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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3916.txt b/3916.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..65b270d --- /dev/null +++ b/3916.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2798 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Serge Panine, by Georges Ohnet, v3 +#3 in our series The French Immortals Crowned by the French Academy +#3 in our series by Georges Ohnet + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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The splendid +stables, formerly too large for the mistress's three horses, were now +insufficient for the service of the Prince. There were eight splendid +carriage-horses, a pair of charming ponies--bought especially for +Micheline's use, but which the young wife had not been able to make up +her mind to drive herself--four saddle-horses, upon which every morning +about eight o'clock, when the freshness of night had perfumed the Bois de +Boulogne, the young people took their ride round the lake. + +A bright sun made the sheet of water sparkle between its borders of dark +fir-trees; the flesh air played in Micheline's veil, and the tawny +leather of the saddles creaked. Those were happy days for Micheline, who +was delighted at having Serge near her, attentive to her every want, and +controlling his thoroughbred English horse to her gentle pace. Every now +and then his mount would wheel about and rear in revolt, she following +him with fond looks, proud of the elegant cavalier who could subdue +without apparent effort, by the mere pressure of his thighs, that +impetuous steed. + +Then she would give her horse a touch with the whip, and off she would go +at a gallop, feeling happy with the wind blowing in her face, and he whom +she loved by her side to smile on and encourage her. Then they would +scamper along; the dog with his thin body almost touching the ground, +racing and frightening the rabbits, which shot across the road swift as +bullets. Out of breath by the violent ride, Micheline would stop, and +pat the neck of her lovely chestnut horse. Slowly the young people would +return to the Rue Saint-Dominique, and, on arriving in the courtyard, +there was such a pawing of feet as brought the clerks to the windows, +hiding behind the curtains. Tired with healthy exercise, Micheline would +go smiling to the office where her mother was hard at work, and say: + +"Here we are, mamma!" + +The mistress would rise and kiss her daughter beaming with freshness. +Then they would go up to breakfast. + +Madame Desvarennes's doubts were lulled to rest. She saw her daughter +happy. Her son-in-law was in every respect cordial and charming toward +her. Cayrol and his wife had scarcely been in Paris since their +marriage. The banker had joined Herzog in his great scheme of the +"Credit," and was travelling all over Europe establishing offices and +securing openings. Jeanne accompanied him. They were then in Greece. +The young wife's letters to her adopted mother breathed calmness and +satisfaction. She highly praised her husband's kindness to her, and said +it was unequalled. + +No allusion was made to that evening of their marriage, when, escaping +from Cayrol's wrath, she had thrown herself in Madame Desvarennes's arms, +and had allowed her secret to be found out. The mistress might well +think then that the thought which at times still troubled her mind was a +remembrance of a bad dream. + +What contributed especially to make her feel secure was Jeanne's absence. +If the young woman had been near Serge, Madame Desvarennes might have +trembled. But Micheline's beautiful rival was far away, and Serge seemed +very much in love with his wife. + +Everything was for the best. The formidable projects which Madame +Desvarennes had formed in the heat of her passion had not been earned +out. Serge had as yet not given Madame Desvarennes cause for real +displeasure. Certainly he was spending money foolishly, but then his +wife was so rich! + +He had put his household on an extraordinary footing. Everything that +most refined luxury had invented he had introduced as a matter of course, +and for everyday use. He entertained magnificently several times a week. +And Madame Desvarennes, from her apartments, for she would never appear +at these grand receptions, heard the noise of these doings. This woman, +modest and simple in her ideas, whose luxury had always been artistic, +wondered that they could spend so much on frivolous entertainments. But +Micheline was queen of these sumptuous ceremonies. She came in full +dress to be admired by her mother, before going down to receive her +guests, and the mistress had not courage to offer any remonstrances as to +expense when she saw her daughter so brilliant and contented. + +They played cards very much. The great colony of foreigners who came +every week to Panine's receptions brought with them their immoderate +passion for cards, and he was only too willing to give way to it. These +gentlemen, among them all, almost without taking off their white kid +gloves, would win or lose between forty and fifty thousand francs at +bouillotte, just to give them an appetite before going to the club to +finish the night at baccarat. + +Meanwhile the ladies, with their graceful toilettes displayed on the low +soft chairs, talked of dress behind their fans, or listened to the songs +of a professional singer, while young men whispered soft nothings in +their ears. + +It was rumored that the Prince lost heavily. It was not to be wondered +at; he was so happy in love! Madame Desvarennes, who used every means of +gaining information on the subject, even to the gossip of the servants, +heard that the sums were enormous. No doubt they were exaggerated, but +the fact remained the same. The Prince was losing. + +Madame Desvarennes could not resist the inclination of finding out +whether Micheline knew what was going on, and one morning when the young +wife came down to see her mother, dressed in a lovely pink gown, the +mistress, while teasing her daughter, said, carelessly: + +"It seems your husband lost heavily last night." + +Micheline looked astonished at Madame Desvarennes, and in a quiet voice +replied: + +"A good host may not win from his guests; it would look as if he invited +them to rob them. Losses at cards are included in the costs of a +reception." + +Madame Desvarennes thought that her daughter had become a very grand +lady, and had soon acquired expanded ideas. But she dared not say +anything more. She dreaded a quarrel with her daughter, and would have +sacrificed everything to retain her cajoling ways. + +She threw herself into her work with renewed vigor. + +"If the Prince spends large sums," she said to herself, "I will earn +larger ones. There can be no hole dug deep enough by him that I shall +not be able, to fill up." + +And she made the money come in at the door so that her son-in-law might +throw it out of the window. + +One fine day these great people who visited at the mansion in the Rue +Saint-Dominique hastened away to the country. September had arrived, +bringing with it the shooting season. The Prince and Micheline settled +themselves at Cernay, not as in the first days of their marriage as +lovers who sought quietude, but as people sure of their happiness, who +wished to make a great show. They took all the carriages with them, and +there was nothing but bustle and movement. The four keepers, dressed in +the Prince's livery, came daily for orders as to shooting arrangements. +And every week shoals of visitors arrived, brought from the station in +large breaks drawn by four horses. + +The princely dwelling was in its full splendor. There was a continual +going and coming of fashionable worldlings. From top to bottom of the +castle was a constant rustling of silk dresses; groups of pretty women, +coming downstairs with peals of merry laughter and singing snatches from +the last opera. In the spacious hall they played billiards and other +games, while one of the gentlemen performed on the large organ. There +was a strange mixture of freedom and strictness. The smoke of Russian +cigarettes mingled with the scent of opoponax. An elegant confusion +which ended about six o'clock in a general flight, when the sportsmen +came home, and the guests went to their rooms. An hour afterward all +these people met in the large drawing-room; the ladies in low-bodied +evening dresses; the gentlemen in dress-coats and white satin waistcoats, +with a sprig of mignonette and a white rose in their buttonholes. After +dinner, they danced in the drawing-rooms, where a mad waltz would even +restore energy to the gentlemen tired out by six hours spent in the +field. + +Madame Desvarennes did not join in that wild existence. She had remained +in Paris, attentive to business. On Saturdays she came down by the five +o'clock train and regularly returned on the Monday morning. Her presence +checked their wild gayety a little. Her black dress was like a blot +among the brocades and satins. Her severe gravity, that of a woman who +pays and sees the money going too fast, was like a reproach, silent but +explicit, to that gay and thoughtless throng of idlers, solely taken up +by their pleasure. + +The servants made fun of her. One day the Prince's valet, who thought +himself a clever fellow, said before all the other servants that Mother +Damper had arrived. Of course they all roared with laughter and +exclaimed: + +"Bother the old woman! Why does she come and worry us? She had far +better stop in the office and earn money; that's all she's good for!" + +The disdain which the servants learned from their master grew rapidly. +So much so that one Monday morning, toward nine o'clock, Madame +Desvarennes came down to the courtyard, expecting to find the carriage +which generally took her to the station. It was the second coachman's +duty to drive her, and she did not see him. Thinking that he was a +little late, she walked to the stable-yard. There, instead of the +victoria which usually took her, she saw a large mail-coach to which two +grooms were harnessing the Prince's four bays. The head coachman, an +Englishman, dressed like a gentleman, with a stand-up collar, and a rose +in his buttonhole, stood watching the operations with an air of +importance. + +Madame Desvarennes went straight to him. He had seen her coming, out of +the, corner of his eye, without disturbing himself. + +"How is it that the carriage is not ready to take me to the station?" +asked the mistress. + +"I don't know, Madame," answered this personage, condescendingly, without +taking his hat off. + +"But where is the coachman who generally drives me?" + +"I don't know. If Madame would like to see in the stables--" + +And with a careless gesture, the Englishman pointed out to Madame +Desvarennes the magnificent buildings at the end of the courtyard. + +The blood rose to the mistress's cheeks; she gave the coachman such a +look that he moved away a little. Then glancing at her watch, she said, +coldly: + +"I have only a quarter of an hour before the train leaves, but here are +horses that ought to go well. Jump on the box, my man, you shall drive +me." + +The Englishman shook his head. + +"Those horses are not for service; they are only for pleasure," he +answered. "I drive the Prince. I don't mind driving the Princess, but I +am not here to drive you, Madame." + +And with an insolent gesture, setting his hat firmly on his head, he +turned his back upon the mistress. At the same moment, a sharp stroke +from a light cane made his hat roll on the pavement. And as the +Englishman turned round, red with rage, he found himself face to face +with the Prince, whose approach neither Madame Desvarennes nor he had +heard. + +Serge, in an elegant morning suit, was going round his stables when he +had been attracted by this discussion. The Englishman, uneasy, sought to +frame an excuse. + +"Hold your tongue!" exclaimed the Prince, sharply, "and go and wait my +orders." + +And turning toward the mistress: + +"Since this man refuses to drive you, I shall have the pleasure of taking +you to the station myself," he said, with a charming smile. + +And as Madame Desvarennes remonstrated, + +"Oh! I can drive four-in-hand," he added. "For once in my life that +talent will have been of some use to me. Pray jump in." + +And opening the door of the mail-coach he handed her into the vast +carriage. Then, climbing with one bound to the box, he gathered the +reins and, cigar in mouth, with all the coolness of an old coachman, he +started the horses in the presence of all the grooms, and made a perfect +semicircle on the gravel of the courtyard. + +The incident was repeated favorably for Serge. It was agreed that he had +behaved like a true nobleman. Micheline was proud of it, and saw in this +act of deference to her mother a proof of his love for her. As to the +mistress, she understood the advantage this clever manoeuvre gave to the +Prince. At the same time she felt the great distance which henceforth +separated her from the world in which her daughter lived. + +The insolence of that servant was a revelation to her. They despised +her. The Prince's coachman would not condescend to drive a plebeian like +her. She paid the wages of these servants to no purpose. Her plebeian +origin and business habits were a vice. They submitted to her; they did +not respect her. + +Although her son-in-law and daughter were perfect toward her in their +behavior, she became gloomy and dull, and but seldom went now to Cernay. +She felt in the way, and uncomfortable. The smiling and superficial +politeness of the visitors irritated her nerves. These people were too +well bred to be rude toward Panine's mother-in-law, but she felt that +their politeness was forced. Under their affected nicety she detected +irony. She began to hate them all. + +Serge, sovereign lord of Cernay, was really happy. Every moment he +experienced new pleasure in gratifying his taste for luxury. His love +for horses grew more and more. He gave orders to have a model stud-house +erected in the park amid the splendid meadows watered by the Oise; and +bought stallions and breeding mares from celebrated English breeders. He +contemplated starting a racing stable. + +One day when Madame Desvarennes arrived at Cernay, she was surprised to +see the greensward bordering the woods marked out with white stakes. She +asked inquiringly what these stakes meant? Micheline answered in an easy +tone: + +"Ah! you saw them? That is the track for training. We made +Mademoiselle de Cernay gallop there to-day. She's a level-going filly +with which Serge hopes to win the next Poule des Produits." + +The mistress was amazed. A child who had been brought up so simply, in +spite of her large fortune, a little commoner, speaking of level-going +fillies and the Poule des Produits! What a change had come over her and +what incredible influence this frivolous, vain Panine had over that young +and right-minded girl! And that in a few months! What would it be +later? He would succeed in imparting to her his tastes and would mould +her to his whims, and the young modest girl whom he had received from the +mother would become a horsey and fast woman. + +Was it possible that Micheline could be happy in that hollow and empty +life? The love of her husband satisfied her. His love was all she asked +for, all else was indifferent to her. Thus of her mother, the +impassioned toiler, was born the passionate lover! All the fervency +which the mother had given to business, Micheline had given to love. + +Moreover, Serge behaved irreproachably. One must do him that justice. +Not even an appearance accused him. He was faithful, unlikely as that +may seem in a man of his kind; he never left his wife. He had hardly +ever gone out without her; they were a couple of turtle-doves. They were +laughed at. + +"The Princess has tied a string round Serge's foot," was said by some of +Serge's former woman friends! + +It was something to be sure of her daughter's happiness. That happiness +was dearly, bought; but as the proverb says: + +"Money troubles are not mortal!" + +And, besides, it was evident that the Prince did not keep account of his +money; his hand was always open. And never did a great lord do more +honor to his fortune. Panine, in marrying Micheline, had found the +mistress's cash-box at his disposal. + +This prodigious cash-box had seemed to him inexhaustible, and he had +drawn on it like a Prince in the Arabian Nights on the treasure of the +genii. + +Perhaps it would suffice to let him see that he was spending the capital +as well as the income to make him alter his line of conduct. At all +events, the moment was not yet opportune, and, besides, the amount was +not yet large enough. Cry out about some hundred thousand francs! +Madame Desvarennes would be thought a miser and would be covered with +shame. She must wait. + +And, shut up in her office in the Rue Saint-Dominique with Marechal, who +acted as her confidant, she worked with heart and soul full of passion +and anger, making money. It was fine to witness the duel between these +two beings: the one useful, the other useless; one sacrificing everything +to work, the other everything to pleasure. + +Toward the end of October, the weather at Cernay became unsettled, and +Micheline complained of the cold. Country life so pleased Serge that he +turned a deaf ear to her complaints. But lost in that large house, the +autumn winds rustling through the trees, whose leaves were tinted with +yellow, Micheline became sad, and the Prince understood that it was time +to go back to Paris. + +The town seemed deserted to Serge. Still, returning to his splendid +apartments was a great satisfaction and pleasure to him. Everything +appeared new. He reviewed the hangings, the expensive furniture, the +paintings and rare objects. He was charmed. It was really of wonderful +beauty, and the cage seemed worthy of the bird. For several evenings he +remained quietly at home with Micheline, in the little silver-gray +drawing-room that was his favorite room. He looked through albums, too, +while his wife played at her piano quietly or sang. + +They retired early and came down late. Then he had become a gourmand. +He spent hours in arranging menus and inventing unknown dishes about +which he consulted his chef, a cook of note. + +He rode in the Bois in the course of the day, but did not meet any one +there; for of every two carriages one was a hackney coach with a worn-out +sleepy horse, his head hanging between his knees, going the round of the +lake. He ceased going to the Bois, and went out on foot in the Champs- +Elysees. He crossed the Pont de la Concorde, and walked up and down the +avenues near the Cirque. + +He was wearied. Life had never appeared so monotonous to him. Formerly +he had at least the preoccupations of the future. He asked himself how +he could alter the sad condition in which he vegetated! Shut up in this +happy existence, without a care or a cross, he grew weary like a prisoner +in his cell. He longed for the unforeseen; his wife irritated him, she +was of too equable a temperament. She always met him with the same smile +on her lips. And then happiness agreed with her too well; she was +growing stout. + +One day, on the Boulevard des Italiens, Serge met an old friend, the +Baron de Prefont, a hardened 'roue'. He had not seen him since his +marriage. It was a pleasure to him. They had a thousand things to say +to each other. And walking along, they came to the Rue Royale. + +"Come to the club," said Prefont, taking Serge by the arm. + +The Prince, having nothing else to do, allowed himself to be led away, +and went. He felt a strange pleasure in those large rooms of the club, +the Grand Cercle, with their glaring furniture. The common easy-chairs, +covered with dark leather, seemed delightful. He did not notice the +well-worn carpets burned here and there by the hot cigar-ash; the strong +smell of tobacco, impregnated in the curtains, did not make him feel +qualmish. He was away from home, and was satisfied with anything for a +change. He had been domesticated long enough. + +One morning, taking up the newspaper, a name caught Madame Desvarennes's +eye-that of the Prince. She read: + +"The golden book of the Grand Cercle has just had another illustrious +name inscribed in it. The Prince Panine was admitted yesterday, proposed +by the Baron de Prefont and the Duc de Bligny." + +These few lines made Madame Desvarennes's blood boil. Her ears tingled +as if all the bells of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont had been rung together. In +a rapid vision, she saw misfortune coming. Her son-in-law, that born +gambler, at the Grand Cercle! No more smiles for Micheline; henceforth +she had a terrible rival--the devouring love of play. + +Then Madame Desvarennes reflected. The husband's deserting his fireside +would be salvation for herself. The door by which he went out, would +serve as an entrance for her. The plan which she had conceived at Cernay +that terrible night of the marriage when Jeanne had confided in her, +remained for her to execute. By opening her purse widely to the Prince, +she would help him in his vice. And she would infallibly succeed in +separating Serge and Micheline. + +But the mistress checked herself. Lend her hands to the destruction of +her son-in-law in a fit of fierce maternal egoism? Was it not unworthy +of her? How many tears would the Prince's errors cost her whom she +wished to regain at all price? And then would she always be there to +compensate by her devoted affection the bitterly regretted estrangement +from the husband? She would, in dying, leave the household disunited. + +She was horrified at what she had for an instant dreamed of doing. And +instead of helping the Prince on to destruction, she determined to do all +in her power to keep him in the path of honor. That resolution formed, +Madame Desvarennes was satisfied. She felt superior to Serge, and to a +mind like hers the thought was strengthening. + +The admission to the Grand Cercle gave Serge a powerful element of +interest in life: He had to manoeuvre to obtain his liberty. His first +evenings spent from home troubled Micheline deeply. The young wife was +jealous when she saw her husband going out. She feared a rival, and +trembled for her love. Serge's mysterious conduct caused her intolerable +torture. She dared not say anything to her mother, and remained +perfectly quiet on the subject before her husband. She sought +discreetly, listened to the least word that might throw any light on the +matter. + +One day she found an ivory counter, bearing the stamp of the Grand +Cercle, in her husband's dressing-room. It was in the Rue Royale then +that her husband spent his evenings. This discovery was a great relief +to her. It was not very wrong to go there, and if the Prince did go and +smoke a few cigars and have a game at bouillotte, it was not a very great +crime. The return of his usual friends to Paris and the resumption of +their receptions would bring him home again. + +Serge now left Micheline about ten o'clock in the evening regularly and +arrived at the club about eleven. High play did not commence until after +midnight. Then he seated himself at the gaming-table with all the ardor +of a professional gambler. His face changed its expression. When +winning, it was animated with an expression of awful joy; when losing, +he looked as hard as a stone, his features contracted, and his eyes were +full of gloomy fire. He bit his mustache convulsively. Moreover, always +silent, winning or losing with superb indifference. + +He lost. His bad luck had followed him. At the club his losses were no +longer limited. There was always some one willing to take a hand, and +until dawn he played, wasting his life and energies to satisfy his insane +love of gambling. + +One morning, Marechal entered Madame Desvarennes's private office, +holding a little square piece of paper. Without speaking a word, he +placed it on the desk. The mistress took it, read what was written upon +it in shaky handwriting, and suddenly becoming purple, rose. The paper +bore these simple words: + +"Received from Monsieur Salignon the sum of one hundred thousand francs. +Serge Panine." + +"Who brought this paper?" asked Madame Desvarennes, crushing it between +her fingers. + +"The waiter who attends the card-room at the club." + +"The waiter?" cried Madame Desvarennes, astonished. + +"Oh, he is a sort of banker," said Marechal. "These gentlemen apply to +him when they run short of money. The Prince must have found himself in +that predicament. Still he has just received the rents for the property +in the Rue de Rivoli." + +"The rents!" grumbled Madame Desvarennes, with an energetic movement. +"The rents! A drop of water in a river! You don't know that he is a man +to lose the hundred thousand francs which they claim, in one night." + +The mistress paced up and down the room. She suddenly came to a +standstill. "If I don't stop him, the rogue will sell the feather-bed +from under my daughter! But he shall have a little of my mind! He has +provoked me long enough. Pay it! I'll take my money's worth out of +him." + +And in a second, Madame Desvarennes was in the Prince's room. + +Serge, after a delicate breakfast, was smoking and dozing on the smoking- +room sofa. The night had been a heavy one for him. He had won two +hundred and fifty thousand francs from Ibrahim Bey, then he had lost all, +besides five thousand louis advanced by the obliging Salignon. He had +told the waiter to come to the Rue Saint-Dominique, and by mistake the +man had gone to the office. + +The sudden opening of the smoking-room door roused Serge. He unclosed +his eyes and looked very much astonished at seeing Madame Desvarennes +appear. Pale, frowning, and holding the accusing paper in her hand, she +angrily inquired: + +"Do you recognize that?" and placed the receipt which he had signed, +before him, as he slowly rose. + +Serge seized it quickly, and then looking coldly at his mother-in-law, +said: + +"How did this paper come into your hands?" + +"It has just been brought to my cashier. A hundred thousand francs! +Faith! You are going ahead! Do you know how many bushels of corn must +be ground to earn that?" + +"I beg your pardon, Madame," said the Prince, interrupting Madame +Desvarennes. "I don't suppose you came here to give me a lesson in +commercial statistics. This paper was presented to your cashier by +mistake. I was expecting it, and here is the money ready to pay it. +As you have been good enough to do so, pray refund yourself." + +And taking a bundle of bank-notes from a cabinet, the Prince handed them +to the astonished mistress. + +"But," she sought to say, very much put out by this unexpected answer, +"where did you get this money from? You must have inconvenienced +yourself." + +"I beg your pardon," said the Prince, quietly, "that only concerns +myself. Be good enough to see whether the amount is there," added he +with a smile. "I reckon so badly that it is possible I may have made a +mistake to your disadvantage." + +Madame Desvarennes pushed away the hand which presented the bank-notes, +and shook her head gravely: + +"Keep this money," she said; "unfortunately you will need it. You have +entered on a very dangerous path, which grieves me very much. I would +willingly give ten times the amount, at once, to be sure that you would +never touch another card." + +"Madame!" said the Prince with impatience. + +"Oh! I know what I am risking by speaking thus. It weighs so heavily +on my heart. I must give vent to it or I shall choke. You are spending +money like a man who does not know what it is to earn it. And if you +continue--" + +Madame Desvarennes raised her eyes and looked at the Prince. She saw him +so pale with suppressed rage that she dared not say another word. She +read deadly hatred in the young man's look. Frightened at what she had +just been saying, she stepped back, and went quickly toward the door. + +"Take this money, Madame," said Serge, in a trembling voice. "Take it, +or all is over between us forever." + +And, seizing the notes, he put them by force in Madame Desvarennes's +hands. Then tearing up with rage the paper that had been the cause of +this painful scene, he threw the pieces in the fireplace. + +Deeply affected, Madame Desvarennes descended the stairs which she had a +few minutes before gone up with so much resolution. She had a +presentiment that an irreparable rupture had just taken place between +herself and her son-in-law. She had ruffled Panine's pride. She felt +that he would never forgive her. She went to her room sad and +thoughtful. Life was becoming gloomy for this poor woman. Her +confidence in herself had disappeared. She hesitated now, and was +irresolute when she had to take a decision. She no longer went straight +to the point by the shortest road. Her sonorous voice was softened. She +was no longer the same willing energetic woman who feared no obstacles. +She had known defeat. + +The attitude of her daughter had changed toward her. It seemed as if +Micheline wished to absolve herself of all complicity with Madame +Desvarennes. She kept away to prove to her husband that if her mother +had displeased him in any way, she had nothing to do with it. This +behavior grieved her mother, who felt that Serge was working secretly to +turn Micheline against her. And the mad passion of the young wife for +him whom she recognized as her master did not allow the mother to doubt +which side she would take if ever she had to choose between husband and +mother. + +One day Micheline came down to see her mother. It was more than a month +since she had visited her. In a moment Madame Desvarennes saw that she +had something of an embarrassing nature to speak of. To begin with she +was more affectionate than usual, seeming to wish with the honey of her +kisses to sweeten the bitter cross which the mistress was doomed to bear. +Then she hesitated. She fidgeted about the room humming. At last she +said that the doctor had come at the request of Serge, who was most +anxious about his wife's health. And that excellent Doctor Rigaud, who +had known her from a child, had found her suffering from great weakness. +He had ordered change of air. + +At these words Madame Desvarennes raised her head and gave her daughter a +terrible look: + +"Come, no nonsense! Speak the truth! He is taking you away!" + +"But, mamma," said Micheline, disconcerted at this interruption, "I +assure you, you are mistaken. Anxiety for my health alone guides my +husband." + +"Your husband!" broke forth Madame Desvarennes. "Your husband! Ah, +there; go away! Because if you stop here, I shall not be able to control +myself, and shall say things about him that you will not forgive in a +hurry! As you are ill, you are right to have change of air. I shall +remain here, without you, fastened to my chain, earning money for you +while you are far, away. Go along!" + +And seizing her daughter by the arm with convulsive strength, she pushed +her roughly; for the first time in her life, repeating, in a low tone: + +"Go away! Leave me alone!" + +Micheline suffered herself to be put outside the room, and went to her +own apartments astonished and frightened. The young wife had hardly left +the room when Madame Desvarennes suffered the reaction of the emotion she +had just felt. Her nerves were unstrung, and falling on a chair she +remained immovable and humbled. Was it possible that her daughter, her +adored child, would abandon her to obey the grudges of her husband? No, +Micheline, when back in her room, would remember that she was carrying +away all the joy of the house, and that it was cruel to deprive her +mother of her only happiness in life. + +Slightly reassured, she went down to the office. As she reached the +landing, she saw the Prince's servants carrying up trunks belonging to +their master to be packed. She felt sick at heart. She understood that +this project had been discussed and settled beforehand. It seemed to her +that all was over; that her daughter was going away forever, and that she +would never see her again. She thought of going to beseech Serge and ask +him what sum he would take in exchange for Micheline's liberty; but the +haughty and sarcastic face of the Prince forcibly putting the bank-notes +in her hands, passed before her, and she guessed that she would not +obtain anything. Cast down and despairing, she entered her office and +set to work. + +The next day, by the evening express, the Prince and Princess left for +Nice with all their household, and the mansion in the Rue Saint-Dominique +remained silent and deserted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A SUDDEN JOURNEY + +At the end of the Promenade des Anglais, on the pleasant road bordered +with tamarind-trees, stands, amid a grove of cork-oaks and eucalypti, a +charming white villa with pink shutters. A Russian lady, the Countess +Woreseff, had it built five years ago, and occupied it one winter. Then, +tired of the monotonous noise of the waves beating on the terrace and the +brightness of the calm blue sky, she longed for the mists of her native +country, and suddenly started for St. Petersburg, leaving that charming +residence to be let. + +It was there, amid rhododendrons and strawberry-trees in full bloom, +that Micheline and Serge had taken up their abode. Until that day the +Princess had scarcely travelled. Her mother, always occupied in +commercial pursuits, had never left Paris. Micheline had remained with +her. During this long journey, accomplished in most luxurious style, +she had behaved like a child astonished at everything, and pleased at the +least thing. With her face close to the window she saw through the +transparent darkness of a lovely winter's night, villages and forests +gliding past like phantoms. Afar off, in the depths of the country, she +caught sight of a light glimmering, and she loved to picture a family +gathered by the fire, the children asleep and the mother working in the +silence. + +Children! She often thought of them, and never without a sigh of regret +rising to her lips. She had been married for some months, and her dreams +of becoming a mother had not been realized. How happy she would have +been to have a baby, with fair hair, to fondle and kiss! Then the idea +of a child reminded her of her own mother. She thought of the deep love +one must feel for a child. And the image of the mistress, sad and alone, +in the large house of the Rue Saint-Dominique, came to her mind. A vague +remorse seized her heart. She felt she had behaved badly. She said to +herself: "If, to punish me, Heaven will not grant me a child!" She wept, +and soon her grief and trouble vanished with her tears. Sleep +overpowered her, and when she awoke it was broad daylight and they were +in Provence. + +From that moment everything was dazzling. The arrival at Marseilles; the +journey along the coast, the approach to Nice, were all matters of +ecstacy to Micheline. But it was when the carriage, which was waiting +for them at the railway station, stopped at the gates of the villa, that +she broke into raptures. She could not feast her eyes enough on the +scene which was before her. The blue sea, the sky without a cloud, the +white houses rising on the hill amid the dark foliage, and in the +distance the mountaintops covered with snow, and tinged with pink under +the brilliant rays of the sun. All this vigorous and slightly wild +nature surprised the Parisienne. It was a new experience. Dazzled by +the light and intoxicated with the perfumes, a sort of languor came over +her. She soon recovered and became quite strong--something altogether +new for her, and she felt thoroughly happy. + +The life of the Prince and the Princess became at Nice what it had been +in Paris during the early days of their marriage. Visitors flocked to +their house. All that the colony could reckon of well-known Parisians +and foreigners of high repute presented themselves at the villa. The +fetes recommenced. They gave receptions three times a week; the other +evenings Serge went to the Cercle. + +This absorbing life had gone on for two months. It was the beginning of +February, and already nature was assuming a new appearance under the +influence of spring. One evening, three people--two gentlemen and a +lady--stepped out of a carriage at the villa gates, and found themselves +face to face with a traveller who had come on foot. Two exclamations +broke out simultaneously. + +"Marechal!" "Monsieur Savinien!" + +"You! at Nice? And by what miracle?" + +"A miracle which makes you travel fifteen leagues an hour in exchange for +a hundred and thirty-three francs first-class, and is called the +Marseilles express!" + +"I beg your pardon, my dear friend. I have not introduced you to +Monsieur and Mademoiselle Herzog." + +"I have already had the honor of meeting Mademoiselle Herzog at Madame +Desvarennes's," said Marechal, bowing to the young girl, without +appearing to notice the father. + +"You were going to the villa?" asked Savinien. "We, too, were going. +But how is my aunt? When did you leave her?" + +"I have not left her." + +"What's that you say?" + +"I say that she is here." + +Savinien let his arms drop in profound consternation to show how +difficult it was for him to believe what was going on. Then, in a faint +treble voice, he said: + +"My aunt! At Nice! Promenade des Anglais! That's something more +wonderful than the telephone and phonograph! If you had told me that the +Pantheon had landed one fine night on the banks of the Paillon, I should +not be more astonished. I thought Madame Desvarennes was as deeply +rooted in Paris as the Colonne Vendome! But tell me, what is the object +of this journey?" + +"A freak." + +"Which manifested itself--" + +"Yesterday morning at breakfast. Pierre Delarue, who is going to finish +his business in Algeria, and then settle in France, came to say 'Good-by' +to Madame Desvarennes. A letter arrived from the Princess. She +commenced reading it, then all at once she exclaimed 'Cayrol and his wife +arrived at Nice two days ago!' Pierre and I were astonished at the tone +in which she uttered these words. She was lost in thought for a few +moments, then she said to Pierre: 'You are leaving tonight for +Marseilles? Well, I shall go with you. You will accompany me to Nice.' +And turning toward me, she added: 'Marechal, pack up your portmanteau. +I shall take you with me."' + +While speaking, they had walked across the garden, and reached the steps +leading to the villa. + +"Nothing is easier than to explain this sudden journey," remarked +Mademoiselle Herzog. "On learning that Monsieur and Madame Cayrol were +at Nice with the Princess, Madame Desvarennes must have felt how very +lonely she was in Paris. She had a longing to be near them, and +started." + +Herzog listened attentively, and seemed to be seeking the connection +which should exist between the arrival of the Cayrols and the departure +of Madame Desvarennes. + +"The funniest thing to me is Marechal taking a holiday," observed +Savinien. "They are still at dinner," he added, entering the drawing- +room, through the great doors of which sounds of voices and rattling of +plates were heard. + +"Well, let us wait for them; we are in agreeable company," said Herzog, +turning toward Marechal, who only answered by a cold bow. + +"What are you going to do here, Marechal?" inquired Savinien. "You will +be awfully bored." + +"Why? Once in a way I am going to enjoy myself and be a swell. You will +teach me, Monsieur Savinien. It cannot be very difficult. It is only +necessary to wear a dove-colored coat like you, a gardenia in my +buttonhole like Monsieur Le Bride, frizzled hair like Monsieur du +Tremblay, and to assail the bank at Monaco." + +"Like all these gentlemen," said Suzanne, gayly, "you are a gambler +then?" + +"I have never touched a card." + +"But then you ought to have great good luck," said the young girl. + +Herzog had come up to them. + +"Will you go partners?" he asked of Marechal. "We will divide the +winnings." + +"You are too kind," replied Marechal, dryly, turning away. + +He could not get used to Herzog's familiarity, and there was something in +the man which displeased him greatly. There was, he thought, a police- +court atmosphere about him. + +Suzanne, on the contrary, interested him. The simple, lively, and frank +young girl attracted him, and he liked to talk with her. On several +occasions, at Madame Desvarennes's, he had been her partner. There was +through this a certain intimacy between them which he could not extend to +the father. + +Herzog had that faculty, fortunately for him, of never appearing offended +at what was said to him. He took Savinien's arm in a familiar manner and +asked: "Have you noticed that the Prince has looked very preoccupied for +the last few days?" + +"I don't wonder at it," replied Savinien. "He has been very unlucky at +cards. It is all very well for his wife, my charming cousin, to be rich, +but if he is going on like that it won't last long!" + +The two men withdrew to the window. + +Suzanne went up to Marechal. She had resumed her thoughtful air. He saw +her advancing, and, guessing what she was going to say, felt +uncomfortable at having to tell an untruth if he did not wish to hurt her +feelings by brutal frankness. + +"Monsieur Marechal," she began, "how is it that you are always so cold +and formal with my father?" + +"My dear young lady, there is a great difference between your father and +me. I keep my place, that's all." + +The young girl shook her head sadly. + +"It is not that; you are amiable and ever friendly with me--" + +"You are a woman, and the least politeness--" + +"No! My father must have hurt your feelings unwittingly; for he is very +good. I have asked him, and he did not seem to understand what I meant. +But my questions drew his attention to you. He thinks highly of you and +would like to see you filling a position more in harmony with your merit. +You know that Monsieur Cayrol and my father have just launched a +tremendous undertaking?" + +"The 'Credit European'?" + +"Yes. They will have offices in all the commercial centres of European +commerce. Would you like the management of one of these branches?" + +"I, Mademoiselle?" cried Marechal, astonished, and already asking himself +what interest Herzog could have in making him leave the house of +Desvarennes. + +"The enterprise is colossal," continued Suzanne, "and frightens me at +times. Is it necessary to be so rich? I would like my father to retire +from these enormous speculations into which he has thrown himself, body +and soul. I have simple tastes. My father wishes to make a tremendous +fortune for me, he says. All he undertakes is for me, I know. It seems +to me that he runs a great risk. That is why I am talking to you. I am +very superstitious, and I fancy if you were with us it would bring us +luck." + +Suzanne, while speaking, had leaned toward Marechal. Her face reflected +the seriousness of her thoughts. Her lovely eyes implored. The young +man asked himself how this charming girl could belong to that horrible +Herzog. + +"Believe me that I am deeply touched, Mademoiselle, by the favor you have +done me," said he, with emotion. "I owe it solely to your kindness, I +know; but I do not belong to myself. I am bound to Madame Desvarennes by +stronger ties than those of interest--those of gratitude." + +"You refuse?" she cried, painfully. + +"I must." + +"The position you fill is humble." + +"I was very glad to accept it at a time when my daily bread was not +certain." + +"You have been reduced," said the young girl, with trembling voice, "to +such--" + +"Wretchedness. Yes, Mademoiselle, my outset in life was hard. I am +without relations. Mother Marechal, a kind fruiterer of the Rue Pavee au +Marais, found me one morning by the curbstone, rolled in a number of the +Constitutionnel, like an old pair of boots. The good woman took me home, +brought me up and sent me to college. I must tell you that I was very +successful and gained a scholarship. I won all the prizes. Yes, and I +had to sell my gilt-edged books from the Lycee Charlemagne in the days of +distress. I was eighteen when my benefactress, Mother Marechal, died. +I was without help or succor. I tried to get along by myself. After ten +years of struggling and privations I felt physical and moral vigor giving +way. I looked around me and saw those who overcame obstacles were +stronger than I. I felt that I was doomed not to make way in the world, +not being one of those who could command, so I resigned myself to obey. +I fill a humble position as you know, but one which satisfies my wants. +I am without ambition. A little philosophical, I observe all that goes +on around me. I live happily like Diogenes in his tub." + +"You are a wise man," resumed Suzanne. "I, too, am a philosopher, and I +live amid surroundings which do not please me. I, unfortunately, lost my +mother when I was very young, and although my father is very kind, he has +been obliged to neglect me a little. I see around me people who are +millionaires or who aspire to be. I am doomed to receive the attentions +of such men as Le Bride and Du Tremblay--empty-headed coxcombs, who court +my money, and to whom I am not a woman, but a sack of ducats trimmed with +lace." + +"These gentlemen are the modern Argonauts. They are in search of the +Golden Fleece," observed Marechal. + +"The Argonauts!" cried Suzanne, laughing. "You are right. I shall +never call them anything else." + +"Oh, they will not understand you!" said Marechal, gayly. "I don't +think they know much of mythology." + +"Well, you see I am not very happy in the bosom of riches," continued the +young girl. "Do not abandon me. Come and talk with me sometimes. You +will not chatter trivialities. It will be a change from the others." + +And, nodding pleasantly to Marechal, Mademoiselle Herzog joined her +father, who was gleaning details about the house of Desvarennes from +Savinien. + +The secretary remained silent for a moment. + +"Strange girl!" he murmured. "What a pity she has such a father." + +The door of the room in which Monsieur and Mademoiselle Herzog, Marechal +and Savinien were, opened, and Madame Desvarennes entered, followed by +her daughter, Cayrol, Serge and Pierre. The room, at the extreme end of +the villa, was square, surrounded on three sides by a gallery shut in by +glass and stocked with greenhouse plants. Lofty archways, half veiled +with draperies, led to the gallery. This room had been the favorite one +of Countess Woreseff. She had furnished it in Oriental style, with low +seats and large divans, inviting one to rest and dream during the heat of +the day. In the centre of the apartment was a large ottoman, the middle +of which formed a flower-stand. Steps led down from the gallery to the +terrace whence there was a most charming view of sea and land. + +On seeing his aunt enter, Savinien rushed forward and seized both her +hands. Madame Desvarennes's arrival was an element of interest in his +unoccupied life. The dandy guessed at some mysterious business and +thought it possible that he might get to know it. With open ears and +prying eyes, he sought the meaning of the least words. + +"If you knew, my dear aunt, how surprised I am to see you here," he +exclaimed in his hypocritical way. + +"Not more so than I am to find myself here," said she, with a smile. +"But, bah! I have slipped my traces for a week." + +"And what are you going to do here?" continued Savinien. + +"What everybody does. By-the-bye, what do they do?" asked Madame +Desvarennes, with vivacity. + +"That depends," answered the Prince. "There are two distinct populations +here. On the one hand, those who take care of themselves; on the other, +those who enjoy themselves. For the former there is the constitutional +every morning in the sun, with slow measured steps on the Promenade des +Anglais. For the latter there are excursions, races, regattas. The +first economize their life like misers; the second waste it like +prodigals. Then night comes on, and the air grows cold. Those who take +care of themselves go home, those who amuse themselves go out. The first +put on dressing-gowns; the second put on ball-dresses. Here, the house +is quiet, lit up by a night-light; there, the rooms sparkle with light, +and resound with the noise of music and dancing. Here they cough, there +they laugh. Infusion on the one hand, punch on the other. In fact, +everywhere and always, a contrast. Nice is at once the saddest and the +gayest town. One dies of over-enjoyment, and one amuses one's self at +the risk of dying." + +"A sojourn here is very dangerous, then?" + +"Oh! aunt, not so dangerous, nor, above all, so amusing as the Prince +says. We are a set of jolly fellows, who kill time between the dining- +room of the hotel, pigeon-shooting, and the Cercle, which is not so very +amusing after all." + +"The dining-room is bearable," said Marechal, "but pigeon-shooting must +in time become--" + +"We put some interest into the game." + +"How so?" + +"Oh! It is very simple: a gentleman with a gun in his hand stands before +the boxes which contain the pigeons. You say to me: 'I bet fifty louis +that the bird will fall.' I answer, 'Done.' The gentleman calls out, +'Pull;' the box opens, the pigeon flies, the shot follows. The bird +falls or does not fall. I lose or win fifty louis." + +"Most interesting!" exclaimed Mademoiselle Herzog. + +"Pshaw!" said Savinien with ironical indifference, "it takes the place +of 'trente et quarante,' and is better than 'odd or even' on the numbers +of the cabs which pass." + +"And what do the pigeons say to that?" asked Pierre, seriously. + +"They are not consulted," said Serge, gayly. + +"Then there are races and regattas," continued Savinien. + +"In which case you bet on the horses?" interrupted Marechal. + +"Or on the boats." + +"In fact, betting is applied to all circumstances of life?" + +"Exactly; and to crown all, we have the Cercle, where we go in the +evening. Baccarat triumphs there. It is not very varied either: A +hundred louis? Done--Five. I draw. There are some people who draw at +five. Nine, I show up, I win or I lose, and the game continues." + +"And that amid the glare of gas and the smoke of tobacco," said Marechal, +"when the nights are so splendid and the orange-trees smell so sweetly. +What a strange existence!" + +"An existence for idiots, Marechal," sighed Savinien, "that I, a man of +business, must submit to, through my aunt's domineering ways! You know +now how men of pleasure spend their lives, my friend, and you might write +a substantial resume entitled, 'The Fool's Breviary.' I am sure it would +sell well." + +Madame Desvarennes, who had heard the last words, was no longer +listening. She was lost in a deep reverie. She was much altered since +grief and trouble had come upon her; her face was worn, her temples +hollow, her chin was more prominent. Her eyes had sunk into her head, +and were surrounded by dark rims. + +Serge, leaning against the wall near the window, was observing her. He +was wondering with secret anxiety what had brought Madame Desvarennes so +suddenly to his house after a separation of two months, during which time +she had scarcely written to Micheline. Was the question of money to be +resumed? Since the morning Madame had been smiling, calm and pleased +like a schoolgirl home for her holidays. This was the first time she had +allowed a sad expression to rest on her face. Her gayety was feigned +then. + +A look crossing his made him start. Jeanne had just turned her eyes +toward him. For a second they met his own. Serge could not help +shuddering. Jeanne was calling his attention to Madame Desvarennes; she, +too, was observing her. Was it on their account she had come to Nice? +Had their secret fallen into her hands? He resolved to find out. + +Jeanne had turned away her eyes from him. He could feast his on her now. +She had become more beautiful. The tone of her complexion had become +warmer. Her figure had developed. Serge longed to call her his own. +For a moment his hands trembled; his throat was dry, his heart seemed to +stop beating. + +He tried to shake off this attraction, and walked to the centre of the +room. At the same time visitors were announced. Le Bride, with his +inseparable friend, Du Tremblay, escorting Lady Harton, Serge's beautiful +cousin, who had caused Micheline some anxiety on the day of her marriage, +but whom she no longer feared; then the Prince and Princess Odescalchi, +Venetian nobles, followed by Monsieur Clement Souverain, a young Belgian, +starter of the Nice races, a great pigeon shot, and a mad leader of +cotillons. + +"Oh, dear me! my lady, all in black?" said Micheline, pointing to the +tight-fitting black satin worn by the English beauty. + +"Yes, my dear Princess; mourning," replied Lady Harton, with a vigorous +shake of the hands. "Ball-room mourning--one of my best partners; +gentlemen, you know Harry Tornwall?" + +"Countess Alberti's cavalier?" added Serge. "Well?" + +"Well! he has just killed himself." + +A concert of exclamations arose in the drawing-room, and the visitors +suddenly surrounded her. + +"What! did you not know? It was the sole topic of conversation at +Monaco to-day. Poor Tornwall, being completely cleared out, went during +the night to the park belonging to the villa occupied by Countess +Alberti, and blew his brains out under her window." + +"How dreadful!" exclaimed Micheline. + +"It was very bad taste on your countryman's part," observed Serge. + +"The Countess was furious, and said that Tornwall's coming to her house +to kill himself proved clearly to her that he did not know how to +behave." + +"Do you wish to prevent those who are cleared out from blowing out their +brains?" inquired Cayrol. "Compel the pawnbrokers of Monaco to lend a +louis on all pistols." + +"Well," retorted young Monsieur Souverain, "when the louis is lost the +players will still be able to hang themselves." + +"Yes," concluded Marechal, "then at any rate the rope will bring luck to +others." + +"Gentlemen, do you know that what you have been relating to us is very +doleful?" said Suzanne Herzog. "Suppose, to vary our impressions, you +were to ask us to waltz?" + +"Yes, on the terrace," said Le Brede, warmly. "A curtain of orange-trees +will protect us from the vulgar gaze." + +"Oh! Mademoiselle, what a dream!" sighed Du Tremblay, approaching +Suzanne. "Waltzing with you! By moonlight." + +"Yes, friend Pierrot!" sang Suzanne, bursting into a laugh. + +Already the piano, vigorously attacked by Pierre, desirous of making +himself useful since he could not be agreeable, was heard in the next +room. Serge had slowly approached Jeanne. + +"Will you do me the favor of dancing with me?" he asked, softly. + +The young woman started; her cheeks became pale, and in a sharp tone she +answered: + +"Why don't you ask your wife?" + +Serge smiled. + +"You or nobody." + +Jeanne raised her eyes boldly, and looking at him in the face, said, +defiantly: + +"Well, then, nobody!" + +And, rising, she took the arm of Cayrol, who was advancing toward her. + +The Prince remained motionless for a moment, following them with his +eyes. Then, seeing his wife alone with Madame Desvarennes, he went out +on the terrace. Already the couples were dancing on the polished marble. +Joyful bursts of laughter rose in the perfumed air that sweet March +night. A deep sorrow came over Serge; an intense disgust with all +things. The sea sparkled, lit up by the moon. He had a mad longing to +seize Jeanne in his arms and carry her far away from the world, across +that immense calm space which seemed made expressly to rock sweetly +eternal loves. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MOTHER AND DAUGHTER + +Micheline intended following her husband, but Madame Desvarennes, without +rising, took hold of her hand. + +"Stay with me for a little while," she said, tenderly. "We have scarcely +exchanged ten words since my arrival. Come, tell me, are you pleased to +see me?" + +"How can you ask me that?" answered Micheline, seating herself on the +sofa beside her mother. + +"I ask you so that you may tell me so," resumed Madame Desvarennes, +softly. "I know what you think, but that is not enough." She added +pleadingly: + +"Kiss me, will you?" + +Micheline threw her arms round her mother's neck, saying, "Dear mamma!" +which made tears spring to the tortured mother's eyes. She folded her- +daughter in her arms, and clasped her as a miser holds his treasure. + +"It is a long time since I have heard you speak thus to me. Two months! +And I have been desolate in that large house you used to fill alone in +the days gone by." + +The young wife interrupted her mother, reproachfully: + +"Oh! mamma; I beg you to be reasonable." + +"To be reasonable? In other words, I suppose you mean that I am to get +accustomed to living without you, after having for twenty years devoted +my life to you? Bear, without complaining, that my happiness should be +taken away, and now that I am old lead a life without aim, without joy, +without trouble even, because I know if you had any troubles you would +not tell me!" + +There was a moment's pause. Then Micheline, in a constrained manner, +said: + +"What grief s could I have?" + +Madame Desvarennes lost all patience, and giving vent to her feelings +exclaimed, bitterly: + +"Those which your husband causes you!" + +Micheline arose abruptly. + +"Mother!" she cried. + +But the mistress had commenced, and with unrestrained bitterness, +went on: + +"That gentleman has behaved toward me in such a manner as to shake my +confidence in him! After vowing that he would never separate you from +me, he brought you here, knowing that I could not leave Paris." + +"You are unjust," retorted Micheline. "You know the doctors ordered me +to go to Nice." + +"Pooh! You can make doctors order you anything you like!" resumed her +mother, excitedly, and shaking her head disdainfully. "Your husband said +to our good Doctor Rigaud: 'Don't you think that a season in the South +would do my wife good?' The doctor answered: 'If it does not do her any +good it certainly won't do her any harm.' Then your husband added, +'just take a sheet of paper and write out a prescription. You +understand? It is for my mother-in-law, who will not be pleased at our +going away.'" + +And as Micheline seemed to doubt what she was saying, the latter added: + +"The doctor told me when I went to see him about it. I never had much +faith in doctors, and now--" + +Micheline felt she was on delicate ground, and wanted to change the +subject. She soothed her mother as in days gone by, saying: + +"Come, mamma; will you never be able to get used to your part? Must you +always be jealous? You know all wives leave their mothers to follow +their husbands. It is the law of nature. You, in your day, remember, +followed your husband, and your mother must have wept." + +"Did my mother love me as I love you?" asked Madame Desvarennes, +impetuously. "I was brought up differently. We had not time to love +each other so much. We had to work. The happiness of spoiling one's +child is a privilege of the rich. For you there was no down warm enough +or silk soft enough to line your cradle. You have been petted and +worshipped for twenty years. Yet, it only needed a man, whom you +scarcely knew six months ago, to make you forget everything." + +"I have not forgotten anything," replied Micheline, moved by these +passionate expressions. "And in my heart you still hold the same place." + +The mistress looked at the young wife, then, in a sad tone, said: + +"It is no longer the first place." + +This simple, selfish view made Micheline smile. + +"It is just like you, you tyrant!" she exclaimed. "You must be first. +Come, be satisfied with equality! Remember that you were first in the +field, and that for twenty years I have loved you, while he has to make +up for lost time. Don't try to make a comparison between my love for him +and my affection for you. Be kind: instead of looking black at him, try +to love him. I should be so happy to see you united, and to be able, +without reservation, to think of you both with the same tenderness!" + +"Ah! how you talk me over. How charming and caressing you can be when +you like. And how happy Serge ought to be with a wife like you! It is +always the way; men like him always get the best wives." + +"I don't suppose, mamma, you came all the way from Paris to run down my +husband to me." + +Madame Desvarennes became serious again. + +"No; I came to defend you." + +Micheline looked surprised. + +"It is time for me to speak. You are seriously menaced," continued the +mother. + +"In my love?" asked the young wife, in an altered tone. + +"No; in your fortune." + +Micheline smiled superbly. + +"If that be all!" + +This indifference made her mother positively jump. + +"You speak very coolly about it! At the rate your husband is spending, +there will be nothing left of your dowry in six months." + +"Well!" said the Princess, gayly, "you will give us another." + +Madame Desvarennes assumed her cold businesslike manner. + +"Ta! ta! ta! Do you think there is no limit to my resources? I gave +you four millions when you were married, represented by fifteen hundred +thousand francs, in good stock, a house in the Rue de Rivoli, and eight +hundred thousand francs which I prudently kept in the business, and for +which I pay you interest. The fifteen hundred thousand francs have +vanished. My lawyer came to tell me that the house in the Rue de Rivoli +had been sold without a reinvestment taking place." + +The mistress stopped. She had spoken in that frank, determined, way of +hers that was part of her strength. She looked fixedly at Micheline, and +asked: + +"Did you know this, my girl?" + +The Princess, deeply troubled, because now it was not a question of +sentiment, but of serious moment, answered, in a low tone: + +"No, mamma." + +"How is that possible?" Madame Desvarennes demanded, hotly. "Nothing +can be done without your signature." + +"I gave it," murmured Micheline. + +"You gave it!" repeated the mistress in a tone of anger. "When?" + +"The day after my marriage." + +"Your husband had the impudence to ask for it the day after your +marriage?" + +Micheline smiled. + +"He did not ask for it, mamma," she replied, with sweetness; "I offered +it to him. You had settled all on me." + +"Prudently! With a fellow like your husband!" + +"Your mistrust must have been humiliating to him. I was ashamed of it. +I said nothing to you, because I knew you would rather prevent the +marriage, and I loved Serge. I, therefore, signed the contract which you +had had prepared. Only the next day I gave a general power of attorney +to my husband." + +Madame Desvarennes's anger was over. She was observing Micheline, and +wished to find out the depth of the abyss into which her daughter had +thrown herself with blind confidence. + +"And what did he say then?" she inquired. + +"Nothing," answered Micheline, simply. "Tears came to his eyes, and he +kissed me. I saw that this delicacy touched his heart and I was happy. +There, mamma," she added with eyes sparkling at the remembrance of the +pleasure she had experienced, "he may spend as much as he likes; I am +amply repaid beforehand." + +Madame Desvarennes shrugged her shoulders, and said: + +"My dear child, you are mad enough to be locked up. What is there about +the fellow to turn every woman's brain?" + +"Every woman's?" exclaimed Micheline, anxiously, looking at her mother. + +"That is a manner of speaking. But, my dear, you must understand that I +cannot be satisfied with what you have just told me. A tear and a kiss! +Bah! That is not worth your dowry." + +"Come, mamma, do let me be happy." + +"You can be happy without committing follies. You do not need a racing- +stable." + +"Oh, he has chosen such pretty colors," interrupted Micheline, with a +smile. "Pearl-gray and silver, and pink cap. It is charming!" + +"You think so? Well, you are not difficult to please. And the club? +What do you say to his gambling?" + +Micheline turned pale, and with a constraint which hurt her mother, said: + +"Is it necessary to make a fuss about a few games at bouillotte?" + +This continual defense of Serge exasperated Madame Desvarennes. + +"Don't talk to me," she continued, violently. "I am well informed on +that subject. He leaves you alone every evening to go and play with +gentlemen who turn up the king with a dexterity the Legitimists must +envy. My dear, shall I tell you his fortune? He commenced with cards; +he continues with horses; he will finish with worthless women!" + +"Mamma!" cried Micheline, wounded to the heart. + +"And your money will pay the piper! But, happily, I am here to put your +household matters right. I am going to keep your gentleman so well under +that in future he will walk straight, I'll warrant you!" + +Micheline rose and stood before her mother, looking so pale that the +latter was frightened. + +"Mother," she said, in trembling tones, "if ever you say one word to my +husband, take care! I shall never see you again!" + +Madame Desvarennes flinched before her daughter. It was no longer the +weak Micheline who trusted to her tears, but a vehement woman ready to +defend him whom she loved. And as she remained silent, not daring to +speak again: + +"Mother," continued Micheline, with sadness, yet firmly, "this +explanation was inevitable; I have suffered beforehand, knowing that I +should have to choose between my affection for my husband and my respect +for you." + +"Between the one and the other," said the mistress, bitterly, "you don't +hesitate, I see." + +"It is my duty; and if I failed in it, you yourself, with your good +sense, would see it." + +"Oh! Micheline, could I have expected to find you thus?" cried the +mother, in despair. "What a change! It is not you who are speaking; +it is not my daughter. Fool that you are! Don't you see whither you +are being led? You, yourself, are preparing your own misfortune. +Don't think that my words are inspired by jealousy. A higher sentiment +dictates them, and at this moment my maternal love gives me, I fear, a +foresight of the future. There is only just time to rescue you from the +danger into which you are running. You hope to retain your husband by +your generosity? There where you think you are giving proofs of love he +will only see proofs of weakness. If you make yourself cheap he will +count you as nothing. If you throw yourself at his feet he will trample +on you." + +The Princess shook her head haughtily, and smiled. + +"You don't know him, mamma. He is a gentleman; he understands all these +delicacies, and there is more to be gained by submitting one's self to +his discretion, than by trying to resist his will. You blame his manner +of existence, but you don't understand him. I know him. He belongs to a +different race than you and I. He needs refinements of luxury which +would be useless to us, but the deprivation of which would be hard to +him. He suffered much when he was poor, he is making up for it now. +We are guilty of some extravagances, 'tis true; but what does it matter? +For whom have you made a fortune? For me! For what object? My +happiness! Well, I am happy to surround my Prince with the glory and +pomp which suits him so well. He is grateful to me; he loves me, and I +hold his love dearer than all else in the world; for if ever he ceases to +love me I shall die!" + +"Micheline!" cried Madame Desvarennes, beside herself, and seizing her +daughter with nervous strength. + +The young wife quietly allowed her fair head to fall on her mother's +shoulder, and whispered faintly in her ear: + +"You don't want to wreck my life. I understand your displeasure. It is +natural; I feel it. You cannot think otherwise than you do, being a +simple, hardworking woman; but I beg of you to banish all hatred, and +confine these ideas within yourself. Say nothing more about them for +love of me!" + +The mother was vanquished. She had never been able to resist that +suppliant voice. + +"Ah! cruel child," she moaned, "what pain you are causing me!" + +"You consent, don't you, dear mother?" murmured Micheline, falling into +the arms of her by whom she knew she was adored. + +"I will do as you wish," said Madame Desvarennes, kissing her daughter's +hair--that golden hair which, in former days, she loved to stroke. + +The strains of the piano sounded on the terrace. In the shade, groups of +merry dancers were enjoying themselves. Happy voices were heard +approaching, and Savinien, followed by Marechal and Suzanne, came briskly +up the steps. + +"Oh, aunt, it is not fair," said the dandy. "If you have come here to +monopolize Micheline, you will be sent back to Paris. We want a vis-a +-vis for a quadrille. Come, Princess, it is delightfully cool outside, +and I am sure you will enjoy it." + +"Monsieur Le Brede has gathered some oranges, and is trying to play at +cup and ball with them on his nose, while his friend, Monsieur du +Tremblay, jealous of his success, talks of illuminating the trees with +bowls of punch," said Marechal. + +"And what is Serge doing?" inquired Micheline, smiling. + +"He is talking to my wife on the terrace," said Cayrol, appearing in the +gallery. + +The young people went off and were lost in the darkness. Madame +Desvarennes looked at Cayrol. He was happy and calm. There was no trace +of his former jealousy. During the six months which had elapsed since +his marriage, the banker had observed his wife closely, her actions, her +words: nothing had escaped him. He had never found her at fault. Thus, +reassured, he had given her his confidence and this time forever. Jeanne +was adorable; he loved her more than ever. She seemed very much changed +to him. Her disposition, formerly somewhat harsh, had softened, and the +haughty, capricious girl had become a mild, demure, and somewhat serious +woman. Unable to read his companion's thoughts, Cayrol sincerely +believed that he had been unnecessarily anxious, and that Jeanne's +troubles had only been passing fancies. He took credit of the change in +his wife to himself, and was proud of it. + +"Cayrol, oblige me by removing that lamp; it hurts my eyes," said Madame +Desvarennes, anxious that the traces on her face, caused by her late +discussion with her daughter, should not be visible. "Then ask Jeanne to +come here for a few minutes. I have something to say to her." + +"Certainly," said Cayrol, taking the lamp off the table and carrying it +into the adjoining room. + +Darkness did Madame Desvarennes good. It refreshed her mind and calmed +her brow. The noise of dancing reached her. She commenced thinking. +So it had vainly tried to prove to her that a life of immoderate pleasure +was not conducive to happiness. The young wife had stopped her ears so +that she might not hear, and closed her eyes that she might not see. +Her mother asked herself if she did not exaggerate the evil. Alas! no. +She saw that she was not mistaken. Examining the society around her, men +and women: everywhere was feverish excitement, dissipation, and nullity. +You might rummage through their brains without finding one practical +idea; in all their hearts, there was not one lofty aspiration. These +people, in their daily life were like squirrels in a cage, and because +they moved, they thought they were progressing. In them scepticism had +killed belief; religion, family, country, were, as they phrased it, all +humbug. They had only one aim, one passion--to enjoy themselves. Their +watchword was "pleasure." All those who did not perish of consumption +would die in lunatic asylums. + +What was she doing in the midst of this rottenness? She, the woman of +business? Could she hope to regenerate these poor wretches by her +example? No! She could not teach them to be good, and they excelled in +teaching others harm. She must leave this gilded vice, taking with her +those she loved, and leave the idle and incompetent to consume and +destroy themselves. + +She felt disgusted, and resolved to do all to tear Micheline away from +the contagion. In the meantime she must question Jeanne. A shadow +appeared on the threshold: it was hers. In the darkness of the gallery +Serge crept behind her without being seen. He had been watching Jeanne, +and seeing her go away alone, had followed her. In the angle of the +large bay-window, opening into the garden, he waited with palpitating +heart. Madame Desvarennes's voice was heard in the silence of the +drawing-room; he listened. + +"Sit down, Jeanne; our interview will be short, and it could not be +delayed, for to-morrow I shall not be here." + +"You are leaving so soon?" + +"Yes; I only left Paris on my daughter's account, and on yours. My +daughter knows what I had to tell her; now it is your turn! Why did you +come to Nice?" + +"I could not do otherwise." + +"Because?" + +"Because my husband wished it." + +"You ought to have made him wish something else. Your power over him is +absolute." + +There was a moment's pause. Then Jeanne answered: + +"I feared to insist lest I should awaken his suspicions." + +"Good! But admitting that you came to Nice, why accept hospitality in +this house?" + +"Micheline offered it to us," said Jeanne. + +"And even that did not make you refuse. What part do you purpose playing +here? After six months of honesty, are you going to change your mind?" + +Serge, behind his shelter, shuddered. Madame Desvarennes's words were +clear. She knew all. + +Jeanne's voice was indignant when she replied: + +"By what right do you insult me by such a suspicion?" + +"By the right which you have given me in not keeping to your bargain. +You ought to have kept out of the way, and I find you here, seeking +danger and already trying those flirtations which are the forerunners of +sin, and familiarizing yourself with evil before wholly giving yourself +up to it." + +"Madame!" cried Jeanne, passionately. + +"Answer! Have you kept the promise you made me?" + +"Have the hopes which you held out to me been realized?" replied Jeanne, +with despair. "For six months I have been away, and have I found peace +of mind and heart? The duty which you pointed out to me as a remedy for +the pain which tortured me I have fruitlessly followed. I have wept, +hoping that the trouble within me would be washed away with my tears. +I have prayed to Heaven, and asked that I might love my husband. +But, no! That man is as odious to me as ever. Now I have lost all my +illusions, and find myself joined to him for the rest of my days! I have +to tell lies, to wear a mask, to smile! It is revolting, and I suffer! +Now that you know what is passing within me, judge, and say whether your +reproaches are not a useless cruelty." + +On hearing Jeanne, Madame Desvarennes felt herself moved with deep pity. +She asked herself whether it was not unjust for that poor child to suffer +so much. She had never done anything wrong, and her conduct was worthy +of esteem. + +"Unhappy woman!" she said. + +"Yes, unhappy, indeed," resumed Jeanne, "because I have nothing to cling +to, nothing to sustain me. My mind is afflicted with feverish thoughts, +my heart made desolate with bitter regrets. My will alone protects me, +and in a moment of weakness it may betray me." + +"You still love him?" asked Madame Desvarennes, in a deep voice which +made Serge quiver. + +"Do I know? There are times when I think I hate him. What I have +endured since I have been here is incredible! Everything galls me, +irritates me. My husband is blind, Micheline unsuspicious, and Serge +smiles quietly, as if he were preparing some treachery. Jealousy, anger, +contempt, are all conflicting within me. I feel that I ought to go away, +and still I feel a, horrible delight in remaining." + +"Poor child!" said Madame Desvarennes. "I pity you from my soul. +Forgive my unjust words; you have done all in your power. You have had +momentary weaknesses like all human beings. You must be helped, and may +rely on me. I will speak to your husband to-morrow; he shall take you +away. Lacking happiness, you must have peace. Go you are a brave heart, +and if Heaven be just, you will be rewarded." + +Serge heard the sound of a kiss. In an embrace, the mother had blessed +her adopted daughter. Then the Prince saw Madame Desvarennes go slowly +past him. And the silence was broken only by the sobs of Jeanne who was +half lying on the sofa in the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE TELLTALE KISS + +Serge slipped from his hiding-place and came toward Jeanne. The carpet +deadened the sound of his steps. The young woman was gazing into vacancy +and breathing with difficulty. He looked at her for a moment without +speaking; then, leaning over her shoulder. + +"Is it true, Jeanne," he murmured, softly, "that you hate me?" + +Jeanne arose, bewildered, exclaiming, + +"Serge!" + +"Yes, Serge," answered the Prince, "who has never ceased to love you." + +A deep blush spread over the young woman's face. + +"Leave me," she said. "Your language is unworthy of a man. I will not +listen to you." + +And with a quick step she walked toward the gallery. Serge threw himself +in her way, saying: + +"You must stop; you cannot escape me." + +"But this is madness," exclaimed Jeanne, moving away. "Do you forget +where we are?" + +"Do you forget what you have just been saying?" retorted Serge. "I was +there; I did not miss a word." + +"If you heard me," said Jeanne, "you know that everything separates us. +My duty, yours, and my will." + +"A will which is enforced, and against which your heart rebels. A will +to which I will not submit." + +As he spoke, Serge advanced toward her, trying to seize her in his arms. + +"Take care!" replied Jeanne. "Micheline and my husband are there. You +must be mad to forget it. If you come a step farther I shall call out." + +"Call, then!" cried Serge, clasping her in his arms. + +Jeanne tried to free herself from him, but could not. + +"Serge," she said, paling with mingled anguish and rapture in the arms of +him whom she adored, "what you are doing is cowardly and base!" + +A kiss stopped the words on her lips. Jeanne felt herself giving way. +She made a supreme effort. + +"I won't, Serge!" she stammered. "Have mercy!" + +Tears of shame rolled down her face. + +"No! you belong to me. The other, your husband, stole you from me. +I take you back. I love you!" + +The young woman fell on a seat. + +Serge repeated, + +"I love you! I love you! I love you!" + +A fearful longing took possession of Jeanne. She no longer pushed away +the arms which clasped her. She placed her hands on Serge's shoulder, +and with a deep sigh gave herself up. + +A profound silence reigned around. Suddenly a sound of approaching +voices roused them, and at the same moment the heavy curtain which +separated the room from the adjoining drawing-room was lifted. A shadow +appeared on the threshold, as they were still in each other's arms. The +stifled exclamation, "O God!" followed by a sob of agony, resounded. +The door curtain fell, surrounding with its folds the unknown witness of +that terrible scene. + +Jeanne had risen, trying to collect her ideas. A sudden light dawned on +her mind; she realized in a moment the extent of her crime, and uttering +a cry of horror and despair, she escaped, followed by Serge, through the +gallery. + +Then the heavy curtain was lifted again, and tottering, livid, almost +dead, Micheline entered the room. Pierre, serious and cold, walked +behind her. The Princess, feeling tired, had come into the house. +Chance had led her there to witness this proof of misfortune and treason. + +Both she and Delarue looked at each other, silent and overwhelmed. Their +thoughts whirled through their brains with fearful rapidity. In a moment +they looked back on their existence. He saw the pale betrothed of whom +he had dreamed as a wife, who had willingly given herself to another, +and who now found herself so cruelly punished. She measured the distance +which separated these two men: the one good, loyal, generous; the other +selfish, base, and unworthy. And seeing him whom she adored, so vile and +base compared to him whom she had disdained, Micheline burst into bitter +tears. + +Pierre tremblingly hastened toward her. The Princess made a movement to +check him, but she saw on the face of her childhood's friend such sincere +grief and honest indignation, that she felt as safe, with him as if he +had really been her brother. Overcome, she let her head fall on his +shoulder, and wept. + +The sound of approaching footsteps made Micheline arise. She recognized +her husband's step, and hastily seizing Pierre's hand, said: + +"Never breathe a word; forget what you have seen." + +Then, with deep grief, she added: + +"If Serge knew that I had seen him unawares he would never forgive me!" + +Drying her tears, and still tottering from the shock, she left the room. +Pierre remained alone, quite stunned; pitying, yet blaming the poor +woman, who, in her outraged love, still had the absurd courage to hold +her tongue and to resign herself. Anger seized on him, and the more +timid Micheline seemed herself, the more violent and passionate he felt. + +Serge came back to the room. After the first moment of excitement, he +had reflected, and wanted to know by whom he had been observed. Was it +Madame Desvarennes, Micheline, or Cayrol, who had come in? At this idea +he trembled, measuring the possible results of the imprudence he had been +guilty of. He resolved to face the difficulty if it were either of these +three interested parties, and to impose silence if he had to deal with an +indifferent person. He took the lamp which Madame Desvarennes had a +short time before asked Cayrol to remove and went into the room. Pierre +was there alone. + +The two men measured each other with their looks. Delarue guessed the +anxiety of Serge, and the Prince understood the hostility of Pierre. He +turned pale. + +"It was you who came in?" he asked, boldly. + +"Yes," replied Pierre, with severity. + +The Prince hesitated for a second. He was evidently seeking a polite +form to express his request. He did not find one, and in a threatening +manner, he resumed: + +"You must hold your tongue, otherwise--" + +"Otherwise?" inquired Pierce, aggressively. + +"What is the use of threats?" replied Serge, already calmed. "Excuse +me; I know that you will not tell; if not for my sake at least for that +of others." + +"Yes, for others," said Pierre, passionately; "for others whom you have +basely sacrificed, and who deserve all your respect and love; for Madame +Desvarennes, whose high intelligence you have not been able to +understand; for Micheline, whose tender heart you have not been able to +appreciate. Yes, for their sakes I will hold my peace, not out of regard +for you, because you neither deserve consideration nor esteem." + +The Prince advanced a step, and exclaimed: + +"Pierre!" + +Pierre did not move, and looking Serge in the face, continued: + +"The truth is unpleasant to you, still you must hear it. You act +according to your fancies. Principles and morals, to which all men +submit, are dead letters to you. Your own pleasure above all things, +and always! That is your rule, eh? and so much the worse if ruin and +trouble to others are the consequences? You only have to deal with two +women, and you profit by it. But I warn you that if you continue to +crush them I will be their defender." + +Serge had listened to all this with disdainful impassibility, and when +Pierre had finished, he smiled, snapped his fingers, and turning toward +the young man: + +"My dear fellow," said he, "allow me to tell you that I think you are +very impertinent. You come here meddling with my affairs. What +authority have you? Are you a relative? A connection? By what right do +you preach this sermon?" + +As he concluded, Serge seated himself and laughed with a careless air. + +Pierre answered, gravely: + +"I was betrothed to Micheline when she saw and loved you: that is my +right! I could have married her, but sacrificed my love to hers: that +is my authority! And it is in the name of my shattered hopes and lost +happiness that I call you to account for her future peace." + +Serge had risen, he was deeply embittered at what Delarue had just told +him, and was trying to recover his calmness. Pierre, trembling with +emotion and anger, was also striving to check their influence. + +"It seems to me," said the Prince, mockingly, "that in your claim there +is more than the outcry of an irritated conscience; it is the complaint +of a heart that still loves." + +"And if that were so?" retorted Pierre. "Yes, I love her, but with a +pious love, from the depth of my soul, as one would love a saint; and I +only suffer the more to see her suffering." + +Somewhat irritated the Prince exclaimed, impatiently: + +"Oh, don't let us have a lyric recitation; let us be brief and clear. +What do you want? Explain yourself. I don't suppose that you have +addressed this rebuke to me solely for the purpose of telling me that +you are in love with my wife!" + +Pierre disregarded what was insulting in the Prince's answer, and calming +himself, by force of will, replied: + +"I desire, since you ask me, that you forget the folly and error of a +moment, and that you swear to me on your honor never to see Madame Cayrol +again." + +Pierre's moderation wounded the Prince more than his rage had affected +him. He felt petty beside this devoted friend, who only thought of the +happiness of her whom he loved without hope. His temper increased. + +"And what if I refuse to lend myself to those whims which you express so +candidly?" + +"Then," said Pierre, resolutely, "I shall remember that, when renouncing +Micheline, I promised to be a brother to her, and if you compel me I will +defend her." + +"You are threatening me, I think," cried Serge, beside himself. + +"No! I warn you." + +"Enough," said the Prince, scarcely able to command himself. "For any +little service you have rendered me, from henceforth we are quits. Don't +think that I am one of those who yield to violence. Keep out of my path; +it will be prudent." + +"Listen, then, to this. I am not one of those who shirk a duty, +whatever the peril be in accomplishing it. You know what price I put on +Micheline's happiness; you are responsible for it, and I shall oblige you +to respect it." + +And leaving Serge dumb with suppressed rage, Pierre went out on the +terrace. + +On the high road the sound of the carriages bearing away Savinien, Herzog +and his daughter, resounded in the calm starry night. In the villa +everything was quiet. Pierre breathed with delight; he instinctively +turned his eyes toward the brilliant sky, and in the far-off firmament, +the star which he appropriated to himself long ago, and which he had so +desperately looked for when he was unhappy, suddenly appeared bright and +twinkling. He sighed and moved on. + +The Prince spent a part of the night at the club; he was excessively +nervous, and after alternate losses and gains, he retired, carrying off a +goodly sum from his opponents. It was a long time since he had been so +lucky, and on his way home he smiled when he thought how false was the +proverb, "Lucky at play, unlucky in love." He thought of that adorable +Jeanne whom he had held in his arms a few hours before, and who had so +eagerly clung to him. He understood that she had never ceased to belong +to him. The image of Cayrol, self-confident man, happy in his love, +coming to his mind, caused Serge to laugh. + +There was no thought for Micheline; she had been the stepping-stone to +fortune for him; he knew that she was gentle and thought her not very +discerning. He could easily deceive her; with a few caresses and a +little consideration he could maintain the illusion of his love for her. +Madame Desvarennes alone inconvenienced him in his arrangements. She was +sagacious, and on several occasions he had seen her unveil plots which he +thought were well contrived. He must really beware of her. He had often +noticed in her voice and look an alarming hardness. She was not a woman +to be afraid of a scandal. On the contrary, she would hail it with joy, +and be happy to get rid of him whom she hated with all her might. + +In spite of himself, Serge remembered the night of his union to +Micheline, when he had said to Madame Desvarennes: "Take my life; it is +yours!" She had replied seriously, and almost threateningly: "Very well; +I accept it!" These words now resounded in his ears like a verdict. +He promised himself to play a sure game with Madame Desvarennes. As to +Cayrol, he was out of the question; he had only been created as a +plaything for princes such as Serge; his destiny was written on his +forehead, and he could not escape. If it had not been Panine, some one +else would have done the same thing for him. Besides, how could that +ex-cowherd expect to keep such a woman as Jeanne was to himself. It +would have been manifestly unfair. + +The Prince found his valet asleep in the hall. He went quickly to his +bedroom, and slept soundly without remorse, without dreams, until noon. +Coming down to breakfast, he found the family assembled. Savinien had +come to see his aunt, before whom he wanted to place a "colossal idea." +This time, he said, it was worth a fortune. He hoped to draw six +thousand francs from the mistress who, according to her usual custom, +could not fail to buy from him what he called his idea. + +The dandy was thoughtful; he was preparing his batteries. Micheline, +pale, and her eyes red for want of rest, was seated near the gallery, +silently watching the sea, on which were passing, in the distance, +fishing-smacks with their sails looking like white-winged birds. Madame +Desvarennes was serious, and was giving Marechal instructions respecting +her correspondence, while at the same time watching her daughter out of +the corner of her eye. Micheline's depressed manner caused her some +anxiety; she guessed some mystery. Still the young wife's trouble might +be the result of last evening's serious interview. But the sagacity of +the mistress guessed a new incident. Perhaps some scene between Serge +and Micheline in regard to the club. She was on the watch. + +Cayrol and Jeanne had gone for a drive to Mentone. With a single glance +the Prince took in the attitude of one and all, and after a polite +exchange of words and a careless kiss on Micheline's brow, he seated +himself at table. The repast was silent. Each one seemed preoccupied. +Serge anxiously asked himself whether Pierre had spoken. Marechal, +deeply interested in his plate, answered briefly, when addressed by +Madame Desvarennes. All the guests seemed constrained. It was a relief +when they rose from the table. + +Micheline took her husband's arm and leading him into the garden, under +the shade of the magnolias, said to him: + +"My mother leaves us to-night. She has received a letter recalling her +to Paris. Her journey here was, you no doubt know, on our account. Our +absence made her sad, and she could no longer refrain from seeing me, so +she came. On her return to Paris she will feel very lonely, and as I am +so often alone--" + +"Micheline!" interrupted Serge, with astonishment. + +"It is not a reproach, dear," continued the young wife, sweetly. "You +have your engagements. There are necessities to which one must submit; +you do what you think is expected of you, and it must be right. Only +grant me a favor." + +"A favor? To you?" replied Serge, troubled at the unexpected turn the +interview was taking. "Speak, dear one; are you not at liberty to do as +you like?" + +"Well," said Micheline, with a faint smile, "as you are so kindly +disposed, promise that we shall leave for Paris this week. The season is +far advancing. All your friends will have returned. It will not be such +a great sacrifice which I ask from you." + +"Willingly," said Serge, surprised at Micheline's sudden resolution. +"But, admit," added he, gravely, "that your mother has worried you a +little on the subject." + +"My mother knows nothing of my project," returned the Princess, coldly. +"I did not care to say anything about it to her until I had your consent. +A refusal on your part would have seemed too cruel. Already, you are not +the best of friends, and it is one of my regrets. You must be good to my +mother, Serge; she is getting old, and we owe her much gratitude and +love." + +Panine remained silent. Could such a sudden change have come over +Micheline in one day? She who lately sacrificed her mother for her +husband now came and pleaded in favor of Madame Desvarennes. What had +happened? + +He promptly decided on his course of action. + +"All that you ask me shall be religiously fulfilled. No concession will +be too difficult for me to make if it please you. You wish to return to +Paris, we will go as soon as our arrangements have been made. Tell +Madame Desvarennes, then, and let her see in our going a proof that I +wish to live on good terms with her." + +Micheline simply said: "Thank you." And Serge having gallantly kissed +her hand, she regained the terrace. + +Left alone, Serge asked himself the meaning of the transformation in his +wife. For the first time she had shown signs of taking the initiative. +Had the question of money been raised by Madame Desvarennes, and was +Micheline taking him back to Paris in the hope of inducing a change in +his habits? They would see. The idea that Micheline had seen him with +Jeanne never occurred to him. He did not think his wife capable of so +much self-control. Loving as she was, she could not have controlled her +feelings, and would have made a disturbance. Therefore he had no +suspicions. + +As to their leaving for Paris he was delighted at the idea. Jeanne and +Cayrol were leaving Nice at the end of the week. Lost in the vastness of +the capital, the lovers would be more secure. They could see each other +at leisure. Serge would hire a small house in the neighborhood of the +Bois de Boulogne, and there they could enjoy each other's society without +observation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CAYROL IS BLIND + +Micheline, on her return to Paris, was a cause of anxiety to all her +friends. Morally and physically she was changed. Her former gayety had +disappeared. In a few weeks she became thin and seemed to be wasting +away. Madame Desvarennes, deeply troubled, questioned her daughter, +who answered, evasively, that she was perfectly well and had nothing to +trouble her. The mother called in Doctor Rigaud, although she did not +believe in the profession, and, after a long conference, took him to see +Micheline. The doctor examined her, and declared it was nothing but +debility. Madame Desvarennes was assailed with gloomy forebodings. +She spent sleepless nights, during which she thought her daughter was +dead; she heard the funeral dirges around her coffin. This strong woman +wept, not daring to show her anxiety, and trembling lest Micheline should +suspect her fears. + +Serge was careless and happy, treating the apprehensions of those +surrounding him with perfect indifference. He did not think his wife was +ill--a little tired perhaps, or it might be change of climate, nothing +serious. He had quite fallen into his old ways, spending every night at +the club, and a part of the day in a little house in the Avenue Maillot, +near the Bois de Boulogne. He had found one charmingly furnished, and +there he sheltered his guilty happiness. + +It was here that Jeanne came, thickly veiled, since her return from Nice. +They each had a latchkey belonging to the door opening upon the Bois. +The one who arrived first waited for the other, within the house, whose +shutters remained closed to deceive passers-by. Then the hour of +departure came; the hope of meeting again did not lessen their sadness at +parting. + +Jeanne seldom went to the Rue Saint-Dominique. The welcome that +Micheline gave her was the same as usual, but Jeanne thought she +discovered a coldness which made her feel uncomfortable; and she did not +care to meet her lover's wife, so she made her visits scarce. + +Cayrol came every morning to talk on business matters with Madame +Desvarennes. He had resumed the direction of his banking establishment. +The great scheme of the European Credit Company had been launched by +Herzog, and promised great results. Still Herzog caused Cayrol +considerable anxiety. Although a man of remarkable intelligence, +he had a great failing, and by trying to grasp too much often ended by +accomplishing nothing. Scarcely was one scheme launched when another +idea occurred to him, to which he sacrificed the former. + +Thus, Herzog was projecting a still grander scheme to be based on the +European Credit. Cayrol, less sanguine, and more practical, was afraid +of the new scheme, and when Herzog spoke to him about it, said that +things were well enough for him as they were, and that he would not be +implicated in any fresh financial venture however promising. + +Cayrol's refusal had vexed Herzog. The German knew what opinion he was +held in by the public, and that without the prestige of Cayrol's name, +and behind that, the house of Desvarennes, he would never have been able +to float the European Credit as it had been. He was too cunning not to +know this, and Cayrol having declined to join him, he looked round in +search of a suitable person to inspire the shareholders with confidence. + +His daughter often went to the Rue Saint-Dominique. Madame Desvarennes +and Micheline had taken a fancy to her, as she was serious, natural, and +homelike. They liked to see her, although her father was not congenial +to their taste. Herzog had not succeeded in making friends with the +mistress; she disliked and instinctively mistrusted him. + +One day it was rumored that Suzanne Herzog had gone in for an examination +at the Hotel de Ville, and had gained a certificate: People thought it +was very ridiculous. What was the good of so much learning for a girl +who would have such a large fortune, and who would never know want. +Savinien thought it was affectation and most laughable! Madame +Desvarennes thought it was most interesting; she liked workers, and +considered that the richer people were, the more reason they had to work. +Herzog had allowed his daughter to please herself and said nothing. + +Springtime had come, and fine weather, yet Micheline's health did not +improve. She did not suffer, but a sort of languor had come over her. +For days she never quitted her reclining-chair. She was very +affectionate toward her mother, and seemed to be making up for the lack +of affection shown during the first months of her marriage. + +She never questioned Serge as to his manner of spending his time, though +she seldom saw him, except at meal hours. Every week she wrote to +Pierre, who was buried in his mines, and after every despatch her mother +noticed that she seemed sadder and paler. + +Serge and Jeanne grew bolder. They felt that they were not watched. +The little house seemed too small for them, and they longed to go beyond +the garden, as the air of the Bois was so sweet and scented with violets. +A feeling of bravado came over them, and they did not mind being seen +together. People would think they were a newly-married couple. + +One afternoon they sallied forth, Jeanne wearing a thick veil, and +trembling at the risk she was running, yet secretly delighted at going. +They chose the most unfrequented paths and solitary nooks. Then, after +an hour's stroll, they returned briskly, frightened at the sounds of +carriages rolling in the distance. They often went out after that, +and chose in preference the paths near the pond of Madrid where, behind +sheltering shrubs, they sat talking and listening to the busy hum of +Parisian life, seemingly so far away. + +One day, about four o'clock, Madame Desvarennes was going to Saint-Cloud +on business, and was crossing the Bois de Boulogne. Her coachman had +chosen the most unfrequented paths to save time. She had opened the +carriage-window, and was enjoying the lovely scent from the shrubs. +Suddenly a watering-cart stopped the way. Madame Desvarennes looked +through the window to see what was the matter, and remained stupefied. +At the turning of a path she espied Serge, with a woman on his arm. She +uttered a cry that caused the couple to turn round. Seeing that pale +face, they sought to hide themselves. + +In a moment Madame Desvarennes was out of the carriage. The guilty +couple fled down a path. Without caring what might be said of her, +and goaded on by a fearful rage, she tried to follow them. +She especially wished to see the woman who was closely veiled. +She guessed her to be Jeanne. But the younger woman, terrified, +fled like a deer down a side walk. Madame Desvarennes, quite out of +breath, was obliged to stop. She heard the slamming of a carriage-door, +and a hired brougham that had been waiting at the end of the path swept +by her bearing the lovers toward the town. + +The mistress hesitated a moment, then said to her coachman: + +"Drive home." And, abandoning her business, she arrived in the Rue +Saint-Dominique a few minutes after the Prince. + +With a bound, without going through the offices, without even taking off +her bonnet and cloak, she went up to Serge's apartments. Without +hesitating, she entered the smoking-room. + +Panine was there. Evidently he was expecting her. On seeing Madame +Desvarennes he rose, with a smile: + +"One can see that you are at home," said he, ironically; "you come in +without knocking." + +"No nonsense; the moment is ill-chosen," briefly retorted the mistress. +"Why did you run away when you saw me a little while ago?" + +"You have such a singular way of accosting people," he answered, lightly. +"You come on like a charge of cavalry. The person with whom I was +talking was frightened, she ran away and I followed her." + +"She was doing wrong then if she was frightened. Does she know me?" + +"Who does not know you? You are almost notorious--in the corn-market!" + +Madame Desvarennes allowed the insult to pass without remark, and +advancing toward Serge, said: + +"Who is this woman?" + +"Shall I introduce her to you?" inquired the Prince, quietly. "She is +one of my countrywomen, a Polish--" + +"You are a liar!" cried Madame Desvarennes, unable to control her temper +any longer. "You are lying most impudently!" + +And she was going to add, "That woman was Jeanne!" but prudence checked +the sentence on her lips. + +Serge turned pale. + +"You forget yourself strangely, Madame," he said, in a dry tone. + +"I forgot myself a year ago, not now! It was when I was weak that I +forgot myself. When Micheline was between you and me I neither dared to +speak nor act. + +"But now, since after almost ruining my poor daughter, you deceive her, I +have no longer any consideration for you. To make her come over to my +side I have only to speak one word." + +"Well, speak it! She is there. I will call her!" + +Madame Desvarennes, in that supreme moment, was assailed by a doubt. +What if Micheline, in her blind love, did not believe her? + +She raised her hand to stop Serge. + +"Will not the fear of killing my daughter by this revelation stay you?" +asked she, bitterly. "What manner of man are you to have so little heart +and conscience?" + +Panine burst into laughter. + +"You see what your threats are worth, and what value I place on them. +Spare them in the future. You ask me what manner of man I am? I will +tell you. I have not much patience, I hate to have my liberty interfered +with, and I have a horror of family jars. I expect to be master of my +own house." + +Madame Desvarennes was roused at these words. Her rage had abated on her +daughter's account, but now it rose to a higher pitch. + +"Ah! so this is it, is it?" she said. "You would like perfect liberty, +I see! You make such very good use of it. You don't like to hear +remarks upon it. It is more convenient, in fact! You wish to be master +in your own house? In your own house! But, in truth, what are you here +to put on airs toward me? Scarcely more than a servant. A husband +receiving wages from me!" + +Serge, with flashing eyes, made a terrible movement. He tried to speak, +but his lips trembled, and he could not utter a sound. By a sign he +showed Madame Desvarennes the door. The latter looked resolutely at the +Prince, and with energy which nothing could henceforth soften, added: + +"You will have to deal with me in future! Good-day!" + +And, leaving the room with as much calmness as she felt rage when +entering it, she went down to the countinghouse. + +Cayrol was sitting chatting with Marechal in his room. He was telling +him that Herzog's rashness caused him much anxiety. Marechal did not +encourage his confidence. The secretary's opinion on the want of +morality on the part of the financier had strengthened. The good feeling +he entertained toward the daughter had not counterbalanced the bad +impression he had of the father, and he warmly advised Cayrol to break +off all financial connection with such a man. Cayrol, indeed, had now +very little to do with the European Credit. The office was still at his +banking house, and the payments for shares were still made into his bank, +but as soon as the new scheme which Herzog was preparing was launched, +the financier intended settling in splendid offices which were being +rapidly completed in the neighborhood of the Opera. Herzog might +therefore commit all the follies which entered his head. Cayrol would be +out of it. + +Madame Desvarennes entered. At the first glance, the men noticed the +traces of the emotion she had just experienced. They rose and waited in +silence. When the mistress was in a bad humor everybody gave way to her. +It was the custom. She nodded to Cayrol, and walked up and down the +office, absorbed in her own thoughts. Suddenly stopping, she said: + +"Marechal, prepare Prince Panine's account." + +The secretary looked up amazed, and did not seem to understand. + +"Well! The Prince has had an overdraft; you will give me a statement; +that's all! I wish to see how we two stand." + +The two men, astonished to hear Madame Desvarennes speak of her son-in- +law as she would of a customer, exchanged looks. + +"You have lent my son-in-law money, Cayrol?" + +And as the banker remained silent, still looking at the secretary, Madame +added: + +"Does the presence of Marechal make you hesitate in answering me? Speak +before him; I have told you more than a hundred times that he knows my +business as well as I do." + +"I have, indeed, advanced some money to the Prince," replied Cayrol. + +"How much?" inquired Madame Desvarennes. + +"I don't remember the exact amount. I was happy to oblige your son-in- +law." + +"You were wrong, and have acted unwisely in not acquainting me of the +fact. It is thus that his follies have been encouraged by obliging +friends. At all events, I ask you now not to lend him any more." + +Cayrol seemed put out, and, with his hands in his pockets and his +shoulders up, replied: + +"This is a delicate matter which you ask of me. You will cause a quarrel +between the Prince and myself--" + +"Do you prefer quarreling with me?" asked the mistress. + +"Zounds! No!" replied the banker. "But you place me in an embarrassing +position! I have just promised to lend Serge a considerable sum +to-night." + +"Well! you will not give it to him." + +"That is an act which he will scarcely forgive," sighed Cayrol. + +Madame Desvarennes placed her hand on the shoulder of the banker, and +looking seriously at him, said: + +"You would not have forgiven me if I had allowed you to render him this +service." + +A vague uneasiness filled Cayrol's heart, a shadow seemed to pass before +his eyes, and in a troubled voice he said to the mistress: + +"Why so?" + +"Because he would have repaid you badly." + +Cayrol thought the mistress was alluding to the money he had already +lent, and his fears vanished. Madame Desvarennes would surely repay it. + +"So you are cutting off his resources?" he asked. + +"Completely," answered the mistress. "He takes too much liberty, that +young gentleman. He was wrong to forget that I hold the purse-strings. +I don't mind paying, but I want a little deference shown me for my money. +Good-by! Cayrol, remember my instructions." + +And, shaking hands with the banker, Madame Desvarennes entered her own +office, leaving the two men together. + +There was a moment's pause: Cayrol was the first to break the silence. + +"What do you think of the Prince's position?" + +"His financial position?" asked Marechal. + +"Oh, no! I know all about that! I mean his relation to Madame +Desvarennes." + +"Zounds! If we were in Venice in the days of the Aqua-Toffana, the +sbirri and the bravi--" + +"What rubbish!" interrupted Cayrol, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Let me continue," said the secretary, "and you can shrug your shoulders +afterward if you like. If we had been in Venice, knowing Madame +Desvarennes as I do, it would not have been surprising to me to have had +Master Serge found at the bottom of the canal some fine morning." + +"You are not in earnest," muttered the banker. + +"Much more so than you think. Only you know we live in the nineteenth +century, and we cannot make Providence interpose in the form of a dagger +or poison so easily as in former days. Arsenic and verdigris are +sometimes used, but it does not answer. Scientific people have had the +meanness to invent tests by which poison can be detected even when there +is none." + +"You are making fun of me," said Cayrol, laughing. + +"I! No. Come, do you wish to do a good stroke of business? Find a man +who will consent to rid Madame Desvarennes of her son-in-law. If he +succeed, ask Madame Desvarennes for a million francs. I will pay it at +only twenty-five francs' discount, if you like!" + +Cayrol was thoughtful. Marechal continued: + +"You have known the house a long time, how is it you don't understand +the mistress better? I tell you, and remember this: between Madame +Desvarennes and the Prince there is a mortal hatred. One of the two +will destroy the other. Which? Betting is open." + +"But what must I do? The Prince relies on me--" + +"Go and tell him not to do so any longer." + +"Faith, no! I would rather he came to my office. I should be more at +ease. Adieu, Marechal." + +"Adieu, Monsieur Cayrol. But on whom will you bet?" + +"Before I venture I should like to know on whose side the Princess is." + +"Ah, dangler! You think too much of the women! Some day you will be let +in through that failing of yours!" + +Cayrol smiled conceitedly, and went away. Marechal sat down at his desk, +and took out a sheet of paper. + +"I must tell Pierre that everything is going on well here," he murmured. +"If he knew what was taking place he would soon be back, and might be +guilty of some foolery or other." So he commenced writing. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Because they moved, they thought they were progressing +Everywhere was feverish excitement, dissipation, and nullity +It was a relief when they rose from the table +Money troubles are not mortal +One amuses one's self at the risk of dying +Scarcely was one scheme launched when another idea occurred +Talk with me sometimes. You will not chatter trivialities +They had only one aim, one passion--to enjoy themselves +Without a care or a cross, he grew weary like a prisoner + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Serge Panine, v3 +by Georges Ohnet + diff --git a/3916.zip b/3916.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d46c0b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/3916.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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