The attendant kept his seat; it even seemed to amuse him to hear such a
merry peal.
Soon the jangling of the bell became incessant; and as there came a
moment when no one of the drinkers was speaking, because they were
emptying their glasses, Master Hugonnet at last heard the _carillon_ in
which his customer was indulging.
"Someone is ringing! Sarpejeu! someone is ringing! Don't you hear, Jean?
you sit there as calmly as you please! Go, see what is wanted."
"Oh! I hear the bell well enough, and I've heard it a long while,
monsieur; but it's no use going to see; I have been once."
"But the gentleman in the bath is calling."
"Yes; and I tell you that I went to see what he wanted. He wants his
esquire--that's what he wants; but I am not his esquire."
"His esquire!" cried Plumard, placing his glass on the table. "The
devil! you should have told me; I am his esquire!"
"I called you, but you didn't answer."
"Fichtre! I am going to be scolded. I must hurry; he is ringing as if he
would tear everything to pieces."
Plumard entered the cabinet where Passedix was bathing; he found him
exasperated, frantic with rage.
"Did monsieur le chevalier ring?"
"Did I ring! knave! gallows-bird! you presume to ask me! Why, I have
been ringing an hour!"
"Don't charge it to me, monseigneur; it's the fault of that fool of an
attendant. He said nothing to me; I only learned a moment ago that you
wanted me. I am terribly distressed, O my master!"
"I will thrash that attendant when I am out of the bath!"
"You will do well, monsieur le chevalier."
"Tell me, esquire, have you not yet seen my page return?"
"No, monseigneur, not yet."
"It seems to me that he is very long; it is nearly an hour that I have
been in the water, and I am beginning to have enough of it!"
"If monsieur le chevalier wishes to get out of the bath----"
"Get out! what in the devil shall I put on? I have neither short-clothes
nor doublet; I cannot go into the street in my shirt and cloak simply!"
"That is true; if monseigneur wishes, I will go to see if Bahuchet is
coming."
"No, no! Cadédis! I have no desire to be forced to ring another hour, to
recall you.--Sandioux! this water is getting cold; my page is making a
fool of his master!"
"Perhaps the spots are difficult to remove."
"I am afraid--I am shivering--I shall take cold.--Go, tell the bath
attendant to bring me some hot water."
In those days, persons who indulged in baths had not at their hand
faucets with which to heat or cool the water at pleasure; bath keepers
have progressed, like other people; but at that time the attendant
brought water in a pail to put in the bath tub.
Plumard went out to perform his master's commission.
"The fire's out," said the attendant, "there's no more hot water; your
tall, withered master has been in the bath more than an hour, and the
best thing he can do is to go away; it will take too long to start up
the fire again."
"Well-managed baths these, on my word! It's evident enough that Master
Hugonnet is drinking and that his daughter is away from home!"
And Plumard returned to the chevalier, who was beginning to shiver.
"I regret to announce, monseigneur, that there is no more hot water in
the establishment."
"No more hot water? Cadédis! what does this mean? are they laughing at
me?"
"No, my honored master; but the attendant has allowed the fire to go out
that heats the water for the baths. Master Hugonnet has been drinking so
much with some friends that it is impossible to obtain anything from
him!"
"O fair Ambroisine! it is evident that you pass all your time with a
countess! These baths are being managed wretchedly; it will be very hot
when I bathe here again!--And that rascally page does not return!--I
cannot pass the whole day in the water, however; it weakens me
terribly!"
"If monsieur le chevalier wishes--there must be some second-hand shop
hereabout; I could go there and buy a doublet and a pair of breeches!"
"I' faith! you are right; that is what we should have done long
ago.--Here, take my purse, which, luckily enough, I did not leave in my
short-clothes, and hasten to buy me something to wear--the first things
that you see, provided they are decent."
"Yes, monseigneur."
"And of some light color--they are most becoming to me. Do not consider
the price, but make haste, sandioux! for I am all gooseflesh. Have you
my purse?"
"Yes, monseigneur; I fly to the second-hand shop."
Plumard left the cabinet, and called to the attendant as he passed
through the shop:
"We will do without your hot water; my master is going to leave the
bath."
"In that case," said the attendant to himself, as he looked after the
esquire, "it seems that the tall, thin man won't want it any more; if
he's going to get out of his bath, I can begin to draw the water out of
his tub."
He went to a room situated directly beneath the men's bathrooms, pressed
a spring corresponding to the tub that he proposed to empty, and opened
a cock through which the water ran out of doors.
As for Master Hugonnet, urged by his friends, and no longer in full
possession of his reason, he had left his house, to make himself
completely drunk at his favorite wine shop.
Passedix sat in his tub, as motionless as a statue, because he knew that
the more one moves about, the more quickly the water grows cool. That in
his tub had fallen nearly to zero. The poor chevalier turned purple and
counted the minutes, saying to himself:
"Capédébious! I trust that my esquire will move more rapidly than my
page; I should have left him unrestricted in the matter of colors; he
will try to find a pretty shade, and that will delay him.--Well, what
does this mean? I have no water on my shoulders! But I had some a moment
ago. One would say that my bath was running away! Why, yes--it is not a
dream--my water is falling--my breast is dry!--Ah! ten thousand muskets!
this is the climax of our adventures!--Who is the gallows-bird, the
villain, the blockhead, that amuses himself emptying my bath tub? It
must be that dolt of an attendant! By Roland! the rascal shall pay me
for this! In a moment I shall be left high and dry, and all naked! This
is horrible! May the devil fly away with my esquire and my page!--Let us
ring! let us ring!--Ah! I shall not forget this bath!"
Passedix seized the bellrope and pulled it so hard that it broke in his
hand; but luckily the attendant heard the bell, and, as he knew that the
esquire had gone, he concluded to go up, saying to himself:
"It must be me that this gentleman wants now, as he has sent his
servants away; he wants to pay for his bath, I suppose, and give me a
_pourboire_."
But he was stupefied, on opening the door of the cabinet, to see the
chevalier still naked in the bath tub, where there was no longer a drop
of water, glaring savagely at him and threatening him with his fist.
"What! are you taking a dry bath, monsieur?" said the surprised
attendant.
"A dry bath, knave! a dry bath, blockhead! Why am I left high and dry in
my bath tub? Because you have drawn the water off, I presume!"
"Well! monsieur's esquire called to me when he went out: 'My master's
going to leave the bath!' so then I said to myself: 'I can empty the
tub.'"
"Ah! you clown, if I die of inflammation of the lungs, you shall pay me
for this! I am frozen!"
"But, monsieur, after all, why do you insist on staying in the tub
instead of dressing yourself?"
"Dressing myself! They are all in a plot to drive me frantic! Here is my
esquire doing just as my page did! He doesn't come back! How well I am
served! It was worth while setting up a staff of servants!--Well, I must
make up my mind to something. Give me my linen, rascal! and while I am
putting it on, that infernal bald-head will return, I trust--or perhaps
my page, Bahuchet!"
But Plumard, on leaving Master Hugonnet's house, weighed in his hand the
purse that his new master had bade him take. It was a large purse and
well filled; the ex-clerk could not resist the desire to know how much
it contained; so he stopped, sat on a stone, and counted out in the
hollow of his hand twenty-two gold pieces. That amounted to a
considerable sum; the ex-Basochian had never possessed so much. The
sight of the gold dazzled him; and the numerous bumpers he had drunk at
Master Hugonnet's having made him slightly giddy, he passed his hand
across his brow and muttered:
"By Saint Grimoire! I shall never earn as much as this in a year,
playing the esquire to that long, loose-jointed chevalier. Suppose I
should begin by enjoying myself with this money? The opportunity is all
the better because I shall not have to share with Bahuchet. I am in
luck, on my word! I'll go to the tavern which the pretty girls of the
quarter frequent; it's at the Pré-aux-Clercs. I have enough to treat
them like a great nobleman!--Oh! I'll wager that they will not refuse to
dance a courante or a Périgourd step with me to-night."
And Monsieur Plumard placed the purse in his belt and betook himself to
the Pré-aux-Clercs, without another thought for him he had left in the
bath.
Bahuchet, having no purse intrusted to him, had been unable to follow
the same course of action as his friend Plumard; but other reasons kept
him from returning to the chevalier.
Having taken his new master's garments to the cleanser's, where he was
told that it would take a long quarter of an hour to remove the spots on
the doublet and breeches, the little man left the shop and strolled
aimlessly along the street, stopping to look at everything that could
possibly amuse him for a moment.
Suddenly, as he was watching two dogs fight, Bahuchet felt a tap on his
shoulder. He turned and recognized Miretta, the young Marquise de
Santoval's pretty lady's-maid.
"I have found you at last, Monsieur Bahuchet," she said; "I have been
looking for you all over Paris for a long time."
"You have been looking for me, captivating brunette?"
"Yes; I went to your solicitor's to find you."
"To Maître Bourdinard's?--He dismissed me because I made blots on the
paper with my pen, and that wasted the ink. I say! what a skinflint!--So
you have been looking for me! I beg you to believe that, if I had known
it---- Do you require the services of your humble servant?"
"No, not I, but my mistress, madame la marquise.--Come, come quickly,
away from all these people."
"Oh! pardon me, pretty maid, but if I must go to the Hôtel de Santoval
again--many thanks! I am not your man! I remember the way I was treated
at the time of the last visit I paid you; I remember very well too that,
after beating me outrageously with stirrup leathers, the lackeys said:
'This is how you will be received every time that you come to this
house!'--After that, you may well be sure that I would not risk the end
of my nose there for anything in the world!--Look you--I am entirely
devoted to your lovely mistress, but more than all else I love my own
shoulders, I have the warmest regard for my ribs, and I have no desire
to be cudgelled again!"
"You will not be asked to go to the Hôtel de Santoval again, although
everything is changed there now."
"Where are you taking me, then?"
"Wherever you choose; select for yourself the place where you will await
my mistress; she will meet you there, for she is most desirous to speak
with you in secret, and to intrust to you a letter for the Comte de
Marvejols. If you undertake to deliver the letter, she will give you
money, as much as you ask."
"As much money as I ask!--By Mercury! pretty lady's-maid, this deserves
consideration!--Moreover, I am too gallant to refuse to hold an
interview with your mistress, whom I know to be as generous as she is
beautiful.--Faith! so much the worse for my new master; I will tell him
that the spots stuck like the devil; I can always find some fable to
tell him.--Let us be off."
"Choose the place where you will await my mistress."
"Let me see; I must try to think of a place where there are not too many
passers, so that we may talk undisturbed. Yes; I have what we want--on
Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, I know a place where there have been no houses
built as yet; there is a hollow there, where one can talk as comfortably
as in one's own house; and it is not far from madame la marquise's
hôtel."
"Let us make haste, then."
Bahuchet and Miretta doubled their pace. The sometime clerk knew his
Paris perfectly, and the streets one could take to lessen the distance.
In a short time they reached Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. The little man
stopped at a vacant lot, where building materials had been dropped.
"This is the place; it is very convenient for a private conversation,
you see."
"It is well. Remain here, while I go to fetch my mistress."
"She will not be long?"
"I promise you that she will be here within half an hour."
"Very good! Above all things, do not let her bring one of her tall
lackeys with her! If I see one of them in the distance, off I go, and I
give you my word that you will not catch me!"
"Do you think that my mistress is setting a trap for you, Monsieur
Bahuchet?"
"No, pretty brunette, I certainly do not think that; but, look you, when
one has been thrashed as I was, one may well retain some apprehension."
"Fie! a man, and afraid! At least, you should not admit it. I am only a
woman, but I have never known what fear is!--Stay here, Monsieur
Bahuchet, and fear nothing; you will be handsomely paid."
Miretta fled with the swiftness of a deer; and Bahuchet seated himself
on a stone, saying to himself:
"That girl is well fitted to enter one of these new companies of
mousquetaires which are said to be forming; I am sure that she would
march into fire without a tremor.--After all, I have no occasion for
fear; although there are very few passers on this street, still there
are some. I myself chose the place of rendezvous.--So the fair Valentine
is still in love with the handsome Comte Léodgard! Hum! these women!
when a passion has taken firm root in their heart, all the obstacles
they encounter simply whet their appetite.--And that man who is waiting
for me in his bathtub? Faith! let him wait! he will be all the cleaner
for it! Besides, Plumard is with him; he will tell him lies to keep him
patient. But money--all the money I want! That I know is a way of
speaking; but still, the fair marchioness is generous--generous and
amorous; and she flings her money away freely!"
Bahuchet had not been at his post twenty-five minutes, when he spied two
women at the end of the street; one of them, enveloped in a cloak, and
with her head covered by a thick veil, glanced occasionally to the right
and left. They were the marchioness and her confidante. About fifty
yards from Bahuchet, Valentine told Miretta to stop, and went forward
alone toward the little ex-Basochian, who bowed low in the distance.
"Here I am, Monsieur Bahuchet; I have not kept you waiting too long, I
hope?"
"No, madame. Oh! I knew that with madame la marquise I should not lose
my time."
"Do not waste it in empty words. Will you undertake to carry this letter
to the Comte de Marvejols?"
"With great pleasure, madame."
"Here it is; accept at the same time this purse, and my promise to give
you twice as much as it contains if you bring me a reply from the
count--a line written by him."
Bahuchet could hardly hold in his hand the purse that Valentine placed
there, it was stuffed so full of gold pieces to its very mouth. He was
dazzled; he gazed at the purse in respectful admiration; and when he
heard the marchioness promise him twice as much more, his devotion could
contain itself no longer, and he cried:
"You shall have a reply from monsieur le comte, madame! You shall have
it, even if I have to write it myself!--No, not that; my zeal carries me
away; I do not know what I am saying!--But, once more, madame, the count
shall send you a reply; I will make it my business."
"You will take this letter to him at once?"
"Yes, madame. Oh! on the instant.--The other man may keep on bathing; I
don't care a fig for that!"
"Do you know where the count is now?"
"At his little hôtel in Rue de Bretonvilliers, I presume?"
"No; he is at present at the Hôtel de Marvejols, on Place Royale."
"Very good; I fly thither----"
"One moment! Léodgard is under the same roof with--his wife; you will
understand that you must give this letter into his own hands. Do not
intrust it to any other person. Ask to speak with the count in private;
see to it that there is no one with him when he reads my letter."
"I understand, madame, I understand. Never fear! I see that mystery is
necessary; I will act with all prudence."
"Do not say, when you present yourself at the house, that you come from
me; in that case, you would not be allowed access to Léodgard!"
"I am not so stupid!--By the way, madame; this reply which, I make no
doubt, the count will give me--where shall I deliver it to you?"
"Come here again this evening, at nine o'clock; you will find Miretta
here--she will await your coming."
"Very good! And Miretta will--will hand me what madame la marquise is
generous enough to promise me?"
"I always fulfil my promises, monsieur."
"Then I will go at once to Place Royale."
"And at nine o'clock this evening----"
"I will return here."
The marchioness joined Miretta and walked rapidly away with her, while
little Bahuchet, after fondling for a moment the purse filled with gold,
thrust it into his belt, and hastened away toward Place Royale.
And while all these things were happening, the Chevalier de Passedix,
clad only in shirt, ruff, and funnel-shaped boots, paced the floor of
his bathroom, stamping angrily and muttering:
"Knave of a page! blackguard of an esquire! Where on earth are they?
What has become of them? Cadédis! if this is the way those villains
serve me, I will kick them out of my employ at the earliest possible
moment!--But I shall not have the trouble of doing it if they do not
return. Miserable knaves! they have robbed me again! They shall have a
taste of Roland!--Woe to them if I ever fall in with them!"
And in his rage Passedix seized his sword, drew it from the scabbard,
and threatened everything within his reach; which performance caused the
bath attendant, who had remained in one corner of the room, to shudder
with fear. At last, losing patience, and feeling extremely cold,
Passedix halted in front of him and said:
"We must make an end of this! Come, varlet, take off your short-clothes
instantly! be quick about it!"
"Take off my short-clothes! What for?"
"Sandis! so that I may put them on, of course! I can't stand here all
day in my shirt!"
"But I have no others, monsieur; and if you take mine, then I shall be
in my shirt."
"That makes no difference to me--a terrible calamity, truly, that you
should be a little cool in your turn!"
"No, no! I won't give you my short-clothes!"
"Give them to me this instant, knave, and your miserable doublet too, or
I'll run you through with Roland!"
Passedix made such a terrible face, and held the point of his sword so
near the poor fellow's breast, that he, trembling for his life, quickly
removed his doublet and his breeches. The chevalier lost no time in
donning them, saying to himself:
"I shall be a horrible-looking creature in this costume! but, after all,
it is preferable to being naked!--Now, I will conceal it as well as I
can with my cloak.--Come, don't cry, you fool! Do you imagine that I
propose to steal your clothes? They will be returned to you as soon as I
have been home and have dressed myself in orange, pending the purchase
of a lovely costume, new throughout. I shall select a sky-blue this
time!--If my people return, you will say to them that I shall expect
them at the Hôtel du Sanglier, Place aux Chats; but I begin to doubt
whether they will return--the vagabonds!"
And Passedix, having finished his toilet to the best of his ability,
left the bathing establishment, grumbling between his teeth:
"These breeches are horribly unbecoming to me!--O my esquire! O my page!
you shall pay me for all this!"
LII
THE LITTLE ANGEL
Léodgard had recovered his health; he was entirely cured; still, he had
not left the abode of his ancestors. More than once he had formed the
plan of returning to his _petite maison_ in Rue de Bretonvilliers; but
whenever he had that idea, little Blanche was not with him. As soon as
his daughter appeared, as soon as she came running into the room,
smiling and holding out her little arms to him, all thought of going
away was forgotten; the time passed so quickly with the child, and so
pleasantly!
Blanche remained with her father almost all day; Bathilde deprived
herself of the pleasure of having her child with her, because she felt
that Blanche's presence alone detained Léodgard at the Hôtel de
Marvejols. But when the little one had been away from her mother several
hours in succession, she always asked to see her; for, in that loving
heart, the love that she felt for the count in no wise diminished her
affection for her mother.
And one day, when Blanche, having remained longer than usual with
Léodgard, asked to go back to her mother, and he, holding her in his
arms, would have kept her longer, the child suddenly said to him:
"Well! send for mamma to come here; then I will not ask to go away,
because I shall be with both of you."
To this very natural suggestion the count made no reply; he simply cast
down his eyes and sighed; but Blanche at once continued:
"Why doesn't mamma ever come here with me? When I ask her to, she always
says: 'That would annoy monsieur le comte.'--Are you _monsieur le
comte_?"
"To be sure," Léodgard replied, with a smile.
"Well! don't you want to have mamma come? Has she been naughty?"
Léodgard did not quite know what to say; children always go straight to
the point with their questions, and often embarrass the persons to whom
they propound them, because grown people are unable to answer as frankly
as they are questioned.
But at that moment Bathilde, being anxious about her daughter, who did
not usually remain so long in her father's apartment, drew the portière
aside and stopped timidly in the doorway.
"Excuse me, monsieur le comte," she said, "for coming here unsummoned.
But my daughter did not return, and I was afraid that she was not well."
Léodgard looked up at Bathilde. For the first time since she had been
his wife, he observed her with attention; he was surprised at the
changes for the better that had taken place in her whole person. On
becoming a countess, the bath keeper's daughter had undergone a
transformation. Endowed by nature with angelic beauty, she possessed
now, in addition, grace, distinction, and refinement; she fascinated by
her mere presence; one felt drawn toward her; and having no suspicion of
her power, Bathilde augmented it by the charm of her smile and the sweet
quality of her voice.
One would have said that Léodgard remarked all this as if he had never
before looked at his wife; and Bathilde, who had not seen the count
scrutinize her with so much interest for a long time, felt the blood
rush to her cheeks, as if beneath the flame of a lover's glance. But in
her eyes her husband was still the most beloved of lovers; she did not
know which way to turn; yet she was happy, very happy; she began to
hope that Léodgard might love her once more.
Blanche jumped down from her father's knee and ran to her mother.
"I wanted to come to see you," she said; "but papa didn't want to let me
go. Now you are here, and Blanche is very glad! After this, you'll come
here with me, won't you?"
Bathilde looked at her daughter and did not reply.
But Léodgard bent his head before his young wife, and said in a gracious
tone:
"When you choose to come here, madame, you will always be welcome."
"You are too kind, monsieur le comte," faltered Bathilde, who felt that
sobs would soon stifle her voice, and who longed, but did not yet dare,
to throw herself into her husband's arms. She hastily led her daughter
from the room and returned to her own apartment. There she took Blanche
in her arms, strained her to her heart, and bathed her with her tears.
"You crying, mamma?" said Blanche.
"Oh! it is with pleasure, with happiness this time, my darling; and this
happiness too I owe to you!"
On the day following this scene, about four in the afternoon, a servant
entered the apartment of Léodgard, who had his daughter on his knee, and
informed his master that a young man had called, saying that he was
charged with a message for the Comte de Marvejols and that he desired
to be admitted to his presence.
"What is the man's name?" inquired Léodgard.