Part 1

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_THE MILKMAID'S WEDDING_

_Denise, beaming with love and happiness, embellishing by her charms and her grace the modest costume she had selected, was led to the altar by the man she loved._

_All the people of the village assembled to see the little milkmaid married._

NOVELS

BY

Paul de Kock

VOLUME XX

THE MILKMAID

OF

MONTFERMEIL

PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH

GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS

THE JEFFERSON PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK

_Copyrighted, 1903-1904, by G. B. & Sons._

THE MILKMAID OF MONTFERMEIL

I

A CONVERSATION IN A CABRIOLET

"For you can't go on like this forever, lieutenant--you must agree to that. The great Turenne didn't fight ten battles at once and didn't carry on six intrigues on the same day."

"No, my dear Bertrand, but Cæsar dictated four letters at once in four different languages, and Pico de la Mirandola boasted that he was familiar with and could talk _de omni re scibili_----"

"I beg pardon, lieutenant, I don't know Latin."

"That means that he claimed to know all languages, to have gone to the bottom of all the sciences, to be able to refute all creeds and reconcile theologians of all breeds."

"As I don't think that you're so conceited as that, lieutenant, I won't compare you with this Monsieur de la Mirandola, who claimed to know everything. As for Cæsar, I've heard him spoken of as a very great man, but I'm sure he didn't have as many mistresses as you."

"You're mistaken, Bertrand; the great men of antiquity had a great many female slaves, concubines, and often cast off their wives and took new ones. Love and Pleasure had temples in Greece; and those high and mighty Romans, who are represented to us as so strait-laced, weren't ashamed to indulge in the wildest debauchery, to crown themselves with myrtle and roses, and sometimes to appear at their banquets in the costumes of our first parents."

"For God's sake, lieutenant, let's drop the Romans, with whom I never exchanged a shot, and go back to what we were talking about."

"I propose to prove to you, my dear Bertrand, that we are very far from surpassing preceding generations in folly, and are in fact much more virtuous."

"Is that why you have four mistresses?"

"I love women, I admit; I will say more--I am proud of it; it is a natural inclination. I cannot see an attractive face, a fine pair of eyes, without feeling a pleasant thrill, an agitation, an I don't know what, in short, that proves my extreme susceptibility. Is it a crime, pray, to be susceptible in an age when selfishness is carried to such lengths; when self-interest is the mainspring of almost all human actions; when we see authors prefer cash to renown, and men in office forgetful of everything except retaining their offices, instead of meditating on the good they might do; when we see artists begging for the patronage of people they despise, and asking alms from stupidity when it is in power; when we see men of letters carefully block a confrère's path when they detect in him a talent that might outshine theirs; when, in short, every door is closed to obscure merit, and thrown wide open to impudence and conceit when accompanied by wealth? If selfishness had not wormed its way into all classes of society, if love of money had not replaced love of one's neighbor, would it be thus? And you berate me for my susceptibility! You reproach me for being unable to listen unmoved to the story of a noble deed, or of pathetic misfortune; for giving money to people who deceive me; for allowing myself to be gulled like an ass by the palaver of a child who tells me that he is begging for his mother, or of a poor laboring man who swears that he has no work and nothing to eat! Well, my dear Bertrand, I prefer my susceptibility to their icy selfishness, and I find in my heart sources of enjoyment which their indifferent hearts will never know."

This conversation took place in a stylish cabriolet, drawn by a prancing horse, which was bowling along the lovely road from Raincy to Montfermeil. A small groom of some twelve or fourteen years was perched behind the carriage, in which Bertrand was seated beside a young man, dressed in the latest fashion, who, as he conversed, touched occasionally with his whip the spirited steed he was driving.

Bertrand had partly turned his face away toward the end of his master's speech; and to cloak the emotion which was beginning to be too much for him, he blew his nose and took a huge pinch of snuff. Somewhat composed thereby, he said in a voice slightly tremulous with emotion:

"God forbid, lieutenant, that I should blame you for being tender-hearted! I know your kind heart; I know how willing and ready to help you are! And I could mention a thousand things you've done that many men would have bragged about; whereas you are very careful to conceal them."

"People who boast of the good they do are like the ones who offer you a thing in such a way that you can't accept it: both give regretfully."

"We needn't look very far, lieutenant; haven't you heaped presents on me? didn't you take me in, and give me board and lodging?"

"You're an idiot, Bertrand; don't you act as my steward, factotum, confidential man of business,--yes, and as my friend, which is better than all the rest, and for which one cannot pay?"

At that, Bertrand turned his head altogether, and blew his nose again, because a great tear had dropped from his eyes. He took two pinches of snuff, and having warmly grasped the hand that his master offered him, he said in a quavering voice:

"Yes, monsieur, you are the best of men; you have a thousand good qualities! and no one had better say anything different in my hearing! Morbleu! my sword isn't rusty yet."

"Oho! so now you're going to flatter me, are you? Remember, Bertrand, that you began this conversation for the purpose of scolding me."

"Scolding you! no, indeed, lieutenant, but simply to point out to you that it would be more reasonable to love one woman at once; with full liberty to change as soon as you see another one that you like better."

"Look you, Bertrand, I'll draw a comparison for you, that you'll see the justice of at once."

"You won't put any Greeks or Romans in it, will you, lieutenant?"

"Not one.--You like wine, don't you, Bertrand?"

"That's so, lieutenant; I admit that an old bottle--of a good brand--there's nothing like that to liven you up!"

"Do you like beaune?"

"Very much, lieutenant."

"And bordeaux?"

"Ah, yes! it smells of violets; it has a delicious bouquet!"

"And volnay?"

"I've never been able to resist it."

"And chambertin?"

"I would go down on my knees to it, lieutenant."

"If you had a bottle of each of those wines in front of you, would you give up three of them and drink just a single one?"

"I promise you, lieutenant, that I'd take care of all four of them, and I wouldn't be any worse off for it either."

"Why then do you expect me, when I am surrounded by four pretty creatures, each of whom has some peculiar charm, to give up three of them and make love to only one?"

"Parbleu! that's true enough, lieutenant; you can't do it; you must drink them--I mean you must love them all four; and I see now that I was wrong."

The discussions between Bertrand and Auguste Dalville almost always ended so. Auguste was twenty-seven and had twenty thousand francs a year; his father died while he was in the cradle, and his mother was taken away from him six years before our story opens. That was the date of the beginning of Auguste's life of dissipation; he had sought distraction from his perfectly natural grief, and had finally become unable to resist a sex in whose company he had at first sought diversion only.

Meanwhile, the ambition to wear a handsome uniform, and perhaps to earn a pair of epaulets, had led Auguste to enter the army. The country was at peace; but a young man with a good education does not remain a private. Auguste, promoted to sub-lieutenant, delighted to listen to Bertrand, who had served as corporal of _voltigeurs_, and had been at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland. Bertrand was only forty-four: he put into the description of his battles the same fire and zeal that he had displayed in the battles themselves, and Auguste never tired of listening. The corporal's stories excited his ardor; he regretted that he was not born a few years earlier, thinking that he might, like Bertrand, have taken part in those triumphant campaigns which will always be the glory of France.

About this time, Auguste was sent with his regiment to Pampeluna, to which the French were laying siege. Bertrand found himself under the command of the young officer, who had been made a lieutenant. But, the war at an end, Auguste quitted the military profession, and returned to Paris, to abandon himself afresh to his taste for pleasure. He proposed to Bertrand to go with him; he readily obtained his discharge and accompanied Dalville, to whom he was sincerely attached, and whom he continued to call lieutenant, partly from habit and partly from choice.

Bertrand had a mother in Paris, very old and infirm. Auguste's first care was to settle on the poor woman a pension which placed her beyond fear of want, and enabled her to enjoy in her old age a multitude of comforts which she had never known during her life of toil and misfortune.

Thereafter Auguste was not simply a master in Bertrand's eyes; he regarded him as his benefactor, and his affection and devotion knew no bounds. After his mother's death, which occurred three years later, Bertrand attached himself to Auguste's service altogether, and vowed that he would devote his life to proving his gratitude. Bertrand had had no education; he often made blunders in delivering the messages which his master entrusted to him; but Auguste always forgave him, because he was well aware of the ex-corporal's attachment and his good heart. Bertrand, as we have seen, sometimes ventured to remonstrate with his superior officer, because, being as yet unfamiliar with the manner of life in high society, Auguste's follies terrified him, and he was in constant dread that his intrigues would lead to serious complications; but Auguste always succeeded in allaying Bertrand's fright, so that the latter invariably ended the conversation by saying: "I was in the wrong."

There are many more things that I might tell you concerning the two men who have been talking together. Perhaps I ought to draw their portraits for you, and to tell you to just what type of face Auguste Dalville's belonged. But what would be the use? Doubtless some one of his numerous conquests will have something to say about him; so that I should run the risk of unnecessary repetition by sketching him at first. We can simply presume that he was comely, as he was fortunate enough to please the ladies. "That is no reason," you will say; "when a man has twenty thousand francs a year, that takes the place of physical charms, and conceals ugliness."--Oh! what an idea, my dear readers! Surely no reader of the gentler sex would make such a reply; for I have too good an opinion of the ladies not to feel sure that it would take something more than twenty thousand francs to captivate them.

But the cabriolet is speeding along; we will resume our reflections at some other time.

"Bébelle goes very well. You are warm, lieutenant; don't you want me to take the reins?"

"No, I like to drive."

"We shall be at Monsieur Destival's by eleven o'clock."

"That is quite early enough; and from that time until five o'clock, when we dine--But I promised a long while ago. At all events, Madame Destival is an excellent musician, and we will try to amuse ourselves while we are waiting for dinner."

"Why did you bring me, lieutenant? I can't play or sing, and as I don't belong in the salon, where am I to do sentry-duty?"

"Never fear; Monsieur Destival expressly requested me to bring you. He has become infatuated with hunting, and he wants you to teach him to handle a gun."

"Very well, lieutenant, I'll teach him all I know; that won't take long."

"Poor Virginie! What a rage she will be in to-night! I promised to take her to Feydeau----"

"She has often promised you things, and then broken her word."

"How do you know that, Bertrand?"

"Because I've heard, lieutenant, that Mademoiselle Virginie's a terrible liar."

"That is true; yes, I have had proofs of it more than once."

"That's very bad, after all that you've done for her! But you're so kindhearted, you always allow yourself to be imposed on! Ten thousand carbines! if the hussy had killed herself every time she threatened _to perish_ because she didn't have enough to pay her rent----"

"Come, come, Monsieur Bertrand, be quiet! You have a wicked tongue.--Go on, Bébelle; I believe you're asleep."

"And one evening, when you went out, and she told me her troubles! She said that if she had had a weakness for you, it was because she was too loving, but that she was determined to change her ways, not to see you any more, and to make up with her aunt. For my part, I believed every word of it; in fact, she had such a sincere way of saying it, that I felt all ready to cry. But no sooner did she learn that you were at the masked ball than she shouted: 'I'm going too, Bertrand! lend me some clothes, I'm going to dress as a man!'--'What, mademoiselle,' says I, 'when you're talking about being good and not seeing Monsieur Auguste any more!'--At that she began to laugh like a madwoman and called me an old turkey-cock! Faith, lieutenant, I don't understand a woman like that."

"I can well believe it, my poor Bertrand; even I myself don't understand her, and I know her better than you do."

"I like that little light-haired woman better; you know, lieutenant, the one you got acquainted with by carrying back the little poodle she'd lost, that I found lying at our door at night."

"You mean Léonie?"

"No, I mean Madame de Saint-Edmond."

"Léonie and Saint-Edmond are the same person."

"I didn't know, lieutenant."

"But look you, Bertrand, it was your fault that I made her acquaintance."

"The poodle's rather, lieutenant."

"Léonie lived in the same house with me, and I didn't know her."

"Parbleu, lieutenant, as if a body knew all his neighbors in Paris! except concierges and cooks, whose business it is."

"At all events, you found the dog, and I bade you ask the concierge if anyone in the house had lost it."

"And he told me that there was a young lady on the third floor, who had lain awake all night for grief at losing her dog, and that her maid, after searching from garret to cellar, had gone out to have placards printed offering thirty francs reward to whoever brought the little beast back. I confess that I didn't have any idea that the little poodle, which did nothing but bite and growl, was worth more than four months' pay for a private soldier; but I went up to the third floor in a hurry, to have the order for the placards countermanded by giving the little beast back to its mistress. To celebrate his return, he began by scratching a handsome blue satin armchair and putting his paws in madame's cup of chocolate; but that didn't prevent her calling him her little jewel, and expressing the greatest gratitude to me. Still, lieutenant, I don't see anything in all that to force you to fall in love with Madame Léonie Saint-Edmond."

"You haven't told everything, Bertrand: you forget that, when you came down from the third floor, you drew a very alluring picture of that lady; you told me that she had a pair of eyes--and a voice--and a certain shape!"

"Bless me, lieutenant, I should say that all women have eyes and a shape and a voice!"

"Yes, to be sure; but still I was curious to know this young neighbor of ours, who showed such keen sensibility."

"And it would seem, lieutenant, that you dislodged the poodle, for since then Madame Saint-Edmond is forever at your heels; and as for me, madame questions me and tries to make me talk; she sends for me to come up when she's at breakfast, and as she offers me a little glass of malaga and a biscuit, she asks me where you passed the evening before."

"And Monsieur Bertrand, melted by the malaga, recounts my actions to my neighbor, I presume?"

"Oh! for shame, lieutenant! What do you take me for? The idea of my betraying my master's secrets! If there had been half a dozen bottles of malaga in front of me, I wouldn't have said a word! To be sure, I don't like malaga."

"Bless my soul, my dear Bertrand, I am not scolding you! You know well enough that I make no secret of my follies, even to those who might have ground for complaint. It's a mere matter of an amourette or two, a little fooling."

"All the same, lieutenant, I am seriously embarrassed, on my word, being forever questioned by this one and that one. One calls me her little Bertrand, another her true friend--and these ladies are all very attractive----"

"Ah! monsieur le caporal has noticed that!"

"Parbleu, lieutenant, I have eyes just like other men, and if my heart don't take fire as easily as yours, that don't mean that it's invulnerable. And when I see one of those ladies put her handkerchief to her eyes, when I hear your neighbor throw herself into an armchair and say that she's going to faint; and when Mademoiselle Virginie cries that she _will perish_,--why, I don't know where I am. I run from one to the other, offer them salts and eau-de-vie, tear my hair, and sometimes I even cry with them. Let me tell you that I'd rather assault a fortress six times than be present at one of those scenes, on my honor!"

"Ha! ha! ha! Poor Bertrand!"

"Of course, you laugh; it don't make any difference to you how much you are called traitor, perfidious villain, savage, monster, cruel wretch!"

"Those are terms of endearment; in a young woman's mouth those words mean: 'You are charming, I love you, I adore you!'"

"Oho! so 'monster!' means 'you are charming,' does it? That makes a difference, lieutenant; I couldn't be expected to guess that; now I understand. But these tears that you are responsible for--do they also mean that you are considered charming?"

"Oh! do you suppose, my old friend, that in love-affairs tears are always sincere?"

"In a great flood, lieutenant, there may happen to be one honest one; and it seems to me that a man ought to be sorry for the suffering he causes a pretty girl."

"I promise to reform, Bertrand, to be more virtuous in the future! Is it possible that you think that I, who adore that charming sex, I, whose whole happiness depends on making myself attractive to the ladies--that I set about causing them pain?"

"No, lieutenant; on the contrary, I am well aware that you would like to give pleasure to all the young beauties you meet; but it is that very pleasure that leads to regret and cares; and you yourself--for, as I was saying just now, the great Turenne----"

Auguste had ceased to listen to Bertrand; he had put his head out of the window and was watching a young peasant who had just come out of the forest and was walking along the same road that our travellers were following, driving before her an ass laden with baskets, in which were a number of the tin cans in which milk is carried to the people of Paris by the village women.

As the ass did not move as fast as Bébelle, Auguste drew in his horse and made him walk, in order to see the girl as long as possible.

"Shall I touch Bébelle up?" asked Bertrand, surprised to find that they continued to go at a walk.

"No, no--she's going well enough."

"Yes, lieutenant, you will be very wise to turn virtuous--virtuous for you, I mean; if you don't, your income won't be enough to pay all your expenses. You have appointed me your steward, so I can venture to talk figures with you; and, although I'm not a great mathematician, I can see plainly enough that when you're forever dipping into a cash-box, it is soon empty. This year you don't seem to be lucky at that infernal game you play so often--you know, lieutenant, the game in which you turn the kings----"

"Fresh complexion--a pretty figure--lovely eyes--it's extraordinary, I swear!"

"And then the cashmere shawls you send to one, and the milliner's bill that you pay for another----"

"And all these charms in a milkmaid!"

"What's that? a milkmaid? Do you mean to say that you pay their bills too, lieutenant?"

"Who in the devil said anything about bills? Just look at that sweet child on the road yonder."

"Well! she's a milkmaid--that's the whole story!"

"You don't see how pretty she is. And that sly smile, every time her eyes turn in our direction."

"Perhaps she wants to sell us some cream cheese?"

"Blockhead! to see nothing but cheese! I tell you that sackcloth waist, that double linen neckerchief, so high in the neck, conceal a multitude of treasures."

"Treasures! treasures! Parbleu! one can guess very nearly what they conceal, although appearances are often deceitful. But such treasures aren't scarce; is it on account of the little milkmaid that we're going now like a load of flour?"

"No, no, it's because I am beginning to get tired of the cabriolet. The weather is so fine; I feel that it will do me good to walk. We're only a little way from Monsieur Destival's now. Here, Bertrand, take the reins; I'll do the rest of the distance on foot."

"What, lieutenant, you mean to----"

Auguste had already stopped his horse; he jumped lightly to the ground despite Bertrand's grumbling, and said:

"Go on with Tony."

"But what shall I tell Monsieur Destival?"

"That I am coming; I shall be there as soon as you."

"But----"

"Bertrand, I insist."

Bertrand said no more; but he cast an angry glance at the little milkmaid, and lashed Bébelle, who soon left Auguste far behind.

II

THE FALL

The damsel went her way, with a branch of walnut in her hand, driving her ass before her, apparently oblivious of the fact that the young man had alighted from his cabriolet. She did not look back, but contented herself with calling out from time to time: "Go on there, White Jean;" and White Jean went none the faster.

Auguste soon overtook the milkmaid. He walked behind her a few moments, to examine her; she was well-built, so far as one could judge of her shape beneath the thick wrapper in which she was muffled; her foot was certainly small, although encased in heavy shoes, and her woolen stockings covered a shapely leg, which he could examine at his leisure, for a milkmaid wears very short skirts.

Auguste stepped forward; the girl looked up and seemed surprised to see the young man of the cabriolet walking by her side. But she turned her head away, with another "go on!" to her ass, in which there was no touch of romance.

Our young exquisite gazed closely at the girl, who wore a cap perched on top of her head, which concealed none of her features.

"She is very pretty," he said to himself; "fine eyes, a pretty mouth, a complexion like the rose; but nothing extraordinary, after all. Her freshness is the freshness of a village girl; she's a mere country beauty, and I should have done as well to stay in the carriage. However, as I have alighted, I may as well try to gain something by it."

And the young man continued to stare at the milkmaid, with a smile on his face; but she, apparently annoyed by the fine gentleman's scrutiny, said to him sharply:

"Shall you soon be through looking at me?"

"Isn't it within the law to admire you?"

"No, I don't like to have anyone eye me like that."

"If you weren't so pretty, people would look at you less."

"If this is the way you talk to your ladies in Paris, you must have lots of faces in your head! When you look at a body so close, you'll know her again; but here among us, we don't call it decent; and you'd better not come here to play monkey tricks like this!"