[Illustration: _LEODGARD CALLED TO ACCOUNT_
_Landry uttered a sort of hollow growl which presaged a storm on the
point of bursting. Bathilde hid her face in her hands, and Ambroisine
squeezed her father's arm._]
NOVELS
BY
PAUL DE KOCK
VOLUME VIII
THE BATH KEEPERS;
OR,
PARIS IN THOSE DAYS
VOL. II
[Illustration: PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS]
THE JEFFERSON PRESS
BOSTON NEW YORK
Copyrighted, 1903-1904, by G. B. & Sons.
THE BATH KEEPERS;
OR,
PARIS IN THOSE DAYS
[CONTINUED]
XXIX
AN UNFORTUNATE GIRL
The storm which Plumard feared for the next day burst that same evening,
very shortly after the solicitor's clerk delivered the plume. At the
bath keeper's house on Rue Saint-Jacques, Ambroisine was alone,
listening to the roar of the thunder and the rain as she awaited her
father's return.
Master Hugonnet had gone to visit his neighbor the keeper of the wine
shop; but he had prolonged his stay there beyond his usual hour, and his
daughter was beginning to be anxious, when she heard at last a knock at
the street door; by the sound of the knocker, she recognized her
father's hand, which was more or less heavy according as his libations
had been more or less frequent during the evening.
This time, Ambroisine knew by the sound that her father was drunk.
She made haste to open the door. Master Hugonnet was leaning on the arm
of the keeper of the wine shop, his neighbor, who had deemed it prudent
to escort his customer to his home.
While the bath keeper stumbled into the house, urging his neighbor to
come in, the latter said in Ambroisine's ear:
"Your father has thrashed, beaten, half killed a little solicitor's
clerk, who was regaling himself at my place. He is a regular hothead
when he is sober; but now he's a perfect lamb; and he embraced his
victim! He ought to be drunk all the time, mademoiselle, for he is much
more agreeable in company then."
The cabaretier took his leave, and Ambroisine returned to her father,
who had seated himself at a table and was striking it with his hand,
crying:
"Ambroisine, give us some wine and goblets; our neighbor is going to
take a glass with me.--Well! where is our neighbor?"
"He has gone back, father; for it is very late. It is time for everyone
to be getting to bed, and you will do well to go; you are not thirsty
now--you have drunk enough."
Hugonnet seemed not to have heard his daughter; he passed his hand over
his eyes, sighed profoundly, and stammered:
"Poor little solicitor--for I think he was a solicitor--the idea of
beating him like that! A boy no taller than my cane! It's a shame! it's
disgusting! there are people who abuse their strength over feeble
creatures!"
"But, father, I understand that it was you who beat this little clerk!
What had he done to you, pray? for you certainly don't pick quarrels
with people without some reason!"
"I! it is impossible! He is my friend, that little dwarf; I would like
to embrace him. Poor boy! he wanted pomade; I told him I hadn't any. He
insisted on having some, and declared that a barber ought to make
pomade. Poor fellow!"
"And you beat him because he asked you for some pomade! A pretty subject
for a quarrel that!"
"I, beat him! Who says that?--He said to me: 'Do you know how to make
hair grow? give me a receipt. Do you think that by mixing soot with
horse droppings one would obtain a good result?'--Ha! ha! stupid
nonsense that!--Where's our neighbor?"
"I tell you again that he has gone home to bed, father, and that you
would do well to do the same, instead of staying in this room."
"Poor little solicitor! Mon Dieu! such a little fellow!--Think of
beating a mere piece of a man! It's outrageous! And if I knew the
villain who did it!--To be sure, you can't make pomade with horse
droppings and soot--nonsense! It's making fun of a barber to ask him
such questions!--The idea of putting pomade made like that on your
customers' heads! Never! What do you take me for?--Embrace me! Someone
has made a bump on your forehead, let me shed tears on it."
"For heaven's sake, father, go to your room! Listen; the thunder is very
loud! Everybody in the house has gone to bed, and I would like to do the
same. You will be much more comfortable in bed."
"Isn't our neighbor coming back?"
"In such weather as this, when the rain is falling in torrents! when the
sky is so black!--Ah! what a flash! it is frightful!--Who on earth do
you suppose would go out in such horrible weather?--If my deadliest
enemy were in my house, I would not turn him out of doors!"
At that moment, someone knocked at the barber's door. Ambroisine was
thunderstruck, and Master Hugonnet hiccoughed:
"There--you hear--someone knocked; it's our neighbor come back."
"Oh, no! it is impossible," said Ambroisine; "it cannot be he. We must
have been mistaken; it was the roar of the storm that we heard."
Two more blows, struck with a feeble hand, but very near together,
removed all doubt from the girl's mind. She shuddered, unable to assign
a cause for her emotion; but she hastily seized a lamp and darted into
the hall that led to the street door, exclaiming:
"Somebody out of doors in this terrible storm! I must not keep him
waiting."
She drew the bolts and opened the heavy door. A woman stood before her,
pale, dishevelled, trembling, and with water dripping from all her
garments.
Ambroisine uttered a cry and stood for a moment without moving; she
could not believe her eyes, she was suffocated with emotion.
"Bathilde!" she whispered; "you--in this condition! No, no! it is
impossible!"
"Yes, it is I," replied a faint voice. "It is really Bathilde, driven
from her father's house, cursed by her father and mother, who comes to
you to beg for shelter! For I have no home, they have turned me out of
doors. If you spurn me, Ambroisine; if you too turn me away--then I
shall remain in the street; but it will soon be over!"
"I, turn you away! I, refuse you shelter, my friend, my sister!--Oh! mon
Dieu! I cannot speak!"
Tears choked Ambroisine, and deprived her of the use of her voice. But
she led Bathilde into the house. She embraced her, strained her to her
heart; she strove to warm her by her caresses; and the poor girl,
reanimated by such a welcome, tried to calm her sobs, saying:
"You do not turn me away--you still love me, do you not?--Ah! I am less
unhappy than I was!"
"Poor child! Come with me--we must dry you first of all, change your
clothes. You cannot stay like this. Ah! if my father should see you in
this state!"
"Your father! Perhaps he would not receive me in his house; for I am
very guilty, and if you knew----"
"Hush! you must not talk about that now.--Wait a moment; I have an idea
that he is asleep; I will just go to make sure."
Ambroisine returned to the room where she had left her father. Master
Hugonnet was sound asleep, with his head resting on the table.
"Come to my room," said Ambroisine, returning to Bathilde and taking her
hand; "father is asleep, and I did not wake him."
Having reached the bedroom, the two girls threw themselves into each
other's arms once more, Bathilde finding relief in weeping on her
friend's breast, and Ambroisine already trying to devise a method of
diminishing her companion's distress in some measure.
Ambroisine first disengaged herself from that loving embrace, saying:
"Mon Dieu! I forget that you are all wet, drenched! Take off all your
clothes in the first place, and get into my bed; I will cover you up
carefully, and you will get warm sooner."
"And you, Ambroisine?"
"I? oh! I will lie beside you; the bed is wide enough for us two. But
first--here is some wine; you must drink some to put your blood in
circulation.--Poor sister! you were out of doors in this storm!"
"Oh! it had begun when my mother drove me from the house, despite my
prayers and supplications. I knelt to her; she pushed me away. I threw
myself at her feet--she was inexorable!"
"Don't tell me that.--O my God! I do not know if Thou wilt ever grant me
the happiness of being a mother; but if I do have children some day, I
swear to Thee, O my God, that, whatever fault they may have committed,
whatever their crimes, I will never curse them, I will never close my
arms to them!"
Bathilde had fallen on her knees; she clasped her hands, held them up
toward heaven, and her tears flowed freely as she faltered:
"Forgive me, mother! forgive me, father, for the sin of which I am
guilty! Ah! I am well punished! And when you drove me from your house, I
would have killed myself, if that would not have been a greater
crime.--Indeed, I had no right to take that step, for I too am a mother,
and I will love my child so dearly!"
"A mother! you, a mother!" cried Ambroisine, running to Bathilde and
pressing her to her heart again. "But your mother cannot have known that
when she turned you out of her house in this frightful storm!"
"Yes, she knew it; I had just confessed everything to her--told her that
I bore within me the fruit of my sin. That is why she turned me out and
cursed me!"
"Come, my poor girl, calm yourself a little; try not to grieve so.
Remember that now you are not alone in your suffering, that I will
assume half of your troubles, and that I will not rest until I have
relieved them; for something tells me that I am in a measure the cause
of what has happened to you."
In a few moments Bathilde was undressed and lying in Ambroisine's bed.
Her friend begged her to try to sleep, but Bathilde shook her head.
"To sleep would be utterly impossible for me at this moment," she
murmured. "If you are willing, I would prefer to tell you everything;
but you are tired, you need rest, do you not?"
"No, I am too excited. I had too violent a shock when I saw you in the
street just now. I feel that I cannot sleep, either; and I prefer to
listen to you. Tell me everything. But wait; I will sit here by the bed,
close beside you--there; now, go on."
"The man whom I love, Ambroisine--do I need to tell you his name?"
"Oh, no! it is Comte Léodgard. I have had a sort of presentiment of it
ever since that evening, at the Fire of Saint-Jean. Mon Dieu! how I
regret that I ever had the unfortunate idea of taking you there with
me!"
"Do not reproach yourself, Ambroisine; was it your fault that the count
found me--to his liking; and that I could not help feeling the most
tender affection for him? You did all that you could do to keep me from
loving him. You advised me like a mother. But the wound was
inflicted--my heart had already ceased to be mine. It was no longer
possible for me to shield myself against that love, which was stronger
than my reason.--Ah! if you knew how sweet it is to love! Look you, even
at this moment, when I am so miserably unhappy, I do not curse my
troubles when I remember that it is for Léodgard that I am subjected to
them!"
"And to think that I believed you to be cured of that love! Because for
a long time you had not mentioned the letter that the count wrote you;
you never asked me for it!"
"What need had I of the letter, when I could see every day the man who
wrote it?--How shall I tell you, Ambroisine? My mother was away; all day
long I could see him from the windows looking on the street. At night I
was imprudent enough to go there still and look. And one night--I don't
know how he did it--I found him there, before me, then at my feet,
swearing that he would always love me; and I had not the courage to send
him away."
"The harm is done and cannot be undone. Well?"
"Two months passed--oh, so quickly! My mother was still absent, and I
saw Léodgard almost every night. How many times during those two months,
when you came to see me, I was tempted to make you the confidante of my
love and my sin! It was painful to me to have a secret from you, but he
had enjoined upon me the strictest secrecy, he had made me promise that
I would tell you nothing, and I did not want to disobey him.--At last,
about a month ago, I learned that my mother was coming home. My blood
ran cold with fear, and I begged Léodgard to delay no longer asking my
parents for my hand. He promised to do it; but I have not seen him
since that day! It is true that I ceased to be free of my movements in
the house. My mother had returned; she watched me, kept me in sight, as
before. For the last two days it seemed to me that she was harsher than
ever with me; her face was dark; when her eyes met mine, I could not
sustain them; I felt that I turned pale and trembled. More than once I
was on the point of falling at her feet and confessing all. But I
waited, I still hoped. I said to myself: 'To-day, perhaps, he who made
me a guilty woman will come to ask my parents for my hand. And as the
reparation will follow the confession of my sin, they will not refuse to
forgive us.'"
"Yes," said Ambroisine, with a sigh; "but your seducer did not keep his
promise!"
"Oh! he will keep it, Ambroisine; I refuse to doubt it. If he had known,
if I had dared to tell him, that I was a mother, I am sure that he would
have come before this to dry my tears! But I had not dared to make that
confession to him before my mother's return parted us so abruptly."
"Ah! he does not know---- But finish your story, I beg you!"
"Mon Dieu! I have nothing left to tell but what took place at our house
this evening. I was working with my mother, in a room away from the
street. We were perfectly silent; but from time to time I saw that my
mother's eyes were fixed on my person. I trembled lest she should
discover what I still tried to conceal. But suddenly my father entered
the room; and he, usually so kind and gentle, also had a lowering,
troubled expression. He came to me and held out a white plume, which I
recognized as one I had seen on Léodgard's hat.
"'Here,' he said, 'here is something that a lover of yours sends you!
But the fellow will not be tempted to try it again, I fancy; for I
treated him in a way to take away any such desire.'
"I was pale and speechless, for it seemed to me that nobody but Léodgard
could have brought that plume.
"But my mother instantly cried:
"'A lover! so it's true that she has a lover, is it? My suspicions are
well founded!--Ah! you wretched, shameless girl!'
"I fell on my knees, stammering: 'Pardon! pardon! yes, I am guilty; but
he will marry me! he has sworn it, and he will keep his oath!'
"When they heard an avowal which doubtless they were far from expecting,
my father hid his face in his hands. But my mother--oh! her wrath was
terrible! She strode toward me to strike me, but I think that my father
caught her arm. She heaped insults upon me, and questioned me. I was so
terrified that I could not speak.
"'But,' she cried, 'that villain--her seducer--who is he? Did you see
him, Landry?'
"'I don't understand it,' said my father; 'it was a wretched little
solicitor's clerk--horribly ugly and a perfect idiot--who ran away when
I thrashed him!'
"I knew then, of course, that Léodgard had not brought the white plume,
and I faltered:
"'It is not he, father; no, I don't know the man you saw.'
"'But, in that case, who is your seducer? Tell me his name--his name,
instantly, that I may go and wash away in his blood the affront put upon
my honor!'
"My father's eyes were threatening; he meant to kill my lover; so I
refused to name him.
"'Very well!' said my mother; 'go and join the man for whom you have
forgotten your duty; the man who has brought shame into our house;
go--you can live with us no longer; you are no longer worthy to live
under our roof; we turn you out. Begone!'
"In the hope of moving her, I told her then that I bore within me a
helpless creature, innocent of my sin! But, far from appeasing her
anger, it seemed to redouble when she heard that. She called me a----
But what need is there for me to tell you more? You saw me in the
street, when the storm, increasing in violence to crush me, seemed to
say to me that the wrath of God had joined forces with my mother's to
punish the girl who had forfeited her honor, who had brought a blush to
her father's brow!"
Bathilde's eyes filled with fresh tears as she finished her story.
Ambroisine allowed her grief to vent itself; there are times when words
of consolation buzz in our ears without reaching the heart.
At last Bathilde took her friend's hand and pressed it, saying:
"Forgive me for causing you so much distress. But your father--if he
learns that you have taken in the child whom her parents have cursed,
perhaps he too will turn me out of doors. I will remain hidden in your
chamber, Ambroisine; I will not stir from it. You will not tell your
father that I am here; for where should I go, if he too should turn me
away?--With no roof to shelter me, I should die of grief and want. And I
do not want to die, because there is a little being to whom I must give
life."
"Calm your fears, my poor darling! I shall tell my father all, for I
should not like to have any secrets from him; but I am not at all
alarmed; he is soft-hearted, is my father; although he shouts and
storms, he has a kind heart; and, far from blaming me for taking you in,
he will approve of it, he will say that I did quite right; and then he
will go to see your parents and plead for you; for it is not possible
that they do not regret having turned you away."
"You do not know my mother, Ambroisine; she never recedes from her
resolutions; and my father is so exacting with respect to honor! he had
such perfect confidence in his daughter! Believe me, your father would
take an absolutely useless step; but there is someone whom I would like
much to see; someone whom I must inform of my condition, my present
plight; for then he will be able--at least, I hope so--to allay the
anger of my parents by telling them that he means to repair his
wrongdoing--and to console me a little for all my suffering by telling
me that he still loves me. That someone--you know who it is, do you not,
Ambroisine? Well, you can easily find his home--the Hôtel de Marvejols
is on Place Royale.--You are so kind, Ambroisine, that I know that you
will go to see him, and tell him all that has happened, and give him a
letter which I will write to him, begging him to put an end to our
misery, and telling him also that--that there is another person to whom
he owes aid and protection.--You will see Léodgard, will you not?--Ah!
if he knew that I had been cursed by my mother, he would have come here
ere this to comfort me."
"I will do whatever you wish, my poor love!" Ambroisine replied, forcing
back a sigh. "But, sleep a little, take a little rest; remember that you
need it, and that you must be careful of your health."
Bathilde made no reply, but closed her eyes. Fatigue brings sleep at
last, as time always brings forgetfulness. Which proves that in us
mortals the mind is always vanquished by the body.
XXX
GOOD FRIENDS
On waking the next morning, Master Hugonnet remembered nothing of his
debauch except his dispute with the little clerk, with whom he was now
furiously angry. As he arranged his shop, he cried:
"Can anyone imagine such a sly, impertinent knave! To propose to me to
make pomade for him out of vile things, and to ask me if it would make
hair grow!--He had a very cunning leer as he said that, the horrible
dwarf!--Just imagine, my girl, a little man with a nose so turned up
that you can see nothing but two holes in his face; and making sport of
me for all that, because he had a few crowns in his pocket, won in
gambling hells, no doubt. If I find him again, I'll give him another
good thrashing! I don't propose to have the Basoche insult bath
keepers!"
Ambroisine let her father give vent to his bile. Then she approached him
and smiled.
"Father," she said, "you didn't talk like that last night when you came
home from the wine shop! Then you adored this little dwarf; you shed
tears of regret because someone had beaten him."
"Really! I must have been drunk then?"
"Why, yes! rather."
"I must cure myself of that failing."
"Oh! father, a single failing may be excused in one who has so many good
qualities; the world is not perfect."
"You spoil me, my child; but as for you, I know of none but good
qualities, not a single fault!"
"Do you remember, father, that someone knocked last night, near
midnight, during the storm?"
"No, I don't remember."
"But you do remember at least the horrible storm, that lasted almost all
night?"
"Very vaguely; why?"
"If someone had come to ask me for hospitality in that weather, should I
have done wrong to grant it?"
"It is never wrong to do a good deed, even though it fall upon
ingrates."
"Well, father, someone came--all drenched and shivering; that person was
very unhappy--with no place to go for shelter. And so I took her in and
gave her a night's lodging; she passed the night in this house, and is
here still."
"She is here--where, pray?"
"In my room."
"In your room!"
And Master Hugonnet's brows began to contract, but Ambroisine hastened
to add:
"That person, father, is Bathilde, the daughter of your friend Landry."
"Landry's daughter here! and she passed the night here, you say? What on
earth has happened at her father's house? What's the trouble?"
"Oh! father, some very terrible things have happened in your friend's
house."
"Tell me all about it, my child."
Ambroisine, with downcast eyes, told the story of Bathilde's liaison
with the young Comte de Marvejols, of Dame Ragonde's return, and of the
terrible catastrophe which had followed the discovery of that mystery.
Hugonnet listened, his face betraying the interest he took in the story;
at times he clenched his fists, his features contracted, his eyes blazed
with anger; but at the last, when Ambroisine described the condition in
which she had found Bathilde in the street, at midnight, when the rain
was falling in torrents and the thunder roaring almost incessantly, then
Master Hugonnet could no longer resist his emotion; tears dimmed his
eyes, and he could not help muttering:
"Ah! that was too much! they were too harsh! they were without pity in
their anger!--Why, the poor girl might have died!"
"Yes, indeed! a little later, and I should have found her dead!" cried
Ambroisine, putting her arm about her father's neck. "Ah! you would not
be the man to drive your daughter away like that, without pity, without
mercy--to turn her out of doors, where she would be exposed to the fury
of such a storm! No, no! no matter how guilty I might be, you would not
treat me so, father! you love your girl too dearly!"
Hugonnet had not the strength to reply; he could do no more than wipe
his eyes and kiss his daughter.
"I have told you all, father," Ambroisine continued; "I have even told
you the name of Bathilde's seducer; but I implore you to keep the
secret; for if Master Landry should discover it, he would fight with the
count; and if either of them should be killed, the poor girl would be
still more to be pitied."
"Very good, I will hold my tongue! but this seducer must be punished!
Let me undertake that duty."
"No, father, no; you must not interfere in this business at all. I beg
you not to. I propose to see Comte Léodgard. Bathilde believes that he
still loves her, she is convinced that he will repair his wrongdoing,
that he will restore her honor by marrying her."
"He! Comte Léodgard! that scapegrace, marry Landry's daughter! the
daughter of a bath keeper!--Do not hope for that! He will never marry
Bathilde, never!"
"Oh! father, if she should hear you, think of her despair!--Well, I
shall take no rest until the count has undone the wrong he has done her;
nothing will stop me, nothing deter me from attaining that end! You see,
I am strong and determined, father; I resemble you--I am brave. Let me
act, I beg you; let me see the count myself, and take whatever steps
are necessary to make Bathilde happy once more!--I do not know whether
it is simply my longing for success, but something tells me that I shall
succeed."
Hugonnet pressed Ambroisine's hand.
"Do as you think best; you are a good girl, and I have confidence in
you."
"Oh! thanks, father! And now, won't you come with me and say a word of
consolation to poor Bathilde, who will not stir from my room and dares
not show herself to you?--Come, father, and see her, I beg you; if you
do not, she will think that you are angry because I made her welcome;
that will add to her grief, and she has quite enough now."
Hugonnet allowed his daughter to take his hand and lead him to her room,
where she softly opened the door.
At sight of Ambroisine's father, Bathilde fell on her knees and hid her
face in her hands. But when Hugonnet's eyes fell on the poor girl, whose
sufferings had already made inroads on her beauty, he forgot her fault
and remembered only her misfortune.
He ran to her, lifted her up, and kissed her, saying:
"I am not your judge, I am your friend, as I used to be your father's.
Would you like me to go to see him, and entreat him to be kind to his
daughter?"
"Oh! you are too kind, monsieur. But I am afraid that you would do no
good; perhaps, indeed, the anger of my parents would be redoubled if
they should learn that you know of my wrongdoing."
"But suppose that I should go to see Landry and pretend to know nothing
about it?"
"That would be better, father," said Ambroisine; "you can see how they
receive you, and whether they mention their daughter."
"They will not mention her!" said Bathilde, sadly shaking her head.
"When they turned me out of the house, they said to me: 'Never show your
face here again; we shall not recognize you, for hereafter we have no
daughter!'--So, you see, they will not mention me."
"Courage, my child, courage! It is impossible that their anger will not
die away finally. Meanwhile, this house is yours, my daughter will be
your sister, and I will try to replace those who have withdrawn their
affection from you."
Bathilde kissed Hugonnet's hands; and Ambroisine threw her arms about
her father's neck, crying:
"Ah! if I didn't love you already with all my heart, I believe that I
should love you more than ever at this moment!"
Left alone with Ambroisine, Bathilde, who had but one thought, one hope,
hastily scribbled this note to Léodgard:
"My parents have found out everything, and they have turned me out of
their house. Ambroisine has taken me in; she is like a sister to me. But
without you, Léodgard, I cannot hope for pardon. I must tell you what I
dared not tell you before, something that makes me glad and miserable at
once: I am a mother! Oh! my dear, remember your oaths, and come, come
quickly, to give your child a father."
* * * * *
She handed her letter to her friend and said:
"It's on Place Royale; you will find the place, won't you?"
"Never fear," Ambroisine replied, placing the paper in her bosom. "Place
Royale is not very hard to find; I passed through it not so long ago, on
my way home from Vincennes, where I had been to see my godmother; she
gave me a message for somebody who lives on Place Royale.--Ah! I shall
never forget that day; for on the road that I took---- But, great
heaven! here I am telling you things that don't interest you; and I read
in your eyes that you wish that I had started before this with your
letter. That is natural enough, since what you have written is sure to
interest the count so deeply.--Come, be calm, I am going--I am going at
once!"
"Dear Ambroisine! what torment, what trouble I cause you!"
"Will you be kind enough not to say that? I tell you once more that your
not being in your father's house now is my fault. If it had not been for
that infernal idea of mine of taking you to see the Fire of Saint-Jean,
you would still be on Rue Dauphine, working by your mother's side. As I
am the prime cause of the trouble, the least that I can do is to try to
repair it."
Ambroisine left the house, walked very fast, did not stop on the way,
and reached Place Royale in less than half an hour. She asked at a shop
where the Hôtel de Marvejols was; it was pointed out to her, and in a
moment the girl saw the heavy gate leading into the courtyard swing open
before her.
"What do you want?" cried the concierge, in a rough voice, and without
leaving the large armchair in which he sat at the back of his lodge.
"I would like to speak to Monsieur le Comte Léodgard de Marvejols."
"He is not in."
"Will you have the kindness to tell me at what hour I can find him?"
"Never!"
"What! never?"
"No; monsieur le comte no longer lives here, he doesn't sleep in
monsieur le marquis his father's house, and he never comes here; so, you
see, you will never find him here."
"Then, monsieur le concierge, will you kindly tell me where monsieur le
comte lives now, and I will go there."
"I don't know where monsieur le comte lives; besides, it is none of my
business to give his address!"
"But, monsieur, I must speak with monsieur le comte; it is absolutely
necessary!"
"That is none of my business."
And the concierge closed the door of his lodge with a most unamiable
air.
Ambroisine remained in the courtyard, in despair at the unsuccess of the
step she had taken, and unable to make up her mind to go away. At that
moment old Hector, the marquis's valet, came from a porch at the rear
and crossed the courtyard. He saw Ambroisine, and as beauty always
exerts a charm, even over old men, he approached the comely girl and
said, observing her distressed look:
"What is the matter, my pretty maid? Do you wish something here?"
"Yes, monsieur; I hoped to find someone, and I am told that he is no
longer here."
"Whom do you seek, my child?"
"I desire to see the young gentleman of the house, monsieur--Comte
Léodgard."
"My master's son!" rejoined old Hector, with a profound sigh. "Ah! this
is no longer the place to look for him; Monsieur le Comte de Marvejols
is no longer to be found under his father's roof. Nearly a month ago he
ceased entirely to come to the house; and monsieur le marquis, although
he tries not to show it, is deeply grieved, I can see."
"But, monsieur, if monsieur le comte no longer lives here, he must live
somewhere, unless--mon Dieu!--unless he has left Paris--France?"
"No, no, my child, don't be alarmed!" replied the old servant,
compressing his lips with an expression in which there was a faint
suggestion of cunning; "monsieur le marquis's son has not left Paris.
Oh! he leads too merry a life here to have any idea of going away!--And
are you so very anxious to see him, my pretty maid?"
"Yes, monsieur, it is so important! A certain person's repose, her
happiness, is at stake. I have a letter to give to Monsieur Léodgard;
and your concierge will not tell me where I can find him."
"But I do not believe that he knows. Since monsieur le comte ceased to
live with his father, monsieur le marquis never speaks of his son, and
he will never hear his name mentioned. But I, who, without making any
pretence, know what goes on in my master's heart, have made inquiries
without saying anything to him about it; I talked with the valet of one
of Monsieur Léodgard's friends, and I learned from him that monsieur le
comte occupies a very pretty, elegant house a long way from here--in Rue
de Bretonvilliers. It is close by Ile Saint-Louis--a new street recently
laid out, in a very deserted quarter. But it seems that that does not
prevent monsieur le comte from enjoying himself immensely in his new
abode, where he gives fêtes, or rather orgies! for our young gentlemen
do not know how to amuse themselves in any other way. Probably fortune,
which used to treat Monsieur Léodgard so ill, has ceased to be adverse
to him. Well, well! card playing has its chances; there are times when
luck favors you as much as it has been against you. If monsieur le comte
is lucky now, so much the better; for his father would never pay his
debts again.--But I stand chattering here, and my master may need my
services."
"Rue de Bretonvilliers, you said? Thanks, thanks, monsieur!"
"I don't know the number, but there are very few houses on that street
as yet, and it will be easy for you to find it."
"Oh! yes, monsieur, yes, I will find it; thanks for your kindness."
"Go, my child; I hope that you will not make a useless journey!"
Ambroisine left the Hôtel de Marvejols and started off again; but she
reflected on what the old servant had just told her. If the young count,
since he had ceased to live with his father, led a more dissipated life
than ever, of course he had entirely forgotten poor Bathilde.
That thought weighed heavily on Ambroisine's heart; she had never had
any confidence in the oaths which the count had sworn to her friend; but
it shook neither her resolution nor her courage.
Rue de Bretonvilliers, begun in 1615, contained as yet very few houses;
the new buildings were, in many instances, separated by walls enclosing
gardens or unimproved land. The _belle baigneuse_ observed one house of
a refined but curious style of architecture, consisting of three wings,
two of which were on the street, while the third, which was much
smaller, was at the rear of an immense courtyard.
Something told Ambroisine that that was Léodgard's residence, and she
did not hesitate to knock there.
"Monsieur le Comte de Marvejols?" she inquired of an old woman whom she
saw in the courtyard. The old woman nodded, then took a trumpet from her
pocket and put it to her ear.
Ambroisine repeated her question, speaking very loud.
"Monsieur le comte is not in!" replied the deaf old concierge; "what do
you want of him?"
"I have a letter for him."
"Give it to me."
"But I would like an answer."
"You can come again."
"When must I come to find the count?"
"No one ever knows; he doesn't say."
"But you will hand him this letter to-day?"
"Yes, if I see him."
"Do you not see him every day?"
"No; he is at liberty not to come home!"
"What sort of a life is he leading?" thought Ambroisine.--"At all
events, you will give him this letter as soon as he returns?"
"Yes, if I see him."
"What! you do not see him when he returns?--you, the concierge?"
"Bless me! he has his own key; and he doesn't always knock."
"Well! try to see him as soon as possible!"
Ambroisine went home, far from satisfied with what she had learned.
Bathilde was impatiently awaiting her; she told her all that she had
done, all that the marquis's old valet had told her concerning the young
count. But Bathilde, far from being dismayed, was persuaded that her
lover had left his father's house only to be more free to offer a home
to his future wife.
"He will have my letter soon!" she cried, taking her friend's hand; "he
will know my plight, all that I have had to suffer for him; in a word,
he will know that I am a mother.--Ah! you will see, Ambroisine, that he
will come at once to comfort me."
Ambroisine made no reply; but she did not share her friend's hope.
Master Hugonnet came again in the evening to see the poor girl, and said
to her with a disappointed air:
"I went to Master Landry's to-day."
"You have seen my father!" cried Bathilde; "well?"
"He received me very coolly, very shortly, in fact; he answered only a
few curt words to what I said. His face was dark and careworn."
"Oh! my poor father! it is I who am the cause of his unhappiness!"
"But he did not say a word about you.--As for your mother, when she saw
me, she turned her back and disappeared; perhaps she was afraid that I
should read her grief in her eyes."
"Oh, no! monsieur, she was afraid that you would mention her daughter's
name."
And Bathilde turned away to weep, thinking how sad it was to be an
object of shame and misery to those whose existence it was her duty to
make glad.
Two days passed, and Bathilde received no news of Léodgard. Each hour,
each minute that went seemed a century to the poor girl, whose eyes
expressed the anxiety and suffering that were devouring her heart.
When the second day had gone, Ambroisine, realizing her friend's
tortures, said to her in the morning, after kissing her:
"While my father is busy with his customers, I will run to Rue de
Bretonvilliers."
"Oh, yes! do go, Ambroisine; it is not possible that Léodgard has
received my letter and has not taken the slightest step toward consoling
me. If he will simply come and tell me that he still loves me, that will
give me strength to endure my suffering. Either the concierge has not
seen him or she has forgotten to hand him my note."
"That is what I propose to find out."
"If he is at home, try to see him, to speak to him, to obtain an answer
from him, so that I may at least know what my child's fate will be!"
"I know all that I am to say to him."
"But do not reproach him. You know how impatient, how quick-tempered he
is! Avoid irritating him."
"I shall think of you, and, like you, I will be indulgent."
Ambroisine left the house. Bathilde hardly breathed all the time that
she was absent. At last her friend returned, but her face did not
announce cheerful news, and her voice trembled as she said to Bathilde:
"The concierge swore that she gave the letter to her master the day
before yesterday, before night; she knows nothing more."
"And you did not see him?"
"'Monsieur le comte is absent,'--that is what she told me.
"'But at what time must I return in order to see him?' I asked the
woman.
"'I don't know, myself; monsieur le comte goes in and out without saying
anything to me, and he won't even allow me to ask him if he will return
at night. "That does not concern you!" he told me once, and with such an
angry, threatening look, that I vowed I would never ask him another
question.'
"That, my poor girl, is what that woman told me."
"He received my letter two days ago!" murmured Bathilde, weeping; "and
he has not been here, he has sent me no answer!--Mon Dieu! can it be
that what you told me of Comte Léodgard is the truth? Was I simply one
of those victims to whom a man does not become attached, only a
caprice, only one seduction more?--Oh! if that is true, if I am no
longer loved by the man for whom I ruined myself, if he has abandoned me
forever--Ambroisine, I shall not have the courage to endure my misery!"
"Yes, you will have that courage," said Ambroisine; "heaven will give it
to you; indeed, you will derive it from your very situation. When you
think that you are a mother, you will remember what you owe your
child--that child whom you love already, although you do not know it
yet; but who will make you forget all your troubles, when its little
arms try to embrace you, when its mouth calls you by the sweet name of
mother, when the sounds of its voice reach your heart."
Bathilde wiped her tears away and looked up at her friend, saying:
"Oh! you are right! one cannot desire death when one is a mother.--I
will be brave; for my child's sake, I will try to think only of it."
"But do you think that you must abandon all hope?--No, indeed! I am not
easily rebuffed, I tell you! I did not find the count to-day; well, I
will go there ten times, a hundred times; and, if necessary, I will pass
whole days and nights in front of his house, until I am able to see him
and speak to him; and unless he goes in and out like a ghost, or has the
power to make himself invisible, I shall end by meeting him. Meanwhile,
I say again, patience and courage, and think of your child!"
XXXI
THE HOUSE IN RUE DE BRETONVILLIERS
The small hôtel, or rather _maison de plaisance_, occupied by the young
Comte de Marvejols, in Rue de Bretonvilliers, had been built by a
farmer-general, who had given his architect special instructions.
That wealthy functionary had purposely bought a lot of land in a quarter
distant from the centre of the city and almost deserted. When building
there a _petite maison_, where he could at his ease receive his
mistresses, entertain his friends, and give fêtes which generally
degenerated into orgies, our farmer-general, who nevertheless affected
to lead a more regular life than many of his confrères, had not
forgotten to arrange a means whereby he could always avoid scandal, and
even be able at need to deny his presence at his little house in Rue de
Bretonvilliers.
To that end, the architect had, in accordance with his instructions,
divided the house into three parts, or rather three wings; one, the
largest and most sumptuous, on the right of the courtyard, was the
general rendezvous of the guests; there they supped and gambled and
indulged in the most unbridled dissipation.
The left wing contained the kitchen, the offices, and the servants'
quarters.
Lastly, at the rear of the courtyard, was a smaller building, never
occupied except by the master of the house and those of his most
intimate friends whom he allowed to have access to it. It was rumored
that in that part of the house there were secret doors opening into
underground passages which had their issue in deserted lanes or in the
unimproved lands on the other side of Rue de Bretonvilliers, and that by
means of those secret exits the proprietor could, when he chose,
disappear from his house, and even deny his presence there, where it was
always impossible to take him unawares.
Despite all his precautions, our farmer-general was surprised one day by
someone whom it was impossible to avoid, and against whom it is
fruitless to resort to secret exits and secret doors: Death had struck
him down at the apogee of his prosperity, at the very moment when that
man, always fortunate theretofore, was cudgelling his brains to devise
some new desire to be gratified.
But Death often seizes his victims at such times; as an ancient
philosopher has told us: excess of good fortune is almost as much to be
dreaded as adversity.
The farmer-general left none but collateral relations, who had offered
the house in Rue de Bretonvilliers for sale. But time passed and no
purchaser appeared. The roués of those days preferred to have their
_petites maisons_ in the faubourgs, or in the country--altogether
outside the city. So it had been decided to offer the house for hire,
and there the Comte de Marvejols had taken up his abode when he ceased
to live in his father's house.
Within a few weeks, Léodgard's situation had totally changed. The young
noble whom we saw near the Pont-aux-Choux staking his cloak because he
no longer had a denier to stake now cut a brilliant figure; he had
repaid the sums that he owed his friends, and it was said that he had
squared accounts with the old usurer to whom he had had recourse so
often; his dress now was in the extreme of fashion, rich jewels gleamed
in his sword hilt and in the clasps of his ribbons; the courtesans to
whom he addressed his homage received sumptuous gifts from him and
praised his generosity incessantly; lastly, he often gave entertainments
to his friends and their mistresses, in his new residence, and at those
festivities nothing was lacking: the daintiest dishes, the most
exquisite wines, were supplied lavishly, in an apartment where the
brilliant glare of chandeliers and candles was reflected on all sides by
the lovely Venetian mirrors with which the walls were covered.
It was two o'clock in the morning.
The right wing of the _petite maison_ in Rue de Bretonvilliers was
brilliantly illuminated; from the courtyard one could hear the bursts of
laughter of the guests who were still in the banquet hall, seated, or
rather half reclining, like the Greeks, around a table laden with
flowers, decanters full and empty, and the débris of a supper, the
remnants of which would have made a royal feast for more than one
family.
In an adjoining room, the portières of which were drawn aside, were card
tables, surrounded by numerous lovers of games of chance. Some women
were among them, and seemed not the least eager in the pursuit of luck
and in contending against it.
Lastly, in the less brilliantly lighted rooms of the suite, away from
the intrepid gamblers and banqueters, divers couples were seated on
sofas, talking, if not of their love affairs, of their amorous
adventures. Some fair ones sought, by dint of eloquent glances, to
subdue hearts which had thus far resisted their charms, but which would
naturally be more submissive after a sumptuous supper, and in an
assemblage where pleasure was the only law that anyone chose to
recognize.
The Marquis de Sénange, the Sire de Beausseilly, and the Chevalier de
Monclair had remained undauntedly at table, talking and drinking, while
their friends played cards or made love to the ladies.
"Do you know, messieurs, that this little house is a most delicious
spot!" said Sénange, as he glanced about the banquet hall. "Nothing is
lacking here; everything is refined, convenient, and decorated with
perfect taste!"
"What I admire above all is the way in which the cellar is supplied.
Vertudieu! messieurs, judging from our entertainment, there must be a
profusion of everything here!"
"Just try, Monclair, not to get into such a state as on that night that
we lay on the grass near the Pont-aux-Choux! Do you remember?"
"Yes, indeed--about two months ago.--Give me some of that malaga,
Sénange.--Well, messeigneurs, just see what changes may take place in
two months! Do you remember poor Léodgard's destitute plight at that
time?"
"Pardieu! of course I remember it, as we played for his cloak, which I
won from him!--But he has paid me more than its value since!"
"Who would have told us then that a few weeks later this same Léodgard
would give us delicious suppers, in a charming house built for a
farmer-general; that he would display as much elegance and splendor as
his predecessor!"
"Mon Dieu! I see nothing so surprising in that! Fortune is capricious!
She treated Léodgard harshly, and now he is her favorite. Instead of
losing all the time at cards, he wins--that is the whole story!"
"Not to-night, however, for the charming Herminie has just won a hundred
rose crowns from him at lansquenet; she was sitting by me just now,
counting them."
"Give me some cyprus, my masters; it is my favorite wine, and this is
simply perfect."
"I' faith! if Léodgard is losing, he doesn't show it," said the fair
Camilla, a young courtesan with almond-shaped eyes, who had returned to
the banqueting room to take some sweetmeats from the table. "He is
throwing his gold and silver about to-night with the indifference of a
nabob. He is an accomplished cavalier now."
"It must be that his father, the old marquis, has decided to make a
sacrifice, to loosen his purse strings; for his winnings at the card
table could not have changed Léodgard's position so quickly."
"That is very probable; but when anyone questions him on the subject,
that devil of a Léodgard loses his temper; he says that it is nobody's
business."
"He is not fond of talking about his affairs; generally speaking, he is
not expansive."
"Oh! we must not say that before the fair Camilla! Surely she knows the
secrets of her most submissive adorer; a _cavalier servant_ has no
secrets from the lady of his thoughts.--Is not that true, adorable
Camilla?"
"Mon Dieu! seigneurs, I am less inquisitive than you are! So long as
Léodgard gives me everything that I want, what more would you have me
ask him for?"
"Well answered!--Ah! my bucks, that will teach you to question a woman!"
"For my own part," said the Sire de Beausseilly, "there is something
that surprises me more than the present magnificence of the Comte de
Marvejols."
"What is that?" asked Monclair, after tossing off another glass of
Cyprus.
"Well, messieurs, it is the strange expression that has characterized
our host for some time past; the sad or gloomy look that is always in
his eyes, even among us, in the midst of our merrymaking, and when he
hears nothing but joyous words and songs all around him!"
"Well, upon my word! that is delicious!--You are mad, Beausseilly!--He
would like to make us believe now that Léodgard is sad when he gives us
a fête! Why, he sang at the table only a moment ago!"
"He did sing, I admit it; but his expression was no more hilarious, for
all that; he tried to appear so--that may be; but there is a long
distance between real gayety and bursts of forced laughter!"
"Nonsense, Beausseilly! no more of that; I fancy, my dear fellow, that
the fumes of this Spanish wine are beginning to go to your head!"
"No, messieurs, I am quite sober, I am in full possession of my senses.
I will not agree to retain them all night, by the way, for there are
some lovely eyes here quite capable of depriving me of them!--But to
return to Léodgard. Come, I will leave it to his mistress; ask Camilla
if she does not think that his manner is less cheerful, less frank, less
open, than it used to be.--Answer, O terrestrial divinity!"
The beautiful courtesan took a bunch of flowers from a vase and threw it
in Beausseilly's face, saying:
"You do not know what you are talking about; Léodgard is charming; try
to be as gallant as he, and all the ladies will adore you.--Do you want
to see a serious cavalier, who never laughs, and who does not even look
at the ladies?--Well, I will show you one now--there is no need to seek
far. See--that man all in black at yonder card table; if you have seen
him smile once to-night, I will give you my chin to kiss!"
"She means Jarnonville," said Sénange, laughing.