Part 15

"And will make many more; she is in all the bloom of her beauty!"

"Ah! if you had seen her nine years ago! that was a different matter!"

"Great God! what was she then?--For my part, I flattered myself too soon on having made a conquest of the lady; she was very stern with me when I had the good fortune to see her at her home; she even forbade me to speak of my love. I will confess to you, monsieur, that that drove me to despair."

"Ha! ha! poor Monsieur Chamoureau!"

"Not speak to her of love! Of what shall I speak to her, pray, that she may listen with pleasure?"

"Pardieu! speak of Edmond Didier, who is her lover! whom she loves to madness--for the moment. That is why she wanted to converse with you at the Opéra ball,--Ha! ha! ha! Do you see now?"

Chamoureau turned pale; he halted in the middle of the gutter, crying:

"Oh! monsieur, what are you saying? What! Edmond Didier?"

"I am telling you the truth; I am opening your eyes; I am doing you a service."

"It's a service which causes me a great deal of pain, then."

"What difference does it make to you whether she loves that young man or another, so long as she doesn't love you?"

"But I hoped that she would love me, monsieur."

"If that's your hope, don't despair; who knows? women are so strange, they have such surprising caprices; it is quite possible that she won't always spurn you.--By the way, pardon the question, but are you rich, monsieur?"

"Not very; I make four or five thousand francs a year."

"In that case, my dear monsieur, you have no great chance of succeeding with Thélénie; and if you are wise enough to follow some good advice, you will forget her and cease to bother your head about her.--But, excuse me--I go in this direction. Good-day, monsieur."

"A thousand pardons, monsieur, but it would be a great pleasure to me to know with whom I have had the honor of conversing."

"Here is my card, monsieur."

"And here is mine, monsieur; I have a real estate office, and if you should ever have any business that hangs fire----"

"Be assured, monsieur, that I shall remember you."

Beauregard walked away, while Chamoureau read the card he held in his hand, saying to himself:

"He was once Madame Sainte-Suzanne's lover! and Edmond is now! and I am nothing at all! I have acted as an information machine, that is all!--Ah! I am not surprised that she expressly forbade me to mention her name. Well! all this doesn't prevent my adoring her. Monsieur Beauregard advises me not to think of her any more; but perhaps he still thinks of her himself; if he doesn't, why does he go to see her? That is something he would have found it difficult to explain, I fancy. Perhaps what he told me about Edmond isn't true. That man has a sardonic expression; I think that I shall do well to be suspicious of him.--O Eléonore! I am grieved that I no longer weep for you!"

XVI

AN ELECTRIC SPARK

Chamoureau went home completely overwhelmed by what he had learned in his interview with Monsieur Beauregard. He thought of nothing else all the rest of the day, the result being that it did not occur to him to go to Monsieur Courtivaux and conclude the negotiation that Madame Dalmont had entrusted to him. He asked himself every moment whether he should try once more to see Edmond, and question him on the subject of his liaison with Madame Sainte-Suzanne; but he remembered that she had expressly forbidden him to mention her name to anyone.

"To be sure," he said to himself, "I have already broken my promise by talking about her with this Monsieur Beauregard; but that wasn't my fault. That man caught me in Madame Sainte-Suzanne's reception-room, so I could not deny that I knew her; and the familiar way in which he asked for her proved conclusively that he knew her very well indeed!"

On the following day our widower was still undecided, hesitating whether he ought or ought not to talk to Edmond about the lady with the beautiful black eyes.

Hesitating people often pass whole days unable to decide what to do, and when, after mature consideration, they say to themselves: "I will decide on this course," you see them suddenly change their minds and pause just as they are about to act. Such characters generally fail in whatever they undertake, because they never do it in time.

In a business agent, this failing is even more dangerous than in anybody else. The agent with whom we have to do had two reasons for not attending to the business placed in his hands: in addition to his habitual indecision, he was in love, passionately in love, with a woman with whom he had no hope of success, which fact necessarily increased his love. It is always the thing that we cannot have for which we crave.

Chamoureau then was at home, saying to himself:

"I think I will go to Edmond Didier and tell him the whole truth; or rather, tell him nothing, but question him shrewdly. I will lead him on to talk of his love-affairs. He will begin about little Amélia, and then I will say: 'No, it's not that one, but another--a very beautiful brunette--that I want to talk to you about.'

"Yes, but then he will reply: 'How do you know that I ever knew a very beautiful brunette? Do you know her yourself?'--Damnation! it's terribly embarrassing!"

At that moment the doorbell rang and shortly after, Edmond Didier entered the office.

"My dear Monsieur Chamoureau," he said, "I understand that you have been to my room several times to see me; I have come to find out what you had to say to me and in what way I can be of service to you?"

Chamoureau was stupefied when he saw Edmond; he recovered himself, however, and composed his features.

"Ah! good morning, Monsieur Edmond; I am very glad to see you; it gives me great pleasure. You are well, I hope?"

"Very well. But I fancy that it wasn't to inquire for my health that you came to see me three times in one day?"

"No, of course not, although I take great interest in it. But Freluchon--have you seen Freluchon lately?"

"He started for Rouen and may have gone as far as Havre, to treat his little Pompadour to fresh oysters; for you know that his taking her to Normandie was the result of a bet that his latest conquest won at that supper of ours, by smoking through her nose."

"I know--or, rather, I don't know--for you must remember that I dozed a little toward the end of the supper."

"Ah, yes! that is true; I had forgotten."

"And that little woman in the Pompadour costume smokes through her nose, does she?"

"That is to say, she holds the cigar in her mouth, like everybody else, but she discharges the smoke through her nostrils; which is rather strong for a woman."

"It is, indeed; I wouldn't do it myself, although I smoke a little. How accomplished women are in this age! If this goes on, I should not be surprised to see them chewing tobacco in time."

"Oh! Monsieur Chamoureau, what are you saying!"

"Bless me! I keep track of the progress of mankind. In the old days, ladies wouldn't allow smoking in their presence; to-day they smoke themselves. From that to chewing tobacco in the shape of pastilles of mint or cachou isn't a very long road to travel."

"Well, let us come to what you had to say to me. I am in more or less of a hurry. It's a fine day, and I promised Amélia to take her to the Bois this morning. We may go as far as Ville d'Avray."

"Amélia! what? the young flower-maker who was at the supper, dressed as a _débardeur_?"

"Herself; I have made up with her; she is amusing and quite bright; on the whole, I like her very well."

"You really like her, eh? And you have no other mistress?"

"Faith, no! not for the moment, at all events."

"Dear Monsieur Edmond! You see, I have been told that you adored a magnificent brunette--a tall, handsome woman, with a fine figure----"

"Ah! you mean Thélénie."

Chamoureau changed color as he stammered:

"Yes, that's the name--Thélénie; that's the name I heard; or Madame--Madame----"

"Sainte-Suzanne?"

"Exactly--Sainte-Suzanne. Then I was not misinformed: you have been--you are that lady's lover?"

"I am not now; I have broken with her; I have entirely ceased to visit her."

The business agent leaped on the young man's neck and embraced him, crying:

"Is it possible? Dear Edmond! You no longer love her; you have broken with her completely! In that case, you are not my rival!"

"Well, well! what then, is the matter with you, Monsieur Chamoureau? what has taken hold of you? whence this outburst of joy? Can it be that you are in love with Thélénie?"

"I--no; I didn't say that; or, at all events, I ought not to say it; it's an impenetrable mystery. But still, if it were true, my dear friend--if I were secretly nourishing that passion in my heart--it would not make you angry with me?"

"I should think not! on the contrary, I would wish you all sorts of good luck in your love-affairs. Ah! I remember now what you said at the supper; that matchless creature, that woman who eclipsed all other women but who did not wish to be known, was she."

"Well, yes, it was she; but she had made me swear not to say that I knew her. I am a wretch, a traitor! I break all my oaths!"

"Bah! in love, you know, that doesn't do any harm."

"Say nothing about it to Freluchon, I entreat you."

"I will be dumb, since that is your wish!"

"Excellent Edmond! Your hand! I congratulate myself on being your friend."

"And I, my dear Monsieur Chamoureau, in the capacity of friend, will venture to give you a little advice,--with which you will do what people generally do with advice--disregard it."

"What is it?"

"Well, it is this: to be a little distrustful of your new conquest. Between us, Madame Sainte-Suzanne is a dangerous woman."

"Really? she is dangerous, you say? In what respect? Does she carry a stiletto about her, like the Italian women?"

"That is not what I mean. But she is very jealous. However, after all, I don't mean to speak ill of a woman who has shown me nothing but kindness; that would be ungrateful.--Au revoir, my dear Chamoureau; I must go to meet Amélia."

"But first, my dear friend, I would like to ask your advice."

"Some other time; I haven't time to-day."

Edmond was about leaving the agent's office, when two ladies entered. They were Madame Dalmont and her young friend, and they had called to ascertain whether Chamoureau had arranged for them the purchase of the little house at Chelles.

The young man courteously stepped aside to allow the ladies to enter, and he had an opportunity to examine them at his ease. He noticed that Honorine was a very attractive person, without being exactly pretty; but when his eyes rested on Agathe, he did not consider her beauty, he did not analyze each of her features; but he was conscious of a sudden thrill of emotion, and discovered instantly in the girl's face an indefinable charm which enraptured him, dazzled him and brought about something very like a revolution in his whole being. He stood as if rooted to the spot, and did not think of going away.

"Monsieur," said Honorine to Chamoureau, who gazed at her with a stupid air, "we have heard nothing from you for three days, and I have come to find out why it is. Does Monsieur Courtivaux no longer wish to sell his house?"

"Oh! pardon, madame, a thousand pardons! Yes, yes! the little house at Chelles; I remember now."

"What! you remember now? Then you had forgotten the matter, had you?"

"I had not exactly forgotten it; but there was another matter which took all my time, and----"

"What, monsieur! you have not been to see the owner of the house? when we said that we were in such haste to conclude the purchase, and that we would like to be settled in the country even now?"

"I was going there this morning, mesdames."

"Oh! it wasn't kind of you, monsieur, to neglect this business," said Agathe, blushing a little, because she saw that the young man, who was still present, kept his eyes fixed on her. "My dear friend and I think about that house every minute in the day; and then they say that this is just the time to plant seeds and set out flowers. If it should be sold to anybody else, I shouldn't get over it."

"How is this, my dear Chamoureau?" interposed Edmond; "you have the good fortune to be the man of business of these ladies, and you forget the commissions with which they entrust you. Upon my word, you are unpardonable."

"It isn't forgetfulness, Monsieur Edmond; it's that other matter--you know, on Rue de Ponthieu--that is forever in my head."

"Hush! it is inexcusable. If I had it in my power to render these ladies the slightest service, I should esteem myself too fortunate."

"Really, you are very kind, monsieur," said Honorine, "but you will be of great service to us if you remind your friend that he ought to conclude this affair."

"Not only will I remind him of it, madame, but I undertake not to lose sight of him until he has taken all the necessary steps to conclude it.--You desire to purchase a house in the country, madame?"

"Yes, monsieur, and the price is satisfactory to me."

"The owner's name is Courtivaux?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"And this Courtivaux lives in Paris, does he, Chamoureau?"

"To be sure; on Rue Jacob, Faubourg Saint-Germain."

"Very good. We will take my cab and go at once to see this gentleman; from there we will go to the notary to fix a time for passing the papers; and from there to tell madame what day is appointed."

Agathe clapped her hands and cried:

"Ah! that is good! it will soon be done then! Ah! monsieur, how----"

The girl had the word charming on the tip of her tongue, but she checked herself, realizing that it would hardly be proper to use that expression to a person whom she did not know. She lowered her eyes and glanced at her friend, who hastened to say:

"We are very grateful, monsieur, for the interest which you are good enough to take in our affairs, especially as you do not know us."

"Mon Dieu! madame, my interest is quite natural; as soon as one has the pleasure of seeing you, one feels eager--one desires--to be of some service to you."

Edmond also realized that he was getting confused, and that the eyes of young Agathe, which were then fixed upon him, disturbed him to such an extent as to take away his usual self-confidence. To conceal his embarrassment, he turned to Chamoureau.

"Come, my dear fellow, didn't you hear what I promised these ladies? Let us be off at once! We shall find my cab at the door and we will drive straight to the vendor's house."

"What! do you really mean to go to Monsieur Courtivaux's with me?"

"I have told these ladies that I would not leave you until we have completed their transaction, or at least appointed a time with the notary for having the documents settled."

"But I thought that you had an appointment this morning. Just now you were in great haste to leave me in order to go to the Bois de Boulogne."

"If you have other engagements, monsieur," said Honorine to Edmond, "we should be very sorry to have you neglect them on our account."

"No, madame, no, I assure you that I have no other important engagement for to-day. I was going to drive in the Bois; but one always has time for that."

"Oh, yes!" cried Agathe; "besides, I think it will be fine all day."

And the girl smiled at Edmond, to thank him for persisting in his plan of accompanying the agent.

"But the person who is waiting for you," muttered Chamoureau, as he looked for his hat. "You told me that----"

"It's of no consequence. It's a friend of mine, an idler like myself, and it makes no difference to him whether he goes to the Bois to-day or to-morrow.--Come, are you ready? How slow you are in finding your hat!"

"You don't give me time to breathe. I can't go to see Monsieur Courtivaux in a skull-cap."

At last, thanks to Edmond, Chamoureau was ready to start. They all left the office together. The young man would have been glad to offer his hand to Agathe to escort her downstairs; but she was as light and active as a doe, and was at the bottom long before the others.

Edmond had come in a _milord_, which was waiting for him at the door; he bade Chamoureau step in, saying:

"Do you know the address of these ladies?"

"Yes, certainly; I must know it."

But Agathe, fearing that their agent might have forgotten their address as well, hastened to say to Edmond:

"Madame Dalmont, Rue des Martyrs, 40."

"Very good, mademoiselle. I shall not forget, you may be sure. Mesdames, you shall have news of your business before night."

"We do not know how to thank you, monsieur."

"I am too happy to be able to serve you. Driver, Rue Jacob, Faubourg Saint-Germain!"

"I say! what about Mademoiselle Amélia, whom you promised to take to drive this morning?" said Chamoureau as they rolled along.

"What do I care for Amélia? Do you suppose that I am going to put myself out for a paltry flower-maker, when I have an opportunity to be of service to such charming women! for they are charming, those two! Tell me, Chamoureau, how long have they been clients of yours? They can't be mother and daughter! Are they sisters, I wonder? Yes, in all probability. And yet they don't at all resemble each other! One of them is married; what does her husband do? do you know him too?"

"Sapristi! Monsieur Edmond, you bewilder me with your questions! I don't know which one to answer.--I have known these ladies a very short time. They came to my office--ah! I remember only too well it was the day after Mi-Carême! I had just come home in my Spanish costume, thanks to that scamp of a Freluchon. For you know that my brand-new black coat and trousers are at his rooms! and heaven knows whether he will ever come back; once at Havre, he's quite capable of starting for America. If he should do that I'd have his door opened by the police."

"What in the devil are you talking about?--I didn't ask you about your clothes; I asked you who those two pretty women are that I saw at your office just now? The younger one, especially. She must be unmarried; I'll wager that she's hardly sixteen. What a fascinating face! What a sweet expression in her eyes! There is modesty, playfulness, kindliness in her expression. I have never met such a charming young woman! What is her name? The elder lady's name is Dalmont, I know; but the young lady? tell me--you must know her name."

"Her name is Thélénie de Sainte-Suzanne; you know it well enough, having been so intimate with her; having had that felicity!"

"Come, come, Chamoureau, pay a little more attention to what I say. I am not talking about Thélénie; she has nothing in common with the girl I met just now at your office, thank God!"

"Madame Sainte-Suzanne is much more beautiful. She's a grown woman, just in her prime!"

"We won't quarrel about our tastes. Adore Thélénie, my dear Monsieur Chamoureau, it is your right! but tell me the name of the charming girl who was with Madame Dalmont."

"Her name! how should I know it? Oh, yes! I remember now that her friend called her Agathe several times."

"Agathe! her name is Agathe, you say! What a sweet name!"

"Thélénie is a much more distinguished name; and the proof is that it isn't to be found in the Saints' Calendar!"

"Then that lady is her friend, her kinswoman, her cousin perhaps. Is she rich?"

"No, her means are very modest."

"What does the husband do?"

"There isn't one; the lady is a widow."

"No husband; so much the better!"

"Why so much the better? Do you propose to marry the widow?"

"I don't say that. But when there is no man in a house----"

"It is easier to get in, you think, eh?"

"Oh, no! just the opposite; for it is almost always the husband who takes his friends to his house."

"There's no man at Madame Sainte-Suzanne's, but that doesn't prevent her receiving men. She received me, indeed she herself invited me to come to see her."

"For God's sake, Monsieur Chamoureau, let us drop Thélénie!"

"I am in love with her, monsieur, I am passionately in love with her!"

"So it would seem, as your passion made you forget the business Madame Dalmont placed in your hands.--Ah! that was very bad!"

"Here is Monsieur Courtivaux's house; are you going up with me?"

"I should say so! you are quite capable of talking to him of nothing but Thélénie!"

Edmond accompanied the agent to the apartment of the owner of the house at Chelles. He was very accommodating; he was anxious to get rid of his little country estate, and thanks to the eloquence of Edmond, who impressed it upon him that the purchaser was a young widow of small means, he consented to pay the expenses of the transaction. He gave them his notary's address, and suggested that they meet there at three o'clock on the following day. Edmond declared that Madame Dalmont would be there punctually, and informed Monsieur Courtivaux that he would go at once to advise the notary.

While the young man hastily made this arrangement, Chamoureau stood in rapt contemplation before a woman's portrait, and whispered in Edmond's ear:

"Don't you think it looks like her?"

"Like whom?"

"Her!"

"Mademoiselle Agathe?"

"No, the superb Sainte-Suzanne!"

"Not in the least. But let us be off. We must go to the notary."

"What! has Monsieur Courtivaux said that he would be there?"

"It's all settled, all arranged; the day and hour were fixed while you were sighing in front of that portrait. Really, it's very lucky for those ladies that I came with you! Let us go."

Edmond took Chamoureau to see the notary. The young man had now become the agent; he made all the arrangements. Chamoureau's only function seemed to be to sigh.

From the notary's they set off in their cab to go to Madame Dalmont's. As they drew nearer to her abode, Edmond became more thoughtful and silent; he even went so far as to sigh, like his companion.

"I am going to that lady's house," he thought. "She will learn that she is under some obligation to me, since I hastened forward the conclusion of the transaction. She will thank me; but will she ask me to come again? That is doubtful, for she has known me only since this morning. However, I shall no longer be a stranger to them; that is a point gained."

"Is this the place?" he inquired, pointing to a house.

"I haven't the slightest idea."

"Do you mean that you have never been to see those ladies?"

"Never. But they told us number 40, so this must be the house.--Are you going up with me?"

"Am I going up with you! That's a pretty question! Why, I settled the business almost unaided; and do you think I am not going to tell them about it?"

"Bless my soul! it makes no difference to me; I had no special object in view in asking you that question."

Agathe opened the door and uttered a cry of joy when she saw Edmond, for there was something in the young man's expression that announced the successful result of the steps he had taken.

In a few words he informed Madame Dalmont that the business was concluded, that Monsieur Courtivaux agreed to assume the expenses, and that the next day, at three o'clock, she was expected at the notary's whose address he gave her.

Honorine expressed to the young man the gratitude which the zeal he had shown in her service had merited. While her friend was speaking, Agathe said nothing; but it is probable that she too thanked Edmond with her eyes, for he was radiant with joy.

When the ladies had also said a few words to Chamoureau, who acted as if he had no idea what it was all about, Edmond said to Honorine:

"As soon as the deeds are signed, madame, you will be entitled to go with mademoiselle and take possession of your estate, where, I presume, you propose to pass the summer."

"Summer and winter too, monsieur. I have bought the house with the intention of secluding myself there altogether."

"What, madame! you are leaving Paris for good? you do not expect to return for the winter?"

"No, monsieur, I shall pass the whole year at Chelles."

"And mademoiselle also?"