[Illustration: _Copyright 1904 by G. Barrie & Sons_]
_AMI FRIGHTENS THE DOCTOR_
_"But the groaning seemed to come nearer; suddenly it changed into a
loud barking, and an enormous dog rushed from the room I was about to
enter, planted his front paws on my chest, and glared at me with eyes
that were far from gentle!"_
NOVELS
BY
Paul de Kock
VOLUME XIII
PAUL AND HIS DOG
VOL. I
PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH
[Illustration]
GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS
THE JEFFERSON PRESS
BOSTON NEW YORK
_Copyrighted, 1903-1904, by G. B. & Sons._
PAUL AND HIS DOG
I
A MASQUERADE AT THE OPÉRA
What a crowd! how eager all these people are to make their way into the
ball-room! they begin to push and elbow one another even in the street,
in front of the entrance to the theatre; the carriages move too slowly
to suit the persons inside or the police officers whose duty it is to
keep all vehicles in motion.
See those maskers; those dominos have hardly time to alight from their
coupé, for the coachman must move on instantly to make room for the
confrère behind him; many persons even alight before they are in front
of the theatre, hoping to reach their destination more quickly.
It is evident therefore that they must be afraid of not finding room, of
not being able to crowd their way into that sanctuary of pleasure, of
folly, rather; and yet one can always get in, at any hour. Though the
hall be overflowing with people, though the foyer be full to
suffocation, though it be impossible to move in the corridor,--it makes
no difference: one can always find a way to slip into the vast throng.
People push you, bump against you, tread on your feet, force you to go
to the right when you want to go to the left. You do not find the person
you are seeking, you are separated from your companion; if you have
arranged yourself with great care and elegance, in a few minutes your
clothes are rumpled, torn, stained.--But what does it matter! you are at
the Opéra masquerade.
You are speedily bewildered by the noise made by the multitude that
surrounds you; the heat becomes stifling; add to this the odor of the
bouquets and of the perfumery used by the ladies, and lastly the strains
of the enormous orchestra playing galops, waltzes, polkas, mazurkas,
with a swing, a precision, a vigor which makes your legs twitch; and do
not be surprised if you begin to feel like a different man, if your
brain whirls, if your heart beats more rapidly, if you suddenly become
inclined to play pranks, to enjoy yourself--no matter how.
But you do not intend to have come to the Opéra ball for nothing. You
aspire to an intrigue, a conquest, an unexpected meeting. You seek
pleasure, no matter under what form it presents itself, and you often
pass several hours in the quest, or rather, in quest of the unknown.
Ah! it is so provoking when a domino with a graceful figure, a tiny hand
and a well-arched foot takes your arm, saying:
"I know you!"
_I know you!_ those three words, uttered by an unfamiliar voice, but by
a woman who takes your arm, clings to it familiarly, leans toward you
and looks into your eyes in a very alluring way--those three words
disturb you, excite you, toss you at once into the field of conjecture.
No matter how many times you may hear them during the night, they always
produce their effect, and especially, as I said just now, if the masker
who says them to you has a pretty figure, a pretty hand, pretty
eyes--all of which make one desire or hope for a charming face.
First of all, you try to identify the person who speaks to you; you
examine her eyes, the lower part of her chin, which the mask imperfectly
conceals; you pass in review the feet, the arms, the figure, the hair.
You listen attentively to the tone of the voice, which is never
perfectly disguised to a very sharp ear.
But when all these have failed to give you any information; when you
abandon the idea of recognizing your companion, then you proceed to
imagine a woman to match your ideal. Behind the mask that covers her
face, you place lovely, intellectual features of the sort that you most
affect; your imagination takes fire--you have met the woman of your
dreams, you are beginning to fall in love; a few seconds more, and you
will have a full-fledged passion on your hands. But no; it will not go
so far as that. You will restrain yourself, for there is always a
reverse side to the medallion; and that reverse side the sirens
themselves are blundering enough to show to you. You have not had your
lady on your arm ten minutes, when she says to you:
"Aren't you going to ask me to take something?"
Ah! what a tumble your imagination takes at that! how suddenly your
dreams of a woman of fashion, distinguished, mysterious, passionate, are
transformed into humble flower-makers, corset-makers, waistcoat-makers,
and sometimes something even humbler!
"Aren't you going to ask me to take something?"--can it be that a woman
of breeding, a woman of the _beau_ _monde_, or even of the _beau
demi-monde_, would ask that question?
No, that has the savor of a grisette, or a _fillette_, a league away! I
am aware that Carnival has its license, and that, with the face masked,
one may venture to say things that one would not say with the face
exposed. But it is none the less certain that that unlucky phrase is
almost equivalent to the unmasking of your conquest, and brings you down
at once from the fertile land of illusions to the much more arid regions
of reality. And then, as if they instantly divined the wishes of your
fair companion, the dealers in bonbons and oranges always arrive at the
moment the question is asked. You are too gallant to refuse, moreover,
you probably know that, if you should refuse, your conquest would at
once drop your arm, saying:
"Bah! what a skinflint! Thanks! I've had enough of your acquaintance; it
ain't worth the cost of a stick of sugar candy!"
Plume yourself then, if you can, upon having been that damsel's escort,
upon having felt her arm lean upon yours and her hand respond to the
pressure of your hand; alas! there is no excuse for pride.
But, you will tell me, there are exceptions; ladies of the best society,
pretty bourgeoises, even women of honorable name, indulge in the
pleasure of the masquerade; there is no danger of their unmasking, you
may be sure! on the contrary, they disguise themselves with the greatest
care, in such wise as to turn aside all suspicions and to deceive
everybody who knows them. But those things which they never succeed in
concealing are their elegant manners, their distinguished bearing, their
refined language.
Yes, there are, doubtless, some of those ladies at the Opéra; they have
longed to satisfy their curiosity by a glimpse of one of these orgies.
Sometimes a more powerful motive leads them thither; they desire to
surprise a disloyal lover, to confound him, to unmask his treachery;
or,--and this is much more agreeable--they have consented to come
secretly into this crowd, because they know that they will meet here
someone whom it is impossible for them to see elsewhere; and perhaps,
under cover of the mask, they will consent to let fall from their lips a
sweet confession which you would never have obtained otherwise.
It is true that there are these exceptions, and that you have a chance
of falling in with one of these ladies. Indeed, it would distress me to
rob you of the many illusions in which the charm of a masquerade
consists; but I must remind you that these _comme il faut_ ladies are
not at the ball to enter into an intrigue; it is always an intrigue
already begun that brings them there. And then, what probability is
there that one of them will come to you, take your arm, and say: "I know
you!" when she does not know you and has not come to the ball on your
account? Are you not convinced now that you will not intrigue with one
of these ladies?
No, you are not, because in your heart you consider yourself a
sufficiently attractive youth to take the eye of a nobly-born dame, who
may not have come on your account, but who would be very glad to make
your acquaintance. That is your idea; it is very pleasant to you to
believe that! Very well, believe it! If it makes you happy, you are
wise. Cradle yourself in the sweetest illusions, let your imagination
run riot, though you have nothing to show for your stick of candy.
On a certain night, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-six--it was
Mi-Carême, and consequently the last day of license permitted after the
Carnival. It was therefore the last Opéra masquerade, and so it was
magnificent in respect to numbers, uproar and eccentric costumes. There
were, as always, numbers of pretty little women dressed as
_débardeurs_,[A] that is to say, in high-necked shirts, velvet or satin
breeches with broad bands of brilliant colors, sash tied behind, and on
their heads a sort of foraging-cap covered with flowers and worn over
the ear in the true swaggering style.
There were Pierrots of all colors and sizes, a few ladies dressed à la
Pompadour, many gypsies, and some of those young men who are determined
to attract notice at any cost, and for that purpose adopt a costume to
which it is difficult to give a name. One, dressed in knee-breeches of
spangled satin, wore high postilion's boots and a Turkish jacket; on his
back he had a quiver, on his head a saucepan by way of helmet, and
fastened to the saucepan, a plume of enormous size. This plume, which
waved in the air three feet above the crowd, could be seen from one end
of the hall to the other. It must have been fatiguing to have that
immense thing on one's head; but what do not people do at a masquerade,
to attract attention?
Another represented a savage or a bear, it was hard to tell which. He
had made himself a sort of crown with those little brooms which are sold
for three sous. He carried an umbrella in one hand and a fan in the
other. The more extravagant one's costume, the more trouble one takes to
be seen by the multitude.
But the orchestra gave the signal for a quadrille. As a general rule,
all those maskers who are costumed in character dance, for they aim to
display as much extravagance in their dancing as in their costumes.
Unluckily for them, there are officials whose duty it is to moderate
their enthusiasm and to call them to order when they put too much
_laissez-aller_ into their steps. In heaven's name, what would they do
if they were not watched!
The quadrille almost always ends in a general galop. Thereupon everyone
joins in and is whirled away in the vortex. The innumerable sets are
confounded in a resistless torrent of gallopers which roars around the
ball-room, in five, six, sometimes seven rows at once; all galloping and
jumping and running! Woe to the unlucky wight who stumbles! the torrent
stops only with the music, and he would inevitably be trampled under the
feet of the dancers.
But do not be alarmed, nobody falls; they all are sure-footed and agile
performers; and those pretty little female _débardeurs_, who seemed to
you but now so slender and delicate, are often the most intrepid of all
in that mad galop in which one must not pause.
Toward the end, the orchestra quickens the time; then it ceases to be a
dance; it is a genuine delirium, a frenzy; shouts and singing blend with
the music, and the whirling mass passes before you like a railroad
train. At that moment, the sight is truly miraculous, truly interesting
to watch; and we know many people who go to the Opéra ball solely to sit
in a box and watch the galop at their ease. In truth, I doubt whether
anything similar can be seen elsewhere.
Two dominos had just entered one of the proscenium boxes. The first,
pearl-gray, trimmed with rich lace, was worn by a tall, slender woman
whose well-developed figure it outlined sharply. Despite her disguise,
one could divine that the costume covered a person well accustomed to
the noisy demonstrations of the maskers and to the eccentricities of the
dancers. There was something bold and determined in her manner, and, as
she watched the galop which was then at its height, the gray domino
seemed neither surprised nor fascinated; she gazed at that rushing
torrent, not like a person enjoying an entertaining spectacle, but like
a person at the theatre who pays no attention to the play that is in
progress, but is solely occupied in looking for someone among the
audience.
The second domino was black; it was worn by a person of medium height
and decent demeanor, in whose appearance there was nothing to attract
attention. She, however, seemed to take much pleasure in watching the
galop, and from time to time uttered exclamations eloquent of the
surprise which that frenzied dance caused her.
The two ladies had seated themselves at the front of the box, where, in
all probability, their seats had been engaged. The gray domino, whose
eyes were fastened on the dancing throng, was certainly looking for
someone; the black domino, who was looking for no one, cried from time
to time:
"Oh! look there, my dear! how they push one another! See! that tall
Pierrot has taken his partner in his arms and away he dances with her!
Mon Dieu! suppose he should fall! And see that Marquise Pompadour with
her wig half off; she's going to lose her wig! look, Thélénie!"
"Yes, yes, I see; but I beg you, my dear Héloïse, not to make so many
exclamations; anyone would think you had never seen anything."
"But I haven't ever seen the Opéra ball. I've been to Valentino,
Sainte-Cécile, and the Salle Barthélemy."
"Enough, enough! for heaven's sake, keep quiet, and above all things,
remember not to call me by name when you speak to me. You must see that
it isn't worth while for me to disguise myself carefully if you are
going to shout my name in the ears of everybody who passes."
"I only mentioned your given name."
"And that's just the one that people know best; and as it isn't so
common as yours, anybody would know it was I."
"That's so; your name's a very pretty one--like a name in a novel; did
your parents give it to you, or did you take it?"
The gray domino did not think it best to answer this question except by
a slight shrug, which clearly signified: "Mon Dieu! how stupid you are!"
But the black domino, who perhaps did not understand pantomime, went on
talking none the less.
"For my part, I'd rather be named Thélénie than Héloïse: Héloïse is very
common, and then it seems there's some story about a Héloïse and her
lover, a Monsieur Abelard. I don't know it myself, it must be an old
story, for I've never read it in the papers. But it seems that it's
laughable, for the men who make love to me say: 'O lovely Héloïse, I'd
like to be your lover, but not your Abelard!'--I always pretend to
understand, for I don't want to seem ignorant; I wouldn't dare ask them
to tell me about the adventures of those two, so I just laugh and say:
'Tell me, why don't you want to be my Abelard? you're very hard to
suit!' Then they laugh harder than ever.--I say, Thélénie, you know such
a lot of things, you've had an education--tell me that story, won't
you?"
Tall Thélénie, for we know now the pearl-gray domino's name, thanks to
her companion's prattle, suddenly placed her hand on the black domino's
and said:
"Hush! I think I see him--that young man dressed as a postilion, at the
left, with a dairymaid on his arm; look, I say!"
"That postilion--Monsieur Edmond! oh, no! his nose is much longer."
"No, no, you are right; it isn't he!"
"Is Monsieur Edmond to be disguised as a postilion?"
"How do you suppose I know how he's disguised, or if he is disguised? I
am not even certain that he's at the ball; and yet I have a shrewd idea
that he'll come; it's the last masquerade, and he's so fond of sport."
"Bless me! it's natural at his age! how old is he?"
"Oh! how you pester me with your continued questioning, Héloïse!"
"Mon Dieu! how touchy you are to-night! Is it my fault, I should like to
know, that you've quarrelled with your lover, that he plays tricks on
you! When that happens to me, I console myself very quickly; I take
another, and very often that brings back the old one, who is angry
because I do as he does, and becomes much more in love than before! But
you must know that method--all women employ it and it invariably
succeeds."
"Yes, I know it, and I used to make use of it; but now--I can't act like
that with Edmond."
"It seems that you are really caught, my dear! An experienced woman like
you! I'm amazed!"
"You're amazed at everything to-night!"
"That proves that I am not blasé, and that's something."
"Do you say that to insult me?"
"Hoity-toity! now I'm insulting her! On my word, you're in a murderous
mood! If I had known, I wouldn't have come to the ball with you. To be
sure, you paid for my domino; but I could have found someone else to pay
me that attention. I came to the ball for fun, not to quarrel."
"Come, come, Héloïse, don't lose your temper. I am in an ugly mood
to-night, that's true; my nerves are all on edge, for I don't know where
he is, the traitor, and I want to know. I still love him; I love him;
and remember, he is the first man who ever introduced me to that
sentiment."
"Indeed? If you said that to him, I should believe it was humbug, as we
always say to our last lover: 'Ah! my dear! you are the first man who
ever taught me what love is!' but you've no reason for lying to me; I
don't dare to say again that you astonish me; you might tell me again
that I am astonished too much."
"My dear Héloïse, my life has been decidedly agitated, I admit; I don't
set myself up to you as a pattern of virtue!"
"You are quite right, for I shouldn't believe you."
"I will even tell you honestly how old I am,--a thing that women do not
often admit to each other. I am thirty-two; as you see, I should have
had some experience."
"Thirty-two! Well, without flattery, you may lie fearlessly on that
subject, for no one would think you more than twenty-eight at most."
"At thirty-two, with my face and figure, I thought that I might still
fascinate a young man of twenty-six."
"That you might! I should say so! Why not, I should like to know? Is a
woman old at thirty-two? For my part, I hope to make conquests at
forty-five; but I have plenty of time before me, thank God! I am in my
twenty-third year."
"I have had more than one liaison, it is true, but I tell you again,
Edmond is the first man I ever loved--with love; and when a woman feels
that sentiment so late in life--why, it's very violent, so violent that
it makes her capable of anything!"
"Oh! mon Dieu! you frighten me, my dear! But don't get excited; it will
pass away."
"I wish it might, but I have no hope of it."
"If he loved you, and you were sure of it, in a little while you would
cease to love him; it has always worked that way with me."
"Hush! hush! here comes someone I know; above all, don't turn."
The door of the box was open, and a gentleman had entered. He was a man
of about forty, but still very handsome; tall, with a fine figure,
regular features, a distinguished face, and a piercing, ironical glance;
in his brown eyes, which were rather too heavily shadowed by his lashes,
there was almost always a mocking look, which, however, was quite in
accord with his always mocking speech.
An extremely yellow and bilious complexion detracted somewhat from the
advantages which this gentleman would naturally have owed to his
physique; but there are ladies who prefer yellow skins to white ones,
and whose preference does not stop short of the mulatto.
This personage, as he entered the box, toyed with a beautiful
gold-rimmed eyeglass, which was suspended about his neck by a light hair
chain. He remained on his feet for some time, closely watching the
pearl-gray domino. But, since his arrival, the two ladies at the front
of the box pretended to be gazing with interest at the ball, where the
galop had just come to an end; and neither of them turned.
Annoyed by the persistence with which the two dominos showed him only
their backs, the newcomer stepped over a bench and seated himself behind
them. Then he tapped the gray domino's shoulder lightly and said to her
in an undertone:
"My fair friend, it's of no use for you to persist in not turning, and
to force your companion to follow suit, which seems to be very
distasteful to her; it doesn't prevent my recognizing you. I watched you
just now from below; your black eyes shone like carbuncles; those eyes
betray you, my love; when you don't wish to be recognized, assume the
costume of Fortune, and wear a bandage over them."
"I don't know what you want with me," said Mademoiselle Héloïse's
companion, carefully disguising her voice; "my eyes shine, you say? so
much the better; I am delighted. I have no reason to hide them. If I
don't turn round, you may be sure that it's not on account of you, whom
I don't know, and whom I have no desire to know!"
"Ah! my dear Thélénie! If I hadn't recognized you already, your last
words would have left me in no doubt as to your identity! A person may
disguise her face and figure, or change her voice,--that's all very
well; but she must remember also to change her mental habit and her mode
of speech. You have always had a considerable leaning toward
impertinence; and you yielded to it again just now when you said that
you had no desire to know me. Tell me, am I not right? Take my word for
it, and profit by this advice--if you want to puzzle anybody and to
avoid being identified, be good-natured, indulgent, and don't speak
unkindly of anyone; then I promise you that people won't recognize you."
The tall Thélénie with difficulty repressed an angry exclamation;
however, she forced herself to laugh as she replied:
"Ha! ha! ha! that is all very pretty! Well, why aren't you disguised as
a magician, since you pretend to be able to tell everyone so exactly
what sort of person she is?"
"Oh! I don't disguise myself any more; my time for that has passed."
"True; you are too old for that."
"There are many older than I who continue to disguise themselves. It is
not age that prevents a man from making a fool of himself, it's the
degree of pleasure he finds in doing it. See, look at that tall
Polichinelle just passing you, with two Swiss women on his arms; that is
old Simoulin, the lorettes' banker. He is more than fifty years old, but
that doesn't prevent him from disguising himself still; he must have
intrigues, love-affairs, mistresses; he imagines that he still makes
conquests--an old idiot who doesn't understand yet that his money is the
only thing that attracts the women. He has done many foolish things for
them; he has already consumed three-fourths of his fortune, and the rest
will probably go the same way. Then all these beauties, for whom he will
have ruined himself, will turn their backs on him and order their maids
to shut the door in his face if he has the audacity to call on his
former mistresses.--Isn't that true? But I am telling you nothing new.
You know it all better than I do, for you have been intimately
acquainted with that beggarly Polichinelle.--And that tall young man
yonder, dressed to represent Gille.[B] His costume is well chosen, at
all events. Poor fellow! what a haggard face, what hollow cheeks, what a
dull, brutish expression! Ah! he was once a good-looking fellow. He's a
Hungarian; why in the deuce did he leave his country with such a
well-filled wallet? He wanted to know Paris, to enjoy himself here! I
don't know if he has enjoyed himself very much--I trust so. But to run
through a hundred and fifty thousand francs in six months--that is
rather a rapid pace; nothing less than a princely fortune will stand
that sort of thing. Now this young Hungarian is obliged to borrow until
his worthy father chooses to send him some money. But the father keeps
his pockets buttoned; he thinks that his son has been rather too
magnificent. You know this young foreigner also, my dear--know him very
well, in fact. But it isn't he whom you are looking for in this throng;
it's little Edmond Didier--your latest passion! I say your latest--I
think so, but I wouldn't swear to it. You have had so many! Have you
made a memorandum of them all, with a view to writing your memoirs some
day? If you have not, you are making a mistake, for I assure you they
would have a good sale. I will engage a copy in advance."
The gray domino made no reply, but one could see from her nervous
movements that she could hardly restrain her wrath. The black domino,
who was tired of keeping silent, thought that she was doing an excellent
thing in suddenly observing to the gentleman who was talking to her
friend:
"Mon Dieu! my dear man, you must see that you bore us to death. For
heaven's sake, leave us in peace! We didn't come to the Opéra to listen
to your _ragots_--silly backbiting."
The gentleman laughed heartily.
"Ha! ha! _ragots!_ not a very refined expression! My little Héloïse,
your friend ought to give you lessons in refined speech, otherwise you
might compromise her; and she didn't bring you here for that."
"I say! do you know me, too?"
"Bah! you little bungler! you give yourself away at once; really you are
not shrewd enough to accompany Thélénie; but you are not pretty, that is
why she gives you the preference!"
"I am not pretty! well, upon my word! this long yellow-face is very
polite!"
"Ha! ha! ha! I see, mesdames, that you are really going to be angry; I
will leave you."
"That will give us great pleasure."
"I forgive Héloïse her ill-humor; she simply obeys the orders that are
given her. But I am very sorry that Madame de Sainte-Suzanne does not
act differently. When one has been on very intimate terms with a person,
and when one is aware that that person knows exactly what one's worth
is, one should always be affable with that person; it is not clever to
adopt a different course. Good-evening, mesdames. My dear Thélénie, if I
see young Edmond, I shall not fail to tell him that you are looking for
him, and to describe your costume, so that he may recognize you."
Thélénie turned suddenly, and seizing the gentleman's arm as he was
about to leave the box, said to him, no longer seeking to disguise her
voice:
"Oh! don't do that, Beauregard; I beg you not to do that; for I don't
want Edmond to know that I am here."
"Well, well! so you know me now! Ha! ha! this is amusing; I was
beginning to think I had made a mistake myself."
"Come, Beauregard, don't be so spiteful! don't betray me! What motive
can you have for injuring me? Have I ever done anything to you?"
"You? oh! you certainly have done no more to me than to other men. And
yet--there is a certain matter--But let us not talk of that here; this
place would be ill chosen for a serious conversation. I will see you
again, and then, I hope, you will answer my questions frankly. I will
leave you now, and if I see young Edmond, I will tell him nothing."
"Do you promise?"
"Do you want me to swear?"
"No, that is not necessary."
"You are right; between ourselves, you and I know what to think of
oaths."
And the gentleman, with a very slight inclination of the head, left the
box in which the two dominos were.
II
EDMOND AND FRELUCHON
In a pleasant little bachelor apartment, on the fourth floor, but in a
house occupied by most excellent tenants, on Rue de Provence, a young
man hardly twenty-six years of age was impatiently pacing the floor of a
bedroom which was used also as a salon. He glanced constantly at a small
clock on the mantel, and muttered:
"Almost ten o'clock, and Freluchon doesn't come! Does he expect me to
pass my whole evening waiting for him? Oh! these people who are never on
time ought to be fined! I'll give him five minutes more, and then, if he
hasn't come, so much the worse for him--I shall go! After all, he won't
have any difficulty in finding me."
The young man who said all this to himself was named Edmond Didier. I
have told you his age; I will add that he was a very comely fellow,
well-built, above middle height; that he had blue eyes shaped a little
like those of the Chinese, but with a sweet and tender expression to
which the young man owed many conquests. His nose was well-shaped,
although it was not aquiline--there are some very pretty noses which are
not aquiline; his mouth was intellectual, his teeth suited to the mouth,
his forehead broad and open, his chestnut hair very fine and silky, and
always arranged simply and without that horrible parting which imparts
to the heads of the most dandified men the aspect of those wax models
which you see in hair-dressers' windows.
Young Edmond, as you will see, was a very good-looking fellow,
especially if we add that all these features combined to form a whole in
which there was much character; for you might bring together a pair of
large eyes, a pretty mouth, a Greek nose, and handsome hair, and
therewith form a whole which would have no expression at all. We often
observe this in women, and say as we look at them: "There's a beautiful
statue!"
Do not you consider that that which has animation is to be preferred,
even though it be less beautiful?
Young Edmond, whose parents had retired to the provinces with a moderate
fortune, had received from his uncle some sixty thousand francs, which
he had invested in a business house where he was supposed to work, but
where he did not work, because he had none too much time to amuse
himself, and because he hoped that the thirty-six hundred francs which
he received as interest on his investment would suffice for his
amusements.
Edmond was good-natured and clever; nature had endowed him with a
delightful voice, because of which he was very popular in salons. He
sang ballads with almost as much soul and taste as poor Achard, who sang
so beautifully and who required so little urging; and who died so
prematurely, when he was still in the heyday of his talent, leaving
behind him so much love, so many friendships, and such deep and lasting
regret!
Edmond Didier had a warm heart and rather an unreliable head; he was
easily moved and generous, but forgetful, changeable and careless. He
lost his temper quickly and recovered it as quickly; he was naturally
light-hearted, but had fits of melancholy when he dreamed of a _Sleeping
Beauty in the Wood_, whom he would have liked to awaken.
Every day he resolved to turn his mind to something, to work, to try to
become a capable man, a man qualified to fill an important post or to
manage a business house; but the current of pleasure whirled him along;
he always had some new song which an attractive woman had begged him to
sing at her next reception; and how can one refuse a woman who tells you
that it is her greatest joy to hear you sing? So that he had to study
the song instead of going to the merchant who had his funds, to study
bookkeeping.
Ah! if the ladies knew how seriously they interfere with a young man's
duties! especially with those of a young man who asks nothing better
than to have them interfered with!
Now you know young Edmond Didier, who, after trying to be content with
the income of his sixty thousand francs, had begun to encroach upon his
principal.
At last the bell rang and Edmond hastened to open his door. Another
young man, very short and very slender, with a long, peaked face, a
long, pointed nose, shrewd eyes, something of the marten in his face and
much abandon in his bearing, entered the room, with his hands in his
pockets, crying:
"Sapristi! how cold it is!"
The newcomer's name was Freluchon; he had inherited money from his
mother and from his uncle, and his pockets were always full. He spent it
freely, but he did not throw it out of the window; he devoted much time
to pleasure, but he occasionally took a turn in business or speculated a
little on the Bourse. He was generally very fortunate in what he
undertook, and often succeeded in making more than he spent. He was
three years older than Didier, whose intimate friend he was.
He was a good fellow, that is to say, he was always ready to do what
anyone wanted him to do, so long as it was not a bore to him. Beneath a
frail and sickly appearance, he was blessed with the strength of a
Hercules, and could kill an ox with a blow of his fist. Men of that type
as a general rule never seek a quarrel with anybody.
"Here you are at last!" cried Edmond as his friend entered. "It's very
lucky. I was just going away. You're a full half-hour behindhand."
"First of all, have you a fire? On my word of honor, I am frozen!"
"Oh! we can warm ourselves at the young ladies' room, as they're waiting
for us; it's not worth while to settle down here."
"But I say it is; the order of the day and the line of march are
changed.--Ah! good! there is a fire; with a little blowing and another
stick, it will go all right."
"What is there new? Why aren't we going to Henriette's, where Amélia was
to join us? That was all arranged this morning."
"Yes, but since this morning, many things have happened.--Where in the
devil do you keep your bellows?"
"There, in that corner.--Come, Freluchon, I should be very glad to know
what all this means."
"Just a moment,--when the fire's well kindled; good! now it's blazing
up. A fine invention is fire; it must have been the sun that suggested
the idea. The Peruvians worship the sun, and I believe I am descended
from them. I too worship the sun--especially in winter; in summer I
would gladly do without it."
"When you've finished, perhaps you'll answer me."
"How impatient he is! Let us go softly--_piano_, as the Italians
say.--My dear fellow, this is what has happened: we went much too fast
with those young women--so-called flower-makers! We made love to them,
they listened to us; they are very pretty. Now, that is all very well,
but we undertook to dazzle them by our generosity--there's the foolish
blunder! Not content with treating them to superfine dinners, set off
with iced wines which they poured down like Prussians, we began at once
to give them presents. You gave your Amélia a beautiful opera glass
which you used at the theatre, and I handed over a dainty gold-rimmed
eyeglass which I had lent to Henriette, who assured me that it was
perfectly adapted to her sight. When those damsels saw that they had
only to wish in order to obtain, they said to themselves: 'We must wish
for something else.'--They took us for great nobles or for
gulls--perhaps for both--and determined to hold us to ransom."
"You always think that somebody is trying to cheat you. Why think that
of those young flower-makers, who seem to be fond of work and to lead
orderly lives? I have been to Amélia's only three times, but I have
always found them at work making flowers."
"So have I; but I have noticed that it was always the same flower that
was under way. It seems that it's a difficult one to make!"
"They don't seem to be hard up; they have some very pretty mahogany
furniture, which they pay for by pleasure."
"Yes; as for that, I have never doubted it. Indeed, Henriette told me,
in the beginning of our intimacy, when I complimented her on her
lodgings, that she had paid for it all by her work and by the way she
passed her nights; but as they lie constantly, they forget one day what
they told you the day before. Here's a proof of it--look."
"What is this letter?"
"A billet-doux that I received from Henriette this morning; she doesn't
write badly, I must do her that justice; and not a mistake in spelling!
That's very nice for a flower-maker, but it's all the more dangerous.
Take it and read it."
Edmond took the letter that his friend handed him and read as follows:
"My dear Freluchon:
"A terrible catastrophe has befallen me; my furniture, which I
thought was paid for, is not. The upholsterer is going to compel me
to leave my apartment instantly, if I do not pay four hundred
francs on account. Be kind enough to lend me that amount, which I
will pay you very soon. Otherwise you will not find me at my rooms,
as I shall be turned out, and I have no idea where Amélia and I
will go. You may hand the money to the woman who brings this
letter; but be sure to seal it.
"Your loving and faithful friend,
"HENRIETTE."
"Well! what do you say to that?"
"Why! I say--but what reply did you make? did you send the money?"
"I'm not so foolish, I tell you! In the first place, this letter is
altogether too much! What does she mean by 'her furniture, that she
thought was paid for, but is not?' And this upholsterer who will have
her turned out of her apartments if she doesn't pay him? An upholsterer
may take back his furniture, but he doesn't turn you into the street by
that. The trick was too plain; and in order to write such stuff to a
man, one must take him for a goose. As I don't care to be likened to
that bird, I instantly informed the messenger that I was terribly
distressed, that I was in despair, but that I was unable to hand her
anything for Mademoiselle Henriette, and she went away with that
answer.--_Bigre_! four hundred francs at one slap, for a
flower-maker--that's too magnificent! You aim too high, my love!"
"Well! what next?"
"Why, there is no next."
"Didn't Henriette send to you again?"
"Not at all! she made the best of it, like a brave heart. She said to
herself: 'There's a young buck who isn't such an ass as I thought.'--And
I am sure that I have gained greatly in her esteem; that pleases me."
"I can see nothing in all this to interfere with our going now to call
for the young ladies and taking them to the Opéra ball, as we agreed."
"Ah! you can't, eh? Well, when I went out for a stroll before dinner, I
thought I would find out if the catastrophe had had any results, and I
walked as far as Rue de Saintonge, where our turtle-doves had their
perch. I asked the concierge: 'Is Mademoiselle Henriette in?'--Thereupon
that counterfeit Swiss looked at me with rather a bantering expression,
and replied:
"'No, monsieur, those young women have gone away.'
"'Will they return soon?'
"'Return! oh! I fancy they won't return here; they carried off their
belongings very cunningly in little bundles, and then they skipped. The
landlord came and made a row with me about it, and said that I didn't
ought to let anything go out of the house. But what can you expect? the
women nowadays wear skirts puffed out like balloons, so, you see, those
girls could have stuffed their whole wardrobe underneath. Ah! those
skirts are very deceitful; they'll be the cause of many _poufs_.'[C]
"'But,' I said to the man, 'what is the landlord afraid of? Those young
women had some very nice furniture, and I don't suppose they put their
mattresses and their wardrobes with glass doors under their skirts, did
they? And this isn't a furnished lodging-house; they had their own
furniture, didn't they?'
"'That is to say, they had their own furniture to pay for; the
upholsterer wanted to carry it away this morning; but not much--the
landlord must be paid first and they owed him for three quarters. For
all that, it's mighty unpleasant; it always ends in a row! When the
upholsterer found that he couldn't carry away his furniture, he was
crazy. "You ought not to have let those women go!" he said; "I'd have
had them put in prison." And so on and so forth. Have I any right to
keep tenants from going out, I'd like to know?'
"'No, certainly you haven't any such right; a concierge's authority
doesn't go so far as that; perhaps it may come, though, I shouldn't be
surprised! They do some pretty rough things already, but they haven't
got to the point of imprisoning tenants.'
"'Never mind; when we let rooms to two girls together again, it will be
hotter than it is now!'
"'Do you think there's less danger when they are alone?'
"'Certainly, one can keep a closer watch on them then; but when there's
two of 'em, why, they do nothing else besides going back and forth
before one's eyes, and it's impossible to know who goes in and out--so
one gets totally bewildered.'
"That, my dear fellow, is the conversation I had with the concierge of
those damsels, who strike me as being decidedly a bad lot. You see that
it's no use for us to go to their last lodgings to look for them."
"I see that the letter wasn't so far from the truth, when it said that
they would be turned out if they did not pay."
"They succeeded in escaping unaided. I asked how much the upholsterer
claimed: it was eight or nine hundred francs, I believe; but if I had
turned in four hundred francs, do you imagine for a moment that they
would have given it to their creditor? Ah! how little you know of that
breed! They would have vanished with my money, that's all!"
"Do you think so?"
"In other words, I am sure of it. 'Brought up in the harem, I know all
its devious ways.' These girls pass their lives making _poufs_; then
they make a trip to England, to try to make the conquest of some _lord_;
and when they don't succeed in that, they are obliged to sell
everything, even to their chemises, to pay for their return trip to
Paris. I tell you that I know the whole business, step by step."
"It's a pity! I regret Amélia, for she was very pretty!"
"There are others! Paris swarms with pretty women. Henriette was very
attractive, too; pink and white, Watteau style."
"I am terribly annoyed."
"But you're not unprovided for; you must fall back on your beautiful
brunette, whom I christened the Andalusian--your Madame de
Sainte-Suzanne, a woman almost comme il faut; at all events, she is
pleased now to affect the manners of one."
"I told you that I had broken with that lady; she insisted on having me
always at her side, and questioned me about every step I took; I had to
render her an account of my most trivial acts, and it was downright
slavery! A little more and she would have confined me to my room. You
can understand that that sort of thing didn't suit me!"
"Bless me! not unless you're an absolute idiot. Still, there are men
stupid enough to allow their mistresses to lead them by the nose.
There's Dutaillis, for example; he can't take a step for fear of a row!
When he goes out, it's: 'Where are you going?' When he comes in: 'Where
have you been? what makes you so red? why are you so pale? why is your
collar so rumpled? where did you pick up all that mud?'--There's no end
to it. And the jackass takes a world of pains to prove that he's no
redder than usual, and that his collar rumpled of itself because it
wasn't well starched! And the prettiest part of it all is that he'll end
by marrying his Virginette! What a grovelling future I foresee for the
poor wretch!--Your chimney is in bad order, it doesn't draw."
"I don't know whether Madame de Sainte-Suzanne flattered herself that I
would marry her; I don't think she went so far as that; but she was
atrociously jealous."
"Did she carry a dagger in her garter?"
"No, but she had several in her room, and very beautiful ones, encrusted
with jewels."
"They were gifts."
"However, I must do her justice: people told me she was a very covetous
woman and had ruined several of her adorers; but when I attempted to
give her rather a handsome present, she refused it; she would accept, or
rather take, nothing from me except a big lock of hair."
"The devil! that's much more dangerous; she'll probably make some kind
of a spell with your hair, some charm that will force you to love her.
For my part, I never give away any hair; I sell it, especially as I
shall be bald very early in life. Ah! then I'll make them pay dear for
it."
"Thélénie has beautiful black hair, very long and thick."
"Ah! that makes a lovely ornament for a woman! When I have a mistress
with handsome hair, I lose no time in removing her comb and arranging
her hair like a Bacchante's. But you must be careful; several times,
when I have supposed that I was dealing with real hair, upon removing
the comb suddenly--without asking permission--I have seen the whole
business fall: bands, curls and chignon! And then they flew into a rage
with me.--I am more prudent now and always ask if I may touch."
"Thélénie has jet-black eyes, too; you rarely see eyes of such a pure
black."
"Why, it seems to me you're still in love with her!"
"Oh, no! not at all. I made her acquaintance, as one makes many
acquaintances, by chance. She is a beautiful woman, always dressed with
no less taste than style. Such a conquest is always flattering to a
young man; but I soon saw that there was not the slightest sympathy
between that woman's temperament and mine; she is imperious and
exacting, and, as I said, very jealous."
"And you have broken with her?"
"I haven't set foot inside her door for a week."
"That's not very long. Hasn't she written to you?"
"Indeed she has, letter after letter; but I don't answer them."
"Very good! but take my advice and wear a coat of mail when you are out
late at night."
"Bah! what nonsense! Tell me, what motive for revenge can that woman
have? I didn't take her away from anybody else, I made her no promise of
marriage; I never swore that I would pass my life at her feet."
"It would have made your knees ache."
"I am sure that it's simply her self-esteem that makes her anxious to
renew our intimacy; she is vexed because I was unfaithful first."
"She isn't used to that."
"Never mind--I regret Amélia; I have only known her a week."
"And you haven't had time to tire of her yet, eh? Well, console
yourself; I'll bet you something that we shall find those two young
women at the Opéra ball."
"You think so? It isn't probable, they've no money."
"A grisette may have no money to pay her rent, but she always has enough
to go to the ball. I thought that you were farther advanced in such
matters, Edmond; you still have much to learn, my son."
"Very well! if they're at the ball, so much the better; no matter how
much they may be disguised, I am very sure that I can recognize Amélia;
she has a funny little accent that she can't lay aside."
"And what about me! how shall I recognize Henriette? She has a very
distinct mark, a raspberry; to be sure, I doubt if she'll let me look at
the place where it is, in the ball-room."
"Let us start; we'll go into the Café du Passage for a little while."
"One moment! Chamoureau is coming. We can't go without him."
"What's that! Chamoureau coming? What on earth induced you to ask that
donkey? If he were amusing, or unpretentious, I wouldn't say a word; a
man may be stupid and a good fellow; but he isn't that sort. And then,
since he lost his wife, he pulls out his handkerchief as soon as she's
mentioned! He is forever lamenting and weeping for his Eléonore!--Great
God! let him weep for his wife, let him regret her--I wouldn't prevent
him; but I have no inclination to share his grief. That you should sigh
with him--that's all right, I can understand that; for his wife was very
nice. You were always at their house; you took madame to the theatre and
to drive."
"It was Chamoureau's wish."
"And that suited you very well. I am not blaming anybody. Indeed,
Chamoureau has the head of a fellow to whom that sort of thing is sure
to happen. But frankly, why do you want him to come and groan in our
ears? Surely he won't go to the masquerade with us."
"You think so, my dear fellow, but you don't know Chamoureau at all; he
is infinitely more amusing than you think. He's a man to be studied; I
propose this evening to put you in a position to judge him. But hush! I
hear someone blowing his nose on the stairs; it must be he."
III
A WIDOWER
The doorknob did, in fact, turn at that moment, and the person of whom
they were speaking entered Edmond's room.
Monsieur Chamoureau was a man of about thirty-five years of age, who
appeared fully forty; not that his face was lined or his features
altered; on the contrary, his ears were red and his complexion ruddy.
But he was already blessed with a protruding paunch and had only a bunch
of light hair on the top of his head, quite separate from that which
still adorned his ears and the base of his skull. The good man's
features were not repellent: his eyes were of the blue seen in faïence;
his nose, which was a little too long, was very straight; his mouth was
small and delicate, his teeth were very handsome, his chin was
well-rounded and embellished by a little dimple that would have made a
chubby-cheeked angel envious, and his light whiskers were very unkempt.
He was of medium height, but not well-built; his calves were conspicuous
by their absence, and his knees often met when he walked. All this,
however, did not prevent Monsieur Chamoureau from considering himself a
very handsome man.
"Well! here's Chamoureau at last!" said Freluchon, offering the newcomer
his hand. "I knew he would come, for he promised."
"Good-evening, messieurs. Monsieur Edmond, it is very presumptuous of me
to come to your apartment like this, but Monsieur Freluchon asked me to;
I don't quite know why, for you two are going to enjoy yourselves, you
think of nothing but ending your Carnival in good style, while I--Ah!
God!----"
Here Monsieur Chamoureau drew his handkerchief and blew his nose at
great length.
"You did very well to come, Monsieur Chamoureau. Come to the fire and
warm yourself."