probably going to join him here.' But no one came. And then, the new
owner, instead of showing himself to his neighbors and trying to become
acquainted with them, never went out to walk, or at all events not in
any frequented part of the country; and people said: 'Have you seen the
owner of the Tower?'--'No.'--'Nor I; where in the devil does the man
keep himself?'--'Doesn't he ever leave his house or his grounds? he must
live like a hermit, then?'
"One day, however, one of the townspeople met him and lost no time in
letting everybody know that this Monsieur Paul was a tall, well-built
man, neither young nor old, that is to say, with a full beard which
covered a large part of his face and made it impossible to guess his
age; but that he had a savage, repellent, disagreeable manner; that he
was dressed very simply, in hunting costume: jacket, long leather
gaiters and a cap with a broad vizor which concealed all the upper part
of his face. He had a gun in his hand and a large dog at his heels.
"People said: 'He is probably very fond of hunting and passes all his
time at it; hunters aren't very good-natured, so we must overlook his
peculiarities. But the hunting season doesn't last forever, and no doubt
the man with the big dog will become more sociable; let us wait.'
"They waited in vain. However, they saw Monsieur Paul occasionally,
walking in the fields with his faithful companion. But when anyone
approached, he quickly turned in the other direction to avoid meeting
them.
"One day, however, Madame Droguet, one of the largest land-owners in the
neighborhood--Madame Droguet, having watched to see which roads the
master of the Tower usually chose for his walks, said to her friends:
"'I am determined to see our new neighbor and to speak to him; in short,
I propose to find out what that man has to say for himself; if he's a
foreigner, I can tell by his accent what country he comes from. The fact
is, I propose to find out what we are to think about him, and it won't
take me long to see whether he's a _comme il faut_ person or an ill-bred
one.'
"'How will you go to work to find out?' someone asked Madame
Droguet--'As the owner of the Tower avoids everybody, as he only goes
where nobody else goes, how do you expect to talk with him?'
"'That's my affair, I shall find a way! you know that what a woman wants
always comes to pass in time.'
"Madame Droguet is a woman who has no doubt of her ability to do
anything, and who fears nothing. There are some people hereabout who
declare that she was a _vivandière_ in her youth, and that she served in
Africa; that is a statement hardly worth repeating.
"And so this lady, who, as I have had the honor to tell you, had
carefully observed what roads the master of the Tower frequented,
concealed herself in a dense thicket at the corner of one of those
roads. For four days in succession she had the resolution to station
herself there and to wait several hours for the gentleman to pass. I
presume that she carried her knitting; one can knit anywhere, even in a
thicket. But the man with the dog did not pass. On the fifth day,
however, her patience was rewarded; she saw the hunter coming along a
path, and when he was within ten yards of her, she quickly stepped from
her thicket, so that she was directly in front of him, in a path so
narrow that it was impossible to avoid the meeting. The gentleman,
amazed to see a lady suddenly appear in front of him, stopped and seemed
disposed to turn back; but he concluded to step aside so as to allow
Madame Droguet to pass, while his dog glared at her as if he longed to
ask her what she was doing there.
"But, instead of passing the hunter, Madame Droguet halted directly in
front of him, made a low curtsy, and said:
"'I believe that I have the pleasure of addressing the new owner of the
Tower? I am charmed that chance affords me the pleasure of making his
acquaintance. I am a land-owner at Chelles; I receive all the best
people in the province, and if monsieur will deign to do me the honor to
come to see me----'
"But at that point the hunter abruptly interrupted the lady and said to
her in a sharp and none too courteous tone:
"'I go nowhere, madame, and I do not desire to make any new
acquaintances!'
"With that, he just touched his hand to his cap, which he did not even
raise from his head, and strode away, followed by his huge dog.
"Ah! if you could have seen Madame Droguet when she got home! She was
perfectly furious! She ran about to all her acquaintances, saying: 'I
know the owner of the Tower now! he's a boor, a clown, a man of no
breeding whatever! He didn't even raise his cap to me! He must be a mere
nobody who has made money, no one knows how. I'll wager that he doesn't
know how to read or write, and if he avoids society, it's because he
realizes that he would be out of place therein, and wouldn't know how
to behave himself! Thanks! I shan't undertake his education; it would be
too hard work to grub up that fellow.'
"For some time people talked of nothing but Madame Droguet's interview
with the newcomer, and the whole district knew that that gentleman
needed a thorough grubbing up; Madame Droguet's expression was a great
success; she often makes some very remarkable ones. After all, when a
person talks a great deal and says whatever comes into his head, it
isn't surprising that in the vast output of words there should be a few
clever ones--they may occasionally fall from the dullest person's lips.
"Several months passed and the proprietor of the Tower continued to
follow the same line of conduct.
"One morning, Monsieur Luminot, formerly a wholesale dealer in wines,
who is very well-to-do, and has a fine house and a good deal of land in
this region--Monsieur Luminot, I say, took it into his head to make this
Monsieur Paul's acquaintance.
"I must tell you, mesdames, that Monsieur Luminot is a lively old
fellow, a _bon vivant_ and wag, who often gives dinners and entertains
handsomely. He is highly esteemed all about here.
"He said to himself: 'The master of the Tower probably divined that
Madame Droguet had hidden in a clump of bushes in order to pop out in
front of him, and he didn't like it. I can understand that; men don't
like to have traps laid for them, or to be watched for and spied upon.
I'll go about it in an entirely different way; I'll go straight to this
gentleman and tell him that I have come as a neighbor, to call on him,
and I will invite him to dinner. He will say at all events: "Here's a
man who acts honestly, and doesn't lie in wait for me in the bushes."--I
feel sure that he will welcome me more courteously than he did Madame
Droguet.'
"And one fine day, after his breakfast, Monsieur Luminot bent his steps
toward the Tower. He rang the bell at the main gate which was always
kept locked, saying to himself that if Mère Lucas should answer the
bell, he would ask her to take him to her master. But it was not the old
peasant who opened the gate, it was the master of the house himself; he
stared at Monsieur Luminot with an air of amazement, and said in his
hoarse voice, not even allowing him to enter his premises:
"'What do you want, monsieur?'
"Our quondam wine merchant, who is not easily abashed, began to laugh as
he replied:
"'Pardieu! it is you I want, neighbor, for I am sure that you are the
master of the house. I am Luminot, a land-owner at Chelles, a _bon
vivant_, always staunch at the table, always ready to let my friends
taste my wine, which is not bad, I flatter myself. You don't go to see
anybody, you keep yourself shut up here like a bear in his den; that's
not the way to enjoy yourself! and I have come to ask you to dine with
me to-morrow.'
"'I thank you, monsieur,' replied the man with the dog, 'but, as I
entertain no one here, I do not go to other people's houses.'--And with
that he shut the gate in his face.
"Then it became Monsieur Luminot's turn to feel angry; he came home
shouting as loudly as Madame Droguet had:
"'Who in the devil is this fellow that's bought the Tower? The man's
worse than a savage! I undertake to be polite to him, to invite him to
dinner, and he shuts the door in my face without letting me cross the
threshold, without even asking me to sit down and take something! I
could have forgiven him for declining my invitation, but he might at
least have given me a taste of his wine! Decidedly he's a devilish mean
kind of a neighbor.'
"This, mesdames, is the way that people learned to know this eccentric
personage; it only remains for me to tell you of my personal experience.
"A year had passed since these incidents, and people were beginning to
talk a little less about the proprietor of the Tower--for we become
accustomed to everything, and by dint of discussing any one person there
comes a time when we have nothing more to say--when, as I was returning
one day from Gournay, where I had been to see a patient, I met Mère
Lucas, the old woman who composed the whole of Monsieur Paul's
establishment. I was passing her without stopping, but she accosted me,
saying:
"'Oh! I am glad I met you, Monsieur le Docteur Antoine Beaubichon; it's
as if Providence sent you on purpose, for I was just thinking that I'd
have to go to your house.'
"'Do you want to consult me, Mère Lucas?' said I; 'are you sick? what's
the matter with you?'
"'No, monsieur le docteur, I'm not sick; to be sure I'm not very strong,
but the cracked pots last longer than the new ones sometimes, you know.
It isn't for myself that I was going to see you, but for my master,
Monsieur Paul; he's sick, hasn't left his bed for two whole weeks, and
he must be feeling very bad, for he's a man that don't take any care of
himself, and I had hard work to get him to drink some herb tea.'
"'Ah! the owner of the Tower is sick, is he? Did he tell you to summon a
doctor?'
"'No, indeed he didn't! on the contrary, every time I say to him: "You
ought to have a doctor, monsieur, and if you say so I'll go and call the
doctor at Chelles, Monsieur Beaubichon, who's very learned and very
skilful," he says: "Let me alone, Mère Lucas! I don't need a doctor, I
won't have one; if I have got to die, I can die without doctors, and if
it is the will of heaven that I live, they won't be the ones to cure me;
nature will come to my assistance."'
"'Well,' I said to the old peasant, 'as this gentleman doesn't want a
doctor, why were you coming to fetch me?'
"'Why, monsieur, as if we ought to listen to sick folks, especially when
they're so peculiar as my master! He don't get any better since he said
that; on the contrary, he is much weaker since yesterday, and he seems
to be suffering more. So it's my duty to take care of him in spite of
him; and as it's your business to cure people, monsieur le docteur, you
can't refuse to prescribe for my master.'
"I reflected for some time; I am certainly not so inquisitive as Madame
Droguet, and I am not the man to crouch in the bushes for five days in
succession watching for a man I don't know. And yet I was not sorry to
obtain a nearer view of that strange man who avoided everybody, and to
be able to judge for myself whether Madame Droguet and neighbor Luminot
had not been a little severe on him. To make a long story short, as the
old servant still begged me to go with her to the Tower, I said to
myself: 'I may as well go; the man is sick; I am asked to go to see a
sick man, and it's my duty to go; that's my profession.'
"So I started off with Mère Lucas. On the way, I ventured to ask a few
questions about the proprietor.
"The old peasant's constant refrain was:
"'Oh! he's a very nice man! an excellent man!'
"As the woman is deaf, I concluded that she didn't hear my questions and
that she naturally answered at random.
"We reached the Tower in due time, and I entered the house, which,
although well furnished--richly furnished indeed--seemed to me
wretchedly kept. I passed through several rooms and at last reached a
door which the peasant motioned to me to open, saying:
"'This is the master's room; you don't need me to talk to him.'
"And she vanished. I glanced at my clothes to see if I was presentable,
and was brushing a speck of dust off my trousers, when I heard a dull
but prolonged groan.
"'The devil!' thought I; 'can it be my patient groaning like that? The
man is sicker than he thinks.'
"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! I confess, mesdames, that at the first shock I could
not control my alarm! As he stood, the dog was taller than I!"
Honorine and Agathe could not restrain a smile at this portion of the
doctor's narrative.
"Almost immediately," he continued, "a voice called: 'who is there?
there's someone there; who is it, Ami?'
"'Yes, monsieur,' said I in a trembling voice, 'it is a
friend--_ami_--who has come to see you.'--I unconsciously made a pun,
for I soon discovered that the Newfoundland's name was Ami, and that it
was he to whom the gentleman was speaking. I must say, for the dog's
justification, that he did not keep his paws on me long, and that, after
contemplating me for a few moments, he walked away from me as from a
person who was not at all dangerous.
"As there was no further obstacle to my passage, I entered the sick
man's room at last. I saw a man, still young, lying in bed; he was very
pale, with a very forbidding expression; and as he wore a full beard and
enormous moustaches, together with a great quantity of brown hair which
lay in disorder about his forehead, he really was not unlike a man of
the woods or an orang-outang of the larger species."
"So this man is very ugly, very repulsive to look at?" inquired
Honorine.
"It is not so much that he is positively ugly, madame, but that savage
look--you know. However, he did not give me much time to examine him,
for I had hardly reached the middle of the room when he cried:
"'Who are you, monsieur, and what do you want?'
"'Monsieur,' said I, bowing politely, 'I am Doctor Antoine Beaubichon,
long a resident of Chelles, and favorably known hereabout, I venture to
say. I attend the whole neighborhood, even a long way beyond the Marne.'
"'Well, what difference does it make to me whether you attend the whole
neighborhood?' retorted the sick man in an impatient tone. 'Why have you
come to my house? I didn't send for you, I don't need a doctor.'
"'Monsieur,' I said, 'I took the liberty of coming here only because I
was requested to do so, requested most urgently.'
"'By whom?'
"'Mère Lucas, your servant, who is much concerned about your health, and
who realizes that you are sicker than you think.'
"'Mère Lucas is meddling in something that doesn't concern her. I know
my own business best. I tell you again, monsieur, that I do not need a
doctor, and that you may go.'
"As you can imagine, mesdames, not being accustomed to that sort of
reception, I was already near the door, ready to take my leave and
sorely vexed that I had put myself out for such a boor, when I heard him
calling to me:
"'Monsieur! monsieur! one moment!'
"'Aha!' thought I, 'he thinks better of it; he is in pain, no doubt, and
realizes that there is nobody but myself who can relieve him. I will go
back, for we must be indulgent to invalids.'
"I turned back toward the bed; the bearded man was sitting up, and his
great dog was beside him, also sitting on his haunches. I was preparing
to feel the invalid's pulse, when he abruptly drew his arm away, and
said:
"'It isn't for myself, monsieur. My dog here hurt his shoulder some time
ago passing through a holly bush, and he still suffers from it. What
ought we to put on the wound?'
"When I found that it was for his Newfoundland that he had called me
back, I drew myself up to my full height and said to the unmannerly
fellow:
"'Let me tell you, monsieur, that I am no dog doctor! If you called me
back on this animal's account, you might have saved yourself the
trouble.'
"'Why are you unwilling to prescribe for my dog, pray?' he rejoined in a
savage tone; 'your visits will be paid for as generously as if you came
for me.'
"'I repeat, monsieur, that I attend men, not beasts!'
"Would you believe that he had the impertinence to reply:
"'In most cases, monsieur, men are the beasts, and dogs are much better
than they are!'
"Faith! mesdames, I had no desire to hear any more, so I put on my hat
and left the Tower, vowing never to put my foot inside its doors again
so long as this Monsieur Paul should be the owner."
"For all that," said Père Ledrux, who had returned to the door of the
salon, "if he had asked me for a receipt to cure his dog, I'd have given
him one, and a good one, too. Still, his Newfoundland got well by
himself, and so did his master, too! Ha! ha! You can't deny that they
didn't need you for that, monsieur le docteur!"
"What does that prove, Père Ledrux? simply that nature is sometimes as
powerful as science."
"Oh, yes! and if science had taken a hand in it, perhaps the two
invalids wouldn't be so smart to-day."
"So you don't believe in medicine, Père Ledrux?"
"I don't say that. I believe in anything you want; but I say just this,
that medicine sometimes makes mistakes, but nature--oh! she never makes
a mistake!"
"Now, mesdames, from these facts you may form your own opinion of the
proprietor of the Tower, and judge whether he is unjustly called a bear
and a disagreeable neighbor."
"It is evident, monsieur, that he avoids society," said Honorine;
"probably he has reasons for that. Doubtless he has had much to complain
of at its hands. But, nevertheless, his old servant said that he was an
excellent man."
"Mère Lucas is very hard of hearing; she often hears wrong.--However, in
addition to what happened to me and to Madame Droguet and Monsieur
Luminot, we have had many other opportunities for judging this
gentleman. On several occasions he has shown that he is really
malicious. Once, Jaquette, Catherine the laundress's daughter, a child
of nine, went home crying with her little sister; one cheek was bright
red. They asked her what the matter was, and she replied:
"'I met the man with the dog and he slapped my face hard because he said
I made faces at him.'
"Another time it was Thomas Riteux's son--a little boy of eleven, and a
very sly rascal--whom my gentleman kicked more than once
in--somewhere--because he happened to be in his way."
"Oh! that is very bad!" cried Agathe. "It seems that he detests children
then."
"Did the parents complain?"
"Nonsense!" said the gardener; "what's the sense of believing everything
this one or the other one says! There's people who heard Jaquette's
little sister say that Jaquette was beating her and eating her
cherries, and that was why he came up and slapped her. And as for
Thomas Riteux's son, he's a little devil. So far as he could see
Monsieur Paul's dog, he began to throw stones at him. Monsieur Paul saw
it and told him not to throw any more stones at his dog, because the
beast didn't like it. The little scamp is obstinate, and he began again
when he thought he wouldn't be seen. But the dog ran at him, and faith!
he had him by the breeches and things looked bad for the boy when
Monsieur Paul ran up and made him let go. That was when he kicked the
boy and said: 'You oughtn't to get off so cheap!'"
"But this puts an entirely different face on the matter," said Honorine.
"Don't you agree with me, monsieur le docteur?"
"It is possible, mesdames; I know that children sometimes tell false
stories; but I persist none the less in my opinion concerning the owner
of the Tower. He's a low fellow, whom I believe to be entirely
uninformed and uneducated. And as Madame Droguet--a very bright woman,
by the way--well said:
"'That man shuns society because he realizes that he would be out of
place in society.'
"I trust, mesdames, that this will not have any influence upon your
decision with regard to this house. Thank heaven, this Monsieur Paul
will hardly be what is called a neighbor to you, for it is fully half a
league from here to his place; and I venture to believe that you will
find in Chelles ample compensation. Society here is numerous but select.
You will find material for a game of whist or of Pope Joan. Of late,
too, we have taken up bézique. Madame Droguet gives receptions which all
the notabilities attend; sometimes there is dancing; she has a piano,
and when Monsieur Luminot brings his flageolet, there is a complete
orchestra. Recently they have tried the Lancers quadrille; they haven't
succeeded in dancing it through, but they will in time, especially as
Monsieur Droguet is passionately fond of dancing."
Honorine rose, as did her companion. The young woman thanked the doctor
for all the information he had been obliging enough to give them,
assuring him that it had only confirmed her in the plan she had formed
of purchasing Monsieur Courtivaux's estate.
Then the ladies left the house, to return to the railway station, saying
to the gardener:
"To-morrow morning we shall see the agent, and doubtless the bargain
will soon be concluded."
"Very good!" said Père Ledrux, "and meanwhile, as I told you, you know,
I won't show the house to anyone, because sometimes it happens--Well!
someone who happened to want it would only have to offer a little more
than you. Men never think of anything but their own interests, you know;
and it would slip out of your hands. But the way I'm going to do,
there's no danger; it's just between you and me. And then I'm going to
keep on with the garden, and I'll keep an eye on the hens; there's one
black one that fights the others; hum! I'll watch her! You see, she
might keep 'em from laying!"
XV
THE GENTLEMAN WITH THE SARCASTIC LOOK
Chamoureau was in an execrable humor when he left Madame
Sainte-Suzanne's. As he could not walk home with his coat all open
behind, he had to take a cab, and when he stepped in, the accident that
had befallen his trousers was so aggravated that when it was time to
alight he was reduced to the necessity of taking off his hat and holding
it glued to the unfortunate garment in front.
His concierge, who passed a large part of his time in his doorway,
stared with all his eyes again when the tenant of the second floor
appeared, this time holding his hat in front of his trousers instead of
wearing it on his head.
In fact, even Madame Monin, his servant, seeing her master return with
his clothes torn from his head to his heels, said to herself:
"In God's name, what kind of a life is Monsieur Chamoureau leading now,
to come home in this state? The man is getting to be very dissipated!"
"She refuses to be my mistress!" reflected our widower, as he changed
his clothes. "And she won't be my wife either! In that case, what does
she propose to be to me? And why did she speak to me at the Opéra ball?
Why did she herself urge me to call? She gives me permission to be her
friend--much obliged! At thirty-five years of age, and with a volcanic
temperament like mine, a man isn't content to be the friend of a
fascinating woman! Besides, I love the woman. I adore her, since I saw
her in her lovely velvet robe de chambre--or was it plush? I am not
quite sure, but it doesn't matter. I feel that my passion has taken a
new flight. It is all over with me; the image of that lovely brunette is
here--engraved on my heart; it has replaced Eléonore's.--Poor Eléonore!
If I should want to weep for her now, I could not. That is some
compensation. But what am I to do? I am going to be very wretched now.
She has ten thousand francs a year, so of course I am not a very good
match for her. But if she adored me! Sapristi! if Freluchon were in
Paris, I would go to him and ask his advice; nobody but he can tell me
how I ought to act now toward Madame de Sainte-Suzanne."
That evening, Chamoureau did not fail to call at Freluchon's house, to
inquire if he had returned. But his dear friend was still at Rouen.
The next day Honorine and Agathe called early at the agent's office.
"We have been to Chelles," said the young woman, "we have seen Monsieur
Courtivaux's house and we like it very much. Be good enough to arrange
the matter as quickly as possible, monsieur; we would like to be living
there already."
"Very well, madame. You know that he asks twenty thousand francs?"
"I am ready to give that, monsieur."
"Yes, but perhaps he would take something off; you pay cash, which is a
consideration. Then there are the expenses, the deeds and so forth; they
will amount to at least a thousand francs, and are ordinarily paid by
the purchaser. If we could induce the vendor to pay them at least----"
"Well, monsieur, do the best you can; I leave it to you."
"Never fear, madame. I will go to see Monsieur Courtivaux to-day; then I
will call on you with his answer. I have your address--Madame Dalmont,
Rue des Martyrs."