bought it simply to restore it to this poor farmer and his unfortunate
family, whom this gentleman proposed to drive into the fields to sleep.”
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Guillot’s whole family
threw themselves at their benefactor’s feet, and, unable to find words
to express their gratitude, confined themselves to looking up into his
face and kissing his hand and the hem of his jacket.
The tableau was touching enough to move every feeling heart. Honorine
and Agathe did not try to conceal their tears.
But Madame Droguet’s party, sorely vexed at the turn affairs had taken,
still tried to sneer at what was taking place.
“Bless my soul! this is superb!” said one.
“It is truly magnificent!”
“This scene was all arranged beforehand, doubtless, with the two
ladies--that man’s friends. They wanted to produce a great effect.”
But these ebullitions of spite found no echo. Even Doctor Antoine
exclaimed:
“I don’t know whether the gentleman from the Tower intended to produce
an effect, but I regard as very noble what he has just done; it
reconciles me to him and his dog.”
To add to Madame Droguet’s ill humor, her husband persisted in holding
the big bellows under her nose, saying:
“No wind! I assure you, _bobonne_, that it doesn’t blow, it won’t work
at all.”
“Hold your tongue, Droguet!” she replied; “I will find a way to make it
work, I tell you.”
The sale came to an end with the purchase of the house for two thousand
francs. The auctioneer soon had the account made up; Monsieur
Jarnouillard being paid and the legal costs deducted, he called Guillot,
to whom he handed one thousand and fifteen francs, the residue.
The farmer exclaimed aloud in his amazement:
“What! that gentleman lets me keep my house and gives me all this money
too! Oh! this is too much! I don’t deserve all this!”
“Yes, for you have four children to bring up, and you took your niece
into your family too,” said Paul. “I know whom I am helping, you see.
Now you can afford to take a few moments’ rest, and spare yourself the
time to caress your children.”
Honorine meanwhile had told Poucette that her aunt could replace in the
house all the things that she had bought with the purpose of giving them
back to her.
But the peasant, who deemed herself rich now, ran after Madame Dalmont
and said:
“You too are very kind to us, madame, but now we’re not poor any more,
thanks to the kindness of the gentleman from the Tower, so please let us
pay back what you gave for all those things.”
“No, indeed,” said Honorine, “I too wish to have some share in your
happiness; and if I had not the power to do as much as monsieur, surely
you know that I had the inclination.”
Paul was within a few yards of Honorine, and the peasants speedily
informed him what that lady had done for them at the sale. Thereupon he
turned and bowed very low to her, saying:
“I am fortunate, madame, to have been able to imitate you in something!”
“You have done much more than I, monsieur,” Honorine replied, lowering
her eyes.
“The merit of a good deed, madame, consists not in its money value, but
in the way of doing it.”
And, after gazing earnestly for several seconds at the young woman, Paul
bowed again to her and Agathe, and walked away, calling his dog, who was
loath to leave Agathe and the farmer’s family, whom he seemed to look
upon as old acquaintances.
Then Honorine took her friend’s arm, saying to her in a voice trembling
with emotion:
“Let us return home; I am well satisfied with my day’s work!”
“And I trust that you will not think ill of Monsieur Paul any more now?”
“Hush! what are you talking about?”
“For my part, I am awfully sorry that Monsieur Edmond did not see all
that took place here; I am sure that he would have been pleased with the
happiness of that poor family. But we will tell him all about it.”
Madame Droguet also left the spot with her party.
“I didn’t expect to be paid in full!” said Monsieur Jarnouillard, who
was annoyed because the farmer’s house had not fallen to him.
“Madame Dalmont gave Guillot’s wife everything that she bought!” said
the doctor. “That was a very pretty idea!”
“Pray don’t tire us out with your pretty ideas, doctor! Those people
were acting a comedy--nothing else; they were all in concert, like
thieves at a fair! Don’t you think so, Monsieur Luminot?”
“I do; and I will say more; I am entirely of your opinion!”
“_Bobonne_, this bellows won’t work; I can’t get any wind!”
“Very good, monsieur, that will do; you say that just to annoy me!
Beware! there are other bellows than that!”[A]
[A] _Soufflet_--a bellows--means also a box on the ear.
VIII
HOW CHAMOUREAU HONORS HIS NEW PROPERTY
A short time after the sale on execution, the result of which was so
favorable to the Guillot family, an exciting piece of news gained
currency in the little village of Chelles, and set the tongues of all
the gossips of the locality in motion once more. For, you know, the
smaller a place is, the more pleasure the people take in meddling with
other people’s business.
It was the former dealer in wines, the facetious Luminot, who appeared
at Madame Droguet’s one morning, crying:
“Have you heard the news--the great news?”
“Dear me! no, we haven’t heard anything; how do you expect me to hear
anything, with Monsieur Droguet thinking of nothing but his horrid
Lancers quadrille, which he will never learn.--Tell me, Monsieur
Luminot, what is it about?”
“You know that delightful estate, located in the pleasantest spot in the
whole neighborhood--that lovely villa which was built for a former
artiste from the Vaudeville, who sold it to a Parisian confectioner, who
became insolvent?”
“The Goldfish Villa, you mean? so called because there’s a pond full of
them there.”
“I didn’t know that; that’s an additional advantage of the property.”
“Well, what about the house?”
“It was sold a few days ago--to some very distinguished people, so it
seems, and necessarily very rich, for nobody else could indulge in such
a country house.”
“Mon Dieu! it’s no château; I believe they wanted sixty thousand francs
for it; they probably sold it for fifty.”
“Well, fifty thousand francs for a country house, where you don’t live
all the time, is no trifle; and think of all you have to spend when you
buy a place! There’s a park of ten acres----”
“It isn’t a park, it’s a garden with a clump of trees.”
“I beg pardon--a garden of ten acres! that’s too big for a garden.”
“If you insist on calling it a park, I’ve no objection. Well, who are
these distinguished people who have bought the Goldfish Villa?”
“They have a carriage.”
“They have a carriage!--with horses?”
“Yes, indeed, with real horses! There are just the husband and wife--no
children. They live in great style, and they say the lady’s extremely
pretty--and so stylish!”
“All right; we shall see how that is. I doubt whether this person
dresses any better than I do. Did you see the dress I had on last
Tuesday, Luminot?”
“I must have seen it!”
“The man didn’t so much as notice it! a gray damask with green stripes.”
“Oh, yes! it was magnificent; you were at least twelve feet round.”
“I am not talking about how large round I was; I am talking about the
material of my dress, which cost twenty francs a yard; and it’s so stiff
that it stands alone! it’s superb!”
“You were simply gorgeous!”
“Bah! you men think of nothing but novelty; you go into ecstasies
beforehand over a woman you don’t know.”
“I am not going into ecstasies over her; I am simply repeating what I
have been told; and I am very glad to see nice people flocking to our
part of the country.”
“What are the names of these nice people?”
“Wait a moment--they told me the person’s name--it’s an odd name--that
of a place in the outskirts of Paris--a well-known place.”
“What! these distinguished people bear the name of a place?”
“Why not?--It isn’t Saint-Cloud.”
“Ha! ha! Monsieur and Madame Saint-Cloud! that would be amusing!”
“It isn’t Vaugirard--the devil! I did know the name. It isn’t La
Villette!”
Luminot was interrupted by the arrival of Madame Remplumé, who rushed
into the room as eagerly as he had done.
“Madame Droguet, I’ve heard some news----”
“My dear woman, I fancy that your news isn’t news to me. The Goldfish
Villa is sold, isn’t it?”
“Ah! you know it! but it’s just out.”
“I have only known it a minute; neighbor Luminot came to tell us.”
“How in the world does he make out to get all the news first?”
“Oh! I walk about here and there and everywhere, mesdames.”
“The new owners are to come to-day to take possession of their property,
where they mean to pass the whole summer.”
“Ah! that is something we didn’t know. And what is the name of these
people? Monsieur Luminot can’t remember.”
“Their name--wait a minute; I heard what it was; it’s near La
Courtille.”
“Their name is near La Courtille! Really, I don’t understand.--Well,
Droguet, have you finished your pirouetting? I have zigzags before my
eyes, it makes me see stars to watch him whirl round like that; when I
married him I didn’t get a husband, but a teetotum--nothing else!”
Madame Jarnouillard soon increased this amiable party by her presence.
“My compliments to the company,” she said; “I came to inform you that
the confectioner’s estate is sold at last; but I’ll wager that you all
know it.”
“Yes, yes--we know it.”
“But no one can remember the purchaser’s name.”
“Monsieur de Belleville.”
“That’s it, yes, that’s it; didn’t I tell you it was in the outskirts of
Paris?”
“Why, you didn’t tell us so at all; Monsieur Belleville; that’s a real
name.”
“_De_ Belleville!”
“Is there a _de_?”
“Yes, they are nobles.”
“It’s to be hoped that they will be decently polite; that they will call
on us, and not act like those minxes at the Courtivaux house.”
“Oh! there’s no danger! On the contrary, it seems that the lady intends
to give some gorgeous fêtes, and invite the whole neighborhood!”
“Really! How do you know that so soon, Madame Jarnouillard?”
“Oh! because the last time the purchasers came in their carriage to
inspect the property--that is to say, the lady came alone; no one has
seen the husband yet--Jarnouillard, who happened to be passing, led
their coachman into conversation, in order to get some information.”
“That was an excellent idea, very prudent; in that way one finds out who
people are. Did the coachman say anything more?”
“His masters are very rich; they live in the Chaussée d’Antin in
Paris.”
“Oh, well! if they live in the Chaussée d’Antin, I have the very highest
opinion of their morality!”
“And they are to take possession to-day?”
“So it is said.”
“Jarnouillard will take occasion to walk by the Goldfish Villa, and he
will find out whether the new owners are there.”
“Really, Monsieur Jarnouillard is a most invaluable man for obtaining
information!”
That same day, about two o’clock in the afternoon, a fine open calèche
rumbled noisily through the little village of Chelles. The coachman had
received orders to crack his whip constantly, and he acquitted himself
of that duty so zealously that the children shrieked and fled as he
passed, the hens had barely time to reach their dung-heaps, the dogs
barked, and everybody ran to see what was happening.
On the back seat of the calèche sat Monsieur and Madame de Belleville.
Thélénie, in a fascinating morning costume, assumed the careless air,
accompanied by disdainful movements of the head, which the belles of the
demi-monde always have at their command, to throw dust in the eyes of
fools. Chamoureau sat very straight and stiff; he might readily have
been taken for a man of wood placed there to do escort duty.
The front seat was occupied by the lady’s maid, Mademoiselle Mélie; and
the cook sat on the box beside the coachman.
Then there was a multitude of boxes, packages and trunks; Chamoureau
held four boxes on his knees, the maid three, and madame none.
Thélénie had wasted no time after the conversation with her husband, in
which he had told her that Edmond had a love-affair at Chelles and had
hired a house there; she had started at once for that quarter, and on
arriving had inquired concerning houses for sale or for rent in the
village. There was nothing for rent except some small apartments
unsuited to her new position. But the confectioner’s house was for sale,
and was pointed out to her as the most desirable estate in the place.
Thélénie went at once to inspect the Goldfish Villa. It had been built
for one of our fashionable actresses, so that it was certain to please
Thélénie, and on leaving it she went at once to the person in whose
hands the estate had been placed for sale; the bargain was soon struck
and an appointment made for the next day, at a notary’s in Paris.
Thélénie, who carried the key to the cash-box, paid cash for her
purchase; so that Chamoureau, when he brought the _Petites-Affiches_ to
his wife the next day, that she might make a selection among the estates
offered for sale in the suburbs, was greatly surprised to learn that
everything had been done, and that he was the owner of a fine country
house at Chelles.
“I say! at Chelles!” cried Chamoureau; “that’s funny enough.”
“What is there funny about it, monsieur?”
“Why, Chelles is the very place where Edmond Didier has hired a house,
in order to be near Madame Dalmont and her young friend.”
“Well, monsieur, what difference does that make to us? is it any of our
business? Because Monsieur Edmond is carrying on an intrigue in that
neighborhood, should that prevent me from buying a charming estate in a
lovely country which I like immensely?”
“Certainly not, my dear love; I didn’t mean anything of the kind; I
simply made the remark.”
“Another time keep your remarks to yourself; but make all your purchases
and preparations; in five days we will go down to take possession of our
new estate. I require that length of time to have the dresses made and
the bonnets that I want to take with me.”
The five days having passed, Chamoureau came to take possession of a
country house which he had never seen. When they drove through the
village, where many of the streets were narrow, dirty and ill-paved, he
did not fail to exclaim:
“Charming country! delightful country! It reminds me of Switzerland.”
“Have you been in Switzerland, monsieur?”
“No, but I had a client who used often to talk to me about it. How
delicious the country air is! what a pleasure to breathe it!”
At that moment Thélénie was holding her handkerchief to her face because
they were passing a heap of offal and muddy water which emitted a most
offensive odor.
“You are not happy in your observations, monsieur; there is a horrible
smell here.”
“That’s nothing, madame; a pond stirred up by the ducks--that’s all;
it’s gone already.--There are some very pretty houses. Ah! this one is
built in imitation of a chalet; that’s an original idea.”
“Have you ever seen any real chalets, monsieur?”
“No; but one of my clients drew a sketch of one for me.”
“Monsieur de Belleville, I trust that you will soon stop talking about
your clients; you must try not to say such things before company. Why
need you let people know that you were once in business? You are
stupid!”
“Why, madame, I might have been an advocate; that’s a fine profession!”
“Ha! ha! an advocate! you an advocate! Great heaven! who would believe
it?”
“Everybody is running to their doors and windows to see us pass,
madame.”
“Good! they are quite right!”
“Shall I bow, my dear?”
“I should say not! Why should you bow? Do you imagine yourself somebody
of importance--a prefect--a general?”
“I am not, but I might be! Well, then, I will content myself with
smiling at the people.”
“No, no, monsieur; don’t smile either, I beg you; it’s not necessary.”
“But I must do something.”
“Look out for what you have on your knees; that’s the best thing you can
do.”
“Ah! the landscape becomes positively enchanting. Are we approaching our
property?”
“Yes, monsieur; look--on the right--you can see it from here.”
“What! that magnificent house, with a terrace and jars of flowers?”
“Yes, monsieur.”
“And that beautiful avenue of lindens in front is ours too?”
“To be sure; it goes with the house.”
“And we are going to drive through that avenue?”
“Of course; would you prefer to fly over it?”
“Madame, I am dazzled--enchanted.”
“Don’t look so enchanted, monsieur; one would think that you never had
seen anything before.”
“But there’s a gate at the end of the avenue; ah! it’s open; is there
somebody at the house?”
“There is the gardener, who acts as concierge too, and whom I have
retained.”
“Very good. Yes, I see a man by the gate; he expects us, no doubt.”
“I sent him word that we should come to-day.”
The calèche arrived at the gate, at which stood an old peasant with a
rake over his shoulder, who bowed humbly to his new masters when their
carriage turned into the avenue.
Chamoureau, bewildered by all that he saw, exclaimed:
“Why didn’t he fire?”
“Fire what, monsieur?”
“His gun.”
“In order to do that, he would have to have one.”
“Wasn’t that a gun over his shoulder?”
“No, monsieur, it was a rake.”
“Oh! I thought it was a gun; a gun would have been better, for he could
have fired it on our arrival.”
“Once more, monsieur, remember that you are not the lord of the manor,
that you should be received with a salvo of musketry!”
“That makes no difference, madame; a servant always has the right to
discharge his gun when his masters come home.”
“If all servants did that every time that their masters came home there
would be an incessant fusillade everywhere.”
At last the carriage drew up in front of a pretty stoop. The maid
alighted; Chamoureau, who was in a hurry to inspect his property,
attempted to do the same and dropped on the ground all the boxes and
packages that he had on his knees.
Thereupon Thélénie made a great outcry and applied some far from
complimentary epithets to her husband. To escape that deluge of abuse,
the new proprietor darted up the steps, through the vestibule, up a
flight of stairs, and disappeared.
Thélénie bade the maid pick up the boxes, which contained elaborately
trimmed bonnets and caps--hence her wrath against her husband. They
were all taken up to the apartment which madame had chosen for her own.
Mademoiselle Mélie went into ecstasies over the elegance and convenient
arrangement of the rooms, and the beauty of the view, while she dressed
her mistress, who began operations by changing her costume; then the
maid went to her own room.
Thélénie, alone in a dainty boudoir adjoining her bedroom, opened a
window from which several of the houses in the village were visible, and
glanced at them a moment, saying to herself:
“I shall soon know where Edmond lives, and those women whom he goes to
see. Why should I not find out now?--Mélie!”
The maid answered the call at once.
“Go and bring the concierge to me; if he is not downstairs, you will
find him in the garden.”
The concierge speedily obeyed his new mistress’s summons.
“First of all, what is your name? I have forgotten it.”
“Thomasseau, madame, at your service.”
“Tell me, Thomasseau, do you know this country well?”
“Like my pocket, madame.”
“There was a house, belonging to one Monsieur Courtivaux, which was
purchased by a lady a few months ago?”
“Yes, yes--by Madame Dalmont; she took Poucette, Guillot’s niece, into
her service.”
“That’s the very one; and she has a young woman with her----”
“Mamzelle Agathe--a fine slip of a girl!”
“Well, tell me, Thomasseau, in which direction is that lady’s house?”
“Oh! it’s at the other side of the village, in sight of the railroad.”
“And I can’t see it from this window?”
“No, madame, there’s too many houses in between.”
“Do you know also where a young man from Paris lives--a very fashionable
young man, who has hired a large house just for himself alone?”
“A nice-looking, dandified young gentleman? that must be the one who’s
hired Monsieur Durand’s house.”
“His name is Edmond Didier.”
“That’s it, Monsieur Edmond; well, he lives not far from Madame
Droguet’s, on the main street.”
“Can I see his house from here?”
“No better than the other; it’s on the other side, where the land slopes
off a little; the village ain’t as even as a mirror.”
“Very well; thanks.--I cannot see their houses,” thought the beautiful
brunette, “but that won’t prevent my knowing what they do on the other
side of the village. I will go out and walk about my garden; it’s quite
extensive and there must be other points of view.”
Thélénie wandered through the garden and through the little wood, which
might have passed muster as a park. She ascended several low hills on
which were built pretty summer-houses, whence one could overlook the
surrounding country; but as she was not familiar with it, she made no
progress.
After a long stroll the lady with the great black eyes returned to her
apartment, which she examined more in detail; then she gave orders for
the dinner to be hurried forward, the change of air having sharpened her
appetite.
All this had taken time, and Thélénie suddenly remembered that she had
not seen her husband since their arrival. She concluded that he was
sulky because she had abused him so on the subject of her bandboxes, and
she gave no further thought to him.
Meanwhile time passed, and madame was informed that dinner was served.
“Very well,” said Thélénie; “tell monsieur that I am going to dine.”
“But where shall I find monsieur, madame?”
“Where will you find him? why, in his apartment, I presume.”
“Where is his apartment, madame?”
“Just opposite mine--in the right wing, on the first floor.”
Mademoiselle went in search of her master; but she soon returned and
said:
“I have been to all the rooms you mentioned, madame, and I haven’t been
able to find monsieur.”
“Then he must be in the garden; that man is intolerable--to make us hunt
for him like this! he must know that it’s dinner-time. Tell Thomasseau
to look for monsieur in the park, and let Lapierre help him; I am dying
of hunger, and I am going to dine.”
Madame seated herself at the table and ate her soup. She came to the
_hors d’œuvre_ and still Chamoureau did not appear; but the gardener
and the coachman reported that they had looked everywhere and that
monsieur was certainly not in the garden or in the wood.
“This is very strange! Where has he hidden himself? Can he have fallen
into some hole?”
“Oh! madame, there ain’t a single hole on your whole estate just now.”
“But the pond?”
“The pond’s only two feet and a half deep; you’d have to work pretty
hard to drown yourself in it!--Besides, Monsieur de Belleville ain’t a
child.”
“Madame,” said the maid, “monsieur was the first one to enter the house,
and we haven’t seen or heard him since. It’s a very strange thing! He
didn’t know the house, for it’s the first time he ever came here; he
must have got lost in the cellar.”
“It is hardly probable that Monsieur de Belleville began by rushing down
to inspect the cellar as soon as he got here. But no matter, let someone
go and look.”
The servants went down into the cellars, which were quite extensive;
they went through every part of them, calling their master, but they
found no one.
“Now let’s go up under the eaves,” said Mademoiselle Mélie; “for I am
convinced monsieur is in the house.”
They visited the attics, then the loft, but they did not find
Chamoureau.
“It must be that monsieur’s fallen into one of the wells,” cried the
gardener; “there’s two in the garden!”
And they were going down to inspect the wells, when, as they reached the
second floor, Mademoiselle Mélie thought that she heard a voice coming
from the end of a corridor which led to the toilet rooms.
“Wait a minute!” she said; “I heard something that sounded like a voice
calling; it came from this direction.”
They walked along the corridor, and soon they heard Chamoureau’s voice
distinctly, crying:
“Holà! help! this way! come and let me out! Sapristi! I’ve been shut up
here since morning, and I can’t get out!”
“Oh! mon Dieu! monsieur is shut up there! let’s hurry!”
The little _cabinet_ was at the very end of the corridor, and was
lighted from above only; to open the door, one had simply to push it,
then it closed automatically. But there was nothing inside to take hold
of--neither knob nor latch--so that the person who entered the place, if
he allowed the door to close, could not get out until someone came to
set him free.