THE SOLEMN COMPACT.
They had scarcely reached the drawing-room on the floor above before
Helena de la Rochaigue, who had seemed very thoughtful ever since
Herminie's arrival, remarked to the baroness:
"I think, sister, that you did wrong to select that girl for Ernestine's
music-teacher."
"Wrong? And why?" demanded the baroness.
"The girl seems to me to be very proud," replied Helena, placidly. "Did
you notice how haughtily she returned that bank-note, though the
shabbiness of her clothing showed conclusively that she was in great
need?"
"It was that very thing that influenced me," answered the baroness.
"There is something so interesting in such a proud refusal on the part
of a poor person; besides, this young girl had such a charming dignity
of manner that I was forced, even against my better judgment, to make
her the offer you censure, my dear sister."
"Pride should never be considered other than reprehensible," said
Helena, sanctimoniously. "It is the worst of the seven great sins. Pride
is the exact opposite of Christian humility, without which there is no
salvation," she added, "and I fear this girl will exert a most
pernicious influence over Ernestine de Beaumesnil."
Madame de la Rochaigue smiled faintly as she stole a furtive glance at
her husband, who gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, which indicated
pretty plainly how little respect he felt for Helena's opinions.
Long accustomed to regard this devotee as a nonentity, the baron and his
wife never for a moment supposed that this narrow-minded, bigoted old
maid, who never lost her temper, no matter how great the provocation
might be, and who did not utter a dozen words in the course of a day,
could ever have a thought beyond those connected with the performance of
her religious duties.
"We will think over your suggestion, my dear sister," said the baroness,
suavely. "After all, we have made no binding contract with this young
person. Your remarks, however, seem to form a natural introduction to
the subject of this conference."
Instantly the baron sprang up, and turned his chair around so he could
rest his hands upon the back of it, and also ensure himself the ample
space which his parliamentary attitudes and oratorical gestures
demanded. Already, slipping his hand in the breast of his coat, and
swaying his right arm to and fro, he was preparing to speak, when his
wife said, impatiently:
"Pardon me, M. de la Rochaigue, but you must really do me the favour to
let your chair alone and sit down. You can express your opinion without
any flights of oratory. It will be much better to talk this matter over
in a plain matter-of-fact way without indulging in any perorations.
Reserve your oratorical powers for the tribune which you are sure to
reach sooner or later, and resign yourself to-day to talking like a man
of tact and common sense. If you do not, I shall interrupt you every
other minute."
The baron knew by experience how deeply his wife loathed a speech, so he
turned his chair around again and subsided into it with a sigh.
"Ernestine will arrive this evening, so we must decide upon the course
we are to pursue," began the baroness.
"Yes, that is absolutely necessary," replied the baron, "for everything
depends upon our harmonious action. We must have the blindest, most
entire, most implicit confidence in each other."
"Otherwise we shall lose all the advantages we ought to derive from this
guardianship," added the baroness.
"For of course one does not act as guardian merely for the pleasure of
it," interpolated the baron.
"On the contrary, we ought to derive both pleasure and profit from the
connection," said the baroness.
"That is precisely what I meant," retorted the baron.
"I do not doubt it," replied the baroness. Then she added: "Let us agree
in the first place that, in all matters relating to Ernestine, we will
never act without a full understanding with one another."
"That resolution is adopted!" cried the baron.
"And is eminently just," remarked Helena.
"As we long ago broke off all connection with the Comtesse de
Beaumesnil,--a woman I never could tolerate,"--continued the baroness,
"we know absolutely nothing about Ernestine's character, but fortunately
she is barely sixteen, and in a couple of days we shall be able to read
her like a book."
"You may trust to my sagacity for that," said the baron, with a truly
Machiavelian air.
"I shall trust to your penetration, of course, but just a little to my
own as well," responded the baroness. "But whatever kind of a girl
Ernestine may be, there is but one course for us to pursue. We must
lavish every attention upon her, gratify her slightest wish, try to
ascertain her tastes; in short, flatter her, satisfy her every whim,
please her in every possible way. We must do all this if we would
succeed. As for the means, they will be found when we become acquainted
with Ernestine's habits and tastes."
"The sum and substance of the whole matter is this," began the baron,
rising majestically from his chair.
But at a glance from his wife, he reseated himself, and continued, much
more modestly:
"Ernestine must think and see and act only through us. That is the main
thing."
"The end justifies the means," added Helena, devoutly.
"We are perfectly agreed upon the proper course of action," remarked the
baroness. "Ernestine cannot but feel grateful to us for going up-stairs
and giving her possession of the entire lower floor, which it has cost
nearly fifty thousand francs to renovate, decorate, and furnish for her
use."
"And the improvements and furniture will revert to us, of course, as the
house is ours," added the baron; "and you know it was decided in the
family council that the richest heiress in France must be suitably
housed."
"But a much more important and delicate question remains to be
discussed," continued the baroness, "the question as to what is to be
done in regard to the suitors who are sure to spring up on every side."
"Certain to," said the baron, avoiding his wife's eye.
Helena said never a word, but listened with all her ears.
"Ernestine is sixteen, nearly old enough to be married," continued the
baroness, "so the relation we hold to her will give us a prodigious
amount of influence, for people will think--and rightly--that we shall
virtually decide her in her choice of a husband. This fact is already
apparent, for, since you were appointed guardian to Ernestine, any
number of persons of high position and noble birth have made, and are
still making, all sorts of advances and friendly overtures to me in
order to get into my good graces, as the saying is."
"And I, too, have noticed that people I haven't seen for ages, and with
whom I was never on particularly friendly terms, are endeavouring to
renew their acquaintance. The other day, at Madame de Mirecourt's, I
had a crowd around me, I was literally surrounded, beset on every
side," said the baron, complacently.
"And even the Marquis de Maillefort, whom I have always hated, is no
exception to the rule," added the baroness.
"And you are right," exclaimed the baron. "There is no one in the whole
world I hate as I hate that infernal hunchback!"
"I have seen him twice," Helena said, piously, in her turn. "Every vice
seems to be written on his face. He looks like Satan himself."
"Well, one day this Satan suddenly dropped down from the clouds, as cool
as you please, though he hadn't set foot in my house for five or six
years, and he has called several times since."
"If he has taken to flattering you and paying court to you it can hardly
be on his own account."
"Evidently not, so I am convinced that M. de Maillefort has some
ulterior motive, and I am resolved to discover this motive."
"I'm sorry to learn that he's coming here again," said M. de la
Rochaigue. "He is my greatest antipathy, my _bete noire_."
"Oh, don't talk nonsense," exclaimed the baroness, impatiently; "we have
got to put up with the marquis, there's no help for it. Besides, if a
man of his position makes such advances to you, how will it be with
others? This is an incontestable proof of our influence. Let us
endeavour to profit by it in every possible way, and by and by, when the
girl is ready to settle down, we shall be stupid indeed if we cannot
induce her to make a choice that will be very advantageous to us."
"You state the case admirably, my dear," said the baron, apparently much
impressed, while Helena, who was evidently no less deeply interested,
drew her chair closer to that of her brother and his wife.
"And now had we better hasten or retard the moment when Ernestine makes
her choice?" asked the baroness.
"A very important question," said the baron.
"My advice would be to defer any decision upon this subject for six
months," said the baroness.
"That is my opinion, too," exclaimed the baron, as if this statement of
his wife's views had given him great inward satisfaction.
"I agree with you perfectly, my brother, and with you, my sister," said
Helena, who had listened silently and with downcast eyes to every word
of the conversation.
"Very well," said the baroness, evidently well pleased with this harmony
of feeling. "And now there can be no doubt that we shall be able to
conduct the affair to a successful termination, for we will all take a
solemn oath, by all we hold most dear, to accept no suitor for
Ernestine's hand, without warning and consulting one another."
"To act alone or secretly would be an act of infamous, shameless, and
horrible treachery," exclaimed the baron, as if shocked at the mere idea
of such an atrocity.
"_Mon Dieu!_" murmured Helena, clasping her hands. "Who could ever think
of acting such a treacherous part?"
"It would be an infamous act," said the baroness, in her turn, "and
worse,--it would be a fatal blunder. We shall be strong if we act in
unison, but weak, if we act independently of one another."
"In union there is strength!" said the baron, sententiously.
"So, unless we mutually agree upon a change of plan, we will defer all
action on the subject of Ernestine's marriage for six months, in order
that we may have time to strengthen our influence over her."
"This question decided, there is another important matter to be
considered," continued the baroness. "Is Ernestine to be allowed to
retain her governess or not? This Madame Laine, as nearly as I can
ascertain, is only a little above the ordinary maid. She has been with
Ernestine two years, though, and must, consequently, have some influence
over her."
"In that case, we had better oust the governess, or prejudice Ernestine
against her," volunteered the baron, with an air of profound wisdom.
"That would be the thing to do."
"A very silly thing," retorted the baroness.
"But, my dear--"
"The only sensible thing to do in such a contingency is to win the
governess over to our side, and then see that she acts according to our
instructions. In that case, this woman's influence, instead of being
dangerous, would prove of the greatest possible service to us."
"That is true," said Helena.
"Yes, considered from this point of view, the governess might be very
useful, very serviceable, and very advantageous," said the baron,
thoughtfully; "but if she should refuse to ally herself with our
interests,--if our attempts to conciliate this woman should excite
Ernestine's suspicions, what then?"
"We must first see what can be done, and I'll attend to that," said the
baroness. "If we find that the woman cannot be won over, then we will
adopt M. de la Rochaigue's first suggestion, and get rid of the
governess."
The conference was here interrupted by a servant, who came to announce
that the courier who preceded Mlle. de Beaumesnil's carriage had just
ridden into the courtyard, and said that he was but a half hour in
advance of the others.
"Quick--quick--to our toilets," said the baroness, as soon as the
servant left the room. Then she added, as if the thought had just
occurred to her:
"But, now I think of it, being cousins, we wore mourning six weeks for
the countess. It would be a good idea, perhaps, to put it on again. All
Ernestine's servants are in black, and by our order her carriages will
be draped in black. Don't you think that if I should be dressed in
colours the first time she sees me, the child would think hard of it?"
"You are right, my dear," said the baron. "Resume your mourning, if only
for a fortnight."
"I hate the idea," said the baroness, "for black is frightfully
unbecoming to me. But this is one of the many sacrifices a person is
obliged to make. Now, as to our compact," added the baroness. "No secret
or independent step is to be taken in regard to Ernestine. We will all
make a solemn promise to that effect. I, for one, swear it."
"And I," said the baron.
"And I," murmured Helena.
All three then hurried off to dress for the evening.
The baroness had no sooner locked herself in her own room, however, than
she seated herself at her desk, and hastily penned the following note:
* * * * *
"MY DEAREST JULIE:--The child arrives this evening. I shall be at your
house to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. We haven't a minute to lose.
Notify a certain person at once. We must come to a full understanding
without delay. Silence and prudence,
"L. DE L. R."
The baroness addressed this note to--
_Madame la Vicomtesse de Mirecourt._
Then, calling her maid, and handing her the missive, she said:
"While we are at table you must take this to Madame de Mirecourt. You
will take a box with you when you go out, as if you were going on an
errand."
Almost at the same moment the baron was affixing his signature to the
following note:
"M. de la Rochaigue begs that M. le Baron de Ravil will see him
to-morrow at his house between one and two o'clock in the afternoon. The
matter is urgent.
"M. de la Rochaigue counts upon seeing M. de Ravil at the time and place
named, and assures him of his most distinguished consideration."
The baron addressed this note to--
_M. le Baron de Ravil,_
_No. 7 Rue Godot-de-Mauroy._
Then he said to his valet:
"Call some one to post this letter at once."
And last, but not least, Mlle. Helena, after taking the same precautions
as the baron and baroness, penned the following note:
* * * * *
"MY DEAR ABBE:--Do not fail to call to-morrow morning at ten o'clock.
"May God be with you. The hour has come.
"Pray for me as I pray for you.
"H. DE L. R."
* * * * *
This note Helena addressed to--
_M. l' Abbe Ledoux,_
_Rue de la Plaushe._