BROADCLOTH AND CIVILIZATION.
Allowing for my inexperience in the use of the language, I prospered
better than I had expected, and found, to my satisfaction, that I was by
no means behind my French fellow-students in medical knowledge. I passed
through my preliminary examination with credit, and although Dr. Chéron
was careful not to praise me too soon, I had reason to believe that he
was satisfied with my progress. My life, indeed, was now wholly given up
to my work. My country-breeding had made me timid, and the necessity for
speaking a foreign tongue served only to increase my natural reserve; so
that although I lived and studied day after day in the society of some
two or three hundred young men, I yet lived as solitary a life as
Robinson Crusoe in his island. No one sought to know me. No one took a
liking for me. Gay, noisy, chattering fellows that they were, they
passed me by for a "dull and muddy-pated rogue;" voted me
uncompanionable when I was only shy; and, doubtless, quoted me to each
other as a rare specimen of the silent Englishman. I lived, too, quite
out of the students' colony. To me the _Quartier Latin_ (except as I
went to and fro between the Hotel Dieu and the Ecole de Medicine) was a
land unknown; and the student's life--that wonderful _Vie de Bohéme_
which furnishes forth half the fiction of the Paris press--a condition
of being, about which I had never even heard. What wonder, then, that I
never arrived at Dr. Chéron's door five minutes behind time, never
missed a lecture, never forgot an appointment? What wonder that, after
dropping moodily into one or two of the theatres, I settled down quite
quietly in my lodgings; gave up my days to study; sauntered about the
lighted alleys of the Champs Elysées in the sweet spring evenings, and,
going home betimes, spent an hour or two with my books, and kept almost
as early hours as in my father's house at Saxonholme?
After I had been living thus for rather longer than three weeks, I made
up my mind one Sunday morning to call at Dalrymple's rooms, and inquire
if he had yet arrived in Paris. It was about eleven o'clock when I
reached the Chaussée d'Antin, and there learned that he was not only
arrived, but at home. Being by this time in possession of the luxury of
a card, I sent one up, and was immediately admitted. I found breakfast
still upon the table; Dalrymple sitting with an open desk and cash-box
before him; and, standing somewhat back, with his elbow resting on the
chimney-piece, a gentleman smoking a cigar. They both looked up as I was
announced, and Dalrymple, welcoming me with a hearty grasp, introduced
this gentleman as Monsieur de Simoncourt.
M. de Simoncourt bowed, knocked the ash from his cigar, and looked as
if he wished me at the Antipodes. Dalrymple was really glad to see me.
"I have been expecting you, Arbuthnot," said he, "for the last week. If
you had not soon beaten up my quarters, I should have tried, somehow, to
find out yours. What have you been about all this time? Where are you
located? What mischief have you been perpetrating since our expedition
to the _guingette_ on the river? Come, you have a thousand things
to tell me!"
M. de Simoncourt looked at his watch--a magnificent affair, decorated
with a costly chain, and a profusion of pendant trifles--and threw the
last-half of his cigar into the fireplace.
"You must excuse me, _mon cher_" said he. "I have at least a dozen calls
to make before dinner."
Dalrymple rose, readily enough, and took a roll of bank-notes from the
cash-box.
"If you are going," he said, "I may as well hand over the price of that
Tilbury. When will they send it home?"
"To-morrow, undoubtedly."
"And I am to pay fifteen hundred franks for it!"
"Just half its value!" observed M. de Simoncourt, with a shrug of his
shoulders.
Dalrymple smiled, counted the notes, and handed them to his friend.
"Fifteen hundred may be half its cost," said he; "but I doubt if I am
paying much less than its full value. Just see that these are right."
M. de Simoncourt ruffled the papers daintily over, and consigned them to
his pocket-book. As he did so, I could not help observing the whiteness
of his hands and the sparkle of a huge brilliant on his little finger.
He was a pale, slender, olive-hued man, with very dark eyes, and
glittering teeth, and a black moustache inclining superciliously upwards
at each corner; somewhat too _nonchalant_, perhaps, in his manner, and
somewhat too profuse in the article of jewellery; but a very elegant
gentleman, nevertheless.
"_Bon_!" said he. "I am glad you have bought it. I would have taken it
myself, had the thing happened a week or two earlier. Poor Duchesne! To
think that he should have come to this, after all!"
"I am sorry for him," said Dalrymple; "but it is a case of wilful ruin.
He made up his mind to go to the devil, and went accordingly. I am only
surprised that the crash came no sooner."
M. de Simoneourt twitched at the supercilious moustache.
"And you think you would not care to take the black mare with the
Tilbury?" said he, negligently.
"No--I have a capital horse, already."
"Hah I--well--'tis almost a pity. The mare is a dead bargain. Shouldn't
wonder if I buy her, after all."
"And yet you don't want her," said Dalrymple.
"Quite true; but one must have a favorite sin, and horseflesh is mine. I
shall ruin myself by it some day--_mort de ma vie!_ By the way, have you
seen my chestnut in harness? No? Then you will be really pleased. Goes
delightfully with the gray, and manages tandem to perfection. _Parbleu!_
I was forgetting--do we meet to-night?"
"Where?"
"At Chardonnier's."
Dalrymple shook his head, and turned the key in his cash box.
"Not this evening," he replied. I have other engagements."
"Bah! and I promised to go, believing you were sure to be of the party.
St. Pol, I know, will be there, and De Brézy also."
"Chardonnier's parties are charming things in their way," said
Dalrymple, somewhat coldly, "and no man enjoys Burgundy and lansquenet
more heartily than myself; but one might grow to care for nothing else,
and I have no desire to fall into worse habits than those I have
contracted already."
M. de Simoneourt laughed a dry, short laugh, and twitched again at the
supercilious moustache.
"I had no idea you were a philosopher," said he.
"Nor am I. I am a _mauvais sujet_--_mauvais_ enough, already, without
seeking to become worse."
"Well, adieu--I will see to this affair of the Tilbury, and desire them
to let you have it by noon to-morrow."
"A thousand thanks. I am ashamed that you have so much trouble in the
matter. _Au revoir_."
"_Au revoir_."
Whereupon M. de Simoncourt honored me with a passing bow, and took his
departure. Being near the window, I saw him spring into an elegant
cabriolet, and drive off with the showiest of high horses and the
tiniest of tigers.
He was no sooner gone than Dalrymple took me by the shoulders, placed me
in an easy chair, poured out a couple of glasses of hock, and said:--
"Now, then, my young friend, your news or your life! Out with it, every
word, as you hope to be forgiven!"
I had but little to tell, and for that little, found myself, as I had
anticipated, heartily laughed at. My adventure at the restaurant, my
unlucky meeting with Dr. Chéron, and the history of my interview with
him next morning, delighted Dalrymple beyond measure.
Nothing would satisfy him, after this, but to call me Damon, to tease me
continually about Doctor Pythias, and to remind me at every turn of the
desirableness of Arcadian friendships.
"And so, Damon," said he, "you go nowhere, see nothing, and know nobody.
This sort of life will never do for you! I must take you out--introduce
you--get you an _entrée_ into society, before I leave Paris."
"I should be heartily glad to visit at one or two private houses," I
replied. "To spend the winter in this place without knowing a soul,
would be something frightful."
Dalrymple looked at me half laughingly, half compassionately.
"Before I do it, however," said he, "you must look a little less like a
savage, and more like a tame Christian. You must have your hair cut, and
learn to tie your cravat properly. Do you possess an evening suit?"
Blushing to the tips of my ears, I not only confessed that I was
destitute of that desirable outfit, but also that I had never yet in all
my life had occasion to wear it.
"I am glad of it; for now you are sure to be well fitted. Your tailor,
depend on it, is your great civilizer, and a well-made suit of clothes
is in itself a liberal education. I'll take you to Michaud--my own
especial purveyor. He is a great artist. With so many yards of superfine
black cloth, he will give you the tone of good society and the exterior
of a gentleman. In short, he will do for you in eight or ten hours more
than I could do in as many years."
"Pray introduce me at once to this illustrious man," I exclaimed
laughingly, "and let me do him homage!"
"You will have to pay heavily for the honor," said Dalrymple. "Of that I
give you notice."
"No matter. I am willing to pay heavily for the tone of good society and
the exterior of a gentleman."
"Very good. Take a book, then, or a cigar, and amuse yourself for five
minutes while I write a note. That done, you may command me for as long
as you please."
I took the first book that came, and finding it to be a history of the
horse, amused myself, instead, by observing the aspect of Dalrymple's
apartment.
Rooms are eloquent biographies. They betray at once if the owner be
careless or orderly, studious or idle, vulgar or refined. Flowers on the
table, engravings on the walls, indicate refinement and taste; while a
well-filled book-case says more in favor of its possessor than the most
elaborate letter of recommendation. Dalrymple's room was a monograph of
himself. Careless, luxurious, disorderly, crammed with all sorts of
costly things, and characterized by a sort of reckless elegance, it
expressed, as I interpreted it, the very history of the man. Rich
hangings; luxurious carpets; walls covered with paintings; cabinets of
bronze and rare porcelain; a statuette of Rachel beside a bust of Homer;
a book-case full of French novels with a sprinkling of Shakespeare and
Horace; a stand of foreign arms; a lamp from Pompeii; a silver casket
full of cigars; tables piled up with newspapers, letters, pipes,
riding-whips, faded bouquets, and all kinds of miscellaneous
rubbish--such were my friend's surroundings; and such, had I speculated
upon them beforehand, I should have expected to find them. Dalrymple, in
the meanwhile, despatched his letter with characteristic rapidity. His
pen rushed over the paper like a dragoon charge, nor was once laid aside
till both letter and address were finished. Just as he was sealing it, a
note was brought to him by his servant--a slender, narrow, perfumed
note, written on creamy paper, and adorned on the envelope with an
elaborate cypher in gold and colors. Had I lived in the world of society
for the last hundred seasons, I could not have interpreted the
appearance of that note more sagaciously.
"It is from a lady," said I to myself. Then seeing Dalrymple tear up his
own letter immediately after reading it, and begin another, I added,
still in my own mind--"And it is from the lady to whom he was writing."
Presently he paused, laid his pen aside, and said:--
"Arbuthnot, would you like to go with me to-morrow evening to one or two
_soirées_?"
"Can your Civilizer provide me with my evening suit in time?"
"He? The great Michaud? Why, he would equip you for this evening, if it
were necessary!"
"In that case, I shall be very glad."
"_Bon!_ I will call for you at ten o'clock; so do not forget to leave me
your address."
Whereupon he resumed his letter. When it was written, he returned to the
subject.
"Then I will take you to-morrow night," said he, "to a reception at
Madame Rachel's. Hers is the most beautiful house in Paris. I know fifty
men who would give their ears to be admitted to her _salons_."
Even in the wilds of Saxonholme I had heard and read of the great
_tragedienne_ whose wealth vied with the Rothschilds, and whose
diamonds might have graced a crown. I had looked forward to the
probability of beholding her from afar off, if she was ever to be seen
on the boards of the Theatre Français; but to be admitted to her
presence--received in her house--introduced to her in person ... it
seemed ever so much too good to be true!
Dalrymple smiled good-naturedly, and put my thanks aside.
"It is a great sight," said he, "and nothing more. She will bow to
you--she may not even speak; and she would pass you the next morning
without remembering that she had ever seen you in her life. Actresses
are a race apart, my dear fellow, and care for no one who is neither
rich nor famous."
"I never imagined," said I, half annoyed, "that she would take any
notice of me at all. Even a bow from such a woman is an event to be
remembered."
"Having received that bow, then," continued Dalrymple, "and having
enjoyed the ineffable satisfaction of returning it, you can go on with
me to the house of a lady close by, who receives every Monday evening.
At her _soirées_ you will meet pleasant and refined people, and having
been once introduced by me, you will, I have no doubt, find the house
open to you for the future."
"That would, indeed, be a privilege. Who is this lady?"
"Her name," said Dalrymple, with an involuntary glance at the little
note upon his desk, "is Madame de Courcelles. She is a very charming and
accomplished lady."
I decided in my own mind that Madame de Courcelles was the writer of
that note.
"Is she married?" was my next question.
"She is a widow," replied Dalrymple. "Monsieur de Courcelles was many
years older than his wife, and held office as a cabinet minister during
the greater part of the reign of Louis Phillippe. He has been dead these
four or five years."
"Then she is rich?"
"No--not rich; but sufficiently independent."
"And handsome?"
"Not handsome, either; but graceful, and very fascinating."
Graceful, fascinating, independent, and a widow! Coupling these facts
with the correspondence which I believed I had detected, I grouped them
into a little romance, and laid out my friend's future career as
confidently as if it had depended only on myself to marry him out of
hand, and make all parties happy.
Dalrymple sat musing for a moment, with his chin resting on his hands
and his eyes fixed on the desk. Then shaking back his hair as if he
would shake back his thoughts with it, he started suddenly to his feet
and said, laughingly:--
"Now, young Damon, to Michaud's--to Michaud's, with what speed we may!
Farewell to 'Tempe and the vales of Arcady,' and hey for civilization,
and a swallow-tailed coat!"
I noticed, however, that before we left the room, he put the little note
tenderly away in a drawer of his desk, and locked it with a tiny gold
key that hung upon his watch-chain.