can be so comfortable in France--especially in Paris!"
"Oh! I beg your pardon; the women in Russia aren't frozen. It seems that
there are some very pretty ones there, and some immensely rich! Gustave
is a good-looking fellow, he'll turn some high-born damsel's head there,
and make a marriage set in diamonds."
The little widow rose abruptly, lowered her veil, and said:
"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami! I must leave you."
"What! already? Had madame nothing else to say to me?"
"No. Frankly, I came because I wanted to learn something about Gustave;
but what you have told me---- However, perhaps he will change his mind;
he won't stay in Russia, he'll be bored to death there. In any event, if
you learn anything about him, if you find out just where he is, it will
be very good of you to let me know."
"Madame, I shall always be delighted to be able to gratify you."
"Adieu, Monsieur Cherami!"
Cherami looked after Fanny as she went away, saying to himself:
"I think I see myself telling her where Gustave is, even if I knew! I
believe, God bless me! that she is inclined to go after him, that she
hopes to catch him in her net again! Gad! he must either be stupid or
bewitched. But there are some men, men of intelligence, too, whom love
makes as stupid as earthen pots. I lied to the little widow when I told
her that Gustave was going to Russia. On the contrary, when I went to
ask about him, the day before yesterday, the concierge, who knows me
now, told me that he expected him in a few days. Par la sambleu! I guess
I'll go again; he may have come."
Cherami lost no time in making his way to the banker's house, where the
concierge said to him:
"Monsieur Gustave Darlemont returned yesterday; he's at home."
Thereupon our friend scaled the stairs; in a few seconds he was at his
young friend's door, and began by throwing himself into his arms. That
first outburst of emotion passed, Cherami looked at Gustave and suddenly
ejaculated:
"Ten thousand devils! What does that mean?"
That exclamation was drawn from him by the sight of a great scar, which
started from the young man's forehead, crossed his left eyebrow, and
came to an end at the lower part of the cheek.
"That?" replied Gustave, with a smile. "That is the result of a duel
with swords with an Irish officer. You fought my battles here, my dear
Cherami; the least I could do was to look after my own affairs across
the channel."
"What! have you heard? But let me embrace you again! That scar is
tremendously becoming to you, and I am delighted that you have had this
duel, in which your adversary evidently didn't fight with a dead arm.
Damnation! what a slash!--Ah! people won't say now that I fight instead
of you; this will put a stopper on all the sneering tongues. But what
did you fight about?"
"It was the sequel of a breakfast party of artists, business men, and
this one Irish officer. We had plenty to eat and drink. The conversation
fell on women, that inexhaustible subject of conversation among young
men; I said that the French women, even those who were least pretty,
always outdid the women of other countries in dress and carriage;
thereupon the Irishman lost his temper, and called me a greenhorn. I
threw my napkin in his face; after that, a duel with swords--that was
the weapon chosen by my adversary; and this wound healed very slowly and
kept me in bed six weeks; otherwise, I should have come home long ago."
"Dear Gustave! Ah! what a noble scar! It is very becoming, and I
congratulate you again."
"But I have no congratulations for you, but reproaches! Pray tell me why
you challenged that poor Comte de la Beriniere? what had he done to
you?"
"Nothing, to me; but he had done something to you, having stolen your
promised bride from you."
"Oh! my friend, if you reflect a moment, you certainly must feel that,
on the contrary, he did me a very great service. But for him, I should
have married a woman who never had the slightest affection for me, and
who did not hesitate to toss me aside like a coat which you discard when
you see an opportunity to get a handsomer one at the same price. That
woman, who, as a reward of my constancy and the suffering she had caused
me, did not hesitate to be a traitor to me a second time! Ah! my friend,
I know her now, and I appreciate her at her real worth. A hard, selfish
heart, overflowing with vanity, caring for nothing but money,
recognizing no merit except that of wealth, incapable of the slightest
sacrifice for others, and considering that everything is rightfully due
to her. That's the kind of wife I should have had! Should I not be
profoundly grateful to the man who was the cause of my rupture with
her?"
"Is it really you that I am listening to, Gustave? You, talking in this
strain of Fanny? Why, then you must be cured at last of your passion for
her?"
"Oh, yes! radically cured; indeed, Cherami, what would you think of me
if I still loved her after her last outrage?"
"I should think that she had cast a spell on you, although I haven't
much belief in magic. But you have ceased to love her, that's the main
point. You know that the poor count died before he had married her? but
not of his wound; he had an attack of indigestion."
"It is very unfortunate for her; but I confess that I don't pity her."
"There is one thing that you don't suspect--that she is now
contemplating running after you."
"Let her run, my dear fellow; I promise you that she will never catch
me."
"You are quite sure of yourself?"
"Oh, yes! perfectly sure."
"You see, she is a damnably shrewd little wheedler, is the widow! I
should feel surer of you if you loved somebody else."
"Somebody else! You must admit, Cherami, that my love for Fanny hasn't
resulted in a way to encourage me."
"All women are not Fannys; there are some who are tender-hearted, sweet,
affectionate; who would be so happy to be loved by you."
"Happy to be loved by me! What, in heaven's name, makes you think so?"
"I think so--because I am sure of it."
"You are sure that there is someone who would love me?"
"Oh! better than that; I am sure that someone does love you--cherishes a
secret passion for you--a sentiment which she has always hidden, kept
locked up in the depths of her heart; because it was hopeless, because
she was simply the confidante of your love for another."
"Mon Dieu! what do you mean?" cried Gustave, as if his eyes were
suddenly opened; "you think that Adolphine----"
"Ah! you have guessed--so much the better; that proves that you had
thought of the thing before."
"No, indeed. What makes you think that Adolphine ever gives me a
thought?"
"If you hadn't been in love with another woman, you would have
discovered it yourself long ago. I had already guessed it from a
multitude of little things: the way she looked at you--for a woman
doesn't look at the man that she loves in the same way as at other men;
I have studied that subject; but what proved conclusively to me that she
loved you was what happened when I went to Monsieur Gerbault's to tell
him of poor Auguste's unhappy end. I was embarrassed about telling the
story, and I didn't make my meaning clear; Mademoiselle Adolphine
thought that it was your death I was trying to tell them of. Instantly
she gave a shriek of despair, and fainted; we had a great deal of
difficulty in reviving her, and I had to keep saying again and again:
'It isn't Gustave who is dead!' before she recovered her senses. So that
I whispered to myself: 'It's this one, and not the other, who cares for
my young friend;' and I have a shrewd idea that Papa Gerbault reasoned
just as I did."
"Why did you never tell me all this, Cherami?"
"Because it wasn't worth while to sing a pretty tune to a deaf man; you
were daft then over your Fanny, you wouldn't have listened to me."
"Thanks, my friend, thank you for having observed it all. You cannot
conceive the emotion it causes me."
"Why, yes, it's always pleasant to know that one has turned the head of
a pretty young girl."
"Poor Adolphine! If it were true! If she really does love me!"
"Why, think of all the offers she has refused! I think I have heard that
the count himself wanted to marry her; and a Monsieur de Raincy, and
many more. What reason had she for refusing everybody who came forward,
if she hadn't love for somebody in her heart? and that somebody was
you--and yet she had no hope of marrying you. Oh! what a difference
between her and her sister! Well, I've told you what I had to tell you;
now, you may act as you please.--But, at all events, you are back again.
I trust that you're not going to start off to-morrow?"
"Oh! I shall not go away again; I've had enough of travelling; I am
going to settle down in Paris now."
"Good! _vive la joie!_ But do you know that your uncle is still
unrelenting to me? He received me very coldly when I asked him for
employment."
"Never fear, my friend; I am here now, I will look about for you, and we
will arrange all that."
"Very good; I will go, for you must have much to do; when shall I see
you again?"
"Come in a few days, and I will tell you--yes, I will tell you what I
have done."
"Agreed. Au revoir! My friend has returned; I have my cue!"
LXI
LOVE REWARDED
Gustave remained for a long time buried in thought; what Cherami had
said to him on the subject of Adolphine had moved him profoundly. With a
heart so easily touched, a heart made to love, Gustave had as yet met
with nothing but falsehood and perfidy. He remembered now a thousand
occasions on which Fanny's sister had shown the deepest interest in him;
she was always kind to him, always had some consolation to give him; he
recalled, too, her habitual melancholy, her sad smile, and the sighs
which she tried in vain to restrain when he held her hand. Having passed
in review all these memories, the young man hastily left the house,
saying to himself:
"I will go to see her; I will read in her eyes whether she really loves
me."
Adolphine was in her room, working at her embroidery frame; Madeleine
was hovering about her mistress, pretending to arrange the furniture.
Madeleine was an excellent girl, who had divined that her mistress was
in love. She had noticed that she never smiled or seemed happy, except
when Gustave came to see her; but she had heard it said that he was
going to marry her mistress's sister, whereupon Adolphine had become
more melancholy than ever. Later, it was said that the marriage was
broken off, and yet Adolphine never smiled; to be sure, the young man
who always brought a smile to her lips had ceased to come.
Madeleine would have been glad to have her young mistress confide her
secret to her; but she confined in the lowest depths of her heart a
passion which she believed to be well hidden. However, the maid
succeeded occasionally, by dint of beating about the bush, in extorting
a few words, which she made the most of.
"Mamzelle," said Madeleine, "isn't it very strange that madame your
sister never comes to see you now?"
"My father was angry with her, you know."
"That didn't prevent her coming here when she wanted to find out who had
had the audacity to fight with her count. She was sure it was Monsieur
Gustave. But you told her she was mistaken, and you were right. Why
should Monsieur Gustave fight for her, I should like to know, when she
keeps making sport of him? A man doesn't fight, except for a person he
loves; and I am very sure, for my part, that Monsieur Gustave never
gives your sister a thought now."
"You think not, Madeleine?"
This question was asked with an eagerness which would have betrayed
Adolphine's secret, if her maid had not already guessed it.
"But Fanny isn't married!" murmured Adolphine sadly, a moment later.
"Well, mamzelle, for my part, I am glad of it! She'd have kicked up
altogether too much dust if she had been a countess."
"But when will Gustave come back?"
"Why, you don't suppose that he will still want to marry your sister, do
you?"
"Why not? He loved her so much!"
"Well, I'll bet that he won't. Think of it, mamzelle, after two such
affronts as that! for you told me it was the second time she had broken
with him. Why, he would have to be a downright fool for that. Is
Monsieur Gustave a fool?"
"Oh, no! far from it."
"Well, then----"
At that moment the bell rang; Adolphine started, without knowing why,
and Madeleine cried:
"There, suppose it was him? Speak of the devil----"
It was, in fact, Gustave, and Madeleine's face was wreathed in smiles
when she announced him to her mistress. The young man entered with more
or less embarrassment, caused by Cherami's disclosures. But Adolphine
held out her hand, and he pressed it in his with such force that the
girl was deeply moved; for Gustave had never manifested so much pleasure
at sight of her.
In a moment she spied the scar, and exclaimed in dismay:
"Mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, you are wounded!"
"No; it is all healed."
"But you surely have been terribly wounded. What was it?"
"A sword-cut."
"You have had a duel?"
"Yes, with an Irish officer. I was in London then."
"And why? For--whom did you fight?"
"Oh! it was for a mere trifle. A quarrel following a hearty breakfast."
"Mon Dieu! if you had been killed!"
"I shouldn't be with you now."
"Was the wound serious?"
"Yes, it kept me housed six weeks. But for that, I should have been at
home more than a month ago."
"More than a month! Ah! then you were anxious to return at once as soon
as you learned--what had happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why, the thing that caused--oh! surely you know?"
"No, I do not know. I intended to return, because I had finished my
uncle's business, because I was horribly bored in England, and because I
had no reason for staying away from Paris any longer."
"Was that all?"
"To be sure. What other reason are you thinking of, pray?"
"Don't you know that the Comte de la Beriniere is dead?"
"Certainly I know it."
"And that he died before he had married my sister?"
"I know all that."
"You do? and that wasn't what brought you home?"
"Oh! mademoiselle, is it possible that you think that I can love your
sister still! Oh, no! you cannot think it, for you would despise me if
you had such an opinion of me as that."
"What! can it be possible? Gustave, Monsieur Gustave, you no longer love
my sister? Oh! what joy! Mon Dieu! I don't know what I am saying. I mean
that I think you will be happier now; and you have been sad and unhappy
so long!"
"Yes, for a long, long time. And don't you think that I deserve to be
rewarded for my constancy by finding at last a heart that does
understand me, a woman who has--a little love for me?"
"A little? Oh! you will find one who loves you dearly! At least, I
should think so, because you deserve it so well!"
"Dear Adolphine! Oh! I beg your pardon, mademoiselle, for presuming
still to address you in that way."
"Why, it doesn't offend me--far from it."
"You have always been so kind to me! If you knew what pleasure it gives
me at this moment to be sitting beside you again, looking at you, and
reading what is written in your lovely, soft eyes! Oh! do not look away!
Let me seek in them the hope of a sincere affection and an untroubled
happiness!"
"Oh! mon Dieu! you make me tremble. Oh! pray don't say such things to
me, if you don't mean them; for, you see, I too have been unhappy for
such a long time! I have suffered in silence; for I dared not avow my
sentiments; and I had to look on at the happiness of another, who was
loved, adored, although she did not deserve such good-fortune; and I--I
had to conceal all that I felt!"
Gustave seized Adolphine's hands and fell at her feet.
"Then it is true!" he cried; "you do love me? Ah! my whole life will be
too short to pay you for this love! How many days of happiness I owe you
in exchange for the torments I have caused you!"
"But it wasn't your fault, Gustave; you could not guess that I loved
you. Besides, you loved my sister then; but now you don't love her any
more, do you? Oh! tell me again that you don't love her!"
"As if it were possible for me to love her! Ah! my heart does not divide
its allegiance, and now it is yours, yours only!"
"Mon Dieu! I must be dreaming, I am so happy!--Madeleine! Madeleine!
come here! It is I whom he loves, it is I whom he wants to marry--and he
knows that I will never refuse him!"
Madeleine was not far away. Servants are never far from people who are
talking. She came skipping into the room like a crazy person, for she
was really happy in her mistress's happiness.
"We were just talking about you when you came, monsieur," she said to
Gustave; "I often talk about you to mamzelle, because I have found that
that's the best way to make her listen to me. _Dame!_ I'm from the
country, but I guessed, all the same, what made mamzelle so sad; and now
I'm sure that she'll be happy like me! and that she'll sing and dance
like me!"
Monsieur Gerbault's arrival put an end to Madeleine's antics. He was
surprised, as usual, to find Gustave in his house; but he was especially
impressed on this occasion by the joy and happiness which he read on
every face.
"Bless my soul!" he said, shaking hands with Gustave; "are you just back
from the war, my friend? At all events, you have received a wound which
proves that you don't turn your back on the foe."
"No, monsieur; it's the result of a duel. I am not quarrelsome, as you
know, but a man cannot always be sure of himself."
"Have you returned to Paris for some time?"
"For always! I have no further desire to travel. My uncle, who is good
enough to say that I understand the business very well, told me
yesterday that he would make me his partner."
"The deuce! that's very nice, indeed; for your uncle's business is very
extensive, I believe?"
"His profits never fall below sixty thousand francs a year."
"Of which you will have half. That makes you a rich _parti!_--Talking of
_partis_, Adolphine, I have another one to propose to you; and this
time perhaps you will accept, for you surely don't intend to die an old
maid."
Adolphine looked anxiously at her father; Gustave himself had a vague
feeling of apprehension. Monsieur Gerbault eyed them both with a sly
expression, and continued:
"Yes, my child; a new suitor has come forward. He will never see
twenty-five again, and he is not very rich; but he has a competence and
an honorable position in society. It is Monsieur Batonnin."
"Monsieur Batonnin! Oh! I won't marry him. I won't marry anybody--that
is to say--any of those who----"
Gustave made haste to interrupt Adolphine, and, going up to Monsieur
Gerbault, said to him with the utmost seriousness:
"Monsieur, a long time ago I was to have been your son-in-law.
Circumstances prevented it, and, if I must confess it, I think that I
have every reason to thank destiny therefor. To-day, I come once more to
ask your permission to become a member of your family. Mademoiselle
Adolphine has consented to be my wife, and something tells me that she
will not retract her word."
"Yes, father, yes.--Oh! I can't refuse Gustave. And you are willing that
he should be my husband, aren't you?"
"Especially," replied Monsieur Gerbault, as he embraced his daughter,
"especially as you have loved him for a long time!"
"What, father! you knew it? How strange! I never told anyone my secret."
"But a father's eyes are sharp-sighted, dear heart; and now I trust that
you will recover your good spirits."
"Oh! father, I am so happy!"
"Take her, Gustave; she will not throw you over for another man. For,
even when she could not possibly hope to be your wife, she refused all
offers in order to be at liberty to love you. As for Monsieur Batonnin,
I was sure beforehand of your reply; but, in order to soften your
refusal, I will tell him that he came too late, because you are going to
marry Gustave."
LXII
TERTIA SOLVET
The marriage of Gustave and Adolphine had been decided for four days;
and as they were in great haste to be united and to make sure at last of
a happiness which had constantly eluded the grasp of one, and which the
other had never hoped to attain, they were hurrying forward the
indispensable preliminaries to the celebration of their union.
Monsieur Grandcourt did not make a wry face when his nephew told him of
the new choice he had made; on the contrary, he congratulated him.
"That one is all right," he said; "she's a charming girl, with all the
good qualities which her sister lacks; therefore, she has a great many."
More than once, while her young mistress was trying on the gowns and
jewels which were brought to her, Madeleine cried:
"Oh! mamzelle, how lovely you will look as a bride! But there's your
sister! When she knows who you're going to marry, won't she make a
row?"
"Hush, Madeleine, don't talk about my sister! I have a sort of feeling
that she is going to interfere with my happiness again."
"Nonsense! There's no danger of that, mamzelle; I'll answer for Monsieur
Gustave!"
They were conversing one morning in this same strain, when someone rang
the doorbell violently.
"Mon Dieu! if it were she!" exclaimed Adolphine.
"Your sister? Well, if it is, she won't eat us."
It proved to be Fanny, who entered her sister's room with an insolent
air, crying:
"What does this mean? Who ever heard of such a thing? Monsieur Gustave
in Paris a whole week, I hear, and no one lets me know! And that tall
scamp of a Cherami assured me that he was going to Russia! Ah! I'll fix
him when I see him! Haven't you seen Gustave? Hasn't he been here?"
"Why, yes," Adolphine replied, trying to conceal her emotion, "he has
been here. He comes every day."
"And you couldn't send me word?"
"I have been to your house several times. You are always out."
"You might have written me a line."
"But I could not guess that you were so anxious to see Gustave, after
your treatment of him."
"Oh! my dear girl, I beg you not to bore me by going all over that! What
has passed is a dream; but what has not been done may still be done."
"I don't understand you."
"I understand myself, and that's enough. How is Gustave now? still sad
and depressed?"
"Oh! not at all. He is cheerful and light-hearted; he's not the same
man. You wouldn't recognize him."
"Indeed! he's cheerful, is he?"
"And then, he has a beautiful scar across his face; it gives him a
martial air, it's very becoming to him."
"Perhaps that is what makes his spirits so good. So he has been fighting
duels, has he?"
"Yes, with an Irish officer."
"Everybody seems to be duelling, nowadays! He must have wanted to follow
his friend Cherami's example. What about his business?"
"His uncle has just made him his partner. Gustave will have at least
forty thousand francs a year for his share."
"Is it possible! he's a lucky fellow! And he's been in Paris a week, and
I had no idea of it! Hallo! everything seems to be topsy-turvy here!
Have you been buying all these things?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to a ball?"
"Better than that: I am going to a wedding."
"To a wedding! and I am not invited! Who's to be married, pray?"
Adolphine was hesitating over her reply, when the door opened and
Gustave appeared. When she saw the man whom she had twice promised to
marry, Fanny dropped into an easy-chair, threw back her head, and
pretended to faint. Adolphine became deathly pale; but a glance from
Gustave reassured her. He went to her side, took her hand, and pressed
it affectionately in his.
Fanny, seeing that nobody thought of coming to her assistance, decided
to recover; so she straightened herself up, and said in a tremulous
voice:
"Ah! mon Dieu! Monsieur Gustave, your presence caused me such a thrill
of emotion! I almost fainted."
Gustave bowed gravely to Fanny, saying, in an indifferent tone:
"Madame is well, I trust?"
"Why, no, I have been ill, I have suffered a great deal. You must find
me changed, do you not?"
"I fancy we shall have fine weather to-day," said Gustave, turning to
Adolphine, who whispered:
"She knows nothing."
"Very well! we will give her a surprise."
"What does this mean? He doesn't listen to me," thought Fanny.
She sprang to her feet and went up to the young man, saying:
"I have a great deal to say to you, monsieur. I have some important
explanations to make to you. I hope that you will be kind enough to
escort me home, where we can talk without disturbing anyone."
Adolphine clung to Gustave's arm, as he replied with perfect
tranquillity:
"Madame, I am very sorry to refuse; but I have determined never to enter
your house again, and I do not require any explanation."
The little widow bit her lips in her wrath, while Adolphine breathed
more freely.