Being in Paris on sick leave, young Bonmont went to see the Automobile
Exhibition that was being held near the Terrasse des Feuillants, in
the Jardin des Tuileries. As he walked down one of the side galleries
reserved for parts and accessories, he examined the Pluto Carburettor,
the Abeille Motor, and the Alphonse Lubricator, with an unenthusiastic
eye and a weary curiosity. With a curt nod or wave of the hand he
returned the greetings of timid young men and obsequious old ones. He
was neither proud nor triumphant, but simple, rather common-looking,
and armed only with the undeviating and tranquil air of malevolence
that stood him in such good stead in his dealings with men; he went
his way, a short, hunched-up, rather hump-backed little figure,
broad-shouldered, strong and vigorous enough, although already attacked
by disease.
He went down the steps of the terrace, and while examining the
trade-marks distinguishing the different lubricating oils, he came
upon one of the statues of the gardens, which had been shut in the
tent enclosure; it was a classical study in the French style, a bronze
hero whose academic nudity displayed the sculptor’s skill, and who
in a fine gymnastic attitude was felling a monster to the ground.
Misled, no doubt, by the apparently sporting air of the group, and
never reflecting that the statue had probably been in the garden long
before the Exhibition, Bonmont instinctively began to wonder what
connexion it could have with motoring. He thought that the monster, a
serpent, which, as a matter of fact, did look like a tube, was intended
to represent a pneumatic tyre, but his thoughts were very hazy and
confused. He turned aside his lack-lustre gaze almost immediately,
and entered the great hall where the cars on platforms complacently
displayed the clumsy, imperfectly developed, and still ill-balanced
forms which at the same time struck the onlooker with an irritating
impression of self-satisfaction and conceit.
Young Bonmont was not enjoying himself there; he never enjoyed himself
anywhere. But he might have found a certain pleasure in inhaling the
odour of rubber and oils that filled the air; he might have examined
the autocars and autolettes with a little interest, but that for the
moment he was possessed by one single idea. He was thinking of the
Brécé Hunt, and the longing to obtain the badge filled his very soul.
From his father he had inherited this tenacious will and the burning
intensity with which he coveted the Brécé badge was mingled in his
veins with the fever of incipient phthisis. He longed for it with all
the impatience of a child--for his mind was still very childish--and he
longed for it with the cunning tenacity of a calculating and ambitious
man--for he knew human nature well, having in a few years learned many
things.
He knew that, as far as the Duc de Brécé was concerned, he, with his
French name and his Roman title, was still Gutenberg, the Jew. He also
realized the power of his millions, and he knew more upon this subject
than will ever be grasped by peoples or their rulers. So he was neither
deluded nor discouraged. He took in the situation accurately, for he
was clear-headed. True the anti-Jewish campaign had been conducted with
the utmost vehemence in agricultural districts like his own, which
contained no Jews, but a large number of clergy. Recent events and the
newspaper articles had been a great strain upon the feeble head of
the Duc de Brécé, the leader of the Catholic party in his Department.
Doubtless, the Bonmonts were of the same way of thinking as the
grandsons of _émigrés_, and were as full of Royalist devotion and quite
as zealous Catholics as himself. But the Duke could not forget their
origin--he was a simple, obstinate man, and young Bonmont was well
aware of this. He reviewed the situation once again in front of the
Dubos-Laquille motor omnibus, and came to the conclusion that the best
way of obtaining the de Brécé badge was to procure the bishop’s crozier
for M. l’Abbé Guitrel.
“I must have him nominated,” he reflected. “It is absolutely necessary.
It will be easy enough once I know how to set about it.” And, full of
regret, he added, “Father would have advised me in the matter if he had
lived. He must have made more than one bishop in Gambetta’s time.”
Although he was not quick at generalisation, he went on to remind
himself that anything could be bought for money, a thought which imbued
him with great confidence in the success of his enterprise. Reflecting
thus, he looked up and saw young Gustave Dellion a little in front of
him, looking at a yellow-wheeled car.
Dellion caught sight of Bonmont at the same moment, but pretending he
had not seen him, he beat a retreat behind the body of the vehicle.
He was under long-standing financial obligations to Bonmont, and, for
the present, was in no way prepared to discharge them. The mere sight
of his friend’s blue eye gave him a hollow feeling in the pit of his
stomach, for it was Bonmont’s habit to stare silently and terribly
at those of his friends who owed him money. Dellion knew all about
that, and was much surprised when the little bull, as he termed him,
joined him in his retreat between the canvas wall of the tent and the
yellow-wheeled car, holding out a friendly hand, and saying with a
pleasant smile:
“How are you? Nice car! A bit long in the body, but not so bad, is
it? That’s what you want for Valcombe, my dear Gustave. Yes, indeed!
There’s a pretty puff-puff that would rip along nicely between Valcombe
and Montil.”
The mechanic who was standing by the motor thought good to intervene,
and to point out to M. le Baron that the vehicle could be turned into
an open six-seater, or a closed phaeton with seats for four. Seeing
that he was dealing with connoisseurs, he launched out into technical
explanations.
“The motor is composed of two horizontal cylinders; each piston works a
crank inclined at 180° to its neighbour.”
In businesslike terms he demonstrated the advantages of such a
combination. Then, in answer to a question by Gustave Dellion, he said
that the carburettor was automatic, and to be regulated once for all at
the moment of starting.
He stopped speaking, and the two young fellows stood there silent and
attentive. At last, pushing his stick between the spokes of one of the
wheels, Gustave Dellion remarked:
“Do you see, Bonmont? Steering is done by differential gear!”
“It is very easy to handle,” said the mechanic.
Gustave Dellion loved an automobile, and not, like Bonmont, with an
already satiated love. He gazed at the vehicle which, in spite of
the stiffness of modern body-work, looked like a great animal, a
conventional, banal, though well-behaved monster, with an apology for a
head between the lamps that looked like two huge eyes.
“Not such a bad puff-puff,” whispered young Bonmont to his friend. “Why
don’t you buy it?”
“Buy it? Can you do anything you like when you are so unfortunate as
to possess a father!” sighed Gustave Dellion. “You don’t know what a
nuisance a family is--what a worry.” Then, with feigned assurance,
he added, “And that, my dear Bonmont, reminds me that I owe you a
small----”
A friendly hand fell upon his shoulder, cutting him short, and to his
surprise there stood at his side a little fair man, his head sunk
between his shoulders, giving him the appearance of a slight hump,
broad-chested, and strong-backed--a little, simple-looking, fair man,
who regarded him with extraordinarily kind blue eyes and a sweet smile.
“You old fool!” said this little man, suggesting a good-natured little
buffalo shedding his wool on the bushes out of pure kindness of heart.
Gustave no longer recognized the Bonmont he had known, and was both
touched and surprised. Jumping into the car, the little Baron began to
handle the steering-wheel under the benevolent eye of the mechanic.
“So you drive, Bonmont?” ventured Gustave with deference.
“Occasionally,” returned young Bonmont.
Then, with one hand upon the steering-wheel, he related a motor-tour
he had made in Touraine during one of his absences on sick leave, from
which he always returned worse than he went away. He had done thirty
miles an hour. Of course, the roads were dry and in good condition,
but there were cattle, children, and frightened horses to pass, all
of which might have caused trouble. You had to keep your eyes about
you, and never let the other fellow touch the wheel. He related a few
incidents of the tour, one adventure with a milkwoman standing out
particularly in his mind.
“I saw the old woman coming along,” he said, “taking up the whole
of the road with her horse and cart. I sounded my horn, but the old
creature never moved aside. Then I made straight for her. She was new
to that trick. She drew up by the side of the road, pulling so hard at
her horse that he fell in a heap with the cart, milk-pails, old woman
and all, upon a pile of stones; so I left them to it and went on,”
concluded young Bonmont, as he jumped out of the car. “And, in spite
of the dust and the noise, motoring is a very pleasant way of getting
about. You try it, my dear fellow.”
“He is a good sort, after all,” thought young Dellion admiringly. And
his wonder grew when, dragging him along by the arm through the great
hall, Bonmont said to him:
“You are quite right. Don’t buy that motor. I’ll lend you my runabout.
I shan’t want it, because I’ve got to go back, my leave is nearly up.
Besides---- By the way, do you know if Madame de Gromance is in Paris?”
“I believe so, but I am not quite sure,” replied Gustave. “It is some
time since I saw her.”
This was in one way an honourable falsehood, for at ten minutes past
seven on the preceding evening he had left Madame de Gromance in her
room at the hotel where they had their rendezvous.
Bonmont did not reply, but, coming to a full stop before a notice
in two languages, forbidding smoking, he gazed at it silently and
thoughtfully. Gustave, following his example, remained speechless,
thinking it would not be prudent to bring the interview to an end. So
he added:
“But I may see her again soon. I _can_ see her, if you will tell me----”
The little Baron looked him straight in the eyes, and said:
“Would you like to do me a favour?”
Gustave assented with the enthusiasm of a good-natured soul and the
uneasiness of a person suddenly embarked upon a difficult enterprise.
It was none the less true that Gustave could do Ernest de Bonmont a
favour, and the latter proceeded to enlighten him on the subject.
“If you would like to do me a favour, my dear Gustave, get Madame
de Gromance to go and see Loyer, and ask him to make Abbé Guitrel a
bishop.” And he added, “You would do me a genuine service.”
To this request Gustave replied by a stupefied silence and a startled
look, not that he intended to refuse, but because he had not grasped
the situation. Young Bonmont had to repeat the same words twice over,
and to explain that Loyer was Minister of Public Worship and nominated
the bishops. He was very patient, and little by little Gustave
understood what was required of him; he even managed to repeat what he
had heard without making a single mistake:
“You want me to tell Madame de Gromance to go and ask Loyer, who is
Minister of Public Worship, to make Guitrel a bishop?”
“Bishop of Tourcoing.”
“Tourcoing! Is that in France?”
“Of course.”
“Ah!” said Gustave thoughtfully, and he fell into a reverie.
Serious objections came to him, and, at the risk of appearing
disobliging, he would mention them. It seemed to him that the request
entailed a good deal, and he did not want to enter upon it lightly.
Timidly and hesitatingly he formulated his first objection, which was a
natural one.
“It isn’t a trick, is it?” he asked.
“What do you mean by a trick?” said Bonmont shortly.
“No, really,” protested Gustave, “you aren’t pulling my leg?”
He was still in doubt, but the contemptuous look of the little fair man
dispersed all doubt.
With great firmness and decision he declared:
“As long as I know it is a serious matter, you can rely upon me. I can
be serious when necessary.”
He was silent awhile, and the difficulties confronting him again rose
in his mind. Gently and timidly he said:
“Do you think that Madame de Gromance knows the minister well enough
to ask such a--a--favour? Because, you know, she never mentions Loyer
to me.”
“And that,” replied the little Baron, “is probably because she has
other subjects to discuss with you. I don’t mean that she is keen on
Loyer, but she thinks him a good old sort, and no fool. They got to
know each other three years ago on the platform at the unveiling of
the statue to Jeanne d’Arc. Loyer would be only too delighted to do
anything to please Madame de Gromance, and I can assure you he isn’t
a bad sort. When he puts on his best coat he looks like a retired
fencing-master. She can go and see him all right, he will be quite nice
to her--and he will most certainly do her no harm!”
“In that case,” said Gustave, “she is to ask him to make Guitrel a
bishop.”
“Yes.”
“Bishop of where did you say?”
“Bishop of Tourcoing,” repeated young Bonmont. “I’d better write it
down for you.”
Picking up from a table before him the trade card of the builder of
the “Reine des Pygmées,” he wrote upon it with his little gold pencil,
“Make Guitrel Bishop of Tourcoing.”
Gustave took the card, and the idea which at first had appeared to him
so strange and weird now seemed a simple and natural one. His mind
had grown accustomed to it, and as he put the card in his pocket he
repeated in the glibbest way:
“Make Guitrel Bishop of Tourcoing. Right you are! You can rely on me.”
In this manner the words of Madame Dellion were fulfilled, who speaking
of her son one day had said, “Gustave does not learn quickly, but he
remembers what he has learned, and that is perhaps best.”
“You know,” said Ernest seriously, “I can answer for Guitrel making a
good bishop.”
“So much the better,” replied Gustave, “because----” And he did not
finish his sentence.
They had now reached the exit, however.
“I shall be in Paris until the end of the week,” said Bonmont. “Let me
know how things are going; there is no time to lose, for the candidates
are being chosen now. We will speak of the car at another time.”
As they reached the flight of flag-decorated steps, he took Gustave’s
hand in his and, holding it, impressed upon him:
“No one must know. The thing is of the utmost moment, my dear Dellion,
that no one shall know; not a soul must know that Madame de Gromance is
going to Loyer at your request. Now that is understood, is it not?”
“Quite,” replied Gustave, heartily shaking his friend’s hand.
The same evening at eight o’clock young Bonmont went to visit his
mother, whom he did not often see, but with whom he was on the
friendliest possible terms, and found her finishing her toilet in the
dressing-room.
While her maid was arranging her hair she looked away from her
reflection in the glass, and turning to her son:
“You don’t look well,” she said.
Ernest’s health had been worrying her for some time. Rara provided
her with other more painful worries, but her son was, for all that, a
source of anxiety.
“How are you, mother?”
“Oh, I’m very well.”
“You look it.”
“Did you know that your Uncle Wallstein has had a slight stroke?”
“I’m not surprised; he shouldn’t be so gay at his time of life, it’s
unnatural.”
“He is not so very old, only fifty-two.”
“Fifty-two is not what you might call youthful, exactly. By the way,
what about the Brécés?”
“The Brécés? What about them?”
“Did they thank you for the ciborium?”
“They sent their card, with a pencilled word of thanks.”
“That’s not much.”
“Well, _mon petit_, what else did you expect?”
She rose to her feet and raised her hands above her head to fix a
diamond cluster in her hair; standing thus her bare arms looked like
two handles springing from a beautifully shaped amphora. Her shoulders
gleamed under the electric light which shone through transparent shades
shaped like bunches of fruit, and in the golden whiteness of the skin
delicate blue veins ran down to the swell of her bosom. Her cheeks were
rouged and her lips painted, but her face was still youthful in its
health and vigour. The lines of her neck, which might have betrayed the
passage of the years, were lost in the beauty of the skin.
Young Bonmont studied her carefully for a few moments, and then said:
“Mother, suppose you go and see Loyer too, and ask him about Abbé
Guitrel?”