perverting these gentlemen. But we have devoted quite enough time to
Mademoiselle Tapotte; I hope that monsieur le marquis will do me the
honor to come and look at my garden; and if he could be induced to give
us this day----"
"Madame, I am too pleasantly situated here to summon courage to refuse,
and although I am expected to dine with a Bavarian prince, I cannot
resist your charms."
"I count upon you also, messieurs," said Athalie, addressing her other
guests; "you must pass the whole day here. Oh! no refusals! you must do
it, or you and I will have a falling-out. I have rooms to give you
to-night, and to-morrow morning I will drive you back to Paris in my
calèche."
"Yes," said La Thomassinière, "as the marquis is to stay, you other
gentlemen must stay too. There will be more of us, and it will be more
amusing. I have some matters to attend to; but, faith, when one has the
honor of having a marquis under one's roof, the devil may take the
rest."
The young gentlemen attempted to raise some objections on account of
their clothes; but the fascinating Athalie once more announced: "I
insist upon it!" at the same time bestowing upon them one of the smiles
which it is so hard to resist; and that levelled all obstacles. Auguste
made no objection at all, being by no means ill pleased to pass a night
at Fleury, and smiling already at certain thoughts that passed through
his mind.
They left the table. La Thomassinière seemed determined not to leave the
marquis's side for an instant; but that nobleman offered his arm to
Athalie for a stroll about the garden, and La Thomassinière, as he could
not take the marquis's other arm, walked on the other side, keeping
close at his elbow, and talking constantly to him, although most of the
time the marquis made no reply because he preferred to talk with madame.
Auguste took a seat in a grotto made of shells, not daring to return to
the orchard during the day. The other young men had taken possession of
the billiard room.
But Athalie, having arrangements to make for the entertainment of her
guests, and being determined that the dinner should make them amends for
the frugality of the breakfast, soon left Monsieur de Cligneval with her
husband. La Thomassinière instantly seized the marquis's arm and walked
on with him, saying:
"Now, let us talk business, monsieur le marquis, for that is my strong
point,--business,--especially large affairs, speculations, and--What do
you think of my labyrinth?"
"Charming!"
"And my pond?"
"Superb!"
"The waterfall is mine, I invented it. Formerly the water used to fall
straight down. That was too commonplace! I had rocks arranged
zigzag--that's very much prettier."
"Yes, it does you credit."
"You are very kind. Now I am going to take you into my woods, thence
into my fields, where I have some thoroughbred merino sheep. Another
invention of mine. Then we will go into my desert; you shall see my
deer--ah! they are superb creatures, my deer! almost like stags."
"Have you no stags?"
"No; I wanted one, but Madame de la Thomassinière declared that it was
unnecessary, that we had enough tame beasts. I will take you to my
summer-house too; we have enough fine things to see to take up two or
three hours."
The marquis, who was beginning to be weary of the tête-à-tête, announced
that he was fatigued, and as they were then near the grotto where
Auguste was seated, they took seats beside him, La Thomassinière having
said that he was tired as soon as Monsieur de Cligneval spoke of
resting.
"I have an estate of this sort," said the marquis, reclining on a mossy
bank, "in Bourgogne, a very fertile province. I have another in Berry,
where my grandfather owned a very handsome château."
"I have three farms in the department of Seine-et-Oise," said La
Thomassinière quickly, smoothing his chin; "I own two houses in Paris,
and I am on the point of buying a third."
"My grandparents were enormously rich!" said the marquis. "I haven't a
very clear idea how much I have left! I worry very little about it. When
a person has credit and is in favor at court--Why, if I wanted half a
dozen offices, I should only have to say the word!"
"My credit is unlimited! My paper is eagerly sought after at the Bourse!
I am swamped with business. I receive the very best society at my house,
and my guests play for infernally high stakes!"
"Pardieu! that reminds me that I lost three thousand francs at écarté
the day before yesterday," said the marquis carelessly.
"I won four thousand two days ago, at the house of a banker, who's a
friend of mine," replied La Thomassinière instantly.
"Oh! that's a mere trifle! When I play, I do it for the sake of doing
something!" said the marquis.
"To be sure," said La Thomassinière; "I am not sure that I didn't forget
to take the four thousand francs from the table, I pay so little
attention to money!"
"But a month ago," said the marquis, "I was in a really serious
game--the stakes were no less than eighty thousand francs."
"I staked a house last winter," rejoined La Thomassinière; "it was not
built, to be sure, and unluckily the contractor failed the next day, for
the third time."
Auguste listened in silence to his two neighbors, as they tossed the
ball back and forth. But at last La Thomassinière, fearing that he might
be unable to think of anything with which to cap the marquis's next
boast, changed the subject.
"What do you think of this view?" he asked.
"Very pretty," the marquis replied; "but why not have embellished it
with some picturesque ruins--_fabriques_--here and there?"
"Oh! I didn't want any factories--_fabriques_--on my property! The idea!
Workmen are noisy, always singing, and I don't choose to have anything
to do with that sort of people."
The marquis glanced at Auguste with a smile, and they left the grotto
for the billiard-room, where Monsieur de la Thomassinière missed every
shot, and exclaimed after every stroke that he misplayed:
"The trouble is that I've got a crooked cue; I can't see straight
to-day; it's the fault of the table; my head aches; something's the
matter with me; I'm not in the mood for playing; but if I were, you
would be nowhere."
Little Tony had arrived long before and had handed his master the fresh
supply of funds. When the marquis saw that Dalville had a cabriolet, he
manifested great friendliness for him, and declared that there was
sympathy between Auguste's tastes and his--a sympathy which Auguste had
not observed, although that fact did not prevent his responding to
Monsieur de Cligneval's advances.
The dinner-hour arrived, and they went to the table, where Athalie did
the honors with much grace. Not to depart from his custom, La
Thomassinière did not appear in the dining-room until the soup had been
removed; but he was delighted to say before the marquis that he had ten
important letters to write.
The dinner was even more agreeable than the morning repast, because they
knew one another better, and delicious wines heated their brains and
urged them on to folly. Athalie had the knack of keeping the party in
good humor by her sallies. The marquis thought her divine, entrancing,
and confounded himself in compliments. The petite-maîtresse was not
ambitious to fascinate a man of fifty, but she was very glad to earn the
praise of a marquis; and the young men were not jealous of the marquis;
so that there was nothing to mar the general jollity. They allowed La
Thomassinière to talk endlessly of his farms, his wealth, his
speculations; but they applauded him when he extolled his wines and his
cook.
They left the table as merry as well-bred people can be. Athalie went to
see if her harp was in tune. The men went into the garden for a breath
of fresh air. It was not dark as yet, but the light was fading.
The marquis had sauntered away, and Auguste was left alone with La
Thomassinière, who also claimed to be congenial to him, when, as they
strolled along a shaded path which was quite dark, and which skirted the
orchard, they heard the report of a hearty kiss. Auguste halted, curious
to know what was going on. La Thomassinière followed suit, with an air
of amazement.
"Did you hear?" he asked Auguste.
"Yes," was the reply, "I heard very distinctly."
"What was it?"
"If you didn't recognize the sound, it is useless for me to tell you
what it was."
"Why, it seemed to me--but in the dark one may be mistaken."
"Indeed! do you think that one doesn't hear as well by night as by day?"
"The fact is that I can't believe that anybody on my premises would
venture----"
The sound of the second kiss interrupted him. The two gentlemen walked
toward a clump of shrubbery near by, and saw Mademoiselle Tapotte in the
marquis's arms, defending herself very feebly, as her custom was; while
the marquis, with flushed face, gleaming eye and thick voice, said to
her:
"On my honor, you are a rose-bud, and I will have an assignation."
But the rustling of the foliage caused the marquis to release his hold;
Tapotte ran away, and Monsieur de Cligneval returned to the house, while
Auguste said laughingly to La Thomassinière:
"It seems that your champagne changes the aspect of things: that mass of
flesh has become a rose-bud."
"Oh! that is court language. The marquis was joking, no doubt. However,
I should have been terribly sorry to have him see us! A marquis, you
know! I ought not to have seen anything! Monsieur Dalville, I urge you
to maintain absolute secrecy about this matter; it is very important."
"Never fear!"
"I ask you to promise me."
Having quieted his host's fears, Auguste returned to the house with him.
Athalie took her place at the harp; the gentlemen seated themselves at a
card-table, and, while listening to the harmonious strains that the
young woman extracted from the instrument, they did their best to win
their opponents' money. Tea was served, then punch. The marquis won from
everybody; but he was so courteous, his manners were so amiable, that
one was almost tempted to thank him for condescending to take one's
money. Athalie, fatigued by the ball of the preceding night, retired
early; and ere long all the guests withdrew to their rooms.
The weather was superb and the soft moonlight seemed to invite one to
enjoy the cool evening air. Auguste stole quietly downstairs, dressed in
an ample robe de chambre which he had found in his room, and walked
through the garden toward the orchard. I am not sure whether he went
there solely in search of coolness, but when he reached the grove of
fruit trees, where it was very dark, he vanished among the plums and
cherries. At last, after wandering about for some time, he found
himself before the building which the gardener had pointed out to him.
He drew near; he heard voices and recognized La Thomassinière's. The
young man concluded that he had arrived too late; however, he listened
to what his host had to say to Mademoiselle Tapotte.
"Monsieur le marquis kissed you, my dear girl."
"Me, monsieur! oh, nenni! nobody didn't kiss me."
"Remember, Tapotte, that I am your master, and that I have a right to
know everything."
"I don't know what you want to know!"
"Monsieur le marquis kissed you."
"What's a marquis?"
"A magnificent man! rather short and fat, almost bald, about fifty years
old, and with an eye-glass--_lorgnon_--on one side."
"Oh! he's a marquis, is he? I don't know whether he had an
onion--_ognon_--on one side, but he smelt pretty strong of liquor--I
know that."
"Don't think that I mean to scold you, Tapotte; far from it! I simply
want to know what he said to you, so as to do it like a marquis, when I
have the opportunity."
"Why, bless me, he went about it the same way they all do. In the first
place, he squeezed me."
"Good."
"Then he squeezed me again."
"Good."
"Oh, yes! good! good!--I yelled."
"You did wrong, he was a marquis!"
"I don't care, when he hurt me. And then--well since it amuses you, why,
he kissed me."
"Good."
"He wouldn't let me go; he swore I'd got to say I'd meet him; but I
wouldn't."
"You were wrong! You're a fool, Tapotte! You shouldn't have refused
monsieur le marquis."
"Bah! get along with you! He's old and he's ugly!"
This conversation suggested an idea to our hare-brained youth; he
wrapped his head in his handkerchief, and began to cough and spit,
imitating the decidedly nasal notes of the marquis.
"Mon Dieu! there's some one outside!" cried La Thomassinière.
"Yes, some old fellow coughing," replied Tapotte.
"Why! it's he--it's the marquis. Fool that you are! Why didn't you admit
that you told him where you lived?"
"I swear, monsieur, that I----"
"Hush! hold your tongue! he's there and he's getting impatient."
"Jarni! he's got the catarrh, that man has!"
"Faith, I cannot hesitate.--Monsieur le marquis! What an honor! I will
jump out of this window in the rear."
"But don't I tell you, monsieur, that I didn't say I'd meet him----"
La Thomassinière was no longer listening; he had opened a window and
jumped out, and was in the garden. At the same moment, Auguste opened
the door, and entered the gardener's abode. When she saw that it was not
the marquis, she uttered a cry of surprise; but Auguste whispered to her
to keep quiet, and Mademoiselle Tapotte did whatever the young man
wished, much preferring a tête-à-tête with him to one with monsieur le
marquis.
La Thomassinière walked about under the apricot trees, presuming that
the marquis would not remain long with Tapotte; but after half an hour,
as his guest did not leave the gardener's house, our financier decided
to go to bed.
"The deuce!" he said to himself; "the marquis seems to have had a long
story to tell her. I must try to make my interviews last as long as
monsieur le marquis's."
The next day the company assembled preparatory to starting for Paris.
Athalie was fresher than on the evening before, the marquis less
flushed. Auguste seemed fatigued and La Thomassinière's expression was
very sly as he looked at the nobleman. Mademoiselle Tapotte alone was
just as usual.
They entered their carriages and left the charming retreat at Fleury.
Let us follow their example, and return to Paris.
X
THE INN
To console himself in his master's absence, Bertrand had sent for the
concierge to come up and keep him company. This concierge was an old
German named Schtrack, who had come to France to make trousers, and,
having found employment as a concierge, passed his time in drinking,
smoking, and in beating his wife. He was by no means capable of carrying
on a conversation, even with a cook; but he would drink, and listen with
imperturbable stolidity to Bertrand's stories of his campaigns, and to
the minute details which the ex-corporal delighted to repeat, often for
the twentieth time. Schtrack always seemed to take the same deep
interest in them, keeping his eye fixed on the narrator, moving his
head or frowning when the battle waxed hot, and emitting a cloud of
tobacco smoke and a _sacretié!_ when Bertrand paused for breath.
After assuring themselves that the burgundy was not spoiling, they had
subjected the claret and the madeira to the same test. The more Bertrand
talked, the thirstier he became; now he must have been exceedingly
thirsty, for he had talked steadily from the preceding evening; the two
worthies having passed the night doing what they called "tasting the
cellar," and Schtrack having left Bertrand's side but twice, to
administer chastisement after the German style to his wife, who presumed
to find fault because her husband did not come down to his lodge.
Bertrand sometimes interrupted the narrative of his campaigns to talk
about Auguste, to whom he was devotedly attached, and to confide to
Schtrack his anxiety on account of his lieutenant's senseless
extravagance and his penchant for women; and Schtrack listened to it as
he listened to the story of Austerlitz, ejaculating _sacretié!_ from
time to time.
Although his patience was tried by hearing nothing else all night,
Bertrand nevertheless said to Schtrack:
"Tell me, old fellow, what can I do to keep Monsieur Dalville from
ruining himself?"
Schtrack, who had never before been questioned by Bertrand, reflected
fully five minutes before he replied:
"Sacretié! let's take a drink."
"Yes, let's take a drink, that's well said," rejoined Bertrand, touching
the concierge's glass with his; "but it doesn't answer my question. I
love and respect Monsieur Dalville; I would jump into the fire for him;
but, thunder and guns! it breaks my heart to see him pay out money for
this one, lend to that one, play for infernally high stakes, spend money
in foolish extravagance, and, last of all, injure his health; for what
man could stand such a life? And most of those pretty hussies deceive
him, I'll bet! But he won't listen to me. The heart is all right, oh!
the heart is first-class, but the head----"
"Sacretié!" said Schtrack, emptying his glass.
"For instance, that little woman who lives in this house, for all her
soft voice and her eyes always on the floor, and although she's fainted
three times on learning of my master's perfidy, I wouldn't swear--I have
imagined several times that I've seen a little man rushing upstairs as
if there was a squad of police at his heels.--Do you know who I mean,
Schtrack?"
"Ya! ya!"
"Well, who is that little man?"
"I don't know."
"As concierge, you should know."
"You'd petter ask mein vife."
The sound of Dalville's carriage wheels put an end to the conversation.
Schtrack went down to his quarters, and Bertrand tried to assume a
sedate air with which to receive his master.
"Here I am, my dear Bertrand," said Auguste, as he entered his
apartment; "I passed a delightful day yesterday. Oh! don't scold me; I
was virtuous--that is, so far as circumstances allowed me to be. Has
anybody been here during my absence?"
"Yes, monsieur: in the first place, Mademoiselle Virginie."
"Poor Virginie! she must be angry with me for neglecting her for more
than three weeks."
"She says that she shall die of grief."
"Oh! she has said that to me so often!"
"She breakfasted here; she ate cold fowl and pie."
"Very good; evidently her grief isn't dangerous as yet."
"While she was breakfasting, your neighbor, Madame Saint-Edmond, came to
ask me if I'd seen her poodle; she wanted also to speak to monsieur
about a matter that she said was important. She came in, and the two of
them waited a long while for you."
"What! were they here together?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"Gad! that must have been amusing!"
"Amusing, if you choose to call it so! I was afraid for a minute that it
was going to be serious."
"Oh! you see the dark side of everything."
"I assure you, monsieur, that those ladies didn't look at the bright
side, either of 'em. They went away at last. Mademoiselle Virginie went
to see an Englishman, who is to buy a linen-draper's shop for her."
"Bertrand, you're a slanderer."
"I am simply repeating what she said, monsieur."
"I will go up to-night and see Léonie. What next?"
"Monsieur Destival came to see you; he seemed full of business."
"Oh, yes! he has spoken to me very often lately about an excellent
investment in which I can get ten per cent for my money."
"I advise you to get as large a per cent as you can, monsieur; for we
are running through the funds pretty fast."
"That is true; I must put my affairs in a better condition."
"Yes, that wouldn't be a bad idea."
"I have been obliged to sell a farm already."
"Poor farm! When I think of it, it makes me feel sad."
"Don't be alarmed, Bertrand, I propose to cut down my expenses after
this. I will see Destival, and if he can still find a profitable
investment for my money, I shall recover what I have thrown away. Come,
my old comrade, no moping; it does no good. I am young and rich. You
must agree that I have no reason to despair as yet."
"That is so, lieutenant; that's what I said to myself when Schtrack and
I were inspecting the cellar, to make sure that everything was all
right."
"You did very well, Bertrand; inspect, superintend, manage everything to
suit yourself. I am going to change my clothes; then I will go up to see
my neighbor; and to-morrow I will attend to more serious affairs."
"Excellent young man!" said Bertrand, following Auguste with his eyes.
"He leaves me in control here. But tasting his wines isn't the whole
thing; that isn't enough; I propose to make myself useful to him in
spite of him, and I will go down and have a talk with Madame Schtrack
about the little man who goes up to our neighbor's room."
Madame Saint-Edmond greeted Auguste with an offended air; she was
melancholy, her eyes were red, she still held her handkerchief in her
hand. It is true that, as she had learned of Auguste's return, she was
expecting a call from him. Dalville inquired sympathetically what the
cause of her depression might be; she refused to confide in him; but she
let drop a word or two concerning the woman she had met in his rooms;
these words were followed by stifled sighs and sarcastic laughter, and
Madame Saint-Edmond added to each of her comments:
"You are entirely at liberty, monsieur, to receive whomever you choose."
Auguste, touched by Léonie's apparent suffering, succeeded in
tranquillizing the pretty blonde, who consented at last to make peace
with her neighbor on condition that she should never again meet in his
rooms that woman who had made impertinent speeches to her, and the mere
sight of whom would throw her into hysterics. Auguste promised; in love,
as in politics, one always makes more promises than one intends to keep.
But Léonie was still pensive and preoccupied.
"Something is troubling you," said Auguste.
"No; oh, no! nothing, I assure you," replied the pretty blonde, in a
tone which meant the exact opposite.
"But it is perfectly evident to me that you are concealing something
from me."
"Why, no, you are mistaken; at all events it doesn't concern you at
all."
As we are always anxious to know what does not concern us, Auguste
became more insistent; he demanded that she should tell him all,
whereupon Madame Saint-Edmond confessed in a low, silvery voice that a
milliner, to whom she had owed two thousand francs for a long time, had
forced her to give him a note; that that note would come due in two
days, and that she was sorely embarrassed about paying it.
Auguste regretted that he had been so inquisitive; but it was too late
to retreat; besides, he was too fond of obliging his friends not to come
to his neighbor's assistance.
"Send the holder of the note to my apartment," he said; "Bertrand will
pay it."
Léonie refused; she was afraid of inconveniencing Auguste; she would be
terribly distressed to have him think that her selfish interests had
any influence upon the sentiment he aroused in her. But Auguste
insisted, he did not choose that she should have recourse to others; and
Léonie consented at last to allow herself to be accommodated, on
condition that it should be considered a loan, which she would repay to
her friend.
Bertrand leaped backward when Auguste said to him next day:
"You will pay Madame Saint-Edmond's note for two thousand francs which
the holder will present here."
"Two thousand francs for that little minx!" cried the ex-corporal,
beating his brow in desperation. "Ah! lieutenant, if this is the way you
put your affairs in order!"
"No comments, Bertrand; I am only lending Léonie the money, and if I
ever find myself in difficulties, I am sure that there is no sacrifice
of which that woman would not be capable, to oblige me."
"You may believe that, monsieur, but I----"
"You will pay the note, Bertrand."
"I will pay it, lieutenant."
Auguste went out singing, and Bertrand went down to his friend
Schtrack's, to question his wife.
Bertrand paid the note and Léonie was more loving than ever with
Auguste. But one morning, when she did not expect him, Dalville found in
his neighbor's room a little man, who instantly took his leave with a
very low bow, which Madame Saint-Edmond barely acknowledged, dismissing
her gentleman in a very curt tone.
"Who is that man?" Auguste inquired when the stranger had gone.
"Mon Dieu! that is a very ridiculous individual, whom one of my aunts
sent to me. He is fresh from the provinces and is seeking employment.
But, as he is a terrible bore to me, I receive him in such fashion that
he soon brings his visits to an end. He's as stupid as he is ugly."