"Yes, madame, quite sure."
She glanced quickly at the widow of the stock-broker, and then at the
grave young girl, as if to say, "Is it possible?" Then she moved
slightly among her cushions, and continued:
"Pray sit down, M. Odiot," she said. "I must thank you very much for
placing your talents at our service. We need your help badly, I assure
you, for--it cannot be denied--we have the misfortune to be very
wealthy."
Seeing the second cousin raise her shoulders at this, Mme. Laroque went
on: "Yes, my dear Mme. Aubry, I do say so, and I hold to it. God sent
me riches to try me. Most certainly I was born for poverty and
privation, for devotion and sacrifice; but I have always been crossed.
For instance, I should have loved to have had an invalid husband. M.
Laroque was an exceptionally healthy man. That is how my destiny has
been and will be marred from beginning to end----"
"Oh, don't talk like that!" said Mme. Aubry dryly. "Poverty would agree
with you--a person who can't deny herself a single indulgence or
refinement!"
"One moment, my dear madame," returned Mme. Laroque, "I do not believe
in useless sacrifices. If I subjected myself to the worst privations,
who would be the better for it? Would you be any happier if I shivered
with cold from morning till night?"
By an expressive gesture Mme. Aubry signified that she would not be any
happier, but that she considered Mme. Laroque's language extremely
affected and ridiculous.
"After all," continued Mme. Laroque, "good fortune or ill fortune, what
does it matter? As I said, M. Odiot, we are very rich, and little as I
may value our wealth, it is my duty to preserve it for my daughter,
though the poor child cares no more for it than I. Do you, Marguerite?"
A slight smile broke the curve of Mlle. Marguerite's disdainful lips at
this question, and the low arch of her eyebrows contracted momentarily;
then the grave, haughty face subsided into repose again.
"M. Odiot," resumed Mme. Laroque, "you shall be shown the place, which,
at M. Laubepin's explicit request, has been reserved for you; but before
this I should like you to be introduced to my father-in-law, who will be
very much pleased to see you. My dear cousin, will you ring? M. Odiot,
I hope that you will give us the pleasure of your company at dinner
to-day. Good-bye--for the present."
I was intrusted to the care of a servant, who asked me to wait in a room
next to the one I had just left, until he had ascertained M. Laroque's
wishes. He had not closed the door of the _salon_, so it was impossible
for me not to hear these words spoken by Mme. Laroque with the
good-natured irony habitual to her:
"There! Can you understand Laubepin? He talked of a man of a certain
age; very simple, very steady, and he sends me a gentleman like that!"
Mlle. Marguerite said something, but so quietly that I could not hear
it, much to my regret, I confess. Her mother replied immediately:
"That may be so, my dear, but it is none the less absolutely ridiculous
of Laubepin. Do you expect that a man of that kind will go running
about ploughed fields in _sabots_? I will wager that man has never worn
_sabots_; he doesn't know what they are. Well, it may be a prejudice of
mine, dear, but _sabots_ seem to me essential to a good bailiff.
Marguerite, it has just occurred to me, you might take him to your
grandfather."
Mlle. Marguerite entered the room where I was almost directly. She
seemed vexed to find me there.
"Pardon me, mademoiselle," I said, "but the servant asked me to wait
here."
"Will you be so good as to follow me, sir?"
I followed her. She made me climb a staircase, cross many corridors,
and at last brought me to a kind of gallery, where she left me. I
amused myself by examining the pictures. They were, for the most part,
very ordinary sea pieces painted to glorify the old privateersmen of the
Empire. There were several rather murky sea-fights, in which it was
very evident that the little brig Amiable, Captain Laroque, twenty-six
guns, gave John Bull a great deal of trouble. Then came several
full-length portraits of Captain Laroque, which naturally attracted my
particular attention. With certain slight variations they all
represented a man of gigantic height, wearing a sort of republican
uniform with large facings, as luxuriant of locks as Kleber, and looking
straight before him with an energetic, glowing, and sombre expression.
Altogether not exactly a pleasant sort of man. While I studied this
mighty figure, which perfectly realized the general idea of a
privateersman and even of a pirate, Mlle. Marguerite asked me to come
into the room. I found myself face to face with a shrivelled and
decrepit old man, whose eyes showed scarcely a spark of life, and who,
as he welcomed me, touched with trembling hand the cap of black silk
which covered a skull that shone like ivory.
"Grandfather," said Mlle. Marguerite, raising her voice, "this is M.
Odiot."
The poor old privateersman raised himself a little, as he looked at me
with a dull and wavering expression.