I don't suppose you will be astonished at a curious encounter which has
just taken place.
I must tell you that in my uncle's character while in Paris,
Barbassou-Pasha, General in the Turkish cavalry, predominates over
Captain Barbassou the sailor. He takes a ride every morning, and I of
course accompany him. These are our occasions both for intimate talks
and for discussing serious questions; and I beg you to understand that
my uncle's notions upon the latter are by no means ordinary ones. He
adorns such questions with quite original views--views which are
certainly not the property of any other mortal known or likely to be
known in this world below. He starts a subject for me, and I give him
the cue as well as I can. I know of nothing more instructive than to
follow his lines of argument--he has a separate one for each
subject--upon different departments of private and political life,
judged from his own standpoint. As a legislator I fancy he would commit
radical mistakes; but as a philosopher, I doubt very much if a match
could be found for him, for I don't think that his methods can be
compared with those of any existing school of thought.
The other morning we went to the forest of Mendon; my uncle, as a lover
of the picturesque, considers that the Bois de Boulogne, with its lake,
looks as if it had been taken out of a box of German toys. We arrived at
Villebon, a sort of farm situated in the middle of the forest, with a
few fields attached to it. There is a restaurant there, which is much
frequented on Sundays during the summer.
My uncle, enchanted with the place, wanted to stop and take his glass of
madeira there. So, leaving our horses in charge of a stable-boy, we went
into one of the rooms. At a table at the further end, quite a
stylish-looking woman, who looked as if she were out with somebody on
the spree, was sitting by herself, finishing a liqueur-ice, with her hat
off and lying by her side. Her figure, as viewed from the back, was
exquisite, with graceful and well-set shoulders, an elegantly poised
neck with a lovely little dimple on the nape, crowned by a luxuriant
chignon, from which emerged a profusion of rebellious tresses----.
"Waiter! Madeira, please!" shouted my uncle in his formidable bass
voice.
At this unexpected explosion, the strange lady jumped up from her chair
and looked suddenly round. But directly she saw the captain, she
screamed out and fainted away all at once.
I must do my uncle the justice of admitting that when he noticed the
remarkable effect he had produced, he exhibited a slight gesture of
surprise; which, however, soon passed off. Without calling any help, in
four strides he reached the lady's side, and supported her against the
table, raising up her pretty head which had fallen back, and slapping
her hands. Then, having satisfied himself that she had completely lost
consciousness, he began without any more ado to unfasten her dress, tore
open her collar, and, with admirable dexterity, unhooked the upper part
of her stays--thereby revealing to our gaze two charming globes,
imprisoned in lace.
This spectacle, I avow, might have made any other man pause in his
zealous operations,--not so my uncle, however; he did not think twice
about it, but with his usual unconcerned air proceeded to open out the
fair one's stays, then took up the water-bottle, and emptied it with one
dash into the hollow between her rounded charms.
A convulsive start, and another scream, indicated immediately the
successful effect of this triumphant measure.
"There!" he said to me, "you see that's all that was needed."
Just at this moment the gentleman who belonged to the lady came in. It
is hardly necessary to add that when he saw my uncle occupied upon a
business so distinctly his own, the new-comer evinced some temper.
"_Bon Dieu!_" he shouted out as he rushed forward, "What's the meaning
of this? What's the meaning of this?"
"Nothing serious!" answered the pasha. "Your lady has simply been in a
swoon, nothing more; it's all over now!"
"But what have you been about, sir? What do you mean by throwing water
like that, right upon people's bosoms--?"
"It was all to do you a service," replied this saviour, quite
composedly.
The lady, for her part, looked as if she was going off in another fit,
but my uncle, judging no doubt that he had fulfilled his part of the
duties, and without troubling himself any further about the mingled
alarms and stares of the people of the house who came up, made one of
his ceremonious bows to the whole company, and took me away with him,
saying,
"Come, let us drink our madeira."
So we went out.
Being accustomed to Barbassou-Pasha's ways, I was certainly not
surprised at such a trifle as this. The waiter having served us, ten
minutes had elapsed, and while we were discussing the irreparable loss
of the Xerez and Douro vines, all of a sudden the door opened. It was
the lady's cavalier, and he came in raging like a storm.
"_Bagasse!_" he exclaimed with a furious look, and his hair bristling up
like a porcupine. "But you won't get off quite so easily as that, sir!
Who ever heard of such a thing? Undressing a defenceless woman like
that, and quite a stranger too!! Not to mention that you have spoilt her
dress, which looks as if she had been under the pump!"
His words rolled on like a torrent, in the purest Provençal accent. This
made my uncle smile, as if at some pleasant reminiscence; and putting on
his most engaging expression, he asked the new-comer in a gentle tone of
voice:
"What are you to this lady?"
"She is my sister-in-law, sir!" he replied in a fury, his voice swelling
louder and louder: "She is my brother's wife, sir; and he's no fool, no
more am I, sir!----Twenty-one years of service, eleven campaigns, and
sub-lieutenant of the Customs at Toulon, sir!----So you shall just let
me know how it was my sister-in-law fainted through your fault; and what
you meant by taking the liberty of exposing her in a way that no decent
man would be guilty of, not even with the consent of her family, nor if
she were in mortal danger of her life, sir!"
"And where do you live?" continued my uncle, sipping his madeira, and
still fixing upon the fair one's brother-in-law the same charming gaze.
"Hôtel des Bouches-du-Rhone, Rue Pagevin. I am escorting my
sister-in-law, and I am responsible for her to her husband."
"My compliments to you, sir! She is a charming young person."
This magnificent composure of my uncle's so completely disconcerted the
lieutenant of the Customs that he stopped short. But he had been carried
on too far by his hot meridional temper not to launch out again very
soon. He followed up with a perfect flood of abuse, interlarded with the
most approved insults, with violent epithets and noisy oaths. My uncle
listened to him quietly, stroking his chin, and contemplating him as if
watching the performance of some surprising feat. The Toulonnais said
that he considered this fainting fit of his sister-in-law's, and the
very unceremonious proceedings which had followed it, equally suspicious
and irregular.
"My brother's honour has been outraged," and so on, he observed.
But at last the good fellow was obliged to pause in order to take
breath. Barbassou-Pasha took advantage of the opening.
"Pray what is _your_ name?" he asked, still smiling affably.
"My name, my good man," loftily replied the man of Toulon, "is Firmin
Bonaffé, lieutenant in the Customs, seen twenty-one years of service and
eleven campaigns. And if that is not enough for you----"
"Why, dear me! then this charming young person has married your brother,
has she?"
"A week ago, sir, at Cadiz, where she lives! It was because he had to
go back over the sea to Brazil that he confided her to my charge. And
you must not imagine that I can let your outrageous behaviour to her
pass without further notice, sir!"
"You are a man of spirit, sir, that I can see!" replied my uncle. He was
gradually falling into his native _assent_, charmed, no doubt, by the
soothing example of his adversary. "I can understand your feelings," he
continued; "and for my part, my good fellow, I confess I should not have
the slightest objection to taking a sabre and slicing off a piece of
your person." (He uttered this latter word, _individu_, in French, with
the Marseillais pronunciation, _inndividu_.) "Indeed," he continued
quite placidly, "I should have no objection to throwing you through the
window here, just as you are."
This, following upon his imperturbable coolness throughout, had, I can
aver, a most aggravating effect. Being a little man and a braggart,
Firmin Bonaffé felt the insult all the more hotly.
"Throw me through the window? _Me!_" he exclaimed, drawing himself up as
if he wanted to touch the sky. "Try then! Just try!"
"By-and-by," said my uncle, pacifying him with a good-humoured gesture;
"but for the present let us have a talk, my good fellow! Certainly I
sympathise with your annoyance; for you must have perceived that I know
this lady, and that she knows me. There has even been a little _liaison_
between us----"
"_Bagasse!_ You confess to it, then?"
"I confess to it!" responded the captain, in a conciliatory manner.
"But, my dear fellow, a brother's horns, as the saying goes, need not
trouble one so much as one's own. You will of course agree with me on
that point."
"I agree with you there!" replied the Toulonnais, quite gravely, as if
struck by a specious argument. "But it does not follow from that----"
"Stop a moment!" interrupted my uncle, who wished to pursue his
argument. "_I_, whom you see here, have also had the honour of being
made a cuckold, as they say in Molière. You are acquainted with Molière,
I dare say?"
"I am; go on!" said the lieutenant, who had made up his mind to restrain
himself while my uncle was developing his explanations.
"Very well! as you have read him, you ought to know that a misadventure
like that is not such a great matter after all. A second or two and it
is all over, just like having a tooth out. Besides, remember this, the
tooth cannot be replaced, while in the case of a woman, one can find
plenty to take her place."
"That's true!" returned Firmin Bonaffé, who opened his eyes wide, as if
he wished to follow this chain of reasoning, which evidently astonished
him by its perspicuity.
The issue began to be cleared.
"Then we have arrived at the same opinion," continued Barbassou Pasha.
"All that remains is to come to an understanding."
"By no means! by no means! I repeat, my brother confided his wife to my
charge. You have insulted her in public, and in the name of decency--"
"Oh, no!" interrupted my uncle; "you are exaggerating! In the first
place, my nephew and I were the only persons present; therefore there
was no very great harm done. Then you brought the people up by your
shouting; consequently it is I who have cause to complain."
"_Té!_ Are you trying to make a fool of me?" exclaimed the Toulonnais,
bursting out upon us like a bomb with another explosion. "Do you
suppose, then, that I am going down on my knees to thank you for having
undressed Jean Bonaffé's wife?"
"Jean Bonaffé's wife? No, no, my good fellow!" briefly replied my uncle.
"Why 'No'?"
"Why, in the first place, because she is actually my own wife!"
"Yours?"
"As I have the pleasure of informing you. And consequently it is I who
would be entitled not to be at all pleased by your intervention in the
little domestic occurrence which took place just now."
The Toulonnais, for the moment, was struck dumb with astonishment.
"Then, _bagasse!_ who are you?" he asked.
"_The late_ Barbassou, retired general, seen fifty years of service, and
thirty-nine campaigns, and the husband of your sister-in-law, who is
now a bigamist--rather an awkward mistake for a lady."
My uncle might have gone on speaking for the rest of the day, and had it
all his own way. The unfortunate lieutenant stared at him, crushed and
dumbfounded by this astounding revelation. All at once, and without
waiting to hear any more, he turned on his heels, and beat a precipitate
retreat by the door.
The late Barbassou indulged in a smile at this very intelligible
discomfiture of his adversary. He had finished his madeira, and we went
out to get our horses again.
Directly he had mounted into the saddle, he said to me, reverting to the
subject of our interrupted conversation:
"Do you know, I think it's all up with the Madeira vines; but as to
those of the Douro, with careful grafting, we might still pull them
through!"
"I hope so, uncle!" I replied.
And, as a matter of fact, I think he is right. Perhaps we shall soon
know.
Come, I must tell you about a new occurrence which is already
influencing my romance in the most unexpected manner.
I don't suppose you have forgotten our Captain Picklock and the famous
story of the camels which were recovered through his good offices. Well,
the captain, having returned from Aden with the fever, and being at
Paris on his way home, accepted the hospitality of Baron de Villeneuve,
late consul at Pondicherry, whom you know. Two days ago we were invited
to a farewell dinner, given in his honour. It was quite a love-feast:
half a dozen friends, all of whom had been several times round the
world, and had met each other in various latitudes. The ladies consisted
of the amiable Baroness de Villeneuve, Mrs. Picklock, and my aunt. You
may imagine what a number of old recollections they discussed during
dinner. After the coffee we went into the drawing-room, where a
card-table was being set out for whist, when my uncle said:
"By the bye, what has become of our good friend Montague?"
"Oh, Montague," answered the baron; "he is in Paris. He has been
prevented from dining with us by an invitation to his ambassador's; but
he will look in this evening, and you will see him."
"Ah, that's capital!" exclaimed my uncle; "I shall be delighted to see
him again."
When I heard this name mentioned, I pricked up my ears. Still there was
nothing to indicate that the Montague spoken of was the commodore. I
listened with curiosity.
"Will he stay in Paris any length of time?" my uncle continued.
"The whole winter," replied the baroness. "He has come to pick up his
daughters, whom he had left in my charge two years ago, before he went
off to the North Pole."
"Ah, yes! little Maud and Suzannah," observed my uncle.
"Yes, captain; only your _little_ Maud and Suzannah are now grown-up
young ladies," added the baroness with a laugh.
It was impossible for me to entertain any more doubts; and I confess my
mind was far from easy when I heard this. At the thought of meeting the
commodore, my first idea was to get away at once, before he arrived.
Although I was confident of the perfect security of my secret, and
although it was the merest chance that had brought about the intimacy
which I could not have foreseen between Kondjé-Gul and his daughters, I
could not conceal from myself the embarrassment which I should feel in
his presence. As bad luck would have it, I was already seated at the
card-table. I lost my tricks as fast as I could in order to shorten the
game, swearing inwardly at the captain and my uncle, who were both of
them playing with a provoking deliberation, and lecturing me upon my
careless play. At last, having succeeded in losing my three rubbers, I
got up from the table, alleging a sudden attack of head-ache, when at
this very moment, in the next drawing-room where the baroness was
sitting, the servant announced,
"Commodore Montague!"
Just imagine my stupefaction, Louis, when I saw the commodore come in,
followed by his two daughters and Kondjé-Gul, whom he introduced to the
baroness and to my aunt as a schoolfellow of his daughters, Maud and
Suzannah!
You may guess what a state of confusion I was thrown into by this
spectacle. Whatever would happen? My chances of retreat being now
completely cut off, I withdrew myself to the midst of a group who were
talking together in a corner of the room. Kondjé-Gul was listening
timidly to the baroness's compliments, and I heard the latter say:
"I am much indebted, mademoiselle, to our friend the commodore who has
done us the favour of bringing you with him; Maud and Suzannah had
already spoken to me so often about you, that I had a great desire to
make your acquaintance."
The striking beauty of the young foreigner had created quite a
sensation, and feeling that all their eyes were fixed on her, she did
not venture to look about her. Still it was necessary to anticipate the
dangerous consequences of the least imprudence on the part of either of
us, by putting her on her guard before the baroness had the opportunity
of introducing me to the commodore and his daughters.----By rather a
clever manoeuvre, therefore, I managed to slip behind my aunt while
she was talking to the American young ladies.
When Kondjé-Gul saw me, she could not help giving a start of surprise,
but I had time to put my finger to my lips, and signify to her that she
must not show that she knew me. Our encounters in the Bois, during our
morning rides, had fortunately trained her already for this necessary
piece of dissimulation: and she had sufficient self-control not to
betray our secret. My aunt turned round at that very moment, and seeing
me standing by her chair, said to me:
"Oh, André, come and let me introduce you to this young lady!"
Kondjé-Gul blushed when I bowed to her, and returned my bow very
prettily. I was introduced in the same way to the commodore and his
daughters. There was a vacant chair close to them on which the baroness
made me sit down, and I soon found myself engaged in a general
conversation with them; I may add that the liveliness of the Montague
girls rendered our conversation much easier than I had expected. Having
been brought up in the American way, they possessed that youthful
independence of spirit which is stifled in our own girls by a more
strict and formal education, on the false ground of the requirements of
modesty. Kondjé-Gul, although rather reserved at first, expanded
gradually, and I was astonished at the change which had been effected in
her whole bearing. Certainly one could still guess that she was a
foreigner, but she had acquired quite a new ease in her deportment and
in her language. Being reassured by her behaviour against the risks of
this encounter, which I had at first so much dreaded, I freely accepted
the peculiar position in which I was placed. There was a positive charm
about this mystery, the pleasure of which I can hardly explain to you.
Although this was quite a small and friendly party, there were now
enough young people to get up a "hop," so the baroness instructed me to
lead off with Miss Suzannah, which I did very willingly, asking her for
a polka.
"What do you think of my friend Kondjé-Gul?" she said to me, when we sat
down after a few turns.
"She is remarkably pretty," I replied.
"I suppose you'll ask her for a dance with you?" she continued, with a
smile.
"I shall certainly not fail in this duty to a friend of yours and Miss
Maud's!"
"Miss Maud and I thank you very much for the attention," she said, with
a ceremonious bow; "only," she added, smiling maliciously at me, "I must
prepare you for a disappointment, which you will, no doubt, feel very
much afflicted by--our friend does not dance!"
"What, never?"
"We have given several little parties at my father's rooms, and have
never been able to persuade her to."
"Ah! that's no doubt because she only knows her oriental dances."
"You're quite wrong there! She has taken lessons just as we have, and
waltzes splendidly; but she won't even dance with the professor; it's
always Maud or I who act as her partners. She has some principles on
this subject which appear to be rooted in her, and which we have not yet
succeeded in overcoming."
"If you would help me this evening," I said, "perhaps we can succeed
between us."
"What, is it to be a conspiracy?"
"Quite a friendly one, for you must admit that it is for her own
interest."
"I won't deny it," she replied, with a laugh; "but how are we to force
her?"
Then I noticed poor Kondjé-Gul, who was watching us, and seemed to envy
us.
"Listen!" I said, as if a sudden idea had struck me. "I know of a likely
way."
"Well?"
"Let us take my aunt into our confidence; I see them over there talking
Turkish together. My aunt will perhaps be able to exercise sufficient
influence over your friend to convince her that she may conform to our
usages without committing any offence."
"Yes, that's the way to manage it!" exclaimed Miss Suzannah, in delight.
"Our conspiracy is making progress; but how shall we get at your aunt?"
"Does Mademoiselle Kondjé-Gul understand English?" I asked her.
"No, not a word."
"Then it's a very simple matter," I added. "After this polka I'll take
you back to your seat; you then communicate our scheme to my aunt in
English, and ask for her assistance; I come up, as if by chance, and try
my luck with her for the next waltz."
We did as we said. I watched from the distance this important
conference, all the details of which I guessed. While Miss Suzannah was
addressing my aunt in English, I saw her laugh in a sly manner, casting
a glance at me. She at once understood our request; then turned her
attention again to Kondjé-Gul, and continued, quite undisturbed, the
subject which she had last commenced talking about with her. I had so
perfectly anticipated all the phases of this scene, that I seemed to
hear what she said. By Kondjé-Gul's face I could tell the moment my aunt
approached her on our subject, and the negative gesture with which she
replied was so decisive--I was nearly saying so full of horror--that,
fearing lest she should cut off her retreat completely, I deemed it
advisable to intervene as quickly as possible.
I advanced, therefore, without any more ado, joined their group, and
addressing myself to the handsome young foreigner, I said to her:
"I should not like you to think me indifferent to the pleasure of
dancing with you, mademoiselle; I meant to have asked you for the first
waltz; but, alas! Miss Suzannah tells me that you do not dance!"
"You have come to the rescue, André," chimed in my aunt. "I was just
endeavouring to convert the young lady to our customs by telling her
that she would be taken for a little savage."
At this expression, which she had so often heard me utter, Kondjé-Gul
smiled and cast a furtive glance at me. Miss Suzannah supported my aunt,
and the victory was already won. They were beginning to play a waltz, so
Maud took her hand and forced it into mine; I clasped her by the waist
and led her off. During the first few turns Kondjé-Gul trembled with
excitement; I felt her heart beating violently against my bosom, and I
confess I was nearly losing my own self-possession. Once we found
ourselves some way removed from the rest, and, with her head resting on
my shoulder, she whispered in my ear:
"Do you still love me, dear? Are you satisfied with me?"
"Yes, but take care!" I answered hurriedly: "you are too beautiful, and
all their eyes are fixed upon us."
"If they only knew!"----she added, with a laugh.
I stopped a moment, to let her take breath. Each time any couple came
near us, we appeared to be engaged in one of those ball-room
conversations the only characteristic of which is their frivolity, and
as soon as they were out of hearing, we talked together in a low voice.
"You naughty fellow," she said, "I have not seen you in the Bois for
three days!"
"It was from motives of prudence," I replied. "And now prepare yourself
for a surprise. Your new house is ready and you can go there the day
after to-morrow."
"Do you really mean it?" exclaimed she, "Oh! what happiness! Then you
find me sufficiently Europeanized?"
"You coquette! you are adorable!----What a nice fan you have,
mademoiselle!" added I, changing my manner as Maud came close to us.
"Do you think so," she answered, "Is it Chinese or Japanese?"
Maud having passed we resumed our conversation, overjoyed at the idea of
constantly seeing each other again. The waltz was just ending and I was
obliged to conduct Kondjé-Gul back to my aunt.
"Listen!" she remarked, "whenever I put my fan up to my lips, that will
mean 'I love you'----You must come back soon to invite me for another
dance, won't you?"
"My dear girl, I can't."
"Why?"
"Because it is not usual, and would be remarked," I replied.
"But I don't want to dance with anyone else!" she said, almost with a
terrified look.
I had not for once thought of this very natural consequence of our
little adventure, and I must confess that the idea of anyone else asking
her after me took me quite by surprise--like some improbability which no
mortal could conceive.
"What shall I do?" she said.
It was necessary at all costs to repair the effects of our imprudence. I
invented for her a sudden indisposition, a dizziness which obliged her
to leave off waltzing, and I conducted her back to my aunt. This pretext
would be sufficient to justify her in declining to dance for the rest of
the evening.
I know very well, my dear fellow, that you will cry out against me when
I tell you of this strange feeling which pierced me suddenly like a
thorn in the heart, at the notion of seeing Kondjé-Gul dance with
another man. But how could I help it?
I simply relate to you a psychological fact and nothing more.
You may tell me, if you like, that this is a ridiculous exaggeration,
and that I am giving myself the morose airs of a jealous sultan. The
truth is that in my harem life, I have contracted prudish alarms and
real susceptibilities which are excited by things which would not have
affected me formerly. Contact with the outside world will, no doubt,
restore me to the calm frame of mind enjoyed by every good husband.
Perhaps some day I may even be able to feel pride as I watch my wife
with naked arms and shoulders whirling round the room in the amorous
embrace of a hussar. At present my temper is less complaisant: my love
is a master's love, and the notion that any man could venture to press
my Kondjé-Gul's little finger would be enough to throw me into a fit of
rage. That's what we Orientals are like, you know!
However that be, I led Kondjé-Gul back to my aunt's side, and she did
not dance any more.
From a corner of the drawing-room I saw some half-a-dozen of my friends
march up to get introduced to her, anxiously longing to obtain the same
favour as I had, and I laughed at their discomfiture.
Meanwhile the commodore, who, by the way, is a highly educated and
thoroughly good-natured man, had marked me out, and was so kind in his
attentions to me, that I felt constrained, in spite of my scruples, to
accept his advances. His relations with my uncle, moreover, might have
made the cold reserve which I had so far maintained appear singular.
Finally, towards the middle of the entertainment, when he was going away
with his daughters and Kondjé-Gul, whom he had to see home to Madame
Montier's, I had, without meaning it, so completely won his good
opinion, that I found myself invited to accompany my aunt who was dining
with him the next day but one.
Although it was only a fatality that had led to this extraordinary
complication, I must own that, when I began to think over it and to
contemplate the possible consequences, I felt a considerable anxiety.
Hitherto, by a compromise with conscience, which Kondjé-Gul's childlike
simplicity rendered almost excusable, I had been enabled to deceive
myself about the consequences of this school-friendship with two
American girls who were strangers to me. This, I thought, would never be
more than a chance companionship, and when her time with them was over,
the Misses Maud and Suzannah would remain ignorant of her real position,
which they had no occasion for suspecting. But I could not fail to
perceive that our relations with the commodore must aggravate our
difficulties to a remarkable extent.
Our society affords shelter, certainly, to many a hidden romance: we
have both honest loves and shady intrigues confused and interlaced in
its mazes so that they escape all notice. Yet, certain as I felt that
nothing could occur to betray our extraordinary secret, I was troubled
all the same at the part which I should have to play in this family with
which my uncle was on such intimate terms.
Placed face to face with the inexorable logic of facts, I could not long
deceive myself as to the course which the most elementary sense of
delicacy prescribed to me. I could see clearly during this last evening
party, that Kondjé-Gul had no further need of Madame Montier's lessons
to complete her social education. Count Térals house being now ready to
receive her, I need only settle her there with her mother in order to
commence at once the happy life of which we had so often dreamed. Then
it would be easy to withdraw gradually from the society of the Montague
girls, and thus banish all future risks.
Having decided upon this course, I wrote the same evening to Kondjé-Gul
to ask her to prepare for her return.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]