Paul preceded Eusebe in entering the house, and apprized the two
merchants of the revelation his friend had just made.
Then occurred a lamentable, but quite common, manifestation of
human perversity. These two business-men, who would not for all
the world have done a decidedly bad action,--these two plain
store-keepers, who even spoke with respect of the woman at the
street-stand who had but one lover,--and the artist who had often
observed, in passing unfortunate girls in the street, “These
unfortunate creatures are more to be pitied than blamed,”--these
three men, in fine, who in the whole course of their lives had
not failed in showing respect for the gentler sex, indulged in
invectives against Adéonne, with whom neither of them had any
personal acquaintance.
“Monsieur Martin,” said Lansade, “I pity you with all my heart.
I was quite right when I said that your father should have
recommended you to the care and guidance of some rational person.
In that case this would not have occurred. Understand me. I am
not an enemy of pleasure. I have been young, and I am not too far
advanced to remember the amusements of my youthful days. I should
not have been displeased to see you enamored of a respectable
maiden. But a comédienne!--an actress! Really, I hardly know how to
express the grief this affair causes me.”
“You are right, my good Lansade,” said Paul Buck. “It grieves
me, also, that Eusebe should have been so unfortunate as to be
victimized by one of these _filles de marbre_, these women without
heart, without honor, accustomed to excesses, despising all the
pleasures of the world, because they have completely exhausted
their sensations.”
Bonnaud was not the man to allow such an opportunity for airing his
eloquence to escape him. He immediately began to deliver a tirade
against women in general and actresses in particular.
“Ah! Lansade will tell you,” said he, “that I, too, have been an
admirer of beauty in my time, and that I was not unsuccessful. I
had plenty of money; but never, never was I caught by a comédienne.
No, indeed: I was not so stupid.”
“One moment,” said Eusebe: “do you know M’lle Adéonne?”
“Only too well,” replied Paul Buck, earnestly. “Like others of her
class, this woman has neither youth, beauty, nor talent. She owes
every thing to the _claqueurs_ and her perfumer. This creature, my
friend, is deception personified.”
“I do not understand you,” murmured Eusebe.
“I never take an indirect road to reach an object,” said Lansade.
“I will make you comprehend. Your Adéonne, like others of her
class, seeks in the morning to whom she will sell herself in the
evening, and in the evening she is only troubled about the price of
her affections. Innocent as you may be, you would not be the son
of M. Martin if your heart did not swell with indignation at the
idea of one of God’s creatures selling herself for gold. Do you
comprehend now?”
Eusebe did not venture to respond. Paul resumed:--
“Adéonne is, they say, charming; but, you see, to woo persons of
that description, it is necessary to be without heart and to have
plenty of money.”
“You astonish me,” muttered Eusebe. “I do not question what you
have told me; and I thank you for having opened my eyes to the
truth.”
“Bravo!” cried Lansade. “Here’s to the health of your good father.
Let us change the subject.”
Eusebe took advantage of a moment when Lansade was engaged in
showing his grounds to Paul and Bonnaud, to escape from the house
and fly towards Paris as if pursued by an enemy. Absorbed in
thought, he reached the theatre and entered. From the first he
fixed his attention upon the beautiful Adéonne, and lost sight of
the audience entirely.
If actresses only knew of the raging passions they kindle in the
hearts of youthful spectators, they would, perhaps, have a higher
estimate of their own attractions.
Eusebe returned to his lodgings filled with strange dreams and
fired with strange impulses. He sat, musing, long after the candle
had burned down into the socket. Suddenly he arose, as if he had at
last reached a decision, and exclaimed,--
“She sells herself! I will be her purchaser.”