HOW VENUS AND TANNHÄUSER BREAKFASTED AND THEN DROVE THROUGH THE PALACE
GARDENS
The breakfasters were scattered over the gardens in têtes-à-têtes and
tiny parties. Venus and Tannhäuser sat together upon the lawn that lay
in front of the Casino, and made havoc of a ravishing déjeuner. The
Chevalier was feeling very happy. Everything around him seemed so white
and light and matinal; the floating frocks of the ladies, the scarce
robed boys and satyrs stepping hither and thither elegantly, with meats
and wines and fruits; the damask tablecloths, the delicate talk and
laughter that rose everywhere; the flowers' colour and the flowers'
scent; the shady trees, the wind's cool voice, and the sky above that
was as fresh and pastoral as a perfect fifth. And Venus looked so
beautiful. Not at all like the lady in Lemprière.
"You're such a dear!" murmured Tannhäuser, holding her hand.
At the further end of the lawn, and a little hidden by a rose-tree, a
young man was breakfasting alone. He toyed nervously with his food now
and then, but for the most part leant back in his chair with unemployed
hands, and gazed stupidly at Venus.
"That's Felix," said the Goddess, in answer to an enquiry from the
Chevalier; and she went on to explain his attitude. Felix always
attended Venus upon her little latrinal excursions, holding her,
serving her, and making much of all she did. To undo her things, to
lift her skirts, to wait and watch the coming, to dip a lip or finger
in the royal output, to stain himself deliciously with it, to lie
beneath her as the favours fell, to carry off the crumpled, crotted
paper--these were the pleasures of that young man's life. Truly there
never was a queen so beloved by her subjects as Venus. Everything
she wore had its lover. Heavens! how her handkerchiefs were filched,
her stockings stolen! Daily, what intrigues, what countless ruses
to possess her merest frippery! Every scrap of her body was adored.
Never, for Savaral, could her ear yield sufficient wax! Never, for
Pradon, could she spit prodigally enough! And Saphius found a month an
interminable time.
After breakfast was over, and Felix's fears lest Tannhäuser should have
robbed him of his capricious rights had been dispelled, Venus invited
the Chevalier to take a more extensive view of the gardens, parks,
pavilions, and ornamental waters. The carriage was ordered. It was a
delicate, shell-like affair, with billowy cushions and a light canopy,
and was drawn by ten satyrs, dressed as finely as the coach-men of the
Empress Pauline the First.
The drive proved interesting and various, and Tännhauser was quite
delighted with almost everything he saw.
And who is not pleased when on either side of him rich lawns are spread
with lovely frocks and white limbs,--and upon flower-beds the dearest
ladies are implicated in a glory of underclothing,--when he can see
in the deep cool shadows of the trees warm boys entwined, here at the
base, there in the branch,--when in the fountain's wave Love holds his
court, and the insistent water burrows in every delicious crease and
crevice?
A pretty sight, too, was little Rosalie, perched like a postilion upon
the painted phallus of the god of all gardens. Her eyes were closed
and she was smiling as the carriage passed. Round her neck and slender
girlish shoulders there was a cloud of complex dress, over which bulged
her wig-like flaxen tresses. Her legs and feet were bare, and the toes
twisted in an amorous style. At the foot of the statue lay her shoes
and stockings and a few other things.
Tannhäuser was singularly moved at this spectacle, and rose out of
all proportion. Venus slipped the fingers of comfort under the lace
flounces of his trousers, saying, "Is it all mine? Is it all mine?" and
doing fascinating things. In the end, the carriage was only prevented
from being overturned by the happy interposition of Priapusa, who
stepped out from somewhere or other just in time to preserve its
balance.
How the old lady's eye glistened as Tannhäuser withdrew his panting
blade! In her sincere admiration for fine things, she quite forgot
and forgave the shock she had received from the falling of the gay
equipage. Venus and Tannhäuser were profuse with apology and thanks,
and quite a crowd of loving courtiers gathered round, consoling and
congratulating in a breath.
The Chevalier vowed he would never go in the carriage again, and
was really quite upset about it. However, after he had had a little
support from the smelling-salts, he recovered his self possession, and
consented to drive on further.
The landscape grew rather mysterious. The park, no longer troubled and
adorned with figures, was full of grey echoes and mysterious sounds;
the leaves whispered a little sadly, and there was a grotto that
murmured like the voice that haunts the silence of a deserted oracle.
Tannhäuser became a little triste. In the distance, through the trees,
gleamed a still, argent lake--a reticent, romantic water that must have
held the subtlest fish that ever were. Around its marge the trees and
flags and fleurs de luce were unbreakably asleep.
The Chevalier fell into a strange mood, as he looked at the lake. It
seemed to him that the thing would speak, reveal some curious secret,
say some beautiful word, if he should dare wrinkle its pale face with a
pebble.
"I should be frightened to do that, though," he said to himself. Then
he wondered what there might be upon the other side; other gardens,
other gods? A thousand drowsy fancies passed through his brain.
Sometimes the lake took fantastic shapes, or grew to twenty times its
size, or shrunk into a miniature of itself, without ever once losing
its unruffled calm, its deathly reserve. When the water increased, the
Chevalier was very frightened, for he thought how huge the frogs must
have become. He thought of their big eyes and monstrous wet feet, but
when the water lessened, he laughed to himself, whilst thinking how
tiny the frogs must have grown. He thought of their legs that must
look thinner than spiders', and of their dwindled croaking that never
could be heard. Perhaps the lake was only painted, after all. He had
seen things like it at the theatre. Anyhow, it was a wonderful lake, a
beautiful lake, and he would love to bathe in it, but he was sure he
would be drowned if he did.