Part 10

Monsieur de la Thomassinière appeared with a man of mature years, but dressed in the latest fashion, whose gait and manners, and even his voice, were affected. He had a distinguished face, but his look was a little deceitful; he smiled almost constantly, and frequently raised to his eyes an eye-glass, through which he admired the flowers, trees and shrubs.

"Here they are!" said Monsieur de la Thomassinière, when he caught sight of the little party. "My valet did not deceive me, and my concierge's information was accurate. This way, monsieur le marquis, this way."

"What's this? my husband has brought a marquis to see me!" exclaimed Athalie; "come, messieurs, we must make a little room for him. Really, Monsieur de la Thomassinière is as rattle-brained as I am! The idea of not letting me know!"

"This is exquisite, enchanting! It is all in the most perfect taste!" exclaimed the marquis, going into ecstasies over everything he saw. When he caught sight of the little party of five, he made a very low bow to the mistress of the house, who had risen to receive him; while Monsieur de la Thomassinière, who felt two feet taller since he had brought home a marquis, bestowed a patronizing nod on the young men, and said to his wife, taking his companion's hand:

"Madame, this is Monsieur le Marquis de Cligneval, who has been kind enough to condescend to allow me to bring him to call upon you. He came to see me at my house this morning about a _consequential_ matter. I said to him: 'We can talk about this just as well at my place in the country.' That suited him, and gad! I had my dapple-grey horse put in the cabriolet, monsieur le marquis got in with me, I gave the beast a cut with my whip, and zeste! we were off like the wind.--My dapple-grey goes prettily, eh, monsieur le marquis?"

"Like an angel, my dear fellow.--Pray excuse me, madame, for appearing in morning dress."

"One is always suitably attired in the country, monsieur; and these gentlemen, you will observe, are dressed just as I brought them away from a ball, without giving them time to change their clothes. But you will breakfast with us, I trust?"

"With pleasure, madame."

"Oh, yes!" said La Thomassinière, shaking Monsieur de Cligneval's hand; "oh, yes! the marquis will have some breakfast; he promised. I'll have some, too."

"Take your seats then, messieurs, and be content with what I have to give you."

Madame gave the marquis a seat by her side; Monsieur de la Thomassinière would have liked to sit on the marquis's other side, but he was obliged to be content with a seat opposite him. Monsieur de Cligneval did full justice to the breakfast; he declared everything excellent, delicious, exquisite, although La Thomassinière exhausted his breath saying to him:

"Oh! I usually have much better things to eat. But we didn't know, madame was not notified. I hope to treat you much better another time. This is an unpretentious repast; but when I choose, I do things very nicely."

While praising the food, Monsieur de Cligneval found time to bestow compliments on the hostess. The marquis was well bred; he carried a little too far perhaps the determination to make his good breeding apparent; but he was agreeable and witty, and the whole party was soon in high spirits, even Monsieur de la Thomassinière, who never laughed because he thought it bad form, but who laughed very loud now in order to copy monsieur le marquis.

When she passed the fruit, Athalie found several that were not ripe.

"These apricots are good for nothing," she said to a servant.

"We must have some better ones than these," cried La Thomassinière. "Tell the gardener to bring some at once--the best she can find."

The servant obeyed, and Mademoiselle Tapotte soon arrived with a basket filled with superb fruit, which she handed to Athalie, keeping her eyes on the ground as if she dared not look at the guests; whereas, on the contrary, the young men scrutinized the buxom creature, making comments in undertones, and Monsieur de la Thomassinière cast furtive glances at her.

"That is right!" said Athalie, as she took the basket, "these are fine. See, messieurs, they have just been picked; they look much better.--Another time, Tapotte, don't send me green fruit."

"No, madame," said the gardener, with a very awkward curtsy; then she took her leave, much redder than when she came.

"What did you call that stout damsel, madame?" inquired one of the young men.

"Tapotte, monsieur."

"Indeed! that's a queer name."

"It's amusing," said the marquis.

"Yes, very amusing," rejoined La Thomassinière. And Auguste reflected that the name was well deserved.

"She's not a bad-looking girl," said one of the young men.

"Oh! what can you see that's attractive in that creature?" cried Athalie; "she's heavy and awkward and vulgar."

"Mon Dieu! she's a huge mass of flesh that moves, and that's all," said the marquis.

"Yes, yes," assented La Thomassinière, blushing slightly, "she moves, she moves, and, as monsieur le marquis says, she knows how to do nothing else."

"What are you laughing at, Monsieur Dalville?" Athalie asked Auguste; "at Mademoiselle Tapotte? You have said nothing about her."

"I'll bet that monsieur agrees with me," said the marquis, "and that he sees nothing about her that deserves to be looked at a second time."

"He!" rejoined Athalie; "oh! you don't know him, monsieur; he detects charms under round caps and calico dresses."

"I don't deny it, madame, and I do not think that it is necessary to wear fine clothes in order to be beautiful. As for your gardener, certainly she has neither pretty features nor a pretty figure; but, for all that, her freshness and bloom, her good-natured appearance----"

"Fie, fie, monsieur! fie! hold your tongue! for you are quite capable of perverting these gentlemen. But we have devoted quite enough time to Mademoiselle Tapotte; I hope that monsieur le marquis will do me the honor to come and look at my garden; and if he could be induced to give us this day----"

"Madame, I am too pleasantly situated here to summon courage to refuse, and although I am expected to dine with a Bavarian prince, I cannot resist your charms."

"I count upon you also, messieurs," said Athalie, addressing her other guests; "you must pass the whole day here. Oh! no refusals! you must do it, or you and I will have a falling-out. I have rooms to give you to-night, and to-morrow morning I will drive you back to Paris in my calèche."

"Yes," said La Thomassinière, "as the marquis is to stay, you other gentlemen must stay too. There will be more of us, and it will be more amusing. I have some matters to attend to; but, faith, when one has the honor of having a marquis under one's roof, the devil may take the rest."

The young gentlemen attempted to raise some objections on account of their clothes; but the fascinating Athalie once more announced: "I insist upon it!" at the same time bestowing upon them one of the smiles which it is so hard to resist; and that levelled all obstacles. Auguste made no objection at all, being by no means ill pleased to pass a night at Fleury, and smiling already at certain thoughts that passed through his mind.

They left the table. La Thomassinière seemed determined not to leave the marquis's side for an instant; but that nobleman offered his arm to Athalie for a stroll about the garden, and La Thomassinière, as he could not take the marquis's other arm, walked on the other side, keeping close at his elbow, and talking constantly to him, although most of the time the marquis made no reply because he preferred to talk with madame. Auguste took a seat in a grotto made of shells, not daring to return to the orchard during the day. The other young men had taken possession of the billiard room.

But Athalie, having arrangements to make for the entertainment of her guests, and being determined that the dinner should make them amends for the frugality of the breakfast, soon left Monsieur de Cligneval with her husband. La Thomassinière instantly seized the marquis's arm and walked on with him, saying:

"Now, let us talk business, monsieur le marquis, for that is my strong point,--business,--especially large affairs, speculations, and--What do you think of my labyrinth?"

"Charming!"

"And my pond?"

"Superb!"

"The waterfall is mine, I invented it. Formerly the water used to fall straight down. That was too commonplace! I had rocks arranged zigzag--that's very much prettier."

"Yes, it does you credit."

"You are very kind. Now I am going to take you into my woods, thence into my fields, where I have some thoroughbred merino sheep. Another invention of mine. Then we will go into my desert; you shall see my deer--ah! they are superb creatures, my deer! almost like stags."

"Have you no stags?"

"No; I wanted one, but Madame de la Thomassinière declared that it was unnecessary, that we had enough tame beasts. I will take you to my summer-house too; we have enough fine things to see to take up two or three hours."

The marquis, who was beginning to be weary of the tête-à-tête, announced that he was fatigued, and as they were then near the grotto where Auguste was seated, they took seats beside him, La Thomassinière having said that he was tired as soon as Monsieur de Cligneval spoke of resting.

"I have an estate of this sort," said the marquis, reclining on a mossy bank, "in Bourgogne, a very fertile province. I have another in Berry, where my grandfather owned a very handsome château."

"I have three farms in the department of Seine-et-Oise," said La Thomassinière quickly, smoothing his chin; "I own two houses in Paris, and I am on the point of buying a third."

"My grandparents were enormously rich!" said the marquis. "I haven't a very clear idea how much I have left! I worry very little about it. When a person has credit and is in favor at court--Why, if I wanted half a dozen offices, I should only have to say the word!"

"My credit is unlimited! My paper is eagerly sought after at the Bourse! I am swamped with business. I receive the very best society at my house, and my guests play for infernally high stakes!"

"Pardieu! that reminds me that I lost three thousand francs at écarté the day before yesterday," said the marquis carelessly.

"I won four thousand two days ago, at the house of a banker, who's a friend of mine," replied La Thomassinière instantly.

"Oh! that's a mere trifle! When I play, I do it for the sake of doing something!" said the marquis.

"To be sure," said La Thomassinière; "I am not sure that I didn't forget to take the four thousand francs from the table, I pay so little attention to money!"

"But a month ago," said the marquis, "I was in a really serious game--the stakes were no less than eighty thousand francs."

"I staked a house last winter," rejoined La Thomassinière; "it was not built, to be sure, and unluckily the contractor failed the next day, for the third time."

Auguste listened in silence to his two neighbors, as they tossed the ball back and forth. But at last La Thomassinière, fearing that he might be unable to think of anything with which to cap the marquis's next boast, changed the subject.

"What do you think of this view?" he asked.

"Very pretty," the marquis replied; "but why not have embellished it with some picturesque ruins--_fabriques_--here and there?"

"Oh! I didn't want any factories--_fabriques_--on my property! The idea! Workmen are noisy, always singing, and I don't choose to have anything to do with that sort of people."

The marquis glanced at Auguste with a smile, and they left the grotto for the billiard-room, where Monsieur de la Thomassinière missed every shot, and exclaimed after every stroke that he misplayed:

"The trouble is that I've got a crooked cue; I can't see straight to-day; it's the fault of the table; my head aches; something's the matter with me; I'm not in the mood for playing; but if I were, you would be nowhere."

Little Tony had arrived long before and had handed his master the fresh supply of funds. When the marquis saw that Dalville had a cabriolet, he manifested great friendliness for him, and declared that there was sympathy between Auguste's tastes and his--a sympathy which Auguste had not observed, although that fact did not prevent his responding to Monsieur de Cligneval's advances.

The dinner-hour arrived, and they went to the table, where Athalie did the honors with much grace. Not to depart from his custom, La Thomassinière did not appear in the dining-room until the soup had been removed; but he was delighted to say before the marquis that he had ten important letters to write.

The dinner was even more agreeable than the morning repast, because they knew one another better, and delicious wines heated their brains and urged them on to folly. Athalie had the knack of keeping the party in good humor by her sallies. The marquis thought her divine, entrancing, and confounded himself in compliments. The petite-maîtresse was not ambitious to fascinate a man of fifty, but she was very glad to earn the praise of a marquis; and the young men were not jealous of the marquis; so that there was nothing to mar the general jollity. They allowed La Thomassinière to talk endlessly of his farms, his wealth, his speculations; but they applauded him when he extolled his wines and his cook.

They left the table as merry as well-bred people can be. Athalie went to see if her harp was in tune. The men went into the garden for a breath of fresh air. It was not dark as yet, but the light was fading.

The marquis had sauntered away, and Auguste was left alone with La Thomassinière, who also claimed to be congenial to him, when, as they strolled along a shaded path which was quite dark, and which skirted the orchard, they heard the report of a hearty kiss. Auguste halted, curious to know what was going on. La Thomassinière followed suit, with an air of amazement.

"Did you hear?" he asked Auguste.

"Yes," was the reply, "I heard very distinctly."

"What was it?"

"If you didn't recognize the sound, it is useless for me to tell you what it was."

"Why, it seemed to me--but in the dark one may be mistaken."

"Indeed! do you think that one doesn't hear as well by night as by day?"

"The fact is that I can't believe that anybody on my premises would venture----"

The sound of the second kiss interrupted him. The two gentlemen walked toward a clump of shrubbery near by, and saw Mademoiselle Tapotte in the marquis's arms, defending herself very feebly, as her custom was; while the marquis, with flushed face, gleaming eye and thick voice, said to her:

"On my honor, you are a rose-bud, and I will have an assignation."

But the rustling of the foliage caused the marquis to release his hold; Tapotte ran away, and Monsieur de Cligneval returned to the house, while Auguste said laughingly to La Thomassinière:

"It seems that your champagne changes the aspect of things: that mass of flesh has become a rose-bud."

"Oh! that is court language. The marquis was joking, no doubt. However, I should have been terribly sorry to have him see us! A marquis, you know! I ought not to have seen anything! Monsieur Dalville, I urge you to maintain absolute secrecy about this matter; it is very important."

"Never fear!"

"I ask you to promise me."

Having quieted his host's fears, Auguste returned to the house with him. Athalie took her place at the harp; the gentlemen seated themselves at a card-table, and, while listening to the harmonious strains that the young woman extracted from the instrument, they did their best to win their opponents' money. Tea was served, then punch. The marquis won from everybody; but he was so courteous, his manners were so amiable, that one was almost tempted to thank him for condescending to take one's money. Athalie, fatigued by the ball of the preceding night, retired early; and ere long all the guests withdrew to their rooms.

The weather was superb and the soft moonlight seemed to invite one to enjoy the cool evening air. Auguste stole quietly downstairs, dressed in an ample robe de chambre which he had found in his room, and walked through the garden toward the orchard. I am not sure whether he went there solely in search of coolness, but when he reached the grove of fruit trees, where it was very dark, he vanished among the plums and cherries. At last, after wandering about for some time, he found himself before the building which the gardener had pointed out to him. He drew near; he heard voices and recognized La Thomassinière's. The young man concluded that he had arrived too late; however, he listened to what his host had to say to Mademoiselle Tapotte.

"Monsieur le marquis kissed you, my dear girl."

"Me, monsieur! oh, nenni! nobody didn't kiss me."

"Remember, Tapotte, that I am your master, and that I have a right to know everything."

"I don't know what you want to know!"

"Monsieur le marquis kissed you."

"What's a marquis?"

"A magnificent man! rather short and fat, almost bald, about fifty years old, and with an eye-glass--_lorgnon_--on one side."

"Oh! he's a marquis, is he? I don't know whether he had an onion--_ognon_--on one side, but he smelt pretty strong of liquor--I know that."

"Don't think that I mean to scold you, Tapotte; far from it! I simply want to know what he said to you, so as to do it like a marquis, when I have the opportunity."

"Why, bless me, he went about it the same way they all do. In the first place, he squeezed me."

"Good."

"Then he squeezed me again."

"Good."

"Oh, yes! good! good!--I yelled."

"You did wrong, he was a marquis!"

"I don't care, when he hurt me. And then--well since it amuses you, why, he kissed me."

"Good."

"He wouldn't let me go; he swore I'd got to say I'd meet him; but I wouldn't."

"You were wrong! You're a fool, Tapotte! You shouldn't have refused monsieur le marquis."

"Bah! get along with you! He's old and he's ugly!"

This conversation suggested an idea to our hare-brained youth; he wrapped his head in his handkerchief, and began to cough and spit, imitating the decidedly nasal notes of the marquis.

"Mon Dieu! there's some one outside!" cried La Thomassinière.

"Yes, some old fellow coughing," replied Tapotte.

"Why! it's he--it's the marquis. Fool that you are! Why didn't you admit that you told him where you lived?"

"I swear, monsieur, that I----"

"Hush! hold your tongue! he's there and he's getting impatient."

"Jarni! he's got the catarrh, that man has!"

"Faith, I cannot hesitate.--Monsieur le marquis! What an honor! I will jump out of this window in the rear."

"But don't I tell you, monsieur, that I didn't say I'd meet him----"

La Thomassinière was no longer listening; he had opened a window and jumped out, and was in the garden. At the same moment, Auguste opened the door, and entered the gardener's abode. When she saw that it was not the marquis, she uttered a cry of surprise; but Auguste whispered to her to keep quiet, and Mademoiselle Tapotte did whatever the young man wished, much preferring a tête-à-tête with him to one with monsieur le marquis.

La Thomassinière walked about under the apricot trees, presuming that the marquis would not remain long with Tapotte; but after half an hour, as his guest did not leave the gardener's house, our financier decided to go to bed.

"The deuce!" he said to himself; "the marquis seems to have had a long story to tell her. I must try to make my interviews last as long as monsieur le marquis's."

The next day the company assembled preparatory to starting for Paris. Athalie was fresher than on the evening before, the marquis less flushed. Auguste seemed fatigued and La Thomassinière's expression was very sly as he looked at the nobleman. Mademoiselle Tapotte alone was just as usual.

They entered their carriages and left the charming retreat at Fleury. Let us follow their example, and return to Paris.

X

THE INN

To console himself in his master's absence, Bertrand had sent for the concierge to come up and keep him company. This concierge was an old German named Schtrack, who had come to France to make trousers, and, having found employment as a concierge, passed his time in drinking, smoking, and in beating his wife. He was by no means capable of carrying on a conversation, even with a cook; but he would drink, and listen with imperturbable stolidity to Bertrand's stories of his campaigns, and to the minute details which the ex-corporal delighted to repeat, often for the twentieth time. Schtrack always seemed to take the same deep interest in them, keeping his eye fixed on the narrator, moving his head or frowning when the battle waxed hot, and emitting a cloud of tobacco smoke and a _sacretié!_ when Bertrand paused for breath.

After assuring themselves that the burgundy was not spoiling, they had subjected the claret and the madeira to the same test. The more Bertrand talked, the thirstier he became; now he must have been exceedingly thirsty, for he had talked steadily from the preceding evening; the two worthies having passed the night doing what they called "tasting the cellar," and Schtrack having left Bertrand's side but twice, to administer chastisement after the German style to his wife, who presumed to find fault because her husband did not come down to his lodge.

Bertrand sometimes interrupted the narrative of his campaigns to talk about Auguste, to whom he was devotedly attached, and to confide to Schtrack his anxiety on account of his lieutenant's senseless extravagance and his penchant for women; and Schtrack listened to it as he listened to the story of Austerlitz, ejaculating _sacretié!_ from time to time.

Although his patience was tried by hearing nothing else all night, Bertrand nevertheless said to Schtrack:

"Tell me, old fellow, what can I do to keep Monsieur Dalville from ruining himself?"

Schtrack, who had never before been questioned by Bertrand, reflected fully five minutes before he replied:

"Sacretié! let's take a drink."

"Yes, let's take a drink, that's well said," rejoined Bertrand, touching the concierge's glass with his; "but it doesn't answer my question. I love and respect Monsieur Dalville; I would jump into the fire for him; but, thunder and guns! it breaks my heart to see him pay out money for this one, lend to that one, play for infernally high stakes, spend money in foolish extravagance, and, last of all, injure his health; for what man could stand such a life? And most of those pretty hussies deceive him, I'll bet! But he won't listen to me. The heart is all right, oh! the heart is first-class, but the head----"

"Sacretié!" said Schtrack, emptying his glass.

"For instance, that little woman who lives in this house, for all her soft voice and her eyes always on the floor, and although she's fainted three times on learning of my master's perfidy, I wouldn't swear--I have imagined several times that I've seen a little man rushing upstairs as if there was a squad of police at his heels.--Do you know who I mean, Schtrack?"

"Ya! ya!"

"Well, who is that little man?"

"I don't know."

"As concierge, you should know."

"You'd petter ask mein vife."

The sound of Dalville's carriage wheels put an end to the conversation. Schtrack went down to his quarters, and Bertrand tried to assume a sedate air with which to receive his master.

"Here I am, my dear Bertrand," said Auguste, as he entered his apartment; "I passed a delightful day yesterday. Oh! don't scold me; I was virtuous--that is, so far as circumstances allowed me to be. Has anybody been here during my absence?"

"Yes, monsieur: in the first place, Mademoiselle Virginie."

"Poor Virginie! she must be angry with me for neglecting her for more than three weeks."

"She says that she shall die of grief."

"Oh! she has said that to me so often!"

"She breakfasted here; she ate cold fowl and pie."

"Very good; evidently her grief isn't dangerous as yet."