makes you leave Paris."
"Oh! I am very willing to tell you, monsieur. I am the child of
respectable tradespeople; they married me when very young to a man whom
I did not love; but I felt bound to obey, in order to gratify my
parents."
"That was very good of you, madame."
"There was a very agreeable gentleman who had courted me before I was
married; I didn't love him either, but I listened to him to gratify
him."
"I understand, madame."
"My husband didn't make me happy; he was never willing that I should go
out, and I stayed at home because that gratified him. But sometimes I
had visitors, among others the gentleman who used to court me."
"And that didn't gratify your husband?"
"Apparently not, monsieur; for not long ago, happening to find him with
me, he turned me out of doors. I undertook to be angry, and he beat me,
monsieur; and said he'd do it again whenever he chose."
"He is a man who has a most brutal way of procuring himself pleasure."
"As I didn't care to be beaten again, I left my husband, and started for
Lyon, having barely enough to pay for my passage."
"I suppose then, madame, that you have friends in Lyon?"
"Oh! it was that gentleman who used to come to see me--he said that he
was going there. However, I am no more anxious to go to Lyon than
anywhere else. I wanted to get away from my husband, who made me so
unhappy."
Meanwhile the fellow-travellers had reached a small restaurant. Auguste,
remembering that his companion had not dined, proposed that they should
go in and regale themselves, and she assented--to gratify him.
They entered the restaurant. Auguste asked for a private room, because
one does not need witnesses to console a young wife whose husband has
beaten her. He ordered as toothsome a repast as the place could afford,
because he forgot as usual that he was no longer rich, and readily fell
into his former habits. The Avallon restaurateur was put to his mettle
to provide a dainty refection for the strangers who had honored his
establishment. The dinner was served; Auguste urged the young woman to
partake, and she, although she said that she complied only to gratify
him, ate everything and did not need to be urged to drink freely of a
native wine which the host declared to be of the vintage of the year of
the comet.
Dining together, they became more and more friendly. At first Auguste
seated himself opposite the young lady; but he reflected that they were
much nearer than that in the diligence, and that it was, to say the
least, unusual for two persons to keep at a respectful distance,
tête-à-tête in a private dining-room, when they have pressed each
other's knees before witnesses. So he took his seat beside the young
lady, who sighed from time to time, but did not repulse the young man,
who seemed most anxious to console her. He tenderly squeezed a very soft
hand, expressing great surprise that a husband could be so brutal as to
hurt such a charming woman.
"Men are cruel," said the young woman, who continued to keep her eyes on
the floor.
"They are tyrants," rejoined Auguste, pressing her plump hand to his
lips.
"They cause all our misery!" added the young woman, as she allowed her
companion to kiss her.
"Ah! they cause something very different!" cried Auguste, throwing his
arms about her.
"They do! they do!" whispered the young woman, apparently no longer
conscious what they do or what she did; but after several meagre
repasts, it was no wonder that the wine of the comet year caused her to
lose her head.
On recovering his wits, Auguste said:
"By the way--the diligence?"
"Oh! that's so--the diligence!" echoed the young woman, heaving a sigh,
presumably from habit.
"I am inclined to think, my dear love, that it is high time to return to
it."
"Very well! let us return, my friend."
As you see, the wine of the comet had established most friendly
relations between the travellers. But as a general rule, affairs that
are negotiated in diligences are speedily consummated.
Auguste summoned the keeper of the restaurant and paid for the dinner.
The young lady replaced her hood, which was no longer on her head, I
know not why. Then they left the private room and walked back,
arm-in-arm, toward the inn where they had left the diligence.
As they walked Auguste talked with his companion, who seemed to him to
have a very sweet disposition, but whose wit did not respond to the idea
suggested by her decidedly expressive countenance. There are women whose
wit is all in their eyes, and with them one must content oneself with
pantomime.
As they approached the inn Auguste espied Bertrand, striding back and
forth in front of the establishment, looking to right and left with
gestures of impatience, and swearing energetically from time to time.
When he caught sight of Auguste, he ran to meet him and made a horrible
wry face at the young woman who was hanging on his master's arm.
"Here you are at last, monsieur! Sacrebleu! I thought that you'd left me
here to chase the swallows!"
"Don't get excited, Bertrand, I am here. I am not lost, you see. Well,
when do we start?"
"Start! start for where, monsieur?"
"Why, for Lyon, of course!"
"And is that why you let the diligence go--that you made me wait and
call you and look everywhere for you?"
"What's that? the diligence has gone?"
"Morbleu, yes! more than an hour ago; but the time evidently didn't seem
long to you!"
"The diligence has gone!" repeated Auguste, dropping his companion's
arm; but she, evidently setting great store by its support, instantly
took it again, saying:
"That's very amusing! isn't it, my dear friend?"
"It no longer seems so amusing to me," said Auguste; while Bertrand
walked away, and muttered with an oath, stamping the ground:
"Her dear friend! Ten thousand bayonets! this is a very pretty mess!"
"But couldn't they have waited a little while for us, Bertrand?" asked
Auguste.
"They waited two minutes, monsieur, and that's a long time for a
diligence."
"And you didn't go?"
"Do you suppose that I would go without you? Ain't I attached to you,
and to nobody else? What's the sense of my being at Lyon if you ain't
there?"
"You did well, Bertrand. And our valises?"
"Oh! they're here. As I had a shrewd idea that there was something new,
I wouldn't let them go without us."
"Bless my soul, my friend, we must make the best of this accident. After
all, it matters not whether we go to Lyon or somewhere else; and whether
we arrive there to-morrow or a week hence."
"Mon Dieu! my dear friend, it's a matter of indifference to me too,"
said the young woman.
Bertrand frowned and motioned to his master that he wanted to speak to
him in private. Auguste succeeded in making the young woman understand
that she must let go his arm for a moment, and he joined the
ex-corporal, who said to him with a stern expression:
"I beg pardon, lieutenant, but who is this woman who sticks to your arm
as if you had glue on your sleeve?"
"She's a young woman who was with us in the diligence."
"And why didn't she stay there?"
"Because I took her to walk with me."
"Who is the woman?"
"A very entertaining person."
"She didn't tell you what she is doing, did she?"
"To be sure: she's going to Lyon, in order not to stay in Paris."
"The deuce! if that's her only motive, I can understand that she doesn't
care whether she goes there or somewhere else. But why is she leaving
Paris? A young woman don't travel alone like this, just for the pleasure
of travelling."
"Oh! she had a very urgent reason--her husband beat her."
"Perhaps he was justified, monsieur."
"Oh! Bertrand!"
"Why does she call you her dear friend so soon?"
"Because--because----"
"Oh, yes! because--I understand perfectly. But after all, monsieur, what
do you expect to do with this woman?"
"I don't quite know; but you must see that I can't desert her here after
being the cause of her losing the diligence."
"I should say rather that she made you lose it by telling you fairy
tales, and arousing your pity by adventures that never happened, I'll
wager. Besides, monsieur, a woman who takes up with the first man that
comes along can't be anything but an adventuress. I'll bet that you
don't even know her name?"
"Faith, no. But what does the name matter? Can't a person assume any
name at pleasure? Whether this young woman has told me the truth or not,
I won't leave her penniless far from the place to which she is going."
"Oho! she hasn't any money, eh?"
"Why, she had nothing for dinner but bread."
"This is a very excellent find that you've made! So, monsieur, when you
left Paris, in order to be prudent and economize, here you are with a
woman on your hands barely sixty leagues from Paris!"
"Bah! what can you expect? Is it my fault? Come, Bertrand, don't scold;
hereafter I'll reflect a little more; meanwhile let us abandon ourselves
to our destiny."
Auguste returned to the young woman and Bertrand followed him, saying to
himself:
"I am very much afraid he's incorrigible."
The young woman promptly resumed possession of Auguste's arm.
"My dear friend," he said to her, "as the diligence has gone off without
us, we need not hurry now."
"Oh, not at all."
"We can even pass a day or two here."
"I should like to if it would gratify you."
"Then we will consider how we will continue our journey--whether by some
chance conveyance, by stage--or even on foot, so that we can admire the
country in case it is worthy of admiration."
"Whatever will gratify you, my friend."
"You see, Bertrand," said Auguste in an undertone, "this little woman is
good-nature itself, she seeks only to gratify me."
"She doesn't gratify me in the very least, monsieur."
"Because you don't choose to be gratified.--By the way, as we are to
stay here," continued Auguste, "we will take rooms at this inn.
Bertrand, see that rooms are prepared for us."
"Yes, monsieur;--and for madame, too?"
"That goes without saying.--By the way, as we are under the necessity of
economizing, one room will be enough for madame and myself. Isn't that
so, my dear love?"
"Mon Dieu! yes, if that will gratify you."
"By the way, my dear love, you haven't yet told me your name."
"My name is Adèle--or Madame Florimont, as you please."
"Rather as you please."
"Call me Adèle--I shall like that."
"Adèle it is."
"Madame Florimont!" muttered Bertrand with a shrug; "that's a stage
name--she got that in the wings of some theatre."
"My name is Auguste, my dear Adèle; for it is right that you should know
who I am."
"Oh! mon Dieu! it's all one to me!"
"I see that you think more of the person than of the title, and that you
judge people by their faces; if that method never deceives you, I
congratulate you. But it is still light and the weather is fine; the
best thing for us to do before supper, I think, is to take a walk. Will
you come with us, Bertrand?"
"No, lieutenant, I have no desire to walk."
Auguste walked away with the emotional Adèle. They traversed the pretty
little town of Avallon in every direction. Auguste commented upon what
he saw and the young woman invariably agreed with him; so that he
finally decided that a woman who can only assent to everything that is
said without making any observations on her own account, is rather
monotonous company. But Madame Florimont had very pretty eyes, and it
was not long since she had first fixed them upon Auguste; so that, when
he had discoursed for some time without obtaining anything but
insignificant replies, he played with Adèle with his eyes, whereupon she
said in pantomime the sweetest things imaginable.
Only in front of the shops did the young woman make any remarks of her
own motion. She stopped to gaze at a shawl and heaved a profound sigh.
"Would you like it?" Auguste asked.
"Oh! it would give me great pleasure."
"Very well, let's buy it."
Giving way to his former habit, the young man bought the shawl for
Madame Florimont, who at once threw it over her shoulders, having rolled
up the little neckerchief which she wore about her neck, and placed it
under her arm. A little farther on she stopped and sighed again as she
eyed a pretty cap. At Auguste's instance she tried it on; and as it was
wonderfully becoming under the great hood, the cap was purchased. Next,
it was in front of a jeweller's establishment that the young woman
stopped and sighed: she wanted a little ring which would remind her of
the day she met Auguste! He considered that desire too flattering not to
be satisfied. But after that he took his companion back to the inn, not
allowing her to stop anywhere, lest she should sigh again.
The young woman was very pretty in the shawl and cap. But when Bertrand
saw her in that guise, he took Auguste aside once more and said:
"Monsieur, she wasn't dressed like that this afternoon."
"You will certainly agree, Bertrand, that she looks much better
to-night?"
"But, monsieur, what are you thinking about?"
"I am thinking about supper, for I am very hungry;--and you, my dear
friend?"
"I too shall be glad to have supper."
Bertrand said nothing more; but he went into a corner and beat his head
against the wall. In due time the supper was brought; Auguste went to
the table with Adèle, and urged Bertrand to sit with them, explaining to
the young woman that he was his factotum, his cashier, and not his
servant.
Bertrand made a wry face at the word cashier; but he decided at last to
seat himself respectfully at the other end of the table. To put him in
good humor, Auguste ordered several bottles of good wine. The ruse was
successful. By dint of drinking, Bertrand recovered his spirits and no
longer looked askance at the young woman.
But when, after supper, he saw Auguste retire with Madame Florimont to a
room in which there was only one bed, he muttered:
"You will certainly be taken for the lady's husband, monsieur."
"Faith, Bertrand, it will look very much like it to-night."
"But afterward?"
"Oh! the most important thing to my mind at this moment, my friend, is
to get to bed. Do the same. Good-night; to-morrow it will be light."
"Yes," said Bertrand, filling his glass once more, "to-morrow it will be
light, and we shall still have this hussy on our hands! It would have
been just as well to stay in Paris and let me make breeches with
Schtrack."
And Bertrand fell asleep finishing the bottle.
XXII
BERTRAND'S STRATAGEM
A night's sleep suffices to banish the fumes of wine and to restore
calmness to our minds; a night of love often suffices to banish many
illusions and to restore calmness to our senses. After the night at the
inn with Madame Florimont, both Auguste and Bertrand reflected more
coolly concerning their position: the latter had not for a moment failed
to realize the fresh embarrassment in which Auguste had involved
himself; and Auguste, who perhaps was already weary of playing pantomime
with his young fellow-traveller, felt that he had made a fool of
himself. But how was he to rid himself courteously of a lady who
constantly said to him:
"I will go wherever you please, my friend."
After breakfast, Auguste asked if they could obtain a conveyance to take
them to Lyon. To travel by post would be too expensive for people who
wished to be economical, although no one would ever have suspected
Auguste of such a wish, as he always insisted upon being entertained _en
grand seigneur_.
A leather dealer, who owned a large two-seated cabriolet, offered to
take the travellers with him. To be sure, he would take four days for
the trip, because his business compelled him to stop at several places;
but they were in no hurry, so they made a bargain with the leather
dealer, who packed our three travellers in his vehicle.
Auguste and the emotional Adèle took their places on the back seat,
Bertrand beside the tradesman on the front seat, and they started, drawn
by a single horse, large enough for two, but with no apparent
disposition to take the bit in his teeth.
Bertrand chatted with the driver, a tall fellow of twenty-eight or
thirty years, who passed a large part of his life on his wagon, was
better acquainted with taverns than with his own house, where he spent
less than three months of the year, and declared that not a maid servant
within a radius of thirty leagues had been unkind to him.
Auguste looked at the landscape and tried to make Madame Florimont talk.
"What do you think of this view?"
"Why, it's very ugly."
"What? That wooded slope, the valley on the left, with the stream
flowing through it, and yonder pretty village in the background--you
call that ugly?"
"Oh, no! it's very pretty."
"Would you like to travel?"
"I don't know, my friend."
"Have you never been away from Paris?"
"Oh, yes! I've been to Saint-Cloud and Passy."
"Would you like to go to Italy?"
"If it would gratify you."
"But what about the gentleman who's expecting you at Lyon?"
"Oh! I don't know whether he's waiting for me!"
"I may be compelled by circumstances to leave you."
"Oh! but I won't leave you, my friend."
"But suppose I should return to Paris?"
"I would go there."
"But what about your husband, who beat you?"
"Oh! I wouldn't tell him that I had returned."
"I see that I shan't be able to get rid of this woman!" said Auguste to
himself. "Infernal diligence! That great hood, those knees against mine,
that night on the road--all those things go to one's head. You imagine
that you have made a glorious conquest; you fancy yourself in love, and
for twenty-four hours you are! But after that! Mon Dieu! what a mess I
have got into!"
Bertrand, who had overheard a part of the conversation between Adèle and
Auguste, leaned over to the latter and said in his ear:
"I beg pardon, lieutenant, but this woman seems to me as stupid as a
pot."
"So she seems to me, Bertrand."
"Are we going round the world with a doll like that?"
"I'm afraid so, my friend. She has determined never to leave me."
"I promise you that I will make her change her mind."
Bertrand said no more. They drove for some time in silence. From time to
time the leather dealer cast a furtive, lady-killer's glance at Madame
Florimont, and said to Bertrand whenever they passed through a hamlet or
village:
"I once knew a pretty woman here. I had an intrigue here. I set people's
tongues to wagging here."
"It seems that you're a sad rake."
"Oh, yes! I'm well known in this region."
At nightfall they stopped at a small place where they were to pass the
night. They alighted at a wretched inn; the leather dealer went out to
attend to some business, and after supper Auguste, thinking that the
most sensible course to pursue with the emotional Adèle was to go to
bed, withdrew with her, leaving Bertrand with his pipe at a table.
The tradesman returned in due time and Bertrand invited him to drink; he
was not the man to decline such an invitation. He was almost as
accomplished a drinker as Schtrack; after the second bottle they became
confidential and Bertrand said to his companion:
"You look to me like a good fellow."
"You're very kind!"
"You might do us a great favor, my lieutenant and me."
"If it won't cost me anything, I'm your man."
"It not only won't cost you anything, but I'll give you fifty crowns
bonus."
"Say it quick, then!"
"Judging from all that you've told me, you're not a foe of the fair
sex?"
"On the contrary, I am their dearest friend."
"What do you think of that young woman who's travelling with us?"
"Why----"
"Come, speak frankly."
"Faith, I think she's very fine! she's got a pair of eyes that she knows
how to work mighty well!"
"So she takes your eye, does she?"
"To be sure, she would if she was free; but you understand I can't think
of----"
"Well, listen to me; the very greatest service you could do us would be
to rob us of that beauty."
"You're joking, aren't you?"
"No; this is how it is: my master is a reckless fellow; he is travelling
to learn how to be prudent, and you can understand that the way to do
that isn't to travel with a little woman who, as you say, works her eyes
so well that she makes him long for her. But I must have common sense
for him: now the best thing that I can see to do is to separate him
from this highway heroine, who, I am sure, pretends to be devoted to him
only because she thinks he's rich."
"So she didn't come from Paris with you?"
"Oh, no! it was a fine chance encounter we had in the Lyon diligence. It
would have done a hundred times better to upset us than to contain that
princess! But you, who are always on the road--she won't be in your way
in your wagon; besides, I fancied that I saw you looking her over like a
connoisseur."
"I don't say no; but how do you expect----"
"You're a fine man, an attractive-looking fellow!"
"I certainly am not very ill-looking," said the tradesman, complacently
viewing himself in a fragment of looking-glass on the chimney-piece.
"To-morrow, on the road," said Bertrand, "I will take pains to refer to
the fact that we are hard up, while you, on the contrary, must jingle
your coins. When we reach the place where we are to sleep, my lieutenant
will pretend to be sick and say that he can't continue his journey. The
next morning he will stay in bed; then you must seize the opportunity
for a tête-à-tête, make your declaration, and propose to the young woman
to take her off before we wake up. She'll accept--I'd bet my moustaches
if I still had 'em."
"Agreed, my fine fellow--and the fifty crowns?"
"I'll pay them to you when I see you ready to start. You can go to Lyon;
we won't go there, so as not to run into you."
"Shake; I'll abduct your charmer; and, as you say, she probably won't
resist, because, although your companion's good-looking enough, he
hasn't this figure, this build--in fact, this fascinating air; ain't
that so?"
"I should say so! you remind me of a drum-major."
The bargain being made, Bertrand and the tradesman, after drinking a
glass to the success of their scheme, went to bed.
The next day they resumed their journey. Auguste seemed more bored than
ever by Madame Florimont's company; he dared not tell Bertrand so; but
the ex-corporal observed the young man's ill-concealed yawns and stifled
sighs while the emotional Adèle continued to tell him that it would be
her delight to stay with him always. After some time Auguste gave way to
the drowsiness that overpowered him. He fell asleep on the back seat of
the vehicle, beside the young woman, who said not another word.
Bertrand, pretending to think that she too was asleep, said to the
driver in an undertone:
"Poor fellow! if only sleep might put an end to his anxieties and pay
his debts!"
"Is he in debt, do you say?"
"That is why we left Paris; and I am very much afraid that we shall be
pursued by creditors at Lyon."
"That's a pity! A business like mine is the thing! it always goes right
on. Leather will never go out of fashion--it's like bread."
"It is precisely the same thing. So you are well off, are you?"
"Why, I am very comfortable."
Bertrand noticed that Madame Florimont raised her hood in order to see
the tradesman better; whereupon he said nothing more, but looked off
into the country so as not to interfere with his neighbor's ogling of
the young woman, which she received with a smile, probably to gratify
him.
They reached the place where they were to pass the night. Bertrand had
not as yet mentioned his project to Auguste, but chance seemed to favor
him. On leaving the wagon, the young man was attacked by a violent
sick-headache, and immediately upon entering the inn went to his room to
lie down, telling Madame Florimont to order whatever she pleased.
Bertrand made an excuse for leaving the tradesman alone with their
travelling companion; he went out to walk and did not return until very
late. The tradesman was alone, admiring himself in a mirror.
"Well?" queried Bertrand.
"You can pay me the fifty crowns."
"Do you mean it?"
"It's all arranged: at daybreak to-morrow I abduct your charmer; she is
to tell your companion that he can lie abed as we don't start till ten
o'clock."
"Morbleu! a victory wouldn't give me more pleasure! My poor master! I
would like so much to see him become more reasonable! to see him get
over his nonsense! I'll treat to a bottle--two bottles over and above
the bargain."
"I accept."
"So she didn't make any very great resistance?"
"I should say not! I had taken her fancy; besides, she told me that her
sense of delicacy wouldn't allow her to travel with a man who is in
debt."