The next morning, in a long and secret talk, Mrs. Tate communicated the
Doctor's judgment to Blanche. She learned that Jules was still sullen
and depressed. That, of course, was a sign that his quarrel with the
diver had not as yet been made up. Blanche said that she would speak to
him at once about resuming the plunge; so far as she knew, no one had as
yet been engaged to take Miss King's place, and perhaps Mr. Marshall
would make a new contract with her on the old terms. Mrs. Tate hurried
away in a state of feverish excitement, dreading, yet hoping, that she
might meet Jules on the stairs, in order to reveal the great news. She
would have liked to return to the apartment that very afternoon, to
learn the effect of the announcement upon him; but she controlled her
impatience.
Jules did not return till late in the afternoon. From his manner Blanche
saw at once that he was in a surly mood. He flung his coat and hat on a
chair and threw himself on the couch. For a long time she did not dare
to speak to him. She thought he was going to sleep, but she suddenly saw
him staring at her with a look that frightened her.
"Jules!" she said.
He had closed his eyes again, and he seemed not to hear.
"Jules."
He opened his eyes, and once more she met that look. "What is it?" he
grunted. Her plaintive manner vexed him; it seemed like a reflection on
himself.
"There's something I want to say to you," she went on apologetically,
and with a suggestion of tearfulness in her voice, as if she felt
disappointed at his manner of receiving her news.
As he did not reply, she said: "It's about--about my plunge. I have been
thinking that I'm--I'm so much better now--I mean I'm not so
nervous--perhaps I can begin it again."
He sat up on the couch, a light coming into his eyes. For a moment he
was too surprised to speak. Then he said: "Well, I'm glad you're coming
to your senses!"
Encouraged by the change in his manner, she repeated what Dr. Broughton
had said to Mrs. Tate. At the mention of the names, Jules' face
darkened; since that night at the Tates' he had felt a personal
resentment against the Doctor, almost as strong as his hatred of the
Englishwoman.
"So that woman's been here again today, has she?" he said bitterly.
After a brief silence, he added more gently: "If you feel able to do the
plunge again, the sooner you begin the better. I know that Marshall will
be glad enough to renew the old contract. It will just fit in with his
plans," he continued, with a grim thought of the diver's discomfiture on
being superseded by Blanche. "I'll speak to him this very night."
Blanche tried to smile, but the effort ended in a sigh. She had thought
that Jules would show more enthusiasm.
"But we can't have any more nonsense," he said, glancing at her
again,--this time, however, without the bitterness she had before
observed in his face. "If you allow yourself to be afraid of the plunge
again, it will simply ruin you as an attraction. It'll make the managers
think you're unreliable, and they won't engage you."
In spite of his apparent indifference, Jules was secretly delighted at
the thought of his wife's resuming her great dive. For the past few days
he had never felt so keenly the humiliation of his own position. A
petulant remark of Lottie King's the day of their quarrel had kept
ringing in his ears: "What do _you_ amount to anyway?" Now he thought
triumphantly of the restoration of his own dignity. With Blanche as the
star attraction of the Hippodrome, earning a large salary, and with a
choice of offers from all over the world, he would become a personage
again! But he must guard her more carefully. He must in future keep her
out of the way of interfering foreigners like Mrs. Tate, who would put a
lot of nonsense into her head!
That night, when Jules consulted Marshall, he learned what he had
already surmised, that the manager was much upset by Miss King's refusal
to extend her engagement on any but exorbitant terms, and though it
would be completed in two weeks, he had not as yet found a sufficiently
strong attraction to take her place; so he was not only willing, but
glad, to renew with Blanche the contract she had at first made with him.
Jules felt the more elated on being told that Miss King had not been
nearly so good an attraction as his wife while giving the sensational
plunge. He was in high spirits when he entered Blanche's dressing-room
and told her the news. Blanche flushed with pleasure, not merely at the
news, but at his affectionate manner as well; Madeleine, however, though
she said nothing, seemed depressed. She had hoped that the poor child
would never make that horrible dive again.
After that night Blanche was so happy that she seemed like another
creature from the thin, white-faced little woman of the past few weeks.
Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed. Jules had been so different
with her, she said to Mrs. Tate, since she had told him she would go on
with the plunge. The night before he had taken her to the Hippodrome,
and after the performance they had gone with Madeleine to a _cafe_; it
reminded them of the days of their courtship in Paris.
The two weeks that followed were the happiest Blanche had known since
those first days after the birth of her child. Jules' devotion extended
not only to her, but to little Jeanne and to Madeleine as well. For
several days the gloom that had wrapped the city during most of the
winter lifted; the sun shone, and the feeling of spring was in the air.
In the afternoons Blanche took walks with Jules in the park, and on
Sunday they went to mass together and then drove out to Richmond and
dined there. They agreed to pretend that they were still in their days
of courtship, and Jules delighted Blanche by repeating some of the
foolish speeches he had made to her in the first weeks of their love.
Then, too, they made great plans for the future. The negotiations with
Hicks in New York had been broken off, but Jules had heard of an
Australian manager who was in London looking for performers to appear
during the following winter in Melbourne. How fine it would be if they
could go out there and give performances in the chief Australian cities!
Blanche, however, showed so little enthusiasm for this plan that Jules
abandoned it for a time. Besides, he himself liked better the plan she
suggested of returning to the _Cirque Parisien_. They might make an
engagement there that would enable them to pass the winter in Paris. How
good it would be to be back there again! Perhaps they could secure the
little apartment in the _rue de Lisbonne_. Jules became so enthusiastic
that he wrote to the manager in Paris, proposing terms. After a winter
there they might think of going to Australia, where they would be much
better paid than in Paris.
The thought of returning to France added to Blanche's happiness. Oh, to
see her mother and Jeanne and Louise again! How good it would be! There
had been times during the past few weeks when she felt as if she could
not bear to be separated from them any longer. But in Paris they could
come to see her; perhaps Monsieur Berthier would let her mother and the
girls pass a few weeks with her. Of course, she would be with them in
Boulogne for the summer. When she spoke of this to Jules, however, he
said nothing. He had in mind other plans, a possible engagement at one
of the French watering places; but he thought it best not to refer to
this at present. He realized the importance of making as much money as
possible and as quickly as possible. There was no knowing how long his
wife's nerve would last. If she only held out for a few years longer,
they could make a fortune in Australia and America. Then they could
retire, and live comfortably in Paris for the rest of their lives. He
expected to earn a great deal of money in America; but he had reasons
for not speaking of that country at all for the present.
The two weeks during which Blanche was enjoying her new happiness were
an exciting time for Mrs. Tate, who felt as if she were responsible for
the success of her _protegee's_ return to her former place in the
Hippodrome. Every day she repaired to Upper Bedford Place and held long
conferences with Blanche. Everything promised well, she thought. Jules
showed no signs of returning to the thraldom of Lottie King. How
providential, Mrs. Tate thought, the quarrel between them had been! She
did not know that, even before his break with her, Jules had begun to
tire of the diver's domineering manner and of her habit of ridiculing
him; moreover, he had at last perceived that she was only playing with
him. This had helped to prejudice him against her performance, and as
the novelty of the performance wore off, he saw that it was far inferior
in daring and skill to his wife's magnificent plunge. This had never
lost its fascination for him, and now, as he assisted Blanche in her
daily exercises he felt the old thrill at its brilliancy and his own
sense of importance in having a part in it.
On the afternoon of the day when her plunge was to be resumed, Blanche
took a long rest. She was awakened by the crowing of Jeanne in the next
room. She raised her hands to her head; at the thought of the ordeal of
the evening, a sudden dizziness came upon her. It was more than three
months since she had made the dive, and she wondered if she should be
equal to it. How horrible if at the last moment she should lose her
nerve! She arose quickly, hardly daring to allow herself to think, and
she hurried to the child. How strong and beautiful Jeanne was! Blanche
took her in her arms and pressed her closely. When Madeleine turned and
lumbered out of the room, leaving them alone together, Blanche began to
kiss the child passionately, and tears welled over on her cheeks. Then
she bathed her face, for fear that Jules would see that she had been
crying.
That night at dinner, Jules was in high spirits. "Marshall expects a big
house," he said. "He's spent a lot of money advertising your dive. He
thinks of getting a big poster made of you flying through the air."
During the whole of the meal Blanche was very quiet. Madeleine noticed
that her eyes were shining. When it was time to go to the Hippodrome,
Jules, wrapping his wife in her cloak, put his arms around her, and
kissed her on the ear, as he had often done in the days of their
engagement. She drew away and started for Jeanne's room.
"Where are you going?" he said.
"I want to kiss the little one good-night."
"But she's asleep!" he cried impatiently. "You mustn't wake her up."
In spite of his protest, she silently made her way into the room where
the child lay, closing the door behind her. Jules listened, thinking
that Jeanne would cry on being disturbed; but there was no sound. Then
he knew that she was praying by the crib, and this angered him. It was
about time to put a stop to her notions, he said to himself. When, a
moment later, she came out, her face was covered with a thick veil, and,
after glancing at her sharply, he said nothing.
On arriving at the Hippodrome, they found Mrs. Tate in the star
dressing-room, which had been assigned to Blanche again.
"I have been waiting for you," Mrs. Tate said nervously. "I suppose I
have no right to be here, but I felt that I _must_ see you, and I made
my husband bring me. Are you quite well?"
She had observed the look of disgust given her by Jules, but this did
not disturb her nearly so much as the white face that Blanche presented.
Moreover, she did not feel reassured when Blanche smiled and said she
felt perfectly well.
"Of course everything will be splendid. There's a tremendous crowd,"
Mrs. Tate added. "You'll have a great success."
Jules, after bowing coldly, had turned from the room. As soon as the
door closed behind him, Mrs. Tate seized Blanche by both hands and
kissed her affectionately. "I mustn't keep you from dressing," she said
with a smile. "Perhaps I'll come in and congratulate you when it's all
over."
Blanche grew a shade paler, and Mrs. Tate hesitated at the door. "What
is it?" she said.
"Nothing."