I BECOME A SOUBRETTE.
Amid all this, we were somewhat flurried, when, one morning in
August, Madame de Bourgneuf unexpectedly drove up the long avenue to
the gate of the chateau, in her old-fashioned carriage, which
resembled a huge game-pie, or an antique tea-caddy on wheels, and
brought tidings that the coast, from the Isle d'Ouessant to Ostend,
was more than ever closely watched, as another descent of those
insolent heretics, the English, was expected, for the express and
envious purpose of demolishing the elegant fortifications erected by
Marshal Vauban at Cherbourg, and burning his Most Christian Majesty's
fleet, then ignobly blocked up in Brest by the squadrons of Lord
Anson, Sir Edward Hawke, and Commodore Howe, who, as an additional
insult to France, carried brooms at their mastheads, in token that
they swept the sea!
From the Governor of Brittany she had obtained all this intelligence
at St. Malo, and I immediately received it from Angelique, who, being
somewhat addicted to waggery and mischief, informed me in a whisper,
that "although madame, our aunt, had resided so long at St. Malo,
ostensibly to pay her devotions at the famous shrine of the
cathedral, it was more probably because the Duc d'Aiguillon had
appointed as Governor and Commandant of St. Malo, the old Comte de
Boisguiller--father of the chevalier--who, thirty years before, had
been madame's most devoted though unsuccessful lover: and now as both
were free, she was not without hope of kindling his passion
again--hence the old lady's devotion to the blessed bones of St.
Malo; but (added the soubrette, in the words of Jean Jacques
Rousseau) who ever heard of a pair of grey-haired lovers sighing for
each other?"
Now, what the deuce was to be done with _me_?
Madame was very strict about her domestics, and had rather austere
views on the subject of men in general and lovers in particular (M.
le Commandant excepted), yet, added Angelique, she always prefers as
a spiritual adviser the handsome young Abbé St. Servand to old Père
Celestine, of St. Solidore.
Terrified by the prospect of immediate discovery, of my ignominious
expulsion, perhaps punishment, poor Jacqueline became quite
paralysed, but her spirited abigail rose superior to the occasion,
and resolved that a more complete disguise, and an entirely new plan
of operations were at once necessary; so she insisted that I should
become, like herself, a _soubrette_ in the household.
Her clever little fingers--for she was neat and ready handed as all
Frenchwomen are--soon prepared a dress of her own for me, by letting
out a tuck or two in the skirts, altering the body and so forth.
Then she proceeded at once to have me attired, a feat I could never
have performed for myself.
She laced me up in a pair of her own stays, a merciless process,
which nearly suffocated me, and certainly caused a determination of
blood to the head; "but it was absolutely necessary," as she stated,
"that I should have a figure;" adding, as she fastened the lace, "in
time I shall make you quite pretty, monsieur, and then, if
Boisguiller's hussars come this way we shall be rivals for the
handsome sub-brigadier."
"Angelique, how you talk!"
"But the hussars----"
"Don't talk of them, pray. The thought of meeting hussars in this
absurd dress makes my blood run cold."
"Then, think of mademoiselle. _Ma foi!_ a Parisian girl like her
required some one to interest, to excite her, amid the gloom of this
old chateau, with its big rats and terrible legends, so you came just
in time to prevent her dying of _ennui_. But for Jacquot I should
have fallen in love with you myself."
She took great pains with me; a few false curls adroitly pinned on,
and one of her own tall, coif-like Breton caps, of spotless white
linen, completed my head gear. She patted my chin, and thanked
Heaven I wore neither beard nor moustache; then I joined her in a
hearty fit of laughter, on surveying myself in a mirror.
"What would Jack Charters, Tom Kirkton, or other fellows of ours, say
if they could see me thus!" was my first thought.
Angelique taught me how to seat myself, and how to hold myself when
seated; how to spread or gather my skirts when ascending or
descending stairs; and she burst again and again into ringing fits of
laughter at the length of ankle I exhibited. At last, after being
well drilled, I was taken to the drawing-room, and with a heart that
certainly palpitated, and a cheek that blushed truly with shame and
ridicule, I was presented to madame, as the new attendant of
mademoiselle--a girl from the wild marshes of the Morbihan.
My costume was perfect, even to the black velvet necklet, which no
Breton girl is ever without.
Jacqueline grew very pale, but a smile twinkled in her tearful dark
eyes, when she retired behind the chair of her aunt, who bowed
politely, and surveyed me through her eyeglass, as I advanced,
courtseying at every second step, my hands folded meekly across my
breast, and my eyes cast modestly down, in a manner taught me by that
pretty rogue, Angelique.
The idea occurred to me that a candid confession of who I was, and
the weight of the mutual service Jacqueline and I had rendered each
other, would have been better than the adoption of this absurd and
most dangerous disguise, which could only serve to complicate the
perils of my present position; but there was no resource--I was in
for it now!
"Approach, girl," said the countess, "come nearer me. You have a
very fair skin for a girl from the Morbihan."
"My mother, madame, was an English woman," said I, courtseying lower;
to have said a _Scots woman_ would have served my purpose better in
France, for the countess said, sharply--
"So much the worse--so much the worse, girl! You have, however, I
hope, been well instructed in all religious duties, and never omit
mass or confession."
"Mon Père Celestine will answer for me," said I, confident that the
good priest would protect me, whatever came to pass.
"_Très bien_! I expect him to visit us in a few days, together with
the Comte de Boisguiller, Commandant of St. Malo." (This reply, like
a double-headed shot, was not very restoring), "but why do you
require a _second_ attendant, Jacqueline--is not Angelique enough for
you? What is your name?"
"Basile, madame, so please you."
"Basile what?"
(The deuce take it! I had not thought of a name.)
"Basile Gantelet," said Angelique, replying for me.
"Your parents and family?----"
"Were poor fisher people, all carried off by the English fleet, and
are now in some horrid prison."
"The English, as Comte de Boisguiller says, it is always those
pestilent English, we can neither move for them by land or sea.
_Tres bien!_ my good girl, I am pleased with mademoiselle's choice,
and like your modest appearance so much, that I think I shall retain
you about my own person. If you please me, I shall have your ears
pierced, and present you with a pair of my own earrings at the next
feast of St. Malo."
"Oh, madame, how happy I shall be to attend so dear, so delightful,
so handsome a lady!" said I, courtseying thrice, but feeling,
nevertheless, in no way delighted by the prospect of the ear-piercing
process.
"Adieu, my child," replied the countess, with a gratified smile.
"Angelique will instruct you in your new duties; and, as you are from
the melancholy district of the Morbihan--the land of salt marshes,
and the Montagues Noires, of old feuds, solemn pilgrimages, and
ruined castles, I shall expect you to entertain us with some droll
legends of especially those wicked little fiends the Courils and
Torrigans, who infest the roads at nightfall, and make travellers
dance till they die of fatigue."
Angelique hurried me away; our interview had been most successful!
Madame de Bourgneuf was now in her sixtieth year. Few women, even in
blooming England, are charming at that age; but in France they are
frequently horrible! She could never have been beautiful at any
time, and though her hazel eyes were large and bright, her shrivelled
skin had the hue of an old drumhead, that had undergone the rain and
marches of three campaigns; yet, strange to say, she bore a
resemblance to her beautiful niece, which made me ask tremulously in
my heart, would Jacqueline ever become so plain, even if she lived to
the years of old Parr?
The countess had a profusion of real and false hair, all of snowy
whiteness, always dressed _à la Marquise_, and by her ornaments, and
general style of attire, it was evident that she knew not the art of
growing gracefully old; but was resolved to be young, and to keep her
colours flying to the last. With all this, she was a perfect
repertory of old stories of the court of France, legends of the
saints, and historic memories of Brittany.
I soon found that my new attire entailed upon me many annoyances. I
strove to avoid all the domestics of the chateau; but the jealousy
and curiosity of the women to see and to converse with the new
comer--this wonderful _paysanne_ of the Morbihan, who was constantly
with their young mistress, who could sketch in her album, and knew
_when_ to turn over the leaves of her music when she played--together
with the delicate attentions paid to me by Urbain the gardener,
Bertrand the porter, the valets and the coachman, became so alarming
that I could scarcely quit Jacqueline's suite of apartments, or leave
the chateau alone for a moment.
To all, I was a puzzle! Some said I was a clumsy Norman--a
phlegmatic Fleming--a Navarrese; the men declared my bearing odd; the
women, my accent to be more so; but the gardener, with his bouquets,
was an admirer so devoted, that I dared never venture into the
garden, or into the avenue, when he was clipping the yews, or tending
his orange tubs.
Then judge of my alarm, when one day the mischievous Angelique, with
her black eyebrows arched to the roots of her hair, her large eyes
dilated with mock dismay, and a smile of drollery on her rosy mouth,
began thus--
"Oh, Mademoiselle Basile--oh, how unfortunate you are!"
"What has happened?" I exclaimed.
"Madame has conceived a greater fancy for you than ever!"
"Indeed!" said I, drily, while smoothing my front hair, before a
glass; "then I suppose she is going to have my ears pierced at last?"
"_Ma foi!_ what do you think? as she is too much afraid of ghosts to
repose alone, you must take the place of mademoiselle and me."
"What! ridiculous--I shall sell out--resign--desert from the
chateau!" I exclaimed, while ready to sink with alarm and anger,
until the wicked wag who had invented the whole story, burst out into
a fit of laughter, at the dreary expression of my face.