THE COMMANDER'S ADVICE.
Gerald did not fail to notice this fact, and it was with a smile that he
exclaimed:
"Yes, I was sure of it, commander. There is something so humiliating to
an honest man's pride in such a glaring inequality of fortune that you
are as unpleasantly impressed by it as I am. Your silence proves that
conclusively."
"The fact is," replied the veteran, after a moment's silence,--"the fact
is, I really can't explain why such a state of things would appear
perfectly natural and right to me if it was the man who possessed the
fortune, and the lady had nothing."
Then the old officer added, with a good-natured smile:
"You think me a great simpleton, I expect, M. Gerald."
"Quite the contrary. Your thought owes its origin to the most profound
delicacy of feeling, commander," answered Gerald. "It is the most
natural thing in the world that a penniless, but charming young girl,
accomplished and endowed with noble attributes of mind and heart, should
marry an immensely rich man,--if their love be mutual,--but for a man
who has nothing, to marry a woman who has everything--"
"Ah, uncle, and you, too, Gerald," exclaimed Olivier, interrupting his
friend, "you are both entirely wrong about this matter."
"And why, if you please?"
"You admit, and so do I, that a penniless young girl is quite justified
in marrying an immensely rich man, but this is only on condition that
she loves the man sincerely."
"Of course!" said Gerald. "If she is actuated by mercenary motives, it
becomes nothing more nor less than a business transaction."
"And disgraceful accordingly," added the old sailor.
"Very well, then," continued Olivier, "why should a poor man,--because,
Gerald, you are poor in comparison with Mlle. de Beaumesnil,--why, then,
I ask, should you be censured for marrying that young lady if you love
her sincerely in spite of her millions,--in short, if you love her as
sincerely as if she were without name and without fortune?"
"That is true, M. Gerald," chimed in the commander; "if one loves as an
honest man should love, if one is certain that he loves not the money,
but the woman, one's conscience is clear. What right can any one have to
reproach him? In short, I advise you to see Mlle. de Beaumesnil first,
and decide afterwards."
"Yes, that will, I believe, be best," Gerald replied. "That will decide
everything. Ah, I was wise to come and talk over my plans with you,
commander, and with you, Olivier."
"Nonsense, M. Gerald, as if, in the refined circles in which you move,
there were not plenty of persons who would have said the same things
Olivier and I have just said to you."
"Ah, don't you believe it," responded Gerald, shrugging his shoulders.
Then, more gravely, he added:
"It is the same in the middle classes, if not worse. Everybody cares
only for money."
"But why the devil is it that Olivier and I are so superior to all the
rest of the world, M. Gerald?" asked the commander, laughing.
"Why?" repeated Gerald, with much feeling. "It is because you,
commander, have led for forty years the hard, rough, dangerous,
unselfish life of a sailor; it is because while you were leading this
life you acquired the Christian virtues of resignation and contentment
with little; it is because, ignorant of the cowardly concessions of
society in these matters, you consider a man who marries for money as
dishonourable as a man who cheats at cards, or shirks his duty on the
battle-field. Am I not right, commander?"
"But you see it all seems so very plain to me, M. Gerald, that--"
"Oh, yes, very plain to you and to Olivier, who has led, like me, though
for a much longer time, the life of a soldier,--a life that teaches one
unselfishness and brotherly feeling. Is this not true?"
"My brave, kind-hearted Gerald!" cried the young soldier, as deeply
moved as his friend. "But you must admit that, though the life of a
soldier may have developed your natural generosity, it certainly did not
endow you with that virtue. You, alone, perhaps, of all the young men in
your rank of life, were capable of realising the sort of cowardice one
manifested in sending some poor devil to the wars to be killed in your
place,--you, alone, too, seem to feel some scruples with regard to a
marriage that all the others would gladly contract at any cost."
"You are not going to begin to pay me compliments at this late day, I
hope," laughed Gerald. "Very well, then, it is decided that I am to see
Mlle. de Beaumesnil, and leave the rest to fate. My course is marked out
for me. I will not deviate from it, I promise you."
"Bravo, my dear Gerald," replied Olivier, gaily. "I see you now in my
mind's eye in love, married,--a happy Benedict, in short. Ah, well,
there's no happiness like it, I'm sure. And alas! I, yesterday, knowing
nothing of your plans, asked Madame Herbaut's permission to introduce
to her a former comrade, a very worthy young man, whom she instantly
accepted on the strength of my all-potent recommendation."
"You don't say so," exclaimed Gerald, laughing. "Oh, well, you needn't
consider me as good as dead and buried. I shall promptly avail myself of
her kind permission to call, I assure you."
"You will?"
"Most assuredly I shall."
"But your matrimonial projects?"
"Why, they make me all the more determined on this point."
"Explain, I beg of you."
"Why, the explanation is very simple, it seems to me. The more reason I
have to love a bachelor's life, the better I shall have to love Mlle. de
Beaumesnil in order to renounce my pleasures, and consequently the more
certain I shall be of the sentiment she inspires. So, once for all, let
it be understood that you are to take me with you to Madame Herbaut's,
and to make me still stronger--to resist temptation, of course, I'll
become the lover of one of the rivals, or even of one of the satellites
of that famous duchess who is such a bugbear to me, and with whom I
strongly suspect you of being in love."
"Nonsense, Gerald!"
"Come, be frank with me. You surely can't suspect me of desire to cut
you out. As if there were not plenty of duchesses in the world! Do you
remember the sutler's pretty wife? You had only to say the word, and I,
forthwith, left the coast clear for you."
"What, another!" cried the commander. "What a fascinating rascal my
nephew must be!"
"Ah, commander, if you knew the number of hearts the scamp won in
Algiers alone! Madame Herbaut's fair guests had better be on their guard
if they don't want to fall victims to Olivier's fascinations!"
"I haven't any designs on the charming guests, you big simpleton,"
retorted Olivier, gaily. "But seriously, do you really wish me to take
you to Madame Herbaut's?"
"Certainly I do," answered Gerald. Then turning to the veteran, he
continued:
"You really must not consider me a harebrained fellow on account of this
determination on my part, commander. I have accepted your friendly
advice in regard to marriage, you say, and yet I end the conversation by
begging Olivier to take me to Madame Herbaut's. Ah, well, strange as
this may appear to you, commander, I say, no longer jestingly, but in
all seriousness this time, that the less change I make in my habits, the
more sincere my love for Mlle. de Beaumesnil will have to be to induce
me to abandon them."
"Upon my word, M. Gerald, I must confess that your reasons seemed
decidedly odd to me at first," replied the veteran, "but, on reflection,
I find them quite sensible. There would, perhaps, be a sort of
hypocritical premeditation in breaking off in advance with a life you
have led so long."
"Come then, Olivier, and introduce me to Madame Herbaut's charming
tribe," exclaimed Gerald, gaily. "Good-bye, commander, I shall return
soon and often. What else can you expect? You can't hope to act as my
father confessor without more or less trouble, you know."
"You'll find me a pretty exacting mentor as regards absolution and
matters of conscience, I warn you," retorted the old sailor, gaily. "You
must drop in again soon, for you are to keep me posted about the
progress of your matrimonial schemes, you recollect."
"Of course. It is my bounden duty to tell you all now, commander, and I
shall not fail to do it. But now I think of it, I must report with
regard to a commission you entrusted to me, M. Bernard. Will you allow
me a word with your uncle in private, Olivier?"
"Most assuredly," answered the young soldier, promptly leaving the room.
"I have some good news for you, commander," said Gerald, in a low tone.
"Thanks partly to my own efforts, and especially to the Marquis de
Maillefort's recommendation, Olivier's appointment as a second
lieutenant is almost certain."
"Is it possible, M. Gerald!"
"There is very little doubt of it, I think, for it is very generally
known that the Marquis de Maillefort is being strongly urged to become a
deputy, and this fact has increased his influence very much."
"Ah, M. Gerald, how can I express my gratitude--"
"I must hasten to rejoin Olivier, my dear commander," said Gerald, to
escape the veteran's thanks. "His suspicions are sure to be aroused by a
longer conversation."
"So you have a secret with my uncle," cried Olivier, as soon as his
friend rejoined him.
"Oh, yes, you know I'm a man of mysteries; and, by the way, before we
adjourn to Madame Herbaut's, I have another and very mysterious favour
to ask of you."
"Let me hear it."
"You know all about this neighbourhood. Can't you recommend some quiet
lodgings in a retired street hereabouts?"
"What! You are thinking of deserting the Faubourg St. Germain for the
Batignolles? How delightful!"
"Nonsense! Listen to me. Of course, living in my mother's house I cannot
receive my friends indiscriminately,--you understand."
"Very well."
"So I have had some rooms elsewhere, but the house has changed hands,
and the new owner is such a strictly moral man that he has warned me
that I have got to leave when my month is up,--that is, day after
to-morrow."
"All the better. It is a very fortunate thing, I think. You're about to
marry, so bid farewell to your amours."
"Olivier, you have heard my ideas on the subject. Your uncle approves
them. I am resolved to change none of my bachelor habits in advance, and
if I should abandon the idea of marriage altogether, think of my
desolate situation, homeless and loveless! No, no, I am much too
cautious and far-sighted not to--to preserve a pear to quench my
thirst."
"You're a man of infinite precautions, certainly. Very well, as I go and
come I'll look at the notices of rooms to rent in the windows."
"Two little rooms, with a private hall, is all I need. I'll look myself
when we leave Madame Herbaut's, for time presses. Day after to-morrow is
the fatal day. Say, Olivier, wouldn't it be strange if I should discover
what I need right here? Do you remember the lines:
"'What if in this same quiet spot
I both sweet love and friendship true should find?'
"The lines seem to me a fit motto for a shepherd's pipe; but what of
that? Truth needs no ornamentation. But now on, on to the house of
Madame Herbaut!"
"You still insist? Consider well."
"Olivier, you are really intolerable. I'll go alone if you won't
accompany me."
"Come, then, the die is cast. It is understood that you are simply
Gerald Senneterre, a former comrade of mine."
"Senneterre? No; that would be too imprudent. You had better call me
Gerald Auvernay, for I am adorned with the marquisate of Auvernay, my
dear Olivier, though you may not be aware of the fact."
"You are M. Gerald Auvernay, then; that is decided. But the devil!"
"What's the matter now?"
"But what else are you going to be?"
"What else am I going to be?"
"Yes; what is to be your occupation?"
"Why, a bachelor of the new school."
"Pshaw! I can't introduce you to Madame Herbaut as a young man who is
living on the income of the money he saved while in the army. Besides,
Madame Herbaut receives no idlers. You would excite her suspicions at
once, for the worthy woman strongly distrusts young men who have nothing
to do but court pretty girls, for you'll find that her girls are
pretty."
"All this is certainly very amusing. Well, what do you want me to be?"
"I haven't the slightest idea."
"Let me see," said Gerald, laughing. "How would you like me to be an
apothecary?"
"That would do very well, I should think."
"Oh, no, I was only joking; that wouldn't answer at all."
"But there are some very nice and gentlemanly apothecaries, I assure
you, Gerald."
"But really I shouldn't dare to look any one of those pretty girls in
the face."
"Let's try to think of something else, then. What do you say to being
the clerk of a notary? How does that suit you?"
"Admirably. My mother has an interminable lawsuit on hand, and I drop in
to see her notary and lawyer occasionally, so I can study the part from
nature."
"Very well, follow me, then, and I will introduce you as Gerald
Auvernay, clerk to a notary."
"Chief clerk to a notary," corrected Gerald, with great emphasis.
"Come on, ambitious youth!"
Gerald, thanks to Olivier's recommendation, was received by Madame
Herbaut with great cordiality.
On the afternoon of that same day grim M. Bouffard called for the rent
Commander Bernard owed him. Madame Barbancon paid him, overcoming with
great difficulty her strong desire to disfigure the ferocious landlord's
face with her nails.
Unfortunately, the money thus obtained, instead of appeasing M.
Bouffard's greed, seemed to imbue him with increased energy to collect
his dues, and persuaded that, but for his persistent dunning and abuse,
Madame Barbancon would not have paid him, he hastened off to the Rue
Monceau where Herminie lived, resolved to treat the poor girl with
increased severity, and thus secure the payment of the rent she owed
him.