Part 19

Auguste continued to seek distraction in society, and as distraction is ordinarily expensive, he spent much more than he should have done, although he had determined to be virtuous and orderly. He considered himself very prudent, because, instead of losing fifty louis at an evening party, he lost only fifty crowns; because, instead of hiring a box at the theatre, he contented himself with buying seat tickets at the office; and because he rode in cabs instead of keeping a cabriolet. But even this outlay was too large for a person who had only a small capital and no income. Bertrand saw with dismay that their funds would not last as long as he had hoped; he dared not remonstrate with Auguste, but he often said to him:

"Let's go see the pretty milkmaid, monsieur, and that little Coco that you're so fond of; that will divert you. We can pass a few days at the village, and amusements don't cost so much there as they do in Paris."

Auguste constantly postponed visiting Montfermeil. He did not tell Bertrand the reason that he dreaded to go there; but he was pained to think that he was no longer able to do all that he had hoped to do for the child; he supposed that the money which he had left for him had been used; and, being accustomed to follow nothing but the impulses of his heart and give money away with a lavish hand, he sighed at the idea of being obliged to reckon the extent of his benefactions. That pang was the keenest that the loss of his fortune had as yet caused him.

After an absence of six weeks, Monsieur and Madame de la Thomassinière returned to Paris. Their mansion became once more the rendezvous of the people who love good dinners, evening parties and balls; and the old chevalier of the pigeon's wings was not the last to return thither, although at their last dinner-party he had sworn that they would never catch him there again. The marquises and dandies, the women of fashion, the poets and bankers were very careful not to mention Madame Thomas to Monsieur de la Thomassinière; and he said to himself, rubbing his hands:

"It's all forgotten, nobody thinks about it now, it hasn't injured me in the least. For all that, I did well to pass six weeks in England; that sufficed to forget it."

Monsieur de la Thomassinière was mistaken; Madame Thomas's visit was not forgotten; but so long as he was rich and continued to give gorgeous parties and grand dinners, people would continue to go to his house and to welcome him warmly. Let him but lose his money, and everybody would very soon discover what he was--a very stupid, vulgar individual. So that it was not necessary for him to make the journey to England. To be sure, he did not say all this to himself.

Destival's flight caused a sensation. When it was mentioned to La Thomassinière, he cried:

"I was certain that that man would turn out ill! He fancied that he was as well equipped as I; he had the assurance to dream of making a fortune like mine! As if my talents were given to everybody! He gave wretched dinners: poor food and poor wine! And he had an idea that he gave dinners like mine! I have said a hundred times: 'That man will go under!' and he hasn't failed to do it."

"His wife was too much of a flirt," said Athalie; "she insisted on following all the fashions and wearing cashmere shawls; she had taken my dressmaker."

"Taken your dressmaker, madame!" cried her husband; "you must agree that that was utterly absurd! Those people had lost their senses! The idea of taking your dressmaker! the wife of a miserable little business agent!"

"But she's still in Paris," said the Marquis de Cligneval, who was present at this conversation. "I saw her in a buggy a few days ago, more stylishly dressed than ever."

"Really?" said the speculator; "you say that she was dressed in style? It's a fact that she had much more wit than her husband! It seems that her skirts are entirely clear of his business; she must have taken measures beforehand, and she did well; certainly no one can blame her."

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Dalville, who had not been at the Thomassinière's since their return from England.

"Ah! Monsieur Dalville!" said the speculator, hurrying to meet the young man with an air of great cordiality, while the marquis seized Auguste's hand and cried:

"How delighted I am to see you, my amiable friend! Gad! I intended to come to see you one of these days.--'Nobody ever sees him now,' I said to myself; 'what in the deuce has become of him?'"

"It is a fact, monsieur," said Athalie, with a gracious smile to Auguste, "you have been in no hurry, monsieur, to come to see us since we returned more than ten days ago; it's very unkind, for you know how fond of you we are."

"You are too kind, madame," said Auguste, taking a seat beside the petite-maîtresse; "but I have been very much occupied. You have learned no doubt that Destival----"

"We were speaking about him a moment ago," said La Thomassinière, "and I was saying to monsieur le marquis, my good friend, that his performance did not surprise me in the least! Indeed, I believe that I anticipated it!"

"That is true--you did say that to me," the marquis replied; "but I admit that such things always pass my comprehension. To fail--to run away with other people's money--why, it's shocking! Let a man go off with his own all he pleases; but the idea of deceiving people who have confidence in one's good faith! who place their property in one's hands to administer! who leave everything to one's honesty! Ah! I could never forgive that!"

"Nor I," cried La Thomassinière; "I could never forgive anyone for not succeeding in business. I will say more--I won't receive such a man in my house. The minute your credit begins to sink, why, good-evening; you'd better stay at home! That's all I know! For we must have honesty first of all, as monsieur le marquis observed; and with rich people a man is never in any danger."

Dalville smiled at the warmth with which the two worthies emphasized their love of honesty, and after a moment he rejoined:

"Do you know how much of my money Destival has taken away with him?"

"No," said La Thomassinière; "is it possible that he cheated you too? I thought that you were too shrewd to allow yourself to be taken in, Monsieur Dalville!"

"Oh! in money matters, monsieur, the shrewdest are likely to be the stupidest. A man doesn't need intelligence to grow rich; that's a truth of which the world presents us with proofs every day."

"Monsieur Dalville is forever joking," Athalie said, laughingly; while La Thomassinière said to the marquis in an undertone:

"This young man knows nothing whatever about business. I feel sorry for him."

"How much did the scoundrel rob you of?" queried the marquis.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand francs."

"The deuce!" cried La Thomassinière; "but that's quite a sum of money! Two hundred and fifty thousand francs! You must have stout loins to stand such a loss!"

"Oh well! I stand it as best I can. This is the time to be philosophical."

"I understand; that means that you are still very rich."

"Not at all; on the contrary, I have nothing left. Destival has carried off my capital, and in a few months I shall have to turn my attention to earning my living."

Monsieur de la Thomassinière's face grew long and the marquis's anxious. Athalie alone seemed to take any interest in Auguste's situation.

"What!" she exclaimed; "do you really mean, Monsieur Dalville, that that wretched man has ruined you?"

"Yes, madame, the fact is only too certain."

"And you take it as calmly as this?"

"If I should rage and tear my hair, that would not give me back my money."

"Philosophy is a fine thing, that is sure," said the marquis. "It helps us to take things as they come, it makes us superior to adversity, and--But it occurs to me that I am invited out to dinner, to eat a truffled turkey. I promised to be on hand at the overture, and a man of honor has only his word. Au revoir, my dear friends."

The marquis rose and was about to leave the room, when Dalville ran after him and stopped him.

"I beg your pardon, my dear Monsieur de Cligneval," he said under his breath, "but you probably have forgotten a little debt of a hundred louis. If I venture to remind you of it, you will understand that just at this time I am in need of whatever I possess."

"My dear friend, what do you say? Pardieu! it had slipped my mind entirely."

"You were to repay it that same week, and as it was two months ago, I thought you had forgotten that trifle."

"Entirely, my dear friend, entirely; I have no memory except for important things, and a hundred louis, you will agree, is the merest bagatelle. Send to my house."

"They could not give me your address at your former residence."

"True, I am on the wing. I will send the money to you--that will be the better way. But they are waiting for me; the turkey is probably served. It's a party of gentlemen only, and I promised to be prompt. I am very particular about keeping my word."

"I can rely, then, upon----"

"Yes, you shall hear from me to-morrow at the latest. Adieu; pardon me for leaving you so abruptly, but a truffled turkey admits of no postponement."

And Monsieur de Cligneval, who was in truth very particular about keeping his word when a dinner or luncheon was concerned, shook off his creditor and escaped from the salon. But as he was by no means anxious to meet Dalville frequently at his friend La Thomassinière's, monsieur le marquis, when he reached the reception-room, told a servant to go to his master and tell him privately that Monsieur de Cligneval had something to impart to him in confidence.

The servant did the errand and La Thomassinière hastily left the salon and joined the marquis, whose obsequious servant he deemed himself very fortunate to be.

"What is it, my dear marquis? I am at your service," cried the parvenu.

"Sh! let us go into your study, my friend. Dalville thinks that I have gone, and I don't want him to meet me when he goes away."

They went into Monsieur de la Thomassinière's study, and there the marquis seemed to hesitate, as if he did not know whether he ought to speak.

"I am dreadfully perplexed," he said at last to La Thomassinière, who was waiting humbly to hear what he had to tell him.

"Perplexed!--you! Is it possible that a marquis can ever be perplexed? Nonsense, you are joking!"

"No, my friend, no. Mon Dieu! because one happens to have been born in an exalted sphere, because one enjoys some consideration and has some little power, do you suppose that one is not human just the same, and subject to all the weaknesses that nature has allotted to us?"

"Surely not, monsieur le marquis! and----"

"Bless my soul! we are all very much alike! In the eyes of men of intelligence what does a little more or a little less nobility amount to?--For my own part, I give you my word that, if you were a duke, I should esteem you no more highly!"

"You are too kind, monsieur le marquis!"

"No, I am frank, that's all."

La Thomassinière was wondering how this discussion would take the marquis to the truffled turkey that awaited him, when Monsieur de Cligneval resumed:

"It was about Dalville that I wanted to speak to you in private. That young man allowed himself to be taken in like an idiot."

"Like an absolute idiot, monsieur le marquis."

"And he was so conceited, so self-sufficient! He wouldn't take anybody's advice; he thought that he knew how to manage his business. It was a pitiable thing!"

"It was, as you say, pitiable."

"The idea of entrusting all his money to Destival! He must have lost his senses."

"However that may be, monsieur le marquis, I always come back to my principle--I never forgive a man for allowing himself to be robbed."

"And you are quite right. Let him rob others--that is to say, make sport of others--and I've not a word to say; that is cleverness, tact!--However, this Dalville is in a most infernal position!"

"That's what I thought as soon as he told me he had nothing left."

"If he even had any social rank--a title--any of those things that may lead to everything."

"In short, if he were noble."

"Oh! in that case he might get out of it--but when a man isn't noble it's essential that he should be rich!"

"To be sure--that's another of my principles."

"And it's all a part of the system of equality and philosophy that I was describing to you just now. I was interested in this Dalville; but my friendship for you takes precedence of everything; that is why I conceive it to be my duty not to conceal anything from you."

"Conceal nothing, I pray, monsieur le marquis!"

"Do you know what he said to me just now when I was leaving the salon?"

"No, I haven't any idea."

"Didn't you overhear a word?"

"Not a single word."

"Well, my dear fellow, he was asking me to lend him money."

"Asking you to lend him money?"

"Yes, my dear fellow; on my word, that did seem a little bit hasty on his part, I admit."

"Hasty! you are very generous, monsieur le marquis! It was much worse than that."

"In the first place, I don't know him well enough to----"

"And even if you did know him very well--whoever heard of lending money to a man who is ruined, and who has just told you so?--I know him better than you do, and I wouldn't lend him."

"In the second place, it's the very worst form to borrow money at a third person's house."

"It's shocking form!"

"As if he couldn't have come to my house like a man--or waited till another time! But no--he attacks me in your salon! I had to promise to make him a loan--otherwise he wouldn't have let me go."

"That is true, I noticed that; and yet you had told him that a truffled turkey was awaiting you, and it seems to me that such a consideration should have imposed silence on him."

"You must realize that if he sets about borrowing money in this way from everybody he meets at your house, you will be placed in a false position, and a great many of your acquaintances will be kept away from here; for I don't know of anything that people dread more in society than to be asked to lend money."

"Great heaven!" cried La Thomassinière, pacing the floor excitedly. "Why, a man like that would be a veritable scourge, worse than the plague! I believe that I should prefer to see Madame Thomas appear!"

"I assure you, my friend, that that would do you less harm."

"Never fear, I will attend to his case. And I won't beat about the bush either. To-morrow my concierge will receive my orders: we shall never be at home to Monsieur Dalville. You hear--_never!_"

"Do just what you think best, my friend. I am very sorry for the young man, for I liked him much. Still, I felt bound to let you know."

"Oh! you have done me a very great service, monsieur le marquis! A service that I shall never forget as long as I live! Think of receiving under my roof a man who tries to borrow money from my friends! who might end by trying to borrow from me! Remember that he has only been ruined a few days, and if he is borrowing already, what will he do after a little while? Can anyone tell where it will stop?"

"I have warned you, I have done what honor demanded, and now I will go and say a word to the turkey I have mentioned. Adieu, my friend."

"I hope that you will dine with us to-morrow, monsieur le marquis. You will not meet Dalville in my house, I assure you."

"In that case, I will join you. You will understand that it is painful to close one's purse to misfortune; but with the best will in the world, one can give only what one has. Until to-morrow then, my dear La Thomassinière."

"Your very humble servant, monsieur le marquis."

When the marquis had gone, La Thomassinière considered whether he should return to the salon. He decided to join Dalville--indeed he considered it his duty to begin to treat him coolly, so that the young man would not be tempted to disregard the orders which he proposed to give to his concierge.

Dalville had remained with Athalie. That young lady, after compassionating the young man, and assuring him that she was grieved by his misfortune, remembered that a new play was to be given at the Français that evening, and she exclaimed:

"I must not fail to be there. Have you hired a box, Monsieur Auguste?"

"I no longer hire boxes, madame," was the reply; "I purchase my ticket modestly at the box-office. Sometimes I even stand in the line, and do not indulge myself with a seat in the resplendent orchestra."

"Stand in the line!" said Athalie; and her smile became less expansive. "Oh! how shocking!"

A minute or two later the young coquette noticed that there were several spots of mud on Dalville's boots.

"How is this, monsieur? You, who are always so exquisitely shod--you must have been splashed to-day! I can hardly believe it is you."

"Still another result of my penury, madame. When I had a cabriolet, it was a simple matter for me always to have my boots spotlessly clean; but when one goes on foot, one must expect to be more open to criticism in one's dress."

"What! you no longer have a cabriolet?"

"No, madame, I have mustered it out of service, as well as my groom, and I have kept only my faithful Bertrand; for he is a friend rather than a servant, and one doesn't part with a friend just because one is unfortunate."

"What's that? why, what you say is very true," replied Athalie, going to a mirror to arrange her curls. "Bless my soul! how pale I am to-day! It frightens me! I am going to have one of my nervous attacks, I feel sure."

It was at that moment that Monsieur de la Thomassinière entered the salon, assuming a more self-important air, a heavier tread than usual, and with a frown already prepared, lest his visitor should ask him for a loan.

"Who on earth was it who desired to see you, monsieur?" queried Athalie, still looking at herself in the mirror.

"A person who had some very important information to communicate, madame, and who preferred not to come in, knowing that I had company; indeed, it is a nuisance to have company all the time, and I propose to adopt the plan of not receiving visitors when I am at home."

"Parbleu! you can do better than that, Monsieur de la Thomassinière," said Auguste, laughingly. "You should imitate a lady of my acquaintance, who, when she had not put on her red paint and white paint and blue paint--in a word, when she had not finished beautifying herself--used to go to the door herself and say: 'I am not at home.'"

"Ha! ha! that is very good!" said Athalie; "but I feel rather uncomfortable, and I believe that I will go and lie down."

The petite-maîtresse left the room with a slight nod to Auguste, while La Thomassinière continued to pace the floor, frowning ominously.

"Well, Monsieur de la Thomassinière, how's business?" said the young man, leaning back in his chair, while the parvenu seemed not to know what to do with himself.

"Business, monsieur? Oh! you mean speculation."

"Are you still making money fast?"

"Yes, monsieur; a man ought to make money, it's a duty, it's what we were made for."

"Parbleu! then you must teach me your secret, for I have never known how to do anything but spend it. But I must mend my ways; I must turn my attention to making my living, and for that purpose it seems to me that I cannot apply to a better man than you."

La Thomassinière, convinced that Auguste was leading up to a request for a loan, pretended that he had not heard, and said, with a glance at his wallet:

"I lack thirty thousand francs of the amount necessary to buy some notes that have just been offered me--a splendid chance. I know that I can obtain that amount easily enough, that I have only to open my mouth and mention my name; but it annoys me, because I can't endure to have recourse to anyone, even though it is only for an hour."

Auguste was diverted by this comedy, and said after a while:

"By the way, Monsieur de la Thomassinière, how is your good mother, the excellent Madame Thomas, whose unexpected arrival caused you so much pleasure the last time that I dined with you?"

The parvenu blushed, bit his lips and stammered:

"She's--she's very well, monsieur; that is to say, I presume she's very well; but since I returned from England--why,--why, of course I've had other things to think about. And--Great heaven! it just occurs to me--I've three letters to write to London--to noblemen who are expecting to hear from me--thoughtless creature that I am! I cannot stay with you any longer, Monsieur Dalville; my business calls me away--and business before everything."

With that, La Thomassinière abruptly left the salon, without saluting Auguste, whom he left there alone.

"The stupid ass!" said Dalville, as he took his hat; "does he suppose that I didn't notice the change in his manner as soon as he knew that I was a ruined man? And Athalie! I thought that she had more feeling! But what can one expect from a woman to whom dress and pleasure are everything? And such is this 'society,' where everyone seeks to shine, whose suffrage is eagerly sought, and in which we pass a great part of our lives! Are all these people worth the trouble of wasting a regret on them, I wonder?"

And Dalville left La Thomassinière's house, vowing that he would never go there again.

XVII

THE FIFTH FLOOR

"Lieutenant," said Bertrand to Dalville, one morning, "we have forgotten something in our reformation, but the approach of rent-day reminds me of it: it's the matter of lodgings. You must agree, lieutenant, that a fifteen-hundred franc suite is rather too heavy for our budget, in which the expense account is always lengthening, while the receipt account is a blank page."

"You are right, Bertrand, we must give notice."

"When I mentioned the subject to Schtrack yesterday, he told me that there's an Englishman who will take the apartments at any time if we want to leave them; it seems to me, lieutenant, that it would be the wisest plan to move right away."

"Do what you choose, Bertrand."

"Especially as there's a small bachelor's apartment on the fifth floor, that might suit us: two rooms and a large dressing-room. It's vacant, and if it won't be unpleasant for you to stay in this house----"

"Why should it? Have I any reason to blush because of my changed fortune? I am the dupe of villains, but I have made no dupes. We will go up four flights. Hire the bachelor's apartment."

"Very good, lieutenant. We will be all settled there to-morrow. No wagons to pay for moving--that's another saving."

Bertrand was well pleased to stay in the house with his friend Schtrack; and the next morning, as soon as Dalville had gone out, he and the concierge carried the furniture from the first floor to the fifth. But as two small rooms would not contain the furniture that filled six large ones, he left in the old apartment all that he considered superfluous, and the new tenant purchased it, the proceeds serving to restock Bertrand's cash-box at an opportune moment.

On returning home, Auguste, from long habit, stopped on the first floor. He rang, and waited in vain for Bertrand to admit him; then he remembered that he no longer lived there, and went on upstairs; but, in spite of himself, a sigh escaped him as he left his former apartment behind; and when he entered his new abode, the cramped space and the prospect of roofs from all the windows, extorted another sigh from his breast. We are men before we are philosophers, and the knowledge that we owe to the arguments of reason does not win an easy victory over our natural inclinations.

However, Auguste did his best to smile when Bertrand said to him:

"We shall be very comfortable here, lieutenant; shan't we? The rooms are small, but we have everything under our hand. And what's the use of having so many useless rooms? For, now that we're not rich any more, almost nobody comes to see us. If we want to exercise, we can go out. But the air's better here than it is on the first floor. And the view! Why, we overlook all the houses round."