."
+
+Towards the end of the meal, the baron, with the most careless air
+imaginable, remarked to Mlle. de Beaumesnil:
+
+"Well, my dear ward, as you have now recovered from the fatigue of your
+journey, it seems to me you ought to go out to-morrow and amuse yourself
+a little."
+
+"Helena and I think so, too," replied Madame de la Rochaigue, "so your
+sister is going to take Ernestine to church to-morrow morning. In the
+afternoon, Mlle. Palmyre and Mlle. Barenne will come with some dresses
+and hats I ordered yesterday for our dear child, and day after to-morrow
+Ernestine and I are going for a drive."
+
+"Capital, capital!" exclaimed the baron. "I see that to-morrow and the
+day after will be fully occupied, but I think it is hardly fair for me
+to be so entirely left out, so I beg to have my turn on the day
+following. Will you grant my request?"
+
+"Certainly, with the greatest pleasure," replied Ernestine.
+
+"The readiness of the response increases its value two-fold," said the
+baron, with such evident gratitude that the orphan was wondering what
+she could have said when the baroness, turning to her husband,
+exclaimed:
+
+"Well, let us hear your plans for your day, M. de la Rochaigue."
+
+"I am not so spiritual-minded as my sister, nor as worldly as you, my
+dear," answered the baron, "so I am going to propose to our dear ward
+(weather, of course, permitting) a visit to one of the most beautiful
+gardens in Paris, where she will see a wonderful collection of plants
+and flowers."
+
+"You could not have pleased me better, monsieur," exclaimed Ernestine,
+delightedly. "I am so fond of flowers."
+
+"Nor is that all," added the baron, "for, as I am a prudent man, in case
+of bad weather, my charming ward and I can enjoy a promenade through
+several superb conservatories, or a magnificent picture-gallery, rich in
+masterpieces of the modern school of art."
+
+"And where is this combination of rare and beautiful things to be found,
+monsieur?" inquired Ernestine, with great interest.
+
+"A nice Parisienne you are, and you, too, baroness, and you, too, my
+sister," laughed M. de la Rochaigue, with a knowing air, "for I see very
+plainly that none of you have the slightest idea where this collection
+of wonders is to be found, though it is almost at your very door."
+
+"Really," began Mlle. de la Rochaigue, "I have been trying to think."
+
+"And you can't imagine," retorted the baron, radiant. "Ah, well, I will
+take pity on you. All these wonders are to be found at the Luxembourg."
+
+"The Luxembourg!" exclaimed the baroness, laughing. Then, turning to
+Ernestine:
+
+"Ah, my dear child, it is a trap, an abominable trap, M. de la Rochaigue
+has set for you. You don't know my husband's passion for another of the
+wonders of the Luxembourg. He has taken good care not to reveal that,
+I'll be bound!"
+
+"And what is this other attraction, madame?" asked the young girl,
+smiling.
+
+"Ah, you poor, dear innocent, let me tell you that M. de la Rochaigue is
+quite capable of taking you to a session of the Chamber of Peers, under
+pretext of showing you beautiful conservatories and flowers and
+picture-galleries."
+
+"Well, why should I not take her into the diplomatic gallery, if she
+wishes?" retorted the baron. "She will find plenty of good company there
+in the shape of the fortunate wives of foreign ambassadors and
+ministers,--for I maintain that there is not a more delightful,
+charming, and enviable position in the world than that of the wife of a
+minister and ambassador. Ah, my dear wife," added this unknown Canning,
+turning to the baroness, "what would I not give to be able to elevate
+you to such a position. You would be envied, flattered, adored! You
+would become, I am sure, a wonderfully clever politician! It is not
+unlikely that you would even control the state, perhaps. Could any woman
+desire a grander role?"
+
+"You see what a dangerous flatterer M. de la Rochaigue is, my dear
+child," remarked the baroness. "He is quite capable of imbuing you with
+a taste for politics, too."
+
+"Me? Oh, I have no fear of that," responded Ernestine, smiling.
+
+"You may laugh at me as much as you like, my dear," the baron said to
+his wife; "but I do assert that I perceive in our dear ward a
+thoughtfulness, a self-control, and a power of discrimination remarkable
+in one of her years, to say nothing of the fact that she strikingly
+resembles the portrait of the beautiful and famous Duchesse de
+Longueville, who exerted such a marvellous influence in politics under
+the Fronde."
+
+"Well, well, this is really too much," exclaimed the baroness,
+interrupting her husband with a fresh outburst of merriment.
+
+The orphan, who had suddenly become thoughtful, did not join in this
+gaiety. She was thinking how very strange it was that within the last
+two hours three persons had, in turn, discovered that she was so
+singularly adapted to fill three such entirely different roles, viz.:
+That of a devotee, that of a woman of fashion, and that of a female
+politician.
+
+The conversation was interrupted by the sound of carriage-wheels in the
+courtyard below.
+
+"Haven't you given orders that you are not at home this evening?"
+inquired the baron, turning to his wife.
+
+"No, but I am expecting no one,--that is, no one but Madame de
+Mirecourt, who, you know, occasionally drops in for a few minutes on her
+way to some ball or reception."
+
+"Shall you see her in case she does?"
+
+"If it will not be disagreeable to you, and if you will allow me to
+receive her in your drawing-room," said the baroness, turning to
+Ernestine. "She is a very charming woman."
+
+"Do exactly as you please, madame," replied Ernestine, cordially.
+
+"Show the visitor into Mlle. de Beaumesnil's drawing-room," the baroness
+said to one of the servants.
+
+The man withdrew, but returned a moment afterwards to say:
+
+"I showed the visitor into mademoiselle's drawing-room as madame
+ordered, but it is not Madame de Mirecourt."
+
+"Who is it, then?"
+
+"M. le Marquis de Maillefort, madame."
+
+"That detestable man!" exclaimed the baron. "A visit at this hour is an
+inexcusable familiarity on his part."
+
+The baroness motioned to her husband to be more guarded before the
+servants, then whispered to Ernestine, who seemed surprised at this
+incident:
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue does not like M. de Maillefort, who is really one of
+the most spiteful and mischief-making hunchbacks imaginable."
+
+"A positive devil!" added Helena.
+
+"It seems to me that I have heard my mother speak of a M. de
+Maillefort," remarked Ernestine, thoughtfully.
+
+"That is more than likely, my dearest child," replied the baroness,
+smiling, "though no one ever speaks of M. de Maillefort as one's good
+angel."
+
+"I do not recollect to have heard her say anything either good or bad
+about M. de Maillefort," answered the orphan. "I merely remember the
+name."
+
+"And the name is that of a veritable ogre," said the baron, spitefully.
+
+"But if M. de Maillefort is so objectionable, why do you receive him,
+madame?" inquired the orphan, hesitatingly.
+
+"Ah, my dear child, in society one is obliged to make many concessions,
+particularly when a person of M. de Maillefort's birth is concerned."
+
+Then addressing the baron, she added:
+
+"It is impossible to prolong the meal farther, for coffee has been
+served in the drawing-room."
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue arose from the table. The baron, concealing his
+annoyance as best he could, offered his arm to his ward, and the entire
+party returned to the drawing-room where M. de Maillefort was waiting.
+
+The marquis had so long been accustomed to concealing his love for
+Madame de Beaumesnil,--the one passion of his life, but one which she
+alone had divined,--that, on seeing Ernestine, he betrayed none of the
+interest he felt in her. He remembered, too, not without annoyance, that
+it would be necessary to appear curt and sarcastic before the orphan, as
+any sudden change in his manner or language would be sure to arouse the
+suspicions of the Rochaigues, and, in order to protect Ernestine from
+them, and, perhaps, even from herself, or, in other words, to carry out
+her mother's last wishes, he must carefully refrain from exciting the
+distrust of those around her.
+
+M. de Maillefort, who was endowed with remarkably acute powers of
+perception, noted, with a pang of real anguish, the unpleasant
+impression his appearance seemed to make upon Ernestine; for the latter,
+still under the influence of the slanders that had been heaped upon him,
+had involuntarily shuddered, and averted her gaze from his distorted
+form.
+
+Painful as the feelings of the marquis were, he had the courage to
+conceal them, and, advancing towards Madame de la Rochaigue, with a
+smile on his lips and an ironical gleam in his eye, he said:
+
+"I am very bold, am I not, my dear baroness? But you know, or rather you
+are ignorant, that one has friends only to impose upon their good
+nature, at least unless, like Mlle. de la Rochaigue here," he added,
+bowing low to that lady, "one has no faults at all, but is nothing more
+or less than an angel descended from heaven for the edification of the
+faithful. Then it is even worse, I believe, for when one is perfect, one
+inspires one's friends with envy, or with admiration, for with many
+people these two sentiments are one and the same."
+
+Then, turning to M. de la Rochaigue, he continued:
+
+"Am I not right, baron? I appeal to you who have the good fortune not to
+wound either by your virtues or your failings."
+
+The baron smiled until he showed his long teeth in the most startling
+fashion, then, trying to conceal his ill-humour, he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, marquis, marquis, always sarcastic, but always charming!"
+
+Then seeing that he could not avoid introducing M. de Maillefort to
+Ernestine, who was watching the hunchback with growing uneasiness, the
+baron said to his ward:
+
+"My dear Ernestine, allow me to introduce M. le Marquis de Maillefort,
+one of my particular friends."
+
+After bowing to the young girl, who returned the bow with an embarrassed
+air, the hunchback said, with formal politeness:
+
+"I am delighted, mademoiselle, to have still another reason for often
+coming to Madame de la Rochaigue's house."
+
+And as if he considered himself released from the necessity of paying
+any further attention to the orphan by this commonplace remark, he bowed
+again, and then took a seat beside the baroness, while her husband tried
+to conceal his ill-temper by sipping his coffee very slowly, and Helena
+took Ernestine a few steps aside, under pretext of calling her attention
+to the plants in a jardiniere.
+
+The marquis, without seeming to pay the slightest attention to
+Ernestine, never once lost sight of them. He had a remarkably keen sense
+of hearing, and he hoped to catch a few words of the conversation
+between the devotee and the orphan, while he chatted gaily with Madame
+de la Rochaigue, both of them endeavouring to conceal their real
+thoughts under the airiest persiflage, and to try and discover what the
+other was driving at, in vulgar parlance.
+
+The frivolous character of such a conversation favoured the hunchback's
+intentions, so, while he listened to Madame de la Rochaigue with a
+distrait ear, he listened eagerly with the other to Ernestine, the
+baron, and Helena.
+
+The devotee and her brother, believing the marquis absorbed in his
+conversation with Madame de la Rochaigue, reminded the orphan, in the
+course of their conversation, of the promise she had made to accompany
+Helena to church the next morning at nine o'clock, and also to go with
+the baron a couple of days afterwards to view the wonders of the
+Luxembourg.
+
+Though there was nothing extraordinary in these plans, M. de
+Maillefort's distrust of the Rochaigue family was so great that he
+deemed it advisable to neglect no detail, however insignificant it might
+appear, so he noted these facts carefully, even while replying with his
+accustomed wit to Madame de la Rochaigue's commonplaces.
+
+The hunchback's attention had been divided in this way for, perhaps, a
+quarter of an hour, when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Helena
+make a whispered remark to Ernestine, accompanied by a glance at Madame
+de la Rochaigue, as if to say that it was not worth while to interrupt
+her conversation, after which the orphan, Helena, and the baron left the
+room.
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue did not perceive their intention until the door
+closed behind them, but their departure suited her perfectly. The
+presence of other persons would prevent the explanation she considered
+it absolutely necessary to have with the marquis, for she was too shrewd
+and too well versed in the ways of the world not to have felt certain,
+as she had said to her husband, that the marquis, in thus renewing their
+acquaintance after a long interruption, had been actuated by a desire to
+meet the heiress, concerning whom, consequently, he must have some
+secret designs.
+
+The hunchback's love for Madame de Beaumesnil having been suspected by
+no one, and his last interview with the dying countess being likewise a
+secret, Madame de la Rochaigue did not and could not suspect the
+solicitude the marquis felt concerning Ernestine.
+
+But wishing to ascertain the designs of the hunchback, so as to
+circumvent them if they interfered with her own, Madame de la Rochaigue
+abruptly changed the subject as soon as the door had closed upon the
+orphan, by saying:
+
+"Well, marquis, what do you think of Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"I think her very generous."
+
+"Very generous, marquis? What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Why, with her fortune, your ward would have a perfect right to be as
+ugly and humpbacked as I am. But does she really possess many admirable
+traits of character?"
+
+"I have known her so short a time, I scarcely know how to answer you."
+
+"Why this reticence? You must feel sure that I did not come to ask your
+ward's hand in marriage."
+
+"Who knows?" retorted the baroness, laughing.
+
+"I know, and I have told you."
+
+"Seriously, marquis, I am positive that at this very moment a hundred
+matrimonial projects have already been formed--"
+
+"Against Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"'Against' is very suggestive. But one moment, marquis. I wish to be
+perfectly frank with you."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the hunchback, in mocking surprise. "Ah, well, so do
+I. Come, my dear baroness, let us have this little treat in the way of
+sincerity, which is such a rare thing, alas!"
+
+And M. de Maillefort drew his chair nearer the sofa on which the
+baroness was seated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+AN ORGY OF SINCERITY.
+
+
+After a moment's silence, Madame de la Rochaigue, with a penetrating
+glance at M. de Maillefort, said:
+
+"Marquis, I understand you."
+
+"Bah!"
+
+"Understand you perfectly."
+
+"You do everything to perfection, so this does not surprise me. But let
+me hear the proofs of these surprising powers of penetration on your
+part."
+
+"For fear of harrowing my feelings too much, I will not count the number
+of years during which you never set foot in my house, and now you
+suddenly return with a truly flattering eagerness. So, being a sensible
+woman, and not a mere bundle of conceit, I say to myself--"
+
+"Come, baroness, what is it you say to yourself?"
+
+"I say to myself simply this: 'After M. de Maillefort's long desertion
+of me, to what am I now indebted for the novel pleasure of seeing him so
+often? It must be because I am Mlle. de Beaumesnil's guardian, and
+because this most estimable marquis has some special reason for again
+favouring me with his visits.'"
+
+"You are about right, baroness, upon my word."
+
+"What! you admit it?"
+
+"I am compelled to."
+
+"You almost make me doubt my powers of penetration by your prompt
+confession, marquis."
+
+"Are we not striving to outdo each other in frankness?"
+
+"True; I forgot that."
+
+"And now I, in my turn, will explain why I so suddenly ceased to visit
+your house. You see, madame, I am something of a stoic, and when
+anything gives me very great pleasure I suddenly renounce it, so I may
+not allow myself to become enervated by too much pleasure. That is why I
+suddenly ceased to visit you."
+
+"I would like to believe it, but--"
+
+"You can at least try. As to the resumption of my visits--"
+
+"Ah, that is the most curious part--"
+
+"You have guessed the reason--pretty nearly."
+
+"Pretty nearly, marquis?"
+
+"Yes, for though I have no special plans in relation to the subject of
+your ward's marriage, I can't help saying to myself that this great
+heiress is sure to draw a crowd of unscrupulous fortune-hunters around
+her, and Madame de la Rochaigue's house will soon be the scene of all
+sorts of amusing intrigues. A person who desires to see all the amusing
+acts of this comedy can view them from the reserved seats, so to speak,
+in Madame de la Rochaigue's house. At my age, and made as I am, I have
+no other amusement in the world except what observation affords me; so I
+intend to frequent Madame de la Rochaigue's house for that purpose. She
+will receive me, because she received me years ago, and because, after
+all, I am not any more stupid, nor any more of a bore than other people.
+So, from my quiet corner, I will watch the fierce struggle between the
+rival suitors. This is the truth, and now, baroness, you surely will not
+be so hard-hearted as to refuse me a place in your drawing-room where I
+can watch this contest, of which your ward is to be the prize."
+
+"But, marquis, you are not one of those persons who can watch people
+fight, without taking a hand in it yourself," said Madame de la
+Rochaigue, shaking her head.
+
+"Well, I can't say that I am."
+
+"So you will not remain neutral."
+
+"I don't know about that," answered the marquis.
+
+Then, emphasising the words strongly, he added:
+
+"As I am experienced in the ways of the world, as I have a horror of
+cowardice and conceit, and as I have always maintained my habit of plain
+speaking, I admit that if I should see a brave warrior, whose courage
+and worth have interested me, perfidiously attacked, I should be very
+likely to come to that person's assistance with all the means at my
+disposal."
+
+"But this, permit me to say, monsieur," responded the baroness,
+concealing her anger under a forced laugh, "is nothing more nor less
+than a sort of inquisition, of which you will be the inquisitor-general,
+and which will be located in my house."
+
+"Yes, in your house, or elsewhere; for you know, baroness, that if the
+whim should seize you,--every pretty woman, you know, must have her
+whims, and you are certainly entitled to a good many of them,--I repeat
+that, if the whim should seize you, you could easily tell your servants
+that in future you will never be at home to me."
+
+"Why, marquis, can you suppose--?"
+
+"I was only jesting," replied M. de Maillefort, dryly. "The baron is too
+sensible a man to allow your doors to be closed against me without a
+cause, and he will spare me, I am sure, any explanation on the subject.
+I have the honour to tell you, my dear baroness, that having resolved to
+watch these very amusing doings, to see, in fact, how the richest
+heiress in France is married off, I can establish my point of
+observation almost anywhere, for, in spite of my diminutive stature, I
+can manage to see from almost any position, high or low."
+
+"Then, my dear marquis, you must confess that it is an offensive and
+defensive alliance you are proposing to me," said Madame de la
+Rochaigue, with the same forced smile.
+
+"Not the least bit in the world. I shall neither be for you nor against
+you. I shall merely watch what goes on, with a keen eye, and perhaps try
+to aid this suitor, or to circumvent the other suitor, according to my
+best judgment and my feeble resources, if the desire seizes me, or
+rather if justice and truth demand it, for you know I am very peculiar
+in my notions."
+
+"But why not content yourself with the role of a looker-on? Why can you
+not remain neutral?"
+
+"Because, as you yourself remarked just now, my dear baroness, I am not
+one of those persons who can watch others fight without taking a hand in
+the fight myself."
+
+"But," said Madame de la Rochaigue, quite at her wits' end,
+"suppose,--and it is merely a supposition, for we have decided not to
+think of Ernestine's marriage for a long time yet,--suppose, I say, that
+we did have some one in view for her, what would you do?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea, upon my word!"
+
+"Come, come, M. le marquis, you are not acting fairly with me. You have
+some scheme of your own."
+
+"Nothing of the kind. I do not know Mlle. de Beaumesnil; I have no
+suitor to suggest for her. I am, consequently, an entirely disinterested
+looker-on, and, this being the case, my dear baroness, I do not exactly
+understand why you should have any objection to my watching the amusing
+proceedings."
+
+"That is true," said Madame de la Rochaigue, recovering her composure,
+"for, after all, in marrying Ernestine, what can we have in view, except
+her happiness?"
+
+"Nothing, of course."
+
+"Consequently, we have nothing to fear from your observation, as you
+call it, my dear marquis."
+
+"Nothing, absolutely nothing."
+
+"For, in case we should make a mistake--"
+
+"Which may happen to any one, even one who has the best intentions in
+the world."
+
+"Certainly, marquis. Well, in that event, you would not fail to come to
+our assistance, and warn us of our danger."
+
+"That is what an observer is for," laughingly remarked M. de Maillefort,
+rising to take leave.
+
+"What, marquis, you are going so soon?"
+
+"To my great regret. I must make the tour of five or six drawing-rooms,
+to hear what people are saying about your young heiress. You have no
+idea how amusing, curious, and sometimes revolting the remarks upon the
+subject of her immense dowry are!"
+
+"Ah, well, my dear marquis," said Madame de la Rochaigue, offering her
+hand to the hunchback in the most cordial manner, "I hope to see you
+often, very often; and as all this seems to interest you so much, I
+shall keep you fully posted."
+
+"And I, too, will promise to tell you everything I hear. It will be
+wonderfully amusing. And, by the way," added the marquis, with the most
+careless air imaginable, though he had come to Madame de la Rochaigue's
+house as much to endeavour to secure some light upon an as yet
+impenetrable mystery as to see Ernestine,--"by the way, did you ever
+hear anything about an illegitimate child that M. de Beaumesnil left?"
+
+"M. de Beaumesnil?" asked the baroness, with evident surprise.
+
+"Yes," replied the hunchback, for, in putting the question thus, he
+hoped to attain his object without endangering the secret he thought he
+had discovered in relation to Madame de Beaumesnil; "yes, did you never
+hear that M. de Beaumesnil had an illegitimate child?"
+
+"No," replied the baroness, "this is the first time I ever heard of any
+such rumour, though a long while ago there was some talk about a liaison
+the countess had prior to her marriage. It must, consequently, have been
+in connection with her that you heard this story of an illegitimate
+child, but I, myself, have never heard anything on the subject before."
+
+"Then whether this rumour relates to the count or the countess, there is
+evidently not the slightest truth in it, my dear baroness, for, by
+reason of your close connection with the family, you would have been
+sure to know of the matter."
+
+"And I assure you, marquis, that we have never heard or seen anything
+that would lead us to suppose that either M. or Madame de Beaumesnil
+left any illegitimate child."
+
+M. de Maillefort, who was endowed with an unusual amount of penetration,
+as well as tact, now felt fully convinced of Madame de la Rochaigue's
+entire ignorance of the existence of any illegitimate child, and the
+failure of this fresh attempt on his part caused him deep chagrin,
+particularly as he began to despair of discovering any trace of this
+unknown child, and of thus complying with Madame de Beaumesnil's dying
+request.
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue, without appearing to notice the hunchback's
+preoccupation, continued, gaily:
+
+"It is really very amusing to listen to all the rumours that are afloat
+concerning our ward's inheritance, as well as the large but singular
+legacies left by the countess."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"There is little or no foundation for these absurd reports," continued
+the baroness, in supercilious tones, for she had always disliked Madame
+de Beaumesnil. "The countess left a few trifling legacies to three or
+four old retainers, and small gratuities to her other servants. That is
+all the magnificent legacies, of which everybody is talking, amount to.
+But while the countess was in such a generous mood, she ought not to
+have been guilty of the ingratitude of forgetting a poor girl to whom
+she certainly owed some recognition of her services."
+
+"To whom do you refer?" asked the marquis, concealing the pain he felt
+on hearing the baroness thus asperse Madame de Beaumesnil's memory. "Of
+what young girl are you speaking?"
+
+"You have not heard, then, that, during the last days of her life, the
+countess, at the advice of her physician, summoned to her bedside a
+young and talented musician, who assisted not a little in assuaging the
+lady's sufferings?"
+
+"It seems to me that I do recollect hearing this fact spoken of,"
+answered the marquis.
+
+"Well, does it not seem monstrous that the countess did not leave even a
+slight legacy to this poor girl? It may have been an oversight on her
+part, but, to me, it looks exceedingly like ingratitude."
+
+The marquis knew Madame de Beaumesnil's kindness and nobility of heart
+so well that he, too, was struck by this apparent forgetfulness of the
+young artiste's claims.
+
+After a moment of reflection, however, he vaguely felt that, inasmuch as
+such an oversight, if real, was inexplicable, there must have been
+something more than a mere failure of memory in the circumstance, so he
+said:
+
+"You are sure, madame, that this young girl received no remuneration
+from Madame de Beaumesnil for her services? You are positive of it?"
+
+"We were so unanimously convinced of the fact," replied the baroness,
+delighted at this opportunity to show her generosity, "that, deploring
+this ingratitude on the part of the countess, we decided to send five
+hundred francs to the young girl."
+
+"That was only just."
+
+"I think so, too, but what do you think came of it?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea."
+
+"Well, the young artiste brought the five hundred francs back to us and
+told us that she had been paid."
+
+"She must be a noble-hearted girl," exclaimed the marquis; "but you see
+from that, that the countess had not forgotten the young musician, after
+all. Doubtless, she must have given her a suitable token of her
+gratitude while she was alive instead of leaving her a legacy."
+
+"You would not think so, monsieur, if you had seen how indicative of
+decent poverty the young girl's garments were. She would certainly have
+been better dressed if she had been a recipient of Madame de
+Beaumesnil's bounty. In fact, the young artiste, who, by the way, is
+wonderfully handsome, so excited my compassion and admiration by the
+delicacy of her conduct that I suggested she should come and give
+Ernestine music lessons."
+
+"You did? Why, that was very noble of you!"
+
+"Your astonishment is not very flattering, marquis."
+
+"You mistake admiration for astonishment, baroness. I am not surprised
+in the least. I know the wonderful kindness and gentleness of your heart
+too well," added M. de Maillefort, concealing his hope that he had at
+last found the desired clue under his usual persiflage.
+
+"Instead of making fun of my kindness of heart, marquis," replied Madame
+de la Rochaigue, "you ought to imitate it by endeavouring to procure the
+poor young girl some pupils among your numerous acquaintances."
+
+"Certainly," replied the marquis, rather indifferently, however; "I will
+do the best I can for your protegee, though I am not considered much of
+a musical connoisseur, I fear. But what is this young girl's name, and
+where does she live?"
+
+"Her name is Herminie, and she lives on the Rue de Monceau. I don't
+remember the number, but I will ascertain and let you know."
+
+"I will secure some pupils for Mlle. Herminie if I can; but, in return,
+if I should ever ask your protection for some suitor for Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's hand,--some suitor whom I see getting the worst of it in
+the melee, you will grant my request, will you not?"
+
+"You set a high value on your services, I must say, marquis," replied
+the baroness, laughing in a very constrained way; "but I am sure we
+shall come to an amicable understanding."
+
+"You can not imagine how deeply I rejoice in advance at the touching
+harmony which is henceforth to exist between us, my dear baroness. Well,
+after all, let us admit that this little orgy of sincerity has been of
+immense advantage to us. We are full of confidence in each other now,
+are we not, my dear baroness?"
+
+"Unquestionably, and mutual confidence, alas, is so rare!" exclaimed the
+baroness, with a sigh.
+
+"But all the more precious when it is found, eh, my dear baroness?"
+
+"Unquestionably, my dear marquis. _Au revoir_, then, if you must go. I
+shall hope to see you again very soon."
+
+"I trust so," responded M. de Maillefort, as he left the room.
+
+"Detestable man!" exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue, springing from the
+sofa, and beginning to pace the room excitedly, while she gave vent to
+her long-repressed feelings. "Every word that accursed hunchback uttered
+contained either a sarcasm or a threat," she added, venomously.
+
+"He's a contemptible scoundrel! There isn't the slightest doubt of it,"
+exclaimed the baron, suddenly drawing aside the portieres at one of the
+doors opening into the drawing-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+AN INVOLUNTARY AVERSION.
+
+
+On seeing M. de la Rochaigue thus reappear near the sofa where she had
+sat during her conversation with M. de Maillefort, the baroness
+exclaimed:
+
+"What, monsieur, were you there?"
+
+"Certainly, for suspecting that your interview with M. de Maillefort
+would prove exceedingly interesting as soon as you two were left alone
+together, I slipped into the little salon, and have been listening there
+behind the portieres close to you."
+
+"You heard what that detestable marquis said, then?"
+
+"Yes, madame, and I also noticed that you were so weak as to ask him to
+come again, instead of giving him plainly to understand that his
+presence here was no longer desired. You had a fine opportunity to do
+it, and you should have availed yourself of it."
+
+"But, monsieur, is not the Marquis de Maillefort as dangerous in one
+place as another? He made me understand that very plainly; besides, one
+can not treat a man of M. de Maillefort's lineage and importance in a
+rude manner."
+
+"What do you suppose would happen if you did?"
+
+"This: the marquis would undoubtedly demand satisfaction of you for such
+an insult. Are you not aware that he has fought a number of duels, all
+of which resulted disastrously for his opponents, and have you not heard
+that only a few days ago he forced M. de Mornand to fight merely on
+account of an ill-timed jest in which the latter indulged?"
+
+"But I, madame, am not as obliging and simple as M. de Mornand. I would
+not have fought."
+
+"Then, M. de Maillefort would have made your life a burden by his sneers
+and ridicule, until you would have been compelled to hide yourself from
+very shame."
+
+"But are there no laws to protect a man from such a monster? Ah, if I
+were in the Chamber of Peers such scandalous proceedings should not go
+unpunished! An honest man should not be at the mercy of the first
+cutthroat that happens to come along!" exclaimed the indignant baron.
+"But in heaven's name, what is the matter with him,--what does this
+damned marquis want, anyhow?"
+
+"You must have very little penetration, monsieur, for he certainly
+talked with almost brutal frankness, it seemed to me. Others would have
+resorted to circumlocution and even falsehood, but M. de
+Maillefort?--no, 'You intend to marry off Mlle. de Beaumesnil,' he says.
+'I intend to see in what manner and to whom you marry her, and if your
+choice does not please me I shall interfere.' This is what he had the
+audacity to say to me, and he is in a position to carry out his threat."
+
+"Fortunately, Ernestine seems to have taken an intense dislike to this
+horrid hunchback, and Helena must tell her that he was the mortal enemy
+of the countess."
+
+"What good will that do? Suppose we should find a party that suited us
+and Ernestine, isn't the marquis, by his sneers and sarcasms, quite
+capable of inspiring the innocent girl with an aversion for the very
+person we want her to marry? And it is not only here, in this house,
+that he can play us this shameful trick,--and many others that he is
+capable of concocting,--but he can do it anywhere and everywhere he
+meets Ernestine, for we cannot hide her. We shall be obliged to take her
+out into society."
+
+"Is it this that you fear most? I should be of the same opinion,
+perhaps, if--"
+
+"Do you suppose I know what I fear? I would a hundred times rather have
+some real danger to contend with, no matter how threatening it might be,
+for then I should at least know what the danger was, and perhaps
+contrive to escape it, while now the marquis will keep us in a state of
+perplexity that may cause us to commit a thousand blunders, and hamper
+us in every way. Consequently there is nothing for us to do but look the
+situation straight in the face and say to ourselves: 'Here is a man of
+wonderful discernment and diabolical cleverness, who sees, or will
+endeavour to see and know, all that we do, and who, unfortunately, has a
+thousand means of attaining his ends, while we have no means whatever of
+escaping his surveillance.'"
+
+"I am more and more convinced that the opinion I expressed a short time
+ago is a just and correct one," said the baron, complacently.
+
+"What opinion?"
+
+"That the marquis is an abominable scoundrel."
+
+"Good evening, monsieur," said Madame de la Rochaigue, wrathfully,
+starting towards the door.
+
+"What, you are going like that when we are in such desperate straits,
+and without coming to any decision!"
+
+"Decision about what?"
+
+"Why, about what we shall do in the matter."
+
+"I know one thing!" exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue, completely beside
+herself, and stamping her foot angrily, "this abominable hunchback has
+demoralised me completely, and you--you finish by utterly stupefying me
+with your asinine remarks."
+
+And Madame de la Rochaigue flounced out of the room, slamming the door
+violently in the baron's very face.
+
+During the conversation between Madame de la Rochaigue and M. de
+Maillefort, Helena had taken Mlle. de Beaumesnil back to her own room.
+As she was about to leave the young girl she said:
+
+"Sleep well, my dear Ernestine, and pray to the Saviour that he will not
+allow the face of that frightful M. de Maillefort to trouble your
+dreams."
+
+"I really don't know why it is, mademoiselle, but he almost terrifies
+me."
+
+"The feeling is very natural," replied the devotee, gently; "more
+natural than you suppose, for if you knew--"
+
+As Helena paused, the young girl said:
+
+"You did not finish, mademoiselle."
+
+"There are some things which it pains one to say against one's
+neighbour, even though he may deserve it," remarked the devotee, with a
+saintly air. "This M. de Maillefort--"
+
+"Well, mademoiselle?"
+
+"I am afraid of paining you, my dear Ernestine--"
+
+"Go on, I beg of you, mademoiselle."
+
+"Ah, well, as you insist, I am compelled to tell you that this Marquis
+de Maillefort has always been one of your mother's bitterest enemies."
+
+"My mother's?" cried Mlle. de Beaumesnil, wonderingly.
+
+Then she added, with touching naivete:
+
+"Some one must have deceived you, mademoiselle. My mother could not have
+had any enemies."
+
+In a tone of tender commiseration, Helena replied, shaking her head:
+
+"My dear child, such artlessness does your heart credit; but, alas! the
+best and most inoffensive people are exposed to the animosity of the
+wicked. Have not the gentle lambs ravening wolves for enemies?"
+
+"But how had my mother ever wronged M. de Maillefort, mademoiselle?"
+asked Ernestine, with tears in her eyes.
+
+"Why, in no way. Just Heaven! one might as well say that an innocent
+dove would attack a tiger."
+
+"Then what was the cause of M. de Maillefort's animosity?"
+
+"Alas! my poor child, I cannot tell you that. It would be too
+revolting--too horrible," answered Helena, sighing heavily.
+
+"Then I have good cause to loathe this man, and yet I blamed myself for
+yielding to my involuntary aversion."
+
+"Ah, my dearest child, may you never have a less justifiable aversion,"
+said the devotee, sanctimoniously, lifting her eyes heavenward.
+
+Then she added:
+
+"I must leave you, now, my dear Ernestine. Sleep sweetly. To-morrow
+morning, at nine o'clock, I will come for you to go to church."
+
+"Good-bye until to-morrow, mademoiselle; but, alas! you leave me with
+sad thoughts,--my mother had an enemy."
+
+"It is best to know the real character of the wicked, my dear Ernestine,
+for then one can at least guard against their evil doing. And now
+good-bye until to-morrow morning."
+
+"Good night, mademoiselle."
+
+So Mlle. de la Rochaigue departed, proud of the perfidious cunning with
+which she had aroused a cruel distrust of M. de Maillefort in Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's heart.
+
+Ernestine left alone, rang for her governess, who also acted as her
+personal attendant.
+
+Madame Laine entered.
+
+She was about forty years of age, with a somewhat insipid face, and a
+pleasant, though rather obsequious manner, in which there was a touch of
+servility that made it very different from the devotion of a faithful
+nurse, which is always instinct with the dignity of disinterested
+affection.
+
+"Does mademoiselle wish to retire?" asked Madame Laine.
+
+"No, my good Laine, not yet. Bring me my writing-desk, please."
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle."
+
+The desk having been brought from Ernestine's chamber, her governess
+said:
+
+"There is something I wish to tell mademoiselle."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Madame has hired two other maids for mademoiselle, and--"
+
+"I have told you that I require no other personal attendants than you
+and Therese."
+
+"I know it, mademoiselle, and I said as much to madame, but she thinks
+you are not sufficiently well served."
+
+"You satisfy me perfectly."
+
+"But madame says these young women are to stay in case you should need
+them, and this suits all the better as madame dismissed her own maid
+recently, and these women are to attend her in the meantime."
+
+"That is all very well," responded Ernestine, indifferently.
+
+"Mademoiselle desires nothing?"
+
+"No, I thank you."
+
+"Does mademoiselle find herself comfortable here?"
+
+"Very comfortable."
+
+"The apartments are certainly superb, but there is nothing too good for
+mademoiselle. Every one says so."
+
+"My good Laine, you may put out what I shall require for the night,"
+said Ernestine, without paying any attention to the governess's remark.
+"I can undress without your assistance, but I would like you to wake me
+a little before eight to-morrow morning."
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle."
+
+Madame Laine turned as if to leave the room, but as Ernestine opened
+her desk to write, the governess paused, and said:
+
+"I have a favour to ask of mademoiselle."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I should be very grateful to mademoiselle if she would have the
+goodness to spare me a couple of hours to-morrow, or the day after, to
+go and see a relative of mine, Madame Herbaut, who lives in the
+Batignolles."
+
+"Very well, go to-morrow morning, while I am at church."
+
+"I thank mademoiselle for her kindness."
+
+"Good-night, my good Laine," said Ernestine, thus dismissing her
+governess, who seemed inclined to continue the conversation.
+
+This interview gives a pretty correct idea of the relations that existed
+between Mlle. de Beaumesnil and Madame Laine.
+
+The latter had often endeavoured to establish herself on a more familiar
+footing with her young mistress, but at the very first effort in this
+direction Mlle. de Beaumesnil always put an end to the conversation, not
+haughtily nor curtly, but by giving some order in a kindly way.
+
+After Madame Laine's departure, Ernestine remained lost in thought for
+some time; then, seating herself at the table, on which her desk had
+been placed, she opened it and took out a small book bound in Russia
+leather, the first leaves of which were already filled.
+
+The history of this book was simple but touching.
+
+On her departure for Italy, Ernestine had promised her mother to write
+every day a sort of diary of her journey. This promise the girl had kept
+until the sorrowful days that immediately followed her father's fatal
+accident, and the even more terrible days that followed the news of the
+Comtesse de Beaumesnil's death; and now that she had rallied a little
+from these crushing blows, Ernestine found a sort of pious consolation
+in continuing to write to her mother every day, keeping up the both
+pleasant and cruel illusion by continuing these confidential
+revelations.
+
+The first part of this book contained copies of the letters Ernestine
+had written to her mother while that lady was living.
+
+The second part, separated from the first by a black cross, contained
+the letters which the poor child had, alas! had no need to recopy.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil seated herself at the table, and, after she had
+wiped away the tears which the sight of this book always evoked, she
+wrote as follows:
+
+"I have not written to you, my darling mamma, since my arrival at M. de
+la Rochaigue's house, because I wished to analyse my first impressions
+carefully.
+
+"Besides, you know how peculiar I am, and how, whenever I go to a
+strange place now, I find myself almost dazed for a day or two by the
+change. It seems as if I must have time to become accustomed to the new
+objects by which I am surrounded, to recover my mental faculties.
+
+"The apartments set aside for my exclusive use are so magnificent and so
+spacious that I felt lost in them yesterday, but to-day I am becoming
+more accustomed to them.
+
+"Madame de la Rochaigue and her husband and sister have welcomed me as
+if I were their own child. They lavish every attention and kindness upon
+me, and if one could have any feeling save gratitude, for such a cordial
+reception, I should feel amazed that persons so much older than I am,
+should treat me with so much deference.
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue, my guardian, is kindness itself. His wife, who
+quite spoils me by her tenderness, is of a very gay and lively
+disposition. Mlle. Helena, her sister-in-law, is the gentlest and most
+saintly person imaginable.
+
+"You see, my dearest mother, that you need feel no anxiety concerning
+your poor Ernestine's lot. Surrounded by such devoted friends, she is as
+happy as she can be, now.
+
+"My chief desire is to become better acquainted with M. de la Rochaigue
+and his family, for then they will doubtless treat me with less
+ceremony, and cease to pay me compliments which embarrass me greatly,
+but which they probably feel obliged to pay me in order to make me feel
+at ease.
+
+"They are so kind that each person in turn seems to be racking his or
+her brain for the pleasantest and most complimentary thing they can say
+to me. By and by, I hope that they will see they do not need to flatter
+me to gain my affection. One would almost suppose from their manner that
+they were under the greatest obligations to me for being allowed to
+receive me into their household. This does not surprise me much,
+however, my dearest mother, for how often you have told me that refined
+people always seem grateful for the services they are able to render
+others.
+
+"I have had some very painful moments to-day,--not by any fault of my
+guardian or his family, however.
+
+"This morning, a gentleman (my notary, as I learned afterwards) was
+introduced to me by my guardian, who said:
+
+"'My dear ward, I think it would be well for you to know the precise
+amount of your fortune, and this gentleman will now tell you.'
+
+"Whereupon, the notary, opening a book he had brought with him, showed
+me the last page all covered with figures, and said:
+
+"'Mademoiselle, from the exact'--he used a word here that I have
+forgotten--'your yearly income amounts to the sum of three million one
+hundred and twenty thousand francs, which gives you nearly eight
+thousand francs a day, so you are the richest heiress in France.'
+
+"This, my poor dear mother, reminded me again of what, alas! I scarcely
+ever forget,--that I was an orphan, and alone in the world; and in spite
+of all my efforts to control my feelings, I wept bitterly."
+
+Ernestine was obliged to stop writing. Her tears had burst forth afresh,
+for to this tender-hearted, artless child, this rich inheritance meant
+the loss of her mother and of her father.
+
+Becoming calmer after a few moments, she resumed her pen, and continued:
+
+"It is difficult for me to explain it, but on learning that I had eight
+thousand francs a day, as the notary said, I felt a great awe, not
+unmixed with fear.
+
+"'So much money--just for myself! why is it?' I thought.
+
+"It seemed to me unjust.
+
+"What had I done to be so rich?
+
+"And then those words which had made me weep, 'You are the richest
+heiress in France,' almost terrified me.
+
+"Yes; I know not how to explain it, but the knowledge that I possessed
+this immense fortune made me feel strangely uneasy. It seemed to me that
+I must feel as people feel who have a great treasure, and who tremble at
+the thought of the dangers they will incur if any one tries to rob them
+of it.
+
+"And yet, no; this comparison is not a just one, for I never cared very
+much for the money you and my father gave me each month to gratify my
+fancies.
+
+"In fact, I seem unable to analyse my feelings when I think of my
+wealth, as they call it. It is strange and inexplicable, but perhaps I
+shall feel differently by and by.
+
+"In the meantime, I am surrounded by the kindest and most devoted of
+relatives. What can I have to fear? It is pure childishness on my part,
+undoubtedly. But to whom can I tell everything, if not to you? M. de la
+Rochaigue and the other members of his household are wonderfully kind to
+me, but I shall never make confidants of them. You know I have always
+been very reserved to every one but you and my father; and I often
+reproach myself for not being more familiar with my good Laine, who has
+been with me several years. But anything like familiarity is impossible
+to me, though I am far from being proud."
+
+Then alluding to the aversion she felt for M. de Maillefort, in
+consequence of Mlle. Helena's calumnies, Ernestine added:
+
+"I was cruelly hurt this evening, but it was such a disgraceful thing
+that, out of respect to you, my dear mother, I will not write it, nor do
+I really believe that I should have the courage.
+
+"Good night, my darling mamma. To-morrow and the day following, I am
+going to nine o'clock mass with Mlle. de la Rochaigue. She is so good
+and kind that I could not refuse. But my most fervent prayers, my dear
+mother, are those I offer up in solitude. To-morrow morning and other
+mornings, in the midst of the careless crowd, I shall pray for you, but
+it is when I am alone, as now, that my every thought and my very soul
+lifts itself to thee, and that I pray to thee as one prays to God--my
+beloved and sainted mother!"
+
+After having replaced the book in the writing-desk, the key of which she
+wore always suspended around her neck, the orphan sought her couch, and
+slept much more calmly and peacefully now she had made these artless
+confessions to an--alas!--now immortal mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+AN UNWELCOME VISITOR.
+
+
+On the morning following the day on which M. de Maillefort had been
+introduced to Mlle. de Beaumesnil for the first time, Commander Bernard
+was lying stretched out in the comfortable armchair which had been a
+present from Olivier.
+
+It was a beautiful summer morning, and the old sailor gazed out sadly
+through the window on the parched flower beds, now full of weeds, for a
+month before two of the veteran's old wounds had reopened, keeping him a
+prisoner in his armchair, and preventing him from working in his beloved
+garden.
+
+The housekeeper was seated near the commander, busy with some sewing,
+but for several minutes she must have been indulging in her usual
+recriminations against "Bu-u-onaparte," for she was now saying to the
+veteran, in tones of bitter indignation:
+
+"Yes, monsieur, raw, raw; I tell you he ate it raw!"
+
+The veteran, when his acute suffering abated a little, could not help
+laughing at the housekeeper's absurd stories, so he said:
+
+"What was it that this diabolical Corsican ogre ate raw, Mother
+Barbancon?"
+
+"His beef, monsieur! Yes, the night before the battle he ate his meat
+raw! And do you know why?"
+
+"No," answered the veteran, turning himself with difficulty in his
+armchair; "I can not imagine, I am sure."
+
+"The wretch did it to render himself more ferocious, so he would have
+the courage to see his soldiers exterminated by the enemy,--above all,
+the conscripts," added the indignant housekeeper. "His sole object in
+life was to provide food for cannon, as he said, and so to depopulate
+France by conscriptions that there would not be a single Frenchman left.
+That was his diabolical scheme!"
+
+Commander Bernard replied to this tirade by another loud burst of
+laughter.
+
+"Let me ask just this one question," he said. "If Bonaparte desired that
+there shouldn't be another Frenchman left in France, who the devil would
+he have had to reign over, then?"
+
+"Why, negroes, of course," snapped the housekeeper, shrugging her
+shoulders impatiently, and acting quite as if an absurdly easy question
+had been put to her.
+
+It was such a ridiculous answer, and so entirely unexpected, that a
+moment of positive stupefaction preceded a fresh outburst of hilarity on
+the part of the commander, who, as soon as he could control his mirth a
+little, inquired:
+
+"Negroes, what negroes?"
+
+"Why, those American negroes with whom he was always plotting, and who,
+while he was on his rock, began a tunnel which, starting at
+Champ-d'Asile, and passing under St. Helena, was intended to transport
+to the capital of the empire other negroes, friends of the American
+negroes, so Bu-u-onaparte, in company with his odious Roustan, could
+return to ravage all France."
+
+"Really, Mother Barbancon," exclaimed the veteran, admiringly, "I never
+knew your imagination to soar to such sublime heights before."
+
+"I don't see that there is anything to laugh at, monsieur. Would you
+like to have conclusive proof that the monster always intended to
+replace the French by negroes?"
+
+"I should indeed, Mother Barbancon," exclaimed the veteran, wiping tears
+of mirth from his eyes. "Come, let us have the proof."
+
+"Ah, well, monsieur, hasn't everybody said for years that your
+Bu-u-onaparte treated the French like so many negroes?"
+
+"Bravo, Mother Barbancon, bravo!"
+
+"Well, isn't that proof enough that he would like to have had all
+negroes instead of Frenchmen under his thumb?"
+
+"Thanks, Mother Barbancon!" exclaimed the poor commander, fairly
+writhing with merriment. "But this is too much, really too much!"
+
+Two loud and imperious peals of the bell made the housekeeper spring
+from her chair and hurry out of the room, exclaiming:
+
+"There is some one who rings in a lordly way, I must say."
+
+And closing the door of the veteran's chamber behind her, Madame
+Barbancon flew to admit the visitor.
+
+This proved to be a stout man about fifty years of age, wearing the
+uniform of a second lieutenant in the National Guard,--a uniform that
+gaped in a ridiculous manner behind, and disclosed to view in front an
+enormous stomach, over which dangled a big gold chain. This personage,
+who wore an immense bearskin hat that nearly covered his eyes, had a
+pompous and extremely self-important air.
+
+On beholding him, Madame Barbancon knit her brows, and, evidently not
+very deeply impressed by the dignity of this citizen soldier, asked, in
+a decidedly sharp tone:
+
+"What, you here again?"
+
+"It would be very strange if an owner"--the word owner was uttered with
+the majestic air of a ruling sovereign--"if an owner could not come into
+his own house, when--"
+
+"You are not in your own house, for you have rented it to the
+commander."
+
+"This is the seventeenth of the month, and my porter has sent me a
+printed notice that my rent has not been paid, so I--"
+
+"We all know that. This is the third time in the last two days that you
+have been here to dun us. Do you expect us to give you our last cent for
+the rent? We'll pay you when we can, and that is all there is about it."
+
+"When you can? A house owner is not to be paid in promises."
+
+"House owner! You can boast of being a house owner only because for the
+last twenty years you've been putting pepper in your brandy and chicory
+in your coffee, as well as dipping your candles in boiling water to melt
+off the tallow without anybody's discovering it, and with the proceeds
+of this cheating you've perhaps bought a few houses. I don't see
+anything to be so proud of in that, do you?"
+
+"I have been a grocer, it is true. It is also true that I made money in
+my business, and I am proud of the fact, madame."
+
+"You have no reason to be. Besides, if you are rich, how can you have
+the heart to torment a worthy man like the commander merely because he
+is a little behind in his rent--for the first time, too, in over three
+years."
+
+"I don't care anything about that. Pay me my money, or out you go! It is
+very astonishing; people can't pay their rent, but they must have
+gardens and every modern convenience, these fastidious tenants of mine!"
+
+"Come, come, M. Bouffard, don't go too far or you may be sorry for it!
+Of course he must have a garden, this brave man, crippled with wounds,
+for a garden is his only pleasure in life. If, instead of sticking to
+your counter, you had gone to the wars like the commander, and shed your
+blood in the four quarters of the globe, and in Russia, you wouldn't own
+any more houses than he does! Go, and see if you do!"
+
+"Once, twice, I ask, will you pay me to-day?"
+
+"Three times, a hundred times, and a thousand times, no! Since the
+commander's wound reopened, he can sleep only with the aid of opium.
+That drug is as costly as gold itself, and the one hundred and fifty
+francs he has received has had to go in medicine and doctor's visits."
+
+"I don't care anything about your reasons. House owners would be in a
+nice fix if they listened to their tenants' excuses. It was just the
+same at one of my houses on the Rue de Monceau where I've just been. My
+tenant there is a music teacher, who can't pay her rent because she's
+been sick, she says, and hasn't been able to give lessons as usual. The
+same old story! When a person is sick, he ought to go to the hospital,
+and give you a chance to find another tenant."
+
+"The hospital! Commander Bernard go to the hospital!" cried the now
+thoroughly exasperated housekeeper. "No, not even if I have to go out as
+a ragpicker at night, and nurse him in the daytime, he sha'n't go to the
+hospital, understand that, but you run a great risk of going there
+yourself if you don't clear out, for M. Olivier is coming back, and
+he'll give you more kicks in your miserable stomach than you have hairs
+in your bearskin cap."
+
+"I would like to see any other house owner who would allow himself to be
+abused in this fashion in his own house. But enough of this. I'll be
+back at four o'clock, and if the hundred and fifty francs are not ready
+for me, I'll seize your furniture."
+
+"And I'll seize my fire-shovel and give you the reception you deserve!"
+
+And the housekeeper slammed the door in M. Bouffard's face, and went
+back to the commander. His fit of hilarity was over, but he was still in
+a very good humour, so, on seeing Madame Barbancon return with cheeks
+blazing with anger, the old sailor said to her:
+
+"Well, it seems that you didn't expend all your wrath upon Bonaparte,
+Mother Barbancon. Who the devil are you in such a rage with now?"
+
+"With some one who isn't a bit better than your Emperor, I can tell you
+that. The two would make a pretty pair. Bah!"
+
+"And who is it that is such a good match for the emperor, Mother
+Barbancon?"
+
+"It is--"
+
+But the housekeeper suddenly checked herself.
+
+"Poor, dear man," she thought, "it would almost kill him if I should
+tell him that the rent isn't paid, that the expenses of his illness have
+eaten up every penny of his money, as well as sixty francs of my own.
+I'll wait until M. Olivier comes. He may have some good news for us."
+
+"What the deuce are you mooning about there instead of answering me,
+Mother Barbancon? Is it some new atrocity of the little corporal's that
+you are going to treat me to?"
+
+"How glad I am! That must be M. Olivier," cried the housekeeper, hearing
+the bell ring again, gently this time.
+
+And again leaving her employer, Madame Barbancon ran to the door. It
+was, indeed, the commander's nephew this time.
+
+"Well, M. Olivier?" asked the housekeeper, anxiously.
+
+"We are saved," replied the young man, wiping the sweat from his
+forehead. "My worthy friend, the mason, had some difficulty in getting
+the money he owed me, for I had not told him I should want it so soon,
+but here are the two hundred francs at last," said Olivier, handing a
+little bag of coin to the housekeeper.
+
+"What a relief it is, M. Olivier."
+
+"Why, has the landlord been here again?"
+
+"He just left, the scoundrel! I told him pretty plainly what I thought
+of him."
+
+"But, my dear Madame Barbancon, when one owes a man money, one must pay
+it. But my poor uncle suspects nothing, does he?"
+
+"No, not a thing, I'm glad to say."
+
+"So much the better."
+
+"Such a capital idea has just struck me!" exclaimed the vindictive
+housekeeper, as she counted the money the young man had just handed her.
+"Such a capital idea!"
+
+"What is it, Mother Barbancon?"
+
+"That scoundrel will be back here at four o'clock, and I'm going to make
+up a hot fire in my cook-stove and put thirty of these five-franc pieces
+in it, and when that monster of a M. Bouffard comes, I'll tell him to
+wait a minute, and then I'll go and take the money out with my tongs and
+pile the coins up on the table, and then I'll say to him, 'There's your
+money; take it.' That will be fine, M. Olivier, won't it. The law
+doesn't forbid that, does it?"
+
+"So you want to fire red-hot bullets at all the rich grocers, do you?"
+laughed Olivier. "Do better than that. Save your charcoal, and give the
+hundred and fifty francs to M. Bouffard cold."
+
+"You are entirely too good-natured, M. Olivier. Let me at least spoil
+his pretty face with my nails, the brigand."
+
+"Nonsense! He's much more stupid than wicked."
+
+"He's both, M. Olivier, he's both, I tell you!"
+
+"But how is my uncle this morning? I went out so early that he was still
+asleep, and I didn't like to wake him."
+
+"He is feeling better, for he and I just had a fine dispute about his
+monster. And then your return, why, it is worth more to him than all the
+medicines in the world, and when I think that but for you that frightful
+Bouffard might have turned us out in three or four days! And Heaven
+knows that our belongings wouldn't have brought much, for our six
+tablespoons and the commander's watch went when he was ill three years
+ago."
+
+"My good Mother Barbancon, don't talk of that, or you will drive me mad,
+for when my furlough is over I shall not be here, and what happened
+to-day may happen again at any time. But I won't even think of it. It is
+too terrible!"
+
+The commander's bell rang, and on hearing the sound the housekeeper said
+to the young man, whose face wore an almost heart-broken expression:
+
+"That is the commander ringing. For heaven's sake don't look so sad, M.
+Olivier; he will be sure to suspect something."
+
+"You needn't be afraid of that. But, by the way, Gerald is sure to call
+this morning. You must let him in."
+
+"All right, M. Olivier. Go to the commander at once, and I will soon
+have your breakfast ready. Dear me, M. Olivier," she continued, with a
+sigh, "can you be content with--"
+
+"My dear, good woman," cried the young soldier, without allowing her to
+finish, "don't I always have enough? Aren't you always depriving
+yourself of something to give it to me?"
+
+"Hush! Monsieur is ringing again. Hasten to him at once!"
+
+And Olivier obeyed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+MATRIMONIAL INTENTIONS DISCLOSED.
+
+
+At the sight of Olivier, the commander's features assumed a joyful
+expression, and, not being able to rise from his armchair, he held out
+both hands to his nephew, saying:
+
+"Good morning, my boy."
+
+"Good morning, uncle."
+
+"I feel strongly inclined to scold you."
+
+"Me, uncle?"'
+
+"Certainly. Though you only returned yesterday you were off this morning
+almost before sunrise. I woke quite early, happy in the thought that I
+was not alone, as I have been for two months past. I glance over at your
+bed, but no Olivier is to be seen. You had already flown."
+
+"But, uncle--"
+
+"But, my boy, you have cheated me out of nearly two months of your leave
+already. A hitch in your master mason's business matters, you told me.
+So be it; but now, thanks to the earnings of these two months, you must
+be almost a millionaire, so I intend to enjoy your society from this on.
+You have earned plenty of money. As it is for me that you are always
+working, I cannot prevent you from making me presents, and Heaven only
+knows what you are plotting to do with your millions this very minute,
+M. Croesus; but I tell you one thing, if you leave me as much of the
+time alone as you did before you went away, I will not accept another
+present from you. I swear I will not!"
+
+"But, uncle, listen to me--"
+
+"You have only two more months to spend with me, and I am determined to
+make the most of them. What is the use of working as you do? Do you
+suppose that, with a manager like Mother Barbancon, my purse is not
+always full? Only two or three days ago I said to her: 'Well, Madame
+Steward, how are we off for funds?' 'You needn't worry about that,
+monsieur,' she replied; 'when one has more than one spends, there is a
+plenty.' I tell you that a cashier who answers like that is a comfort."
+
+"Oh, well, uncle," said Olivier, anxious to put an end to this
+embarrassing conversation, "I promise that I will leave you as little as
+possible henceforth. Now, one thing more, do you feel able to see Gerald
+this morning?"
+
+"Why, of course. What a kind and loyal heart that young duke has! When I
+think that during your absence he came here again and again to see me,
+and smoke his cigar with me! I was suffering the torments of the damned,
+but somehow he managed to make me feel ever so much more comfortable.
+'Olivier is away,' he said to me, 'and it is my business to look after
+you.'"
+
+"My good Gerald!" murmured Olivier, deeply moved.
+
+"Yes, he is good. A young man of his position, who leaves his pleasures,
+his sweethearts, and friends of his own age, to come and spend two or
+three hours with an old cripple like me, proves conclusively that he has
+a good heart. But I'm not a conceited fool, I know very well that it was
+on your account that Gerald came to see me, my dear nephew, and because
+he knew it would give you pleasure."
+
+"No, no, uncle. It was for your sake, and for yours alone, believe me!"
+
+"Hum!"
+
+"He will tell you so himself, presently, for he wrote yesterday to ask
+if he would find us at home this morning."
+
+"Alas! he is only too certain to find me; I cannot budge from my
+armchair. You see the melancholy proof of that," added the old sailor,
+pointing to his dry and weedy flower borders. "My poor garden is nearly
+burnt up. Mamma Barbancon has been too busy to attend to it; besides, my
+illness seems to have put her all out of sorts. I suggested asking the
+porter to water the flowers every day or two; but you should have heard
+how she answered me. 'Bring strangers into the house to steal and
+destroy everything!' You know what a temper the good woman has, and I
+dared not insist, so you can see what a terrible condition my poor
+flowers are in."
+
+"Never mind, uncle; I am back now, and I will act as your head
+gardener," said Olivier, gaily. "I have thought of it before, and if I
+had not been obliged to go out early this morning on business, you would
+have found your garden all weeded, and fresh as a rose sparkling with
+dew when you woke this morning. But to-morrow morning,--well, you shall
+see!"
+
+The commander was about to thank Olivier when Madame Barbancon opened
+the door and asked if M. Gerald could come in.
+
+"I should say he could come in!" exclaimed the old naval officer, gaily,
+as Olivier advanced to meet his friend.
+
+"Thank heaven! his master mason has returned him to us at last,"
+exclaimed the veteran, pointing to Olivier.
+
+"Hopeless chaos seemed to reign in the worthy man's estimates," replied
+Olivier, "and when they were at last adjusted, the manager of the
+property, struck by my fine handwriting and symmetrical figures, asked
+me to straighten out some accounts of his, and I consented. But now I
+think of it, do you know, Gerald, who owns the magnificent chateau in
+which I spent the last two months?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea."
+
+"Well, the Marquise of Carabas."
+
+"What Marquise of Carabas?"
+
+"The enormously wealthy heiress you were talking to us about before I
+went away."
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" exclaimed Gerald, in profound astonishment.
+
+"The same. This magnificent estate belongs to her and yields her a
+yearly income of twenty thousand livres; and it seems that she has
+dozens of such properties."
+
+"What the devil can one do with so much money?" exclaimed the veteran.
+
+"It is certainly a strange coincidence," murmured Gerald, thoughtfully.
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because there is a possibility of my marrying Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Indeed, M. Gerald," said the veteran, artlessly, "so a desire to marry
+has seized you since I saw you last?"
+
+"So you are in love with Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" asked Olivier, no less
+naively.
+
+Gerald, surprised at these questions, replied, after a moment of
+reflection:
+
+"It is perfectly natural that you should speak in this way, commander,
+and you, too, Olivier; and among all the persons I know you are the only
+ones. Yes, for if I had said to a thousand other people, 'It is proposed
+that I should marry the richest heiress in France,' each and every one
+of them would have replied without a thought about anything else: 'Yes,
+marry her by all means. It is a splendid match; marry her, by all
+means!'"
+
+Then, after another pause, Gerald added:
+
+"Of course it is only right, but how rare, oh, how rare!"
+
+"Upon my word, I had no idea that I was saying anything remarkable, M.
+Gerald. Olivier thinks exactly as I do, don't you, my boy?"
+
+"Yes, uncle. But what is the matter with you, Gerald? Why do you seem so
+serious all of a sudden?"
+
+"I will tell you," said the young duke, whose features did, indeed, wear
+an unusually thoughtful expression. "I came here this morning to inform
+you of my matrimonial intentions,--you, commander, and you, Olivier, for
+I regard you both as sincere and devoted friends."
+
+"You certainly have no truer ones, M. Gerald," said the veteran,
+earnestly.
+
+"I am certain of that, commander, and this knowledge made me doubly
+anxious to confide my projects to you."
+
+"That is very natural," replied Olivier, "for you know so well that
+whatever interests you interests us."
+
+"The real state of the case is this," said Gerald, replying to his
+friend's words by a friendly gesture. "Yesterday, my mother, dazzled by
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil's wealth, proposed to me that I should marry that
+young lady. My mother considered my success certain, if I would consent
+to follow her counsels. But remembering the pleasures of my bachelor
+life and of independence, I at first refused."
+
+"But if you have no liking for married life, the millions upon millions
+should not induce you to change this determination," remarked the old
+naval officer, kindly.
+
+"But wait, commander," said Gerald, with some little embarrassment. "My
+refusal irritated my mother. She told me I was blind, and that I had no
+sense; but finally her anger gave place to such profound chagrin that,
+seeing her inconsolable at my refusal, I--"
+
+"You consented to the marriage?" asked Olivier.
+
+"Yes," replied Gerald.
+
+Then noticing a slight movement of astonishment on the part of the old
+sailor, Gerald added:
+
+"Commander, my decision seems to surprise you."
+
+"Yes, M. Gerald."
+
+"But why? Tell me frankly."
+
+"Well, M. Gerald, if you consent to marry contrary to your inclination,
+and that merely to please your mother, I fear you are making a great
+mistake," answered the veteran, in firm, but affectionate tones, "for
+sooner or later your wife will suffer for the compulsion you exert upon
+yourself to-day, and one ought not to marry to make a woman unhappy.
+Don't you agree with me, Olivier?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"But how could I bear to see my mother weep, my mother who seems to have
+set her heart upon this marriage?"
+
+"But think of seeing your wife weep, M. Gerald. Your mother has your
+affection to console her, while your wife, poor orphan that she is, who
+will console her? No one, or perhaps she will do as so many other women
+do,--console herself with lovers who are inferior to you in every way.
+They will torment her, they will disgrace her, perhaps,--another chance
+of misery for the poor creature!"
+
+The young duke's head drooped, and he answered not a word.
+
+"You asked us to be frank with you, M. Gerald," continued the commander,
+"and we are, because we love you sincerely."
+
+"I did not doubt that you would be perfectly frank with me, so I ought
+to be equally so, and say in my defence that in consenting to this
+marriage I was influenced by another and not altogether ungenerous
+sentiment. You remember that I spoke of Macreuse, the other day,
+Olivier?"
+
+"That miserable wretch who put little birds' eyes out with pins!" cried
+the veteran, upon whom this incident had evidently made a deep
+impression, "that hypocrite who is now a hanger-on of the clergy?"
+
+"The same, commander. Well, he is one of the aspirants for Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's hand."
+
+"Macreuse!" exclaimed Olivier. "Poor girl, but he has no chance of
+success, has he?"
+
+"My mother says not, but I fear that he has; for the Church supports
+Macreuse's claims, and the Church is very powerful."
+
+"Such a scoundrel as that succeed!" cried the old officer. "It would be
+shameful!"
+
+"And it was because I was so indignant at the idea that, already touched
+by my mother's disappointment, I consented to the marriage partly in
+order to circumvent that wretch, Macreuse."
+
+"But afterwards, M. Gerald, you reflected, did you not, that an
+honourable man like yourself does not marry merely to please his mother
+and circumvent a rival, even if that rival is a Macreuse?"
+
+"What, commander!" exclaimed Gerald, evidently much surprised. "Do you
+think it would be better to allow this wretch to marry Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, when he wants her only for her money?"
+
+"Nothing of the kind," answered the veteran, warmly. "One should always
+prevent a crime when one can, and if I were in your place, M. Gerald--"
+
+"What would you do, commander?"
+
+"I would go first to M. Macreuse, and say to him: 'You are a scoundrel,
+and as scoundrels should not be allowed to marry women to make them
+miserable all their lives, I forbid you to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+and I will prevent you from marrying her; I do not know her, I have no
+intention of marrying her myself, but I take an interest in her because
+she is in some danger of becoming your wife. As that, in my opinion,
+would be infinitely worse for her than if she were going to be bitten by
+a mad dog, I intend to warn her that you are worse than a mad dog.'"
+
+"That would be doing exactly right, uncle, exactly!" cried Olivier.
+
+But Gerald motioned him not to interrupt the veteran, who continued:
+
+"I should then go straight to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and say to her: 'My
+dear young lady, there is a certain M. Macreuse who wants to marry you
+for your money. He is a vile cur, and I will prove it to his face
+whenever and wherever you like. Take my advice; it is entirely
+disinterested, for I haven't the slightest idea of marrying you myself,
+but honest men should always put unsuspecting persons on their guard
+against scoundrels.' I tell you, M. Gerald, my way may be
+unconventional, but there might be very much worse ones."
+
+"The course my uncle suggests, though rather rough, certainly has the
+merit of being eminently straightforward, you must admit, my dear
+Gerald," said Olivier, smilingly; "but you, who are so much better
+versed in the ways of the world than either of us are, probably know
+whether you could not achieve the same result by less violent means."
+
+But Gerald, more and more impressed by the veteran's frankness and good
+sense, had listened to him very respectfully.
+
+"Thanks, commander," he exclaimed, offering him his hand, "you and
+Olivier have prevented me from doing a dishonourable deed, for the
+danger was all the greater from the fact that I was investing it with a
+semblance of virtue. To make my mother the happiest of women, and
+prevent Mlle. de Beaumesnil from becoming the victim of a man like
+Macreuse, seemed a very fine thing to me at first. I was deceiving
+myself most abominably, for I not only gave no thought whatever to the
+future of this young girl whom I would probably make miserable for life,
+but I was yielding, though unconsciously, to the fascination of her
+colossal wealth."
+
+"You are wrong about that, Gerald, I am sure."
+
+"I am not, upon my word, Olivier. So, to save myself from further
+temptation, I shall return to my first resolution, viz., not to marry at
+all. I regret only one thing in this change of plans," added Gerald,
+with much feeling, "and that is the deep disappointment I shall cause
+my mother, though she is sure to approve my course eventually."
+
+"But listen, Gerald," interrupted Olivier; "you should not do wrong
+merely to please your mother, as uncle says. Yet a mother is so kind,
+and it grieves one so much to see her unhappy, why should you not try to
+satisfy her without the sacrifice of your convictions as an honest and
+honourable man?"
+
+"Good, my boy!" exclaimed the veteran. "But how is that to be done?"
+
+"Explain, Olivier."
+
+"You have no wish to marry, you say?"
+
+"Not the slightest."
+
+"And you have never seen Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Never."
+
+"Then you cannot love her, of course, that is evident. But who knows but
+you might fall in love with her if you did see her? A bachelor life is
+your idea of perfect happiness now, I admit. But is it not quite
+possible that Mlle. de Beaumesnil might inspire you with a taste for
+married life instead?"
+
+"You are right, Olivier," exclaimed the veteran. "You ought to see the
+young lady before you refuse, M. Gerald, and perhaps, as Olivier says,
+the desire to marry may seize you."
+
+"Impossible, commander!" cried Gerald, gaily. "One is born a husband as
+one is born a poet or a cripple, and then there is another
+objection,--the most important of all,--that occurs to me now. It is
+that the young lady in question is the richest heiress in France."
+
+"And what of that?" urged Olivier. "What difference does that make?"
+
+"It makes a great deal of difference," replied Gerald, "for even if I
+was obliged to admit that Mlle. de Beaumesnil pleased me
+infinitely,--that I was dead in love with her, in fact, and that she
+shared my love,--the fact remains that she is the possessor of a
+princely fortune, while I have nothing; for my paltry twelve thousand a
+year would be but a drop in the ocean of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's millions.
+It would be too humiliating to a man's pride, would it not, commander,
+to marry a woman to whom you can give nothing, but who gives you
+everything? Besides, however sincere your love may be, don't you have
+the appearance of marrying for mercenary motives? Don't you know that
+everybody would say: 'Mlle. de Beaumesnil wanted to be a duchess. Gerald
+de Senneterre hadn't a penny, so he sold her his name and title, and
+threw himself in.'"
+
+On hearing these words, the uncle glanced at his nephew with a decidedly
+embarrassed air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE COMMANDER'S ADVICE.
+
+
+Gerald did not fail to notice this fact, and it was with a smile that he
+exclaimed:
+
+"Yes, I was sure of it, commander. There is something so humiliating to
+an honest man's pride in such a glaring inequality of fortune that you
+are as unpleasantly impressed by it as I am. Your silence proves that
+conclusively."
+
+"The fact is," replied the veteran, after a moment's silence,--"the fact
+is, I really can't explain why such a state of things would appear
+perfectly natural and right to me if it was the man who possessed the
+fortune, and the lady had nothing."
+
+Then the old officer added, with a good-natured smile:
+
+"You think me a great simpleton, I expect, M. Gerald."
+
+"Quite the contrary. Your thought owes its origin to the most profound
+delicacy of feeling, commander," answered Gerald. "It is the most
+natural thing in the world that a penniless, but charming young girl,
+accomplished and endowed with noble attributes of mind and heart, should
+marry an immensely rich man,--if their love be mutual,--but for a man
+who has nothing, to marry a woman who has everything--"
+
+"Ah, uncle, and you, too, Gerald," exclaimed Olivier, interrupting his
+friend, "you are both entirely wrong about this matter."
+
+"And why, if you please?"
+
+"You admit, and so do I, that a penniless young girl is quite justified
+in marrying an immensely rich man, but this is only on condition that
+she loves the man sincerely."
+
+"Of course!" said Gerald. "If she is actuated by mercenary motives, it
+becomes nothing more nor less than a business transaction."
+
+"And disgraceful accordingly," added the old sailor.
+
+"Very well, then," continued Olivier, "why should a poor man,--because,
+Gerald, you are poor in comparison with Mlle. de Beaumesnil,--why, then,
+I ask, should you be censured for marrying that young lady if you love
+her sincerely in spite of her millions,--in short, if you love her as
+sincerely as if she were without name and without fortune?"
+
+"That is true, M. Gerald," chimed in the commander; "if one loves as an
+honest man should love, if one is certain that he loves not the money,
+but the woman, one's conscience is clear. What right can any one have to
+reproach him? In short, I advise you to see Mlle. de Beaumesnil first,
+and decide afterwards."
+
+"Yes, that will, I believe, be best," Gerald replied. "That will decide
+everything. Ah, I was wise to come and talk over my plans with you,
+commander, and with you, Olivier."
+
+"Nonsense, M. Gerald, as if, in the refined circles in which you move,
+there were not plenty of persons who would have said the same things
+Olivier and I have just said to you."
+
+"Ah, don't you believe it," responded Gerald, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+Then, more gravely, he added:
+
+"It is the same in the middle classes, if not worse. Everybody cares
+only for money."
+
+"But why the devil is it that Olivier and I are so superior to all the
+rest of the world, M. Gerald?" asked the commander, laughing.
+
+"Why?" repeated Gerald, with much feeling. "It is because you,
+commander, have led for forty years the hard, rough, dangerous,
+unselfish life of a sailor; it is because while you were leading this
+life you acquired the Christian virtues of resignation and contentment
+with little; it is because, ignorant of the cowardly concessions of
+society in these matters, you consider a man who marries for money as
+dishonourable as a man who cheats at cards, or shirks his duty on the
+battle-field. Am I not right, commander?"
+
+"But you see it all seems so very plain to me, M. Gerald, that--"
+
+"Oh, yes, very plain to you and to Olivier, who has led, like me, though
+for a much longer time, the life of a soldier,--a life that teaches one
+unselfishness and brotherly feeling. Is this not true?"
+
+"My brave, kind-hearted Gerald!" cried the young soldier, as deeply
+moved as his friend. "But you must admit that, though the life of a
+soldier may have developed your natural generosity, it certainly did not
+endow you with that virtue. You, alone, perhaps, of all the young men in
+your rank of life, were capable of realising the sort of cowardice one
+manifested in sending some poor devil to the wars to be killed in your
+place,--you, alone, too, seem to feel some scruples with regard to a
+marriage that all the others would gladly contract at any cost."
+
+"You are not going to begin to pay me compliments at this late day, I
+hope," laughed Gerald. "Very well, then, it is decided that I am to see
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and leave the rest to fate. My course is marked out
+for me. I will not deviate from it, I promise you."
+
+"Bravo, my dear Gerald," replied Olivier, gaily. "I see you now in my
+mind's eye in love, married,--a happy Benedict, in short. Ah, well,
+there's no happiness like it, I'm sure. And alas! I, yesterday, knowing
+nothing of your plans, asked Madame Herbaut's permission to introduce
+to her a former comrade, a very worthy young man, whom she instantly
+accepted on the strength of my all-potent recommendation."
+
+"You don't say so," exclaimed Gerald, laughing. "Oh, well, you needn't
+consider me as good as dead and buried. I shall promptly avail myself of
+her kind permission to call, I assure you."
+
+"You will?"
+
+"Most assuredly I shall."
+
+"But your matrimonial projects?"
+
+"Why, they make me all the more determined on this point."
+
+"Explain, I beg of you."
+
+"Why, the explanation is very simple, it seems to me. The more reason I
+have to love a bachelor's life, the better I shall have to love Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil in order to renounce my pleasures, and consequently the more
+certain I shall be of the sentiment she inspires. So, once for all, let
+it be understood that you are to take me with you to Madame Herbaut's,
+and to make me still stronger--to resist temptation, of course, I'll
+become the lover of one of the rivals, or even of one of the satellites
+of that famous duchess who is such a bugbear to me, and with whom I
+strongly suspect you of being in love."
+
+"Nonsense, Gerald!"
+
+"Come, be frank with me. You surely can't suspect me of desire to cut
+you out. As if there were not plenty of duchesses in the world! Do you
+remember the sutler's pretty wife? You had only to say the word, and I,
+forthwith, left the coast clear for you."
+
+"What, another!" cried the commander. "What a fascinating rascal my
+nephew must be!"
+
+"Ah, commander, if you knew the number of hearts the scamp won in
+Algiers alone! Madame Herbaut's fair guests had better be on their guard
+if they don't want to fall victims to Olivier's fascinations!"
+
+"I haven't any designs on the charming guests, you big simpleton,"
+retorted Olivier, gaily. "But seriously, do you really wish me to take
+you to Madame Herbaut's?"
+
+"Certainly I do," answered Gerald. Then turning to the veteran, he
+continued:
+
+"You really must not consider me a harebrained fellow on account of this
+determination on my part, commander. I have accepted your friendly
+advice in regard to marriage, you say, and yet I end the conversation by
+begging Olivier to take me to Madame Herbaut's. Ah, well, strange as
+this may appear to you, commander, I say, no longer jestingly, but in
+all seriousness this time, that the less change I make in my habits, the
+more sincere my love for Mlle. de Beaumesnil will have to be to induce
+me to abandon them."
+
+"Upon my word, M. Gerald, I must confess that your reasons seemed
+decidedly odd to me at first," replied the veteran, "but, on reflection,
+I find them quite sensible. There would, perhaps, be a sort of
+hypocritical premeditation in breaking off in advance with a life you
+have led so long."
+
+"Come then, Olivier, and introduce me to Madame Herbaut's charming
+tribe," exclaimed Gerald, gaily. "Good-bye, commander, I shall return
+soon and often. What else can you expect? You can't hope to act as my
+father confessor without more or less trouble, you know."
+
+"You'll find me a pretty exacting mentor as regards absolution and
+matters of conscience, I warn you," retorted the old sailor, gaily. "You
+must drop in again soon, for you are to keep me posted about the
+progress of your matrimonial schemes, you recollect."
+
+"Of course. It is my bounden duty to tell you all now, commander, and I
+shall not fail to do it. But now I think of it, I must report with
+regard to a commission you entrusted to me, M. Bernard. Will you allow
+me a word with your uncle in private, Olivier?"
+
+"Most assuredly," answered the young soldier, promptly leaving the room.
+
+"I have some good news for you, commander," said Gerald, in a low tone.
+"Thanks partly to my own efforts, and especially to the Marquis de
+Maillefort's recommendation, Olivier's appointment as a second
+lieutenant is almost certain."
+
+"Is it possible, M. Gerald!"
+
+"There is very little doubt of it, I think, for it is very generally
+known that the Marquis de Maillefort is being strongly urged to become a
+deputy, and this fact has increased his influence very much."
+
+"Ah, M. Gerald, how can I express my gratitude--"
+
+"I must hasten to rejoin Olivier, my dear commander," said Gerald, to
+escape the veteran's thanks. "His suspicions are sure to be aroused by a
+longer conversation."
+
+"So you have a secret with my uncle," cried Olivier, as soon as his
+friend rejoined him.
+
+"Oh, yes, you know I'm a man of mysteries; and, by the way, before we
+adjourn to Madame Herbaut's, I have another and very mysterious favour
+to ask of you."
+
+"Let me hear it."
+
+"You know all about this neighbourhood. Can't you recommend some quiet
+lodgings in a retired street hereabouts?"
+
+"What! You are thinking of deserting the Faubourg St. Germain for the
+Batignolles? How delightful!"
+
+"Nonsense! Listen to me. Of course, living in my mother's house I cannot
+receive my friends indiscriminately,--you understand."
+
+"Very well."
+
+"So I have had some rooms elsewhere, but the house has changed hands,
+and the new owner is such a strictly moral man that he has warned me
+that I have got to leave when my month is up,--that is, day after
+to-morrow."
+
+"All the better. It is a very fortunate thing, I think. You're about to
+marry, so bid farewell to your amours."
+
+"Olivier, you have heard my ideas on the subject. Your uncle approves
+them. I am resolved to change none of my bachelor habits in advance, and
+if I should abandon the idea of marriage altogether, think of my
+desolate situation, homeless and loveless! No, no, I am much too
+cautious and far-sighted not to--to preserve a pear to quench my
+thirst."
+
+"You're a man of infinite precautions, certainly. Very well, as I go and
+come I'll look at the notices of rooms to rent in the windows."
+
+"Two little rooms, with a private hall, is all I need. I'll look myself
+when we leave Madame Herbaut's, for time presses. Day after to-morrow is
+the fatal day. Say, Olivier, wouldn't it be strange if I should discover
+what I need right here? Do you remember the lines:
+
+    "'What if in this same quiet spot
+      I both sweet love and friendship true should find?'
+
+"The lines seem to me a fit motto for a shepherd's pipe; but what of
+that? Truth needs no ornamentation. But now on, on to the house of
+Madame Herbaut!"
+
+"You still insist? Consider well."
+
+"Olivier, you are really intolerable. I'll go alone if you won't
+accompany me."
+
+"Come, then, the die is cast. It is understood that you are simply
+Gerald Senneterre, a former comrade of mine."
+
+"Senneterre? No; that would be too imprudent. You had better call me
+Gerald Auvernay, for I am adorned with the marquisate of Auvernay, my
+dear Olivier, though you may not be aware of the fact."
+
+"You are M. Gerald Auvernay, then; that is decided. But the devil!"
+
+"What's the matter now?"
+
+"But what else are you going to be?"
+
+"What else am I going to be?"
+
+"Yes; what is to be your occupation?"
+
+"Why, a bachelor of the new school."
+
+"Pshaw! I can't introduce you to Madame Herbaut as a young man who is
+living on the income of the money he saved while in the army. Besides,
+Madame Herbaut receives no idlers. You would excite her suspicions at
+once, for the worthy woman strongly distrusts young men who have nothing
+to do but court pretty girls, for you'll find that her girls are
+pretty."
+
+"All this is certainly very amusing. Well, what do you want me to be?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea."
+
+"Let me see," said Gerald, laughing. "How would you like me to be an
+apothecary?"
+
+"That would do very well, I should think."
+
+"Oh, no, I was only joking; that wouldn't answer at all."
+
+"But there are some very nice and gentlemanly apothecaries, I assure
+you, Gerald."
+
+"But really I shouldn't dare to look any one of those pretty girls in
+the face."
+
+"Let's try to think of something else, then. What do you say to being
+the clerk of a notary? How does that suit you?"
+
+"Admirably. My mother has an interminable lawsuit on hand, and I drop in
+to see her notary and lawyer occasionally, so I can study the part from
+nature."
+
+"Very well, follow me, then, and I will introduce you as Gerald
+Auvernay, clerk to a notary."
+
+"Chief clerk to a notary," corrected Gerald, with great emphasis.
+
+"Come on, ambitious youth!"
+
+Gerald, thanks to Olivier's recommendation, was received by Madame
+Herbaut with great cordiality.
+
+On the afternoon of that same day grim M. Bouffard called for the rent
+Commander Bernard owed him. Madame Barbancon paid him, overcoming with
+great difficulty her strong desire to disfigure the ferocious landlord's
+face with her nails.
+
+Unfortunately, the money thus obtained, instead of appeasing M.
+Bouffard's greed, seemed to imbue him with increased energy to collect
+his dues, and persuaded that, but for his persistent dunning and abuse,
+Madame Barbancon would not have paid him, he hastened off to the Rue
+Monceau where Herminie lived, resolved to treat the poor girl with
+increased severity, and thus secure the payment of the rent she owed
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE ABODE OF THE DUCHESS.
+
+
+Herminie lived on the Rue de Monceau in one of the numerous dwellings of
+which M. Bouffard was the owner. She occupied a room on the ground
+floor, reached by a small hallway opening under the archway of the
+porte-cochere. The two windows looked out upon a pretty garden, enclosed
+on one side by an evergreen hedge, and on the other by a tall lattice
+that separated it from the adjoining street.
+
+This garden really pertained to a much larger apartment on the ground
+floor, an apartment which, together with another suite of rooms on the
+third floor, was unoccupied,--an unpleasant state of things, which
+considerably increased M. Bouffard's ill-humour towards his delinquent
+tenants.
+
+Nothing could have been simpler, yet in better taste, than this abode of
+the duchess.
+
+A cheap but exceedingly fresh and pretty chintz covered the walls and
+rather low ceiling of the room. In the daytime full draperies of the
+same material concealed a large alcove in which the bed stood, as well
+as two glass doors near it, one of which opened into a tiny
+dressing-room, and the other into the hall, a sort of antechamber about
+eight feet square.
+
+Chintz curtains, lined with pink, veiled the windows, which were also
+decorated with pretty white muslin sash curtains, tied back with pink
+ribbons. A carpet, with a white ground, with small bouquets of pink
+roses dropped here and there,--this carpet had been the most expensive
+item in Herminie's furnishing,--covered the floor. The mantel drapery,
+beautifully embroidered by Herminie herself, was pale blue, with
+garlands of roses and jonquils. Two candlesticks of exquisite Pompeian
+design stood, one on either side of a white marble clock, surmounted by
+a statuette of Joan of Arc, while at each end of the mantel stood two
+tall vases of _gres verni_, a wonderful invention, by the way. These
+vases, which were of the purest Etruscan form, held big bunches of fresh
+roses, which filled the room with their delicious fragrance.
+
+These modest mantel decorations, being all of the cheapest materials,
+were of slight intrinsic value, having cost not more than fifty or sixty
+francs, but from an artistic point of view they were irreproachable.
+
+Opposite the fireplace stood Herminie's piano, her bread-winner. Between
+the two windows was a table, which also served as a bookcase, the
+duchess having arranged several works by her favourite authors upon it,
+as well as a few books which she had received as prizes during her
+school-days.
+
+Here and there upon the wall, in plain pine frames, so highly polished
+that they looked like citron wood, hung a few well-chosen engravings,
+among them "Mignon Pining for Her Native Land," and "Mignon Longing for
+Heaven," both by Scheffer, hanging one on either side of Francesca da
+Rimini, by the same artist.
+
+In two corners of the room small _etageres_ held several plaster
+statuettes, reduced copies of famous antiques. A small rosewood cabinet,
+bought for a song from some second-hand furniture dealer in the
+Batignolles, two pretty tapestry-covered chairs,--Herminie's
+handiwork,--and a large armchair of green satin decorated with beautiful
+silk embroidery in brilliant hues, representing flowers and birds,
+completed the furniture of the room.
+
+By means of industry and intelligence, combined with exquisite taste,
+Herminie had been able to create for herself this elegant and refined
+home at comparatively little expense.
+
+Culinary duties or details may have been distasteful to this fastidious
+duchess. At all events, she had managed to escape that difficulty
+through the good offices of the portress, who, for a trifling
+compensation, brought her a glass of milk every morning, and in the
+evening a plate of excellent soup, accompanied with a dish of vegetables
+and some fruit,--a frugal repast rendered appetising enough by the
+exquisite daintiness of Herminie's dinner-table; for though the duchess
+possessed only two cups and half a dozen plates, they were of fine
+china, and when the girl had placed on her round table, covered with a
+napkin of dazzling whiteness, her carafe, her cut-glass tumbler, her two
+shining silver forks and spoons, and her pretty china plate decorated
+with tiny pink roses and forget-me-nots, the simplest food seemed
+wonderfully appetising.
+
+But alas! to Herminie's intense chagrin, her silver spoons and forks,
+and her watch, the only really valuable article she possessed, were now
+in pawn at the _mont de piete_, where she had been obliged to send them
+by the portress, the poor girl having no other means of defraying the
+daily expenses of her illness, and of obtaining a small sum of money
+upon which she could live until she was able to resume the lessons
+interrupted by her illness, for a period of nearly two months.
+
+This long delay was the cause of Herminie's extreme poverty and
+consequent inability to pay the one hundred and eighty francs she owed
+M. Bouffard for rent.
+
+One hundred and eighty francs!
+
+And the poor child possessed only about fifteen francs upon which she
+would have to live for nearly a month!
+
+It is evident, therefore, that the foot of a man had never crossed
+Herminie's threshold.
+
+The duchess, free and untrammelled in every way, had never
+loved,--though she had inspired love in the hearts of many, without
+intending or even caring to do so, for she was too proud to stoop to
+coquetry, and too generous to enjoy the torments of an unrequited love.
+None of her suitors had pleased Herminie, in spite of the honesty of
+their matrimonial overtures, based in some cases, at least, upon a
+certain amount of affluence, for several had been engaged in business,
+while others were musicians like Herminie herself, and others clerks in
+dry-goods establishments, or bookkeepers.
+
+The duchess could not fail to display, in her choice of a husband, the
+refined taste and exquisite delicacy which were her most prominent
+characteristics; but it is needless to say that the social position of
+the man she loved, whether high or low, would not have influenced her in
+the least.
+
+She knew by herself, and she gloried in the knowledge, that rare
+nobility and refinement of soul are sometimes found in the poorest and
+most obscure, and that which had oftenest offended her in her suitors
+were the slight imperfections, not apparent very possibly to any one
+save the duchess, but inexpressibly obnoxious to her.
+
+This suitor had been too boisterous in manner; that one, too familiar
+and unrefined; this one had a rasping voice; that one was almost
+grotesque in appearance. Nevertheless, some of the rejected suitors
+possessed many admirable qualities of mind and heart, as Herminie
+herself had been the first to admit. These she considered the best and
+most worthy men in the world, and frankly granted them her esteem, and
+even her friendship, but not her love.
+
+It was not from any feeling of disdain or foolish ambition that Herminie
+had refused them, but simply, as she herself had said to the
+unfortunates, "because she felt no love for them, and was resolved to
+remain single all her life rather than marry without experiencing a
+sincere and profound love." And yet, by reason of this very pride,
+fastidiousness, and sensitiveness, Herminie must have suffered much more
+than the generality of persons from the painful and almost inevitable
+annoyances inherent to the position of a young girl who is not only
+obliged to live alone, but who is also exposed to the unfortunate
+conditions which may result at any time from a lack of employment or
+from sickness.
+
+For some time, alas! the duchess had been realising most cruelly the
+unhappy consequences of her poverty and isolation. Any person who
+understands Herminie's character and her pride,--a pride that had
+impelled the young girl, in spite of her pressing need, to proudly
+return the five hundred franc note sent her by the executors of the
+Beaumesnil estate,--can readily understand the mingled terror and dismay
+with which the poor child was awaiting the return of M. Bouffard, for,
+as he had remarked to Madame Barbancon, he intended to pay his last
+round of visits to his delinquent tenants that afternoon.
+
+Herminie was trying to devise some means of satisfying this coarse and
+insolent man, but, having already, pawned her silver and her watch, she
+had nothing more to pawn. No one would have loaned her twenty francs on
+her mantel ornaments, tasteful as they were, and her pictures and
+statuettes would have brought little or nothing.
+
+Overcome with terror at the thought of her truly pitiable condition,
+Herminie was weeping bitterly and shuddering in the dread expectation of
+hearing M. Bouffard's imperious peal of the bell at any moment.
+
+Yet so noble and generous was this young girl's nature that, even in the
+midst of these cruel perplexities, Herminie never once thought of saying
+to herself that she might be saved by an infinitesimal portion of the
+enormous superabundance belonging to the sister whose sumptuous
+apartments she had seen a couple of days before. If the duchess thought
+of her sister at all, it was that she might find in the hope of seeing
+her some diversion from her present grief and chagrin. And for this
+sorrow and chagrin Herminie now blamed herself as she cast a tearful
+glance around her pretty room, reproaching herself the while for her
+unwarranted expenditures.
+
+She ought to have saved up this money for a rainy day, she said to
+herself, and for such misfortunes as sickness or a lack of pupils. She
+ought to have resigned herself to taking a room on the fourth floor,
+next door to strangers, to living separated from them only by a thin
+partition, in a bare and desolate room with dirty walls. She ought not
+to have allowed herself to be tempted by this outlook upon a pretty
+garden, and by the seclusion of her present apartments. She ought to
+have kept her money, too, instead of spending it on the pretty trifles
+which had been the only companions of her solitude, and which had
+converted the little room into a delightful retreat where she had lived
+so happily, confident of her ability to support herself.
+
+Who ever would have supposed that a person as proud as she was would
+have to submit to the coarse, but just abuse of a man to whom she owed
+money,--money that she could not pay?
+
+Could anything be more humiliating?
+
+But these severe though just reproaches for past delinquencies did not
+ameliorate her present misery in the least; and she remained seated in
+her armchair, her eyes swollen with weeping, now absorbed in a gloomy
+reverie, now starting violently at the slightest sound, fearing that it
+presaged the arrival of M. Bouffard.
+
+At last the agonising suspense was ended by a violent pull of the bell.
+
+"It is he," murmured the poor creature, trembling in every limb. "I am
+lost!" she moaned.
+
+And she remained seated in her chair, absolutely paralysed with fear.
+
+A second peal of the bell, even more violent than the first, resounded
+in the tiny hall.
+
+Herminie dried her eyes, summoned up all her courage, and, pale and
+trembling, went to open the door.
+
+She had not been deceived.
+
+It was M. Bouffard.
+
+This glorious representative of the nation had laid aside the uniform of
+a citizen soldier and donned a gray sack coat.
+
+"Well, have you my money ready?" he demanded, roughly, planting himself
+on the threshold of the door the girl had opened for him with such an
+unsteady hand.
+
+"But, monsieur--"
+
+"Do you intend to pay me, yes or no?" exclaimed M. Bouffard, in such a
+loud voice that the question was overheard by two other persons.
+
+One was then standing under the porte-cochere. The other was mounting
+the staircase which started close to the entrance to Herminie's
+apartments.
+
+"I ask you for the last time, will you pay me? Answer me, yes or no!"
+repeated M. Bouffard, in even louder and more threatening tones.
+
+"In pity do not speak so loud," said Herminie, in imploring accents. "I
+assure you that, though I cannot pay you, it is not my fault; indeed it
+is not."
+
+"I am in my own house, and I will talk as I please. If any one overhears
+me so much the better. It may serve as a lesson to other tenants who may
+want to get out of paying their rent just like you."
+
+"Step inside, monsieur, I beseech you," pleaded Herminie, clasping her
+hands, imploringly; "and I will explain."
+
+"Explain--explain what?" retorted M. Bouffard, following the girl into
+her room. "There's no explanation possible. The whole affair is very
+simple. Are you going to pay me,--yes, or no?"
+
+"It is impossible, unfortunately, just at this time," said Herminie,
+dashing away a tear, "but if you will have the great kindness to wait--"
+
+"Always the same old story!" sneered M. Bouffard, shrugging his
+shoulders.
+
+Then glancing around the room with a sardonic air, he added:
+
+"This is a pretty state of things! Here is a tenant who declares she
+cannot pay her rent, and yet indulges in fine carpets, chintz hangings,
+and all sorts of knick-knacks. If it isn't enough to make a man swear!
+I, who own seven houses in the city of Paris, have a carpet only in my
+drawing-room, and Madame Bouffard's boudoir is hung with a fifteen sous
+paper; and yet, here is a young woman who gives herself the airs of a
+princess, though she hasn't a penny."
+
+Herminie, driven to desperation, lifted her head proudly, and, in a
+manner that was both firm and dignified, said:
+
+"This piano is worth at least four times the amount of my indebtedness,
+monsieur. Send for it whenever you please. It is the only article of
+value I possess. Dispose of it; sell it whenever you like."
+
+"Am I a dealer in pianos? How do I know what I should realise from the
+sale of your instrument? You must pay me my rent in money, and not in
+pianos."
+
+"But good heavens, monsieur! I have no money. I offer you my piano,
+though I earn my living by it. What more can I do?"
+
+"I won't accept anything of the kind. You have money, I know it. You
+sent a watch and some silver, too, to the pawnbroker's, for it was my
+portress who took them there for you. You can't humbug me, you see."
+
+"Alas! monsieur, the paltry sum they loaned me I have been obliged to
+spend for--"
+
+But Herminie did not finish the sentence. She had just perceived a
+gentleman standing in the open doorway. It was M. de Maillefort, and he
+had been an unobserved witness of the painful scene for several minutes.
+
+Noting the girl's sudden start, and the surprised glance she was
+directing towards the door, M. Bouffard turned his head, and, seeing the
+hunchback, seemed quite as astonished as Herminie.
+
+The marquis now advanced, and, bowing respectfully to Herminie, said:
+
+"I beg a thousand pardons for thus intruding, mademoiselle, but I found
+the door open, and as I hope you will do me the honour to grant me a few
+moments' conversation on a very important matter, I ventured to enter."
+
+After these words, which were uttered with as much courtesy as
+deference, the marquis turned to M. Bouffard and surveyed him from head
+to foot with such an expression of withering contempt that the ex-grocer
+became not only embarrassed, but thoroughly intimidated as well, in the
+presence of this hunchback, who said to him, coldly:
+
+"I came, monsieur, to solicit the honour of a few minutes' conversation
+with this young lady."
+
+"Oh--ah! Well, what is that to me?" grunted M. Bouffard, gradually
+regaining his assurance.
+
+The marquis, without paying the slightest attention to M. Bouffard, and
+addressing Herminie, who was becoming more and more astonished, asked,
+deferentially:
+
+"Will mademoiselle do me the favour to grant me the interview I ask?"
+
+"But, monsieur," replied the girl, much embarrassed, "I do not know--I
+am not sure--"
+
+"I must take the liberty of remarking that, as it is absolutely
+necessary that our conversation should be strictly confidential, it is
+indispensable that this--this gentleman should leave us, unless there
+may still be something you wish to say to him. In that case, I will
+retire."
+
+"I have nothing further to say to monsieur," answered Herminie, pleased
+at the idea of escaping from her present painful position, even for a
+few moments.
+
+"Mademoiselle has nothing more to say to you, monsieur," said the
+marquis to M. Bouffard, with a meaning gesture.
+
+But the ex-grocer, who was now himself again, and who was consequently
+furious at the thought that he had allowed himself to be awed by the
+hunchback, exclaimed:
+
+"So you fancy a man can be turned out of his own house without paying
+him his just dues, monsieur, and all because you support this--"
+
+"Enough, monsieur, enough!" cried the marquis, hastily interrupting
+Bouffard.
+
+And even as he spoke, he seized the offender by the arm with such
+violence that the ex-grocer, feeling the long, bony fingers of the
+hunchback hold him as in a vise, gazed at him with mingled fear and
+astonishment.
+
+But the marquis, still smiling in the most amiable manner, continued
+with marvellous affability:
+
+"I regret that I am unable to enjoy your delightful society any longer,
+my dear sir, but you see I am at mademoiselle's orders, and as she is
+good enough to grant me a few minutes, I must not abuse her kindness."
+
+As he spoke, the marquis half led, half dragged M. Bouffard to the door,
+and that worthy, astonished to encounter such physical vigour and such
+an authoritative manner in a hunchback, offered no further resistance.
+
+"I will go, as I have some other matters to attend to in the house," he
+exclaimed, making the best of the situation. "I am going up-stairs for
+awhile, but I shall return after you leave. I intend to have my money
+then, if I don't--"
+
+The marquis bowed ironically, closed the door in the ex-grocer's face,
+and then returned to Herminie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A SACRED MISSION.
+
+
+M. de Maillefort, much impressed by what Madame de la Rochaigue had told
+him about the young musician who had been so unjustly treated, as she
+averred, by Madame de Beaumesnil, had again questioned Madame Dupont, a
+confidential attendant of the deceased countess.
+
+This examination, which the marquis had conducted with great prudence
+and skill, revealed many new details concerning the relations which had
+existed between the countess and that young girl, and though Madame
+Dupont seemed to have no suspicion of the truth, M. de Maillefort felt
+almost certain that Herminie must be Madame de Beaumesnil's illegitimate
+child.
+
+In spite of this firm conviction on his part, the marquis resolved to
+approach Herminie with the greatest reserve, not only because any
+revelation of his suspicions would dishonour Madame de Beaumesnil's
+memory, but, also, because the countess had never revealed her secret to
+M. de Maillefort, who had mistrusted rather than discovered it.
+
+Herminie, utterly unable to imagine the object of this stranger's visit,
+was standing by the mantel, pale and agitated when the marquis returned
+to her side after M. Bouffard's summary expulsion.
+
+A single quick glance around the abode of the duchess had satisfied the
+marquis of the perfect order, refined taste, and exquisite neatness of
+the girl's home, and this, together with what Madame de la Rochaigue had
+told him of her noble disinterestedness, gave him a very high opinion
+of Herminie, and, almost sure that he saw in her the person he was so
+anxious to find, he studied her charming features in the hope of
+discovering a resemblance to Madame de Beaumesnil, and fancied that he
+had succeeded.
+
+Though she did not exactly resemble her mother, Herminie, like Madame de
+Beaumesnil, was a blonde. Like her, she had blue eyes, and though the
+contour of the two faces was not alike, there was certainly a family
+likeness that could not fail to strike a close observer like M. de
+Maillefort; so it was with an emotion that he found it difficult to
+conceal that he approached Herminie, who was becoming more and more
+embarrassed by the long silence, and by the searching though almost
+affectionate gaze of her strange visitor.
+
+"Mademoiselle," he said, at last, in an almost fatherly tone, "I must
+beg you to excuse my delay, but I experience a sort of embarrassment in
+expressing the great interest I feel in you."
+
+M. de Maillefort's voice, as he uttered these words, was so full of
+feeling that the young girl looked at him wonderingly, then, more and
+more surprised, she ventured, timidly:
+
+"But this interest, monsieur--"
+
+"You cannot imagine what has aroused it. Very well, I will tell you, my
+dear child,--for let me call you that," the hunchback continued, as if
+in answer to a hasty movement on the part of Herminie; "my age and the
+interest I feel in you certainly give me a right to call you my dear
+child, if you will permit such a familiarity."
+
+"It might serve to prove my gratitude for the kind and consoling words
+you have just uttered, monsieur, though the humiliating position in
+which you just saw me placed--"
+
+"Oh, do not trouble yourself in the least about that," interrupted the
+marquis, "I--"
+
+"I am not trying to justify myself," said Herminie, proudly,
+interrupting the marquis in her turn. "I have nothing to blush for, and
+though, for some inexplicable reason, you are kind enough to evince an
+interest in me, it is only my duty to tell you, or to try to prove to
+you, that it was neither mismanagement, extravagance, nor idleness that
+placed me in such a humiliating position for the first time in my life.
+Ill for nearly two months past, I have been unable to give lessons as
+usual. I resumed them only a few days ago, so I have been obliged to
+spend the small amount of money I had saved. This is the truth,
+monsieur. If I am a little in debt, it is only in consequence of my
+illness."
+
+"Strange," thought the marquis, mentally comparing the date of the
+countess's death with that of the beginning of Herminie's illness, "it
+was about the time of Madame de Beaumesnil's death that this poor child
+must have been taken ill. Can grief have been the cause?"
+
+And in tones of touching sympathy, the marquis asked aloud:
+
+"And was this attack of illness severe, my dear child? You were
+overworked, perhaps."
+
+Herminie blushed deeply. Her embarrassment was great, for she felt that
+it would be necessary to utter an untruth to conceal the real cause of
+her illness, and it was with considerable hesitation that she finally
+replied:
+
+"I think I must have been overfatigued, monsieur, for the attack was
+followed by a sort of mental prostration, but now, thank Heaven, I am
+well again."
+
+The girl's embarrassment and hesitation did not escape the marquis, who
+had already noted the expression of profound melancholy on Herminie's
+features.
+
+"There isn't the slightest doubt of it," he mentally exclaimed. "She
+became ill with grief after Madame de Beaumesnil's death. She knows,
+then, that the countess was her mother. But in that case, why didn't the
+countess, in the frequent opportunities she must have had to be alone
+with her daughter, give her this money she entrusted to me?"
+
+A prey to these perplexities, the hunchback, after another silence, said
+to Herminie:
+
+"My dear child, I came here with the intention of maintaining the utmost
+reserve. Distrusting my own judgment, and greatly in doubt as to the
+course I ought to pursue, I had resolved to approach the subject that
+brought me here with infinite caution, for it is a delicate, yes, a
+sacred mission, that I have to fulfil."
+
+"What do you mean, monsieur?"
+
+"Will you be kind enough to listen to me, my dear child. What I have
+heard about you, and what I have just seen, or rather divined,
+perhaps,--in short, the confidence you inspire,--had changed this
+determination on my part, and I am going to talk to you freely and
+frankly, sure that I am speaking to an honest, true-hearted woman. You
+know Madame de Beaumesnil,--you loved her--"
+
+Herminie could not repress a movement of astonishment, mingled with
+anxiety.
+
+"Yes, I know," continued the hunchback. "You loved Madame de Beaumesnil
+devotedly. Your grief at her death was the sole cause of your illness."
+
+"Monsieur," cried Herminie, terrified to see her secret, or rather that
+of her mother, almost at the mercy of a stranger, "I do not know what
+you mean. I conceived for Madame de Beaumesnil, during the brief time we
+were together, the respectful affection she deserved. Like all who knew
+her, I deeply deplored her death, but--"
+
+"It is only right and natural that you should answer me thus, my dear
+child," said the marquis, interrupting Herminie. "You cannot have much
+confidence in me, not knowing who I am, not knowing even my name. I am
+M. de Maillefort."
+
+"M. de Maillefort!" exclaimed the young girl, remembering that she had
+written a letter addressed to the marquis for her mother.
+
+"You have heard my name before, then!"
+
+"Yes, monsieur. Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil, not feeling strong
+enough to write herself, asked me to do it in her stead, and the letter
+you received on the night of her death--"
+
+"Was written by you?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"Then you must feel, my dear child, that you owe me your entire
+confidence. Madame de Beaumesnil had no more devoted friend than
+myself,--and it was upon the strength of this friendship of more than
+thirty years' standing, that she felt she could rely upon me
+sufficiently to entrust me with a sacred mission."
+
+"Can he mean that my mother confided the secret of my birth to him?"
+thought Herminie.
+
+The marquis, noticing Herminie's increasing agitation, and confident
+that he had at last found Madame de Beaumesnil's illegitimate daughter,
+continued:
+
+"The letter you wrote for Madame de Beaumesnil requested me to come to
+her even at that late hour of the night. You remember this fact, do you
+not?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"I obeyed the summons as soon as I received it. The countess felt that
+her end was fast approaching," continued the hunchback, in a voice that
+trembled with suppressed emotion. "After commending her daughter
+Ernestine to my care, Madame de Beaumesnil implored me to--to do her a
+last service. She entreated me to--to divide my care and interest
+between her daughter and--and another young girl no less dear to her--"
+
+"He knows all," Herminie said to herself, with a sinking heart. "My poor
+mother's sin is no secret to him."
+
+"This other young girl," continued the hunchback, more and more
+overcome, "was an angel, the countess told me. Yes, those were her very
+words,--an angel of virtue and courage, a brave and noble-hearted girl,"
+added the marquis, his eyes wet with tears. "A poor, lonely orphan, who,
+though destitute alike of friends and resources, had struggled bravely
+on against a most adverse fate. Ah, if you could have heard the accents
+of despairing tenderness in which that most unhappy woman and
+unfortunate mother spoke of that young girl; for I divined--though she
+made no such admission, deterred, doubtless, by the shame of such an
+avowal--that only a mother could speak thus and suffer thus on thinking
+of her daughter's fate. No, no, it was not a stranger that the countess
+commended to my care with so much earnestness on her death-bed."
+
+The marquis, overcome by emotion, paused an instant and wiped his
+tear-dimmed eyes.
+
+"Oh, my mother," Herminie said to herself, making a brave effort at
+self-control, "then your last thoughts were indeed of your unhappy
+daughter!"
+
+"I made the dying woman a solemn promise that I would fulfil her last
+request, and divide my solicitude between Ernestine de Beaumesnil and
+the young girl the countess implored me so earnestly to protect. Then
+she gave me this purse," continued the hunchback, drawing it from his
+pocket, "which contains, she assured me, a small competence which she
+charged me to deliver to the young girl whose future would thus be
+assured. But, unfortunately, Madame de Beaumesnil breathed her last
+without having told me the orphan's name."
+
+"Thank Heaven! He only has his suspicions, then!" Herminie said to
+herself, rapturously. "I shall not have to bear the anguish of seeing a
+stranger know my mother's fault. Her memory will remain untarnished."
+
+"You can judge of my anxiety and chagrin, my dear child," continued the
+marquis. "How was I to comply with Madame de Beaumesnil's last request,
+ignorant of the young girl's name? Nevertheless, I began my search,
+and, at last, after many fruitless attempts, I have found that orphan
+girl, beautiful, courageous, generous, as her poor mother said, and that
+girl is--is you--my child--my dear child," cried the hunchback, seizing
+both Herminie's hands.
+
+Then, in a transport of joy and ineffable tenderness, he exclaimed:
+
+"You see I have indeed the right to call you my child. No, never was
+there any father prouder of his daughter!"
+
+"Monsieur," answered Herminie, in a voice she tried hard to make calm
+and firm, "though it costs me a great deal to destroy this illusion on
+your part, it is my duty to do it."
+
+"What!" cried the hunchback.
+
+"I am not the person you are seeking, monsieur," replied Herminie,
+firmly.
+
+The marquis recoiled a step or two and gazed at the young girl without
+being able to utter a word.
+
+To resist the influence of the revelation M. de Maillefort had just made
+to her, Herminie needed a heroic courage born of all that was purest and
+noblest in her character,--filial pride.
+
+The young girl's heart revolted at the mere thought of confessing her
+mother's disgrace to a stranger by acknowledging herself to be Madame de
+Beaumesnil's daughter.
+
+For what right had Herminie to confirm this stranger's suspicions by
+revealing a secret the countess herself had been unwilling to confess to
+her most devoted friend, a secret, too, which her mother had had the
+strength to conceal from her when clasped to her bosom, her child's
+heart-throbs mingled with her own.
+
+While these generous thoughts were passing swiftly through Herminie's
+mind, the marquis, astounded by this refusal on the part of a young girl
+whose identity he could not doubt, tried in vain to discover the reason
+of this strange determination on her part.
+
+At last he said to Herminie:
+
+"Some motive, which it is impossible for me to fathom, prevents you from
+telling me the truth, my dear child. This motive, whatever it may be, is
+certainly noble and generous; then, why conceal it from me, your
+mother's friend, a friend who feels that he is obeying your mother's
+last wishes in coming to you?"
+
+"This conversation is as painful to me as it is to you, M. le marquis,"
+Herminie replied, sadly, "for it brings to mind a person who treated me
+with the greatest kindness during the brief time I was called upon to
+minister to her as a musician, and in no other capacity, I give you my
+word. I think that this declaration should be sufficient, and that you
+should spare me further entreaties on this subject. I repeat that I am
+not the person you are seeking."
+
+On hearing this assurance again repeated, some of M. de Maillefort's
+doubts returned; but unwilling to abandon all hope, he exclaimed:
+
+"No, no, I cannot be mistaken. Never shall I forget Madame de
+Beaumesnil's anxiety, nor her prayers for--"
+
+"Permit me to interrupt you, M. le marquis, and to say to you that,
+under the painful influence of a scene that must have been particularly
+trying to you, you doubtless mistook the nature of the interest Madame
+de Beaumesnil felt in the orphan of whom you speak. To defend Madame de
+Beaumesnil's memory against such a mistake, I have no other right than
+that of gratitude, but the respectful regard I and every one else felt
+for Madame la comtesse convinces me that this is an error on your part."
+
+This manner of looking at the matter accorded too well with M. de
+Maillefort's own secret hopes for him to turn an entirely deaf ear to
+this argument. Still, remembering the terrible anguish of the countess
+when she commended the orphan to his protection, he said:
+
+"This much is certain: no one would speak in such terms of a stranger."
+
+"How do you know that, M. le marquis?" retorted Herminie, gaining ground
+inch by inch. "I have heard many instances cited of Madame de
+Beaumesnil's boundless generosity. Her affection for some persons she
+assisted was, I have heard, as great as that she manifested for the
+orphan she asked you to protect, and as this girl, you say, is as
+deserving as she is unfortunate, it seems to me a sufficient explanation
+of the great interest the countess took in her. Possibly, too, she felt
+her protection to be a duty. Possibly some friend had confided the girl
+to Madame de Beaumesnil's care, as that lady in turn confided her to
+yours."
+
+"But in that case, why should she have laid such stress upon concealing
+the name of the donor from the person to whom I was to deliver this
+money?"
+
+"Because Madame de Beaumesnil, in this case, perhaps, as in many others,
+wished to conceal her benevolence."
+
+And Herminie having now entirely recovered her coolness and composure,
+presented these arguments with such readiness that the marquis at last
+began to think that he had been deceived, and that he had suspected
+Madame de Beaumesnil unjustly.
+
+Then a new idea occurred to him, and he exclaimed:
+
+"But even admitting that the merit and the misfortunes of this orphan
+are her only claim, do not these conditions seem especially applicable
+in your own case? Why should it not be you the countess meant?" he
+asked.
+
+"I knew Madame de Beaumesnil too short a time for me to deserve any such
+mark of her bounty, M. le marquis; besides, as the countess did not
+designate me by name, how can I,--I appeal to your own delicacy of
+feeling,--how can I accept a large sum of money on the mere supposition
+that it may have been intended for me?"
+
+"All that would be very true if you did not deserve the gift."
+
+"And in what way have I deserved it, M. le marquis?"
+
+"By your attentions to the countess, and the alleviation of suffering
+she secured through you. Why is it at all unlikely that she should have
+desired to compensate you as she did others?"
+
+"I do not understand you, monsieur."
+
+"The will of the countess contained several legacies. You seem to be the
+only person who was forgotten, in fact."
+
+"I had no right to expect any bequest, M. le marquis. I was paid for my
+services."
+
+"By Madame de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"By Madame de Beaumesnil," answered Herminie, firmly.
+
+"Yes, you said as much to Madame de la Rochaigue on so nobly
+returning--"
+
+"Money that did not belong to me, M. le marquis, that is all."
+
+"No!" exclaimed M. de Maillefort, his former convictions suddenly
+regaining the ascendency. "No, I was not mistaken,--instinct, reason,
+conviction, all tell me that you are--"
+
+"M. le marquis," said Herminie, interrupting the hunchback, for she was
+anxious to put an end to this painful scene, "one word more, and only
+one. You were Madame de Beaumesnil's most valued friend, for on her
+death-bed she entrusted her daughter to your care. Would she not also
+have told you in that supreme moment if she had another child?"
+
+"Great Heaven, no!" exclaimed the marquis, involuntarily. "The unhappy
+woman would have shrunk from the shame of such an avowal."
+
+"Yes, I am sure of that," thought Herminie, bitterly. "And is it I who
+will make the disgraceful confession from which my poor mother shrank?"
+
+The conversation was here interrupted by M. Bouffard's entrance. The
+emotion of the marquis and of the young girl was so great that they had
+not noticed the opening of the hall door.
+
+The once ferocious landlord seemed to be in a very different mood.
+Something must have appeased his wrath, for his coarse and brutal manner
+had vanished, and his rubicund visage was wreathed with a crafty smile.
+
+"What do you want?" demanded the marquis, curtly. "What are you doing
+here?"
+
+"I came to make my excuses to mademoiselle."
+
+"Your excuses?" said the young girl, greatly surprised.
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, and I wish to make them before monsieur, as I
+reproached you for not paying me in his presence, so I now declare
+before him,--I swear it in the presence of God and man,--I swear that I
+have been paid all that mademoiselle owed me."
+
+"You have been paid!" cried Herminie, in amazement; "and by whom,
+monsieur?"
+
+"Oh, you know very well, mademoiselle," responded M. Bouffard, with the
+same coarse laugh. "You know very well! What a sly one you are!"
+
+"I have no idea what you mean, monsieur," said Herminie, indignantly.
+
+"Bah!" cried M. Bouffard, shrugging his shoulders, "I suppose you're not
+going to try to make me believe that handsome young men pay the rent for
+pretty blondes merely for the love of God!"
+
+"Some one has paid my rent for me, monsieur?" demanded Herminie,
+blushing scarlet.
+
+"Yes, some one has paid it, and in shining yellow gold," replied M.
+Bouffard, drawing several gleaming coins from his pocket and tossing
+them up in the air. "Look at the yellow boys, ain't they pretty, eh?"
+
+"And this gold, monsieur," said Herminie, unable to believe her own
+ears,--"this gold--who gave it to you?"
+
+"Oh, don't try to play innocent, my dear. The person who paid me is a
+handsome fellow, tall, and dark complexioned, with a brown moustache.
+That description would answer for his passport, if he wanted one."
+
+The marquis had listened to M. Bouffard first with surprise, and then
+with utter dismay.
+
+This young girl, in whom he had taken so deep an interest, had suddenly
+become hateful in his eyes; so coldly bowing to Herminie, he walked
+silently to the door, with an expression of bitter disappointment on his
+face.
+
+"Ah," he thought, "still another lost illusion!"
+
+"Remain, monsieur," cried the young girl, running after him, all of a
+tremble, and overcome with shame, "I entreat you--I implore you to
+remain!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+HUMILIATION AND CONSOLATION.
+
+
+On hearing Herminie's appeal, M. de Maillefort turned and asked, coldly
+and sternly:
+
+"What do you want, mademoiselle?"
+
+"What do I want, monsieur?" the girl exclaimed, her cheeks on fire, her
+eyes sparkling with tears of wounded pride and indignation. "What I want
+is to tell this man in your presence that he lies."
+
+"I?" snorted M. Bouffard, indignantly. "Really, this is a little too
+much, when I have the yellow boys right here in my pocket."
+
+"But I tell you that you lie!" cried the girl, advancing towards him,
+with a commanding gesture. "I have given no one the right to pay you, or
+to make me the victim of such an insult."
+
+In spite of the coarseness of his nature, M. Bouffard was not a little
+impressed by this display of fiery indignation, so retreating a step or
+two, the owner of the house stammered by way of excuse:
+
+"But I swear to you, mademoiselle, upon my sacred word of honour, that,
+as I was going up-stairs a few minutes ago, I was stopped on the first
+landing by a handsome, dark-complexioned young man who gave me this gold
+to pay your rent. I'm telling you the honest truth; upon my word I am!"
+
+"Oh, my God, to be humiliated and insulted like this!" cried the young
+girl, her long repressed sobs bursting forth at last.
+
+After a moment, turning to the hunchback, a silent witness of the scene,
+Herminie said, in entreating tones, her beautiful face bathed with
+tears:
+
+"Oh, in pity, do not believe that I have merited this insult, M. le
+marquis."
+
+"A marquis!" muttered M. Bouffard, hastily removing his hat, which he
+had kept upon his head up to that time.
+
+M. de Maillefort, turning to Herminie, his face beaming as if a heavy
+weight had been lifted from his heart, took her by the hand as a father
+might have done, and said:
+
+"I believe you, I believe you, my dear child! Do not stoop to justify
+yourself. Your tears, and the evident sincerity of your words, as well
+as your just indignation, all satisfy me that you are speaking the
+truth, and that this insulting liberty was taken without your knowledge
+or consent."
+
+"I am certainly willing to say this much," said M. Bouffard, "though
+I've been in the habit of coming to the house almost every day, I never
+saw this young man before. But why do you feel so badly about it, my
+dear young lady? Your rent is paid, and you may as well make the best of
+it. There are plenty of other people who would like to be humiliated in
+the same way. Ha, ha, ha!" added M. Bouffard, with his coarse laugh.
+
+"But you will not keep this money, monsieur?" cried Herminie. "I beg you
+will not; sell my piano,--my bed,--anything I possess, but in pity
+return this money to the person who gave it to you. If you keep it, the
+shame is mine, monsieur!"
+
+"How you do go on!" exclaimed M. Bouffard. "I didn't feel insulted in
+the least in pocketing my rent. A bird in the hand is worth two in the
+bush, you know. Besides, where am I likely to find this handsome young
+man to return him his money? He is a stranger to me. I haven't the
+slightest idea who he is or where he came from; but it can easily be
+arranged. When you see the fellow you can tell him that it was against
+your wishes that I kept his money, but that I am a regular old Shylock
+and all that. Put all the blame on me, I don't mind; I've got a thick
+hide."
+
+"Mademoiselle," said M. de Maillefort, addressing Herminie, who, with
+her face buried in her hands, was silently weeping, "will you consent to
+take my advice?"
+
+"What would you have me do, monsieur?"
+
+"Accept from me, who am old enough to be your father,--from me, who was
+the devoted friend of a person for whom you had as much respect as
+affection,--accept from me a loan sufficient to pay this gentleman. Each
+month you can pay me in small instalments. As for the money monsieur has
+already received, why, he must do his best to find the stranger who gave
+it to him. If he fails, he must give the money to some local charity."
+
+Herminie listened to this proposal with the liveliest gratitude.
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you, M. le marquis," she exclaimed. "I accept your
+kind offer gladly, and am proud to be under obligations to you."
+
+"But I utterly refuse to be a party to any such arrangement," exclaimed
+M. Bouffard.
+
+"And why, monsieur?" demanded the marquis.
+
+"I will not,--I will not, I tell you. It sha'n't be said that--in short,
+I'm not such a monster that--but no matter, let it be understood, once
+for all, that the marquis is to keep his money. I'll try to find that
+young coxcomb; if I don't, I'll drop his money in the poor-box. I won't
+sell your piano, mademoiselle, but I'll be paid, all the same. What do
+you say to that?"
+
+"Have the goodness to explain, monsieur, if you please," said the
+marquis.
+
+"Well, this is the long and short of it," answered M. Bouffard. "My
+daughter Cornelia has a music teacher, quite a famous teacher, I
+believe,--a M. Tonnerriliuskoff--"
+
+"With such a name one ought certainly to make a noise in the world,"
+said the marquis.
+
+"And on the piano, too, M. le marquis. He's a six-footer, with a big,
+black moustache, and hands as big as--as shoulders of mutton. But this
+famous teacher costs like the devil,--fifteen francs a lesson, to say
+nothing of the repairs to the piano, which he almost hammers to pieces,
+he is so strong. Now if mademoiselle here would give Cornelia lessons at
+five--no, say four francs a lesson, and three lessons a week,--that
+would make twelve francs a week,--she could soon pay me what she owes
+me, and afterwards could pay her entire rent that way."
+
+"Bravo, M. Bouffard!" cried the marquis.
+
+"Well, what do you think of my proposition, mademoiselle?"
+
+"I accept it most gratefully, and thank you with all my heart for this
+chance to free myself of my obligations to you in such an easy way. I
+assure you that I will do everything possible to further your daughter's
+progress."
+
+"Oh, that will be all right, I'm sure. It is understood, is it? Three
+lessons a week, at four francs a lesson, beginning day after to-morrow.
+That will be twelve francs a week,--better call it ten, I guess,--it's
+easier to calculate. Ten francs a week makes forty francs a
+month,--quite a snug little sum."
+
+"Any terms you choose to name will suit me, monsieur. I accept them
+gratefully."
+
+"Ah, well, my dear sir," said the marquis, turning to M. Bouffard,
+"aren't you much better satisfied with yourself now than you were awhile
+ago, when you were frightening this poor child nearly to death by your
+threats?"
+
+"That's a fact, monsieur,--that's a fact, for this young lady is
+certainly deserving. Then, too, I shall get rid of that odious music
+master, with his big, black moustache and fifteen franc lessons.
+Besides, he is always having his big hands on Cornelia's hands to show
+her the fingering, he says, and I don't like it."
+
+"My dear M. Bouffard," said the marquis, taking the ex-grocer a little
+aside, "will you allow me to give you a word of advice?"
+
+"Why certainly, M. le marquis."
+
+"Never give masters to a young girl or a young woman, because sometimes,
+you see, there is a change of roles."
+
+"A change of roles, M. le marquis?" repeated M. Bouffard, wonderingly.
+
+"Yes; not unfrequently the scholar becomes the mistress,--the mistress
+of the master. Understand?"
+
+"The mistress of the master? Oh, yes, very good! I understand perfectly.
+That is good; very good, indeed! Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+Then, suddenly becoming serious, he added:
+
+"But now I think of it, if that Hercule de Tonnerriliuskoff
+undertakes--"
+
+"Mlle. Bouffard's virtue must be above suspicion, my dear sir; still, it
+might be safer--"
+
+"The brigand shall never set foot in my house again. Thanks for your
+counsel, M. le marquis."
+
+Then, returning to Herminie, M. Bouffard added:
+
+"So we will begin day after to-morrow at two o'clock; that is Cornelia's
+hour."
+
+"At two o'clock, then. I will be punctual, I promise you."
+
+"And at ten francs a week?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, and even less, if you say so."
+
+"Would you come for eight?"
+
+"Yes," answered Herminie, smiling, in spite of herself.
+
+"We'll say eight francs, then."
+
+"Come, come, M. Bouffard, a wealthy real estate owner like you shouldn't
+stoop to any such haggling," the marquis interposed. "What! an
+elector,--perhaps even an officer in the National Guard,--for you seem
+to me quite equal to such a position--"
+
+M. Bouffard straightened himself up proudly, and, making a military
+salute, responded:
+
+"A second lieutenant in the first company of the second regiment of the
+first batallion, M. le marquis."
+
+"All the more reason that you should uphold the dignity of your rank,
+dear M. Bouffard," replied M. de Maillefort.
+
+"That is true, M. le marquis. I said ten francs, and ten francs it shall
+be. I always honour my signature. I will go and try to find that young
+coxcomb. He may be hanging around somewhere outside the house now. I'll
+ask Mother Moufflon, the portress, if she knows anything about him, and
+tell her to watch out for him. Your servant, M. le marquis. I'll see you
+again, day after to-morrow, mademoiselle."
+
+Then, turning again, just as he reached the door, he said to Herminie:
+
+"Mademoiselle, an idea has just occurred to me. You see I'd like to
+convince the marquis here that Bouffard is not such a bad fellow, after
+all."
+
+"Let us hear the idea, M. Bouffard," said the hunchback.
+
+"You see that little garden out there, M. le marquis?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It belongs to the large apartment on this floor. Ah, well, I intend to
+allow mademoiselle the use of this garden--until the other apartment is
+rented, at least."
+
+"Do you really?" cried Herminie, overjoyed. "Oh, I thank you so much.
+What pleasure it will give me to walk about in that pretty garden!"
+
+But M. Bouffard had already fled, as if his natural modesty forbade his
+listening to the protestations of gratitude such a generous offer must
+inspire.
+
+[Illustration: "'I Will Go and Try To Find That Young Coxcomb'"]
+
+"One has no idea what it costs such people as that to be generous
+and obliging," remarked the hunchback, laughing.
+
+Then becoming serious again, he said: "My dear child, what I have just
+seen and heard gives me such a clear understanding of the nobility of
+your heart and the firmness of your character, that I realise the
+futility of any renewed efforts in relation to the matter that brought
+me here. If I am mistaken, if you are not Madame de Beaumesnil's
+daughter, you will naturally persist in your denial; if, on the
+contrary, I have divined the truth, you will still persist in denying
+it, actuated, I am sure, by some secret but honourable motive. I shall
+insist no further. One word more: I have been deeply touched by the
+feeling that prompted you to defend Madame de Beaumesnil's memory
+against suspicions which may be entirely without foundation. If you were
+not so proud, I should tell you that your disinterestedness is all the
+more noble from the fact that your situation is so precarious; and, by
+the way, let me say right here that, though M. Bouffard has deprived me
+of the pleasure of being of service to you this time, I want you to
+promise me, my dear child, that in future you will apply only to me."
+
+"And to whom else could I apply without humiliation, M. le marquis?"
+
+"Thank you, my dear child, but no more, M. le marquis, I beg. In our
+recent grave conversation I had no time to protest against this
+ceremonious appellation; but now we are old friends, no more M. le
+marquis, I beseech you. That is agreed, is it not?" asked the hunchback,
+cordially offering his hand to the young girl, who pressed it gratefully
+as she exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, monsieur, such kindness and such generous confidence more than
+consoles me for the humiliation I suffered in your presence."
+
+"Dismiss that from your mind entirely, my dear child. The insult you
+received only proves that the insolent stranger is as foolish as he is
+coarse. It is doing him entirely too much honour to retain a lasting
+remembrance of his offence."
+
+"You are right, monsieur," replied Herminie, though she still blushed
+deeply with wounded pride and indignation; "contempt, the most profound
+contempt is all that such an insult merits."
+
+"Undoubtedly; but, unfortunately, your loneliness and unprotected
+condition are probably to a great extent accountable for this
+unwarranted presumption on the part of a stranger, my poor child, so, as
+you permit me to talk in all sincerity, why have you never thought of
+boarding with some respectable elderly woman, instead of living alone?"
+
+"I have thought of doing that more than once, but it is difficult to
+find the right person--that is when one is as exigeante as I am," she
+added, smiling.
+
+"You admit that you are very _exigeante_, then?" asked the marquis, also
+smiling.
+
+"Really I cannot help it, it seems to me, monsieur; could I find such
+surroundings as these in the home of a person whose means are as modest
+as mine? Besides, I ought not to say it, perhaps, but I am so keenly
+sensitive to certain faults of education and manner that I should
+positively suffer at times. It is silly and ridiculous, I know, for lack
+of breeding does not lessen the virtue and kindness of most of the
+people of the class to which I belong, but to which my education has
+rendered me somewhat superior. Still it is intensely repugnant to me,
+and I consequently prefer to live alone, in spite of the many
+inconveniences of such an isolated position. Another objection is that I
+should be under an obligation to any person who would receive me into
+her family, and I fear that I might be made to feel this obligation too
+much."
+
+"All this is very natural," said the hunchback, after a moment's
+reflection. "It would scarcely be possible for one of your proud nature
+to act or feel otherwise, and this pride, which I admire so much in you,
+has been, and I am sure always will be, your best safeguard. But this
+will not prevent me, with your permission, of course, from coming now
+and then to see if I can serve you in any way."
+
+"Can you doubt the pleasure, the very great pleasure it will give me to
+see you?"
+
+"I will not so wrong you as to doubt it, my dear child."
+
+Seeing M. de Maillefort rise to take leave, Herminie felt strongly
+tempted to make some inquiry concerning Ernestine de Beaumesnil, whom he
+had probably seen ere this; but the young girl feared she might betray
+herself and arouse M. de Maillefort's suspicions by speaking of her
+sister.
+
+"Farewell, my dear child," said the marquis, rising. "I came here in the
+hope of finding a daughter to love and protect, and I shall not return
+with an empty heart. And now again, farewell--and _au revoir_."
+
+"And soon, I hope, M. le marquis," responded Herminie, with respectful
+deference.
+
+"Nonsense!" said the hunchback, smiling. "There is no marquis here, but
+an old man who loves you,--yes, loves you with all his heart. Don't
+forget that."
+
+"Oh, I shall never forget it, monsieur."
+
+"Good, that promise atones for everything. Once more au revoir, my
+child."
+
+And M. de Maillefort departed, still in doubt as to Herminie's identity,
+and no less in doubt in regard to the best means of carrying out Madame
+de Beaumesnil's last wishes.
+
+The young girl, left alone, reflected long upon the incidents of the
+day, which, after all, had proved a happy one for her, for by refusing a
+gift which proved her mother's deep solicitude for her welfare, but
+which might compromise that mother's memory, the young girl had gained
+M. de Maillefort's warm friendship.
+
+But the payment made to M. Bouffard by a stranger was a terrible blow to
+Herminie's pride.
+
+"I must seem despicable, indeed, in the eyes of a person who dared to
+take such a liberty as that," the proud girl was saying to herself just
+as there came a timid ring at the door.
+
+Herminie opened it to find herself confronted by M. Bouffard and a
+stranger.
+
+This stranger was Gerald de Senneterre.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AN APOLOGY ACCEPTED.
+
+
+On seeing the Duc de Senneterre, who was an entire stranger to her,
+Herminie coloured with surprise, and said to M. Bouffard, with much
+embarrassment:
+
+"I did not expect to have the pleasure of seeing you again so soon,
+monsieur."
+
+"No more did I, mademoiselle. No more did I! It was this gentleman who
+forced me to return."
+
+"But I do not know the gentleman," Herminie answered, more and more
+astonished.
+
+"No; I have not the honour of being known to you, mademoiselle," said
+Gerald, with an expression of the deepest anxiety on his handsome
+features, "and yet, I have come to ask a favour of you. I beseech you
+not to refuse it."
+
+Gerald's handsome face showed so much frankness, his emotion seemed so
+sincere, his voice was so earnest, his manner so respectful, and his
+appearance so elegant and _distingue_, that it never once occurred to
+Herminie that this could be the stranger she was so bitterly
+reproaching.
+
+Besides, reassured by M. Bouffard's presence, and unable to imagine what
+favour the stranger could have come to ask, the duchess, turning to her
+landlord, said, timidly:
+
+"Will you have the goodness to come in, monsieur?"
+
+And as she spoke, she led the way into her own room.
+
+The young duke had never seen a woman who compared with Herminie in
+beauty, and this beauty alike of form and feature was greatly enhanced
+by the dignified modesty of her demeanour.
+
+But when Gerald followed the girl into her room and saw the countless
+indications of refined habits and exquisite taste everywhere apparent,
+he felt more and more confused, and in his profound embarrassment he
+could not utter a word.
+
+Amazed at the stranger's silence, Herminie turned inquiringly to M.
+Bouffard, who said:
+
+"It will be best to begin at the beginning, my dear young lady. I will
+explain why this gentleman--"
+
+"Allow me," said Gerald, interrupting M. Bouffard. Then, turning to
+Herminie, he continued, with a charming mixture of frankness and
+deference:
+
+"I may as well confess that it is not a favour I have come to ask, but
+forgiveness."
+
+"Of me, monsieur--and why?" asked Herminie, ingenuously.
+
+"My dear mademoiselle," said M. Bouffard, with a meaning gesture, "this
+is the young man who paid me that money, you know. I met him just now,
+and--"
+
+"It was you, monsieur?" cried Herminie, superb in her indignation. And
+looking Gerald full in the face, she repeated, witheringly:
+
+"It was you?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, but listen, I beg of you."
+
+"Enough, monsieur, enough!" said Herminie. "Such audacity seems
+inconceivable! You have at least the courage to insult, monsieur," added
+Herminie, with crushing contempt.
+
+"But, mademoiselle, do not suppose for one moment--" pleaded Gerald.
+
+"Monsieur," said the young girl, again interrupting him, but in a voice
+that trembled violently, for she could feel tears of grief and
+humiliation rising to her eyes, "I can only beg that you will leave my
+house. I am a woman,--and I am alone."
+
+These last words were uttered in such tones of intense sadness that
+Gerald was moved to tears in spite of himself, and when the young girl
+raised her head after a violent effort to conquer her emotion, she saw
+two big tears gleaming in the eyes of the stranger, who, after bowing
+low without a word, started towards the door.
+
+But M. Bouffard, seizing Gerald by the arm, exclaimed:
+
+"Why, stop a second! You surely are not going like that!"
+
+And we must admit that M. Bouffard added mentally:
+
+"And my little apartment on the third floor, am I to lose my chance of
+renting that?"
+
+"Monsieur," interposed Herminie, seeing her landlord attempt to detain
+the offender; "monsieur, I must insist--"
+
+"But, my dear young lady, you certainly ought to know why I brought this
+young man here," exclaimed M. Bouffard. "You surely cannot suppose that
+it was with the intention of annoying you. The fact is, I met the young
+fellow near the _barriere_, and as soon as I laid eyes on him, I called
+out, 'Ah, my generous youth, a nice scrape you got me into with your
+yellow boys. Here they are; take them, and don't let me see any more of
+them, if you please.' And then I told him how you had felt about the
+service he had rendered you, and how you had cried and taken on, until
+monsieur turned red, and then pale, and then green, and finally said to
+me, apparently quite miserable about what I had told him, 'Ah, monsieur,
+I have unintentionally insulted a person whose unprotected position
+renders her all the more worthy of respect. I owe her an apology, and I
+will make it in your presence, as you were my involuntary accomplice.
+Come, monsieur, come.' Upon my word of honour, mademoiselle, these were
+the very words the young man said to me, and somehow what he said
+touched me. I can't imagine what is the matter with me to-day, I'm as
+chicken-hearted as a woman. I thought he was right to want to come and
+apologise to you, so I brought him along, or, rather, he brought me
+along, for he took me by the arm and dragged me along at the
+double-quick. In fact, I never walked so fast in my life."
+
+The sincerity of the words was unmistakable, and as Herminie was endowed
+with a keen sense of justice, and she had been not a little touched by
+the tears she had seen glittering in Gerald's eyes, she said to the
+stranger, in a tone which indicated a strong desire to end this painful
+scene as soon as possible:
+
+"In that case, monsieur, the offence of which I complain was
+unintentional, and it was not to aggravate the offence that you returned
+here. I believe this, monsieur, and this should satisfy you, I think."
+
+"If you desire it, mademoiselle, I will leave at once without saying a
+word in my own defence."
+
+"Do have a little pity, my dear young lady," pleaded M. Bouffard. "You
+have allowed me to speak, now listen to the gentleman."
+
+Whereupon the Duc de Senneterre, taking Herminie's silence for an
+assent, said:
+
+"Mademoiselle, this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
+truth. I was passing along the street, looking for lodgings, and
+naturally paused in front of the house as I saw several notices of rooms
+to rent. I asked permission to inspect the apartments, and going on in
+advance of the portress, who promised to join me in a minute, I began to
+ascend the stairs. As I reached the first landing my attention was
+attracted by a timid, supplicating voice. This voice was yours,
+mademoiselle, and you were pleading with this gentleman. I paused
+involuntarily, not from any idle curiosity, but because I could not
+listen to such a touching appeal unmoved. So I heard all, and my only
+thought was that a woman was in trouble, and that I could save her,
+without her even knowing it, so seeing a man come out of your room a few
+minutes afterwards I called to him."
+
+"Yes," continued M. Bouffard, "and said to me angrily, 'Here is money,
+pay yourself, and cease to torment a woman, who is only too unhappy
+already.' If I did not tell you this at first, my dear young lady, it
+was only because I wanted to have my little joke, and afterwards I was
+frightened to see how angry you were."
+
+"That is my offence, mademoiselle," continued Gerald. "I yielded to a
+thoughtless, though not ungenerous impulse, whose deplorable
+consequences I did not foresee. I unfortunately forgot that the sacred
+right to render certain services belongs only to tried and trusted
+friends. I forgot, too, that, however spontaneous and disinterested
+commiseration may be, it may nevertheless be a cruel insult under some
+circumstances. When this gentleman told me of your just indignation,
+mademoiselle, and told me the wrong I had unwittingly done you, I felt
+it to be my duty as an honourable man to come and beg your pardon, and
+tell you the simple truth. I had never had the honour of seeing you; I
+did not even know your name, and I shall probably never see you again,
+but I wish that I could convince you that I had not the slightest
+intention of insulting you, and that I never realised the gravity of my
+offence until now."
+
+Gerald was speaking the truth, and his sincerity, emotion, and tact
+convinced Herminie that such, indeed, was the case.
+
+Another and entirely different idea also influenced the ingenuous girl,
+or, rather, an apparently trivial but to her highly significant
+circumstance, viz., that the stranger was seeking a modest lodging. This
+convinced her that he was not rich, and that the generosity he had
+manifested towards her must necessarily have been at the cost of no
+little personal sacrifice.
+
+These considerations, aided very considerably, perhaps,--and why not,
+may we ask?--by the influence almost always exerted by a handsome,
+frank, and expressive face, appeased Herminie's wrath wonderfully. In
+fact, far from feeling the slightest indignation against Gerald now, she
+was really touched by the generous impulse to which he had yielded, and
+which he had just explained with such perfect frankness, and too honest
+and ingenuous herself to conceal her thoughts, she said to Gerald, with
+charming simplicity:
+
+"My embarrassment is very great, monsieur, for I must reproach myself
+for having entirely misinterpreted an act, the kindness of which I now
+appreciate. I can only beg you to forget the intemperance of my first
+remarks."
+
+"Permit me to say, on the contrary, that I shall never forget them,
+mademoiselle," replied Gerald, "for they will always remind me that
+there is one attribute which should be respected above all others in a
+woman,--her dignity."
+
+And bowing deferentially to Herminie, Gerald turned to leave the room.
+
+M. Bouffard had listened to the latter part of this conversation in
+open-mouthed wonder, it being just about as intelligible to him as if it
+had been carried on in Greek; but now checking Gerald, who had started
+towards the door, the ex-grocer, evidently with the idea that he was
+achieving a master-stroke, exclaimed:
+
+"One moment, my good sir, one moment. As mademoiselle is no longer
+offended with you, there is no reason why you shouldn't take those nice
+little rooms on the third floor I was telling you about,--a small hall,
+and two cozy rooms; one that will answer for a sitting-room, and the
+other for a bedroom--just the thing for a bachelor."
+
+On hearing this proposal, Herminie became very uneasy, for it would have
+been decidedly unpleasant to see Gerald installed in the same house.
+
+But the young duke promptly replied:
+
+"I have already told you that the rooms would not suit me, my dear sir."
+
+"Yes, because this young lady was offended with you, and it is very
+unpleasant to be on bad terms with one's fellow tenants. But now this
+young lady has forgiven you, there is no reason you shouldn't take those
+nice rooms."
+
+"I am even less inclined to take them now," replied Gerald, venturing a
+glance at Herminie.
+
+The young girl did not raise her eyes, but she blushed slightly, for she
+appreciated the delicacy of Gerald's refusal.
+
+"What!" exclaimed M. Bouffard, profoundly astonished; "now you have made
+up with mademoiselle, you are less inclined to take them than ever? Is
+it possible that you have noticed any objections to my house since you
+came back?"
+
+"It is not precisely that which deprives me of the pleasure of taking up
+my abode under your roof, my dear sir, but--"
+
+"Come, I'll let you have those rooms for two hundred and fifty francs,
+with a small cellar thrown in, if you want it."
+
+"Impossible, my dear sir, impossible."
+
+"Call it two hundred and forty, then, and say no more about it."
+
+"I am obliged to call your attention to the fact that mademoiselle's
+room is not the place for this haggling, monsieur."
+
+Then turning to Herminie and bowing profoundly, the young duke said:
+
+"Believe me, mademoiselle, I shall always retain a most delightful
+recollection of this first and last interview."
+
+The girl bowed graciously, but without raising her eyes, and Gerald
+departed, resolutely pursued by M. Bouffard, who seemed determined not
+to lose his prey.
+
+But Gerald remained obdurate in spite of the landlord's tempting offers.
+The ex-grocer persisted in his efforts, so Gerald, to get rid of him,
+and perhaps also to have an opportunity to think over his meeting with
+Herminie, quickened his pace and told the landlord that he intended to
+extend his walk as far as the fortifications. So he started off, leaving
+M. Bouffard in despair at having missed this fine opportunity to rent
+those charming third story rooms.
+
+A road leading to the fortifications intersected the Rue de Monceau near
+this point. Gerald took it, and then strolled slowly along, absorbed in
+a profound reverie.
+
+Herminie's rare beauty, as well as her dignity and refinement of manner
+had made a deep impression on the young duke, and the more he said to
+himself that he had, of course, seen this charming creature for the
+first and last time, the more he rebelled against the thought.
+
+Besides, upon analysing or rather comparing his former fancies with his
+sudden but deep interest in Herminie, and discovering nothing like it in
+the past, Gerald asked himself, with no little uneasiness:
+
+"What if I should be really caught this time?"
+
+He had just asked himself this question when he was met by an officer of
+engineers wearing an army redingote without epaulettes, and a big straw
+hat.
+
+"Why, it's Senneterre!" exclaimed this officer.
+
+The young duke looked up and recognised Captain Comtois, one of his
+former comrades in the African army.
+
+"How are you, my dear Comtois?" he exclaimed, cordially offering his
+hand. "I did not expect to see you here, though you are quite in your
+native element, I must admit," he added, with a glance at the
+fortifications.
+
+"Yes, my dear fellow, we're making the earth fly and the work is
+advancing rapidly. I am general-in-chief of that army of labourers and
+masons you see over there. In Africa, we tore down walls; here, we build
+them up. Did you come over to look at the works? If you did, I'll show
+you about."
+
+"A thousand thanks for your kind offer, my dear Comtois, I'll remind you
+of your promise some day soon."
+
+"Very well, come and take breakfast with me any morning you like. I am
+living in camp over there. It will remind you of old times; you'll think
+you're in a Bedouin camp again. Oh, by the way, you remember Clarville,
+that young lieutenant of _spahis_ who resigned in order that he might
+have the satisfaction of fighting Colonel Duval a year afterwards?"
+
+"Clarville? Yes, a brave fellow--I remember him perfectly."
+
+"Well, after he resigned, he had very little to live on, and the failure
+of some bank swept away the little that he had. In fact, if I hadn't
+happened to come across him, I believe he would have starved.
+Fortunately, I was able to take him on as overseer, and that pays him a
+little something."
+
+"Poor fellow! it was a lucky thing for him, though."
+
+"I should think so, particularly as he is married,--a love-match,--that
+is to say, the girl hadn't a penny, and there are two little children in
+the bargain, so you can judge of his situation. He manages to make both
+ends meet, but that is all. I have been to see him. He lives in a side
+street at the end of the Rue de Monceau."
+
+"At the end of the Rue de Monceau?" asked Gerald, hastily. "I, too, must
+go and see him."
+
+"He would be delighted, my dear Senneterre, for when misfortunes come,
+one's visitors are rare."
+
+"What is the number of the house?"
+
+"It is the only house on the street,--a little bit of a house. The
+devil! There's the second bell. I must leave you, my dear Senneterre,
+and get my men together. Good-bye; don't forget your promise."
+
+"No, certainly not."
+
+"And I may tell Clarville you're coming to see him?"
+
+"Yes, day after to-morrow."
+
+"It will please him very much; good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye, my dear fellow."
+
+"Don't forget Clarville's address."
+
+"I am not very likely to," thought Gerald. "The street where he lives
+must skirt the end of the garden of the house where I just saw that
+adorable girl."
+
+So, while the captain rushed off towards a group of wooden shanties in
+the distance, Gerald strolled along, a prey to a sort of feverish
+agitation.
+
+The sun was low in the horizon when he awoke from his reverie.
+
+"I don't know what will come of all this," he said to himself, "but this
+time, and it is the only time, I feel that I'm gone, absolutely gone,
+this time!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE PRIVATE STAIRWAY.
+
+
+In spite of the deep and novel impression made upon Gerald by his
+interview with Herminie, he had met Ernestine de Beaumesnil; for, in
+accordance with the plans of the Rochaigues, the richest heiress in
+France had directly or indirectly made the acquaintance of the three
+aspirants for her hand.
+
+A month had passed since these different presentations, and since the
+first interview between Gerald and Herminie, an interview whose
+consequences will become apparent later on.
+
+The clock had just struck eleven, and Mlle. de Beaumesnil was sitting
+alone in her chamber, deeply absorbed in thought. Her girlish face had
+lost none of its sweetness and candour, though a rather sarcastic, and
+sometimes almost mournful, smile occasionally flitted across her lips,
+and one sometimes noticed a resolute expression, which contrasted
+strangely with the almost childish ingenuousness of her features.
+
+Suddenly Mlle. de Beaumesnil rose, walked to the mantel, and placed her
+hand on the bell rope; then she paused a moment as if undecided in
+relation to some important matter.
+
+At last, as if her mind was fully made up, she rang, and almost
+immediately Madame Laine, her governess, entered, with an eager, almost
+obsequious, air.
+
+"Does mademoiselle desire anything?" she asked.
+
+"Sit down, my dear Laine."
+
+"Mademoiselle is too kind."
+
+"Sit down, I beg. There is something I wish to say to you."
+
+"Only to obey mademoiselle," said the governess, much surprised at this
+familiarity on the part of her young mistress, who had always treated
+her heretofore with marked reserve.
+
+"My dear Laine," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, in an almost affectionate
+tone, "you have often told me that I could count upon your attachment."
+
+"Oh, yes, mademoiselle."
+
+"And upon your devotion as well?"
+
+"In life and in death, mademoiselle."
+
+"And also upon your discretion?"
+
+"I only ask that mademoiselle will put me to the test, then she can
+judge," replied the governess, more and more delighted with this truly
+promising beginning.
+
+"Very well, I am about to put you to the test."
+
+"How rejoiced I am at such a mark of confidence on mademoiselle's part!"
+
+"Yes, a mark of great confidence, of which I hope you will be found
+deserving."
+
+"I swear to mademoiselle that--"
+
+"Oh, I believe you," said Ernestine, interrupting these protestations on
+the part of her governess; "but tell me, nearly a week ago you asked me
+to give you to-morrow evening, in order that you might attend a small
+reunion which takes place every Sunday night at the house of one of your
+friends named--What is the name? I have forgotten it."
+
+"Her name is Madame Herbaut, mademoiselle. This friend of mine has two
+daughters, and every Sunday she invites a few people of their age to her
+house. I think I said as much to mademoiselle when I asked her
+permission to attend the entertainment."
+
+"And who are these young people?"
+
+"The young girls who visit Madame Herbaut are mostly shop-girls, or
+young women who give music and drawing lessons. There are also several
+bookkeepers among them. As for the men, they are, for the most part,
+shop-keepers, or musicians, or lawyer's clerks,--all very respectable
+young men, I assure you, for Madame Herbaut is very particular about the
+people she invites, and very naturally, as she has daughters to marry
+off, and between you and me, mademoiselle, it is to establish them in
+life that she gives these little reunions."
+
+"My dear Laine," said Ernestine, as if it were the most natural thing in
+the world, "I want to attend one of these reunions at Madame Herbaut's."
+
+"Mademoiselle!" exclaimed the governess, thinking her ears must have
+deceived her, "what did mademoiselle say?"
+
+"I said I wished to attend one of Madame Herbaut's
+entertainments,--to-morrow evening, for instance."
+
+"Good heavens! Is mademoiselle really in earnest?"
+
+"Decidedly so."
+
+"What, you, mademoiselle, go to the house of such a very humble person!
+Impossible! Mademoiselle cannot even be thinking of such a thing?"
+
+"Impossible, and why, my good Laine?"
+
+"Why, the baron and baroness would never give their consent."
+
+"So I do not intend to ask it."
+
+"But mademoiselle would not go to Madame Herbaut's without consulting
+the baron!" cried the governess.
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"But how could you, mademoiselle?"
+
+"My dear Laine, you told me a minute ago that I could count upon you."
+
+"And I repeat it, mademoiselle."
+
+"Very well, then, you must take me to Madame Herbaut's to-morrow
+evening."
+
+"I, mademoiselle? Really, I don't know whether I am awake or only
+dreaming."
+
+"You are not dreaming, so to-morrow evening you will introduce me to
+Madame Herbaut as one of your relatives, an orphan."
+
+"One of my relatives! Great Heavens! I should never dare!"
+
+"Let me finish, please. You will introduce me, I say, as one of your
+relatives, recently arrived from the country, who earns her living
+as--as an embroiderer, for example. But, remember this, if you are
+guilty of the slightest indiscretion or blunder, and so cause any one to
+suspect that I am not what I wish to appear, that is to say, an orphan
+who supports herself by her own exertions, you will not remain another
+minute in my service, while if you follow my instructions carefully you
+may expect anything from me."
+
+"Really, mademoiselle, you surprised me so I cannot seem to get over it.
+But why does mademoiselle wish me to introduce her to Madame Herbaut as
+a relative of mine and an orphan?"
+
+"Don't ask me any more questions, Laine. Can I depend upon you, yes or
+no?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, in life and in death. But--"
+
+"No 'buts,' if you please, and now one word more, and the last. You
+know, of course," added the young girl, with a strangely bitter smile,
+"that I am the richest heiress in France."
+
+"Certainly, mademoiselle, everybody knows that, and says that there is
+no other fortune in the country nearly as large as mademoiselle's."
+
+"Ah, well, if you will do what I ask, and, above all, if you will be
+discreet, thoroughly discreet, understand,--I insist upon that, for it
+is absolutely necessary that Madame Herbaut should believe me what I
+mean to appear, a poor orphan supporting herself by her own
+exertions,--in short, if, thanks to your cleverness and discretion,
+everything passes off as I wish, you shall see how the richest heiress
+in France pays a debt of gratitude."
+
+"What you say pains me deeply, mademoiselle," exclaimed the governess,
+with a gesture of superb disinterestedness. "Can mademoiselle suppose
+that I wish to set a price on my devotion?"
+
+"No, but I deem it only right to set a price on my gratitude."
+
+"Good Heavens! Mademoiselle, you know very well that if you should
+become as poor as I am I should be just as devoted to you."
+
+"I do not doubt that in the least, but until I become poor, do what I
+ask. Take me to Madame Herbaut's to-morrow evening."
+
+"But if you will talk the matter over a little you will see how
+impossible your plan is."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"In the first place, how can you arrange to have the disposal of your
+evening? The baron and baroness and Mlle. Helena never leave you."
+
+"Oh, I can manage that very easily. To-morrow morning I will say that I
+passed a very uncomfortable night, and that I am not feeling at all
+well. I will remain in my room all day, and to-morrow evening you will
+go to the family and tell them that I am asleep and don't wish to be
+disturbed by anybody. My guardian and his family respect my slightest
+wish so abjectly that they will not dare to disturb my slumbers," added
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, with mingled sadness and disdain.
+
+"Oh, mademoiselle is perfectly right about that. No one would dare to
+contradict or oppose mademoiselle in anything. If mademoiselle should
+tell M. le baron to stand on his head, he would do it without a word."
+
+"Oh, yes, they are certainly the most considerate of relatives, so full
+of tenderness and dignity," replied Ernestine, with a rather peculiar
+expression. "Ah, well, you see, then, that it will be an easy matter
+for me to secure an evening to myself."
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, but how shall we manage to get out of the house?"
+
+"Get out of the house?"
+
+"Yes. I mean without meeting any one on the stairway, or being seen by
+the concierge."
+
+"That is your lookout. I depend upon you to devise a means of doing
+that."
+
+"Oh, it is very easy to say devise a means, mademoiselle, but--"
+
+"I foresaw this difficulty, of course, but I said to myself, 'My dear
+Laine is very clever. She will assist me in this.'"
+
+"Heaven knows I would be only too glad to, mademoiselle, but I really do
+not see--"
+
+"Put on your thinking-cap. I have never used any but the main stairway,
+but are there no servants' stairways leading from my apartments?"
+
+"Of course, mademoiselle. There are two such staircases, but you would
+run a great risk of meeting the servants if you used either of them;
+that is," added the governess, thoughtfully,--"that is unless you should
+choose the time that they are at dinner, about eight o'clock, for
+example."
+
+"Your idea is an admirable one."
+
+"Mademoiselle should not rejoice too soon."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Mademoiselle will still have to pass the porter's lodge, and he is a
+regular Cerberus, for ever on the watch."
+
+"That is true, we shall have to think of some other way."
+
+"I am trying, mademoiselle, but it's no easy matter, I assure you."
+
+"But not impossible, it seems to me."
+
+"Ah, I have an idea, mademoiselle!" exclaimed the governess, suddenly,
+after reflecting a moment.
+
+"Let me hear it."
+
+"Excuse me, mademoiselle, but I'm not sure that it is at all feasible
+yet. Let me go and see. I'll be back in a moment."
+
+And the governess darted out of the room. The orphan was left alone.
+
+"I was right," she murmured, with an expression of bitter disgust. "This
+woman has a base and mercenary nature, like so many others, but these
+very failings will ensure me her submission, and, above all, her
+discretion."
+
+In a few minutes the governess returned, radiant.
+
+"Victory, mademoiselle!" she exclaimed, rapturously.
+
+"Explain, if you please."
+
+"Mademoiselle is aware that her dressing-room opens into my bedroom."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And adjoining my chamber there is a large room containing the wardrobes
+for mademoiselle's dresses."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"There is a door in this room which opens upon a narrow staircase to
+which I never paid any attention before."
+
+"And where does this staircase lead?"
+
+"It leads down to a small door which has been closed up, but which
+opens, as nearly as I can judge, upon the side street."
+
+"This door opens upon the street?" cried Mlle. de Beaumesnil, quickly.
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, and this is not at all surprising. In many of the
+large houses in this neighbourhood there are small private stairways
+leading up to the sleeping apartments, because in former times the
+ladies of the court--"
+
+"The ladies of the court?" inquired Ernestine, so naively that Madame
+Laine's eyes fell before the girl's innocent gaze.
+
+So, fearing that she was going too far, and that she might imperil her
+recently acquired intimacy with her pupil, Madame Laine said:
+
+"I don't care to fill mademoiselle's ears with a lot of servants'
+gossip."
+
+"And you are right. But if this door which leads into the street is
+condemned, how shall we open it?"
+
+"It is bolted and nailed up on the inside--but mademoiselle needn't
+worry. I have all night before me, and to-morrow morning I hope to have
+a good report to make to mademoiselle."
+
+"Very well If you think it necessary, inform your friend, Madame
+Herbaut, in advance that you will bring a relative with you to-morrow
+evening."
+
+"I will do so, though it isn't at all necessary. Mademoiselle, if she
+accompanies me, will be as cordially received as I am. There is very
+little ceremony among people of that class."
+
+"Very well, it is understood, then. But I repeat once more that I shall
+expect the utmost caution on your part. Your reward depends upon that."
+
+"Mademoiselle can punish me in any way she pleases if I break my word."
+
+"I would much rather reward you. See what you can do about that door
+now, and let me hear early to-morrow morning."
+
+"But really, mademoiselle, all this is very extraordinary!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I refer to mademoiselle's desire to go to Madame Herbaut's. It seems to
+me such a strange idea on mademoiselle's part. But I feel no
+uneasiness," added the governess, with a complacent air. "I know
+mademoiselle too well to suppose for one moment that she would involve a
+poor woman like myself in any trouble, and though I do not presume to
+question mademoiselle, may I not--as I, of course, must not speak of
+this matter to any one else--may I not know why, mademoiselle--"
+
+"Good-night, my dear Laine," said mademoiselle, rising, and thus putting
+an end to the conversation. "Let me know the results of your researches
+early to-morrow morning."
+
+Delighted to have a secret between her pupil and herself at last, a
+secret which she regarded as convincing proof of a confidence which
+would ensure her a modest fortune, at least, Madame Laine discreetly
+withdrew, leaving Mlle. de Beaumesnil again alone.
+
+After a few moments of reflection the orphan unlocked her desk, and,
+opening the journal dedicated to her mother, began to write hurriedly,
+even impetuously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+UNBURDENING THE HEART.
+
+
+"The resolve I have just made, my dear mother," wrote Ernestine, "is a
+dangerous one; I fear I did wrong to make it, but to whom can I turn for
+advice?
+
+"To you, my dearest mother, I know, but it was while invoking your aid
+and protection that this idea occurred to me, and I feel that I must
+solve, at any cost, the doubts that so torment me.
+
+"During the last few days many revelations have been made to me, some of
+such a sad and depressing nature that they seem to have upset me
+entirely, and it is with great difficulty, even now, that I can compose
+myself sufficiently to lay my heart bare to you, my kind and tender
+mother.
+
+"For some time after my arrival in this house, I could speak only in
+terms of the highest praise of my guardian and his family, though
+sometimes in my secret heart I did censure them a little for the
+inordinate amount of flattery and attention they lavished upon me.
+
+"This attention and these flatteries have not ceased; they have rather
+increased, if that were possible.
+
+"My mental attributes, my character, and even my slightest word and act
+are praised in the most exaggerated way. As for my figure, my bearing,
+my personal appearance, and my every movement, they are all equally
+graceful, enchanting, divine,--in short, there is not a more attractive
+person in the world than I am.
+
+"Saintly Mlle. Helena, who was never known to utter an untruth, assures
+me that I look like a madonna.
+
+"Madame de la Rochaigue says, with what she terms really brutal
+frankness, that I am endowed with such rare distinction and elegance of
+manner, as well as so many charms of person, that I am sure to become
+the most admired woman in Paris some day, in spite of myself.
+
+"And last, but not least, according to my guardian, a serious-minded and
+extremely thoughtful man, the beauty of my features and the dignity of
+my bearing give me a striking resemblance to the beautiful Duchesse de
+Longueville, so famous under the Fronde.
+
+"And when one day, in my artlessness, I expressed astonishment at my
+resembling so many persons at the same time, do you know, my dearest
+mother, what the answer was?
+
+"'It is very simple. In you, mademoiselle, the most diverse charms are
+united, so, in you, each person finds the attraction he prefers.'
+
+"And these flatteries pursue me everywhere. If the hair-dresser comes to
+arrange my hair, never before in his life did he see such superb
+tresses.
+
+"If I am taken to the milliner's,'What is the use of selecting any
+particular shape?' says that lady. 'With a face like mademoiselle's any
+style is equally charming and becoming.'
+
+"The dressmaker declares that my figure is so wonderfully elegant that,
+dressed in a loosely fitting sack, I should drive the ladies most famed
+for their perfection of form wild with envy.
+
+"It is the same with the shoemaker, who declares that he will have to
+make a special last for me, never having worked for the possessor of so
+small a foot as mine.
+
+"The glovemaker outdoes him even, by declaring that I have the hand of a
+dwarf.
+
+"So you see, my dear mother, I may almost consider myself a phenomenon,
+fit for a museum.
+
+"Oh, mother, mother, it was not in this way that you spoke when, taking
+my face in your two hands, and kissing me on the forehead, you said:
+
+"'My poor Ernestine, you are not beautiful, or even pretty, but the
+candour and sweetness of your disposition are so plainly written on your
+expressive face that I do not regret your lack of beauty.'
+
+"And these words of praise, the only ones, I believe, that you ever gave
+me, I believed, and they made me very happy.
+
+"But alas! the daughter you so fondly loved, has she remained worthy of
+you? I do not know. I am not sure.
+
+"Then I knew nothing of doubts, suspicion, and mockery! And for several
+days past cruel presentiments have taken such a hold on me that I am as
+much astonished as alarmed.
+
+"There must be something terribly insidious in the effects of flattery,
+for--to you I must confess all--though I have often thought the praises
+lavished upon me must be exaggerated, I wondered why it should be that
+so many different people should be so unanimous in praising everything I
+said and did.
+
+"Nor is this all.
+
+"The other day Madame de la Rochaigue took me to a concert. I soon
+perceived that everybody was looking at me. A number of persons even
+passed and repassed me several times, to examine me more closely, I
+suppose, though I was very simply dressed. Even when I come out of
+church I notice that every one stares at me. I mention the fact, and my
+guardian and his family say: 'Yes, you are right. Everybody does stare
+at you. See what a sensation you create everywhere!'
+
+"And, in the face of this evidence, what can I say? Nothing.
+
+"I must admit that all this flattery was becoming very pleasant to me.
+It surprised me less and less, and though it sometimes occurred to me
+how grossly exaggerated it was, I promptly silenced any misgivings on
+the subject, by saying to myself:
+
+"'But if this is not true, why is the sensation I create--as my guardian
+says--so general?'
+
+"Alas! I was soon to learn.
+
+"This is what occurred:
+
+"A gentleman of whom I have never dared to speak until now, has called
+at my guardian's house several times. This gentleman is M. le Marquis de
+Maillefort. He is deformed; he has a sardonic air, and he is always
+uttering the most sarcastic remarks or ironical compliments that sting
+worse than his sarcasms.
+
+"On account of the antipathy he inspired in me, I usually found some
+excuse for leaving the drawing-room soon after his arrival, and I was
+encouraged in this by the persons around me, for they both feared and
+hated M. de Maillefort, though they always greeted him with pretended
+affability.
+
+"Three days ago he was ushered into the room where I happened to be
+sitting alone with Mlle. Helena. To leave the room at once would have
+been too discourteous, so I remained, hoping to be able to make my
+escape in a few minutes.
+
+"This short conversation then ensued between M. de Maillefort and Mlle.
+Helena. Alas! I have not forgotten a word of it.
+
+"'Ah, good evening, my dear Mlle. Helena,' the marquis began, with his
+most sarcastic air. 'I am delighted to find Mlle. de Beaumesnil with
+you. She will derive such benefit from your pious conversation. She must
+profit so much by your excellent counsels, as well as by those of your
+worthy brother and your no less excellent sister-in-law!'
+
+"'We hope so, indeed, M. le marquis, for we feel that we have a sacred
+duty to fulfil towards Mlle. de Beaumesnil.'
+
+"'Unquestionably,' replied M. de Maillefort, in more and more sarcastic
+tones, 'a sacred duty to which you and yours will sedulously devote
+yourselves. Are you not continually repeating to Mlle. de Beaumesnil:
+"You are the richest heiress in France, and being that, you are
+necessarily the most accomplished and wonderfully gifted person in the
+world?"'
+
+"'But, monsieur,' exclaimed Mlle. Helena, interrupting him, 'what you
+say--'
+
+"'I leave it to Mlle. de Beaumesnil herself,' retorted the marquis. 'If
+she speaks the truth, will she not be obliged to admit that a continual
+chorus of praise is resounding around her, magnificently sustained by
+our dear baron, his wife, and you, Mlle. Helena,--a delightful chorus in
+which you all three sustain your parts with wonderful skill, with
+touching self-abnegation and sublime disinterestedness? All roles are
+alike to you. To-day, as leaders of the choir, you give the keynote to a
+crowd of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's admirers; to-morrow, brilliant soloists,
+you will improvise hymns of praise which will reveal the extent of your
+resources, the flexibility of your art, and, above all, the adorable
+sincerity of your noble hearts.'
+
+"'I suppose, then, monsieur,' said Mlle. Helena, colouring, doubtless,
+with anger, 'I suppose, then, that I am to infer that our dear ward has
+none of the admirable traits and personal charms which are so generally
+conceded to her.'
+
+"'Because she is the richest heiress in France,' replied M. de
+Maillefort, with an ironical bow to me; 'and in this character Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil has a right to the most outrageous as well as the most
+insulting flattery,--insulting, because it is so manifestly untrue, and
+dictated solely by baseness and cupidity.'
+
+"I rose, and left the room, scarcely able to keep back the tears.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I cannot forget his words, mother. They are continually ringing in my
+ears.
+
+"M. de Maillefort's remarks were a revelation to me. My eyes were
+opened. I understand everything now.
+
+"The praises of every sort and kind, the attentions and protestations of
+affection lavished upon me, the sensation I always create at
+entertainments, even the flattering remarks of my tradespeople, are all
+addressed to the richest heiress in France.
+
+"Ah, mother, it was not without cause that I wrote you of the strange
+and unpleasant effect it produced upon me when, the day after my arrival
+in this house, I was so pompously informed that I was the mistress of a
+colossal fortune.
+
+"'It seems to me,' I said to you then,'that I am in the situation of a
+person who possesses a valuable treasure, and fears that it may be
+stolen from him at any moment.'
+
+"I understand this feeling now.
+
+"It was the vague presentiment of this fear and distrust which has
+pursued me so relentlessly since the truth was thus harshly revealed to
+me.
+
+"The praise bestowed upon me, the protestations of attachment made to
+me, are due solely to my wealth.
+
+"Yes, mother, M. de Maillefort's spiteful remarks have really been
+productive of a great deal of good, though they did cause me so much
+pain, for they have enlightened me in regard to the incomprehensible but
+increasing dislike my guardian and his family were inspiring in my
+heart.
+
+"This revelation at last explains the obsequiousness and servility which
+surround me on every side.
+
+"And now, my dearly beloved mother, my confession becomes a painful one,
+even when made to thee. It may be because this atmosphere of deceit and
+adulation in which I am living has already contaminated me, or, perhaps,
+because I shrink in such dismay from the thought that all this praise
+and all these demonstrations of affection are due solely to my wealth,
+but I can scarcely credit so much baseness and deceitfulness, nor can I
+quite believe that I am so utterly unattractive, or that I am wholly
+incapable of inspiring any sincere and disinterested affection.
+
+"And you see, my dearest mother, I no longer know what to think, not
+only of other people, but of myself. These doubts, this continual
+suspicion and distrust, are intolerable. I try in vain to devise some
+means of discovering the truth. From whom can I expect an honest reply?
+
+"Nor is this all. Several recent events have rendered my situation still
+more trying.
+
+"You shall judge of it.
+
+"M. de Maillefort's sarcastic allusions in regard to the perfections
+which I must necessarily possess in my character of heiress have
+doubtless been repeated to my guardian and his wife by Mlle. Helena, or
+else some other event, of which I am ignorant, has induced those around
+me to disclose projects of which I had no previous knowledge or even
+suspicion, and which have increased my distrust and uneasiness a
+thousandfold."
+
+Mademoiselle was here interrupted in her writing by two cautious raps at
+her door.
+
+Surprised and almost terrified, as in her preoccupation she had
+forgotten the subject of her late conversation with her governess, the
+orphan asked, in trembling tones:
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"I, mademoiselle," replied Madame Laine's voice.
+
+"Come in," said Ernestine, remembering now.
+
+"What is the matter?" she asked, as her governess entered.
+
+"I have some good news for mademoiselle. My hands are all bloody, you
+see, but that doesn't matter."
+
+"I see," cried Ernestine, greatly alarmed. "What has happened? How did
+you hurt yourself so? Here, take this handkerchief and stanch the
+blood."
+
+"Oh, it's but a mere scratch, mademoiselle," replied the governess,
+heroically. "In your service, I would brave death itself."
+
+This exaggeration cooled Mlle. de Beaumesnil's compassion very
+considerably, and she replied:
+
+"I believe in your courageous devotion, of course, but pray bind up your
+hand."
+
+"If mademoiselle desires it, of course, but this scratch is of no
+consequence, for the door is open, mademoiselle. I succeeded in prying
+out the staples of the padlock, and in removing an iron bar that also
+secured the door, which opens into the street exactly as I supposed."
+
+"You may be sure that I shall reward you, my dear Laine, for this--"
+
+"Oh, do not speak of rewarding me, I implore you, mademoiselle. Am I not
+more than paid in the pleasure of serving you? But mademoiselle will
+excuse me, I hope, for coming back contrary to her orders, but I was so
+delighted to have succeeded."
+
+"On the contrary I am very grateful for the zeal you have manifested. So
+you think we can count upon carrying out our plans to-morrow?"
+
+"There isn't the slightest doubt of that, now, mademoiselle."
+
+"Then have a very simple white dress ready for me to wear to-morrow
+evening, and as soon as it is dark you and I will go to Madame
+Herbaut's. And once more let me remind you that I shall expect you to
+exercise the greatest caution."
+
+"Mademoiselle need have no anxiety on that account. Has mademoiselle any
+further orders?"
+
+"No, I only desire to thank you again for your zeal."
+
+"Then I will bid mademoiselle good night."
+
+"Good night, my dear Laine."
+
+The governess left the room and Mlle. de Beaumesnil resumed her
+writing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE THREE RIVALS.
+
+
+"In order to fully understand these recent events, it is necessary to
+review the past, my dear mother," Mlle. de Beaumesnil continued.
+
+"The day after my arrival at my guardian's house I went to church with
+Mlle. Helena, who during mass called my attention to a young man who was
+praying fervently before the same altar.
+
+"This young man I afterwards learned was a M. Celestin de Macreuse.
+
+"Mlle. Helena's attention had been attracted to him, she told me,
+because, instead of kneeling upon a chair like every one else, he was
+kneeling upon the marble floor of the church. It must have been for his
+mother, too, that he was praying, for we afterwards heard him ask the
+priest who took up the collection in our part of the church for another
+novena of masses in the same chapel for the repose of his mother's soul.
+
+"As we were coming out of church, M. de Macreuse offered us the holy
+water with a bow, for he had preceded us to the font. A moment
+afterwards, we saw him distributing alms among a number of beggars who
+had crowded around him, saying in a faltering voice: 'The little I can
+give, I offer you in the name of my mother who is no more. Pray for
+her.'
+
+"Just as M. de Macreuse was disappearing in the crowd I perceived M. de
+Maillefort. Whether he was just entering or leaving the church I can
+not say; but Mlle. Helena, who caught sight of him just as I did, seemed
+surprised and even disturbed by his presence.
+
+"On our way home she spoke several times of this M. de Macreuse, who
+seemed to be so truly devout and charitable. She did not know him
+personally, she said, but she could not help feeling a great interest in
+him because he seemed to possess virtues seldom found in young men of
+the present day.
+
+"The next day we went to church again; and again we saw M. de Macreuse.
+He was performing his devotions in the same chapel, and this time he was
+so deeply absorbed in prayer that, when mass was over, he remained on
+his knees with his forehead almost touching the marble pavement, and
+seemed positively crushed with grief. A moment afterwards he fell
+backward in a sort of swoon, and had to be carried into the sacristy.
+
+"'Unfortunate young man,' whispered Mlle. Helena, 'how inconsolable he
+is! How deeply he mourns for his mother! What a noble and tender heart
+he must have.'
+
+"I shared this feeling of compassion, for who could better sympathise
+with the sorrow of this young man whose melancholy face indicated the
+deepest grief.
+
+"Just as the door of the sacristy opened to admit the beadles, who had
+come to M. de Macreuse's assistance, M. de Maillefort, who chanced to be
+directly in their path, began to smile ironically.
+
+"Mlle. Helena seemed more and more disturbed to see M. de Maillefort at
+church a second time.
+
+"'This imp of Satan must have come to the house of God for some deviltry
+or other,' she remarked to me.
+
+"On the afternoon of that same day, Madame de la Rochaigue insisted upon
+my driving with her and one of her friends, Madame la Duchesse de
+Senneterre, a lady I had never met before. We went to the Bois. There
+were a great many people there, and as our carriage was moving along at
+a snail's pace, Madame de la Rochaigue remarked to her friend:
+
+"'Isn't that your son I see on horseback over there, my dear duchess?'
+
+"'Yes, I believe it is Gerald,' replied Madame de Senneterre, turning
+her lorgnette in the direction indicated.
+
+"'I hope he will see us, and come and speak to us,' added Madame de
+Mirecourt, who was also with us.
+
+"'Oh, M. de Senneterre will not fail to do that, as the duchess
+fortunately is with us,' replied Madame de la Rochaigue. 'I say
+fortunately, but that is not exactly the word, as that lady's presence
+prevents us from saying all we would like to say in M. Gerald's praise.'
+
+"'Oh, as for that, I warn you I haven't a bit of maternal modesty,'
+answered Madame de Senneterre, smiling. 'I never hear half enough nice
+things said about my son.'
+
+"'However exacting you may be, you ought to be very well satisfied on
+that score, it seems to me, my dear duchess,' replied Madame de
+Mirecourt.
+
+"'But speaking of M. de Senneterre, did you ever hear why he enlisted as
+a common soldier, at the age of eighteen?' continued Madame de
+Mirecourt, addressing Madame de la Rochaigue.
+
+"'No,' replied that lady, 'I have heard that, beginning as a common
+soldier, in spite of his birth, he gained his several promotions, as
+well as his cross, on the battlefield, at the cost of several wounds;
+but I never heard why he enlisted.'
+
+"'Madame la duchesse,' said Madame de Mirecourt, turning to Madame de
+Senneterre, 'is it not true that your son enlisted because he thought it
+cowardly to hire a man to go and be killed in his stead?'
+
+"'Yes, that is true,' replied Madame de Senneterre; 'that is the reason
+my son gave us, and he carried out his resolution in spite of my tears
+and entreaties.'
+
+"'Superb!' exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue. 'Nobody in the world but M.
+de Senneterre would ever have made and carried out such a chivalrous
+resolution as that.'
+
+"'It is easy to judge of the generosity of his character from that fact
+alone,' added Madame de Mirecourt.
+
+"'Oh, I can say with just pride that there is no better son in the world
+than my Gerald,' remarked Madame de Senneterre.
+
+"'And when one says that, one says everything,' added Madame de la
+Rochaigue.
+
+"I listened in silence to this conversation, naturally sharing in the
+admiration that M. de Senneterre's generous act excited in those around
+me.
+
+"A few minutes afterwards, a party of young men passed us on horseback.
+One of them, I noticed, paused on seeing us, wheeled his horse around
+and came back.
+
+"This young man proved to be M. de Senneterre. He bowed to his mother;
+Madame de la Rochaigue introduced him to me. He made a few courteous
+remarks, and then walked his horse along by the side of our carriage
+while we drove several times around the race-track.
+
+"It is needless to say that scarcely a handsome equipage passed without
+an interchange of friendly bows between the occupants and M. de
+Senneterre, who seemed to be a general favourite.
+
+"During the conversation he had with us, he was very gay and a trifle
+sarcastic, but not the least spiteful.
+
+"A short time before he left us, we met a magnificent carriage, drawn by
+four horses. Its sole occupant was a man to whom many persons bowed with
+great deference. This man bowed very low to M. de Senneterre, who,
+instead of returning the salute, surveyed him with the utmost disdain.
+
+"'Why, that was M. du Tilleul that just passed, M. de Senneterre!'
+exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue, evidently much surprised.
+
+"'Yes, madame.'
+
+"'He bowed to you.'
+
+"'True, madame.'
+
+"'But you did not return his bow.'
+
+"'I no longer bow to M. du Tilleul, madame.'
+
+"'But everybody else does.'
+
+"'Then they do very wrong, in my opinion.'
+
+"'But why, M. de Senneterre?'
+
+"'You ask me that, with his recent affair with Madame--'
+
+"Then suddenly checking himself, probably on account of my presence, he
+continued, addressing Madame de la Rochaigue:
+
+"'You have heard about his conduct with a certain marquise?'
+
+"'Of course.'
+
+"'Well, in my opinion, a man who behaves with such cowardice and cruelty
+is a scoundrel, and I do not bow to a scoundrel.'
+
+"'Still, he is received everywhere,' remarked Madame de Mirecourt.
+
+"'Yes, because he owns the handsomest house in Paris, and everybody
+wishes to attend his entertainments.'
+
+"'Oh, you are entirely too particular, M. Gerald,' said Madame de
+Mirecourt.
+
+"'I too particular?' exclaimed M. de Senneterre, laughing. 'What a
+frightful slander! I will convince you to the contrary. Look at that
+little green brougham coming this way, and that--'
+
+"'Gerald!' cried Madame de Senneterre, reminding her son of my presence
+with a look, for I had involuntarily turned to glance at the vehicle to
+which M. de Senneterre had called attention, and which was occupied by a
+young and extremely pretty woman, who seemed to be following the young
+duke with her eyes.
+
+"His mother's warning exclamation, and the look she cast at me, made M.
+de Senneterre bite his lips, but it was with a smile that he replied:
+
+"You are right, mother. It would make angels too unhappy to know that
+there are such things as demons in the world."
+
+This half apology was indirectly addressed to me, I suppose, for two of
+the ladies glanced at me, smiling in their turn, and I felt greatly
+embarrassed.
+
+"As we were leaving, Madame de Senneterre asked:
+
+"You dine with me to-day, do you not, Gerald?"
+
+"No, mother, and I must ask you to pardon me for not having told you
+that I had made another engagement."
+
+"That is very unfortunate, for I, too, have made an engagement for you,"
+replied Madame de Senneterre, smiling.
+
+"All right, mother," said M. de Senneterre, affectionately; "I will send
+my friends a brief note of excuse; then I shall be entirely at your
+service."
+
+And after having bowed very deferentially to us, M. de Senneterre
+started his horse off at a gallop.
+
+"He rides with perfect skill and grace, and on horseback reminds me not
+a little of my poor father.
+
+"Though he had addressed only a very few remarks to me, I feel sure,
+from what I saw and heard during this interview, that M. de Senneterre
+must possess a frank, generous, and resolute nature, as well as a
+profound respect and affection for his mother. The other ladies must
+have thought so, too, for they did not cease praising him until we
+separated.
+
+"The next day and the day following, we again saw M. de Macreuse at
+church. His grief seemed no less deep, though more calm. Two or three
+times he happened to glance in our direction, and I could not help being
+struck by the contrast between his sad, almost timid look and bearing,
+and M. le Duc de Senneterre's dashing ease of manner.
+
+"The next day after our visit to the Bois, I accompanied my guardian to
+the garden of the Luxembourg, as I had promised.
+
+"We had visited the conservatories and the magnificent rose gardens,
+when we met a friend of M. de la Rochaigue. He was introduced to me as
+the Baron de Ravil or du Ravil, I believe.
+
+"This gentleman walked along beside us for several minutes, then,
+drawing out his watch, he remarked to M. de la Rochaigue:
+
+"'Pardon me for leaving you so soon, M. le baron, but I am very anxious
+not to miss this important session.'
+
+"'What important session?' inquired my guardian.
+
+"'Can it be that you haven't heard that M. de Mornand speaks to-day?'
+
+"'Is it possible?'
+
+"'Certainly; all Paris will be there, for when M. de Mornand speaks, it
+is an event.'
+
+"'It is indeed. He is a man of wonderful talent, I think, a man who can
+hardly fail to be minister some day or other. How unfortunate that I did
+not hear of this before. I am sure, my dear ward, that the session would
+have interested you very much, in spite of all Madame de la Rochaigue's
+nonsensical talk, but if I should take you to the chamber now she would
+be sure to accuse me of having set a trap for you.'
+
+"'Still, if mademoiselle has the slightest desire to attend the session,
+I am at your service, M. le baron,' said our companion; 'I expected to
+meet one of my nieces and her husband here, but they have not come, and
+probably will not, now. I had procured tickets of admission to the
+diplomatic gallery for them, and if these tickets would be of any
+service to you--'
+
+"'What do you say, my dear ward?'
+
+"'I will do whatever you like, monsieur; but it seems to me a session of
+the Chamber of Peers might be very interesting,' I added, chiefly out
+of regard for my guardian, I fear.
+
+"'Very well, I will accept your offer, then, my dear M. de Ravil,' cried
+M. de la Rochaigue, 'and you are lucky, indeed, my dear child,' he
+added, turning to me, 'to happen here on a day M. de Mornand speaks.'
+
+"We hastened towards the palace, and just as we were leaving the
+quincunxes I saw, some distance off, M. de Maillefort, who seemed to be
+following us,--a fact that surprised me, and made me rather uneasy.
+
+"'Why do I meet this wicked man at every turn?' I said to myself. 'Who
+could have informed him of our plans?'
+
+"The diplomatic gallery, where we had seats, was filled with elegantly
+dressed ladies. I occupied a seat on the upper row of benches between my
+guardian and M. de Ravil.
+
+"A gentleman near us, having been heard to remark that some noted
+orator--he did not refer to M. de Mornand--was also to speak during the
+session, M. de Ravil replied that there was no other orator who could
+compare with M. de Mornand, and that this crowd had come to hear him. He
+ascended the tribune almost immediately, and there was a profound
+silence.
+
+"I was incapable of criticising or even of entirely comprehending M. de
+Mornand's discourse. It related to subjects with which I was totally
+unacquainted, but I was deeply impressed by the conclusion of his
+speech, in which he spoke with the warmest sympathy of the unhappy lot
+of fishermen's families awaiting in sickening suspense upon the beach
+the return of a beloved father, son, or husband, while the tempest was
+raging wildly around them.
+
+"It so happened that, as M. de Mornand uttered these touching words, he
+turned towards our tribune, and his strong face seemed to me filled with
+a profound compassion for the unfortunate creatures whose cause he had
+espoused.
+
+"'Wonderful! How very touching!' whispered M. de Ravil, wiping his eyes,
+for he, too, seemed deeply affected.
+
+"'M. de Mornand is sublime!' exclaimed my guardian. 'There is little
+doubt that his speech will greatly ameliorate the lot of thousands of
+these unfortunates.'
+
+"Prolonged applause followed the conclusion of M. de Mornand's speech.
+He was about to leave the tribune when another member of the Chamber, a
+man with a malevolent, sarcastic face, rose in his seat, and said:
+
+"'I ask the permission of the Chamber to ask M. de Mornand a simple
+question before he descends from the tribune and before his sudden and
+generous compassion for our brave fishermen shall consequently have
+evaporated.'
+
+"'If you will take my advice, we will leave at once to escape the
+crowd,' M. de Ravil remarked to my guardian. 'M. de Mornand having
+finished, everybody will want to go, for there will be nothing else of
+interest.'
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue offered me his arm, but just as we were leaving the
+hall we heard shouts of laughter, and renewed applause.
+
+"'I know what that means,' remarked M. de Ravil. 'M. de Mornand has
+crushed, by his sarcasm, the imprudent member who had the audacity to
+question any of his statements, for when he wishes to be, M. de Mornand
+is as witty as the devil.'
+
+"My guardian having suggested that we extend our walk to the
+observatory, I consented, and M. de Ravil accompanied us.
+
+"'M. le baron,' he remarked to my guardian; 'did you notice Madame de
+Bretigny, who left the hall just as we did?'
+
+"'The wife of the minister? No, I did not.'
+
+"'I am sorry, monsieur, for you would have seen one of the noblest women
+that ever lived. You have no idea what wonderfully good use she makes
+of her position as a minister's wife, or of the vast amount of good she
+does, the wrongs she repairs, and the assistance she gives to the
+worthy.'
+
+"'I am not surprised to hear it,' replied my guardian. 'In a position
+like that of Madame de Bretigny, one can do any amount of good, for--'
+
+"But interrupting himself suddenly, he turned to M. de Ravil and
+exclaimed, eagerly:
+
+"'Say, isn't that he over there in that secluded path, walking along,
+looking at the flowers?'
+
+"'To whom do you refer?'
+
+"'Why, to M. de Mornand. Look!'
+
+"'You're right, it is he!' replied M. de Ravil. 'He has forgotten his
+triumph--and is finding a welcome relief from the onerous cares of state
+in gazing at the flowers. This does not surprise me, however, for, with
+all his talent and his political genius, he is one of the best and most
+simple-hearted of men, and his tastes prove it. After his brilliant
+success, what does he seek? Solitude and flowers.'
+
+"'M. de Ravil, you know M. de Mornand, do you not?' inquired my
+guardian.
+
+"'Slightly. I meet him occasionally in society.'
+
+"'But you know him well enough to speak to him, do you not?'
+
+"'Certainly.'
+
+"'Then go and congratulate him on the success he just achieved. We will
+follow you so as to get a closer look at this great man. What do you say
+to my scheme, my dear ward?'
+
+"'I will accompany you, monsieur. One always likes to see distinguished
+men like M. de Mornand.'
+
+"Changing our course, we soon reached the path where M. de Mornand was
+walking. He replied to M. de Ravil's and my guardian's compliments with
+quite as much modesty as simplicity of manner, and addressed a few
+kindly remarks to me, after which we left him to continue his lonely
+promenade.
+
+"'When one thinks that this simple-mannered man will govern France in
+less than six months!' exclaimed M. de Ravil.
+
+"'Say admirably-mannered, my dear M. de Ravil,' corrected my guardian.
+'M. de Mornand has quite the manner of a grand seigneur. He is both
+affable and dignified. He is not one of those silly popinjays who think
+only of the tie of their cravats and the cut of their hair.'
+
+"'Creatures of that type are never likely to govern France,' answered M.
+de Ravil. 'I say govern because M. de Mornand will not accept a
+subordinate position. He will be chief of the Cabinet which he forms.
+May Heaven preserve him, M. le Baron. The welfare of France and the
+peace of the civilised world depend upon him,' added M. de Ravil, in
+tones of profound conviction.
+
+"As I walked homeward with my guardian, I thought that there could
+indeed be no more enviable and noble position than that of a man who,
+like M. de Mornand, exercises a controlling influence over the welfare
+of France and the peace of Europe.
+
+"Such, my dear mother, were the circumstances under which I met, for the
+first time, Messieurs Macreuse, Senneterre, and Mornand.
+
+"I will now tell you what the consequences of these meetings have
+been."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+TORMENTED BY DOUBTS.
+
+
+"At the expiration of a few days Mlle. Helena had succeeded in securing
+full information in regard to M. Celestin de Macreuse, and she began to
+talk of him, not occasionally, but almost incessantly.
+
+"She told me that M. de Macreuse, by his birth and connections, was
+entitled to a place in the very best society; but, being endowed with
+the most exemplary piety, and with wonderfully philanthropic instincts,
+he had founded a charitable mission of the most admirable kind, and
+though still young, his name was uttered everywhere with the most
+profound affection and respect.
+
+"Madame de la Rochaigue, on the other hand, praised M. de Senneterre in
+the most extravagant way, while my guardian embraced every opportunity
+to laud M. de Mornand's talents and virtues to the skies.
+
+"At first I saw nothing extraordinary in these flattering mentions of
+persons who seemed well worthy of praise, but I soon began to notice
+that the names of these gentlemen were mentioned by my guardian, his
+wife, or his sister only in conversations which one or the other had
+separately with me.
+
+"At last came the day when M. de Maillefort so spitefully, but, alas! so
+truly, explained the real cause of the attentions and flattery lavished
+upon me, and it soon became evident to me that my guardian and his wife,
+apprised of the situation by Mlle. Helena, must fear the consequences
+of the revelation which had been such a shock to me; for the very next
+day each one of the three, in turn, disclosed his or her plans to
+me,--plans evidently conceived long before,--and assured me that the
+happiness of my life and the certainty of a blissful future depended
+upon my marrying--
+
+"M. de Macreuse,--according to Mlle. Helena.
+
+"M. de Senneterre,--according to Madame de la Rochaigue.
+
+"M. de Mornand,--according to my guardian.
+
+"On hearing these unexpected proposals, my surprise and uneasiness were
+so great that I could make no coherent reply, and my embarrassed,
+incoherent words having been taken as a sort of tacit consent, I, after
+a little reflection, decided to leave the champions of these three
+suitors under the same erroneous impression.
+
+"This induced them to make their confidential disclosures much more
+complete.
+
+"'My brother and his wife,' said Mlle. Helena, 'are excellent people,
+but extremely vain and worldly. Neither of them is capable of
+appreciating the rare excellence of M. de Macreuse's principles, his
+Christian virtues, and his almost angelic piety; so we must keep our
+secret, my dear Ernestine, until you have chosen the husband I suggest,
+because he is so worthy of your choice. Then, proud and honoured by this
+choice, you will only have to notify my brother, your guardian, who will
+give his consent, I am sure, if you only evince proper firmness. If he
+should refuse his consent, which is not at all likely, however, we will
+resort to other and certain means of ensuring your happiness.'
+
+"'My poor sister Helena,' said M. de la Rochaigue, in his turn, 'is a
+most excellent woman, a saint if there ever was one, but she knows
+nothing in the world about mundane matters. If you should take it into
+your head to say anything about M. de Mornand to her, she would open her
+eyes in astonishment, and tell you that he cares only for the vain
+things of this world, that he is ambitious of power, etc. As for my
+wife, she is perfect, but separate her from her balls, and her toilets,
+and her social gossip, and her beaux who think only of the tie of their
+cravats, and their strawberry-coloured gloves, and she is completely at
+sea, for she knows nothing in the world about higher things. To her, M.
+de Mornand would be a grave, serious, depressing man, a statesman, in
+short, and by the slighting manner in which you have heard her speak of
+the Chamber of Peers, my dear child, you can imagine how she would
+regard a proposal of marriage from him. So all this must be kept a
+profound secret between you and me, my dear ward, and your mind once
+made up, as it is I who am your guardian after all, and as your marriage
+will depend upon my consent, you will have no difficulty in carrying out
+your wishes eventually.'
+
+"'You must understand, my dear child,' said Madame de la Rochaigue,
+'that all I have just said to you about M. de Senneterre must be kept a
+profound secret between us. My sister Helena knows no more about
+matrimonial matters than a babe unborn, and that dear husband of mine
+has really gone politics mad. He dreams only of the Chamber of Peers,
+and knows no more about the fashions, and pleasure, and elegance, than a
+Huron Indian. In fact, he has no conception whatever of the delights of
+a life shared with a charming young duke, who is the most generous and
+amiable of men. So let us guard our secret well, my dearest child, and,
+when the time comes to inform your guardian of your decision, I'll
+attend to that, for M. de la Rochaigue has been in the habit of letting
+me have my own way so long that I am sure he will offer no opposition in
+this instance, but readily consent to do whatever we wish in the matter.
+And now I want to tell you that a most fortunate idea occurred to me the
+other day,' continued Madame de la Rochaigue. 'I have begged one of my
+friends, whom you already know, Madame de Mirecourt, to give a ball one
+week from to-day; so, my dear child, next Thursday, in the public
+_tete-a-tete_ of a quadrille, you will have an opportunity to judge of
+the sincerity of the sentiment M. de Senneterre feels for you.'
+
+"The very next morning after this conversation my guardian said to me,
+in the most confidential manner:
+
+"'My wife thinks of taking you to a ball Madame de Mirecourt intends to
+give. You will see M. de Mornand at this entertainment, and I am sure he
+will not let the opportunity pass to convince you of the deep and
+irresistible impression the sight of you made upon him when we went to
+congratulate him on the success of his speech that day at the palace.'
+
+"In like manner, a couple of days after my guardian and his wife had
+thus disclosed their plans, Mlle. Helena said to me:
+
+"'My dear Ernestine, my sister-in-law intends to take you to Madame de
+Mirecourt's ball Thursday. I think this will be an excellent opportunity
+for you to meet M. de Macreuse, and though this poor young man, who is
+so bowed down with grief, has none of the frivolous attributes which
+enable one to shine at affairs of this kind, he has requested one of his
+particular friends--quite an important personage, by the way, the sister
+of the Bishop of Ratopolis--to ask Madame de Mirecourt for a card for
+him. This request was promptly complied with, so on Thursday you will
+see him, and I feel sure you will not be able to resist his eloquence
+when he tells you, as he has told me, how your adored image has followed
+him everywhere, and has even troubled his prayers ever since the first
+time he saw you at church.'
+
+"It is consequently at the ball next Thursday, my dearest mother, that I
+am to have my first interview with Messrs. de Macreuse, de Senneterre
+and de Mornand.
+
+"Even if M. de Maillefort's sarcastic remarks had not harshly revealed
+the real cause of the admiration and affection so generally manifested
+for me, my fears and suspicions must now have been awakened by the
+duplicity of those around me, plotting unbeknown to each other, and
+deceiving each other in order to succeed in their nefarious designs. You
+can judge of my anxiety, my beloved mother, now these two successive
+revelations have assumed such grave importance.
+
+"To complete my confession, my dear mother, I must tell you plainly what
+my first impressions were in relation to the three persons the different
+members of the Rochaigue family wish me to marry.
+
+"Up to this time, I had never given the subject of marriage so much as a
+thought; the day for that seemed so far off, and it was such an
+important matter, that if a vague thought of it ever did flit through my
+mind, I merely congratulated myself that there was no need of troubling
+myself about that matter for a long time.
+
+"Consequently it was not with any thought of him as a possible husband
+that I was touched by the evident grief of M. de Macreuse, who, like
+myself, was mourning the loss of a mother, though what Mlle. Helena was
+continually saying about the sweetness of his expression, his profound
+melancholy, and the kindness of his heart as shown by his munificent
+alms, all combined to add a profound esteem to the compassion I felt for
+him.
+
+"M. de Senneterre, by the frankness and generosity of his character, by
+his unaffected gaiety and the graceful elegance of his manners, had
+pleased me very much; and it seemed to me that it would be very easy,
+though I am naturally so reserved, to feel perfect confidence in him.
+
+"As for M. de Mornand, he had impressed me very much, though this was
+probably due quite as much to what I had heard about the superiority of
+his talents and character as to the powerful influence he seemed to
+exert, so I felt almost overwhelmed, though decidedly proud of the few
+kind words he addressed to me when I met him in the garden of the
+Luxembourg.
+
+"And now when M. de Maillefort's revelations have made me distrust
+everything and everybody, I hear that all three of these men desire to
+marry me. Is it strange, then, that I am no longer able to read my own
+heart, and that, tormented by all kinds of doubts and suspicions, I ask
+myself if these three suitors for my hand are not all actuated by the
+same base motives as the persons by whom I am surrounded.
+
+"And harassed by these doubts, all that pleased me and all that I so
+much admired in them now disturbs and alarms me. What if M. de
+Macreuse's grief and piety, M. de Senneterre's charming urbanity of
+manner, and M. de Mornand's grand and generous utterances, all conceal
+base and mercenary natures!
+
+"Oh, mother, if you knew how terrible to me are these doubts which are
+completing the work of destruction M. de Maillefort's revelation began.
+
+"They are the more terrible because I shall always be obliged to live
+with my guardian and his family, and if I become convinced beyond a
+doubt that they have flattered and deceived me merely for their own
+aggrandisement, I shall feel for them only the bitterest contempt and
+aversion.
+
+"Because I am immensely rich, must I be married only for my money?
+
+"Am I doomed to the misery of such a marriage, the indifference,
+contempt, hatred, perhaps, that are sure to follow when a man is mean
+enough to wed a woman merely for mercenary motives?
+
+"Oh, mother, the thought is so horrible that it haunts me continually. I
+can not drive it away, strive as I may.
+
+"So I have resolved to escape from it at the cost of a dangerous,
+perhaps fatal experiment.
+
+"I have been induced to make this resolve because it seemed to be the
+only means of satisfying my cruel doubts, not only in regard to others,
+but myself as well. I must know once for all what I really am, and what
+I really appear to be, independent of my fortune.
+
+"Satisfied on this point, I shall easily be able to distinguish the true
+from the false. But how am I to ascertain what I am? How am I to
+discover my precise value, so to speak? Whom can I ask? Who will be
+frank enough to separate the young girl from the heiress in his
+valuation?
+
+"Besides, would such a verdict, however severe or kindly it might be,
+satisfy and reassure me entirely?
+
+"No, I must have the verdict of several disinterested parties.
+
+"But where can I find any such persons? After a great deal of thought, I
+have decided upon this plan.
+
+"Madame Laine was telling me about a week ago of some little
+entertainments that one of her friends gives every Sunday. I have sought
+and found, this evening, a way to attend one of these reunions in
+company with my governess, but ostensibly as a relative of hers, a young
+orphan who supports herself by her daily toil, like all the other young
+people who compose the company.
+
+"There no one will know me. What they really think of me will be shown
+conclusively by the reception given me. The rare perfections with which
+I am endowed--according to those around me--have had such a sudden and
+irresistible effect, they say, upon them, and upon the husbands they
+have picked out for me,--in short, I produce such a sensation at all the
+assemblies I frequent, that I am anxious to see if I shall prove equally
+irresistible to the young people at Madame Herbaut's modest
+entertainment.
+
+"If I do not, I shall know that I have been basely deceived, and there
+is little danger that I shall ever endanger my future happiness by
+fixing my choice upon either of the suitors attracted solely by
+cupidity.
+
+"I am also resolved to find some means of escaping the snares that seem
+to surround me on every side.
+
+"What means I do not know. Alas! alone in the world as I am, in whom can
+I confide? In whom can I trust?
+
+"In God and in you, my mother. I shall obey all the inspirations you
+send me, as I obey this, for, strange as it may appear, I cannot divest
+myself of the idea that this did come from you. At all events, it had
+its origin in a wise and noble sentiment,--a desire to know the truth,
+however disheartening it may be.
+
+"So to-morrow, I am resolved to attend the reunion at Madame Herbaut's
+house."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So the next day, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, having feigned indisposition, and
+having escaped the assiduous attentions of the Rochaigues by a firm
+refusal to admit them to her room, left the house soon after nightfall,
+accompanied by her governess, and, taking a cab some distance from the
+mansion, was driven to Madame Herbaut's house.
+
+END OF VOLUME I.
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVEN CARDINAL SINS
+
+PRIDE--CONTINUED
+
+[Illustration: "Gerald rushed in like one distracted"]
+
+
+
+
+Pride--One of the Seven Cardinal Sins.
+
+_ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS BY
+ADRIAN MARCEL._
+
+_BY EUGENE SUE_
+
+_IN TWO VOLUMES_
+
+_VOLUME II._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+Vol. II.
+
+CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+     I.   MADAME HERBAUT'S PARTY                             13
+
+    II.   THE DUCHESS ENTERTAINS ERNESTINE                   23
+
+   III.   A BOLD QUESTION                                    33
+
+    IV.   REASON ASSERTS ITSELF                              43
+
+     V.   A CONSUMING FEVER OF LOVE                          53
+
+    VI.   A DELICATE MISSION                                 61
+
+   VII.   GOOD NEWS                                          71
+
+  VIII.   A STARTLING REVELATION                             82
+
+    IX.   AN UNEXPECTED MEETING                              91
+
+     X.   DESPAIR                                            99
+
+    XI.   THE BALL                                          107
+
+   XII.   M. DE MACREUSE OVERDOES THE MATTER                118
+
+  XIII.   AN HONEST CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL         131
+
+   XIV.   VILLAINY UNMASKED                                 141
+
+    XV.   THE PROSPECTIVE MINISTER'S DEFEAT                 151
+
+   XVI.   DISINTERESTED AFFECTION                           162
+
+  XVII.   A FRIEND IN NEED                                  171
+
+ XVIII.   A QUESTION OF IDENTITY                            183
+
+   XIX.   ERNESTINE'S APPEAL                                190
+
+    XX.   AN ALLIANCE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE               198
+
+   XXI.   "DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND"                             207
+
+  XXII.   A FINAL VICTORY                                   216
+
+ XXIII.   A TEMPTING BAIT                                   228
+
+  XXIV.   AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER                        241
+
+   XXV.   A SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE                         253
+
+  XXVI.   A CRUCIAL MOMENT                                  262
+
+ XXVII.   THE MYSTERY DEEPENS                               274
+
+XXVIII.   FOILED!                                           284
+
+  XXIX.   AN EVENTFUL DAY                                   294
+
+   XXX.   THE SIGNING OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACTS             306
+
+  XXXI.   THE BARON HAS HIS REVENGE                         314
+
+ XXXII.   CONCLUSION                                        322
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                               PAGE
+
+"GERALD RUSHED IN LIKE ONE DISTRACTED"                _Frontispiece_
+
+"'SHE HAS FAINTED'"                                              72
+
+"'ENOUGH, MONSIEUR, ENOUGH'"                                    148
+
+"M. DE MAILLEFORT, ACCOMPANIED BY GERALD, BURST INTO THE ROOM"  290
+
+
+
+
+PRIDE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+MADAME HERBAUT'S PARTY.
+
+
+Madame Herbaut occupied quite a spacious suite of apartments on the
+third floor of the same house in which Commander Bernard lived.
+
+The rooms devoted to these Sunday reunions consisted of the dining-room,
+where the young people danced to the music of the piano; the
+drawing-room, where there were card-tables for those who did not care to
+dance, and, lastly, Madame Herbaut's bedroom, where guests could sit and
+chat without being disturbed by the noise of the dancing, and without
+disturbing the card-players.
+
+This simply furnished, but comfortable abode indicated that Madame
+Herbaut--who, by the way, was the widow of a small merchant--was in very
+comfortable circumstances, though far from rich.
+
+The worthy woman's two daughters found lucrative employment, one in
+painting on china, the other in copying music,--work which had led to
+her acquaintance with Herminie, who also copied music when pupils were
+scarce.
+
+The rooms presented a scene of even more than usual gaiety that evening.
+There were about fifteen young girls, none over twenty years of age,
+all resolved to make the most of Sunday, their only day of rest and
+pleasure, so richly earned by toil and confinement all the week, either
+at the counter, in the office, in some gloomy little back shop on the
+Rue St. Denis or the Rue des Bourdonnais, or perhaps in some _pension_.
+
+Some of these young girls were extremely pretty, and nearly all were
+dressed with the good taste that characterises the attire of this humble
+and industrious class of people only in Paris, probably.
+
+These poor girls, being obliged to work hard all the rest of the week,
+reserved all their little coquettish adornments for their one fete day,
+the day so impatiently awaited on Saturday, and so deeply regretted on
+Monday.
+
+As is usual at such reunions, the masculine element in the little
+assembly presented a much less elegant and stylish appearance than the
+feminine element. In fact, but for some almost imperceptible shades of
+difference, most of these young girls were as bright and attractive as
+if they belonged to the very best society, but this slight superiority
+on the part of the young girls was soon forgotten, thanks to the cordial
+good-humour and frank gaiety, tempered with respect, which the young men
+displayed towards their fair companions.
+
+Instead of being at its best about one o'clock in the morning, as is
+generally the case with a fashionable ball, this little assembly reached
+the very zenith of animation and enjoyment about nine o'clock, as the
+hostess always sent her guests home relentlessly before midnight, so
+they would be ready to resume work the next morning at the accustomed
+hour.
+
+And what a dreary time Monday morning was, with the music and laughter
+of the night before still ringing in your ears, and the prospect of six
+long days of close confinement and drudgery before you!
+
+But with what growing impatience and transports of joy you watched the
+approach of the longed-for day.
+
+It comes at last, and then what exuberant happiness!
+
+Oh, rare and modest joys that have never been impaired by satiety!
+
+But Madame Herbaut's guests were not philosophising much that evening.
+They were reserving their philosophy for Monday.
+
+These untiring young people were whirling swiftly around the room to the
+inspiring strains of a lively polka; and such was the magic of the
+strains that even the ladies and gentlemen in the drawing-room, in spite
+of their age and the grave preoccupations of Pope Joan and loto,--the
+only games Madame Herbaut allowed,--moved their heads to and fro and
+kept time with their feet, in short, executed a sort of antiquated
+sitting polka, which testified to the skill of the musician at the
+piano.
+
+And this musician was Herminie.
+
+About a month had passed since her first meeting with Gerald. Had other
+meetings followed that interview begun under most unpleasant auspices
+and ending with a gracious forgiveness? We shall know in due time.
+
+This evening, in a dress of some soft, pale blue material that cost,
+perhaps, twenty sous a yard, and a large bow of ribbon of the same
+delicate hue in her magnificent golden hair, the duchess was ravishingly
+beautiful.
+
+A faint rose tint suffused her cheeks, her large blue eyes shone like
+stars, and her half smiling scarlet lips revealed a row of pearl-white
+teeth, while her girlish bosom rose and fell gently beneath the thin
+fabric that veiled it, and her little foot, daintily clad in a satin
+slipper, beat time to the strains of the lively polka.
+
+To-day there could be no doubt that Herminie was very happy. Far from
+holding herself aloof from the amusements of her companions, Herminie
+greatly enjoyed seeing them enjoy themselves, and always did everything
+in her power to add to their pleasure, but this generosity of feeling
+would hardly suffice to explain the exuberance of life and youth and
+happiness which imparted an unusually radiant expression to the
+enchanting features of the duchess. One somehow felt that this charming
+creature knew how charming and lovely and refined she was, and that the
+knowledge made her, not proud, but happy,--happy like those generous
+possessors of wealth, who prize their wealth chiefly because it enables
+them to confer happiness on others.
+
+Though the duchess was deeply interested in her polka and the dancers,
+she turned her head involuntarily several times on hearing the door
+open, but on seeing the persons who entered, she seemed rather to
+reproach herself for her inattention to the business in hand.
+
+The door opened again, and again Herminie cast a quick, almost impatient
+glance in that direction.
+
+The newcomer this time was Olivier, the commander's nephew.
+
+Seeing the young soldier leave the door open as if some one was
+following him, Herminie blushed slightly, and ventured another glance.
+But alas! in the doorway behind him there appeared a stout, rosy youth
+of eighteen, with an honest, artless face, and hands encased in green
+kid gloves.
+
+It is difficult to say why Herminie seemed a little disappointed on the
+entrance of this youth,--perhaps it was because she hated green kid
+gloves,--but the disappointment betrayed itself in a charming pout and
+in the increasing vivacity of the strains to which her little foot was
+impatiently beating time.
+
+The polka ended, Herminie, who had been at the piano ever since the
+beginning of the evening, was immediately surrounded, and thanked and
+complimented and furthermore invited to dance by a number of the young
+men, but she filled the souls of the aspirants with despair by pleading
+a slight lameness as an excuse for not dancing that evening.
+
+And you should have seen the gait Herminie adopted, in support of this
+atrocious falsehood, decided upon the minute she saw Olivier come in
+alone! Certainly no wounded dove ever dragged her little pink foot along
+with a more distressed air.
+
+Inconsolable at this accident which deprived them of the much coveted
+pleasure of dancing with the duchess, the aspirants, hoping for some
+compensation, offered their arm to the interesting cripple, but she had
+the cruelty to prefer the support of Madame Herbaut's eldest daughter,
+and repaired with her to that lady's room to rest and get a little fresh
+air, she said, as the windows of that apartment overlooked Commander
+Bernard's garden.
+
+Herminie had hardly left the room, leaning on Hortense Herbaut's arm,
+when Mlle. de Beaumesnil arrived, accompanied by Madame Laine.
+
+The richest heiress in France wore a dress of simple white muslin, with
+a narrow blue sash, and her entrance was unnoticed, though it occurred
+during the interval between two quadrilles.
+
+Ernestine was not pretty, neither was she ugly, so no one paid the
+slightest attention to her; and as the young girl compared this
+reception with the flattering eagerness with which people had crowded
+around her heretofore, her heart sank, and she began to realise the
+truth of M. de Maillefort's words.
+
+"They knew my name at the other entertainments," Ernestine said to
+herself, "and it was only the heiress that they gazed at, and flattered,
+and besieged with attentions."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Madame Laine was just introducing Ernestine to Madame Herbaut when that
+lady's eldest daughter, who had accompanied Herminie to the bedroom,
+said, after a glance into the drawing-room:
+
+"I must leave you, my dear duchess. I notice that a lady has just come
+in who wrote to mamma this morning, asking permission to bring a young
+relative with her, so you see--"
+
+"Why, go, of course, my dear Hortense. You must do the honours of your
+house, certainly," replied Herminie, not sorry, perhaps, to be left
+alone awhile.
+
+So Mlle. Herbaut rejoined her mother, who was welcoming Ernestine with
+simple cordiality.
+
+"You will soon become used to our ways, my dear," she was saying. "The
+young girls and the young men dance in the dining-room, while their
+mothers and fathers--when they come--play cards in the drawing-room, so
+you see each guest amuses himself to his liking."
+
+Then, to her daughter, she added:
+
+"Hortense, take mademoiselle to the dining-room. You, my dear friend,"
+she continued, addressing the governess, "must come to the Pope Joan
+table. I know your taste, you see."
+
+As we said before, this introduction had taken place in the interval
+between the polka and a quadrille, and a young painter, a very good
+musician, having taken Herminie's seat, now struck a few chords as a
+signal for the dancers to take their places.
+
+The Herbaut girls, being daughters of the house, and being also
+extremely pretty and good-natured, seldom lacked for partners, and
+Olivier, wearing with much grace the dashing uniform which would have
+sufficed to distinguish him from the other men, even if he had not been
+remarkably prepossessing in appearance, approached Mlle. Herbaut just as
+she was entering the dining-room, in company with Ernestine, and said:
+
+"You haven't forgotten, I hope, that this quadrille belongs to me, Mlle.
+Hortense. Don't you think we had better take our places?"
+
+"I will be at your service in a second, M. Olivier," replied Hortense,
+who was conducting Mlle. de Beaumesnil towards a long couch, on which
+several other young girls were seated.
+
+"I hope you will pardon me for leaving you so soon," she remarked to
+Ernestine, "but I am engaged for this dance. Won't you take a seat here
+on the couch. I'm sure you will not lack for partners."
+
+"Pray do not trouble yourself any further about me, mademoiselle,"
+replied Ernestine.
+
+The sounds of the piano becoming more and more peremptory, Hortense
+Herbaut hurried off to join her partner, and Mlle. de Beaumesnil seated
+herself on the couch.
+
+The test on which Ernestine had so courageously resolved was beginning
+in earnest. Near her sat five or six young girls, the least attractive,
+it must be admitted, of the guests, and who, not having been engaged in
+advance, like the belles of the ball, were modestly waiting for an
+invitation to take part in the quadrille.
+
+Either because Ernestine's companions were prettier than she was, or
+because their manner was more attractive, she saw one after another of
+them invited, without any apparent notice being taken of her.
+
+Only one very plain-looking young girl was sharing Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+neglected condition when some one exclaimed:
+
+"Another couple is needed! We must have another couple here!"
+
+The youth so gorgeously adorned with the apple-green kid gloves was
+anxious to do his part towards filling the vacancy, so, seeing two young
+girls still unengaged, he rushed forward to invite one of them, but
+instead of making his choice unhesitatingly, so as to spare the one that
+was left the petty humiliation of feeling herself weighed in the balance
+only to be found wanting, he stood for a few seconds as if undecided,
+and then selected Mlle. de Beaumesnil's neighbour, his preference
+being, doubtless, due to the greater showiness of her apparel.
+
+Trivial as this incident seems, perhaps, it would be difficult to
+describe the intense anguish that wrung Mlle. de Beaumesnil's heart.
+
+On seeing several of the other young girls invited in turn, Ernestine's
+natural modesty had excused the preference thus evinced, but in
+proportion as the number of her companions diminished, and when she at
+last found herself left alone with this unprepossessing companion, whose
+homeliness was not even redeemed by any pretensions to elegance of
+manner, her heart sank within her, but when she saw herself disdained,
+as it were, after having been compared with her companion, she
+experienced a terrible shock.
+
+"Alas!" she said to herself, with infinite sadness, "if I cannot stand
+comparison with these young girls around me, and particularly with this
+last one, nobody can ever care for me, and any one who tries to convince
+me to the contrary must be--I see plainly now--actuated only by base and
+mercenary motives. All these young girls who have been preferred to me
+can, at least, feel assured that the preference is sincere,--there are
+no cruel doubts to mar the pleasure of their innocent triumph; but I--I
+shall never know even this slight happiness."
+
+And Mlle. de Beaumesnil's grief at the thought was so poignant that she
+had all she could do to repress her tears.
+
+But though these tears did not flow, her pale face betrayed such painful
+emotion that two generous-hearted people each noticed it in turn.
+
+The quadrille was going on while mademoiselle abandoned herself to these
+gloomy reflections, and Olivier, who was dancing with Mlle. Hortense
+Herbaut, found himself directly opposite Ernestine, and thus in a
+position to observe the humiliating situation in which she was placed,
+as well as the almost heart-broken expression of her face. Olivier was
+so deeply touched that he asked:
+
+"Who is that young lady sitting alone over there? I have never seen her
+here before, I think."
+
+"No, M. Olivier, she is a stranger. One of mamma's friends brought her
+this evening."
+
+"She is not pretty, and she doesn't seem to know anybody. At least
+nobody has asked her to dance. Poor little thing, how dull it must be
+for her!"
+
+"If I had not been engaged for this dance, I should have stayed with
+her, but--"
+
+"Of course, Mlle. Hortense, you have your duties as hostess to attend
+to, but I will certainly ask her to dance the next quadrille with me. I
+don't like to see her so neglected."
+
+"Mother and I will both feel exceedingly grateful to you, M. Olivier. It
+would be a real deed of charity," said Hortense.
+
+Almost at the same instant that Olivier first noticed Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's isolation, Herminie entered the salon from the adjoining
+bedroom, and, walking up to one of the card-tables, leaned over the back
+of Madame Herbaut's chair to watch the game. From where she stood she
+could look straight out into the dining-room through the folding doors,
+and, chancing to raise her eyes, she exclaimed:
+
+"Why, who is that young girl sitting there alone on the couch, and
+looking so sad?"
+
+Madame Herbaut, glancing up from her cards, answered:
+
+"It is a young girl one of my friends over there at the Pope Joan table
+brought with her this evening. She doesn't know anybody here, and, not
+being at all pretty, it is not surprising that she has no partner."
+
+"But the poor child can't be allowed to sit there alone all the
+evening," said Herminie, "so, as I can't dance myself, I'll try to
+entertain the stranger and make the time seem less tedious to her."
+
+"It is just like you to think of doing such a kind and generous act,"
+replied Madame Herbaut, laughing, "and I assure you I shall be very
+grateful to you, for Hortense and Claire have so many other duties on
+their hands, and I fear there isn't much likelihood of this young girl's
+securing any partners."
+
+"Oh, don't worry about that, madame," replied Herminie. "I'm sure I
+shall be able to save her from any discomfort on that account."
+
+"How will you do it, my dear duchess?"
+
+"Oh, that is my affair," laughed Herminie.
+
+And still limping slightly,--deceitful creature that she was,--she
+walked towards the couch on which Mlle. de Beaumesnil was sitting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE DUCHESS ENTERTAINS ERNESTINE.
+
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, on seeing Herminie approach, was so struck by her
+remarkable beauty that she entirely failed to notice the slight lameness
+which the duchess had feigned in order to avoid dancing that evening.
+
+So what was Ernestine's surprise, when the duchess, seating herself
+beside her, said, in the most friendly manner:
+
+"I am deputised by Madame Herbaut to come and keep you company for a
+little while, in place of her daughters, who, of course, have many
+duties to perform."
+
+"So some one at least pities me," thought Mlle. de Beaumesnil, deeply
+humiliated.
+
+But Herminie's voice and manner were so sweet and engaging, and the
+expression of her face was so kind, that Ernestine, reproaching herself
+for the bitterness of her first thought, replied:
+
+"I thank you very much, mademoiselle, but I fear that by thus detaining
+you, I shall deprive you of the pleasure of--"
+
+"Of dancing?" asked Herminie, smilingly. "I assure you, mademoiselle,
+that my foot hurts me too much this evening to permit of my enjoying
+myself in that way, so I trust you will grant me your companionship as a
+compensation for my misfortune."
+
+"Really, mademoiselle, you quite overpower me by your kindness."
+
+"I am only doing what you would gladly do for me, I am sure,
+mademoiselle, if you should see me sitting alone, as frequently happens
+when one attends a little entertainment like this for the first time."
+
+"I do not believe, mademoiselle," replied Ernestine, smiling, and now
+made entirely at ease by these gracious advances,--"in fact, I am sure
+that you would never be left alone even the first time you went
+anywhere."
+
+"Oh, mademoiselle, mademoiselle, it is you who are overwhelming me with
+compliments now," laughingly protested Herminie.
+
+"I assure you that I am only saying what I really think," Ernestine
+replied so artlessly that the duchess, appreciating the artless
+flattery, replied:
+
+"I thank you for your very flattering words. I am sure that they are
+sincere; as for their being really deserved,--that is an entirely
+different thing. But tell me, what do you think of our little party?"
+
+"It is charming, mademoiselle."
+
+"I think so, too. Everybody is so gay and animated! Each guest seems
+determined to make the most of every minute of time. Nor is it strange.
+Sunday comes only once a week for all of us here, and enjoyment is
+really enjoyment, while to many people it is a fatiguing occupation.
+Surfeited with pleasure, they do not even know what it is to be amused;
+and it seems to me that nothing could be more sad than to be always
+trying hard to amuse oneself."
+
+"Oh, yes, it must be sad, as sad as trying to find true affection, when
+nobody cares for you," Ernestine answered, unconsciously revealing the
+thought uppermost in her mind.
+
+There was such an intense melancholy in the girl's tone and in her face,
+that Herminie was deeply touched by it.
+
+"Poor child!" she said to herself, "probably she is not a favourite at
+home, and that makes her all the more sensitive to slights when she is
+out in company."
+
+Something Herminie noticed just then seemed to confirm this suspicion,
+for the progress of the dance having brought the green-gloved youth and
+his partner directly opposite Ernestine, the duchess saw the favoured
+one cast several compassionate and rather patronising glances at the
+less fortunate damsel.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil also noticed these glances, and fancied that she
+must be an object of pity to every one. The thought, of course, wounded
+her deeply, so one can judge of her gratitude, when Herminie said, with
+a smile:
+
+"Are you willing to waive all ceremony between us, mademoiselle?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Well, I find it dreadfully warm here. Would you mind going with me to
+Madame Herbaut's chamber to stay awhile?"
+
+"Oh, thank you, mademoiselle, thank you," exclaimed Ernestine,
+gratefully, rising eagerly as she spoke.
+
+"But why do you thank me?" asked Herminie, drawing the younger girl's
+hand through her arm. "On the contrary, it is I who should thank you for
+consenting to leave the ballroom on my account."
+
+"I thank you because I understand your motive, mademoiselle," replied
+Ernestine, as they entered Madame Herbaut's chamber, which they found
+entirely deserted.
+
+"Well, now that we are alone, explain again why you thanked me a minute
+ago," said Herminie, when they had seated themselves.
+
+"Mademoiselle, you are very generous, so you must be equally frank,"
+began Ernestine.
+
+"Frankness is one of my greatest virtues--or failings, mademoiselle,"
+replied Herminie, smiling. "But why this appeal to my frankness?"
+
+"Just now, when you asked me to accompany you here because the other
+room was too warm, you were impelled to do it merely by your kindness of
+heart. You said to yourself: 'This poor girl is neglected. No one asks
+her to dance because she is so unattractive. If she remains here, she
+will become an object of ridicule, and the knowledge will wound her
+deeply. I will save her from this humiliation by getting away under some
+pretext or other.' That was exactly what you said to yourself. Is it not
+so?" insisted Mlle. de Beaumesnil, making no effort to conceal her tears
+this time. "Confess that what I say is only the truth?"
+
+"It is," said Herminie, with her accustomed honesty. "Why should I not
+admit that your unpleasant position excited my sympathy?"
+
+"And I thank you for it," said Ernestine, offering her hand to her
+companion. "You have no idea how grateful I am, too, for your
+sincerity."
+
+"And, as you insist upon my being perfectly frank, I must tell you that
+you have no idea how deeply you pained me just now," said Herminie,
+pressing the proffered hand cordially.
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes; for when I remarked what a sad thing it must be to strive as hard
+for enjoyment as some people do, you replied, in accents that touched me
+to the heart, 'Yes, it must be as sad as trying to find true affection
+when nobody cares for you.' Have I not set you an example of frankness?
+Can you not be equally frank with me?"
+
+"It is true, mademoiselle, that I do not seem to follow your example in
+this respect," said Ernestine, hesitatingly.
+
+"Ah, well, let me ask you just one question, and pray do not attribute
+it to mere idle curiosity. Can it be that you do not find among your own
+relatives the affection you long for?"
+
+"I am an orphan," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, in such a touching voice
+that Herminie's sympathy increased.
+
+"An orphan!" she repeated; "an orphan! Alas! I understand, for I, too--"
+
+"You, too, are an orphan?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How glad I am!" exclaimed Ernestine, naively. Then thinking how cruel
+or, at least, how strange the remark must have sounded, she added:
+
+"Forgive me, mademoiselle, forgive me, but--"
+
+"Ah, I think I read your feelings in my turn," responded Herminie. "Your
+exclamation simply meant: 'She knows how sad the lot of an orphan is,
+and she will love me, perhaps. Perhaps in her I shall find the affection
+I have failed to find elsewhere.' Am I right?" added Herminie, offering
+her hand in her turn. "Have I not read your thoughts aright?"
+
+"Yes, that is true," replied Ernestine, yielding more and more to the
+singular charm that pervaded her companion's every word and look. "You
+have been so kind to me; you seem so honest and sincere that I do indeed
+long for your affection, mademoiselle. It--it is an ambition only. I
+dare not call it a hope, for you scarcely know me," concluded Ernestine,
+timidly.
+
+"But do you know me any better than I know you?"
+
+"No, but with you it is very different."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because I am already under deep obligations to you, and yet I ask an
+even greater favour."
+
+"But how do you know that I will not be very glad to give you the
+friendship you ask in exchange for yours? You seem to me well worthy of
+it," said Herminie, who, on her side, was beginning to feel an
+increasing fondness for Ernestine.
+
+Then, suddenly becoming thoughtful, she added: "Do you know that this is
+very strange?"
+
+"What, mademoiselle?" asked Ernestine, a little worried by the
+seriousness of her companion's face.
+
+"We have known each other barely half an hour. I do not know your name,
+you do not know mine; yet here we are almost exchanging confidences."
+
+"But why should you be surprised to see affection and confidence spring
+up suddenly between a benefactress and the person obliged,
+mademoiselle?" asked Ernestine, timidly, almost imploringly, as if
+fearing Herminie might regret the interest she had manifested in her up
+to this time. "I am sure nothing could bring two persons together so
+quickly and so closely as compassion on one side and gratitude on the
+other."
+
+"I am too anxious to believe you not to yield to your arguments very
+readily," Herminie answered, half laughingly, half seriously.
+
+"But my reasoning is true, mademoiselle," said Ernestine, encouraged by
+her success, and anxious to make her companion share her convictions;
+"besides, the similarity in our situations helps to bring us together.
+The fact that we are both orphans is surely a bond between us."
+
+"It is indeed," said the duchess, pressing Ernestine's hand
+affectionately.
+
+"Then you will really grant me your affection some day?"
+
+"A few minutes ago, without even knowing you, I was touched by your
+painful position," replied Herminie. "Now I feel that I love you because
+it is so evident that you have a kind and noble heart."
+
+"Oh, if you only knew what pleasure your words give me! I will never
+prove ungrateful, I swear it, mademoiselle!"
+
+Then as if bethinking herself, she added, "Mademoiselle? It seems to me
+that it will be very difficult for me to call you that now."
+
+"And equally difficult for me to reply in the same ceremonious way,"
+responded the duchess. "So call me Herminie and I will call you--"
+
+"Ernestine."
+
+"Ernestine," exclaimed Herminie, remembering that this was her sister's
+name,--the name the Comtesse de Beaumesnil had mentioned several times
+in the young musician's presence when speaking of her beloved daughter;
+"you are called Ernestine? You spoke of one bond between us just a
+moment ago; this is another."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"A lady to whom I was deeply attached had a daughter who was also named
+Ernestine."
+
+"You see how many reasons there are that we should love each other,
+Herminie," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil; "and as we are friends now, I am
+going to ask you all sorts of impertinent questions."
+
+"Proceed, then!" said Herminie, smiling.
+
+"Well, in the first place, what do you do for a living? What is your
+profession, Herminie?"
+
+"I give lessons on the piano and in singing."
+
+"How lucky your pupils are! How kind you must be to them!"
+
+"No, indeed, I am very severe," replied the duchess, gaily. "And you,
+Ernestine, what do you do?"
+
+"I--I do embroidery and tapestry work," Mlle. de Beaumesnil answered,
+somewhat embarrassed.
+
+"And do you have plenty of work, my dear child?" asked Herminie, with
+almost maternal solicitude; "work of that kind is usually so very scarce
+at this season of the year."
+
+"I came from the country only a short time ago to join my relative
+here," replied poor Ernestine, more and more confused; then gathering a
+certain amount of courage from the very exigency of the situation, she
+added: "So you see, Herminie, that I have never lacked work yet."
+
+"If you ever should, I think I might be able to procure it for you, my
+dear Ernestine."
+
+"You! and how?"
+
+"I, too, have done embroidery for some of the large shops, when--well,
+one may surely confess it to a friend--when pupils were scarce, and I
+had to eke out a living in that way; so as they were very well satisfied
+with my work at the establishment of which I speak,--one of the largest
+in town by the way,--I am still on good terms with them, and feel sure
+that a recommendation from me would ensure you work if you need it."
+
+"But as you embroider, too, Herminie, I should be depriving you of one
+of your resources, and if pupils should become scarce again, what would
+you do?" asked Ernestine, deeply touched by Herminie's generous offer.
+
+"Oh, I have other resources now," answered the other girl, proudly. "I
+copy music, too. But the important thing, you see, Ernestine, is to be
+certain of work, for you, too, alas! know, perhaps, that it is not
+enough for those who labour for their daily bread to have energy and
+determination; they must have employment as well."
+
+"Certainly, and that is very hard to find sometimes," said Ernestine,
+sadly, thinking for the first time of the sad lot of many young girls,
+and reflecting that her new friend had doubtless been in the deplorable
+situation of which she spoke.
+
+"Yes, and it is terrible for one to see oneself nearing the end of one's
+resources, no matter how willing to work and how courageous one may be,"
+replied Herminie, sadly. "And it is for this very reason that I will do
+everything in my power to spare you such misery as that, my poor
+Ernestine. But tell me, where do you live? I will call and see you
+sometime when I am out giving lessons, that is, if it is not too far out
+of my way, for I have to be very saving of my time."
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil's embarrassment was very great, and it was still
+farther augmented by the painful necessity of being compelled to utter a
+falsehood, so it was with no little hesitation that she replied:
+
+"I should be very glad to see you, my dear Herminie, but--but my
+relative--"
+
+"Poor child, I understand," said Herminie, quickly, unconsciously coming
+to Ernestine's assistance. "You are not in your own home, of course, and
+your relative makes you painfully conscious of the fact, sometimes,
+perhaps."
+
+"That is it exactly," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, delighted with this
+excuse. "My relative is not bad at heart, but so peevish, and such a
+grumbler. I don't believe there was ever another such grumbler in the
+world," she added, smiling.
+
+"That is enough for me," exclaimed Herminie, laughing in her turn. "If
+she's a grumbler, she'll never have a visit from me. The only way out of
+the difficulty, Ernestine, is for you to come and see me whenever you
+have time."
+
+"I was just going to ask you to grant me that privilege."
+
+"Yes, yes, you shall come and see how pretty my room is," said the
+duchess.
+
+Then remembering that her new friend was not as comfortably housed,
+Herminie added:
+
+"When I say that, I don't really mean it. My room is really very
+unpretentious."
+
+But Ernestine understood Herminie's disposition and character pretty
+well already, so she said, smiling:
+
+"Be honest, Herminie."
+
+"About what?"
+
+"Your room is charming, and you only retracted your words because you
+thought I would feel badly because I hadn't a room as pretty as yours."
+
+"Do you know, Ernestine, that you would be a very dangerous person to
+have around if any one had a secret, for you seem to divine
+everything."
+
+"I was sure of it! Your room is charming. How I shall enjoy seeing it."
+
+"You must not say how I shall enjoy seeing it. You must say, 'Herminie,
+I am coming to take a glass of milk with you some morning, soon.'"
+
+"Oh, I'll say that with all the pleasure in life."
+
+"And I accept your offer with equal pleasure. Only when you come,
+Ernestine, don't let it be any later than nine o'clock, for I begin my
+round of lessons at ten. And now what day will you come?"
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil was rescued from this embarrassing situation by
+Providence in the shape of a handsome non-commissioned officer of
+hussars, who was no other than Olivier.
+
+Faithful to the promise made to Mlle. Herbaut, the kind-hearted fellow
+had come to ask Ernestine to dance the next quadrille with him, so,
+after having greeted Herminie in the most cordial and respectful manner,
+he bowed low before Ernestine, with the stereotyped phrase:
+
+"Will mademoiselle do me the honour to dance the next quadrille with
+me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A BOLD QUESTION.
+
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil was doubly surprised, as the invitation must have
+been premeditated, inasmuch as she was not then in the ball-room, so
+having no answer ready in her astonishment, Herminie came to her
+assistance by saying gaily to the young soldier:
+
+"I accept your invitation in mademoiselle's name, M. Olivier, for she is
+quite capable of depriving herself of the pleasure of dancing merely to
+keep me company."
+
+"As mademoiselle has accepted for me," added Ernestine, smiling, "I can
+but follow her example."
+
+Olivier bowed again, and turning to Herminie remarked:
+
+"Unfortunately I arrived very late this evening, mademoiselle, for I
+found you had not only ceased playing, but had also abandoned all idea
+of dancing."
+
+"You did come very late, M. Olivier, for I recollect seeing you come in
+at the conclusion of the last polka I played."
+
+"Alas! mademoiselle, you see in me a victim of my own patience and
+another's unpunctuality. I was waiting for a friend who intended to come
+with me."
+
+Herminie blushed slightly and averted her eyes.
+
+"But this friend did not come," Olivier added.
+
+"Possibly he is ill, M. Olivier," said the duchess, with feigned
+indifference.
+
+"No, mademoiselle, he is perfectly well, for I saw him only a few hours
+ago, but I think his mother must have detained him, for the
+kind-hearted fellow never opposes her in anything."
+
+The words seemed to dispel the slight cloud which had gathered, now and
+then, on the brow of the duchess during the evening, and she answered,
+gaily:
+
+"Then you do very wrong to blame your friend if he has such a good
+excuse for his absence, M. Olivier."
+
+"I am not blaming him in the least, Mlle. Herminie. I am only pitying
+him for not having come, and pitying myself for arriving so late, as I
+might, perhaps, have had the pleasure of dancing with mademoiselle
+sooner," added Olivier, addressing Mlle. de Beaumesnil, so she would not
+feel that she was left out of the conversation.
+
+Suddenly the words, "Take your places!" resounded through the room,
+accompanied by a few chords on the piano.
+
+"I am at your service, mademoiselle," said Olivier, offering his arm to
+Ernestine.
+
+The girl arose to accompany Olivier, but Herminie caught her by the
+hand, and whispered:
+
+"One moment, Ernestine, let me arrange your sash. It needs pinning."
+
+And the duchess, with charming solicitude, straightened a disordered
+fold in the sash, fastened it with a pin she took from her own girdle,
+smoothed out a slight wrinkle in Ernestine's corsage,--rendered her, in
+short, all those little kindly services which two devoted sisters are
+always performing for each other.
+
+"Now, mademoiselle," remarked Herminie, with kindly gravity, after
+another brief survey of Ernestine's toilet, "I will let you go and
+dance, but you must promise to enjoy yourself immensely."
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil was so touched by Herminie's little attentions that,
+before accepting Olivier's arm, she found an opportunity to imprint a
+light kiss on the cheek of the duchess, and whisper:
+
+"Thanks again! Many, many thanks!"
+
+And really happy for the first time since her mother's death, Ernestine
+left Herminie, took the arm Olivier offered, and accompanied him into
+the ball-room.
+
+The young hussar was remarkably handsome and distinguished-looking,
+cordial in his manner towards men, and extremely deferential to women.
+This, together with the fact that he wore his showy uniform, decorated
+with the cross he had so bravely won, with easy grace, made him a great
+favourite at Madame Herbaut's entertainments, so Ernestine excited not a
+little envy and jealousy when she appeared in the ball-room on Olivier's
+arm.
+
+Even the most artless and ingenuous women are quick to discern the
+effect they produce upon other women.
+
+And in Mlle. de Beaumesnil's case, these powers of penetration were
+united with a firm determination to observe every incident of the
+evening with the closest attention, so, on perceiving the envy which
+Olivier's preference excited, the young girl's gratitude increased.
+
+She did not doubt in the least that Olivier, out of the kindness of his
+heart, had wished to avenge the painful, almost humiliating slight she
+had received earlier in the evening, and a natural feeling of gratitude
+made Mlle. de Beaumesnil treat Olivier with less reserve, perhaps, than
+was quite proper in the extremely delicate position in which she was
+placed.
+
+Olivier, in promising Mlle. Herbaut that he would ask Ernestine to
+dance, had merely yielded to a generous impulse, for, seeing Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil such a long way off, he had thought her almost ugly. He had
+never exchanged a word with her, he did not know whether she was clever
+or stupid, so, glad to find a topic of conversation in the warm
+friendship that seemed to exist between Herminie and Ernestine, he
+remarked to the latter, in one of the pauses of the dance:
+
+"You seem to know Mlle. Herminie very well, mademoiselle. What a
+charming young lady she is!"
+
+"I agree with you perfectly, monsieur, though I met Mlle. Herminie this
+evening for the first time."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Our sudden intimacy surprises you, does it not, monsieur? But why
+should it? Sometimes the richest are the most generous. They do not wait
+to be asked; they offer their largess to you of their own accord. That
+was the case with Herminie this evening."
+
+"I understand, mademoiselle. You knew no one here, and Mlle. Herminie--"
+
+"Seeing me alone, had the goodness to come to me. This can not surprise
+you very much, however."
+
+"Why not, mademoiselle?"
+
+"Because a moment ago you, monsieur, were actuated by the same
+charitable impulse in asking me to dance."
+
+"Charitable? What an expression to use in this connection,
+mademoiselle!"
+
+"It is the right one, however."
+
+"Quite the contrary, mademoiselle."
+
+"Come, admit it, monsieur. You ought always to tell the truth, you
+know."
+
+"Frankly, mademoiselle," responded Olivier, smiling in his turn, "should
+I be performing an act of charity--allow me to make this comparison--in
+culling a forgotten or unseen flower?"
+
+"Say, rather, a rejected one."
+
+"So be it, mademoiselle. But might this not merely show the poor taste
+of a person who would prefer a big red poppy to a modest violet."
+
+And Olivier cast a laughing glance at the buxom lass whose gaudy attire
+did seem to justify the comparison.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil could not help smiling, but she answered, with a
+shake of the head:
+
+"Ah, monsieur, kind as your reply is, it proves that I am doubly right."
+
+"How is that, mademoiselle?"
+
+"You took compassion on me, and you still have sufficient compassion to
+be unwilling to admit the fact."
+
+"You do right to insist upon frankness, mademoiselle. It is a thousand
+times better than compliments."
+
+"And what I certainly expect of you, monsieur."
+
+"Well, yes, mademoiselle; seeing that you were the only person not
+dancing, I thought how dull it must be for you, and I resolved to engage
+you for the next quadrille. I hope my sincerity has not offended you,
+but you insisted--"
+
+"Certainly, monsieur; and I am so grateful for your sincerity that if I
+dared--"
+
+"Do not hesitate, I beg of you, mademoiselle."
+
+"But no, however frank you may be, however great a lover of truth, your
+sincerity, I am sure, would not exceed certain limits--"
+
+"Those you yourself prescribe, mademoiselle; no others."
+
+"Are you in earnest?"
+
+"I am, I assure you."
+
+"The question I am about to put to you, monsieur, will seem so peculiar,
+so bold, perhaps."
+
+"Then, mademoiselle, I shall tell you that it seems strange and bold,
+that is all."
+
+"I don't think I shall ever dare--"
+
+"Ah, mademoiselle, you seem to be afraid of frankness, in your turn,"
+said Olivier, laughing.
+
+"Say, rather, that I tremble for your sincerity; it will have to be so
+great, so rare, to stand my test."
+
+"You need have no fears, I will vouch for it, mademoiselle."
+
+"Well, monsieur, what do you think of my appearance?"
+
+"Mademoiselle," stammered Olivier, who was not in the least prepared for
+such a brusque and embarrassing question; "really--I--"
+
+"Ah, you see that you dare not say what you think, monsieur," exclaimed
+Ernestine, gaily. "But wait, to put you quite at your ease, let us
+suppose that on leaving this entertainment you should meet one of your
+friends, and in telling him about the young ladies you danced with, what
+would you say about me if you should happen to remember that I was one
+of your partners?"
+
+"Well, mademoiselle," responded Olivier, who had partially recovered
+from his surprise, "I should merely say to my friend, 'I saw a young
+lady whom nobody asked to dance. This interested me in her, so I engaged
+her for the next quadrille, not supposing that our conversation would
+prove particularly interesting, for not knowing the young lady at all, I
+had nothing but commonplaces to say to her. But quite the contrary.
+Thanks to my partner, our conversation was extremely animated, and the
+time passed like a dream.'"
+
+"And what if your friend should perhaps ask if this young lady was
+pretty or ugly?"
+
+"I should say that I had not been able to distinguish her features very
+well from a distance," replied Olivier, intrepidly, "but on seeing her
+closer, and looking at her more attentively, and more particularly after
+I had heard her talk, I found her face so gentle and kind and
+characterised by such an expression of winning frankness that I ceased
+to think that she was not pretty. But I should add, still speaking to my
+friend, of course: 'Do not repeat these remarks made to you in
+confidence, for it is only women of great good sense and amiability who
+ask for, or forgive, sincerity.' It is consequently only to a very
+discreet friend that I should say this, mademoiselle."
+
+"I thank you so much, monsieur. I am grateful, you have no idea how
+grateful, for your frankness," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, in such a
+sincere and earnest voice that Olivier, surprised and touched in spite
+of himself, gazed at the girl with lively interest.
+
+Just then the dance ended, and Olivier took Ernestine back to Herminie,
+who was waiting for her; then, impressed by the singular character of
+the young girl with whom he had just danced, he withdrew himself a
+little apart to think over their strange conversation.
+
+"You enjoyed yourself very much, did you not, Ernestine?" asked
+Herminie, affectionately. "I knew it by your face. You talked all the
+time you were dancing."
+
+"M. Olivier is very pleasant; besides, knowing that you were so well
+acquainted with him made me feel perfect confidence in him at once."
+
+"And he deserves it, I assure you, Ernestine. No one could have a better
+heart or a nobler character. His most intimate friend"--and the duchess
+blushed almost imperceptibly--"tells me that M. Olivier works like a
+slave at the most uncongenial employment in order to utilise his leave
+and assist his uncle, a retired officer of marines, crippled with
+wounds, who resides in this same house and has only his pension to live
+on."
+
+"This doesn't surprise me at all, Herminie. I knew that M. Olivier must
+have a kind heart."
+
+"He is as brave as a lion, too, with it all. His friend, who served in
+the same regiment, has told me of many deeds of wonderful valour on M.
+Olivier's part."
+
+"That seems only natural to me. I have always believed that good and
+kind-hearted people were the bravest," replied Ernestine. "You, for
+example, must be very courageous, Herminie."
+
+The conversation between the two young girls was again interrupted by a
+young man, who, after interchanging a quick glance with Herminie,
+politely invited Ernestine to dance.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil saw the look, and it made her blush and smile.
+Nevertheless, she made an engagement to dance the next quadrille, but as
+soon as the young man had walked away Ernestine gaily remarked to her
+new friend:
+
+"You are making me a very dangerous person, my dear Herminie."
+
+"Why do you say that, Ernestine?"
+
+"That invitation I just received--"
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"Was all your work."
+
+"Mine?"
+
+"Yes, you said to yourself, 'This poor Ernestine must, at least, dance
+twice during the evening. Everybody is not as kind-hearted as M.
+Olivier, but I am queen here, and I will give orders to one of my
+subjects.'"
+
+But just then Queen Herminie's subject came to say that the quadrille
+was forming.
+
+"Good-bye, Madame Sybil," exclaimed Herminie, shaking her finger
+threateningly at Mlle. de Beaumesnil. "I'll teach you not to be so proud
+of your wonderful powers of divination."
+
+The young girl had scarcely walked away with her partner before Olivier
+came up, and, seating himself beside the duchess, said:
+
+"Who is that young girl I just danced with?"
+
+"An orphan who supports herself by her embroidery, M. Olivier, and who
+is not very happy, I think, for you can not imagine the touching way in
+which she thanked me for my attention this evening. It was this that
+made us friends so quickly, for I never saw her until to-night."
+
+"That is what she meant, I suppose, by speaking so artlessly of what she
+called your compassion, and mine."
+
+"Poor child! She must have been very unkindly treated, and is still,
+perhaps, to make her so grateful for the slightest show of interest."
+
+"Hers is certainly a very original character. You can't imagine what a
+strange question she asked me, imploring me to be perfectly frank all
+the while."
+
+"No, I can not."
+
+"Well, she asked me whether I thought her pretty or ugly."
+
+"What a strange child! And what did you answer?"
+
+"I told her the truth, as she insisted."
+
+"What! M. Olivier, did you really tell her that she wasn't pretty?"
+
+"I certainly did, adding, however,--and that, too, was the truth,--that
+she had such a frank and gentle manner that it made one quite forget
+that she was not pretty."
+
+"Great heavens! M. Olivier," cried Herminie, almost in affright, "that
+wasn't a pleasant thing for her to hear. And she did not seem hurt?"
+
+"Not the least bit in the world. Quite the contrary, in fact, and that
+was what surprised me so much. When one asks questions of this nature, a
+request to be frank generally means that you are to lie; while she
+thanked me in such an earnest and pathetic way for my sincerity that I
+was really touched, in spite of myself."
+
+"Do you know what I think, M. Olivier? I really believe the poor child
+must have been very unkindly treated at home. She must have been told a
+hundred times that she was a monster of ugliness, and, finding herself
+for the first time in her life with some one she really felt that she
+could trust, she wanted to know the truth in regard to herself."
+
+"You are probably right, Mlle. Herminie, and what touched me, as it did
+you, was to see with what gratitude the poor girl welcomed the slightest
+sign of interest, provided it was sincere."
+
+"Would you believe it, I have seen big tears well up in her eyes more
+than once this evening, M. Olivier?"
+
+"I, too, somehow fancied that her gaiety concealed a habitual
+melancholy. She was trying to forget herself, perhaps."
+
+"And then her trade, which unfortunately requires such an expenditure of
+time and labour, is so unremunerative, poor child! If the trials of
+poverty should be added to her other troubles--"
+
+"I fear that is only too probable, Mlle. Herminie," said Olivier,
+feelingly. "She is, indeed, very much to be pitied!"
+
+"Hush, here she comes," said Herminie. Then she added: "But she is
+putting on her wrap; they must be taking her away."
+
+And in fact, Ernestine, behind whom Madame Laine was walking with an
+imposing air, came to the door, and made a slight movement of the head
+to Herminie as if to indicate that she was leaving with regret.
+
+The duchess hastened to her new friend. "What! you are going already?"
+she asked.
+
+"I must," answered Ernestine, with a meaning look at innocent Madame
+Laine.
+
+"But you will come next Sunday, will you not? You know we shall have a
+thousand things to say to each other."
+
+"I hope to come, my dear Herminie, I shall be so anxious to see you
+again."
+
+Then with a gracious bow to the young hussar, Ernestine said:
+
+"_Au revoir_, M. Olivier."
+
+"_Au revoir_, mademoiselle," replied the young soldier, with a bow.
+
+An hour afterwards Mlle. de Beaumesnil and Madame Laine were safe within
+the walls of the Hotel de la Rochaigue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+REASON ASSERTS ITSELF.
+
+
+On her return from Madame Herbaut's little entertainment, mademoiselle
+opened her journal and wrote as follows:
+
+"Thank Heaven, my darling mamma; the inspiration to which I yielded was
+a wise one!
+
+"What a cruel lesson I received at first, then how much valuable
+information, and lastly what delightful compensation!
+
+"Two persons with true, honest hearts manifested a genuine interest in
+me.
+
+"A genuine, unselfish interest this time, for these persons, at least,
+have not even a suspicion that I am the richest heiress in France.
+
+"On the contrary, they believe me to be poor, almost on the verge of
+absolute want, in fact; and then, what is more, they have been perfectly
+honest with me. I know it, I am certain of it!
+
+"Judge of my happiness! I have met some one at last whom I feel I can
+trust, I, who have come to distrust everybody and everything, thanks to
+the fulsome flattery of those around me.
+
+"At last I know what I am really worth--how I really appear in the eyes
+of others.
+
+"I am far from pretty; there is nothing in the world about me worthy of
+the slightest notice. I am one of those persons who must pass through
+life unnoticed unless some compassionate heart should be touched by my
+naturally gentle and rather melancholy ways.
+
+"The feeling I must really inspire, if I inspire any feeling at all, is
+that sort of affectionate commiseration that truly noble souls feel when
+they are brought into close contact with an inoffensive creature who is
+suffering from some hidden sorrow.
+
+"If this commiseration ever attracts one of these noble natures to me,
+what it will find and love in me is sweetness of disposition combined
+with an intense longing for mutual sincerity.
+
+"This, then, is precisely what I am,--nothing less, nothing more!
+
+"And when I compare these slight attractions, the only ones I possess,
+with the marvellous charms and perfections with which my flatterers have
+endowed me; when I think of the sudden and irresistible passions I have
+inspired in persons who have scarcely exchanged a word with me; when I
+think of the sensation I create in fashionable circles, and then think
+of the modest entertainment this evening, where I was invited to dance
+only from a feeling of pity, and where I saw all the other young girls
+chosen in preference to me, because I was the least attractive one
+present,--oh, mother, I, who never hated any one in my whole life
+before, now feel that I hate as deeply as I despise these persons who
+have so shamefully deceived me by their base flattery.
+
+"I am astonished at all the bitter, insolent, and opprobrious epithets
+which occur to me, and with which I long to crush my deceivers some day,
+or, rather, when a test to which I mean to subject them at that grand
+ball next Thursday has wholly convinced me of their deceitfulness and
+treachery.
+
+"Alas! my dear mother, suppose any one had told me a short time ago that
+I, who am naturally so timid, should make such a bold resolve some day!
+
+"But the necessity of escaping the greatest of misfortunes imparts
+courage and determination even to the most timid.
+
+"But, as I have said before, my dear mother, the cruel lesson I received
+was not without its compensations.
+
+"In the first place, I have gained, I am sure, a generous and sincere
+friend. Seeing me slighted and neglected, a charming young girl took
+pity on me. She came to me, and endeavoured to console me with wonderful
+cleverness and kindness.
+
+"I felt, or, rather, I feel, for her the tenderest gratitude.
+
+"Oh, if you only knew, mother, how novel and pleasant and delightful it
+was for me, the richest heiress in France, to find some one who, upon
+seeing me neglected, and, as she supposed, unhappy, on that very account
+manifests the most touching interest in me,--who, in short, loves me for
+myself alone.
+
+"To be sought out and to be loved on account of your supposed
+misfortunes, what ineffable happiness this is to a person who, up to
+that time, has been loved, apparently, only on account of the wealth she
+is known to possess.
+
+"The sincere affection I have gained this time is unspeakably precious
+to me, because it gives me the hope of such a happy future. With a tried
+and trusted friend, what have I to fear? Ah, I have no fear of seeing
+this friend change some day when I tell her who I really am!
+
+"What I have said in regard to Herminie, for that is her name, also
+applies to M. Olivier, who might be taken for this young girl's brother,
+so great is his kindness of heart and his honesty. Seeing that no one
+had asked me to dance, it was he who invited me out of pity, and so
+great is his frankness that he did not deny that he was actuated by
+motives of compassion. Moreover, when I had the hardihood to ask him if
+he thought me pretty, he replied that he did not, but that I had a face
+which was interesting by reason of its gentle, rather sad expression.
+
+"These honest words gave me inexpressible pleasure and satisfaction. I
+felt that they were true, for they reminded me of what you said to me
+once, my beloved mother, when you were speaking of my looks; besides,
+the words were addressed, not to the wealthy heiress, but to the little
+embroideress.
+
+"M. Olivier is only a common soldier, I know; but he must have received
+an excellent education, for he expresses himself admirably and his
+manners are perfect. Besides, he is as kind-hearted and good as he is
+brave, for he evinces a truly filial devotion for his aged uncle, a
+retired naval officer.
+
+"Oh, mother, what noble and courageous natures these are! How entirely
+at ease one feels with them! How their frankness and sincerity rejoices
+one's heart! How healthy and wholesome to the soul such association is!
+What serenity and cheerful resignation they display under adverse
+circumstances, for both these young people are obliged to work
+hard,--Herminie, for a mere subsistence; M. Olivier, to increase his old
+uncle's inadequate means.
+
+"To work for a living!
+
+"And yet Herminie told me if work should fail me at any time she would
+do her best to secure me employment from a large establishment for which
+she had occasionally worked herself, for I had no idea yet what a
+dreadful thing it was to be out of work.
+
+"To be out of work!
+
+"Great Heavens, that means to lack food! That means want, misery, death
+itself, perhaps!
+
+"All the merry, laughing girls I saw at this little entertainment, girls
+who are, like Herminie, dependent entirely upon their own exertions for
+a livelihood, may know all the horrors of abject want to-morrow, if work
+should fail them!
+
+"Is there no one to whom they can go and say, 'I am brave and willing,
+only give me work?'
+
+"But such a state of things is unjust! It is shameful! Is there no such
+thing as pity for the woes of others in the world? Is it a matter of
+little or no consequence that there should be so many people in the
+world who do not know whether they will have food on the morrow?
+
+"Oh, mother, mother, now I understand the vague fear and uneasiness I
+experienced when they told me I was so rich! I had good reason to say to
+myself, with something akin to remorse:
+
+"Such vast wealth for myself alone? And why?
+
+"Why should I have so much and others nothing?
+
+"How did I acquire this immense fortune?
+
+"Alas! I acquired it only by your death, my mother, and by your death,
+my father.
+
+"So I had to lose those I held most dear in the world in, order to
+become so rich.
+
+"In order that I may be so rich, it is necessary, perhaps, that
+thousands of young girls like Herminie should be always in danger of
+want,--happy to-day, filled with despair to-morrow.
+
+"And when they have lost their only treasures, the lightheartedness and
+gaiety of youth, when they are old, and when not only work, but strength
+is lacking, what becomes of these unfortunates?
+
+"Oh, mother, the more I think of the terrible difference between my lot
+and that of Herminie and so many other young girls--the more I think of
+the dangers that surround me, of all the nefarious schemes of which I am
+the object because I am rich, it seems to me that wealth imparts a
+strange bitterness to the heart.
+
+"Now my reason has at last asserted itself, I must satisfy myself of the
+omnipotent power of wealth over venal souls; I must see to what depths
+of degradation I, a girl of sixteen, can make those around me stoop.
+Yes, for my eyes are open now. I realise with profound gratitude that M.
+de Maillefort's revelations alone started this train of thought that is
+making everything more and more clear to me every minute.
+
+"I do not know, but it seems to me, my dear mother, that I can express
+my thoughts more clearly now, that my mind is developing, that my
+faculties are awakening from a sort of stupor, that my character is
+undergoing a decided change in many respects, and that, while it remains
+keenly susceptible to all that is sincere and generous, it is becoming
+strongly antagonistic and aggressive to all that is false, base and
+mercenary.
+
+"I am convinced of one thing: they lied to me when they told me that M.
+de Maillefort was your enemy. They told me so merely because they wanted
+to make me distrust his counsels. It was designedly that they fostered
+my dislike of him, a dislike caused by the slanders of which I have been
+the dupe.
+
+"No, never shall I forget that it was to M. de Maillefort's revelations
+that I was indebted for the idea of going to Madame Herbaut's, where I
+not only learned the truth concerning myself, but where I met the only
+two really generous and sincere persons that I have known since I lost
+you, my father, and you, my mother."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The morning after Madame Herbaut's ball Mlle. de Beaumesnil rang for her
+governess a little earlier than usual.
+
+Madame Laine appeared almost instantly, however.
+
+"Did mademoiselle have a comfortable night?" she asked.
+
+"Very, my dear Laine but tell me, have you made the inquiries I asked
+you to last evening, so we may know whether any one suspected our
+absence."
+
+"No one has the slightest suspicion of it, mademoiselle. Madame de la
+Rochaigue did not send to inquire for you until early this morning."
+
+"And you replied?"
+
+"That mademoiselle had passed a very comfortable, though slightly
+restless, night; but that the quiet and rest had benefited mademoiselle
+very much."
+
+"That is all right then, my dear Laine, and now I have another favour to
+ask of you."
+
+"I am at mademoiselle's service; but I am so distressed about what
+happened at Madame Herbaut's last night," said the governess. "I was in
+torture the whole evening."
+
+"But what happened at Madame Herbaut's?"
+
+"Why, mademoiselle was received with such coldness and indifference. It
+was shameful, for mademoiselle is in the habit of seeing everybody crowd
+around her as they ought."
+
+"As they ought?"
+
+"Most assuredly. Mademoiselle knows very well the respect that is due to
+her position, so last evening I was mortified and incensed beyond
+expression. 'Ah,' I said to myself,'if you only knew that this young
+lady you are neglecting is Mlle. de Beaumesnil, you would all be down on
+your knees in the twinkling of an eye.'"
+
+"My dear Laine, let me first set your mind at rest about last evening. I
+was delighted, and I enjoyed myself so much that I intend to go again
+next Sunday evening."
+
+"What, mademoiselle wishes to go again?"
+
+"I shall go, that is decided. Now, another thing. The reception which I
+met with at Madame Herbaut's, and which scandalises you so deeply, is
+convincing proof of the discretion I expected from you. I thank you for
+it, and if you always act in this way I assure you your fortune is
+made."
+
+"But mademoiselle knows that it is not self-interest--that--"
+
+"Yet that need not prevent me from rewarding you as you deserve, my dear
+Laine. And that is not all; I want you to ask Madame Herbaut for the
+address of one of the young ladies I met last evening. The young lady I
+mean is called Herminie, and she gives music lessons."
+
+"I shall not have to apply to Madame Herbaut for that, mademoiselle, M.
+le baron's steward knows the address."
+
+"What! Our steward knows Mlle. Herminie's address?" exclaimed Ernestine,
+greatly astonished.
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle. They were speaking of the young lady in the office
+only a few days ago."
+
+"Of Mlle. Herminie?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle. It was in relation to a five hundred franc note that
+she returned to the baroness. Louis, one of the footmen, heard the whole
+conversation through the door of the reception-room."
+
+"Madame de la Rochaigue knows Herminie?" cried Ernestine, whose surprise
+and curiosity were increased by each word the governess uttered. "And
+what is this about a five hundred franc note?"
+
+"Why, it seems that this honest young girl--I told you that Madame
+Herbaut was exceedingly particular in the selection of her guests--this
+honest young girl returned the five hundred francs because she said she
+had already been paid by the countess."
+
+"What countess?"
+
+"Why, mademoiselle's mother."
+
+"My mother paid Herminie? And for what?"
+
+"Ah, yes, it is true that mademoiselle is not aware--I suppose no one
+has told mademoiselle for fear of making her still more sad."
+
+"Has not told me what? In Heaven's name, speak!"
+
+"Why, the late countess suffered so much towards the last, that the
+physicians, at their wit's end, thought that music might ameliorate her
+sufferings, at least to some extent."
+
+"Great Heaven! I can not believe it. Go on, go on."
+
+"So they sent for a young musician, and this young musician was
+Herminie!"
+
+"Herminie?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle. For ten days or a fortnight before Madame la
+comtesse died, mademoiselle came to play and sing to her every day, and
+they say it quieted the countess very much, but unfortunately it was too
+late."
+
+While Ernestine was drying the tears these sad details, hitherto unknown
+to her, had brought to her eyes, Madame Laine continued:
+
+"It seems that, after your mother's death, the baroness, thinking Mlle.
+Herminie had not been paid, sent her five hundred francs, but this
+noble-hearted young girl brought the money back and declared that the
+countess owed her nothing."
+
+"She saw my dying mother! She assuaged her sufferings," thought
+Ernestine, with inexpressible emotion. "Ah, how I long to tell her that
+I am the daughter of the lady she loved, for how could any one know my
+mother without loving her?"
+
+Then starting violently at another recollection, the young girl said to
+herself:
+
+"But I remember now, that, when I told her my name was Ernestine, the
+coincidence seemed to strike her, and she seemed to be deeply moved when
+she said that a lady, for whom she had a profound regard, had a daughter
+who was also named Ernestine. So my mother must have talked to her about
+me, and if my mother talked to her as confidentially as that, my mother
+must have loved her; so I, too, have reason to love her. In fact, it is
+my bounden duty. My brain whirls, my heart overflows. This is too much
+happiness. I can hardly believe it."
+
+Dashing away her tears, Ernestine turned to her governess and asked:
+
+"But how did the steward ascertain Mlle. Herminie's address."
+
+"He went to the notary who sent the five hundred francs, for Madame de
+la Rochaigue wished to ascertain the address so she could send it to M.
+de Maillefort."
+
+"What, does M. de Maillefort, too, know Herminie?"
+
+"I cannot say, mademoiselle, all I know is that the steward took
+Herminie's address to M. le marquis nearly a month ago."
+
+"Get me the address at once, my dear Laine."
+
+In a few minutes the governess brought the address and Ernestine
+immediately sat down and wrote as follows:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"MY DEAR HERMINIE:--You invited me to come and see your pretty room. I
+shall come early day after to-morrow--Tuesday, early in the morning, so
+I may be sure of not interfering in your work. I look forward with
+delight to seeing you again. I have a thousand things to tell you. With
+love,
+
+"Your sincere friend,
+
+"ERNESTINE."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After she had sealed this note, Mlle. de Beaumesnil said to her
+governess:
+
+"I wish you to post this letter yourself, my dear Laine."
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle."
+
+"How shall I manage to get out alone with Madame Laine day after
+to-morrow?" Ernestine said to herself. "I have no idea, but my heart
+tells me that I shall see Herminie again!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A CONSUMING FEVER OF LOVE.
+
+
+On the morning of the same day that mademoiselle had appointed for her
+visit to Herminie, Gerald de Senneterre was having a long conversation
+with Olivier.
+
+The two young men were sitting under the little arbour of which
+Commander Bernard was so fond.
+
+The young duke's face was extremely pale and agitated. In fact, he
+seemed a prey to the deepest anxiety and distress.
+
+"So you will see her, my dear Olivier," he was saying to his friend.
+
+"At once. I wrote to her last evening requesting an interview. She has
+not answered my note, so she consents."
+
+"Then in an hour my fate will be decided," groaned Gerald.
+
+"I am forced to admit that I think this a very serious matter," said
+Olivier. "You know, even better than I do, how proud this young girl is,
+and that which would be our greatest chance of success with any one else
+will be almost sure to have an exactly opposite effect in her case.
+Still, we will not despair."
+
+"But, Olivier, if I should be obliged to give her up, I don't know how I
+could bear it!" exclaimed Gerald, hoarsely. "I should kill myself, I
+believe!"
+
+"Gerald! Gerald!"
+
+"Yes, I admit it. I love her to distraction. I never believed before
+that even the most impassioned love could attain such a degree of
+intensity. My love is a consuming fever,--a fixed idea that absorbs me
+utterly. You know Herminie--"
+
+"Yes, and I know that a more noble and beautiful creature never lived."
+
+"Olivier, I am the most miserable of men!" exclaimed Gerald, burying his
+face in his hands.
+
+"Come, come, Gerald, don't give way so. You can rely upon me. I believe,
+too, that you can trust her. Does she not love you as much as you love
+her? So don't be despondent. On the contrary, hope, and if,
+unfortunately--"
+
+"But I tell you that I can not and will not live without her."
+
+There was such evident sincerity in the words, as well as such
+passionate resolve, that Olivier shuddered, for he knew what an
+indomitable will his former comrade possessed.
+
+"Gerald," he said, with deep emotion, "again I tell you that you should
+not despair. Wait here until my return."
+
+"You are right," said Gerald, passing his hand across his fevered brow.
+"I will wait for you."
+
+Olivier, unwilling to leave his friend in such a despondent mood,
+continued:
+
+"I forgot to tell you that I informed my uncle of your intentions in
+regard to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and they have his unqualified approval.
+'Such conduct is worthy of him,' he said to me, so day after to-morrow,
+Gerald--"
+
+"Day after to-morrow!" exclaimed the young duke, bitterly and
+impatiently. "I am not thinking of anything so far off. It is as much as
+I can do to see my way from hour to hour."
+
+"But, Gerald, it is a duty you have to perform."
+
+"Don't talk to me about anything but Herminie. I am utterly indifferent
+to everything else. What are these so-called duties and obligations to
+me when I am in torture?"
+
+"You do not realise what you are saying."
+
+"Yes, I do."
+
+"No, you do not."
+
+"Olivier!"
+
+"Oh, you may rebel as much as you please, but I tell you that your
+conduct, now as ever, shall be that of a man of honour. You will go to
+this ball to meet Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"I'll be d---- d if I will. I am at liberty to do as I please, I think,
+monsieur."
+
+"No, Gerald, you are not at liberty to do anything that is dishonest or
+dishonourable."
+
+"Do you know that what you are saying--" began the young duke, pale with
+anger; but seeing the expression of sorrowful astonishment on Olivier's
+features, Gerald became ashamed of his outburst, and, extending his hand
+to his friend, he said, in an almost beseeching voice:
+
+"Forgive me, Olivier, forgive me! To think that almost at the very
+moment that you are undertaking the gravest and most delicate mission
+for me, I should so far forget myself--"
+
+"Come, come, you needn't go to making excuses," said Olivier, preventing
+his friend from continuing by affectionately pressing his hand.
+
+"You must have compassion on me, Olivier," said Gerald, despondently. "I
+really believe I must be mad."
+
+The conversation was here interrupted by the sudden arrival of Madame
+Barbancon, who rushed into the arbour, crying:
+
+"Oh, M. Olivier, M. Olivier!"
+
+"What is the matter, Madame Barbancon?"
+
+"The commander!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"He has gone out!"
+
+"What, suffering as he is to-day!" exclaimed Olivier, anxiously. "It was
+very imprudent. Didn't you try to prevent him from going, Mother
+Barbancon?"
+
+"Alas! M. Olivier, I really believe the commander is not in his right
+mind."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I was out, and it was the porter who admitted M. Gerald in my absence.
+When I returned a few minutes ago, M. Bernard was laughing and singing,
+and I really believe even dancing, in spite of his weakness, and at last
+he flung his arms around me, shouting like a maniac, 'Victory, Mother
+Barbancon, victory!'"
+
+Gerald, in spite of his own troubles, could not repress a faint smile.
+It seemed as if he understood the cause of the old officer's delight,
+but when Olivier, who was really much disturbed, asked, "Do you know
+anything about this, Gerald?" the young duke replied, with the most
+natural air in the world:
+
+"Nothing whatever, upon my word! It seems to me more than probable,
+though, that the commander must have heard some good news, and there
+would be certainly nothing alarming about that."
+
+"Good news!" repeated Olivier, much surprised, and trying in vain to
+imagine what it could be.
+
+"Well, this much is certain," interposed Madame Barbancon, "after the
+commander had shouted 'Victory!' almost at the top of his voice, he
+asked: 'Is Olivier in the garden?' 'Yes, with M. Gerald,' I replied.
+'Then get me my hat and cane quick, Mother Barbancon,' said he, 'and let
+me get off as soon as I can.' 'What! you are going out, weak as you
+are?' I exclaimed. 'You are very foolish to think of such a thing,
+monsieur.' But the commander wouldn't listen, and clapped his hat on his
+head and started as if he intended to come out here and speak to you;
+then he stopped short, and after reflecting a moment retraced his steps
+and went out at the front door, singing that miserable old song he sings
+only when he is in high glee about something,--which doesn't often
+happen with the poor, dear man!"
+
+"I don't know what to make of it," said Olivier, "and I can't help
+feeling a little uneasy. My uncle has seemed so feeble since his last
+attack, that a half hour in the garden yesterday exhausted him
+completely."
+
+"Oh, don't be alarmed, my friend, joy never kills."
+
+"I think I had better go down the street a little way, M. Olivier," said
+Madame Barbancon. "He has an idea that exercise outside will do him more
+good than his walks in the garden, and perhaps I shall find him down
+there. But what on earth could he have meant by his 'Victory, Mother
+Barbancon, victory!' He must have heard something new in favour of his
+Bu-u-onaparte."
+
+And the worthy woman hastened off.
+
+"Don't be uneasy, Olivier," said Gerald, kindly. "The worst that can
+happen is that the commander may tire himself a little."
+
+The clock in the neighbouring steeple struck nine, and Olivier,
+remembering the mission he had promised to fulfil, said:
+
+"Well, it is nine o'clock. I am going."
+
+"My dear Olivier," said Gerald, "you forget your own anxieties in your
+solicitude for my interests; and I, in my selfishness, haven't said so
+much as a word to you about your sweetheart."
+
+"What sweetheart?"
+
+"Why, the young girl you met at Madame Herbaut's Sunday."
+
+"I would that your love affair were as tranquil as mine, Gerald; that
+is, if you can dignify with that name the interest one naturally feels
+in a young girl who is neither happy nor at all pretty, but who has a
+sweet face, an excellent disposition, and great originality of
+character."
+
+"But you are thinking of this poor girl a great deal of the time, it
+seems to me."
+
+"That is true, though I really don't know why. If I find out I will tell
+you. But never mind me. You have just displayed a vast amount of heroism
+in forgetting your own passion long enough to interest yourself in what
+you are pleased to call my love affair," said Olivier, smiling. "This
+generosity on your part is sure to be rewarded, so courage, my friend!
+Keep up a good heart and wait for me here."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Herminie, for her part, was thinking of Olivier's approaching visit with
+a vague uneasiness that cast a slight cloud over her usually radiant
+face.
+
+"What can M. Olivier want?" thought the duchess. "This is the first time
+he has ever asked to call on me, and he wishes to see me on a very
+important matter, he says in his note. This important matter cannot
+concern him. What if it should concern Gerald, who is his most intimate
+friend? But I saw Gerald only yesterday, and I shall see him again
+to-day, for it is to-morrow that he is to tell his mother of our love. I
+can't imagine why the idea of this approaching interview worries me so.
+But that reminds me, I must inform the portress that I am at home to M.
+Olivier."
+
+As she spoke, she pulled a bell that communicated with the room of
+Madame Moufflon, the portress, who promptly responded to the summons.
+
+"Madame Moufflon, some one will call to see me this morning, and you are
+to admit the visitor," said Herminie.
+
+"If it is a lady, of course. I understand."
+
+"But it is not a lady who will call this morning," replied Herminie,
+with some embarrassment.
+
+"It is not a lady? Then it must be that little hunchback I have orders
+to admit at any time, I suppose."
+
+"No, Madame Moufflon, it is not M. de Maillefort, but a young man."
+
+"A young man?" exclaimed the portress, "a young man? Well, this is the
+first time--"
+
+"The young man will tell you his name. It is Olivier."
+
+"Olivier? That is not hard to remember. I'll just think of olives; I
+adore them! Olivier, olives, olive oil--it is very nearly the very same
+thing. I sha'n't forget it. But, by the way, speaking--not of young men,
+for this old serpent isn't young--I saw that old scoundrel hanging
+around the house again last evening."
+
+"Again?" exclaimed Herminie, with a look of scorn and disgust at the
+thought of Ravil.
+
+For this cynic, since his first meeting with Herminie, had made numerous
+attempts to see the young girl, but the portress proving above bribery,
+he had written several times to Herminie, who had treated his letters
+with the disdain they deserved.
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, I saw the old snake hanging around again yesterday,"
+continued the portress, "and when I planted myself in the doorway to
+watch him, he sneered at me as he passed, but I just said to myself:
+'Sneer away, you old viper. You'll laugh on the other side of your mouth
+one of these days.'"
+
+"I cannot help encountering this man on the street sometimes," said
+Herminie, "for he seems to be always trying to put himself in my way;
+but I needn't tell you, Madame Moufflon, that he must never be admitted
+to the house on any pretext whatever."
+
+"Oh, you needn't worry about that, mademoiselle, he knows pretty well
+who he has to deal with by this time."
+
+"But I forgot to mention that a young lady will probably call this
+morning, too, Madame Moufflon."
+
+"Very well. But if M. Olivier should be here when the young lady calls,
+what then? Shall I admit her just the same?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Oh, I never told you, did I, mademoiselle, that M. Bouffard, who was so
+rough to you, but who has been as gentle as a lamb ever since you began
+giving his daughter lessons, is always praising you to the skies now. He
+said to me only the other day, 'There are plenty of rosieres who are not
+half as good and modest as Mlle. Herminie. She is a young lady who--'"
+
+But a peal of the door-bell put a sudden end to these eulogiums.
+
+"It is M. Olivier, I expect," said Herminie. "Show him in, please,
+Madame Moufflon."
+
+And a minute afterwards that worthy dame ushered in Olivier, and
+Herminie found herself alone with Gerald's intimate friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A DELICATE MISSION.
+
+
+The vague uneasiness which Herminie had felt was greatly increased at
+the sight of Olivier, for the young man looked unusually grave. The
+duchess even fancied that he avoided her gaze, as if embarrassed, and
+this embarrassment on his part was made still more apparent by his
+silence and evident reluctance to explain the object of his visit.
+
+Herminie was the first to break this silence.
+
+"You wrote, M. Olivier, that you wished to see me about a very important
+matter," she said, at last.
+
+"Very important, mademoiselle."
+
+"I judge so from your manner. What have you to tell me?"
+
+"It concerns Gerald, mademoiselle."
+
+"Great Heavens! What misfortune has befallen him?" exclaimed the
+duchess, much frightened.
+
+"None, mademoiselle. I left him only a few minutes ago."
+
+Herminie, thus reassured, felt deeply incensed with herself for her
+unguarded exclamation, and, blushing deeply, she said to Olivier:
+
+"I trust you will not misinterpret--"
+
+But the natural frankness of her character asserted itself, and she
+said, with quiet dignity:
+
+"But why should I try to conceal from you something that you know
+already, M. Olivier. Are you not Gerald's dearest friend, in fact,
+almost a brother to him? Neither of us have any cause to blush for our
+mutual attachment. To-morrow, he is to inform his mother of his
+intentions and ask her consent, which he is almost certain to gain. For
+why should he not gain it. Our conditions in life are almost identical.
+He supports himself by his own exertions, as I support myself by mine.
+Our lot will be humble, and--But, forgive me, M. Olivier, for thus
+boring you. It is a fault to which all lovers are prone. But as no
+misfortune has befallen Gerald, what is the important matter that brings
+you here?"
+
+Herminie's words indicated such a feeling of perfect security that
+Olivier realised the difficulties of his task even more keenly, and it
+was with painful hesitation that he replied:
+
+"As I said before, no misfortune has befallen Gerald; but I come to you
+at his request."
+
+Herminie's face, which had grown quite serene, became anxious again, and
+she said:
+
+"Pray have the kindness to explain, M. Olivier. You say you have come at
+Gerald's request? Why is an intermediary needed, even in the person of
+his most intimate friend? This astonishes me. Why did not Gerald come
+himself?"
+
+"Because there is something he is afraid to confess to you,
+mademoiselle."
+
+Herminie started violently; the expression of her face changed, and,
+looking searchingly at Olivier, she repeated:
+
+"There is something Gerald is afraid to confess to me?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle."
+
+"It must be something terrible if he dares not tell me," exclaimed the
+girl, paling visibly.
+
+"I meant to have used more precautions, and to have approached the
+subject in a more roundabout way, mademoiselle," replied Olivier, who
+was in torture, "but I see that such a course on my part would only
+serve to prolong your anxiety--"
+
+"My God! What am I about to hear?" murmured the young girl, trembling
+violently in every limb.
+
+"Truth is better than falsehood, Mlle. Herminie."
+
+"Falsehood?"
+
+"In a word, Gerald can no longer endure the false position in which a
+peculiar combination of circumstances, and his desire to see you, have
+placed him. His courage has failed him. He has resolved that he will
+deceive you no longer, and, whatever may come of it, trusting to your
+generosity, he sends me, I repeat, to tell you what he is afraid to
+confess himself,--for he knows how bitterly you abhor deceit, and
+unfortunately Gerald has deceived you."
+
+"Deceived me?"
+
+"Yes, Gerald is not what he seems to be. You have known him under an
+assumed name. He has pretended to be what he is not."
+
+"My God!" murmured the young girl, in abject terror.
+
+A horrible suspicion had assailed her.
+
+Never supposing for an instant that Olivier could have an aristocrat for
+an intimate friend, the poor child feared that Gerald had taken another
+name in order to conceal, not the obscurity of his birth or
+condition,--these were no disgrace in Herminie's eyes,--but guilty or
+dishonourable antecedents. In short, she imagined that Gerald must have
+committed some dishonourable act in the past.
+
+So, in her wild terror, the girl, holding up her two hands as if to ward
+off an impending blow, exclaimed, brokenly:
+
+"Do not finish this shameful confession, do not, I beseech you."
+
+"Shameful!" repeated Olivier. "What! because Gerald has concealed the
+fact that he is the Duc de Senneterre--"
+
+"You say that Gerald, your friend--"
+
+"Is the Duc de Senneterre! Yes, mademoiselle. We were at college
+together; he enlisted, as I did. In that way I met him again, and since
+that time our intimacy has never flagged. And now, Mlle. Herminie, you
+can, perhaps, understand why Gerald concealed his real name and position
+from you. It was a wrong to which I became an accomplice through
+thoughtlessness; for what has since become a serious matter, that I
+deeply regret, was at first merely intended as a joke. Unfortunately,
+the introduction of Gerald as a notary's clerk to Madame Herbaut had
+already been made, when a singular chance brought you and my friend
+together. You will understand the rest. But I repeat that Gerald
+resolved, of his own free will, to confess the truth to you, as a
+continued deception was too revolting to his sense of honour."
+
+On hearing that Gerald, instead of being a disgraced man, hiding under
+an assumed name, had really been guilty of no other wrong than that of
+concealing his noble birth, the revulsion of feeling Herminie underwent
+was so sudden and violent that she at first experienced a sort of
+vertigo; but when she became capable of reflection, when she became able
+to realise the consequences of this revelation, the young girl, who was
+as pale as death, trembled in every limb. Her knees tottered under her,
+and for a moment she was obliged to lean against the mantel for support.
+
+When she did speak, it was in a strangely altered voice.
+
+"M. Olivier," she said, "I am going to say something that may seem
+utterly senseless to you. A moment ago, before you had told me all, a
+terrible suspicion that Gerald had concealed his real name because he
+had been guilty of some wrong doing occurred to me--"
+
+"What, you could believe that?"
+
+"Yes, I did believe that, but I do not know but the truth you have told
+me concerning Gerald's position causes me deeper sorrow than that I
+experienced when I thought Gerald might be a dishonoured man."
+
+"Impossible, mademoiselle, impossible!"
+
+"This seems to you as absurd as it does senseless, does it not?" asked
+the young girl, bitterly.
+
+"It does indeed."
+
+"But in that case, by the power of my love, I might hope to raise him
+from his slough of despond, to restore his self-respect, to rehabilitate
+him in my eyes, and in his own; but between me and M. le Duc de
+Senneterre there is now an unfathomable abyss."
+
+"Oh, reassure yourself on that point," hastily exclaimed Olivier, hoping
+to cure the wound he had inflicted and to change his companion's grief
+to joy. "You really need have no fears on that score, Mlle. Herminie. I
+was deputised to inform you of Gerald's deception, but, thank Heaven! I
+am also authorised to tell you that he intends to atone for his fault
+and in the most satisfactory manner. Gerald may have deceived you in
+some matters, but he has never deceived you as to the sincerity of his
+sentiments. They are now what they have always been; his determination
+does not waver in the least. To-day, as yesterday, Gerald has only one
+desire, one hope,--that you will consent to bear his name, only to-day
+his name is that of the Duc de Senneterre. That is all."
+
+"That is all!" exclaimed Herminie, whose deep despondency seemed to have
+given place to a sorrowful indignation. "That is all, you say, monsieur?
+So it is nothing to have won my affection under false pretences--to have
+reduced me to the trying necessity of renouncing a love which was the
+hope and blessing of my life or of entering a family that will regard me
+with aversion and disdain! And you call this nothing, monsieur! Ah, your
+friend pretends to love me, and yet respects me so little as to believe
+that I will ever submit to the countless humiliations such a marriage
+is sure to bring upon me!"
+
+"But, Mlle. Herminie--"
+
+"Listen to me, M. Olivier. If, after our first meeting, which, by reason
+of its very strangeness, made a deep impression upon me,--if, I say,
+after our first meeting, Gerald had frankly confessed that he was the
+Duc de Senneterre, I should have resisted my growing affection with all
+my strength, and I should have triumphed over it, perhaps; but, in any
+case, I would never willingly have seen Gerald again. I will not be his
+mistress, and, as I said before, I am not the woman to submit to the
+humiliations that await me if I consent to become his wife."
+
+"You are very much mistaken, Mlle. Herminie. Accept Gerald's offer, and
+you will have no humiliations to fear. Gerald is his own master. Since
+he lost his father several years ago, he has had unbounded influence
+over his mother. He will make her understand what this love is to him.
+But if Madame de Senneterre seems disposed to sacrifice Gerald's
+happiness to financial greed, my friend is resolved, after all means of
+persuasion have been exhausted, of course, to dispense with his mother's
+consent, if need be."
+
+"But I, monsieur, must have, cost what it may, not the affection,--for
+that does not come at will,--but the esteem of my husband's mother
+because I am worthy of her esteem. Never, do you understand me, never
+shall any one say that I was the cause of a rupture between Gerald and
+his mother, or that I took advantage of his love for me to force myself
+upon a noble and distinguished family; no, monsieur, no one shall ever
+say that of me, my pride will not permit it."
+
+As she uttered these words Herminie was truly superb in her sadness and
+dignity.
+
+Olivier had too keen a sense of honour himself not to share the young
+girl's scruples--the same scruples which Gerald, too, had feared, for
+both the young men knew Herminie's indomitable pride.
+
+Nevertheless, Olivier, resolved to make a last effort, said:
+
+"But consider well, Mlle. Herminie, I entreat you. Gerald does all that
+any man of honour can do in offering you his hand. What more do you
+desire?"
+
+"What I desire, monsieur, as I have told you, is to be treated with the
+consideration which is due me, and which I have a right to expect from
+M. de Senneterre's family."
+
+"But Gerald can be responsible only for himself, mademoiselle. Any
+attempt to exact more would--"
+
+"Say no more, M. Olivier," said Herminie, interrupting him; "you know
+me, and you know that I have a firm will."
+
+"I do, mademoiselle."
+
+"Very well. I will never willingly see Gerald again while I live, unless
+Madame de Senneterre, his mother, comes here--"
+
+"Here?" exclaimed Olivier, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, unless Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre comes here and tells me
+that she consents to my marriage with her son. Then, no one can ever say
+that I forced myself upon this noble family."
+
+This demand--which seemed and which was, in fact, merely the natural
+outcome of an intense but laudable pride--Herminie uttered simply and
+naturally, because, filled with a justly high respect for herself, the
+young girl felt that she asked only what was her just due.
+
+But at the first thought, this demand seemed to Olivier so exorbitant
+that, in his astonishment, he could not help saying:
+
+"Madame de Senneterre--come here--to tell you that she consents to your
+marriage with her son,--why, what are you thinking of, Mlle. Herminie?
+That exceeds the bounds of possibility!"
+
+"And why, monsieur?" asked the young girl, with such ingenuous pride
+that Olivier, remembering how generous and noble Herminie's character
+and love were, replied, with no little embarrassment:
+
+"You ask why Madame de Senneterre can not come here to tell you that she
+consents to your marriage with her son?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"But, mademoiselle, even ignoring the convenances of the fashionable
+world, the overtures you ask from a lady of Madame de Senneterre's
+age--"
+
+But again interrupting Olivier, the girl said, with a bitter smile:
+
+"If I belonged to the fashionable world of which you speak,
+monsieur,--if I had a mother and relatives, instead of being a poor
+orphan,--and M. de Senneterre desired my hand in marriage, would it not
+be according to the rules of propriety you spoke of just now that Madame
+de Senneterre should be the first to approach my mother or my relatives
+in her son's behalf?"
+
+"Certainly, mademoiselle, but--"
+
+"I have no mother, and I have no relatives," continued Herminie, sadly.
+"To whom, then, if not to me, should Madame de Senneterre address
+herself in relation to my marriage?"
+
+"One word, mademoiselle, Madame de Senneterre might do this if she
+approved of the marriage."
+
+"And that is precisely why I ask it, M. Olivier."
+
+"But Gerald's mother does not even know you, mademoiselle."
+
+"If Madame de Senneterre has such a poor opinion of her son as to
+believe him capable of choosing a wife unworthy of him, she can make all
+needful inquiries in relation to me. Thank God, I have nothing to fear."
+
+"That is true," said Olivier, who had exhausted all his arguments.
+
+"So this is my last word, M. Olivier," continued Herminie. "If Madame de
+Senneterre is not opposed to my marriage with her son, she will prove it
+by making the kindly overtures I ask; if she does not, she will consider
+me unworthy to enter her family, and in that case I will never see M. de
+Senneterre again."
+
+"Oh, Mlle. Herminie, if only out of compassion for Gerald--"
+
+"Believe me, I am much more in need of pity than M. de Senneterre," said
+the girl, and, no longer able to restrain her tears, she buried her face
+in her hands. "I may die of grief, I do not know, but to the last I will
+at least be worthy of Gerald and of his love."
+
+Olivier was in despair, but he could not help admiring this noble pride,
+though he deeply deplored the consequences so far as Gerald was
+concerned.
+
+Suddenly a loud ring of the door-bell resounded through the room.
+Herminie sprang up and hastily dried her tears; then, remembering Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil's note, she said to Olivier:
+
+"It must be Ernestine. Poor child, I had forgotten all about her. M.
+Olivier, will you have the goodness to open the door for me?"
+
+"One word more," said Olivier, in earnest, almost solemn tones; "you
+have no conception of the intensity of Gerald's love for you. You know I
+am not prone to exaggeration, yet I am afraid, do you hear me,
+positively afraid, when I think of the possible consequences of your
+refusal."
+
+Herminie trembled at Olivier's ominous words. For a moment she seemed to
+be torn by conflicting doubts and fears; but she finally triumphed,
+though the poor girl, exhausted by this mental conflict, answered in
+tones that were barely audible:
+
+"The thought of causing Gerald suffering is terrible to me, for I can
+judge of his love by my own. My own sorrow, too, enables me to judge
+what his must be. Nevertheless, I will never sacrifice my dignity, for
+that is Gerald's as much as mine."
+
+"I entreat you, mademoiselle, do not--"
+
+"You have heard my resolve, M. Olivier. I shall not say another word.
+Have pity on me. Can you not see that this interview is killing me?"
+
+Olivier, seeing that it was useless to expostulate further, bowed to
+Herminie in silence, and then walked towards the door; but he had
+scarcely opened it when he exclaimed:
+
+"My uncle, and you, Mlle. Ernestine! Great Heavens! This pallor--and
+this blood on your forehead! What has happened?"
+
+On hearing Olivier's words, Herminie rushed out of her room into the
+little hallway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+GOOD NEWS.
+
+
+The cause of Olivier's surprise and alarm was only too apparent.
+
+Commander Bernard, pale as death and greatly agitated, was clinging to
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil's arm as if for support; while the young girl, quite
+as pale as the old officer, and clad in a simple lawn dress, had several
+blood-stains on her forehead and cheek.
+
+"What is the matter, uncle?" cried Olivier, scrutinising the veteran's
+face with deep anxiety. "What has happened?"
+
+"Great Heavens! Ernestine, are you hurt?" cried Herminie, almost
+simultaneously.
+
+"It is nothing, Herminie," replied the young girl, trying to smile,
+though her voice trembled violently. "It is nothing, but excuse me for
+bringing this gentleman in. Just now--I--you see--"
+
+But the poor child could say no more. Strength and courage were alike
+exhausted. Every vestige of colour fled from her lips; her eyes closed,
+her head fell back, her limbs gave way under her, and she would have
+fallen if Herminie had not caught her in her arms.
+
+"She has fainted!" cried the duchess. "Help me carry her into my room,
+M. Olivier."
+
+"And I--I am the cause of all this trouble," said the commander,
+following Olivier and Herminie with tottering steps as they carried
+Ernestine into Herminie's room. "Poor child," he murmured; "what a kind
+heart she has! What courage she displayed!"
+
+The duchess, having placed Ernestine in the armchair, removed her hat
+and pushed back from the pure white brow her beautiful chestnut hair,
+which rolled down in heavy, shining waves upon her shoulders; then,
+while Olivier supported the girl's unconscious head, Herminie with a
+soft handkerchief staunched the blood which was flowing from a slight
+wound a little way above the temple.
+
+The old sailor stood near, watching this touching scene, his lips
+trembling, and unable to utter a word, while big tears dropped slowly
+down from his eyes upon his white moustache.
+
+"Support her, M. Olivier, while I go for some cold water and a little
+cologne," said Herminie.
+
+She returned almost immediately with a handsome china basin, and a
+bottle of cologne, and, after sponging the wound lightly with a mixture
+of cologne and water, Herminie poured a little cologne in the palm of
+her hand and made Mlle. de Beaumesnil inhale it.
+
+Gradually Ernestine's pale lips recovered their wonted colour and a
+slight flush succeeded the pallor in her cheeks.
+
+"Heaven be praised! She is recovering consciousness," whispered
+Herminie, gathering up the orphan's long tresses and securing them with
+her shell comb.
+
+Olivier, who had seemed deeply affected by the scene, now said to the
+duchess, who was standing beside the armchair, supporting Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's head on her bosom:
+
+"Mlle. Herminie, I regret very much that it should be under such
+unfortunate circumstances that I have the honour of introducing to you
+my uncle, Commander Bernard."
+
+[Illustration: "'_She has fainted._'"
+
+Original etching by Adrian Marcel.]
+
+The young girl responded with an almost affectionate smile and bow, and
+the old officer said:
+
+"And I, mademoiselle, am doubly sorry, as I was unfortunately the cause
+of this accident which distresses you so much."
+
+"But how did it happen, uncle?" asked Olivier.
+
+So while Herminie, seeing that, thanks to her attentions, Ernestine was
+gradually regaining consciousness, made her again inhale a few drops of
+cologne, Commander Bernard began his explanation by saying:
+
+"I went out this morning while you were talking with one of your
+friends, Olivier."
+
+"Yes, uncle, Madame Barbancon told me that you had been so imprudent as
+to go out in spite of your extreme weakness, but she felt less anxious
+about you, I thought, from the fact that you had seemed in unusually
+good spirits when you left the house."
+
+"Yes, yes, I was unusually gay because I was happy, oh, very happy, for
+this morning--"
+
+But the commander, checking himself suddenly, gazed at Olivier with a
+peculiar expression, then added, with a sigh:
+
+"No, no, I must not tell you now. Well, as I said before, I went out--"
+
+"It was a very imprudent thing for you to do, uncle."
+
+"Perhaps it was, but I had my reasons for wanting to go; besides, I
+thought a walk in the open air might do me good. Still, being a little
+doubtful of my strength, instead of going out on the plain as usual, I
+followed the broad grassy terrace that borders the railroad track in
+this direction. Feeling tired after I had walked a short distance, I sat
+down to rest and sun myself on the top of a bank on the side of one of
+those new streets which have been graded and paved, but on which no
+houses have yet been erected. I sat there a quarter of an hour, perhaps,
+then, thinking myself sufficiently rested, I decided that I would get up
+and start for home. But the walk, short as it was, had exhausted my
+strength completely, for I had scarcely gotten upon my feet before I was
+seized with vertigo, my knees trembled under me, I lost my balance; the
+bank was steep--"
+
+"And you fell?" asked Olivier, anxiously.
+
+"I must have slidden rather than fallen to the foot of the bank, I
+think, and my situation would not have been at all dangerous, I suppose,
+if a big wagon, loaded with stones and drawn by horses which had been
+left to guide themselves by the driver who was walking on ahead, had not
+happened to come along just then."
+
+"Great God!" exclaimed Olivier.
+
+"How terrible!" cried Herminie.
+
+"Ah, yes, especially to that dear young lady you see lying there
+wounded, yes, wounded by risking her own life to save mine!"
+
+"What, uncle, this wound of Mlle. Ernestine's--?"
+
+"When I fell from the top of the bank," resumed the old man,
+interrupting his nephew, who had cast a look of inexpressible gratitude
+on Mlle. de Beaumesnil, "my head struck the pavement, and I lay there
+unable to make the slightest movement, though I seemed to see the horses
+advancing towards me through a sort of mist. My head could not have been
+more than a yard from the wheel when I heard a loud cry, and dimly
+perceived a woman, who was coming in the opposite direction from the
+horses, rush towards me. Then consciousness deserted me entirely. When I
+regained it," continued the old man, with increasing emotion, "I was
+half lying, half sitting, on the bank a couple of yards from the spot
+where I had fallen, and a young girl, an angel of goodness and courage,
+was kneeling beside me, with clasped hands, her face still pale with
+terror, and her forehead covered with blood. And it was she," exclaimed
+the old officer, turning to Ernestine, who had now entirely recovered
+her senses, "yes, it was you, mademoiselle, who saved my life at the
+risk of your own,--you, a frail, delicate creature who listened only to
+the promptings of your noble heart and indomitable courage."
+
+"Oh, Ernestine, how proud I am of being your friend!" cried the duchess,
+pressing the blushing and embarrassed girl to her heart.
+
+"Yes, you may well be!" cried the old man, enthusiastically.
+
+"Mademoiselle," said Olivier, in his turn, addressing Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil with unmistakable agitation, "I can only say--but I feel sure
+that you will understand what these words mean to me--I owe the life of
+my uncle, or rather of the most tenderly loved father, to you."
+
+"M. Olivier," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, averting her eyes after a
+wondering glance at the young man, "what you say makes me doubly happy,
+for until now I was entirely ignorant that this gentleman was that dear
+relative of yours Herminie was telling me about day before yesterday."
+
+"But how are you feeling now, mademoiselle?" inquired the old man, with
+deep interest. "Don't you think it would be well to send for a
+physician, Mlle. Herminie? Olivier will run and get one."
+
+"Pray do nothing of the kind, M. Olivier," cried Ernestine, hastily. "My
+head hurts me very little; the wound must be scarcely more than a
+scratch, for I hardly feel it. When I fainted just now, it was more from
+excitement than pain."
+
+"That makes no difference, you must have a little rest, all the same,"
+said Herminie. "I think, with you, that your wound is slight, but you
+have had such a fright that I intend to keep you a few hours."
+
+"Oh, so far as that prescription is concerned, I will take it with
+pleasure, my dear Herminie," responded Mlle. de Beaumesnil, smiling;
+"and I shall try to make my convalescence last as long as possible."
+
+"And now, Olivier, if you will give me your arm, we will leave these
+young ladies," said the veteran.
+
+"M. Olivier, it will not do at all for Commander Bernard to return home
+on foot, weak as he is. You had better tell our portress to call a cab
+for you."
+
+"No, no, my dear young lady, with Olivier's assistance I shall get along
+nicely. The fresh air will do me a world of good, and then I can show
+Olivier the place where I should have been killed but for this guardian
+angel here. I am not much of a devotee, mademoiselle, but I shall often
+make a sort of pilgrimage to that grassy slope to pray after my fashion
+for the noble-hearted girl who saved me at a time I was so anxious to
+live, for this very morning--"
+
+And then, for the second time, to Olivier's great surprise, the veteran
+seemed to check words which were almost upon his lips.
+
+"Oh, well, never mind," he continued, "I shall pray after my fashion for
+my guardian angel, for really," added the veteran, smilingly, "the world
+seems to be upside down, for now it is young girls who save old
+soldiers,--but fortunately the old soldiers have heart enough left for
+gratitude and devotion."
+
+Olivier, with his eyes riveted on Mlle. de Beaumesnil's sad and gentle
+face, was experiencing a feeling of compassionate tenderness which was
+full of charm. His heart throbbed with conflicting emotions as he gazed
+at the young girl, and recalled the incidents of his first meeting with
+her, her ingenuous frankness and quaint originality, and, above all,
+Herminie's intimation that her friend's lot was far from being a happy
+one. Olivier had long been an ardent admirer of Herminie's rare beauty,
+but at this moment Ernestine seemed equally attractive in his eyes.
+
+The young soldier was so absorbed that his uncle was obliged to take him
+by the arm and say to him:
+
+"Come, my boy, we must no longer trespass on the hospitality which
+Mlle. Herminie will surely pardon me for having accepted."
+
+"The fact is, Herminie," said Ernestine, "knowing you lived only a short
+distance from the scene of the accident, I thought I might venture--"
+
+"Surely you are not going to apologise for having acted as any friend
+would have done?" the duchess exclaimed, interrupting her.
+
+"We will bid you adieu, young ladies," said the old naval officer, then,
+turning to Ernestine, he said earnestly:
+
+"It would grieve me too much to think that I had seen you to-day for the
+first and last time. Oh, have no fears, mademoiselle," exclaimed the old
+man, noting a slight expression of embarrassment on the girl's tell-tale
+face, "my gratitude gives me no excuse for intruding myself upon you,
+but I should consider it a great favour if you and Mlle. Herminie would
+occasionally permit me to call and see you,--for it is not enough to
+have a heart full of gratitude, one should at least be allowed to
+sometimes give expression to it."
+
+"M. Bernard," replied Herminie, "this desire on your part is too natural
+for Ernestine and me to feel any inclination to oppose it; and some
+evening when Ernestine will be at liberty, we will let you know, and you
+must do us the honour to come and take a cup of tea with us."
+
+"May I really?" the veteran exclaimed, joyfully. Then he added:
+
+"Yes, yes, the world does indeed seem to be upside down, for it is those
+who are already under heavy obligations who have benefits heaped upon
+them by their benefactors; but I am more than resigned, so adieu, my
+dear young ladies, or, rather, _au revoir_. Are you ready, Olivier?"
+
+But as he reached the door he paused, and seemed to hesitate, then after
+a moment's reflection he came back, and said:
+
+"I cannot do it, my dear young ladies; I cannot carry my secret away
+with me."
+
+"A secret, M. Bernard?"
+
+"Yes; I have been on the point of telling it twice, but both times I
+have checked myself, because I had promised to keep silence; but after
+all, it is only right that Mlle. Ernestine, to whom I owe my life,
+should at least know why I am so glad to live--"
+
+"I, too, think you owe Ernestine this reward, M. Bernard," said
+Herminie.
+
+"I assure you that I should be very happy to be honoured with your
+confidence, monsieur," added Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+"And it would be a real proof of confidence, mademoiselle, for, as I
+told you, I was advised to keep the matter a secret, and I must confess,
+my dear Olivier, that it was to keep it a secret from you that I went
+out this morning."
+
+"But why, uncle? I do not understand."
+
+"Why, because in spite of all the advice in the world, in my first
+transports of happiness over the good news which I had just heard, I
+couldn't have helped falling upon your neck and telling you all. So I
+went out, hoping to become sufficiently accustomed to my happiness to be
+able to conceal it from you afterwards."
+
+"But, uncle, what good news do you refer to?" inquired Olivier, with
+increasing surprise.
+
+"Your friend who was at the house this morning did not tell you that his
+first visit was to me, did he?"
+
+"No, uncle, when he came out into the garden to find me, I supposed he
+had just arrived."
+
+"Yes, for we had agreed to say nothing about our interview, as it was he
+who brought me the good news, and Heaven knows he was pleased enough
+about it, though everything else seemed to be going wrong with him. In
+short, young ladies, you will understand my happiness, I think, when I
+tell you that my brave Olivier has been made an officer."
+
+"I?" exclaimed Olivier, with rapturous delight, "I an officer?"
+
+"Oh, what happiness for you, M. Olivier," cried Herminie.
+
+"Yes, my brave boy," exclaimed the veteran, pressing Olivier's hands
+warmly, "yes, you are an officer; but I was to keep the secret from you
+until the day you will receive your commission, so your happiness would
+be complete, for you do not know all--"
+
+"What more is there to tell, M. Bernard?" inquired Ernestine, who was
+watching the scene with lively interest.
+
+"It is that my dear Olivier will not have to leave me again; at least
+not for a long time, for he has been appointed an officer in one of the
+regiments that have just come to garrison Paris. Ah, Mlle. Ernestine,
+have I not reason to love life now that Olivier and I are both so
+fortunate? Do you understand now the full extent of my gratitude to
+you?"
+
+The newly made officer stood silent and thoughtful, but a strong emotion
+betrayed itself in his features as he glanced at Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+with a new and very peculiar expression.
+
+"Why, my boy," said the veteran, surprised and somewhat chagrined at the
+thoughtful silence which had followed Olivier's first exclamation of joy
+and astonishment, "how is this? I thought you would be so delighted to
+hear of your appointment. I know very well that it is only a tardily
+rendered acknowledgment of services rendered, still--"
+
+"Pray do not think me ungrateful, uncle," replied Olivier, in a voice
+that trembled with emotion. "If I am silent, it is only because my heart
+is too full for utterance when I think of all the happiness this news
+implies; besides, I feel sure that I owe my appointment to the
+enthusiastic efforts of my best friend--an appointment, too, that is
+unspeakably precious to me," added Olivier, casting still another look
+at Ernestine, who blushed, though she knew not why, as she met his
+earnest gaze, "because--because--it is you who announce it to me, my
+dear uncle."
+
+But it was evident that Olivier had not disclosed the real reason that
+rendered his new appointment such a boon to him.
+
+Ernestine alone seemed to read the young man's secret thoughts, for she
+blushed again and a tear glittered in her eye.
+
+"And now, Mister Officer," resumed the veteran, gaily, "as these young
+ladies have heard our good news, we must no longer trespass upon their
+good nature. I trust, however, that Mlle. Herminie will not forget her
+promised invitation to take tea with her. You see I have a good memory,
+mademoiselle."
+
+"You need have no fears on that score, M. Bernard. I shall prove to you
+that my memory is quite as good as yours," responded Herminie,
+graciously.
+
+While the commander was addressing a few more words of gratitude and of
+farewell to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, Olivier, approaching Herminie, said to
+her in a low, beseeching tone:
+
+"Mlle. Herminie, this is one of those days which should incline one to
+clemency. What shall I say to Gerald?"
+
+"M. Olivier," replied Herminie, her face clouding suddenly, for the poor
+child had almost forgotten her own sorrows for the time being, "you know
+my resolve."
+
+Olivier knew Herminie's remarkable firmness of character, so he
+smothered a sigh as he thought of Gerald's disappointment.
+
+"One word more, Mlle. Herminie?" he asked. "Will you have the goodness
+to grant me another interview to-morrow at any hour that suits you? It
+is upon a very important, but purely personal matter I wish to consult
+you this time, and you will be doing me a great favour if you grant my
+request."
+
+"With pleasure, M. Olivier," replied the duchess, though she was not a
+little surprised at the request. "I shall expect you to-morrow morning."
+
+"I thank you, mademoiselle. Good-bye until to-morrow, then," said
+Olivier.
+
+He departed in company with Commander Bernard, and the two young
+girls--the two sisters--were left alone together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A STARTLING REVELATION.
+
+
+Olivier's parting words to Herminie had reawakened the grief and chagrin
+from which her mind had been temporarily diverted by Commander Bernard's
+unexpected arrival in company with Ernestine.
+
+Ernestine, too, was silent and thoughtful for two reasons. One was the
+peculiar look Olivier had bestowed on her on hearing of his
+promotion,--a look whose tender and touching significance the young girl
+fancied she understood; the other was the melancholy pleasure she
+experienced at the recollection that this new but dearly prized friend
+was the young musician who had so greatly ameliorated Madame de
+Beaumesnil's sufferings towards the last.
+
+Ernestine's silence was likewise prolonged by the difficulty she
+experienced in bringing the conversation around to the subject of her
+mother.
+
+Her visit to Herminie had been easily managed. On going to church with
+Mlle. de la Rochaigue as usual, she had asked Madame Laine to accompany
+them, and on leaving church, by pretending that she had some shopping to
+do, she had succeeding in getting away alone with her governess, after
+which a cab had taken them to within a short distance of the Rue de
+Monceau, where Madame Laine was now awaiting, in that vehicle, the
+return of her youthful employer.
+
+Though the silence of the duchess had lasted only a few moments,
+Ernestine, noticing the sad reverie into which her friend had fallen,
+said to her, with mingled tenderness and timidity:
+
+"Herminie, I do not want to be intrusive, but it seems to me you are not
+in your usual good spirits this morning."
+
+"That is true," answered the girl, frankly. "I am in great trouble."
+
+"In great trouble, my dear Herminie?" asked Ernestine, quickly.
+
+"Yes, and perhaps I will tell you all about it by and by, but just at
+this time I am too heart-broken to talk about it, so bear with me a
+little, until I can explain the cause of my grief, though I don't know
+that I ever can--"
+
+"But why this reserve, Herminie. Don't you think me worthy of your
+confidence?"
+
+"That is not the reason, my dear child, but you are so young that I
+ought not to talk to you about such matters, perhaps, but by and by we
+will see about it. Now, let us think about your comfort. You must lie
+down on my bed; you can rest better there than in a chair."
+
+"But, my dearest Herminie--"
+
+Without taking any notice of her guest's protest, Herminie stepped to
+the alcove and drew back the curtains, which her natural delicacy and
+reserve caused her to keep always closed, and Ernestine saw a little
+white iron bedstead covered with a pale pink counterpane, and surmounted
+by a canopy consisting of double draperies of the pretty chintz and
+fresh white muslin. The alcove, too, was hung with pale pink muslin, and
+the pillow-slip, dazzling in its whiteness, was edged with lace.
+
+In fact, nothing could be daintier and prettier than this virginal
+couch, upon which Ernestine, at last yielding to the entreaties of the
+duchess, laid down to rest awhile.
+
+Drawing the armchair up to the bedside and seating herself in it,
+Herminie, taking the orphan's two hands affectionately in hers, said,
+with tender solicitude:
+
+"I am sure a little rest will do you a world of good, Ernestine. How do
+you feel now?"
+
+"My head aches a little, that is all."
+
+"What a frightful risk you ran, my dear child."
+
+"I don't deserve so much praise, though, Herminie; I did not think of
+the danger I was incurring for an instant. I saw the old gentleman fall
+almost under the wheels of the wagon, it seemed to me. I shrieked, and
+sprang to his assistance, and though I am not very strong, I succeeded,
+I scarcely know how, in dragging M. Bernard enough out of the way to
+prevent him from being crushed."
+
+"You dear, brave child! But the wound on your head--"
+
+"The wheel must have struck me, I suppose, for I became unconscious
+almost at that same instant, and M. Bernard, on recovering his senses,
+noticed that I was hurt. But don't let us talk any more about it. I was
+more frightened than hurt, and my reputation for bravery was very
+cheaply won."
+
+Then casting an admiring glance around her, the young girl continued:
+
+"You were right in saying that your room was charming, Herminie. How
+pretty and dainty everything is! And those lovely engravings and
+beautiful statuettes and graceful vases filled with flowers are all so
+simple and inexpensive that it seems as if any one might have them, and
+yet nobody has, because one must have taste to select them. And when I
+think," added the girl, enthusiastically, "that it was by your own
+labour that you acquired all these pretty things, I do not wonder that
+you are proud and happy. How much you must have enjoyed yourself here."
+
+"Yes, I have had a great deal of pleasure out of my home, it is true."
+
+"But now all these pretty surroundings have lost their charm? Why, that
+sounds very ungrateful in you."
+
+"No, no, this little room is still unspeakably dear to me!" exclaimed
+Herminie, quickly, recollecting that it was in this room that she had
+seen Gerald for the first time, and for the last time, too, perhaps.
+
+Ernestine had not been able to devise any way of leading the
+conversation to the subject of her mother without arousing Herminie's
+suspicions, but now, happening to glance at the piano, she added:
+
+"And there is the instrument you play so divinely. How much pleasure it
+would give me to hear you."
+
+"Don't ask me just now, I beg of you, Ernestine. I should burst into
+tears at the sound of the first note. When I am sad, music always makes
+me weep."
+
+"I can understand that, but you will let me hear you play and sing some
+day, will you not?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I promise you that."
+
+"And, by the way, speaking of music," continued Ernestine, trying to
+control herself, "the other night when I was at Madame Herbaut's, I
+heard somebody say that a very sick lady once sent for you to play and
+sing for her."
+
+"That is true," replied Herminie, sadly, "and this lady was the one I
+spoke to you about the other evening because she had a daughter whose
+name was the same as yours."
+
+"And while she was listening to you the poor lady's sufferings became
+less poignant?"
+
+"Because she forgot them, but alas! this alleviation of her sufferings
+could not save her."
+
+"Kind-hearted as you are, Herminie, what loving attentions you must have
+lavished on the poor lady."
+
+"Her situation was so interesting, so pitiable, you see, Ernestine. To
+die while still so young, and deploring the absence of a beloved
+daughter!"
+
+"Did she ever speak of this daughter to you, Herminie?"
+
+"Poor unhappy mother! Her child was the subject of her every thought.
+She had a portrait of her, painted when she was a mere child, and I have
+often seen her eyes fill with tears when they rested upon the picture.
+She often told me, too, how richly her daughter deserved her tenderness
+by the amiability and sweetness of her disposition. She spoke, too, of
+letters which her daughter wrote to her every day, letters in which her
+beloved child's nobility of heart showed itself in every line."
+
+"This lady must have loved you very much to make you her confidante to
+such an extent, Herminie."
+
+"She treated me with the greatest kindness, so it was only natural I
+should become deeply attached to her."
+
+"And the daughter of this lady who was so fond of you, and whom you seem
+to have loved so much in return,--have you never felt any desire to make
+the acquaintance of this other Ernestine?"
+
+"Yes, for everything her mother told me about her made me love her in
+advance, as it were, but at that time she was in a foreign land. When
+she returned to France, I did, for a time, have some hope of seeing and
+knowing her, but I was disappointed in that."
+
+"How did that happen, my dear Herminie?" inquired Ernestine, concealing
+her curiosity, at least in part, however.
+
+"Business took me to the house of her guardian, and while I was there
+something was said about my giving the young lady music lessons."
+
+Ernestine gave a joyous start. This idea had never occurred to her
+before, but wishing to have something to justify her curiosity in
+Herminie's eyes, she exclaimed, laughingly:
+
+"You must think it strange that I ask you so many questions about this
+young lady. Perhaps it is because I feel that I should be dreadfully
+jealous if you should ever love her better than you do me."
+
+"Oh, you need have no fears on that score," said Herminie, shaking her
+head, sadly.
+
+"But why should you not love her?" asked Mlle. de Beaumesnil, eagerly;
+then regretting her involuntary display of anxiety, she added: "But I am
+not selfish enough to wish to deprive this young lady of your affection,
+of course."
+
+"What I know of her, and the recollection of her mother's great kindness
+to me, will always make me fond of her. But alas! my dear Ernestine, it
+is a matter of pride with me to shun any friendship that does not seem
+entirely disinterested, and this young lady is very wealthy and I am
+poor."
+
+"You must have a poor opinion of her, then, after all," said Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, bitterly.
+
+"Oh, no, Ernestine, after all her mother told me, I can not doubt her
+kindness of heart, but I am an entire stranger to her. Then, too, for
+many reasons, and more particularly from a fear of arousing sad
+recollections, I should not dare to speak of the circumstances which
+made me so intimately acquainted with her dying mother, nor of that
+mother's great kindness to me. Besides, would it not look very much as
+if I were trying to ingratiate myself with her, and presuming upon an
+affection to which I really have no claim?"
+
+On hearing this admission, how earnestly Ernestine congratulated herself
+upon having won Herminie's affection before her new friend knew who she,
+Ernestine, really was! And what a strange coincidence! She had feared
+that, because she was the richest heiress in France, she would never be
+loved for herself alone; while Herminie, because she was poor, feared
+that her affection would not appear disinterested.
+
+The duchess seemed to have become more and more depressed in spirits as
+the conversation proceeded. She had hoped to find in it a refuge from
+her own sad thoughts, but such had not been the case, for it was this
+same laudable pride which made Herminie fear that her love for Gerald
+might be attributed to vanity or mercenary motives, and so had led to
+the resolve which would inevitably ruin her only hope of happiness.
+
+For how could she expect that Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre would
+ever consent to make the advances required of her? But alas! though
+endowed with sufficient courage to sacrifice her love to the dignity of
+that love, Herminie realised none the less keenly what terrible
+suffering this courageous sacrifice would entail.
+
+So referring almost unconsciously to the anguish she felt, after a
+moment's silence, she remarked, in a strangely altered voice:
+
+"Ah, my poor Ernestine, how sad it is that the purest and noblest
+affections can be thus degraded by unworthy suspicions!"
+
+And unable to restrain her feelings any longer, she burst into tears and
+hid her face upon the bosom of Ernestine, who, half rising and pressing
+her friend to her heart, exclaimed:
+
+"What is it, Herminie? What is it? I saw that you were becoming more and
+more depressed, but dared not ask you the reason."
+
+"Do not say any more about it," replied Herminie, ashamed of her tears.
+"Forgive this weakness in me, but just now a host of memories--"
+
+"Herminie, I have no right to demand your confidence, I know, but
+sometimes it is a relief to talk of one's troubles--"
+
+"Yes, yes, I know it. It is the constraint that is killing me, but oh,
+the humiliation, the disgrace!"
+
+"Humiliation and disgrace attach to you? Oh, no, Herminie, you are too
+proud for that!"
+
+"But is it not weak and humiliating to weep as I do, after having had
+the courage to make a commendable and even necessary resolution?" she
+sobbed.
+
+Then, after a moment's hesitation, the duchess continued:
+
+"Do not regard what I am about to tell you as a confidential revelation
+on my part, my dear child, but rather as a useful lesson."
+
+"A lesson?"
+
+"Yes, for you, like myself, are an orphan; like me, you are alone in the
+world; and possessed of none of the experience that might save you from
+the snares and pitfalls by which poor girls like us are continually
+surrounded. So listen to me, Ernestine, and may you be spared the misery
+I am suffering now."
+
+And Herminie described the scene in which, justly incensed against
+Gerald, who had ventured to pay her landlord the money she owed, she had
+treated him first with haughtiness and disdain, but afterwards forgiven
+him, touched by the generous impulse to which he had thoughtlessly
+yielded. After which, Herminie continued in words like these:
+
+"Two days after this meeting, in the hope of diverting my mind from
+thoughts which had already gained too great an ascendency over me for my
+peace of mind, I went to Madame Herbaut's house. Judge of my surprise
+when I met this same young man again at that entertainment. My first
+feeling was one of chagrin, almost of fear, a presentiment, doubtless;
+then I had the weakness to yield to the charm of this second meeting.
+Never before had I seen a man who possessed, like him, manners at once
+unpretending, refined and distinguished, a brilliant, versatile mind,
+but never failing delicacy of feeling. I hate flattery, but his was
+characterised with so much grace and delicacy that I accepted it only
+too gladly, I fear. I learned that evening that his name was Gerald, and
+that--"
+
+"Gerald?" Ernestine exclaimed, hastily, recollecting that the Duc de
+Senneterre, one of the suitors for her hand, was also named Gerald.
+
+Just then a loud ring of the door-bell attracted Herminie's attention
+and prevented her from noticing Mlle. de Beaumesnil's astonishment. The
+latter arose from the bed at the sound, while Herminie, greatly annoyed
+by this interruption, directed her steps towards the door.
+
+An elderly serving man handed her a note containing these words:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I have not seen you for several days, my dear child, not having felt as
+well as usual. Can you see me this morning?
+
+Most affectionately yours,
+
+"MAILLEFORT.
+
+"P.S.--Do not take the trouble to answer in writing. If you will see
+your old friend, simply say 'yes' to the bearer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Herminie, in her grief, was inclined to find some excuse for deferring
+M. de Maillefort's visit, but remembering that the marquis, belonging to
+the aristocracy as he did, was doubtless acquainted with Gerald, and
+that she might obtain some more definite information concerning her
+lover without revealing her secret, she said to the servant:
+
+"I shall expect to see M. le Marquis de Maillefort sometime during the
+day."
+
+But as she returned to the room where Mlle. de Beaumesnil was awaiting
+her, Herminie said to herself:
+
+"What if M. de Maillefort should come while Ernestine is here? Oh, well,
+it will not matter much, after all, if she does see him; besides, the
+dear child is so retiring that, as soon as a stranger comes, she is sure
+to leave me alone with him."
+
+So Herminie continued her conversation with Mlle. de Beaumesnil without
+making any allusion to M. de Maillefort's approaching visit, for fear
+that Ernestine would leave sooner than she had intended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
+
+
+"Forgive me for having deserted you so unceremoniously, my dear
+Ernestine," Herminie remarked to her friend. "It was a letter, and I had
+to send a verbal reply."
+
+"Do pray go on with your story, Herminie," replied Ernestine. "You have
+no idea how deeply interested I am."
+
+"And it is such a relief to me to tell you my troubles."
+
+"Yes, I was sure it would be," responded Ernestine, with ingenuous
+tenderness.
+
+"I was just telling you that I learned at Madame Herbaut's little
+entertainment that this young man's name was Gerald Auvernay. It was M.
+Olivier who told me so, on introducing him to me."
+
+"What! he knows M. Olivier?"
+
+"They are intimate friends, for Gerald was a soldier in the same
+regiment as Olivier. On leaving the service, he entered the office of a
+notary, so he told me, but for some time past he had given up an
+employment which was so distasteful to him, and had found occupation on
+the fortifications under an officer of engineers he had known in Africa.
+So you see, Ernestine, that Gerald's position and mine were identical,
+and free as he seemed to be, I was surely excusable for allowing myself
+to yield to a fatal fondness for him."
+
+"But why fatal, Herminie?"
+
+"Wait and you shall know all. Two days after our meeting at Madame
+Herbaut's, on my return from my lessons, I went out into the garden to
+which my landlord had kindly given me the entree. This garden, as you
+can see from the window, is separated from the street in the rear only
+by a hedge, and from the bench on which I had seated myself I saw Gerald
+pass. Instead of being handsomely dressed as on the evening before, he
+was clad in a gray blouse and a big straw hat. He gave a start of
+surprise on perceiving me, but far from seeming mortified at being seen
+in his working clothes, he bowed to me and, pausing, said gaily that he
+was just returning from his day's work, being engaged in superintending
+certain portions of the fortifications now in progress of construction
+at the end of the Rue de Monceau. 'An occupation which suits me much
+better than dull notary work,' he remarked. 'I am fairly well paid and I
+have a crowd of rather rough but very worthy men to superintend. I like
+it much better than copying stupid documents.'"
+
+"I can understand that perfectly, my dear Herminie."
+
+"It is more than likely that the cheerful way in which he accepted this
+arduous labour, manual labour, I might almost say, touched me all the
+more as Gerald had evidently received an excellent education. That
+evening when he left me he smilingly remarked that it was with the hope
+of sometimes meeting me within the boundaries of my park, as he often
+passed through that street on his way to visit a former comrade, who
+lived in a small house that could be seen from the garden. What will you
+think, Ernestine, when I tell you that almost every evening about sunset
+I had a chat with Gerald, and sometimes we even strolled out together to
+the same grassy knolls where M. Bernard met with his accident this
+morning? I found Gerald so full of frankness, generosity of heart,
+talent, and charming humour, he seemed to have such a high--I was about
+to say such a just--opinion of me, that when the day came that Gerald
+declared his love, and told me that he could not live without me, I was
+so happy, Ernestine, oh, so happy! for if Gerald had not loved me I do
+not know what would have become of me. It would have been impossible for
+me to do without this love, and now to love alone,--to love without
+hope," added the poor girl, hardly able to restrain her tears, "oh, it
+is worse than death, for it means a life for ever desolate."
+
+Controlling her emotion, Herminie continued:
+
+"I told Gerald my feelings with the utmost frankness. On my side there
+was not only love, but almost gratitude, for without him life would have
+seemed intolerable to me. 'We are both free to choose,' I said to
+Gerald; 'our positions are equal. We shall both have to work every day
+for our daily bread, and that gratifies my pride, for idleness imposed
+upon a wife is a cruel humiliation to her. Our lot will be humble, even
+precarious, perhaps, Gerald,' I added, 'but with courage, and strong in
+our mutual love and trust, we can defy the worst misfortunes.'"
+
+"What noble words, Herminie! How proud M. Gerald must have been of your
+love! But as you have every chance of happiness, why these tears and
+your evident despair?"
+
+"Do you not think that I was more than justified in loving him?" asked
+the poor girl, trying hard to repress her sobs. "Was not mine a true and
+noble love. Oh, tell me, is it possible that any one can accuse me--"
+
+But Herminie could not finish the sentence, for sobs choked her
+utterance.
+
+"Accuse you? _Mon Dieu!_ Accuse you of what? Are you not as free as M.
+Gerald? Does he not love you as much as you love him? Are your positions
+not equal?"
+
+"No, no, our positions are not equal," replied Herminie, dejectedly.
+
+"What is that you say?"
+
+"No, our positions are not equal, alas! and that is my chief misfortune,
+for in order to equalise our positions apparently, Gerald deceived me as
+to his real station in life."
+
+"Great Heavens! Who is he, then?"
+
+"The Duc de Senneterre."
+
+"The Duc de Senneterre!" exclaimed Ernestine, filled with terror for
+Herminie, as she remembered that Gerald was one of the three suitors for
+her--Ernestine's--hand, and that she was to meet him at the ball on the
+following Thursday. Consequently, he must have deceived Herminie in the
+most shameless manner, as he was, at that very time, endeavouring to
+marry a rich heiress.
+
+Herminie attributed her friend's intense dismay and astonishment
+entirely to the startling revelation that had just been made, however,
+and asked:
+
+"Tell me, Ernestine, am I not, indeed, unfortunate?"
+
+"But such a deception on his part was infamous. How did you discover
+it?"
+
+"M. de Senneterre himself, feeling unable to endure the life of deceit
+his first falsehood imposed upon him, but not daring to make the
+confession himself, entrusted the unpleasant task to M. Olivier."
+
+"It should be some comfort to you that M. de Senneterre at least made
+this confession of his own accord," said Ernestine.
+
+"Yes, and, in spite of the grief it has caused me, I see in it a proof
+of the loyalty I so admired in him."
+
+"Loyalty!" exclaimed Ernestine, bitterly. "Loyalty, and yet he deserts
+you!"
+
+"Deserts me? Far from it. On the contrary, he renews his offer of his
+hand."
+
+"He, M. de Senneterre?" exclaimed Ernestine, in even greater
+astonishment "But, in that case, why are you so unhappy, Herminie?" she
+added.
+
+"Because a penniless orphan like myself can make such a marriage only at
+the cost of the bitterest humiliation."
+
+Herminie could say no more, for just then the door-bell rang again.
+
+"Forgive me, my dear Ernestine," she exclaimed, drying her tears. "I
+think I know who it is that has just rung. I am obliged to see this
+visitor and--"
+
+"Then I will leave you, Herminie," said Ernestine, rising hastily. "I am
+sorry, though, to leave you in such grief."
+
+"At least wait until my visitor comes in!"
+
+"Go and open the door, then, Herminie, while I put on my hat."
+
+The duchess started towards the door, then, recollecting M. de
+Maillefort's deformity, she returned, and said to her friend:
+
+"My dear Ernestine, in order to spare the person I am expecting the
+slight annoyance which the expression of your face, when you first
+perceived his affliction, might cause him, I must warn you that this
+friend of mine is a hunchback."
+
+On hearing this, Mlle. de Beaumesnil suddenly recollected that her
+governess had told her that the Marquis de Maillefort had asked for
+Herminie's address, and a vague fear led her to ask:
+
+"Who is this friend?"
+
+"A most estimable man who made my acquaintance by the merest chance, for
+he is one of the greatest of _grands seigneurs_. But I must not delay
+too long in opening the door. Excuse me for one moment, my dear
+Ernestine."
+
+And Herminie disappeared, leaving Ernestine overwhelmed with
+consternation.
+
+A grim presentiment whispered that M. de Maillefort was about to enter
+and find her in Herminie's home, and though Mlle. de Beaumesnil owed her
+resolve to learn the truth, at any cost, to the Marquis de Maillefort's
+ironical remarks, and though her feelings towards him had undergone an
+entire change, she was not yet sure to what extent she could rely upon
+him, and the prospect of such a meeting was most unwelcome.
+
+Ernestine's fears were realised.
+
+Her friend returned, accompanied by the marquis. Fortunately, Herminie,
+noticing that the curtains of the alcove were open, hastened to close
+them according to her habit, so, as her back was turned towards
+Ernestine and M. de Maillefort for several seconds, she did not notice
+the evident shock that her two friends experienced at the sight of each
+other.
+
+M. de Maillefort gave a sudden start of astonishment on recognising
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil. Intense curiosity, mingled with uneasiness, was
+apparent in every feature. He could not believe his eyes, and he was
+about to speak, when Ernestine, pale and trembling, clasped her hands
+with such a beseeching air that the words died upon his lips.
+
+When Herminie turned, M. de Maillefort's face no longer expressed the
+slightest astonishment, and, doubtless, with the intention of giving
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil time to recover herself, he said to Herminie:
+
+"I am intruding, I am sure, mademoiselle. My visit is inopportune,
+perhaps."
+
+"Believe me, monsieur, no visit of yours will ever be inopportune here,"
+responded the duchess, earnestly. "I only ask your permission to show my
+friend to the door."
+
+"I beg you will do so," answered the marquis, bowing. "I should be
+miserable if you stood on the slightest ceremony with me."
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil was obliged to exercise all her self-control to
+maintain even an appearance of calmness, but, fortunately, the little
+hall-way leading to Herminie's room was dark, so the sudden alteration
+in Ernestine's features escaped the notice of her friend, as she said:
+
+"Ernestine, after all I have just confided to you, I need not tell you
+how necessary your presence will be to me. Alas! I did not think I
+should so soon put your friendship to the test. In pity, Ernestine, do
+not leave me long alone! If you only knew how I shall suffer, for I
+cannot hope to see Gerald again, or, rather, the hope is so uncertain
+that I dare not even think of it, so I beseech you not to let any length
+of time pass without my seeing you."
+
+"You may rest assured that I shall return as soon as I can, and that it
+will not be any fault of mine if--"
+
+"Alas! I understand. Your time must be devoted to your work, because you
+are obliged to work in order to live. It is the same with me. In spite
+of my mental anguish, I shall have to begin my round of lessons one hour
+from now. My lessons, great Heavens! and I scarcely know what I am
+doing. But with people like us, we are not only obliged to suffer, but
+also to live."
+
+Herminie uttered these last words with such despairing bitterness that
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil threw her arms around her friend's neck, and burst
+into tears.
+
+"Come, come, I will not be so weak again, Ernestine," said Herminie,
+returning the embrace; "I promise you I will not. I will be content with
+whatever time you can give me. I will wait and think of you," added the
+duchess, forcing a smile. "Yes, to think of you, and to await your
+return, will be some consolation."
+
+"Farewell, Herminie, farewell," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil. "I shall soon
+see you again,--just as soon as I possibly can, I promise you,--day
+after to-morrow, if possible. Yes, I will manage it somehow," added the
+orphan, resolutely, "day after to-morrow, at the same hour, you can
+count upon seeing me."
+
+"Thank you, thank you!" exclaimed Herminie, embracing Ernestine
+effusively. "Ah, the compassion I showed to you your generous heart
+returns in liberal measure."
+
+"Day after to-morrow, then, it shall be, Herminie."
+
+"Again I thank you with my whole heart."
+
+"And now good-bye," said the orphan.
+
+It was in a deeply agitated frame of mind that she wended her way back
+to the spot where her governess was waiting for her in the cab. As she
+left the house, she met a man who was walking slowly up the street,
+casting furtive glances at the house in which Herminie lived.
+
+This man was Ravil, who, as we have said before, frequently hung about
+the home of the duchess, of whom he had retained a vivid and extremely
+tantalising recollection ever since the day he so insolently accosted
+her, when she was on her way to the Beaumesnil mansion.
+
+De Ravil instantly recognised the richest heiress in France, who, in her
+agitation, did not even glance at this man, whom she had met but once,
+at the Luxembourg, where M. de la Rochaigue had taken her.
+
+"What does this mean?" Ravil said to himself, in the utmost
+astonishment. "Here is the little Beaumesnil dressed almost like a
+grisette, coming out alone, pale and evidently frightened half to death,
+from a house in this miserable part of the town. I'll follow her
+cautiously at a distance, and see where she goes. The more I think of
+it, the more inclined I am to believe that it is the devil himself who
+sends me such a piece of good luck as this! Yes, this discovery may be
+the goose that lays the golden eggs for me. It rejoices my heart. The
+mere thought of it awakens golden visions like those which haunt that
+big ninny, Mornand."
+
+While Ravil was following the unsuspecting Ernestine, Herminie returned
+to M. de Maillefort.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DESPAIR.
+
+
+M. de Maillefort awaited Herminie's return in a state of deep
+perplexity, wondering in vain what strange combination of circumstances
+had brought these two young girls together. The marquis had desired this
+_rapprochement_ greatly, as we shall soon discover, but the hunchback
+had not yet devised any way to bring it about, so Ernestine's presence
+in Herminie's home, the secrecy with which she must have gone there, the
+secrecy, too, which Mlle. de Beaumesnil, by an imploring gesture, had
+begged him to preserve, all combined to excite his curiosity as well as
+his anxiety to the highest pitch.
+
+So, on the return of Herminie, who apologised for having absented
+herself so long, the marquis said, with the most careless air
+imaginable:
+
+"I shall be very sorry if you do not always treat me with that perfect
+freedom permissible between devoted friends, my dear child, and nothing
+could be more natural, I am sure, than a desire to exchange a few
+parting words with one of your young acquaintances, for this young lady
+is, I suppose--"
+
+"One of my friends, monsieur, or rather my dearest friend."
+
+"Ah, indeed," answered the marquis, smiling. "It must be a friendship of
+long standing, then, I suppose?"
+
+"Very recent, on the contrary, monsieur. In fact, this friendship,
+though so true and tried, was conceived very suddenly."
+
+"I have sufficient confidence in your powers of discernment and your
+nobility of heart to feel sure that you have chosen your friend wisely,
+my dear child."
+
+"A single incident, which occurred scarcely an hour ago, monsieur, will
+give convincing proof of my friend's courage and nobility of soul. At
+the risk of her own life,--for she escaped serious injury only by a
+hair's breadth,--she rescued an aged man from certain death."
+
+And Herminie, proud of her friend, and anxious to see her appreciated as
+she deserved to be, proceeded to describe Ernestine's courageous rescue
+of Commander Bernard.
+
+The emotion of the marquis on hearing this unexpected revelation, which
+revealed Mlle. de Beaumesnil in a new and most attractive light, can be
+imagined.
+
+"She certainly displayed wonderful courage and generosity of heart!" he
+cried. Then he added: "I was sure of it! You could not choose your
+friends other than judiciously, my dear child. But who is this brave
+young girl?"
+
+"An orphan like myself, monsieur, who supports herself by her own
+exertions. She is an embroiderer."
+
+"Ah, an embroiderer! But as she, too, is an orphan, she lives alone, I
+suppose?"
+
+"No, monsieur, she lives with a relative, who took her, last Sunday
+evening, to a small entertainment, where I met her for the first tame."
+
+The marquis knit his brows. For an instant he was almost tempted to
+believe that one of the Rochaigues was implicated in this mystery, but
+his implicit faith in Herminie caused him to reject that idea, though he
+wondered how Mlle. de Beaumesnil had managed to absent herself from her
+guardian's house for an entire evening, without the knowledge of the
+baron or his family. He asked himself, too, with no less astonishment,
+how Ernestine had managed to secure several hours of entire freedom that
+very morning, but fearing he would arouse Herminie's suspicions by
+questioning her further, he remarked:
+
+"It is pleasant for me to know that you have a friend so worthy of you,
+and it seems to me," added the hunchback, "that she could not have come
+more opportunely."
+
+"And why, monsieur?"
+
+"You know you have given me the privilege of being perfectly frank with
+you."
+
+"Certainly, monsieur."
+
+"Very well, then, it seems to me that you are not in your accustomed
+good spirits. You look pale, and it is very evident that you have been
+weeping, my poor child."
+
+"I assure you, monsieur--"
+
+"And all this is the more noticeable because you seemed so perfectly
+happy the last two or three times I saw you. Yes, contentment could be
+read on every feature; it even imparted to your beauty such a radiance
+and expansiveness that--as you may perhaps remember, from the rarity of
+the thing--I complimented you upon your radiant beauty. Think of it! I,
+who am the very poorest flatterer that ever lived!" added the hunchback,
+probably in the hope of bringing a smile to Herminie's lips.
+
+But the girl, unable to conquer her sadness, replied:
+
+"The change in my appearance which you speak of is probably due to the
+fright that Ernestine's narrow escape caused me, monsieur."
+
+The marquis, sure now that Herminie was suffering from some grief that
+she wished to conceal, insisted no further, but said:
+
+"It is as you say, doubtless, but the danger is over now, my dear child,
+so I may as well tell you that my visit this morning is important, very
+important. You know that I have made it a point of honour not to say
+anything to you of late in relation to the grave matter that first
+brought me here."
+
+"Yes, monsieur, and I am grateful to you for not having again referred
+to a subject that is so painful to me."
+
+"I am compelled to speak again, if not of Madame de Beaumesnil, at least
+of her daughter," said the marquis, casting a keen, searching look at
+Herminie, in order to discover--though he was almost certain to the
+contrary--if the young girl knew that her new friend was Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil; but he did not feel the shadow of a doubt of Herminie's
+ignorance on the subject when she promptly replied, without the
+slightest embarrassment:
+
+"You say you must speak of Madame de Beaumesnil's daughter, monsieur?"
+
+"Yes, my dear child. I have made no attempt to conceal my devoted
+friendship for Madame de Beaumesnil, nor her dying requests in relation
+to the young orphan whom I have not yet discovered, in spite of the most
+persistent efforts. I told you, too, of the no less urgent request of
+the countess concerning her daughter, Ernestine. For divers reasons
+which, believe me, do not affect you in the least, I am very desirous,
+solely on Mlle. de Beaumesnil's account, understand, that you two young
+girls should become acquainted."
+
+"But how could that be brought about, monsieur?" asked Herminie,
+eagerly, thinking what happiness it would give her to know her sister.
+
+"In the easiest way imaginable--a way that was even suggested to you, I
+believe, when you so nobly returned that five hundred franc note to
+Madame de la Rochaigue."
+
+"Yes, monsieur, Madame de la Rochaigue did give me some reason to hope
+that I might be employed to give Mlle. de Beaumesnil music lessons."
+
+"Well, my dear child, that has been arranged."
+
+"Really, monsieur?"
+
+"Yes, I had a talk with the baroness last evening, and either to-day or
+to-morrow she is going to mention the matter to Mlle. de Beaumesnil. I
+do not doubt that she will accept the proposition. As for you, my dear
+child, I do not apprehend any refusal on your part."
+
+"Far from it, monsieur."
+
+"Besides, what I ask for this young girl, I ask in the name of the
+mother to whom you were so devotedly attached," said the marquis, with
+deep emotion.
+
+"You can not doubt the interest I shall always feel in Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, monsieur, but the relations between, us will, of course, be
+confined to our lessons."
+
+"Not by any means."
+
+"But, monsieur!"
+
+"You must understand, my dear child, that I should not have taken all
+this trouble to bring about an acquaintance between Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+and yourself, if it was to be confined to the lessons given and
+received."
+
+"But, monsieur--"
+
+"There are important interests at stake, interests which I feel can be
+safely intrusted to your hands."
+
+"Explain, monsieur, I beg of you."
+
+"I will do that after you have seen your new scholar," replied the
+marquis, thinking what a delightful surprise it would be to Herminie
+when she recognised Mlle. de Beaumesnil in the poor embroideress, her
+best friend.
+
+"In any case, you may be sure that I shall consider it a sacred duty to
+fulfil your instructions, monsieur, and that I shall hold myself in
+readiness to go to Mlle. de Beaumesnil as soon as I am sent for."
+
+"I will introduce you to her, myself."
+
+"So much the better, monsieur."
+
+"And if agreeable to you, next Saturday at this hour, I will come for
+you."
+
+"I shall expect you monsieur, and I thank you very much for sparing me
+the embarrassment of presenting myself alone."
+
+"And now a word of advice in Mlle. de Beaumesnil's interest, my dear
+child. No one knows, and no one must know that her poor mother summoned
+me to her in her last hours. My deep affection for the countess must
+also remain a secret. You will maintain a profound silence on the
+subject in case either M. or Madame de la Rochaigue should ever speak of
+me."
+
+"I shall comply with your wishes, monsieur."
+
+"And I will come on Saturday, that is understood," said the hunchback,
+rising. "It will give me great pleasure to introduce you to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, and I feel sure that you yourself will find a pleasure you
+do not anticipate in this meeting."
+
+"I hope so, monsieur," replied Herminie, rather absently, for, seeing
+that the marquis was about to go, she did not know how to broach the
+subject that had been uppermost in her mind ever since the hunchback's
+arrival.
+
+At last, endeavouring to appear perfectly calm, she said:
+
+"Before you go, monsieur, will you have the goodness to give me a little
+information if it be in your power to do it?"
+
+"Speak, my dear child," said M. de Maillefort, reseating himself.
+
+"M. le marquis, in the social world to which you belong, have you ever
+chanced to meet Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre?"
+
+"I was one of her deceased husband's most intimate friends, and I am
+extremely fond of the present Duc de Senneterre, one of the best, most
+whole-souled young men I know. I had fresh proofs of his nobility of
+character only yesterday," added the hunchback, with evident emotion.
+
+A slight flush suffused Herminie's face on hearing Gerald thus praised
+by a man she esteemed as highly as M. de Maillefort.
+
+That gentleman, evidently much surprised, continued:
+
+"But what information do you desire in relation to Madame de
+Senneterre, my dear child? Has any one proposed that you should give her
+daughters lessons?"
+
+Hastily catching at these words which helped her out of a great
+difficulty by furnishing her with a pretext for her inquiries, Herminie,
+in spite of her natural abhorrence of anything like deception, replied:
+
+"Yes, monsieur, some one told me that I might possibly secure pupils in
+that distinguished family, but before making any attempt in that
+direction, I was anxious to know if I could expect from Madame de
+Senneterre the consideration my rather too sensitive nature exacts. In
+short, monsieur, I am anxious to know whether Madame de Senneterre
+possesses a kindly nature or whether I am not likely to find in her that
+haughtiness which sometimes characterises persons of such an exalted
+position as hers."
+
+"I understand you perfectly, and I am very glad you applied to me, for
+knowing you as I know you, dear, proud child that you are, I say very
+plainly, neither seek nor accept any pupils in that family. The Mlles.
+de Senneterre are lovely girls--they have their brother's
+disposition--but the duchess--!"
+
+"Well, monsieur?" asked poor Herminie.
+
+"Ah, my dear child, the duchess is more deeply in love with her title
+than any other woman I ever saw--which is very strange, as she is really
+extremely well born, while this ridiculous and absurd pride of rank is
+generally confined to _parvenus_. In short, my dear child, I would much
+rather see you brought in contact with twenty M. Bouffards than with
+this insufferably arrogant woman. The Bouffards are so coarse and
+ignorant that their rudeness amuses rather than wounds, but in the
+Duchesse de Senneterre you will find the most polite insolence, or
+rather the most insolent politeness, imaginable, so I am sure that you,
+my dear child, who have such a high respect for yourself, could not
+remain in Madame de Senneterre's company ten minutes without being
+wounded to the quick, and resolving that you would never set foot in her
+house again. That being the case, what is the use of entering it?"
+
+"I thank you, monsieur," replied Herminie, almost crushed by this
+revelation which destroyed her last hope,--a hope she had preserved in
+spite of herself, that perhaps Madame de Senneterre, touched by her
+son's love, would consent to make the concession that Herminie's pride
+demanded.
+
+"No, no, my dear child," continued the marquis, "Gerald de Senneterre's
+filial tenderness must blind him completely for him not to lose all
+patience with his mother's absurd arrogance, and for him not to see that
+she is as hard-hearted as she is narrow-minded. In short, her
+selfishness is only exceeded by her cupidity. I have every reason to
+know this, so I am delighted to defraud her of a victim by enlightening
+you in regard to her. And now good-bye. Let me be of service to you in
+any matter, however small, as often as you can. It will serve to content
+me while waiting for something better. And now I will again bid you
+good-bye until Saturday."
+
+"Until Saturday, monsieur."
+
+And M. de Maillefort departed, leaving Herminie alone with her
+immeasurable despair.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+The day of Madame de Mirecourt's ball had arrived.
+
+The three suitors for Mlle. de Beaumesnil's hand were to press their
+claims at this brilliant fete.
+
+The announcement that the richest heiress in France was to make her
+debut that evening furnished a topic for general conversation, and made
+every one forget a suicide that had plunged one of the most illustrious
+houses in France into mourning.
+
+Madame de Mirecourt did not attempt to conceal her intense gratification
+that her house had been selected for Mlle. de Beaumesnil's debut, and
+secretly congratulated herself, too, at the thought that it would
+probably be in her house that the marriage of this famous heiress with
+the Duc de Senneterre would be virtually concluded, for being devoted to
+Gerald's mother, Madame de Mirecourt was one of the most ardent
+promoters of the scheme.
+
+Having stationed herself as usual near the door of the main drawing-room
+to welcome her guests, Madame de Mirecourt awaited the coming of the
+Duchesse de Senneterre with the utmost impatience. That lady, who was to
+be accompanied by her son, had promised to come early, but had not yet
+arrived.
+
+An unusually large number of guests, attracted thither by curiosity, had
+crowded into the principal salon in order to be the first to see Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil, whose name was upon every lip.
+
+There was not a marriageable young man who had not bestowed an unusual
+amount of care upon his toilet, not that these young men had any openly
+avowed intentions, but--who knows? Heiresses are so peculiar, and who
+could foresee the consequences of a brief chat, of a quadrille, or of a
+first impression?
+
+So each young man, as he cast a last complacent glance in his mirror,
+recalled all sorts of romantic episodes in which wealthy damsels had
+fallen in love at first sight with some stranger, whom they had finally
+married against the wishes of their relatives,--for all these worthy
+bachelors had but one thought in this instance, marriage, and they even
+carried their honesty so far as to love marriage for the sake of
+marriage itself, and the bride became little more than an accessory in
+their eyes.
+
+Each bachelor had endeavoured to make the most of himself according to
+his character and appearance. The handsome ones had striven to make
+themselves still more handsome and irresistible.
+
+Those of a less attractive or even homely exterior assumed a
+_spirituelle_ or melancholy air.
+
+In short, each and every one said to himself, like the people who allow
+themselves to be enticed into those lotteries that offer prizes of
+several millions:
+
+"Of course it is absurd to suppose that I shall win one of these
+fabulous prizes. I have but one chance in nobody knows how many
+thousand, but somebody has got to win. Why may I not be the lucky one?"
+
+As for the persons that composed the assemblage, they were very nearly
+the same who had attended the dance given by Madame de Senneterre
+several months before, and who had taken a more or less prominent part
+in the numerous conversations on the subject of Madame de Beaumesnil's
+approaching death.
+
+Several of these persons also recollected the curiosity that had been
+expressed in regard to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, who was then in a foreign
+land, and whom no one had ever seen, so a majority of Madame
+Mirecourt's guests would consequently witness to-night the solution of
+the problem propounded several weeks before.
+
+Was the richest heiress in France as beautiful as a star or as hideous
+as a monster? Was she glowing with health or a hopeless consumptive?
+
+It was ten o'clock, and Madame de Mirecourt was becoming very uneasy.
+Madame de Senneterre and her son had not made their appearance; Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil might arrive at any moment, and it had been arranged that
+Ernestine should be chaperoned by Madame de la Rochaigue or Madame de
+Senneterre the entire evening, and that Gerald should dance the first
+quadrille with the heiress.
+
+Every minute the crowd increased. Among the newcomers, M. de Mornand,
+accompanied by M. de Ravil, advanced in the most disinterested air
+imaginable to pay his respects to Madame de Mirecourt, who greeted him
+very graciously, and innocently remarked, without the slightest
+suspicion how true her words were:
+
+"I am sure you came partially to see me, but chiefly to see the lioness
+of the evening, Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+The prospective minister smiled as he replied, with truly diplomatic
+guile:
+
+"I assure you, madame, I came only to have the honour of paying my
+respects to you, and to witness one of those charming fetes you alone
+know how to give."
+
+After which M. de Mornand made his best bow and passed on, whispering to
+Ravil:
+
+"Go and see if she is in one of the other rooms. I will remain here. Try
+to bring the baron to me if you see him."
+
+De Ravil nodded an assent to his Pylades and mingled with the crowd,
+saying to himself, as he thought of the meeting of the day before, which
+he had carefully refrained from mentioning to M. de Mornand:
+
+"So here is an heiress who wanders about lonely parts of the town,
+grisette fashion, and then returns to that abominable Madame Laine, who
+is complacently waiting for her in a cab. This last surprises me very
+little, however, as that unscrupulous female told me flatly, a week or
+so ago, that I could no longer count upon her influence. But at whose
+expense is she favouring this intrigue on the part of the little
+Beaumesnil? for there must be an intrigue, of course. That big ninny of
+a Mornand is no good. I might have known it. I must ferret out the truth
+of all this, for the more I think of it, the more convinced I am that
+the best thing for me to do is to drop Mornand, and devote my attention
+to the goose that lays the golden eggs, and, as a preliminary measure,
+I'll watch what goes on here this evening."
+
+Just as the cynic vanished in the crowd, the Duchesse de Senneterre
+entered the room, but alone--her expression indicative of the deepest
+annoyance.
+
+Madame de Mirecourt advanced a few steps to meet her, and, with the
+cleverness which women of the world possess in such an eminent degree,
+she found a way, though surrounded by a crowd of guests, and engaged to
+all appearance in exchanging the usual commonplaces with the duchess, to
+really hold the following low-toned conversation with her:
+
+"But where is Gerald?"
+
+"The doctor had to bleed him this evening."
+
+"Good Heavens! what is the matter with him?"
+
+"He has been in a terrible state ever since yesterday."
+
+"But why did you not warn me, my dear duchess?"
+
+"Because up to the very last minute he declared that he was coming,
+though he did feel so badly."
+
+"It is too bad! Mlle. de Beaumesnil may come at any moment, and you were
+to have taken possession of her immediately upon her arrival."
+
+"I know it, so I am in misery--nor is this all."
+
+"Why, what else is troubling you, my dear duchess?"
+
+"I cannot exactly explain why, but I have some doubts as to my son's
+intentions."
+
+"What an idea!"
+
+"He has acted so strangely of late."
+
+"But did he not assure you this very day that, though he was far from
+well, he intended coming here this evening to meet Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Certainly; and another thing that reassures me is that M. de
+Maillefort--whom Madame de la Rochaigue fears so much, and to whom my
+son has imprudently confided our plans--M. de Maillefort is on our side,
+for he knows the object of this meeting, and yet he promised to
+accompany Gerald and me."
+
+"There is no help for it, I suppose, but it certainly is a fine
+opportunity lost. When Madame de la Rochaigue arrives with Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, do not leave them for an instant, and so arrange with the
+baroness that the girl shall have only unattractive men for partners."
+
+"Yes, that is very important."
+
+Every minute or two new guests came up to pay their respects to Madame
+de Mirecourt.
+
+Suddenly Madame de Senneterre made a hasty movement, then, in a quick
+aside to her friend, exclaimed:
+
+"Why, that is M. de Macreuse who has just come in! Can it be you receive
+that creature?"
+
+"Why, my dear duchess, I have met him at your house a hundred times;
+besides, it was one of my most particular friends, the sister of the
+Bishop of Ratopolis, Madame de Cheverny, who requested an invitation for
+him. You know, too, that M. de Macreuse is received everywhere on
+account of his St. Polycarpe Mission."
+
+"St Polycarpe has nothing in the world to do with it. I assure you, my
+dear," said the duchess, interrupting her friend impatiently, "I
+received the man like everybody else, but I am sorry enough now, for I
+have discovered that he is nothing more or less than a scoundrel, a man
+that shouldn't be allowed in decent society. I have even heard that
+valuable articles have been known to disappear during his visits," added
+Madame de Senneterre, unblushingly.
+
+"Great Heavens! is it possible that the man's a thief?" exclaimed Madame
+de Mirecourt.
+
+"No, my dear, of course not, he only borrows a diamond or some other
+jewel now and then, and forgets to return it."
+
+At that very instant M. de Macreuse, who had been watching the
+expression of the ladies' faces as he slowly advanced, and who shrewdly
+suspected that they were none too charitably inclined towards him, but
+who nevertheless came forward to bow to the mistress of the house with
+imperturbable assurance, interrupted the conversation by saying:
+
+"I hoped, madame, to have had the honour of presenting myself here this
+evening under Madame de Cheverny's auspices, but unfortunately for me
+she is feeling far from well, and made me the bearer of her profound
+regrets."
+
+"I am truly inconsolable that indisposition deprives me of the pleasure
+of seeing Madame de Cheverny this evening," replied Madame de Mirecourt,
+dryly, still under the influence of what Madame de Senneterre had just
+said to her.
+
+But Macreuse was not easily disconcerted, for bowing low to the duchess
+this time, he said, smilingly:
+
+"I have less occasion to regret the kind protection of my friend, Madame
+de Cheverny, as I may almost venture to count upon yours, madame la
+duchesse."
+
+"Justly, monsieur," responded Madame de Senneterre, with bitter hauteur,
+"I was just speaking to Madame de Mirecourt of you when you came in, and
+congratulating her upon having the honour of receiving you in her
+house."
+
+"I expected no less from the habitual kindness of madame la duchesse, to
+whom I am indebted for many valuable acquaintances in the delightful
+circle in which she moves," replied M. de Macreuse, in tones of the
+utmost respect.
+
+After which he bowed low again, and passed on.
+
+This protege of Abbe Ledoux, Madame de Beaumesnil's former confessor,
+was much too shrewd and clear-sighted not to have felt that, in his late
+interview with Madame de Senneterre (the interview in which he had
+confessed that he was an aspirant for Mlle. de Beaumesnil's hand), he
+had, in vulgar parlance, put his foot in it, though the duchess had
+ostensibly promised him her support.
+
+Too late Macreuse awoke to the fact that the duchess had a marriageable
+son, and the haughty and sarcastic greeting she had just given him
+confirmed this pious young man's suspicions; but he troubled himself
+very little about this hostility, feeling sure, from Mlle. Helena de la
+Rochaigue's reports, that he was not only the first suitor in the field,
+but that he had already made a deep impression upon the young heiress by
+his touching melancholy and piety.
+
+So, full of hope, M. de Macreuse first satisfied himself that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil was not in the room, and then stationed himself in a
+convenient place to watch for her arrival, resolved to take advantage of
+the first opportune moment to invite her to dance.
+
+"Did any one ever see anything to equal his impudence?" exclaimed Madame
+de Senneterre, as the abbe's protege moved away.
+
+"Really, my dear duchess, what you tell me astonishes me beyond measure.
+And to think that M. de Macreuse is regarded as a model of virtue and
+piety almost everywhere!"
+
+"A fine model he is! There are plenty of other things I could tell you
+about him, too--"
+
+But interrupting herself, Madame de Senneterre exclaimed:
+
+"Here comes Mlle. de Beaumesnil at last. Ah, what a pity it is that
+Gerald is not here!"
+
+"Oh, well, you can console yourself with the thought that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil will hear nothing but your son's praises the entire evening.
+Remain here, and I will bring the dear child to you. You and the
+baroness must not leave her even for a moment."
+
+And Madame de Mirecourt advanced to meet Mlle. de Beaumesnil, who had
+just come in, accompanied by M. and Madame de la Rochaigue.
+
+The young girl was leaning on her guardian's arm. A low buzzing sound,
+produced by loud whispers of "That is Mlle. de Beaumesnil," created a
+general stir in the spacious rooms, and a crowd of curious observers
+soon filled the doorways of the salon in which Ernestine found herself.
+
+It was in the midst of this eager excitement that the richest heiress in
+France, lowering her eyes under the curious looks directed upon her from
+every side, made her entrance into society.
+
+The poor child was secretly comparing this eagerness and impatience to
+see and to be seen by her, as well as the murmurs of admiration which
+she heard as she advanced, with the entirely different reception she had
+received at Madame Herbaut's house the Sunday before; and all this only
+made her the more resolved to carry her attempted test as far as
+possible, and thus satisfy herself once for all in regard to the honour
+and sincerity of the people with whom she seemed destined to live.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, to the utter dismay of the Rochaigues, and with a
+sudden display of obstinacy that both amazed and cowed them, had
+insisted upon dressing as simply as on the occasion of Madame Herbaut's
+little entertainment.
+
+A plain white muslin gown and a blue sash, exactly like those she had
+worn the Sunday before, composed the attire of the heiress, who wished
+to look neither better nor worse than she did then.
+
+The thought of attiring herself in a ridiculous manner had occurred to
+her, almost certain that, even in that case, the charming originality of
+her toilet would be loudly praised on every side, but the thought of
+what a serious and important thing this test was to her led to a speedy
+abandonment of that idea.
+
+As had been planned in advance by Mesdames de Mirecourt, de Senneterre,
+and de la Rochaigue, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, as soon as she arrived at the
+ball, and made her way through the eager crowd that blocked her passage,
+was conducted by her hostess to the large and magnificent room which had
+been reserved for dancing. Here, Madame de Mirecourt left Ernestine in
+the care of Madame de la Rochaigue and Madame de Senneterre, whom the
+baroness had just met--by the merest chance.
+
+Not far from the divan on which the heiress was seated were several
+charming young girls, all as pretty and much more elegantly dressed than
+the belles of Madame Herbaut's ball, but every eye was riveted upon
+Ernestine.
+
+"I shall not lack partners this evening," she thought, "nor shall I be
+asked out of pity. All those charming girls over there will doubtless be
+neglected on my account."
+
+While Mlle. de Beaumesnil was absorbed in these observations,
+recollections, and comparisons, Madame de Senneterre was telling Madame
+de la Rochaigue, in subdued tones, that, unfortunately, Gerald was so
+ill that it would be impossible for him to attend the ball, and it was
+therefore decided that Ernestine should be allowed to dance very little,
+and then only with carefully selected partners.
+
+To attain this end, Madame de la Rochaigue said to Ernestine:
+
+"My darling child, you can judge of the sensation you are creating in
+spite of the unheard-of simplicity of your toilet. My predictions are
+more than realised, you see. You are sure to be overwhelmed with
+invitations to dance, but as it would never do for you to dance with
+everybody, we will manage in this way. When I think it advisable for you
+to accept an invitation, I will open my fan; if, on the contrary, I keep
+it closed, you will decline on the plea that you are dancing very
+little, and that you have made too many engagements already."
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue had scarcely addressed this remark to Ernestine
+before quite a number of young people began to take their places for a
+quadrille. Several young men who were dying to invite Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil hesitated a little, rightly thinking that it was hardly the
+thing to ask her the minute she entered the ball-room; but M. de
+Macreuse, being either less scrupulous or more daring, did not hesitate
+a second, but, making his way swiftly through the crowd, begged
+Ernestine to do him the honour to dance the quadrille that was then
+forming, with him.
+
+Madame de Senneterre, positively stupefied by what she called such
+unheard-of audacity on M. de Macreuse's part, turned to hastily implore
+Madame de la Rochaigue to give the signal for a refusal, but it was too
+late.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, anxious to find herself virtually alone with M. de
+Macreuse as soon as possible, promptly accepted the invitation, without
+waiting to note the movements of Madame de la Rochaigue's fan, and, to
+that lady's great astonishment, immediately rose, accepted the pious
+young man's arm, and walked away.
+
+"That scoundrel's insolence is really unbearable!" exclaimed the
+duchess, wrathfully.
+
+But checking herself suddenly, she exclaimed in an entirely different
+tone:
+
+"Why, there he is now!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Gerald."
+
+"How fortunate! Where do you see him, my dear duchess?"
+
+"Over there by the window. Poor boy, how pale he looks!" added the
+duchess, feelingly. "How brave it was in him to come! We are saved!"
+
+"Yes, it is, indeed, Gerald!" said Madame de la Rochaigue, no less
+delighted than her friend. "M. de Maillefort is with him. The marquis
+did not deceive me, after all. He promised that he would do nothing to
+interfere with my plans as soon as he found out that M. de Senneterre
+was the husband I had picked out for Ernestine."
+
+The music struck up, and just as Madame de Senneterre motioned to Gerald
+that there was a vacant seat beside her, the quadrille in which M. de
+Macreuse and Mlle. de Beaumesnil were to participate began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+M. DE MACREUSE OVERDOES THE MATTER.
+
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil had eagerly availed herself of the first opportunity
+for a conversation with M. de Macreuse, for from this conversation she
+hoped to ascertain whether her distrust of him was well founded. She was
+strongly inclined to think so, the abbe's protege having assured Mlle.
+Helena that he had fallen suddenly and passionately in love with Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil at first sight.
+
+And after her experience at Madame Herbaut's, the heiress knew what to
+think of the sudden and irresistible impressions her beauty must
+produce.
+
+But recollecting the different things that had attracted her attention
+to M. de Macreuse, recalling the profound grief he had seemed to feel at
+his mother's death, the charity of which he had given such convincing
+proof by his alms, and, above all, the rare virtues which Mlle. Helena
+was continually lauding to the skies, Ernestine was anxious to know
+exactly what to think of this so-called model young man.
+
+"M. de Macreuse has interested me very much," she said to herself. "He
+is very prepossessing in appearance, and his melancholy is extremely
+touching; in fact, but for M. de Maillefort's sneering remarks, which
+have made me distrust myself as well as others, I should perhaps have
+taken a decided fancy to M. de Macreuse. Perhaps, captivated by the rare
+virtues of which I have heard so much, I should have unconsciously
+yielded to Mlle. Helena's influence, and perhaps have married M. de
+Macreuse, a choice which I am told would assure my happiness for life.
+Let me see, then, what kind of a choice I should have made, for I have
+an infallible means of distinguishing truth from falsehood now."
+
+M. de Macreuse, full of confidence by reason of Helena's flattering
+reports, and realising the decisive nature of this interview, had long
+been preparing himself to play the liar to perfection.
+
+When Ernestine laid her hand lightly on his arm, this pious youth
+pretended to give a sudden start, and the young girl was conscious of
+the sort of thrill that traversed her partner's arm.
+
+When they had taken their places, M. de Macreuse made two ineffectual
+attempts to address a few words to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, but he seemed
+dominated by such a powerful, though perfectly natural emotion, that
+speech failed him and he could only blush deeply.
+
+Abbe Ledoux, by the way, had taught his protege an almost infallible
+means of blushing: this was to hang one's head for several seconds,
+holding one's breath all the while.
+
+This skilfully counterfeited emotion occupied the first few minutes of
+the quadrille, M. de Macreuse having addressed scarcely a word to Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil.
+
+Moreover, by a marvel of tact and cunning, the originator of the St.
+Polycarpe mission not only managed to escape the ridicule to which a
+profoundly melancholy man exposes himself when he undertakes to dance,
+but also to preserve an interesting appearance in Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+eyes in spite of the terpsichorean evolutions he was obliged to perform.
+
+He was aided not a little by his personal appearance, we must admit.
+
+Dressed entirely in black, booted and gloved in the most irreproachable
+manner, the cut of his coat was perfection, and his black satin cravat
+extremely becoming to one with his fair complexion and regular features.
+His figure, though a little too stout, was replete with an easy grace,
+and as he walked through the different figures of the quadrille, keeping
+perfect time to the music, he now and then cast a resigned but pathetic
+look at Mlle. de Beaumesnil, a look that seemed to say:
+
+"I am a stranger to worldly pleasures--entirely out of place at fetes,
+from which my sorrow impels me to hold myself aloof, but I submit to
+this painful contrast between my grief and the gaiety around me, because
+I have no other means of seeing you."
+
+This beloved disciple of Abbe Ledoux, in short, belonged to that school
+of actors that seems to make a specialty of meaning but constrained
+glances, expressive but discreet sighs, all fittingly accompanied with
+rollings of the eyes, and a contrite, radiant, or ingenuous expression
+of countenance, as best suits the occasion.
+
+In fact, M. de Macreuse's rendition of his role was so admirable that
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, in spite of her suspicions, could not help saying
+to herself:
+
+"Poor M. de Macreuse! it must be very painful for him to find himself at
+a gay entertainment in which he can take so little pleasure, overwhelmed
+as he is by the despair his mother's death has caused him."
+
+But her suspicions reasserting themselves, "Then why did he come?" she
+asked herself. "Very possibly he was impelled to do so solely by
+avaricious motives. Is it a shameful hope of securing my wealth that
+makes him forget his grief and his regret?"
+
+M. de Macreuse having at last found a favourable opportunity for
+beginning a conversation with Ernestine, summoned up another blush, then
+said, in his most timid, unctuous, and ingratiating tones:
+
+"Really, I must appear very awkward and ridiculous to you,
+mademoiselle."
+
+"And why, monsieur?"
+
+"I have not dared to address so much as a word to you since the
+beginning of the dance, mademoiselle, but--embarrassment--fear--"
+
+"What! I frighten you, monsieur?"
+
+"Alas! yes, mademoiselle."
+
+"That is not a very gallant remark, monsieur."
+
+"I make no pretentious to gallantry, mademoiselle," replied Macreuse,
+sadly, but proudly. "I am only sincere--and the fear you inspire in me
+is real, only too real."
+
+"But why do I inspire you with fear?"
+
+"Because you have unsettled my life and my reason, mademoiselle, for
+from the first moment I saw you, without even knowing who you were, your
+image placed itself between me and the only previous objects of my
+adoration. Up to that time, I had lived only to pray to God and to
+cherish or mourn for my mother, while now--"
+
+"Good Heavens, monsieur, how tiresome all this is! What I say may
+surprise you, but it is the truth, nevertheless; for you see," continued
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, assuming from this on the imperious and flippant
+tone and manner of a spoiled child, "I am in the habit of saying
+anything that comes into my head, unless I am absolutely compelled to
+play the hypocrite."
+
+It is needless to say that M. de Macreuse was astounded by this
+interruption, and above all by the manner in which it was made, for,
+from Mlle. Helena's reports, he had fully expected to find in Ernestine
+an artless, but deeply religious child; so, up to this time, he had
+carefully maintained a manner and a style of conversation which would be
+likely to please an unsophisticated devotee.
+
+Still, too wary to betray his astonishment, and ready to change his
+character at a moment's notice if that should prove necessary to put him
+in tune with the heiress, this pious young man replied, venturing a
+half smile--he had preserved a melancholy gravity up to that time:
+
+"You are right, mademoiselle, to say whatever comes into your head,
+particularly as only charming thoughts can find shelter there."
+
+"Really, monsieur, I like this kind of talk very much better. You were
+not at all amusing before."
+
+"It depends upon you, mademoiselle," responded Macreuse, risking a whole
+smile this time, and so transforming his formerly grief-stricken face by
+degrees, as it were, "and it will always depend upon you, mademoiselle,
+to change sorrow to gladness. Nothing is impossible to you."
+
+"Oh, as to that, there's a time for everything, I think. Now this
+morning at church I seemed sad, because church is so dull any way;
+besides, in order not to be outdone by Mlle. Helena I put on the most
+saintly airs imaginable, but in my secret heart I am awfully fond of
+gaiety and of amusing myself. By the way, what do you think of my gown?"
+
+"It is in exquisite taste. In its charming simplicity it is a delightful
+contrast to the gaudy attire of all the other young ladies; but they are
+excusable, after all, and you deserve very little credit, for they have
+need of outward adornments, while you can dispense with them,
+mademoiselle. Perfection needs no ornamentation."
+
+"That is exactly what I said to myself," responded Ernestine, with the
+most arrogant and conceited air imaginable. "I felt sure that, even in a
+plain white dress, I was pretty certain to eclipse all the other young
+girls and make them turn green with envy. It is such fun to excite envy
+in others and torment them."
+
+"You must be accustomed to that pleasure, mademoiselle. It is true that
+the jealousy of others does afford one a vast amount of amusement, as
+you so wittily remarked a moment ago."
+
+"Oh, I am not so wonderfully witty," responded Ernestine, with an
+admirable semblance of overweening conceit; "but I am very fond of my
+own way and can't bear any one to oppose or contradict me. That is why I
+hate old people so. They are for ever preaching to young folks. Do you
+like old people, monsieur?"
+
+"You mean mummies, mademoiselle. The chief aim of life should be
+pleasure."
+
+And the imperious necessity of executing a figure in the quadrille
+having interrupted M. de Macreuse at this point, he took advantage of
+the excellent opportunity thus afforded to change the expression of his
+countenance entirely, and to assume the most joyous dare-devil air
+imaginable. A similar change, too, was apparent in his dancing. It was
+much more lively and animated. The young man straightened himself up,
+lifted his head high in the air, and whenever he found an opportunity he
+bestowed upon Mlle. de Beaumesnil glances which were now as impassioned
+as the former ones had been timid and discreet.
+
+While he was assuming this new character, the abbe's protege was all the
+while saying to himself:
+
+"How strange! the girl is an arrant hypocrite evidently, inasmuch as she
+succeeded in deceiving Mlle. de la Rochaigue so completely in regard to
+her real character. I strongly suspect, though, that my excellent friend
+was afraid that she would frighten me if she told me the truth about the
+girl. She little knows me. I'm glad that the girl is silly and vain, and
+that she thinks herself witty and beautiful and capable of out-shining
+all the pretty women here to-night. Deceitfulness, ignorance, and
+vanity--it must be a fool indeed that can not use three such potent
+factors as these to advantage. But now to the main question! With a
+simpleton like this, reserve is unnecessary, nor can one pile on the
+flattery too thickly. Complaisance must extend almost to baseness, for
+the girl has evidently been utterly spoiled by her wealth. She knows
+perfectly well that anything is permissible in her,--that any offence
+will be condoned in the richest heiress in France."
+
+So as he returned to his place M. de Macreuse remarked to Ernestine:
+
+"You accused me just now of being too grave, mademoiselle. You must not
+suppose that I am in the most hilarious spirits now, but the happiness
+of being with you intoxicates me."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"If Mlle. Helena, in encouraging me to hope that some day, when you
+learned to know me better, you might think me worthy to consecrate my
+life to you,--if Mlle. Helena was mistaken in this--"
+
+"By the way, speaking of Mlle. Helena, you must admit that she is a
+frightful bore."
+
+"That is true, but she is so good."
+
+"So good! Well, that did not prevent her from saying something dreadful
+to me about you the other day."
+
+"About me?"
+
+"Yes, she made you out such a paragon of goodness that I said to myself:
+'Great Heavens, how intolerable that man must be with all his virtues. A
+person as perfect as that must be a frightful nuisance! And then to be
+always at church or engaged in charitable works, the mere idea of it is
+enough to make one die of ennui.' I did not say this to Mlle. Helena,
+but I thought it all the same. Judge then, monsieur, I, who would marry
+only to be as free as air and amuse myself from morning till night, to
+be always on the go, to be the most fashionable woman in Paris, and
+above all to be able to go to the masked ball at the Opera house! Oh,
+that ball, it sets me crazy just to think of it! Mercy! what is the use
+of being as rich as I am if one cannot enjoy everything and do exactly
+as one pleases?"
+
+"When one is as rich as you are," replied M. de Macreuse, with
+unblushing effrontery, "one is queen everywhere, above all in one's own
+home. The man you honour with your choice should, to follow out my
+comparison, be the prime minister of your kingdom of pleasure,--no, your
+chief courtier, and as such be ever submissive and eager to do your
+bidding. His one thought should be to save you from the slightest
+annoyance, and leave you only the flowers of existence. The birds of the
+air should not be freer than you; and if your husband understands his
+duty, your pleasures, your wishes, and even your slightest caprice,
+should be sacred to him. Is he not your slave, and you his divinity?"
+
+"Good, monsieur, that would suit me perfectly, but from what Mlle.
+Helena has told me about you, and from what I myself have seen--"
+
+"And what have you seen, mademoiselle?"
+
+"I have seen you giving alms to the poor and even talking with them."
+
+"Certainly, mademoiselle, and I--"
+
+"In the first place, I have a horror of poor people,--they are so
+loathsome in their rags they fairly turn one's stomach."
+
+"They are horrible creatures, it is true, but one has to throw them a
+little money now and then as one throws a bone to a starving dog to keep
+him from biting you. It is merely a matter of policy."
+
+"I understand, then, for I wondered how you could feel any interest in
+such repulsive creatures."
+
+"Good Heavens, mademoiselle," replied Macreuse, more and more earnestly,
+"you must not wonder at certain apparent contradictions between the
+present and the past. If any do exist you are the cause of them, so
+ought you not to pardon them? What did I tell you from the very first?
+Did I not confess that you had wrought a complete change in my life? Ah,
+yes, I had sorrows, but I have them no longer. I was devout, but
+henceforth there is only one divinity for me, yourself. As for my
+virtues," added M. de Macreuse, with a cynical smile, "they need not
+worry you. Only too happy to lay the others at your feet, I will retain
+only such as may please you."
+
+"How infamous!" thought Ernestine. "To attract my attention, or, rather,
+to excite my interest, this man made a pretence of being charitable,
+virtuous, devout, and a most devoted son; now he denies his virtues, his
+charity, his mother, and even his God, to please me, and attain his
+object, viz., to marry me for my money, while the detestable faults I
+affect do not shock him in the least; he even praises and exalts them."
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, who was little versed in dissimulation, and who had
+been obliged to exercise the greatest self-restraint in order to enact
+the role which would assist her in unmasking M. de Macreuse, could no
+longer conceal her scorn and disgust, and, in spite of all her efforts,
+her face betrayed her real feelings only too plainly, as she listened to
+M. de Macreuse's last words.
+
+That gentleman, like all the disciples of his school, made a constant
+study of the countenance of the person he wished to deceive or convince;
+and the quick contraction of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's features, her smile
+of bitter disdain, and a sort of impatient indignation that she made
+little or no attempt to conceal at the moment, were a sudden and
+startling revelation to M. de Macreuse.
+
+"I am caught," he said to himself. "It was a trap. She distrusted me and
+wanted to try me. She pretended to be silly, capricious, vain,
+heartless, and irreligious, merely to see if I would have the courage to
+censure her, and if my love would survive such a discovery. Who the
+devil would have suspected such cunning in a girl of sixteen? But if she
+has feigned all these objectionable proclivities, her real instincts
+must be good and generous," this beloved disciple of Abbe Ledoux said to
+himself. "And if she was anxious to put me to the test she must have had
+some idea of marrying me. All is not lost. I must recover my lost ground
+by a bold stroke."
+
+These reflections on the part of the pious youth lasted only for an
+instant, but that instant sufficed to prepare him for another
+transformation.
+
+The same brief interval had also given Mlle. de Beaumesnil time to calm
+her indignation, and summon up courage to end this interview by covering
+Macreuse with shame and confusion.
+
+"So you are really willing to sacrifice all your virtues on my account?"
+exclaimed Ernestine. "Few persons are as obliging as all that. But the
+quadrille is ended. Instead of escorting me back to my seat, won't you
+take me to that conservatory I see at the other end of the room?"
+
+"I am all the more pleased to comply with your request, mademoiselle, as
+I have a few words, very serious words they are, too, that I wish to say
+to you."
+
+M. de Macreuse's tone had changed entirely. It was grave now, even
+stern.
+
+Ernestine glanced at the pious young man in astonishment. His expression
+had become as sad as at the beginning of the quadrille, but the sadness
+was no longer of a melancholy, touching character, but stern, almost
+wrathful.
+
+More and more amazed at this sudden metamorphosis which Macreuse
+intensified, so to speak, during their walk through the salon to the
+conservatory, Mlle. de Beaumesnil asked herself what could be the cause
+of this strange change in her companion.
+
+The long gallery, enclosed in glass, which they entered, was bordered on
+each side with masses of flowering plants and palms, and at the farther
+end was an immense buffet loaded with the choicest viands. As nearly all
+the gentlemen were engaged in escorting their partners to their seats,
+there were very few people in the gallery at the time, so M. de Macreuse
+had an excellent opportunity to say all he had to say.
+
+"May I ask, monsieur," asked the orphan, flippantly, seeing that she
+must not yet abandon her role--"may I ask what very important thing you
+have to say to me. Grave is about the same thing as being tiresome, it
+seems to me, and I have a horror of everything that is tiresome, you
+know."
+
+"Grave or tiresome, you will, nevertheless, have to listen to these
+words, which are the last you will ever hear from my lips,
+mademoiselle."
+
+"The last during this quadrille, evidently."
+
+"They are the last words I shall ever say to you in my life,
+mademoiselle."
+
+There was something so sad and yet so proud in the voice, face, and
+bearing of this model young man that Mlle. de Beaumesnil was overwhelmed
+with astonishment.
+
+Nevertheless, she continued, still trying to smile:
+
+"What, monsieur, I am never to see you again after all--all Mlle. Helena
+has said about--about--"
+
+"Listen, mademoiselle," said M. de Macreuse, interrupting her; "it is
+impossible for me to keep up this farce any longer--or to express any
+longer sentiments that are and ever will be farthest from my thoughts."
+
+"To what farce do you allude, monsieur?"
+
+"I came here, mademoiselle, expecting to find in you the pious,
+sensible, generous, kind-hearted, honest young girl of whom Mlle. Helena
+has always spoken in terms of the highest praise. It was to such a girl
+that my first remarks were addressed, but the frivolous, sneering manner
+in which they were received disappointed and even shocked me."
+
+"Can I believe my ears?" thought Ernestine. "What on earth does he
+mean?"
+
+"Then a terrible doubt seized me," continued M. de Macreuse, with a
+heavy sigh. "I said to myself that perhaps you did not possess those
+rare virtues which I so greatly admire and which I was confident I
+should find in you, but I could not and would not believe it at first,
+preferring to attribute your words to the thoughtlessness of youth. But
+alas! your frivolity, vanity, hardness of heart, and impiety became more
+and more apparent as our conversation proceeded. I wished to convince
+myself thoroughly, however, and though my heart bled each moment, I
+wanted to overcome your insensibility to all that is pitiable, your
+contempt for all that is sacred. I even went so far as to seem to scoff
+at that which is dearest to me in life,--my religion and the memory of
+my mother."
+
+And a tear glistened on the lashes of the abbe's disciple.
+
+"It was a test, then, in his case, as in mine," thought Ernestine.
+
+"I feigned the most pernicious sentiments," continued M. de Macreuse,
+waxing more and more indignant, "and you did not utter a word of censure
+or even of surprise! At last I pushed flattery, cowardice, and baseness
+to their utmost limits, and you remained calm and approving instead of
+crushing me with the scorn I deserved. It has been a terrible ordeal for
+me, for the blow to my hopes is as unexpected as it is overwhelming. All
+is over now. Pardon a severity of language to which you are little
+accustomed, mademoiselle, but understand, once for all, that I will
+never devote my life to any woman, who is not worthy both of my love and
+my respect."
+
+And with a stern and dignified air M. de Macreuse bowed low to
+Ernestine, and walked away, leaving her speechless with astonishment.
+
+"I thank God that I was mistaken," thought the poor child, with a
+feeling of profound relief. "Such hypocrisy, deceit, and
+unscrupulousness are an impossibility. M. de Macreuse was horrified by
+the sentiments I expressed, consequently he must possess a sincere and
+upright soul."
+
+The reflections of this artless girl, who was so ill fitted to cope with
+the wily founder of the St. Polycarpe mission, were interrupted by
+Mesdames de Rochaigue and de Senneterre, who, having seen Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil enter the gallery in company with M. de Macreuse, had
+hastened after her, thinking the young girl intended to partake of some
+refreshments, but the two ladies found her alone.
+
+"Why, what are you doing here, my own dearest?" inquired Madame de la
+Rochaigue.
+
+"I came here for a little fresh air, madame; it is so warm in the
+ballroom."
+
+"But the gallery is just as much too cool, my dear child, and you run a
+great risk of taking cold. You had better come back to the ballroom at
+once."
+
+"As you please, madame," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+As she reentered the ballroom, in company with the two ladies, she saw
+M. de Macreuse give her a despairing look; but he turned quickly away,
+as if he feared the young girl would perceive the sorrowful emotion to
+which he was a prey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+AN HONEST CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL.
+
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, on reentering the ball-room, also noticed Gerald de
+Senneterre standing near one of the doorways. He was very pale, and
+looked extremely sad.
+
+The sight of him reminded Ernestine of her friend's despair, and she
+asked herself why Gerald, in spite of his love for Herminie and his
+desire to marry her, had come to this ball where a meeting with her,
+Ernestine, had been arranged by Madame de la Rochaigue.
+
+As she conducted the richest heiress in France back to her seat, Madame
+de la Senneterre said to her, with the utmost affability:
+
+"Mademoiselle, I am deputised to ask a favour of you in behalf of my
+son."
+
+"What is it, madame?"
+
+"He begs that you will give him the next quadrille, though he is not
+dancing this evening, for he has been, and is still, quite indisposed,
+so much so, in fact, that it required almost superhuman courage on his
+part to come at all. But he hoped to have the honour of meeting you
+here, mademoiselle, and such a hope as that works wonders."
+
+"But if M. de Senneterre does not feel able to dance, madame, what is
+the use of my making an engagement with him?"
+
+"That is a secret which I will divulge when the crowds of young men that
+are going to besiege you with invitations to dance are disposed of.
+Merely remember that the next quadrille belongs to my son, that is, if
+you are so kind as to grant him the favour he asks."
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, madame."
+
+"Keep my seat for me, my dear," the duchess said to Madame de la
+Rochaigue, rising as she spoke, "I must go and tell Gerald."
+
+While awaiting M. de Senneterre's coming, Mlle. de Beaumesnil was also
+reflecting with all the satisfaction of a truly honest heart that M. de
+Macreuse had not deserved her distrust. The more she reflected on the
+subject, the more the young man's conduct pleased her by reason of its
+very rudeness. In fact, his austere frankness seemed to her almost as
+noble as the sentiment she fancied she had discerned in Olivier's
+breast, when he gave her such a peculiar but meaning look on so
+unexpectedly hearing that he had been made an officer.
+
+"They are both noble men," she said to herself.
+
+But Mlle. de Beaumesnil was not allowed to enjoy these pleasant and
+consoling thoughts long, for she had scarcely seated herself before she
+was besieged with invitations to dance, as Madame de Senneterre had
+predicted. Resolved to observe and judge for herself, as much as
+possible, the heiress accepted quite a number of these invitations,
+among them one from M. de Mornand.
+
+Eager to discover M. de Senneterre's intentions, and to ascertain why he
+had engaged her for a quadrille if he did not feel able to dance,
+Ernestine awaited the time for Gerald's approach with no little interest
+and curiosity. At last she saw him leave his place, after exchanging a
+few words with M. de Maillefort, whom Ernestine had not seen since she
+met him so unexpectedly at Herminie's home.
+
+On seeing the hunchback, the orphan could not help blushing, but, as she
+cast another glance at him, she was touched by the expression of tender
+solicitude with which he was regarding her, and the meaning smile he
+bestowed upon her reassured her completely in regard to that gentleman's
+discretion.
+
+The time for forming the quadrille having arrived, Gerald approached
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil and said:
+
+"I have come to thank you for the promise you so kindly made to my
+mother."
+
+"And I am ready to fulfil it, monsieur, as soon as I know--"
+
+"Why I engaged you for this quadrille when I am not able to dance?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"It is an innovation, mademoiselle, that would prove very popular, I am
+sure, if it were adopted," said Gerald, smiling in spite of his
+melancholy.
+
+"And this innovation, monsieur?"
+
+"For many persons, and I confess that I am one of the number, a
+quadrille is merely a pretext for a quarter of an hour's tete-a-tete.
+Then why not say in so many words: 'Madame, or mademoiselle, will you do
+me the honour to talk with me for the next quarter of an hour?' and as
+one can talk much more comfortably sitting on a sofa than standing, why,
+let us sit through this dance and talk."
+
+"I think the idea a very happy one, monsieur."
+
+"And you consent?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Ernestine, moving a little closer to Madame de la
+Rochaigue, and thus making room for Gerald beside her.
+
+The dancers having taken their places on the floor, most of the seats
+were vacant; and Gerald, having no neighbour on the other side, could
+talk to Ernestine without any danger of being overheard, especially as
+Madame de la Rochaigue, in order to give her ward greater freedom, moved
+a little farther from Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and a little nearer to Madame
+de Senneterre.
+
+Up to this time, M. de Senneterre had been talking in a light, half
+jesting tone, but as soon as he found himself virtually alone with
+Mlle. de Beanmesnil, his manner changed entirely, and his features and
+accents alike indicated the deepest interest and anxiety.
+
+"Mademoiselle," he said earnestly, almost solemnly, "though I am far
+from well, I came here this evening to do my duty as an honourable man."
+
+Mlle. de Beanmesnil experienced a feeling of intense relief. Gerald had
+no intention of deceiving Herminie, then, and doubtless he was about to
+explain why he had not relinquished all pretensions to
+her--Ernestine's--hand.
+
+"Do you know how an heiress is married off, mademoiselle?" asked Gerald.
+
+And as Mlle. de Beaumesnil gazed at him in surprise, without making any
+reply, Gerald continued:
+
+"I will tell you, mademoiselle, and this knowledge may serve to protect
+you from many dangers. A certain mother, my mother, for example,--one of
+the best women in the world,--hears that the richest heiress in France
+is in the matrimonial market. My mother, dazzled by the advantages that
+such a union would afford me, does not trouble herself in the least
+about the character or personal appearance of this heiress. She has
+never even seen her, for the rich orphan is still in a foreign land. But
+that makes no difference; this enormous fortune must be secured for me
+if possible, it matters not by what means. My mother, yielding to an
+aberration of maternal love, hastens to the wife of this orphan's
+guardian, and it is decided that, on the arrival of the heiress, an
+inexperienced child of sixteen, weak and defenceless, and ignorant of
+the ways of the world, she shall be so surrounded and influenced that
+her choice is almost certain to fall upon me. This shameful bargain is
+concluded; the way in which I am to first make her acquaintance,
+apparently by chance, is decided upon, even to the more or less becoming
+costume I am to wear on that occasion! Everything has been arranged,
+though I hear and know nothing about it. The heiress, too, who is still
+a hundred leagues from Paris, knows no more about it than I do. At last
+she arrives. Then, for the first time, my mother informs me of her
+plans, sure that I will accept with joy the piece of good fortune
+offered me. Nevertheless, I decline it at first, saying that I have no
+taste for married life, and that I should be certain to prove a bad
+husband. 'What difference does that make?' says my mother. 'Marry her,
+in spite of that--she is rich.' And yet my mother is as honourable and
+as widely honoured as any woman. But you do not know the baneful, yes,
+fatal, influence of money!"
+
+"Can you hear what they are saying, my dear?" the duchess whispered to
+Madame de la Rochaigue as this conversation was going on.
+
+"No," replied that lady, likewise in a whisper, "but the child seems to
+be listening with a great deal of interest. I just stole a glance at her
+when she was not looking, and her face was positively radiant."
+
+"I was sure of Gerald. He can be irresistible when he chooses!"
+exclaimed the delighted duchess. "The girl is ours. And to think I was
+simpleton enough to fly into a passion just because that miserable
+Macreuse asked her to dance!"
+
+"As I remarked a few minutes ago, I acted the part of an honourable man
+and refused to think of this marriage at first," Gerald continued; "but
+unfortunately my mother's entreaties, my fear of grieving her, and last,
+though not least, my indignation on hearing of the nefarious schemes of
+an unscrupulous rival, and possibly my own unconscious longing for such
+colossal wealth, induced me to reconsider, and I finally decided to try
+to marry the heiress, even at the risk of making her the most wretched
+of women, for a mercenary marriage is sure to end disastrously."
+
+"Well, monsieur, have you kept this resolution?"
+
+"A subsequent conversation with two dear friends of mine, high-minded,
+noble-hearted men, opened my eyes. I saw that I was pursuing a course
+unworthy of me and of those who loved me. It was decided, however, that,
+out of consideration for my mother's wishes, I should meet the heiress,
+and if, after seeing her and knowing her, I loved her as much as I would
+have loved a penniless and nameless young girl, I would do my best to
+win her."
+
+"Well, monsieur, have you seen this heiress?
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle; but when I saw her it was too late."
+
+"Too late?"
+
+"A love as sudden as it was honourable and sincere for a person who was
+worthy of it no longer permitted me to appreciate, as she, I am sure,
+deserves, the young lady my mother wished me to marry."
+
+On hearing this honest but delicately worded confession, Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil could not repress a joyous movement. Gerald loved Herminie as
+she deserved to be loved, and he had just given fresh proof of his
+nobility of character by the generosity of his conduct towards
+Ernestine.
+
+The orphan's joyous start had not escaped the watchful eyes of Madame de
+la Rochaigue, and that lady said, in a low tone, to the duchess:
+
+"All is well! Look at Mlle. de Beaumesnil! See what a brilliant colour
+she has, and how her eyes sparkle!"
+
+"Yes," said the duchess, leaning slightly forward to peep at Ernestine,
+"the poor little thing looks almost pretty, as she listens to Gerald."
+
+"One of the greatest triumphs of love is its transfiguration of its
+object, my dear duchess," answered Madame de la Rochaigue, smiling, "and
+I am sure your son will not be blind to this triumph."
+
+"M. de Senneterre," said Ernestine, "I thank you most sincerely for
+your frankness and your wise counsels, of which I, perhaps, stand in
+greater need than you think; but though I am too glad of your presence
+here to be astonished at it, I should like to know--"
+
+"Why I am here this evening, mademoiselle, in spite of my resolution? It
+is because I wished to avail myself of this opportunity--the only one I
+shall have, perhaps--to talk to you alone, and perhaps put you on your
+guard against schemes similar to those to which I so narrowly escaped
+becoming an accomplice, for not many men, I fear, will be as scrupulous.
+Your guardian and his wife will lend themselves to any scheme that will
+serve their interests. They care nothing about your future happiness and
+welfare. All this is hard, mademoiselle, very hard, and it would be
+cruel, indeed, in me to arouse this fear and distrust in your heart, if
+I could not, at the same time, offer you, as a guide and protector, a
+noble-hearted man who is as much feared by the base and unscrupulous as
+he is loved by men of worth. Have confidence, perfect confidence, in
+this man, mademoiselle, though strenuous efforts have been, and will be,
+made to prejudice you against him."
+
+"You refer to M. de Maillefort, do you not?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle. Believe me, you will never find a more faithful and
+devoted friend. If doubts assail you, turn to him. He is a wonderfully
+shrewd and discerning man. Guided by him, you are sure to escape the
+snares and pitfalls that surround you."
+
+"I shall not forget this advice, M. de Senneterre. A strong liking for
+M. de Maillefort has succeeded the animosity I formerly felt for him, an
+animosity due entirely to the shameful slanders repeated to me in regard
+to him."
+
+"Our quadrille is nearly over, mademoiselle," said Gerald, forcing a
+smile. "I have profited by the only opportunity at my disposal.
+To-morrow, much as it pains me to disappoint my mother, she must know
+the truth."
+
+Ernestine's heart sank at the thought that Gerald would, doubtless, also
+confess his love for Herminie on the morrow. How terribly angry Madame
+de Senneterre would be to hear that her son preferred a penniless and
+nameless orphan to the richest heiress in France! And though she had no
+suspicion of the condition Herminie had attached to her marriage with
+Gerald, Mlle. de Beaumesnil realised what well-nigh insuperable
+difficulties must stand in the way of such a marriage, so she sadly
+replied:
+
+"You may be sure, M. de Senneterre, that, in return for the generous
+interest you have manifested in me, you shall have my most fervent
+wishes for your own happiness, and that of the woman you love. Farewell,
+M. de Senneterre, I hope to be able to prove some day how grateful I am
+for the generosity of your conduct towards me."
+
+The quadrille having ended, several young ladies returned to their seats
+near Mlle. de Beaumesnil; so Gerald rose, bowed to the orphan, and,
+feeling both ill and fatigued, immediately left the ball-room.
+
+Madame de Senneterre, delighted by the favourable indications which she,
+as well as Madame de la Rochaigue, had observed, whispered to the
+baroness:
+
+"Try to find out what effect Gerald has produced."
+
+So Madame de la Rochaigue, leaning towards Mlle. de Beaumesnil, said to
+her:
+
+"Ah, my dear child, is he not charming?"
+
+"No one could be more agreeable or evince more noble and refined
+feelings."
+
+"Then, my dear child, you are the Duchesse de Senneterre. At least, it
+depends solely upon yourself. Come, say yes, here and now!"
+
+"You embarrass me very much, madame," responded Ernestine, casting down
+her eyes.
+
+"Oh, yes, I understand," replied Madame de la Rochaigue, thinking that
+maidenly reserve alone prevented Ernestine from confessing that she
+wished to marry Gerald.
+
+"Well, my dear, he has quite turned her head, has he not?" asked Madame
+de Senneterre, nudging the baroness slightly with her elbow.
+
+"Completely, completely, my dear duchess. But give me your arm, and let
+us go and find M. de Senneterre, to tell him of his success."
+
+"The dear child is ours at last, and Gerald will be the largest
+landowner in France. As for our little private compact, my dear
+baroness," added Madame de Senneterre, in even more subdued tones, "I
+scarcely need assure you that it shall be carried out with scrupulous
+exactitude. I have said nothing to my son about it, understand, but I
+will vouch for him."
+
+"We will not talk of that now, my dear duchess; but as Madame de
+Mirecourt has been so exceedingly kind, don't you think it would be in
+excellent taste for him--"
+
+"Oh, that is understood, of course," said Madame de Senneterre, hastily
+interrupting the baroness. "Nothing could be more just, I am sure. But
+let us make haste and find Gerald. Do you see him anywhere?"
+
+"No, my dear duchess, but he is in the gallery, doubtless. Come, let us
+look for him there."
+
+Then turning to Ernestine, Madame de la Rochaigue said:
+
+"We shall leave you only for a moment, my dear child. We are merely
+going to make some one as happy as a king."
+
+And without waiting for any reply from Ernestine, Madame de la Rochaigue
+gave her arm to the duchess, and the two ladies hastened towards the
+gallery.
+
+M. de Maillefort, who seemed to have noted the departure of the two
+ladies, now approached Ernestine, and, availing himself of one of the
+privileges accorded a man of his years, took the seat beside the young
+girl which Madame de la Rochaigue had just vacated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+VILLAINY UNMASKED.
+
+
+As M. de Maillefort seated himself beside Ernestine, he remarked, with a
+smile:
+
+"So you are no longer afraid of me, I see."
+
+"Ah, monsieur," replied the girl, "I am so thankful for this opportunity
+to thank you--"
+
+"For my discretion? That will stand any test, I assure you. I give you
+my word that no one knows or ever will know that I met you at the home
+of the very best and noblest young woman I know."
+
+"Is she not, monsieur? But if I know Herminie, monsieur, it is to you
+that I am indebted for the honour."
+
+"To me?"
+
+"You remember, perhaps, that one evening in Mlle. Helena's presence you
+said some very hard, but alas! only too true things about me."
+
+"Yes, my poor child. I knew how much you disliked me. I could never find
+an opportunity to see you alone, and, though I was watching over you, it
+was necessary, imperatively necessary, that your eyes should be opened,
+and that you should understand the object of the fulsome flattery of
+which you might eventually become the dupe."
+
+"Ah, well, monsieur, your words did open my eyes, and I saw very plainly
+that those around me were deceiving me, and that I was already on the
+verge of becoming a victim to their shameful flattery. I made a resolve
+then and there, and, in order to discover the truth concerning myself,
+I arranged with my governess to attend a little dancing party given by
+one of her friends, where I was to be introduced as a poor orphan
+relative of hers."
+
+"And at this party you met Herminie. She told me so. I understand
+everything now. So you wished to know your own intrinsic worth without
+your fortune, eh?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, and the test was a very painful though profitable one.
+It has taught me among other things to appreciate the value and the
+sincerity of the attentions showered upon me this evening," she added,
+meaningly.
+
+And as the hunchback, hardly able to repress his emotion, gazed at
+Ernestine in silence, deeply touched by the strength of character this
+young and defenceless girl had displayed, she asked, timidly:
+
+"Can you blame me, monsieur?"
+
+"Blame you, my poor child, no, no. The only blame attaches to the
+unscrupulous persons whose baseness almost compelled you to take such a
+step--a step I not only approve but admire, for you yourself do not
+realise how much courage and nobility of character you evinced."
+
+A rather elderly man, approaching the divan upon which M. de Maillefort
+was seated, leaned over the back of it, and said to the hunchback, in a
+low tone:
+
+"My dear marquis, Morainville and Hauterive are at your service. They
+are standing by the window opposite you."
+
+"Very well, my dear friend. A thousand thanks for your kindness and
+theirs! You have informed them of the condition of affairs, have you
+not?"
+
+"Fully."
+
+"And they make no objection?"
+
+"How could they in a case like this?"
+
+"Then all is well," responded the marquis.
+
+Then turning to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, he asked:
+
+"For which quadrille did M. de Mornand engage you?"
+
+"For the next, monsieur," replied Ernestine, much surprised at the
+question.
+
+"You hear, my friend," said M. de Maillefort to the gentleman who had
+just spoken to him.
+
+"Very well, my dear marquis."
+
+And M. de Maillefort's friend, after having made quite a detour,
+rejoined Messrs. Morainville and d'Hauterive, and said a few words to
+which both gave a nod of assent.
+
+"My dear child," remarked the marquis, again turning to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, "I have been watching over you for some time past without
+appearing to do so, for though you never saw me at your mother's house
+during your childhood, I was one of your mother's friends--most devoted
+friends."
+
+"Ah, monsieur, I ought to have mistrusted that sooner, for you have been
+so grossly maligned to me."
+
+"That was very natural under the circumstances. Now, a word or two upon
+a more important matter. M. de la Rochaigue has often spoken of M. de
+Mornand as a suitor for your hand, has he not? and has also assured you
+that you could not make a better choice?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"My poor child!" said the marquis, compassionately; then he continued,
+in his usual sarcastic tone:
+
+"And Mlle. Helena, in her turn, saintly, devout creature that she is,
+has said the very same thing about M. Celestin de Macreuse, another
+extremely devout and saintly personage."
+
+But the orphan, noting the bitter and cynical smile that played about
+the lips of the marquis as he spoke of the saintliness of the abbe's
+disciple, ventured to say:
+
+"You have a poor opinion of M. de Macreuse, perhaps, marquis?"
+
+"Perhaps? No, my opinion on that subject is very decided."
+
+"I admit that I, too, distrusted M. de Macreuse," began Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil.
+
+"So much the better," interrupted the marquis, hastily. "The wretch
+caused me far more anxiety than any of the others. I was so afraid that
+you would be duped by his pretended melancholy and his hypocrisy, but
+fortunately such persons not unfrequently excite the instinctive
+distrust of the honest and ingenuous."
+
+"But you need feel no such apprehensions, I assure you," resumed
+Ernestine, triumphantly. "I must undeceive you on that point."
+
+"Undeceive me?"
+
+"In regard to M. de Macreuse? Yes."
+
+"And why, pray?"
+
+"Because there are no real grounds for any distrust. M. de Macreuse is a
+sincere and honourable man, plain-spoken almost to rudeness, in fact."
+
+"My child, you frighten me," exclaimed M. de Maillefort, in such accents
+of alarm that Mlle. de Beaumesnil was thunderstruck. "Do not conceal
+anything from me, I beseech you," continued the hunchback. "You can have
+no conception of the diabolical cunning of a man like that. I have seen
+such hypocrites deceive the shrewdest people,--and you, my poor innocent
+child!"
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, impressed by M. de Maillefort's evident anxiety,
+and having perfect confidence in him now, proceeded to give him the gist
+of her recent conversation with the pious young man.
+
+"He mistrusted your motive, my child," said the hunchback, after a
+moment's reflection, "and, seeing that he had been caught in a trap,
+audaciously resolved to turn the tables on you by pretending that he had
+been putting you to a similar test. I tell you that such men positively
+appall me."
+
+"Good Heavens! is it possible, monsieur?" exclaimed the terrified girl.
+"Oh, no, he cannot be so utterly base! Besides, I am sure you would
+think very differently if you had seen him. Why, the tears positively
+came to his eyes when he spoke of the bitter grief the loss of his
+mother had caused him."
+
+"The loss of his mother!" repeated the marquis. "Ah, you little know--"
+
+Then suddenly checking himself, he added:
+
+"There he is now! Ah, it was certainly Heaven that sent him here just at
+this moment. Listen and judge for yourself, my poor dear child. Ah, your
+innocent heart little suspects the depths of degradation to which
+avarice reduces such souls as his."
+
+Then elevating his voice loud enough to make himself distinctly heard by
+those around him, he called out to Macreuse, who was just then crossing
+the ballroom in order to steal another glance at Mlle. de Beaumesnil:
+
+"M. de Macreuse, one word, if you please."
+
+The abbe's protege hesitated a moment before responding to the summons,
+for he both hated and feared the marquis, but seeing every turned eye
+upon him, and encouraged by the success of his late ruse with Ernestine,
+he straightened himself up, and approaching M. de Maillefort, said
+coldly:
+
+"You did me the honour to call me, M. le marquis."
+
+"Yes, I did you that honour, monsieur," replied the marquis,
+sardonically, and without taking the trouble to rise from his seat; "and
+yet you are not at all polite to me, nor to the other persons who happen
+to have the pleasure of your company."
+
+On hearing these words, quite a number of persons gathered around the
+two men, for the satirical and aggressive spirit of the marquis was well
+known.
+
+"I do not understand you, M. le marquis," replied M. de Macreuse, much
+annoyed, and evidently fearing; some disagreeable explanation. "So far
+as I know I have not been lacking in respect towards you or any other
+person present."
+
+"I hear that you have had the misfortune to lose your mother, monsieur,"
+said the marquis, in his rather shrill, penetrating voice.
+
+"Monsieur," stammered M. de Macreuse, apparently stupefied by these
+words.
+
+"Would it be indiscreet in me to ask when you lost madame, your
+mother--if you know."
+
+"Monsieur!" faltered this model young man, blushing scarlet. "Such a
+question--"
+
+"Is very natural, it seems to me, besides being rendered almost
+necessary by the lack of respect of which I complain, not only in my own
+name, but in the name of all your acquaintances."
+
+"Lack of respect?"
+
+"Certainly. Why did you not politely inform your acquaintances of the
+sad loss which you have had the misfortune to sustain, etc?"
+
+"I do not know what you mean, M. le marquis," replied Macreuse, who had
+now recovered his composure, in a measure.
+
+"Nonsense! I, who am a great church-goer, as every one knows, heard you
+ask a priest at St. Thomas d'Aquin the other day to say a certain number
+of masses for the repose of your mother's soul."
+
+"But, monsieur--"
+
+"But, monsieur, there can be no doubt of the truth of my statement, as
+you were quite overcome with grief and despair, apparently, while
+praying for this beloved parent in the Chapel of the Virgin,--so
+completely overcome, in fact, that your good friends, the beadles, were
+obliged to carry you in a dead swoon to the sacristy,--a piece of
+shameful deception on your part that would have amused if it had not
+revolted me."
+
+Staggered for a moment by this unexpected attack, the abbe's protege
+had now recovered all his native impudence.
+
+"Every one will understand why I could not and should not answer such an
+extraordinary--such a truly distressing question. The secret of one's
+prayers is sacred--"
+
+"That is true!" cried several voices, indignantly. "Such an attack is
+outrageous!"
+
+"Did any one ever hear the like of it?"
+
+As we have remarked before, M. de Macreuse, like all persons of his
+stamp, had his partisans, and these partisans very naturally had a
+strong antipathy for M. de Maillefort, who hunted down everything false
+and cowardly in the most pitiless fashion, so a still louder murmur of
+disapproval was heard, and such expressions as: "What a distressing
+scene!" "Did you ever hear anything as scandalous!" and "How brutal!"
+were distinctly audible. But the marquis, no whit disconcerted, allowed
+the storm to spend itself, until Macreuse, emboldened by his opponent's
+silence said, boldly:
+
+"The interest so many highly esteemed persons manifest in me makes it
+unnecessary for me to prolong this interview, and--"
+
+But the marquis, interrupting him, said, in accents of withering
+contempt:
+
+"M. de Macreuse, you have lied atrociously. You have not lost your
+mother, M. de Macreuse; your sainted mother is living, as you know very
+well, and your sainted father also. You see that I am sufficiently well
+informed concerning your antecedents. You have played an infamous part!
+You have cast odium upon a sentiment that even the most degraded
+respect,--the sentiment of filial love. The object of all this duplicity
+is known to me, and if I refrain from disclosing it, you may be sure
+that it is only because names are involved which are so honoured that
+they should not even be mentioned in the same breath with yours--if you
+possess one."
+
+M. de Macreuse's frightful pallor and utter consternation proved the
+truth of these charges so conclusively that even the warmest admirers of
+this model young man dared not rally to his defence, while those who had
+always felt an instinctive dislike for the founder of the St. Polycarpe
+Mission, loudly applauded the marquis.
+
+"Monsieur," cried Macreuse, terrible to behold in his suppressed
+rage,--for he felt that his villainy was certain to be unmasked
+now,--"for such an insult as this--"
+
+"Enough, monsieur, enough. Leave this house at once. The mere sight of
+you is offensive to respectable people, and Madame de Mirecourt will be
+infinitely obliged to me for punishing you as you deserve. It is
+absolutely necessary that scoundrels like you should be made an example
+of now and then, and, distasteful as the role of executioner is to me, I
+have assumed it to-night, and my task is not yet ended by any means."
+
+This announcement increased the confusion and excitement very
+considerably.
+
+The model young man, anticipating another attack, and thinking he had
+had quite enough of it, straightened himself up, as a snake straightens
+itself up from beneath the foot that is crushing it, and said,
+insolently:
+
+"After these gross insults, I will not remain another minute in this
+house, but I venture to hope that, in spite of the difference in our
+ages, M. le Marquis de Maillefort will be so kind as to accede to-morrow
+to a request which I shall make through two of my friends."
+
+"Go, monsieur, go! The night brings counsel, and after a little
+reflection you will abandon your absurd and sanguinary pretensions."
+
+"So be it, monsieur, but in that case you may rest assured that I shall
+resort to other means," retorted the model youth, casting a venomous
+look at the hunchback, as he turned to depart.
+
+[Illustration: "_'Enough, monsieur, enough._'"
+
+Original etching by Adrian Marcel.]
+
+Madame de Mirecourt, recollecting what Madame de Senneterre had said in
+relation to M. de Macreuse, was not sorry to see that gentleman's
+villainy exposed, but to put an end to the excitement and confusion this
+strange scene had created, she requested several men she knew very well
+to form a quadrille as soon as possible.
+
+In fact, the young men were already starting out in search of partners.
+
+This exposure of M. de Macreuse filled Mlle. de Beaumesnil's heart with
+gratitude and also with terror when she thought that she might have
+yielded to the interest M. de Macreuse had at first inspired, and
+perhaps married a man capable of such an infamous act--an act that
+revealed an utterly depraved nature.
+
+While engaged in these reflections, the orphan saw that Madame de
+Senneterre and Madame de la Rochaigue, who had been for a time unable to
+force their way through the crowd that had gathered around the two men,
+had returned and resumed their seats beside her. The marquis then rose
+and stepped around back of the divan, after which he leaned over Madame
+de la Rochaigue and said, almost in a whisper:
+
+"Ah, well, madame, you see I am not a bad auxiliary, after all. I
+discover many strange and villainous things from my post of observation,
+as I told you some time ago."
+
+"I am utterly astounded, my dear marquis," replied the baroness. "I
+understand everything now, however. This explains why my odious
+sister-in-law has been dragging the poor dear child off to the Church of
+St. Thomas d'Aquin every morning. With her apparent stupidity and her
+religious zeal, Helena is a most perfidious creature. Did any one ever
+hear of such deceitfulness and treachery?"
+
+"The end is not yet, my dear baroness. You have not only been sheltering
+a viper in your house, but a veritable serpent as well."
+
+"A serpent?"
+
+"Yes, an enormous one, with long teeth," said the marquis, with a
+meaning glance at M. de la Rochaigue, who happened to be standing in the
+doorway, showing his teeth after his usual fashion.
+
+"What! my husband?" exclaimed the baroness. "What do you mean?"
+
+"You will soon know. Do you see that stout man advancing towards us with
+such a triumphant air?"
+
+"Of course. That is M. de Mornand."
+
+"He is coming to ask your ward to dance."
+
+"Oh, that doesn't matter. We can let her dance with anybody now, for we
+were right in our suppositions. The dear child is charmed with M. de
+Senneterre, my dear marquis."
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"So behold the Duchesse de Senneterre," said Madame de la Rochaigue,
+triumphantly, "and that without the slightest trouble."
+
+"The Duchesse de Senneterre!" repeated the hunchback. "Not quite."
+
+"Of course not, but the matter is virtually settled."
+
+"So at last you are satisfied with Gerald, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and me,
+are you not, my dear baroness?"
+
+"Delighted, my dear marquis."
+
+"That is all I want to know. Now I can devote my attention to that stout
+man and your serpent of a husband, whose coils--"
+
+"What! M. de la Rochaigue has dared--"
+
+"Ah, my poor baroness, your ingenuousness rends my heart. Look, listen
+and profit thereby, poor credulous woman that you are!"
+
+As the marquis uttered these words, M. de Mornand was already bowing low
+before Mlle. de Beaumesnil to remind her of the engagement she had made
+to dance with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE PROSPECTIVE MINISTER'S DEFEAT.
+
+
+"Mademoiselle has not forgotten that she promised me this dance, I
+trust," said M. de Mornand, complacently. "Will she do me the honour to
+accept my arm?"
+
+"That cannot be, M. de Mornand," interposed M. de Maillefort, who was
+still leaning over the back of the sofa on which Ernestine was seated.
+
+M. de Mornand straightened himself up hastily, and, perceiving the
+marquis, demanded with great hauteur:
+
+"What can not be, monsieur?"
+
+"You can not dance with Mlle. de Beaumesnil, monsieur," answered the
+hunchback, still in the same quiet tone.
+
+M. de Mornand shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, then, turning to
+Ernestine, repeated:
+
+"Will mademoiselle do me the honour to accept my arm?"
+
+Embarrassed and bewildered, Ernestine turned to M. de Maillefort as if
+to ask his advice, and again the marquis repeated in the same quiet but
+impressive tone, emphasising each word strongly:
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil can not and must not dance with M. de Mornand."
+
+Ernestine was so impressed by M. de Maillefort's grave, almost solemn
+manner that, turning to M. de Mornand, she said, casting down her eyes:
+
+"I must beg you to excuse me, monsieur, for I feel too fatigued to keep
+the promise I made you."
+
+M. de Mornand bowed low before Ernestine without uttering a word, but as
+he straightened himself up he cast a meaning glance at the hunchback.
+
+That gentleman answered it by pointing to one of the doors of the
+gallery towards which he, too, directed his steps, leaving Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil in a state of great mental perturbation.
+
+This little scene had passed unnoticed, the few words interchanged
+between the marquis and M. de Mornand having been uttered in subdued
+tones and in the midst of the confusion that always accompanies the
+forming of a quadrille, so no one but Madame de la Rochaigue and the
+Duchesse de Senneterre had the slightest suspicion of what had occurred.
+
+M. de Mornand on his way to the gallery was accosted successively by M.
+de la Rochaigue and M. de Ravil, who had watched with mingled wonder and
+uneasiness their protege's futile efforts to induce the heiress to keep
+her engagement.
+
+"What! you are not going to dance?" inquired De Ravil.
+
+"What has happened, my dear M. de Mornand?" asked the baron, in his
+turn. "I thought I saw you talking with that accursed hunchback, whose
+insolence and audacity really exceed all bounds."
+
+"You are right, monsieur," replied the prospective minister, his face
+darkening. "M. de Maillefort seems to think he can do anything he
+pleases. Such insolence as his must be put a stop to. He actually had
+the impertinence to forbid your ward's dancing with me."
+
+"And she obeyed him?" exclaimed the baron.
+
+"What else could the poor girl do after such an injunction?"
+
+"Why this is abominable, outrageous, inconceivable!" exclaimed the
+baron. "I will go to my ward at once, and--"
+
+"That is useless now," said M. de Mornand. Then, turning to Ravil, he
+added:
+
+"Come with me. I must have an explanation with M. de Maillefort. He is
+waiting for me in the gallery."
+
+"I, too, will accompany you," added the baron.
+
+As the three gentlemen approached the hunchback, they saw Messrs. de
+Morainville and d'Hauterive standing beside him, as well as five or six
+other men who had been assembled at the request of the marquis.
+
+"M. de Maillefort, I have a few words of explanation to ask of you,"
+said M. de Mornand, in coldly polite tones.
+
+"I am at your service, monsieur."
+
+"Then, if agreeable to you, you and I will go to the picture-gallery.
+Ask one of your friends to accompany you."
+
+"I am not disposed to comply with your request, monsieur, for I intend
+to have our explanation as public as possible."
+
+"Monsieur?"
+
+"I do not see why you should fear publicity if I do not."
+
+"So be it, then," responded M. de Mornand, "so I ask you here before
+these gentleman, why, when I had the honour to invite a certain young
+lady to dance a few minutes ago, you took the liberty of saying to that
+young lady, 'Mlle. de Beaumesnil can not and must not dance with M. de
+Mornand.' Those were your very words."
+
+"Those were my very words, monsieur. You have an excellent memory. I
+hope it will not play you false, presently."
+
+"And I wish to say to M. de Maillefort," interposed the baron, "that he
+arrogates to himself an authority, a right, and a surveillance which
+belong to me exclusively, for in telling my ward that--"
+
+"My dear baron," said the marquis, smilingly, interrupting M. de la
+Rochaigue, "you are a model, paragon, and example for all guardians,
+past, present and future, as I will prove to you later, but permit me
+now to reply to M. de Mornand, whom I have just had the honour to
+congratulate upon his excellent memory, and to ask him if he recollects
+something I said to him at a certain _matinee dansante_ given by the
+Duchesse de Senneterre,--something in relation to a slight scratch that
+was intended to fix in his memory a date which I might have occasion to
+remind him of at some future day."
+
+"That is true, monsieur," said M. de Mornand, "but that affair has not
+the slightest connection with the explanation I just demanded of you."
+
+"On the contrary, monsieur, this explanation is the natural consequence
+of that affair."
+
+"Be more explicit, if you please, monsieur."
+
+"I will. At that entertainment at the house of Madame de Senneterre, in
+the garden, under a clump of lilacs, in the presence of several
+gentlemen, and notably M. de Morainville and M. d'Hauterive here, you
+had the audacity to calumniate Madame la Comtesse de Beaumesnil in the
+most shameless manner."
+
+"Monsieur!"
+
+"Without either compassion or consideration for an unfortunate lady who
+was then lying at the point of death," continued the hunchback,
+interrupting M. de Mornand, indignantly, "you insulted her in the most
+cowardly manner and even went so far as to say that no honourable man
+would ever marry the daughter of such a mother as Madame de Beaumesnil."
+
+And at a hasty movement on the part of M. de Mornand, who was white with
+rage, the marquis, turning to Messrs. de Morainville and d'Hauterive,
+asked:
+
+"Is it not true that M. de Mornand made that remark in your presence,
+gentlemen?"
+
+"M. de Mornand did make that remark in our presence," they replied. "It
+is impossible for us to deny the fact."
+
+"And I, myself, unseen by you, heard you make it, monsieur," continued
+the hunchback, "and, carried away with just indignation, I could not
+help exclaiming, 'Scoundrel!'"
+
+"So it was you!" cried Mornand, furious to see all his hopes of future
+wealth thus rudely blighted.
+
+"Yes, it was I, and that is why I just told Mlle. de Beaumesnil that she
+could not and should not dance with you, monsieur,--a man who had
+publicly defamed her mother; and I leave it to these gentlemen here if I
+have not done perfectly right to interfere in this matter."
+
+A silence that was anything but complimentary to M. de Mornand followed
+the words of the hunchback.
+
+De Ravil alone ventured to speak. It was in an ironical tone.
+
+"M. le marquis must be trying to pose as a paladin or knight-errant to
+inflict a wound upon a gallant gentleman, as a sort of memento, merely
+to prevent him from dancing a quadrille with Mlle. de Beaumesnil some
+day."
+
+"Or rather to prevent M. de Mornand from marrying Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+monsieur," corrected the marquis, "for your friend is as mercenary as
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil is rich, which is saying a good deal, and in the
+conversation I overheard at Madame de Senneterre's dance, M. de Mornand
+betrayed his intentions even at that early day. By defaming Madame de
+Beaumesnil's character, and making the disgraceful effects of his
+calumnies extend to the daughter, and even to any man who might wish to
+marry her, M. de Mornand hoped to drive away all rivals. This infamous
+conduct exasperated me beyond endurance. In my indignation the word
+'Scoundrel!' escaped me. I subsequently devised a way to offer M. de
+Mornand the reparation due him, however. Hence the wound which was to
+serve as a sort of memento, and hence my resolve to prevent M. de
+Mornand from marrying Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and I have succeeded, for I
+defy him now to venture into the presence of the richest heiress in
+France, even if he delivers a dozen more philanthropical speeches on the
+cod fisheries, or even under your protection, baron,--you the most
+exemplary, admirable, and high-minded of guardians, who were not only
+willing, but eager, to sacrifice your ward's happiness and welfare to
+your absurd ambition."
+
+And as no one made any attempt to reply, the hunchback continued:
+
+"Ah, gentlemen, these villainies are of such frequent occurrence in
+society that it would be well to make an example of at least one
+offender. Because such shameful things often occur among respectable
+people, is that any reason they should go unpunished? What! there is a
+prison cell for poor devils who make a few louis by cheating at cards,
+and there is no pillory in which to place people who, by means of false
+pretences and foul lies, endeavour to secure possession of an enormous
+fortune, and plot in cold blood to enchain for ever an innocent child,
+whose only crime is the possession of a colossal fortune, which,
+unbeknown to her, excites the most shameless cupidity in those around
+her! And when these men succeed, people praise them and envy them and
+welcome them to their houses. People praise their shrewdness and go into
+ecstasies over their good fortune! Yes, for thanks to the wealth
+acquired by such unworthy means, they will entertain magnificently, and
+their gold not only enables them to gratify their every wish, but to
+attain any official position, no matter how exalted. The unfortunate
+woman who has enriched them, and whom they have so basely deceived,
+weeps her life away or plunges into a career of dissipation in order to
+forget her misery. Ah, gentlemen, I have at least had the satisfaction
+of bringing two scoundrels to grief, for M. de Macreuse, whom I drove
+from this house a few minutes ago, had devised a similar scheme."
+
+"You are outwitted like the fool that you are, and it has been very
+cleverly done," De Ravil whispered in the ear of his friend, who stood
+as if petrified. "I will never forgive you as long as I live for having
+made me lose my percentage on that dowry."
+
+Noble and generous sentiments exert such an irresistible influence
+sometimes that, after the hunchback's scathing words, M. de Mornand felt
+that he was censured by every one. Not a voice was lifted in his
+defence, but fortunately the termination of the quadrille brought quite
+a crowd of people into the gallery, and the prospective minister was
+thus afforded an opportunity to make his escape, pale and agitated, and
+without having been able to find a word to say in refutation of M. de
+Maillefort's grievous charges.
+
+The marquis then rejoined Madame de la Rochaigue, who was as entirely in
+the dark concerning what had just taken place as Ernestine.
+
+"It is absolutely necessary that you take Mlle. de Beaumesnil away at
+once," M. de Maillefort said to the baroness. "Her presence here is no
+longer desirable. Yes, my dear child," added the marquis, turning to
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, "the unpleasant curiosity you excite is increasing,
+instead of diminishing. To-morrow I will tell you all, but now take my
+advice and go home at once."
+
+"Oh, gladly, monsieur," replied Ernestine, "for I am in misery."
+
+So the young girl rose and took the arm of Madame de la Rochaigue, who
+said to the hunchback, in a tone of the liveliest gratitude:
+
+"I understand the situation now, I think. M. de Mornand had also entered
+the lists, it seems."
+
+"We will talk all this over to-morrow. Now, in Heaven's name, take Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil away at once!"
+
+"Ah, you are certainly our guardian angel, my dear marquis," whispered
+Madame de la Rochaigue. "I was wise to confide in you!"
+
+"Yes, yes, but for pity's sake, get Mlle. de Beaumesnil away."
+
+The orphan cast a quick glance of gratitude at the hunchback, then,
+agitated and almost terrified by the exciting events of the evening, she
+left the ballroom in company with Madame de la Rochaigue; but M. de
+Maillefort remained, unwilling to appear to leave under cover of the
+sort of stupor his daring act had caused.
+
+De Ravil, like a true cynic, had no sooner witnessed the ruin of his
+friend Mornand's hopes than he abandoned him then and there. The future
+minister had thrown himself into a cab, but Ravil wended his way
+homeward on foot, reviewing the events that had just occurred, and
+comparing the overthrow of M. de Mornand with that of M. de Macreuse.
+
+As he turned the corner of the street on which Madame de Mirecourt's
+house stood, De Ravil saw in the bright moonlight a man a short distance
+ahead of him, walking now slowly, now with feverish haste.
+
+The agitated bearing of this man excited the cynic's curiosity. He
+quickened his pace, and soon recognised M. de Macreuse, who could not
+tear himself away from the house where the marquis lingered,--the
+marquis whose heart Macreuse would have torn from his breast, had he
+been able to do it.
+
+Yielding to a truly diabolical impulse, Ravil approached Macreuse, and
+said:
+
+"Good evening, M. de Macreuse."
+
+The abbe's protege raised his head, and the evil passions that filled
+his heart could be read so plainly in his face that De Ravil
+congratulated himself upon his idea.
+
+"What do you want?" Macreuse demanded, brusquely, not recognising De
+Ravil at the first glance. Then looking at him more attentively, he
+said:
+
+"Ah, it is you, M. de Ravil; excuse me."
+
+He made a movement as if about to walk on, but De Ravil checked him by
+saying:
+
+"M. de Macreuse, I feel sure that we are likely to understand and be of
+service to each other."
+
+"In what way, monsieur?"
+
+"We hate the same man, that is something."
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"M. de Maillefort."
+
+"So you, too, hate him?"
+
+"With a deadly hatred."
+
+"Well, what of it, monsieur?"
+
+"Well, having the same animosity, we may have the same interests."
+
+"I do not understand you, M. de Ravil."
+
+"M. de Macreuse, you are a much too gifted and energetic man to allow
+yourself to be discouraged by one setback."
+
+"What setback, monsieur?"
+
+"So I will take you into my confidence. I had a fool of a friend, known
+to you as M. de Mornand, who had designs upon the same heiress that you
+did."
+
+"M. de Mornand?"
+
+"Yes. Unfortunately, a few minutes after your hasty departure, that d--d
+marquis exposed him as he had exposed you. That is to say, he has
+rendered my imbecile friend's marriage with the little Beaumesnil an
+impossibility."
+
+"But what difference does it make to you whether the heiress does or
+does not marry your friend?"
+
+"The devil! A great deal of difference! I went into the affair with the
+expectation of getting a handsome percentage on the dowry, so that
+accursed hunchback ruined me in ruining Mornand. Do you understand now?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"Mornand is too much of a milksop--too blubbery, in short, to make any
+attempt to recover from his setback or even to console himself by
+revenge."
+
+"Revenge? Upon whom?"
+
+"Upon that little ninny of an heiress, and indirectly upon that d--d
+hunchback. But let me assure you that I am not one of those blockheads
+who thirst for revenge alone; it is a profitable revenge I am after
+every time."
+
+"Profitable?"
+
+"Yes, very profitable, and I can furnish the materials for it, too."
+
+"You? And what are your materials, pray?"
+
+"Excuse me. I possess a very valuable secret."
+
+"In relation to Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"The same. I can work up this valuable secret alone, however, just as
+well."
+
+"And yet you offer--"
+
+"To go shares with you? Nothing of the kind. You would think me a
+simpleton if I did, and you've no fondness for simpletons."
+
+"Then, monsieur, to what purpose--?"
+
+"You did not embark in such an important enterprise--as my imbecile
+friend the politician would say--you did not embark in such an important
+enterprise as your marriage with the greatest heiress in France without
+backers, without powerful intermediaries and without strong
+probabilities of success. One does not make such a blunder as that when
+one is the founder of the St. Polycarpe Mission,--a work, by the way,
+which has convinced me that you are a remarkably able man, and gained
+you my sincere admiration. This being the case, you are too
+high-spirited to submit quietly to such a setback to the atrocious
+treatment you have received from M. de Maillefort. You may, perhaps,
+have some means of retrieving your lost ground, or of obtaining your
+object in some other way, and so long as the little Beaumesnil remains
+single, a man like you does not abandon hope."
+
+"Well, so be it, monsieur; suppose I have not given up all hope, what
+then?"
+
+"If you admit that, I will propose that we pool, you, your means of
+success, and I, my secret. If your hopes are realised, we will not make
+use of my secret; if they are not realised, my secret will remain a
+luscious, juicy pear to quench our thirst. In short, if you marry the
+heiress, you will give me a small percentage on her dowry; if you do not
+marry her, I will give you a part of the money my secret will gain for
+me, that is, if the aforesaid secret can not be made to render you
+valuable assistance in your new attempt."
+
+"All this is worthy of attention," answered Macreuse, after a moment's
+reflection, for he, too, was beginning to think that he and De Ravil
+were, indeed, congenial spirits. "But it would be well for me to know
+what this secret is, and what its influence is likely to be."
+
+"Give me your arm, my dear M. de Macreuse, I am going to state the case
+plainly to you, for I have nothing to gain by deceiving you, as you will
+soon see for yourself."
+
+The two men walked on arm in arm and were soon lost in the shadow of the
+tall houses that bordered one edge of the sidewalk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+DISINTERESTED AFFECTION.
+
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil had promised Herminie that she would come and see
+her Friday morning, or, in other words, on the day immediately following
+the ball which the richest heiress in France had attended at Madame de
+Mirecourt's house, and where M. de Macreuse and M. de Mornand had seen
+their villainous projects exposed by the Marquis de Maillefort.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil had left the ballroom deeply distressed and
+terrified by the discoveries she made in relation to her suitors,
+discoveries which had been completed by Gerald's frank confession
+concerning the manner in which an heiress was married off; and feeling
+quite as much contempt as aversion, now, for her guardian and his
+family, the young girl realised the necessity of taking some decisive
+action in the matter, her present relations with the Rochaigues having
+become intolerable.
+
+It was consequently necessary for her to ask the protection and counsel
+of some person outside of this family of sage advisers.
+
+Ernestine knew only two persons whom she could trust,--Herminie and M.
+de Maillefort.
+
+In order to open her heart to Herminie Mlle. de Beaumesnil would be
+obliged to confess who she really was, but though she had no intention
+of deferring this revelation much longer, she did long to enjoy once
+more the inexpressible happiness of receiving those evidences of tender
+friendship which the duchess supposed she was lavishing upon a poor
+orphan girl who had to work for her living.
+
+"Heaven grant that she will love me just as much when she knows that I
+am rich!" thought the heiress, anxiously. "Heaven grant that this
+discovery may not impair the friendship that a person of Herminie's
+proud and sensitive nature feels for me!"
+
+Faithful to her promise, and rejoiced to know how entirely worthy Gerald
+was of Herminie's love, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, accompanied by Madame
+Laine, who was to wait for her in the cab, as usual, started early
+Friday morning for the home of the duchess, for it is needless to say
+that, after M. de Macreuse's humiliation of the evening before, Mlle.
+Helena did not come to take her brother's ward to church as usual.
+
+As she neared her friend's home, Ernestine became very uneasy, for
+though, since her conversation with M. de Senneterre the evening before,
+the young girl knew for a certainty how perfectly honourable Gerald's
+intentions were, and how passionately he loved Herminie, Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil foresaw only too plainly the many difficulties to be overcome
+before a marriage between the young duke and a penniless music teacher
+could be brought about.
+
+When Ernestine reached her friend's house, Herminie sprang forward to
+meet her and embraced her tenderly.
+
+"Ah, I was sure you would not forget your promise, Ernestine," she
+cried, "for did I not tell you what a comfort your coming would be to
+me?"
+
+"I trust it may prove so, indeed, my dear Herminie. Have you regained a
+little of your wonted courage? Are you not more hopeful?"
+
+The duchess shook her head sadly.
+
+"Alas! I can not say that I see any reason to hope," she replied, "but
+don't let us talk of my troubles now, Ernestine. We will discuss them
+again when the subject that is now on my mind has ceased to divert my
+thoughts from them."
+
+"To what subject do you refer?"
+
+"It is a matter that concerns you, Ernestine."
+
+"Me?"
+
+"It is a matter that may exert a very happy influence over your future,
+my poor, lonely child."
+
+"What do you mean, Herminie?"
+
+"I am not the proper person to explain this mystery to you. I was asked
+to do so, but fearing I might influence you by the manner in which I
+presented the case, I refused, wishing your decision to be unbiased by
+any outside influence, though I will express my opinion afterwards if
+you wish."
+
+"Good Heavens! What you say, Herminie, mystifies me more and more. What
+is this very important project?"
+
+"The last time you were here, and while Commander Bernard was again
+expressing his fervent gratitude to you, M. Olivier begged me to see him
+the next day on a very important matter, he said. I complied with his
+request, and the matter was indeed one of grave importance, so grave, in
+fact, that he asked me to act as his intermediary with you, which I
+refused to do for reasons I have already explained."
+
+"Ah, then the matter has some connection with M. Olivier?"
+
+"Yes, and I thought it would be better for him to make his wishes known
+himself, in my presence, if you have no objection."
+
+"And you advise me to grant M. Olivier a hearing, my dear Herminie?"
+
+"I do, Ernestine, because whatever happens and whatever your decision
+may be, you will, I am sure, be both proud and happy to have heard what
+he has to tell you."
+
+"Then I am to see M. Olivier. But when, Herminie?"
+
+"To-day, now, if you desire it."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"Out in the garden. Counting upon a visit from you this morning, I said
+to him: 'Come Friday morning. You will not mind waiting in the garden
+awhile, and if Ernestine consents to see you, I will send for you.'"
+
+"Very well, then, Herminie, have the goodness to send M. Olivier word
+that I should be pleased to see him."
+
+A moment afterwards M. Olivier Raymond was ushered into the room by
+Madame Moufflon, the concierge.
+
+"M. Olivier," said Herminie, "Ernestine is ready to listen to you. You
+know my friendship for her. You know, too, how highly I esteem you, so I
+trust my presence will prove no restraint."
+
+"I particularly desire your presence, Mlle. Herminie, as I shall,
+perhaps, find it necessary to appeal to your memory in support of some
+of my statements," replied Olivier. Then, turning to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, he continued, without making any attempt to conceal his
+emotion:
+
+"Mademoiselle, permit me to say, first of all, that I must have perfect
+confidence in the rectitude of my intentions to venture upon the rather
+peculiar step I am about to take."
+
+"I am certain, in advance, M. Olivier, that this step is worthy of you,
+of me, and of the friend that is listening to us."
+
+"I think so, too, mademoiselle, so I am going to speak to you in all
+sincerity, for you may recollect that once before you expressed yourself
+as grateful to me for my frankness."
+
+"I was certainly deeply touched by it, as Herminie will tell you, M.
+Olivier."
+
+"Mlle. Herminie can also testify to the deep interest you inspired in my
+heart, mademoiselle, I will not say from the time of the charity dance,"
+added Olivier, with a faint smile, "but rather from the time of the
+conversation I had with you that evening."
+
+"It is perfectly true, my dear Ernestine," said Herminie, "that, after
+your departure, M. Olivier seemed to be deeply touched by the strange
+mixture of melancholy, frankness, and originality, that he had noticed
+in your conversation, and his interest seemed to be greatly increased
+when I told him, without committing any breach of confidence, I trust,
+that I felt sure your life was far from happy."
+
+"The truth is never a breach of confidence, my dear Herminie. Though one
+ought, of course, to conceal one's unhappiness from the indifferent, one
+should at least have the consolation of confessing it to one's friends."
+
+"Then you may be able to understand, mademoiselle," said Olivier, "that,
+by reason of the very peculiar circumstances of our first interview,
+there sprang up in my heart, not one of those sudden and violent
+emotions one sometimes experiences,--I should be uttering an untruth if
+I asserted this,--but an emotion full of sweetness and charm, together
+with a lively solicitude for you, a solicitude which memory and
+reflection rendered more and more keen. Such were my feelings,
+mademoiselle, when you, at the risk of your own life, saved the uncle
+whom I love as a father from a horrible death. Then, gratitude and the
+admiration which so noble an act richly merited were added to the
+sentiments I already entertained for you, but I should, probably, never
+have dared to give expression to these feelings had it not been for the
+unexpected good fortune that has befallen me."
+
+After pausing an instant, as if uncertain whether he had better go on,
+Olivier added:
+
+"And now, mademoiselle, I find myself again obliged to remind myself and
+to remind you that you love sincerity above all things."
+
+"Yes, M. Olivier, I do both love and appreciate sincerity above all
+things."
+
+"Well, mademoiselle, to speak frankly, you are not happy, and the
+persons with whom you live are not congenial to you. Is this not so?"
+
+"Yes, M. Olivier. The only happiness I have known since my parents'
+death dates from the hour of my entrance into Madame Herbaut's house."
+
+"I do not wish to sadden you, mademoiselle," continued Olivier, kindly,
+even tenderly. "I am loath, too, to remind you how hard and precarious
+the life of a young girl who is dependent upon her own exertions is, and
+yet, mademoiselle, however courageous and industrious you may be, you
+cannot forget that you are an orphan, surrounded by selfish,
+hard-hearted persons, who would cruelly desert you, perhaps, if want or
+sickness should be your portion, or manifest a humiliating pity towards
+you which would be even more hard to bear than heartless desertion."
+
+"You are perfectly right, monsieur. Privations, disdain, desertion,
+these are all I have to expect from the persons around me if I should
+become really destitute."
+
+"You exposed to disdain and privations, never!" exclaimed Olivier. "No,
+you must not, you shall not, be treated thus," he continued. "I know
+that you can count upon Mlle. Herminie's devoted friendship; but poor
+and honest people like ourselves must not deceive ourselves. Mlle.
+Herminie may need your aid herself some day. Besides, two devoted
+friends are better than one, so I would gladly offer myself as well, if
+I only knew that you had half as much confidence in me as I have true
+and faithful affection for you."
+
+"Monsieur," said Ernestine, trembling, and casting down her eyes, "I do
+not know--I am not sure that I ought--"
+
+"Listen one moment, mademoiselle. If I were still a common soldier, for
+to be a common soldier and a non-commissioned officer really amount to
+the same thing, I should not have spoken to you on this subject. I
+should have tried to forget, not my gratitude, but the sentiment that
+renders it doubly dear to me. Whether I should have succeeded or not, I
+cannot say. But now I am an officer, and that means a competence to me.
+Will you allow me to offer this competence to you?"
+
+"Such a future far exceeds my wildest hopes," replied Ernestine, only
+partially concealing the intense joy Olivier's words caused her.
+
+"Ah, mademoiselle, if you should make me happy by an acceptance of this
+offer, far from feeling that I was released from a sacred obligation, I
+should realise that I had only contracted another,--for I should owe the
+happiness of my life to you, though this debt, at least, I should be
+certain to pay by my love and devotion. Yes, for why should I not say
+it, there can be no love deeper or more honourable than mine. There is
+no cause more holy and generous than that which lies so near my heart."
+
+On hearing Olivier utter these words, in tones of intense earnestness
+and profound sincerity, Mlle. de Beaumesnil experienced a rapturous
+emotion hitherto unknown to her, and a vivid blush dyed her throat and
+brow as she cast a timid glance at Olivier's handsome, manly face, now
+radiant with love and hope.
+
+So Ernestine had not been mistaken as to the meaning of Olivier's look
+when he heard, in her presence, of his promotion. The girl saw and felt
+that she was loved, ardently loved. The proofs of it were so
+unmistakable, the causes that had produced it were so noble, that she
+could not doubt its reality.
+
+And to believe, understand, and appreciate all that is noble, tender,
+and charming in such a love, is that not equivalent to sharing it, above
+all when one has lived, like Mlle. de Beaumesnil, a prey to
+apprehensions which recent events had more than justified, and to a
+distrust which had threatened to destroy all her hopes of future
+happiness?
+
+And what inexpressible joy it was for her to be able to say to herself:
+
+"It is I, the poor, nameless, penniless orphan, that he loves, because I
+have proved myself to be sincere, brave, and generous. And I am so truly
+loved that he offers a life of comparative ease, and an honourable
+position to me, who seemed destined to a life of poverty, if not
+absolute want."
+
+And Mlle. de Beaumesnil, agitated by a thousand new emotions, blushing
+and smiling at the same time, seized the hand of Herminie, by whom she
+was sitting, and, thus avoiding the necessity of any direct reply to
+Olivier's proposal, exclaimed:
+
+"You were right, Herminie; I have, indeed, good reason to be proud of M.
+Olivier's offer."
+
+"And do you accept this offer, Ernestine?" asked Herminie, certain what
+her friend's reply would be.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, with a graceful, almost childish movement, threw
+her arms around the neck of the duchess, kissed her tenderly, and said,
+almost in a whisper:
+
+"Yes--I accept it."
+
+But she still kept her face almost hidden on her friend's bosom, while
+Herminie, scarcely able to restrain her tears of sympathetic emotion,
+turned to the young officer, who was himself deeply moved by this
+charming scene, and said:
+
+"Ernestine accepts, M. Olivier. I am delighted both on your account and
+hers, for from this time I feel that her happiness is certain."
+
+"Ah, yes, mademoiselle," cried Olivier, his face radiant with joy, "for
+from this moment I have the right to devote my life to Mlle. Ernestine."
+
+"I believe in you, and in my future happiness, M. Olivier," said
+mademoiselle, shyly, raising her head until it rested on Herminie's
+shoulder. Then, with cheeks slightly flushed, and her beautiful eyes
+sparkling with purest joy, the girl timidly extended her little hand to
+the young man.
+
+Olivier trembled, as he touched this hand which he dared not carry to
+his lips, but he pressed it tenderly with mingled love and deference.
+
+Then, without trying to conceal the tears that filled his eyes, he said:
+
+"By this dear hand so generously given, mademoiselle, I swear to you,
+and ask your friend to bear witness to my vow, I swear that my life
+shall be consecrated to your happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+
+After the vows thus plighted by Mlle. de Beaumesnil and Olivier Raymond
+in Herminie's presence, the three actors in the scene maintained an
+almost solemn silence for several minutes.
+
+All three fully realised the gravity of the obligation assumed.
+
+"How delightful it is to be rich," thought Olivier, "for I am rich in
+comparison with this dear child who has only her own labour to depend
+upon. What happiness it gives me to be able to assure her an existence
+superior even to her wildest dreams."
+
+His features were radiant with the delight of this thought, as he broke
+the silence by saying to Mlle. de Beaumesnil:
+
+"Until I became sure of your consent, mademoiselle, I did not care to
+broach the subject to your relative, though I have every reason to hope
+she will accede to my request. Do you not think so? As for my uncle,
+need I tell you that his joy will almost equal mine, when he knows that
+he can call you his daughter? If you think proper, mademoiselle, he had
+better be the one, perhaps, to go to your relative and make known my
+request."
+
+This proposal threw Ernestine into a state of deep perplexity. Yielding
+to an outburst of irresistible confidence, that told her that every
+possible guarantee of safety and happiness would be found in Olivier,
+she had never once thought of the many difficulties that were sure to
+arise from the maintenance of the incognito which she dared not throw
+off at once, however.
+
+But already somewhat familiar with the sudden dilemmas resulting from
+the position in which she had placed herself, Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+replied, after a moment's reflection:
+
+"I am hardly able to say to-day whether it had better be M. Bernard or
+Herminie who goes to my relative to inform her of your intentions--and
+of my consent. I will think the matter over, and let you know my
+decision the next time I see you."
+
+"Ernestine is right, M. Olivier," remarked Herminie; "from what I have
+heard of her relative's disposition, it would be advisable to act with
+prudence, as--as the consent of this parent is indispensable to
+Ernestine's marriage."
+
+"I shall be guided entirely by Mlle. Ernestine and by you, Mlle.
+Herminie, in this matter. Sure of Mlle. Ernestine's consent, I can wait
+with patience. If you knew with what happiness I think of the
+future--our future, I can say now! And my brave, kind uncle, how happy
+he will be surrounded by our care, for it will not be at all unpleasant
+to you to live with him, will it, Mlle. Ernestine? He is so good and
+kind, and it would make him so happy to have us with him!"
+
+"Did you not tell me that he would call me his daughter, M. Olivier? I
+shall be very proud of that title and try to deserve it."
+
+"Tell me, Mlle. Herminie," asked Olivier, addressing the duchess, "after
+such a reply, can there be a happier man in the world than I?"
+
+"No, M. Olivier," replied the duchess, smothering a sigh as she thought
+how she, too, might have enjoyed the same felicity if Gerald's position
+had been as modest as Olivier's; "no, I do not believe there can be any
+greater happiness than yours, nor any that is more richly deserved."
+
+"We shall not be high and mighty seigneurs, Mlle. Ernestine," said
+Olivier, smiling, "for a second lieutenant is no great things, but even
+a single epaulette honourably worn levels all conditions. Besides, I am
+young, and I shall soon have two epaulettes instead of one, some day I
+shall become a major, perhaps even a colonel."
+
+"Beware of ambition, M. Olivier," said Ernestine, smiling in her turn.
+
+"That is true. It seems to me that I am devoured with ambition now. It
+would give me such happiness to see you enjoy the consideration with
+which the wife of a colonel is surrounded! My poor uncle, too, how proud
+he would be to see me hold that rank. Then, think of it, Mlle.
+Ernestine, we should be millionaires on a colonel's pay. And what
+pleasure it would give me to surround you with comforts and even
+luxuries enough to make you forget the hardships of your youth, and to
+at last see my poor uncle placed above the reach of want, for he is
+sometimes subjected to great privations!"
+
+"Yes, in spite of your generous assistance, M. Olivier," said Ernestine,
+with deep emotion, "and in spite of the hard work you have been doing
+all through your furlough."
+
+"Ah, you have been tattling, Mlle. Herminie," said Olivier, gaily.
+
+"At all events, I was entirely disinterested," she retorted; "for when I
+told Ernestine all the good I knew of you, M. Olivier, I was far from
+suspecting that you would corroborate my statements so soon."
+
+"And I must tell M. Olivier, with that frankness on which he sets such
+store, that he misjudges me very much if he thinks I am pining for the
+luxury he promises me," said Ernestine, smiling.
+
+"And I," said Olivier, "shall reply with equal frankness that I am
+terribly selfish, and that, in hoping to be able to surround Mlle.
+Ernestine with luxury, I am thinking only of the pleasure it will give
+me."
+
+"And I, who am Reason personified," said Herminie, with a melancholy
+smile, "I shall tell Mlle. Ernestine and M. Olivier that they are two
+foolish children to indulge in these golden visions. The present should
+content them."
+
+"Yes, I admit it is wrong," responded Olivier, gaily. "Just see where
+ambition leads one! I am dreaming of becoming a colonel, instead of
+saying to myself that my worthy uncle and myself--thanks to my pay as a
+second lieutenant--have never been so rich before. Think of it, nearly
+six thousand francs a year--for us two. What happiness to be able to
+say, 'For us three, Mlle. Ernestine!'"
+
+"Six thousand francs a year? Why, that is an enormous amount," exclaimed
+the richest heiress in France. "How can any one spend all that money?"
+
+"Poor child!" Olivier said to himself, exulting in his new-found
+prosperity, "I thought as much. She has been so poor up to this time,
+that it seems an immense fortune to her."
+
+But he said aloud:
+
+"We shall manage to spend our three thousand francs, all the same, I
+expect, Mlle. Ernestine. In the first place, I shall always insist upon
+your being nicely dressed, in simple but elegant toilets. Our rank
+requires it, you know, mademoiselle. An officer's wife--why, the army
+regulations require her to be well dressed, you understand."
+
+"If the dignity of your rank is at stake, why, I submit, of course,"
+replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, laughing, "but only on condition that your
+dear uncle shall have a pretty garden, as he is so fond of flowers."
+
+"That is understood, Mlle. Ernestine. We can easily find a snug little
+apartment with a garden in a quiet part of the town, for as I shall
+belong to the garrison we can not live in the Batignolles any longer.
+But--great Heavens--"
+
+"What is the matter, M. Olivier?"
+
+"Are you a Bonapartist, Mlle. Ernestine?" inquired the young officer,
+with comical seriousness.
+
+"Why certainly, M. Olivier. I admire the emperor very much. But why do
+you ask that question?"
+
+"Then we are lost, mademoiselle, for my poor uncle shelters beneath his
+roof the most implacable enemy of the great Napoleon that ever lived."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"You will shudder to hear her frightful stories of his atrocities; but
+seriously, Mlle. Ernestine, I shall be obliged to ask your indulgence,
+and your affection as well, for a very worthy woman, my uncle's
+housekeeper, who during the ten years she has been in his employ has
+never allowed a day to pass without lavishing every attention upon him,
+and without quarrelling with him in the most outrageous manner on the
+subject of the Corsican ogre."
+
+"Very well, M. Olivier, I will disclose my admiration for the great
+emperor only to your dear uncle, and play the hypocrite before this
+worthy woman. Oh, you shall see; I am very politic, and she will love me
+in spite of my Bonapartism."
+
+Madame Moufflon, the concierge, having rapped at the door, interrupted
+the conversation by handing a letter to Herminie, who, recognising the
+handwriting as that of M. de Maillefort, told the portress to ask the
+messenger to wait, as there might be an answer required.
+
+So Olivier, fearing that a longer stay would be indiscreet, and being
+also in a hurry to find Commander Bernard, and report the success of his
+wooing, said to Mlle. de Beaumesnil:
+
+"I came here in a very anxious frame of mind, Mlle. Ernestine. Thanks to
+you, I am going away the happiest and most contented of men. I need not
+tell you how impatiently I shall await your decision in regard to your
+relative. If you think it advisable for my uncle to approach her on the
+subject, please let me know as soon as possible."
+
+"I will do so at our next interview, which had better take place here,
+M. Olivier."
+
+"May I not be permitted to bring my uncle?" asked Olivier. "There is so
+much that he wishes to say to you. He will be so anxious to see you,
+too, that it would hardly be fair to deny him the favour, for there is
+nothing he wouldn't be capable of doing in order to reach you, and tell
+you of his joy and gratitude."
+
+"Herminie and I will not force your dear uncle to any extreme measures,
+for I, myself, am very impatient to see him again, so _a bientot_, M.
+Olivier."
+
+"_A bientot_, mademoiselle."
+
+And Olivier departed, leaving the two girls alone together.
+
+Herminie then opened M. de Maillefort's letter. It read as follows:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It is still to-morrow, Saturday, my dear child, that I shall call to
+take you to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, only, if agreeable to you, I will come
+at three in the afternoon, instead of at noon as we agreed.
+
+"A cousin-germain of mine, the Prince Duc de Haut-Martel, the head of
+our house, has just died in Hungary.
+
+"I received this news through the Austrian ambassador, upon whom I must
+call early to-morrow morning for some necessary formalities, which, to
+my great regret, will prevent me from fulfilling my engagement with you
+as early as I promised.
+
+"I shall see you, then, to-morrow, my dear child,
+
+"Affectionately,
+
+"MAILLEFORT."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ernestine, you will excuse me to write a few words in answer to this
+letter, will you not?" asked Herminie, seating herself at the table.
+
+So, while the duchess was writing to M. de Maillefort, Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil reflected with growing satisfaction upon the engagement she
+had just contracted with Olivier.
+
+The duchess wrote M. de Maillefort that she would expect him at three
+the following afternoon, then rang for Madame Moufflon, and asked her to
+deliver the note to the messenger.
+
+When the portress had left the room, Herminie returned to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, and, kissing her affectionately, asked:
+
+"You are very happy, are you not, Ernestine?"
+
+"Yes, very happy, Herminie," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, "and it was
+here in your home that this happiness came to me, my dear friend. How
+generous M. Olivier is! How much he must esteem and love me for him to
+desire to marry me, when his position is so superior to mine! That, in
+itself, is enough to make me adore him, and to make me place implicit
+faith in his promises. With what a feeling of security I can now face
+the future, however trying may be the circumstances in which I find
+myself to-day!"
+
+"Yes, Ernestine, you are indeed certain of happiness. Your life cannot
+fail to be pleasant and fortunate. To love and to be loved worthily is,
+indeed, a fate to be envied."
+
+And as the contrast between her own future and that of her friend struck
+her, the poor duchess could not help bursting into tears.
+
+"It is, indeed, true that happiness is always selfish!" cried Ernestine.
+"Oh, Herminie, forgive me, forgive me! How much you must have suffered!
+Every word of our conversation with M. Olivier must have pierced your
+soul! You heard us talk of our mutual love, of our hope of a blissful
+future, and all the while you felt that you, perhaps, would have to
+renounce all such joys. Ah, our thoughtlessness must have pained you
+deeply, my dear Herminie."
+
+"No, no, Ernestine," said the poor duchess, drying her eyes, "on the
+contrary, your happiness has been a great consolation to me. Has it not
+enabled me to forget my own grief and despair all the morning?"
+
+"Despair? But why do you say that? M. de Senneterre is worthy of you,"
+cried Ernestine, thoughtlessly, remembering only her conversation with
+the young duke the evening before. "He loves you as you deserve to be
+loved, I know it."
+
+"You know it, Ernestine? How do you know it?"
+
+"I mean that--that I am sure of it, Herminie," replied Ernestine, much
+embarrassed. "All you have told me about him convinces me that you could
+not have placed your affections more wisely. The obstacles to your union
+are great, I admit, but by no means insurmountable."
+
+"But they are, Ernestine. I have never told you before, but my own sense
+of dignity will not permit me to marry M. de Senneterre, unless his
+mother comes here and tells me that she consents to my marriage with her
+son. Without that, nothing could induce me to enter this aristocratic
+family."
+
+"Oh, Herminie, how much I admire your pride!" exclaimed Ernestine. "And
+what does M. de Senneterre say?"
+
+"When M. Olivier told him my resolution, far from appearing either
+surprised or shocked, Gerald replied: 'What Herminie asks is only just.
+Her dignity, as well as mine, requires it. Despair is cowardly and
+foolish. It is for me to find the means of compelling my mother to
+acknowledge the worth of the woman to whom I shall be proud to give my
+name.' Noble and touching words, were they not, Ernestine?"
+
+"You are right, Herminie."
+
+"My mother loves me devotedly,' added M. de Senneterre, 'and nothing is
+impossible to an ardent lover. I shall find a way to convince my mother
+of the wisdom of my choice, and to induce her to make the advances
+Herminie has a right to expect. How I shall do it, I cannot say, but I
+shall do it, for Herminie's happiness and mine are at stake.'
+
+"And does not this courageous resolve inspire you with some hope?" asked
+Ernestine.
+
+The duchess shook her head sadly as she replied:
+
+"Gerald is sincere in his determination, but he deceives himself. All I
+have heard of his mother convinces me that this haughty woman will
+never--"
+
+"Never! why do you say never?" cried Ernestine, interrupting her friend.
+"Ah, Herminie, you have no idea how much the love of a man like M. de
+Senneterre can accomplish. His mother is a very proud woman, you say; so
+much the better. She would show herself pitiless to any cowardly
+humility, while your eminently proper pride will be sure to impress her,
+as she, too, is proud; so she will at least be obliged to esteem and
+respect you. That will be one great advantage gained; her love for her
+son will do the rest, for you do not know how she idolises him. She
+loves him so devotedly, in fact, that she has so far forgotten herself
+as to mix herself up in a shameful conspiracy in order to secure him an
+immense fortune by an act unworthy of him. Why, then, is her maternal
+love likely to fail when a worthy, commendable act on her part is alone
+needed to assure her son's happiness? Believe me, Herminie, no one ever
+need despair when there is a mother's heart to appeal to."
+
+"Really, Ernestine, you amaze me. You speak of M. de Senneterre and his
+family as if you knew them."
+
+"Well, I may as well admit, my dear Herminie," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+unable to resist her desire to allay her friend's fears and to encourage
+her to hope, "that, knowing how unhappy you were, I managed to make some
+inquiries about the Senneterre family through my relative."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"She knows one of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's servants."
+
+"Your relative does?"
+
+"Yes, and she discovered in this way that Madame de Senneterre has been
+mixed up in an unfortunate scheme to bring about a marriage between her
+son and Mlle. de Beaumesnil, that rich heiress."
+
+"Gerald was to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil?" exclaimed Herminie.
+
+"Yes, but he nobly refused. Her immense fortune has no attraction for
+him, because he loves you,--loves you devotedly, Herminie."
+
+"Is this true?" exclaimed the duchess, delightedly. "Are you sure of
+what you say, Ernestine?"
+
+"Perfectly sure."
+
+"It is not so much that this disinterestedness on Gerald's part
+astonishes me," said Herminie, "as that--"
+
+"That you are proud of this new proof of his love. Am I not right?"
+
+"Yes, yes," exclaimed the duchess, her hopes reviving in spite of
+herself. "But once more, I can not help asking if you are perfectly sure
+of what you say? My poor child, you are so anxious to see me happy that
+I am afraid you have lent too ready an ear to these reports, for
+servants' gossip, you know, is proverbially unreliable. Do you know
+whether Gerald has ever met Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Once or twice, I think my relative told me. But why do you ask that
+question, Herminie?"
+
+"Because it seems to me that I shall feel very uncomfortable to-morrow,
+knowing that there has been some talk of a marriage between Gerald and
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Why, what is to happen to-morrow, Herminie?"
+
+"I am to give Mlle. de Beaumesnil her first music lesson."
+
+"To-morrow?" exclaimed Ernestine, without concealing her surprise.
+
+"Read this letter, my dear," replied the duchess. "It is from that
+gentleman, the hunchback, you remember, that you once met here."
+
+"M. de Maillefort probably had his reasons for not warning me of his
+intentions," Ernestine said to herself, as she perused the missive. "I
+am glad that he is hastening the denouement, however, for my powers of
+dissimulation are nearly exhausted. What a relief it will be to confess
+all!"
+
+As she returned the letter, Ernestine asked:
+
+"What difference does it make to you, Herminie, if there has been some
+talk of a marriage between M. de Senneterre and Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"I do not know, but I somehow feel that it places me in a false, almost
+painful position towards that young lady, and if I had not promised M.
+de Maillefort--"
+
+"What would you do?"
+
+"I would abandon this visit, which now causes me a sort of vague
+uneasiness."
+
+"But you have promised, Herminie, and you can not break your word.
+Besides, is not Mlle. de Beaumesnil the child of the lady whom you loved
+so much, and who so often talked to you about her dear daughter? Think
+of it, Herminie; would it not be wrong to give up going to see her? Do
+you not at least owe that to her mother's memory?"
+
+"You are right, Ernestine. I shall have to go, and yet--"
+
+"Who knows, Herminie, but your acquaintance with this young girl will
+prove of benefit to both of you. I scarcely know why, but I prophesy
+good from this visit, and I certainly prove my disinterestedness by
+doing so, for devoted friendship is naturally jealous. But it is growing
+late, my friend, and I must go. I will write to you to-morrow."
+
+The duchess sat silent and evidently absorbed in thought for a moment.
+
+"Ah, Ernestine," she exclaimed at last, "I can not tell you all the
+strange thoughts that are passing through my mind. Gerald's noble
+disinterestedness, my approaching interview with Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+your disclosures in relation to the character of Madame de Senneterre,
+who, being proud herself, can, perhaps, better understand the demands of
+my pride,--all this agitates me deeply. Nevertheless, though I was so
+full of despair a few minutes ago, I now hope, in spite of myself, and
+thanks to you, my dear friend, my heart is much less heavy than when you
+came."
+
+Consideration for M. de Maillefort's plans alone prevented Ernestine
+from putting an end to her friend's anxiety and increasing her hope by
+giving her further proofs of Gerald's love as well as of his nobility of
+character, but remembering that all this mystery would soon be cleared
+up, she carried her secret away with her when she parted from Herminie.
+
+The following afternoon, according to promise, M. de Maillefort called
+for the duchess, and the two immediately started for Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's residence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A QUESTION OF IDENTITY.
+
+
+Before going to Herminie's, Friday morning, Mlle. de Beaumesnil had had
+no conversation with M. de la Rochaigue and Mlle. Helena on the subject
+of M. de Macreuse and M. de Mornand.
+
+On her return from the ball the night before, Ernestine had pleaded
+fatigue as an excuse for at once retiring to her room, and she had left
+the house early the next morning, in company with Madame Laine.
+
+One can easily imagine the bitter reproaches and recriminations that
+were interchanged between the baron and his wife and sister after
+returning from the entertainment, where their secret plans had been so
+ruthlessly unveiled.
+
+Madame de la Rochaigue, still confident of the speedy marriage of M. de
+Senneterre and Mlle. de Beaumesnil, was pitiless in her triumph, which
+she scarcely took the pains to conceal now, and quite overwhelmed the
+baron and his sister by her reproaches and sarcasms.
+
+The devotee replied, sweetly and patiently, that "the success of the
+proud and the wicked was fleeting, but that the just, though laid low
+for a time, would soon rise again, radiant in glory."
+
+The baron, who was less versed in Biblical diction, declared that his
+wife did not know him yet, and that, though he could not compel Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil to marry M. de Mornand, after the deplorable scene of the
+evening before, he should nevertheless completely, absolutely, and
+irrevocably refuse his consent to any other marriage until mademoiselle
+attained her majority.
+
+Ernestine, on her return from Herminie's, had been tenderly welcomed by
+Madame de la Rochaigue, who informed her that the baron had declared his
+intention of opposing any marriage whatever until his ward became of
+age, but that all this did not make the slightest difference, as he
+would change his mind within twenty-four hours if he discovered that
+there was any possibility of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's marriage with M. de
+Senneterre.
+
+But when the baroness added that it would be advisable for Ernestine to
+receive Gerald's mother on the following day, as that lady wished to
+come to some definite understanding in relation to her son's marriage
+with the heiress, the young girl replied that, while she fully
+appreciated M. de Senneterre's merits, she would like to have a few days
+longer for reflection, hoping in this way to secure time to consult with
+M. de Maillefort and Herminie concerning her plans for the future. The
+baroness tried in vain to change Ernestine's decision, but the young
+girl was obdurate.
+
+Considerably surprised, and not a little irritated by this refusal, the
+baroness remarked to the orphan, as she was leaving her:
+
+"I forgot to inform you yesterday, my dear child, that after a talk with
+M. de Maillefort, who is now one of my best friends, and yours as well
+(you know how highly he speaks of M. de Senneterre), we decided to give
+you an opportunity to perform a truly charitable act. The idea
+originated with me, even prior to your arrival in Paris. There is a
+poor, but honest young girl, who was employed to play and sing to your
+poor dear mother during her last illness. This young girl is very proud,
+in spite of her poverty; so we thought you might assist her pecuniarily
+under the pretext of taking a few music lessons, and if you are willing
+to do so, the marquis will bring her to you to-morrow."
+
+The reader can imagine Ernestine's response, and the impatience with
+which she awaited the coming of Herminie and her escort.
+
+At last the long-looked-for hour arrived.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil had put on the same dress she had worn on her first
+visit to her friend's house,--a simply made gown of inexpensive lawn.
+
+Soon a footman threw open the folding doors that led into the small
+drawing-room where the heiress usually sat, and announced, in a loud
+voice:
+
+"M. le Marquis de Maillefort."
+
+Herminie was with the hunchback, and for some reason or other seemed to
+be greatly agitated by the prospect of this meeting with Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, and as the duchess, whose bosom was heaving visibly, kept
+her eyes fixed upon the floor, the footman had time to close the door
+and make his escape before Herminie recognised Ernestine.
+
+The marquis, who was enjoying this little scene immensely, gave Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil a meaning glance just as Herminie, surprised at the long
+silence, ventured to raise her eyes.
+
+"Ernestine, you here!" she exclaimed, taking a step towards her friend,
+then, intensely surprised, looked wonderingly at the marquis, as Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil, throwing herself upon Herminie's neck, embraced her
+tenderly, while tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.
+
+"You are weeping, Ernestine!" said Herminie, more and more astonished,
+but still without the slightest suspicion of the truth, though her heart
+was throbbing with unwonted violence. "What is the matter with you,
+Ernestine?" she continued. "How do you happen to be here? You do not
+answer me. Good Heavens! I cannot imagine why I tremble so!"
+
+And again the duchess turned inquiringly to the hunchback, whose eyes
+were dim with tears.
+
+"I do not know, but it seems to me something extraordinary is going on
+here, M. le marquis; tell me what all this means, I beseech you."
+
+"It means, my dear child, that I was a true prophet when, in talking
+with you about your approaching interview with Mlle. de Beaumesnil, I
+told you that I felt sure this meeting would afford you much more
+pleasure than you anticipated."
+
+"Then you knew that I would find Ernestine here, monsieur?"
+
+"I was certain of it."
+
+"You were certain of it?"
+
+"Yes, there could be no doubt of it."
+
+"Why do you say that?"
+
+"For the simple reason that--"
+
+"That what, monsieur?"
+
+"Is it possible you don't suspect?"
+
+"No, monsieur."
+
+"That the two Ernestines are one and the same person."
+
+The duchess was so far from suspecting the truth that she utterly failed
+to understand the import of the hunchback's reply at first, and repeated
+mechanically, gazing at him wonderingly all the while:
+
+"The two Ernestines are one and the same person?"
+
+Then seeing her friend gazing at her with an expression of ineffable joy
+and happiness, and with arms outstretched as if to embrace her, she
+exclaimed, overwhelmed with astonishment, and almost terror:
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil! Can it be--my God! can it be that you are Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Yes," exclaimed the hunchback, "she is Mlle. de Beaumesnil, the
+daughter of the lady who loved you so much, and to whom you were so
+deeply attached."
+
+"Ernestine is my sister," thought the duchess.
+
+This startling revelation, and the recollection of the strange way in
+which she had made Mlle. de Beaumesnil's acquaintance, as well as of the
+events which had occurred since their first meeting, gave Herminie a
+sort of vertigo. Her brain seemed to whirl; she turned pale, and
+trembled so violently, that Ernestine was obliged to assist her to a
+neighbouring armchair.
+
+There, kneeling beside her, and gazing up in her face with all a
+sister's tenderness, Mlle. de Beaumesnil took Herminie's hands in hers,
+and kissed them almost reverently, while the marquis stood contemplating
+this touching scene in silence.
+
+"Pardon me," faltered Herminie, "but the surprise,--the trying position
+in which I find myself, mademoiselle--"
+
+"Mademoiselle! Oh, do not call me that," exclaimed Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+"Am I no longer your Ernestine, the orphan to whom you promised your
+friendship because you thought she was so unhappy? Alas! M. de
+Maillefort, your friend and mine, will tell you that I am indeed very
+unhappy, and that I am in even greater need of your tender affection
+than ever. What if I am no longer the poor little embroideress! The rich
+have their sorrows as well as the poor. In pity remember the words of my
+dying mother, who so often talked to you of me, and continue to love me
+for her sake."
+
+"Have no fears on that score. You will always be dear, doubly dear to
+me," replied Herminie; "but you see I have scarcely recovered from my
+bewilderment. It seems like a dream to me, and when I think of the way
+in which I became acquainted with you, Ernestine, and of a thousand
+other things, I have to see you here close beside me, to believe that it
+is not really all a dream."
+
+"Your surprise is very natural, my dear child," remarked the marquis,
+"and I myself, when I met Mlle. de Beaumesnil at your home a few days
+ago, was so overwhelmed with astonishment that, if something had not
+diverted your attention for a moment, you would have perceived my
+amazement; but Ernestine begged me to keep her secret, and I did."
+
+When Herminie had recovered from the shock sufficiently for her mind to
+become clear again, the first words she uttered were:
+
+"But, Ernestine, how did you happen to come to Madame Herbaut's? What is
+the meaning of all this mystery? Why did you wish to attend that
+reunion?"
+
+Ernestine, smiling sadly, took from a table the journal she had been
+writing, the journal dedicated to the memory of her mother, and, handing
+it to Herminie open at the page where were enumerated the divers reasons
+which had forced the richest heiress in France to resort to the painful
+test she had endured so heroically, the young girl said to the duchess:
+
+"I anticipated these questions, Herminie, and, as I am anxious that you
+should deem me worthy of your affection, I beg you to read these pages.
+They speak the truth, for it is to the memory of my mother that they are
+dedicated. M. de Maillefort, I would like you to peruse their contents
+at the same time, so you can see that, though I unfortunately believed,
+for a time, the base slanders told me concerning you, your wise, though
+severe, lesson was not lost upon me, but gave me the courage to resort
+to a test that may, perhaps, seem strange to you, my dear Herminie."
+
+The duchess took the book from Ernestine's hands. It was an interesting
+scene to see Herminie holding the open journal, while the marquis,
+leaning over the back of the armchair in which she was seated, read with
+her and like her, in silence, Mlle. de Beaumesnil's artless story.
+
+That young girl watched both Herminie and the hunchback intently during
+the reading, evidently anxious to know if they would approve her
+motives.
+
+All doubts on this subject were soon allayed, however, for touching and
+sympathetic exclamations speedily testified to the approval of both.
+
+When the perusal was ended, the duchess, her eyes filled with tears of
+love and compassion, exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, it is not friendship alone that I feel for you now, Ernestine, but
+respect and admiration. Great Heavens! how these frightful doubts must
+have tortured you! What an immense amount of courage it must have
+required to take such an important step alone--to face an ordeal from
+which even the bravest heart would have shrunk! Ah, I can at least offer
+you an affection which has been proved as disinterested as it is
+sincere. Thank God, I have been able to convince you beyond a doubt that
+you can and should be loved for yourself alone."
+
+"Ah, yes, and it is this fact that makes your affection so precious to
+me," replied Ernestine, with effusion.
+
+"Herminie is right. Your conduct has been worthy of all praise," said
+the marquis, who seemed deeply moved. "The few words you let drop on
+this subject night before last, at the ball, only partially enlightened
+me in regard to the real facts of the case. You are a noble girl."
+
+But suddenly the duchess, remembering the promise Ernestine had made
+Olivier, exclaimed anxiously:
+
+"But, Ernestine,--the promise you made M. Olivier yesterday, in my
+presence!"
+
+"That promise I shall keep," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, quietly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ERNESTINE'S APPEAL.
+
+
+On hearing Mlle. de Beaumesnil speak of a promise which she had made to
+M. Olivier, and which she intended to keep, M. de Maillefort seemed both
+surprised and uneasy, especially when the duchess repeated:
+
+"What! the promise made to M. Olivier--"
+
+"Yes, this promise, I repeat, I intend to keep, my dear Herminie. Did
+you not approve my acceptance of M. Olivier's offer? Did you not regard
+it as a sure guarantee of happiness to come? Did you not appreciate the
+great generosity of his offer as much as I did?"
+
+"Yes, Ernestine, but it was to the little embroideress that this offer
+was made."
+
+"Ah, well, why should M. Olivier's generosity seem less great and less
+noble now, my dear Herminie? Why should not the guarantee of happiness
+to come be just as certain?"
+
+"I do not know how to answer you, Ernestine. I feel that you are right,
+and yet I am conscious of a vague uneasiness in spite of myself. But you
+must have no secrets from M. de Maillefort. You must tell him all."
+
+"I will, and I am sure that M. de Maillefort will approve my decision."
+
+The marquis had been listening silently but thoughtfully.
+
+"Is this M. Olivier the young man who invited you to dance out of
+charity, and to whom frequent allusion is made in your journal?"
+
+"Yes, M. de Maillefort."
+
+"And it was M. Olivier's uncle that Ernestine saved from almost certain
+death the other day," added Herminie.
+
+"His uncle?" exclaimed the hunchback, quickly.
+
+Then, after a moment's reflection, he added:
+
+"I understand. Gratitude, combined with another and more tender
+sentiment which had its birth at her first meeting with this young man
+at Madame Herbaut's house, led him to propose to Ernestine when he
+believed her to be poor and unprotected."
+
+"And a brilliant match it seemed for one of my supposed position,"
+remarked Mlle. de Beaumesnil, "for M. Olivier had just been made an
+officer, so it was an enviable social position as well as comparative
+affluence that he offered a penniless and obscure girl who laboured for
+her daily bread."
+
+"Is his name Olivier Raymond?" exclaimed the hunchback, as if a new idea
+had suddenly occurred to him.
+
+"That is his name. Do you know him, monsieur?" asked Ernestine.
+
+"Olivier Raymond, formerly a non-commissioned officer of hussars,
+decorated in Africa, is it not?" continued the marquis.
+
+"The same."
+
+"Then it was for him, though not at his request, nor even with his
+knowledge, that I requested his promotion the other day in company with
+my dear young friend, Gerald de Senneterre, who loves the young man like
+a brother," added the hunchback, thoughtfully.
+
+Then, turning to Ernestine, he continued:
+
+"My child, it is your mother's devoted friend, almost a father, that
+speaks. All this seems very serious to me, and I tremble lest the
+natural generosity of your character should cause you to go too far.
+Have you engaged yourself to Olivier Raymond?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"And do you love him?"
+
+"As profoundly as I esteem him, my dear M. de Maillefort."
+
+"I can very well understand, my dear child, why, after the shocking
+revelations at the ball, night before last, you should have felt the
+need of sincere and disinterested affection more than ever. I can
+understand, too, why you should find a wonderful charm, and even see a
+certain guarantee of future happiness, in M. Olivier Raymond's generous
+offer, but this should not have prevented you from exercising more
+prudence. Remember how short your acquaintance with M. Olivier has
+been!"
+
+"That is true, monsieur, but it did not take me long, when my eyes had
+once been opened, to realise the fact that your heart was full of the
+tenderest solicitude for me, and that Herminie was the noblest creature
+that ever lived, so you may be sure that I am no more deceived in M.
+Olivier."
+
+"I hope you are right, my child, Heaven knows! This young man is Gerald
+de Senneterre's most intimate friend, which is a very strong
+recommendation, I must admit. Besides, before interesting myself in
+Gerald's protege, as I feared his affection for a former comrade might
+have blinded him somewhat, I made numerous inquiries about M. Olivier."
+
+"Well?" exclaimed Ernestine and Herminie, in the same breath.
+
+"Well, the best proof of my satisfaction at the result of these
+inquiries was the fact that I brought the full force of an influence I
+rarely exert to bear on M. Olivier's advancement."
+
+"Then why should you feel any apprehensions, M. de Maillefort?" urged
+Ernestine. "How could I have made a better choice? M. Olivier's birth
+is honourable, his profession honoured. He is poor, but am I not, alas!
+only too rich? And then think of my position as an heiress continually
+exposed to machinations like those you exposed and punished, night
+before last! Remember, too, that, in order to protect me from such
+shameless cupidity, you yourself aroused in me a distrust which has
+become well-nigh incurable. A prey henceforth to the dreadful thought
+that I am sought only for my wealth, whom can I trust? Is it strange
+that, under circumstances like these, I should appreciate
+disinterestedness and unselfishness? And where could I ever find greater
+disinterestedness than that of which M. Olivier has given convincing
+proof? For in the offer that he made me, when he believed me to be poor
+and unprotected, was it not he who had everything to give?"
+
+There was a half smile on the lips of the marquis as he turned to
+Herminie and said:
+
+"Your friend, the little embroideress, has quick wit and a ready tongue.
+There is a good deal of sense and justice in what she says, I must
+admit, and I should find it very difficult to prove that she is wrong."
+
+"I think so, too," replied Herminie, "for though I have been trying to
+discover some objections to her keeping her promise, I can find none."
+
+"Nor can I, my dear children," said the hunchback; "but, unfortunately,
+human reason is not infallible, neither does right always make might;
+besides, even if this should prove to be a suitable marriage for
+Ernestine, the consent of her guardian is necessary to this marriage,
+and with ideas like his, it is not at all likely that he will ever
+consent to such a union. Ernestine would consequently be obliged to wait
+several years. Nor is this all. M. Olivier will discover sooner or later
+that his little embroideress is the richest heiress in France, and from
+what you have said of him, as well as from what Gerald himself has told
+me of his friend's extreme sensitiveness in money matters, there is
+good reason to fear that M. Olivier will shrink from the possibility of
+being accused of mercenary motives in wedding so rich an heiress when he
+himself is poor; so, in spite of his love and gratitude, he may be
+capable of sacrificing everything to his scruples."
+
+On hearing these words, which she felt were only too true, mademoiselle
+shuddered. A pang of real anguish pierced her heart, and she exclaimed,
+bitterly:
+
+"Ah, my accursed wealth! Shall I never escape the torments it causes
+me!"
+
+Then, in an entreating voice, and gazing at the hunchback with eyes
+swimming in tears, she added:
+
+"Ah, M. de Maillefort, you were my mother's devoted friend, you love
+Herminie devotedly,--save me and save her! Come to our assistance. Be
+our guardian angel, for I feel that my life will be blighted for ever by
+the suspicions and the distrust you have awakened in my heart. The only
+chance of happiness left for me is to marry M. Olivier, and Herminie
+will die of grief if she does not marry M. de Senneterre, so once more I
+beseech you, my dear M. Maillefort, to take pity on us."
+
+"Oh, Ernestine," cried the duchess, reproachfully, blushing scarlet in
+her confusion, "that secret was confided to you alone!"
+
+"Gerald!" exclaimed the marquis, in his turn astounded by this
+revelation. "Gerald! is it possible that you love Gerald?" he continued,
+with a searching look at Herminie. "Then it was to this irresistible
+passion that he alluded when I was praising him yesterday for his
+generous conduct towards Mlle. de Beaumesnil. He told me, then, that he
+lived only for a young girl who was worthy of his adoration. Yes, I
+understand everything now, my poor, dear children, and I tremble for
+your future."
+
+"Forgive me, oh, forgive me, Herminie," pleaded Ernestine, for her
+friend's tears were flowing fast. "Do not be angry with me for having
+betrayed your confidence. But in whom can we have any hope and
+confidence if not in M. de Maillefort? Who else can guide and comfort
+and sustain us in these trying hours? Alas! as he himself remarked just
+now, right does not make might. He admits that, in the trying position
+in which my accursed wealth places me, I could not have given my
+affections more wisely, and yet there are great, if not insurmountable,
+difficulties in the way of my marriage. It is the same with you,
+Herminie. M. de Maillefort is certainly convinced that there can be no
+happiness for you and for M. de Senneterre save in your union, which
+seems even more uncertain than mine."
+
+"Ah, my children, if you knew what kind of a woman the Duchesse de
+Senneterre is! I told you the other day, Herminie, when you asked me
+about her. I understand your motive now. But I tell you now, as I told
+you then, that no woman ever lived who was more absurdly vain of her
+rank."
+
+"And yet Herminie says she will never marry Gerald unless Madame de
+Senneterre comes and tells her that she consents to this marriage. This
+only shows a proper pride in Herminie, though. You think so, too, do you
+not, M. de Maillefort?"
+
+"She has made that resolve? Ah, what a brave and noble-hearted girl she
+is!" exclaimed the marquis. "This is still another proof of the laudable
+pride that makes me love her so much. Most assuredly I approve her
+decision. I admire it, too, for such a resolve could be born only of a
+noble soul. I no longer wonder at Gerald's ardent devotion."
+
+"You hear what M. de Maillefort says, Herminie," said Ernestine. "Are
+you angry with me now for having betrayed your secret?"
+
+"No, Ernestine," replied the duchess, gently. "I blame you only for one
+thing, and that is for grieving M. de Maillefort by telling him of
+misfortunes which he cannot remedy."
+
+"But why may he not be able to remedy them?" retorted Ernestine. "You do
+not know him. You do not know the great influence he exerts in the
+world,--how much noble-hearted people love and admire him, and how
+abjectly afraid cowards and evil-doers are of him. And, then, he is so
+good, so kind to all who are in trouble; he loved my mother so dearly!"
+
+And as M. de Maillefort, overwhelmed with emotion, averted his face to
+conceal his tears, Mlle. de Beaumesnil continued, in even more
+beseeching tones:
+
+"Oh, is it not true that you feel all a father's solicitude for us, M.
+de Maillefort? Are we not sisters in your eyes, and in the tenderness
+and attachment we feel for you? Oh, do not, I beseech you, in mercy, do
+not desert us!"
+
+And Ernestine seized one of the hunchback's hands, while Herminie,
+involuntarily following her friend's example, possessed herself of the
+other, saying, in entreating tones:
+
+"Ah, M. de Maillefort, you are our only hope!"
+
+The hunchback was deeply affected. One of these young girls was the
+child of a woman he had loved devotedly, though secretly, for years.
+
+The other, too, was, perhaps, her child, for very frequently the
+conviction that Herminie was Madame de Beaumesnil's daughter returned.
+
+But however that might be, M. de Maillefort had received from this dying
+mother the sacred trust of watching over and protecting Ernestine and
+Herminie. He had sworn to fulfil this trust, and, unable to make even a
+pretence of concealing his emotion any longer, he clasped both the young
+girls passionately to his breast, and, in a voice broken with sobs,
+exclaimed:
+
+"Yes, yes, my poor, dear children. I will do all the most loving of
+fathers could do for you!"
+
+It is impossible to describe the touching scene and the eloquent silence
+that followed, which Ernestine, now radiant with hope, was the first to
+break, by exclaiming:
+
+"Herminie, we are saved! You will marry M. Gerald, and I, M. Olivier!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+AN ALLIANCE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE.
+
+
+On hearing Ernestine's joyful exclamation, M. de Maillefort shook his
+head, and said, with a faint smile:
+
+"One moment, young ladies, don't go and indulge in all sorts of wild
+hopes that will worry me almost as much as your despair. Let us look at
+the situation calmly and sensibly. All this excitement is not going to
+help matters; on the contrary, it unnerves one. One weeps and laments,
+or exults, as the case may be, and that is all it amounts to."
+
+"But, M. de Maillefort, these are tears of happiness," replied
+Ernestine, wiping her eyes. "I have no reason to regret them."
+
+"No, but they should not be indulged in again. They impair one's vision,
+and it is necessary to see our situation clearly, very clearly."
+
+"M. de Maillefort is right," said Herminie. "Let us be calm and
+sensible."
+
+"Yes, yes, we will!" cried Ernestine. "Sit down here between us, M. de
+Maillefort, and let us talk the matter over calmly and sensibly, as you
+say."
+
+"Very well," replied the hunchback, seating himself on the sofa between
+the two girls, and taking a hand of each in his. "Which one of you shall
+we consider first?"
+
+"Herminie," replied Ernestine, promptly.
+
+"So be it," responded the marquis. "Very well, Herminie and Gerald love
+each other devotedly, and are worthy of each other, that is understood;
+but, with a pride that I both admire and approve,--because there is no
+possibility of either love or happiness without dignity,--Herminie will
+not consent to marry Gerald unless the Duchesse de Senneterre calls on
+her and gives her consent to this marriage. The question is, therefore,
+to devise a means of compelling this haughtiest of duchesses to make
+these overtures."
+
+"But nothing is impossible to you, M. de Maillefort," said Ernestine,
+naively.
+
+"Just hear this wheedler with her 'Nothing is impossible to you, M. de
+Maillefort,'" said the marquis, smiling. Then he added with a sigh: "Ah,
+my dear child, if you knew what hard things vanity and selfishness are
+to fight! And those two words describe Madame de Senneterre exactly. But
+though I am not the great necromancer you say, I shall have to devise
+some way of taming this two-headed monster, I suppose."
+
+"Ah, if you can ever accomplish that feat, monsieur," said Herminie, "my
+whole life--"
+
+"I count upon that, my child. Yes, I hope and trust that you will love
+me during your whole life, even if I should fail in what I am about to
+undertake, for in that case I believe I should be quite as unhappy as
+you are, and stand in almost equal need of consolation. Now it is your
+turn, my dear Ernestine!"
+
+"It seems to me that my prospects are even gloomier than Herminie's,"
+said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, sadly.
+
+"I don't know about that, but I must warn you, my poor child, that I can
+do nothing for you until after I have satisfied myself beyond a doubt of
+M. Olivier Raymond's worth."
+
+"Why, doesn't what you already know satisfy you, M. de Maillefort?"
+
+"It is perfectly satisfactory so far as his life as a soldier is
+concerned, but as a man can be a very brave officer and a very bad
+husband, I shall make some further inquiries concerning him."
+
+"But M. de Senneterre speaks very highly of M. Olivier, you say."
+
+"Yes, my dear child, but a man may be an admirable friend and an
+excellent comrade, and yet make his wife very unhappy."
+
+"How suspicious you are! You forget that M. Olivier thinks me a poor
+girl--and that--"
+
+"That his gratitude, generosity, and love impelled him to offer you a
+more brilliant future than one in your supposed position had a right to
+expect, perhaps. It was a very generous and noble impulse, I admit, and
+a little while ago I was so touched by it that I allowed myself to
+become almost as enthusiastic as you and Herminie."
+
+"And has your opinion changed, now?" asked Ernestine, anxiously.
+
+"Now, my child, I judge not only with my heart but with my head; and
+reason tells me that, though M. Olivier's impulse was highly
+commendable, it was only an impulse. I do not doubt for an instant that
+M. Olivier will keep the promise he made you, and that he will act
+honourably in the matter, but I want to be sure--that is, as sure as one
+can be of anything in this world--that, in case M. Olivier married you,
+his whole life would harmonise with the impulse which I admire as much
+as you do."
+
+Ernestine could not conceal a sort of sorrowful impatience as she
+listened to these wise and prudent words, and noting this fact, the
+marquis continued, in a tone that was both grave and affectionate:
+
+"My poor child, the confidence you have in me, the affection I felt for
+your mother, the very interest I take in your future, all compel me to
+say this, though it may disappoint and grieve you. But I promise you
+that, if I find M. Olivier is worthy of you, I will devote myself body
+and soul to overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way of your
+marriage."
+
+"Ernestine, we must trust M. de Maillefort implicitly, blindly,"
+Herminie said to her friend. "The responsibility he assumes is so great,
+we must not hamper him in any way. Besides, instead of opposing the
+inquiries he intends to make, you should urge him to make them as
+searching as possible, for, believe me, they will only prove still more
+conclusively that M. Olivier is worthy of you."
+
+"That is true, Herminie; and you, M. de Maillefort, will forgive me, I
+trust," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil. "I was wrong, but, alas! with my only
+chance of happiness at stake, you can perhaps understand my terror and
+my wretchedness at the thought that I may lose it."
+
+"On the contrary, it is to make your chance of happiness more certain
+that I speak as I do. But even supposing that M. Olivier should be found
+to possess all the attributes we desire, it will, first of all, be
+necessary to persuade your guardian to consent to this marriage; then,
+what will prove an even more difficult task, I fear, we shall have to
+convince M. Olivier that he can, with honour, marry the richest heiress
+in France, inasmuch as he loved her when he thought her penniless and
+unprotected."
+
+"In this, alas! I agree with you, M. de Maillefort," said Ernestine,
+despondently. "I, too, am afraid that M. Olivier will refuse to marry
+me. And yet this refusal would show such nobility of soul that, even
+though it made me miserable, I could not help admiring it. Alas, alas!
+what are we to do, M. de Maillefort?"
+
+"I do not know, my dear child. I will think the matter over to-night,
+and try to devise some means of accomplishing our object. I have a
+vague, shadowy idea of one expedient," added the hunchback,
+thoughtfully. "Yes, why not? But I must reduce this chaotic mass of
+ideas to a little order first, and, above all, don't let us give way to
+despair."
+
+"Do you think Ernestine might see M. Olivier again soon?" inquired
+Herminie.
+
+"Not for several days."
+
+"Oh, dear, what will he think of me?" sighed Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+"So far as that is concerned, Ernestine, you remember you told him that
+the relative with whom you were living was so peculiar that you would
+need several days to decide whether it had better be M. Olivier or
+Commander Bernard who should go to her to ask your hand in marriage."
+
+"That is true."
+
+"And this pretended relative is your governess, I suppose, my dear
+child?" said the marquis.
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"Can you rely upon her discretion?"
+
+"Self-interest ensures that."
+
+"That is a very important point, for there can be little or no chance of
+success in our undertaking without absolute secrecy," remarked the
+hunchback; "and I need not say, my dear Herminie, that even Gerald
+himself must not know that the little embroideress, about whom M.
+Olivier has often talked to him, is Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Alas! monsieur, it will be an easy matter for me to promise that, for I
+shall not see Gerald again until his mother comes to me, or, in other
+words, I shall never see him again."
+
+"Courage, my child, courage!" said the hunchback. "I am not a very
+devout man, but I do believe in the God of good people, and that virtue
+is rewarded, even in this world. Courage, then! But to return to the
+subject of M. Olivier; my dear Herminie, if you see him, as you probably
+will, you must tell him that Ernestine is not very well. This will give
+me time to form my plans, for I only ask that you will give me one
+week, my dear children. If I have not brought these matters to a
+successful termination in one week, I never shall. Then it will be time
+to think of resignation and consolation, and you, my children, must
+admit, I think, that if you are obliged to give up all idea of these
+much desired marriages, your grief and disappointment will be much more
+endurable if you are together, than alone. Besides, I shall be left to
+you, and we three, together, can surely make a brave stand against
+misfortune."
+
+"Ah, if I had to endure such a sorrow, deprived of Ernestine's
+friendship and yours, I believe it would kill me," murmured Herminie.
+
+"Alas! my dear Herminie, how fraught with fears and anxiety this coming
+week will be!" exclaimed Ernestine. "But we shall at least see each
+other every day, shall we not? Or what is far better," exclaimed Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil, starting violently as a new idea suddenly occurred to
+her, "we need not be separated any more."
+
+"What do you mean, Ernestine?"
+
+"You must stay here with me from now on. Must she not, M. de
+Maillefort?"
+
+"It would be a great happiness for me," answered Herminie, blushing,
+"but I cannot accept it."
+
+The hunchback understood Herminie's feelings. She felt that it would be
+humiliating to accept an idle and luxurious life from the rich heiress;
+besides, Ernestine's proposal, even if it were accepted by the duchess,
+might injure M. de Maillefort's plans, and he said as much to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, who was as greatly surprised as chagrined by her friend's
+refusal.
+
+"I think it might seriously interfere with my plans, my dear child, if
+your guardian and his family should discover your fondness for Herminie,
+for they would immediately institute an inquiry into the cause of this
+sudden intimacy with the young girl you had apparently met to-day for
+the first time, and the suspicious distrusts thus aroused might give me
+a great deal of trouble."
+
+"We shall be obliged to resign ourselves to a separation, then, I
+suppose," said Ernestine, sadly; "but it would have been such a comfort
+to spend this week of anxiety and suspense with Herminie."
+
+"I share your regret, Ernestine," said the duchess, "but M. de
+Maillefort knows what will further our interests better than we do;
+besides, my sudden disappearance would, perhaps, arouse M. Olivier's
+suspicions. It would be utterly impossible to give him any news of you,
+and last, but not least, my dear Ernestine, it will not do to forget
+that I support myself by my music lessons, and I could not remain idle
+for a whole week."
+
+For an instant, Mlle. de Beaumesnil gazed at the duchess in a sort of
+bewilderment, not understanding how Herminie could think of working for
+her living now she had the richest heiress in France for an intimate
+friend; but remembering the young musician's delicacy and pride, Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil shuddered at the thought that she had, perhaps, been in
+danger of alienating her friend for ever by her thoughtless, though
+kindly meant proposal.
+
+"True, my dear Herminie, I forgot all about your lessons," she replied.
+"You must not miss them, of course; but you will at least number me
+among your favourite pupils, and not let a day pass without coming.
+Won't you promise me that?"
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Herminie, greatly relieved, for, as Ernestine had
+suspected, the duchess had trembled lest her friend should insist upon
+her acceptance of a hospitality which she regarded as humiliating.
+
+"And now we can only hope that fate will prove propitious, my children,"
+said the marquis, rising. "As for your manner towards your guardian, my
+dear Ernestine, let it be slightly cold and reserved. Remain in your own
+room as much as possible, but do not manifest any very bitter
+resentment towards these people. A quarrel might injure us deeply. Later
+we will see."
+
+"By the way, M. de Maillefort," said Ernestine, "I think it might be
+well to inform you that Madame de la Rochaigue, who is still under the
+impression that I intend to marry M. Gerald, wanted me to promise that I
+would see Madame de Senneterre to-morrow, but I asked for a few days for
+reflection."
+
+"You did wisely, my child, but to-morrow you must formally announce to
+Madame de la Rochaigue that you have decided not to marry Gerald. You
+need not give any explanation whatever. I will attend to the rest."
+
+"I will follow your advice, monsieur. To-morrow, Herminie, I will make
+you both proud and happy by telling you how nobly and frankly M. de
+Senneterre behaved towards me. Did he not, M. de Maillefort?"
+
+"His conduct was admirable. Gerald warned me in advance of his plan, and
+he kept his promise. But now you girls will be obliged to separate for
+awhile."
+
+"Already!" cried Ernestine. "Let me at least keep Herminie until
+evening, M. de Maillefort."
+
+"I can not remain any longer, unfortunately, Ernestine," said the
+duchess, trying to smile. "At five o'clock I have to give a lesson at
+the house of a M. Bouffard, whom M. de Maillefort knows, and I am
+obliged to be very punctual."
+
+"I must submit then, I suppose," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, with a
+sigh, thinking what a drawback Herminie's occupation was to the
+pleasures of life; "but you will at least promise to come and see me
+to-morrow, will you not, Herminie?"
+
+"Yes, yes," replied the duchess. "I shall await the morrow with quite as
+much impatience as you will, I assure you."
+
+"Herminie," asked Mlle. de Beaumesnil, suddenly, "do you love me as much
+as when you believed me to be Ernestine, the little embroideress?"
+
+"I love you even more, perhaps," replied the duchess, earnestly, "for
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil has retained the heart of Ernestine, the little
+embroideress."
+
+The two girls embraced each other affectionately once again and then
+separated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+"DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND."
+
+
+Two days after this conversation with Herminie and Ernestine, M. de
+Maillefort, after two long and serious consultations with Gerald, wrote
+to the Duchesse de Senneterre, asking her to see him that afternoon,
+and, his request being granted, the marquis presented himself at the
+appointed hour.
+
+The marquis, warned by Gerald, was not surprised at the expression of
+bitter anger and chagrin on the face of Madame de Senneterre, for that
+very morning Madame de la Rochaigue had informed the duchess that Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil, though she liked and admired M. de Senneterre very much,
+had no intention of marrying him.
+
+At the sight of the hunchback, Madame de Senneterre's wrath blazed up
+still more fiercely, and she exclaimed, bitterly:
+
+"You must confess, monsieur, that I am wonderfully generous!"
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Am I not giving you the pleasure of coming to exult over the misery you
+have caused?"
+
+"To what misery do you allude?"
+
+"What misery?" exclaimed the duchess, wrathfully. "Is it not your fault
+that my son's marriage with Mlle. de Beaumesnil is broken off?"
+
+"My fault?"
+
+"Oh, I am not your dupe, monsieur, and it is to assure you of that fact
+that I consented to the interview you had the audacity to ask of me. I
+did not want to miss this opportunity to tell you face to face how much
+I hate and despise you."
+
+"So be it, madame. It affords just as good a topic of conversation as
+any other, and you excel in this kind of discourse, I believe."
+
+"M. de Maillefort will oblige me by reserving his insulting irony for
+some other occasion," retorted Madame de Senneterre, haughtily. "He
+would also do well to remember that he has the honour of speaking to the
+Duchesse de Senneterre."
+
+"Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre will do me the honour to treat me with
+the consideration due me," replied the hunchback, sternly; "if not, I
+shall govern my words exactly by Madame de Senneterre's."
+
+"Is that intended as a threat, monsieur?"
+
+"As a lesson, madame."
+
+"A lesson, to me?"
+
+"And why not, may I ask? What, I who was your husband's oldest and most
+trusted friend, I who love Gerald as a son, I who have a right to the
+respect and esteem of every one,--do you understand, madame? to the
+respect of every one,--I whose birth is at least equal to yours (it is
+well to remind you of that, as you attach such an absurd importance to
+such trifles), I am to be greeted with insulting words and eyes flashing
+with anger; and yet I am not to remind you of what you owe to me and
+what you owe to yourself?"
+
+Like all vain and arrogant persons who are not accustomed to the
+slightest contradiction, Madame de Senneterre was at first surprised and
+irritated, but afterwards, awed by this stern and sensible language, her
+anger giving place to a profound despondency, she replied:
+
+"Ah, monsieur, you should at least make some allowance for the despair a
+mother naturally feels on seeing her son ruined for ever."
+
+"Ruined?"
+
+"Yes, and through you."
+
+"Will you have the goodness to prove that?"
+
+"I have heard of the wonderful influence you have recently acquired over
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil. My son, too, has more confidence in you than he has
+in his mother, and if you had been favourably disposed, this marriage,
+which had been virtually decided upon, would not have been suddenly
+broken off for no apparent reason. Yes, there is a mystery about all
+this which you only can solve. And when I think that Gerald, with his
+illustrious name, might be the richest landed proprietor in France, but
+for you, I am,--well, yes, I am,--the most wretched of women and
+mothers, and I positively weep with rage and chagrin, as you see,
+monsieur. You are satisfied now, are you not?"
+
+For the proud Duchesse de Senneterre was indeed weeping bitterly.
+
+Had it not been for the deep interest he felt in Gerald and Herminie, M.
+de Maillefort, not in the least affected by these absurd tears, would
+have turned his back on this haughty and avaricious woman, who naively
+believed herself the tenderest and most unfortunate of mothers simply
+because she had left no means untried to secure her son an immense
+fortune and because this scheme of hers had failed; but desiring above
+all things to ensure the successful termination of the undertaking
+entrusted to him, the marquis allowed this ebullition of grief, which
+did not touch him in the least, to pass unnoticed.
+
+"The mystery you speak of is very simple, it seems to me. Gerald and
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil like and appreciate each other, but are not the
+least bit in love, that is all."
+
+"What has love to do with the matter? Are there not plenty of marriages,
+besides those in royal families, made without love?"
+
+"You must know that I have not requested an important interview with you
+merely to discuss a question which has been a matter of contention ever
+since the world began, viz., which is better, a marriage of convenience
+or a love match. We should never come to any agreement; besides, we have
+to deal with an accomplished fact: Gerald's marriage with Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil is now an impossibility, and you may as well make the best of
+it. That young lady's millions will never belong to your son, who, fine
+fellow that he is, cares nothing whatever about them."
+
+"Yes, and thanks to such idiotic disinterestedness, or rather such
+shameful indifference to enhancing the splendour of their name, the
+scions of our most illustrious houses are lapsing into a disgraceful
+mediocrity. It was for this very reason that my father and my
+husband--by neglecting the means of reestablishing the fortune of which
+that infamous revolution stripped us--left my son and my daughters
+almost penniless. In the present condition of affairs, I have little
+chance of marrying off my daughters, while Gerald, if he were rich,
+could help his sisters pecuniarily, and they would thus be able to
+secure eligible partis. And you wonder that I am overwhelmed with
+despair at the ruin of my plans,--at the destruction of my hope of
+securing for my son a fortune suited to his rank!"
+
+"I suppose that you love Gerald after your fashion. It is not a very
+commendable fashion, still you do love him, I suppose."
+
+"Yes, I do love him--I love him as I ought to love him, too."
+
+"We will see about that."
+
+"What do you mean, monsieur?"
+
+"In the first place, it is my duty to tell you that Gerald is deeply in
+love, and that--"
+
+Madame de Senneterre sprang up out of her armchair, fairly purple with
+anger, and, interrupting the hunchback, exclaimed, vehemently:
+
+"It is outrageous! I have suspected it all along! The mystery is cleared
+up now. It is my son who has refused, for that little Beaumesnil was
+wild about him. I could see that at the ball, and it is you, you,
+monsieur, who have had a hand in this abominable intrigue. I will never
+see my son again. He has no heart, no soul!"
+
+The marquis had anticipated this explosion, and, without taking the
+slightest notice of it, continued:
+
+"You interrupted me, madame. I was about to say that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, far from being in love with Gerald, entertains a very ardent
+affection for another man."
+
+"The bold-faced hussy!" exclaimed the duchess with such naivete that the
+marquis could not help smiling slightly, in spite of his anxiety.
+
+"I also feel it my duty to inform you, madame, that Gerald is in love
+with a young girl who is in every respect worthy of his love."
+
+"I beg, monsieur, that you will not say another word to me on the
+subject," said Madame de Senneterre, feigning a calmness which the
+trembling of her voice grievously belied. "All is ended between my son
+and me. He can love whom he pleases and marry whom he pleases, as he is
+old enough to dispense with my consent. Let him drag his name through
+the mire if he likes. From this day I shall resume my maiden name, and I
+shall proclaim high and low and everywhere why I blush to bear a name so
+dishonoured and degraded. It is to be hoped that I shall, at least, find
+some consolation in my daughters."
+
+To these senseless ravings the marquis replied, quietly and gravely:
+
+"Your son understands his duty towards you very differently from what
+you understand yours towards him. He will not even make the formal
+request for parental consent on the part of a person who is of legal
+age, which is usual in such cases. He will both honour and respect your
+wishes to this extent: he will not marry without your consent."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, with a sardonic laugh. "He
+really does me this honour?"
+
+"And, in spite of the profound love she cherishes for him, the young
+lady he loves will consent to marry him only upon one condition: that
+you, madame, go and tell this young lady that you consent to her
+marriage with your son."
+
+"This, M. de Maillefort, must be only a jest."
+
+"It is a matter of life or death for your son, madame."
+
+The voice of the marquis and the expression of his face were so full of
+earnestness and authority, that Madame de Senneterre, impressed in spite
+of herself, cried in alarm:
+
+"What do you mean, monsieur?"
+
+"I mean that you must be a hard-hearted mother if you have not noticed
+your son's pallor and almost prostrated condition for several days past.
+On the day of the ball at which your son behaved so nobly, did not your
+physician tell you that, but for the heroic treatment to which he had
+resorted, you would have been in great danger of losing your son by
+brain fever?"
+
+Gradually recovering from her alarm, and regretting that she had allowed
+herself to display even a momentary solicitude, Madame de Senneterre
+retorted, disdainfully:
+
+"Nonsense! A brain fever can be cured by a few bleedings, monsieur, and
+one dies of love only in novels, and in very poor novels."
+
+"That is a kind and motherly remark, madame, and to keep it company I
+will say to you, with equal coolness, that if, after you have had time
+to make proper inquiries and obtain all needful information concerning
+the young lady of whom I have spoken, you do not take the step expected
+of you--"
+
+"Well, monsieur?"
+
+"Well, madame, your son will kill himself--"
+
+"Yes, as the disappointed lover does in all the thrilling melodramas,"
+retorted Madame de Senneterre, with an even shriller laugh.
+
+"I tell you that your son will kill himself, you poor fool!" exclaimed
+the marquis, terrible in his earnestness. "I tell you the last Duc de
+Senneterre will perish by his own hand like the last Duc de Bretigny!"
+
+This allusion to a recent tragical event, which had been one of the
+chief topics of conversation at Madame de Mirecourt's ball, gave the
+duchess a severe shock. She knew Gerald's remarkable energy and
+determination of character, and consequently knew how much he must
+suffer from this hidden grief; besides, she had such a profound respect
+for M. de Maillefort, much as she disliked him personally, that she knew
+he would be incapable of threatening her with the possibility of
+Gerald's suicide if he was not really convinced that such a danger was
+imminent, so the now thoroughly frightened woman cried:
+
+"What you say is terrible, monsieur. The house of De Senneterre become
+extinct by a suicide!"
+
+The blind pride of race spoke more loudly than maternal love in this
+cry.
+
+The proud woman shuddered first chiefly at the thought that the name of
+the Senneterres, of that great and illustrious house, might become
+extinct through an act that the society in which she moved considered a
+crime.
+
+The marquis understood Madame de Senneterre's real feelings so well that
+he exclaimed:
+
+"Yes; if you are as blind as you are pitiless, this illustrious name of
+Senneterre, often famous and always honoured, will be blotted out for
+ever in tears and in blood."
+
+"M. de Maillefort, such an idea is horrible! I know my son is capable of
+going to almost any extreme--but no, no, I will not believe that. You
+make me shudder! And when I think of the grief and despair and shame of
+a family that sees its head end his life by his own rash
+act--hold--enough--enough--I should go mad!"
+
+And passing her hand hastily across her brow, covered with big drops of
+cold sweat, Madame de Senneterre continued:
+
+"I tell you, monsieur, that I cannot and will not think of such a thing.
+But who is this young woman you speak of? Though I am in mortal dread as
+to the choice Gerald has made, there is one thing that reassures me a
+little. It is that the young woman insists that I shall come and tell
+her that I consent to her marriage with my son. For her to dare expect
+such a concession from me, she must hold such a social position that I,
+at least, have no cause to fear an unworthy love on the part of my son."
+
+"Gerald has placed his affections creditably, even nobly, madame. I have
+already had the honour of assuring you of this fact," responded the
+marquis, severely, "and usually what I say can be believed."
+
+"That is true, monsieur. Your assurance should satisfy me on that point.
+It is not likely that I shall ever have another opportunity to make such
+a match as that which I dreamed of for my son; but if the birth and
+fortune of the young lady in question are satisfactory, and--"
+
+But here the hunchback interrupted Madame de Senneterre by saying:
+
+"The young lady in question is an orphan. She is a music teacher, and
+supports herself by giving lessons."
+
+It is impossible to describe the expression of Madame de Senneterre's
+face as the words of the marquis fell upon her ear. Had she experienced
+an electric shock, the movement she made could not have been more
+convulsive.
+
+"An adventuress, then! The wretched boy, to degrade himself like this!"
+she cried. "What a humiliation for me and my daughters!"
+
+And as M. de Maillefort sprang up no less hastily to reply to Madame de
+Senneterre, the latter interrupted him by adding:
+
+"And such a creature has the audacity to ask me--me to so degrade myself
+as to go to her, the--"
+
+But Madame de Senneterre did not complete the sentence. She had fully
+intended to add an opprobrious epithet, but she burst into a shrill,
+almost frenzied, laugh instead.
+
+A cold silence following this ebullition of rage, Madame de Senneterre
+placed a trembling hand on M. de Maillefort's arm, and said:
+
+"My dear marquis, listen to me. If my unworthy son should come and stand
+there,--right before me, do you understand?--and say to me,'I will kill
+myself before your very eyes if you refuse your consent,' I should say,
+'Kill yourself, then. I would rather see you dead than disgraced. I
+would rather your name should die out, than to see it perpetuated to
+your dishonour, mine, and that of your sisters.'"
+
+Then seeing the marquis was about to protest, she added:
+
+"M. de Maillefort, I am not in a passion, I am calm, and I am saying
+exactly what I mean. I am telling you exactly what I should do, and
+after the insulting demand of my son and his accomplice, it is no longer
+maternal love or even indifference I feel for him; it is contempt, it is
+hatred, yes, hatred, do you hear? Tell him so. All the affection I once
+felt for this scoundrel I shall now bestow upon my daughters."
+
+"This woman would do what she says," thought the marquis, with a feeling
+of horror. "It is useless to insist further. Reason is no match for such
+blind obstinacy as this. This woman, as she says, would watch her son
+kill himself before her very eyes unmoved. This is a pride of race that
+amounts to the stupid ferocity of the brute. Poor Gerald! Poor
+Herminie!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A FINAL VICTORY.
+
+
+After a moment's silence, during which Madame de Senneterre sat
+positively panting with rage at this odious revelation which she could
+not yet fully make up her mind to believe, viz., that her son wished to
+marry a music teacher who supported herself by her own exertions, M. de
+Maillefort said, coldly, and exactly as if the foregoing conversation
+had never taken place:
+
+"Madame, what do you think of the nobility and illustriousness of the
+house of Haut-Martel?"
+
+At first Madame de Senneterre gazed at the hunchback with evident
+surprise, then she said:
+
+"Really, monsieur, this question is most extraordinary."
+
+"And why, madame?"
+
+"What, monsieur, you see me crushed under the blow that has just struck
+me, or, rather, that you have just dealt me, unintentionally, no doubt,"
+she added, with bitter irony, "and then ask me without rhyme or reason
+what I think of the illustriousness of the house of Haut-Martel."
+
+"My question is less extraordinary, as you do not seem to think there
+can be the slightest ameliorating circumstance in the blow that has just
+overtaken you. So once more I ask, what do you think of the house of
+Haut-Martel?"
+
+"There is not an older or more illustrious family in France, you most
+know very well, as you are closely connected with it on your father's
+side."
+
+"I am now the head of that house, madame."
+
+"You?" exclaimed Madame de Senneterre.
+
+And strange to say the lady's acerbity of manner gave place to a sort of
+envious deference for the new representative of this powerful family.
+
+"But I thought that the Prince Duc de Haut-Martel, who has resided on
+his estates in Germany since that idiotic revolution of 1830--"
+
+"That Prince Duc de Haut-Martel is dead, madame, and as he had neither
+brothers nor children, and as I am his cousin-germain, I inherit his
+estates and title."
+
+"Then this event must have occurred very recently."
+
+"I received the first intimation of it through the Austrian ambassador,
+and last night I had an official confirmation of the fact."
+
+"So you are now the Marquis de Maillefort, Prince Duc de Haut-Martel?"
+said Madame de Senneterre, with mingled admiration and envy.
+
+"Precisely, and without troubling myself very much about it, as you
+see."
+
+"But your position is magnificent," exclaimed this monomaniac, quite
+forgetting the son whose despair might end in suicide. "Why, you are now
+one of the greatest noblemen in France."
+
+"Good Heavens! yes. My newly acquired dignities enable me to aspire to
+anything, do they not? And to think that only yesterday I was but a
+simple marquis! What a change to-day, is there not? Don't you find my
+hump a little smaller since you have heard that I am so great a
+nobleman?"
+
+"One should no more sneer at rank than at religion, monsieur."
+
+"Certainly not. There are plenty of other subjects for ridicule. But I
+forgot to tell you that the Prince Duc de Haut-Martel left me estates in
+Hungary which yield a yearly income of about fifty thousand crowns,
+free of all incumbrances."
+
+"One hundred and fifty thousand francs! Why, though no one knows the
+exact amount of your fortune, you are supposed to be very rich already,
+monsieur," replied Madame de Senneterre, with a sort of jealous envy.
+
+"I scarcely know the exact amount of my income, myself," said the
+hunchback, "for my tenants, poor souls! pay me only when they can do so
+without too great an effort; but even in the worst of times I can
+generally count upon at least sixty thousand francs a year, to say
+nothing of the fact--of course, this is little more than an empty
+honour--that the electors of the arrondissement in which my estates are
+located propose to do me the honour of making me their deputy, their
+former representative having recently died; so you see that wealth and
+honours are falling upon me thick as hail."
+
+"Then you have an income of more than two hundred thousand francs, and
+are Prince Duc de Haut-Martel and--"
+
+"Prospective deputy, besides. Don't forget that."
+
+"Your position is certainly a very enviable one."
+
+"Yes, and with my figure and appearance I can aspire to the most
+beautiful woman in the land, can I not? Say, what a pity it is that
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil is in love with a handsome young man! But for that,
+I might have married her myself."
+
+A new thought suddenly occurred to Madame de Senneterre, and after a
+moment's reflection the avaricious creature, casting a keen glance at M.
+de Maillefort, said:
+
+"I think I understand you, M. le marquis."
+
+"Let me see if you do."
+
+"The question you asked me just now as to what I thought of the house of
+Haut-Martel was intended to suggest a sort of compensation for the
+terrible disappointment my unworthy son has caused me."
+
+"You are right, madame."
+
+"And as you have unexpectedly become the head of an illustrious house,
+you do not want it to become extinct."
+
+"There is some truth in that, also," replied the hunchback, not a little
+surprised at Madame de Senneterre's penetration, though he was far from
+suspecting the lady's real thought.
+
+"Yes, I admit that I would not like the name to die out, madame," he
+added, after a slight pause.
+
+"And as you know that only a carefully reared girl of noble birth would
+be capable of bearing this noble name as it should be borne, and of
+understanding the sacred obligations she would have to fulfil towards
+the man to whom she owed such a magnificent position, you are thinking
+of my eldest daughter,--and believe you can thus offer me an adequate
+compensation for the misery my son's insubordination has caused me."
+
+"I! marry?" exclaimed the hunchback, even more revolted than surprised
+by Madame de Senneterre's heartless proposal.
+
+But anxious to see how far the blindness, hardness of heart, and love of
+greed would carry this cruel parent, he responded with one of those half
+way refusals that seem to be made only in the hope of seeing them
+overcome.
+
+"I think of such a marriage! Besides, even if I did, would there be any
+possibility of compassing it? Think of it, madame, at my age and
+deformed as I am, while your daughter Bertha is a charming girl of
+barely twenty. She would laugh in my face and she would do perfectly
+right."
+
+"You are mistaken, monsieur," replied this incomparable parent, gravely.
+"In the first place, Mlle. de Senneterre has been reared in habits of
+respect and submission from which I feel sure she will never depart.
+Besides, she knows that she is poor, and that she would never be likely
+to attain another position to be compared with that you offer her."
+
+"But again let me remind you that I am old and ugly and a hunchback
+besides."
+
+"M. le marquis, my daughters have been brought up in such a way that
+they would not dare to so much as look at the husband I select for them
+until the marriage ceremony is over."
+
+"A pleasant surprise you would give the poor child that married me!"
+
+"I repeat, M. le marquis, that my daughters have not those lewd
+imaginations that are capable only of a carnal appreciation of a
+husband. If I tell my daughter my wishes, that will suffice."
+
+"I am strongly inclined to tell this heartless, unscrupulous woman what
+I think of her," the hunchback said to himself; "but what should I gain
+by it? She is an egregious fool, and there is nothing for me to do but
+answer the fool according to her folly."
+
+So seeing that Madame de Senneterre was awaiting his reply with keen
+anxiety, the marquis said:
+
+"You said a few minutes ago, and very sensibly, I think, that one should
+no more speak lightly of rank than of religion, did you not?"
+
+"Yes, M. le marquis."
+
+"You will admit, too, probably, that it is equally wrong to treat
+marriage lightly."
+
+"Certainly, M. le marquis."
+
+"Then allow me to say that your desire to see your daughter Bertha
+Princesse de Haut-Martel would result in nothing more or less than a
+cruel mockery of religion, nobility of rank, and marriage,--three sacred
+things, as you call them."
+
+"How is that, monsieur?"
+
+"Mlle. de Senneterre would outrage all the laws of marriage and
+religion, or rather of nature and the Creator, which is even worse, by
+pledging love and fidelity to an old hunchback like me; and I, in turn,
+would bring disgrace and ridicule upon the nobility in general, and upon
+the houses of Senneterre and Haut-Martel in particular, by running any
+risk of perpetuating their illustrious line with a set of hideous little
+hunchbacks made in my image. They might serve as convincing proof of my
+wife's resignation and faithfulness, but they would certainly give the
+world a droll opinion of our great historic races."
+
+"Really, M. le marquis--I--"
+
+"You are going to cite Prince Eugene, possibly, as an example for me,
+and I ought, perhaps, to feel greatly flattered by the comparison, but
+it would not be well to impair the lustre of such rarities by
+multiplying them. I am extremely grateful to you for your kind offer,
+and Mlle. Bertha, believe me, will be equally grateful to me for having
+declined it. It depends entirely upon you, however, whether a union of
+our two powerful houses is realised or not, and also whether this income
+of two hundred thousand francs is allowed to go out of your family. I
+make haste to assure you that I am too thoroughly convinced of my own
+unworthiness to venture to lift my eyes to you, madame la duchesse,"
+added the hunchback, with a low, though decidedly ironical bow. "In the
+first place I should make you the most detestable husband in the world,
+and then I have no inclination for marriage."
+
+"It is hardly necessary to decline with such alacrity a proposition that
+has never been made to you," replied the Duchesse de Senneterre, rather
+spitefully. "You would oblige me by explaining yourself more clearly,
+however, for I never was good at solving enigmas. You are kind enough to
+speak of a union of our two houses, and of preventing your fortune from
+going out of my family, but I haven't the slightest idea how you propose
+to bring these things about."
+
+"First permit me to say--not at all by way of reproach, understand--that
+you were not so very difficult to please in regard to lineage when
+Gerald's marriage with Mlle. de Beaumesnil was under consideration.
+Beaumesnil is not an aristocratic name by any means,--the grandfather of
+the late count, though a highly respected man, was simply M. Joseph
+Vert-Puis, a very wealthy banker."
+
+"I know perfectly well that Mlle. Vert-Puis de Beaumesnil is a mere
+nobody, so far as birth is concerned, but--"
+
+"But the numerous millions gild this recently ennobled plebeian, do they
+not? Very well, though that number of millions may have to be divided by
+four or five, what would you say to a notice couched in the following
+terms:
+
+"M. le Marquis de Maillefort, Prince Duc de Haut-Martel, etc., etc., has
+the honour to inform you of the marriage of Mlle. Herminie de
+Haut-Martel, with M. le Duc de Senneterre."
+
+Madame de Senneterre, surprised beyond expression, gazed wonderingly at
+the hunchback, who continued:
+
+"The marriage contract stipulates that all male children that may be
+born of this marriage shall take the name of Senneterre-Haut-Martel,
+which I fancy will sound quite as well as Noailles-Noailles,
+Rohan-Rochefort, or Montmorency-Luxembourg, and as Mlle. Herminie
+Haut-Martel is an only child, and I am very frugal in my tastes, the
+young couple will have, up to the time of my death, one hundred and
+fifty thousand francs a year to sustain their exalted rank in a suitable
+manner."
+
+"I really do not understand you at all, M. de Maillefort. You have never
+been married, and you have no daughter."
+
+"No, but what is there to prevent me from adopting one, and thus giving
+her my name and fortune?"
+
+"Nothing, of course. But who are the parents of this girl you
+contemplate adopting?"
+
+"She is an orphan, and, as I told you before, she is a music teacher,
+and supports herself by giving lessons."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, "that same creature Gerald is
+crazy about?"
+
+"Enough, madame," said the marquis, sternly. "I will not permit any one
+to speak in that way in my presence of a young lady whom I love and
+esteem sufficiently to give her my name."
+
+"But what you say is so strange--"
+
+"Strange or not, do you accept my proposal, yes or no?"
+
+"Accept--monsieur? Accept for a daughter-in-law--a--a person who has
+given music lessons for a living?"
+
+"Such sensitiveness on your part is truly heroic, doubtless, but I must
+call your attention to the fact that your son has little or nothing, and
+that Mlle. Herminie de Maillefort, though she has done such a scandalous
+thing as to earn an honest living, would bring M. de Senneterre two
+hundred thousand francs a year, and an alliance with the Haut-Martel
+family. I also take the liberty of reminding you that your son will
+probably kill himself if he does not marry this young lady. I know you
+would rather see him dead than married to some one beneath him, for the
+mother of the Gracchi is not to be compared with you, so far as stoicism
+is concerned, but it is none the less certain that the extinction of the
+house of Senneterre in such a fashion would cause a frightful scandal,
+which would, I think, be even worse than a _mesalliance_, especially
+when a Senneterre makes a _mesalliance_ with a Maillefort de
+Haut-Martel."
+
+"But, monsieur, every one will know that this young person is only your
+adopted child."
+
+"All I can say in reply to that objection, madame, is that I, myself,
+could never have had so beautiful, so affectionate, and so truly noble a
+child."
+
+"You know her well, then?"
+
+"You certainly ask a singular question, madame. What! can you believe
+that I--being the man you know me to be--would give my name to a person
+who would not be an honour to that name?"
+
+"But, monsieur," exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, in a tone of sorrowful
+reproach, "there can be no denying the fact that your adopted daughter
+has been a--a professional artiste."
+
+"My adopted daughter, will, indeed, have the terrible misfortune to be
+and to have been a musical artiste of a high order. This is truly
+deplorable. I weep--I mourn--I bewail the fact. But, alas! you know the
+proverb, 'The prettiest girl in the world has some fault.'"
+
+"And her patrons, do they belong to our set?"
+
+"No, she is too proud for that."
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_ marquis, you place me in a very embarrassing position."
+
+"I shall be able to put an end to this perplexity, I think. Listen
+attentively," continued M. de Maillefort, no longer in an ironical
+manner, but in firm, even stern tones. "I tell you plainly, once for
+all, that, if you refuse your consent, I shall go straight to Herminie,
+tell her exactly, what I intend to do for her, and prove to her that
+though, as a nameless and penniless girl, her dignity demanded the
+advances she asked from you, lest it might be said that she had forced
+herself upon the Senneterre family from ambitious or mercenary motives,
+as the adopted child of M. de Maillefort, who brings an illustrious name
+and a fortune of two hundred thousand francs a year to her husband, she
+need feel no such scruples. As Herminie adores Gerald, and my reasoning
+is perfectly just and sensible, I think, in fact I am sure, that she
+will be guided by me. Your son will make the usual formal application
+for your consent, and then there is nothing more to be said."
+
+"Monsieur--"
+
+"It will pain Gerald a good deal, I am sure, to have to dispense with
+your consent, for he loves you--blindly--that is the proper word to use
+in this connection; but in order to spare him all remorse, I shall
+repeat your words to him, madame: 'I had rather see him dead, than
+married to one beneath him.' Atrocious, or, rather, senseless words,
+when I, myself, assured you that Gerald could not find a wife more
+worthy of him than the one he has chosen!"
+
+"You surely would not create discord between my son and me, monsieur."
+
+"I shall certainly do everything in my power to ensure Gerald's peace of
+mind and happiness, since you are so stubborn and opinionated as to be
+willing to sacrifice both to your absurd prejudices--"
+
+"That expression, monsieur--"
+
+"These prejudices are not only absurd, madame, but after the adoption I
+propose, there is no longer even an excuse for them. One word more. If
+you have the good sense to prefer to live in peace and on affectionate
+terms with your son, and spare yourself, as well as him, a most
+deplorable scandal, you will go to Herminie's home to-morrow--any
+further inquiries being entirely unnecessary after what I have told you
+about her."
+
+"I--monsieur--I, go first to the home of this young person?"
+
+"You will be obliged to degrade yourself to that extent, the degradation
+being the more terrible, as Herminie, for certain reasons, must remain
+ignorant of my intention of adopting her until after your visit. So it
+will be to Mlle. Herminie, the poor music teacher, that you will go to
+give your consent to her marriage with your son."
+
+"Never, monsieur, never will I so lower myself as to do this thing."
+
+"But remember that there is nothing really humiliating about this step,
+and that no one will witness it but me, for I shall be there at the
+time."
+
+"I tell you that it is impossible, monsieur. Never will I subject myself
+to such a humiliation."
+
+"Then, instead of making your son adore you by consenting to a thing you
+cannot prevent, Gerald will know exactly what your affection is worth,
+and dispense with your consent entirely."
+
+"But you cannot expect me to come to such an important decision in a
+moment, as it were."
+
+"So be it, madame. I will give you until to-morrow noon. I will call
+then to hear your decision, and, if it conforms alike to the dictates of
+common sense and maternal love, I will precede you by a few moments to
+Herminie's home, in order that I may be there when you arrive. If you do
+not agree to this, I declare to you that your son will be married in
+less than six weeks."
+
+Having said this, the marquis bowed low to Madame de Senneterre, and
+walked straight out of the room.
+
+"I am satisfied that the egregious simpleton will do what I ask," he
+said to himself, "for her ambition and her avarice will both be so
+thoroughly gratified by this marriage that she will forget that
+objectionable feature,--the adoption. Besides, by one of those strange
+contradictions we so often see in poor, frail human nature, this woman,
+who in her obstinacy would drive her son to suicide, is as jealous of
+his affection as if she were the tenderest and most devoted of mothers;
+and, understanding how Gerald will adore her if she pretends to give a
+free consent to his marriage, she will go to Herminie, I am sure of it.
+
+"But, alas! the game is only half won so far as I am concerned," mused
+the hunchback. "Will Herminie, who is so proud, consent to become my
+adopted child, when she knows the advantages which this adoption will
+give her, and which alone decided Madame de Senneterre to take the
+initiative? I am very much afraid that she will not. Did I not see how
+uncomfortable she felt when Ernestine insisted, not that she should
+share her wealth, but merely give up her lessons and remain with her?
+And yet, she perhaps knows that Ernestine is her sister, for I can doubt
+it no longer,--Herminie is, and knows she is, the daughter of Madame de
+Beaumesnil.
+
+"Under these circumstances will Herminie, proud and sensitive as she is,
+accept my offer? I am by no means certain of it, though I told Gerald's
+mother so in order to frighten her. That, too, is the reason I desired
+that the marriage should be definitely arranged before I broached the
+subject of adoption at all. But I found that could not be managed.
+Madame de Senneterre would have seen her son kill himself in her
+presence rather than consent to a _mesalliance_ with a poor girl without
+name or fortune. All I have been able to do is, perhaps, to induce
+Madame de Senneterre to make the desired advances to Herminie,--the poor
+orphan and music teacher. Afterwards we will see."
+
+"I shall now go straight to M. de la Rochaigue. Having done all I can
+for Herminie, I must now see what I can do for Ernestine. I shall have
+to take the baron unawares, for, in his exasperation against me as the
+fell destroyer of his hopes of a seat in the Senate, he will refuse to
+see me, but, with Ernestine's aid, I shall be able to surprise him, I
+think, and, fortunately for my plans, he is much more stupid than
+wicked."
+
+And M. de Maillefort, reentering his carriage, was driven to M. de la
+Rochaigue's house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A TEMPTING BAIT.
+
+
+M. de Maillefort, having asked to see Mlle. de Beaumesnil, was conducted
+straight to Ernestine's apartments.
+
+"Have you some good news for Herminie?" cried Ernestine, hastening
+forward to meet him.
+
+"A little, I think."
+
+"How glad I am! Can I tell Herminie when I see her what you have just
+told me?"
+
+"Yes; tell her to hope, and yet not to expect too much. And now, as you
+seem to have forgotten all about yourself, I will add that the result of
+my inquiries concerning M. Olivier has been eminently satisfactory."
+
+"I was sure it would be."
+
+"I even discovered one rather strange fact. It is that, while he was
+working during his leave so he might be able to assist his uncle, he
+went down to Beaumesnil, your estate near Luzarches, to help a
+contractor with his estimates there."
+
+"M. Olivier? That was, indeed, strange."
+
+"And this circumstance suggested a plan which I think may prove a good
+one, for now I think, with you, that you could not have made a wiser
+choice, but--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"It is such an important matter that I have thought one more test might
+be advisable. What is your opinion on the subject?"
+
+"Try it; I have no fears."
+
+"Besides, you shall witness it yourself, my dear child. If M. Olivier
+withstands it, you will be the proudest and happiest of women, and there
+can be no further doubt of your future happiness. If, on the contrary,
+he succumbs, it will, alas! only be a fresh proof that the noblest
+natures sometimes yield to certain temptations. This test, too, will
+have another and very important result."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"After this test M. Olivier can not feel the slightest scruples about
+marrying the richest heiress in France, and you know, my dear child,
+that you have some very grave apprehensions on that score."
+
+"Ah, monsieur, you are, indeed, our good angel!"
+
+"Wait a little, my child. Don't praise me too soon. Now, one thing more.
+Didn't you tell me that there was a back stairway that led up to your
+guardian's rooms?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, several of his intimate friends, who are never formally
+announced, always make use of it mornings."
+
+"Very well; I propose to play the part of an intimate friend myself,
+then, and give the baron a surprise. Show me the way, my child."
+
+As they were passing through Madame Laine's room, Ernestine paused and
+said to the hunchback:
+
+"I have always forgotten to tell you how I managed to leave the house
+unobserved the night I went to Madame Herbaut's party, M. de Maillefort.
+That door you see over there opens upon another back stairway that leads
+down to the street. The door at the foot of it was nailed up a long time
+ago, but my governess succeeded in opening it, and it was through that
+door we left the house and entered it."
+
+"Has this door been securely nailed up again?" inquired the hunchback,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"My governess told me that she had fastened it securely on the inside."
+
+"My dear child, your governess is an unprincipled woman. She assisted
+you in making your escape from the house and also favoured your long
+visits to Herminie. No matter how reprehensible your motives had been,
+she would have obeyed you just the same, so she is not to be trusted."
+
+"I have no confidence in her, of course, M. de Maillefort, and, as soon
+as I can, I intend to pay her liberally, as I promised, and send her
+away."
+
+"This door, which affords such easy access to your apartments and which
+is so entirely at this woman's disposal, seems to me a very bad thing,"
+remarked the hunchback. "You had better tell your guardian to-day that
+you have discovered this door, and ask him to have it walled up as soon
+as possible, or else give you some other room."
+
+"I will do as you say, monsieur, but what fears can you have on the
+subject?"
+
+"I have no well-founded fears at all, my dear child. I consider the
+walling up of this door as, first, a matter of propriety, and
+subsequently as a matter of prudence. There is nothing in this to alarm
+you in the least. Now, au revoir. I am going to have a bout with your
+guardian, and hope to have some good news for you on my return."
+
+A moment afterwards M. de Maillefort had reached the floor above. Seeing
+a key in the lock of the door in front of him, he opened this door, and,
+finding himself in a narrow passage, he followed this passage until he
+came to a second door, which he opened like the first and found himself
+in M. de la Rochaigue's study.
+
+That gentleman was seated with his back to the door, reading, in the
+morning paper, an account of the proceedings during the session of the
+Chamber of Peers the day before. Hearing the door open, he turned his
+head and saw the hunchback, who came briskly, even gaily, forward, and,
+giving him a friendly nod of the head, exclaimed, blithely:
+
+"Good morning, my dear baron, good morning!"
+
+M. de la Rochaigue was too much astounded to utter a word.
+
+Leaning back in his armchair, his hands still clutching the paper, he
+sat like one petrified, though his eyes were full of surprise and anger.
+
+"You see, my dear baron, I am assuming all the privileges of an intimate
+friend and making myself quite at home," continued the hunchback, in the
+same jovial, almost affectionate tone, as he seated himself in an
+armchair near the fireplace.
+
+M. de la Rochaigue was fairly purple with rage by this time, but, having
+a wholesome fear of the marquis, he controlled his wrath as best he
+could, and said, rising abruptly:
+
+"It seems incredible, unheard of, outrageous, that--that I should have
+your presence thus forced upon me, monsieur, after that scene the other
+evening, and--and--"
+
+"My dear baron, excuse me, but if I had requested the honour of an
+interview, you would have refused it, would you not?"
+
+"Most assuredly I should, monsieur, for--"
+
+"So I very wisely decided to take you by surprise. Now do me the favour
+to sit down, and let us talk this matter over like a couple of friends."
+
+"Friends? You have the audacity to say that, monsieur; you, who ever
+since I first had the misfortune to know you, have fairly hounded me
+with sneers and sarcasms which--which I have returned in kind," added
+the baron, with true parliamentary aplomb. "A friend? you, monsieur, who
+have just outdone yourself by--"
+
+"My dear baron," said the hunchback, interrupting M. de la Rochaigue
+afresh, "did you ever see an amusing comedy by Scribe, called 'A Woman's
+Hatred'?"
+
+"I am unable to see any connection--"
+
+"But you will, my dear baron. In this little play, a young and pretty
+woman seems to pursue with the bitterest animosity a young man, whom in
+her secret heart she adores."
+
+"And what of that, may I ask?"
+
+"Well, my dear baron, with this slight difference, viz., that you are
+not a young man, and I am not a pretty woman who adores you, our
+relative positions are exactly the same as those of the hero and heroine
+in Scribe's little comedy."
+
+"Once more, monsieur, I--"
+
+"My dear baron, one question, if you please. Have you political
+aspirations,--yes, or no?"
+
+"Monsieur--"
+
+"Oh, put all false modesty aside and answer me frankly. Do you consider
+yourself a politician or not?"
+
+On hearing this allusion to his pet hobby, the poor baron, forgetting
+his resentment, puffed out his cheeks, and, slipping his left hand in
+the bosom of his dressing-gown while he gesticulated with his right,
+assumed a parliamentary attitude and majestically responded:
+
+"If a most profound, extended, and conscientious study of the internal
+and external condition of France, if a certain aptitude for public
+speaking, and a devoted love of country constitute a politician, I might
+reasonably aspire to that role. Yes, and but for you, monsieur,--but for
+your outrageous attack upon M. de Mornand,--I might not only aspire to,
+but assume that role at an early day."
+
+"True, my dear baron, and I must confess that it was with unutterable
+satisfaction that I killed two birds with one stone by preventing a base
+and corrupt man like M. de Mornand from marrying your ward, and at the
+same time preventing you from becoming a peer of France."
+
+"Yes, from satisfying my ridiculous ambition, as you have told me to my
+face more than once, monsieur, and I repel the insulting aspersion with
+scorn and disdain. There is nothing ridiculous about my ambition,
+monsieur."
+
+"It is ridiculous in every respect, my dear baron."
+
+"Have you come here to insult me, monsieur?"
+
+"Do you know why your ambition is ridiculous and out of place, my dear
+baron? It is because you long for a field of labour in which your
+political talents will be entirely wasted, completely swallowed up, so
+to speak."
+
+"What, monsieur, can it be you that I hear speaking of my political
+talents when you have never neglected an opportunity to sneer at them?"
+
+"A 'Woman's Hatred,' my dear baron, a 'Woman's Hatred'!"
+
+And as M. de la Rochaigue gazed at the hunchback with a bewildered air,
+the latter gentleman continued:
+
+"You know, of course, that you and I belong to the same political party,
+my dear baron."
+
+"I was not aware of that fact, monsieur; still, it should not surprise
+me. Persons of exalted rank are inevitably the born, immutable, and
+unwavering advocates, champions, and representatives of the traditions
+of the past."
+
+"And it is for this very reason that I am so bitterly opposed to your
+holding a seat in the Chamber of Peers, my dear baron."
+
+"You amaze me greatly, infinitely, prodigiously, monsieur," said the
+baron, hanging upon his visitor's words with breathless eagerness now.
+
+"Can it be that M. de la Rochaigue is really so blind, or that this
+mistake is due to bad advisers? I have said to myself again and again.
+He must, with reason, desire to bring about a return to the traditions
+of the past, and there cannot be the slightest doubt that he possesses
+many of the requisites to effect such a consummation: birth, talents, an
+extended knowledge of political affairs, and antecedents entirely free
+of any troublesome entanglements--"
+
+When this enumeration of his political qualifications began, M. de la
+Rochaigue might have been seen to smile almost imperceptibly, but when
+the hunchback paused to take breath, the baron's long teeth were exposed
+to view.
+
+Noting this sure sign of internal satisfaction, the marquis continued:
+
+"And where does the baron propose to bury all these talents? In the
+Upper Chamber, which is already filled to overflowing with members of
+the aristocracy. What will be the result? Why, in spite of his talents,
+this unfortunate baron will be completely swallowed up in this
+overwhelming majority. He will necessarily, too, be regarded as a mere
+dummy or tool, as he will owe his political position to party favour,
+and his energetic plainness of speech as well as the--the--pray give me
+the word, baron--the ardour of his impassioned oratory will be hampered
+by personal obligations."
+
+"But why do you tell me all this at this late day, monsieur?" exclaimed
+the baron, in tones of heartfelt reproach.
+
+But the marquis, without giving any sign of having heard the baron's
+question, continued:
+
+"How different it would be if this unfortunate baron began his political
+career in the Chamber of Deputies! He would not enter that body by
+favour, but by a public election--by the will of the people. Under these
+circumstances, how forcible the words of this energetic and faithful
+representative of the traditions of the past would become! It could not
+be said of him: 'Your opinion is that of the favoured class to which you
+belong.' Far from it, for the baron could reply, and justly: 'No, my
+views are the views of the nation, as it is the nation that sent me
+here.'"
+
+"What you say is true, perfectly true, monsieur, but why did you defer
+telling me so long?"
+
+"Why, baron? Why, because you manifested such a deep distrust and such
+an intense antipathy to me."
+
+"On the contrary, it was you, marquis, who seemed to pursue me with
+relentless cruelty."
+
+"Very possibly, for I was continually saying to myself: 'Ah, if the
+baron is so blind as to neglect the opportunity to play such a
+magnificent role, he shall bear the penalty of it. I will give him no
+peace.' Nor have I; but when the time came to prevent you from
+committing such a fatal blunder--I did it."
+
+"But marquis, permit me to say--"
+
+"You do not belong to yourself, monsieur, you belong to your party, and
+the injury you do yourself will reflect upon the other members of your
+party. You are consequently an egotist, a heartless--"
+
+"One word, monsieur, one word."
+
+"Ambitious man who prefers to owe his position to political favour
+rather than to a public election."
+
+"You talk very lightly of a public election, monsieur. Do you believe
+that a seat in either political body can be secured so easily, no matter
+how well fitted the person may be to fill such a position? (In speaking
+in this way of myself, I am only repeating your words, remember.) You
+may not be aware that I have been trying to secure a seat in the Chamber
+of Peers ten years, monsieur."
+
+"Nonsense! You could be a deputy in less than a month if you chose."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, you, Baron de la Rochaigue."
+
+"I, a deputy! That would be magnificent, marquis, for you have opened my
+eyes to the vast, immense, infinite field of labour that would lie
+before me. But how could I secure an election?"
+
+"It so happens that the electors of the district where my estates are
+situated desire to confer the honour of representing them upon me."
+
+"You, M. le marquis?"
+
+"Yes, I! Just imagine what an idea people will form of those worthy
+fellows down there from their representative. People will fancy when
+they see me that I am the envoy of a colony founded by Punchinello."
+
+This lively sally excited considerable hilarity on the part of the
+baron, who manifested it as usual by displaying his long teeth several
+times.
+
+"If my district was located in a mountainous country, there might be
+some sense in my election," continued the marquis, indicating his hump
+by a laughing gesture, to keep the baron in good humour, doubtless.
+
+"Really, marquis," exclaimed M. de la Rochaigue, much amused, "you
+certainly do the honours of yourself with wonderful grace and wit."
+
+"Then shout, 'Long live my hump!' my dear baron, for you little know
+what you--no, our party--will perhaps owe to it!"
+
+"I--our party--owe anything to your--" the baron hesitated--"to your--to
+your gibbosity."
+
+"Gibbosity is a remarkably well chosen word, baron. You were evidently
+born for the tribune, and, as I said before, you can be a deputy in less
+than a month if you choose."
+
+"Once more may I beg you to explain, marquis."
+
+"Nothing could be simpler. Be a deputy in my stead."
+
+"You are jesting."
+
+"Not at all. I should only make the Chamber laugh. You will hold it
+captive by your eloquence, and our party will consequently be much the
+gainer by the change. I will introduce you to three or four delegates
+who have been chosen by my constituents, and who really control the
+elections down there, and I am sure I shall have little or no difficulty
+in persuading them to accept you in my stead. I will write to them this
+afternoon; day after to-morrow they will be here, and by the following
+day everything will be settled."
+
+"Really, marquis, I scarcely know whether I am awake or dreaming. You,
+whom I have hitherto regarded as a bitter enemy--"
+
+"Only a 'Woman's Hatred,' you know--or, if you like it better, the
+'Hatred of a Political Friend.'"
+
+"It seems inconceivable."
+
+"So even as I ruined your absurd plans for securing a peerage at the
+same time that I prevented you from marrying your ward to an
+unprincipled scoundrel, I now propose to make you a deputy, and at the
+same time secure your consent to her marriage with a worthy young man
+who loves her, and whom she loves in return."
+
+On hearing this announcement, M. de la Rochaigue moved uneasily in his
+chair, cast a suspicious look at the marquis, and answered, coldly:
+
+"I have been your dupe, I see, M. le marquis; I fell into the trap like
+a fool."
+
+"What trap, my dear baron?"
+
+"Your pretended anger at the course my political aspirations had taken,
+your flattery, your proposal to make me a deputy in your stead, all
+conceal an ulterior motive. Fortunately, I divine it--I unmask it--I
+unveil it."
+
+"You are sure to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, baron, if you
+manifest like perspicuity in political matters."
+
+"A truce to pleasantries, monsieur."
+
+"So be it, monsieur. You must believe one of two things: I am either
+mocking you by pretending to take your political aspirations seriously,
+or else I really see in you the stuff from which statesmen are made. It
+is for you to decide which of these hypotheses is the correct one. Now,
+to state the case simply but clearly, your ward has made an admirable
+choice, as I will prove to you. Consent to this marriage, and I will
+have you elected deputy. That is the bright side of the medal."
+
+"Ah, there are two sides?" sneered the baron.
+
+"Naturally. I have shown you the good side; this is the bad: You and
+your wife and sister have grossly abused the trust confided to you--"
+
+"Monsieur--"
+
+"Oh, I can prove it. All three of you have either favoured or been
+personally mixed up in the most abominable intrigues, of which Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil was to be the victim. I repeat that I have abundant proofs of
+this fact, and Mlle. de Beaumesnil herself will unite with me in
+exposing these nefarious schemes."
+
+"And to whom do you propose to denounce us, if you please?"
+
+"To the members of the family council which Mlle. de Beaumesnil will
+convoke at once. You can guess what the result of such a proceeding will
+be. Your appointment as guardian will be annulled, forthwith."
+
+"We will see about that! We will see about that, monsieur!"
+
+"You will certainly have an admirable chance to see about it. Now
+choose. Consent to this marriage and you are a deputy. Refuse your
+consent, there will be a frightful scandal; you will be deprived of your
+guardianship, and all your ambitious hopes will be blighted for ever!"
+
+"Ah, you censure me for having desired to marry my ward in a way that
+might benefit me personally, and yet you--you propose to do the same
+thing you censure me for, yourself."
+
+"There is not the slightest justice in your comparison, my dear sir. You
+were trying to marry your ward to a scoundrel; I want to marry her to an
+honourable man, and I offer you a certain price for your consent,
+because you have proved to me that it is necessary to give a certain
+price for your consent."
+
+"And why, if the person you have selected for Mlle. de Beaumesnil is a
+suitable person?"
+
+"The husband I have suggested, and that Mlle. de Beaumesnil desires, is
+a perfectly honourable man--"
+
+"And his fortune, social position, etc.,--these are all that can be
+desired, I suppose."
+
+"He is a lieutenant in the army, without either name or fortune, but he
+is one of the bravest and most honest men I know. He loves Ernestine,
+and she loves him in return. What objection have you to offer?"
+
+"What objection have I to offer? A mere nobody, whose only possessions
+are his cloak and sword, marry the richest heiress in France! Never. Do
+you hear me? Never will I consent to such an unequal marriage! M. de
+Mornand at least had a fair prospect of becoming a minister, an
+ambassador, or president of the Chamber, monsieur."
+
+"So you see, baron, I was very wise to offer you a handsome price for
+your consent."
+
+"But according to you, monsieur, in thus allowing myself to be
+influenced by motives of personal aggrandisement, I should be acting
+very--"
+
+"Disgracefully. Still, that does not matter, provided Ernestine's
+happiness can be assured."
+
+"And it is a person capable of an act you consider so dishonourable that
+you dare to propose to the electors of your district as their
+representative!" exclaimed the baron, triumphantly. "You would so abuse
+their confidence as to give them, as a representative of our party, a
+man who--"
+
+"In the first place, the electors in question are a parcel of fools, my
+dear sir; besides, I do not interfere with their right of suffrage in
+the least. They imagine, because I am a marquis, that I should be just
+as fanatical a partisan of church and throne as their late deputy. They
+even told me that, in case of my refusal, they should consider it a
+favour if I would designate some other suitable person. I offer them as
+a candidate a man of their own party, perfectly capable of representing
+them. (It is not very high praise, my dear baron, to say that you are
+at least as gifted a man as their deceased deputy.) The rest is for you
+to decide, for I need not tell you that I was only jesting a few minutes
+ago when I said that your political sentiments and mine were identical.
+It was merely a means of paving the way to the offer which I have made,
+and which I reiterate. And now, you will, perhaps, ask me why, if I feel
+confident of my ability to compel you to resign your guardianship of
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, I do not do it."
+
+"I should like to ask you that very plain question, monsieur," responded
+the baron.
+
+"My explanation will be very simple, my dear sir. It is because I do not
+believe there is, among the other persons to whom this guardianship is
+likely to be entrusted, any man with sense and heart enough to
+understand why the richest heiress in France might be permitted to marry
+a brave and honourable man without either rank or fortune. So, as I
+should have the same difficulty to contend with in another guardian, but
+not have the same effectual means of coercing him, perhaps, such a
+change might injure rather than aid my plans, besides ruining you
+irretrievably. Now reflect, and make your choice. I shall expect to see
+you at my house to-morrow morning, not later than ten o'clock."
+
+And the marquis departed, leaving M. de la Rochaigue in a state of
+painful perplexity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.
+
+
+Three days had elapsed since M. de Maillefort's interviews with Madame
+de Senneterre and M. de la Rochaigue, and Herminie, alone in her pretty
+room, seemed a prey to the keenest anxiety; for every now and then she
+cast an impatient glance at the clock, or started at the slightest
+sound, or turned hastily towards the door.
+
+In fact, one could discern in the face of the duchess an anxiety fully
+equal to that which she had experienced some time before, while in
+momentary expectation of the much dreaded M. Bouffard's coming.
+
+And yet it was not a visit from M. Bouffard, but from M. de Maillefort,
+that caused the girl's agitation.
+
+The flowers in the pretty little room had just been renewed, and the
+muslin curtains at the windows that overlooked the garden had been
+freshly laundered. These windows were open, but the green outside
+shutters were closed to keep out the glare.
+
+After setting her house in order with scrupulous care, the duchess had
+evidently made an unusually careful toilet, for she had donned her best
+dress, a high-necked, black levantine, with chemisette and sleeves of
+dazzling whiteness. Her sole ornament was her magnificent hair, which
+gleamed like burnished gold in the sun-light, but never had her beauty
+seemed more noble and touching in its character, for, for some time
+past, her face had been paler, though her complexion had lost none of
+its dazzling clearness.
+
+The duchess had just given another quick glance at the door, when she
+fancied she heard a footstep outside, near the window that overlooked
+the garden, and she was about to rise and satisfy her doubts, when the
+door opened, and Madame Moufflon ushered in M. de Maillefort.
+
+That gentleman was hardly in the room, however, before he turned and
+said to the portress:
+
+"A lady will come and ask to see Mlle. Herminie, in a few moments--you
+will admit her."
+
+"Yes, monsieur," replied Madame Moufflon, deferentially, as she took her
+departure.
+
+On hearing the words, "A lady will come and ask to see Mlle. Herminie,"
+the girl sprang forward hastily, exclaiming:
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_ M. le marquis,--this lady--whom you expect--?"
+
+"Is she!" replied the marquis, radiant with joy and hope. "Yes, she is
+coming at last!"
+
+Then, seeing Herminie turn as pale as death and tremble violently in
+every limb, the hunchback cried:
+
+"What is the matter, my child? Tell me, what is the matter?"
+
+"Ah, monsieur," said the duchess, faintly, "I don't know why, but now,
+oh, I feel so afraid!"
+
+"Afraid! when Madame de Senneterre has pledged herself to make the
+concession which you were very right to ask, but which you had little
+hope that she would ever grant!"
+
+"Alas! monsieur, now, for the first time, I seem to understand the
+temerity, the impropriety, perhaps, of my demand."
+
+"My dear child," exclaimed the hunchback, anxiously, "no weakness, I
+beg, or you will lose all. Be your own noble, charming self, the
+personification of modesty without humility, and of dignity without
+arrogance, and all will be well,--I trust."
+
+"Ah, monsieur, when you told me yesterday that there was a possibility
+of this visit from Madame de Senneterre, I thought my cup of joy would
+be filled to overflowing, if this hope should be realised, and now I
+feel only the most abject terror and alarm."
+
+"Here she comes! Summon up all your courage, my child, for God's sake,
+and think of Gerald!" exclaimed the hunchback, hearing a carriage stop
+at the door.
+
+"Oh, monsieur, have pity on me," murmured the duchess, clutching M. de
+Maillefort's hand convulsively. "Oh, I shall never dare--"
+
+"Poor child! she is going to ruin her prospects, I fear," thought the
+marquis.
+
+Almost at that very instant the door opened, and Madame de Senneterre
+entered.
+
+She was a tall and slender woman, with an exceedingly haughty manner,
+and she came into the room with head high in the air, an insolent gleam
+in her eyes, and a disdainful smile upon her lips. She had an unusually
+high colour, and seemed to find it difficult to control her feelings.
+
+The fact is, Madame de Senneterre was violently agitated by conflicting
+emotions. This ridiculously proud and arrogant woman had left her home
+firmly resolved to make the concession towards Herminie which M. de
+Maillefort demanded, and in return for which he had promised to adopt
+the young girl.
+
+Madame de Senneterre had consequently resolved that during this visit,
+which cost her pride so much, her demeanour should be scrupulously,
+though coldly, polite; but as the moment for the interview approached,
+and as this arrogant woman reflected that she, the Duchesse de
+Senneterre, was about to present herself as a petitioner at the home of
+an obscure young girl, who worked for her living, the implacable pride
+of the grande dame revolted at the thought. Anger filled her heart, she
+lost her head, and, forgetting the advantages her son would derive from
+this marriage, forgetting that, after all, it was the adopted daughter
+of the Prince Duc de Haut-Martel she was about to visit, and not the
+poor music teacher, Madame de Senneterre reached Herminie's home with no
+intention of adopting any conciliatory measures, but resolved to treat
+this insolent creature, who had been so audacious in her pretensions, as
+she deserved to be treated.
+
+On seeing the haughtiness, aggressiveness, and anger so legibly
+imprinted on Madame de Senneterre's features, the marquis, no less
+surprised than alarmed, understood the sudden change which had taken
+place in the intentions of Gerald's mother, and said to himself,
+despairingly:
+
+"All is lost!"
+
+As for Herminie, she did not seem to have a drop of blood in her veins.
+Her beautiful face had become frightfully pale; her lips, which were
+almost blue, trembled convulsively; it seemed impossible for her to
+raise her eyes--in fact, she seemed unable to make the slightest
+movement, or even to utter a word.
+
+In spite of the high terms in which M. de Maillefort had spoken of this
+young girl whom he esteemed so highly as to be willing to give her his
+name, Madame de Senneterre, too insufferably proud as well as
+opinionated to concede that Herminie's conduct might have been prompted
+solely by a sense of dignity, had expected to find herself confronted by
+a vain, pert, rather coarse, ill-bred girl, proud of her conquest, and
+resolved to make the most of it; so, as Gerald's mother, she had armed
+herself with the most insulting disdain and arrogance of manner.
+
+She was consequently both astonished and discomfited at the sight of
+this charming but timid creature, of such rare loveliness and wonderful
+distinction of manner, who, instead of giving herself any impertinent
+airs, did not even dare to raise her eyes, and seemed more dead than
+alive in the presence of the great lady from whom she had exacted this
+visit.
+
+"Good Heavens, how beautiful she is!" Madame de Senneterre said to
+herself, with a strange mixture of spitefulness and involuntary
+admiration. "What a refined and distinguished looking young woman this
+poor, obscure music teacher is! It is simply marvellous! My own
+daughters are not to be compared with her."
+
+Though it has taken some time to describe these conflicting sentiments
+in the heart of Madame de Senneterre, their coming and going had been
+well-nigh simultaneous, and only a few seconds had elapsed after her
+entrance into the room before, blushing for the sort of embarrassment
+and dismay that she had at first experienced, she broke the silence by
+demanding in haughty, supercilious tones:
+
+"Mlle. Herminie, is she here?"
+
+"I am she, madame la duchesse," faltered Herminie, while M. de
+Maillefort stood watching the scene with growing anxiety.
+
+"Mlle. Herminie--the music teacher?" repeated Madame de Senneterre, with
+a contemptuous emphasis on the last word. "You are that young person, I
+suppose."
+
+"Yes, madame la duchesse," replied the poor girl, trembling like a leaf,
+and without venturing to raise her eyes.
+
+"Well, mademoiselle, you are satisfied, I trust? You have had the
+audacity to insist that I should come here, and here I am."
+
+"I felt constrained--madame la duchesse--to solicit the
+honour--that--that--"
+
+"Indeed! And what right have you to presume to make this insolent
+demand?"
+
+"Madame!" exclaimed the hunchback, threateningly.
+
+But as Madame de Senneterre uttered these last insulting words,
+Herminie, who had seemed so terrified, so utterly crushed until then,
+lifted her head proudly, a slight tinge of colour suffused her cheeks,
+and, raising her large blue eyes for the first time to the face of
+Gerald's mother, she replied in firm though gentle tones:
+
+"I have never felt that I had the right to expect even the slightest
+mark of deference from you, madame. On the contrary, I only desired
+to--to testify the respect that I felt for your authority, madame, by
+declaring to M. de Senneterre that I could not and would not accept his
+hand without his mother's consent."
+
+"And I--a person of my age and position--must humiliate myself by making
+the first advances to mademoiselle?"
+
+"I am an orphan, madame, without a relative in the world. I could
+designate no one else for you to approach on the subject, and my dignity
+would not permit me to go to you and solicit--"
+
+"Your dignity,--this is really very amusing!" exclaimed Madame de
+Senneterre, infuriated at finding herself obliged to acknowledge the
+charming reserve and perfect dignity of the girl's demeanour under such
+very trying circumstances. "Could anything be more extraordinary?" she
+continued, with a sarcastic laugh. "Mademoiselle has her dignity."
+
+"I have the dignity of virtue, poverty, and honest toil, madame la
+duchesse," replied Herminie, looking Madame de Senneterre full in the
+face, this time with such an unflinching, noble air that Gerald's mother
+became embarrassed and was obliged to avert her eyes.
+
+For several minutes the marquis had found it very difficult to restrain
+his desire to punish Madame de Senneterre for her insolence to his
+protegee, but on hearing Herminie's simple but noble reply, he thought
+her sufficiently avenged.
+
+"So be it, then," responded Madame de Senneterre, in a rather less
+bitter tone. "You have your dignity, but you can hardly think that for a
+person to be able to enter one of the most illustrious families in
+France it is enough for that person to be honest, virtuous and
+industrious."
+
+"But I do think so, madame."
+
+"You are not lacking in pride, I must say," exclaimed Madame de
+Senneterre, thoroughly exasperated. "Mademoiselle doubtless supposes
+that by marrying M. le Duc de Senneterre she will confer a great honour
+upon him, as well as upon his family."
+
+"In responding to M. de Senneterre's affection with an affection equal
+to his own, I feel that I do honour him by my preference as much as he
+has honoured me. As for M. de Senneterre's family, I know, madame, that
+they will never be proud of me, but I shall have the consciousness of
+being worthy of them."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed the hunchback, "good, my brave and noble child!"
+
+Though Madame de Senneterre was making every effort to resist the
+influence of Herminie's charms, she found herself gradually yielding to
+it in spite of herself.
+
+The beauty, grace, and exquisite tact of this charming creature exerted
+a sort of fascination over Gerald's mother, so, fearing she might
+succumb to it, she resolved to end all temptation to do so by burning
+her ships behind her, or, in other words, by again resorting to
+vituperation, so she exclaimed, wrathfully:
+
+"No, no, it shall never be said that I allowed myself to be cajoled by
+the charms and perfidious words of a mere adventuress, and that I was
+fool enough to give my consent to her marriage with my son."
+
+The hunchback sprang forward with a terrible look at Madame de
+Senneterre, but, before he could utter a word, Herminie replied, in
+faltering tones, while big tears rolled slowly down her cheeks:
+
+"Pardon me, madame. Insult finds me speechless and defenceless,
+especially when it is M. de Senneterre's mother that insults. I have but
+one favour to ask of you, madame. It is to remember that I not only
+anticipated this refusal, but accepted it in advance, so it would have
+been more generous in you not to have come here to crush me with it.
+What was my crime, madame? Simply to have believed that M. de
+Senneterre's station in life was as obscure and laborious as my own. But
+for that, I would have died rather than yielded to such a love."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, "you did not know that my son--"
+
+"M. de Senneterre represented himself to be a man who was obliged to
+labour hard for his daily bread. I believed him; I loved him,--loved him
+truly and disinterestedly. When I discovered who he really was, I
+refused to see him again, for I was resolved that I would never marry
+him against the wishes of his family. That, madame, is the truth, and
+the whole truth," added Herminie, in a voice broken with sobs. "This
+love, for which, thank God, I shall never have to blush, must be
+sacrificed. I expected it, but I believed I had the right to suffer
+without the presence of witnesses. I forgive your cruel words, madame.
+You are a mother, you did not know, perhaps, that I was worthy of your
+son,--and maternal love is sacred, even if it be in the wrong."
+
+Herminie dried the tears that were streaming down her pale face, then
+continued, in a weak and faltering voice, for, overcome by this painful
+scene, she felt that her strength was fast failing her:
+
+"Will you have the goodness to say to M. de Senneterre, madame, that I
+forgive him the wrong he has, unconsciously, done me. Here, before
+you--you--his mother--I swear that--I will never see him again,--and you
+need have no fear of my breaking my word. So, madame, you can leave here
+reassured and content,--but--but I feel so strangely--M. de
+Maillefort--come to me--I beg--come--I--"
+
+The poor girl could say no more. Her lips fluttered feebly, and she
+cast a despairing look at the hunchback, who sprang forward only just in
+time to receive her almost lifeless form in his arms. He placed her
+tenderly in an armchair, then, turning to Madame de Senneterre, with a
+terrible expression on his face, he cried:
+
+"Ah, you shall weep tears of blood for your cruelty here, madame. Go,
+go, I tell you. Don't you see that she is dying!"
+
+Herminie did, indeed, look as if death had claimed her for his own, with
+her marble white face, and her head hanging inertly down upon one
+shoulder. Her forehead, bathed in a cold sweat, was half covered with
+some soft ringlets of golden hair which had escaped from their
+confinement, and an occasional tear forced its way through her half
+closed eyelids, while ever and anon a convulsive shudder shook her
+entire body.
+
+M. de Maillefort could not restrain his tears, and, turning to Madame de
+Senneterre, he exclaimed, bitterly, in a voice hoarse with emotion: "You
+are gloating over your work, are you not?"
+
+What was the hunchback's astonishment to see compassionate grief and
+keen remorse plainly imprinted upon this haughty woman's face, for,
+conquered at last by Herminie's noble and touching resignation, she, in
+turn, burst into tears, and said to the marquis, in beseeching tones:
+
+"Have pity on me, M. de Maillefort I came here resolved to keep my
+promise, but--but my pride revolted in spite of me. I lost my head. Now,
+I repent, oh, how bitterly! I am ashamed, I am horrified at my heartless
+conduct."
+
+And, running to Herminie, the duchess tenderly lifted her head and
+kissed her upon the forehead; then, twining her arms around her to
+support her, said, in a voice faltering with emotion:
+
+"Poor child! Will she ever forgive me? M. de Maillefort, ring for
+assistance, call some one, her pallor terrifies me."
+
+Just then hurried steps were heard in the hall. The door flew open, and
+Gerald rushed in like one distracted, his eyes wild, his manner
+threatening, for, from the garden in which he had concealed himself
+without the knowledge of either Herminie or M. de Maillefort, he had
+heard his mother's cruel words.
+
+"Gerald!" cried the astonished marquis.
+
+"I was there," the young man exclaimed, pointing to the window. "I heard
+all, and--"
+
+But the young duke did not complete the sentence, so amazed was he to
+see his mother supporting Herminie's head upon her bosom.
+
+"My son," exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, "I am truly horrified at what
+I have done. I consent to everything. She is an angel. May Heaven
+forgive me!"
+
+"Oh, mother, mother," murmured Gerald, in accents of ineffable
+gratitude, as he fell upon his knees beside Herminie, and covered her
+cold hands with tears and kisses.
+
+"You have done wisely," the marquis said, in low tones, to Madame de
+Senneterre. "It is adoration that your son will feel for you now."
+
+That same instant, seeing Herminie make a slight movement, Gerald
+exclaimed, joyfully:
+
+"She is recovering consciousness!"
+
+Then, in a thrilling voice, he cried:
+
+"Herminie, it is I. It is Gerald!"
+
+On hearing M. de Senneterre's voice, Herminie gave a slight start, then
+slowly opened her eyes, which seemed at first fixed and troubled, like
+the eyes of one awaking from a dream.
+
+Then the sort of mist which seemed to obscure her mental faculties faded
+away, and the girl slowly raised her head, which had been reposing on
+Madame de Senneterre's bosom, and looked around her.
+
+To her intense astonishment, she saw that Gerald's mother was supporting
+her in her arms and watching her with the tenderest solicitude.
+
+Believing she was still in a dream, Herminie hastily raised herself, and
+passed her burning hands over her eyes, after which her gaze, as it
+became more and more assured, was directed, first upon M. de Maillefort,
+who was gazing at her with ineffable delight, and then upon Gerald, who
+was still kneeling before her.
+
+"Gerald!" she cried, rapturously.
+
+Then, with an expression of mingled hope and fear, she hastily glanced
+around at Madame de Senneterre, as if to satisfy herself that it was
+indeed from Gerald's mother that she was receiving these marks of
+touching interest.
+
+Gerald, noticing the girl's movement, hastily exclaimed:
+
+"Herminie, my mother consents to everything."
+
+"Yes, yes, mademoiselle," exclaimed Madame de Senneterre, effusively. "I
+consent to everything. There are many wrongs for which I must ask
+forgiveness,--but my love and tenderness will enable me to gain it at
+last."
+
+"Can this be true, madame?" cried Herminie, clasping her hands. "Oh,
+God, can it be possible! You really consent? All this is not a dream?"
+
+"No, Herminie, it is not a dream," exclaimed Gerald, rapturously. "We
+belong to each other now! You shall soon be my wife."
+
+"No, my noble child, it is not a dream," said M. de Maillefort, "It is a
+fitting reward for a life of toil and virtue."
+
+"No, mademoiselle, it is not a dream," said Madame de Senneterre, "for
+it is you," she added, casting a meaning glance at the marquis, "you,
+Mlle. Herminie, who nobly support yourself by your own exertions, that I
+joyfully accept as my daughter-in-law in M. de Maillefort's presence,
+for I am satisfied that my son could not make a choice more worthy of
+him, of me, and of his family."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half an hour afterwards Madame de Senneterre and her son took an
+affectionate leave of Herminie, who, in company with M. de Maillefort,
+forthwith repaired to the house of Mlle. de Beaumesnil to tell her the
+good news, and sustain the courage of the richest heiress in France, for
+a final and formidable ordeal was in store for her, or, rather, for
+Olivier.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.
+
+
+While M. de Senneterre was taking his mother home, Herminie and M. de
+Maillefort were bowling swiftly along in the marquis's carriage on their
+way to Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+The delight of the marquis and his youthful protegee, whose happiness
+was now assured, can be imagined.
+
+The marquis knew Madame de Senneterre well enough to feel sure that she
+was incapable of retracting the solemn consent she had given to the
+marriage of Gerald and Herminie.
+
+Nevertheless, M. de Maillefort resolved to call on Madame de Senneterre
+the following morning, and assure her that he had not changed his
+intention of adopting Herminie, who was dearer to him than ever, if that
+were possible, since he had witnessed her noble and touching behaviour
+during her interview with the haughty Duchesse de Senneterre.
+
+M. de Maillefort's only fear now was that the proud and sensitive girl
+might refuse to accept the advantages he was so anxious to confer upon
+her; but almost sure that he would succeed in overcoming her scruples
+eventually, he resolved to maintain an absolute silence concerning his
+intentions for the present.
+
+M. de Maillefort and his companion had been driving along for several
+minutes, when a block of vehicles at the corner of the Rue de Courcelles
+obliged their driver to check his horses for an instant.
+
+There was a locksmith's shop on the corner of this street, and the
+hunchback, who had put his head out of the carriage window to ascertain
+the cause of the sudden stop, uttered an exclamation of surprise, and,
+hastily drawing in his head, muttered:
+
+"What can that man be doing there?"
+
+As was natural, Herminie's eyes quickly followed those of the hunchback,
+and she could not repress a movement of disgust and aversion which M. de
+Maillefort failed to notice, however, for almost at the same instant he
+lowered the curtain of the window nearest him.
+
+By drawing this small silken curtain a little aside, the marquis could
+see without being seen, and through the tiny opening he seemed to be
+watching something or somebody with considerable uneasiness, while
+Herminie, not daring to question him, gazed at him wonderingly.
+
+The marquis had caught sight of M. de Ravil in the locksmith's shop, and
+he could still see him talking with the locksmith,--a man with a kind,
+honest face. He was showing him a key, and evidently giving him some
+instructions in regard to it, for, taking the key, the locksmith placed
+it in his vice just as M. de Maillefort's carriage again started on its
+way towards the Faubourg St. Germain, and M. de Macreuse's new friend,
+or, rather, his new accomplice, was lost to sight.
+
+"What is the matter, monsieur?" inquired Herminie, seeing that the
+hunchback had suddenly become thoughtful.
+
+"I just observed an apparently insignificant thing, my dear child, but
+it makes me a trifle uneasy. I saw a man in a locksmith's shop just now,
+showing the locksmith a key. I should not even have noticed the fact,
+though, if I did not know that the man who had the key was a scoundrel,
+capable of anything, and under certain circumstances the slightest act
+of a man like that furnishes food for reflection."
+
+"Is the man you refer to unusually tall, and has he a bad, hard face?"
+
+"So you, too, noticed him?"
+
+"I have had only too much cause to do so, monsieur."
+
+"Explain, my dear child."
+
+So Herminie briefly related Ravil's many futile attempts to obtain
+access to her since the evening he so grossly insulted her while on her
+way to Madame de Beaumesnil's.
+
+"If the scoundrel is in the habit of hanging around your house, my dear
+child, it is not so surprising that we should have seen him in a shop in
+this part of the town. Still, what can have taken him to this
+locksmith's?" asked the hunchback, thoughtfully. "Since he became so
+intimate with that rascal, Macreuse, I have been keeping a close watch
+on both of them. One of my men is shadowing them, for such creatures as
+they are are never more dangerous than when they are playing dead,--not
+that I fear them myself; oh, no, but I do fear for Ernestine."
+
+"For Ernestine?" asked the duchess, with quite as much surprise as
+uneasiness. "What can she have to fear from creatures like these?"
+
+"You do not know, my dear child, that this Ravil was the most zealous
+aider and abettor of one of the suitors for Ernestine's hand. Macreuse,
+too, made equally nefarious attempts to secure this tempting prey. As I
+unmasked them both in public, I fear that their resentment will fall
+upon Ernestine, especially as their rage, on finding that they will not
+be able to make the poor child their victim, is so venomous; but I am
+watching them closely, and this visit of Ravil to the locksmith--though
+I cannot imagine the motive of it now--will make me redouble my
+vigilance."
+
+"But you can hardly imagine that this visit would affect Ernestine in
+any way."
+
+"I am not at all sure that it does, my dear child, but I think it
+strange that De Ravil should take the trouble to seek out a locksmith in
+this remote part of the town. But let us say no more about it. Such
+scoundrels as those two men are should not be allowed to mar pure and
+richly deserved happiness. My task is only half completed. Your
+happiness is assured, my child, and now I trust this may prove an
+equally fortunate day for Ernestine. Here we are at last. Find her and
+tell her of your happiness while I go up to the baron's apartments. I
+have a few words to say to him, after which I will rejoin you in
+Ernestine's rooms."
+
+"Did I not hear you say something in regard to a final test?"
+
+"Yes, my dear child."
+
+"Does it relate to M. Olivier?"
+
+"Yes, and if he sustains the ordeal bravely and nobly, as I am sure he
+will, Ernestine will have no cause to envy you your felicity."
+
+"And did Ernestine consent to this test, monsieur?"
+
+"Yes, my child, for it would not only serve to establish the nobility of
+Olivier's sentiments beyond a doubt, but also remove any scruples he
+might feel about marrying Ernestine when he discovers that the little
+embroideress is the richest heiress in France."
+
+"Alas! monsieur, it is on that point I feel the greatest misgivings. M.
+Olivier is so extremely sensitive in regard to all money matters, Gerald
+says."
+
+"And for that very reason I gave my poor brain no rest until I had
+found, or at least fancied I had found, a means of escape from this
+danger. I can not explain any further now, but you will soon know all."
+
+Meanwhile the carriage had paused in front of the Rochaigue mansion. The
+footman opened the door, and while Herminie hastened to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's apartments the hunchback went up to the baron's study,
+where he found that gentleman evidently expecting him, for he promptly
+advanced to meet him, displaying his long teeth with the most satisfied
+air imaginable.
+
+The fact is, M. de la Rochaigue, after reflecting on the marquis's
+offers,--and threats,--had decided to accept a proposal that would
+enable him to gratify his political ambition at last, and had
+consequently given his consent to this marriage under certain conditions
+that seemed incomprehensible to him,--M. de Maillefort not having deemed
+it advisable to inform the baron of the double character Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil had been playing.
+
+"Well, my dear baron, has everything been satisfactorily arranged?"
+inquired the hunchback.
+
+"Yes, my dear marquis. The interview is to take place here in my study,
+and, as this room is separated from the adjoining room only by a
+portiere, everything that is said can be distinctly heard in there."
+
+The marquis examined the two rooms for himself and then returned to M.
+de la Rochaigue.
+
+"This arrangement will suit perfectly, my dear baron. But tell me, did
+the inquiries you made in relation to M. Olivier Raymond prove entirely
+satisfactory?"
+
+"I called on his old colonel in the African army this morning, and M. de
+Berville spoke of him in the highest possible terms."
+
+"I was sure that he would, my dear baron, but I wished you to satisfy
+yourself, and from several different sources, of my protege's
+irreproachable character."
+
+"He possesses neither wealth nor rank, unfortunately," responded the
+baron, with a sigh, "but there doesn't seem to be the slightest doubt
+that he is an exceedingly honest and worthy young man."
+
+"And what you have heard about him is nothing in comparison with what
+you will soon discover for yourself."
+
+"What! is there still another mystery in store for me, my dear marquis?"
+
+"Have a little patience, and an hour from now you will know all. By the
+way, I hope you haven't said a word to your wife or sister in regard to
+our plans?"
+
+"How can you ask me such a question, my dear marquis? Am I not longing
+to have my revenge upon Helena and the baroness? Think of their
+deceiving me as they did! Each of them plotting to bring about a
+marriage between my ward and one of their proteges, and making me play
+the most ridiculous role. Ah, it will at least be some consolation to
+outwit them in my turn."
+
+"No weakness, though, baron. Your wife openly boasts that she can make
+you do exactly as she pleases,--that she leads you around by the nose,
+in short,--excuse the expression."
+
+"Well, well, we shall see! So she leads me around by the nose, does
+she?"
+
+"I think we shall have to admit that she has, in days gone by."
+
+"I admit nothing of the kind."
+
+"But now you are a statesman, any such weakness would be unpardonable,
+for you no longer belong to yourself, and, apropos of this, did you see
+our delegates again?"
+
+"We had another conference last evening. I talked to them two hours on
+the subject of an alliance with England."
+
+The baron rose, and slipping his left hand in the bosom of his coat, and
+assuming his usual oratorical attitude, continued:
+
+"I subsequently gave them my views upon the importation of horned
+cattle, and briefly expounded the principles of religious liberty as
+practised in Belgium; and I must admit that your electors seemed much
+pleased, to say the least."
+
+"I don't doubt it. You must suit them wonderfully well. I am doing them
+a signal service, for they will find in you--all that is lacking in
+me."
+
+"You are entirely too modest, my dear marquis."
+
+"Quite the contrary, my dear baron; so as soon as Olivier's and
+Ernestine's marriage contract is signed, I shall resign my candidacy in
+your favour."
+
+A servant, entering at this moment, announced that M. Olivier Raymond
+wished to see M. de la Rochaigue.
+
+"Ask M. Raymond to wait a moment," replied the baron, and the servant
+left the room.
+
+"Now, baron, remember that this is a very important, as well as
+delicate, matter," said the marquis. "Do not forget any of my
+instructions, and, above all, do not evince any surprise at M. Raymond's
+answers, no matter how extraordinary they may appear. I will explain
+everything after your interview with him is over."
+
+"It will be comparatively easy for me to show no surprise at anything I
+see or hear, marquis, inasmuch as I am very much in the dark with regard
+to the whole affair myself."
+
+"You will be thoroughly enlightened soon, I tell you. But, by the way,
+be sure not to forget about the work M. Olivier did for the steward of
+the Chateau de Beaumesnil, near Luzarches."
+
+"I shall not forget that, for I intend to introduce the subject in that
+way; and permit me to say that I am to start out with a colossal lie, my
+dear marquis."
+
+"But, as this colossal lie is sure to bring out the truth in the most
+incontrovertible fashion, you need feel no scruples! You will certainly
+have no cause to regret it, either, for what is about to occur will be
+quite as much to your advantage as to that of Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+perhaps. I am going to summon her now, and do not have M. Olivier
+ushered in until after you know that we are in the next room, remember."
+
+"Oh, I understand all about that. Go at once, my dear marquis, and use
+the back stairs. It is the shortest way, and M. Olivier, who is waiting
+in the library, will not see you."
+
+The marquis complied with these instructions, and soon found himself in
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil's apartments.
+
+"Ah, M. de Maillefort," exclaimed Ernestine, her face radiant, and her
+eyes still filled with tears of joy, "Herminie has told me all. Her
+happiness seems certain to equal mine,--if mine is realised."
+
+"Come quick, my child," exclaimed the hunchback. "M. Olivier is
+up-stairs now."
+
+"Herminie can accompany me, can she not, M. de Maillefort? She will be
+near me to keep up my courage--"
+
+"Your courage?"
+
+"Yes, for now I confess that, in spite of myself, I am sorry that I
+consented to this test."
+
+"But was not this test necessary to overcome Olivier's scruples, my dear
+child? Remember, too, that these scruples are probably the most
+dangerous obstacles you will have to overcome now."
+
+"Alas! that is only too true," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, sadly.
+
+"Then come, my child, come at once. Herminie shall accompany you. She
+must be the first to congratulate you."
+
+"Or to console me," added Ernestine, unable to conquer her fears. "But
+it is better I should know my fate as soon as possible," she continued,
+resolutely. "Let us go up to my guardian's apartments at once, M. de
+Maillefort."
+
+Three minutes afterwards, Ernestine, Herminie, and M. de Maillefort were
+in the baron's parlour, which was separated from his study only by a
+closely drawn portiere, which the hunchback opened a little way in order
+to inform M. de la Rochaigue that they were there.
+
+"Very well," replied the baron.
+
+He rang the bell.
+
+"Show M. Olivier Raymond in," he said to the servant who answered the
+summons, and who almost immediately announced:
+
+"M. Olivier Raymond, sir."
+
+On hearing Olivier enter the adjoining room, Ernestine turned as pale as
+death, and, seizing with one hand the hand of Herminie, and with the
+other the hand of M. de Maillefort, she whispered, tremblingly:
+
+"Oh, stay close by me, I entreat you. Do not leave me. Oh, my God, what
+a solemn moment this is!"
+
+"Hush! Olivier is speaking," whispered M. de Maillefort; "let us listen.
+We must not miss a word."
+
+And all three listened, with breathless anxiety, to the following
+conversation between Olivier and M. de la Rochaigue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A CRUCIAL MOMENT.
+
+
+When Olivier Raymond entered M. de la Rochaigue's study, his face
+expressed astonishment, mingled with a lively curiosity.
+
+The baron bowed courteously, and, after having motioned his visitor to a
+seat, inquired:
+
+"Is it to M. Olivier Raymond that I have the honour of speaking?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"A second lieutenant in the Third Hussars?"
+
+"The same, monsieur."
+
+"From the letter I had the honour to write you, monsieur, you know that
+I am--"
+
+"M. le Baron de la Rochaigue, monsieur, though I have not the honour of
+your acquaintance. May I now inquire to what important personal matter
+you referred in your recent letter?"
+
+"Certainly, monsieur. Pray be kind enough to give me your close
+attention, and, above all, not to be surprised at any singular, strange,
+and extraordinary facts which I may have the honour to communicate."
+
+Olivier gazed at the baron with such evident astonishment that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's guardian cast an involuntary glance towards the portiere,
+behind which Herminie, Ernestine, and M. de Maillefort were listening to
+the conversation.
+
+"Monsieur," continued the baron, again turning to Olivier, "a few weeks
+ago you were at a chateau, near Luzarches, assisting a master mason,
+who had undertaken some repairs upon this property, in making his
+estimates."
+
+"That is true, monsieur," replied Olivier, little suspecting the import
+of all this.
+
+"After these estimates were finished, you remained several days to
+assist the steward in straightening up his accounts, did you not?"
+
+"That is also true, monsieur."
+
+"This chateau," resumed the baron, with an air of great importance,
+"belongs to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, the richest heiress in France."
+
+"I was so informed during my stay there. But may I know the object of
+these questions?"
+
+"In one moment, monsieur; but will you first oblige me by glancing over
+this document?"
+
+And the baron took from his desk a folded paper and handed it to
+Olivier.
+
+While the young man was hastily perusing this document, the baron said:
+
+"You will see by this document, which is a certified copy of the
+deliberations of the family council, convoked after the death of the
+late Comtesse de Beaumesnil, you will see, I repeat, from this document,
+that I am the legally appointed guardian and trustee of Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil."
+
+"I perceive so," replied Olivier, returning the document, "but I fail to
+see that this fact interests me in any way."
+
+"It was of the utmost importance that you should be enlightened as to my
+legal, official, and judicial connection with Mlle. de Beaumesnil, in
+order that what I may have the honour to say to you on the subject of my
+ward will be invested with irresistible, unmistakable, and incontestable
+authority in your eyes."
+
+This flow of words, monotonous and measured as the movements of a
+pendulum, was beginning to make Olivier all the more impatient, as he
+could not imagine whither all these grave preliminaries were tending.
+
+In fact, he gazed at the baron with such a bewildered air that M. de la
+Rochaigue said to himself:
+
+"One might really suppose that I was talking Hebrew to him. He evinces
+so little emotion on hearing the name of Mlle. de Beaumesnil that one
+would suppose he did not even know her. What does all this mean? That
+cunning devil of a marquis was right when he told me that I must be
+prepared for very surprising developments."
+
+"May I again inquire in what possible way the fact that you are, or are
+not, Mlle. de Beaumesnil's guardian interests me?" said Olivier, with
+ill-suppressed impatience.
+
+"Now for the lie," the baron said to himself. "Let us see what effect it
+will have."
+
+Then he added aloud:
+
+"You made quite a long stay at the Chateau de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"I did, as I told you some time ago," responded Olivier, with growing
+impatience.
+
+"You probably were not aware that Mlle. de Beaumesnil was at the chateau
+at the same time that you were."
+
+"Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur," replied the baron, imperturbably, satisfied that he was
+lying with true diplomatic ease and assurance; "yes, monsieur, Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil was at the chateau while you were there."
+
+"But I was told that the young lady was in a foreign country, monsieur;
+besides, I saw no one at the chateau."
+
+"That does not surprise me at all, monsieur. The fact is, Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil wished to spend the early days of her mourning for her mother
+at this chateau, and as she desired complete solitude, every one on the
+estate was requested to keep her arrival a profound secret."
+
+"Then it is not strange that I should have been ignorant of it,
+particularly as I stayed in the house of the steward, quite a little
+distance from the chateau. But once more, let me ask--"
+
+"I beg you will not be impatient, monsieur, but listen to me with the
+closest attention, for the matter to be considered is, I repeat, of the
+greatest, gravest, and highest importance to you."
+
+"The man nearly drives me mad by his absurd and senseless repetitions!"
+Olivier mentally exclaimed. "What on earth is he driving at? What
+possible interest have I in Mlle. de Beaumesnil and her chateau?"
+
+"The master mason by whom you were employed," continued the baron,
+suavely, "told our steward that the proceeds of the labour you imposed
+upon yourself during your leave were to be devoted to aiding your uncle,
+for whom you felt an almost filial affection."
+
+"Good Heavens, monsieur, why should any importance be attached to such a
+trivial thing as that? Let us get at the facts of the case."
+
+"The fact is just this, monsieur," resumed the baron, impressively, and
+with an almost solemn gesture, "your generous conduct towards your uncle
+was reported to Mlle. de Beaumesnil by her steward."
+
+"Well, what if it was!" exclaimed Olivier, whose patience was now
+completely exhausted. "What is your object in apprising me of the fact?"
+
+"My object is to let you know that mademoiselle is one of the noblest,
+best-hearted young ladies in the world, and, being such, is more keenly
+appreciative of generous acts in others than the majority of people; so
+when she heard of your devotion to your uncle, she was so touched by it
+that she desired to see you."
+
+"See me?" repeated Olivier, incredulously.
+
+"Yes, monsieur, my ward wished to see you, but without being seen by
+you; she was anxious, too, to hear you talk, and, with the aid of her
+steward, managed to act the part of an unseen auditor at several of your
+conversations, both with the steward and the master mason by whom you
+were employed. The strict integrity and nobility of your sentiments were
+so clearly revealed in these conversations, that my ward was as deeply
+impressed by your nobility of character as by your pleasing personal
+attributes, and--"
+
+"Monsieur," interrupted Olivier, turning crimson, "I can scarcely
+believe that a man of your age and position could find any amusement in
+such unseemly jesting, and yet I do not suppose for one moment that you
+are speaking seriously."
+
+"I had the honour, monsieur, to submit for your inspection the
+documentary evidence that I am Mlle. de Beaumesnil's legally appointed
+guardian in order that you might give full credence to my words. I
+subsequently warned you that what I had to say might appear singular,
+strange, even extraordinary to you, and you surely can not suppose that
+a man of my age, position, and social prominence would feel any
+inclination to trifle with the sacred interests entrusted to him or to
+make as honourable a young man as yourself the victim of a practical
+joke."
+
+"So be it, monsieur," replied Olivier, pacified by this assurance on the
+part of the baron, "I confess I was wrong to suppose, even for an
+instant, that you were capable of such a thing, and yet--"
+
+"Once again will you kindly allow me to remind you of my warning that I
+had some very extraordinary things to impart," said the baron, again
+interrupting Olivier. "Now, with your permission, I will proceed with my
+explanation. Mlle. de Beaumesnil is sixteen years of age. She is the
+richest heiress in France, consequently," added the baron, emphasising
+the words strongly and giving Olivier a meaning look, "consequently she
+need not trouble herself in the least about the pecuniary condition of
+the man she will choose for a husband. She desires, above all, to marry
+a man who pleases her, and who she feels will assure her future
+happiness. As regards his name and social position, provided his name
+and social position are honourable and honoured, Mlle. de Beaumesnil is
+content. Do you understand me at last, monsieur?"
+
+"I have listened to you with the closest attention, M. le baron. I
+understand perfectly that Mlle. de Beaumesnil intends to marry to her
+own liking, without much, or, indeed, any regard to the rank and
+pecuniary condition of the man of her choice. She is perfectly right, I
+think; but why should I be told all this,--I, who have never met Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil in my life, and who probably never shall?"
+
+"I have told you this, M. Olivier Raymond, because Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+is persuaded that in you are united all the attributes she most desires
+in a husband; so, after having made the most careful inquiries
+concerning you,--with results which were most flattering to yourself, I
+must admit,--I, as the guardian of Mlle. de Beaumesnil, am deputised,
+authorised, and commissioned to offer you her hand in marriage."
+
+The baron might have gone on a good while longer without any
+interruption from Olivier.
+
+Though the latter was astounded by what he had just heard, he could no
+longer suppose that this was a hoax on the part of M. de la Rochaigue,
+who, in spite of his absurd flights of oratory, was really a grave,
+dignified man, with perfect manners.
+
+On the other hand, how could he believe,--without an immense amount of
+conceit, and conceit was not one of Olivier's besetting sins, by any
+means,--how could he believe that the richest heiress in France had so
+suddenly lost her heart to him?
+
+A minute or two passed before Olivier spoke. When he did, it was to say:
+
+"I am sure you will excuse my silence and my bewilderment, monsieur, as
+you, yourself, fully realised that you had some very extraordinary
+revelations to make--"
+
+"Do not hurry yourself in the least, monsieur. Take plenty of time to
+recover yourself, for I can very easily understand the mental agitation
+such a proposition must excite. I should add, however, that Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil knows perfectly well that you cannot accept her offer until
+after you have seen her and made her acquaintance. So, if you desire it,
+I will present you to my ward, and it is my earnest desire that you will
+both find in your mutual acquaintance a guaranty, hope, and certainty of
+future happiness."
+
+After which peroration, the baron said to himself:
+
+"Thank Heaven, that is over! Now, I shall discover the answer to this
+enigma which seems more and more incomprehensible every minute."
+
+Up to this time, Mlle. de Beaumesnil, Herminie, and the hunchback had
+listened to the conversation in breathless silence. Herminie now
+understood for the first time the twofold object of the test to which M.
+de Maillefort had felt it necessary to subject Olivier; but Ernestine,
+in spite of her confidence in the nobility of the young officer's
+character, was in torture, as she awaited Olivier's reply to the baron's
+dazzling offer. The temptation, alas! was so great. How few persons
+would be able to resist it! Was there any living man who would not
+forget or ignore a promise made to an unattractive, penniless, and
+friendless girl, and eagerly embrace the opportunity to acquire colossal
+wealth?
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_ I tremble, in spite of myself," murmured Ernestine. "The
+renunciation we expect of M. Olivier is above human strength, perhaps.
+Alas! alas! why did I consent to this test?"
+
+"Courage, my child," whispered the hunchback, "think only of the
+happiness and admiration you will feel if Olivier realises our
+expectations. But hush, he is going to reply."
+
+With a half frenzied movement, Ernestine threw herself into Herminie's
+arms, and it was thus that the two girls, trembling with fear and hope,
+awaited Olivier's answer.
+
+The young man could no longer doubt that this most remarkable offer had
+been made in all seriousness; but unable to explain it on the ground of
+personal merit,--for Olivier was an extremely modest man,--he attributed
+it to one of those caprices not uncommon in romantic young persons whose
+exorbitant wealth places them in an exceptional position,--caprices
+which in many cases amount to positive eccentricity.
+
+"Monsieur," Olivier began, in a firm voice, after quite a long silence,
+"though the proposition you have just made to me is so strange, so
+entirely beyond the bounds of possibility, I might almost say, I give
+you my word of honour that, inexplicable as it seems to me, I believe in
+its sincerity."
+
+"You can, monsieur, that is the important thing; that is all I ask of
+you."
+
+"I do, and I shall make no attempt to fathom the incomprehensible
+reasons which led Mlle. de Beaumesnil to think of me even for an
+instant."
+
+"Pardon me, but I have already explained these reasons, monsieur."
+
+"Though I am not particularly modest, these reasons seem to me far from
+adequate; besides, I have no right to avail myself of this too
+flattering offer, for--for it is impossible for me--I will not say to
+accept Mlle. de Beaumesnil's hand--such an important act must
+necessarily depend upon a thousand unforeseen contingencies, but to--"
+
+"I give you my word of honour, monsieur, that it depends only upon
+yourself," said the baron, in such grave tones that Olivier could not
+fail to be deeply impressed, "understand me, upon yourself, absolutely
+and entirely. And, if you desire it, I will introduce you to the young
+lady before an hour has elapsed. It will then be impossible for you to
+feel the slightest doubt in regard to--to the sincerity of the offer I
+have just made you."
+
+"I believe you, monsieur, as I said before. I only wish to say that it
+is impossible for me to even consider the proposition you have been so
+kind as to make to me."
+
+The baron was astounded now in his turn.
+
+"What, monsieur, you refuse?" he exclaimed. "But no, I cannot have heard
+you aright. It is impossible that you should be so blind as not to see
+the immense advantages of such a marriage."
+
+"Then I must endeavour to be more explicit, monsieur. I positively
+decline your offer, while acknowledging that Mlle. de Beaumesnil's kind
+intentions are entirely too flattering to me."
+
+"You decline--the richest heiress in France. You treat Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's unheard-of concessions with disdain."
+
+"Pardon me," exclaimed Olivier, hastily interrupting him. "I told you
+just now how deeply honoured I felt by your proposition, so I should be
+truly inconsolable if you interpreted my refusal as in any respect
+uncomplimentary to Mlle. de Beaumesnil, whom I have not the honour of
+knowing."
+
+"But I have offered you an opportunity to make her acquaintance."
+
+"That would be useless, monsieur. I do not doubt Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+merits in the least, but as I should tell you all under the
+circumstances, I am not free. My heart and my honour are alike pledged."
+
+"You are betrothed already?"
+
+"In short, monsieur, I am about to marry a young lady whom I both love
+and esteem."
+
+"Great God! What are you telling me, monsieur?" exclaimed the
+unfortunate baron, fairly gasping for breath, so great was his
+consternation.
+
+"The truth, monsieur, and such an announcement will suffice, I am sure,
+to convince you that--without the slightest intended disparagement of
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil--I cannot even consider the proposition you have
+made to me."
+
+"But if this marriage doesn't come off, I shall lose my deputyship,"
+thought the baron, despairingly. "Why the devil did the marquis insist
+upon my giving my consent if this young idiot was going to be fool
+enough to refuse such a colossal fortune? And there is my ward who
+declared to me this very morning that she would never marry anybody but
+Olivier Raymond. The marquis told me that I would find this an enigma,
+but all enigmas have their answers, and this can be no exception to the
+rule!"
+
+So the baron, unwilling to renounce his hope of political preferment,
+added aloud:
+
+"My dear sir, I implore you to reflect. Do not decide hastily. You have
+plighted your troth,--well and good! You love a young girl, you say,--so
+be it, but thank Heaven, you are still free, and there are sacrifices
+which one should have the courage to make for the sake of his future.
+Think, monsieur, an income of more than three million francs a year from
+landed property! Why, nobody on earth could be expected to refuse such a
+fortune as that! And the young girl who loves you--if she really loves
+you for yourself alone--will be the first, if she is not frightfully
+selfish, to advise you to accept this unexpected good fortune with
+resignation. An income of over three million francs, my dear sir, and
+from real estate, remember."
+
+"I have told you that my heart and honour are alike pledged, monsieur,
+so it pains me to see that, in spite of the favourable reports you have
+heard concerning me, you still believe me capable of a base and
+cowardly act," added Olivier, severely.
+
+"Heaven forbid, my dear sir! I believe you to be the most honourable man
+in the world, but--"
+
+"Will you do me the favour, monsieur," said Olivier, rising, "to inform
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil of the reasons that prompted my decision. I feel
+sure that when she hears them she will consider me worthy of her esteem,
+though--"
+
+"But you are worthy of something more than esteem, my dear sir. Such
+disinterestedness is marvellous, admirable, sublime."
+
+"Such disinterestedness on my part is a very simple thing, monsieur. I
+love and I am loved in return. The happiness of my life depends upon my
+approaching marriage."
+
+And Olivier started towards the door.
+
+"But take a few days for reflection, I beseech you, monsieur. Do not be
+guided by this first rash impulse. Again let me venture to remind you
+that it means an income of over three million francs from--"
+
+"There is nothing more that you wish to say to me, I suppose, monsieur,"
+said Olivier, interrupting the baron, and bowing, as if to take leave of
+him.
+
+"Monsieur," exclaimed the baron, desperately, "consider, I beg of you,
+that this refusal on your part is sure to make Mlle. de Beaumesnil very
+unhappy; for you must realise that a guardian, a grave, conscientious
+man like myself, would not have taken the step I have, if he had not
+been absolutely compelled to do so. In other words, my ward will be made
+miserable by your refusal,--she will die, perhaps--"
+
+"Monsieur, I beseech you, in my turn, to remember the exceedingly
+painful position in which you are placing me, a position, in fact, that
+it is impossible for me to endure longer after the announcement of my
+approaching marriage, which I have felt it my duty to make."
+
+Again Olivier bowed respectfully to the baron, and again he started
+towards the door, adding, as he opened it:
+
+"I should have been glad to end this interview less abruptly, monsieur.
+Will you, therefore, be kind enough to excuse me, and to attribute my
+hasty retreat to an insistence on your part which places me in the most
+disagreeable, I was about to say the most ridiculous, position
+imaginable."
+
+And having uttered these words, Olivier walked out of the room, in spite
+of the baron's despairing protests.
+
+That gentleman, half frantic with disappointment and anger, rushed
+towards the door leading into the room where the hunchback and the two
+young girls were standing, and pulling aside the portiere, exclaimed:
+
+"And now will you be good enough to explain the meaning of all this? Why
+have you made such a fool of me? And why does this M. Olivier refuse
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil's hand, and declare he has never seen her in his
+life when you assure me that he and my ward are desperately in love with
+each other?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
+
+
+But M. de la Rochaigue's bewilderment was by no means at an end.
+
+The baron had fully expected to find the unseen auditors of the
+foregoing conversation in a state of intense consternation over M.
+Olivier's refusal.
+
+Far from it.
+
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil and Herminie, clasped in each other's arms, were
+laughing and crying and kissing each other in a transport of half
+delirious joy.
+
+"He refused me! He refused me!" exclaimed Ernestine, in accents of
+ineffable delight.
+
+"Ah, I told you that M. Olivier would not disappoint our expectations,
+my dear Ernestine," added Herminie.
+
+"Wasn't I right? Didn't I tell you that he would refuse?" cried the
+marquis, no less delighted.
+
+"Then why the devil did you make such a fuss about gaining my consent?"
+demanded the baron, forgetting his dignity in his thorough exasperation.
+"Why did both of you insist upon my making that young idiot such an
+unheard-of proposal, if you wanted him to refuse it?"
+
+These words seemed to recall Ernestine to the fact of the baron's
+existence, for, releasing herself from her friend's arms, she turned a
+radiant face towards her guardian, and exclaimed, in tones of the most
+profound gratitude:
+
+"Oh, thank you, monsieur, thank you! I shall owe the happiness of my
+whole life to you, and I assure you, I shall never prove ungrateful."
+
+"But you must have misunderstood him," cried the baron, "he refuses, he
+refuses, he refuses, I tell you."
+
+"Yes, he refuses," exclaimed Ernestine, ecstatically. "Ah, has he not
+the noblest of hearts!"
+
+"They have certainly gone mad, every one of them," murmured the poor
+baron, in despair.
+
+"But this young man is as good as married,--he won't have you! He says
+nothing would induce him to have you!" he fairly shouted in Ernestine's
+ear. "His marriage is to take place very shortly."
+
+"Yes, thank God, there is no further obstacle to that marriage now,"
+cried Ernestine, "so I thank you once again, M. de la Rochaigue. I thank
+you with all my heart, and I shall never, never forget what you have
+done for me."
+
+Fortunately the hunchback now came to the rescue of the unfortunate
+baron, who really felt as if his poor brain was about to burst.
+
+"I promised you the answer to the enigma, you remember, my dear baron,"
+said M. de Maillefort.
+
+"I think it is time, quite time for you to give it, then, marquis. If
+you do not, I believe I shall go mad. There is a strange buzzing in my
+ears, my head feels as if it would split, there are specks floating
+before my eyes--and--"
+
+"Well, then, listen to me. This morning your ward declared that she
+would not marry anybody but M. Olivier Raymond, and that the happiness
+of her life depended upon it, did she not?"
+
+"You certainly are not going to begin that all over again?" exclaimed M.
+de la Rochaigue, stamping his foot angrily.
+
+"Have a little patience, baron. I told you afterwards that all the good
+you had heard in relation to M. Olivier Raymond was nothing in
+comparison with what you would soon discover for yourself."
+
+"Well, what have I discovered?"
+
+"Is the disinterestedness which you yourself were obliged to admire
+nothing? To refuse the richest heiress in France to fulfil a promise of
+marriage previously made to a penniless young girl--is not such conduct
+as that--?"
+
+"Admirable, commendable, worthy of all praise," exclaimed the baron. "I
+know all that! But I repeat that I shall go stark staring mad if you
+don't explain why this refusal, which should fill you and my ward with
+dismay and consternation, seems to delight you beyond measure,--that is,
+if you are still anxious for Ernestine to marry Olivier."
+
+"I certainly am."
+
+"Well, I'd like to know how you are going to bring it about, for his
+heart seems to be set upon marrying the other girl."
+
+"And that is precisely what pleases us so much," said the hunchback.
+
+"Delights us, you mean," corrected Ernestine.
+
+"It delights you because he is determined to marry another girl?"
+exclaimed the baron, positively furious now.
+
+"Yes, but you see this other girl is she!" explained the marquis.
+
+"She--and who is she?" shouted the baron.
+
+"Your ward."
+
+"But the other girl is my ward."
+
+"Certainly," replied Ernestine, triumphantly, "I am the other girl."
+
+"Yes, baron, the other girl, I tell you, is she, your ward."
+
+"Yes, she is Ernestine," added Herminie.
+
+"It is all perfectly clear now, you see," remarked the marquis.
+
+On hearing this explanation, which was even more incomprehensible to him
+than what had gone before, the unfortunate baron cast a half frantic
+glance around him, then, closing his eyes, said to the hunchback, in
+despairing tones:
+
+"M. de Maillefort, you seem to be absolutely pitiless. I have as strong
+a mind as anybody else, I think, but it is incapable of unravelling such
+a mystery as this. You promised to give me the answer to this beastly
+enigma, but the answer is even more incomprehensible than the enigma
+itself."
+
+"Come, come, my dear baron, calm yourself, and listen to me."
+
+"I have been listening to you for a quarter of an hour or more," groaned
+the baron, "and yet I am very much worse off than I was in the
+beginning."
+
+"Well, well, everything shall be made plain now," said the marquis,
+soothingly.
+
+"Proceed, then, I beg of you."
+
+"Very well, then, these are the facts of the case: Through a combination
+of circumstances which will be explained later on, and which have no
+special bearing on the subject now under consideration, your ward met M.
+Olivier and passed herself off to him as a poor orphan girl, who was
+supporting herself by her needle. Do you understand thus far, baron?"
+
+"Yes, I understand thus far. What next?"
+
+"Well, by reason of other circumstances with which you will soon be made
+conversant, your ward and M. Olivier fell in love with each other, he
+still supposing Mlle. de Beaumesnil to be a friendless and penniless
+orphan, and so unhappy in her home relations that he felt that he was,
+and in fact was, exceedingly generous in offering to marry her when he
+was made an officer."
+
+"In short," exclaimed the baron, straightening himself up to his full
+height, and speaking in triumphant tones,--"in short, Ernestine and the
+other young girl are simply one and the same person."
+
+"Precisely," responded the hunchback.
+
+"And so," continued the baron, wiping the perspiration which his
+Herculean mental efforts had produced from his brow,--"and so you wished
+to find out if Olivier loved the other, the poor girl, enough to resist,
+for her sake, the temptation to marry the richest heiress in France?"
+
+"Exactly, baron."
+
+"Hence your romantic story that Mlle. de Beaumesnil had seen Olivier
+during his stay at the chateau and had fallen in love with him."
+
+"It was necessary to find some plausible excuse for the proposal you
+were commissioned to make to him. This story furnished it, and I must
+say that you played your part admirably. And M. Olivier,--well, was I
+wrong in assuring you that M. Olivier Raymond was the soul of honour?"
+
+"He is, indeed!" exclaimed the baron. "Listen, marquis. I am not
+inclined to revert to the past, but I admit that I considered this a
+very unsuitable marriage for my ward. Ah, well, now I distinctly assert,
+affirm, and declare that, after what I have just seen and heard, if my
+ward were my own daughter, I should say to her: 'Marry M. Raymond, by
+all means. You could not make a better choice.'"
+
+"Ah, monsieur, I shall never forget those words!" cried Ernestine.
+
+"But this is not all, my dear baron."
+
+"What else can there be, pray?" demanded M. de la Rochaigue, uneasily,
+evidently fearing a fresh imbroglio.
+
+"This test had a twofold object. M. Olivier's extreme sensitiveness in
+pecuniary matters is so well known to his friends that we feared when he
+discovered that the young girl whom he thought so poor was really Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil, he, being only a young lieutenant without either rank or
+fortune, would absolutely refuse to marry the richest heiress in France,
+though he had loved her and asked her to be his wife, when he believed
+her absolutely penniless."
+
+"Such scruples on his part would not surprise me in the least," said the
+baron. "The fellow is so proud, the slightest hint that he might be
+considered a fortune-hunter would infuriate him. And now I think of it,
+the obstacle you fear still exists."
+
+"No, my dear baron."
+
+"But why not?"
+
+"Why, can't you see?" exclaimed Ernestine, joyously. "M. Olivier has
+positively refused to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil, the rich heiress, has
+he not?"
+
+"Unquestionably," said the baron; "still, I don't understand--"
+
+"But when M. Olivier discovers who I really am, how can he feel any fear
+of being accused of mercenary motives in marrying me, when he had
+positively refused to accept the proffered hand of the richest heiress
+in France?"
+
+"Or, in other words, an income of over three million francs," exclaimed
+the baron, interrupting his ward. "That is true. The idea is an
+excellent one. I congratulate you upon it, M. le marquis, and I say,
+with you, that even if M. Olivier were a thousand times more proud and
+sensitive, he could not hold out against this argument, viz.: 'You
+positively refused to accept the three million francs when they were
+offered you, so your motives are necessarily above suspicion.'"
+
+"And it is impossible for M. Olivier to feel any scruples under these
+circumstances, do you not think so, monsieur?"
+
+"Most assuredly I do, my dear ward. But this revelation will have to be
+made to M. Olivier sooner or later, I suppose."
+
+"Of course, and I will attend to it," replied the marquis. "I have a
+plan. We will talk that over together, by and by, baron, that and
+certain business matters which young girls understand very little about.
+Am I not right, my child?" added the marquis, with a smile, turning to
+Ernestine.
+
+"Perfectly right," answered Mlle. de Beanmesnil, "and whatever you and
+my guardian may decide, I agree to in advance."
+
+"I need not say, my dear baron, that we must maintain the utmost secrecy
+in relation to all this until the signing of the marriage contract,
+which I have my reasons for desiring should precede the publishing of
+the banns. Day after to-morrow will not be too soon, I suppose. What do
+you think about it, Ernestine?"
+
+"You can guess my reply, monsieur," answered the young girl, blushing
+and smiling.
+
+Then she added, hastily:
+
+"But mine will not be the only contract to sign. There is another, isn't
+there, Herminie?"
+
+"That is for M. de Maillefort to decide," replied Herminie, blushingly.
+
+"I approve most decidedly; but who is to attend to all this rather
+troublesome business?"
+
+"You, of course, M. de Maillefort. You are so good and kind!" cried
+Ernestine.
+
+"Besides, have you not proved that nothing is impossible to you?" added
+Herminie.
+
+"Oh, as for the impossibilities achieved, when I think of the scene at
+your home this morning, you, my dear child, are the one who deserves
+praise, not I."
+
+On hearing these words, M. de la Rochaigue, who had seemed to be hardly
+aware of Herminie's presence before, turned to her, and said:
+
+"Pardon me, my dear young lady; my attention has been so engrossed by
+what has just occurred that--"
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue," said Ernestine, taking Herminie by the hand, "I
+wish to present to you my dearest friend, or, rather, my sister, for no
+two sisters could love each other more devotedly than we do."
+
+"But," said the baron, greatly surprised, "if I am not very much
+mistaken, mademoiselle--mademoiselle is the music teacher we selected
+for you on account of the extreme delicacy of her conduct in relation to
+a perfectly just claim upon the Beaumesnil estate."
+
+"You still have some very remarkable things to learn in relation to
+Mlle. Herminie, my dear baron," said the marquis.
+
+"Indeed? And what are they, may I ask?"
+
+"In the conversation which you and I must have, presently, I will answer
+your question fully; but now I am sure it will suffice you to know that
+your ward has placed her friendship as wisely as her love; for I can
+truly say that the person who would select M. Olivier Raymond for a
+husband would be certain to select Mlle. Herminie for a friend."
+
+"M. de Maillefort is right," said Mlle. de Beaumesnil, twining her arm
+affectionately about her friend's waist; "both these greatest blessings
+came to me the same evening at Madame Herbaut's little party."
+
+"Madame Herbaut's little party!" repeated the baron, opening his eyes
+wide, in astonishment, "What Madame Herbaut?"
+
+"My dear child, you should be generous, and not give M. de la Rochaigue
+any more enigmas to solve this evening," said the hunchback.
+
+"I declare myself utterly incapable of solving them," exclaimed the
+baron. "My poor brain feels as confused and bewildered as if I had just
+made a balloon ascension."
+
+"Don't be alarmed, baron," said M. de Maillefort, laughing. "I shall
+spare your imagination any further flights by soon telling you all there
+is to tell."
+
+"In that case we will leave you," said Ernestine, smiling. Then she
+added:
+
+"But I feel it my duty to warn you before I go that Herminie and I have
+entered into a conspiracy, M. de la Rochaigue."
+
+"And what is this conspiracy, young ladies?"
+
+"As it is so late, and as I should certainly become quite crazed with
+joy if I were left entirely alone with my happiness, Herminie has
+consented to remain with me until to-morrow morning. We shall dine
+tete-a-tete, and in the happiest of moods, as you may imagine."
+
+"An admirable arrangement, young ladies, for Madame de la Rochaigue and
+I have an engagement to dine out this evening," said the baron; "so a
+pleasant evening to you."
+
+"I shall see you both again to-morrow," said M. de Maillefort. "There
+are some details which I am sure you will enjoy, that we must discuss
+together."
+
+The two girls, radiant with delight, returned to Ernestine's apartments,
+and, after a daintily served dinner,--which they scarcely touched, so
+absorbed were they in their new-found joy and happiness,--they retired
+to Ernestine's chamber, to again talk over the strange vicissitudes of
+their love affairs and of their friendship.
+
+In about a quarter of an hour they were, to their great regret,
+interrupted by Madame Laine, who entered the room after having rapped in
+a deprecating manner.
+
+"What do you want, my dear Laine?" asked Ernestine, a trifle
+impatiently.
+
+"I have a favour to ask of mademoiselle."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Mademoiselle is perhaps aware that M. le baron and madame are dining
+out this evening, and that they will not return home until late."
+
+"Yes, what of it?"
+
+"Mlle. Helena, wishing the servants to profit by the leisure evening
+monsieur's and madame's absence affords them, secured three loges at the
+Gaite Theatre this morning, where they are playing 'The Maccabees,' a
+drama founded on an episode in Bible history."
+
+"And you, too, wish to go, I suppose, my dear Laine?"
+
+"If mademoiselle will not need me until it is time for her to retire."
+
+"You can have the entire evening, my dear Laine, and take Therese with
+you, if you choose."
+
+"But what if mademoiselle should need something before our return?"
+
+"Oh, I shall not need anything. Mlle. Herminie and I will wait on each
+other. Go, and enjoy yourself, by all means, my dear Laine, and be sure
+to take Therese with you."
+
+"Mademoiselle is very kind. I thank her a thousand times. If
+mademoiselle should need anything, she has only to ring, however, for
+Mlle. Helena told Placide to come down so as to be ready to answer
+mademoiselle's bell if she rang."
+
+"Very well, I will ring for her if I want anything. Good night, my dear
+Laine."
+
+The governess bowed and retired, and the two young girls were left
+almost alone in the big house, all the other inmates of the dwelling
+having gone out, with the exception of Mlle. Helena de la Rochaigue and
+Placide, that lady's personal attendant, who had been instructed to
+respond to the summons should Mlle. de Beaumesnil ring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+FOILED!
+
+
+The clock had just struck ten.
+
+It was a dark and stormy night, and the howling of the wind was the only
+sound that broke the profound silence which pervaded the spacious
+mansion.
+
+The young girls had been talking for two hours of their sad past and
+their radiant future, though it seemed to them that the interchange of
+confidence had scarcely begun.
+
+But suddenly Ernestine paused in the middle of a sentence, and, turning
+her head in the direction of Madame Laine's room, seemed to listen
+attentively.
+
+"What is the matter, Ernestine?" inquired Herminie.
+
+"Nothing, my dear, nothing," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil, "I was
+mistaken, of course."
+
+"But what was it?"
+
+"It seemed to me I heard a sound in Madame Laine's room."
+
+"What a timid little thing you are!" said Herminie. "It was probably
+some outside shutter rattling in the wind you heard and--"
+
+But Herminie, making a sudden movement of surprise in her turn, quickly
+turned her head towards the door that separated Ernestine's bedroom from
+the adjoining parlour, and said:
+
+"How strange, Ernestine! Did you notice--?"
+
+"That some one turned the key in that door."
+
+Without replying, Herminie ran to the door and turned the knob.
+
+Further doubt was impossible. Some one had, indeed, locked the door on
+the outside.
+
+"Great Heavens! what does this mean?" whispered Ernestine, really
+frightened now. "And all the servants are out. Ah, fortunately, Placide,
+one of Mlle. Helena's maids remained at home."
+
+And rushing to the bell-rope, Mlle. de Beaumesnil pulled it violently
+several times.
+
+Meanwhile Herminie had recalled the vague uneasiness the marquis had
+shown that afternoon when he alluded to the intimacy between Ravil and
+Macreuse, but though she was considerably alarmed herself she did not
+wish to increase Ernestine's terror, so she said:
+
+"Don't be frightened, my dear; the person you rang for can explain what
+surprises you so much, probably."
+
+"But she doesn't come, and this is the third time I have rung for her!"
+exclaimed Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+Then, trembling like a leaf, she added, in a whisper, pointing this time
+to the door which separated her chamber from Madame Laine's':
+
+"Listen. Oh, my God! don't you hear somebody walking about in there?"
+
+Herminie made her a reassuring gesture, but Mlle. de Beaumesnil, after
+listening again for an instant, exclaimed with even greater terror:
+
+"Herminie, I tell you I hear some one moving about! They are coming
+towards the door. Listen!"
+
+"We'll push the bolt and fasten ourselves in," said Herminie, promptly,
+hastening towards the door.
+
+But just as the young girl was about to place her hand on the bolt, the
+door suddenly opened, and M. de Macreuse entered the room.
+
+On seeing him, Herminie uttered a cry and sprang back, while this model
+young man, turning towards some one who had remained in the next room,
+exclaimed, in accents of amazement and baffled rage:
+
+"Hell! she is not alone! All is lost!"
+
+On hearing these words, a second intruder appeared.
+
+It was Ravil.
+
+And at the sight of Herminie, he cried, in a no less surprised and angry
+tone:
+
+"Damnation! that girl here!"
+
+Herminie and Ernestine had retreated to the farther end of the room, and
+there, clasped in each other's arms as if to afford each other mutual
+support, they stood, paralysed with fright, and unable to utter a word.
+
+Macreuse and Ravil, at first astounded, and then infuriated by the
+unexpected presence of Herminie, which seemed likely to ruin their
+plans, also stood silent and motionless for a moment, gazing inquiringly
+at each other as if to read in each other's faces what they had better
+do under such unforeseen circumstances.
+
+The two girls, in spite of their terror, had noted the exclamations of
+astonishment and dismay which had escaped both Macreuse and his
+accomplice on finding that Mlle. de Beaumesnil was not alone, as they
+had anticipated.
+
+The two girls had also noticed the state of consternation in which the
+founder of the St. Polycarpe mission and his accomplice had been
+momentarily plunged.
+
+Both these observations served to restore a little courage to the
+sisters, and, reason coming to their aid, they finally came to the
+conclusion that together they were as strong as they would have been
+helpless had either of them found herself at the mercy of these
+wretches, alone.
+
+So Mlle. de Beaumesnil, realising how great was the danger from which
+Herminie's presence had saved her, exclaimed, with a tenderness and
+gratitude which proved the intensity of her anxiety and dread:
+
+"See, Herminie, Heaven has again sent you to act as my protector! But
+for you I should be lost."
+
+"Courage, my dear, courage!" whispered the duchess. "See how
+disconcerted the scoundrels look!"
+
+"You are right, Herminie! Such a blissful day as this has been to us can
+not be spoiled! I have a blind confidence in our star now."
+
+Cheered by this brief interchange of whispered words, the orphans,
+strengthened, too, by the thought of the radiant future before them,
+gradually recovered their composure, and at last Ernestine, addressing
+Macreuse and his accomplice, said, bravely:
+
+"You will not succeed in terrifying us. The first shock is over and your
+audacity arouses only disdain. In a short time the servants will return,
+and you will be put out of the house as disgracefully as you entered
+it."
+
+"It is true we may be compelled to endure your presence for awhile,"
+added Herminie, with bitter scorn; "but in spite of our contempt and
+aversion, Mlle. de Beaumesnil and I have both been subjected to more
+severe ordeals."
+
+"What a courageous man you are, M. de Macreuse, to steal at night, with
+an accomplice, into the room of a young girl you believe to be alone, in
+order to secure a cowardly revenge for the humiliation that M. de
+Maillefort, who knows you, inflicted upon you in public!" added
+Ernestine.
+
+Macreuse and Ravil listened to these sarcasms in silence, interchanging
+wrathful looks the while.
+
+"My dear Herminie," resumed Mlle. de Beaumesnil, whose countenance was
+gradually regaining its accustomed serenity, "I may seem very silly to
+you, and it may be that the great happiness we have experienced to-day
+has upset me a little, but really all this seems so utterly absurd and
+ridiculous to me that I can scarcely help laughing."
+
+"I, too, must admit that it seems ridiculous, and even grotesque, to
+me."
+
+"The discomfiture of these scoundrels is really pitiable," remarked
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, bursting into a hearty laugh this time.
+
+"The impotent rage of these conspirators, who excite mirth rather than
+fear, is extremely amusing," chimed in Herminie, no less gaily.
+
+In fact, the bewilderment of these two scoundrels, who did not consider
+themselves in the least subjects for mirth, was so ludicrous that the
+orphans, either because their happiness had, indeed, made them bold, or
+because they were really brave enough to face this danger unflinchingly,
+gave way to another burst of feverish, vindictive gaiety,--feverish,
+because the two girls were naturally excited by the very strangeness of
+the situation, vindictive, because they were fully conscious of the
+disappointment and exasperation they were causing Macreuse and Ravil.
+
+The intruders, momentarily disconcerted by the unexpected presence of
+Herminie, and by the strange hilarity of the young girls, soon began to
+recover their assurance.
+
+Macreuse, whose drawn features were assuming a more and more threatening
+expression, whispered a few words in Ravil's ear, whereupon that worthy
+hastily stepped to the only window in the room, and slipped a small
+steel chain around the fastening, thus effectually closing the window as
+well as the inside shutters, and then united the two ends of the chain
+with a padlock.
+
+This done, it was impossible, of course, to open either the window or
+shutters from the inside and call for help.
+
+The two girls thus found themselves at the mercy of Macreuse and De
+Ravil.
+
+The door leading into the sitting-room had been locked on the other side
+by Mlle. Helena's maid, for it is needless to say that this saintly
+creature and her attendant were Macreuse's accomplices, but both were
+ignorant that Herminie was still with Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+While Ravil was thus engaged, Macreuse, whose countenance expressed the
+most execrable sentiments, folded his arms upon his breast, and said,
+with portentous calmness:
+
+"My first plan has failed by reason of the presence of this accursed
+creature (indicating Herminie by a gesture). I am frank, you see. But I
+have ingenuity in plenty, and a devoted friend. You are both in our
+power. We have two hours at our disposal, and I will convince you that I
+am not a person to be laughed at long."
+
+These threats, as well as the tone and expression of the man that made
+them, were rendered even more terrifying by the solitude and entirely
+defenceless position in which the two girls found themselves; but if
+tragical things are once viewed in a ridiculous light, anything that
+increases the horror of them likewise seems to increase the laughter of
+the beholder, which soon becomes irrepressible.
+
+Macreuse's threats produced this very effect upon the two young girls,
+for, unfortunately, as he spoke he made an involuntary movement that
+caused his hat to slip far back on his head, and this, in spite of his
+threatening, almost ferocious expression, gave such an odd appearance to
+his rather broad face that the two girls burst into a fresh fit of
+merriment.
+
+Then came the accomplice's turn.
+
+The girls had watched Ravil's manoeuvre with even more curiosity than
+alarm, but when the time came to pass the hasp of the padlock through
+the last links of the chain, Ravil, who was a little near-sighted, did
+not succeed at first, and stamped his foot violently in his anger and
+impatience.
+
+This elicited another such paroxysm of nervous laughter from the two
+girls that Macreuse and his accomplice, amazed, then as deeply
+exasperated as if they had been slapped in the face, in the presence of
+a hundred witnesses, lost their heads, and, quite carried away with
+ferocious rage, sprang towards the young girls, and seized them savagely
+by the arm.
+
+As they did so, Macreuse, his face livid, his eyes haggard, and
+positively foaming at the mouth with rage, but with his unfortunate hat
+still on the back of his head, exclaimed:
+
+"Have we got to kill you to frighten you?"
+
+"Alas! it is not our fault," said Ernestine, bursting into another fit
+of laughter at the sight of this alike terrible and grotesque figure.
+"You can only kill us--with laughter."
+
+And Herminie chimed in.
+
+Infuriated beyond expression, there is no knowing to what violence the
+two villains might have resorted, but at that very instant the door
+leading into the sitting-room--the door which had been locked on the
+outside--was suddenly opened, and M. de Maillefort, accompanied by
+Gerald, burst into the room, exclaiming, in a voice full of anxiety and
+alarm:
+
+"Have no fears, my children; here we are!"
+
+But judge of the newcomers' astonishment. Both had rushed in, pale and
+terrified, like persons who had come to rescue a friend from some great
+danger. And what did they behold?
+
+Two young girls with brilliant colour, sparkling eyes, and bosoms
+heaving with laughter, while Macreuse and Ravil stood pale with rage and
+motionless with terror at this unexpected interference.
+
+For an instant the marquis attributed this strange hilarity on the part
+of the two girls to hysteria, caused by intense fright, but he was
+speedily reassured by Ernestine, who said:
+
+"Forgive this extraordinary gaiety, my dear M. de Maillefort, but such a
+strange thing has happened. These two men entered the house by that
+back stairway I told you about--"
+
+[Illustration: _"M. de Maillefort, accompanied by Gerald, burst into the
+room."_
+
+Original etching by Adrian Marcel.]
+
+"Yes," said the marquis, turning to Herminie; "the key--this
+morning--you remember, my child. My presentiments did not deceive me, it
+seems."
+
+"I must admit that we were terribly frightened at first," replied
+Herminie, "but when we saw the rage and disappointment of these men, who
+had expected to find Ernestine alone--"
+
+"And their consternation was so ludicrous," added Mlle. de Beaumesnil,
+"and we felt so perfectly safe, being together, that what had seemed so
+terrible at first began--"
+
+"To appear positively ludicrous," added Herminie.
+
+"But just as you came in M. de Macreuse was talking of killing us to
+cure us of our inclination to laugh," remarked Ernestine.
+
+"Did any one ever see the like of them?" the marquis exclaimed,
+admiringly, turning to Gerald. "Are they not as brave as they are
+charming?"
+
+"I admire their courage as much as you do," replied Gerald, "but when I
+think of the shameful audacity of these scoundrels, whom I hardly dare
+to look at for fear I shall not be able to control myself and so trample
+them under my feet, I--"
+
+"Nonsense, my dear Gerald, nonsense!" exclaimed the marquis. "Gentlemen
+do not touch carrion like that even with their feet. The criminal court
+will attend to them now."
+
+And turning to the model young man and to Ravil, who had summoned up all
+their assurance with the evident intention of braving the storm, the
+hunchback said:
+
+"M. de Macreuse, since your sudden intimacy with M. de Ravil began,
+knowing what you were both capable of, I have had you closely watched."
+
+"A system of espionage, eh?" said Macreuse, with a haughty smile. "I am
+not surprised."
+
+"Yes, of espionage," retorted the hunchback. "This morning I happened to
+see you in a locksmith's. You were showing a key to him, and this
+excited my suspicions. I consequently redoubled my vigilance, and this
+evening you and your companion were followed here by two of my men. One
+of those men remained by the door which he had just seen you open with a
+false key. The other ran to inform me, and I, in turn, sent him to
+summon the police, who must be waiting for you this very minute at the
+foot of the stairway by which you effected an entrance here. They will
+speedily give you and your worthy friend some idea of the annoyance to
+which persons who enter an occupied house at night by the aid of false
+keys expose themselves."
+
+On hearing this announcement, Macreuse and Ravil gave a violent start,
+and looked at each other, their faces livid with fear.
+
+"You are pretty certain to be sent to the galleys, I think," continued
+the hunchback, coolly. "But M. de Macreuse can play the part of St.
+Vincent de Paul there, and excite the admiration of his red-capped
+colleagues by his Christian virtues."
+
+The sound of footsteps was heard in the room of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+governess.
+
+"The commissioner of police has taken the trouble to come for you, as
+you don't seem inclined to go down," remarked the marquis. "It is
+certainly very kind in him."
+
+The door opened almost at that very instant, and a commissioner of
+police, followed by several members of the force, entered, and said to
+Macreuse and Ravil:
+
+"I arrest you in the name of the law, and I shall now proceed in your
+presence to draw up an official report of the criminating facts in the
+case."
+
+"Come, my dear children," said the marquis to Ernestine and Herminie,
+"let us leave these gentlemen to attend to their own affairs while we go
+up to Madame de la Rochaigue's apartments to await the return of your
+guardian."
+
+"The testimony of these young ladies will be indispensable, M. le
+marquis," said the commissioner, "and I shall do myself the honour to
+call upon them for it presently."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An hour afterwards, the founder of the St. Polycarpe Mission and his
+accomplice were both placed in prison, to answer to the charge of having
+entered an occupied house at night by means of false keys, and of having
+attempted to intimidate the inmates by threats and violence.
+
+On the return of the baron and baroness, it was decided that Ernestine
+and Herminie should share Madame de la Rochaigue's room the rest of the
+night.
+
+As the hunchback took leave of the young girls, he smilingly remarked to
+them:
+
+"I have accomplished a good deal since I last saw you. The marriage
+contracts are drawn up, and they will be signed at Herminie's home at
+seven o'clock to-morrow evening."
+
+"At my home? How glad I am!" said the duchess.
+
+"Is it not always customary to sign the contract at the house of the
+bride?" asked the marquis. "And as you and Ernestine are so devoted to
+each other that you are almost the same as sisters--"
+
+"Exactly the same as sisters, you mean."
+
+"It is only proper that Ernestine's marriage contract should be signed
+at the home of her elder sister."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So all the next day, Herminie, radiant with happiness, was making
+important preparations in her pretty, dainty room for the signing of the
+marriage contracts of the richest heiress in France, and of the adopted
+daughter of M. le Marquis de Maillefort, Prince Duc de Haut-Martel,--an
+adoption of which the poor musician had not as yet the slightest
+suspicion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+AN EVENTFUL DAY.
+
+
+Herminie was not the only person who was busily engaged in preparations
+for the signing of these contracts.
+
+A joyous excitement pervaded a modest little home in the Batignolles,
+also.
+
+Commander Bernard, Gerald, and Olivier had insisted upon dining together
+that evening under the same arbour where the opening scene of this story
+had occurred several months before.
+
+At the conclusion of the repast all three were to repair to Herminie's
+for the signing of the marriage contract.
+
+A superb autumn afternoon had favoured the realisation of this project,
+and Madame Barbancon had surpassed herself in her culinary achievements.
+
+Notified in advance this time, she had tended with the utmost solicitude
+a triumphant _pot au feu_, which was to be followed by some juicy
+cutlets, a fine roast chicken, and a boiled custard, where the snowy
+whites of the eggs floated in immaculate whiteness upon a rich vanilla
+cream.
+
+Poor Madame Barbancon considered this decidedly commonplace menu the _ne
+plus ultra_ of culinary magnificence.
+
+But, alas! in spite of the excellence of the repast, the three guests
+did little honour to it. Joy had deprived them of their appetites, and
+the worthy housekeeper, in her disappointment, could not help comparing
+this disheartening indifference with the zest with which Gerald and
+Olivier had devoured two helpings of her hastily improvised vinaigrette
+several months before.
+
+Madame Barbancon had just removed the fowl almost untouched, and as she
+placed the snow custard on the table, she muttered between her teeth:
+
+"They'll clean this dish sure. One doesn't have to be hungry to eat
+this. It is the very food for lovers."
+
+"The devil! Mother Barbancon," said the commander, gaily, "here's a dish
+that reminds me of the snow-banks of Newfoundland. What a pity it is
+that none of us are the least bit hungry!"
+
+"It is, indeed, for Madame Barbancon has proved herself to be a
+veritable _cordon bleu_ to-day," remarked Gerald.
+
+"It is the finest snow custard that was ever concocted," added Olivier.
+"We can at least devour it with our eyes."
+
+The housekeeper, who could not believe that she was to be subjected to
+this last cruel affront, said, in constrained tones:
+
+"You gentlemen must be jesting."
+
+"Jesting about such a sacred thing as your snow custard, Mother
+Barbancon? The devil take me if I should dare to be as sacrilegious as
+all that," said the commander. "But as we're not in the least hungry, it
+is impossible for us to taste your _chef-d'oeuvre_."
+
+"Yes, absolutely impossible," repeated the two young men.
+
+The housekeeper did not utter a word, but a sudden contraction of her
+features betrayed the violence of her resentment plainly enough.
+
+Seizing a soup plate, she emptied nearly half the contents of the dish
+into it; then, placing it in front of the astonished commander, said, in
+tones of authority:
+
+"You--you will eat it, monsieur."
+
+"But listen, Mother Barbancon--"
+
+"It is no use to 'Mother Barbancon' me. This is only the second time in
+ten years that I have had occasion to make a snow custard. I made this
+in honour of M. Olivier's and M. Gerald's marriages. There are no 'ifs'
+and 'buts' about it; you are going to eat it."
+
+The unfortunate veteran, seeing only hostile faces around him,--for
+Gerald and Olivier, the traitors, pretended to uphold the
+housekeeper,--attempted a compromise.
+
+"All right. I will eat it to-morrow, Mother Barbancon," he said.
+
+"As if a snow custard would keep until to-morrow!" retorted the
+housekeeper, shrugging her shoulders. "You're going to eat it now, this
+minute."
+
+"I won't do anything of the kind," exclaimed the veteran, testily. "I'm
+not going to kill myself for anybody."
+
+"Kill yourself with a snow custard made by me!" exclaimed the
+housekeeper, as sadly and reproachfully as if her employer had mortally
+insulted her. "Ah, me! I little expected--after ten years of faithful
+service--and on such--such a happy day--the day when M. Olivier is to
+take a wife--to find myself--treated--like--this."
+
+And the worthy woman began to sob violently.
+
+"What on earth is the woman crying about?" exclaimed the veteran, in
+despair. "You are crazy, my dear woman! Upon my word of honour, you must
+be crazy!"
+
+"Kill you! Ah, I shall not forget those words for many a long year, I
+can tell you."
+
+"Oh, come, come now! I'll eat the--Look, don't you see that I am eating
+it now?" said the unfortunate commander, hastily swallowing a few
+spoonfuls. "It is delicious, divine, this custard of yours. Are you
+satisfied now?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur; yes, that satisfies me," said the housekeeper, drying
+her tears. "It was a nice custard. I said to myself while I was stirring
+it, 'I certainly must give my recipe to M. Olivier's little wife.' I
+must, mustn't I, M. Olivier?"
+
+"Of course you must, Madame Barbancon, for Mlle. Ernestine is going to
+prove a model housekeeper, I'm sure."
+
+"And the grand pickles I'll teach her to make,--green as grass and crisp
+as hazelnuts. Oh, you shall see what nice little dishes we will fix up
+for you, your little wife and I."
+
+Gerald, to whom M. de Maillefort had been obliged to confide the secret
+of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's masquerade, could not help laughing heartily at
+the idea of Madame Barbancon giving her cooking recipes to the richest
+heiress in France.
+
+"What are you laughing at, M. Gerald?" asked the housekeeper. "Have you
+no confidence in my recipes?"
+
+"I believe in them as I believe in the gospels. I am laughing just
+because I am so happy, I suppose. That is only natural, I imagine, on
+one's marriage day."
+
+"There have been monsters who were more ferocious than ever on their
+marriage day," responded Madame Barbancon, with a gloomy and profoundly
+mysterious air.
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"Think, M. Gerald. Don't you recollect how he conducted himself on the
+day of his marriage with Marie Louise?--the scoundrel!"
+
+Madame Barbancon evidently thought it entirely superfluous to mention
+the object of her execration by name.
+
+"Come, Mother Barbancon, you had better give us our coffee now,"
+interposed the commander. "It is nearly six o'clock."
+
+"Well, monsieur, that wretch whom you admire so much, on the day of his
+marriage with Marie Louise, behaved more cruelly than any tiger to that
+darling little King of Rome, who, clasping his tiny hands, pleaded in
+his fresh, sweet voice: 'Papa Emperor, do not desert poor Mamma
+Josephine.'"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes; I remember it very well," replied Gerald, with wonderful
+_sang-froid_. "You are speaking of the King of Rome, Josephine's son."
+
+"Certainly, M. Gerald; there were no other children. But, after all,
+that is nothing in comparison to what the wretch had the audacity to do
+to the Holy Father, on the very steps of the altar at Notre-Dame."
+
+"What was it he did? I have forgotten."
+
+"It seems," began Madame Barbancon, sententiously, "it seems that at
+coronations the Pope always takes the crown and places it on the head of
+the monarch he is crowning. You can imagine how much this must have
+angered your Bu-u-onaparte, who was already in a huff because he had had
+to kiss the Pope's toe in the middle of the Carrousel, before those
+swaggering guards of his. But he kissed it, the scoundrel! He had to. If
+he hadn't, the _petit homme rouge_, who was against Roustan, and for the
+pope, would have wrung his neck that very night."
+
+"The Pope's?" asked Gerald.
+
+"Roustan's?" inquired Olivier.
+
+"No, no, gentlemen, not theirs, but Bu-u-onaparte's. Still, no matter
+about that. What I was going to say was that when the Holy Father was
+about to crown him, what did that Corsican ogre you are so fond of
+do--like the low common grocer that he was--but grab the crown from the
+hands of the poor Holy Father and put it on his head with one hand,
+while with the other he gave the Holy Father a sound rap on the skull,
+as if to say to the French people: 'Down with religion, the clergy, and
+all! It is only to me you must bow the knee.' It was such a blow that he
+gave the poor Holy Father that he reeled and fell headlong on the steps
+of the altar with his cap down over his eyes, and there he gave thanks
+in Latin, that angel of a man! This goes to prove, M. Olivier," added
+the housekeeper, as a sort of conclusion and moral, "that marriage only
+renders Corsican ogres still more ferocious, while I am sure your and M.
+Gerald's marriage to such dear girls as your sweethearts must be will
+only make you still more kind and amiable."
+
+And the worthy woman hurried off to bring the coffee and serve it while
+Commander Bernard filled his big Kummer pipe.
+
+The hilarity caused by Madame Barbancon's story soon gave place to
+graver and nobler thoughts.
+
+"In spite of her peculiarities, this good woman is right in reminding us
+that our marriage ought to increase whatever good we have in us,"
+remarked Gerald. "I hardly see how it can fail to do so, do you,
+Olivier?"
+
+Then perceiving that his friend had fallen into a sort of reverie,
+Gerald laid a hand affectionately on his shoulder and asked:
+
+"What are you thinking about, Olivier?"
+
+"I was thinking, my dear Gerald, that it was while we were seated at
+this table, just six months ago, that I spoke to you for the first time
+about the charming girl everybody here called the duchess, and that you
+replied: 'Duchesses, don't talk to me of duchesses. I've had enough of
+them!' and now, thanks to you, she is a real duchess, the Duchesse de
+Senneterre. How strangely things come about in this world of ours!"
+
+"You are right, my dear boys," said the old naval officer, "and when the
+present is all that one can desire, it is very pleasant to look back
+upon the past. Six months ago, for example, who would have guessed that
+my brave Olivier would now be on the eve of marrying a dear, sweet girl
+who had saved my life at the risk of her own?"
+
+"And who ever would have supposed that the Mlle. de Beaumesnil we
+talked so much about, and upon whom I had matrimonial designs myself,
+would ever have fallen in love with Olivier?" added Gerald, with a keen
+look at his friend.
+
+"Oh, don't say any more about that foolish affair, Gerald. It was a mere
+whim on the part of a spoiled child,--a whim that is probably forgotten
+even now."
+
+"You are mistaken, Olivier," replied Gerald, gravely. "I have seen Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil and talked with her, and though she is no older than your
+Ernestine, she is not a spoiled or capricious child by any means, but a
+young woman full of good sense and discernment."
+
+"My opinion is that Mlle. de Beaumesnil is at least a young lady of
+excellent taste, as she was so much pleased with my Olivier," exclaimed
+the commander, gaily. "But it was too late; the fortress had already
+surrendered to our dear little Ernestine, who isn't overburdened with
+money, it is true, but who has the very bravest and noblest heart in the
+world."
+
+"You are right, uncle," replied Olivier. "The fortress had surrendered,
+surrendered unconditionally, but even if I had not--"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Gerald, looking at his friend rather
+anxiously. "If your affections had been fancy free, wouldn't you have
+married Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"You're mad, Gerald; of course I wouldn't."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Do you remember what you said here, at this very table, a few months
+ago: that when an immensely wealthy man marries an attractive girl
+because she is charming and worthy of him nobody disapproves of it; but
+that when a man who has nothing, marries a woman who brings him an
+enormous fortune, it is disgraceful. Those were almost his very words,
+were they not, uncle?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"One moment," exclaimed Gerald, unable to control his growing anxiety,
+"you should also recall the arguments you yourself used, Olivier, to
+overcome my scruples on the subject of Mlle. de Beaumesnil: if, in spite
+of her immense fortune, it is evident that you love this young lady as
+much as you would have loved her had she been poor and obscure, the most
+suspicious person could not disapprove of such a marriage. Wasn't that
+what Olivier said, commander, and didn't you agree with him?"
+
+"That is true, M. Gerald; and I am sure nothing could be more just and
+reasonable, but, thank Heaven, we have no such delicate question to deal
+with in this instance. Olivier only acted like any other honourable man
+in refusing to make a wealthy marriage because he loved elsewhere; it
+was all perfectly natural, it seems to me. I am sure neither you nor I
+ought to be at all surprised, for you are making a love match as well as
+Olivier."
+
+"A love match! That is the very word for it!" exclaimed the young
+officer, enthusiastically. "Ernestine is as gentle and kind as she is
+ingenuous; and then the dear girl is so grateful that a fine gentleman
+like myself should be generous enough to marry her!" added Olivier,
+smiling. "Ah, if you only knew what a charming letter she wrote me
+yesterday, telling me that her relative consented to everything, and
+that, if my intentions had not changed, the marriage contract could be
+signed to-day. You cannot imagine anything more artless, and yet more
+exquisitely modest and touching than this letter. It proves Ernestine to
+be the very person I judged her to be from her countenance."
+
+"I have never seen a more attractive face according to my ideas," said
+the old officer.
+
+"Is it not, my dear uncle? Her features are not so remarkably regular,
+it is true, but what a gentle expression she has, and what a charming
+smile, with her little white teeth. And then what superb chestnut hair
+she has, and such a slender waist and such a pretty little hand, and
+the tiniest foot imaginable!"
+
+"Olivier, my boy," said the old officer, pulling out his watch, "you are
+so engaged in enumerating your sweetheart's charms, that you forget it
+is almost time to join her, to say nothing of the fact that M. Gerald
+must have time to go home for his mother so as to take her with him to
+Mlle. Herminie's house."
+
+"We shall have plenty of time, commander," said Gerald, "but I cannot
+tell you how delighted I am to see Olivier so deeply in love with his
+Ernestine."
+
+"Deeply in love, unquestionably, my dear Gerald, to say nothing of the
+fact that I love her all the more devotedly because she is your dear
+Herminie's most intimate friend."
+
+"Really, Olivier, it is enough to turn one's head completely, to think
+of so much happiness and felicity, after so many obstacles and
+difficulties! Come, my friend, my brother,--for is it not almost as if
+we were marrying two sisters, or they were marrying two brothers; upon
+my word, the tears come to my eyes in spite of me, when I think of
+it!--come, embrace me here before we start. We should look too absurd
+doing it before all the grand relatives!"
+
+And the two young men embraced each other with fraternal tenderness,
+while Commander Bernard, anxious to maintain his dignity as a grand
+relative, tried to conceal his emotion by puffing away lustily at his
+pipe; after which, Gerald left in hot haste to escort his mother to
+Herminie's.
+
+Olivier and his uncle were about to start themselves, when they were
+stopped by Madame Barbancon, who advanced towards them with measured
+steps, holding on the palms of her extended hands, for fear of soiling
+it, a superb white cravat starched to the last degree of stiffness and
+folded ready for wear.
+
+"What the deuce is that, Mother Barbancon?" asked the veteran, who had
+already picked up his hat and cane, preparatory to departure.
+
+"It is a cravat I have made for you, monsieur," said the worthy
+housekeeper,--"a little surprise I ventured upon, as you have nothing
+but your black cravat to wear on this happy day--and--I--I thought
+that--"
+
+And the worthy woman, quite overcome with excitement and emotion, burst
+into tears, unable to finish the sentence.
+
+The old officer, though he positively loathed the idea of swathing his
+neck in this uncomfortable affair, was so deeply touched by this
+attention on the part of his housekeeper that his voice trembled with
+emotion, as he replied:
+
+"Why, Mother Barbancon, Mother Barbancon, what extravagance! I really
+ought to scold you well."
+
+"See, there is a J and a B for Jacques Bernard, embroidered in each
+corner," said the housekeeper, calling attention to this decoration with
+manifest pride.
+
+"True, there are my initials. See, Olivier!" said the good man,
+delighted with this attention.
+
+"Why, my dear, good woman, you have no idea what pleasure, what great
+pleasure you have given me!" he added.
+
+"Oh, thank you, monsieur," replied Madame Barbancon, as deeply touched
+and as joyfully as if she had received the most generous reward.
+
+"But it is getting late," she added. "Look, it is half past six. Quick,
+monsieur, let me put it on for you."
+
+"Put what on, Mother Barbancon?"
+
+"Why, the cravat, monsieur."
+
+"On me? The deuce take me, if--"
+
+But a meaning look from Olivier made the old officer realise how much
+chagrin he would cause the worthy housekeeper by refusing to don her
+gift.
+
+On the other hand, the good man had never worn a white cravat in his
+life, and fairly shuddered at the idea of such a piece of neck-gear.
+
+But his natural kindness of heart conquered, and, smothering a sigh, he
+yielded his neck to Madame Barbancon, saying, in order to complete his
+exclamation in a manner that would be more flattering to his
+housekeeper:
+
+"I meant to say, the deuce take me if I refuse, Mother Barbancon, but it
+is much too fine for me."
+
+"Nothing can be too fine for such an occasion as this, monsieur," said
+the housekeeper, carefully adjusting the cravat. "It is a great pity
+that you haven't something better to wear than that old blue coat you've
+had at least seven years, but with your cross of the Legion of Honour
+and this handsome cravat,"--pulling out the ends of the cravat until
+they looked like two immense rabbits' ears, and then eying her work
+complacently,--"you have no cause to blush for your appearance. Ah,
+monsieur," she added, stepping back a little to see the effect better,
+"it makes you look twenty years younger, doesn't it, M. Olivier?
+Besides, it is so--so stylish--it makes you look like a notary, indeed
+it does."
+
+The poor commander, with his neck imprisoned in the huge cravat that
+reached up to the middle of his cheeks, turned and looked in the little
+mirror that hung over the mantel in his bedroom, and it must be
+confessed that the effect was really very becoming.
+
+"It's a pity it prevents me from turning my head," he said to himself,
+"but, as Mother Barbancon says, it is rather becoming--and decidedly
+professional looking," he added, with just the least bit of foppishness.
+
+And the old officer passed his hand rather complacently through his
+thick white hair.
+
+"Come, uncle, it is quarter of seven," said Olivier, with all a lover's
+impatience, "and quite time we were off."
+
+"Very well, my boy, we will start at once. Give me my hat and cane,
+Mother Barbancon," said the old officer, not daring to look either to
+the right or left, for fear of disarranging the wonderful rabbit-eared
+bow.
+
+The evening was superb, and the distance from the Batignolles to the Rue
+de Monceau very short, so the commander and Olivier proceeded modestly
+on foot to Herminie's home.
+
+Fortunately the exercise this involved softened the rigid folds of the
+commander's cravat a little, and though he may have looked a little less
+imposing when he reached his destination, this fact did not impair in
+the least the noble expression of his honest, manly face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE SIGNING OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACTS.
+
+
+On the very evening that the two marriage contracts were to be signed,
+M. Bouffard, the owner of the house that sheltered Herminie, his
+pianist, as he had styled her ever since the young girl began giving
+lessons to his daughter,--M. Bouffard came after dinner to make his
+usual tour of inspection, for rent day was close at hand.
+
+He reached the house about half-past six in the evening, and seated
+himself in Madame Moufflon's room to question her in regard to the
+supposed financial condition of the tenants, and to ascertain if any of
+them showed signs of uneasiness as the dread moment approached.
+
+"Why, no, M. Bouffard. I can't say that any of them do," replied Madame
+Moufflon, "that is, except the new tenant on the third floor."
+
+"Well, what about him?" inquired M. Bouffard, anxiously.
+
+"When he came here, three months ago, he was as pompous as a lord, but
+in proportion as rent day approaches, he is becoming polite,
+distressingly polite to me."
+
+"I shall have to watch the fellow closely, then, Madame Moufflon, that
+is a very bad sign. Ah, what a pity it is that that handsome young
+fellow who paid my pianist's rent didn't take to those rooms on the
+third floor. He wouldn't have--"
+
+M. Bouffard never finished the sentence, for there came two or three
+such violent knocks at the porte-cochere that Madame Moufflon and her
+employer both bounded out of their chairs.
+
+"Well, well, who is it that knocks as I, the owner of the house, would
+not think of knocking?" exclaimed M. Bouffard. "Let me see who this
+ill-mannered fellow is," added M. Bouffard, stepping to the door, as the
+portress pulled the rope.
+
+"The doors, please!" cried a stentorian voice, thus announcing that both
+doors of the porte-cochere must be opened to admit a carriage.
+
+M. Bouffard and the portress, amazed at this unheard-of demand, stood as
+if petrified on seeing a tall powdered footman, attired in a bright blue
+livery trimmed with silver braid, emerge from the shadow.
+
+"Open both doors, quick!" said this liveried giant, authoritatively.
+
+M. Bouffard was so overcome that he bowed low to the lackey.
+
+"Will you never get the doors open? This is outrageous! The prince is
+waiting--"
+
+"The prince!" gasped M. Bouffard, with another even more profound bow to
+the footman.
+
+Just then another no less imperious blow of the knocker resounded.
+
+Madame Moufflon drew the cord with an automatic movement exactly as
+before, and again a voice cried from under the archway:
+
+"Both doors, please!"
+
+And another footman, clad in green and gold livery this time, stepped up
+to the door of the porter's lodge, at which an acquaintance must have
+been standing, for he exclaimed:
+
+"What, Lorrain, is that you? I just saw your master's carriage. What's
+the matter here? Why don't they open the doors? Are the porter and
+portress asleep?"
+
+"One would think they had glass eyes. Look at them, they don't move."
+
+"And it is madame la duchesse they're keeping waiting. She never gets
+impatient, oh, no!"
+
+"Madame la duchesse!" repeated M. Bouffard, more and more astounded, but
+still motionless.
+
+"_Mille tonnerres!_ will you open the doors sometime to-night?" demanded
+one of the footmen.
+
+"But who do you wish to see?" asked M. Bouffard, awakening from his
+stupor.
+
+"Mlle. Herminie," said the tallest lackey, with an evident respect for
+the person his master was about to visit.
+
+"Yes, Mlle. Herminie," replied the other.
+
+"The small door to the left, under the archway," said the portress, more
+and more amazed. "I'll open the doors at once."
+
+"A prince and a duchess, visiting my pianist!" gasped M. Bouffard.
+
+Soon came another knocking, much more gentle this time, and another
+footman in brown livery, with blue trimmings, came to complete the
+assemblage of lackeys, exclaiming:
+
+"Is everybody stone-deaf here? The doors, why don't you open the doors,
+I say?"
+
+M. Bouffard, desperate now, resolved to play a heroic part, so, while
+the portress was tidying herself up a little so as to usher in
+Herminie's aristocratic visitors, the ex-grocer rushed out to open the
+double doors of the porte-cochere. This menial task performed, he had
+barely time to draw back close to the wall to prevent himself from being
+crushed by the broad breasts of two superb gray horses attached to an
+elegant dark blue coupe that dashed in, and, skilfully guided by a tall
+coachman, stopped short at a sign from one of the footmen, who had
+stationed himself at Herminie's door.
+
+A hunchback and a stout man, both dressed in black, alighted from this
+handsome equipage, and Madame Moufflon made haste to announce to M.
+Bouffard's pianist:
+
+"M. le Prince Duc de Haut-Martel."
+
+"M. Leroi, notary."
+
+The first carriage had hardly left the door before a handsome landau
+drove up.
+
+Two ladies and a young man descended from this vehicle, and Madame
+Moufflon, who thought she must be dreaming, announced to M. Bouffard's
+pianist:
+
+"Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre."
+
+"Mlle. Berthe de Senneterre."
+
+"M. le Duc de Senneterre."
+
+An elegant brougham having followed these carriages, another guest
+alighted, and Madame Moufflon announced:
+
+"M. le Baron de la Rochaigue."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the portress ushered into Mlle. Herminie's
+apartment the following less pretentious personages:
+
+"Commander Bernard."
+
+"M. Olivier Raymond."
+
+"Mlle. Ernestine Vert-Puis."
+
+"Madame Laine."
+
+These last two persons had come in a modest cab.
+
+These duties performed, Madame Moufflon rejoined her employer, who was
+pacing vehemently to and fro, under the porte-cochere,--his forehead
+covered with big drops of sweat, so intense was his excitement,--saying
+to himself:
+
+"_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_ What can these great lords and ladies be doing in
+my pianist's room? What do you suppose all this means, Mother Moufflon?"
+
+"I don't know what to think,--my brain fairly whirls. I see stars, and
+I'm so afraid of a stroke of apoplexy, I'm going to put my head under
+the water spigot to cool it off."
+
+"I have it!" suddenly exclaimed the ex-grocer, triumphantly. "My pianist
+is giving a concert."
+
+"I don't think so, for the last time I looked in I saw the ladies had
+laid their wraps on the piano, which was closed, and the entire company
+was standing in a row, while a notary--"
+
+"What notary? Is there a notary here?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur, the tall, stout man,--with a stomach twice as big as
+yours. I announced him as 'M. Leroi, notary.' Well, he was seated at
+Mlle. Herminie's table, with a pile of papers in front of him, and a
+candle on each side--like a juggler."
+
+"Perhaps he is one," exclaimed M. Bouffard, "or, possibly, a fortune
+teller."
+
+"But, as I told you just now, I announced him as a notary."
+
+"True, true! Oh, well, I will stay awhile, and perhaps I shall be able
+to find out something when they leave."
+
+Such a brilliant assemblage had never honoured Herminie's modest little
+home before, and the young girl experienced the liveliest satisfaction
+and happiness at this unexpected denouement of a love that had seemed so
+hopeless. But the pleasure of welcoming Mlle. Berthe de Senneterre,
+Gerald's sister, and the eldest daughter of the duchess, filled her cup
+of joy to overflowing.
+
+"Ah, madame," Herminie had said to the duchess, in a voice trembling
+with emotion,--for she appreciated the delicacy of this proceeding on
+the part of Gerald's mother, and felt that it was intended to serve as
+some reparation for the cruel words of the evening before,--"ah, madame,
+if I had been asked my most earnest desire, it would have been to see
+Mlle. de Senneterre here,--that is, if I had dared to hope for the
+honour."
+
+"Berthe takes too deep an interest in her brother's happiness not to
+wish to be the first to welcome her new sister-in-law," replied Madame
+de Senneterre, in gracious, even affectionate tones.
+
+Then Mlle. de Senneterre, a charming girl, for she strongly resembled
+Gerald both in appearance and character, had said to Herminie, with
+delightful affability:
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, I was anxious to be the first to thank you, for my
+brother is so happy, and I feel and know that he has a thousand reasons
+to be."
+
+"I wish I were more worthy to offer M. de Senneterre the only family
+happiness he can lack," replied Herminie, gently.
+
+And while the two young girls continued this interchange of affectionate
+words, thus prolonging a little scene in which Herminie gave convincing
+proof of perfect tact, rare distinction of manner, and a modest and
+graceful dignity, the hunchback, more and more charmed with his adopted
+daughter, said, in a whispered aside to Madame de Senneterre:
+
+"Tell me frankly; do you think it would be possible for any person to do
+better under the circumstances?"
+
+"It is really wonderful. She has an air of the most perfect breeding,
+combined with marvellous tact, and an apparent familiarity with all the
+rules and customs of the very best society. In short, she is a born
+duchess; that is all there is about it."
+
+"And what do you think of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's betrothed,--Gerald's
+friend and former comrade?"
+
+"You are subjecting me to a hard test, marquis," replied Madame de
+Senneterre, smothering a sigh, "but I am forced to admit that he is a
+charming and exceedingly distinguished-looking man, and that I can see
+little, if any, difference between this gentleman and a member of our
+own set in manner and bearing. It seems inconceivable to me that people
+of this class can be so polished and refined. Ah, marquis, marquis, what
+are we coming to?"
+
+"We are coming to the signing of the contracts, my dear duchess; but I
+beg of you," added the hunchback, in a low tone, "not a word that would
+lead Gerald's friend to suppose that that simply dressed girl is Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil."
+
+"You need feel no fears on that score, marquis. Incomprehensible as this
+mystery seems to me, I shall not say a word. Have I not maintained the
+strictest secrecy on the subject of Herminie's adoption? My son is still
+ignorant of your intentions, but all these mysteries will necessarily be
+cleared up when the marriage contracts are read."
+
+"I will attend to that, my dear duchess," replied the hunchback. "All I
+ask of you is that you will keep the secret until I authorise you to
+speak."
+
+"Oh, I promise you I will do that."
+
+Leaving Madame de Senneterre, who had seated herself beside her
+daughter, and near Herminie, the hunchback rejoined the notary, and said
+a few words, to which that official replied with a smile of assent;
+after which, the marquis said aloud:
+
+"We should now give our attention to the reading of the contracts, I
+think."
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Madame de Senneterre.
+
+The different actors in the scene were grouped as follows:
+
+Herminie and Ernestine were seated side by side. On Herminie's right sat
+Madame and Mlle. de Senneterre, while to the left of Ernestine sat
+Madame Laine, who was playing her modest role in a very satisfactory
+fashion.
+
+Standing behind Herminie and Ernestine were Gerald, Olivier, Commander
+Bernard, and Baron de la Rochaigue, whose presence astonished Olivier
+very much, and caused him no little vague uneasiness, though he was
+still far from suspecting that Ernestine, the little embroideress, and
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil were one and the same person.
+
+M. de Maillefort had remained at the other end of the room, seated
+beside the notary, who, taking up one of the documents, said to the
+hunchback:
+
+"We will begin, if agreeable to you, M. le marquis, with M. le Duc de
+Senneterre's contract."
+
+"Certainly," replied the hunchback, smiling. "Mlle. Herminie is older
+than Mlle. Ernestine, so she is entitled to this honour."
+
+Whereupon the notary, bowing slightly to his auditors, was about to
+begin the reading of Herminie's marriage contract, when M. de le
+Rochaigue, assuming one of his most imposing parliamentary attitudes,
+said, impressively:
+
+"I ask this honourable assembly's permission to make a few remarks prior
+to the reading of these contracts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE BARON HAS HIS REVENGE.
+
+
+Olivier Raymond, who had marvelled greatly at the baron's presence
+before, became decidedly uneasy on hearing this request.
+
+"M. le Baron de la Rochaigue has the floor," responded M. de Maillefort,
+smiling.
+
+"In heaven's name, what business has that man here?" Olivier whispered
+to his friend.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea, upon my word," replied the young duke,
+with the most innocent air imaginable, "but if we listen we shall soon
+find out, I suppose."
+
+The baron cleared his throat, slipped his left hand in the bosom of his
+coat, and said, in his most impressive tones:
+
+"In behalf of certain interests that have been entrusted to me, I beg M.
+Olivier Raymond to be good enough to answer a few questions I should
+like to put to him."
+
+"I am at your orders, monsieur," replied Olivier, more and more
+astonished.
+
+"In that case, I have the honour to ask M. Olivier Raymond if I did not
+recently offer him,--being empowered, authorised, and commissioned to do
+so in the capacity of Mlle. de Beaumesnil's guardian,--if I did not
+offer him, I repeat, the hand of my ward, Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Monsieur," replied Olivier, who was evidently quite as much incensed as
+embarrassed by this question put to him in the presence of several
+entire strangers,--"monsieur, I fail to see either the necessity or the
+propriety of the question you just addressed to me."
+
+"I am, nevertheless, obliged to appeal to the well-known honesty,
+frankness, and sincerity of the honourable witness," said the marquis,
+solemnly, "and adjure him to answer this question: Did I, or did I not,
+offer him the hand of my ward, Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Well, yes, monsieur," answered Olivier, impatiently, "you did."
+
+"And did not M. Olivier Raymond clearly, positively, and categorically
+decline this offer?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur."
+
+"Did not the honourable witness state, as the reason for this refusal,
+the fact that his heart and honour were alike bound by an engagement
+that would assure his happiness for life? Were these not, in substance,
+this honourable gentleman's own words?"
+
+"It is true, monsieur, and, thanks be to God! what was then my dearest
+hope becomes a reality to-day," added the young man with an eloquent
+look at Ernestine.
+
+"Such disinterestedness is positively inconceivable," said the Duchesse
+de Senneterre to her daughter, _sotto voce_. "It was associating with
+such people that spoiled our poor Gerald so."
+
+Mlle. de Senneterre cast down her eyes and dared not answer her mother,
+who continued:
+
+"But I fail to understand the situation. If this heroic gentleman
+declined Mlle. de Beaumesnil, what are she and that idiotic guardian of
+hers doing here? It is too much of a puzzle for me. Let us wait and
+see."
+
+In spite of the pride and delight that this public exposition of
+Olivier's noble conduct excited in Ernestine's heart, she was by no
+means entirely reassured in regard to the scruples he might feel when he
+discovered that his little embroideress was Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+"I have now only to thank M. Olivier Raymond for the very honest,
+explicit, and straightforward manner in which he has answered the
+questions that have been addressed to him," said the baron, reseating
+himself, "and to request this honourable assemblage to kindly take full
+cognisance of my young friend's noble words."
+
+"Why the devil does that long-toothed, pompous creature have to put in
+his oar?" whispered Commander Bernard to Olivier, who was standing
+beside him.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea, uncle. I am quite as much surprised to
+find the man here as you are, and why he should desire to refer to the
+offer he made me now, I cannot imagine."
+
+"Oh, well, it can have no other ill effect than to make your dear
+Ernestine still more fond of you on learning that you sacrificed a
+colossal fortune on account of your love for her."
+
+"It is just this sort of publicity given to a very natural act that so
+annoys me," replied Olivier.
+
+"You are right, my boy," chimed in the old officer. "One does such
+things as that for one's own approval, not for the approval of others."
+
+Then, turning to the Duc de Senneterre, he added:
+
+"Say, M. Gerald, that little hunchback seated beside the notary is the
+marquis you were telling us about, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, commander."
+
+"It is very odd. Sometimes he looks as cunning as a fox, and sometimes
+as kind and gentle as a child. See how tenderly he is gazing at Mlle.
+Herminie now."
+
+"M. de Maillefort has as noble a heart as yours, commander. That means
+everything."
+
+"Hush, Gerald," whispered Olivier, "the notary is rising. He is about to
+read your contract."
+
+"It is a mere form," said Gerald. "The contract is of very little
+consequence; the real conditions Herminie and I long since settled
+between ourselves."
+
+The excitement created by M. de la Rochaigue's interruption having
+subsided, the notary began to read Herminie's and Gerald's marriage
+contract; but when, after the customary preliminaries, the notary came
+to the names and occupations of the parties, M. de Maillefort remarked
+to him, smiling:
+
+"Skip all that, monsieur, if you please; we know the names. Let us get
+to the important point, the settlement of pecuniary interests between
+the parties."
+
+"Very well, M. le marquis," replied the notary.
+
+So he continued:
+
+"'It is agreed by this contract that any property which either of the
+aforesaid parties now possesses, or may possess at any future time,
+belongs, and shall belong absolutely to that party, entirely independent
+of the other contracting party.'"
+
+"It was you, my dear child," the marquis said to Herminie, interrupting
+the notary, "who, when I explained to you, yesterday, the various
+methods of settling questions of pecuniary interest between husband and
+wife, insisted, from motives of delicacy, that each party should hold
+his or her property absolutely independent of the other, for possessing
+nothing yourself except the talent by which you have so honourably
+maintained yourself up to the present time, you refused absolutely the
+community of interests and property which M. de Senneterre is so anxious
+to have you accept."
+
+Herminie's eyes drooped, and she blushed deeply, as she replied:
+
+"I am almost certain that M. de Senneterre will excuse and understand my
+refusal, monsieur."
+
+Gerald bowed respectfully, and Berthe, his pretty sister, whispered
+delightedly to her mother:
+
+"Mlle. Herminie's sentiments certainly harmonise with her charming and
+noble face, do they not, mamma?"
+
+"Certainly, oh, certainly," replied Madame de Senneterre, absently; for
+she was saying to herself all the while: "By this delicacy of feeling,
+my daughter-in-law, little suspecting that the marquis intends to make
+her so rich, has virtually settled all her property upon herself,
+entirely independent of my son; but she loves him so much that, when she
+finds that she is rich, she is sure to change this state of affairs."
+
+The notary continued: "'It is also hereby agreed that any male offspring
+that may result from this marriage shall add to their name of Senneterre
+that of Haut-Martel. This clause has been consented to by the parties
+aforesaid, at the request of Louis Auguste, Marquis de Maillefort,
+Prince Duc de Haut-Martel.'"
+
+Herminie having made a slight movement as if of surprise, the hunchback
+said to her, glancing at Gerald:
+
+"My dear child, this is a slight concession to ancestral pride, to which
+Gerald has given his consent, certain that you would have no objection
+to seeing your son bear, in addition to his own illustrious name, the
+name of a man who regards you and loves you as his own daughter."
+
+A look of respectful tenderness and gratitude from Herminie was
+sufficient answer, and the hunchback, turning to the notary, said:
+
+"That is the concluding clause of the contract, is it not?"
+
+"Yes, M. le marquis."
+
+"Then we can now proceed with the reading of Mlle. Ernestine's contract,
+can we not," asked the hunchback, "and sign both contracts at the same
+time, afterwards."
+
+"Certainly, M. le marquis," replied the notary.
+
+"Now comes our turn, my boy," whispered the commander to his nephew.
+"What a pity it is that I haven't a snug little fortune to settle upon
+you and that dear child in the contract. But alas! all I shall be able
+to bequeath to you, I'm afraid, is good old Mother Barbancon," added the
+old officer, half sadly, half smilingly. "A queer wedding present she
+would be! I did think of selling our six tablespoons so I could make
+Ernestine a little present, but Mother Barbancon wouldn't listen to it.
+Your wife would rather have the silver than jewelry, she said."
+
+"And Mother Barbancon was right, uncle. But hush. He is beginning to
+read our contract now," for the notary, picking up the second contract,
+said aloud:
+
+"Shall we also skip the names in this contract?"
+
+"Yes, yes; go on," responded the marquis.
+
+"In that case, I come at once to the first and only clause relative to
+financial matters in this contract."
+
+"It is not likely to be a lengthy one," whispered Commander Bernard.
+
+"Permit me to interrupt you a moment, monsieur," said Olivier, smiling.
+"This clause of the contract seems entirely superfluous to me, for, as I
+had the honour to tell you yesterday, I have nothing but my pay, and
+Mlle. Ernestine Vert-Puis possesses nothing, save her skill as an
+embroideress."
+
+"True, monsieur," replied the notary, smiling in his turn, "but as one
+has to be married under some regime or other, I thought it advisable to
+adopt this one, and state in the contract that you married Mlle.
+Ernestine Vert-Puis under the community of goods regime, which
+stipulates that the husband and wife shall hold and enjoy their property
+in common."
+
+"It would be more correct to say that we married under the community of
+no-goods regime," responded Olivier, gaily, "but it makes no difference.
+As it is customary, we accept the clause, do we not, Mlle. Ernestine?"
+
+"Very willingly, M. Olivier," replied Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+"So, monsieur," continued the young man, laughing, "it is agreed that
+Mlle. Ernestine and I each turn our entire property into one common
+fund,--everything, from my one epaulette to her embroidery needle,--a
+complete mutual renunciation, as it were."
+
+"There will be only burdens to share," muttered the commander, with a
+sigh. "Ah, I never before longed to be rich as I do to-day!"
+
+"It is decided, then, that the clause stipulating for a community of
+property shall remain; so I will proceed," said the notary.
+
+"'The parties aforesaid marry under the community of property regime,
+and, consequently, agree to share, hold, and enjoy in common all
+property, real or personal, of any value whatsoever, of which they may
+now or at any future time be possessed, in their own right, or by
+inheritance.'"
+
+"By inheritance! Poor things! My cross and my old sword are all they
+have to expect from me, M. Gerald," whispered the veteran.
+
+"Oh, nonsense, commander," replied Gerald, gaily. "Who knows but you may
+die a millionaire?"
+
+But as the old officer, not sharing this hope, shook his head, the
+notary, turning to Ernestine and Olivier, asked:
+
+"This provision is perfectly satisfactory to you, mademoiselle, and to
+you, monsieur?"
+
+"Whatever is satisfactory to M. Olivier is satisfactory to me," replied
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil.
+
+"I think the arrangement perfect," answered Olivier, gaily; "and I
+assure you that never in your life did you insert in any contract a
+clause that is less likely to excite controversy than this."
+
+"We will now proceed with the signing of the contracts," said the
+notary, gravely, rising as he spoke.
+
+Madame de Senneterre, having taken advantage of the general movement, to
+approach M. de la Rochaigue, now said, like one completely bewildered:
+
+"My dear baron, will you be kind enough to tell me what all this
+means?"
+
+"What, madame la duchesse?"
+
+"Why, all this mystery that is going on here."
+
+"It is one that brought me nearly to the verge of madness a few days
+ago, madame la duchesse."
+
+"But does M. Olivier really believe that Mlle. de Beaumesnil is a poor
+little embroideress?"
+
+"Yes, madame."
+
+"But why did he refuse the offer you made him?"
+
+"Because he loved another, madame."
+
+"And that other?"
+
+"Was my ward."
+
+"What ward?"
+
+"Why, Mlle. de Beaumesnil," replied the baron, with a sort of ferocious
+joy, delighted to subject another person to the same torture to which
+the marquis had subjected him.
+
+"Is it possible that you are trying to amuse yourself at my expense, M.
+le baron?" demanded the duchess, arrogantly.
+
+"Madame la duchesse cannot suppose that I am capable of forgetting
+myself to such an extent as that."
+
+"Then what does all this mystery mean? And why was it necessary that M.
+Olivier should be made to repeat that he had refused Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil's hand, though he is about to sign his marriage contract with
+her? and--"
+
+"I promised M. de Maillefort I would keep his secret, so you must apply
+to him, madame la duchesse. He hasn't his equal for solving enigmas."
+
+Despairing of obtaining any satisfaction from the baron, Madame de
+Senneterre approached M. de Maillefort, and asked:
+
+"Well, marquis, may I know the object--"
+
+"In five minutes you shall know all, my dear duchess," replied the
+hunchback.
+
+Then he turned, apparently to give some final instructions to the
+notary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+As the little party approached the table where the two contracts lay,
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil said to Herminie, in subdued tones, but evidently
+with no little anxiety:
+
+"Alas! the decisive moment has come! What will M. Olivier think? What
+will he do? If I had committed some terrible crime and it was about to
+be made public, I could not feel more anxious."
+
+"Courage, Ernestine. You can leave everything to M. de Maillefort
+without the slightest fear."
+
+If Ernestine experienced dire misgivings in regard to Olivier's
+scruples, the hunchback was no less uneasy in regard to those of
+Herminie, who was still ignorant that she had figured in the marriage
+contract as the adopted daughter of the Marquis de Maillefort, Prince
+Duc de Haut-Martel.
+
+So it was with considerable inward perturbation that the hunchback now
+approached the young girl and said:
+
+"You are to sign first, my child."
+
+The notary presented a pen; the girl took it, and, with a hand trembling
+with joyful emotion, signed, "Herminie."
+
+"Well, my child, why do you stop there?" asked M. de Maillefort, as he
+saw her about to return the pen to the notary.
+
+And as his protegee turned and looked at him in silent surprise, the
+hunchback continued:
+
+"Go on, of course, my child, and sign yourself 'Herminie de
+Maillefort.'"
+
+"Ah, I understand now," Gerald said to his mother, with profound
+emotion. "M. de Maillefort is the best and most generous of men."
+
+Herminie continued to gaze at the hunchback in speechless astonishment,
+but at last she said, hesitatingly:
+
+"Why, monsieur, I cannot sign myself 'Herminie de Maillefort.' That
+name--"
+
+"My child," said the hunchback, in pleading tones, "have you not often
+told me that you felt a truly filial affection for me?"
+
+"I do, indeed, monsieur."
+
+"And have you not more than once felt that you could best express your
+gratitude by telling me that I manifested all a father's solicitude for
+you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, the tenderest, most devoted father's," exclaimed the girl,
+earnestly.
+
+"Then why should you not take my name?" asked the marquis, with a
+winning smile. "You have already promised that your son, if you have
+one, shall bear this name. Besides, are you not by your attachment to
+me, and by my affection for you, my adopted child? Then why should you
+not sign this contract as my adopted daughter?"
+
+"I, monsieur?" exclaimed Herminie, unable to believe her own ears. "I
+your adopted daughter?"
+
+"Yes; think of my audacity. I am famed for it, you know. I even had you
+so designated in the marriage contract."
+
+"What do you say, monsieur?"
+
+"Tell me," added the hunchback, with tears in his eyes, and in his most
+persuasive tones, "tell me, do you not think I have justly earned the
+great happiness of being able to say to every one, 'This is my
+daughter?' Will you refuse to honour still more, by bearing it, an ever
+honoured name?"
+
+"Ah, monsieur," said Herminie, unable to restrain her tears, "such
+kindness as yours--"
+
+"Then sign at once, you obstinate child," said the marquis, smiling,
+though his eyes were full of tears, "or else our friends here will
+perhaps imagine that a beautiful and charming creature like you is
+ashamed to have a poor hunchback like me even for an adopted father."
+
+"Ah, such a thought as that--" exclaimed Herminie, quickly.
+
+"Then sign, sign at once!" urged the marquis.
+
+And with an affectionate movement, he took Herminie's hand, as if to
+guide her pen, and, drawing her closer, said in a low tone so as not to
+be overheard:
+
+"Did not the loved one we both mourn implore me to be a father to her
+daughter?"
+
+Deeply moved by this allusion to her mother, half stunned by this
+unexpected proposal, and finally vanquished by the affection and
+gratitude she felt for the marquis, the young girl with a trembling hand
+affixed the signature of Herminie de Maillefort to the document, little
+suspecting what a generous gift she was thus accepting from the
+hunchback, for she had no idea of the amount of his fortune.
+
+Commander Bernard was so deeply affected by this scene, that, hastily
+approaching the hunchback, he said:
+
+"Monsieur, I am a retired naval officer, and Olivier's uncle. I have the
+honour of knowing you only by all the good I have heard of you through
+M. Gerald, and by the aid you so kindly rendered in securing Olivier's
+promotion; but what you have just done for Mlle. Herminie shows such a
+generous heart that I beg you will allow me to take you by the hand."
+
+"Very gladly, I assure you, monsieur," said the marquis, responding to
+the veteran's advances with marked cordiality, "I, too, have the honour
+of knowing you only by the good I have heard of you through my dear
+Gerald, M. Olivier's friend. I know, too, the sensible and high-minded
+advice you gave Gerald in relation to his marriage with Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil, and, as people of such a keen sense of honour are rare, I
+deem a meeting with you a most fortunate thing. And it is very pleasant
+to think that these meetings are likely to be frequent in the future,"
+added the hunchback, smiling, "for you love Ernestine and Olivier as
+devotedly as I love Herminie and Gerald, and we are certain to spend
+many a delightful hour with these charming young people."
+
+"Yes; as I have decided to live with Olivier and his wife, I shall see
+you very often, I hope."
+
+"And I, too, intend to live with my children, Herminie and Gerald, and
+as our two daughters love each other like sisters, we shall be almost
+like one happy family."
+
+"Do you know, monsieur, if I were a religious man, the devil take me if
+I shouldn't say that it was indeed the good God who had assured me such
+a paradise in my old age. But I forget that these poor children are
+dying of impatience to sign in their turn.
+
+"So come, mademoiselle," he continued, turning to Ernestine, "and write
+at once, at the bottom of this page, the name that gives me the right to
+call you daughter. I really owe my life to you, though," added the old
+officer, gaily, "so, in our case, the usual order of things is reversed,
+and it is the daughter who gives life to the father."
+
+Ernestine took the pen from the notary's hand, with a poignant anxiety,
+which, for divers reasons, was shared by all the other actors in the
+scene except Olivier and Commander Bernard, and affixed the name of
+Ernestine Vert-Puis de Beaumesnil to the document. Then, with a
+trembling hand, she offered the pen to Olivier. With a look of
+inexpressible happiness, the young man stooped to append his signature
+to the contract; but he had scarcely written the name of Olivier, when
+the pen dropped from his fingers, and he remained for a moment leaning
+over the table, silent and motionless, believing himself, in fact, the
+victim of an optical delusion, as he saw, above the name he had just
+begun to write, the signature of Ernestine Vert-Puis de Beaumesnil.
+
+Those around him understood the cause of this astonishment so well, and
+were so fully prepared for it, that they all maintained a profound
+silence--all save the commander, who gazed at his nephew for a moment
+with great surprise, and then exclaimed, excitedly:
+
+"What the devil is the matter with you, my boy? Have you forgotten how
+to write your name?"
+
+But suddenly the strange silence of the other spectators seemed to
+strike him, and he turned inquiringly to them; but upon every face, and
+particularly upon the faces of Ernestine and Herminie, he noticed such a
+grave, deeply troubled expression, that the veteran, not knowing what to
+think, but apprehending some serious difficulty, again exclaimed:
+
+"Olivier, my boy, what is the matter? What prevents you from signing?"
+
+"Read that name, uncle," replied the young man, pointing with a
+trembling finger to Ernestine's signature.
+
+"Ernestine Vert-Puis de Beaumesnil!" exclaimed the old man, bringing the
+contract closer to his eyes, as if he could not believe what he saw.
+Then, turning to Ernestine, he cried:
+
+"You--mademoiselle--you, Mlle. de Beaumesnil?"
+
+"Yes, monsieur," said M. de la Rochaigue; "I, Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+guardian, do declare, certify, and affirm that this young lady is my
+ward. It was for this reason that my presence at her marriage was
+indispensable."
+
+Olivier had turned frightfully pale, and it was in a strangely altered
+voice that he said, "Pardon my--my bewilderment,--every one here will
+understand it. You--Mlle. de Beaumesnil! You, whom I thought poor and
+alone in the world,--because you told me so. What object could you have
+had in this deception?"
+
+Seeing how deeply Olivier was wounded, Ernestine felt as if her heart
+would break. Tears gushed from her eyes, and, clasping her hands
+beseechingly, she faltered:
+
+"Forgive me, M. Olivier! Oh, forgive me!"
+
+There was such a touching simplicity in the words in which the young
+girl thus implored forgiveness for being the richest heiress in France,
+that everybody, even to the baron and Madame de Senneterre, was deeply
+affected, and even Olivier felt the tears rise to his eyes.
+
+M. de Maillefort felt that it was quite time to make a clear statement
+of the facts of the case, and effectually silence Olivier's scruples,
+for the hunchback perceived that the young man was not only amazed and
+bewildered by the deception Mlle. de Beaumesnil had practised, but that
+he was also suffering cruelly from the conflict between devoted love and
+extreme sensitiveness that was raging in his breast.
+
+"Will you have the goodness, M. Olivier, and you, too, commander, to
+give me your attention for a few moments," said the marquis, "and this
+mystery, which must both astonish and annoy you, shall be explained.
+Mlle. de Beaumesnil, an orphan immensely wealthy, very young, and too
+ingenuous herself to suspect the avaricious motives of those around her,
+believed the exaggerated praise and the protestations of affection
+lavished upon her, until, one day, an old friend of her mother's, who
+was unfortunately powerless to protect her from them, felt that he must
+at least warn her against the flattery, baseness, deceit, and cupidity
+of those around her, and assured her that whatever might be the pretext
+for the devotion manifested towards her, her enormous fortune was the
+sole cause of it. This revelation was a terrible blow to Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil. Afterwards, tormented by the fear that she would never be
+loved except for her wealth, she began to find this distrust of
+everybody and everything intolerable. So, there being no one to whom
+she could turn for counsel and encouragement, Mlle. de Beaumesnil
+courageously resolved to ascertain her real value, inasmuch as this
+knowledge would enable her to judge of the sincerity of the adulations
+and attentions that beset her on every side. But how was she to discover
+the truth? There seemed to be only one way, viz., to divest herself of
+the prestige that enveloped the rich heiress, and to present herself to
+entire strangers as a poor and obscure orphan who was obliged to labour
+hard for her daily bread."
+
+"Enough, monsieur, enough!" cried Olivier, in tones of the deepest
+admiration. "I understand it all now. What courage she displayed!"
+
+"And she did that?" exclaimed Commander Bernard, clasping his hands
+ecstatically. "What a brave girl to subject herself to such a test! But
+I might have known it! A girl who would throw herself under a wagon
+wheel to prevent me from being crushed by it--!"
+
+"You hear what your uncle says, M. Olivier," said the marquis, "and,
+whatever Mlle. de Beaumesnil's position may be now, have you not still a
+heavy debt of gratitude to pay?"
+
+"Ah, monsieur," exclaimed Olivier, "this debt of gratitude, the sacred
+cause of the deepest affection, I hoped to repay by imploring Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil to share my lot,--a lot much more fortunate than hers, as I
+supposed, for I believed her to be both poor and friendless. But now,
+I--I--"
+
+"One word more, M. Olivier," hastily interrupted the marquis; "Mlle. de
+Beaumesnil and I both knew and respected your extreme sensitiveness and
+pride, so, to spare you the slightest feeling of self-reproach, we
+arranged with M. de la Rochaigue here to offer to you the alternative of
+breaking a sacred promise made to a young girl you believed poor and
+friendless, or of refusing Mlle. de Beaumesnil's hand. You stood this
+severe test nobly, unhesitatingly sacrificing the certainty of a
+fabulously rich marriage to your affection for a poor little
+embroideress. What greater proof of disinterestedness could you or any
+one give?"
+
+"That is true," said Commander Bernard. "I am as jealous of Olivier's
+honour as any person could possibly be, but I want to remind him that,
+though it is undoubtedly wrong to marry a woman for her money, it is
+equally wrong, when one loves the noblest of creatures, to refuse to
+keep a solemn promise and to repay a sacred obligation merely because
+the dear child has a lot of money. Just suppose, Olivier, that Mlle.
+Ernestine, who was so poor yesterday, has inherited nobody knows how
+many millions from a relative this morning, and let that be the end of
+it. This miserable money ought not to be allowed to ruin everybody's
+happiness, surely."
+
+"Oh, thank you, M. Bernard," exclaimed Ernestine, throwing her arms
+around the old officer's neck, in a transport of filial affection,
+"thank you for those kind, wise words which M. Olivier cannot, I am
+sure, contradict."
+
+"I defy him to do it," said Gerald, taking his friend's hand. "Remember,
+too, my dear Olivier, what you said to me a few months ago, when there
+was some talk of my marrying Mlle. de Beaumesnil."
+
+"Besides, is it not Ernestine, the little embroideress that you and I
+have always loved so much, M. Olivier?" said Herminie, in her turn.
+
+"And you must permit me to say, monsieur," added Madame de Senneterre,
+"that the disinterestedness you showed in refusing M. de la Rochaigue's
+offer has made such a deep impression upon me, that in my eyes you will
+always be the young man who refused the richest heiress in France to
+marry a friendless and penniless young girl."
+
+Olivier, though influenced in spite of himself by these proofs of esteem
+and sympathy, nevertheless experienced a feeling of deep humiliation at
+the idea of sharing Mlle. de Beaumesnil's immense fortune, so he said:
+
+"I know that I have no right to show myself more fastidious and exacting
+than the persons around me in matters where honour and delicacy are
+involved; I know, too, that what I have just heard in relation to Mlle.
+de Beaumesnil has only increased--if that were possible--my respect and
+devoted love for her, and yet--" But the marquis, who read Olivier's
+thoughts, again interrupted him by saying:
+
+"One word more, M. Olivier. You experience a sort of humiliation at the
+thought of sharing Mlle. de Beaumesnil's large fortune. I could
+understand this feeling on your part, if you saw in the immense wealth
+Ernestine brings you merely the means of leading an idle and luxurious
+life at your wife's expense. Shame and ignominy should, indeed, attach
+to any man who contracts such a marriage as that. But this will not be
+your future, M. Olivier,--nor yours, Gerald; for though you and
+Herminie, my daughter,--my beloved daughter,--are both ignorant of the
+fact, and though her fortune is not to be compared with Ernestine's, of
+course, I have settled upon my adopted daughter an income of about one
+hundred and fifty thousand francs a year from property I have just
+inherited in Hungary."
+
+"Such a fortune as that for me!" exclaimed Herminie. "Oh, never, never,
+I beseech you--"
+
+"Listen to me, my child," said the hunchback, interrupting her, "and
+you, too, listen, M. Olivier. Ernestine, in some touching pages that you
+will read some day,--pages dedicated to her mother's memory,--in the
+candour of her noble soul, wrote these words which I shall never forget:
+
+"'I have a yearly income of three million francs!
+
+"'All this wealth for my own use! Why should this be? Why should I have
+so much and others nothing?
+
+"'This immense fortune, how did I acquire it?
+
+"'Alas! by your death, my father; and yours, my mother.
+
+"'So, to make me rich, I had to lose the two whom I loved best in the
+world.
+
+"'And in order that I may be so rich, there must, perhaps, be thousands
+of young girls like Herminie always in danger of want, however
+irreproachable and laborious their lives may be.'
+
+"Ah," added the marquis, with increasing warmth, "this generous cry of
+an ingenuous heart, these words, artless as the truth that comes from
+the mouth of a child, are a revelation. Yes, Ernestine, the inheritance
+of wealth is a curse when it perpetuates the vices and degradation of an
+idle and luxurious life; yes, the inheritance of wealth is a curse when
+it arouses and excites the execrable passions of which you so narrowly
+escaped becoming the victim, my poor, dear child! Yes, the inheritance
+of wealth is a sacrilege when it concentrates in selfish hands the
+millions which should furnish employment and the means of subsistence to
+thousands of families; but the inheritance of wealth is also ennobling
+in the highest degree when the inheritor zealously and faithfully
+performs the sacred, indefinable, imprescriptible duties towards the
+less favoured of fortune which the possession of great wealth imposes
+upon him, and when he devotes his life to ameliorating the moral and
+physical condition of those whom society disinherits in favour of a
+privileged few. And now," said the hunchback, in conclusion, taking the
+hands of Herminie and of Olivier, "tell me, my children, do you, who
+were poor yesterday, see any disgrace or humiliation in becoming rich in
+accordance with these principles of human fraternity? Do you shrink from
+the sacred and often difficult duties which must be fulfilled each day
+with wise discrimination and unwearying devotion--if one would secure
+forgiveness for that gross inequality against which Ernestine in her
+noble candour protests, when she says, 'Why should I have so much, and
+others nothing?'"
+
+"Ah, monsieur," cried Olivier, with enthusiasm, "Mlle. de Beaumesnil's
+fortune is all too small for a work like that."
+
+And picking up the pen with a hand trembling with joy and happiness, the
+young man affixed his name to the contract.
+
+"At last!" exclaimed Herminie and Ernestine, in the same breath,
+throwing themselves into each other's arms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As M. de Maillefort was entering his carriage in company with Herminie,
+for the latter was to live in the house of her adopted father
+henceforth, M. Bouffard, who was still a prey to the most intense
+curiosity, suddenly presented himself to the hunchback's astonished
+gaze.
+
+"Ah, M. Bouffard, I am delighted to see you," remarked the marquis. "It
+is truly said that Providence sometimes employs strange agents to attain
+its ends, for you are one of these strange agents, my dear M. Bouffard."
+
+"M. le marquis is too kind," responded M. Bouffard, not understanding in
+the least what the marquis meant.
+
+"Do you know one thing, my dear M. Bouffard? But for your pitiless greed
+as a landlord, Mlle. Herminie, my adopted daughter, would not be the
+Duchesse de Senneterre now."
+
+"What, mademoiselle, my pianist, the daughter of a marquis, and the
+Duchesse de Senneterre!" faltered M. Bouffard, as the hunchback and the
+young girl stepped into the handsome coupe, which bore them swiftly
+away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A short time after the signing of these contracts, the fashionable
+world was electrified by the following announcement cards:
+
+"M. de la Rochaigue has the honour to announce the marriage of Mlle.
+Ernestine de Beaumesnil, his ward, with M. Olivier Raymond."
+
+"M. le Marquis de Maillefort, Prince Duc de Haut-Martel, has the honour
+to announce the marriage of Mlle. Herminie de Maillefort, his adopted
+daughter, with M. le Duc Gerald de Senneterre."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pride, by Eugene Sue
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