Part 19

"It is quite true that all the gentlemen in the house have been most polite to me."

"Faith! mademoiselle, I don't send bouquets myself; I consider it so commonplace, so vulgar, that I am not tempted to imitate these gentry. I speak out, I say frankly what I feel. Don't you consider that the better way?"

"Why, it seems to me that it is very pleasant to receive bouquets and other presents."

Monsieur de Mardeille bit his lips and said to himself:

"She likes her little presents; she's selfish; that's a pity!"

But that did not prevent him from moving his chair nearer to Georgette's, and trying to assume a very affectionate, touching tone, as he murmured:

"You have made no reply to my declaration, charming girl."

"I beg your pardon; didn't you hear me laugh?"

"What! is that the way you reply? What am I to conclude from that?"

"That I took your declaration of love for what it was worth--that is to say, for a joke."

"A joke! Oh! don't think it! I spoke most seriously. I love you! I adore you!"

"On the instant, just from seeing me at my window?"

"Does it take weeks or months to fall in love? We see a woman; she attracts us, fascinates us at once, or never. Love--what is it but electricity?"

"Oh! I didn't know!"

"Why, it is nothing else; a pretty woman's eyes contain the fluid that electrifies us. The moment that we feel the shock, it's all up with us; we are electrified."

"Really! and the women, what electrifies them?"

"Why, that is done by the same process; our glances do the business!"

As he spoke, he tried to electrify the girl by fixing his eyes upon her, full of fire, and attempted to move his chair still nearer. But Georgette moved hers away, saying in a very sharp tone:

"Don't sit so near me, monsieur, I beg you! it makes it hard for me to work, and, besides, it isn't proper."

The old beau was speechless with surprise; he concluded that his eyes had not emitted enough of the magnetic fluid, and tried to make them still more inflammable as he exclaimed:

"May not one venture to approach you, pray, in order to admire that divine figure at closer quarters?"

"No, monsieur, one may not. What would the neighbors think if they should see you sitting so near me?"

"The neighbors! the neighbors! Why do you leave your window wide open? It makes it very inconvenient to talk with you. I will close it, with your permission."

"No, monsieur, no; I wish it to remain open; it does not interfere at all with my talking; and if the neighbors know that you are calling on me,--which they probably do, for everything that goes on in this house is seen,--why, they will see that nothing has happened that I need to conceal."

Monsieur de Mardeille frowned slightly; he shifted about in his chair, and said, after a brief pause:

"What a strange idea it is, to subject yourself like this to the inspection of other people, to whose opinion you ought to be indifferent, in any event!"

"Ah! so you think that one can afford to be indifferent to other people's opinion?"

"I think--I think that you treat me very cruelly!"

"And I, monsieur, think that I have conferred a great favor on you by consenting to receive you in my room--where I never receive any man. It seems that you are not at all grateful."

"Oh! pardon me, my lovely neighbor; certainly I am very grateful; but I thought--I hoped---- By the way, you have not told me yet whether my sentiments are offensive to you?"

"Why, monsieur, I hardly know you! And I don't allow myself to be electrified as easily as you do, I presume."

"Cruel girl! you make sport of my torments."

"You say that you love me, do you, monsieur? But why should I believe in your love? What proofs of it have you given me?"

"What proofs? Do you mean to say, mademoiselle, that you must have proofs before you believe in it?"

"Most certainly! Oh! I am very incredulous, monsieur, and I don't believe in anything until I have had proofs of it."

"But it seems to me, mademoiselle, that the step I am taking at this moment ought to satisfy you that I am telling you the truth. When a man of my rank, a man accustomed to frequent only the best society, pays a visit to a--a simple working girl, he must be impelled thereto by a very powerful sentiment!"

"That is to say, monsieur, that you think you do me great honor by calling on me?"

"Why, no, I don't say that! You are cruel, and no mistake! you put a bad construction on everything I say!"

Georgette made no reply, but continued to sew. Monsieur de Mardeille, sorely annoyed because he had failed to make such rapid progress as he hoped, said to himself:

"Let us try changing the subject. The little one must like pleasure. All women want to be amused. Let us see if we can't dazzle her."

After a moment, he added, aloud:

"Have you been working long at this trade--for a linen draper?"

"No, monsieur. Indeed, I have not been long in Paris."

"Ah! then you are not a Parisienne? You surprise me! You have all the grace of one. May I, without being impertinent, ask you from what province you come?"

Georgette hesitated a moment before she replied:

"I come from a small village near Rouen."

"Ah! you are a Norman! That is strange, for you haven't the Norman accent. How long have you been in Paris?"

"Nearly five months."

"Did you come alone?"

"Yes, all alone. I said to my parents: 'I want to go to Paris; I will work hard there, and perhaps I may make my fortune--who knows?'"

Monsieur de Mardeille scratched his head as he repeated:

"Fortune! hum! that's not so easy. Women don't often make their fortunes in Paris, when they have no other means of earning money than their needle. But, when you came to Paris, you probably knew that you would find a friend here, a wealthy protector, who could start you at once on the road to the fortune to which you aspire?"

"No, monsieur," Georgette replied coldly; "I did not come to Paris to meet anyone, and I shall find a way myself to reach the end I have in view."

Once more the old beau bit his lips and glanced about the room.

"It's impossible to tell how to take the girl; she's always on her guard!" he said to himself. "I shall not succeed with her so quickly as I thought. But, it doesn't make much difference, I have plenty of time. I must find her sensitive spot.--Are you fond of the play, mademoiselle?" he asked.

"Oh! yes, monsieur, very!"

"Do you go often?"

"Most rarely, monsieur. In the first place, I have no acquaintances in Paris; and for a young girl to go to the theatre alone is hardly proper."

"I have found the weak point in the shield," thought Mardeille; and he rejoined:

"Well, my charming neighbor, I will escort you to the theatre, with your permission. We will have a little screened box; it will be very comfortable, like being at home."

"I don't know what your little screened boxes are, monsieur; but when I go to the play, I don't go to hide myself; I want to see and be seen."

"Ah! you want to be seen! What a coquette!"

"It is not from coquetry. But, monsieur, you cannot think that I would go to the play with such an elegant person as you, in the modest costume that I wear."

"I presume that you would not go in this jacket and this short skirt, although the costume is divinely becoming to you! On my word, you are bewitching so!"

"No, of course, I would not go out in a jacket; but my best costume is very modest: a cotton gown, a little cap, a knitted fichu--that's my attire!"

"What! haven't you a bonnet--a tiny bonnet?"

"No, monsieur, I haven't."

The elderly dandy moved about in his chair, seemed to reflect, and said, at last:

"After all, you must be fascinating in a cap. Besides, we can take a cab. Is it settled? I will take you to-night, if you agree."

"What, monsieur! do you mean to say that you would take to the theatre a woman in a cotton dress, cap, and a fichu instead of a shawl?"

"I do; I am entirely free from prejudices. I would like to take you in the costume you have on, if it were possible."

"Well, upon my word! I wouldn't have believed that!"

"That proves how dearly I love you, I hope."

Georgette shook her head as she replied:

"Why, no, it doesn't prove it at all. However, monsieur, I have more self-esteem than you. I have enough respect for your exalted rank to avoid compromising it. Fie, monsieur! what would people think of you if they saw you with a woman in a cap on your arm?"

"But we shall take a cab."

"We shall not go into the theatre in a cab! Ha! ha! And as I don't propose to hide myself in a screened box, when I am once in the theatre everyone will have plenty of time to admire my costume."

Monsieur de Mardeille rose and paced the floor, and for some time he did not speak; at last he said:

"What do you need to go to the theatre with me, my lovely child?"

"Why, almost everything: a silk dress; they have such nice things ready-made now, that it will be easy enough to find one that will fit me. And a pretty bonnet, and a fine shawl--cashmere, or something like it,--and gloves--nice kid gloves."

Monsieur de Mardeille began to pace the floor again, dissembling with difficulty the grimace that had replaced his amiable air. Suddenly he looked into the courtyard and exclaimed:

"Ah! I believe I have visitors! Yes, they have come to see me. Au revoir, my charming neighbor; a thousand pardons for leaving you so abruptly!"

"Oh! pray don't mind me, monsieur!"

Our dandy was already at the door; he returned hurriedly to his own apartment, with an exceedingly ill-humored expression; and when Frontin inquired:

"Did the shirtmaker take monsieur's measure?" he angrily replied:

"Hold your tongue, you imbecile! I forbid you ever to mention that grisette to me."

XII

LOVE! LOVE! WHEN THOU HAST TAKEN US CAPTIVE!

A week passed. Monsieur de Mardeille had not called again upon Georgette; he had not stationed himself at his rear windows; but he had stolen many a glance through the glass, by raising a corner of the curtain. He had seen his young neighbor, as alert and alluring and graceful as ever, going to and fro in her modest apartment; then sitting down to work at her window; then rising and sitting down again; and every movement of the pretty shirtmaker made his heart beat fast. He had given Frontin a kick in the hind quarters, when that worthy ventured to laugh inanely because his master raised the curtain.

He was somewhat flattered by the fact that, although Georgette responded affably enough to the salutations of her other neighbors, he had never seen one of them in her room; so that she had really done him a favor by consenting to receive him.

At the end of a week, he said to himself:

"After all, it was on my account, it was in my interest, to avoid compromising me, that the girl insisted upon being well dressed before she would go out on my arm. I can't be angry with her for that: it was a very excusable motive. But then I must send her all that she lacks. Pardieu! I am well able to do it! That is not the question--no--but it isn't my custom; I have never spent money on women. I know that once doesn't make a custom; but, for all that, I don't like it. But that girl is obstinate and strong-willed; if I don't send her what she wants, I shall have to abandon the pursuit. And I don't want to abandon it! I dream of her every night. I see her slender figure, her rounded hips, which her little black skirt hugs so closely. Well! I must buy her this finery. I won't go so far as the cashmere--no, indeed, I'm not such a fool! But when a man goes so far as to play the gallant, he must do things properly. At my age, it's very unpleasant to change one's habits. Why in the devil did that provoking grisette take up her abode in my house? right opposite me? under my nose? It's a fatality!"

Love, and self-esteem, which is quite as strong as its brother, carried the day at last. One morning Georgette received the shawl, the bonnet, the dress, and even the kid gloves, with this brief note written by her stylish neighbor:

* * * * *

"Now will you go to the theatre with me to-night?"

* * * * *

And Georgette replied, to the messenger:

"Yes, I will go."

For Monsieur de Mardeille, who did not wish that anyone should know that he was spending money to gratify the shirtmaker, had not sent his gifts by Frontin.

That evening, about seven o'clock, the dandy presented himself at Georgette's door. She was all dressed and ready, and probably less seductive in that guise than in her jacket and short skirt; but she was still very comely, because a young and pretty woman never becomes ugly in a stylish bonnet. Indeed, Monsieur de Mardeille was surprised at the ease with which his little neighbor wore her new costume.

"On my honor!" he cried; "you are charming thus! You wear these clothes with such grace!"

"Does that surprise you, monsieur?"

"Nothing surprises me in you; I believe you to be adapted for any station."

"I am ready; let us go."

"Oh! we have plenty of time. Pray let me admire you a moment."

"You may admire me all you please at the theatre; but as I don't often go, I want to see everything. Let us be off!"

Georgette was already on the landing. Monsieur de Mardeille followed her, saying to himself:

"She has a little will of her own that can't be resisted! But to-night, when we return from the theatre, I flatter myself that she won't dismiss me so quickly."

It was still broad daylight when Georgette left her room, handsomely dressed and on Monsieur de Mardeille's arm. All the neighbors were at their windows; it is unnecessary to say that their tongues were in motion.

"The ex-beau carries the day!" said the photographer; "he is rich and fashionable, and such advantages seduce these little girls, who are immensely flattered by hanging on a dandy's arm."

"And then, he's very good-looking still," said the miniature painter. "I can understand that he may have taken the little one's fancy. These girls have a surprising taste for mature men."

"The Lovelace of the first floor must have put out some money," said the two men of letters; "he's dressed the little neighbor from top to toe. Women can always be caught by flattering their coquetry."

"And we couldn't offer her all that!"

"It's very strange! this Mardeille has the reputation of being a stingy curmudgeon with women."

"That's a report that he spreads himself, so as to get all the more credit."

The young doctor said nothing; he simply sighed, as he thought:

"She hasn't even had a cold!"

Monsieur Bistelle was furious, for she had received his bouquets and had not received him, and had met all his propositions with a refusal, although they were most alluring. And so, when he saw Georgette pass in her new attire, he cried:

"Bah! cheap stuff! Why, that shawl isn't a cashmere, nor even a Lyon; that dress isn't silk; that bonnet didn't come from one of our leading milliners! It's all trumpery; anyone can see that at a glance. I'd have dressed the girl a hundred times better; she's a fool to prefer that Mardeille, who never knew what it was to be generous to a woman!"

This gentleman did not reflect that he himself was very ugly, whereas his rival was still very comely; but that is one of the things that one never considers. Moreover, we are so accustomed to our own faces that we never deem ourselves unattractive.

Even Monsieur Renardin, the old bachelor, made a very pronounced grimace when he saw Georgette pass; especially as Mademoiselle Arthémise, his maid-servant, did not fail to say, with a sneer:

"See, there goes your flame on the arm of the Joconde of the first floor! I advise you to send boxes of candied fruits to such hussies! The shirtmaker snaps her fingers at you."

"In the first place, Arthémise, you're talking nonsense; that young woman didn't receive any candied fruit from me, as you ate it all."

"Thank God! I was on hand to stop it as it passed--or else she would have got it. It's very lucky that I ate it, you see. I suppose you think that mincing thing would have put the box on her head to go out with you, don't you? Oh! she's a sly one! She's bleeding the ex-young man of the first floor; she's quite right, for he's a skinflint with women, they say; he's getting what he deserves."

Monsieur de Mardeille escorted Georgette to the Ambigu-Comique. He tried to take her to a small, dark box, but she refused to enter it, and he was obliged to take a seat in the balcony with her. There it was impossible to take the slightest liberty! As some consolation, our gallant kept trying to whisper words of love in the girl's ear, but she soon said to him impatiently:

"Please be kind enough not to keep talking to me! You prevent me from hearing the play, and I suppose that is what people go to the theatre for."

Monsieur de Mardeille bit his lip and said to himself:

"There's nothing so idiotic as these girls who have never been to the theatre! I won't bring you very often, I can tell you!"

The play amused Georgette immensely, but was exceedingly tedious to her escort, who was overjoyed when it came to an end. He suggested returning home in a cab; but the girl refused, she was absolutely determined to go on foot.

"But it's beginning to rain!" said Monsieur de Mardeille.

"Well, it will cool us off!"

"But your new bonnet--won't the rain fade it and ruin it?"

"What a terrible misfortune, if it is spoiled! There are other bonnets in the milliners' shops!"

"I wonder if she thinks I am going to buy her one every day!" thought her companion, with difficulty restraining an outburst of temper; for he was obliged to return on foot, while Georgette, leaning on his arm, talked of nothing but the play and the actors she had seen.

They reached home at last. Monsieur de Mardeille had impatiently awaited that moment. He flattered himself that it would mark his final triumph. They entered the house in which they both lived. In front of the concierge's lodge, which was at the foot of Monsieur de Mardeille's staircase, Georgette stopped and said, with a graceful courtesy:

"Bonsoir, monsieur! a thousand thanks for the pleasure you have given me by taking me to the play."

"What's that? Bonsoir?" cried Mardeille, with a smile. "But I am not going to bed yet; and you will allow me to come up and chat a moment with you, will you not?"

"Oh! no, monsieur! for I am going to bed, and this is no time for conversation."

"Going to bed? What difference does that make? I won't prevent you; indeed, I shall be too happy to assist you in making your _toilette de nuit_."

"I don't need anyone to assist me. If I did, I wouldn't resort to a man for that purpose. Bonsoir, monsieur!"

"Oh! I say--this is a jest! Surely, my charming neighbor, you don't mean that you won't receive me in your room a moment?"

"To-morrow, monsieur, to-morrow during the day, I shall be greatly flattered to receive a call from you, if you choose to come; but at this time of night it would be very improper."

With that, Georgette nodded and ran across the courtyard to her own staircase, leaving Monsieur de Mardeille, utterly taken aback, in front of the concierge's door. He was nonplussed by the girl's conduct.

"This is too much!" he said to himself; "she accepts my presents--a whole toilette, which cost me a pretty penny--and she's just as cruel as she was before! So the young lady is making sport of me, is she?"

But suddenly, the courtyard and staircase being still lighted, he saw the concierge in his lodge watching what was going on; whereupon our dandy struck his forehead, saying to himself:

"What an idiot I am not to understand! That child has a hundred times more tact than I have! She doesn't want the concierge to see me go up to her room at midnight; for that would inevitably spread a report through the whole house that I had passed the night there! Yes, of course that's it; she's quite right; she has pointed out to me clearly enough what I have to do: go up to my room and pretend to go to bed; then, when everybody's asleep, and the gas is all out, go downstairs and steal up to her room, where I'll wager that I shall find the door unlocked as usual. There is my path all marked out for me: now I must follow it."

Monsieur de Mardeille went upstairs, purposely making a great noise. He entered his room, slammed the door, ordered Frontin to undress him, and then dismissed him with strict injunctions to go to bed at once. Half an hour passed, the gas was extinguished, there was no light to be seen in any of the neighbors' rooms, not even Georgette's.

"That girl thinks of everything!" thought Monsieur de Mardeille. "She is prudence personified: she has put out her light. Very good! Darkness makes one more daring. I must make haste; the propitious moment is here!"

And the gentleman stole from his room on tiptoe, enveloped in an ample robe de chambre, and with his jaunty cap on his head. He went downstairs, taking every precaution not to make any noise; he passed the concierge's lodge, where there was no light; darkness reigned on all sides, and as our seducer was feeling his way across the courtyard he ran against the pump; but that told him where he was; the door leading to the narrow stairway was close at hand; he found it and went upstairs, muttering:

"Here I am, at last!"

He soon stood in front of Georgette's door. He felt about on all sides; the key was not in the lock, and the door was securely fastened.

"She didn't think of leaving the key outside!" thought Monsieur de Mardeille; "that was an oversight. Perhaps it was from modesty, so that she might not seem to be expecting me. However, I must let her know that I am here. I'll knock softly; she can't be asleep."

And he gave two very soft taps, then a louder one, muttering:

"She doesn't hear! Can she have gone to sleep already? It's very strange; there's not a sound anywhere in the house, and she ought to hear! Damn the odds! I must wake her up! If other people hear, it will be her own fault."

And he knocked louder, then louder still, and shouted through the keyhole:

"Little neighbor! it's I! open the door a minute; I left something in your room. Come, charming Georgette, you've teased me enough; you must let me in; I have some very interesting things to tell you. For heaven's sake! just long enough to say two words to you, and then I'll leave you."

His trouble and entreaties were wasted; she made no reply, and the door did not open. After spending nearly three-quarters of an hour on Georgette's landing, the discomfited gallant angrily pulled his cap over his eyes and left the entresol, bumping against the walls.

To augment his rage, when he was in the courtyard he heard roars of laughter from several windows; and he recognized Mademoiselle Arthémise's voice, saying in a very loud tone:

"Ah! that's well done! The scented dandy's sold again! The little one makes fools of her lovers; that reconciles me to her! Ha! ha! now's the time to sing:

"'Ma chandelle est morte, Je n'ai plus de feu; Ouvre-moi ta porte, Pour l'amour de Dieu!'"[F]

XIII

A BROOCH

Monsieur de Mardeille did not close his eyes that night. He was terribly vexed, and he awaited the morrow with extreme impatience, in order to have an explanation with the little shirtmaker, whom he proposed to reproach in no measured terms. He firmly believed himself to be in the right, because he maintained that in love one gives nothing without some equivalent.

At last the morning came; people began to stir in the house. Our dandy rose and looked at himself in the mirror. He found that he was horribly pale, that his eyes were red, and that he had a worn, jaded look. As he desired, before all else, to be handsome and fascinating, he passed more than an hour at his toilet, changing his cravat and waistcoat again and again; but he did not succeed in restoring his usual freshness of aspect. At last, weary of the struggle, he said to himself: